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Keep Christ in View, September 20
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2
.
If suspicions and envy and jealousies and evil surmisings are cherished, these
will exclude the blessing of God, for Jesus cannot dwell in a heart where these
things are cherished. The soul temple must be cleansed of every defilement....
Christ foresaw the danger of all these things, and just prior to giving His life
for the world He prayed to His Father that His disciples might be one with Christ
as He was one with the Father.... Nothing can grieve the Spirit of God more
than variance among those who are engaged as laborers in His vineyard, because
the same spirit they entertain is diffused among the churches. Such seed, once
sown, is difficult to eradicate. It requires time and labor and distress of soul to
adjust things, and bring in a state of harmony and peace. All heaven is laboring
for the unity of the church, and the professed followers of Christ are working at
cross-purposes with God, because they will not heed His instruction, but will bring
in dissension....
The one running in a race will surely lose his victory if he keeps looking
behind him or from side to side to see if his fellows are coming out ahead of him.
He must run to win the crown of immortal glory, looking unto Jesus, who is the
author and finisher of his faith.
This work in which we are engaged is a grand, a holy, a sacred work. We
cannot for a moment be off our guard. The crown, the crown, the imperishable
crown to be won, is to be kept before the one running the race. So run that ye
may obtain.... Look not to man. Your responsibility is to God, and He will render
to every man according as his work shall be.... We behold, and catch the bright
beams in the face of Jesus Christ. We receive as much as we can bear. Let us
not stop to quarrel over circumstances, but keep Christ in view. Through the
transforming power of the Holy Ghost we become assimilated to the image of the
blessed Object we behold.
Do not murmur nor find fault.... The image of Christ is engraven upon the soul
[that looks upon Jesus] and reflected back in spirit, in words, in true service for our
fellow beings. Christ’s joy is in our hearts, and our joy is full. This is true religion.
Let us make sure to obtain it, and to be kind, to be courteous, to have love in the
soul—that kind of love which flows forth and is expressed in good works, which
is a light to shine to the world, and which makes our joy full.—
Manuscript 26,
1889
.
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