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The Will Surrendered, October 16
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure.
Philippians 2:13
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Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the
promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other
promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess
to claim the Lord’s promise; they talk about Christ and the Holy Spirit, yet
receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled
by divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us.
Through the Spirit God works in His people “to will and to do of his good
pleasure.” But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves.
This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift.
Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance
and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and
reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings
in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is
ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.
When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart, it transforms the
life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced; love, humility,
and peace take the place of anger, envy, and strife. Joy takes the place of
sadness, and the countenance reflects the joy of heaven. No one sees the hand
that lifts the burden, or beholds the light descend from the courts above. The
blessing comes when by faith the soul surrenders itself to God. Then that
power which no human eye can see creates a new being in the image of God.
The Holy Spirit is the breath of spiritual life in the soul. The impartation
of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. [The Spirit] imbues the
receiver with the attributes of Christ.—
The Review and Herald, November
19, 1908
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