Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:29.
While you have been walking in meekness and lowliness of heart, a work has been going on for you, a work which only God could do; for it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. And that good pleasure is to have you abide in Christ, rest in His love. You must not let anything rob your soul of peace, of restfulness, of the assurance that you are accepted just now. Appropriate every promise; all are yours on condition of your complying with the Lord’s prescribed terms. Entire surrender of your ways, which seem so very wise, and taking Christ’s ways, is the secret of perfect rest in His love.
Giving up one’s life to Him means much more than we suppose. We must learn His meekness and lowliness before we realize the fulfillment of the promise “Ye shall find rest unto your souls.” It is by learning the habits of Christ, His meekness, His lowliness, that self becomes transformed—by taking Christ’s yoke upon you and then submitting to learn. There is no one who has not much to learn. All must come under training by Jesus Christ. When they fall upon Christ, their own hereditary and cultivated traits of character are taken away as hindrances to their being partakers of the divine nature. When self dies, then Christ lives in the human agent. He abides in Christ, and Christ lives in him.
Christ desires all to become His students. He says, Yield yourselves to My training; submit your souls unto Me. I will not extinguish you, but will work out for you such a character that you shall be transferred from the lower school to the higher grade. Submit all things to Me. Let My life, My patience, My longsuffering, My forbearance, My meekness, My lowliness, be worked out in your character, as one that abides in Me…. Then you have the promise not only “I will give,” but “Ye shall find rest unto your souls.”—Bible Training School, August 1, 1903.
Ye Shall Receive Power p. 62
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for E and family. R
—-PLEASE pray for me. I am having excruciating abdominal pain. Connie
—-Pray for my friend, Vicki, and her family. Their Uncle died recently. Wanda
—-Please continue to pray for my Grandson. He has gone so far down that we had to call the Sheriff department to remove him from our home due to his drug use and mental health issues. If God doesn’t intervene I don’t know what will happen! Kathy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,
My grandfather, Edwin Harmon, always had a love for trains. Because he could stand the abuse he suffered at his father’s hand no longer, he had left home at the age of ten and wandered up and down the east coast of the United States. He had not been gone long, when he came upon a group of homeless men. These men shared their food with him and taught him how to travel by riding in boxcars. This was great adventure! As he would ride along, he would pretend that he was the engineer driving the huge, steam-puffing engine. From that moment, he determined to one day drive a locomotive.
Sadly for him, it was not to be. One day a few years later,as he was back in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, to visit his mother whom he adored, his father came home from work at an odd time and immediately sent him to Lancaster Academy to finish his education. There he was watched continuously and although he almost “escaped” once, he was there until his father got him into an apprenticeship in the family trade of bookbinding. My grandfather didn’t want to do it, but somehow his father was able to force him into it. All of his life, he worked as a bookbinder. His workmanship was perfect and in great demand, but he hated every minute of it. As he worked long hours, he dreamed of being behind the throttle of a gigantic locomotive, traveling to distant places, being free.
When I was a little girl, he used to take me to the train station and we would watch the trains together. He often talked about trains when I would ask him for a story. He looked upon the time that he spent “riding the rails” as the happiest time of his life.
How often we do the same in our Christian walk. We think about being a Christian, we talk about religion, we dream of the reward at the end; but do we wholeheartedly take hold of the free gift of salvation that has been so freely provided? It is not forced upon us. God never forces. We have to ask for it. We must reach out and take it. We must have a daily experience, a daily conversion.
Peter advises, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” 2 Peter 1:10 John adds, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:15-17 “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.” 1 Thes 4:3
How are we sanctified? In that great prayer of Jesus, we find the key. Our Dear Saviour prayed, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17 David of this, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Ps 119:9-11 Solomon adds, “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” Ecc 12:13 May we reach out and accept God’s Great Provision, serve Him in singleness of heart by doing those things which please Him, and never look wistfully upon this sinful, old world as a thing to be desired is my prayer. (Luke 9:62)
Rose
