Perfect in Him

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48.
God requires moral perfection in all. Those who have been given light and opportunities should, as God’s stewards, aim for perfection, and never, never lower the standard of righteousness to accommodate inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong. Christ took upon Him our human nature, and lived our life, to show us that we may be like Him by partaking of the divine nature. We may be holy, as Christ was holy in human nature. Why then are there so many disagreeable characters in the world? It is because they do not suspect that their disagreeable ways and rough, impolite speech is the result of an unholy heart. . . .
It is the fragrance of our love to our fellow men that reveals our love for God. It is patience in service that brings rest to the soul. It is through humble, diligent, faithful toilers that the welfare of Israel is promoted. God upholds and strengthens the one who is willing to learn Christ’s way. . . .
All right inventions and improvements have their source in Him who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. Whatever we do, in whatever department of the work we are placed, God desires to refine and ennoble us. He desires to control man’s mind, that he may do perfect work.
The delicate touch of the physician’s hand, his power over nerve and muscle, his knowledge of the delicate organism of the body, is the wisdom of divine power, to be used in behalf of suffering humanity. The skill with which the carpenter uses the hammer, the strength with which the blacksmith makes the anvil ring, comes from God. He has entrusted men with powers, and He expects that they will look to Him for counsel. Thus they may use His gifts with unerring aptitude, testifying to God’s glory that they are workers together with Him. Thus they purify their souls by sanctification of the Spirit through the truth. In their experience, the words of Christ are fulfilled, The pure in heart shall see God (see Matthew 5:8).
All should feel that they are working to one great end. The work in every department is God’s, and those who do that work with exactness, without blunder, represent God’s perfection.–Letter 9, Jan. 24, 1899, to those occupying important positions in the General Conference.
This Day with God p. 32
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Prayer Requests
—–Please pray that my sons get good jobs. L
—–Urgent prayer request for the 4 yr old child, Abigail, and her parents: Abigail’s liver transplant has failed. She has been in hospital since Nov. 30, but the physicians have not known how to treat her. She had a CT scan Sabbath. She is gravely ill and has been transferred from _________ back to __________ Children’s Hospital. . . . Please pray for God’s wisdom to be with the physicians and the parents. Please pray that our Heavenly Father will keep this child alive and sustain her as He has done in the past, according to His perfect will and by His grace and miracles on her behalf alone. She is His precious child and man cannot do anything but that the Father and His Son will oversee and allow or overrule. Your prayers are precious and urgently needed. Thank you for them on behalf of this family in need. Debby
—–praying a silent prayer for a friend…please pray! thank you! God knows all about it! Kimberly
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Dear Friends,
It is interesting what my children remember when they reminisce about their childhood. I have found out many things that I never knew about when they were little. Usually, Esther will comment on a certain walk we took when she was three or four. We lived on a narrow, dirt road near a lake at the time and I took them on many walks just letting them explore their surroundings. Whatever they noticed became an opportunity to teach them of our Great Creator and His love and plan for us. One day, Esther happened to notice a frog that had been run over by one of the few cars that drove down that narrow path. She stopped and looked sadly at the flatted frog’s remains that had been dried by the North Carolina sun. This gave me an opportunity to point her to a time when “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” Rev 21:4 That simple lesson impressed her so much that she has remembered it all of her life.
So it should be in the Christian’s walk. If we will allow Him to, our Heavenly Father will walk with us and teach us just as surely as I did with my children. He has promised, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Ps. 32:8 What a wonderful blessing! To be taught by the One Who made all things, Who loves us so much that He died to save us, to walk with Him each day as He unfolds new and beautiful truths from His Word, this is His great desire. This is our great privilege!
Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit to guide and teach us in our walk with Him is as real today as it was when He walked this earth so long ago. He said, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:13 What blessing is ours to have the Great God of the Universe love us and change our hearts and lead us ever upward on the path to the Heavenly Kingdom.
Let us submit to the lessons He is so willing to teach us. Let us place our hand in the hand of the One Who loves us so much that He gave His All for us. Let our fondest memories be of our time spent with Him.
Rose