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God’s Merciful Helping Hand, July 11
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Matthew 5:7
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Be merciful, even as your Father in heaven is merciful. Think of the
great gift God has made for you.... God has given you a proof of His love
that defies all computation. We have no line with which to measure it, no
standard with which to compare it. God invites you to let your gratitude
flow forth in gifts and offerings. He calls upon you to be His merciful
helping hand. Can you refuse the request of One who has done so much
for you?
Christ wept at the sight of woe. Let His tenderness come into your
hearts. Practice self-denial that you may have wherewith to relieve the
sufferings of God’s children.
The Lord saw that it was essential for us to be surrounded with the poor,
who in their helplessness and need would lay claim to our ministration.
They would be an aid to us in perfecting Christian character; for in
providing food for their tables and clothing for their bodies, we would
cultivate the attributes of the character of Christ. If we had not the poor
among us, we would lose much; for in order to perfect Christian character,
we must deny self.
Christ Himself, the Lord of glory, was in this earth a Man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. He knew the meaning of want and privation.
As a child, subject to poverty, He practiced the principles of self-denial.
He ... came to help fallen, needy humanity. And He expects His followers,
to whom He has entrusted means, to bind about their own supposed wants,
and to be liberal in relieving the necessities of others.
When spending your money, think of what Jesus would do were He
in your place. He calls upon His followers to tread in His footsteps of
self-denial and self-sacrifice. The character of the Christian is to be a
reproduction of the character of Christ. The same love, the same grace,
the same unselfish benevolence, seen in His life, is to characterize the
lives of His followers.
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