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| If you want the blessing of God, parents, do as did Abraham. Repress the evil, and encourage the good. Some commanding may be necessary in the place of consulting the inclination and pleasure of the children. To allow a child to follow his natural impulses is to allow him to deteriorate and to become proficient in evil. Wise parents will not say to their children, "Follow your own choice; go where you will, and do what you will"; but, "Listen to the instruction of the Lord." Wise rules and regulations must be made and enforced, that the beauty of the home life may not be spoiled. {CG 234.2} |
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| The third angel's message is swelling into a loud cry, and you must not feel at liberty to neglect the present duty, and still entertain the idea that at some future time you will be the recipients of great blessing, when without any effort on your part a wonderful revival will take place. . . . Today you are to have your vessel purified, that it may be ready for the heavenly dew, ready for the showers of the latter rain; for the latter rain will come, and the blessing of God will fill every soul that is purified from every defilement. It is our work today to yield our souls to Christ, that we may be fitted for the time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord -- fitted for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. . . . {Ev 701.4} |
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| The young would not be seduced into sin if they would refuse to enter any path save that upon which they could ask God's blessing. If the messengers who bear the last solemn warning to the world would pray for the blessing of God, not in a cold, listless, lazy manner, but fervently and in faith, as did Jacob, they would find many places where they could say: "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." Genesis 32:30. They would be accounted of heaven as princes, having power to prevail with God and with men. {GC 622.3} |
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| Any amusement in which you can engage asking the blessing of God upon it in faith will not be dangerous. But any amusement which disqualifies you for secret prayer, for devotion at the altar of prayer, or for taking part in the prayer meeting is not safe, but dangerous. {AH 513.3} |
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| The consciousness of rightdoing is the best medicine for diseased bodies and minds. The special blessing of God resting upon the receiver is health and strength. One whose mind is quiet and satisfied in God is on the highway to health. To have the consciousness that the eye of the Lord is upon us, and that His ear is open to our prayers, is a satisfaction indeed. To know that we have a never-failing Friend to whom we can confide all the secrets of the soul, is a happiness which words can never express. Those whose moral faculties are clouded by disease are not the ones to rightly represent the Christian life or the beauties of holiness. They are too often in the fire of fanaticism or the water of cold indifference or stolid gloom. {CH 628.2} |
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| While some have been urging their man-made tests upon the people, the claims of the fourth commandment have been held very lightly. We knew that the blessing of God could not rest upon this church until there was a reformation upon this important point. Those who stand in responsible positions should be careful that their words and example are such as will lead the people to correct views and practices. They should be sure that in no way they belittle the requirements of God. Because the fourth commandment is so widely disregarded, we should be the more earnest and decided in seeking to honor this precept of God's holy law. The third angel's message is that which we are to present to the world. Here God has a test for us, and if we come up to the standard, we shall be a peculiar people. Whoever obeys the fourth commandment will find that a separating line is drawn between him and the world. The Sabbath is a test, not a human requirement, but God's test. It is that which will distinguish between those who serve God and those who serve him not; and upon this point will come the last great conflict of the controversy between truth and error. {HS 215.2} |
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| The blessings of God |
| At any moment God could withdraw from the impenitent the tokens of His wonderful mercy and love. O, that human agencies would consider what will be the sure result of their ingratitude to Him, their disregard of the infinite Gift of Christ to the world! Loving transgression more than obedience, the blessings of God, which they enjoy but do not appreciate, will become the occasion of their eternal ruin. Choosing to engage in worldly amusements and sinful pleasures rather than to check themselves in a course of sin and live for the honor of God, they learn too late what it means to be without God, without hope. Then they learn what they have lost by choosing to stand in rebellion to His commandments. In the past they have defied His power, rejected His overtures of mercy. When His judgments fall upon them they realize that they have lost happiness, life -- eternal life in the heavenly courts. Surely they will say, "Our life was full of madness against God, and now we are lost." {ST, July 22, 1908 par. 4} |
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| Related Phrase: the Blessing of the Lord - - |
