Judge not, that ye be not judged. Matthew 7:1. Jesus says regarding judging—Don’t. The average Christian is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain nothing is accomplished by criticism. The effect of criticism is a dividing up of the powers of the one criticized; the Holy Ghost is the One in the true position to criticize, He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting…

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend . . . . I have called you friends. John 15:13, 15. Jesus does not ask me to die for Him, but to lay down my life for Him. Peter said—“I will lay down my life for Thy sake,” and he meant it; his sense of the heroic was magnificent. It would be a bad thing to be incapable of making such a…

In the Matter of Drudgery. And beside this, . . . add. 2 Peter 1:5. You have inherited the Divine nature, says Peter (v. 4), now screw your attention down and form habits, give diligence, concentrate. “Add” means all that character means. No man is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; he has to make character. Nor are we born with habits; we have to form habits on the basis of the new life God has put into us.…

In the Matter of Determination. Abide in Me. John 15:4. The Spirit of Jesus is put into me by the Atonement, then I have to construct with patience the way of thinking that is exactly in accordance with my Lord. God will not make me think like Jesus, I have to do it myself; I have to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. “Abide in Me”— in intellectual matters, in money matters, in every one of…

Where the selective affinity dies and the sanctified abandon lives. Come ye after Me. Mark 1:17. One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of temperament. We make our temperament and our natural affinities barriers to coming to Jesus. The first thing we realize when we come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatever to our natural affinities. We have the notion that we can consecrate our gifts to God. You cannot consecrate what…

Where the self-interest sleeps and the real interest awakens: Master, where dwellest Thou?. . . Come and see. . . . Come with Me. John 1:39. “They abode with Him that day.” That is about all some of us ever do, then we wake up to actualities, self-interest arises and the abiding is passed. There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. “Thou art Simon, thou shalt be called Cephas.” God writes the new name…

Where the sin and the sorrow cease, and the song and the saint commence. Come unto Me. Matthew 11:28. Do I want to get there? I can now. The questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by the words— “Come unto Me.” Not—‘Do this, or don’t do that’; but —“Come unto Me.” If I will come to Jesus my actual life will be brought into accordance with my real desires; I will actually cease…

Seek if you have not Found. “Seek, and ye shall find. Luke 11:9. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” If you ask for things from life instead of from God, you ask amiss, that is, you ask from a desire for self-realization. The more you realize yourself the less will you seek God. “Seek, and ye shall find.” Get to work, narrow your interests to this one. Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or…

Ask if you have not Received. For everyone that asketh receiveth. Luke 11:10. There is nothing more difficult than to ask. We will long and desire and crave and suffer, but not until we are at the extreme limit will we ask. A sense of unreality makes us ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of moral poverty? “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . .” but be sure that you do…