Ask, and it shall be given you

"Ask, and it shall be given you."—Matt. 7:7.

We sometimes feel our need of certain things, but are sad because we think them beyond our reach. Were they within sight, or within touch, like the grass under our feet, or like the river that flows by our dwelling, we should feel certain of getting them; but they seem to us far off, and we despair of having them.

This is unbelief. It is dealing with God as if He were not the God of all grace; it is using prayer as if it were not the means of obtaining what we need; and it is treating His promises as if they were not meant to be kept.

Now, the question with us should never  be, Is the thing that we desire out of sight, or far off, or difficult, or costly? but simply, Hasn't God told us come to Him for it? Whatever we are warranted to ask for, is as truly within our reach as is the flower at our side, which we have only to stoop down and pluck. Thus God has placed every spiritual blessing within our reach, because He has told us to pray for them. Is it His own Holy Spirit that we desire, or is it more faith, or a truer sense of sin, or warmer love, or a holier life? Let us never feel as if any of these things were far off, or hard to be gotten. They are at hand. They are within God's reach, and therefore they are within ours, because they are the things which He has taught us to ask for.

I bring near My righteousness

"I bring near My righteousness."—Isa. 46:13

God is here speaking to those who are "far from righteousness;" and He proposes to remedy their evil, and to remove this distance, by bringing His righteousness near to them. They will not come near to His righteousness. They keep aloof from it. In great love, therefore, He resolves to bring it nigh them.

And He has brought it near! It is as near as it is possible for any thing to be to us,—as near as the words themselves which tell us of it. What can be nearer to us than words which not only float round us, but which, entering by the ear, go through our whole man? So near is this righteousness, as the apostle shows us, in the tenth of the Romans. We do not need to go up to heaven for it, nor to go down into the earth for it. We do not need to go one step nor to move one inch in order to reach it. It is so near as to be within the reach of every sinner to whom the good news is preached. We know that it is free; that it is precious; that it is sufficient; that it is suitable; but we also know that it is Near. Were it far off it would not do for us. But it is so near that we have nothing to do in order to get it, but merely to consent to let God put it upon us! This is faith. Oh, let us not thrust away the Hand that would clothe us with raiment so needful and so divine!

The Joy of the Lord in trials

The joy of the Lord is our strength for the trials of life. There are two ways of bearing a trial; the one is the spirit of stoical endurance, and the other through the counteracting forces of a holy and victorious joy. It was thus that Christ endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him, and then He could despise the shame and not even allow the smell of fire to remain upon His garments. We read in the first chapter of Colossians the prayer of the apostle for a company of saints who had already reached such a measure of holiness that they were made partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; but there was something higher and better for them, namely, that they should be ''strengthened according to His glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness." "Patience" to endure the trials that come from the hand of God, and "long suffering" to endure those which come from men, and both to be endured with real joyfulness. In fact, there is nothing to endure when the heart is full of joy. It lifts us wholly above the trial, and we do not realize that we are being afflicted or wronged. The blessedness of true self-sacrifice is in being so filled with God that we will not have any sacrifice. What luxury of grace it is thus to be lifted above all that could even try the heart! The rocks are not taken from the bottom of the stream, but the blessed tides rise so high that the ships sail far above them in the current of God's great joy. And so the apostle explains his self-sacrifices for the Philippians, "Though I be offered on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all."

The joy of the Lord always counts on something better than we lose, and remembers that there is one above who is the great Recompenser and Restorer, and will give a thousand times more by-and-by for one victory of patience and love than all the world is worth to-day.  Yes, the joy of the Lord is our strength for life's trials, And lifts the crushed heart above sorrow and care,

Like the nightingale's song, it can sing in the darkness, And rejoice when the fig tree is withered and bare.

Q&A of the Attributes of God

"God lives forever and ever" Ps. 90:1-17

God lives forever and ever He never had a beginning, and he will never have an end. He never changes. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.  He is the everlasting Father—the Fountain—the Giver of life to us and to all things. “ In him we live, and move and have our being.” Our father and mother and friends in this world, may die and leave us alone. But our Father in heaven is greater than these, and can never die. He lives, and can take care of us from the cradle to the grave. Ps. 103:1—5; 145 :9, 15, 16; Matt. 6:11.  And because He lives, we shall live also.  Our bodies may die, but God will raise them up again. We shall live soul and body forever.  2 Tim. 1:9, 1 .This is a delightful truth to us if we are righteous. If we are righteous, then we shall live with God in heaven, forever! But it is a distressing truth if we are wicked. We shall then live with devils in hell, forever. Matt. 25 :46; 16:24-—27.

Q. Who made and who takes care of all things?

A. God. (Gen.1:1, John 1:1-3, Col. 1:1-15, Heb. 1:1-3, Matt. 6:19-34, 10:28-33)

Q. Was God made Himself?

A. No. (Isa. 44:6, 43:10, Deut. 32:39, 40)

Q. Has he a Father?

A. No. He has no Father (Eph. 4:6)

Q. If then God is not made, and has no Father, who gives him life?

A. No one

Q. How then does He life?

A. The Father has life in Himself. (John 5:26, Jer. 10:10, 1 Tim. 1:17, 6:16,)

Q. Has God always lived?

A. Yes.

Q. Will He ever change of die, and come to an end?

A. No. (Gen. 21:33, Ex. 3:14, 1 Tim. 1:17, 6:16, Heb. 1:10-12, Isa. 40:28, Ps. 145:13, James 1:17, Rev. 1:8)

Q. What does the Scripture say of God’s being from everlasting?

A. “ From everlasting to everlasting thou art God.”(Ps. 90: 2, Mal.3:6,  Ps.90:4).

Q. Who gives life to us and to all things?

A. God. (Ps. 145 : 15, 16; Acts 17: 25.)

Q. What does the Bible say, beginning with, “In Him we live ?”

A. “In Him we live, and move. and have our being." Acts 17:28.

Q. Shall we live forever and ever? 

A. Our bodies shall die, but our souls shall live.

Q. But will not our bodies be raised to life again in the last day?

A. Yes.