The mirror., 1923-07-26
PROMISES OF THE BIBLE


make promises to their children that they
did not hope and expect to fulfill. Crown
up people can now cling just as tenaciously
to the promises of our heavenly Father, and
with even greater expectancy of fulfllment
than even the child did to his earthly
parents's promises, when once they have
understood their true relationship with God
and, in measure, becCue acquainted with
Him.
All through both the Old and the New
Testament we find promises of good
promises of health, of prosperity, peace,
happiness, and freedom from fear;- and
it is our part as children of God to rise in
thought to claim and prove that these
promises are true: "Thou wilt keep him
in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee: because he trusted in thee" Gear
thou not; for I am with thee;" "T have
seen his ways, and will heal him. will
lead him also, and restore comforts unto
him and his mourners." These promises
are only a few of the many with which
we can begin the working out of the prob
lens that are confronting us, and from
which we have the right to expect to be
freed
The very first step in any righteous
activity in the way of advancement is
faith. If we do not believe thing to be
true and honest, we do not feel like using
our endeavors to proceed with it. So we
must be sure we really believe that God
is, and are willing to "take Him at his
word" This small effort of right begin
ming will enable us to behold and make
use of the multitude of the riches of His
love.
In studying the promises of the Bible, we
find that with every promise there is
condition of thought in order that we may
lay claim to all good: "Acquaint now thy
self with him and be at peace: thereby
good shall come unto thee" 1t is acquain-
tance with God that really counts, and
through which we can confidently expect
that good will come to us. When we
thought of God, perhaps, as humanity cir
cumscribed or dwelling in far-away
place and of whom we were afraid,p
sibly expecting to be punished more often
than to be loved, we surelysdid not have
a very friendly or loving acquaintance
p. with God. A child who is made COM
panion and friend by his parents, who is
taught to share with his parents the little
intimacies of his play, his lessons, his joys,
his dissapointments, becomes more closely
acquainted with his father or mother than
one who fears an austere parent, from
whom he often conceals his innermost
thoughts and desires. So it is as~we rec
ognize that God is love, ever present, the
One whom we can take for companion
and friend, whom we can love-. and by
whom we are loved and cared for, that
we become acquainted with Him. "God
is universal, eternal, divine Love, which
changeth not and causeth no evil, disease,
nor DEATH" The Bible speaks of God as
Him "who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
who healeth all thy diseases"
To one who may be struggling with
what seems big problem, it is great
relief to know there is something tangible
that we can lay hold of to help us out of
our troubles. This help is the truth about
God: and real help can come from no
other source. The story of the prodigal
son, so familiar to all, with its blessed
words of tender parental love and care for
the elder son, "Son thou art ever with me,
and all that 1 have is thine" can be ac-
cepted by every one of us as we awaken
to know that man indeed lives and has his
being in God. Then we see that creation
is the unfoldment of that which has always
been,-the embodiment of good; and this
unfoldment will become evidenced in our