6BC 1118

   We may talk of the blessings of the Holy Spirit, but unless we prepare ourselves for its reception, of what avail are our works? Are we striving with all our power to attain to the stature of men and women in Christ? Are we seeking for His fullness, ever pressing toward the mark set before us-- the perfection of His character? When the Lord's people reach this mark, they will be sealed in their foreheads. Filled with the Spirit, they will be complete in Christ, and the recording angel will declare, "It is finished" (RH June 10, 1902).
  <SB 32. Kind Words Never Lost. <EB--It should be our aim to bring all the pleasantness possible into our lives, and to do all the kindness possible to those around us. Kind words are never lost. Jesus records them as if spoken to Himself. Sow the seeds of kindness, of love, and of tenderness, and they will blossom and bear fruit (MS 33, 1911).
 
                             <SB <SI Chapter 5 <EI <EB
 
     <SB 2 (see EGW on Rom. 8:26, 34; Rev. 8:3, 4). The Acceptable Offering. <EB --The offering that is made to God without a spirit of reverence and gratitude, He does not accept. It is the humble, grateful, reverential heart that makes the offering as a sweet-smelling savor, acceptable to God. The children of Israel might have given all their substance, but given in a spirit of self-sufficiency or Pharisaism, as though God were indebted to them for their favors, their offerings would have been unaccepted, and utterly contemned by Him. It is our privilege, by diligently trading on our Lord's goods, to increase our store, so that we may impart to those who have fallen into distress. Thus we become the Lord's right hand to work out His benevolent purposes (MS 67, 1907).
   <SB 2, 27. Christ's Life an Oblation to God. <EB--"Christ also hath loved us," writes Paul, "and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor." This is the oblation of a life-gift in our behalf, that we may be all that He desires us to be--representatives of Him, expressing the fragrance of His character, His own pure thoughts, His divine attributes as manifested in His sanctified human life, in order that others may behold Him in His human form, and, comprehending God's wonderful design, be led to desire to be like Christ--pure, undefiled wholly acceptable to God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing (MS 159, 1903).
    <SB 9. <EB See EGW on Gal. 5:22, 23.