The same power that upholds nature is working also in man. The same great laws that guide alike the star and the atom control human life. The laws that govern the heart’s action, regulating the flow of the current of life to the body, are the laws of the mighty Intelligence that has the jurisdiction of the soul. From Him all life proceeds. Only in harmony with Him can be found its true sphere of action. For all the objects of His creation the condition is the same—a life sustained by receiving the life of God, a life exercised in harmony with the Creator’s will. To transgress His law, physical, mental, or moral, is to place oneself out of harmony with the universe, to introduce discord, anarchy, ruin.
(MM 10.1)
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To him who learns thus to interpret its teachings, all nature becomes illuminated; the world is a lesson book, life a school. The unity of man with nature and with God, the universal dominion of law, the results of transgression, cannot fail of impressing the mind and molding the character....
(MM 10.2)
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The heart not yet hardened by contact with evil is quick to recognize the Presence that pervades all created things. The ear as yet undulled by the world’s clamor is attentive to the Voice that speaks through nature’s utterances....
(MM 10.3)
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The unseen is illustrated by the seen. On everything upon the earth ... they may behold the image and superscription of God.—Education, 99, 100.
(MM 10.4)
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All nature is alive. Through its varied forms of life it speaks to those who have ears to hear and hearts to understand of Him who is the source of all life. Nature reveals the wonderful working of the Master Artist.—Letter 164, 1900.
(MM 10.5)
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In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works of creation.... And upon all things in earth, and air, and sky, He wrote the message of the Father’s love.
(MM 10.6)
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Now sin has marred God’s perfect work, yet that handwriting remains. Even now all created things declare the glory of His excellence.... Every tree and shrub and leaf pours forth that element of life without which neither man nor animal could live; and man and animal, in turn, minister to the life of tree and shrub and leaf.—D.A. 20, 21.
(MM 10.7)
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Unless managers cherish the love of God, young men and young women might better not be brought within the sphere of their influence....
(MM 184.1)
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Remember that day by day the great Master Artist is taking a picture of your character. Your thoughts, your words, your actions, are transferred to His record book, as the features of the human countenance are transferred to the polished plate of the artist.
(MM 184.2)
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We are to be Christ’s representatives on the earth—pure, kind, just, and merciful, full of compassion, showing unselfishness in word and deed. Avarice and covetousness are vices that God abominates. They are the offspring of selfishness and sin, and they spoil every work with which they are allowed to mingle. Roughness and coarseness of character are imperfections which the Scriptures decidedly condemn as dishonoring to God.
(MM 184.3)
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“Let your conversation” —your disposition and habits—“be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5) “Therefore as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also” (2 Corinthians 8:7)—the grace of Christian liberality. “To do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”Hebrews 13:16.
(MM 184.4)
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The word of the Lord to those connected with His institutions is, “Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.”Isaiah 52:11. In all our institutions let self-seeking give place to unselfish love and labor. Then the golden oil will be emptied from the two olive branches into the golden pipes, which will empty themselves into the vessels prepared to receive it. Then the lives of Christ’s workers will indeed be an exposition of the sacred truths of His word.
(MM 184.5)
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The fear of God, the sense of His goodness, His holiness, will circulate through every institution. An atmosphere of love and peace will pervade every department. Every word spoken, every work performed, will have an influence that corresponds to the influence of heaven. Christ will abide in humanity, and humanity will abide in Christ. In all the work will appear not the character of finite men, but the character of the infinite God. The divine influence imparted by holy angels will impress the minds brought in contact with the workers, and from these workers a fragrant influence will go forth to all who choose to inhale it. The goodly fabric of character wrought through divine power will receive light and glory from heaven, and will stand out before the world as a witness, pointing to the throne of the living God.
(MM 184.6)
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