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YOUR BIBLE AND YOU<br />
78<br />
Y o u M a y H a v e A n y t h i n g<br />
3:16. It is equally limitless. It suggests infinite wealth and an infinite willingness<br />
to share it with others.<br />
To make sure that no one would mistake His intention or underestimate the<br />
extent of His promise, Jesus added: “If ye shall ask any thing in my name,<br />
I will do it.” A little later He repeated the assurance in these words: “If ye<br />
abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall<br />
be done unto you” (John 15:7).<br />
Here are some of the most remarkable promises of help and blessing ever<br />
made. Read them again in the Revised Standard Version:<br />
“Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.”<br />
“If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”<br />
“Ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.”<br />
If words mean anything, then God has made provision for every holy wish<br />
of ours to be granted. If our lives are wretched, impoverished, and spiritually<br />
emaciated, the fault must be ours, not His. He has planned greatly for us. He<br />
stands ready to be very gracious to us and fill our lives with blessings. If we<br />
“have not,” it is because we “ask not.” See James 4:2.<br />
One reason that Jesus came to this earth and died on Calvary’s cross was<br />
to make rich those who accept and love Him. “<strong>You</strong> know the grace of our<br />
Lord Jesus Christ,” wrote the apostle Paul, “that though He was rich, yet for<br />
your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich”<br />
(2 Corinthians 8:9, RSV).<br />
Not rich necessarily in material things, for these count little in the sight of<br />
God, but rich in the things of the Spirit, which, after all, alone have lasting<br />
value. Through Him we can become rich in wisdom, in knowledge, in faith,<br />
in mercy, in love. “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to<br />
be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He has promised to those<br />
who love Him” (James 2:5, RSV).<br />
“If any of you lacks wisdom,” wrote James, “let him ask God who gives<br />
to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given<br />
him” (James 1:5, RSV).<br />
This emphasizes again God’s attitude to all our needs and requests. He is<br />
generous. Very generous. And His generosity is measurable only by His<br />
love, which is infinite.<br />
With this thought in mind the apostle Paul asked, “He that spared not his
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