Miles J. Stanford, The Complete Green Letters , pp. 16-17.

Failure where self is concerned in our Christian life and service, is allowed and often engineered by God in order to turn us completely from ourselves to His Source for our life—Christ Jesus, who never fails. ... "Blessed are they which do hunger and thrist [sic] after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6). ...

God has a natural law in force to the effect that we are conformed to that on which we center our interest and love.

Norman Douty writes,

"If I am to be like Him, then God in His grace must do it, and the sooner I come to recognize it the sooner I will be delivered from another form of bondage. Throw down every endeavor and say, I cannot do it, the more I try the farther I get from His likeness. What shall I do? Ah, the Holy Spirit says, You cannot do it; just withdraw; come out of it. You have been in the arena, you have beeen endeavoring, you are a failure, come out and sit down, and as you sit there behold Him, look at Him. Don't try to be like Him, just look at Him. Just be occupied with Him. Forget about trying to be like Him. Instead of letting that fill your mind and heart, let Him fill it. Just behold Him, look upon Him through the Word. Come to the Word for one purpose and that is to meet the Lord. Not to get your mind crammed full of things about the sacred Word, but come to it to meet the Lord. Make it to be a medium, not of Biblical scholarship, but of fellowship with Christ. Behold the Lord."

[Emphasis added]