Changed Characters

The men who gathered to David to the cave of Adullam had only sorry characters, yet they had fine characters when the kingdom was set up. Why? Because they remained with David. So the power of assimilation to the Lord will keep us in His presence and mend our characters.
“Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom He spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto Him, Lord, who is it?" John then, drawing more closely, gets the mind of Christ and this because he was leaning on His bosom. He did not draw near to get the mind, but because he was near he got the mind of the Lord.
“He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." John 14:21. No matter how ignorant we may be, if we love Christ, we will get the intelligence of His mind and He will reveal Himself to us. Mary, in John 20, had little understanding, but she had a heart that could well nigh break itself for Christ. She got the manifestation of Himself as well as His commandments. To such hearts as these, He makes Himself known. Is your heart resting on His bosom? Is your ear open to hear His word? Are you so near that He communicates to you His mind?
Why do we go to another to solve a question? Because we feel that he is nearer to the Lord than we are. In Judas there was the habitual allowance of sin and this was the groundwork of his fall. It hardened his conscience. The Lord could not reveal His mind to the others until Judas had gone out. The presence of the traitor hindered the manifestation of His glory.
“A new commandment I give unto you." John 13:34. There are in other languages two words for "new." But in English we have only one. Suppose you see a man with a coat of an entirely new fashion and cut that never was seen before.