Streams in the Desert Devotionals

1). Be definite in prayer

2). Desperate Days

3). Receive all He has for you

4). When we see Him face to face

5). Obstinate faith

6). Leave it with Him

7). Rely on God, not self

8). Security in storms

9). Hold fast and trust

10).Do not yield to discouragement

11). Honor Him in the trials

12).God’s mysterious dealings

13).Inward stillness

14).Thankful for the thorns

15).Spiritual force

16).Discovering God’s grace

17).Proclaim what you have learned

18). Watch for God

19). God permits temptation

20). Waiting and working

21). Resurrection hope

22). Rest on the Word of God

23). By faith Abraham obeyed

24). Diamond in the rough

25). Hindrance to prayer

26). Stand still

27). By Thy Spirit

28). Abundantly able

29). God knows

30). Thou wilt revive me

31). Waiting for resurrection

(1) Be Definite in Prayer

"And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and

God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst

unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy

kindred, and I will deal well with thee: Deliver

me, I pray thee" (Gen. 32:9, 11).

There are many healthy symptoms in that prayer.

In some respects it may serve as a mould into

which our own spirits may pour themselves, when

melted in the fiery furnace of sorrow.

He began by quoting God's promise: "Thou saidst."

He did so twice (9 and 12). Ah, he has got God in

his power then! God puts Himself within our reach

in His promises; and when we can say to Him,

"Thou saidst," He cannot say nay. He must do as

He has said. If Herod was so particular for his

oath's sake, what will not our God be? Be sure in

prayer, to get your feet well on a promise; it

will give you purchase enough to force open the

gates of heaven, and to take it by force. 

--Practical Portions for the Prayer-life

Jesus desires that we shall be definite in our

requests, and that we shall ask for some special

thing. "What will ye that I shall do unto you?"

is the question that He asks of every one who in

affliction and trial comes to Him. Make your

requests with definite earnestness if you would

have definite answers. Aimlessness in prayer

accounts for so many seemingly unanswered

prayers. Be definite in your petition. Fill out

your check for something definite, and it will be

cashed at the bank of Heaven when presented in

Jesus' Name. Dare to be definite with God. 

--Selected

Miss Havergal has said: "Every year, I might

almost say every day, that I live, I seem to see

more clearly how all the rest and gladness and

power of our Christian life hinges on one thing;

and that is, taking God at His word, believing

that He really means exactly what He says, and

accepting the very words in which He reveals His

goodness and grace, without substituting others

or altering the precise modes and tenses which He

has seen fit to use."

Bring Christ's Word--Christ's promise, and

Christ's sacrifice--His blood, with thee, and not

one of Heaven's blessings can be denied thee. 

--Adam Clarke

(2) Desperate Days

"But without faith it is impossible to please

him: for he that cometh to God must believe that

he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that

diligently seek him." (Heb. 11:6).

The faith for desperate days.

The Bible is full of such days. Its record is

made up of them, its songs are inspired by them,

its prophecy is concerned with them, and its

revelation has come through them.

The desperate days are the stepping-stones in the

path of light. They seem to have been God's

opportunity and man's school of wisdom.

There is a story of an Old Testament love feast

in Psalm 107, and in every story of deliverance

the point of desperation gave God His chance. The

"wit's end" of desperation was the beginning of

God's power. Recall the promise of seed as the

stars of heaven, and as the sands of the sea, to

a couple as good as dead. Read again the story of

the Red Sea and its deliverance, and of Jordan

with its ark standing mid-stream. Study once more

the prayers of Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah,

when they were sore pressed and knew not what to

do. Go over the history of Nehemiah, Daniel,

Hosea, and Habakkuk. Stand with awe in the

darkness of Gethsemane, and linger by the grave

in Joseph's garden through those terrible days.

Call the witnesses of the early Church, and ask

the apostles the story of their desperate days.

Desperation is better than despair.

Faith did not make our desperate days. Its work

is to sustain and solve them. The only

alternative to a desperate faith is despair, and

faith holds on and prevails.

There is no more heroic example of desperate

faith than that of the three Hebrew children. The

situation was desperate, but they answered

bravely, "Our God whom we serve is able to

deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace; and

he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But

if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we

will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden

image which thou hast set up." I like that, "but

if not !"

I have only space to mention Gethsemane. Ponder

deeply its "Nevertheless." "If it is

possible…nevertheless!" Deep darkness had settled

upon the soul of our Lord. Trust meant anguish

unto blood and darkness to the descent of

hell--Nevertheless! Nevertheless!!

Now get your hymn book and sing your favorite

hymn of desperate faith.  --Rev. S. Chadwick

"When obstacles and trials seem

Like prison walls to be,

I do the little I can do

And leave the rest to Thee.

"And when there seems no chance, no change,

From grief can set me free,

Hope finds its strength in helplessness,

And calmly waits for Thee."

(3) Receive All He Has For You

"Look from the place where thou art, northward,

and southward, and eastward, and westward: for

all the land which thou seest, to thee will I

give it" (Gen. 13:14-15).

No instinct can be put in you by the Holy Ghost

but He purposes to fulfill. Let your faith then

rise and soar away and claim all the land you can

discover.  --S. A. Keen

All you can apprehend in the vision of faith is

your own. Look as far as you can, for it is all

yours. All that you long to be as a Christian,

all that you long to do for God, are within the

possibilities of faith. Then come, still closer,

and with your Bible before you, and your soul

open to all the influences of the Spirit, let

your whole being receive the baptism of His

presence; and as He opens your understanding to

see all His fulness, believe He has it all for

you. Accept for yourself all the promises of His

word, all the desires He awakens within you, all

the possibilities of what you may be as a

follower of Jesus. All the land you see is given

to you.

The actual provisions of His grace come from the

inner vision. He who puts the instinct in the

bosom of yonder bird to cross the continent in

search of summer sunshine in the Southern clime

is too good to deceive it, and just as surely as

He has put the instinct in its breast, so has He

also put the balmy breezes and the vernal

sunshine yonder to meet it when it arrives.

He who breathes into our hearts the heavenly

hope, will not deceive or fail us when we press

forward to its realization.  --Selected

"And they found as he had said unto them" (Luke

22:13).

(4) When We See Him Face to Face

"I do not count the sufferings of our present

life worthy of mention when compared with the

glory that is to be revealed and bestowed upon

us" (Rom. 8:18, 20th Century Trans.).

A remarkable incident occurred recently at a

wedding in England. A young man of large wealth

and high social position, who had been blinded by

an accident when he was ten years old, and who

won University honors in spite of his blindness,

had won a beautiful bride, though he had never

looked upon her face. A little while before his

marriage, he submitted to a course of treatment

by experts, and the climax came on the day of his

wedding.

The day came, and the presents, and guests. There

were present cabinet ministers and generals arid

bishops and learned men and women. The

bridegroom, dressed for the wedding, his eyes

still shrouded in linen, drove to the church with

his father, and the famous oculist met them in

the vestry.

The bride, entered the church on the arm of her

white-haired father. So moved was she that she

could hardly speak. Was her lover at last to see

her face that others admired, but which he knew

only through his delicate finger tips?

As she neared the altar, while the soft strains

of the wedding march floated through the church,

her eyes fell on a strange group.

The father stood there with his son. Before the

latter was the great oculist in the act of

cutting away the last bandage. The bridegroom

took a step forward, with the spasmodic

uncertainty of one who cannot believe that he is

awake. A beam of rose-colored light from a pane

in the chancel window fell across his face, but

he did not seem to see it.

Did he see anything? Yes! Recovering in an

instant his steadiness of mien, and with a

dignity and joy never before seen in his face, he

went forward to meet his bride. They looked into

each other's eyes, and one would have thought

that his eyes would never wander from her face.

"At last!" she said. "At last!" he echoed

solemnly, bowing his head. That was a: scene of

great dramatic power, and no doubt of great joy,

and is but a mere suggestion of what will

actually take place in Heaven when the Christian

who has been walking through this world of trial

and sorrow, shall see Him face to face. 

--Selceted

"Just a-wearying for you, 

Jesus, Lord, beloved and true; 

Wishing for you, wondering when 

You'll be coming back again, 

Under all I say and do, 

Just a-wearying for you.

"Some glad day, all watching past, 

You will come for me at last; 

Then I'll see you, hear your voice, 

Be with you, with you rejoice; 

How the sweet hope thrills me through, 

Sets me wearying for you."

(5) Obstinate Faith

"And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles

of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of

the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest

in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of

Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come

down from above; and they shall stand upon a

heap." (Joshua 3:13).

Brave Levites! Who can help admiring them, to

carry the Ark right into the stream; for the

waters were not divided till their feet dipped in

the water (ver. 15). God had not promised aught

else. God honors faith. "Obstinate faith," that

the PROMISE sees and "looks to that alone." You

can fancy how the people would watch these holy

men march on, and some of the bystanders would be

saying, "You would not catch me running that

risk! Why, man, the ark will be carried away!"

Not so; "the priests stood firm on dry ground."

We must not overlook the fact that faith on our

part helps God to carry out His plans. "Come up

to the help of the Lord."

The Ark had staves for the shoulders. Even the

Ark did not move of itself; it was carried. When

God is the architect, men are the masons and

laborers. Faith assists God. It can stop the

mouth of lions and quench the violence of fire.

It yet honors God, and God honors it. Oh, for

this faith that will go on, leaving God to

fulfill His promise when He sees fit! Fellow

Levites, let us shoulder our load, and do not let

us look as if we were carrying God's coffin. It

is the Ark of the living God! Sing as you march

towards the flood!  --Thomas Champness

One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the

Apostolic Church was the spirit of boldness. One

of the most essential qualities of the faith that

is to attempt great things for God, and expect

great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we

are dealing with a supernatural Being, and taking

from Him things that are humanly impossible, it

is easier to take much than little; it is easier

to stand in a place of audacious trust than in a

place of cautious, timid clinging to the shore.

Like wise seamen in the life of faith, let us

launch out into the deep, and find that all

things are possible with God, and all things are

possible unto him that believeth.

Let us, today, attempt great things for God; take

His faith and believe for them and His strength

to accomplish them.  --Days of Heaven upon Earth

(6) Leave it With Him

"Consider the lilies, how they grow" (Matt.

6:28).

I need oil," said an ancient monk; so he planted

an olive sapling. "Lord," he prayed, "it needs

rain that its tender roots may drink and swell.

Send gentle showers." And the Lord sent gentle

showers. "Lord," prayed the monk, "my tree needs

sun. Send sun, I pray Thee." And the sun shone,

gilding the dripping clouds. "Now frost, my Lord,

to brace its tissues," cried the monk. And

behold, the little tree stood sparkling with

frost, but at evening it died.

Then the monk sought the cell of a brother monk,

and told his strange experience. "I, too, planted

a little tree," he said, "and see! it thrives

well. But I entrust my tree to its God. He who

made it knows better what it needs than a man

like me. I laid no condition. I fixed not ways or

means. 'Lord, send what it needs,' I prayed,

'storm or sunshine, wind, rain, or frost. Thou

hast made it and Thou dost know.'"

Yes, leave it with Him, 

The lilies all do,

And they grow--

They grow in the rain,

And they grow in the, dew--

Yes, they grow:

They grow in the darkness, all hid in the night--

They grow in the sunshine, revealed by the

light--

Still they grow.

Yes, leave it with Him 

'Tis more dear to His heart,

You will know,

Than the lilies that bloom,

Or the flowers that start

'Neath the snow:

Whatever you need, if you seek it in prayer,

You can leave it with Him--for you are His care.

You, you know.

--Selected

(7) Rely on God, Not Self

"Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass

yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light

of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have

kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye

shall lie down in sorrow" (Isa. 50:11).

What a solemn warning to those who walk in

darkness and yet who try to help themselves out

into the light. They are represented as kindling

a fire, and compassing themselves with sparks.

What does this mean?

Why, it means that when we are in darkness the

temptation is to find a way without trusting in

the Lord and relying upon Him. Instead of letting

Him     help us out, we try to help ourselves

out. We seek the light of nature, and get the

advice of our friends. We try the conclusions of

our reason, and might almost be tempted to accept

a way of deliverance which would not be of God at

all.

All these are fires of our own kindling;

rushlights that will surely lead us onto the

shoals. And God will let us walk in the light of

those sparks, but the end will be sorrow.

Beloved, do not try to get out of a dark place,

except, in God's time and in God's way. The time

of trouble is meant to teach you lessons that you

sorely need.

Premature deliverance may frustrate God's work of

grace in your life. Just commit the whole

situation to Him. Be willing to abide in darkness

so long as you have His presence. Remember that

it is better to walk in the dark with God than to

walk alone in the light.  --The Still Small Voice

Cease meddling with God's plans and will. You

touch anything of His, and you mar the work. You

may move the hands of a clock to suit you, but

you do not change the time; so you may hurry the

unfolding of God's will, but you harm and do not

help the work. You can open a rosebud but you

spoil the flower. Leave all to Him. Hands down.

Thy will, not mine.  --Stephen Merritt

HIS WAY

God bade me go when I would stay

('Twas cool within the wood);

I did not know the reason why.

I heard a boulder crashing by

Across the path where I stood.

He bade me stay when I would go;

"Thy will be done," I said.

They found one day at early dawn,

Across the way I would have gone,

A serpent with a mangled head.

No more I ask the reason why,

Although I may not see

The path ahead, His way I go;

For though I know not, He doth know,

And He will choose safe paths for me.

--The Sunday School Times

(8) Security in Storms

"'The wind was contrary" (Matt. 14:24).

Rude and blustering the winds of March often are.

Do they not typify the tempestuous seasons of my

life? But, indeed, I ought to be glad that I make

acquaintance with these seasons. Better it is

that the rains descend and the floods come than

that I should stay perpetually in the Lotus Land

where it seems always afternoon, or in that deep

meadowed Valley of Avilion where never wind blows

loudly. Storms of temptation appear cruel, but do

they not give intenser earnestness to prayer? Do

they not compel me to seize the promises with a

tighter hand grip? Do they not leave me with a

character refined?

Storms of bereavement are keen; but, then, they

are one of the Father's ways of driving me to

Himself, that in the secret of His presence His

voice may speak to my heart, soft and low. There

is a glory of the Master which can be seen only

when the wind is contrary and the ship tossed

with waves.

"Jesus Christ is no security against storms, but

He is perfect security in storms. He has never

promised you an easy passage, only a safe

landing."

Oh, set your sail to the heavenly gale,

And then, no matter what winds prevail,

No reef can wreck you, no calm delay;

No mist shall hinder, no storm shall stay;

Though far you wander and long you roam

Through salt sea sprays and o'er white sea foam,

No wind that can blow but shall speed you Home.

--Annie Johnson Flint

(9) Hold Fast and Trust

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust him" (Job

13:15). 

"For I know whom I have believed" (2 Tim. 1:12).

"I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea 

Come drifting home with broken masts and sails; 

I will believe the Hand which never fails,

From seeming evil worketh good for me. 

And though I weep because those sails are

tattered, 

Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie

shattered: 

'I trust in Thee.'

"I will not doubt, though all my prayers return 

Unanswered from the still, white realm above; 

I will believe it is an all-wise love

Which has refused these things for which I yearn;

And though at times I cannot keep from grieving, 

Yet the pure ardor of my fixed believing 

Undimmed shall burn.

"I will not doubt, though sorrows fall like rain,

And troubles swarm like bees about a hive. 

I will believe the heights for which I strive

Are only reached by anguish and by pain;

And though I groan and writhe beneath my crosses.

I yet shall see through my severest losses 

The greater gain.

"I will not doubt. Well anchored is this faith, 

Like some staunch ship, my soul braves every

gale; 

So strong its courage that it will not quail 

To breast the mighty unknown sea of death. 

Oh, may I cry, though body parts with spirit, 

'I do not doubt,' so listening worlds may hear

it, 

With my last breath."

"In fierce storms," said an old seaman, "we must

do one thing; there is only one way: we must put

the ship in a certain position and keep her

there."

This, Christian, is what you must do. Sometimes,

like Paul, you can see neither sun nor stars, and

no small tempest lies on you; and then you can do

but one thing; there is only one way.

Reason cannot help you; past experiences give you

no light. Even prayer fetches no consolation.

Only a single course is left. You must put your

soul in one position and keep it there.

You must stay upon the Lord; and come what

may--winds, waves, cross-seas, thunder,

lightning, frowning rocks, roaring breakers--no

matter what, you must lash yourself to the helm,

and hold fast your confidence in God's

faithfulness, His covenant engagement, His

everlasting love in Christ Jesus.  --Richard

Fuller

(10) Do Not Yield to Discouragement

"They looked…and behold, the glory of the Lord

appeared in the cloud" (Exod. 16:20).

Get into the habit of looking for the silver

lining of the cloud and when you have found it,

continue to look at it, rather than at the leaden

gray in the middle.

Do not yield to discouragement no matter how

sorely pressed or beset you may be. A discouraged

soul is helpless. He can neither resist the wiles

of the enemy himself, while in this state, nor

can he prevail in prayer for others.

Flee from every symptom of this deadly foe as you

would flee from a viper. And be not slow in

turning your back on it, unless you want to bite

the dust in bitter defeat.

Search out God's promises and say aloud of each

one: "This promise is mine." If you still

experience a feeling of doubt and discouragement,

pour out your heart to God and ask Him to rebuke

the adversary who is so mercilessly nagging you.

The very instant you whole-heartedly turn away

from every symptom of distrust and

discouragement, the blessed Holy Spirit will

quicken your faith and inbreathe Divine strength

into your soul.

At first you may not be conscious of this, still

as you resolutely and uncompromisingly "snub"

every tendency toward doubt and depression that

assails you, you will soon be made aware that the

powers of darkness are falling back.

Oh, if our eyes could only behold the solid

phalanx of strength, of power, that is ever

behind every turning away from the hosts of

darkness, God-ward, what scant heed would be

given to the effort of the wily foe to distress,

depress, discourage us!

All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are

on the side of the weakest believer, who in the

name of Christ, and in simple, childlike trust,

yields himself to God and turns to Him for help

and guidance.  --Selected

On a day in the autumn, I saw a prairie eagle

mortally wounded by a rifle shot. His eye still

gleamed like a circle of light. Then he slowly

turned his head, and gave one more searching and

longing look at the sky. He had often swept those

starry spaces with his wonderful wings. The

beautiful sky was the home of his heart. It was

the eagle's domain. A thousand times he had

exploited there his splendid strength. In those

far away heights be had played with the

lightnings, and raced with the winds, and now, so

far away from home, the eagle lay dying, done to

the death, because for once be forgot and flew

too low. The soul is that eagle. This is not its

home. It must not lose the skyward look. We must

keep faith, we must keep hope, we must keep

courage, we must keep Christ. We would better

creep away from the battlefield at once if we are

not going to be brave. There is no time for the

soul to stampede. Keep the skyward look, my soul;

keep the skyward look!

"Keep looking up--

The waves that roar around thy feet,

Jehovah-Jireh will defeat

When looking up.

"Keep looking up--

Though darkness seems to wrap thy soul;

The Light of Light shall fill thy soul 

When looking up.

"Keep looking up--

When worn, distracted with the fight;

Your Captain gives you conquering might 

When you look up."

We can never see the sun rise by looking into the

west.  --Japanese Proverb

(11) Honor Him in the Trials

"Glorify ye the Lord in the fires" (Isa. 24:15).

Mark the little word "in"! We are to honor Him in

the trial--in that which is an affliction indeed

and though there have been cases where God did

not let His saints feel the fire, yet,

ordinarily, fire hurts.

But just here we are to glorify Him by our

perfect faith in His goodness and love that has

permitted all this to come upon us.

And more than that, we are to believe that out of

this is coming something more for His praise than

could have come but for this fiery trial.

We can only go through some fires with a large

faith; little faith will fail. We must have the

victory in the furnace.  --Margaret Bottome

A man has as much religion as he can show in

times of trouble. The men who were cast into the

fiery furnace came out as they went in--except

their bonds.

How often in some furnace of affliction God

strikes them off! Their bodies were unhurt--their

skin not even blistered. Their hair was unsinged,

their garments not scorched, and even the smell

of fire had not passed upon them. And that is the

way Christians should come out of furnace

trials--liberated from their bonds, but untouched

by the flames.

"Triumphing over them in it" (Col. 2:15).

That is the real triumph--triumphing over

sickness, in it; triumphing over death, dying;

triumphing over adverse circumstances, in them.

Oh, believe me, there is a power that can make us

victors in the strife. There are heights to be

reached where we can look down and over the way

we have come, and sing our song of triumph on

this side of Heaven. We can make others regard us

as rich, while we are poor, and make many rich in

our poverty. Our triumph is to be in it. Christ's

triumph was in His humiliation. Possibly our

triumph, also, is to be made manifest in what

seems to others humiliation.  --Margaret Bottome

Is there not something captivating in the sight

of a man or a woman burdened with many

tribulations and yet carrying a heart as sound as

a bell? Is there not something contagiously

valorous in the vision of one who is greatly

tempted, but is more than conqueror? Is it not

heartening to see some pilgrim who is broken in

body, but who retains the splendor of an unbroken

patience? What a witness all this offers to the

enduement of His grace!  --J. H. Jowett

"When each earthly prop gives under,

And life seems a restless sea,

Are you then a God-kept wonder,

Satisfied and calm and free?"

(12) God's Mysterious Dealings

"Thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy

sons" (2 Kings 4:4).

They were to be alone with God, for they were not

dealing with the laws of nature, nor human

government, nor the church, nor the priesthood,

nor even with the great prophet of God, but they

must needs be isolated from all creatures, from

all leaning circumstances, from all props of

human reason, and swung off, as it were, into the

vast blue inter-stellar space, hanging on God

alone, in touch with the fountain of miracles.

Here is a part in the programme of God's

dealings, a secret chamber of isolation in prayer

and faith which every soul must enter that is

very fruitful.

There are times and places where God will form a

mysterious wall around us, and cut away all

props, and all the ordinary ways of doing things,

and shut us up to something Divine, which is

utterly new and unexpected, something that old

circumstances do not fit into, where we do not

know just what will happen, where God is cutting

the cloth of our lives on a new pattern, where He

makes us look to Himself.

Most religious people live in a sort of treadmill

life, where they can calculate almost everything

that will happen, but the souls that God leads

out into immediate and special dealings, He shuts

in where all they know is that God has hold of

them, and is dealing with them, and their

expectation is from Him alone.

Like this widow, we must be detached from outward

things and attached inwardly to the Lord alone in

order to see His wonders.  --Soul Food

In the sorest trials God often makes the sweetest

discoveries of Himself.  --Gems

"God sometimes shuts the door and shuts us in,

That He may speak, perchance through grief or

pain,

And softly, heart to heart, above the din,

May tell some precious thought to us again."

(13) Inward Stillness

"Their strength is to sit still." (Isa. 30:7).

In order really to know God, inward stillness is

absolutely necessary. I remember when I first

learned this. A time of great emergency had risen

in my life, when every part of my being seemed to

throb with anxiety, and when the necessity for

immediate and vigorous action seemed

overpowering; and yet circumstances were such

that I could do nothing, and the person who

could, would not stir.

For a little while it seemed as if I must fly to

pieces with the inward turmoil, when suddenly the

still small voice whispered in the depths of my

soul, "Be still, and know that I am God." The

word was with power, and I hearkened. I composed

my body to perfect stillness, and I constrained

my troubled spirit into quietness, and looked up

and waited; and then I did "know" that it was

God, God even in the very emergency and in my

helplessness to meet it; and I rested in Him. It

was an experience that I would not have missed

for worlds; and I may add also, that out of this

stillness seemed to arise a power to deal with

the emergency, that very soon brought it to a

successful issue. I learned then effectually that

my "strength was to sit still."  --Hannah Whitall

Smith

There is a perfect passivity which is not

indolence. It is a living stillness born of

trust. Quiet tension is not trust. It is simply

compressed anxiety.

Not in the tumult of the rending storm,

Not in the earthquake or devouring flame;

But in the hush that could all fear transform,

The still, small whisper to the prophet came.

0 Soul, keep silence on the mount of God,

Though cares and needs throb around thee like a

sea;

From supplications and desires unshod,

Be still, and hear what God shall say to thee.

All fellowship hath interludes of rest,

New strength maturing in each poise of power;

The sweetest Alleluias of the blest

Are silent, for the space of half an hour.

0 rest, in utter quietude of soul,

Abandon words, leave prayer and praise awhile;

Let thy whole being, hushed in His control,

Learn the full meaning of His voice and smile.

Not as an athlete wrestling for a crown,

Not taking Heaven by violence of will;

But with thy Father as a child sit down,

And know the bliss that follows His "Be Still!"

--Mary Rowles Jarvis

(14) Thankful for the Thorns

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in

reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in

distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak,

then am I strong" (2 Cor. 12:10).

The literal translation of this verse gives a

startling emphasis to it, and makes it speak for

itself with a force that we have probably never

realized. Here It is: "Therefore I take pleasure

in being without strength, in insults, in being

pinched, in being chased about, in being cooped

up in a corner for Christ's sake; for when I am

without strength, then am I dynamite."

Here is the secret of Divine all-sufficiency, to

come to the end of everything in ourselves and in

our circumstances. When we reach this place, we

will stop asking for sympathy because of our hard

situation or bad treatment, for we will recognize

these things as the very conditions of our

blessing, and we will turn from them to God and

find in them a claim upon Him. --A. B. Simpson

George Matheson, the well-known blind preacher of

Scotland, who recently went to be with the Lord,

said: "My God, I have never thanked Thee for my

thorn. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for

my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been

looking forward to a world where I shall get

compensation for my cross; but I have never

thought of my cross as itself a present glory.

"Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the

value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to

Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears

have made my rainbows."

"Alas for him who never sees 

The stars shine through the cypress trees."

(15) Spiritual Force

"All these things are against me" (Gen. 42:36).

"All things work together for good to them that

love God" (Rom. 8:28).

Many people are wanting power. Now how is power

produced? The other day we passed the great works

where the trolley engines are supplied with

electricity. We heard the hum and roar of the

countless wheels, and we asked our friend,

"How do they make the power?"

"Why," he said, "just by the revolution of those

wheels and the friction they produce. The rubbing

creates the electric current."

And so, when God wants to bring more power into

your life, He brings more pressure. He is

generating spiritual force by hard rubbing. Some

do not like it and try to run away from the

pressure, instead of getting the power and using

it to rise above the painful causes.

Opposition is essential to a true equilibrium of

forces. The centripetal and centrifugal forces

acting in opposition to each other keep our

planet in her orbit. The one propelling, and the

other repelling, so act and re-act, that instead

of sweeping off into space in a pathway of

desolation, she pursues her even orbit around her

solar centre.

So God guides our lives. It is not enough to have

an impelling force--we need just as much a

repelling force, and so He holds us back by the

testing ordeals of life, by the pressure of

temptation and trial, by the things that seem

against us, but really are furthering our way and

establishing our goings.

Let us thank Him for both, let us take the

weights as well as the wings, and thus divinely

impelled, let us press on with faith and patience

in our high and heavenly calling.  --A. B.

Simpson

In a factory building there are wheels and

gearings, 

There are cranks and pulleys, beltings tight or

slack--

Some are whirling swiftly, some are turning

slowly, 

Some are thrusting forward, some are pulling

back; 

Some are smooth and silent, some are rough and

noisy, 

Pounding, rattling, clanking, moving with a jerk;

In a wild confusion in a seeming chaos,

Lifting, pushing, driving--but they do their

work.

From the mightiest lever to the tiniest pinion,

All things move together for the purpose planned;

And behind the working is a mind controlling, 

And a force directing, and a guiding hand.

So all things are working for the Lord's beloved;

Some things might be hurtful if alone they stood;

Some might seem to hinder; some might draw us

backward; 

But they work together, and they work for good,

All the thwarted longings, all the stern denials,

All the contradictions, hard to understand.

And the force that holds them, speeds them and

retards them, 

Stops and starts and guides them--is our Father's

hand.

--Annie Johnson Flint

(16) Discovering God's Graces

"Show me wherefore thou contendest with me" (Job

10:2).

Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to

develop thy graces. There are some of thy graces

which would never have been discovered if it were

not for the trials. Dost thou not know that thy

faith never        looks so grand in summer

weather as it does in winter? Love is too oft

like a glowworm, showing but little    light

except it be in the midst of surrounding

darkness. Hope itself is like a star--not to be

seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to

be discovered in the night of adversity.

Afflictions are often the black folds in which

God doth set the jewels of His children's graces,

to make them shine the better.

It was but a little while ago that, on thy knees,

thou wast saying, "Lord, I fear I have no faith:

let me know that I have faith."

Was not this really, though perhaps

unconsciously, praying for trials?--for how canst

thou know that thou hast faith until thy faith is

exercised? Depend upon it. God often sends us

trials that our graces may be discovered, and

that we may be certified of their existence.

Besides, it is not merely discovery; real growth

in grace is the result of sanctified trials.

God trains His soldiers, not in tents of ease and

luxury, but by turning them out and using them to

forced marches and hard service. He makes them

ford through streams, and swim through rivers and

climb mountains, and walk many a weary mile with

heavy knapsacks on their backs. Well, Christian,

may not this account for the troubles through

which you are passing? Is not this the reason why

He is contending with you?  --C. H. Spurgeon

To be left unmolested by Satan is no evidence of

blessing. 

(17) Proclaim What You Have Learned

"What I tell you in the darkness, speak ye in the

light" (Matt. 10:27).

Our Lord is constantly taking us into the dark,

that He may tell us things. Into the dark of the

shadowed home, where bereavement has drawn the

blinds; into the dark of the lonely, desolate

life, where some infirmity closes us in from the

light and stir of life; into the dark of some

crushing sorrow and disappointment.

Then He tells us His secrets, great and

wonderful, eternal and infinite; He causes the

eye which has become dazzled by the glare of

earth to behold the heavenly constellations; and

the car to detect the undertones of His voice,

which is often drowned amid the tumult of earth's

strident cries.

But such revelations always imply a corresponding

responsibility--'that speak ye in the light--that

proclaim upon the housetops."

We are not meant to always linger in the dark, or

stay in the closet; presently we shall be

summoned to take our place in the rush and storm

of life; and when that moment comes, we are to

speak and proclaim what we have learned.

This gives a new meaning to suffering, the

saddest element in which is often its apparent

aimlessness. "How useless I am!" "What am I doing

for the betterment of men?" "Wherefore this waste

of the precious spikenard of my soul?"

Such are the desperate laments of the sufferer.

But God has a purpose in it all. He has withdrawn

His child to the higher altitudes of fellowship,

that he may hear God speaking face to face, and

bear the message to his fellows at the mountain

foot.

Were the forty days wasted that Moses spent on

the Mount, or the period spent at Horeb by

Elijah, or the years spent in Arabia by Paul?

There is no short cut to the life of faith, which

is the all-vital condition of a holy and

victorious life. We must have periods of lonely

meditation and fellowship with God. That our

souls should have their mountains of fellowship,

their valley of quiet rest beneath the shadow of

a great rock, their nights beneath the stars,

when darkness has veiled the material and

silenced the stir of human life, and has opened

the view of the infinite and eternal, is as

indispensable as that our bodies should have

food.

Thus alone can the sense of God's presence become

the fixed possession of the soul, enabling it to

say repeatedly, with the Psalmist, "Thou art

near, 0 God."  --F. B. Meyer

"Some hearts, like evening primroses, open more

beautifully in the shadows of life."

(18) Watch For God

"I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the

tower, and will watch to see what he will say

unto me" (Hab. 2: 1).

There is no waiting on God for help, and there is

no help from God, without watchful expectation on

our part. If we ever fail to receive strength and

defense from Him, it is because we are not on the

outlook for it. Many a proffered succour from

heaven goes past us, because we are not standing

on our watch-tower to catch the far-off

indications of its approach, and to fling open

the gates of our heart for its entrance. He whose

expectation does not lead him to be on the alert

for its coming will get but little. Watch for God

in the events of your life.

The old homely proverb says: "They that watch for

Providence will never want a providence to watch

for," and you may turn it the other way and say,

"They that do not watch for providences will

never have a providence to watch for." Unless you

put out your water-jars when it rains you will

catch no water.

We want to be more business-like and use common

sense with God in pleading promises. If you were

to go to one of the banks, and see a man go in

and out and lay a piece of paper on the table,

and take it up again and nothing more--if he did

that several times a day, I think there would

soon be orders to keep the man out.

Those men who come to the bank in earnest present

their checks, they wait until they receive their

gold, and then they go; but not without having

transacted real business.

They do not put the paper down, speak about the

excellent signature, and discuss the excellent

document; but they want their money for it, and

they are not content without it. These are the

people who are always welcome at the bank, and

not triflers. Alas, a great many people play at

praying. They do not expect God to give them an

answer, and thus they are mere triflers. Our

Heavenly Father would have us do real business

with Him in our praying.  --C. H. Spurgeon

"Thine expectation shall not be cut off." 

(19) God Permits Temptation

"And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned

from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the

wilderness, being forty days tempted of the

devil" (Luke 4:1-2).

Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost, and yet He was

tempted. Temptation often comes upon a man with

its strongest power when he is nearest to God. As

someone has said, "The devil aims high." He got

one apostle to say he did not even know Christ.

Very few men have such conflicts with the devil

as Martin Luther had. Why? Because Martin Luther

was going to shake the very kingdom of hell. Oh,

what conflicts John Bunyan had!

If a man has much of the Spirit of God, he will

have great conflicts with the tempter. God

permits temptation because it does for us what

the storms do for the oaks--it roots us; and what

the fire does for the paintings on the

porcelain--it makes them permanent.

You never know that you have a grip on Christ, or

that He has a grip on you, as well as when the

devil is using all his force to attract you from

Him; then you feel the pull of Christ's right

hand.  --Selected

Extraordinary afflictions are not always the

punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes

the trial of extraordinary graces. God hath many

sharp-cutting instruments, and rough files for

the polishing of His jewels; and those He

especially loves, and means to make the most

resplendent, He hath oftenest His tools upon. 

--Archbishop Leighton

I bear my willing witness that I owe more to the

fire, and the hammer, and the file, than to

anything else in my Lord's workshop. I sometimes

question whether I have ever learned anything

except through the rod. When my schoolroom is

darkened, I see most.  --C. H. Spurgeon

(20) Waiting and Working

"And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and

he said unto me, Arise, go forth unto the plain,

and I will there talk with thee" (Ezek. 3:22).

Did you ever hear of any one being much used for

Christ who did not have some special waiting

time, some complete upset of all his or her plans

first; from St. Paul's being sent off into the

desert of Arabia for three years, when he must

have been boiling over with the glad tidings,

down to the present day?

You were looking forward to telling about

trusting Jesus in Syria; now He says, "I want you

to show what it is to trust Me, without waiting

for Syria."

My own case is far less severe, but the same in

principle, that when I thought the door was flung

open for me to go with a bound into literary

work, it is opposed, and doctor steps in and

says, simply, "Never! She must choose between

writing and living; she can't do both."

That was in 1860. Then I came out of the shell

with "Ministry of Song" in 1869, and saw the

evident wisdom of being kept waiting nine years

in the shade. God's love being unchangeable, He

is just as loving when we do not see or feet His

love. Also His love and His sovereignty are

co-equal and universal; so He withholds the

enjoyment and conscious progress because He knows

best what will really ripen and further His work

in us.  --Memorials of Frances Ridley Havergal

I laid it down in silence,

This work of mine,

And took what had been sent me--

A resting time.

The Master's voice had called me 

To rest apart;

"Apart with Jesus only," 

Echoed my heart.

I took the rest and stillness

From His own Hand,

And felt this present illness

Was what He planned.

How often we choose labor,

When He says "Rest"--

Our ways are blind and crooked;

His way is best.

The work Himself has given,

He will complete.

There may be other errands

For tired feet;

There may be other duties

For tired hands,

The present, is obedience

To His commands.

There is a blessed resting

In lying still,

In letting His hand mould us,

Just as He will.

His work must be completed.

His lesson set;

He is the higher Workman:

Do not forget!

It is not only "working."

We must be trained;

And Jesus "learnt" obedience,

Through suffering gained.

For us, His yoke is easy,

His burden light.

His discipline most needful,

And all is right.

We are but under-workmen;

They never choose

If this tool or if that one

Their hands shall use.

In working or in waiting

May we fulfill

Not ours at all, but only

The Master's will!

--Selected

God provides resting places as well as working

places. Rest, then, and be thankful when He

brings you, wearied to a wayside well.

(21) Resurrection Hope

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven

with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,

and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ

shall rise first: then we which are alive and

remain shall be caught up together with them in

the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: so shall

we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:16-17).

It was "very early in the morning" while "it was

yet dark," that Jesus rose from the dead. Not the

sun, but only the morning-star shone upon His

opening tomb. The shadows had not fled, the

citizens of Jerusalem had not awaked. It was

still night--the hour of sleep and darkness, when

He arose. Nor did his rising break the slumbers

of the city. So shall it be "very early in the

morning while it is yet dark," and when nought

but the morning-star is shining, that Christ's

body, the Church, shall arise. Like Him, His

saints shall awake when the children of the night

and darkness are still sleeping their sleep of

death. In their arising they disturb no one. The

world hears not the voice that summons them. As

Jesus laid them quietly to rest, each in his own

still tomb, like children in the arms of their

mother; so, as quietly, as gently, shall He awake

them when the hour arrives. To them come the

quickening words, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell

in dust" (Isa. 26:19). Into their tomb the

earliest ray of glory finds its way. They drink

in the first gleams of morning, while as yet the

eastern clouds give but the faintest signs of the

uprising. Its genial fragrance, its soothing

stillness, its bracing freshness, its sweet

loneliness, its quiet purity, all so solemn and

yet so full of hope, these are theirs.

Oh, the contrast between these things and the

dark night through which they have passed! Oh,

the contrast between these things and the grave

from which they have sprung! And as they shake

off the encumbering turf, flinging mortality

aside, and rising, in glorified bodies, to meet

their Lord in the air, they are lighted and

guided upward, along the untrodden pathway, by

the beams of that Star of the morning, which,

like the Star of Bethlehem, conducts them to the

presence of the King. "Weeping may endure for a

night, but joy cometh in the morning." 

--Horatius Bonar

"While the hosts cry Hosanna, from heaven

descending, 

With glorified saints and the angels attending, 

With grace on His brow, like, a halo of glory, 

Will Jesus receive His own."

"Even so, come quickly."

A soldier said, "When I die do not sound taps

over my grave, but reveillé, the morning

call, the summons to rise."

(22) Rest on the Word of God

"I trust in thy word" (Ps. 119:42).

Just in proportion in which we believe that God

will do just what He has said, is our faith

strong or weak. Faith has nothing to do with

feelings, or with impressions, with

improbabilities, or with outward appearances. If

we desire to couple them with faith, then we are

no longer resting on the Word of God because

faith needs nothing of the kind. Faith rests on

the naked Word of God. When we take Him at His

Word, the heart is at peace.

God delights to exercise faith, first for

blessing in our own souls, then for blessing in

the Church at large, and also for those without.

But this exercise we shrink from instead of

welcoming. When trials come, we should say: "My

Heavenly Father puts this cup of trial into my

hands, that I may have something sweet

afterwards."

Trials are the food of faith. Oh, let us leave

ourselves in the hands of our Heavenly Father! It

is the joy of His heart to do good to all His

children.

But trials and difficulties are not the only

means by which faith is exercised and thereby

increased. There is the reading of the

Scriptures, that we may by them acquaint

ourselves with God as He has revealed Himself in

His Word.

Are you able to say, from the acquaintance you

have made with God, that He is a lovely Being? If

not, let me affectionately entreat you to ask God

to bring you to this, that you may admire His

gentleness and kindness, that you may be able to

say how good He is, and what a delight it is to

the heart of God to do good to His children.

Now the nearer we come to this in our inmost

souls, the more ready we are to leave ourselves

in His hands, satisfied with all His dealings

with us. And when trial comes, we shall say:

"I will wait and see what good God will do to me

by it, assured He will do it." Thus we shall bear

an honorable testimony before the world, and thus

we shall strengthen the hands of others. 

--George Mueller.

(23) By Faith Abraham Obeyed

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out

into a place which he should after receive for an

inheritance, obeyed" (Heb. 11:8).

Whither he went, he knew not; it was enough for

him to know that he went with God. He leant not

so much upon the promises as upon the Promiser.

He looked not on the difficulties of his lot, but

on the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the

only wise God, who had deigned to appoint his

course, and would certainly vindicate Himself. O

glorious faith! This is thy work, these are thy

possibilities; contentment to sail with sealed

orders, because of unwavering confidence in the

wisdom of the Lord High Admiral; willinghood to

rise up, leave all, and follow Christ, because of

the glad assurance that earth's best cannot bear

comparison with Heaven's least.  --F. B. M.

It is by no means enough to set out cheerfully

with your God on any venture of faith. Tear into

smallest pieces any itinerary for the journey

which your imagination may have drawn up.

Nothing will fall out as you expect.

Your guide will keep to no beaten path. He will

lead you by a way such as you never dreamed your

eyes would look upon. He knows no fear, and He

expects you to fear nothing while He is with you.

The day had gone; alone and weak 

I groped my way within a bleak

And sunless land.

The path that led into the light

I could not find! In that dark 

night God took my hand.

He led me that I might not stray, 

And brought me by a new, safe way 

I had not known. 

By waters still, through pastures green 

I followed Him--the path was clean 

Of briar and stone.

The heavy darkness lost its strength, 

My waiting eyes beheld at length 

The streaking dawn. 

On, safely on, through sunrise glow 

I walked, my hand in His, and lo, 

The night had gone.

--Annie Porter Johnson

(24) Diamond in the Rough

"The hand of the Lord hath wrought this" (Job

12:9).

Several years ago there was found in an African

mine the most magnificent diamond in the world's

history. It was presented to the King of England

to blaze in his crown of state. The King sent it

to Amsterdam to be cut. It was put into the hands

of an expert lapidary. And what do you suppose he

did with it?

He took the gem of priceless value, and cut a

notch in it. Then he struck it a hard blow with

his instrument, and lo! the superb jewel lay in

his hand cleft in twain. What recklessness I what

wastefulness! what criminal carelessness!

Not so. For days and weeks that blow had been

studied and planned. Drawings and models had been

made of the gem. Its quality, its defects, its

lines of cleavage had all been studied with

minutest care. The man to whom it was committed

was one of the most skillful lapidaries in the

world.

Do you say that blow was a mistake? Nay. It was

the climax of the lapidary's skill. When he

struck that blow, he did the one thing which

would bring that gem to its most perfect

shapeliness, radiance, and jewelled splendor.

That blow which seemed to ruin the superb

precious stone was, in fact, its perfect

redemption. For, from those two halves were

wrought the two magnificent gems which the

skilled eye of the lapidary saw hidden in the

rough, uncut stone as it came from the mine.

So, sometimes, God lets a stinging blow fall upon

your life. The blood spurts. The nerves wince.

The soul cries out in agony. The blow seems to

you an apalling mistake. But it is not, for you

are the most priceless jewel in the world to God.

And He is the most skilled lapidary in the

universe.

Some day you are to blaze in the diadem of the

King. As you lie in His hand now He knows just

how to deal with you. Not a blow will be

permitted to fall upon your shrinking soul but

that the love of God permits it, and works out

from its depths, blessing and spiritual

enrichment unseen, and unthought of by you.  --J.

H. McC.

In one of George MacDonald's books occurs this

fragment of conversation: "I wonder why God made

me," said Mrs. Faber bitterly. "I'm sure I don't

know what was the use of making me!"

"Perhaps not much yet," said Dorothy, "but then

He hasn't done with you yet. He is making you

now, and you are quarrelling with the process."

If men would but believe that they are in process

of creation, and consent to be made--let the

Maker handle them as the potter the clay,

yielding themselves in resplendent motion and

submissive, hopeful action with the turning of

His wheel--they would ere long find themselves

able to welcome every pressure of that hand on

them, even when it was felt in pain; and

sometimes not only to believe but to recognize

the Divine end in view, the bringing of a son

unto glory.

"Not a single shaft can hit,

Till the God of love sees fit."

(25) Hindrance to Prayer

"And he shall bring it to pass" (Ps. 37:5).

I once thought that after I prayed that it was my

duty to do everything that I could do to bring

the answer to pass. He taught me a better way,

and showed that my self-effort always hindered

His working, and that when I prayed and

definitely believed Him for anything, He wanted

me to wait in the spirit of praise, and only do

what He bade me. It seems so unsafe to just sit

still, and do nothing but trust the Lord; and the

temptation to take the battle into our own hands

is often tremendous.

We all know how impossible it is to rescue a

drowning man who tries to help his rescuer, and

it is equally impossible for the Lord to fight

our battles for us when we insist upon trying to

fight them ourselves. It is not that He will not,

but He cannot. Our interference hinders His

working.  --C.H.P.

Spiritual forces cannot work while earthly forces

are active.

It takes God time to answer prayer. We often fail

to give God a chance in this respect. It takes

time for God to paint a rose. It takes time for

God to grow an oak. It takes time for God to make

bread from wheat fields. He takes the earth. He

pulverizes. He softens. He enriches. He wets with

showers and dews. He warms with life. He gives

the blade, the stock, the amber grain, and then

at last the bread for the hungry.

All this takes time. Therefore we sow, and till,

and wait, and trust, until all God's purpose has

been wrought out. We give God a chance in this

matter of time. We need to learn this same lesson

in our prayer life. It takes God time to answer

prayer.  --J. H. M. 

(26) Stand Still

"Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord"

(Exod. 14:13).

These words contain God's command to the believer

when he is reduced to great straits and brought

into extraordinary difficulties. He cannot

retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut upon

the right hand and on the left. What is he now to

do?

The Master's word to him is "stand still." It

will be well for him if, at such times, he

listens only to his Master's word, for other and

evil advisers come with their suggestions.

Despair whispers, "Lie down and die; give it all

up." But God would have us put on a cheerful

courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in

His love and faithfulness.

Cowardice says, "Retreat; go back to the

worldling's way of action; you cannot play the

Christian's part; it is too difficult. Relinquish

your principles."

But, however much Satan may urge this course upon

you, you cannot follow it, if you are a child of

God. His Divine fiat has bid thee go from

strength to strength, and so thou shalt, and

neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy

course. What if for a while thou art called to

stand still; yet this is but to renew thy

strength for some greater advance in due time.

Precipitancy cries, "Do something; stir yourself;

to stand still and wait is sheer idleness." We

must be doing something at once--we must do it,

so we think--instead of looking to the Lord, who

will not only do something, but will do

everything.

Presumption boasts, "If the sea be before you,

march into it, and expect a miracle." But faith

listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair,

nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it

hears God say, "Stand still," and immovable as a

rock it stands.

"Stand still"--keep the posture of an upright

man, ready for action, expecting further orders,

cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing

voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say

to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the

people of Israel, "Go forward.'  --Spurgeon

"Be quiet! why this anxious heed 

About thy tangled ways?

God knows them all. He giveth speed 

And He allows delays.

'Tis good for thee to walk by faith 

And not by sight.

Take it on trust a little while.

Soon shalt thou read the mystery aright

In the full sunshine of His smile."

In times of uncertainty, wait. Always, if you

have any doubt, wait. Do not force yourself to

any action. If you have a restraint in your

spirit, wait until all is clear, and do not go

against it.

(27) By Thy Spirit

"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,

saith Jehovah of hosts" (Zech. 4:6).

My way led up a hill, and right at the foot I saw

a boy on a bicycle. He was pedalling up hill

against the wind, and evidently found it a

tremendously hard work. Just as he was working

most strenuously and doing his best painfully,

there came a trolley car going in the same

direction--up the hill.

It was not going too fast for the boy to get

behind it, and with one hand to lay hold of the

bar at the back. Then you know what happened. He

went up that hill like a bird. Then it flashed

upon me:

"Why, I am like that boy on the bicycle in my

weariness and weakness. I am pedalling up hill

against all kinds of opposition, and am almost

worn out with the task. But here at hand is a

great available power, the strength of the Lord

Jesus.

"I have only to get in touch with Him and to

maintain communication with Him, though it may be

only one little finger of faith, and that will be

enough to make His power mine for the doing of

this bit of service that just now seems too much

for me." And I was helped to dismiss my weariness

and to realize this truth.  --The Life of Fuller

Purpose

ABANDONED

Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost! 

Seeking all His fulness at whatever cost; 

Cutting all the shore-lines, launching in the

deep 

Of His mighty power--strong to save and keep.

Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost! 

Oh! the sinking, sinking, until self is lost! 

Until the emptied vessel lies broken at His feet;

Waiting till His filling shall make the work

complete.

Utterly abandoned to the will of God; 

Seeking for no other path than my Master trod; 

Leaving ease and pleasure, making Him my choice, 

Waiting for His guidance, listening for His

voice.

Utterly abandoned! no will of my own; 

For time and for eternity, His, and His alone; 

All my plans and purposes lost in His sweet will,

Having nothing, yet in Him all things possessing

still.

Utterly abandoned! 'tis so sweet to be 

Captive in His bonds of love, yet so wondrous

free; 

Free from sin's entanglements, free from doubt

and fear, 

Free from every worry, burden, grief or care.

Utterly abandoned! oh, the rest is sweet, 

As I tarry, waiting, at His blessed feet; 

Waiting for the coming of the Guest divine, 

Who my inmost being shall perfectly refine.

Lo! He comes and fills me, Holy Spirit sweet! 

I, in Him, am satisfied! I, in Him, complete! 

And the light within my soul shall nevermore grow

dim 

While I keep my covenant--abandoned unto Him!

--Author Unknown

(28) Abundantly Able

"And being absolutely certain that whatever

promise He is bound by, He is able to make good"

(Rom. 4:20).

We are told that Abraham could look at his own

body and consider it as good as dead without

being discouraged, because he was not looking at

himself but at the Almighty One.

He did not stagger at the promise, but stood

straight up unbending beneath his mighty load of

blessing; and instead of growing weak he waxed

strong in the faith, grew more robust, the more

difficulties became apparent, glorifying God

through His very sufficiency and being "fully

persuaded" (as the Greek expresses it) "that he

who had promised was," not merely able, but as it

literally means "abundantly able," munificently

able, able with an infinite surplus of resources,

infinitely able "to perform."

He is the God of boundless resources. The only

limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our

praying are too small; our expectations are too

limited. He is trying to lift us up to a higher

conception, and lure us on to a mightier

expectation and appropriation. Oh, shall we put

Him in derision? There is no limit to what we may

ask and expect of our glorious El-Shaddai; and

there is but one measure here given for His

blessing, and that is "according to the power

that worketh in us."  --A. B. Simpson

"Climb to the treasure house of blessing on the

ladder made of divine promises. By a promise as

by a key open the door to the riches of God's

grace and favor." 

(29) God Knows

"He knoweth the way that I take" (Job 23:10).

Believer! What a glorious assurance! This way of

thine--this, it may be, a crooked, mysterious,

tangled way--this way of trial and tears. "He

knoweth it." The furnace seven times heated--He

lighted it. There is an Almighty Guide knowing

and directing our footsteps, whether it be to the

bitter Marah pool, or to the joy and refreshment

of Elim.

That way, dark to the Egyptians, has its pillar

of cloud and fire for His own Israel. The furnace

is hot; but not only can we trust the hand that

kindles it, but we have the assurance that the

fires are lighted not to consume, but to refine;

and that when the refining process is completed

(no sooner--no later) He brings His people forth

as gold.

When they think Him least near, He is often

nearest. "When my spirit was overwhelmed, then

thou knewest my path."

Do we know of ONE brighter than the brightest

radiance of the visible sun, visiting our chamber

with the first waking beam of the morning; an eye

of infinite tenderness and compassion following

us throughout the day, knowing the way that we

take?

The world, in its cold vocabulary in the hour of

adversity, speaks of "Providence"--"the will of

Providence"--"the strokes of Providence."

PROVIDENCE! what is that?

Why dethrone a living, directing God from the

sovereignty of His own earth? Why substitute an

inanimate, death-like abstraction, in place of an

acting, controlling, personal Jehovah?

How it would take the sting from many a goading

trial, to see what Job saw (in his hour of

aggravated woe, when every earthly hope lay

prostrate at his feet)--no hand but the Divine.

He saw that hand behind the gleaming swords of

the Sabeans--he saw it behind the lightning

flash--he saw it giving wings to the careening

tempest--he saw it in the awful silence of his

rifled home.

"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;

blessed be the name of the Lord!"

Thus seeing God in everything, his faith reached

its climax when this once powerful prince of the

desert, seated on his bed of ashes, could say,

"Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." 

--Macduff

(30) Thou Wilt Revive Me

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt

revive me" (Ps. 138:7).

The Hebrew rendering of the above is "go on in

the center of trouble." What descriptive words!

We have called on God in the day of trouble; we

have pleaded His promise of deliverance but no

deliverance has been given; the enemy has

continued oppressing until we were in the very

thick of the fight, in the center of trouble. Why

then trouble the Master any further?

When Martha said, "Lord, if thou hadst been here

my brother had not died," our Lord met her lack

of hope with His further promise, "Thy brother

shall rise again." And when we walk "in the

center of trouble" and are tempted to think like

Martha that the time of deliverance is past, He

meets us too with a promise from His Word.

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt

revive me."

Though His answer has so long delayed, though we

may still continue to "go on" in the midst of

trouble, "the center of trouble" is the place

where He revives, not the place where He fails

us.

When in the hopeless place, the continued

hopeless place, is the very time when He will

stretch forth His hand against the wrath of our

enemies and perfect that which concerneth us, the

very time when He will make the attack to cease

and fail and come to an end. What occasion is

there then for fainting?  --Aphra White

THE EYE OF THE STORM

"Fear not that the whirlwind shall carry thee

hence,

Nor wait for its onslaught in breathless

suspense,

Nor shrink from the whips of the terrible hail,

But pass through the edge to the heart of the

gale,

For there is a shelter, sunlighted and warm,

And Faith sees her God through the eye of the

storm.

"The passionate tempest with rush and wild roar

And threatenings of evil may beat on the shore,

The waves may be mountains, the fields battle

plains,

And the earth be immersed in a deluge of rains,

Yet, the soul, stayed on God, may sing bravely

its psalm,

For the heart of the storm is the center of calm.

"Let hope be not quenched in the blackness of

night,

Though the cyclone awhile may have blotted the

light,

For behind the great darkness the stars ever

shine,

And the light of God's heavens, His love shall

make thine,

Let no gloom dim thine eyes, but uplif t them on

high

To the face of thy God and the blue of His sky.

"The storm is thy shelter from danger and sin,

And God Himself takes thee for safety within;

The tempest with Him passeth into deep calm,

And the roar of the winds is the sound of a

psalm.

Be glad and serene when the tempest clouds form;

God smiles on His child in the eye of the

Storm”.

(31) Waiting For Resurrection

"And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,

sitting over against the sepulchre" 

(Matt. 27:61).

How strangely stupid is grief. It neither learns

nor     knows nor wishes to learn or know. When

the sor rowing sisters sat over against the

door of God's  sepulchre, did they see the two

thousand years that have passed triumphing away?

Did they see any       thing but this: "Our Christ

is gone!"

Your Christ and my Christ came from their

loss;   Myriad mourning hearts have had

resurrection in the midst of their grief; and yet

the sorrowing watchers looked at the seed-form of

this result, and saw nothing. What they regarded

as the end of life was the very preparation for

coronation; for Christ was silent that He might

live again in tenfold power.

They saw it not. They mourned, they wept, and

went away, and came again, driven by their hearts

to the sepulchre. Still it was a sepulchre,

unprophetic, voiceless, lusterless.

So with us. Every man sits over against the

sepulchre in his garden, in the first instance,

and says, "This woe is irremediable. I see no

benefit in it. I will take no comfort in it." And

yet, right in our deepest and worst mishaps,

often, our Christ is lying, waiting for

resurrection.

Where our death seems to be, there our Saviour

is. Where the end of hope is, there is the

brightest beginning of fruition. Where the

darkness is thickest, there the bright beaming

light that never is set is about to emerge. When

the whole experience is consummated, then we find

that a garden is not disfigured by a sepulchre.

Our joys are made better if there be sorrow in

the midst of them. And our sorrows are made

bright by the joys that God has planted around

about them. The flowers may not be pleasing to

us, they may not be such as we are fond of

plucking, but they are heart-flowers, love, hope,

faith, joy, peace--these are flowers which are

planted around about every grave that is sunk in

the Christian heart.

"'Twas by a path of sorrows drear 

Christ entered into rest; 

And shall I look for roses here, 

Or think that earth is blessed? 

Heaven's whitest lilies blow 

From earth's sharp crown of woe. 

Who here his cross can meekly bear, 

Shall wear the kingly purple there."