Chapter III: Part 3

God holds us responsible not for what we _have_, but for what we _might have_; not for what we _are_, but for what we _might_ be.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=June 11th.=

_Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship.
Matt. xiv. 22._

Jesus _constrained_ them to go! One would think that if ever there was the certain promise of success in a mission, it was here. Surely, here, if anywhere, a triumphant issue might have been confidently predicted; and yet here, more than anywhere, there was seeming failure. He sent them out on a voyage, and they met such a storm as they had never yet experienced.

Let me ponder this, for it has been so with me, too. I have sometimes felt myself impelled to act by an influence which seemed above me--constrained to put to sea. The belief that I was constrained gave me confidence, and I was sure of a calm voyage. But the result was outward failure. The calm became a storm; the sea raged, the winds roared, the ship tossed in the midst of the waves, and my enterprise was wrecked ere it could reach the land.

Was, then, my divine command a delusion?

Nay; nor yet was my mission a failure. He did send me on that voyage, but He did not send me for _my_ purpose. He had one end and I had another. My end was the outward calm; His was my meeting with the storm. My end was to gain the harbor of a material rest; His was to teach me there is a rest even on the open sea.--_George Matheson._

=June 12th.=

_Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the
word of truth. 2 Tim. ii. 15._

Have thy tools ready; God will find thee work.--_Charles Kingsley._

=June 13th.=

_Come out from among them, and be ye separate. 2 Cor.
vi. 17._

With all the world in his choice, God placed His ancient people in a very remarkable situation. On the north they were walled in by the snowy ranges of Lebanon; a barren desert formed their eastern boundary; far to the south stretched a sterile region, called the howling wilderness; while the sea--not then, as now, the highway of the nations, facilitating rather than impeding intercourse--lay on their west, breaking on a shore that had few harbors and no navigable rivers to invite the steps of commerce.

May we not find a great truth in the very position in which God placed His chosen people? It certainly teaches us that to be holy, or sanctified, we must be a separate people--living in the world, but not of it--as oil, that may be mixed, but cannot be combined with water.--_Guthrie._

=June 14th.=

_I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places
whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into
this land. Gen. xxviii. 15._

"With thee," companionship; "Keep thee," guardianship; "Bring thee," guidance.

=June 15th.=

_I have set thee . . . that thou shouldst be for
salvation unto the ends of the earth. Acts xiii. 47._

_Ye shall be witnesses unto me . . . unto the uttermost
parts of the earth. Acts i. 8._

Men are questioning now, as they never have questioned before, whether Christianity is, indeed, the true religion which is to be the salvation of the world. Christian men, it is for us to give our bit of answer to that question. It is for us, in whom the Christian church is at this moment partially embodied, to declare that Christianity, that the Christian faith, the Christian manhood can do that for the world which the world needs.

You ask, "What can I do?"

You can furnish one Christian life. You can furnish a life so faithful to every duty, so ready for every service, so determined not to commit every sin, that the great Christian church shall be the stronger for your living in it, and the problem of the world be answered, and a certain great peace come into this poor, perplexed, phase of our humanity as it sees that new revelation of what Christianity is.--_Phillips Brooks._

=June 16th.=

_I know whom I have believed. 2 Tim. i. 12._

Personal acquaintance with Christ is a living thing. Like a tree that uses every hour for growth, it thrives in sunshine, it is refreshed by rain--even the storm drives it to fasten its grip more firmly in the earth for its support. So, troubled heart, in all experience, say, "This comes that I may make closer acquaintance with my Lord."--_Selected._

=June 17th.=

_Wait for the promise of the Father. Acts i. 4._

_When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were
all with one accord in one place . . . and they were
all filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts ii. 1, 4._

Obedience to a divine prompting transforms it into a permanent acquisition.--_F. B. Meyer._

=June 18th.=

_We have known and believed the love that God hath to
us. 1 John iv. 16._

The secret of walking closely with Christ, and working successfully for Him, is to fully realize that we are His beloved. Let us but feel that He has set His heart upon us, that He is watching us from those heavens with tender interest, that He is working out the mystery of our lives with solicitude and fondness, that He is following us day by day as a mother follows her babe in his first attempt to walk alone, that He has set His love upon us, and, in spite of ourselves, is working out for us His highest will and blessing, as far as we will let Him, and then nothing can discourage us. Our hearts will glow with responsive love. Our faith will spring to meet His mighty promises, and our sacrifices shall become the very luxuries of love for one so dear. This was the secret of John's spirit. "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us." And the heart that has fully learned this has found the secret of unbounded faith and enthusiastic service.--_A. B. Simpson._

=June 19th.=

_Endure . . . as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Tim.
ii. 3._

Life is not victory, but battle. Be patient a little longer. By and by, each in his turn, we shall hear the sunset gun.--_Selected._

=June 20th.=

_Whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me,
cannot be my disciple. Luke xiv. 27._

There is always the shadow of the cross resting upon the Christian's path. Is that a reason why you should avoid or not undertake the duty? Have you made up your mind that you will follow your Master everywhere else, save when he ascends the path that leads to the cross? Is that your religion? The sooner you change it, the better. The religion of the Lord Jesus Christ is the religion of the cross, and unless we take up our cross, we can never follow Him.--_W. Hay Aitken._

=June 21st.=

_These . . . have turned the world upside down. Acts
xvii. 6._

The serene beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world next to the might of God.--_Pascal._

=June 22nd.=

_What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know
hereafter. John xiii. 7._

God keeps a school for His children here on earth and one of His best teachers is Disappointment. My friend, when you and I reach our Father's house, we shall look back and see that the sharp-voiced, rough; visaged teacher, Disappointment, was one of the best guides to train us for it. He gave us hard lessons; he often used the rod; he often led us into thorny paths; he sometimes stripped off a load of luxuries; but that only made us travel the freer and the faster on our heavenward way. He sometimes led us down into the valley of the death-shadow; but never did the promises read so sweetly as when spelled out by the eye of faith in that very valley. Nowhere did he lead us so often, or teach us such sacred lessons, as at the cross of Christ. Dear, old, rough-handed teacher! We will build a monument to thee yet, and crown it with garlands, and inscribe on it: _Blessed be the memory of Disappointment!_--_Theodore Cuyler._

=June 23rd.=

_As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Deut. xxxiii.
25._

_I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
me. Phil. iv. 13._

He will not impose upon you one needless burden. He will not exact more than He knows your strength will bear. He will ask no Peter to come to Him on the water, unless He impart at the same time strength and support on the unstable waves. He will not ask you to draw water if the well is too deep, or to withdraw the stone if too heavy. But neither at the same time will He admit as an impossibility that which, as a free and responsible agent, it is in your power to avert. He will not regard as your misfortune what is your crime.--_Macduff._

=June 24th.=

_Thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Acts
viii. 21._

The worst of all mockeries is a religion that leaves the heart unchanged: a religion that has _everything_ but the love of Christ enshrined in the soul.--_F. Whitfield._

=June 25th.=

_The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work whereunto I have called them. Acts xiii.
2._

We have such a nice little quiet, shady corner in the vineyard, down among the tender grapes, with such easy little weedings and waterings to attend to. And then the Master comes and draws us out into the thick of the work, and puts us in a part of the field where we never should have thought of going, and puts larger tools into our hands, that we may do more at a stroke. And we know we are not sufficient for these things, and the very tools seem too heavy for us, and the glare too dazzling and the vines too tall. Ah! but would we dally, go back? He would not be in the shady corner with us now; for when He put us forth He went before us, and it is only by closer following that we can abide with Him.--_Frances Ridley Havergal._

=June 26th.=

_Small things. Zech. iv. 10._

It is the little words you speak, the little thoughts you think, the little things you do or leave undone, the little moments you waste or use wisely, the little temptations which you yield to or overcome--the little things of every day that are making or marring your future life.--_Selected._

=June 27th.=

_Be perfect, be of good comfort. 2 Cor. xiii. 11._

A glance at the words is enough to make us feel how contradictory they are. _Be perfect_--that is a word that strikes us with despair; at once we feel how far away we are from our own poor ideal, and alas! how much further from God's ideal concerning us. _Be of good comfort_--ah, that is very different! That seems to say, "Do not fret; do not fear. If you are not what you would be, you must be thankful for what you are."

Now the question is this--How can these two be reconciled?

It is only the religion of Jesus Christ that reconciles them. He stands in our midst, and with the right hand of His righteousness He pointeth us upward, and saith, "Be perfect." There is no resting-place short of that. Yet with the left hand of His love He doth encompass us, as He saith, "Soul, be of good comfort; for that is what I came to do for thee."--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=June 28th.=

_Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is
in heaven is perfect. Matt. v. 48._

Seeking the aid of the Holy Spirit, let us aim at perfection. Let every day see some sin crucified, some battle fought, some good done, some victory won; let every fall be followed by a rise, and every step gained become, not a resting-place, but a new starting-point for further and higher progress.--_Guthrie._

=June 29th.=

_Sleep on now, and take your rest. Mark xiv. 41._

Never did that sacred opportunity to watch with Christ return to His disciples. Lost then, it was lost forever. And now when Jesus is still beholding the travail of His soul in the redemption of the world, if you fail to be with Him watching for souls as they that must give account, remember that the opportunity will never return. "Watch, therefore," says your Lord, "lest coming suddenly, He may find you sleeping."--_A. J. Gordon._

=June 30th.=

_Let us not sleep, as do others. 1 Thess. v. 6._

There are many ways of promoting Christian wakefulness. Among the rest, let me strongly advise Christians to converse together concerning the ways of the Lord. Christian and Hopeful, as they journeyed towards the Celestial City, said to themselves:

"To prevent drowsiness in this place, let us fall into good discourse."

Christians who isolate themselves and walk alone are very liable to grow drowsy. Hold Christian company, and you will be kept wakeful by it, and refreshed and encouraged to make quicker progress in the road to heaven.--_Spurgeon._

=July 1st.=

_He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear
not. Rev. i. 17._

One of Wellington's officers, when commanded to go on some perilous duty, lingered a moment as if afraid, and then said:

"Let me have one clasp of your all-conquering hand before I go; and then I can do it."

Seek the clasp of Christ's hand before every bit of work, every hard task, every battle, every good deed. Bend your head in the dewy freshness of every morning, ere you go forth to meet the day's duties and perils, and wait for the benediction of Christ, as He lays His hands upon you. They are hands of blessing. Their touch will inspire you for courage and strength and all beautiful and noble living.--_J. R. Miller._

=July 2nd.=

_Being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Acts i. 3._

This lingering for forty days is the crowning proof of Christ's tender regard for His little flock. He who had laid down His life for them is loath to leave them. Though they had forsaken Him, and doubted Him, they had not wearied, much less had they worn out, His love. He stays to look again, and yet again, and yet again, upon them, as if turning back and lingering to bless them. It is all of a piece with His life of love. Everywhere He meets them without a touch of upbraiding, without recalling a single memory of all His bitter suffering, revealing Himself to the disciples with a tenderness and blessedness indescribably beautiful.

How can He go till He has healed the Magdalene's broken heart? He must linger till poor Peter can venture near to have his forgiveness assured. He must stay to strengthen Thomas' faith. He must tarry with them till He has made them feel that He is just the same friendly, brotherly Jesus that He has ever been, caring for them in their work, watching them with a yearning pity, stooping to kindle a fire for their warmth, and to cook the fish for their meal, and then to bid them come and dine.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=July 3rd.=

_Jesus, . . . being wearied with His journey, sat thus
on the well. . . . (For His disciples were gone away unto
the city to buy meat.) . . . And many of the Samaritans
of that city believed on Him for the saying of the
woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I
did. John iv. 6, 8, 39._

The bits of wayside work are very sweet. Perhaps the odd bits, when all is done, will really come to more than the seemingly greater pieces! . . . It is nice to know that the King's servants are always really on duty, even while some can only stand and wait.--_Frances Ridley Havergal._

=July 4th.=

_Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you . . .
let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid. John xiv. 27._

Dark hours come to us all; and if we have no clew to a peace that can pass unbroken through their murky gloom, we shall be in a state of continual dread. Any stone flung by a chance passer-by may break the crystal clearness of the Lake of Peace and send disturbing ripples across it, unless we have learnt to trust in the perpetual presence of Him who can make and keep a "great calm" within the soul. Only let nothing come to you which you shall not instantly hand over to Him--all petty worries, all crushing difficulties, all inability to believe.--_F. B. Meyer._

=July 5th.=

_Isaac dwelt by the well Lahai-roi. Gen. xxv. 11._

Isaac dwelt there, and made the well of the living and all-seeing God his constant source of supply. The usual tenor of a man's life, the _dwelling_ of his soul, is the true test of his state. Let us learn to live in the presence of the living God. Let us pray the Holy Spirit that this day, and every other day, we may feel, "Thou God seest me." May the Lord Jehovah be as a well to us, delightful, comforting, unfailing, springing up unto eternal life. The bottle of the creature cracks and dries up, but the well of the Creator never fails. Happy is he who dwells at the well, and so has abundant and constant supplies near at hand! Glorious Lord, constrain us that we may never leave Thee, but dwell by the well of the living God!--_Spurgeon._

=July 6th.=

_Judas Iscariot . . . was a thief, and had the bag, and
bore what was put therein. John xii. 4, 6._

_Freely ye have received, freely give. Matt. x. 8._

Ah, but if we should go thoroughly into this matter, should we not probably find that many of us are guilty, in some modified and yet sufficiently alarming sense, of treachery to the poor? Are we not, some of us, sent to them with benefactions which never reach them, and are only unconscious of guilt because so long accustomed to look upon the goods as bestowed on us, whereas the light of God's word would plainly reveal upon those goods the names of the poor and needy?--_George Bowen._

=July 7th.=

_Let every man take heed how he buildeth. 1 Cor. iii.
10._

Our business is not to build quickly, but to build upon a right foundation, and in a right spirit. Life is more than a mere competition as between man and man; it is not who can be done first, but who can work best; it is not who can rise highest in the shortest time, but who is working most patiently and lovingly in accordance with the designs of God.--_Joseph Parker._

=July 8th.=

_As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Deut. xxxiii.
25._

No day without its duty; no duty without strength to perform it.--_Selected._

=July 9th.=

_Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
Gen. xxviii. 16._

"Surely the Lord was in this place, and I knew it not." My soul, this is also thine experience! How often hast thou said in thy sorrow, "Verily thou art a God that hidest Thyself!" How often hast thou slept for very heaviness of heart, and desired not to wake again! And when thou didst wake again, lo, the darkness was all a dream! Thy vision of yesterday was a delusion. God had been with thee all the night with that radiance which has no need of the sun.

O my soul, it is not only after the future thou must aspire; thou must aspire to see the glory of thy past. Thou must find the glory of that way by which thy God has led thee, and be able even of thy sorrow to say, "This was the gate of heaven!"--_George Matheson._

=July 10th.=

_My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me. John
iv. 34._

The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will.--_J. Hudson Taylor._

=July 11th.=

_Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue. 2
Pet. i. 5._

You will find it less easy to unroot faults than to choke them by gaining virtues. Do not think of your faults, still less of others' faults; in every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; rejoice in it, and, as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off, like dead leaves, when their time comes.--_John Ruskin._

=July 12th.=

_Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon
my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Song
of Sol. iv. 16._

Sometimes God sends severe blasts of trial upon His children to develop their graces. Just as torches burn most brightly when swung violently to and fro; just as the juniper plant smells sweetest when flung into the flames; so the richest qualities of a Christian often come out under the north wind of suffering and adversity. Bruised hearts often emit the fragrance that God loveth to smell. Almost every true believer's experience contains the record of trials which were sent for the purpose of shaking the spice tree.--_Theodore Cuyler._

=July 13th.=

_Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon
my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Song
of Sol. iv. 16._

There are two winds mentioned in this beautiful prayer. God may send either or both, as seemeth Him good. He may send the north wind of conviction, to bring us to repentance, or He may send the south wind of love, to melt us into gratitude and holy joy. If we often require the sharp blasts of trial to develop our graces, do we not also need the warm south breezes of His mercy? Do we not need the new sense of Christ's presence in our hearts and the joys of the Holy Ghost? Do we not need to be melted, yes, to be overpowered by the love of Jesus?--_Theodore Cuyler._

=July 14th.=

_Behold the man! John xix. 5._

"Behold the man!" was Pilate's jeer. That is what all the ages have been doing since, and the vision has grown more and more glorious. As they have looked, the crown of thorns has become a crown of golden radiance, and the cast-off robe has glistened like the garments He wore on the night of the transfiguration. Martyrs have smiled in the flames at that vision. Sinners have turned at it to a new life. Little children have seen it, and have had awakened by it dim recollections of their heaven-home. Toward it the souls of men yearn ever.--_Robert E. Speer._

=July 15th.=

_He (John) saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two
disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
John i. 36, 37._

To be a Christian means to know the presence of a true personal Christ among us, and to follow.--_Phillips Brooks._

=July 16th.=

_Ye shall not eat of it. Gen. iii. 3._

The Sin of Paradise was eating the tree of knowledge before the tree of life. Life must ever be first. Knowing and not being, hearing and not doing, admiring and not possessing, all are light without life.--_Selected._

=July 17th.=

_Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be
perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James i. 4._

Are you where God would have you be? If not, come out, and at once, for you certainly ought not to be there. If you are, then be afraid to complain of circumstances which God has ordained on purpose to work out in you the very image and likeness of His Son.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=July 18th.=

_Sow beside all waters. Isa. xxxii. 20._

Never mind whereabouts your work is. Never mind whether it be visible or not. Never mind whether your name is associated with it. You may never see the issues of your toils. You are working for eternity. If you cannot see results here in the hot working day, the cool evening hours are drawing near, when you may rest from your labors and then they will follow you. So do your duty, and trust God to give the seed you sow "a body as it hath pleased Him,"--_Alex. McLaren._

=July 19th.=

_Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe. Psa. cxix.
117._

Do not spoil the chime of this morning's bells by ringing one half a peal! Do not say, "Hold thou me up," and stop there, or add, "But all the same I shall stumble and fall!" Finish the peal with God's own music, the bright words of faith that He puts into your mouth: "Hold thou me up, _and I shall be safe!_"--_Frances Ridley Havergal._

=July 20th.=

_Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy.
Matt. viii. 6._

We, in this age of the church, are in the position of that sick servant at Capernaum. To the eye of sense we are separated from the Savior. We see Him not--we can touch Him not--the hand cannot steal amid the crowd to catch His garment hem--we cannot hear His loved footsteps as of old on our threshold; but faith penetrates the invisible; the messenger--prayer--meets Him in the streets of the New Jerusalem; and faith and prayer together, the twin delegates from His church below, He has never yet sent empty away.--_Macduff._

=July 21st.=

_Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling:
for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and
to do of His good pleasure. Phil. ii. 12, 13._

What a staggering weight of thought is excited by these words! Stay, my soul, and wonder that the Eternal God should stoop to work within thy narrow limits. Is it not a marvel indeed, that He, whom the heavens cannot contain, and in whose sight they are not clean, should trouble Himself to work on such material, so unpromising, and amidst circumstances so uncongenial?

How careful should we be to make Him welcome, and to throw no hindrance in His way! How eager to garner up all the least movements of His gracious operation, as the machinist conserves the force of his engine; and as the goldsmith, with miserly care, collects every flake of gold leaf! Surely we shall be sensible of the _fear_ of holy reverence and the _trembling_ of eager anxiety; as we "work out," into daily act and life, all that God our Father is "working in."--_F. B. Meyer._

=July 22nd.=

_. . . Sinners of whom I am chief. . . . Now unto the
King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Tim. i.
15, 17._

Only those who have struck the deepest note of penitence can reach the highest note of praise.--_A. J. Gordon._

=July 23rd.=

_Blessed is the man . . . that keepeth the Sabbath. Isa.
lvi. 2._

The Sabbath is the savings-bank of human life, into which we deposit one day in seven to be repaid in the autumn of life with compound interest.--_Selected._

=July 24th.=

_Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Psa. xix. 12._

The world wants men who are saved from secret faults. The world can put on an outside goodness and go very far in uprightness and morality, and it expects that a Christian shall go beyond it, and be free from secret faults. A little crack will spoil the ring of the coin. . . . The world expects, and rightly, that the Christian should be more gentle, and patient, and generous, than he who does not profess to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus. For the sake of those who take their notion of religion from our lives, we need to put up this prayer earnestly, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults."--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=July 25th.=

_Do thou that which is good. 2 Kings x. 5._

Keep as few good intentions hovering about as possible. They are like ghosts haunting a dwelling. The way to lay them is to find bodies for them. When they are embodied in substantial deeds they are no longer dangerous.--_William Arnot._

=July 26th.=

_Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. iii. 18._

Grace has its dawn as well as day; grace has its green blade, and afterwards its ripe corn in the ear; grace has its babes and its men in Christ. With God's work there, as with all His works, "in all places of His dominion," progress is both the prelude and the path to perfection. Therefore we are exhorted to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to go on to perfection, saying with Paul, "I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."--_Guthrie._

=July 27th.=

_Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived,
and by it slew me. Rom. vii. 11._

Christian, beware how thou thinkest lightly of sin. Take heed lest thou fall by little and little. Sin, a _little_ thing? Is it not a poison? Who knows its deadliness? Sin, a little thing? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes? Doth not the tiny coral insect build a rock which wrecks a navy? Do not little strokes fell lofty oaks? Will not continual droppings wear away stones? Sin, a little thing? It girded the Redeemer's head with thorns, and pierced His heart! It made _Him_ suffer anguish, bitterness and woe. Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly from it as from a serpent, and abhor _the least appearance of evil_. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Savior, and you will see it to be "exceeding sinful."--_Spurgeon._

=July 28th.=

_Your heavenly Father knoweth. Matt. vi. 32._

The Master judges by the result, but our Father judges by the effort. Failure does not always mean fault. He knows how much things cost, and weighs them where others only measure. Your Father! Think how great store His love sets by the poor beginnings of the little ones, clumsy and unmeaning as they may be to others. All this lies in this blessed relationship, and infinitely more. Do not fear to take it all as your own.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=July 29th.=

_Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col. iii. 3._

It is neither talent, nor power, nor gifts that do the work of God, but it is that which lies within the power of the humblest; it is the simple, earnest life hid with Christ in God.--_F. W. Robertson._

=July 30th.=

_The mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no
wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do
with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith
unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you, do
it. John ii. 3, 4, 5._

In asking for temporal blessings, true wisdom lies in putting the matter into the Lord's hand, and leaving it there. He knows our sorrows, and, if He sees it is good for us that the water should be turned into wine, He will do it. It is not for us to dictate: He sees what is best for us. When we ask for prosperity, perhaps the thing which we should have is trial. When we want to be relieved of a "thorn in the flesh," He knows what we should have is an apprehension of the fact that His grace is sufficient for us. So we are put into His school, and have to learn the lessons He has to teach us.--_W. Hay Aitken._

=July 31st.=

_Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he
fall. 1 Cor x. 12._

Angels fell in heaven, Adam in paradise, Peter in Christ's presence.--_Theophilus Polwheile._

=August 1st.=

_Continue in prayer. Col. iv. 2._

The greatest and the best talent that God gives to any man or woman in this world is the talent of prayer. And the best usury that any man or woman brings back to God when He comes to reckon with them at the end of this world is a life of prayer. And those servants best put their Lord's money to the exchangers who rise early and sit late, as long as they are in this world, ever finding out, and ever following after better and better methods of prayer, and ever forming more secret, more steadfast, and more spiritually fruitful habits of prayer, till they literally pray without ceasing, and till they continually strike out into new enterprises in prayer, and new achievements, and new enrichments.--_Alex. Whyte._

=August 2nd.=

_He entered into one of the ships . . . and . . . sat
down. Luke v. iii._

When Jesus sits in the ship everything is in its right place. The cargo is in the hold, _not in the heart_. Cares and gains, fears and losses, yesterday's failure and today's success do not thrust themselves in between us and His presence. The heart cleaves to _Him_. "Goodness and mercy shall _follow_ me," sang the psalmist. Alas, when the goodness and mercy come before us, and our blessings shut Jesus from view! Here is the blessed order--the Lord ever first, I following Him, His goodness and mercy following me.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=August 3rd.=

_Now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of
light. Eph. v. 8._

We do not realize the importance of the unconscious part of our life ministry. It goes on continually. In every greeting we give to another on the street, in every moment's conversation, in every letter we write, in every contact with other lives, there is a subtle influence that goes from us that often reaches further, and leaves a deep impression than the things themselves that we are doing at the time. It is not so much what we _do_ in this world as what we _are_, that tells in spiritual results and impressions.--_J. R. Miller._

=August 4th.=

_Created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Eph. ii.
10._

Let us ask Him to work in us to _will_ those good works, so that our _will_, without being impaired in its free operation, may be permeated and moulded by His will, just as light suffuses the atmosphere without displacing it. And let us also expect that He will infuse into us sufficient strength that we may be able to _do_ His will unto all pleasing. Thus, day by day, our life will be a manifestation of those holy volitions and lovely deeds which shall attest the indwelling and inworking of God. And men shall see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven.--_F. B. Meyer._

=August 5th.=

_Go in this thy might . . . have not I sent thee? Judges
vi. 14._

God never leaves His child to fail when in the path of obedience.--_Theodore Cuyler._

=August 6th.=

_Set your affection on things above, not on things on
the earth. Col. iii. 2._

_Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might. Eccles. ix. 10._

If we are to live separate from the world, how, since men only do well what they do with a will, are we, with affections fixed on things above, to perform aright the secular, ordinary duties of life? If our hearts are engrossed with heavenly things, how are we to obey this other, and equally divine, commandment, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might"?

The two are perfectly consistent. Man standing between the celestial and terrestrial worlds is related to both; and resembling neither a flower, which, springing from the dust and returning to it, belongs altogether to the earth, nor a star which, shining far remote from its lower sphere, belongs altogether to the heavens, our hearts may be fitly likened to the rainbow that, rising into heaven but resting on earth, is connected both with the clods of the valley and the clouds of the sky.--_Guthrie._

=August 7th.=

_Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. Heb.
xii. 1, 2._

Think, as you sit here, of anything that you are doing that is wrong, of any habit of your life, of your self-indulgence, or of that great, pervasive habit of your life which makes you a creature of the present instead of the eternities, a creature of the material earth instead of the glorious skies. Ask yourself of any habit that belongs to your own personal life, and bring it face to face with Jesus Christ.--_Phillips Brooks._

=August 8th.=

_They took knowledge of them, that they had been with
Jesus. Acts iv. 13._

If I think of the world, I get the impress of the world; if I think of my trials and sorrows, I get the impress of my trials and sorrows; if I think of my failures, I get the impress of my failures; if I think of Christ, I get the impress of Christ.--_Selected._

=August 9th.=

_Ye call me Teacher, and Lord: and ye say well; for so
I am. John xiii. 13. (R. V. margin)._

How wonderful a Teacher we have! Sometimes we seek Him in the house, but He is not there. We go forth seeking Him and find Him perhaps in the wilderness or on a mountain praying, or leading some poor blind man by the hand, or eating with publicans or sinners, or asleep in a storm or conversing with a Samaritan woman, or surrounded by wrathful men, or bearing a cross. It is not merely His words that instruct. His place, His occupation, His companions, His environment, His garment, His silence, His submission--all teem with instruction. And they that learn of Him are made like unto Him.--_George Bowen._

=August 10th.=

_The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the
world. 1 John iv. 14._

It is a sweet thought that Jesus Christ did not come forth without His Father's permission, authority, consent, and assistance. He was sent of the Father that He might be the Savior of men. . . . Didst thou ever consider the depth of love in the heart of Jehovah, when God the Father equipped His Son for the great enterprise of mercy? If not, be this thy day's meditation. The _Father_ sent Him! Contemplate that subject. Think how Jesus works what the _Father_ wills. In the wounds of the dying Savior see the love of the great I AM. Let every thought of Jesus be also connected with the eternal, ever-blessed God.--_Spurgeon._

=August 11th.=

_They that wait upon the Lord shall change their
strength. Isa. xl. 31. (R. V.)_

Lord, what a change within us one short hour
Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make!
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take!
What parched grounds refresh as with a shower!
We kneel--and all around us seems to lower.
We rise--and all the distant and the near
Stand forth in sunny outline, brave and clear.
We kneel--how weak: we rise--how full of power.

Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong
Or others--that we are not always strong;
That we are ever overborne with care;
That we should ever weak or heartless be,
Anxious or troubled, while with _us_ is prayer,
And joy and strength and courage are with _Thee_?
--_Archbishop Trench._

=August 12th.=

_As for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee
so to do. Deut. xviii. 14._

What a stepping-stone! We give thanks, often with a tearful, doubtful voice, for our spiritual mercies _positive_; but what an almost infinite field there is for mercies _negative_! We cannot even imagine all that God has suffered us _not_ to do, _not_ to be.--_Frances Ridley Havergal._

=August 13th.=

_Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was
moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their
sick. . . . And when He had sent the multitudes away,
He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the
evening was come He was there alone. Matt. xiv. 14, 23._

Do we, like Him, combine the two great elements of human character? Are our _public_ duties, the cares, and business, and engrossments of the world, finely tempered and hallowed by a _secret_ walk with God? If the world were to follow us from its busy thoroughfares, would it trace us to our family altars and our closet devotions?

Action and meditation are the two great components of Christian life, and the perfection of the religious character is to find the two in unison and harmony.--_Macduff._

=August 14th.=

_Leaving you an example, that ye should follow His
steps. 1 Pet. ii. 21. (R. V.)_

I have long since ceased to pray, "Lord Jesus, have compassion on a lost world!" I remember the day and the hour when I seemed to hear the Lord rebuking me for making such a prayer. He seemed to say to me, "I have had compassion upon a lost world, and now it is for you to have compassion."--_A. J. Gordon._

=August 15th.=

_Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Ex. xx. 3._

If you find yourself beginning to love any pleasure better than your prayers, any book better than your Bible, any house better than God's, any table better than the Lord's, any person better than your Savior, any one better than your soul, a present indulgence better than the hope of heaven--take alarm!--_Guthrie._

=August 16th.=

_Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 1
Cor. xi. 1._

When in the Mexican war the troops were wavering, a general rose in his stirrups and dashed into the enemy's line, shouting, "Men, follow!" They, seeing his courage and disposition, dashed on after him, and gained the victory.

What men want to rally them for God is an example to lead them. All your commands to others to advance amount to nothing so long as you stay behind. To effect them aright, you need to start for heaven yourself, looking back only to give the stirring cry of "Men, follow!"--_T. DeWitt Talmage._

=August 17th.=

_Serving the Lord with all humility of mind. Acts xx.
19._

There is a legend of an artist who long sought for a piece of sandalwood, out of which to carve a Madonna. He was about to give up in despair, leaving the vision of his life unrealized, when in a dream he was bidden to carve his Madonna from a block of oak wood, which was destined for the fire. He obeyed, and produced a masterpiece from a log of common fire-wood.

Many of us lose great opportunities in life by waiting to find sandalwood for our carvings, when they really lie hidden in the common logs that we burn.--_Orison Swett Marden._

=August 18th.=

_My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is
made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor. xii. 9._

God's way of answering His people's prayers is not by removing the pressure, but by increasing their strength to bear it. The pressure is often the fence between the narrow way of life and the broad road to ruin; and if our Heavenly Father were to remove it, it might be at the sacrifice of heaven. Oh, if God had removed that thorny fence in answer, often to earnest prayers, how many of us would now be castaways! How the song of many a saint now in glory would be hushed! How many a harp would be unstrung! How many a place in the mansions of the redeemed would be unfilled! If God answered all the prayers we put up to heaven, we should need no other scourge. Blessed it is that we have One who is too loving to grant what we too often so rashly ask.--_F. Whitfield._

=August 19th.=

_Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more
can ye, except ye abide in me. John xv. 4._

From moment to moment, and from hour to hour, the inner nature of man is to be continuously sustained with the life of God. Only as I am constantly receiving His fulness into my emptiness am I really living in the true, full, deep sense of the word, that life of eternity, which is my privilege now, and will be my glory hereafter.--_W. Hay Aitken._

=August 20th.=

_By faith Noah . . . prepared an ark to the saving of
his house. Heb. xi. 7._

What a humble, what a modest sphere for the exercise of faith! One would have said that the purpose was quite disproportionate to the work. The ark was a great undertaking, but what was it undertaken for? To save his own family. Is so narrow a sphere worthy to be the object of faith? Is so commonplace a scene as the life of the family circle fit to be a temple for the service of God? . . . My soul, when thou hast finished thy prayers and ended thy meditations, do not say that thou hast left the house of God. God's house shall to thee be everywhere, and thine own house shall be a part of it. Thou shalt feel that all the duties of this place are consecrated; that it is none other than the house of God and one of the gates to heaven. Thou shalt feel that every one of its duties is an act of high communion. Therefore be it thine to make thy house _His_ house. Be it thine to consecrate each word and look and deed in the social life of home. Be it thine to build thine ark of refuge for the wants of common day; verily, thy labor of love shall be called an act of faith.--_George Matheson._

=August 21st.=

_We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them. Eph. ii. 10._

No man is born into the world whose work is not born with him. There is always work, and tools to work withal, for those who will.--_J. B. Lowell._

=August 22nd.=

_He . . . began to wash the disciples' feet. John xiii.
5._

We forget that Jesus Christ is the same to-day, when He is sitting on the throne, as He was yesterday, when He trod the pathway of our world. And in this forgetfulness how much we miss! What He was, that He is. What He said, that He says. The Gospels are simply specimens of the life that He is ever living; they are leaves torn out of the diary of His unchangeable Being. To-day He is engaged in washing the feet of His disciples, soiled with their wilderness journeyings. Yes, that charming incident is having its fulfilment in thee, my friend, if only thou dost not refuse the lowly loving offices of Him whom we call Master and Lord, but who still girds Himself and comes forth to serve. And we must have this incessant cleansing if we would keep right. It is not enough to look back to a certain hour when we first knelt at the feet of the Son of God for pardon; and heard Him say, "Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven." We need daily, hourly cleansing--from daily, hourly sin.--_F. B. Meyer._

=August 23rd.=

_I am the Lord, I change not. Mal. iii. 6._

Our hope is not hung upon such untwisted thread as "I imagine so," or "it is likely"; but the cable, the strong rope of our fastened anchor, is the oath and promise of Him who is eternal verity. Our salvation is fastened with God's own hand and Christ's own strength to the strong stake of God's unchanging nature.--_William Rutherford._

=August 24th.=

_I will cause the shower to come down in his season;
there shall be showers of blessing. Ezek. xxxiv. 26._

What is thy _season_ this morning? Is it the season of drought? Then that is the season for showers. Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds? Then that is the season for showers. "As thy days so shall thy strength be." "I will give thee _showers_ of blessing." The word is in the plural. All kinds of blessings God will send. All God's blessings go together, like links in a golden chain. If He gives converting grace, He will also give comforting grace. He will send "showers of blessings." Look up to-day, O parched plant, and open thy leaves and flowers for a heavenly watering.--_Spurgeon._

=August 25th.=

_Nevertheless, at thy word. Luke v. 5._

Oh, what a blessed formula for us! This path of mine is dark, mysterious, perplexing; _nevertheless, at Thy word_ I will go forward. This trial of mine is cutting, sore for flesh and blood to bear. It is hard to breathe through a broken heart, Thy will be done. But, _nevertheless, at Thy word_ I will say, Even so, Father! This besetting habit, or infirmity, or sin of mine, is difficult to crucify. It has become part of myself--a second nature; to be severed from it would be like the cutting off of a right hand, or the plucking out of a right eye; _nevertheless, at Thy word_ I will lay aside every weight; this idol I will utterly abolish. This righteousness of mine it is hard to ignore; all these virtues, and amiabilities, and natural graces, it is hard to believe that they dare not in any way be mixed up in the matter of my salvation; and that I am to receive all from first to last as the gift of God, through Jesus Christ my Lord. _Nevertheless, at Thy word_ I will count all but loss for the excellency of His knowledge.--_Macduff._

=August 26th.=

_If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. 2 Tim.
ii. 12._

The photographer must have a negative, as he calls it, in order to furnish you with a picture. Now, the earthly cross is the negative from which the heavenly crown is to be made; the suffering and sorrow of the present time determining the glory, honor and immortality of the life to come.--_A. J. Gordon._

=August 27th.=

_The word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. 1
Pet. i. 23._

The Word abideth. The Jew hated it--but it lived on, while the veil was torn away from the shrine which the Shekinah had forsaken, and while Jerusalem itself was destroyed. The Greek derided it--but it has seen his philosophy effete and his Acropolis in ruins. The Romans threw it into the flames--but it rose from its ashes, and swooped down upon the falling eagle. The reasoner cast it into the furnace, which his own negligence had heated "seven times hotter than its wont"--but it came out without the smell of fire. The formalist fastened serpents around it to poison it--but it shook them off and felt no harm. The infidel cast it overboard in a tempest of sophistry and sarcasm--but it rode gallantly upon the crest of the proud waters. And it is living still--yet heard in the loudest swelling of the storm--it has been speaking all the while--it is speaking now!--_Punshon._

=August 28th.=

_Let the peace of God rule in your hearts. Col. iii.
15._

Years ago one of our fleets was terribly shattered by a violent gale--but it was found that some of the ships were unaffected by its violence. They were in what mariners call "the eye of the storm." While all around was desolation, they were safe. So it is with him who has the peace of God in his heart.--_Pilkington._

=August 29th.=

_Ye serve the Lord Christ. Col. iii. 24._

Our business as Christians is to serve the Lord in every business of life.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=August 30th.=

_Love not the world, neither the things that are in
the world. 1 John ii. 15._

If you will go to the banks of a little stream, and watch the flies that come to bathe in it, you will notice that, while they plunge their _bodies_ into the water, they keep their _wings_ high out of the water; and, after swimming about a little while, they fly away with their wings unwet through the sunny air. Now, that is the lesson for us. Here we are immersed in the cares and business of the world; but let us keep the wings of our soul, our faith and our love, out of the world, that, with these unclogged, we may be ready to take our flight to heaven.--_J. Inglis._

=August 31st.=

_I would have you without carefulness. 1 Cor. vii.
32._