Chapter IV: Part 4

Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear. Rather look to them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto--do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms. Do not look forward to what may happen to-morrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you to-day will take care of you to-morrow, and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.--_Francis de Sales._

=September 1st.=

_Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be
inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.
Ezek. xxxvi. 37._

Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. Turn to sacred history and you will find that scarcely ever did a great mercy come to this world unheralded by supplication. Prayer is always the preface to blessing. It goes before the blessing _as the blessing's shadow_. When the sunlight of God's mercies rises upon our necessities it casts the shadow of prayer far down upon the plain. Or, to use another illustration, when God piles up a hill of mercies He Himself shines behind them, and He casts on our spirits the shadow of prayer so that we may rest certain, if we are much in prayer, our pleadings are the shadows of mercy. Prayer is thus connected with the blessing to show us the value of it.--_Spurgeon._

=September 2nd.=

_Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season
we shall reap if we faint not. Gal. vi. 9._

The hours of this present life are the ages in embryo of the life to come.--_A. J. Gordon._

=September 3rd.=

_My presence shall go with thee. Ex. xxxiii. 14._

We should never leave our prayer closets in the morning without having concentrated our thoughts deeply and intensely on the fact of the actual presence of God there with us, encompassing us, and filling the room as literally as it fills heaven itself. It may not lead to any distinct results at first, but, as we make repeated efforts to realize the presence of God, it will become increasingly real to us. And, as the habit grows upon us, when alone in a room, or when treading the sward of some natural woodland temple, or when pacing the stony street--in the silence of night, or amid the teeming crowds of daylight--we shall often find ourselves whispering the words, "Thou art near; thou art here, O Lord."--_F. B. Meyer._

=September 4th.=

_To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness.
Dan. ix. 9._

As a spring lock closes itself, but cannot be unlocked without a key, so we ourselves may run into sin, but cannot return without the key of God's grace.--_Cawdray._

=September 5th.=

_It is high time to awake out of sleep. Rom. xiii.
11._

I have heard of a painter who loved to work by the morning light. He said that the colors were better understood by the light of the early day, and so he was wont to be in his studio waiting for the rising of the sun. Then every moment it grew lighter, and he found he could accomplish things which he could not reach if he waited till the day had advanced.

Is there not work waiting for us--work that no one else can do--work, too, that the Master has promised to help us perform? Shall He come and find that we still sleep? Or shall the Son of Righteousness, when He appears, find us waiting, as that painter waited, looking and longing for the first gleam of day? Surely those of us who thus wait on the Lord shall renew our strength, and, eagle-like, rise to greet the Sun.--_Thomas Champness._

=September 6th.=

_The church of God, which He hath purchased with His
own blood. Acts xx. 28._

Surely He may do what He will with His own. The price He has paid to make them His own is a sufficient guarantee that He will never make light of anything in which their welfare is at all concerned. We are precious to Him by the virtue of the blood which He has shed for us, and for Him to be found at any time wanting in solicitude for our happiness would be for Him to treat that blood of His as the sinners of this world treat it. The persuasion of Christ's love must be graven in our hearts so deeply that no semblance of indifference on His part will ever make the slightest impression upon us. This is the victory which overcometh the world.--_George Bowen._

=September 7th.=

_The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the
power of the Holy Ghost. Rom. xv. 13._

In spiritual as in earthly things there is great strength in hope, and, therefore, God's people are carefully to cultivate that grace. A well-grounded hope that, having been made new creatures in Jesus Christ, we are His; that with our names, though unknown to fame, written in the Book of Life, we have grace in possession and heaven in prospect; that after a few more brief years, pure as the angels that sing before the throne, we shall be brought with gladness into the palace of the King, to be like Christ and with Christ, seeing Him eye to eye and face to face--such hopes are powerful springs of action.--_Guthrie._

=September 8th.=

_He asked life of Thee, and Thou gavest it him, even
length of days or ever and ever. Psa. xxi. 4._

When poor men make requests of us we usually answer them as the echo does the voice--the answer cuts off half the petition. We shall seldom find among men Jael's courtesy, giving milk to those that ask water, except it be as this was, an entangling benefit, the better to introduce a mischief. There are not many Naamans among us, that, when you beg of them one talent, will force you to take two; but God's answer to our prayers is like a multiplying glass, which renders the request much greater in the answer than it was in the prayer.--_Bishop Reynolds._

=September 9th.=

_This beginning of miracles did Jesus. John ii. 11._

It was out of the common thing that the precious thing was brought; and it is out of the common things of daily life, presented obediently to Jesus and laid at His feet, that He brings His own glorious gifts, so that our whole lives become one great sacrament.--_W. Hay Aitken._

=September 10th.=

_In the daytime . . . He led them with a cloud, and all
the night with a light of fire. Psa. lxxviii. 14._

My day is my prosperity; it is the time when the sun of fortune is bright above me, and, therefore, it is the time when I need a shade. If my sunshine were not chequered I would forget Thee, O my God.

But I have nights to meet as well as days. The night is my adversity; it is the time when the sun of fortune has gone down behind the hills, and I am left alone, and then it is, O my Father, that I need the light of Thy fire! My light of fire for the night is the vision of Calvary--the vision of Thy love in the Cross. I need the light of Thy fire "_all_ the night."--_George Matheson._

=September 11th.=

_Now are we the sons of God: and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be; but we know that when He
shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see
Him as He is. 1 John iii. 2._

"Now are we the sons of God." That is the pier upon one side of the gulf. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when He shall appear we shall be like Him." That is the pier on the other. How are the two to be connected? There is only one way by which the present sonship will blossom and fruit into the future perfect likeness, and that is, if we throw across the gulf, by God's help day by day, the bridge of growing likeness to Himself, and purity therefrom.--_Alex. McLaren._

=September 12th.=

_Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. Matt. xx. 18._

Never had there been such a going up to Jerusalem as that which Jesus here proposes to His disciples. He goes up voluntarily. The act was not enforced by any external compulsion. Jerusalem might at this time have been avoided. It was deliberately sought. It was a going up to a triumph to be reached through defeat, a coronation to be attained through ignominy and humiliation.

O believer, in your walk through the world to-day, be strengthened, be comforted, be inspired, by the spectacle of the Captain of your salvation thus going up to Jerusalem! And remember, in all those apparently _downward_ passages of life, where sorrow, and it may be death, lie before you, that all such descents, made or endured in the Spirit of Jesus, are really _upgoing_ steps, leading you to the mount of God and the resurrection glory.--_J. B. Stratton._

=September 13th.=

_These were the potters, and those that dwelt among
plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for
his work. 1 Chron. iv. 23._

Anywhere and everywhere we may dwell "with the King for His work." We may be in a very unlikely or unfavorable place for this; it may be in a little country life, with little enough to be seen of the "goings" of the King around us; it may be among hedges of all sorts, hindrances in all directions; it may be, furthermore, with our hands full of all manner of pottery for our daily task. No matter! The King who placed us "there" will come and dwell there with us; the hedges are all right, or He would soon do away with them; and it does not follow that what seems to hinder our way may not be for its very protection; and as for the pottery, why, this is just exactly what He has seen fit to put into our hands, and therefore it is, for the present, "His work."--_Frances Ridley Havergal._

=September 14th.=

I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which
thou shalt go; _I will guide thee with mine eye. Psa.
xxxii. 8._

When God does the directing, our life is useful and full of promise, whatever it is doing; and discipline has its perfecting work.--_H. E. Cobb._

=September 15th.=

_The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Matt. xx. 28._

We are so to surrender ourselves to Christ that this great purpose of His coming shall claim and possess the whole life. We are to live, like God, to bless others. This is His will, His purpose concerning us. This is what His power waits to do for us. And this too, is the claim of His great love upon us.

Do not sigh a poor assent to the truth of it, and then pass by neglectfully on the other side. Do not think about it and pray about it without even a passing hope that the prayer will be answered. Do not gather yourself up in great resolutions to be good and useful. Kneel in sight of the Crucified. In the cross of Christ spell out His great purpose and yearning love to men. Let the heart feel all the might of the appeal that comes to us from those torn hands and feet and bleeding brow, from all the dreadful shame and agony of our dear Lord. And, bought and bound by all this, surrender yourself to Him for His great purpose. Take Him as your strength for this life-work.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=September 16th.=

_Jesus . . . went about doing good. Acts x. 38._

The finest of all fine arts is the art of doing good; and yet it is the least cultivated.--_T. DeWitt Talmage._

=September 17th.=

_And the angel of the Lord said unto her [Hagar],
Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her
hands. Gen. xvi. 9._

SUBMISSION is a great Christian law, but we find it early in Genesis, early in the history of mankind, and angel-given.--_Selected._

=September 18th.=

_Then spake Solomon . . . I have surely built thee an
house to dwell in. 1 Kings viii. 12, 13._

Solomon, the prince of peace, alone could build the temple. If we would be soul-winners and build up the church, which is God's temple, let us note this; not by discussion nor by argument, but by lifting up Christ shall we draw men unto Him.--_J. Hudson Taylor._

=September 19th.=

_I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. Isa.
xlviii. 10._

Does not the word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yea, is it not an asbestos armor, against which the heat hath no power? Let affliction come--God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door--but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude, but I have a balsam ready--God has chosen me. Whatever befalls me in this vale of tears I know that He has "chosen" me. Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. "Fear not, for I am with thee," is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in the "furnace of affliction."--_Spurgeon._

=September 20th.=

_Base things of the world and things which are
despised hath God chosen. 1 Cor. i. 28._

In some of the great halls of Europe may be seen pictures not painted with the brush, but mosaics, which are made up of small pieces of stone, glass, or other material. The artist takes these little pieces, and, polishing and arranging them, he forms them into the grand and beautiful picture. Each individual part of the picture may be a little worthless piece of glass or marble or shell; but, with each in its place, the whole constitutes the masterpiece of art.

So I think it will be with humanity in the hands of the great Artist. God is picking up the little worthless pieces of stone and brass that might be trodden under foot unnoticed, and is making of them His great masterpiece.--_Bishop Simpson._

=September 21st.=

_Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His
presence with singing. Psa. c. 2._

God wants our life to be a song. He has written the music for us in His Word and in the duties that come to us in our places and relations in life. The things we ought to do are the notes set upon the staff. To make our life beautiful music we must be obedient and submissive. Any disobedience is the singing of a false note, and yields discord.--_J. R. Miller._

=September 22nd.=

_When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father, which is
in secret. Matt. vi. 6._

This is faith's stronghold; here she weapons herself for the daily conflict. Silence in that closet of prayer bespeaks death throughout all the house. When that door is suffered to rust on its hinges, and that chamber is deserted, then the heart-house is soon retaken by Satan, and evil spirits come in and dwell there.--_Theodore Cuyler._

=September 23rd.=

_Be ye holy; for I am holy. 1 Pet. i. 16._

The highway of holiness is along the commonest road of life--along your very way. In wind and rain, no matter how it beats--it is only going hand in hand with Him.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=September 24th.=

_And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that
thing which I do? Gen. xviii. 17._

Abraham, in communion with God, knew long before Lot, in Sodom, of the destruction of that city. Oh for more communion!--_Selected._

=September 25th.=

_The life which I now live in the flesh. Gal. ii. 20._

I expect to pass through this world but once--therefore, if there be any kindness I can show or any good thing I can do to any fellow human being, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.--_Marcus Aurelius._

=September 26th.=

_So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our
hearts unto wisdom. Psa. xc. 12._

Every day is a little life; and our whole life is but a day repeated: whence it is that old Jacob numbers his life by days; and Moses desires to be taught this point of holy arithmetic--to number not his years, but his days. Those, therefore, that dare lose a day, are dangerously prodigal; those that dare misspend it, desperate.--_Bishop Hall._

=September 27th.=

_Christ in you the hope of glory. Col. i. 27._

Religion is not the simple fire-escape that you build in anticipation of a possible danger, upon the outside of your dwelling, and leave there until danger comes. You go to it some morning when a fire breaks out in your house, and the poor old thing that you built up there, and thought that you could use some day, is so rusty and broken, and the weather has so beaten upon it and the sun so turned its hinges, that it will not work. That is the condition of a man who has built himself what seems a creed of faith, a trust in God in anticipation of the day when danger is to overtake him, and has said to himself, I am safe, for I will take refuge in it then. But religion is the house in which we live, it is the table at which we sit, it is the fireside at which we draw near, the room that arches its graceful and familiar presence over us; it is the bed on which we lie and think of the past, and anticipate the future, and gather our refreshment.--_Phillips Brooks._

=September 28th.=

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

Tarry at a promise till God meets you there. He always returns by way of His promises.--_Selected._

=September 29th.=

_This is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith. 1 John v. 4._

The world conquers me when it succeeds in hindering me from seeing, loving, holding communion with, and serving my Father, God. I conquer it when I lay my hand upon it and force it to help me to get nearer Him, to get more like Him, to think oftener of Him, to do His will more gladly and more constantly. The one victory over the world is to bend it to serve me in the highest things--the attainment of a clearer vision of the divine nature, the attainment of a deeper love to God Himself, and a more glad consecration and service to Him. That is the victory--when you can make the world a ladder to lift you to God. When the world comes between you and God as an obscuring screen, it has conquered you. When the world comes between you and God as a transparent medium you have conquered it. To win victory is to get it beneath your feet and stand upon it, and reach up thereby to God.--_Alex. McLaren._

=September 30th.=

_He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep
thee in all thy ways. Psa. xci. 11._

Count no duty too little, no round of life too small, no work too low, if it come in thy way, since God thinks so much of it as to send His angels to guard thee in it.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=October 1st.=

_At Jesus' feet. Luke x. 39._

At Jesus' feet--that is our place of privilege and of blessing, and here it is that we are to be educated and fitted for the practical duties of life. Here we are to renew our strength while we wait on Him, and to learn how to mount on wings as eagles; and here we are to become possessed of that true knowledge which is power. Here we are to learn how real work is to be done, and to be armed with the true motive power to do it. Here we are to find solace amidst both the trials of work--and they are not few--and the trials of life in general; and here we are to anticipate something of the blessedness of heaven amidst the days of earth; for to sit at His feet is indeed to be in heavenly places, and to gaze upon His glory is to do what we shall never tire of doing yonder.--_W. Hay Aitken._

=October 2nd.=

_God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in
God, and God in him. 1 John iv. 16._

_God is love_; and it is good, as it is true, to think that every sun-ray that touches the earth has the sun at the other end of it; so every bit of love upon God's earth has God at the other end of it.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

_October 3rd._

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

A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully and eloquently written, but the best life of Christ is His living biography, written out in the words and actions of His people. If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be, we would be pictures of Christ; yea, such striking likenesses of Him that the world would not have to hold us up by the hour together, and say, "Well, it seems somewhat of a likeness": but they would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, "He has been with Jesus; he has been taught of Him; he is like Him; he has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Nazareth, and he works it out in his life and every day actions."--_Spurgeon._

=October 4th.=

_Be not afraid, only believe. Mark v. 36._

Be not downcast if difficulties and trials surround you in your heavenly life. They may be purposely placed there by God to train and discipline you for higher developments of faith. If He calls you to "toiling in rowing," it may be to make you the hardier seaman, to lead you to lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and, above all, to drive you to a holier trust in Him who has the vessel and its destinies in His hand, and who, amid gathering clouds and darkened horizon and crested billows is ever uttering the mild rebuke to our misgivings--"Said I not unto thee, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God."--_Macduff._

=October 5th.=

_Happy is the man whom God correcteth. Job v. 17._

Happy, because the correction is designed to bring him into paths of blessedness and peace.

Happy, because there is no unnecessary severity in it.

Happy, because the chastisement is not so much against us, as against our most cruel enemies--our sins.

Happy, because we have abundant words of consolation.

Happy, because whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.

Happy, because our light affliction is but for a moment.--_George Bowen._

=October 6th.=

_When they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding
great joy. Matt. ii. 10._

We who look for Jesus ought to be joyful; it is no credit to our Lord when we look as though we were seeking His grave. The dull looks of Christ's followers have injured Him in the sight of the world. Let us, then, smile as we go, for we have the star if we will look up and put ourselves in the right path.--_Thos. Champness._

=October 7th.=

_When I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto
me. Micah vii. 8._

If you are willing to choose the seeming darkness of faith instead of the illumination of reason, wonderful light will break out upon you from the Word of God.--_A. J. Gordon._

=October 8th.=

_I (Daniel) was left alone, and saw this great vision.
Dan. x. 8._

Solitude is the antechamber of God; only one step more and you can be in His immediate presence.--_Landor._

=October 9th.=

_Come and dine. John xxi. 12._

This morning the voice of the Beloved of our soul is heard giving us His invitation.

"Children," He asks, "have ye any meat?"

We answer, "No; of ourselves we have nothing but hunger and starvation. O God, we cannot feed ourselves!"

Then it is that His own sweet voice replies, "Come and dine!"--_W. Hay Aitken._

=October 10th.=

_O Lord God, Thou knowest! Ezek. xxxvii. 3._

Here is the response of faith. "Thou knowest!"--what a pillow for the heart to repose upon! "Thou knowest!"--what few but comprehensive words to sum up and express the heart's difficulties and perplexities and trials. "Thou knowest!"--what an inexpressibly sweet resting-place in the midst of life's tumultuous heavings; in the midst of a sea that knows no calm; in the midst of a scene in which tossings to and fro are the hourly history! What an answer they contain for every heart that can find no words to express its big emotions; for a heart whose sorrows are too deep for language to find its way to God! Oh, that they were ever uppermost in the soul, as the response to every difficulty in our path! They are God's answer to everything we cannot fathom; God's answer for our hearts to rest upon, and our lips to utter, when every way is hedged up so that we cannot pass. "O Lord God, thou knowest!" Rest here, believer. Lean thy soul on these words. Repose calmly on the bosom of thy God, and carry them with thee into every scene of life. "O Lord God, thou knowest."--_F. Whitfield._

=October 11th.=

_Behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of
it reached to heaven. Gen. xxviii. 12._

Think of that mystic ladder, which descends from the throne of God to the spot, however lowly, where you may be. It may be a moorland waste; a humble cottage; a ship's cabin; a settler's hut; a bed of pain; but Jesus Christ finds you out, and comes just where you are. The one pole of this ladder is the gold of His deity; the other is the silver of His manhood; the rungs are the series of events from the cradle of Bethlehem to the right hand of power, where He sits. That ladder sways beneath a weight of blessing for you. Oh, that you would send away your burdens of sin, and care, and fear, by the hands of the ascending angels of prayer and faith!--so as to be able to receive into your heart the trooping angels of peace, and joy, and love, and glory.--_F. B. Meyer._

=October 12th.=

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

The Parish Priest, of austerity,
Climbed up in the high church steeple
To be nearer God, that he might hand
His word down to the people.
And in sermon script he daily wrote
What he thought was sent from heaven;
And he dropped it down on the people's heads
Two times one day in seven.
In his age God said, "Come down and die."
And he cried out from the steeple:
"Where art thou, Lord?" And the Lord replied:
"Down here among My people."--_Selected._

=October 13th.=

_Now therefore, hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes
and unto the judgments which I teach you, for to do
them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land
which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Deut.
iv. 1._

"Hearken" and "do," that ye may "live" and "possess." This is a universal and abiding principle. It was true for Israel, and it is true for us. The pathway of life and the true secret of possession is simple obedience to the holy commandments of God. We see this all through the inspired volume, from cover to cover. God has given us His Word, not to speculate upon it or discuss it, but that we may obey it. And it is as we, through grace, yield a hearty and happy obedience to our Father's statutes and judgments, that we tread the bright pathway of life, and enter into the reality of all that God has treasured up for us in Christ.--_C. H. M._

=October 14th.=

_I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for
me. Gal. ii. 20._

The man who lives in God knows no life except the life of God.--_Phillips Brooks._

=October 15th.=

_Let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet, the
hope of salvation. 1 Thess. v. 8._

_Faith, love, hope_--these three form the defensive armor that guards the soul; and these three make self-control possible. Like a diver in his dress who is let down to the bottom of the wild, far-weltering ocean, a man whose heart is girt by faith and charity, and whose head is covered with the helmet of hope, may be dropped down into the wildest sea of temptation and of worldliness, and yet will walk dry and unharmed through the midst of its depths, and breathe air that comes from a world above the restless surges. _Faith_ will bring you into communication with all the power of God. _Love_ will lead you into a region where all the temptations round you will be touched as by Ithuriel's spear, and will show their own foulness. And _Hope_ will turn away your eyes from looking at the tempting splendor around, and fix them upon the glories that are above. And so the reins will come into your hands in an altogether new manner, and you will be able to be king over your own nature in a fashion that you did not dream of before, if only you will trust in Christ and love Him, and fix your desires on the things above. Then you will be able to govern yourself, when you let Christ govern you.--_Alex. McLaren._

=October 16th.=

_The word of our God shall stand forever. Isa. xl. 8._

The Word of God is the water of life; the more ye lave it forth, the fresher it runneth. It is the fire of God's glory; the more ye blow it, the clearer it burneth. It is the corn of the Lord's field; the better ye grind it, the more it yieldeth. It is the bread of heaven; the more it is broken and given forth, the more it remaineth. It is the sword of the Spirit; the more it is scoured, the brighter it shineth.--_Bishop Jewel._

=October 17th.=

_I spake unto thee in thy prosperity. Jer. xxii. 21._

We shade our eyes with the hand to shut out the glare of the strong daylight when we want to see far away. God thus puts, as it were, His hand upon our brows, and tempers the glow of prosperity, that we may take in the wider phases of His goodness. It is a common experience that, looking out from the gloom of some personal affliction, men have seen for the first time beyond the earth plane, and caught glimpses of the Beulah Land. Let us not shrink from the Hand which we know is heavy only with blessing.--_Ludlow._

=October 18th.=

_Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the
fowler. Psa. xci. 3._

_He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler._ That is, from the little things, the hidden traps and nets that are set for us. Great sins frighten where little snares entangle. It is easier to escape the huntsman's arrow than the crafty lure.

And where are they not set? Riches and poverty, sickness and strength, prosperity and adversity, friendship and loneliness, the work and the want of it--each has its snare, wherein not only are the unwary caught, but the wise and the watchful sometimes fall a prey. Little things, mere threads, hardly worth guarding against--yet they are strong enough to hold us and hinder us, and may be the beginning of our destruction.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=October 19th.=

_The Lord set a mark upon Cain. Gen. iv. 15._

We speak of the mark of Cain as if it was the mark of a curse. In reality it was the mark of God's mercy, a defence against his enemies.--_D. J. Burrell._

=October 20th.=

_Who is among you that feareth the Lord . . . that
walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust
in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Isa.
l. 10._

"In fierce storms," said an old seaman, "we can do but 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._

=October 21st.=

_Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a
crown of life. Rev. ii. 10._

There is a heaven at the end of every faithful Christian's journey.--_Cuyler._

=October 22nd.=

_Flee into Egypt. Matt. ii. 13._

Why? Because there is a cruel king who will seek the young child's life.

Is Christ born in thee? Is thy life like that manger--precious as a casket, because of what it holds? Then have a care; for, craftier and more unscrupulous than Herod, the destroyer of souls will seek to destroy thee.

There is a day coming when they shall say, "They are dead which sought the young child's life." Grace shall survive the foe, and we shall yet return to enjoy the comforts of life, with no Herod to threaten us. After all, it is sin which is short-lived, for goodness shall flourish when the evil one is chained up for ever.--_Thos. Champness._

=October 23rd.=

_As my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant
do. 1 Kings ii. 38._

There is something infinitely better than doing a great thing for God, and the infinitely better thing is to be where God wants us to be, to do what God wants us to do, and to have no will apart from His.--_G. Campbell Morgan._

=October 24th.=

_Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works, and glorify your Father which is in
heaven. Matt. v. 16._

They say the world has an eagle eye for anything inconsistent, an eye sharp to discover the vagaries and inconsistencies in the defaulty and the unworthy. It has an eagle eye; but the eagle winks before the sun, and the burning iris of its eye shrinks abashed before the unsullied purity of noon. Let your light so shine before men, that others, awed and charmed by the consistency of your godly life, may come to enquire, and to say you have been with Jesus.--_Punshon._

=October 25th.=

_The eleven disciples went . . . into a mountain where
Jesus had appointed them . . . Jesus came and spake
unto them saying . . . Go ye and teach all nations.
Matt. xxviii. 16, 18, 19._

The considerable actions in the world have usually very small beginnings. Of a few letters, how many thousand words are made! Of ten figures, how many thousand numbers! A point is the beginning of all geometry. A little stone flung into a pond makes a little circle, then a greater, till it enlarges itself to both the sides. So from small beginnings God doth cause an efflux through the whole world.--_Charnock._

=October 26th.=

_Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. Luke ii. 10._

It is true that these good tidings of great joy were to be "for all people," but not _first_. The message falls on our own ears, and is first for our own souls.

Oh, ponder this well! Take all God's truths home _first_ to thine own heart. Ask in earnest prayer that the Spirit may write them with the pen of heaven on thine own conscience. Then wilt thou be a vessel fitted for the Master's use, and carry His message with spiritual power to the souls of others.--_F. Whitfield._

=October 27th.=

_Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. Heb. xii. 6._

Earthly prosperity is no sign of the special love of heaven: nor are sorrow and care any mark of God's disfavor, but the reverse. God's love is robust, and true, and eager--not for our comfort, but for our lasting blessedness; it is bent on achieving this, and it is strong enough to bear misrepresentation and rebuke in its attempts to attune our spirits to higher music. It therefore comes instructing us. Let us enter ourselves as pupils in the school of God's love. Let us lay aside our own notions of the course of study; let us submit ourselves to be led and taught; let us be prepared for any lessons that may be given from the blackboard of sorrow: let us be so assured of the inexhaustible tenacity of His love as to dare to trust Him, though He slay us. And let us look forward to that august moment when He will give us a reason for all life's discipline, with a smile that shall thrill our souls with ecstasy, and constrain sorrow and sighing to flee away forever.--_F. B. Meyer._

=October 28th.=

_Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He
will give it you. John xvi. 23._

Prayer must be based upon promise, but, thank God, His promises are always broader than our prayers! No fear of building inverted pyramids here, for Jesus Christ is the foundation.--_Frances Ridley Havergal._

=October 29th.=

_He riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments;
and took a towel, and girded Himself. After that He
poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the
disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel
wherewith He was girded. John xiii. 4, 5._

Acts are common and mean because they are ordinarily expressive of the common and mean thoughts of men. Let us not accuse the acts that make up our daily life of meanness, but our ignoble souls that reveal themselves so unworthily through those acts. The same act may successively mount up through every intermediate stage from the depth of unworthiness to a transcendent height of excellence, according to the soul that is manifested by it. One of the glorious ends of our Lord's incarnation was that He might propitiate us with the details of life, so that we should not disdain these as insignificant, but rather disdain ourselves for our inability to make these details interpreters of a noble nature. Oh, let us then look with affectionateness and gratitude upon the daily details of life, seeing the sanctifying imprint of the hand of Jesus upon them all!--_George Bowen._

=October 30th.=

_He placed . . . cherubims, and a flaming sword . . .
to keep the way of the tree of life. Gen. iii. 24._

_Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they
may have right to the tree of life. Rev. xxii. 14._

How remarkable and how beautiful it is that the last page of the Revelation should come bending round to touch the first page of Genesis. The history of man began with angels with frowning faces and flaming swords barring the way to the Tree of Life. It ends with the guard of cherubim withdrawn; or rather, perhaps, sheathing their swords and becoming guides to the no longer forbidden fruit, instead of being its guards. That is the Bible's grand symbolical way of saying that all between--the sin, the misery, the death--is a parenthesis. God's purpose is not going to be thwarted. The end of His majestic march through history is to be men's access to the Tree of Life, from which, for the dreary ages--that are but as a moment in the great eternities--they were barred out by their sin,--_Alex. McLaren._

=October 31st.=

_That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened. Eph. i. 17, 18._

We were coming down a mountain in Switzerland one evening, when a black thunder-storm blotted out the day, and all things were suddenly plunged into darkness. We could only dimly see the narrow, dusty footpaths, and the gloomy sides that were swallowed up in deeper gloom. What, then, of the majesty all about us, heights, and depths, and wonders? All was darkness. Then came the lightning--not flashes, but the blazing of the whole sky, incessant, and on every side. What recesses of glory we gazed into! What marvels of splendor shone out of the darkness!

Think how with us, in us, is One who comes to make the common, dusty ways of life resplendent, illuminating our dull thoughts by the light of the glory of God; clearing the vision of the soul, and then revealing the greatness of the salvation that is ours in Christ.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=November 1st.=

_Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the
midst. John viii. 9._

Alone with Jesus! What a sweet and holy spot! What a blessed refuge to which the soul may betake itself from the charges of Satan, the accusations of the world, and the sorrows of life! Sweet spot for the heart to unfold itself, to tell its hidden tale in the ear of Infinite love, tenderness, and compassion!

Alone with Jesus! How different a front would Christianity present to the world if the Lord's people were oftener there! What humility, and gentleness, and love, would characterize all their dealings! What holiness stamped on the very brow, that all might read! What few judgments passed on others, how many more on ourselves! What calmness and resignation and joyful submission to all the Lord's dealings!

Be much "alone with Jesus!" Then will the passage to glory be one of sunshine, whether it be through the portals of the grave or through the clouds of heaven.--_F. Whitfield._

=November 2nd.=

_Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence
is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are
pleasures for evermore. Psa. xvi. 11._

The man who walks along the path of life lives in the presence of the joy-giving God. Just in so far as he is true to that path of life, and wanders neither to the right hand nor to the left, his joy becomes deeper, nay! he becomes partaker of that very fullness of joy in which God Himself lives, and moves, and has His being. And while such is his experience in the midst of all the trials of life, he has also the privilege of looking forward to grander things yet in store for him, when that higher world shall be reached, and the shadows of time have passed away forever. "At Thy right hand," exclaims the psalmist, "there are pleasures for evermore."--_W. Hay Aitken._

=November 3rd.=

_Be clothed with humility. 1 Pet. v. 5._

Is it not one of the difficulties of church work that we have more officers than men? We need more of the rank and file, who are willing to march anywhere, and to do the lowliest of tasks. We shall succeed in doing greater things when we are all of us willing to be subject. It is the bayonet rather than the gold lace which is wanted when the enemy is to be subdued.--_Thomas Champness._

=November 4th.=

_Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold,
Esau came, and with him four hundred men. Gen. xxxiii.
1._

Do not lift up your eyes and look for Esaus. Those who look for troubles will not be long without finding trouble to look at. Lift them higher--to Him from whom our help cometh. Then you will be able to meet your troubles with an unperturbed spirit. Those who have seen the face of God need not fear the face of man that shall die. To have power with God is to have power over all the evils that threaten us.--_F. B. Meyer._

=November 5th.=

_Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of
God. 2 Cor. vii. 1._

The Tree of Life, according to some of the old rabbinical legends, lifted its branches, by an indwelling motion, high above impure hands that were stretched to touch them; and until our hands are cleansed through faith in Jesus Christ, its richest fruit hangs unreachable, golden above our heads. The fullness of the life of heaven is only granted to those who, drawing near Jesus Christ by faith on earth, have thereby cleansed themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.--_Alex. McLaren._

=November 6th.=

_The pillar of the cloud went from before their face,
and stood behind them. Ex. xiv. 19._

It is not always guidance that we most need. Many of our dangers come upon us from behind. They are stealthy, insidious, assaulting us when we are unaware of their nearness. The tempter is cunning and shrewd. He does not meet us full front. It is a comfort to know that Christ comes behind us when it is there we need the protection.--_J. R. Miller._

=November 7th.=

_Iniquities prevail against me: as for our
transgressions, Thou shall purge them away. Psa. lxv.
3._

There is much earnest religion that lives in the dreary compass of these first four words, "Iniquities prevail against me," and never gets a glimpse beyond it. But do not put a full stop there. Fetch in One who can help. "As for our transgressions, THOU shalt purge them away." The moment we bring the Lord in, that moment defeat is turned to triumphant deliverance!

Write that up in golden letters--THOU! And do not find in this word only a trembling hope, or a wondering wish. Listen to its full assurance--THOU SHALT!

There is but one result that can warrant the agony of Calvary; there is but one result that can satisfy either our blessed Savior or ourselves; and that is our being conquerors over sin.--_Mark Guy Pearse._

=November 8th.=

_Speaking the truth in love. Eph. iv. 15._

The best way of eradicating error is to publish and practice truth.--_W. Arnot._

=November 9th.=

_So he arose, and went to Zarephath. 1 Kings xvii.
10._

Let it be equally said of you to whatever duty the Lord may call you away, "He arose and went." Be the way ever so laborious or dangerous, still arise, like Elijah, and go. Go cheerfully, in faith, keeping your heart quietly dependent on the Lord, and in the end you will surely behold and sing of His goodness. Though tossed on a sea of troubles you may anchor on the firm foundation of God, which standeth sure. You have for your security His exceeding great and precious promises, and may say with the psalmist, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him who is the health of my countenance, and my God."--_F. W. Krummacher._

=November 10th.=

_A daily rate for every day. 2 Kings xxv. 30._

The acts of breathing which I performed yesterday will not keep me alive to-day; I must continue to breathe afresh every moment, or animal life ceases. In like manner yesterday's grace and spiritual strength must be renewed, and the Holy Spirit must continue to breathe on my soul from moment to moment in order to my enjoying the consolations, and to my working the works of God.--_Toplady._

=November 11th.=

_And when the vessel that he made of the clay was
marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again
another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make
it. Jer. xviii. 4. (R. V.)_

God's fairest, highest place of service in the land that lies beyond will be filled by the men and women who have been broken upon the wheel on earth.--_G. Campbell Morgan._

=November 12th.=

_Examine yourselves. 2 Cor. xiii. 5._

If your state be good, searching into it will give you that comfort of it. If your state be bad, searching into it cannot make it worse; nay, it is the only way to make it better, for conversion begins with conviction.--_Bishop Hopkins._

=November 13th.=

_Choose you this day whom ye will serve. Josh. xxiv.
15._

CHOICE AND SERVICE--these were demanded of the Israelites; these are demanded of you, these only. Choice and service--in these are the whole of life.--_Mark Hopkins._

=November 14th.=

_Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all
generations. Psa. xc. 1._

You cannot detain the eagle in the forest. You may gather around him a chorus of the choicest birds; you may give him a perch on the goodliest pine; you may charge winged messengers to bring him choicest dainties; but he will spurn them all. Spreading his lordly wings, and with his eye on the Alpine cliff, he will soar away to his own ancestral halls amid the munitions of rocks and the wild music of tempest and waterfall.

The soul of man, in its eagle soarings, will rest with nothing short of the Rock of Ages. Its ancestral halls are the halls of heaven. Its munitions of rocks are the attributes of God. The sweep of its majestic flight is Eternity! "Lord, THOU hast been our dwelling place in all generations!"--_Macduff._

=November 15th.=

_He hath said. Heb. xiii. 5._

If we can only grasp these words of faith, we have an all-conquering weapon in our hand. What doubt is there that will not be slain by this two-edged sword? What fear is there which shall not fall smitten with a deadly wound before this arrow from the bow of God's covenant? "He hath said!" Yes; whether for delight in our quietude, or for strength in our conflict, "He hath said!" must be our daily resort.

Since "He hath said" is the source of all wisdom, and the fountain of all comfort, let it dwell in you richly, as "a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life." So shall you grow healthy, strong, and happy, in the divine life.--_Spurgeon._

=November 16th.=

_Not I, but Christ liveth in me. Gal. ii. 20._

The wonder of the life in Jesus is this--and you will find it so, and you have found it so, if you have ever taken your New Testament and tried to make it the rule of your daily life--that there is not a single action that you are called upon to do of which you need be, of which you will be, in any serious doubt for ten minutes as to what Jesus Christ, if He were here, Jesus Christ being here, would have you do under those circumstances and with the material upon which you are called to act. The soul that takes in Jesus' word, the soul that through the words of Jesus enters into the very person of Jesus, the soul that knows Him as its daily presence and its daily law--it never hesitates.--_Phillips Brooks._

=November 17th.=

_Who is my neighbor? Luke x. 29._

"Who is thy neighbor?" It is the sufferer, wherever, whoever, whatsoever he be. Wherever thou hearest the cry of distress, wherever thou seest anyone brought across thy path by the chances and changes of life (that is, by the Providence of God), whom it is in thy power to help--he, stranger or enemy though he be--_he_ is thy neighbor.--_A. P. Stanley._

=November 18th.=

_He which stablisheth us . . . in Christ, and hath
anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and
given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 2 Cor.
i. 21, 22._

When a Christian is "sealed" by the Holy Ghost, "sealed" as the property of his Master, there will be no need to ask, "Whose image and superscription is this" upon the "sealed" one? The King's, of course. Anyone can see the image.

Of what use is a "seal" if it cannot be seen?

Is the King's image visibly, permanently, stamped upon us? It is on every Spirit-filled, "sealed" believer.--_John McNeil._

=November 19th.=

_They shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the
hand of Zerubbabel. Zech. iv. 10._