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Cowman formatted for e-Sword by David Cox dcox@davidcox.com.mx @ @     Streams in the Desert - Charles E. CowmanCowmanf@<0*VC)nNnnnn     IDMonthDayDevotionqt ID PrimaryKey        IdParentIdNameType DateCreate DateUpdateOwnerFlagsDatabaseConnect ForeignName RmtInfoShort RmtInfoLongLvLvPropLvModuleLvExtra  Id ParentIdName        {qgp $!$$BD@r@fAG@& D H"'J"0$ @@@LVAL  December (1) Devil's Burden (16) Continue in Prayer (2) Reaching Perfection (17) Full Salvation (3) Strong in Suffering (18) More Than Conquerors (4) Expectations Beyond Us (19) Call Back (5) It Must Be Bought (20) Dare to Be Alone (6) The Second Coming (21) The Path to Blessing (7) Open the Trenches (22) Night of Pure Faith (8) Show Love (23) God's Refreshment (9) Achieving the Victory (24) Quiet Time with God (10) Learning From Suffering (25) Christ our Consolation (11) Worship in the Night (26) No Active Mission (12) Fight the Good Fight (27) Iron Saints (13) When We're in the Dark (28) Rejoice (14) Christ's Business is Supreme (29) Appropriating Faith (15) Trust and Rest (30) Believing Prayer (31) Hitherto December 1 Devil's Burden "There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God" (Heb. 4:9). The rest includes victory, "And the Lord gave them rest round about; . . . the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand" (Joshua 21:44). "He will beautify the meek with victory" (Ps. 149:4). (Rotherham, margin) An eminent Christian worker tells of his mother who was a very anxious and troubled Christian. He would talk with her by the hour trying to convince her of the sinfulness of fretting, but to no avail. She was like the old lady who once said she had suffered so much, especially from the troubles that never came. But one morning the mother came down to breakfast wreathed in smiles. He asked her what had happened, and she told him that in the night she had a dream. She was walking along a highway with a great crowd of people who seemed so tired and burdened. They were nearly all carrying little black bundles, and she noticed that there were numerous repulsive looking beings which she thought were demons dropping these black bundles for the people to pick up and carry. Like the rest, she too had her needless load, anLVAL d was weighed down with the devil's bundles. Looking up, after a while, she saw a Man with a bright and loving face, passing hither and thither through the crowd, and comforting the people. At last He came near her, and she saw that it was her Saviour. She looked up and told Him how tired she was, and He smiled sadly and said: "My dear child, I did not give you these loads; you have no need of them. They are the devil's burdens and they are wearing out your life. Just drop them; refuse to touch them with one of your fingers and you will find the path easy and you will be as if borne on eagle's wings." He touched her hand, and lo, peace and joy thrilled her frame and, flinging down her burden, she was about to throw herself at His feet in joyful thanksgiving, when suddenly she awoke and found that all her cares were gone. From that day to the close of her life she was the most cheerful and happy member of the household. And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day, Shall fold their tents like the Arabs, And as silently steal away. --Longfellow December 2 Reaching Perfection "Perfect through suffering" (Heb. 2:10). Steel is iron plus fire. Soil is rock, plus heat, or glacier crushing. Linen is flax plus the bath that cleans, the comb that separates, and the flail that pounds, and the shuttle that weaves. Human character must have a plus attached to it. The world does not forget great characters. But great characters are not made of luxuries, they are made by suffering. I heard of a mother who brought into her home as a companion to her own son, a crippled boy who was also a hunchback. She had warned her boy to be very careful in his relations to him, and not to touch the sensitive part of his life but go right on playing with him as if he were an ordinary boy. She listened to her son as they were playing; and after a few minutes he said to his companion: "Do you know what you have got LVAL on your back?" The little hunchback was embarrassed, and he hesitated a moment. The boy said: "It is the box in which your wings are; and some day God is going to cut it open, and then you will fly away and be an angel." Some day, God is going to reveal the fact to every Christian, that the very principles they now rebel against, have been the instruments which He used in perfecting their characters and moulding them into perfection, polished stones for His great building yonder. --Cortland Myers Suffering is a wonderful fertilizer to the roots of character. The great object of this life is character. This is the only thing we can carry with us into eternity. . . . To gain the most of it and the best of it is the object of probation. --Austin Phelps "By the thorn road and no other is the mount of vision won." -- Theodore Epp December 3 Strong in Suffering "Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well" (2 Kings 4:26). "Be strong, my soul! Thy loved ones go Within the veil. God's thine, e'en so; Be strong. "Be strong, my soul! Death looms in view. Lo, here thy God! He'll bear thee through; Be strong." For sixty-two years and five months I had a beloved wife, and now, in my ninety-second year I am left alone. But I turn to the ever present Jesus, as I walk up and down in my room, and say, "Lord Jesus, I am alone, and yet not alone--Thou art with me, Thou art my Friend. Now, Lord, comfort me, strengthen me, give to Thy poor servant everything Thou seest he needs." And we should not be satisfied till we are brought to this, that we know the Lord Jesus Christ experimentally, habitually to be our Friend: at all times, and under all circumstances, ready to prove Himself to be our Friend. --George Mueller Afflictions cannot injure when blended with submission. Ice breaks many a branch, and so I see a great many persons bowed down and crushed by their afflLVAL ictions. But now and then I meet one that sings in affliction, and then I thank God for my own sake as well as his. There is no such sweet singing as a song in the night. You recollect the story of the woman who, when her only child died, in rapture looking up, as with the face of an angel, said, "I give you joy, my darling." That single sentence has gone with me years and years down through my life, quickening and comforting me. --Henry Ward Beecher "E'en for the dead I will not bind my soul to grief; Death cannot long divide. For is it not as though the rose that climbed my garden wall Has blossomed on the other, side? Death doth hide, But not divide; Thou art but on Christ's other side! Thou art with Christ, and Christ with me; In Christ united still are we." December 4 Expectations Beyond Us "But prayer" (Acts 12:5). But prayer is the link that connects us with God. This is the bridge that spans every gulf and bears us over every abyss of danger or of need. How significant the picture of the Apostolic Church: Peter in prison, the Jews triumphant, Herod supreme, the arena of martyrdom awaiting the dawning of the morning to drink up the apostle's blood, and everything else against it. "But prayer was made unto God without ceasing." And what was the sequel? The prison open, the apostle free, the Jews baffled, the wicked king eaten of worms, a spectacle of hidden retribution, and the Word of God rolling on in greater victory. Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? God baptize us with holy audacity and Divine confidence! He is not wanting great men, but He is wanting men who will dare to prove the greatness of their God. But God! But prayer! --A. B. Simpson Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, aboveLVAL  all that we ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ; and expect great things. --Andrew Murray Our prayers are God's opportunities. Are you in sorrow? Prayer can make your affliction sweet and strengthening. Are you in gladness? Prayer can add to your joy a celestial perfume. Are you in extreme danger from outward or inward enemies? Prayer can set at your right hand an angel whose touch could shatter a millstone into smaller dust than the flour it grinds, and whose glance could lay an army low. What will prayer do for you? I answer: All that God can do for you. "Ask what I shall give thee." --Farrar "Wrestling prayer can wonders do, Bring relief in deepest straits; Prayer can force a passage through Iron bars and brazen gates." December 5 It Must Be Bought "On all bare heights shall be their pasture" (Isa. 49:9, RV). Toys and trinkets are easily won, but the greatest things are greatly bought. The top-most place of power is always bought with blood. You may have the pinnacles if you have enough blood to pay. That is the conquest condition of the holy heights everywhere. The story of real heroisms is the story of sacrificial blood. The chiefest values in life and character are not blown across our way by vagrant winds. Great souls have great sorrows. "Great truths are dearly bought, the common truths, Such as men give and take front day to day, Come in the common walk of easy life, Blown by the careless wind across our way. "Great truths are greatly won, not found by chance, Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream; But grasped in the great struggle of the soul, Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream. "But in the day of conflict, fear and grief, When the strong hand of God, put forth in might, Plows up the subsoil of the stagnant heart, ALVAL nd brings the imprisoned truth seed to the light. "Wrung from the troubled spirit, in hard hours Of weakness, solitude, perchance of pain, Truth springs like harvest from the well-plowed field, And the soul feels it has not wept in vain." The capacity for knowing God enlarges as we are brought by Him into circumstances which oblige us to exercise faith; so, when difficulties beset our path let us thank God that He is taking trouble with us, and lean hard upon Him. December 6 The Second Coming "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" (Rev. 3:11). George Mueller bears this testimony, "When it pleased God in July, 1829, to reveal to my heart the truth of the personal return of the Lord Jesus, and to show me that I had made a great mistake in looking for the conversion of the world, the effect that it produced upon me was this: From my inmost soul I was stirred up to feel compassion for perishing sinners, and for the slumbering world around me lying in the wicked one, and considered, 'Ought I not to do what I can for the Lord Jesus while He tarries, and to rouse a slumbering church?"' There may be many hard years of hard work before the consummation, but the signs are to me so encouraging that I would not be unbelieving if I saw the wing of the apocalyptic angel spread for its last triumphal flight in this day's sunset; or if tomorrow morning the ocean cables should thrill us with the news that Christ the Lord had alighted on Mount Olivet or Mount Calvary to proclaim universal dominion. O you dead churches wake up! O Christ, descend! Scarred temple, take the crown! Bruised hand, take the sceptre! Wounded foot, step the throne! Thine is the kingdom. --Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D. "It may be in the evening, When the work of the day is done, And you have time to sit in the twilight, And watch the sinking sun, While the long bright day dies slowly Over the sea, LVAL And the hours grow quiet and holy With thoughts of Me; While you hear the village children Passing along the street Among those passing footsteps May come the sound of My Feet. Therefore I tell you, Watch! By the light of the evening star When the room is growing dusky As the clouds afar, Let the door be on the latch In your home, For it may be through the gloaming I will come." December 7 Open the Trenches "Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hands" (2 Kings 3:16-18). To human thinking it was simply impossible, but nothing is hard for God. Without a sound or sign, from sources invisible and apparently impossible, the floods came stealing in all night long; and when the morning dawned, those ditches were flooded with the crystal waters, and reflecting the rays of the morning sun from the red hills of Edom. Our unbelief is always wanting some outward sign. The religion of many is largely sensational, and they are not satisfied of its genuineness without manifestations, etc.; but the greatest triumph of faith is to be still and know that He is God. The great victory of faith is to stand before some impassable Red Sea, and hear the Master say, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord," and "Go forward!" As we step out without any sign or sound--not a wave-splash--and wetting our very feet as we take the first step into its waters, still marching on we shall see the sea divide and the pathway open through the very midst of the waters. If we have seen the miraculous workings of God in some marvelous case of healing or some extraordinary providential deliverance, I am sure the thing that has impressed us most has been the quietness with which it was all doneLVAL !, the absence of everything spectacular and sensational, and the utter sense of nothingness which came to us as we stood in the presence of this mighty God and felt how easy, it was for Him to do it all without the faintest effort on His part or the slightest help on ours. It is not the part of faith to question, but to obey. The ditches were made, and the water came pouring in from some supernatural source. What a lesson for our faith! Are you craving a spiritual blessing? Open the trenches, and God will fill them. And this, too, in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways. Oh, for that faith that can act by faith and not by sight, and expect God to work although we see no wind or rain. --A. B. Simpson December 8 Show Love "Put on as the elect of God, kindness" (Col. 3:12). There is a story of an old man who carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and if he passed through a door that squeaked, he poured a little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he oiled the latch. And thus he passed through life lubricating all hard places and making it easier for those who came after him. People called him eccentric, queer, and cranky; but the old man went steadily on refilling his can of oil when it became empty, and oiled the hard places he found. There are many lives that creak and grate harshly as they live day by day. Nothing goes right with them. They need lubricating with the oil of gladness, gentleness, or thoughtfulness. Have you your own can of oil with you? Be ready with your oil of helpfulness in the early morning to the one nearest you. It may lubricate the whole day for him. The oil, of good cheer to the downhearted one--Oh, how much it may mean! The word of courage to the despairing. Speak it. Our lives touch others but once, perhaps, on the road of life; and then, mayhap, our ways diverge, never to meet again, The oil of kindness has worn the sharp, hard edges off of many a sinLVAL "-hardened life and left it soft and pliable and ready for the redeeming grace of the Saviour. A word spoken pleasantly is a large spot of sunshine on a sad heart. Therefore, "Give others the sunshine, tell Jesus the rest." "We cannot know the grief That men may borrow; We cannot see the souls Storm-swept by sorrow; But love can shine upon the way Today, tomorrow; Let us be kind. Upon the wheel of pain so many weary lives are broken, We live in vain who give no tender token. Let us be kind." "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love" (Rom. 12:10). December 9 Achieving the Victory "For this our light and transitory burden of suffering is achieving for us a weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17). (Weymouth) "Is achieving for us," mark. The question is repeatedly asked--Why is the life of man drenched with so much blood, and blistered with so many tears? The answer is to be found in the word "achieving"; these things are achieving for us something precious. They are teaching us not only the way to victory, but better still the laws of victory. There is a compensation in every sorrow, and the sorrow is working out the compensation. It is the cry of the dear old hymn: "Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to Thee, E'en tho' it be a cross that raiseth me." Joy sometimes needs pain to give it birth. Fanny Crosby could never have written her beautiful hymn, "I shall see Him face to face," were it not for the fact that she had never looked upon the green fields nor the evening sunset nor the kindly twinkle in her mother's eye. It was the loss of her own vision that helped her to gain her remarkable spiritual discernment. It is the tree that suffers that is capable of polish. When the woodman wants some curved lines of beauty in the grain he cuts down some maple that has been gashed by the axe and twisted by the storm. In this way he secures the knots and the hardness thLVAL #at take the gloss. It is comforting to know that sorrow tarries only for the night; it takes its leave in the morning. A thunderstorm is very brief when put alongside the long summer day. "Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning." --Songs in the Night "There is a peace that cometh after sorrow, Of hope surrendered, not of hope fulfilled; A peace that looketh not upon tomorrow, But calmly on a tempest that it stilled. "A peace that lives not now in joy's excesses, Nor in the happy life of love secure; But in the unerring strength the heart possesses, Of conflicts won while learning to endure. "A peace there is, in sacrifice secluded, A life subdued, from will and passion free; 'Tis not the peace that over Eden brooded, But that which triumphed in Gethsemane." December 10 Learning From Suffering "If I am in distress, it is in the interests of your comfort, which is effective as it nerves you to endure the same sufferings as I suffered myself. Hence my hope for you is well-founded, since I know that as you share the sufferings you share the comfort also" (2 Cor. 1:6, 7). Are there not some in your circle to whom you naturally betake yourself in times of trial and sorrow? They always seem to speak the right word, to give the very counsel you are longing for; you do not realize, however, the cost which they had to pay ere they became so skillful in binding up the gaping wounds and drying tears. But if you were to investigate their past history you would find that they have suffered more than most. They have watched the slow untwisting of some silver cord on which the lamp of life hung. They have seen the golden bowl of joy dashed to their feet, and its contents spilt. They have stood by ebbing tides, and drooping gourds, and noon sunsets; but all this has been necessary to make them the nurses, the physicians, the priests of men. The boxes that come from foreign climes are clumsLVAL $y enough; but they contain spices which scent the air with the fragrance of the Orient. So suffering is rough and hard to bear; but it hides beneath it discipline, education, possibilities, which not only leave us nobler, but perfect us to help others. Do not fret, or set your teeth, or wait doggedly for the suffering to pass; but get out of it all you can, both for yourself and for your service to your generation, according to the will of God. --Selected Once I heard a song of sweetness, As it cleft the morning air, Sounding in its blest completeness, Like a tender, pleading prayer; And I sought to find the singer, Whence the wondrous song was borne; And I found a bird, sore wounded, Pinioned by a cruel thorn. I have seen a soul in sadness, While its wings with pain were furl'd, Giving hope, and cheer and gladness That should bless a weeping world; And I knew that life of sweetness, Was of pain and sorrow row borne, And a stricken soul was singing, With its heart against a thorn. Ye are told of One who loved you, Of a Saviour crucified, Ye are told of nails that pinioned, And a spear that pierced His side; Ye are told of cruel scourging, Of a Saviour bearing scorn, And He died for your salvation, With His brow against a thorn. Ye "are not above the Master." Will you breathe a sweet refrain? And His grace will be sufficient, When your heart is pierced with pain. Will you live to bless His loved ones, Tho' your life be bruised and torn, Like the bird that sang so sweetly, With its heart against a thorn? --Selected December 11 Worship in the Night "Ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion" (Ps. 134:1, 3). Strange time for adoration, you say, to stand in God's house by night, to worship in the depth of sorrow --iLVAL %t is indeed an arduous thing. Yes, and therein lies the blessing; it is the test of perfect faith. If I would know the love of my friend I must see what it can do in the winter. So with the Divine love. It is easy for me to worship in the summer sunshine when the melodies of life are in the air and the fruits of life are on the tree. But let the song of the bird cease and the fruit of the tree fall, and will my heart still go on to sing? Will I stand in God's house by night? Will I love Him in His own night? Will I watch with Him even one hour in His Gethsemane? Will I help to bear His cross up the dolorous way? Will I stand beside Him in His dying moments with Mary and the beloved disciple? Will I be able with Nicodemus to take up the dead Christ? Then is my worship complete and my blessing glorious. My love has come to Him in His humiliation. My faith has found Him in His lowliness. My heart has recognized His majesty through His mean disguise, and I know at last that I desire not the gift but the Giver. When I can stand in His house by night I have accepted Him for Himself alone. --George Matheson "My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace, Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God; 'Tis His to lead me there, not mine, but His 'At any cost, dear Lord, by any road!' "So faith bounds forward to its goal in God, And love can trust her Lord to lead her there; 'Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer. "No matter if the way be sometimes dark, No matter though the cost be ofttimes great, He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark, The way that leads to Him must needs be straight. "One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay; One thing I do, I press towards my Lord; My God my glory here, from day to day, And in the glory there my Great Reward." December 12 Fight the Good Fight "The last drops of my sacrifice are falling; my time to go has come. I have fLVAL &ought in the good fight; I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:6, 7). As soldiers show their scars and talk of battles when they come at last to spend their old age in the country at home, so shall we in the dear land to which we are hastening, speak of the goodness and faithfulness of God who brought us through all the trials of the way. I would not like to stand in the white-robed host and hear it said, "These are they that came out of great tribulation, all except one." Would you like to be there and see yourself pointed at as the one saint who never knew a sorrow? Oh, no! for you would be an alien in the midst of the sacred brotherhood. We will be content to share the battle, for we shall soon wear the crown and wave the palm. --C. H. Spurgeon "Where were you wounded?" asked the surgeon of a soldier at Lookout Mountain. "Almost at the top," he answered. He forgot even his gaping wound--he only remembered that he had won the heights. So let us go forth to higher endeavors for Christ and never rest till we can shout from the very top, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." "Finish thy work, then rest, Till then rest never; The rest for thee by God Is rest forever." "God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars." Of an old hero the minstrel sang-- "With his Yemen sword for aid; Ornament it carried none, But the notches on the blade." What nobler decoration of honor can any godly man seek after than his scars of service, his losses for the crown, his reproaches for Christ's sake, his being worn out in his Master's service! December 13 When We're in the Dark "I will give thee the treasures of darkness" (Isa. 45:3). In the famous lace shops of Brussels, there are certain rooms devoted to the spinning of the finest and most delicate patterns. These rooms are altogether darkened, save for a light from one very small window, whichLVAL ' falls directly upon the pattern. There is only one spinner in the room, and he sits where the narrow stream of light falls upon the threads of his weaving. "Thus," we are told by the guide, "do we secure our choicest products. Lace is always more delicately and beautifully woven when the worker himself is in the dark and only his pattern is in the light." May it not be the same with us in our weaving? Sometimes it is very dark. We cannot understand what we are doing. We do not see the web we are weaving. We are not able to discover any beauty, any possible good in our experience. Yet if we are faithful and fail not and faint not, we shall some day know that the most exquisite work of all our life was done in those days when it was so dark. If you are in the deep shadows because of some strange, mysterious providence, do not be afraid. Simply go on in faith and love, never doubting. God is watching, and He will bring good and beauty out of all your pain and tears. --J. R. Miller The shuttles of His purpose move To carry out His own design; Seek not too soon to disapprove His work, nor yet assign Dark motives, when, with silent tread, You view some sombre fold; For lo, within each darker thread There twines a thread of gold. Spin cheerfully, Not tearfully, He knows the way you plod; Spin carefully, Spin prayerfully, But leave the thread with God. --Canadian Home Journal December 14 Christ's Business is Supreme "His disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray . . . and he said unto them, When ye pray, say. . . Thy kingdom come" (Luke 11:1, 2). When they said, "Teach us to pray," the Master lifted His eyes and swept the far horizon of God. He gathered up the ultimate dream of the Eternal, and, rounding the sum of everything God intends to do in the life of man, He packed it all into these three terse pregnant phrases and said, "When you pray, pray after this manner." LVAL ( What a contrast between this and much praying we have heard. When we follow the devices of our own hearts, how runs it? "O Lord bless me, then My family, My church, My city, My country," and away on the far fringe as we close up, there is a prayer for the extension of His Kingdom throughout the wide parish of the world. The Master begins where we leave off. The world first, my personal needs second, is the order of this prayer. Only after my prayer has crossed every continent and every far-flung island of the sea, after it has taken in the last man in the last backward race, after it has covered the entire wish and purpose, of God for the world, only then am I taught to ask for a piece of bread for myself. When Jesus gave His all, Himself for us and to us in the holy extravagance of the Cross, is it too much if He asks us to do the same thing? No man or woman amounts to anything in the kingdom, no soul ever touches even the edge of the zone of power, until this lesson is learned that Christ's business is the supreme concern of life and that all personal considerations, however dear or important, are tributary thereto. --Dr. Francis When Robert Moffat, the veteran African missionary and explorer, was asked once to write in a young lady's album, he penned these lines: "My album is a savage breast, Where tempests brood and shadows rest, Without one ray of light; To write the name of Jesus there, And see that savage bow in prayer, And point to worlds more bright and fair, This is my soul's delight." "And His Kingdom shall have no frontier" (Luke 1:33, the old Moravian version). The missionary enterprise is not the Church's afterthought; it is Christ's forethought; --Henry van Dyke December 15 Trust and Rest "Trust also in him" (Ps. 37:3). The word trust is the heart word of faith. It is the Old Testament word, the word given to the early and infant stage of faith. The word faith expresses more tLVAL )he act of the will, the word belief the act of the mind or intellect, but trust is the language of the heart. The other has reference more to a truth believed or a thing expected. Trust implies more than this, it sees and feels, and leans upon a person, a great, true, living heart of love. So let us "trust also in him," through all the delays, in spite of all the difficulties, in the face of all the denials, notwithstanding all the seemings, even when we cannot understand the way, and know not the issue; still "trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass." The way will open, the right issue will come, the end will be peace, the cloud will be lifted, and the light of an eternal noonday shall shine at last. "Trust and rest when all around thee Puts thy faith to sorest test; Let no fear or foe confound thee, Wait for God and trust and rest. "Trust and rest with heart abiding, Like a birdling in its nest, Underneath His feathers hiding, Fold thy wings and trust and rest." December 16 Continue in Prayer "And there was Anna, a prophetess . . . which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day" (Luke 2:36, 37). No doubt by praying we learn to pray, and the more we pray the oftener we can pray, and the better we can pray. He who prays in fits and starts is never likely to attain to that effectual, fervent prayer which availeth much. Great power in prayer is within our reach, but we must go to work to obtain it. Let us never imagine that Abraham could have interceded so successfully for Sodom if he had not been all his lifetime in the practice of communion with God. Jacob's all-night at Peniel was not the first occasion upon which he had met his God. We may even look upon our Lord's most choice and wonderful prayer with his disciples before His Passion as the flower and fruit of His many nights of devotion, and of His often rising up a great while before day to pray. LVAL * If a man dreams that he can become mighty in prayer just as he pleases, he labors under a great mistake. The prayer of Elias which shut up heaven and afterwards opened its floodgates, was one of long series of mighty prevailings with God. Oh, that Christian men would remember this! Perseverance in prayer is necessary to prevalence in prayer. Those great intercessors, who are not so often mentioned as they ought to be in connection with confessors and martyrs, were nevertheless the grandest benefactors of the Church; but it was only by abiding at the mercy-seat that they attained to be such channels of mercy to men. We must pray to pray, and continue in prayer that our prayers may continue. --G. H.. Spurgeon December 17 Full Salvation "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it" (1 Thess. 5:23, 24). Many years since I saw that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." I began by following after it and inciting all with whom I had intercourse to do the same. Ten years after, God gave me a clearer view than I ever had before of the way to obtain it; namely, by faith in the Son of God. And immediately I declared to all, "We are saved from sin, we are made holy by faith." This I testified in private, in public, and in print, and God confirmed it by a thousand witnesses. I have continued to declare this for above thirty years, and God has continued to confirm my work. --John Wesley in 1771 "I knew Jesus, and He was very precious to my soul; but I found something in me that would not keep sweet and patient and kind. I did what I could to keep it down, but it was there. I besought Jesus to do something for me, and, when I gave Him my will, He came to my heart, and took out all that would not be sweet, all that would not be kind, all that would not be patient, and then HE shut thLVAL +e door." --George Fox My whole heart has not one single grain, this moment, of thirst after approbation. I feel alone with God; He fills the void; I have not one wish, one will, one desire, but in Him; He hath set my feet in a large room. I have wondered and stood amazed that God should make a conquest of all within me by love. --Lady Huntington "All at once I felt as though a hand--not feeble, but omnipotent; not of wrath, but of love--was laid on my brow. I felt it not outwardly but inwardly. It seemed to press upon my whole being, and to diffuse all through me a holy, sin-consuming energy. As it passed downward, my heart as well as my head was conscious of the presence of this soul-cleansing energy, under the influence of which I fell to the floor, and in the joyful surprise of the moment, cried out in a loud voice. Still the hand of power wrought without and within; and wherever it moved, it seemed to leave the glorious influence of the Saviour's image. For a few minutes the deep ocean of God's love swallowed me up; all its waves and billows rolled over me." --Bishop Hamline Holiness--as I then wrote down some of my contemplations on it--appeared to me to be of a sweet, calm, pleasant, charming, serene nature, which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, ravishment to the soul; in other words, that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant fruits and flowers, all delightful and undisturbed, enjoying a sweet calm and the gentle vivifying beams of the sun. --Jonathan Edwards "Love's resistless current sweeping All the regions deep within; Thought and wish and senses keeping Now, and every instant clean: Full salvation! Full salvation! From the guilt and power of sin." December 18 More Than Conquerors "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Rom. 8:37). The Gospel is so arranged and the gift of God so great that you may take tLVAL ,he very enemies that fight you and the forces that are arrayed against you and make them steps up to the very gates of heaven and into the presence of God. Like the eagle, who sits on a crag and watches the sky as it is filling with blackness, and the forked lightnings are playing up and down, and he is sitting perfectly still, turning one eye and then the other toward the storm. But he never moves until he begins to feel the burst of the breeze and knows that the hurricane has struck him; with a scream, he swings his breast to the storm, and uses the storm to go up to the sky; away he goes, borne upward upon it. That is what God wants of every one of His children, to be more than conqueror, turning the storm-cloud into a chariot. You know when one army is more than conqueror it is likely to drive the other from the field, to get all the ammunition, the food and supplies, and to take possession of the whole. That is just what our text means. There are spoils to be taken! Beloved, have you got them? When you went into that terrible valley of suffering did you come out of it with spoils? When that injury struck you and you thought everything was gone, did you so trust in God that you came out richer than you went in? To be more than conqueror is to take the spoils from the enemy and appropriate them to yourself. What he had arranged for your overthrow, take and appropriate for yourself. When Dr. Moon, of Brighton, England, was stricken with blindness, he said "Lord, I accept this talent of blindness from Thee. Help me to use it for Thy glory that at Thy coming Thou mayest receive Thine own with usury." Then God enabled him to invent the Moon Alphabet for the blind, by which thousands of blind people were enabled to read the Word of God, and many of them were gloriously saved. --Selected God did not take away Paul's thorn; He did better--He mastered that thorn, and made it Paul's servant. The ministry of thorns has often been a greater ministry to man than the minisLVAL -try of thrones. --Selected December 19 Call Back "It shall turn to you for a testimony'' (Luke 21:13). Life is a steep climb, and it does the heart good to have somebody "call back" and cheerily beckon us on up the high hill. We are all climbers together, and we must help one another. This mountain climbing is serious business, but glorious. It takes strength and steady step to find the summits. The outlook widens with the altitude. If anyone among us has found anything worth while, we ought to "call back." If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back-- 'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track; And if, perchance, Faith's light is dim, because the oil is low, Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go. Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm; Call back, and say He kept you when the forest's roots were torn; That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill, He bore you up and held you where the very air was still. Oh, friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your your face, They say it glows with triumph, and your feet bound in the race; But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim, And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him. But if you'll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry, And if you'll say He saw you through the night's sin-darkened sky If you have gone a little way ahead, oh, friend, call back-- 'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track. --Selected December 20 Dare to Be Alone "Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me" (John 16:32). It need not be said that to carry out conviction into action is a costly sacrifice. It may make necessary renunciations and separations which leave one to feel a strange sense both of deprivation and loneliness. But he who will fly, as an eagle does, into the higher lLVAL .evels where cloudless day abides, and live in the sunshine of God, must be content to live a comparatively lonely life. No bird is so solitary as the eagle. Eagles never fly in flocks; one, or at most two, ever being seen at once. But the life that is lived unto God, however it forfeits human companionships, knows Divine fellowship. God seeks eagle-men. No man ever comes into a realization of the best things of God, who does not, upon the Godward side of his life, learn to walk alone with God. We find Abraham alone in Horeb upon the heights, but Lot, dwelling in Sodom. Moses, skilled in all the wisdom of Egypt must go forty years into the desert alone with God. Paul, who was filled with Greek learning and had also sat at the feet of Gamaliel, must go into Arabia and learn the desert life with God. Let God isolate us. I do not mean the isolation of a monastery. In this isolating experience He develops an independence of faith and life so that the soul needs no longer the constant help, prayer, faith or attention of his neighbor. Such assistance and inspiration from the other members are necessary and have their place in the Christian's development, but there comes a time when they act as a direct hindrance to the individual's faith and welfare. God knows how to change the circumstances in order to give us an isolating experience. We yield to God and He takes us through something, and when it is over, those about us, who are no less loved than before, are no longer depended upon. We realize that He has wrought some things in us, and that the wings of our souls have learned to beat the upper air. We must dare to be alone. Jacob must be left alone if the Angel of God is to whisper in his ear the mystic name of Shiloh; Daniel must be left alone if he is to see celestial visions; John must be banished to Patmos if he is deeply to take and firmly to keep "the print of heaven." He trod the wine-press alone. Are we prepared for a "splendid isolation" rather than fail Him? LVAL / December 21 The Path to Blessing "To him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon because he hath wholly followed the Lord" (Deut. 1:36). Every hard duty that lies in your path, that you would rather not do, that it will cost you pain and struggle or sore effort to do, has a blessing in it. Not to do it, at whatever cost, is to miss the blessing. Every hard piece of road on which you see the Master's shoe-prints and along which He bids you follow Him, surely leads to blessing, which you cannot get if you cannot go over the steep, thorny path. Every point of battle to which you come, where you must draw your sword and fight the enemy, has a possible victory which will prove a rich blessing to your life. Every heavy load that you are called to lift hides in itself some strange secret of strength. --J. R. Miller "I cannot do it alone; The waves run fast and high, And the fogs close all around, The light goes out in the sky; But I know that we two Shall win in the end, Jesus and I. "Coward and wayward and weak, I change with the changing sky; Today so eager and bright, Tomorrow too weak to try; But He never gives in, So we two shall win, Jesus and I. "I could not guide it myself, My boat on life's wild sea; There's One who sits by my side, Who pulls and steers with me. And I know that we two Shall safe enter port, Jesus and I." December 22 Night of Pure Faith "Lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him" (Gen. 15:12). The sun at last went down, and the swift, eastern night cast its heavy veil over the scene. Worn out with the mental conflict, the watchings, and the exertions of the day, Abraham fell into a deep sleep, and in that sleep is soul was oppressed with a dense and dreadful darkness, such as almost stifled him, and lay like a nightmare upon his heart. Do you understand something of the horror of that darkness? When someLVAL 0 terrible sorrow which seems so hard to reconcile with perfect love, crushes down upon the soul, wringing from it all its peaceful rest in the pitifulness of God, and launching it on a sea unlit by a ray of hope; when unkindness, and cruelty maltreat the trusting heart, till it begins to doubt whether there be a God overhead who can see and still permit--these know something of the "horror of great darkness." It is thus that human life is made up; brightness and gloom; shadow and sun; long tracks of cloud, succeeded by brilliant glints of light, and amid all Divine justice is working out its own schemes, affecting others equally with the individual soul which seems the subject of special discipline. O ye who are filled with the horror of great darkness because of God's dealings with mankind, learn to trust that infallible wisdom, which is co-assessor with immutable justice; and know that He who passed through the horror of the darkness of Calvary, with the cry of forsakenness, is ready to bear you company through the valley of the shadow of death till you see the sun shining upon its further side. Let us, by our Forerunner, send forward our anchor, Hope, within the veil that parts us from the unseen; where it will grapple in ground and will not yield, but hold until the day dawns, and we follow it into the haven guaranteed to us by God's immutable counsel. --F. B. Meyer The disciples thought that that angry sea separated them from Jesus. Nay, some of them thought worse than that; they thought that the trouble that had come upon them was a sign that Jesus had forgotten all about them, and did not care for them. Oh, dear friend, that is when troubles have a sting, when the devil whispers, "God has forgotten you; God has forsaken you"; when your unbelieving heart cries as Gideon cried, "If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?" The evil has come upon you to bring the Lord nearer to you. The evil has not come upon you to separate you from Jesus, but to make you cling to Him morLVAL 1e faithfully, more tenaciously, more simply. --F. S. Webster, M.A. Never should we so abandon ourselves to God as when He seems to have abandoned us. Let us enjoy light and consolation when it is His pleasure to give it to us, but let us not attach ourselves to His gifts, but to Himself; and when He plunges us into the night of pure faith, let us still press on through the agonizing darkness. Oh, for faith that brings the triumph When defeat seems strangely near! Oh, for faith that brings the triumph Into victory's ringing cheer-- Faith triumphant; knowing not defeat or fear. --Herbert Booth December 23 God's Refreshment "The journey is too great for thee" (1 King 19:7). And what did God do with His tired servant? Gave him something good to eat, and put him to sleep. Elijah had done splendid work, and had run alongside of the chariot in his excitement, and it had been too much for his physical strength, and the reaction had come on, and he was depressed. The physical needed to be cared for. What many people want is sleep, and the physical ailment attended to. There are grand men and women who get where Elijah was--under the juniper tree! and it comes very soothingly to such to hear the words of the Master: "The journey is too great for thee, and I am going to refresh you." Let us not confound physical weariness with spiritual weakness. "I'm too tired to trust and too tired to pray, Said one, as the over-taxed strength gave way. The one conscious thought by my mind possessed, Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest. "Will God forgive me, do you suppose, If I go right to sleep as a baby goes, Without an asking if I may, Without ever trying to trust and pray? "Will God forgive you? why think, dear heart, When language to you was an unknown art, Did a mother deny you needed rest, Or refuse to pillow your head on her breast? "Did she let you want when you couldLVAL 2 not ask? Did she set her child an unequal task? Or did she cradle you in her arms, And then guard your slumber against alarms? "Ah, how quick was her mother love to see, The unconscious yearnings of infancy. When you've grown too tired to trust and pray, When over-wrought nature has quite given way: "Then just drop it all, and give up to rest, As you used to do on a mother's breast, He knows all about it--the dear Lord knows, So just go to sleep as a baby goes; "Without even asking if you may, God knows when His child is too tired to pray. He judges not solely by uttered prayer, He knows when the yearnings of love are there. "He knows you do pray, He knows you do trust, And He knows, too, the limits' of poor weak dust. Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ, For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst, "When He bade them sleep and take their rest, While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed-- You've given your life up to Him to keep, Then don't be afraid to go right to sleep." December 24 Quiet Time with God "And Isaac went out to meditate in the fields at eventide" (Gen. 24:63). We should be better Christians if we were more alone; we should do more if we attempted less, and spent more time in retirement, and quiet waiting upon God. The world is too much with us; we are afflicted with the idea that we are doing nothing unless we are fussily running to and fro; we do not believe in "the calm retreat, the silent shade." As a people, we are of a very practical turn of mind; "we believe," as someone has said, "in having all our irons in the fire, and consider the time not spent between the anvil and the fire as lost, or much the same as lost." Yet no time is more profitably spent than that which is set apart for quiet musing, for talking with God, for looking up to Heaven. We cannot have too many of these open spaces in life, hours in which theLVAL 3 soul is left accessible to any sweet thought or influence it may please God to send. "Reverie," it has been said, "is the Sunday of the mind." Let us often in these days give our mind a "Sunday," in which it will do no manner of work but simply lie still, and look upward, and spread itself out before the Lord like Gideon's fleece, to be soaked and moistened with the dews of Heaven. Let there be intervals when we shall do nothing, think nothing, plan nothing, but just lay ourselves on the green lap of nature and "rest awhile." Time so spent is not lost time. The fisherman cannot be said to be losing time when he is mending his nets, nor the mower when he takes a few minutes to sharpen his scythe at the top of the ridge. City men cannot do better than follow the example of Isaac, and, as often as they can, get away from the fret and fever of life into fields. Wearied with the heat and din, the noise and bustle, communion with nature is very grateful; it will have a calming, healing influence. A walk through the fields, a saunter by the seashore or across the daisy-sprinkled meadows, will purge your life from sordidness, and make the heart beat with new joy and hope. "The little cares that fretted me, I lost them yesterday, . . . Out in the fields with God." Chistmas Eve BELLS ACROSS THE SNOW O Christmas, merry Christmas, Is it really come again, With its memories and greetings, With its joy and with its pain! There's a minor in the carol And a shadow in the light, And a spray of cypress twining With the holly wreath tonight. And the hush is never broken By laughter light and low, As we listen in the starlight To the "bells across the snow." O Christmas, merry Christmas, 'Tis not so very long Since other voices blended With the carol and the song! If we could but hear them singing, As they are singing now, If we could but see the radiance Of the crown oLVAL 4n each dear brow, There would be no sigh to smother, No hidden tear to flow, As we listen in the starlight To the "bells across the snow." O Christmas, merry Christmas, This never more can be; We cannot bring again the days Of our unshadowed glee, But Christmas, happy Christmas, Sweet herald of good will, With holy songs of glory Brings holy gladness still. For peace and hope may brighten, And patient love may glow, As we listen in the starlight To the "bells across the snow." --Frances Ridley Havergal December 25 Christ our Consolation "His name shall be called Emmanuel . . . God with us." (Matt. 1:23) . "The Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6). "There's a song in the air! There's a star in the sky! There's a mother's deep prayer, And a baby's low cry! And the star rains its fire While the beautiful sing, For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King." A few years ago a striking Christmas card was published, with the title, "If Christ had not come." It was founded upon our Saviour's words, "If I had not come." The card represented a clergyman falling into a short sleep in his study on Christmas morning and dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come. In his dream he found himself looking through his home, but there were no little stockings in the chimney corner, no Christmas bells or wreaths of holly, and no Christ to comfort, gladden and save. He walked out on the public street, but there was no church with its spire pointing to Heaven. He came back and sat down in his library, but every book about the Saviour had disappeared. A ring at the door-bell, and a messenger asked him to visit a poor dying mother. He hastened with, the weeping child and as he reached the home he sat down and said, "I have something here that will comfort you." He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise, but it ended at Malachi, and there was nLVAL 5o gospel and no promise of hope and salvation, and he could only bow his head and weep with her in bitter despair. Two days afterward he stood beside her coffin and conducted the funeral service, but there was no message of consolation, no word of a glorious resurrection, no open Heaven, but only "dust to dust, ashes to ashes," and one long eternal farewell. He realized at length that "He had not come," and burst into tears and bitter weeping in his sorrowful dream. Suddenly he woke with a start, and a great shout of joy and praise burst from his lips as he heard his choir singing in his church close by: "O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels, O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord." Let us be glad and rejoice today, because "He has come." And let us remember the annunciation of the angel, "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10, 11). "He comes to make His blessing flow, Far as the curse is found." May our hearts go out to the people in heathen lands who have no blessed Christmas day. "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and SEND PORTIONS TO THEM FOR WHOM NOTHING IS PREPARED." (Neh. 8:10). December 26 No Active Mission "Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder" (Matt. 26:36). It is a hard thing to be kept in the background at a time of crisis. In the Garden of Gethsemane eight of the eleven disciples were left to do nothing. Jesus went to the front to pray; Peter, James and John went to the middle to watch; the rest sat down in the rear to wait. Methinks that party in the rear must have murmured. They were in the garden, but that was all; they had no share in the cultivation of its flowers. It was a time of crisis, a time of storm and stress; and yet they were not suffered to work.LVAL 6 You and I have often felt that experience, that disappointment. There has arisen, mayhap a great opportunity for Christian service. Some are sent to the front; some are sent to the middle. But we are made to lie down in the rear. Perhaps sickness has come; perhaps poverty has come; perhaps obloquy has come; in any case we are hindered and we feel sore. We do not see why we should be excluded from a part in the Christian life. It seems like an unjust thing that, seeing we have been allowed to enter the garden, no path should be assigned to us there. Be still, my soul, it is not as thou deemest! Thou art not excluded from a part of the Christian life. Thinkest thou that the garden of the Lord has only a place for those who walk and for those who stand! Nay, it has a spot consecrated to those who are compelled to sit. There are three voices in a verb--active, passive and neuter. So, too, there are three voices in Christ's verb "to live." There are the active, watching souls, who go to the front, and struggle till the breaking of the day. There are the passive, watching souls, who stand in the middle, and report to others the progress of the fight. But there are also the neuter souls--those who can neither fight, nor be spectators of the fight, but have simply to lie down. When that experience comes to thee, remember, thou are not shunted. Remember it is Christ that says, "Sit ye here." Thy spot in the garden has also been consecrated. It has a special name. It is not "the place of wrestling," nor "the place of watching," but "the place of waiting." There are lives that come into this world neither to do great work nor to bear great burdens, but simply to be; they are the neuter verbs. They are the flowers of the garden which have had no active mission. They have wreathed no chaplet; they have graced no table; they have escaped the eye of Peter and James and John. But they have gladdened the sight of Jesus. By their mere perfume, by their mere beauty, they have brought Him joy; bLVAL 7y the very preservation of their loveliness in the valley they have lifted the Master's heart. Thou needst not murmur shouldst thou be one of these flowers! --Selected December 27 Iron Saints "His soul entered into iron" (Ps. 105:18). Turn that about and render it in our language, and it reads thus, "Iron entered his soul." Is there not a truth in this? That sorrow and privation, the yoke borne in the youth, the soul's enforced restraint, are all conducive to an iron tenacity and strength of purpose, and endurance or fortitude, which are the indispensable foundation and framework of a noble character. Do not flinch from suffering; bear it silently, patiently, resignedly; and be sure that it is God's way of infusing iron into your spiritual life. The world wants iron dukes, iron battalions, iron sinews, and thews of steel. God wants iron saints; and since there is no way of imparting iron to the moral nature but by letting people suffer, He lets them suffer. Are the best years of your life slipping away in enforced monotony? Are you beset by opposition, misunderstanding, and scorn, as the thick undergrowth besets the passage of the woodsman pioneer? Then take heart; the time is not wasted; God is only putting you through the iron regimen. The iron crown of suffering precedes the golden crown of glory. And iron is entering into your soul to make it strong and brave. --F. B. Meyer "But you will not mind the roughness nor the steepness of the way, Nor the chill, unrested morning, nor the searness of the day; And you will not take a turning to the left or the right, But go straight ahead, nor tremble at the coming of the night, For the road leads home." December 28 Rejoice "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4). "Sing a little song of trust, O my heart! Sing it just because you must, As leaves start; As flowers push their way through dust; Sing, my heaLVAL 8rt, because you must. "Wait not for an eager throng Bird on bird; 'Tis the solitary song That is heard. Every voice at dawn will start, Be a nightingale, my heart! "Sing across the winter snow, Pierce the cloud; Sing when mists are drooping low Clear and loud; But sing sweetest in the dark; He who slumbers not will hark." "An' when He hears yo' sing, He bends down wid a smile on His kin' face an' listens mighty keerful, an' He says, 'Sing on, chile, I hears, an' I's comin' down to deliber yo': I'll tote dat load fer yo'; jest lean hawd on Me and de road will get smoother bime by."' December 29 Appropriating Faith "Arise . . . for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good; and are ye still? Be not slothful to go, and enter to possess the land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth" (Judges 18:9, 10). Arise! Then there is something definite for us to do. Nothing is ours unless we take it. "The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance" (Joshua 16:4). "The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions" (Obad. 17). "The upright shall have good things in possession." We need to have appropriating faith in regard to God's promises. We must make God's Word our own personal possession. A child was asked once what appropriating faith was, and the answer was, "It is taking a pencil and underscoring all the me's and mine's and my's in the Bible." Take any word you please that He has spoken and say, "That word is my word." Put your finger on this promise and say, "It is mine." How much of the Word has been endorsed and receipted and said "It is done." How many promises can you subscribe and say, "Fulfilled to me." "Son, thou art ever with Me, and all that I have is thine." Don't let your inheritance go by default. "When faith goes to market it always takes a basket." DecembLVAL 9er 30 Believing Prayer "Peter was kept in prison: but prayer (instant and earnest prayer) was made for him" (Acts 12:5, margin). Peter was in prison awaiting his execution. The Church had neither human power nor influence to save him. There was no earthly help, but there was help to be obtained by the way of Heaven. They gave themselves to fervent, importunate prayer. God sent His angel, who aroused Peter from sleep and led him out through the first and second wards of the prison; and when they came to the iron gate, it opened to them of its own accord, and Peter was free. There may be some iron gate in your life that has blocked your way. Like a caged bird you have often beaten against the bars, but instead of helping, you have only had to fall back tired, exhausted and sore at heart. There is a secret for you to learn, and that is believing prayer; and when you come to the iron gate, it will open of its own accord. How much wasted energy and sore disappointment will be saved if you will learn to pray as did the Church in the upper room! Insurmountable difficulties will disappear; adverse circumstances will prove favorable if you learn to pray, not with your own faith but with the faith of God (Mark 11:22, margin). Souls in prison have been waiting for years for the gate to open; love ones out of Christ, bound by Satan, will be set free when you pray till you definitely believe God. --C. H. P. Emergencies call for intense prayer. When the man becomes the prayer nothing can resist its touch. Elijah on Carmel, bowed down on the ground, with his face between his knees, that was prayer--the man himself. No words are mentioned. Prayer can be too tense for words. The man's whole being was in touch with God, and was set with God against the powers of evil. They couldn't withstand such praying. There's more of this embodied praying needed. --The Bent-knee Time "Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused." --C. H. SpurgeoLVAL :n December 31 Hitherto "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us" (I Sam. 7:12). The word "hitherto" seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, and yet "hitherto hath the Lord helped us!" Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health; at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea; in honor, in dishonor, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph, in prayer, in temptation--"hitherto hath the Lord helped!" We delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from one end of the long vista, a sort of verdant temple, with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves. Even so look down the long aisles of your years, at the green boughs of mercy overhead, and the strong pillars of lovingkindness and faithfulness which bear up your joys. Are there no birds in yonder branches singing? Surely, there must be many, and they all sing of mercy received "hitherto." But the word also points forward. For when a man gets up to a certain mark, and writes "hitherto," he is not yet at the end; there are still distances to be traversed. More trials, more joys; more temptations, more triumphs; more prayers, more answers; more toils, more strength; more fights, more victories; and then come sickness, old age, disease, death. Is it over now? No! there is more yet--awakening in Jesus' likeness, thrones, harps, songs, psalms, white raiment the face of Jesus, the society of saints, the glory of God, the fullness of eternity, the infinity of bliss. Oh, be of good courage, believer, and with grateful confidence raise thy "Ebenezer," for, "He who hath helped thee hitherto Will help thee all thy journey through." When read in Heaven's light, how glorious and marvelous a prospect will thy "hitherto" unfold to thy grateful eye. --C. H. Spurgeon The Alpine shepherds have a beautiful custom of ending the day by singing to one another an evening farewell. The air is so crystalline tLVALhat the song will carry long distances. As the dusk begins to fall, they gather their flocks and begin to lead them down the mountain paths, singing, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. Let us praise His name!" And at last with a sweet courtesy, they sing to one another the friendly farewell: "Goodnight! Goodnight!" The words are taken up by the echoes, and from side to side the song goes reverberating sweetly and softly until the music dies away in the distance. So let us call out to one another through the darkness, till the gloom becomes vocal with many voices, encouraging the pilgrim host. Let the echoes gather till a very storm of Hallelujahs break in thundering waves around the sapphire throne, and then as the morning breaks we shall find ourselves at the margin of the sea of glass, crying, with the redeemed host, "Blessing and honor and glory be unto him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!" "This my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way." AoR5jM0eH+}`C& x[>!sV9nQ4@ @ - c@   @ ?    %  @ p   :    ^   d  |   @    R   l@  } | { 4y ]w v t r  p o  m k 9 i g , e  c \b <@a  _ * ]  [ Z  X ' V  T ? R p P   S N   WL   K   7 I   { G u E o@D C B  @ u>  <   LVAL =Climb Upward \par\par "And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the. winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst" (Ezek. 41:7).\par\par "Still upward be thine onward course: \par For this I pray today;\par Still upward as the years go by, \par And seasons pass away.\par\par "Still upward in this coming year, \par Thy path is all untried;\par Still upward may'st thou journey on, \par Close by thy Savior's side.\par\par "Still upward e'en though sorrow come, \par And trials crush thine heart;\par Still upward may they draw thy soul, \par With Christ to walk apart.\par\par "Still upward till the day shall break, \par And shadows all have flown;\par Still upward till in Heaven you wake, \par And stand before the throne."\par\par We ought not to rest content in the mists of the valley when the summit of Tabor awaits us. How pure are the dews of the hills, how fresh is the mountain air, how rich the fare of the dwellers aloft, whose windows look into the New Jerusalem!\par\par Many saints are content to live like men in coal mines, who see not the sun. Tears mar their faces when they might anoint them with celestial oil. Satisfied I am that many a believer pines in a dungeon when he might walk on the palace roof, and view the goodly land and Lebanon. Rouse thee, O believer, from thy low condition! Cast away thy sloth, thy lethargy, thy coldness, or whatever interferes with thy chaste and pure love to Christ. Make Him the source, the center, and the circumference of all thy soul's range of delight. Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments. Aspire to a higher, a nobler, a fuller life. Upward to heaven! Nearer to God!\par --Spurgeon\par\par "I want to scale the utmost height, \par And catch a gleam of glory bright; \par But still I'll pray, till heaven I've found, \par Lord, lead mLVALe on to higher ground!"\par\par Not many of us are living at our best. We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains. The steepness and ruggedness dismay us, and so we stay in the misty valleys and do not learn the mystery of the hills. We do not know what we lose in our self-indulgence, what glory awaits us if only we had courage for the mountain climb, what blessing we should find if only we would move to the uplands of God. --J. R. M\par\par "Too low they build who build beneath the stars."\par\par \par LVAL ?Gentle Leading \par\par "I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure" (Gen. 33:14).\par\par What a beautiful picture of Jacob's thoughtfulness for the cattle and the children! He would not allow them to be overdriven even for one day. He would not lead on according to what a strong man like Esau could do and expected them to do, but only according to what they were able to endure. He knew exactly how far they could go in a day; and he made that his only consideration in arranging the marches. He had gone the same wilderness journey years before, and knew all about its roughness and heat and length, by personal experience. And so he said, "I will lead on softly." "For ye have not passed this way heretofore" (Josh.3:4.).\par\par We have not passed this way heretofore, but the Lord Jesus has. It is all untrodden and unknown ground to us, but He knows it all by personal experience. The steep bits that take away our breath, the stony bits that make our feet ache so, the hot shadeless stretches that make us feel so exhausted, the rushing rivers that we have to pass through--Jesus has gone through it all before us. "He was wearied with his journey." Not some, but all the many waters went over Him, and yet did not quench His love. He was made a perfect Leader by the things which He suffered. "He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." Think of that when you are tempted to question the gentleness of His leading. He is remembering all the time; and not one step will He make you take beyond what your foot is able to endure. Never mind if you think it will not be able for the step that seems to come next; either He will so strengthen it that it shall be able, or He will call a sudden halt, and you shall not have to take it at all. --Frances Ridley Havergal\par\par In "pastures green"? Not always; sometimes He \par Who knowest best, in kindness leadeth me \par In weary ways, where heavy shadows be.\par So, whether on the hill-tops hkLVALwigh and fair \par I dwell, or in the sunless valleys, where \par The shadows lie, what matter? He is there. \par --Barry\par\par LVAL ABelieving Prayer \par\par "Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way" (John 4:50).\par\par "When ye pray, believe" (Mark 11:24).\par\par When there is a matter that requires definite prayer, pray till you believe God, until with unfeigned lips you can thank Him for the answer. If the answer still tarries outwardly, do not pray for it in such a way that it is evident that you are not definitely believing for it. Such a prayer in place of being a help will be a hindrance; and when you are finished praying, you will find that your faith has weakened or has entirely gone. The urgency that you felt to offer this kind of prayer is clearly from self and Satan. It may not be wrong to mention the matter in question to the Lord again, if He is keeping you waiting, but be sure you do so in such a way that it implies faith. Do not pray yourself out of faith. You may tell Him that you are waiting and that you are still believing Him and therefore praise Him for the answer. There is nothing that so fully clinches faith as to be so sure of the answer that you can thank God for it. Prayers that pray us out of faith deny both God's promise in His Word and also His whisper "Yes," that He gave us in our hearts. Such prayers are but the expression of the unrest of one's heart, and unrest implies unbelief in reference to the answer to prayer. "For we which have believed do enter into rest" (Heb. 4:3). This prayer that prays ourselves out of faith frequently arises from centering our thoughts on the difficulty rather than on God's promise. Abraham "considered not his own body," "he staggered not at the promise of God" (Rom. 4:19, 20). May we watch and pray that we enter not into temptation of praying ourselves out of faith. --C. H. P.\par\par Faith is not a sense, nor sight, nor reason, but a taking God at His Word. --Evans\par\par The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxLVAL iety. --George Mueller\par\par You will never learn faith in comfortable surroundings. God gives us the promises in a quiet hour; God seals our covenants with great and gracious words, then He steps back and waits to see how much we believe; then He lets the tempter come, and the test seems to contradict all that He has spoken. It is then that faith wins its crown. That is the time to look up through the storm, and among the trembling, frightened seamen cry, "I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me."\par\par "Believe and trust; through stars and suns, \par Through life and death, through soul and sense, \par His wise, paternal purpose runs; \par The darkness of His Providence \par Is starlit with Divine intents."\par\par QLVAL]None to Help But God \par\par "Lord, there is none beside thee to help." (2 Chron. 14:11, RV).\par\par Remind God of His entire responsibility. "There is none beside thee to help." The odds against Asa were enormous. There was a million of men in arms against him, besides three hundred chariots. It seemed impossible to hold his own against that vast multitude. There were no allies who would come to his help; his only hope, therefore, was in God. It may be that your difficulties have been allowed to come to so alarming a pitch that you may be compelled to renounce all creature aid, to which in lesser trials you have had recourse, and cast yourself back on your Almighty Friend.\par\par Put God between yourself and the foe. To Asa's faith, Jehovah seemed to stand between the might of Zerah and himself, as one who had no strength. Nor was he mistaken. We are told that the Ethiopians were destroyed before the Lord and before His host, as though celestial combatants flung themselves against the foe in Israel's behalf, and put the large host to rout, so that Israel had only to follow up and gather the spoil. Our God is Jehovah of hosts, who can summon unexpected reinforcements at any moment to aid His people. Believe that He is there between you and your difficulty, and what baffles you will flee before Him, as clouds before the gale. --F. B. Meyer\par\par "When nothing whereon to lean remains, \par When strongholds crumble to dust;\par\par When nothing is sure but that God still reigns, \par That is just the time to trust.\par\par "'Tis better to walk by faith than sight, \par In this path of yours and mine;\par\par And the pitch-black night, when there's no outer light \par Is the time for faith to shine."\par\par Abraham believed God, and said to sight, "Stand back!" and to the laws of nature, "Hold your peace!" and to a misgiving heart, "Silence, thou lying tempter!" He believed God. --Joseph Parker\par\par LVALStep-By-Step Grace \par\par "When thou passest through the waters...they shall not overflow thee" (Isa. 43:2).\par\par God does not open paths for us in advance of our coming. He does not promise help before help is needed. He does not remove obstacles out of our way before we reach them. Yet when we are on the edge of our need, God's hand is stretched out.\par\par Many people forget this, and are forever worrying about difficulties which they foresee in the future. They expect that God is going to make the way plain and open before them, miles and miles ahead; whereas He has promised to do it only step by step as they may need. You must get to the waters and into their floods before you can claim the promise. Many people dread death, and lament that they have not "dying grace." Of course, they will not have dying grace when they are in good health, in the midst of life's duties, with death far in advance. Why should they have it then? Grace for duty is what they need then, living grace; then dying grace when they come to die. --J. R. M.\par\par "When thou passest through the waters"\par Deep the waves may be and cold,\par But Jehovah is our refuge,\par And His promise is our hold;\par For the Lord Himself hath said it,\par He, the faithful God and true: \par "When thou comest to the waters\par\par Thou shalt not go down, BUT THROUGH."\par\par Seas of sorrow, seas of trial,\par Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain,\par Rolling surges of temptation\par Sweeping over heart and brain\par They shall never overflow us\par For we know His word is true;\par All His waves and all His billows\par He will lead us safely through.\par\par Threatening breakers of destruction,\par Doubt's insidious undertow,\par Shall not sink us, shall not drag us\par Out to ocean depths of woe;\par For His promise shall sustain us,\par Praise the Lord, whose Word is true!\par We shall not go down, or under,\par For He saith, "Thou passest THROUGH."\par --Annie Johnson Flint\par\par LVALContentment \par\par "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content" (Phil. 4:11).\par\par Paul, denied of every comfort, wrote the above words in his dungeon. A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning, and found everything withered and dying. He asked the oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was all out of heart because it could not bear grapes, like the vine. The vine was going to throw its life away because it could not stand erect and have as fine fruit as the peach tree. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac; and so on all through the garden. Coming to a heart's-ease, he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever. "Well, heart's-ease, I'm glad, amidst all this discouragement, to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened." "No, I am not of much account, but I thought that if you wanted an oak, or a pine, or a peach tree, or a lilac, you would have planted one; but as I knew you wanted a heart's-ease, I am determined to be the best little heart's-ease that I can."\par\par "Others may do a greater work,\par But you have your part to do;\par And no one in all God's heritage\par Can do it so well as you."\par\par They who are God's without reserve, are in every state content; for they will only what He wills, and desire to do for Him whatever He desires them to do; they strip themselves of everything, and in this nakedness find all things restored an hundredfold.\par\par LVAL FShowers and Sunshine \par\par "I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing" \par (Ezek. 34:26).\par\par What is thy season this morning? Is it a 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 day 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 today, O parched plant, and open thy leaves and flowers for a heavenly watering. --Spurgeon\par\par "Let but thy heart become a valley low,\par And God will rain on it till it will overflow."\par\par Thou, O Lord, canst transform my thorn into a flower. And I want my thorn transformed into a flower. Job got the sunshine after the rain, but has the rain been all waste? Job wants to know, I want to know, if the shower had nothing to do with the shining. And Thou canst tell me Thy Cross can tell me. Thou hast crowned Thy sorrow. Be this my crown, O Lord. I only triumph in Thee when I have learned the radiance of the rain. --George Matheson\par\par The fruitful life seeks showers as well as sunshine.\par\par "The landscape, brown and sere beneath the sun, \par Needs but the cloud to lift it into life; \par The dews may damp the leaves of tree and flower, \par But it requires the cloud-distilled shower \par To bring rich verdure to the lifeless life.\par\par "Ah, how like this, the landscape of a life: \par Dews of trial fall like incense, rich and sweet;\par But bearing little in the crystal tray\par Like nymphs of night, dews lift at break of day \par And transient impress leave, like lips that meet.\par\par "But clouds of trials, bearing burdens rare, \par Leave in the soul, a moisture settled deep: \par Life kindles by the magic law of God;kLVALw \par And where before the thirsty camel trod, \par There richest beauties to life's landscape leap.\par\par "Then read thou in each cloud that comes to thee\par The words of Paul, in letters large and clear:\par So shall those clouds thy soul with blessing feed,\par And with a constant trust as thou dost read,\par All things together work for good. Fret not, nor fear!"\par\par LVAL HMade Perfect Through Suffering \par\par "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).\par\par I kept for nearly a year the flask-shaped cocoon of an emperor moth. It is very peculiar in its construction. A narrow opening is left in the neck of the flask, through which the perfect insect forces its way, so that a forsaken cocoon is as entire as one still tenanted, no rupture of the interlacing fibers having taken place. The great disproportion between the means of egress and the size of the imprisoned insect makes one wonder how the exit is ever accomplished at all--and it never is without great labor and difficulty. It is supposed that the pressure to which the moth's body is subjected in passing through such a narrow opening is a provision of nature for forcing the juices into the vessels of the wings, these being less developed at the period of emerging from the chrysalis than they are in other insects.\par\par I happened to witness the first efforts of my prisoned moth to escape from its long confinement. During a whole forenoon, from time to time, I watched it patiently striving and struggling to get out. It never seemed able to get beyond a certain point, and at last my patience was exhausted. Very probably the confining fibers were drier and less elastic than if the cocoon had been left all winter on its native heather, as nature meant it to be. At all events I thought I was wiser and more compassionate than its Maker, and I resolved to give it a helping hand. With the point of my scissors I snipped the confining threads to make the exit just a very little easier, and lo! immediately, and with perfect case, out crawled my moth dragging a huge swollen body and little shrivelled wings. In vain I watched to see that marvelous process of expansion in which these silently and swiftly develop before one's eyes; and as I traced the exquisite spots and markings of divers colors which were all there ieLVALqn miniature, I longed to see these assume their due proportions and the creature to appear in all its perfect beauty, as it is, in truth, one of the loveliest of its kind. But I looked in vain. My false tenderness had proved its ruin. It never was anything but a stunted abortion, crawling painfully through that brief life which it should have spent flying through the air on rainbow wings. I have thought of it often, often, when watching with pitiful eyes those who were struggling with sorrow, suffering, and distress; and I would fain cut short the discipline and give deliverance. Short-sighted man! How know I that one of these pangs or groans could be spared? The far-sighted, perfect love that seeks the perfection of its object does not weakly shrink from present, transient suffering. Our Father's love is too true to be weak. Because He loves His children, He chastises them that they may be partakers of His holiness. With this glorious end in view, He spares not for their crying. Made perfect through sufferings, as the Elder Brother was, the sons of God are trained up to obedience and brought to glory through much tribulation. --Tract.\par\par LVAL JShut Doors \par\par "They were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the Word in Asia" (Acts 16:6).\par\par It is interesting to study the methods of His guidance as it was extended towards these early heralds of the Cross. It consisted largely in prohibitions, when they attempted to take another course than the right. When they would turn to the left, to Asia, He stayed them. When they sought to turn to the right, to Bithynia, again He stayed them. In after years Paul would do some of the greatest work of his life in that very region; but just now the door was closed against him by the Holy Spirit. The time was not yet ripe for the attack on these apparently impregnable bastions of the kingdom of Satan. Apollos must come there for pioneer work. Paul and Barnabas are needed yet more urgently elsewhere, and must receive further training before undertaking this responsible task.\par\par Beloved, whenever you are doubtful as to your course, submit your judgment absolutely to the Spirit of God, and ask Him to shut against you every door but the right one. Say,\par\par "Blessed Spirit, I cast on Thee the entire responsibility of closing against my steps any and every course which is not of God. Let me hear Thy voice behind me whenever I turn to the right hand or the left."\par\par In the meanwhile, continue along the path which you have been already treading. Abide in the calling in which you are called, unless you are clearly told to do something else. The Spirit of Jesus waits to be to you, O pilgrim, what He was to Paul. Only be careful to obey His least prohibition; and where, after believing prayer, there are no apparent hindrances, go forward with enlarged heart. Do not be surprised if the answer comes in closed doors. But when doors are shut right and left, an open road is sure to lead to Troas. There Luke awaits, and visions will point the way, where vast opportunities stand open, and faithful friends are waiting. --Paul, by Meyer\par\par Is there some problem in your life to solve,\par LVALSome passage seeming full of mystery?\par God knows, who brings the hidden things to light.\par He keeps the key.\par\par Is there some door closed by the Father's hand\par Which widely opened you had hoped to see?\par Trust God and wait--for when He shuts the door\par He keeps the key.\par\par Is there some earnest prayer unanswered yet,\par Or answered NOT as you had thought 'twould be?\par God will make clear His purpose by-and-by.\par He keeps the key.\par\par Have patience with your God, your patient God,\par All wise, all knowing, no long tarrier He,\par And of the door of all thy future life\par He keeps the key.\par\par Unfailing comfort, sweet and blessed rest,\par To know of EVERY door He keeps the key.\par That He at last when just HE sees 'tis best,\par Will give it THEE.\par --Anonymous\par\par TLVAL`Trained to Comfort \par\par "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God" (Isa. 40:1).\par\par Store up comfort. This was the prophet's mission. The world is full of comfortless hearts, and ere thou art sufficient for this lofty ministry, thou must be trained. And thy training is costly in the extreme; for, to render it perfect, thou too must pass through the same afflictions as are wringing countless hearts of tears and blood. Thus thy own life becomes the hospital ward where thou art taught the Divine art of comfort. Thou art wounded, that in the binding up of thy wounds by the Great Physician, thou mayest learn how to render first aid to the wounded everywhere. Dost thou wonder why thou art passing through some special sorrow? Wait till ten years are passed, and thou wilt find many others afflicted as thou art. Thou wilt tell them how thou hast suffered and hast been comforted; then as the tale is unfolded, and the anodynes applied which once thy God wrapped around thee, in the eager look and the gleam of hope that shall chase the shadow of despair across the soul, thou shalt know why thou wast afflicted, and bless God for the discipline that stored thy life with such a fund of experience and helpfulness. --Selected\par\par God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters. --Dr. Jowett\par\par "They tell me I must bruise\par The rose's leaf,\par Ere I can keep and use\par Its fragrance brief.\par\par "They tell me I must break\par The skylark's heart,\par Ere her cage song will make\par The silence start.\par\par "They tell me love must bleed,\par And friendship weep,\par Ere in my deepest need\par I touch that deep.\par\par "Must it be always so\par With precious things?\par Must they be bruised and go\par With beaten wings?\par\par "Ah, yes! by crushing days,\par By caging nights, by scar\par Of thorn and stony ways,\par These blessings are!"\par\par \par LVAL MHedged In \par\par "Reckon it nothing but joy...whenever you find yourself hedged in by the various trials, be assured that the testing of your faith leads to power of endurance" (James 1:2-3) Weymouth\par\par God hedges in His own that He may preserve them, but oftentimes they only see the wrong side of the hedge, and so misunderstand His dealings. It was so with Job (Job 3:23). Ah, but Satan knew the value of that hedge! See his testimony in chapter 1:10. Through the leaves of every trial there are chinks of light to shine through. Thorns do not prick you unless you lean against them, and not one touches without His knowledge. The words that hurt you, the letter which gave you pain, the cruel wound of your dearest friend, shortness of money--are all known to Him, who sympathizes as none else can and watches to see, if, through all, you will dare to trust Him wholly.\par\par "The hawthorn hedge that keeps us from intruding, \par Looks very fierce and bare\par When stripped by winter, every branch protruding \par Its thorns that would wound and tear.\par\par "But spring-time comes; and like the rod that budded, \par Each twig breaks out in green;\par And cushions soft of tender leaves are studded, \par Where spines alone were seen,\par\par "The sorrows, that to us seem so perplexing, \par Are mercies kindly sent\par To guard our wayward souls from sadder vexing, \par And greater ills prevent.\par\par "To save us from the pit, no screen of roses \par Would serve for our defense,\par The hindrance that completely interposes \par Stings back like thorny fence.\par\par "At first when smarting from the shock, complaining \par Of wounds that freely bleed,\par God's hedges of severity us paining, \par May seem severe indeed.\par\par "But afterwards, God's blessed spring-time cometh, \par And bitter murmurs cease;\par The sharp severity that pierced us bloometh, \par And yields the fruits of peace.\par\par "Then let us sing, our guarded way thus wending \par Life's hidden snareLVALs among,\par Of mercy and of judgment sweetly blending; \par Earth's sad, but lovely song."\par\par LVAL OHardship Makes Character \par\par "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37).\par\par This is more than victory. This is a triumph so complete that we have not only escaped defeat and destruction, but we have destroyed our enemies and won a spoil so rich and valuable that we can thank God that the battle ever came. How can we be "more than conquerors"? We can get out of the conflict a spiritual discipline that will greatly strengthen our faith and establish our spiritual character. Temptation is necessary to settle and confirm us in the spiritual life. It is like the fire which burns in the colors of mineral painting, or like winds that cause the mighty cedars of the mountain to strike more deeply into the soil. Our spiritual conflicts are among our choicest blessings, and our great adversary is used to train us for his ultimate defeat. The ancient Phrygians had a legend that every time they conquered an enemy the victor absorbed the physical strength of his victim and added so much more to his own strength and valor. So temptation victoriously met doubles our spiritual strength and equipment. It is possible thus not only to defeat our enemy, but to capture him and make him fight in our ranks. The prophet Isaiah speaks of flying on the shoulders of the Philistines (Isa. 11:14). These Philistines were their deadly foes, but the figure suggested that they would be enabled not only to conquer the Philistines, but to use them to carry the victors on their shoulders for further triumphs. Just as the wise sailor can use a head wind to carry him forward by tacking and taking advantage of its impelling force; so it is possible for us in our spiritual life through the victorious grace of God to turn to account the things that seem most unfriendly and unfavorable, and to be able to say continually, "The things that were against me have happened to the furtherance of the Gospel." --Life More Abundantly\par\par A noted scientist observing that "early voyagers LVALfancied that the coral-building animals instinctively built up the great circles of the Atoll Islands to afford themselves protection in the inner parts," has disproved this fancy by showing that the insect builders can only live and thrive fronting the open ocean, and in the highly aerated foam of its resistless billows. So it has been commonly thought that protected ease is the most favorable condition of life, whereas all the noblest and strongest lives prove on the contrary that the endurance of hardship is the making of the men, and the factor that distinguishes between existence and vigorous vitality. Hardship makes character. --Selected\par\par "Now thanks be unto God Who always leads us forth to triumph with the Anointed One, and Who diffuses by us the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place" (2 Cor. 2:14, literal translation).\par\par LVAL QPut Forth \par\par "He putteth forth his own sheep" (John10:4).\par\par Oh, this is bitter work for Him and us--bitter for us to go, but equally bitter for Him to cause us pain; yet it must be done. It would not be conducive to our true welfare to stay always in one happy and comfortable lot. He therefore puts us forth. The fold is deserted, that the sheep may wander over the bracing mountain slope. The laborers must be thrust out into the harvest, else the golden grain would spoil.\par\par Take heart! it could not be better to stay when He determines otherwise; and if the loving hand of our Lord puts us forth, it must be well. On, in His name, to green pastures and still waters and mountain heights! He goeth before thee. Whatever awaits us is encountered first by Him. Faith's eye can always discern His majestic presence in front; and when that cannot be seen, it is dangerous to move forward. Bind this comfort to your heart, that the Savior has tried for Himself all the experiences through which He asks you to pass; and He would not ask you to pass through them unless He was sure that they were not too difficult for your feet, or too trying for your strength.\par\par This is the Blessed Life--not anxious to see far in front, nor careful about the next step, not eager to choose the path, nor weighted with the heavy responsibilities of the future, but quietly following behind the Shepherd, one step at a time.\par\par Dark is the sky! and veiled the unknown morrowl\par Dark is life's way, for night is not yet o'er;\par The longed-for glimpse I may not meanwhile borrow;\par But, this I know, HE GOETH ON BEFORE.\par\par Dangers are nigh! and fears my mind are shaking;\par Heart seems to dread what life may hold in store;\par But I am His--He knows the way I'm taking,\par More blessed still--HE GOETH ON BEFORE.\par\par Doubts cast their weird, unwelcome shadows o'er me,\par Doubts that life's best--life's choicest things are o'er;\par What but His Word can strengthen, can restore me,\par pLVAL| And this blest fact; that still HE GOES BEFORE.\par\par HE GOES BEFORE! Be this my consolation!\par He goes before! On this my heart would dwell!\par He goes before! This guarantees salvation!\par HE GOES BEFORE! And therefore all is well.\par --J. D. Smith\par\par The Oriental shepherd was always ahead of his sheep. He was down in front. Any attack upon them had to take him into account. Now God is down in front. He is in the tomorrows. It is tomorrow that fills men with dread. God is there already. All the tomorrows of our life have to pass Him before they can get to us. --F. B. M.\par\par "God is in every tomorrow,\par Therefore I live for today, \par Certain of finding at sunrise,\par Guidance and strength for the way; \par Power for each moment of weakness,\par Hope for each moment of pain, \par Comfort for every sorrow,\par Sunshine and joy after rain."\par\par LVAL SBe Still \par\par "And the Lord appeared unto Isaac the same night" (Gen. 26:24).\par\par "Appeared the same night," the night on which he went to Beer-sheba. Do you think this revelation was an accident? Do you think the time of it was an accident? Do you think it could have happened on any other night as well as this? If so, you are grievously mistaken. Why did it come to Isaac in the night on which he reached Beer-sheba? Because that was the night on which he reached rest. In his old locality, he had been tormented. There had been a whole series of petty quarrels about the possession of paltry wells. There are no worries like little worries, particularly if there is an accumulation of them. Isaac felt this. Even after the strife was past, the place retained a disagreeable association. He determined to leave. He sought change of scene. He pitched his tent away from the place of former strife. That very night the revelation came. God spoke when there was no inward storm. He could not speak when the mind was fretted; His voice demands the silence of the soul. Only in the hush of the spirit could Isaac hear the garments of his God sweep by. His still night was his starry night.\par\par My soul, hast thou pondered these words, "Be still, and know"? In the hour of perturbation, thou canst not hear the answer to thy prayers. How often has the answer seemed to come long after I The heart got no response in the moment of its crying--in its thunder, its earthquake, and its fire. But when the crying ceased, when the stillness fell, when thy hand desisted from knocking on the iron gate, when the interest of other lives broke the tragedy of thine own, then appeared the long-delayed reply. Thou must rest, O soul, if thou wouldst have thy heart's desire. Still the beating of thy pulse of personal care. Hide thy tempest of individual trouble behind the altar of a common tribulation and, that same night, the Lord shall appear to thee. The rainbow shall span the place of the subsiding flood, and in thy stillnLVALess thou shalt hear the everlasting music. --George Matheson\par\par Tread in solitude thy pathway, \par Quiet heart and undismayed.\par Thou shalt know things strange, mysterious, \par Which to thee no voice has said.\par\par While the crowd of petty hustlers\par Grasps at vain and paltry things, \par Thou wilt see a great world rising\par Where soft mystic music rings.\par\par Leave the dusty road to others,\par Spotless keep thy soul and bright, \par As the radiant ocean's surface\par When the sun is taking flight.\par --(From the German of V. Schoffel) H. F.\par\par LVAL UThe Breaking of the Storm \par\par "And there arose a great storm" (Mark 4:37).\par\par Some of the storms of life come suddenly: a great sorrow, a bitter disappointment, a crushing defeat. Some come slowly. They appear upon the ragged edges of the horizon no larger than a man's hand, but, trouble that seems so insignificant spreads until it covers the sky and overwhelms us.\par\par Yet it is in the storm that God equips us for service. When God wants an oak He plants it on the moor where the storms will shake it and the rains will beat down upon it, and it is in the midnight battle with elements that the oak wins its rugged fibre and becomes the king of the forest.\par\par When God wants to make a man He puts him into some storm. The history of manhood is always rough and rugged. No man is made until he has been out into the surge of the storm and found the sublime fulfillment of the prayer: "O God, take me, break me, make me."\par\par A Frenchman has painted a picture of universal genius. There stand orators, philosophers and martyrs, all who have achieved pre-eminence in any phase of life; the remarkable fact about the picture is this: Every man who is pre-eminent for his ability was first pre-eminent for suffering. In the foreground stands that figure of the man who was denied the promised land, Moses. Beside him is another, feeling his way--blind Homer. Milton is there, blind and heart-broken. Now comes the form of one who towers above them all. What is His characteristic? His Face is marred more than any man's. The artist might have written under that great picture, "The Storm."\par\par The beauties of nature come after the storm. The rugged beauty of the mountain is born in a storm, and the heroes of life are the storm-swept and the battle-scarred.\par\par You have been in the storms and swept by the blasts. Have they left you broken, weary, beaten in the valley, or have they lifted you to the sunlit summits of a richer, deeper, more abiding manhood and womanhood? Have they left you LVALwith more sympathy with the storm-swept and the battle-scarred? --Selected\par\par The wind that blows can never kill\par The tree God plants;\par It bloweth east, it bloweth west,\par The tender leaves have little rest,\par But any wind that blows is best.\par The tree that God plants\par Strikes deeper root, grows higher still,\par Spreads greater boughs, for God's good will\par Meets all its wants.\par\par There is no storm hath power to blast\par The tree God knows;\par No thunderbolt, nor beating rain,\par Nor lightning flash, nor hurricane;\par When they are spent, it doth remain,\par The tree God knows,\par Through every tempest standeth fast,\par And from its first day to its last\par Still fairer grows. --Selected\par\par LVAL WThe Living God \par\par "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee" (Dan. 6:20).\par\par How many times we find this expression in the Scriptures, and yet it is just this very thing that we are so prone to lose sight of. We know it is written "the living God"; but in our daily life there is scarcely anything we practically so much lose sight of as the fact that God is the living God; that He is now whatever He was three or four thousand years since; that He has the same sovereign power, the same saving love towards those who love and serve Him as ever He had and that He will do for them now what He did for others two, three, four thousand years ago, simply because He is the living God, the unchanging One. Oh, how therefore we should confide in Him, and in our darkest moments never lose sight of the fact that He is still and ever will be the living God!\par\par Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him and expect help from Him, He will never fail you. An older brother who has known the Lord for forty-four years, who writes this, says to you for your encouragement that He has never failed him. In the greatest difficulties, in the heaviest trials, in the deepest poverty and necessities, He has never failed me; but because I was enabled by His grace to trust Him He has always appeared for my help. I delight in speaking well of His name. --George Mueller\par\par Luther was once found at a moment of peril and fear, when he had need to grasp unseen strength, sitting in an abstracted mood tracing on the table with his finger the words, "Vivit! vivit!" ("He lives! He lives!"). It is our hope for ourselves, and for His truth, and for mankind. Men come and go; leaders, teachers, thinkers speak and work for a season, and then fall silent and impotent. He abides. They die, but He lives. They are lights kindled, and, therefore, sooner or later quenched; but He is the true light from which they draw all their brightness, and He shines for evermLVALore. --Alexander Maclaren\par\par "One day I came to know Dr. John Douglas Adam," writes C. G. Trumbull. "I learned from him that what he counted his greatest spiritual asset was his unvarying consciousness of the actual presence of Jesus. Nothing bore him up so, he said, as the realization that Jesus was always with him in actual presence; and that this was so independent of his own feelings, independent of his deserts, and independent of his own notions as to how Jesus would manifest His presence.\par\par "Moreover, he said that Christ was the home of his thoughts. Whenever his mind was free from other matters it would turn to Christ; and he would talk aloud to Christ when he was alone--on the street, anywhere--as easily and naturally as to a human friend. So real to him was Jesus' actual presence.\par\par LVAL YThe Fiery Furnace \par\par "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ" (2 Cor. 2:14).\par\par God gets His greatest victories out of apparent defeats. Very often the enemy seems to triumph for a little, and God lets it be so; but then He comes in and upsets all the work of the enemy, overthrows the apparent victory, and as the Bible says, "turns the way of the wicked upside down." Thus He gives a great deal larger victory than we would have known if He had not allowed the enemy, seemingly, to triumph in the first place.\par\par The story of the three Hebrew children being cast into the fiery furnace is a familiar one. Here was an apparent victory for the enemy. It looked as if the servants of the living God were going to have a terrible defeat. We have all been in places where it seemed as though we were defeated, and the enemy rejoiced. We can imagine what a complete defeat this looked to be. They fell down into the flames, and their enemies watched them to see them burn up in that awful fire, but were greatly astonished to see them walking around in the fire enjoying themselves. Nebuchadnezzar told them to "come forth out of the midst of the fire." Not even a hair was singed, nor was the smell of fire on their garments, "because there is no other god that can deliver after this sort."\par\par This apparent defeat resulted in a marvelous victory.\par\par Suppose that these three men had lost their faith and courage, and had complained, saying, "Why did not God keep us out of the furnace!" They would have been burned, and God would not have been glorified. If there is a great trial in your life today, do not own it as a defeat, but continue, by faith, to claim the victory through Him who is able to make you more than conqueror, and a glorious victory will soon be apparent. Let us learn that in all the hard places God brings us into, He is making opportunities for us to exercise such faith in Him as will bring about blessed results and greatly glorify His name. --LifVLVALbe of Praise\par\par "Defeat may serve as well as victory\par To shake the soul and let the glory out.\par When the great oak is straining in the wind,\par The boughs drink in new beauty, and the trunk\par Sends down a deeper root on the windward side.\par Only the soul that knows the mighty grief\par Can know the mighty rapture. Sorrows come\par To stretch out spaces in the heart for joy."\par\par &LVAL2Persistent Prayer \par\par "Men ought always to pray and not to faint" (Luke18:1).\par\par "Go to the ant." Tammerlane used to relate to his friends an anecdote of his early life. "I once" he said, "was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a ruined building, where I sat alone many hours. Desiring to divert my mind from my hopeless condition, I fixed my eyes on an ant that was carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall. I numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell sixty-nine times to the ground; but the insect persevered, and the seventieth time it reached the top. This sight gave me courage at the moment, and I never forgot the lesson." --The King's Business\par\par Prayer which takes the fact that past prayers have not been answered as a reason for languor, has already ceased to be the prayer of faith. To the prayer of faith the fact that prayers remain unanswered is only evidence that the moment of the answer is so much nearer. From first to last, the lessons and examples of our Lord all tell us that prayer which cannot persevere and urge its plea importunately, and renew, and renew itself again, and gather strength from every past petition, is not the prayer that will prevail. --William Arthur\par\par Rubenstein, the great musician, once said, "If I omit practice one day, I notice it; if two days, my friends notice it; if three days, the public notice it." It is the old doctrine, "Practice makes perfect." We must continue believing, continue praying, continue doing His will. Suppose along any line of art, one should cease practicing, we know what the result would be. If we would only use the same quality of common sense in our religion that we use in our everyday life, we should go on to perfection.\par\par The motto of David Livingstone was in these words, "I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose." By unfaltering persistence and faith in God he conquered.\par\par LVAL \Sorrow, God's Plowshare \par\par "Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better" (Eccles. 7:3).\par\par When sorrow comes under the power of Divine grace, it works out a manifold ministry in our lives. Sorrow reveals unknown depths in the soul, and unknown capabilities of experience and service. Gay, trifling people are always shallow, and never suspect the little meannesses in their nature. Sorrow is God's plowshare that turns up and subsoils the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvests. If we had never fallen, or were in a glorified state, then the strong torrents of Divine joy would be the normal force to open up all our souls' capacities; but in a fallen world, sorrow, with despair taken out of it, is the chosen power to reveal ourselves to ourselves. Hence it is sorrow that makes us think deeply, long, and soberly.\par\par Sorrow makes us go slower and more considerately, and introspect our motives and dispositions. It is sorrow that opens up within us the capacities of the heavenly life, and it is sorrow that makes us willing to launch our capacities on a boundless sea of service for God and our fellows.\par\par We may suppose a class of indolent people living at the base of a great mountain range, who had never ventured to explore the valleys and canyons back in the mountains; and some day, when a great thunderstorm goes careening through the mountains, it turns the hidden glens into echoing trumpets, and reveals the inner recesses of the valley, like the convolutions of a monster shell, and then the dwellers at the foot of the hills are astonished at the labyrinths and unexplored recesses of a region so near by, and yet so little known. So it is with many souls who indolently live on the outer edge of their own natures until great thunderstorms of sorrow reveal hidden depths within that were never hitherto suspected.\par\par God never uses anybody to a large degree, until after He breaks that one all to pieces. Joseph had mLVAL ore sorrow than all the other sons of Jacob, and it led him out into a ministry of bread for all nations. For this reason, the Holy Spirit said of him, "Joseph is a fruitful bough?by a well, whose branches run over the wall" (Gen. 49:22). It takes sorrow to widen the soul. --The Heavenly Life\par\par The dark brown mould's upturned \par By the sharp-pointed plow; \par And I've a lesson learned.\par\par My life is but a field, \par Stretched out beneath God's sky, \par Some harvest rich to yield.\par\par Where grows the golden grain? \par Where faith? Where sympathy? \par In a furrow cut by pain.\par --Afaltbie D. Babcock\par\par Every person and every nation must take lessons in God's school of adversity. "We can say, 'Blessed is night, for it reveals to us the stars.' In the same way we can say, 'Blessed is sorrow, for it reveals God's comfort.' The floods washed away home and mill, all the poor man had in the world. But as he stood on the scene of his loss, after the water had subsided, broken-hearted and discouraged, he saw something shining in the bank which the waters had washed bare. 'It looks like gold,' he said. It was gold. The flood which had beggared him made him rich. So it is ofttimes in life." --H. C. Trumbull\par\par LVAL ^He Has Overcome the World \par\par "None of these things move me" (Acts20:24).\par\par We read in the book of Samuel that the moment that David was crowned at Hebron, "All the Philistines came up to seek David." And the moment we get anything from the Lord worth contending for, then the devil comes to seek us.\par\par When the enemy meets us at the threshold of any great work for God, let us accept it as "a token of salvation," and claim double blessing, victory, and power. Power is developed by resistance. The cannon carries twice as far because the exploding power has to find its way through resistance. The way electricity is produced in the powerhouse yonder is by the sharp friction of the revolving wheels. And so we shall find some day that even Satan has been one of God's agencies of blessing. --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par A hero is not fed on sweets,\par Daily his own heart he eats;\par Chambers of the great are jails,\par And head winds right for royal sails.\par --Emerson\par\par Tribulation is the way to triumph. The valley-way opens into the highway. Tribulation's imprint is on all great things. Crowns are cast in crucibles. Chains of character that wind about the feet of God are forged in earthly flames. No man is greatest victor till he has trodden the winepress of woe. With seams of anguish deep in His brow, the "Man of Sorrows" said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation"--but after this sob comes the psalm of promise, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." The footprints are traceable everywhere. Bloodmarks stain the steps that lead to thrones. Sears are the price of scepters. Our crowns will be wrested from the giants we conquer. Grief has always been the lot of greatness. It is an open secret.\par\par "The mark of rank in nature.\par Is capacity for pain;\par And the anguish of the singer\par Makes the sweetest of the strain."\par\par Tribulation has always marked the trail of the true reformer. It is the story of Paul, Luther, Savonarola, Knox, WesleLVALy, and all the rest of the mighty army. They came through great tribulation to their place of power.\par\par Every great book has been written with the author's blood. "These are they that have come out of great tribulation." Who was the peerless poet of the Greeks? Homer. But that illustrious singer was blind. Who wrote the fadeless dream of "Pilgrim's Progress"? A prince in royal purple upon a couch of ease? Nay! The trailing splendor of that vision gilded the dingy walls of old Bedford jail while John Bunyan, a princely prisoner, a glorious genius, made a faithful transcript of the scene.\par\par Great is the facile conqueror; \par Yet haply, he, who, wounded sore,\par Breathless, all covered o'er with blood and sweat, \par Sinks fainting, but fighting evermore\par Is greater yet.\par --Selected\par\par LVAL `Music and the Rest \par\par "Into a desert place apart" (Matt. 14:13).\par\par "There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it." In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives; and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the "rest"? See him beat the time with unvarying count, and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come between.\par\par Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, "There is no music in a 'rest,'" let us not forget "there is the making of music in it." The making of music is often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson! --Ruskin\par\par "Called aside--\par From the glad working of thy busy life, \par From the world's ceaseless stir of care and strife, \par Into the shade and stillness by thy Heavenly Guide \par For a brief space thou hast been called aside.\par\par "Called aside--\par Perhaps into a desert garden dim; \par And yet not alone, when thou hast been with Him, \par And heard His voice in sweetest accents say: \par 'Child, wilt thou not with Me this still hour stay?'\par\par "Called aside--\par In hidden paths with Christ thy Lord to tread, \par Deeper to drink at the sweet Fountainhead, \par Closer in fellowship with Him to roam, \par Nearer, perchance, t LVAL,o feel thy Heavenly Home.\par\par "Called aside--\par Oh, knowledge deeper grows with Him alone; \par In secret of His deeper love is shown, \par And learnt in many an hour of dark distress \par Some rare, sweet lesson of His tenderness.\par\par "Called aside--\par We thank thee for the stillness and the shade; \par We thank Thee for the hidden paths Thy love hath made, \par And, so that we have wept and watched with Thee, \par We thank Thee for our dark Gethsemane.\par\par "Called aside--\par Oh, restful thought--He doeth all things well; \par Oh, blessed sense, with Christ alone to dwell; \par So in the shadow of Thy cross to hide, \par We thank Thee, Lord, to have been called aside."\par\par LVALA Very Present Help \par\par "Why standest thou afar off, O Lord?" (Psalm 10:1.)\par\par God is "a very present help in trouble." But He permits trouble to pursue us, as though He were indifferent to its overwhelming pressure, that we may be brought to the end of ourselves, and led to discover the treasure of darkness, the unmeasurable gains of tribulation. We may be sure that He who permits the suffering is with us in it. It may be that we shall see Him only when the trial is passing; but we must dare to believe that He never leaves the crucible. Our eyes are holden; and we cannot behold Him whom our soul loveth. It is dark--the bandages blind us so that we cannot see the form of our High Priest; but He is there, deeply touched. Let us not rely on feeling, but on faith in His unswerving fidelity; and though we see Him not, let us talk to Him. Directly we begin to speak to Jesus, as being literally present, though His presence is veiled, there comes an answering voice which shows that He is in the shadow, keeping watch upon His own. Your Father is as near when you journey through the dark tunnel as when under the open heaven! --Daily Devotional Commentary\par\par "What though the path be all unknown?\par What though the way be drear?\par Its shades I traverse not alone\par When steps of Thine are near."\par\par LVALEvidence of His Love \par\par "But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him...And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf" (Gen. 8:9-11).\par\par God knows just when to withhold from us any visible sign of encouragement, and when to grant us such a sign. How good it is that we may trust Him anyway! When all visible evidences that He is remembering us are withheld, that is best; He wants us to realize that His Word, His promise of remembrance, is more substantial and dependable than any evidence of our senses. When He sends the visible evidence, that is well also; we appreciate it all the more after we have trusted Him without it. Those who are readiest to trust God without other evidence than His Word always receive the greatest number of visible evidences of His love. --C. G. Trumbull\par\par "Believing Him; if storm-clouds gather darkly 'round, \par And even if the heaven seem brass, without a sound? \par He hears each prayer and even notes the sparrow's fall.\par\par "And praising Him; when sorrow, grief, and pain are near, \par And even when we lose the thing that seems most dear? \par Our loss is gain. Praise Him; in Him we have our All.\par\par "Our hand in His; e'en though the path seems long and drear \par We scarcely see a step ahead, and almost fear?\par He guides aright. He has it thus to keep us near. \par\par \par "And satisfied; when every path is blocked and bare, \par And worldly things are gone and dead which were so fair? \par Believe and rest and trust in Him, He comes to stay."\par\par Delays are not refusals; many a prayer is registered, and underneath it the words: "My time is not yet come." God has a set time as well as a set purpose, and He who orders the bounds of our habitation orders also the time of our deliverance. --Selected\par\par LVAL dThy Rod and Thy Staff \par\par "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me" (Ps. 23:4).\par\par At my father's house in the country there is a little closet in the chimney corner where are kept the canes and walking-sticks of several generations of our family. In my visits to the old house, when my father and I are going out for a walk, we often go to the cane closet, and pick out our sticks to suit the fancy of the occasion. In this I have frequently been reminded that the Word of God is a staff.\par\par During the war, when the season of discouragement and impending danger was upon us, the verse, "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord," was a staff to walk with many dark days.\par\par When death took away our child and left us almost heartbroken, I found another staff in the promise that "weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning."\par\par When in impaired health, I was exiled for a year, not knowing whether I should be permitted to return to my home and work again, I took with me this staff which never failed, "He knoweth the thoughts that he thinketh toward me, thoughts of peace and not of evil."\par\par In times of special danger or doubt, when human judgment has seemed to be set at naught, I have found it easy to go forward with this staff, "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." And in emergencies, when there has seemed to be no adequate time for deliberation or for action, I have never found that this staff has failed me, "He that believeth shall not make haste." --Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, in The Outlook\par\par "I had never known," said Martin Luther's wife, "what such and such things meant, in such and such psalms, such complaints and workings of spirit; I had never understood the practice of Christian duties, had not God brought me under some affliction." It is very true that God's rod is as the schoolmaster's pointer to the child, pointing out the letter, that he may the better take notice of it; thus He p+LVAL7ointeth out to us many good lessons which we should never otherwise have learned. --Selected\par\par "God always sends His staff with His rod."\par\par "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut.33:25).\par\par Each of us may be sure that if God sends us on stony paths He will provide us with strong shoes, and He will not send us out on any journey for which He does not equip us well. --Maclaren\par\par LVAL fWaiting and Over-Waiting \par\par "I have begun to give;?begin to possess" (Deut. 2:31).\par\par A great deal is said in the Bible about waiting for God. The lesson cannot be too strongly enforced. We easily grow impatient of God's delays. Much of our trouble in life comes out of our restless, sometimes reckless, haste. We cannot wait for the fruit to ripen, but insist on plucking it while it is green. We cannot wait for the answers to our prayers, although the things we ask for may require long years in their preparation for us. We are exhorted to walk with God; but ofttimes God walks very slowly. But there is another phase of the lesson. God often waits for us.\par\par We fail many times to receive the blessing He has ready for us, because we do not go forward with Him. While we miss much good through not waiting for God, we also miss much through over-waiting. There are times when our strength is to sit still, but there are also times when we are to go forward with a firm step.\par\par There are many Divine promises which are conditioned upon the beginning of some action on our part. When we begin to obey, God will begin to bless us. Great things were promised to Abraham, but not one of them could have been obtained by waiting in Chaldea. He must leave home, friends, and country, and go out into unknown paths and press on in unfaltering obedience in order to receive the promises. The ten lepers were told to show themselves to the priest, and "as they went they were cleansed." If they had waited to see the cleansing come in their flesh before they would start, they would never have seen it. God was waiting to cleanse them; and the moment their faith began to work, the blessing came.\par\par When the Israelites were shut in by a pursuing army at the Red Sea, they were commanded to "Go forward." Their duty was no longer one of waiting, but of rising up from bended knees and going forward in the way of heroic faith. They were commanded to show their faith at another time by beginning their marLVALch over the Jordan while the river ran to its widest banks. The key to unlock the gate into the Land of Promise they held in their own hands, and the gate would not turn on its hinges until they had approached it and unlocked it. That key was faith. We are set to fight certain battles. We say we can never be victorious; that we never can conquer these enemies; but, as we enter the conflict, One comes and fights by our side, and through Him we are more than conquerors. If we had waited, trembling and fearing, for our Helper to come before we would join the battle, we should have waited in vain. This would have been the over-waiting of unbelief. God is waiting to pour richest blessings upon you. Press forward with bold confidence and take what is yours. "I have begun to give, begin to possess." --J. R. Miller\par\par LVAL hSteady in Our Walk \par\par "Stablish, strengthen, settle you" (1 Peter 5:10).\par\par In taking Christ in any new relationship, we must first have sufficient intellectual light to satisfy our mind that we are entitled to stand in this relationship. The shadow of a question here will wreck our confidence. Then, having seen this, we must make the venture, the committal, the choice, and take the place just as definitely as the tree is planted in the soil, or the bride gives herself away at the marriage altar. It must be once for all, without reserve, without recall.\par\par Then there is a season of establishing, settling and testing, during which we must "stay put" until the new relationship gets so fixed as to become a permanent habit. It is just the same as when the surgeon sets the broken arm. He puts it in splints to keep it from vibration. So God has His spiritual splints that He wants to put upon His children and keep them quiet and unmoved until they pass the first stage of faith. It is not always easy work for us, "but the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after that ye have suffered awhile, stablish, strengthen, settle you." --A. B. Simpson\par\par There is a natural law in sin and sickness; and if we just let ourselves go and sink into the trend of circumstances, we shall go down and sink under the power of the tempter. But there is another law of spiritual life and of physical life in Christ Jesus to which we can rise, and through which we can counterpoise and overcome the other law that bears us down.\par\par But to do this requires real spiritual energy and fixed purpose and a settled posture and habit of faith. It is just the same as when we use the power in our factory. We must turn on the belt and keep it on. The power is there, but we must keep the connection; and while we do so, the higher power will work and all the machinery will be in operation.\par\par There is a spiritual law of choosing, believing, abiding, and holding steady XLVALdin our walk with God, which is essential to the working of the Holy Ghost either in our sanctification or healing. --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par LVAL jThe Harp \par\par "I am jealous over you with God's own jealousy" (2 Cor. 11:2) Weymouth\par\par How an old harper dotes on his harp! How he fondles and caresses it, as a child resting on his bosom! His life is bound up in it. But, see him tuning it. He grasps it firmly, strikes a chord with a sharp, quick blow; and while it quivers as if in pain, he leans over intently to catch the first note that rises. The note, as he feared, is false and harsh. He strains the chord with the torturing thumb-screw; and though it seems ready to snap with the tension, he strikes it again, bending down to listen softly as before, till at length you see a smile on his face as the first true tone trembles upward.\par\par So it may be that God is dealing with you. Loving you better than any harper loves his harp, He finds you a mass of jarring discords. He wrings your heartstrings with some torturing anguish; He bends over you tenderly, striking and listening; and, hearing only a harsh murmur, strikes you again, while His heart bleeds for you, anxiously waiting for that strain--"Not my will, but thine be done"--which is melody sweet to His ear as angels' songs. Nor will He cease to strike until your chastened soul shall blend with all the pure and infinite harmonies of His own being. --Selected.\par\par "Oh, the sweetness that dwells in a harp of many strings,\par While each, all vocal with love in a tuneful harmony rings!\par But, oh, the wail and the discord, when one and another is rent,\par Tensionless, broken and lost, from the cherished instrument.\par\par "For rapture of love is linked with the pain or fear of loss,\par And the hand that takes the crown, must ache with many a cross;\par Yet he who hath never a conflict, hath never a victor's palm,\par And only the toilers know the sweetness of rest and calm.\par\par "Only between the storms can the Alpine traveller know\par Transcendent glory of clearness, marvels of gleam and glow;\par Had he the brightness unbroken of cloudless summer days,\par LVAL This had been dimmed by the dust and the veil of a brooding haze.\par\par "Who would dare the choice, neither or both to know,\par The finest quiver of joy or the agony thrill of woe!\par Never the exquisite pain, then never the exquisite bliss,\par For the heart that is dull to that can never be strung to this."\par\par LVAL lUnshaken in Christ \par\par "God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early" \par (Ps. 46:2, 3, 5)\par\par "Shall not be moved"--what an inspiring declaration! Can it be possible that we, who are so easily moved by the things of earth, can arrive at a place where nothing can upset us or disturb our calm? Yes, it is possible; and the Apostle Paul knew it. When he was on his way to Jerusalem where he foresaw that "bonds and afflictions" awaited him, he could say triumphantly, "But none of these things move me." Everything in Paul's life and experience that could be shaken had been shaken, and he no longer counted his life, or any of life's possessions, dear to him. And we, if we will but let God have His way with us, may come to the same place, so that neither the fret and tear of little things of life, nor the great and heavy trials, can have power to move us from the peace that passeth understanding, which is declared to be the portion of those who have learned to rest only on God. \par\par "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God; and he shall go no more out." To be as immovable as a pillar in the house of our God, is an end for which one would gladly endure all the shakings that may be necessary to bring us there! --Hannah Whitall Smith\par\par When God is in the midst of a kingdom or city He makes it as firm as Mount Zion, that cannot be removed. When He is in the midst of a soul, though calamities throng about it on all hands, and roar like the billows of the sea, yet there is a constant calm within, such a peace as the world can neither give nor take away. What is it but want of lodging God in the soul, and that in His stead the world is in men's hearts, that makes them shake like leaves at every blast of danger? \par --Archbishop Leighton\par\par "They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever." There is a quaint old Scottish version that puts iron into our blood:\p4LVAL@ar\par "Who sticketh to God in stable trust\par As Zion's mount he stands full just,\par Which moveth no whit, nor yet doth reel,\par But standeth forever as stiff as steel!"\par\par LVAL nRefreshing Dew \par\par "I will be as the dew unto Israel" (Hosea 14:5).\par\par The dew is a source of freshness. It is nature's provision for renewing the face of the earth. It falls at night, and without it the vegetation would die. It is this great value of the dew which is so often recognized in the Scriptures. It is used as the symbol of spiritual refreshing. Just as nature is bathed in dew, so the Lord renews His people. In Titus 3:5 the same thought of spiritual refreshing is connected with the ministry of the Holy Ghost--"renewing of the Holy Ghost."\par\par Many Christian workers do not recognize the importance of the heavenly dew in their lives, and as a result they lack freshness and vigor. Their spirits are drooping for lack of dew.\par\par Beloved fellow-worker, you recognize the folly of a laboring man attempting to do his day's work without eating. Do you recognize the folly of a servant of God attempting to minister without eating of the heavenly manna? Nor will it suffice to have spiritual nourishment occasionally. Every day you must receive the renewing of the Holy Ghost. You know when your whole being is pulsating with the vigor and freshness of Divine life and when you feel jaded and worn. Quietness and absorption bring the dew. At night when the leaf and blade are still, the vegetable pores are open to receive the refreshing and invigorating bath; so spiritual dew comes from quiet lingering in the Master's presence. Get still before Him. Haste will prevent your receiving the dew. Wait before God until you feel saturated with His presence; then go forth to your next duty with the conscious freshness and vigor of Christ. --Dr. Pardington\par\par Dew will never gather while there is either heat or wind. The temperature must fall, and the wind cease, and the air come to a point of coolness and rest--absolute rest, so to speak--before it can yield up its invisible particles of moisture to bedew either herb or flower. So the grace of God does not come forth to rest the soul ofLVAL! man until the still point is fairly and fully reached.\par\par "Drop Thy still dews of quietness, \par Till all our strivings cease: \par Take from our souls the strain and stress; \par And let our ordered lives confess \par The beauty of Thy peace.\par\par "Breathe through the pulses of desire \par Thy coolness and Thy balm; \par Let sense be dumb, its beats expire: \par Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire, \par O still small voice of calm!"\par\par DLVALPQuietness \par\par "He giveth quietness." (Job 34:29).\par\par Quietness amid the dash of the storm. We sail the lake with Him still; and as we reach its middle waters, far from land, under midnight skies, suddenly a great storm sweeps down. Earth and hell seem arrayed against us, and each billow threatens to overwhelm. Then He arises from His sleep, and rebukes the winds and the waves; His hand waves benediction and repose over the rage of the tempestuous elements. His voice is heard above the scream of the wind in the cordage and the conflict of the billows, "Peace, be still!" Can you not hear it? And there is instantly a great calm. "He giveth quietness." Quietness amid the loss of inward consolations. He sometimes withdraws these, because we make too much of them. We are tempted to look at our joy, our ecstasies, our transports, or our visions, with too great complacency. Then love for love's sake, withdraws them. But, by His grace, He leads us to distinguish between them and Himself. He draws nigh, and whispers the assurance of His presence. Thus an infinite calm comes to keep our heart and mind. "He giveth quietness."\par\par "He giveth quietness." O Elder Brother,\par Whose homeless feet have pressed our path of pain,\par Whose hands have borne the burden of our sorrow,\par That in our losses we might find our gain.\par\par "Of all Thy gifts and infinite consolings,\par I ask but this: in every troubled hour\par To hear Thy voice through all the tumults stealing,\par And rest serene beneath its tranquil power.\par\par "Cares cannot fret me if my soul be dwelling\par In the still air of faith's untroubled day;\par Grief cannot shake me if I walk beside thee,\par My hand in Thine along the darkening way.\par\par "Content to know there comes a radiant morning\par When from all shadows I shall find release,\par Serene to wait the rapture of its dawning--\par Who can make trouble when Thou sendest peace?"\par LVAL qThis Thing is From Me \par\par "This thing is from me" (1 Kings 12:24).\par\par "Life's disappointments are veiled love's appointments." --Rev. C. A. Fox\par\par My child, I have a message for you today; let me whisper it in your ear, that it may gild with glory any storm clouds which may arise, and smooth the rough places upon which you may have to tread. It is short, only five words, but let them sink into your inmost soul; use them as a pillow upon which to rest your weary head. This thing is from Me.\par\par Have you ever thought of it, that all that concerns you concerns Me too? For, "he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye" (Zech. 2:8). You are very precious in My sight. (Isa. 43:4) Therefore, it is My special delight to educate you.\par\par I would have you learn when temptations assail you, and the "enemy comes in like a flood," that this thing is from Me, that your weakness needs My might, and your safety lies in letting Me fight for you.\par\par Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, who never consult your taste, who put you in the background? This thing is from Me. I am the God of circumstances. Thou camest not to thy place by accident, it is the very place God meant for thee.\par\par Have you not asked to be made humble? See then, I have placed you in the very school where this lesson is taught; your surroundings and companions are only working out My will.\par\par Are you in money difficulties? Is it hard to make both ends meet? This thing is from Me, for I am your purse-bearer and would have you draw from and depend upon Me. My supplies are limitless (Phil.4:19). I would have you prove my promises. Let it not be said of you, "In this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God" (Deut. 1:32).\par\par Are you passing through a night of sorrow? This thing is from Me. I am the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. I have let earthly comforters fail you, that by turning to Me you may obtain everlasting consolation (2 ThDLVALPess. 2:16, 17). Have you longed to do some great work for Me and instead have been laid aside on a bed of pain and weakness? This thing is from Me. I could not get your attention in your busy days and I want to teach you some of my deepest lessons. "They also serve who only stand and wait." Some of My greatest workers are those shut out from active service, that they may learn to wield the weapon of all--prayer.\par\par This day I place in your hand this pot of holy oil. Make use of it free, my child. Let every circumstance that arises, every word that pains you, every interruption that would make you impatient, every revelation of your weakness be anointed with it. The sting will go as you learn to see Me in all things. --Laura A. Barter Snow\par\par "'This is from Me,' the Saviour said,\par As bending low He kissed my brow,\par 'For One who loves you thus has led.\par Just rest in Me, be patient now,\par Your Father knows you have need of this,\par Tho', why perchance you cannot see.\par Grieve not for things you've seemed to miss.\par The thing I send is best for thee.'\par\par \par "Then, looking through my tears, I plead,\par 'Dear Lord, forgive, I did not know,\par 'Twill not be hard since Thou dost tread,\par Each path before me here below.\par And for my good this thing must be,\par His grace sufficient for each test.\par So still I'll sing, "Whatever be\par God's way for me is always best."'"\par\par LVAL sLessons in the Shadow \par\par "In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft: in his quiver hath he hid me" (Isa. 49:2).\par\par "In the shadow." We must all go there sometimes. The glare of the daylight is too brilliant; our eyes become injured, and unable to discern the delicate shades of color, or appreciate neutral tints--the shadowed chamber of sickness, the shadowed house of mourning, the shadowed life from which the sunlight has gone.\par\par But fear not! It is the shadow of God's hand. He is leading thee. There are lessons that can be learned only there.\par\par The photograph of His face can only be fixed in the dark chamber. But do not suppose that He has cast thee aside. Thou art still in His quiver; He has not flung thee away as a worthless thing.\par\par He is only keeping thee close till the moment comes when He can send thee most swiftly and surely on some errand in which He will be glorified. Oh, shadowed, solitary ones, remember how closely the quiver is bound to the warrior, within easy reach of the hand, and guarded jealously. --Christ in Isaiah, Meyer\par\par In some spheres the shadow condition is the condition of greatest growth. The beautiful Indian corn never grows more rapidly than in the shadow of a warm summer night. The sun curls the leaves in the sultry noon light, but they quickly unfold, if a cloud slips over the sky. There is a service in the shadow that is not in the shine. The world of stellar beauty is never seen at its best till the shadows of night slip over the sky. There are beauties that bloom in the shade that will not bloom in the sun. There is much greenery in lands of fog and clouds and shadow. The florist has "evening glories" now, as well as "morning glories." The "evening glory" will not shine in the noon's splendor, but comes to its best as the shadows of evening deepen.\par\par If all of life were sunshine,\par Our faces would be fain\par To feel once more upon them\par The cooling plash of rain.\par --Henry VanLVAL Dyke\par\par LVAL uSuddenness of Change \par\par "And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness" (Mark 1:12).\par\par It seemed a strange proof of Divine favor. "Immediately." Immediately after what? After the opened heavens and the dove-like peace and the voice of the Father's blessing, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." It is no abnormal experience. Thou, too, hast passed through it, O my soul. Are not the times of thy deepest depression just the moments that follow thy loftiest flight? Yesterday thou wert soaring far in the firmament, and singing in the radiance of the morn; today thy wings are folded and thy song silent. At noon thou wert basking in the sunshine of a Father's smile; at eve thou art saying in the wilderness, "My way is hid from the Lord."\par\par Nay, but, my soul, the very suddenness of the change is a proof that it is not revolutionary.\par\par Hast thou weighed the comfort of that word "immediately"? Why does it come so soon after the blessing? Just to show that it is the sequel to the blessing. God shines on thee to make thee fit for life's desert-places--for its Gethsemanes, for its Calvaries. He lifts thee up that He may give thee strength to go further down; He illuminates thee that He may send thee into the night, that He may make thee a help to the helpless.\par\par Not at all times art thou worthy of the wilderness; thou art only worthy of the wilderness after the splendors of Jordan. Nothing but the Son's vision can fit thee for the Spirit's burden; only the glory of the baptism can support the hunger of the desert. --George Matheson\par\par After benediction comes battle.\par\par The time of testing that marks and mightily enriches a soul's spiritual career is no ordinary one, but a period when all hell seems let loose, a period when we realize our souls are brought into a net, when we know that God is permitting us to be in the devil's hand. But it is a period which always ends in certain triumph for those who have committed the keeping of their_LVALk souls to Him, a period of marvelous "nevertheless afterward" of abundant usefulness, the sixty-fold that surely follows. --Aphra White\par\par LVAL*God's Wind \par\par "I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth" (Isa. 58:14).\par\par Those who fly through the air in airships tell us that one of the first rules they learn is to turn their ship toward the wind, and fly against it. The wind lifts the ship up to higher heights. Where did they learn that? They learned it from the birds. If a bird is flying for pleasure, it goes with the wind. But if the bird meets danger, it turns right around and faces the wind, in order that it may rise higher; and it flies away towards the very sun.\par\par Sufferings are God's winds, His contrary winds, sometimes His strong winds. They are God's hurricanes, but, they take human life and lift it to higher levels and toward God's heavens.\par\par You have seen in the summer time a day when the atmosphere was so oppressive that you could hardly breathe? But a cloud appeared on the western horizon and that cloud grew larger and threw out rich blessing for the world. The storm rose, lightning flashed and thunder pealed. The storm covered the world, and the atmosphere was cleansed; new life was in the air, and the world was changed.\par\par Human life is worked out according to exactly the same principle. When the storm breaks the atmosphere is changed, clarified, filled with new life; and a part of heaven is brought down to earth. --Selected\par\par Obstacles ought to set us singing. The wind finds voice, not when rushing across the open sea, but when hindered by the outstretched arms of the pine trees, or broken by the fine strings of an Aeolian harp. Then it has songs of power and beauty. Set your freed soul sweeping across the obstacles of life, through grim forests of pain, against even the tiny hindrances and frets that love uses, and it, too, will find its singing voice. --Selected\par\par "Be like a bird that, halting in its flight, \par Rests on a bough too slight. \par And feeling it give way beneath him sings, \par Knowing he hath wings."\par\par LVAL xSit Still \par\par "Ye shall not go out with haste" (Isa. 52:12).\par\par I do not believe that we have begun to understand the marvelous power there is in stillness. We are in such a hurry--we must be doing--so that we are in danger of not giving God a chance to work. You may depend upon it, God never says to us, "Stand still," or "Sit still," or "Be still," unless He is going to do something.\par\par This is our trouble in regard to our Christian life; we want to do something to be Christians when we need to let Him work in us. Do you know how still you have to be when your likeness is being taken?\par\par Now God has one eternal purpose concerning us, and that is that we should be like His Son; and in order that this may be so, we must be passive. We hear so much about activity, may be we need to know what it is to be quiet. --Crumbs\par\par Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still! \par Nor deem these days--these waiting days--as ill! \par The One who loves thee best, who plans thy way, \par Hath not forgotten thy great need today! \par And, if He waits, 'tis sure He waits to prove \par To thee, His tender child, His heart's deep love.\par\par Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still! \par Thou longest much to know thy dear Lord's will! \par While anxious thoughts would almost steal their way \par Corrodingly within, because of His delay\par Persuade thyself in simple faith to rest \par That He, who knows and loves, will do the best.\par\par Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still! \par Nor move one step, not even one, until \par His way hath opened. Then, ah then, how sweet!\par How glad thy heart, and then how swift thy feet \par Thy inner being then, ah then, how strong! \par And waiting days not counted then too long.\par\par Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still! \par What higher service could'st thou for Him fill? \par 'Tis hard! ah yes! But choicest things must cost! \par For lack of losing all how much is lost! \par 'Tis hard, 'tis truLVALe! But then--He giveth grace \par To count the hardest spot the sweetest place.\par --J. D. Smith\par\par LVAL zRejoice in the Flood \par\par "He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him" (Ps. 66:6).\par\par It is a striking assertion, "through the floods" (the place where we might have expected nothing but trembling and terror, anguish and dismay) "there," says the Psalmist, "did we rejoice in him!"\par\par How many there are who can endorse this as their experience: that "there," in their very seasons of distress and sadness, they have been enabled, as they never did before, to triumph and rejoice.\par\par How near their God in covenant is brought! How brightly shine His promises! In the day of our prosperity we cannot see the brilliancy of these. Like the sun at noon, hiding out the stars from sight, they are indiscernible; but when night overtakes, the deep, dark night of sorrow, out come these clustering stars--blessed constellations of Bible hope and promise of consolation.\par\par Like Jacob at Jabbok, it is when our earthly sun goes down that the Divine Angel comes forth, and we wrestle with Him and prevail.\par\par It was at night, "in the evening," Aaron lit the sanctuary lamps. It is in the night of trouble the brightest lamps of the believer are often kindled.\par\par It was in his loneliness and exile John had the glorious vision of his Redeemer. There is many a Patmos still in the world, whose brightest remembrances are those of God's presence and upholding grace and love in solitude and sadness.\par\par How many pilgrims, still passing through these Red Seas and Jordans of earthly affliction, will be enabled in the retrospect of eternity to say--full of the memories of God's great goodness--"We went through the flood on foot, there--there, in these dark experiences, with the surging waves on every side, deep calling to deep, Jordan, as when Israel crossed it, in 'the time of the overflowing' (flood), yet, 'there did we rejoice in Him!'" --Dr. Macduff\par\par "And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the door of trouble fLVALor a door of hope: and she shall sing THERE" (Hosea 2:15).\par\par GLVALSCast Down \par\par "Why art thou cast down, O my soul" (Ps. 43:5).\par\par Is there ever any ground to be cast down? There are two reasons, but only two. If we are as yet unconverted, we have ground to be cast down; or if we have been converted and live in sin, then we are rightly cast down.\par\par But except for these two things there is no ground to be cast down, for all else may be brought before God in prayer with supplication and thanksgiving. And regarding all our necessities, all our difficulties, all our trials, we may exercise faith in the power of God, and in the love of God.\par\par "Hope thou in God." Oh, remember this: There is never a time when we may not hope in God. Whatever our necessities, however great our difficulties, and though to all appearance help is impossible, yet our business is to hope in God, and it will be found that it is not in vain. In the Lord's own time help will come.\par\par Oh, the hundreds, yea, the thousands of times that I have found it thus within the past seventy years and four months!\par\par When it seemed impossible that help could come, help did come; for God has His own resources. He is not confined. In ten thousand different ways, and at ten thousand different times God may help us.\par\par Our business is to spread our cases before the Lord, in childlike simplicity to pour out all our heart before God, saying,\par\par "I do not deserve that Thou shouldst hear me and answer my requests, but for the sake of my precious Lord Jesus; for His sake answer my prayer, and give me grace quietly to wait till it please Thee to answer my prayer. For I believe Thou wilt do it in Thine own time and way."\par\par "For I shall yet praise him." More prayer, more exercise of faith, more patient waiting, and the result will be blessing, abundant blessing. Thus I have found it many hundreds of times, and therefore I continually say to myself, "Hope thou in God." --George Mueller\par\par  LVAL,Hope vs. Fear \par\par "Lo, I am with you all the appointed days" (Matt. 28:20, Variorum Version).\par\par Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear. Rather look at 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.\par\par Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations. --Frances do Sales\par\par "The Lord is my shepherd."\par\par Not was, not may be, nor will be. "The Lord is my shepherd," is on Sunday, is on Monday, and is through every day of the week; is in February, is in December, and every month of the year; is at home, and is in China; is in peace, and, is in war; in abundance, and in penury. \par --J. Hudson Taylor\par\par HE will silently plan for thee,\par Object thou of omniscient care;\par God Himself undertakes to be\par Thy Pilot through each subtle snare.\par\par He WILL silently plan for thee,\par So certainly, He cannot fail!\par Rest on the faithfulness of God,\par In Him thou surely shalt prevail.\par\par He will SILENTLY plan for thee\par Some wonderful surprise of love.\par Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard,\par But it is kept for thee above.\par\par He will silently PLAN for thee,\par His purposes shall all unfold;\par The tangled skein shall shine at last,\par A masterpiece of skill untold.\par\par He will silently plan FOR THEE,\par Happy child of a Father's care,\par As though no other claimed His love,\par But thou alone to Him wert dear.\par --E. Mary Grimes\par\par Whatever our faith says God is, He will be.\par\par LVAL ~Trust Amid the Silence \par\par "He answered her not a word" (Matt. 15:23).\par\par "He will be silent in his love" (Zeph. 3:17).\par\par It may be a child of God is reading these words who has had some great crushing sorrow, some bitter disappointment, some heart-breaking blow from a totally unexpected quarter. You are longing for your Master's voice bidding you "Be of good cheer," but only silence and a sense of mystery and misery meet you --"He answered her not a word."\par\par God's tender heart must often ache listening to all the sad, complaining cries which arise from our weak, impatient hearts, because we do not see that for our own sakes He answers not at all or otherwise than seems best to our tear-blinded, short-sighted eyes.\par\par The silences of Jesus are as eloquent as His speech and may be a sign, not of His disapproval, but of His approval and of a deep purpose of blessing for you.\par\par "Why art thou cast down, O?soul?" Thou shalt yet praise Him, yes, even for His silence. Listen to an old and beautiful story of how one Christian dreamed that she saw three others at prayer. As they knelt the Master drew near to them.\par\par As He approached the first of the three, He bent over her in tenderness and grace, with smiles full of radiant love and spoke to her in accents of purest, sweetest music.\par\par Leaving her, He came to the next, but only placed His hand upon her bowed bead, and gave her one look of loving approval.\par\par The third woman He passed almost abruptly without stopping for a word or glance. The woman in her dream said to herself, "How greatly He must love the first one, to the second He gave His approval, but none of the special demonstrations of love He gave the first; and the third must have grieved Him deeply, for He gave her no word at all and not even a passing look.\par\par "I wonder what she has done, and why He made so much difference between them?" As she tried to account for the action of her Lord, He Himself stood by her and said: "O womanLVAL! how wrongly hast thou interpreted Me. The first kneeling woman needs all the weight of My tenderness and care to keep her feet in My narrow way. She needs My love, thought and help every moment of the day. Without it she would fail and fall.\par\par "The second has stronger faith and deeper love, and I can trust her to trust Me however things may go and whatever people do.\par\par "The third, whom I seemed not to notice, and even to neglect, has faith and love of the finest quality, and her I am training by quick and drastic processes for the highest and holiest service.\par\par "She knows Me so intimately, and trusts Me so utterly, that she is independent of words or looks or any outward intimation of My approval. She is not dismayed nor discouraged by any circumstances through which I arrange that she shall pass; she trusts Me when sense and reason and every finer instinct of the natural heart would rebel;--because she knows that I am working in her for eternity, and that what I do, though she knows not the explanation now, she will understand hereafter.\par\par "I am silent in My love because I love beyond the power of words to express, or of human hearts to understand, and also for your sakes that you may learn to love and trust Me in Spirit-taught, spontaneous response to My love, without the spur of anything outward to call it forth."\par\par He "will do marvels" if you will learn the mystery of His silence, and praise Him, for every time He withdraws His gifts that you may better know and love the Giver. --Selected\par\par LVALStrong Composure \par\par "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves" (Rom. 12:19).\par\par There are seasons when to be still demands immeasurably higher strength than to act. Composure is often the highest result of power. To the vilest and most deadly charges Jesus responded with deep, unbroken silence, such as excited the wonder of the judge and the spectators. To the grossest insults, the most violent ill-treatment and mockery that might well bring indignation into the feeblest heart, He responded with voiceless complacent calmness. Those who are unjustly accused, and causelessly ill-treated know what tremendous strength is necessary to keep silence to God.\par\par "Men may misjudge thy aim, \par Think they have cause to blame, \par Say, thou art wrong; \par Keep on thy quiet way, \par Christ is the Judge, not they, \par Fear not, be strong."\par\par St. Paul said, "None of these things move me."\par\par He did not say, none of these things hurt me. It is one thing to be hurt, and quite another to be moved. St. Paul had a very tender heart. We do not read of any apostle who cried as St. Paul did. It takes a strong man to cry. Jesus wept, and He was the manliest Man that ever lived. So it does not say, none of these things hurt me. But the apostle had determined not to move from what he believed was right. He did not count as we are apt to count; he did not care for ease; he did not care for this mortal life. He cared for only one thing, and that was to be loyal to Christ, to have His smile. To St. Paul, more than to any other man, His work was wages, His smile was Heaven. \par --Margaret Bottome\par\par LVAL Go Forward \par\par "As soon as the soles of the feet of the priests...shall rest in the waters?the waters shall be cut off" (Joshua 3:13).\par\par The people were not to wait in their camps until the way was opened, they were to walk by faith. They were to break camp, pack up their goods, form in line to march, and move down to the very banks before the river would be opened.\par\par If they had come down to the edge of the river and then had stopped for the stream to divide before they stepped into it, they would have waited in vain. They must take one step into the water before the river would be cut off.\par\par We must learn to take God at His Word, and go straight on in duty, although we see no way in which we can go forward. The reason we are so often balked by difficulties is that we expect to see them removed before we try to pass through them.\par\par If we would move straight on in faith, the path would be opened for us. We stand still, waiting for the obstacle to be removed, when we ought to go forward as if there were no obstacles. \par --Evening Thoughts\par\par What a lesson Columbus gave to the world of perseverance in the face of tremendous difficulties!\par\par Behind him lay the gray Azores,\par Behind the gates of Hercules;\par Before him not the ghost of shores,\par Before him only shoreless seas.\par The good Mate said: "Now we must pray,\par For lo! the very stars are gone.\par Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?"\par "Why, say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"\par\par "My men grow mutinous day by day;\par My men grow ghastly wan and weak!"\par The stout Mate thought of home; a spray\par Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.\par "What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,\par If we sight naught but seas at dawn?"\par "Why, you shall say at break of day,\par 'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!'"\par\par They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the Mate: \par "This mad sea shows its teeth tonight.\par He curls his lip, he lies in wait, \par With lifted teethLVAL, as if to bite!\par Brave Admiral, say but one good word; \par What shall we do when hope is gone?"\par The words leapt like a leaping sword: \par "Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"\par\par Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck\par And peered through darkness. Ah! that night\par Of all dark nights! And then a speck--\par A light! A light! A light! A light!\par It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! \par It grew to be Time's burst of dawn.\par He gained a world; he gave that world\par Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!"\par --Joaquin Miller \par\par Faith that goes forward triumphs.\par\par LVAL The Father's Hand \par\par "Your heavenly Father knoweth" (Matt. 6:32).\par\par A visitor at a school for the deaf and dumb was writing questions on the blackboard for the children. By and by he wrote this sentence: "Why has God made me to hear and speak, and made you deaf and dumb?"\par\par The awful sentence fell upon the little ones like a fierce blow in the face. They sat palsied before that dreadful "Why?" And then a little girl arose.\par\par Her lip was trembling. Her eyes were swimming with tears. Straight to the board she walked, and, picking up the crayon, wrote with firm hand these precious words: "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight!" What a reply! It reaches up and lays hold of an eternal truth upon which the maturest believer as well as the youngest child of God may alike securely rest--the truth that God is your Father.\par\par Do you mean that? Do you really and fully believe that? When you do, then your dove of faith will no longer wander in weary unrest, but will settle down forever in its eternal resting place of peace. "Your Father!"\par\par I can still believe that a day comes for all of us, however far off it may be, when we shall understand; when these tragedies, that now blacken and darken the very air of heaven for us, will sink into their places in a scheme so august, so magnificent, so joyful, that we shall laugh for wonder and delight. --Arthur Christopher Bacon\par\par No chance hath brought this ill to me; \par 'Tis God's own hand, so let it be, \par He seeth what I cannot see. \par There is a need-be for each pain, \par And He one day will make it plain \par That earthly loss is heavenly gain. \par Like as a piece of tapestry \par Viewed from the back appears to be \par Naught but threads tangled hopelessly; \par But in the front a picture f air \par Rewards the worker for his care, \par Proving his skill and patience rare. \par Thou art the Workman, I the frame. \par Lord, for the glory of Thy Name, \par Perfect Thine image on thLVALe same.\par --Selected\par\par pLVAL|Specialize in the Impossible \par\par "The hill country shall be thine" (Josh. 17:18, RV).\par\par There is always room higher up. When the valleys are full of Canaanites, whose iron chariots withstand your progress, get up into the hills, occupy the upper spaces. If you can no longer work for God, pray for those who can. If you cannot move earth by your speech, you may move Heaven. If the development of life on the lower slopes is impossible, through limitations of service, the necessity of maintaining others, and such-like restrictions, let it break out toward the unseen, the eternal, the Divine.\par\par Faith can fell forests. Even if the tribes had realized what treasures lay above them, they would hardly have dared to suppose it possible to rid the hills of their dense forest-growth. But as God indicated their task, He reminded them that they had power enough. The visions of things that seem impossible are presented to us, like these forest-covered steeps, not to mock us, but to incite us to spiritual exploits which would be impossible unless God had stored within us the great strength of His own indwelling.\par\par Difficulty is sent to reveal to us what God can do in answer to the faith that prays and works. Are you straitened in the valleys? Get away to the hills, live there; get honey out of the rock, and wealth out of the terraced slopes now hidden by forest. --Daily Devotional Commentary\par\par Got any rivers they say are uncrossable,\par Got any mountains they say 'can't tunnel through'? \par We specialize in the wholly impossible, \par Doing the things they say you can't do.\par --Song of the Panama builders\par\par LVAL Rejoice Evermore \par\par "And again I say, Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4).\par\par It is a good thing to rejoice in the Lord. Perhaps you have tried this, and the first time seemed to fail. Never mind, keep right on and when you cannot feel any joy, when there is no spring, and no seeming comfort and encouragement, still rejoice, and count it all joy. Even when you fall into divers temptations, reckon it joy and delight and God will make your reckoning good. Do you suppose your Father will let you carry the banner of His victory and His gladness on to the front of the battle, and then coolly stand back and see you captured or beaten back by the enemy? NEVER! The Holy Spirit will sustain you in your bold advance, and fill your heart with gladness and praise, and you will find your heart all exhilarated and refreshed by the fullness within. Lord teach me to rejoice in Thee, and to "rejoice evermore." --Selected\par\par "The weakest saint may Satan rout,\par Who meets him with a praiseful shout."\par\par "Be filled with the Spirit...singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Eph. 5:18-19).\par\par Here the Apostle urges the use of singing as one of the inspiring helps in the spiritual life. He counsels his readers not to seek their stimulus through the body, but through the spirit; not by the quickening of the flesh, but by the exaltation of the soul.\par\par "Sometimes a light surprises\par The Christian while he sings."\par\par Let us sing even when we do not feel like it, for thus we may give wings to leaden feet and turn weariness into strength. --J. H. Jowett\par\par "At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them" (Acts 16:25).\par\par Oh, Paul, thou wondrous example to the flock, who could thus glory, bearing in the body as thou didst "the marks of the Lord Jesus"! Marks from stoning almost to the death, from thrice beating with rods, from those hundred and ninety-five stripes laid on thee by the Jews, and from stripes received in that PdLVALphilippian jail, which had they not drawn blood would not have called for washing! Surely the grace which enabled thee to sing praises under such suffering is all-sufficient grace. --J. Roach\par\par "Oh, let us rejoice in the Lord, evermore, \par When darts of the tempter are flying, \par For Satan still dreads, as he oft did of yore, \par Our singing much more than our sighing."\par\par LVAL Fret Not Over Evil-doers \par\par "Fret not thyself" (Ps. 37:1).\par\par Do not get into a perilous heat about things. If ever heat were justified, it was surely justified in the circumstances outlined in the Psalm. Evil-doers were moving about clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day. "Workers of iniquity" were climbing into the supreme places of power, and were tyrannizing their less fortunate brethren. Sinful men and women were stalking through the land in the pride of life and basking in the light and comfort of great prosperity, and good men were becoming heated and fretful.\par\par "Fret not thyself." Do not get unduly heated! Keep cool! Even in a good cause, fretfulness is not a wise help-meet. Fretting only heats the bearings; it does not generate the steam. It is no help to a train for the axles to get hot; their heat is only a hindrance. When the axles get heated, it is because of unnecessary friction; dry surfaces are grinding together, which ought to be kept in smooth co-operation by a delicate cushion of oil.\par\par And is it not a suggestive fact that this word "fret" is closely akin to the word "friction," and is an indication of absence of the anointing oil of the grace of God?\par\par In fretfulness, a little bit of grit gets into the bearings--some slight disappointment, some ingratitude, some discourtesy--and the smooth working of the life is checked. Friction begets heat; and with the heat, most dangerous conditions are created.\par\par Do not let thy bearings get hot. Let the oil of the Lord keep thee cool, lest by reason of an unholy heat thou be reckoned among the evil-doers. --The Silver Lining\par\par Dear restless heart, be still; don't fret and worry so; \par God has a thousand ways His love and help to show; \par Just trust, and trust, and trust, until His will you know.\par\par Dear restless heart, be still, for peace is God's own smile, \par His love can every wrong and sorrow reconcile; \par Just love, and love, and love, and ca|LVALlmly wait awhile.\par\par Dear restless heart, be brave; don't moan and sorrow so, \par He hath a meaning kind in chilly winds that blow; \par Just hope, and hope, and hope, until you braver grow.\par\par Dear restless heart, repose upon His breast this hour,\par\par His grace is strength and life, His love is bloom and flower; \par Just rest, and rest, and rest, within His tender power.\par\par Dear restless heart, be still! Don't struggle to be free; \par God's life is in your life, from Him you may not flee; \par Just pray, and pray, and pray, till you have faith to see.\par\par --Edith Willis Linn\par\par LVAL Weeping May Last For a Night \par\par "Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more" (Nah. 1:12).\par\par There is a limit to affliction. God sends it, and removes it. Do you sigh and say, "When will the end be?" Let us quietly wait and patiently endure the will of the Lord till He cometh. Our Father takes away the rod when His design in using it is fully served.\par\par If the affliction is sent for testing us, that our graces may glorify God, it will end when the Lord has made us bear witness to His praise.\par\par We would not wish the affliction to depart until God has gotten out of us all the honor which we can possibly yield Him.\par\par There may be today "a great calm." Who knows how soon those raging billows will give place to a sea of glass, and the sea birds sit on the gentle waves?\par\par After long tribulation, the flail is hung up, and the wheat rests in the garner. We may, before many hours are past, be just as happy as now we are sorrowful.\par\par It is not hard for the Lord to turn night into day. He that sends the clouds can as easily clear the skies. Let us be of good cheer. It is better farther on. Let us sing Hallelujah by anticipation. \par --C. H. Spurgeon.\par\par The great Husbandman is not always threshing. Trial is only for a season. The showers soon pass. Weeping may tarry only for the few hours of the short summer night; it must be gone at daybreak. Our light affliction is but for a moment. Trial is for a purpose, "If needs be."\par\par The very fact of trial proves that there is something in us very precious to our Lord; else He would not spend so much pains and time on us. Christ would not test us if He did not see the precious ore of faith mingled in the rocky matrix of our nature; and it is to bring this out into purity and beauty that He forces us through the fiery ordeal.\par\par Be patient, O sufferer! The result will more than compensate for all our trials, when we see how they wrought out the far more exceeding and eternal weight of gLVALlory. To have one word of God's commendation; to be honored before the holy angels; to be glorified in Christ, so as to be better able to flash His glory on Himself--ah! that will more than repay for all. --Tried by Fire\par\par As the weights of the clock, or the ballast in the vessel, are necessary for their right ordering, so is trouble in the soul-life. The sweetest scents are only obtained by tremendous pressure; the fairest flowers grow amid Alpine snow-solitudes; the fairest gems have suffered longest from the lapidary's wheel; the noblest statues have borne most blows of the chisel. All, however, are under law. Nothing happens that has not been appointed with consummate care and foresight. --Daily Devotional Commentary\par\par LVAL Believing Before Seeing \par\par "The land which I do give them, even the children of Israel" (Joshua 1:2).\par\par God here speaks in the immediate present. It is not something He is going to do, but something He does do, this moment. So faith ever speaks. So God ever gives. So He is meeting you today, in the present moment. This is the test of faith. So long as you are waiting for a thing, hoping for it, looking for it, you are not believing. It may be hope, it may be earnest desire, but it is not faith; for "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The command in regard to believing prayer is the present tense. "When ye pray, believe that ye receive the things that ye desire, and ye shall have them." Have we come to that moment? Have we met God in His everlasting NOW? --Joshua, by Simpson\par\par True faith counts on God, and believes before it sees. Naturally, we want some evidence that our petition is granted before we believe; but when we walk by faith we need no other evidence than God's Word. He has spoken, and according to our faith it shall be done unto us. We shall see because we have believed, and this faith sustains us in the most trying places, when everything around us seems to contradict God's Word.\par\par The Psalmist says, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living" (Ps. 27:13). He did not see as yet the Lord's answer to his prayers, but he believed to see; and this kept him from fainting.\par\par If we have the faith that believes to see, it will keep us from growing discouraged. We shall "laugh at impossibilities," we shall watch with delight to see how God is going to open up a path through the Red Sea when there is no human way out of our difficulty. It is just in such places of severe testing that our faith grows and strengthens.\par\par Have you been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have feared that you were forgotten? Nay, lift up your heaLVALd, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you. --Life of Praise\par\par LVAL Faith Becomes Sight \par\par "Have faith that whatever you ask for in prayer is already granted you, and you will find that it will be" (Mark 11:24).\par\par When my little son was about ten years of age, his grandmother promised him a stamp album for Christmas. Christmas came, but no stamp album, and no word from grandmother. The matter, however, was not mentioned; but when his playmates came to see his Christmas presents, I was astonished, after he had named over this and that as gifts received, to hear him add,\par\par "And a stamp album from grandmother."\par\par I had heard it several times, when I called him to me, and said, "But, Georgie, you did not get an album from your grandmother. Why do you say so?"\par\par There was a wondering look on his face, as if he thought it strange that I should ask such a question, and he replied, "Well, mamma, grandma said, so it is the same as." I could not say a word to check his faith.\par\par A month went by, and nothing was heard from the album. Finally, one day, I said, to test his faith, and really wondering in my heart why the album had not been sent,\par\par "Well, Georgie, I think grandma has forgotten her promise."\par\par "Oh, no, mamma," he quickly and firmly said, "she hasn't."\par\par I watched the dear, trusting face, which, for a while, looked very sober, as if debating the possibilities I had suggested. Finally a bright light passed over it, and he said,\par\par "Mamma, do you think it would do any good if I should write to her thanking her for the album?"\par\par "I do not know," I said, "but you might try it."\par\par A rich spiritual truth began to dawn upon me. In a few minutes a letter was prepared and committed to the mail, and he went off whistling his confidence in his grandma. In just a short time a letter came, saying:\par\par "My dear Georgie: I have not forgotten my promise to you, of an album. I tried to get such a book as you desired, but could not get the sort you wanted; so I sent on to New York. It did not getLVAL here till after Christmas, and it was still not right, so I sent for another, and as it has not come as yet, I send you three dollars to get one in Chicago. Your loving grandma."\par\par "As he read the letter, his face was the face of a victor. "Now, mamma, didn't I tell you?" came from the depths of a heart that never doubted, that, "against hope, believed in hope" that the stamp album would come. While he was trusting, grandma was working, and in due season faith became sight.\par\par It is so human to want sight when we step out on the promises of God, but our Savior said to Thomas, and to the long roll of doubters who have ever since followed him: "Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed." --Mrs. Rounds\par\par jLVALvPruned to Yield Fruit \par\par "And every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit" \par (John 15:2).\par\par A child of God was dazed by the variety of afflictions which seemed to make her their target. Walking past a vineyard in the rich autumnal glow she noticed the untrimmed appearance and the luxuriant wealth of leaves on the vines, that the ground was given over to a tangle of weeds and grass, and that the whole place looked utterly uncared for; and as she pondered, the Heavenly Gardener whispered so precious a message that she would fain pass it on:\par\par "My dear child, are you wondering at the sequence of trials in your life? Behold that vineyard and learn of it. The gardener ceases to prune, to trim, to harrow, or to pluck the ripe fruit only when he expects nothing more from the vine during that season. It is left to itself, because the season of fruit is past and further effort for the present would yield no profit. Comparative uselessness is the condition of freedom from suffering. Do you then wish me to cease pruning your life? Shall I leave you alone?" And the comforted heart cried, "No!"\par\par --Homera Homer-Dixon\par\par It is the branch that bears the fruit,\par That feels the knife,\par To prune it for a larger growth, \par A fuller life.\par\par Though every budding twig be lopped, \par And every grace\par Of swaying tendril, springing leaf, \par Be lost a space.\par\par O thou whose life of joy seems reft, \par Of beauty shorn;\par\par Whose aspirations lie in dust, \par All bruised and torn,\par\par Rejoice, tho' each desire, each dream, \par Each hope of thine\par Shall fall and fade; it is the hand \par Of Love Divine\par\par That holds the knife, that cuts and breaks \par With tenderest touch,\par\par That thou, whose life has borne some fruit \par May'st now bear much.\par --Annie Johnson Flint\par\par LVALVictorious Living is Possible\par\par "Nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matt. 17:20).\par\par It is possible, for those who really are willing to reckon on the power of the Lord for keeping and victory, to lead a life in which His promises are taken as they stand and are found to be true.\par\par It is possible to cast all our care upon Him daily and to enjoy deep peace in doing it.\par\par It is possible to have the thoughts and imaginations of our hearts purified, in the deepest meaning of the word.\par\par It is possible to see the will of God in everything, and to receive it, not with sighing, but with singing.\par\par It is possible by taking complete refuge in Divine power to become strong through and through; and, where previously our greatest weakness lay, to find that things which formerly upset all our resolves to be patient, or pure, or humble, furnish today an opportunity--through Him who loved us, and works in us an agreement with His will and a blessed sense of His presence and His power--to make sin powerless over us.\par\par These things are DIVINE POSSIBILITIES, and because they are His work, the true experience of them will always cause us to bow lower at His feet and to learn to thirst and long for more.\par\par We cannot possibly be satisfied with anything less--each day, each hour, each moment, in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit--than to WALK WITH GOD. --H. C. G. Moule\par\par We may have as much of God as we will. Christ puts the key of the treasure-chamber into our hand, and bids us take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the bullion vault of a bank, and told to help himself, and comes out with one cent, whose fault is it that he is poor? Whose fault is it that Christian people generally have such scanty portions of the free riches of God? --McLaren.\par\par LVALWait With Patience\par\par "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him" (Ps. 37:7).\par\par Have you prayed and prayed and waited and waited, and still there is no manifestation?\par\par Are you tired of seeing nothing move? Are you just at the point of giving it all up? Perhaps you have not waited in the right way? This would take you out of the right place the place where He can meet you.\par\par "With patience wait" (Rom. 8:25). Patience takes away worry. He said He would come, and His promise is equal to His presence. Patience takes away your weeping. Why feel sad and despondent? He knows your need better than you do, and His purpose in waiting is to bring more glory out of it all. Patience takes away self-works. The work He desires is that you "believe" (John 6:29), and when you believe, you may then know that all is well. Patience takes away all want. Your desire for the thing you wish is perhaps stronger than your desire for the will of God to be fulfilled in its arrival.\par\par Patience takes away all weakening. Instead of having the delaying time, a time of letting go, know that God is getting a larger supply ready and must get you ready too. Patience takes away all wobbling. "Make me stand upon my standing" (Daniel 8:18, margin). God's foundations are steady; and when His patience is within, we are steady while we wait. Patience gives worship. A praiseful patience sometimes "long-suffering with joyfulness" (Col. 1:11) is the best part of it all. "Let (all these phases of) patience have her perfect work" (James 1:4), while you wait, and you will find great enrichment. --C. H. P.\par\par Hold steady when the fires burn,\par When inner lessons come to learn,\par And from this path there seems no turn\par "Let patience have her perfect work."\par --L.S.P.\par\par LVAL Active Faith\par\par "If thou canst believe, all things are possible. to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23).\par\par Seldom have we heard a better definition of faith than was given once in one of our meetings, by a dear old colored woman, as she answered the question of a young man how to take the Lord for needed help.\par\par In her characteristic way, pointing her finger toward him, she said with great emphasis: "You've just got to believe that He's done it and it's done." The great danger with most of us is that, after we ask Him to do it, we do not believe that it is done, but we keep on helping Him, and getting others to help Him; and waiting to see how He is going to do it.\par\par Faith adds its "Amen" to God's "Yea," and then takes its hands off, and leaves God to finish His work. Its language is, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him; and he worketh.' --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par "I simply take Him at His word,\par I praise Him that my prayer is heard,\par And claim my answer from the Lord; \par I take, He undertakes."\par\par An active faith can give thanks for a promise, though it be not as yet performed; knowing that God's bonds are as good as ready money. --Matthew Henry\par\par Passive faith accepts the word as true\par But never moves.\par Active faith begins the work to do, \par And thereby proves.\par\par Passive faith says, "I believe it! every word of God is true.\par Well I know He hath not spoken what He cannot, will not, do.\par He hath bidden me, 'Go forward!' but a closed-up way I see,\par When the waters are divided, soon in Canaan's land I'll be.\par Lo! I hear His voice commanding, 'Rise and walk: take up thy bed';\par And, 'Stretch forth thy withered member!' which for so long has been dead.\par When I am a little stronger, then, I know I'll surely stand:\par When there comes a thrill of heating, I will use with ease My other hand.\par\par Yes, I know that 'God is able' and full willing all to do:\par I believe that every promise, pLVAL|sometime, will to me come true."\par\par Active faith says, "I believe it! and the promise now I take,\par Knowing well, as I receive it, God, each promise, real will make. \par So I step into the waters, finding there an open way;\par Onward press, the land possessing; nothing can my progress stay.\par\par Yea, I rise at His commanding, walk straightway, and joyfully: \par This, my hand, so sadly shrivelled, as I reach, restored shall be. \par What beyond His faithful promise, would I wish or do I need? \par Looking not for 'signs or wonders,' I'll no contradiction heed.\par Well I know that 'God is able,' and full willing all to do:\par I believe that every promise, at this moment can come true."\par\par Passive faith but praises in the light, \par When sun doth shine. \par Active faith will praise in darkest night--\par Which faith is thine?\par --Selected\par\par LVALThe Blessing of the Lion\par\par "And there came a lion" (1 Sam. 17:34).\par\par It is a source of inspiration and strength to come in touch with the youthful David, trusting God. Through faith in God he conquered a lion and a bear, and afterwards overthrew the mighty Goliath. When that lion came to despoil that flock, it came as a wondrous opportunity to David. If he had failed or faltered he would have missed God's opportunity for him and probably would never have come to be God's chosen king of Israel. "And there came a lion."\par\par One would not think that a lion was a special blessing from God; one would think that only an occasion of alarm. The lion was God's opportunity in disguise. Every difficulty that presents itself to us, if we receive it in the right way, is God's opportunity. Every temptation that comes is God's opportunity.\par\par When the "lion" comes, recognize it as God's opportunity no matter how rough the exterior. The very tabernacle of God was covered with badgers' skins and goats' hair; one would not think there would be any glory there. The Shekinah of God was manifest under that kind of covering. May God open our eyes to see Him, whether in temptations, trials, dangers, or misfortunes. \par --C. H. P.\par\par LVAL Hidden Workers\par\par "John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true" (John 10:41).\par\par You may be very discontented with yourself. You are no genius, have no brilliant gifts, and are inconspicuous for any special faculty. Mediocrity is the law of your existence. Your days are remarkable for nothing but sameness and insipidity. Yet you may live a great life.\par\par John did no miracle, but Jesus said that among those born of women there had not appeared a greater than he.\par\par John's main business was to bear witness to the Light, and this may be yours and mine. John was content to be only a voice, if men would think of Christ.\par\par Be willing to be only a voice, heard but not seen; a mirror whose surface is lost to view, because it reflects the dazzling glory of the sun; a breeze that springs up just before daylight, and says, "The dawn! the dawn!" and then dies away.\par\par Do the commonest and smallest things as beneath His eye. If you must live with uncongenial people, set to their conquest by love. If you have made a great mistake in your life, do not let it becloud all of it; but, locking the secret in your breast, compel it to yield strength and sweetness.\par\par We are doing more good than we know, sowing seeds, starting streamlets, giving men true thoughts of Christ, to which they will refer one day as the first things that started them thinking of Him; and, of my part, I shall be satisfied if no great mausoleum is raised over my grave, but that simple souls shall gather there when I am gone, and say,\par\par "He was a good man; he wrought no miracles, but he spake words about Christ, which led me to know Him for myself." --George Matheson\par\par "THY HIDDEN ONES" (Psa. 83:3)\par\par "Thick green leaves from the soft brown earth, \par Happy springtime hath called them forth; \par First faint promise of summer bloom \par Breathes from the fragrant, sweet perfume, \par Under the leaves.\par\par "Lift them! what marvelous beauty lies LVAL\par Hidden beneath, from our thoughtless eyes! \par Mayflowers, rosy or purest white, \par Lift their cups to the sudden light, \par Under the leaves.\par\par "Are there no lives whose holy deeds--\par Seen by no eye save His who reads \par Motive and action--in silence grow \par Into rare beauty, and bud and blow \par Under the leaves?\par\par "Fair white flowers of faith and trust, \par Springing from spirits bruised and crushed; \par Blossoms of love, rose-tinted and bright, \par Touched and painted with Heaven's own light \par Under the leaves.\par\par "Full fresh clusters of duty borne, \par Fairest of all in that shadow grown; \par Wondrous the fragrance that sweet and rare \par Comes from the flower-cups hidden there \par Under the leaves.\par\par "Though unseen by our vision dim, \par Bud and blossom are known to Him; \par Wait we content for His heavenly ray--\par Wait till our Master Himself one day \par Lifteth the leaves."\par\par "God calls many of His most valued workers from the unknown multitude" (Luke 14:23).\par\par LVAL Enter Into Your Inheritance\par\par "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you" (Joshua 1:3).\par\par Beside the literal ground, unoccupied for Christ, there is the unclaimed, untrodden territory of Divine promises. What did God say to Joshua? "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you," and then He draws the outlines of the Land of Promise--all theirs on one condition: that they shall march through the length and breadth of it, and measure it off with their own feet.\par\par They never did that to more than one-third of the property, and consequently they never had more than one-third; they had just what they measured off, and no more.\par\par In 2 Peter, we read of the "land of promise" that is opened up to us, and it is God's will that we should, as it were, measure off that territory by the feet of obedient faith and believing obedience, thus claiming and appropriating it for our own.\par\par How many of us have ever taken possession of the promises of God in the name of Christ?\par\par Here is a magnificent territory for faith to lay hold on and march through the length and breadth of, and faith has never done it yet.\par\par Let us enter into all our inheritance. Let us lift up our eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, and hear Him say, "All the land that thou seest will I give to thee." --A. T. Pierson\par\par Wherever Judah should set his foot that should be his; wherever Benjamin should set his foot, that should be his. Each should get his inheritance by setting his foot upon it. Now, think you not, when either had set his foot upon a given territory, he did not instantly and instinctively feel, "This is mine"?\par\par An old colored man, who had a marvelous experience in grace, was asked: "Daniel, why is it that you have so much peace and joy in religion?" "O Massa!" he replied, "I just fall flat on the exceeding great and precious promises, and I have all that is in thLVALem. Glory! Glory!" He who falls flat on the promises feels that all the riches embraced in them are his. --Faith Papers\par\par The Marquis of Salisbury was criticized for his Colonial policies and replied: "Gentlemen, get larger maps."\par\par LVALMore Than Sufficient\par\par "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Cor. 12:9).\par\par The other evening I was riding home after a heavy day's work. I felt very wearied, and sore depressed, when swiftly, and suddenly as a lightning flash, that text came to me, "My grace is sufficient for thee." I reached home and looked it up in the original, and at last it came to me in this way, "MY grace is sufficient for thee"; and I said, "I should think it is, Lord," and burst out laughing. I never fully understood what the holy laughter of Abraham was until then. It seemed to make unbelief so absurd. It was as though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and Father Thames said, "Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee." Or, it seemed after the seven years of plenty, a mouse feared it might die of famine; and Joseph might say, "Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee." Again, I imagined a man away up yonder, in a lofty mountain, saying to himself, "I breathe so many cubic feet of air every year, I fear I shall exhaust the oxygen in the atmosphere," but the earth might say, "Breathe away, O man, and fill the lungs ever, my atmosphere is sufficient for thee." Oh, brethren, be great believers! Little faith will bring your souls to Heaven, but great faith will bring Heaven to your souls. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par His grace is great enough to meet the great things\par The crashing waves that overwhelm the soul,\par The roaring winds that leave us stunned and breathless,\par The sudden storm beyond our life's control.\par\par His grace is great enough to meet the small things\par The little pin-prick troubles that annoy,\par The insect worries, buzzing and persistent,\par The squeaking wheels that grate upon our joy.\par --Annie Johnson Flint\par\par There is always a large balance to our credit in the bank of Heaven waiting for our exercise of faith in drawing it. Draw heavily upon His resources.\par\par &LVAL2Alone With God\par\par "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day" (Gen. 32:24).\par\par Left alone! What different sensations those words conjure up to each of us. To some they spell loneliness and desolation, to others rest and quiet. To be left alone without God, would be too awful for words, but to be left alone with Him is a foretaste of Heaven! If His followers spent more time alone with Him, we should have spiritual giants again.\par\par The Master set us an example. Note how often He went to be alone with God; and He had a mighty purpose behind the command, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray."\par\par The greatest miracles of Elijah and Elisha took place when they were alone with God. It was alone with God that Jacob became a prince; and just there that we, too, may become princes--"men (aye, and women too!) wondered at" (Zech. 3:8). Joshua was alone when the Lord came to him. (Josh. 1:1) Gideon and Jephthah were by themselves when commissioned to save Israel. (Judges 6:11 and 11:29) Moses was by himself at the wilderness bush. (Exodus 3:1-5) Cornelius was praying by himself when the angel came to him. (Acts 10:2) No one was with Peter on the house top, when he was instructed to go to the Gentiles. (Acts 10:9) John the Baptist was alone in the wilderness (Luke 1:90), and John the Beloved alone in Patmos, when nearest God. (Rev. 1:9)\par\par Covet to get alone with God. If we neglect it, we not only rob ourselves, but others too, of blessing, since when we are blessed we are able to pass on blessing to others. It may mean less outside work; it must mean more depth and power, and the consequence, too, will be "they saw no man save Jesus only."\par\par To be alone with God in prayer cannot be over-emphasized.\par\par "If chosen men had never been alone,\par In deepest silence open-doored to God,\par No greatness ever had been dreamed or done."\par\par LVAL Praise in the Midst of Trouble\par\par "Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually" (Heb. 13:15).\par\par A city missionary, stumbling through the dirt of a dark entry, heard a voice say, "Who's there, Honey?" Striking a match, he caught a vision of earthly want and suffering, of saintly trust and peace, "cut in ebony"--calm, appealing eyes set amid the wrinkles of a pinched, black face that lay on a tattered bed. It was a bitter night in February, and she had no fire, no fuel, no light. She had had no supper, no dinner, no breakfast. She seemed to have nothing at all but rheumatism and faith in God. One could not well be more completely exiled from all pleasantness of circumstances, yet the favorite song of this old creature ran:\par\par "Nobody knows de trouble I see, \par Nobody knows but Jesus; \par Nobody knows de trouble I see-- \par Sing Glory Hallelu!\par\par "Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down, \par Sometimes I'm level on the groun', \par Sometimes the glory shines aroun'\par Sing Glory Hallelu!"\par\par And so it went on: "Nobody knows de work I does, Nobody knows de griefs I has," the constant refrain being the "Glory Hallelu!" until the last verse rose:\par\par "Nobody knows de joys I has,\par\par Nobody knows but Jesus!"\par\par "Troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed." It takes great Bible words to tell the cheer of that old negro auntie.\par\par Remember Luther on his sick-bed. Between his groans he managed to preach on this wise: "These pains and trouble here are like the type which the printers set; as they look now, we have to read them backwards, and they seem to have no sense or meaning in them; but up yonder, when the Lord God prints us off in the life to come, we shall find they make brave reading." Only we do not need to wait till then. Remember Paul walking the hurricane deck amid a boiling sea, bidding the frightened crew "Be of good cheer," Luther, LVALthe old negro auntie--all of them human sun-flowers. --Wm. G. Garnett\par\par eLVALqMaking Straight the Crooked\par\par "Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked" (Eccles. 7:13).\par\par Often God seems to place His children in positions of profound difficulty, leading them into a wedge from which there is no escape; contriving a situation which no human judgment would have permitted, had it been previously consulted. The very cloud conducts them thither. You may be thus involved at this very hour.\par\par It does seem perplexing and very serious to the last degree, but it is perfectly right. The issue will more than justify Him who has brought you hither. It is a platform for the display of His almighty grace and power.\par\par He will not only deliver you; but in doing so, He will give you a lesson that you will never forget, and to which, in many a psalm and song, in after days, you will revert. You will never be able to thank God enough for having done just as He has. --Selected\par\par "We may wait till He explains,\par Because we know that Jesus reigns."\par\par It puzzles me; but, Lord, Thou understandest,\par And wilt one day explain this crooked thing.\par Meanwhile, I know that it has worked out Thy best--\par Its very crookedness taught me to cling.\par\par Thou hast fenced up my ways, made my paths crooked,\par To keep my wand'ring eyes fixed on Thee;\par To make me what I was not, humble, patient;\par To draw my heart from earthly love to Thee.\par\par So I will thank and praise Thee for this puzzle,\par And trust where I cannot understand.\par Rejoicing Thou dost hold me worth such testing,\par I cling the closer to Thy guiding hand.\par --F.E.M.I.\par\par LVAL Meet Him in the Morning\par\par "Be ready in the morning, and come u ...present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with thee" (Exod. 34:2-3).\par\par The morning watch is essential. You must not face the day until you have faced God, nor look into the face of others until you have looked into His.\par\par You cannot expect to be victorious, if the day begins only in your own strength. Face the work of every day with the influence of a few thoughtful, quiet moments with your heart and God. Do not meet other people, even those of your own home, until you have first met the great Guest and honored Companion of your life--Jesus Christ.\par\par Meet Him alone. Meet Him regularly. Meet Him with His open Book of counsel before you; and face the regular and the irregular duties of each day with the influence of His personality definitely controlling your every act.\par\par Begin the day with God!\par He is thy Sun and Day!\par His is the radiance of thy dawn;\par To Him address thy lay.\par\par Sing a new song at morn!\par Join the glad woods and hills;\par Join the fresh winds and seas and plains,\par Join the bright flowers and rills.\par\par Sing thy first song to God!\par Not to thy fellow men;\par Not to the creatures of His hand,\par But to the glorious One.\par\par Take thy first walk with God!\par Let Him go forth with thee;\par By stream, or sea, or mountain path,\par Seek still His company.\par\par Thy first transaction be\par With God Himself above;\par So shall thy business prosper well,\par And all the day be love.\par --Horatius Bonar\par\par The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early upon their knees.\par\par Matthew Henry used to be in his study at four, and remain there till eight; then, after breakfast and family prayer, he used to be there again till noon; after dinner, he resumed his book or pen till four, and spent the rest of the day in visiting his friends.\par\par Doddridge himself alludes to hALVALMis "Family Expositor" as an example of the difference of rising between five and seven, which, in forty years, is nearly equivalent to ten years more of life.\par\par Dr. Adam Clark's "Commentary" was chiefly prepared very early in the morning.\par\par Barnes' popular and useful "Commentary" has been also the fruit of "early morning hours."\par\par Simeon's "Sketches" were chiefly worked out between four and eight.\par\par LVALThe Price of Freedom\par\par "And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him" (Mark 9:26).\par\par Evil never surrenders its hold without a sore fight. We never pass into any spiritual inheritance through the delightful exercises of a picnic, but always through the grim contentions of the battle field. It is so in the secret realm of the soul. Every faculty which wins its spiritual freedom does so at the price of blood. Apollyon is not put to flight by a courteous request; he straddles across the full breadth of the way, and our progress has to be registered in blood and tears. This we must remember or we shall add to all the other burdens of life the gall of misinterpretation. We are not "born again" into soft and protected nurseries, but in the open country where we suck strength from the very terror of the tempest. "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." Dr. J. H. Jowett\par\par "Faith of our Fathers! living still,\par In spite of dungeon, fire and sword: \par O how our hearts beat high with joy\par Whene'er we hear that glorious word. \par Faith of our Fathers! Holy Faith!\par We will be true to Thee till death!\par\par "Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,\par Were still in heart and conscience free; \par How sweet would be their children's fate,\par If they, like them, could die for Thee!"\par\par LVALTempered and Tried\par\par "Followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Heb. 6:12).\par\par They (heroes of faith) are calling to us from the heights that they have won, and telling us that what man once did man can do again. Not only do they remind us of the necessity of faith, but also of that patience by which faith has its perfect work. Let us fear to take ourselves out of the hands of our heavenly Guide or to miss a single lesson of His loving discipline by discouragement or doubt.\par\par "There is only one thing," said a village blacksmith, "that I fear, and that is to be thrown on the scrap heap.\par\par "When I am tempering a piece of steel, I first beat it, hammer it, and then suddenly plunge it into this bucket of cold water. I very soon find whether it will take temper or go to pieces in the process. When I discover after one or two tests that it is not going to allow itself to be tempered, I throw it on the scrap heap and sell it for a cent a pound when the junk man comes around.\par\par "So I find the Lord tests me, too, by fire and water and heavy blows of His heavy hammer, and if I am not willing to stand the test, or am not going to prove a fit subject for His tempering process, I am afraid He may throw me on the scrap heap."\par\par When the fire is hottest, hold still, for there will be a blessed "afterward"; and with Job we may be able to say, "When he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold." --Selected\par\par Sainthood springs out of suffering. It takes eleven tons of pressure on a piano to tune it. God will tune you to harmonize with Heaven's key-note if you can stand the strain.\par\par "Things that hurt and things that mar\par Shape the man for perfect praise;\par Shock and strain and ruin are\par Friendlier than the smiling days."\par\par hLVALtHold on Until the End\par\par "We are made partaker of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end" (Heb. 3:14).\par\par It is the last step that wins; and there is no place in the pilgrim's progress where so many dangers lurk as the region that lies hard by the portals of the Celestial City. It was there that Doubting Castle stood. It was there that the enchanted ground lured the tired traveler to fatal slumber. It is when Heaven's heights are full in view that hell's gate is most persistent and full of deadly peril. "Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." "So run, that ye may obtain."\par\par In the bitter waves of woe\par Beaten and tossed about\par By the sullen winds that blow\par From the desolate shores of doubt,\par Where the anchors that faith has cast\par Are dragging in the gale,\par I am quietly holding fast\par To the things that cannot fail.\par\par And fierce though the fiends may fight,\par And long though the angels hide,\par I know that truth and right\par Have the universe on their side;\par And that somewhere beyond the stars\par Is a love that is better than fate.\par When the night unlocks her bars\par I shall see Him--and I will wait.\par --Washington Gladden\par\par The problem of getting great things from God is being able to hold on for the last half hour. --Selected\par\par LVAL Keep Trusting\par\par "We trusted" (Luke 24:21).\par\par I have always felt so sorry that in that walk to Emmaus the disciples had not said to Jesus, "We still trust"; instead of "We trusted." That is so sad--something that is all over.\par\par If they had only said, "Everything is against our hope; it looks as if our trust was vain, but we do not give up; we believe we shall see Him again." But no, they walked by His side declaring their lost faith, and He had to say to them "O fools, and slow of heart to believe!"\par\par Are we not in the same danger of having these words said to us? We can afford to lose anything and everything if we do not lose our faith in the God of truth and love.\par\par Let us never put our faith, as these disciples did, in a past tense--"We trusted." But let us ever say, "I am trusting." --Crumbs\par\par The soft, sweet summer was warm and glowing,\par Bright were the blossoms on every bough:\par I trusted Him when the roses were blooming;\par I trust Him now...\par\par Small were my faith should it weakly falter \par Now that the roses have ceased to blow; \par Frail were the trust that now should alter, \par Doubting His love when storm clouds grow.\par\par --The Song of a Bird in a Winter Storm\par\par LVALOur Dependency on Christ\par\par "We are troubled on every side" (2 Cor. 7:5).\par\par Why should God have to lead us thus, and allow the pressure to be so hard and constant? Well, in the first place, it shows His all-sufficient strength and grace much better than if we were exempt from pressure and trial. "The treasure is in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."\par\par It makes us more conscious of our dependence upon Him. God is constantly trying to teach us our dependence, and to hold us absolutely in His hand and hanging upon His care.\par\par This was the place where Jesus Himself stood and where He wants us to stand, not with self-constituted strength, but with a hand ever leaning upon His, and a trust that dare not take one step alone. It teaches us trust.\par\par There is no way of learning faith except by trial. It is God's school of faith, and it is far better for us to learn to trust God than to enjoy life.\par\par The lesson of faith once learned, is an everlasting acquisition and an eternal fortune made; and without trust even riches will leave us poor. --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par "Why must I weep when others sing?\par 'To test the deeps of suffering.' \par Why must I work while others rest?\par 'To spend my strength at God's request.' \par Why must I lose while others gain?\par 'To understand defeat's sharp pain.' \par Why must this lot of life be mine \par When that which fairer seems is thine?\par 'Because God knows what plans for me \par Shall blossom in eternity.'"\par\par AoR5jM0eH+}`C& x[>!sV9nQ4      m@   @    @   k@ @ E  @           @     @     X     @    @  E  t@    o Z   '  `  @   6@ W    x@    @    @   @  @         }          1@ LVAL Be Sure of His Promises\par\par "Do as thou hast said, that thy name may be magnified forever" (1 Chron. 17:23-24).\par\par This is a most blessed phase of true prayer. Many a time we ask for things which are not absolutely promised. We are not sure therefore until we have persevered for some time whether our petitions are in the line of God's purpose or no. There are other occasions, and in the life of David this was one, when we are fully persuaded that what we ask is according to God's will. We feel led to take up and plead some promise from the page of Scripture, under the special impression that it contains a message for us. At such times, in confident faith, we say, "Do as Thou hast said." There is hardly any position more utterly beautiful, strong, or safe, than to put the finger upon some promise of the Divine word, and claim it. There need be no anguish, or struggle, or wrestling; we simply present the check and ask for cash, produce the promise, and claim its fulfillment; nor can there be any doubt as to the issue. It would give much interest to prayer, if we were more definite. It is far better to claim a few things specifically than a score vaguely. --F. B. Meyer\par\par Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request: "Do as Thou hast said." The Creator will not cheat His creature who depends upon His truth; and far more, the Heavenly Father will not break His word to His own child.\par\par "Remember the word unto thy servant, on which thou hast caused me to hope," is most prevalent pleading. It is a double argument: it is Thy Word. Wilt Thou not keep it? Why hast thou spoken of it, if Thou wilt not make it good. Thou hast caused me to hope in it, wilt Thou disappoint the hope which Thou has Thyself begotten in me? --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par "Being absolutely certain that whatever promise he is bound by, he is able also to make good" (Rom. 4:21, Weymouth's Translation).\par\par It is the everlasting faithfulness of God tLVALhat makes a Bible promise "exceeding great and precious." Human promises are often worthless. Many a broken promise has left a broken heart. But since the world was made, God has never broken a single promise made to one of His trusting children.\par\par Oh, it is sad for a poor Christian to stand at the door of the promise, in the dark night of affliction, afraid to draw the latch, whereas he should then come boldly for shelter as a child into his father's house. --Gurnal\par\par Every promise is built upon four pillars: God's justice and holiness, which will not suffer Him to deceive; His grace or goodness, which will not suffer Him to forget; His truth, which will not suffer Him to change, which makes Him able to accomplish. --Selected\par\par LVAL Cast Your Burdens Upon God\par\par "Look from the top" (Song of Solomon 4:8).\par\par Crushing weights give the Christian wings. It seems like a contradiction in terms, but it is a blessed truth. David out of some bitter experience cried: "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away, and be at rest" (Ps. 55:6). But before he finished this meditation he seems to have realized that his wish for wings was a realizable one. For he says, "Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee."\par\par The word "burden" is translated in the Bible margin, "what he (Jehovah) hath given thee." The saints' burdens are God-given; they lead him to "wait upon Jehovah," and when that is done, in the magic of trust, the "burden" is metamorphosed into a pair of wings, and the weighted one "mounts up with wings as eagles. --Sunday School Times\par\par One day when walking down the street, \par On business bent, while thinking hard \par About the "hundred cares" which seemed \par Like thunder clouds about to break \par In torrents, Self-pity said to me: \par "You poor, poor thing, you have too much \par To do. Your life is far too hard. \par This heavy load will crush you soon." \par A swift response of sympathy \par Welled up within. The burning sun \par Seemed more intense. The dust and noise \par Of puffing motors flying past \par With rasping blast of blowing horn \par Incensed still more the whining nerves, \par The fabled last back-breaking straw \par To weary, troubled, fretting mind.\par "Ah, yes, 'twill break and crush my life; \par I cannot bear this constant strain \par Of endless, aggravating cares; \par They are too great for such as I." \par So thus my heart condoled itself, \par "Enjoying misery," when lo! \par A "still small voice" distinctly said, \par "Twas sent to lift you--not to crush." \par I saw at once my great mistake. \par My place was not beneath the load \par But on the top! God meant it not \par That I should carry it. He sent \par It here toLVAL carry me. Full well \par He knew my incapacity \par Before the plan was made. He saw \par A child of His in need of grace \par And power to serve; a puny twig \par Requiring sun and rain to grow; \par An undeveloped chrysalis; \par A weak soul lacking faith in God. \par He could not help but see all this \par And more. And then, with tender thought \par He placed it where it had to grow--\par Or die. To lie and cringe beneath \par One's load means death, but life and power \par Await all those who dare to rise above. \par Our burdens are our wings; on them \par We soar to higher realms of grace;\par\par Without them we must roam for aye \par On planes of undeveloped faith, \par (For faith grows but by exercise in circumstance impossible).\par\par Oh, paradox of Heaven. The load \par We think will crush was sent to lift us \par Up to God! Then, soul of mine, \par Climb up! for naught can e'er be crushed \par Save what is underneath the weight. \par How may we climb! By what ascent \par Shall we surmount the carping cares \par Of life! Within His word is found \par The key which opes His secret stairs; \par Alone with Christ, secluded there, \par We mount our loads, and rest in Him.\par --Miss Mary Butterfield\par\par LVAL The Just Shall Live by Faith\par\par "The just shall live by faith." (Heb. 10:38).\par\par Seemings and feelings are often substituted for faith. Pleasurable emotions and deep satisfying experiences are part of the Christian life, but they are not all of it. Trials, conflicts, battles and testings lie along the way, and are not to be counted as misfortunes, but rather as part of our necessary discipline.\par\par In all these varying experiences we are to reckon on Christ as dwelling in the heart, regardless of our feelings if we are walking obediently before Him. Here is where many get into trouble; they try to walk by feeling rather than faith.\par\par One of the saints tells us that it seemed as though God had withdrawn Himself from her. His mercy seemed clean gone. For six weeks her desolation lasted, and then the Heavenly Lover seemed to say:\par\par "Catherine, thou hast looked for Me without in the world of sense, but all the while I have been within waiting for thee; meet Me in the inner chamber of thy spirit, for I am there."\par\par Distinguish between the fact of God's presence, and the emotion of the fact. It is a happy thing when the soul seems desolate and deserted, if our faith can say, "I see Thee not. I feel Thee not, but Thou art certainly and graciously here, where I am as I am." Say it again and again: "Thou art here: though the bush does not seem to burn with fire, it does burn. I will take the shoes from off my feet, for the place on which I stand is holy ground." --London Christian\par\par Believe God's word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your Rock is Christ, and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows, but your sea. --Samuel Rutherford\par\par Keep your eye steadily fixed on the infinite grandeur of Christ's finished work and righteousness. Look to Jesus and believe, look to Jesus and live! Nay, more; as you look to him, hoist your sails and buffet manfully the sea of life. Do not remain in the haven of distrust, or sleeping on youLVAL r shadows in inactive repose, or suffering your frames and feelings to pitch and toss on one another like vessels idly moored in a harbor. The religious life is not a brooding over emotions, grazing the keel of faith in the shallows, or dragging the anchor of hope through the oozy tide mud as if afraid of encountering the healthy breeze. Away! With your canvas spread to the gale, trusting in Him, who rules the raging of the waters. The safety of the tinted bird is to be on the wing. If its haunt be near the ground--if it fly low--it exposes itself to the fowler's net or snare. If we remain grovelling on the low ground of feeling and emotion, we shall find ourselves entangled in a thousand meshes of doubt and despondency, temptation and unbelief. "But surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of THAT WHICH HATH A WING" (marginal reading Prov. 1:17). Hope thou in God. --J. R. Macduff\par\par When I cannot enjoy the faith of assurance, I live by the faith of adherence. Matthew Henry\par\par LVAL Strength From the Sorrow\par\par "Now it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now, therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people" (Joshua 1:1-2).\par\par Sorrow came to you yesterday, and emptied your home. Your first impulse now is to give up, and sit down in despair amid the wrecks of your hopes. But you dare not do it. You are in the line of battle, and the crisis is at hand. To falter a moment would be to imperil some holy interest. Other lives would be harmed by your pausing, holy interests would suffer, should your hands be folded. You must not linger even to indulge your grief.\par\par A distinguished general related this pathetic incident of his own experience in time of war. The general's son was a lieutenant of battery. An assault was in progress. The father was leading his division in a charge; as he pressed on in the field, suddenly his eye was caught by the sight of a dead battery-officer lying just before him. One glance showed him it was his own son. His fatherly impulse was to stop beside the loved form and give vent to his grief, but the duty of the moment demanded that he should press on in the charge; so, quickly snatching one hot kiss from the dead lips, he hastened away, leading his command in the assault.\par\par Weeping inconsolably beside a grave can never give back love's banished treasure, nor can any blessing come out of such sadness. Sorrow makes deep scars; it writes its record ineffaceably on the heart which suffers. We really never get over our great griefs; we are never altogether the same after we have passed through them as we were before. Yet there is a humanizing and fertilizing influence in sorrow which has been rightly accepted and cheerfully borne. Indeed, they are poor who have never suffered, and have none of sorrow's marks upon them. The joy set before us should shine upon our grief as the sun shines through thLVAL e clouds, glorifying them. God has so ordered, that in pressing on in duty we shall find the truest, richest comfort for ourselves. Sitting down to brood over our sorrows, the darkness deepens about us and creeps into our heart, and our strength changes to weakness. But, if we turn away from the gloom, and take up the tasks and duties to which God calls us, the light will come again, and we shall grow stronger.\par\par --J. R. Miller\par\par Thou knowest that through our tears\par Of hasty, selfish weeping\par Comes surer sin, and for our petty fears \par Of loss thou hast in keeping\par A greater gain than all of which we dreamed; \par Thou knowest that in grasping\par The bright possessions which so precious seemed \par We lose them; but if, clasping\par Thy faithful hand, we tread with steadfast feet \par The path of thy appointing,\par There waits for us a treasury of sweet\par Delight, royal anointing\par With oil of gladness and of strength.\par --Helen Hunt Jackson\par\par LVAL Deliverance in the Stormy Winds\par\par "The Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the cast wind brought the locusts....Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste....And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt" \par (Exod. 10:13, 19).\par\par See how in the olden times, when the Lord fought for Israel against the cruel Pharaoh, the stormy winds wrought out their deliverance; and yet again, in that grandest display of power--the last blow that God struck at the proud defiance of Egypt. A strange, almost cruel thing it must have seemed to Israel to he hemmed in by such a host of dangers--in front the wild sea defying them, on either hand the rocky heights cutting off all hope of escape, the night of hurricane gathering over them. It was as if that first deliverance had come only to hand them over to more certain death. Completing the terror there rang out the cry: "The Egyptians are upon us!"\par\par When it seemed they were trapped for the foe, then came the glorious triumph. Forth swept the stormy wind and beat back the waves, and the hosts of Israel marched forward, down into the path of the great deep--a way arched over with God's protecting love.\par\par On either hand were the crystal walls glowing in the light of the glory of the Lord; and high above them swept the thunder of the storm. So on through all that night; and when, at dawn of the next day, the last of Israel's host set foot upon the other shore, the work of the stormy wind was done.\par\par Then sang Israel unto the Lord the song of the "stormy wind fulfilling his word."\par\par "The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil...Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters."\par\par One day, by God's great mercy, we, too, shall stand upon the sea of glass, having the hacLVALorps of God. Then we shall sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." We shall know then how the stormy winds have wrought out our deliverance.\par\par Now you see only the mystery of this great sorrow; then you shall see how the threatening enemy was swept away in the wild night of fear and grief.\par\par Now you look only at the loss; then you shall see how it struck at the evil that had begun to rivet its fetters upon you.\par\par Now you shrink from the howling winds and muttering thunders; then you shall see how they beat back the waters of destruction, and opened up your way to the goodly land of promise. \par --Mark Guy Pearse\par\par "Though winds are wild,\par And the gale unleashed,\par My trusting heart still sings:\par I know that they mean\par No harm to me,\par He rideth on their wings."\par\par LVAL Songs of Praise Rise From Affliction\par\par "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints" (Rev. 15:3).\par\par The following incident is related by Mrs. Charles Spurgeon, who was a great sufferer for more than a quarter of a century:\par\par "At the close of a dark and gloomy day, I lay resting on my couch as the deeper night drew on; and though all was bright within my cozy room, some of the external darkness seemed to have entered into my soul and obscured its spiritual vision. Vainly I tried to see the Hand which I knew held mine, and guided my fog-enveloped feet along a steep and slippery path of suffering. In sorrow of heart I asked,\par\par "'Why does my Lord thus deal with His child? Why does He so often send sharp and bitter pain to visit me? Why does He permit lingering weakness to hinder the sweet service I long to render to His poor servants?'\par\par "These fretful questions were quickly answered, and through a strange language; no interpreter was needed save the conscious whisper of my heart.\par\par "For a while silence reigned in the little room, broken only by the crackling of the oak log burning in the fireplace. Suddenly I heard a sweet, soft sound, a little, clear, musical note, like the tender trill of a robin beneath my window.\par\par "'What can it be? surely no bird can be singing out there at this time of the year and night.'\par\par "Again came the faint, plaintive notes, so sweet, so melodious, yet mysterious enough to provoke our wonder. My friend exclaimed,\par\par "'It comes from the log on the fire!' The fire was letting loose the imprisoned music from the old oak's inmost heart!\par\par "Perchance he had garnered up this song in the days when all was well with him, when birds twittered merrily on his branches, and the soft sunlight flecked his tender leaves with gold. But he had grown old since then, and hardened; ring after ring of knotty growth had sealed up the long-forgotten melody, until the fierce tongues of the flames came to consume his callousLVALness, and the vehement heart of the fire wrung from him at once a song and a sacrifice. 'Ah,' thought I, 'when the fire of affliction draws songs of praise from us, then indeed we are purified, and our God is glorified!'\par\par "Perhaps some of us are like this old oak log, cold, hard, insensible; we should give forth no melodious sounds, were it not for the fire which kindles around us, and releases notes of trust in Him, and cheerful compliance with His will.\par\par "'As I mused the fire burned,' and my soul found sweet comfort in the parable so strangely set forth before me.\par\par "Singing in the fire! Yes, God helping us, if that is the only way to get harmony out of these hard apathetic hearts, let the furnace be heated seven times hotter than before."\par\par LVAL Treasures in the Darkness\par\par "Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was" (Exod. 20:21).\par\par God has still His hidden secrets, hidden from the wise and prudent. Do not fear them; be content to accept things that you cannot understand; wait patiently. Presently He will reveal to you the treasures of darkness, the riches of the glory of the mystery. Mystery is only the veil of God's face.\par\par Do not be afraid to enter the cloud that is settling down on your life. God is in it. The other side is radiant with His glory. "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings." When you seem loneliest and most forsaken, God is nigh. He is in the dark cloud. Plunge into the blackness of its darkness without flinching; under the shrouding curtain of His pavilion you will find God awaiting you. --Selected\par\par "Hast thou a cloud? \par Something that is dark and full of dread; \par A messenger of tempest overhead? \par A something that is darkening the sky; \par A something growing darker bye and bye; \par A something that thou fear'st will burst at last; \par A cloud that doth a deep, long shadow cast, \par God cometh in that cloud.\par\par Hast thou a cloud? \par It is Jehovah's triumph car: in this \par He rideth to thee, o'er the wide abyss. \par It is the robe in which He wraps His form; \par For He doth gird Him with the flashing storm. \par It is the veil in which He hides the light \par Of His fair face, too dazzling for thy sight. \par God cometh in that cloud.\par\par Hast thou a cloud? \par A trial that is terrible to thee? \par A black temptation threatening to see? \par A loss of some dear one long thine own? \par A mist, a veiling, bringing the unknown? \par A mystery that unsubstantial seems: \par A cloud between thee and the sun's bright beams? \par God cometh in that cloud.\par\par Hast thou a cloud? \par A si1LVAL=ckness--weak old age--distress and death? \par These clouds will scatter at thy last faint breath. \par Fear not the clouds that hover o'er thy barque, \par Making the harbour's entrance dire and dark; \par The cloud of death, though misty, chill and cold, \par Will yet grow radiant with a fringe of gold. \par GOD cometh in that cloud."\par\par As Dr. C. stood on a high peak of the Rocky Mountains watching a storm raging below him, an eagle came up through the clouds, and soared away towards the sun and the water upon him glistened in the sunlight like diamonds. Had it not been for the storm he might have remained in the valley. The sorrows of life cause us to rise towards God.\par\par LVAL%Earth's Broken Things\par\par "Fear not, thou worm Jacob...I will make thee a threshing instrument with teeth" (Isa. 41:14-15).\par\par Could any two things be in greater contrast than a worm and an instrument with teeth? The worm is delicate, bruised by a stone, crushed beneath the passing wheel; an instrument with teeth can break and not be broken; it can grave its mark upon the rock. And the mighty God can convert the one into the other. He can take a man or a nation, who has all the impotence of the worm, and by the invigoration of His own Spirit, He can endow with strength by which a noble mark is left upon the history of the time.\par\par And so the "worm" may take heart. The mighty God can make us stronger than our circumstances. He can bend them all to our good. In God's strength we can make them all pay tribute to our souls. We can even take hold of a black disappointment, break it open, and extract some jewel of grace. When God gives us wills like iron, we can drive through difficulties as the iron share cuts through the toughest soil. "I will make thee," and shall He not do it? --Dr. Jowett\par\par Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things. Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure up to heaven's glory. --J. R. Miller\par\par "Follow Me, and I will make you" \par Make you speak My words with power, \par Make you channels of My mercy, \par Make you helpful every hour.\par\par "Follow Me, and I will make you" \par Make you what you cannot be\par Make you loving, trustful, godly, \par Make you even like to Me.\par --L. S. P.\par\par LVAL Flowers in the Canyon\par\par "For our profit" (Heb. 12:10).\par\par In one of Ralph Connor's books he tells a story of Gwen. Gwen was a wild, wilful lassie and one who had always been accustomed to having her own way. Then one day she met with a terrible accident which crippled her for life. She became very rebellious and in the murmuring state she was visited by the Sky Pilot, as the missionary among the mountaineers was termed.\par\par He told her the parable of the canyon. "At first there were no canyons, but only the broad, open prairie. One day the Master of the Prairie, walking over his great lawns, where were only grasses, asked the Prairie, 'Where are your flowers?' and the Prairie said, 'Master I have no seeds.'\par\par "Then he spoke to the birds, and they carried seeds of every kind of flower and strewed them far and wide, and soon the prairie bloomed with crocuses and roses and buffalo beans and the yellow crowfoot and the wild sunflowers and the red lilies all summer long. Then the Master came and was well pleased; but he missed the flowers he loved best of all, and he said to the Prairie: 'Where are the clematis and the columbine, the sweet violets and wind-flowers, and all the ferns and flowering shrubs?'\par\par "And again he spoke to the birds, and again they carried all the seeds and scattered them far and wide. But, again, when the Master came he could not find the flowers he loved best of all, and he said:\par\par "'Where are those my sweetest flowers?' and the Prairie cried sorrowfully:\par\par "'Oh, Master, I cannot keep the flowers, for the winds sweep fiercely, and the sun beats upon my breast, and they wither up and fly away.'\par\par "Then the Master spoke to the Lightning, and with one swift blow the Lightning cleft the Prairie to the heart. And the Prairie rocked and groaned in agony, and for many a day moaned bitterly over the black, jagged, gaping wound.\par\par "But the river poured its waters through the cleft, and carried down deep black mould, and once mLVALore the birds carried seeds and strewed them in the canyon. And after a long time the rough rocks were decked out with soft mosses and trailing vines, and all the nooks were hung with clematis and columbine, and great elms lifted their huge tops high up into the sunlight, and down about their feet clustered the low cedars and balsams, and everywhere the violets and wind-flower and maiden-hair grew and bloomed, till the canyon became the Master's favorite place for rest and peace and joy."\par\par Then the Sky Pilot read to her: "The fruit--I'll read 'flowers'--of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness--and some of these grow only in the canyon."\par\par "Which are the canyon flowers?" asked Gwen softly, and the Pilot answered: "Gentleness, meekness, longsuffering; but though the others, love, joy, peace, bloom in the open, yet never with so rich a bloom and so sweet a perfume as in the canyon."\par\par For a long time Gwen lay quite still, and then said wistfully, while her lips trembled: "There are no flowers in my canyon, but only ragged rocks."\par\par "Some day they will bloom, Gwen dear; the Master will find them, and we, too, shall see them."\par\par Beloved, when you come to your canyon, remember!\par\par ^LVALjPatience in the Routine\par\par "Be thou there till I bring thee word" (Matt. 2:13).\par\par "I'll stay where You've put me; \par I will, dear Lord, Though I wanted so badly to go;\par I was eager to march with the 'rank and file,' \par Yes, I wanted to lead them, You know.\par I planned to keep step to the music loud,\par To cheer when the banner unfurled,\par To stand in the midst of the fight straight and proud, \par But I'll stay where You've put me.\par\par "I'll stay where You've put me; I'll work, dear Lord, \par Though the field be narrow and small,\par And the ground be fallow, and the stones lie thick, \par And there seems to be no life at all.\par The field is Thine own, only give me the seed, \par I'll sow it with never a fear;\par I'll till the dry soil while I wait for the rain, \par And rejoice when the green blades appear; \par I'll work where You've put me.\par\par "I'll stay where You've put me; I will, dear Lord;\par I'll bear the day's burden and heat,\par Always trusting Thee fully; when even has come \par I'll lay heavy sheaves at Thy feet.\par And then, when my earth work is ended and done, \par In the light of eternity's glow,\par Life's record all closed, I surely shall find \par It was better to stay than to go;\par I'll stay where You've put me."\par\par "Oh restless heart, that beat against your prison bars of circumstances, yearning for a wider sphere of usefulness, leave God to order all your days. Patience and trust, in the dullness of the routine of life, will be the best preparation for a courageous bearing of the tug and strain of the larger opportunity which God may some time send you."\par\par LVAL He Answered Nothing\par\par "He answered nothing" (Mark 15:3).\par\par There is no spectacle in all the Bible so sublime as the silent Savior answering not a word to the men who were maligning Him, and whom He could have laid prostrate at His feet by one look of Divine power, or one word of fiery rebuke. But He let them say and do their worst, and He stood in THE POWER OF STILLNESS--God's holy silent Lamb.\par\par There is a stillness that lets God work for us, and holds our peace; the stillness that ceases from its contriving and its self-vindication, and its expedients of wisdom and forethought, and lets God provide and answer the cruel blow, in His own unfailing, faithful love.\par\par How often we lose God's interposition by taking up our own cause, and striking for our defense. God give to us this silent power, this conquered spirit! And after the heat and strife of earth are over, men will remember us as we remember the morning dew, the gentle light and sunshine, the evening breeze, the Lamb of Calvary, and the gentle, holy heavenly Dove. --A. B. Simpson\par\par The day when Jesus stood alone \par And felt the hearts of men like stone, \par And knew He came but to atone\par That day "He held His peace."\par\par They witnessed falsely to His word, \par They bound Him with a cruel cord, \par And mockingly proclaimed Him Lord;\par "But Jesus held His peace."\par\par They spat upon Him in the face, \par They dragged Him on from place to place, \par They heaped upon Him all disgrace;\par "But Jesus held His peace."\par\par My friend, have you for far much less, \par With rage, which you called righteousness, \par Resented slights with great distress?\par Your Saviour "held His peace."\par\par --L. S. P.\par\par I remember once hearing Bishop Whipple, of Minnesota, so well known as "The Apostle of the Indians," utter these beautiful words: "For thirty years I have tried to see the face of Christ in those with whom I differed." When this spirit actuates us we shall be preserveLVAL d at once from a narrow bigotry and an easy-going tolerance, from passionate vindictiveness and everything that would mar or injure our testimony for Him who came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. --W. H. Griffith Thomas\par\par ^LVALjPreparation For Praise\par\par "Beloved, do not be surprised at the ordeal that has come to test you?you are sharing what Christ suffered; so rejoice in it" (1 Peter 4:12).\par\par Many a waiting hour was needful to enrich the harp of David, and many a waiting hour in the wilderness will gather for us a psalm of "thanksgiving, and the voice of melody," to cheer the hearts of fainting ones here below, and to make glad our Father's house on high.\par\par What was the preparation of the son of Jesse for the songs like unto which none other have ever sounded on this earth?\par\par The outrage of the wicked, which brought forth cries for God's help. Then the faint hope in God's goodness blossomed into a song of rejoicing for His mighty deliverances and manifold mercies. Every sorrow was another string to his harp; every deliverance another theme for praise.\par\par One thrill of anguish spared, one blessing unmarked or unprized, one difficulty or danger evaded, how great would have been our loss in that thrilling Psalmody in which God's people today find the expression of their grief or praise!\par\par To wait for God, and to suffer His will, is to know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings, and to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. So now, if the vessel is to be enlarged for spiritual understanding, be not affrighted at the wider sphere of suffering that awaits you. The Divine capacity of sympathy will have a more extended sphere, for the breathing of the Holy Ghost in the new creation never made a stoic, but left the heart's affection tender and true. --Anna Shipton\par\par "He tested me ere He entrusted me" (1 Tim. 1:12, Way's Trans.).\par\par LVAL Sorrowful, Yet Rejoicing\par\par "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Cor. 6:10).\par\par The stoic scorns to shed a tear; the Christian is not forbidden to weep. The soul may be dumb with excessive grief, as the shearer's scissors pass over the quivering flesh; or, when the heart is on the point of breaking beneath the meeting surges of trial, the sufferer may seek relief by crying out with a loud voice. But there is something even better.\par\par They say that springs of sweet fresh water well up amid the brine of salt seas; that the fairest Alpine flowers bloom in the wildest and most rugged mountain passes; that the noblest psalms were the outcome of the profoundest agony of soul.\par\par Be it so. And thus amid manifold trials, souls which love God will find reasons for bounding, leaping joy. Though deep call to deep, yet the Lord's song will be heard in silver cadence through the night. And it is possible in the darkest hour that ever swept a human life to bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you learned this lesson yet? Not simply to endure God's will, nor only to choose it; but to rejoice in it with joy unspeakable and full of glory. --Tried as by Fire\par\par I will be still, my bruised heart faintly murmured,\par As o'er me rolled a crushing load of woe;\par The cry, the call, e'en the low moan was stifled;\par I pressed my lips; I barred the tear drop's flow.\par\par I will be still, although I cannot see it,\par The love that bares a soul and fans pain's fire;\par That takes away the last sweet drop of solace,\par Breaks the lone harp string, hides Thy precious lyre.\par\par But God is love, so I will bide me, bide me--\par We'll doubt not, Soul, we will be very still;\par We'll wait till after while, when He shall lift us\par Yes, after while, when it shall be His will.\par\par And I did listen to my heart's brave promise;\par And I did quiver, struggling to be still;\par And I did lift my tearless eyes to Heaven,\par Repeating ever, "Yea, Chr#LVAL/ist, have Thy will."\par\par But soon my heart upspake from 'neath our burden,\par Reproved my tight-drawn lips, my visage sad:\par "We can do more than this, O Soul," it whispered.\par "We can be more than still, we can be glad!"\par\par And now my heart and I are sweetly singing--\par Singing without the sound of tuneful strings;\par Drinking abundant waters in the desert,\par Crushed, and yet soaring as on eagle's wings.\par --S. P. W.\par\par LVALAccording to Our Faith\par\par "According to your faith be it unto you" (Matt. 9:29).\par\par "Praying through" might be defined as praying one's way into full faith, emerging while yet praying into the assurance that one has been accepted and heard, so that one becomes actually aware of receiving, by firmest anticipation and in advance of the event, the thing for which he asks.\par\par Let us remember that no earthly circumstances can hinder the fulfillment of His Word if we look steadfastly at the immutability of that Word and not at the uncertainty of this ever-changing world. God would have us believe His Word without other confirmation, and then He is ready to give us "according to our faith."\par\par "When once His Word is past,\par When He hath said , 'I will,' (Heb. 13:5)\par The thing shall come at last;\par God keeps His promise still." (2 Cor. 1:20)\par\par The prayer of the Pentecostal age was like a cheque to be paid in coin over the counter. --Sir R. Anderson\par\par "And God said?and it was so." (Gen. 1:9.)\par\par LVAL God's Timing\par\par "And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush?saying?I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt" (Acts 7:30, 32, 34).\par\par That was a long wait in preparation for a great mission. When God delays, He is not inactive. He is getting ready His instruments, He is ripening our powers; and at the appointed moment we shall arise equal to our task. Even Jesus of Nazareth was thirty years in privacy, growing in wisdom before He began His work. --Dr. Jowett\par\par God is never in a hurry but spends years with those He expects to greatly use. He never thinks the days of preparation too long or too dull.\par\par The hardest ingredient in suffering is often time. A short, sharp pang is easily borne, but when a sorrow drags its weary way through long, monotonous years, and day after day returns with the same dull routine of hopeless agony, the heart loses its strength, and without the grace of God, is sure to sink into the very sullenness of despair. Joseph's was a long trial, and God often has to burn His lessons into the depths of our being by the fires of protracted pain. "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver," but He knows how long, and like a true goldsmith He stops the fires the moment He sees His image in the glowing metal. We may not see now the outcome of the beautiful plan which God is hiding in the shadow of His hand; it yet may be long concealed; but faith may be sure that He is sitting on the throne, calmly waiting the hour when, with adoring rapture, we shall say, "All things have worked together for good." Like Joseph, let us be more careful to learn all the lessons in the school of sorrow than we are anxious for the hour of deliverance. There is a "need-be" for every lesson, and when we are ready, our deliverance will surely come, and we sLVAL hall find that we could not have stood in our place of higher service without the very things that were taught us in the ordeal. God is educating us for the future, for higher service and nobler blessings; and if we have the qualities that fit us for a throne, nothing can keep us from it when God's time has come. Don't steal tomorrow out of God's hands. Give God time to speak to you and reveal His will. He is never too late; learn to wait. --Selected\par\par "He never comes too late; He knoweth what is best;\par Vex not thyself in vain; until He cometh--REST."\par\par Do not run impetuously before the Lord; learn to wait His time: the minute-hand as well as the hour-hand must point the exact moment for action.\par\par LVAL%Victorious Suffering\par\par "Out of the spoils won in battle did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord" (1 Chron. 26:27).\par\par Physical force is stored in the bowels of the earth, in the coal mines, which came from the fiery heat that burned up great forests in ancient ages; and so spiritual force is stored in the depths of our being, through the very pain which we cannot understand.\par\par Some day we shall find that the spoils we have won from our trials were just preparing us to become true "Great Hearts" in the Pilgrim's Progress, and to lead our fellow pilgrims triumphantly through trial to the city of the King.\par\par But let us never forget that the source of helping other people must be victorious suffering. The whining, murmuring pang never does anybody any good.\par\par Paul did not carry a cemetery with him, but a chorus of victorious praise; and the harder the trial, the more he trusted and rejoiced, shouting from the very altar of sacrifice. He said, "Yea, and if I be offered upon the service and sacrifice of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all." Lord, help me this day to draw strength from all that comes to me! --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par "He placed me in a little cage, \par Away from gardens fair;\par But I must sing the sweetest songs \par Because He placed me there.\par Not beat my wings against the cage \par If it's my Maker's will,\par But raise my voice to heaven's gate \par And sing the louder still!"\par\par LVAL Be Definite in Prayer\par\par "And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: Deliver me, I pray thee" (Gen. 32:9, 11).\par\par There are many healthy symptoms in that prayer. In some respects it may serve as a mould into which our own spirits may pour themselves, when melted in the fiery furnace of sorrow.\par\par He began by quoting God's promise: "Thou saidst." He did so twice (9 and 12). Ah, he has got God in his power then! God puts Himself within our reach in His promises; and when we can say to Him, "Thou saidst," He cannot say nay. He must do as He has said. If Herod was so particular for his oath's sake, what will not our God be? Be sure in prayer, to get your feet well on a promise; it will give you purchase enough to force open the gates of heaven, and to take it by force. --Practical Portions for the Prayer-life\par\par Jesus desires that we shall be definite in our requests, and that we shall ask for some special thing. "What will ye that I shall do unto you?" is the question that He asks of every one who in affliction and trial comes to Him. Make your requests with definite earnestness if you would have definite answers. Aimlessness in prayer accounts for so many seemingly unanswered prayers. Be definite in your petition. Fill out your check for something definite, and it will be cashed at the bank of Heaven when presented in Jesus' Name. Dare to be definite with God. --Selected\par\par Miss Havergal has said: "Every year, I might almost say every day, that I live, I seem to see more clearly how all the rest and gladness and power of our Christian life hinges on one thing; and that is, taking God at His word, believing that He really means exactly what He says, and accepting the very words in which He reveals His goodness and grace, without substituting others or altering the precise modes and tenses which He has seen fit to use."\par\par Bring ChVLVALbrist's Word--Christ's promise, and Christ's sacrifice--His blood, with thee, and not one of Heaven's blessings can be denied thee. --Adam Clarke\par\par LVAL Desperate Days\par\par "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Heb. 11:6).\par\par The faith for desperate days.\par\par The Bible is full of such days. Its record is made up of them, its songs are inspired by them, its prophecy is concerned with them, and its revelation has come through them.\par\par The desperate days are the stepping-stones in the path of light. They seem to have been God's opportunity and man's school of wisdom.\par\par There is a story of an Old Testament love feast in Psalm 107, and in every story of deliverance the point of desperation gave God His chance. The "wit's end" of desperation was the beginning of God's power. Recall the promise of seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sands of the sea, to a couple as good as dead. Read again the story of the Red Sea and its deliverance, and of Jordan with its ark standing mid-stream. Study once more the prayers of Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah, when they were sore pressed and knew not what to do. Go over the history of Nehemiah, Daniel, Hosea, and Habakkuk. Stand with awe in the darkness of Gethsemane, and linger by the grave in Joseph's garden through those terrible days. Call the witnesses of the early Church, and ask the apostles the story of their desperate days.\par\par Desperation is better than despair.\par\par Faith did not make our desperate days. Its work is to sustain and solve them. The only alternative to a desperate faith is despair, and faith holds on and prevails.\par\par There is no more heroic example of desperate faith than that of the three Hebrew children. The situation was desperate, but they answered bravely, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." I like that,=LVALI "but if not !"\par\par I have only space to mention Gethsemane. Ponder deeply its "Nevertheless." "If it is possible?nevertheless!" Deep darkness had settled upon the soul of our Lord. Trust meant anguish unto blood and darkness to the descent of hell--Nevertheless! Nevertheless!!\par\par Now get your hymn book and sing your favorite hymn of desperate faith. --Rev. S. Chadwick\par\par "When obstacles and trials seem\par Like prison walls to be,\par I do the little I can do\par And leave the rest to Thee.\par\par "And when there seems no chance, no change,\par From grief can set me free,\par Hope finds its strength in helplessness,\par And calmly waits for Thee."\par\par |LVALReceive All He Has For You\par\par "Look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it" (Gen. 13:14-15).\par\par No instinct can be put in you by the Holy Ghost but He purposes to fulfill. Let your faith then rise and soar away and claim all the land you can discover. --S. A. Keen\par\par All you can apprehend in the vision of faith is your own. Look as far as you can, for it is all yours. All that you long to be as a Christian, all that you long to do for God, are within the possibilities of faith. Then come, still closer, and with your Bible before you, and your soul open to all the influences of the Spirit, let your whole being receive the baptism of His presence; and as He opens your understanding to see all His fulness, believe He has it all for you. Accept for yourself all the promises of His word, all the desires He awakens within you, all the possibilities of what you may be as a follower of Jesus. All the land you see is given to you.\par\par The actual provisions of His grace come from the inner vision. He who puts the instinct in the bosom of yonder bird to cross the continent in search of summer sunshine in the Southern clime is too good to deceive it, and just as surely as He has put the instinct in its breast, so has He also put the balmy breezes and the vernal sunshine yonder to meet it when it arrives.\par\par He who breathes into our hearts the heavenly hope, will not deceive or fail us when we press forward to its realization. --Selected\par\par "And they found as he had said unto them" (Luke 22:13).\par\par LVAL When We See Him Face to Face\par\par "I do not count the sufferings of our present life worthy of mention when compared with the glory that is to be revealed and bestowed upon us" (Rom. 8:18, 20th Century Trans.).\par\par A remarkable incident occurred recently at a wedding in England. A young man of large wealth and high social position, who had been blinded by an accident when he was ten years old, and who won University honors in spite of his blindness, had won a beautiful bride, though he had never looked upon her face. A little while before his marriage, he submitted to a course of treatment by experts, and the climax came on the day of his wedding.\par\par The day came, and the presents, and guests. There were present cabinet ministers and generals arid bishops and learned men and women. The bridegroom, dressed for the wedding, his eyes still shrouded in linen, drove to the church with his father, and the famous oculist met them in the vestry.\par\par The bride, entered the church on the arm of her white-haired father. So moved was she that she could hardly speak. Was her lover at last to see her face that others admired, but which he knew only through his delicate finger tips?\par\par As she neared the altar, while the soft strains of the wedding march floated through the church, her eyes fell on a strange group.\par\par The father stood there with his son. Before the latter was the great oculist in the act of cutting away the last bandage. The bridegroom took a step forward, with the spasmodic uncertainty of one who cannot believe that he is awake. A beam of rose-colored light from a pane in the chancel window fell across his face, but he did not seem to see it.\par\par Did he see anything? Yes! Recovering in an instant his steadiness of mien, and with a dignity and joy never before seen in his face, he went forward to meet his bride. They looked into each other's eyes, and one would have thought that his eyes would never wander from her face.\par\par "At last!" she said. "At last!LVAL " he echoed solemnly, bowing his head. That was a scene of great dramatic power, and no doubt of great joy, and is but a mere suggestion of what will actually take place in Heaven when the Christian who has been walking through this world of trial and sorrow, shall see Him face to face. --Selected\par\par "Just a-wearying for you, \par Jesus, Lord, beloved and true; \par Wishing for you, wondering when \par You'll be coming back again, \par Under all I say and do, \par Just a-wearying for you.\par\par "Some glad day, all watching past, \par You will come for me at last; \par Then I'll see you, hear your voice, \par Be with you, with you rejoice; \par How the sweet hope thrills me through, \par Sets me wearying for you."\par\par LVAL Obstinate Faith\par\par "And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap." (Joshua 3:13).\par\par Brave Levites! Who can help admiring them, to carry the Ark right into the stream; for the waters were not divided till their feet dipped in the water (ver. 15). God had not promised aught else. God honors faith. "Obstinate faith," that the PROMISE sees and "looks to that alone." You can fancy how the people would watch these holy men march on, and some of the bystanders would be saying, "You would not catch me running that risk! Why, man, the ark will be carried away!" Not so; "the priests stood firm on dry ground." We must not overlook the fact that faith on our part helps God to carry out His plans. "Come up to the help of the Lord."\par\par The Ark had staves for the shoulders. Even the Ark did not move of itself; it was carried. When God is the architect, men are the masons and laborers. Faith assists God. It can stop the mouth of lions and quench the violence of fire. It yet honors God, and God honors it. Oh, for this faith that will go on, leaving God to fulfill His promise when He sees fit! Fellow Levites, let us shoulder our load, and do not let us look as if we were carrying God's coffin. It is the Ark of the living God! Sing as you march towards the flood! --Thomas Champness\par\par One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit of boldness. One of the most essential qualities of the faith that is to attempt great things for God, and expect great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we are dealing with a supernatural Being, and taking from Him things that are humanly impossible, it is easier to take much than little; it is easier to stand in a place of audacious trust than in a place of cautious, timid clinging tLVALo the shore.\par\par Like wise seamen in the life of faith, let us launch out into the deep, and find that all things are possible with God, and all things are possible unto him that believeth.\par\par Let us, today, attempt great things for God; take His faith and believe for them and His strength to accomplish them. --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par LVALLeave it With Him\par\par "Consider the lilies, how they grow" (Matt. 6:28).\par\par I need oil," said an ancient monk; so he planted an olive sapling. "Lord," he prayed, "it needs rain that its tender roots may drink and swell. Send gentle showers." And the Lord sent gentle showers. "Lord," prayed the monk, "my tree needs sun. Send sun, I pray Thee." And the sun shone, gilding the dripping clouds. "Now frost, my Lord, to brace its tissues," cried the monk. And behold, the little tree stood sparkling with frost, but at evening it died.\par\par Then the monk sought the cell of a brother monk, and told his strange experience. "I, too, planted a little tree," he said, "and see! it thrives well. But I entrust my tree to its God. He who made it knows better what it needs than a man like me. I laid no condition. I fixed not ways or means. 'Lord, send what it needs,' I prayed, 'storm or sunshine, wind, rain, or frost. Thou hast made it and Thou dost know.'"\par\par Yes, leave it with Him, \par The lilies all do,\par And they grow--\par They grow in the rain,\par And they grow in the, dew--\par Yes, they grow:\par They grow in the darkness, all hid in the night--\par They grow in the sunshine, revealed by the light--\par\par \par Still they grow.\par Yes, leave it with Him \par 'Tis more dear to His heart,\par You will know,\par Than the lilies that bloom,\par Or the flowers that start\par 'Neath the snow:\par Whatever you need, if you seek it in prayer,\par You can leave it with Him--for you are His care.\par You, you know.\par --Selected\par\par LVAL Rely on God, Not Self\par\par "Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow" (Isa. 50:11).\par\par What a solemn warning to those who walk in darkness and yet who try to help themselves out into the light. They are represented as kindling a fire, and compassing themselves with sparks. What does this mean?\par\par Why, it means that when we are in darkness the temptation is to find a way without trusting in the Lord and relying upon Him. Instead of letting Him help us out, we try to help ourselves out. We seek the light of nature, and get the advice of our friends. We try the conclusions of our reason, and might almost be tempted to accept a way of deliverance which would not be of God at all.\par\par All these are fires of our own kindling; rushlights that will surely lead us onto the shoals. And God will let us walk in the light of those sparks, but the end will be sorrow.\par\par Beloved, do not try to get out of a dark place, except, in God's time and in God's way. The time of trouble is meant to teach you lessons that you sorely need.\par\par Premature deliverance may frustrate God's work of grace in your life. Just commit the whole situation to Him. Be willing to abide in darkness so long as you have His presence. Remember that it is better to walk in the dark with God than to walk alone in the light. --The Still Small Voice\par\par Cease meddling with God's plans and will. You touch anything of His, and you mar the work. You may move the hands of a clock to suit you, but you do not change the time; so you may hurry the unfolding of God's will, but you harm and do not help the work. You can open a rosebud but you spoil the flower. Leave all to Him. Hands down. Thy will, not mine. --Stephen Merritt\par\par HIS WAY\par\par God bade me go when I would stay\par ('Twas cool within the wood);\par I did not know the reason whLVALy.\par I heard a boulder crashing by\par Across the path where I stood.\par\par He bade me stay when I would go;\par "Thy will be done," I said.\par They found one day at early dawn,\par Across the way I would have gone,\par A serpent with a mangled head.\par\par No more I ask the reason why,\par Although I may not see\par The path ahead, His way I go;\par For though I know not, He doth know,\par And He will choose safe paths for me.\par --The Sunday School Times\par\par LVALSecurity in Storms\par\par "'The wind was contrary" (Matt. 14:24). \par\par Rude and blustering the winds of March often are. Do they not typify the tempestuous seasons of my life? But, indeed, I ought to be glad that I make acquaintance with these seasons. Better it is that the rains descend and the floods come than that I should stay perpetually in the Lotus Land where it seems always afternoon, or in that deep meadowed Valley of Avilion where never wind blows loudly. Storms of temptation appear cruel, but do they not give intenser earnestness to prayer? Do they not compel me to seize the promises with a tighter hand grip? Do they not leave me with a character refined? \par\par Storms of bereavement are keen; but, then, they are one of the Father's ways of driving me to Himself, that in the secret of His presence His voice may speak to my heart, soft and low. There is a glory of the Master which can be seen only when the wind is contrary and the ship tossed with waves. \par\par "Jesus Christ is no security against storms, but He is perfect security in storms. He has never promised you an easy passage, only a safe landing." \par\par Oh, set your sail to the heavenly gale, \par And then, no matter what winds prevail, \par No reef can wreck you, no calm delay; \par No mist shall hinder, no storm shall stay; \par Though far you wander and long you roam \par Through salt sea sprays and o'er white sea foam, \par No wind that can blow but shall speed you Home.\par --Annie Johnson Flint\par \par\par LVAL Hold Fast and Trust\par\par "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him" \par (Job 13:15). \par\par \par "For I know whom I have believed" (2 Tim. 1:12).\par\par "I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea \par Come drifting home with broken masts and sails; \par I will believe the Hand which never fails,\par From seeming evil worketh good for me. \par And though I weep because those sails are tattered, \par Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered: \par 'I trust in Thee.'\par\par "I will not doubt, though all my prayers return \par Unanswered from the still, white realm above; \par I will believe it is an all-wise love\par Which has refused these things for which I yearn; \par And though at times I cannot keep from grieving, \par Yet the pure ardor of my fixed believing \par Undimmed shall burn.\par\par "I will not doubt, though sorrows fall like rain, \par And troubles swarm like bees about a hive. \par I will believe the heights for which I strive\par Are only reached by anguish and by pain;\par And though I groan and writhe beneath my crosses. \par I yet shall see through my severest losses \par The greater gain.\par\par "I will not doubt. Well anchored is this faith, \par Like some staunch ship, my soul braves every gale; \par So strong its courage that it will not quail \par To breast the mighty unknown sea of death. \par Oh, may I cry, though body parts with spirit, \par 'I do not doubt,' so listening worlds may hear it, \par With my last breath."\par\par "In fierce storms," said an old seaman, "we must do one thing; there is only one way: we must put the ship in a certain position and keep her there."\par\par 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.\par\par 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 souLVALl in one position and keep it there.\par\par 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\par\par LVAL Do Not Yield to Discouragement\par\par "They looked?and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud" (Exod. 16:10).\par\par Get into the habit of looking for the silver lining of the cloud and when you have found it, continue to look at it, rather than at the leaden gray in the middle.\par\par Do not yield to discouragement no matter how sorely pressed or beset you may be. A discouraged soul is helpless. He can neither resist the wiles of the enemy himself, while in this state, nor can he prevail in prayer for others.\par\par Flee from every symptom of this deadly foe as you would flee from a viper. And be not slow in turning your back on it, unless you want to bite the dust in bitter defeat.\par\par Search out God's promises and say aloud of each one: "This promise is mine." If you still experience a feeling of doubt and discouragement, pour out your heart to God and ask Him to rebuke the adversary who is so mercilessly nagging you.\par\par The very instant you whole-heartedly turn away from every symptom of distrust and discouragement, the blessed Holy Spirit will quicken your faith and inbreathe Divine strength into your soul.\par\par At first you may not be conscious of this, still as you resolutely and uncompromisingly "snub" every tendency toward doubt and depression that assails you, you will soon be made aware that the powers of darkness are falling back.\par\par Oh, if our eyes could only behold the solid phalanx of strength, of power, that is ever behind every turning away from the hosts of darkness, God-ward, what scant heed would be given to the effort of the wily foe to distress, depress, discourage us!\par\par All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer, who in the name of Christ, and in simple, childlike trust, yields himself to God and turns to Him for help and guidance. --Selected\par\par On a day in the autumn, I saw a prairie eagle mortally wounded by a rifle shot. His eye still gleamed like a circle of light. Then he sloLVALHonor Him in the Trials\par\par "Glorify ye the Lord in the fires" (Isa. 24:15).\par\par Mark the little word "in"! We are to honor Him in the trial--in that which is an affliction indeed and though there have been cases where God did not let His saints feel the fire, yet, ordinarily, fire hurts.\par\par But just here we are to glorify Him by our perfect faith in His goodness and love that has permitted all this to come upon us.\par\par And more than that, we are to believe that out of this is coming something more for His praise than could have come but for this fiery trial.\par\par We can only go through some fires with a large faith; little faith will fail. We must have the viwly turned his head, and gave one more searching and longing look at the sky. He had often swept those starry spaces with his wonderful wings. The beautiful sky was the home of his heart. It was the eagle's domain. A thousand times he had exploited there his splendid strength. In those far away heights be had played with the lightnings, and raced with the winds, and now, so far away from home, the eagle lay dying, done to the death, because for once be forgot and flew too low. The soul is that eagle. This is not its home. It must not lose the skyward look. We must keep faith, we must keep hope, we must keep courage, we must keep Christ. We would better creep away from the battlefield at once if we are not going to be brave. There is no time for the soul to stampede. Keep the skyward look, my soul; keep the skyward look!\par\par "Keep looking up--\par The waves that roar around thy feet,\par Jehovah-Jireh will defeat\par When looking up.\par\par "Keep looking up--\par Though darkness seems to wrap thy soul;\par The Light of Light shall fill thy soul \par When looking up.\par\par \par "Keep looking up--\par When worn, distracted with the fight;\par Your Captain gives you conquering might \par When you look up."\par\par We can never see the sun rise by looking into the west. --Japanese Proverb\par\par LVAL Honor Him in the Trials\par\par "Glorify ye the Lord in the fires" (Isa. 24:15).\par\par Mark the little word "in"! We are to honor Him in the trial--in that which is an affliction indeed and though there have been cases where God did not let His saints feel the fire, yet, ordinarily, fire hurts.\par\par But just here we are to glorify Him by our perfect faith in His goodness and love that has permitted all this to come upon us.\par\par And more than that, we are to believe that out of this is coming something more for His praise than could have come but for this fiery trial.\par\par We can only go through some fires with a large faith; little faith will fail. We must have the victory in the furnace. --Margaret Bottome\par\par A man has as much religion as he can show in times of trouble. The men who were cast into the fiery furnace came out as they went in--except their bonds.\par\par How often in some furnace of affliction God strikes them off! Their bodies were unhurt--their skin not even blistered. Their hair was unsinged, their garments not scorched, and even the smell of fire had not passed upon them. And that is the way Christians should come out of furnace trials--liberated from their bonds, but untouched by the flames.\par\par "Triumphing over them in it" (Col. 2:15).\par\par That is the real triumph--triumphing over sickness, in it; triumphing over death, dying; triumphing over adverse circumstances, in them. Oh, believe me, there is a power that can make us victors in the strife. There are heights to be reached where we can look down and over the way we have come, and sing our song of triumph on this side of Heaven. We can make others regard us as rich, while we are poor, and make many rich in our poverty. Our triumph is to be in it. Christ's triumph was in His humiliation. Possibly our triumph, also, is to be made manifest in what seems to others humiliation. --Margaret Bottome\par\par Is there not something captivating in the sight of a man or a woman burdened with many tribLVALOpen My Eyes\par\par "Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see" (2 Kings 6:17).\par\par This is the prayer we need to pray for ourselves and for one another, "Lord, open our eyes that we may see"; for the world all around us, as well as around the prophet, is full of God's horses and chariots, waiting to carry us to places of glorious victory. And when our eyes are thus opened, we shall see in all events of life, whether great or small, whether joyful or sad, a "chariot" for our souls.\par\par Everything that comes to us becomes a chariot the moment we treat it as such; and, on the other hand, even the smallest trial may be a Juggernaut car to crush us into misery or despair if we consider it.\par\par It lies with each of us to choose which they shall be. It all depends, not upon what these events are, but upon how we take them. If we lie down under them, and let them roll over us and crush us, they become Juggernaut cars, but if we climb up into them, as into a car of victory, and make them carry us triumphantly onward and upward, they become the chariots of God. --Hannah Whitall Smith\par\par The Lord cannot do much with a crushed soul, hence the adversary's attempt to push the Lord's people into despair and hopelessness over the condition of themselves, or of the church. It has often bulations and yet carrying a heart as sound as a bell? Is there not something contagiously valorous in the vision of one who is greatly tempted, but is more than conqueror? Is it not heartening to see some pilgrim who is broken in body, but who retains the splendor of an unbroken patience? What a witness all this offers to the enduement of His grace! --J. H. Jowett\par\par "When each earthly prop gives under,\par And life seems a restless sea,\par Are you then a God-kept wonder,\par Satisfied and calm and free?"\par\par LVALGod's Mysterious Open My Eyes\par\par "Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see" (2 Kings 6:17).\par\par This is the prayer we need to pray for ourselves and for one another, "Lord, open our eyes that we may see"; for the world all around us, as well as around the prophet, is full of God's horses and chariots, waiting to carry us to places of glorious victory. And when our eyes are thus opened, we shall see in all events of life, whether great or small, whether joyful or sad, a "chariot" for our souls.\par\par Everything that comes to us becomes a chariot the moment we treat it as such; and, on the other hand, even the smallest trial may be a Juggernaut car to crush us into misery or despair if we consider it.\par\par It lies with each of us to choose which they shall be. It all depends, not upon what these events are, but upon how we take them. If we lie down under them, and let them roll over us and crush us, they become Juggernaut cars, but if we climb up into them, as into a car of victory, and make them carry us triumphantly onward and upward, they become the chariots of God. --Hannah Whitall Smith\par\par The Lord cannot do much with a crushed soul, hence the adversary's attempt to push the Lord's people into despair and hopelessness over the condition of themselves, or of the church. It has often been said that a dispirited army goes forth to battle with the certainty of being beaten. We heard a missionary say recently that she had been invalided home purely because her spirit had fainted, with the consequence that her body sunk also. We need to understand more of these attacks of the enemy upon our spirits and how to resist them. If the enemy can dislodge us from our position, then he seeks to "wear us out" (Daniel 7:25) by a prolonged siege, so that at last we, out of sheer weakness, let go the cry of victory.\par\par LVALWatch For God\par\par "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto meGod's Mysterious Dealings\par\par "Thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons" (2 Kings 4:4).\par\par They were to be alone with God, for they were not dealing with the laws of nature, nor human government, nor the church, nor the priesthood, nor even with the great prophet of God, but they must needs be isolated from all creatures, from all leaning circumstances, from all props of human reason, and swung off, as it were, into the vast blue inter-stellar space, hanging on God alone, in touch with the fountain of miracles.\par\par Here is a part in the programme of God's dealings, a secret chamber of isolation in prayer and faith which every soul must enter that is very fruitful.\par\par There are times and places where God will form a mysterious wall around us, and cut away all props, and all the ordinary ways of doing things, and shut us up to something Divine, which is utterly new and unexpected, something that old circumstances do not fit into, where we do not know just what will happen, where God is cutting the cloth of our lives on a new pattern, where He makes us look to Himself.\par\par Most religious people live in a sort of treadmill life, where they can calculate almost everything that will happen, but the souls that God leads out into immediate and special dealings, He shuts in where all they know is that God has hold of them, and is dealing with them, and their expectation is from Him alone.\par\par Like this widow, we must be detached from outward things and attached inwardly to the Lord alone in order to see His wonders. --Soul Food\par\par In the sorest trials God often makes the sweetest discoveries of Himself. --Gems\par\par "God sometimes shuts the door and shuts us in, \par That He may speak, perchance through grief or pain, \par And softly, heart to heart, above the din, \par May tell some precious thought to us again." \par\par LVAL Watch For God\par\par "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me" (Hab. 2: 1).\par\par There is no waiting on God for help, and there is no help from God, without watchful expectation on our part. If we ever fail to receive strength and defense from Him, it is because we are not on the outlook for it. Many a proffered succour from heaven goes past us, because we are not standing on our watch-tower to catch the far-off indications of its approach, and to fling open the gates of our heart for its entrance. He whose expectation does not lead him to be on the alert for its coming will get but little. Watch for God in the events of your life.\par\par The old homely proverb says: "They that watch for Providence will never want a providence to watch for," and you may turn it the other way and say, "They that do not watch for providences will never have a providence to watch for." Unless you put out your water-jars when it rains you will catch no water.\par\par We want to be more business-like and use common sense with God in pleading promises. If you were to go to one of the banks, and see a man go in and out and lay a piece of paper on the table, and take it up again and nothing more--if he did that several times a day, I think there would soon be orders to keep the man out.\par\par Those men who come to the bank in earnest present their checks, they wait until they receive their gold, and then they go; but not without having transacted real business.\par\par They do not put the paper down, speak about the excellent signature, and discuss the excellent document; but they want their money for it, and they are not content without it. These are the people who are always welcome at the bank, and not triflers. Alas, a great many people play at praying. They do not expect God to give them an answer, and thus they are mere triflers. Our Heavenly Father would have us do real business with Him in our praying. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par "Thine expecLVALtation shall not be cut off." \par\par LVAL Inward Stillness\par\par "Their strength is to sit still." (Isa. 30:7) KJV.\par\par In order really to know God, inward stillness is absolutely necessary. I remember when I first learned this. A time of great emergency had risen in my life, when every part of my being seemed to throb with anxiety, and when the necessity for immediate and vigorous action seemed overpowering; and yet circumstances were such that I could do nothing, and the person who could, would not stir.\par\par For a little while it seemed as if I must fly to pieces with the inward turmoil, when suddenly the still small voice whispered in the depths of my soul, "Be still, and know that I am God." The word was with power, and I hearkened. I composed my body to perfect stillness, and I constrained my troubled spirit into quietness, and looked up and waited; and then I did "know" that it was God, God even in the very emergency and in my helplessness to meet it; and I rested in Him. It was an experience that I would not have missed for worlds; and I may add also, that out of this stillness seemed to arise a power to deal with the emergency, that very soon brought it to a successful issue. I learned then effectually that my "strength was to sit still." --Hannah Whitall Smith\par\par There is a perfect passivity which is not indolence. It is a living stillness born of trust. Quiet tension is not trust. It is simply compressed anxiety.\par\par Not in the tumult of the rending storm,\par Not in the earthquake or devouring flame;\par But in the hush that could all fear transform,\par The still, small whisper to the prophet came.\par\par 0 Soul, keep silence on the mount of God,\par Though cares and needs throb around thee like a sea;\par From supplications and desires unshod,\par Be still, and hear what God shall say to thee.\par\par All fellowship hath interludes of rest,\par New strength maturing in each poise of power;\par The sweetest Alleluias of the blest\par Are silent, for the space of half an hour.\par\par 0 restVLVALb, in utter quietude of soul,\par Abandon words, leave prayer and praise awhile;\par Let thy whole being, hushed in His control,\par Learn the full meaning of His voice and smile.\par\par Not as an athlete wrestling for a crown,\par Not taking Heaven by violence of will;\par But with thy Father as a child sit down,\par And know the bliss that follows His "Be Still!"\par --Mary Rowles Jarvis\par\par LVALThankful for the Thorns\par\par "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (2 Cor. 12:10).\par\par The literal translation of this verse gives a startling emphasis to it, and makes it speak for itself with a force that we have probably never realized. Here It is: "Therefore I take pleasure in being without strength, in insults, in being pinched, in being chased about, in being cooped up in a corner for Christ's sake; for when I am without strength, then am I dynamite."\par\par Here is the secret of Divine all-sufficiency, to come to the end of everything in ourselves and in our circumstances. When we reach this place, we will stop asking for sympathy because of our hard situation or bad treatment, for we will recognize these things as the very conditions of our blessing, and we will turn from them to God and find in them a claim upon Him. --A. B. Simpson\par\par George Matheson, the well-known blind preacher of Scotland, who recently went to be with the Lord, said: "My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross; but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory.\par\par "Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbows."\par\par "Alas for him who never sees \par The stars shine through the cypress trees."\par\par LVAL Spiritual Force\par\par "All these things are against me" (Gen. 42:36).\par\par "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28).\par\par Many people are wanting power. Now how is power produced? The other day we passed the great works where the trolley engines are supplied with electricity. We heard the hum and roar of the countless wheels, and we asked our friend,\par\par "How do they make the power?"\par\par "Why," he said, "just by the revolution of those wheels and the friction they produce. The rubbing creates the electric current."\par\par And so, when God wants to bring more power into your life, He brings more pressure. He is generating spiritual force by hard rubbing. Some do not like it and try to run away from the pressure, instead of getting the power and using it to rise above the painful causes.\par\par Opposition is essential to a true equilibrium of forces. The centripetal and centrifugal forces acting in opposition to each other keep our planet in her orbit. The one propelling, and the other repelling, so act and re-act, that instead of sweeping off into space in a pathway of desolation, she pursues her even orbit around her solar centre.\par\par So God guides our lives. It is not enough to have an impelling force--we need just as much a repelling force, and so He holds us back by the testing ordeals of life, by the pressure of temptation and trial, by the things that seem against us, but really are furthering our way and establishing our goings.\par\par Let us thank Him for both, let us take the weights as well as the wings, and thus divinely impelled, let us press on with faith and patience in our high and heavenly calling. --A. B. Simpson\par\par In a factory building there are wheels and gearings, \par There are cranks and pulleys, beltings tight or slack--\par Some are whirling swiftly, some are turning slowly, \par Some are thrusting forward, some are pulling back; \par Some are smooth and silent, some are rough and noisy, \par Pounding, LVALrattling, clanking, moving with a jerk;\par\par In a wild confusion in a seeming chaos,\par Lifting, pushing, driving--but they do their work.\par From the mightiest lever to the tiniest pinion,\par All things move together for the purpose planned; \par And behind the working is a mind controlling, \par And a force directing, and a guiding hand.\par\par So all things are working for the Lord's beloved; \par Some things might be hurtful if alone they stood; \par Some might seem to hinder; some might draw us backward; \par But they work together, and they work for good,\par All the thwarted longings, all the stern denials,\par All the contradictions, hard to understand.\par And the force that holds them, speeds them and retards them, \par Stops and starts and guides them--is our Father's hand.\par --Annie Johnson Flint\par\par LVALDiscovering God's Graces\par\par "Show me wherefore thou contendest with me" (Job 10:2).\par\par Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to develop thy graces. There are some of thy graces which would never have been discovered if it were not for the trials. Dost thou not know that thy faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is too oft like a glowworm, showing but little light except it be in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star--not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. Afflictions are often the black folds in which God doth set the jewels of His children's graces, to make them shine the better.\par\par It was but a little while ago that, on thy knees, thou wast saying, "Lord, I fear I have no faith: let me know that I have faith."\par\par Was not this really, though perhaps unconsciously, praying for trials?--for how canst thou know that thou hast faith until thy faith is exercised? Depend upon it. God often sends us trials that our graces may be discovered, and that we may be certified of their existence. Besides, it is not merely discovery; real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials.\par\par God trains His soldiers, not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and using them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers and climb mountains, and walk many a weary mile with heavy knapsacks on their backs. Well, Christian, may not this account for the troubles through which you are passing? Is not this the reason why He is contending with you? --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par To be left unmolested by Satan is no evidence of blessing. \par\par LVAL What You Have Learned\par\par "What I tell you in the darkness, speak ye in the light" (Matt. 10:27).\par\par Our Lord is constantly taking us into the dark, that He may tell us things. Into the dark of the shadowed home, where bereavement has drawn the blinds; into the dark of the lonely, desolate life, where some infirmity closes us in from the light and stir of life; into the dark of some crushing sorrow and disappointment.\par\par Then He tells us His secrets, great and wonderful, eternal and infinite; He causes the eye which has become dazzled by the glare of earth to behold the heavenly constellations; and the car to detect the undertones of His voice, which is often drowned amid the tumult of earth's strident cries.\par\par But such revelations always imply a corresponding responsibility--'that speak ye in the light--that proclaim upon the housetops."\par\par We are not meant to always linger in the dark, or stay in the closet; presently we shall be summoned to take our place in the rush and storm of life; and when that moment comes, we are to speak and proclaim what we have learned.\par\par This gives a new meaning to suffering, the saddest element in which is often its apparent aimlessness. "How useless I am!" "What am I doing for the betterment of men?" "Wherefore this waste of the precious spikenard of my soul?"\par\par Such are the desperate laments of the sufferer. But God has a purpose in it all. He has withdrawn His child to the higher altitudes of fellowship, that he may hear God speaking face to face, and bear the message to his fellows at the mountain foot.\par\par Were the forty days wasted that Moses spent on the Mount, or the period spent at Horeb by Elijah, or the years spent in Arabia by Paul?\par\par There is no short cut to the life of faith, which is the all-vital condition of a holy and victorious life. We must have periods of lonely meditation and fellowship with God. That our souls should have their mountains of fellowship, their valley of quiet rest beneath tLVALhe shadow of a great rock, their nights beneath the stars, when darkness has veiled the material and silenced the stir of human life, and has opened the view of the infinite and eternal, is as indispensable as that our bodies should have food.\par\par Thus alone can the sense of God's presence become the fixed possession of the soul, enabling it to say repeatedly, with the Psalmist, "Thou art near, 0 God." --F. B. Meyer\par\par "Some hearts, like evening primroses, open more beautifully in the shadows of life."\par\par  LVALGod Permits Temptation\par\par "And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil" (Luke 4:1-2).\par\par Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost, and yet He was tempted. Temptation often comes upon a man with its strongest power when he is nearest to God. As someone has said, "The devil aims high." He got one apostle to say he did not even know Christ.\par\par Very few men have such conflicts with the devil as Martin Luther had. Why? Because Martin Luther was going to shake the very kingdom of hell. Oh, what conflicts John Bunyan had!\par\par If a man has much of the Spirit of God, he will have great conflicts with the tempter. God permits temptation because it does for us what the storms do for the oaks--it roots us; and what the fire does for the paintings on the porcelain--it makes them permanent.\par\par You never know that you have a grip on Christ, or that He has a grip on you, as well as when the devil is using all his force to attract you from Him; then you feel the pull of Christ's right hand. --Selected\par\par Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces. God hath many sharp-cutting instruments, and rough files for the polishing of His jewels; and those He especially loves, and means to make the most resplendent, He hath oftenest His tools upon. --Archbishop Leighton\par\par I bear my willing witness that I owe more to the fire, and the hammer, and the file, than to anything else in my Lord's workshop. I sometimes question whether I have ever learned anything except through the rod. When my schoolroom is darkened, I see most. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par LVAL Waiting and Working\par\par "And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth unto the plain, and I will there talk with thee" (Ezek. 3:22).\par\par Did you ever hear of any one being much used for Christ who did not have some special waiting time, some complete upset of all his or her plans first; from St. Paul's being sent off into the desert of Arabia for three years, when he must have been boiling over with the glad tidings, down to the present day?\par\par You were looking forward to telling about trusting Jesus in Syria; now He says, "I want you to show what it is to trust Me, without waiting for Syria."\par\par My own case is far less severe, but the same in principle, that when I thought the door was flung open for me to go with a bound into literary work, it is opposed, and doctor steps in and says, simply, "Never! She must choose between writing and living; she can't do both."\par\par That was in 1860. Then I came out of the shell with "Ministry of Song" in 1869, and saw the evident wisdom of being kept waiting nine years in the shade. God's love being unchangeable, He is just as loving when we do not see or feel His love. Also His love and His sovereignty are co-equal and universal; so He withholds the enjoyment and conscious progress because He knows best what will really ripen and further His work in us. --Memorials of Frances Ridley Havergal\par\par I laid it down in silence,\par This work of mine,\par And took what had been sent me--\par A resting time.\par The Master's voice had called me \par To rest apart;\par "Apart with Jesus only," \par Echoed my heart.\par\par I took the rest and stillness\par From His own Hand,\par And felt this present illness\par Was what He planned.\par How often we choose labor,\par When He says "Rest"--\par Our ways are blind and crooked;\par His way is best.\par\par The work Himself has given,\par He will complete.\par There may be other errands\par For tired feet;\par There may be other duties\YLVALepar For tired hands,\par The present, is obedience\par To His commands.\par\par There is a blessed resting\par In lying still,\par In letting His hand mould us,\par Just as He will.\par His work must be completed.\par His lesson set;\par He is the higher Workman:\par Do not forget!\par\par It is not only "working."\par We must be trained;\par And Jesus "learnt" obedience,\par Through suffering gained.\par For us, His yoke is easy,\par His burden light.\par His discipline most needful,\par And all is right.\par\par We are but under-workmen;\par They never choose\par If this tool or if that one\par Their hands shall use.\par In working or in waiting\par May we fulfill\par Not ours at all, but only\par The Master's will!\par --Selected\par\par God provides resting places as well as working places. Rest, then, and be thankful when He brings you, wearied to a wayside well.\par\par LVAL Resurrection Hope\par\par "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thess. 4:16-17).\par\par It was "very early in the morning" while "it was yet dark," that Jesus rose from the dead. Not the sun, but only the morning-star shone upon His opening tomb. The shadows had not fled, the citizens of Jerusalem had not awaked. It was still night--the hour of sleep and darkness, when He arose. Nor did his rising break the slumbers of the city. So shall it be "very early in the morning while it is yet dark," and when nought but the morning-star is shining, that Christ's body, the Church, shall arise. Like Him, His saints shall awake when the children of the night and darkness are still sleeping their sleep of death. In their arising they disturb no one. The world hears not the voice that summons them. As Jesus laid them quietly to rest, each in his own still tomb, like children in the arms of their mother; so, as quietly, as gently, shall He awake them when the hour arrives. To them come the quickening words, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust" (Isa. 26:19). Into their tomb the earliest ray of glory finds its way. They drink in the first gleams of morning, while as yet the eastern clouds give but the faintest signs of the uprising. Its genial fragrance, its soothing stillness, its bracing freshness, its sweet loneliness, its quiet purity, all so solemn and yet so full of hope, these are theirs.\par\par Oh, the contrast between these things and the dark night through which they have passed! Oh, the contrast between these things and the grave from which they have sprung! And as they shake off the encumbering turf, flinging mortality aside, and rising, in glorified bodies, to meet their Lord in the air, they are lighted and guided upLVALward, along the untrodden pathway, by the beams of that Star of the morning, which, like the Star of Bethlehem, conducts them to the presence of the King. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." --Horatius Bonar\par\par "While the hosts cry Hosanna, from heaven descending, \par With glorified saints and the angels attending, \par With grace on His brow, like, a halo of glory, \par Will Jesus receive His own."\par\par \par "Even so, come quickly."\par\par A soldier said, "When I die do not sound taps over my grave, but reveill, the morning call, the summons to rise."\par\par  LVALRest on the Word of God\par\par "I trust in thy word" (Ps. 119:42).\par\par Just in proportion in which we believe that God will do just what He has said, is our faith strong or weak. Faith has nothing to do with feelings, or with impressions, with improbabilities, or with outward appearances. If we desire to couple them with faith, then we are no longer resting on the Word of God because faith needs nothing of the kind. Faith rests on the naked Word of God. When we take Him at His Word, the heart is at peace.\par\par God delights to exercise faith, first for blessing in our own souls, then for blessing in the Church at large, and also for those without. But this exercise we shrink from instead of welcoming. When trials come, we should say: "My Heavenly Father puts this cup of trial into my hands, that I may have something sweet afterwards."\par\par Trials are the food of faith. Oh, let us leave ourselves in the hands of our Heavenly Father! It is the joy of His heart to do good to all His children.\par\par But trials and difficulties are not the only means by which faith is exercised and thereby increased. There is the reading of the Scriptures, that we may by them acquaint ourselves with God as He has revealed Himself in His Word.\par\par Are you able to say, from the acquaintance you have made with God, that He is a lovely Being? If not, let me affectionately entreat you to ask God to bring you to this, that you may admire His gentleness and kindness, that you may be able to say how good He is, and what a delight it is to the heart of God to do good to His children.\par\par Now the nearer we come to this in our inmost souls, the more ready we are to leave ourselves in His hands, satisfied with all His dealings with us. And when trial comes, we shall say:\par\par "I will wait and see what good God will do to me by it, assured He will do it." Thus we shall bear an honorable testimony before the world, and thus we shall strengthen the hands of others. --George Mueller.\par\par ALVALMBy Faith Abraham Obeyed\par\par "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed" (Heb. 11:8).\par\par Whither he went, he knew not; it was enough for him to know that he went with God. He leant not so much upon the promises as upon the Promiser. He looked not on the difficulties of his lot, but on the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, who had deigned to appoint his course, and would certainly vindicate Himself. O glorious faith! This is thy work, these are thy possibilities; contentment to sail with sealed orders, because of unwavering confidence in the wisdom of the Lord High Admiral; willinghood to rise up, leave all, and follow Christ, because of the glad assurance that earth's best cannot bear comparison with Heaven's least. --F. B. M.\par\par It is by no means enough to set out cheerfully with your God on any venture of faith. Tear into smallest pieces any itinerary for the journey which your imagination may have drawn up.\par\par Nothing will fall out as you expect.\par\par Your guide will keep to no beaten path. He will lead you by a way such as you never dreamed your eyes would look upon. He knows no fear, and He expects you to fear nothing while He is with you.\par\par The day had gone; alone and weak \par I groped my way within a bleak\par And sunless land.\par The path that led into the light\par I could not find! In that dark \par night God took my hand.\par\par He led me that I might not stray, \par And brought me by a new, safe way \par I had not known. \par By waters still, through pastures green \par I followed Him--the path was clean \par Of briar and stone.\par\par The heavy darkness lost its strength, \par My waiting eyes beheld at length \par The streaking dawn. \par On, safely on, through sunrise glow \par I walked, my hand in His, and lo, \par The night had gone.\par --Annie Porter Johnson\par\par LVAL Diamond in the Rough\par\par "The hand of the Lord hath wrought this" (Job 12:9).\par\par Several years ago there was found in an African mine the most magnificent diamond in the world's history. It was presented to the King of England to blaze in his crown of state. The King sent it to Amsterdam to be cut. It was put into the hands of an expert lapidary. And what do you suppose he did with it?\par\par He took the gem of priceless value, and cut a notch in it. Then he struck it a hard blow with his instrument, and lo! the superb jewel lay in his hand cleft in twain. What recklessness I what wastefulness! what criminal carelessness!\par\par Not so. For days and weeks that blow had been studied and planned. Drawings and models had been made of the gem. Its quality, its defects, its lines of cleavage had all been studied with minutest care. The man to whom it was committed was one of the most skillful lapidaries in the world.\par\par Do you say that blow was a mistake? Nay. It was the climax of the lapidary's skill. When he struck that blow, he did the one thing which would bring that gem to its most perfect shapeliness, radiance, and jewelled splendor. That blow which seemed to ruin the superb precious stone was, in fact, its perfect redemption. For, from those two halves were wrought the two magnificent gems which the skilled eye of the lapidary saw hidden in the rough, uncut stone as it came from the mine.\par\par So, sometimes, God lets a stinging blow fall upon your life. The blood spurts. The nerves wince. The soul cries out in agony. The blow seems to you an apalling mistake. But it is not, for you are the most priceless jewel in the world to God. And He is the most skilled lapidary in the universe.\par\par Some day you are to blaze in the diadem of the King. As you lie in His hand now He knows just how to deal with you. Not a blow will be permitted to fall upon your shrinking soul but that the love of God permits it, and works out from its depths, blessing and spiritual enrichment unse=LVALIHindrance to Prayer\par\par "And he shall bring it to pass" (Ps. 37:5).\par\par I once thought that after I prayed that it was my duty to do everything that I could do to bring the answer to pass. He taught me a better way, and showed that my self-effort always hindered His working, and that when I prayed and definitely believed Him for anything, He wanted me to wait in the spirit of praise, and only do what He bade me. It seems so unsafe to just sit still, and do nothing but trust the Lord; and the temptation to take the battle into our own hands is often tremendous.\par\par We all know how impossible it is to rescue a drowning man who tries to help his rescuer, and it is equally impossible for the Lord toen, and unthought of by you. --J. H. McC.\par\par In one of George MacDonald's books occurs this fragment of conversation: "I wonder why God made me," said Mrs. Faber bitterly. "I'm sure I don't know what was the use of making me!"\par\par "Perhaps not much yet," said Dorothy, "but then He hasn't done with you yet. He is making you now, and you are quarrelling with the process."\par\par If men would but believe that they are in process of creation, and consent to be made--let the Maker handle them as the potter the clay, yielding themselves in resplendent motion and submissive, hopeful action with the turning of His wheel--they would ere long find themselves able to welcome every pressure of that hand on them, even when it was felt in pain; and sometimes not only to believe but to recognize the Divine end in view, the bringing of a son unto glory.\par\par "Not a single shaft can hit,\par Till the God of love sees fit."\par\par nLVALzStand Still\par\par "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (Exod. 14:13).\par\par These words contain God's command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties. He cannot retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut upon the right hand and on the left. What is he now to do?\par\par The Master's wordHindrance to Prayer\par\par "And he shall bring it to pass" (Ps. 37:5).\par\par I once thought that after I prayed that it was my duty to do everything that I could do to bring the answer to pass. He taught me a better way, and showed that my self-effort always hindered His working, and that when I prayed and definitely believed Him for anything, He wanted me to wait in the spirit of praise, and only do what He bade me. It seems so unsafe to just sit still, and do nothing but trust the Lord; and the temptation to take the battle into our own hands is often tremendous.\par\par We all know how impossible it is to rescue a drowning man who tries to help his rescuer, and it is equally impossible for the Lord to fight our battles for us when we insist upon trying to fight them ourselves. It is not that He will not, but He cannot. Our interference hinders His working. --C.H.P.\par\par Spiritual forces cannot work while earthly forces are active.\par\par It takes God time to answer prayer. We often fail to give God a chance in this respect. It takes time for God to paint a rose. It takes time for God to grow an oak. It takes time for God to make bread from wheat fields. He takes the earth. He pulverizes. He softens. He enriches. He wets with showers and dews. He warms with life. He gives the blade, the stock, the amber grain, and then at last the bread for the hungry.\par\par All this takes time. Therefore we sow, and till, and wait, and trust, until all God's purpose has been wrought out. We give God a chance in this matter of time. We need to learn this same lesson in our prayer life. It takes God time to answer prayer. --J. H. M. \par\par LVAL Stand Still\par\par "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (Exod. 14:13).\par\par These words contain God's command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties. He cannot retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut upon the right hand and on the left. What is he now to do?\par\par The Master's word to him is "stand still." It will be well for him if, at such times, he listens only to his Master's word, for other and evil advisers come with their suggestions. Despair whispers, "Lie down and die; give it all up." But God would have us put on a cheerful courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in His love and faithfulness.\par\par Cowardice says, "Retreat; go back to the worldling's way of action; you cannot play the Christian's part; it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles."\par\par But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it, if you are a child of God. His Divine fiat has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt, and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course. What if for a while thou art called to stand still; yet this is but to renew thy strength for some greater advance in due time.\par\par Precipitancy cries, "Do something; stir yourself; to stand still and wait is sheer idleness." We must be doing something at once--we must do it, so we think--instead of looking to the Lord, who will not only do something, but will do everything.\par\par Presumption boasts, "If the sea be before you, march into it, and expect a miracle." But faith listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, "Stand still," and immovable as a rock it stands.\par\par "Stand still"--keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, "Go forwaLVALBy Thy Spirit\par\par "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts" (Zech. 4:6).\par\par My way led up a hill, and right at the foot I saw a boy on a bicycle. He was pedalling up hill against the wind, and evidently found it a tremendously hard work. Just as he was working most strenuously and doing his best painfully, there came a trolley car going in the same direction--up the hill.\par\par It was not going too fast for the boy to get behind it, and with one hand to lay hold of the bar at the back. Then you know what happened. He went up that hill like a bird. Then it flashed upon me:\par\par "Why, I am like that boy on the bicycle in my weariness and weakness. I am pedalling up hill against all kinds of opposition, and am almost worn out with the task. But here at hand is a great available power, the strength of the Lord Jesus.\par\par "I have only to get in touch with Him and to maintain communication with Him, though it may be only one little finger of faith, and that will be enough to make His power mine for the doing of this bit of service that just now seems too much for me." And I was helped to dismiss my weariness and to realize this truth. --The Life of Fuller Purpose\par\par ABANDONED\par\par Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost! \par Seeking all His fulness at whatever cost; \par Cutting all the shore-lines, launching in the deep \par Of His mighty power--strong to save and keep.\par\par Utterly ard.' --Spurgeon\par\par "Be quiet! why this anxious heed \par About thy tangled ways?\par God knows them all. He giveth speed \par And He allows delays.\par 'Tis good for thee to walk by faith \par And not by sight.\par Take it on trust a little while.\par Soon shalt thou read the mystery aright\par In the full sunshine of His smile."\par\par In times of uncertainty, wait. Always, if you have any doubt, wait. Do not force yourself to any action. If you have a restraint in your spirit, wait until all is clear, and do not go against it.\par\par LVAL By Thy Spirit\par\par "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts" (Zech. 4:6).\par\par My way led up a hill, and right at the foot I saw a boy on a bicycle. He was pedalling up hill against the wind, and evidently found it a tremendously hard work. Just as he was working most strenuously and doing his best painfully, there came a trolley car going in the same direction--up the hill.\par\par It was not going too fast for the boy to get behind it, and with one hand to lay hold of the bar at the back. Then you know what happened. He went up that hill like a bird. Then it flashed upon me:\par\par "Why, I am like that boy on the bicycle in my weariness and weakness. I am pedalling up hill against all kinds of opposition, and am almost worn out with the task. But here at hand is a great available power, the strength of the Lord Jesus.\par\par "I have only to get in touch with Him and to maintain communication with Him, though it may be only one little finger of faith, and that will be enough to make His power mine for the doing of this bit of service that just now seems too much for me." And I was helped to dismiss my weariness and to realize this truth. --The Life of Fuller Purpose\par\par ABANDONED\par\par Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost! \par Seeking all His fulness at whatever cost; \par Cutting all the shore-lines, launching in the deep \par Of His mighty power--strong to save and keep.\par\par Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost! \par Oh! the sinking, sinking, until self is lost! \par Until the emptied vessel lies broken at His feet; \par Waiting till His filling shall make the work complete.\par\par Utterly abandoned to the will of God; \par Seeking for no other path than my Master trod; \par Leaving ease and pleasure, making Him my choice, \par Waiting for His guidance, listening for His voice.\par\par Utterly abandoned! no will of my own; \par For time and for eternity, His, and His alone; \par All my plans and purposes lost in His sweet will,LVALAbundantly Able\par\par "And being absolutely certain that whatever promise He is bound by, He is able to make good" (Rom. 4:20).\par\par We are told that Abraham could look at his own body and consider it as good as dead without being discouraged, because he was not looking at himself but at the Almighty One.\par\par He did not stagger at the promise, but stood straight up unbending beneath his mighty load of blessing; and instead of growing weak he waxed strong in the faith, grew more robust, the more difficulties became apparent, glorifying God through His very sufficiency and being "fully persuaded" (as the Greek expresses it) "that he who had promised was," not merely able, but as it literally means "abundantly able," munificently able, able with an infinite surpl \par Having nothing, yet in Him all things possessing still.\par\par Utterly abandoned! 'tis so sweet to be \par Captive in His bonds of love, yet so wondrous free; \par Free from sin's entanglements, free from doubt and fear, \par Free from every worry, burden, grief or care.\par\par Utterly abandoned! oh, the rest is sweet, \par As I tarry, waiting, at His blessed feet; \par Waiting for the coming of the Guest divine, \par Who my inmost being shall perfectly refine.\par\par Lo! He comes and fills me, Holy Spirit sweet! \par I, in Him, am satisfied! I, in Him, complete! \par And the light within my soul shall nevermore grow dim \par While I keep my covenant--abandoned unto Him!\par --Author Unknown\par\par LVALGod Knows\par\par "He knoweth the way that I take" (Job 23:10).\par\par Believer! What a glorious assurance! This way of thine--this, it may be, a crooked, mysterious, tangled way--this way of trial and tears. "He knoweth it." The furnace seven times heated--He lighted it. There is an Almighty Guide knowing and directing our footsteps, whether it be to the bitter Marah pool, or to the joy and refreshment of Elim.\par\par That way, dark to the Egyptians, has its pillar of cloud and fire for His own Israel.Abundantly Able\par\par "And being absolutely certain that whatever promise He is bound by, He is able to make good" (Rom. 4:20).\par\par We are told that Abraham could look at his own body and consider it as good as dead without being discouraged, because he was not looking at himself but at the Almighty One.\par\par He did not stagger at the promise, but stood straight up unbending beneath his mighty load of blessing; and instead of growing weak he waxed strong in the faith, grew more robust, the more difficulties became apparent, glorifying God through His very sufficiency and being "fully persuaded" (as the Greek expresses it) "that he who had promised was," not merely able, but as it literally means "abundantly able," munificently able, able with an infinite surplus of resources, infinitely able "to perform."\par\par He is the God of boundless resources. The only limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our praying are too small; our expectations are too limited. He is trying to lift us up to a higher conception, and lure us on to a mightier expectation and appropriation. Oh, shall we put Him in derision? There is no limit to what we may ask and expect of our glorious El-Shaddai; and there is but one measure here given for His blessing, and that is "according to the power that worketh in us." --A. B. Simpson\par\par "Climb to the treasure house of blessing on the ladder made of divine promises. By a promise as by a key open the door to the riches of God's grace and favor." \par\par LVAL God Knows\par\par "He knoweth the way that I take" (Job 23:10).\par\par Believer! What a glorious assurance! This way of thine--this, it may be, a crooked, mysterious, tangled way--this way of trial and tears. "He knoweth it." The furnace seven times heated--He lighted it. There is an Almighty Guide knowing and directing our footsteps, whether it be to the bitter Marah pool, or to the joy and refreshment of Elim.\par\par That way, dark to the Egyptians, has its pillar of cloud and fire for His own Israel. The furnace is hot; but not only can we trust the hand that kindles it, but we have the assurance that the fires are lighted not to consume, but to refine; and that when the refining process is completed (no sooner--no later) He brings His people forth as gold.\par\par When they think Him least near, He is often nearest. "When my spirit was overwhelmed, then thou knewest my path."\par\par Do we know of ONE brighter than the brightest radiance of the visible sun, visiting our chamber with the first waking beam of the morning; an eye of infinite tenderness and compassion following us throughout the day, knowing the way that we take?\par\par The world, in its cold vocabulary in the hour of adversity, speaks of "Providence"--"the will of Providence"--"the strokes of Providence." PROVIDENCE! what is that?\par\par Why dethrone a living, directing God from the sovereignty of His own earth? Why substitute an inanimate, death-like abstraction, in place of an acting, controlling, personal Jehovah?\par\par How it would take the sting from many a goading trial, to see what Job saw (in his hour of aggravated woe, when every earthly hope lay prostrate at his feet)--no hand but the Divine. He saw that hand behind the gleaming swords of the Sabeans--he saw it behind the lightning flash--he saw it giving wings to the careening tempest--he saw it in the awful silence of his rifled home.\par\par "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!"\par\par Thus seeing God in ever8LVALDything, his faith reached its climax when this once powerful prince of the desert, seated on his bed of ashes, could say, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." --Macduff\par\par LVAL Thou Wilt Revive Me\par\par "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me" (Ps. 138:7).\par\par The Hebrew rendering of the above is "go on in the center of trouble." What descriptive words! We have called on God in the day of trouble; we have pleaded His promise of deliverance but no deliverance has been given; the enemy has continued oppressing until we were in the very thick of the fight, in the center of trouble. Why then trouble the Master any further?\par\par When Martha said, "Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died," our Lord met her lack of hope with His further promise, "Thy brother shall rise again." And when we walk "in the center of trouble" and are tempted to think like Martha that the time of deliverance is past, He meets us too with a promise from His Word. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me."\par\par Though His answer has so long delayed, though we may still continue to "go on" in the midst of trouble, "the center of trouble" is the place where He revives, not the place where He fails us.\par\par When in the hopeless place, the continued hopeless place, is the very time when He will stretch forth His hand against the wrath of our enemies and perfect that which concerneth us, the very time when He will make the attack to cease and fail and come to an end. What occasion is there then for fainting? --Aphra White\par\par THE EYE OF THE STORM\par\par "Fear not that the whirlwind shall carry thee hence, \par Nor wait for its onslaught in breathless suspense, \par Nor shrink from the whips of the terrible hail, \par But pass through the edge to the heart of the gale, \par For there is a shelter, sunlighted and warm, \par And Faith sees her God through the eye of the storm.\par\par "The passionate tempest with rush and wild roar \par And threatenings of evil may beat on the shore, \par The waves may be mountains, the fields battle plains, \par And the earth be immersed in a deluge of rains, \par Yet, the soul, stayed onLVAL God, may sing bravely its psalm, \par For the heart of the storm is the center of calm.\par\par "Let hope be not quenched in the blackness of night, \par Though the cyclone awhile may have blotted the light, \par For behind the great darkness the stars ever shine, \par And the light of God's heavens, His love shall make thine, \par Let no gloom dim thine eyes, but uplift them on high \par To the face of thy God and the blue of His sky.\par\par "The storm is thy shelter from danger and sin, \par And God Himself takes thee for safety within; \par The tempest with Him passeth into deep calm, \par And the roar of the winds is the sound of a psalm. \par Be glad and serene when the tempest clouds form; \par God smiles on His child in the eye of the storm."\par\par LVAL Commit and Rest\par\par "Faith is...the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1).\par\par True faith drops its letter in the post office box, and lets it go. Distrust holds on to a corner of it, and wonders that the answer never comes. I have some letters in my desk that have been written for weeks, but there was some slight uncertainty about the address or the contents, so they are yet unmailed. They have not done either me or anybody else any good yet. They will never accomplish anything until I let them go out of my hands and trust them to the postman and the mail. \par\par This the way with true faith. It hands its case over to God, and then He works. That is a fine verse in the Thirty-seventh Psalm: "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He worketh." But He never worketh till we commit. Faith is a receiving or still better, a taking of God's proffered gifts. We may believe, and come, and commit, and rest; but we will not fully realize all our blessing until we begin to receive and come into the attitude of abiding and taking. --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par Dr. Payson, when a young man, wrote as follows, to an aged mother, burdened with intense anxiety on account of the condition of her son: "You give yourself too much trouble about him. After you have prayed for him, as you have done, and committed him to God, should you not cease to feel anxious respecting him? The command, 'Be careful for nothing,' is unlimited; and so is the expression, 'Casting all your care on him.' If we cast our burdens upon another, can they continue to press upon us? If we bring them away with us from the Throne of Grace, it is evident we do not leave them there. With respect to myself, I have made this one test of my prayers: if after committing anything to God, I can, like Hannah, come away and have my mind no more sad, my heart no more pained or anxious, I look upon it as one proof that I have prayed in faith; but, if I bring away my burden, I conclude that faith was not in exercise."\par\pLVALar LVAL Waiting For Resurrection\par\par "And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre" \par (Matt. 27:61).\par\par How strangely stupid is grief. It neither learns nor knows nor wishes to learn or know. When the sorrowing sisters sat over against the door of God's sepulchre, did they see the two thousand years that have passed triumphing away? Did they see any thing but this: "Our Christ is gone!"\par\par Your Christ and my Christ came from their loss; Myriad mourning hearts have had resurrection in the midst of their grief; and yet the sorrowing watchers looked at the seed-form of this result, and saw nothing. What they regarded as the end of life was the very preparation for coronation; for Christ was silent that He might live again in tenfold power.\par\par They saw it not. They mourned, they wept, and went away, and came again, driven by their hearts to the sepulchre. Still it was a sepulchre, unprophetic, voiceless, lusterless.\par\par So with us. Every man sits over against the sepulchre in his garden, in the first instance, and says, "This woe is irremediable. I see no benefit in it. I will take no comfort in it." And yet, right in our deepest and worst mishaps, often, our Christ is lying, waiting for resurrection.\par\par Where our death seems to be, there our Saviour is. Where the end of hope is, there is the brightest beginning of fruition. Where the darkness is thickest, there the bright beaming light that never is set is about to emerge. When the whole experience is consummated, then we find that a garden is not disfigured by a sepulchre. Our joys are made better if there be sorrow in the midst of them. And our sorrows are made bright by the joys that God has planted around about them. The flowers may not be pleasing to us, they may not be such as we are fond of plucking, but they are heart-flowers, love, hope, faith, joy, peace--these are flowers which are planted around about every grave that is sunk in the Christian heart.\par\par "'Twas by a LVALpath of sorrows drear \par Christ entered into rest; \par And shall I look for roses here, \par Or think that earth is blessed? \par Heaven's whitest lilies blow \par From earth's sharp crown of woe. \par Who here his cross can meekly bear, \par Shall wear the kingly purple there."\par\par LVAL Costly Glory\par\par "I even reckon all things as pure loss because of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil. 3:8; Weymouth).\par\par Shining is always costly. Light comes only at the cost of that which produces it. An unlit candle does no shining. Burning must come before shining. We cannot be of great use to others without cost to ourselves. Burning suggests suffering. We shrink from pain.\par\par We are apt to feel that we are doing the greatest good in the world when we are strong, and able for active duty, and when the heart and hands are full of kindly service.\par\par When we are called aside and can only suffer; when we are sick; when we are consumed with pain; when all our activities have been dropped, we feel that we are no longer of use, that we are not doing anything.\par\par But, if we are patient and submissive, it is almost certain that we are a greater blessing to the world in our time of suffering and pain than we were in the days when we thought we were doing the most of our work. We are burning now, and shining because we are burning. --Evening Thoughts\par\par "The glory of tomorrow is rooted in the drudgery of today."\par\par Many want the glory without the cross, the shining without the burning, but crucifixion comes before coronation.\par\par Have you heard the tale of the aloe plant,\par Away in the sunny clime?\par By humble growth of a hundred years\par It reaches its blooming time;\par And then a wondrous bud at its crown\par Breaks into a thousand flowers;\par This floral queen, in its blooming seen,\par Is the pride of the tropical bowers,\par But the plant to the flower is sacrifice,\par For it blooms but once, and it dies.\par\par Have you further heard of the aloe plant,\par That grows in the sunny clime;\par How every one of its thousand flowers,\par As they drop in the blooming time,\par Is an infant plant that fastens its roots\par In the place where it falls on the ground,\par And as fast as they drop from the dyiLVALng stem,\par Grow lively and lovely around?\par By dying, it liveth a thousand-fold\par In the young that spring from the death of the old.\par\par Have you heard the tale of the pelican,\par The Arabs' Gimel el Bahr,\par That lives in the African solitudes,\par Where the birds that live lonely are?\par Have you heard how it loves its tender young,\par And cares and toils for their good,\par It brings them water from mountain far,\par And fishes the seas for their food.\par In famine it feeds them--what love can devise!\par The blood of its bosom--and, feeding them, dies.\par\par Have you heard this tale--the best of them all--\par The tale of the Holy and True,\par He dies, but His life, in untold souls\par Lives on in the world anew;\par His seed prevails, and is filling the earth,\par As the stars fill the sky above.\par He taught us to yield up the love of life,\par For the sake of the life of love.\par His death is our life, His loss is our gain;\par The joy for the tear, the peace for the pain.\par --Selected\par\par LVAL The Risen Lord\par\par "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore"\par --(Rev. 1:18).\par\par Flower! Easter lilies! speak to me this morning the same dear old lesson of immortality which you have been speaking to so many sorrowing souls.\par\par Wise old Book! let me read again in your pages of firm assurance that to die is gain.\par\par Poets! recite to me your verses which repeat in every line the Gospel of eternal life.\par\par Singers! break forth once more into songs of joy; let me hear again the well-known resurrection psalms.\par\par Tree and blossom and bird and sea and sky and wind whisper it, sound it afresh, warble it, echo it, let it throb and pulsate through every atom and particle; let the air be filled with it.\par\par Let it be told and retold and still retold until hope rises to conviction, and conviction to certitude of knowledge; until we, like Paul, even though going to our death, go with triumphant mien, with assured faith, and with serene and shining face.\par\par O sad-faced mourners, who each day are wending\par Through churchyard paths of cypress and of yew,\par Leave for today the low graves you are tending,\par And lift your eyes to God's eternal blue!\par\par It is no time for bitterness or sadness;\par Twine Easter lilies, not pale asphodels;\par Let your souls thrill to the caress of gladness,\par And answer the sweet chime of Easter bells.\par\par If Christ were still within the grave's low prison,\par A captive of the enemy we dread;\par If from that moldering cell He had not risen,\par Who then could chide the gloomy tears you shed?\par\par If Christ were dead there would be need to sorrow,\par But He has risen and vanquished death for aye;\par Hush, then your sighs, if only till the morrow,\par At Easter give your grief a holiday.\par --May Riley Smith\par\par A well-known minister was in his study writing an Easter sermon when the thought gripped him that his Lord was living. He jumped up excitedly and paceLVALd the floor repeating to himself, "Why Christ is alive, His ashes are warm, He is not the great 'I was,' He is the great 'I am.'" He is not only a fact, but a living fact. Glorious truth of Easter Day!\par\par We believe that out of every grave there blooms an Easter lily, and in every tomb there sits an angel. We believe in a risen Lord. Turn not your faces to the past that we may worship only at His grave, but above and within that we may worship the Christ that lives. And because He lives, we shall live also.\par --Abbott\par\par +LVAL7Preparing His Heroes\par\par "And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer...who delivered them, even Othniel...Caleb's younger brother. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him" (Judges 3:9, 10).\par\par God is preparing His heroes; and when opportunity comes, He can fit them into their place in a moment, and the world will wonder where they came from.\par\par Let the Holy Ghost prepare you, dear friend, by the discipline of life; and when the last finishing touch has been given to the marble, it will be easy for God to put it on the pedestal, and fit it into its niche.\par\par There is a day coming when, like Othniel, we, too, shall judge the nations, and rule and reign with Christ on the millennial earth. But ere that glorious day can be we must let God prepare us, as He did Othniel at Kirjath-sepher, amid the trials of our present life, and the little victories, the significance of which, perhaps, we little dream. At least, let us be sure of this, and if the Holy Ghost has an Othniel ready, the Lord of Heaven and earth has a throne prepared for him.\par --A. B. Simpson\par\par "Human strength and human greatness\par Spring not from life's sunny side,\par Heroes must be more than driftwood \par Floating on a waveless tide."\par\par "Every highway of human life dips in the dale now and then. Every man must go through the tunnel of tribulation before he can travel on the elevated road of triumph." \par\par LVAL Keep Praying\par\par "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are" (James 5:17).\par\par Thank God for that! He got under a juniper tree, as you and I have often done; he complained and murmured, as we have often done; was unbelieving, as we have often been. But that was not the case when he really got into touch with God. Though "a man subject to like passions as we are," "he prayed praying." It is sublime in the original--not "earnestly," but "he prayed in prayer." He kept on praying. What is the lesson here? You must keep praying.\par\par Come up on the top of Carmel, and see that remarkable parable of Faith and Sight. It was not the descent of the fire that now was necessary, but the descent of the flood; and the man that can command the fire can command the flood by the same means and methods. We are told that he bowed himself to the ground with his face between his knees; that is, shutting out all sights and sounds. He was putting himself in a position where, beneath his mantle, he could neither see nor hear what was going forward.\par\par He said to his servant, "Go and take an observation." He went and came back, and said--how sublimely brief! one word--"Nothing!"\par\par What do we do under such circumstances?\par\par We say, "It is just as I expected!" and we give up praying. Did Elijah? No, he said, "Go again." His servant again came back and said, "Nothing!" "Go again." "Nothing!"\par\par By and by he came back, and said, "There is a little cloud like a man's hand." A man's hand had been raised in supplication, and presently down came the rain; and Ahab had not time to get back to the gate of Samaria with all his fast steeds. This is a parable of Faith and Sight--faith shutting itself up with God; sight taking observations and seeing nothing; faith going right on, and "praying in prayer," with utterly hopeless reports from sight.\par\par Do you know how to pray that way, how to pray prevailingly? Let sight give as discouraging reports as it may, but pay no attention to tLVALhese. The living God is still in the heavens and even to delay is part of His goodness.\par --Arthur T. Pierson\par\par Each of three boys gave a definition of faith which is an illustration of the tenacity of faith. The first boy said, "It is taking hold of Christ"; the second, "Keeping hold"; and the third, "Not letting go." \par\par uLVALFresh Touch with God\par\par "And the ill favored and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well favored and fat kin?and the thin, ears swallowed up the seven rank and full ears" (Gen. 41:4, 7).\par\par There is a warning for us in that dream, just as it stands: It is possible for the best years of our life, the best experiences, the best victories won, the best service rendered, to be swallowed up by times of failure, defeat, dishonor, uselessness in the kingdom. Some men's lives of rare promise and rare achievement have ended so. It is awful to think of, but it is true. Yet it is never necessary.\par\par S. D. Gordon has said that the only assurance of safety against this tragedy is "fresh touch with God," daily, hourly. The blessed, fruitful, victorious experiences of yesterday are not only of no value to me today, but they will actually be eaten up or reversed by today's failures, unless they serve as incentives to still better, richer experiences today.\par\par "Fresh touch with God," by abiding in Christ, alone will keep the lean kine and the ill favored grain out of my life.\par --Messages for the Morning Watch\par\par LVALThe Prayer of Faith\par\par "God that cannot lie promised" (Titus 1:2).\par\par Faith is not working up by will power a sort of certainty that something is coming to pass, but it is seeing as an actual fact that God has said that this thing shall come to pass, and that it is true, and then rejoicing to know that it is true, and just resting because God has said it.\par\par Faith turns the promise into a prophecy. While it is merely a promise it is contingent upon our cooperation. But when faith claims it, it becomes a prophecy, and we go forth feeling that it is something that must be done because God cannot lie.\par --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par I hear men praying everywhere for more faith, but when I listen to them carefully, and get at the real heart of their prayer, very often it is not more faith at all that they are wanting, but a change from faith to sight.\par\par Faith says not, "I see that it is good for me, so God must have sent it," but, "God sent it, and so it must be good for me."\par\par Faith, walking in the dark with God, only prays Him to clasp its hand more closely. \par --Phillips Brooks\par\par "The Shepherd does not ask of thee\par Faith in thy faith, but only faith in Him; \par And this He meant in saying, 'Come to me.'\par In light or darkness seek to do His will,\par And leave the. work of faith to Jesus still."\par\par LVAL The Key to the Wind\par\par "The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all" (Ps. 103:19).\par\par Some time since, in the early spring, I was going out at my door when round the corner came a blast of east wind--defiant and pitiless, fierce and withering--sending a cloud of dust before it.\par\par I was just taking the latchkey from the door as I said, half impatiently, "I wish the wind would"--I was going to say change; but the word was checked, and the sentence was never finished.\par\par As I went on my way, the incident became a parable to me. There came an angel holding out a key; and he said:\par\par "My Master sends thee His love, and bids me give you this."\par\par "What is it?" I asked, wondering. "The key of the winds," said the angel, and disappeared.\par\par Now indeed should I be happy. I hurried away up into the heights whence the winds came, and stood amongst the caves. "I will have done with the east wind at any rate--and that shall plague us no more," I cried; and calling in that friendless wind, I closed the door, and heard the echoes ringing in the hollow places. I turned the key triumphantly. "There," I said, now we have done with that."\par\par "What shall I choose in its place?" I asked myself, looking about me. "The south wind is pleasant"; and I thought of the lambs, and the young life on every hand, and the flowers that had begun to deck the hedgerows. But as I set the key within the door, it began to burn my hand.\par\par "What am I doing?" I cried; "who knows what mischief I may bring about? How do I know what the fields want! Ten thousand things of ill may come of this foolish wish of mine."\par\par Bewildered and ashamed, I looked up and prayed that the Lord would send His angel yet again to take the key; and for my part I promised that I would never want to have it any more.\par\par But lo, the Lord Himself stood by me. He reached His hand to take the key; and as I laid it down, I saw that it rested against the sacred wouLVALnd-print.\par\par It hurt me indeed that I could ever have murmured against anything wrought by Him who bare such sacred tokens of His love. Then He took the key and hung it on His girdle.\par\par "Dost THOU keep the key of the winds?" I asked.\par\par "I do, my child," He answered graciously.\par\par And lo, I looked again and there hung all the keys of all my life. He saw my look of amazement, and asked, "Didst thou not know, my child, that my kingdom ruleth over all?"\par\par "Over all, my Lord!" I answered; "then it is not safe for me to murmur at anything?" Then did He lay His hand upon me tenderly. "My child," He said, "thy only safety is, in everything, to love and trust and praise." \par --Mark Guy Pearse\par\par LVALCall Upon the Lord\par\par "And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered" \par --(Joel 2:32).\par\par Why do not I call on His name? Why do I run to this neighbor and that when God is so near and will hear my faintest call? Why do I sit down and devise schemes and invent plans? Why not at once roll myself and my burden upon the Lord?\par\par Straightforward is the best runner--why do not I run at once to the living God? In vain shall I look for "deliverance anywhere else; but with God I shall find it; for here I have His royal shall to make it sure.\par\par I need not ask whether I may call on Him or not, for that word "Whosoever" is a very wide and comprehensive one. Whosoever means me, for it means anybody and everybody who calls upon God. I will therefore follow the leading of the text, and at once call upon the glorious Lord who has made so large a promise.\par\par My case is urgent, and I do not see how I am to be delivered; but this is no business of mine. He who makes the promise will find ways and means of keeping it. It is mine to obey His commands; it is not mine to direct His counsels. I am His servant, not His solicitor. I call upon Him, and He will deliver.\par --C. H. Spurgeon \par\par =LVALIThe Mountain After the Quake\par\par "He maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth and his hands make whole" (Job 5:18).\par\par The ministry of a great sorrow.\par\par As we pass beneath the hills which have been shaken by the earthquake and torn by convulsion, we find that periods of perfect repose succeed those of destruction. The pools of calm water lie clear beneath their fallen rocks, the water lilies gleam, and the reeds whisper among the shadows; the village rises again over the forgotten graves, and its church tower, white through the storm twilight, proclaims a renewed appeal to His protection "in whose hand are all the corners of the earth, and the strength of the hills is his also." --Ruskin\par\par God ploughed one day with an earthquake,\par And drove His furrows deep!\par The huddling plains upstarted,\par The hills were all aleap!\par\par But that is the mountains' secret,\par Age-hidden in their breast;\par "God's peace is everlasting,"\par Are the dream-words of their rest.\par\par He made them the haunts of beauty,\par The home elect of His grace;\par He spreadeth His mornings upon them,\par His sunsets light their face.\par\par His winds bring messages to them\par Wild storm-news from the main;\par They sing it down the valleys\par In the love-song of the rain.\par\par They are nurseries for young rivers,\par Nests for His flying cloud,\par Homesteads for new-born races,\par Masterful, free, and proud.\par\par The people of tired cities\par Come up to their shrines and pray;\par God freshens again within them,\par As He passes by all day.\par\par And lo, I have caught their secret!\par The beauty deeper than all!\par This faith--that life's hard moments,\par When the jarring sorrows befall,\par\par Are but God ploughing His mountains;\par And those mountains yet shall be\par The source of His grace and freshness,\par And His peace everlasting to me.\par --William C. Gannett\par\par LVAL Sing Praise to the Lord!\par\par "When they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushments...and they were smitten" (2 Chron. 20:22).\par\par Oh, that we could reason less about our troubles, and sing and praise more! There are thousands of things that we wear as shackles which we might use as instruments with music in them, if we only knew how.\par\par Those men that ponder, and meditate, and weigh the affairs of life, and study the mysterious developments of God's providence, and wonder why they should be burdened and thwarted and hampered--how different and how much more joyful would be their lives, if, instead of forever indulging in self-revolving and inward thinking, they would take their experiences, day by day, and lift them up, and praise God for them.\par\par We can sing our cares away easier than we can reason them away. Sing in the morning. The birds are the earliest to sing, and birds are more without care than anything else that I know of.\par\par Sing at evening. Singing is the last thing that robins do. When they have done their daily work; when they have flown their last flight, and picked up their last morsel of food, then on a topmost twig, they sing one song of praise.\par\par Oh, that we might sing morning and evening, and let song touch song all the way through. --Selected\par\par "Don't let the song go out of your life \par Though it chance sometimes to flow\par In a minor strain; it will blend again \par With the major tone you know.\par\par "What though shadows rise to obscure life's skies, \par And hide for a time the sun,\par The sooner they'll lift and reveal the rift, \par If you let the melody run.\par\par "Don't let the song go out of your life; \par Though the voice may have lost its trill,\par Though the tremulous note may die in your throat, \par Let it sing in your spirit still.\par\par "Don't let the song go out of your life; \par Let it ring in the soul while here;\par And when you go hence, 'twill follow you thence, \par And live on iLVALn another sphere."\par\par )LVAL5The Secrets of Providence\par\par "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him" (Ps. 25:14).\par\par There are secrets of Providence which God's dear children may learn. His dealings with them often seem, to the outward eye, dark and terrible. Faith looks deeper and says, "This is God's secret. You look only on the outside; I can look deeper and see the hidden meaning."\par\par Sometimes diamonds are done up in rough packages, so that their value cannot be seen. When the Tabernacle was built in the wilderness there was nothing rich in its outside appearance. The costly things were all within, and its outward covering of rough badger skin gave no hint of the valuable things which it contained.\par\par God may send you, dear friends, some costly packages. Do not worry if they are done up in rough wrappings. You may be sure there are treasures of love, and kindness, and wisdom hidden within. If we take what He sends, and trust Him for the goodness in it, even in the dark, we shall learn the meaning of the secrets of Providence.\par --A. B. Simpson\par\par "Not until each loom is silent,\par And the shuttles cease to fly,\par Will God unroll the pattern\par And explain the reason why\par The dark threads are as needful\par In the Weaver's skillful hand,\par As the threads of gold and silver\par For the pattern which He planned."\par\par He that is mastered by Christ is the master of every circumstance. Does the circumstance press hard against you? Do not push it away. It is the Potter's hand. Your mastery will come, not by arresting its progress, but by enduring its discipline, for it is not only shaping you into a vessel of beauty and honor, but it is making your resources available.\par\par LVAL Beginning Without Finishing\par\par "He spoke a parable unto them?that men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1).\par\par No temptation in the life of intercession is more common than this of failure to persevere. We begin to pray for a certain thing; we put up our petitions for a day, a week, a month; and then, receiving as yet no definite answer, straightway we faint, and cease altogether from prayer concerning it.\par\par This is a deadly fault. It is simply the snare of many beginnings with no completions. It is ruinous in all spheres of life.\par\par The man who forms the habit of beginning without finishing has simply formed the habit of failure. The man who begins to pray about a thing and does not pray it through to a successful issue of answer has formed the same habit in prayer.\par\par To faint is to fail; then defeat begets disheartenment, and unfaith in the reality of prayer, which is fatal to all success.\par\par But someone says, "How long shall we pray? Do we not come to a place where we may cease from our petitions and rest the matter in God's hands?"\par\par There is but one answer. Pray until the thing you pray for has actually been granted, or until you have the assurance in your heart that it will be.\par\par Only at one of these two places dare we stay our importunity, for prayer is not only a calling upon God, but also a conflict with Satan. And inasmuch as God is using our intercession as a mighty factor of victory in that conflict, He alone, and not we, must decide when we dare cease from our petitioning. So we dare not stay our prayer until the answer itself has come, or until we receive the assurance that it will come.\par\par In the first case we stop because we see. In the other, we stop because we believe, and the faith of our heart is just as sure as the sight of our eyes; for it is faith from, yes, the faith of God, within us.\par\par More and more, as we live the prayer life, shall we come to experience and recognize this God-given assuranceLVAL , and know when to rest quietly in it, or when to continue our petitioning until we receive it. --The Practice of Prayer\par\par Tarry at the promise till God meets you there. He always returns by way of His promises. --Selected\par\par LVALThe Road Uphill\par\par "Walking in the midst of the fire" (Daniel 3:25).\par\par The fire did not arrest their motion; they walked in the midst of it. It was one of the streets through which they moved to their destiny. The comfort of Christ's revelation is not that it teaches emancipation from sorrow, but emancipation through sorrow.\par\par O my God, teach me, when the shadows have gathered, that I am only in a tunnel. It is enough for me to know that it will be all right some day.\par\par They tell me that I shall stand upon the peaks of Olivet, the heights of resurrection glory. But I want more, O my Father; I want Calvary to lead up to it. I want to know that the shadows of this world are the shades of an avenue the avenue to the house of my Father. Tell me I am only forced to climb because Thy house is on the hill! I shall receive no hurt from sorrow if I shall walk in the midst of the fire. --George Matheson\par\par "'The road is too rough,' I said;\par 'It is uphill all the way; \par No flowers, but thorns instead;\par And the skies over head are grey.' \par But One took my hand at the entrance dim, \par And sweet is the road that I walk with Him.\par\par "The cross is too great,' I cried--\par 'More than the back can bear,\par So rough and heavy and wide,\par And nobody by to care.'\par And One stooped softly and touched my hand:\par 'I know. I care. And I understand.'\par\par "Then why do we fret and sigh;\par Cross-bearers all we go:\par But the road ends by-and-by\par In the dearest place we know,\par And every step in the journey we\par May take in the Lord's own company."\par\par mLVALyThe Friend of God\par\par "Abraham stood yet before the Lord" (Gen. 18:22).\par\par The friend of God can plead with Him for others. Perhaps Abraham's height of faith and friendship seems beyond our little possibilities. Do not be discouraged, Abraham grew; so may we. He went step by step, not by great leaps.\par\par The man whose faith has been deeply tested and who has come off victorious, is the man to whom supreme tests must come.\par\par The finest jewels are most carefully cut and polished; the hottest fires try the most precious metal. Abraham would never have been called the Father of the Faithful if he had not been proved to the uttermost. Read Genesis, twenty-second chapter:\par\par "Take thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest." See him going with a chastened, wistful, yet humbly obedient heart up Moriah's height, with the idol of his heart beside him about to be sacrificed at the command of God whom he had faithfully loved and served!\par\par What a rebuke to our questionings of God's dealings with us! Away with all doubting explanations of this stupendous scene! It was an object lesson for the ages. Angels were looking.\par\par Shall this man's faith stand forever for the strength and help of all God's people? Shall it be known through him that unfaltering faith will always prove the faithfulness of God?\par\par Yes; and when faith has borne victoriously its uttermost test, the angel of the Lord--who? The Lord Jesus, Jehovah, He in whom "all the promises of God are yea and amen"--spoke to him, saying, "Now I know that thou fearest God." Thou hast trusted me to the uttermost. I will also trust thee; thou shalt ever be My friend, and I will bless thee, and make thee a blessing.\par\par It is always so, and always will be. "They that are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." --Selected\par\par It is no small thing to be on terms of friendship with God.\par\par LVAL'Lie Still and Trust\par\par "I had fainted unless?!(Ps. 27:13).\par\par "FAINT NOT!"\par\par How great is the temptation at this point! How the soul sinks, the heart grows sick, and the faith staggers under the keen trials and testings which come into our lives in times of special bereavement and suffering.\par\par "I cannot bear up any longer, I am fainting under this providence. What shall I do? God tells me not to faint. But what can one do when he is fainting?"\par\par What do you do when you are about to faint physically? You cannot do anything. You cease from your own doings. In your faintness, you fall upon the shoulder of some strong loved one. You lean hard. You rest. You lie still and trust.\par\par It is so when we are tempted to faint under affliction. God's message to us is not, "Be strong and of good courage," for He knows our strength and courage have fled away. But it is that sweet word, "Be still, and know that I am God."\par\par Hudson Taylor was so feeble in the closing months of his life that he wrote a dear friend: "I am so weak I cannot write; I cannot read my Bible; I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child, and trust."\par\par This wondrous man of God with all his spiritual power came to a place of physical suffering and weakness where he could only lie still and trust.\par\par And that is all God asks of you, His dear child, when you grow faint in the fierce fires of affliction. Do not try to be strong. Just be still and know that He is God, and will sustain you, and bring you through.\par\par "God keeps His choicest cordials for our deepest faintings."\par\par \par "Stay firm and let thine heart take courage" (Psa. 27:14, --After Osterwald).\par\par Stay firm, He has not failed thee\par In all the past,\par And will He go and leave thee \par To sink at last?\par Nay, He said He will hide thee \par Beneath His wing;\par And sweetly there in safety \par Thou mayest sing.\par ?Selected\par\par LVAL Sailing Through the Tempest\par\par "We went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place" (Ps. 66:12).\par\par Paradoxical though it be, only that man is at rest who attains it through conflict. This peace, born of conflict, is not like the deadly hush preceding the tempest, but the serene and pure-aired quiet that follows it.\par\par It is not generally the prosperous one, who has never sorrowed, who is strong and at rest. His quality has never been tried, and he knows not how he can stand even a gentle shock. He is not the safest sailor who never saw a tempest; he will do for fair-weather service, but when the storm is rising, place at the important post the man who has fought out a gale, who has tested the ship, who knows her hulk sound, her rigging strong, and her anchor-flukes able to grasp and hold by the ribs of the world.\par\par When first affliction comes upon us, how everything gives way! Our clinging, tendril hopes are snapped, and our heart lies prostrate like a vine that the storm has torn from its trellis; but when the first shock is past, and we are able to look up, and say, "It is the Lord," faith lifts the shattered hopes once more, and binds them fast to the feet of God. Thus the end is confidence, safety, and peace. --Selected\par\par The adverse winds blew against my life;\par My little ship with grief was tossed;\par My plans were gone--heart full of strife,\par And all my hope seemed to be lost--\par "Then He arose"--one word of peace.\par "There was a calm"--a sweet release.\par\par A tempest great of doubt and fear\par Possessed my mind; no light was there\par To guide, or make my vision clear.\par Dark night! 'twas more than I could bear--\par\par "Then He arose," I saw His face--\par "There was a calm" filled with His grace.\par\par My heart was sinking 'neath the wave\par Of deepening test and raging grief;\par All seemed as lost, and none could save,\par And nothing could bring me relief--\par "Then He arose"--anLVALd spoke one word,\par "There was a calm!" IT IS THE LORD..\par --L. S. P.\par\par AoR5jM0eH+}`C& x[>!sV9nQ4#7 k "  i ! g   @f  @e  c @b F@a ` 3@_ @^ ]  [ @Z X U XT S Q _ O  M @L  K  hJ   H  F  D #B @A  ? B@>  =  ;  :  8  7  @6 #@5 @4 3 2 @1 / . f , 6 * U@)  '  % 8#  !  @ <  S   c    @    <   E  LVAL The Discipline of Faith\par\par "All things are possible to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23).\par\par The "all things" do not always come simply for the asking, for the reason that God is ever seeking to teach us the way of faith, and in our training in the faith life there must be room for the trial of faith, the discipline of faith, the patience of faith, the courage of faith, and often many stages are passed before we really realize what is the end of faith, namely, the victory of faith.\par\par Real moral fibre is developed through discipline of faith. You have made your request of God, but the answer does not come. What are you to do?\par\par Keep on believing God's Word; never be moved away from it by what you see or feel, and thus as you stand steady, enlarged power and experience is being developed. The fact of looking at the apparent contradiction as to God's Word and being unmoved from your position of faith make you stronger on every other line.\par\par Often God delays purposely, and the delay is just as much an answer to your prayer as is the fulfillment when it comes.\par\par In the lives of all the great Bible characters, God worked thus. Abraham, Moses and Elijah were not great in the beginning, but were made great through the discipline of their faith, and only thus were they fitted for the positions to which God had called them.\par\par For example, in the case of Joseph whom the Lord was training for the throne of Egypt, we read in the Psalms:\par\par "The word of the Lord tried him." It was not the prison life with its hard beds or poor food that tried him, but it was the word God had spoken into his heart in the early years concerning elevation and honor which were greater than his brethren were to receive; it was this which was ever before him, when every step in his career made it seem more and more impossible of fulfillment, until he was there imprisoned, and all in innocency, while others who were perhaps justly incarcerated, were released, and he was left to languiLVALsh alone.\par\par These were hours that tried his soul, but hours of spiritual growth and development, that, "when his word came" (the word of release), found him fitted for the delicate task of dealing with his wayward brethren, with a love and patience only surpassed by God Himself.\par\par No amount of persecution tries like such experiences as these. When God has spoken of His purpose to do, and yet the days go on and He does not do it, that is truly hard; but it is a discipline of faith that will bring us into a knowledge of God which would otherwise be impossible.\par\par LVAL Can Thine Heart Endure\par\par "We know not what we should pray for as we ought" (Rom. 8:26).\par\par Much that perplexes us in our Christian experience is but the answer to our prayers. We pray for patience, and our Father sends those who tax us to the utmost; for "tribulation worketh patience."\par\par We pray for submission, and God sends sufferings; for "we learn obedience by the things we suffer."\par\par We pray for unselfishness, and God gives us opportunities to sacrifice ourselves by thinking on the things of others, and by laying down our lives for the brethren.\par\par We pray for strength and humility, and some messenger of Satan torments us until we lie in the dust crying for its removal.\par\par We pray, "Lord, increase our faith," and money takes wings; or the children are alarmingly ill; or a servant comes who is careless, extravagant, untidy or slow, or some hitherto unknown trial calls for an increase of faith along a line where we have not needed to exercise much faith before.\par\par We pray for the Lamb-life, and are given a portion of lowly service, or we are injured and must seek no redress; for "he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and?opened not his mouth."\par\par We pray for gentleness, and there comes a perfect storm of temptation to harshness and irritability. We pray for quietness, and every nerve is strung to the utmost tension, so that looking to Him we may learn that when He giveth quietness, no one can make trouble.\par\par We pray for love, and God sends peculiar suffering and puts us with apparently unlovely people, and lets them say things which rasp the nerves and lacerate the heart; for love suffereth long and is kind, love is not impolite, love is not provoked. LOVE BEARETH ALL THINGS, believeth, hopeth and endureth, love never faileth. We pray for likeness to Jesus, and the answer is, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong?" "Are ye able?"\par\par The way to peace and victory is toLVAL accept every circumstance, every trial, straight from the hand of a loving Father; and to live up in the heavenly places, above the clouds, in the very presence of the Throne, and to look down from the Glory upon our environment as lovingly and divinely appointed. --Selected\par\par I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile\par All sense of nearness, human and divine;\par The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart,\par The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;\par But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,\par The everlasting arms upheld my own.\par\par I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,\par The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,\par The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,\par And all my little candle flames burned out;\par But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,\par The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.\par\par I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,\par A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;\par Above my head the skies were black with storm,\par And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;\par But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,\par I heard His voice and Perfect peace I knew.\par\par I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed\par My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,\par Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed\par Have brought me more than all I asked or thought;\par Giver of good, so answer each request\par With Thine own giving, better than my best.\par --Annie Johnson Flint\par\par fLVALrInstant Obedience\par\par "In the selfsame day, as God had said unto him" (Gen. 17:23).\par\par Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Every time God calls us to any duty, He is offering to make a covenant with us; doing the duty is our part, and He will do His part in special blessing.\par\par The only way we can obey is to obey "in the selfsame day," as Abraham did. To be sure, we often postpone a duty and then later on do it as fully as we can. It is better to do this than not to do it at all. But it is then, at the best, only a crippled, disfigured, half-way sort of duty-doing; and a postponed duty never can bring the full blessing that God intended, and that it would have brought if done at the earliest possible moment.\par\par It is a pity to rob ourselves, along with robbing God and others, by procrastination. "In the selfsame day" is the Genesis way of saying, "Do it now." --Messages for the Morning Watch\par\par Luther says that "a true believer will crucify the question, 'Why?' He will obey without questioning." I will not be one of those who, except they see signs and wonders, will in no wise believe. I will obey without questioning.\par\par "Ours not to make reply,\par Ours not to reason why, \par Ours but to do and die."\par\par Obedience is the fruit of faith; patience, the bloom on the fruit. --Christina Rossetti\par\par LVAL Above the Clouds\par\par "Men see not the bright light which is in the clouds" (Job 37:21).\par\par The world owes much of its beauty to cloudland. The unchanging blue of the Italian sky hardly compensates for the changefulness and glory of the clouds. Earth would become a wilderness apart from their ministry. There are clouds in human life, shadowing, refreshing, and sometimes draping it in blackness of night; but there is never a cloud without its bright light. "I do set my bow in the cloud!"\par\par If we could see the clouds from the other side where they lie in billowy glory, bathed in the light they intercept, like heaped ranges of Alps, we should be amazed at their splendid magnificence.\par\par We look at their under side; but who shall describe the bright light that bathes their summits and searches their valleys and is reflected from every pinnacle of their expanse? Is not every drop drinking in health-giving qualities, which it will carry to the earth?\par\par O child of God! If you could see your sorrows and troubles from the other side; if instead of looking up at them from earth, you would look down on them from the heavenly places where you sit with Christ; if you knew how they are reflecting in prismatic beauty before the gaze of Heaven, the bright light of Christ's face, you would be content that they should cast their deep shadows over the mountain slopes of existence. Only remember that clouds are always moving and passing before God's cleansing wind. --Selected\par\par "I cannot know why suddenly the storm \par Should rage so fiercely round me in its wrath; \par But this I know--God watches all my path, \par And I can trust.\par\par "I may not draw aside the mystic veil \par That hides the unknown future from my sight, \par Nor know if for me waits the dark or light; \par But I can trust.\par\par "I have no power to look across the tide, \par To see while here the land beyond the river; \par But this I , know--I shall be Gods forever; \par So I can trust."\par\LVALpar LVALWe Wrestle Not Against Flesh and Blood\par\par "Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days" (Dan. 10:12, 13).\par\par We have wonderful teaching here on prayer, and we are shown the direct hindrance from Satan.\par\par Daniel had fasted and prayed twenty-one days, and had a very hard time in prayer. As far as we read the narrative, it was not because Daniel was not a good man, nor because his prayer was not right; but it was because of a special attack of Satan.\par\par The Lord started a messenger to tell Daniel that his prayer was answered the moment Daniel began to pray; but an evil angel met the good angel and wrestled with him, hindering him. There was a conflict in the heavens; and Daniel seemed to go through an agony on earth the same as that which was going on in the heavens.\par\par "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers? against wicked spirits in high places" (Eph. 6:12, margin).\par\par Satan delayed the answer three full weeks. Daniel nearly succumbed, and Satan would have been glad to kill him; but God will not suffer anything to come above that we "are able to bear."\par\par Many a Christian's prayer is hindered by Satan; but you need not fear when your prayers and faith pile up; for after a while they will be like a flood, and will not only sweep the answer through, but will also bring some new accompanying blessing. --Sermon\par\par Hell does its worst with the saints. The rarest souls have been tested with high pressures and temperatures, but Heaven will not desert them. --W. L. Watkinson\par\par LVALSeason of Waiting\par\par "And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness?an angel of the Lord...saying....now come, I will send thee into Egypt" (Acts 7:30-34).\par\par Often the Lord calls us aside from our work for a season, and bids us be still and learn ere we go forth again to minister. There is no time lost in such waiting hours.\par\par Fleeing from his enemies, the ancient knight found that his horse needed to be re-shod. Prudence seemed to urge him on without delay, but higher wisdom taught him to halt a few minutes at the blacksmith's forge by the way, to have the shoe replaced; and although he heard the feet of his pursuers galloping hard behind, yet he waited those minutes until his charger was refitted for his flight. And then, leaping into his saddle just as they appeared a hundred yards away, he dashed away from them with the fleetness of the wind, and knew that his halting had hastened his escape.\par\par So often God bids us tarry ere we go, and fully recover ourselves for the next stage of the journey and work. --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par Waiting! Yes, patiently waiting!\par Till next steps made plain shall be;\par To hear, with the inner hearing,\par The Voice that will call for me.\par\par Waiting! Yes, hopefully waiting!\par With hope that need not grow dim;\par The Master is pledged to guide me,\par And my eyes are unto Him.\par\par Waiting! Expectantly waiting!\par Perhaps it may be today\par The Master will quickly open\par The gate to my future way.\par\par Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!\par I know, though I've waited long,\par That, while He withholds His purpose,\par His waiting cannot be wrong.\par\par Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!\par The Master will not be late:\par He knoweth that I am waiting\par For Him to unlatch the gate.\par --J. D. Smith\par\par mLVALyPressing Forward\par\par "I was crushed...so much so that I despaired even of life, but that was to make me rely not on myself, but on the God who raises the dead" (2 Cor. 1:8, 9).\par\par "Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length; \par Pressed so intensely it seems, beyond strength; \par Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul, \par Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll. \par Pressure by foes, and a pressure from friends. \par Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.\par\par "Pressed into knowing no helper but God; \par Pressed into loving the staff and the rod. \par Pressed into liberty where nothing clings; \par Pressed into faith for impossible things. \par Pressed into living a life in the Lord, \par Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured."\par\par The pressure of hard places makes us value life. Every time our life is given back to us from such a trial, it is like a new beginning, and we learn better how much it is worth, and make more of it for God and man. The pressure helps us to understand the trials of others, and fits us to help and sympathize with them.\par\par There is a shallow, superficial nature, that gets hold of a theory or a promise lightly, and talks very glibly about the distrust of those who shrink from every trial; but the man or woman who has suffered much never does this, but is very tender and gentle, and knows what suffering really means. This is what Paul meant when he said, "Death worketh in you."\par\par Trials and hard places are needed to press us forward, even as the furnace fires in the hold of that mighty ship give force that moves the piston, drives the engine, and propels that great vessel across the sea in the face of the winds and waves. --A. B. Simpson\par\par "Out of the presses of pain,\par Cometh the soul's best wine;\par And the eyes that have shed no rain,\par Can shed but little shine."\par\par LVALAttitude of Trust\par\par "And it came to pass, before he had done speaking...and he said, Blessed be Jehovah?who hath not forsaken his lovingkindness and his truth" (Gen. 24:15, 27).\par\par Every right prayer is answered before the prayer itself is finished--before we have "done speaking." This is because God has pledged His Word to us that whatsoever we ask in Christ's name (that is, in oneness with Christ and His will) and in faith, shall be done.\par\par As God's Word cannot fail, whenever we meet those simple conditions in prayer, the answer to our prayer has been granted and completed in Heaven as we pray, even though its showing forth on earth may not occur until long afterward.\par\par So it is well to close every prayer with praise to God for the answer that He has already granted; He who never forsakes His loving-kindness and His truth. (See Daniel 9:20-27 and 10:12.) --Messages for the Morning Watch\par\par When we believe for a blessing, we must take the attitude of faith, and begin to act and pray as if we had the blessing. We must treat God as if He had given us our request. We must lean our weight over upon Him for the thing that we have claimed, and just take it for granted that He gives it, and is going to continue to give it. This is the attitude of trust.\par\par When the wife is married, she at once falls into a new attitude, and acts in accordance with the fact; and so when we take Christ as our Savior, as our Sanctifier, as our Healer, or as our Deliverer, He expects us to fall into the attitude of recognizing Him in the capacity that we have claimed, and expect Him to be to us all that we have trusted Him for. --Selected\par\par "The thing I ask when God doth bid me pray,\par Begins in that same act to come my way."\par\par LVALReceive the Cup of Sorrow\par\par "Shall I refuse to drink the cup of sorrow which the Father has given me to drink?" (John 18:11, Weymouth).\par\par God takes a thousand times more pains with us than the artist with his picture, by many touches of sorrow, and by many colors of circumstance, to bring us into the form which is the highest and noblest in His sight, if only we receive His gifts of myrrh in the right spirit.\par\par But when the cup is put away, and these feelings are stifled or unheeded, a greater injury is done to the soul that can ever be amended. For no heart can conceive in what surpassing love God giveth us this myrrh; yet this which we ought to receive to our souls' good we suffer to pass by us in our sleepy indifference, and nothing comes of it.\par\par Then we come and complain: "Alas, Lord! I am so dry, and it is so dark within me!" I tell thee, dear child, open thy heart to the pain, and it will do thee more good than if thou wert full of feeling and devoutness. --Tauler\par\par "The cry of man's anguish went up to God,\par 'Lord take away pain:\par The shadow that darkens the world Thou hast made,\par The close-coiling chain\par That strangles the heart, the burden that weighs\par On the wings that would soar,\par Lord, take away pain from the world Thou hast made,\par That it love Thee the more.'\par\par "Then answered the Lord to the cry of His world:\par 'Shall I take away pain,\par And with it the power of the soul to endure,\par Made strong by the strain?\par Shall I take away pity, that knits heart to heart\par And sacrifice high?\par Will ye lose all your heroes that lift from the fire\par White brows to the sky?\par Shall I take away love that redeems with a price\par And smiles at its loss?\par Can ye spare from your lives that would climb unto Me\par The Christ on His cross?"\par\par LVALRemember My Song in the Night\par\par "I call to remembrance my song in the night" (Psalm 77:6).\par\par I have read somewhere of a little bird that will never sing the melody his master wishes while his cage is full of light. He learns a snatch of this, a bar of that, but never an entire song of its own until the cage is covered and the morning beams shut out.\par\par A good many people never learn to sing until the darkling shadows fall. The fabled nightingale carols with his breast against a thorn. It was in the night that the song of the angels was heard. It was at midnight that the cry came, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him."\par\par Indeed it is extremely doubtful if a soul can really know the love of God in its richness and in its comforting, satisfying completeness until the skies are black and lowering.\par\par Light comes out of darkness, morning out of the womb of the night.\par\par James Creelman, in one of his letters, describes his trip through the Balkan States in search of Natalie, the exiled Queen of Serbia.\par\par "In that memorable journey," he says, "I learned for the first time that the world's supply of attar of roses comes from the Balkan Mountains. And the thing that interested me most," he goes on, "is that the roses must be gathered in the darkest hours. The pickers start out at one o'clock and finish picking them at two.\par\par "At first it seemed to me a relic of superstition; but I investigated the picturesque mystery, and learned that actual scientific tests had proven that fully forty per cent of the fragrance of roses disappeared in the light of day."\par\par And in human life and human culture that is not a playful, fanciful conceit; it is a real veritable fact. -Malcolm J. McLeod\par\par LVAL He Worketh\par\par "He worketh" (Ps. 37:5).\par\par The translation that we find in Young of "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass," reads: "Roll upon Jehovah thy way; trust upon him: and he worketh."\par\par It calls our attention to the immediate action of God when we truly commit, or roll out of our hands into His, the burden of whatever kind it may be; a way of sorrow, of difficulty, of physical need, or of anxiety for the conversion of some dear one.\par\par "He worketh." When? Now. We are so in danger of postponing our expectation of His acceptance of the trust, and His undertaking to accomplish what we ask Him to do, instead of saying as we commit, "He worketh." "He worketh" even now; and praise Him that it is so.\par\par The very expectancy enables the Holy Spirit to do the very thing we have rolled upon Him. It is out of our reach. We are not trying to do it any more. "He worketh!"\par\par Let us take the comfort out of it and not put our hands on it again. Oh, what a relief it brings! He is really working on the difficulty.\par\par But someone may say, "I see no results." Never mind. "He worketh," if you have rolled it over and are looking to Jesus to do it. Faith may be tested, but "He worketh"; the Word is sure! --V. H. F. \par\par "I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me" (Ps. 57:2).\par\par The beautiful old translation says, "He shall perform the cause which I have in hand." Does not that make it very real to us today? Just the very thing that "I have in hand"--my own particular bit of work today, this cause that I cannot manage, this thing that I undertook in miscalculation of my own powers--this is what I may ask Him to do "for me," and rest assured that He will perform it. "The wise and their works are in the hands of God." --Havergal\par\par The Lord will go through with His covenant engagements. Whatever He takes in hand He will accomplish; hence past mercies are guarantees for the future and LVALadmirable reasons for continuing to cry unto Him. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par ,LVAL8At Wit's End\par\par "At their wit's end, they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out" (Ps. 107:27, 28).\par\par Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner,"\par Christian, with troubled brow?\par Are you thinking of what is before you,\par And all you are bearing now?\par Does all the world seem against you,\par And you in the battle alone?\par Remember--at "Wit's End Corner"\par Is just where God's power is shown.\par\par Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner,"\par Blinded with wearying pain,\par Feeling you cannot endure it,\par You cannot bear the strain,\par Bruised through the constant suffering,\par Dizzy, and dazed, and numb?\par Remember--at "Wit's End Corner"\par Is where Jesus loves to come.\par\par Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner"?\par Your work before you spread,\par All lying begun, unfinished,\par And pressing on heart and head,\par Longing for strength to do it,\par Stretching out trembling hands?\par Remember--at. "Wit's End Corner"\par The Burden-bearer stands.\par\par Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner"?\par Then you're just in the very spot\par To learn the wondrous resources\par Of Him who faileth not:\par No doubt to a brighter pathway\par Your footsteps will soon be moved,\par But only at "Wit's End Corner"\par Is the "God who is able" proved.\par --Antoinette Wilson\par\par Do not get discouraged; it may be the last key in the bunch that opens the door. Stansifer\par\par LVAL Wait on God's Time\par\par "Sarah bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him" (Gen. 21:2).\par\par The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Psalm 33:11). But we must be prepared to wait God's time. God has His set times. It is not for us to know them; indeed, we cannot know them; we must wait for them.\par\par If God had told Abraham in Haran that he must wait for thirty years until he pressed the promised child to his bosom, his heart would have failed him. So, in gracious love, the length of the weary years was hidden, and only as they were nearly spent, and there were only a few more months to wait, God told him that "according to the time of life, Sarah shall have a son." (Gen. 18:14.)\par\par The set time came at last; and then the laughter that filled the patriarch's home made the aged pair forget the long and weary vigil.\par\par Take heart, waiting one, thou waitest for One who cannot disappoint thee; and who will not be five minutes behind the appointed moment: ere long "your sorrow shall be turned into joy."\par\par Ah, happy soul, when God makes thee laugh! Then sorrow and crying shall flee away forever, as darkness before the dawn. --Selected\par\par It is not for us who are passengers, to meddle with the chart and with the compass. Let that all-skilled Pilot alone with His own work. --Hall\par\par "Some things cannot be done in a day. God does not make a sunset glory in a moment, but for days may be massing the mist out of which He builds His palaces beautiful in the west."\par\par "Some glorious morn--but when? Ah, who shall say? \par The steepest mountain will become a plain, \par And the parched land be satisfied with rain. \par The gates of brass all broken; iron bars, \par Transfigured, form a ladder to the stars. \par Rough places plain, and crooked ways all straight, \par For him who with a patient heart can wait. \par These things shall be on God's appointed day: \par It mayLVAL not be tomorrow--yet it may."\par\par LVAL "Eternal Glory Struggles\par\par "I endure all things for the sake of God's own people; so that they also may obtain salvation...and with it eternal glory" (2 Tim. 2:10, Weymouth).\par\par If Job could have known as he sat there in the ashes, bruising his heart on this problem of Providence--that in the trouble that had come upon him he was doing what one man may do to work out the problem for the world, he might again have taken courage. No man lives to himself. Job's life is but your life and mine written in larger text....So, then, though we may not know what trials wait on any of us, we can believe that, as the days in which Job wrestled with his dark maladies are the only days that make him worth remembrance, and but for which his name had never been written in the book of life, so the days through which we struggle, finding no way, but never losing the light, will be the most significant we are called to live. --Robert Collyer\par\par Who does not know that our most sorrowful days have been amongst our best? When the face is wreathed in smiles and we trip lightly over meadows bespangled with spring flowers, the heart is often running to waste.\par\par The soul which is always blithe and gay misses the deepest life. It has its reward, and it is satisfied to its measure, though that measure is a very scanty one. But the heart is dwarfed; and the nature, which is capable of the highest heights, the deepest depths, is undeveloped; and life presently burns down to its socket without having known the resonance of the deepest chords of joy.\par\par "Blessed are they that mourn." Stars shine brightest in the long dark night of winter. The gentians show their fairest bloom amid almost inaccessible heights of snow and ice.\par\par God's promises seem to wait for the pressure of pain to trample out their richest juice as in a wine-press. Only those who have sorrowed know how tender is the "Man of Sorrows." --Selected\par\par Thou hast but little sunshine, but thy long glooms are wisely appointed LVALthee; for perhaps a stretch of summer weather would have made thee as a parched land and barren wilderness. Thy Lord knows best, and He has the clouds and the sun at His disposal. --Selected\par\par "It is a gray day." "Yes, but dinna ye see the patch of blue?" --Scotch Shoemaker\par\par LVAL $Praise in Advance\par\par "Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it" (Num. 21:17).\par\par This was a strange song and a strange well. They had been traveling over the desert's barren sands, no water was in sight and they were famishing with thirst. Then God spake to Moses and said:\par\par "Gather the people together, and I will give them water," and this is how it came.\par\par They gathered in circles on the sands. They took their staves and dug deep down into the burning earth and as they dug, they sang,\par\par "Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it," and lo, there came a gurgling sound, a rush of water and a flowing stream which filled the well and ran along the ground.\par\par When they dug this well in the desert, they touched the stream that was running beneath, and reached the flowing tides that had long been out of sight.\par\par How beautiful the picture given, telling us of the river of blessing that flows all through our lives, and we have only to reach by faith and praise to find our wants supplied in the most barren desert.\par\par How did they reach the waters of this well? It was by praise. They sang upon the sand their song of faith, while with their staff of promise they dug the well.\par\par Our praise will still open fountains in the desert, when murmuring will only bring us judgment, and even prayer may fail to reach the fountains of blessing.\par\par There is nothing that pleases the Lord so much as praise. There is no test of faith so true as the grace of thanksgiving. Are you praising God enough? Are you thanking Him for your actual blessings that are more than can be numbered, and are you daring to praise Him even for those trials which are but blessings in disguise? Have you learned to praise Him in advance for the things that have not yet come? --Selected\par\par "Thou waitest for deliverance!\par O soul, thou waitest long!\par Believe that now deliverance\par Doth wait for thee in song!\par\par "Sigh not until deliverance\par Thy fettered feet doth free:\par WLVALith songs of glad deliverance\par God now doth compass thee."\par\par LVAL &He Satisfies Our Soul\par\par "Bring them hither to me" (Matt. 14:18.).\par\par Are you encompassed with needs at this very moment, and almost overwhelmed with difficulties, trials, and emergencies? These are all divinely provided vessels for the Holy Spirit to fill, and if you but rightly understood their meaning, they would become opportunities for receiving new blessings and deliverances which you can get in no other way.\par\par Bring these vessels to God. Hold them steadily before Him in faith and prayer. Keep still, and stop your own restless working until He begins to work. Do nothing that He does not Himself command you to do. Give Him a chance to work, and He will surely do so; and the very trials that threatened to overcome you with discouragement and disaster, will become God's opportunity for the revelation of His grace and glory in your life, as you have never known Him before. "Bring them (all needs) to me." --A. B. Simpson\par\par "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).\par\par What a source--"God!" What a supply--"His riches in glory!" What a channel--"Christ Jesus!" It is your sweet privilege to place all your need over against His riches, and lose sight of the former in the presence of the latter. His exhaustless treasury is thrown open to you, in all the love of His heart; go and draw upon it, in the artless simplicity of faith, and you will never have occasion to look to a creature-stream, or lean on a creature-prop. --C. H. M.\par\par "MY CUP RUNNETH OVER"\par\par There is always something over,\par When we trust our gracious Lord;\par Every cup He fills o'erfloweth,\par His great rivers all are broad.\par Nothing narrow, nothing stinted,\par Ever issues from His store;\par To His own He gives full measure,\par Running over, evermore.\par\par There is always something over,\par When we, from the Father's hand,\par Take our portion with thanksgiving,\par Praising for the path He planned.\par SatisfactLVALion, full and deepening,\par Fills the soul, and lights the eye,\par When the heart has trusted Jesus\par All its need to satisfy.\par\par There is always something over,\par When we tell of all His love;\par Unplumbed depths still lie beneath us,\par Unsealed heights rise far above:\par Human lips can never utter\par All His wondrous tenderness,\par We can only praise and wonder,\par And His name forever bless.\par --Margaret E. Barber\par\par "How can He but, in giving Him, lavish on us all things" (Rom. 8:32).\par\par LVAL (Cling to God in Faith\par\par "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me ... and he blessed him there." (Gen. 32:26, 29.)\par\par Jacob got the victory and the blessing not by wrestling, but by clinging. His limb was out of joint and he could struggle no longer, but he would not let go. Unable to wrestle, he wound his arms around the neck of his mysterious antagonist and hung all his helpless weight upon him, until at last he conquered.\par\par We will not get victory in prayer until we too cease our struggling, giving up our own will and throw our arms about our Father's neck in clinging faith.\par\par What can puny human strength take by force out of the hand of Omnipotence? Can we wrest blessing by force from God? It is never the violence of wilfulness that prevails with God. It is the might of clinging faith, that gets the blessing and the victories. It is not when we press and urge our own will, but when humility and trust unite in saying, "Not my will, but Thine." We are strong with God only in the degree that self is conquered and is dead. Not by wrestling, but by clinging can we get the blessing. --J. R. Miller\par\par An incident from the prayer life of Charles H. Usher (illustrating "soul-cling" as a hindrance to prevailing prayer): "My little boy was very ill. The doctors held out little hope of his recovery. I had used all the knowledge of prayer which I possessed on his behalf, but he got worse and worse. This went on for several weeks.\par\par "One day I stood watching him as he lay in his cot, and I saw that he could not live long unless he had a turn for the better. I said to God, 'O God, I have given much time in prayer for my boy and he gets no better; I must now leave him to Thee, and I will give myself to prayer for others. If it is Thy will to take him, I choose Thy will--I surrender him entirely to Thee.'\par\par "I called in my dear wife, and told her what I had done. She shed some tears, but handed him over to God. Two days afterwards a man of God came to see us. LVALHe had been very interested in our boy Frank, and had been much in prayer for him.\par\par "He said, 'God has given me faith to believe that he will recover--have you faith?'\par\par "I said, 'I have surrendered him to God, but I will go again to God regarding him.' I did; and in prayer I discovered that I had faith for his recovery. From that time he began to get better. It was the 'soul-cling' in my prayers which had hindered God answering; and if I had continued to cling and had been unwilling to surrender him, I doubt if my boy would be with me today.\par\par "Child of God! If you want God to answer your prayers, you must be prepared to follow the footsteps of 'our father Abraham,' even to the Mount of Sacrifice." (See Rom. 4:12.)\par\par LVALSecret Prayer\par\par "I have called you friends" (John 15:15).\par\par Years ago there was an old German professor whose beautiful life was a marvel to his students. Some of them resolved to know the secret of it; so one of their number hid in the study where the old professor spent his evenings.\par\par It was late when the teacher came in. He was very tired, but he sat down and spent an hour with his Bible. Then he bowed his head in secret prayer; and finally closing the Book of books, he said, \par\par "Well, Lord Jesus, we're on the same old terms."\par\par To know Him is life's highest attainment; and at all costs, every Christian should strive to be "on the same old terms with Him."\par\par The reality of Jesus comes as a result of secret prayer, and a personal study of the Bible that is devotional and sympathetic. Christ becomes more real to the one who persists in the cultivation of His presence.\par\par Speak thou to Him for He heareth,\par And spirit with spirit will meet!\par Nearer is He than breathing,\par Nearer than hands and feet.\par --Maltbie D. Babcock\par\par LVAL +School of Sorrow\par\par "And no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth" (Rev. 14:3).\par\par There are songs which can only be learned in the valley. No art can teach them; no rules of voice can make them perfectly sung. Their music is in the heart. They are songs of memory, of personal experience. They bring out their burden from the shadow of the past; they mount on the wings of yesterday.\par\par St. John says that even in Heaven there will be a song that can only be fully sung by the sons of earth--the strain of redemption. Doubtless it is a song of triumph, a hymn of victory to the Christ who made us free. But the sense of triumph must come from the memory of the chain.\par\par No angel, no archangel can sing it so sweetly as I can. To sing it as I sing it, they must pass through my exile, and this they cannot do. None can learn it but the children of the Cross.\par\par And so, my soul, thou art receiving a music lesson from thy Father. Thou art being educated for the choir invisible. There are parts of the symphony that none can take but thee.\par\par There are chords too minor for the angels. There may be heights in the symphony which are beyond the scale--heights which angels alone can reach; but there are depths which belong to thee, and can only be touched by thee.\par\par Thy Father is training thee for the part the angels cannot sing; and the school is sorrow. I have heard many say that He sends sorrow to prove thee; nay, He sends sorrow to educate thee, to train thee for the choir invisible.\par\par In the night He is preparing thy song. In the valley He is tuning thy voice. In the cloud He is deepening thy chords. In the rain He is sweetening thy melody. In the cold He is moulding thy expression. In the transition from hope to fear He is perfecting thy lights.\par\par Despise not thy school of sorrow, O my soul; it will give thee a unique part in the universal song. --George Matheson\par\par "Is the midnighLVALt closing round you?\par Are the shadows dark and long?\par Ask Him to come close beside you,\par And He'll give you a new, sweet song.\par He'll give it and sing it with you;\par And when weakness lets it down,\par He'll take up the broken cadence,\par And blend it with His own.\par\par "And many a rapturous minstrel\par Among those sons of light,\par Will say of His sweetest music\par 'I learned it in the night.'\par And many a rolling anthem,\par That fills the Father's home,\par Sobbed out its first rehearsal,\par In the shade of a darkened room."\par\par LVAL -Character with Age\par\par "Like a shock of corn fully ripe" (Job 5:26).\par\par A gentleman, writing about the breaking up of old ships, recently said that it is not the age alone which improves the quality of the fiber in the wood of an old vessel, but the straining and wrenching of the vessel by the sea, the chemical action of the bilge water, and of many kinds of cargoes.\par\par Some planks and veneers made from an oak beam which had been part of a ship eighty years old were exhibited a few years ago at a fashionable furniture store on Broadway, New York, and attracted general notice for the exquisite coloring and beautiful grain.\par\par Equally striking were some beams of mahogany taken from a bark which sailed the seas sixty years ago. The years and the traffic had contracted the pores and deepened the color, until it looked as superb in its chromatic intensity as an antique Chinese vase. It was made into a cabinet, and has today a place of honor in the drawing-room of a wealthy New York family.\par\par So there is a vast difference between the quality of old people who have lived flabby, self-indulgent, useless lives, and the fiber of those who have sailed all seas and carried all cargoes as the servants of God and the helpers of their fellow men.\par\par Not only the wrenching and straining of life, but also something of the sweetness of the cargoes carried get into the very pores and fiber of character. --Louis Albert Banks\par\par When the sun goes below the horizon he is not set; the heavens glow for a full hour after his departure. And when a great and good man sets, the sky of this world is luminous long after he is out of sight. Such a man cannot die out of this world. When he goes he leaves behind him much of himself. Being dead, he speaks. --Beecher\par\par When Victor Hugo was past eighty years of age he gave expression to his religious faith in these sublime sentences: "I feel in myself the future life. I am like a forest which has been more than once cut down. The new zLVALshoots are livelier than ever. I am rising toward the sky. The sunshine is on my head. The earth gives me its generous sap, but Heaven lights me with its unknown worlds.\par\par "You say the soul is nothing but the resultant of the bodily powers. Why, then, is my soul more luminous when my bodily powers begin to fail? Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. I breathe at this hour the fragrance of the lilacs, the violets, and the roses as at twenty years. The nearer I approach the end the plainer I hear around me the immortal symphonies of the worlds which invite me. It is marvelous, yet simple."\par\par RLVAL^Why Dost Thou Worry Thyself?\par\par "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward" (Exod. 14:15).\par\par "This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing" (Isa. 28:12).\par\par Why dost thou worry thyself? What use can thy fretting serve? Thou art on board a vessel which thou couldst not steer even if the great Captain put thee at the helm, of which thou couldst not so much as reef a sail, yet thou worriest as if thou wert captain and helmsman. Oh, be quiet; God is Master!\par\par Dost thou think that all this din and hurly-burly that is abroad betokens that God has left His throne?\par\par No, man, His coursers rush furiously on, and His chariot is the storm; but there is a bit between their jaws, and He holds the reins, and guides them as He wills! Jehovah is Master yet; believe it; peace be unto thee! be not afraid. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par "Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;\par The storms are raging on God's deep--\par God's deep, not thine; be still and sleep.\par\par "Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;\par God's hands shall still the tempter's sweep--\par God's hands, not thine; be still and sleep.\par\par "Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;\par God's love is strong while night hours creep--\par God's love, not thine; be still and sleep.\par\par "Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;\par God's heaven will comfort those who weep--\par God's heaven, not thine; be still and sleep."\par\par I entreat you, give no place to despondency. This is a dangerous temptation--a refined, not a gross temptation of the adversary. Melancholy contracts and withers the heart, and renders it unfit to receive the impressions of grace. It magnifies and gives a false coloring to objects, and thus renders your burdens too heavy to bear. God's designs regarding you, and His methods of bringing about these designs, are infinitely wise. --Madame Guyon\par\par LVAL 0Greatest Gifts Come Through Travail\par\par "For Abraham, when hope was gone, hoped on in faith. His faith never quailed" (Rom. 4:18-19).\par\par We shall never forget a remark that George Mueller once made to a gentleman who had asked him the best way to have strong faith.\par\par "The only way," replied the patriarch of faith, "to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings." This is very true. The time to trust is when all else fails.\par\par Dear one, you scarcely realize the value of your present opportunity; if you are passing through great afflictions you are in the very soul of the strongest faith, and if you will only let go, He will teach you in these hours the mightiest hold upon His throne which you can ever know.\par\par "Be not afraid, only believe." And if you are afraid, just look up and say, "What time I am afraid I will trust in thee," and you will yet thank God for the school of sorrow which was to you the school of faith. --A. B. Simpson\par\par "Great faith must have great trials."\par\par "God's greatest gifts come through travail. Whether we look into the spiritual or temporal sphere, can we discover anything, any great reform, any beneficent discovery, any soul-awakening revival, which did not come through the toils and tears, the vigils and blood-shedding of men and women whose sufferings were the pangs of its birth? If the temple of God is raised, David must bear sore afflictions; if the Gospel of the grace of God is to be disentangled from Jewish tradition, Paul's life must be one long agony."\par\par "Take heart, O weary, burdened one, bowed down \par Beneath thy cross;\par Remember that thy greatest gain may come \par Through greatest loss.\par Thy life is nobler for a sacrifice, \par And more divine.\par Acres of bloom are crushed to make a drop \par Of perfume fine.\par\par "Because of storms that lash the ocean waves, \par The waters there\par Keep purer than if the heavens o'erhead \p@LVALLar Were always fair.\par The brightest banner of the skies floats not \par At noonday warm;\par The rainbow traileth after thunder-clouds, \par And after storm."\par\par (LVAL4Christ in the Vessel\par\par "Let us pass over unto the other side" (Mark 4:35).\par\par Even when we go forth at Christ's command, we need not expect to escape storms; for these disciples were going forth at Christ's command, yet they encountered the fiercest storm and were in great danger of being overwhelmed, so that they cried out in their distress for Christ's assistance.\par\par Though Christ may delay His coming in our time of distress, it is only that our faith may be tried and strengthened, and that our prayers may be more intense, and that our desires for deliverance may be increased, so that when the deliverance does come we will appreciate it more fully.\par\par Christ gave them a gentle rebuke, saying, "Where is your faith?" Why did you not shout victory in the very face of the storm, and say to the raging winds and rolling waves, "You can do no harm, for Christ, the mighty Savior is on board"?\par\par It is much easier to trust when the sun is shining than when the storm is raging.\par\par We never know how much real faith we have until it is put to the test in some fierce storm; and that is the reason why the Savior is on board.\par\par If you are ever to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, your strength will be born in some storm. Selected\par\par "With Christ in the vessel,\par I smile at the storm."\par\par Christ said, "Let us go to the other side"--not to the middle of the lake to be drowned. --Dan Crawford\par\par hLVALtGod Works in the Dark\par\par "The Lord caused the sea to go back?all that night" (Exod. 14:21).\par\par In this verse there is a comforting message showing how God works in the dark. The real work of God for the children of Israel, was not when they awakened and found that they could get over the Red Sea; but it was "all that night."\par\par So there may be a great working in your life when it all seems dark and you cannot see or trace, but yet God is working. Just as truly did He work "all that night," as all the next day. The next day simply manifested what God had done during the night. Is there anyone reading these lines who may have gotten to a place where it seems dark? You believe to see, but you are not seeing. In your life-progress there is not constant victory; the daily, undisturbed communion is not there, and all seems dark.\par\par "The Lord caused the sea to go back?all that night." Do not forget that it was "all that night." God works all the night, until the light comes. You may not see it, but all that "night" in your life, as you believe God, He works. --C. H. P.\par\par "All that night" the Lord was working,\par Working in the tempest blast,\par Working with the swelling current,\par Flooding, flowing, free and fast.\par\par "All that night" God's children waited--\par Hearts, perhaps in agony\par With the enemy behind them,\par And, in front, the cruel sea.\par\par "All that night" seemed blacker darkness\par Than they ever saw before,\par Though the light of God's own presence\par Near them was, and sheltered o'er.\par\par "All that night" that weary vigil\par Passed; the day at last did break,\par And they saw that God was working\par "All that night" a path to make.\par\par "All that night," O child of sorrow,\par Canst thou not thy heartbreak stay?\par Know thy God in darkest midnight\par Works, as well as in the day.\par\par --L. S. P.\par\par LVALPotent Prayers\par\par "Make thy petition deep" (Isa. 7:11, margin).\par\par Make thy petition deep, O heart of mine,\par Thy God can do much more\par Than thou canst ask;\par Launch out on the Divine,\par Draw from His love-filled store.\par Trust Him with everything;\par Begin today,\par And find the joy that comes\par When Jesus has His way!\par --Selected\par\par We must keep on praying and waiting upon the Lord, until the sound of a mighty rain is heard. There is no reason why we should not ask for large things; and without doubt we shall get large things if we ask in faith, and have the courage to wait with patient perseverance upon Him, meantime doing those things which lie within our power to do.\par\par We cannot create the wind or set it in motion, but we can set our sails to catch it when it comes; we cannot make the electricity, but we can stretch the wire along upon which it is to run and do its work; we cannot, in a word, control the Spirit, but we can so place ourselves before the Lord, and so do the things He has bidden us do, that we will come under the influence and power of His mighty breath. --Selected\par\par "Cannot the same wonders be done now as of old? Where is the God of Elijah. He is waiting for Elijah to call on Him."\par\par The greatest saints who ever lived, whether under the Old or New Dispensation, are on a level which is quite within our reach. The same forces of the spiritual world which were at their command, and the exertion of which made them such spiritual heroes, are open to us also. If we had the same faith, the same hope, the same love which they exhibited, we would achieve marvels as great as those which they achieved. A word of prayer in our mouths would be as potent to call down the gracious dews and melting fires of God's Spirit, as it was in Elijah's mouth to call down literal rain and fire, if we could only speak the word with that full assurance of faith wherewith he said it. --Dr. Goulburn, Dean of Norwich\par\par LVAL*Go Not Without Prayer\par\par "Watch unto prayer" (1 Peter 4:7).\par\par Go not, my friend, into the dangerous world without prayer. You kneel down at night to pray, drowsiness weighs down your eyelids; a hard day's work is a kind of excuse, and you shorten your prayer, and resign yourself softly to repose. The morning breaks; and it may be you rise late, and so your early devotions are not done, or are done with irregular haste.\par\par No watching unto prayer! Wakefulness once more omitted; and now is that reparable? We solemnly believe not.\par\par There has been that done which cannot be undone. You have given up your prayer, and you will suffer for it.\par\par Temptation is before you, and you are not ready to meet it. There is a guilty feeling on the soul, and you linger at a distance from God. It is no marvel if that day in which you suffer drowsiness to interfere with prayer be a day in which you shrink from duty.\par\par Moments of prayer intruded on by sloth cannot be made up. We may get experience, but we cannot get back the rich freshness and strength which were wrapped up in those moments. --Frederick W. Robertson.\par\par If Jesus, the strong Son of God, felt it necessary to rise before the breaking of the day to pour out His heart to God in prayer, how much more ought you to pray unto Him who is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, and who has promised all things necessary for our good.\par\par What Jesus gathered into His life from His prayers we can never know; but this we do know, that the prayerless life is a powerless life. A prayerless life may be a noisy life, and fuss around a great deal; but such a life is far removed from Him who, by day and night, prayed to God. --Selected\par\par LVALFill the Night With Song\par\par "Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night" (Job 35:10).\par\par Do you have sleepless nights, tossing on the hot pillow, and watching for the first glint of dawn? Ask the Divine Spirit to enable you to fix your thoughts on God your Maker, and believe that He can fill those lonely, dreary hours with song.\par\par Is yours the night of bereavement? Is it not often at such a time that God draws near, and assures the mourner that the Lord has need of the departed loved one, and called "the eager, earnest spirit to stand in the bright throng of the invisible, liberated, radiant, active, intent on some high mission"; and as the thought enters, is there not the beginning of a song?\par\par Is yours the night of discouragement and fancied or actual failure? No one understands you, your friends reproach; but your Maker draws nigh, and gives you a song--a song of hope, the song which is harmonious with the strong, deep music of His providence. Be ready to sing the songs that your Maker gives. --Selected\par\par "What then? Shall we sit idly down and say \par The night hath come; it is no longer day? \par Yet as the evening twilight fades away, \par The sky is filled with stars, invisible to day."\par\par The strength of the vessel can be demonstrated only by the hurricane, and the power of the Gospel can be fully shown only when the Christian is subjected to some fiery trial. If God would make manifest the fact that "He giveth songs in the night," He must first make it night. --William Taylor\par\par LVALFaith Can Change Any Situation\par\par "For every child of God overcomes the world: and the victorious principle which has overcome the world is our faith" (1 John 5:4, Weymouth).\par\par At every turn in the road one can find something that will rob him of his victory and peace of mind, if he permits it. Satan is a long way from having retired from the business of deluding and ruining God's children if he can. At every milestone it is well to look carefully to the thermometer of one's experience, to see whether the temperature is well up.\par\par Sometimes a person can, if he will, actually snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat, if he will resolutely put his faith up at just the right moment.\par\par Faith can change any situation. No matter how dark it is, no matter what the trouble may be, a quick lifting of the heart to God in a moment of real, actual faith in Him, will alter the situation in a moment.\par\par God is still on His throne, and He can turn defeat into victory in a second of time, if we really trust Him.\par\par "God is mighty! He is able to deliver;\par Faith can victor be in every trying hour;\par Fear and care and sin and sorrow be defeated\par By our faith in God's almighty, conquering power.\par\par "Have faith in God, the sun will shine,\par Though dark the clouds may be today;\par His heart has planned your path and mine,\par Have faith in God, have faith alway."\par\par "When one has faith, one does not retire; one stops the enemy where he finds him." --Marshal Foch\par\par ILVALUThe Eagle That Soars\par\par "Feed on his faithfulness" (Ps. 37:3, RV).\par\par I once met a poor colored woman, who earned a precarious living by hard daily labor; but who was a joyous triumphant Christian. "Ah, Nancy," said a gloomy Christian lady to her one day, "it is well enough to be happy now; but I should think the thoughts of your future would sober you.\par\par "Only suppose, for instance, you should have a spell of sickness, and be unable to work; or suppose your present employers should move away, and no one else should give you anything to do; or suppose--"\par\par "Stop!" cried Nancy, "I never supposes. De Lord is my Shepherd, and I knows I shall not want. And, Honey," she added, to her gloomy friend, "it's all dem supposes as is makin' you so mis'able. You'd better give dem all up, and just trust de Lord."\par\par There is one text that will take all the "supposes" out of a believer's life, if it be received and acted on in childlike faith; it is Hebrews 13:5, 6: "Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." --H. W. S.\par\par "There's a stream of trouble across my path;\par It is black and deep and wide.\par Bitter the hour the future hath\par When I cross its swelling tide.\par But I smile and sing and say:\par 'I will hope and trust alway;\par I'll bear the sorrow that comes tomorrow,\par But I'll borrow none today.'\par\par "Tomorrow's bridge is a dangerous thing;\par I dare not cross it now.\par I can see its timbers sway and swing,\par And its arches reel and bow.\par O heart, you must hope alway;\par You must sing and trust and say:\par 'I'll bear the sorrow that comes tomorrow,\par But I'll borrow none today."'\par\par The eagle that soars in the upper air does not worry itself as to how it is to cross rivers. --Selected\par\par LVAL 9God Meant It Unto Good\par\par "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28).\par\par How wide is this assertion of the Apostle Paul! He does not say, "We know that some things," or "most things," or "joyous things," but "ALL things." From the minutest to the most momentous; from the humblest event in daily providence to the great crisis hours in grace.\par\par And all things "work'--they are working; not all things have worked, or shall work; but it is a present operation.\par\par At this very moment, when some voice may be saying, "Thy judgments are a great deep," the angels above, who are watching the development of the great plan, are with folded wings exclaiming, "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." (Ps. 145:17)\par\par And then all things "work together." It is a beautiful blending. Many different colors, in themselves raw and unsightly, are required in order to weave the harmonious pattern.\par\par Many separate tones and notes of music, even discords and dissonances, are required to make up the harmonious anthem.\par\par Many separate wheels and joints are required to make the piece of machinery. Take a thread separately, or a note separately, or a wheel or a tooth of a wheel separately, and there may be neither use nor beauty discernible.\par\par But complete the web, combine the notes, put together the separate parts of steel and iron, and you see how perfect and symmetrical is the result. Here is the lesson for faith: "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." --Macduff\par\par In one thousand trials it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer's good, but nine hundred and ninety-nine of them, and one beside. --George Mueller\par\par "GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD" (Gen. 50:20).\par\par "God meant it unto good"--O blest assurance,\par Falling like sunshine all across life's way,\par Touching with Heaven's gold earth's darkest storm clouds,\par Bringing fresh peace and comforFLVALRt day by day.\par\par 'Twas not by chance the hands of faithless brethren\par Sold Joseph captive to a foreign land;\par Nor was it chance which, after years of suffering,\par Brought him before the monarch's throne to stand.\par\par One Eye all-seeing saw the need of thousands,\par And planned to meet it through that one lone soul;\par And through the weary days of prison bondage\par Was working towards the great and glorious goal.\par\par As yet the end was hidden from the captive,\par The iron entered even to his soul;\par His eye could scan the present path of sorrow,\par Not yet his gaze might rest upon the whole.\par\par Faith failed not through those long, dark days of waiting,\par His trust in God was recompensed at last,\par The moment came when God led forth his servant\par To succour many, all his sufferings past.\par\par "It was not you but God, that sent me hither,"\par Witnessed triumphant faith in after days;\par "God meant it unto good," no "second causes"\par Mingled their discord with his song of praise.\par\par "God means it unto good" for thee, beloved,\par The God of Joseph is the same today;\par His love permits afflictions strange and bitter,\par His hand is guiding through the unknown way.\par\par Thy Lord, who sees the end from the beginning,\par Hath purposes for thee of love untold.\par Then place thy hand in His and follow fearless,\par Till thou the riches of His grace behold.\par\par There, when thou standest in the Home of Glory,\par And all life's path ties open to thy gaze,\par Thine eyes shall see the hand which now thou trustest,\par And magnify His love through endless days.\par --Freda Hanbury Allen\par\par LVALGentleness of Spirit\par\par "The servant of the Lord must be gentle" (2 Tim. 2:24).\par\par When God conquers us and takes all the flint out of our nature, and we get deep visions into the Spirit of Jesus, we then see as never before the great rarity of gentleness of spirit in this dark and unheavenly world.\par\par The graces of the Spirit do not settle themselves down upon us by chance, and if we do not discern certain states of grace, and choose them, and in our thoughts nourish them, they never become fastened in our nature or behavior.\par\par Every advance step in grace must be preceded by first apprehending it, and then a prayerful resolve to have it.\par\par So few are willing to undergo the suffering out of which thorough gentleness comes. We must die before we are turned into gentleness, and crucifixion involves suffering; it is a real breaking and crushing of self, which wrings the heart and conquers the mind.\par\par There is a good deal of mere mental and logical sanctification nowadays, which is only a religious fiction. It consists of mentally putting one's self on the altar, and then mentally saying the altar sanctifies the gift, and then logically concluding therefore one is sanctified; and such an one goes forth with a gay, flippant, theological prattle about the deep things of God.\par\par But the natural heartstrings have not been snapped, and the Adamic flint has not been ground to powder, and the bosom has not throbbed with the lonely, surging sighs of Gethsemane; and not having the real death marks of Calvary, there cannot be that soft, sweet, gentle, floating, victorious, overflowing, triumphant life that flows like a spring morning from an empty tomb. --G. D. W.\par\par "And great grace was upon them all" (Acts 4:33).\par\par LVAL <Sweetness of the Storm\par\par "In everything ye are enriched by him" (1 Cor. 1:5).\par\par Have you ever seen men and women whom some disaster drove to a great act of prayer, and by and by the disaster was forgotten, but the sweetness of religion remained and warmed their souls?\par\par So have I seen a storm in later spring; and all was black, save where the lightning tore the cloud with thundering rent.\par\par The winds blew and the rains fell, as though heaven had opened its windows. What a devastation there was! Not a spider's web that was out of doors escaped the storm, which tore up even the strong-branched oak.\par\par But ere long the lightning had gone by, the thunder was spent and silent, the rain was over, the western wind came up with its sweet breath, the clouds were chased away, and the retreating storm threw a scarf of rainbows over her fair shoulders and resplendent neck, and looked back and smiled, and so withdrew and passed out of sight.\par\par But for weeks long the fields held up their bands full of ambrosial flowers, and all the summer through the grass was greener, the brooks were fuller, and the trees cast a more umbrageous shade, because the storm passed by--though all the rest of the earth had long ago forgotten the storm, its rainbows and its rain. --Theodore Parker\par\par God may not give us an easy journey to the Promised Land, but He will give us a safe one. --Bonar\par\par It was a storm that occasioned the discovery of the gold mines of India. Hath not a storm driven some to the discovery of the richer mines of the love of God in Christ?\par\par Is it raining, little flower? \par Be glad of rain; \par Too much sun would wither thee; \par 'Twill shine again. \par The clouds are very black, 'tis true; \par But just behind them shines the blue.\par\par Art thou weary, tender heart? \par Be glad of pain: \par In sorrow sweetest virtues grow, \par As flowers in rain. \par God watches, and thou wilt have sun, \par When clouds their perfect work haveLVAL done.\par --Lucy Larcom\par\par @LVALLPicture of Rest\par\par "My own peace I give to you" (John 14:27, Weymouth).\par\par Two painters each painted a picture to illustrate his conception of rest. The first chose for his scene a still, lone lake among the far-off mountains.\par\par The second threw on his canvas a thundering waterfall, with a fragile birch tree bending over the foam; and at the fork of the branch, almost wet with the cataract's spray, sat a robin on its nest.\par\par The first was only stagnation; the last was rest.\par\par Christ's life outwardly was one of the most troubled lives that ever lived: tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time until the worn body was laid in the grave. But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there.\par\par At any moment you might have gone to Him and found rest. And even when the human bloodhounds were dogging Him in the streets of Jerusalem, He turned to His disciples and offered them, as a last legacy, "My peace."\par\par Rest is not a hallowed feeling that comes over us in church; it is the repose of a heart set deep in God. --Drummond\par\par My peace I give in times of deepest grief, \par Imparting calm and trust and My relief.\par\par My peace I give when prayer seems lost, unheard; \par Know that My promises are ever in My Word.\par\par My peace I give when thou art left alone--\par The nightingale at night has sweetest tone.\par\par My peace I give in time of utter loss, \par The way of glory leads right to the cross.\par\par My peace I give when enemies will blame, \par Thy fellowship is sweet through cruel shame.\par\par My peace I give in agony and sweat, \par For mine own brow with bloody drops was wet.\par\par My peace I give when nearest friend betrays\par Peace that is merged in love, and for them prays.\par\par My peace I give when there's but death for thee\par The gateway is the cross to get to Me.\par --L. S. P.\par\par LVALWatch Well Thy Faith\par\par "I have prayed that your own faith may not fail" (Luke 22:32).\par\par Christian, take good care of thy faith, for recollect that faith is the only means whereby thou canst obtain blessings. Prayer cannot draw down answers from God's throne except it be the earnest prayer of the man who believes.\par\par Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth to Heaven, on which God's messages of love fly so fast that before we call He answers, and while we are yet speaking He hears us. But if that telegraphic wire of faith be snapped, how can we obtain the promise?\par\par Am I in trouble? I can obtain help for trouble by faith. Am I beaten about by the enemy? My soul on her dear Refuge leans by faith.\par\par But take faith away, then in vain I call to God. There is no other road betwixt my soul and Heaven. Blockade the road, and how can I communicate with the Great King?\par\par Faith links me with Divinity. Faith clothes me with the power of Jehovah. Faith insures every attribute of God in my defense. It helps me to defy the hosts of hell. It makes me march triumphant over the necks of my enemies. But without faith how can I receive anything from the Lord?\par\par Oh, then, Christian, watch well thy faith. "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par We boast of being so practical a people that we want to have a surer thing than faith. But did not Paul say that the promise was, by FAITH that it might be SURE? (Romans 4:16) --Dan Crawford.\par\par Faith honors God; God honors faith.\par\par LVAL @It's Raining Blessing\par\par "For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction" (Gen. 41:52).\par\par The summer showers are falling. The poet stands by the window watching them. They are beating and buffeting the earth with their fierce downpour. But the poet sees in his imaginings more than the showers which are falling before his eyes. He sees myriads of lovely flowers which shall be soon breaking forth from the watered earth, filling it with matchless beauty and fragrance. And so he sings:\par\par "It isn't raining rain for me, it's raining daffodils; \par In every dimpling drop I see wild flowers upon the hills. \par A cloud of gray engulfs the day, and overwhelms the town; \par It isn't raining rain for me: it's raining roses down."\par\par Perchance some one of God's chastened children is even now saying, "O God, it is raining hard for me tonight.\par\par "Testings are raining upon me which seem beyond my power to endure. Disappointments are raining fast, to the utter defeat of all my chosen plans. Bereavements are raining into my life which are making my shrinking heart quiver in its intensity of suffering. The rain of affliction is surely beating down upon my soul these days."\par\par Withal, friend, you are mistaken. It isn't raining rain for you. It's raining blessing. For, if you will but believe your Father's Word, under that beating rain are springing up spiritual flowers of such fragrance and beauty as never before grew in that stormless, unchastened life of yours.\par\par You indeed see the rain. But do you see also the flowers? You are pained by the testings. But God sees the sweet flower of faith which is upspringing in your life under those very trials.\par\par You shrink from the suffering. But God sees the tender compassion for other sufferers which is finding birth in your soul.\par\par Your heart winces under the sore bereavement. But God sees the deepening and enriching which that sorrow has brought to you.\par\par It isn't raining afflictions for yo2LVAL>u. It is raining tenderness, love, compassion, patience, and a thousand other flowers and fruits of the blessed Spirit, which are bringing into your life such a spiritual enrichment as all the fullness of worldly prosperity and ease was never able to beget in your innermost soul. --J. M. McC.\par\par SONGS ACROSS THE STORM\par\par "A harp stood in the moveless air,\par Where showers of sunshine washed a thousand fragrant blooms;\par A traveler bowed with loads of care\par Essayed from morning till the dusk of evening glooms \par To thrum sweet sounds from the songless strings;\par The pilgrim strives in vain with each unanswering chord, \par Until the tempest's thunder sings,\par And, moving on the storm, the fingers of the Lord \par A wondrous melody awakes;\par And though the battling winds their soldier deeds perform, \par Their trumpet-sound brave music makes\par While God's assuring voice sings love across the storm"\par\par LVALPrayer Will Be Answered\par\par "My expectation is from him" (Ps. 62:5).\par\par Our too general neglect of looking for answers to what we ask, shows how little we are in earnest in our petitions. A husbandman is not content without the harvest; a marksman will observe whether the ball hits the target; a physician watches the effect of the medicine which he gives; and shall the Christian be careless about the effect of his labor?\par\par Every prayer of the Christian, made in faith, according to the will of God, for which God has promised, offered up in the name of Jesus Christ, and under the influence of the Spirit, whether for temporal or for spiritual blessings, is, or will be, fully answered.\par\par God always answers the general design and intention of His people's prayers, in doing that which, all things considered, is most for His own glory and their spiritual and eternal welfare. As we never find that Jesus Christ rejected a single supplicant who came to Him for mercy, so we believe that no prayer made in His name will be in vain.\par\par The answer to prayer may be approaching, though we discern not its coming. The seed that lies under ground in winter is taking root in order to a spring and harvest, though it appears not above ground, but seems dead and lost. --Bickersteth\par\par Delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, but they give us opportunities of honoring God by our steadfast confidence in Him under apparent repulses. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par LVAL CFluttering Spirit\par\par "And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings" (Ezek. 1:25).\par\par That is the letting down of the wings? People so often say, "How do you get the voice of the Lord?" Here is the secret. They heard the voice when they stood and let down their wings.\par\par We have seen a bird with fluttering wings; though standing still, its wings are fluttering. But here we are told they heard the voice when they stood and had let down their wings.\par\par Do we not sometimes kneel or sit before the Lord and yet feel conscious of a fluttering of our spirits? Not a real stillness in His presence.\par\par A dear one told me several days ago of a certain thing she prayed about, "But," said she, "I did not wait until the answer came."\par\par She did not get still enough to hear Him speak, but went away and followed her own thought in the matter. And the result proved disastrous and she had to retrace her steps.\par\par Oh, how much energy is wasted! How much time is lost by not letting down the wings of our spirit and getting very quiet before Him! Oh, the calm, the rest, the peace which come as we wait In His presence until we hear from Him!\par\par Then, ah then, we can go like lightning, and turn not as we go but go straight forward whithersoever the Spirit goes. (Ezek. 1:1, 20)\par\par "Be still! Just now be still! \par Something thy soul hath never heard, \par Something unknown to any song of bird, \par Something unknown to any wind, or wave, or star, \par A message from the Fatherland afar, \par That with sweet joy the homesick soul shall thrill, \par Cometh to thee if thou canst but be still.\par\par "Be still! Just now be still! \par There comes a presence very mild and sweet; \par White are the sandals of His noiseless feet. \par It is the Comforter whom Jesus sent \par To teach thee what the words He uttered meant. \par The willing, waiting spirit, He doth fill. \par If thou would'st hearLVAL His message, \par Dear soul, be still!"\par\par LVAL ELimp Hands and Feeble Knees\par\par Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed" (Heb. 12:12-13).\par\par This is God's word of encouragement to us to lift up the hands of faith, and confirm the knees of prayer. Often our faith grows tired, languid, and relaxed, and our prayers lose their force and effectiveness.\par\par The figure used here is a very striking one. The idea seems to be that we become discouraged and so timid that a little obstacle depresses and frightens us, and we are tempted to walk around it, and not face it: to take the easier way.\par\par Perhaps it is some physical trouble that God is ready to heal, but the exertion is hard, or it is easier to secure some human help, or walk around in some other way.\par\par There are many ways of walking around emergencies instead of going straight through them. How often we come up against something that appalls us, and we want to evade the issue with the excuse:\par\par "I am not quite ready for that now." Some sacrifice is to be made, some obedience demanded, some Jericho to be taken, some soul that we have not the courage to claim and carry through, some prayer that is hanging fire, or perhaps some physical trouble that is half healed and we are walking around it.\par\par God says, "Lift up the hands that hang down." March straight through the flood, and lo, the waters will divide, the Red Sea will open, the Jordan will part, and the Lord will lead you through to victory.\par\par Don't let your feet "be turned out of the way," but let your body "be healed," your faith strengthened. Go right ahead and leave no Jericho behind you unconquered and no place where Satan can say that he was too much for you. This is a profitable lesson and an intensely practical one. How often have we been in that place. Perhaps you are there today. --A. B. Simpson\par\par Pay as little attention to discouragementOLVAL[ as possible. Plough ahead as a steamer does, rough or smooth--rain or shine. To carry your cargo and make your port is the point. --Maltbie D. Babcock\par\par LVAL GBread Corn is Bruised\par\par "Bread corn is bruised" (Isa. 28:28).\par\par Many of us cannot be used to become food for the world's hunger until we are broken in Christ's hands. "Bread corn is bruised." Christ's blessing ofttimes means sorrow, but even sorrow is not too great a price to pay for the privilege of touching other lives with benediction. The sweetest things in this world today have come to us through tears and pain. --J. R. Miller\par\par God has made me bread for His elect, and if it be needful that the bread must be ground in the teeth of the lion to feed His children, blessed be the name of the Lord. --Ignatius\par\par "We must burn out before we can give out. We cease to bless when we cease to bleed."\par\par "Poverty, hardship and misfortune have pressed many a life to moral heroism and spiritual greatness. Difficulty challenges energy and perseverance. It calls into activity the strongest qualities of the soul. It was the weights on father's old clock that kept it going. Many a head wind has been utilized to make port. God has appointed opposition as an incentive to faith and holy activity.\par\par "The most illustrious characters of the Bible were bruised and threshed and ground into bread for the hungry. Abraham's diploma styles him as 'the father of the faithful.' That was because he stood at the head of his class in affliction and obedience.\par\par "Jacob suffered severe threshings and grindings. Joseph was bruised and beaten and had to go through Potiphar's kitchen and Egypt's prison to get to his throne.\par\par "David, hunted like a partridge on the mountain, bruised, weary and footsore, was ground into bread for a kingdom. Paul never could have been bread for Caesar's household if he had not endured the bruising, whippings and stonings. He was ground into fine flour for the royal family."\par\par "Like combat, like victory. If for you He has appointed special trials, be assured that in His heart He has kept for you a special place. A soul sorely bruised is a soLVALul elect."\par\par LVAL ISecret Fellowship\par\par "Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left" (Isa. 30:21).\par\par When we are in doubt or difficulty, when many voices urge this course or the other, when prudence utters one advice and faith another, then let us be still, hushing each intruder, calming ourselves in the sacred hush of God's presence; let us study His Word in the attitude of devout attention; let us lift up our nature into the pure light of His face, eager only to know what God the Lord shall determine--and ere long a very distinct impression will be made, the unmistakable forth-telling of His secret counsel.\par\par It is not wise in the earlier stages of Christian life to depend on this alone, but to wait for the corroboration of circumstances. But those who have had many dealings with God know well the value of secret fellowship with Him, to ascertain His will.\par\par Are you in difficulty about your way? Go to God with your question; get direction from the light of His smile or the cloud of His refusal.\par\par If you will only get alone, where the lights and shadows of earth cannot interfere, where human opinions fail to reach and if you will dare to wait there silent and expectant, though all around you insist on immediate decision or action--the will of God will be made clear; and you will have a new conception of God, a deeper insight into His nature and heart of love, which shall be for yourself alone a rapturous experience, to abide your precious perquisite forever, the rich guerdon of those long waiting hours. --David\par\par "STAND STILL," my soul, for so thy Lord commands: \par E'en when thy way seems blocked, leave it in His wise hands; \par His arm is mighty to divide the wave. \par "Stand still," my soul, "stand still" and thou shalt see \par How God can work the "impossible" for thee, \par For with a great deliverance He doth save.\par\par Be not impatient, but in stillness sta[LVALgnd, \par Even when compassed 'round on every hand, \par In ways thy spirit does not comprehend. \par God cannot clear thy way till thou art still, \par That He may work in thee His blessed will, \par And all thy heart and will to Him do bend.\par\par "BE STILL," my soul, for just as thou art still, \par Can God reveal Himself to thee; until \par Through thee His love and light and life can freely flow; \par In stillness God can work through thee and reach \par The souls around thee. He then through thee can teach \par His lessons, and His power in weakness show.\par\par "BE STILL"--a deeper step in faith and rest. \par "Be still and know" thy Father knoweth best \par The way to lead His child to that fair land, \par A "summer" land, where quiet waters flow; \par Where longing souls are satisfied, and "know \par Their God," and praise for all that He has planned.\par --Selected\par\par LVALPlaced For a Purpose\par\par "It was noised that he was in the house" (Mark 2:1).\par\par The polyps which construct the coral reefs, work away under water, never dreaming that they are building the foundation of a new island on which, by-and-by, plants and animals will live and children of God be born and fitted for eternal glory as joint-heirs of Christ.\par\par If your place in God's ranks is a hidden and secluded one, beloved, do not murmur, do not complain, do not seek to get out of God's will, if He has placed you there; for without the polyps, the coral reefs would never be built, and God needs some who are willing to be spiritual polyps, and work away out of sight of men, but sustained by the Holy Ghost and in full view of Heaven.\par\par The day will come when Jesus will give the rewards, and He makes no mistakes, although some people may wonder how you came to merit such a reward, as they had never heard of you before. --Selected\par\par Just where you stand in the conflict,\par There is your place.\par Just where you think you are useless,\par Hide not your face.\par God placed you there for a purpose,\par Whate'er it be;\par Think He has chosen you for it;\par Work loyally.\par Gird on your armor! Be faithful\par At toil or rest!\par Whate'er it be, never doubting\par God's way is best.\par Out in the fight or on picket,\par Stand firm and true;\par This is the work which your Master\par Gives you to do. \par --Selected\par\par Safely we may leave the crowded meeting, the inspiring mountain top, the helpful fellowship of "just men," and betake ourselves to our dim homely Emmaus, or to our dread public Colossae, or even to our far Macedonia in the mission field, quietly confident that just where He has placed us, in the usual round of life, He ordains that the borderland may be possessed, the victory won. --Northcote Deck\par\par ZLVALfRehearse Your Troubles to God Only\par\par "Love covereth" (Prov. 10:12). "Be eager in pursuit of this love" (1 Cor. 13:7-13, Weymouth).\par\par Rehearse your troubles to God only. Not long ago I read in a paper a bit of personal experience from a precious child of God, and it made such an impression upon me that I record it here. She wrote:\par\par "I found myself one midnight wholly sleepless as the surges of a cruel injustice swept over me, and the love which covers seemed to have crept out of my heart. Then I cried to God in an agony for the power to obey His injunction, 'Love covereth.'\par\par "Immediately the Spirit began to work in me the power that brought about the forgetfulness.\par\par "Mentally I dug a grave. Deliberately I threw up the earth until the excavation was deep.\par\par "Sorrowfully I lowered into it the thing which wounded me. Quickly I shoveled in the clods.\par\par "Over the mound I carefully laid the green sods. Then I covered it with white roses and forget-me-nots, and quickly walked away.\par\par "Sweet sleep came. The wound which had been so nearly deadly was healed without a scar, and I know not today what caused my grief."\par\par "There was a scar on yonder mountain-side,\par Gashed out where once the cruel storm had trod;\par A barren, desolate chasm, reaching wide,\par Across the soft green sod.\par\par "But years crept by beneath the purple pines,\par And veiled the scar with grass and moss once more,\par And left it fairer now with flowers and vines\par Than it had been before.\par\par "There was a wound once in a gentle heart,\par Whence all life's sweetness seemed to ebb and die;\par And love's confiding changed to bitter smart,\par While slow, sad years went by.\par\par "Yet as they passed, unseen an angel stole\par And laid a balm of healing on the pain,\par Till love grew purer in the heart made whole,\par And peace came back again."\par\par LVAL Don't Look at the Waves\par\par "When Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me" (Matt. 14:29-30).\par\par Peter had a little faith in the midst of his doubts, says Bunyan; and so with crying and coming he was brought to Christ.\par\par But here you see that sight was a hindrance; the waves were none of his business when once he had set out; all Peter had any concern with, was the pathway of light that came gleaming across the darkness from where Christ stood. If it was tenfold Egypt beyond that, Peter had no call to look and see.\par\par When the Lord shall call to you over the waters, "Come," step gladly forth. Look not for a moment away from Him.\par\par Not by measuring the waves can you prevail; not by gauging the wind will you grow strong; to scan the danger may be to fall before it; to pause at the difficulties, is to have them break above your head. Lift up your eyes unto the hills, and go forward--there is no other way.\par\par "Dost thou fear to launch away? \par Faith lets go to swim!\par Never will He let thee go;\par 'Tis by trusting thou shalt know \par Fellowship with Him."\par\par LVAL NChallenge Thy Mountain in the Lord\par\par "Concerning the work of my hands command ye me" (Isa. 45:11).\par\par Our Lord spoke in this tone when He said, "Father, I will." Joshua used it when, in the supreme moment of triumph, he lifted up his spear toward the setting sun, and cried, "Sun, stand thou still!"\par\par Elijah used it when he shut the heavens for three years and six months, and again opened them.\par\par Luther used it when, kneeling by the dying Melanchthon, he forbade death to take his prey.\par\par It is a marvelous relationship into which God bids us enter. We are familiar with words like those which follow in this paragraph: "I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded." But that God should invite us to command Him, this is a change in relationship which is altogether startling!\par\par What a difference there is between this attitude and the hesitating, halting, unbelieving prayers to which we are accustomed, and which by their perpetual repetition lose edge and point!\par\par How often during His earthly life did Jesus put men into a position to command Him! When entering Jericho, He stood still, and said to the blind beggars:\par\par "What will ye that I shall do unto you?" It was as though He said, "I am yours to command." \par\par Can we ever forget how He yielded to the Syrophenician woman the key to His resources and told her to help herself even as she would?\par\par What mortal mind can realize the full significance of the position to which our God lovingly raises His little children? He seems to say, "All my resources are at your command." "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do." --F. B. Meyer\par\par Say to this mountain, "Go,\par Be cast into the sea";\par And doubt not in thine heart\par That it shall be to thee.\par It shall be done, doubt not His Word,\par Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!\par\par Claim thy redemption right,\par Purchased by precious blood;\par The Trinity unite\par To maLVALke it true and good.\par It shall be done, obey the Word\par Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!\par\par Self, sickness, sorrow, sin,\par The Lord did meet that day\par On His beloved One,\par And thou art "loosed away."\par It has been done, rest on His Word,\par Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!\par\par Compass the frowning wall\par With silent prayer, then raise--\par Before its ramparts fall--\par The victor's shout of praise.\par It shall be done, faith rests assured,\par Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!\par\par The two-leaved gates of brass,\par The bars of iron yield,\par To let the faithful pass,\par Conquerors in every field.\par It shall be done, the foe ignored,\par Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!\par\par Take then the faith of God,\par Free from the taint of doubt;\par The miracle-working rod\par That casts all reasoning' out.\par It shall be done, stand on the Word,\par Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!\par --Selected\par\par LVAL PMarch Forward\par\par "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward" (Exod. 14:15).\par\par Imagine, O child of God, if you can, that triumphal march! The excited children restrained from ejaculations of wonder by the perpetual hush of their parents; the most uncontrollable excitement of the women as they found themselves suddenly saved from a fate worse than death; while the men followed or accompanied them ashamed or confounded that they had ever mistrusted God or murmured against Moses; and as you see those mighty walls of water piled by the outstretched hand of the Eternal, in response to the faith of a single man, learn what God will do for His own.\par\par Dread not any result of implicit obedience to His command; fear not the angry waters which, in their proud insolence, forbid your progress. Above the voices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, "the Lord sitteth King for ever."\par\par A storm is only as the outskirts of His robe, the symptom of His advent, the environment of His presence.\par\par Dare to trust Him; dare to follow Him! And discover that the very forces which barred your progress and threatened your life, at His bidding become the materials of which an avenue is made to liberty. --F. B. Meyer\par\par Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life,\par Where, in spite of all you can do,\par There is no way out, there is no way back, \par There is no other way but through?\par Then wait on the Lord with a trust serene \par Till the night of your fear is gone;\par He will send the wind, He will heap the floods, \par When He says to your soul, "Go on."\par\par And His hand will lead you through--clear through--\par Ere the watery walls roll down,\par No foe can reach you, no wave can touch, \par No mightiest sea can drown;\par The tossing billows may rear their crests, \par Their foam at your feet may break, \par But over their bed you shall walk dry shod \par In the path that your Lord will make.\par\par In the morning watch, 'neathLVAL the lifted cloud,\par You shall see but the Lord alone,\par When He leads you on from the place of the sea \par To a land that you have not known;\par And your fears shall pass as your foes have passed, \par You shall be no more afraid;\par You shall sing His praise in a better place, \par A place that His hand has made.\par --Annie Johnson Flint\par\par LVAL RThe Answer is God\par\par "For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" (Rom. 3:3).\par\par I think that I can trace every scrap of sorrow in my life to simple unbelief. How could I be anything but quite happy if I believed always that all the past is forgiven, and all the present furnished with power, and all the future bright with hope because of the same abiding facts which do not change with my mood, do not stumble because I totter and stagger at the promise through unbelief, but stand firm and clear with their peaks of pearl cleaving the air of Eternity, and the bases of their hills rooted unfathomably in the Rock of God. Mont Blanc does not become a phantom or a mist because a climber grows dizzy on its side. --James Smetham\par\par Is it any wonder that, when we stagger at any promise of God through unbelief, we do not receive it? Not that faith merits an answer, or in any way earns it, or works it out; but God has made believing a condition of receiving, and the Giver has a sovereign right to choose His own terms of gift. --Rev. Samuel Hart\par\par Unbelief says, "How can such and such things be?" It is full of "hows"; but faith has one great answer to the ten thousand "hows," and that answer is--GOD! --C. H. M.\par\par No praying man or woman accomplishes so much with so little expenditure of time as when he or she is praying.\par\par If there should arise, it has been said--and the words are surely true to the thought of our Lord Jesus Christ in all His teaching on prayer--if there should arise ONE UTTERLY BELIEVING MAN, the history of the world might be changed.\par\par Will YOU not be that one in the providence and guidance of God our Father? --A. E. McAdam\par\par Prayer without faith degenerates into objectless routine, or soulless hypocrisy. Prayer with faith brings Omnipotence to back our petitions. Better not pray unless and until your whole being responds to the efficacy of your supplication. When the true prayer is breathe!LVAL-d, earth and heaven, the past and the future, say Amen. And Christ prayed such prayers. --P. C. M.\par\par "Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God."\par\par LVALThe Lord is My Strength\par\par "The Lord hath sent strength for thee" (Ps. 68.28, PBV).\par\par The Lord imparts unto us that primary strength of character which makes everything in life work with intensity and decision. We are "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." And the strength is continuous; reserves of power come to us which we cannot exhaust.\par\par "As thy days, so shall thy strength be"--strength of will, strength of affection, strength of judgment, strength of ideals and achievement.\par\par "The Lord is my strength" to go on. He gives us power to tread the dead level, to walk the long lane that seems never to have a turning, to go through those long reaches of life which afford no pleasant surprise, and which depress the spirits in the sameness of a terrible drudgery.\par\par "The Lord is my strength" to go up. He is to me the power by which I can climb the Hill Difficulty and not be afraid.\par\par "The Lord is my strength" to go down. It is when we leave the bracing heights, where the wind and the sun have been about us, and when we begin to come down the hill into closer and more sultry spheres, that the heart is apt to grow faint.\par\par I heard a man say the other day concerning his growing physical frailty, "It is the coming down that tires me!"\par\par "The Lord is my strength" to sit still. And how difficult is the attainment! Do we not often say to one another, in seasons when we are compelled to be quiet, "If only I could do something!"\par\par When the child is ill, and the mother stands by in comparative impotence, how severe is the test! But to do nothing, just to sit still and wait, requires tremendous strength. "The Lord is my strength!" "Our sufficiency is of God." The Silver Lining\par\par LVALA Door Opened in Heaven\par\par "A door opened in heaven" (Rev. 4:1).\par\par You must remember that John was in the Isle of Patmos, a lone, rocky, inhospitable prison, for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And yet to him, under such circumstances, separated from all the loved ones of Ephesus; debarred from the worship of the Church; condemned to the companionship of uncongenial fellow-captives, were vouchsafed these visions. For him, also a door was opened.\par\par We are reminded of Jacob, exiled from his father's house, who laid himself down in a desert place to sleep, and in his dreams beheld a ladder which united Heaven with earth, and at the top stood God.\par\par Not to these only, but to many more, doors have been opened into Heaven, when, so far as the world was concerned, it seemed as though their circumstances were altogether unlikely for such revelations.\par\par To prisoners and captives; to constant sufferers, bound by iron chains of pain to sick couches; to lonely pilgrims and wanderers; to women detained from the Lord's house by the demands of home, how often has the door been opened to Heaven.\par\par But there are conditions. You must know what it is to be in the Spirit; you must be pure in heart and obedient in faith; you must be willing to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; then when God is all in all to us, when we live, move and have our being in His favor, to us also will the door be opened. --Daily Devotional Commentary\par\par "God hath His mountains bleak and bare,\par Where He doth bid us rest awhile;\par Crags where we breathe a purer air, \par Lone peaks that catch the day's first smile.\par\par "God hath His deserts broad and brown--\par A solitude--a sea of sand,\par Where He doth let heaven's curtain down, \par Unknit by His Almighty hand."\par\par LVAL VThere We Saw the Giants\par\par "There we saw the giants" (Num. 13:33).\par\par Yes, they saw the giants, but Caleb and Joshua saw God! Those who doubt say, "We be not able to go up." Those who believe say, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able."\par\par Giants stand for great difficulties; and giants are stalking everywhere. They are in our families, in our churches, in our social life, in our own hearts; and we must overcome them or they will eat us up, as these men of old said of the giants of Canaan. \par\par The men of faith said, "They are bread for us; we will eat them up." In other words, "We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to overcome."\par\par Now the fact is, unless we have the overcoming faith we shall be eaten up, consumed by the giants in our path. Let us have the spirit of faith that these men of faith had, and see God, and He will take care of the difficulties. --Selected\par\par It is when we are in the way of duty that we find giants. It was when Israel was going forward that the, giants appeared. When they turned back into the wilderness they found none.\par\par There is a prevalent idea that the power of God in a human life should lift us above all trials and conflicts. The fact is, the power of God always brings a conflict and a struggle. One would have thought that on his great missionary journey to Rome, Paul would have been carried by some mighty providence above the power of storms and tempests and enemies. But, on the contrary, it was one long, hard fight with persecuting Jews, with wild tempests, with venomous vipers and all the powers of earth and hell, and at last he was saved, as it seemed, by the narrowest margin, and had to swim ashore at Malta on a piece of wreckage and barely escape a watery grave.\par\par Was that like a God of infinite power? Yes, just like Him. And so Paul tells us that when he took the Lord Jesus Christ as the life of his body, a severe conflict immediately came; indeed, a conflLVAL Wict that never ended, a pressure that was persistent, but out of which he always emerged victorious through the strength of Jesus Christ.\par\par The language in which he describes this is most graphic. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body."\par\par What a ceaseless, strenuous struggle! It is impossible to express in English the forcible language of the original. There are five pictures in succession. In the first, the idea is crowding enemies pressing in from every side, and yet not crushing him because the police of heaven cleared the way just wide enough for him to get through. The literal translation would be, "We are crowded on every side, but not crushed."\par\par The second picture is that of one whose way seems utterly closed and yet he has pressed through; there is light enough to show him the next step. The Revised Version translates it, "Perplexed but not unto despair." Rotherham still more literally renders it, "Without a way, but not without a by-way."\par\par The third figure is that of an enemy in hot pursuit while the divine Defender still stands by, and he is not left alone. Again we adopt the fine rendering of Rotherham, "Pursued but not abandoned."\par\par The fourth figure is still more vivid and dramatic. The enemy has overtaken him, has struck him, has knocked him down. But it is not a fatal blow; he is able to rise again. It might be translated, "Overthrown but not overcome."\par\par Once more the figure advances, and now it seems to be even death itself, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." But he does not die, for "the life also of Jesus" now comes to his aid and he lives in the life of another until his life work is done.\par\par The reason so many fail in this experience of divine healing is because they expect toLVAL have it all without a struggle, and when the conflict comes and the battle wages long, they become discouraged and surrender. God has nothing worth having that is easy. There are no cheap goods in the heavenly market. Our redemption cost all that God had to give, and everything worth having is expensive. Hard places are the very school of faith and character, and if we are to rise over mere human strength and prove the power of life divine in these mortal bodies, it must be through a process of conflict that may well be called the birth travail of a new life. It is the old figure of the bush that burned, but was not consumed, or of the Vision in the house of the Interpreter of the flame that would not expire, notwithstanding the fact that the demon ceaselessly poured water on it, because in the background stood an angel ever pouring oil and keeping the flame aglow.\par\par No, dear suffering child of God, you cannot fail if only you dare to believe, to stand fast and refuse to be overcome. --Tract.\par\par LVAL YI Heard a Still Voice\par\par "There was silence, and I heard a still voice" (Job 4:16, margin).\par\par A score of years ago, a friend placed in my hand a book called True Peace. It was an old mediaeval message, and it had but one thought--that God was waiting in the depths of my being to talk to me if I would only get still enough to hear His voice.\par\par I thought this would be a very easy matter, and so began to get still. But I had no sooner commenced than a perfect pandemonium of voices reached my ears, a thousand clamoring notes from without and within, until I could hear nothing but their noise and din.\par\par Some were my own voices, my own questions, some my very prayers. Others were suggestions of the tempter and the voices from the world's turmoil.\par\par In every direction I was pulled and pushed and greeted with noisy acclamations and unspeakable unrest. It seemed necessary for me to listen to some of them and to answer some of them; but God said,\par\par "Be still, and know that I am God." Then came the conflict of thoughts for tomorrow, and its duties and cares; but God said, "Be still."\par\par And as I listened, and slowly learned to obey, and shut my ears to every sound, I found after a while that when the other voices ceased, or I ceased to hear them, there was a still small voice in the depths of my being that began to speak with an inexpressible tenderness, power and comfort.\par\par As I listened, it became to me the voice of prayer, the voice of wisdom, the voice of duty, and I did not need to think so hard, or pray so hard, or trust so hard; but that "still small voice" of the Holy Spirit in my heart was God's prayer in my secret soul, was God's answer to all my questions, was God's life and strength for soul and body, and became the substance of all knowledge, and all prayer and all blessing: for it was the living GOD Himself as my life, my all.\par\par It is thus that our spirit drinks in the life of our risen Lord, and we go forth to life's conflicts and duLVALties like a flower that has drunk in, through the shades of night, the cool and crystal drops of dew. But as dew never falls on a stormy night, go the dews of His grace never come to the restless soul. --A. B. Simpson\par \par\par ZLVALfPromises Fulfilled\par\par "There shall be a performance" (Luke 1:45).\par\par "My words shall be fulfilled in their season" (their fixed appointed time) (Greek, Luke 1:20).\par\par There shall be a performance of those things\par That loving heart hath waited long to see;\par Those words shall be fulfilled to which she clings,\par Because her God hath promised faithfully;\par And, knowing Him, she ne'er can doubt His Word;\par "He speaks and it is done." The mighty Lord!\par\par There shall be a performance of those things,\par O burdened heart, rest ever in His care;\par In quietness beneath His shadowing wings\par Await the answer to thy longing prayer.\par When thou hast "cast thy care," the heart then sings,\par There shall be a performance of those things.\par\par There shall be a performance of those things,\par O tired heart, believe and wait and pray;\par At eventide the peaceful vesper rings,\par Though cloud and rain and storm have filled the day.\par Faith pierces through the mist of doubt that bars\par The coming night sometimes, and finds the stars.\par\par There shall be a performance of those things,\par O trusting heart, the Lord to thee hath told;\par Let Faith and Hope arise, and plume their wings,\par And soar towards the sunrise clouds of gold;\par The portals of the rosy dawn swing wide,\par Revealing joys the darkening night did hide.\par --Bessie Porter\par\par Matthew Henry says: "We must depend upon the performance of the promise, when all the ways leading up to it are shut up. 'For all the promises of God in him are yea (yes), and in him Amen (so be it), unto the glory of God by us.' (2 Cor. 1:20).\par\par LVAL \Step Out Boldly\par\par "When thou goest, thy way shall be opened up before thee step by step" (Proverbs 4:12, free translation).\par\par The Lord never builds a bridge of faith except under the feet of the faith-filled traveler. If He builds the bridge a rod ahead, it would not be a bridge of faith. That which is of sight is not of faith.\par\par There is a self-opening gate which is sometimes used in country roads. It stands fast and firm across the road as a traveler approaches it. If he stops before he gets to it, it will not open. But if he will drive right at it, his wagon wheels press the springs below the roadway, and the gate swings back to let him through. He must push right on at the closed gate, or it will continue to be closed.\par\par This illustrates the way to pass every barrier on the road of duty. Whether it is a river, a gate, or a mountain, all the child of Jesus has to do is to go for it. If it is a river, it will dry up when you put your feet in its waters. If it is a gate, it will fly open when you are near enough to it, and are still pushing on. If it is a mountain, it will be lifted up and cast into a sea when you come squarely up, without flinching, to where you thought it was.\par\par Is there a great barrier across your path of duty just now? Just go for it, in the name of the Lord, and it won't be there. \par --Henry Clay Trumbull\par\par We sit and weep in vain. The voice of the Almighty said, "Up and onward forevermore." Let us move on and step out boldly, though it be into the night, and we can scarcely see the way. The path will open, as we progress, like the trail through the forest, or the Alpine pass, which discloses but a few rods of its length from any single point of view. Press on! If necessary, we will find even the pillar of cloud and fire to mark our journey through the wilderness. There are guides and wayside inns along the road. We will find food, clothes and friends at every stage of the journey, and as Rutherford so quaintly says: "However matt`LVALlers go, the worst will be a tired traveler and a joyful and sweet welcome home."\par\par I'm going by the upper road, for that \par still holds the sun,\par I'm climbing through night's pastures where \par the starry rivers run:\par\par If you should think to seek me in my\par old dark abode,\par You'll find this writing on the door,\par "He's on the Upper Road." \par --Selected\par\par LVALMaster Plowman\par\par "Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?" (Isa. 28:24).\par\par One day in early summer I walked past a beautiful meadow. The grass was as soft and thick and fine as an immense green Oriental rug. In one corner stood a fine old tree, a sanctuary for numberless wild birds; the crisp, sweet air was full of their happy songs. Two cows lay in the shade, the very picture of content.\par\par Down by the roadside the saucy dandelion mingled his gold with the royal purple of the wild violet.\par\par I leaned against the fence for a long time, feasting my hungry eyes, and thinking in my soul that God never made a fairer spot than my lovely meadow.\par\par The next day I passed that way again, and lo! the hand of the despoiler had been there. A plowman and his great plow, now standing idle in the furrow, had in a day wrought a terrible havoc. Instead of the green grass there was turned up to view the ugly, bare, brown earth; instead of the singing birds there were only a few hens industriously scratching for worms. Gone were the dandelion and the pretty violet. I said in my grief, "How could any one spoil a thing so fair?"\par\par Then my eyes were opened by some unseen hand, and I saw a vision, a vision of a field of ripe corn ready for the harvest. I could see the giant, heavily laden stalks in the autumn sun; I could almost hear the music of the wind as it would sweep across the golden tassels. And before I was aware, the brown earth took on a splendor it had not had the day before.\par\par Oh, that we might always catch the vision of an abundant harvest, when the great Master Plowman comes, as He often does, and furrows through our very souls, uprooting and turning under that which we thought most fair, and leaving for our tortured gaze only the bare and the unbeautiful. --Selected\par\par Why should I start at the plough of my Lord, that maketh the deep furrows on my soul? I know He is no idle husbandman, He purposeth a crop. --Samuel Rutherford\par\par LVALDelayed Blessings\par\par "For the Vision is yet for an appointed time?though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Hab. 2:3).\par\par In the charming little booklet, Expectation Corner, Adam Slowman was led into the Lord's treasure houses, and among many other wonders there revealed to him was the "Delayed Blessings Office," where God kept certain things, prayed for, until the wise time came to send them.\par\par It takes a long time for some pensioners to learn that delays are not denials. Ah, there are secrets of love and wisdom in the "Delayed Blessings Department," which are little dreamt of! Men would pluck their mercies green when the Lord would have them ripe. "Therefore will the Lord WAIT, that He may be gracious unto you" (Isa. 30:18). He is watching in the hard places and will not allow one trial too many; He will let the dross be consumed, and then He will come gloriously to your help.\par\par Do not grieve Him by doubting His love. Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on the way to you, and you will be abundantly rewarded for the delay \par which has tried your faith.\par\par O Thou of little faith,\par God hath not failed thee yet!\par When all looks dark and gloomy,\par Thou dost so soon forget--\par\par Forget that He has led thee,\par And gently cleared thy way;\par On clouds has poured His sunshine,\par And turned thy night to day.\par\par And if He's helped thee hitherto,\par He will not fail thee now;\par How it must wound His loving heart\par To see thy anxious brow!\par\par Oh! doubt not any longer,\par To Him commit thy way,\par Whom in the past thou trusted,\par And is "just the same today."\par --Selected\par\par LVALVineyards in the Wilderness\par\par "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness?And I will give her her vineyards from thence" (Hosea 2:14-15).\par\par A strange place to find vineyards--in the wilderness! And can it be that the riches which a soul needs can be obtained in the wilderness, which stands for a lonely place, out of which you can seldom find your way? It would seem so, and not only that, but the "Valley of Achor," which means bitterness, is called a door of hope. And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth!\par\par Yes, God knows our need of the wilderness experience. He knows where and how to bring out that which is enduring. The soul has been idolatrous, rebellious; has forgotten God, and with a perfect self-will has said, "I will follow after my lovers." But she did not overtake them. And, when she was hopeless and forsaken, God said, "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." What a loving God is ours! --Crumbs\par\par We never know where God hides His pools. We see a rock, and we cannot guess it is the home of the spring. We see a flinty place, and we cannot tell it is the hiding place of a fountain. God leads me into the hard places, and then I find I have gone into the dwelling place of eternal springs. --Selected\par\par LVAL Keep Your Hands Off\par\par "Neither know we what to do; but our eyes are, upon thee" (2 Chron. 20:12).\par\par A life was lost in Israel because a pair of human hands were laid unbidden upon the ark of God. They were placed upon it with the best intent, to steady it when trembling and shaking as the oxen drew it along the rough way; but they touched God's work presumptuously, and they fell paralyzed and lifeless. Much of the life of faith consists in letting things alone.\par\par If we wholly trust an interest to God, we must keep our hands off it; and He will guard it for us better than we can help Him. "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."\par\par Things may seem to be going all wrong, but He knows as well as we; and He will arise in the right moment if we are really trusting Him so fully as to let Him work in His own way and time. There is nothing so masterly as inactivity in some things, and there is nothing so hurtful as restless working, for God has undertaken to work His sovereign will. --A. B. Simpson\par\par "Being perplexed, I say,\par 'Lord, make it right!\par Night is as day to Thee,\par Darkness as light.\par I am afraid to touch\par Things that involve so much;\par My trembling hand may shake, \par My skilless hand may break; \par Thine can make no mistake.'\par\par "Being in doubt I say,\par 'Lord, make it plain;\par Which is the true, safe way?\par Which would be gain?\par I am not wise to know,\par Nor sure of foot to go;\par What is so clear to Thee,\par Lord, make it clear to me!'"\par\par It is such a comfort to drop the tangles of life into God's hands and leave them there.\par\par LVALPolish Comes Through Trouble\par\par "He hath made me a polished shaft" (Isa. 49:2).\par\par There is a very famous "Pebble Beach" at Pescadero, on the California coast. The long line of white surf comes up with its everlasting roar, and rattles and thunders among the stones on the shore. They are caught in the arms of the pitiless waves, and tossed and rolled, and rubbed together, and ground against the sharp-grained cliffs. Day and night forever the ceaseless attrition goes on--never any rest. And the result?\par\par Tourists from all the world flock thither to gather the round and beautiful stones. They are laid up in cabinets; they ornament the parlor mantels. But go yonder, around the point of the cliff that breaks off the force of the sea; and up in that quiet cove, sheltered from the storms, and lying ever in the sun, you shall find abundance of pebbles that have never been chosen by the traveler.\par\par Why are these left all the years through unsought? For the simple reason that they have escaped all the turmoil and attrition of the waves, and the quiet and peace have left them as they found them, rough and angular and devoid of beauty. Polish comes through trouble.\par\par Since God knows what niche we are to fill, let us trust Him to shape us to it. Since He knows what work we are to do, let us trust Him to drill us to the proper preparation.\par\par "O blows that smite! O hurts that pierce \par This shrinking heart of mine!\par What are ye but the Master's tools \par Forming a work Divine?"\par\par "Nearly all God's jewels are crystallized tears."\par\par *LVAL6Weights Become Wings\par\par "They shall mount up with wings as eagles" (Isa.40:31).\par\par There is a fable about the way the birds got their wings at the beginning. They were first made without wings. Then God made the wings and put them down before the wingless birds and said to them, "Come, take up these burdens and bear them."\par\par The birds had lovely plumage and sweet voices; they could sing, and their feathers gleamed in the sunshine, but they could not soar in the air. They hesitated at first when bidden to take up the burdens that lay at their feet, but soon they obeyed, and taking up the wings in their beaks, laid them on their shoulders to carry them.\par\par For a little while the load seemed heavy and hard to bear, but presently, as they went on carrying the burdens, folding them over their hearts, the wings grew fast to their little bodies, and soon they discovered how to use them, and were lifted by them up into the air--the weights became wings.\par\par It is a parable. We are the wingless birds, and our duties and tasks are the pinions God has made to lift us up and carry us heavenward. We look at our burdens and heavy loads, and shrink from them; but as we lift them and bind them about our hearts, they become wings, and on them we rise and soar toward God.\par\par There is no burden which, if we lift it cheerfully and bear it with love in our hearts, will not become a blessing to us. God means our tasks to be our helpers; to refuse to bend our shoulders to receive a load, is to decline a new opportunity for growth. --J. R. Miller\par\par Blessed is any weight, however overwhelming, which God has been so good as to fasten with His own hand upon our shoulders. F. W. Faber\par\par LVAL dGod Has Chosen Me\par\par "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isa. 48:10).\par\par Does not the Word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yes, is it not an asbestos armor, against which the heat has no power? Let the 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 befall me in this vale of tears, I know that He has chosen me.\par\par 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." \par --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par Pain's furnace heat within me quivers,\par God's breath upon the flame doth blow;\par And all my heart in anguish shivers\par And trembles at the fiery glow;\par And yet I whisper, "As God will!"\par And in the hottest fire hold still.\par\par He comes and lays my heart, all heated,\par On the hard anvil, minded so\par Into His own fair shape to beat it\par With His great hammer, blow on blow;\par And yet I whisper, "As God will!"\par And at His heaviest blows hold still.\par\par He takes my softened heart and beats it;\par The sparks fly off at every blow;\par He turns it o'er and o'er and heats it,\par And lets it cool, and makes it glow;\par And yet I whisper, "As God will!"\par And in His mighty hand hold still.\par\par Why should I murmur? for the sorrow\par Thus only longer-lived would be;\par The end may come, and will tomorrow,\par When God has done His work in me;\par So I say trusting, "As God will!"\par And, trusting to the end, hold still.\par --Julius Sturm\par\par The burden of suffering seems a tombstone hung about our necks, while in reality it is only the weight which is necessary to keep down the diver while he is LVALhunting for pearls. --Richter\par\par RLVAL^Christ Sometimes Delays His Help\par\par "I called upon him, but he gave me no answer" (S. of Sol. 5:6).\par\par The Lord, when He hath given great faith, hath been known to try it by long delayings. He has suffered His servants' voices to echo in their ears as from a brazen sky. They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has remained unmovable, as though it were rusted upon its hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, "Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through." Thus have true saints continued long in patient waiting without reply, not because their prayers were not vehement, nor because they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign, and who gives according to His own pleasure. If it pleases Him to bid our patience exercise itself, shall He not do as He will with His own!\par\par No prayer is lost. Praying breath was never spent in vain. There is no such thing as prayer unanswered or unnoticed by God, and some things that we count refusals or denials are simply delays. --H. Bonar\par\par Christ sometimes delays His help that He may try our faith and quicken our prayers. The boat may be covered with the waves, and He sleeps on; but He will wake up before it sinks. He sleeps, but He never oversleeps; and there are no "too lates" with Him. \par --Alexander Maclaren\par\par Be still, sad soul! lift thou no passionate cry, \par But spread the desert of thy being bare \par To the full searching of the All-seeing eye; \par Wait! and through dark misgiving, black despair, \par God will come down in pity, and fill the dry \par Dead place with light, and life, and vernal air.\par --J. C. Shairp\par\par +LVAL7Elijah Watched and Waited\par\par "It came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land" (1 Kings 17:7).\par\par Week after week, with unfaltering and steadfast spirit, Elijah watched that dwindling brook; often tempted to stagger through unbelief, but refusing to allow his circumstances to come between himself and God. Unbelief sees God through circumstances, as we sometimes see the sun shorn of his rays through smoky air; but faith puts God between itself and circumstances, and looks at them through Him. And so the dwindling brook became a silver thread; and the silver thread stood presently in pools at the foot of the largest boulders; and the pools shrank. The birds fled; the wild creatures of field and forest came no more to drink; the brook was dry. Only then to his patient and unwavering spirit, "the word of the Lord came, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath."\par\par Most of us would have gotten anxious and worn with planning long before that. We should have ceased our songs as soon as the streamlet caroled less musically over its rocky bed; and with harps swinging on the willows, we should have paced to and fro upon the withering grass, lost in pensive thought. And probably, long ere the brook was dry, we should have devised some plan, and asking God's blessing on it, would have started off elsewhere.\par\par God often does extricate us, because His mercy endureth forever; but if we had only waited first to see the unfolding of His plans, we should never have found ourselves landed in such an inextricable labyrinth; and we should never have been compelled to retrace our steps with so many tears of shame. Wait, patiently wait! --F. B. Meyer\par\par LVAL hFaith Grows Amid Storms\par\par "He hath acquainted himself with my beaten path. When he hath searched me out, I shall come out shining" (Job 23:10, free translation).\par\par Faith grows amid storms"--just four words, but oh, how full of import to the soul who has been in the storms!\par\par Faith is that God-given faculty which, when exercised, brings the unseen into plain view, and by which the impossible things are made possible. It deals with supernaturals.\par\par But it "grows amid storms"; that is, where there are disturbances in the spiritual atmosphere. Storms are caused by the conflicts of elements; and the storms of the spiritual world are conflicts with hostile elements.\par\par In such an atmosphere faith finds its most productive soil; in such an element it comes more quickly to full fruition.\par\par The staunchest tree is not found in the shelter of the forest, but out in the open where the winds from every quarter beat upon it, and bend and twist it until it becomes a giant in stature this is the tree which the mechanic wants his tools made of, and the wagon-maker seeks.\par\par So in the spiritual world, when you see a giant, remember the road you must travel to come up to his side is not along the sunny lane where wild flowers ever bloom; but a steep, rocky, narrow pathway where the blasts of hell will almost blow you off your feet; where the sharp rocks cut the flesh, where the projecting thorns scratch the brow, and the venomous beasts hiss on every side.\par\par It is a pathway of sorrow and joy, of suffering and healing balm, of tears and smiles, of trials and victories, of conflicts and triumphs, of hardships and perils and buffetings, of persecutions and misunderstandings, of troubles and distress; through all of which we are made more than conquerors through Him who loves us.\par\par "Amid storms." Right in the midst where it is fiercest. You may shrink back from the ordeal of a fierce storm of trial?but go in! God is there to meet you in the center of all your #LVAL/trials, and to whisper His secrets which will make you come forth with a shining face and an indomitable faith that all the demons of hell shall never afterwards cause to waver. --E. A. Kilbourne\par\par LVAL jTrust in His Promises\par\par "God...calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Rom. 4:17).\par\par What does that mean? Why Abraham did this thing: he dared to believe God. It seemed an impossibility at his age that Abraham should become the father of a child; it looked incredible; and yet God called him a "father of many nations" before there was a sign of a child; and so Abraham called himself "father" because God called him so. That is faith; it is to believe and assert what God says. "Faith steps on seeming void, and finds the rock beneath."\par\par Only say you have what God says you have, and He will make good to you all you believe. Only it must be real faith, all there is in you must go over in that act of faith to God. --Crumbs\par\par Be willing to live by believing and neither think nor desire to live in any other way. Be willing to see every outward light extinguished, to see the eclipse of every star in the blue heavens, leaving nothing but darkness and perils around, if God will only leave in thy soul the inner radiance, the pure bright lamp which faith has kindled. --Thomas C. Upham\par\par The moment has come when you must get off the perch of distrust, out of the nest of seeming safety, and onto the wings of faith; just such a time as comes to the bird when it must begin to try the air. It may seem as though you must drop to the earth; so it may seem to the fledgling. It, too, may feel very like falling; but it does not fall--it's pinions give it support, or, if they fail, the parent birds sweeps under and bears it upon its wings. Even so will God bear you. Only trust Him; "thou shalt be holden up." "Well, but," you say, "am I to cast myself upon nothing?" That is what the bird seems to have to do; but we know the air is there, and the air is not so unsubstantial as it seems. And you know the promises of God are there, and they are not unsubstantial at all. "But it seems an unlikely thing to come about that my poor weak soul should be girded with such strength."LVAL Has God said it shall? "That my tempted, yielding nature shall be victor in the strife." Has God said it shall? "That my timorous, trembling heart shall find peace?" Has God said it shall? for, if He has, you surely do not mean to give Him the lie! Hath he spoken, and shall He not do it? If you have gotten a word --"a sure word" of promise--take it implicitly, trust it absolutely. And this sure word you have; nay, you have more--you have Him who speaks the word confidently. "Yea, I say unto you," trust Him. --J. B. Figgis, M. A.\par\par LVAL lDrive a Stake Down\par\par "Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar" (Ps. 118:27).\par\par Is not this altar inviting thee? Shall we not ask to be bound to it, that we may never be able to start back from our attitude of consecration? There are times when life is full of roseate light, and we choose the Cross; at other times, when the sky is grey, we shrink from it. It is well to be bound.\par\par Wilt Thou bind us, most blessed Spirit, and enamor us with the Cross, and let us never leave it? Bind us with the scarlet cord of redemption, and the golden cord of love, and the silver cord of Advent-hope, so we will not go back from it, or wish for another lot than to be the humble partners with our Lord in His pain and sorrow!\par\par The horns of the altar invite thee. Wilt thou come? Wilt thou dwell ever in a spirit of resigned humility, and give thyself wholly to the Lord? --Selected\par\par The story is told of a colored brother who, at a camp meeting, tried to give himself to God. Every night at the altar he consecrated himself; but every night before he left the meeting, the devil would come to him and convince him that he did not feel any different and therefore he was not consecrated.\par\par Again and again he was beaten back by the adversary. Finally, one evening he came to the meeting with an axe and a big stake. After consecrating himself, he drove the stake into the ground just where he had knelt. As he was leaving the building, the devil came to him as usual and tried to make him believe that it was all a farce.\par\par At once he went back to the stake and, pointing to it, said, "Look here, Mr. Devil, do you see that stake? Well, that's my witness that God has forever accepted me." Immediately the devil left him, and he had no further doubts on the subject. --The Still Small Voice\par\par Beloved, if you are tempted to doubt the finality of your consecration, drive a stake down somewhere and let it be your witness before God and even the devil that you haLVALve settled the question forever.\par\par Are you groping for a blessing,\par Never getting there?\par Listen to a word in season,\par Get somewhere.\par\par Are you struggling for salvation\par By your anxious prayer?\par Stop your struggling, simply trust, and--\par Get somewhere.\par\par Does the answer seem to linger\par To your earnest prayer?\par Turn your praying into praise, and--\par Get somewhere.\par\par You will never know His fulness\par Till you boldly dare\par To commit your all to Him, and--\par Get somewhere.\par --Songs of the Spirit\par\par LVALTrust in Spite of How it Looks\par\par "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4).\par\par It is easy to love Him when the blue is in the sky, \par When summer winds are blowing, and we smell the roses nigh; \par There is little effort needed to obey His precious will \par When it leads through flower-decked valley, or over sun-kissed hill.\par\par It is when the rain is falling, or the mist hangs in the air, \par When the road is dark and rugged, and the wind no longer fair, \par When the rosy dawn has settled in a shadowland of gray, \par That we find it hard to trust Him, and are slower to obey.\par\par It is easy to trust Him when the singing birds have come, \par And their canticles are echoed in our heart and in our home; \par But 'tis when we miss the music, and the days are dull and drear, \par That we need a faith triumphant over every doubt and fear.\par\par And our blessed Lord will give it; what we lack He will supply; \par Let us ask in faith believing--on His promises rely; \par He will ever be our Leader, whether smooth or rough the way, \par And will prove Himself sufficient for the needs of every day.\par\par To trust in spite of the look of being forsaken; to keep crying out into the vast, whence comes no returning voice, and where seems no hearing; to see the machinery of the world pauselessly grinding on as if self-moved, caring for no life, nor shifting a hair-breadth for all entreaty, and yet believe that God is awake and utterly loving; to desire nothing but what comes meant for us from His hand; to wait patiently, ready to die of hunger, fearing only lest faith should fail--such is the victory that overcometh the world, such is faith indeed. \par --George MacDonald\par\par AoR5jM0eH+}`C& x[>!sV9nQ4d A  c g b  a @ `  _ @ ^ l@ ] = \ @ [ ! Z  Y  X   W @ V   U D T @ S@ R1@ Q  P O  N M L K  J  I@ H  GS  F@ E D C2 B` A @ @ ` ? : >  = J <N@ ;  :t 9  8p 7@ 66 5  4 3v@ 2^ 1L@ 0x@ /f . } -| ,{ +@z *^ x )@w (u 's &: q %` o $m LVAL pWhatever the Cost\par\par "'Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son...I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven;?because thou hast obeyed my voice" (Gen. 22:16-18).\par\par And from that day to this, men have been learning that when, at God's voice, they surrender up to Him the one thing above all else that was dearest to their very hearts, that same thing is returned to them by Him a thousand times over. Abraham gives up his one and only son, at God's call, and with this disappear all his hopes for the boy's life and manhood, and for a noble family bearing his name. But the boy is restored, the family becomes as the stars and sands in number, and out of it, in the fullness of time, appears Jesus Christ.\par\par That is just the way God meets every real sacrifice of every child of His. We surrender all and accept poverty; and He sends wealth. We renounce a rich field of service; He sends us a richer one than we had dared to dream of. We give up all our cherished hopes, and die unto self; He sends us the life more abundant, and tingling joy. And the crown of it all is our Jesus Christ. For we can never know the fullness of the life that is in Christ until we have made Abraham's supreme sacrifice. The earthly founder of the family of Christ must commence by losing himself and his only son, just as the Heavenly Founder of that family did. We cannot be members of that family with the full privileges and joys of membership upon any other basis. --C. G. Trumbull\par\par We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire; and that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave.\par\par Think not, O soul of man, that Abraham's was a unique and solitary experience. It is simply a specimen and pattern of God's dealings with all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whatever cost. After thou hast patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise. The moment of supreme sacrifLVALice shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing. God's river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee a tide of wealth and grace. There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him. --F. B. Meyer\par\par \par LVAL rGod is Not Unobservant\par\par "I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling place" (Isa. 18:4, RV).\par\par Assyria was marching against Ethiopia, the people of which are described as tall and smooth. And as the armies advance, God makes no effort to arrest them; it seems as though they will be allowed to work their will. He is still watching them from His dwelling place, the sun still shines on them; but before the harvest, the whole of the proud army of Assyria is smitten as easily as when sprigs are cut off by the pruning hook of the husbandman.\par\par Is not this a marvelous conception of God--being still and watching? His stillness is not acquiescence. His silence is not consent. He is only biding His time, and will arise, in the most opportune moment, and when the designs of the wicked seem on the point of success, to overwhelm them with disaster. As we look out on the evil of the world; as we think of the apparent success of wrong-doing; as we wince beneath the oppression of those that hate us, let us remember these marvelous words about God being still and beholding.\par\par There is another side to this. Jesus beheld His disciples toiling at the oars through the stormy night; and watched though unseen, the successive steps of the anguish of Bethany, when Lazarus slowly passed through the stages of mortal sickness, until he succumbed and was borne to the rocky tomb. But He was only waiting the moment when He could interpose most effectually. Is He still to thee? He is not unobservant; He is beholding all things; He has His finger on thy pulse, keenly sensitive to all its fluctuations. He will come to save thee when the precise moment has arrived. --Daily Devotional Commentary\par\par Whatever His questions or His reticences, we may be absolutely sure of an unperplexed and undismayed Saviour.\par\par "O troubled soul, beneath the rod, \par Thy Father speaks, be still, be still; \par Learn to be silent unto God, \par And let Him mould thee to His will.\par\par "O praying souLVALl, be still, be still, \par He cannot break His plighted Word; \par Sink down into His blessed will, \par And wait in patience on the Lord.\par\par "O waiting soul, be still, be strong, \par And though He tarry, trust and wait; \par Doubt not, He will not wait too long, \par Fear not, He will not come too late."\par\par LVAL tGod is Looking\par\par "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (2 Chron. 16:9).\par\par God is looking for a man, or woman, whose heart will be always set on Him, and who will trust Him for all He desires to do. God is eager to work more mightily now than He ever has through any soul. The clock of the centuries points to the eleventh hour.\par\par "The world is waiting yet to see what God can do through a consecrated soul." Not the world alone, but God Himself is waiting for one, who will be more fully devoted to Him than any who have ever lived; who will be willing to be nothing that Christ may be all; who will grasp God's own purposes; and taking His humility and His faith, His love and His power, will, without hindering, continue to let God do exploits. --C. H. P.\par\par "There is no limit to what God can do with a man, providing he will not touch the glory."\par\par In an address given to ministers and workers after his ninetieth birthday, George Mueller spoke thus of himself: "I was converted in November, 1825, but I only came into the full surrender of the heart four years later, in July, 1829. The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone. God, God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else. And by the grace of God this has remained, and has made me a happy man, an exceedingly happy man, and it led me to care only about the things of God. I ask affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you fully surrendered the heart to God, or is there this thing or that thing with which you are taken up irrespective of God? I read a little of the Scriptures before, but preferred other books; but since that time the revelation He has made of Himself has become unspeakably blessed to me, and I can say from my heart, God is an infinitely lovely Being. Oh, be not satisfied until >LVALJin your own inmost soul you can say, God is an infinitely lovely Being!' --Selected\par\par I pray to God this day to make me an extraordinary Christian. --Whitefield.\par\par LVAL vSchool of Suffering\par\par "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11).\par\par This was a greater thing to say and do than to calm the seas or raise the dead. Prophets and apostles could work wondrous miracles, but they could not always do and suffer the will of God. To do and suffer God's will is still the highest form of faith, the mos t sublime Christian achievement. To have the bright aspirations of a young life forever blasted; to bear a daily burden never congenial and to see no relief; to be pinched by poverty when you only desire a competency for the good and comfort of loved ones; to be fettered by some incurable physical disability; to be stripped bare of loved ones until you stand alone to meet the shocks of life--to be able to say in such a school of discipline, "The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?'--this is faith at its highest and spiritual success at the crowning point. Great faith is exhibited not so much in ability to do as to suffer. --Dr. Charles Parkhurst\par\par To have a sympathizing God we must have a suffering Saviour, and there is no true fellow-feeling with another save in the heart of him who has been afflicted like him.\par\par We cannot do good to others save at a cost to ourselves, and our afflictions are the price we pay for our ability to sympathize. He who would be a helper, must first be a sufferer. He who would be a saviour must somewhere and somehow have been upon a cross; and we cannot have the highest happiness of life in succoring others without tasting the cup which Jesus drank, and submitting to the baptism wherewith He was baptized.\par\par The most comforting of David's psalms were pressed out by suffering; and if Paul had not had his thorn in the flesh we had missed much of that tenderness which quivers in so many of his letters.\par\par The present circumstance, which presses so hard against you (if surrendered to Christ), is the best shaped tool in the Father's hand to chisel you for eternLVALity. Trust Him, then. Do not push away the instrument lest you lose its work."\par\par "Strange and difficult indeed\par We may find it,\par But the blessing that we need \par Is behind it."\par\par The school of suffering graduates rare scholars.\par\par LVAL#Our Helper in Prayer\par\par "Seeing then that we have a great high Priest?Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help \par in time of need" (Heb. 4:14,16).\par\par Our great Helper in prayer is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Advocate with the Father, our Great High Priest, whose chief ministry for us these centuries has been intercession and prayer. He it is \par who takes our imperfect petitions from our hands, cleanses them from their defects, corrects their faults, and then claims their answer from His Father on His own account and through His \par all-atoning merits and righteousness.\par\par Brother, are you fainting in prayer? Look up. Your blessed Advocate has already claimed your answer, and you would grieve and disappoint Him if you were to give up the conflict in the very moment when victory is on its way to meet you. He has gone in for you into the inner chamber, and already holds up your name upon the palms of His hands; and the messenger, which is to bring you your blessing, is now on his way, and the Spirit is only waiting your trust to whisper in your heart the echo of the answer from the throne, "It is done." --A. B. Simpson\par\par The Spirit has much to do with acceptable prayer, and His work in prayer is too much neglected. He enlightens the mind to see its wants, softens the heart to feel them, quickens our desires after suitable supplies, gives clear views of God's power, wisdom, and grace to relieve us, and stirs up that confidence in His truth which excludes all wavering. Prayer is, therefore, a wonderful thing. In every acceptable prayer the whole Trinity is concerned. --J. Angell James\par\par LVAL yDegrees of Faith\par\par "Let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece" (Judges 6:39).\par\par There are degrees to faith. At one stage of Christian experience we cannot believe unless we have some sign or some great manifestation of feeling. We feel our fleece, like Gideon, and if it is wet we are willing to trust God. This may be true faith, but it is imperfect. It always looks for feeling or some token besides the Word of God. It marks quite an advance in faith when we trust God without feelings. It is blessed to believe without having any emotion.\par\par There is a third stage of faith which even transcends that of Gideon and his fleece. The first phase of faith believes when there are favorable emotions, the second believes when there is the absence of feeling, but this third form of faith believes God and His Word when circumstances, emotions, appearances, people, and human reason all urge to the contrary. Paul exercised this faith in Acts 27:20, 25, "And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away." Notwithstanding all this Paul said, "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer; for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me."\par\par May God give us faith to fully trust His Word though everything else witness the other way. --C. H. P.\par\par When is the time to trust? \par Is it when all is calm, \par When waves the victor's palm, \par And life is one glad psalm \par Of joy and praise?\par Nay! but the time to trust\par Is when the waves beat high,\par When storm clouds fill the sky,\par And prayer is one long cry,\par O help and save!\par\par When is the time to trust? \par Is it when friends are true? \par Is it when comforts woo, \par And in all we say and do \par We meet but praise?\par Nay! but the time to trust \par Is when we stand alone, \par And summer birds have flown, \par And every prop is gone, \par All else but God.\par\par What is the time to tLVALrust? \par Is it some future day, \par When you have tried your way, \par And learned to trust and pray \par By bitter woe?\par Nay! but the time to trust \par Is in this moment's need, \par Poor, broken, bruised reed! \par Poor, troubled soul, make speed \par To trust thy God.\par\par What is the time to trust? \par Is it when hopes beat high, \par When sunshine gilds the sky, \par And joy and ecstasy \par Fill all the heart?\par Nay! but the time to trust \par Is when our joy is fled, \par When sorrow bows the head, \par And all is cold and dead, \par All else but God.\par --Selected\par\par LVALGod is Waiting Upon Us\par\par "And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you...blessed are all they that wait f or him" (Isa. 30:18).\par\par We must not only think of our waiting upon God, but also of what is more wonderful still, of God's waiting upon us. The vision of Him waiting on us, will give new impulse and inspiration to our waiting upon Him. It will give us unspeakable confidence that our waiting cannot be in vain. Let us seek even now, at this moment, in the spirit of waiting on God, to find out something of what it means. He has inconceivably glorious purposes concerning every one of His children. And you ask, "How is it, if He waits to be gracious, that even after I come and wait upon Him, He does not give the. help I seek, but waits on longer and longer?"\par\par God is a wise husbandman, "who waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it." He cannot gather the fruit till it is ripe. He knows when we are spiritually ready to receive the blessing to our profit and His glory. Waiting in the sunshine of His love is what will ripen the soul for His blessing. Waiting under the cloud of trial, that breaks in showers of blessings, is as needful. Be assured that if God waits longer than you could wish, it is only to make the blessing doubly precious. God waited four thousand years, till the fullness of time, ere He sent His Son. Our times are in His hands; He will avenge His elect speedily; He will make haste for our help, and not delay one hour too long. --Andrew Murray\par\par LVAL%We Need Minor Keys Too\par\par "Giving thanks always for all things unto God" (Eph. 5:20).\par\par No matter what the source of the evil, if you are in God and surrounded by Him as by an atmosphere, all evil has to pass through Him before it comes to you. Therefore you can thank God for everything that comes, not for the sin of it, but for what God will bring out of it and through it. May God make our lives thanksgiving and perpetual praise, then He will make everything a blessing.\par\par We once saw a man draw some black dots. We looked and could make nothing of them but an irregular assemblage of black dots. Then he drew a few lines, put in a few rests, then a clef at the beginning, and we saw these black dots were musical notes. On sounding them we were singing,\par\par "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, \par Praise Him all creatures here below."\par\par There are many black dots and black spots in our lives, and we cannot understand why they are there or why God permitted them to come. But if we let God come into our lives, and adjust the dots in the proper way, and draw the lines He wants, and separate this from that, and put in the rests at the proper places; out of the black dots and spots in our lives He will make a glorious harmony. Let us not hinder Him in this glorious work! --C. H. P.\par\par "Would we know that the major chords were sweet, \par If there were no minor key?\par Would the painter's work be fair to our eyes, \par Without shade on land or sea?\par\par "Would we know the meaning of happiness, \par Would we feel that the day was bright,\par If we'd never known what it was to grieve, \par Nor gazed on the dark of night?"\par\par Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par When the musician presses the black keys on the great organ, the music is as sweet as when he touches the white ones, but to get the capacity of the instrument he must touch them all. --Selected\par\par pLVAL|Believe in Order to See\par\par "Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel; but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul" (Ps. 106:12-15).\par\par We read of Moses, that "he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." Exactly the opposite was true of the children of Israel in this record. They endured only when the circumstances were favorable; they were largely governed by the things that appealed to their senses, in place of resting in the invisible and eternal God.\par\par In the present day there are those who live intermittent Christian lives because they have become occupied with the outward, and center in circumstances, in place of centering in God. God wants us more and more to see Him in everything, and to call nothing small if it bears us His message.\par\par Here we read of the children of Israel, "Then they believed his words." They did not believe till after they saw--when they saw Him work, then they believed. They really doubted God when they came to the Red Sea; but when God opened the way and led them across and they saw Pharaoh and his host drowned--"then they believed."\par\par They led an up and down life because of this kind of faith; it was a faith that depended upon circumstances. This is not the kind of faith God wants us to have.\par\par The world says "seeing is believing," but God wants us to believe in order to see. The Psalmist said, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."\par\par Do you believe God only when the circumstances are favorable, or do you believe no matter what the circumstances may be? C. H. P.\par\par Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. --St. Augustine\par\par LVAL ~Like the Cedars of Lebanon\par\par "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter" (John 13:7).\par\par We have only a partial view here of God's dealings, His half-completed, half-developed plan; but all will stand out in fair and graceful proportions in the great finished Temple of Eternity! Go, in the reign of Israel's greatest king, to the heights of Lebanon. See that noble cedar, the pride of its compeers, an old wrestler with northern blasts! Summer loves to smile upon it, night spangles its feathery foliage with dewdrops, the birds nestle on its branches, the weary pilgrim or wandering shepherd reposes under its shadows from the midday heat or from the furious storm; but all at once it is marked out to fall; The aged denizen of the forest is doomed to succumb to the woodman's stroke!\par\par As we see the axe making its first gash on its gnarled trunk, then the noble limbs stripped of their branches, and at last the "Tree of God," as was its distinctive epithet, coming with a crash to the ground, we exclaim against the wanton destruction, the demolition of this proud pillar in the temple of nature. We are tempted to cry with the prophet, as if inviting the sympathy of every lowlier stem--invoking inanimate things to resent the affront--"Howl, fir tree; for the cedar has fallen!"\par\par But wait a little. Follow that gigantic trunk as the workmen of Hiram launch it down the mountain side; thence conveyed in rafts along the blue waters of the Mediterranean; and last of all, behold it set a glorious polished beam in the Temple of God. As you see its destination, placed in the very Holy of Holies, in the diadem of the Great King--say, can you grudge that "the crown of Lebanon" was despoiled, in order that this jewel might have so noble a setting?\par\par That cedar stood as a stately prop in Nature's sanctuary, but "the glory of the latter house was greater than the glory of the former!"\par\par How many of our souls are like these cedars of old! God's axes of trial have /LVAL;stripped and bared them. We see no reason for dealings so dark and mysterious, but He has a noble end and object in view; to set them as everlasting pillars and rafters in His Heavenly Zion; to make them a "crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of our God." --Macduff\par\par "I do not ask my cross to understand,\par My way to see--\par Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand, \par And follow Thee."\par\par LVALWaiting For Hope\par\par "For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness" (Gal. 5:5, RV).\par\par There are times when things look very dark to me--so dark that I have to wait even for hope. It is bad enough to wait in hope. A long-deferred fulfillment carries its own pain, but to wait for hope, to see no glimmer of a prospect and yet refuse to despair; to have nothing but night before the casement and yet to keep the casement open for possible stars; to have a vacant place in my heart and yet to allow that place to be filled by no inferior presence--that is the grandest patience in the universe. It is Job in the tempest; it is Abraham on the road to Moriah; it is Moses in the desert of Midian; it is the Son of man in the Garden of Gethsemane.\par\par There is no patience so hard as that which endures, "as seeing him who is invisible"; it is the waiting for hope.\par\par Thou hast made waiting beautiful; Thou has made patience divine. Thou hast taught us that the Father's will may be received just because it is His will. Thou hast revealed to us that a soul may see nothing but sorrow in the cup and yet may refuse to let it go, convinced that the eye of the Father sees further than its own.\par\par Give me this Divine power of Thine, the power of Gethsemane. Give me the power to wait for hope itself, to look out from the casement where there are no stars. Give me the power, when the very joy that was set before me is gone, to stand unconquered amid the night, and say, "To the eye of my Father it is perhaps shining still." I shall reach the climax of strength when I have learned to wait for hope. --George Matheson\par\par Strive to be one of those--so few--who walk the earth with ever-present consciousness--all mornings, middays, star-times--that the unknown which men call Heaven is "close behind the visible scene of things."\par\par |LVALMy Father's Giving\par\par "Prove me now" (Mal. 3:10).\par\par What is God saying here but this: "My child, I still have windows in Heaven. They are yet in service. The bolts slide as easily as of old. The hinges have not grown rusty. I would rather fling them open, and pour forth, than keep them shut, and hold back. I opened them for Moses, and the sea parted. I opened them for Joshua, and Jordan rolled back. I opened them for Gideon, and hosts fled. I will open them for you--if you will only let Me. On this side of the windows, Heaven is the same rich storehouse as of old. The fountains and streams still overflow. The treasure rooms are still bursting with gifts. The lack is not on my side. It is on yours. I am waiting. Prove Me now. Fulfill the conditions, on your part. Bring in the tithes. Give Me a chance. --Selected\par\par I can never forget my mother's very brief paraphrase of Malachi 3:10. The verse begins, "Bring ye the whole tithe in," and it ends up with "I will pour" the blessing out till you'll be embarrassed for space. Her paraphrase was this: Give all He asks; take all He promises." --S. D. Gordon\par\par The ability of God is beyond our prayers, beyond our largest prayers! I have been thinking of some of the petitions that have entered into my supplication innumerable times. What have I asked for? I have asked for a cupful, and the ocean remains! I have asked for a sunbeam, and the sun abides! My best asking falls immeasurably short of my Father's giving: it is beyond that we can ask. --J. H. Jowett\par\par "All the rivers of Thy grace I claim,\par Over every promise write my name" (Eph. 1:8-19).\par\par LVALThe Fruit Comes Afterward\par\par "The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and storm" (Nahum 1:3).\par\par I recollect, when a lad, and while attending a classical institute in the vicinity of Mount Pleasant, sitting on an elevation of that mountain, and watching a storm as it came up the valley. The heavens were filled with blackness, and the earth was shaken by the voice of thunder. It seemed as though that fair landscape was utterly changed, and its beauty gone never to return.\par\par But the storm swept on, and passed out of the valley; and if I had sat in the same place on the following day, and said, "Where is that terrible storm, with all its terrible blackness?" the grass would have said, "Part of it is in me," and the daisy would have said, "Part of it is in me," and the fruits and flowers and everything that grows out of the ground would have said, "Part of the storm is incandescent in me."\par\par Have you asked to be made like your Lord? Have you longed for the fruit of the Spirit, and have you prayed for sweetness and gentleness and love? Then fear not the stormy tempest that is at this moment sweeping through your life. A blessing is in the storm, and there will be the rich fruitage in the "afterward." --Henry Ward Beecher\par\par The flowers live by the tears that fall \par From the sad face of the skies;\par And life would have no joys at all, \par Were there no watery eyes.\par Love thou thy sorrow: grief shall bring \par Its own excuse in after years;\par The rainbow!--see how fair a thing \par God hath built up from tears.\par --Henry S. Sutton\par\par LVAL Our Great Opportunities\par\par "Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the day of trouble?" (Job 38:22-23).\par\par Our trials are great opportunities. Too often we look on them as great obstacles. It would be a haven of rest and an inspiration of unspeakable power if each of us would henceforth recognize every difficult situation as one of God's chosen ways of proving to us His love and look around for the signals of His glorious manifestations; then, indeed, would every cloud become a rainbow, and every mountain a path of ascension and a scene of transfiguration.\par\par If we will look back upon the past, many of us will find that the very time our Heavenly Father has chosen to do the kindest things for us, and given us the richest blessings, has been the time we were strained and shut in on every side. God's jewels are often sent us in rough packages and by dark liveried servants, but within we find the very treasures of the King's palace and the Bridegroom's love. --A. B. Simpson\par\par Trust Him in the dark, honor Him with unwavering confidence even in the midst of mysterious dispensations, and the recompense of such faith will be like the moulting of the eagle's plumes, which was said to give them a new lease of youth and strength. J. R. Macduff\par\par "If we could see beyond today \par As God can see;\par If all the clouds should roll away, \par The shadows flee;\par O'er present griefs we would not fret.\par Each sorrow we would soon forget,\par For many joys are waiting yet\par\par For you and me.\par\par "If we could know beyond today \par As God doth know,\par Why dearest treasures pass away\par And tears must flow;\par And why the darkness leads to light,\par Why dreary paths will soon grow bright;\par Some day life's wrongs will be made right, \par Faith tells us so.\par\par "'If we could see, if we could know,'\par We often say,\par But God in love a veil doth throw \par Across our way;\par We cannot see what lies before,\LVALpar And so we cling to Him the more,\par He leads us till this life is o'er;\par Trust and obey."\par\par ~LVALDo It Now!\par\par "A cup of cold water only" (Matt. 10:42).\par\par What am I to do? I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good work, therefore, any kindness, or any service I can render to any soul of man or animal let me do it now. Let me not neglect or defer it, for I shall not pass this way again. --An Old Quaker Saying\par\par It isn't the thing you do, dear,\par It's the thing you leave undone,\par Which gives you the bitter heartache\par At the setting of the sun;\par The tender word unspoken,\par The letter you did not write,\par The flower you might have sent, dear,\par Are your haunting ghosts at night.\par\par The stone you might have lifted\par Out of your brother's way,\par The bit of heartsome counsel\par You were hurried too much to say;\par The loving touch of the hand, dear,\par The gentle and winsome tone,\par That you had no time or thought for,\par With troubles enough of your own.\par\par These little acts of kindness,\par So easily out of mind,\par These chances to be angels,\par Which even mortals find\par They come in night and silence,\par Each chill reproachful wraith,\par When hope is faint and flagging,\par And a blight has dropped on faith.\par\par For life is all too short, dear.\par And sorrow is all too great,\par To suffer our slow compassion\par That tarries until too late.\par And it's not the thing you do, dear,\par It's the thing you leave undone,\par Which gives you the bitter heartache,\par At the setting of the sun.\par --Adelaide Proctor\par\par Give what you have; to someone it may be better than you dare to think. --Longfellow\par\par LVAL Skillful Guidance\par\par "He guided them by the skillfulness of his hands" (Ps. 78:72).\par\par When you are doubtful as to your course, submit your judgment absolutely to the Spirit of God, and ask Him to shut against you every door but the right one?Meanwhile keep on as you are, and consider the absence of indication to be the indication of God's will that you are on His track?As you go down the long corridor, you will find that He has preceded you, and locked many doors which you would fain have entered; but be sure that beyond these there is one which He has left unlocked. Open it and enter, and you will find yourself face to face with a bend of the river of opportunity, broader and deeper than anything you had dared to imagine in your sunniest dreams. Launch forth upon it; it conducts to the open sea.\par\par God guides us, often by circumstances. At one moment the way may seem utterly blocked; and then shortly afterward some trivial incident occurs, which might not seem much to others, but which to the keen eye of faith speaks volumes. Sometimes these things are repeated in various ways, in answer to prayer. They are not haphazard results of chance, but the opening up of circumstances in the direction in which we would walk. And they begin to multiply as we advance toward our goal, just as the lights do as we near a populous town, when darting through the land by night express. --F. B. Meyer\par\par If you go to Him to be guided, He will guide you; but He will not comfort your distrust or half-trust of Him by showing you the chart of all His purposes concerning you. He will show you only into a way where, if you go cheerfully and trustfully forward, He will show you on still farthcr. --Horace Bushnell\par\par As moves my fragile bark across the storm-swept sea,\par Great waves beat o'er her side, as north wind blows;\par Deep in the darkness hid lie threat'ning rocks and shoals;\par But all of these, and more, my Pilot knows.\par\par Sometimes when dark the night, and every light g$LVAL0one out,\par I wonder to what port my frail ship goes;\par Still though the night be long, and restless all my hours,\par My distant goal, I'm sure, my Pilot knows.\par --Thomas Curtis Clark\par\par LVAL You Can Trust\par\par "Surrender your very selves to God as living men who have risen from the dead" (Romans 6:13). (Weymouth) \par\par I went one night to hear an address on consecration. No special message came to me from it, but as the speaker kneeled to pray, he dropped this sentence: "O Lord, Thou knowest we can trust the Man that died for us." And that was my message. I rose and walked down the street to the train; and as I walked, I pondered deeply all that consecration might mean to my life and--I was afraid. And then, above the noise and clatter of the street traffic came to me the message: "You can trust the Man that died for you." \par\par I got into the train to ride homeward; and as I rode, I thought of the changes, the sacrifices, the disappointments which consecration might mean to me and--I was afraid. \par\par I reached home and sought my room, and there upon my knees I saw my past life. I had been a Christian, an officer in the church, a Sunday-school superintendent, but had never definitely yielded my life to God. \par\par Yet as I thought of the darling plans which might be baffled, of the cherished hopes to be surrendered, and the chosen profession which I might be called upon to abandoned--I was afraid. \par\par I did not see the better things God had for me, so my soul was shrinking back; and then for the last time, with a swift rush of convicting power, came to my innermost heart that searching message: \par\par "My child, you can trust the Man that died for you. If you cannot trust Him whom can you trust?" \par\par That settled it for me, for in a flash I saw that the Man who so loved me as to die for me could be absolutely trusted with all the concerns of the life He had saved. \par\par Friend, you can trust the Man that died for you. You can trust Him to baffle no plan which is not best to be foiled, and to carry out every one which is for God's glory and your highest good. You can trust Him to lead you in the path which is the very best in this world for you.--LVALJ H. McC \par\par "Just as I am, thy love unknown, \par Has broken every barrier down, \par Now to be Thine, yea, Thine ALONE, \par O Lamb of God, I come!" \par\par "Life is not salvage to be saved out of the world, but an investment to be used in the world." \par\par LVALMake a Way \par\par "I will make all my mountains a way" (Isa.49:11). \par\par God will make obstacles serve His purpose. We all have mountains in our lives. There are people and things that threaten to bar our progress in the Divine life. Those heavy claims, that uncongenial occupation, that thorn in the flesh, that daily cross--we think that if only these were removed we might live purer, tenderer, holier lives; and often we pray for their removal. \par\par "Oh, fools, and slow of heart!" These are the very conditions of achievement; they have been put into our lives as the means to the very graces and virtues for which we have been praying so long. Thou hast prayed for patience through long years, but there is something that tries thee beyond endurance; thou hast fled from it, evaded it, accounted it an unsurmountable obstacle to the desired attainment, and supposed that its removal would secure thy immediate deliverance and victory. \par\par Not so! Thou wouldest gain only the cessation of temptations to impatience. But this would not be patience. Patience can be acquired only through just such trials as now seem unbearable. Go back; submit thyself. Claim to be a partaker in the patience of Jesus. Meet thy trials in Him. There is nothing in life which harasses and annoys that may not become subservient to the highest ends. They are His mountains. He puts them there. We know that God will not fail to keep His promise. "God understandeth the way thereof and knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven"; and when we come to the foot of the mountains, we shall find the way.--Christ in Isaiah, by Meyer \par\par "The meaning of trial is not only to test worthiness, but to increase it; as the oak is not only tested by the storm, but toughened by them."\par 3LVAL?Be Strong \par\par "Quit you like men, be strong" (1 Cor. 16:13). \par\par Do not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. --Phillips Brooks. \par\par We must remember that it is not in any easy or self-indulgent life that Christ will lead us to greatness. The easy life leads not upward, but downward. Heaven always is above us, and we must ever be looking up toward it. These are some people who always avoid things that are costly, that require self-denial, or self-restraint and sacrifice, but toil and hardship show us the only way to nobleness. Greatness comes not by having a mossy path made for you through the meadow, but by being sent to hew out a roadway by your own hands. Are you going to reach the mountain splendors? --Selected. \par\par Be strong! \par We are not here to play, to dream, to drift; \par We have hard work to do, and loads to lift. \par Shun not the struggle; face it. 'Tis God's gift. \par\par Be strong! \par Say not the days are evil--Who's to blame? \par And fold the hands and acquiesece--O shame! \par Stand up, speak out, and bravely, In God's name. \par\par Be strong! \par It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong, \par How hard the battle goes, the day how long, \par Faint not, fight on! Tomorrow comes the song. \par --Maltbie D. Babcock\par\par LVALWhen Do We Praise \par\par "And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me" (John 11:41). \par\par This is a very strange and unusual order. Lazarus is still in the grave, and the thanksgiving precedes the miracle of resurrection. I thought that the thanksgiving would have risen when the great deed had been wrought, and Lazarus was restored to life again. But Jesus gives thanks for what He is about to receive. The gratitude breaks forth before the bounty has arrived, in the assurance that it is certainly on the way. The song of victory is sung before the battle has been fought. It is the sower who is singing the song of the harvest home. It is thanksgiving before the miracle! \par\par Who thinks of announcing a victory-psalm when the crusaders are just starting out for the field? Where can we hear the grateful song for the answer which has not yet been received? And after all, there is nothing strange or forced, or unreasonable in the Master's order. Praise is really the most vital preparatory ministry to the working of the miracles. Miracles are wrought by spiritual power. Spiritual power is always proportioned to our faith.--Dr. Jowett \par\par PRAISE CHANGES THINGS \par\par Nothing so pleases God in connection with our prayer as our praise, and nothing so blesses the man who prays as the praise which he offers. I got a great blessing once in China in this connection. I had received bad and sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. I prayed, but the darkness did not vanish. I summoned myself to endure, but the darkness only deepened. Just then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these words: "Try Thanksgiving." I did, and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return. Yes, the Psalmist was right, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord."--Rev. Henry W. Frost \par\par LVAL It Is Sufficient \par\par "IS" (2 Cor. 12:9). \par\par It had pleased God to remove my youngest child under circumstances of peculiar trial and pain; and as I had just laid my little one's body in the churchyard, on return home, I felt it my duty to preach to my people on the meaning of trial. \par\par Finding that this text was in the lesson for the following Sabbath, I chose it as my Master's message to them and myself; but on trying to prepare the notes, I found that in honesty I could not say that the words were true; and therefore I knelt down and asked God to let His grace be sufficient for me. While I was thus pleading, I opened my eyes and saw a framed illuminated text, which my mother had given me only a few days before, and which I had told my servant to place upon the wall during my absence at the holiday resort where my little one was taken away from us. \par\par I did not notice the words on returning to my house; but as I looked up and wiped my eyes, the words met my gaze, "My grace is sufficient for thee." \par\par The "is" was picked out in bright green while the "My" and the "thee" were painted in another color. \par\par In one moment the message came straight to my soul, as a rebuke for offering such a prayer as, "Lord, let Thy grace be sufficient for me"; for the answer was almost as an audible voice, "How dare you ask that which is?" God cannot make it any more sufficient than He has made it; get up and believe it, and you will find it true, because the Lord says it in the simplest way: "My grace is (not shall be or may be) sufficient for thee." \par\par "My," "is," and "thee" were from that moment, I hope, indelibly fixed upon my heart; and I (thank God) have been trying to live in the reality of the message from that day forward to the present time. The lesson that came to me, and which I seek to convey to others, is, Never turn God's facts into hopes, or prayers, but simply use them as realities, and you will find them powerful as you believe them.--Prebendary H. W. WOLVAL[ebb Peploe \par\par He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater, \par He sendeth more strength when the labors increase; \par To added affliction He addeth His mercies, \par To multiplied trials His multiplied peace. \par\par When we have exhausted our store of endurance, \par When our strength has failed ere the day is half done, \par When we reach the end of our hoarded resources \par Our Father's full giving is only begun. \par His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, \par His power no boundary known unto men; \par For out of His infinite riches in Jesus \par He giveth and giveth and giveth again. \par --Annie Johnson Flint \par\par |LVALFlowing From Us \par\par "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south, blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out!" (Song of Solomon 4:16). \par\par Look at the meaning of this prayer a moment. Its root is found in the fact that, as delicious odors may lie latent in a spice tree, so graces may lie unexercised and undeveloped in a Christian's heart. There is many a plant of profession; but from the ground there breathes forth no fragrance of holy affections or of godly deeds. The same winds blow on the thistle bush and on the spice tree, but it is only one of them which gives out rich odors. \par\par Sometimes God sends severe blasts of trial upon His children to develop their graces. Just as torches burn most brightly when swung 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. \par\par "I had a tiny box, a precious box \par Of human love--my spikenard of great price; \par I kept it close within my heart of hearts, \par And scarce would lift the lid lest it should waste \par Its perfume on the air. One day a strange \par Deep sorrow came with crushing weight, and fell \par Upon my costly treasure, sweet and rare, \par And broke the box to atoms. All my heart \par Rose in dismay and sorrow at this waste, \par But as I mourned, behold a miracle \par Of grace Divine. My human love was changed \par To Heaven's own, and poured in healing streams \par On other broken hearts, while soft and clear \par A voice above me whispered, "Child of Mine, \par With comfort wherewith thou art comforted, \par From this time forth, go comfort others, \par And thou shalt know blest fellowship with Me, \par Whose broken heart of love hath healed the world."\par\par LVAL Spirit-Filled \par\par "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection" (Acts 4:31, 33). \par\par Christmas Evans tells us in his diary that one Sunday afternoon he was traveling a very lonely road to attend an appointment, and he was convicted of a cold heart. He says, "I tethered my horse and went to a sequestered spot, where I walked to and fro in an agony as I reviewed my life. I waited three hours before God, broken with sorrow, until there broke over me a sweet sense of His forgiving love. I received from God a new baptism of the Holy Ghost. As the sun was westering, I went back to the road, found my horse, mounted it and went to my appointment. On the following day I preached with such new power to a vast concourse of people gathered on the hillside, that a revival broke out that day and spread through all Wales." \par\par The greatest question that can be asked of the "twice born" ones is, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" \par\par This was the password into the early Church. \par\par "O the Spirit filled life; is it thine, is it thine? \par Is thy soul wholly filled with the Spirit Divine? \par O thou child of the King, has He fallen on thee? \par Does He reign in thy soul, so that all men may see \par The dear Savior's blest image reflected in thee? \par\par "Has He swept through thy soul like the waves of the sea? \par Does the Spirit of God daily rest upon thee? \par Does He sweeten thy life, does He keep thee from care? \par Does He guide thee and bless thee in answer to prayer? \par Is it joy to be led of the Lord anywhere? \par\par "Is He near thee each hour, does He stand at thy side? \par Does He gird thee with strength, has He come to abide? \par Does He give thee to know that all things may be done \par Through the grace and the power of the Crucified CLVALOOne? \par Does He witness to thee of the glorified Son? \par\par "Has He purged thee of dross with the fire from above? \par Is He first in thy thoughts, has He all of thy love? \par Is His service thy choice, and is sacrifice sweet? \par Is the doing His will both thy drink and thy meat? \par Dost thou run at His bidding with glad eager feet? \par\par "Has He freed thee from self and from all of thy greed? \par Dost thou hasten to succor thy brother in need? \par As a soldier of Christ dost thou hardness endure? \par Is thy hope in the Lord everlasting and sure? \par Hast thou patience and meekness, art tender and pure? \par\par "O the Spirit filled life may be thine, may be thine, \par In thy soul evermore the Shekinah may shine; \par It is thine to live with the tempests all stilled, \par It is thine with the blessed Holy Ghost to be filled; \par It is thine, even thine, for thy Lord has so willed."\par\par LVALClaim Victory \par\par "Thou art my king, O God: Command deliverance (victories, margin) for Jacob" (Ps. 44:4 RV). \par\par Here is no foe to your growth in grace, no enemy in your Christian work, which was not included in your Savior's conquests. \par\par You need not be afraid of them. When you touch them, they will flee before you. God has promised to deliver them up before you. Only be strong and very courageous! Fear not, nor be dismayed! The Lord is with you, O mighty men of valor--mighty because one with the Mightiest. Claim victory! \par\par Whenever your enemies close in upon you, claim victory! Whenever heart and flesh fail, look up and claim VICTORY! \par\par Be sure that you have a share in that triumph which Jesus won, not for Himself alone, but for us all; remember that you were in Him when He won it, and claim victory! \par\par Reckon that it is yours, and gather spoil. Neither the Anakim nor fenced cities need daunt or abash you. You are one of the conquering legion. Claim your share in the Savior's victory. --Joshua, by Meyer \par\par We are children of the King. In which way do we most honor our Divine Sovereign, by failing to claim our rights and even doubting whether they belong to us, or by asserting our privilege as children of the Royal Family and demanding the rights which belong to our heirship?\par\par LVALComfort in the Depths \par\par "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. . .who passing through the valley of weeping, make it a well" (Ps. \par 84:5, 6). \par\par Comfort does not come to the light-hearted and merry. We must go down into "depths" if we would experience this most precious of God's gifts--comfort, and thus be prepared to be co-workers together with Him. \par\par When night--needful night--gathers over the garden of our souls, when the leaves close up, and the flowers no longer hold any sunlight within their folded petals, there shall never be wanting, even in the thickest darkness, drops of heavenly dew--dew which falls only when the sun has gone. \par\par "I have been through the valley of weeping, The valley of sorrow and pain; \par But the 'God of all comfort' was with me, At hand to uphold and sustain. \par\par "As the earth needs the clouds and sunshine, Our souls need both sorrow and joy; \par So He places us oft in the furnace, The dross from the gold to destroy. \par\par "When he leads thro' some valley of trouble His omnipotent hand we trace; \par For the trials and sorrows He sends us, Are part of His lessons in grace. \par\par "Oft we shrink from the purging and pruning, Forgetting the Husbandman knows \par That the deeper the cutting and paring, The richer the cluster that grows. \par\par "Well He knows that affliction is needed; He has a wise purpose in view, \par And in the dark valley He whispers, 'Hereafter Thou'lt know what I do.' \par\par "As we travel thro' life's shadow'd valley, Fresh springs of His love ever rise; \par And we learn that our sorrows and losses, Are blessings just sent in disguise. \par\par "So we'll follow wherever He leadeth, Let the path be dreary or bright; \par For we've proved that our God can give comfort; Our God can give songs in the night."\par\par LVAL Hard Love \par\par "When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was" (John 11:6). \par\par In the forefront of this marvelous chapter stands the affirmation, "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus," as if to teach us that at the very heart and foundation of all God's dealings with us, however dark and mysterious they may be, we must dare to believe in and assert the infinite, unmerited, and unchanging love of God. Love permits pain. The sisters never doubted that He would speed at all hazards and stay their brother from death, but, "When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was." \par\par What a startling "therefore"! He abstained from going, not because He did not love them, but because He did love them. His love alone kept Him back from hasting at once to the dear and stricken home. Anything less than infinite love must have rushed instantly to the relief of those loved and troubled hearts, to stay their grief and to have the luxury of wiping and stanching their tears and causing sorrow and sighing to flee away. Divine love could alone hold back the impetuosity of the Savior's tender-heartedness until the Angel of Pain had done her work. \par\par Who can estimate how much we owe to suffering and pain? But for them we should have little scope for many of the chief virtues of the Christian life. Where were faith, without trial to test it; or patience, with nothing to bear; or experience, without tribulation to develop it?\par --Selected \par\par "Loved! then the way will not be drear; \par For One we know is ever near, \par Proving it to our hearts so clear \par That we are loved. \par\par "Loved when our sky is clouded o'er, \par And days of sorrow press us sore; \par Still we will trust Him evermore, \par For we are loved. \par\par "Time, that affects all things below, \par Can never change the love He'll show; \par The heart of Christ with love will flow, \par ALVALnd we are loved."\par\par LVAL Rejoice in the Lord \par\par "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 3:17, 18). \par\par Observe, I entreat you, how calamitous a circumstance is here supposed, and how heroic a faith is expressed. It is really as if he said, "Though I should be reduced to so great extremity as not to know where to find my necessary food, though I should look around about me on an empty house and a desolate field, and see the marks of the Divine scourge where I had once seen the fruits of God's bounty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord." \par\par Methinks these words are worthy of being written as with a diamond on a rock forever. Oh, that by Divine grace they might be deeply engraven on each of our hearts! Concise as the form of speaking in the text is, it evidently implies or expresses the following particulars: That in the day of his distress he would fly to God; that he would maintain a holy composure of spirit under this dark dispensation, nay, that in the midst of all he would indulge in a sacred joy in God, and a cheerful expectation from Him. Heroic confidence! Illustrious faith! Unconquerable love!--Doddridge. \par\par Last night I heard a robin singing in the rain, \par And the raindrop's patter made a sweet refrain, \par Making all the sweeter the music of the strain. \par\par So, I thought, when trouble comes, as trouble will, \par Why should I stop singing? Just beyond the hill \par It may be that sunshine floods the green world still. \par\par He who faces the trouble with a heart of cheer \par Makes the burden lighter. If there falls a tear, \par Sweeter is the cadence in the song we hear. \par\par I have learned your lesson, bird with dappled wing, \par Listening to your music with its lilt of spring \par When the storm-LVALcloud darkens, then's the TIME to sing. \par --Eben E. Rexford \par\par LVALMeant to be Used \par\par "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises" (2 Pet. 1:4). \par\par When a shipwright builds a vessel, does he build it to keep it upon the stocks? Nay, he builds it for the sea and the storm. When he was making it, he thought of tempests and hurricanes; if he did not, he was a poor shipbuilder. \par\par When God made thee a believer, He meant to try thee; and when He gave thee promises, and bade thee trust them, He gave such promises as are suitable for times of tempest and tossing. Dost thou think that God makes shams like some that have made belts for swimming, which were good to exhibit in a shop, but of no use in the sea? \par\par We have all heard of swords which were useless in war; and even of shoes which were made to sell, but were never meant to walk in. God's shoes are of iron and brass, and you can walk to Heaven in them without their ever wearing out; and His life-belts, you may swim a thousand Atlantics upon them, and there will be no fear of your sinking. His Word of promise is meant to be tried and proved. \par\par There is nothing Christ dislikes more than for His people to make a show-thing of Him, and not to use Him. He loves to be employed by us. Covenant blessings are not meant to be looked at only, but to be appropriated. Even our Lord Jesus is given to us for our present use. Thou dost not make use of Christ as thou oughtest to do. \par\par O man, I beseech you do not treat God's promises as if they were curiosities for a museum; but use them as every day sources of comfort. Trust the Lord whenever your time of need comes on.--C. H. Spurgeon \par\par "Go to the deeps of God's promise, \par And claim whatsoever ye will; \par The. blessing of God will not fail thee, \par His Word He will surely fulfill." \par\par Now can God say no to something He has promised? \par \par\par )LVAL5In The Clouds \par\par "If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth" (Eccles. 11:3). \par\par Why, then, do we dread the clouds which now darken our sky? True, for a while they hide the sun, but the sun is not quenched; he will be out again before long. Meanwhile those black clouds are filled with rain; and the blacker they are, the more likely they will yield plentiful showers. \par\par How can we have rain without clouds? Our troubles have always brought us blessings, and they always will. They are the dark chariots of bright grace. These clouds will empty themselves before long, and every tender herb will be gladder for the shower. Our God may drench us with grief, but He will refresh us with mercy. Our Lord's love-letters often come to us in black-edged envelopes. His wagons rumble, but they are loaded with benefits. His rod blossoms with sweet flowers and nourishing fruits. Let us not worry about the clouds, but sing because May flowers are brought to us through the April clouds and showers. \par\par O Lord, the clouds are the dust of Thy feet! How near Thou art in the cloudy and dark day! Love beholds Thee, and is glad. Faith sees the clouds emptying themselves and making the little hills rejoice on every side.--C H. Spurgeon \par\par "What seems so dark to thy dim sight \par May be a shadow, seen aright \par Making some brightness doubly bright. \par\par "The flash that struck thy tree--no more \par To shelter thee--lets heaven's blue floor \par Shine where it never shone before. \par\par "The cry wrung from thy spirit's pain \par May echo on some far-off plain, \par And guide a wanderer home again." \par\par "The blue of heaven is larger than the clouds."\par\par LVALGod's Will \par\par "Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" (John 19:11). \par\par Nothing that is not God's will can come into the life of one who trusts and obeys God. This fact is enough to make our life one of ceaseless thanksgiving and joy. For "God's will is the one hopeful, glad, and glorious thing in the world"; and it is working in the omnipotence for us all the time, with nothing to prevent it if we are surrendered and believing. \par\par One who was passing through deep waters of affliction wrote to a friend: "Is it not a glorious thing to know that, no difference how unjust a thing may be, or how absolutely it may seem to be from Satan, by the time it reaches us it is God's will for us, and will work for good to us? For all things work together for good to us who love God. And even of the betrayal, Christ said, "The cup which my Father gave me, shall I not drink it?" We live charmed lives if we are living in the center of God's will. All the attacks that Satan, through others' sin, can hurl against us are not only powerless to harm us, but are turned into blessings on the way.--H. W. S. \par\par In the center of the circle \par Of the Will of God I stand: \par There can come no second causes, \par All must come from His dear hand. \par All is well! for 'tis my Father \par Who my life hath planned. \par\par Shall I pass through waves of sorrow? \par Then I know it will be best; \par Though I cannot tell the reason, \par I can trust, and so am blest. \par God is Love, and God is faithful, \par So in perfect Peace I rest. \par\par With the shade and with the sunshine, \par With the joy and with the pain, \par Lord, I trust Thee! both are needed, \par Each Thy wayward child to train, \par Earthly loss, did we but know it, \par Often means our heavenly gain. \par --I. G. W.\par\par LVALOut of Wounding \par\par "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22.). \par\par The best things of life come out of wounding. Wheat is crushed before it becomes bread. Incense must be cast upon the fire before its odors are set free. The ground must be broken with the sharp plough before it is ready to receive the seed. It is the broken heart that pleases God. The sweetest joys in life are the fruits of sorrow. Human nature seems to need suffering to fit it for being a blessing to the world. \par\par "Beside my cottage door it grows, \par The loveliest, daintiest flower that blows, \par A sweetbriar rose. \par\par "At dewy morn or twilight's close, \par The rarest perfume from it flows, \par This strange wild rose. \par\par "But when the rain-drops on it beat, \par Ah, then, its odors grow more sweet, \par About my feet. \par\par "Ofttimes with loving tenderness, \par Its soft green leaves I gently press, \par In sweet caress. \par\par "A still more wondrous fragrance flows \par The more my fingers close \par And crush the rose. \par\par "Dear Lord, oh, let my life be so \par Its perfume when tempests blow, \par The sweeter flow. \par\par "And should it be Thy blessed will, \par With crushing grief my soul to fill, \par Press harder still. \par\par "And while its dying fragrance flows \par I'll whisper low, 'He loves and knows \par His crushed briar rose.'" \par\par If you aspire to be a son of consolation; if you would partake of the priestly gift of sympathy; if you would pour something beyond commonplace consolation into a tempted heart; if you would pass through the intercourse of daily life with the delicate tact that never inflicts pain; you must be content to pay the price of a costly education--like Him, you must suffer.--F. W. Robertson\par\par LVAL Ordering the Stops \par\par "In waiting, I waited, for the Lord" (Ps. 40:1, margin). \par\par Waiting is much more difficult than walking. Waiting requires patience, and patience is a rare virtue. It is fine to know that God builds hedges around His people--when the hedge is looked at from the viewpoint of protection. But when the hedge is kept around one until it grows so high that he cannot see over the top, and wonders whether he is ever to get out of the little sphere of influence and service in which he is pent up, it is hard for him sometimes to understand why he may not have a larger environment--hard for him to "brighten the corner" where he is. But God has a purpose in all HIS holdups. "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord," reads Psalm 37:23. \par \par On the margin of his Bible at this verse George Mueller had a notation, "And the stops also." It is a sad mistake for men to break through God's hedges. It is a vital principle of guidance for a Christian never to move out of the place in which he is sure God has placed him, until the Pillar of Cloud moves.--Sunday School Times \par \par When we learn to wait for our Lord's lead in everything, we shall know the strength that finds its climax in an even, steady walk. Many of us are lacking in the strength we so covet. But God gives full power for every task He appoints. Waiting, holding oneself true to His lead--this is the secret of strength. And anything that falls out of the line of obedience is a waste of time and strength. Watch for His leading.--S. D. Gordon \par \par Must life be a failure for one compelled to stand still in enforced inaction and see the great throbbing tides of life go by? No; victory is then to be gotten by standing still, by quiet waiting. It is a thousand times harder to do this than it was in the active days to rush on in the columns of stirring life. It requires a grander heroism to stand and wait and not lose heart and not lose hope, to submit to the will of God, to give up work and honorALVALMs to others, to be quiet, confident and rejoicing, while the happy, busy multitude go on and away. It is the grandest life "having done all, to stand."--J. R. Miller\par\par 3LVAL?A Simple Prayer \par\par "I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me" (Acts 27:25). \par\par I went to America some years ago with the captain of a steamer, who was a very devoted Christian. When off the coast of Newfoundland he said to me, "The last time I crossed here, five weeks ago, something happened which revolutionized the whole of my Christian life. We had George Mueller of Bristol on board. I had been on the bridge twenty-four hours and never left it. George Mueller came to me, and said, "Captain I have come to tell you that I must be in Quebec Saturday afternoon." "It is impossible," I said. "Very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement for fifty-seven years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray." \par\par I looked at that man of God, and thought to myself, what lunatic asylum can that man have come from? I never heard of such a thing as this. "Mr. Mueller," I said, "do you know how dense this fog is?" "No," he replied, "my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life." \par\par He knelt down and prayed one of the most simple prayers, and when he had finished I was going to pray; but he put his hand on my shoulder, and told me not to pray. "First, you do not believe He will answer; and second I BELIEVE HE HAS, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it." \par\par I looked at him, and he said, "Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get audience with the King. Get up, Captain and open the door, and you will find the fog gone." I got up, and the fog was indeed gone. On Saturday afternoon, George Mueller was in Quebec for his engagement.--Selected \par\par "If our love were but more simple, \par We should take Him at His word; \par And our lives would be all sunshine, \par In the sweetness of our Lord."\par\par MLVALYAlone \par\par "Alone" (Deut. 32:12). \par\par "The hill was steep, but cheered along the way \par By converse sweet, I mounted on the thought \par That so it might be till the height was reached; \par But suddenly a narrow winding path \par Appeared, and then the Master said, 'My child, \par Here thou wilt safest walk with Me alone.' \par\par "I trembled, yet my heart's deep trust replied, \par 'So be it, Lord.' He took my feeble hand \par In His, accepting thus my will to yield Him \par All, and to find all in Him. \par One long, dark moment, \par And no friend I saw, save Jesus only. \par\par "But oh! so tenderly He led me on \par And up, and spoke to me such words of cheer, \par Such secret whisperings of His wondrous love, \par That soon I told Him all my grief and fear, \par And leaned on His strong arm confidingly. \par\par "And then I found my footsteps quickened, \par And light ineffable, the rugged way \par Illumined, such light as only can be seen \par In close companionship with God. \par\par "A little while, and we shall meet again \par The loved and lost; but in the rapturous joy \par Of greetings, such as here we cannot know, \par And happy song, and heavenly embraces, \par And tender recollections rushing back \par Of pilgrim life, methinks one memory \par More dear and sacred than the rest, shall rise, \par\par "And we who gather in the golden streets, \par Shall oft be stirred to speak with grateful love \par Of that dark day when Jesus bade us climb \par Some narrow steep, leaning on Him alone." \par "There is no high hill but beside some deep valley. \par There is no birth without a pang." \par --Dan Crawford \par\par LVAL Joined in God \par\par "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Cor. 6:10). \par\par Sorrow was beautiful, but her beauty was the beauty of the moonlight shining through the leafy branches of the trees in the wood, and making little pools of silver here and there on the soft green moss below. \par\par When Sorrow sang, her notes were like the low sweet call of the nightingale, and in her eyes was the unexpectant gaze of one who has ceased to look for coming gladness. She could weep in tender sympathy with those who weep, but to rejoice with those who rejoice was unknown to her. \par\par Joy was beautiful, too, but his was the radiant beauty of the summer morning. His eyes still held the glad laughter of childhood, and his hair had the glint of the sunshine's kiss. When Joy sang his voice soared upward as the lark's, and his step was the step of a conqueror who has never known defeat. He could rejoice with all who rejoice, but to weep with those who weep was unknown to him. \par\par "But we can never be united," said Sorrow wistfully. \par\par "No, never." And Joy's eyes shadowed as he spoke. "My path lies through the sunlit meadows, the sweetest roses bloom for my gathering, and the blackbirds and thrushes await my coming to pour forth their most joyous lays." \par\par "My path," said Sorrow, turning slowly away, "leads through the darkening woods, with moon-flowers only shall my hands be filled. Yet the sweetest of all earth-songs--the love song of the night--shall be mine; farewell, Joy, farewell." \par\par Even as she spoke they became conscious of a form standing beside them; dimly seen, but of a Kingly Presence, and a great and holy awe stole over them as they sank on their knees before Him. \par\par "I see Him as the King of Joy," whispered Sorrow, "for on His Head are many crowns, and the nailprints in His hands and feet are the scars of a great victory. Before Him all my sorrow is melting away into deathless love and gladness, and I give myself to Him forever." \par\par "Nay, SorrLVALow," said Joy softly, "but I see Him as the King of Sorrow, and the crown on His head is a crown of thorns, and the nailprints in His hands and feet are the scars of a great agony. I, too, give myself to Him forever, for sorrow with Him must be sweeter than any joy that I have known." \par\par "Then we are one in Him," they cried in gladness, "for none but He could unite Joy and Sorrow." \par\par Hand in hand they passed out into the world to follow Him through storm and sunshine, in the bleakness of winter cold and the warmth of summer gladness, "as sorrowful yet always rejoicing." \par\par "Should Sorrow lay her hand upon thy shoulder, \par And walk with thee in silence on life's way, \par While Joy, thy bright companion once, grown colder, \par Becomes to thee more distant day by day? \par Shrink not from the companionship of Sorrow, \par She is the messenger of God to thee; \par And thou wilt thank Him in His great tomorrow \par For what thou knowest not now, thou then shalt see; \par She is God's angel, clad in weeds of night, \par With 'whom we walk by faith and not by sight.'" \par\par LVAL Wrestling With God \par\par "And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day" (Gen. 32:24). \par\par God is wrestling with Jacob more than Jacob is wrestling with God. It was the Son of man, the Angel of the Covenant. It was God in human form pressing down and pressing out the old Jacob life; and ere the morning broke, God had prevailed and Jacob fell with his thigh dislocated. But as he fell, he fell into the arms of God, and there he clung and wrestled, too, until the blessing came; and the new life was born and he arose from the earthly to the heavenly, the human to the divine, the natural to the supernatural. And as he went forth that morning he was a weak and broken man, but God was there instead; and the heavenly voice proclaimed, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." \par\par Beloved, this must ever be a typical scene in every transformed life. There comes a crisis-hour to each of us, if God has called us to the highest and best, when all resources fail; when we face either ruin or something higher than we ever dreamed; when we must have infinite help from God and yet, ere we can have it, we must let something go; we must surrender completely; we must cease from our own wisdom, strength, and righteousness, and become crucified with Christ and alive in Him. God knows how to lead us up to this crisis, and He knows how to lead us through. \par\par Is He leading you thus? Is this the meaning of your deep trial, or your difficult surroundings, or that impossible situation. or that trying place through which you cannot go without Him, and yet you have not enough of Him to give you the victory? \par\par Oh, turn to Jacob's God! Cast yourself helplessly at His feet. Die to your strength and wisdom in His loving arms and rise, like Jacob, into His strength and all-sufficiency. There is no way out of your hard and narrow place but at the top. You must get deliveranLVALce by rising higher and coming into a new experience with God. Oh, may it bring you into all that is meant by the revelation of the Mighty One of Jacob!--But God \par\par "At Thy feet I fall, \par Yield Thee Up My ALL, \par To suffer LIVE, OR DIE \par For my Lord crucified."\par\par :LVALFHimself \par\par "He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me; because he delighted in me" (Ps. 18:19). \par\par And what is this "large place"? What can it be but God Himself, that infinite Being in whom all other beings and all other streams of life terminate? God is a large place indeed. And it was through humiliation, through abasement, through nothingness that David was brought into it.--Madame Guyon \par\par "I bare you on eagle's wings, and brought you unto myself" (Exod. 19:4). \par\par Fearing to launch on "full surrender's" tide, \par I asked the Lord where would its waters glide \par My little bark, "To troubled seas I dread?" \par "Unto Myself," He said. \par\par Weeping beside an open grave I stood, \par In bitterness of soul I cried to God: \par "Where leads this path of sorrow that I tread?" \par "Unto Myself," He said. \par\par Striving for souls, I loved the work too well; \par Then disappointments came; I could not tell \par The reason, till He said, "I am thine all; \par Unto Myself I call." \par\par Watching my heroes--those I loved the best-- \par I saw them fail; they could not stand the test, \par Even by this the Lord, through tears not few, \par Unto Himself me drew. \par\par Unto Himself! No earthly tongue can tell \par The bliss I find, since in His heart I dwell; \par The things that charmed me once seem all as naught; \par Unto Himself I'm brought. \par --selected\par\par LVAL No Miracles \par\par "And the rest, some on boards, some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land" (Acts 27:44). \par\par The marvelous story of Paul's voyage to Rome, with its trials and triumphs, is a fine pattern of the lights and shades of the way of faith all through the story of human life. The remarkable feature of it is the hard and narrow places which we find intermingled with God's most extraordinary interpositions and providences. \par\par It is the common idea that the pathway of faith is strewn with flowers, and that when God interposes in the life of His people, He does it on a scale so grand that He lifts us quite out of the plane of difficulties. The actual fact, however, is that the real experience is quite contrary. The story of the Bible is one of alternate trial and triumph in the case of everyone of the cloud of witnesses from Abel down to the latest martyr. \par\par Paul, more than anyone else, was an example of how much a child of God can suffer without being crushed or broken in spirit. On account of his testifying in Damascus, he was hunted down by persecutors and obliged to fly for his life. but we behold no heavenly chariot transporting the holy apostle amid thunderbolts of flame from the reach of his foes, but "through a window in a basket," was he let down over the walls of Damascus and so escaped their hands. In an old clothes basket, like a bundle of laundry, or groceries, the servant of Jesus Christ was dropped from the window and ignominiously fled from the hate of his foes. \par\par Again we find him left for months in the lonely dungeons; we find him telling of his watchings, his fastings, and his desertion by friends, of his brutal and shameful beatings, and here even after God has promised to deliver him, we see him for days left to toss upon a stormy sea, obliged to stand guard over the treacherous seaman, and at last when the deliverance comes, there is no heavenly galley sailing from the skies to take off tPLVAL\he noble prisoner; there is no angel form walking along the waters and stilling the raging breakers; there is no supernatural sign of the transcendent miracle that is being wrought; but one is compelled to seize a spar, another a floating plank, another to climb on a fragment of the wreck, another to strike out and swim for his life. \par\par Here is God's pattern for our own lives. Here is a Gospel of help for people that have to live in this every day world with real and ordinary surroundings, and a thousand practical conditions which have to be met in a thoroughly practical way. \par\par God's promises and God's providences do not lift us out of the plane of common sense and commonplace trial, but it is through these very things that faith is perfected, and that God loves to interweave the golden threads of His love along the warp and woof of our every day experience.--Hard Places in the Way of Faith\par\par LVALNo Solution in Sight \par\par "He went out, not knowing whither he went" (Heb. 11:9). \par\par It is faith without sight. When we can see, it is not faith, but reasoning. In crossing the Atlantic we observed this very principle of faith. We saw no path upon the sea, nor sign of the shore. And yet day by day we were marking our path upon the chart as exactly as if there had followed us a great chalk line upon the sea. And when we came within twenty miles of land, we knew where we were as exactly as if we had seen it all three thousand miles ahead. \par\par How had we measured and marked our course? Day by day our captain had taken his instruments and, looking up to the sky, had fixed his course by the sun. He was sailing by the heavenly, not the earthly lights. \par\par So faith looks up and sails on, by God's great Sun, not seeing one shore line or earthly lighthouse or path upon the way. Often its steps seem to lead into utter uncertainty, and even darkness and disaster; but He opens the way, and often makes such midnight hours the very gates of day. Let us go forth this day, not knowing, but trusting.--Days of Heaven upon Earth \par\par "Too many of us want to see our way through before starting new enterprises. If we could and did, from whence would come the development of our Christian graces? Faith, hope and love cannot be plucked from trees, like ripe apples. After the words 'In the beginning' comes the word 'God'! The first step turns the key into God's power-house, and it is not only true that God helps those who help themselves, but He also helps those who cannot help themselves. You can depend upon Him every time." \par\par "Waiting on God brings us to our journey's end quicker than our feet." \par\par The opportunity is often lost by deliberation.\par\par LVAL%Grow in the Gloom \par\par "I have all, and abound" (Phil. 4:18). \par\par In one of my garden books there is a chapter with a very interesting heading, "Flowers that Grow in the Gloom." It deals with those patches in a garden which never catch the sunlight. And my guide tells me the sort of flowers which are not afraid of these dingy corners--may rather like them and flourish in them. \par\par And there are similar things in the world of the spirit. They come out when material circumstances become stern and severe. They grow in the gloom. How can we otherwise explain some of the experiences of the Apostle Paul? \par\par Here he is in captivity at Rome. The supreme mission of his life appears to be broken. But it is just in this besetting dinginess that flowers begin to show their faces in bright and fascinating glory. He may have seen them before, growing in the open road, but never as they now appeared in incomparable strength and beauty. Words of promise opened out their treasures as he had never seen them before. \par\par Among those treasures were such wonderful things as the grace of Christ, the love of Christ, the joy and peace of Christ; and it seemed as though they needed an "encircling gloom" to draw out their secret and their inner glory. At any rate the realm of gloom became the home of revelation, and Paul began to realize as never before the range and wealth of his spiritual inheritance. Who has not known men and women who, when they arrive at seasons of gloom and solitude, put on strength and hopefulness like a robe? You may imprison such folk where you please; but you shut up their treasure with them. You cannot shut it out. You may make their material lot a desert, but "the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."--Dr. Jowett \par\par "Every flower, even the fairest, has its shadow beneath it as it swings in the sunlight." \par\par Where there is much light there is much shade.\par\par HLVALTShut Up To Faith \par\par "Shut up to faith" (Gal. 3:23). \par\par God, in olden time suffered man to be kept in ward by the law that he might learn the more excellent way of faith. For by the law he would see God's holy standard and by the law he would see his own utter helplessness; then he would be glad to learn God's way of faith. \par\par God still shuts us up to faith. Our natures, our circumstances, trials, disappointments, all serve to shut us up and keep us in ward till we see that the only way out is God's way of faith. Moses tried by self-effort, by personal influence, even by violence, to bring about the deliverance of his people. God had to shut him up forty years in the wilderness before he was prepared for God's work. \par\par Paul and Silas were bidden of God to preach the Gospel in Europe. They landed and proceeded to Philippi. They were flogged, they were shut up in prison, their feet were put fast in the stocks. They were shut up to faith. They trusted God. They sang praises to Him in the darkest hour, and God wrought deliverance and salvation. \par\par John was banished to the Isle of Patmos. He was shut up to faith. Had he not been so shut up, he would never have seen such glorious visions of God. \par\par Dear reader, are you in some great trouble? Have you had some great disappointment, have you met some sorrow, some unspeakable loss? Are you in a hard place? Cheer up! You are shut up to faith. Take your trouble the right way. Commit it to God. Praise Him that He maketh "all things work together for good," and that "God worketh for him that waiteth for him." There will be blessings, help and revelations of God that will come to you that never could otherwise have come; and many besides yourself will receive great light and blessing because you were shut up to faith.--C. H. P \par\par "Great things are done when men and mountains meet, \par These are not done by jostling in the street." \par\par LVAL Nothing Satisfies \par\par "It is not in me" (Job 28:14). \par\par I remember a summer in which I said, "It is the ocean I need," and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, "It is not in me!" The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, "The mountains will rest me," and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain that I had wanted so much to see; but it said, "It is not in me!" It did not satisfy. Ah! I needed the ocean of His love, and the high mountains of His truth within. It was wisdom that the "depths" said they did not contain, and that could not be compared with jewels or gold or precious stones. Christ is wisdom and our deepest need. Our restlessness within can only be met by the revelation of His eternal friendship and love for us.--Margaret Bottome \par\par "My heart is there! \par 'Where, on eternal hills, my loved one dwells \par Among the lilies and asphodels; \par Clad in the brightness of the Great White Throne, \par Glad in the smile of Him who sits thereon, \par The glory gilding all His wealth of hair \par And making His immortal face more fair \par THERE IS MY TREASURE and my heart is there. \par\par "My heart is there! \par 'With Him who made all earthly life so sweet, \par So fit to live, and yet to die so meet; \par So mild, so grand, so gentle and so brave, \par So ready to forgive, so strong to save. \par His fair, pure Spirit makes the Heavens more fair, \par And thither rises all my longing prayer \par THERE IS MY TREASURE and my heart is there." \par --Favorite poem of the late Chas. E. Cowman \par\par 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 lofty wings, and with his eye on the Alpine cliff, he will soar away to his own ancestral halls amid the munition of rocks and the wWLVALcild music of tempest and waterfall. \par\par 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. \par\par "My Home is God Himself"; Christ brought me there. \par I laid me down within His mighty arms; \par He took me up, and safe from all alarms \par He bore me "where no foot but His hath trod," \par Within the holiest at Home with God, \par And bade me dwell in Him, rejoicing there. \par O Holy Place! O Home divinely fair! \par And we, God's little ones, abiding there. \par\par "My Home is God Himself"; it was not so! \par A long, long road I traveled night and day, \par And sought to find within myself some way, \par Aught I could do, or feel to bring me near; \par Self effort failed, and I was filled with fear, \par And then I found Christ was the only way, \par That I must come to Him and in Him stay, \par And God had told me so. \par\par And now "my Home is God," and sheltered there, \par God meets the trials of my earthly life, \par God compasses me round from storm and strife, \par God takes the burden of my daily care. \par O Wondrous Place! O Home divinely fair! \par And I, God's little one, safe hidden there. \par Lord, as I dwell in Thee and Thou in me, \par So make me dead to everything but Thee; \par That as I rest within my Home most fair, \par My soul may evermore and only see \par My God in everything and everywhere; \par My Home is God. \par --Author Unknown \par\par LVAL Isolation \par\par "And he took him aside from the multitude" (Mark 7:33). \par\par Paul not only stood the tests in Christian activity, but in the solitude of captivity. You may stand the strain of the most intense labor, coupled with severe suffering, and yet break down utterly when laid aside from all religious activities; when forced into close confinement in some prison house. \par\par That noble bird, soaring the highest above the clouds and enduring the longest flights, sinks into despair when in a cage where it is forced to beat its helpless wings against its prison bars. You have seen the great eagle languish in its narrow cell with bowed head and drooping wings. What a picture of the sorrow of inactivity. \par\par Paul in prison. That was another side of life. Do you want to see how he takes it? I see him looking out over the top of his prison wall and over the heads of his enemies. I see him write a document and sign his name--not the prisoner of Festus, nor of Caesar; not the victim of the Sanhedrin; but the--"prisoner of the Lord." He saw only the hand of God in it all. To him the prison becomes a palace. Its corridors ring with shouts of triumphant praise and joy. \par\par Restrained from the missionary work he loved so well, he now built a new pulpit--a new witness stand--and from that place of bondage come some of the sweetest and most helpful ministries of Christian liberty. What precious messages of light come from those dark shadows of captivity. \par\par Think of the long train of imprisoned saints who have followed in Paul's wake. For twelve long years Bunyan's lips were silenced in Bedford jail. It was there that he did the greatest and best work of his life. There he wrote the book that has been read next to the Bible. He says, "I was at home in prison and I sat me down and wrote, and wrote, for joy did make me write." \par\par The wonderful dream of that long night has lighted the pathway of millions of weary pilgrims. That sweet-spirited French lady, Madam Guyon, laTLVAL`y long between prison walls. Like some caged birds that sing the sweeter for their confinement, the music of her soul has gone out far beyond the dungeon walls and scattered the desolation of many drooping hearts. \par\par Oh, the heavenly consolation that has poured forth from places of solitude!--S. G. Rees \par\par "Taken aside by Jesus, \par To feel the touch of His hand; \par To rest for a while in the shadow \par Of the Rock in a weary land. \par\par "Taken aside by Jesus, \par In the loneliness dark and drear, \par Where no other comfort may reach me, \par Than His voice to my heart so dear. \par "Taken aside by Jesus, \par To be quite alone with Him, \par To hear His wonderful tones of love \par 'Mid the silence and shadows dim. \par\par "Taken aside by Jesus, \par Shall I shrink from the desert place; \par When I hear as I never heard before, \par And see Him 'face to face'?"\par\par LVALBeing Proven \par\par "There he proved them" (Exod. 15:25). \par I stood once in the test room of a great steel mill. All around me were little partitions and compartments. Steel had been tested to the limit, and marked with figures that showed its breaking point. Some pieces had been twisted until they broke, and the strength of torsion was marked on them. Some had been stretched to the breaking point and their tensile strength indicated. Some had been compressed to the crushing point, and also marked. The master of the steel mill knew just what these pieces of steel would stand under strain. He knew just what they would bear if placed in the great ship, building, or bridge. He knew this because his testing room revealed it. \par\par It is often so with God's children. God does not want us to be like vases of glass or porcelain. He would have us like these toughened pieces of steel, able to bear twisting and crushing to the uttermost without collapse. \par\par He wants us to be, not hothouse plants, but storm-beaten oaks; not sand dunes driven with every gust of wind, but granite rocks withstanding the fiercest storms. To make us such He must needs bring us into His testing room of suffering. \par\par Many of us need no other argument than our own experiences to prove that suffering is indeed God's testing room of faith.--J. H. McC \par\par It is very easy for us to speak and theorize about faith, but God often casts us into crucibles to try our gold, and to separate it from the dross and alloy. Oh, happy are we if the hurricanes that ripple life's unquiet sea have the effect of making Jesus more precious. Better the storm with Christ than smooth waters without Him.--Macduff \par\par What if God could not manage to ripen your life without suffering?\par\par LVAL The Lightest Cross \par\par "And he went out carrying his own cross" (John 19:17). \par\par There is a poem called "The Changed Cross." It represents a weary one who thought that her cross was surely heavier than those of others whom she saw about her, and she wished that she might choose an other instead of her own. She slept, and in her dream she was led to a place where many crosses lay, crosses of different shapes and sizes. There was a little one most beauteous to behold, set in jewels and gold. "Ah, this I can wear with comfort," she said. So she took it up, but her weak form shook beneath it. The jewels and the gold were beautiful, but they were far too heavy for her. \par\par Next she saw a lovely cross with fair flowers entwined around its sculptured form. Surely that was the one for her. She lifted it, but beneath the flowers were piercing thorns which tore her flesh. \par\par At last, as she went on, she came to a plain cross, without jewels, without carvings, with only a few words of love inscribed upon it. This she took up and it proved the best of all, the easiest to be borne. And as she looked upon it, bathed in the radiance that fell from Heaven, she recognized her own old cross. She had found it again, and it was the best of all and lightest for her. \par\par God knows best what cross we need to bear. We do not know how heavy other people's crosses are. We envy someone who is rich; his is a golden cross set with jewels, but we do not know how heavy it is. Here is another whose life seems very lovely. She bears a cross twined with flowers. If we could try all the other crosses that we think lighter than our own, we would at last find that not one of them suited us so well as our own.--Glimpses through Life's Windows \par\par If thou, impatient, dost let slip thy cross, \par Thou wilt not find it in this world again; \par Nor in another: here and here alone \par Is given thee to suffer for God's sake. \par In other worlds we may more perfectly \par Love Him and serve Him,LVAL praise Him, \par Grow nearer and nearer to Him with delight. \par But then we shall not any more \par Be called to suffer, which is our appointment here. \par Canst thou not suffer, then, one hour or two? \par If He should call thee from thy cross today, \par Saying: "It is finished-that hard cross of thine \par From which thou prayest for deliverance," \par Thinkest thou not some passion of regret \par Would overcome thee? Thou would'st say, \par "So soon? Let me go back and suffer yet awhile \par More patiently. I have not yet praised God." \par Whensoe'er it comes, that summons that we look for, \par It will seem soon, too soon. Let us take heed in time \par That God may now be glorified in us. \par --Ugo Bassi's Sermon in a Hospital.\par\par LVALDeep Faith \par\par "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep" (Ps. 107:23, 24). \par\par He is but an apprentice and no master in the art, who has not learned that every wind that blows is fair for Heaven. The only thing that helps nobody, is a dead calm. North or south, cast or west, it matters not, every wind may help towards that blessed port. Seek one thing only: keep well out to sea, and then have no fear of stormy winds. Let our prayer be that of an old Cornishman: "O Lord, send us out to sea--out in the deep water. Here we are so close to the rocks that the first bit of breeze with the devil, we are all knocked to pieces. Lord, send us out to sea--out in the deep water, where we shall have room enough to get a glorious victory."--Mark Guy Pearse. \par\par Remember that we have no more faith at any time than we have in the hour of trial. All that will not bear to be tested is mere carnal confidence. Fair-weather faith is no faith.--C. H. Spurgeon\par\par fLVALrThe End Of Our Strength \par\par "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:29). \par\par How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that axe unseen! If Peter is to walk on the water he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim, but he cannot do both. If the bird is going to fly it must keep away from fences and the trees, and trust to its buoyant wings. But if it tries to keep within easy reach of the ground, it will make poor work of flying. \par\par God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength, and to let him see that in his own body he could do nothing. He had to consider his own body as good as dead, and then take God for the whole work; and when he looked away from himself, and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform. That is what God is teaching us, and He has to keep away encouraging results until we learn to trust without them, and then He loves to make His Word real in fact as well as faith.--A. B. Simpson \par\par I do not ask that He must prove \par His Word is true to me, \par And that before I can believe \par He first must let me see. \par It is enough for me to know \par 'Tis true because He says 'tis so; \par On His unchanging Word I'll stand \par And trust till I can understand. \par --E. M. Winter\par\par LVALShaped Stones \par\par "I will lay thy stones with fair colors" (Isa. 54:11). \par\par The stones from the wall said, "We come from the mountains far away, from the sides of the craggy hills. Fire and water have worked on us for ages, but made us only crags. Human hands have made us into a dwelling where the children of your immortal race are born, and suffer, and rejoice, and find rest and shelter, and learn the lessons set them by our Maker and yours. But we have passed through much to fit us for this. Gunpowder has rent our very heart; pickaxes have cleaved and broken us, it seemed to us often with out design or meaning, as we lay misshapen stones in the quarry; but gradually we were cut into blocks, and some of us were chiseled with finer instruments to a sharper edge. But we are complete now, and are in our places, and are of service. \par\par You are in the quarry still, and not complete, and therefore to you, as once to us, much is inexplicable. But you are destined for a higher building, and one day you will be placed in it by hands not human, a living stone in a heavenly temple. \par\par "In the still air the music lies unheard; \par In the rough marble beauty hides unseen; \par To make the music and the beauty needs \par The master's touch, the sculptor's chisel keen. \par\par "Great Master, touch us with Thy skillful hands; \par Let not the music that is in us die! \par Great Sculptor, hew and polish us; nor let, \par Hidden and lost, thy form within us lie!" \par\par LVALFashioned In The Fire \par\par "Unto you it is given . . .to suffer" (Phil. 1:29). \par\par God keeps a costly school. Many of its lessons are spelled out through tears. Richard Baxter said, "O God, I thank Thee for a bodily discipline of eight and fifty years"; and he is not the only man who has turned a trouble into triumph. \par\par This school of our Heavenly Father will soon close for us; the term time is shortening every day. Let us not shrink from a hard lesson or wince under any rod of chastisement. The richer will be the crown, and the sweeter will be Heaven, if we endure cheerfully to the end and graduate in glory.--Theodore L. Cuyler \par\par The finest china in the world is burned at least three times, some of it more than three times. Dresden china is always burned three times. Why does it go through that intense fire? Once ought to be enough; twice ought to be enough. No, three times are necessary to burn that china so that the gold and the crimson are brought out more beautiful and then fastened there to stay. \par\par We are fashioned after the same principle in human life. Our trials are burned into us once, twice, thrice; and by God's grace these beautiful colors are there and they are there to stay forever.--Cortland Myers \par\par Earth's fairest flowers grow not on sunny plain, \par But where some vast upheaval rent in twain The smiling land . . . . \par After the whirlwinds devastating blast, \par After the molten fire and ashen pall, \par God's still small voice breathes healing over all. \par From riven rocks and fern-clad chasms deep, \par Flow living waters as from hearts that weep, \par There in the afterglow soft dews distill \par And angels tend God's plants when night falls still, \par And the Beloved passing by that way \par Will gather lilies at the break of day.--J.H.D. \par\par LVAL Walk Without Strain \par\par "And he saw them toiling in rowing" (Mark 6:48). \par\par Straining, driving effort does not accomplish the work God gives man to do. Only God Himself, who always works without strain, and who never overworks, can do the work that He assigns to His children. When they restfully trust Him to do it, it will be well done and completely done. The way to let Him do His work through us is to partake of Christ so fully, by faith, that He more than fills our life. \par\par A man who had learned this secret once said: "I came to Jesus and I drank, and I do not think that I shall ever be thirsty again. I have taken for my motto, 'Not overwork, but overflow'; and already it has made all the difference in my life." \par\par There is no effort in overflow. It is quietly irresistible. It is the normal life of omnipotent and ceaseless accomplishment into which Christ invites us today and always.--Sunday School Times \par\par Be all at rest, my soul, O blessed secret, \par Of the true life that glorifies thy Lord: \par Not always doth the busiest soul best serve Him, \par But he that resteth on His faithful Word. \par Be all at rest, let not your heart be rippled, \par For tiny wavelets mar the image fair, \par Which the still pool reflects of heaven's glory-- \par And thus the image He would have thee bear. \par\par Be all at rest, my soul, for rest is service, \par To the still heart God doth His secrets tell; \par Thus shalt thou learn to wait, and watch, and labor, \par Strengthened to bear, since Christ in thee doth dwell. \par For what is service but the life of Jesus, \par Lived through a vessel of earth's fragile clay, \par Loving and giving and poured forth for others, \par A living sacrifice from day to day. \par\par Be all at rest, so shalt thou be an answer \par To those who question, "Who is God and where?" \par For God is rest, and where He dwells is stillness, \par And they who dwell in Him, His rest shalt share. \par And what shall meet the deeLVALp unrest around thee, \par But the calm peace of God that filled His breast? \par For still a living Voice calls to the weary, \par From Him who said, "Come unto Me and rest." \par --Freda Hanbury Allen \par\par "In resurrection stillness there is resurrection power." \par\par  LVALShout of Faith \par\par "And when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him" (Joshua 6:5). \par\par The shout of steadfast faith is in direct contrast to the moans of wavering faith, and to the wails of discouraged hearts. Among the many "secrets of the Lord," I do not know of any that is more valuable than the secret of this shout of faith. The Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour." He had not said, "I will give," but "I have given." It belonged to them already; and now they were called to take possession of it. But the great question was, How? It looked impossible, but the Lord declared His plan. \par\par Now, no one can suppose for a moment that this shout caused the walls to fall. And yet the secret of their victory lay in just this shout, for it was the shout of a faith which dared, on the authority of God's Word alone, to claim a promised victory, while as yet there were no signs of this victory being accomplished. And according to their faith God did unto them; so that, when they shouted, He made the walls to fall. \par\par God had declared that He had given them the city, and faith reckoned this to be true. And long centuries afterwards the Holy Ghost recorded this triumph of faith in Hebrews: \par\par "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days."--Hannah Whitall Smith. \par\par "Faith can never reach its consummation, \par Till the victor's thankful song we raise: \par In the glorious city of salvation, \par God has told us all the gates are praise."\par\par LVAL When We Are Ready \par\par "Blessed are all they that wait for him" (Isa 30:18). \par\par We hear a great deal about waiting on God. There is, however, another side. When we wait on God, He is waiting till we are ready; when we wait for God, we are waiting till He is ready. \par\par There are some people who say, and many more who believe, that as soon as we meet all the conditions, God will answer our prayers. They say that God lives in an eternal now; with Him there is no past nor future; and that if we could fulfill all that He requires in the way of obedience to His will, immediately our needs would be supplied, our desires fulfilled, our prayers answered. \par\par There is much truth in this belief, and yet it expresses only one side of the truth. While God lives in an eternal now, yet He works out His purposes in time. A petition presented before God is like a seed dropped in the ground. Forces above and beyond our control must work upon it, till the true fruition of the answer is given.--The Still Small Voice \par\par I longed to walk along an easy road, \par And leave behind the dull routine of home, \par Thinking in other fields to serve my God; \par But Jesus said, "My time has not yet come." \par\par I longed to sow the seed in other soil, \par To be unfettered in the work, and free, \par To join with other laborers in their toil; \par But Jesus said, "'Tis not My choice for thee." \par\par I longed to leave the desert, and be led \par To work where souls were sunk in sin and shame, \par That I might win them; but the Master said, \par "I have not called thee, publish here My name." \par\par I longed to fight the battles of my King, \par Lift high His standards in the thickest strife; \par But my great Captain bade me wait and sing \par Songs of His conquests in my quiet life. \par\par I longed to leave the uncongenial sphere, \par Where all alone I seemed to stand and wait, \par To feel I had some human helper near, \par But Jesus bade me guard one lonely gate. LVAL \par\par I longed to leave the round of daily toil, \par Where no one seemed to understand or care; \par But Jesus said, "I choose for thee this soil, \par That thou might'st raise for Me some blossoms rare." \par\par And now I have no longing but to do \par At home, or else afar, His blessed will, \par To work amid the many or the few; \par Thus, "choosing not to choose," my heart is still. \par --Selected \par\par "And Patience was willing to wait."--Pilgrim's Progress\par\par LVAL He Remains \par\par "Thou remainest" (Heb. 1:11). \par\par There are always lone hearth-fires; so many! And those who sit beside them, with the empty chair, cannot restrain the tears that will come. One sits alone so much. There is some One unseen, just here within reach. But somehow we don't realize His presence. Realizing is blessed, but--rare. It belongs to the mood, to the feelings. It is dependent on weather conditions and bodily conditions. The rain, the heavy fog outside, the poor sleep, the twinging pain, these make one's mood so much, they seem to blur out the realizing. But there is something a little higher up than realizing. It is yet more blessed. It is independent of these outer conditions, it is something that abides. It is this: recognizing that Presence unseen, so wondrous and quieting, so soothing and calming and warming. Recognize His presence--the Master's own. He is here, close by; His presence is real. Recognizing will help realizing, too, but it never depends on it. Aye, more, immensely more, the Truth is a Presence, not a thing, a fact, a statement. Some One is present, a warm-hearted Friend, an all-powerful Lord. And this is the joyful truth for weeping hearts everywhere, whatever be the hand that has drawn the tears; by whatever stream it be that your weeping willow is planted. --S. D. Gordon \par\par When from my life the old-time joys have vanished, \par Treasures once mine, I may no longer claim, \par This truth may feed my hungry heart, and famished: \par Lord, THOU REMAINEST THOU art still the same! \par\par When streams have dried, those streams of glad refreshing-- \par Friendships so blest, so rich, so free; \par When sun-kissed skies give place to clouds depressing, \par Lord, THOU REMAINEST! Still my heart hath THEE. \par\par When strength hath failed, and feet, now worn and weary, \par On gladsome errands may no longer go, \par Why should I sigh, or let the days be dreary? \par Lord, THOU REMAINEST! Could'st Thou more bestow? \par\par Thus througLVALh life's days--whoe'er or what may fail me, \par Friends, friendships, joys, in small or great degree, \par Songs may be mine, no sadness need assail me, \par Lord, THOU REMAINEST! Still my heart hath THEE. --J. D. Smith\par\par WLVALcTrouble Teaches \par\par "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1). \par\par The question often comes, "Why didn't He help me sooner?" It is not His order. He must first adjust you to the trouble and cause you to learn your lesson from it. His promise is, "I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him." He must be with you in the trouble first all day and all night. Then He will take you out of it. This will not come till you have stopped being restless and fretful about it and become calm and quiet. Then He will say, "It is enough." \par\par God uses trouble to teach His children precious lessons. They are intended to educate us. When their good work is done, a glorious recompense will come to us through them. There is a sweet joy and a real value in them. He does not regard them as difficulties but as opportunities. \par --Selected. \par\par Not always OUT of our troublous times, \par And the struggles fierce and grim, \par But IN--deeper IN--to our one sure rest, \par The place of our peace, in Him. \par --Annie Johnson Flint \par\par We once heard a simple old colored man say something that we have never forgotten: "When God tests you, it is a good time for you to test Him by putting His promises to the proof, and claiming from Him just as much as your trials have rendered necessary." \par\par There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is to simply try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had, and to hail it with delight as an opportunity of obtaining a larger measure of Divine grace. Thus even the adversary becomes an auxiliary, and the things that seem to be against us turn out to be for the furtherance of our way. Surely, this is to be more than conquerors through Him who loved us. \par --A. B. Simpson\par\par LVAL Free Through Suffering \par\par "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress" (Ps. 4:1). \par This is one of the grandest testimonies ever given by man to the moral government of God. It is not a man's thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering. It is a thanksgiving that he has been set free through suffering: "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress." He declares the sorrows of life to have been themselves the source of life's enlargement. \par And have not you and I a thousand times felt this to be true? It is written of Joseph in the dungeon that "the iron entered into his soul." We all feel that what Joseph needed for his soul was just the iron. He had seen only the glitter of the gold. He had been rejoicing in youthful dreams; and dreaming hardens the heart. He who sheds tears over a romance will not be most apt to help reality; real sorrow will be too unpoetic for him. We need the iron to enlarge our nature. The gold is but a vision; the iron is an experience. The chain which unites me to humanity must be an iron chain. That touch of nature which makes the world akin is not joy, but sorrow; gold is partial, but iron is universal. \par My soul, if thou wouldst be enlarged into human sympathy, thou must be narrowed into limits of human suffering. Joseph's dungeon is the road to Joseph's throne. Thou canst not lift the iron load of thy brother if the iron hath not entered into thee. It is thy limit that is thine enlargement. It is the shadows of thy life that are the real fulfillment of thy dreams of glory. Murmur not at the shadows; they are better revelations than thy dreams. Say not that the shades of the prison-house have fettered thee; thy fetters are wings--wings of flight into the bosom of humanity. The door of thy prison-house is a door into the heart of the universe. God has enlarged thee by the binding of sorrow's chain.--George Matheson \par If Joseph had not been Egypt's prisoner, he had never been Egypt's governor. The iron chain about his feet ushered in the LVALgolden chain about his neck.--Selected \par\par RLVAL^Deeper \par\par "Not much earth" (Matt. 13:5). \par\par Shallow! It would seem from the teaching of this parable that we have something to do with the soil. The fruitful seed fell into "good and honest hearts." I suppose the shallow people are the soil without much earth--those who have no real purpose, are moved by a tender appeal, a good sermon, a pathetic melody, and at first it looks as if they would amount to something; but not much earth--no depth, no deep, honest purpose, no earnest desire to know duty in order to do it. Let us look after the soil of our hearts. \par\par When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey it would probably be fatal, he answered, "It is necessary for me to go; it is not necessary for me to live." \par\par This was depth. When we are convicted something like that we shall come to something. The shallow nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its intuitions, its instincts, and very largely its surroundings. The profound character looks beyond all these, and moves steadily on, sailing past all storms and clouds into the clear sunshine which is always on the other side, and waiting for the afterwards which always brings the reversion of sorrow, seeming defeat and failure. \par\par When God has deepened us, then He can give us His deeper truths, His profoundest secrets, and His mightier trusts. Lord, lead me into the depths of Thy life and save me from a shallow experience! \par\par On to broader fields of holy vision; \par On to loftier heights of faith and love; \par Onward, upward, apprehending wholly, \par All for which He calls thee from above. \par --A. B. Simpson \par\par LVAL Perfection of Suffering \par\par "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me" (Ps. 138:8). \par\par There is a Divine mystery in suffering, a strange and supernatural power in it, which has never been fathomed by the human reason. There never has been known great saintliness of soul which did not pass through great suffering. When the suffering soul reaches a calm sweet carelessness, when it can inwardly smile at its own suffering, and does not even ask God to deliver it from suffering, then it has wrought its blessed ministry; then patience has its perfect work; then the crucifixion begins to weave itself into a crown. \par\par It is in this state of the perfection of suffering that the Holy Spirit works many marvelous things in our souls. In such a condition, our whole being lies perfectly still under the hand of God; every faculty of the mind and will and heart are at last subdued; a quietness of eternity settles down into the whole being; the tongue grows still, and has but few words to say; it stops asking God questions; it stops crying, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" \par\par The imagination stops building air castles, or running off on foolish lines; the reason is tame and gentle; the choices are annihilated; it has no choice in anything but the purpose of God. The affections are weaned from all creatures and all things; it is so dead that nothing can hurt it, nothing can offend it, nothing can hinder it, nothing can get in its way; for, let the circumstances be what they may, it seeks only for God and His will, and it feels assured that God is making everything in the universe, good or bad, past or present, work together for its good. \par\par Oh, the blessedness of being absolutely conquered! of losing our own strength, and wisdom, and plans, and desires, and being where every atom of our nature is like placid Galilee under the omnipotent feet of our Jesus. --Soul Food \par\par The great thing is to suffer without being discouraged. --Fenelon \par\par "The heart that serves, and LVALloves, and clings, \par Hears everywhere the rush of angel wings."\par\par LVALWait Quietly \par\par "And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise" (Heb. 6:15). \par\par Abraham was long tried, but he was richly rewarded. The Lord tried him by delaying to fulfill His promise. Satan tried him by temptation; men tried him by jealousy, distrust, and opposition; Sarah tried him by her peevishness. But he patiently endured. He did not question God's veracity, nor limit His power, nor doubt His faithfulness, nor grieve His love; but he bowed to Divine Sovereignty, submitted to Infinite Wisdom, and was silent under delays, waiting the Lord's time. And so, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. \par\par God's promises cannot fail of their accomplishment. Patient waiters cannot be disappointed. Believing expectation shall be realized. \par\par Beloved, Abraham's conduct condemns a hasty spirit, reproves a murmuring one, commends a patient one, and encourages quiet submission to God's will and way. Remember, Abraham was tried; he patiently waited; he received the promise, and was satisfied. Imitate his example, and you will share the same blessing.--Selected\par\par GLVALSLeanin' Sides \par\par "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" (S. of Sol. 8:5). \par\par Some one gained a good lesson from a Southern prayer meeting. A brother asked the Lord for various blessings--as you and I do, and thanked the Lord for many already received--as you and I do; but he closed with this unusual petition: "And, O Lord, support us! Yes support us Lord on every leanin' side!" Have you any leaning sides? This humble man's prayer pictures them in a new way and shows the Great Supporter in a new light also. He is always walking by the Christian, ready to extend His mighty arm and steady the weak one on "every leanin' side." \par\par "Child of My love, lean hard, \par And let Me feel the pressure of thy care; \par I know thy burden, child. I shaped it; \par Poised it in Mine Own hand; made no proportion \par In its weight to thine unaided strength, \par For even as I laid it on, I said, \par 'I shall be near, and while she leans on Me, \par This burden shall be Mine, not hers;\par So shall I keep My child within the circling arms \par Of My Own love.' Here lay it down, nor fear \par To impose it on a shoulder which upholds \par the government of worlds. Yet closer come: \par Thou art not near enough. I would embrace thy care; \par So I might feel My child reposing on My breast. \par Thou lovest Me? I knew it. Doubt not then; \par But Loving Me, lean hard."\par\par LVAL Grace in the Morning \par\par "Come up in the morning . . . and present thyself unto me in the top of the mount" (Exod. 34:2). \par\par The morning is the time fixed for my meeting the Lord. The very word morning is as a cluster of rich grapes. Let us crush them, and drink the sacred wine. In the morning! Then God means me to be at my best in strength and hope. I have not to climb in my weakness. In the night I have buried yesterday's fatigue, and in the morning take a new lease of energy. Blessed is the day whose morning is sanctified! Successful is the day whose first victory was won in prayer! Holy is the day whose dawn finds thee on the top of the mount! \par\par My Father, I am coming. Nothing on the mean plain shall keep me away from the holy heights. At Thy bidding I come, so Thou wilt meet me. Morning on the mount! It will make me strong and glad all the rest of the day so well begun. --Joseph Parker. \par\par Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh, \par When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee; \par Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight, \par Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee. \par\par Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows, \par The solemn hush of nature newly born; \par Alone with Thee in breathless adoration, \par In the calm dew and freshness of the morn. \par\par As in the dawning o'er the waveless ocean, \par The image of the morning-star doth rest, \par So in this stillness, Thou beholdest only \par Thine image in the waters of my breast. \par\par When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,\par Its closing eyes look up to Thee in prayer; \par Sweet the repose, beneath Thy wings o'er shadowing, \par But sweeter still to wake and find Thee there. --Harriet Beecher Stowe \par\par My mother's habit was every day, immediately after breakfast, to withdraw for an hour to her own room, and to spend that hour in reading the Bible, in meditation and prayer. From that hour, as from a pure fountain, she drew the strength and sweetneHLVALTss which enabled her to fulfill all her duties, and to remain unruffled by the worries and pettinesses which are so often the trial of narrow neighborhoods. As I think of her life, and all it had to bear, I see the absolute triumph of Christian grace in the lovely ideal of a Christian lady. I never saw her temper disturbed; I never heard her speak one word of anger, of calumny, or of idle gossip; I never observed in her any sign of a single sentiment unbecoming to a soul which had drunk of the river of the water of life, and which had fed upon manna in the barren wilderness.--Farrar \par\par Give God the blossom of the day. Do not put Him off with faded leaves.\par\par LVAL Carry Your Cross \par\par "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34). \par\par The cross which my Lord bids me take up and carry may assume different shapes. I may have to content myself with a lowly and narrow sphere, when I feel that I have capacities for much higher work. I may have to go on cultivating year after year, a field which seems to yield me no harvests whatsoever. I may be bidden to cherish kind and loving thoughts about someone who has wronged me--be bidden speak to him tenderly, and take his part against all who oppose him, and crown him with sympathy and succor. I may have to confess my Master amongst those who do not wish to be reminded of Him and His claims. I may be called to "move among my race, and show a glorious morning face," when my heart is breaking. \par\par There are many crosses, and every one of them is sore and heavy. None of them is likely to be sought out by me of my own accord. But never is Jesus so near me as when I lift my cross, and lay it submissively on my shoulder, and give it the welcome of a patient and unmurmuring spirit. \par\par He draws close, to ripen my wisdom, to deepen my peace, to increase my courage, to augment my power to be of use to others, through the very experience which is so grievous and distressing, and then--as I read on the seal of one of those Scottish Covenanters whom Claverhouse imprisoned on the lonely Bass, with the sea surging and sobbing round--I grow under the load.--Alexander Smellie. \par\par "Use your cross as a crutch to help you on, and not as a stumblingblock to cast you down." \par\par "You may others from sadness to gladness beguile, \par If you carry your cross with a smile."\par\par LVAL Scent of the Rose \par\par "Blow upon my garden that the spices may flow out" (S. of Sol. 4:16). \par\par Some of the spices mentioned in this chapter are quite suggestive. The aloe was a bitter spice, and it tells of the sweetness of bitter things, the bitter-sweet, which has its own fine application that only those can understand who have felt it. The myrrh was used to embalm the dead, and it tells of death to something. It is the sweetness which comes to the heart after it has died to its self-will and pride and sin. \par\par Oh, the inexpressible charm that hovers about some Christians simply because they bear upon the chastened countenance and mellow spirit the impress of the cross, the holy evidence of having died to something that was once proud and strong, but is now forever at the feet of Jesus. It is the heavenly charm of a broken spirit and a contrite heart, the music that springs from the minor key, the sweetness that comes from the touch of the frost upon the ripened fruit. \par\par And then the frankincense was a fragrance that came from the touch of the fire. It was the burning powder that rose in clouds of sweetness from the bosom of the flames. It tells of \par the heart whose sweetness has been called forth, perhaps by the flames of affliction, until the holy place of the soul is filled with clouds of praise and prayer. Beloved, are we giving out the spices, the perfumes, the sweet odors of the heart? --The Love-Life of Our Lord. \par\par "A Persian fable says: One day \par A wanderer found a lump of clay \par So redolent of sweet perfume \par Its odors scented all the room. \par 'What are thou? was his quick demand, \par 'Art thou some gem from Samarcand, \par Or spikenard in this rude disguise, \par Or other costly merchandise?' \par 'Nay: I am but a lump of clay.' \par\par "'Then whence this wondrous perfume--say!' \par 'Friend, if the secret I disclose, \par I have been dwelling with the rose.' \par Sweet parable! and will not those \par 'Who love to dwell #LVAL/with Sharon's rose, \par Distil sweet odors all around, \par Though low and mean themselves are found? \par Dear Lord, abide with us that we \par May draw our perfume fresh from Thee." \par\par \par LVAL Hiding Place \par\par "Hide thyself by the brook Cherith" (1 Kings 17:3). \par\par God's servants must be taught the value of the hidden life. The man who is to take a high place before his fellows must take a low place before his God. We must not be surprised if sometimes our Father says: "There, child, thou hast had enough of this hurry, and publicity, and excitement; get thee hence, and hide thyself b the brook--hide thyself in the Cherith of the sick chamber, or in the Cherith of bereavement, or in some solitude from which the crowds have ebbed away." \par\par Happy is he who can reply, "This Thy will is also mine; I flee unto Thee to hide me. Hide me in the secret of Thy tabernacle, and beneath the covert of Thy wings!" \par\par Every saintly soul that would wield great power with men must win it in some hidden Cherith. The acquisition of spiritual power is impossible, unless we can hide ourselves from men and from ourselves in some deep gorge where we may absorb the power of the eternal God; as vegetation through long ages absorbed these qualities of sunshine, which it now gives back through burning coal. \par\par Bishop Andrews had his Cherith, in which he spent five hours every day in prayer and devotion. John Welsh had it--who thought the day ill spent which did not witness eight or ten hours of closet communion. David Brainerd had it in the woods of North America. Christmas Evans had it in his long and lonely journeys amid the hills of Wales. \par\par Or, passing back to the blessed age from which we date the centuries: Patmos, the seclusion of the Roman prisons, the Arabian desert, the hills and vales of Palestine, are forever memorable as the Cheriths of those who have made our modern world. \par\par Our Lord found His Cherith at Nazareth, and in the wilderness of Judea; amid the olives of Bethany, and the solitude of Gadara. None of us, therefore, can dispense with some Cherith where the sounds of human voices are exchanged for the waters of quietness which are fed from the thryLVALone; and where we may taste the sweets and imbibe the power of a life hidden with Christ.--Elijah, by Meyer. \par\par LVAL God in Everything \par\par "It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good". (1 Sam. 3:18) \par\par See God in everything, and God will calm and color all that thou dost see!" It may be that the circumstances of our sorrows will not be removed, their condition will remain unchanged; but if Christ, as Lord and Master of our life, is brought into our grief and gloom, "HE will compass us about with songs of deliverance." To see HIM, and to be sure that His wisdom cannot err, His power cannot fail, His love can never change; to know that even His direst dealings with us are for our deepest spiritual gain, is to be able to say, in the midst of bereavement, sorrow, pain, and loss, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath, taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." \par\par Nothing else but seeing God in everything will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only instruments for accomplishing His tender and wise purposes toward us, and we shall even find ourselves at last inwardly thanking them for the blessings they bring us. Nothing else will completely put an end to all murmuring or rebelling thoughts.--H. W. Smith. \par\par "Give me a new idea," I said, \par While musing on a sleepless bed; \par "A new idea that'll bring to earth \par A balm for souls of priceless worth; \par That'll give men thoughts of things above, \par And teach them how to serve and love, \par That'll banish every selfish thought, \par And rid men of the sins they've fought." \par\par The new thought came, just how, I'll tell: \par 'Twas when on bended knee I fell, \par And sought from HIM who knows full well \par The way our sorrow to expel. \par SEE GOD IN ALL THINGS, great and small, \par And give HIM praise whate'er befall, \par In life or death, in pain or woe, \par See God, and overcome thy foe. \par\par I saw HIM in the morning light, \par HE made the day shine clear and bright; \par I saw HIM in the noontide hour, \par And gained from HIM refreshing shLVALower. \par At eventide, when worn and sad, \par HE gave me help, and made me glad. \par At midnight, when on tossing bed \par My weary soul to sleep HE led. \par\par I saw HIM when great losses came, \par And found HE loved me just the same. \par When heavy loads I had to bear, \par I found HE lightened every care. \par By sickness, sorrow, sore distress, \par HE calmed my mind and gave me rest. \par HE'S filled my heart with gladsome praise \par Since I gave HIM the upward gaze. \par\par 'Twas new to me, yet old to some, \par This thought that to me has become \par A revelation of the way \par We all should live throughout the day; \par For as each day unfolds its light, \par We'll walk by faith and not by sight. \par Life will, indeed, a blessing bring, \par If we SEE GOD IN EVERYTHING." \par --A. E. Finn\par\par LVAL Listening Hard for God \par\par "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Prov. 29 :18). \par Waiting upon God is necessary in order to see Him, to have a vision of Him. The time element in vision is essential. Our hearts are like a sensitive photographer's plate; and in order to have God revealed there, we must sit at His feet a long time. The troubled surface of a lake will not reflect an object. \par\par Our lives must be quiet and restful if we would see God. There is power in the sight of some things to affect one's life. A quiet sunset will bring peace to a troubled heart. Thus the vision of God always transforms human life. \par\par Jacob saw God at Jabbok's ford, and became Israel. The vision of God transformed Gideon from a coward into a valiant soldier. The vision of Christ changed Thomas from a doubting follower into a loyal, devout disciple. \par\par But men have had visions of God since Bible times. William Carey saw God, and left his shoemaker's bench and went to India. David Livingstone saw God, and left all to follow Him through the jungles of dark Africa. Scores and hundreds have had visions of God, and are today in the uttermost parts of the earth working for the speedy evangelization of the heathen. \par --Dr. Pardington \par\par There is hardly ever a complete silence in the soul. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear the whisperings of God. He is always whispering to us, only we do not hear, because of the noise, hurry, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on. --F. W. Faber \par\par "Speak, Lord, in the stillness, \par While I wait on Thee; \par Hushed my heart to listen \par In expectancy. \par\par "Speak, O blessed Master, \par In this quiet hour; \par Let me see Thy face, Lord, \par Feet Thy touch of power. \par\par "For the words Thou speakest, \par 'They are life,' indeed; \par Living bread from Heaven, \par Now my spirit feed! \par\par "Speak, Thy s}LVALervant heareth! \par Be not silent, Lord; \par Waits my soul upon Thee \par For the quickening word!" \par\par AoR5jM0eH+}`C& x[>!sV9nQ4 p0  .  a@-  P +  8@*  @)  @(  <&  @%  $  _"  :@!  n    '@  @  R@  T   Z@  C    d          @      &  @     @     <  C@               ~  } ,@ |  { @ z e y # x #  w L@ v  u  t e  s @ r  q   p @ o  n   m @ l  k " j 8 i 9@ h Q@ g   f 7 e c LVALTrouble is a Messenger \par\par "My Father is the husbandman" (John 15:1). \par\par It is comforting to think of trouble, in whatever form it may come to, us, as a heavenly messenger, bringing us something from God. In its earthly aspect it may seem hurtful, even destructive; but in its spiritual out-working it yields blessing. Many of the richest blessings which have come down to us from the past are the fruit of sorrow or pain. We should never forget that redemption, the world's greatest blessing, is the fruit of the world's greatest sorrow. In every time of sharp pruning, when the knife is deep and the pain is sore, it is an unspeakable comfort to read, "My Father is the husbandman." \par\par Doctor Vincent tells of being in a great hothouse where luscious clusters of grapes were hanging on every side. The owner said, "When my new gardener came, he said he would have nothing to do with these vines unless he could cut them clean down to the stalk; and he did, and we had no grapes for two years, but this is the result." \par\par There is rich suggestiveness in this interpretation of the pruning process, as we apply it to the Christian life. Pruning seems to be destroying the vine, the gardener appears to be cutting it all away; but he looks on into the future and knows that the final outcome will be the enrichment of its life and greater abundance of fruit. \par\par There are blessings we can never have unless we are ready to pay the price of pain. There is no way to reach them save through suffering. --Dr. Miller. \par\par "I walked a mile with Pleasure, \par She chattered all the way; \par But left me none the wiser \par For all she had to say. \par\par "I walked a mile with Sorrow, \par And ne'er a word said she; \par But, oh, the things I learned from her \par When sorrow walked with me."\par\par LVAL Belief, Not Understanding \par\par "Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" \par (John 11:40). \par\par Mary and Martha could not understand what their Lord was doing. Both of them said to Him, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." Back of it all, we seem to read their thought: "Lord, we do not understand why you have stayed away so long. We do not understand how you could let death come to the man whom you loved. We do not understand how you could let sorrow and suffering ravage our lives when your presence might have stayed it all. Why did you not come? It is too late now, for already he has been dead four days!" \par\par And to it all Jesus had but one great truth: "You may not understand; but I tell you if you believe, you will see." \par\par Abraham could not understand why God should ask the sacrifice of the boy; but he trusted. And he saw the glory of God in his restoration to his love. Moses could not understand why God should keep him forty years in the wilderness, but he trusted; and he saw when God called him to lead forth Israel from bondage. \par\par Joseph could not understand the cruelty of his brethren, the false witness of a perfidious woman, and the long years of an unjust imprisonment; but he trusted, and he saw at last the glory of God in it all. \par\par Jacob could not understand the strange providence which permitted the same Joseph to be torn from his father's love, but he saw the glory of God when he looked into the face of that same Joseph as the viceroy of a great king, and the preserver of his own life and the lives of a great nation. \par\par And so, perhaps in your life. You say, "I do not understand why God let my dear one be taken. I do not understand why affliction has been permitted to smite me. I do not understand the devious paths by which the Lord is leading me. I do not understand why plans and purposes that seemed good to my eyes should be baffled. I do not understand why blessingBLVALNs I so much need are so long delayed. \par\par Friend, you do not have to understand all God's ways with you. God does not expect you to understand them. You do not expect your child to understand, only believe. Some day you will see the glory of God in the things which you do not understand.--J. H. McC \par\par "If we could push ajar the gates of life, \par And stand within, and all God's working see, \par We might interpret all this doubt and strife, \par And for each mystery could find a key. \par\par \par "But not today. Then be content, poor heart; \par God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold. \par We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart-- \par Time will reveal the calyxes of gold. \par\par "And if, through patient toil, we reach the land \par Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest, \par When we shall clearly know and understand, \par I think that we shall say, 'God knew best."'\par\par LVALCounting the Cost \par\par "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord" (Phil. 3:8). \par\par This is the happy season of ripening cornfields, of the merry song of the reapers, of the secured and garnered grain. But let me hearken to the sermon of the field. This is its solemn word to me. You must die in order to live. You must refuse to consult your own case and well-being. You must be crucified, not only in desires and habits which are sinful, but in many more which appear innocent and right. \par\par If you would save others, you cannot save yourself. If you would bear much fruit, you must be buried in darkness and solitude. \par\par My heart fails me as I listen. But, when Jesus asks it, let me tell myself that it is my high dignity to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings; and thus I am in the best of company. And let me tell myself again that it is all meant to make me a vessel meet for His use. His own Calvary has blossomed into fertility; and so shall mine. Plenty out of pain, life out of death: is it not the law of the Kingdom? --In the Hour of Silence \par\par Do we call it dying when the bud bursts into flower? --Selected \par\par "Finding, following, keeping, struggling, \par Is He sure to bless? \par Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, \par Answer, 'Yes."'\par\par LVALFaith is a Target \par\par "And the Lord said . . . Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:31, 32). \par\par Our faith is the center of the target at which God doth shoot when He tries us; and if any other grace shall escape untried, certainly faith shall not. There is no way of piercing faith to its very marrow like the sticking of the arrow of desertion into it; this finds it out whether it be of the immortals or no. Strip it of its armor of conscious enjoyment, and suffer the terrors of the Lord to set themselves in array against it; and that is faith indeed which can escape unhurt from the midst of the attack. Faith must be tried, and seeming desertion is the furnace, heated seven times, into which it might be thrust. Blest the man who can endure the ordeal!--C. H. Spurgeon. \par\par Paul said, "I have kept the faith," but he lost his head! They cut that off, but it didn't touch his faith. He rejoiced in three things--this great Apostle to the Gentiles; he had "fought a good fight," he had "finished his course," he had "kept the faith." What did all the rest amount to? St. Paul won the race; he gained the prize, and he has not only the admiration of earth today, but the admiration of Heaven. Why do we not act as if it paid to lose all to win Christ? Why are we not loyal to truth as he was? Ah, we haven't his arithmetic. He counted differently from us; we count the things gain that he counted loss. We must have his faith, and keep it if we would wear the same crown. \par\par LVAL Give Out The Blessing \par\par "He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his inner being shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). \par\par Some of us are shivering and wondering why the Holy Spirit does not fill us. We have plenty coming in, but we do not give it out. Give out the blessing that you have, start larger plans for service and blessing, and you will soon find that the Holy Ghost is before you, and He will present you with blessings for service, and give you all that He can trust you to give away to others. \par\par There is a beautiful fact in nature which has its spiritual parallels. There is no music so heavenly as an Aeolian harp, and the Aeolian harp is nothing but a set of musical chords arranged in harmony, and then left to be touched by the unseen fingers of the wandering winds. And as the breath of heaven floats over the chords, it is said that notes almost Divine float out upon the air, as if a choir of angels were wandering around and touching the strings. \par\par And so it is possible to keep our hearts so open to the touch of the Holy Spirit that He can play upon them at will, as we quietly wait in the pathway of His service.--Days of Heaven upon Earth \par\par When the apostles received the baptism with the Holy Ghost they did not rent the upper room and stay there to hold holiness meetings, but went everywhere preaching the gospel. --Will Huff \par\par "If I have eaten my morsel alone," \par The patriarch spoke with scorn; \par What would he think of the Church were he shown \par Heathendom-huge, forlorn, \par Godless, Christless, with soul unfed, \par While the Church's ailment is fullness of bread, \par Eating her morsel alone? \par\par "Freely ye have received, so give," \par He bade, who hath given us all. \par How shall the soul in us longer live \par Deaf to their starving call, \par For whom the blood of the Lord was shed, \par And His body broken to give them. bread, \par If we eat our morsel alone!" \par --ArchbishopLVAL Alexander \par\par "Where is Abel thy brother?" (Gen. 4:9). \par\par LVAL Service of Waiting \par\par "After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithyma: but the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts 16:7). \par\par What a strange prohibition! These men were going into Bithynia just to do Christ's work, and the door is shut against them by Christ's own Spirit. I, too, have experienced this in certain moments. I have sometimes found myself interrupted in what seemed to me a career of usefulness. Opposition came and forced me to go back, or sickness came and compelled me to retire into a desert apart. \par\par It was hard at such times to leave my work undone when I believed that work to be the service of the Spirit. But I came to remember that the Spirit has not only a service of work, but a service of waiting. I came to see that in the Kingdom of Christ there are not only times for action, but times in which to forbear acting. I came to learn that the desert place apart is often the most useful spot in the varied life of man--more rich in harvest than the seasons in which the corn and wine abounded. I have been taught to thank the blessed Spirit that many a darling Bithynia had to be left unvisited by me. \par\par And so, Thou Divine Spirit, would I still be led by Thee. Still there come to me disappointed prospects of usefulness. Today the door seems to open into life and work for Thee; tomorrow it closes before me just as I am about to enter. \par\par Teach me to see another door in the very inaction of the hour. Help me to find in the very prohibition thus to serve Thee, a new opening into Thy service. Inspire me with the knowledge that a man may at times be called to do his duty by doing nothing, to work by keeping still, to serve by waiting. When I remember the power of the "still small voice," I shall not murmur that sometimes the Spirit suffers me not to go. --George Matheson \par\par "When I cannot understand my Father's leading, \par And it seems to be but hard and cruel fate, \par I Still I hear that gentle whisper ever pleading,\par God is worLVALking, God is faithful, ONLY WAIT."\par\par \par LVAL After The Frost \par\par "Why go I mourning?" (Psalm 42:9). \par\par Canst thou answer this, believer? Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told thee that the night would never end in day? Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter? Hope thou then! Hope thou ever! for God fails thee not. --C. H. Spurgeon \par\par "He was better to me than all my hopes; \par He was better than all my fears; \par He made a bridge of my broken works, \par And a rainbow of my tears. \par\par "The billows that guarded my sea-girt path, \par But carried my Lord on their crest; \par When I dwell on the days of my wilderness march \par I can lean on His love for the rest. \par\par "He emptied my hands of my treasured store, \par And His covenant love revealed, \par There was not a wound in my aching heart, \par But the balm of His breath hath healed. \par Oh, tender and true was the chastening sore, \par In wisdom, that taught and tried, \par Till the soul that He sought was trusting in Him, \par And nothing on earth beside. \par\par "He guided by paths that I could not see, \par By ways that I have not known; \par The crooked was straight, and the rough was plain \par As I followed the Lord alone. \par I praise Him still for the pleasant palms, \par And the water-springs by the way, \par For the glowing pillar of flame by night, \par And the sheltering cloud by day. \par\par "Never a watch on the dreariest halt, \par But some promise of love endears; \par I read from the past, that my future shall be \par Far better than all my fears. \par Like the golden pot, of the wilderness bread, \par Laid up with the blossoming rod, \par All safe in the ark, with the law of the Lord, \par IsLVAL the, covenant care of my God."\par\par TLVAL`Facts vs. Feelings \par\par "We walk by faith, not by appearance" (2 Cor. 5:7, RV). \par\par By faith, not appearance; God never wants us to look at our feelings. Self may want us to; and Satan may want us to. But God wants us to face facts, not feelings; the facts of Christ and of His finished and perfect work for us. \par\par When we face these precious facts, and believe them because God says they are facts, God will take care of our feelings. \par\par God never gives feeling to enable us to trust Him; God never gives feeling to encourage us to trust Him; God never gives feeling to show that we have already and utterly trusted Him. \par\par God gives feeling only when He sees that we trust Him apart from all feeling, resting on His own Word, and on His own faithfulness to His promise. \par\par Never until then can the feeling (which is from God) possibly come; and God will give the feeling in such a measure and at such a time as His love sees best for the individual case. \par\par We must choose between facing toward our feelings and facing toward God's facts. Our feelings may be as uncertain as the sea or the shifting sands. God's facts are as certain as the Rock of Ages, even Christ Himself, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. \par\par "When darkness veils His lovely face \par I rest on His unchanging grace; \par In every high and stormy gale, \par My anchor holds within the veil."\par\par LVAL Members of His Body \par\par "I have found an atonement" (Job 33:24, margin). \par\par Divine healing is just divine life. It is the headship of Christ over the body. It is the life of Christ in the frame. It is the union of our members with the very body of Christ and the inflowing life of Christ in our living members. It is as real as His risen and glorified body. It is as reasonable as the fact that He was raised from the dead and is a living Man with a true body and a rational soul today at God's right hand. \par\par That living Christ belongs to us in all His attributes and powers. We are members of His body, His flesh and His bones, and if we can only believe and receive it, we may live upon the very life of the Son of God. Lord, help me to know "the Lord for the body and the body for the Lord.' \par --A. B. Simpson \par\par "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty." (Zeph. 3:17). This was the text that first flashed the truth of Divine healing into my mind and worn-out body nearly a quarter century ago. It is still the door, wide open more than ever, through which the living Christ passes moment by moment into my redeemed body, filling, energizing, vitalizing it with the presence and power of His own personality, turning my whole being into a "new heaven and new earth." "The Lord, thy God." Thy God. My God. Then all that is in God Almighty is mine and in me just as far as I am able and willing to appropriate Him and all that belongs to Him. This God, "Mighty," ALL Mighty God, is our INSIDE God. He is, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the midst of me, just as really as the sun is in the center of the heavens, or like the great dynamo in the center of the power-house of my three-fold being. He is in the midst, at the center of my physical being. He is in the midst of my brain. He is in the midst of my nerve centers. \par\par For twenty-one years it has been not only a living reality to me, but a reality growing deeper and richer, until now at the age of seventy years, I am in aLVALmevery sense a younger, fresher man than I was at thirty. At this present time I am in the strength of God, doing full twice as much work, mental and physical, as I have ever done in the best days of the past, and this observe, with less than half the effort then necessary. My life, physical, mental and spiritual, is like an artesian well--always full, overflowing. To speak, teach, travel by night and day in all weather and through all the sudden and violent changes of our variable climate, is no more effort to me than it is for the mill-wheel to turn when the stream is full or for the pipe to let the water run through. \par\par My body, soul and spirit thus redeemed, \par Sanctified and healed I give, O Lord, to Thee, \par A consecrated offering Thine ever more to be. \par That all my powers with all their might \par In Thy sole glory may unite.--Hallelujah! \par --Dr. Henry Wilson \par\par LVAL"In Me \par\par "In me . . . peace" (John 16:33). \par\par There is a vast difference between happiness and blessedness. Paul had imprisonments and pains, sacrifice and suffering up to the very limit; but in the midst of it all, he was blessed. All the beatitudes came into his heart and life in the midst of those very conditions. \par\par Paganini, the great violinist, came out before his audience one day and made the discovery just as they ended their applause that there was something wrong with his violin. He looked at it a second and then saw that it was not his famous and valuable one. \par\par He felt paralyzed for a moment, then turned to his audience and told them there had been some mistake and he did not have his own violin. He stepped back behind the curtain thinking that it was still where he had left it, but discovered that some one had stolen his and left that old second-hand one in its place. He remained back of the curtain a moment, then came out before his audience and said: \par\par "Ladies and Gentlemen: I will show you that the music is not in the instrument, but in the soul." And he played as he had never played before; and out of that second-hand instrument, the music poured forth until the audience was enraptured with enthusiasm and the applause almost lifted the ceiling of the building, because the man had revealed to them that music was not in the machine but in his own soul. \par\par It is your mission, tested and tried one, to walk out on the stage of this world and reveal to all earth and Heaven that the music is not in conditions, not in the things, not in externals, but the music of life is in your own soul. \par\par If peace be in the heart, \par The wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty, \par The midnight flash but shows the path of duty, \par Each living creature tells some new and joyous story, \par The very trees and stones all catch a ray of glory, \par If peace be in the heart. \par --Charles Francis Richardson\par\par kLVALwLong Hours \par\par "I will give myself unto prayer" (Ps. 109:4). \par\par We are often in a religious hurry in our devotions. How much time do we spend in them daily? Can it not be easily reckoned in minutes? Who ever knew an eminently holy man who did not spend much of his time in prayer? Did ever a man exhibit much of the spirit of prayer, who did not devote much time in his closet? \par\par Whitefield says, "Whole days and weeks have I spent prostrate on the ground, in silent or vocal prayer." "Fall upon your knees and grow there," is the language of another, who knew whereof he affirmed. \par\par It has been said that no great work in literature or science was ever wrought by a man who did not love solitude. We may lay it down as an elemental principle of religion, that no large growth in holiness was ever gained by one who did not take time to be often, and long, alone with God. \par --The Still Hour \par\par "'Come, come,' He saith, 'O soul oppressed and weary, \par Come to the shadows of my desert rest; \par Come walk with Me far from life's babbling discords, \par And peace shall breathe like music in thy breast.'" \par\par LVAL Grow in His Strength \par\par "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him" (Deut. 32:11, 12). \par\par Our Almighty Parent delights to conduct the tender nestlings of His care to the very edge of the precipice, and even to thrust them off into the steeps of air, that they may learn their possession of unrealized power of flight, to be forever a luxury; and if, in the attempt, they be exposed to unwonted peril, He is prepared to swoop beneath them, and to bear them upward on His mighty pinions. When God brings any of His children into a position of unparalleled difficulty, they may always count upon Him to deliver them. --The Song of Victory \par\par "When God puts a burden upon you He puts His own arm underneath." \par\par There is a little plant, small and stunted, growing under the shade of a broad-spreading oak; and this little plant values the shade which covers it, and greatly does it esteem the quiet rest which its noble friend affords. But a blessing is designed for this little plant. \par\par Once upon a time there comes along the woodman, and with his sharp axe he fells the oak. The plant weeps and cries, "My shelter is departed; every rough wind will blow upon me, and every storm will seek to uproot me!" \par\par "No, no," saith the angel of that flower; "now will the sun get at thee; now will the shower fall on thee in more copious abundance than before; now thy stunted form shall spring up into loveliness, and thy flower, which could never have expanded itself to perfection shall now laugh in the sunshine, and men shall say, 'How greatly hath that plant increased! How glorious hath become its beauty, through the removal of that which was its shade and its delight!'" \par\par See you not, then, that God may take away your comforts and your privileges, to make you the better Christians? Why, the Lord always trains His soldiers,LVAL not by letting them lie on feather-beds, but by turning them out, and using them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers, and climb mountains, and walk many a long march with heavy knapsacks of sorrow on their backs. This is the way in which He makes them soldiers--not by dressing them up in fine uniforms, to swagger at the barrack gates, and to be fine gentlemen in the eyes of the loungers in the park. God knows that soldiers are only to be made in battle; they are not to be grown in peaceful times. We may grow the stuff of which soldiers are made; but warriors are really educated by the smell of powder, in the midst of whizzing bullets and roaring cannonades, not in soft and peaceful times. Well, Christian, may not this account for it all? Is not thy Lord bringing out thy graces and making them grow? Is He not developing in you the qualities of the soldier by throwing you into the heat of battle, and should you not use every appliance to come off conqueror? --Spurgeon. \par \par\par LVAL The Brightest Colors\par\par "It is good for me that I have been afflicted" (Ps. 119:71). \par\par It is a remarkable circumstance that the most brilliant colors of plants are to be seen on the highest mountains, in spots that are most exposed to the wildest weather. The brightest lichens and mosses, the loveliest gems of wild flowers, abound far up on the bleak, storm-scalped peak. \par\par One of the richest displays of organic coloring I ever beheld was near the summit of Mount Chenebettaz, a hill about 10,000 feet high, immediately above the great St. Bernard Hospice. The whole face of an extensive rock was covered with a most vivid yellow lichen which shone in the sunshine like the golden battlement of an enchanted castle. \par\par There, in that lofty region, amid the most frowning desolation, exposed to the fiercest tempest of the sky, this lichen exhibited a glory of color such as it never showed in the sheltered valley. I have two specimens of the same lichen before me while I write these lines, one from the great St. Bernard, and the other from the wall of a Scottish castle, deeply embossed among sycamore trees; and the difference in point of form and coloring between them is most striking. \par\par The specimen nurtured amid the wild storms of the mountain peak is of a lovely primrose hue, and is smooth in texture and complete in outline, while the specimen nurtured amid the soft airs and the delicate showers of the lowland valley is of a dim rusty hue, and is scurfy in texture, and broken in outline. \par\par And is it not so with the Christian who is afflicted, tempest-tossed, and not comforted? Till the storms and vicissitudes of God's providence beat upon him again and again, his character appears marred and clouded; but trials clear away the obscurity, perfect the outlines of his disposition, and give brightness and blessing to his life. \par\par Amidst my list of blessings infinite \par Stands this the foremost, that my heart has bled; \par For all I bless Thee, most for LVALthe severe. \par --Hugh Macmillan\par\par HLVALTAlone In The Desert \par\par "And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place" (Luke 9:10). \par\par In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone. It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously. In one single quiet hour of prayer it will often make more progress than in days of company with others. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest.--Andrew Bonar \par\par "Come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile, \par Weary, I know it, of the press and throng, \par Wipe from your brow the sweat and dust of toil, \par And in My quiet strength again be strong. \par\par "Come ye aside from all the world holds dear, \par For converse which the world has never known, \par Alone with Me, and with My Father here, \par With Me and with My Father not alone. \par\par "Come, tell Me all that ye have said and done, \par Your victories and failures, hopes and fears. \par I know how hardly souls are wooed and won: \par My choicest wreaths are always wet with tears. \par\par "Come ye and rest; the journey is too great, \par And ye will faint beside the way and sink; \par The bread of life is here for you to eat, \par And here for you the wine of love to drink. \par\par "Then fresh from converse with your Lord return, \par And work till, daylight softens into even: \par The brief hours are not lost in which ye learn \par More of your Master and His rest in Heaven."\par\par LVAL Mind The Checks \par\par "And after the earthquake a fire; and after the fire a sound of gentle stillness" (1 Kings 19:12, RV margin.) \par\par A soul, who made rapid progress in her understanding of the Lord, was once asked the secret of her easy advancement. She replied tersely, "Mind the checks." And the reason that many of us do not know and better understand Him is, we do not give heed to His gentle checks, His delicate restraints and constraints. His is a still, small voice. A still voice can hardly be heard. It must be felt. A steady, gentle pressure upon the heart and mind like the touch of a morning zephyr to your face. A small voice, quietly, almost timidly spoken in your heart, but if heeded growing noiselessly clearer to your inner ear. His voice is for the ear of love, and love is intent upon hearing even faintest whispers. There comes a time also when love ceases to speak if not responded to, or believed in. He is love, and if you would know Him and His voice, give constant ear to His gentle touches. In conversation, when about to utter some word, give heed to that gentle voice, mind the check and refrain from speech. When about to pursue some course that seems all clear and right and there comes quietly to your spirit a suggestion that has in it the force almost of a conviction, give heed, even if changed plans seem highest folly from standpoint of human wisdom. Learn also to wait on God for the unfolding of His will. Let God form your plans about everything in your mind and heart and then let Him execute them. Do not possess any wisdom of your own. For many times His execution will seem so contradictory to the plan He gave. He will seem to work against Himself. Simply listen, obey and trust God even when it seems highest folly so to do. He will in the end make "all things work together," but so many times in the first appearance of the outworking of His plans, \par\par "In His own world He is content \par To play a losing game." \par\par So if you would know His voice, never c{LVALonsider results or possible effects. Obey even when He asks you to move in the dark. He Himself will be gloriously light in you. And there will spring up rapidly in your heart an acquaintanceship and a fellowship with God which will be overpowering in itself to hold you and Him together, even in severest testings and under most terrible pressures.--Way of Faith\par\par LVAL Through the Fire\par\par "So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12). \par\par Through his griefs Job came to his heritage. He was tried that his godliness might be confirmed. Are not my troubles intended to deepen my character and to robe me in graces I had little of before? I come to my glory through eclipses, tears, death. My ripest fruit grows against the roughest wall. Job's afflictions left him with higher conceptions of God and lowlier thoughts of himself. "Now," he cried, "mine eye seeth thee. \par\par And if, through pain and loss, I feel God so near in His majesty that I bend low before Him and pray, "Thy will be done," I gain very much. God gave Job glimpses of the future glory. In those wearisome days and nights, he penetrated within the veil, and could say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Surely the latter end of Job was more blessed than the beginning.--In the Hour of Silence \par\par "Trouble never comes to a man unless she brings a nugget of gold in her hand." \par\par Apparent adversity will finally turn out to be the advantage of the right if we are only willing to keep on working and to wait patiently. How steadfastly the great victor souls have kept at their work, dauntless and unafraid! There are blessings which we cannot obtain if we cannot accept and endure suffering. There are joys that can come to us only through sorrow. There are revealings of Divine truth which we can get only when earth's lights have gone out. There are harvests which can grow only after the plowshare has done its work.--Selected \par\par Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seamed with scars; martyrs have put on their coronation robes glittering with fire, and through their tears have the sorrowful first seen the gates of Heaven. --Chapin \par\par I shall know by the gleam and glitter \par Of the golden chain you wear, \par By your heart's calm strength in loving, \par Of the fire you have had to bear. \par B?LVALKeat on, true heart, forever; \par Shine bright, strong golden chain; \par And bless the cleansing fire \par And the furnace of living pain! \par --Adelaide Proctor\par\par LVAL Providence of Loss\par\par "It came to pass . . . that the brook dried up" (1 Kings 17:7). \par\par The education of our faith is incomplete if we have not learned that there is a providence of loss, a ministry of failing and of fading things, a gift of emptiness. The material insecurities of life make for its spiritual establishment. The dwindling stream by which Elijah sat and mused is a true picture of the life of each of us. "It came to pass . . . that the brook dried up"--that is the history of our yesterday, and a prophecy of our morrows. \par\par In some way or other we will have to learn the difference between trusting in the gift and trusting in the Giver. The gift may be good for a while, but the Giver is the Eternal Love. \par\par Cherith was a difficult problem to Elijah until he got to Zarephath, and then it was all as clear as daylight. God's hard words are never His last words. The woe and the waste and the tears of life belong to the interlude and not to the finale. \par\par Had Elijah been led straight to Zarephath he would have missed something that helped to make him a wiser prophet and a better man. He lived by faith at Cherith. And whensoever in your life and mine some spring of earthly and outward resource has dried up, it has been that we might learn that our hope and help are in God who made Heaven and earth. --F. B. Meyer \par\par Perchance thou, too, hast camped by such sweet waters, \par And quenched with joy thy weary, parched soul's thirst; \par To find, as time goes on, thy streamlet alters \par From what it was at first. \par\par Hearts that have cheered, or soothed, or blest, or strengthened; \par Loves that have lavished so unstintedly; \par Joys, treasured joys--have passed, as time hath lengthened, \par Into obscurity. \par\par If thus, ah soul, the brook thy heart hath cherished \par Doth fail thee now--no more thy thirst assuage-- \par If its once glad refreshing streams have perished, \par Let HIM thy heart engage. \par\par He will not fail, 1LVAL=nor mock, nor disappoint thee; \par His consolations change not with the years; \par With oil of joy He surely will anoint thee, \par And wipe away thy tears. \par --J. D. Smith\par\par LVALBearing the Sting \par\par "He opened not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7). \par\par How much grace it requires to bear a misunderstanding rightly, and to receive an unkind judgment in holy sweetness! Nothing tests the Christian character more than to have some evil thing said about him. This is the file that soon proves whether we are electro-plate or solid gold. If we could only know the blessings that lie hidden in our trials we would say like David, when Shimei cursed him, "Let him curse; . . . it may be . . . that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day." \par\par Some people get easily turned aside from the grandeur of their life-work by pursuing their own grievances and enemies, until their life gets turned into one little petty whirl of warfare. It is like a nest of hornets. You may disperse the hornets, but you will probably get terribly stung, and get nothing for your pains, for even their honey is not worth a search. \par\par God give us more of His Spirit, "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again"; but "committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." "Consider him that endureth such contradiction of sinners against himself."--A. B. Simpson \par\par "Before you" He trod all the path of woe, \par He took the sharp thrusts with His head bent low. \par He knew deepest sorrow and pain and grief, \par He knew long endurance without relief, \par He took all the bitter from death's deep cup, \par He kept not a blood-drop but gave all up. \par "Before you" and for you, He won the fight \par To bring you to glory and realms of light. \par --L.S.P. \par\par LVAL Don't Rush \par\par "Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? He that walketh in darkness and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah and rely upon his God" (Isa. 50:10, RV). \par\par What shall the believer do in times of darkness--the darkness of perplexity and confusion, not of heart but of mind? Times of darkness come to the faithful and believing disciple who is walking obediently in the will of God; seasons when he does not know what to do, nor which way to turn. The sky is overcast with clouds. The clear light of Heaven does not shine upon his pathway. One feels as if he were groping his way in darkness. \par\par Beloved, is this you? What shall the believer do in times of darkness? Listen! "Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and rely upon his God." \par\par The first thing to do is do nothing. This is hard for poor human nature to do. In the West there is a saying that runs thus, "When you're rattled, don't rush"; in other words, "When you don't know what to do, don't do it." \par\par When you run into a spiritual fog bank, don't tear ahead; slow down the machinery of your life. If necessary, anchor your bark or let it swing at its moorings. We are to simply trust God. While we trust, God can work. Worry prevents Him from doing anything for us. If our minds are distracted and our hearts distressed; if the darkness that overshadows us strikes terror to us; if we run hither and yon in a vain effort to find some way of escape out of a dark place of trial, where Divine providence has put us, the Lord can do nothing for us. \par\par The peace of God must quiet our minds and rest our hearts. We must put our hand in the hand of God like a little child, and let Him lead us out into the bright sunshine of His love. \par\par He knows the way out of the woods. Let us climb up into His arms, and trust Him to take us out by the shortest and surest road.--Dr. Pardington \par\par Remember we are never without a pilot when we know not how to steLVALer. \par\par "Hold on, my heart, in thy believing-- \par The steadfast only wins the crown; \par He who, when stormy winds are heaving, \par Parts with its anchor, shall go down; \par But he who Jesus holds through all, \par Shall stand, though Heaven and earth should fall. \par\par "Hold out! There comes an end to sorrow; \par Hope from the dust shall conquering rise; \par The storm foretells a summer's morrow; \par The Cross points on to Paradise; \par The Father reigneth! cease all doubt; \par Hold on, my heart, hold on, hold out." \par\par LVALDon't Fret\par\par "Do not begin to be anxious" (Phil. 4:6, PBV). \par\par Not a few Christians live in a state of unbroken anxiety, and others fret and fume terribly. To be perfectly at peace amid the hurly-burly of daily life is a secret worth knowing. What is the use of worrying? It never made anybody strong; never helped anybody to do God's will; never made a way of escape for anyone out of perplexity. Worry spoils lives which would otherwise be useful and beautiful. Restlessness, anxiety, and care are absolutely forbidden by our Lord, who said: "Take no thought," that is, no anxious thought, "saying what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?" He does not mean that we are not to take forethought and that our life is to be without plan or method; but that we are not to worry about these things. People know you live in the realm of anxious care by the lines on your face, the tones of your voice, the minor key in your life, and the lack of joy in your spirit. Scale the heights of a life abandoned to God, then you will look down on the clouds beneath your feet. --Rev. Darlow Sargeant \par\par It is always weakness to be fretting and worrying, questioning and mistrusting. Can we gain anything by it? Do we not unfit ourselves for action, and unhinge our minds for wise decision? We are sinking by our struggles when we might float by faith. \par\par Oh, for grace to be quiet! Oh, to be still and know that Jehovah is God! The Holy One of Israel must defend and deliver His own. We may be sure that every word of His will stand, though the mountains should depart. He deserves to be confided in. Come, my soul, return unto thy rest, and lean thy head upon the bosom of the Lord Jesus. --Selected \par\par "Peace thy inmost soul shall fill \par Lying still!"\par\par LVAL The Summer Will Come \par\par "Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you" (Isa. 30:18).\par\par Where showers fall most, there the grass is greenest. I suppose the fogs and mists of Ireland make it "the Emerald Isle"; and whenever you find great fogs of trouble, and mists of sorrow, you always find emerald green hearts; full of the beautiful verdure of the comfort and love of God. O Christian, do not thou be saying, "Where are the swallows gone? They are gone; they are dead." They are not dead; they have skimmed the purple sea, and gone to a far-off land; but they will be back again by and by. Child of God, say not the flowers are dead; say not the winter has killed them, and they are gone. Ah, no! though winter hath coated them with the ermine of its snow; they will put up their heads again, and will be alive very soon. Say not, child of God, that the sun is quenched, because the cloud hath hidden it. Ah, no; he is behind there, brewing summer for thee; for when he cometh out again, he will have made the clouds fit to drop in April showers, all of them mothers of the sweet May flowers. And oh! above all, when thy God hides His face, say not that He hath forgotten thee. He is but tarrying a little while to make thee love Him better; and when He cometh, thou shalt have joy in the Lord, and shalt rejoice with joy unspeakable. Waiting exercises our grace; waiting tries our faith; therefore, wait on in hope; for though the promise tarry, it can never come too late. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par "Oh, every year hath its winter,\par And every year hath its rain--\par But a day is always coming\par When the birds go north again.\par\par "When new leaves swell in the forest,\par And grass springs green on the plain,\par And alders' veins turn crimson--\par And the birds go north again.\par\par "Oh, every heart hath its sorrow,\par And every heart hath its pain--\par But a day is always coming\par When the birds go north again.\par\par "'Tis the sweetest thing to remember,\pa{LVALr If courage be on the wane,\par When the cold, dark days are over--\par Why, the birds go north again."\par\par LVALSin of Worry \par\par "Fret not" (Ps. 37:1). \par\par This to me is a Divine command; the same as "Thou shalt not steal." Now let us get to the definition of fretting. One good definition is, "Made rough on the surface." "Rubbed, or worn away"; and a peevish, irrational, fault-finding person not only wears himself out, but is very wearing to others. To fret is to be in a state of vexation, and in this Psalm we are not only told not to fret because of evildoers, but to fret not "in anywise." It is injurious, and God does not want us to hurt ourselves. \par\par A physician will tell you that a fit of anger is more injurious to the system than a fever, and a fretful disposition is not conducive to a healthy body; and you know rules are apt to work both ways, and the next step down from fretting is crossness, and that amounts to anger. Let us settle this matter, and be obedient to the command, "Fret not."--Margaret Bottome \par\par OVERHEARD IN AN ORCHARD \par\par Said the Robin to the Sparrow: \par "I should really like to know \par Why these anxious human beings \par Rush about and worry so?" \par\par Said the Sparrow to the Robin: \par "Friend, I think that it must be \par That they have no Heavenly Father \par Such as cares for you and me." \par --Elizabeth Cheney\par\par LVAL By Death We Live \par\par "As dying and behold we live" (2 Cor. 6:9). \par I had a bed of asters last summer, that reached clear across my garden in the country. Oh, how gaily they bloomed. They were planted late. On the sides were yet fresh blossoming flowers, while the tops had gone to seed. Early frosts came, and I found one day that that long line of radiant beauty was seared, and I said, "Ah! the season is too much for them; they have perished"; and I bade them farewell. \par\par I disliked to go and look at the bed, it looked so like a graveyard of flowers. But, four or five weeks ago one of my men called my attention to the fact that along the whole line of that bed there were asters coming up in the greatest abundance; and I looked, and behold, for every plant that I thought the winter had destroyed there were fifty plants that it had planted. What did those frosts and surly winds do? \par\par They caught my flowers, they slew them, they cast them to the ground, they trod with snowy feet upon them, and they said, leaving their work, "This is the end of you." And the next spring there were for every root, fifty witnesses to rise up and say, "By death we live." \par\par And as it is in the floral tribe, so it is in God's kingdom. By death came everlasting life. By crucifixion and the sepulchre came the throne and the palace of the Eternal God. By overthrow came victory. \par\par Do not be afraid to suffer. Do not be afraid to be overthrown. \par\par It is by being cast down and not destroyed; it is by being shaken to pieces, and the pieces torn to shreds, that men become men of might, and that one a host; whereas men that yield to the appearance of things, and go with the world, have their quick blossoming, their momentary prosperity and then their end, which is an end forever.--Beecher \par\par "Measure thy life by loss and not by gain, \par Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth. \par For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice, \par And he who suffers most hasLVAL most to give."\par\par LVALJoy in Prison \par\par "And Joseph's master took him, and put him into a prison . . . But Jehovah was with Joseph . . . and that which he did, Jehovah made it to prosper" (Gen. 39:20-23). \par\par When God lets us go to prison because we have been serving Him, and goes there with us, prison is about the most blessed place in the world that we could be in. Joseph seems to have known that. He did not sulk and grow discouraged and rebellious because "everything was against him." If he had, the prison-keeper would never have trusted him so. Joseph does not even seem to have pitied himself. \par\par Let us remember that if self-pity is allowed to set in, that is the end of us--until it is cast utterly from us. Joseph just turned over everything in joyous trust to God, and so the keeper of the prison turned over everything to Joseph. Lord Jesus, when the prison doors close in on me, keep me trusting, and keep my joy full and abounding. Prosper Thy work through me in prison: even there, make me free indeed.--Selected \par\par A little bird I am, \par Shut from the fields of air, \par And in my cage I sit and sing \par To Him who placed me there; \par Well pleased a prisoner to be, \par Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee. \par\par My cage confines me round, \par Abroad I cannot fly, \par But though my wing is closely bound, \par My soul is at liberty; \par For prison walls cannot control \par The flight, the freedom of the soul. \par\par I have learnt to love the darkness of sorrow; there you see the brightness of His face.--Madame Guyon\par\par LVAL In Everything \par\par "In nothing be anxious" (Phil. 4:6). \par\par No anxiety ought to be found in a believer. Great, many and varied may be our trials, our afflictions, our difficulties, and yet there should be no anxiety under any circumstances, because we have a Father in Heaven who is almighty, who loves His children as He loves His only-begotten Son, and whose very joy and delight it is to succor and help them at all times and under all circumstances. We should attend to the Word, "In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." \par\par "In everything," that is not merely when the house is on fire, not merely when the beloved wife and children are on the brink of the grave, but in the smallest matters of life, bring everything before God, the little things, the very little things, what the world calls trifling things--everything--living in holy communion with our Heavenly Father, arid with our precious Lord Jesus all day long. And when we awake at night, by a kind of spiritual instinct again turning to Him, and speaking to Him, bringing our various little matters before Him in the sleepless night, the difficulties in connection with the family, our trade, our profession. Whatever tries us in any way, speak to the Lord about it. \par\par "By prayer and supplication," taking the place of beggars, with earnestness, with perseverance, going on and waiting, waiting, waiting on God. \par\par "With thanksgiving." We should at all times lay a good foundation with thanksgiving. If everything else were wanting, this is always present, that He has saved us from hell. Then, that He has given us His Holy Word--His Son, His choicest gift--and the Holy Spirit. Therefore we have abundant reason for thanksgiving. O let us aim at this! \par\par "And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And this is so great a blessing, so real a blessing, so precious a blessin LVALg, that it must be known experimentally to be entered into, for it passeth understanding. O let us lay these things to heart, and the result will be, if we habitually walk in this spirit, we shall far more abundantly glorify God, than as yet we have done. --George Mueller, in Life of Trust \par\par Twice or thrice a day, look to see if your heart is not disquieted about something; and if you find that it is, take care forthwith to restore it to calm.--Francis De Sales \par\par LVAL Desperate Situations \par\par "The angel of the Lord came upon him (Peter) and a light shined in the prison; and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off" (Acts 12:7). \par\par "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. . . . And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's bands were loosed" (Acts 16:25, 26). \par\par This is God's way. In the darkest hours of the night, His tread draws near across the billows. As the day of execution is breaking, the angel comes to Peter's cell. When the scaffold for Mordecai is complete, the royal sleeplessness leads to a reaction in favor of the favored race. \par\par Ah, soul, it may have to come to the worst with thee ere thou art delivered; but thou wilt be delivered! God may keep thee waiting, but he will ever be mindful of His covenant, and will appear to fulfill His inviolable Word. --F. B. Meyer \par\par There's a simplicity about God in working out His plans, yet a resourcefulness equal to any difficulty, and an unswerving faithfulness to His trusting child, and an unforgetting steadiness in holding to His purpose. Through a fellow-prisoner, then a dream, He lifts Joseph from a prison to a premiership. And the length of stay in the prison prevents dizziness in the premier. It's safe to trust God's methods and to go by His clock. --S. D. Gordon \par\par Providence hath a thousand keys to open a thousand sundry doors for the deliverance of His own, when it is even come to a desperate case. Let us be faithful; and care for our own part which is to suffer for Him, and lay Christ's part on Himself, and leave it there.--George MacDonald \par\par Difficulty is the very atmosphere of miracle--it is miracle in its first stage. If it is to be a great miracle, the condition is not difficulty but impossibility. \par\par The clinging hand of His child makes a desperate situationLVAL a delight to Him. \par\par LVAL Broken Things \par\par "By reason of breakings they purify themselves" (Job 41:25). \par\par God uses most for His glory those people and things which are most perfectly broken. The sacrifices He accepts are broken and contrite hearts. It was the breaking down of Jacob's natural strength at Peniel that got him where God could clothe him with spiritual power. It was breaking the surface of the rock at Horeb, by the stroke of Moses' rod that let out the cool waters to thirsty people. \par\par It was when the 300 elect soldiers under Gideon broke their pitchers, a type of breaking themselves, that the hidden lights shone forth to the consternation of their adversaries. It was when the poor widow broke the seal of the little pot of oil, and poured it forth, that God multiplied it to pay her debts and supply means of support. \par\par It was when Esther risked her life and broke through the rigid etiquette of a heathen court, that she obtained favor to rescue her people from death. It was when Jesus took the five loaves and broke them, that the bread was multiplied in the very act of breaking, sufficient to feed five thousand. It was when Mary broke her beautiful alabaster box, rendering it henceforth useless, that the pent-up perfume filled the house. It was when Jesus allowed His precious body to be broken to pieces by thorns and nails and spear, that His inner life was poured out, like a crystal ocean, for thirsty sinners to drink and live. \par\par It is when a beautiful grain of corn is broken up in the earth by DEATH, that its inner heart sprouts forth and bears hundreds of other grains. And thus, on and on, through all history, and all biography, and all vegetation, and all spiritual life, God must have BROKEN THINGS. \par\par Those who are broken in wealth, and broken in self-will, and broken in their ambitions, and broken in their beautiful ideals, and broken in worldly reputation, and broken in their affections, and broken ofttimes in health; those who are despised and seem utterly forlLVALorn and helpless, the Holy Ghost is seizing upon, and using for God's glory. "The lame take the prey," Isaiah tells us. \par\par O break my heart; but break it as a field \par Is by the plough up-broken for the corn; \par O break it as the buds, by green leaf seated, \par Are, to unloose the golden blossom, torn; \par Love would I offer unto Love's great Master, \par Set free the odor, break the alabaster. \par\par O break my heart; break it victorious God, \par That life's eternal well may flash abroad; \par O let it break as when the captive trees, \par Breaking cold bonds, regain their liberties; \par And as thought's sacred grove to life is springing, \par Be joys, like birds, their hope, Thy victory singing. --Thomas Toke Bunch\par\par \par LVAL Satan's Tools \par\par "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" (Heb. 12:1).\par\par There are weights which are not sins in themselves, but which become distractions and stumbling blocks in our Christian progress. One of the worst of these is despondency. The heavy heart is indeed a weight that will surely drag us down in our holiness and usefulness.\par\par The failure of Israel to enter the land of promise began in murmuring, or, as the text in Numbers literally puts it, "as it were murmured." Just a faint desire to complain and be discontented. This led on until it blossomed and ripened into rebellion and ruin. Let us give ourselves no liberty ever to doubt God or His love and faithfulness to us in everything and forever.\par\par We can set our will against doubt just as we do against any other sin; and as we stand firm and refuse to doubt, the Holy Spirit will come to our aid and give us the faith of God and crown us with victory.\par\par It is very easy to fall into the habit of doubting, fretting, and wondering if God has forsaken us and if after all our hopes are to end in failure. Let us refuse to be discouraged. Let us refuse to be unhappy. Let us "count it all joy" when we cannot feel one emotion of happiness. Let us rejoice by faith, by resolution, by reckoning, and we shall surely find that God will make the reckoning real.--Selected\par\par The devil has two master tricks. One is to get us discouraged; then for a time at least we can be of no service to others, and so are defeated. The other is to make us doubt, thus breaking the faith link by which we are bound to our Father. Lookout! Do not be tricked either way.--G.E.M.\par\par Gladness! I like to cultivate the spirit of gladness! It puts the soul so in tune again, and keeps it in tune, so that Satan is shy of touching it--the chords of the soul become too warm, or too full of heavenly electricity, for his infernal fingers, and hLVAL+e goes off somewhere else! Satan is always very shy of meddling with me when my heart is full of gladness and joy in the Holy Ghost.\par\par My plan is to shun the spirit of sadness as I would Satan; but, alas! I am not always successful. Like the devil himself it meets me on the highway of usefulness, looks me so fully in my face, till my poor soul changes color!\par\par Sadness discolors everything; it leaves all objects charmless; it involves future prospects in darkness; it deprives the soul of all its aspirations, enchains all its powers, and produces a mental paralysis!\par\par An old believer remarked, that cheerfulness in religion makes all its services come off with delight; and that we are never carried forward so swiftly in the ways of duty as when borne on the wings of delight; adding, that Melancholy clips such wings; or, to alter the figure, takes off our chariot wheels in duty, and makes them, like those of the Egyptians, drag heavily.\par\par LVAL He Refines Them \par\par "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6:14).\par\par They were living to themselves; self with its hopes, and promises and dreams, still had hold of them; but the Lord began to fulfill their prayers. They had asked for contrition, and had surrendered for it to be given them at any cost, and He sent them sorrow; they had asked for purity, and He sent them thrilling anguish; they had asked to be meek, and He had broken their hearts; they had asked to be dead to the world, and He slew all their living hopes; they had asked to be made like unto Him, and He placed them in the furnace, sitting by "as a refiner and purifier of silver," until they should reflect His image; they had asked to lay hold of His cross, and when He had reached it to them it lacerated their hands.\par\par They had asked they knew not what, nor how, but He had taken them at their word, and granted them all their petitions. They were hardly willing to follow Him so far, or to draw so nigh to Him. They had upon them an awe and fear, as Jacob at Bethel, or Eliphaz in the night visions, or as the apostles when they thought that they had seen a spirit, and knew not that it was Jesus. They could almost pray Him to depart from them, or to hide His awfulness. They found it easier to obey than to suffer, to do than to give up, to bear the cross than to hang upon it. But they cannot go back, for they have come too near the unseen cross, and its virtues have pierced too deeply within them. He is fulfilling to them His promise, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32).\par\par But now at last their turn has come. Before, they had only heard of the mystery, but now they feel it. He has fastened on them His look of love, as He did on Mary and Peter, and they can but choose to follow.\par\par Little by little, from time to time, by flitting gleams, the mystery of His croLVALss shines out upon them. They behold Him lifted up, they gaze on the glory which rays from the wounds of His holy passion; and as they gaze they advance, and are changed into His likeness, and His name shines out through them, for He dwells in them. They live alone with Him above, in unspeakable fellowship; willing to lack what others own (and what they might have had), and to be unlike all, so that they are only like Him.\par\par Such, are they in all ages, "who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth."\par\par Had they chosen for themselves, or their friends chosen for them, they would have chosen otherwise. They would have been brighter here, but less glorious in His Kingdom. They would have had Lot's portion, not Abraham's. If they had halted anywhere--if God had taken off His hand and let them stray back--what would they not have lost? What forfeits in the resurrection?\par\par But He stayed them up, even against themselves. Many a time their foot had well nigh slipped; but He in mercy held them up. Now, even in this life, they know that all He did was done well. It was good to suffer here, that they might reign hereafter; to bear the cross below, for they shall wear the crown above; and that not their will but His was done on them and in them.\par\par --Anonymous.\par\par ULVALaDelayed \par\par "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs; . . . they shall afflict them four hundred years; . . . and afterward they shall come out with great substance" (Gen. 15:12-14). \par\par An assured part of God's pledged blessing to us is delay and suffering. A delay in Abram's own lifetime that seemed to put God's pledge beyond fulfillment was followed by seemingly unendurable delay of Abram's descendants. But it was only a delay: they "came out with great substance." The pledge was redeemed. \par\par God is going to test me with delays; and with the delays will come suffering, but through it all stands God's pledge: His new covenant with me in Christ, and His inviolable promise of every lesser blessing that I need. The delay and the suffering are part of the promised blessing; let me praise Him for them today; and let me wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He will strengthen my heart. --C. G. Trumbull \par\par Unanswered yet the prayer your lips have pleaded \par In agony of heart these many years? \par Does faith begin to fail? Is hope departing? \par And think you all in vain those falling tears? \par Say not the Father hath not heard your prayer; \par You shall have your desire sometime, somewhere. \par\par Unanswered yet? Nay do not say ungranted; \par Perhaps your work is not yet wholly done. \par The work began when first your prayer was uttered, \par And God will finish what He has begun. \par If you will keep the incense burning there, \par His glory you shall see sometime, somewhere. \par\par Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered, \par Her feet are firmly planted on the Rock; \par Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted, \par Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock. \par She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer, \par And cries, "It shall be done"--sometime, somewhere. \par --Miss Ophelia G. Browning \par\par LVALImpressions \par\par "The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them" (Num. 10:33). \par\par God does give us impressions, but not that we should act on them as impressions. If the impression be from God, He will Himself give sufficient evidence to establish it beyond the possibility of a doubt. \par\par How beautiful is the story of Jeremiah, of the impression that came to him respecting the purchase of the field of Anathoth. But Jeremiah did not act upon this impression until after the following day, when his uncle's son came to him and brought him external evidence by making a proposal for the purchase. Then Jeremiah said: "I knew this was the word of the Lord." \par\par He waited until God seconded the impression by a providence, and then he acted in full view of the open facts, which could bring conviction unto others as well as to himself. God wants us to act according to His mind. We are not to ignore the Shepherd's personal voice but, like Paul and his companions at Troas, we are to listen to all the voices that speak and "gather" from all the circumstances, as they did, the full mind of the Lord. --Dr. Simpson \par\par "Where God's finger points, there God's hand will make the way." \par\par Do not say in thine heart what thou wilt or wilt not do, but wait upon God until He makes known His way. So long as that way is hidden it is clear that there is no need of action, and that He accounts Himself responsible for all the results of keeping thee where thou art. --Selected \par\par "For God through ways we have not known, \par Will lead His own." \par\par LVALCushion of the Sea \par\par "And the peace of God, which transcends all our powers of thought, will be a garrison to guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7) (Weymouth). \par\par There is what is called the "cushion of the sea." Down beneath the surface that is agitated by storms, and driven about with winds, there is a part of the sea that is never stirred. When we dredge the bottom and bring up the remains of animal and vegetable life we find that they give evidence of not having been disturbed in the least, for hundreds and thousands of years. The peace of God is that eternal calm which, like the cushion of the sea, lies far too deep down to be reached by any external trouble and disturbance; and he who enters into the presence of God, becomes partaker of that undisturbed and undisturbable calm.--Dr. A. T. Pierson \par\par When winds are raging o'er the upper ocean, \par And billows wild contend with angry roar, \par 'Tis said, far down beneath the wild commotion, \par That peaceful stillness reigneth evermore. \par\par Far, far beneath, the noise of tempest dieth, \par And silver waves chime ever peacefully, \par And no rude storm, how fierce soe'er it flieth, \par Disturbs the Sabbath of that deeper sea. \par\par So to the heart that knows Thy love, O Purest, \par There is a temple sacred evermore, \par And all the babble of life's angry voices \par Dies in hushed silence at its peaceful door. \par\par Far, far away, the roar of passion dieth, \par And loving thoughts rise calm and peacefully, \par And no rude storm, how fierce soe'er it flieth, \par Disturbs the soul that dwells, O Lord, in Thee. \par --Harriet Beecher Stowe \par\par "The Pilgrim they laid in a large upper chamber, facing the sun-rising. The name of the chamber was Peace." --Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress \par\par LVAL Ready to Move \par\par "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor.5:1). \par\par The owner of the tenement which I have occupied for many years has given notice that he will furnish but little or nothing more for repairs. I am advised to be ready to move. \par\par At first this was not a very welcome notice. The surroundings here are in many respects very pleasant, and were it not for the evidence of decay, I should consider the house good enough. But even a light wind causes it to tremble and totter, and all the braces are not sufficient to make it secure. So I am getting ready to move. \par\par It is strange how quickly one's interest is transferred to the prospective home. I have been consulting maps of the new country and reading descriptions of its inhabitants. One who visited it has returned, and from him I learn that it is beautiful beyond description; language breaks down in attempting to tell of what he heard while there. He says that, in order to make an investment there, he has suffered the loss of all things that he owned here, and even rejoices in what others would call making a sacrifice. Another, whose love to me has been proven by the greatest possible test, is now there. He has sent me several clusters of the most delicious fruits. After tasting them, all food here seems insipid. \par\par Two or three times I have been down by the border of the river that forms the boundary, and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King on the other side. Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving they spoke of my coming later. I have seen the smile upon their faces as they passed out of sight. Often I am asked to make some new investments here, but my answer in every case is, "I am getting ready to move." --Selected \par\par The words often on Jesus' lips in His last days express vividly the idea, "going to the Father." We, XLVALdtoo, who are Christ's people, have vision of something beyond the difficulties and disappointments of this life. We are journeying towards fulfillment, completion, expansion of life. We, too, are "going to the Father." Much is dim concerning our home-country, but two things are clear. It is home, "the Father's House." It is the nearer presence of the Lord. We are all wayfarers, but the believer knows it and accepts it. He is a traveller, not a settler. --R. C. Gillie \par\par The little birds trust God, for they go singing \par From northern woods where autumn winds have blown, \par With joyous faith their trackless pathway winging \par To summer-lands of song, afar, unknown. \par\par Let us go singing, then, and not go sighing: \par Since we are sure our times are in His hand, \par Why should we weep, and fear, and call it dying? \par 'Tis only flitting to a Summer-land. \par --Selected \par\par YLVALeNot of the Extraordinary\par\par "Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside, of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush" (Exod. 3:1,2). \par\par The vision came in the midst of common toil, and that is where the Lord delights to give His revelations. He seeks a man who is on the ordinary road, and the Divine fire leaps out at his feet. The mystic ladder can rise from the market place to Heaven. It can connect the realm of drudgery with the realms of grace. \par\par My Father God, help me to expect Thee on the ordinary road. I do not ask for sensational happenings. Commune with me through ordinary work and duty. Be my Companion when I take the common journey. Let the humble life be transfigured by Thy presence. \par\par Some Christians think they must be always up to mounts of extraordinary joy and revelation; this is not after God's method. Those spiritual visits to high places, and that wonderful intercourse with the unseen world, are not in the promises; the daily life of communion is. And it is enough. We shall have the exceptional revelation if it be right for us. \par\par There were but three disciples allowed to see the transfiguration, and those three entered the gloom of Gethsemane. No one can stay on the mount of privilege. There are duties in the valley. Christ found His life-work, not in the glory, but in the valley and was there truly and fully the Messiah. The value of the vision and glory is but their gift of fitness for work and endurance. \par --Selected\par\par LVAL When God Says No \par\par "There hath not failed one word of all his good promise" (1 Kings 8:56). \par\par Some day we shall understand that God has a reason in every NO which He speaks through the slow movement of life. "Somehow God makes up to us." How often, when His people are worrying and perplexing themselves about their prayers not being answered, is God answering them in a far richer way! Glimpses of this we see occasionally, but the full revelation of it remains for the future. \par\par "If God says 'Yes' to our prayer, dear heart, \par And the sunlight is golden, the sky is blue, \par While the smooth road beckons to me and you, \par And the song-birds warble as on we go, \par Pausing to gather the buds at our feet, \par Stopping to drink of the streamlets we meet, \par Happy, more happy, our journey will grow, \par If God says 'Yes' to our prayer, dear heart. \par\par "If God says 'No' to our prayer, dear heart, \par And the clouds hang heavy and dull and gray; \par If the rough rocks hinder and block the way, \par While the sharp winds pierce us and sting with cold; \par Ah, dear, there is home at the journey's end, \par And these are the trials the Father doth send \par To draw us as sheep to His Heavenly fold, \par If God says 'No' to our prayer, dear heart." \par\par Oh for the faith that does not make haste, but waits patiently for the Lord, waits for the explanation that shall come in the end, at the revelation of Jesus Christ! When did God take anything from a man, without giving him manifold more in return? Suppose that the return had not been made immediately manifest, what then? Is today the limit of God's working time? Has He no provinces beyond this little world? Does the door of the grave open upon nothing but infinite darkness and eternal silence ? \par\par Yet, even confining the judgment within the hour of this life, it is true that God never touches the heart with a trial without intending to bring upon it some grander gift, some tenderer benedictio=LVALIn. He has attained to an eminent degree of Christian grace who knows how to wait. --Selected \par\par When the frosts are in the valley, \par And the mountain tops are grey, \par And the choicest buds are blighted, \par And the blossoms die away, \par A loving Father whispers, \par "This cometh from my hand"; \par Blessed are ye if ye trust \par Where ye cannot understand. \par\par If, after years of toiling, \par Your wealth should fly away \par And leave your hands all empty, \par And your locks are turning grey, \par Remember then your Father \par Owns all the sea and land; \par Blessed are ye if ye trust \par Where ye cannot understand. \par --Selected\par\par LVAL'A Bar of Steel \par\par "I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument" (Isa. 41:15). \par\par A bar of steel worth five dollars, when wrought into horseshoes, is worth ten dollars. If made into needles, it is worth three hundred and fifty dollars; if into penknife blades, it is worth thirty-two thousand dollars; if into springs for watches it is worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. What a drilling the poor bar must undergo to be worth this! But the more it is manipulated, the more it is hammered and passed through the fire, and beaten and pounded and polished, the greater the value. \par\par May this parable help us to be silent, still, and longsuffering. Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is through pain that God is getting the most out of us, for His glory and the blessing of others. --Selected \par\par "Oh, give Thy servant patience to be still, \par And bear Thy will; \par Courage to venture wholly on the arm \par That will not harm; \par The wisdom that will never let me stray \par Out of my way; \par The love that, now afflicting, knoweth best \par When I should rest." \par\par Life is very mysterious. Indeed it would be inexplicable unless we believed that God was preparing us for scenes and ministries that lie beyond the veil of sense in the eternal world, where highly-tempered spirits will be required for special service. \par\par "The turning-lathe that has the sharpest knives produces the finest work."\par\par LVAL In His Name \par\par "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full" (John 16:24). \par\par During the Civil War, a man had an only son who enlisted in the armies of the Union. The father was a banker and, although he consented to his son's going, it seemed as if it would break his heart to let him go. \par\par He became deeply interested in the soldier boys, and whenever he saw a uniform, his heart went out as he thought of his own dear boy. He spent his time, neglected his business, gave his money to caring for the soldiers who came home invalid. His friends remonstrated with him, saying he had no right to neglect his business and spend so much thought upon the soldiers, so he fully decided to give it all up. \par\par After he had come to this decision, there stepped into his bank one day a private soldier in a faded, worn uniform, who showed in his face and hands the marks of the hospital. \par\par The poor fellow was fumbling in his pocket to get something or other, when the banker saw him and, perceiving his purpose, said to him: \par\par "My dear fellow, I cannot do anything for you today. I am extremely busy. You will have to go to your headquarters; the officers there will look after you." \par\par Still the poor convalescent stood, not seeming to fully understand what was said to him. Still he fumbled in his pockets and, by and by, drew out a scrap of dirty paper, on which there were a few lines written with a pencil, and laid this soiled sheet before the banker. On it he found these words: \par\par "Dear Father: "This is one of my comrades who was wounded in the last fight, and has been in the hospital. Please receive him as myself. --Charlie." \par\par In a moment all the resolutions of indifference which this man made, flew away. He took the boy to his palatial home, put him in Charlie's room, gave him Charlie's seat at the table, kept him until food and rest and love had brought him back to health, and then sent him back again LVALto imperil his life for the flag. --Selected\par\par LVAL An Hour In The Garden \par\par "He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when evening was come, he was there alone" (Matt. 14:23). \par\par The man Christ Jesus felt the need of perfect solitude--Himself alone, entirely by Himself, alone with Himself. We know how much intercourse with men draws us away from ourselves and exhausts our powers. The man Christ Jesus knew this, too, and felt the need of being by Himself again, of gathering all His powers, of realizing fully His high destiny, His human weakness, His entire dependence on the Father. \par\par How much more does the child of God need this--himself alone with spiritual realities, himself alone with God the Father. If ever there were one who could dispense with special seasons for solitude and fellowship, it was our Lord. But He could not do His work or maintain His fellowship in full power, without His quiet time. \par\par Would God that every servant of His understood and practiced this blessed art, and that the Church knew how to train its children into some sense of this high and holy privilege, that every believer may and must have his time when he is indeed himself alone with God. Oh, the thought to have God all alone to myself, and to know that God has me all alone to Himself! \par --Andrew Murray \par\par Lamertine speaks in one of his books of a secluded walk in his garden where his mother always spent a certain hour of the day, upon which nobody ever dreamed for a moment of intruding. It was the holy garden of the Lord to her. Poor souls that have no such Beulah land! Seek thy private chamber, Jesus says. It is in the solitude that we catch the mystic notes that issue from the soul of things. \par\par A MEDITATION \par\par My soul, practice being alone with Christ! It is written that when they were alone He expounded all things to His disciples. Do not wonder at the saying; it is true to thine experience. If thou wouldst understand thyself send the multitude away. Let them go out one by one till thou art left alone witSLVAL_h Jesus. . . . Has thou ever pictured thyself the one remaining creature in the earth, the one remaining creature in all the starry worlds? \par\par In such a universe thine every thought would be "God and I! God and I!" And yet He is as near to thee as that--as near as if in the boundless spaces there throbbed no heart but His and thine. Practice that solitude, O my soul! Practice the expulsion of the crowd! Practice the stillness of thine own heart! Practice the solemn refrain "God and I! God and I!" Let none interpose between thee and thy wrestling angel! Thou shalt be both condemned and pardoned when thou shalt meet Jesus alone! --George Matheson\par\par FLVALRHis Billows \par\par "All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me" (Ps. 42:7). \par\par They are HIS billows, whether they go o'er us, \par Hiding His face in smothering spray and foam; \par Or smooth and sparkling, spread a path before us,\par And to our haven bear us safely home. \par\par They are HIS billows, whether for our succor \par He walks across them, stilling all our fear; \par Or to our cry there comes no aid nor answer, \par And in the lonely silence none is near. \par\par They are HIS billows, whether we are toiling \par Through tempest-driven waves that never cease, \par While deep to deep with clamor loud is calling; \par Or at His word they hush themselves in peace. \par\par They are HIS billows, whether He divides them, \par Making us walk dryshod where seas had flowed; \par Or lets tumultuous breakers surge about us, \par Rushing unchecked across our only road. \par\par They are HIS billows, and He brings us through them; \par So He has promised, so His love will do. \par Keeping and leading, guiding and upholding, \par To His sure harbor, He will bring us through. \par --Annie Johnson Flint \par\par Stand up in the place where the dear Lord has put you, and there do your best. God gives us trial tests. He puts life before us as an antagonist face to face. Out of the buffeting of a serious conflict we are expected to grow strong. The tree that grows where tempests toss its boughs and bend its trunk often almost to breaking, is often more firmly rooted than the tree which grows in the sequestered valley where no storm ever brings stress or strain. The same is true of life. The grandest character is grown in hardship. --Selected \par\par LVAL In The Heavenly Places \par\par "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ . . . and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6). \par\par This is our rightful place, to be "seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," and to "sit still" there. But how few there are who make it their actual experience! How few, indeed think even that it is possible for them to "sit still" in these "heavenly places" in the everyday life of a world so full of turmoil as this. \par\par We may believe perhaps that to pay a little visit to these heavenly places on Sundays, or now and then in times of spiritual exaltation, may be within the range of possibility; but to be actually "seated" there every day and all day long is altogether another matter; and yet it is very plain that it is for Sundays and week-days as well. \par\par A quiet spirit is of inestimable value in carrying on outward activities; and nothing so hinders the working of the hidden spiritual forces, upon which, after all, our success in everything really depends, as a spirit of unrest and anxiety. \par\par There is immense power in stillness. A great saint once said, "All things come to him who knows how to trust and be silent." The words are pregnant with meaning. A knowledge of this fact would immensely change our ways of working. Instead of restless struggles, we would "sit down" inwardly before the Lord, and would let the Divine forces of His Spirit work out in silence the ends to which we aspire. You may not see or feel the operations of this silent force, but be assured it is always working mightily, and will work for you, if you only get your spirit still enough to be carried along by the currents of its power. --Hannah Whitall Smith \par\par "There is a point of rest \par At the great center of the cyclone's force, \par A silence at its secret source; \par A little child might sLVALlumber undisturbed, \par Without the ruffle of one fair curl, \par In that strange, central calm, amid the mighty whirl." \par\par It is your business to learn to be peaceful and safe in God in every situation. \par\par LLVALXThe Old Refiner \par\par "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Mal. 3:3).\par\par Our Father, who seeks to perfect His saints in holiness, knows the value of the refiner's fire. It is with the most precious metals that the assayer takes the most pains, and subjects them to the hot fire, because such fires melt the metal, and only the molten mass releases its alloy or takes perfectly its new form in the mould. The old refiner never leaves his crucible, but sits down by it, lest there should be one excessive degree of heat to mar the metal. But as soon as he skims from the surface the last of the dross, and sees his own face reflected, he puts out the fire.\par --Arthur T. Pierson\par\par "He sat by a fire of seven-fold heat, \par As He watched by the precious ore, \par And closer He bent with a searching gaze \par As He heated it more and more. \par He knew He had ore that could stand the test, \par And He wanted the finest gold \par To mould as a crown for the King to wear, \par Set with gems with a price untold. \par So He laid our gold in the burning fire, \par Tho' we fain would have said Him 'Nay,' \par And He watched the dross that we had not seen, \par And it melted and passed away. \par And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright, \par But our eyes were so dim with tears, \par We saw but the fire--not the Master's hand, \par And questioned with anxious fears. \par Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow, \par As it mirrored a Form above, \par That bent o'er the fire, tho' unseen by us, \par With a look of ineffable love. \par Can we think that it pleases His loving heart \par To cause us a moment's pain? \par Ah, no! but He saw through the present cross \par The bliss of eternal gain. \par So He waited there with a watchful eye, \par With a love that is strong and sure, \par And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat, \par Than was needed to make it pure."\par\par LVAL Run With Patience \par\par "Let us run with patience" (Heb. 12:1). \par\par O run with patience is a very difficult thing. Running is apt to suggest the absence of patience, the eagerness to reach the goal. We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet, I do not think the invalid's patience the hardest to achieve. \par\par There is a patience which I believe to be harder--the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: It is the power to work under a stroke; to have a great weight at your heart and still to run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily task. It is a Christlike thing! \par\par Many of us would nurse our grief without crying if we were allowed to nurse it. The hard thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in bed, but in the street. We are called to bury our sorrows, not in lethargic quiescence, but in active service--in the exchange, in the workshop, in the hour of social intercourse, in the contribution to another's joy. There is no burial of sorrow so difficult as that; it is the "running with patience." \par\par This was Thy patience, O Son of man! It was at once a waiting and a running--a waiting for the goal, and a doing of the lesser work meantime. I see Thee at Cana turning the water into wine lest the marriage feast should be clouded. I see Thee in the desert feeding a multitude with bread just to relieve a temporary want. All, all the time, Thou wert bearing a mighty grief, unshared, unspoken. Men ask for a rainbow in the cloud; but I would ask more from Thee. I would be, in my cloud, myself a rainbow--a minister to others' joy. My patience will be perfect when it can work in the vineyard. --George Matheson \par\par "When all our hopes are gone, \par 'Tis well our hands must keep toiling on \par FoELVALQr others' sake: \par For strength to bear is found in duty done; \par And he is best indeed who learns to make \par The joy of others cure his own heartache."\par\par LVAL What Cannot Be Uttered \par\par "Likewise also the Spirit helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what to pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom. 8:26, 27). \par\par This is the deep mystery of prayer. This is the delicate divine mechanism which words cannot interpret, and which theology cannot explain, but which the humblest believer knows even when he does not understand. \par\par Oh, the burdens that we love to bear and cannot understand! Oh, the inarticulate out-reachings of our hearts for things we cannot comprehend! And yet we know they are an echo from the throne and a whisper from the heart of God. It is often a groan rather than a song, a burden rather than a buoyant wing. But it is a blessed burden, and it is a groan whose undertone is praise and unutterable joy. It is "a groaning which cannot be uttered." We could not ourselves express it always, and sometimes we do not understand any more than that God is praying in us, for something that needs His touch and that He understands. \par\par And so we can just pour out the fullness of our heart, the burden of our spirit, the sorrow that crushes us, and know that He hears, He loves, He understands, He receives; and He separates from our prayer all that is imperfect, ignorant and wrong, and presents the rest, with the incense of the great High Priest, before the throne on high; and our prayer is heard, accepted and answered in His name. --A. B. Simpson \par\par It is not necessary to be always speaking to God or always hearing from God, to have communion with Him; there is an inarticulate fellowship more sweet than words. The little child can sit all day long beside its busy mother and, although few words are spoken on either side, and both are busy, the one at his absorbing play, the other at her engrossing work,|LVAL yet both are in perfect fellowship. He knows that she is there, and she knows that he is all right. So the saint and the Saviour can go on for hours in the silent fellowship of love, and he be busy about the most common things, and yet conscious that every little thing he does is touched with the complexion of His presence, and the sense of His approval and blessing. \par\par And then, when pressed with burdens and troubles too complicated to put into words and too mysterious to tell or understand, how sweet it is to fall back into His blessed arms, and just sob out the sorrow that we cannot speak! --Selected\par\par LVAL Waiting is Hard \par\par "When the cloud tarried . . . then the children of Israel . . . journeyed not" (Num. 9:19).\par\par This was the supreme test of obedience. It was comparatively easy to strike tents, when the fleecy folds of the cloud were slowly gathering from off the Tabernacle, and it floated majestically before the host. Change is always delightful; and there was excitement and interest in the route, the scenery, and the locality of the next halting-place. But, ah, the tarrying.\par\par Then, however uninviting and sultry the location, however trying to flesh and blood, however irksome to the impatient disposition, however perilously exposed to danger--there was no option but to remain encamped.\par\par The Psalmist says, "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." And what He did for the Old Testament saints He will do for believers throughout all ages.\par\par Still God often keeps us waiting. Face to face with threatening foes, in the midst of alarms, encircled by perils, beneath the impending rock. May we not go? Is it not time to strike our tents? Have we not suffered to the point of utter collapse? May we not exchange the glare and heat for green pastures and still waters?\par\par There is no answer. The cloud tarries, and we must remain, though sure of manna, rock-water, shelter, and defense. God never keeps us at post without assuring us of His presence, and sending us daily supplies.\par\par Wait, young man, do not be in a hurry to make a change! Minister, remain at your post! Until the cloud clearly moves, you must tarry. Wait, then, thy Lord's good pleasure! He will be in plenty of time!--Daily Devotional Commentary\par\par An hour of waiting!\par Yet there seems such need\par To reach that spot sublime!\par I long to reach them--but I long far more\par To trust HIS time!\par\par "Sit still, my daughter"--\par Yet the heathen die,\par They perish while I stay!\par I long to reach them--but I long far more\par To trust HIS wa0LVAL<y!\par\par 'Tis good to get,\par 'Tis good indeed to give!\par Yet is it better still--\par O'er breadth, thro' length, down length, up height,\par To trust HIS will! --F. M. N.\par\par LVAL Expectations Beyond Us \par\par "But prayer" (Acts 12:5).\par\par But prayer is the link that connects us with God. This is the bridge that spans every gulf and bears us over every abyss of danger or of need.\par\par How significant the picture of the Apostolic Church: Peter in prison, the Jews triumphant, Herod supreme, the arena of martyrdom awaiting the dawning of the morning to drink up the apostle's blood, and everything else against it. "But prayer was made unto God without ceasing." And what was the sequel? The prison open, the apostle free, the Jews baffled, the wicked king eaten of worms, a spectacle of hidden retribution, and the Word of God rolling on in greater victory.\par\par Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? God baptize us with holy audacity and Divine confidence! He is not wanting great men, but He is wanting men who will dare to prove the greatness of their God. But God! But prayer! --A. B. Simpson\par\par Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ; and expect great things. --Andrew Murray\par\par Our prayers are God's opportunities.\par\par Are you in sorrow? Prayer can make your affliction sweet and strengthening. Are you in gladness? Prayer can add to your joy a celestial perfume. Are you in extreme danger from outward or inward enemies? Prayer can set at your right hand an angel whose touch could shatter a millstone into smaller dust than the flour it grinds, and whose glance could lay an army low. What will prayer do for you? I answer: All that God can do for you. "Ask what I shall give thee." --Farrar\par\par "Wrestling prayer can wonders do, \par Bring relief in deepest straits;\pLVALar Prayer can force a passage through \par Iron bars and brazen gates."\par\par LVALIt Must Be Bought \par\par "On all bare heights shall be their pasture" (Isa. 40:9, RV).\par\par Toys and trinkets are easily won, but the greatest things are greatly bought. The top-most place of power is always bought with blood. You may have the pinnacles if you have enough blood to pay. That is the conquest condition of the holy heights everywhere. The story of real heroisms is the story of sacrificial blood. The chiefest values in life and character are not blown across our way by vagrant winds. Great souls have great sorrows.\par\par "Great truths are dearly bought, the common truths,\par Such as men give and take front day to day,\par Come in the common walk of easy life,\par Blown by the careless wind across our way.\par\par "Great truths are greatly won, not found by chance,\par Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream;\par But grasped in the great struggle of the soul,\par Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.\par\par "But in the day of conflict, fear and grief,\par When the strong hand of God, put forth in might,\par Plows up the subsoil of the stagnant heart,\par And brings the imprisoned truth seed to the light.\par\par "Wrung from the troubled spirit, in hard hours\par Of weakness, solitude, perchance of pain,\par Truth springs like harvest from the well-plowed field,\par And the soul feels it has not wept in vain." \par\par The capacity for knowing God enlarges as we are brought by Him into circumstances which oblige us to exercise faith; so, when difficulties beset our path let us thank God that He is taking trouble with us, and lean hard upon Him.\par\par LVAL The Captive \par\par "As I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God . . . and the hand of the Lord was there upon me" (Ezek. 1:1,3).\par\par There is no commentator of the Scriptures half so valuable as a captivity. The old Psalms have quavered for us with a new pathos as we sat by our "Babel's stream," and have sounded for us with new joy as we found our captivity turned as the streams in the South.\par\par The man who has seen much affliction will not readily part with his copy of the Word of God. Another book may seem to others to be identical with his own; but it is not the same to him, for over his old and tear-stained Bible he has written, in characters which are visible to no eyes but his own, the record of his experiences, and ever and anon he comes on Bethel pillars or Elim palms, which are to him the memorials of some critical chapter in his history.\par\par If we are to receive benefit from our captivity we must accept the situation and turn it to the best possible account. Fretting over that from which we have been removed or which has been taken away from us, will not make things better, but it will prevent us from improving those which remain. The bond is only tightened by our stretching it to the uttermost.\par\par The impatient horse which will not quietly endure his halter only strangles himself in his stall. The high-mettled animal that is restive in the yoke only galls his shoulders; and every one will understand the difference between the restless starling of which Sterne has written, breaking its wings against the bars of the cage, and crying, "I can't get out, I can't get out," and the docile canary that sits upon its perch and sings as if it would outrival the lark soaring to heaven's gate.\par\par No calamity can be to us an unmixed evil if we carry it in direct and fervent prayer to God, for even as one in taking shelter from the rain beneath a tree may find on its branches fruit which he looked not for, so we inLVAL fleeing for refuge beneath the shadow of God's wing, will always find more in God than we had seen or known before.\par\par It is thus through our trials and afflictions that God gives us fresh revelations of Himself; and the Jabbok ford leads to Peniel, where, as the result of our wrestling, we "see God face to face," and our lives are preserved. Take this to thyself, O captive, and He will give thee "songs in the night," and turn for thee "the shadow of death into the morning." --William Taylor\par\par "Submission to the divine will is the softest pillow on which to recline."\par\par "It filled the room, and it filled my life,\par With a glory of source unseen;\par It made me calm in the midst of strife,\par And in winter my heart was green.\par And the birds of promise sang on the tree\par When the storm was breaking on land and sea."\par\par LVALNothing is Too Hard \par\par "Is there anything too hard for Jehovah?" (Gen. 18:14).\par\par Here is God's loving challenge to you and to me today. He wants us to think of the deepest, highest, worthiest desire and longing of our hearts, something which perhaps was our desire for ourselves or for someone dear to us, yet which has been so long unfulfilled that we have looked upon it as only a lost desire, that which might have been but now cannot be, and so have given up hope of seeing it fulfilled in this life.\par\par That thing, if it is in line with what we know to be His expressed will (as a son to Abraham and Sarah was), God intends to do for us, even if we know that it is of such utter impossibility that we only laugh at the absurdity of anyone's supposing it could ever now come to pass. That thing God intends to do for us, if we will let Him.\par\par "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Not when we believe in Him enough to go forward and do His will, and let Him do the impossible for us. Even Abraham and Sarah could have blocked God's plan if they had continued to disbelieve.\par\par The only thing too hard for Jehovah is deliberate, continued disbelief in His love and power, and our final rejection of His plans for us. Nothing is too hard for Jehovah to do for them that trust Him --Messages for the Morning Watch\par\par \par LVAL%The Greatest Pains \par\par "As many as I love I rebuke and chasten" (Rev. 3:19).\par\par God takes the most eminent and choicest of His servants for the choicest and most eminent afflictions. They who have received most grace from God are able to bear most afflictions from God. Affliction does not hit the saint by chance, but by direction. God does not draw His bow at a venture. Every one of His arrows goes upon a special errand and touches no breast but his against whom it is sent. It is not only the grace, but the glory of a believer when we can stand and take affliction quietly. --Joseph Caryl\par\par If all my days were sunny, could I say, \par "In His fair land He wipes all tears away"?\par\par If I were never weary, could I keep \par Close to my heart, "He gives His loved ones sleep"?\par\par Were no graves mine, might I not come to deem \par The Life Eternal but a baseless dream?\par\par My winter, and my tears, and weariness, \par Even my graves, may be His way to bless.\par\par I call them ills; yet that can surely be \par Nothing but love that shows my Lord to me!\par\par --Selected\par\par "The most deeply taught Christians are generally those who have been brought into the searching fires of deep soul-anguish. If you have been praying to know more of Christ, do not be surprised if He takes you aside into a desert place, or leads you into a furnace of pain."\par\par Do not punish me, Lord, by taking my cross from me, but comfort me by submitting me to Thy will, and by making me to love the cross. Give me that by which Thou shalt be best served . . . and let me hold it for the greatest of all Thy mercies, that Thou shouldst glorify Thy name in me, according to Thy will. --A Captive's Prayer\par\par LVALHeart's Sacrifice \par\par "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ" (Phil. 3:7).\par\par When they buried the blind preacher, George Matheson, they lined his grave with red roses in memory of his love-life of sacrifice. And it was this man, so beautifully and significantly honored, who wrote,\par\par "O Love that wilt not let me go,\par I rest my weary soul in Thee, \par I give Thee back the life I owe, \par That in thine ocean depths its flow \par May richer, fuller be.\par\par "O Light that followest all my way,\par I yield my flickering torch to Thee, \par My heart restores its borrowed ray, \par That in Thy sunshine's blaze its day \par May brighter, fairer be.\par\par "O Joy that seekest me through pain,\par I cannot close my heart to Thee, \par I trace the rainbow through the rain, \par And feel the promise is not vain, \par That morn shalt tearless be.\par\par "O Cross that liftest up my head,\par I dare not ask to fly from Thee, \par I lay in dust life's glory dead, \par And from the ground there blossoms red, \par Life that shall endless be."\par\par There is a legend of an artist who had found the secret of a wonderful red which no other artist could imitate. The secret of his color died with him. But after his death an old wound was discovered over his heart. This revealed the source of the matchless hue in his pictures. The legend teaches that no great achievement can be made, no lofty attainment reached, nothing of much value to the world done, save at the cost of heart's blood.\par\par LVAL Come Close to Him \par\par "He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray, and as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering . . . they saw his glory" (Luke 9:29, 32).\par\par "If I have found grace in thy sight, show me thy glory" (Exod. 33:13).\par\par When Jesus took these three disciples up into that high mountain apart, He brought them into close communion with Himself. They saw no man but Jesus only; and it was good to be there. Heaven is not far from those who tarry on the mount with their Lord. \par\par Who has not in moments of meditation and prayer caught a glimpse of opening gates? Who has not in the secret place of holy communion felt the rush of some white surging wave of emotion--a foretaste of the joy of the blessed? \par\par The Master had times and places for quiet converse with His disciples, once on the peak of Hermon, but oftener on the sacred slopes of Olivet. Every Christian should have his Olivet. Most of us, especially in the cities and towns, live at high pressure. From early morning until bedtime we are exposed to the whirl. Amid all this maelstrom how little chance for quiet thought, for God's Word, for prayer and heart fellowship! \par\par Daniel needed to have an Olivet in his chamber amid Babylon's roar and idolatries. Peter found his on a housetop in Joppa; and Martin Luther found his in the "upper room" at Wittenberg, which is still held sacred. \par\par Dr. Joseph Parker once said: "If we do not get back to visions, peeps into heaven, consciousness of the higher glory and the larger life, we shall lose our religion; our altar will become a bare stone, unblessed by visitant from Heaven." Here is the world's need today--men who have seen their Lord. --The Lost Art of Meditation \par\par Come close to Him! He may take you today up into the mountain top, for where He took Peter with his blundering, and James and John, those sons of thunder who again and again so utterly misunderstood tLVALheir Master and His mission, there is no reason why He should not take you. So don't shut yourself out of it and say, "Ah, these wonderful visions and revelations of the Lord are for choice spirits!" They may be for you! --John McNeill \par\par LVAL Seek Communion \par\par "They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn and grow as the vine" (Hosea 14:7).\par\par The day closed with heavy showers. The plants in my garden were beaten down before the pelting storm, and I saw one flower that I had admired for its beauty and loved for its fragrance exposed to the pitiless storm. The flower fell, shut up its petals, dropped its head; and I saw that all its glory was gone. "I must wait till next year," I said, "before I see that beautiful thing again."\par\par That night passed, and morning came; the sun shone again, and the morning brought strength to the flower. The light looked at it, and the flower looked at the light. There was contact and communion, and power passed into the flower. It held up its head, opened its petals, regained its glory, and seemed fairer than before. I wonder how it took place--this feeble thing coming into contact with the strong thing, and gaining strength!\par\par I cannot tell how it is that I should be able to receive into my being a power to do and to bear by communion with God, but I know It is a fact.\par\par Are you in peril through some crushing, heavy trial? Seek this communion with Christ, and you will receive strength and be able to conquer. "I will strengthen thee." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon\par\par YESTERDAY'S GRIEF\par\par The rain that fell a-yesterday is ruby on the roses,\par Silver on the poplar leaf, and gold on willow stem;\par The grief that chanced a-yesterday is silence that incloses\par Holy loves when time and change shall never trouble them.\par\par The rain that fell a-yesterday makes all the hillsides glisten, \par Coral on the laurel and beryl on the grass;\par The grief that chanced a-yesterday has taught the soul to listen \par For whispers of eternity in all the winds that pass.\par\par O faint-of-heart, storm-beaten, this rain will gleam tomorrow, \par Flame within the columbine and jewels on the thorn,\par Heaven in the forget-me-not; thorLVAL~ugh sorrow now be sorrow, \par Yet sorrow shall be, beauty in the magic of the morn.\par\par --Katherine Lee Bates\par\par LVALFaith Triumphs \par\par "Under hopeless circumstances he hopefully believed" (Rom. 4:18). (Weymouth) \par Abraham's faith seemed to be in a thorough correspondence with the power and constant faithfulness of Jehovah. In the outward circumstances in which he was placed, he had not the greatest cause to expect the fulfillment of the promise. Yet he believed the Word of the Lord, and looked forward to the time when his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude.\par\par O my soul, thou hast not one single promise only, like Abraham, but a thousand promises, and many patterns of faithful believers before thee: it behooves thee, therefore, to rely with confidence upon the Word of God. And though He delayeth His help, and the evil seemeth to grow worse and worse, be not weak, but rather strong, and rejoice, since the most glorious promises of God are generally fulfilled in such a wondrous manner that He steps forth to save us at a time when there is the least appearance of it.\par\par He commonly brings His help in our greatest extremity, that His finger may plainly appear in our deliverance. And this method He chooses that we may not trust upon anything that we see or feel, as we are always apt to do, but only upon His bare Word, which we may depend upon in every state. --C. H. Von Bogatzky\par\par Remember it is the very time for faith to work when sight ceases. The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith; as long as there remain certain natural prospects, faith does not get on even as easily as where natural prospects fail. --George Mueller\par\par LVAL #Lawn Care \par\par "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass" (Ps. 72:6).\par\par Amos speaks of the king's mowings. Our King has many scythes, and is perpetually mowing His lawns. The musical tinkle of the whetstone on the scythe portends the cutting down of myriads of green blades, daisies and other flowers. Beautiful as they were in the morning, within an hour or two they lie in long, faded rows.\par\par Thus in human life we make a brave show, before the scythe of pain, the shears of disappointment, the sickle of death.\par\par There is no method of obtaining a velvety lawn but by repeated mowings; and there is no way of developing tenderness, evenness, sympathy, but by the passing of God's scythes. How constantly the Word of God compares man to grass, and His glory to its flower! But when grass is mown, and all the tender shoots are bleeding, and desolation reigns where flowers were bursting, it is the most acceptable time for showers of rain falling soft and warm.\par\par O soul, thou hast been mown! Time after time the King has come to thee with His sharp scythe. Do not dread the scythe--it is sure to be followed by the shower. --F. B. Meyer\par\par "When across the heart deep waves of sorrow\par Break, as on a dry and barren shore;\par When hope glistens with no bright tomorrow,\par And the storm seems sweeping evermore;\par\par "When the cup of every earthly gladness\par Bears no taste of the life-giving stream;\par And high hopes, as though to mock our sadness,\par Fade and die as in some fitful dream,\par\par "Who shall hush the weary spirit's chiding?\par Who the aching void within shall fill?\par Who shall whisper of a peace abiding,\par And each surging billow calmly still?\par\par "Only He whose wounded heart was broken\par With the bitter cross and thorny crown;\par Whose dear love glad words of Joy had spoken,\par Who His life for us laid meekly down.\par\par "Blessed Healer, all our burdens lighten;\par Give us peace, Thine own sweet peace, we pray!LVAL \par Keep us near Thee till the morn shall brighten,\par And all the mists and shadows flee away!"\par\par ^LVALjUnadorned Life \par\par "These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work" (1 Chron. 4:23).\par\par Anywhere and everywhere we may dwell "with the king for his work." We may be in a very unlikely and unfavorable place for this; it may be in a literal country life, with little enough to be seen of the "goings" of the King around us; it may be among the 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.\par\par No matter! The King who placed us "there" will come and dwell there with us; the hedges are 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, that is just exactly what He has seen fit to put into our hands, and therefore it is, for the present, "His work."\par\par --Frances Ridley Havergal\par\par "Go back to thy garden-plot, sweetheart!\par Go back till the evening falls,\par And bind thy lilies and train thy vines, \par Till for thee the Master calls.\par\par "Go make thy garden fair as thou canst, \par Thou workest never alone;\par Perhaps he whose plot is next to thine \par Will see it and mend his own."\par\par The colored sunsets and starry heavens, the beautiful mountains and the shining seas, the fragrant woods and painted flowers, are not half so beautiful as a soul that is serving Jesus out of love, in the wear and tear of common, unpoetic life. --Faber\par\par The most saintly spirits are often existing in those who have never distinguished themselves as authors, or left any memorial of themselves to be the theme of the world's talk; but who have led an interior angelic life, having borne their sweet blossoms unseen like the young lily in a sequestered vale on the bank of a limpid stream. --Kenelm Digby\par\par MLVALYHe Knows Us \par\par "I know him, that he will command his children" (Gen. 18:19).\par\par God wants people that He can depend upon. He could say of Abraham, "I know him, that he will command his children . . . that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken." God can be depended upon; He wants us to be just as decided, as reliable, as stable. This is just what faith means.\par\par God is looking for men on whom He can put the weight of all His love and power and faithful promises. God's engines are strong enough to draw any weight we attach to them. Unfortunately the cable which we fasten to the engine is often too weak to hold the weight of our prayer; therefore God is drilling us, disciplining us to stability and certainty in the life of faith. Let us learn our lessons and stand fast. --A. B. Simpson\par\par God knows that you can stand that trial; He would not give it to you if you could not. It is His trust in you that explains the trials of life, however bitter they may be. God knows our strength, and He measures it to the last inch; and a trial was never given to any man that was greater than that man's strength, through God, to bear it.\par\par LVAL 'Only Through Death \par\par "Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains a single grain, but if it dies away in the ground, the grain is freed to spring up in a plant bearing many grains" (John 12:24).\par\par Go to the old burying ground of Northampton, Mass., and look upon the early grave of David Brainerd, beside that of the fair Jerusha Edwards, whom he loved but did not live to wed.\par\par What hopes, what expectations for Christ's cause went down to the grave with the wasted form of that young missionary of whose work nothing now remained but the dear memory, and a few score of swarthy Indian converts! But that majestic old Puritan saint, Jonathan Edwards, who had hoped to call him his son, gathered up the memorials of his life in a little book, and the little book took wings and flew beyond the sea, and alighted on the table of a Cambridge student, Henry Martyn.\par\par Poor Martyn! Why should he throw himself away, with all his scholarship, his genius, his opportunities! What had he accomplished when he turned homeward from "India's coral strand," broken in health, and dragged himself northward as far as that dreary khan at Tocat by the Black Sea, where he crouched under the piled-up saddles, to cool his burning fever against the earth, and there died alone?\par\par To what purpose was this waste? Out of that early grave of Brainerd, and the lonely grave of Martyn far away by the splashing of the Euxine Sea, has sprung the noble army of modern missionaries. --Leonard Woolsey Bacon\par\par "Is there some desert, or some boundless sea,\par Where Thou, great God of angels, wilt send me? \par Some oak for me to rend, Some sod for me to break, \par Some handful of Thy corn to take \par And scatter far afield, \par Till it in turn shall yield \par Its hundredfold \par Of grains of gold \par To feed the happy children of my God?\par\par "Show me the desert, Father, or the sea; \par Is it Thine enterprise? Great God, send me! \par And though this body lies whLVALere ocean rolls, \par Father, count me among all faithful souls."\par\par [LVALgThrough Faith \par\par "Pressed out of measure" (2 Cor. 1:8).\par\par "That the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Cor. 12:9).\par\par God allowed the crisis to close around Jacob on the night when he bowed at Peniel in supplication, to bring him to the place where he could take hold of God as he never would have done; and from that narrow pass of peril, Jacob became enlarged in his faith and knowledge of God, and in the power of a new and victorious life.\par\par God had to compel David, by a long and painful discipline of years, to learn the almighty power and faithfulness of his God, and grow up into the established principles of faith and godliness, which were indispensable for his glorious career as the king of Israel.\par\par Nothing but the extremities in which Paul was constantly placed could ever have taught him, and taught the Church through him, the full meaning of the great promise he so learned to claim, "My grace is sufficient for thee."\par\par And nothing but our trials and perils would ever have led some of us to know Him as we do, to trust Him as we have, and to draw from Him the measures of grace which our very extremities made indispensable.\par\par Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty, we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fullness and all-sufficiency of Jesus; and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting Him, we may be tested, we may have to wait and let patience have her perfect work; but we shall surely find at last the stone rolled away, and the Lord waiting to render unto us double for our time of testing. --A. B. Simpson\par\par ^LVALjYour Crown of Glory \par\par "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb . . . and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev. 12:11).\par\par When James and John came to Christ with their mother, asking Him to give them the best place in the kingdom, He did not refuse their request, but told them it would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be baptized with His baptism.\par\par Do we want the competition? The greatest things are always hedged about by the hardest things, and we, too, shall find mountains and forests and chariots of iron. Hardship is the price of coronation. Triumphal arches are not woven out of rose blossoms and silken cords, but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships that you are enduring in your life today are given by the Master for the explicit purpose of enabling you to win your crown.\par\par Do not wait for some ideal situation, some romantic difficulty, some far-away emergency; but rise to meet the actual conditions which the Providence of God has placed around you today. Your crown of glory lies embedded in the very heart of these things--those hardships and trials that are pressing you this very hour, week and month of your life. The hardest things are not those that the world knows of. Down in your secret soul unseen and unknown by any but Jesus, there is a little trial that you would not dare to mention that is harder for you to bear than martyrdom.\par\par There, beloved, lies your crown. God help you to overcome, and sometime wear it. --Selected\par\par "It matters not how the battle goes,\par The day how long;\par Faint not! Fight on!\par Tomorrow comes the song."\par\par LVALUnanswered? \par\par "Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily" (Luke 18:6, 7).\par\par God's seasons are not at your beck. If the first stroke of the flint doth not bring forth the fire, you must strike again. God will hear prayer, but He may not answer it at the time which we in our minds have appointed; He will reveal Himself to our seeking hearts, but not just when and where we have settled in our own expectations. Hence the need of perseverance and importunity in supplication.\par\par In the days of flint and steel and brimstone matches we had to strike and strike again, dozens of times, before we could get a spark to live in the tinder; and we were thankful enough if we succeeded at last.\par\par Shall we not be as persevering and hopeful as to heavenly things? We have more certainty of success in this business than we had with our flint and steel, for we have God's promises at our back.\par\par Never let us despair. God's time for mercy will come; yea, it has come, if our time for believing has arrived. Ask in faith nothing wavering; but never cease from petitioning because the King delays to reply. Strike the steel again. Make the sparks fly and have your tinder ready; you will get a light before long. \par --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par I do not believe that there is such a thing in the history of God's kingdom as a right prayer offered in a right spirit that is forever left unanswered. --Theodore L. Cuyler\par\par LVAL ,Don't Be Offended \par\par "Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me" (Luke 7:23).\par\par It is sometimes very difficult not to be offended in Jesus Christ. The offenses may be circumstantial. I find myself in a prison-house--a narrow sphere, a sick chamber, an unpopular position--when I had hoped for wide opportunities. Yes, but He knows what is best for me. My environment is of His determining. He means it to intensify my faith, to draw me into nearer communion with Himself, to ripen my power. In the dungeon my soul should prosper.\par\par The offense may be mental. I am haunted by perplexities, questions, which I cannot solve. I had hoped that, when I gave myself to Him, my sky would always be clear; but often it is overspread by mist and cloud. Yet let me believe that, if difficulties remain, it is that I may learn to trust Him all the more implicitly--to trust and not be afraid. Yes, and by my intellectual conflicts, I am trained to be a tutor to other storm-driven men.\par\par The offense may be spiritual. I had fancied that within His fold I should never feel the biting winds of temptation; but it is best as it is. His grace is magnified. My own character is matured. His Heaven is sweeter at the close of the day. There I shall look back on the turnings and trials of the way, and shall sing the praises of my Guide. So, let come what will come, His will is welcome; and I shall refuse to be offended in my loving Lord. --Alexander Smellie\par\par Blessed is he whose faith is not offended, \par When all around his way\par The power of God is working out deliverance \par For others day by day;\par\par Though in some prison drear his own soul languish, \par Till life itself be spent,\par Yet still can trust his Father's love and purpose, \par And rest therein content.\par\par Blessed is he, who through long years of suffering, \par Cut off from active toil,\par Still shares by prayer and praise the work of others, \par And thus "divides the spoil." \par\par Blessed arLVALe thou, O child of God, who sufferest,\par And canst not understand\par The reason for thy pain, yet gladly leavest \par Thy life in His blest Hand.\par\par Yea, blessed art thou whose faith is "not offended"\par By trials unexplained,\par By mysteries unsolved, past understanding, \par Until the goal is gained. --Freda Hanbury Allen\par\par LVALQuicken Us \par\par "Thou, who hast showed us many and sore troubles, wilt quicken us again" (Ps. 71:20, RV).\par\par God shows us the troubles. Sometimes, as this part of our education is being carried forward, we have to descend into "the lower parts of the earth," pass through subterranean passages, lie buried amongst the dead, but never for a moment is the cord of fellowship and union between God and us strained to breaking; and from the depths God will bring us again.\par\par Never doubt God! Never say that He has forsaken or forgotten. Never think that He is unsympathetic. He will quicken again. There is always a smooth piece in every skein, however tangled. The longest day at last rings out the evensong. The winter snow lies long, but it goes at last.\par\par Be steadfast; your labor is not in vain. God turns again, and comforts. And when He does, the heart which had forgotten its Psalmody breaks out in jubilant song, as does the Psalmist: "I will thank thee, I will harp unto thee, my lips shall sing aloud." --Selected\par\par "Though the rain may fall and the wind be blowing,\par And old and chill is the wintry blast;\par Though the cloudy sky is still cloudier growing,\par And the dead leaves tell that the summer has passed;\par My face I hold to the stormy heaven,\par My heart is as calm as the summer sea,\par Glad to receive what my God has given,\par Whate'er it be.\par When I feel the cold, I can say, 'He sends it,'\par And His winds blow blessing, I surely know;\par For I've never a want but that He attends it;\par And my heart beats warm, though the winds may blow."\par\par LVAL /How To Wait \par\par "Blessed is he that waiteth" (Dan. 12:12).\par\par It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still.\par\par There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption?\par\par No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid.\par\par Wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him. Believe that if He keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time; the vision shall come, and shall not tarry.\par\par Wait in quiet patience. Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses. Accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, "Now, Lord, not my will, but Thine be done. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities; but I will wait until Thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back my foes. I will wait, if Thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon Thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for Thee in full conviction that Thou wilt yet be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower." --Morning by Morning\par\par Wait patiently wait, \par God never is late; \par Thy budding plans are in Thy Father's holding, \par And only wait His grand divine unfolding. \par Then wait, wait, \par Patiently wait.\par\par Trust, hopefully trust, \par That God will adjust \par Thy tangled life; and from its dark concealings, \par Will bring His will, in all its bright revealings. \par Then trust, trust, \par Hopefully trust.\par\par Rest, p LVALeacefully rest \par On thy Saviour's breast; \par Breathe in His ear thy sacred high ambition, \par And He will bring it forth in blest fruition.\par Then rest, rest,\par Peacefully rest! --Mercy A. Gladwin\par\par \par LVALLeave It To God \par\par "Roll on Jehovah thy way." Ps. 37:5\par\par Whatever it is that presses thee, go tell the Father; put the whole matter over into His hand, and so shalt thou be freed from that dividing, perplexing care that the world is full of. When thou art either to do or suffer anything, when thou art about any purpose or business, go tell God of it, and acquaint Him with it; yes, burden Him with it, and thou hast done for matter of caring; no more care, but quiet, sweet, diligence in thy duty, and dependence on Him for the carriage of thy matters. Roll thy cares, and thyself with them, as one burden, all on thy God. --R. Leighton\par\par Build a little fence of trust \par Around today;\par Fill the space with loving work \par And therein stay.\par Look not through the sheltering bars \par Upon tomorrow;\par God will help thee bear what comes \par Of joy or sorrow. --Mary Butts\par\par We shall find it impossible to commit our way unto the Lord, unless it be a way that He approves. It is only by faith that a man can commit his way unto the Lord; if there be the slightest doubt in the heart that "our way" is not a good one, faith will refuse to have anything to do with it. This committing of our way must be a continuous, not a single act. However extraordinary and unexpected may seem to be His guidance, however near the precipice He may take you, you are not to snatch the guiding reins out of His hands. Are we willing to have all our ways submitted to God, for Him to pronounce judgment on them? There is nothing a Christian needs to be more scrutinizing about than about his confirmed habits and views. He is too apt to take for granted the Divine approbation of them. Why are some Christians so anxious, so fearful? Evidently because they have not left their way with the Lord. They took it to Him, but brought it away with them again. --Selected\par\par eLVALqDealing With the Past \par\par "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" (Matt. 9:28).\par\par God deals with impossibilities. It is never too late for Him to do so, when the impossible is brought to Him, in full faith, by the one in whose life and circumstances the impossible must be accomplished if God is to be glorified. If in our own life there have been rebellion, unbelief, sin, and disaster, it is never too late for God to deal triumphantly with these tragic facts if brought to Him in full surrender and trust. It has often been said, and with truth, that Christianity is the only religion that can deal with man's past. God can "restore the years that the locust hath eaten" (Joel 2:25); and He will do this when we put the whole situation and ourselves unreservedly and believingly into His hands. Not because of what we are but because of what He is. God forgives and heals and restores. He is "the God of all grace." Let us praise Him and trust Him. --Sunday School Times\par\par "Nothing is too hard for Jesus\par No man can work like Him."\par\par "We have a God who delights in impossibilities." Nothing too hard for Me. --Andrew Murray\par\par )oR5jM0eH+}`C& x[ o   m  k  C@j  @i  %@h   f   d   b   `   ^  @]  m [  I@Z  X  & V  @U  @T  ! R  "Q  )P  N  9 L  J  I   G  F  Z@E  CC  B  @A  , ?  * =  @<   :  w@9  v 7  @6  4  ?@3  @1 LVALRock Flowers \par\par "Thou hast shewed thy people hard things" (Ps. 60:3).\par\par I have always been glad that the Psalmist said to God that some things were hard. There is no mistake about it; there are hard things in life. Some beautiful pink flowers were given me this summer, and as I took them I said, "What are they?" And the answer came, "They are rock flowers; they grow and bloom only on rocks where you can see no soil." Then I thought of God's flowers growing in hard places; and I feel, somehow, that He may have a peculiar tenderness for His "rock flowers" that He may not have for His lilies and roses. --Margaret Bottome\par\par The tests of life are to make, not break us. Trouble may demolish a man's business but build up his character. The blow at the outward man may be the greatest blessing to the inner man. If God, then, puts or permits anything hard in our lives, be sure that the real peril, the real trouble, is what we shall lose if we flinch or rebel. --Maltbie D. Babcock\par\par "Heroes are forged on anvils hot with pain, \par And splendid courage comes but with the test. \par Some natures ripen and some natures bloom \par Only on blood-wet soil, some souls prove great \par Only in moments dark with death or doom."\par\par "God gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction."\par\par LVAL 5The Power of Silence \par\par "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).\par\par Is there any note of music in all the chorus as mighty as the emphatic pause? Is there any word in all the Psalter more eloquent than that one word, Selah (Pause)? Is there anything more thrilling and awful than the hush that comes before the bursting of the tempest and the strange quiet that seems to fall upon all nature before some preternatural phenomenon or convulsion? Is there anything that can touch our hearts as the power of stillness?\par\par There is for the heart that will cease from itself, "the peace of God that passeth all understanding," a "quietness and confidence" which is the source of all strength, a sweet peace "which nothing can offend," a deep rest which the world can neither give nor take away. There is in the deepest center of the soul a chamber of peace where God dwells, and where, if we will only enter in and hush every other sound, we can hear His still, small voice.\par\par There is in the swiftest wheel that revolves upon its axis a place in the very center, where there is no movement at all; and so in the busiest life there may be a place where we dwell alone with God, in eternal stillness, There is only one way to know God. "Be still, and know." "God is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." --Selected\par\par "All-loving Father, sometimes we have walked under starless skies that dripped darkness like drenching rain. We despaired of starshine or moonlight or sunrise. The sullen blackness gloomed above us as if it would last forever. And out of the dark there spoke no soothing voice to mend our broken hearts. We would gladly have welcomed some wild thunder peal to break the torturing stillness of that over-brooding night.\par\par "But Thy winsome whisper of eternal love spoke more sweetly to our bruised and bleeding souls than any winds that breathe across Aeolian harps. It was Thy 'still small voice' that spoke to us. We were listening and we heard. We %LVAL1looked and saw Thy face radiant with the light of love. And when we heard Thy voice and saw Thy face, new life came back to us as life comes back to withered blooms that drink the summer rain."\par\par LVAL*God's Best \par\par "Take the arrows. . . . Smite upon the ground. And he smote twice and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times" (2 Kings 13:18, 19).\par\par How striking and eloquent the message of these words! Jehoash thought he had done very well when he duplicated and triplicated what to him was certainly an extraordinary act of faith. But the Lord and the prophet were bitterly disappointed because he had stopped half way.\par\par He got something. He got much. He got exactly what he believed for in the final test, but he did not get all that the prophet meant and the Lord wanted to bestow. He missed much of the meaning of the promise and the fullness of the blessing. He got something better than the human, but he did not get God's best.\par\par Beloved, how solemn is the application! How heartsearching the message of God to us! How important that we should learn to pray through! Shall we claim all the fullness of the promise and all the possibilities of believing prayer? --A. B. Simpson\par\par "Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Eph. 3:20).\par\par There is no other such piling up of words in Paul's writings as these, "exceeding abundantly above all," and each word is packed with infinite love and power to "do" for His praying saints. There is one limitation, "according to the power that worketh in us." He will do just as much for us as we let Him do in us. The power that saved us, washed us with His own blood, filled us with might by His Spirit, kept us in manifold temptations, will work for us, meeting every emergency, every crisis, every circumstance, and every adversary. --The Alliance\par\par LVAL 8Upper Springs \par\par "And Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? Who answered, give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs" (Joshua 15:18, 19).\par\par There are both upper and nether springs. They are springs, not stagnant pools. There are joys and blessings that flow from above through the hottest summer and the most desert land of sorrow and trial. The lands of Achsah were "south lands," lying under a burning sun and often parched with burning heat. But from the hills came the unfailing springs, that cooled, refreshed and fertilized all the land.\par\par There are springs that flow in the low places of life, in the hard places, in the desert places, in the lone places, in the common places, and no matter what may be our situation, we can always find these upper springs.\par\par Abraham found them amid the hills of Canaan. Moses found them among the rocks of Midian. David found them among the ashes of Ziklag when his property was gone, his family captives and his people talked of stoning him, but "David encouraged himself in the Lord."\par\par Habakkuk found them when the fig tree was withered and the fields were brown, but as he drank from them he could sing: "Yet will I rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of my salvation."\par\par Isaiah found them in the awful days of Sennacherib's invasion, when the mountains seemed hurled into the midst of the sea, but faith could sing: "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved."\par\par The martyrs found them amid the flames, and reformers amid their foes and conflicts, and we can find them all the year if we have the Comforter in our hearts and have learned to say with David: "All my springs are in thee."\par\par How many and how precious these springs, and how much more there is to be possessed of God's own fulness! --A. B. Simpson\par\par I said: "The desert is so wide!"jLVALv \par I said: "The desert is so bare! \par What springs to quench my thirst are there?\par Whence shall I from the tempest hide?"\par I said: "The desert is so lone! \par Nor gentle voice, nor loving face \par Will brighten any smallest space." \par I paused or ere my moan was done!\par\par I heard a flow of hidden springs;\par Before me palms rose green and fair;\par The birds were singing; all the air\par Did shine and stir with angels' wings!\par And One said mildly: "Why, indeed, \par Take over-anxious thought for that\par The morrow bringeth! See you not \par The Father knoweth what you need?"\par --Selected\par\par }LVALImpossible Flowers \par\par "For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37).\par\par Far up in the Alpine hollows, year by year God works one of His marvels. The snow-patches lie there, frozen with ice at their edge from the strife of sunny days and frosty nights; and through that ice-crust come, unscathed, flowers that bloom.\par\par Back in the days of the by-gone summer, the little soldanelle plant spread its leaves wide and flat on the ground, to drink in the sun-rays, and it kept them stored in the root through the winter. Then spring came, and stirred the pulses even below the snow-shroud, and as it sprouted, warmth was given out in such strange measure that it thawed a little dome in the snow above its head.\par\par Higher and higher it grew and always above it rose the bell of air, till the flower-bud formed safely within it: and at last the icy covering of the air-bell gave way and let the blossom through into the sunshine, the crystalline texture of its mauve petals sparkling like snow itself as if it bore the traces of the flight through which it had come.\par\par And the fragile thing rings an echo in our hearts that none of the jewel-like flowers nestled in the warm turf on the slopes below could waken. We love to see the impossible done. And so does God.\par\par Face it out to the end, cast away every shadow of hope on the human side as an absolute hindrance to the Divine, heap up all the difficulties together recklessly, and pile as many more on as you can find; you cannot get beyond the blessed climax of impossibility. Let faith swing out to Him. He is the God of the impossible. --Selected\par\par LVAL ;Open the Trenches\par \par "Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hands" (2 Kings 3:16-18).\par\par To human thinking it was simply impossible, but nothing is hard for God.\par\par Without a sound or sign, from sources invisible and apparently impossible, the floods came stealing in all night long; and when the morning dawned, those ditches were flooded with the crystal waters, and reflecting the rays of the morning sun from the red hills of Edom.\par\par Our unbelief is always wanting some outward sign. The religion of many is largely sensational, and they are not satisfied of its genuineness without manifestations, etc.; but the greatest triumph of faith is to be still and know that He is God.\par\par The great victory of faith is to stand before some impassable Red Sea, and hear the Master say, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord," and "Go forward!" As we step out without any sign or sound--not a wave-splash--and wetting our very feet as we take the first step into its waters, still marching on we shall see the sea divide and the pathway open through the very midst of the waters. If we have seen the miraculous workings of God in some marvelous case of healing or some extraordinary providential deliverance, I am sure the thing that has impressed us most has been the quietness with which it was all done, the absence of everything spectacular and sensational, and the utter sense of nothingness which came to us as we stood in the presence of this mighty God and felt how easy, it was for Him to do it all without the faintest effort on His part or the slightest help on ours. \par\par It is not the part of faith to question, but to obey. The ditches were made, and the water came pouring in from some supernatural source. What a lesson for our faith! \par\par LVAL Are you craving a spiritual blessing? Open the trenches, and God will fill them. And this, too, in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways. \par\par Oh, for that faith that can act by faith and not by sight, and expect God to work although we see no wind or rain. --A. B. SimpsonOLVAL[Music of the Storm \par\par "Nevertheless afterward" (Heb. 12:11).\par\par There is a legend that tells of a German baron who, at his castle on the Rhine, stretched wires from tower to tower, that the winds might convert them into an Aeolian harp. And the soft breezes played about the castle, but no music was born.\par\par But one night there arose a great tempest, and hill and castle were smitten by the fury of the mighty winds. The baron went to the threshold to look out upon the terror of the storm, and the Aeolian harp was filling the air with strains that rang out even above the clamor of the tempest. It needed the tempest to bring out the music!\par\par And have we not known men whose lives have not given out any entrancing music in the day of a calm prosperity, but who, when the tempest drove against them have astonished their fellows by the power and strength of their music?\par\par "Rain, rain\par Beating against the pane!\par How endlessly it pours\par Out of doors\par From the blackened sky\par I wonder why!\par\par "Flowers, flowers,\par Upspringing after showers,\par Blossoming fresh and fair, \par Everywhere!\par Ah, God has explained\par Why it rained!"\par\par You can always count on God to make the "afterward" of difficulties, if rightly overcome, a thousand times richer and fairer than the forward. "No chastening . . . seemeth joyous, nevertheless afterward . . ." What a yield!\par\par LVAL >In God, Not Out of Trouble \par\par "And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest" (Jer. 45:5).\par\par A promise given for hard places, and a promise of safety and life in the midst of tremendous pressure, a life "for a prey." It may well adjust itself to our own times, which are growing harder as we near the end of the age, and the Tribulation times.\par\par What is the meaning of "a life for a prey"? It means a life snatched out of the jaws of the destroyer, as David snatched the lamb from the lion. It means not removal from the noise of the battle and the presence of our foes; but it means a table in the midst of our enemies, a shelter from the storm, a fortress amid the foe, a life preserved in the face of continual pressure: Paul's healing when pressed out of measure so that he despaired of life; Paul's Divine help when the thorn remained, but the power of Christ rested upon him and the grace of Christ was sufficient. Lord, give me my life for a prey, and in the hardest places help me today to be victorious. --Days of Heaven upon Earth\par\par We often pray to be delivered from calamities; we even trust that we shall be; but we do not pray to be made what we should be, in the very presence of the calamities; to live amid them, as long as they last, in the consciousness that we are, held and sheltered by the Lord, and can therefore remain in the midst of them, so long as they continue, without any hurt. For forty days and nights, the Saviour was kept in the presence of Satan in the wilderness, and that, under circumstances of special trial, His human nature being weakened by want of food and rest. The furnace was heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated, but the three Hebrew children were kept a season amid its flames as calm and composed in the presence of the tyrant's last appliances of torture, as they were in the presenLVALce of himself before their time of deliverance came. And the livelong night did Daniel sit among the lions, and when he was taken up out of the den, "no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God." They dwelt in the presence of the enemy, because they dwelt in the presence of God.\par\par LVAL @Devil's Burden \par\par "There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God" (Heb. 4:9).\par\par The rest includes victory, "And the Lord gave them rest round about; . . . the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand" (Joshua 21:44).\par\par "He will beautify the meek with victory" (Ps. 149:4). (Rotherham, margin)\par\par An eminent Christian worker tells of his mother who was a very anxious and troubled Christian. He would talk with her by the hour trying to convince her of the sinfulness of fretting, but to no avail. She was like the old lady who once said she had suffered so much, especially from the troubles that never came.\par\par But one morning the mother came down to breakfast wreathed in smiles. He asked her what had happened, and she told him that in the night she had a dream.\par\par She was walking along a highway with a great crowd of people who seemed so tired and burdened. They were nearly all carrying little black bundles, and she noticed that there were numerous repulsive looking beings which she thought were demons dropping these black bundles for the people to pick up and carry.\par\par Like the rest, she too had her needless load, and was weighed down with the devil's bundles. Looking up, after a while, she saw a Man with a bright and loving face, passing hither and thither through the crowd, and comforting the people.\par\par At last He came near her, and she saw that it was her Saviour. She looked up and told Him how tired she was, and He smiled sadly and said:\par\par "My dear child, I did not give you these loads; you have no need of them. They are the devil's burdens and they are wearing out your life. Just drop them; refuse to touch them with one of your fingers and you will find the path easy and you will be as if borne on eagle's wings."\par\par He touched her hand, and lo, peace and joy thrilled her frame and, flinging down her burden, she was about to throw herself at His feet in joyful thanksgiving, when suddenly she awoke and found that all hLVALer cares were gone. From that day to the close of her life she was the most cheerful and happy member of the household.\par\par And the night shall be filled with music,\par And the cares that infest the day,\par Shall fold their tents like the Arabs, \par And as silently steal away.\par --Longfellow\par\par !LVAL-Reaching Perfection \par\par "Perfect through suffering" (Heb. 2:10).\par\par Steel is iron plus fire. Soil is rock, plus heat, or glacier crushing. Linen is flax plus the bath that cleans, the comb that separates, and the flail that pounds, and the shuttle that weaves. Human character must have a plus attached to it. The world does not forget great characters. But great characters are not made of luxuries, they are made by suffering.\par\par I heard of a mother who brought into her home as a companion to her own son, a crippled boy who was also a hunchback. She had warned her boy to be very careful in his relations to him, and not to touch the sensitive part of his life but go right on playing with him as if he were an ordinary boy. She listened to her son as they were playing; and after a few minutes he said to his companion: "Do you know what you have got on your back?" The little hunchback was embarrassed, and he hesitated a moment. The boy said: "It is the box in which your wings are; and some day God is going to cut it open, and then you will fly away and be an angel."\par\par Some day, God is going to reveal the fact to every Christian, that the very principles they now rebel against, have been the instruments which He used in perfecting their characters and moulding them into perfection, polished stones for His great building yonder. --Cortland Myers\par\par Suffering is a wonderful fertilizer to the roots of character. The great object of this life is character. This is the only thing we can carry with us into eternity. . . . To gain the most of it and the best of it is the object of probation. --Austin Phelps\par\par "By the thorn road and no other is the mount of vision won." -- Theodore Epp\par\par  LVAL,Strong in Suffering \par\par "Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well" \par (2 Kings 4:26).\par\par "Be strong, my soul! \par Thy loved ones go \par Within the veil. God's thine, e'en so; \par Be strong.\par\par "Be strong, my soul!\par Death looms in view.\par Lo, here thy God! He'll bear thee through;\par Be strong."\par\par For sixty-two years and five months I had a beloved wife, and now, in my ninety-second year I am left alone. But I turn to the ever present Jesus, as I walk up and down in my room, and say, "Lord Jesus, I am alone, and yet not alone--Thou art with me, Thou art my Friend. Now, Lord, comfort me, strengthen me, give to Thy poor servant everything Thou seest he needs." And we should not be satisfied till we are brought to this, that we know the Lord Jesus Christ experimentally, habitually to be our Friend: at all times, and under all circumstances, ready to prove Himself to be our Friend. --George Mueller\par\par Afflictions cannot injure when blended with submission.\par\par Ice breaks many a branch, and so I see a great many persons bowed down and crushed by their afflictions. But now and then I meet one that sings in affliction, and then I thank God for my own sake as well as his. There is no such sweet singing as a song in the night. You recollect the story of the woman who, when her only child died, in rapture looking up, as with the face of an angel, said, "I give you joy, my darling." That single sentence has gone with me years and years down through my life, quickening and comforting me. --Henry Ward Beecher\par\par "E'en for the dead I will not bind my soul to grief; \par Death cannot long divide. \par For is it not as though the rose that climbed my garden wall \par Has blossomed on the other, side? \par Death doth hide, \par But not divide;\par Thou art but on Christ's other side!\par Thou art with Christ, and Christ with me;\par In Christ united still are we."\par\par LVAL DExpectations Beyond Us \par\par "But prayer" (Acts 12:5).\par\par But prayer is the link that connects us with God. This is the bridge that spans every gulf and bears us over every abyss of danger or of need.\par\par How significant the picture of the Apostolic Church: Peter in prison, the Jews triumphant, Herod supreme, the arena of martyrdom awaiting the dawning of the morning to drink up the apostle's blood, and everything else against it. "But prayer was made unto God without ceasing." And what was the sequel? The prison open, the apostle free, the Jews baffled, the wicked king eaten of worms, a spectacle of hidden retribution, and the Word of God rolling on in greater victory.\par\par Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? God baptize us with holy audacity and Divine confidence! He is not wanting great men, but He is wanting men who will dare to prove the greatness of their God. But God! But prayer! --A. B. Simpson\par\par Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ; and expect great things. --Andrew Murray\par\par Our prayers are God's opportunities.\par\par Are you in sorrow? Prayer can make your affliction sweet and strengthening. Are you in gladness? Prayer can add to your joy a celestial perfume. Are you in extreme danger from outward or inward enemies? Prayer can set at your right hand an angel whose touch could shatter a millstone into smaller dust than the flour it grinds, and whose glance could lay an army low. What will prayer do for you? I answer: All that God can do for you. "Ask what I shall give thee." --Farrar\par\par "Wrestling prayer can wonders do, \par Bring relief in deepest straits;\pLVALar Prayer can force a passage through \par Iron bars and brazen gates."\par\par LVALIt Must Be Bought \par\par "On all bare heights shall be their pasture" (Isa. 49:9, RV).\par\par Toys and trinkets are easily won, but the greatest things are greatly bought. The top-most place of power is always bought with blood. You may have the pinnacles if you have enough blood to pay. That is the conquest condition of the holy heights everywhere. The story of real heroisms is the story of sacrificial blood. The chiefest values in life and character are not blown across our way by vagrant winds. Great souls have great sorrows.\par\par "Great truths are dearly bought, the common truths,\par Such as men give and take front day to day,\par Come in the common walk of easy life,\par Blown by the careless wind across our way.\par\par "Great truths are greatly won, not found by chance,\par Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream;\par But grasped in the great struggle of the soul,\par Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.\par\par "But in the day of conflict, fear and grief,\par When the strong hand of God, put forth in might,\par Plows up the subsoil of the stagnant heart,\par And brings the imprisoned truth seed to the light.\par\par "Wrung from the troubled spirit, in hard hours\par Of weakness, solitude, perchance of pain,\par Truth springs like harvest from the well-plowed field,\par And the soul feels it has not wept in vain." \par\par The capacity for knowing God enlarges as we are brought by Him into circumstances which oblige us to exercise faith; so, when difficulties beset our path let us thank God that He is taking trouble with us, and lean hard upon Him.\par\par :LVALFThe Second Coming \par\par "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" (Rev. 3:11).\par\par George Mueller bears this testimony, "When it pleased God in July, 1829, to reveal to my heart the truth of the personal return of the Lord Jesus, and to show me that I had made a great mistake in looking for the conversion of the world, the effect that it produced upon me was this: From my inmost soul I was stirred up to feel compassion for perishing sinners, and for the slumbering world around me lying in the wicked one, and considered, 'Ought I not to do what I can for the Lord Jesus while He tarries, and to rouse a slumbering church?"'\par\par There may be many hard years of hard work before the consummation, but the signs are to me so encouraging that I would not be unbelieving if I saw the wing of the apocalyptic angel spread for its last triumphal flight in this day's sunset; or if tomorrow morning the ocean cables should thrill us with the news that Christ the Lord had alighted on Mount Olivet or Mount Calvary to proclaim universal dominion. O you dead churches wake up! O Christ, descend! Scarred temple, take the crown! Bruised hand, take the sceptre! Wounded foot, step the throne! Thine is the kingdom. --Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D.\par\par "It may be in the evening,\par When the work of the day is done,\par And you have time to sit in the twilight,\par And watch the sinking sun,\par While the long bright day dies slowly\par Over the sea,\par And the hours grow quiet and holy\par With thoughts of Me;\par While you hear the village children\par Passing along the street\par Among those passing footsteps\par May come the sound of My Feet.\par Therefore I tell you, Watch!\par By the light of the evening star\par When the room is growing dusky\par As the clouds afar,\par Let the door be on the latch\par In your home,\par For it may be through the gloaming\par I will come."\par\par LVAL HOpen the Trenches \par\par "Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hands" (2 Kings 3:16-18).\par\par To human thinking it was simply impossible, but nothing is hard for God.\par\par Without a sound or sign, from sources invisible and apparently impossible, the floods came stealing in all night long; and when the morning dawned, those ditches were flooded with the crystal waters, and reflecting the rays of the morning sun from the red hills of Edom.\par\par Our unbelief is always wanting some outward sign. The religion of many is largely sensational, and they are not satisfied of its genuineness without manifestations, etc.; but the greatest triumph of faith is to be still and know that He is God.\par\par The great victory of faith is to stand before some impassable Red Sea, and hear the Master say, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord," and "Go forward!" As we step out without any sign or sound--not a wave-splash--and wetting our very feet as we take the first step into its waters, still marching on we shall see the sea divide and the pathway open through the very midst of the waters.\par\par If we have seen the miraculous workings of God in some marvelous case of healing or some extraordinary providential deliverance, I am sure the thing that has impressed us most has been the quietness with which it was all done, the absence of everything spectacular and sensational, and the utter sense of nothingness which came to us as we stood in the presence of this mighty God and felt how easy, it was for Him to do it all without the faintest effort on His part or the slightest help on ours.\par\par It is not the part of faith to question, but to obey. The ditches were made, and the water came pouring in from some supernatural source. What a lesson for our faith!\par\par Are LVALyou craving a spiritual blessing? Open the trenches, and God will fill them. And this, too, in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways.\par\par Oh, for that faith that can act by faith and not by sight, and expect God to work although we see no wind or rain. --A. B. Simpson\par\par hLVALtShow Love \par\par "Put on as the elect of God, kindness" (Col. 3:12).\par\par There is a story of an old man who carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and if he passed through a door that squeaked, he poured a little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he oiled the latch. And thus he passed through life lubricating all hard places and making it easier for those who came after him.\par\par People called him eccentric, queer, and cranky; but the old man went steadily on refilling his can of oil when it became empty, and oiled the hard places he found.\par\par There are many lives that creak and grate harshly as they live day by day. Nothing goes right with them. They need lubricating with the oil of gladness, gentleness, or thoughtfulness. Have you your own can of oil with you? Be ready with your oil of helpfulness in the early morning to the one nearest you. It may lubricate the whole day for him. The oil, of good cheer to the downhearted one--Oh, how much it may mean! The word of courage to the despairing. Speak it.\par\par Our lives touch others but once, perhaps, on the road of life; and then, mayhap, our ways diverge, never to meet again, The oil of kindness has worn the sharp, hard edges off of many a sin-hardened life and left it soft and pliable and ready for the redeeming grace of the Saviour.\par\par A word spoken pleasantly is a large spot of sunshine on a sad heart. Therefore, "Give others the sunshine, tell Jesus the rest."\par\par "We cannot know the grief \par That men may borrow;\par We cannot see the souls \par Storm-swept by sorrow; \par But love can shine upon the way \par Today, tomorrow; \par Let us be kind. \par Upon the wheel of pain so many weary lives are \par broken, \par We live in vain who give no tender token. \par Let us be kind."\par\par "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love" (Rom. 12:10).\par\par LVAL KAchieving the Victory \par\par "For this our light and transitory burden of suffering is achieving for us a weight of glory" \par (2 Cor. 4:17). (Weymouth)\par\par "Is achieving for us," mark. The question is repeatedly asked--Why is the life of man drenched with so much blood, and blistered with so many tears? The answer is to be found in the word "achieving"; these things are achieving for us something precious. They are teaching us not only the way to victory, but better still the laws of victory. There is a compensation in every sorrow, and the sorrow is working out the compensation.\par\par It is the cry of the dear old hymn:\par\par "Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to Thee,\par E'en tho' it be a cross that raiseth me."\par\par Joy sometimes needs pain to give it birth. Fanny Crosby could never have written her beautiful hymn, "I shall see Him face to face," were it not for the fact that she had never looked upon the green fields nor the evening sunset nor the kindly twinkle in her mother's eye. It was the loss of her own vision that helped her to gain her remarkable spiritual discernment.\par\par It is the tree that suffers that is capable of polish. When the woodman wants some curved lines of beauty in the grain he cuts down some maple that has been gashed by the axe and twisted by the storm. In this way he secures the knots and the hardness that take the gloss.\par\par It is comforting to know that sorrow tarries only for the night; it takes its leave in the morning. A thunderstorm is very brief when put alongside the long summer day. "Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning." --Songs in the Night\par\par "There is a peace that cometh after sorrow,\par Of hope surrendered, not of hope fulfilled;\par A peace that looketh not upon tomorrow,\par But calmly on a tempest that it stilled.\par\par "A peace that lives not now in joy's excesses,\par Nor in the happy life of love secure;\par But in the unerring strength the heart possesses,\par Of conflicts won  LVALwhile learning to endure.\par\par "A peace there is, in sacrifice secluded,\par A life subdued, from will and passion free;\par 'Tis not the peace that over Eden brooded,\par But that which triumphed in Gethsemane."\par\par LVAL MLearning From Suffering \par\par "If I am in distress, it is in the interests of your comfort, which is effective as it nerves you to endure the same sufferings as I suffered myself. Hence my hope for you is well-founded, since I know that as you share the sufferings you share the comfort also" (2 Cor. 1:6, 7).\par\par Are there not some in your circle to whom you naturally betake yourself in times of trial and sorrow? They always seem to speak the right word, to give the very counsel you are longing for; you do not realize, however, the cost which they had to pay ere they became so skillful in binding up the gaping wounds and drying tears. But if you were to investigate their past history you would find that they have suffered more than most. They have watched the slow untwisting of some silver cord on which the lamp of life hung. They have seen the golden bowl of joy dashed to their feet, and its contents spilt. They have stood by ebbing tides, and drooping gourds, and noon sunsets; but all this has been necessary to make them the nurses, the physicians, the priests of men. The boxes that come from foreign climes are clumsy enough; but they contain spices which scent the air with the fragrance of the Orient. So suffering is rough and hard to bear; but it hides beneath it discipline, education, possibilities, which not only leave us nobler, but perfect us to help others. Do not fret, or set your teeth, or wait doggedly for the suffering to pass; but get out of it all you can, both for yourself and for your service to your generation, according to the will of God. --Selected\par\par Once I heard a song of sweetness,\par As it cleft the morning air,\par Sounding in its blest completeness,\par Like a tender, pleading prayer;\par And I sought to find the singer,\par Whence the wondrous song was borne;\par And I found a bird, sore wounded,\par Pinioned by a cruel thorn.\par\par I have seen a soul in sadness,\par While its wings with pain were furl'd,\par Giving hope, and cheer and gladnesLVALs\par That should bless a weeping world;\par And I knew that life of sweetness,\par Was of pain and sorrow row borne,\par And a stricken soul was singing,\par With its heart against a thorn.\par\par Ye are told of One who loved you,\par Of a Saviour crucified,\par Ye are told of nails that pinioned,\par And a spear that pierced His side;\par Ye are told of cruel scourging,\par Of a Saviour bearing scorn,\par And He died for your salvation,\par With His brow against a thorn.\par\par Ye "are not above the Master."\par Will you breathe a sweet refrain?\par And His grace will be sufficient,\par When your heart is pierced with pain.\par Will you live to bless His loved ones,\par Tho' your life be bruised and torn,\par Like the bird that sang so sweetly,\par With its heart against a thorn?\par --Selected\par\par LVAL OWorship in the Night \par\par "Ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion" (Ps. 134:1, 3).\par\par Strange time for adoration, you say, to stand in God's house by night, to worship in the depth of sorrow --it is indeed an arduous thing. Yes, and therein lies the blessing; it is the test of perfect faith. If I would know the love of my friend I must see what it can do in the winter. So with the Divine love. It is easy for me to worship in the summer sunshine when the melodies of life are in the air and the fruits of life are on the tree. But let the song of the bird cease and the fruit of the tree fall, and will my heart still go on to sing? Will I stand in God's house by night? Will I love Him in His own night? Will I watch with Him even one hour in His Gethsemane? Will I help to bear His cross up the dolorous way? Will I stand beside Him in His dying moments with Mary and the beloved disciple? Will I be able with Nicodemus to take up the dead Christ? Then is my worship complete and my blessing glorious. My love has come to Him in His humiliation. My faith has found Him in His lowliness. My heart has recognized His majesty through His mean disguise, and I know at last that I desire not the gift but the Giver. When I can stand in His house by night I have accepted Him for Himself alone. --George Matheson\par\par "My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace,\par Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God; \par 'Tis His to lead me there, not mine, but His\par 'At any cost, dear Lord, by any road!'\par\par "So faith bounds forward to its goal in God, \par And love can trust her Lord to lead her there; \par 'Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard \par Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer.\par\par "No matter if the way be sometimes dark, \par No matter though the cost be ofttimes great, \par He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark, \par The way that leads to Him must needs be straight.\par\par1LVAL= "One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay; \par One thing I do, I press towards my Lord; \par My God my glory here, from day to day, \par And in the glory there my Great Reward."\par\par LVALFight the Good Fight \par\par "The last drops of my sacrifice are falling; my time to go has come. I have fought in the good fight; I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:6, 7).\par\par As soldiers show their scars and talk of battles when they come at last to spend their old age in the country at home, so shall we in the dear land to which we are hastening, speak of the goodness and faithfulness of God who brought us through all the trials of the way. I would not like to stand in the white-robed host and hear it said, "These are they that came out of great tribulation, all except one."\par\par Would you like to be there and see yourself pointed at as the one saint who never knew a sorrow? Oh, no! for you would be an alien in the midst of the sacred brotherhood. We will be content to share the battle, for we shall soon wear the crown and wave the palm. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par "Where were you wounded?" asked the surgeon of a soldier at Lookout Mountain. "Almost at the top," he answered. He forgot even his gaping wound--he only remembered that he had won the heights. So let us go forth to higher endeavors for Christ and never rest till we can shout from the very top, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."\par\par "Finish thy work, then rest,\par Till then rest never;\par The rest for thee by God\par Is rest forever."\par\par "God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars."\par\par Of an old hero the minstrel sang--\par\par "With his Yemen sword for aid;\par Ornament it carried none,\par But the notches on the blade."\par\par What nobler decoration of honor can any godly man seek after than his scars of service, his losses for the crown, his reproaches for Christ's sake, his being worn out in his Master's service!\par\par \par LVALWhen We're in the Dark \par\par "I will give thee the treasures of darkness" (Isa. 45:3).\par\par In the famous lace shops of Brussels, there are certain rooms devoted to the spinning of the finest and most delicate patterns. These rooms are altogether darkened, save for a light from one very small window, which falls directly upon the pattern. There is only one spinner in the room, and he sits where the narrow stream of light falls upon the threads of his weaving. "Thus," we are told by the guide, "do we secure our choicest products. Lace is always more delicately and beautifully woven when the worker himself is in the dark and only his pattern is in the light."\par\par May it not be the same with us in our weaving? Sometimes it is very dark. We cannot understand what we are doing. We do not see the web we are weaving. We are not able to discover any beauty, any possible good in our experience. Yet if we are faithful and fail not and faint not, we shall some day know that the most exquisite work of all our life was done in those days when it was so dark.\par\par If you are in the deep shadows because of some strange, mysterious providence, do not be afraid. Simply go on in faith and love, never doubting. God is watching, and He will bring good and beauty out of all your pain and tears. --J. R. Miller\par\par The shuttles of His purpose move\par To carry out His own design;\par Seek not too soon to disapprove \par His work, nor yet assign\par Dark motives, when, with silent tread, \par You view some sombre fold;\par For lo, within each darker thread \par There twines a thread of gold.\par\par Spin cheerfully,\par Not tearfully,\par He knows the way you plod; \par Spin carefully, \par Spin prayerfully,\par But leave the thread with God.\par\par --Canadian Home Journal\par\par LVAL SChrist's Business is Supreme \par\par "His disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray . . . and he said unto them, When ye pray, say. . . Thy kingdom come" (Luke 11:1, 2).\par\par When they said, "Teach us to pray," the Master lifted His eyes and swept the far horizon of God. He gathered up the ultimate dream of the Eternal, and, rounding the sum of everything God intends to do in the life of man, He packed it all into these three terse pregnant phrases and said, "When you pray, pray after this manner."\par\par What a contrast between this and much praying we have heard. When we follow the devices of our own hearts, how runs it? "O Lord bless me, then My family, My church, My city, My country," and away on the far fringe as we close up, there is a prayer for the extension of His Kingdom throughout the wide parish of the world.\par\par The Master begins where we leave off. The world first, my personal needs second, is the order of this prayer. Only after my prayer has crossed every continent and every far-flung island of the sea, after it has taken in the last man in the last backward race, after it has covered the entire wish and purpose, of God for the world, only then am I taught to ask for a piece of bread for myself. \par\par When Jesus gave His all, Himself for us and to us in the holy extravagance of the Cross, is it too much if He asks us to do the same thing? No man or woman amounts to anything in the kingdom, no soul ever touches even the edge of the zone of power, until this lesson is learned that Christ's business is the supreme concern of life and that all personal considerations, however dear or important, are tributary thereto. --Dr. Francis\par\par When Robert Moffat, the veteran African missionary and explorer, was asked once to write in a young lady's album, he penned these lines:\par\par "My album is a savage breast, \par Where tempests brood and shadows rest, \par Without one ray of light; \par To write the name of Jesus there, \par And see that savage bow in praLVALyer, \par And point to worlds more bright and fair, \par This is my soul's delight."\par\par "And His Kingdom shall have no frontier" (Luke 1:33, the old Moravian version).\par\par The missionary enterprise is not the Church's afterthought; it is Christ's forethought; \par --Henry van Dyke\par\par LVALTrust and Rest \par\par "Trust also in him" (Ps. 37:3).\par\par The word trust is the heart word of faith. It is the Old Testament word, the word given to the early and infant stage of faith. The word faith expresses more the act of the will, the word belief the act of the mind or intellect, but trust is the language of the heart. The other has reference more to a truth believed or a thing expected.\par\par Trust implies more than this, it sees and feels, and leans upon a person, a great, true, living heart of love. So let us "trust also in him," through all the delays, in spite of all the difficulties, in the face of all the denials, notwithstanding all the seemings, even when we cannot understand the way, and know not the issue; still "trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass." The way will open, the right issue will come, the end will be peace, the cloud will be lifted, and the light of an eternal noonday shall shine at last.\par\par "Trust and rest when all around thee\par Puts thy faith to sorest test;\par Let no fear or foe confound thee,\par Wait for God and trust and rest.\par\par "Trust and rest with heart abiding,\par Like a birdling in its nest,\par Underneath His feathers hiding,\par Fold thy wings and trust and rest."\par\par >LVALJContinue in Prayer \par\par "And there was Anna, a prophetess . . . which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day" (Luke 2:36, 37).\par\par No doubt by praying we learn to pray, and the more we pray the oftener we can pray, and the better we can pray. He who prays in fits and starts is never likely to attain to that effectual, fervent prayer which availeth much.\par\par Great power in prayer is within our reach, but we must go to work to obtain it. Let us never imagine that Abraham could have interceded so successfully for Sodom if he had not been all his lifetime in the practice of communion with God.\par\par Jacob's all-night at Peniel was not the first occasion upon which he had met his God. We may even look upon our Lord's most choice and wonderful prayer with his disciples before His Passion as the flower and fruit of His many nights of devotion, and of His often rising up a great while before day to pray.\par\par If a man dreams that he can become mighty in prayer just as he pleases, he labors under a great mistake. The prayer of Elias which shut up heaven and afterwards opened its floodgates, was one of long series of mighty prevailings with God. Oh, that Christian men would remember this! Perseverance in prayer is necessary to prevalence in prayer.\par\par Those great intercessors, who are not so often mentioned as they ought to be in connection with confessors and martyrs, were nevertheless the grandest benefactors of the Church; but it was only by abiding at the mercy-seat that they attained to be such channels of mercy to men. We must pray to pray, and continue in prayer that our prayers may continue. --G. H.. Spurgeon\par\par LVAL WFull Salvation \par\par "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it" (1 Thess. 5:23, 24).\par\par Many years since I saw that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." I began by following after it and inciting all with whom I had intercourse to do the same. Ten years after, God gave me a clearer view than I ever had before of the way to obtain it; namely, by faith in the Son of God. And immediately I declared to all, "We are saved from sin, we are made holy by faith." This I testified in private, in public, and in print, and God confirmed it by a thousand witnesses. I have continued to declare this for above thirty years, and God has continued to confirm my work. \par --John Wesley in 1771\par\par "I knew Jesus, and He was very precious to my soul; but I found something in me that would not keep sweet and patient and kind. I did what I could to keep it down, but it was there. I besought Jesus to do something for me, and, when I gave Him my will, He came to my heart, and took out all that would not be sweet, all that would not be kind, all that would not be patient, and then HE shut the door." --George Fox\par\par My whole heart has not one single grain, this moment, of thirst after approbation. I feel alone with God; He fills the void; I have not one wish, one will, one desire, but in Him; He hath set my feet in a large room. I have wondered and stood amazed that God should make a conquest of all within me by love. --Lady Huntington\par\par "All at once I felt as though a hand--not feeble, but omnipotent; not of wrath, but of love--was laid on my brow. I felt it not outwardly but inwardly. It seemed to press upon my whole being, and to diffuse all through me a holy, sin-consuming energy. As it passed downward, my heart as well as my head was conscious of the presence of this soul-cleansing energy, under the influence LVALof which I fell to the floor, and in the joyful surprise of the moment, cried out in a loud voice. Still the hand of power wrought without and within; and wherever it moved, it seemed to leave the glorious influence of the Saviour's image. For a few minutes the deep ocean of God's love swallowed me up; all its waves and billows rolled over me." --Bishop Hamline\par\par Holiness--as I then wrote down some of my contemplations on it--appeared to me to be of a sweet, calm, pleasant, charming, serene nature, which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, ravishment to the soul; in other words, that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant fruits and flowers, all delightful and undisturbed, enjoying a sweet calm and the gentle vivifying beams of the sun. --Jonathan Edwards\par\par "Love's resistless current sweeping \par All the regions deep within; \par Thought and wish and senses keeping \par Now, and every instant clean: \par Full salvation! Full salvation! \par From the guilt and power of sin."\par\par LVAL YMore Than Conquerors \par\par "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Rom. 8:37).\par\par The Gospel is so arranged and the gift of God so great that you may take the very enemies that fight you and the forces that are arrayed against you and make them steps up to the very gates of heaven and into the presence of God.\par\par Like the eagle, who sits on a crag and watches the sky as it is filling with blackness, and the forked lightnings are playing up and down, and he is sitting perfectly still, turning one eye and then the other toward the storm. But he never moves until he begins to feel the burst of the breeze and knows that the hurricane has struck him; with a scream, he swings his breast to the storm, and uses the storm to go up to the sky; away he goes, borne upward upon it.\par\par That is what God wants of every one of His children, to be more than conqueror, turning the storm-cloud into a chariot. You know when one army is more than conqueror it is likely to drive the other from the field, to get all the ammunition, the food and supplies, and to take possession of the whole. That is just what our text means. There are spoils to be taken!\par\par Beloved, have you got them? When you went into that terrible valley of suffering did you come out of it with spoils? When that injury struck you and you thought everything was gone, did you so trust in God that you came out richer than you went in? To be more than conqueror is to take the spoils from the enemy and appropriate them to yourself. What he had arranged for your overthrow, take and appropriate for yourself.\par\par When Dr. Moon, of Brighton, England, was stricken with blindness, he said "Lord, I accept this talent of blindness from Thee. Help me to use it for Thy glory that at Thy coming Thou mayest receive Thine own with usury." Then God enabled him to invent the Moon Alphabet for the blind, by which thousands of blind people were enabled to read the Word of God, and many of them were glorioLVALusly saved. --Selected\par\par God did not take away Paul's thorn; He did better--He mastered that thorn, and made it Paul's servant. The ministry of thorns has often been a greater ministry to man than the ministry of thrones. --Selected\par\par LVALCall Back \par\par "It shall turn to you for a testimony'' (Luke 21:13).\par\par Life is a steep climb, and it does the heart good to have somebody "call back" and cheerily beckon us on up the high hill. We are all climbers together, and we must help one another. This mountain climbing is serious business, but glorious. It takes strength and steady step to find the summits. The outlook widens with the altitude. If anyone among us has found anything worth while, we ought to "call back."\par\par If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back--\par 'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track; \par And if, perchance, Faith's light is dim, because the oil is low, \par Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.\par\par Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;\par Call back, and say He kept you when the forest's roots were torn;\par That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill,\par He bore you up and held you where the very air was still.\par\par Oh, friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your your face,\par They say it glows with triumph, and your feet bound in the race;\par But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim,\par And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.\par\par But if you'll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,\par And if you'll say He saw you through the night's sin-darkened sky\par If you have gone a little way ahead, oh, friend, call back--\par 'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track. \par --Selected\par\par LVAL \Dare to Be Alone \par\par "Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me" (John 16:32).\par\par It need not be said that to carry out conviction into action is a costly sacrifice. It may make necessary renunciations and separations which leave one to feel a strange sense both of deprivation and loneliness. But he who will fly, as an eagle does, into the higher levels where cloudless day abides, and live in the sunshine of God, must be content to live a comparatively lonely life.\par\par No bird is so solitary as the eagle. Eagles never fly in flocks; one, or at most two, ever being seen at once. But the life that is lived unto God, however it forfeits human companionships, knows Divine fellowship.\par\par God seeks eagle-men. No man ever comes into a realization of the best things of God, who does not, upon the Godward side of his life, learn to walk alone with God. We find Abraham alone in Horeb upon the heights, but Lot, dwelling in Sodom. Moses, skilled in all the wisdom of Egypt must go forty years into the desert alone with God. Paul, who was filled with Greek learning and had also sat at the feet of Gamaliel, must go into Arabia and learn the desert life with God. Let God isolate us. I do not mean the isolation of a monastery. In this isolating experience He develops an independence of faith and life so that the soul needs no longer the constant help, prayer, faith or attention of his neighbor. Such assistance and inspiration from the other members are necessary and have their place in the Christian's development, but there comes a time when they act as a direct hindrance to the individual's faith and welfare. God knows how to change the circumstances in order to give us an isolating experience. We yield to God and He takes us through something, and when it is over, those about us, who are no less loved than before, are no longer depended upon. We realize that He has wrought some things in us, and that the wings of our souls have learned to beat the upper air.\par\par We must dare tsLVALo be alone. Jacob must be left alone if the Angel of God is to whisper in his ear the mystic name of Shiloh; Daniel must be left alone if he is to see celestial visions; John must be banished to Patmos if he is deeply to take and firmly to keep "the print of heaven."\par\par He trod the wine-press alone. Are we prepared for a "splendid isolation" rather than fail Him?\par\par LVAL+The Path to Blessing \par\par "To him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon because he hath wholly followed the Lord" (Deut. 1:36).\par\par Every hard duty that lies in your path, that you would rather not do, that it will cost you pain and struggle or sore effort to do, has a blessing in it. Not to do it, at whatever cost, is to miss the blessing.\par\par Every hard piece of road on which you see the Master's shoe-prints and along which He bids you follow Him, surely leads to blessing, which you cannot get if you cannot go over the steep, thorny path.\par\par Every point of battle to which you come, where you must draw your sword and fight the enemy, has a possible victory which will prove a rich blessing to your life. Every heavy load that you are called to lift hides in itself some strange secret of strength. --J. R. Miller\par\par "I cannot do it alone;\par The waves run fast and high,\par And the fogs close all around,\par The light goes out in the sky;\par But I know that we two\par Shall win in the end, Jesus and I.\par\par "Coward and wayward and weak,\par I change with the changing sky;\par Today so eager and bright,\par Tomorrow too weak to try;\par But He never gives in,\par So we two shall win, Jesus and I.\par\par "I could not guide it myself,\par My boat on life's wild sea;\par There's One who sits by my side,\par Who pulls and steers with me.\par And I know that we two\par Shall safe enter port,\par Jesus and I."\par\par LVAL _Night of Pure Faith \par\par "Lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him" (Gen. 15:12).\par\par The sun at last went down, and the swift, eastern night cast its heavy veil over the scene. Worn out with the mental conflict, the watchings, and the exertions of the day, Abraham fell into a deep sleep, and in that sleep is soul was oppressed with a dense and dreadful darkness, such as almost stifled him, and lay like a nightmare upon his heart. Do you understand something of the horror of that darkness? When some terrible sorrow which seems so hard to reconcile with perfect love, crushes down upon the soul, wringing from it all its peaceful rest in the pitifulness of God, and launching it on a sea unlit by a ray of hope; when unkindness, and cruelty maltreat the trusting heart, till it begins to doubt whether there be a God overhead who can see and still permit--these know something of the "horror of great darkness." It is thus that human life is made up; brightness and gloom; shadow and sun; long tracks of cloud, succeeded by brilliant glints of light, and amid all Divine justice is working out its own schemes, affecting others equally with the individual soul which seems the subject of special discipline. O ye who are filled with the horror of great darkness because of God's dealings with mankind, learn to trust that infallible wisdom, which is co-assessor with immutable justice; and know that He who passed through the horror of the darkness of Calvary, with the cry of forsakenness, is ready to bear you company through the valley of the shadow of death till you see the sun shining upon its further side. Let us, by our Forerunner, send forward our anchor, Hope, within the veil that parts us from the unseen; where it will grapple in ground and will not yield, but hold until the day dawns, and we follow it into the haven guaranteed to us by God's immutable counsel. --F. B. Meyer\par\par The disciples thought that that angry sea separated them from Jesus. Nay, some of them thought worse than that; WLVALcthey thought that the trouble that had come upon them was a sign that Jesus had forgotten all about them, and did not care for them. Oh, dear friend, that is when troubles have a sting, when the devil whispers, "God has forgotten you; God has forsaken you"; when your unbelieving heart cries as Gideon cried, "If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?" The evil has come upon you to bring the Lord nearer to you. The evil has not come upon you to separate you from Jesus, but to make you cling to Him more faithfully, more tenaciously, more simply. --F. S. Webster, M.A.\par\par Never should we so abandon ourselves to God as when He seems to have abandoned us. Let us enjoy light and consolation when it is His pleasure to give it to us, but let us not attach ourselves to His gifts, but to Himself; and when He plunges us into the night of pure faith, let us still press on through the agonizing darkness.\par\par Oh, for faith that brings the triumph\par When defeat seems strangely near!\par Oh, for faith that brings the triumph\par Into victory's ringing cheer--\par Faith triumphant; knowing not defeat or fear.\par --Herbert Booth\par\par \par LVAL aGod's Refreshment \par\par "The journey is too great for thee" (1 King 19:7).\par\par And what did God do with His tired servant? Gave him something good to eat, and put him to sleep. Elijah had done splendid work, and had run alongside of the chariot in his excitement, and it had been too much for his physical strength, and the reaction had come on, and he was depressed. The physical needed to be cared for. What many people want is sleep, and the physical ailment attended to. There are grand men and women who get where Elijah was--under the juniper tree! and it comes very soothingly to such to hear the words of the Master: "The journey is too great for thee, and I am going to refresh you." Let us not confound physical weariness with spiritual weakness.\par\par "I'm too tired to trust and too tired to pray, \par Said one, as the over-taxed strength gave way. \par The one conscious thought by my mind possessed, \par Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest.\par\par "Will God forgive me, do you suppose, \par If I go right to sleep as a baby goes, \par Without an asking if I may, \par Without ever trying to trust and pray?\par\par "Will God forgive you? why think, dear heart, \par When language to you was an unknown art, \par Did a mother deny you needed rest, \par Or refuse to pillow your head on her breast?\par\par "Did she let you want when you could not ask? \par Did she set her child an unequal task? \par Or did she cradle you in her arms, \par And then guard your slumber against alarms?\par\par "Ah, how quick was her mother love to see, \par The unconscious yearnings of infancy. \par When you've grown too tired to trust and pray, \par When over-wrought nature has quite given way:\par\par "Then just drop it all, and give up to rest, \par As you used to do on a mother's breast, \par He knows all about it--the dear Lord knows, \par So just go to sleep as a baby goes;\par\par "Without even asking if you may, \par God knows when His child is too tired to pray. \par He jLVALudges not solely by uttered prayer, \par He knows when the yearnings of love are there.\par\par "He knows you do pray, He knows you do trust, \par And He knows, too, the limits' of poor weak dust. \par Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ, \par For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst,\par\par "When He bade them sleep and take their rest, \par While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed--\par You've given your life up to Him to keep, \par Then don't be afraid to go right to sleep."\par\par LVAL cQuiet Time with God \par\par "And Isaac went out to meditate in the fields at eventide" (Gen. 24:63).\par\par We should be better Christians if we were more alone; we should do more if we attempted less, and spent more time in retirement, and quiet waiting upon God. The world is too much with us; we are afflicted with the idea that we are doing nothing unless we are fussily running to and fro; we do not believe in "the calm retreat, the silent shade." As a people, we are of a very practical turn of mind; "we believe," as someone has said, "in having all our irons in the fire, and consider the time not spent between the anvil and the fire as lost, or much the same as lost." Yet no time is more profitably spent than that which is set apart for quiet musing, for talking with God, for looking up to Heaven. We cannot have too many of these open spaces in life, hours in which the soul is left accessible to any sweet thought or influence it may please God to send.\par\par "Reverie," it has been said, "is the Sunday of the mind." Let us often in these days give our mind a "Sunday," in which it will do no manner of work but simply lie still, and look upward, and spread itself out before the Lord like Gideon's fleece, to be soaked and moistened with the dews of Heaven. Let there be intervals when we shall do nothing, think nothing, plan nothing, but just lay ourselves on the green lap of nature and "rest awhile."\par\par Time so spent is not lost time. The fisherman cannot be said to be losing time when he is mending his nets, nor the mower when he takes a few minutes to sharpen his scythe at the top of the ridge. City men cannot do better than follow the example of Isaac, and, as often as they can, get away from the fret and fever of life into fields. Wearied with the heat and din, the noise and bustle, communion with nature is very grateful; it will have a calming, healing influence. A walk through the fields, a saunter by the seashore or across the daisy-sprinkled meadows, will purge your life from s LVALordidness, and make the heart beat with new joy and hope.\par\par "The little cares that fretted me,\par I lost them yesterday,\par . . . Out in the fields with God."\par\par Chistmas Eve\par\par BELLS ACROSS THE SNOW\par\par O Christmas, merry Christmas,\par Is it really come again,\par With its memories and greetings,\par With its joy and with its pain!\par There's a minor in the carol\par And a shadow in the light,\par And a spray of cypress twining\par With the holly wreath tonight.\par And the hush is never broken\par By laughter light and low,\par As we listen in the starlight\par To the "bells across the snow."\par\par O Christmas, merry Christmas,\par 'Tis not so very long\par Since other voices blended\par With the carol and the song!\par If we could but hear them singing,\par As they are singing now,\par If we could but see the radiance\par Of the crown on each dear brow,\par There would be no sigh to smother,\par No hidden tear to flow,\par As we listen in the starlight\par To the "bells across the snow."\par\par O Christmas, merry Christmas,\par This never more can be;\par We cannot bring again the days\par Of our unshadowed glee,\par But Christmas, happy Christmas,\par Sweet herald of good will,\par With holy songs of glory\par Brings holy gladness still.\par For peace and hope may brighten,\par And patient love may glow,\par As we listen in the starlight\par To the "bells across the snow."\par --Frances Ridley Havergal\par\par LVAL eChrist our Consolation \par\par "His name shall be called Emmanuel . . . God with us." (Matt. 1:23) .\par\par "The Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6).\par\par "There's a song in the air!\par There's a star in the sky!\par There's a mother's deep prayer,\par And a baby's low cry!\par And the star rains its fire\par While the beautiful sing,\par For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King."\par\par A few years ago a striking Christmas card was published, with the title, "If Christ had not come." It was founded upon our Saviour's words, "If I had not come." The card represented a clergyman falling into a short sleep in his study on Christmas morning and dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come.\par\par In his dream he found himself looking through his home, but there were no little stockings in the chimney corner, no Christmas bells or wreaths of holly, and no Christ to comfort, gladden and save. He walked out on the public street, but there was no church with its spire pointing to Heaven. He came back and sat down in his library, but every book about the Saviour had disappeared.\par\par A ring at the door-bell, and a messenger asked him to visit a poor dying mother. He hastened with, the weeping child and as he reached the home he sat down and said, "I have something here that will comfort you." He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise, but it ended at Malachi, and there was no gospel and no promise of hope and salvation, and he could only bow his head and weep with her in bitter despair.\par\par Two days afterward he stood beside her coffin and conducted the funeral service, but there was no message of consolation, no word of a glorious resurrection, no open Heaven, but only "dust to dust, ashes to ashes," and one long eternal farewell. He realized at length that "He had not come," and burst into tears and bitter weeping in his sorrowful dream.\par\par Suddenly he woke with a start, and a great shout of joy and praise burst from his lips as he heard his choir singing in hLVALis church close by: \par\par "O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, \par O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;\par Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels,\par O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord."\par\par Let us be glad and rejoice today, because "He has come." And let us remember the annunciation of the angel, "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10, 11).\par\par "He comes to make His blessing flow, Far as the curse is found."\par\par May our hearts go out to the people in heathen lands who have no blessed Christmas day. "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and SEND PORTIONS TO THEM FOR WHOM NOTHING IS PREPARED." (Neh. 8:10).\par\par LVAL gNo Active Mission \par\par "Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder" (Matt. 26:36).\par\par It is a hard thing to be kept in the background at a time of crisis. In the Garden of Gethsemane eight of the eleven disciples were left to do nothing. Jesus went to the front to pray; Peter, James and John went to the middle to watch; the rest sat down in the rear to wait. Methinks that party in the rear must have murmured. They were in the garden, but that was all; they had no share in the cultivation of its flowers. It was a time of crisis, a time of storm and stress; and yet they were not suffered to work.\par\par You and I have often felt that experience, that disappointment. There has arisen, mayhap a great opportunity for Christian service. Some are sent to the front; some are sent to the middle. But we are made to lie down in the rear. Perhaps sickness has come; perhaps poverty has come; perhaps obloquy has come; in any case we are hindered and we feel sore. We do not see why we should be excluded from a part in the Christian life. It seems like an unjust thing that, seeing we have been allowed to enter the garden, no path should be assigned to us there.\par\par Be still, my soul, it is not as thou deemest! Thou art not excluded from a part of the Christian life. Thinkest thou that the garden of the Lord has only a place for those who walk and for those who stand! Nay, it has a spot consecrated to those who are compelled to sit. There are three voices in a verb--active, passive and neuter. So, too, there are three voices in Christ's verb "to live." There are the active, watching souls, who go to the front, and struggle till the breaking of the day. There are the passive, watching souls, who stand in the middle, and report to others the progress of the fight. But there are also the neuter souls--those who can neither fight, nor be spectators of the fight, but have simply to lie down.\par\par When that experience comes to thee, remember, thou are not shunted. Remember it is Christ that says, "Sit LVALye here." Thy spot in the garden has also been consecrated. It has a special name. It is not "the place of wrestling," nor "the place of watching," but "the place of waiting." There are lives that come into this world neither to do great work nor to bear great burdens, but simply to be; they are the neuter verbs. They are the flowers of the garden which have had no active mission. They have wreathed no chaplet; they have graced no table; they have escaped the eye of Peter and James and John. But they have gladdened the sight of Jesus. By their mere perfume, by their mere beauty, they have brought Him joy; by the very preservation of their loveliness in the valley they have lifted the Master's heart. Thou needst not murmur shouldst thou be one of these flowers! --Selected\par\par LVALIron Saints \par\par "His soul entered into iron" (Ps. 105:18).\par\par Turn that about and render it in our language, and it reads thus, "Iron entered his soul." Is there not a truth in this? That sorrow and privation, the yoke borne in the youth, the soul's enforced restraint, are all conducive to an iron tenacity and strength of purpose, and endurance or fortitude, which are the indispensable foundation and framework of a noble character.\par\par Do not flinch from suffering; bear it silently, patiently, resignedly; and be sure that it is God's way of infusing iron into your spiritual life. The world wants iron dukes, iron battalions, iron sinews, and thews of steel. God wants iron saints; and since there is no way of imparting iron to the moral nature but by letting people suffer, He lets them suffer.\par\par Are the best years of your life slipping away in enforced monotony? Are you beset by opposition, misunderstanding, and scorn, as the thick undergrowth besets the passage of the woodsman pioneer? Then take heart; the time is not wasted; God is only putting you through the iron regimen. The iron crown of suffering precedes the golden crown of glory. And iron is entering into your soul to make it strong and brave. --F. B. Meyer\par\par "But you will not mind the roughness nor the steepness of the way,\par Nor the chill, unrested morning, nor the searness of the day;\par And you will not take a turning to the left or the right,\par But go straight ahead, nor tremble at the coming of the night, \par For the road leads home."\par\par ;LVALGRejoice \par\par "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" (Phil. 4:4).\par\par "Sing a little song of trust, \par O my heart!\par Sing it just because you must, \par As leaves start;\par As flowers push their way through dust;\par Sing, my heart, because you must.\par\par \par "Wait not for an eager throng\par Bird on bird;\par 'Tis the solitary song \par That is heard.\par Every voice at dawn will start,\par Be a nightingale, my heart!\par\par \par "Sing across the winter snow, \par Pierce the cloud;\par Sing when mists are drooping low\par Clear and loud;\par But sing sweetest in the dark;\par He who slumbers not will hark."\par\par "An' when He hears yo' sing, He bends down wid a smile on His kin' face an' listens mighty keerful, an' He says, 'Sing on, chile, I hears, an' I's comin' down to deliber yo': I'll tote dat load fer yo'; jest lean hawd on Me and de road will get smoother bime by."'\par\par LVALAppropriating Faith \par\par "Arise . . . for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good; and are ye still? Be not slothful to go, and enter to possess the land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth" (Judges 18:9, 10).\par\par Arise! Then there is something definite for us to do. Nothing is ours unless we take it. "The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance" (Joshua 16:4). "The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions" (Obad. 17). "The upright shall have good things in possession."\par\par We need to have appropriating faith in regard to God's promises. We must make God's Word our own personal possession. A child was asked once what appropriating faith was, and the answer was, "It is taking a pencil and underscoring all the me's and mine's and my's in the Bible."\par\par Take any word you please that He has spoken and say, "That word is my word." Put your finger on this promise and say, "It is mine." How much of the Word has been endorsed and receipted and said "It is done." How many promises can you subscribe and say, "Fulfilled to me."\par\par "Son, thou art ever with Me, and all that I have is thine." Don't let your inheritance go by default.\par\par "When faith goes to market it always takes a basket."\par\par LVAL lBelieving Prayer \par\par "Peter was kept in prison: but prayer (instant and earnest prayer) was made for him"\par (Acts 12:5, margin).\par\par Peter was in prison awaiting his execution. The Church had neither human power nor influence to save him. There was no earthly help, but there was help to be obtained by the way of Heaven. They gave themselves to fervent, importunate prayer. God sent His angel, who aroused Peter from sleep and led him out through the first and second wards of the prison; and when they came to the iron gate, it opened to them of its own accord, and Peter was free.\par\par There may be some iron gate in your life that has blocked your way. Like a caged bird you have often beaten against the bars, but instead of helping, you have only had to fall back tired, exhausted and sore at heart. There is a secret for you to learn, and that is believing prayer; and when you come to the iron gate, it will open of its own accord. How much wasted energy and sore disappointment will be saved if you will learn to pray as did the Church in the upper room! Insurmountable difficulties will disappear; adverse circumstances will prove favorable if you learn to pray, not with your own faith but with the faith of God (Mark 11:22, margin). Souls in prison have been waiting for years for the gate to open; love ones out of Christ, bound by Satan, will be set free when you pray till you definitely believe God. --C. H. P.\par\par Emergencies call for intense prayer. When the man becomes the prayer nothing can resist its touch. Elijah on Carmel, bowed down on the ground, with his face between his knees, that was prayer--the man himself. No words are mentioned. Prayer can be too tense for words. The man's whole being was in touch with God, and was set with God against the powers of evil. They couldn't withstand such praying. There's more of this embodied praying needed. --The Bent-knee Time\par\par "Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused."\par --C. H. Spurgeon\LVALpar\par LVAL nHitherto \par\par "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us" (I Sam. 7:12).\par\par The word "hitherto" seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, and yet "hitherto hath the Lord helped us!" Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health; at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea; in honor, in dishonor, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph, in prayer, in temptation--"hitherto hath the Lord helped!"\par\par We delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from one end of the long vista, a sort of verdant temple, with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves. Even so look down the long aisles of your years, at the green boughs of mercy overhead, and the strong pillars of lovingkindness and faithfulness which bear up your joys.\par\par Are there no birds in yonder branches singing? Surely, there must be many, and they all sing of mercy received "hitherto."\par\par But the word also points forward. For when a man gets up to a certain mark, and writes "hitherto," he is not yet at the end; there are still distances to be traversed. More trials, more joys; more temptations, more triumphs; more prayers, more answers; more toils, more strength; more fights, more victories; and then come sickness, old age, disease, death.\par\par Is it over now? No! there is more yet--awakening in Jesus' likeness, thrones, harps, songs, psalms, white raiment the face of Jesus, the society of saints, the glory of God, the fullness of eternity, the infinity of bliss. Oh, be of good courage, believer, and with grateful confidence raise thy "Ebenezer," for,\par\par "He who hath helped thee hitherto\par Will help thee all thy journey through."\par\par When read in Heaven's light, how glorious and marvelous a prospect will thy "hitherto" unfold to thy grateful eye. --C. H. Spurgeon\par\par The Alpine shepherds have a beautiful custom of ending the day by singing to one another an evening farewell. The air is so crystalline that the sonLVALg will carry long distances. As the dusk begins to fall, they gather their flocks and begin to lead them down the mountain paths, singing, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. Let us praise His name!"\par\par And at last with a sweet courtesy, they sing to one another the friendly farewell: "Goodnight! Goodnight!" The words are taken up by the echoes, and from side to side the song goes reverberating sweetly and softly until the music dies away in the distance.\par\par So let us call out to one another through the darkness, till the gloom becomes vocal with many voices, encouraging the pilgrim host. Let the echoes gather till a very storm of Hallelujahs break in thundering waves around the sapphire throne, and then as the morning breaks we shall find ourselves at the margin of the sea of glass, crying, with the redeemed host, "Blessing and honor and glory be unto him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!"\par\par "This my song through endless ages, \par Jesus led me all the way."\par \par\par \par\par LVAL pInto the Deep\par\par "Launch out into the deep" (Luke 5:4).\par\par How deep He does not say. The depth into which we launch will depend upon how perfectly we have given up the shore, and the greatness of our need, and the apprehension of our possibilities. The fish were to be found in the deep, not in the shallow water.\par\par So with us; our needs are to be met in the deep things of God. We are to launch out into the deep of God's Word, which the Spirit can open up to us in such crystal fathomless meaning that the same words we have accepted in times past will have an ocean meaning in them, which renders their first meaning to us very shallow.\par\par Into the deep of the Atonement, until Christ's precious blood is so illuminated by the Spirit that it becomes an omnipotent balm, and food and medicine for the soul and body.\par\par Into the deep of the Father's will, until we apprehend it in its infinite minuteness and goodness, and its far-sweeping provision and care for us.\par\par Into the deep of the Holy Spirit, until He becomes a bright, dazzling, sweet, fathomless summer sea, in which we bathe and bask and breathe, and lose ourselves and our sorrows in the calmness and peace of His everlasting presence.\par\par Into the deep of the Holy Spirit, until He becomes a bright, marvelous answer to prayer, the most careful and tender guidance, the most thoughtful anticipation of our needs, the most accurate and supernatural shaping of our events.\par\par Into the deep of God's purposes and coming kingdom, until the Lord's coming and His millennial reign are opened up to us; and beyond these the bright entrancing ages on ages unfold themselves, until the mental eye is dazed with light, and the heart flutters with inexpressible anticipations of its joy with Jesus and the glory to be revealed.\par\par Into all these things, Jesus bids us launch. He made us and He made the deep, and to its fathomless depths He has fitted our longings and capabilities. --Soul Food\par\par "Its streams the wLVALhole creation reach, \par So plenteous is the store;\par Enough for all, enough for each; \par Enough forevermore."\par\par The deep waters of the Holy Spirit are always accessible, because they are always proceeding. Will you not this day claim afresh to be immersed and drenched in these waters of life? The waters in Ezekiel's vision first of all oozed from under the doors of the temple. Then the man with the measuring line measured and found the waters to the ankles. Still further measurement, and they were waters to the knees. Once again they were measured and the waters were to the loins. Then they became waters to swim in--a river that could not be passed over. (Read Ezekiel 47). How far have we advanced into this river of life? The Holy Spirit would have a complete self effacement. Not merely ankle-deep, knee-deep, loin-deep, but self-deep. We ourselves hidden out of sight and bathed in this life-giving stream. Let go the shore-lines and launch out into the deep. Never forget, the Man with the measuring line is with us today. --J.G.M.\par\par s &r;;;;;;; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;!;";#;$;%;&;';(;);*;+;,;-;.;/;0;1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;:;;;<;=;>;?;@  !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@      !"#$% & ' ( ) *+,-./0123456789:;< =!>"?#@$n%n&n'n(n)n*n+n,n-n .n /n 0n 1n 2n3n4n5n6n7n8n9n:n;n<n=n>n?n@nAnBnCnDn En!Fn"Gn#Hn$In%Jn&Kn'Ln(Mn)Nn*On+Pn,Qn-Rn.Sn/Tn0Un1Vn2Wn3Xn4Yn5Zn6[n7\n8]n9^n:_n;`n<an=bn>cn?dn@efghijklmn o p q r stuvwxyz{|}~ !"#$%&ns                                                                           ;;;;;;;; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;!;";#;$;%;&;';(;);*;+;,;-;.;/;0;1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;:;;;<;=;>;?;@  !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@      !"#$% & ' ( ) *+,-./0123456789:;< =!>"?#@$n%n&n'n(n)n*n+n,n-n .n /n 0n 1n 2n3n4n5n6n7n8n9n:n;n<n=n>n?n@nAnBnCnDn En!Fn"Gn#Hn$In%Jn&Kn'Ln(Mn)Nn*On+Pn,Qn-Rn.Sn/Tn0Un1Vn2Wn3Xn4Yn5Zn6[n7\n8]n9^n:_n;`n<an=bn>cn?dn@efghijklmn o p q r stuvwxyz{|}~ !"#$%&nr @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@2222222222 2 2 2 2 2222222222222222222 2!2"2#2$2%2&2'2(v &u;;;;;;; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;!;";#;$;%;&;';(;);*;+;,;-;.;/;0;1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;:;;;<;=;>;?;@  !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@      !"#$% & ' ( ) *+,-./0123456789:;< =!>"?#@$n%n&n'n(n)n*n+n,n-n .n /n 0n 1n 2n3n4n5n6n7n8n9n:n;n<n=n>n?n@nAnBnCnDn En!Fn"Gn#Hn$In%Jn&Kn'Ln(Mn)Nn*On+Pn,Qn-Rn.Sn/Tn0Un1Vn2Wn3Xn4Yn5Zn6[n7\n8]n9^n:_n;`n<an=bn>cn?dn@efghijklmn o p q r stuvwxyz{|}~ !"#$%&nv                                                                           ;;;;;;;; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;!;";#;$;%;&;';(;);*;+;,;-;.;/;0;1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;:;;;<;=;>;?;@  !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@      !"#$% & ' ( ) *+,-./0123456789:;< =!>"?#@$n%n&n'n(n)n*n+n,n-n .n /n 0n 1n 2n3n4n5n6n7n8n9n:n;n<n=n>n?n@nAnBnCnDn En!Fn"Gn#Hn$In%Jn&Kn'Ln(Mn)Nn*On+Pn,Qn-Rn.Sn/Tn0Un1Vn2Wn3Xn4Yn5Zn6[n7\n8]n9^n:_n;`n<an=bn>cn?dn@efghijklmn o p q r stuvwxyz{|}~ !"#$%&nu @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@2222222222 2 2 2 2 2222222222222222222 2!2"2#2$2%2&2'2(VC,Nxx,,   DataIDx AOIndexa{q@~w $*0@@ @$$ Forms $$ReportsRoot Entry@h$PropDataࡱ>   *8 " w $*0 $춼$Blob CustomGroups $$Databases $$0 $춼$Cmdbars$$DataAccessPages $$Scripts$$VBA Modules  ijMSysDb w $*0PROJECT9_VBA_PROJECTVBAЉP$ f$PROJECTwm   DirDataAcessVBADataustomGroups $$VBAProject0O$ f$AcessVBADataC $$VBAProject0O$0O$DirDataw $*00* pHd MacDuff(@DCox)@T@ = +x >H J< rstdole>std@olerh%^*\G{00020430-;C 0046}#2.0#0#C:\WINDOWS\sys@tem32\e2.tlb#OLE Automation0hVBIDE> VBI1170117" DPB="B4B6457DC556C656C656" GC="8E8C7FA7835B5C5C5C5CA3" [Host Extender Info] &H00000001={3832D640-CF90-11CF-8E43-00A0C911005A};VBE;&H00000000 [Workspace] ID="{F6DD85C7-E5D1-4164-92D5-4217DDEF7727}" Name="MacDuff(DCox)" HelpContextID="0" VersionCompatible32="393222000" CMG="DAD82B13011701170$Reports$$ijMSysDbPropData Forms $Root Entry$ @ '()*+,-./0   !"#$%&w $*0comunes\Microsoft Shared\VBA\VBA6\VBE6EXT.OLB#Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications Extensibility 5.3'tem32\stdole2.tlb#OLE Automationp*\G{0002E157-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}#5.3#0#C:\Archivos de programa\Archivos &ICE11\MSACC.OLB#Microsoft Access 11.0 Object Library*\G{00020430-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}#2.0#0#C:\WINDOWS\sys%asic For Applications *\G{4AFFC9A0-5F99-101B-AF4E-00AA003F0F07}#9.0#0#C:\Archivos de programa\Microsoft Office\OFF$m  *\G{000204EF-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}#4.0#9#C:\ARCHIV~1\ARCHIV~1\MICROS~1\VBA\VBA6\VBE6.DLL#Visual B#a" !DED€DE157D5.3DArchivos de pro@grama\ comunes\Microsoft Shared\(VBA6E6EXT.OLB#Visual Basic for Applicgs Extensibility. 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