you long for deeper joys? for a greater sense of the divine fulness? for
a sweeter balm of hope to be shed upon your soul? for a closer walk with
God? then live much in prayer. Do you desire to feel the holy flame of
love burning in all its intensity in your soul? then enkindle it often
at the golden altar of prayer. Without prayer, the inner being will
weaken, famish, and die; the fountain of love dry up; the spring of joy
cease to flow; the dews will fail to descend; and your heart will
become a parched and dreary desert waste.
Look upon the character of Jesus. Behold his lowliness, his meekness,
gentleness, and tender compassion. Have they any beauty? and would you
love to have them grace your own soul? then draw them down from the
skies in all their glorious fulness by the fervent prayer of faith. As
through the process of assimilation food is transformed into an active,
living being; so through the medium of prayer the character of Jesus in
all its transcendent beauty and glory becomes the character of man.
If you desire victory during the day, begin it with prayer. Not a few
hurried words, but minutes of deep, intimate communion with God. Linger
at the sacred altar of prayer until you feel particles of glory drop in
richness into your soul, scattering sweetness throughout the whole and
relating you to the world above. In the early morning hour, when the
still, balmy breath of nature plays around, let your soul fly away on
the wings of prayer with its message of love and praise to its Maker.
Jesus went out a great while before day to hold communion with God.
There is no time better suited for prayer. The world is hushed in
slumber. There is less sin being committed, and if the world ever is
innocent, it is in the early morning time. We thus get an advantage of
the devil and have sweet converse with God before the devil is aware.
If you desire to be more deeply and sincerely pious, seek it in prayer.
If you desire heights in God's love, depths in his grace, fulness in his
joy, richness in his glory, seek it in prayer. Did you say you had not
time for prayer? What a pity! Your happiness and usefulness in life
depend upon it; your eternal welfare depends upon it--then, oh, what a
pity you have no time for it! But you must find time. You can not afford
to listen to Satan; there is too much at stake. This is an excuse that
many allow Satan to make for them. Time for rest, time for eating, time
for sleeping, time for friends, time for books; but no time for prayer.
This is a device of Satan to rob souls of the love of God. You must not
give him such an advantage of you.
In love for your spiritual welfare I beseech you in Jesus' name, live
much in prayer. Go often into your closet, and then, with the loins of
your mind girded up, in all earnestness of soul pray until the love of
God and the light of heaven fills your being. Satan will try to make you
listless and indifferent; he will try to make your thoughts to wander;
he will tell you of many other things that need to be done that very
moment; and many other things will he tell you to deprive you of the
blessings of prayer. But you must resist him and go the more earnestly
in prayer; and continue to pray until a rapture from the skies sweeps
over your soul, making the place of prayer the dearest spot on earth to
you.
When the shades of night come softly stealing,
Softly stealing o'er the window sill;
When the busy day is slowly ending,
Slowly ending peacefully and still,--
Christian, with thy heart adoring Heaven,
Sweetest glories falling from above,
Go to God in secret, silent pleading,
Tell to him the wondrous tale of love.
When the morning light is gently dawning,
Gently dawning in the eastern sky;
When the darkness fast away is fleeing,
Duties of the day are drawing nigh,--
Down before the sacred, hallowed altar,
Christian, bow before thy God in fervent prayer,
Giving thanks to him for life's sweet blessings,
For the day imploring his kind care.
To be overcome to-day makes to-morrow's battles harder.
If you would be a better Christian to-morrow, live your very best
to-day.
Like as the warming rays of the autumn's sun melt the early frost, so
the warmth of Christian love in our hearts will melt the coldness in the
hearts of sinful men.
Begin the day with prayer: it will fortify you against the tempter's
power. The result of neglecting prayer is to be tossed furiously about
upon the billows of temptation.
Time is of too great worth to waste one precious moment. An hour lost is
that much of life lost. For all the time spent in idleness, you had just
as well not have lived at all. By rightly using each moment you will
build up a character that will stand a monument upon the tomb of the
dead past. Moments misspent are life and character gone, and no imprint
is left on the hearts of men to tell that we have lived. How many golden
moments are flying away into eternity unladen with any fruit from your
life? Learn to value time. Redeem it because these days are evil. Seize
upon each passing moment, and send it up to the glorious Author of time
laden with golden deeds.
MEDITATION.
The Scriptures invite Christians on to greater depths in the love of God
and greater heights in his joy as they journey on through life. It is
the will of God that you grow in grace and become more spiritual each
day of your life. That meditation does affect one's spirituality is an
undeniable fact. Meditating upon God and his law is an excellent means
of increasing spiritual life in the soul. Vagrant thoughts dull the
finer sensibilities of the spiritual being, thereby rendering it less
capable of impression by the Holy Ghost.
"Keeping in touch with God" is an expression much used in these days by
people professing holiness, but what does it imply? We are all at sea
when not in touch with him. To be so kept is to have everything in us
fully alive to God. Every Christian grace must be in a perfect state of
health and vigorous growth. If there be any dwarfed condition of the
spiritual being in any part, it will be less sensible to God's touch.
The blind have been known to cultivate the sense of touch in the
physical being to the amazing acuteness of being able to distinguish
between colors. The sense of touch in the soul can by careful, earnest
cultivation be refined to such a degree as to make it susceptible to the
slightest impressions of the Spirit of God.
By an electric cable America is brought in touch with Europe. Were this
to become divided, communication would cease. Sin divided the
life-giving cable from the presence of God to the souls of men. In Jesus
the divided cable is taken up and united, and man brought into communion
with God. So cultured may become the sensibilities of the inner being,
and so thoroughly impregnated by God's enlivening power, that one empty
thought causing the slightest ebbing of life's current flow is keenly
felt. To keep in perfect touch with God is to live where there is a
soul-consciousness that he is pleased with every act of your life, and
where there is a clear, definite witnessing of the Spirit to your inmost
soul that the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart are
acceptable unto him.
Useless thought makes the soul coarse, and difficult of impression by
good influences. Pure and holy meditations are an excellent means for
the refinement of your moral being. Praying to God is talking to him,
telling him the desires of the heart; whereas meditating upon God is
contemplating his goodness, love, mercy, greatness, and wonderful works.
Meditation prepares the heart for that deeper communion with God called
prayer. Whoever gives attention to his meditations, and has learned to
fix his mind upon God; to whom "day unto day uttereth speech, and night
unto night showeth knowledge;" to whom "the heavens declare the glory of
God," and who hears God's voice in nature and sees the goodness of his
hand in all creation,--finds no difficulty in drawing to God in prayer.
If you allow your mind to wander vaguely about upon the vanities of the
world, you will find prayer a difficult and rather an unpleasant task.
Learn, therefore, I beseech you, to stay your mind upon the Lord, and
great will be the peace and quietness of your soul. Precious moments
spent in idle chit-chat with your companions or indulging vagrant
thoughts are time worse than wasted. As your mind acts once, so it is
disposed to act again. The mind forms habits of thinking. Then, how
careful you should be to direct it in proper and useful channels.
[Illustration: THINKING OF THE LIFE BEYOND.]
Some people have found it difficult to prevent their thoughts from
wandering while they were reading the Bible or in secret prayer. The
wonderful works of God hardly awaken any admiration within them; they
can not elevate the soul into a profound awe before his awful presence,
and there is but little conscious depths of inner reverence and devotion
to his name. There is a blessed and sure remedy for this serious
trouble. Carefully watch your meditations. Call the oftener upon God in
some silent, secret place. Select some secluded, hallowed place, where
nature is most inspiring for meditation. Isaac, the son of Abraham, went
into the field at eventide to meditate. The evening is a time well
suited to draw the soul out into deep, intimate communion with God.
The the setting of the sun is a reminder of life's setting sun. You will
be brought face to face with the fact that you must some day stand
before Him who created all things. Your meditations will become serious.
Oh, may you adore the Creator, and learn to admire his wondrous works!
Go forth in the starry evening, when Nature is most inviting, and
through her let your soul adore the Almighty, and let all within you be
awed to solemn stillness at his footfall.
Idle, careless thoughts generate a stupidity that will rob you of joy.
The sensibilities of your inner nature will become deadened, and you can
no more hear the solemn footsteps of the Lord, nor the whispers of his
voice. Meditating upon pure and holy things and seeing God in all, will
elevate the soul to a plane all radiant with light and love, and put a
meekness and modesty in your life and a sweet gentleness in every
expression that will seem to make you akin to angels.
Are you concerned about the peace of your soul? Is a happy life worth
anything to you? Do you have any desire to become more like Jesus? Do
you want to do all you can for him? Do you want to dwell in heaven with
him forever? Then let your meditation be upon him, and your soul sipping
at the fountain of Heaven's love as the flower drinks up the dew. I can
not be too earnest in my exhortation to you in this matter. I know how
important it is. I want to see you prosper and your soul increase in
God; therefore I exhort you to meditate upon his law day and night.
REVERIE.
Down beside the rippling river
'Neath-the weeping willow-tree,
Viewing nature sweet and lovely,
Wond'ring what must heaven be.
List'ning to the merry songsters
In the near-by leafy world;
Such sweet music seems to bear me
Nearer to the gates of gold.
Breezes murm'ring through the branches,
Waters rippling o'er the stone,
What, oh, what must be the anthem
Ringing round the great white throne?
Songs of birds and streamlet rippling,
Meadow, flowers, and leafy tree,
Make of earth a land of beauty--
What indeed must heaven be?
If you love scenes of great grandeur,
And to hear sweet music ring,
Come, oh! come with me to heaven,
To the land where Christ is king.
A THEATER.
A theater is a place where plays are performed before spectators. People
go to such a place to witness the acts of men. The apostle Paul says,
"We are made a spectacle unto the world." 1 Cor. 4:9. In the margin it
reads "theater" instead of "spectacle." In Conybeare and Howson's
translation this text reads thus: "To be gazed at in a theater by the
world." You as a Christian are here in this world on exhibition for God.
He is the character you are to represent in life's great play. You must
live in such a way as to do justice to his name. This world is looking
on. God has written the entire play in his book. You have a life-time
to play it in. If you will live in humble obedience to all the Word of
God, you will act your part well and faithfully represent his true
character.
REST OF THE SOUL.
"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Mat. 11:28,29.
Wonderful words of love and hope! Never did a sweeter nor richer
invitation than this reach mortal ears. A whole world of humankind
groaning under a burden, tossing in unrest, laboring under pain, sighing
with sorrow, roaming in discontent, filled with fear, sinking in
despair. But One appears upon the scene and says, "Come unto me, and I
will give you rest." Oh, may the humble followers of the lowly Nazarene
echo and reecho this invitation of love among the haunts of men as long
as time shall last! Amid a world of sin and trouble, a soul at rest; how
blessed!
You remember the day you came to him. Your sins with all the burden of
guilt were taken away and you found rest. Later you dedicated yourself
fully and forever to the Lord and entered into the fulness of his rest.
Canaan's fair land is the soul's sweet home of rest. What heaven will be
we can not know now. Doubtless scenes and experiences will arise of such
a nature as to greatly enhance the felicity of our hearts; but the
revelation of heaven upon a sanctified soul and
"The enjoyment of heavenly bliss
E'en in a world like this"
can never be told. Storms will arise and threaten you; but if the cable
of faith remains unbroken and the anchor of hope unshaken, your little
bark can sail on sweetly at rest. Doubts are very destructive to
soul-rest; therefore they must be dispelled at their first approach. By
faith your soul can be kept in the precious realization of heavenly
enjoyments; you can have sweet walks with God and tastes of his love all
along your journey of life. By living in the vale of humble submission
to God, fully and freely yielded to his control, upon your soul the
sweets of heaven's graces will be distilled like the gentle siftings of
the evening dew upon the flower, transporting you to wondrous felicity
in God all along your pilgrim way.
Behold the fowls of the air:
They sow not, neither do they reap;
Yet kings have not more healthful fare,
Nor rest in calmer, sweeter sleep.
They have no barns nor hoarded grain,
Yet all day long a soft, sweet strain
They warble forth from forest tree;
Ever happy and ever free,
Teaching a lesson dear to me.
So free from care, O sylvan band;
Fed by a heavenly Father's hand.
Your freedom, O ye fowls of heaven,
New courage to my soul hath given;
I no more can doubt or sorrow:
God will care for me to-morrow.
Behold the lilies how they grow:
They toil not neither do they spin;
Yet kings in all their pomp and show
Are not arrayed like one of them;
Smiling and free in breezes sway,
Yet clothed by heavenly hand are they.
Meek lilies of the quiet fields,
Your growth instruction to me yields.
The One who clothes the lily fair
And gives it tender, earnest care--
Will he not hear my fervent prayer?
The One who notes the sparrow's fall--
Does he not love his creatures all?
If he so clothes each tuft and tree
And gives the birds such liberty,
Will he not clothe and care for me?
I no more can doubt or sorrow:
God will care for me to-morrow.
A merry heart is a continual feast.
It is the will of God that you be always happy.
If you are not contented with such things as you have, you would not be
contented had you ever so much.
Those who are always contented and happy are a most gracious
contribution from God to a discontented world.
This sin-darkened world is dotted here and there by beautiful Christian
lives, which are to the world's weary wastes what the oasis is to the
parched desert.
The Christian has the blessed privilege of proving to a covetous,
discontented world that man can by the grace of God he contented under
the most adverse circumstances.
Oftentimes people conclude that they would be happy if their surrounding
circumstances were different. True happiness consists not so much in the
environments, as in the dispositions of the heart.
After a day of labor, what a pleasure it is to meet at home the warmth
of hearts we love! After a life of toil, what will be the pleasure of
meeting all the loved in heaven?
I am told that the language of the Algonquin Indians of North America
contained no word from which to translate the word _love_. When the
English missionaries translated the Bible into that language they were
obliged to coin a word for love. What must be a language without love?
and what must be the heart!
The Christian out upon life's sea can, by faith, hope, and love, weather
the wildest storm that ever the winds of adversity blew. Hope is the
anchor fastened to the eternal word of God; faith is the cable attached
to the anchor hope.
[Illustration:
My pathway of life is now paved with peace,
The flowers e'er bloom bright and gay;
A halo of light is shed around me
As I walk the beautiful way.]
HAPPINESS OF LIFE.
Down, down in the depths of infinite love,
Filled with all the fulness of God,
Joy's cup ev'ry moment filled from above,
As adown life's pathway I trod.
No sin sways its scepter over my soul,
God's righteousness fills ev'ry part,
His fulness of glory keeping the whole,
And I love him with all my heart.
Sing not to me of the pleasures of earth,
I have found a much happier way;
The joys of the Lord, of far greater worth,
Are filling my life ev'ry day.
Sorrow and sighing have flown away,
From trouble and care I am free,
The peace of God over my heart holds sway;
I am as happy as I can be.
You are tempted, you say, and sorely tried;
Of that I have nothing to say,
The victory is mine whate'er may betide;
I'm happy each hour of the day.
My pathway of life is now paved with peace,
The flow'rs ever bloom bright and gay;
A halo of light is shed around me
As I walk the beautiful way.
THE HIDDEN LIFE.
You have experienced a resurrection. You once were dead in sin; now you
are alive unto God. You have been translated from the kingdom of
darkness into the kingdom of light. You are a new creation; you have a
new life. Though you have existence in this world, yet the world does
not discover your true life. With Christ it is hid in God. The world
knows nothing of you except as they see you in the life you live in the
flesh. You have a higher life to which they are as insensible as the
inanimate stone is to the life of the bird. You are one of God's "hidden
ones," and a stranger on the earth, because you are unknown. You are not
found in the halls of worldly pleasure, but instead are to be found by
the bedside of the sick, reading the Bible, praying, or speaking words
of cheer and comfort, and the world wonders how you can enjoy yourself
in such a way. You have a joy that is unknown to them, because you have
a life that is hidden from them. That life of yours which is hid with
Christ in God finds no enjoyment in the pleasures of the world.
When adversity comes the world does not understand how it is that you
can rejoice; and when circumstances are very unfavorable, how you can be
happy is a mystery to them. It is because you do not live in the things
of the world, but in a much higher realm. If your life is hid with
Christ in God, your heart's longings will be for the things above; all
your affections will be on things above. Those who live upon earth are
seeking the things of earth; but those who live above in God seek the
things which are above. Nothing of earth has any charms for them. Christ
has won their hearts. They love him intensely. They live in him. They
are sojourning here upon earth for a time, but their hearts are with
Christ in heaven. Their home, their love, their treasures, their hopes,
their thoughts, their life,--all are there, and they are seeking with
eagerness for more of that sweet, precious life which is from above.
They walk here almost like one in a dream, as concerning this world;
they know but little of earth, but much of heaven.
This earth is not my home,
I live above,
Where peace and joys abound--
Sweet land of love.
My life is hid in God
With Christ the Son,
Though here on earth I am
By earth unknown.
I dwell in worlds above,
By thought and prayer--
Oh, blest eternal home!
My heart is there.
CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD'S PRESENCE.
Happy and blessed is the soul that is conscious of God's sweet
indwelling presence. Being conscious of God's presence is what the
Psalmist meant when he said, "O taste and see that the Lord is good."
"Tasting God" is an expression incomprehensible to the unregenerate.
Those who have tasted him comprehend the meaning of this expression
better than they can tell it. When a bit of sugar is placed upon the
tongue there is experienced a sweetness in the sense of taste. When the
soul tastes of God there is experienced a sweetness in the spiritual
being. The sweetness of God's presence in the soul is as much more
glorious than the sweetness of sugar to the taste as spiritual and
heavenly things are above literal and earthly things. God and his word
are inseparable, or the word is God; therefore when the Psalmist says,
"How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth," it is in reality tasting the sweetness of God.
The awakened soul thirsts for this sweetness of the divine presence.
Nothing else can satisfy it. The wealth and pleasure of the world do not
contain a sweetness sufficient to satisfy the heart of man. It is only
God that can fill the hungry soul with goodness. The divine life sheds
peace and light and rest in the soul. Man receives the divine presence
into his spiritual being when he is quickened by the Spirit. In the Word
of God it is termed "passing from death unto life," and "being born
again." In sanctification when a revolution is effected in the nature of
man and he becomes a partaker of the divine nature, it is then he is
conscious of the fulness of the divine presence and is at rest. Glory be
to God!
To possess the divine presence in its fulness is not the end of the
Christian race. There are certain conditions for man to meet in order to
possess this glorious inheritance, and there are certain conditions for
him to meet in order to retain it. Not only is man able, in the economy
of grace, to retain the sweet consciousness of the divine presence in
the soul, but in his hands are placed instruments that enable him to
cultivate and deepen this consciousness and thus add glory to glory and
cause his way to shine more and more unto the perfect day. Oh, how many
Christians would enjoy more of heaven's glory in their souls, if by
careful cultivation they would increase the sense of the divine
presence! Dear pilgrim, have you reached the land of "eternal weights of
glory" or the regions where "joy is unspeakable"?
To cultivate or deepen the sense of the divine presence requires an
almost constant effort. Right at this point is where perhaps more
Christians have failed to do what was required of them than at any
other; and consequently experience less joy and power than formerly.
There are many things employed by Satan to weaken this consciousness of
God. Looseness of thought, moments of idleness, or yieldings to self,
serve to weaken the reverential feeling in our hearts toward him. A
little attention to the world, a little thought for the morrow, a little
anxiety, a little too much talking,--these things destroy the
consciousness of the divine presence in the soul, and rob us of
spiritual power and rest. Living before God in prayer, holy and pure
thoughts, the entertaining of right feelings toward God and man, acts of
benevolence and self-sacrifice for the benefit of others, develop and
fashion the soul more and more into the beauty of the divine life.
It is the privilege of the saint so to walk in the presence of God and
live in holy communion with him as to draw God's glory and life into his
own, and give him a feature very distinguishing for ordinary natural
man. If we wish to be like Jesus and enjoy the sweet consciousness of
his presence, we must live with him in prayer. As we improve the health
and strength of our physical being by proper food and exercise, so we
improve the strength and beauty of our spiritual being by proper
meditation and prayer.
REFLECTION.