action clears and deepens the affections. Indeed, no one can have a true
idea of right, until he does it; any genuine reverence for it, till he has
done it often and with cost; any peace ineffable in it, till he does it
always and with alacrity. Does any one complain, that the best affections
are transient visitors with him, and the heavenly spirit a stranger to
his heart? Oh, let him not go forth, on any strained wing of thought, in
distant quest of them; but rather stay at home, and set his house in the
true order of conscience; and of their own accord the divinest guests will
enter.
J. MARTINEAU.
September 8
_Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving_.--COL. iv. 2.
_Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong_.--I COR.
xvi. 13.
We kneel how weak, we rise how full of power.
Why therefore should we do ourselves this wrong,
Or others--that we are not always strong,
That we are ever overborne with care,
That we should ever weak or heartless be,
Anxious or troubled, when with us is prayer,
And joy and strength and courage are with Thee?
R. C. TRENCH.
It is impossible for us to make the duties of our lot minister to our
sanctification without a habit of devout fellowship with God. This is the
spring of all our life, and the strength of it. It is prayer, meditation,
and converse with God, that refreshes, restores, and renews the temper of
our minds, at all times, under all trials, after all conflicts with the
world. By this contact with the world unseen we receive continual accesses
of strength. As our day, so is our strength. Without this healing and
refreshing of spirit, duties grow to be burdens, the events of life chafe
our temper, employments lower the tone of our minds, and we become fretful,
irritable, and impatient.
H. E. MANNING.
September 9
_This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm
constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to
maintain good works_.--TITUS iii. 8.
Faith's meanest deed more favor bears
Where hearts and wills are weighed,
Than brightest transports, choicest prayers,
Which bloom their hour and fade.
J. H. NEWMAN.
One secret act of self-denial, one sacrifice of inclination to duty, is
worth all the mere good thoughts, warm feelings, passionate prayers, in
which idle people indulge themselves.
J. H. NEWMAN.
It is impossible for us to live in fellowship with God without holiness in
all the duties of life. These things act and react on each other. Without a
diligent and faithful obedience to the calls and claims of others upon us,
our religious profession is simply dead. To disobey conscience when it
points to relative duties irritates the whole temper, and quenches the
first beginnings of devotion. We cannot go from strife, breaches, and angry
words, to God. Selfishness, an imperious will, want of sympathy with
the sufferings and sorrows of other men, neglect of charitable offices,
suspicions, hard censures of those with whom our lot is cast, will
miserably darken our own hearts, and hide the face of God from us.
H. E. MANNING.
September 10
_Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head_.--JOHN xiii. 9.
Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and "beautiful" for Thee.
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shall choose.
F. R. HAVERGAL.
If a man may attain thereunto, to be unto God as his hand is to a man, let
him be therewith content, and not seek further. That is to say, let him
strive and wrestle with all his might to obey God and His commandments so
thoroughly at all times, and in all things, that in him there be nothing,
spiritual or natural, which opposeth God; and that his whole soul and body,
with all their members, may stand ready and willing for that to which God
hath created them; as ready and willing as his hand is to a man, which is
so wholly in his power, that in the twinkling of an eye, he moveth and
turneth it whither he will. And when we find it otherwise with us, we must
give our whole diligence to amend our state.
THEOLOGIA GERMANICA.
When the mind thinks nothing, when the soul covets nothing, and the body
acteth nothing that is contrary to the will of God, this is perfect
sanctification.
ANONYMOUS, _in an old Bible_, 1599.
September 11
_Thy kingdom come_.--MATT. vi. 10.
The kingdom of established peace,
Which can no more remove;
The perfect powers of godliness,
The omnipotence of love.
C. WESLEY.
My child, thou mayest not measure out thine offering unto me by what others
have done or left undone; but be it thine to seek out, even to the last
moment of thine earthly life, what is the utmost height of pure devotion to
which I have called _thine own self_. Remember that, if thou fall short of
this, each time thou utterest in prayer the words, "Hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come," thou dost most fearfully condemn thyself, for is it
not a mockery to ask for that thou wilt not seek to promote even unto the
uttermost, within the narrow compass of thine own heart and spirit?
THE DIVINE MASTER.
If you do not wish for His kingdom, don't pray for it. But if you do, you
must do more than pray for it; you must work for it.
J. RUSKIN.
September 12
_She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not In
the Lord; she drew not near to her God_.--ZEPH. iii. 2.
Oh! let us not this thought allow;
The heat, the dust upon our brow,
Signs of the contest, we may wear;
Yet thus we shall appear more fair
In our Almighty Master's eye,
Than if in fear to lose the bloom,
Or ruffle the soul's lightest plume,
We from the strife should fly.
R. C. TRENCH.
If God requires anything of us, we have no right to draw back under the
pretext that we are liable to commit some fault in obeying. It is better
to obey imperfectly than not at all. Perhaps you ought to rebuke some
one dependent on you, but you are silent for fear of giving way to
vehemence;--or you avoid the society of certain persons, because they make
you cross and impatient. How are you to attain self-control, if you shun
all occasions of practising it? Is not such self-choosing a greater fault
than those into which you fear to fall? Aim at a steady mind to do right,
go wherever duty calls you, and believe firmly that God will forgive the
faults that take our weakness by surprise in spite of our sincere desire to
please Him.
JEAN NICOLAS GROU.
September 13
_It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation
of the Lord_.--LAM. iii. 26.
_Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation_.--PS. lxii.
I.
Not so in haste, my heart;
Have faith in God, and wait;
Although He linger long,
He never comes too late.
ANON.
The true use to be made of all the imperfections of which you are conscious
is neither to justify, nor to condemn them, but to present them before
God, conforming your will to His, and remaining in peace; for peace is the
divine order, in whatever state we may be.
FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.
You will find it less easy to uproot faults, than to choke them by gaining
virtues. Do not think of your faults; still less of others' faults; in
every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong: honor
that; rejoice in it; and, as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults
will drop off, like dead leaves, when their time comes.
J. RUSKIN.
September 14
_Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty
things which thou knowest not_.--JER. xxxiii. 3.
_And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked_.--I KINGS iii.
13.
No voice of prayer to Thee can rise,
But swift as light Thy Love replies;
Not always what we ask, indeed,
But, O most Kind! what most we need.
H. M. KIMBALL.
If you have any trial which seems intolerable, pray,--pray that it be
relieved or changed. There is no harm in that. We may pray for anything,
not wrong in itself, with perfect freedom, if we do not pray selfishly.
One disabled from duty by sickness may pray for health, that he may do his
work; or one hemmed in by internal impediments may pray for utterance, that
he may serve better the truth and the right. Or, if we have a besetting
sin, we may pray to be delivered from it, in order to serve God and man,
and not be ourselves Satans to mislead and destroy. But the answer to
the prayer may be, as it was to Paul, not the removal of the thorn, but,
instead, a growing insight into its meaning and value. The voice of God in
our soul may show us, as we look up to Him, that His strength is enough to
enable us to bear it.
J. F. CLARKE.
September 15
_Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with_?--MARK. x. 38.
Whate'er my God ordains is right;
Though I the cup must drink
That bitter seems to my faint heart,
I will not fear nor shrink.
S. RODIGAST.
The worst part of martyrdom is not the last agonizing moment; it is the
wearing, daily steadfastness. Men who can make up their minds to hold out
against the torture of an hour have sunk under the weariness and the harass
of small prolonged vexations. And there are many Christians who have the
weight of some deep, incommunicable grief pressing, cold as ice, upon their
hearts. To bear that cheerfully and manfully is to be a martyr. There is
many a Christian bereaved and stricken in the best hopes of life. For such
a one to say quietly, "Father, not as I will, but as Thou wilt," is to be a
martyr. There is many a Christian who feels the irksomeness of the duties
of life, and feels his spirit revolting from them. To get up every morning
with the firm resolve to find pleasure in those duties, and do them well,
and finish the work which God has given us to do, that is to drink Christ's
cup. The humblest occupation has in it materials of discipline for the
highest heaven.
F. W. ROBERTSON.
September 16
_For the whole world before thee is as a little grain of the balance, yea,
as a drop of the morning dew that falleth down upon the earth. But Thou
hast mercy upon all. For Thou lovest all the things that are_.--WISDOM OF
SOLOMON xi. 22-24.
Oh! Source divine, and Life of all,
The Fount of Being's fearful sea,
Thy depth would every heart appal,
That saw not love supreme in Thee.
J. STERLING.
He showed a little thing, the quantity of a hazel-nut, lying in the palm of
my hand, as meseemed, and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereon with
the eye of my understanding, and thought, "What may this be?" and it was
answered generally thus, "It is all that is made." I marvelled how it might
last; for methought it might suddenly have fallen to naught for littleness.
And I was answered in my understanding, "It lasteth, and ever shall: For
God loveth it. And so hath all thing being by the Love of God." In this
little thing I saw three properties. The first is, that God made it. The
second is, that God loveth it. The third is, that God keepeth it. For this
is the cause which we be not all in ease of heart and soul: for we seek
here rest in this thing which is so little, where no rest is in: and we
know not our God that is all Mighty, all Wise, and all Good, for He is very
rest.
MOTHER JULIANA, 1373.
September 17
_Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever
of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of
man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a
ransom for many_.--MARK x. 43-45.
A child's kiss
Set on thy sighing lips, shall make thee glad;
A poor man served by thee, shall make thee rich;
A sick man helped by thee, shall make thee strong;
Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense
Of service which thou renderest.
E. B. BROWNING.
Let every man lovingly cast all his thoughts and cares, and his sins too,
as it were, on the Will of God. Moreover, if a man, while busy in this
lofty inward work, were called by some duty in the Providence of God to
cease therefrom, and cook a broth for some sick person, or any other such
service, he should do so willingly and with great joy. If I had to forsake
such work, and go out to preach or aught else, I should go cheerfully,
believing not only that God would be with me, but that he would vouchsafe
me it may be even greater grace and blessing in that external work
undertaken out of true love in the service of my neighbor, than I should
perhaps receive in my season of loftiest contemplation.
JOHN TAULER.
September 18
_All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep His
covenant and His testimonies_.--PS. xxv. 10.
Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth,
Speak peace to my anxious soul,
And help me to feel that all my ways
Are under Thy wise control;
That He who cares for the lily,
And heeds the sparrows' fall,
Shall tenderly lead His loving child:
For He made and loveth all.
ANON.
It is not by seeking more fertile regions where toil is lighter--happier
circumstances free from difficult complications and troublesome people--but
by bringing the high courage of a devout soul, clear in principle and aim,
to bear upon what is given to us, that we brighten our inward light, lead
something of a true life, and introduce the kingdom of heaven into the
midst of our earthly day. If we cannot work out the will of God where God
has placed us, then why has He placed us there?
J. H. THOM.
September 19
_Pray for us unto the Lord thy God... that the Lord thy God may show us the
way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do_.--JER. xlii. 2, 3.
_That which I see not, teach Thou me_.--JOB xxxiv. 32.
O father, hear!
The way is dark, and I would fain discern
What steps to take, into which path to turn;
Oh! make it clear.
CHRISTIAN INTELLIGENCER.
"We can't choose happiness either for ourselves or for another; we can't
tell where that will lie. We can only choose whether we will indulge
ourselves in the present moment, or whether we will renounce that, for the
sake of obeying the Divine voice within us,--for the sake of being true to
all the motives that sanctify our lives. I know this belief is hard; it has
slipped away from me again and again; but I have felt that if I let it go
forever, I should have no light through the darkness of this life."
GEORGE ELIOT.
There was a care on my mind so to pass my time, that nothing might hinder
me from the most steady attention to the voice of the true Shepherd.
JOHN WOOLMAN.
September 20
_Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of
man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of
tongues_.--PS. xxxi. 20.
The praying spirit breathe,
The watching power impart,
From all entanglements beneath
Call off my anxious heart.
My feeble mind sustain,
By worldly thoughts oppressed;
Appear, and bid me turn again
To my eternal rest.
C. WESLEY.
As soon as we are with God in faith and in love, we are in prayer.
FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.
If you could once make up your mind in the fear of God never to undertake
more work of any sort than you can carry on calmly, quietly, without hurry
or flurry, and the instant you feel yourself growing nervous and like one
out of breath, would stop and take breath, you would find this simple
common-sense rule doing for you what no prayers or tears could ever
accomplish.
ELIZABETH PRENTISS.
September 21
_How excellent is Thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings_.--PS. xxxvi. 7.
_The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting
arms_.--DEUT. xxxiii. 27.
Within Thy circling arms we lie,
O God! in Thy infinity:
Our souls in quiet shall abide,
Beset with love on every side.
ANON.
"The Everlasting Arms." I think of that whenever rest is sweet. How the
whole earth and the strength of it, that is almightiness, is beneath every
tired creature to give it rest; _holding_ us, always! No thought of God
is closer than that. No human tenderness of patience is greater than
that which gathers in its arms a little child, and holds it, heedless of
weariness. And He fills the great earth, and all upon it, with this
unseen force of His love, that never forgets or exhausts itself, so that
everywhere we may lie down in His bosom, and be comforted.
A. D. T. WHITNEY.
September 22
_The word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou
mayest do it_.--DEUT. xxx. 14.
But, above all, the victory is most sure
For him, who, seeking faith by virtue, strives
To yield entire obedience to the Law
Of Conscience; Conscience reverenced and obeyed,
As God's most intimate presence in the soul,
And His most perfect image in the world.
W. WORDSWORTH.
What we call Conscience is the voice of Divine love in the deep of
our being, desiring union with our will; and which, by attracting the
affections inward, invites them to enter into the harmonious contentment,
and "fulness of joy" which attends the being joined by "one spirit to the
Lord."
J. P. GREAVES.
I rejoice that God has bestowed upon you a relish and inclination for the
inner life. To be called to this precious and lofty life is a great
and undeserved grace of God, to which we ought to respond with great
faithfulness. God invites us to His fellowship of love, and wishes to
prepare our spirit to be His own abode and temple.
GERHARD TERSTEEGEN.
September 23
_Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths_--PS. xxv. 4.
When we cannot see our way,
Let us trust and still obey;
He who bids us forward go,
Cannot fail the way to show.
Though the sea be deep and wide,
Though a passage seem denied;
Fearless let us still proceed,
Since the Lord vouchsafes to lead.
ANON.
That which is often asked of God, is not so much His will and way, as His
approval of our way.
S. F. SMILEY.
There is nothing like the first glance we get at duty, before there has
been any special pleading of our affections or inclinations. Duty is never
uncertain at first. It is only after we have got involved in the mazes and
sophistries of wishing that things were otherwise than they are, that it
seems indistinct. Considering a duty is often only explaining it away.
Deliberation is often only dishonesty. God's guidance is plain, when we are
true.
F. W, ROBERTSON.
September 24
_When I awake, I am still with Thee_.--PS. cxxxix. 18.
Let the glow of love destroy
Cold obedience faintly given;
Wake our hearts to strength and joy
With the flushing eastern heaven.
C. K. VON ROSENROTH.
With his first waking consciousness, he can set himself to take a serious,
manly view of the day before him. He ought to know pretty well on what
lines his difficulty is likely to come, whether in being irritable, or
domineering, or sharp in his bargains, or self-absorbed, or whatever it be;
and now, in this quiet hour, he can take a good, full look at his enemy,
and make up his mind to beat him. It is a good time, too, for giving
his thoughts a range quite beyond himself,--beyond even his own moral
struggles,--a good time, there in the stillness, for going into the realm
of other lives. His wife,--what needs has she for help, for sympathy, that
he can meet? His children,--how can he make the day sweeter to them? This
acquaintance, who is having a hard time; this friend, who dropped a word to
you yesterday that you hardly noticed in your hurry, but that comes up to
you now, revealing in him some finer trait, some deeper hunger, than you
had guessed before,--now you can think these things over.
G. S. MERRIAM.
September 25
_Ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your
households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee_.--DEUT. xii. 7.
Sweet is the smile of home; the mutual look
When hearts are of each other sure;
Sweet all the joys that crowd the household nook,
The haunt of all affections pure.
J. KEBLE.
Is there any tie which absence has loosened, or which the wear and tear
of every-day intercourse, little uncongenialities, unconfessed
misunderstandings, have fretted into the heart, until it bears something of
the nature of a fetter? Any cup at our home-table whose sweetness we have
not fully tasted, although it might yet make of our daily bread a continual
feast? Let us reckon up these treasures while they are still ours, in
thankfulness to God.
ELIZABETH CHARLES.
We ought daily or weekly to dedicate a little time to the reckoning up of
the virtues of our belongings,--wife, children, friends,--contemplating
them then in a beautiful collection. And we should do so now, that we may
not pardon and love in vain and too late, after the beloved one has been
taken away from us to a better world.
JEAN PAUL RICHTER.
September 26
_Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me_.--PS.
xxiii. 4.
O will, that wiliest good alone,
Lead Thou the way, Thou guides! best;
A silent child, I follow on,
And trusting lean upon Thy breast.
And if in gloom I see Thee not,
I lean upon Thy love unknown;
In me Thy blessed will is wrought,
If I will nothing of my own.
GERHARD TERSTEEGEN.
The devout soul is always safe in every state, if it makes everything an
occasion either of rising up, or falling down into the hands of God, and
exercising faith, and trust, and resignation to Him. The pious soul, that
eyes only God, that means nothing but being His alone, can have no stop put
to its progress; light and darkness equally assist him: in the light he
looks up to God, in the darkness he lays hold on God, and so they both do
him the same good.
WM. LAW.
September 27
_When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me_.--MICAH vii. 8.
_There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift Thou up the
light of Thy countenance upon us_.--PS. iv. 6.
How oft a gleam of glory sent
Straight through the deepest, darkest night,
Has filled the soul with heavenly light,
With holy peace and sweet content.
ANON.
Suppose you are bewildered and know not what is right nor what is true. Can
you not cease to regard whether you do or not, whether you be bewildered,
whether you be happy? Cannot you utterly and perfectly love, and rejoice
to be in the dark, and gloom-beset, because that very thing is the fact of
God's Infinite Being as it is to you? Cannot you take this trial also into
your own heart, and be ignorant, not because you are obliged, but because
that being God's will, it is yours also? Do you not see that a person who
truly loves is one with the Infinite Being--cannot be uncomfortable or
unhappy? It is that which is that he wills and desires and holds best of
all to be. To know God is utterly to sacrifice self.
JAMES HINTON.
September 28
_My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in
deed, and in truth_.--I JOHN iii. 18.
_But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own
selves_.--JAMES i. 22.
Thrice blest whose lives are faithful prayers,
Whose loves in higher love endure;
What souls possess themselves so pure,
Or is there blessedness like theirs?
A. TENNYSON.
Let every creature have your love. Love, with its fruits of meekness,
patience, and humility, is all that we can wish for to ourselves, and our
fellow-creatures; for this is to live in God, united to Him, both for time
and eternity. To desire to communicate good to every creature, in the
degree we can, and it is capable of receiving from us, is a divine temper;
for thus God stands unchangeably disposed towards the whole creation.
WM. LAW.
What shall be our reward for loving our neighbor as ourselves in this life?
That, when we become angels, we shall be enabled to love him better than
ourselves.
E. SWEDENBORG.
September 29
_Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God_.--MATT. v. 8.
_Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see
the Lord_.--HEB. xii. 14.
Since Thou Thyself dost still display
Unto the pure in heart,
Oh, make us children of the day
To know Thee as Thou art.
For Thou art light and life and love;
And Thy redeemed below
May see Thee as Thy saints above,
And know Thee as they know.
J. MONTGOMERY.
Doubt, gloom, impatience, have been expelled; joy has taken their place,
the hope of heaven and the harmony of a pure heart, the triumph of
self-mastery, sober thoughts, and a contented mind. How can charity towards
all men fail to follow, being the mere affectionateness of innocence and
peace? Thus the Spirit of God creates in us the simplicity and warmth of
heart which children have, nay, rather the perfections of His heavenly
hosts, high and low being joined together in His mysterious work; for what
are implicit trust, ardent love, abiding purity, but the mind both of
little children and of the adoring seraphim!
J. H. NEWMAN.
September 30