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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year, by
+John Henry Jowett
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year
+
+
+Author: John Henry Jowett
+
+
+
+Release Date: October 29, 2007  [eBook #23241]
+Most recently updated: August 16, 2012
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAILY MEDITATION FOR THE
+CIRCLING YEAR***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Anne Storer, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+   In the "April 15" meditation, the author mentions reading from
+   Tennyson's "Palace of Sin", which doesn't appear to exist.
+   Possibly "Vision of Sin" was meant?
+
+
+
+
+
+DAILY MEDITATION
+
+  "_The greatest living master of the homiletic art._"
+                  --_British Weekly._
+
+by
+
+J. H. JOWETT, D.D.
+
+Things That Matter Most
+    Devotional Papers. A Book of Spiritual Uplift
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+The Passion for Souls
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+
+The Folly of Unbelief
+    And Other Meditations for Quiet Moments.
+    12mo, cloth,                                 net 50c
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_SENTENCE PRAYERS for EVERY DAY_
+================================
+
+    "Brief, pertinent, helpful. Each prayer can be read
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+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+MY DAILY MEDITATION FOR THE CIRCLING YEAR
+
+by
+
+JOHN HENRY JOWETT
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York    Chicago
+Fleming H. Revell Company
+
+Copyright, 1914, by
+Fleming H. Revell Company
+New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
+Chicago: 125 N. Wabash Ave.
+Toronto: 25 Richmond St., W.
+London: 21 Paternoster Square
+Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+The title of this book sufficiently interprets its purpose. I hope it may
+lead to such practical meditation upon the Word of God as will supply
+vision to common tasks, and daily nourishment to the conscience and
+will. And I trust that it may so engage the thoughts upon the wonders of
+meditation, as will fortify the soul for its high calling in Jesus Christ
+our Lord.
+
+                                       J. H. JOWETT.
+
+   Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church,
+              New York.
+
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The First
+
+_THE UNKNOWN JOURNEY_
+
+"_He went out not knowing whither he went._"
+     --HEBREWS xi. 6-10.
+
+
+Abram began his journey without any knowledge of his ultimate destination.
+He obeyed a noble impulse without any discernment of its consequences. He
+took "one step," and he did not "ask to see the distant scene." And that
+is faith, to do God's will here and now, quietly leaving the results to
+Him. Faith is not concerned with the entire chain; its devoted attention
+is fixed upon the immediate link. Faith is not knowledge of a moral
+process; it is fidelity in a moral act. Faith leaves something to the
+Lord; it obeys His immediate commandment and leaves to Him direction and
+destiny.
+
+And so faith is accompanied by serenity. "He that believeth shall not make
+haste"--or, more literally, "shall not get into a fuss." He shall not get
+into a panic, neither fetching fears from his yesterdays nor from his
+to-morrows. Concerning his yesterdays faith says, "Thou hast beset me
+behind." Concerning his to-morrows faith says, "Thou hast beset me
+before." Concerning his to-day faith says, "Thou hast laid Thine hand
+upon me." That is enough, just to feel the pressure of the guiding hand.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Second
+
+_THE LARGER OUTLOOK_
+
+GENESIS xv. 5-18.
+
+
+"And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven!" The
+tent was changed for the sky! Abraham sat moodily in his tent: God brought
+him forth beneath the stars. And that is always the line of the Divine
+leading. He brings us forth out of our small imprisonments and He sets our
+feet in a large place. He desires for us height and breadth of view. For
+"as the heavens are high above the earth" so are His thoughts higher than
+our thoughts, and His ways than our ways. He wishes us, I say, to exchange
+the tent for the sky, and to live and move in great, spacious thoughts of
+His purposes and will.
+
+How is it with our love? Is it a thing of the tent or of the sky? Does it
+range over mighty spaces seeking benedictions for a multitude? Or does it
+dwell in selfish seclusion, imprisoned in merely selfish quest? How is it
+with our prayers? How big are they? Will a tent contain them, or do they
+move with the scope and greatness of the heavens? Do they just contain our
+own families, or is China in them, and India, and "the uttermost parts of
+the earth"? "Look now towards the heavens!" Such must be our outlook if we
+are the companions of God.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Third
+
+_THE NEVER-FAILING SPRINGS_
+
+GENESIS xvii. 1-8.
+
+
+"I will establish My covenant." The good promises of God are never
+revoked. They are like springs which know no shrinking in times of
+drought. Nay, in time of drought they reveal a richer fulness. The
+promises are confirmed in the hour of my need, and the greater my need the
+greater is my bounty. And so it was that the Apostle Paul came to "rejoice
+in his infirmities," for through his infirmities he discovered the riches
+of Divine grace. He brought a bigger pitcher to the fountain, and he
+always carried it away full. "As thy days so shall thy strength be."
+
+So I need never fear that the promise of yesterday will exhaust itself
+before to-morrow. God's covenant goes with us like the ever-fresh waters
+of the wilderness. "They drank of that rock which followed them, and that
+rock was Christ." Every fulfilment of God's promise is the pledge of one
+to come.
+
+God has no road without its springs. If His path stretches across the
+waste wilderness the "fountains shall break out in the desert," and "the
+wilderness shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Fourth
+
+_THE GOD OF THEIR SUCCEEDING RACE_
+
+EXODUS vi. 2-8.
+
+
+"I appeared unto Abraham.... I will be to you a God." The covenant made
+with the father was renewed to the children. The father's death did not
+disannul the promise of the Lord. Death has no power in the realms of
+grace. His moth and his rust can never destroy the ministries of Divine
+love. Abraham died and was laid to rest, but the river of life flowed on,
+and the bounties of the Lord never failed. The village well quenches the
+thirst of many generations: and so is it through the generations with the
+wells of grace and salvation. The villagers have not to dig a new well
+when the patriarch dies: "the river of God is full of water."
+
+And thus I am privileged to share the spiritual resources of Abraham, and
+the still richer resources of the Apostle Paul. Nothing was given to him
+that is withheld from me. He is like a great mountaineer, and he has
+climbed to lofty heights; but I need not be dismayed. All the strength
+that was given to him, in which he reached those lofty places, is mine
+also. I may share his elevation and his triumph. "For the promise is
+unto you and your children, and to all that are afar off."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Fifth
+
+_THE FLOWERS THAT NEVER FADE_
+
+1 PETER i. 1-9.
+
+
+"An inheritance incorruptible." I am writing these words in the Island
+of Arran. To-morrow I shall leave the land behind, but I shall take the
+landscape with me! It will be with me in the coming winter, and I shall
+gaze upon Goat Fell in the streets of New York. The land is a temporary
+possession, the landscape abides!
+
+The praise of men often dies with the shout that proclaims it. Another
+idol appears and the feverish worship is transferred to him. The world's
+garland begins to fade as soon as it is laid upon the brow. The morning
+after the coronation I possess a handful of withering leaves. But the
+garland of God's praise acquires new grace and beauty with the years. It
+is never so fresh and flourishing as just when everything else is fading
+away. It is glorious in the hour of death! The soul goes, wearing her
+garland, into the presence of the gracious Lord who gave it.
+
+We can begin even now to wear the flowers of Paradise. We can begin even
+now to furnish our minds with lovely thoughts and memories. We can have
+"the mind of Christ."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Sixth
+
+"_COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS_"
+
+PSALM cv. 1-15.
+
+
+"Count your blessings!" Yes, but over what area shall I look for them?
+There is my personal life. Let me search in every corner. I have found
+forget-me-nots on many a rutty road. I have found wild-roses behind a
+barricade of nettles. Professor Miall has a lecture on "The Botany of a
+Railway Station." He found something graceful and exquisite in the midst
+of its soot and grime. So I must look even in the dark patches of life,
+among my disappointments and defeats, and even there I shall find tokens
+of the Lord's presence, some flowers of His planting.
+
+And there is my share in the life of the nation. "Ye seed of Abraham His
+servant, ye children of Jacob His chosen." There are hands that stretch
+out to me from past days, laden with bequests of privilege and freedom.
+Our feet "stand in a large place," and the place was cleared by the
+fidelity and the courage of the men of old. I have countless blessings
+that were bought with blood. The red marks of sacrifice are over all my
+daily ways. Let me not take the inheritance and overlook the blood marks,
+and stride about as though it were nought but common ground. Mercies
+abound on every hand! "Count your blessings!"
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Seventh
+
+_A JOURNAL OF MERCIES_
+
+NEHEMIAH ix. 6-11.
+
+
+"Thou hast performed Thy words: for Thou art righteous." Frances Ridley
+Havergal kept a journal of mercies. She had a record book, and she crowded
+it with her remembrances of God's goodness. She was always on the look-out
+for tokens of the Lord's grace and bounty, and she found them everywhere.
+Everywhere she had communion with a covenant-keeping God. The Bible became
+to her more and more the history of her own life and experience. Promise
+after promise told the story of her own triumphs. She appropriated the
+goodness of God, and she set her own seal to the testimony that God is
+true.
+
+Many a complaining life would be changed into music and song by a journal
+of mercies. Many a fear can be dispersed by a ready remembrance. Memory
+can be made the handmaid of hope. Yesterday's blessing can kindle the
+courage of to-day. That is the purposed ministry of "the days that have
+been." We are to harness the strength of their experiences to the tasks
+and burdens of to-day; and in the remembrance of God's providences we
+shall march through our difficulties with singing.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Eighth
+
+_HE IS FAITHFUL!_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 54-61.
+
+
+"There hath not failed one word of all His good promise." Supposing one
+word had failed, how then? If one golden promise had turned out to be
+counterfeit, how then? If the ground had yielded anywhere we should
+have been fearful and suspicious at every part of the road. If the bell
+of God's fidelity had been broken anywhere the music would have been
+destroyed. But not one word has failed. The road has never given way in
+time of flood. Every bell of heaven is perfectly sound, and the music is
+full and glorious. "God is faithful, who also will do it."
+
+"God is love," and "love never faileth." The lamp will not die out
+at the midnight. The fountain will not fail us in the wilderness. The
+consolations will not be wanting in the hour of our distresses. Love will
+have "all things ready." "He has promised, and shall He not do it?" All
+the powers of heaven are pledged to the fulfilment of the smallest word of
+grace. We can never be deserted! "God cannot deny Himself." Every word of
+His will unburden its treasure at the appointed hour, and I shall be rich
+with the strength of my God.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Ninth
+
+_THE PERILS OF POSSESSIONS_
+
+GENESIS xiii. 1-9.
+
+
+There is nothing more divisive than wealth. As families grow rich their
+members frequently become alienated. It is rarely, indeed, that love
+increases with the increase of riches. Luxurious possessions appear to be
+a forcing-bed in which the seeds of sleeping vices waken into strength.
+For one thing, selfishness is often quickened with success. Plenty, as
+well as penury, can "freeze the genial currents of the soul." And with
+selfishness comes a whole brood of mean and petty dispositions. Envy comes
+with it, and jealousy, and a morbid sensitiveness which readily leaps into
+strife.
+
+So do our possessions multiply our temptations. So does the bright day
+"bring forth the adder." So do we need extra defences when "fortune smiles
+upon us." But our God can make us proof against "the fiery darts" of
+success. Abram remained unscathed in "the garish day." The Lord delivered
+him from "the destruction that wasteth at noonday." His wealth increased,
+but it was not allowed to force itself between his soul and God. In the
+midst of all his prosperity, he dwelt in "the secret place of the Most
+High," and he abode in "the shadow of the Almighty."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Tenth
+
+_THE LUST OF THE EYE_
+
+GENESIS xiii. 10-18.
+
+
+Look at Lot. He was a man of the world, sharp as a needle, having an eye
+to the main chance. He boasted to himself that he always "took in the
+whole situation." He said that what he did not know was not worth knowing.
+But such "knowing" men have always very imperfect sight. Lot saw "all the
+well-watered plain of Jordan," but he overlooked the city of Sodom and its
+exceedingly wicked and sinful people. And the thing he overlooked was the
+biggest thing in the outlook! It was to prove his undoing, and to bring
+his presumptuous selfishness to the ground.
+
+Look at Abram. His spirit was cool and thoughtful, unheated by the
+feverish yearning after increased possessions. He had a "quiet eye," the
+fruit of his faithful communion with God. He was more intent on peace than
+plenty. He preferred fraternal fellowship to selfish increase. And so he
+chose the unselfish way, and along that way he discovered the blessing of
+God. "The Lord is mindful of His own. He remembereth His children." In the
+unselfish way we always enjoy the Divine companionship, and in that
+companionship we are endowed with inconceivable wealth.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Eleventh
+
+_SELF-MADE OR GOD-MADE_
+
+MATTHEW vi. 26-33.
+
+
+Think of Lot and then think of a lily of the field! Think of the
+feverishness of the one and of the serenity of the other, or think of the
+ugly selfishness of the one, and of the graceful beauty of the other! Look
+upon avarice at its worst, upon a Shylock, and then gaze upon a lily of
+the field! How alarming is the contrast! The one is self-made, guided by
+vicious impulses; the other is the handiwork of God. The one is rooted in
+self-will; the other is rooted in the power of the Divine grace. God has
+nothing to do with the one; He has everything to do with the other. So one
+becomes "big" and ugly; the other grows in strength and beauty.
+
+Now the wonder is this, that we, too, may be rooted in the power from
+which the lily draws its grace. We may draw into our souls the wealth of
+the Eternal, even the unsearchable riches of Christ. We may put on "the
+beauty of holiness." We may become clothed in the graces of the Spirit.
+When we are in the field of the lilies we may appear unto the Lord as
+kindred flowers of His own garden.
+
+"He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit."
+"Rooted in Him," we shall "grow up in all things unto Him."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twelfth
+
+_TWO OPPOSITES_
+
+"If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
+     --1 JOHN ii. 13-17.
+
+
+No man can love two opposites any more than he can walk in contrary
+directions at the same time. No man can at once be mean and magnanimous,
+chivalrous and selfish. We cannot at the same moment dress appropriately
+for the arctic regions and the tropics. And we cannot wear the habits of
+the world and the garments of salvation. When we try to do it the result
+is a wretched and miserable compromise. I have seen a shopkeeper on the
+Sabbath day put up one shutter, out of presumed respect for the Holy Lord,
+and behind the shutter continue all the business of the world! That one
+shutter is typical of all the religion that is left when a man "loves the
+world" and delights in its prizes and crowns. His religion is a bit of
+idle ritual which is an offence unto God!
+
+So I must make my choice. Shall I travel north or south? Which of the two
+opposites shall I love--God or the world? Whichever love I choose will
+drive out and quench the other. And thus if I choose the love of God it
+will destroy every worldly passion, and the river of my affections and
+desires will be like "the river of water of life, clear as crystal."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Thirteenth
+
+_THE MIRACLE IN A DRY PLACE_
+
+PSALM cvii. 33-43.
+
+
+"He turneth ... the dry ground into water-springs." This is one of the
+miracles of grace. The good Lord makes a dry experience the fountain of
+blessing. I pass into an apparently waste place and I find riches of
+consolation. Even in "the valley of the shadow" I come upon "green
+pastures" and "still waters." I find flowers in the ruts of the hardest
+roads if I am in "the way of God's commandments." God's providence is the
+pioneer of every faithful pilgrim. "His blessed feet have gone before."
+What I shall need is already foreseen, and foresight with the Lord means
+forethought and provision. Every hour gives the loyal disciples surprises
+of grace.
+
+Let me therefore not fear when the path of duty turns into the wilderness.
+The wilderness is as habitable with God as the crowded city, and in His
+fellowship my bread and water are sure. The Lord has strange manna for the
+children of disappointment, and He makes water to "gush forth from the
+rock." Duty can lead me nowhere without Him, and His provision is abundant
+both in "the thirsty desert and the dewy mead." There will be a spring at
+the foot of every hill, and I shall find "lilies of peace" in the lonely
+valley of humiliation.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Fourteenth
+
+_FORGETTING GOD_
+
+DEUTERONOMY viii. 11-20.
+
+
+"Beware ... lest when thou hast eaten and art full ... thine heart be
+lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God." I was in a little cottage
+near Warwick. I said to the good man who lived in it, "Can you see the
+castle?" and he replied, "We can see it best in the winter when the leaves
+are off the trees. In the summer time it is apt to be hid!" The summer
+bounty hid the castle; the winter barrenness revealed it! And so it is in
+life. In the season of fulness we are prone to be blind to "the house of
+many mansions," and we forget the Master of the house, the Lord our God.
+Our material wealth hides our eternal treasure.
+
+What, then, shall we do in the days of our prosperity, when all our trees
+are in full leaf? We must pray that material things may never become
+opaque, that they may be always transparent, so that through the seen we
+may behold the unseen. This is a gift of the Spirit, and it may be ours.
+He will anoint our eyes with the eye-salve of grace, and everything will
+become to us a symbol of something better, so that even in the midst of
+material plenty our hearts will be with our treasure in heaven. Everything
+will be to us "as it were transparent glass."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Fifteenth
+
+_THE MINISTRY OF PRAISE_
+
+PSALM cxv.
+
+
+"The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us." In that joyful
+assurance there is both retrospect and prospect. There is the trodden
+pathway of Providence, and there is the star of hope! The eyes are
+steadied and refreshed in sacred memories, and then they gaze into the
+future with serene and happy confidence. And so the Ebenezer of the soul
+becomes both a thanksgiving and a reconsecration.
+
+Now perhaps our hopes are thin because our praises are scanty. Perhaps our
+expectations are clouded because our memories are dim. There is nothing so
+quickens hope as a journey among the mercies of our yesterdays. The heart
+lays aside its fears amid the accumulated blessings of our God. Worries
+pass away like cloudlets in the warmth of a summer's morning. And the
+recollections of God's goodness always make summer even in the wintriest
+day.
+
+Now I see why the New Testament is so urgent in the matter of praise.
+Without praise many other virtues and graces cannot be born. Without
+praise they have no breath of life. Praise quickens a radiant company
+of heavenly presences, and among them is the shining spirit of hope.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Sixteenth
+
+_THE DISTINCTION OF BEING RECOGNIZED_
+
+JOHN x. 1-18.
+
+
+The Good Shepherd knows His sheep, and knows them by name. And that is
+what I am tempted to forget. I think of myself as one of an innumerable
+multitude, no one of whom receives personal attention. "My way is
+overlooked by my God." But here is the evangel--the Saviour would
+miss me, even me!
+
+At a great orchestral rehearsal, which Sir Michael Costa was conducting,
+the man who played the piccolo stayed his fingers for a moment, thinking
+that his trifling contribution would never be missed. At once Sir Michael
+raised his hand, and said: "Stop! Where's the piccolo?" He missed the
+individual note. And my Lord needs the note of my life to make the music
+of His Kingdom, and if the note be absent He will miss it, and the
+glorious music will be broken and incomplete.
+
+There is a common vice of self-conceit, but there is also a common vice of
+excessive self-depreciation. "My Lord can do nothing with me!" Yes, my
+Lord knows thee and needs thee! And by the power of His grace thou canst
+accomplish wonders!
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Seventeenth
+
+_SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT_
+
+"_My sheep hear My voice!_"
+     --JOHN x. 19-30.
+
+
+This is spiritual discernment. We may test our growth in grace by our
+expertness in detecting the voice of our Lord. It is the skill of the
+saint to catch "the still small voice" amid all the selfish clamours of
+the day, and amid the far more subtle callings of the heart. It needs a
+good ear to catch the voice of the Lord in our sorrows. I think it
+requires a better ear to discern the voice amid our joys! The twilight
+helps me to be serious; the noonday glare tends to make me heedless.
+
+"_And they follow Me!_" Discernment is succeeded by obedience. That is the
+one condition of becoming a saint--to follow the immediate call of the
+Lord. And it is the one condition of becoming an expert listener. Every
+time I hear the voice, and follow, I sharpen my sense of hearing, and the
+next time the voice will sound more clear.
+
+"_And I give unto them eternal life._" Yes, life is found in the ways of
+a listening obedience. Every faculty and function will be vitalized when I
+follow the Lord of life and glory. "In Christ shall all be made alive."
+
+My Saviour, graciously give me the listening ear! Give me the obedient
+heart.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY the Eighteenth
+
+_FALSE SHEPHERDS_
+
+EZEKIEL xxxiv. 1-10.
+
+
+This word of the Lord puts before me the unlovely lineaments of the false
+shepherds.
+
+They are self-seeking. They "_feed themselves_," but they "_feed not
+the flock_." They take up religion for what they can make out of it! It
+is a carnal ambition, not a holy service. It is used for getting, not for
+giving, for self-glorification and not for self-sacrifice. It is
+selfishness masquerading as holiness, the thief in the garb of the
+shepherd.
+
+And, therefore, the false shepherds are devoid of sympathy. "_The diseased
+have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick._"
+Selfishness always tends to benumbment. Humaneness is fostered by
+sacrifice. Our sympathetic chords are kept refined by chivalrous deeds.
+Drop the deeds and all our refinements begin to coarsen, and we make no
+response to our brother's cries of need and pain.
+
+And because there is no sympathy there is no quest. "_My sheep wandered
+... and none did seek after them._" How can we seek them if we have never
+missed them, if we have no sense that they are lost? Our Lord came in
+travail of soul to "seek that which was lost." And I must share His
+travail if I would share in the search.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Nineteenth
+
+_THE LOST SHEEP_
+
+EZEKIEL xxxiv. 11-19.
+
+
+And now, again, I am bidden to contemplate the gracious ministries of the
+Good Shepherd.
+
+The Good Shepherd searches the "far country" for His lost sheep. "_I will
+bring them ... out of all places where they have been scattered._" He goes
+into the hard wilderness of cold indifference, and wasteful pride, and
+desolating sin, searching "high and low" for His foolish sheep. And no
+place is unvisited by the Great Seeker! Every perilous ravine, where a
+sheep can be lost, knows the footprints of the Shepherd. And He knows my
+far-country, and He is seeking me!
+
+And the Good Shepherd brings His wandering sheep back home. "_I will bring
+them ... to their own land._" We return from the land of pride to the home
+of lowliness, from hard indifference to gracious sympathy, from the
+barrenness of sin to the beauty of holiness. We come back to God's
+beautiful "lily-land" of eternal light and peace.
+
+And what nutriment the Good Shepherd provides for the home-coming sheep!
+"_I will feed them in a good pasture._" Our wasted powers shall be renewed
+and strengthened by the fattening diet of grace. Love shall be both host
+and meat! "He will satisfy thy mouth with good things."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twentieth
+
+_THE PASSING OF THE BEAST_
+
+EZEKIEL xxxiv. 23-31.
+
+
+When the Good Shepherd has charge of His flock "_the wild beasts will
+cease out of the land_." All beastly passions shall be destroyed. The fair
+gardens of our souls shall no longer be ravaged by sleek pride, or fierce
+appetite, or ravenous lust. "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder,
+the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet."
+
+And the forces of nature shall be in friendly co-operation. "_I will cause
+the shower to come down in his season._" We are to have mystic allies in
+sky and field. Nature sides with the man who sides with God. Our very
+garden becomes our helpmeet when we are cultivating the fruits of the
+Spirit. The heavens assume a friendly aspect when we are "marching to
+beautiful Zion." But when we are against the Lord all these forces appear
+to be hostile. "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera."
+
+And we are to have a joyful assurance of the companionship of our God.
+"_This shall they know, that I, the Lord their God, am with them._" And
+in that precious assurance every other treasure is found! Only be sure of
+that, and we shall walk about as kings and queens!
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY the Twenty-first
+
+_THE VALUE OF ONE SOUL_
+
+MATTHEW xviii. 7-14.
+
+
+What an infinite value the Lord attaches to one soul! "And _one of them_
+be gone astray!" I thought He might never have missed the one! And yet the
+Eastern shepherd says that out of his great flock he can miss the
+individual face. A face is missing, as though a child were absent from the
+family circle. When a soul is wandering in the far country there is an
+awful gap in the Father's house! Is thy place empty? Is mine?
+
+And mark the pangs of the Shepherd's quest. He "_goeth into the mountain
+and seeketh!_" The Eastern shepherd goes out in tempest, and in rocky
+ravine, or in thorny scrub that tears the hands and feet, he seeks and
+finds his sheep. And my Lord sought me, in stony and thorny places, in the
+darkness of Gethsemane, and in the awful desolations of The Hill.
+
+And the Shepherd found His sheep, and He returns across the hills singing
+the song of the triumph of grace--
+
+    "And up from the mountains, thunder-riven,
+      And up from the rocky steep,
+     A cry arose to the gates of heaven,
+      'Rejoice! I have found My sheep!'
+     And the angels echo around the throne,
+     'Rejoice! for the Lord brings back His own!'"
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-second
+
+_MY OWN SHEPHERD_
+
+PSALM xxiii.
+
+
+How shall we touch this lovely psalm and not bruise it? It is exquisite as
+"a violet by a mossy stone!" Exposition is almost an impertinence, its
+grace is so simple and winsome.
+
+There is the ministry of rest. "_He maketh me to lie down in green
+pastures._" The Good Shepherd knows when my spirit needs relaxation. He
+will not have me always "on the stretch." The bow of the best violin
+sometimes requires to have its strings "let down." And so my Lord gives me
+rest.
+
+And there is the discipline of change. "_He leadeth me in the paths of
+righteousness._" Those strange roads in life, unknown roads, by which I
+pass into changed circumstances and surroundings! But the discipline of
+the change is only to bring me into new pastures, that I may gain fresh
+nutriment for my soul. "Because they have no changes they fear not God."
+
+And there is "_the valley of the shadow_," cold and bare! What matter? He
+is there! "I will fear no evil." What if I see "no pastures green"? "Thy
+rod and Thy staff they comfort me!" The Lord, who is leading, will see
+after my food. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine
+enemies." I have a quiet feast while my foes are looking on!
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-third
+
+_THE GIVER'S HAND_
+
+GENESIS iv. 3-15.
+
+
+Cain and Abel both brought an offering unto the Lord, but one was accepted
+and the other rejected. It is the giver who determines the worth or the
+worthlessness of the gift. God looks not at the gift, but at the hand that
+brings it. "Your hands are full of blood!" "Your hands are unclean!" The
+Lord demands "clean hands." He will not have our compliments if there is
+defilement behind them. Our courtesies are rejected if iniquity attends
+them. The shining gloss on the linen is an offence if the dirt looks
+through! Who cares for food if presented by unclean hands? "Be ye clean,
+ye that bear the vessels of the Lord!"
+
+Every gift is welcome to the Lord if offered with clean hands. A mite, or
+a cup of cold water, or our daily labour, or the first-fruits of garden or
+field--all receive the blessing of our God if the hands that bring them
+are free from defilement. So is it with everything we offer to the Lord. A
+song of praise makes sweet music in the hearing of our God if it come from
+pure lips! Purity, as Thomas a' Kempis says, gives the wings which carry
+everything into the Father's presence.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-fourth
+
+_THE VOICE OF THE DEAD_
+
+HEBREWS xi. 1-6.
+
+
+With what voice shall we speak when we are dead? What will men hear when
+they turn their thoughts toward us? What part of us will remain alive,
+singing or jarring in men's remembrance? It is the biggest part of us that
+retains its voice. In some it is wealth, in others it is goodness; some
+go on speaking in their cruelty, others in their gentleness. Cain still
+speaks in his jealous passion. Abel speaks in his faith. Dorcas speaks in
+her "good works and alms-deeds which she did"; Judas Iscariot speaks in
+his betrayal. Yes, something goes on speaking. What shall it be?
+
+But these biggest things not only continue to speak in the ears of memory,
+they persist as actual forces in the common life of men. Our faith is not
+buried with our bones, nor is our avarice or pride. Our characters do not
+die when our hearts cease to beat. "The evil that men do lives after
+them," and so does the good. But deeper than our deeds, our dominant
+dispositions persist and mingle as friends or enemies in the lives of
+others. By them we, being dead, still speak, and we speak in subtle forces
+which aid or hinder other pilgrims who are fighting their way to God and
+heaven.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-fifth
+
+_FIRST, MY BROTHER!_
+
+MATTHEW v. 17-24.
+
+
+"First be reconciled to thy brother." We are to put first things first.
+When we bring a gift unto the Lord He looks at the hand that brings it. If
+the hand is defiled the gift is rejected. "Wash you, make you clean."
+"First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
+
+All this tells us why some resplendent gifts are rejected, and why some
+commonplace gifts are received amid heavenly song. This is why the widow's
+mite goes shining through the years. The hand that offered it was hallowed
+and purified with sacrifice. Shall we say that in that palm there was
+something akin to the pierced hands of the Lord? The mite had intimate
+associations with the Cross.
+
+And it also tells me why so much of our public worship is offensive to our
+Lord. We come to the church from a broken friendship. Some holy thing has
+been broken on the way. Someone's estate has been invaded, and his
+treasure spoiled. Someone has been wronged, and God will not touch our
+gift. "Leave there thy gift; first be reconciled to thy brother."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE FIRE OF ENVY_
+
+"_Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work!_"
+     --JAMES iii. 13-18.
+
+
+In Milton's "Comus" we read of a certain potion which has the power to
+pervert all the senses of everyone who drinks it. Nothing is apprehended
+truly. Sight and hearing and taste are all disordered, and the victim is
+all unconscious of the confusion. The deadly draught is the minister of
+deceptive chaos.
+
+And envy is like that potion when it is drunk by the spirit. It perverts
+every moral and spiritual sense. The envious is more fatally stricken than
+the blind. He gazes upon untruth and thinks it true. He looks upon
+confusion and thinks it order. Envy is colour-blind. It is like jealousy,
+of which it is a blood-relation. It never sees anything in its natural
+hues. It misinterprets everything.
+
+No one can quench the unholy fire of envy but the mighty God Himself. It
+is like a prairie fire: once kindled it is beyond our power to stamp it
+out. But God's coolness is more than a match for all our feverish heat.
+His quenchings are transformations. He converts the perverted and changes
+envy into goodwill. The bitter pool is made sweet. For confusion He gives
+order, for ashes He gives beauty, and in the face of an old enemy we see
+the countenance of a friend.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE CONFESSION OF SIN_
+
+"_I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me._"
+     --PSALM li. 1-12.
+
+
+Sin that is unconfessed shuts out the energies of grace. Confession makes
+the soul receptive of the bountiful waters of life. We open the door to
+God as soon as we name our sin. Guilt that is penitently confessed is
+already in the "consuming fire" of God's love. When I "acknowledge my sin"
+I begin to enter into the knowledge of "pardon, joy, and peace." But if I
+hide my sin I also hide myself from "the unsearchable riches of Christ."
+"If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
+to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
+
+I must then make confession of sin in my daily exercises in the presence
+of the Lord. I am taking the way to recovered victory when I tell the Lord
+the story of my defeat. Satan strengthens his awful chains when he can
+induce me to keep silence concerning my sin. All his plans are thrown into
+confusion as soon as I "pour out my soul before the Lord." When I fall let
+me not add to my guilt the further sin of secrecy. Unconfessed sin breeds
+in its lurking-place and multiplies its hateful offspring. The soul that
+makes confession is washed through and through, and the seeds of iniquity
+are driven out of my soul.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-eighth
+
+_CLEAN AND UNCLEAN ANGER_
+
+EPHESIANS iv. 25-32.
+
+
+"Let all anger be put away from you." And yet only a moment ago the
+Apostle had written the words, "Be ye angry and sin not." My power of
+anger is not to be destroyed, it is to be transformed and purified. Anger
+can be like an unclean bonfire; it can also be like "a sea of glass
+mingled with fire." There can be more smoke than light in it, more selfish
+passion than holy purpose. The fuel that feeds it may be envy, and
+jealousy, and spite, and not a big desire for the good of men and the
+glory of God. Worldly anger "is set on fire of hell"; holy anger borrows
+flame from the altar-fires of God.
+
+Our anger reveals our character. What is the quality of our anger? What
+kindles it? Is it incited by our own wrongs or by the wrongs of another?
+Is it set on fire by self-indulgence or by a noble sympathy? Here is a
+sentence which describes the anger of the Apostle Paul: "Who is made to
+stumble and I burn not?" Paul's holy anger was made to burn by oppression,
+by the cruelty inflicted upon his fellow-men. His fire had nothing unclean
+in it; it was pure as the flame of oxygen.
+
+This is the anger we must cherish. We cannot "work ourselves up" into it.
+We must seek to be "baptized with the Holy Ghost _and with fire_."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-ninth
+
+_NOBLE REVENGE_
+
+"_I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy._"
+--PSALM vii. 4.
+
+
+That is the noblest revenge, and in those moments David had intimate
+knowledge of the spirit of his Lord. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him!"
+
+_Evil for good is devil-like._ To receive a favour and to return a blow!
+To obtain the gift of language, and then to use one's speech to curse the
+giver! To use a sacred sword is unholy warfare! All this is devil-like.
+
+_Evil for evil is beast-like._ Yes, the dog bites back when it is bitten.
+The dog returns snarl for snarl, venom for venom. And if, when I have been
+injured, I "pay a man back in his own coin," if I "give him as good as he
+gave," I am living on the plane of the beast.
+
+_Good for good is man-like._ When I requite a man's kindness by kindness!
+When I send presents to one who loads me with benefits! This is a true and
+manly thing to do, and lifts us far above the beast.
+
+_Good for evil is God-like._ Yes, that lifts me into "the heavenly places
+in Christ Jesus." Then I have "the mind of Christ." Then do I unto others
+as my Saviour has done unto me.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Thirtieth
+
+_IRRESISTIBLE ARTILLERY_
+
+"_When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back._"
+--PSALM lvi.
+
+
+But it must be a real "cry"! It must not be an idle recitation which sheds
+no blood. It must be a cry like the cry of the drowning, a cry which
+cleaves the air like a bullet. Said a man to me some while ago, "Assault
+the heavens with cries for me!" That is the cry which takes the kingdom by
+storm.
+
+When such a cry rends the heavens, "my enemies turn back." A secret and
+irresistible artillery begins to play upon them, and their strength fails.
+Yes, believing prayer calls these invisible allies into the field. "The
+mountains are full of horses and chariots of fire round about!" And the
+enemy flies!
+
+"_This I know._" The psalmist is building upon experience. The miracle
+has happened a hundred times. Many a morning has he seen the enemy
+vaingloriously tramping the field, and he has cried unto the Lord, and
+before nightfall there has been a perfect rout. Blessed is the man who has
+had such heartening dealings with the Lord that he can now face a hostile
+host in unclouded faith and assurance!
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Thirty-first
+
+_UNDER HIS WINGS_
+
+"_In the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge._"
+--PSALM lvii.
+
+
+Could anything be more tenderly gracious than this figure of hiding under
+the shadow of God's wings? It speaks of bosom-warmth, and bosom-shelter,
+and bosom-rest. "Let me to Thy bosom fly!"
+
+And what strong wings they are! Under those wings I am secure even from
+the lions. My animal passions shall not hurt me when I am "hiding in God."
+The fiercest onslaughts of the devil are powerless to break those mighty
+wings. The tenderest little chick, "one of these little ones," nestling
+behind this soft and gentle shelter, shall be perfectly secure; "none of
+its bones shall be broken."
+
+I do not wonder that this sheltering psalmist begins to sing! "_I will
+sing and give praise!_" I have often listened to the sheltering chicks,
+hiding behind the mother's wings, and I have heard that quaint,
+comfortable, contented sound for which our language has no name. It is a
+sound of incipient song, the musical murmur of satisfaction. "I will sing
+unto Thee ... for Thy mercy is great."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The First
+
+_THE SOUL IN PRISON_
+
+"_Bring my soul out of prison!_"
+--PSALM cxlii.
+
+
+I too, have my prison-house, and only the Lord can deliver me.
+
+There is _the prison-house of sin_. It is a dark and suffocating
+hole, without friendly light or morning air. And it is haunted by such
+affrighting shapes, as though my iniquities had incarnated themselves in
+ugly and repulsive forms. None but the Lord can bring me out.
+
+And there is _the prison-house of sorrow_. My griefs sometimes wrap me
+about like cold confining walls, which have neither windows nor doors. It
+seems as though a fluid sorrow can congeal into a cold, hard temperament,
+and hold me in its icy embrace. And none but the Lord can bring me out.
+
+And there is _the prison-house of death_. I must perforce pass through the
+gate of death. Shall I find it a castle of gloom, or is there another gate
+through which I shall emerge into the fair, sweet paradise of God? My
+Master is Lord of the road! And He tells me that death shall not be a
+castle of captivity, but only a thoroughfare through which I shall pass
+into the realm of eternal day.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Second
+
+_HOW TO APPROACH A CRISIS_
+
+"_It shall be given you in that same hour._"
+--MATTHEW x. 16-28.
+
+
+And so I am not to worry about the coming crisis! "God never is before His
+time, and never is behind!" When the hour is come, I shall find that the
+great Host hath made "all things ready."
+
+When the crisis comes _He will tell me how to rest_. It is a great matter
+to know just how to rest--how to be quiet when "all without tumultuous
+seems." We irritate and excite our souls about the coming emergency, and
+we approach it with worn and feverish spirits, and so mar our Master's
+purpose and work.
+
+When the crisis comes _He will tell me what to do_. The orders are not
+given until the appointed day. Why should I fume and fret and worry as to
+what the sealed envelope contains? "It is enough that He knows all," and
+when the hour strikes the secrets shall be revealed.
+
+And when the crisis comes _He will tell me what to say_. I need not begin
+to prepare my retorts and my responses. What shall I say when death comes,
+to me or to my loved one? Never mind, He will tell thee. And what when
+sorrow or persecution comes? Never mind, He will tell thee.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Third
+
+_TRANSFORMING THE HARD HEART_
+
+_The Lord "turned the flint into a fountain of waters."_
+--PSALM cxiv.
+
+
+What a violent conjunction, the flint becoming the birthplace of a spring!
+And yet this is happening every day. Men who are as "hard as flint," whose
+hearts are "like the nether millstone," become springs of gentleness and
+fountains of exquisite compassion. Beautiful graces, like lovely ferns,
+grow in the home of severities, and transform the grim, stern soul into a
+garden of fragrant friendships. This is what Zacch�us was like when his
+flint became a fountain. It is what Matthew the publican was like when the
+Lord changed his hard heart into a land of springs.
+
+No one is "too far gone." No hardness is beyond the love and pity of God.
+The well of eternal life can gush forth even in a desert waste, and "where
+sin abounds grace doth much more abound." Let us bring our hardness to the
+Lord. Let us see what He can make of our flint. When we are dry and
+"feelingless," and desire is dead, let us bring this Sahara to the great
+Restorer, and "the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Fourth
+
+_SPIRITUAL BUOYANCY_
+
+"_When thou passeth through the waters they shall not overflow thee._"
+--ISAIAH xliii. 1-7.
+
+
+When Mrs. Booth, the mother of the Salvation Army, was dying, she quietly
+said, "The waters are rising but I am not sinking." But then she had been
+saying that all through her life. Other floods besides the waters of death
+had gathered about her soul. Often had the floods been out and the roads
+were deep in affliction. But she had never sunk! The good Lord made her
+buoyant, and she rode upon the storm! This, then, is the promise of the
+Lord, not that the waters of trouble shall never gather about the
+believer, but that he shall never be overwhelmed. He shall "keep his head
+above them." Yes, to him shall be given the grace of "aboveness." He shall
+never be under, always above! It is the precious gift of spiritual
+buoyancy, sanctified good spirits, the power of the Christian hope. When
+we are in Christ Jesus circumstances shall never be our master. One is our
+Master, and "we are more than conquerors in Him that loved us, and washed
+us from our sins in His own blood."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Fifth
+
+_EVERYWHERE THE GATE OF HEAVEN_
+
+"_Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not._"
+--GENESIS xxviii. 10-22.
+
+
+That is the first time for many a day that Jacob had named the name of
+God. In all the dark story of his wicked intrigue the name of God is never
+mentioned. Jacob wanted to forget God! God would be a disturbing presence!
+But here he encounters Him in a dream, and in the most unlikely place.
+"And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!"
+
+Jacob had yet to learn that there is everywhere "a ladder set up on the
+earth and the top of it reaches to heaven." There was a ladder from the
+very tent in which he wore his deceptive skin. There was a ladder from the
+secret place where he and his mother wove their mischievous plot. There is
+no corner of earth which is cut away from the Divine vigilance. God gets
+at us everywhere.
+
+But there is a merciful side to all this. If the ladder be everywhere, and
+God can get at us, then also everywhere we can get at God. There are
+"ascending angels" who will carry our confessions, our prayers, our sighs
+and mournings, to the very heart of the eternally gracious God.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Sixth
+
+_THE HOME-BIRD_
+
+PSALM xci. 1-12.
+
+
+I read a sentence the other day in which a very powerful modern writer
+describes a certain woman as "having God on her visiting list." We may
+recoil from the phrase, but it very vitally describes a very awful
+commonplace. Countless thousands have God on their visiting lists. They
+pay Him courtesy-calls, and between the calls He is forgotten. Perhaps the
+call is paid once a week in the social function of worship. Perhaps it is
+paid more rarely, like calls between comparative strangers. How great the
+contrast between a caller and one who dwells in the secret place! It is
+the difference between a flirt and a "home-bird," between one who flits
+about on a score of fancies, and one who settles down in the solid
+satisfaction of a supreme affection.
+
+"_Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty._" Such is the reward of
+the "home-bird," the settled friend of the Lord. The shadow of the Lord
+shall rest upon him continually. I sometimes read of our monarchs being
+"shadowed" by protective police. In an infinitely more real and intimate
+sense the soul that dwells in "the secret place" is shadowed by the
+sleepless grace and love of God.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Seventh
+
+_LEAVING ITS MARK_
+
+"_Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will make thee a threshing
+instrument with teeth._"
+--ISAIAH xli. 8-14.
+
+
+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 a
+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 them
+with strength by which they will leave a noble mark upon the history of
+their time.
+
+And so the "worm" may take heart. The mighty God can make us stronger than
+our circumstances. We 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," saith the Lord,
+"and shall He not do it?"
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Eighth
+
+_REVISITING OLD ALTARS_
+
+"_I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me
+in the day of my distress._"
+--GENESIS xxxv. 1-7.
+
+
+It is a blessed thing to revisit our early altars. It is good to return
+to the haunts of early vision. Places and things have their sanctifying
+influences, and can recall us to lost experiences. I know a man to whom
+the scent of a white, wild rose is always a call to prayer. I know another
+to whom Grasmere is always the window of holy vision. Sometimes a
+particular pew in a particular church can throw the heavens open, and we
+see the Son of God. The old Sunday-school has sometimes taken an old man
+back to his childhood and back to his God. So I do not wonder that God led
+Jacob back to Bethel, and that in the old place of blessing he
+reconsecrated himself to the Lord.
+
+It is a revelation of the loving-kindness of God that we have all these
+helps to the recovery of past experiences. Let us use them with reverence.
+And in our early days let us make them. Let us build altars of communion
+which in later life we shall love to revisit. Let us make our early home
+"the house of God and the gate of heaven." Let us multiply deeds of
+service which will make countless places fragrant for all our after
+years.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Ninth
+
+_THE ROCK AND THE BOWING WALL_
+
+PSALM lxii.
+
+
+Here are two symbols by which the psalmist describes the confidence of the
+righteous. "_He only is my rock._" Only yesterday I had the shelter of a
+great rock on a storm-swept mountain side. The wind tore along the
+heights, driving the rain like hail, but in the opening of the rock our
+shelter was complete.
+
+And the second symbol is this: "_He is my high place._" The high place is
+the home of the chamois, out of reach of the arrow. "Flee as a bird to
+your mountain!" Get beyond the hunter's range! Our security is found in
+loftiness. It is our unutterable privilege to live in the heavenly places
+in Christ Jesus. Such is the confidence of the righteous.
+
+In this psalm there is also another pair of symbols describing the
+futility of the wicked. The wicked is "_as a bowing wall._" The wall is
+out of perpendicular, out of conformity with the truth of the plumb-line,
+and it will assuredly topple into ruin. So is it with the wicked: he is
+building awry, and he will fall into moral disaster. He is also "_as a
+tottering fence._" The wind and the rain dislodge the fence, it rots at
+its foundations, and one day it lies prone upon the ground.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Tenth
+
+_REGISTERING A VERDICT_
+
+"_The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey._"
+--JOSHUA xxiv. 22-28.
+
+
+Here was a definite decision. Our peril is that we spend our life in
+wavering and we never decide. We are like a jury which is always hearing
+evidence and never gives a verdict. We do much thinking, but we never make
+up our minds. We let our eyes wander over many things, but we make no
+choice. Life has no crisis, no culmination.
+
+Now people who never decide spend their days in hoping to do so. But this
+kind of life becomes a vagrancy and not a noble and illumined crusade. We
+drift through our days, we do not steer, and we never arrive at any rich
+and stately haven.
+
+It is therefore vitally wise to "make a vow unto the Lord." It is good to
+pull our loose thinkings together and to "gird up the loins of the mind."
+Let a man, at some definite place, and at some definite moment, make the
+supreme choice of his life.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Eleventh
+
+_THE HILL COUNTRY OF THE SOUL_
+
+PSALM cxxi.
+
+
+There should be a hill country in every life, some great up-towering peaks
+which dominate the common plain. There should be an upland district, where
+springs are born, and where rivers of inspiration have their birth. "I
+will lift up mine eyes unto the hills."
+
+The soul that knows no hills is sure to be oppressed with the monotony of
+the road. The inspiration to do little things comes from the presence of
+big things. It is amazing what dull trifles we can get through when a
+radiant love is near. A noble companionship glorifies the dingiest road.
+And what if that Companion be God? Then, surely, "the common round and
+daily task" have a light thrown upon them from "the beauty of His
+countenance."
+
+The "heavenlies" are our salvation and our defence. "His righteousness is
+like the great mountains." "The mountains bring forth peace unto His
+people."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twelfth
+
+_THE BULB AND THE SOIL_
+
+"_He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them,
+he it is that loveth Me._"
+--JOHN xiv. 15-24.
+
+
+Yes, but how can I keep them? Some one sent me a bulb which requires a
+certain kind of soil, but he also sent me the soil in which to grow it. He
+sent instructions, but he also sent power. And when I am bidden to keep a
+commandment I feel as though I have received the bulb but not the soil!
+But is this God's way of dealing with His people? I will read on if
+perchance I may find the gift of the soil.
+
+"He that abideth in Me ... the same bringeth forth much fruit." That is
+the gift I seek. For the keeping of His commandments the Lord provides
+Himself. I am not called upon to raise fruits out of the soil of my own
+will, out of my own infirmity of aspiration or desire. I can rest
+everything in God! I can "abide in Him," and I may have the holy energies
+of the Godhead to produce in me the fruits of a holy and obedient life.
+The good Lord provides both the bulb and the soil.
+
+It is the tragedy of life that we forget this, and seek to make a soil-bed
+of our own. And thus do we suffer the calamity of fruitless labour, the
+heavy drudgery of tasks beyond our strength. "Come unto Me, all ye that
+labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Thirteenth
+
+_GRUDGES_
+
+"_Thou shalt not bear any grudge._"
+--LEVITICUS xix. 11-18.
+
+
+How searching is that demand upon the soul! My forgiveness of my brother
+is to be complete. No sullenness is to remain, no sulky temper which so
+easily gives birth to thunder and lightning. There is to be no painful
+aloofness, no assumption of a superiority which rains contempt upon the
+offender. When I forgive, I am not to carry any powder forward on the
+journey. I am to empty out all my explosives, all my ammunition of anger
+and revenge. I am not to "bear any grudge."
+
+I cannot meet this demand. It is altogether beyond me. I might utter words
+of forgiveness, but I cannot reveal a clear, bright, blue sky without a
+touch of storm brewing anywhere. But the Lord of grace can do it for me.
+He can change my weather. He can create a new climate. He can "renew a
+right spirit within me," and in that holy atmosphere nothing shall live
+which seeks to poison and destroy. Grudges shall die "like cloud-spots in
+the dawn." Revenge, that awful creation of the unclean, feverish soul,
+shall give place to goodwill, the strong genial presence which makes its
+home in the new heart.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Fourteenth
+
+_IMPERFECT CONSECRATION_
+
+MATTHEW xix. 16-22.
+
+
+The rich young ruler consecrated a part, but was unwilling to consecrate
+the whole. He hallowed the inch but not the mile. He would go part of the
+way, but not to the end. And the peril is upon us all. We give ourselves
+to the Lord, but we reserve some liberties. We offer Him our house, but
+we mark some rooms "Private." And that word "Private," denying the Lord
+admission, crucifies Him afresh. He has no joy in the house so long as any
+rooms are withheld.
+
+Dr. F. B. Meyer has told us how his early Christian life was marred and
+his ministry paralyzed just because he had kept back one key from the
+bunch of keys he had given to the Lord. Every key save one! The key of one
+room kept for personal use, and the Lord shut out. And the effects of the
+incomplete consecration were found in lack of power, lack of assurance,
+lack of joy and peace.
+
+The "joy of the Lord" begins when we hand over the last key. We sit with
+Christ on His throne as soon as we have surrendered all our crowns, and
+made Him sole and only ruler of our life and its possessions.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Fifteenth
+
+_THE WITNESS OF YESTERDAY_
+
+PSALM lxxviii. 1-8.
+
+
+Our yesterdays are to be the teachers of our children. We are to take them
+over our road, and show them the pitfalls where we stumbled and the snares
+that lured us away. And we are to show them how we found the springs of
+grace, and how the Lord made Himself known to us in daily providence and
+care. We are to relate His exploits, "His wonderful dealings with the
+children of men." We must make our life witness of God to our children,
+and when their minds roam over our road they must see it radiant with the
+grace and mercy of the Lord.
+
+The best inheritance I can give my child is a steadfast witness of my
+knowledge of God. The testimony of a light that never failed may give him
+the needful wisdom when his own way becomes troubled with clouds and
+darkness. And what a story it is, this story of the deeds of our gracious
+God. It is full of quickening for weary and desponding souls. It is a
+perfect reservoir of inspiration for those whose desire has failed, and in
+whose lives the wells of impulse have become dry. Let us bring forward
+yesterday's wealth to enrich the life of to-day. "Do ye not remember the
+miracle of the loaves?"
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Sixteenth
+
+_CROWDING OUT GOD_
+
+"_Lest thou forget._"
+--DEUTERONOMY iv. 5-13.
+
+
+That is surely the worst affront we can put upon anybody. We may oppose a
+man and hinder him in his work, or we may directly injure him, or we may
+ignore him, and treat him as nothing. Or we may forget him! Opposition,
+injury, contempt, neglect, forgetfulness! Surely this is a descending
+scale, and the last is the worst. And yet we can forget the Lord God. We
+can forget all His benefits. We can easily put Him out of mind. We can
+live as though He were dead. "My children have forgotten Me."
+
+What shall we do to escape this great disaster? "_Take heed to thyself!_"
+To take heed is to be at the helm and not asleep in the cabin. It is to
+steer and not to drift. It is to keep our eyes on the compass and our
+hands on the wheel. It is to know where we are going. We never
+deliberately forget our Lord; we carelessly drift into it. "Take heed."
+
+"_And keep thy soul diligently._" Gardens run to seed, and ill weeds grow
+apace. The fair things are crowded out, and the weed reigns everywhere. It
+is ever so with my soul. If I neglect it, the flowers of holy desire and
+devotion will be choked by weeds of worldliness. God will be crowded out,
+and the garden of the soul will become a wilderness of neglect and sin.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Seventeenth
+
+_BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS_
+
+"_He read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings._"
+--JOSHUA viii. 30-35.
+
+
+We are inclined to read only what pleases us, to hug the blessings and to
+ignore the warnings. We bask in the light, we close our eyes to the
+lightning. We recount the promises, we shut our ears to the rebukes. We
+love the passages which speak of our Master's gentleness, we turn away
+from those which reveal His severity. And all this is unwise, and
+therefore unhealthy. We become spiritually soft and an�mic. We lack moral
+stamina. We are incapable of noble hatred and of holy scorn. We are
+invertebrate, and on the evil day we are not able to stand.
+
+We must read "all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings."
+We must let the Lord brace us with His severities. We must gaze steadily
+upon the appalling fearfulness of sin, and upon its terrific issues. At
+all costs we must get rid of the spurious gentleness that holds compromise
+with uncleanness, that effeminate affection which is destitute of holy
+fire. We must seek the love which burns everlastingly against all sin; we
+must seek the gentleness which can fiercely grip a poisonous growth and
+tear it out to its last hidden root. We must seek that holy love which is
+as a "consuming fire."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Eighteenth
+
+_THE SUBTLETY OF TEMPTATION_
+
+JAMES i. 12-20.
+
+
+Evil enticements always come to us in borrowed attire. In the Boer War
+ammunition was carried out in piano cases, and military advices were
+transmitted in the skins of melons. And that is the way of the enemy of
+our souls. He makes us think we are receiving music when he is sending
+explosives; he promises life, but his gift is laden with the seeds of
+death. He offers us liberty, and he hides his chains in dazzling flowers.
+"Things are not what they seem."
+
+And so our enemy uses mirages, and will-o'-the-wisps and tinselled crowns.
+He lights friendly fires on perilous coasts to snare us to our ruin. And
+therefore we need clear, sure eyes. We need a refined moral sense which
+can discriminate between the true and the false, and which can discern the
+enemy even when he comes as "an angel of light." And we may have this
+wisdom from "the God of all wisdom." By His grace we may be kept morally
+sensitive, and we shall know our foe even when he is a long way off.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Ninteenth
+
+_THE THOUGHT AFAR OFF_
+
+PSALM cxxxix. 1-12.
+
+
+"Thou knowest my thought afar off." That fills me with awe. I cannot find
+a hiding-place where I can sin in secrecy. I cannot build an apparent
+sanctuary and conceal evil within its walls. I cannot with a sheep's skin
+hide the wolf. I cannot wrap my jealousy up in flattery and keep it
+unknown. "Thou God seest me." He knows the bottom thought that creeps in
+the basement of my being. Nothing surprises God! He sees all my sin. So am
+I filled with awe.
+
+"Thou knowest my thought afar off." This fills me also with hope and joy.
+He sees the faintest, weakest desire, aspiring after goodness. He sees the
+smallest fire of affection burning uncertainly in my soul. He sees every
+movement of penitence which looks toward home. He sees every little
+triumph, and every altar I build along life's way. Nothing is overlooked.
+My God is not like a policeman, only looking for crimes; He is the God of
+grace, looking for graces, searching for jewels to adorn His crown. So am
+I filled with hope and joy.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twentieth
+
+_TAMPERING WITH THE LABEL_
+
+1 JOHN iii. 4-10.
+
+
+Sin is transgression. It is the deliberate climbing of the fence. We see
+the trespass-board, and in spite of the warning we stride into the
+forbidden field. Sin is not ignorance, it is intention. We sin when we are
+wide-awake! There are teachers abroad who would soften words like these.
+They offer us terms which appear to lessen the harshness of our actions;
+they give our sin an aspect of innocence. But to alter the label on the
+bottle does not change the character of the contents. Poison is poison
+give it what name we please. "Sin is the transgression of the law."
+
+Let us be on our guard against the men whose pockets are filled with
+deceptive labels. Let us vigilantly resist all teachings which would
+chloroform the conscience. Let us prefer true terms to merely nice ones.
+Let us call sin by its right name, and let us tolerate no moral conjuring
+either with ourselves or with others. The first essential in all moral
+reformation is to call sin "sin." "If we confess our sin He is faithful
+and just to forgive us our sin."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-first
+
+_GRACE REIGNS!_
+
+ROMANS v. 12-21.
+
+
+When old Mr. Honest came to the river, and he entered the cold waters of
+death, the last words he was heard to utter by those who stood on the
+shore were these:--"Grace reigns!" All through his pilgrimage old Mr.
+Honest had been in Emmanuel's land where grace reigned night and day. It
+was through grace that he had found the way of life. It was through grace
+that he had been delivered from the beasts and pitfalls of the road. It
+was grace that had given him lilies of peace, and springs of refreshment,
+and the fine air that inspired him in difficult tasks. And in death he
+still found "grace abounding," and the Lord of the changing road was also
+Lord of the dark waters through which he passed into the radiant glories
+of the cloudless day.
+
+In every yard of a faithful pilgrimage we shall find the decrees of
+sovereign love. We are never in alien country. "Grace reigns" in every
+hill and valley, through every green pasture and over every rugged road,
+in every moment of "the day of life," and in the last sharp passage
+through the transient night of death.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-second
+
+_THE THREE GARDENS_
+
+REVELATION xxii. 1-14.
+
+
+The Bible opens with a garden. It closes with a garden. The first is the
+Paradise that was lost. The last is Paradise regained. And between the two
+there is a third garden, the garden of Gethsemane. And it is through the
+unspeakable bitterness and desolation of Gethsemane that we find again the
+glorious garden through which flows "the river of water of life." Without
+Gethsemane no New Jerusalem! Without its mysterious and unfathomable night
+no blessed sunrise of eternal hope! "We were reconciled to God by the
+death of His Son."
+
+We are always in dire peril of regarding our redemption lightly. We hold
+it cheaply. Privileges easily come to be esteemed as rights. And even
+grace itself can lose the strength of heavenly favour and can be received
+and used as our due. "Gethsemane can I forget?" Yes, I can; and in the
+forgetfulness I lose the sacred awe of my redemption, and I miss the real
+glory of "Paradise regained." "Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a
+price." That is the remembrance that keeps the spirit lowly, and that
+fills the heart with love for Him "whose I am," and whom I ought to
+serve.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-third
+
+_THE PROCESS AND THE END_
+
+"_Ye have seen the end of the Lord: that the Lord
+is very pitiful, and of tender mercy._"
+--JAMES v. 7-11.
+
+
+And so we are bidden to be patient. "We must wait to the end of the Lord."
+The Lord's ends are attained through very mysterious means. Sometimes the
+means are in contrast to the ends. He works toward the harvest through
+winter's frost and snow. The maker of chaste and delicate porcelain
+reaches his lovely ends through an awful mortar, where the raw material of
+bone and clay is pounded into a cream. In that mortar-chamber we have no
+hint of the finished ware. But be patient, even in this chamber of
+affliction the ware is on the way to glory!
+
+And so it is with the ministries of our Lord. He leads us through discords
+into harmonies, through opposition into union, through adversities into
+peace. His means of grace are processes, sometimes gentle, sometimes
+severe; and our folly is to assume that we have reached His ends when we
+are only on the way to them. "The end of the Lord is very pitiful, and of
+tender mercy." "Be patient, therefore," until it shall be spoken of thee
+and me, "And God saw that it was good."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-fourth
+
+_MOVING TOWARDS DAYBREAK_
+
+"_He hath brought me into darkness, but not into light._"
+--LAMENTATIONS iii. 1-9.
+
+
+But a man may be in darkness, and yet in motion toward the light. I was in
+the darkness of the subway, and it was close and oppressive, but I was
+moving toward the light and fragrance of the open country. I entered into
+a tunnel in the Black Country in England, but the motion was continued,
+and we emerged amid fields of loveliness. And therefore the great thing to
+remember is that God's darknesses are not His goals; His tunnels are means
+to get somewhere else. Yes, His darknesses are appointed ways to His
+light. In God's keeping we are always moving, and we are moving towards
+Emmanuel's land, where the sun shines, and the birds sing night and day.
+
+There is no stagnancy for the God-directed soul. He is ever guiding us,
+sometimes with the delicacy of a glance, sometimes with the firmer
+ministry of a grip, and He moves with us always, even through "the valley
+of the shadow of death." Therefore, be patient, my soul! The darkness is
+not thy bourn, the tunnel is not thy abiding home! He will bring thee out
+into a large place where thou shalt know "the liberty of the glory of the
+children of God."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE FRESH EYE_
+
+"_His compassions fail not: they are new every morning._"
+--LAMENTATIONS iii. 22-33.
+
+
+We have not to live on yesterday's manna; we can gather it fresh to-day.
+Compassion becomes stale when it becomes thoughtless. It is new thought
+that keeps our pity strong. If our perception of need can remain vivid, as
+vivid as though we had never seen it before, our sympathies will never
+fail. The fresh eye insures the sensitive heart. And our God's compassions
+are so new because He never becomes accustomed to our need. He always sees
+it with an eye that is never dulled by the commonplace; He never becomes
+blind with much seeing! We can look at a thing so often that we cease to
+see it. God always sees a thing as though He were seeing it for the first
+time. "Thou, God, seest me," and "His compassions fail not."
+
+And if my compassions are to be like a river that never knows drought, I
+must cultivate a freshness of sight. The horrible can lose its horrors.
+The daily tragedy can become the daily commonplace. My neighbour's needs
+can become as familiar as my furniture, and I may never see either the one
+or the other. And therefore must I ask the Lord for the daily gift of
+discerning eyes. "Lord, that I may receive my sight." And with an always
+newly-awakened interest may I reveal "the compassions of the Lord!"
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE CELLARS OF AFFLICTION_
+
+PSALM xxxiv. 9-22.
+
+
+Samuel Rutherford used to say that whenever he found himself in the
+cellars of afflictions he used to look about for the King's wine. He would
+look for the wine-bottles of the promises and drink rich draughts of
+vitalizing grace. And surely that is the best deliverance in all
+affliction, to be made so spiritually exhilarant that we can rise above
+it. I might be taken out of affliction, and emerge a poor slave and
+weakling. I might remain in affliction, and yet be king in the seeming
+servitude, "more than conqueror" in Christ Jesus. It is a great thing to
+be led through green pastures and by still waters; I think it is a greater
+thing to have a "table prepared before me _in the presence of mine
+enemies_." It is good to be able to sing in the sunny noon; it is better
+still to be able to sing "songs in the night."
+
+And this deliverance may always be ours in Christ Jesus. The Lord may not
+smooth out our circumstances, but we may have the regal right of peace. He
+may not save us from the sorrows of a newly-cut grave, but we may have the
+glorious strength of the immortal hope. God will enable us to be masters
+of all our circumstances, and none shall have a deadly hold upon us.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE MIGHT OF FRAILTY_
+
+PSALM cv. 23-36.
+
+
+That is the wonder of wonders, that the Almighty God will use frail
+humanity as the vehicles of His power, and will make Moses and Aaron shine
+with reflected glory. Man can send an electric current into a fragile
+carbon film and make it incandescent. He can send his voice across a
+continent, and make it speak on a distant shore. And the Lord God can do
+wonders compared with which these are only as the dimmest dreams. He can
+send His holy power into human speech, and the words can wake the dead. He
+can send His virtue into the human will, and its strength can shake the
+thrones of iniquity. He can send His love into the human heart, and the
+power of its affection can capture the bitterest foe.
+
+And so the word "impossible" becomes itself impossible when the soul of
+man is in fellowship with the Lord of Hosts. The pliant will becomes an
+iron pillar. The weak heart becomes "as a defended city" when it is the
+home of God. Dumb lips become the thrones of mysterious eloquence when
+touched with divine inspiration.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE TEST OF FULNESS_
+
+DEUTERONOMY viii. 1-10.
+
+
+"And thou shalt eat and be full, and thou shalt bless the Lord thy God."
+Fulness is surely a more searching test than want. Fulness induces sleep
+and forgetfulness. Many a man fights a good fight with Apollyon in the
+narrow way, who lapses into sleepy indifference on the Enchanted Ground.
+Men often sit down to a full table without "grace." Pain cries out to God,
+while boisterous health strides along in heedlessness. Yes, it is our
+fulness that constitutes our direst peril. "This was the iniquity of
+Sodom, _fulness_ of bread and abundance of idleness."
+
+And so our tests may come on the sunny day. A nation's supreme tests may
+come in its prosperity. The sunshine may do more damage than the
+lightning. The soul may falter even in Beulah land, where "the sun shines
+night and day."
+
+Prayer must not, therefore, tarry until sickness and adversity come. We
+must "pray without ceasing" in the cloudless noon, lest we are stricken
+with "the arrow that flieth by day." We must seek the eternal strength
+when no apparent enemy crouches at our gate, and when our easy road is
+lined with luxuriant flowers and fruit.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-ninth
+
+_INVINCIBLE RELIANCE_
+
+HEBREWS xi. 17-22.
+
+
+"Accounting that God was able." That is the faith that makes moral heroes.
+That is the faith that prompts mighty ventures and crusades. It is faith
+in God's willingness and ability to redeem His promises. It is faith that
+if I do my part He will most assuredly do His. It is faith that He cannot
+possibly fail. It is faith that when He makes a promise the money is
+already in the bank. It is faith that when He sends me into the wilderness
+the secret harvest is already ripe from which He will give me "daily
+bread." It is faith that "all things are now ready," and in that faith I
+will face the apparently impossible task.
+
+And thus the "impossible" leads me to the "prepared." The desert leads me
+to "fields white already." The hard call to sacrifice leads me to the
+"lamb in the thicket." "God is able," and He is never behind the time. The
+critical need unveils His grace.
+
+Faith goes out on this invincible reliance. It is "the assurance of things
+hoped for." And by faith it inherits these things and is rich and strong
+in their possession.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The First
+
+_OVERCHARGING THE HEART_
+
+LUKE xxi. 25-36.
+
+
+Here is a great peril. Our hearts may be "_overcharged with surfeiting,
+and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you
+unawares_." Our mode of living may send our spirits to sleep. Yes, we may
+so ill-use our bodies that the watchman sleeps at his post! We can
+over-eat, and dim our moral sight. A man's daily meals have vital
+relationship with his vision of the Lord. If I would have a clear spirit I
+must not overburden the flesh.
+
+And therefore am I bidden to "_take heed_" to myself. I must exercise
+common sense, the most important of all the senses. I must put a bridle
+upon my appetite, and hold it in subjection to my Lord.
+
+And I must "_watch_!" The devil is surpassingly cunning, and, if he can,
+he will mix an opiate even with the sacramental wine. He will lure me
+among the winsome poppies, and put me into a perilous sleep.
+
+And I must "_pray_!" I have a great and glorious Defender! Let me humbly
+yet confidently use Him, and I shall be delivered from the snares of
+appetite, and from the benumbing influence of all excess.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Second
+
+_THE POWER OF THE CROSS_
+
+JOHN x. 11-18.
+
+
+"I lay down my life." In that supreme sacrifice all other sacrifices turn
+pale. In the power of that sacrifice the blackest guilt finds forgiveness.
+Its energies seek out the ruined and desolate life with glorious offer of
+renewal. When the Lord laid down His life the entire race found a new
+beginning. Our hope is born at the Cross. It is there that "the burden of
+our sin rolls away." In His night we find daybreak. When He said, "It is
+finished," our soul could sing, "Life is begun."
+
+And so pilgrims gather at the Cross. Songs are heard there, the "sweetest
+ever sung by mortal tongues." And the power of the Cross never wanes. Its
+glorious grace reaches the soul to-day as in the earliest days. It
+inspires the despairing heart. It transforms the mind. It remakes the
+tissues of the will. There is no shattered power that the power of the
+Cross cannot restore. "We are complete in Him."
+
+    "In the Cross of Christ I glory,
+      Towering o'er the wrecks of time;
+    All the light of sacred story
+      Gathers round its head sublime."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Third
+
+_PREPARING FOR THE BRIDE_
+
+JOHN xiv. 1-14.
+
+
+Our Lord has prepared a place. It is the Bridegroom "getting the house
+ready" for the bride. And, therefore, the preparations are not made
+grudgingly and with slow reluctance. Everything is of the best, and done
+with the swift delight of love. "Come, for all things are now ready."
+
+And our Lord will fetch His bride to the prepared place. "I am the way."
+We become so wrapt up in Him that nothing else counts. I once travelled
+through the Black Country with a fascinating friend, and I never saw it!
+And we can become so absorbed in our glorious Bridegroom that we shall be
+almost oblivious of adverse circumstances which may beset us. Yes, even
+this is possible: "He that believeth in Me shall never see death!"
+
+"I will receive you unto Myself." The last obscuring veil is to be rent,
+and we are to see Him "face to face." And that will be home, for that will
+be satisfaction and peace. The deepest hunger of the soul will be
+gratified in a glorious contentment, and we shall find that "the half hath
+not been told."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Fourth
+
+_THE GREAT COMPANION_
+
+JOHN xiv. 15-31.
+
+
+And so even the road is to have the home-feeling in it. "_I will not leave
+you orphans._" Yes; there is to be something of home even in the way to
+it. I find something of Devonshire even in Dorsetshire; Shropshire gives
+me a taste of Wales. My Lord will not leave me comfortless. Heaven runs
+over, and I find its bounty before I arrive at its gate. The "Valley of
+Baca" becomes "a well."
+
+And there are to be wonderful visions to speed the pilgrim's feet. "_I
+will manifest Myself unto him._" At unexpected corners the glory will
+break! We shall be assuming that we have picked up a common traveller, and
+suddenly we shall discover it is the Lord, for He will be made known to us
+"in the breaking of bread." And at many "risings" of the road, where the
+climbing is stiff and burdensome, we shall be inspired with many a
+glorious view, and we shall see "the land that is very far off."
+
+The one condition is, that I keep His word. If I am obedient, He will
+appear unto me, and the humdrum road will shine with miracles of grace.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Fifth
+
+_THE TENT AND THE BUILDING_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS v. 1-9.
+
+
+At present we live in a tent--"_the earthly house of this tabernacle._"
+And often the tent is very rickety. There are rents through which the rain
+enters, and it trembles ominously in the great storm. Some tents are frail
+from the very beginning, half-rotten when they are put up, and they have
+no defence even against the breeze. But even the strongest tent becomes
+weather-worn and threadbare, and in the long run it "falls in a heap!" And
+what then?
+
+We shall exchange the frail tent for the solid house! "_If the earthly
+house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house
+not made with hands, eternal in the heavens._" When we are unclothed we
+shall find ourselves clothed with our house which is from heaven. The
+glory of this transition can only be confessed by "the saints in light."
+To awake, and discover that the creaking, breaking cords are left behind,
+that all the leakages are over, that we are no longer exposed to the
+cutting wind, that pain is passed, and sickness, and death--this must be a
+wonder of inconceivable ecstasy!
+
+And "absent from the body" we shall be "present with the Lord."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Sixth
+
+_HOME-LIFE IN GOD_
+
+JOHN xvii. 20-26.
+
+
+The home-life in God is to be a life of perfect union--"_I in them, and
+Thou in Me._" Home is only another name for union. It is the perfect
+fusion of life with life, the harmonizing of differences as many different
+notes combine to form the mystery of choral song. And so will it be in the
+home-land! Our manifold individualities will be retained, but we shall
+"fit into one another," and in the perfect harmony we shall hear the "new
+song" of heaven.
+
+And we are to prepare that union by the contemplation of the glory of the
+Lord. "_That they may behold My glory._" Yes, and we can begin to do that
+now. We can lift our eyes away from the ugly compromises of men and fix
+them upon the radiant holiness of the Lord. We can look away from the
+dirty Alpine village and gaze upon the virgin snow of the uplifted
+heights. "Looking unto Jesus!"
+
+And in that contemplation we shall most assuredly become transformed. "_I
+have given unto them the glory which Thou gavest Me._" That is our
+wonderful possibility. For thee and me is this prize offered, we can
+"awake in His likeness."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Seventh
+
+_THINGS MISSING IN HEAVEN_
+
+REVELATION xxi. 1-7.
+
+
+What a number of "conspicuous absences" there are to be in "the
+home-land!"
+
+No more sea! John was in Patmos, and the sea rolled between him and his
+kinsmen. The sea was a minister of estrangement. But in the home-country
+every cause of separation is to be done away, and the family life is to be
+one of inconceivable intimacy. No more sea!
+
+And no more pain! Its work is done, and therefore the worker is put away.
+When the building is completed the scaffolding may be removed. When the
+patient is in good health the medicine bottles can be dispensed with. And
+so shall it be with pain and all its attendants. "The inhabitant never
+says: 'I am sick!'"
+
+And no more death! "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death." Yes,
+he, too, shall drop his scythe, and his lax hand shall destroy no more for
+ever. Death himself shall die! And all things that have shared his work
+shall die with him. "The former things have passed away." The wedding-peal
+which welcomes the Lamb's bride will ring the funeral knell of Death and
+all his sable company.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Eighth
+
+_THE CITIZENS OF THE HOME-LAND_
+
+REVELATION vii. 9-17.
+
+
+The citizen of "the home-land" wears white robes. His habits are perfectly
+clean. And the purity which he wears is a Divine gift and not a human
+accomplishment. It cannot be attained by self-sacrifice; it is ours
+through the sacrifice of our Lord. "They have washed their robes and made
+them white in the blood of the Lamb."
+
+And every citizen of the home-land bears a palm in his hand. It is the
+emblem of conquest and sovereignty. By the grace of Christ they have been
+lifted above self and sin, and the devil, and death, and "made to sit with
+Him" on His throne. The palm is the heavenly symbol that all their
+spiritual enemies are under their feet.
+
+And every citizen of the home-land takes part in the new song. The
+home-folk are therefore one in purity, one in self-conquest, and one in
+praise. "Salvation unto our God which sitteth upon the throne!" In that
+melody of thankfulness their union is deepened and enriched.
+
+And we, too, can begin now to wear the white robe! And even now can we
+carry the palm! And even now we can join in the song of ceaseless praise.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Ninth
+
+_NEARING HOME!_
+
+2 TIMOTHY iv. 1-8.
+
+
+Here is a most valiant pilgrim nearing home! By the mercy of Christ he can
+look back upon a brave day, and there's a fine hopeful light in the
+evening sky.
+
+He has fought well! "_I have fought a good fight._" And his has been a
+hard field. The enemy has ever regarded him as a leader in the army of the
+Lord and against him has the fiercest fight been waged. But he has never
+lost or stained his flag.
+
+And he has run well! "_I have finished my course._" There was no
+melancholy turning back when the feverish start had cooled. There was no
+shrinking when the biting wind of malice and persecution swept across his
+track. On and on he ran, with increasing speed and ardour, until he
+reached the goal.
+
+And well had he guarded his treasure! "_I have kept the faith._" He was
+the custodian of "unsearchable riches," and he watched, day and night,
+lest any infernal burglar should despoil him of his wealth. He guarded his
+gospel, his liberty, his hope, as the sentinels guard the crown jewels in
+the Tower.
+
+And now the hard day is nearly over. "Henceforth there is laid up for me a
+crown of righteousness which the Lord will give me at that day."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Tenth
+
+_EXALTATION BY SEPARATION_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS vi. 11-18.
+
+
+When we turn away from the world, and leave it, we ourselves are not left
+to desolation and orphanhood. When we "come out from among them" the Lord
+receives us! He is waiting for us. The new companionship is ours the
+moment the old companionship is ended. "I will not leave you comfortless."
+What we have lost is compensated by infinite and eternal gain. We have
+lost "the whole world" and gained "the unsearchable riches of Christ."
+
+And therefore separation is exaltation. We leave the muddy pleasures of
+Sodom and we "drink of the river of His pleasures." We leave "the garish
+day," and all the feverish life of Vanity Fair, and He maketh us "to lie
+down in green pastures," "He leadeth us beside the still waters." We leave
+a transient sensation, we receive the bread of eternity. We forfeit
+fireworks, we gain the stars!
+
+What fools we are, and blind! We prefer the scorched desert of Sodom to
+the garden of Eden. We prefer a loud reputation to noble character. We
+prefer delirium to joy. We prefer human applause to the praise of God. We
+prefer a fading garland to the crown of life. Lord, that we may receive
+our sight!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Eleventh
+
+_GOOD AND BAD ROADS_
+
+PSALM i.
+
+
+There is nothing breaks up more speedily than a badly-made road. Every
+season is its enemy and works for its destruction. Fierce heat and
+intensest cold both strive for its undoing. And "the way of the ungodly"
+is an appallingly bad road. There is rottenness in its foundations, and
+there is built into it "wood, and hay, and stubble," How can it stand?
+"The Spirit of the Lord breatheth upon it," and it is surely brought to
+nought. All the forces of holiness are pledged to its destruction, and
+they shall pick it to pieces, and shall scatter its elements to the winds.
+
+"I am the way!" That road remains sound "in all generations." Changing
+circumstances cannot affect its stability. It is proof against every
+tempest, and against the most violent heat. It is a road in which little
+children can walk in happiness and in which old people can walk in peace.
+It is firm in the day of life, and it is absolutely sure in the hour of
+death. It never yields! "Thou hast set my feet upon a rock and hast
+established my goings." "This is the way, walk ye in it."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twelfth
+
+_THE COMING OF THE LORD_
+
+LUKE xvii. 22-32.
+
+
+In a certain very real way the Lord is coming every moment. And the great
+art of Christian living is to be able to discern Him when He arrives. He
+may appear as the village carpenter; or we may "suppose Him to be one of
+the gardeners," and we may mistake His appearing! He may meet us in some
+lowly duty, or in some seemingly unpleasant task. He may shine in the
+cheeriness of some triumph, or whisper to us in a message of good news. "I
+come again." And if our eyes are open we shall see Him coming continually.
+It is by this perception that the value of our life is measured and
+weighed.
+
+But He will also come again "suddenly," when the soul will be translated
+into unknown climes. He will come again in the sable robes of death. Shall
+we know Him? Will our eyes be so keen and true that we shall be able to
+pierce the dark veil and say "It is the Lord!" This has been the joyful
+experience of countless multitudes. When the summons came their souls went
+forth, not as victims to encounter death, but as the bride "to meet the
+bridegroom!" They had intimacy with Him in life; they had glorious
+fellowship with Him in death!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Thirteenth
+
+_SICKNESS AMONG CHRIST'S FRIENDS_
+
+JOHN xi. 1-16.
+
+
+And so sickness can enter the circle of the friends of the Lord. "_He whom
+Thou lovest is sick._" My sicknesses do not mean that I have lost His
+favour. The shadow is His, as well as the sunshine. When He removes me
+from the glare of boisterous health it may be because of some spiritual
+fern which needs the ministry of the shade. "_This sickness is ... for the
+glory of God._" Something beautiful will spring out of the shadowed
+seclusion, something which shall spread abroad the name and fame of God.
+
+And, therefore, I do not wonder at the Lord's delay. He did not hasten
+away to the sick friend: "_He abode two days still in the same place where
+He was._" Shall I put it like this: the awaking bulbs were not yet ready
+for the brighter light--just a little more shade! We are impatient to get
+healthy; the Lord desires that we become holy. Our physical sickness is
+continued in order that we may put on spiritual strength.
+
+And there are others besides sick Lazarus concerned in the sickness: "I am
+glad _for your sakes_ I was not there." The disciples were included in the
+divine scheme. Their spiritual welfare was to be affected by it. Let me
+ever remember that the circle affected by sickness is always wider than
+the patient's bed. And may God be glorified in all!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Fourteenth
+
+"_EVEN NOW!_"
+
+JOHN xi. 17-31.
+
+
+Let me consider this marvellous confession of Martha's faith. "I know that
+_even now_, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee!" Mark
+the "even now"! Lazarus was dead, and it was midnight in the desolate
+home. But "even now"! Beautiful it is when a soul's most awful crises are
+the seasons of its most radiant faith! Beautiful it is when our lamp
+shines steadily in the tempest, and when our spiritual confidence remains
+unshaken like a gloriously rooted tree. Beautiful it is when in our
+midnight men can hear the strains of the "even now"!
+
+And let me consider the wonder of the Divine response. "_I am the
+resurrection and the life._" A faith like Martha's will always win the
+Saviour's best. And here is an overwhelming best before which we can only
+bow in silent homage and awe. He is the Fountain in whom the stagnant
+brook shall find currency again. He is the Life in whom the fallen dead
+shall rise to their feet again.
+
+And what is this? "Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me _shall never
+die_!" We shall go to sleep, but we shall never taste the bitterness of
+death. In the very act of closing our material eyes we shall open our
+spiritual eyes, and find ourselves at home!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Fifteenth
+
+_JESUS AT A GRAVE_
+
+JOHN xi. 32-45.
+
+
+Here is Jesus weeping. "Jesus wept." Why did He weep? Perhaps He wept out
+of sheer sympathy with the tears of others. And perhaps, too, He wept
+because some of our tears were needless. If we were better men we should
+know more of the love and purpose of our Lord, and perhaps many of our
+tears would be dried. Still, here is the sweet and heartening evangel. He
+sympathizes with my grief! Never a bitter tear is shed without my Lord
+sharing the tang and the pang.
+
+Here is Jesus praying! "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me."
+Then it is not so much a prayer as a thanksgiving. He gives thanks for
+what He is "about to receive." Is this my way? Perhaps I do it before I
+take a meal. Do I do it before I begin to live the day? In the morning do
+I thank my God for what I am about to receive? Can I confidently give
+thanks before I receive the gifts of God, before the dish-covers are
+removed? Can I trust Him?
+
+And here is Jesus commanding, clothed in sovereign power: "Lazarus, come
+forth!" That is the same voice which "in the beginning created the heavens
+and the earth."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Sixteenth
+
+_THE NEMESIS OF BIGOTRY_
+
+JOHN xi. 46-57.
+
+
+A fearful nemesis waits upon the spirit of bigotry. Oliver Wendell Holmes
+has said that bigotry is like the pupil of the eye, the more light you
+pour into it the more it contracts. The scribes and Pharisees became
+smaller men the more the Lord revealed His glory. In the raising of
+Lazarus they saw nothing of the glory of the resurrection life, nothing of
+the joy of the reunited family, nothing of the gracious ministry of the
+Lord! "Darkness had blinded their eyes."
+
+And it is also the nemesis of bigotry to be bitter, cruel, and violent.
+They sought to kill the Giver of life!
+
+It is the ministry of light to ripen and sweeten the dispositions. "The
+fruit of the light is in all goodness." It is the ministry of the darkness
+to make men sour and unsympathetic, and revengeful, and to so pervert the
+heart as to make it a minister of poison and death.
+
+And yet, how powerless is bigotry in the long run! It can no more stay the
+progress of the Kingdom than King Canute could check the flowing tide!
+Bigotry slew the Lord, and He rose again! And so it ever is. "Truth
+crushed to earth shall rise again; the eternal years of God are hers."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Seventeenth
+
+_THE COMMONPLACE OF DEATH_
+
+LUKE vii. 11-18.
+
+
+Death is never a commonplace. We never become so accustomed to funerals as
+not to see them. Everybody sees the mournful procession go along the
+street. A momentary awe steals over the flippant thought, and for one
+brief season the superficial opens into the infinite abyss.
+
+And yet, while a thousand are arrested, only a few are compassionate.
+There can be awe without pity; there can be interest without service. When
+this humble funeral train trudged out of the city of Nain our Lord halted,
+and His heart melted! There was an "aching void," and He longed to fill
+it. There was a bleeding, broken heart, and He yearned to stand and heal
+it. He found His own joy in removing another's tears, His own satisfaction
+in another's peace.
+
+"_The Lord hath visited His people!_" That is what the people said, and I
+do not wonder at the saying! And let me, too, be a humble visitor in the
+troubled ways of men! Let my heart be a well of sweet compassion to all
+the sons and daughters of grief! Like Barnabas, let me be "a son of
+consolation."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Eighteenth
+
+_SERENITY IN THE TEMPEST_
+
+JOB xix. 23-27.
+
+
+Perhaps I am akin to Job in having experienced the pressure of calamity. I
+have felt the shock of adverse circumstances, and the house of my life has
+trembled in the convulsion. Or death has been to my door and has returned
+again and again, and every time he has left me weeping! All God's billows
+have gone over me! Verily, I can take my place by the patriarch Job.
+
+But can I share his witness, "_I know that my Redeemer liveth_"? Have I a
+calm assurance that my ruler is not caprice, and that my comings and
+goings are not determined by unfeeling chance? When death knocked at my
+door, did I know that the King had sent him? When some cherished scheme
+toppled into ruin, had I any thought that the Lord's hand was concerned in
+the shaking? Even when my circumstances are dubious, and I cannot trace a
+gracious purpose, do I know that my Vindicator liveth, and that some day
+He will justify all the happenings of the troubled road?
+
+I will pay for this gracious confidence. I would have a firm step even
+among disappointments; yea, I would "sing songs in the night!"
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Nineteenth
+
+_DEATH AS MY SERVANT_
+
+REVELATION xx. 1-6.
+
+
+Even now I would rise from the dead. Even now I would know "the power of
+His resurrection." Even now I would taste the rapture of the deathless
+life. And this is my glorious prerogative in grace. Yes, even now I can be
+"risen with Christ," and "death shall no more have dominion over me!"
+
+And yet I must die! Yes, but the old enemy shall now be my friend. He will
+not be my master, but my servant. He shall just be the porter, to open the
+door into my Father's house, into the home of unspeakable blessedness and
+glory. Death shall not hurt me!
+
+I have seen a little child fall asleep while out in the streets of the
+city, and the kind nurse has taken charge of the sleeper, and when the
+little one awaked she was at home, and she opened her eyes upon her
+mother's face.
+
+So shall it be with all who are alive in Christ, and who have risen from a
+spiritual grave. They shall just fall into a brief sweet sleep, and gentle
+death shall usher them into the glory of the endless day.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twentieth
+
+_THE LORD IS AT HAND!_
+
+"_Ye know not what hour your Lord doth come._"
+--MATTHEW xxiv. 42-51.
+
+
+Then let me always live as though my Lord were at the gate! Let me arrange
+my affairs on the assumption that the next to lift the latch will be the
+King. When I am out with my friend, walking and talking, let me assume
+that just round the corner I may meet the Lord.
+
+And so let me practise meeting Him! Said a mother to me one day concerning
+her long-absent boy: "I lay a place for him at every meal! His seat is
+always ready!" May I not do this for my Lord? May I not make a place for
+Him in all my affairs--my choices, my pleasures, my times of business, my
+season of rest? He may come just now; let His place be ready!
+
+If He delay, I must not become careless. If He give me further liberty, I
+must not take liberties with it. Here is the golden principle, ever to
+live, ever to think, ever to work as though the Lord had already arrived.
+For indeed, He has, and when the veil is rent I shall find Him at my
+side.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-first
+
+_IN THE GOLDEN CITY_
+
+ISAIAH lii. 1-12.
+
+
+And so these are the glories of the golden city. There is _wakefulness_.
+"Awake! awake!" In the golden city none will be asleep. Everybody will be
+bright-eyed, clear-minded, looking upon all beautiful things with fresh
+and ready receptiveness. "The eyes of them that see shall not be dim."
+
+There is _strength_. "Put on thy strength!" There will be no broken wills
+in the golden city, and no broken hearts. No one will walk with a limp!
+Everybody will go with a brave stride as to the strains of a band. And no
+one will tire of living, and the inhabitant never says, "I am sick."
+
+And there is _beauty_. "Put on thy beautiful garments." Bare strength
+might not be attractive. But strength clothed in beauty is a very gracious
+thing. The tender mosses on the granite make it winsome. Strength is
+companionable when it is united with grace. In the golden city there will
+be tender sentiment as well as rigid conviction.
+
+And these glories will be our defence. A positive virtue is our best
+rampart against vice. A robust health is the best protection against the
+epidemic. "The prince of this world cometh, and he hath nothing in me."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-second
+
+_COUNSEL AND MIGHT_
+
+PSALM cxix. 33-40.
+
+
+The psalmist prays for an _illumined understanding_. "Teach me, O Lord,
+the way of Thy statutes." We are so prone to be children of the twilight,
+and to see things out of their true proportions. Therefore do we need to
+be daily taught. I must go into the school of the Lord, and in docility of
+spirit I must sit at His feet. "O, teach me, Lord, teach even me!"
+
+And the psalmist prays for _rectified inclinations_. "Incline my heart
+unto Thy testimonies." We so often have the wrong bias, the fatal taste,
+and our desires are all against the will of the Lord. If only my leanings
+were toward the Lord how swift my progress would be! I strive to walk
+after holiness, while my inclinations are in the realm of sin. And so I
+need a clean mouth, with an appetite for the beautiful and the true.
+"Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness."
+
+And the psalmist prays for _a strenuous will_. "Make me to go in the path
+of Thy commandments." He is praying for "go," for moral persistence, for
+power to crash through all obstacles which may impede his heavenly
+progress. And such is my need. Good Lord, endow me with a will like "an
+iron pillar," and help me to "stand in the evil day."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-third
+
+_THE DARK BETRAYAL_
+
+JOHN xviii. 1-14.
+
+
+Our Master was betrayed by a disciple, "one of the twelve." The blow came
+from one of "His own household." The world employed a "friend" to execute
+its dark design. And so our intimacy with Christ may be our peril; our
+very association may be made our temptation. The devil would rather gain
+_one_ belonging to the inner circle than a thousand who stand confessed as
+the friends of the world. What am I doing in the kingdom? Can I be
+trusted? Or am I in the pay of the evil one?
+
+And our Master was betrayed in the garden of prayer. In the most hallowed
+place the betrayer gave the most unholy kiss. He brought his defilement
+into the most awe-inspiring sanctuary the world has ever known. And so may
+it be with me. I can kindle the unclean fire in the church. I can stab my
+Lord when I am on my knees. While I am in apparent devotion I can be in
+league with the powers of darkness.
+
+And this "dark betrayal" was for money! The Lord of Glory was bartered for
+thirty pieces of silver! And the difference between Judas and many men is
+that they often sell their Lord for less! From the power of Mammon, and
+from the blindness which falls upon his victims, good Lord, deliver me!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-fourth
+
+_IN GETHSEMANE_
+
+LUKE xxii. 39-46.
+
+
+Surely this is the very Holy of Holies! It were well for us to fall on our
+knees and "be silent unto the Lord." I would quietly listen to the awful
+words, "Remove this cup from Me!" and I would listen again and again until
+never again do I hold a cheap religion. It is in this garden that we learn
+the real values of things, and come to know the price at which our
+redemption was bought. No one can remain in Gethsemane and retain a
+frivolous and flippant spirit.
+
+"_And there appeared unto Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him._" I
+know that angel! He has been to me. He has brought me angel's food, even
+heavenly manna. Always and everywhere, when my soul has surrendered itself
+to the Divine will, the angel comes, and my soul is refreshed. The laying
+down of self is the taking up of God. When I lose my will I gain the
+Infinite. The moment of surrender is also the moment of conquest. When I
+consecrate my weakness I put on strength and majesty like a robe.
+
+"_And when He rose up from His prayer_"--what then? Just this, He was
+quietly ready for anything, ready for the betraying kiss, ready for
+crucifixion. "Arise, let us be going."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE FEAR OF MAN_
+
+JOHN xviii. 15-27.
+
+
+And this is the disciple who had been surnamed "The Rock"! Our Lord looked
+into the morrow, and He saw Simon's character, compacted by grace and
+discipline into a texture tough and firm as granite. But there is not much
+granite here! Peter is yet loose and yielding; more like a bending reed
+than an unshakable rock. A servant girl whispers, and his timid heart
+flings a lie to his lips and he denies his Lord.
+
+Peter denied the Master, not because he coveted money, but because he
+feared men. He was not seeking crowns, but escaping frowns. He was not
+clutching at a garland, but avoiding a sword. It was not avarice but
+cowardice which determined his ways. He shrank from crucifixion! He saw a
+possible cross, and with a great lie he passed by on the other side.
+
+But the Lord has not done with Peter. He is still "in the making." Some
+day he will justify his new name. Some day we shall find it written: "When
+they saw the boldness of Peter, they marvelled"! Once a maid could make
+him tremble. Now he can stand in high places, "steadfast and unmovable"!
+
+From the spirit of cowardice and from all temporising, and from the unholy
+fear of man, deliver me, good Lord!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE KING OF KINGS_
+
+JOHN xviii. 28-38.
+
+
+What a strange King our Lord appears, claiming mystic sovereignty, and yet
+betrayed by a false friend!
+
+And yet, even in His apparent subjection His majestic kingliness stands
+revealed. When I watch the demeanours of Pilate and Jesus, I can see very
+clearly who it is who is on the throne; Pilate wears the outer trappings
+of royalty, but my Lord's is "the power and the glory." Pilate fusses
+about in a little "brief authority," but my Lord stands possessed of a
+serene dominion. Even at Pilate's judgment bar Jesus is the King.
+
+But His kingdom is "_not of this world_." And therefore this King is
+unlike every other King. He seeks His possessions not by fighting, but by
+"lighting"; not by coercion, but by constraint. His servants do not go
+forth with swords, but with lamps; not to drive the peoples, but to lead
+them. His visible throne is a cross, and His conquests are made in the
+power of sacrifice.
+
+And so His armaments are the Truth, and the Truth alone. "_For this cause
+came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth._" When
+the Truth wins and wooes, the triumph is lasting. Garlands won by the
+sword perish before the evening. To be one of the King's subjects is to
+share His nature. "Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE SILENCE OF JESUS_
+
+"_He answered him nothing!_"
+--LUKE xxiii. 1-12.
+
+
+And yet, "Ask, and it shall be given you!" Yes, but everything depends
+upon the asking. Even in the realm of music there is a rudeness of
+approach which leaves true music silent. Whether the genius of music is to
+answer us or not depends upon our "touch." Herod's "touch" was wrong, and
+there was no response. Herod was flippant, and the Eternal was dumb. And
+I, too, may question a silent Lord. In the spiritual realm an idle
+curiosity is never permitted to see the crown jewels. Frivolousness never
+goes away from the royal Presence rich with surprises of grace. "Thy touch
+has still its ancient power!" So it has, but the healing touch is the
+gracious response to the touch of faith. "She touched Him, and...!"
+
+"_And Herod ... mocked Him._" That was the real spirit behind the eager
+curiosity. And I, too, may mock my Lord! I may bow before Him, and array
+Him in apparent royalty, while all the time my spirit is full of flippancy
+and jeers. I may lustily sing: "Crown Him Lord of all," while I will not
+recognize His rights on a single square foot of the soil of my
+inheritance. And this it is to be the kinsman of Herod. And this, too,
+will be the issue; the heavens will be as brass, and the Lord will answer
+us nothing.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE CHOICE OF BARABBAS_
+
+LUKE xxiii. 13-24.
+
+
+Barabbas rather than Christ! The destroyer of life rather than the Giver
+of life! This was the choice of the people; and it is a choice which has
+often stained and defiled my own life.
+
+When I choose revenge rather than forgiveness, I am preferring Barabbas to
+Christ. For revenge is a murderer, while forgiveness is a healer and
+saviour of men. But how often I have sent the sweet healer to the cross,
+and welcomed the murderer within my gate!
+
+When I choose carnal passion before holiness, I am preferring Barabbas to
+Christ. For is there any murderer so destructive as carnality? And
+holiness stands waiting, ready to make me beautiful with the wondrous
+garments of grace. But I spurn the angel, and open my door to the beast.
+
+The devil is always soliciting my service, and the devil "is a murderer
+from the beginning." Have I never preferred him, and sent my Lord to be
+"crucified afresh," and "put Him to an open shame"?
+
+Again let me pray--for all my unholy and unwholesome choices, for all my
+preference of the murderer, forgive me, good Lord!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-ninth
+
+_MYSTIC ALARM-BELLS_
+
+MATTHEW xxvii. 19-25.
+
+
+Pilate was warned. Pilate's wife had a dream, and in the dream she had
+glimpses of reality, and when she awoke her soul was troubled. "Have thou
+nothing to do with that just man!"
+
+And I, too, have mysterious warnings when I am treading perilous ways.
+Sometimes the warning comes from a friend. Sometimes "the angel of the
+Lord stands in the way for an adversary." My conscience rings loudly like
+an alarm-bell in the dead of night. Yes, the warnings are clear and
+pertinent, but...!
+
+Pilate ignored the warning, and handed the Lord to the revengeful will of
+the priests. Pilate defiled his heart, and then he washed his hands! What
+a petty attempt to escape the certain issues! And yet we have shared in
+the small evasion. We have crucified the Lord, and then we wear a
+crucifix. We violate the spirit, and then we do reverence to the letter.
+We hand the Lord over to be crucified, and then we practise the postures
+and gait of the saints. Yes, we have all sought an escape in outer
+ceremony from the nemesis of our shameful deeds.
+
+My soul, attend thou to the mystic warnings, and "play the man"!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Thirtieth
+
+_THE VICTORY OF MEEKNESS_
+
+1 PETER ii. 17-25.
+
+
+Then I may be not only the betrayer, but the betrayed. In my inner circle
+there may be a friend who will play me false, and hand me over to the
+wolves. What then? Just this--I must imitate the grace of my Lord, and
+"consider Him."
+
+There must be no violent retaliation. "_When He was reviled, He reviled
+not again._" The fire of revenge may singe or even scorch my enemy, but it
+will do far more damage to the furniture of my own soul. After every
+indulgence in vengeful passion some precious personal possession has been
+destroyed. The fact of the matter is, this fire cannot be kept burning
+without making fuel of the priceless furnishings of the soul. "Heat not a
+furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself."
+
+There must be a serene committal of the soul to the strong keeping of the
+Eternal God. "_He committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously._"
+This is the way of peace, as this is the way of victory. If ever the enemy
+is to be conquered this must be the mode of the conquest. When men
+persecute us, let us rest more implicitly in our God.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Thirty-first
+
+_AT THE CROSS!_
+
+MATTHEW xxvii. 38-50.
+
+
+Let me listen to the ribald jeers which were flung upon my Lord. And let
+me listen, not as a judge, but as one who has been in the company of the
+callous crowd. For I, too, have mocked Him! I have said: "Hail, King!" and
+I have bowed before Him, but it has been mock and empty homage! I have
+sung: "Crown Him Lord of all!" but there has been no real recognition of
+His sovereignty; mine has been a mock coronation. From the seat of the
+mocker, deliver me, good Lord!
+
+And let me stand near the cross while that awful voice of desolation rends
+the heavens. "_My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?_" In that
+agonizing cry I am led to the real heart of the atonement. My Saviour was
+standing where His believers will never stand. That was the real death,
+the death of an inconceivable abandonment. And "He died for me!" He so
+died in order that I may never taste death. "He that liveth and believeth
+in Me shall never die."
+
+Every believer will go to sleep, and through a short sleep he will wake in
+the glory of the Eternal Presence. But he will never die: no, never die!
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The First
+
+_THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS_
+
+LUKE xxiii. 33-47.
+
+
+Look at our Lord in relation to His foes. "_Father, forgive them; for they
+know not what they do!_" Their bitterness has not embittered Him. The
+"milk of human kindness" was still sweet. Nothing could sour our Lord, and
+convert His goodwill into malice, His serene beneficence into wild
+revenge. And how is it with me? Are my foes able to maim my spirit as well
+as my body? Do they win their end by making me a smaller man? Or am I
+magnanimous even on the cross?
+
+And look at our Lord in relation to the penitent thief. "_To-day shalt
+thou be with Me in Paradise._" There was no self-centredness in our
+Saviour's grief. He was the good Physician, even when His body was mangled
+on the cross. He healed a broken heart even in the very pangs of death.
+When "there was darkness over all the earth," He let the light of the
+morning into the heart of a desolate thief. And, good Lord, graciously
+help me to do likewise!
+
+And all this amazing graciousness is explained in our Lord's relation to
+His Father. "_Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit!_" Yes,
+everything is there! When I and My Father are one, my spirit will remain
+sweet as the violet and pure as the dew.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Second
+
+"_ON HIM!_"
+
+"_The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all._"
+--ISAIAH liii.
+
+
+Let me tell a dream which was given by night to one of my dearest friends.
+He beheld a stupendous range of glorious sun-lit mountains, with their
+lower slopes enfolded in white mist. "Lord," he cried, "I pray that I may
+dwell upon those heights!" "Thou must first descend into the vale," a
+voice replied.
+
+Into the vale he went. And down there he found himself surrounded with all
+manner of fierce, ugly, loathsome things. As he looked upon them he saw
+that they were the incarnations of his own sins! There they were, sins
+long ago committed, showing their threatening teeth before him!
+
+Then he heard some One approaching, and instinctively he knew it was the
+Lord! And he felt so ashamed that he drew a cloak over his face, and stood
+in silence. And the Presence came nearer and nearer, until He, too, stood
+silent. After a while my friend mastered sufficient courage to lift the
+corner of his cloak and look out upon the Presence: and lo! all the
+loathsome things were _on Him_!
+
+"The Lord had laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Third
+
+_THE STONE ROLLED AWAY_
+
+MARK xvi. 1-8.
+
+
+I am always wondering who will roll away the stone! There is a great
+obstacle in the way, and my frailty is incompetent to its removal. And lo!
+when I arrive at the place I find that the angel has been before me, and
+the obstacle is gone! And I would that I might learn wisdom to-day from
+the miracle of yesterday. Let me not be confounded about a new stone when
+I know that my fears about the old one had no foundation.
+
+And then the young man at the sepulchre! He is a type of eternal youth,
+and he is sitting serenely in a routed grave. He represents the
+unwithering in the very home of corruption. And this, too, is my hope! It
+is mine in Christ to put on incorruption, and through a brief sleep to
+become clothed with immortal youth. "There everlasting spring abides, and
+never withering flowers!"
+
+And I may have the assurance of the coming glory even now. Even now may I
+taste the heavenly feast, and wear some of the unfading flowers of the
+glorified. Yes, even now my leaf need not wither, and my hopes may remain
+unshaken through all my troubled years.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Fourth
+
+_THE RESURRECTION MORNING_
+
+MATTHEW xxviii. 1-15.
+
+
+Let me reverently mark the happenings of this most wonderful morn. "_It
+began to dawn._" Yes, that was the first significance of the resurrection.
+It was a new day for the world. Everything was to be seen in a new light.
+Everything was to wear a new face--God, and heaven, and life, and duty,
+and death! "All things are become new."
+
+"_And there was a great earthquake._" Yes, and this was significant of the
+tremendous upheaval implied in the resurrection. The kingdom of the devil
+was upheaved from its foundations. All the boasted pomp of his showy
+empire was turned upside down. "I beheld Satan falling!"
+
+"_And the angel rolled away the stone._" And that, too, is significant of
+the resurrection. The awful barrier was rolled away, and the grave became
+a thoroughfare! "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes."
+
+And there was "_fear and great joy_." And mingled awe and gladness, a
+reverential delight.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Fifth
+
+_THE EMPTY TOMB_
+
+LUKE xxiv. 1-12.
+
+
+That empty tomb means the conquest of death. The Captive proved mightier
+than the captor. He emerged from the prison as the Lord of the prison, and
+death reeled at His going. In the risen Saviour death is dethroned; he
+takes his place at the footstool to do the bidding of his sovereign Lord
+and King. And that empty tomb means the conquest of sin. Sin had done its
+worst, and had failed. All the forces of hell had been rallied against the
+Lord, and above them all He rose triumphant and glorified. A little while
+ago I discovered a spring. I tried to choke it. I heaped sand and gravel
+upon it; I piled stones above it! And through them all it emerged,
+noiselessly and irresistibly, a radiant resurrection!
+
+And so the empty tomb becomes the symbol of a thoroughfare between life in
+time and life in the unshadowed Presence of our God. Death is now like a
+short tunnel which is near my home; I can look through it and see the
+other side! In the risen Lord death becomes transparent. "O death, where
+is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Sixth
+
+_FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST_
+
+"_Last of all He was seen of me also._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS xv. 1-11.
+
+
+And by that vision Saul of Tarsus was transformed. And so, by the ministry
+of a risen Lord we have received the gift of a transfigured Paul. The
+resurrection glory fell upon him, and he was glorified. In that
+superlative light he discovered his sin, his error, his need, but he also
+found the dynamic of the immortal hope.
+
+"Seen of me also!" Can I, too, calmly and confidently claim the
+experience? Or am I altogether depending upon another man's sight, and are
+my own eyes unillumined? In these realms the witness of "hear-says" counts
+for nothing; he only speaks with arresting power who has "seen for
+himself." "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee
+of Me?" That is the question which is asked, not only by the Master, but
+by all who hear us tell the story of the risen Lord. "Has He been seen of
+thee also?"
+
+My Saviour, I humbly pray Thee to give me first-hand knowledge of Thee.
+Let me be a witness who can say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" Before
+all the doubts and hesitancies of man enable me to answer, "Have I not
+seen Jesus Christ our Lord?"
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Seventh
+
+_IF CHRIST WERE DEAD!_
+
+1 CORINTHIANS xv. 12-26.
+
+
+"_If Christ be not risen!_" That is the most appalling "if" which can be
+flung into the human mind. If it obtains lodging and entertainment, all
+the fairest hopes of the soul wither away like tender buds which have been
+nipped by sharp frost! See how they fade!
+
+"_Your faith is vain._" It has no more strength and permanency than
+Jonah's gourd. Nay, it has really never been a living thing! It has been a
+pathetic delusion, beautiful, but empty as a bubble, and collapsing at
+Joseph's tomb.
+
+"_Ye are yet in your sins._" The hope of forgiveness and reconciliation is
+stricken, and there is nothing left but "a certain fearful looking-for of
+judgment." Nemesis has only been hiding behind a screen of decorated
+falsehoods, and she will pursue us to the bitter end.
+
+"_We are of all men the most miserable._" Joy would fall and die like a
+fatally wounded lark. The song would cease from our souls. The holy place
+would become a tomb.
+
+"But now _is_ Christ risen from the dead!" Yes, let me finish on that
+word. That gives me morning, and melody, and holy merriment that knows no
+end.
+
+
+
+
+April The Eighth
+
+_MY INHERITANCE IN THE RISEN LORD_
+
+1 PETER i. 1-9.
+
+
+In my risen Lord I am born into "a living hope," a hope not only vital,
+but vitalizing, sending its mystic, vivifying influences through every
+highway and by-way of my soul.
+
+In my risen Lord mine is "_an inheritance incorruptible_." It is not
+exposed to the gnawing tooth of time. Moth and rust can not impair the
+treasure. It will not grow less as I grow old. Its glories are as
+invulnerable as my Lord.
+
+In my risen Lord mine is "an inheritance ... _undefiled_." There is no
+alloy in the fine gold. The King will give me of His best. "Bring forth
+the best robe, and put it on him." The holiest ideal proclaims my
+possibility, and foretells my ultimate attainment. Heaven's wine is not to
+be mixed with water. I am to awake "in His likeness."
+
+And mine is "an inheritance ... that _fadeth not away_." It shall not be
+as the garlands offered by men--green to-day and to-morrow sere and
+yellow. "Its leaf also shall not wither." It shall always retain its
+freshness, and shall offer me a continually fresh delight. And these are
+all mine in Him!
+
+    "Thou, O Christ, art all I want."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Ninth
+
+_THE EVER-LIVING LORD_
+
+REVELATION i. 9-18.
+
+
+Let me take the simple words, and quietly gaze into the wonderful depths
+of their fathomless simplicity. An old villager used to tell me it would
+strengthen my eyes if I looked long into deep wells. And it will assuredly
+strengthen the eyes of my soul to gaze into wells like these.
+
+"_I am He that liveth._" What a marvellous transformation it worked upon
+Dr. Dale, when one day, in his study, it flashed upon him, as never
+before, that Jesus Christ is alive! "Christ is alive!" he repeated again
+and again, until the clarion music filled all the rooms in his soul.
+"Christ is alive!"
+
+"_And was dead._" Yes, the Lord has gone right through that dark place.
+There are footprints, and they are the footprints of the Conqueror, all
+along the road. "Christ leads me through no darker room than He went
+through before."
+
+"_And, behold, I am alive for ever more._" "Jesus has conquered death and
+all its powers." Never more will it sit on a transient throne. Its power
+is broken, its "sting" has lost its poison, there isn't a boast left in
+its apparently omnivorous mouth! "Where's thy victory, O grave?" And here
+is the gospel for me--"Because I live ye shall live also."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Tenth
+
+_RESURRECTION-LIGHT_
+
+"_If we believe that Jesus died and rose again...._"
+--1 THESSALONIANS iv. 13-18.
+
+
+That is the eastern light which fills the valley of time with wonderful
+beams of glory. It is the great dawn in which we find the promise of our
+own day. Everything wears a new face in the light of our Lord's
+resurrection. I once watched the dawn on the East Coast of England. Before
+there was a grey streak in the sky everything was held in grimmest gloom.
+The toil of the two fishing-boats seemed very sombre. The sleeping houses
+on the shore looked the abodes of death. Then came grey light, and then
+the sun, and everything was transfigured! Every window in every cottage
+caught the reflected glory, and the fishing-boats glittered in morning
+radiance.
+
+And everything is transfigured in the Risen Christ. Everything is lit up
+when "the Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in His wings." Life is
+lit up, and so is death, and so are sorrow and daily labour and human
+friendships! Everything catches the gleam and is changed. "We are no
+longer of the night, but of the day." "Walk as children of light." "Awake,
+thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon
+thee."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Eleventh
+
+_THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE_
+
+ROMANS v. 1-11.
+
+
+The Lord went through death to make a path to life. He descended into
+shame and suffering, and appalling desolation in order that He might "open
+the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers." And the way is now open!
+
+Therefore, "_let us have peace with God_." Let us reverently and willingly
+tread the heavenly road, and seek the King's presence, and gratefully
+accept "the everlasting covenant." Let us go, as once rebel soldiers, and
+let us surrender our arms, and at His bidding take them again, to fight in
+His service.
+
+And let us "_glory in tribulation_." If we are in the King's road, at
+peace with the King, every stormy circumstance will be made to do us
+service. Yes, all our troubles will be compelled to minister to us, to
+robe us, and to adorn us, and to make us more like the sons and daughters
+of a royal house. "Out of the eater will come forth meat, and out of the
+strong will come forth sweetness."
+
+And, therefore, let us "_joy in God_." Don't let us be "the King's own,"
+and yet march in the sulks! Let us march to the music of grateful song and
+praise.
+
+    "Children of the heavenly King,
+     As ye journey, sweetly sing."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twelfth
+
+_THE LAMB ON THE THRONE_
+
+"_In the midst of the throne stood a Lamb as it had been slain!_"
+--REVELATION v. 6-14.
+
+
+How strange and unexpected is the figure! A lamb--the supreme type of
+gentleness! A throne, the supreme symbol of power! And the one is in the
+very midst of the other. The sacrificial has become the sovereign: the
+Cross is the principal part of the throne. "I, if I be lifted up, will
+draw all men unto Me."
+
+Yes, this sovereign sacrificial Lord is to receive universal homage and
+worship. "_Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth_" is to pay
+tribute at His feet. And this, not by a terrible coercion, but by a
+gracious constraint. We are not to be driven, we are to be drawn; we are
+to move by love--compulsion: the Lamb in God is to win the wills of men.
+
+And I, too, may take my harp and make melodious praise before my King. And
+I, too, may fill the "golden vials" with my grateful intercession, and
+heaven shall be the sweeter for the odour of my prayers. And I, too, may
+sound my loud "Amen," the note of gladsome resignation to the sovereign
+will of God. Yes, even now I may be one of "the multitude whom no man can
+number," who, in a new song, ascribe all worthiness to "the Lamb that was
+slain."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Thirteenth
+
+_PURE GOLD_
+
+"_Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold....
+And there I will meet with thee._"
+--EXODUS xxv. 10-22.
+
+
+I must put my best into my preparations, and then the Lord will honour my
+work. My part is to be of "pure gold" if my God is to dwell within it. I
+must not satisfy myself with cheap flimsy and then assume that the Lord
+will be satisfied with it. He demands my very best as a condition of His
+enriching Presence.
+
+My prayers must be of "pure gold" if He is to meet me there. There must be
+nothing vulgar about them, nothing shoddy, nothing hastily constructed,
+nothing thrown up anyhow. They must be chaste and sincere, and overlaid
+with pure gold.
+
+My home must be of "pure gold" if He is to meet me there. No unclean
+passion must dwell there, no carnal appetite, no defiling conversation, no
+immoderateness in eating and drinking. How can the Lord sit down at such a
+table, or make One at such a fireside?
+
+Let me present to Him pure gold. Let me offer Him nothing cheap. Let me
+ever make the ark of my best, and the Lord will meet me there.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Fourteenth
+
+_RELIGION AS MERE MAGIC_
+
+"_And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into
+the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout._"
+--1 SAMUEL iv. 1-11.
+
+
+They were making more of the ark than of the Lord. Their religion was
+degenerating into superstition. I become superstitious whenever the means
+of worship are permitted to eclipse the Object of worship. I then possess
+a magic instrument, and I forget the holy Lord.
+
+It can be so with prayer. I may use prayer as a magic minister to protect
+me from invasive ills. I do not pray because I desire fellowship with the
+Father, but because I should not feel safe without it. The ark is more
+than the Lord.
+
+It can be so with a crucifix. A crucifix may become a mere talisman, and
+so supplant the Lord. I may wear the thing and have no fellowship with the
+Person. And so may it be with the Lord's Supper. I may come to regard it
+as a magic feast, which makes me immune from punishment, but not immune
+from sin. It may be a minister of safety, but not of holiness.
+
+So let mine eyes be ever unto the Lord! Let me not be satisfied with the
+ark, but let me seek Him whose name is holy and whose nature is love.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Fifteenth
+
+_DEGRADING HOLY THINGS_
+
+1 SAMUEL vi. 1-15.
+
+
+I must remember that a holy thing can be the minister of a plague. Things
+that were purposed to be benedictions can be changed into blights. The
+very ark of God must be in its appointed place or it becomes the means of
+sickness and destruction. So it is with all the holy things of God: if I
+dethrone them they will uncrown me.
+
+It is even so with music. Unless I give it its holy sovereignty it will
+become a minister of the passions, and the angel within me is mastered by
+a beast. Let me read again Tennyson's "Palace of Sin," and let me
+heedfully note how music becomes the instrument of ignoble sensationalism,
+and aids in man's degradation. "But exalt her, and she shall exalt thee."
+
+It is even so with art. It is purposed to be the holy dwelling-place of
+God, but I can so abuse it as to make it the agent of degradation. Instead
+of hallowing the life it will debase and impoverish it.
+
+I will therefore remember that, if I infringe the Divine order, I can turn
+the sacramental cup into a vehicle of moral poison and spiritual blight.
+"They must be holy who bear the vessels of the Lord."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Sixteenth
+
+_PRIESTS OF THE LORD_
+
+"_None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites._"
+--1 CHRONICLES xv. 1-3, 11-15.
+
+
+There are prepared people for prepared offices. The Lord will fit the man
+to the function, the anointed and consecrated priest for the consecrated
+and consecrating ministry.
+
+But now, in the larger purpose of the Lord, and in "the exceeding riches
+of His grace," everybody may be a priest of the Lord. "He hath made us to
+be priests and kings unto God." And He will prepare us to carry our ark,
+and to "minister in holy things."
+
+I can be His priest in the home. He will anoint me as one who is to engage
+in holy ministries, and I shall be serving at the altar even while engaged
+in the lowly duties of the house. The humble meal will be sacramental, and
+common work will be heavenly sacrifice.
+
+I can be His priest in my class. The Lord will clothe me in "linen clean
+and white," and in my consecrated spirit my scholars shall discern the
+incense of sacrifice. And woe is me if I attempt to fill the godly office
+without my God.
+
+And I can be His priest in my workshop. Yes, in the carpenter's shop I may
+wear the radiant robe of the sanctified. And I, too, as one of the priests
+of the Lord, can "bear the sin of many, and make intercession for the
+transgressor."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Seventeenth
+
+_GREAT PRAISE_
+
+1 CHRONICLES xvi. 7-36.
+
+
+"Great is the Lord!" So many people have such a little God! There is
+nothing about Him august and sublime. And so He is not greatly praised.
+The worship is thin, the thanksgivings are scanty, the supplications are
+indifferent.
+
+All great saints have a great God. He fills their universe. Therefore do
+they move about in a fruitful awe, and everywhere there is only a thin
+veil between them and His appearing. Everywhere they discern His holy
+presence, as the face of a bride is dimly seen beneath her bridal veil.
+And so even the common scrub of the wilderness is aflame with sacred fire:
+the humble "primrose on the rock" becomes "the court of Deity": and the
+"strength of the hills is His also"!
+
+Yes, a great God inspires great praise, and in great praise small cares
+and small meannesses are utterly consumed away. When praise is mean,
+anxieties multiply. Therefore let me contemplate the greatness of God in
+nature and in providence, in His power, and His holiness, and His love.
+Let me "stand in awe" before His glory: and in the fruitful reverence the
+soul will be moved in acceptable praise.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Eighteenth
+
+_MECHANICAL PIETY_
+
+PHILEMON 10-18.
+
+
+The Apostle Paul declares that benefits may be given in one of two
+ways--"_of necessity_" and "_willingly_." One is mechanical, the other is
+spontaneous. I once saw a little table-fountain playing in a drawing-room,
+but I heard the click of its machinery, and the charm was gone! It had to
+be wound up before it would play, and at frequent periods it "ran down." A
+little later I saw another fountain playing on a green lawn, and it was
+fed from the deep secret resources of the hills!
+
+There is a generosity which is like the drawing-room fountain. If you
+listen you can hear the mechanical click, and a sound of friction, arising
+from murmuring and complaint. And there is a generosity which is like the
+fountain that is the child of the hills. It is clear, and sweet, and
+musical, and flows on through every season! One is "of necessity"; the
+other is "willingly." And "God loveth a cheerful giver."
+
+And prayer can be of the same two contrary orders. One prayer is
+mechanical, it is hard, formal, metallic. The other is spontaneous,
+forceful, and irresistible. Listen to the Pharisee--"Lord, I thank Thee
+that I am not as other men are." It is the click of the machine! Listen to
+the publican--"God be merciful to me, a sinner!" It is the voice of the
+deeps.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Ninteenth
+
+_UNION IN HARMONY_
+
+"_Be ye all of one mind._"
+--1 PETER iii. 8-17.
+
+
+But this is not unison: it is harmony. When an orchestra produces some
+great musical masterpiece, the instruments are all of one mind, but each
+makes its own individual contribution. There is variety with concordance:
+each one serves every other, and the result is glorious harmony. "By love
+serve one another." It is love that converts membership into fraternity:
+it is love that binds sons and daughters into a family.
+
+Look at a field of wild-flowers. What a harmony of colour! And yet what a
+variety of colours! Nothing out of place, but no sameness! All drawing
+resource from the same soil, and breathing the vitalizing substance from
+the same air!
+
+"And ye, being rooted and grounded in love," will grow up, a holy family
+in the Lord. If love be the common ground the varieties in God's family
+may be infinite!
+
+And so the unity which the apostle seeks is a unity of mood and
+disposition. It is not a unity which repeats the exact syllables of a
+common creed, but a unity which is built of common trust, and love, and
+hope. It is not sameness upon the outer lips, but fellowship in the secret
+place.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twentieth
+
+_THE JOY OF THE LOVER_
+
+ROMANS xii. 9-18.
+
+
+Love finds her joy in seeing others crowned. Envy darkens when she sees
+the garland given to another. Jealousy has no festival except when she is
+"Queen of the May." But love thrills to another's exaltation. She feels
+the glow of another's triumph. When another basks in favour her own "time
+of singing of birds is come!"
+
+And all this is because love has wonderful chords which vibrate to the
+secret things in the souls of others. Indeed, the gift of love is just the
+gift of delicate correspondence, the power of exquisite fellow-feeling,
+the ability to "rejoice with them that do rejoice, and to weep with them
+that weep." When, therefore, the soul of another is exultant, and the
+wedding-bells are ringing, love's kindred bells ring a merry peal. When
+the soul of another is depressed, and a funeral dirge is wailing, love's
+kindred chords wail in sad communion. So love can enter another's state as
+though it were her own.
+
+Our Master spake condemningly of those who have lost this exquisite gift.
+They have lost their power of response. "We have piped with you, and ye
+have not danced; we have mourned with you, and ye have not lamented." They
+lived in selfish and loveless isolation. They have lost all power of
+tender communion.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-first
+
+_LOVE AS THE GREAT MAGICIAN_
+
+1 JOHN ii. 1-11.
+
+
+A new commandment! And yet it is an old one with a new meaning. It is the
+old water-pot, but its water has been changed into wine. It is the old
+letter with a new spirit. It is the old body with a new soul. Love makes
+all things new! It changes duty into delight, and statutes into songs.
+
+What a magic difference love makes to a face. It at once becomes a face
+illumined. Love makes the plainest face winsome and attractive. It adds
+the light of heaven, and the earthly is transfigured. No cosmetics are
+needed when love is in possession. She will do her own beautifying work,
+and everybody will know her sign.
+
+What a magic difference love makes in service! The hireling goes about his
+work with heavy and reluctant feet: the lover sings and dances at his
+toil. The hireling scamps his work: the lover is always adding another
+touch, and is never satisfied. Just one more touch! And just another! And
+so on until the good God shall say that loving "patience has had her
+perfect work."
+
+Love lights up everything, for she is the light of life. Let her dwell in
+the soul, and every room in the life shall be filled with the glory of the
+Lord.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-second
+
+_SPEECH AS A SYMPTOM OF HEALTH_
+
+"_The tongue of the wise is health._"
+--PROVERBS xii. 13-22.
+
+
+Our doctors often test our physical condition by the state of our tongue.
+With another and deeper significance the tongue is also the register of
+our condition. Our words are a perfect index of our moral and spiritual
+health. If our words are unclean and untrue, our souls are assuredly
+sickly and diseased. A perverse tongue is never allied with a sanctified
+heart. And, therefore, everyone may apply a clinical test to his own life:
+"What is the character of my speech? What do my words indicate? What do
+they suggest as to the depths and background of the soul?" "By thy words
+thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
+
+God delighteth in truthful lips. Right words are fruit from the tree of
+life. The Lord turns away from falsehood as we turn away from material
+corruption, only with an infinitely intenser loathing and disgust.
+
+It is only the lips that have been purified with flame from the holy altar
+of God that can offer words that are pleasing unto Him.
+
+    "Take my lips and let them be
+     Filled with messages from Thee."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-third
+
+_MASCULINE FORGIVENESS_
+
+COLOSSIANS iii. 12-17.
+
+
+True forgiveness is a very strong and clean and masculine virtue. There is
+a counterfeit forgiveness which is unworthy of the name. It is full of
+"buts," and "ifs," and "maybes," and "peradventures." It moves with
+reluctance, it offers with averted face, it takes back with one hand what
+it gives with the other. It forgives, but it "cannot forget." It forgives,
+but it "can never trust again." It forgives, but "things can never be the
+same as they were." What kind of forgiveness is this? It is the mercy of
+the police-court. It is the remission of penalty, not the glorious
+"abandon" of grace! It is a cold "Don't do it again," not the weeping and
+compassionate goodwill of the Lord.
+
+"_Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye._" That is to be our motive,
+and that is to be our measure. We are to forgive _because_ Christ forgave
+us. The glorious memory of His grace is to make us gracious. His tender,
+healing words to us are to redeem our speech from all harshness. In the
+contemplation of His cross we are to become "partakers of His sufferings,"
+and by the shedding of our own blood help to close and heal the alienation
+of the world.
+
+And we are to forgive _as_ Christ forgave us. Resentment is to be changed
+into frank goodwill, and filled with the grace of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-fourth
+
+LIMITED FORGIVENESS
+
+LUKE xvii. 3-10.
+
+
+We are always inclined to set a limit to our moral obligations. We wish,
+as we say, "to draw a line somewhere." We want to appoint a definite place
+where obligation ceases, and where the moral strain may be released. The
+Apostle Peter wished his Master to draw such a line in the matter of
+forgiveness. "Lord, how oft shall I forgive? Till seven times?" He wanted
+a tiny moral rule which he could apply to his brother's conduct.
+
+Not so the Lord. Our Master tells His disciple that in those spiritual
+realms relations are not governed by arithmetic. We cannot, by counting,
+measure off our obligations. Our repeated acts of forgiveness never bring
+us nearer to the freedom of revenge. No amount of sweetness will ever
+permit us to be bitter. We cannot, by being good, obtain a license to be
+evil. The fact of the matter is, if our goodness is of genuine quality,
+every act will more strongly dispose us to further goodness. It is the
+counterfeit element in our goodness that inclines us to the opposite camp.
+It is when our forgiveness is tainted that we anticipate the "sweetness"
+of revenge.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE HIDDEN FOES_
+
+MATTHEW v. 21-26.
+
+
+Our Lord always leads us to the secret, innermost roots of things. He does
+not concern Himself with symptoms, but with causes. He does not begin with
+the molten lava flowing down the fair mountain slope and destroying the
+vineyards. He begins with the central fires in which the lava is born. He
+does not begin with uncleanness. He begins with the thoughts which produce
+it. He does not begin with murder, but with the anger which causes it. He
+pierces to the secret fires!
+
+Now, all anger is not of sin. The Apostle Paul enjoins his readers to "be
+angry, and sin not." To be altogether incapable of anger would be to offer
+no antagonism to the wrongs and oppressions of the world. "Who is made to
+stumble, and I burn not?" cries the Apostle Paul. If wrong stalked abroad
+with heedless feet he burned with holy passion. There is anger which is
+like clean flame, clear and pure, as "the sea of glass mingled with fire."
+And there is anger which is like a smoky bonfire, and it pollutes while it
+destroys.
+
+It is the unclean anger which is of sin. It seeks revenge, not
+righteousness. It seeks "to get its own back," not to get the wrong-doer
+back to God. It follows wrong with further wrong. It spreads the devil's
+fire.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-sixth
+
+_GOLIATH VERSUS GOD!_
+
+1 SAMUEL xvii. 1-11.
+
+
+Goliath seemed to have everything on his side _except_ God. And the things
+in which he boasted were just the things in which men are prone to boast
+to-day.
+
+He had physical strength. "His height was six cubits and a span."
+Athletics had done all they could for him, and he was a fine type of
+animal perfection.
+
+He had splendid military equipment. "A helmet of brass," and "a coat of
+mail," and "a spear like a weaver's beam!" Surely, if fine material
+equipment determines combats, the shepherd-lad from the hills of Bethlehem
+will be annihilated.
+
+And he enjoyed the enthusiastic confidence of the Philistines. He was his
+nation's pride and glory! He strode out amid their shouts, and the cheers
+were like iron in his blood.
+
+But all this counted for nothing, because God was against him. Men and
+nations may attain to a fine animalism, their warlike equipment may
+satisfy the most exacting standard, and yet, with God against them, they
+shall be as structures woven out of mists, and they shall collapse at the
+touch of apparent weakness. The issue was not Goliath versus David, but
+Goliath versus God!
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-seventh
+
+_OBSCURE BIRTHPLACES_
+
+1 SAMUEL xvii. 12-27.
+
+
+God's champion is at present feeding sheep! Who would have expected that
+Goliath's antagonist would emerge from the quiet pastures? "Genius hatches
+her offspring in strange places." Very humble homes are the birthplaces of
+mighty emancipations.
+
+There was a little farm at St. Ives, and the farmer lived a quiet and
+unsensational life. But the affairs of the nation became more and more
+confused and threatening. Monarchical power despoiled the people's
+liberties, and tyranny became rampant. And out from the little farm strode
+Oliver Cromwell, the ordained of God, to emancipate his country.
+
+There was an obscure rectory at Epworth. The doings in the little rectory
+were just the quiet practices of similar homes in countless parts of
+England. And England was becoming brutalized, because its religious life
+was demoralized. The Church was asleep, and the devil was wide awake! And
+forth from the humble rectory strode John Wesley, the appointed champion
+of the Lord to enthuse, to purify, and to sweeten the life of the people.
+
+On what quiet farm is the coming deliverer now labouring? Who knows?
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-eighth
+
+_PREPARING FOR GREAT ENCOUNTERS_
+
+1 SAMUEL xvii. 28-37.
+
+
+This young champion of the Lord had won many victories before he faced
+Goliath. Everything depends on how I approach my supreme conflicts. If I
+have been careless in smaller combats I shall fail in the larger. If I
+come, wearing the garlands of triumph won in the shade, the shout of
+victory is already in the air! Let me look at David's trophies before he
+removed Goliath's head.
+
+He had conquered his temper. Read Eliab's irritating taunt in the
+twenty-eighth verse, and mark the fine self-possession of the young
+champion's reply! That conquest of temper helped him when he took aim at
+Goliath! There is nothing like passion for disturbing the accuracy of the
+eye and the steadiness of the hand.
+
+He had conquered fear. "_Let no man's heart fail because of him._" There
+was no panic, there was no feverish and wasteful excitement. There was no
+shouting "to keep the spirits up!" He was perfectly calm.
+
+And he had conquered unbelief. He had a rich history of the providential
+dealings of God with him, and his confidence was now unclouded and serene.
+He had known the Lord's power when he faced the bear and the lion. Now for
+Goliath!
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE MOOD OF TRIUMPH_
+
+"_I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts._"
+--1 SAMUEL xvii. 38-54.
+
+
+The man who comes up to his foes with this assurance will fight and win.
+Reasonable confidence is one of the most important weapons in the
+warrior's armoury. Fear is always wasteful. The man who calmly expects to
+win has already begun to conquer. Our mood has so much to do with our
+might. And therefore does the Word of God counsel us to attend to our
+dispositions, lest, having carefully collected our material implements, we
+have no strength to use them.
+
+And the man who comes up to his foes with holy assurance will fight with
+consummate skill. He will be quite "collected." All his powers will wait
+upon one another, and they will move together as one. He is as
+self-possessed upon the battlefield as upon parade, as undisturbed before
+Goliath as before a flock of sheep! And therefore do I say that, fighting
+with perfect composure, he fights with superlative skill. The right moment
+is seized, the right stone is chosen, the right aim is taken, and great
+Goliath is brought low.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Thirtieth
+
+_THE TEST OF VICTORY_
+
+"_David behaveth himself wisely._"
+--1 SAMUEL xvii. 55--xviii. 5.
+
+
+The hour of victory is a more severe moral test than the hour of defeat.
+Many a man can brave the perils of adversity who succumbs to the
+seductions of prosperity. He can stand the cold better than the heat! He
+is enriched by failure, but "spoilt by success." To test the real quality
+of a man, let us regard him just when he has slain Goliath! "David behaved
+himself wisely"!
+
+He was not "eaten up with pride." He developed no "side." He went among
+his friends as though no Goliath had ever crossed his way. He was not for
+ever recounting the triumph, and fishing for the compliments of his
+audience. He "behaved wisely." So many of us tarnish our victories by the
+manner in which we display them. We put them into the shop-window, and
+they become "soiled goods."
+
+And in this hour of triumph David made a noble friend. In his noonday he
+found Jonathan, and their hearts were knit to each other in deep and
+intimate love. It is beautiful when our victories are so nobly borne that
+they introduce us into higher fellowships, and the friends of heaven
+become our friends.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The First
+
+_THE CONDITIONS OF SERENITY_
+
+PSALM cxxiv.
+
+
+If I would be like the Psalmist, I must _clearly recognize my perils_. He
+sees the "waters," the "proud waters." He beholds the "enemy," and his
+"wrath," and his "teeth." He sees "the fowler" with his snare! I must not
+shut my eyes, and "make my judgment blind." One of the gifts of grace is
+the spirit of discernment, the eyes which not only detect hidden treasure,
+but hidden foes. The devil is an expert in mimicry; he can make himself
+look like an angel of light. And so must I be able to discover his snares,
+even when they appear as the most seductive food.
+
+And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must _clearly recognize my great
+Ally_. "If it has not been the Lord, who was on our side!" To see the Ally
+on the perilous field, and to see Him on my side, gives birth to holy
+confidence and song. "The Lord is on my side, whom shall I fear?" I must
+make sure of the Ally, and "victory is secure."
+
+And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must not omit the doxology of
+praise. When the prayer is answered, I am apt to forget the praise. My
+thanksgivings are not so ready as my requests. And so the apparently
+conquered enemy steals in again at the door of an ungrateful heart.
+
+
+
+
+May The Second
+
+_THE HAPPY WARRIOR_
+
+EPHESIANS vi. 10-18.
+
+
+Here is a portrait of the happy warrior! Let me first look at the warrior,
+and then at the implements with which he fights.
+
+"You cannot fight the French merely with red uniforms; there must be men
+inside them!" So said Thomas Carlyle. Well, look at this man.
+"_Strengthened in the Lord, and in the power of His might._" There is a
+secret communion with the Almighty, and he draws his resources from the
+Infinite. The water in my home comes from the Welsh hills; every drop was
+gathered on those grand and expansive uplands. And this man's soldierly
+strength is drawn from the hills of God; every ounce of his fighting blood
+comes from the veins of the Lord.
+
+And mark the nature of his armoury. His weapons are dispositions. He
+fights with "truth," and "righteousness," and "peace," and "faith," and
+"prayer"! There are no implements like these. A sword will fail where a
+courtesy will prevail. We can kill our enemies by kindness. And as for the
+devil himself there is nothing like a grace-filled disposition for putting
+him to flight! A prayerful disposition can drive him off any field, at any
+hour of the day or night. "Put on the whole armour of God."
+
+
+
+
+May The Third
+
+_OTHER GODS!_
+
+"_Thou shalt have no other gods before Me._"
+--EXODUS xx. 1-11.
+
+
+If we kept that commandment all the other commandments would be obeyed. If
+we secure this queen-bee we are given the swarm. To put nothing "before"
+God! What is left in the circle of obedience? God first, always and
+everywhere. Nothing allowed to usurp His throne for an hour! I was once
+allowed to sit on an earthly throne for a few seconds, but even that is
+not to be allowed with the throne of God. Nothing is to share His
+sovereignty, even for a moment. His dominion is to be unconditional and
+unbroken. "Thou shalt have no other gods beside Me."
+
+But we have many gods we set upon His throne. We put money there, and
+fame, and pleasure, and ease. Yes, we sometimes usurp God's throne, and we
+ourselves dare to sit there for days, and weeks, and years, at a time.
+Self is the idol, and we enthrone it, and we fall down and worship it. But
+no peace comes from such sovereignty, and no deep and vital joy. For the
+real King is not dead, and He is out and about, and our poor little
+monarchy is as the reign of the midge on a summer's night. Our real
+kingship is in the acknowledgment of the King of kings. When we worship
+Him, and Him only, He will ask us to sit on His throne.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Fourth
+
+_A HEALTHY PALATE_
+
+"_How sweet are Thy words unto my taste._"
+--PSALM cxix. 97-104.
+
+
+Some people like one thing, and some another. Some people appreciate the
+bitter olive; others feel it to be nauseous. Some delight in the sweetest
+grapes; others feel the sweetness to be sickly. It is all a matter of
+palate. Some people love the Word of the Lord; to others the reading of it
+is a dreary task. To some the Bible is like a vineyard; to others it is
+like a dry and tasteless meal. One takes the word of the Master, and it is
+"as honey to the mouth"; to another the same word is as unwelcome as a
+bitter drug. It is all a matter of palate.
+
+But what is a man to do who has got a perverted palate, and who calls
+sweet things bitter and bitter things sweet? He must get a new mouth! And
+where is he to get it? Not by any ministry of his own creation; his own
+endeavours will be impotent. A healthy moral palate depends upon the
+purity of the heart. Our spiritual discernments are all determined by the
+state of the soul. If the heart be pure, the mouth will be clean, and we
+shall love God's law. If the soul-appetite be healthy, God's words will be
+sweet unto our taste. And so does the good Lord give us new palates by
+giving us new hearts. "Create within us clean hearts, O God, and renew
+right spirits within us."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Fifth
+
+_HEALTHY LISTENING_
+
+"_Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only._"
+--JAMES i. 21-27.
+
+
+When we hear the word, but do not do it, there has been a defect in our
+hearing. We may listen to the word for mere entertainment. Or we may
+attach a virtue to the mere act of listening to the word. We may assume
+that some magical efficacy belongs to the mere reading of the word. And
+all this is perverse and delusive. No listening is healthy which is not
+mentally referred to obedience. We are to listen _with a view to
+obedience_, with our eyes upon the very road where the obedient feet will
+travel. That is to say, we are to listen with purpose, as though we were
+Ambassadors receiving instructions from the King concerning some momentous
+mission. Yes, we must listen with an eye on the road.
+
+"Doing" makes a new thing of "hearing." The statute obeyed becomes a song.
+The commandment is found to be a beatitude. The decree discloses riches of
+grace. The hidden things of God are not discovered until we are treading
+the path of obedience. "And it came to pass that as he went he received
+his sight." In the way of obedience the blind man found a new world. God
+has wonderful treasures for the dutiful. The faithful discover the "hidden
+manna."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Sixth
+
+_THE PERFECTING OF LOVE_
+
+"_Herein is our love made perfect._"
+--1 JOHN iv. 11-21.
+
+
+How? By dwelling in God and God in us. Love is not a manufacture; it is a
+fruit. It is not born of certain works; it springs out of certain
+relations. It does not come from doing something; it comes from living
+with Somebody. "Abide in Me." That is how love is born, for "love is of
+God, and God is love."
+
+How many people are striving who are not abiding. They live in a
+manufactory, they do not live in a home. They are trying to make something
+instead of to know Somebody. "This is life, to know Thee." When I am
+related to the Lord Jesus, when I dwell with Him, love is as surely born
+as beauty and fragrance are born when my garden and the spring-time dwell
+together. If we would only wisely cultivate the fellowship of Jesus,
+everything else would follow in its train--all that gracious succession of
+beautiful things which are called "the fruits of the Spirit."
+
+And "herein is our love made perfect." It is always growing richer,
+because it is always drawing riches from the inexhaustible love of God.
+How could it be otherwise? Endless resource must mean endless growth. "Our
+life is hid with Christ in God," and hence our love will "grow in all
+wisdom and discernment."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Seventh
+
+_IN THE WAYS OF OBEDIENCE_
+
+PSALM xix. 7-14.
+
+
+Let me listen to the exquisite chimes of this wonderful psalm as they ring
+out the blessedness of the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord.
+What shall he find in the ways of obedience?
+
+He shall find restoration. "Restoring the soul." He shall find new stores
+of food along the way. In every emergency he shall find fresh provision;
+every new need shall discover new supplies. When one store is spent,
+another shall take its place. "Thou re-storest my soul." In the ways of
+righteousness the good Lord has appointed ample stores for the provision
+of all His faithful pilgrims.
+
+He shall find joy. "Rejoicing the heart." In the way of obedience there
+shall be springs of delight as well as stores of provision. "With joy
+shall ye draw waters out of the wells of salvation." Fountains of
+delicious satisfaction rise in the realm of duty, the satisfaction of
+being right with God, and in union with the eternal will. There is no day
+without its spring, and "the joy of the Lord is our strength."
+
+He shall find vision. "Enlightening the eyes." The eyes of the obedient
+are anointed with the eye-salve of grace, and wondrous panoramas break
+upon the sight. Visions of grace! Visions of love! Visions of glory!
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Eighth
+
+_HOW NOT TO FORGET_
+
+DEUTERONOMY xi. 18-25.
+
+
+If we wish to retain "the word of the Lord" everything depends upon where
+we keep it. If we just keep it in the mind, a leaky memory may waste the
+treasure. A Chinese convert declared that he found the best way to
+remember the word was to do it! The engraved word became character,
+written upon the fleshy tables of the heart. He incarnated the word, and
+it became a vital part of his own personality. He lived it and it lived in
+him. The word became flesh. This is the only really vital "way of
+remembrance," to convert the word into the primary stuff of the life.
+
+There is a secondary way by which we may help our apprehension of God's
+word. "Ye shall teach them." Our hold upon a truth is increased while we
+impart it to others. The gospel becomes more vivid as we proclaim it to
+our fellow-men. We see it while we explain it. It grips us the more firmly
+as we use it to grip our children. This is a great law in life. In these
+matters it is literally true that memory best retains what she gives away.
+A truth that is never shared is never really possessed. The word that we
+teach becomes rooted in our own mind.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Ninth
+
+_LOVING THE LORD_
+
+LUKE x. 21-28.
+
+
+The secret of life is to love the Lord our God, and our neighbours as
+ourselves. But how are we to love the Lord? We cannot manufacture love. We
+cannot love to order. We cannot by an act of will command its appearing.
+No, not in these ways is love created. Love is not a work, it is a fruit.
+It grows in suitable soils, and it is our part to prepare the soils. When
+the conditions are congenial, love appears, just as the crocus and the
+snowdrop appear in the congenial air of the spring.
+
+What, then, can we do? We can seek the Lord's society. We can think about
+Him. We can read about Him. We can fill our imaginations with the grace of
+His life and service. We can be much with Him, talking to Him in prayer,
+singing to Him in praise, telling Him our yearnings and confessing to Him
+our defeats. And love will be quietly born. For this is how love is born
+between heart and heart. Two people are "much together," and love is born!
+And when we are much with the Lord, we are with One who already loves us
+with an everlasting love. We are with One who yearns for our love and who
+seeks in every way to win it. "We love Him because He first loved us." And
+when we truly love God, every other kind of holy love will follow. Given
+the fountain, the rivers are sure.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Tenth
+
+_GOD'S USE OF MEN_
+
+"_I have surely seen the affliction of My people ...
+come now, therefore, I will send thee._"
+--EXODUS iii. 1-14.
+
+
+Does that seem a weak ending to a powerful beginning? The Lord God looks
+upon terrible affliction and He sends a weak man to deal with it. Could He
+not have sent fire from heaven? Could He not have rent the heavens and
+sent His ministers of calamity and disasters? Why choose a man when the
+arch-angel Gabriel stands ready at obedience?
+
+This is the way of the Lord. He uses human means to divine ends. He works
+through man to the emancipation of men. He pours His strength into a worm,
+and it becomes "an instrument with teeth." He stiffens a frail reed and it
+becomes as an iron pillar.
+
+And this mighty God will use thee and me. On every side there are Egypts
+where affliction abounds, there are homes where ignorance breeds, there
+are workshops where tyranny reigns, there are lands where oppression is
+rampant. "Come now, therefore, I will send thee." Thus saith the Lord, and
+He who gives the command will also give the equipment.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Eleventh
+
+_BUT----!_
+
+"_And Moses answered and said, But_----"
+--EXODUS iv. 1-9.
+
+
+We know that "but." God has heard it from our lips a thousand times. It is
+the response of unbelief to the divine call. It is the reply of fear to
+the divine command. It is the suggestion that the resources are
+inadequate. It is a hint that God may not have looked all round. He has
+overlooked something which our own eyes have seen. The human "buts" in the
+Scriptural stories make an appalling record.
+
+"Lord, I will follow Thee, but----" There is something else to be attended
+to before discipleship can begin. Obedience is not primary: it must wait
+for something else. And so our obedience is not a straight line: it is
+crooked and circuitous; it takes the way of by-path meadow instead of the
+highway of the Lord. We do not wait upon the Lord's pleasure; we make Him
+wait upon ours.
+
+There need be no "buts" in our relationship to the King's will. Everything
+has been foreseen. Nothing will take the Lord by surprise. The entire
+field has been surveyed, and the preparations are complete. When the Lord
+says to thee or me, "I will send thee," every provision has been made for
+the appointed task. "I will not fail thee."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twelfth
+
+_MOUTH AND MATTER_
+
+"_Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth._"
+--EXODUS iv. 10-17.
+
+
+And what a promise that is for anyone who is commissioned to proclaim the
+King's decrees. Here can teachers and preachers find their strength. God
+will be with their mouths. He will control their speech, and order their
+words like troops. He does not promise to make us eloquent, but to endow
+our words with the "demonstration of power."
+
+"_And I will teach thee what thou shall say._" The Lord will not only be
+with our mouths, but with our minds. He will guide our thoughts as well as
+our words. He will be as sentinel at the lips. He will be our guide in our
+processes of meditation and judgment, and He will bring us to enlightened
+ends. All of which is just this: He will give us mouth and matter.
+
+This does not put a premium upon idleness. The Lord guides when men are
+honestly groping. He gives us fire when we have built the altar. He works
+His miracle when we have provided the five loaves. He sends His light
+through diligent thinking. The divine power is given through the
+consecrated strength.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Thirteenth
+
+_COMMONPLACE FIDELITIES_
+
+EXODUS ii. 11-25.
+
+
+God prepares us for the greater crusades by more commonplace fidelities.
+Through the practice of common kindnesses God leads us to chivalrous
+tasks. Little courtesies feed nobler reverences. No man can despise
+smaller duties and do the larger duties well. Our strength is sapped by
+small disobediences. Our discourtesies to one another impair our worship
+of God. The neglect of the "pointing" of a house may lead to dampness and
+fatal disease.
+
+And thus the only way to live is by filling every moment with fidelity. We
+are ready for anything when we have been faithful in everything. "Because
+thou hast been faithful in that which is least!" That is the order in
+moral and spiritual progress, and that is the road by which we climb to
+the seats of the mighty. When every stone in life is "well and truly laid"
+we are sure of a solid, holy temple in which the Lord will delight to
+dwell. The quality of our greatness depends upon what we do with "that
+which is least."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Fourteenth
+
+_CALAMITY AS REVEALER_
+
+"_In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord._"
+--ISAIAH vi. 1-8.
+
+
+He lost a hero, and he found the Lord. He feared because a great pillar
+had fallen: and he found the Pillar of the universe. He thought everything
+would topple into disaster, and lo! he felt the strength of the
+everlasting arms. When Uzziah lived Isaiah had forgotten his Lord. He so
+depended on the earthly that he had overlooked the heavenly. Uzziah
+concealed his Lord as a thick veil can hide a face. And when Uzziah died,
+when the earthly king passed away, the eternal King was revealed; as when
+by the passing of an earth-born cloud the moon reigns radiant in the open
+sky.
+
+And thus it is that apparent calamity is often the minister of revelation.
+The great storm clears the air, and luminous vistas come into view. The
+howling wind of adversity drives away the earth-born clouds and we see the
+face of God. Our sorrows prove the occasion of our visions. We see new
+panoramas through our tears. Bereavement gives us spiritual surprises, and
+death becomes the servant of life. And so it happens that days which began
+in gloom end in revelation, and we keep their recurring anniversary with
+deepening praise.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Fifteenth
+
+_GOD IS WIDE-AWAKE_
+
+"_Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said,
+I see a rod of an almond tree._"
+--JEREMIAH i. 7-19.
+
+
+And through the almond tree the Lord gave the trembling young prophet the
+strength of assurance. The almond tree is the first to awake from its
+wintry sleep. When all other trees are held in frozen slumber the almond
+blossoms are looking out on the barren world. And God is like that, awake
+and vigilant. Nobody anticipates Him. Wherever Jeremiah was sent on his
+prophetic mission the Lord would be there before him. Before the prophet's
+enemies could get to work the Lord was on the field. In the wintriest
+circumstances of a prophet's life God is wide awake: "He that keepeth
+Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."
+
+And still the almond tree has its heartening significance for thee and me.
+Our God is wide-awake. He looks out upon our wintry circumstances, and
+nothing is hid from His sight. There is no unrecognized and uncounted
+factor which may steal in furtively and take Him by surprise. Everything
+is open. He is wide-awake on the far-off field where the isolated
+missionary is ploughing his lonely furrow. He is wide-awake on the field
+of common labour where some young disciple finds it hard to keep clean
+hands while he earns his daily bread.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Sixteenth
+
+_THE DETAILS OF PROVIDENCE_
+
+"_The very hairs of your head are all numbered._"
+--MATTHEW x. 24-31.
+
+
+Providence goes into details. Sometimes, in our human intercourse, we
+cannot see the trees for the wood. We cannot see the individual sheep for
+the flock. We cannot see the personal soul for the masses. We are blinded
+by the bigness of things; we cannot see the individual blades of grass
+because of the field.
+
+Now God's vision is not general, it is particular. There are no "masses"
+to the Infinite. "He calleth His own sheep _by name_." The single one is
+seen as though he alone possessed the earth. When God looks at the wood He
+sees every tree. When He looks at the race He sees every man.
+
+And, therefore, I need not fear that "my way is overlooked by my God." He
+knows every turning. He knows just where the strain begins at the hill. He
+knows the perils of every descent. He knows every happening along the
+road. He knows every letter that came to me by this morning's post. He
+knows every visitor who knocks at the door of my life, whether the visitor
+come at the high noon or at the midnight. "There is nothing hid." "The
+very hairs of your head are all numbered."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Seventeenth
+
+_MY BODILY INFIRMITIES_
+
+JOHN ix. 1-12.
+
+
+An infirmity becomes doubly burdensome when we give it a false
+interpretation. The weight of a thing is determined by our conception of
+it. If I look upon my ailment as the stroke of an offended God, I wear it
+like the chains of a slave. If I look upon it as the fire of the gracious
+Refiner, I can calmly await the beneficent issue. It is my Lord, engaged
+in chastening His jewels!
+
+And so our Master first of all relieves the blind man of the false
+interpretation of his infirmity. "_Neither did this man sin, nor his
+parents._" That lifts the sorrow out of the winter into the spring. It
+sets it in the warm, sweet light of grace. It becomes transfigured. It
+wears a new face, placed there in "the light of His countenance."
+
+And then our Lord relieves the blind man of the infirmity itself. The
+ministry of blindness was accomplished, and sight was given. No man is
+kept in the darkness a moment longer than infinite love deems good. Our
+Lord does not overlook the prison-house, and leave us there forgotten. "He
+that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." So cheer thee, my
+soul! The Lord is on thy side! The Miracle-worker knows His time and "the
+dreariest path, the darkest way, shall issue out in heavenly day."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Eighteenth
+
+_BLINDED JUDGMENTS_
+
+JOHN ix. 13-25.
+
+
+Here is a ceremonialism which is blind to the humane. Its scrupulous
+ritualisms have dried up its philanthropy. It thinks more of etiquette
+than equity. It esteems genuflexions more than generosity. It values the
+husk more than the kernel. It is Sabbatarian but not humanitarian. My God,
+deliver me from all pious conventionalities which make me indifferent to
+the ailments and cries of my fellow-men!
+
+And here is a dense prejudice which is blind to the evident. "_They did
+not believe that he had been blind._" A prejudice can deflect the
+judgment, as subtle magnetic currents can deflect the needle. The film of
+an ecclesiastical prejudice can be so opaque as to make us "blind to
+facts." We do not "see things as they are." Our perverted eyes give us a
+crooked world.
+
+And here is a bitter violence which is blind to the glory of the Lord. "We
+know that this man is a sinner!" And so it comes to that. Our judgments
+can become so warped that when we look upon Him, "who is the chief among
+ten thousand and the altogether lovely," "there is no beauty that we
+should desire Him"! And therefore let this be my daily prayer, "Lord, that
+I might receive my sight!"
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Nineteenth
+
+_THE ROCK OF EXPERIENCE_
+
+JOHN ix. 26-41.
+
+
+The Lord gains a witness, and a stalwart witness too! First, he stood upon
+his own inalienable experience. "_One thing I know, that whereas I was
+blind, now I see._" Second, he drew his own firm inferences from the
+beneficence of the work. And, in the third place, he reached his grand
+conclusion. "_If this man were not of God, He could do nothing._" A grand
+testimony, and given by one who "dared to stand alone!"
+
+And the witness gained a Friend. "Jesus heard that they had cast him out,
+and when He had found him...." Our Lord is always seeking the outcasts. He
+never abandons the abandoned. When the faithful witness is driven into the
+wilderness he finds "a table spread" before him "in the presence of his
+enemies." The man who had recovered his sight was cast out, but on the
+threshold he met his Lord!
+
+And further sight was given. By the first sight he could see his parents,
+by the second sight he saw the Son of God. The film was first removed from
+his eyes, and then from his soul, and he saw "the glory of the Lord." "And
+he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twentieth
+
+_THE LONE CRY IN THE BIG CROWD_
+
+MARK x. 46-52.
+
+
+Our Lord hears the cry of need even when it rises from the midst of the
+tumultuous crowd. A mother can hear the faint cry of her child in the
+chamber above, even when the room resounds with the talk and laughter of
+her guests. And our Lord heard the wail of poor Bartim�us! That lone,
+sorrowful cry pierced the clamour, "and Jesus stood still." My soul, cry
+to Him! "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by."
+
+And Bartim�us knew what he wanted. He merged all his petitions in one.
+"Lord, that I might receive my sight!" And let me, too, come to my Saviour
+with some great, dominant, all-commanding request. I trifle with my
+Master. I ask Him for toys, for petty things, while all the time He is
+waiting to give me "unsearchable wealth," "sight, riches, healing of the
+mind." "The Lord is great"; and shall I add, "and greatly to be _prayed_!"
+
+And how delicately gracious it is that our Lord should attribute the
+miracle to Bartim�us himself. "_Thy faith hath made thee whole!_" As
+though the Lord had had no share in the ministry! He makes so much of our
+faith, and our endeavour, and our obedience. "If ye had faith as a grain
+of mustard-seed!" That's all He wants, and miracles are accomplished.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-first
+
+_HUMAN FRAILTIES_
+
+ISAIAH xlii. 1-7.
+
+
+What a winsome revelation of the delicate gentleness of the Lord! "The
+bruised reed"--is it the impaired musical reed, that cannot now emit a
+musical sound, and can only be thrown away? He will not snap it and cast
+it to the void. The discordant life can be made tuneful again: He will put
+"a new song in my mouth."
+
+"And the smoking flax"--the life that has lost its fire, and therefore its
+light, its enthusiasm, and therefore its ideals; the life that is
+smouldering into the cold ashes of moral and spiritual death! He will not
+stamp it out with His foot. The smouldering fire can be rekindled, a spent
+enthusiasm can be revived. "He shall baptize you ... with fire!"
+
+And so He comes to minister to the infirm. He comes to restore injured
+faculty; "_to open blind eyes_." He comes to give vision to restored
+sight: "_to be a light of the Gentiles_." And He comes to endow the
+restored life with a rich and gracious freedom: "_to bring out the
+prisoners from the prison_." Sight, and light, and freedom! And my Lord is
+at the gate, and these gifts are in His hand.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-second
+
+_THE LIGHT AS DARKNESS_
+
+MATTHEW xiii. 10-17.
+
+
+The condition of the heart determines the quality of my discernment. If
+"the heart is waxed gross," the ears will be "dull of hearing," and the
+eyes will be "closed." My spiritual senses gain their acuteness or
+obtuseness from my affections. If my love is muddy my sight will be dim.
+If my love be "clear as crystal" the spiritual realm will be like a
+gloriously transparent air.
+
+And the awful nemesis of sin-created blindness is this, that it interprets
+itself as sight. "The light that is in thee is darkness." We think we see,
+and all the time we are the children of the night. We think it is "the
+dawn of God's sweet morning," and behold! it is the perverse flare of the
+evil one. He has given us a will-o'-the-wisp, and we boastfully proclaim
+it to be "the morning star."
+
+But there is hope for any man, however blind he be, who will humbly lay
+himself at Jesus' feet. Let this be my prayer, O Lord, "Cleanse Thou me
+from secret faults." Deliver me from self-deception, save me from
+confusing the fixed light of heaven with the wandering beacon-lights of
+hell. And again and again will I pray, "Lord, that I might receive my
+sight!"
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-third
+
+_WIND AND FIRE_
+
+ACTS ii. 1-21.
+
+
+The Holy Spirit will minister to me as a _wind_. He will create an
+atmosphere in my life which will quicken all sweet and beautiful growth.
+And this shall be my native air. Gracious seeds, which have never awaked,
+shall now unfold themselves, and "the desert shall rejoice and blossom as
+the rose." It was a saying of Huxley, that if our little island were to be
+invaded by tropical airs, tropical seeds which are now lying dormant in
+English gardens and fields would troop out of their graves in bewildering
+wealth and beauty! "Breathe on me, breath of God!"
+
+And the Holy Spirit will minister to me as a _fire_. And fire is our
+supreme minister of cleansing. Fire can purify when water is impotent. The
+great fire burnt out the great plague. There are evil germs which cannot
+be dealt with except by the searching ministry of the flame. "He shall
+baptize you ... _with fire_." He will create a holy enthusiasm in my soul,
+an intense and sacred love, which will burn up all evil intruders, but in
+which all beautiful things shall walk unhurt.
+
+    "Kindle a flame of sacred love
+     On these cold hearts of ours."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-fourth
+
+_CALVARY AND PENTECOST_
+
+ACTS ii. 22-36.
+
+
+The Apostle Peter traces the stream of Pentecostal blessing to a tomb.
+This "river of water of life" has its "rise" in a death of transcendent
+sacrifice. And I must never forget these dark beginnings of my eternal
+hope. It is well that I should frequently visit the sources of my
+blessedness, and kneel on "the green hill far away."
+
+It will save me from having a cheap religion. I shall never handle the
+gifts of grace as though they had cost nothing. There will always be the
+marks of blood upon them, the crimson stain of incomparable sacrifice.
+
+And it will save me from all flippancy in my religious life. When I visit
+the cross and the tomb, life is transformed from a picnic into a crusade.
+For that is ever my peril, to picnic on the banks of the river and to
+spend my days in emotional loitering.
+
+After all, my Pentecost is purposed to prepare me for my own Gethsemane
+and Calvary! Life is given me in order that I may spend it again in ready
+and fruitful sacrifice.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-fifth
+
+_VISIONS AND DREAMS_
+
+JOEL ii. 21-32.
+
+
+And this old-world promise is good for me to-day. It is like some
+weather-stained well, whose waters have continued flowing throughout the
+generations, right down to my own time. Let me drink!
+
+Holy inspiration will give me insight into the mind of my God. "_Your sons
+and your daughters shall prophesy._" The breath of God creates an
+atmosphere in which spiritual realities are clearly seen. It is like the
+Sabbath air in some busy city, when the fumes and smoke of commerce have
+been blown away. "Thou shalt behold the land that is very far off."
+
+And so in my younger days holy inspiration will give me visions. "Your
+young men shall see visions." I shall be an idealist, and I shall see
+things as they exist in God's idea, even though at present they be maimed
+and imperfect. I shall see them "according to the pattern on the Mount."
+
+And in my later days holy inspiration will give me dreams. "_Your old men
+shall dream dreams._" And what shall they dream about? Not like the
+Chinese, of a golden age in a distant past, but of a golden age to be.
+Their dreams shall have a "forward-looking eye." They shall see "the new
+Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE UNITING OF SUNDERED PEOPLES_
+
+"_On the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost._"
+--ACTS x. 34-48.
+
+
+And this is ever the issue of a true outpouring of the Spirit: sundered
+peoples become one. At "low tide" there are multitudes of separated pools
+along the shore: at "high tide" they flow together, and the little
+distinctions are lost in a splendid union.
+
+It is so racially. "Jew and Gentile!" Peter and Cornelius lose their
+prejudices in the emancipating ministry of the Spirit. And so shall it be
+with English and Irish, with French and German, with Asiatic and European:
+they shall be "all one" in Christ.
+
+It is so socially. "Bond and free!" The master and the servant shall
+discover a glorious intimacy and union. And so shall rich and poor, the
+learned and the illiterate, the many-talented and the obscure. The pools
+shall flow together.
+
+It is so ecclesiastically. Our sectarianisms are always most frowning and
+obtrusive when spiritually we are at "low tide." When the tide rises, it
+is amazing how the ramparts are submerged. It is not round-table
+conferences that we need, but seasons of communion when together we shall
+await the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-seventh
+
+_RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST_
+
+ACTS ii. 37-47.
+
+
+The sacred process by which the Holy Spirit is received is the same
+throughout all the years.
+
+First there is _repentance_. And repentance is not a flow of emotion, but
+a certain direction of mind. I may repent with dry eyes. It is not a
+matter of feeling, but of willing. It is to lay hold of the aimless,
+drifting thought, and _steer it toward God_! It is a change of mind.
+
+Second, there is a definite and avowed choice of my new Goal, my new Lord
+and King. The Christian life cannot be a subterfuge. It cannot be lived
+incognito. I cannot be the Christ's and wear the livery of an alien power.
+There must be _confession_, a bold and clarion-like avowal that henceforth
+I am a soldier of the Lord.
+
+And the spiritual experiences will be sure, as sure as the law-governed
+processes of the material world. There will be "_remission of sins_." The
+old guilt will fall away from my soul as the chains fell from Peter's
+limbs when the angel touched them. And there will be "_the gift of the
+Holy Ghost_." A new dynamic is mine! I enter into fellowship with the
+power of the ascended Lord.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE SONS OF GOD_
+
+"_For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God._"
+--ROMANS viii. 9-17.
+
+
+And how unspeakably wealthy are the implications of the great word!
+
+If a son, then what holy freedom is mine! Mine is not "_the spirit of
+bondage_." The son has "the run of the house." That is the great contrast
+between lodgings and home. And I am to be at home with the Lord.
+
+And if a son, then heir! "All things are yours." Samuel Rutherford used to
+counsel his friends to "take a turn" round their estate. And truly it is
+an inspiring exercise! The Spirit shall lead me over my estate, and I will
+survey, with the sense of ownership, "the things which God hath prepared
+for them that love Him."
+
+I wonder if I have the manner of a king's son? I wonder if there is
+anything in my very "walk" which indicates distinguished lineage and royal
+blood? Or am I like a vagrant who has no possessions and no heartening
+expectations?
+
+"Lord, I would serve, and be a son!"
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-ninth
+
+_MANY GIFTS--ONE SPIRIT_
+
+1 CORINTHIANS xii. 1-13.
+
+
+There is no monotony in the workmanship of my God. The multitude of His
+thoughts is like the sound of the sea, and every thought commands a new
+creation. When He thinks upon me, the result is a creative touch never
+again to be repeated on land or sea. And so, when the Holy Spirit is given
+to the people, the ministry does not work in the suppression of
+individualities, but rather in their refinement and enrichment.
+
+Our gifts will be manifold, and we must not allow the difference to breed
+a spirit of suspicion. Because my brother's gift is not mine I must not
+suspect his calling. To one man is given a trumpet, to another a lamp, and
+to another a spade. And they are all the holy gifts of grace.
+
+And thus the gifts are manifold in order that every man may find his
+completeness in his brother. One man is like an eye--he is a seer of
+visions! Another man is like a hand--he has the genius of practicality! He
+is "a handy man"! One is the architect, the other is the builder. And each
+requires the other, if either is to be perfected. And so, by God's
+gracious Spirit, the individual man is only a bit, a portion, and he is
+intended to fit into the other bits, and so make the complete man of the
+race.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Thirtieth
+
+_FINDING THE DEEP THINGS_
+
+"_The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS ii. 7-12.
+
+
+The deep things of God cannot be discovered by unaided reason. "_Eye hath
+not seen:_" they are not to be apprehended by the artistic vision. "_Ear
+hath not heard:_" they are not unveiled amid the discussion of the
+philosophic schools. "_Neither hath entered into the heart of man:_" even
+poetic insight cannot discern them. All the common lights fail in this
+realm. We need another illumination, even that provided by the Holy
+Spirit. And the Spirit is offered unto us "that we might know the things
+that are freely given to us of God."
+
+And here we have the reason why so many uncultured people are spiritually
+wiser than many who are learned. They lack talent, but they have grace.
+They lack accomplishments, but they have the Holy Ghost. They lack the
+telescope, but they have the sunlight. They are not scholars, but they are
+saints. They may not be theologians, but they have true religion. And so
+they have "the open vision." They "walk with God," and "the deep things of
+God" are made known to their souls.
+
+We must put first things first. We may be busy polishing our lenses when
+our primary and fundamental need is light. It is not a gift that we
+require, but a Friend.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Thirty-first
+
+_CONNECTION AND CONCORD_
+
+"_By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS xii. 12-19.
+
+
+It is only in the spirit that real union is born. Every other kind of
+union is artificial, and mechanical, and dead. We can dovetail many pieces
+of wood together and make the unity of an article of furniture, but we
+cannot dovetail items together and make a tree. And it is the union of a
+tree that we require, a union born of indwelling life. We may join many
+people together in a fellowship by the bonds of a formal creed, but the
+result is only a piece of social furniture, it is not a vital communion.
+There is a vast difference between a connection and a concord.
+
+Many members of a family may bear the same name, may share the same blood,
+may sit and eat at the same table, and yet may have no more vital union
+than a handful of marbles in a boy's pocket. But let the spirit of a
+common love dwell in all their hearts and there is a family bound together
+in glorious union.
+
+And so it is in the spirit, and there alone, that vital union is to be
+found. And here is the secret of such spiritual union. "By one Spirit are
+we all baptized into one body." The Spirit of God, dwelling in all our
+spirits, attunes them into glorious harmony. Our lives blend with one
+another in the very music of the spheres.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The First
+
+_THE BEAUTY OF VARIETY_
+
+1 CORINTHIANS xii. 20-31.
+
+
+God's glory is expressed through the harmony of variety. We do not need
+sameness in order to gain union. I am now looking upon a scene of
+surpassing loveliness. There are mountains, and sea, and grassland, and
+trees, and a wide-stretching sky, and white pebbles at my feet. And a
+white bird has just flown across a little bank of dark cloud. What
+variety! And when I look closer the variety is infinitely multiplied.
+Everything blends into everything else. Nothing is out of place.
+Everything contributes to finished power and loveliness. And so it is in
+the grander sphere of human life. The glory of humanity is born of the
+glory of individuals, each one making his own distinctive contribution.
+
+And thus we have need of one another. Every note in the organ is needed
+for the full expression of noble harmony. Every instrument in the
+orchestra is required unless the music is to be lame and broken. God has
+endowed no two souls alike, and every soul is needed to make the music of
+"the realm of the blest."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Second
+
+_OUR SPIRITUAL GUIDE_
+
+"_When He, the Spirit of truth, is come,
+He will guide you into all truth._"
+--JOHN xvi. 7-14.
+
+
+How great is the difference between a guide-post and a guide! And what a
+difference between a guide-book and a companion! Mere instructions may be
+very uninspiring, and bare commandments may be very cold. Our Guide is an
+inseparable Friend.
+
+And how will He guide us? He will give us insight. "He will guide you into
+all truth." He will refine our spirits so that we may be able to
+distinguish "things that differ," and that so we may know the difference
+between "the holy and the profane." Our moral judgment is often dull and
+imperceptive. And our spiritual judgment is often lacking in vigour and
+penetration. And so our great Spirit-guide puts our spirits to school, and
+more deeply sanctifies them, that in holiness we may have discernment.
+
+And He will also give us foresight. He will enable us to interpret
+circumstances, to apprehend their drift and destiny. We shall see harvests
+while we are looking at seeds, whether the seeds be seeds of good or evil.
+All of which means that the Holy Spirit will deliver our lives from the
+governance of mere whim and caprice, and that He will make us wise with
+the wisdom of God.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Third
+
+_THE SAFETY OF THE OCCUPIED HEART_
+
+GALATIANS v. 16-25.
+
+
+Two friends were cycling through Worcestershire and Warwickshire to
+Birmingham. When they arrived in Birmingham I asked them, among other
+things, if they had seen Warwick Gaol along the road. "No," they said, "we
+hadn't a glimpse of it." "But it is only a field's length from the road!"
+"Well, we never saw it." Ah, but these two friends were lovers. They were
+so absorbed in each other that they had no spare attention for Warwick
+Gaol. Their glorious fellowship made them unresponsive to its calls. They
+were otherwise engaged.
+
+"Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." That
+great Companionship will make us negligent of carnal allurements. "The
+world, and the flesh, and the devil" may stand by the wayside, and hold
+their glittering wares before us, but we shall scarcely be aware of their
+presence. We are otherwise engaged. We are absorbed in the "Lover of our
+souls."
+
+This is the only real and effective way to meet temptation. We must meet
+it with an occupied heart. We must have no loose and trailing affections.
+We must have no vagrant, wayward thoughts. Temptation must find us engaged
+with our Lover. We must "offer no occasion to the flesh." Walking with the
+Holy One, our elevation is our safety.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Fourth
+
+_LIFE'S REAL VALUES_
+
+PROVERBS viii. 10-19.
+
+
+Here is a man who knows the relative values of things. "_Instruction is
+better than silver_"; "_knowledge rather than choice gold_"; "_wisdom is
+better than rubies._" He weighs the inherent worth of things, and puts his
+choice upon the best.
+
+Let me remember that "all is not gold that glitters." The leaden casket is
+often the shrine of the priceless scroll. The glaring and the theatrical
+have often a ragged and seamy interior, and won't bear "looking into." A
+man may have much display and be very lonely; he may have piles of wealth
+and be destitute of joy. His libraries may cover an acre, and yet he may
+have no light. And a man may have only "a candle, and a table, and a bed,"
+and he may be the companion of the eternal God.
+
+I would seek these priceless things. And I would "_seek them early_." I
+have so often been late in the search. I have given the early moments to
+seeking the world's silver and gold, and the later weary moments have been
+idly devoted to God. "They that seek Me early shall find Me." Let me put
+"first things first." "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
+righteousness."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Fifth
+
+_THE SPEECH OF EVENTS_
+
+ACTS xiii. 14-23.
+
+
+Do I sufficiently remember the witness of history? Do I reverently listen
+to the "great voice behind me"? God has spoken in the speech of events.
+"Day unto day" has uttered speech. There has been a witness in national
+life, sometimes quiet as a fragrance, and sometimes "loud as a vale when
+storms are gone." Is it all to me as though it had never been, or is it
+part of the store of counsel by which I shape and guide my life?
+
+And do I sufficiently remember my own providences, "_all the way my God
+has led me_"? When a day is over, do I carry its helpful lamp into the
+morrow? Do I "learn wisdom" from experience? That is surely God's purpose
+in the days; one is to lead on to another in the creation of an ever
+brightening radiance, that so at eventide it may be light.
+
+And do I sufficiently remember that I, too, am making history for my
+fellows who shall succeed me? What kind of a witness will it be? Grim and
+full of warning, like the pillar of salt, or winsome and full of
+heartiness, like some "sweet Ebenezer" built by life's way? Let me pray
+and labour that my days may so shine with grace that all who remember me
+shall adore the goodness of my Lord.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Sixth
+
+_LOVE'S EXPENDITURES_
+
+1 JOHN iii. 11-18.
+
+
+Hereby perceive we the love of God, because "_He laid down His life for
+us_." And the real test of any love is what it is prepared to "lay down."
+How much is it ready to spend? How much will it bleed? There is much
+spurious love about. It lays nothing down; it only takes things up! It is
+self-seeking, using the speech and accents of love. It is a "work of the
+flesh," which has stolen the label of a "fruit of the Spirit." Love may
+always be known by its expenditures, its self-crucifixions, its Calvarys.
+Love is always laying down its life for others. Its pathway is always a
+red road. You may track its goings by the red "marks of the Lord Jesus."
+
+And this is the life, the love-life, which the Lord Jesus came to create
+among the children of men. It is His gracious purpose to form a spiritual
+fellowship in which every member will be lovingly concerned about his
+fellows' good. A real family of God would be one in which all the members
+bleed for each, and each for all.
+
+How can we gain this disposition of love? "God is love." "We love because
+He first loved us." At the fountain of eternal love we too may become
+lovers, becoming "partakers of the divine nature," and filled with all
+"the fulness of God."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Seventh
+
+_MORAL SURGERY_
+
+GALATIANS vi. 1-8.
+
+
+This is a surgical operation in the realm of the soul. A man has been
+"_overtaken in a fault_," some evil passion has pounced upon him, and he
+is broken. Some holy relationship has been snapped, and he is crippled in
+his moral and spiritual goings. Perhaps his affections have been broken,
+or his conscience, or his will. Or perhaps he has lost his glorious hope
+or the confidence of his faith. Here he is, a broken man, the victim of
+his own broken vows, lame and halt in the pilgrim-way! And some surgeon is
+needed to re-set the dislocation, and to make him whole again.
+
+And who is to be the surgeon? "_Ye which are spiritual restore such a
+one._" The men who live under the control of God's Spirit are to be the
+surgeons for broken hearts and souls. When a man has fallen by reason of
+sin, the Christian is to be a Good Samaritan, seeking to restore the
+cripple to health and strength again. We are to kneel and minister to him,
+binding up his wounds, giving him the balm and cordial of oil and wine.
+
+And what is to be the spirit of the surgeon? "The spirit of meekness." We
+are not to be supercilious, for the "touch" of pride is never the minister
+of healing. We are to heal as though some day we may need to be healed.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Eighth
+
+_THE NEW BIRTH_
+
+JOHN iii. 1-21.
+
+
+Here is the Life in contact with the icy legalism of the day. Nicodemus
+was a Pharisee, and his piety was cold and mechanical. Religion had become
+a bloodless obedience to lifeless rules. Men cared more about being proper
+than about being holy. Modes were emphasized more than moods. An external
+pose was esteemed more highly than an internal disposition. The popular
+Saint lived on "the outsides of things."
+
+Then came the Life. And what will He say to the externalist? "Ye must be
+born again." Nothing else could He have said. If the mechanical is to
+become the vital there is nothing for it but a new birth. To get from the
+outside into the inside of things, from the letter into the spirit, we
+need the miracle of renewal, the recreating ministry of grace.
+
+And so it is to-day. The ritualistic is vitalized by the evangelistic. If
+the mechanical is to become the spontaneous, there is need of the "well of
+living water, springing up unto eternal life." When we are born again,
+ritual becomes helpful trellis for the spiritual flowers; the outward form
+becomes the helpmeet of redeeming grace.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Ninth
+
+_THE STORY OF A SORROWFUL SOUL_
+
+PSALM iii.
+
+
+This tearful little psalm tells me where a sorrowful soul found a place of
+help and consolation. He resorted to God.
+
+"_Thou art a shield about me._" He got the Lord between him and his
+circumstances. There is nothing else subtle enough to interpose. Our
+hurtful circumstances are so invasive and so immediate that only God can
+come between us and them. But when God gets in between we are immune.
+"Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear."
+
+"_Thou art my glory._" And that is an honour that need never be stained.
+My worldly glory can be besmirched. An evil man throws mud, and my poor
+reputation is gone. "There's always somebody ready to believe it!" But my
+glory with God, and in God--man's mud cannot touch that fair fame! Even
+Absalom cannot defile that resplendent robe.
+
+"_Thou art the lifter-up of my head._" The flower is "looking up" again!
+In the Lord's presence we recover our lost spirits. "He restoreth my
+soul." "And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round
+about me."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Tenth
+
+_PILLARS OF CLOUD AND FIRE_
+
+"_The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud._"
+--EXODUS xiii. 17--xiv. 4.
+
+
+I need His leadership in the daytime. Sometimes the daylight is my foe. It
+tempts me into carelessness. I become the victim of distraction. The
+"garish day" can entice me into ways of trespass, and I am robbed of my
+spiritual health. Many a man has been faithful in the twilight and night
+who has lost himself in the sunshine. He went astray in his prosperity:
+success was his ruin. And so in the daytime I need the shadow of God's
+presence, the cooling, subduing, calming influence of a friendly cloud.
+
+"_And by night in a pillar of fire._" And I need God's leadership in the
+night. Sometimes the night fills me with fears, and I am confused. The
+darkness chills me, sorrow and adversity make me cold, and I shiver along
+in uncertain going. But my God will lead me as a presence of fire. He will
+keep my heart warm even in the midnight, and He will guide me by the
+kindlings of His love. There shall be "nothing hid from the heat thereof."
+And my bewildering fears shall flee away, and I will sing "songs in the
+night."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Eleventh
+
+_THE PATH ACROSS THE SEA_
+
+"_Thy way is in the sea._"
+--PSALM lxxvii. 11-20.
+
+
+And the sea appears to be the most trackless of worlds! The sea is the
+very symbol of mystery, the grim dwelling-house of innumerable things that
+have been lost. But God's way moves here and there across this trackless
+wild. God is never lost among our mysteries. He knows his way about. When
+we are bewildered He sees the road, and He sees the end even from the
+beginning. Even the sea, in every part of it, is the Lord's highway. When
+His way is in the sea we cannot trace it. Mystery is part of our appointed
+discipline. Uncertainty is to prepare us for a deeper assurance. The
+spirit of questioning is one of the ordained means of growth. And so the
+bewildering sea is our friend, as some day we shall understand. We love to
+"lie down in green pastures," and to be led "beside the still waters," and
+God gives us our share of this nourishing rest. But we need the mysterious
+sea, the overwhelming experience, the floods of sorrows which we cannot
+explain. If we had no sea we should never become robust. We should remain
+weaklings to the end of our days.
+
+God takes us out into the deeps. But His way is in the sea. He knows the
+haven, He knows the track, and we shall arrive!
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twelfth
+
+_WAITING FOR THE SPECTACULAR_
+
+"_The waves covered their enemies....
+Then believed they His words._"
+--PSALM cvi. 1-12.
+
+
+Their faith was born in a great emergency. A spectacular deliverance was
+needed to implant their trust in the Lord. They found no witness in the
+quiet daily providence; the unobtrusive miracle of daily mercy did not
+awake their song. They dwelt upon the "special" blessing, when all the
+time the really special blessing was to be found in the sleepless care
+which watched over them in their ordinary and commonplace ways.
+
+It is the old story. We are wanting God to appear in imperial glory; and
+He comes among us as a humble carpenter. We want great miracles, and we
+have the daily Providence. We see His dread goings in the earthquake; we
+do not feel His presence in the lilies of the field. We watch Him in the
+smoke and flames of Vesuvius; we do not recognize His footprints in the
+little turf-clad hill that is only a few yards from our own door.
+
+It is a great day when we discover our God in the common bush. That day is
+marked with glory when our daily bread becomes a sacrament. When we enjoy
+a closer walk with God, common things will wear the hues of heaven.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE the Thirteenth
+
+_CLOUDED BUT NOT LOST!_
+
+"_Clouds and darkness are round about Him._"
+--PSALM xcvii.
+
+
+When Lincoln had been assassinated, and word of the tragedy came to New
+York, "the people were in a state of mind which urges to violence." A man
+appeared on the balcony of one of the newspaper offices, waving a small
+flag, and a clear voice rang through the air: "Fellow-citizens! Clouds and
+darkness are round about Him! His pavilion is dark waters, and thick
+clouds of the skies! Justice and judgment are the habitation of His
+throne! Fellow-citizens, God reigns!" It was the voice of General
+Garfield.
+
+That voice proclaimed the divine sovereignty, even when the heavens were
+black with the menace of destruction. Lincoln had been assassinated, but
+God lived! Human confusion does not annihilate His throne. God liveth!
+"The firm foundation standeth sure." This is the only rock to stand upon
+when the clouds have gathered, and the waters are out, and the great deeps
+are broken up. God's sceptre does not fall from His grasp, nor is snatched
+by alien hands. The throne abideth. Joy will rise from the apparent chaos
+as springs are unsealed by the earthquake. He will bring fortune out of
+misfortune; the darkness shall be the hiding-place of His grace.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Fourteenth
+
+_THE LAW IN THE HEART_
+
+"_I will put My laws into their hearts._"
+--HEBREWS x. 16-22.
+
+
+Everything depends on where we carry the law of the Lord. If it only rests
+in the memory, any vagrant care may snatch it away. The business of the
+day may wipe it out as a sponge erases a record from a slate. A thought is
+never secure until it has passed from the mind into the heart, and has
+become a desire, an aspiration, a passion. When the law of God is taken
+into the heart, it is no longer something merely remembered: it is
+something loved. Now things that are loved have a strong defence. They are
+in the "keep" of the castle, in the innermost custody of the stronghold.
+The strength of the heart is wrapped about them, and no passing vagrant
+can carry them away.
+
+And this is where the good Lord is willing to put His laws. He is wishful
+to put them among our loves. And the wonderful thing is this: when laws
+are put among loves they change their form, and His statutes become our
+songs. Laws that are loved are no longer dreadful policemen, but
+compassionate friends. "O! how I love Thy law!" That man did not live in a
+prison, he lived in a garden, and God's will was unto him as gracious
+flowers and fruits. And so shall it be unto all of us when we love the law
+of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Fifteenth
+
+_THE KING'S GUESTS_
+
+"_Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?_"
+--PSALM xxiv.
+
+
+Who shall be permitted to pass into the sanctuary of the cloud, and have
+communion with the Lord in the holy place? "He that hath clean hands."
+These hands of mine, the symbols of conduct, the expression of the outer
+life, what are they like? "Your hands are full of blood." Those hands had
+been busy murdering others, pillaging others, brutally ill-using their
+fellow-men. We may do it in business. We may do it in conversation. We may
+do it in a criminal silence. Our hands may be foul with a brother's blood.
+And men and women with hands like these cannot "ascend into the hill of
+the Lord." There must be no stain of an unfair and scandalous life.
+
+"And a pure heart." We need not trouble about the hands if the heart be
+clean. If all the presences that move in the heart--desires, and motives,
+and sentiments, and ideals--are like white-robed angels "without spot, or
+wrinkle, or any such thing," everything that emerges into outer life will
+share the same radiant purity. The heart expresses itself in the hands.
+Character blossoms in conduct. The quality of our current coin is
+determined by the quality of the metal in the mint. "As a man thinketh in
+his heart, so is he."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Sixteenth
+
+_SINAI AND CALVARY_
+
+HEBREWS xii. 18-28.
+
+
+We need not live at the foot of Mount Sinai. It is like living at the foot
+of Mount Pelee, the home of awful eruption, and therefore the realm of
+gloom and uncertainty and fear. We are not saved by law, neither indeed
+can we be. Neither can law heal us after our transgressions and defeats.
+The law has nothing for prodigal men but "blackness, and darkness, and
+tempest." It has no sound but dreaded decree, no message but menace, no
+look but a frown. Who will build his house at the foot of Mount Sinai?
+
+"But ye are come unto Mount Zion." Our true home is not at Sinai, but at
+Calvary. There is no place for the sinner at the first mount; at the
+second mount there is a place for no one else. At Calvary we may find our
+way back to the holiness we lost at Sinai. Through grace we may drop the
+burden of our sin and begin to wear the garments of salvation. The way
+back to heaven is by "the green hill, without a city wall." It is a mount
+that can be reached by the most exhausted pilgrim; and the one who has
+"spent all" will assuredly find a full restoration of life at the gate of
+his Saviour's death. "Ye are come to Jesus, the mediator of the new
+covenant."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Seventeenth
+
+_THE INVISIBLE PRESENCE_
+
+"_Show me Thy glory._"
+--EXODUS xxxiii. 12-23.
+
+
+Moses wist not what he asked. His speech was beyond his knowledge. The
+answer to his request would have consumed him. He asked for the blazing
+noon when as yet he could only bear the quiet shining of the dawn. The
+good Lord lets in the light as our eyes are able to bear it. The
+revelation is tempered to our growth. The pilgrim could bear a brightness
+in Beulah land that he could not have borne at the wicket-gate; and the
+brilliance of the entry into the celebrated city throws the splendours of
+Beulah into the shade. Yes, the gracious Lord will unveil His glory as our
+"senses are exercised to receive it."
+
+"My Presence shall go with thee." That is all the glory we need upon the
+immediate road. His companionship means everything. The real glory is to
+possess God; let Him show us His inheritance as it shall please Him.
+Life's glory is to "feel Him near." When the loving wife feels that the
+husband is in the house, and when the loving husband feels that the wife
+is in the house, that is everything! The joy of each other's presence is
+the crown of married bliss. And so it is with the soul that is married to
+the Lord: His presence is the soul's delight. "Thou, O Christ, art all I
+want." "O Master, let me walk with Thee."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Eighteenth
+
+_THE BENEFITTED AS BENEFACTORS_
+
+"_Who comforteth us ... that we may be able to comfort._"
+--2 CORINTHIANS i. 3-7.
+
+
+And how does the Lord comfort us? He has a thousand different ways, and no
+one can ever tell by what way the comfort will come to his soul. Sometimes
+it comes by the door of memory, and sometimes by the door of hope.
+Sometimes it is borne to us through the ministry of nature, and at other
+times through the ministry of human speech and kindness. But always, I
+think, it brings us the sense of a Presence, as though we had a great
+Friend in the room, and the troubled heart gains quietness and peace. The
+mist clears a little, and we have a restful assurance of our God.
+
+Now comforted souls are to be comforters. They who have received benefits
+of grace are to be benefactors. They who have heard the sweet music of
+God's abiding love are to sing it again to others. They who have seen the
+glory are to become evangelists. We must not seek to hoard spiritual
+treasure. As soon as we lock it up we begin to lose it. A mysterious moth
+and rust take it away. If we do not comfort others, our own comfort will
+turn again to bitterness; the clouds will lower and we shall be imprisoned
+in the old woe. But the comfort which makes a comforter grows deeper and
+richer every day.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Nineteenth
+
+_RECKONING UP THINGS_
+
+PSALM xc. 1-12.
+
+
+Numbering things is one of the healthful exercises of the spiritual life.
+Unless we count, memory is apt to be very tricky and to snare us into
+strange forgetfulness. Unless we count what we have given away, we are
+very apt to exaggerate our bounty. We often think we have given when we
+have only listened to appeals; the mere audience has been mistaken for
+active beneficence. The remedy for all this is occasionally to count our
+benevolences and see how we stand in a balance-sheet which we could
+present to the Lord Himself.
+
+And we must count our blessings. It is when our arithmetic fails in the
+task, and when counting God's blessings is like telling the number of the
+stars, that our souls bow low before the eternal goodness, and all
+murmuring dies away "like cloud-spots in the dawn."
+
+And we must also "number our days." We are wasteful with them, and we
+throw them away as though they are ours in endless procession. And yet
+there are only seven days in a week! A day is of immeasurable
+preciousness, for what high accomplishment may it not witness? A day in
+health or in sickness, spent unto God, and applied unto wisdom, will
+gather treasures more precious than rubies and gold.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twentieth
+
+_THE REVEALING PRESENCE OF THE LORD_
+
+EPHESIANS vi. 1-10.
+
+
+A starling never reveals the richness of its hues until we see it in the
+sunlight. A duty never discloses its beauties until we set it in the light
+of the Lord. It is amazing how a dull road is transfigured when the
+sunshine falls upon it! God's grace reveals the graces in all healthy
+things. Hidden lovelinesses troop out when we set them in the presence of
+the Lord.
+
+And so the Apostle counsels an obedience which is "in the Lord." He wants
+us to know how beautiful common things can be when they are linked to
+Christ. And what he says about obedience he says about everything. One of
+the great secrets in the teaching of Paul is expressed in just this
+phrase, "in the Lord," "in Christ." It meant connection with a power-house
+whose energy would light up all the common lamps of life--the lamps of
+hope, of faith, of love, of daily labour, and of human service.
+
+And this is the secret of the Christian life. We need no other; at least,
+all other secrets are involved in this. If we attend to this little
+preposition "in," we have entry into the infinite. If we are "in Christ,"
+we are in the kingdom of everything that endures, and we are outside
+nothing but sin.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-first
+
+_ROOM FOR THE SAPLINGS_
+
+"_Children crying in the temple, saying Hosanna!_"
+--MATTHEW xxi. 1-16.
+
+
+Children's voices mingling in the sounds of holy praise! A little child
+can share in the consecrated life. Young hearts can offer love pure as a
+limpid spring. Their sympathy is as responsive as the most sensitive harp,
+and yields to the touch of the tenderest joy and grief. No wonder the Lord
+"called little children unto Him"! They were unto Him as gracious streams,
+and as flowers of the field.
+
+Let the loving Saviour have our children. Let there be no waiting for
+maturer years. Maturity may bring the impaired faculty and the embittered
+emotion. Let Him have things in their beginnings, the seeds and the
+saplings. Let Him have life before it is formed, before it is "set" in
+foolish moulds. Let us consecrate the cradle, and the good Lord will grow
+and nourish His saints.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-second
+
+_CHILDLIKENESS_
+
+MARK ix. 33-41.
+
+
+It is the child-spirit that finds life's golden gates, and that finds them
+all ajar. The proudly aggressive spirit, contending for place and power,
+may force many a door, but they are not doors which open into enduring
+wealth and peace. Real inheritances become ours only through humility.
+
+The proud are, therefore, self-deceived. They think they have succeeded
+when they have signally failed. They have the shadow, but they have missed
+the substance. They may have the applause of the world, but the angels
+sigh over their defeat. They pride themselves on having "got on"; the
+angels weep because they have "gone down."
+
+When we grow away from childlikeness we are "in a decline." "God resisteth
+the proud; He giveth grace to the humble." The lowly make great
+discoveries; to them the earth is full of God's glory.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-third
+
+_THE GREATEST BENEFACTORS_
+
+MATTHEW x. 29-42.
+
+
+It is a very wonderful thing that the finest services are within the power
+of the poorest people. The deepest ministries find their symbols in "cups
+of cold water," which it is in the power of everybody to give. The great
+benefactors are the great lovers, and their coin is not that of material
+money, but the wealth of the heart. A bit of affection is worth infinitely
+more than the gift of a necklace of pearls. To kindle hope in a fainting
+soul is far more precious than to adorn the weary pilgrim with dazzling
+gems. "He brought me heaps of presents, but I was hungering for love!"
+Such was the pathetic cry of one who was "clothed in purple and fine
+linen, and fared sumptuously every day."
+
+"Cups of cold water," simple ministries of refreshment, the love-thought,
+the love-prayer, the love-word--these are the privileged services of all
+of us. And everybody needs these gentle and gracious services of
+refreshment, and often there is greatest need where there seems to be
+least.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-fourth
+
+_AT EASE IN ZION_
+
+"_Woe to them that are at ease in Zion!_"
+--AMOS vi. 1-7.
+
+
+I would be delivered from the folly of confusing ease and rest. There is
+an infinite difference between comforts and comfort. It is one thing to
+lie down on a luxurious couch: it is a very different thing to "lie down
+in green pastures" under the gracious shepherdliness of the Lord. The ease
+which men covet is so often a fruit of stupefaction, the dull product of
+sinful drugs, the wretched sluggishness of carnal gratification and
+excess. The rest which God giveth is alive and wakeful, abounding in
+tireless and fruitful service. "Oh, rest in the Lord."
+
+But is it not a strange thing that men can be "at ease in Zion"? That they
+can play the beast in the holy place? Zion was full of holy memory, and
+abounded with suggestions of the Divine Presence. And yet here they could
+carouse, and lose themselves in swinish indulgence! A little while ago I
+saw a beautiful old church which had been turned into a common
+eating-house!
+
+My soul, be on thy guard. Be watchful and diligent, and busy thyself in
+the practice of "self-knowledge, self-reverence, self-control."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-fifth
+
+_DESOLATIONS WROUGHT BY SIN_
+
+"_The Lord hath spoken this word._"
+--ISAIAH xxiv. 1-12.
+
+
+"The Lord hath spoken this word," and it is a word of judgment. It unveils
+some of the terrible issues of sin.
+
+See the effects of sin upon the spirit of man. "_The merry-hearted do
+sigh._" Life loses its wings and its song. The buoyancy and the optimism
+die out of the soul. The days move with heavy feet, and duty becomes very
+stale and unwelcome. If only our ears were keen enough we should hear many
+a place of hollow laughter moaning with troubled and restless sighs. The
+soul cannot sing when God is defied.
+
+But see another effect of sin. "_The earth moaneth._" That is a frequent
+note in Bible teaching. The forces of nature are mysteriously conditioned
+by the character of man. When man is degraded, nature is despoiled. The
+beauty of the garden is checked when man has lost his crown. "The whole
+creation groaneth in pain," waiting for the manifestation of the children
+of God.
+
+Sin spreads desolation everywhere. When I sin, I become the centre of
+demoralizing forces which influence the universe. And so let me ever pray,
+"Deliver me from evil."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-sixth
+
+_CRUCIFYING THE FLESH_
+
+"_Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind._"
+--1 PETER iv. 1-8.
+
+
+Let not the body be dominant, but the soul. Let me study the example and
+counsel of the Apostle Paul.
+
+"_I keep my body under._" Literally, I pummel it! If it is obtrusive and
+aggressive, its appetites clamouring for supremacy, I pummel it! Paul was
+not afraid of severe measures where carnality was concerned. He would fast
+a whole day in order to put the flesh in its place. And so should it be
+with all the Lord's children. We are too self-indulgent. It is well at
+times to put the body on the cross, and crucify its cravings.
+
+"_Give no occasion to the flesh._" Do not give it a chance of mastery!
+And, therefore, do not feed it with illicit thought. Turn the mind away
+from the subjects in which the body will find exciting stimulant. It is
+thought which awakes passion, and thought can do much to destroy it. "Set
+your mind on things which are above." Keep the mind pure, and the swine
+will never enter the holy place.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-seventh
+
+_GOD IS LIGHT!_
+
+"_In Him is no darkness at all._"
+--1 JOHN i.
+
+
+That wonderful mansion of God's Being is gloriously radiant in every room!
+In the house of my life there are dark chambers, and rooms which are only
+partially illumined, the other parts being in the possession of night.
+Some of my faculties and powers are dark ministers, and some of my moods
+are far from being "homes of light." But "God is light," and everything is
+glorious as the meridian sun! His holiness, His grace, His love, His
+mercy: there are no dark corners where uncleanness hides; everything
+shines with undimmed and speckless radiancy!
+
+And if I "walk in the light," I, too, shall become illumined. "They looked
+unto Him and were lightened." We are fashioned by our highest
+companionships. We acquire the nature of those with whom we most
+constantly commune.
+
+And the light He gives is also fire. It will burn away our sin. We may
+measure the reality and strength of our communion by the destruction of
+our sin. A great burning will be proceeding in our life, and one evil
+habit after another will be in the love-furnace of purification. The Lord
+still "purifies Jerusalem by the spirit of burning."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE WAITING LIGHT_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS iv. 1-6.
+
+
+I can shut out the sweet light of the morning. I can refuse to open the
+shutters and draw up the blinds. And I can shut out the Light of life. I
+can draw the thick blinds of prejudice, and close the impenetrable
+shutters of sin. And the Light of the world cannot get into my soul.
+
+And I can let in the waiting light of the morning, and flood my room with
+its glory. And the Light is "a gracious, willing guest." No fuss is
+needed, no shouting is required. Open thy casement, and the gracious guest
+is in! And my Lord has no reluctance in His coming; we have not to drag
+Him to our table. Open thy heart, and the Lord is in!
+
+And when the light is within there will be radiance at the windows. And
+when the Lord is shining in our hearts there will be a witness in the
+life. Men will see that we are "with Jesus," because we are "light in the
+Lord."
+
+Good Lord, deliver me from "the god of this world" lest I be blinded and
+become unable to see Thee! I open my heart to Thee! Shine in, Thou light
+of life, and make my soul the radiant witness of Thy grace.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-ninth
+
+_EFFECTUAL PRAYERS_
+
+"_The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much._"
+--JAMES v. 13-20.
+
+
+Or, as Weymouth translates it, "The heartfelt supplication of a righteous
+man exerts a mighty influence." Prayer may be empty words, with no more
+power than those empty shells which have been foisted upon the Turks in
+their war with the Balkan States. Firing empty shells! That is what many
+professed prayers really are; they have nothing in them, and they
+accomplish nothing. They are just forged upon the lips, and they drop to
+the earth as soon as they are spoken. Effectual prayers are born in the
+heart; they are stocked with heart-treasure, with faith, and hope, and
+desire, and holy urgency, and they go forth with power to shake the world.
+
+What are my prayers like? _If I were God, could I listen to them?_ Are
+they mere pretences at prayer, full of nothing but sound? Is there any
+reasonable ground for assuming that they can accomplish anything? Or are
+my prayers weighted with sincere desire? Do they comprehend my brother's
+good as well as my own? Are they spoken in faith? Do they go forth in
+great expectancy? Then do they surely "exert a mighty influence," and they
+become fellow-labourers with all God's ministries of grace. The greatest
+thing I can do is greatly to pray.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Thirtieth
+
+_GOD MY STRENGTH AND SONG_
+
+"_The Lord is my strength and my song._"
+--PSALM cxviii. 14-21.
+
+
+Yes, first of all "my strength" and then "my song"! For what song can
+there be where there is languor and fainting? What brave music can be born
+in an organ which is short of breath? There must first be strength if we
+would have fine harmonies. And so the good Lord comes to the songless, and
+with holy power He brings the gift of "saving health."
+
+"And my song"! For when life is healthy it instinctively breaks into song.
+The happy, contented soul goes about the ways of life humming its
+satisfactions to itself, and is now and again heard by the passer-by. The
+Lord fills the life with instinctive music. When life is holy it becomes
+musical with His praise.
+
+So here I see the appointed order in Christian service. It is futile to
+try to make people joyful unless we do it by seeking first to make them
+strong. First the good, and then the truly happy! First the holy, and then
+the musical. First God, and then the breath of His Holy Spirit, and then
+"the new song."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The First
+
+_THE LIFE OR THE LIGHT OF MEN_
+
+"_In Him was life._"
+--JOHN i. 1-18.
+
+
+Not merely a pool of life, but the well-spring. All rivers of enriching
+vitality have their source in Him. Nowhere is there a crystal stream which
+was not born at the Fountain. Let us make our claim for the Lord
+all-comprehensive and inclusive. Whatever energizes body, mind, or soul,
+has its origin in our Sovereign King. "All our springs are in Thee." "Thou
+of life the Fountain art."
+
+"_And the life was the light of men._" And what did He not light up? His
+amazing rays streamed down the darkest ways of men, and illumined the
+vast, sombre chambers of human circumstance. He lit up sin and showed its
+true colour! He lit up sorrow, and transfigured it! He lit up duty, and
+gave it a new face. He lit up common work, and glorified it. He lit up
+death, and we could see through it! But, above all, He lit up God, and
+"the people that sat in darkness saw a great light."
+
+"_And the darkness apprehended it not._" The darkness could not lay hold
+of it and quench it! It was not overwhelmed and eclipsed by the murkiest
+fog of prejudice, or by the dingiest antagonism of sinful pride. "The
+light showeth in the darkness," inviolable and invincible!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Second
+
+_LIGHT AND LIGHTNING_
+
+"_And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him._"
+--ISAIAH xi. 1-10.
+
+
+And the spirit is one of light! All the doors and windows are open. His
+correspondences are perfect and unbroken. He is of "quick understanding,"
+keen-scented to discern the essences of things, alert to perceive the
+reality behind the semblance, to "see things as they are." All the great
+primary senses are awake, and He has knowledge of every "secret place."
+
+"_He shall smite ... with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His
+lips shall He slay._" The spirit of light follows a crusade of holiness.
+The light becomes lightning! The "breathing," which cools the
+fever-stricken, can also become a hot breath, which wastes and destroys
+every plant of evil desire. It is an awful thing, and yet a gracious
+thing, that "our God is a consuming fire." It was foretold of our Lord
+that He should baptize "with fire."
+
+And this crusade of holiness is in the ministry of peace. He will burn
+away all that defileth, in order that He may create a profound and
+permanent fellowship. When His work is done, there will be a mingling of
+apparent opposites, and antagonisms will melt into a gracious union. "The
+sucking child will play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall
+put his hand on the adder's den."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Third
+
+_MY ELDER BROTHER_
+
+HEBREWS ii. 9-18.
+
+
+And doth my Lord call me one of His brethren? Let me leisurely think upon
+it, until my very soul moves amid my affairs in noble and hallowed
+dignity. If I steadily remember "who I am," it will assuredly transfigure
+"what I am." I lose the sense of my high kinship, and then I am quite
+content to be "sent into the fields to feed swine."
+
+And my elder Brother came to "destroy the works of the devil." That is the
+entire ministry of destruction. Nothing beautiful does He destroy, nothing
+winsome: only the insidious presences which are the foes of these things.
+He will destroy only the pestiferous microbes which ravage the vital peace
+of the soul. Our Lord is the enemy of the deadly, and therefore of "him
+that had the power of death--that is, the devil!"
+
+And in this holy ministry of destruction He can defend my soul as "one who
+knows," Himself "having been tempted." He knows the subtlety of the devil,
+and where the soul is most perilously exposed, and He is therefore "able
+to succour them that are tempted."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Fourth
+
+_EMPTYING ONESELF_
+
+"_He emptied Himself._"
+--PHILIPPIANS ii. 1-11.
+
+
+In Mr. Silvester Horne's garden a very suggestive scene was one day to be
+witnessed. A cricketer of world-wide renown was playing a game with Mr.
+Horne's little four-year-old son! And the fierce bowler "emptied himself,"
+and served such gentle, dainty little balls that the tiny man at the
+wickets was not in the least degree afraid! And the Lord of glory "emptied
+Himself," fashioning Himself to our "low estate," and in His unspeakably
+gentle approaches we find our peace.
+
+And I, too, am to seek a corresponding lowliness of mind in order that I,
+too, may be of service to my weak and needy brother. It is for me to empty
+myself of the pride of strength, the brutal aggressiveness of success, the
+sometimes unfeeling obtrusiveness of health; I must empty myself, and "get
+down" by the side of weakness and infirmity, and in gentle fellowship
+humbly proffer my help.
+
+And if the mind is to be in me "which was also in Christ Jesus," it is
+needful for me to commune with Him "without ceasing." His gentleness can
+make me great.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Fifth
+
+_THE DISCIPLESHIP THAT TELLS_
+
+"_He that followeth Me._"
+--JOHN viii. 12-20.
+
+
+Yes, but I must make sure that I follow Him in Spirit and in truth. It is
+so easy to be self-deceived. I may follow a pleasant emotion, while all
+the time a bit of grim cross-bearing is being ignored. I may be satisfied
+to be "out on the ocean sailing," singing of "a home beyond the tide,"
+while all the time there is a piece of perilous salvage work to be done
+beneath the waves. To "follow Jesus" is to face the hostility of scribes
+and Pharisees, to offer restoring friendship to publicans and sinners, to
+pray in blood-shedding in Gethsemane, to brave the derision of the brutal
+mob, and to be "ready" for the appalling happenings on Calvary! Therefore,
+following is not a light picnic; it is a possible martyrdom!
+
+But if I set my face "to go," the Lord Himself will visit me with "_the
+light of life_." And the resource shall not be broken and spasmodic: it
+shall be mine without ceasing. "Be thou faithful ... and I will give
+thee ... life." That life will flow into my soul, just as the oxygenating
+air flows down to the diver who is faithfully busy recovering wreckage
+from the wealth-strewn bed of the mighty sea. Let me be faithful, and
+every moment the Lord will crown me with His own vitalizing life!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Sixth
+
+_LIFE AS A VOICE_
+
+JOHN i. 19-34.
+
+
+This man humbly desires to be "_a voice_." He has no ambition to receive
+popular homage. He does not covet the power of the lordly purple. He does
+not crave to be a great person; he only wants to be a great voice! He
+wants to articulate the thought and purpose of God. He is quite content to
+be hidden, like a bird in a thick bush, if only his song may be heard.
+
+And in order that he may be a voice he retires into the silent solitudes
+of the desert. He will listen before he speaks. Come thou, my soul, into
+his secret! The air is clamorous with speech behind which there has been
+no hearing. Men speak, and in their words there is no pulse of the
+Infinite. In their consolations there is no balm. In their reproaches
+there is no sword. Their words are empty vessels, full of sound! Let my
+voice be hushed until I have heard the voice of the Highest. "He that hath
+ears to hear, let him hear."
+
+And when he spake, it was in clear and definite testimony, "Behold the
+Lamb of God!" The "voice" succeeded, for men began to look away from the
+herald to the herald's Lord. In forgetting John they found the King. They
+passed the _signpost_, and arrived at _home_!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Seventh
+
+_IN THE GOLDEN AGE_
+
+ISAIAH xl. 1-10.
+
+
+And so these things are to happen when the Lord has come to His own, and
+His decrees are honoured in our midst.
+
+Certain _inequalities_ are to be ended. Valleys are to be exalted, and
+mountains are to be made low. There is to be a levelling! Men are to be
+equal in freedom and opportunity.
+
+Certain _crookednesses_ are to be ended. They are to be "made straight."
+Society has become warped with the heat of lust, and the fierce fever of
+competition, and the hot, devouring fires of greed. When the Lord is
+enthroned the fires will be put out, the heat will pass, and the twisted
+fellowships will be rectified.
+
+Certain _roughnesses_ are to be ended. Class works against class with
+jagged edge, like the teeth of a saw. They tear and rend one another, and
+the family of God is always bleeding. These "rough places" are to be "made
+plain." We are to "work in to one another," smoothly, congenially, in a
+frictionless peace.
+
+And this Lord is coming, coming every day, and "His arm shall rule for
+Him." "Say unto the cities of Judah--Behold your God!"
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Eighth
+
+_WHAT MANNER OF MAN?_
+
+MATTHEW xi. 7-15.
+
+
+There are some men who are only as _desert reeds_! They move to the breath
+of the desert wind. They bend before it, no matter in what way it may be
+blowing. They never resist the wind. They never become "hiding places from
+the wind," stemming a popular drift. They are the victims of passing
+opinions, and are swayed by the current passions.
+
+And some men are "_clothed in soft raiment_"! They shrink from the rough
+fustian, the labourer's cotton smock, the leather suit of George Fox. They
+are ultra-"finicky." They are afraid of the mire. They touch the sorrows
+of the world with a timid finger, not with the kindly, healing grasp of a
+surgeon.
+
+And other men are "_prophets_"! They have a secret fellowship with the
+Infinite. When we listen to them it is like putting one's ear to the
+seashell: we catch the sound of the ocean roll. "The voice of the Great
+Eternal dwells in their mighty tones."
+
+And others are "_children of the Kingdom_." They are greater than the old
+prophets, because the mystic voice has become a Presence, and they have
+"seen the Lord." The veil has been rent, and they "walk in the light" as
+"children of light."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Ninth
+
+_SCHOLARS IN CHRIST'S SCHOOL_
+
+"_He taught His disciples._"
+--MARK ix. 30-37.
+
+
+And my Lord will teach me. He will lead me into "the deep things" of God.
+There is only one school for this sort of learning, and an old saint
+called it the Academy of Love, and it meets in Gethsemane and Calvary, and
+the Lord Himself is the teacher, and there is room in the school for thee
+and me.
+
+But the disciples were not in the mood for learning. They were not
+ambitious for heavenly knowledge, but for carnal prizes, not for wisdom,
+but for place. "They disputed one with another who was the greatest." And
+that spirit is always fatal to advancement in the school of Christ. Our
+petty ambitions close the door and windows of our souls, and the heavenly
+light can find no entrance. We turn Gethsemane into "a place of strife,"
+and we carry our clamour even to Calvary itself. From this, and all other
+sinful folly, good Lord, redeem us!
+
+They who would be great scholars in this school must become "as little
+children." Through the child-like spirit we attain unto God-like wisdom.
+By humility is honour and life.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Tenth
+
+_THE GREAT RENUNCIATION_
+
+MATTHEW xvii. 1-13.
+
+
+What if the Transfiguration was the type of the purposed consummation of
+every life? If we had remained "without sin," it may be that we should
+have gradually ripened up to a moment when we should have become
+transfigured, and in the surpassing brilliance have been translated to
+higher planes of being. Perhaps our Lord had reached this material
+consummation, and was now on the wonderful border land, and could by
+choice slip into "the glory!"
+
+But He made another choice. And this was, of a truth, the "great
+renunciation!" He turned His back on the glory, and deliberately faced the
+darkening way which led to Calvary and the grave. I do not wonder that His
+mysterious visitors spake with Him "of the decease which He should
+accomplish at Jerusalem." He could talk about nothing else! He "set His
+face to go."
+
+And in my Master's choice of death I find my hope of life. Through "the
+dark gate" I can find "the mount." My transfiguration is made possible in
+His humiliation. If my Lord had never descended I could never have
+ascended. If He had abode on the mount I should have remained in my sin.
+He has "opened to me the gates of righteousness."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Eleventh
+
+_THE FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM_
+
+"_He that hath the bride is the bridegroom._"
+--JOHN iii. 23-36.
+
+
+We ministers sometimes speak of "my church." I occasionally read of Mr.
+So-and-So's church! I know that the phrase is colloquially used, but
+nevertheless, it is unfortunate. Words that are perversely used tend to
+pervert the spirit. And this phrase tends to displace the Bridegroom. It
+helps to make us obtrusive, unduly aggressive, when we ought to be
+reverently hiding our faces with our wings. The Bride is His!
+
+"_But the friend of the bridegroom._" That is my place, and that is my
+dignity. And what a title it is, making me a member of the finest and most
+select aristocracy in heaven or on earth! The "friend of the bridegroom"
+used to carry messages to the bride, to share in the wooing, and to help
+to bring the wedding about. And that, too, is my gracious office, to be a
+match-maker for my Lord, to testify concerning Him, to speak His praises,
+until the soul "fall in love" with Him.
+
+"_He must increase, but I must decrease._" Yes, when the sun is rising the
+moon becomes dim! When the glory of the Bridegroom breaks upon the bride
+He becomes "all in all," "the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether
+lovely."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twelfth
+
+_PREPARING HIS SERVANTS_
+
+JOHN i. 35-51.
+
+
+Our Lord does not stumble upon His disciples by accident. His discoveries
+are not surprises. He knows where His nuggets lie. Before He calls to
+service He has been secretly preparing the servant. "I girded thee, though
+thou hast not known Me."
+
+He knew all about Simon. "_Thou art Simon_"--just a _listener_, not yet a
+strong, bold doer: a man of many opinions not yet consolidated into the
+truth of experimental convictions. "_Thou shalt be called Peter._" Simon
+become Peter! Loose gravel become hard rock! Hear-says become the
+"verilies" of unshakable experience! The Lord proclaims our glorious
+possibilities.
+
+And He knew all about Nathanael. "_When thou wast under the fig-tree I saw
+thee._" "In that secret meditation of thine, when thy wishes and desires
+were being born, 'I saw thee!'" "When others saw nothing, I had fellowship
+with thee in the secret place."
+
+And He knows all about thee and me. "I know My sheep." We do not take Him
+by surprise. He does not come in late, and find the performance half over!
+He is in at our beginnings, when grave issues are being born. "I am
+Alpha."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Thirteenth
+
+_PLAIN GLASS_
+
+"_They were fishers._"
+--MATTHEW iv. 12-22.
+
+
+And so our Lord went first to the fishing-boats and not to the schools.
+Learning is apt to be proud and aggressive, and hostile to the
+simplicities of the Spirit. There is nothing like plain glass for letting
+in the light! And our Lord wanted transparent media, and so He went to the
+simple fishermen on the beach. "God hath chosen the foolish things of the
+world."
+
+And by choosing labouring men our Master glorified labour. He Himself had
+worn the workman's dress, and the garment which the King wears becomes
+regal attire. Yes, the workingman, if he only knew it, is wearing the
+imperial robe. He is one of the kinsmen of the Lord of Glory!
+
+Our Lord took the fisherman's humble calling, and made it the symbol of
+spiritual service. "_I will make you fishers of men._" And He will do the
+same for thee and me. He will turn our daily labour into an apocalypse,
+and through its ways and means He will make us wise in the ministry of the
+kingdom. He will make the material the handmaid of the spiritual, and
+through the letter He will lead us into the secret places of the soul.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Fourteenth
+
+_THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE UNLIKELY_
+
+MATTHEW ix. 1-13.
+
+
+A Disciple from among the publicans! In what waste places our Lord Jesus
+finds His jewels! What exquisite possibilities Ruskin saw in a pinch of
+common dust! What radiant glory the lapidary can see in the rough,
+unpolished gem! The Lord loves to go into the unlikely place, and lead
+forth His saints. "In the wilderness shall waters break out!"
+
+We must prayerfully cultivate this sacred confidence in the possibilities
+of the unlikely. We can never be successful helpers of the Lord unless we
+can see the diamond in the soot, and the radiant saint in the disregarded
+publican. It is a most gracious art to cultivate, this of discerning a
+man's possible excellencies even in the blackness of his present shame. To
+see the future best in the present worst, that is the true perception of a
+child of light.
+
+"O give us eyes to see like Thee!" Well, this is the medium of
+vision:--"Blessed are the pure in heart, for _they shall see_ God," and
+the god-like, even in the wilderness of sin. "Anoint thine eyes with
+eye-salve, that thou may'st see!"
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Fifteenth
+
+_THE DAILY CROSS_
+
+LUKE ix. 18-26.
+
+
+Our Lord never bribes His disciples by promising them ways of sunny ease.
+He does not buy them with illicit gold. He does not put the glittering
+crown upon the entrance-gate, and hide the cross behind the wall. No: on
+the very first stage of the sacred pilgrimage there falls "the shadow of
+the Cross." "_Let him take up his cross daily, and follow Me._"
+
+And yet, the Lord's blessing is hidden in the apparent curse. In the act
+of bearing the cross we increase our strength. That is the heartening
+paradox of grace. Virtuous energies pass from our very burdens into our
+spirits, and thus "out of the eater comes forth meat." We bravely shoulder
+our load, and lo! a mystic breath visits the heart, and a strange facility
+attends our goings! The dead cross becomes a tree of life, and a secret
+vitality renews our souls.
+
+How foolish, then, O heart of mine, to avoid and evade Thy cross! Refuse
+the burden, and thou declinest the strength! Ignore the duty, and thou
+shalt feel no inspiration! Carefully husband thy blood, and thou shalt
+remain for ever an�mic! But lose thy life, and thou shalt find it!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Sixteenth
+
+_THE VINE AND THE BRANCH_
+
+JOHN xv. 1-16.
+
+
+I need the Lord. What can a branch do apart from the vine? It may retain a
+certain, momentary greenness, but death is advancing apace. And there are
+multitudes of professing Christians who are like detached branches; their
+spiritual life is ebbing away: they do not startle the beholder and cause
+him to exclaim, "How full of life!" They do not _strike_ at all! They have
+no splendid "_force_ of character," and they therefore exercise no
+arresting witness for the King. They are not "abiding" in the Eternal, and
+therefore there is no powerful pulse from the Infinite. "Apart from Me ye
+can do nothing!"
+
+And my Lord needs me. For the vine has need of the branch! The vine
+expresses itself in the branch, and comes to manifestation in leaf, and
+flower, and fruit. And my Lord would manifest Himself in me, and cause my
+branch to be heavy with the glorious fruits of His grace. And if I deprive
+Him of the branch, and deny Him this means of expression, I am "limiting
+the Holy One of Israel." "My son, give Me thine heart!"
+
+Lord, help me to abide in Thee! Save me from the follies of a fatal
+independence! Good Lord, "Abide in me."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Seventeenth
+
+_THE DYING OF SELF_
+
+JOHN xii. 12-36.
+
+
+"Except a corn of wheat ... die!" Yes, it is through death we pass to
+life. Discipleship in which there is no death can never be truly alive.
+The nipping winter is essential to the green and flowery spring. No tomb,
+no resurrection glory! In every life there must be a grave, and self must
+be buried within it.
+
+We must die to self _in our prayers_. In many prayers self is obtrusive
+and aggressive from end to end. It is self, self, self! That self must be
+crucified. We must make more room for others in our supplications. On our
+knees the egotist must die, and the altruist be born. And "if it die, it
+bringeth forth much fruit"! There are multitudes of professing Christians
+who would experience a wonderful resurrection if they were more "given to
+hospitality" in their communion with the Lord.
+
+And if self die in our prayers, nowhere else will it be seen. That which
+is truly slain when we are upon our knees will not reassert itself when we
+return to common ways of work and service. And, therefore, let the corn of
+wheat fall into the ground and die!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Eighteenth
+
+_THE MESMERISM OF THE WORLD_
+
+MATTHEW xix. 23-30.
+
+
+Material possessions multiply our spiritual difficulties. It is hard for a
+rich man "_to enter into the kingdom of heaven_." For what is the kingdom?
+It is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." It is easy
+for a rich man to appear respectable, but how hard is it to be holy! He
+may surround himself with comforts, but how hard to get into peace! He may
+move in the cold gleam of a glittering happiness, but how hard to get into
+the rich, warm quietness of an abiding joy! Yes, our material possessions
+so easily range themselves as ramparts between us and our destined
+spiritual wealth.
+
+And if we find that any material thing so mesmerizes us that we are held
+in fatal bondage, we are to sacrifice it. "If thine eye offend thee, pluck
+it out, and cast it from thee!" Whatever interposes itself between us and
+our Lord must go! It is a hard way, but it leads to a sound and boisterous
+health. We verily "receive an hundredfold!" We lose "a thing," and gain a
+grace. We lose fickle sensations and gain abounding inspiration. We lose
+the world, and gain the Lord!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Nineteenth
+
+_THE WRATH OF THE LAMB_
+
+JOHN ii. 13-22.
+
+
+The narrative of the cleansing follows the story of the wedding-feast. In
+the one the Lord has taken the spirit of the sanctuary into a worldly
+feast, and thereby illumined and glorified the feast. In the other, the
+spirit of the world has invaded the sanctuary, and thereby defiled and
+dishonoured it. The spirit of worldliness, like an unclean, insurgent
+flood, would enter and possess the entire realm of human life and service.
+And here it converted a legitimate convenience into an unhallowed
+business. It transformed a needful expedient into an unholy end. It fixed
+its tables in the very courts of the Temple, and exalted the quest of
+money above the worship of God.
+
+"_And He made a scourge of cords._" And is this "the Lamb of God"? Yes,
+"the Lamb of God" is also "the lion of Judah." The mild sunshine can
+become focussed into scorching flame! As soon as blessings touch sin they
+become curses. "For this was the Son of Man manifested, that He might
+destroy the works of the devil."
+
+My soul, remember thou the scourge of thy Lord, and do not trifle in His
+holy place! Seek thou the clean hands and the pure heart, and the thunders
+of Sinai shall come to thee as beatific music from the hill.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twentieth
+
+_DEFILING THE HOLY PLACE_
+
+MARK xi. 11-19.
+
+
+It was a teaching of the old Rabbis that no one should make a thoroughfare
+of the Temple, or enter it with the dust upon his feet. The teaching was
+full of sacred significance, however far their practice may have departed
+from its truth.
+
+Let me not use the Temple as a mere passage to something else. Let me not
+use my religion as an expedient for more easily reaching "the chief seats"
+among men. Let me not put on the garments of worship in order that I may
+readily and quickly fill my purse. Let me not make the sanctuary "a short
+cut" to the bank!
+
+And let me not carry the dust of the world on to the sacred floor. Let me
+"wipe my feet." Let me sternly shake off some things--all frivolity,
+easeful indifference, the spirit of haste and self-seeking. Let me not
+defile the courts of the Lord.
+
+And let me remember that "the whole earth is full of His glory."
+Everywhere, therefore, I am treading the sacred floor! Lord, teach me this
+high secret! Then shall I not demean the Temple into a market, but I shall
+transform the market into a temple. "Lo, God is in this place, and I knew
+it not!"
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-first
+
+_PURIFYING THE SANCTUARY_
+
+2 CHRONICLES xxix. 1-11, 15-19.
+
+
+Worship has vital connections with work. There are nerve-relationships
+between the heart and the hand. The condition of the sanctuary is
+reflected in the state of the empire. If there is uncleanness in "the holy
+place," there will be blight and degeneracy among the people. The fatal
+seeds of national instability and decay are not found in economics; they
+are found in the sanctuary. "Until I went into the sanctuary ... then
+understood I!"
+
+Hezekiah cleansed "the house of the Lord." He cast forth the filthiness
+out of the holy place. He ushered in his golden age with the reformation
+of worship. He recalled exiled and white-robed Piety to her appointed
+throne. He began the re-establishment of right by recognizing the rights
+of God. He gave the Lord His due! All our rights are born out of our
+"being right" with God! We begin to be rich when we cease to rob God!
+
+"_And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also._"
+That is ever so. Our real songs begin with our sacrifices. We enter the
+realm of music when we enter the realm of self-surrender. A willing
+offering, on a clean altar, introduces the soul into "the joy of the
+Lord."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-second
+
+_VISIONS AND TASKS_
+
+2 CHRONICLES xxxiv. 1-11.
+
+
+Josiah "_began to seek after God_." The other day I saw a young art
+student copying one of Turner's pictures in the National Gallery. His eyes
+were being continually lifted from his canvas to his "master." He put
+nothing down which he had not first seen. He was "seeking after" Turner!
+
+And thus it was with Josiah. His eyes were "ever toward the Lord!" He
+studied the "ways" of the Lord, in order that he might incarnate them in
+national life and practice. Wise doings always begin in clear seeing. We
+should be far more efficient in practice if we were more diligently
+assiduous in vision. It is never a waste of time to "look unto Him."
+Looking is a most needful part of our daily discipline. "What I say unto
+you, I say unto all, _Watch_!"
+
+And because Josiah saw the holiness of the Lord he saw the uncleanness of
+the people. He had a vision of God's holy place, and he therefore saw the
+defilement of the material worship.
+
+"_In the twelfth year he began to purge Judah._" Yes, that is the
+sequence. The reformer follows the seer. We shall begin to sweep the
+streets of our own city when we have gazed upon the glories of the holy
+city, the New Jerusalem.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-third
+
+_A GREAT SOUL AT PRAYER_
+
+2 CHRONICLES vi. 12-21.
+
+
+Let me reverently study this great prayer in order that, when I go to the
+house of God, I may be able to enrich its ministry by the wealth of my own
+supplications.
+
+Solomon prayed that the eyes of the Lord might be open toward the house
+"day and night." Like the eyes of a mother upon her child! Like the eyes
+of a lover upon his beloved! And therefore it is more than protective
+vision; shall we reverently say that it is _inventive_ vision, devising
+gracious surprises, anticipating needs, preparing love-gifts; it is sight
+which is both insight and foresight, ever inspecting and prospecting for
+the loved one's good.
+
+And Solomon prayed that God's ear might be open to the cry of His people's
+need. "_Hear Thou from Thy dwelling-place._" He prayed that the house of
+God might be the place of open communion. That is ever the secret of
+peace, and therefore of power. If I know that I have correspondence with
+the Holy One, I shall walk and work as a child of light. If God hear me,
+then I can sing!
+
+And Solomon prays for the grace of forgiveness. He prays for the sense of
+sweet emancipation which is the gift of grace. It is the miracle of
+renewal, and it ought to happen every time we open the doors of the
+sanctuary.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-fourth
+
+_LOVE OF THE SANCTUARY_
+
+PSALM lxxxiv.
+
+
+Gracious is the strength of this man's desire for the holy place. He
+covets the privilege of the very sparrow which builds its nest beneath the
+sacred eaves! When he is away from the Temple its worship and music haunt
+his mind and soul. It wooes him in the market-place. Its insistent call is
+with him by the fireside. Yes, "in his heart are the highways to Zion!"
+
+And the permanency of this devotional mood transfigures every place. It
+turns "_the valley of weeping_" into "_a place of springs_." The colour of
+any place is largely determined by our moods. It is surprising what
+treasures we find when our soul is full of light. What discoveries old
+Scrooge made when the Christmas mood possessed his own heart! When we
+carry about the spirit of the sanctuary, we convert every spot into rich
+and hallowed ground.
+
+"_I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in
+the tents of wickedness._" Better to have the temple-spirit, even as a
+menial, than the unhallowed heart in the glittering high places of sin.
+"God's worst is better than the devil's best."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-fifth
+
+_NO TEMPLE THEREIN_
+
+"_And I saw no temple therein!_"
+--REVELATION xxi. 22-27.
+
+
+And that because it was all temple! "Every place was hallowed ground."
+There was no merely localized Presence, because the Presence was
+universal. God was realized everywhere, and therefore the little
+meeting-tent had vanished, and in place of the measurable tabernacle there
+were the immeasurable and God-filled heavens.
+
+Even here on earth I can measure my spiritual growth by the corresponding
+enlargement of my temple. What is the size of my sanctuary? Am I moving
+toward the time when nothing shall be particularly hallowed because all
+will be sanctified? Are the six days of the week becoming increasingly
+like the seventh, until people can see no difference between my Monday
+manners and my Sunday mood? And how about places? Do I still speak of
+"religion being religion," and "business being business," or is something
+of the sanctuary getting into my shop, and is the exchange becoming a
+side-chapel of the Temple?
+
+"_And the Lamb is the light thereof._" When we have done with the local
+temple we can dispose of its candles. When we pass out of the twilight
+into the morning "the stars retire." The fore-gleams will change into the
+wondrous glory of the ineffable day.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE WELLS OF SALVATION_
+
+JOHN iii. 1-21.
+
+
+The springs of our redemption are found in infinite love. "God is love!"
+Redemption was not inspired by anger, but by grace. We do not contemplate
+an angry God, demanding a victim, but a compassionate Father making a
+sacrifice. At one extreme of our golden text is eternal "love," and at the
+other extreme is "eternal life." What if the two are one? Etymologically,
+"love" and "life" are akin. What if they are only two names for the same
+thing?
+
+To "believe" in the love is to receive the life. For when I believe in a
+person's love I open my doors to the lover. And to believe in the love of
+God is to let the heavenly Lover in. And with love comes a wonderful
+tropical air--light, and warmth, and air; and "all things become new!" It
+is the letting in of the spring, and things which have been in wintry
+bondage awake, and arise from their graves.
+
+And so I "_enter into the kingdom of God_." I become a native of a new and
+marvellous country. I begin to be acclimatized in the realm of the blest.
+And I "_see_ the kingdom of God." Spiritual perceptions become mine, and I
+gaze upon the mystic glories of the home of God.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE WORK OF FAITH_
+
+1 JOHN v. 1-13.
+
+
+And so by belief _I find life_. I do not obtain the vitalizing air through
+controversy, or clamour, or idle lamentation, but by opening the window!
+Faith opens the door and window of the soul to the Son of God. It can be
+done without tears, it can be done without sensationalism. "If any man
+will open the door, I will come in." "And he that hath the Son hath the
+life."
+
+And by belief _I gain my victories_. "Who is he that overcometh ... but he
+that believeth?" It is not by flashing armour that we beat the devil, but
+by an invincible life. On these battlefields a mystic breath does more
+destruction than all our fine and costly expedients. To believe is to
+obtain the winning spirit, and every battle brings its trophies to our
+feet.
+
+And by belief _I gain assurance_. "He that believeth ... hath the witness
+in him." So many Christians fight in doubt and indecision, and their
+uncertainty impairs their strength and skill. It is the man who can
+quietly say "I know" who is terrible in battle and who drives his foes in
+confusion from the field.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-eighth
+
+_ALL THINGS NEW!_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS v. 14-21.
+
+
+Here is a new constraint! "The love of Christ constraineth me." The love
+of Christ _carries me along like a crowd_. I am taken up in its mighty
+movement and swept along the appointed road! Or it _arrests me_, and makes
+me its willing prisoner. It lays a strong hand upon me, and I have no
+option but to go. A gracious "necessity is laid upon me." _I must!_
+
+And here is a new world. "_Old things are passed away._" The man who is
+the prisoner of the Lord's love will find himself in new and wonderful
+scenery. Everything will wear a new face--God, man, self, the garden, the
+sky, the sea! We shall look at all things through love-eyes, and it is
+amazing in what new light a great love will set familiar things!
+Commonplaces become beautiful when looked at through the lens of Christian
+love. When we "walk in love" our eyes are anointed with "the eye-salve" of
+grace.
+
+And here is a new service. "We are ambassadors ... for Christ." When we
+see our Lord through love-eyes, and then our brother, we shall yearn to
+serve our brother in Christ. We shall intensely long to tell the
+love-story of the Lord our Saviour. What we have seen, with confidence we
+tell.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-ninth
+
+_NAMES AND NATURES_
+
+ROMANS viii. 1-10.
+
+
+Men will recognize my Christianity by the sign of the Spirit of Christ.
+And they will accept no other witness. I saw a plant-pot the other day,
+full of soil, bearing no flower, but flaunting a stick on which was
+printed the word "Mignonette." "Thou hast a name to live and art dead."
+The world will take no notice of our labels and our badges: it is only
+arrested by the flower and the perfume. "If any man hath not the Spirit of
+Christ he is none of His."
+
+And in the Spirit of Christ I shall best deal with "_the things of the
+flesh_." There are some things which are best overcome by neglecting them.
+To give them attention is to give them nourishment. Withdraw the
+attention, and they sicken and die. And so I must seek the fellowship of
+the Spirit. That friendship will destroy the other. "Ye cannot serve God
+and Mammon." If I am in communion with the Holy One the other will pine
+away, and cease to trouble me.
+
+Lord, make my spirit a kinsman of Thine! Let the intimacy be ever deeper
+and dearer. "Draw me nearer, blessed Lord," until in nearness to Thee I
+find my peace, my joy, and my crown.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Thirtieth
+
+_SIN AS POISON_
+
+NUMBERS xxi. 4-9.
+
+
+And this is the familiar teaching, that sin is a serpent. It possesses a
+deadly poison. We may give it pleasant names, but we are only ornamenting
+death. A chemist might put a poison into a chaste and elegant flask, but
+he has in no wise changed its nature. And when we name sin by philosophic
+euphemisms, and by less exacting terminologies--such as "cleverness,"
+"smartness," or "fault," or "misfortune," we are only changing the flask,
+and the diabolical essence remains the same.
+
+And, then, sin is a serpent because it is so subtle. It creeps into my
+presence almost before I know it. Its approaches are so insidious, its
+expedients so full of guile. "Therefore, I say unto all, Watch!"
+
+But in Christ the old serpent is dead! Christ "became sin," and in Him sin
+was crucified. The thing that bit is bitten, and its nefarious power
+destroyed. But out of Christ the serpent is still busy and malicious,
+claiming what he presumes to call his own.
+
+Let me, then, dwell in Christ, where sin "has no more dominion."
+"Whosoever believeth shall not perish but have life."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Thirty-first
+
+_THE CLEAN FLAME OF LOVE_
+
+1 JOHN iv. 4-14.
+
+
+This aged apostle cannot get away from the counsels of love. All his
+mental movements circle about this "greatest thing in the world." Once he
+would "call down fire upon men"; now the only fire he knows is the pure
+and genial flame of love. Beautiful is it when our fires become cleaner as
+we get older, when temper changes to compassion, when malice becomes
+goodwill, when an ill-controlled conflagration becomes a homely fireside.
+
+And all the love we acquire we must get from the altars of God. "We love
+because He first loved us." We can find it nowhere else. "Love is of God."
+Why, then, not seek it in the right place? Why seek for palms in arctic
+regions, or for icebergs in the tropics? God is the country of love, and
+in His deep mines there are riches "unsearchable."
+
+And the gracious law of life is this, that every acquisition of love
+increases our powers of discernment. "He that loveth knoweth...!" It is as
+though every jewel we find gives us an extra lens for the discovery of
+finer jewels still. And thus the love-life is a continual surprise, and
+the surprise will be eternal, for the object of the wonder is the infinite
+love of God.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The First
+
+_GOD AS OUR ALLY!_
+
+ROMANS viii. 31-39.
+
+
+"If God is for us!" But we must make sure of that. Is God on the field,
+taking sides with us? Have we been so busy with our preparations, so
+concerned with many things, and everybody, that we have forgotten our
+greatest possible Ally? Is He on the field, and on which side! My soul, go
+on thy knees, and settle this in secret. That purpose of thine! That
+choice of thine! That work of thine! Is it hallowed with thy Lord's
+approval and seal?
+
+And "if God is for us, who can be against us?" Nothing else counts. It is
+ever a foolish and futile thing to count the heads in the opposing ranks.
+"God is always on the side of the big battalions!" It is a black lie of
+the devil! We need not fear the big battalions if only we are securely in
+the right. We are not to count heads, but to weigh and estimate causes.
+Which of the causes provides a tent for the Lord of Hosts? Where has the
+truth its waving flag? Stand near that flag, my soul, and thou wilt be
+near thy Lord! And nothing shall separate thee from His love, and leave
+thee weak and isolated on the field. Thou shalt be "more than conqueror"
+in Him who loves thee, and will love thee for evermore.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Second
+
+_BY JACOB'S WELL_
+
+JOHN iv. 1-15.
+
+
+A weary woman and a weary Lord! But the Lord was only weary in body; the
+woman was dry and exhausted in soul. Her heart was like some charred
+chamber after a destructive fire. All its furniture was injured, and some
+of it was almost burnt away. For sin had been blazing in the secret place,
+and had scorched the delicacies of the spirit, and the inward satisfaction
+was gone. And now she was very weary, and her daily walk had become a most
+tiresome march.
+
+And the Lord, with sympathetic insight, discerned the inward dryness.
+There was no sound of holy contentment, no melody of joyful, spiritual
+desire. There was only the cold, clammy silence of death. "He knew what
+was in man." And there was no "river of water of life" making glad the
+streets of this woman's soul.
+
+And so He would bring to her the waters of spiritual satisfaction, the
+holy well of eternal life. "In the wilderness shall waters break out, and
+springs in the desert." The Lord is about to work a miracle of grace,
+changing dull pang into healing peace, and suffocated desire into soaring
+fellowship with God. He is about to transform an outlawed woman into one
+of the "elect saints." How will He do it? Let us watch Him.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Third
+
+_CHANGING ASKING INTO THIRSTING_
+
+"_Go, call thy husband!_"
+--JOHN iv. 16-30.
+
+
+I never supposed that the transformation would begin here. I thought that
+there were some words which would remain unspoken. But here our Master
+speaks a word which only deepens the weariness of the woman, and irritates
+the sore of her galling yoke. What is He doing?
+
+He is seeking to change the sense of wretchedness into the sense of sin!
+He is seeking to change weariness into desire! _He wants to make the woman
+thirst!_ And so He puts His finger upon her sin. He cannot give the
+heavenly water to lips that merely ask for it. "Sir, give me this water!"
+No, it cannot be had for the asking, only for the thirsting! And so the
+gracious Lord turns the woman's eyes upon her own sinful life, in order
+that in the heat of a fierce shame she might cry out, "I thirst for God,
+for the living God!" And sure I am that, before the Lord had done with
+her, this quiet, lone cry leapt from her lips, and in immediate response
+to the cry she was given a deep draught from the eternal well.
+
+And, good Lord, arouse my sense of my sin that I, too, may thirst for Thy
+water! Now, make me thirst for it, and in the thirst receive it!
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Fourth
+
+_HIDDEN MANNA_
+
+"_I have meat to eat that ye know not of._"
+--JOHN iv. 31-42.
+
+
+And what sort of meat is this? The Lord found secret refreshment in
+feeding other people. In vitalizing the woman of Samaria He restored His
+own soul. The disciples were amazed when they returned to find that the
+weariness had gone out of His face, and that He looked like one who had
+been at a feast!
+
+And that is the law of life. "_My meat is to do the will._" There is a
+secret nutriment in the bread we give away. The Lord gives us to eat of
+the "hidden manna" whenever we are seeking the refreshment of our fellows.
+Distributed bread has a sacramental efficacy for our own souls. The man
+who feeds the hungry shall himself be "satisfied as with marrow."
+
+And these ways of service are open on every side. There are millions of
+weary people waiting, like the woman at the well. "_Lift up your eyes, and
+look on the fields: for they are white already to harvest!_" Be it mine to
+be a minister in the mighty service, and in the ways of obedience let me
+find delights and delicacies for my own soul.
+
+                          "Bread of Heaven,
+                    Feed me till I want no more!"
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Fifth
+
+_BROOKS BY THE WAY_
+
+ISAIAH xii.
+
+
+The wells of the Lord are to be found where most I need them. The Lord of
+the way knows the pilgrim life, and the wells have been unsealed just
+where the soul is prone to become dry and faint. At the foot of the hill
+Difficulty was found a spring! Yes, these health-springs are lifting their
+crystal flood in the cheerless wastes of evil antagonisms and exhausting
+grief.
+
+Sometimes I am foolish, and in my need I assume that the well is far away.
+I knew a farmer who for a generation had carried every pail of water from
+a distant well to meet the needs of his homestead. And one day he sunk a
+shaft by his own house door, and to his great joy he found that the water
+was waiting at his own gate! My soul, thy well is near, even here! Go not
+in search of Him! Thy pilgrimage is ended, the waters are at thy feet!
+
+But I must "_draw_ the water out of the wells of salvation." The hand of
+faith must lift the gracious gift to the parched lips, and so refresh the
+panting soul. "I will _take_ the cup of salvation." Stretch out thy "lame
+hand of faith," and take the holy, hallowing energy offered by the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Sixth
+
+_WATERS OF CONTENTMENT_
+
+ISAIAH lv. 1-7.
+
+
+The refreshing waters are offered to "everyone" that is thirsty. The
+evangel is like some clear bugle peal, sounded on some commanding upland,
+and which is heard alike in palace and cottage, in school and at the mill,
+by the child of plenty and by the child of want. "Ho, everyone!" The
+appeal is to the common heart, whether the setting be squalor or
+splendour, whether the soul faints in the glare of the prosperous noon, or
+under the chill of the burdensome night. "Ho, everyone that thirsteth!"
+
+And the waters may be ours "without money and without price." We have not
+to earn them by the sweat of body, mind, or soul. We have not to make a
+toilsome pilgrimage, on bleeding feet, to some distant Lourdes, where the
+sacred healer abides. No, we are asked to pay nothing, and for the simple
+reason that we "have nothing wherewith to pay." The reviving grace is
+given to us "freely," and all that we have to present is our thirst.
+
+And yet we spend and spend, we labour and labour, but we buy no bread of
+contentment, and the waters of satisfaction are far away. The satisfying
+bread cannot be bought; it can only be begged. The water of life cannot be
+taken from a cistern; it must be drunk at the spring.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Seventh
+
+_RIVERS FROM THE SNOW_
+
+REVELATION xxii. 1-7, 17-21.
+
+
+The water of life flows out of the throne. Grace has its rise in sovereign
+holiness. This river is born amid the virgin snow. All true love springs
+out of spotless purity. "Love" from any other source is illegitimately
+wearing a stolen name. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!" That is the first
+note in the song of redemption. In that burning whiteness I discern the
+possibility of my own sanctification.
+
+For the grace which flows out of sovereign holiness is a minister of the
+holy Lord to make me holy. If it were not perfectly pure it would itself
+be an agent of defilement. But it is "clear as crystal," and therefore it
+purifies and fertilizes wherever it flows. Rare trees grow upon its banks,
+and grace-fruits make every season beautiful. "Everything shall live
+whither the river cometh."
+
+But without the river my soul shall be "as an unwatered garden." My life
+shall be a realm of perpetual drought. Things may begin to grow, but they
+shall speedily droop and die. The heavenly Husbandman shall find no fruit
+when He walks amid the garden in the cool of the day. And therefore, my
+soul, look to the river which flows from the throne! "There is a river,
+the streams whereof make glad the city of God," and that river is for
+thee!
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Eighth
+
+_THE SCARLET SIN_
+
+ISAIAH i. 10-20.
+
+
+How can we deal with glaring sin, with sin that is "scarlet," that is "red
+like crimson"? And when the red stain has soaked into the very texture of
+the character, and every fibre is stupefied, what can we do then? Let me
+listen.
+
+"_Wash you._" But ordinary washings will not suffice. The ministry of
+education will fail. Art, and literature, and music will leave the
+internal stain undisturbed. They may impart a polish, but the polish shall
+be like the gloss on badly-washed linen. And the ministry of work will
+fail. Work never yet made a foul soul clean. There is "a fountain opened
+for all uncleanness." I must wash "in the blood of the Lamb." That red
+sacrifice can wash out the deep red stain.
+
+"_Cease to do evil._" Yes, I must turn my back on the roads of defilement.
+There must be a sharp decision, and an immediate reversal of my ways.
+"Halt!" "Right about turn!" "Quick march!"
+
+"_Learn to do well!_" Yes, let me diligently learn, like a child at
+school, until the deliberative becomes the instructive, and "practice
+makes perfect."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Ninth
+
+_GOD'S REQUIREMENTS_
+
+"_What doth the Lord require of thee?_"
+--MICAH vi. 1-8.
+
+
+"To do justly." Then I must not be so eager about my rights as to forget
+my duties. For my duties are just the observance of my neighbour's rights.
+And to see my neighbour's rights I must cultivate his "point of view." I
+must look out of his windows! "Look not every man on his own things, but
+every man also on the things of others."
+
+"_And to love mercy._" And mercy is justice _plus_! And it is the "plus"
+which makes the Christian. His cup "runneth over." He gives, like his
+Lord, "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over." There
+is always "a little extra" for Christ's sake! And "blessed are the
+merciful."
+
+"_And to walk humbly with thy God._" And there I am at the root of the two
+graces which have been enjoined upon me. The lowly friend of the Lord will
+most surely be both just and merciful. He cannot help it. The fragrance
+will cling to him as the fragrance of the orange clings to him who labours
+in the fruitful groves of Spain.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Tenth
+
+_GOOD FRUIT_
+
+LUKE vi. 43-49.
+
+
+My Lord seeks "good fruit." It must be sound. No disease must lurk within
+it. My virtues are so often touched with defilement. There is a little
+untruth even in my truth. There is a little jealousy even in my praise.
+There is a little superciliousness even in my forbearance. There is a
+little pride even in my piety. It is not "whole," not holy. God demands
+sound fruit.
+
+And "good fruit" demands "a good tree." We must not look for truth from an
+untrue soul. If the bullet-mould is deformed, all the bullets will share
+its deformity. First get the mould right, and every bullet will share its
+rectitude. When the soul is "true," all our words, and deeds, and gestures
+will be "of the truth," and will be true indeed. "Make the tree good."
+
+And that is just what our Lord proclaims His willingness to do. He does
+not begin with effects, but with causes; not with fruit, but with trees.
+He does not begin with our speech, but with the speaker; not with conduct,
+but with character. And, blessed be His name, He can transform "corrupt
+trees" into "good trees," until it shall be said: "He that hath turned the
+world upside down has come hither also."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Eleventh
+
+_THE CONSECRATION OF THE WILL_
+
+JOHN v. 1-18.
+
+
+My Lord demands my will in the ministry of healing. "_Art thou willing_ to
+be made whole?" He will not carry me as a log. When my schoolmaster put a
+belt around me, and held me over the water with a rope, and taught me to
+swim, I had to use my arms. The condition of help was endeavour. And so in
+my salvation. I have always will-power sufficient to pray and to try. In
+the effort of faith I open the door to the energies of God. Grace flows in
+the channels of the determined will. "O, God, my heart is set!"
+
+And my Lord demands my will in the living of the consecrated life. "Sin no
+more!" I must "will" to be whole, and I must will to remain holy. And here
+is the gracious law of the kingdom, that every time I exercise my will I
+add to its power. Every difficulty overcome adds its strength to my
+resources. Every enemy conquered marches henceforth in my own ranks. I go
+"from strength to strength."
+
+"God worketh in me to will!" The gracious Lord ever strengthens the will
+that is willing. He transforms the frail reed into an iron pillar, and
+makes trembling timidity bold as a lion.
+
+    "Mighty Spirit, dwell with me,
+     I myself would mighty be."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twelfth
+
+_MY LIFE AND HOPE_
+
+JOHN v. 19-30.
+
+
+Here is my reservoir. "_The Son hath life in Himself._" All vitality has
+its source in Him. He is the enemy of death and the deadly. I can paint
+the dead to look like life; I can use rouge for blood, and make the white
+lips red, but it all remains clammy and cold. I can galvanize, but I
+cannot vitalize. I can "break the ball of nard," and make perfume, "but
+still the sleeper sleeps." "In Him is life." "In Christ shall all be made
+alive!"
+
+And here is my hope. "_The Son also quickeneth._" He is not only a
+reservoir, He is a river. He is "the river of water of life." And His
+blessed purpose is to flow into desolate places, converting deserts into
+gardens, and making wildernesses to blossom as the rose.
+
+And He will come my way if only I will "hear" and "believe." There is a
+flippant hearing which, while it listens, laughs Him to scorn. There is a
+cheap hearing which will venture nothing on His counsel. And there is the
+hearing of faith, which simply "takes Him at His word," and in the
+glorious venture experiences the unsealing of the fountain of eternal
+life. "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Thirteenth
+
+_THE INNER ROOMS_
+
+JOHN v. 31-47.
+
+
+What should I think of a man who was contented to remain in the outer
+halls and passages of Windsor Castle, when he was invited into the royal
+precincts to have gracious communion with the King? And what shall I think
+of men who are contented to "search the Scriptures" and "will not come" to
+the Lord? They spend their life exploring the lobbies, when the Host and
+the feast are waiting in the upper room!
+
+And some men spend their days in criticism and they never advance to
+worship. They are like unto one who should give his strength to the
+deciphering of some time-worn inscription on the outer wall of some grand
+cathedral, and who never treads the sacred floor in fruitful and enriching
+awe.
+
+And some men live in the senses, and not in the conscience, in the awful
+presence of the great white throne. They are for ever seeking sensations,
+and avoid the fellowship of duty. They ride about in the channel, and they
+never come to the harbour. They have no settled moral home.
+
+My Lord, help me to regard all good things as merely passages leading to
+Thee! Let all good things bring me into intimate fellowship with Thee.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Fourteenth
+
+_THE PARALYSIS OF THE SOUL_
+
+LUKE v. 17-26.
+
+
+The miracle done in the body is purposed to be a symbol of a grander
+miracle to be wrought in the soul. "_That ye may know that the Son of Man
+hath power on earth to forgive sins, then saith He...!_" He heals the
+paralyzed body that we may know what He can do with a paralyzed soul. He
+liberates the man who is bound by palsy that we may know what He can do
+for a man who is bound by guilt. We are to reason from the less to the
+greater, from the material type to the spiritual reality.
+
+And so it is with all my Lord's doings in nature. They are a glorious
+symbolism of what He will do in the spirit. "That ye may know how
+beautiful the Son of Man can make the heart of man, then saith He to the
+seeds of the spring-time, Come forth!" And so nature becomes a literature,
+in which we see our possible inheritance in the Spirit.
+
+But on our side it is all conditioned by faith. "There He could do no
+mighty works because of their unbelief." Even in the miracles of the
+Spirit our faith must co-operate. Divine grace and human faith can
+transfigure the race. "Lord, increase our faith!" And everywhere, let
+palsied souls be delivered, and attain to glorious freedom!
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Fifteenth
+
+_WITHERED LIMBS_
+
+MARK iii. 1-8.
+
+
+There are withered limbs of the spirit as well as of the body. There are
+faculties and powers which are wasting away, sacred endowments which have
+lost their vital circulation. In some lives the will is a withered limb.
+In others it is the conscience. In others, again, it is the affections.
+These splendid moral and spiritual powers are being dried up, and they
+hang comparatively limp and useless in the life. They have been withered
+by sin and sinful negligence.
+
+And the Lord is the healer of withered limbs. He can deal with imprisoned
+affections as the warm spring deals with the river which has been locked
+in ice. He can minister to a stricken will, and make it as a benumbed hand
+when the circulation has been restored. He can give it grip and tenacity.
+And so with all our powers. He, who is the Life, can vitalize all!
+
+But here again the remnant of our withered endowment must be used in the
+healing. We must surrender to the Healer. We must obey. If the Lord says:
+"Stretch forth thy hand," we must attempt the impossible! In this region
+the impossible becomes possible in sanctified endeavour.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Sixteenth
+
+_THE CHURCH AS AN INFIRMARY_
+
+LUKE xiii. 10-17.
+
+
+What infirmities gather together in the synagogue! What moral and
+spiritual ailments are congregated in every place of worship! If the veil
+of the flesh could be removed, and the inward life revealed, how we should
+pity one another, and how we should pray! In how many lives should we
+behold a spirit "bound together," who "could in no wise lift herself up!"
+Wills like crushed reeds, consciences like broken vocal chords, hopes like
+birds with injured wings, and hearts like ruined homes!
+
+But the blessed Lord still goes into the synagogue; nay, He anticipates
+our coming. And He is present "to heal the broken in heart," and to "bind
+up his wounds." His touch "has still its ancient power." Still does the
+gracious Master speak with authority. "Woman, thou art loosed from thine
+infirmity!" And immediately she is "made straight."
+
+Then why do so many spiritual cripples leave the synagogue cripples still?
+Because they do not give the Healer a chance. No one can remain crooked
+and broken in conscience and will who grips the hand of the Lord of Life.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Seventeenth
+
+_THE PSALM OF PRAISE_
+
+PSALM cvii. 1-15.
+
+
+The miracle of deliverance must be followed by the psalm of praise. There
+are multitudes who cry, "God be merciful!" who never cry, "God be
+praised!" "There were none that returned to give thanks save this
+Samaritan." Ten cleansed, and only one grateful! "Oh, that men would
+praise the Lord for His goodness!" Many a blessing becomes stale because
+it is not renewed by thanksgiving. Graces that are received ungratefully
+droop like flowers deprived of rain. Yes, gratitude gives sustenance to
+blessings already received. Therefore "in everything give thanks."
+
+But emancipated lives are not only to break into praise before God, they
+must exercise in confession before men. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say
+so!" Unconfessed blessings become like the Dead Sea; refused an outlet
+they lose their freshness and vitality. I am found by the Lord in order
+that I, too, may be a seeker. I receive His peace in order that I may be a
+peacemaker. I am comforted in order that I "may comfort others with the
+comfort wherewith I am comforted of God." Have you ever received a
+blessing; "pass it on!" Tell the story of thy deliverance to the enslaved,
+that he, too, may find "the iron gate" swing open, and so attain his
+freedom.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Eighteenth
+
+_THE CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN_
+
+"_Pray for the peace of Jerusalem._"
+--PSALM cxxii.
+
+
+And my Jerusalem is "the church of the living God." Do I carry her on my
+heart? Do I praise God for her heritage, and for her endowment of
+spiritual glory? And do I remember her perils, especially those parts of
+her walls where the defences are very thin, and can be easily broken
+through? Yes, has my Church any place in my prayer, or am I robbing her of
+part of her intended possessions?
+
+And is the _entire_ Jerusalem the subject of my supplication? Or do I only
+think of a corner of it, just that part where my own little synagogue is
+placed? I am a Congregationalist; do I remember the Anglican? I am an
+Anglican; do I remember the Quaker? Am I thus concerned only with a small
+section of Jerusalem, or does my intercession sweep the entire city?
+
+"_They shall prosper that love thee._" I cannot be healthy if I am bereft
+of fellowship. If I ignore the house of prayer I impoverish my home. The
+peaceful glow of the fireside is not unrelated to the coals upon the
+common altar. The sacrament is connected with my ordinary meal. To love
+the Church of Christ is to become enriched with "the fulness of Christ."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Nineteenth
+
+_IN GREEN PASTURES_
+
+PSALM xxiii.
+
+
+This little psalm has been called the nightingale of the psalms. It sings
+"in the shade when all things rest." It makes music in the darkness; it
+gives me "songs in the night." And what does it sing about?
+
+It sings of God's bounty in food and rest. "_Green pastures_"; "_still
+waters_." My Lord knows when my heart is faint, when it needs His reviving
+food. He knows when my heart is tired and needs His sweet rest. "_He
+restoreth my soul._"
+
+And it sings of the God-appointed way across the hill. "_He leadeth me in
+paths of righteousness._" He makes the right way clear. He walks the path
+of duty with me. "_Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow I
+will fear no evil, for Thou art with me._"
+
+And it sings of the feast which the Lord serves in the very midst of my
+foes. "_He spreadeth a table before me in the midst of mine enemies._" He
+gives me the fat things of grace in the very presence of frowning
+circumstances.
+
+And it sings of the providence _which guards the rear_. "Goodness and
+mercy shall follow me!" God's grace comes between me and my yesterdays. It
+cuts off the heredity from the old Adam, and no far-off plague comes nigh
+my dwelling.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twentieth
+
+_FEEDING THE FLOCK_
+
+ISAIAH xl. 1-11.
+
+
+Here is the gracious promise of provision. "_He shall feed His flock like
+a Shepherd._" He knows the fields where my soul will be best nourished in
+holiness. I am sometimes amazed at His choice. He takes me into an
+apparent wilderness, but I find rich herbage on the unpromising plain. And
+so I would rest in His choice even when it seems adverse to my good.
+
+And here is the gracious promise of gentle discrimination. "_He shall
+gather the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom._" Says old
+Trapp, "He hath a great care of His little ones, like as He had of the
+weaker tribes. In their march through the Wilderness He put a strong tribe
+to two weak tribes, lest they should faint or fail." Yes, "He knoweth our
+frame." He will not lay upon us more than we can bear. At the back of
+every commandment there is a promise of adequate resource. His askings are
+also His enablings. The big duty means that we shall have a big lift. And
+when we are tired He will lead on gently. Such is the grace and tenderness
+of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-first
+
+_SATISFACTION_
+
+"_My people shall be satisfied with My goodness._"
+--JEREMIAH xxxi. 10-14.
+
+
+And how unlike is all this to the feasts of the world! There is a great
+show, but no satisfaction. There is much decorative china, but no
+nutritious food or drink. "Every one that drinketh of this water shall
+thirst again." We rise from the table, and our deepest cravings are
+unappeased. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" We know. We have had a
+condiment, but no meat; a showy menu-card, but no reviving feast.
+
+Nothing but the goodness of the Lord can satisfy the soul. Whatever else
+may be on the table of life, if this be absent we shall go away unfed. We
+may have money, and pleasure, and success, and fame, but they are all
+delusive husks if the grace of the Lord be absent.
+
+This is the real furnishing of the feast. There are vast multitudes of
+things I can do without if only I have the holy bread of life in the
+gracious Presence of my Lord. In this sphere it is the Guest who makes the
+table! "Thou, O Christ, art all I want!" "Having Him we have all things."
+A glorious satisfaction possesses the soul, and though we may not increase
+our worldly possessions, we do something better, we "grow in grace and in
+the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-second
+
+_THE SICK AND THE LOST_
+
+EZEKIEL xxxiv. 11-16.
+
+
+Surely everybody is included in this redemptive purpose of the Lord! He is
+looking for everybody, for everybody finds a place in His holy quest.
+
+He is seeking the "_lost_" sheep. The one that has wandered far away, and
+now no longer hears the sound of the Shepherd's voice! The one that is
+carelessly nibbling the herbage on the very edge of perdition! He is
+looking for this one. Is He therefore looking for thee and me?
+
+He is seeking "_that which was driven away_." Some hireling, some enemy of
+the shepherd, drove it far away from the fold. "A thief and a robber," for
+his own purposes, hath done this. And the Lord's sheep are driven away by
+"principalities and powers," and by the violence of wicked men. Some
+impure and unworthy professor of religion can drive a whole household from
+the fellowship of the Church. And the Good Shepherd is seeking these. Is
+He therefore looking for thee or me?
+
+And He is seeking "_that which was sick_." And some of the Lord's sheep
+are sickly. The chill of disappointment, or failure, or bereavement has
+blown upon them, and they are "down." Or they have been feeding on illicit
+pleasure. And the Lord is seeking such. Is He therefore seeking thee or
+me?
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-third
+
+_NOT LOST IN THE FLOCK_
+
+"_I know My sheep, and am known of mine._"
+--JOHN x. 7-16.
+
+
+There is mutual recognition, and in that recognition there is confidence
+and peace.
+
+"_I know my sheep._" He knows us one by one. My knowledge of the
+individual wanes in proportion as the multitude is increased. The teacher
+with the smaller class has the deepest intimacy with her scholars. The
+individual is lost in the crowd. But not so with our Lord. There are no
+"masses" in His sight. However big the crowd, even though it be "a
+multitude which no man can number," we still remain individuals, known to
+the Lord by name, and face, and personal need. If thou art away from the
+fold, thy face is missed, and the Shepherd is away in search of thee!
+
+"_And I am known of mine._" And the knowledge deepens with every day's
+experience. There are false shepherds who can subtly mimic the Good
+Shepherd, and in my early discipleship I am liable to be deceived. The
+devil himself can array himself like a shepherd, and imitate the very
+tones of the Lord. Therefore must I watch, and ever watch. But here is my
+hope and inspiration. Every day I spend with my Good Shepherd sharpens my
+discernments, enables me to see through the outer show of things, and to
+discriminate between the false and the true.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-fourth
+
+_THE LORD'S BODY_
+
+"_I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do._"
+--JOHN xvii. 1-11.
+
+
+This quiet confession is in itself a token of our Lord's divinity. The
+serenity in which He makes His claims is as stupendous as the claims
+themselves. "Finished," perfected in the utmost refinement, to the last,
+remotest detail! Nothing scamped, nothing overlooked, nothing forgotten!
+Everything which concerns thy redemption and my redemption has been
+accomplished. "It is finished!"
+
+"_And now ... I come to Thee._" The visible Presence is withdrawn. There
+is no longer in our midst a Jesus whose body we can bruise and crucify.
+"_But these are in the world._" Yes, and His disciples are now His body.
+He becomes reincarnated in them. If they refuse Him a body, He has none!
+He looks through their eyes, listens through their ears, speaks through
+their lips, ministers through their hands, goes on sacred pilgrimages with
+their feet! "Know ye not that ye are the body?"
+
+Does my discipleship offer my Lord a limb? Can He communicate with the
+world through me? Does my discipleship multiply His powers of expression?
+Has He more eyes, more ears, more hands because I am a member of His
+Church? Or----?
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-fifth
+
+_IMPOTENT ENEMIES_
+
+"_Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?_"
+--ROMANS viii. 31-39.
+
+
+Who can get between the love of Christ and me? What sharp dividing
+minister can cleave the two in twain, and leave me like a dismembered and
+dying branch?
+
+Terrible experiences cannot do it. "_Tribulation, distress, persecution,
+famine, nakedness, peril, or sword!_" All these may come about my house,
+but they cannot reach the inner sanctuary where my Lord and I are closeted
+in loving communion and peace. They may bruise my skin, nay, they may give
+my body to be burned, but no flame can destroy the love of Jesus which
+enswathes my soul with invisible defence.
+
+And terrible ministers cannot do it. "_Angels, nor principalities, nor
+powers._" These mysterious agents of darkness, for they must be the
+legions of the evil one, are unable to quench the light and fire of my
+Saviour's love. The devil can never blow out the lamp of grace.
+
+And terrible death itself cannot do it. Death does not separate me from
+Jesus; death is the Lord's minister to lead me into deeper privilege and
+ripe experiences of grace and love. Therefore, "I will lay me down in
+peace, and take my rest."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-sixth
+
+_MISSING THE LORD_
+
+"_Thou knowest not the time of thy visitation._"
+--LUKE xix. 37-44.
+
+
+Yes, that has been my sad experience. I have wasted some of my wealthiest
+seasons. I have treated the hour as common and worthless, and the
+priceless opportunity has passed.
+
+There have been times when my Lord has come to me, and I have turned Him
+away from my door. He so often journeys "incognito," and if I am
+thoughtless I dismiss Him, and so lose the privilege of heavenly communion
+and benediction. He knocks at my door as a Carpenter, and the humble
+attire deceives me, and I treat Him with scant courtesy, and sometimes
+with contempt. I know not the time of my visitation.
+
+He comes to me in the guise of needy people--as sick, or hungry, or a
+stranger, and I cannot be troubled with His presence. I dismissed Him as a
+pauper, little knowing that I was turning away a millionaire! I knew not
+the time of my visitation! "I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat,"
+and so we missed the bread of life.
+
+And so there is nothing for it, but to be always "on the watch." I must
+treat everybody as though everybody was the Christ. And I must treat every
+commonplace moment as though it were the home of the eternal.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-seventh
+
+_WHAT ABOUT TO-MORROW?_
+
+JOSHUA xxiv. 1-15.
+
+
+It is not mine to worry about the coming day, but to fill the immediate
+moment with radiant duty. My Lord is the Pioneer, the great Maker of
+roads, and He will see to the appointments and provisions of the way. He
+has His scouts, His advance guard, His miners and sappers opening the
+highway across the waste! "I will send mine angel before thee!" "I will
+send hornets before you!" Yes, the Lord will look after the road. What,
+then, am I called to do? Let me find the answer in the 14th verse.
+
+"_Fear the Lord!_" The Lord must be the sovereign thought in my life. All
+true and well-proportioned living must begin in well-proportioned thought.
+God must be my biggest thought, and from that thought all others must take
+their colour and their range.
+
+"_Put away the gods._" My supreme homage must not be shared among many, it
+must be given to One. When the Lord is enthroned as King all usurpers must
+be banished. When He comes to His own the others go into exile.
+
+"_Serve ye the Lord._" My strength must be enlisted with my loyalty. I
+must not merely shout; I must work. I must not merely clap my hands when
+the King goes by, I must consecrate those hands in sacrificial service.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-eighth
+
+_WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING_
+
+"_The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom._"
+--JOB xxviii. 12-28.
+
+
+Mere learning will not make me wise. The path to wisdom is not necessarily
+through the schools. The brilliant scholar may be an arrant fool. True
+wisdom is found, not in mental acquisitions, but in a certain spiritual
+relation. The wise man is known by the pose of his soul. He is "_inclined
+toward the Lord_!" He has returned unto his rest, and he finds light and
+vision in the fellowship of his Lord.
+
+"_To depart from evil is understanding._" Yes, I need the lens of purity
+if I am to see the secrets of things. A dirty lens is the explanation of
+much ignorance and obscurity. I do not think I can ever see a flower if my
+lens is defiled. Much less can I see "the things of others." And still
+less again can I enjoy "the secret of the Lord." What we want is not so
+much a theological training as a right spirit, not so much to go to school
+as to "_depart from evil_." When I leave an evil habit worlds unseen begin
+to show their glory. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
+God."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE RICHES OF SPIRITUALITY_
+
+PROVERBS iv. 1-13.
+
+
+Let me review some of these riches which are conferred upon the man who
+has made his soul the guest-room of spiritual religion.
+
+"_Love her, and she shall keep thee._" Spirituality is to be my true
+defence. All other ramparts are vulnerable. They are the happy
+hunting-ground of the ravages of time; they fail in the crisis; they are
+the sure victims of moth and rust. But spirituality keeps me from
+childhood to age, and its shields are invincible, even in the hour of
+death. "There shall no evil befall thee."
+
+"_Exalt her, and she shall promote thee._" She will lead me in the paths
+of progress. Every day she will lead me to new conquests, and in
+constantly enriching character I shall move towards life's appointed goal.
+Holiness is the only success worth having. Other successes are like lamps
+whose trembling flames are blown out in the first gusty, stormy night.
+"But the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more
+even unto perfect day."
+
+"_She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace._" Yes, and her
+adornments are always beautiful. No beauty ever steals into the human face
+comparable with the delicate presence of spirituality. It makes plain
+features lovely, and transfigures them with "the glory of the Lord."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Thirtieth
+
+_HOW TO DELIGHT IN THE WORD_
+
+PSALM cxix. 97-104.
+
+
+A man may measure his growth in grace by his growing delight in the speech
+of the Lord. When His words are unwelcome in my ears, when they are an
+intrusion which mars my pleasures, it is clear I am still in the far
+country of revolt. But if His words make "music in my ears," if the Lord's
+conversation is the very marrow of the feast, then I have entered into the
+circle of His intimate friends. When His words taste sweet, even with a
+bare board, I am "in heavenly places with Christ."
+
+And how can I attain unto this spiritual delight? Well, first of all I
+must make "_His testimonies my meditations._" Our doctors tell us that the
+only way to taste the real savour of food is to masticate it well. Bolted
+food never unlocks its essences. And meditation is just mental
+mastication. To "turn the word over" in my mind will help to disburden its
+treasure.
+
+And then I must diligently put the word into practice. "_I have not
+departed from Thy judgments._" There is nothing like obedience for setting
+free a spiritual essence. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear
+Him."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Thirty-first
+
+_THE REAL GAINS AND LOSSES_
+
+"_Godliness with contentment is great gain._"
+--1 TIMOTHY vi. 6-16.
+
+
+And so I must go into my heart if I would make a true estimate of my gains
+and losses. The calculation is not to be made in my bank-books, or as I
+stride over my broad acres, or inspect my well-filled barns. These are the
+mere outsides of things, and do not enter into the real balance-sheet of
+my life. We can no more estimate the success of a life by methods like
+these than we can adjudge an oil-painting by the sense of smell.
+
+What is my stock of godliness? That is one of the test questions. What are
+my treasures of contentment? What about peace and joy, and hallowed and
+blessed carelessness? How much pure laughter rings in my life? How much
+bird-music is heard in the chambers of my heart? Is the note of praise to
+be found in the streets of my soul? Am I rich in these things or
+pathetically poor? "By these things men live," and therefore of these
+things will I make my balance-sheet and reckon up my gains.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The First
+
+_THE VIRTUE OF PROPORTION_
+
+MATTHEW vi. 25-34.
+
+
+I must put first things first. The radical fault in much of my living is
+want of proportion. I think more of pretty window curtains than of fresh
+air, more of "nice" wallpaper than of the moving pageant of the skies. I
+magnify the immediate desire and minimize the ultimate goal. And so
+"things do not come right!" How can they when the apportionment is so
+perverse, when everything is topsy-turvy? If I want things to be firm and
+durable I must revere the Divine order, and must put first things first.
+"_Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness._"
+
+And, therefore, I must seek holiness before success. I am to esteem
+holiness with apparent failure as infinitely better than success with
+stain and shame.
+
+I must seek character before reputation. The applause of the world must be
+as nothing compared with the approbation of God. The favouring "voice from
+heaven" must be sweeter to my ears than the noisy cheers of the crowd.
+
+And I must seek righteousness before quietness. The way of disturbance is
+sometimes the way to peace. I must not be so concerned for a quiet life as
+for a life that is "right with God."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Second
+
+_PRAYER AND REVOLUTION_
+
+JOHN iv. 43-54.
+
+
+This miracle began in a prayer. The nobleman went unto Jesus "_and
+besought Him_." In such apparently fragile things can mighty revolutions
+be born! "Prayer," said Tennyson, "opens the sluice-gates between us and
+the Infinite." It brings the frail wire into contact with the battery. It
+links together man and God.
+
+Prayer was corroborated by belief. "_The man believed the word that Jesus
+spake unto him._" By our faith we cut the channels along which the healing
+energy will flow. Faith "prepares the way of the Lord." Our faith is
+purposed to be a fellow-laborer with grace, and, if faith be absent, grace
+"can do no mighty works."
+
+The healing begins with the faith. "_It was at the same hour in which ...
+he himself believed._" These "coincidences" are inevitable happenings in
+the realm of the Spirit. When we offer the believing prayer, God's mighty
+energies begin to besiege the life for which the prayer is made. Mr.
+Cornaby, the Methodist missionary, declares how conscious he is in
+far-away China when someone is interceding for him in the home-land! The
+power possesses him in vitalizing flood! Hudson Taylor's mother shuts
+herself in a little room to pray, and eighty miles away her son is
+converted.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Third
+
+_MY SHARE IN THE MIRACLE_
+
+JOHN ii. 1-11.
+
+
+Our Lord always demands our best. He will not work with our second-best.
+His gracious "extra" is given when our own resources are exhausted. We
+must do our best before our Master will do His miracle. We must "fill the
+water-pots with water"! We must bring "the five loaves and two fishes"! We
+must "let down the net"! We must be willing "to be made whole," and we
+must make the effort to rise! Yes, the Lord will have my best.
+
+Our Lord transforms our best into His better. He changes water into wine.
+He turns the handful of seed into a harvest. Our aspirations become
+inspirations. Our willings become magnetic with the mystic power of grace.
+Our bread becomes sacramental, and He Himself is revealed to us at the
+feast. Our ordinary converse becomes a Divine fellowship, and "our hearts
+burn within us" as He talks to us by the way.
+
+And our Lord ever keeps His best wine until the last. "Greater things than
+these shall ye do!" "I will see you again," and there shall be grander
+transformations still! "The best is yet to be." "Dreams cannot picture a
+world so fair." "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered
+into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for
+them that love Him."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Fourth
+
+_A PORTRAIT OF A GREAT SUPPLIANT_
+
+MATTHEW viii. 5-13.
+
+
+Here we have _the grace of sympathy_; one man troubled about the sickness
+of another. We are drawing very near to the Lord when our soul vibrates
+responsively to another man's need. We can measure our likeness to the
+Lord by the range of our sensitiveness to the world's sorrow and pain. Our
+God is the "Father of _pities_"; He is sensitive in every direction, no
+side is numb, and we are putting on His likeness in proportion as we
+attain an all-round responsiveness to the cries of human need.
+
+And here we have _the grace of humility_. "I am not worthy!" Our pride
+always blocks "the way of the Lord." Our humility makes us porous to the
+Divine. The "poor in spirit" are already in the kingdom, and the gracious
+powers of the kingdom are commanded to attend their bidding.
+
+And here we have _the grace of faith_. "Only say the word!" The centurion
+conceives the Lord's words as soldiers attending on the Lord's will. Let
+one be spoken, and at once the mission is executed. And so it is. "The
+words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." His words
+are vehicles of power, and when they are spoken, miracles are always
+wrought. "The entrance of Thy word giveth light."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Fifth
+
+_FAITH AND RIDICULE_
+
+MATTHEW ix. 18-26.
+
+
+And, so one man's faith is more than a match for many people's scorn. The
+steady trust of the ruler was not shaken by the rude flippancy of the
+artificial mourners, and his daughter was brought from the dead. "This is
+the victory that overcometh, even our faith." Everything bows, like
+fragile reeds, before the march of a victorious faith. Scorn, and hatred,
+and all manner of devilry, and death itself, all lose their power in the
+presence of a belief which remains steady and steadfast. "Said I not unto
+thee that, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?"
+
+And what an infinite reservoir of power is waiting to be tapped by the
+hand of faith! A ruler believes and his daughter is vitalized. A poor
+woman, bent and broken, reaches out her thin, frail hand, and lo! she is
+erect and graceful as the pine! And "my sufficiency is of God!" All that I
+may need is in the same wonderful reservoir of grace. That healing flood
+is like the ocean fulness, and it will fill every bay, and cove, and creek
+in the wide-stretching shore of human need.
+
+    "The healing of His seamless dress
+      Is by our beds of pain,
+     We touch Him in life's throng and press,
+      And we are whole again."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Sixth
+
+_CONTEMPTUOUS WORDS_
+
+MATTHEW xv. 21-28.
+
+
+I wonder if this word "dogs" was my Saviour's word, or had He picked it up
+from the disciples that He might cast it away again for ever? Did He use
+it that He might reveal its ugliness, and so banish it from human speech?
+As Jesus and His disciples came along the road the Master walked before
+them. "And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders!" And
+the disciples whispered to one another, "Here comes one of the dogs!" And
+the Master overheard it, and His tender spirit grieved. And there and then
+He resolved to help the woman and at the same time cleanse the men.
+
+Is there not therefore something half-ironical in our Saviour's use of the
+word? When He spake of the woman as a "dog," and of the disciples as "the
+children," would there not be something significant in His very looks and
+tones? These cold, unfeeling men "the children," and this tender yearning
+woman the "dog"!
+
+When the Lord used the disciples' word they began to be ashamed, and in
+the fire of their shame their self-conceit was consumed. He turned with
+impatient longing to the woman, "O, woman, great is thy faith; be it unto
+thee even as thou wilt."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Seventh
+
+_EXPERIMENT AND EXPERIENCE_
+
+HEBREWS xi. 1-6.
+
+
+I like the marginal rendering of the introductory sentence of this great
+chapter. "_Faith is the giving substance to things hoped for._" Faith
+converts cloudy castles into substantial homes. Faith substantiates the
+unseen. Faith sucks the energy out of splendid ideals, and incorporates it
+in present and immediate life. Faith unfolds the eternal in the moment,
+the infinite in the trifle, the divine in the commonplace. Faith
+incorporates God and man. Yes, faith gives substance to "things hoped
+for," it brings them out of the air, and gives them reality and movement
+in the hard and common ways of earth and time.
+
+And faith is also "_the test of things not seen_." By a test faith gains a
+conquest. By an experiment faith acquires an experience. By a great
+speculation faith makes a great discovery. "Try me now herewith, and prove
+Me!" It is an invitation to humble and sincere assumption. Try if it
+works! Make a hallowed experiment with the powers of grace.
+
+Lord, incline me to make the gracious test! Let me stake my all upon the
+venture! Let me dare all in order that I may gain all! Let me sow
+bountifully, and so reap a bountiful harvest.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Eighth
+
+_THE BRACING AIR OF PUBLICITY_
+
+ROMANS x. 1-13.
+
+
+There is a belief which never registers itself in confession. It never
+exercises itself in the strong, bracing air of publicity. It is a
+cloistered belief, and suffers from want of ventilation. Such Christians
+are always an�mic; indeed, they are always puny, and never get beyond the
+stage of spiritual babyhood. "Ye are yet babes!" Belief which is never
+oxygenated by open confession can never nourish the soul into vigorous and
+exhilarant health.
+
+But there is a belief which expresses and confirms itself in confession.
+"_With the mouth confession is made unto salvation._" Such confession is a
+means of moral and spiritual health. And confession in the early days
+meant risk, venture which exposed the life to the shedding of blood. It
+meant a frank defiance of the world, and an eager challenge of the devil.
+And it is on such fields of open encounter for the Lord that muscle is
+made, and the soul goes "from strength to strength," and "from glory to
+glory."
+
+My soul, art thou secretly ashamed of thy Lord? Art thou afraid to "lift
+high His royal banner"? Then thou wilt always be as a feather-bed soldier,
+and the trophies of the honourable war are not for thee. Stand out in the
+open, and boldly testify, "As for me and my house, we will serve the
+Lord!"
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Ninth
+
+_DEALING WITH SIN_
+
+PSALM xxxii.
+
+
+Here is the burden of unconfessed sin. "_When I kept silence my bones
+waxed old._" There is nothing brings on premature age like secret sin. It
+keeps the mind in perpetual unrest, and a troubled mind soon makes the
+body old. The real nourisher of the body is a quiet and radiant soul. But
+let the soul be in chaos, and the body will soon be a ruin.
+
+And here, too, is the healthy act of confession. "_I acknowledged my sin
+unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid._" He retained no single germ
+of the whole unclean brood. He brought them out into the light one by one,
+as though he were emptying a noisome kennel. He brought them out, and
+named them, in the awful Presence of the Lord.
+
+And here is the ministry of forgiveness, and therefore the miracle of
+restored health. Let me mark the rich variety of the descriptive words.
+"_Forgiven!_" "_Covered!_" "_Imputed not!_" It is all removed and
+obliterated, and the place of defilement and profanity becomes the holy
+temple of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Tenth
+
+_CRITICISM AND PIETY_
+
+"_Thinkest thou, that judgest them that do such things,
+that thou shalt escape?_"
+--ROMANS ii. 1-11.
+
+
+That is always my peril, to assume that by being severe with others I
+exculpate myself. I go on to the bench, and deliver sentence upon my
+brother, when my proper place is in the dock. And this is the subtlety of
+the snare, that I regard my criticisms and condemnations of other people
+as signs of my own innocence. This is the last refinement in temptation,
+and multitudes fall before its power.
+
+The way to moral and spiritual health is to direct my criticisms upon
+myself. I must stand in the dock, and hear the grave indictment of my own
+soul. Unless I pass through the second chapter of Romans I can never enter
+the fifth and sixth, and still less the glorious forgiveness of the
+eighth. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ
+Jesus." I pass into that warm, cheery light through the cold road of
+acknowledged guilt and sin.
+
+"If we confess our sins He is just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
+us from all unrighteousness."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Eleventh
+
+_A FATAL DIVORCE_
+
+"_They feared the Lord, and served their own gods._"
+--2 KINGS xvii. 24-34.
+
+
+And that is an old-world record, but it is quite a modern experience. The
+kinsmen of these ancient people are found in our own time. Men still fear
+one God and serve another.
+
+But something is vitally wrong when men can divorce their fear from their
+obedience. And the beginning of the wrong is in the fear itself. "Fear,"
+as used in this passage, is a counterfeit coin, which does not ring true
+to the truth. It means only the payment of outward respect, a formal
+recognition, a passing nod which we give on the way to something better.
+It is a mere skin courtesy behind which there is no beating heart; a
+hollow convention in which there is no deep and sacred awe.
+
+But the real "fear of God" is a spiritual mood in which virtue thrives, an
+atmosphere in which holy living is quite inevitable. "The fear of the Lord
+is _clean_." It is not lip-worship, but heart-homage, a reverence in which
+the soul is always found upon its knees. And so "the fear of the Lord is
+to hate evil"; it is an indignant repulsion from all that is hateful to
+God. It is the sharing of the Spirit of the Lord. There cannot be any true
+fear where the soul does not worship "in spirit and in truth."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twelfth
+
+_THE GARMENTS OF THE SOUL_
+
+JOEL ii. 12-19.
+
+
+I am so apt to think that the rending of an outer garment is a token of
+true penitence and amendment of life. But it is the inner garments I must
+deal with, the raiments and habits of the soul. Some of these robes--such
+as vanity and pride--are as gay and showy as a peacock; others are dirty
+and leprous, and we should not dare to bring them to the door, and display
+them in the light. But all need severe treatment; they must be torn, fibre
+from fibre, and reduced to rags.
+
+But "rending" must be accompanied by "turning." "_Turn unto the Lord your
+God._" For the Lord our God is gracious, and His love will not only
+provide a new wardrobe, but a swift furnace in which to burn the remnants
+of the old. Yes, His "great kindness" will burn away the filth of my
+alienation, and will "bring forth the best robe" and put it on me. The
+good Lord will give me new habits. He will "cover me with the robe of
+righteousness, and the garment of salvation."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Thirteenth
+
+_THE CLEAN HEART_
+
+PSALM li.
+
+
+What will the Lord do with my sin, if in true humility I come into His
+Presence? Let me hear the music of the evangel.
+
+He will "_blot out my transgression_." He will so erase it that even His
+own holy eyes can see no stain or shame. He will blot it out, as I have
+seen a gloomy cloudlet blotted out, and there has been nothing left but
+radiant sky.
+
+And He will "_wash me throughly from mine iniquity_." Yes, and that not
+like the washing of the hands, but like the washing of clothes, not like
+the washing of a surface, but the removal of uncleanness from a fabric,
+the ousting of every germ lurking in the innermost cells of the stuff.
+When the Lord washes a soul it is "throughly" done, and every strand is
+white in holiness.
+
+So will He give me "_a clean heart_"; so will He "_renew a right spirit
+within me_." The very atmosphere of my life shall be as the air after
+deluges of cleansing rain. It shall be sweet, and clean, and clear! I
+shall walk in a new inspiration, and I shall "behold the land that is very
+far off."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Fourteenth
+
+_THE SENSE OF WANT_
+
+"_This man went down to his house justified rather than the other._"
+--LUKE xviii. 9-14.
+
+
+The Master sets the Pharisee and publican in contrast, and His judgment
+goes against the man who has made some progress in moral attainments, and
+favours the man who has no victories to show, but only a hunger for
+victory. The dissatisfied sinner is preferred to the self-satisfied saint.
+The Pharisee had gained an inch, but had lost his sense of the continent.
+The publican had not pegged out an inch of moral claim, but he had an
+overwhelming sense of the untrodden universe.
+
+So this, I think, is the teaching for me. We are justified by the penitent
+sense of want and not by the boastful sense of possession. Our sense of
+lack is the measure of our hope, and our measure of hope determines the
+poverty or fulness of our communion with the Lord. The Pharisee had no
+"beyond," no realm of admiration, no hope! Aspiration was dead, and
+therefore inspiration had ceased. Our possibilities nestle in our
+cravings.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Fifteenth
+
+_RESTORING A RUINED LIFE_
+
+PSALM ciii. 1-18.
+
+
+Could there be a sweeter chime than the opening music of this psalm?
+
+"_Who forgiveth all thine iniquities._" He receives me back home again,
+interrupts the broken story of my sin, and drowns my sobbings in His
+rejoicings.
+
+"_Who healeth all thy diseases._" He takes in hand the foul complaints
+which I acquired in "the far country," and with His powerful medicines,
+and His wonderful "bread of life," He drives the foul things from my soul.
+
+"_Who redeemeth thy life from destruction._" Yes, with His own blood He
+buys me back from a midnight servitude, strikes every chain and shackle
+from my limbs, and makes me dance in "the glorious liberty of the children
+of God."
+
+"_Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercy._" He encircles
+me with the invulnerable army of His own love. Henceforth if the devil
+would get at me he must deal with God. "As the mountains are round about
+Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people."
+
+"_Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things._" He sets before me a
+glorious table, and enlivens my spirits with glorious fellowship. That so
+I can be no other than "satisfied," and my heart is at rest in the Lord.
+"Thou, O Christ, art all I want!"
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Sixteenth
+
+_THE STEADFASTNESS OF THE LORD_
+
+"_My covenant shall stand fast._"
+--PSALM lxxxix. 19-29.
+
+
+Such a divine assurance ought to make me perfectly quiet in spirit.
+Restlessness in a Christian always spells disloyalty. The uncertainty is
+born of suspicion. There is a rift in the faith, and the disturbing breath
+of the devil blows through, and destroys my peace. If I am sure of my
+great Ally, my heart will not be troubled, neither will it be afraid.
+
+And such a divine assurance ought to make me bold in will and majestic in
+labour. I ought to be inventive in chivalrous enterprise, and I ought to
+covet the hardest parts of the field. If the mighty Ally will never fail,
+I should never be afraid of the marshalled hosts of wickedness. "One with
+God is in a majority." "He always wins who sides with God." "The Lord is
+on my side, whom shall I fear?"
+
+And such a divine assurance ought to give me a kingly demeanour. The
+members of the Court acquire a certain stateliness by their lofty
+fellowship. And, surely, one who walks with God should be characterized by
+something of the Divine glory, and men should know that his acquaintances
+are found in the courts of heaven.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Seventeenth
+
+_THE NEVER-WITHERING LEAF_
+
+JEREMIAH xvii. 5-11.
+
+
+Let me look at "the blessed man" in the interpreting symbol of this
+healthy and graceful tree.
+
+The blessed life is a life of vast resource. "_As a tree planted by the
+waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river._" It is not watered
+by an occasional shower, it is unceasingly bathed by the vitalizing flood.
+Its rootlets are always drinking the nutritious waters of grace. The
+blessed life is planted on the banks of that wonderful river which takes
+its rise in the great white throne.
+
+And just because of these boundless supplies, the blessed life is
+undisturbed in times of grave crisis and emergency. "_He shall not see
+when heat cometh._" He shall be cool when the unblessed are hot and
+fever-stricken. He shall "keep his head" in times of general panic. His
+powers of endurance shall make the world wonder! He shall "hold out" when
+everybody else is faint.
+
+So shall there be nothing "sere and yellow" about him. "_His leaf shall be
+green._" His faith, and hope, and love shall remain fresh and beautiful
+even in "the dark and cloudy day."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Eighteenth
+
+_THE ALL-ROUND DEFENCE_
+
+"_Thou hast beset me behind._"
+--PSALM cxxxix. 1-12.
+
+
+And that is a defence against the enemies which would attack me in the
+rear. There is yesterday's sin, and the guilt which is the companion of
+yesterday's sin. They pursue my soul like fierce hounds, but my gracious
+Lord will come between my pursuers and me. His mighty grace intervenes,
+and my security is complete.
+
+"Thou hast beset me ... _before_." And that is a defence against the
+enemies which would impede my advance and frighten me out of the heavenly
+way. There is fear--fear of the morrow, fear of consequences, fear of
+death! And my Lord will come between me and them, and their menace shall
+be destroyed. The fiery darts shall be quenched before they reach my soul.
+
+"_And laid Thine hand upon me._" And that is a defence against the enemies
+which may lie in ambush in present and immediate circumstances: the sudden
+temptation to passion, or the temptation to panic, or the temptation which
+would snare me to criminal ease. But my Lord's hand is all-sufficient! And
+so on every side my defence standeth; "the angel of the Lord encampeth
+round about them that fear Him."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Nineteenth
+
+_THE NEEDS OF THE BODY_
+
+JOHN vi. 1-21.
+
+
+The Lord who came to save His people was sensitive to His people's hunger.
+In the presence of the supreme need the smaller need was not forgotten. He
+honoured the body as well as the soul. He ministered to the transient as
+well as the eternal. And that is ever the characteristic of true
+kingliness; it has a kingly way of doing the smaller things. I can measure
+my own progress toward the throne by my sovereign attention to scruples.
+"He that is faithful in that which is least, the same also is great."
+
+The Lord is not oppressed by the multitude of His guests. "He Himself knew
+what He would do." We need not jostle one another for His bounty. We shall
+not crowd one another out. "There is bread enough and to spare." Even in
+the material realm this is true, and everybody would have his daily bread
+if the will of the Lord were done. There is no straitness in the gracious
+Host! It is the greed of the guests which mars the satisfaction of the
+feast.
+
+And how careful the Lord of Glory was to "gather up the fragments"! Our
+infinitely wealthy Lord is not wealthy enough to "throw things away." He
+cannot afford to waste bread. Can He afford to lose a soul? "He goeth out
+after that which is lost until He find it"!
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twentieth
+
+_THE PATHETIC MULTITUDE_
+
+MARK viii. 1-9.
+
+
+My Lord has "_compassion upon the multitude_." And (shall I reverently say
+it?) His compassion was part of His passion. His pity was always costly.
+It culminated upon Calvary, but it was bleeding all along the road! It was
+a fellow-feeling with all the pangs and sorrows of the race. And a pity
+that bleeds is a pity that heals. "In His love and in His pity He redeemed
+us."
+
+And the multitude is round about us still, and the people are in peril of
+fainting by the way. There is the multitude of misfortune, the children of
+disadvantage, who never seem to have come to their own. And there is the
+multitude of outcasts, the vast army of publicans and sinners. And there
+are the bewildering multitudes of Africa, and India, and China, and they
+have "nothing to eat"!
+
+How do I regard them? Do I share the compassion of the Lord? Do I exercise
+a sensitive and sanctified imagination, and enter somewhat into the pangs
+of their cravings? My Lord calls for my help. "How many loaves have ye?"
+"Bring out all you have! Consecrate your entire resources! Put your all
+upon the altar of sacrifice!" And in reply to the call can I humbly and
+trustfully say, "O, Lamb of God, I come!"
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-first
+
+_LIFE AS BREAD_
+
+MARK viii. 10-21.
+
+
+It is gracious to know that my Lord is "the Bread of Life," and that I can
+feed on Him. It is fearful to know that I, too, am bread, and that others
+are feeding on me. Am I the nutriment of vice or the sustenance of virtue?
+Am I an evil leaven, like the Pharisees, or a holy leaven like the Lord?
+When little children feed on my presence do they grow in strength and
+beauty? Or do they become relaxed and demoralized? Who will feed upon me
+to-day, and what will be the end of it?
+
+If I would have my life to be as hallowed and hallowing leaven I must
+regularly feed upon the Bread of Life. If I am sustained by the Lord, I
+too shall be a sustainer of all who aspire after a true and holy life. My
+very character will itself become heavenly bread, and men will be
+nourished by it even when I am unconscious of the ministry. When they have
+spent a brief hour in my company they will go away refreshed.
+
+"Lord, evermore give us this bread!" So feed us with Thyself that we may
+share Thy nature. Let "virtue" go forth from us, and let it be as holy
+bread to all who are heavy-laden, and ready to faint.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-second
+
+_THE HANDFUL OF MEAL_
+
+1 KINGS xvii. 8-16.
+
+
+What marvellous "coincidences" are prepared by Providential grace! The
+poor widow is unconsciously ordained to entertain the prophet! The ravens
+will be guided to the brook Cherith! "I have commanded them to feed thee
+there." Our road is full of surprises. We see the frowning, precipitous
+hill, and we fear it, but when we arrive at its base we find a refreshing
+spring! The Lord of the way had gone before the pilgrim. "I go to
+prepare ... for you."
+
+But how strange that a widow with only "a handful of meal" should be
+"commanded" to offer hospitality! It is once again "the impossible" which
+is set before us. It would have been a dull commonplace to have fed the
+prophet from the overflowing larder of the rich man's palace. But to work
+from an almost empty cupboard! That is the surprising way of the Lord. He
+delights to hang great weights on apparently slender wires, to have great
+events turn on seeming trifles, and to make poverty the minister of "the
+indescribable riches of Christ."
+
+The poor widow sacrificed her "handful of meal," and received an unfailing
+supply. And this, too, is the way of the Lord.
+
+    "Whatever, Lord, we lend to Thee,
+     Repaid a thousand fold will be."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-third
+
+_THE DEDICATION OF SUBSTANCE_
+
+2 KINGS iv. 38-44.
+
+
+Here is a man recognizing the sacredness of his substance. He saw the seal
+of the Lord upon his harvest, and he offered the first-fruits in token of
+its rightful Owner. Men go wrong when the only name upon their field is
+their own. "_My_ power, and the strength of _my_ hand hath gotten me this
+wealth." It matters nothing what the wealth may be--material substance,
+mental skill, or business sagacity. It becomes unhallowed power when we
+attach our own label to it, and erase the name of God.
+
+This man dedicated his substance, and the hunger of his fellows was
+appeased. That is a great principle in human life. One man's satisfaction
+is dependent on another man's fidelity. His want is to be filled with my
+fulness. If I am selfish he remains hungry. If I acknowledge "the rights
+of God," and therefore "the rights of man," he has "enough and to spare."
+If I hoard my treasure I rob both God and man.
+
+My gracious Lord, remove the scales from my eyes. Help me to be sensitive
+to the obligations of all wealth. Let my plenty call me to the children of
+need. Let me acknowledge my stewardship, and be Thy fellow minister in the
+service of man.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-fourth
+
+_AFTER THE TRIUMPH!_
+
+MATTHEW xiv. 23-33.
+
+
+After the great miracle of feeding the multitude our Lord "_went up into a
+mountain to pray_." May we reverently wonder if it was a season of
+temptation? Did they want to make Him a King? Was our human Lord assailed
+by "the destruction that wasteth at noonday"? And did He shut Himself up
+with the Father?
+
+I am so disposed to pray _up_ to my successes, and to cease to pray _in_
+them! I remember God in my struggles, I forget Him in my attainments. I
+hold fellowship with Him on the road, I part company with Him when I
+arrive. I become a practical atheist in the midst of my successes. My only
+security is to go up into a mountain apart and pray. Unless I become
+closeted with God, and see all things in their true colours and
+proportion, I shall be lifted up in most unholy and destructive pride.
+
+And let me notice that our Lord returned from His privacy with the Father
+to do even greater miracles still. He had appeased the pangs of hunger;
+now He appeases the passion of the sea. And so in my degree shall it be
+with me. If in all my triumphs I remain the humble companion of the Lord,
+my triumphs shall be repeated and enriched. "Greater works than these
+shall ye do."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE SENSE OF GRACE_
+
+PSALM cvii. 21-32.
+
+
+A vital part of all devotion is the remembrance of the goodness of God.
+Such a remembrance keeps my soul in the realm of grace. I am so inclined
+to proclaim my personal rights rather than glorify the favour of God, so
+inclined to exhibit my own prowess rather than God's most gracious bounty.
+And whenever I lose the sense of grace I become a usurper and take the
+throne. Our salvation is "not of works, lest any man should boast."
+
+And such a remembrance would keep my soul in the mood of humility.
+"Nothing in my hands I bring." I can no more claim the glory of salvation
+than a child, who has cut a shallow trench on the sands, can claim the
+glory of initiating the roll of the ocean-tide. I owe all my desires and
+all my hopes and all my present attainments to the boundless goodness of
+God.
+
+And such a remembrance would keep my soul in the dispensation of love. I
+cannot quietly and steadily contemplate the goodness of the Lord without
+my soul being kindled into loving response. Without high contemplations
+love smoulders, and will eventually die out. But God's goodness inflames
+the soul, and communicates its own most gracious heat. "We love because He
+first loved us!"
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-sixth
+
+_MY LORD AS MY BREAD_
+
+JOHN vi. 26-35.
+
+
+Our life's bread is a Person. We may have much to do with Christianity and
+nothing to do with Christ. The other day I was in a great and wonderful
+bakery, but I never ate nor touched a morsel of bread. I touched the
+machinery. I was absorbingly interested in the processes, but I ate no
+bread! And I may be deeply interested in the means of grace, I may be
+familiar with all "the ins and outs" of ecclesiastical machinery, and I
+may never handle nor taste "the bread of God." Our religion is dead and
+burdensome until it becomes a personal relation, and we have vital
+communion with Christ.
+
+"Thou, O Christ, art all I want." We find everything in Him. Everything
+else is preliminary, preparatory, subordinate, and to be in the long run
+dropped and forgotten. A ritual is only a way to "the bread," and by no
+means essential, and very often undesirable. The heart can find the Lord
+with a look, with a cry, and needs no obtrusion of ritual or priest. But
+how pathetic! To be contented to potter about among the ritual and never
+to find the Bread! To be in the house and never to see the Host! "Ye
+search the Scriptures ... and ye will not come to Me."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-seventh
+
+_TAKE AND EAT_
+
+JOHN vi. 52-63.
+
+
+There is, first of all, _appropriation_. I must "stretch out" "lame hands
+of faith"; and "take" before I "eat." In the lives of many Christians
+there is too much asking and too little taking. If it were only rightly
+regarded, prayer is companionship as well as petition, and companionship
+is literally significant of the sharing of bread. In every season of
+communion a part must be assigned to the taking of the things for which we
+have prayed. "_Receive ye_ the Holy Ghost."
+
+And there is _assimilation_. We must "eat" as well as "take." It is in the
+exercises of obedience that we digest and incorporate the bread of life.
+Without our obedience the living Lord never becomes "part of ourselves."
+We never "become one in the bundle of life" with the Lord our God. And
+truth which is not assimilated becomes a drug. Instead of being a "savour
+of life unto life," it becomes a "savour of death unto death."
+
+And there is _vitalization_. The assimilated bread of life makes
+everything alive. Every faculty in my being feels the touch of divine
+inspiration. It is native bread for native power, and everything is
+renewed.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE DAILY MANNA_
+
+"_I will rain bread from heaven for you._"
+--EXODUS xvi. 11-18.
+
+
+And this gracious provision is made for people who are complaining, and
+who are sighing for the flesh-pots of Egypt! Our Lord can be patient with
+the impatient: He can be "kind to the unthankful." If it were easy to
+drive the Lord away I should have succeeded long ago. I have murmured, I
+have sulked, I have turned Him out of my thoughts, and "He stands at the
+door and knocks!" I yearn for "the flesh-pots," "He sends me manna," "Was
+there ever kindest shepherd half so gentle, half so sweet?"
+
+"_And they gathered it every morning._" And that I think is the best time
+to gather the heavenly food. At night I am weary, my body is craving
+sleep, and I am not vitalized in the fields of grace. But in the morning I
+am refreshed, and I can go to the heavenly fields and gather "the things
+which God hath prepared for them that love Him." I can be fed as the day
+begins, and I can set out to my daily work with the taste of God in my
+mouth, and His mighty grace in my heart, and I shall delight to "walk in
+the paths of His commandments."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE FOUNTAIN_
+
+1 JOHN v. 9-21.
+
+
+My Lord is "the fountain of life." "This life is in His Son." The springs
+are nowhere else--not in elaborate theologies, or in ethical ideals, or in
+literary masterpieces, or in music or art. "In Him was life." It is so
+easy to forget the medicinal spring amid the distractions of the
+fashionable spa. There are some healing waters at Scarborough, but they
+have been almost "crowded out" by bands and entertainments. It is possible
+that the secondary ministries of the Church may crowd out the Church's
+Lord. I do not object to the entertainment if only it opens out on to the
+Spring!
+
+To have the Son is to have life. Nothing else is needed. "Thou, O Christ,
+art all I want." Ritualisms, and ecclesiasticisms, and formal theologies
+are not requisite. We can be saved without an academic knowledge of "the
+plan of salvation." Many a gamekeeper's little child knows all the roads
+on the estate, although she would be quite "at sea" in explaining "the
+plan of the estate" which hangs in the house of the steward. "This is life
+eternal, to know Thee and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Thirtieth
+
+_WHITE ROBES IN THE STREETS_
+
+JOHN xvii. 11-28.
+
+
+The man who has been fed with the "bread of life" must remain "in the
+world." The Lord gives no countenance to the life of the ascetic. Our
+sanctification is not to be gained by withdrawal and retreat. At the best,
+that would be a holiness sickly and an�mic, a coddled virtue devoid of
+firm muscle and iron nerve. Our Lord purposes a holiness which shall wear
+white robes in the streets, and shine like virgin snow in the market, and
+keep itself chivalrous and stately in the common fellowships of men.
+
+"In the world," but "_not of the world_." The man who is fed on "the bread
+of life" is endowed with powers of resistance against "the noisome
+pestilence." The germs of worldly epidemics find no nutriment in him. "The
+prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." When an evil microbe
+finds no foothold it withers away. If I am not "of the world" I shall
+quite naturally and instinctively be able to resist "all the wiles of the
+devil."
+
+And my Lord purposes me to have this positive, masculine holiness in order
+"_that the world may believe_." He wants disciples who will arrest the
+world by their glorious health, and by their invincible moral defences. He
+wants my purity to advertise His grace; He wants my faith to increase "the
+household of the faith."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The First
+
+_A WONDERFUL UNBELIEF_
+
+PSALM lxxviii. 15-25.
+
+
+"They believed not in God ... though He had----" Let everyone finish that
+sentence out of his own experience. How much grace can our unbelief
+withstand? The Lord had made the rock like unto a spring of water, and yet
+these people believed not! What has He done for thee and me? Let us
+retrace the pilgrimage of our own years. Let us recall the blessings by
+the way--the streams in the desert, the pillar of fire that led us in the
+night. And yet what is the quality of our faith? It is often weak and
+reluctant, riddled with timidities, or moth-eaten with worldly ease. It is
+not mighty and daring, riding forth every morning like a chivalrous knight
+to inevitable conquest. It creeps along, like Mr. Halting, and Miss
+Much-Afraid, and Mr. Little-Faith.
+
+"He marvelled at their unbelief." The Lord Jesus wondered that men and
+women, seeing what they had seen, did not immediately spring to the life
+and service of faith. Perhaps we do not give time for faith to be born!
+Perhaps we do not see because we do not look. Perhaps we are blind to His
+mercies and are therefore dead to the faith. And therefore, perhaps, our
+first prayer should be, "Lord, that I might receive my sight," and then
+the prayer, "Lord, increase my faith."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Second
+
+_HUMBLING OUR PRIDE_
+
+JOB xxxviii. 1-15.
+
+
+"I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me." When our God begins to ask
+questions our pride is soon humbled, for the limits of our knowledge and
+power are speedily reached. The mist is very close to our doors, and in a
+very few steps we are lost on a trackless moor. Who can trace the real
+springs of a tear and lay his hand on the emotion that gave it birth? Who
+can lead us into the bright realm where smiles are born? Who knoweth the
+way of a frown, or who can uncover the secrets of fear? No living man can
+explain his own breathing, or can unravel the mysterious decree which
+moves his own finger!
+
+And as there is so much mystery, it must be surely true that mystery is a
+very gracious thing. Uncertainty is the divine ministry of blessedness. If
+it were not so, He would have told us! "I have many things to say unto
+you, but ye cannot bear them now." If it were best for us that the mist
+should be removed, He would roll it up like a garment and give us the
+light of unclouded day. But the mist remains, the home of blessing. "He
+cometh in a thick cloud." "The clouds drop fatness."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Third
+
+_WATCHING THE CREATOR_
+
+JEREMIAH x. 10-16.
+
+
+"He hath made the earth by His power." And He is making it still. Even in
+the material world "His mercies are new every morning." James Smetham used
+to speak of going into his garden "to see what the Lord is doing." He
+would stand on the top of Highgate Hill on a blustering night "to watch
+the goings of the Lord in the storm." And all this means that to James
+Smetham creation was not merely a single event, but a _process_ whose
+countless events are still going on. He watched his Lord at work! Every
+sunset was a new creation from the Almighty Maker's hands.
+
+To many of us the Creator is remote from His works. He is not immediately
+near. And so He no longer "walks in the garden in the cool of the day."
+The garden is no longer a holy place. Let us recover the sacredness of
+things. Let us "practise the presence of God." Let us link His love and
+power to every flower that blows. And so shall we be able to say, as we
+move amid the glories of the natural world, "The Lord is in His holy
+temple."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Fourth
+
+_CREATOR AND CREATURE_
+
+ISAIAH xl. 9-28.
+
+
+Let me mark the range of this teaching. "Who hath measured the waters in
+the hollow of His hand.... He shall feed His flock like a shepherd." And
+let me mark it again. "The Creator of the ends of the earth ... giveth
+power unto the faint." Almightiness offers itself to carry my burden! The
+Creator offers Himself to re-create me! I can engage the forces of the
+universe to help me on my journey. Emerson counselled us to hitch our
+wagon to a star. We can do better than that. We can hitch it to the Maker
+of the star! We have something better than an ideal; we have the Light of
+the world. We are not left to a radiant abstraction; we have a gracious
+God.
+
+The water flows from the Welsh hills to every house in Birmingham. Rich
+and poor alike share the bounty of the mountains. The wealth of the
+mountains comes to the common thirst. And everybody, too, may have the
+water from the everlasting hills. "The water that I shall give him shall
+be in him." The river of life will flow to every soul of man.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Fifth
+
+_THE SOUL AND NATURE_
+
+PSALM cxlviii.
+
+
+"Praise ye the Lord." And the Psalmist calls upon the creation to join in
+the anthem. And that is the gracious purpose of our God, that the world
+should be filled with harmonious praise. It is His will that the character
+of man should harmonize with the flowers of the field, that the beauty of
+his habits should blend with the glories of the sunrise, and that his
+speech and laughter should mingle with the songs of birds and with the
+melody of flowing streams. But man is too often a discord in creation. The
+flowers put him to shame. The birds make him sound harsh and jarring. He
+is "out of tune."
+
+What then? "Tune my heart to sing Thy praise." We must bring the broken
+strings, the rusted strings, the jarring strings to the Repairer and Tuner
+of the soul. It is the glad ministry of His grace to re-awaken silent
+chords, to restore broken harps, to "put new songs" in our mouths. He will
+make us the kinsfolk of all things bright and beautiful. We shall "go
+forth with joy," and "all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Sixth
+
+_HE KNOWETH OUR FRAME_
+
+PSALM ciii. 13-22.
+
+
+"He knoweth our frame." The Bible abounds in such gracious and tender
+words. "He remembereth us in our low estate." "I have many things to say
+unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." "He will not permit you to be
+tempted above that ye are able." The burden is suited to our strength. The
+revelation is determined by our experience. The pace is regulated by our
+years. "He carrieth the lambs in His arms." He "leads on softly." Nothing
+is done in ignorance. "The Lord is mindful of His own. He remembereth His
+children."
+
+And so I must practise the belief in God's compassionate nearness. In my
+childhood I used to sing "There's a Friend for little children, Above the
+bright blue sky." I know better now. He is nearer to me than I can dream.
+I used to sing "There is a happy land, Far, far away." Now I sing, "There
+is a happy land, _Not_ far away." The good Father and His home are not in
+some remote realm. They are very, very near to me, and He knows all about
+me. "He knoweth our frame."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Seventh
+
+_NEEDING AND WANTING_
+
+ACTS xvii. 22-31.
+
+
+"As though He needed anything." "He may not need us; but does He want us?"
+Such is the question I heard Dr. Parker ask as he preached upon these
+words. And he took up a handful of flowers which he had upon the pulpit,
+and said: "These flowers were gathered for me by little hands in a
+Devonshire lane. Did I need them? No. Did I want them?... Your little girl
+kissed you before you left for business this morning. Did you need it?...
+Did you want it?"
+
+And so Almightiness may not need our weakness, but the loving Father wants
+His children. "We are His offspring." Our Father delights in the love of
+His children. The Saviour said to a Samaritan woman, "Give Me to drink."
+And perhaps it is within the scope of our holy privilege to refresh the
+heart of our Lord. Perhaps we can give Him to drink of the well of our
+affections, and He will see of "the travail of His soul and be
+satisfied."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Eighth
+
+_GOD'S GLORIOUS PURPOSE_
+
+"_I have created him for My glory, I have formed him;
+yea, I have made him._"
+--ISAIAH xliii. 1-7.
+
+
+That is surely a superlative honour! "I have created him for My glory." I
+stood before one of Turner's paintings, and a man of fine judgment said to
+me, "That is Turner's glory!" He meant that in that picture the genius and
+the power and the grace of Turner were most abundantly expressed. And it
+is the will of God that man should express His glory, and by his
+righteousness and goodness witness to the great Creator's power and love.
+Amid all the wonders and sublimities of earth, and sky, and sea, man is to
+be the Almighty's "glory."
+
+The contrast is pathetic when we turn from the Creator's purpose to our
+immediate life. There is so much that is shameful, crooked, and perverse.
+There is little or nothing of "glory." But, blessed be God! the purpose
+abides, and the Creator's work goes on. In His redemptive grace He has
+made provision for marred work, for spoilt and perverted life. "The
+crooked shall be made straight." "I will bring again that which is out of
+the way." "Where sin abounds grace doth much more abound."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Ninth
+
+_THE LARGER WATERS_
+
+1 THESSALONIANS iv. 13-18.
+
+
+Death is not an end; it is only a new beginning. Death is not the master
+of the house; he is only the porter at the King's lodge, appointed to open
+the gate, and let in the King's guests into the realms of eternal day.
+"And so shall we be ever with the Lord."
+
+And so the range of three score years and ten is not the limit of our
+life. Our life is not a land-locked lake enclosed within the shore-lines
+of seventy years. It is an arm of the sea, and where the shore-lines seem
+to meet in old age they open out into the infinite. And so we must build
+for those larger waters. We must lay our life plans on the scale of the
+infinite, not as though we were only pilgrims of time, but as children of
+eternity! We are immortal! How, then, shall we live to-day in prospect of
+the eternal morrow?
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Tenth
+
+_OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH_
+
+PSALM xlvi.
+
+
+"God is our refuge and strength." And in the varied conflicts and perils
+of life we need both these resources. We need the "refuge." There are
+times when our mightiest warfare is to lie passive, to shelter quietly in
+the strong defences of our God. Our finest strategy is sometimes to "rest
+in the Lord and wait." We can slay some of our enemies by leaving them
+alone. We can "starve them out." They can be weakened and beaten by sheer
+neglect. We feed their strength, and give them favoured chances, if we go
+out and face them actively, "marching as to war." The best way is to hide,
+and keep quiet; and "God is our refuge."
+
+But we also need the "strength." This is positive equipment for active
+service. The defensive is changed to the offensive, and in the "strength"
+of the Lord we advance against the foe. We "ride abroad, redressing human
+wrongs." We "tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the
+dragon we trample under foot." We meet our enemy on the open field, and we
+slay him in his pride!
+
+And so our God is our resource in the double warfare of active and passive
+crusade. In Him we can take refuge, and the enemy withers. In Him we can
+find fighting strength, and the enemy is overthrown.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Eleventh
+
+_THE OLD COMPANION ON THE NEW ROAD_
+
+"_Get thee out ... and I will show thee."
+"So Abram departed ... and the Lord appeared._"
+--GENESIS xii. 1-9.
+
+
+We must bring these separated passages together if we would appreciate the
+graciousness of the Lord's call. They are like the two sides of the same
+shield. They answer each other as voice and echo. When I move in obedience
+the Lord moves in inspiration. He never lets me go on my own charges. "All
+things are now ready." Before He makes me hunger the bread is prepared.
+Before I thirst the water is at hand. Before He calls me He has opened
+springs in difficult places and arbours of rest along the road. When Abram
+set out from his own country the Lord went before him.
+
+And so I need not fear the arduous call. The very measure of its
+difficulty is also the measure of the riches of the divine provisions. "As
+thy day so shall thy strength be." At every turning of the winding way the
+Lord will appear unto us. At every new demand we shall discover new
+bounty, and everywhere in the unfamiliar road we shall gaze upon the
+familiar and friendly face of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twelfth
+
+_ROUND-ABOUT WAYS_
+
+ACTS vii. 1-7.
+
+
+"Unto a land that I will show thee." But what mysterious windings there
+often are before that land is reached! But God's windings are never
+wasteful and purposeless. The apparent deviations are always gracious
+preparations. We are taken out of the way in order that we may the more
+richly reach our end. George Pilkington yearned to go to the foreign
+field, and God sent him to a dairy farm in Ireland. But the Irish dairy
+farm proved to be on the way to Uganda; and all the experience and
+knowledge which Pilkington picked up in this strange business proved
+invaluable when he reached his appointed field. "He bringeth the blind by
+a way that they know not."
+
+So I will remember that the "short cut" is not always the finest road.
+God's round-about ways are filled with heavenly treasure. Every winding is
+purposed for the discovery of new wealth. What riches we gather on the way
+to God's goal!
+
+    "The hill of Zion yields
+       A thousand sacred sweets
+     Before we reach the heavenly fields
+       Or walk the golden streets."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Thirteenth
+
+_THE ROYAL AIR_
+
+GALATIANS iii. 6-14.
+
+
+Emerson says somewhere that he has noticed that men whose duties are
+performed beneath great domes acquire a stately and appropriate manner.
+The vergers in our great cathedrals have a dignified stride. It is not
+otherwise with men who consciously live under the power of vast
+relationships. Princes of royal blood have a certain great "air" about
+them. The consciousness of noble kinships has an expansive influence upon
+the soul. The Jews felt its influence when they called to mind "our Father
+Abraham."
+
+So is it with men and women of glorious kinships in the realm of faith.
+Their souls expand in the vast and exalted relations. "The children of
+faith" have vital communion with all the spiritual princes and princesses
+of countless years. They have blood-relationship with the patriarchs, and
+psalmists, and prophets, and they dwell "in heavenly places" with Paul,
+and Augustine, and Luther, and Wesley.
+
+Surely, such exalted kinship should influence our very stride, and set its
+mark upon our "daily walk and conversation." It ought to make us so big
+that we can never speak a mean word, or do a petty and peevish thing.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Fourteenth
+
+_COMMONPLACE PEOPLE_
+
+JOHN i. 35-47.
+
+
+Our Lord delights to glorify the commonplace. He loves to fill the common
+water-pots with His mysterious wine. He chooses the earthen vessels into
+which to put His treasure. He calls obscure fishermen to be the
+ambassadors of His grace. He proclaims His great Gospel through provincial
+dialects, and He fills uncultured mouths with mighty arguments. He turns
+common meals into sacraments, and while He breaks ordinary bread He
+relates it to the blessing of heaven.
+
+And "this same Jesus" is among us to-day, with the same choices and
+delights. He will make a humdrum duty shine like the wayside bush that
+burned with fire and was not consumed. He will make our daily business the
+channel of His grace. He will take our disappointments, and, just as we
+sometimes put banknotes into black-edged envelopes, He will fill them with
+treasures of unspeakable consolation. He will use our poor, broken,
+stammering speech to convey the wonders of His grace to the weary sinful
+souls of men.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Fifteenth
+
+_THE CALL AND THE EQUIPMENT_
+
+LUKE v. 27-32.
+
+
+Matthew was very weary, and the all-seeing Lord read the signs of his
+spiritual dissatisfaction and unrest. As Jesus "passed by" nothing escaped
+His watchful eye. He saw a look in Matthew's eye as of some caged creature
+longing for freedom. Matthew's office, the contempt of his fellows, and
+perhaps his own self-contempt held him in imprisoning disquietude. The
+Lord knew it all, and one word from Him and the iron gate was open, and
+the prisoner was free! "Follow Me! And he left all, rose up, and followed
+Him." With the Lord's command was conveyed the ability to obey, and
+Matthew stepped into "the glorious liberty of the children of God."
+
+And this is the Master's way. His calls are always equipments. Every
+received commandment is also the vehicle of requisite grace. God's decrees
+are also promises, nay, they are immediate endowments. If we reverently
+open one of His callings we shall find it a store-house of needed
+strength.
+
+And therefore we need not fear the calls of the Lord. They are not the
+harsh commandments of a tyrant, they are the loving invitations of a
+friend. If we obey them we shall taste the grace of them, and "His
+statutes will become our songs."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Sixteenth
+
+_THE INSPIRATIONS OF THE PAST_
+
+ISAIAH li. 1-6.
+
+
+Here is a sentence from Lord Morley: "If a man is despondent about his
+work the best remedy I can prescribe for him is to turn to a good
+biography." He counsels him to go into the yesterdays to find inspiration
+for the life of to-day. Other men's attainments are bugle-calls to me.
+"Look unto Abraham, your father." Look unto the blessings which waited
+upon his obedience! See how springs of refreshment broke out in the
+troubled way! God "called him and blessed him." Rekindle your hope at his
+radiant triumph. Strengthen your will in his glorious persistence.
+
+Here do I see God's mercy in the gift of memory and in the witness of
+history. I can turn to the yesterdays for light and quickening. "Do ye not
+remember the miracle of the loaves?" Yes, I can recall the grace that met
+me in my need, the power that made the crooked straight and the rough
+places plain. And I am privileged to turn the pages of other men's
+testimonies and read the record of the Lord's dealings with them. And so
+do memory and history come as helpful angel-presences to my soul.
+
+    "His love in time past
+       Forbids me to think
+     He'll leave me at last
+       In trouble to sink."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Seventeenth
+
+_NO QUEST OF GOD_
+
+"_He inquired not of the Lord._"
+--1 CHRONICLES x. 6-14.
+
+
+That was where Saul began to go wrong. When quest ceases, conquests cease.
+"He inquired not"; and this meant loss of light. God will be inquired
+after. He insists that we draw up the blinds if we would receive the
+light. If we board up our windows He will not drive the gentle rays
+through our hindrance. We must ask if we would have. The discipline of
+inquiry fits us for the counsel of the Lord.
+
+"He inquired not"; and this meant loss of sight. When light fails, sight
+fails. The ponies in our pits become blind. When a spiritual power is not
+exercised in the heavenly, it is deprived of its appointed functions. And
+the tragedy is this, that the blind are deceived into thinking that they
+still retain their sight. "Ye say, we see!"
+
+"He inquired not"; and this meant loss of might. For "the light of life"
+is not only illumination; it is inspiration too. It is both light and
+heat; it confers guidance and dynamic. When a man, therefore, refuses the
+light he becomes a weakling, and he will meet with disaster in the first
+tempestuous day.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Eighteenth
+
+_UNANIMITY IN THE SOUL_
+
+"_A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways._"
+--JAMES i. 1-8.
+
+
+If two men are at the wheel with opposing notions of direction and
+destiny, how will it fare with the boat? If an orchestra have two
+conductors both wielding their batons at the same time and with
+conflicting conceptions of the score, what will become of the band? And a
+man whose mind is like that of two men flirting with contrary ideals at
+the same time will live a life "all sixes and sevens," and nothing will
+move to purposeful and definite issues. If the mind flirt with Satan and
+Christ, life will be filled with disastrous instability and confusion.
+
+The first thing we need, therefore, for influential and impressive living
+is unanimity. Unanimity in the mind is the primary factor in a forceful
+life. To bring "all that is within me" into concord, to make every
+instrument of the soul bow to one conductor, to lead all the powers into
+homage to the Lord--this is the unanimity which assures the perfection of
+holiness. "Unite my heart to fear Thy name." That is the mood which wins
+life's prize, "the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Nineteenth
+
+_READY!_
+
+"_Let your loins be girded about._"
+--LUKE xii. 35-40.
+
+
+Loose garments can be very troublesome. An Oriental robe, if left
+ungirdled, entangles the feet, or is caught by the wind and hinders one's
+goings. And therefore the wearer binds the loose attire together with a
+girdle, and makes it firm and compact about his body. And loose principles
+can be more dangerous than loose garments. Indefinite opinions, caught by
+the passing wind of popular caprice, are both a peril and a burden. Many
+people go through life with loose beliefs and purposes, and they never
+arrive at any glorious goal. "Let your loins be girded about." Bind your
+loose thinkings together with the girdle of truth into firm and saving
+conviction.
+
+"_And your lights burning._"
+
+Be ready for the emergency. When the darkness falls, don't have to hasten
+away to buy oil. Look after your resources, and be competent to meet the
+crisis when it comes. Let the light of conscience be burning with clear
+flame, like a brilliant lighthouse on a dangerous shore. Let the light of
+love be burning, like a lamp which sends its friendly, cheery beams to the
+pilgrims of the night. "Our sufficiency is of God," and the oil of grace
+will keep the lights burning through the longest night.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twentieth
+
+_THE LORD AS THE SERVANT_
+
+"_Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His
+hands, and that He came forth from God, and goeth to God_...."
+--JOHN xiii. 1-20.
+
+
+And how shall we expect the sentence to finish? What shall be the issue of
+so vast a consciousness? "_He took a towel, and girded Himself ... and
+began to wash the disciples' feet._"
+
+So a mighty consciousness expresses itself in lowly service. In our
+ignorance we should have assumed that divinity would have moved only in
+planetary orbits, and would have overlooked the petty streets and ways of
+men. But here the Lord of Glory girds Himself with the apron of the slave,
+and almightiness addresses itself to menial service.
+
+And that is the test of an expanding consciousness. We may be sure that we
+are growing smaller when we begin to disparage humble services. We may be
+sure we are growing larger when we love the ministries that never cry or
+lift their voices in the streets. When a man begins to despise the
+"towel," he is losing his kingly dignity, and is resigning his place on
+the throne. "I have given you an example that ye also should do as I have
+done to you."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-first
+
+_THE CONTRITE HEART_
+
+ISAIAH lvii. 13-21.
+
+
+Let us look at this description of the dwelling-place of the Eternal God.
+"_I dwell with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit._"
+
+And who are the contrite? In the original word there is the significance
+of pieces of rock or lumps of soil having been crumbled into the finest
+powder. Have I not sometimes heard the phrase--"He's just a lump of
+pride"? Well, that pride has to be broken down into the finest powder,
+until not a bit of stubborn self-conceit remains. And then the contrite
+become the humble! Our gracious Lord has sometimes to use heavy hammers in
+the destruction of this hard and stony pride: the shock of calamity, the
+battering of disappointment and defeat! Our pride _must_ be ground to
+powder. Then He will come in and dwell with us!
+
+And what then? He will "_revive the spirit of the humble, and revive the
+heart of the contrite ones_." Our broken pride shall be as broken soil in
+which our Lord will grow the flowers and fruits of the Spirit. The death
+of pride shall be followed by a revival of all things sweet and beautiful.
+When pride is laid low, it is a "day of resurrection." The wilderness
+shall "blossom as the rose."
+
+
+
+
+October The Twenty-second
+
+_THE TRUE STANDARD OF GREATNESS_
+
+MATTHEW xviii. 1-7.
+
+
+Here is our Lord's estimate of true greatness. How infinite is the
+contrast between His standard and the standards of the world! The world
+measures greatness by money, or eloquence, or intellectual skill, or even
+by prowess on the field of battle. But here is the Lord's
+standard--"_Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little
+child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven._"
+
+Those people are greatest who are most like God. We become partakers of
+the Divine nature through a child-like relationship to God. The grace and
+power of God pour into our souls when we wait upon Him like a little
+child.
+
+Child-likeness opens the doors and windows to the incoming of the
+Almighty. The child-like is the trustful, and no barriers of cynical
+suspicion block the channels of spiritual communion. And the child-like is
+the docile, and no boulders of arrogance or self-conceit block the channel
+of the invigorating waters of life. And so the child-like become the
+God-like, and, of course, they are the greatest among the sons of men. The
+little child enshrines the secret of the God-man, and we should be
+infinitely wise if we had the little child always in our midst.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-third
+
+_MASTERS AND SERVANTS_
+
+MATTHEW xx. 20-28.
+
+
+It is always our peril that we hunger for place more than for character,
+for position more than for disposition, for a temporal sceptre more than
+for a majestic self-control.
+
+These disciples coveted places on the right and left of the Lord, and they
+had little or no concern about their worthiness for the posts.
+Temporalities eclipsed spiritualities, fleeting fireworks hid the quiet
+stars. They wanted to be great and prominent, the Lord wanted them to be
+pure and good. They longed to be Prime Ministers, the Lord purposed that
+they should be glad to be ministers, working contentedly in an obscure
+place.
+
+Now mark our Lord's response. "_Are ye able to drink of the cup that I
+drink of?_" They wanted to be the King's cup-bearers; He offers them to
+drink of His cup. They call for sovereignty: He asks for sacrifice. They
+crave sweetness: He offers them bitterness. They seek a life of "getting":
+He demands a life of "giving." Who has a cup of bitterness to drink? Go
+and share it with him! Where are the morally and spiritually an�mic? Go
+and give them thy blood! "Whoever shall lose his life shall find it."
+Through self-sacrifice we pass to our throne.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-fourth
+
+"_PUSH_" _AND_ "_PULL_"
+
+LUKE xiv. 1-11.
+
+
+The world canonizes "push." It eulogizes the "man of push." It loves to
+see a man elbowing his way through the jostling crowd, and gaining for
+himself a "chief seat" at life's feast. He is proclaimed a "successful"
+man, and he rises in "the chief seat," and amid loud hurrahs he responds
+to the toast of his health.
+
+Yes, "push" is the word of the world, but "pull" is the word of the Lord,
+and between the two there is the difference of darkness and light. "Push"
+is selfish and exclusive: "pull" is inclusive and neighbourly. "Push"
+takes as its motto, "The weakest to the wall!" "Pull" takes as its motto,
+"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
+
+The final verdict upon life will be founded, not upon our own success in
+gaining a chief seat, but upon our success in encouraging the faint and
+the weakling, and in "helping lame dogs over stiles."
+
+My gracious Lord, help me to put on "a heart of compassion" that by
+neighbourly feeling and ministry I may lead my fellows to the choice
+places of life's feast.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE ROBE OF HUMILITY_
+
+1 PETER v. 1-11.
+
+
+Let me, therefore, learn this lesson, that if my Lord should give me
+prominence in His church it is not to feed my lust of dominion, but in
+order to strengthen and extend the influence of the church's life.
+"_Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making
+yourselves ensamples to the flock._"
+
+The only truly imperial purple is the robe of humility. Any other sort of
+attire may appear to be kingly, but it has none of the glorious
+significance which belongs to our sovereign Lord. When a man puts on the
+robe of pride, he immediately belittles his manhood. When a man puts on
+the robe of humility, he becomes a greater man.
+
+But humility is more than an imperial robe, it is a complete armour. It is
+fine for defence! The devil cannot get at the man who is "clothed in
+humility." There is no chink or crevice through which his deadly rapier
+can pierce. And it is equally fine for offence! Wearing this armour we can
+go out "redressing human wrongs." The stroke of pride is ever futile. When
+the humble man deals a blow, the power of the Almighty is in his right
+hand. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE LUST OF THE EXTERNAL_
+
+MATTHEW xxiii. 1-12.
+
+
+Pharisaism is the lust of externalities, and the utter negligence of the
+inward sanctities of the spirit. It thinks more of decorum than of
+holiness, more of etiquette than of equity, more of ritualism than of "the
+robe of righteousness and the garment of salvation." Pharisaism lives in
+the streets: it does not dwell in the inner chambers of our mystic life.
+
+Pharisaism thirsts for the homage of men and not for the approbation of
+God. It is far more alert to the "Rabbi! Rabbi!" of the crowd than it is
+to the secret callings of the Lord. The path between itself and the
+highest is unfrequented and grass-grown; the path between itself and the
+multitude is a well-trodden and barren road.
+
+My Lord, let me be warned! Let me not pervert the ministries of religion
+to the aggrandizement of self. Let me not, in appearing to worship Thee,
+be seeking the worship of men. Give me singleness of mind. Give me purity
+of heart. And may I discover true greatness in seeking greatness for
+others.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-seventh
+
+_PAYING HOMAGE TO THE KING_
+
+PROVERBS iii. 1-12.
+
+
+"Acknowledge Him." But not with a passing nod of recognition. I must not
+merely glance at Him now and again, admitting His existence on the field.
+To acknowledge Him is to acknowledge Him as King, with the right to
+control, and as predominant partner in all the affairs of my life, even
+the right to give the determining voice in all my decisions. No, it is not
+the recognition paid to an acquaintance, it is the homage paid to a King.
+
+And if I thus acknowledge Him, He will direct my paths. Life shall always
+be moving on to its purposed end and glory. The path chosen will not
+always be the most alluring one, but it will be the right one, and
+therefore the safe one, and there will be wonderful discoveries on the
+uninviting track.
+
+How will He let me know which path to take? I cannot say. We can never
+anticipate God's ways of dealing with us. But if my life is bent to the
+loving acknowledgment of His will, He will assuredly find a way to make
+His will known. The light will always reach the willing mind.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-eighth
+
+_PLEASANTNESS AND PEACE_
+
+"_Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace._"
+--PROVERBS iii. 13-26.
+
+
+In the ways of the Lord I shall have feasts of "pleasantness." But not
+always at the beginning of the ways. Sometimes my faith is called upon to
+take a very unattractive road, and nothing welcomes me of fascination and
+delight. But here is a law of the spiritual life. The exercised faith
+intensifies my spiritual senses, and hidden things become manifest to my
+soul--hidden beauties, hidden sounds, hidden scents! Faith adds a
+mysterious "plus" to my powers, and "all things become new."
+
+And in the ways of the Lord I shall also find the gracious gift of peace.
+Not that the road will be always smooth, but that I may be always calm. I
+can be unperturbed when "all around tumultuous seems." I can journey in
+holy serenity, because the Lord of the road is with me. For peace
+consists, not in friendliness of circumstances, but in friendship with the
+Lord.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE STORY OF THE PAST_
+
+DEUTERONOMY xxxi. 7-13.
+
+
+And no ears are more receptive to spiritual story than the ears of a
+little child. It is not needful to open the gate of interest; it is wide
+ajar already. And imagination also is there, ready to busy itself about
+the story. And so, too, is the spirit of homage and adoration. The
+children are ready for the King! "Suffer little children to come unto Me,
+for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven."
+
+And, therefore, we have need of wise tellers of the story, who know the
+story themselves. And in these delicate regions I must ever remember how
+much my spirit shares in the story I tell. My spirit is a friend or a foe
+to my power. My words may be well chosen, but they may all be light as
+empty shells, devoid of all vitality. My words have just the power of
+their spiritual contents. "You cannot fight the French with 200,000 red
+uniforms," said Carlyle; "there must be men inside them." And we cannot
+engage in the evangelization with mere uniforms of words. There must be
+spirit inside them, even the spirit of pure and consecrated lives.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Thirtieth
+
+_A TESTIMONY MEETING_
+
+PSALM xxxiv. 1-11.
+
+
+This is a little testimony meeting, in which each of the witnesses tells
+the story of the Lord's gracious dealings with him. Let me listen to them.
+
+"_He delivered me from all my fears._" His fears held him in dungeons.
+Even the noontide was as darkness round about him, and there was no song
+in his soul. And the Lord broke open the prison-gate and let him out to
+light, and joy, and belief.
+
+"_They looked to Him and were lightened._" They looked upon the grace of
+the Lord, and were lit up, just as I have seen humble cottage windows
+ablaze with the glory of the rising sun. I must "set my face" towards the
+Lord, and I, too, shall catch the radiance of His glory.
+
+"This poor man cried ... _and the Lord saved him out of all his
+troubles_." And these troubles were what I should call "tight corners,"
+when the life is hemmed in by unfortunate circumstances, and there seems
+no way of escape. Disappointment shuts us in. Sorrow shuts us in. Lack of
+money shuts us in. Let me cry unto the Lord. He is a wonderful Friend in
+the tight corner, and He will bring my feet into "a large place."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Thirty-first
+
+_TWO GREAT MYSTERIES_
+
+PSALM lxxxi.
+
+
+This is an unutterable mystery, that a man can close his life against God.
+"_Israel would have none of Me._" We can shut out God as we can shut out
+the pure air. We can bar His entrance just as we can exclude the light
+from the chamber. And then the pity is, we can deceive ourselves into
+believing that the air is perfectly fresh and that the room is flooded
+with light. We lose our fine discernment, and we call evil good, and the
+darkness we call day. If we "refuse to have God" in our thoughts God gives
+us over to a "reprobate mind."
+
+And it is an equally unutterable mystery that a man can open his life to
+the entertainment of Almighty God. "I will dwell with them!" That is my
+supreme honour, that the Lord will be my guest. I can "hearken" to Him,
+and "talk" to Him, and "walk" with Him. And He offers me protection. He
+will "subdue my enemies." And He offers me unfailing provision. The Guest
+becomes the Host! I put my little upon the table, and lo! I find that "the
+cruse of oil fails not, and the meal in the barrel is not consumed!"
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The First
+
+_IN THE DAYS OF YOUTH_
+
+ECCLESIASTES xii. 1-7.
+
+
+In my university days at Edinburgh there was a young medical student named
+Macfarlane. He was one of our finest athletes, and everybody liked him.
+One day he was stricken with typhoid, which proved fatal. Macfarlane in
+his days of boisterous health had neglected his Lord, and when one of his
+friends, visiting him in his sickness, led his thoughts to the Saviour, he
+turned and said, "But wouldn't it be a shabby thing to turn to Christ
+now?" "Yes," replied his friend, "it will be a shabby thing, but it will
+be shabbier not to turn to Him at all!" And I believe that poor Macfarlane
+turned his shame-filled soul to the Lord.
+
+But it is shabby to offer our Lord the mere dregs in life's cup. It is
+shabby to offer Him the mere hull of the boat when the storms of passion
+have carried its serviceableness away. Let me offer Him my best, my finest
+equipment, my youth! Let me offer Him the best, and give Him the helm when
+I am just setting sail and life abounds in golden promise! "Remember now
+thy Creator in the days of thy youth."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Second
+
+_LEADING TO CHRIST_
+
+"_Suffer little children to come unto Me._"
+--MARK x. 13-22.
+
+
+"Unto _Me_!" We must not keep them at any half-way house. We are so prone
+to be satisfied if only we bring them a little way along the road. If we
+get them to pray! If we get them to attend the Lord's house! If we get
+them to be truthful and gentle! All of which is unspeakably good. It is a
+blessed thing to be in "the ways of Zion"; it is a far more blessed thing
+to be in the palace with Zion's King and Lord. When we are dealing with
+little children, every road must lead to Jesus, and not until the road is
+trodden and we arrive at Him must we think our ministry accomplished.
+
+And, therefore, if I am talking to the little ones about Samuel, or David,
+or Paul, I must always see the short lane which leads to the Lord. "Suffer
+the little children to come unto _Me_!" And once they really own Him, we
+may trust their instincts for the rest. The heart in the child will leap
+to the love of the Lord, "for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." When a
+little one sees the Saviour, it is "love at first sight"!
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Third
+
+_THE LORD'S OWN_
+
+JOHN xv. 11-25.
+
+
+The "Lord's own" possess the Lord's love. "_I have loved you._" And love
+is not a beautiful sentiment, a passive rainbow stretched over the realm
+of human life. It is a glorious, active energy, infinitely more powerful
+than electricity, and always besieging the gates of the soul, or
+ministering to its manifold needs. Love is the greatest force in the
+world.
+
+And the "Lord's own" are taken into the inner circle of intimacy, where
+the deepest secrets dwell. We are not kept on the door-step, or left
+standing in the hall, or limited to one or two "public rooms"; we are
+privileged to enter the King's privacy, and be nourished at the King's
+table, and listen to the King's table-talk concerning "all things" which
+He has heard of the Father. We have "the glorious liberty of _the
+children_ of God."
+
+And the "Lord's own" will experience the world's hatred. "_Therefore the
+world hateth you._" Our very friendship with the Lord pronounces judgment
+on the world, and its hostility is aroused. If we are "partakers of the
+glory" we shall most assuredly be "partakers of the sufferings of
+Christ."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Fourth
+
+_THE HOLY SPIRIT AS WITNESS_
+
+JOHN xv. 26--xvi. 11.
+
+
+The Holy Spirit is to be a witness of Jesus. "_He shall testify of Me._"
+He shall be "the Friend of the Bridegroom," and He shall sing the
+Bridegroom's grace, and goodness, and prowess, in the eager ear of the
+bride. And the early love of the bride shall become deeper and richer as
+more and more she enters into "the unsearchable riches of Christ."
+
+And the Holy Spirit is thus to be a strengthener of the friends of the
+Lord. He will be my "_Comforter_." By His gracious advocacy He will make
+my faith and hope invincible. The best service which can be rendered me is
+not to change my circumstances, but to make me superior to them; not to
+make a smooth road, but to enable me to "leap like an hart" over any road;
+not to remove the darkness, but to make me "sing songs in the night." And
+so I will not pray for less burdens, but for more strength! And this is
+the gracious ministry of "The Comforter."
+
+Holy Spirit, strengthen me! Transform my frail opinions into firm
+convictions, and change my fleeting, dissolving views into abiding
+visions!
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Fifth
+
+_THE TEMPLE OF THE BODY_
+
+ROMANS xii. 1-9.
+
+
+The Lord wants my body. He needs its members as ministers of
+righteousness. He would work in the world through my brain, and eyes, and
+ears, and lips, and hands, and feet.
+
+And the Lord wants my body as "_a living_ sacrifice." He asks for it when
+it is thoroughly alive! We so often deny the Lord our bodies until they
+are infirm and sickly, and sometimes we do not offer them to Him until
+they are quite "worn out." It is infinitely better to offer them even then
+than never to offer them at all. But it is best of all to offer our bodies
+to our Lord when they are strong, and vigorous, and serviceable, and when
+they can be used in the strenuous places of the field.
+
+And so let me appoint a daily consecration service, and let me every
+morning present my body "a living sacrifice" unto God. Let me regard it as
+a most holy possession, and let me keep it clean. Let me recoil from all
+abuse of it--from all gluttony, and intemperance, and "riotous living."
+Let me look upon my body as a church, and let the service of consecration
+continue all day long. "Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of
+the Holy Spirit?"
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Sixth
+
+_PEACE IN TRIBULATION_
+
+JOHN xvi. 25-33.
+
+
+Here is a strange medley of experiences! I am to enjoy the gift of peace,
+and yet I am to be smarting under tribulation!
+
+When the Holy Spirit is my guest I am to enjoy the gift of peace. "_These
+things I said unto you that ye might have peace._" The life of the soul is
+to move without jar or discord. It shall be like a quiet engine-house, in
+which every wheel co-operates with every other wheel, and there is no
+waste or friction in the holy place. "All that is within me" blesses God's
+holy name.
+
+And yet, while peace reigns within, there may be tribulation without! "_In
+the world ye shall have tribulation._" Here is a peace which is not broken
+by the noise and assault of brutal circumstance. The most tempestuous wind
+cannot disturb the quiet serenity of the stars. When the world stones me,
+not one grain of its gritty dust need enter the delicate workings of my
+soul. That was the peace of my Lord, and it is my Lord who says to me: "My
+peace I give unto you!" So "_be of good cheer_," my soul! Thy Lord has
+"_overcome the world_," and thou shalt share His victory.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Seventh
+
+_REJECTED LOVE_
+
+ISAIAH lxiii. 7-14.
+
+
+If I refuse the friendship of the Holy One I inevitably invite His
+hostility. "_But they rebelled, and vexed His holy Spirit: therefore He
+was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them._"
+
+And so, if I reject the forces of grace I do not turn them from my gate, I
+convert them into foes. Malachi teaches me that rejected sunshine becomes
+like a burning oven. The Epistle to the Hebrews teaches me that rejected
+love becomes "a consuming fire." Holiness nourishes virtue, it withers
+vice. If I offer my Lord a tender aspiration, His breath wooes it like the
+balmy air of the spring; if I come before Him with the weeds of ignoble
+dispositions, He blights them as with the nipping of the frost.
+
+And is it not well, for thee and me, that our Lord is thus fiercely
+hostile to our sins? Is not this "consuming fire" the friend of my soul?
+May I not pray: Burn on, burn on, pure flame, until all the refuse and
+rubbish of my life are utterly consumed; burn on, burn on, until fierce
+flame becomes mild light, flinging its genial radiance over a transfigured
+desert?
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Eighth
+
+_THE ORGAN OF SPIRITUAL VISION_
+
+1 CORINTHIANS ii. 9-16.
+
+
+Our finest human instruments fail to obtain for us "_the things which God
+hath prepared for them that love Him_."
+
+Art fails! "_Eye hath not seen._" The merely artistic vision is blind to
+the hidden glories of grace. Philosophy fails! "_Neither hath ear heard._"
+We may listen to the philosopher as he spins his subtle theories and
+weaves his systematic webs, but the meshes he has woven are not fine
+enough to catch "the deep things of God." Poetry fails! "_Neither hath it
+entered into the heart of man to conceive._" Poetic imagination may
+stretch her wings, and soar, but she fails to enter the guest-chamber of
+the Lord, and take an inventory of "the things prepared." All these
+gracious ministries fail to reach life's glorious and purposed end.
+
+"_But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit._" When art, and
+poetry, and philosophy all pitiably fail, the Spirit unveils to us the
+bewildering feast. And so the unlearned has the same ultimate advantage as
+the learned, and the cottager has equal privilege with the monarch. The
+greatest things are not the perquisites of culture, but the endowments of
+humility and holy faith. The poor man has access to the "many mansions,"
+and finds a place at the King's feast.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Ninth
+
+_THE HOLY SPIRIT AS EMANCIPATOR_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS iii. 4-18.
+
+
+In the Holy Spirit I experience a large emancipation. "_Where the Spirit
+of the Lord is, there is liberty._" I am delivered from all enslaving
+bondage--from the bondage of literalism, and legalism, and ritualism. I am
+not hampered by excessive harness, by multitudinous rules. The harness is
+fitting and congenial, and I have freedom of movement, and "my yoke is
+easy and my burden is light."
+
+And I am to use my emancipation of spirit in the ministry of
+contemplation. I am to "_behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord_."
+My thought has been set free from the cramping distractions devised by
+men, and I am now to feast my gaze upon the holy splendours of my Lord. It
+is like coming out of a little and belittling tent, to feast upon the
+sunny amplitude of the open sky! I can "cease from man," and commune with
+God.
+
+And the contemplation will effect a transformation. "_We are changed into
+the same image from glory to glory._" The serene brightness of the sky
+gets into our faces. The Lord becomes "_the health of our countenance_,"
+and we shine with borrowed glory.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Tenth
+
+_NEVERTHELESS!_
+
+LUKE v. 1-11.
+
+
+Here is obedience in spite of the night of failure. "_Nevertheless, at Thy
+word I will let down the net._" That word "nevertheless" has always made
+history. It has been spoken after scourgings, after "bonds and
+imprisonments." Ten thousand times has it been heard in the chamber of
+bereavement, the first sound to break the awful silence. "At evening my
+wife died.... In the morning I did as God commanded me." And may it be
+true of me! May my "nevertheless" of willing obedience rise like a lark
+above the storm.
+
+And because there was obedience there came vision. In the wonderful answer
+to his faith Peter beheld the glory of his Lord. And so I never know where
+the unenticing road of obedience will lead me. At the end of the dull road
+there will be some gracious surprise! It is the rugged path which leads to
+the summit! The panorama comes as the reward of the toilsome climb!
+Always, in the realm of the Spirit, the dogged "nevertheless" will lead to
+the "shining tableland to which our God Himself is moon and sun."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Eleventh
+
+_FOILING THE ENEMY'S PLOTS_
+
+LUKE xxii. 24-34.
+
+
+I do not meet my tempter alone. The engagement has been foreseen by my
+Lord. "_Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you!_" The tempter's
+plots, and wiles, and ambuscades are all clearly perceived. My Lord has
+got the enemy's maps, and his plan of campaign, for all things are open to
+the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. I do not fight a lonely warfare
+on a dark and unknown field. My Lord Himself both scouts and fights for
+those who are His own.
+
+And one great means of His co-operation is the mighty ministry of
+intercession. "_But I have prayed for thee._" That "but" is the massing of
+the forces of heaven against the black and subtle hordes of hell. Let me
+ever remember that the Lord's prayers are always the conveyers of holy
+power to those for whom He prays. It is as when Christian met Apollyon in
+the Valley of Humiliation: there comes a sudden accession of strength to
+the bleeding warrior, and Apollyon retires wounded and beaten from the
+field.
+
+And the only way to preserve the fruits of a triumph is by helping other
+warriors to gain a similar conquest. "_When thou art converted strengthen
+thy brethren._" I shall retain the hard, muscular limbs of a soldier if I
+am willing to share my blood with the entire army.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twelfth
+
+_THE FASHIONING OF A DENIAL_
+
+LUKE xxii. 54-62.
+
+
+From Peter's denial I would learn the peril of the first cowardly
+surrender to sin. Surely Peter must have "trimmed" many times in the days
+which preceded his actual discipleship. Great crises do not make men, they
+reveal them. The men have been made in the smaller issues which go before.
+We march to our crises by a gradient, every step of which is a moral
+decision. The interior of the tree is secretly eaten away by white ants;
+the tempest reveals and completes the destruction.
+
+And I would learn from Peter's denial the cumulative power of sins. One
+sin widens the road for a bigger one to follow. The second denial will be
+more vehement than the first. The third will add the element of blasphemy.
+Yes, every sin is a miner and sapper for a larger army in the rear. It not
+only does its own work, it prepares the way for its successor.
+
+But I will connect this "dark betrayal night" with that sweet
+after-morning when the Lord and His denier met face to face by the lake.
+And that sweet morning of reconciliation is a possible experience for all
+the deniers of the Lord, and it is therefore possible for thee and me.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Thirteenth
+
+_A TRANSFORMED FISHERMAN_
+
+"_Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing._"
+--JOHN xxi. 1-14.
+
+
+Simon Peter had often gone a fishing, but never had he gone as he went in
+the twilight of that most wonderful evening. He handled the ropes in a new
+style, with a new dignity born of the bigger capacity of his own soul. He
+turned to the familiar task, but with a quite unfamiliar spirit. He went a
+fishing, but the power of the resurrection went with him.
+
+This action of Simon Peter's is the only true test of the reality of any
+spiritual experience. How does it fit me for ordinary affairs? A spiritual
+festival should do for the soul what a day on the hills does for the
+body--equip it for the better doing of the duties in the vale.
+
+This action is also a preparative to a renewal of the gracious experience.
+The road of common duty was just the way appointed for another meeting
+with his Lord, for in the morning-light there came a voice across the
+waters: "Children, have ye any meat?" "And that disciple whom Jesus loved
+saith unto Peter: 'It is the Lord.'"
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Fourteenth
+
+_THE PURIFICATION OF LOVE_
+
+JOHN xxi. 15-25.
+
+
+"Lovest thou Me?" There was a day, only a little while back, when Simon
+Peter's love was not yet purified, and it indulged itself in loud and
+empty boasts. True love never blusters and brawls. It is like a stream of
+water flowing silently underground, and secretly bathing the roots of
+things, and keeping their heads fresh, and cool, and sweet. The boast has
+now dropped out of the love! It is now ashamed of words! "Lord, Thou
+knowest that I love Thee!"
+
+Yes, true love expresses itself, not in clamorous boastfulness, but in
+quiet services. It ministers to the Lord's sheep and the Lord's lambs. It
+spends its strength on the mountains, "seeking that which is lost," and it
+does this in the darkness, where there is no applauding crowd. The true
+lover does not ask for some dramatic scene where he can die for the
+beloved; he delights in obscure services, the feeding and tending of the
+sheep of the flock.
+
+But the love that does the humbler thing will be ready for the greater
+sacrifice whenever the day shall demand it. Some day the once boastful
+denier shall lay down his life for his Saviour, and through martyrdom he
+shall pass to his crown.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Fifteenth
+
+_THE MUSIC OF RECONCILIATION_
+
+PSALM lxxxv.
+
+
+Let me listen to this psalm of reconciliation, as it makes music for my
+soul to-day.
+
+It tells me of the Divine favour. "_Lord, Thou hast been favourable to Thy
+land._" As I write these words, the sun has just slipped out from behind
+the cloud. It has been there all the time, but the ministry of the cloud
+was needed, and so it appeared as though there would be sun and spring no
+more. "Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face."
+
+And it tells me of the Divine forgiveness. "_Thou hast forgiven the
+iniquity of Thy people._" Yes, when the sun appears, He loosens the frozen
+earth and streams, and turns the bondage into liberty. The soul that was
+imprisoned in freezing guilt attains a joyous freedom.
+
+And it tells me of revival. "_Wilt Thou not revive us again?_" It is the
+next step in the returning spring. The sleeping, benumbed things will all
+awake! "The flowers appear on the earth." Where grace reigns, graces
+spring! Forgiveness is attended by renewal, and the wilderness begins to
+"blossom like the rose."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Sixteenth
+
+_THE MAKING OF A BRAVE MAN_
+
+ACTS iv. 13-22.
+
+
+Here is a marvellous transformation! I have been wondering at the
+littleness of the denier, and now this same denier is making the world
+wonder by his majestic boldness! His one resource is now the risen Christ,
+and his one moral standard is "whether it be right!" Once he quailed
+before an accusing maid; now he stands undaunted before the rulers of the
+earth. How has it all come about?
+
+He has been to the empty tomb. The awe of the resurrection is upon his
+spirit. Through the once blind cul-de-sac of the grave he has seen the
+King and the great white throne.
+
+And he has been by the lake on the morning of reconciliation. The live
+coal from the altar of his Lord's love has touched him and has purged away
+the uncleanness of his denial.
+
+And he has been in the upper room at Pentecost, and the mighty Spirit has
+come upon him like wind and flame, endowing him with forceful and
+enthusiastic character. Now he can dare for God, now he can work for God,
+now he can burn for God! And this is how he has been transformed.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Seventeenth
+
+_IF GOD BE FOR US----!_
+
+ROMANS viii. 31-39.
+
+
+Who else is worth naming? How much does anybody count? If the sun be on my
+side, why should I be dismayed at any icy obstacle that may rear itself in
+my way? Sun _versus_ ice! God _versus_ my impediments! Why should I fear?
+If the atmosphere is on my side, then even the opposing strength of iron
+will rust away into powder. "The breath of the Lord bloweth upon it," and
+if the holy breath, God's Holy Spirit, is for us, then the apparently
+invincible obstacle will crumble away into dust.
+
+But we are deceived by mass, and we are forgetful of spirit. Mere size
+affrights us. We are dismayed by numbers. We forget the quiet, pervasive,
+all-powerful ministry of the Spirit of God. We are overwhelmed by the
+phenomena of tempest and earthquake and fire, and we forget that
+almightiness hides in the "still, small voice," in "the sound of a gentle
+stillness." God's breath is more than the fierce threatenings of embattled
+hosts. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" I will hide myself in
+His holy fellowship, and "none shall make me afraid."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Eighteenth
+
+_EXHILARANT SPIRITS_
+
+"_He maketh my feet like hinds' feet._"
+--PSALM xviii. 31-39.
+
+
+I think of Wordsworth's lines, in which he describes a natural lady, made
+by Nature herself:
+
+    "She shall be sportive as the fawn
+     That wild with glee across the lawn
+        Or up the mountain springs."
+
+And it is this buoyancy, this elasticity, this springiness that the Lord
+is waiting to impart to the souls of His children, so that they may move
+along the ways of life with the light steps of the fawn.
+
+Some of us move with very heavy feet. There is little of the fawn about us
+as we go along the road. There is reluctance in our obedience. There is a
+frown in our homage. Our benevolence is graceless, and there is no charm
+in our piety, and no rapture in our praise. We are the victims of "the
+spirit of heaviness." And yet here is the word which tells us that God
+will make our feet "like hinds' feet." He will give us exhilaration and
+spring, enabling us to leap over difficulties, and to have strength and
+buoyancy for the steepest hills. Let us seek the inspiration of the Lord.
+"It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Nineteenth
+
+_THE ARMOUR OF GOD_
+
+EPHESIANS vi. 10-18.
+
+
+The Word describes the armour, and it directs us to the armoury. The
+description would oppress me if the directions were absent. If I have to
+forge the armour for myself I should be in despair. But I can go to the
+armoury of grace, where there is an ever-open door and abundant welcome
+for every person who fain would be a knight-errant of the Lord. The Lord
+will provide me with perfect equipment suitable for every kind of contest
+which may meet me along the road. There are no favourites among the
+pilgrims except, perhaps, the neediest, and to them is given "more
+abundant honour."
+
+Sometimes one of the Lord's knights loses one piece of armour, and he must
+at once repair to the armoury. Perhaps he has lost his helmet, or his
+shield, or even his breastplate, and the enemy has discovered his
+vulnerable place. We must never continue our journey imperfectly armed.
+The evil one will ignore the pieces we have, and he will direct all his
+attack where there is no defence. Back to the armoury! Back to the
+armoury, that we may "put on the _whole_ armour of God." The Lord is
+waiting; let us humbly and penitently ask for the missing piece.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twentieth
+
+_THE REAL ARISTOCRACY_
+
+"_Abraham, my friend._"
+--ISAIAH xli. 8-16.
+
+
+I think that is the noblest title ever given to mortal man. It is the
+speech of the Lord God concerning one of His children. It is something to
+be coveted even to enjoy the friendship of a noble man; but to have the
+friendship of God, and to have the holy God name us as His friends, is
+surely the brightest jewel that can ever shine in a mortal's crown. And
+such recognition and such glory may be the wonderful lot of thee and me.
+
+"Abraham, my friend." The Lord of hosts found delight in human
+friendships. He comes in to sup with us. He drinks of the cup of our
+delights. For, surely, it is one of the supreme characteristics of true
+friendship that it rejoices at the other's joy. And my heavenly Friend is
+glad in my gladness as well as sympathetic in the day of sadness and
+tears. Yes, He comes in to sup with me, and I may sup with Him.
+
+"Abraham, my friend." And He shares His sweets with His friend, in inward
+counsels, and in tender revelations of His purposes and in the gifts of
+joy and peace. There is perfect openness between these friends; nothing is
+hid. They have the run of each other's hearts.
+
+    "I tell Him all my joys and fears,
+     And He reveals His love to me."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-first
+
+_THE EARLY BUILDERS_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 1-21.
+
+
+It is always a healthy means of grace to link my own accomplishments with
+the fidelity and achievements of the past. Solomon traced his finished
+Temple to the holy purpose in the heart of David his father. I lay the
+coping-stone, but who turned the first sod? I lead the water into new
+ministries, but who first dug the well?
+
+There is the temple of liberty. In our own day we are enriching it with
+most benignant legislation, but we must not forget our dauntless fathers,
+in whose blood the foundations were laid. When I am walking about in the
+finished structure, let me remember the daring architects who "did well"
+to have it in their hearts.
+
+Such retrospect will make me humble. It will save me from the isolation
+and impotence of foolish pride. It will confirm me in human fellowship by
+showing me how many springs I have in my fellow-men.
+
+And such retrospect will make me grateful to my God. Noble outlooks always
+engender the spirit of praise. The fine air of wide spaces quickens the
+soul to a song.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-second
+
+_RECOVERING LOST STRENGTH_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 22-36.
+
+
+In this portion of this great prayer I discern the unalterable mode in
+which nations and individuals recover their moral health and strength.
+
+How do they lose it? Two words tell the story. They "_sin_" and are
+"_smitten_." It is an inevitable sequence. Every sin is the minister of
+disease. Sometimes we can see it, when the disease flaunts its flags in
+the flesh; lust and drunkenness have glaring placards, and we know what is
+going on within. But even when sin makes no visible mark the wasting
+process is at work. It is as true of falsehood as of drunkenness, of
+treachery as of lust. "Evil shall slay the wicked."
+
+And how do we recover our lost estate? There are three words which tell
+the story. "_Turn!_" "_Confess!_" "_Make supplication!_" The words need no
+exposition. I must turn my face to my despised and neglected Lord; I must
+tell them all about my miserable revolt, and I must humbly crave for His
+restoring grace.
+
+And the answer is sure. Such humble exercise sets the joy-bells ringing,
+and the rich forgiveness of the Lord fills the soul with peace. "O taste
+and see how gracious the Lord is."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-third
+
+_THE STRANGER_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 37-53.
+
+
+Yes, indeed, what space has "the stranger" in my supplications? Has he any
+place at all? Are my intercessions private enclosures, intended only for
+the select among my friends? Do I ever open the door to anyone outside my
+family circle? Are my ecclesiastical sympathies large enough to include
+"outsiders" from afar? What do I do with "the stranger"?
+
+There is nothing which keeps prayer sweet and fresh and wholesome like the
+letting in of "the stranger"! To let a new guest sit down at the feast of
+my intercession is to give my own soul a most nutritious surprise. It is a
+most healthy spiritual habit to see to it that we bring in a new
+"stranger" every time we pray. Let me be continually enlarging the circle
+of hospitality! Let some new and weary bird find a resting-place in the
+branches of my supplications every time I hold communication with God.
+
+A prayer which has no room for "the stranger" can have little or no room
+for God.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-fourth
+
+_THE PRAYER WHICH ENDS IN SACRIFICE_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 54-66.
+
+
+And that is the healthy order of all true worship. It begins in spacious
+supplication in which "the stranger" finds a place. Then there is a lavish
+consecration of self and substance. And then the wedding-bells begin to
+ring, and "the joy of the Lord is our strength!" "_They went unto their
+tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had
+done._"
+
+But so many suppliants miss the middle term, and therefore the gladness is
+wanting. Supplication is not followed by consecration, and therefore there
+is no exultation. It is a fatal omission. When we are asking for "the gift
+of God" our request must be accompanied by the gift of ourselves to God.
+If we want the water we must offer the vessel. No gift of self, no bounty
+of God! No losing, no finding! "When the burnt offering began, the song of
+the Lord began."
+
+    "Take my life, and let it be
+     Consecrated, Lord, to Thee."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-fifth
+
+_AFTER THE PRAYER THE FIRE!_
+
+"_When Solomon had made an end of praying the fire
+came down from heaven._"
+--2 CHRONICLES vii. 1-11.
+
+
+And the fire is the symbol of the Holy God. Pure flame is our imperfect
+mode of expressing the Incorruptible. This burning flame is heat and light
+in one. And when Solomon had prayed, the holy Flame was in their midst.
+
+But not only is the flame the symbol of the Holy; it also typifies the
+power which can make me holy. We have no cleansing minister to compare
+with fire. Where water fails fire succeeds. After an epidemic water is
+comparatively impotent. We commit the infested garments to the flames. It
+was the great fire of London which delivered London from the tyranny of
+the plague. And so it is with my soul. God, who is holy flame, will burn
+out the germs of my sin. He will "purify Jerusalem with the spirit of
+burning." "Our God is a consuming fire."
+
+Come to my soul, O holy Flame! Place Thy "burning bliss" against my
+wickedness, and consume it utterly away!
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-sixth
+
+_UNCONSECRATED SOULS_
+
+"_This house which I have sanctified will I cast out of my sight,
+and will make it a proverb and a by-word among all nations._"
+--2 CHRONICLES vii. 12-22.
+
+
+And thus am I taught that consecrated houses are nothing without
+consecrated souls. It is not the mode of worship, but the spirit of the
+worshipper which forms the test of a consecrated people. If the worshipper
+is defiled his temple becomes an offence. When the kernel is rotten, and I
+offer the husk to God, the offering is a double insult to His most holy
+name.
+
+And yet, how tempted I am to assume that God will be pleased with the mere
+outsides of things, with words instead of aspiration, with postures
+instead of dispositions, with the letter instead of the spirit, with an
+ornate and costly temple instead of a sweet and lowly life! Day by day I
+am tempted to treat the Almighty as though He were a child! Nay, the Bible
+uses a more awful word; it says men treat the Lord as though He were a
+fool!
+
+From all such irreverence and frivolity, good Lord, deliver me! Let me
+ever remember that Thou "desirest truth in the _inward_ man." "In the
+hidden parts" help me "to know wisdom."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE VALUE OF REVERENCE_
+
+ROMANS xiii. 1-7.
+
+
+When I pay honour to honourable ministers I not only honour my God, but I
+enrich and refine my own soul. One of the great secrets of spiritual
+culture is to know how to revere. There is an uncouth spirit of
+self-aggression which, while it wounds and impoverishes others, destroys
+its finest spiritual furniture in its own ungodly heat. The man who never
+bows will never soar. To pay homage where homage is due is one of the
+exercises which will help to keep us near "the great white throne."
+
+I know my peril, for I recognize one of the prevalent perils of our time.
+Some of the old courtesies are being discarded as though they belonged to
+a younger day. Some of the old tokens of respect have been banished to the
+limbo of rejected ritual. Dignitaries are jostled in the common crowd.
+"One man is as good as another!" And so there is a tendency to strip life
+of all its reverences, and venerable fanes become stables for unclean
+things.
+
+My soul, come thou not into this shame! Move in the ways of life with
+softened tread, and pay thy respect at every shrine where dwells the grace
+and power of God.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-eighth
+
+_HOW TO FIGHT EVIL_
+
+"_Overcome evil with good._"
+--ROMANS xii. 9-21.
+
+
+For how else can we cast out evil? Satan cannot cast out Satan. No one can
+clean a room with a filthy duster. The surgeon cannot cut out the disease
+if his instruments are defiled. While he removed one ill-growth he would
+sow the seed of another. It must be health which fights disease. It will
+demand a good temper to overcome the bad temper in my brother.
+
+And therefore I must cultivate a virtue if I would eradicate a vice. That
+applies to the state of my own soul. If there be some immoral habit in my
+life, the best way to destroy it is by cultivating a good one. Take the
+mind away from the evil one. Deprive it of thought-food. Give the thought
+to the nobler mood, and the ignoble mood will die. And this also applies
+to the faults and vices of my brother. I must fight them with their
+opposites. If he is harsh and cruel, I must be considerate and gentle. If
+he is grasping, I must be generous. If he is loud and presumptuous, I must
+be soft-mannered and self-restrained. If he is devilish, I must be a
+Christian. This is the warfare which tells upon the empire of sin. I can
+overcome evil with good.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-ninth
+
+_TRANSFORMING OUR FOES_
+
+MATTHEW v. 38-48.
+
+
+"Love your enemies."
+
+It must be the aim of a Christian to make his enemy lovely. It is not my
+supreme business to secure my safety, but to remove his ugliness. He may
+only annoy me, but he is destroying himself. He may injure my reputation;
+but far worse, he is blighting his own character. Therefore must I seek to
+remove the greater thing, the corrosive malady in his own soul. I must
+make it my purpose to recover his loveliness, and restore the lost
+likeness of the Lord.
+
+And only love can make things lovely. Revenge can never do it. Even duty
+will fail in the gracious work. There is a final touch, a consummate
+bloom, to which duty can never attain, and which is only attainable by
+love. All love's ministries are creative of loveliness. Wherever her
+finger rests, something exquisite is born. Love is a great magician: she
+transforms the desert into a garden, and she makes the wilderness blossom
+like the rose.
+
+But where shall we get the love wherewith to make our enemy lovely? From
+the great Lover Himself. "We love, because He first loved us." The great
+Lover will love love into us! And we, too, shall become fountains of love,
+for our Lord will open "rivers in the high places, and fountains in the
+midst of the valleys."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Thirtieth
+
+_THE SPRING AND THE RIVER_
+
+"_With the Lord there is mercy._"
+--PSALM cxxx.
+
+
+That is the ultimate spring. All the pilgrims of the night may meet at
+that fountain. We have no other common meeting-place. If we make any other
+appointment we shall lose one another on the way. But we can meet one
+another at the fountain, men of all colours, and of all denominations, and
+of all creeds. "By Thy mercy, O deliver us, good Lord!"
+
+"_There is forgiveness with Thee._" That is the quickening river. Sin and
+guilt scorch the fair garden of the soul as the lightning withers and
+destroys the strong and beautiful things in woodland and field. The graces
+are stricken, holy qualities are smitten, and the soul languishes like a
+blasted heath. But from the fountain of God's mercy there flows the
+vitalizing stream of His forgiveness. "There is a river the streams
+whereof shall make glad the city of God." It is the mystic "river of life,
+clear as crystal." "Everything shall live whither the river cometh."
+
+"_With Him is plenteous redemption._" Salvation is not merely a recovered
+flower, it is a recovered garden. It is not the restoring merely of a
+withered hand; "He restoreth my soul." God does not make an oasis in a
+surrounding desert; He makes the entire wilderness to "rejoice and blossom
+as the rose."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The First
+
+_A FAITHFUL FRIEND_
+
+PROVERBS xxvii. 1-10.
+
+
+"_A faithful friend is a strong defence._"
+
+He is a gift of God, and therefore a "means of grace." The Lord's seal is
+upon his ministry. How we impoverish ourselves by separating these
+precious gifts from their Giver? We desecrate many a fair shrine by
+emptying it of God. We turn many a temple into just a common house. When
+we think of our friend let us link him to our Father, and fall upon our
+knees in grateful praise.
+
+He is God's minister in his encouragements. When he cheers me, it is "the
+Sun of righteousness who rises with healing in His wings." All radiant
+words are just lamps for "the light of life." All genial speech carries
+flame from the altar fire of heaven.
+
+And he is God's minister in his reproofs. He uses a clean knife: there is
+no poison on the blade. And when he does surgeon's work upon me, it is
+clean work, healthy work, the relentless enemy of disease. Some men cut
+me, and the wound festers. There is malice in the deed. My friend wounds
+me in order that he may give me a larger, sweeter life.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Second
+
+_THE LORD AS A FRIEND_
+
+JOHN xv. 8-17.
+
+
+"Ye are my friends!"
+
+In my Lord's friendship there is _the ministry of sacrifice_. "Greater
+love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
+This great Friend is always giving His blood. It is a lasting shame when
+professed Christians are afflicted with spiritual an�mia. And yet we are
+often so fearful, so white-faced, so chicken-hearted, so averse from
+battle, that no one would think us to be "the soldiers of the Lord." We
+need blood. "Except ye drink my blood ye have no life."
+
+And in my Lord's friendship there is the _privilege of most intimate
+communion_.
+
+"All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." He
+takes us into His confidence, and tells us His secrets. It is His delight
+to lift the veil, and give us constant surprises of love and grace. He
+discovers flowers in desert places, and in the gloom He unbosoms "the
+treasures of darkness." He is a Friend of inexhaustible resource, and His
+companionship makes the pilgrim's way teem with interest, and abound in
+the wonders of redeeming grace.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Third
+
+_ARMS AND THE MAN!_
+
+1 THESSALONIANS v. 4-10.
+
+
+What wonderful armour is offered to me in which to meet the insidious
+assaults of the devil!
+
+There is "_the armour of light_." Sunlight is the most sanative energy we
+know. It is the foe of many a deadly microbe which seeks a lodging in our
+bodies. Light is a splendid armour, even in the realm of the flesh. And so
+it is in the soul. If the soul is a home of light, the eternal light, evil
+germs will die as soon as they approach us. They will find nothing to
+breed on. "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."
+
+And there is the armour of "_faith and love_." The opposite to faith is
+uncertainty, and the opposite to love is cynicism, and who does not know
+that uncertainty and cynicism are the very hotbeds for the machinations of
+the evil one? When faith is enthroned the soul is open to the reception of
+grace, and when love shares the throne the sovereignty is invincible.
+
+And there is the armour of "_hope_." Even in a physical ailment a man has
+a mighty ally who wrestles in hope. And when a man's hope is in the Lord
+his God all the powers in the heavenly places are his allies, and by his
+hope he shall be saved.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Fourth
+
+_CHILDREN OF LIGHT_
+
+1 THESSALONIANS v. 5-11.
+
+
+Can we think of a more beautiful figure than this--"_children of light_"?
+As I write these words I look out upon a building every window of which is
+ablaze with light, every room the home of attractive brightness. And my
+life is to be like that! And I look again and I see a lighthouse sending
+out its strong, pure, friendly beams to guide the mariner as he seeks his
+"desired haven." And my life is to be like that! And I look once more, and
+I see a common road lamp, sending its useful light upon the busy street,
+helping the wayfarer as he goes from place to place. And my life is to be
+like that!
+
+And if my soul is all lit up in friendly radiance for others, the light
+will be my own defence. Light always scares away the vermin. Lift up a
+stone in the meadow, let in the light, and see how a hundred secret things
+will scurry away. And light in the soul scares away "the unfruitful works
+of darkness"; they cannot dwell with the light. Light repels the evil one;
+it acts upon him like burning flame. Yes, we are well protected when we
+are clothed in "the armour of light."
+
+But how can we become "children of light," holy homes of protective and
+saving radiance? Happily, it is not our lot to provide the light, it is
+ours to provide the lamp. If we offer the lamp the Lord will give the
+flame.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Fifth
+
+_THE SECOND-BEST FOR GOD_
+
+1 CHRONICLES xvii. 1-15.
+
+
+So the best was for man, and the second-best for God! The cedar for
+self-indulgence, and the curtains for the home of worship! It is a marked
+sign of spiritual awakening when a man begins to contrast his own
+indulgences with the rights of God. There are so many of us who are lavish
+in our home and miserly in the sanctuary. We multiply treasures which
+bring us little profit, and we are niggardly where treasure would be of
+most gracious service.
+
+"I dwell in a house of cedar," and yet I am thoughtless about God's poor!
+For I must remember that the poor are the arks of the Lord. "I was naked,
+and ye clothed Me not."
+
+"I dwell in a house of cedar"; my liberties are many and spacious; and yet
+there are tribes of God's people held in the tyranny of dark and hopeless
+servitude. I dwell in England, but what about the folk on the Congo? I
+dwell in a land of ample religious freedom, but what about Armenia? Do my
+sympathies remain confined within my cedar walls, or do they go out to
+God's neglected ones in every land and clime?
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Sixth
+
+_THE GRACE OF LOWLINESS_
+
+1 CHRONICLES xvii. 16-27.
+
+
+It is by such lowliness that we arrive at our true sovereignty. All
+spiritual treasures are hidden along the ways of humility, and it is
+meekness which discovers them. The uplifted head of pride overlooks them,
+and its "finds" are only pleasure of the passing day.
+
+Lowliness is the secret of spiritual perceptiveness. I find my sight in
+lowly places. The Sacred Word speaks of "the _valley_ of vision." I
+usually associate vision and outlook with mountain summits, but in
+spiritual realms the very capacity to use the heights is acquired in the
+vale.
+
+Lowliness is the secret of spiritual roominess. It is only the humble man
+who has any room for the Lord. All the chambers in the proud man's soul
+are thronged with self-conceits, and God is crowded out. Our Lord always
+finds ample room for Himself wherever the heart bows in humility and says:
+"I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come under my roof."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Seventh
+
+_CHOSEN AS BUILDERS_
+
+"_Take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build._"
+--1 CHRONICLES xxviii. 1-10.
+
+
+And how must he take heed? For it may be that the Lord hath also chosen me
+to build, and the counsel given to Solomon may serve me in this later day.
+Let me listen.
+
+"_Serve Him with a perfect heart._" God's chosen builders must be
+characterized by singleness and simplicity. He can do nothing with
+"double" men, who do things only "by half," giving one part to Him and the
+other part to Mammon. It is like offering the stock of a gun to one man
+and the barrel to another; and the effect is nil. No, the entire gun! The
+"perfect heart"!
+
+"_And with a willing mind._" For the willing mind is the ready mind, and
+God can do nothing with the unready. I never know just when He will call
+me to add another stone to the rising walls of the New Jerusalem, and if I
+am "otherwise engaged" I am a grievous hindrance to His gracious plans. He
+must be willing and ready who would be a builder of the walls of Zion. And
+to that man the Lord will entrust the privilege of responsibility.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Eighth
+
+_JUDGED BY OUR ASPIRATIONS_
+
+"_Thou didst well, it was in thine heart._"
+--2 CHRONICLES vi. 1-15.
+
+
+And this was a purpose which the man was not permitted to realize. It was
+a temple built in the substance of dreams, but never established in wood
+and stone. And God took the shadowy structure and esteemed it as a
+perfected pile. The sacred intention was regarded as a finished work. The
+will to build a temple was regarded as a temple built. And hence I discern
+the preciousness of all hallowed purpose and desire, even though it never
+receive actual accomplishment. "Thou didst well, it was in thine heart."
+
+And so the will to be, and the will to do, is acceptable sacrifice unto
+the Lord! "I wish I could be a missionary to the foreign field," but the
+duties of home forbid. But as a missionary she is accepted of our God,
+even though she never land on distant shore. Our purposes work, as well as
+the work itself. Desire is full of holy energy as well as fruition. The
+wish to do good is good itself; the very longing is a minister in the
+kingdom of our God. If, therefore, we are to be judged by our aspirations,
+there are multitudes of apparent failures who will one day be revealed as
+clothed in the radiance of spiritual victory.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Ninth
+
+_NATIONAL BLESSEDNESS_
+
+"_Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound._"
+--PSALM lxxxix. 1-18.
+
+
+Blessed is the people who love the sound of the silver trumpet which calls
+to holy convocation! Blessed is the people who are sacredly impatient for
+the hour of holy communion! Blessed is the people "in whose heart are the
+highways to Zion." And in what shall their blessedness consist?
+
+In illumination. "_They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy
+countenance._" The favour of the Lord shall shine upon them when they walk
+through rough and troublous places. There shall always be a sunny patch
+where the soul is in communion with its Lord.
+
+In exultation. "_In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day._" There is
+nothing like sunshine for making the spirits dance! Light is a great
+emancipator, a great breaker-up of frozen bondages. It thaws "the genial
+currents of the soul," and the stream of life sings in its progress.
+
+In exaltation. "_In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted._" They will
+be lifted up above their enemies. In elevation they will find their
+safety. God lifts us above our passions, above our cares, above our little
+fears and tempers, and we find our peace upon the heights.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Tenth
+
+_THE ONLY WISE BEGINNING_
+
+"_The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom._"
+--PSALM cxi.
+
+
+If I want to do anything wisely I must begin with God. That is the very
+alphabet of the matter. Every other beginning is a perverse beginning, and
+it will end in sure disaster. "I am Alpha." Everything must take its rise
+in Him, or it will plunge from folly into folly, and culminate in
+confusion.
+
+If I would be wise in my daily business I must begin all my affairs in
+God. My career itself must be chosen in His presence, and in the
+illumination of His most holy Spirit. And in the subsequent days nothing
+must be done that is not rooted and grounded in Him.
+
+If I would be wise as a teacher I must begin with God. I must not merely
+call Him in to bless my lesson when my labour is done. The very beginnings
+of my thinkings must be in Him. Our Lord will not write an appendix to a
+volume about which He has never been consulted. "They who seek Me _early_
+shall find Me." And so it is with the varied activities of our
+multitudinous life. If we would have them shine with quiet wisdom we must
+light them at the Sun of glory.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Eleventh
+
+_THE SPEECH OF THE INCARNATION_
+
+"_He hath spoken to us in His Son._"
+--HEBREWS i.
+
+
+And that blessed Son spake my language. He came into my troubled
+conditions and expressed Himself out of my humble lot. My surroundings
+afforded Him a language in which He made known His good news. The
+carpenter's shop, the shepherd on the hill, the ladened vine, a wayside
+well, common bread, a friend's sickness, the desolation of a garden, the
+darkness of "the last things"--these all offered Him a mode of speech in
+which He unveiled to me the heart of God.
+
+He came as the Son to make me a son. For I had made myself a slave, and
+called my bondage freedom. I wore my badge of servitude with unholy pride.
+But when He came and spake to me, my lost inheritance dawned upon my
+wondering eyes, and I knew myself to be enslaved. But His was the glorious
+mission not only to awake but to emancipate, not only to unveil lost
+splendour but to recover it. He came to set us free, "and if the Son shall
+make you free ye shall be free indeed."
+
+"This my son was lost and is found." Has that great word been spoken
+concerning me in the Father's home of light? "Lord, I would serve, and be
+a son. Dismiss me not, I pray."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twelfth
+
+_RELATING EVERYTHING TO GOD_
+
+"_Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatever ye do,
+do all to the glory of God._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS x. 23-33.
+
+
+And so all my days would constitute a vast temple, and life would be a
+constant worship. This is surely the science and art of holy living--to
+relate everything to the Infinite. When I take my common meal and relate
+it to "the glory of God," the common meal becomes a sacramental feast.
+When my labour is joined "unto the Lord," the sacred wedding turns my
+workshop into a church. When I link the country lane to the Saviour, I am
+walking in the Garden of Eden, and paradise is restored.
+
+The fact of the matter is, we never see anything truly until we see it in
+the light of the glory of God. Set a dull duty in that light and it shines
+like a diamond. Set a bit of drudgery in that light and it becomes
+transfigured like the wing of a starling when the sunshine falls upon it.
+Everything is seen amiss until we see it in the glory! And, therefore, it
+is my wisdom to set everything in that light, and to do all to the glory
+of God.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Thirteenth
+
+_THE HOLY AND THE PROFANE_
+
+"_Put difference between the holy and the unholy._"
+--LEVITICUS x. 1-10.
+
+
+The peril of our day is that so many of these differences are growing
+faint. The holy merges into the unholy, and we can scarcely see the
+dividing line. Black merges into white through manifold shades of grey.
+Falsehood slopes into truth through cunning expediences and white lies.
+Lust merges into purity through conviviality and geniality and
+good-fellowship. So is one thing losing itself in another, and vivid moral
+distinctions are being obscured and effaced.
+
+There is only one way to keep these native contrasts in vivid relief, and
+that is by living in the unsullied light of God's holy presence. "In Thy
+light shall we see light." Things are seen in their true colours only when
+we bring them before the great white throne. Fabrics seen in the gas-light
+reveal quite other shades when we bring them into the light of day. We
+must not make our distinctions in the gas-light of worldly standard and
+expediency; we must take them into His presence before whose radiance even
+the angels veil their faces, and we shall see things as they are, and we
+shall know "the difference between the holy and the profane."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Fourteenth
+
+_THE SACRED USE OF LIBERTY_
+
+"_Take heed lest this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling-block._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS viii. 8-13.
+
+
+That is a very solemn warning. My liberty may trip someone into bondage.
+If life were an affair of one my liberty might be wholesome; but it is an
+affair of many, and my liberty may be destructive to my fellows. I am not
+only responsible for my life, but for its influence. When a thing has been
+lived there is still the example to deal with. If orange peel be thrown
+upon the pavement, that is not the end of the feast. The man who slips
+over the peel is a factor in the incident, and my responsibility covers
+him.
+
+I am, therefore, to consider both my deeds and their influence. How does
+my life trend when it touches my brother? In what way does he move because
+of the impact of my example? Towards liberty or towards license? To the
+swamps of transgression or to the fields of holiness? These are
+determining questions, and I must not seek to escape or ignore them. My
+brother is a vital part of my life. I must never shut him out of my sight.
+How is he influenced by my example? "If meat make my brother to stumble, I
+will eat no flesh while the world standeth."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Fifteenth
+
+_WHAT IS MY TENDENCY?_
+
+"_Whether we live, we live unto_...."
+--ROMANS xiv. 7-21.
+
+
+Unto what? In what direction are we living? Whither are we going? How do
+we complete the sentence? "We live unto _money_!" That is how many would
+be compelled to finish the record. Money is their goal, and their goal
+determines their tendency. "We live unto _pleasure_!" Such would be
+another popular company. "We live unto _fame_!" That would be the banner
+of another regiment. "We live unto _ease_!" Thus would men and women
+describe their quests. "Unto" what? That is the searching question which
+probes life to its innermost desire.
+
+"For whether we live, we live _unto the Lord_." That was the apostle's
+unfailing tendency, increasing in its momentum every day. He crashed
+through obstacles in his glorious quest. He sought the Lord through
+everything and in everything. When new circumstances confronted him, his
+first question was this--"Where is Christ in all this?" He found the right
+way across every trackless moor by simply seeking Christ.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Sixteenth
+
+_THE GREATEST WONDERS_
+
+HEBREWS xi. 30-40.
+
+
+The greatest wonders are not in Nature but in grace. A regenerated soul is
+a greater marvel than the marvel of the spring-time. A transfigured face
+is a deeper mystery than a sun-lit garden. To rear graces in a life once
+scorched and blasted by sin is more wonderful than to grow flowers on a
+cinder-heap. If we want to see the realm of surpassing wonders we must
+look into a soul that has been born again and is now in vital union with
+the living Christ. Even the angels watch the sight with ever-deepening awe
+and praise.
+
+As the spiritual is the home of wonders, so also is it the field of
+brightest exploits. It is not what men have done by the sword that counts
+in the esteem of heaven--such deeds mean little or nothing; it is what
+they have done "by faith." Weak, frail men and women have put their faith
+in God, and have done the impossible! Faith unites the weakling with
+almightiness! Faith makes a lonely soul one with "the spirits of just men
+made perfect," and with them he shares "the power and the glory" of the
+eternal God.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Seventeenth
+
+_GOD'S PRESENCE OUR DEFENCE_
+
+EXODUS xv. 11-18.
+
+
+When we invent little devices to protect us against the evil one, he
+laughs at our petty presumption. It is like unto a child erecting sand
+ramparts against an incoming sea. The only thing that makes the devil fear
+is the presence of God. Our money can do nothing. Our culture can do
+nothing. Our social status can do nothing. Only God can deal with devils.
+"By the greatness of Thine arm they shall be still as a stone." When Thou
+art with me "I will fear no evil"; the fear shall be with my foes.
+
+It is, therefore, the divine in anything which endows it with a strong
+defence. If the holy God dwells in our culture, then our culture becomes
+like an invulnerable fort. If God abides in our recreations, then our very
+sports are armed against our foes. If "the joy of the Lord" is in our
+festivity, then our very merriment is proof against the invasion of the
+world. When the Lord is in us, fear dwells in the opposite camp.
+"Therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed, and though the
+mountains be shaken in the heart of the seas."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Eighteenth
+
+_THE SINNER'S GUEST_
+
+"_He is gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner._"
+--LUKE xix. 1-10.
+
+
+It was hurled as an accusation; it has been treasured as a garland. It was
+first said in contempt; it is repeated in adoration. It was thought to
+reveal His earthliness; it is now seen to unveil His glory. Our Saviour
+seeks the home of the sinner. The Best desires to be the guest of the
+worst. He spreads His kindnesses for the outcasts, and He offers His
+friendship to the exile on the loneliest road. He waits to befriend the
+defeated, the poor folk with aching consciences and broken wills. He loves
+to go to souls that have lost their power of flight, like birds with
+broken wings, which can only flutter in the unclean road. He went to
+Zacch�us.
+
+Yes, the Lord went to be "guest with a man that is a sinner," and He
+changed the sinner into a saint. The worldling found wings. The stone
+became flesh. Gentle emotions began to stir in a heart hardened by
+heedlessness and sin. Restitution took the place of greed. The home of the
+sinner became the temple of the Lord. "To-day is salvation come to this
+house forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Nineteenth
+
+_THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS_
+
+"_A light to lighten the Gentiles._"
+--LUKE ii. 25-40.
+
+
+That was the wonder of wonders. Hitherto the light had been supposed to be
+for Israel alone; and now a heavenly splendour was to fall upon the
+Gentiles. Hitherto the light had been thought of as a lamp, illuming a
+single place; now it was to be a sun, shedding its glory upon a world. The
+"people that sat in darkness" are now to see "a great light." New regions
+are to be occupied; there is to be daybreak everywhere! "The Sun of
+Righteousness is arisen, with healing in His wings."
+
+"To lighten the Gentiles!" And thus the heavenly beams have come to thee
+and me, to Europe and America, and to all the nations of the earth. The
+amazing privilege is our personal inheritance. We are born to glorious
+rights in Christ Jesus. But a wealthy heir may neglect this inheritance.
+We may have the light and neglect our garden. We may have all the favours
+of a blessed clime, and yet our life may be like a wilderness. The
+Gentiles may have the light, and may yet be children of the darkness. It
+is ours to believe in the light that our lives may become "light in the
+Lord."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twentieth
+
+_THE COMING OF THE LORD_
+
+JOHN i. 1-14.
+
+
+My Lord came as "_the word_." He came as the expression of the mind of the
+eternal God. Ordinary words could not have carried the "good news."
+Ordinary language was an altogether inadequate vessel for this new wine.
+And so the mighty news was spoken in the incarnation of the Lord.
+
+My Lord came as "life." "_In Him was life._" But not a mere cupful of
+life, or even a cup running over. He came as "the fountain of life." Nay,
+if I had the requisite word I must get even behind and beyond this. For He
+was the Creator of fountains. "The water that I shall give him shall be
+_in him a well_." Yes, He was the fountain of fountains!
+
+The Lord came as "light." "_The life was the light._" True light is always
+the child of life. Our clearest light comes not from speech or doctrine,
+still less does it emerge from controversy. It is the fine, subtle issue
+of fine living. And my light is to "shine before men" by reason of the
+indwelling life of the Christ.
+
+And my Lord came as "power." "_To them gave He power._" All the power I
+need for a full, holy, healthy life I can find in Him. Every obligation
+has its corresponding inspiration, and I am competent to do His will.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-first
+
+_THE LORD OF WORKING MEN_
+
+LUKE ii. 8-20.
+
+
+And so the good news was told to shepherds, to working men who were
+toiling in the fields. The coming King would hallow the common work of
+man, and in His love and grace all the problems of labour would find a
+solution.
+
+The Lord of the Christmas-tide throws a halo over common toil. Even
+Christian people have not all learnt the significance of the angels' visit
+to the lonely shepherds. Some of us can see the light resting upon a
+bishop's crosier, but we cannot see the radiance on the ordinary
+shepherd's staff. We can discern the hallowedness of a priest's vocation,
+but we see no sanctity in the calling of the grocer, or of the scavenger
+in the street. We can see the nimbus on the few, but not on the crowd; on
+the unusual, but not upon the commonplace. But the very birth-hour of
+Christianity irradiated the humble doings of humble people. When the
+angels went to the shepherds, common work was encircled with an immortal
+crown.
+
+And it is in the Lord Jesus that all labour troubles are to be put to
+rest. If we work from any other centre we shall arrive at confusion
+confounded. "I have the keys."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-second
+
+_THE LORD OF THE WORSHIPPER_
+
+LUKE ii. 25-35.
+
+
+And so the good news was taken to the worshipper bowing within the gates
+of the Temple. The soul of old Simeon was filled with holy satisfaction
+and peace. The cravings of the heart were quieted, and its desires found
+the coveted feast in the holy Child of God.
+
+And thus the Lord Jesus was not only to dignify the body but to gratify
+the soul. He was to be most efficient where He was most needed. And this
+has been the unfailing experience of the years. There is a hunger in my
+soul for which I can find no satisfying bread. I have tried many breads; I
+have tried nature, and art, and music, and literature, and I have tried
+human fellowship and social service. But my soul is hungry still! And the
+Lord Jesus comes to me, as I reverently grope in the vast temple, and He
+"satisfies the hungry soul" with good things. His "bread of life" is very
+wonderful; it lifts the soul into the restfulness of strength, and gives
+me a strange buoyancy, and "the glorious liberty of the children of God."
+
+"My soul, wait thou only on Him!" He is thy hope, thy strength, and thy
+salvation! He is "the desire of all the nations."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-third
+
+_THE LORD OF THE STUDENTS_
+
+MATTHEW ii. 1-12.
+
+
+And so the good news came to "wise men," shall we say to students, busying
+themselves with the vast and intricate problems of the mind. And the
+evangel offered the students mental satisfaction, bringing the
+interpreting clue, beaming upon them with the guiding ray which would lead
+them into perfect noon.
+
+Yes, our wise men must find the key of wisdom in the Lord. In a wider
+sense than the meaning of the original word it is true that "the fear of
+the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." To seek mental satisfactions and
+leave out Jesus is like trying to make a garden and leave out the sun.
+"Without Me ye can do nothing," not even in the unravelling of the
+problems which beset and besiege the mind.
+
+If my mental pilgrimage is to be as "a shining light shining more and more
+even unto perfect day," I must begin with Jesus, and pay homage to His
+Kingly and incomparable glory. I must lay my treasures at His feet, "gold,
+and frankincense, and myrrh." Then will He lead me "into all truth," and
+"the truth shall make me free."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-fourth
+
+_ENTERING IN AT LOWLY DOORS_
+
+"_Unto us a Child is born._"
+--ISAIAH ix. 1-7.
+
+
+How gentle the coming! Who would have had sufficient daring of imagination
+to conceive that God Almighty would have appeared among men as a little
+child? We should have conceived something sensational, phenomenal,
+catastrophic, appalling! The most awful of the natural elements would have
+formed His retinue, and men would be chilled and frozen with fear. But He
+came as a little child. The great God "emptied Himself"; He let in the
+light as our eyes were able to bear it.
+
+"_Unto us a Son is given._" And that is the superlative gift! The love
+that bestows such gift is all-complete and gracious. And the Son is given
+in order that we may all be born into sonship. It is the Son's ministry to
+make sons. "Now are we the sons of God," and we are of His creation.
+
+    "Lord, I would serve, and be a son;
+       Dismiss me not, I pray."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-fifth
+
+_CHRISTMAS CHEER_
+
+"_Good will toward men!_"
+--LUKE ii. 8-20.
+
+
+The heavens are not filled with hostility. The sky does not express a
+frown. When I look up I do not contemplate a face of brass, but the face
+of infinite good will. Yet when I was a child, many a picture has made me
+think of God as suspicious, inhumanly watchful, always looking round the
+corner to catch me at the fall. That "eye," placed in the sky of many a
+picture, and placed there to represent God, filled my heart with a
+chilling fear. That God was to me a magnified policeman, watching for
+wrong-doers, and ever ready for the infliction of punishment. It was all a
+frightful perversion of the gracious teaching of Jesus.
+
+Heaven overflows with good will toward men! Our God not only wishes good,
+He wills it! "He gave His only begotten Son," as the sacred expression of
+His infinite good will. He has good will toward thee and me, and mine and
+thine. Let that holy thought make our Christmas cheer.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-sixth
+
+_DAYBREAK IN THE SOUL_
+
+ISAIAH ix. 1-7.
+
+
+It is a lonely and a chilling experience to sit in the darkness. And the
+gloom and the cold are all the more intense when there is death in the
+house. In such conditions we are in great need of light and fire.
+
+And that is how the children of men were feeling before the Saviour came.
+They "_sat in darkness_" and in "_the shadow of death_." The world was
+cold, and sin and death were in it, and they longed for light and cheer.
+And "the great Light came," and His wonderful Presence not only illumines
+the house but banishes the fear of sin and death. "_They that dwelt in the
+land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined._"
+
+Where can we get this living light except in the Lord Jesus Christ?
+Everything else is candle-light! It fails us in the midnight. It flickers
+amid conflicting currents. It goes out in the rough blast. The light of
+art and of literature fails me when I need them most. When I sit in the
+darkness, with death in the house, these kindly ministers have no
+effective beams. I turn to the Master, and He shines upon me, and it is
+daybreak in the soul!
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE SUNNY SIDE OF THINGS_
+
+1 JOHN i. 1-7.
+
+
+I have just come out of a gloomy room into a sunny room to write these
+words. I had my choice. I could have stayed in the sombre room, but I
+choose to come into the sun-lit room and the warm, cheering beams are even
+now falling upon my page. "Walk in the light!" And I make my choice, and
+how often I choose to walk without Christ in the unfertilizing and
+unfruitful gloom of self-will! In the light of the Lord I could have a
+garden of Eden; how often I choose the dingy wilderness where I can grow
+neither flowers nor fruits.
+
+"Walk in the light." The Lord's companionship always makes the sunny side
+of the street. It may be that the way is rough and stony and difficult,
+but in His company there is light that never fails, compared with which
+the world's noontide is only as the gloomiest night. And the souls that
+"walk in the light" gather "sacred sweets" all along the way. Heavenly
+fruits grow for the children of light, fruits of love and joy and peace,
+and the favoured pilgrim plucks them as he goes along. "All I find in
+Jesus." The way of light is the way of delight, and "the joy of the Lord
+is our strength."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-eighth
+
+_IN HIM WAS LIFE_
+
+JOHN i. 1-18.
+
+
+I have heard men speak of "wanting to see a bit of life," and I found that
+what they meant was to see a bit of death. It is as if a man should go to
+the hospital to see a bit of health, or as if he should go to a gory
+battlefield to see the human frame. It is like going to a refuse-heap to
+see a bit of garden. Life is not found in fields of license; it is not
+found among the wild oats of a dissipated youth. Life is found only in
+Christ, and if we want to see a bit of life we must go to Him.
+
+"In Him was life"; and that not merely to be looked at but to be shared.
+He is the well to which everybody can bring his pitcher, and take it away
+filled. And my pitcher is just my need. "All the fitness He requires is to
+feel our need of Him." The Life is all-sufficient for the needs of the
+race. This Life can vitalize all that is withered and dead; it can make
+decrepit wills muscular and mighty, and it can transfigure the leper with
+the glow and purity of perfect health.
+
+    "Thou of life the Fountain art,
+       Freely let me take of Thee."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE LOVE OF GOD_
+
+1 JOHN iv. 7-14.
+
+
+Let me more assiduously think of God's love. Let me sit down to it. In the
+National Gallery can be seen two sorts of people. There are the mere
+vagrants, who are always "on the move," passing from picture to picture,
+without seeing any. And there are the students, who sit down, and
+contemplate, and meditate, and appropriate, and saturate. And there are
+vagrants in respect to the love of the Lord. They have a passing glimpse,
+but the impression is not vital and vitalizing, and there are the
+students, who are always gazing, and who are continually crying, "O the
+depth of the riches of the love of God in Christ!" "His riches are
+unsearchable!"
+
+And God's love is the creator of my love. "While I muse the fire burns." I
+am kindled into the same holy passion. That is to say, contemplation
+determines character. We acquire the hues of the things to which we cling.
+To hold fellowship with love is to become loveful and lovely. "We love
+because He first loved us."
+
+And then, in the third place, it is through my love that I know my Lord.
+"_Everyone that loveth knoweth God._" Love is the lens through which I
+discern the secret things of God.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Thirtieth
+
+_THE BLESSEDNESS OF FORGIVENESS_
+
+"_Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven._"
+--PSALM xxxii.
+
+
+It is the blessedness of emancipation. The boat which has been tethered to
+the weird, baleful shore is set free, and sails toward the glories of the
+morning. The man, long cramped in the dark, imprisoning pit, is brought
+out, and stretches his limbs in the sweet light and air of God's free
+world. Black servitude is ended; glorious liberty begins.
+
+It is the blessedness of education. For when we are freed we are by no
+means perfected. We are liberated babes; and our Emancipator does not
+desert us in our spiritual infancy. The foundling is not abandoned.
+"Having loved His own He loved them unto the end." He begins with us in
+the spiritual nursery, and He will train and lead and feed us until we are
+"perfect in Christ Jesus."
+
+Therefore is it the blessedness of exultation. The babe is resting on the
+bosom of the Lord, and "the joy of the Lord is his strength." It is not my
+emancipation that ensures my joy; it is the abiding Presence of the
+Emancipator.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Thirty-first
+
+_THE REAR-GUARD_
+
+"_Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life._"
+--PSALM xxiii.
+
+But why "_follow_" me? Why not "go before"? Because some of my enemies are
+in the rear; they attack me from behind. There are foes in my yesterdays
+which can give me fatal wounds. They can stab me in the back! If I could
+only get away from the past! Its guilt dogs my steps. Its sins are ever at
+my heels. I have turned my face toward the Lord, but my yesterdays pursue
+me like a relentless hound! So I have an enemy in the rear.
+
+But, blessed be His name, my mighty God is in the rear as well as my foe.
+"Goodness and mercy shall follow me!" No hound can break through that
+defence. Between me and my guilt there is the infinite love of the Lord.
+The loving Lord will not permit my past to destroy my soul. I may sorrow
+for my past, but my very sorrow shall be a minister of moral and spiritual
+health. My Lord is Lord of the past as well as of the morrow, and so
+to-day "I will trust and not be afraid."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+                                DEVOTIONAL
+     ==================================================================
+
+     _ROBERT F. HORTON_
+
+     The Triumphant Life: Life, Warfare and Victory through the Cross
+         16mo, Cloth, net 50c.
+
+     The author, one of the most influential preachers and devotional
+     writers, presents an attractive volume of brief counsels on Faith
+     and Duty.
+
+
+     _CHARLES BROWN_
+
+     Lessons from the Cross
+         16mo, Cloth, net 50c.
+
+     A volume of remarkable spiritual power which will also prove an
+     incentive to further study of this great subject.
+
+
+     _MILFORD HALL LYON_
+
+     For the Life That Now Is
+         16mo, Cloth, net 75c.
+
+     "Emphasizes the power and presence of a life hid with Christ in
+     God. It will be a revelation to many that there is such a
+     correspondence between the needs of mankind and the provisions of
+     redeeming grace."--_Reformed Church Messenger._
+
+
+     _HANNAH WHITALL SMITH_
+
+     The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life
+     New Edition, with Decorative Lace Border and Lace Cover Design.
+         12 mo, Cloth, net $1.00.
+
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+     Our Blessed Dead
+         16mo, Boards, 25c.
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+
+     _CORTLAND MYERS_
+
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+
+     "To make this unreality real and mighty in the life of the
+     individual and of the Church is the purpose of this book, that is
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+     thoughtful and earnest Christian."--_Christian Guardian._
+
+
+
+
+                    THE WORLD OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT
+     ==================================================================
+
+     _RICHARD ROBERTS_
+
+     The Renascence of Faith
+     With an Introduction by G. A. Johnston Ross.
+         12mo, cloth, net $1.50.
+
+     "A fresh and striking contribution to current religious discussion.
+     It is the average man,--the man in the street--who is at once the
+     subject of Mr. Roberts' study. He is keenly alive to and frankly
+     critical of the weaknesses, shortcomings and divisions of modern
+     Christianity; but he has a well-grounded optimism and a buoyant
+     faith which will be found contagious."--_Living Age._
+
+
+     _JAMES W. LEE_
+
+     The Religion of Science
+     The Faith of Coming Man
+         12mo, cloth, net $1.50.
+
+     "Dr. Lee thinks scientifically. He delivers a clear-cut thought
+     product and his powers of intellectual visualization are
+     transferred to the reader. After having read 'The Religion of
+     Science,' we can only underwrite the testimony of Dr. Birney, Dean
+     of the Theological School of Boston University: 'It is the finest
+     apologetic for the modern mood of thought concerning things
+     Christian that I have seen. The book in a masterly manner reveals
+     the pathway of triumphant faith.'"--_Christian Advocate._
+
+
+     _MARSHALL P. TALLING, Ph. D._
+     _Author of "Extempore Prayer" and "Inter-Communion with God"_
+
+     The Science of Spiritual Life
+     An Application of Scientific Method in the Exploration of Spiritual
+     Experience.
+         Cloth, net $1.50.
+
+     This comprehensive handbook of theology is a mediatory work of real
+     value, combining as it does the insight of a spiritually minded man
+     with the keen perception of one who fully recognizes what science
+     has done and is doing to-day.
+
+
+     _JOHN DOUGLAS ADAM, D.D._
+
+     Religion and the Growing Mind
+         12mo, cloth, net 75c.
+
+     This stimulating treatise on the development of a science of soul
+     culture is intended primarily for young people. The expansion of
+     the spiritual nature is shown to be the supreme thing in life. In
+     clear, brief, logical, sane manner Dr. Adam describes man's
+     psychical nature and methods of its development in terms of modern
+     psychology.
+
+
+     _W. H. P. FAUNCE, D.D._
+
+     What Does Christianity Mean?
+     The Cole Lectures for 1912.
+         12mo, cloth, net $1.25.
+
+     Dr. Faunce, President of Brown University, has chosen an unusually
+     attractive theme which is discussed in this series of lectures on
+     the following subjects:
+
+     1. The Essence of the Christian Faith. 2. The Meaning of God. 3.
+     The Basis of Character. 4. The principle of Fellowship. 5. The Aim
+     of Education. 6. The Goal of Our Effort.
+
+
+
+
+                        THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION
+     ==================================================================
+
+     _ROBERT F. HORTON, D.D._
+
+     How the Cross Saves
+         16mo, cloth, net 50c.
+
+     "Will bring help and light to minds perplexed and darkened by
+     doubt. It is a clear statement of the central truth of
+     Christianity. Logically and biblically Dr. Horton calls to mind the
+     fact that the atonement is of God; that men need it; and that
+     man-made atonements which minimize sin will not do. Then he
+     discusses the atonement, the meaning and the victory of the
+     cross."--_Advance._
+
+
+     _JAMES A. ANDERSON, L.L.D._ _Editor of "the Western Methodist"_
+
+     Religious Unrest and Its Remedy
+         12mo, cloth, net 75c.
+
+     A query raised by theological unrest and an attempt to indicate
+     where rest is found.
+
+
+     _Christian Faith and Doctrine Series_
+         12mo, cloth, each net $1.00.
+
+
+     _PRINCIPAL W. F. ADENEY, D.D._
+
+     The Christian Conception of God
+
+     A vitalizing, tonic treatise of a fundamental theme. The scholarly
+     author of "The Theology of the New Testament" needs no
+     introduction. He is a stalwart defender of the essential truths of
+     Christianity. The _British Congregationalist_ says: "This
+     remarkable book will have a place of its own side by side with
+     Prof. Newton Clarke's more elaborate work."
+
+
+     _J. MONRO GIBSON, D.D._
+
+     The Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scriptures
+     _With Introduction by Principal Forsythe_
+
+     Principal Forsythe's Introduction gives the key to the book: "There
+     is no more difficult position to-day than that of the minister who
+     has to stand between the world of modern knowledge and the world of
+     traditional religion and mediate between them." "Its facts have
+     been verified in the writer's own experience, and they are set down
+     in the precise order that they appear to be necessary in the life
+     of a man who desires to live well and die well."--_Expository
+     Times._
+
+
+     _GEORGE HANSON, D.D._
+
+     The Resurrection and the Life
+
+     This thorough-going study of the Resurrection of Jesus is
+     characterized by a vigorous intellectual grasp of the subject. The
+     author presents a most assuring and comforting contribution to
+     Christian apologetics. It is a work that will not only meet the
+     demands of the scholarly and thoughtful, but minister to those who
+     have no questionings.
+
+
+
+
+                         GIFT BOOKS, ESSAYS, Etc.
+     ==================================================================
+
+     _W. J. DAWSON, D.D._
+
+     The Book of Courage
+         12mo, decorated cloth, net $1.25.
+
+     To meet a present day demand. Everyone needs help to live the
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+
+
+     _NEWELL DWIGHT HILLIS, D.D._
+
+     The Contagion of Character
+     Studies in Culture and Success.
+         Gilt top, net $1.20.
+
+     _The Outlook_ says: "Brief, pungent studies, sparks struck out on
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+
+
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+
+     Happiness
+         Decorated, 8vo, cloth, gilt top, net $1.50.
+
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+
+
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+
+     Essential Elements of Business Character
+         16mo, cloth, net 60c.
+
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+
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+
+     Life Worth While
+     A Volume of Inspiration for Young Men.
+         Net 50c.
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year, by
+John Henry Jowett</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year</p>
+<p>Author: John Henry Jowett</p>
+<p>Release Date: October 29, 2007  [eBook #23241]<br />
+Most recently updated: August 16, 2012</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAILY MEDITATION FOR THE CIRCLING YEAR***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Anne Storer,<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>Transcriber&#8217;s Notes:<br />
+<br />
+1. Links to beginning of each month added after Foreword.<br />
+<br />
+2. In the "April 15" meditation, the author mentions reading from Tennyson's
+"Palace of Sin", which doesn't appear to exist. Possibly "Vision of Sin"
+was meant?</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>DAILY MEDITATION</h1>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="centerbox bbox">
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The greatest living master of the homiletic art.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<em>British Weekly.</em></p>
+
+<h1>By J. H. JOWETT, D.D.<br />
+===================</h1>
+
+<p class="heading">Things That Matter Most</p>
+<p class="indent">Devotional Papers. A Book of Spiritual Uplift and Comfort.<br />
+12mo, cloth, <span style="margin-left: 15em;">net $1.25</span></p>
+
+<p class="heading">The Transfigured Church</p>
+<p class="indent">A Portrayal of the Possibilities Within the Church.<br />
+12mo, cloth,      <span style="margin-left: 15em;">net $1.25</span></p>
+
+<p class="heading">The High Calling</p>
+<p class="indent">Meditations on St. Paul&#8217;s Letter to the Philippians.<br />
+12mo, cloth,      <span style="margin-left: 15em;">net $1.25</span></p>
+
+<p class="heading">The Silver Lining</p>
+<p class="indent">A Message of Hope and Cheer, for the Troubled and Tried.<br />
+12mo, cloth,       <span style="margin-left: 15em;">net $1.00</span></p>
+
+<p class="heading">Our Blessed Dead</p>
+<p class="indent">16mo, boards, <span style="margin-left: 15em;">net 25c</span></p>
+
+<p class="heading">The Passion for Souls</p>
+<p class="indent">Devotional Messages for Christian Workers.<br />
+16mo, cloth, <span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">net 50c</span></p>
+
+<p class="heading">The Folly of Unbelief</p>
+<p class="indent">And Other Meditations for Quiet Moments.<br />
+12mo, cloth, <span style="margin-left: 15.5em;">net 50c</span></p>
+
+<p class="heading1"><em>SENTENCE PRAYERS for EVERY DAY</em></p>
+<p class="indent">&ldquo;Brief, pertinent, helpful. Each prayer
+can be read in a minute,<br />
+but will give inspiration for the entire day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="heading">The Daily Altar</p>
+<p class="indent">A Prayer for Each Day. Cloth, <span style="margin-left: 9em;">net 25c</span><br />
+Leather, <span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">net 35c</span></p>
+
+<p class="heading">Yet Another Day</p>
+<p class="indent">A Prayer for Each Day. 32mo, cloth, <span style="margin-left: 6.5em;">net 25c</span><br />
+Leather, <span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">net 35c</span><br />
+A new large type edition. Cloth, <span style="margin-left: 8.5em;">net 75c</span><br />
+Leather, <span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">net $1.00</span></p>
+
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 466px;">
+<img src="images/imgfrontis.jpg" width="466" height="700" alt="Title Page" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<p class="center">Copyright, 1914, by<br />
+<strong>FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY</strong></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center">New York: 158 Fifth Avenue<br />
+Chicago: 125 N. Wabash Ave.<br />
+Toronto: 25 Richmond St., W.<br />
+London: 21 Paternoster Square<br />
+Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FOREWORD</h2>
+
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 60px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="60" height="60" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE title of this book sufficiently interprets its purpose. I hope it may
+lead to such practical meditation upon the Word of God as will supply
+vision to common tasks, and daily nourishment to the conscience and
+will. And I trust that it may so engage the thoughts upon the wonders of
+meditation, as will fortify the soul for its high calling in Jesus Christ
+our Lord.</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 28em;" class="smcap">J. H. Jowett.</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 5em;">Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 9em;">New York.</span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<table style="width:75%;" border="1" summary="Index">
+	<tr>
+		<td>  <a href="#JAN">JANUARY</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#FEB">FEBRUARY</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#MAR">MARCH</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#APR">APRIL</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#MAY">MAY</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#JUN">JUNE</a></td>
+        </tr>
+	<tr>
+		<td>  <a href="#JUL">JULY</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#AUG">AUGUST</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#SEP">SEPTEMBER</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#OCT">OCTOBER</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#NOV">NOVEMBER</a></td>
+		<td>  <a href="#DEC">DECEMBER</a></td>
+	</tr>
+
+</table></div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div id="page_content">
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 1]</span><a name="JAN" id="JAN"></a></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE UNKNOWN JOURNEY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He went out not knowing whither he went.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> xi. 6-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>BRAM began his journey without any knowledge of his ultimate destination.
+He obeyed a noble impulse without any discernment of its consequences. He
+took &ldquo;one step,&rdquo; and he did not &ldquo;ask to see the distant scene.&rdquo; And that
+is faith, to do God&#8217;s will here and now, quietly leaving the results to
+Him. Faith is not concerned with the entire chain; its devoted attention
+is fixed upon the immediate link. Faith is not knowledge of a moral
+process; it is fidelity in a moral act. Faith leaves something to the
+Lord; it obeys His immediate commandment and leaves to Him direction and
+destiny.</p>
+
+<p>And so faith is accompanied by serenity. &ldquo;He that believeth shall not make
+haste&rdquo;&mdash;or, more literally, &ldquo;shall not get into a fuss.&rdquo; He shall not get
+into a panic, neither fetching fears from his yesterdays nor from his
+to-morrows. Concerning his yesterdays faith says, &ldquo;Thou hast beset me
+behind.&rdquo; Concerning his to-morrows faith says, &ldquo;Thou hast beset me
+before.&rdquo; Concerning his to-day faith says, &ldquo;Thou hast laid Thine hand
+upon me.&rdquo; That is enough, just to feel the pressure of the guiding hand.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 2]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LARGER OUTLOOK</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xv. 5-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven!&rdquo; The
+tent was changed for the sky! Abraham sat moodily in his tent: God brought
+him forth beneath the stars. And that is always the line of the Divine
+leading. He brings us forth out of our small imprisonments and He sets our
+feet in a large place. He desires for us height and breadth of view. For
+&ldquo;as the heavens are high above the earth&rdquo; so are His thoughts higher than
+our thoughts, and His ways than our ways. He wishes us, I say, to exchange
+the tent for the sky, and to live and move in great, spacious thoughts of
+His purposes and will.</p>
+
+<p>How is it with our love? Is it a thing of the tent or of the sky? Does it
+range over mighty spaces seeking benedictions for a multitude? Or does it
+dwell in selfish seclusion, imprisoned in merely selfish quest? How is it
+with our prayers? How big are they? Will a tent contain them, or do they
+move with the scope and greatness of the heavens? Do they just contain our
+own families, or is China in them, and India, and &ldquo;the uttermost parts of
+the earth&rdquo;? &ldquo;Look now towards the heavens!&rdquo; Such must be our outlook if we
+are the companions of God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 3]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE NEVER-FAILING SPRINGS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xvii. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;WILL establish My covenant.&rdquo; The good promises of God are never
+revoked. They are like springs which know no shrinking in times of
+drought. Nay, in time of drought they reveal a richer fulness. The
+promises are confirmed in the hour of my need, and the greater my need the
+greater is my bounty. And so it was that the Apostle Paul came to &ldquo;rejoice
+in his infirmities,&rdquo; for through his infirmities he discovered the riches
+of Divine grace. He brought a bigger pitcher to the fountain, and he
+always carried it away full. &ldquo;As thy days so shall thy strength be.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So I need never fear that the promise of yesterday will exhaust itself
+before to-morrow. God&#8217;s covenant goes with us like the ever-fresh waters
+of the wilderness. &ldquo;They drank of that rock which followed them, and that
+rock was Christ.&rdquo; Every fulfilment of God&#8217;s promise is the pledge of one
+to come.</p>
+
+<p>God has no road without its springs. If His path stretches across the
+waste wilderness the &ldquo;fountains shall break out in the desert,&rdquo; and &ldquo;the
+wilderness shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 4]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE GOD OF THEIR SUCCEEDING RACE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Exodus</span> vi. 2-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;APPEARED unto Abraham.... I will be to you a God.&rdquo; The covenant made
+with the father was renewed to the children. The father&#8217;s death did not
+disannul the promise of the Lord. Death has no power in the realms of
+grace. His moth and his rust can never destroy the ministries of Divine
+love. Abraham died and was laid to rest, but the river of life flowed on,
+and the bounties of the Lord never failed. The village well quenches the
+thirst of many generations: and so is it through the generations with the
+wells of grace and salvation. The villagers have not to dig a new well
+when the patriarch dies: &ldquo;the river of God is full of water.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And thus I am privileged to share the spiritual resources of Abraham, and
+the still richer resources of the Apostle Paul. Nothing was given to him
+that is withheld from me. He is like a great mountaineer, and he has
+climbed to lofty heights; but I need not be dismayed. All the strength
+that was given to him, in which he reached those lofty places, is mine
+also. I may share his elevation and his triumph. &ldquo;For the promise is
+unto you and your children, and to all that are afar off.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 5]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE FLOWERS THAT NEVER FADE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Peter</span> i. 1-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>N inheritance incorruptible.&rdquo; I am writing these words in the Island
+of Arran. To-morrow I shall leave the land behind, but I shall take the
+landscape with me! It will be with me in the coming winter, and I shall
+gaze upon Goat Fell in the streets of New York. The land is a temporary
+possession, the landscape abides!</p>
+
+<p>The praise of men often dies with the shout that proclaims it. Another
+idol appears and the feverish worship is transferred to him. The world&#8217;s
+garland begins to fade as soon as it is laid upon the brow. The morning
+after the coronation I possess a handful of withering leaves. But the
+garland of God&#8217;s praise acquires new grace and beauty with the years. It
+is never so fresh and flourishing as just when everything else is fading
+away. It is glorious in the hour of death! The soul goes, wearing her
+garland, into the presence of the gracious Lord who gave it.</p>
+
+<p>We can begin even now to wear the flowers of Paradise. We can begin even
+now to furnish our minds with lovely thoughts and memories. We can have
+&ldquo;the mind of Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 6]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>&ldquo;<em>COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS</em>&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cv. 1-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-c.png" width="78" height="80" alt="C" title="" />
+</div><p>OUNT your blessings!&rdquo; Yes, but over what area shall I look for them?
+There is my personal life. Let me search in every corner. I have found
+forget-me-nots on many a rutty road. I have found wild-roses behind a
+barricade of nettles. Professor Miall has a lecture on &ldquo;The Botany of a
+Railway Station.&rdquo; He found something graceful and exquisite in the midst
+of its soot and grime. So I must look even in the dark patches of life,
+among my disappointments and defeats, and even there I shall find tokens
+of the Lord&#8217;s presence, some flowers of His planting.</p>
+
+<p>And there is my share in the life of the nation. &ldquo;Ye seed of Abraham His
+servant, ye children of Jacob His chosen.&rdquo; There are hands that stretch
+out to me from past days, laden with bequests of privilege and freedom.
+Our feet &ldquo;stand in a large place,&rdquo; and the place was cleared by the
+fidelity and the courage of the men of old. I have countless blessings
+that were bought with blood. The red marks of sacrifice are over all my
+daily ways. Let me not take the inheritance and overlook the blood marks,
+and stride about as though it were nought but common ground. Mercies
+abound on every hand! &ldquo;Count your blessings!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 7]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>A JOURNAL OF MERCIES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Nehemiah</span> ix. 6-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HOU hast performed Thy words: for Thou art righteous.&rdquo; Frances Ridley
+Havergal kept a journal of mercies. She had a record book, and she crowded
+it with her remembrances of God&#8217;s goodness. She was always on the look-out
+for tokens of the Lord&#8217;s grace and bounty, and she found them everywhere.
+Everywhere she had communion with a covenant-keeping God. The Bible became
+to her more and more the history of her own life and experience. Promise
+after promise told the story of her own triumphs. She appropriated the
+goodness of God, and she set her own seal to the testimony that God is
+true.</p>
+
+<p>Many a complaining life would be changed into music and song by a journal
+of mercies. Many a fear can be dispersed by a ready remembrance. Memory
+can be made the handmaid of hope. Yesterday&#8217;s blessing can kindle the
+courage of to-day. That is the purposed ministry of &ldquo;the days that have
+been.&rdquo; We are to harness the strength of their experiences to the tasks
+and burdens of to-day; and in the remembrance of God&#8217;s providences we
+shall march through our difficulties with singing.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 8]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HE IS FAITHFUL!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> viii. 54-61.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE hath not failed one word of all His good promise.&rdquo; Supposing one
+word had failed, how then? If one golden promise had turned out to be
+counterfeit, how then? If the ground had yielded anywhere we should
+have been fearful and suspicious at every part of the road. If the bell
+of God&#8217;s fidelity had been broken anywhere the music would have been
+destroyed. But not one word has failed. The road has never given way in
+time of flood. Every bell of heaven is perfectly sound, and the music is
+full and glorious. &ldquo;God is faithful, who also will do it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;God is love,&rdquo; and &ldquo;love never faileth.&rdquo; The lamp will not die out
+at the midnight. The fountain will not fail us in the wilderness. The
+consolations will not be wanting in the hour of our distresses. Love will
+have &ldquo;all things ready.&rdquo; &ldquo;He has promised, and shall He not do it?&rdquo; All
+the powers of heaven are pledged to the fulfilment of the smallest word of
+grace. We can never be deserted! &ldquo;God cannot deny Himself.&rdquo; Every word of
+His will unburden its treasure at the appointed hour, and I shall be rich
+with the strength of my God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 9]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PERILS OF POSSESSIONS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xiii. 1-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE is nothing more divisive than wealth. As families grow rich their
+members frequently become alienated. It is rarely, indeed, that love
+increases with the increase of riches. Luxurious possessions appear to be
+a forcing-bed in which the seeds of sleeping vices waken into strength.
+For one thing, selfishness is often quickened with success. Plenty, as
+well as penury, can &ldquo;freeze the genial currents of the soul.&rdquo; And with
+selfishness comes a whole brood of mean and petty dispositions. Envy comes
+with it, and jealousy, and a morbid sensitiveness which readily leaps into
+strife.</p>
+
+<p>So do our possessions multiply our temptations. So does the bright day
+&ldquo;bring forth the adder.&rdquo; So do we need extra defences when &ldquo;fortune smiles
+upon us.&rdquo; But our God can make us proof against &ldquo;the fiery darts&rdquo; of
+success. Abram remained unscathed in &ldquo;the garish day.&rdquo; The Lord delivered
+him from &ldquo;the destruction that wasteth at noonday.&rdquo; His wealth increased,
+but it was not allowed to force itself between his soul and God. In the
+midst of all his prosperity, he dwelt in &ldquo;the secret place of the Most
+High,&rdquo; and he abode in &ldquo;the shadow of the Almighty.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 10]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Tenth</h2>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LUST OF THE EYE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xiii. 10-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>OOK at Lot. He was a man of the world, sharp as a needle, having an eye
+to the main chance. He boasted to himself that he always &ldquo;took in the
+whole situation.&rdquo; He said that what he did not know was not worth knowing.
+But such &ldquo;knowing&rdquo; men have always very imperfect sight. Lot saw &ldquo;all the
+well-watered plain of Jordan,&rdquo; but he overlooked the city of Sodom and its
+exceedingly wicked and sinful people. And the thing he overlooked was the
+biggest thing in the outlook! It was to prove his undoing, and to bring
+his presumptuous selfishness to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Look at Abram. His spirit was cool and thoughtful, unheated by the
+feverish yearning after increased possessions. He had a &ldquo;quiet eye,&rdquo; the
+fruit of his faithful communion with God. He was more intent on peace than
+plenty. He preferred fraternal fellowship to selfish increase. And so he
+chose the unselfish way, and along that way he discovered the blessing of
+God. &ldquo;The Lord is mindful of His own. He remembereth His children.&rdquo; In the
+unselfish way we always enjoy the Divine companionship, and in that
+companionship we are endowed with inconceivable wealth.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 11]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SELF-MADE OR GOD-MADE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> vi. 26-33.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HINK of Lot and then think of a lily of the field! Think of the
+feverishness of the one and of the serenity of the other, or think of the
+ugly selfishness of the one, and of the graceful beauty of the other! Look
+upon avarice at its worst, upon a Shylock, and then gaze upon a lily of
+the field! How alarming is the contrast! The one is self-made, guided by
+vicious impulses; the other is the handiwork of God. The one is rooted in
+self-will; the other is rooted in the power of the Divine grace. God has
+nothing to do with the one; He has everything to do with the other. So one
+becomes &ldquo;big&rdquo; and ugly; the other grows in strength and beauty.</p>
+
+<p>Now the wonder is this, that we, too, may be rooted in the power from
+which the lily draws its grace. We may draw into our souls the wealth of
+the Eternal, even the unsearchable riches of Christ. We may put on &ldquo;the
+beauty of holiness.&rdquo; We may become clothed in the graces of the Spirit.
+When we are in the field of the lilies we may appear unto the Lord as
+kindred flowers of His own garden.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Rooted in Him,&rdquo; we shall &ldquo;grow up in all things unto Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 12]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>TWO OPPOSITES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.&rdquo;<br />&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">John</span>
+ii. 13-17.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-n.png" width="80" height="80" alt="N" title="" />
+</div><p>O man can love two opposites any more than he can walk in contrary
+directions at the same time. No man can at once be mean and magnanimous,
+chivalrous and selfish. We cannot at the same moment dress appropriately
+for the arctic regions and the tropics. And we cannot wear the habits of
+the world and the garments of salvation. When we try to do it the result
+is a wretched and miserable compromise. I have seen a shopkeeper on the
+Sabbath day put up one shutter, out of presumed respect for the Holy Lord,
+and behind the shutter continue all the business of the world! That one
+shutter is typical of all the religion that is left when a man &ldquo;loves the
+world&rdquo; and delights in its prizes and crowns. His religion is a bit of
+idle ritual which is an offence unto God!</p>
+
+<p>So I must make my choice. Shall I travel north or south? Which of the two
+opposites shall I love&mdash;God or the world? Whichever love I choose will
+drive out and quench the other. And thus if I choose the love of God it
+will destroy every worldly passion, and the river of my affections and
+desires will be like &ldquo;the river of water of life, clear as crystal.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 13]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE MIRACLE IN A DRY PLACE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cvii. 33-43.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>E turneth ... the dry ground into water-springs.&rdquo; This is one of the
+miracles of grace. The good Lord makes a dry experience the fountain of
+blessing. I pass into an apparently waste place and I find riches of
+consolation. Even in &ldquo;the valley of the shadow&rdquo; I come upon &ldquo;green
+pastures&rdquo; and &ldquo;still waters.&rdquo; I find flowers in the ruts of the hardest
+roads if I am in &ldquo;the way of God&#8217;s commandments.&rdquo; God&#8217;s providence is the
+pioneer of every faithful pilgrim. &ldquo;His blessed feet have gone before.&rdquo;
+What I shall need is already foreseen, and foresight with the Lord means
+forethought and provision. Every hour gives the loyal disciples surprises
+of grace.</p>
+
+<p>Let me therefore not fear when the path of duty turns into the wilderness.
+The wilderness is as habitable with God as the crowded city, and in His
+fellowship my bread and water are sure. The Lord has strange manna for the
+children of disappointment, and He makes water to &ldquo;gush forth from the
+rock.&rdquo; Duty can lead me nowhere without Him, and His provision is abundant
+both in &ldquo;the thirsty desert and the dewy mead.&rdquo; There will be a spring at
+the foot of every hill, and I shall find &ldquo;lilies of peace&rdquo; in the lonely
+valley of humiliation.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 14]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>FORGETTING GOD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Deuteronomy</span> viii. 11-20.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-b.png" width="79" height="80" alt="B" title="" />
+</div><p>EWARE ... lest when thou hast eaten and art full ... thine heart be
+lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God.&rdquo; I was in a little cottage
+near Warwick. I said to the good man who lived in it, &ldquo;Can you see the
+castle?&rdquo; and he replied, &ldquo;We can see it best in the winter when the leaves
+are off the trees. In the summer time it is apt to be hid!&rdquo; The summer
+bounty hid the castle; the winter barrenness revealed it! And so it is in
+life. In the season of fulness we are prone to be blind to &ldquo;the house of
+many mansions,&rdquo; and we forget the Master of the house, the Lord our God.
+Our material wealth hides our eternal treasure.</p>
+
+<p>What, then, shall we do in the days of our prosperity, when all our trees
+are in full leaf? We must pray that material things may never become
+opaque, that they may be always transparent, so that through the seen we
+may behold the unseen. This is a gift of the Spirit, and it may be ours.
+He will anoint our eyes with the eye-salve of grace, and everything will
+become to us a symbol of something better, so that even in the midst of
+material plenty our hearts will be with our treasure in heaven. Everything
+will be to us &ldquo;as it were transparent glass.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 15]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE MINISTRY OF PRAISE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxv.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us.&rdquo; In that joyful
+assurance there is both retrospect and prospect. There is the trodden
+pathway of Providence, and there is the star of hope! The eyes are
+steadied and refreshed in sacred memories, and then they gaze into the
+future with serene and happy confidence. And so the Ebenezer of the soul
+becomes both a thanksgiving and a reconsecration.</p>
+
+<p>Now perhaps our hopes are thin because our praises are scanty. Perhaps our
+expectations are clouded because our memories are dim. There is nothing so
+quickens hope as a journey among the mercies of our yesterdays. The heart
+lays aside its fears amid the accumulated blessings of our God. Worries
+pass away like cloudlets in the warmth of a summer&#8217;s morning. And the
+recollections of God&#8217;s goodness always make summer even in the wintriest
+day.</p>
+
+<p>Now I see why the New Testament is so urgent in the matter of praise.
+Without praise many other virtues and graces cannot be born. Without
+praise they have no breath of life. Praise quickens a radiant company
+of heavenly presences, and among them is the shining spirit of hope.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 16]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE DISTINCTION OF BEING RECOGNIZED</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> x. 1-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Good Shepherd knows His sheep, and knows them by name. And that is
+what I am tempted to forget. I think of myself as one of an innumerable
+multitude, no one of whom receives personal attention. &ldquo;My way is
+overlooked by my God.&rdquo; But here is the evangel&mdash;the Saviour would
+miss me, even me!</p>
+
+<p>At a great orchestral rehearsal, which Sir Michael Costa was conducting,
+the man who played the piccolo stayed his fingers for a moment, thinking
+that his trifling contribution would never be missed. At once Sir Michael
+raised his hand, and said: &ldquo;Stop! Where&#8217;s the piccolo?&rdquo; He missed the
+individual note. And my Lord needs the note of my life to make the music
+of His Kingdom, and if the note be absent He will miss it, and the
+glorious music will be broken and incomplete.</p>
+
+<p>There is a common vice of self-conceit, but there is also a common vice of
+excessive self-depreciation. &ldquo;My Lord can do nothing with me!&rdquo; Yes, my
+Lord knows thee and needs thee! And by the power of His grace thou canst
+accomplish wonders!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 17]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>My sheep hear My voice!</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> x. 19-30.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS is spiritual discernment. We may test our growth in grace by our
+expertness in detecting the voice of our Lord. It is the skill of the
+saint to catch &ldquo;the still small voice&rdquo; amid all the selfish clamours of
+the day, and amid the far more subtle callings of the heart. It needs a
+good ear to catch the voice of the Lord in our sorrows. I think it
+requires a better ear to discern the voice amid our joys! The twilight
+helps me to be serious; the noonday glare tends to make me heedless.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And they follow Me!</em>&rdquo; Discernment is succeeded by obedience. That is the
+one condition of becoming a saint&mdash;to follow the immediate call of the
+Lord. And it is the one condition of becoming an expert listener. Every
+time I hear the voice, and follow, I sharpen my sense of hearing, and the
+next time the voice will sound more clear.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And I give unto them eternal life.</em>&rdquo; Yes, life is found in the ways of
+a listening obedience. Every faculty and function will be vitalized when I
+follow the Lord of life and glory. &ldquo;In Christ shall all be made alive.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>My Saviour, graciously give me the listening ear! Give me the obedient
+heart.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 18]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY the Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>FALSE SHEPHERDS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ezekiel</span> xxxiv. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS word of the Lord puts before me the unlovely lineaments of the false
+shepherds.</p>
+
+<p>They are self-seeking. They &ldquo;<em>feed themselves</em>,&rdquo; but they &ldquo;<em>feed not
+the flock</em>.&rdquo; They take up religion for what they can make out of it! It
+is a carnal ambition, not a holy service. It is used for getting, not for
+giving, for self-glorification and not for self-sacrifice. It is
+selfishness masquerading as holiness, the thief in the garb of the
+shepherd.</p>
+
+<p>And, therefore, the false shepherds are devoid of sympathy. &ldquo;<em>The diseased
+have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick.</em>&rdquo;
+Selfishness always tends to benumbment. Humaneness is fostered by
+sacrifice. Our sympathetic chords are kept refined by chivalrous deeds.
+Drop the deeds and all our refinements begin to coarsen, and we make no
+response to our brother&#8217;s cries of need and pain.</p>
+
+<p>And because there is no sympathy there is no quest. &ldquo;<em>My sheep wandered
+... and none did seek after them.</em>&rdquo; How can we seek them if we have never
+missed them, if we have no sense that they are lost? Our Lord came in
+travail of soul to &ldquo;seek that which was lost.&rdquo; And I must share His
+travail if I would share in the search.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 19]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LOST SHEEP</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ezekiel</span> xxxiv. 11-19.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND now, again, I am bidden to contemplate the gracious ministries of the
+Good Shepherd.</p>
+
+<p>The Good Shepherd searches the &ldquo;far country&rdquo; for His lost sheep. &ldquo;<em>I will
+bring them ... out of all places where they have been scattered.</em>&rdquo; He goes
+into the hard wilderness of cold indifference, and wasteful pride, and
+desolating sin, searching &ldquo;high and low&rdquo; for His foolish sheep. And no
+place is unvisited by the Great Seeker! Every perilous ravine, where a
+sheep can be lost, knows the footprints of the Shepherd. And He knows my
+far-country, and He is seeking me!</p>
+
+<p>And the Good Shepherd brings His wandering sheep back home. &ldquo;<em>I will bring
+them ... to their own land.</em>&rdquo; We return from the land of pride to the home
+of lowliness, from hard indifference to gracious sympathy, from the
+barrenness of sin to the beauty of holiness. We come back to God&#8217;s
+beautiful &ldquo;lily-land&rdquo; of eternal light and peace.</p>
+
+<p>And what nutriment the Good Shepherd provides for the home-coming sheep!
+&ldquo;<em>I will feed them in a good pasture.</em>&rdquo; Our wasted powers shall be renewed
+and strengthened by the fattening diet of grace. Love shall be both host
+and meat! &ldquo;He will satisfy thy mouth with good things.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 20]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PASSING OF THE BEAST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ezekiel</span> xxxiv. 23-31.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN the Good Shepherd has charge of His flock &ldquo;<em>the wild beasts will
+cease out of the land</em>.&rdquo; All beastly passions shall be destroyed. The fair
+gardens of our souls shall no longer be ravaged by sleek pride, or fierce
+appetite, or ravenous lust. &ldquo;Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder,
+the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the forces of nature shall be in friendly co-operation. &ldquo;<em>I will cause
+the shower to come down in his season.</em>&rdquo; We are to have mystic allies in
+sky and field. Nature sides with the man who sides with God. Our very
+garden becomes our helpmeet when we are cultivating the fruits of the
+Spirit. The heavens assume a friendly aspect when we are &ldquo;marching to
+beautiful Zion.&rdquo; But when we are against the Lord all these forces appear
+to be hostile. &ldquo;The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And we are to have a joyful assurance of the companionship of our God.
+&ldquo;<em>This shall they know, that I, the Lord their God, am with them.</em>&rdquo; And
+in that precious assurance every other treasure is found! Only be sure of
+that, and we shall walk about as kings and queens!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 21]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY the Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE VALUE OF ONE SOUL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xviii. 7-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT an infinite value the Lord attaches to one soul! &ldquo;And <em>one of them</em>
+be gone astray!&rdquo; I thought He might never have missed the one! And yet the
+Eastern shepherd says that out of his great flock he can miss the
+individual face. A face is missing, as though a child were absent from the
+family circle. When a soul is wandering in the far country there is an
+awful gap in the Father&#8217;s house! Is thy place empty? Is mine?</p>
+
+<p>And mark the pangs of the Shepherd&#8217;s quest. He &ldquo;<em>goeth into the mountain
+and seeketh!</em>&rdquo; The Eastern shepherd goes out in tempest, and in rocky
+ravine, or in thorny scrub that tears the hands and feet, he seeks and
+finds his sheep. And my Lord sought me, in stony and thorny places, in the
+darkness of Gethsemane, and in the awful desolations of The Hill.</p>
+
+<p>And the Shepherd found His sheep, and He returns across the hills singing
+the song of the triumph of grace&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;And up from the mountains, thunder-riven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And up from the rocky steep,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">A cry arose to the gates of heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">&lsquo;Rejoice! I have found My sheep!&rsquo;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">And the angels echo around the throne,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">&lsquo;Rejoice! for the Lord brings back His own!&rsquo;&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 22]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MY OWN SHEPHERD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxiii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>OW shall we touch this lovely psalm and not bruise it? It is exquisite as
+&ldquo;a violet by a mossy stone!&rdquo; Exposition is almost an impertinence, its
+grace is so simple and winsome.</p>
+
+<p>There is the ministry of rest. &ldquo;<em>He maketh me to lie down in green
+pastures.</em>&rdquo; The Good Shepherd knows when my spirit needs relaxation. He
+will not have me always &ldquo;on the stretch.&rdquo; The bow of the best violin
+sometimes requires to have its strings &ldquo;let down.&rdquo; And so my Lord gives me
+rest.</p>
+
+<p>And there is the discipline of change. &ldquo;<em>He leadeth me in the paths of
+righteousness.</em>&rdquo; Those strange roads in life, unknown roads, by which I
+pass into changed circumstances and surroundings! But the discipline of
+the change is only to bring me into new pastures, that I may gain fresh
+nutriment for my soul. &ldquo;Because they have no changes they fear not God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And there is &ldquo;<em>the valley of the shadow</em>,&rdquo; cold and bare! What matter? He
+is there! &ldquo;I will fear no evil.&rdquo; What if I see &ldquo;no pastures green&rdquo;? &ldquo;Thy
+rod and Thy staff they comfort me!&rdquo; The Lord, who is leading, will see
+after my food. &ldquo;Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine
+enemies.&rdquo; I have a quiet feast while my foes are looking on!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 23]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE GIVER&#8217;S HAND</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Genesis</span> iv. 3-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-c.png" width="78" height="80" alt="C" title="" />
+</div><p>AIN and Abel both brought an offering unto the Lord, but one was accepted
+and the other rejected. It is the giver who determines the worth or the
+worthlessness of the gift. God looks not at the gift, but at the hand that
+brings it. &ldquo;Your hands are full of blood!&rdquo; &ldquo;Your hands are unclean!&rdquo; The
+Lord demands &ldquo;clean hands.&rdquo; He will not have our compliments if there is
+defilement behind them. Our courtesies are rejected if iniquity attends
+them. The shining gloss on the linen is an offence if the dirt looks
+through! Who cares for food if presented by unclean hands? &ldquo;Be ye clean,
+ye that bear the vessels of the Lord!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Every gift is welcome to the Lord if offered with clean hands. A mite, or
+a cup of cold water, or our daily labour, or the first-fruits of garden or
+field&mdash;all receive the blessing of our God if the hands that bring them
+are free from defilement. So is it with everything we offer to the Lord. A
+song of praise makes sweet music in the hearing of our God if it come from
+pure lips! Purity, as Thomas a&#8217; Kempis says, gives the wings which carry
+everything into the Father&#8217;s presence.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 24]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE VOICE OF THE DEAD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> xi. 1-6.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>ITH what voice shall we speak when we are dead? What will men hear when
+they turn their thoughts toward us? What part of us will remain alive,
+singing or jarring in men&#8217;s remembrance? It is the biggest part of us that
+retains its voice. In some it is wealth, in others it is goodness; some
+go on speaking in their cruelty, others in their gentleness. Cain still
+speaks in his jealous passion. Abel speaks in his faith. Dorcas speaks in
+her &ldquo;good works and alms-deeds which she did&rdquo;; Judas Iscariot speaks in
+his betrayal. Yes, something goes on speaking. What shall it be?</p>
+
+<p>But these biggest things not only continue to speak in the ears of memory,
+they persist as actual forces in the common life of men. Our faith is not
+buried with our bones, nor is our avarice or pride. Our characters do not
+die when our hearts cease to beat. &ldquo;The evil that men do lives after
+them,&rdquo; and so does the good. But deeper than our deeds, our dominant
+dispositions persist and mingle as friends or enemies in the lives of
+others. By them we, being dead, still speak, and we speak in subtle forces
+which aid or hinder other pilgrims who are fighting their way to God and
+heaven.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 25]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>FIRST, MY BROTHER!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> v. 17-24.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-f.png" width="80" height="80" alt="F" title="" />
+</div><p>IRST be reconciled to thy brother.&rdquo; We are to put first things first.
+When we bring a gift unto the Lord He looks at the hand that brings it. If
+the hand is defiled the gift is rejected. &ldquo;Wash you, make you clean.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>All this tells us why some resplendent gifts are rejected, and why some
+commonplace gifts are received amid heavenly song. This is why the widow&#8217;s
+mite goes shining through the years. The hand that offered it was hallowed
+and purified with sacrifice. Shall we say that in that palm there was
+something akin to the pierced hands of the Lord? The mite had intimate
+associations with the Cross.</p>
+
+<p>And it also tells me why so much of our public worship is offensive to our
+Lord. We come to the church from a broken friendship. Some holy thing has
+been broken on the way. Someone&#8217;s estate has been invaded, and his
+treasure spoiled. Someone has been wronged, and God will not touch our
+gift. &ldquo;Leave there thy gift; first be reconciled to thy brother.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 26]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE FIRE OF ENVY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil
+work!</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">James</span> iii. 13-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>N Milton&#8217;s &ldquo;Comus&rdquo; we read of a certain potion which has the power to
+pervert all the senses of everyone who drinks it. Nothing is apprehended
+truly. Sight and hearing and taste are all disordered, and the victim is
+all unconscious of the confusion. The deadly draught is the minister of
+deceptive chaos.</p>
+
+<p>And envy is like that potion when it is drunk by the spirit. It perverts
+every moral and spiritual sense. The envious is more fatally stricken than
+the blind. He gazes upon untruth and thinks it true. He looks upon
+confusion and thinks it order. Envy is colour-blind. It is like jealousy,
+of which it is a blood-relation. It never sees anything in its natural
+hues. It misinterprets everything.</p>
+
+<p>No one can quench the unholy fire of envy but the mighty God Himself. It
+is like a prairie fire: once kindled it is beyond our power to stamp it
+out. But God&#8217;s coolness is more than a match for all our feverish heat.
+His quenchings are transformations. He converts the perverted and changes
+envy into goodwill. The bitter pool is made sweet. For confusion He gives
+order, for ashes He gives beauty, and in the face of an old enemy we see
+the countenance of a friend.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 27]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CONFESSION OF SIN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I acknowledge my transgressions;
+and my sin is ever before me.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> li. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-s.png" width="80" height="80" alt="S" title="" />
+</div><p>IN that is unconfessed shuts out the energies of grace. Confession makes
+the soul receptive of the bountiful waters of life. We open the door to
+God as soon as we name our sin. Guilt that is penitently confessed is
+already in the &ldquo;consuming fire&rdquo; of God&#8217;s love. When I &ldquo;acknowledge my sin&rdquo;
+I begin to enter into the knowledge of &ldquo;pardon, joy, and peace.&rdquo; But if I
+hide my sin I also hide myself from &ldquo;the unsearchable riches of Christ.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
+to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I must then make confession of sin in my daily exercises in the presence
+of the Lord. I am taking the way to recovered victory when I tell the Lord
+the story of my defeat. Satan strengthens his awful chains when he can
+induce me to keep silence concerning my sin. All his plans are thrown into
+confusion as soon as I &ldquo;pour out my soul before the Lord.&rdquo; When I fall let
+me not add to my guilt the further sin of secrecy. Unconfessed sin breeds
+in its lurking-place and multiplies its hateful offspring. The soul that
+makes confession is washed through and through, and the seeds of iniquity
+are driven out of my soul.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 28]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CLEAN AND UNCLEAN ANGER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ephesians</span> iv. 25-32.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET all anger be put away from you.&rdquo; And yet only a moment ago the
+Apostle had written the words, &ldquo;Be ye angry and sin not.&rdquo; My power of
+anger is not to be destroyed, it is to be transformed and purified. Anger
+can be like an unclean bonfire; it can also be like &ldquo;a sea of glass
+mingled with fire.&rdquo; There can be more smoke than light in it, more selfish
+passion than holy purpose. The fuel that feeds it may be envy, and
+jealousy, and spite, and not a big desire for the good of men and the
+glory of God. Worldly anger &ldquo;is set on fire of hell&rdquo;; holy anger borrows
+flame from the altar-fires of God.</p>
+
+<p>Our anger reveals our character. What is the quality of our anger? What
+kindles it? Is it incited by our own wrongs or by the wrongs of another?
+Is it set on fire by self-indulgence or by a noble sympathy? Here is a
+sentence which describes the anger of the Apostle Paul: &ldquo;Who is made to
+stumble and I burn not?&rdquo; Paul&#8217;s holy anger was made to burn by oppression,
+by the cruelty inflicted upon his fellow-men. His fire had nothing unclean
+in it; it was pure as the flame of oxygen.</p>
+
+<p>This is the anger we must cherish. We cannot &ldquo;work ourselves up&rdquo; into it.
+We must seek to be &ldquo;baptized with the Holy Ghost <em>and with fire</em>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 29]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>NOBLE REVENGE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> vii. 4.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT is the noblest revenge, and in those moments David had intimate
+knowledge of the spirit of his Lord. &ldquo;If thine enemy hunger, feed him!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><em>Evil for good is devil-like.</em> To receive a favour and to return a blow!
+To obtain the gift of language, and then to use one&#8217;s speech to curse the
+giver! To use a sacred sword is unholy warfare! All this is devil-like.</p>
+
+<p><em>Evil for evil is beast-like.</em> Yes, the dog bites back when it is bitten.
+The dog returns snarl for snarl, venom for venom. And if, when I have been
+injured, I &ldquo;pay a man back in his own coin,&rdquo; if I &ldquo;give him as good as he
+gave,&rdquo; I am living on the plane of the beast.</p>
+
+<p><em>Good for good is man-like.</em> When I requite a man&#8217;s kindness by kindness!
+When I send presents to one who loads me with benefits! This is a true and
+manly thing to do, and lifts us far above the beast.</p>
+
+<p><em>Good for evil is God-like.</em> Yes, that lifts me into &ldquo;the heavenly places
+in Christ Jesus.&rdquo; Then I have &ldquo;the mind of Christ.&rdquo; Then do I unto others
+as my Saviour has done unto me.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 30]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IRRESISTIBLE ARTILLERY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lvi.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-b.png" width="79" height="80" alt="B" title="" />
+</div><p>UT it must be a real &ldquo;cry&rdquo;! It must not be an idle recitation which sheds
+no blood. It must be a cry like the cry of the drowning, a cry which
+cleaves the air like a bullet. Said a man to me some while ago, &ldquo;Assault
+the heavens with cries for me!&rdquo; That is the cry which takes the kingdom by
+storm.</p>
+
+<p>When such a cry rends the heavens, &ldquo;my enemies turn back.&rdquo; A secret and
+irresistible artillery begins to play upon them, and their strength fails.
+Yes, believing prayer calls these invisible allies into the field. &ldquo;The
+mountains are full of horses and chariots of fire round about!&rdquo; And the
+enemy flies!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>This I know.</em>&rdquo; The psalmist is building upon experience. The miracle
+has happened a hundred times. Many a morning has he seen the enemy
+vaingloriously tramping the field, and he has cried unto the Lord, and
+before nightfall there has been a perfect rout. Blessed is the man who has
+had such heartening dealings with the Lord that he can now face a hostile
+host in unclouded faith and assurance!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 31]</span></p>
+<h2>JANUARY The Thirty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>UNDER HIS WINGS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>In the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash; <span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lvii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-c.png" width="78" height="80" alt="C" title="" />
+</div><p>OULD anything be more tenderly gracious than this figure of hiding under
+the shadow of God&#8217;s wings? It speaks of bosom-warmth, and bosom-shelter,
+and bosom-rest. &ldquo;Let me to Thy bosom fly!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And what strong wings they are! Under those wings I am secure even from
+the lions. My animal passions shall not hurt me when I am &ldquo;hiding in God.&rdquo;
+The fiercest onslaughts of the devil are powerless to break those mighty
+wings. The tenderest little chick, &ldquo;one of these little ones,&rdquo; nestling
+behind this soft and gentle shelter, shall be perfectly secure; &ldquo;none of
+its bones shall be broken.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I do not wonder that this sheltering psalmist begins to sing! &ldquo;<em>I will
+sing and give praise!</em>&rdquo; I have often listened to the sheltering chicks,
+hiding behind the mother&#8217;s wings, and I have heard that quaint,
+comfortable, contented sound for which our language has no name. It is a
+sound of incipient song, the musical murmur of satisfaction. &ldquo;I will sing
+unto Thee ... for Thy mercy is great.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 32]</span><a name="FEB" id="FEB"></a></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SOUL IN PRISON</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Bring my soul out of prison!</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxlii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;TOO, have my prison-house, and only the Lord can deliver me.</p>
+
+<p>There is <em>the prison-house of sin</em>. It is a dark and suffocating
+hole, without friendly light or morning air. And it is haunted by such
+affrighting shapes, as though my iniquities had incarnated themselves in
+ugly and repulsive forms. None but the Lord can bring me out.</p>
+
+<p>And there is <em>the prison-house of sorrow</em>. My griefs sometimes wrap me
+about like cold confining walls, which have neither windows nor doors. It
+seems as though a fluid sorrow can congeal into a cold, hard temperament,
+and hold me in its icy embrace. And none but the Lord can bring me out.</p>
+
+<p>And there is <em>the prison-house of death</em>. I must perforce pass through the
+gate of death. Shall I find it a castle of gloom, or is there another gate
+through which I shall emerge into the fair, sweet paradise of God? My
+Master is Lord of the road! And He tells me that death shall not be a
+castle of captivity, but only a thoroughfare through which I shall pass
+into the realm of eternal day.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 33]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HOW TO APPROACH A CRISIS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>It shall be given you in that same hour.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> x. 16-28.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so I am not to worry about the coming crisis! &ldquo;God never is before His
+time, and never is behind!&rdquo; When the hour is come, I shall find that the
+great Host hath made &ldquo;all things ready.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>When the crisis comes <em>He will tell me how to rest</em>. It is a great matter
+to know just how to rest&mdash;how to be quiet when &ldquo;all without tumultuous
+seems.&rdquo; We irritate and excite our souls about the coming emergency, and
+we approach it with worn and feverish spirits, and so mar our Master&#8217;s
+purpose and work.</p>
+
+<p>When the crisis comes <em>He will tell me what to do</em>. The orders are not
+given until the appointed day. Why should I fume and fret and worry as to
+what the sealed envelope contains? &ldquo;It is enough that He knows all,&rdquo; and
+when the hour strikes the secrets shall be revealed.</p>
+
+<p>And when the crisis comes <em>He will tell me what to say</em>. I need not begin
+to prepare my retorts and my responses. What shall I say when death comes,
+to me or to my loved one? Never mind, He will tell thee. And what when
+sorrow or persecution comes? Never mind, He will tell thee.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 34]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>TRANSFORMING THE HARD HEART</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><em>The Lord &ldquo;turned the flint into a fountain of waters.&rdquo;</em><br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxiv.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT a violent conjunction, the flint becoming the birthplace of a spring!
+And yet this is happening every day. Men who are as &ldquo;hard as flint,&rdquo; whose
+hearts are &ldquo;like the nether millstone,&rdquo; become springs of gentleness and
+fountains of exquisite compassion. Beautiful graces, like lovely ferns,
+grow in the home of severities, and transform the grim, stern soul into a
+garden of fragrant friendships. This is what Zacch&aelig;us was like when his
+flint became a fountain. It is what Matthew the publican was like when the
+Lord changed his hard heart into a land of springs.</p>
+
+<p>No one is &ldquo;too far gone.&rdquo; No hardness is beyond the love and pity of God.
+The well of eternal life can gush forth even in a desert waste, and &ldquo;where
+sin abounds grace doth much more abound.&rdquo; Let us bring our hardness to the
+Lord. Let us see what He can make of our flint. When we are dry and
+&ldquo;feelingless,&rdquo; and desire is dead, let us bring this Sahara to the great
+Restorer, and &ldquo;the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 35]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SPIRITUAL BUOYANCY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>When thou passeth through the waters they shall not overflow
+thee.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xliii. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN Mrs. Booth, the mother of the Salvation Army, was dying, she quietly
+said, &ldquo;The waters are rising but I am not sinking.&rdquo; But then she had been
+saying that all through her life. Other floods besides the waters of death
+had gathered about her soul. Often had the floods been out and the roads
+were deep in affliction. But she had never sunk! The good Lord made her
+buoyant, and she rode upon the storm! This, then, is the promise of the
+Lord, not that the waters of trouble shall never gather about the
+believer, but that he shall never be overwhelmed. He shall &ldquo;keep his head
+above them.&rdquo; Yes, to him shall be given the grace of &ldquo;aboveness.&rdquo; He shall
+never be under, always above! It is the precious gift of spiritual
+buoyancy, sanctified good spirits, the power of the Christian hope. When
+we are in Christ Jesus circumstances shall never be our master. One is our
+Master, and &ldquo;we are more than conquerors in Him that loved us, and washed
+us from our sins in His own blood.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 36]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>EVERYWHERE THE GATE OF HEAVEN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xxviii. 10-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT is the first time for many a day that Jacob had named the name of
+God. In all the dark story of his wicked intrigue the name of God is never
+mentioned. Jacob wanted to forget God! God would be a disturbing presence!
+But here he encounters Him in a dream, and in the most unlikely place.
+&ldquo;And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Jacob had yet to learn that there is everywhere &ldquo;a ladder set up on the
+earth and the top of it reaches to heaven.&rdquo; There was a ladder from the
+very tent in which he wore his deceptive skin. There was a ladder from the
+secret place where he and his mother wove their mischievous plot. There is
+no corner of earth which is cut away from the Divine vigilance. God gets
+at us everywhere.</p>
+
+<p>But there is a merciful side to all this. If the ladder be everywhere, and
+God can get at us, then also everywhere we can get at God. There are
+&ldquo;ascending angels&rdquo; who will carry our confessions, our prayers, our sighs
+and mournings, to the very heart of the eternally gracious God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 37]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE HOME-BIRD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xci. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;READ a sentence the other day in which a very powerful modern writer
+describes a certain woman as &ldquo;having God on her visiting list.&rdquo; We may
+recoil from the phrase, but it very vitally describes a very awful
+commonplace. Countless thousands have God on their visiting lists. They
+pay Him courtesy-calls, and between the calls He is forgotten. Perhaps the
+call is paid once a week in the social function of worship. Perhaps it is
+paid more rarely, like calls between comparative strangers. How great the
+contrast between a caller and one who dwells in the secret place! It is
+the difference between a flirt and a &ldquo;home-bird,&rdquo; between one who flits
+about on a score of fancies, and one who settles down in the solid
+satisfaction of a supreme affection.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.</em>&rdquo; Such is the reward of
+the &ldquo;home-bird,&rdquo; the settled friend of the Lord. The shadow of the Lord
+shall rest upon him continually. I sometimes read of our monarchs being
+&ldquo;shadowed&rdquo; by protective police. In an infinitely more real and intimate
+sense the soul that dwells in &ldquo;the secret place&rdquo; is shadowed by the
+sleepless grace and love of God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 38]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LEAVING ITS MARK</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will make thee<br /> a threshing
+instrument with teeth.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;
+<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xli. 8-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-c.png" width="78" height="80" alt="C" title="" />
+</div><p>OULD 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 a
+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 them
+with strength by which they will leave a noble mark upon the history of
+their time.</p>
+
+<p>And so the &ldquo;worm&rdquo; may take heart. The mighty God can make us stronger than
+our circumstances. We can bend them all to our good. In God&#8217;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. &ldquo;I will make thee,&rdquo; saith the Lord,
+&ldquo;and shall He not do it?&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 39]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>REVISITING OLD ALTARS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I will make there an altar unto God,<br /> who answered me in the day
+of my distress.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xxxv. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is a blessed thing to revisit our early altars. It is good to return
+to the haunts of early vision. Places and things have their sanctifying
+influences, and can recall us to lost experiences. I know a man to whom
+the scent of a white, wild rose is always a call to prayer. I know another
+to whom Grasmere is always the window of holy vision. Sometimes a
+particular pew in a particular church can throw the heavens open, and we
+see the Son of God. The old Sunday-school has sometimes taken an old man
+back to his childhood and back to his God. So I do not wonder that God led
+Jacob back to Bethel, and that in the old place of blessing he
+reconsecrated himself to the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>It is a revelation of the loving-kindness of God that we have all these
+helps to the recovery of past experiences. Let us use them with reverence.
+And in our early days let us make them. Let us build altars of communion
+which in later life we shall love to revisit. Let us make our early home
+&ldquo;the house of God and the gate of heaven.&rdquo; Let us multiply deeds of
+service which will make countless places fragrant for all our after
+years.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 40]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE ROCK AND THE BOWING WALL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE are two symbols by which the psalmist describes the confidence of the
+righteous. &ldquo;<em>He only is my rock.</em>&rdquo; Only yesterday I had the shelter of a
+great rock on a storm-swept mountain side. The wind tore along the
+heights, driving the rain like hail, but in the opening of the rock our
+shelter was complete.</p>
+
+<p>And the second symbol is this: &ldquo;<em>He is my high place.</em>&rdquo; The high place is
+the home of the chamois, out of reach of the arrow. &ldquo;Flee as a bird to
+your mountain!&rdquo; Get beyond the hunter&#8217;s range! Our security is found in
+loftiness. It is our unutterable privilege to live in the heavenly places
+in Christ Jesus. Such is the confidence of the righteous.</p>
+
+<p>In this psalm there is also another pair of symbols describing the
+futility of the wicked. The wicked is &ldquo;<em>as a bowing wall.</em>&rdquo; The wall is
+out of perpendicular, out of conformity with the truth of the plumb-line,
+and it will assuredly topple into ruin. So is it with the wicked: he is
+building awry, and he will fall into moral disaster. He is also &ldquo;<em>as a
+tottering fence.</em>&rdquo; The wind and the rain dislodge the fence, it rots at
+its foundations, and one day it lies prone upon the ground.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 41]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>REGISTERING A VERDICT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we
+obey.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Joshua</span> xxiv. 22-28.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE was a definite decision. Our peril is that we spend our life in
+wavering and we never decide. We are like a jury which is always hearing
+evidence and never gives a verdict. We do much thinking, but we never make
+up our minds. We let our eyes wander over many things, but we make no
+choice. Life has no crisis, no culmination.</p>
+
+<p>Now people who never decide spend their days in hoping to do so. But this
+kind of life becomes a vagrancy and not a noble and illumined crusade. We
+drift through our days, we do not steer, and we never arrive at any rich
+and stately haven.</p>
+
+<p>It is therefore vitally wise to &ldquo;make a vow unto the Lord.&rdquo; It is good to
+pull our loose thinkings together and to &ldquo;gird up the loins of the mind.&rdquo;
+Let a man, at some definite place, and at some definite moment, make the
+supreme choice of his life.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 42]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE HILL COUNTRY OF THE SOUL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxxi.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE should be a hill country in every life, some great up-towering peaks
+which dominate the common plain. There should be an upland district, where
+springs are born, and where rivers of inspiration have their birth. &ldquo;I
+will lift up mine eyes unto the hills.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The soul that knows no hills is sure to be oppressed with the monotony of
+the road. The inspiration to do little things comes from the presence of
+big things. It is amazing what dull trifles we can get through when a
+radiant love is near. A noble companionship glorifies the dingiest road.
+And what if that Companion be God? Then, surely, &ldquo;the common round and
+daily task&rdquo; have a light thrown upon them from &ldquo;the beauty of His
+countenance.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The &ldquo;heavenlies&rdquo; are our salvation and our defence. &ldquo;His righteousness is
+like the great mountains.&rdquo; &ldquo;The mountains bring forth peace unto His
+people.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 43]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE BULB AND THE SOIL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them,<br /> he it is that
+loveth Me.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> xiv. 15-24.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-y.png" width="81" height="80" alt="Y" title="" />
+</div><p>ES, but how can I keep them? Some one sent me a bulb which requires a
+certain kind of soil, but he also sent me the soil in which to grow it. He
+sent instructions, but he also sent power. And when I am bidden to keep a
+commandment I feel as though I have received the bulb but not the soil!
+But is this God&#8217;s way of dealing with His people? I will read on if
+perchance I may find the gift of the soil.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He that abideth in Me ... the same bringeth forth much fruit.&rdquo; That is
+the gift I seek. For the keeping of His commandments the Lord provides
+Himself. I am not called upon to raise fruits out of the soil of my own
+will, out of my own infirmity of aspiration or desire. I can rest
+everything in God! I can &ldquo;abide in Him,&rdquo; and I may have the holy energies
+of the Godhead to produce in me the fruits of a holy and obedient life.
+The good Lord provides both the bulb and the soil.</p>
+
+<p>It is the tragedy of life that we forget this, and seek to make a soil-bed
+of our own. And thus do we suffer the calamity of fruitless labour, the
+heavy drudgery of tasks beyond our strength. &ldquo;Come unto Me, all ye that
+labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 44]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GRUDGES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Thou shalt not bear any grudge.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Leviticus</span> xix. 11-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>OW searching is that demand upon the soul! My forgiveness of my brother
+is to be complete. No sullenness is to remain, no sulky temper which so
+easily gives birth to thunder and lightning. There is to be no painful
+aloofness, no assumption of a superiority which rains contempt upon the
+offender. When I forgive, I am not to carry any powder forward on the
+journey. I am to empty out all my explosives, all my ammunition of anger
+and revenge. I am not to &ldquo;bear any grudge.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I cannot meet this demand. It is altogether beyond me. I might utter words
+of forgiveness, but I cannot reveal a clear, bright, blue sky without a
+touch of storm brewing anywhere. But the Lord of grace can do it for me.
+He can change my weather. He can create a new climate. He can &ldquo;renew a
+right spirit within me,&rdquo; and in that holy atmosphere nothing shall live
+which seeks to poison and destroy. Grudges shall die &ldquo;like cloud-spots in
+the dawn.&rdquo; Revenge, that awful creation of the unclean, feverish soul,
+shall give place to goodwill, the strong genial presence which makes its
+home in the new heart.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 45]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IMPERFECT CONSECRATION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xix. 16-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE rich young ruler consecrated a part, but was unwilling to consecrate
+the whole. He hallowed the inch but not the mile. He would go part of the
+way, but not to the end. And the peril is upon us all. We give ourselves
+to the Lord, but we reserve some liberties. We offer Him our house, but
+we mark some rooms &ldquo;Private.&rdquo; And that word &ldquo;Private,&rdquo; denying the Lord
+admission, crucifies Him afresh. He has no joy in the house so long as any
+rooms are withheld.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. F. B. Meyer has told us how his early Christian life was marred and
+his ministry paralyzed just because he had kept back one key from the
+bunch of keys he had given to the Lord. Every key save one! The key of one
+room kept for personal use, and the Lord shut out. And the effects of the
+incomplete consecration were found in lack of power, lack of assurance,
+lack of joy and peace.</p>
+
+<p>The &ldquo;joy of the Lord&rdquo; begins when we hand over the last key. We sit with
+Christ on His throne as soon as we have surrendered all our crowns, and
+made Him sole and only ruler of our life and its possessions.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 46]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE WITNESS OF YESTERDAY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxxviii. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR yesterdays are to be the teachers of our children. We are to take them
+over our road, and show them the pitfalls where we stumbled and the snares
+that lured us away. And we are to show them how we found the springs of
+grace, and how the Lord made Himself known to us in daily providence and
+care. We are to relate His exploits, &ldquo;His wonderful dealings with the
+children of men.&rdquo; We must make our life witness of God to our children,
+and when their minds roam over our road they must see it radiant with the
+grace and mercy of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>The best inheritance I can give my child is a steadfast witness of my
+knowledge of God. The testimony of a light that never failed may give him
+the needful wisdom when his own way becomes troubled with clouds and
+darkness. And what a story it is, this story of the deeds of our gracious
+God. It is full of quickening for weary and desponding souls. It is a
+perfect reservoir of inspiration for those whose desire has failed, and in
+whose lives the wells of impulse have become dry. Let us bring forward
+yesterday&#8217;s wealth to enrich the life of to-day. &ldquo;Do ye not remember the
+miracle of the loaves?&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 47]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CROWDING OUT GOD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Lest thou forget.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Deuteronomy</span> iv. 5-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT is surely the worst affront we can put upon anybody. We may oppose a
+man and hinder him in his work, or we may directly injure him, or we may
+ignore him, and treat him as nothing. Or we may forget him! Opposition,
+injury, contempt, neglect, forgetfulness! Surely this is a descending
+scale, and the last is the worst. And yet we can forget the Lord God. We
+can forget all His benefits. We can easily put Him out of mind. We can
+live as though He were dead. &ldquo;My children have forgotten Me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>What shall we do to escape this great disaster? &ldquo;<em>Take heed to thyself!</em>&rdquo;
+To take heed is to be at the helm and not asleep in the cabin. It is to
+steer and not to drift. It is to keep our eyes on the compass and our
+hands on the wheel. It is to know where we are going. We never
+deliberately forget our Lord; we carelessly drift into it. &ldquo;Take heed.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And keep thy soul diligently.</em>&rdquo; Gardens run to seed, and ill weeds grow
+apace. The fair things are crowded out, and the weed reigns everywhere. It
+is ever so with my soul. If I neglect it, the flowers of holy desire and
+devotion will be choked by weeds of worldliness. God will be crowded out,
+and the garden of the soul will become a wilderness of neglect and sin.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 48]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He read all the words of the law, the blessings and the
+cursings.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Joshua</span> viii. 30-35.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>E are inclined to read only what pleases us, to hug the blessings and to
+ignore the warnings. We bask in the light, we close our eyes to the
+lightning. We recount the promises, we shut our ears to the rebukes. We
+love the passages which speak of our Master&#8217;s gentleness, we turn away
+from those which reveal His severity. And all this is unwise, and
+therefore unhealthy. We become spiritually soft and an&aelig;mic. We lack moral
+stamina. We are incapable of noble hatred and of holy scorn. We are
+invertebrate, and on the evil day we are not able to stand.</p>
+
+<p>We must read &ldquo;all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings.&rdquo;
+We must let the Lord brace us with His severities. We must gaze steadily
+upon the appalling fearfulness of sin, and upon its terrific issues. At
+all costs we must get rid of the spurious gentleness that holds compromise
+with uncleanness, that effeminate affection which is destitute of holy
+fire. We must seek the love which burns everlastingly against all sin; we
+must seek the gentleness which can fiercely grip a poisonous growth and
+tear it out to its last hidden root. We must seek that holy love which is
+as a &ldquo;consuming fire.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 49]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SUBTLETY OF TEMPTATION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">James</span> i. 12-20.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-e.png" width="80" height="80" alt="E" title="" />
+</div><p>VIL enticements always come to us in borrowed attire. In the Boer War
+ammunition was carried out in piano cases, and military advices were
+transmitted in the skins of melons. And that is the way of the enemy of
+our souls. He makes us think we are receiving music when he is sending
+explosives; he promises life, but his gift is laden with the seeds of
+death. He offers us liberty, and he hides his chains in dazzling flowers.
+&ldquo;Things are not what they seem.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so our enemy uses mirages, and will-o&#8217;-the-wisps and tinselled crowns.
+He lights friendly fires on perilous coasts to snare us to our ruin. And
+therefore we need clear, sure eyes. We need a refined moral sense which
+can discriminate between the true and the false, and which can discern the
+enemy even when he comes as &ldquo;an angel of light.&rdquo; And we may have this
+wisdom from &ldquo;the God of all wisdom.&rdquo; By His grace we may be kept morally
+sensitive, and we shall know our foe even when he is a long way off.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 50]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Ninteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE THOUGHT AFAR OFF</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxxxix. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HOU knowest my thought afar off.&rdquo; That fills me with awe. I cannot find
+a hiding-place where I can sin in secrecy. I cannot build an apparent
+sanctuary and conceal evil within its walls. I cannot with a sheep&#8217;s skin
+hide the wolf. I cannot wrap my jealousy up in flattery and keep it
+unknown. &ldquo;Thou God seest me.&rdquo; He knows the bottom thought that creeps in
+the basement of my being. Nothing surprises God! He sees all my sin. So am
+I filled with awe.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Thou knowest my thought afar off.&rdquo; This fills me also with hope and joy.
+He sees the faintest, weakest desire, aspiring after goodness. He sees the
+smallest fire of affection burning uncertainly in my soul. He sees every
+movement of penitence which looks toward home. He sees every little
+triumph, and every altar I build along life&#8217;s way. Nothing is overlooked.
+My God is not like a policeman, only looking for crimes; He is the God of
+grace, looking for graces, searching for jewels to adorn His crown. So am
+I filled with hope and joy.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 51]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>TAMPERING WITH THE LABEL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">John</span> iii. 4-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-s.png" width="80" height="80" alt="S" title="" />
+</div><p>IN is transgression. It is the deliberate climbing of the fence. We see
+the trespass-board, and in spite of the warning we stride into the
+forbidden field. Sin is not ignorance, it is intention. We sin when we are
+wide-awake! There are teachers abroad who would soften words like these.
+They offer us terms which appear to lessen the harshness of our actions;
+they give our sin an aspect of innocence. But to alter the label on the
+bottle does not change the character of the contents. Poison is poison
+give it what name we please. &ldquo;Sin is the transgression of the law.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Let us be on our guard against the men whose pockets are filled with
+deceptive labels. Let us vigilantly resist all teachings which would
+chloroform the conscience. Let us prefer true terms to merely nice ones.
+Let us call sin by its right name, and let us tolerate no moral conjuring
+either with ourselves or with others. The first essential in all moral
+reformation is to call sin &ldquo;sin.&rdquo; &ldquo;If we confess our sin He is faithful
+and just to forgive us our sin.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 52]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GRACE REIGNS!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Romans</span> v. 12-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN old Mr. Honest came to the river, and he entered the cold waters of
+death, the last words he was heard to utter by those who stood on the
+shore were these:&mdash;&ldquo;Grace reigns!&rdquo; All through his pilgrimage old Mr.
+Honest had been in Emmanuel&#8217;s land where grace reigned night and day. It
+was through grace that he had found the way of life. It was through grace
+that he had been delivered from the beasts and pitfalls of the road. It
+was grace that had given him lilies of peace, and springs of refreshment,
+and the fine air that inspired him in difficult tasks. And in death he
+still found &ldquo;grace abounding,&rdquo; and the Lord of the changing road was also
+Lord of the dark waters through which he passed into the radiant glories
+of the cloudless day.</p>
+
+<p>In every yard of a faithful pilgrimage we shall find the decrees of
+sovereign love. We are never in alien country. &ldquo;Grace reigns&rdquo; in every
+hill and valley, through every green pasture and over every rugged road,
+in every moment of &ldquo;the day of life,&rdquo; and in the last sharp passage
+through the transient night of death.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 53]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE THREE GARDENS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Revelation</span> xxii. 1-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Bible opens with a garden. It closes with a garden. The first is the
+Paradise that was lost. The last is Paradise regained. And between the two
+there is a third garden, the garden of Gethsemane. And it is through the
+unspeakable bitterness and desolation of Gethsemane that we find again the
+glorious garden through which flows &ldquo;the river of water of life.&rdquo; Without
+Gethsemane no New Jerusalem! Without its mysterious and unfathomable night
+no blessed sunrise of eternal hope! &ldquo;We were reconciled to God by the
+death of His Son.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We are always in dire peril of regarding our redemption lightly. We hold
+it cheaply. Privileges easily come to be esteemed as rights. And even
+grace itself can lose the strength of heavenly favour and can be received
+and used as our due. &ldquo;Gethsemane can I forget?&rdquo; Yes, I can; and in the
+forgetfulness I lose the sacred awe of my redemption, and I miss the real
+glory of &ldquo;Paradise regained.&rdquo; &ldquo;Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a
+price.&rdquo; That is the remembrance that keeps the spirit lowly, and that
+fills the heart with love for Him &ldquo;whose I am,&rdquo; and whom I ought to
+serve.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 54]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PROCESS AND THE END</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Ye have seen the end of the Lord:<br /> that the Lord is very pitiful,
+and of tender mercy.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">James</span> v. 7-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so we are bidden to be patient. &ldquo;We must wait to the end of the Lord.&rdquo;
+The Lord&#8217;s ends are attained through very mysterious means. Sometimes the
+means are in contrast to the ends. He works toward the harvest through
+winter&#8217;s frost and snow. The maker of chaste and delicate porcelain
+reaches his lovely ends through an awful mortar, where the raw material of
+bone and clay is pounded into a cream. In that mortar-chamber we have no
+hint of the finished ware. But be patient, even in this chamber of
+affliction the ware is on the way to glory!</p>
+
+<p>And so it is with the ministries of our Lord. He leads us through discords
+into harmonies, through opposition into union, through adversities into
+peace. His means of grace are processes, sometimes gentle, sometimes
+severe; and our folly is to assume that we have reached His ends when we
+are only on the way to them. &ldquo;The end of the Lord is very pitiful, and of
+tender mercy.&rdquo; &ldquo;Be patient, therefore,&rdquo; until it shall be spoken of thee
+and me, &ldquo;And God saw that it was good.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 55]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MOVING TOWARDS DAYBREAK</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He hath brought me into darkness, but not into
+light.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Lamentations</span> iii. 1-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-b.png" width="79" height="80" alt="B" title="" />
+</div><p>UT a man may be in darkness, and yet in motion toward the light. I was in
+the darkness of the subway, and it was close and oppressive, but I was
+moving toward the light and fragrance of the open country. I entered into
+a tunnel in the Black Country in England, but the motion was continued,
+and we emerged amid fields of loveliness. And therefore the great thing to
+remember is that God&#8217;s darknesses are not His goals; His tunnels are means
+to get somewhere else. Yes, His darknesses are appointed ways to His
+light. In God&#8217;s keeping we are always moving, and we are moving towards
+Emmanuel&#8217;s land, where the sun shines, and the birds sing night and day.</p>
+
+<p>There is no stagnancy for the God-directed soul. He is ever guiding us,
+sometimes with the delicacy of a glance, sometimes with the firmer
+ministry of a grip, and He moves with us always, even through &ldquo;the valley
+of the shadow of death.&rdquo; Therefore, be patient, my soul! The darkness is
+not thy bourn, the tunnel is not thy abiding home! He will bring thee out
+into a large place where thou shalt know &ldquo;the liberty of the glory of the
+children of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 56]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE FRESH EYE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>His compassions fail not: they are new every
+morning.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Lamentations</span> iii. 22-33.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>E have not to live on yesterday&#8217;s manna; we can gather it fresh to-day.
+Compassion becomes stale when it becomes thoughtless. It is new thought
+that keeps our pity strong. If our perception of need can remain vivid, as
+vivid as though we had never seen it before, our sympathies will never
+fail. The fresh eye insures the sensitive heart. And our God&#8217;s compassions
+are so new because He never becomes accustomed to our need. He always sees
+it with an eye that is never dulled by the commonplace; He never becomes
+blind with much seeing! We can look at a thing so often that we cease to
+see it. God always sees a thing as though He were seeing it for the first
+time. &ldquo;Thou, God, seest me,&rdquo; and &ldquo;His compassions fail not.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And if my compassions are to be like a river that never knows drought, I
+must cultivate a freshness of sight. The horrible can lose its horrors.
+The daily tragedy can become the daily commonplace. My neighbour&#8217;s needs
+can become as familiar as my furniture, and I may never see either the one
+or the other. And therefore must I ask the Lord for the daily gift of
+discerning eyes. &ldquo;Lord, that I may receive my sight.&rdquo; And with an always
+newly-awakened interest may I reveal &ldquo;the compassions of the Lord!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 57]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CELLARS OF AFFLICTION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxxiv. 9-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-s.png" width="80" height="80" alt="S" title="" />
+</div><p>AMUEL RUTHERFORD used to say that whenever he found himself in the
+cellars of afflictions he used to look about for the King&#8217;s wine. He would
+look for the wine-bottles of the promises and drink rich draughts of
+vitalizing grace. And surely that is the best deliverance in all
+affliction, to be made so spiritually exhilarant that we can rise above
+it. I might be taken out of affliction, and emerge a poor slave and
+weakling. I might remain in affliction, and yet be king in the seeming
+servitude, &ldquo;more than conqueror&rdquo; in Christ Jesus. It is a great thing to
+be led through green pastures and by still waters; I think it is a greater
+thing to have a &ldquo;table prepared before me <em>in the presence of mine
+enemies</em>.&rdquo; It is good to be able to sing in the sunny noon; it is better
+still to be able to sing &ldquo;songs in the night.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And this deliverance may always be ours in Christ Jesus. The Lord may not
+smooth out our circumstances, but we may have the regal right of peace. He
+may not save us from the sorrows of a newly-cut grave, but we may have the
+glorious strength of the immortal hope. God will enable us to be masters
+of all our circumstances, and none shall have a deadly hold upon us.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 58]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE MIGHT OF FRAILTY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cv. 23-36.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT is the wonder of wonders, that the Almighty God will use frail
+humanity as the vehicles of His power, and will make Moses and Aaron shine
+with reflected glory. Man can send an electric current into a fragile
+carbon film and make it incandescent. He can send his voice across a
+continent, and make it speak on a distant shore. And the Lord God can do
+wonders compared with which these are only as the dimmest dreams. He can
+send His holy power into human speech, and the words can wake the dead. He
+can send His virtue into the human will, and its strength can shake the
+thrones of iniquity. He can send His love into the human heart, and the
+power of its affection can capture the bitterest foe.</p>
+
+<p>And so the word &ldquo;impossible&rdquo; becomes itself impossible when the soul of
+man is in fellowship with the Lord of Hosts. The pliant will becomes an
+iron pillar. The weak heart becomes &ldquo;as a defended city&rdquo; when it is the
+home of God. Dumb lips become the thrones of mysterious eloquence when
+touched with divine inspiration.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 59]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE TEST OF FULNESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Deuteronomy</span> viii. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND thou shalt eat and be full, and thou shalt bless the Lord thy God.&rdquo;
+Fulness is surely a more searching test than want. Fulness induces sleep
+and forgetfulness. Many a man fights a good fight with Apollyon in the
+narrow way, who lapses into sleepy indifference on the Enchanted Ground.
+Men often sit down to a full table without &ldquo;grace.&rdquo; Pain cries out to God,
+while boisterous health strides along in heedlessness. Yes, it is our
+fulness that constitutes our direst peril. &ldquo;This was the iniquity of
+Sodom, <em>fulness</em> of bread and abundance of idleness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so our tests may come on the sunny day. A nation&#8217;s supreme tests may
+come in its prosperity. The sunshine may do more damage than the
+lightning. The soul may falter even in Beulah land, where &ldquo;the sun shines
+night and day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Prayer must not, therefore, tarry until sickness and adversity come. We
+must &ldquo;pray without ceasing&rdquo; in the cloudless noon, lest we are stricken
+with &ldquo;the arrow that flieth by day.&rdquo; We must seek the eternal strength
+when no apparent enemy crouches at our gate, and when our easy road is
+lined with luxuriant flowers and fruit.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 60]</span></p>
+<h2>FEBRUARY The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>INVINCIBLE RELIANCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> xi. 17-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>CCOUNTING that God was able.&rdquo; That is the faith that makes moral heroes.
+That is the faith that prompts mighty ventures and crusades. It is faith
+in God&#8217;s willingness and ability to redeem His promises. It is faith that
+if I do my part He will most assuredly do His. It is faith that He cannot
+possibly fail. It is faith that when He makes a promise the money is
+already in the bank. It is faith that when He sends me into the wilderness
+the secret harvest is already ripe from which He will give me &ldquo;daily
+bread.&rdquo; It is faith that &ldquo;all things are now ready,&rdquo; and in that faith I
+will face the apparently impossible task.</p>
+
+<p>And thus the &ldquo;impossible&rdquo; leads me to the &ldquo;prepared.&rdquo; The desert leads me
+to &ldquo;fields white already.&rdquo; The hard call to sacrifice leads me to the
+&ldquo;lamb in the thicket.&rdquo; &ldquo;God is able,&rdquo; and He is never behind the time. The
+critical need unveils His grace.</p>
+
+<p>Faith goes out on this invincible reliance. It is &ldquo;the assurance of things
+hoped for.&rdquo; And by faith it inherits these things and is rich and strong
+in their possession.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 61]</span><a name="MAR" id="MAR"></a></p>
+<h2>MARCH The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>OVERCHARGING THE HEART</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xxi. 25-36.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a great peril. Our hearts may be &ldquo;<em>overcharged with surfeiting,
+and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you
+unawares</em>.&rdquo; Our mode of living may send our spirits to sleep. Yes, we may
+so ill-use our bodies that the watchman sleeps at his post! We can
+over-eat, and dim our moral sight. A man&#8217;s daily meals have vital
+relationship with his vision of the Lord. If I would have a clear spirit I
+must not overburden the flesh.</p>
+
+<p>And therefore am I bidden to &ldquo;<em>take heed</em>&rdquo; to myself. I must exercise
+common sense, the most important of all the senses. I must put a bridle
+upon my appetite, and hold it in subjection to my Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And I must &ldquo;<em>watch</em>!&rdquo; The devil is surpassingly cunning, and, if he can,
+he will mix an opiate even with the sacramental wine. He will lure me
+among the winsome poppies, and put me into a perilous sleep.</p>
+
+<p>And I must &ldquo;<em>pray</em>!&rdquo; I have a great and glorious Defender! Let me humbly
+yet confidently use Him, and I shall be delivered from the snares of
+appetite, and from the benumbing influence of all excess.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 62]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE POWER OF THE CROSS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> x. 11-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;LAY down my life.&rdquo; In that supreme sacrifice all other sacrifices turn
+pale. In the power of that sacrifice the blackest guilt finds forgiveness.
+Its energies seek out the ruined and desolate life with glorious offer of
+renewal. When the Lord laid down His life the entire race found a new
+beginning. Our hope is born at the Cross. It is there that &ldquo;the burden of
+our sin rolls away.&rdquo; In His night we find daybreak. When He said, &ldquo;It is
+finished,&rdquo; our soul could sing, &ldquo;Life is begun.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so pilgrims gather at the Cross. Songs are heard there, the &ldquo;sweetest
+ever sung by mortal tongues.&rdquo; And the power of the Cross never wanes. Its
+glorious grace reaches the soul to-day as in the earliest days. It
+inspires the despairing heart. It transforms the mind. It remakes the
+tissues of the will. There is no shattered power that the power of the
+Cross cannot restore. &ldquo;We are complete in Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;In the Cross of Christ I glory,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Towering o&#8217;er the wrecks of time;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">All the light of sacred story<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Gathers round its head sublime.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 63]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PREPARING FOR THE BRIDE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xiv. 1-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR Lord has prepared a place. It is the Bridegroom &ldquo;getting the house
+ready&rdquo; for the bride. And, therefore, the preparations are not made
+grudgingly and with slow reluctance. Everything is of the best, and done
+with the swift delight of love. &ldquo;Come, for all things are now ready.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And our Lord will fetch His bride to the prepared place. &ldquo;I am the way.&rdquo;
+We become so wrapt up in Him that nothing else counts. I once travelled
+through the Black Country with a fascinating friend, and I never saw it!
+And we can become so absorbed in our glorious Bridegroom that we shall be
+almost oblivious of adverse circumstances which may beset us. Yes, even
+this is possible: &ldquo;He that believeth in Me shall never see death!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I will receive you unto Myself.&rdquo; The last obscuring veil is to be rent,
+and we are to see Him &ldquo;face to face.&rdquo; And that will be home, for that will
+be satisfaction and peace. The deepest hunger of the soul will be
+gratified in a glorious contentment, and we shall find that &ldquo;the half hath
+not been told.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 64]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE GREAT COMPANION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xiv. 15-31.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so even the road is to have the home-feeling in it. &ldquo;<em>I will not leave
+you orphans.</em>&rdquo; Yes; there is to be something of home even in the way to
+it. I find something of Devonshire even in Dorsetshire; Shropshire gives
+me a taste of Wales. My Lord will not leave me comfortless. Heaven runs
+over, and I find its bounty before I arrive at its gate. The &ldquo;Valley of
+Baca&rdquo; becomes &ldquo;a well.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And there are to be wonderful visions to speed the pilgrim&#8217;s feet. &ldquo;<em>I
+will manifest Myself unto him.</em>&rdquo; At unexpected corners the glory will
+break! We shall be assuming that we have picked up a common traveller, and
+suddenly we shall discover it is the Lord, for He will be made known to us
+&ldquo;in the breaking of bread.&rdquo; And at many &ldquo;risings&rdquo; of the road, where the
+climbing is stiff and burdensome, we shall be inspired with many a
+glorious view, and we shall see &ldquo;the land that is very far off.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The one condition is, that I keep His word. If I am obedient, He will
+appear unto me, and the humdrum road will shine with miracles of grace.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 65]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE TENT AND THE BUILDING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> v. 1-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>T present we live in a tent&mdash;&ldquo;<em>the earthly house of this tabernacle.</em>&rdquo;
+And often the tent is very rickety. There are rents through which the rain
+enters, and it trembles ominously in the great storm. Some tents are frail
+from the very beginning, half-rotten when they are put up, and they have
+no defence even against the breeze. But even the strongest tent becomes
+weather-worn and threadbare, and in the long run it &ldquo;falls in a heap!&rdquo; And
+what then?</p>
+
+<p>We shall exchange the frail tent for the solid house! &ldquo;<em>If the earthly
+house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house
+not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.</em>&rdquo; When we are unclothed we
+shall find ourselves clothed with our house which is from heaven. The
+glory of this transition can only be confessed by &ldquo;the saints in light.&rdquo;
+To awake, and discover that the creaking, breaking cords are left behind,
+that all the leakages are over, that we are no longer exposed to the
+cutting wind, that pain is passed, and sickness, and death&mdash;this must be a
+wonder of inconceivable ecstasy!</p>
+
+<p>And &ldquo;absent from the body&rdquo; we shall be &ldquo;present with the Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 66]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HOME-LIFE IN GOD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xvii. 20-26.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE home-life in God is to be a life of perfect union&mdash;&ldquo;<em>I in them, and
+Thou in Me.</em>&rdquo; Home is only another name for union. It is the perfect
+fusion of life with life, the harmonizing of differences as many different
+notes combine to form the mystery of choral song. And so will it be in the
+home-land! Our manifold individualities will be retained, but we shall
+&ldquo;fit into one another,&rdquo; and in the perfect harmony we shall hear the &ldquo;new
+song&rdquo; of heaven.</p>
+
+<p>And we are to prepare that union by the contemplation of the glory of the
+Lord. &ldquo;<em>That they may behold My glory.</em>&rdquo; Yes, and we can begin to do that
+now. We can lift our eyes away from the ugly compromises of men and fix
+them upon the radiant holiness of the Lord. We can look away from the
+dirty Alpine village and gaze upon the virgin snow of the uplifted
+heights. &ldquo;Looking unto Jesus!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in that contemplation we shall most assuredly become transformed. &ldquo;<em>I
+have given unto them the glory which Thou gavest Me.</em>&rdquo; That is our
+wonderful possibility. For thee and me is this prize offered, we can
+&ldquo;awake in His likeness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 67]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THINGS MISSING IN HEAVEN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Revelation</span> xxi. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT a number of &ldquo;conspicuous absences&rdquo; there are to be in &ldquo;the
+home-land!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>No more sea! John was in Patmos, and the sea rolled between him and his
+kinsmen. The sea was a minister of estrangement. But in the home-country
+every cause of separation is to be done away, and the family life is to be
+one of inconceivable intimacy. No more sea!</p>
+
+<p>And no more pain! Its work is done, and therefore the worker is put away.
+When the building is completed the scaffolding may be removed. When the
+patient is in good health the medicine bottles can be dispensed with. And
+so shall it be with pain and all its attendants. &ldquo;The inhabitant never
+says: &lsquo;I am sick!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And no more death! &ldquo;The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death.&rdquo; Yes,
+he, too, shall drop his scythe, and his lax hand shall destroy no more for
+ever. Death himself shall die! And all things that have shared his work
+shall die with him. &ldquo;The former things have passed away.&rdquo; The wedding-peal
+which welcomes the Lamb&#8217;s bride will ring the funeral knell of Death and
+all his sable company.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 68]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CITIZENS OF THE HOME-LAND</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Revelation</span> vii. 9-17.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE citizen of &ldquo;the home-land&rdquo; wears white robes. His habits are perfectly
+clean. And the purity which he wears is a Divine gift and not a human
+accomplishment. It cannot be attained by self-sacrifice; it is ours
+through the sacrifice of our Lord. &ldquo;They have washed their robes and made
+them white in the blood of the Lamb.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And every citizen of the home-land bears a palm in his hand. It is the
+emblem of conquest and sovereignty. By the grace of Christ they have been
+lifted above self and sin, and the devil, and death, and &ldquo;made to sit with
+Him&rdquo; on His throne. The palm is the heavenly symbol that all their
+spiritual enemies are under their feet.</p>
+
+<p>And every citizen of the home-land takes part in the new song. The
+home-folk are therefore one in purity, one in self-conquest, and one in
+praise. &ldquo;Salvation unto our God which sitteth upon the throne!&rdquo; In that
+melody of thankfulness their union is deepened and enriched.</p>
+
+<p>And we, too, can begin now to wear the white robe! And even now can we
+carry the palm! And even now we can join in the song of ceaseless praise.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 69]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>NEARING HOME!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Timothy</span> iv. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a most valiant pilgrim nearing home! By the mercy of Christ he can
+look back upon a brave day, and there&#8217;s a fine hopeful light in the
+evening sky.</p>
+
+<p>He has fought well! &ldquo;<em>I have fought a good fight.</em>&rdquo; And his has been a
+hard field. The enemy has ever regarded him as a leader in the army of the
+Lord and against him has the fiercest fight been waged. But he has never
+lost or stained his flag.</p>
+
+<p>And he has run well! &ldquo;<em>I have finished my course.</em>&rdquo; There was no
+melancholy turning back when the feverish start had cooled. There was no
+shrinking when the biting wind of malice and persecution swept across his
+track. On and on he ran, with increasing speed and ardour, until he
+reached the goal.</p>
+
+<p>And well had he guarded his treasure! &ldquo;<em>I have kept the faith.</em>&rdquo; He was
+the custodian of &ldquo;unsearchable riches,&rdquo; and he watched, day and night,
+lest any infernal burglar should despoil him of his wealth. He guarded his
+gospel, his liberty, his hope, as the sentinels guard the crown jewels in
+the Tower.</p>
+
+<p>And now the hard day is nearly over. &ldquo;Henceforth there is laid up for me a
+crown of righteousness which the Lord will give me at that day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 70]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>EXALTATION BY SEPARATION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> vi. 11-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN we turn away from the world, and leave it, we ourselves are not left
+to desolation and orphanhood. When we &ldquo;come out from among them&rdquo; the Lord
+receives us! He is waiting for us. The new companionship is ours the
+moment the old companionship is ended. &ldquo;I will not leave you comfortless.&rdquo;
+What we have lost is compensated by infinite and eternal gain. We have
+lost &ldquo;the whole world&rdquo; and gained &ldquo;the unsearchable riches of Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And therefore separation is exaltation. We leave the muddy pleasures of
+Sodom and we &ldquo;drink of the river of His pleasures.&rdquo; We leave &ldquo;the garish
+day,&rdquo; and all the feverish life of Vanity Fair, and He maketh us &ldquo;to lie
+down in green pastures,&rdquo; &ldquo;He leadeth us beside the still waters.&rdquo; We leave
+a transient sensation, we receive the bread of eternity. We forfeit
+fireworks, we gain the stars!</p>
+
+<p>What fools we are, and blind! We prefer the scorched desert of Sodom to
+the garden of Eden. We prefer a loud reputation to noble character. We
+prefer delirium to joy. We prefer human applause to the praise of God. We
+prefer a fading garland to the crown of life. Lord, that we may receive
+our sight!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 71]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOOD AND BAD ROADS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> i.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE is nothing breaks up more speedily than a badly-made road. Every
+season is its enemy and works for its destruction. Fierce heat and
+intensest cold both strive for its undoing. And &ldquo;the way of the ungodly&rdquo;
+is an appallingly bad road. There is rottenness in its foundations, and
+there is built into it &ldquo;wood, and hay, and stubble,&rdquo; How can it stand?
+&ldquo;The Spirit of the Lord breatheth upon it,&rdquo; and it is surely brought to
+nought. All the forces of holiness are pledged to its destruction, and
+they shall pick it to pieces, and shall scatter its elements to the winds.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I am the way!&rdquo; That road remains sound &ldquo;in all generations.&rdquo; Changing
+circumstances cannot affect its stability. It is proof against every
+tempest, and against the most violent heat. It is a road in which little
+children can walk in happiness and in which old people can walk in peace.
+It is firm in the day of life, and it is absolutely sure in the hour of
+death. It never yields! &ldquo;Thou hast set my feet upon a rock and hast
+established my goings.&rdquo; &ldquo;This is the way, walk ye in it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 72]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE COMING OF THE LORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xvii. 22-32.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>N a certain very real way the Lord is coming every moment. And the great
+art of Christian living is to be able to discern Him when He arrives. He
+may appear as the village carpenter; or we may &ldquo;suppose Him to be one of
+the gardeners,&rdquo; and we may mistake His appearing! He may meet us in some
+lowly duty, or in some seemingly unpleasant task. He may shine in the
+cheeriness of some triumph, or whisper to us in a message of good news. &ldquo;I
+come again.&rdquo; And if our eyes are open we shall see Him coming continually.
+It is by this perception that the value of our life is measured and
+weighed.</p>
+
+<p>But He will also come again &ldquo;suddenly,&rdquo; when the soul will be translated
+into unknown climes. He will come again in the sable robes of death. Shall
+we know Him? Will our eyes be so keen and true that we shall be able to
+pierce the dark veil and say &ldquo;It is the Lord!&rdquo; This has been the joyful
+experience of countless multitudes. When the summons came their souls went
+forth, not as victims to encounter death, but as the bride &ldquo;to meet the
+bridegroom!&rdquo; They had intimacy with Him in life; they had glorious
+fellowship with Him in death!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 73]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SICKNESS AMONG CHRIST&#8217;S FRIENDS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xi. 1-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so sickness can enter the circle of the friends of the Lord. &ldquo;<em>He whom
+Thou lovest is sick.</em>&rdquo; My sicknesses do not mean that I have lost His
+favour. The shadow is His, as well as the sunshine. When He removes me
+from the glare of boisterous health it may be because of some spiritual
+fern which needs the ministry of the shade. &ldquo;<em>This sickness is ... for the
+glory of God.</em>&rdquo; Something beautiful will spring out of the shadowed
+seclusion, something which shall spread abroad the name and fame of God.</p>
+
+<p>And, therefore, I do not wonder at the Lord&#8217;s delay. He did not hasten
+away to the sick friend: &ldquo;<em>He abode two days still in the same place where
+He was.</em>&rdquo; Shall I put it like this: the awaking bulbs were not yet ready
+for the brighter light&mdash;just a little more shade! We are impatient to get
+healthy; the Lord desires that we become holy. Our physical sickness is
+continued in order that we may put on spiritual strength.</p>
+
+<p>And there are others besides sick Lazarus concerned in the sickness: &ldquo;I am
+glad <em>for your sakes</em> I was not there.&rdquo; The disciples were included in the
+divine scheme. Their spiritual welfare was to be affected by it. Let me
+ever remember that the circle affected by sickness is always wider than
+the patient&#8217;s bed. And may God be glorified in all!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 74]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>&ldquo;<em>EVEN NOW!</em>&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xi. 17-31.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me consider this marvellous confession of Martha&#8217;s faith. &ldquo;I know that
+<em>even now</em>, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee!&rdquo; Mark
+the &ldquo;even now&rdquo;! Lazarus was dead, and it was midnight in the desolate
+home. But &ldquo;even now&rdquo;! Beautiful it is when a soul&#8217;s most awful crises are
+the seasons of its most radiant faith! Beautiful it is when our lamp
+shines steadily in the tempest, and when our spiritual confidence remains
+unshaken like a gloriously rooted tree. Beautiful it is when in our
+midnight men can hear the strains of the &ldquo;even now&rdquo;!</p>
+
+<p>And let me consider the wonder of the Divine response. &ldquo;<em>I am the
+resurrection and the life.</em>&rdquo; A faith like Martha&#8217;s will always win the
+Saviour&#8217;s best. And here is an overwhelming best before which we can only
+bow in silent homage and awe. He is the Fountain in whom the stagnant
+brook shall find currency again. He is the Life in whom the fallen dead
+shall rise to their feet again.</p>
+
+<p>And what is this? &ldquo;Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me <em>shall never
+die</em>!&rdquo; We shall go to sleep, but we shall never taste the bitterness of
+death. In the very act of closing our material eyes we shall open our
+spiritual eyes, and find ourselves at home!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 75]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>JESUS AT A GRAVE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xi. 32-45.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is Jesus weeping. &ldquo;Jesus wept.&rdquo; Why did He weep? Perhaps He wept out
+of sheer sympathy with the tears of others. And perhaps, too, He wept
+because some of our tears were needless. If we were better men we should
+know more of the love and purpose of our Lord, and perhaps many of our
+tears would be dried. Still, here is the sweet and heartening evangel. He
+sympathizes with my grief! Never a bitter tear is shed without my Lord
+sharing the tang and the pang.</p>
+
+<p>Here is Jesus praying! &ldquo;Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.&rdquo;
+Then it is not so much a prayer as a thanksgiving. He gives thanks for
+what He is &ldquo;about to receive.&rdquo; Is this my way? Perhaps I do it before I
+take a meal. Do I do it before I begin to live the day? In the morning do
+I thank my God for what I am about to receive? Can I confidently give
+thanks before I receive the gifts of God, before the dish-covers are
+removed? Can I trust Him?</p>
+
+<p>And here is Jesus commanding, clothed in sovereign power: &ldquo;Lazarus, come
+forth!&rdquo; That is the same voice which &ldquo;in the beginning created the heavens
+and the earth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 76]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE NEMESIS OF BIGOTRY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xi. 46-57.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;FEARFUL nemesis waits upon the spirit of bigotry. Oliver Wendell Holmes
+has said that bigotry is like the pupil of the eye, the more light you
+pour into it the more it contracts. The scribes and Pharisees became
+smaller men the more the Lord revealed His glory. In the raising of
+Lazarus they saw nothing of the glory of the resurrection life, nothing of
+the joy of the reunited family, nothing of the gracious ministry of the
+Lord! &ldquo;Darkness had blinded their eyes.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And it is also the nemesis of bigotry to be bitter, cruel, and violent.
+They sought to kill the Giver of life!</p>
+
+<p>It is the ministry of light to ripen and sweeten the dispositions. &ldquo;The
+fruit of the light is in all goodness.&rdquo; It is the ministry of the darkness
+to make men sour and unsympathetic, and revengeful, and to so pervert the
+heart as to make it a minister of poison and death.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, how powerless is bigotry in the long run! It can no more stay the
+progress of the Kingdom than King Canute could check the flowing tide!
+Bigotry slew the Lord, and He rose again! And so it ever is. &ldquo;Truth
+crushed to earth shall rise again; the eternal years of God are hers.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 77]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE COMMONPLACE OF DEATH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> vii. 11-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-d.png" width="80" height="80" alt="D" title="" />
+</div><p>EATH is never a commonplace. We never become so accustomed to funerals as
+not to see them. Everybody sees the mournful procession go along the
+street. A momentary awe steals over the flippant thought, and for one
+brief season the superficial opens into the infinite abyss.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, while a thousand are arrested, only a few are compassionate.
+There can be awe without pity; there can be interest without service. When
+this humble funeral train trudged out of the city of Nain our Lord halted,
+and His heart melted! There was an &ldquo;aching void,&rdquo; and He longed to fill
+it. There was a bleeding, broken heart, and He yearned to stand and heal
+it. He found His own joy in removing another&#8217;s tears, His own satisfaction
+in another&#8217;s peace.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>The Lord hath visited His people!</em>&rdquo; That is what the people said, and I
+do not wonder at the saying! And let me, too, be a humble visitor in the
+troubled ways of men! Let my heart be a well of sweet compassion to all
+the sons and daughters of grief! Like Barnabas, let me be &ldquo;a son of
+consolation.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 78]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SERENITY IN THE TEMPEST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Job</span> xix. 23-27.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-p.png" width="78" height="80" alt="P" title="" />
+</div><p>ERHAPS I am akin to Job in having experienced the pressure of calamity. I
+have felt the shock of adverse circumstances, and the house of my life has
+trembled in the convulsion. Or death has been to my door and has returned
+again and again, and every time he has left me weeping! All God&#8217;s billows
+have gone over me! Verily, I can take my place by the patriarch Job.</p>
+
+<p>But can I share his witness, &ldquo;<em>I know that my Redeemer liveth</em>&rdquo;? Have I a
+calm assurance that my ruler is not caprice, and that my comings and
+goings are not determined by unfeeling chance? When death knocked at my
+door, did I know that the King had sent him? When some cherished scheme
+toppled into ruin, had I any thought that the Lord&#8217;s hand was concerned in
+the shaking? Even when my circumstances are dubious, and I cannot trace a
+gracious purpose, do I know that my Vindicator liveth, and that some day
+He will justify all the happenings of the troubled road?</p>
+
+<p>I will pay for this gracious confidence. I would have a firm step even
+among disappointments; yea, I would &ldquo;sing songs in the night!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 79]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>DEATH AS MY SERVANT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Revelation</span> xx. 1-6.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-e.png" width="80" height="80" alt="E" title="" />
+</div><p>VEN now I would rise from the dead. Even now I would know &ldquo;the power of
+His resurrection.&rdquo; Even now I would taste the rapture of the deathless
+life. And this is my glorious prerogative in grace. Yes, even now I can be
+&ldquo;risen with Christ,&rdquo; and &ldquo;death shall no more have dominion over me!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And yet I must die! Yes, but the old enemy shall now be my friend. He will
+not be my master, but my servant. He shall just be the porter, to open the
+door into my Father&#8217;s house, into the home of unspeakable blessedness and
+glory. Death shall not hurt me!</p>
+
+<p>I have seen a little child fall asleep while out in the streets of the
+city, and the kind nurse has taken charge of the sleeper, and when the
+little one awaked she was at home, and she opened her eyes upon her
+mother&#8217;s face.</p>
+
+<p>So shall it be with all who are alive in Christ, and who have risen from a
+spiritual grave. They shall just fall into a brief sweet sleep, and gentle
+death shall usher them into the glory of the endless day.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 80]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LORD IS AT HAND!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxiv. 42-51.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN let me always live as though my Lord were at the gate! Let me arrange
+my affairs on the assumption that the next to lift the latch will be the
+King. When I am out with my friend, walking and talking, let me assume
+that just round the corner I may meet the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And so let me practise meeting Him! Said a mother to me one day concerning
+her long-absent boy: &ldquo;I lay a place for him at every meal! His seat is
+always ready!&rdquo; May I not do this for my Lord? May I not make a place for
+Him in all my affairs&mdash;my choices, my pleasures, my times of business, my
+season of rest? He may come just now; let His place be ready!</p>
+
+<p>If He delay, I must not become careless. If He give me further liberty, I
+must not take liberties with it. Here is the golden principle, ever to
+live, ever to think, ever to work as though the Lord had already arrived.
+For indeed, He has, and when the veil is rent I shall find Him at my
+side.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 81]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IN THE GOLDEN CITY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lii. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so these are the glories of the golden city. There is <em>wakefulness</em>.
+&ldquo;Awake! awake!&rdquo; In the golden city none will be asleep. Everybody will be
+bright-eyed, clear-minded, looking upon all beautiful things with fresh
+and ready receptiveness. &ldquo;The eyes of them that see shall not be dim.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There is <em>strength</em>. &ldquo;Put on thy strength!&rdquo; There will be no broken wills
+in the golden city, and no broken hearts. No one will walk with a limp!
+Everybody will go with a brave stride as to the strains of a band. And no
+one will tire of living, and the inhabitant never says, &ldquo;I am sick.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And there is <em>beauty</em>. &ldquo;Put on thy beautiful garments.&rdquo; Bare strength
+might not be attractive. But strength clothed in beauty is a very gracious
+thing. The tender mosses on the granite make it winsome. Strength is
+companionable when it is united with grace. In the golden city there will
+be tender sentiment as well as rigid conviction.</p>
+
+<p>And these glories will be our defence. A positive virtue is our best
+rampart against vice. A robust health is the best protection against the
+epidemic. &ldquo;The prince of this world cometh, and he hath nothing in me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 82]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>COUNSEL AND MIGHT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxix. 33-40.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE psalmist prays for an <em>illumined understanding</em>. &ldquo;Teach me, O Lord,
+the way of Thy statutes.&rdquo; We are so prone to be children of the twilight,
+and to see things out of their true proportions. Therefore do we need to
+be daily taught. I must go into the school of the Lord, and in docility of
+spirit I must sit at His feet. &ldquo;O, teach me, Lord, teach even me!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the psalmist prays for <em>rectified inclinations</em>. &ldquo;Incline my heart
+unto Thy testimonies.&rdquo; We so often have the wrong bias, the fatal taste,
+and our desires are all against the will of the Lord. If only my leanings
+were toward the Lord how swift my progress would be! I strive to walk
+after holiness, while my inclinations are in the realm of sin. And so I
+need a clean mouth, with an appetite for the beautiful and the true.
+&ldquo;Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the psalmist prays for <em>a strenuous will</em>. &ldquo;Make me to go in the path
+of Thy commandments.&rdquo; He is praying for &ldquo;go,&rdquo; for moral persistence, for
+power to crash through all obstacles which may impede his heavenly
+progress. And such is my need. Good Lord, endow me with a will like &ldquo;an
+iron pillar,&rdquo; and help me to &ldquo;stand in the evil day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 83]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE DARK BETRAYAL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xviii. 1-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR Master was betrayed by a disciple, &ldquo;one of the twelve.&rdquo; The blow came
+from one of &ldquo;His own household.&rdquo; The world employed a &ldquo;friend&rdquo; to execute
+its dark design. And so our intimacy with Christ may be our peril; our
+very association may be made our temptation. The devil would rather gain
+<em>one</em> belonging to the inner circle than a thousand who stand confessed as
+the friends of the world. What am I doing in the kingdom? Can I be
+trusted? Or am I in the pay of the evil one?</p>
+
+<p>And our Master was betrayed in the garden of prayer. In the most hallowed
+place the betrayer gave the most unholy kiss. He brought his defilement
+into the most awe-inspiring sanctuary the world has ever known. And so may
+it be with me. I can kindle the unclean fire in the church. I can stab my
+Lord when I am on my knees. While I am in apparent devotion I can be in
+league with the powers of darkness.</p>
+
+<p>And this &ldquo;dark betrayal&rdquo; was for money! The Lord of Glory was bartered for
+thirty pieces of silver! And the difference between Judas and many men is
+that they often sell their Lord for less! From the power of Mammon, and
+from the blindness which falls upon his victims, good Lord, deliver me!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 84]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IN GETHSEMANE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xxii. 39-46.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-s.png" width="80" height="80" alt="S" title="" />
+</div><p>URELY this is the very Holy of Holies! It were well for us to fall on our
+knees and &ldquo;be silent unto the Lord.&rdquo; I would quietly listen to the awful
+words, &ldquo;Remove this cup from Me!&rdquo; and I would listen again and again until
+never again do I hold a cheap religion. It is in this garden that we learn
+the real values of things, and come to know the price at which our
+redemption was bought. No one can remain in Gethsemane and retain a
+frivolous and flippant spirit.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And there appeared unto Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him.</em>&rdquo; I
+know that angel! He has been to me. He has brought me angel&#8217;s food, even
+heavenly manna. Always and everywhere, when my soul has surrendered itself
+to the Divine will, the angel comes, and my soul is refreshed. The laying
+down of self is the taking up of God. When I lose my will I gain the
+Infinite. The moment of surrender is also the moment of conquest. When I
+consecrate my weakness I put on strength and majesty like a robe.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And when He rose up from His prayer</em>&rdquo;&mdash;what then? Just this, He was
+quietly ready for anything, ready for the betraying kiss, ready for
+crucifixion. &ldquo;Arise, let us be going.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 85]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE FEAR OF MAN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xviii. 15-27.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND this is the disciple who had been surnamed &ldquo;The Rock&rdquo;! Our Lord looked
+into the morrow, and He saw Simon&#8217;s character, compacted by grace and
+discipline into a texture tough and firm as granite. But there is not much
+granite here! Peter is yet loose and yielding; more like a bending reed
+than an unshakable rock. A servant girl whispers, and his timid heart
+flings a lie to his lips and he denies his Lord.</p>
+
+<p>Peter denied the Master, not because he coveted money, but because he
+feared men. He was not seeking crowns, but escaping frowns. He was not
+clutching at a garland, but avoiding a sword. It was not avarice but
+cowardice which determined his ways. He shrank from crucifixion! He saw a
+possible cross, and with a great lie he passed by on the other side.</p>
+
+<p>But the Lord has not done with Peter. He is still &ldquo;in the making.&rdquo; Some
+day he will justify his new name. Some day we shall find it written: &ldquo;When
+they saw the boldness of Peter, they marvelled&rdquo;! Once a maid could make
+him tremble. Now he can stand in high places, &ldquo;steadfast and unmovable&rdquo;!</p>
+
+<p>From the spirit of cowardice and from all temporising, and from the unholy
+fear of man, deliver me, good Lord!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 86]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE KING OF KINGS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xviii. 28-38.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT a strange King our Lord appears, claiming mystic sovereignty, and yet
+betrayed by a false friend!</p>
+
+<p>And yet, even in His apparent subjection His majestic kingliness stands
+revealed. When I watch the demeanours of Pilate and Jesus, I can see very
+clearly who it is who is on the throne; Pilate wears the outer trappings
+of royalty, but my Lord&#8217;s is &ldquo;the power and the glory.&rdquo; Pilate fusses
+about in a little &ldquo;brief authority,&rdquo; but my Lord stands possessed of a
+serene dominion. Even at Pilate&#8217;s judgment bar Jesus is the King.</p>
+
+<p>But His kingdom is &ldquo;<em>not of this world</em>.&rdquo; And therefore this King is
+unlike every other King. He seeks His possessions not by fighting, but by
+&ldquo;lighting&rdquo;; not by coercion, but by constraint. His servants do not go
+forth with swords, but with lamps; not to drive the peoples, but to lead
+them. His visible throne is a cross, and His conquests are made in the
+power of sacrifice.</p>
+
+<p>And so His armaments are the Truth, and the Truth alone. &ldquo;<em>For this cause
+came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth.</em>&rdquo; When
+the Truth wins and wooes, the triumph is lasting. Garlands won by the
+sword perish before the evening. To be one of the King&#8217;s subjects is to
+share His nature. &ldquo;Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 87]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SILENCE OF JESUS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He answered him nothing!</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xxiii. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND yet, &ldquo;Ask, and it shall be given you!&rdquo; Yes, but everything depends
+upon the asking. Even in the realm of music there is a rudeness of
+approach which leaves true music silent. Whether the genius of music is to
+answer us or not depends upon our &ldquo;touch.&rdquo; Herod&#8217;s &ldquo;touch&rdquo; was wrong, and
+there was no response. Herod was flippant, and the Eternal was dumb. And
+I, too, may question a silent Lord. In the spiritual realm an idle
+curiosity is never permitted to see the crown jewels. Frivolousness never
+goes away from the royal Presence rich with surprises of grace. &ldquo;Thy touch
+has still its ancient power!&rdquo; So it has, but the healing touch is the
+gracious response to the touch of faith. &ldquo;She touched Him, and...!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And Herod ... mocked Him.</em>&rdquo; That was the real spirit behind the eager
+curiosity. And I, too, may mock my Lord! I may bow before Him, and array
+Him in apparent royalty, while all the time my spirit is full of flippancy
+and jeers. I may lustily sing: &ldquo;Crown Him Lord of all,&rdquo; while I will not
+recognize His rights on a single square foot of the soil of my
+inheritance. And this it is to be the kinsman of Herod. And this, too,
+will be the issue; the heavens will be as brass, and the Lord will answer
+us nothing.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 88]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CHOICE OF BARABBAS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xxiii. 13-24.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-b.png" width="79" height="80" alt="B" title="" />
+</div><p>ARABBAS rather than Christ! The destroyer of life rather than the Giver
+of life! This was the choice of the people; and it is a choice which has
+often stained and defiled my own life.</p>
+
+<p>When I choose revenge rather than forgiveness, I am preferring Barabbas to
+Christ. For revenge is a murderer, while forgiveness is a healer and
+saviour of men. But how often I have sent the sweet healer to the cross,
+and welcomed the murderer within my gate!</p>
+
+<p>When I choose carnal passion before holiness, I am preferring Barabbas to
+Christ. For is there any murderer so destructive as carnality? And
+holiness stands waiting, ready to make me beautiful with the wondrous
+garments of grace. But I spurn the angel, and open my door to the beast.</p>
+
+<p>The devil is always soliciting my service, and the devil &ldquo;is a murderer
+from the beginning.&rdquo; Have I never preferred him, and sent my Lord to be
+&ldquo;crucified afresh,&rdquo; and &ldquo;put Him to an open shame&rdquo;?</p>
+
+<p>Again let me pray&mdash;for all my unholy and unwholesome choices, for all my
+preference of the murderer, forgive me, good Lord!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 89]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MYSTIC ALARM-BELLS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxvii. 19-25.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-p.png" width="78" height="80" alt="P" title="" />
+</div><p>ILATE was warned. Pilate&#8217;s wife had a dream, and in the dream she had
+glimpses of reality, and when she awoke her soul was troubled. &ldquo;Have thou
+nothing to do with that just man!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And I, too, have mysterious warnings when I am treading perilous ways.
+Sometimes the warning comes from a friend. Sometimes &ldquo;the angel of the
+Lord stands in the way for an adversary.&rdquo; My conscience rings loudly like
+an alarm-bell in the dead of night. Yes, the warnings are clear and
+pertinent, but...!</p>
+
+<p>Pilate ignored the warning, and handed the Lord to the revengeful will of
+the priests. Pilate defiled his heart, and then he washed his hands! What
+a petty attempt to escape the certain issues! And yet we have shared in
+the small evasion. We have crucified the Lord, and then we wear a
+crucifix. We violate the spirit, and then we do reverence to the letter.
+We hand the Lord over to be crucified, and then we practise the postures
+and gait of the saints. Yes, we have all sought an escape in outer
+ceremony from the nemesis of our shameful deeds.</p>
+
+<p>My soul, attend thou to the mystic warnings, and &ldquo;play the man&rdquo;!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 90]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE VICTORY OF MEEKNESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Peter</span> ii. 17-25.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN I may be not only the betrayer, but the betrayed. In my inner circle
+there may be a friend who will play me false, and hand me over to the
+wolves. What then? Just this&mdash;I must imitate the grace of my Lord, and
+&ldquo;consider Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There must be no violent retaliation. &ldquo;<em>When He was reviled, He reviled
+not again.</em>&rdquo; The fire of revenge may singe or even scorch my enemy, but it
+will do far more damage to the furniture of my own soul. After every
+indulgence in vengeful passion some precious personal possession has been
+destroyed. The fact of the matter is, this fire cannot be kept burning
+without making fuel of the priceless furnishings of the soul. &ldquo;Heat not a
+furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There must be a serene committal of the soul to the strong keeping of the
+Eternal God. &ldquo;<em>He committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.</em>&rdquo;
+This is the way of peace, as this is the way of victory. If ever the enemy
+is to be conquered this must be the mode of the conquest. When men
+persecute us, let us rest more implicitly in our God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 91]</span></p>
+<h2>MARCH The Thirty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>AT THE CROSS!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxvii. 38-50.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me listen to the ribald jeers which were flung upon my Lord. And let
+me listen, not as a judge, but as one who has been in the company of the
+callous crowd. For I, too, have mocked Him! I have said: &ldquo;Hail, King!&rdquo; and
+I have bowed before Him, but it has been mock and empty homage! I have
+sung: &ldquo;Crown Him Lord of all!&rdquo; but there has been no real recognition of
+His sovereignty; mine has been a mock coronation. From the seat of the
+mocker, deliver me, good Lord!</p>
+
+<p>And let me stand near the cross while that awful voice of desolation rends
+the heavens. &ldquo;<em>My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?</em>&rdquo; In that
+agonizing cry I am led to the real heart of the atonement. My Saviour was
+standing where His believers will never stand. That was the real death,
+the death of an inconceivable abandonment. And &ldquo;He died for me!&rdquo; He so
+died in order that I may never taste death. &ldquo;He that liveth and believeth
+in Me shall never die.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Every believer will go to sleep, and through a short sleep he will wake in
+the glory of the Eternal Presence. But he will never die: no, never die!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 92]</span><a name="APR" id="APR"></a></p>
+<h2>APRIL The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xxiii. 33-47.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>OOK at our Lord in relation to His foes. &ldquo;<em>Father, forgive them; for they
+know not what they do!</em>&rdquo; Their bitterness has not embittered Him. The
+&ldquo;milk of human kindness&rdquo; was still sweet. Nothing could sour our Lord, and
+convert His goodwill into malice, His serene beneficence into wild
+revenge. And how is it with me? Are my foes able to maim my spirit as well
+as my body? Do they win their end by making me a smaller man? Or am I
+magnanimous even on the cross?</p>
+
+<p>And look at our Lord in relation to the penitent thief. &ldquo;<em>To-day shalt
+thou be with Me in Paradise.</em>&rdquo; There was no self-centredness in our
+Saviour&#8217;s grief. He was the good Physician, even when His body was mangled
+on the cross. He healed a broken heart even in the very pangs of death.
+When &ldquo;there was darkness over all the earth,&rdquo; He let the light of the
+morning into the heart of a desolate thief. And, good Lord, graciously
+help me to do likewise!</p>
+
+<p>And all this amazing graciousness is explained in our Lord&#8217;s relation to
+His Father. &ldquo;<em>Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit!</em>&rdquo; Yes,
+everything is there! When I and My Father are one, my spirit will remain
+sweet as the violet and pure as the dew.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 93]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>&ldquo;<em>ON HIM!</em>&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> liii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me tell a dream which was given by night to one of my dearest friends.
+He beheld a stupendous range of glorious sun-lit mountains, with their
+lower slopes enfolded in white mist. &ldquo;Lord,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;I pray that I may
+dwell upon those heights!&rdquo; &ldquo;Thou must first descend into the vale,&rdquo; a
+voice replied.</p>
+
+<p>Into the vale he went. And down there he found himself surrounded with all
+manner of fierce, ugly, loathsome things. As he looked upon them he saw
+that they were the incarnations of his own sins! There they were, sins
+long ago committed, showing their threatening teeth before him!</p>
+
+<p>Then he heard some One approaching, and instinctively he knew it was the
+Lord! And he felt so ashamed that he drew a cloak over his face, and stood
+in silence. And the Presence came nearer and nearer, until He, too, stood
+silent. After a while my friend mastered sufficient courage to lift the
+corner of his cloak and look out upon the Presence: and lo! all the
+loathsome things were <em>on Him</em>!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Lord had laid on Him the iniquity of us all.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 94]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE STONE ROLLED AWAY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Mark</span> xvi. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;AM always wondering who will roll away the stone! There is a great
+obstacle in the way, and my frailty is incompetent to its removal. And lo!
+when I arrive at the place I find that the angel has been before me, and
+the obstacle is gone! And I would that I might learn wisdom to-day from
+the miracle of yesterday. Let me not be confounded about a new stone when
+I know that my fears about the old one had no foundation.</p>
+
+<p>And then the young man at the sepulchre! He is a type of eternal youth,
+and he is sitting serenely in a routed grave. He represents the
+unwithering in the very home of corruption. And this, too, is my hope! It
+is mine in Christ to put on incorruption, and through a brief sleep to
+become clothed with immortal youth. &ldquo;There everlasting spring abides, and
+never withering flowers!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And I may have the assurance of the coming glory even now. Even now may I
+taste the heavenly feast, and wear some of the unfading flowers of the
+glorified. Yes, even now my leaf need not wither, and my hopes may remain
+unshaken through all my troubled years.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 95]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE RESURRECTION MORNING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxviii. 1-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me reverently mark the happenings of this most wonderful morn. &ldquo;<em>It
+began to dawn.</em>&rdquo; Yes, that was the first significance of the resurrection.
+It was a new day for the world. Everything was to be seen in a new light.
+Everything was to wear a new face&mdash;God, and heaven, and life, and duty,
+and death! &ldquo;All things are become new.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And there was a great earthquake.</em>&rdquo; Yes, and this was significant of the
+tremendous upheaval implied in the resurrection. The kingdom of the devil
+was upheaved from its foundations. All the boasted pomp of his showy
+empire was turned upside down. &ldquo;I beheld Satan falling!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And the angel rolled away the stone.</em>&rdquo; And that, too, is significant of
+the resurrection. The awful barrier was rolled away, and the grave became
+a thoroughfare! &ldquo;This is the Lord&#8217;s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And there was &ldquo;<em>fear and great joy</em>.&rdquo; And mingled awe and gladness, a
+reverential delight.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 96]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE EMPTY TOMB</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xxiv. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT empty tomb means the conquest of death. The Captive proved mightier
+than the captor. He emerged from the prison as the Lord of the prison, and
+death reeled at His going. In the risen Saviour death is dethroned; he
+takes his place at the footstool to do the bidding of his sovereign Lord
+and King. And that empty tomb means the conquest of sin. Sin had done its
+worst, and had failed. All the forces of hell had been rallied against the
+Lord, and above them all He rose triumphant and glorified. A little while
+ago I discovered a spring. I tried to choke it. I heaped sand and gravel
+upon it; I piled stones above it! And through them all it emerged,
+noiselessly and irresistibly, a radiant resurrection!</p>
+
+<p>And so the empty tomb becomes the symbol of a thoroughfare between life in
+time and life in the unshadowed Presence of our God. Death is now like a
+short tunnel which is near my home; I can look through it and see the
+other side! In the risen Lord death becomes transparent. &ldquo;O death, where
+is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 97]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Last of all He was seen of me also.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> xv. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND by that vision Saul of Tarsus was transformed. And so, by the ministry
+of a risen Lord we have received the gift of a transfigured Paul. The
+resurrection glory fell upon him, and he was glorified. In that
+superlative light he discovered his sin, his error, his need, but he also
+found the dynamic of the immortal hope.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Seen of me also!&rdquo; Can I, too, calmly and confidently claim the
+experience? Or am I altogether depending upon another man&#8217;s sight, and are
+my own eyes unillumined? In these realms the witness of &ldquo;hear-says&rdquo; counts
+for nothing; he only speaks with arresting power who has &ldquo;seen for
+himself.&rdquo; &ldquo;Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee
+of Me?&rdquo; That is the question which is asked, not only by the Master, but
+by all who hear us tell the story of the risen Lord. &ldquo;Has He been seen of
+thee also?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>My Saviour, I humbly pray Thee to give me first-hand knowledge of Thee.
+Let me be a witness who can say, &ldquo;I know that my Redeemer liveth!&rdquo; Before
+all the doubts and hesitancies of man enable me to answer, &ldquo;Have I not
+seen Jesus Christ our Lord?&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 98]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IF CHRIST WERE DEAD!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> xv. 12-26.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p><em>F Christ be not risen!</em>&rdquo; That is the most appalling &ldquo;if&rdquo; which can be
+flung into the human mind. If it obtains lodging and entertainment, all
+the fairest hopes of the soul wither away like tender buds which have been
+nipped by sharp frost! See how they fade!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Your faith is vain.</em>&rdquo; It has no more strength and permanency than
+Jonah&#8217;s gourd. Nay, it has really never been a living thing! It has been a
+pathetic delusion, beautiful, but empty as a bubble, and collapsing at
+Joseph&#8217;s tomb.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Ye are yet in your sins.</em>&rdquo; The hope of forgiveness and reconciliation is
+stricken, and there is nothing left but &ldquo;a certain fearful looking-for of
+judgment.&rdquo; Nemesis has only been hiding behind a screen of decorated
+falsehoods, and she will pursue us to the bitter end.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>We are of all men the most miserable.</em>&rdquo; Joy would fall and die like a
+fatally wounded lark. The song would cease from our souls. The holy place
+would become a tomb.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But now <em>is</em> Christ risen from the dead!&rdquo; Yes, let me finish on that
+word. That gives me morning, and melody, and holy merriment that knows no
+end.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 99]</span></p>
+<h2>April The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MY INHERITANCE IN THE RISEN LORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Peter</span> i. 1-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>N my risen Lord I am born into &ldquo;a living hope,&rdquo; a hope not only vital,
+but vitalizing, sending its mystic, vivifying influences through every
+highway and by-way of my soul.</p>
+
+<p>In my risen Lord mine is &ldquo;<em>an inheritance incorruptible</em>.&rdquo; It is not
+exposed to the gnawing tooth of time. Moth and rust can not impair the
+treasure. It will not grow less as I grow old. Its glories are as
+invulnerable as my Lord.</p>
+
+<p>In my risen Lord mine is &ldquo;an inheritance ... <em>undefiled</em>.&rdquo; There is no
+alloy in the fine gold. The King will give me of His best. &ldquo;Bring forth
+the best robe, and put it on him.&rdquo; The holiest ideal proclaims my
+possibility, and foretells my ultimate attainment. Heaven&#8217;s wine is not to
+be mixed with water. I am to awake &ldquo;in His likeness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And mine is &ldquo;an inheritance ... that <em>fadeth not away</em>.&rdquo; It shall not be
+as the garlands offered by men&mdash;green to-day and to-morrow sere and
+yellow. &ldquo;Its leaf also shall not wither.&rdquo; It shall always retain its
+freshness, and shall offer me a continually fresh delight. And these are
+all mine in Him!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Thou, O Christ, art all I want.&rdquo;</span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 100]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE EVER-LIVING LORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Revelation</span> i. 9-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me take the simple words, and quietly gaze into the wonderful depths
+of their fathomless simplicity. An old villager used to tell me it would
+strengthen my eyes if I looked long into deep wells. And it will assuredly
+strengthen the eyes of my soul to gaze into wells like these.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>I am He that liveth.</em>&rdquo; What a marvellous transformation it worked upon
+Dr. Dale, when one day, in his study, it flashed upon him, as never
+before, that Jesus Christ is alive! &ldquo;Christ is alive!&rdquo; he repeated again
+and again, until the clarion music filled all the rooms in his soul.
+&ldquo;Christ is alive!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And was dead.</em>&rdquo; Yes, the Lord has gone right through that dark place.
+There are footprints, and they are the footprints of the Conqueror, all
+along the road. &ldquo;Christ leads me through no darker room than He went
+through before.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And, behold, I am alive for ever more.</em>&rdquo; &ldquo;Jesus has conquered death and
+all its powers.&rdquo; Never more will it sit on a transient throne. Its power
+is broken, its &ldquo;sting&rdquo; has lost its poison, there isn&#8217;t a boast left in
+its apparently omnivorous mouth! &ldquo;Where&#8217;s thy victory, O grave?&rdquo; And here
+is the gospel for me&mdash;&ldquo;Because I live ye shall live also.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 101]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>RESURRECTION-LIGHT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>If we believe that Jesus died and rose again....</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Thessalonians</span> iv. 13-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT is the eastern light which fills the valley of time with wonderful
+beams of glory. It is the great dawn in which we find the promise of our
+own day. Everything wears a new face in the light of our Lord&#8217;s
+resurrection. I once watched the dawn on the East Coast of England. Before
+there was a grey streak in the sky everything was held in grimmest gloom.
+The toil of the two fishing-boats seemed very sombre. The sleeping houses
+on the shore looked the abodes of death. Then came grey light, and then
+the sun, and everything was transfigured! Every window in every cottage
+caught the reflected glory, and the fishing-boats glittered in morning
+radiance.</p>
+
+<p>And everything is transfigured in the Risen Christ. Everything is lit up
+when &ldquo;the Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in His wings.&rdquo; Life is
+lit up, and so is death, and so are sorrow and daily labour and human
+friendships! Everything catches the gleam and is changed. &ldquo;We are no
+longer of the night, but of the day.&rdquo; &ldquo;Walk as children of light.&rdquo; &ldquo;Awake,
+thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon
+thee.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 102]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Romans</span> v. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Lord went through death to make a path to life. He descended into
+shame and suffering, and appalling desolation in order that He might &ldquo;open
+the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.&rdquo; And the way is now open!</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, &ldquo;<em>let us have peace with God</em>.&rdquo; Let us reverently and willingly
+tread the heavenly road, and seek the King&#8217;s presence, and gratefully
+accept &ldquo;the everlasting covenant.&rdquo; Let us go, as once rebel soldiers, and
+let us surrender our arms, and at His bidding take them again, to fight in
+His service.</p>
+
+<p>And let us &ldquo;<em>glory in tribulation</em>.&rdquo; If we are in the King&#8217;s road, at
+peace with the King, every stormy circumstance will be made to do us
+service. Yes, all our troubles will be compelled to minister to us, to
+robe us, and to adorn us, and to make us more like the sons and daughters
+of a royal house. &ldquo;Out of the eater will come forth meat, and out of the
+strong will come forth sweetness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And, therefore, let us &ldquo;<em>joy in God</em>.&rdquo; Don&#8217;t let us be &ldquo;the King&#8217;s own,&rdquo;
+and yet march in the sulks! Let us march to the music of grateful song and
+praise.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Children of the heavenly King,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">As ye journey, sweetly sing.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 103]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LAMB ON THE THRONE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>In the midst of the throne stood a Lamb as it had been
+slain!</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Revelation</span> v. 6-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>OW strange and unexpected is the figure! A lamb&mdash;the supreme type of
+gentleness! A throne, the supreme symbol of power! And the one is in the
+very midst of the other. The sacrificial has become the sovereign: the
+Cross is the principal part of the throne. &ldquo;I, if I be lifted up, will
+draw all men unto Me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Yes, this sovereign sacrificial Lord is to receive universal homage and
+worship. &ldquo;<em>Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth</em>&rdquo; is to pay
+tribute at His feet. And this, not by a terrible coercion, but by a
+gracious constraint. We are not to be driven, we are to be drawn; we are
+to move by love&mdash;compulsion: the Lamb in God is to win the wills of men.</p>
+
+<p>And I, too, may take my harp and make melodious praise before my King. And
+I, too, may fill the &ldquo;golden vials&rdquo; with my grateful intercession, and
+heaven shall be the sweeter for the odour of my prayers. And I, too, may
+sound my loud &ldquo;Amen,&rdquo; the note of gladsome resignation to the sovereign
+will of God. Yes, even now I may be one of &ldquo;the multitude whom no man can
+number,&rdquo; who, in a new song, ascribe all worthiness to &ldquo;the Lamb that was
+slain.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 104]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PURE GOLD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold....<br />And there I will meet
+with thee.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> xxv. 10-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;MUST put my best into my preparations, and then the Lord will honour my
+work. My part is to be of &ldquo;pure gold&rdquo; if my God is to dwell within it. I
+must not satisfy myself with cheap flimsy and then assume that the Lord
+will be satisfied with it. He demands my very best as a condition of His
+enriching Presence.</p>
+
+<p>My prayers must be of &ldquo;pure gold&rdquo; if He is to meet me there. There must be
+nothing vulgar about them, nothing shoddy, nothing hastily constructed,
+nothing thrown up anyhow. They must be chaste and sincere, and overlaid
+with pure gold.</p>
+
+<p>My home must be of &ldquo;pure gold&rdquo; if He is to meet me there. No unclean
+passion must dwell there, no carnal appetite, no defiling conversation, no
+immoderateness in eating and drinking. How can the Lord sit down at such a
+table, or make One at such a fireside?</p>
+
+<p>Let me present to Him pure gold. Let me offer Him nothing cheap. Let me
+ever make the ark of my best, and the Lord will meet me there.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 105]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>RELIGION AS MERE MAGIC</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp,<br />
+all Israel shouted with a great shout.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Samuel</span> iv. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HEY were making more of the ark than of the Lord. Their religion was
+degenerating into superstition. I become superstitious whenever the means
+of worship are permitted to eclipse the Object of worship. I then possess
+a magic instrument, and I forget the holy Lord.</p>
+
+<p>It can be so with prayer. I may use prayer as a magic minister to protect
+me from invasive ills. I do not pray because I desire fellowship with the
+Father, but because I should not feel safe without it. The ark is more
+than the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>It can be so with a crucifix. A crucifix may become a mere talisman, and
+so supplant the Lord. I may wear the thing and have no fellowship with the
+Person. And so may it be with the Lord&#8217;s Supper. I may come to regard it
+as a magic feast, which makes me immune from punishment, but not immune
+from sin. It may be a minister of safety, but not of holiness.</p>
+
+<p>So let mine eyes be ever unto the Lord! Let me not be satisfied with the
+ark, but let me seek Him whose name is holy and whose nature is love.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 106]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>DEGRADING HOLY THINGS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Samuel</span> vi. 1-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;MUST remember that a holy thing can be the minister of a plague. Things
+that were purposed to be benedictions can be changed into blights. The
+very ark of God must be in its appointed place or it becomes the means of
+sickness and destruction. So it is with all the holy things of God: if I
+dethrone them they will uncrown me.</p>
+
+<p>It is even so with music. Unless I give it its holy sovereignty it will
+become a minister of the passions, and the angel within me is mastered by
+a beast. Let me read again Tennyson&#8217;s &ldquo;Palace of Sin,&rdquo; and let me
+heedfully note how music becomes the instrument of ignoble sensationalism,
+and aids in man&#8217;s degradation. &ldquo;But exalt her, and she shall exalt thee.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It is even so with art. It is purposed to be the holy dwelling-place of
+God, but I can so abuse it as to make it the agent of degradation. Instead
+of hallowing the life it will debase and impoverish it.</p>
+
+<p>I will therefore remember that, if I infringe the Divine order, I can turn
+the sacramental cup into a vehicle of moral poison and spiritual blight.
+&ldquo;They must be holy who bear the vessels of the Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 107]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PRIESTS OF THE LORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> xv. 1-3, 11-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE are prepared people for prepared offices. The Lord will fit the man
+to the function, the anointed and consecrated priest for the consecrated
+and consecrating ministry.</p>
+
+<p>But now, in the larger purpose of the Lord, and in &ldquo;the exceeding riches
+of His grace,&rdquo; everybody may be a priest of the Lord. &ldquo;He hath made us to
+be priests and kings unto God.&rdquo; And He will prepare us to carry our ark,
+and to &ldquo;minister in holy things.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I can be His priest in the home. He will anoint me as one who is to engage
+in holy ministries, and I shall be serving at the altar even while engaged
+in the lowly duties of the house. The humble meal will be sacramental, and
+common work will be heavenly sacrifice.</p>
+
+<p>I can be His priest in my class. The Lord will clothe me in &ldquo;linen clean
+and white,&rdquo; and in my consecrated spirit my scholars shall discern the
+incense of sacrifice. And woe is me if I attempt to fill the godly office
+without my God.</p>
+
+<p>And I can be His priest in my workshop. Yes, in the carpenter&#8217;s shop I may
+wear the radiant robe of the sanctified. And I, too, as one of the priests
+of the Lord, can &ldquo;bear the sin of many, and make intercession for the
+transgressor.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 108]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GREAT PRAISE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> xvi. 7-36.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-g.png" width="79" height="80" alt="G" title="" />
+</div><p>REAT is the Lord!&rdquo; So many people have such a little God! There is
+nothing about Him august and sublime. And so He is not greatly praised.
+The worship is thin, the thanksgivings are scanty, the supplications are
+indifferent.</p>
+
+<p>All great saints have a great God. He fills their universe. Therefore do
+they move about in a fruitful awe, and everywhere there is only a thin
+veil between them and His appearing. Everywhere they discern His holy
+presence, as the face of a bride is dimly seen beneath her bridal veil.
+And so even the common scrub of the wilderness is aflame with sacred fire:
+the humble &ldquo;primrose on the rock&rdquo; becomes &ldquo;the court of Deity&rdquo;: and the
+&ldquo;strength of the hills is His also&rdquo;!</p>
+
+<p>Yes, a great God inspires great praise, and in great praise small cares
+and small meannesses are utterly consumed away. When praise is mean,
+anxieties multiply. Therefore let me contemplate the greatness of God in
+nature and in providence, in His power, and His holiness, and His love.
+Let me &ldquo;stand in awe&rdquo; before His glory: and in the fruitful reverence the
+soul will be moved in acceptable praise.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 109]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MECHANICAL PIETY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Philemon</span> 10-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Apostle Paul declares that benefits may be given in one of two
+ways&mdash;&ldquo;<em>of necessity</em>&rdquo; and &ldquo;<em>willingly</em>.&rdquo; One is mechanical, the other is
+spontaneous. I once saw a little table-fountain playing in a drawing-room,
+but I heard the click of its machinery, and the charm was gone! It had to
+be wound up before it would play, and at frequent periods it &ldquo;ran down.&rdquo; A
+little later I saw another fountain playing on a green lawn, and it was
+fed from the deep secret resources of the hills!</p>
+
+<p>There is a generosity which is like the drawing-room fountain. If you
+listen you can hear the mechanical click, and a sound of friction, arising
+from murmuring and complaint. And there is a generosity which is like the
+fountain that is the child of the hills. It is clear, and sweet, and
+musical, and flows on through every season! One is &ldquo;of necessity&rdquo;; the
+other is &ldquo;willingly.&rdquo; And &ldquo;God loveth a cheerful giver.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And prayer can be of the same two contrary orders. One prayer is
+mechanical, it is hard, formal, metallic. The other is spontaneous,
+forceful, and irresistible. Listen to the Pharisee&mdash;&ldquo;Lord, I thank Thee
+that I am not as other men are.&rdquo; It is the click of the machine! Listen to
+the publican&mdash;&ldquo;God be merciful to me, a sinner!&rdquo; It is the voice of the
+deeps.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 110]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Ninteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>UNION IN HARMONY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Be ye all of one mind.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Peter</span> iii. 8-17.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-b.png" width="79" height="80" alt="B" title="" />
+</div><p>UT this is not unison: it is harmony. When an orchestra produces some
+great musical masterpiece, the instruments are all of one mind, but each
+makes its own individual contribution. There is variety with concordance:
+each one serves every other, and the result is glorious harmony. &ldquo;By love
+serve one another.&rdquo; It is love that converts membership into fraternity:
+it is love that binds sons and daughters into a family.</p>
+
+<p>Look at a field of wild-flowers. What a harmony of colour! And yet what a
+variety of colours! Nothing out of place, but no sameness! All drawing
+resource from the same soil, and breathing the vitalizing substance from
+the same air!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And ye, being rooted and grounded in love,&rdquo; will grow up, a holy family
+in the Lord. If love be the common ground the varieties in God&#8217;s family
+may be infinite!</p>
+
+<p>And so the unity which the apostle seeks is a unity of mood and
+disposition. It is not a unity which repeats the exact syllables of a
+common creed, but a unity which is built of common trust, and love, and
+hope. It is not sameness upon the outer lips, but fellowship in the secret
+place.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 111]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE JOY OF THE LOVER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Romans</span> xii. 9-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>OVE finds her joy in seeing others crowned. Envy darkens when she sees
+the garland given to another. Jealousy has no festival except when she is
+&ldquo;Queen of the May.&rdquo; But love thrills to another&#8217;s exaltation. She feels
+the glow of another&#8217;s triumph. When another basks in favour her own &ldquo;time
+of singing of birds is come!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And all this is because love has wonderful chords which vibrate to the
+secret things in the souls of others. Indeed, the gift of love is just the
+gift of delicate correspondence, the power of exquisite fellow-feeling,
+the ability to &ldquo;rejoice with them that do rejoice, and to weep with them
+that weep.&rdquo; When, therefore, the soul of another is exultant, and the
+wedding-bells are ringing, love&#8217;s kindred bells ring a merry peal. When
+the soul of another is depressed, and a funeral dirge is wailing, love&#8217;s
+kindred chords wail in sad communion. So love can enter another&#8217;s state as
+though it were her own.</p>
+
+<p>Our Master spake condemningly of those who have lost this exquisite gift.
+They have lost their power of response. &ldquo;We have piped with you, and ye
+have not danced; we have mourned with you, and ye have not lamented.&rdquo; They
+lived in selfish and loveless isolation. They have lost all power of
+tender communion.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 112]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LOVE AS THE GREAT MAGICIAN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">John</span> ii. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;NEW commandment! And yet it is an old one with a new meaning. It is the
+old water-pot, but its water has been changed into wine. It is the old
+letter with a new spirit. It is the old body with a new soul. Love makes
+all things new! It changes duty into delight, and statutes into songs.</p>
+
+<p>What a magic difference love makes to a face. It at once becomes a face
+illumined. Love makes the plainest face winsome and attractive. It adds
+the light of heaven, and the earthly is transfigured. No cosmetics are
+needed when love is in possession. She will do her own beautifying work,
+and everybody will know her sign.</p>
+
+<p>What a magic difference love makes in service! The hireling goes about his
+work with heavy and reluctant feet: the lover sings and dances at his
+toil. The hireling scamps his work: the lover is always adding another
+touch, and is never satisfied. Just one more touch! And just another! And
+so on until the good God shall say that loving &ldquo;patience has had her
+perfect work.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Love lights up everything, for she is the light of life. Let her dwell in
+the soul, and every room in the life shall be filled with the glory of the
+Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 113]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SPEECH AS A SYMPTOM OF HEALTH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The tongue of the wise is health.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Proverbs</span> xii. 13-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR doctors often test our physical condition by the state of our tongue.
+With another and deeper significance the tongue is also the register of
+our condition. Our words are a perfect index of our moral and spiritual
+health. If our words are unclean and untrue, our souls are assuredly
+sickly and diseased. A perverse tongue is never allied with a sanctified
+heart. And, therefore, everyone may apply a clinical test to his own life:
+&ldquo;What is the character of my speech? What do my words indicate? What do
+they suggest as to the depths and background of the soul?&rdquo; &ldquo;By thy words
+thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>God delighteth in truthful lips. Right words are fruit from the tree of
+life. The Lord turns away from falsehood as we turn away from material
+corruption, only with an infinitely intenser loathing and disgust.</p>
+
+<p>It is only the lips that have been purified with flame from the holy altar
+of God that can offer words that are pleasing unto Him.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Take my lips and let them be<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">Filled with messages from Thee.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 114]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MASCULINE FORGIVENESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Colossians</span> iii. 12-17.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>RUE forgiveness is a very strong and clean and masculine virtue. There is
+a counterfeit forgiveness which is unworthy of the name. It is full of
+&ldquo;buts,&rdquo; and &ldquo;ifs,&rdquo; and &ldquo;maybes,&rdquo; and &ldquo;peradventures.&rdquo; It moves with
+reluctance, it offers with averted face, it takes back with one hand what
+it gives with the other. It forgives, but it &ldquo;cannot forget.&rdquo; It forgives,
+but it &ldquo;can never trust again.&rdquo; It forgives, but &ldquo;things can never be the
+same as they were.&rdquo; What kind of forgiveness is this? It is the mercy of
+the police-court. It is the remission of penalty, not the glorious
+&ldquo;abandon&rdquo; of grace! It is a cold &ldquo;Don&#8217;t do it again,&rdquo; not the weeping and
+compassionate goodwill of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.</em>&rdquo; That is to be our motive,
+and that is to be our measure. We are to forgive <em>because</em> Christ forgave
+us. The glorious memory of His grace is to make us gracious. His tender,
+healing words to us are to redeem our speech from all harshness. In the
+contemplation of His cross we are to become &ldquo;partakers of His sufferings,&rdquo;
+and by the shedding of our own blood help to close and heal the alienation
+of the world.</p>
+
+<p>And we are to forgive <em>as</em> Christ forgave us. Resentment is to be changed
+into frank goodwill, and filled with the grace of the Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 115]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LIMITED FORGIVENESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xvii. 3-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>E are always inclined to set a limit to our moral obligations. We wish,
+as we say, &ldquo;to draw a line somewhere.&rdquo; We want to appoint a definite place
+where obligation ceases, and where the moral strain may be released. The
+Apostle Peter wished his Master to draw such a line in the matter of
+forgiveness. &ldquo;Lord, how oft shall I forgive? Till seven times?&rdquo; He wanted
+a tiny moral rule which he could apply to his brother&#8217;s conduct.</p>
+
+<p>Not so the Lord. Our Master tells His disciple that in those spiritual
+realms relations are not governed by arithmetic. We cannot, by counting,
+measure off our obligations. Our repeated acts of forgiveness never bring
+us nearer to the freedom of revenge. No amount of sweetness will ever
+permit us to be bitter. We cannot, by being good, obtain a license to be
+evil. The fact of the matter is, if our goodness is of genuine quality,
+every act will more strongly dispose us to further goodness. It is the
+counterfeit element in our goodness that inclines us to the opposite camp.
+It is when our forgiveness is tainted that we anticipate the &ldquo;sweetness&rdquo;
+of revenge.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 116]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page Decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE HIDDEN FOES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> v. 21-26.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR Lord always leads us to the secret, innermost roots of things. He does
+not concern Himself with symptoms, but with causes. He does not begin with
+the molten lava flowing down the fair mountain slope and destroying the
+vineyards. He begins with the central fires in which the lava is born. He
+does not begin with uncleanness. He begins with the thoughts which produce
+it. He does not begin with murder, but with the anger which causes it. He
+pierces to the secret fires!</p>
+
+<p>Now, all anger is not of sin. The Apostle Paul enjoins his readers to &ldquo;be
+angry, and sin not.&rdquo; To be altogether incapable of anger would be to offer
+no antagonism to the wrongs and oppressions of the world. &ldquo;Who is made to
+stumble, and I burn not?&rdquo; cries the Apostle Paul. If wrong stalked abroad
+with heedless feet he burned with holy passion. There is anger which is
+like clean flame, clear and pure, as &ldquo;the sea of glass mingled with fire.&rdquo;
+And there is anger which is like a smoky bonfire, and it pollutes while it
+destroys.</p>
+
+<p>It is the unclean anger which is of sin. It seeks revenge, not
+righteousness. It seeks &ldquo;to get its own back,&rdquo; not to get the wrong-doer
+back to God. It follows wrong with further wrong. It spreads the devil&#8217;s
+fire.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 117]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOLIATH VERSUS GOD!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Samuel</span> xvii. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-g.png" width="79" height="80" alt="G" title="" />
+</div><p>OLIATH seemed to have everything on his side <em>except</em> God. And the things
+in which he boasted were just the things in which men are prone to boast
+to-day.</p>
+
+<p>He had physical strength. &ldquo;His height was six cubits and a span.&rdquo;
+Athletics had done all they could for him, and he was a fine type of
+animal perfection.</p>
+
+<p>He had splendid military equipment. &ldquo;A helmet of brass,&rdquo; and &ldquo;a coat of
+mail,&rdquo; and &ldquo;a spear like a weaver&#8217;s beam!&rdquo; Surely, if fine material
+equipment determines combats, the shepherd-lad from the hills of Bethlehem
+will be annihilated.</p>
+
+<p>And he enjoyed the enthusiastic confidence of the Philistines. He was his
+nation&#8217;s pride and glory! He strode out amid their shouts, and the cheers
+were like iron in his blood.</p>
+
+<p>But all this counted for nothing, because God was against him. Men and
+nations may attain to a fine animalism, their warlike equipment may
+satisfy the most exacting standard, and yet, with God against them, they
+shall be as structures woven out of mists, and they shall collapse at the
+touch of apparent weakness. The issue was not Goliath versus David, but
+Goliath versus God!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 118]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>OBSCURE BIRTHPLACES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Samuel</span> xvii. 12-27.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-g.png" width="79" height="80" alt="G" title="" />
+</div><p>OD&#8217;S champion is at present feeding sheep! Who would have expected that
+Goliath&#8217;s antagonist would emerge from the quiet pastures? &ldquo;Genius hatches
+her offspring in strange places.&rdquo; Very humble homes are the birthplaces of
+mighty emancipations.</p>
+
+<p>There was a little farm at St. Ives, and the farmer lived a quiet and
+unsensational life. But the affairs of the nation became more and more
+confused and threatening. Monarchical power despoiled the people&#8217;s
+liberties, and tyranny became rampant. And out from the little farm strode
+Oliver Cromwell, the ordained of God, to emancipate his country.</p>
+
+<p>There was an obscure rectory at Epworth. The doings in the little rectory
+were just the quiet practices of similar homes in countless parts of
+England. And England was becoming brutalized, because its religious life
+was demoralized. The Church was asleep, and the devil was wide awake! And
+forth from the humble rectory strode John Wesley, the appointed champion
+of the Lord to enthuse, to purify, and to sweeten the life of the people.</p>
+
+<p>On what quiet farm is the coming deliverer now labouring? Who knows?</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 119]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PREPARING FOR GREAT ENCOUNTERS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Samuel</span> xvii. 28-37.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS young champion of the Lord had won many victories before he faced
+Goliath. Everything depends on how I approach my supreme conflicts. If I
+have been careless in smaller combats I shall fail in the larger. If I
+come, wearing the garlands of triumph won in the shade, the shout of
+victory is already in the air! Let me look at David&#8217;s trophies before he
+removed Goliath&#8217;s head.</p>
+
+<p>He had conquered his temper. Read Eliab&#8217;s irritating taunt in the
+twenty-eighth verse, and mark the fine self-possession of the young
+champion&#8217;s reply! That conquest of temper helped him when he took aim at
+Goliath! There is nothing like passion for disturbing the accuracy of the
+eye and the steadiness of the hand.</p>
+
+<p>He had conquered fear. &ldquo;<em>Let no man&#8217;s heart fail because of him.</em>&rdquo; There
+was no panic, there was no feverish and wasteful excitement. There was no
+shouting &ldquo;to keep the spirits up!&rdquo; He was perfectly calm.</p>
+
+<p>And he had conquered unbelief. He had a rich history of the providential
+dealings of God with him, and his confidence was now unclouded and serene.
+He had known the Lord&#8217;s power when he faced the bear and the lion. Now for
+Goliath!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 120]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE MOOD OF TRIUMPH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Samuel</span> xvii. 38-54.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE man who comes up to his foes with this assurance will fight and win.
+Reasonable confidence is one of the most important weapons in the
+warrior&#8217;s armoury. Fear is always wasteful. The man who calmly expects to
+win has already begun to conquer. Our mood has so much to do with our
+might. And therefore does the Word of God counsel us to attend to our
+dispositions, lest, having carefully collected our material implements, we
+have no strength to use them.</p>
+
+<p>And the man who comes up to his foes with holy assurance will fight with
+consummate skill. He will be quite &ldquo;collected.&rdquo; All his powers will wait
+upon one another, and they will move together as one. He is as
+self-possessed upon the battlefield as upon parade, as undisturbed before
+Goliath as before a flock of sheep! And therefore do I say that, fighting
+with perfect composure, he fights with superlative skill. The right moment
+is seized, the right stone is chosen, the right aim is taken, and great
+Goliath is brought low.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 121]</span></p>
+<h2>APRIL The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE TEST OF VICTORY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>David behaveth himself wisely.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Samuel</span> xvii. 55&mdash;xviii. 5.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE hour of victory is a more severe moral test than the hour of defeat.
+Many a man can brave the perils of adversity who succumbs to the
+seductions of prosperity. He can stand the cold better than the heat! He
+is enriched by failure, but &ldquo;spoilt by success.&rdquo; To test the real quality
+of a man, let us regard him just when he has slain Goliath! &ldquo;David behaved
+himself wisely&rdquo;!</p>
+
+<p>He was not &ldquo;eaten up with pride.&rdquo; He developed no &ldquo;side.&rdquo; He went among
+his friends as though no Goliath had ever crossed his way. He was not for
+ever recounting the triumph, and fishing for the compliments of his
+audience. He &ldquo;behaved wisely.&rdquo; So many of us tarnish our victories by the
+manner in which we display them. We put them into the shop-window, and
+they become &ldquo;soiled goods.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in this hour of triumph David made a noble friend. In his noonday he
+found Jonathan, and their hearts were knit to each other in deep and
+intimate love. It is beautiful when our victories are so nobly borne that
+they introduce us into higher fellowships, and the friends of heaven
+become our friends.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 122]</span><a name="MAY" id="MAY"></a></p>
+<h2>MAY The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CONDITIONS OF SERENITY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxxiv.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>F I would be like the Psalmist, I must <em>clearly recognize my perils</em>. He
+sees the &ldquo;waters,&rdquo; the &ldquo;proud waters.&rdquo; He beholds the &ldquo;enemy,&rdquo; and his
+&ldquo;wrath,&rdquo; and his &ldquo;teeth.&rdquo; He sees &ldquo;the fowler&rdquo; with his snare! I must not
+shut my eyes, and &ldquo;make my judgment blind.&rdquo; One of the gifts of grace is
+the spirit of discernment, the eyes which not only detect hidden treasure,
+but hidden foes. The devil is an expert in mimicry; he can make himself
+look like an angel of light. And so must I be able to discover his snares,
+even when they appear as the most seductive food.</p>
+
+<p>And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must <em>clearly recognize my great
+Ally</em>. &ldquo;If it has not been the Lord, who was on our side!&rdquo; To see the Ally
+on the perilous field, and to see Him on my side, gives birth to holy
+confidence and song. &ldquo;The Lord is on my side, whom shall I fear?&rdquo; I must
+make sure of the Ally, and &ldquo;victory is secure.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must not omit the doxology of
+praise. When the prayer is answered, I am apt to forget the praise. My
+thanksgivings are not so ready as my requests. And so the apparently
+conquered enemy steals in again at the door of an ungrateful heart.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 123]</span></p>
+<h2>May The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE HAPPY WARRIOR</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ephesians</span> vi. 10-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a portrait of the happy warrior! Let me first look at the warrior,
+and then at the implements with which he fights.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You cannot fight the French merely with red uniforms; there must be men
+inside them!&rdquo; So said Thomas Carlyle. Well, look at this man.
+&ldquo;<em>Strengthened in the Lord, and in the power of His might.</em>&rdquo; There is a
+secret communion with the Almighty, and he draws his resources from the
+Infinite. The water in my home comes from the Welsh hills; every drop was
+gathered on those grand and expansive uplands. And this man&#8217;s soldierly
+strength is drawn from the hills of God; every ounce of his fighting blood
+comes from the veins of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And mark the nature of his armoury. His weapons are dispositions. He
+fights with &ldquo;truth,&rdquo; and &ldquo;righteousness,&rdquo; and &ldquo;peace,&rdquo; and &ldquo;faith,&rdquo; and
+&ldquo;prayer&rdquo;! There are no implements like these. A sword will fail where a
+courtesy will prevail. We can kill our enemies by kindness. And as for the
+devil himself there is nothing like a grace-filled disposition for putting
+him to flight! A prayerful disposition can drive him off any field, at any
+hour of the day or night. &ldquo;Put on the whole armour of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 124]</span></p>
+<h2>May The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>OTHER GODS!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> xx. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>F we kept that commandment all the other commandments would be obeyed. If
+we secure this queen-bee we are given the swarm. To put nothing &ldquo;before&rdquo;
+God! What is left in the circle of obedience? God first, always and
+everywhere. Nothing allowed to usurp His throne for an hour! I was once
+allowed to sit on an earthly throne for a few seconds, but even that is
+not to be allowed with the throne of God. Nothing is to share His
+sovereignty, even for a moment. His dominion is to be unconditional and
+unbroken. &ldquo;Thou shalt have no other gods beside Me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But we have many gods we set upon His throne. We put money there, and
+fame, and pleasure, and ease. Yes, we sometimes usurp God&#8217;s throne, and we
+ourselves dare to sit there for days, and weeks, and years, at a time.
+Self is the idol, and we enthrone it, and we fall down and worship it. But
+no peace comes from such sovereignty, and no deep and vital joy. For the
+real King is not dead, and He is out and about, and our poor little
+monarchy is as the reign of the midge on a summer&#8217;s night. Our real
+kingship is in the acknowledgment of the King of kings. When we worship
+Him, and Him only, He will ask us to sit on His throne.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 125]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>A HEALTHY PALATE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>How sweet are Thy words unto my taste.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxix. 97-104.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-s.png" width="80" height="80" alt="S" title="" />
+</div><p>OME people like one thing, and some another. Some people appreciate the
+bitter olive; others feel it to be nauseous. Some delight in the sweetest
+grapes; others feel the sweetness to be sickly. It is all a matter of
+palate. Some people love the Word of the Lord; to others the reading of it
+is a dreary task. To some the Bible is like a vineyard; to others it is
+like a dry and tasteless meal. One takes the word of the Master, and it is
+&ldquo;as honey to the mouth&rdquo;; to another the same word is as unwelcome as a
+bitter drug. It is all a matter of palate.</p>
+
+<p>But what is a man to do who has got a perverted palate, and who calls
+sweet things bitter and bitter things sweet? He must get a new mouth! And
+where is he to get it? Not by any ministry of his own creation; his own
+endeavours will be impotent. A healthy moral palate depends upon the
+purity of the heart. Our spiritual discernments are all determined by the
+state of the soul. If the heart be pure, the mouth will be clean, and we
+shall love God&#8217;s law. If the soul-appetite be healthy, God&#8217;s words will be
+sweet unto our taste. And so does the good Lord give us new palates by
+giving us new hearts. &ldquo;Create within us clean hearts, O God, and renew
+right spirits within us.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 126]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HEALTHY LISTENING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">James</span> i. 21-27.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN we hear the word, but do not do it, there has been a defect in our
+hearing. We may listen to the word for mere entertainment. Or we may
+attach a virtue to the mere act of listening to the word. We may assume
+that some magical efficacy belongs to the mere reading of the word. And
+all this is perverse and delusive. No listening is healthy which is not
+mentally referred to obedience. We are to listen <em>with a view to
+obedience</em>, with our eyes upon the very road where the obedient feet will
+travel. That is to say, we are to listen with purpose, as though we were
+Ambassadors receiving instructions from the King concerning some momentous
+mission. Yes, we must listen with an eye on the road.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Doing&rdquo; makes a new thing of &ldquo;hearing.&rdquo; The statute obeyed becomes a song.
+The commandment is found to be a beatitude. The decree discloses riches of
+grace. The hidden things of God are not discovered until we are treading
+the path of obedience. &ldquo;And it came to pass that as he went he received
+his sight.&rdquo; In the way of obedience the blind man found a new world. God
+has wonderful treasures for the dutiful. The faithful discover the &ldquo;hidden
+manna.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 127]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PERFECTING OF LOVE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Herein is our love made perfect.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">John</span> iv. 11-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>OW? By dwelling in God and God in us. Love is not a manufacture; it is a
+fruit. It is not born of certain works; it springs out of certain
+relations. It does not come from doing something; it comes from living
+with Somebody. &ldquo;Abide in Me.&rdquo; That is how love is born, for &ldquo;love is of
+God, and God is love.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>How many people are striving who are not abiding. They live in a
+manufactory, they do not live in a home. They are trying to make something
+instead of to know Somebody. &ldquo;This is life, to know Thee.&rdquo; When I am
+related to the Lord Jesus, when I dwell with Him, love is as surely born
+as beauty and fragrance are born when my garden and the spring-time dwell
+together. If we would only wisely cultivate the fellowship of Jesus,
+everything else would follow in its train&mdash;all that gracious succession of
+beautiful things which are called &ldquo;the fruits of the Spirit.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And &ldquo;herein is our love made perfect.&rdquo; It is always growing richer,
+because it is always drawing riches from the inexhaustible love of God.
+How could it be otherwise? Endless resource must mean endless growth. &ldquo;Our
+life is hid with Christ in God,&rdquo; and hence our love will &ldquo;grow in all
+wisdom and discernment.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 128]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IN THE WAYS OF OBEDIENCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xix. 7-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me listen to the exquisite chimes of this wonderful psalm as they ring
+out the blessedness of the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord.
+What shall he find in the ways of obedience?</p>
+
+<p>He shall find restoration. &ldquo;Restoring the soul.&rdquo; He shall find new stores
+of food along the way. In every emergency he shall find fresh provision;
+every new need shall discover new supplies. When one store is spent,
+another shall take its place. &ldquo;Thou re-storest my soul.&rdquo; In the ways of
+righteousness the good Lord has appointed ample stores for the provision
+of all His faithful pilgrims.</p>
+
+<p>He shall find joy. &ldquo;Rejoicing the heart.&rdquo; In the way of obedience there
+shall be springs of delight as well as stores of provision. &ldquo;With joy
+shall ye draw waters out of the wells of salvation.&rdquo; Fountains of
+delicious satisfaction rise in the realm of duty, the satisfaction of
+being right with God, and in union with the eternal will. There is no day
+without its spring, and &ldquo;the joy of the Lord is our strength.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He shall find vision. &ldquo;Enlightening the eyes.&rdquo; The eyes of the obedient
+are anointed with the eye-salve of grace, and wondrous panoramas break
+upon the sight. Visions of grace! Visions of love! Visions of glory!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 129]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HOW NOT TO FORGET</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Deuteronomy</span> xi. 18-25.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>F we wish to retain &ldquo;the word of the Lord&rdquo; everything depends upon where
+we keep it. If we just keep it in the mind, a leaky memory may waste the
+treasure. A Chinese convert declared that he found the best way to
+remember the word was to do it! The engraved word became character,
+written upon the fleshy tables of the heart. He incarnated the word, and
+it became a vital part of his own personality. He lived it and it lived in
+him. The word became flesh. This is the only really vital &ldquo;way of
+remembrance,&rdquo; to convert the word into the primary stuff of the life.</p>
+
+<p>There is a secondary way by which we may help our apprehension of God&#8217;s
+word. &ldquo;Ye shall teach them.&rdquo; Our hold upon a truth is increased while we
+impart it to others. The gospel becomes more vivid as we proclaim it to
+our fellow-men. We see it while we explain it. It grips us the more firmly
+as we use it to grip our children. This is a great law in life. In these
+matters it is literally true that memory best retains what she gives away.
+A truth that is never shared is never really possessed. The word that we
+teach becomes rooted in our own mind.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 130]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LOVING THE LORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> x. 21-28.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE secret of life is to love the Lord our God, and our neighbours as
+ourselves. But how are we to love the Lord? We cannot manufacture love. We
+cannot love to order. We cannot by an act of will command its appearing.
+No, not in these ways is love created. Love is not a work, it is a fruit.
+It grows in suitable soils, and it is our part to prepare the soils. When
+the conditions are congenial, love appears, just as the crocus and the
+snowdrop appear in the congenial air of the spring.</p>
+
+<p>What, then, can we do? We can seek the Lord&#8217;s society. We can think about
+Him. We can read about Him. We can fill our imaginations with the grace of
+His life and service. We can be much with Him, talking to Him in prayer,
+singing to Him in praise, telling Him our yearnings and confessing to Him
+our defeats. And love will be quietly born. For this is how love is born
+between heart and heart. Two people are &ldquo;much together,&rdquo; and love is born!
+And when we are much with the Lord, we are with One who already loves us
+with an everlasting love. We are with One who yearns for our love and who
+seeks in every way to win it. &ldquo;We love Him because He first loved us.&rdquo; And
+when we truly love God, every other kind of holy love will follow. Given
+the fountain, the rivers are sure.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 131]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOD&#8217;S USE OF MEN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I have surely seen the affliction of My people ...<br />
+come now, therefore, I will send thee.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> iii. 1-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-d.png" width="80" height="80" alt="D" title="" />
+</div><p>OES that seem a weak ending to a powerful beginning? The Lord God looks
+upon terrible affliction and He sends a weak man to deal with it. Could He
+not have sent fire from heaven? Could He not have rent the heavens and
+sent His ministers of calamity and disasters? Why choose a man when the
+arch-angel Gabriel stands ready at obedience?</p>
+
+<p>This is the way of the Lord. He uses human means to divine ends. He works
+through man to the emancipation of men. He pours His strength into a worm,
+and it becomes &ldquo;an instrument with teeth.&rdquo; He stiffens a frail reed and it
+becomes as an iron pillar.</p>
+
+<p>And this mighty God will use thee and me. On every side there are Egypts
+where affliction abounds, there are homes where ignorance breeds, there
+are workshops where tyranny reigns, there are lands where oppression is
+rampant. &ldquo;Come now, therefore, I will send thee.&rdquo; Thus saith the Lord, and
+He who gives the command will also give the equipment.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 132]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>BUT&mdash;&mdash;!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>And Moses answered and said, But</em>&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> iv. 1-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="E" title="" />
+</div><p>E know that &ldquo;but.&rdquo; God has heard it from our lips a thousand times. It is
+the response of unbelief to the divine call. It is the reply of fear to
+the divine command. It is the suggestion that the resources are
+inadequate. It is a hint that God may not have looked all round. He has
+overlooked something which our own eyes have seen. The human &ldquo;buts&rdquo; in the
+Scriptural stories make an appalling record.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Lord, I will follow Thee, but&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; There is something else to be attended
+to before discipleship can begin. Obedience is not primary: it must wait
+for something else. And so our obedience is not a straight line: it is
+crooked and circuitous; it takes the way of by-path meadow instead of the
+highway of the Lord. We do not wait upon the Lord&#8217;s pleasure; we make Him
+wait upon ours.</p>
+
+<p>There need be no &ldquo;buts&rdquo; in our relationship to the King&#8217;s will. Everything
+has been foreseen. Nothing will take the Lord by surprise. The entire
+field has been surveyed, and the preparations are complete. When the Lord
+says to thee or me, &ldquo;I will send thee,&rdquo; every provision has been made for
+the appointed task. &ldquo;I will not fail thee.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 133]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MOUTH AND MATTER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> iv. 10-17.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND what a promise that is for anyone who is commissioned to proclaim the
+King&#8217;s decrees. Here can teachers and preachers find their strength. God
+will be with their mouths. He will control their speech, and order their
+words like troops. He does not promise to make us eloquent, but to endow
+our words with the &ldquo;demonstration of power.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And I will teach thee what thou shall say.</em>&rdquo; The Lord will not only be
+with our mouths, but with our minds. He will guide our thoughts as well as
+our words. He will be as sentinel at the lips. He will be our guide in our
+processes of meditation and judgment, and He will bring us to enlightened
+ends. All of which is just this: He will give us mouth and matter.</p>
+
+<p>This does not put a premium upon idleness. The Lord guides when men are
+honestly groping. He gives us fire when we have built the altar. He works
+His miracle when we have provided the five loaves. He sends His light
+through diligent thinking. The divine power is given through the
+consecrated strength.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 134]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>COMMONPLACE FIDELITIES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Exodus</span> ii. 11-25.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-g.png" width="79" height="80" alt="G" title="" />
+</div><p>OD prepares us for the greater crusades by more commonplace fidelities.
+Through the practice of common kindnesses God leads us to chivalrous
+tasks. Little courtesies feed nobler reverences. No man can despise
+smaller duties and do the larger duties well. Our strength is sapped by
+small disobediences. Our discourtesies to one another impair our worship
+of God. The neglect of the &ldquo;pointing&rdquo; of a house may lead to dampness and
+fatal disease.</p>
+
+<p>And thus the only way to live is by filling every moment with fidelity. We
+are ready for anything when we have been faithful in everything. &ldquo;Because
+thou hast been faithful in that which is least!&rdquo; That is the order in
+moral and spiritual progress, and that is the road by which we climb to
+the seats of the mighty. When every stone in life is &ldquo;well and truly laid&rdquo;
+we are sure of a solid, holy temple in which the Lord will delight to
+dwell. The quality of our greatness depends upon what we do with &ldquo;that
+which is least.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 135]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CALAMITY AS REVEALER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> vi. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>E lost a hero, and he found the Lord. He feared because a great pillar
+had fallen: and he found the Pillar of the universe. He thought everything
+would topple into disaster, and lo! he felt the strength of the
+everlasting arms. When Uzziah lived Isaiah had forgotten his Lord. He so
+depended on the earthly that he had overlooked the heavenly. Uzziah
+concealed his Lord as a thick veil can hide a face. And when Uzziah died,
+when the earthly king passed away, the eternal King was revealed; as when
+by the passing of an earth-born cloud the moon reigns radiant in the open
+sky.</p>
+
+<p>And thus it is that apparent calamity is often the minister of revelation.
+The great storm clears the air, and luminous vistas come into view. The
+howling wind of adversity drives away the earth-born clouds and we see the
+face of God. Our sorrows prove the occasion of our visions. We see new
+panoramas through our tears. Bereavement gives us spiritual surprises, and
+death becomes the servant of life. And so it happens that days which began
+in gloom end in revelation, and we keep their recurring anniversary with
+deepening praise.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 136]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOD IS WIDE-AWAKE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond
+tree.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Jeremiah</span> i. 7-19.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND through the almond tree the Lord gave the trembling young prophet the
+strength of assurance. The almond tree is the first to awake from its
+wintry sleep. When all other trees are held in frozen slumber the almond
+blossoms are looking out on the barren world. And God is like that, awake
+and vigilant. Nobody anticipates Him. Wherever Jeremiah was sent on his
+prophetic mission the Lord would be there before him. Before the prophet&#8217;s
+enemies could get to work the Lord was on the field. In the wintriest
+circumstances of a prophet&#8217;s life God is wide awake: &ldquo;He that keepeth
+Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And still the almond tree has its heartening significance for thee and me.
+Our God is wide-awake. He looks out upon our wintry circumstances, and
+nothing is hid from His sight. There is no unrecognized and uncounted
+factor which may steal in furtively and take Him by surprise. Everything
+is open. He is wide-awake on the far-off field where the isolated
+missionary is ploughing his lonely furrow. He is wide-awake on the field
+of common labour where some young disciple finds it hard to keep clean
+hands while he earns his daily bread.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 137]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE DETAILS OF PROVIDENCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The very hairs of your head are all numbered.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> x. 24-31.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-p.png" width="78" height="80" alt="P" title="" />
+</div><p>ROVIDENCE goes into details. Sometimes, in our human intercourse, we
+cannot see the trees for the wood. We cannot see the individual sheep for
+the flock. We cannot see the personal soul for the masses. We are blinded
+by the bigness of things; we cannot see the individual blades of grass
+because of the field.</p>
+
+<p>Now God&#8217;s vision is not general, it is particular. There are no &ldquo;masses&rdquo;
+to the Infinite. &ldquo;He calleth His own sheep <em>by name</em>.&rdquo; The single one is
+seen as though he alone possessed the earth. When God looks at the wood He
+sees every tree. When He looks at the race He sees every man.</p>
+
+<p>And, therefore, I need not fear that &ldquo;my way is overlooked by my God.&rdquo; He
+knows every turning. He knows just where the strain begins at the hill. He
+knows the perils of every descent. He knows every happening along the
+road. He knows every letter that came to me by this morning&#8217;s post. He
+knows every visitor who knocks at the door of my life, whether the visitor
+come at the high noon or at the midnight. &ldquo;There is nothing hid.&rdquo; &ldquo;The
+very hairs of your head are all numbered.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 138]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MY BODILY INFIRMITIES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> ix. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>N infirmity becomes doubly burdensome when we give it a false
+interpretation. The weight of a thing is determined by our conception of
+it. If I look upon my ailment as the stroke of an offended God, I wear it
+like the chains of a slave. If I look upon it as the fire of the gracious
+Refiner, I can calmly await the beneficent issue. It is my Lord, engaged
+in chastening His jewels!</p>
+
+<p>And so our Master first of all relieves the blind man of the false
+interpretation of his infirmity. &ldquo;<em>Neither did this man sin, nor his
+parents.</em>&rdquo; That lifts the sorrow out of the winter into the spring. It
+sets it in the warm, sweet light of grace. It becomes transfigured. It
+wears a new face, placed there in &ldquo;the light of His countenance.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And then our Lord relieves the blind man of the infirmity itself. The
+ministry of blindness was accomplished, and sight was given. No man is
+kept in the darkness a moment longer than infinite love deems good. Our
+Lord does not overlook the prison-house, and leave us there forgotten. &ldquo;He
+that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.&rdquo; So cheer thee, my
+soul! The Lord is on thy side! The Miracle-worker knows His time and &ldquo;the
+dreariest path, the darkest way, shall issue out in heavenly day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 139]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>BLINDED JUDGMENTS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> ix. 13-25.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a ceremonialism which is blind to the humane. Its scrupulous
+ritualisms have dried up its philanthropy. It thinks more of etiquette
+than equity. It esteems genuflexions more than generosity. It values the
+husk more than the kernel. It is Sabbatarian but not humanitarian. My God,
+deliver me from all pious conventionalities which make me indifferent to
+the ailments and cries of my fellow-men!</p>
+
+<p>And here is a dense prejudice which is blind to the evident. &ldquo;<em>They did
+not believe that he had been blind.</em>&rdquo; A prejudice can deflect the
+judgment, as subtle magnetic currents can deflect the needle. The film of
+an ecclesiastical prejudice can be so opaque as to make us &ldquo;blind to
+facts.&rdquo; We do not &ldquo;see things as they are.&rdquo; Our perverted eyes give us a
+crooked world.</p>
+
+<p>And here is a bitter violence which is blind to the glory of the Lord. &ldquo;We
+know that this man is a sinner!&rdquo; And so it comes to that. Our judgments
+can become so warped that when we look upon Him, &ldquo;who is the chief among
+ten thousand and the altogether lovely,&rdquo; &ldquo;there is no beauty that we
+should desire Him&rdquo;! And therefore let this be my daily prayer, &ldquo;Lord, that
+I might receive my sight!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 140]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE ROCK OF EXPERIENCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> ix. 26-41.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Lord gains a witness, and a stalwart witness too! First, he stood upon
+his own inalienable experience. &ldquo;<em>One thing I know, that whereas I was
+blind, now I see.</em>&rdquo; Second, he drew his own firm inferences from the
+beneficence of the work. And, in the third place, he reached his grand
+conclusion. &ldquo;<em>If this man were not of God, He could do nothing.</em>&rdquo; A grand
+testimony, and given by one who &ldquo;dared to stand alone!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the witness gained a Friend. &ldquo;Jesus heard that they had cast him out,
+and when He had found him....&rdquo; Our Lord is always seeking the outcasts. He
+never abandons the abandoned. When the faithful witness is driven into the
+wilderness he finds &ldquo;a table spread&rdquo; before him &ldquo;in the presence of his
+enemies.&rdquo; The man who had recovered his sight was cast out, but on the
+threshold he met his Lord!</p>
+
+<p>And further sight was given. By the first sight he could see his parents,
+by the second sight he saw the Son of God. The film was first removed from
+his eyes, and then from his soul, and he saw &ldquo;the glory of the Lord.&rdquo; &ldquo;And
+he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 141]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LONE CRY IN THE BIG CROWD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Mark</span> x. 46-52.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR Lord hears the cry of need even when it rises from the midst of the
+tumultuous crowd. A mother can hear the faint cry of her child in the
+chamber above, even when the room resounds with the talk and laughter of
+her guests. And our Lord heard the wail of poor Bartim&aelig;us! That lone,
+sorrowful cry pierced the clamour, &ldquo;and Jesus stood still.&rdquo; My soul, cry
+to Him! &ldquo;Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And Bartim&aelig;us knew what he wanted. He merged all his petitions in one.
+&ldquo;Lord, that I might receive my sight!&rdquo; And let me, too, come to my Saviour
+with some great, dominant, all-commanding request. I trifle with my
+Master. I ask Him for toys, for petty things, while all the time He is
+waiting to give me &ldquo;unsearchable wealth,&rdquo; &ldquo;sight, riches, healing of the
+mind.&rdquo; &ldquo;The Lord is great&rdquo;; and shall I add, &ldquo;and greatly to be <em>prayed</em>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And how delicately gracious it is that our Lord should attribute the
+miracle to Bartim&aelig;us himself. &ldquo;<em>Thy faith hath made thee whole!</em>&rdquo; As
+though the Lord had had no share in the ministry! He makes so much of our
+faith, and our endeavour, and our obedience. &ldquo;If ye had faith as a grain
+of mustard-seed!&rdquo; That&#8217;s all He wants, and miracles are accomplished.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 142]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HUMAN FRAILTIES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xlii. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT a winsome revelation of the delicate gentleness of the Lord! &ldquo;The
+bruised reed&rdquo;&mdash;is it the impaired musical reed, that cannot now emit a
+musical sound, and can only be thrown away? He will not snap it and cast
+it to the void. The discordant life can be made tuneful again: He will put
+&ldquo;a new song in my mouth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And the smoking flax&rdquo;&mdash;the life that has lost its fire, and therefore its
+light, its enthusiasm, and therefore its ideals; the life that is
+smouldering into the cold ashes of moral and spiritual death! He will not
+stamp it out with His foot. The smouldering fire can be rekindled, a spent
+enthusiasm can be revived. &ldquo;He shall baptize you ... with fire!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so He comes to minister to the infirm. He comes to restore injured
+faculty; &ldquo;<em>to open blind eyes</em>.&rdquo; He comes to give vision to restored
+sight: &ldquo;<em>to be a light of the Gentiles</em>.&rdquo; And He comes to endow the
+restored life with a rich and gracious freedom: &ldquo;<em>to bring out the
+prisoners from the prison</em>.&rdquo; Sight, and light, and freedom! And my Lord is
+at the gate, and these gifts are in His hand.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 143]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LIGHT AS DARKNESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xiii. 10-17.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE condition of the heart determines the quality of my discernment. If
+&ldquo;the heart is waxed gross,&rdquo; the ears will be &ldquo;dull of hearing,&rdquo; and the
+eyes will be &ldquo;closed.&rdquo; My spiritual senses gain their acuteness or
+obtuseness from my affections. If my love is muddy my sight will be dim.
+If my love be &ldquo;clear as crystal&rdquo; the spiritual realm will be like a
+gloriously transparent air.</p>
+
+<p>And the awful nemesis of sin-created blindness is this, that it interprets
+itself as sight. &ldquo;The light that is in thee is darkness.&rdquo; We think we see,
+and all the time we are the children of the night. We think it is &ldquo;the
+dawn of God&#8217;s sweet morning,&rdquo; and behold! it is the perverse flare of the
+evil one. He has given us a will-o&#8217;-the-wisp, and we boastfully proclaim
+it to be &ldquo;the morning star.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But there is hope for any man, however blind he be, who will humbly lay
+himself at Jesus&#8217; feet. Let this be my prayer, O Lord, &ldquo;Cleanse Thou me
+from secret faults.&rdquo; Deliver me from self-deception, save me from
+confusing the fixed light of heaven with the wandering beacon-lights of
+hell. And again and again will I pray, &ldquo;Lord, that I might receive my
+sight!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 144]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WIND AND FIRE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Acts</span> ii. 1-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Holy Spirit will minister to me as a <em>wind</em>. He will create an
+atmosphere in my life which will quicken all sweet and beautiful growth.
+And this shall be my native air. Gracious seeds, which have never awaked,
+shall now unfold themselves, and &ldquo;the desert shall rejoice and blossom as
+the rose.&rdquo; It was a saying of Huxley, that if our little island were to be
+invaded by tropical airs, tropical seeds which are now lying dormant in
+English gardens and fields would troop out of their graves in bewildering
+wealth and beauty! &ldquo;Breathe on me, breath of God!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the Holy Spirit will minister to me as a <em>fire</em>. And fire is our
+supreme minister of cleansing. Fire can purify when water is impotent. The
+great fire burnt out the great plague. There are evil germs which cannot
+be dealt with except by the searching ministry of the flame. &ldquo;He shall
+baptize you ... <em>with fire</em>.&rdquo; He will create a holy enthusiasm in my soul,
+an intense and sacred love, which will burn up all evil intruders, but in
+which all beautiful things shall walk unhurt.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Kindle a flame of sacred love<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">On these cold hearts of ours.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 145]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CALVARY AND PENTECOST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Acts</span> ii. 22-36.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Apostle Peter traces the stream of Pentecostal blessing to a tomb.
+This &ldquo;river of water of life&rdquo; has its &ldquo;rise&rdquo; in a death of transcendent
+sacrifice. And I must never forget these dark beginnings of my eternal
+hope. It is well that I should frequently visit the sources of my
+blessedness, and kneel on &ldquo;the green hill far away.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It will save me from having a cheap religion. I shall never handle the
+gifts of grace as though they had cost nothing. There will always be the
+marks of blood upon them, the crimson stain of incomparable sacrifice.</p>
+
+<p>And it will save me from all flippancy in my religious life. When I visit
+the cross and the tomb, life is transformed from a picnic into a crusade.
+For that is ever my peril, to picnic on the banks of the river and to
+spend my days in emotional loitering.</p>
+
+<p>After all, my Pentecost is purposed to prepare me for my own Gethsemane
+and Calvary! Life is given me in order that I may spend it again in ready
+and fruitful sacrifice.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 146]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>VISIONS AND DREAMS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Joel</span> ii. 21-32.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND this old-world promise is good for me to-day. It is like some
+weather-stained well, whose waters have continued flowing throughout the
+generations, right down to my own time. Let me drink!</p>
+
+<p>Holy inspiration will give me insight into the mind of my God. &ldquo;<em>Your sons
+and your daughters shall prophesy.</em>&rdquo; The breath of God creates an
+atmosphere in which spiritual realities are clearly seen. It is like the
+Sabbath air in some busy city, when the fumes and smoke of commerce have
+been blown away. &ldquo;Thou shalt behold the land that is very far off.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so in my younger days holy inspiration will give me visions. &ldquo;Your
+young men shall see visions.&rdquo; I shall be an idealist, and I shall see
+things as they exist in God&#8217;s idea, even though at present they be maimed
+and imperfect. I shall see them &ldquo;according to the pattern on the Mount.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in my later days holy inspiration will give me dreams. &ldquo;<em>Your old men
+shall dream dreams.</em>&rdquo; And what shall they dream about? Not like the
+Chinese, of a golden age in a distant past, but of a golden age to be.
+Their dreams shall have a &ldquo;forward-looking eye.&rdquo; They shall see &ldquo;the new
+Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 147]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE UNITING OF SUNDERED PEOPLES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>On the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy
+Ghost.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Acts</span> x. 34-48.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND this is ever the issue of a true outpouring of the Spirit: sundered
+peoples become one. At &ldquo;low tide&rdquo; there are multitudes of separated pools
+along the shore: at &ldquo;high tide&rdquo; they flow together, and the little
+distinctions are lost in a splendid union.</p>
+
+<p>It is so racially. &ldquo;Jew and Gentile!&rdquo; Peter and Cornelius lose their
+prejudices in the emancipating ministry of the Spirit. And so shall it be
+with English and Irish, with French and German, with Asiatic and European:
+they shall be &ldquo;all one&rdquo; in Christ.</p>
+
+<p>It is so socially. &ldquo;Bond and free!&rdquo; The master and the servant shall
+discover a glorious intimacy and union. And so shall rich and poor, the
+learned and the illiterate, the many-talented and the obscure. The pools
+shall flow together.</p>
+
+<p>It is so ecclesiastically. Our sectarianisms are always most frowning and
+obtrusive when spiritually we are at &ldquo;low tide.&rdquo; When the tide rises, it
+is amazing how the ramparts are submerged. It is not round-table
+conferences that we need, but seasons of communion when together we shall
+await the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 148]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Acts</span> ii. 37-47.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE sacred process by which the Holy Spirit is received is the same
+throughout all the years.</p>
+
+<p>First there is <em>repentance</em>. And repentance is not a flow of emotion, but
+a certain direction of mind. I may repent with dry eyes. It is not a
+matter of feeling, but of willing. It is to lay hold of the aimless,
+drifting thought, and <em>steer it toward God</em>! It is a change of mind.</p>
+
+<p>Second, there is a definite and avowed choice of my new Goal, my new Lord
+and King. The Christian life cannot be a subterfuge. It cannot be lived
+incognito. I cannot be the Christ&#8217;s and wear the livery of an alien power.
+There must be <em>confession</em>, a bold and clarion-like avowal that henceforth
+I am a soldier of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And the spiritual experiences will be sure, as sure as the law-governed
+processes of the material world. There will be &ldquo;<em>remission of sins</em>.&rdquo; The
+old guilt will fall away from my soul as the chains fell from Peter&#8217;s
+limbs when the angel touched them. And there will be &ldquo;<em>the gift of the
+Holy Ghost</em>.&rdquo; A new dynamic is mine! I enter into fellowship with the
+power of the ascended Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 149]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SONS OF GOD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of
+God.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Romans</span> viii. 9-17.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND how unspeakably wealthy are the implications of the great word!</p>
+
+<p>If a son, then what holy freedom is mine! Mine is not &ldquo;<em>the spirit of
+bondage</em>.&rdquo; The son has &ldquo;the run of the house.&rdquo; That is the great contrast
+between lodgings and home. And I am to be at home with the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And if a son, then heir! &ldquo;All things are yours.&rdquo; Samuel Rutherford used to
+counsel his friends to &ldquo;take a turn&rdquo; round their estate. And truly it is
+an inspiring exercise! The Spirit shall lead me over my estate, and I will
+survey, with the sense of ownership, &ldquo;the things which God hath prepared
+for them that love Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I wonder if I have the manner of a king&#8217;s son? I wonder if there is
+anything in my very &ldquo;walk&rdquo; which indicates distinguished lineage and royal
+blood? Or am I like a vagrant who has no possessions and no heartening
+expectations?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Lord, I would serve, and be a son!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 150]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MANY GIFTS&mdash;ONE SPIRIT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> xii. 1-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE is no monotony in the workmanship of my God. The multitude of His
+thoughts is like the sound of the sea, and every thought commands a new
+creation. When He thinks upon me, the result is a creative touch never
+again to be repeated on land or sea. And so, when the Holy Spirit is given
+to the people, the ministry does not work in the suppression of
+individualities, but rather in their refinement and enrichment.</p>
+
+<p>Our gifts will be manifold, and we must not allow the difference to breed
+a spirit of suspicion. Because my brother&#8217;s gift is not mine I must not
+suspect his calling. To one man is given a trumpet, to another a lamp, and
+to another a spade. And they are all the holy gifts of grace.</p>
+
+<p>And thus the gifts are manifold in order that every man may find his
+completeness in his brother. One man is like an eye&mdash;he is a seer of
+visions! Another man is like a hand&mdash;he has the genius of practicality! He
+is &ldquo;a handy man&rdquo;! One is the architect, the other is the builder. And each
+requires the other, if either is to be perfected. And so, by God&#8217;s
+gracious Spirit, the individual man is only a bit, a portion, and he is
+intended to fit into the other bits, and so make the complete man of the
+race.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 151]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>FINDING THE DEEP THINGS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of
+God.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> ii. 7-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE deep things of God cannot be discovered by unaided reason. &ldquo;<em>Eye hath
+not seen:</em>&rdquo; they are not to be apprehended by the artistic vision. &ldquo;<em>Ear
+hath not heard:</em>&rdquo; they are not unveiled amid the discussion of the
+philosophic schools. &ldquo;<em>Neither hath entered into the heart of man:</em>&rdquo; even
+poetic insight cannot discern them. All the common lights fail in this
+realm. We need another illumination, even that provided by the Holy
+Spirit. And the Spirit is offered unto us &ldquo;that we might know the things
+that are freely given to us of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And here we have the reason why so many uncultured people are spiritually
+wiser than many who are learned. They lack talent, but they have grace.
+They lack accomplishments, but they have the Holy Ghost. They lack the
+telescope, but they have the sunlight. They are not scholars, but they are
+saints. They may not be theologians, but they have true religion. And so
+they have &ldquo;the open vision.&rdquo; They &ldquo;walk with God,&rdquo; and &ldquo;the deep things of
+God&rdquo; are made known to their souls.</p>
+
+<p>We must put first things first. We may be busy polishing our lenses when
+our primary and fundamental need is light. It is not a gift that we
+require, but a Friend.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 152]</span></p>
+<h2>MAY The Thirty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CONNECTION AND CONCORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> xii. 12-19.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is only in the spirit that real union is born. Every other kind of
+union is artificial, and mechanical, and dead. We can dovetail many pieces
+of wood together and make the unity of an article of furniture, but we
+cannot dovetail items together and make a tree. And it is the union of a
+tree that we require, a union born of indwelling life. We may join many
+people together in a fellowship by the bonds of a formal creed, but the
+result is only a piece of social furniture, it is not a vital communion.
+There is a vast difference between a connection and a concord.</p>
+
+<p>Many members of a family may bear the same name, may share the same blood,
+may sit and eat at the same table, and yet may have no more vital union
+than a handful of marbles in a boy&#8217;s pocket. But let the spirit of a
+common love dwell in all their hearts and there is a family bound together
+in glorious union.</p>
+
+<p>And so it is in the spirit, and there alone, that vital union is to be
+found. And here is the secret of such spiritual union. &ldquo;By one Spirit are
+we all baptized into one body.&rdquo; The Spirit of God, dwelling in all our
+spirits, attunes them into glorious harmony. Our lives blend with one
+another in the very music of the spheres.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 153]</span><a name="JUN" id="JUN"></a></p>
+<h2>JUNE The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE BEAUTY OF VARIETY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> xii. 20-31.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-g.png" width="79" height="80" alt="G" title="" />
+</div><p>OD&#8217;S glory is expressed through the harmony of variety. We do not need
+sameness in order to gain union. I am now looking upon a scene of
+surpassing loveliness. There are mountains, and sea, and grassland, and
+trees, and a wide-stretching sky, and white pebbles at my feet. And a
+white bird has just flown across a little bank of dark cloud. What
+variety! And when I look closer the variety is infinitely multiplied.
+Everything blends into everything else. Nothing is out of place.
+Everything contributes to finished power and loveliness. And so it is in
+the grander sphere of human life. The glory of humanity is born of the
+glory of individuals, each one making his own distinctive contribution.</p>
+
+<p>And thus we have need of one another. Every note in the organ is needed
+for the full expression of noble harmony. Every instrument in the
+orchestra is required unless the music is to be lame and broken. God has
+endowed no two souls alike, and every soul is needed to make the music of
+&ldquo;the realm of the blest.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 154]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>OUR SPIRITUAL GUIDE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all
+truth.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> xvi. 7-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>OW great is the difference between a guide-post and a guide! And what a
+difference between a guide-book and a companion! Mere instructions may be
+very uninspiring, and bare commandments may be very cold. Our Guide is an
+inseparable Friend.</p>
+
+<p>And how will He guide us? He will give us insight. &ldquo;He will guide you into
+all truth.&rdquo; He will refine our spirits so that we may be able to
+distinguish &ldquo;things that differ,&rdquo; and that so we may know the difference
+between &ldquo;the holy and the profane.&rdquo; Our moral judgment is often dull and
+imperceptive. And our spiritual judgment is often lacking in vigour and
+penetration. And so our great Spirit-guide puts our spirits to school, and
+more deeply sanctifies them, that in holiness we may have discernment.</p>
+
+<p>And He will also give us foresight. He will enable us to interpret
+circumstances, to apprehend their drift and destiny. We shall see harvests
+while we are looking at seeds, whether the seeds be seeds of good or evil.
+All of which means that the Holy Spirit will deliver our lives from the
+governance of mere whim and caprice, and that He will make us wise with
+the wisdom of God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 155]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SAFETY OF THE OCCUPIED HEART</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Galatians</span> v. 16-25.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>WO friends were cycling through Worcestershire and Warwickshire to
+Birmingham. When they arrived in Birmingham I asked them, among other
+things, if they had seen Warwick Gaol along the road. &ldquo;No,&rdquo; they said, &ldquo;we
+hadn&#8217;t a glimpse of it.&rdquo; &ldquo;But it is only a field&#8217;s length from the road!&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Well, we never saw it.&rdquo; Ah, but these two friends were lovers. They were
+so absorbed in each other that they had no spare attention for Warwick
+Gaol. Their glorious fellowship made them unresponsive to its calls. They
+were otherwise engaged.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.&rdquo; That
+great Companionship will make us negligent of carnal allurements. &ldquo;The
+world, and the flesh, and the devil&rdquo; may stand by the wayside, and hold
+their glittering wares before us, but we shall scarcely be aware of their
+presence. We are otherwise engaged. We are absorbed in the &ldquo;Lover of our
+souls.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This is the only real and effective way to meet temptation. We must meet
+it with an occupied heart. We must have no loose and trailing affections.
+We must have no vagrant, wayward thoughts. Temptation must find us engaged
+with our Lover. We must &ldquo;offer no occasion to the flesh.&rdquo; Walking with the
+Holy One, our elevation is our safety.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 156]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LIFE&#8217;S REAL VALUES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Proverbs</span> viii. 10-19.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a man who knows the relative values of things. &ldquo;<em>Instruction is
+better than silver</em>&rdquo;; &ldquo;<em>knowledge rather than choice gold</em>&rdquo;; &ldquo;<em>wisdom is
+better than rubies.</em>&rdquo; He weighs the inherent worth of things, and puts his
+choice upon the best.</p>
+
+<p>Let me remember that &ldquo;all is not gold that glitters.&rdquo; The leaden casket is
+often the shrine of the priceless scroll. The glaring and the theatrical
+have often a ragged and seamy interior, and won&#8217;t bear &ldquo;looking into.&rdquo; A
+man may have much display and be very lonely; he may have piles of wealth
+and be destitute of joy. His libraries may cover an acre, and yet he may
+have no light. And a man may have only &ldquo;a candle, and a table, and a bed,&rdquo;
+and he may be the companion of the eternal God.</p>
+
+<p>I would seek these priceless things. And I would &ldquo;<em>seek them early</em>.&rdquo; I
+have so often been late in the search. I have given the early moments to
+seeking the world&#8217;s silver and gold, and the later weary moments have been
+idly devoted to God. &ldquo;They that seek Me early shall find Me.&rdquo; Let me put
+&ldquo;first things first.&rdquo; &ldquo;Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
+righteousness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 157]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SPEECH OF EVENTS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Acts</span> xiii. 14-23.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-d.png" width="80" height="80" alt="D" title="" />
+</div><p>O I sufficiently remember the witness of history? Do I reverently listen
+to the &ldquo;great voice behind me&rdquo;? God has spoken in the speech of events.
+&ldquo;Day unto day&rdquo; has uttered speech. There has been a witness in national
+life, sometimes quiet as a fragrance, and sometimes &ldquo;loud as a vale when
+storms are gone.&rdquo; Is it all to me as though it had never been, or is it
+part of the store of counsel by which I shape and guide my life?</p>
+
+<p>And do I sufficiently remember my own providences, &ldquo;<em>all the way my God
+has led me</em>&rdquo;? When a day is over, do I carry its helpful lamp into the
+morrow? Do I &ldquo;learn wisdom&rdquo; from experience? That is surely God&#8217;s purpose
+in the days; one is to lead on to another in the creation of an ever
+brightening radiance, that so at eventide it may be light.</p>
+
+<p>And do I sufficiently remember that I, too, am making history for my
+fellows who shall succeed me? What kind of a witness will it be? Grim and
+full of warning, like the pillar of salt, or winsome and full of
+heartiness, like some &ldquo;sweet Ebenezer&rdquo; built by life&#8217;s way? Let me pray
+and labour that my days may so shine with grace that all who remember me
+shall adore the goodness of my Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 158]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LOVE&#8217;S EXPENDITURES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">John</span> iii. 11-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>EREBY perceive we the love of God, because &ldquo;<em>He laid down His life for
+us</em>.&rdquo; And the real test of any love is what it is prepared to &ldquo;lay down.&rdquo;
+How much is it ready to spend? How much will it bleed? There is much
+spurious love about. It lays nothing down; it only takes things up! It is
+self-seeking, using the speech and accents of love. It is a &ldquo;work of the
+flesh,&rdquo; which has stolen the label of a &ldquo;fruit of the Spirit.&rdquo; Love may
+always be known by its expenditures, its self-crucifixions, its Calvarys.
+Love is always laying down its life for others. Its pathway is always a
+red road. You may track its goings by the red &ldquo;marks of the Lord Jesus.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And this is the life, the love-life, which the Lord Jesus came to create
+among the children of men. It is His gracious purpose to form a spiritual
+fellowship in which every member will be lovingly concerned about his
+fellows&#8217; good. A real family of God would be one in which all the members
+bleed for each, and each for all.</p>
+
+<p>How can we gain this disposition of love? &ldquo;God is love.&rdquo; &ldquo;We love because
+He first loved us.&rdquo; At the fountain of eternal love we too may become
+lovers, becoming &ldquo;partakers of the divine nature,&rdquo; and filled with all
+&ldquo;the fulness of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 159]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MORAL SURGERY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center" ><span class="smcap">Galatians</span> vi. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS is a surgical operation in the realm of the soul. A man has been
+&ldquo;<em>overtaken in a fault</em>,&rdquo; some evil passion has pounced upon him, and he
+is broken. Some holy relationship has been snapped, and he is crippled in
+his moral and spiritual goings. Perhaps his affections have been broken,
+or his conscience, or his will. Or perhaps he has lost his glorious hope
+or the confidence of his faith. Here he is, a broken man, the victim of
+his own broken vows, lame and halt in the pilgrim-way! And some surgeon is
+needed to re-set the dislocation, and to make him whole again.</p>
+
+<p>And who is to be the surgeon? &ldquo;<em>Ye which are spiritual restore such a
+one.</em>&rdquo; The men who live under the control of God&#8217;s Spirit are to be the
+surgeons for broken hearts and souls. When a man has fallen by reason of
+sin, the Christian is to be a Good Samaritan, seeking to restore the
+cripple to health and strength again. We are to kneel and minister to him,
+binding up his wounds, giving him the balm and cordial of oil and wine.</p>
+
+<p>And what is to be the spirit of the surgeon? &ldquo;The spirit of meekness.&rdquo; We
+are not to be supercilious, for the &ldquo;touch&rdquo; of pride is never the minister
+of healing. We are to heal as though some day we may need to be healed.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 160]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE NEW BIRTH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> iii. 1-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is the Life in contact with the icy legalism of the day. Nicodemus
+was a Pharisee, and his piety was cold and mechanical. Religion had become
+a bloodless obedience to lifeless rules. Men cared more about being proper
+than about being holy. Modes were emphasized more than moods. An external
+pose was esteemed more highly than an internal disposition. The popular
+Saint lived on &ldquo;the outsides of things.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then came the Life. And what will He say to the externalist? &ldquo;Ye must be
+born again.&rdquo; Nothing else could He have said. If the mechanical is to
+become the vital there is nothing for it but a new birth. To get from the
+outside into the inside of things, from the letter into the spirit, we
+need the miracle of renewal, the recreating ministry of grace.</p>
+
+<p>And so it is to-day. The ritualistic is vitalized by the evangelistic. If
+the mechanical is to become the spontaneous, there is need of the &ldquo;well of
+living water, springing up unto eternal life.&rdquo; When we are born again,
+ritual becomes helpful trellis for the spiritual flowers; the outward form
+becomes the helpmeet of redeeming grace.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 161]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE STORY OF A SORROWFUL SOUL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> iii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS tearful little psalm tells me where a sorrowful soul found a place of
+help and consolation. He resorted to God.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Thou art a shield about me.</em>&rdquo; He got the Lord between him and his
+circumstances. There is nothing else subtle enough to interpose. Our
+hurtful circumstances are so invasive and so immediate that only God can
+come between us and them. But when God gets in between we are immune.
+&ldquo;Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Thou art my glory.</em>&rdquo; And that is an honour that need never be stained.
+My worldly glory can be besmirched. An evil man throws mud, and my poor
+reputation is gone. &ldquo;There&#8217;s always somebody ready to believe it!&rdquo; But my
+glory with God, and in God&mdash;man&#8217;s mud cannot touch that fair fame! Even
+Absalom cannot defile that resplendent robe.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Thou art the lifter-up of my head.</em>&rdquo; The flower is &ldquo;looking up&rdquo; again!
+In the Lord&#8217;s presence we recover our lost spirits. &ldquo;He restoreth my
+soul.&rdquo; &ldquo;And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round
+about me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 162]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PILLARS OF CLOUD AND FIRE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> xiii. 17&mdash;xiv. 4.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;NEED His leadership in the daytime. Sometimes the daylight is my foe. It
+tempts me into carelessness. I become the victim of distraction. The
+&ldquo;garish day&rdquo; can entice me into ways of trespass, and I am robbed of my
+spiritual health. Many a man has been faithful in the twilight and night
+who has lost himself in the sunshine. He went astray in his prosperity:
+success was his ruin. And so in the daytime I need the shadow of God&#8217;s
+presence, the cooling, subduing, calming influence of a friendly cloud.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And by night in a pillar of fire.</em>&rdquo; And I need God&#8217;s leadership in the
+night. Sometimes the night fills me with fears, and I am confused. The
+darkness chills me, sorrow and adversity make me cold, and I shiver along
+in uncertain going. But my God will lead me as a presence of fire. He will
+keep my heart warm even in the midnight, and He will guide me by the
+kindlings of His love. There shall be &ldquo;nothing hid from the heat thereof.&rdquo;
+And my bewildering fears shall flee away, and I will sing &ldquo;songs in the
+night.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 163]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PATH ACROSS THE SEA</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Thy way is in the sea.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash; <span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxxvii. 11-20.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND the sea appears to be the most trackless of worlds! The sea is the
+very symbol of mystery, the grim dwelling-house of innumerable things that
+have been lost. But God&#8217;s way moves here and there across this trackless
+wild. God is never lost among our mysteries. He knows his way about. When
+we are bewildered He sees the road, and He sees the end even from the
+beginning. Even the sea, in every part of it, is the Lord&#8217;s highway. When
+His way is in the sea we cannot trace it. Mystery is part of our appointed
+discipline. Uncertainty is to prepare us for a deeper assurance. The
+spirit of questioning is one of the ordained means of growth. And so the
+bewildering sea is our friend, as some day we shall understand. We love to
+&ldquo;lie down in green pastures,&rdquo; and to be led &ldquo;beside the still waters,&rdquo; and
+God gives us our share of this nourishing rest. But we need the mysterious
+sea, the overwhelming experience, the floods of sorrows which we cannot
+explain. If we had no sea we should never become robust. We should remain
+weaklings to the end of our days.</p>
+
+<p>God takes us out into the deeps. But His way is in the sea. He knows the
+haven, He knows the track, and we shall arrive!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 164]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WAITING FOR THE SPECTACULAR</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The waves covered their enemies.... Then believed they His
+words.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cvi. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HEIR faith was born in a great emergency. A spectacular deliverance was
+needed to implant their trust in the Lord. They found no witness in the
+quiet daily providence; the unobtrusive miracle of daily mercy did not
+awake their song. They dwelt upon the &ldquo;special&rdquo; blessing, when all the
+time the really special blessing was to be found in the sleepless care
+which watched over them in their ordinary and commonplace ways.</p>
+
+<p>It is the old story. We are wanting God to appear in imperial glory; and
+He comes among us as a humble carpenter. We want great miracles, and we
+have the daily Providence. We see His dread goings in the earthquake; we
+do not feel His presence in the lilies of the field. We watch Him in the
+smoke and flames of Vesuvius; we do not recognize His footprints in the
+little turf-clad hill that is only a few yards from our own door.</p>
+
+<p>It is a great day when we discover our God in the common bush. That day is
+marked with glory when our daily bread becomes a sacrament. When we enjoy
+a closer walk with God, common things will wear the hues of heaven.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 165]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE the Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CLOUDED BUT NOT LOST!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Clouds and darkness are round about Him.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xcvii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN Lincoln had been assassinated, and word of the tragedy came to New
+York, &ldquo;the people were in a state of mind which urges to violence.&rdquo; A man
+appeared on the balcony of one of the newspaper offices, waving a small
+flag, and a clear voice rang through the air: &ldquo;Fellow-citizens! Clouds and
+darkness are round about Him! His pavilion is dark waters, and thick
+clouds of the skies! Justice and judgment are the habitation of His
+throne! Fellow-citizens, God reigns!&rdquo; It was the voice of General
+Garfield.</p>
+
+<p>That voice proclaimed the divine sovereignty, even when the heavens were
+black with the menace of destruction. Lincoln had been assassinated, but
+God lived! Human confusion does not annihilate His throne. God liveth!
+&ldquo;The firm foundation standeth sure.&rdquo; This is the only rock to stand upon
+when the clouds have gathered, and the waters are out, and the great deeps
+are broken up. God&#8217;s sceptre does not fall from His grasp, nor is snatched
+by alien hands. The throne abideth. Joy will rise from the apparent chaos
+as springs are unsealed by the earthquake. He will bring fortune out of
+misfortune; the darkness shall be the hiding-place of His grace.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 166]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LAW IN THE HEART</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I will put My laws into their hearts.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> x. 16-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-e.png" width="80" height="80" alt="E" title="" />
+</div><p>VERYTHING depends on where we carry the law of the Lord. If it only rests
+in the memory, any vagrant care may snatch it away. The business of the
+day may wipe it out as a sponge erases a record from a slate. A thought is
+never secure until it has passed from the mind into the heart, and has
+become a desire, an aspiration, a passion. When the law of God is taken
+into the heart, it is no longer something merely remembered: it is
+something loved. Now things that are loved have a strong defence. They are
+in the &ldquo;keep&rdquo; of the castle, in the innermost custody of the stronghold.
+The strength of the heart is wrapped about them, and no passing vagrant
+can carry them away.</p>
+
+<p>And this is where the good Lord is willing to put His laws. He is wishful
+to put them among our loves. And the wonderful thing is this: when laws
+are put among loves they change their form, and His statutes become our
+songs. Laws that are loved are no longer dreadful policemen, but
+compassionate friends. &ldquo;O! how I love Thy law!&rdquo; That man did not live in a
+prison, he lived in a garden, and God&#8217;s will was unto him as gracious
+flowers and fruits. And so shall it be unto all of us when we love the law
+of the Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 167]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE KING&#8217;S GUESTS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxiv.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HO shall be permitted to pass into the sanctuary of the cloud, and have
+communion with the Lord in the holy place? &ldquo;He that hath clean hands.&rdquo;
+These hands of mine, the symbols of conduct, the expression of the outer
+life, what are they like? &ldquo;Your hands are full of blood.&rdquo; Those hands had
+been busy murdering others, pillaging others, brutally ill-using their
+fellow-men. We may do it in business. We may do it in conversation. We may
+do it in a criminal silence. Our hands may be foul with a brother&#8217;s blood.
+And men and women with hands like these cannot &ldquo;ascend into the hill of
+the Lord.&rdquo; There must be no stain of an unfair and scandalous life.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And a pure heart.&rdquo; We need not trouble about the hands if the heart be
+clean. If all the presences that move in the heart&mdash;desires, and motives,
+and sentiments, and ideals&mdash;are like white-robed angels &ldquo;without spot, or
+wrinkle, or any such thing,&rdquo; everything that emerges into outer life will
+share the same radiant purity. The heart expresses itself in the hands.
+Character blossoms in conduct. The quality of our current coin is
+determined by the quality of the metal in the mint. &ldquo;As a man thinketh in
+his heart, so is he.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 168]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SINAI AND CALVARY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> xii. 18-28.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>E need not live at the foot of Mount Sinai. It is like living at the foot
+of Mount Pelee, the home of awful eruption, and therefore the realm of
+gloom and uncertainty and fear. We are not saved by law, neither indeed
+can we be. Neither can law heal us after our transgressions and defeats.
+The law has nothing for prodigal men but &ldquo;blackness, and darkness, and
+tempest.&rdquo; It has no sound but dreaded decree, no message but menace, no
+look but a frown. Who will build his house at the foot of Mount Sinai?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But ye are come unto Mount Zion.&rdquo; Our true home is not at Sinai, but at
+Calvary. There is no place for the sinner at the first mount; at the
+second mount there is a place for no one else. At Calvary we may find our
+way back to the holiness we lost at Sinai. Through grace we may drop the
+burden of our sin and begin to wear the garments of salvation. The way
+back to heaven is by &ldquo;the green hill, without a city wall.&rdquo; It is a mount
+that can be reached by the most exhausted pilgrim; and the one who has
+&ldquo;spent all&rdquo; will assuredly find a full restoration of life at the gate of
+his Saviour&#8217;s death. &ldquo;Ye are come to Jesus, the mediator of the new
+covenant.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 169]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE INVISIBLE PRESENCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Show me Thy glory.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> xxxiii. 12-23.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>OSES wist not what he asked. His speech was beyond his knowledge. The
+answer to his request would have consumed him. He asked for the blazing
+noon when as yet he could only bear the quiet shining of the dawn. The
+good Lord lets in the light as our eyes are able to bear it. The
+revelation is tempered to our growth. The pilgrim could bear a brightness
+in Beulah land that he could not have borne at the wicket-gate; and the
+brilliance of the entry into the celebrated city throws the splendours of
+Beulah into the shade. Yes, the gracious Lord will unveil His glory as our
+&ldquo;senses are exercised to receive it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My Presence shall go with thee.&rdquo; That is all the glory we need upon the
+immediate road. His companionship means everything. The real glory is to
+possess God; let Him show us His inheritance as it shall please Him.
+Life&#8217;s glory is to &ldquo;feel Him near.&rdquo; When the loving wife feels that the
+husband is in the house, and when the loving husband feels that the wife
+is in the house, that is everything! The joy of each other&#8217;s presence is
+the crown of married bliss. And so it is with the soul that is married to
+the Lord: His presence is the soul&#8217;s delight. &ldquo;Thou, O Christ, art all I
+want.&rdquo; &ldquo;O Master, let me walk with Thee.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 170]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE BENEFITTED AS BENEFACTORS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Who comforteth us ... that we may be able to comfort.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;2 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> i. 3-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND how does the Lord comfort us? He has a thousand different ways, and no
+one can ever tell by what way the comfort will come to his soul. Sometimes
+it comes by the door of memory, and sometimes by the door of hope.
+Sometimes it is borne to us through the ministry of nature, and at other
+times through the ministry of human speech and kindness. But always, I
+think, it brings us the sense of a Presence, as though we had a great
+Friend in the room, and the troubled heart gains quietness and peace. The
+mist clears a little, and we have a restful assurance of our God.</p>
+
+<p>Now comforted souls are to be comforters. They who have received benefits
+of grace are to be benefactors. They who have heard the sweet music of
+God&#8217;s abiding love are to sing it again to others. They who have seen the
+glory are to become evangelists. We must not seek to hoard spiritual
+treasure. As soon as we lock it up we begin to lose it. A mysterious moth
+and rust take it away. If we do not comfort others, our own comfort will
+turn again to bitterness; the clouds will lower and we shall be imprisoned
+in the old woe. But the comfort which makes a comforter grows deeper and
+richer every day.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 171]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>RECKONING UP THINGS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xc. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-n.png" width="80" height="80" alt="N" title="" />
+</div><p>UMBERING things is one of the healthful exercises of the spiritual life.
+Unless we count, memory is apt to be very tricky and to snare us into
+strange forgetfulness. Unless we count what we have given away, we are
+very apt to exaggerate our bounty. We often think we have given when we
+have only listened to appeals; the mere audience has been mistaken for
+active beneficence. The remedy for all this is occasionally to count our
+benevolences and see how we stand in a balance-sheet which we could
+present to the Lord Himself.</p>
+
+<p>And we must count our blessings. It is when our arithmetic fails in the
+task, and when counting God&#8217;s blessings is like telling the number of the
+stars, that our souls bow low before the eternal goodness, and all
+murmuring dies away &ldquo;like cloud-spots in the dawn.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And we must also &ldquo;number our days.&rdquo; We are wasteful with them, and we
+throw them away as though they are ours in endless procession. And yet
+there are only seven days in a week! A day is of immeasurable
+preciousness, for what high accomplishment may it not witness? A day in
+health or in sickness, spent unto God, and applied unto wisdom, will
+gather treasures more precious than rubies and gold.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>>[Pg 172]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE REVEALING PRESENCE OF THE LORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ephesians</span> vi. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;STARLING never reveals the richness of its hues until we see it in the
+sunlight. A duty never discloses its beauties until we set it in the light
+of the Lord. It is amazing how a dull road is transfigured when the
+sunshine falls upon it! God&#8217;s grace reveals the graces in all healthy
+things. Hidden lovelinesses troop out when we set them in the presence of
+the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And so the Apostle counsels an obedience which is &ldquo;in the Lord.&rdquo; He wants
+us to know how beautiful common things can be when they are linked to
+Christ. And what he says about obedience he says about everything. One of
+the great secrets in the teaching of Paul is expressed in just this
+phrase, &ldquo;in the Lord,&rdquo; &ldquo;in Christ.&rdquo; It meant connection with a power-house
+whose energy would light up all the common lamps of life&mdash;the lamps of
+hope, of faith, of love, of daily labour, and of human service.</p>
+
+<p>And this is the secret of the Christian life. We need no other; at least,
+all other secrets are involved in this. If we attend to this little
+preposition &ldquo;in,&rdquo; we have entry into the infinite. If we are &ldquo;in Christ,&rdquo;
+we are in the kingdom of everything that endures, and we are outside
+nothing but sin.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 173]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>ROOM FOR THE SAPLINGS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Children crying in the temple, saying Hosanna!</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxi. 1-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-c.png" width="78" height="80" alt="C" title="" />
+</div><p>HILDREN&#8217;S voices mingling in the sounds of holy praise! A little child
+can share in the consecrated life. Young hearts can offer love pure as a
+limpid spring. Their sympathy is as responsive as the most sensitive harp,
+and yields to the touch of the tenderest joy and grief. No wonder the Lord
+&ldquo;called little children unto Him&rdquo;! They were unto Him as gracious streams,
+and as flowers of the field.</p>
+
+<p>Let the loving Saviour have our children. Let there be no waiting for
+maturer years. Maturity may bring the impaired faculty and the embittered
+emotion. Let Him have things in their beginnings, the seeds and the
+saplings. Let Him have life before it is formed, before it is &ldquo;set&rdquo; in
+foolish moulds. Let us consecrate the cradle, and the good Lord will grow
+and nourish His saints.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 174]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CHILDLIKENESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Mark</span> ix. 33-41.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is the child-spirit that finds life&#8217;s golden gates, and that finds them
+all ajar. The proudly aggressive spirit, contending for place and power,
+may force many a door, but they are not doors which open into enduring
+wealth and peace. Real inheritances become ours only through humility.</p>
+
+<p>The proud are, therefore, self-deceived. They think they have succeeded
+when they have signally failed. They have the shadow, but they have missed
+the substance. They may have the applause of the world, but the angels
+sigh over their defeat. They pride themselves on having &ldquo;got on&rdquo;; the
+angels weep because they have &ldquo;gone down.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>When we grow away from childlikeness we are &ldquo;in a decline.&rdquo; &ldquo;God resisteth
+the proud; He giveth grace to the humble.&rdquo; The lowly make great
+discoveries; to them the earth is full of God&#8217;s glory.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 175]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE GREATEST BENEFACTORS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> x. 29-42.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is a very wonderful thing that the finest services are within the power
+of the poorest people. The deepest ministries find their symbols in &ldquo;cups
+of cold water,&rdquo; which it is in the power of everybody to give. The great
+benefactors are the great lovers, and their coin is not that of material
+money, but the wealth of the heart. A bit of affection is worth infinitely
+more than the gift of a necklace of pearls. To kindle hope in a fainting
+soul is far more precious than to adorn the weary pilgrim with dazzling
+gems. &ldquo;He brought me heaps of presents, but I was hungering for love!&rdquo;
+Such was the pathetic cry of one who was &ldquo;clothed in purple and fine
+linen, and fared sumptuously every day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Cups of cold water,&rdquo; simple ministries of refreshment, the love-thought,
+the love-prayer, the love-word&mdash;these are the privileged services of all
+of us. And everybody needs these gentle and gracious services of
+refreshment, and often there is greatest need where there seems to be
+least.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 176]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>AT EASE IN ZION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Woe to them that are at ease in Zion!</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Amos</span> vi. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;WOULD be delivered from the folly of confusing ease and rest. There is
+an infinite difference between comforts and comfort. It is one thing to
+lie down on a luxurious couch: it is a very different thing to &ldquo;lie down
+in green pastures&rdquo; under the gracious shepherdliness of the Lord. The ease
+which men covet is so often a fruit of stupefaction, the dull product of
+sinful drugs, the wretched sluggishness of carnal gratification and
+excess. The rest which God giveth is alive and wakeful, abounding in
+tireless and fruitful service. &ldquo;Oh, rest in the Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But is it not a strange thing that men can be &ldquo;at ease in Zion&rdquo;? That they
+can play the beast in the holy place? Zion was full of holy memory, and
+abounded with suggestions of the Divine Presence. And yet here they could
+carouse, and lose themselves in swinish indulgence! A little while ago I
+saw a beautiful old church which had been turned into a common
+eating-house!</p>
+
+<p>My soul, be on thy guard. Be watchful and diligent, and busy thyself in
+the practice of &ldquo;self-knowledge, self-reverence, self-control.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 177]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>DESOLATIONS WROUGHT BY SIN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The Lord hath spoken this word.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xxiv. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Lord hath spoken this word,&rdquo; and it is a word of judgment. It unveils
+some of the terrible issues of sin.</p>
+
+<p>See the effects of sin upon the spirit of man. &ldquo;<em>The merry-hearted do
+sigh.</em>&rdquo; Life loses its wings and its song. The buoyancy and the optimism
+die out of the soul. The days move with heavy feet, and duty becomes very
+stale and unwelcome. If only our ears were keen enough we should hear many
+a place of hollow laughter moaning with troubled and restless sighs. The
+soul cannot sing when God is defied.</p>
+
+<p>But see another effect of sin. &ldquo;<em>The earth moaneth.</em>&rdquo; That is a frequent
+note in Bible teaching. The forces of nature are mysteriously conditioned
+by the character of man. When man is degraded, nature is despoiled. The
+beauty of the garden is checked when man has lost his crown. &ldquo;The whole
+creation groaneth in pain,&rdquo; waiting for the manifestation of the children
+of God.</p>
+
+<p>Sin spreads desolation everywhere. When I sin, I become the centre of
+demoralizing forces which influence the universe. And so let me ever pray,
+&ldquo;Deliver me from evil.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 178]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CRUCIFYING THE FLESH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Peter</span> iv. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET not the body be dominant, but the soul. Let me study the example and
+counsel of the Apostle Paul.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>I keep my body under.</em>&rdquo; Literally, I pummel it! If it is obtrusive and
+aggressive, its appetites clamouring for supremacy, I pummel it! Paul was
+not afraid of severe measures where carnality was concerned. He would fast
+a whole day in order to put the flesh in its place. And so should it be
+with all the Lord&#8217;s children. We are too self-indulgent. It is well at
+times to put the body on the cross, and crucify its cravings.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Give no occasion to the flesh.</em>&rdquo; Do not give it a chance of mastery!
+And, therefore, do not feed it with illicit thought. Turn the mind away
+from the subjects in which the body will find exciting stimulant. It is
+thought which awakes passion, and thought can do much to destroy it. &ldquo;Set
+your mind on things which are above.&rdquo; Keep the mind pure, and the swine
+will never enter the holy place.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 179]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOD IS LIGHT!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>In Him is no darkness at all.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">John</span> i.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT wonderful mansion of God&#8217;s Being is gloriously radiant in every room!
+In the house of my life there are dark chambers, and rooms which are only
+partially illumined, the other parts being in the possession of night.
+Some of my faculties and powers are dark ministers, and some of my moods
+are far from being &ldquo;homes of light.&rdquo; But &ldquo;God is light,&rdquo; and everything is
+glorious as the meridian sun! His holiness, His grace, His love, His
+mercy: there are no dark corners where uncleanness hides; everything
+shines with undimmed and speckless radiancy!</p>
+
+<p>And if I &ldquo;walk in the light,&rdquo; I, too, shall become illumined. &ldquo;They looked
+unto Him and were lightened.&rdquo; We are fashioned by our highest
+companionships. We acquire the nature of those with whom we most
+constantly commune.</p>
+
+<p>And the light He gives is also fire. It will burn away our sin. We may
+measure the reality and strength of our communion by the destruction of
+our sin. A great burning will be proceeding in our life, and one evil
+habit after another will be in the love-furnace of purification. The Lord
+still &ldquo;purifies Jerusalem by the spirit of burning.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 180]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE WAITING LIGHT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> iv. 1-6.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;CAN shut out the sweet light of the morning. I can refuse to open the
+shutters and draw up the blinds. And I can shut out the Light of life. I
+can draw the thick blinds of prejudice, and close the impenetrable
+shutters of sin. And the Light of the world cannot get into my soul.</p>
+
+<p>And I can let in the waiting light of the morning, and flood my room with
+its glory. And the Light is &ldquo;a gracious, willing guest.&rdquo; No fuss is
+needed, no shouting is required. Open thy casement, and the gracious guest
+is in! And my Lord has no reluctance in His coming; we have not to drag
+Him to our table. Open thy heart, and the Lord is in!</p>
+
+<p>And when the light is within there will be radiance at the windows. And
+when the Lord is shining in our hearts there will be a witness in the
+life. Men will see that we are &ldquo;with Jesus,&rdquo; because we are &ldquo;light in the
+Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Good Lord, deliver me from &ldquo;the god of this world&rdquo; lest I be blinded and
+become unable to see Thee! I open my heart to Thee! Shine in, Thou light
+of life, and make my soul the radiant witness of Thy grace.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 181]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>EFFECTUAL PRAYERS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
+much.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">James</span> v. 13-20.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>R, as Weymouth translates it, &ldquo;The heartfelt supplication of a righteous
+man exerts a mighty influence.&rdquo; Prayer may be empty words, with no more
+power than those empty shells which have been foisted upon the Turks in
+their war with the Balkan States. Firing empty shells! That is what many
+professed prayers really are; they have nothing in them, and they
+accomplish nothing. They are just forged upon the lips, and they drop to
+the earth as soon as they are spoken. Effectual prayers are born in the
+heart; they are stocked with heart-treasure, with faith, and hope, and
+desire, and holy urgency, and they go forth with power to shake the world.</p>
+
+<p>What are my prayers like? <em>If I were God, could I listen to them?</em> Are
+they mere pretences at prayer, full of nothing but sound? Is there any
+reasonable ground for assuming that they can accomplish anything? Or are
+my prayers weighted with sincere desire? Do they comprehend my brother&#8217;s
+good as well as my own? Are they spoken in faith? Do they go forth in
+great expectancy? Then do they surely &ldquo;exert a mighty influence,&rdquo; and they
+become fellow-labourers with all God&#8217;s ministries of grace. The greatest
+thing I can do is greatly to pray.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 182]</span></p>
+<h2>JUNE The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOD MY STRENGTH AND SONG</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The Lord is my strength and my song.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxviii. 14-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-y.png" width="81" height="80" alt="Y" title="" />
+</div><p>ES, first of all &ldquo;my strength&rdquo; and then &ldquo;my song&rdquo;! For what song can
+there be where there is languor and fainting? What brave music can be born
+in an organ which is short of breath? There must first be strength if we
+would have fine harmonies. And so the good Lord comes to the songless, and
+with holy power He brings the gift of &ldquo;saving health.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And my song&rdquo;! For when life is healthy it instinctively breaks into song.
+The happy, contented soul goes about the ways of life humming its
+satisfactions to itself, and is now and again heard by the passer-by. The
+Lord fills the life with instinctive music. When life is holy it becomes
+musical with His praise.</p>
+
+<p>So here I see the appointed order in Christian service. It is futile to
+try to make people joyful unless we do it by seeking first to make them
+strong. First the good, and then the truly happy! First the holy, and then
+the musical. First God, and then the breath of His Holy Spirit, and then
+&ldquo;the new song.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 183]</span><a name="JUL" id="JUL"></a></p>
+<h2>JULY The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LIFE OR THE LIGHT OF MEN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>In Him was life.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> i. 1-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-n.png" width="80" height="80" alt="N" title="" />
+</div><p>OT merely a pool of life, but the well-spring. All rivers of enriching
+vitality have their source in Him. Nowhere is there a crystal stream which
+was not born at the Fountain. Let us make our claim for the Lord
+all-comprehensive and inclusive. Whatever energizes body, mind, or soul,
+has its origin in our Sovereign King. &ldquo;All our springs are in Thee.&rdquo; &ldquo;Thou
+of life the Fountain art.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And the life was the light of men.</em>&rdquo; And what did He not light up? His
+amazing rays streamed down the darkest ways of men, and illumined the
+vast, sombre chambers of human circumstance. He lit up sin and showed its
+true colour! He lit up sorrow, and transfigured it! He lit up duty, and
+gave it a new face. He lit up common work, and glorified it. He lit up
+death, and we could see through it! But, above all, He lit up God, and
+&ldquo;the people that sat in darkness saw a great light.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And the darkness apprehended it not.</em>&rdquo; The darkness could not lay hold
+of it and quench it! It was not overwhelmed and eclipsed by the murkiest
+fog of prejudice, or by the dingiest antagonism of sinful pride. &ldquo;The
+light showeth in the darkness,&rdquo; inviolable and invincible!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 184]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LIGHT AND LIGHTNING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xi. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND the spirit is one of light! All the doors and windows are open. His
+correspondences are perfect and unbroken. He is of &ldquo;quick understanding,&rdquo;
+keen-scented to discern the essences of things, alert to perceive the
+reality behind the semblance, to &ldquo;see things as they are.&rdquo; All the great
+primary senses are awake, and He has knowledge of every &ldquo;secret place.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>He shall smite ... with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His
+lips shall He slay.</em>&rdquo; The spirit of light follows a crusade of holiness.
+The light becomes lightning! The &ldquo;breathing,&rdquo; which cools the
+fever-stricken, can also become a hot breath, which wastes and destroys
+every plant of evil desire. It is an awful thing, and yet a gracious
+thing, that &ldquo;our God is a consuming fire.&rdquo; It was foretold of our Lord
+that He should baptize &ldquo;with fire.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And this crusade of holiness is in the ministry of peace. He will burn
+away all that defileth, in order that He may create a profound and
+permanent fellowship. When His work is done, there will be a mingling of
+apparent opposites, and antagonisms will melt into a gracious union. &ldquo;The
+sucking child will play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall
+put his hand on the adder&#8217;s den.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 185]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MY ELDER BROTHER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> ii. 9-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND doth my Lord call me one of His brethren? Let me leisurely think upon
+it, until my very soul moves amid my affairs in noble and hallowed
+dignity. If I steadily remember &ldquo;who I am,&rdquo; it will assuredly transfigure
+&ldquo;what I am.&rdquo; I lose the sense of my high kinship, and then I am quite
+content to be &ldquo;sent into the fields to feed swine.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And my elder Brother came to &ldquo;destroy the works of the devil.&rdquo; That is the
+entire ministry of destruction. Nothing beautiful does He destroy, nothing
+winsome: only the insidious presences which are the foes of these things.
+He will destroy only the pestiferous microbes which ravage the vital peace
+of the soul. Our Lord is the enemy of the deadly, and therefore of &ldquo;him
+that had the power of death&mdash;that is, the devil!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in this holy ministry of destruction He can defend my soul as &ldquo;one who
+knows,&rdquo; Himself &ldquo;having been tempted.&rdquo; He knows the subtlety of the devil,
+and where the soul is most perilously exposed, and He is therefore &ldquo;able
+to succour them that are tempted.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 186]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>EMPTYING ONESELF</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He emptied Himself.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Philippians</span> ii. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>N Mr. Silvester Horne&#8217;s garden a very suggestive scene was one day to be
+witnessed. A cricketer of world-wide renown was playing a game with Mr.
+Horne&#8217;s little four-year-old son! And the fierce bowler &ldquo;emptied himself,&rdquo;
+and served such gentle, dainty little balls that the tiny man at the
+wickets was not in the least degree afraid! And the Lord of glory &ldquo;emptied
+Himself,&rdquo; fashioning Himself to our &ldquo;low estate,&rdquo; and in His unspeakably
+gentle approaches we find our peace.</p>
+
+<p>And I, too, am to seek a corresponding lowliness of mind in order that I,
+too, may be of service to my weak and needy brother. It is for me to empty
+myself of the pride of strength, the brutal aggressiveness of success, the
+sometimes unfeeling obtrusiveness of health; I must empty myself, and &ldquo;get
+down&rdquo; by the side of weakness and infirmity, and in gentle fellowship
+humbly proffer my help.</p>
+
+<p>And if the mind is to be in me &ldquo;which was also in Christ Jesus,&rdquo; it is
+needful for me to commune with Him &ldquo;without ceasing.&rdquo; His gentleness can
+make me great.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 187]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE DISCIPLESHIP THAT TELLS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He that followeth Me.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> viii. 12-20.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-y.png" width="81" height="80" alt="Y" title="" />
+</div><p>ES, but I must make sure that I follow Him in Spirit and in truth. It is
+so easy to be self-deceived. I may follow a pleasant emotion, while all
+the time a bit of grim cross-bearing is being ignored. I may be satisfied
+to be &ldquo;out on the ocean sailing,&rdquo; singing of &ldquo;a home beyond the tide,&rdquo;
+while all the time there is a piece of perilous salvage work to be done
+beneath the waves. To &ldquo;follow Jesus&rdquo; is to face the hostility of scribes
+and Pharisees, to offer restoring friendship to publicans and sinners, to
+pray in blood-shedding in Gethsemane, to brave the derision of the brutal
+mob, and to be &ldquo;ready&rdquo; for the appalling happenings on Calvary! Therefore,
+following is not a light picnic; it is a possible martyrdom!</p>
+
+<p>But if I set my face &ldquo;to go,&rdquo; the Lord Himself will visit me with &ldquo;<em>the
+light of life</em>.&rdquo; And the resource shall not be broken and spasmodic: it
+shall be mine without ceasing. &ldquo;Be thou faithful ... and I will give thee
+... life.&rdquo; That life will flow into my soul, just as the oxygenating air
+flows down to the diver who is faithfully busy recovering wreckage from
+the wealth-strewn bed of the mighty sea. Let me be faithful, and every
+moment the Lord will crown me with His own vitalizing life!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 188]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LIFE AS A VOICE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> i. 19-34.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS man humbly desires to be &ldquo;<em>a voice</em>.&rdquo; He has no ambition to receive
+popular homage. He does not covet the power of the lordly purple. He does
+not crave to be a great person; he only wants to be a great voice! He
+wants to articulate the thought and purpose of God. He is quite content to
+be hidden, like a bird in a thick bush, if only his song may be heard.</p>
+
+<p>And in order that he may be a voice he retires into the silent solitudes
+of the desert. He will listen before he speaks. Come thou, my soul, into
+his secret! The air is clamorous with speech behind which there has been
+no hearing. Men speak, and in their words there is no pulse of the
+Infinite. In their consolations there is no balm. In their reproaches
+there is no sword. Their words are empty vessels, full of sound! Let my
+voice be hushed until I have heard the voice of the Highest. &ldquo;He that hath
+ears to hear, let him hear.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And when he spake, it was in clear and definite testimony, &ldquo;Behold the
+Lamb of God!&rdquo; The &ldquo;voice&rdquo; succeeded, for men began to look away from the
+herald to the herald&#8217;s Lord. In forgetting John they found the King. They
+passed the <em>signpost</em>, and arrived at <em>home</em>!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 189]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IN THE GOLDEN AGE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xl. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so these things are to happen when the Lord has come to His own, and
+His decrees are honoured in our midst.</p>
+
+<p>Certain <em>inequalities</em> are to be ended. Valleys are to be exalted, and
+mountains are to be made low. There is to be a levelling! Men are to be
+equal in freedom and opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>Certain <em>crookednesses</em> are to be ended. They are to be &ldquo;made straight.&rdquo;
+Society has become warped with the heat of lust, and the fierce fever of
+competition, and the hot, devouring fires of greed. When the Lord is
+enthroned the fires will be put out, the heat will pass, and the twisted
+fellowships will be rectified.</p>
+
+<p>Certain <em>roughnesses</em> are to be ended. Class works against class with
+jagged edge, like the teeth of a saw. They tear and rend one another, and
+the family of God is always bleeding. These &ldquo;rough places&rdquo; are to be &ldquo;made
+plain.&rdquo; We are to &ldquo;work in to one another,&rdquo; smoothly, congenially, in a
+frictionless peace.</p>
+
+<p>And this Lord is coming, coming every day, and &ldquo;His arm shall rule for
+Him.&rdquo; &ldquo;Say unto the cities of Judah&mdash;Behold your God!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 190]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WHAT MANNER OF MAN?</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xi. 7-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE are some men who are only as <em>desert reeds</em>! They move to the breath
+of the desert wind. They bend before it, no matter in what way it may be
+blowing. They never resist the wind. They never become &ldquo;hiding places from
+the wind,&rdquo; stemming a popular drift. They are the victims of passing
+opinions, and are swayed by the current passions.</p>
+
+<p>And some men are &ldquo;<em>clothed in soft raiment</em>&rdquo;! They shrink from the rough
+fustian, the labourer&#8217;s cotton smock, the leather suit of George Fox. They
+are ultra-&ldquo;finicky.&rdquo; They are afraid of the mire. They touch the sorrows
+of the world with a timid finger, not with the kindly, healing grasp of a
+surgeon.</p>
+
+<p>And other men are &ldquo;<em>prophets</em>&rdquo;! They have a secret fellowship with the
+Infinite. When we listen to them it is like putting one&#8217;s ear to the
+seashell: we catch the sound of the ocean roll. &ldquo;The voice of the Great
+Eternal dwells in their mighty tones.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And others are &ldquo;<em>children of the Kingdom</em>.&rdquo; They are greater than the old
+prophets, because the mystic voice has become a Presence, and they have
+&ldquo;seen the Lord.&rdquo; The veil has been rent, and they &ldquo;walk in the light&rdquo; as
+&ldquo;children of light.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 191]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SCHOLARS IN CHRIST&#8217;S SCHOOL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He taught His disciples.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Mark</span> ix. 30-37.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND my Lord will teach me. He will lead me into &ldquo;the deep things&rdquo; of God.
+There is only one school for this sort of learning, and an old saint
+called it the Academy of Love, and it meets in Gethsemane and Calvary, and
+the Lord Himself is the teacher, and there is room in the school for thee
+and me.</p>
+
+<p>But the disciples were not in the mood for learning. They were not
+ambitious for heavenly knowledge, but for carnal prizes, not for wisdom,
+but for place. &ldquo;They disputed one with another who was the greatest.&rdquo; And
+that spirit is always fatal to advancement in the school of Christ. Our
+petty ambitions close the door and windows of our souls, and the heavenly
+light can find no entrance. We turn Gethsemane into &ldquo;a place of strife,&rdquo;
+and we carry our clamour even to Calvary itself. From this, and all other
+sinful folly, good Lord, redeem us!</p>
+
+<p>They who would be great scholars in this school must become &ldquo;as little
+children.&rdquo; Through the child-like spirit we attain unto God-like wisdom.
+By humility is honour and life.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 192]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE GREAT RENUNCIATION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xvii. 1-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT if the Transfiguration was the type of the purposed consummation of
+every life? If we had remained &ldquo;without sin,&rdquo; it may be that we should
+have gradually ripened up to a moment when we should have become
+transfigured, and in the surpassing brilliance have been translated to
+higher planes of being. Perhaps our Lord had reached this material
+consummation, and was now on the wonderful border land, and could by
+choice slip into &ldquo;the glory!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But He made another choice. And this was, of a truth, the &ldquo;great
+renunciation!&rdquo; He turned His back on the glory, and deliberately faced the
+darkening way which led to Calvary and the grave. I do not wonder that His
+mysterious visitors spake with Him &ldquo;of the decease which He should
+accomplish at Jerusalem.&rdquo; He could talk about nothing else! He &ldquo;set His
+face to go.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in my Master&#8217;s choice of death I find my hope of life. Through &ldquo;the
+dark gate&rdquo; I can find &ldquo;the mount.&rdquo; My transfiguration is made possible in
+His humiliation. If my Lord had never descended I could never have
+ascended. If He had abode on the mount I should have remained in my sin.
+He has &ldquo;opened to me the gates of righteousness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 193]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He that hath the bride is the bridegroom.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> iii. 23-36.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>E ministers sometimes speak of &ldquo;my church.&rdquo; I occasionally read of Mr.
+So-and-So&#8217;s church! I know that the phrase is colloquially used, but
+nevertheless, it is unfortunate. Words that are perversely used tend to
+pervert the spirit. And this phrase tends to displace the Bridegroom. It
+helps to make us obtrusive, unduly aggressive, when we ought to be
+reverently hiding our faces with our wings. The Bride is His!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>But the friend of the bridegroom.</em>&rdquo; That is my place, and that is my
+dignity. And what a title it is, making me a member of the finest and most
+select aristocracy in heaven or on earth! The &ldquo;friend of the bridegroom&rdquo;
+used to carry messages to the bride, to share in the wooing, and to help
+to bring the wedding about. And that, too, is my gracious office, to be a
+match-maker for my Lord, to testify concerning Him, to speak His praises,
+until the soul &ldquo;fall in love&rdquo; with Him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>He must increase, but I must decrease.</em>&rdquo; Yes, when the sun is rising the
+moon becomes dim! When the glory of the Bridegroom breaks upon the bride
+He becomes &ldquo;all in all,&rdquo; &ldquo;the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether
+lovely.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 194]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PREPARING HIS SERVANTS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> i. 35-51.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR Lord does not stumble upon His disciples by accident. His discoveries
+are not surprises. He knows where His nuggets lie. Before He calls to
+service He has been secretly preparing the servant. &ldquo;I girded thee, though
+thou hast not known Me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He knew all about Simon. &ldquo;<em>Thou art Simon</em>&rdquo;&mdash;just a <em>listener</em>, not yet a
+strong, bold doer: a man of many opinions not yet consolidated into the
+truth of experimental convictions. &ldquo;<em>Thou shalt be called Peter.</em>&rdquo; Simon
+become Peter! Loose gravel become hard rock! Hear-says become the
+&ldquo;verilies&rdquo; of unshakable experience! The Lord proclaims our glorious
+possibilities.</p>
+
+<p>And He knew all about Nathanael. &ldquo;<em>When thou wast under the fig-tree I saw
+thee.</em>&rdquo; &ldquo;In that secret meditation of thine, when thy wishes and desires
+were being born, &lsquo;I saw thee!&rsquo;&rdquo; &ldquo;When others saw nothing, I had fellowship
+with thee in the secret place.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And He knows all about thee and me. &ldquo;I know My sheep.&rdquo; We do not take Him
+by surprise. He does not come in late, and find the performance half over!
+He is in at our beginnings, when grave issues are being born. &ldquo;I am
+Alpha.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 195]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PLAIN GLASS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>They were fishers.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Matthew</span> iv. 12-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so our Lord went first to the fishing-boats and not to the schools.
+Learning is apt to be proud and aggressive, and hostile to the
+simplicities of the Spirit. There is nothing like plain glass for letting
+in the light! And our Lord wanted transparent media, and so He went to the
+simple fishermen on the beach. &ldquo;God hath chosen the foolish things of the
+world.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And by choosing labouring men our Master glorified labour. He Himself had
+worn the workman&#8217;s dress, and the garment which the King wears becomes
+regal attire. Yes, the workingman, if he only knew it, is wearing the
+imperial robe. He is one of the kinsmen of the Lord of Glory!</p>
+
+<p>Our Lord took the fisherman&#8217;s humble calling, and made it the symbol of
+spiritual service. &ldquo;<em>I will make you fishers of men.</em>&rdquo; And He will do the
+same for thee and me. He will turn our daily labour into an apocalypse,
+and through its ways and means He will make us wise in the ministry of the
+kingdom. He will make the material the handmaid of the spiritual, and
+through the letter He will lead us into the secret places of the soul.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 196]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE UNLIKELY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> ix. 1-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;DISCIPLE from among the publicans! In what waste places our Lord Jesus
+finds His jewels! What exquisite possibilities Ruskin saw in a pinch of
+common dust! What radiant glory the lapidary can see in the rough,
+unpolished gem! The Lord loves to go into the unlikely place, and lead
+forth His saints. &ldquo;In the wilderness shall waters break out!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>We must prayerfully cultivate this sacred confidence in the possibilities
+of the unlikely. We can never be successful helpers of the Lord unless we
+can see the diamond in the soot, and the radiant saint in the disregarded
+publican. It is a most gracious art to cultivate, this of discerning a
+man&#8217;s possible excellencies even in the blackness of his present shame. To
+see the future best in the present worst, that is the true perception of a
+child of light.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;O give us eyes to see like Thee!&rdquo; Well, this is the medium of
+vision:&mdash;&ldquo;Blessed are the pure in heart, for <em>they shall see</em> God,&rdquo; and
+the god-like, even in the wilderness of sin. &ldquo;Anoint thine eyes with
+eye-salve, that thou may&#8217;st see!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 197]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE DAILY CROSS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> ix. 18-26.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR Lord never bribes His disciples by promising them ways of sunny ease.
+He does not buy them with illicit gold. He does not put the glittering
+crown upon the entrance-gate, and hide the cross behind the wall. No: on
+the very first stage of the sacred pilgrimage there falls &ldquo;the shadow of
+the Cross.&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>Let him take up his cross daily, and follow Me.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And yet, the Lord&#8217;s blessing is hidden in the apparent curse. In the act
+of bearing the cross we increase our strength. That is the heartening
+paradox of grace. Virtuous energies pass from our very burdens into our
+spirits, and thus &ldquo;out of the eater comes forth meat.&rdquo; We bravely shoulder
+our load, and lo! a mystic breath visits the heart, and a strange facility
+attends our goings! The dead cross becomes a tree of life, and a secret
+vitality renews our souls.</p>
+
+<p>How foolish, then, O heart of mine, to avoid and evade Thy cross! Refuse
+the burden, and thou declinest the strength! Ignore the duty, and thou
+shalt feel no inspiration! Carefully husband thy blood, and thou shalt
+remain for ever an&aelig;mic! But lose thy life, and thou shalt find it!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 198]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE VINE AND THE BRANCH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xv. 1-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;NEED the Lord. What can a branch do apart from the vine? It may retain a
+certain, momentary greenness, but death is advancing apace. And there are
+multitudes of professing Christians who are like detached branches; their
+spiritual life is ebbing away: they do not startle the beholder and cause
+him to exclaim, &ldquo;How full of life!&rdquo; They do not <em>strike</em> at all! They have
+no splendid &ldquo;<em>force</em> of character,&rdquo; and they therefore exercise no
+arresting witness for the King. They are not &ldquo;abiding&rdquo; in the Eternal, and
+therefore there is no powerful pulse from the Infinite. &ldquo;Apart from Me ye
+can do nothing!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And my Lord needs me. For the vine has need of the branch! The vine
+expresses itself in the branch, and comes to manifestation in leaf, and
+flower, and fruit. And my Lord would manifest Himself in me, and cause my
+branch to be heavy with the glorious fruits of His grace. And if I deprive
+Him of the branch, and deny Him this means of expression, I am &ldquo;limiting
+the Holy One of Israel.&rdquo; &ldquo;My son, give Me thine heart!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Lord, help me to abide in Thee! Save me from the follies of a fatal
+independence! Good Lord, &ldquo;Abide in me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 199]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE DYING OF SELF</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xii. 12-36.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-e.png" width="80" height="80" alt="E" title="" />
+</div><p>XCEPT a corn of wheat ... die!&rdquo; Yes, it is through death we pass to
+life. Discipleship in which there is no death can never be truly alive.
+The nipping winter is essential to the green and flowery spring. No tomb,
+no resurrection glory! In every life there must be a grave, and self must
+be buried within it.</p>
+
+<p>We must die to self <em>in our prayers</em>. In many prayers self is obtrusive
+and aggressive from end to end. It is self, self, self! That self must be
+crucified. We must make more room for others in our supplications. On our
+knees the egotist must die, and the altruist be born. And &ldquo;if it die, it
+bringeth forth much fruit&rdquo;! There are multitudes of professing Christians
+who would experience a wonderful resurrection if they were more &ldquo;given to
+hospitality&rdquo; in their communion with the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And if self die in our prayers, nowhere else will it be seen. That which
+is truly slain when we are upon our knees will not reassert itself when we
+return to common ways of work and service. And, therefore, let the corn of
+wheat fall into the ground and die!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 200]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE MESMERISM OF THE WORLD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xix. 23-30.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>ATERIAL possessions multiply our spiritual difficulties. It is hard for a
+rich man &ldquo;<em>to enter into the kingdom of heaven</em>.&rdquo; For what is the kingdom?
+It is &ldquo;righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.&rdquo; It is easy
+for a rich man to appear respectable, but how hard is it to be holy! He
+may surround himself with comforts, but how hard to get into peace! He may
+move in the cold gleam of a glittering happiness, but how hard to get into
+the rich, warm quietness of an abiding joy! Yes, our material possessions
+so easily range themselves as ramparts between us and our destined
+spiritual wealth.</p>
+
+<p>And if we find that any material thing so mesmerizes us that we are held
+in fatal bondage, we are to sacrifice it. &ldquo;If thine eye offend thee, pluck
+it out, and cast it from thee!&rdquo; Whatever interposes itself between us and
+our Lord must go! It is a hard way, but it leads to a sound and boisterous
+health. We verily &ldquo;receive an hundredfold!&rdquo; We lose &ldquo;a thing,&rdquo; and gain a
+grace. We lose fickle sensations and gain abounding inspiration. We lose
+the world, and gain the Lord!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 201]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE WRATH OF THE LAMB</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> ii. 13-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE narrative of the cleansing follows the story of the wedding-feast. In
+the one the Lord has taken the spirit of the sanctuary into a worldly
+feast, and thereby illumined and glorified the feast. In the other, the
+spirit of the world has invaded the sanctuary, and thereby defiled and
+dishonoured it. The spirit of worldliness, like an unclean, insurgent
+flood, would enter and possess the entire realm of human life and service.
+And here it converted a legitimate convenience into an unhallowed
+business. It transformed a needful expedient into an unholy end. It fixed
+its tables in the very courts of the Temple, and exalted the quest of
+money above the worship of God.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And He made a scourge of cords.</em>&rdquo; And is this &ldquo;the Lamb of God&rdquo;? Yes,
+&ldquo;the Lamb of God&rdquo; is also &ldquo;the lion of Judah.&rdquo; The mild sunshine can
+become focussed into scorching flame! As soon as blessings touch sin they
+become curses. &ldquo;For this was the Son of Man manifested, that He might
+destroy the works of the devil.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>My soul, remember thou the scourge of thy Lord, and do not trifle in His
+holy place! Seek thou the clean hands and the pure heart, and the thunders
+of Sinai shall come to thee as beatific music from the hill.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 202]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>DEFILING THE HOLY PLACE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Mark</span> xi. 11-19.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T was a teaching of the old Rabbis that no one should make a thoroughfare
+of the Temple, or enter it with the dust upon his feet. The teaching was
+full of sacred significance, however far their practice may have departed
+from its truth.</p>
+
+<p>Let me not use the Temple as a mere passage to something else. Let me not
+use my religion as an expedient for more easily reaching &ldquo;the chief seats&rdquo;
+among men. Let me not put on the garments of worship in order that I may
+readily and quickly fill my purse. Let me not make the sanctuary &ldquo;a short
+cut&rdquo; to the bank!</p>
+
+<p>And let me not carry the dust of the world on to the sacred floor. Let me
+&ldquo;wipe my feet.&rdquo; Let me sternly shake off some things&mdash;all frivolity,
+easeful indifference, the spirit of haste and self-seeking. Let me not
+defile the courts of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And let me remember that &ldquo;the whole earth is full of His glory.&rdquo;
+Everywhere, therefore, I am treading the sacred floor! Lord, teach me this
+high secret! Then shall I not demean the Temple into a market, but I shall
+transform the market into a temple. &ldquo;Lo, God is in this place, and I knew
+it not!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 203]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PURIFYING THE SANCTUARY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> xxix. 1-11, 15-19.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>ORSHIP has vital connections with work. There are nerve-relationships
+between the heart and the hand. The condition of the sanctuary is
+reflected in the state of the empire. If there is uncleanness in &ldquo;the holy
+place,&rdquo; there will be blight and degeneracy among the people. The fatal
+seeds of national instability and decay are not found in economics; they
+are found in the sanctuary. &ldquo;Until I went into the sanctuary ... then
+understood I!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Hezekiah cleansed &ldquo;the house of the Lord.&rdquo; He cast forth the filthiness
+out of the holy place. He ushered in his golden age with the reformation
+of worship. He recalled exiled and white-robed Piety to her appointed
+throne. He began the re-establishment of right by recognizing the rights
+of God. He gave the Lord His due! All our rights are born out of our
+&ldquo;being right&rdquo; with God! We begin to be rich when we cease to rob God!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also.</em>&rdquo;
+That is ever so. Our real songs begin with our sacrifices. We enter the
+realm of music when we enter the realm of self-surrender. A willing
+offering, on a clean altar, introduces the soul into &ldquo;the joy of the
+Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 204]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>VISIONS AND TASKS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> xxxiv. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-j.png" width="81" height="80" alt="J" title="" />
+</div><p>OSIAH &ldquo;<em>began to seek after God</em>.&rdquo; The other day I saw a young art
+student copying one of Turner&#8217;s pictures in the National Gallery. His eyes
+were being continually lifted from his canvas to his &ldquo;master.&rdquo; He put
+nothing down which he had not first seen. He was &ldquo;seeking after&rdquo; Turner!</p>
+
+<p>And thus it was with Josiah. His eyes were &ldquo;ever toward the Lord!&rdquo; He
+studied the &ldquo;ways&rdquo; of the Lord, in order that he might incarnate them in
+national life and practice. Wise doings always begin in clear seeing. We
+should be far more efficient in practice if we were more diligently
+assiduous in vision. It is never a waste of time to &ldquo;look unto Him.&rdquo;
+Looking is a most needful part of our daily discipline. &ldquo;What I say unto
+you, I say unto all, <em>Watch</em>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And because Josiah saw the holiness of the Lord he saw the uncleanness of
+the people. He had a vision of God&#8217;s holy place, and he therefore saw the
+defilement of the material worship.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>In the twelfth year he began to purge Judah.</em>&rdquo; Yes, that is the
+sequence. The reformer follows the seer. We shall begin to sweep the
+streets of our own city when we have gazed upon the glories of the holy
+city, the New Jerusalem.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 205]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>A GREAT SOUL AT PRAYER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> vi. 12-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me reverently study this great prayer in order that, when I go to the
+house of God, I may be able to enrich its ministry by the wealth of my own
+supplications.</p>
+
+<p>Solomon prayed that the eyes of the Lord might be open toward the house
+&ldquo;day and night.&rdquo; Like the eyes of a mother upon her child! Like the eyes
+of a lover upon his beloved! And therefore it is more than protective
+vision; shall we reverently say that it is <em>inventive</em> vision, devising
+gracious surprises, anticipating needs, preparing love-gifts; it is sight
+which is both insight and foresight, ever inspecting and prospecting for
+the loved one&#8217;s good.</p>
+
+<p>And Solomon prayed that God&#8217;s ear might be open to the cry of His people&#8217;s
+need. &ldquo;<em>Hear Thou from Thy dwelling-place.</em>&rdquo; He prayed that the house of
+God might be the place of open communion. That is ever the secret of
+peace, and therefore of power. If I know that I have correspondence with
+the Holy One, I shall walk and work as a child of light. If God hear me,
+then I can sing!</p>
+
+<p>And Solomon prays for the grace of forgiveness. He prays for the sense of
+sweet emancipation which is the gift of grace. It is the miracle of
+renewal, and it ought to happen every time we open the doors of the
+sanctuary.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 206]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LOVE OF THE SANCTUARY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxxxiv.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-g.png" width="79" height="80" alt="G" title="" />
+</div><p>RACIOUS is the strength of this man&#8217;s desire for the holy place. He
+covets the privilege of the very sparrow which builds its nest beneath the
+sacred eaves! When he is away from the Temple its worship and music haunt
+his mind and soul. It wooes him in the market-place. Its insistent call is
+with him by the fireside. Yes, &ldquo;in his heart are the highways to Zion!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the permanency of this devotional mood transfigures every place. It
+turns &ldquo;<em>the valley of weeping</em>&rdquo; into &ldquo;<em>a place of springs</em>.&rdquo; The colour of
+any place is largely determined by our moods. It is surprising what
+treasures we find when our soul is full of light. What discoveries old
+Scrooge made when the Christmas mood possessed his own heart! When we
+carry about the spirit of the sanctuary, we convert every spot into rich
+and hallowed ground.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in
+the tents of wickedness.</em>&rdquo; Better to have the temple-spirit, even as a
+menial, than the unhallowed heart in the glittering high places of sin.
+&ldquo;God&#8217;s worst is better than the devil&#8217;s best.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 207]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>NO TEMPLE THEREIN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>And I saw no temple therein!</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Revelation</span> xxi. 22-27.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND that because it was all temple! &ldquo;Every place was hallowed ground.&rdquo;
+There was no merely localized Presence, because the Presence was
+universal. God was realized everywhere, and therefore the little
+meeting-tent had vanished, and in place of the measurable tabernacle there
+were the immeasurable and God-filled heavens.</p>
+
+<p>Even here on earth I can measure my spiritual growth by the corresponding
+enlargement of my temple. What is the size of my sanctuary? Am I moving
+toward the time when nothing shall be particularly hallowed because all
+will be sanctified? Are the six days of the week becoming increasingly
+like the seventh, until people can see no difference between my Monday
+manners and my Sunday mood? And how about places? Do I still speak of
+&ldquo;religion being religion,&rdquo; and &ldquo;business being business,&rdquo; or is something
+of the sanctuary getting into my shop, and is the exchange becoming a
+side-chapel of the Temple?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And the Lamb is the light thereof.</em>&rdquo; When we have done with the local
+temple we can dispose of its candles. When we pass out of the twilight
+into the morning &ldquo;the stars retire.&rdquo; The fore-gleams will change into the
+wondrous glory of the ineffable day.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 208]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE WELLS OF SALVATION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> iii. 1-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE springs of our redemption are found in infinite love. &ldquo;God is love!&rdquo;
+Redemption was not inspired by anger, but by grace. We do not contemplate
+an angry God, demanding a victim, but a compassionate Father making a
+sacrifice. At one extreme of our golden text is eternal &ldquo;love,&rdquo; and at the
+other extreme is &ldquo;eternal life.&rdquo; What if the two are one? Etymologically,
+&ldquo;love&rdquo; and &ldquo;life&rdquo; are akin. What if they are only two names for the same
+thing?</p>
+
+<p>To &ldquo;believe&rdquo; in the love is to receive the life. For when I believe in a
+person&#8217;s love I open my doors to the lover. And to believe in the love of
+God is to let the heavenly Lover in. And with love comes a wonderful
+tropical air&mdash;light, and warmth, and air; and &ldquo;all things become new!&rdquo; It
+is the letting in of the spring, and things which have been in wintry
+bondage awake, and arise from their graves.</p>
+
+<p>And so I &ldquo;<em>enter into the kingdom of God</em>.&rdquo; I become a native of a new and
+marvellous country. I begin to be acclimatized in the realm of the blest.
+And I &ldquo;<em>see</em> the kingdom of God.&rdquo; Spiritual perceptions become mine, and I
+gaze upon the mystic glories of the home of God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 209]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE WORK OF FAITH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">John</span> v. 1-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so by belief <em>I find life</em>. I do not obtain the vitalizing air through
+controversy, or clamour, or idle lamentation, but by opening the window!
+Faith opens the door and window of the soul to the Son of God. It can be
+done without tears, it can be done without sensationalism. &ldquo;If any man
+will open the door, I will come in.&rdquo; &ldquo;And he that hath the Son hath the
+life.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And by belief <em>I gain my victories</em>. &ldquo;Who is he that overcometh ... but he
+that believeth?&rdquo; It is not by flashing armour that we beat the devil, but
+by an invincible life. On these battlefields a mystic breath does more
+destruction than all our fine and costly expedients. To believe is to
+obtain the winning spirit, and every battle brings its trophies to our
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>And by belief <em>I gain assurance</em>. &ldquo;He that believeth ... hath the witness
+in him.&rdquo; So many Christians fight in doubt and indecision, and their
+uncertainty impairs their strength and skill. It is the man who can
+quietly say &ldquo;I know&rdquo; who is terrible in battle and who drives his foes in
+confusion from the field.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 210]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>ALL THINGS NEW!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> v. 14-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a new constraint! &ldquo;The love of Christ constraineth me.&rdquo; The love
+of Christ <em>carries me along like a crowd</em>. I am taken up in its mighty
+movement and swept along the appointed road! Or it <em>arrests me</em>, and makes
+me its willing prisoner. It lays a strong hand upon me, and I have no
+option but to go. A gracious &ldquo;necessity is laid upon me.&rdquo; <em>I must!</em></p>
+
+<p>And here is a new world. &ldquo;<em>Old things are passed away.</em>&rdquo; The man who is
+the prisoner of the Lord&#8217;s love will find himself in new and wonderful
+scenery. Everything will wear a new face&mdash;God, man, self, the garden, the
+sky, the sea! We shall look at all things through love-eyes, and it is
+amazing in what new light a great love will set familiar things!
+Commonplaces become beautiful when looked at through the lens of Christian
+love. When we &ldquo;walk in love&rdquo; our eyes are anointed with &ldquo;the eye-salve&rdquo; of
+grace.</p>
+
+<p>And here is a new service. &ldquo;We are ambassadors ... for Christ.&rdquo; When we
+see our Lord through love-eyes, and then our brother, we shall yearn to
+serve our brother in Christ. We shall intensely long to tell the
+love-story of the Lord our Saviour. What we have seen, with confidence we
+tell.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 211]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>NAMES AND NATURES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Romans</span> viii. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>EN will recognize my Christianity by the sign of the Spirit of Christ.
+And they will accept no other witness. I saw a plant-pot the other day,
+full of soil, bearing no flower, but flaunting a stick on which was
+printed the word &ldquo;Mignonette.&rdquo; &ldquo;Thou hast a name to live and art dead.&rdquo;
+The world will take no notice of our labels and our badges: it is only
+arrested by the flower and the perfume. &ldquo;If any man hath not the Spirit of
+Christ he is none of His.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in the Spirit of Christ I shall best deal with &ldquo;<em>the things of the
+flesh</em>.&rdquo; There are some things which are best overcome by neglecting them.
+To give them attention is to give them nourishment. Withdraw the
+attention, and they sicken and die. And so I must seek the fellowship of
+the Spirit. That friendship will destroy the other. &ldquo;Ye cannot serve God
+and Mammon.&rdquo; If I am in communion with the Holy One the other will pine
+away, and cease to trouble me.</p>
+
+<p>Lord, make my spirit a kinsman of Thine! Let the intimacy be ever deeper
+and dearer. &ldquo;Draw me nearer, blessed Lord,&rdquo; until in nearness to Thee I
+find my peace, my joy, and my crown.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 212]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SIN AS POISON</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Numbers</span> xxi. 4-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND this is the familiar teaching, that sin is a serpent. It possesses a
+deadly poison. We may give it pleasant names, but we are only ornamenting
+death. A chemist might put a poison into a chaste and elegant flask, but
+he has in no wise changed its nature. And when we name sin by philosophic
+euphemisms, and by less exacting terminologies&mdash;such as &ldquo;cleverness,&rdquo;
+&ldquo;smartness,&rdquo; or &ldquo;fault,&rdquo; or &ldquo;misfortune,&rdquo; we are only changing the flask,
+and the diabolical essence remains the same.</p>
+
+<p>And, then, sin is a serpent because it is so subtle. It creeps into my
+presence almost before I know it. Its approaches are so insidious, its
+expedients so full of guile. &ldquo;Therefore, I say unto all, Watch!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But in Christ the old serpent is dead! Christ &ldquo;became sin,&rdquo; and in Him sin
+was crucified. The thing that bit is bitten, and its nefarious power
+destroyed. But out of Christ the serpent is still busy and malicious,
+claiming what he presumes to call his own.</p>
+
+<p>Let me, then, dwell in Christ, where sin &ldquo;has no more dominion.&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Whosoever believeth shall not perish but have life.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 213]</span></p>
+<h2>JULY The Thirty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CLEAN FLAME OF LOVE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">John</span> iv. 4-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS aged apostle cannot get away from the counsels of love. All his
+mental movements circle about this &ldquo;greatest thing in the world.&rdquo; Once he
+would &ldquo;call down fire upon men&rdquo;; now the only fire he knows is the pure
+and genial flame of love. Beautiful is it when our fires become cleaner as
+we get older, when temper changes to compassion, when malice becomes
+goodwill, when an ill-controlled conflagration becomes a homely fireside.</p>
+
+<p>And all the love we acquire we must get from the altars of God. &ldquo;We love
+because He first loved us.&rdquo; We can find it nowhere else. &ldquo;Love is of God.&rdquo;
+Why, then, not seek it in the right place? Why seek for palms in arctic
+regions, or for icebergs in the tropics? God is the country of love, and
+in His deep mines there are riches &ldquo;unsearchable.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the gracious law of life is this, that every acquisition of love
+increases our powers of discernment. &ldquo;He that loveth knoweth...!&rdquo; It is as
+though every jewel we find gives us an extra lens for the discovery of
+finer jewels still. And thus the love-life is a continual surprise, and
+the surprise will be eternal, for the object of the wonder is the infinite
+love of God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 214]</span><a name="AUG" id="AUG"></a></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOD AS OUR ALLY!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Romans</span> viii. 31-39.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>F God is for us!&rdquo; But we must make sure of that. Is God on the field,
+taking sides with us? Have we been so busy with our preparations, so
+concerned with many things, and everybody, that we have forgotten our
+greatest possible Ally? Is He on the field, and on which side! My soul, go
+on thy knees, and settle this in secret. That purpose of thine! That
+choice of thine! That work of thine! Is it hallowed with thy Lord&#8217;s
+approval and seal?</p>
+
+<p>And &ldquo;if God is for us, who can be against us?&rdquo; Nothing else counts. It is
+ever a foolish and futile thing to count the heads in the opposing ranks.
+&ldquo;God is always on the side of the big battalions!&rdquo; It is a black lie of
+the devil! We need not fear the big battalions if only we are securely in
+the right. We are not to count heads, but to weigh and estimate causes.
+Which of the causes provides a tent for the Lord of Hosts? Where has the
+truth its waving flag? Stand near that flag, my soul, and thou wilt be
+near thy Lord! And nothing shall separate thee from His love, and leave
+thee weak and isolated on the field. Thou shalt be &ldquo;more than conqueror&rdquo;
+in Him who loves thee, and will love thee for evermore.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 215]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>BY JACOB&#8217;S WELL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> iv. 1-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;WEARY woman and a weary Lord! But the Lord was only weary in body; the
+woman was dry and exhausted in soul. Her heart was like some charred
+chamber after a destructive fire. All its furniture was injured, and some
+of it was almost burnt away. For sin had been blazing in the secret place,
+and had scorched the delicacies of the spirit, and the inward satisfaction
+was gone. And now she was very weary, and her daily walk had become a most
+tiresome march.</p>
+
+<p>And the Lord, with sympathetic insight, discerned the inward dryness.
+There was no sound of holy contentment, no melody of joyful, spiritual
+desire. There was only the cold, clammy silence of death. &ldquo;He knew what
+was in man.&rdquo; And there was no &ldquo;river of water of life&rdquo; making glad the
+streets of this woman&#8217;s soul.</p>
+
+<p>And so He would bring to her the waters of spiritual satisfaction, the
+holy well of eternal life. &ldquo;In the wilderness shall waters break out, and
+springs in the desert.&rdquo; The Lord is about to work a miracle of grace,
+changing dull pang into healing peace, and suffocated desire into soaring
+fellowship with God. He is about to transform an outlawed woman into one
+of the &ldquo;elect saints.&rdquo; How will He do it? Let us watch Him.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 216]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CHANGING ASKING INTO THIRSTING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Go, call thy husband!</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> iv. 16-30.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;NEVER supposed that the transformation would begin here. I thought that
+there were some words which would remain unspoken. But here our Master
+speaks a word which only deepens the weariness of the woman, and irritates
+the sore of her galling yoke. What is He doing?</p>
+
+<p>He is seeking to change the sense of wretchedness into the sense of sin!
+He is seeking to change weariness into desire! <em>He wants to make the woman
+thirst!</em> And so He puts His finger upon her sin. He cannot give the
+heavenly water to lips that merely ask for it. &ldquo;Sir, give me this water!&rdquo;
+No, it cannot be had for the asking, only for the thirsting! And so the
+gracious Lord turns the woman&#8217;s eyes upon her own sinful life, in order
+that in the heat of a fierce shame she might cry out, &ldquo;I thirst for God,
+for the living God!&rdquo; And sure I am that, before the Lord had done with
+her, this quiet, lone cry leapt from her lips, and in immediate response
+to the cry she was given a deep draught from the eternal well.</p>
+
+<p>And, good Lord, arouse my sense of my sin that I, too, may thirst for Thy
+water! Now, make me thirst for it, and in the thirst receive it!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 217]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HIDDEN MANNA</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I have meat to eat that ye know not of.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> iv. 31-42.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND what sort of meat is this? The Lord found secret refreshment in
+feeding other people. In vitalizing the woman of Samaria He restored His
+own soul. The disciples were amazed when they returned to find that the
+weariness had gone out of His face, and that He looked like one who had
+been at a feast!</p>
+
+<p>And that is the law of life. &ldquo;<em>My meat is to do the will.</em>&rdquo; There is a
+secret nutriment in the bread we give away. The Lord gives us to eat of
+the &ldquo;hidden manna&rdquo; whenever we are seeking the refreshment of our fellows.
+Distributed bread has a sacramental efficacy for our own souls. The man
+who feeds the hungry shall himself be &ldquo;satisfied as with marrow.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And these ways of service are open on every side. There are millions of
+weary people waiting, like the woman at the well. &ldquo;<em>Lift up your eyes, and
+look on the fields: for they are white already to harvest!</em>&rdquo; Be it mine to
+be a minister in the mighty service, and in the ways of obedience let me
+find delights and delicacies for my own soul.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i2">&ldquo;Bread of Heaven,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Feed me till I want no more!&rdquo;</span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 218]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>BROOKS BY THE WAY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE wells of the Lord are to be found where most I need them. The Lord of
+the way knows the pilgrim life, and the wells have been unsealed just
+where the soul is prone to become dry and faint. At the foot of the hill
+Difficulty was found a spring! Yes, these health-springs are lifting their
+crystal flood in the cheerless wastes of evil antagonisms and exhausting
+grief.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes I am foolish, and in my need I assume that the well is far away.
+I knew a farmer who for a generation had carried every pail of water from
+a distant well to meet the needs of his homestead. And one day he sunk a
+shaft by his own house door, and to his great joy he found that the water
+was waiting at his own gate! My soul, thy well is near, even here! Go not
+in search of Him! Thy pilgrimage is ended, the waters are at thy feet!</p>
+
+<p>But I must &ldquo;<em>draw</em> the water out of the wells of salvation.&rdquo; The hand of
+faith must lift the gracious gift to the parched lips, and so refresh the
+panting soul. &ldquo;I will <em>take</em> the cup of salvation.&rdquo; Stretch out thy &ldquo;lame
+hand of faith,&rdquo; and take the holy, hallowing energy offered by the Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 219]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WATERS OF CONTENTMENT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lv. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE refreshing waters are offered to &ldquo;everyone&rdquo; that is thirsty. The
+evangel is like some clear bugle peal, sounded on some commanding upland,
+and which is heard alike in palace and cottage, in school and at the mill,
+by the child of plenty and by the child of want. &ldquo;Ho, everyone!&rdquo; The
+appeal is to the common heart, whether the setting be squalor or
+splendour, whether the soul faints in the glare of the prosperous noon, or
+under the chill of the burdensome night. &ldquo;Ho, everyone that thirsteth!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the waters may be ours &ldquo;without money and without price.&rdquo; We have not
+to earn them by the sweat of body, mind, or soul. We have not to make a
+toilsome pilgrimage, on bleeding feet, to some distant Lourdes, where the
+sacred healer abides. No, we are asked to pay nothing, and for the simple
+reason that we &ldquo;have nothing wherewith to pay.&rdquo; The reviving grace is
+given to us &ldquo;freely,&rdquo; and all that we have to present is our thirst.</p>
+
+<p>And yet we spend and spend, we labour and labour, but we buy no bread of
+contentment, and the waters of satisfaction are far away. The satisfying
+bread cannot be bought; it can only be begged. The water of life cannot be
+taken from a cistern; it must be drunk at the spring.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 220]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>RIVERS FROM THE SNOW</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Revelation</span> xxii. 1-7, 17-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE water of life flows out of the throne. Grace has its rise in sovereign
+holiness. This river is born amid the virgin snow. All true love springs
+out of spotless purity. &ldquo;Love&rdquo; from any other source is illegitimately
+wearing a stolen name. &ldquo;Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!&rdquo; That is the first
+note in the song of redemption. In that burning whiteness I discern the
+possibility of my own sanctification.</p>
+
+<p>For the grace which flows out of sovereign holiness is a minister of the
+holy Lord to make me holy. If it were not perfectly pure it would itself
+be an agent of defilement. But it is &ldquo;clear as crystal,&rdquo; and therefore it
+purifies and fertilizes wherever it flows. Rare trees grow upon its banks,
+and grace-fruits make every season beautiful. &ldquo;Everything shall live
+whither the river cometh.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But without the river my soul shall be &ldquo;as an unwatered garden.&rdquo; My life
+shall be a realm of perpetual drought. Things may begin to grow, but they
+shall speedily droop and die. The heavenly Husbandman shall find no fruit
+when He walks amid the garden in the cool of the day. And therefore, my
+soul, look to the river which flows from the throne! &ldquo;There is a river,
+the streams whereof make glad the city of God,&rdquo; and that river is for
+thee!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 221]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SCARLET SIN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> i. 10-20.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>OW can we deal with glaring sin, with sin that is &ldquo;scarlet,&rdquo; that is &ldquo;red
+like crimson&rdquo;? And when the red stain has soaked into the very texture of
+the character, and every fibre is stupefied, what can we do then? Let me
+listen.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Wash you.</em>&rdquo; But ordinary washings will not suffice. The ministry of
+education will fail. Art, and literature, and music will leave the
+internal stain undisturbed. They may impart a polish, but the polish shall
+be like the gloss on badly-washed linen. And the ministry of work will
+fail. Work never yet made a foul soul clean. There is &ldquo;a fountain opened
+for all uncleanness.&rdquo; I must wash &ldquo;in the blood of the Lamb.&rdquo; That red
+sacrifice can wash out the deep red stain.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Cease to do evil.</em>&rdquo; Yes, I must turn my back on the roads of defilement.
+There must be a sharp decision, and an immediate reversal of my ways.
+&ldquo;Halt!&rdquo; &ldquo;Right about turn!&rdquo; &ldquo;Quick march!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Learn to do well!</em>&rdquo; Yes, let me diligently learn, like a child at
+school, until the deliberative becomes the instructive, and &ldquo;practice
+makes perfect.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 222]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOD&#8217;S REQUIREMENTS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>What doth the Lord require of thee?</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Micah</span> vi. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>O do justly.&rdquo; Then I must not be so eager about my rights as to forget
+my duties. For my duties are just the observance of my neighbour&#8217;s rights.
+And to see my neighbour&#8217;s rights I must cultivate his &ldquo;point of view.&rdquo; I
+must look out of his windows! &ldquo;Look not every man on his own things, but
+every man also on the things of others.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And to love mercy.</em>&rdquo; And mercy is justice <em>plus</em>! And it is the &ldquo;plus&rdquo;
+which makes the Christian. His cup &ldquo;runneth over.&rdquo; He gives, like his
+Lord, &ldquo;good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over.&rdquo; There
+is always &ldquo;a little extra&rdquo; for Christ&#8217;s sake! And &ldquo;blessed are the
+merciful.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And to walk humbly with thy God.</em>&rdquo; And there I am at the root of the two
+graces which have been enjoined upon me. The lowly friend of the Lord will
+most surely be both just and merciful. He cannot help it. The fragrance
+will cling to him as the fragrance of the orange clings to him who labours
+in the fruitful groves of Spain.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 223]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOOD FRUIT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> vi. 43-49.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>Y Lord seeks &ldquo;good fruit.&rdquo; It must be sound. No disease must lurk within
+it. My virtues are so often touched with defilement. There is a little
+untruth even in my truth. There is a little jealousy even in my praise.
+There is a little superciliousness even in my forbearance. There is a
+little pride even in my piety. It is not &ldquo;whole,&rdquo; not holy. God demands
+sound fruit.</p>
+
+<p>And &ldquo;good fruit&rdquo; demands &ldquo;a good tree.&rdquo; We must not look for truth from an
+untrue soul. If the bullet-mould is deformed, all the bullets will share
+its deformity. First get the mould right, and every bullet will share its
+rectitude. When the soul is &ldquo;true,&rdquo; all our words, and deeds, and gestures
+will be &ldquo;of the truth,&rdquo; and will be true indeed. &ldquo;Make the tree good.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And that is just what our Lord proclaims His willingness to do. He does
+not begin with effects, but with causes; not with fruit, but with trees.
+He does not begin with our speech, but with the speaker; not with conduct,
+but with character. And, blessed be His name, He can transform &ldquo;corrupt
+trees&rdquo; into &ldquo;good trees,&rdquo; until it shall be said: &ldquo;He that hath turned the
+world upside down has come hither also.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 224]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CONSECRATION OF THE WILL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> v. 1-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>Y Lord demands my will in the ministry of healing. &ldquo;<em>Art thou willing</em> to
+be made whole?&rdquo; He will not carry me as a log. When my schoolmaster put a
+belt around me, and held me over the water with a rope, and taught me to
+swim, I had to use my arms. The condition of help was endeavour. And so in
+my salvation. I have always will-power sufficient to pray and to try. In
+the effort of faith I open the door to the energies of God. Grace flows in
+the channels of the determined will. &ldquo;O, God, my heart is set!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And my Lord demands my will in the living of the consecrated life. &ldquo;Sin no
+more!&rdquo; I must &ldquo;will&rdquo; to be whole, and I must will to remain holy. And here
+is the gracious law of the kingdom, that every time I exercise my will I
+add to its power. Every difficulty overcome adds its strength to my
+resources. Every enemy conquered marches henceforth in my own ranks. I go
+&ldquo;from strength to strength.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;God worketh in me to will!&rdquo; The gracious Lord ever strengthens the will
+that is willing. He transforms the frail reed into an iron pillar, and
+makes trembling timidity bold as a lion.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Mighty Spirit, dwell with me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">I myself would mighty be.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 225]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MY LIFE AND HOPE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> v. 19-30.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is my reservoir. &ldquo;<em>The Son hath life in Himself.</em>&rdquo; All vitality has
+its source in Him. He is the enemy of death and the deadly. I can paint
+the dead to look like life; I can use rouge for blood, and make the white
+lips red, but it all remains clammy and cold. I can galvanize, but I
+cannot vitalize. I can &ldquo;break the ball of nard,&rdquo; and make perfume, &ldquo;but
+still the sleeper sleeps.&rdquo; &ldquo;In Him is life.&rdquo; &ldquo;In Christ shall all be made
+alive!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And here is my hope. &ldquo;<em>The Son also quickeneth.</em>&rdquo; He is not only a
+reservoir, He is a river. He is &ldquo;the river of water of life.&rdquo; And His
+blessed purpose is to flow into desolate places, converting deserts into
+gardens, and making wildernesses to blossom as the rose.</p>
+
+<p>And He will come my way if only I will &ldquo;hear&rdquo; and &ldquo;believe.&rdquo; There is a
+flippant hearing which, while it listens, laughs Him to scorn. There is a
+cheap hearing which will venture nothing on His counsel. And there is the
+hearing of faith, which simply &ldquo;takes Him at His word,&rdquo; and in the
+glorious venture experiences the unsealing of the fountain of eternal
+life. &ldquo;Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 226]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE INNER ROOMS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> v. 31-47.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT should I think of a man who was contented to remain in the outer
+halls and passages of Windsor Castle, when he was invited into the royal
+precincts to have gracious communion with the King? And what shall I think
+of men who are contented to &ldquo;search the Scriptures&rdquo; and &ldquo;will not come&rdquo; to
+the Lord? They spend their life exploring the lobbies, when the Host and
+the feast are waiting in the upper room!</p>
+
+<p>And some men spend their days in criticism and they never advance to
+worship. They are like unto one who should give his strength to the
+deciphering of some time-worn inscription on the outer wall of some grand
+cathedral, and who never treads the sacred floor in fruitful and enriching
+awe.</p>
+
+<p>And some men live in the senses, and not in the conscience, in the awful
+presence of the great white throne. They are for ever seeking sensations,
+and avoid the fellowship of duty. They ride about in the channel, and they
+never come to the harbour. They have no settled moral home.</p>
+
+<p>My Lord, help me to regard all good things as merely passages leading to
+Thee! Let all good things bring me into intimate fellowship with Thee.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 227]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PARALYSIS OF THE SOUL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> v. 17-26.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE miracle done in the body is purposed to be a symbol of a grander
+miracle to be wrought in the soul. &ldquo;<em>That ye may know that the Son of Man
+hath power on earth to forgive sins, then saith He...!</em>&rdquo; He heals the
+paralyzed body that we may know what He can do with a paralyzed soul. He
+liberates the man who is bound by palsy that we may know what He can do
+for a man who is bound by guilt. We are to reason from the less to the
+greater, from the material type to the spiritual reality.</p>
+
+<p>And so it is with all my Lord&#8217;s doings in nature. They are a glorious
+symbolism of what He will do in the spirit. &ldquo;That ye may know how
+beautiful the Son of Man can make the heart of man, then saith He to the
+seeds of the spring-time, Come forth!&rdquo; And so nature becomes a literature,
+in which we see our possible inheritance in the Spirit.</p>
+
+<p>But on our side it is all conditioned by faith. &ldquo;There He could do no
+mighty works because of their unbelief.&rdquo; Even in the miracles of the
+Spirit our faith must co-operate. Divine grace and human faith can
+transfigure the race. &ldquo;Lord, increase our faith!&rdquo; And everywhere, let
+palsied souls be delivered, and attain to glorious freedom!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 228]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WITHERED LIMBS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Mark</span> iii. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE are withered limbs of the spirit as well as of the body. There are
+faculties and powers which are wasting away, sacred endowments which have
+lost their vital circulation. In some lives the will is a withered limb.
+In others it is the conscience. In others, again, it is the affections.
+These splendid moral and spiritual powers are being dried up, and they
+hang comparatively limp and useless in the life. They have been withered
+by sin and sinful negligence.</p>
+
+<p>And the Lord is the healer of withered limbs. He can deal with imprisoned
+affections as the warm spring deals with the river which has been locked
+in ice. He can minister to a stricken will, and make it as a benumbed hand
+when the circulation has been restored. He can give it grip and tenacity.
+And so with all our powers. He, who is the Life, can vitalize all!</p>
+
+<p>But here again the remnant of our withered endowment must be used in the
+healing. We must surrender to the Healer. We must obey. If the Lord says:
+&ldquo;Stretch forth thy hand,&rdquo; we must attempt the impossible! In this region
+the impossible becomes possible in sanctified endeavour.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 229]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CHURCH AS AN INFIRMARY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xiii. 10-17.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT infirmities gather together in the synagogue! What moral and
+spiritual ailments are congregated in every place of worship! If the veil
+of the flesh could be removed, and the inward life revealed, how we should
+pity one another, and how we should pray! In how many lives should we
+behold a spirit &ldquo;bound together,&rdquo; who &ldquo;could in no wise lift herself up!&rdquo;
+Wills like crushed reeds, consciences like broken vocal chords, hopes like
+birds with injured wings, and hearts like ruined homes!</p>
+
+<p>But the blessed Lord still goes into the synagogue; nay, He anticipates
+our coming. And He is present &ldquo;to heal the broken in heart,&rdquo; and to &ldquo;bind
+up his wounds.&rdquo; His touch &ldquo;has still its ancient power.&rdquo; Still does the
+gracious Master speak with authority. &ldquo;Woman, thou art loosed from thine
+infirmity!&rdquo; And immediately she is &ldquo;made straight.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Then why do so many spiritual cripples leave the synagogue cripples still?
+Because they do not give the Healer a chance. No one can remain crooked
+and broken in conscience and will who grips the hand of the Lord of Life.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 230]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PSALM OF PRAISE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cvii. 1-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE miracle of deliverance must be followed by the psalm of praise. There
+are multitudes who cry, &ldquo;God be merciful!&rdquo; who never cry, &ldquo;God be
+praised!&rdquo; &ldquo;There were none that returned to give thanks save this
+Samaritan.&rdquo; Ten cleansed, and only one grateful! &ldquo;Oh, that men would
+praise the Lord for His goodness!&rdquo; Many a blessing becomes stale because
+it is not renewed by thanksgiving. Graces that are received ungratefully
+droop like flowers deprived of rain. Yes, gratitude gives sustenance to
+blessings already received. Therefore &ldquo;in everything give thanks.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But emancipated lives are not only to break into praise before God, they
+must exercise in confession before men. &ldquo;Let the redeemed of the Lord say
+so!&rdquo; Unconfessed blessings become like the Dead Sea; refused an outlet
+they lose their freshness and vitality. I am found by the Lord in order
+that I, too, may be a seeker. I receive His peace in order that I may be a
+peacemaker. I am comforted in order that I &ldquo;may comfort others with the
+comfort wherewith I am comforted of God.&rdquo; Have you ever received a
+blessing; &ldquo;pass it on!&rdquo; Tell the story of thy deliverance to the enslaved,
+that he, too, may find &ldquo;the iron gate&rdquo; swing open, and so attain his
+freedom.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 231]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxxii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND my Jerusalem is &ldquo;the church of the living God.&rdquo; Do I carry her on my
+heart? Do I praise God for her heritage, and for her endowment of
+spiritual glory? And do I remember her perils, especially those parts of
+her walls where the defences are very thin, and can be easily broken
+through? Yes, has my Church any place in my prayer, or am I robbing her of
+part of her intended possessions?</p>
+
+<p>And is the <em>entire</em> Jerusalem the subject of my supplication? Or do I only
+think of a corner of it, just that part where my own little synagogue is
+placed? I am a Congregationalist; do I remember the Anglican? I am an
+Anglican; do I remember the Quaker? Am I thus concerned only with a small
+section of Jerusalem, or does my intercession sweep the entire city?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>They shall prosper that love thee.</em>&rdquo; I cannot be healthy if I am bereft
+of fellowship. If I ignore the house of prayer I impoverish my home. The
+peaceful glow of the fireside is not unrelated to the coals upon the
+common altar. The sacrament is connected with my ordinary meal. To love
+the Church of Christ is to become enriched with &ldquo;the fulness of Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 232]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IN GREEN PASTURES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxiii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS little psalm has been called the nightingale of the psalms. It sings
+&ldquo;in the shade when all things rest.&rdquo; It makes music in the darkness; it
+gives me &ldquo;songs in the night.&rdquo; And what does it sing about?</p>
+
+<p>It sings of God&#8217;s bounty in food and rest. &ldquo;<em>Green pastures</em>&rdquo;; &ldquo;<em>still
+waters</em>.&rdquo; My Lord knows when my heart is faint, when it needs His reviving
+food. He knows when my heart is tired and needs His sweet rest. &ldquo;<em>He
+restoreth my soul.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And it sings of the God-appointed way across the hill. &ldquo;<em>He leadeth me in
+paths of righteousness.</em>&rdquo; He makes the right way clear. He walks the path
+of duty with me. &ldquo;<em>Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow I
+will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And it sings of the feast which the Lord serves in the very midst of my
+foes. &ldquo;<em>He spreadeth a table before me in the midst of mine enemies.</em>&rdquo; He
+gives me the fat things of grace in the very presence of frowning
+circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>And it sings of the providence <em>which guards the rear</em>. &ldquo;Goodness and
+mercy shall follow me!&rdquo; God&#8217;s grace comes between me and my yesterdays. It
+cuts off the heredity from the old Adam, and no far-off plague comes nigh
+my dwelling.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 233]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>FEEDING THE FLOCK</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xl. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is the gracious promise of provision. &ldquo;<em>He shall feed His flock like
+a Shepherd.</em>&rdquo; He knows the fields where my soul will be best nourished in
+holiness. I am sometimes amazed at His choice. He takes me into an
+apparent wilderness, but I find rich herbage on the unpromising plain. And
+so I would rest in His choice even when it seems adverse to my good.</p>
+
+<p>And here is the gracious promise of gentle discrimination. &ldquo;<em>He shall
+gather the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom.</em>&rdquo; Says old
+Trapp, &ldquo;He hath a great care of His little ones, like as He had of the
+weaker tribes. In their march through the Wilderness He put a strong tribe
+to two weak tribes, lest they should faint or fail.&rdquo; Yes, &ldquo;He knoweth our
+frame.&rdquo; He will not lay upon us more than we can bear. At the back of
+every commandment there is a promise of adequate resource. His askings are
+also His enablings. The big duty means that we shall have a big lift. And
+when we are tired He will lead on gently. Such is the grace and tenderness
+of the Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 234]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>SATISFACTION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>My people shall be satisfied with My goodness.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Jeremiah</span> xxxi. 10-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND how unlike is all this to the feasts of the world! There is a great
+show, but no satisfaction. There is much decorative china, but no
+nutritious food or drink. &ldquo;Every one that drinketh of this water shall
+thirst again.&rdquo; We rise from the table, and our deepest cravings are
+unappeased. &ldquo;Why art thou cast down, O my soul?&rdquo; We know. We have had a
+condiment, but no meat; a showy menu-card, but no reviving feast.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing but the goodness of the Lord can satisfy the soul. Whatever else
+may be on the table of life, if this be absent we shall go away unfed. We
+may have money, and pleasure, and success, and fame, but they are all
+delusive husks if the grace of the Lord be absent.</p>
+
+<p>This is the real furnishing of the feast. There are vast multitudes of
+things I can do without if only I have the holy bread of life in the
+gracious Presence of my Lord. In this sphere it is the Guest who makes the
+table! &ldquo;Thou, O Christ, art all I want!&rdquo; &ldquo;Having Him we have all things.&rdquo;
+A glorious satisfaction possesses the soul, and though we may not increase
+our worldly possessions, we do something better, we &ldquo;grow in grace and in
+the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 235]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SICK AND THE LOST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ezekiel</span> xxxiv. 11-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-s.png" width="80" height="80" alt="S" title="" />
+</div><p>URELY everybody is included in this redemptive purpose of the Lord! He is
+looking for everybody, for everybody finds a place in His holy quest.</p>
+
+<p>He is seeking the &ldquo;<em>lost</em>&rdquo; sheep. The one that has wandered far away, and
+now no longer hears the sound of the Shepherd&#8217;s voice! The one that is
+carelessly nibbling the herbage on the very edge of perdition! He is
+looking for this one. Is He therefore looking for thee and me?</p>
+
+<p>He is seeking &ldquo;<em>that which was driven away</em>.&rdquo; Some hireling, some enemy of
+the shepherd, drove it far away from the fold. &ldquo;A thief and a robber,&rdquo; for
+his own purposes, hath done this. And the Lord&#8217;s sheep are driven away by
+&ldquo;principalities and powers,&rdquo; and by the violence of wicked men. Some
+impure and unworthy professor of religion can drive a whole household from
+the fellowship of the Church. And the Good Shepherd is seeking these. Is
+He therefore looking for thee or me?</p>
+
+<p>And He is seeking &ldquo;<em>that which was sick</em>.&rdquo; And some of the Lord&#8217;s sheep
+are sickly. The chill of disappointment, or failure, or bereavement has
+blown upon them, and they are &ldquo;down.&rdquo; Or they have been feeding on illicit
+pleasure. And the Lord is seeking such. Is He therefore seeking thee or
+me?</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 236]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>NOT LOST IN THE FLOCK</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I know My sheep, and am known of mine.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> x. 7-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE is mutual recognition, and in that recognition there is confidence
+and peace.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>I know my sheep.</em>&rdquo; He knows us one by one. My knowledge of the
+individual wanes in proportion as the multitude is increased. The teacher
+with the smaller class has the deepest intimacy with her scholars. The
+individual is lost in the crowd. But not so with our Lord. There are no
+&ldquo;masses&rdquo; in His sight. However big the crowd, even though it be &ldquo;a
+multitude which no man can number,&rdquo; we still remain individuals, known to
+the Lord by name, and face, and personal need. If thou art away from the
+fold, thy face is missed, and the Shepherd is away in search of thee!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And I am known of mine.</em>&rdquo; And the knowledge deepens with every day&#8217;s
+experience. There are false shepherds who can subtly mimic the Good
+Shepherd, and in my early discipleship I am liable to be deceived. The
+devil himself can array himself like a shepherd, and imitate the very
+tones of the Lord. Therefore must I watch, and ever watch. But here is my
+hope and inspiration. Every day I spend with my Good Shepherd sharpens my
+discernments, enables me to see through the outer show of things, and to
+discriminate between the false and the true.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 237]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LORD&#8217;S BODY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> xvii. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS quiet confession is in itself a token of our Lord&#8217;s divinity. The
+serenity in which He makes His claims is as stupendous as the claims
+themselves. &ldquo;Finished,&rdquo; perfected in the utmost refinement, to the last,
+remotest detail! Nothing scamped, nothing overlooked, nothing forgotten!
+Everything which concerns thy redemption and my redemption has been
+accomplished. &ldquo;It is finished!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And now ... I come to Thee.</em>&rdquo; The visible Presence is withdrawn. There
+is no longer in our midst a Jesus whose body we can bruise and crucify.
+&ldquo;<em>But these are in the world.</em>&rdquo; Yes, and His disciples are now His body.
+He becomes reincarnated in them. If they refuse Him a body, He has none!
+He looks through their eyes, listens through their ears, speaks through
+their lips, ministers through their hands, goes on sacred pilgrimages with
+their feet! &ldquo;Know ye not that ye are the body?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Does my discipleship offer my Lord a limb? Can He communicate with the
+world through me? Does my discipleship multiply His powers of expression?
+Has He more eyes, more ears, more hands because I am a member of His
+Church? Or&mdash;&mdash;?</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 238]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IMPOTENT ENEMIES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Romans</span> viii. 31-39.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HO can get between the love of Christ and me? What sharp dividing
+minister can cleave the two in twain, and leave me like a dismembered and
+dying branch?</p>
+
+<p>Terrible experiences cannot do it. &ldquo;<em>Tribulation, distress, persecution,
+famine, nakedness, peril, or sword!</em>&rdquo; All these may come about my house,
+but they cannot reach the inner sanctuary where my Lord and I are closeted
+in loving communion and peace. They may bruise my skin, nay, they may give
+my body to be burned, but no flame can destroy the love of Jesus which
+enswathes my soul with invisible defence.</p>
+
+<p>And terrible ministers cannot do it. &ldquo;<em>Angels, nor principalities, nor
+powers.</em>&rdquo; These mysterious agents of darkness, for they must be the
+legions of the evil one, are unable to quench the light and fire of my
+Saviour&#8217;s love. The devil can never blow out the lamp of grace.</p>
+
+<p>And terrible death itself cannot do it. Death does not separate me from
+Jesus; death is the Lord&#8217;s minister to lead me into deeper privilege and
+ripe experiences of grace and love. Therefore, &ldquo;I will lay me down in
+peace, and take my rest.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 239]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MISSING THE LORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Thou knowest not the time of thy visitation.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xix. 37-44.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-y.png" width="81" height="80" alt="Y" title="" />
+</div><p>ES, that has been my sad experience. I have wasted some of my wealthiest
+seasons. I have treated the hour as common and worthless, and the
+priceless opportunity has passed.</p>
+
+<p>There have been times when my Lord has come to me, and I have turned Him
+away from my door. He so often journeys &ldquo;incognito,&rdquo; and if I am
+thoughtless I dismiss Him, and so lose the privilege of heavenly communion
+and benediction. He knocks at my door as a Carpenter, and the humble
+attire deceives me, and I treat Him with scant courtesy, and sometimes
+with contempt. I know not the time of my visitation.</p>
+
+<p>He comes to me in the guise of needy people&mdash;as sick, or hungry, or a
+stranger, and I cannot be troubled with His presence. I dismissed Him as a
+pauper, little knowing that I was turning away a millionaire! I knew not
+the time of my visitation! &ldquo;I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat,&rdquo;
+and so we missed the bread of life.</p>
+
+<p>And so there is nothing for it, but to be always &ldquo;on the watch.&rdquo; I must
+treat everybody as though everybody was the Christ. And I must treat every
+commonplace moment as though it were the home of the eternal.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 240]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WHAT ABOUT TO-MORROW?</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Joshua</span> xxiv. 1-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is not mine to worry about the coming day, but to fill the immediate
+moment with radiant duty. My Lord is the Pioneer, the great Maker of
+roads, and He will see to the appointments and provisions of the way. He
+has His scouts, His advance guard, His miners and sappers opening the
+highway across the waste! &ldquo;I will send mine angel before thee!&rdquo; &ldquo;I will
+send hornets before you!&rdquo; Yes, the Lord will look after the road. What,
+then, am I called to do? Let me find the answer in the 14th verse.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Fear the Lord!</em>&rdquo; The Lord must be the sovereign thought in my life. All
+true and well-proportioned living must begin in well-proportioned thought.
+God must be my biggest thought, and from that thought all others must take
+their colour and their range.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Put away the gods.</em>&rdquo; My supreme homage must not be shared among many, it
+must be given to One. When the Lord is enthroned as King all usurpers must
+be banished. When He comes to His own the others go into exile.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Serve ye the Lord.</em>&rdquo; My strength must be enlisted with my loyalty. I
+must not merely shout; I must work. I must not merely clap my hands when
+the King goes by, I must consecrate those hands in sacrificial service.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 241]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Job</span> xxviii. 12-28.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE learning will not make me wise. The path to wisdom is not necessarily
+through the schools. The brilliant scholar may be an arrant fool. True
+wisdom is found, not in mental acquisitions, but in a certain spiritual
+relation. The wise man is known by the pose of his soul. He is &ldquo;<em>inclined
+toward the Lord</em>!&rdquo; He has returned unto his rest, and he finds light and
+vision in the fellowship of his Lord.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>To depart from evil is understanding.</em>&rdquo; Yes, I need the lens of purity
+if I am to see the secrets of things. A dirty lens is the explanation of
+much ignorance and obscurity. I do not think I can ever see a flower if my
+lens is defiled. Much less can I see &ldquo;the things of others.&rdquo; And still
+less again can I enjoy &ldquo;the secret of the Lord.&rdquo; What we want is not so
+much a theological training as a right spirit, not so much to go to school
+as to &ldquo;<em>depart from evil</em>.&rdquo; When I leave an evil habit worlds unseen begin
+to show their glory. &ldquo;Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
+God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 242]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE RICHES OF SPIRITUALITY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Proverbs</span> iv. 1-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me review some of these riches which are conferred upon the man who
+has made his soul the guest-room of spiritual religion.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Love her, and she shall keep thee.</em>&rdquo; Spirituality is to be my true
+defence. All other ramparts are vulnerable. They are the happy
+hunting-ground of the ravages of time; they fail in the crisis; they are
+the sure victims of moth and rust. But spirituality keeps me from
+childhood to age, and its shields are invincible, even in the hour of
+death. &ldquo;There shall no evil befall thee.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Exalt her, and she shall promote thee.</em>&rdquo; She will lead me in the paths
+of progress. Every day she will lead me to new conquests, and in
+constantly enriching character I shall move towards life&#8217;s appointed goal.
+Holiness is the only success worth having. Other successes are like lamps
+whose trembling flames are blown out in the first gusty, stormy night.
+&ldquo;But the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more
+even unto perfect day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace.</em>&rdquo; Yes, and her
+adornments are always beautiful. No beauty ever steals into the human face
+comparable with the delicate presence of spirituality. It makes plain
+features lovely, and transfigures them with &ldquo;the glory of the Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 243]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HOW TO DELIGHT IN THE WORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxix. 97-104.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;MAN may measure his growth in grace by his growing delight in the speech
+of the Lord. When His words are unwelcome in my ears, when they are an
+intrusion which mars my pleasures, it is clear I am still in the far
+country of revolt. But if His words make &ldquo;music in my ears,&rdquo; if the Lord&#8217;s
+conversation is the very marrow of the feast, then I have entered into the
+circle of His intimate friends. When His words taste sweet, even with a
+bare board, I am &ldquo;in heavenly places with Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And how can I attain unto this spiritual delight? Well, first of all I
+must make &ldquo;<em>His testimonies my meditations.</em>&rdquo; Our doctors tell us that the
+only way to taste the real savour of food is to masticate it well. Bolted
+food never unlocks its essences. And meditation is just mental
+mastication. To &ldquo;turn the word over&rdquo; in my mind will help to disburden its
+treasure.</p>
+
+<p>And then I must diligently put the word into practice. &ldquo;<em>I have not
+departed from Thy judgments.</em>&rdquo; There is nothing like obedience for setting
+free a spiritual essence. &ldquo;The secret of the Lord is with them that fear
+Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 244]</span></p>
+<h2>AUGUST The Thirty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE REAL GAINS AND LOSSES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Godliness with contentment is great gain.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Timothy</span> vi. 6-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so I must go into my heart if I would make a true estimate of my gains
+and losses. The calculation is not to be made in my bank-books, or as I
+stride over my broad acres, or inspect my well-filled barns. These are the
+mere outsides of things, and do not enter into the real balance-sheet of
+my life. We can no more estimate the success of a life by methods like
+these than we can adjudge an oil-painting by the sense of smell.</p>
+
+<p>What is my stock of godliness? That is one of the test questions. What are
+my treasures of contentment? What about peace and joy, and hallowed and
+blessed carelessness? How much pure laughter rings in my life? How much
+bird-music is heard in the chambers of my heart? Is the note of praise to
+be found in the streets of my soul? Am I rich in these things or
+pathetically poor? &ldquo;By these things men live,&rdquo; and therefore of these
+things will I make my balance-sheet and reckon up my gains.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 245]</span><a name="SEP" id="SEP"></a></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE VIRTUE OF PROPORTION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> vi. 25-34.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;MUST put first things first. The radical fault in much of my living is
+want of proportion. I think more of pretty window curtains than of fresh
+air, more of &ldquo;nice&rdquo; wallpaper than of the moving pageant of the skies. I
+magnify the immediate desire and minimize the ultimate goal. And so
+&ldquo;things do not come right!&rdquo; How can they when the apportionment is so
+perverse, when everything is topsy-turvy? If I want things to be firm and
+durable I must revere the Divine order, and must put first things first.
+&ldquo;<em>Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And, therefore, I must seek holiness before success. I am to esteem
+holiness with apparent failure as infinitely better than success with
+stain and shame.</p>
+
+<p>I must seek character before reputation. The applause of the world must be
+as nothing compared with the approbation of God. The favouring &ldquo;voice from
+heaven&rdquo; must be sweeter to my ears than the noisy cheers of the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>And I must seek righteousness before quietness. The way of disturbance is
+sometimes the way to peace. I must not be so concerned for a quiet life as
+for a life that is &ldquo;right with God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 246]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PRAYER AND REVOLUTION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> iv. 43-54.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS miracle began in a prayer. The nobleman went unto Jesus &ldquo;<em>and
+besought Him</em>.&rdquo; In such apparently fragile things can mighty revolutions
+be born! &ldquo;Prayer,&rdquo; said Tennyson, &ldquo;opens the sluice-gates between us and
+the Infinite.&rdquo; It brings the frail wire into contact with the battery. It
+links together man and God.</p>
+
+<p>Prayer was corroborated by belief. &ldquo;<em>The man believed the word that Jesus
+spake unto him.</em>&rdquo; By our faith we cut the channels along which the healing
+energy will flow. Faith &ldquo;prepares the way of the Lord.&rdquo; Our faith is
+purposed to be a fellow-laborer with grace, and, if faith be absent, grace
+&ldquo;can do no mighty works.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The healing begins with the faith. &ldquo;<em>It was at the same hour in which ...
+he himself believed.</em>&rdquo; These &ldquo;coincidences&rdquo; are inevitable happenings in
+the realm of the Spirit. When we offer the believing prayer, God&#8217;s mighty
+energies begin to besiege the life for which the prayer is made. Mr.
+Cornaby, the Methodist missionary, declares how conscious he is in
+far-away China when someone is interceding for him in the home-land! The
+power possesses him in vitalizing flood! Hudson Taylor&#8217;s mother shuts
+herself in a little room to pray, and eighty miles away her son is
+converted.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 247]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MY SHARE IN THE MIRACLE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> ii. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR Lord always demands our best. He will not work with our second-best.
+His gracious &ldquo;extra&rdquo; is given when our own resources are exhausted. We
+must do our best before our Master will do His miracle. We must &ldquo;fill the
+water-pots with water&rdquo;! We must bring &ldquo;the five loaves and two fishes&rdquo;! We
+must &ldquo;let down the net&rdquo;! We must be willing &ldquo;to be made whole,&rdquo; and we
+must make the effort to rise! Yes, the Lord will have my best.</p>
+
+<p>Our Lord transforms our best into His better. He changes water into wine.
+He turns the handful of seed into a harvest. Our aspirations become
+inspirations. Our willings become magnetic with the mystic power of grace.
+Our bread becomes sacramental, and He Himself is revealed to us at the
+feast. Our ordinary converse becomes a Divine fellowship, and &ldquo;our hearts
+burn within us&rdquo; as He talks to us by the way.</p>
+
+<p>And our Lord ever keeps His best wine until the last. &ldquo;Greater things than
+these shall ye do!&rdquo; &ldquo;I will see you again,&rdquo; and there shall be grander
+transformations still! &ldquo;The best is yet to be.&rdquo; &ldquo;Dreams cannot picture a
+world so fair.&rdquo; &ldquo;Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered
+into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for
+them that love Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 248]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>A PORTRAIT OF A GREAT SUPPLIANT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> viii. 5-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE we have <em>the grace of sympathy</em>; one man troubled about the sickness
+of another. We are drawing very near to the Lord when our soul vibrates
+responsively to another man&#8217;s need. We can measure our likeness to the
+Lord by the range of our sensitiveness to the world&#8217;s sorrow and pain. Our
+God is the &ldquo;Father of <em>pities</em>&rdquo;; He is sensitive in every direction, no
+side is numb, and we are putting on His likeness in proportion as we
+attain an all-round responsiveness to the cries of human need.</p>
+
+<p>And here we have <em>the grace of humility</em>. &ldquo;I am not worthy!&rdquo; Our pride
+always blocks &ldquo;the way of the Lord.&rdquo; Our humility makes us porous to the
+Divine. The &ldquo;poor in spirit&rdquo; are already in the kingdom, and the gracious
+powers of the kingdom are commanded to attend their bidding.</p>
+
+<p>And here we have <em>the grace of faith</em>. &ldquo;Only say the word!&rdquo; The centurion
+conceives the Lord&#8217;s words as soldiers attending on the Lord&#8217;s will. Let
+one be spoken, and at once the mission is executed. And so it is. &ldquo;The
+words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.&rdquo; His words
+are vehicles of power, and when they are spoken, miracles are always
+wrought. &ldquo;The entrance of Thy word giveth light.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 249]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>FAITH AND RIDICULE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> ix. 18-26.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND, so one man&#8217;s faith is more than a match for many people&#8217;s scorn. The
+steady trust of the ruler was not shaken by the rude flippancy of the
+artificial mourners, and his daughter was brought from the dead. &ldquo;This is
+the victory that overcometh, even our faith.&rdquo; Everything bows, like
+fragile reeds, before the march of a victorious faith. Scorn, and hatred,
+and all manner of devilry, and death itself, all lose their power in the
+presence of a belief which remains steady and steadfast. &ldquo;Said I not unto
+thee that, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And what an infinite reservoir of power is waiting to be tapped by the
+hand of faith! A ruler believes and his daughter is vitalized. A poor
+woman, bent and broken, reaches out her thin, frail hand, and lo! she is
+erect and graceful as the pine! And &ldquo;my sufficiency is of God!&rdquo; All that I
+may need is in the same wonderful reservoir of grace. That healing flood
+is like the ocean fulness, and it will fill every bay, and cove, and creek
+in the wide-stretching shore of human need.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;The healing of His seamless dress<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Is by our beds of pain,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">We touch Him in life&#8217;s throng and press,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">And we are whole again.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 250]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CONTEMPTUOUS WORDS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xv. 21-28.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;WONDER if this word &ldquo;dogs&rdquo; was my Saviour&#8217;s word, or had He picked it up
+from the disciples that He might cast it away again for ever? Did He use
+it that He might reveal its ugliness, and so banish it from human speech?
+As Jesus and His disciples came along the road the Master walked before
+them. &ldquo;And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders!&rdquo; And
+the disciples whispered to one another, &ldquo;Here comes one of the dogs!&rdquo; And
+the Master overheard it, and His tender spirit grieved. And there and then
+He resolved to help the woman and at the same time cleanse the men.</p>
+
+<p>Is there not therefore something half-ironical in our Saviour&#8217;s use of the
+word? When He spake of the woman as a &ldquo;dog,&rdquo; and of the disciples as &ldquo;the
+children,&rdquo; would there not be something significant in His very looks and
+tones? These cold, unfeeling men &ldquo;the children,&rdquo; and this tender yearning
+woman the &ldquo;dog&rdquo;!</p>
+
+<p>When the Lord used the disciples&#8217; word they began to be ashamed, and in
+the fire of their shame their self-conceit was consumed. He turned with
+impatient longing to the woman, &ldquo;O, woman, great is thy faith; be it unto
+thee even as thou wilt.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 251]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>EXPERIMENT AND EXPERIENCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> xi. 1-6.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;LIKE the marginal rendering of the introductory sentence of this great
+chapter. &ldquo;<em>Faith is the giving substance to things hoped for.</em>&rdquo; Faith
+converts cloudy castles into substantial homes. Faith substantiates the
+unseen. Faith sucks the energy out of splendid ideals, and incorporates it
+in present and immediate life. Faith unfolds the eternal in the moment,
+the infinite in the trifle, the divine in the commonplace. Faith
+incorporates God and man. Yes, faith gives substance to &ldquo;things hoped
+for,&rdquo; it brings them out of the air, and gives them reality and movement
+in the hard and common ways of earth and time.</p>
+
+<p>And faith is also &ldquo;<em>the test of things not seen</em>.&rdquo; By a test faith gains a
+conquest. By an experiment faith acquires an experience. By a great
+speculation faith makes a great discovery. &ldquo;Try me now herewith, and prove
+Me!&rdquo; It is an invitation to humble and sincere assumption. Try if it
+works! Make a hallowed experiment with the powers of grace.</p>
+
+<p>Lord, incline me to make the gracious test! Let me stake my all upon the
+venture! Let me dare all in order that I may gain all! Let me sow
+bountifully, and so reap a bountiful harvest.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 252]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE BRACING AIR OF PUBLICITY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Romans</span> x. 1-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE is a belief which never registers itself in confession. It never
+exercises itself in the strong, bracing air of publicity. It is a
+cloistered belief, and suffers from want of ventilation. Such Christians
+are always an&aelig;mic; indeed, they are always puny, and never get beyond the
+stage of spiritual babyhood. &ldquo;Ye are yet babes!&rdquo; Belief which is never
+oxygenated by open confession can never nourish the soul into vigorous and
+exhilarant health.</p>
+
+<p>But there is a belief which expresses and confirms itself in confession.
+&ldquo;<em>With the mouth confession is made unto salvation.</em>&rdquo; Such confession is a
+means of moral and spiritual health. And confession in the early days
+meant risk, venture which exposed the life to the shedding of blood. It
+meant a frank defiance of the world, and an eager challenge of the devil.
+And it is on such fields of open encounter for the Lord that muscle is
+made, and the soul goes &ldquo;from strength to strength,&rdquo; and &ldquo;from glory to
+glory.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>My soul, art thou secretly ashamed of thy Lord? Art thou afraid to &ldquo;lift
+high His royal banner&rdquo;? Then thou wilt always be as a feather-bed soldier,
+and the trophies of the honourable war are not for thee. Stand out in the
+open, and boldly testify, &ldquo;As for me and my house, we will serve the
+Lord!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 253]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>DEALING WITH SIN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxxii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is the burden of unconfessed sin. &ldquo;<em>When I kept silence my bones
+waxed old.</em>&rdquo; There is nothing brings on premature age like secret sin. It
+keeps the mind in perpetual unrest, and a troubled mind soon makes the
+body old. The real nourisher of the body is a quiet and radiant soul. But
+let the soul be in chaos, and the body will soon be a ruin.</p>
+
+<p>And here, too, is the healthy act of confession. &ldquo;<em>I acknowledged my sin
+unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.</em>&rdquo; He retained no single germ
+of the whole unclean brood. He brought them out into the light one by one,
+as though he were emptying a noisome kennel. He brought them out, and
+named them, in the awful Presence of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And here is the ministry of forgiveness, and therefore the miracle of
+restored health. Let me mark the rich variety of the descriptive words.
+&ldquo;<em>Forgiven!</em>&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>Covered!</em>&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>Imputed not!</em>&rdquo; It is all removed and
+obliterated, and the place of defilement and profanity becomes the holy
+temple of the Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 254]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CRITICISM AND PIETY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Thinkest thou, that judgest them that do such things,<br /> that thou
+shalt escape?</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Romans</span> ii. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT is always my peril, to assume that by being severe with others I
+exculpate myself. I go on to the bench, and deliver sentence upon my
+brother, when my proper place is in the dock. And this is the subtlety of
+the snare, that I regard my criticisms and condemnations of other people
+as signs of my own innocence. This is the last refinement in temptation,
+and multitudes fall before its power.</p>
+
+<p>The way to moral and spiritual health is to direct my criticisms upon
+myself. I must stand in the dock, and hear the grave indictment of my own
+soul. Unless I pass through the second chapter of Romans I can never enter
+the fifth and sixth, and still less the glorious forgiveness of the
+eighth. &ldquo;There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ
+Jesus.&rdquo; I pass into that warm, cheery light through the cold road of
+acknowledged guilt and sin.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If we confess our sins He is just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
+us from all unrighteousness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 255]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>A FATAL DIVORCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>They feared the Lord, and served their own gods.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;2 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> xvii. 24-34.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND that is an old-world record, but it is quite a modern experience. The
+kinsmen of these ancient people are found in our own time. Men still fear
+one God and serve another.</p>
+
+<p>But something is vitally wrong when men can divorce their fear from their
+obedience. And the beginning of the wrong is in the fear itself. &ldquo;Fear,&rdquo;
+as used in this passage, is a counterfeit coin, which does not ring true
+to the truth. It means only the payment of outward respect, a formal
+recognition, a passing nod which we give on the way to something better.
+It is a mere skin courtesy behind which there is no beating heart; a
+hollow convention in which there is no deep and sacred awe.</p>
+
+<p>But the real &ldquo;fear of God&rdquo; is a spiritual mood in which virtue thrives, an
+atmosphere in which holy living is quite inevitable. &ldquo;The fear of the Lord
+is <em>clean</em>.&rdquo; It is not lip-worship, but heart-homage, a reverence in which
+the soul is always found upon its knees. And so &ldquo;the fear of the Lord is
+to hate evil&rdquo;; it is an indignant repulsion from all that is hateful to
+God. It is the sharing of the Spirit of the Lord. There cannot be any true
+fear where the soul does not worship &ldquo;in spirit and in truth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 256]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE GARMENTS OF THE SOUL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Joel</span> ii. 12-19.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;AM so apt to think that the rending of an outer garment is a token of
+true penitence and amendment of life. But it is the inner garments I must
+deal with, the raiments and habits of the soul. Some of these robes&mdash;such
+as vanity and pride&mdash;are as gay and showy as a peacock; others are dirty
+and leprous, and we should not dare to bring them to the door, and display
+them in the light. But all need severe treatment; they must be torn, fibre
+from fibre, and reduced to rags.</p>
+
+<p>But &ldquo;rending&rdquo; must be accompanied by &ldquo;turning.&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>Turn unto the Lord your
+God.</em>&rdquo; For the Lord our God is gracious, and His love will not only
+provide a new wardrobe, but a swift furnace in which to burn the remnants
+of the old. Yes, His &ldquo;great kindness&rdquo; will burn away the filth of my
+alienation, and will &ldquo;bring forth the best robe&rdquo; and put it on me. The
+good Lord will give me new habits. He will &ldquo;cover me with the robe of
+righteousness, and the garment of salvation.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 257]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CLEAN HEART</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> li.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT will the Lord do with my sin, if in true humility I come into His
+Presence? Let me hear the music of the evangel.</p>
+
+<p>He will &ldquo;<em>blot out my transgression</em>.&rdquo; He will so erase it that even His
+own holy eyes can see no stain or shame. He will blot it out, as I have
+seen a gloomy cloudlet blotted out, and there has been nothing left but
+radiant sky.</p>
+
+<p>And He will &ldquo;<em>wash me throughly from mine iniquity</em>.&rdquo; Yes, and that not
+like the washing of the hands, but like the washing of clothes, not like
+the washing of a surface, but the removal of uncleanness from a fabric,
+the ousting of every germ lurking in the innermost cells of the stuff.
+When the Lord washes a soul it is &ldquo;throughly&rdquo; done, and every strand is
+white in holiness.</p>
+
+<p>So will He give me &ldquo;<em>a clean heart</em>&rdquo;; so will He &ldquo;<em>renew a right spirit
+within me</em>.&rdquo; The very atmosphere of my life shall be as the air after
+deluges of cleansing rain. It shall be sweet, and clean, and clear! I
+shall walk in a new inspiration, and I shall &ldquo;behold the land that is very
+far off.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 258]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SENSE OF WANT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>This man went down to his house justified rather than the
+other.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xviii. 9-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Master sets the Pharisee and publican in contrast, and His judgment
+goes against the man who has made some progress in moral attainments, and
+favours the man who has no victories to show, but only a hunger for
+victory. The dissatisfied sinner is preferred to the self-satisfied saint.
+The Pharisee had gained an inch, but had lost his sense of the continent.
+The publican had not pegged out an inch of moral claim, but he had an
+overwhelming sense of the untrodden universe.</p>
+
+<p>So this, I think, is the teaching for me. We are justified by the penitent
+sense of want and not by the boastful sense of possession. Our sense of
+lack is the measure of our hope, and our measure of hope determines the
+poverty or fulness of our communion with the Lord. The Pharisee had no
+&ldquo;beyond,&rdquo; no realm of admiration, no hope! Aspiration was dead, and
+therefore inspiration had ceased. Our possibilities nestle in our
+cravings.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 259]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>RESTORING A RUINED LIFE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> ciii. 1-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-c.png" width="78" height="80" alt="C" title="" />
+</div><p>OULD there be a sweeter chime than the opening music of this psalm?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Who forgiveth all thine iniquities.</em>&rdquo; He receives me back home again,
+interrupts the broken story of my sin, and drowns my sobbings in His
+rejoicings.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Who healeth all thy diseases.</em>&rdquo; He takes in hand the foul complaints
+which I acquired in &ldquo;the far country,&rdquo; and with His powerful medicines,
+and His wonderful &ldquo;bread of life,&rdquo; He drives the foul things from my soul.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Who redeemeth thy life from destruction.</em>&rdquo; Yes, with His own blood He
+buys me back from a midnight servitude, strikes every chain and shackle
+from my limbs, and makes me dance in &ldquo;the glorious liberty of the children
+of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercy.</em>&rdquo; He encircles
+me with the invulnerable army of His own love. Henceforth if the devil
+would get at me he must deal with God. &ldquo;As the mountains are round about
+Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things.</em>&rdquo; He sets before me a
+glorious table, and enlivens my spirits with glorious fellowship. That so
+I can be no other than &ldquo;satisfied,&rdquo; and my heart is at rest in the Lord.
+&ldquo;Thou, O Christ, art all I want!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 260]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE STEADFASTNESS OF THE LORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>My covenant shall stand fast.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxxxix. 19-29.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-s.png" width="80" height="80" alt="S" title="" />
+</div><p>UCH a divine assurance ought to make me perfectly quiet in spirit.
+Restlessness in a Christian always spells disloyalty. The uncertainty is
+born of suspicion. There is a rift in the faith, and the disturbing breath
+of the devil blows through, and destroys my peace. If I am sure of my
+great Ally, my heart will not be troubled, neither will it be afraid.</p>
+
+<p>And such a divine assurance ought to make me bold in will and majestic in
+labour. I ought to be inventive in chivalrous enterprise, and I ought to
+covet the hardest parts of the field. If the mighty Ally will never fail,
+I should never be afraid of the marshalled hosts of wickedness. &ldquo;One with
+God is in a majority.&rdquo; &ldquo;He always wins who sides with God.&rdquo; &ldquo;The Lord is
+on my side, whom shall I fear?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And such a divine assurance ought to give me a kingly demeanour. The
+members of the Court acquire a certain stateliness by their lofty
+fellowship. And, surely, one who walks with God should be characterized by
+something of the Divine glory, and men should know that his acquaintances
+are found in the courts of heaven.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 261]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE NEVER-WITHERING LEAF</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Jeremiah</span> xvii. 5-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me look at &ldquo;the blessed man&rdquo; in the interpreting symbol of this
+healthy and graceful tree.</p>
+
+<p>The blessed life is a life of vast resource. &ldquo;<em>As a tree planted by the
+waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river.</em>&rdquo; It is not watered
+by an occasional shower, it is unceasingly bathed by the vitalizing flood.
+Its rootlets are always drinking the nutritious waters of grace. The
+blessed life is planted on the banks of that wonderful river which takes
+its rise in the great white throne.</p>
+
+<p>And just because of these boundless supplies, the blessed life is
+undisturbed in times of grave crisis and emergency. &ldquo;<em>He shall not see
+when heat cometh.</em>&rdquo; He shall be cool when the unblessed are hot and
+fever-stricken. He shall &ldquo;keep his head&rdquo; in times of general panic. His
+powers of endurance shall make the world wonder! He shall &ldquo;hold out&rdquo; when
+everybody else is faint.</p>
+
+<p>So shall there be nothing &ldquo;sere and yellow&rdquo; about him. &ldquo;<em>His leaf shall be
+green.</em>&rdquo; His faith, and hope, and love shall remain fresh and beautiful
+even in &ldquo;the dark and cloudy day.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 262]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE ALL-ROUND DEFENCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Thou hast beset me behind.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxxxix. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND that is a defence against the enemies which would attack me in the
+rear. There is yesterday&#8217;s sin, and the guilt which is the companion of
+yesterday&#8217;s sin. They pursue my soul like fierce hounds, but my gracious
+Lord will come between my pursuers and me. His mighty grace intervenes,
+and my security is complete.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Thou hast beset me ... <em>before</em>.&rdquo; And that is a defence against the
+enemies which would impede my advance and frighten me out of the heavenly
+way. There is fear&mdash;fear of the morrow, fear of consequences, fear of
+death! And my Lord will come between me and them, and their menace shall
+be destroyed. The fiery darts shall be quenched before they reach my soul.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And laid Thine hand upon me.</em>&rdquo; And that is a defence against the enemies
+which may lie in ambush in present and immediate circumstances: the sudden
+temptation to passion, or the temptation to panic, or the temptation which
+would snare me to criminal ease. But my Lord&#8217;s hand is all-sufficient! And
+so on every side my defence standeth; &ldquo;the angel of the Lord encampeth
+round about them that fear Him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 263]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE NEEDS OF THE BODY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> vi. 1-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Lord who came to save His people was sensitive to His people&#8217;s hunger.
+In the presence of the supreme need the smaller need was not forgotten. He
+honoured the body as well as the soul. He ministered to the transient as
+well as the eternal. And that is ever the characteristic of true
+kingliness; it has a kingly way of doing the smaller things. I can measure
+my own progress toward the throne by my sovereign attention to scruples.
+&ldquo;He that is faithful in that which is least, the same also is great.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Lord is not oppressed by the multitude of His guests. &ldquo;He Himself knew
+what He would do.&rdquo; We need not jostle one another for His bounty. We shall
+not crowd one another out. &ldquo;There is bread enough and to spare.&rdquo; Even in
+the material realm this is true, and everybody would have his daily bread
+if the will of the Lord were done. There is no straitness in the gracious
+Host! It is the greed of the guests which mars the satisfaction of the
+feast.</p>
+
+<p>And how careful the Lord of Glory was to &ldquo;gather up the fragments&rdquo;! Our
+infinitely wealthy Lord is not wealthy enough to &ldquo;throw things away.&rdquo; He
+cannot afford to waste bread. Can He afford to lose a soul? &ldquo;He goeth out
+after that which is lost until He find it&rdquo;!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 264]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PATHETIC MULTITUDE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Mark</span> viii. 1-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>Y Lord has &ldquo;<em>compassion upon the multitude</em>.&rdquo; And (shall I reverently say
+it?) His compassion was part of His passion. His pity was always costly.
+It culminated upon Calvary, but it was bleeding all along the road! It was
+a fellow-feeling with all the pangs and sorrows of the race. And a pity
+that bleeds is a pity that heals. &ldquo;In His love and in His pity He redeemed
+us.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the multitude is round about us still, and the people are in peril of
+fainting by the way. There is the multitude of misfortune, the children of
+disadvantage, who never seem to have come to their own. And there is the
+multitude of outcasts, the vast army of publicans and sinners. And there
+are the bewildering multitudes of Africa, and India, and China, and they
+have &ldquo;nothing to eat&rdquo;!</p>
+
+<p>How do I regard them? Do I share the compassion of the Lord? Do I exercise
+a sensitive and sanctified imagination, and enter somewhat into the pangs
+of their cravings? My Lord calls for my help. &ldquo;How many loaves have ye?&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Bring out all you have! Consecrate your entire resources! Put your all
+upon the altar of sacrifice!&rdquo; And in reply to the call can I humbly and
+trustfully say, &ldquo;O, Lamb of God, I come!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 265]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LIFE AS BREAD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Mark</span> viii. 10-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is gracious to know that my Lord is &ldquo;the Bread of Life,&rdquo; and that I can
+feed on Him. It is fearful to know that I, too, am bread, and that others
+are feeding on me. Am I the nutriment of vice or the sustenance of virtue?
+Am I an evil leaven, like the Pharisees, or a holy leaven like the Lord?
+When little children feed on my presence do they grow in strength and
+beauty? Or do they become relaxed and demoralized? Who will feed upon me
+to-day, and what will be the end of it?</p>
+
+<p>If I would have my life to be as hallowed and hallowing leaven I must
+regularly feed upon the Bread of Life. If I am sustained by the Lord, I
+too shall be a sustainer of all who aspire after a true and holy life. My
+very character will itself become heavenly bread, and men will be
+nourished by it even when I am unconscious of the ministry. When they have
+spent a brief hour in my company they will go away refreshed.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Lord, evermore give us this bread!&rdquo; So feed us with Thyself that we may
+share Thy nature. Let &ldquo;virtue&rdquo; go forth from us, and let it be as holy
+bread to all who are heavy-laden, and ready to faint.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 266]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE HANDFUL OF MEAL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> xvii. 8-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT marvellous &ldquo;coincidences&rdquo; are prepared by Providential grace! The
+poor widow is unconsciously ordained to entertain the prophet! The ravens
+will be guided to the brook Cherith! &ldquo;I have commanded them to feed thee
+there.&rdquo; Our road is full of surprises. We see the frowning, precipitous
+hill, and we fear it, but when we arrive at its base we find a refreshing
+spring! The Lord of the way had gone before the pilgrim. &ldquo;I go to prepare
+... for you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But how strange that a widow with only &ldquo;a handful of meal&rdquo; should be
+&ldquo;commanded&rdquo; to offer hospitality! It is once again &ldquo;the impossible&rdquo; which
+is set before us. It would have been a dull commonplace to have fed the
+prophet from the overflowing larder of the rich man&#8217;s palace. But to work
+from an almost empty cupboard! That is the surprising way of the Lord. He
+delights to hang great weights on apparently slender wires, to have great
+events turn on seeming trifles, and to make poverty the minister of &ldquo;the
+indescribable riches of Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The poor widow sacrificed her &ldquo;handful of meal,&rdquo; and received an unfailing
+supply. And this, too, is the way of the Lord.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Whatever, Lord, we lend to Thee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">Repaid a thousand fold will be.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 267]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE DEDICATION OF SUBSTANCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> iv. 38-44.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a man recognizing the sacredness of his substance. He saw the seal
+of the Lord upon his harvest, and he offered the first-fruits in token of
+its rightful Owner. Men go wrong when the only name upon their field is
+their own. &ldquo;<em>My</em> power, and the strength of <em>my</em> hand hath gotten me this
+wealth.&rdquo; It matters nothing what the wealth may be&mdash;material substance,
+mental skill, or business sagacity. It becomes unhallowed power when we
+attach our own label to it, and erase the name of God.</p>
+
+<p>This man dedicated his substance, and the hunger of his fellows was
+appeased. That is a great principle in human life. One man&#8217;s satisfaction
+is dependent on another man&#8217;s fidelity. His want is to be filled with my
+fulness. If I am selfish he remains hungry. If I acknowledge &ldquo;the rights
+of God,&rdquo; and therefore &ldquo;the rights of man,&rdquo; he has &ldquo;enough and to spare.&rdquo;
+If I hoard my treasure I rob both God and man.</p>
+
+<p>My gracious Lord, remove the scales from my eyes. Help me to be sensitive
+to the obligations of all wealth. Let my plenty call me to the children of
+need. Let me acknowledge my stewardship, and be Thy fellow minister in the
+service of man.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 268]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>AFTER THE TRIUMPH!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xiv. 23-33.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>FTER the great miracle of feeding the multitude our Lord &ldquo;<em>went up into a
+mountain to pray</em>.&rdquo; May we reverently wonder if it was a season of
+temptation? Did they want to make Him a King? Was our human Lord assailed
+by &ldquo;the destruction that wasteth at noonday&rdquo;? And did He shut Himself up
+with the Father?</p>
+
+<p>I am so disposed to pray <em>up</em> to my successes, and to cease to pray <em>in</em>
+them! I remember God in my struggles, I forget Him in my attainments. I
+hold fellowship with Him on the road, I part company with Him when I
+arrive. I become a practical atheist in the midst of my successes. My only
+security is to go up into a mountain apart and pray. Unless I become
+closeted with God, and see all things in their true colours and
+proportion, I shall be lifted up in most unholy and destructive pride.</p>
+
+<p>And let me notice that our Lord returned from His privacy with the Father
+to do even greater miracles still. He had appeased the pangs of hunger;
+now He appeases the passion of the sea. And so in my degree shall it be
+with me. If in all my triumphs I remain the humble companion of the Lord,
+my triumphs shall be repeated and enriched. &ldquo;Greater works than these
+shall ye do.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 269]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SENSE OF GRACE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cvii. 21-32.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;VITAL part of all devotion is the remembrance of the goodness of God.
+Such a remembrance keeps my soul in the realm of grace. I am so inclined
+to proclaim my personal rights rather than glorify the favour of God, so
+inclined to exhibit my own prowess rather than God&#8217;s most gracious bounty.
+And whenever I lose the sense of grace I become a usurper and take the
+throne. Our salvation is &ldquo;not of works, lest any man should boast.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And such a remembrance would keep my soul in the mood of humility.
+&ldquo;Nothing in my hands I bring.&rdquo; I can no more claim the glory of salvation
+than a child, who has cut a shallow trench on the sands, can claim the
+glory of initiating the roll of the ocean-tide. I owe all my desires and
+all my hopes and all my present attainments to the boundless goodness of
+God.</p>
+
+<p>And such a remembrance would keep my soul in the dispensation of love. I
+cannot quietly and steadily contemplate the goodness of the Lord without
+my soul being kindled into loving response. Without high contemplations
+love smoulders, and will eventually die out. But God&#8217;s goodness inflames
+the soul, and communicates its own most gracious heat. &ldquo;We love because He
+first loved us!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 270]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MY LORD AS MY BREAD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> vi. 26-35.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR life&#8217;s bread is a Person. We may have much to do with Christianity and
+nothing to do with Christ. The other day I was in a great and wonderful
+bakery, but I never ate nor touched a morsel of bread. I touched the
+machinery. I was absorbingly interested in the processes, but I ate no
+bread! And I may be deeply interested in the means of grace, I may be
+familiar with all &ldquo;the ins and outs&rdquo; of ecclesiastical machinery, and I
+may never handle nor taste &ldquo;the bread of God.&rdquo; Our religion is dead and
+burdensome until it becomes a personal relation, and we have vital
+communion with Christ.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Thou, O Christ, art all I want.&rdquo; We find everything in Him. Everything
+else is preliminary, preparatory, subordinate, and to be in the long run
+dropped and forgotten. A ritual is only a way to &ldquo;the bread,&rdquo; and by no
+means essential, and very often undesirable. The heart can find the Lord
+with a look, with a cry, and needs no obtrusion of ritual or priest. But
+how pathetic! To be contented to potter about among the ritual and never
+to find the Bread! To be in the house and never to see the Host! &ldquo;Ye
+search the Scriptures ... and ye will not come to Me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 271]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>TAKE AND EAT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> vi. 52-63.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HERE is, first of all, <em>appropriation</em>. I must &ldquo;stretch out&rdquo; &ldquo;lame hands
+of faith&rdquo;; and &ldquo;take&rdquo; before I &ldquo;eat.&rdquo; In the lives of many Christians
+there is too much asking and too little taking. If it were only rightly
+regarded, prayer is companionship as well as petition, and companionship
+is literally significant of the sharing of bread. In every season of
+communion a part must be assigned to the taking of the things for which we
+have prayed. &ldquo;<em>Receive ye</em> the Holy Ghost.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And there is <em>assimilation</em>. We must &ldquo;eat&rdquo; as well as &ldquo;take.&rdquo; It is in the
+exercises of obedience that we digest and incorporate the bread of life.
+Without our obedience the living Lord never becomes &ldquo;part of ourselves.&rdquo;
+We never &ldquo;become one in the bundle of life&rdquo; with the Lord our God. And
+truth which is not assimilated becomes a drug. Instead of being a &ldquo;savour
+of life unto life,&rdquo; it becomes a &ldquo;savour of death unto death.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And there is <em>vitalization</em>. The assimilated bread of life makes
+everything alive. Every faculty in my being feels the touch of divine
+inspiration. It is native bread for native power, and everything is
+renewed.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 272]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE DAILY MANNA</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I will rain bread from heaven for you.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Exodus</span> xvi. 11-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND this gracious provision is made for people who are complaining, and
+who are sighing for the flesh-pots of Egypt! Our Lord can be patient with
+the impatient: He can be &ldquo;kind to the unthankful.&rdquo; If it were easy to
+drive the Lord away I should have succeeded long ago. I have murmured, I
+have sulked, I have turned Him out of my thoughts, and &ldquo;He stands at the
+door and knocks!&rdquo; I yearn for &ldquo;the flesh-pots,&rdquo; &ldquo;He sends me manna,&rdquo; &ldquo;Was
+there ever kindest shepherd half so gentle, half so sweet?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And they gathered it every morning.</em>&rdquo; And that I think is the best time
+to gather the heavenly food. At night I am weary, my body is craving
+sleep, and I am not vitalized in the fields of grace. But in the morning I
+am refreshed, and I can go to the heavenly fields and gather &ldquo;the things
+which God hath prepared for them that love Him.&rdquo; I can be fed as the day
+begins, and I can set out to my daily work with the taste of God in my
+mouth, and His mighty grace in my heart, and I shall delight to &ldquo;walk in
+the paths of His commandments.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 273]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE FOUNTAIN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">John</span> v. 9-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>Y Lord is &ldquo;the fountain of life.&rdquo; &ldquo;This life is in His Son.&rdquo; The springs
+are nowhere else&mdash;not in elaborate theologies, or in ethical ideals, or in
+literary masterpieces, or in music or art. &ldquo;In Him was life.&rdquo; It is so
+easy to forget the medicinal spring amid the distractions of the
+fashionable spa. There are some healing waters at Scarborough, but they
+have been almost &ldquo;crowded out&rdquo; by bands and entertainments. It is possible
+that the secondary ministries of the Church may crowd out the Church&#8217;s
+Lord. I do not object to the entertainment if only it opens out on to the
+Spring!</p>
+
+<p>To have the Son is to have life. Nothing else is needed. &ldquo;Thou, O Christ,
+art all I want.&rdquo; Ritualisms, and ecclesiasticisms, and formal theologies
+are not requisite. We can be saved without an academic knowledge of &ldquo;the
+plan of salvation.&rdquo; Many a gamekeeper&#8217;s little child knows all the roads
+on the estate, although she would be quite &ldquo;at sea&rdquo; in explaining &ldquo;the
+plan of the estate&rdquo; which hangs in the house of the steward. &ldquo;This is life
+eternal, to know Thee and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 274]</span></p>
+<h2>SEPTEMBER The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WHITE ROBES IN THE STREETS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xvii. 11-28.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE man who has been fed with the &ldquo;bread of life&rdquo; must remain &ldquo;in the
+world.&rdquo; The Lord gives no countenance to the life of the ascetic. Our
+sanctification is not to be gained by withdrawal and retreat. At the best,
+that would be a holiness sickly and an&aelig;mic, a coddled virtue devoid of
+firm muscle and iron nerve. Our Lord purposes a holiness which shall wear
+white robes in the streets, and shine like virgin snow in the market, and
+keep itself chivalrous and stately in the common fellowships of men.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;In the world,&rdquo; but &ldquo;<em>not of the world</em>.&rdquo; The man who is fed on &ldquo;the bread
+of life&rdquo; is endowed with powers of resistance against &ldquo;the noisome
+pestilence.&rdquo; The germs of worldly epidemics find no nutriment in him. &ldquo;The
+prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.&rdquo; When an evil microbe
+finds no foothold it withers away. If I am not &ldquo;of the world&rdquo; I shall
+quite naturally and instinctively be able to resist &ldquo;all the wiles of the
+devil.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And my Lord purposes me to have this positive, masculine holiness in order
+&ldquo;<em>that the world may believe</em>.&rdquo; He wants disciples who will arrest the
+world by their glorious health, and by their invincible moral defences. He
+wants my purity to advertise His grace; He wants my faith to increase &ldquo;the
+household of the faith.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 275]</span><a name="OCT" id="OCT"></a></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>A WONDERFUL UNBELIEF</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxxviii. 15-25.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HEY believed not in God ... though He had&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo; Let everyone finish that
+sentence out of his own experience. How much grace can our unbelief
+withstand? The Lord had made the rock like unto a spring of water, and yet
+these people believed not! What has He done for thee and me? Let us
+retrace the pilgrimage of our own years. Let us recall the blessings by
+the way&mdash;the streams in the desert, the pillar of fire that led us in the
+night. And yet what is the quality of our faith? It is often weak and
+reluctant, riddled with timidities, or moth-eaten with worldly ease. It is
+not mighty and daring, riding forth every morning like a chivalrous knight
+to inevitable conquest. It creeps along, like Mr. Halting, and Miss
+Much-Afraid, and Mr. Little-Faith.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He marvelled at their unbelief.&rdquo; The Lord Jesus wondered that men and
+women, seeing what they had seen, did not immediately spring to the life
+and service of faith. Perhaps we do not give time for faith to be born!
+Perhaps we do not see because we do not look. Perhaps we are blind to His
+mercies and are therefore dead to the faith. And therefore, perhaps, our
+first prayer should be, &ldquo;Lord, that I might receive my sight,&rdquo; and then
+the prayer, &ldquo;Lord, increase my faith.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 276]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HUMBLING OUR PRIDE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Job</span> xxxviii. 1-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;WILL demand of thee, and answer thou Me.&rdquo; When our God begins to ask
+questions our pride is soon humbled, for the limits of our knowledge and
+power are speedily reached. The mist is very close to our doors, and in a
+very few steps we are lost on a trackless moor. Who can trace the real
+springs of a tear and lay his hand on the emotion that gave it birth? Who
+can lead us into the bright realm where smiles are born? Who knoweth the
+way of a frown, or who can uncover the secrets of fear? No living man can
+explain his own breathing, or can unravel the mysterious decree which
+moves his own finger!</p>
+
+<p>And as there is so much mystery, it must be surely true that mystery is a
+very gracious thing. Uncertainty is the divine ministry of blessedness. If
+it were not so, He would have told us! &ldquo;I have many things to say unto
+you, but ye cannot bear them now.&rdquo; If it were best for us that the mist
+should be removed, He would roll it up like a garment and give us the
+light of unclouded day. But the mist remains, the home of blessing. &ldquo;He
+cometh in a thick cloud.&rdquo; &ldquo;The clouds drop fatness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 277]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WATCHING THE CREATOR</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Jeremiah</span> x. 10-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>E hath made the earth by His power.&rdquo; And He is making it still. Even in
+the material world &ldquo;His mercies are new every morning.&rdquo; James Smetham used
+to speak of going into his garden &ldquo;to see what the Lord is doing.&rdquo; He
+would stand on the top of Highgate Hill on a blustering night &ldquo;to watch
+the goings of the Lord in the storm.&rdquo; And all this means that to James
+Smetham creation was not merely a single event, but a <em>process</em> whose
+countless events are still going on. He watched his Lord at work! Every
+sunset was a new creation from the Almighty Maker&#8217;s hands.</p>
+
+<p>To many of us the Creator is remote from His works. He is not immediately
+near. And so He no longer &ldquo;walks in the garden in the cool of the day.&rdquo;
+The garden is no longer a holy place. Let us recover the sacredness of
+things. Let us &ldquo;practise the presence of God.&rdquo; Let us link His love and
+power to every flower that blows. And so shall we be able to say, as we
+move amid the glories of the natural world, &ldquo;The Lord is in His holy
+temple.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 278]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CREATOR AND CREATURE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xl. 9-28.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me mark the range of this teaching. &ldquo;Who hath measured the waters in
+the hollow of His hand.... He shall feed His flock like a shepherd.&rdquo; And
+let me mark it again. &ldquo;The Creator of the ends of the earth ... giveth
+power unto the faint.&rdquo; Almightiness offers itself to carry my burden! The
+Creator offers Himself to re-create me! I can engage the forces of the
+universe to help me on my journey. Emerson counselled us to hitch our
+wagon to a star. We can do better than that. We can hitch it to the Maker
+of the star! We have something better than an ideal; we have the Light of
+the world. We are not left to a radiant abstraction; we have a gracious
+God.</p>
+
+<p>The water flows from the Welsh hills to every house in Birmingham. Rich
+and poor alike share the bounty of the mountains. The wealth of the
+mountains comes to the common thirst. And everybody, too, may have the
+water from the everlasting hills. &ldquo;The water that I shall give him shall
+be in him.&rdquo; The river of life will flow to every soul of man.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 279]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SOUL AND NATURE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxlviii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-p.png" width="78" height="80" alt="P" title="" />
+</div><p>RAISE ye the Lord.&rdquo; And the Psalmist calls upon the creation to join in
+the anthem. And that is the gracious purpose of our God, that the world
+should be filled with harmonious praise. It is His will that the character
+of man should harmonize with the flowers of the field, that the beauty of
+his habits should blend with the glories of the sunrise, and that his
+speech and laughter should mingle with the songs of birds and with the
+melody of flowing streams. But man is too often a discord in creation. The
+flowers put him to shame. The birds make him sound harsh and jarring. He
+is &ldquo;out of tune.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>What then? &ldquo;Tune my heart to sing Thy praise.&rdquo; We must bring the broken
+strings, the rusted strings, the jarring strings to the Repairer and Tuner
+of the soul. It is the glad ministry of His grace to re-awaken silent
+chords, to restore broken harps, to &ldquo;put new songs&rdquo; in our mouths. He will
+make us the kinsfolk of all things bright and beautiful. We shall &ldquo;go
+forth with joy,&rdquo; and &ldquo;all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 280]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HE KNOWETH OUR FRAME</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> ciii. 13-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>E knoweth our frame.&rdquo; The Bible abounds in such gracious and tender
+words. &ldquo;He remembereth us in our low estate.&rdquo; &ldquo;I have many things to say
+unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.&rdquo; &ldquo;He will not permit you to be
+tempted above that ye are able.&rdquo; The burden is suited to our strength. The
+revelation is determined by our experience. The pace is regulated by our
+years. &ldquo;He carrieth the lambs in His arms.&rdquo; He &ldquo;leads on softly.&rdquo; Nothing
+is done in ignorance. &ldquo;The Lord is mindful of His own. He remembereth His
+children.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so I must practise the belief in God&#8217;s compassionate nearness. In my
+childhood I used to sing &ldquo;There&#8217;s a Friend for little children, Above the
+bright blue sky.&rdquo; I know better now. He is nearer to me than I can dream.
+I used to sing &ldquo;There is a happy land, Far, far away.&rdquo; Now I sing, &ldquo;There
+is a happy land, <em>Not</em> far away.&rdquo; The good Father and His home are not in
+some remote realm. They are very, very near to me, and He knows all about
+me. &ldquo;He knoweth our frame.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 281]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>NEEDING AND WANTING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Acts</span> xvii. 22-31.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>S though He needed anything.&rdquo; &ldquo;He may not need us; but does He want us?&rdquo;
+Such is the question I heard Dr. Parker ask as he preached upon these
+words. And he took up a handful of flowers which he had upon the pulpit,
+and said: &ldquo;These flowers were gathered for me by little hands in a
+Devonshire lane. Did I need them? No. Did I want them?... Your little girl
+kissed you before you left for business this morning. Did you need it?...
+Did you want it?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so Almightiness may not need our weakness, but the loving Father wants
+His children. &ldquo;We are His offspring.&rdquo; Our Father delights in the love of
+His children. The Saviour said to a Samaritan woman, &ldquo;Give Me to drink.&rdquo;
+And perhaps it is within the scope of our holy privilege to refresh the
+heart of our Lord. Perhaps we can give Him to drink of the well of our
+affections, and He will see of &ldquo;the travail of His soul and be
+satisfied.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 282]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOD&#8217;S GLORIOUS PURPOSE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>I have created him for My glory, I have formed him;<br /> yea, I have
+made him.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xliii. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT is surely a superlative honour! &ldquo;I have created him for My glory.&rdquo; I
+stood before one of Turner&#8217;s paintings, and a man of fine judgment said to
+me, &ldquo;That is Turner&#8217;s glory!&rdquo; He meant that in that picture the genius and
+the power and the grace of Turner were most abundantly expressed. And it
+is the will of God that man should express His glory, and by his
+righteousness and goodness witness to the great Creator&#8217;s power and love.
+Amid all the wonders and sublimities of earth, and sky, and sea, man is to
+be the Almighty&#8217;s &ldquo;glory.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The contrast is pathetic when we turn from the Creator&#8217;s purpose to our
+immediate life. There is so much that is shameful, crooked, and perverse.
+There is little or nothing of &ldquo;glory.&rdquo; But, blessed be God! the purpose
+abides, and the Creator&#8217;s work goes on. In His redemptive grace He has
+made provision for marred work, for spoilt and perverted life. &ldquo;The
+crooked shall be made straight.&rdquo; &ldquo;I will bring again that which is out of
+the way.&rdquo; &ldquo;Where sin abounds grace doth much more abound.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 283]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LARGER WATERS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Thessalonians</span> iv. 13-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-d.png" width="80" height="80" alt="D" title="" />
+</div><p>EATH is not an end; it is only a new beginning. Death is not the master
+of the house; he is only the porter at the King&#8217;s lodge, appointed to open
+the gate, and let in the King&#8217;s guests into the realms of eternal day.
+&ldquo;And so shall we be ever with the Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so the range of three score years and ten is not the limit of our
+life. Our life is not a land-locked lake enclosed within the shore-lines
+of seventy years. It is an arm of the sea, and where the shore-lines seem
+to meet in old age they open out into the infinite. And so we must build
+for those larger waters. We must lay our life plans on the scale of the
+infinite, not as though we were only pilgrims of time, but as children of
+eternity! We are immortal! How, then, shall we live to-day in prospect of
+the eternal morrow?</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 284]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xlvi.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-g.png" width="79" height="80" alt="G" title="" />
+</div><p>OD is our refuge and strength.&rdquo; And in the varied conflicts and perils
+of life we need both these resources. We need the &ldquo;refuge.&rdquo; There are
+times when our mightiest warfare is to lie passive, to shelter quietly in
+the strong defences of our God. Our finest strategy is sometimes to &ldquo;rest
+in the Lord and wait.&rdquo; We can slay some of our enemies by leaving them
+alone. We can &ldquo;starve them out.&rdquo; They can be weakened and beaten by sheer
+neglect. We feed their strength, and give them favoured chances, if we go
+out and face them actively, &ldquo;marching as to war.&rdquo; The best way is to hide,
+and keep quiet; and &ldquo;God is our refuge.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But we also need the &ldquo;strength.&rdquo; This is positive equipment for active
+service. The defensive is changed to the offensive, and in the &ldquo;strength&rdquo;
+of the Lord we advance against the foe. We &ldquo;ride abroad, redressing human
+wrongs.&rdquo; We &ldquo;tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the
+dragon we trample under foot.&rdquo; We meet our enemy on the open field, and we
+slay him in his pride!</p>
+
+<p>And so our God is our resource in the double warfare of active and passive
+crusade. In Him we can take refuge, and the enemy withers. In Him we can
+find fighting strength, and the enemy is overthrown.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 285]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE OLD COMPANION ON THE NEW ROAD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Get thee out ... and I will show thee.&rdquo;<br /> &ldquo;So Abram departed ...
+and the Lord appeared.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Genesis</span> xii. 1-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>E must bring these separated passages together if we would appreciate the
+graciousness of the Lord&#8217;s call. They are like the two sides of the same
+shield. They answer each other as voice and echo. When I move in obedience
+the Lord moves in inspiration. He never lets me go on my own charges. &ldquo;All
+things are now ready.&rdquo; Before He makes me hunger the bread is prepared.
+Before I thirst the water is at hand. Before He calls me He has opened
+springs in difficult places and arbours of rest along the road. When Abram
+set out from his own country the Lord went before him.</p>
+
+<p>And so I need not fear the arduous call. The very measure of its
+difficulty is also the measure of the riches of the divine provisions. &ldquo;As
+thy day so shall thy strength be.&rdquo; At every turning of the winding way the
+Lord will appear unto us. At every new demand we shall discover new
+bounty, and everywhere in the unfamiliar road we shall gaze upon the
+familiar and friendly face of the Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 286]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>ROUND-ABOUT WAYS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Acts</span> vii. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-u.png" width="81" height="80" alt="U" title="" />
+</div><p>NTO a land that I will show thee.&rdquo; But what mysterious windings there
+often are before that land is reached! But God&#8217;s windings are never
+wasteful and purposeless. The apparent deviations are always gracious
+preparations. We are taken out of the way in order that we may the more
+richly reach our end. George Pilkington yearned to go to the foreign
+field, and God sent him to a dairy farm in Ireland. But the Irish dairy
+farm proved to be on the way to Uganda; and all the experience and
+knowledge which Pilkington picked up in this strange business proved
+invaluable when he reached his appointed field. &ldquo;He bringeth the blind by
+a way that they know not.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So I will remember that the &ldquo;short cut&rdquo; is not always the finest road.
+God&#8217;s round-about ways are filled with heavenly treasure. Every winding is
+purposed for the discovery of new wealth. What riches we gather on the way
+to God&#8217;s goal!</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;The hill of Zion yields<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">A thousand sacred sweets<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">Before we reach the heavenly fields<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Or walk the golden streets.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 287]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE ROYAL AIR</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Galatians</span> iii. 6-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-e.png" width="80" height="80" alt="E" title="" />
+</div><p>MERSON says somewhere that he has noticed that men whose duties are
+performed beneath great domes acquire a stately and appropriate manner.
+The vergers in our great cathedrals have a dignified stride. It is not
+otherwise with men who consciously live under the power of vast
+relationships. Princes of royal blood have a certain great &ldquo;air&rdquo; about
+them. The consciousness of noble kinships has an expansive influence upon
+the soul. The Jews felt its influence when they called to mind &ldquo;our Father
+Abraham.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So is it with men and women of glorious kinships in the realm of faith.
+Their souls expand in the vast and exalted relations. &ldquo;The children of
+faith&rdquo; have vital communion with all the spiritual princes and princesses
+of countless years. They have blood-relationship with the patriarchs, and
+psalmists, and prophets, and they dwell &ldquo;in heavenly places&rdquo; with Paul,
+and Augustine, and Luther, and Wesley.</p>
+
+<p>Surely, such exalted kinship should influence our very stride, and set its
+mark upon our &ldquo;daily walk and conversation.&rdquo; It ought to make us so big
+that we can never speak a mean word, or do a petty and peevish thing.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 288]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>COMMONPLACE PEOPLE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> i. 35-47.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR Lord delights to glorify the commonplace. He loves to fill the common
+water-pots with His mysterious wine. He chooses the earthen vessels into
+which to put His treasure. He calls obscure fishermen to be the
+ambassadors of His grace. He proclaims His great Gospel through provincial
+dialects, and He fills uncultured mouths with mighty arguments. He turns
+common meals into sacraments, and while He breaks ordinary bread He
+relates it to the blessing of heaven.</p>
+
+<p>And &ldquo;this same Jesus&rdquo; is among us to-day, with the same choices and
+delights. He will make a humdrum duty shine like the wayside bush that
+burned with fire and was not consumed. He will make our daily business the
+channel of His grace. He will take our disappointments, and, just as we
+sometimes put banknotes into black-edged envelopes, He will fill them with
+treasures of unspeakable consolation. He will use our poor, broken,
+stammering speech to convey the wonders of His grace to the weary sinful
+souls of men.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 289]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CALL AND THE EQUIPMENT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> v. 27-32.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>ATTHEW was very weary, and the all-seeing Lord read the signs of his
+spiritual dissatisfaction and unrest. As Jesus &ldquo;passed by&rdquo; nothing escaped
+His watchful eye. He saw a look in Matthew&#8217;s eye as of some caged creature
+longing for freedom. Matthew&#8217;s office, the contempt of his fellows, and
+perhaps his own self-contempt held him in imprisoning disquietude. The
+Lord knew it all, and one word from Him and the iron gate was open, and
+the prisoner was free! &ldquo;Follow Me! And he left all, rose up, and followed
+Him.&rdquo; With the Lord&#8217;s command was conveyed the ability to obey, and
+Matthew stepped into &ldquo;the glorious liberty of the children of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And this is the Master&#8217;s way. His calls are always equipments. Every
+received commandment is also the vehicle of requisite grace. God&#8217;s decrees
+are also promises, nay, they are immediate endowments. If we reverently
+open one of His callings we shall find it a store-house of needed
+strength.</p>
+
+<p>And therefore we need not fear the calls of the Lord. They are not the
+harsh commandments of a tyrant, they are the loving invitations of a
+friend. If we obey them we shall taste the grace of them, and &ldquo;His
+statutes will become our songs.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 290]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE INSPIRATIONS OF THE PAST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> li. 1-6.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a sentence from Lord Morley: &ldquo;If a man is despondent about his
+work the best remedy I can prescribe for him is to turn to a good
+biography.&rdquo; He counsels him to go into the yesterdays to find inspiration
+for the life of to-day. Other men&#8217;s attainments are bugle-calls to me.
+&ldquo;Look unto Abraham, your father.&rdquo; Look unto the blessings which waited
+upon his obedience! See how springs of refreshment broke out in the
+troubled way! God &ldquo;called him and blessed him.&rdquo; Rekindle your hope at his
+radiant triumph. Strengthen your will in his glorious persistence.</p>
+
+<p>Here do I see God&#8217;s mercy in the gift of memory and in the witness of
+history. I can turn to the yesterdays for light and quickening. &ldquo;Do ye not
+remember the miracle of the loaves?&rdquo; Yes, I can recall the grace that met
+me in my need, the power that made the crooked straight and the rough
+places plain. And I am privileged to turn the pages of other men&#8217;s
+testimonies and read the record of the Lord&#8217;s dealings with them. And so
+do memory and history come as helpful angel-presences to my soul.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;His love in time past<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Forbids me to think<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">He&#8217;ll leave me at last<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">In trouble to sink.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 291]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>NO QUEST OF GOD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He inquired not of the Lord.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> x. 6-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT was where Saul began to go wrong. When quest ceases, conquests cease.
+&ldquo;He inquired not&rdquo;; and this meant loss of light. God will be inquired
+after. He insists that we draw up the blinds if we would receive the
+light. If we board up our windows He will not drive the gentle rays
+through our hindrance. We must ask if we would have. The discipline of
+inquiry fits us for the counsel of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He inquired not&rdquo;; and this meant loss of sight. When light fails, sight
+fails. The ponies in our pits become blind. When a spiritual power is not
+exercised in the heavenly, it is deprived of its appointed functions. And
+the tragedy is this, that the blind are deceived into thinking that they
+still retain their sight. &ldquo;Ye say, we see!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He inquired not&rdquo;; and this meant loss of might. For &ldquo;the light of life&rdquo;
+is not only illumination; it is inspiration too. It is both light and
+heat; it confers guidance and dynamic. When a man, therefore, refuses the
+light he becomes a weakling, and he will meet with disaster in the first
+tempestuous day.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 292]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>UNANIMITY IN THE SOUL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">James</span> i. 1-8.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>F two men are at the wheel with opposing notions of direction and
+destiny, how will it fare with the boat? If an orchestra have two
+conductors both wielding their batons at the same time and with
+conflicting conceptions of the score, what will become of the band? And a
+man whose mind is like that of two men flirting with contrary ideals at
+the same time will live a life &ldquo;all sixes and sevens,&rdquo; and nothing will
+move to purposeful and definite issues. If the mind flirt with Satan and
+Christ, life will be filled with disastrous instability and confusion.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing we need, therefore, for influential and impressive living
+is unanimity. Unanimity in the mind is the primary factor in a forceful
+life. To bring &ldquo;all that is within me&rdquo; into concord, to make every
+instrument of the soul bow to one conductor, to lead all the powers into
+homage to the Lord&mdash;this is the unanimity which assures the perfection of
+holiness. &ldquo;Unite my heart to fear Thy name.&rdquo; That is the mood which wins
+life&#8217;s prize, &ldquo;the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 293]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>READY!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Let your loins be girded about.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xii. 35-40.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>OOSE garments can be very troublesome. An Oriental robe, if left
+ungirdled, entangles the feet, or is caught by the wind and hinders one&#8217;s
+goings. And therefore the wearer binds the loose attire together with a
+girdle, and makes it firm and compact about his body. And loose principles
+can be more dangerous than loose garments. Indefinite opinions, caught by
+the passing wind of popular caprice, are both a peril and a burden. Many
+people go through life with loose beliefs and purposes, and they never
+arrive at any glorious goal. &ldquo;Let your loins be girded about.&rdquo; Bind your
+loose thinkings together with the girdle of truth into firm and saving
+conviction.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And your lights burning.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Be ready for the emergency. When the darkness falls, don&#8217;t have to hasten
+away to buy oil. Look after your resources, and be competent to meet the
+crisis when it comes. Let the light of conscience be burning with clear
+flame, like a brilliant lighthouse on a dangerous shore. Let the light of
+love be burning, like a lamp which sends its friendly, cheery beams to the
+pilgrims of the night. &ldquo;Our sufficiency is of God,&rdquo; and the oil of grace
+will keep the lights burning through the longest night.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 294]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LORD AS THE SERVANT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His
+hands,<br /> and that He came forth from God, and goeth to
+God</em>....&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> xiii. 1-20.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND how shall we expect the sentence to finish? What shall be the issue of
+so vast a consciousness? &ldquo;<em>He took a towel, and girded Himself ... and
+began to wash the disciples&#8217; feet.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>So a mighty consciousness expresses itself in lowly service. In our
+ignorance we should have assumed that divinity would have moved only in
+planetary orbits, and would have overlooked the petty streets and ways of
+men. But here the Lord of Glory girds Himself with the apron of the slave,
+and almightiness addresses itself to menial service.</p>
+
+<p>And that is the test of an expanding consciousness. We may be sure that we
+are growing smaller when we begin to disparage humble services. We may be
+sure we are growing larger when we love the ministries that never cry or
+lift their voices in the streets. When a man begins to despise the
+&ldquo;towel,&rdquo; he is losing his kingly dignity, and is resigning his place on
+the throne. &ldquo;I have given you an example that ye also should do as I have
+done to you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 295]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE CONTRITE HEART</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lvii. 13-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET us look at this description of the dwelling-place of the Eternal God.
+&ldquo;<em>I dwell with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And who are the contrite? In the original word there is the significance
+of pieces of rock or lumps of soil having been crumbled into the finest
+powder. Have I not sometimes heard the phrase&mdash;&ldquo;He&#8217;s just a lump of
+pride&rdquo;? Well, that pride has to be broken down into the finest powder,
+until not a bit of stubborn self-conceit remains. And then the contrite
+become the humble! Our gracious Lord has sometimes to use heavy hammers in
+the destruction of this hard and stony pride: the shock of calamity, the
+battering of disappointment and defeat! Our pride <em>must</em> be ground to
+powder. Then He will come in and dwell with us!</p>
+
+<p>And what then? He will &ldquo;<em>revive the spirit of the humble, and revive the
+heart of the contrite ones</em>.&rdquo; Our broken pride shall be as broken soil in
+which our Lord will grow the flowers and fruits of the Spirit. The death
+of pride shall be followed by a revival of all things sweet and beautiful.
+When pride is laid low, it is a &ldquo;day of resurrection.&rdquo; The wilderness
+shall &ldquo;blossom as the rose.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 296]</span></p>
+<h2>October The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE TRUE STANDARD OF GREATNESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xviii. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is our Lord&#8217;s estimate of true greatness. How infinite is the
+contrast between His standard and the standards of the world! The world
+measures greatness by money, or eloquence, or intellectual skill, or even
+by prowess on the field of battle. But here is the Lord&#8217;s
+standard&mdash;&ldquo;<em>Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little
+child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Those people are greatest who are most like God. We become partakers of
+the Divine nature through a child-like relationship to God. The grace and
+power of God pour into our souls when we wait upon Him like a little
+child.</p>
+
+<p>Child-likeness opens the doors and windows to the incoming of the
+Almighty. The child-like is the trustful, and no barriers of cynical
+suspicion block the channels of spiritual communion. And the child-like is
+the docile, and no boulders of arrogance or self-conceit block the channel
+of the invigorating waters of life. And so the child-like become the
+God-like, and, of course, they are the greatest among the sons of men. The
+little child enshrines the secret of the God-man, and we should be
+infinitely wise if we had the little child always in our midst.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 297]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>MASTERS AND SERVANTS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xx. 20-28.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is always our peril that we hunger for place more than for character,
+for position more than for disposition, for a temporal sceptre more than
+for a majestic self-control.</p>
+
+<p>These disciples coveted places on the right and left of the Lord, and they
+had little or no concern about their worthiness for the posts.
+Temporalities eclipsed spiritualities, fleeting fireworks hid the quiet
+stars. They wanted to be great and prominent, the Lord wanted them to be
+pure and good. They longed to be Prime Ministers, the Lord purposed that
+they should be glad to be ministers, working contentedly in an obscure
+place.</p>
+
+<p>Now mark our Lord&#8217;s response. &ldquo;<em>Are ye able to drink of the cup that I
+drink of?</em>&rdquo; They wanted to be the King&#8217;s cup-bearers; He offers them to
+drink of His cup. They call for sovereignty: He asks for sacrifice. They
+crave sweetness: He offers them bitterness. They seek a life of &ldquo;getting&rdquo;:
+He demands a life of &ldquo;giving.&rdquo; Who has a cup of bitterness to drink? Go
+and share it with him! Where are the morally and spiritually an&aelig;mic? Go
+and give them thy blood! &ldquo;Whoever shall lose his life shall find it.&rdquo;
+Through self-sacrifice we pass to our throne.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 298]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>&ldquo;<em>PUSH</em>&rdquo; <em>AND</em> &ldquo;<em>PULL</em>&rdquo;</h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xiv. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE world canonizes &ldquo;push.&rdquo; It eulogizes the &ldquo;man of push.&rdquo; It loves to
+see a man elbowing his way through the jostling crowd, and gaining for
+himself a &ldquo;chief seat&rdquo; at life&#8217;s feast. He is proclaimed a &ldquo;successful&rdquo;
+man, and he rises in &ldquo;the chief seat,&rdquo; and amid loud hurrahs he responds
+to the toast of his health.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, &ldquo;push&rdquo; is the word of the world, but &ldquo;pull&rdquo; is the word of the Lord,
+and between the two there is the difference of darkness and light. &ldquo;Push&rdquo;
+is selfish and exclusive: &ldquo;pull&rdquo; is inclusive and neighbourly. &ldquo;Push&rdquo;
+takes as its motto, &ldquo;The weakest to the wall!&rdquo; &ldquo;Pull&rdquo; takes as its motto,
+&ldquo;Bear ye one another&#8217;s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The final verdict upon life will be founded, not upon our own success in
+gaining a chief seat, but upon our success in encouraging the faint and
+the weakling, and in &ldquo;helping lame dogs over stiles.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>My gracious Lord, help me to put on &ldquo;a heart of compassion&rdquo; that by
+neighbourly feeling and ministry I may lead my fellows to the choice
+places of life&#8217;s feast.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 299]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE ROBE OF HUMILITY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Peter</span> v. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me, therefore, learn this lesson, that if my Lord should give me
+prominence in His church it is not to feed my lust of dominion, but in
+order to strengthen and extend the influence of the church&#8217;s life.
+&ldquo;<em>Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making
+yourselves ensamples to the flock.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The only truly imperial purple is the robe of humility. Any other sort of
+attire may appear to be kingly, but it has none of the glorious
+significance which belongs to our sovereign Lord. When a man puts on the
+robe of pride, he immediately belittles his manhood. When a man puts on
+the robe of humility, he becomes a greater man.</p>
+
+<p>But humility is more than an imperial robe, it is a complete armour. It is
+fine for defence! The devil cannot get at the man who is &ldquo;clothed in
+humility.&rdquo; There is no chink or crevice through which his deadly rapier
+can pierce. And it is equally fine for offence! Wearing this armour we can
+go out &ldquo;redressing human wrongs.&rdquo; The stroke of pride is ever futile. When
+the humble man deals a blow, the power of the Almighty is in his right
+hand. &ldquo;Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 300]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LUST OF THE EXTERNAL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> xxiii. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-p.png" width="78" height="80" alt="P" title="" />
+</div><p>HARISAISM is the lust of externalities, and the utter negligence of the
+inward sanctities of the spirit. It thinks more of decorum than of
+holiness, more of etiquette than of equity, more of ritualism than of &ldquo;the
+robe of righteousness and the garment of salvation.&rdquo; Pharisaism lives in
+the streets: it does not dwell in the inner chambers of our mystic life.</p>
+
+<p>Pharisaism thirsts for the homage of men and not for the approbation of
+God. It is far more alert to the &ldquo;Rabbi! Rabbi!&rdquo; of the crowd than it is
+to the secret callings of the Lord. The path between itself and the
+highest is unfrequented and grass-grown; the path between itself and the
+multitude is a well-trodden and barren road.</p>
+
+<p>My Lord, let me be warned! Let me not pervert the ministries of religion
+to the aggrandizement of self. Let me not, in appearing to worship Thee,
+be seeking the worship of men. Give me singleness of mind. Give me purity
+of heart. And may I discover true greatness in seeking greatness for
+others.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 301]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PAYING HOMAGE TO THE KING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Proverbs</span> iii. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>CKNOWLEDGE Him.&rdquo; But not with a passing nod of recognition. I must not
+merely glance at Him now and again, admitting His existence on the field.
+To acknowledge Him is to acknowledge Him as King, with the right to
+control, and as predominant partner in all the affairs of my life, even
+the right to give the determining voice in all my decisions. No, it is not
+the recognition paid to an acquaintance, it is the homage paid to a King.</p>
+
+<p>And if I thus acknowledge Him, He will direct my paths. Life shall always
+be moving on to its purposed end and glory. The path chosen will not
+always be the most alluring one, but it will be the right one, and
+therefore the safe one, and there will be wonderful discoveries on the
+uninviting track.</p>
+
+<p>How will He let me know which path to take? I cannot say. We can never
+anticipate God&#8217;s ways of dealing with us. But if my life is bent to the
+loving acknowledgment of His will, He will assuredly find a way to make
+His will known. The light will always reach the willing mind.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 302]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PLEASANTNESS AND PEACE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are
+peace.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Proverbs</span> iii. 13-26.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>N the ways of the Lord I shall have feasts of &ldquo;pleasantness.&rdquo; But not
+always at the beginning of the ways. Sometimes my faith is called upon to
+take a very unattractive road, and nothing welcomes me of fascination and
+delight. But here is a law of the spiritual life. The exercised faith
+intensifies my spiritual senses, and hidden things become manifest to my
+soul&mdash;hidden beauties, hidden sounds, hidden scents! Faith adds a
+mysterious &ldquo;plus&rdquo; to my powers, and &ldquo;all things become new.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in the ways of the Lord I shall also find the gracious gift of peace.
+Not that the road will be always smooth, but that I may be always calm. I
+can be unperturbed when &ldquo;all around tumultuous seems.&rdquo; I can journey in
+holy serenity, because the Lord of the road is with me. For peace
+consists, not in friendliness of circumstances, but in friendship with the
+Lord.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 303]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE STORY OF THE PAST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Deuteronomy</span> xxxi. 7-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND no ears are more receptive to spiritual story than the ears of a
+little child. It is not needful to open the gate of interest; it is wide
+ajar already. And imagination also is there, ready to busy itself about
+the story. And so, too, is the spirit of homage and adoration. The
+children are ready for the King! &ldquo;Suffer little children to come unto Me,
+for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And, therefore, we have need of wise tellers of the story, who know the
+story themselves. And in these delicate regions I must ever remember how
+much my spirit shares in the story I tell. My spirit is a friend or a foe
+to my power. My words may be well chosen, but they may all be light as
+empty shells, devoid of all vitality. My words have just the power of
+their spiritual contents. &ldquo;You cannot fight the French with 200,000 red
+uniforms,&rdquo; said Carlyle; &ldquo;there must be men inside them.&rdquo; And we cannot
+engage in the evangelization with mere uniforms of words. There must be
+spirit inside them, even the spirit of pure and consecrated lives.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 304]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>A TESTIMONY MEETING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxxiv. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS is a little testimony meeting, in which each of the witnesses tells
+the story of the Lord&#8217;s gracious dealings with him. Let me listen to them.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>He delivered me from all my fears.</em>&rdquo; His fears held him in dungeons.
+Even the noontide was as darkness round about him, and there was no song
+in his soul. And the Lord broke open the prison-gate and let him out to
+light, and joy, and belief.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>They looked to Him and were lightened.</em>&rdquo; They looked upon the grace of
+the Lord, and were lit up, just as I have seen humble cottage windows
+ablaze with the glory of the rising sun. I must &ldquo;set my face&rdquo; towards the
+Lord, and I, too, shall catch the radiance of His glory.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This poor man cried ... <em>and the Lord saved him out of all his
+troubles</em>.&rdquo; And these troubles were what I should call &ldquo;tight corners,&rdquo;
+when the life is hemmed in by unfortunate circumstances, and there seems
+no way of escape. Disappointment shuts us in. Sorrow shuts us in. Lack of
+money shuts us in. Let me cry unto the Lord. He is a wonderful Friend in
+the tight corner, and He will bring my feet into &ldquo;a large place.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 305]</span></p>
+<h2>OCTOBER The Thirty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>TWO GREAT MYSTERIES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxxxi.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HIS is an unutterable mystery, that a man can close his life against God.
+&ldquo;<em>Israel would have none of Me.</em>&rdquo; We can shut out God as we can shut out
+the pure air. We can bar His entrance just as we can exclude the light
+from the chamber. And then the pity is, we can deceive ourselves into
+believing that the air is perfectly fresh and that the room is flooded
+with light. We lose our fine discernment, and we call evil good, and the
+darkness we call day. If we &ldquo;refuse to have God&rdquo; in our thoughts God gives
+us over to a &ldquo;reprobate mind.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And it is an equally unutterable mystery that a man can open his life to
+the entertainment of Almighty God. &ldquo;I will dwell with them!&rdquo; That is my
+supreme honour, that the Lord will be my guest. I can &ldquo;hearken&rdquo; to Him,
+and &ldquo;talk&rdquo; to Him, and &ldquo;walk&rdquo; with Him. And He offers me protection. He
+will &ldquo;subdue my enemies.&rdquo; And He offers me unfailing provision. The Guest
+becomes the Host! I put my little upon the table, and lo! I find that &ldquo;the
+cruse of oil fails not, and the meal in the barrel is not consumed!&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 306]</span><a name="NOV" id="NOV"></a></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IN THE DAYS OF YOUTH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ecclesiastes</span> xii. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-n.png" width="80" height="80" alt="N" title="" />
+</div><p>N my university days at Edinburgh there was a young medical student named
+Macfarlane. He was one of our finest athletes, and everybody liked him.
+One day he was stricken with typhoid, which proved fatal. Macfarlane in
+his days of boisterous health had neglected his Lord, and when one of his
+friends, visiting him in his sickness, led his thoughts to the Saviour, he
+turned and said, &ldquo;But wouldn&#8217;t it be a shabby thing to turn to Christ
+now?&rdquo; &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; replied his friend, &ldquo;it will be a shabby thing, but it will
+be shabbier not to turn to Him at all!&rdquo; And I believe that poor Macfarlane
+turned his shame-filled soul to the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>But it is shabby to offer our Lord the mere dregs in life&#8217;s cup. It is
+shabby to offer Him the mere hull of the boat when the storms of passion
+have carried its serviceableness away. Let me offer Him my best, my finest
+equipment, my youth! Let me offer Him the best, and give Him the helm when
+I am just setting sail and life abounds in golden promise! &ldquo;Remember now
+thy Creator in the days of thy youth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 307]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>LEADING TO CHRIST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Suffer little children to come unto Me.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Mark</span> x. 13-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-u.png" width="81" height="80" alt="U" title="" />
+</div><p>NTO <em>Me</em>!&rdquo; We must not keep them at any half-way house. We are so prone
+to be satisfied if only we bring them a little way along the road. If we
+get them to pray! If we get them to attend the Lord&#8217;s house! If we get
+them to be truthful and gentle! All of which is unspeakably good. It is a
+blessed thing to be in &ldquo;the ways of Zion&rdquo;; it is a far more blessed thing
+to be in the palace with Zion&#8217;s King and Lord. When we are dealing with
+little children, every road must lead to Jesus, and not until the road is
+trodden and we arrive at Him must we think our ministry accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>And, therefore, if I am talking to the little ones about Samuel, or David,
+or Paul, I must always see the short lane which leads to the Lord. &ldquo;Suffer
+the little children to come unto <em>Me</em>!&rdquo; And once they really own Him, we
+may trust their instincts for the rest. The heart in the child will leap
+to the love of the Lord, &ldquo;for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven.&rdquo; When a
+little one sees the Saviour, it is &ldquo;love at first sight&rdquo;!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 308]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LORD&#8217;S OWN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xv. 11-25.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE &ldquo;Lord&#8217;s own&rdquo; possess the Lord&#8217;s love. &ldquo;<em>I have loved you.</em>&rdquo; And love
+is not a beautiful sentiment, a passive rainbow stretched over the realm
+of human life. It is a glorious, active energy, infinitely more powerful
+than electricity, and always besieging the gates of the soul, or
+ministering to its manifold needs. Love is the greatest force in the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>And the &ldquo;Lord&#8217;s own&rdquo; are taken into the inner circle of intimacy, where
+the deepest secrets dwell. We are not kept on the door-step, or left
+standing in the hall, or limited to one or two &ldquo;public rooms&rdquo;; we are
+privileged to enter the King&#8217;s privacy, and be nourished at the King&#8217;s
+table, and listen to the King&#8217;s table-talk concerning &ldquo;all things&rdquo; which
+He has heard of the Father. We have &ldquo;the glorious liberty of <em>the
+children</em> of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the &ldquo;Lord&#8217;s own&rdquo; will experience the world&#8217;s hatred. &ldquo;<em>Therefore the
+world hateth you.</em>&rdquo; Our very friendship with the Lord pronounces judgment
+on the world, and its hostility is aroused. If we are &ldquo;partakers of the
+glory&rdquo; we shall most assuredly be &ldquo;partakers of the sufferings of
+Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 309]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE HOLY SPIRIT AS WITNESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xv. 26&mdash;xvi. 11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Holy Spirit is to be a witness of Jesus. &ldquo;<em>He shall testify of Me.</em>&rdquo;
+He shall be &ldquo;the Friend of the Bridegroom,&rdquo; and He shall sing the
+Bridegroom&#8217;s grace, and goodness, and prowess, in the eager ear of the
+bride. And the early love of the bride shall become deeper and richer as
+more and more she enters into &ldquo;the unsearchable riches of Christ.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And the Holy Spirit is thus to be a strengthener of the friends of the
+Lord. He will be my &ldquo;<em>Comforter</em>.&rdquo; By His gracious advocacy He will make
+my faith and hope invincible. The best service which can be rendered me is
+not to change my circumstances, but to make me superior to them; not to
+make a smooth road, but to enable me to &ldquo;leap like an hart&rdquo; over any road;
+not to remove the darkness, but to make me &ldquo;sing songs in the night.&rdquo; And
+so I will not pray for less burdens, but for more strength! And this is
+the gracious ministry of &ldquo;The Comforter.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Holy Spirit, strengthen me! Transform my frail opinions into firm
+convictions, and change my fleeting, dissolving views into abiding
+visions!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 310]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE TEMPLE OF THE BODY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Romans</span> xii. 1-9.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Lord wants my body. He needs its members as ministers of
+righteousness. He would work in the world through my brain, and eyes, and
+ears, and lips, and hands, and feet.</p>
+
+<p>And the Lord wants my body as &ldquo;<em>a living</em> sacrifice.&rdquo; He asks for it when
+it is thoroughly alive! We so often deny the Lord our bodies until they
+are infirm and sickly, and sometimes we do not offer them to Him until
+they are quite &ldquo;worn out.&rdquo; It is infinitely better to offer them even then
+than never to offer them at all. But it is best of all to offer our bodies
+to our Lord when they are strong, and vigorous, and serviceable, and when
+they can be used in the strenuous places of the field.</p>
+
+<p>And so let me appoint a daily consecration service, and let me every
+morning present my body &ldquo;a living sacrifice&rdquo; unto God. Let me regard it as
+a most holy possession, and let me keep it clean. Let me recoil from all
+abuse of it&mdash;from all gluttony, and intemperance, and &ldquo;riotous living.&rdquo;
+Let me look upon my body as a church, and let the service of consecration
+continue all day long. &ldquo;Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of
+the Holy Spirit?&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 311]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>PEACE IN TRIBULATION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xvi. 25-33.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a strange medley of experiences! I am to enjoy the gift of peace,
+and yet I am to be smarting under tribulation!</p>
+
+<p>When the Holy Spirit is my guest I am to enjoy the gift of peace. &ldquo;<em>These
+things I said unto you that ye might have peace.</em>&rdquo; The life of the soul is
+to move without jar or discord. It shall be like a quiet engine-house, in
+which every wheel co-operates with every other wheel, and there is no
+waste or friction in the holy place. &ldquo;All that is within me&rdquo; blesses God&#8217;s
+holy name.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, while peace reigns within, there may be tribulation without! &ldquo;<em>In
+the world ye shall have tribulation.</em>&rdquo; Here is a peace which is not broken
+by the noise and assault of brutal circumstance. The most tempestuous wind
+cannot disturb the quiet serenity of the stars. When the world stones me,
+not one grain of its gritty dust need enter the delicate workings of my
+soul. That was the peace of my Lord, and it is my Lord who says to me: &ldquo;My
+peace I give unto you!&rdquo; So &ldquo;<em>be of good cheer</em>,&rdquo; my soul! Thy Lord has
+&ldquo;<em>overcome the world</em>,&rdquo; and thou shalt share His victory.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 312]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>REJECTED LOVE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> lxiii. 7-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>F I refuse the friendship of the Holy One I inevitably invite His
+hostility. &ldquo;<em>But they rebelled, and vexed His holy Spirit: therefore He
+was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so, if I reject the forces of grace I do not turn them from my gate, I
+convert them into foes. Malachi teaches me that rejected sunshine becomes
+like a burning oven. The Epistle to the Hebrews teaches me that rejected
+love becomes &ldquo;a consuming fire.&rdquo; Holiness nourishes virtue, it withers
+vice. If I offer my Lord a tender aspiration, His breath wooes it like the
+balmy air of the spring; if I come before Him with the weeds of ignoble
+dispositions, He blights them as with the nipping of the frost.</p>
+
+<p>And is it not well, for thee and me, that our Lord is thus fiercely
+hostile to our sins? Is not this &ldquo;consuming fire&rdquo; the friend of my soul?
+May I not pray: Burn on, burn on, pure flame, until all the refuse and
+rubbish of my life are utterly consumed; burn on, burn on, until fierce
+flame becomes mild light, flinging its genial radiance over a transfigured
+desert?</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 313]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE ORGAN OF SPIRITUAL VISION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> ii. 9-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-o.png" width="79" height="80" alt="O" title="" />
+</div><p>UR finest human instruments fail to obtain for us &ldquo;<em>the things which God
+hath prepared for them that love Him</em>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Art fails! &ldquo;<em>Eye hath not seen.</em>&rdquo; The merely artistic vision is blind to
+the hidden glories of grace. Philosophy fails! &ldquo;<em>Neither hath ear heard.</em>&rdquo;
+We may listen to the philosopher as he spins his subtle theories and
+weaves his systematic webs, but the meshes he has woven are not fine
+enough to catch &ldquo;the deep things of God.&rdquo; Poetry fails! &ldquo;<em>Neither hath it
+entered into the heart of man to conceive.</em>&rdquo; Poetic imagination may
+stretch her wings, and soar, but she fails to enter the guest-chamber of
+the Lord, and take an inventory of &ldquo;the things prepared.&rdquo; All these
+gracious ministries fail to reach life&#8217;s glorious and purposed end.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit.</em>&rdquo; When art, and
+poetry, and philosophy all pitiably fail, the Spirit unveils to us the
+bewildering feast. And so the unlearned has the same ultimate advantage as
+the learned, and the cottager has equal privilege with the monarch. The
+greatest things are not the perquisites of culture, but the endowments of
+humility and holy faith. The poor man has access to the &ldquo;many mansions,&rdquo;
+and finds a place at the King&#8217;s feast.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 314]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE HOLY SPIRIT AS EMANCIPATOR</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">2 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> iii. 4-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>N the Holy Spirit I experience a large emancipation. &ldquo;<em>Where the Spirit
+of the Lord is, there is liberty.</em>&rdquo; I am delivered from all enslaving
+bondage&mdash;from the bondage of literalism, and legalism, and ritualism. I am
+not hampered by excessive harness, by multitudinous rules. The harness is
+fitting and congenial, and I have freedom of movement, and &ldquo;my yoke is
+easy and my burden is light.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And I am to use my emancipation of spirit in the ministry of
+contemplation. I am to &ldquo;<em>behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord</em>.&rdquo;
+My thought has been set free from the cramping distractions devised by
+men, and I am now to feast my gaze upon the holy splendours of my Lord. It
+is like coming out of a little and belittling tent, to feast upon the
+sunny amplitude of the open sky! I can &ldquo;cease from man,&rdquo; and commune with
+God.</p>
+
+<p>And the contemplation will effect a transformation. &ldquo;<em>We are changed into
+the same image from glory to glory.</em>&rdquo; The serene brightness of the sky
+gets into our faces. The Lord becomes &ldquo;<em>the health of our countenance</em>,&rdquo;
+and we shine with borrowed glory.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 315]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>NEVERTHELESS!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> v. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is obedience in spite of the night of failure. &ldquo;<em>Nevertheless, at Thy
+word I will let down the net.</em>&rdquo; That word &ldquo;nevertheless&rdquo; has always made
+history. It has been spoken after scourgings, after &ldquo;bonds and
+imprisonments.&rdquo; Ten thousand times has it been heard in the chamber of
+bereavement, the first sound to break the awful silence. &ldquo;At evening my
+wife died.... In the morning I did as God commanded me.&rdquo; And may it be
+true of me! May my &ldquo;nevertheless&rdquo; of willing obedience rise like a lark
+above the storm.</p>
+
+<p>And because there was obedience there came vision. In the wonderful answer
+to his faith Peter beheld the glory of his Lord. And so I never know where
+the unenticing road of obedience will lead me. At the end of the dull road
+there will be some gracious surprise! It is the rugged path which leads to
+the summit! The panorama comes as the reward of the toilsome climb!
+Always, in the realm of the Spirit, the dogged &ldquo;nevertheless&rdquo; will lead to
+the &ldquo;shining tableland to which our God Himself is moon and sun.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 316]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>FOILING THE ENEMY&#8217;S PLOTS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xxii. 24-34.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;DO not meet my tempter alone. The engagement has been foreseen by my
+Lord. &ldquo;<em>Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you!</em>&rdquo; The tempter&#8217;s
+plots, and wiles, and ambuscades are all clearly perceived. My Lord has
+got the enemy&#8217;s maps, and his plan of campaign, for all things are open to
+the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. I do not fight a lonely warfare
+on a dark and unknown field. My Lord Himself both scouts and fights for
+those who are His own.</p>
+
+<p>And one great means of His co-operation is the mighty ministry of
+intercession. &ldquo;<em>But I have prayed for thee.</em>&rdquo; That &ldquo;but&rdquo; is the massing of
+the forces of heaven against the black and subtle hordes of hell. Let me
+ever remember that the Lord&#8217;s prayers are always the conveyers of holy
+power to those for whom He prays. It is as when Christian met Apollyon in
+the Valley of Humiliation: there comes a sudden accession of strength to
+the bleeding warrior, and Apollyon retires wounded and beaten from the
+field.</p>
+
+<p>And the only way to preserve the fruits of a triumph is by helping other
+warriors to gain a similar conquest. &ldquo;<em>When thou art converted strengthen
+thy brethren.</em>&rdquo; I shall retain the hard, muscular limbs of a soldier if I
+am willing to share my blood with the entire army.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 317]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE FASHIONING OF A DENIAL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> xxii. 54-62.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-f.png" width="80" height="80" alt="F" title="" />
+</div><p>ROM Peter&#8217;s denial I would learn the peril of the first cowardly
+surrender to sin. Surely Peter must have &ldquo;trimmed&rdquo; many times in the days
+which preceded his actual discipleship. Great crises do not make men, they
+reveal them. The men have been made in the smaller issues which go before.
+We march to our crises by a gradient, every step of which is a moral
+decision. The interior of the tree is secretly eaten away by white ants;
+the tempest reveals and completes the destruction.</p>
+
+<p>And I would learn from Peter&#8217;s denial the cumulative power of sins. One
+sin widens the road for a bigger one to follow. The second denial will be
+more vehement than the first. The third will add the element of blasphemy.
+Yes, every sin is a miner and sapper for a larger army in the rear. It not
+only does its own work, it prepares the way for its successor.</p>
+
+<p>But I will connect this &ldquo;dark betrayal night&rdquo; with that sweet
+after-morning when the Lord and His denier met face to face by the lake.
+And that sweet morning of reconciliation is a possible experience for all
+the deniers of the Lord, and it is therefore possible for thee and me.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 318]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>A TRANSFORMED FISHERMAN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">John</span> xxi. 1-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-s.png" width="80" height="80" alt="S" title="" />
+</div><p>IMON PETER had often gone a fishing, but never had he gone as he went in
+the twilight of that most wonderful evening. He handled the ropes in a new
+style, with a new dignity born of the bigger capacity of his own soul. He
+turned to the familiar task, but with a quite unfamiliar spirit. He went a
+fishing, but the power of the resurrection went with him.</p>
+
+<p>This action of Simon Peter&#8217;s is the only true test of the reality of any
+spiritual experience. How does it fit me for ordinary affairs? A spiritual
+festival should do for the soul what a day on the hills does for the
+body&mdash;equip it for the better doing of the duties in the vale.</p>
+
+<p>This action is also a preparative to a renewal of the gracious experience.
+The road of common duty was just the way appointed for another meeting
+with his Lord, for in the morning-light there came a voice across the
+waters: &ldquo;Children, have ye any meat?&rdquo; &ldquo;And that disciple whom Jesus loved
+saith unto Peter: &lsquo;It is the Lord.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 319]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PURIFICATION OF LOVE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xxi. 15-25.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>OVEST thou Me?&rdquo; There was a day, only a little while back, when Simon
+Peter&#8217;s love was not yet purified, and it indulged itself in loud and
+empty boasts. True love never blusters and brawls. It is like a stream of
+water flowing silently underground, and secretly bathing the roots of
+things, and keeping their heads fresh, and cool, and sweet. The boast has
+now dropped out of the love! It is now ashamed of words! &ldquo;Lord, Thou
+knowest that I love Thee!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Yes, true love expresses itself, not in clamorous boastfulness, but in
+quiet services. It ministers to the Lord&#8217;s sheep and the Lord&#8217;s lambs. It
+spends its strength on the mountains, &ldquo;seeking that which is lost,&rdquo; and it
+does this in the darkness, where there is no applauding crowd. The true
+lover does not ask for some dramatic scene where he can die for the
+beloved; he delights in obscure services, the feeding and tending of the
+sheep of the flock.</p>
+
+<p>But the love that does the humbler thing will be ready for the greater
+sacrifice whenever the day shall demand it. Some day the once boastful
+denier shall lay down his life for his Saviour, and through martyrdom he
+shall pass to his crown.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 320]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE MUSIC OF RECONCILIATION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxxxv.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me listen to this psalm of reconciliation, as it makes music for my
+soul to-day.</p>
+
+<p>It tells me of the Divine favour. &ldquo;<em>Lord, Thou hast been favourable to Thy
+land.</em>&rdquo; As I write these words, the sun has just slipped out from behind
+the cloud. It has been there all the time, but the ministry of the cloud
+was needed, and so it appeared as though there would be sun and spring no
+more. &ldquo;Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And it tells me of the Divine forgiveness. &ldquo;<em>Thou hast forgiven the
+iniquity of Thy people.</em>&rdquo; Yes, when the sun appears, He loosens the frozen
+earth and streams, and turns the bondage into liberty. The soul that was
+imprisoned in freezing guilt attains a joyous freedom.</p>
+
+<p>And it tells me of revival. &ldquo;<em>Wilt Thou not revive us again?</em>&rdquo; It is the
+next step in the returning spring. The sleeping, benumbed things will all
+awake! &ldquo;The flowers appear on the earth.&rdquo; Where grace reigns, graces
+spring! Forgiveness is attended by renewal, and the wilderness begins to
+&ldquo;blossom like the rose.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 321]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE MAKING OF A BRAVE MAN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Acts</span> iv. 13-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>ERE is a marvellous transformation! I have been wondering at the
+littleness of the denier, and now this same denier is making the world
+wonder by his majestic boldness! His one resource is now the risen Christ,
+and his one moral standard is &ldquo;whether it be right!&rdquo; Once he quailed
+before an accusing maid; now he stands undaunted before the rulers of the
+earth. How has it all come about?</p>
+
+<p>He has been to the empty tomb. The awe of the resurrection is upon his
+spirit. Through the once blind cul-de-sac of the grave he has seen the
+King and the great white throne.</p>
+
+<p>And he has been by the lake on the morning of reconciliation. The live
+coal from the altar of his Lord&#8217;s love has touched him and has purged away
+the uncleanness of his denial.</p>
+
+<p>And he has been in the upper room at Pentecost, and the mighty Spirit has
+come upon him like wind and flame, endowing him with forceful and
+enthusiastic character. Now he can dare for God, now he can work for God,
+now he can burn for God! And this is how he has been transformed.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 322]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IF GOD BE FOR US&mdash;&mdash;!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Romans</span> viii. 31-39.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HO else is worth naming? How much does anybody count? If the sun be on my
+side, why should I be dismayed at any icy obstacle that may rear itself in
+my way? Sun <em>versus</em> ice! God <em>versus</em> my impediments! Why should I fear?
+If the atmosphere is on my side, then even the opposing strength of iron
+will rust away into powder. &ldquo;The breath of the Lord bloweth upon it,&rdquo; and
+if the holy breath, God&#8217;s Holy Spirit, is for us, then the apparently
+invincible obstacle will crumble away into dust.</p>
+
+<p>But we are deceived by mass, and we are forgetful of spirit. Mere size
+affrights us. We are dismayed by numbers. We forget the quiet, pervasive,
+all-powerful ministry of the Spirit of God. We are overwhelmed by the
+phenomena of tempest and earthquake and fire, and we forget that
+almightiness hides in the &ldquo;still, small voice,&rdquo; in &ldquo;the sound of a gentle
+stillness.&rdquo; God&#8217;s breath is more than the fierce threatenings of embattled
+hosts. &ldquo;If God be for us, who can be against us?&rdquo; I will hide myself in
+His holy fellowship, and &ldquo;none shall make me afraid.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 323]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>EXHILARANT SPIRITS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He maketh my feet like hinds&#8217; feet.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xviii. 31-39.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;THINK of Wordsworth&#8217;s lines, in which he describes a natural lady, made
+by Nature herself:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;She shall be sportive as the fawn<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">That wild with glee across the lawn<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Or up the mountain springs.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>And it is this buoyancy, this elasticity, this springiness that the Lord
+is waiting to impart to the souls of His children, so that they may move
+along the ways of life with the light steps of the fawn.</p>
+
+<p>Some of us move with very heavy feet. There is little of the fawn about us
+as we go along the road. There is reluctance in our obedience. There is a
+frown in our homage. Our benevolence is graceless, and there is no charm
+in our piety, and no rapture in our praise. We are the victims of &ldquo;the
+spirit of heaviness.&rdquo; And yet here is the word which tells us that God
+will make our feet &ldquo;like hinds&#8217; feet.&rdquo; He will give us exhilaration and
+spring, enabling us to leap over difficulties, and to have strength and
+buoyancy for the steepest hills. Let us seek the inspiration of the Lord.
+&ldquo;It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 324]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE ARMOUR OF GOD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Ephesians</span> vi. 10-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE Word describes the armour, and it directs us to the armoury. The
+description would oppress me if the directions were absent. If I have to
+forge the armour for myself I should be in despair. But I can go to the
+armoury of grace, where there is an ever-open door and abundant welcome
+for every person who fain would be a knight-errant of the Lord. The Lord
+will provide me with perfect equipment suitable for every kind of contest
+which may meet me along the road. There are no favourites among the
+pilgrims except, perhaps, the neediest, and to them is given &ldquo;more
+abundant honour.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes one of the Lord&#8217;s knights loses one piece of armour, and he must
+at once repair to the armoury. Perhaps he has lost his helmet, or his
+shield, or even his breastplate, and the enemy has discovered his
+vulnerable place. We must never continue our journey imperfectly armed.
+The evil one will ignore the pieces we have, and he will direct all his
+attack where there is no defence. Back to the armoury! Back to the
+armoury, that we may &ldquo;put on the <em>whole</em> armour of God.&rdquo; The Lord is
+waiting; let us humbly and penitently ask for the missing piece.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 325]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE REAL ARISTOCRACY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Abraham, my friend.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> xli. 8-16.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;THINK that is the noblest title ever given to mortal man. It is the
+speech of the Lord God concerning one of His children. It is something to
+be coveted even to enjoy the friendship of a noble man; but to have the
+friendship of God, and to have the holy God name us as His friends, is
+surely the brightest jewel that can ever shine in a mortal&#8217;s crown. And
+such recognition and such glory may be the wonderful lot of thee and me.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Abraham, my friend.&rdquo; The Lord of hosts found delight in human
+friendships. He comes in to sup with us. He drinks of the cup of our
+delights. For, surely, it is one of the supreme characteristics of true
+friendship that it rejoices at the other&#8217;s joy. And my heavenly Friend is
+glad in my gladness as well as sympathetic in the day of sadness and
+tears. Yes, He comes in to sup with me, and I may sup with Him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Abraham, my friend.&rdquo; And He shares His sweets with His friend, in inward
+counsels, and in tender revelations of His purposes and in the gifts of
+joy and peace. There is perfect openness between these friends; nothing is
+hid. They have the run of each other&#8217;s hearts.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;I tell Him all my joys and fears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">And He reveals His love to me.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 326]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE EARLY BUILDERS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> viii. 1-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is always a healthy means of grace to link my own accomplishments with
+the fidelity and achievements of the past. Solomon traced his finished
+Temple to the holy purpose in the heart of David his father. I lay the
+coping-stone, but who turned the first sod? I lead the water into new
+ministries, but who first dug the well?</p>
+
+<p>There is the temple of liberty. In our own day we are enriching it with
+most benignant legislation, but we must not forget our dauntless fathers,
+in whose blood the foundations were laid. When I am walking about in the
+finished structure, let me remember the daring architects who &ldquo;did well&rdquo;
+to have it in their hearts.</p>
+
+<p>Such retrospect will make me humble. It will save me from the isolation
+and impotence of foolish pride. It will confirm me in human fellowship by
+showing me how many springs I have in my fellow-men.</p>
+
+<p>And such retrospect will make me grateful to my God. Noble outlooks always
+engender the spirit of praise. The fine air of wide spaces quickens the
+soul to a song.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 327]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>RECOVERING LOST STRENGTH</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> viii. 22-36.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>N this portion of this great prayer I discern the unalterable mode in
+which nations and individuals recover their moral health and strength.</p>
+
+<p>How do they lose it? Two words tell the story. They &ldquo;<em>sin</em>&rdquo; and are
+&ldquo;<em>smitten</em>.&rdquo; It is an inevitable sequence. Every sin is the minister of
+disease. Sometimes we can see it, when the disease flaunts its flags in
+the flesh; lust and drunkenness have glaring placards, and we know what is
+going on within. But even when sin makes no visible mark the wasting
+process is at work. It is as true of falsehood as of drunkenness, of
+treachery as of lust. &ldquo;Evil shall slay the wicked.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And how do we recover our lost estate? There are three words which tell
+the story. &ldquo;<em>Turn!</em>&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>Confess!</em>&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>Make supplication!</em>&rdquo; The words need no
+exposition. I must turn my face to my despised and neglected Lord; I must
+tell them all about my miserable revolt, and I must humbly crave for His
+restoring grace.</p>
+
+<p>And the answer is sure. Such humble exercise sets the joy-bells ringing,
+and the rich forgiveness of the Lord fills the soul with peace. &ldquo;O taste
+and see how gracious the Lord is.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 328]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE STRANGER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> viii. 37-53.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-y.png" width="81" height="80" alt="Y" title="" />
+</div><p>ES, indeed, what space has &ldquo;the stranger&rdquo; in my supplications? Has he any
+place at all? Are my intercessions private enclosures, intended only for
+the select among my friends? Do I ever open the door to anyone outside my
+family circle? Are my ecclesiastical sympathies large enough to include
+&ldquo;outsiders&rdquo; from afar? What do I do with &ldquo;the stranger&rdquo;?</p>
+
+<p>There is nothing which keeps prayer sweet and fresh and wholesome like the
+letting in of &ldquo;the stranger&rdquo;! To let a new guest sit down at the feast of
+my intercession is to give my own soul a most nutritious surprise. It is a
+most healthy spiritual habit to see to it that we bring in a new
+&ldquo;stranger&rdquo; every time we pray. Let me be continually enlarging the circle
+of hospitality! Let some new and weary bird find a resting-place in the
+branches of my supplications every time I hold communication with God.</p>
+
+<p>A prayer which has no room for &ldquo;the stranger&rdquo; can have little or no room
+for God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 329]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE PRAYER WHICH ENDS IN SACRIFICE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Kings</span> viii. 54-66.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND that is the healthy order of all true worship. It begins in spacious
+supplication in which &ldquo;the stranger&rdquo; finds a place. Then there is a lavish
+consecration of self and substance. And then the wedding-bells begin to
+ring, and &ldquo;the joy of the Lord is our strength!&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>They went unto their
+tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had
+done.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But so many suppliants miss the middle term, and therefore the gladness is
+wanting. Supplication is not followed by consecration, and therefore there
+is no exultation. It is a fatal omission. When we are asking for &ldquo;the gift
+of God&rdquo; our request must be accompanied by the gift of ourselves to God.
+If we want the water we must offer the vessel. No gift of self, no bounty
+of God! No losing, no finding! &ldquo;When the burnt offering began, the song of
+the Lord began.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Take my life, and let it be<br /></span>
+<span class="i1a">Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 330]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>AFTER THE PRAYER THE FIRE!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>When Solomon had made an end of praying the fire<br /> came down from
+heaven.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;2 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> vii. 1-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND the fire is the symbol of the Holy God. Pure flame is our imperfect
+mode of expressing the Incorruptible. This burning flame is heat and light
+in one. And when Solomon had prayed, the holy Flame was in their midst.</p>
+
+<p>But not only is the flame the symbol of the Holy; it also typifies the
+power which can make me holy. We have no cleansing minister to compare
+with fire. Where water fails fire succeeds. After an epidemic water is
+comparatively impotent. We commit the infested garments to the flames. It
+was the great fire of London which delivered London from the tyranny of
+the plague. And so it is with my soul. God, who is holy flame, will burn
+out the germs of my sin. He will &ldquo;purify Jerusalem with the spirit of
+burning.&rdquo; &ldquo;Our God is a consuming fire.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Come to my soul, O holy Flame! Place Thy &ldquo;burning bliss&rdquo; against my
+wickedness, and consume it utterly away!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 331]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>UNCONSECRATED SOULS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>This house which I have sanctified will I cast out of my sight,<br />
+and will make it a proverb and a by-word among all nations.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;2 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> vii. 12-22.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND thus am I taught that consecrated houses are nothing without
+consecrated souls. It is not the mode of worship, but the spirit of the
+worshipper which forms the test of a consecrated people. If the worshipper
+is defiled his temple becomes an offence. When the kernel is rotten, and I
+offer the husk to God, the offering is a double insult to His most holy
+name.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, how tempted I am to assume that God will be pleased with the mere
+outsides of things, with words instead of aspiration, with postures
+instead of dispositions, with the letter instead of the spirit, with an
+ornate and costly temple instead of a sweet and lowly life! Day by day I
+am tempted to treat the Almighty as though He were a child! Nay, the Bible
+uses a more awful word; it says men treat the Lord as though He were a
+fool!</p>
+
+<p>From all such irreverence and frivolity, good Lord, deliver me! Let me
+ever remember that Thou &ldquo;desirest truth in the <em>inward</em> man.&rdquo; &ldquo;In the
+hidden parts&rdquo; help me &ldquo;to know wisdom.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 332]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE VALUE OF REVERENCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Romans</span> xiii. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN I pay honour to honourable ministers I not only honour my God, but I
+enrich and refine my own soul. One of the great secrets of spiritual
+culture is to know how to revere. There is an uncouth spirit of
+self-aggression which, while it wounds and impoverishes others, destroys
+its finest spiritual furniture in its own ungodly heat. The man who never
+bows will never soar. To pay homage where homage is due is one of the
+exercises which will help to keep us near &ldquo;the great white throne.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I know my peril, for I recognize one of the prevalent perils of our time.
+Some of the old courtesies are being discarded as though they belonged to
+a younger day. Some of the old tokens of respect have been banished to the
+limbo of rejected ritual. Dignitaries are jostled in the common crowd.
+&ldquo;One man is as good as another!&rdquo; And so there is a tendency to strip life
+of all its reverences, and venerable fanes become stables for unclean
+things.</p>
+
+<p>My soul, come thou not into this shame! Move in the ways of life with
+softened tread, and pay thy respect at every shrine where dwells the grace
+and power of God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 333]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>HOW TO FIGHT EVIL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Overcome evil with good.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Romans</span> xii. 9-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-f.png" width="80" height="80" alt="F" title="" />
+</div><p>OR how else can we cast out evil? Satan cannot cast out Satan. No one can
+clean a room with a filthy duster. The surgeon cannot cut out the disease
+if his instruments are defiled. While he removed one ill-growth he would
+sow the seed of another. It must be health which fights disease. It will
+demand a good temper to overcome the bad temper in my brother.</p>
+
+<p>And therefore I must cultivate a virtue if I would eradicate a vice. That
+applies to the state of my own soul. If there be some immoral habit in my
+life, the best way to destroy it is by cultivating a good one. Take the
+mind away from the evil one. Deprive it of thought-food. Give the thought
+to the nobler mood, and the ignoble mood will die. And this also applies
+to the faults and vices of my brother. I must fight them with their
+opposites. If he is harsh and cruel, I must be considerate and gentle. If
+he is grasping, I must be generous. If he is loud and presumptuous, I must
+be soft-mannered and self-restrained. If he is devilish, I must be a
+Christian. This is the warfare which tells upon the empire of sin. I can
+overcome evil with good.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 334]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>TRANSFORMING OUR FOES</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> v. 38-48.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>OVE your enemies.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It must be the aim of a Christian to make his enemy lovely. It is not my
+supreme business to secure my safety, but to remove his ugliness. He may
+only annoy me, but he is destroying himself. He may injure my reputation;
+but far worse, he is blighting his own character. Therefore must I seek to
+remove the greater thing, the corrosive malady in his own soul. I must
+make it my purpose to recover his loveliness, and restore the lost
+likeness of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>And only love can make things lovely. Revenge can never do it. Even duty
+will fail in the gracious work. There is a final touch, a consummate
+bloom, to which duty can never attain, and which is only attainable by
+love. All love&#8217;s ministries are creative of loveliness. Wherever her
+finger rests, something exquisite is born. Love is a great magician: she
+transforms the desert into a garden, and she makes the wilderness blossom
+like the rose.</p>
+
+<p>But where shall we get the love wherewith to make our enemy lovely? From
+the great Lover Himself. &ldquo;We love, because He first loved us.&rdquo; The great
+Lover will love love into us! And we, too, shall become fountains of love,
+for our Lord will open &ldquo;rivers in the high places, and fountains in the
+midst of the valleys.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 335]</span></p>
+<h2>NOVEMBER The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SPRING AND THE RIVER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>With the Lord there is mercy.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxxx.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT is the ultimate spring. All the pilgrims of the night may meet at
+that fountain. We have no other common meeting-place. If we make any other
+appointment we shall lose one another on the way. But we can meet one
+another at the fountain, men of all colours, and of all denominations, and
+of all creeds. &ldquo;By Thy mercy, O deliver us, good Lord!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>There is forgiveness with Thee.</em>&rdquo; That is the quickening river. Sin and
+guilt scorch the fair garden of the soul as the lightning withers and
+destroys the strong and beautiful things in woodland and field. The graces
+are stricken, holy qualities are smitten, and the soul languishes like a
+blasted heath. But from the fountain of God&#8217;s mercy there flows the
+vitalizing stream of His forgiveness. &ldquo;There is a river the streams
+whereof shall make glad the city of God.&rdquo; It is the mystic &ldquo;river of life,
+clear as crystal.&rdquo; &ldquo;Everything shall live whither the river cometh.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>With Him is plenteous redemption.</em>&rdquo; Salvation is not merely a recovered
+flower, it is a recovered garden. It is not the restoring merely of a
+withered hand; &ldquo;He restoreth my soul.&rdquo; God does not make an oasis in a
+surrounding desert; He makes the entire wilderness to &ldquo;rejoice and blossom
+as the rose.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 336]</span><a name="DEC" id="DEC"></a></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The First</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>A FAITHFUL FRIEND</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Proverbs</span> xxvii. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p><em>&nbsp;FAITHFUL friend is a strong defence.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He is a gift of God, and therefore a &ldquo;means of grace.&rdquo; The Lord&#8217;s seal is
+upon his ministry. How we impoverish ourselves by separating these
+precious gifts from their Giver? We desecrate many a fair shrine by
+emptying it of God. We turn many a temple into just a common house. When
+we think of our friend let us link him to our Father, and fall upon our
+knees in grateful praise.</p>
+
+<p>He is God&#8217;s minister in his encouragements. When he cheers me, it is &ldquo;the
+Sun of righteousness who rises with healing in His wings.&rdquo; All radiant
+words are just lamps for &ldquo;the light of life.&rdquo; All genial speech carries
+flame from the altar fire of heaven.</p>
+
+<p>And he is God&#8217;s minister in his reproofs. He uses a clean knife: there is
+no poison on the blade. And when he does surgeon&#8217;s work upon me, it is
+clean work, healthy work, the relentless enemy of disease. Some men cut
+me, and the wound festers. There is malice in the deed. My friend wounds
+me in order that he may give me a larger, sweeter life.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 337]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LORD AS A FRIEND</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> xv. 8-17.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-y.png" width="81" height="80" alt="Y" title="" />
+</div><p>E are my friends!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In my Lord&#8217;s friendship there is <em>the ministry of sacrifice</em>. &ldquo;Greater
+love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.&rdquo;
+This great Friend is always giving His blood. It is a lasting shame when
+professed Christians are afflicted with spiritual an&aelig;mia. And yet we are
+often so fearful, so white-faced, so chicken-hearted, so averse from
+battle, that no one would think us to be &ldquo;the soldiers of the Lord.&rdquo; We
+need blood. &ldquo;Except ye drink my blood ye have no life.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in my Lord&#8217;s friendship there is the <em>privilege of most intimate
+communion</em>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.&rdquo; He
+takes us into His confidence, and tells us His secrets. It is His delight
+to lift the veil, and give us constant surprises of love and grace. He
+discovers flowers in desert places, and in the gloom He unbosoms &ldquo;the
+treasures of darkness.&rdquo; He is a Friend of inexhaustible resource, and His
+companionship makes the pilgrim&#8217;s way teem with interest, and abound in
+the wonders of redeeming grace.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 338]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>ARMS AND THE MAN!</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Thessalonians</span> v. 4-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT wonderful armour is offered to me in which to meet the insidious
+assaults of the devil!</p>
+
+<p>There is &ldquo;<em>the armour of light</em>.&rdquo; Sunlight is the most sanative energy we
+know. It is the foe of many a deadly microbe which seeks a lodging in our
+bodies. Light is a splendid armour, even in the realm of the flesh. And so
+it is in the soul. If the soul is a home of light, the eternal light, evil
+germs will die as soon as they approach us. They will find nothing to
+breed on. &ldquo;The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And there is the armour of &ldquo;<em>faith and love</em>.&rdquo; The opposite to faith is
+uncertainty, and the opposite to love is cynicism, and who does not know
+that uncertainty and cynicism are the very hotbeds for the machinations of
+the evil one? When faith is enthroned the soul is open to the reception of
+grace, and when love shares the throne the sovereignty is invincible.</p>
+
+<p>And there is the armour of &ldquo;<em>hope</em>.&rdquo; Even in a physical ailment a man has
+a mighty ally who wrestles in hope. And when a man&#8217;s hope is in the Lord
+his God all the powers in the heavenly places are his allies, and by his
+hope he shall be saved.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 339]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CHILDREN OF LIGHT</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Thessalonians</span> v. 5-11.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 78px;">
+<img src="images/img-c.png" width="78" height="80" alt="C" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>AN we think of a more beautiful figure than this&mdash;&ldquo;<em>children of light</em>&rdquo;?
+As I write these words I look out upon a building every window of which is
+ablaze with light, every room the home of attractive brightness. And my
+life is to be like that! And I look again and I see a lighthouse sending
+out its strong, pure, friendly beams to guide the mariner as he seeks his
+&ldquo;desired haven.&rdquo; And my life is to be like that! And I look once more, and
+I see a common road lamp, sending its useful light upon the busy street,
+helping the wayfarer as he goes from place to place. And my life is to be
+like that!</p>
+
+<p>And if my soul is all lit up in friendly radiance for others, the light
+will be my own defence. Light always scares away the vermin. Lift up a
+stone in the meadow, let in the light, and see how a hundred secret things
+will scurry away. And light in the soul scares away &ldquo;the unfruitful works
+of darkness&rdquo;; they cannot dwell with the light. Light repels the evil one;
+it acts upon him like burning flame. Yes, we are well protected when we
+are clothed in &ldquo;the armour of light.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But how can we become &ldquo;children of light,&rdquo; holy homes of protective and
+saving radiance? Happily, it is not our lot to provide the light, it is
+ours to provide the lamp. If we offer the lamp the Lord will give the
+flame.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 340]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SECOND-BEST FOR GOD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> xvii. 1-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-s.png" width="80" height="80" alt="S" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>O the best was for man, and the second-best for God! The cedar for
+self-indulgence, and the curtains for the home of worship! It is a marked
+sign of spiritual awakening when a man begins to contrast his own
+indulgences with the rights of God. There are so many of us who are lavish
+in our home and miserly in the sanctuary. We multiply treasures which
+bring us little profit, and we are niggardly where treasure would be of
+most gracious service.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I dwell in a house of cedar,&rdquo; and yet I am thoughtless about God&#8217;s poor!
+For I must remember that the poor are the arks of the Lord. &ldquo;I was naked,
+and ye clothed Me not.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I dwell in a house of cedar&rdquo;; my liberties are many and spacious; and yet
+there are tribes of God&#8217;s people held in the tyranny of dark and hopeless
+servitude. I dwell in England, but what about the folk on the Congo? I
+dwell in a land of ample religious freedom, but what about Armenia? Do my
+sympathies remain confined within my cedar walls, or do they go out to
+God&#8217;s neglected ones in every land and clime?</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 341]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE GRACE OF LOWLINESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> xvii. 16-27.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div>
+<p>T is by such lowliness that we arrive at our true sovereignty. All
+spiritual treasures are hidden along the ways of humility, and it is
+meekness which discovers them. The uplifted head of pride overlooks them,
+and its &ldquo;finds&rdquo; are only pleasure of the passing day.</p>
+
+<p>Lowliness is the secret of spiritual perceptiveness. I find my sight in
+lowly places. The Sacred Word speaks of &ldquo;the <em>valley</em> of vision.&rdquo; I
+usually associate vision and outlook with mountain summits, but in
+spiritual realms the very capacity to use the heights is acquired in the
+vale.</p>
+
+<p>Lowliness is the secret of spiritual roominess. It is only the humble man
+who has any room for the Lord. All the chambers in the proud man&#8217;s soul
+are thronged with self-conceits, and God is crowded out. Our Lord always
+finds ample room for Himself wherever the heart bows in humility and says:
+&ldquo;I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come under my roof.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 342]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CHOSEN AS BUILDERS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> xxviii. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND how must he take heed? For it may be that the Lord hath also chosen me
+to build, and the counsel given to Solomon may serve me in this later day.
+Let me listen.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Serve Him with a perfect heart.</em>&rdquo; God&#8217;s chosen builders must be
+characterized by singleness and simplicity. He can do nothing with
+&ldquo;double&rdquo; men, who do things only &ldquo;by half,&rdquo; giving one part to Him and the
+other part to Mammon. It is like offering the stock of a gun to one man
+and the barrel to another; and the effect is nil. No, the entire gun! The
+&ldquo;perfect heart&rdquo;!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>And with a willing mind.</em>&rdquo; For the willing mind is the ready mind, and
+God can do nothing with the unready. I never know just when He will call
+me to add another stone to the rising walls of the New Jerusalem, and if I
+am &ldquo;otherwise engaged&rdquo; I am a grievous hindrance to His gracious plans. He
+must be willing and ready who would be a builder of the walls of Zion. And
+to that man the Lord will entrust the privilege of responsibility.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 343]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>JUDGED BY OUR ASPIRATIONS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Thou didst well, it was in thine heart.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;2 <span class="smcap">Chronicles</span> vi. 1-15.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND this was a purpose which the man was not permitted to realize. It was
+a temple built in the substance of dreams, but never established in wood
+and stone. And God took the shadowy structure and esteemed it as a
+perfected pile. The sacred intention was regarded as a finished work. The
+will to build a temple was regarded as a temple built. And hence I discern
+the preciousness of all hallowed purpose and desire, even though it never
+receive actual accomplishment. &ldquo;Thou didst well, it was in thine heart.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so the will to be, and the will to do, is acceptable sacrifice unto
+the Lord! &ldquo;I wish I could be a missionary to the foreign field,&rdquo; but the
+duties of home forbid. But as a missionary she is accepted of our God,
+even though she never land on distant shore. Our purposes work, as well as
+the work itself. Desire is full of holy energy as well as fruition. The
+wish to do good is good itself; the very longing is a minister in the
+kingdom of our God. If, therefore, we are to be judged by our aspirations,
+there are multitudes of apparent failures who will one day be revealed as
+clothed in the radiance of spiritual victory.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 344]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>NATIONAL BLESSEDNESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> lxxxix. 1-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-b.png" width="79" height="80" alt="B" title="" />
+</div><p>LESSED is the people who love the sound of the silver trumpet which calls
+to holy convocation! Blessed is the people who are sacredly impatient for
+the hour of holy communion! Blessed is the people &ldquo;in whose heart are the
+highways to Zion.&rdquo; And in what shall their blessedness consist?</p>
+
+<p>In illumination. &ldquo;<em>They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy
+countenance.</em>&rdquo; The favour of the Lord shall shine upon them when they walk
+through rough and troublous places. There shall always be a sunny patch
+where the soul is in communion with its Lord.</p>
+
+<p>In exultation. &ldquo;<em>In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day.</em>&rdquo; There is
+nothing like sunshine for making the spirits dance! Light is a great
+emancipator, a great breaker-up of frozen bondages. It thaws &ldquo;the genial
+currents of the soul,&rdquo; and the stream of life sings in its progress.</p>
+
+<p>In exaltation. &ldquo;<em>In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted.</em>&rdquo; They will
+be lifted up above their enemies. In elevation they will find their
+safety. God lifts us above our passions, above our cares, above our little
+fears and tempers, and we find our peace upon the heights.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 345]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Tenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE ONLY WISE BEGINNING</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> cxi.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>F I want to do anything wisely I must begin with God. That is the very
+alphabet of the matter. Every other beginning is a perverse beginning, and
+it will end in sure disaster. &ldquo;I am Alpha.&rdquo; Everything must take its rise
+in Him, or it will plunge from folly into folly, and culminate in
+confusion.</p>
+
+<p>If I would be wise in my daily business I must begin all my affairs in
+God. My career itself must be chosen in His presence, and in the
+illumination of His most holy Spirit. And in the subsequent days nothing
+must be done that is not rooted and grounded in Him.</p>
+
+<p>If I would be wise as a teacher I must begin with God. I must not merely
+call Him in to bless my lesson when my labour is done. The very beginnings
+of my thinkings must be in Him. Our Lord will not write an appendix to a
+volume about which He has never been consulted. &ldquo;They who seek Me <em>early</em>
+shall find Me.&rdquo; And so it is with the varied activities of our
+multitudinous life. If we would have them shine with quiet wisdom we must
+light them at the Sun of glory.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 346]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Eleventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SPEECH OF THE INCARNATION</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He hath spoken to us in His Son.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> i.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND that blessed Son spake my language. He came into my troubled
+conditions and expressed Himself out of my humble lot. My surroundings
+afforded Him a language in which He made known His good news. The
+carpenter&#8217;s shop, the shepherd on the hill, the ladened vine, a wayside
+well, common bread, a friend&#8217;s sickness, the desolation of a garden, the
+darkness of &ldquo;the last things&rdquo;&mdash;these all offered Him a mode of speech in
+which He unveiled to me the heart of God.</p>
+
+<p>He came as the Son to make me a son. For I had made myself a slave, and
+called my bondage freedom. I wore my badge of servitude with unholy pride.
+But when He came and spake to me, my lost inheritance dawned upon my
+wondering eyes, and I knew myself to be enslaved. But His was the glorious
+mission not only to awake but to emancipate, not only to unveil lost
+splendour but to recover it. He came to set us free, &ldquo;and if the Son shall
+make you free ye shall be free indeed.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This my son was lost and is found.&rdquo; Has that great word been spoken
+concerning me in the Father&#8217;s home of light? &ldquo;Lord, I would serve, and be
+a son. Dismiss me not, I pray.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 347]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twelfth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>RELATING EVERYTHING TO GOD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatever ye do,<br />
+do all to the glory of God.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> x. 23-33.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so all my days would constitute a vast temple, and life would be a
+constant worship. This is surely the science and art of holy living&mdash;to
+relate everything to the Infinite. When I take my common meal and relate
+it to &ldquo;the glory of God,&rdquo; the common meal becomes a sacramental feast.
+When my labour is joined &ldquo;unto the Lord,&rdquo; the sacred wedding turns my
+workshop into a church. When I link the country lane to the Saviour, I am
+walking in the Garden of Eden, and paradise is restored.</p>
+
+<p>The fact of the matter is, we never see anything truly until we see it in
+the light of the glory of God. Set a dull duty in that light and it shines
+like a diamond. Set a bit of drudgery in that light and it becomes
+transfigured like the wing of a starling when the sunshine falls upon it.
+Everything is seen amiss until we see it in the glory! And, therefore, it
+is my wisdom to set everything in that light, and to do all to the glory
+of God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 348]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Thirteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE HOLY AND THE PROFANE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Put difference between the holy and the unholy.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Leviticus</span> x. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE peril of our day is that so many of these differences are growing
+faint. The holy merges into the unholy, and we can scarcely see the
+dividing line. Black merges into white through manifold shades of grey.
+Falsehood slopes into truth through cunning expediences and white lies.
+Lust merges into purity through conviviality and geniality and
+good-fellowship. So is one thing losing itself in another, and vivid moral
+distinctions are being obscured and effaced.</p>
+
+<p>There is only one way to keep these native contrasts in vivid relief, and
+that is by living in the unsullied light of God&#8217;s holy presence. &ldquo;In Thy
+light shall we see light.&rdquo; Things are seen in their true colours only when
+we bring them before the great white throne. Fabrics seen in the gas-light
+reveal quite other shades when we bring them into the light of day. We
+must not make our distinctions in the gas-light of worldly standard and
+expediency; we must take them into His presence before whose radiance even
+the angels veil their faces, and we shall see things as they are, and we
+shall know &ldquo;the difference between the holy and the profane.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 349]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Fourteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SACRED USE OF LIBERTY</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Take heed lest this liberty of yours becomes a
+stumbling-block.</em>&rdquo;<br />&mdash;1 <span class="smcap">Corinthians</span> viii. 8-13.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT is a very solemn warning. My liberty may trip someone into bondage.
+If life were an affair of one my liberty might be wholesome; but it is an
+affair of many, and my liberty may be destructive to my fellows. I am not
+only responsible for my life, but for its influence. When a thing has been
+lived there is still the example to deal with. If orange peel be thrown
+upon the pavement, that is not the end of the feast. The man who slips
+over the peel is a factor in the incident, and my responsibility covers
+him.</p>
+
+<p>I am, therefore, to consider both my deeds and their influence. How does
+my life trend when it touches my brother? In what way does he move because
+of the impact of my example? Towards liberty or towards license? To the
+swamps of transgression or to the fields of holiness? These are
+determining questions, and I must not seek to escape or ignore them. My
+brother is a vital part of my life. I must never shut him out of my sight.
+How is he influenced by my example? &ldquo;If meat make my brother to stumble, I
+will eat no flesh while the world standeth.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 350]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Fifteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>WHAT IS MY TENDENCY?</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Whether we live, we live unto</em>....&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Romans</span> xiv. 7-21.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-u.png" width="81" height="80" alt="U" title="" />
+</div><p>NTO what? In what direction are we living? Whither are we going? How do
+we complete the sentence? &ldquo;We live unto <em>money</em>!&rdquo; That is how many would
+be compelled to finish the record. Money is their goal, and their goal
+determines their tendency. &ldquo;We live unto <em>pleasure</em>!&rdquo; Such would be
+another popular company. &ldquo;We live unto <em>fame</em>!&rdquo; That would be the banner
+of another regiment. &ldquo;We live unto <em>ease</em>!&rdquo; Thus would men and women
+describe their quests. &ldquo;Unto&rdquo; what? That is the searching question which
+probes life to its innermost desire.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;For whether we live, we live <em>unto the Lord</em>.&rdquo; That was the apostle&#8217;s
+unfailing tendency, increasing in its momentum every day. He crashed
+through obstacles in his glorious quest. He sought the Lord through
+everything and in everything. When new circumstances confronted him, his
+first question was this&mdash;&ldquo;Where is Christ in all this?&rdquo; He found the right
+way across every trackless moor by simply seeking Christ.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 351]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Sixteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page direction" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE GREATEST WONDERS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Hebrews</span> xi. 30-40.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE greatest wonders are not in Nature but in grace. A regenerated soul is
+a greater marvel than the marvel of the spring-time. A transfigured face
+is a deeper mystery than a sun-lit garden. To rear graces in a life once
+scorched and blasted by sin is more wonderful than to grow flowers on a
+cinder-heap. If we want to see the realm of surpassing wonders we must
+look into a soul that has been born again and is now in vital union with
+the living Christ. Even the angels watch the sight with ever-deepening awe
+and praise.</p>
+
+<p>As the spiritual is the home of wonders, so also is it the field of
+brightest exploits. It is not what men have done by the sword that counts
+in the esteem of heaven&mdash;such deeds mean little or nothing; it is what
+they have done &ldquo;by faith.&rdquo; Weak, frail men and women have put their faith
+in God, and have done the impossible! Faith unites the weakling with
+almightiness! Faith makes a lonely soul one with &ldquo;the spirits of just men
+made perfect,&rdquo; and with them he shares &ldquo;the power and the glory&rdquo; of the
+eternal God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 352]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Seventeenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page direction" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>GOD&#8217;S PRESENCE OUR DEFENCE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Exodus</span> xv. 11-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-w.png" width="80" height="80" alt="W" title="" />
+</div><p>HEN we invent little devices to protect us against the evil one, he
+laughs at our petty presumption. It is like unto a child erecting sand
+ramparts against an incoming sea. The only thing that makes the devil fear
+is the presence of God. Our money can do nothing. Our culture can do
+nothing. Our social status can do nothing. Only God can deal with devils.
+&ldquo;By the greatness of Thine arm they shall be still as a stone.&rdquo; When Thou
+art with me &ldquo;I will fear no evil&rdquo;; the fear shall be with my foes.</p>
+
+<p>It is, therefore, the divine in anything which endows it with a strong
+defence. If the holy God dwells in our culture, then our culture becomes
+like an invulnerable fort. If God abides in our recreations, then our very
+sports are armed against our foes. If &ldquo;the joy of the Lord&rdquo; is in our
+festivity, then our very merriment is proof against the invasion of the
+world. When the Lord is in us, fear dwells in the opposite camp.
+&ldquo;Therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed, and though the
+mountains be shaken in the heart of the seas.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 353]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Eighteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SINNER&#8217;S GUEST</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>He is gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> xix. 1-10.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T was hurled as an accusation; it has been treasured as a garland. It was
+first said in contempt; it is repeated in adoration. It was thought to
+reveal His earthliness; it is now seen to unveil His glory. Our Saviour
+seeks the home of the sinner. The Best desires to be the guest of the
+worst. He spreads His kindnesses for the outcasts, and He offers His
+friendship to the exile on the loneliest road. He waits to befriend the
+defeated, the poor folk with aching consciences and broken wills. He loves
+to go to souls that have lost their power of flight, like birds with
+broken wings, which can only flutter in the unclean road. He went to
+Zacch&aelig;us.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, the Lord went to be &ldquo;guest with a man that is a sinner,&rdquo; and He
+changed the sinner into a saint. The worldling found wings. The stone
+became flesh. Gentle emotions began to stir in a heart hardened by
+heedlessness and sin. Restitution took the place of greed. The home of the
+sinner became the temple of the Lord. &ldquo;To-day is salvation come to this
+house forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 354]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Nineteenth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>A light to lighten the Gentiles.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> ii. 25-40.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HAT was the wonder of wonders. Hitherto the light had been supposed to be
+for Israel alone; and now a heavenly splendour was to fall upon the
+Gentiles. Hitherto the light had been thought of as a lamp, illuming a
+single place; now it was to be a sun, shedding its glory upon a world. The
+&ldquo;people that sat in darkness&rdquo; are now to see &ldquo;a great light.&rdquo; New regions
+are to be occupied; there is to be daybreak everywhere! &ldquo;The Sun of
+Righteousness is arisen, with healing in His wings.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;To lighten the Gentiles!&rdquo; And thus the heavenly beams have come to thee
+and me, to Europe and America, and to all the nations of the earth. The
+amazing privilege is our personal inheritance. We are born to glorious
+rights in Christ Jesus. But a wealthy heir may neglect this inheritance.
+We may have the light and neglect our garden. We may have all the favours
+of a blessed clime, and yet our life may be like a wilderness. The
+Gentiles may have the light, and may yet be children of the darkness. It
+is ours to believe in the light that our lives may become &ldquo;light in the
+Lord.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 355]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twentieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE COMING OF THE LORD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> i. 1-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/img-m.png" width="81" height="80" alt="M" title="" />
+</div><p>Y Lord came as &ldquo;<em>the word</em>.&rdquo; He came as the expression of the mind of the
+eternal God. Ordinary words could not have carried the &ldquo;good news.&rdquo;
+Ordinary language was an altogether inadequate vessel for this new wine.
+And so the mighty news was spoken in the incarnation of the Lord.</p>
+
+<p>My Lord came as &ldquo;life.&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>In Him was life.</em>&rdquo; But not a mere cupful of
+life, or even a cup running over. He came as &ldquo;the fountain of life.&rdquo; Nay,
+if I had the requisite word I must get even behind and beyond this. For He
+was the Creator of fountains. &ldquo;The water that I shall give him shall be
+<em>in him a well</em>.&rdquo; Yes, He was the fountain of fountains!</p>
+
+<p>The Lord came as &ldquo;light.&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>The life was the light.</em>&rdquo; True light is always
+the child of life. Our clearest light comes not from speech or doctrine,
+still less does it emerge from controversy. It is the fine, subtle issue
+of fine living. And my light is to &ldquo;shine before men&rdquo; by reason of the
+indwelling life of the Christ.</p>
+
+<p>And my Lord came as &ldquo;power.&rdquo; &ldquo;<em>To them gave He power.</em>&rdquo; All the power I
+need for a full, holy, healthy life I can find in Him. Every obligation
+has its corresponding inspiration, and I am competent to do His will.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 356]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twenty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LORD OF WORKING MEN</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> ii. 8-20.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so the good news was told to shepherds, to working men who were
+toiling in the fields. The coming King would hallow the common work of
+man, and in His love and grace all the problems of labour would find a
+solution.</p>
+
+<p>The Lord of the Christmas-tide throws a halo over common toil. Even
+Christian people have not all learnt the significance of the angels&#8217; visit
+to the lonely shepherds. Some of us can see the light resting upon a
+bishop&#8217;s crosier, but we cannot see the radiance on the ordinary
+shepherd&#8217;s staff. We can discern the hallowedness of a priest&#8217;s vocation,
+but we see no sanctity in the calling of the grocer, or of the scavenger
+in the street. We can see the nimbus on the few, but not on the crowd; on
+the unusual, but not upon the commonplace. But the very birth-hour of
+Christianity irradiated the humble doings of humble people. When the
+angels went to the shepherds, common work was encircled with an immortal
+crown.</p>
+
+<p>And it is in the Lord Jesus that all labour troubles are to be put to
+rest. If we work from any other centre we shall arrive at confusion
+confounded. &ldquo;I have the keys.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 357]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twenty-second</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LORD OF THE WORSHIPPER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Luke</span> ii. 25-35.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so the good news was taken to the worshipper bowing within the gates
+of the Temple. The soul of old Simeon was filled with holy satisfaction
+and peace. The cravings of the heart were quieted, and its desires found
+the coveted feast in the holy Child of God.</p>
+
+<p>And thus the Lord Jesus was not only to dignify the body but to gratify
+the soul. He was to be most efficient where He was most needed. And this
+has been the unfailing experience of the years. There is a hunger in my
+soul for which I can find no satisfying bread. I have tried many breads; I
+have tried nature, and art, and music, and literature, and I have tried
+human fellowship and social service. But my soul is hungry still! And the
+Lord Jesus comes to me, as I reverently grope in the vast temple, and He
+&ldquo;satisfies the hungry soul&rdquo; with good things. His &ldquo;bread of life&rdquo; is very
+wonderful; it lifts the soul into the restfulness of strength, and gives
+me a strange buoyancy, and &ldquo;the glorious liberty of the children of God.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My soul, wait thou only on Him!&rdquo; He is thy hope, thy strength, and thy
+salvation! He is &ldquo;the desire of all the nations.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 358]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twenty-third</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LORD OF THE STUDENTS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Matthew</span> ii. 1-12.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-a.png" width="80" height="80" alt="A" title="" />
+</div><p>ND so the good news came to &ldquo;wise men,&rdquo; shall we say to students, busying
+themselves with the vast and intricate problems of the mind. And the
+evangel offered the students mental satisfaction, bringing the
+interpreting clue, beaming upon them with the guiding ray which would lead
+them into perfect noon.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, our wise men must find the key of wisdom in the Lord. In a wider
+sense than the meaning of the original word it is true that &ldquo;the fear of
+the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.&rdquo; To seek mental satisfactions and
+leave out Jesus is like trying to make a garden and leave out the sun.
+&ldquo;Without Me ye can do nothing,&rdquo; not even in the unravelling of the
+problems which beset and besiege the mind.</p>
+
+<p>If my mental pilgrimage is to be as &ldquo;a shining light shining more and more
+even unto perfect day,&rdquo; I must begin with Jesus, and pay homage to His
+Kingly and incomparable glory. I must lay my treasures at His feet, &ldquo;gold,
+and frankincense, and myrrh.&rdquo; Then will He lead me &ldquo;into all truth,&rdquo; and
+&ldquo;the truth shall make me free.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 359]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twenty-fourth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>ENTERING IN AT LOWLY DOORS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Unto us a Child is born.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> ix. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-h.png" width="80" height="80" alt="H" title="" />
+</div><p>OW gentle the coming! Who would have had sufficient daring of imagination
+to conceive that God Almighty would have appeared among men as a little
+child? We should have conceived something sensational, phenomenal,
+catastrophic, appalling! The most awful of the natural elements would have
+formed His retinue, and men would be chilled and frozen with fear. But He
+came as a little child. The great God &ldquo;emptied Himself&rdquo;; He let in the
+light as our eyes were able to bear it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<em>Unto us a Son is given.</em>&rdquo; And that is the superlative gift! The love
+that bestows such gift is all-complete and gracious. And the Son is given
+in order that we may all be born into sonship. It is the Son&#8217;s ministry to
+make sons. &ldquo;Now are we the sons of God,&rdquo; and we are of His creation.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Lord, I would serve, and be a son;<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Dismiss me not, I pray.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 360]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twenty-fifth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>CHRISTMAS CHEER</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Good will toward men!</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Luke</span> ii. 8-20.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-t.png" width="80" height="80" alt="T" title="" />
+</div><p>HE heavens are not filled with hostility. The sky does not express a
+frown. When I look up I do not contemplate a face of brass, but the face
+of infinite good will. Yet when I was a child, many a picture has made me
+think of God as suspicious, inhumanly watchful, always looking round the
+corner to catch me at the fall. That &ldquo;eye,&rdquo; placed in the sky of many a
+picture, and placed there to represent God, filled my heart with a
+chilling fear. That God was to me a magnified policeman, watching for
+wrong-doers, and ever ready for the infliction of punishment. It was all a
+frightful perversion of the gracious teaching of Jesus.</p>
+
+<p>Heaven overflows with good will toward men! Our God not only wishes good,
+He wills it! &ldquo;He gave His only begotten Son,&rdquo; as the sacred expression of
+His infinite good will. He has good will toward thee and me, and mine and
+thine. Let that holy thought make our Christmas cheer.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 361]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twenty-sixth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>DAYBREAK IN THE SOUL</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Isaiah</span> ix. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is a lonely and a chilling experience to sit in the darkness. And the
+gloom and the cold are all the more intense when there is death in the
+house. In such conditions we are in great need of light and fire.</p>
+
+<p>And that is how the children of men were feeling before the Saviour came.
+They &ldquo;<em>sat in darkness</em>&rdquo; and in &ldquo;<em>the shadow of death</em>.&rdquo; The world was
+cold, and sin and death were in it, and they longed for light and cheer.
+And &ldquo;the great Light came,&rdquo; and His wonderful Presence not only illumines
+the house but banishes the fear of sin and death. &ldquo;<em>They that dwelt in the
+land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.</em>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Where can we get this living light except in the Lord Jesus Christ?
+Everything else is candle-light! It fails us in the midnight. It flickers
+amid conflicting currents. It goes out in the rough blast. The light of
+art and of literature fails me when I need them most. When I sit in the
+darkness, with death in the house, these kindly ministers have no
+effective beams. I turn to the Master, and He shines upon me, and it is
+daybreak in the soul!</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 362]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twenty-seventh</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE SUNNY SIDE OF THINGS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">John</span> i. 1-7.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;HAVE just come out of a gloomy room into a sunny room to write these
+words. I had my choice. I could have stayed in the sombre room, but I
+choose to come into the sun-lit room and the warm, cheering beams are even
+now falling upon my page. &ldquo;Walk in the light!&rdquo; And I make my choice, and
+how often I choose to walk without Christ in the unfertilizing and
+unfruitful gloom of self-will! In the light of the Lord I could have a
+garden of Eden; how often I choose the dingy wilderness where I can grow
+neither flowers nor fruits.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Walk in the light.&rdquo; The Lord&#8217;s companionship always makes the sunny side
+of the street. It may be that the way is rough and stony and difficult,
+but in His company there is light that never fails, compared with which
+the world&#8217;s noontide is only as the gloomiest night. And the souls that
+&ldquo;walk in the light&rdquo; gather &ldquo;sacred sweets&rdquo; all along the way. Heavenly
+fruits grow for the children of light, fruits of love and joy and peace,
+and the favoured pilgrim plucks them as he goes along. &ldquo;All I find in
+Jesus.&rdquo; The way of light is the way of delight, and &ldquo;the joy of the Lord
+is our strength.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 363]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twenty-eighth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-odd.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>IN HIM WAS LIFE</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> i. 1-18.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>&nbsp;HAVE heard men speak of &ldquo;wanting to see a bit of life,&rdquo; and I found that
+what they meant was to see a bit of death. It is as if a man should go to
+the hospital to see a bit of health, or as if he should go to a gory
+battlefield to see the human frame. It is like going to a refuse-heap to
+see a bit of garden. Life is not found in fields of license; it is not
+found among the wild oats of a dissipated youth. Life is found only in
+Christ, and if we want to see a bit of life we must go to Him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;In Him was life&rdquo;; and that not merely to be looked at but to be shared.
+He is the well to which everybody can bring his pitcher, and take it away
+filled. And my pitcher is just my need. &ldquo;All the fitness He requires is to
+feel our need of Him.&rdquo; The Life is all-sufficient for the needs of the
+race. This Life can vitalize all that is withered and dead; it can make
+decrepit wills muscular and mighty, and it can transfigure the leper with
+the glow and purity of perfect health.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">&ldquo;Thou of life the Fountain art,<br /></span>
+<span class="i1">Freely let me take of Thee.&rdquo;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 364]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Twenty-ninth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-even.png" width="480" height="93" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE LOVE OF GOD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">1 <span class="smcap">John</span> iv. 7-14.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-l.png" width="80" height="80" alt="L" title="" />
+</div><p>ET me more assiduously think of God&#8217;s love. Let me sit down to it. In the
+National Gallery can be seen two sorts of people. There are the mere
+vagrants, who are always &ldquo;on the move,&rdquo; passing from picture to picture,
+without seeing any. And there are the students, who sit down, and
+contemplate, and meditate, and appropriate, and saturate. And there are
+vagrants in respect to the love of the Lord. They have a passing glimpse,
+but the impression is not vital and vitalizing, and there are the
+students, who are always gazing, and who are continually crying, &ldquo;O the
+depth of the riches of the love of God in Christ!&rdquo; &ldquo;His riches are
+unsearchable!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And God&#8217;s love is the creator of my love. &ldquo;While I muse the fire burns.&rdquo; I
+am kindled into the same holy passion. That is to say, contemplation
+determines character. We acquire the hues of the things to which we cling.
+To hold fellowship with love is to become loveful and lovely. &ldquo;We love
+because He first loved us.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And then, in the third place, it is through my love that I know my Lord.
+&ldquo;<em>Everyone that loveth knoweth God.</em>&rdquo; Love is the lens through which I
+discern the secret things of God.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 365]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Thirtieth</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imggrapes-odd.png" width="480" height="99" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE BLESSEDNESS OF FORGIVENESS</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven.</em>&rdquo;<br />
+&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxxii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 80px;">
+<img src="images/img-i.png" width="80" height="80" alt="I" title="" />
+</div><p>T is the blessedness of emancipation. The boat which has been tethered to
+the weird, baleful shore is set free, and sails toward the glories of the
+morning. The man, long cramped in the dark, imprisoning pit, is brought
+out, and stretches his limbs in the sweet light and air of God&#8217;s free
+world. Black servitude is ended; glorious liberty begins.</p>
+
+<p>It is the blessedness of education. For when we are freed we are by no
+means perfected. We are liberated babes; and our Emancipator does not
+desert us in our spiritual infancy. The foundling is not abandoned.
+&ldquo;Having loved His own He loved them unto the end.&rdquo; He begins with us in
+the spiritual nursery, and He will train and lead and feed us until we are
+&ldquo;perfect in Christ Jesus.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Therefore is it the blessedness of exultation. The babe is resting on the
+bosom of the Lord, and &ldquo;the joy of the Lord is his strength.&rdquo; It is not my
+emancipation that ensures my joy; it is the abiding Presence of the
+Emancipator.</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg 366]</span></p>
+<h2>DECEMBER The Thirty-first</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 480px;">
+<img src="images/imgflowers-even.png" width="480" height="86" alt="Page decoration" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><em>THE REAR-GUARD</em></h2>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<em>Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.</em>
+&rdquo;<br />&mdash;<span class="smcap">Psalm</span> xxiii.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 79px;">
+<img src="images/img-b.png" width="79" height="80" alt="B" title="" />
+</div><p>UT why &ldquo;<em>follow</em>&rdquo; me? Why not &ldquo;go before&rdquo;? Because some of my enemies are
+in the rear; they attack me from behind. There are foes in my yesterdays
+which can give me fatal wounds. They can stab me in the back! If I could
+only get away from the past! Its guilt dogs my steps. Its sins are ever at
+my heels. I have turned my face toward the Lord, but my yesterdays pursue
+me like a relentless hound! So I have an enemy in the rear.</p>
+
+<p>But, blessed be His name, my mighty God is in the rear as well as my foe.
+&ldquo;Goodness and mercy shall follow me!&rdquo; No hound can break through that
+defence. Between me and my guilt there is the infinite love of the Lord.
+The loving Lord will not permit my past to destroy my soul. I may sorrow
+for my past, but my very sorrow shall be a minister of moral and spiritual
+health. My Lord is Lord of the past as well as of the morrow, and so
+to-day &ldquo;I will trust and not be afraid.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 100%;" />
+
+
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="smcap">devotional</span></h2>
+<p class="center">
+=================================================</p>
+
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>ROBERT F. HORTON</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Triumphant Life:</span>
+<span class='mid'>Life, Warfare and Victory through the Cross</span></p>
+
+<p>16mo, Cloth, net 50c.</p>
+
+<p>The author, one of the most influential preachers and devotional
+writers, presents an attractive volume of brief counsels on Faith
+and Duty.
+</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>CHARLES BROWN</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>Lessons from the Cross</span></p>
+
+<p>16mo, Cloth, net 50c.</p>
+
+<p>A volume of remarkable spiritual power which will also prove an
+incentive to further study of this great subject.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>MILFORD HALL LYON</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>For the Life That Now Is</span></p>
+
+<p>16mo, Cloth, net 75c.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Emphasizes the power and presence of a life hid with Christ in
+God. It will be a revelation to many that there is such a
+correspondence between the needs of mankind and the provisions of
+redeeming grace.&rdquo;&mdash;<em>Reformed Church Messenger.</em></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>HANNAH WHITALL SMITH</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Christian&#8217;s Secret of a Happy Life</span></p>
+
+<p>New Edition, with Decorative Lace Border and Lace Cover Design. 12
+mo, Cloth, net $1.00.</p>
+
+<p>A Handsome New Gift Edition of this famous Christian classic, which
+as a prominent writer once said will &ldquo;transform the dark days of
+your life, as it has transformed those of thousands before you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>J. H. JOWETT</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>Our Blessed Dead</span></p>
+
+<p>16mo, Boards, 25c.</p>
+
+<p>A booklet of consolation; suggestive and effective.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>CORTLAND MYERS</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Real Holy Spirit</span></p>
+
+<p>12mo, Cloth, net 50c.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;To make this unreality real and mighty in the life of the
+individual and of the Church is the purpose of this book, that is
+eminently sane and practical, and will appeal with force to every
+thoughtful and earnest Christian.&rdquo;&mdash;<em>Christian Guardian.</em></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<h2><span class="smcap"><strong>the world of religious thought</strong></span></h2>
+<p class="center">
+=================================================</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>RICHARD ROBERTS</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Renascence of Faith</span></p>
+
+<p>With an Introduction by G. A. Johnston Ross. 12mo, cloth, net $1.50.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A fresh and striking contribution to current religious discussion.
+It is the average man,&mdash;the man in the street&mdash;who is at once the
+subject of Mr. Roberts&#8217; study. He is keenly alive to and frankly
+critical of the weaknesses, shortcomings and divisions of modern
+Christianity; but he has a well-grounded optimism and a buoyant
+faith which will be found contagious.&rdquo;&mdash;<em>Living Age.</em></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>JAMES W. LEE</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Religion of Science</span><br />
+The Faith of Coming Man</p>
+
+<p>12mo, cloth, net $1.50.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Dr. Lee thinks scientifically. He delivers a clear-cut thought
+product and his powers of intellectual visualization are
+transferred to the reader. After having read &lsquo;The Religion of
+Science,&rsquo; we can only underwrite the testimony of Dr. Birney, Dean
+of the Theological School of Boston University: &lsquo;It is the finest
+apologetic for the modern mood of thought concerning things
+Christian that I have seen. The book in a masterly manner reveals
+the pathway of triumphant faith.&rsquo;&rdquo;&mdash;<em>Christian Advocate.</em></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>MARSHALL P. TALLING, Ph. D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='sml'><em>Author of &ldquo;Extempore Prayer&rdquo;
+and &ldquo;Inter-Communion with God&rdquo;</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Science of Spiritual Life</span></p>
+
+<p>An Application of Scientific Method in the Exploration of Spiritual
+Experience. Cloth, net $1.50.</p>
+
+<p>This comprehensive handbook of theology is a mediatory work of real
+value, combining as it does the insight of a spiritually minded man
+with the keen perception of one who fully recognizes what science
+has done and is doing to-day.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>JOHN DOUGLAS ADAM, D.D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>Religion and the Growing Mind</span></p>
+
+<p>12mo, cloth, net 75c.</p>
+
+<p>This stimulating treatise on the development of a science of soul
+culture is intended primarily for young people. The expansion of
+the spiritual nature is shown to be the supreme thing in life. In
+clear, brief, logical, sane manner Dr. Adam describes man&#8217;s
+psychical nature and methods of its development in terms of modern
+psychology.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>W. H. P. FAUNCE, D.D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>What Does Christianity Mean?</span></p>
+
+The Cole Lectures for 1912. 12mo, cloth, net $1.25.
+
+<p>Dr. Faunce, President of Brown University, has chosen an unusually
+attractive theme which is discussed in this series of lectures on
+the following subjects:</p>
+
+<p>1. The Essence of the Christian Faith. 2. The Meaning of God. 3.
+The Basis of Character. 4. The principle of Fellowship. 5. The Aim
+of Education. 6. The Goal of Our Effort.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+
+<h2><span class="smcap"><strong>theological discussion</strong></span></h2>
+<p class="center">
+=================================================</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>ROBERT F. HORTON, D.D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>How the Cross Saves</span></p>
+
+<p>16mo, cloth, net 50c.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Will bring help and light to minds perplexed and darkened by
+doubt. It is a clear statement of the central truth of
+Christianity. Logically and biblically Dr. Horton calls to mind the
+fact that the atonement is of God; that men need it; and that
+man-made atonements which minimize sin will not do. Then he
+discusses the atonement, the meaning and the victory of the
+cross.&rdquo;&mdash;<em>Advance.</em></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>JAMES A. ANDERSON, L.L.D.</em></span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class='sml'><em>Editor of &ldquo;the Western Methodist&rdquo;</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>Religious Unrest and Its Remedy</span></p>
+
+<p>12mo, cloth, net 75c.</p>
+
+<p>A query raised by theological unrest and an attempt to indicate
+where rest is found.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='sub'><em>Christian Faith and Doctrine Series</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center">12mo, cloth, each net $1.00.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>PRINCIPAL W. F. ADENEY, D.D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Christian Conception of God</span></p>
+
+A vitalizing, tonic treatise of a fundamental theme. The scholarly
+author of &ldquo;The Theology of the New Testament&rdquo; needs no
+introduction. He is a stalwart defender of the essential truths of
+Christianity. The <em>British Congregationalist</em> says: &ldquo;This
+remarkable book will have a place of its own side by side with
+Prof. Newton Clarke&#8217;s more elaborate work.&rdquo;
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>J. MONRO GIBSON, D.D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>
+The Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scriptures</span></p>
+<p class="center"><span class='sml'><em>With Introduction by Principal Forsythe</em></span></p>
+
+<p>Principal Forsythe&#8217;s Introduction gives the key to the book: &ldquo;There
+is no more difficult position to-day than that of the minister who
+has to stand between the world of modern knowledge and the world of
+traditional religion and mediate between them.&rdquo; &ldquo;Its facts have
+been verified in the writer&#8217;s own experience, and they are set down
+in the precise order that they appear to be necessary in the life
+of a man who desires to live well and die well.&rdquo;&mdash;<em>Expository
+Times.</em></p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>GEORGE HANSON, D.D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Resurrection and the Life</span></p>
+
+<p>This thorough-going study of the Resurrection of Jesus is
+characterized by a vigorous intellectual grasp of the subject. The
+author presents a most assuring and comforting contribution to
+Christian apologetics. It is a work that will not only meet the
+demands of the scholarly and thoughtful, but minister to those who
+have no questionings.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<h2><span class="smcap"><strong>gift books, essays, etc.</strong></span></h2>
+<p class="center">
+=================================================</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>W. J. DAWSON, D.D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Book of Courage</span></p>
+
+<p>12mo, decorated cloth, net $1.25.</p>
+
+<p>To meet a present day demand. Everyone needs help to live the
+courageous life&mdash;to learn to face life as it is and yet continue to
+be in love with it. The Book of Courage meets the need of all who
+search for help. It is a mine of inspiration to courageous living.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>NEWELL DWIGHT HILLIS, D.D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>The Contagion of Character</span></p>
+
+<p>Studies in Culture and Success. Gilt top, net $1.20.</p>
+
+<p><em>The Outlook</em> says: &ldquo;Brief, pungent studies, sparks struck out on
+the anvil of events. Sparkling indeed they are and likewise full of
+ethical wisdom and vigor. Essays for the times whose lessons are
+printed and clinched at every turn with personal experiences that
+grip attention.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>PROF. HUGH BLACK, D.D.</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>Happiness</span></p>
+
+<p>Decorated, 8vo, cloth, gilt top, net $1.50.</p>
+
+<p>This is the fourth in a quartette of gift books which began with
+FRIENDSHIP and naturally ends with HAPPINESS. Similar to FRIENDSHIP
+in its form it is distinct in matters of cloth, cover design, title
+page and decorative page borders. Altogether it is one of the
+season&#8217;s most delightful gift books&mdash;the mechanical setting being
+worthy of the subject matter in every respect.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>HERBERT G. STOCKWELL</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>Essential Elements of Business Character</span></p>
+
+<p>16mo, cloth, net 60c.</p>
+
+<p>The author has won an enviable reputation through his articles on
+&ldquo;Business&rdquo; in recent issues of <em>The Outlook</em>. The editors say that
+the readers of <em>The Outlook</em> have expressed their appreciation in a
+very unusual way. Some of the largest corporations in the country
+have written asking for permission to reprint extracts in their
+&ldquo;house organs.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p><span class='midh'><em>FREDERICK A. ATKINS</em></span></p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class='lge'>Life Worth While</span></p>
+
+<p>A Volume of Inspiration for Young Men. Net 50c.</p>
+
+<p>This new volume of talks to young men by Mr. Atkins contains the
+same tonic qualities that made MORAL MUSCLE, FIRST BATTLES and
+ASPIRATION AND ACHIEVEMENT so truly helpful. The author is a man of
+magnetic and winning personality. His appeal is particularly to
+young men. The virile and persuasive tone will stimulate to greater
+endeavor and higher achievement.</p>
+
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAILY MEDITATION FOR THE CIRCLING YEAR***</p>
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@@ -0,0 +1,11728 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year, by
+John Henry Jowett
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year
+
+
+Author: John Henry Jowett
+
+
+
+Release Date: October 29, 2007  [eBook #23241]
+Most recently updated: August 16, 2012
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DAILY MEDITATION FOR THE
+CIRCLING YEAR***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Anne Storer, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+   In the "April 15" meditation, the author mentions reading from
+   Tennyson's "Palace of Sin", which doesn't appear to exist.
+   Possibly "Vision of Sin" was meant?
+
+
+
+
+
+DAILY MEDITATION
+
+  "_The greatest living master of the homiletic art._"
+                  --_British Weekly._
+
+by
+
+J. H. JOWETT, D.D.
+
+Things That Matter Most
+    Devotional Papers. A Book of Spiritual Uplift
+    and Comfort. 12mo, cloth,                  net $1.25
+
+The Transfigured Church
+    A Portrayal of the Possibilities Within the
+    Church. 12mo, cloth,                       net $1.25
+
+The High Calling
+    Meditations on St. Paul's Letter to the
+     Philippians, 12mo, cloth,                 net $1.25
+
+The Silver Lining
+    A Message of Hope and Cheer, for the
+    Troubled and Tried. 12mo, cloth,           net $1.00
+
+Our Blessed Dead
+    16mo, boards,                                net 25c
+
+The Passion for Souls
+    Devotional Messages for Christian Workers.
+    16mo, cloth,                                 net 50c
+
+The Folly of Unbelief
+    And Other Meditations for Quiet Moments.
+    12mo, cloth,                                 net 50c
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_SENTENCE PRAYERS for EVERY DAY_
+================================
+
+    "Brief, pertinent, helpful. Each prayer can be read
+    in a minute, but will give inspiration for the entire
+    day."
+
+The Daily Altar
+    A Prayer for Each Day. Cloth,                net 25c
+    Leather,                                     net 35c
+
+Yet Another Day
+    A Prayer for Each Day. 32mo, cloth,          net 25c
+    Leather,                                     net 35c
+    A new large type edition. Cloth,             net 75c
+    Leather,                                   net $1.00
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+MY DAILY MEDITATION FOR THE CIRCLING YEAR
+
+by
+
+JOHN HENRY JOWETT
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York    Chicago
+Fleming H. Revell Company
+
+Copyright, 1914, by
+Fleming H. Revell Company
+New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
+Chicago: 125 N. Wabash Ave.
+Toronto: 25 Richmond St., W.
+London: 21 Paternoster Square
+Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+The title of this book sufficiently interprets its purpose. I hope it may
+lead to such practical meditation upon the Word of God as will supply
+vision to common tasks, and daily nourishment to the conscience and
+will. And I trust that it may so engage the thoughts upon the wonders of
+meditation, as will fortify the soul for its high calling in Jesus Christ
+our Lord.
+
+                                       J. H. JOWETT.
+
+   Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church,
+              New York.
+
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The First
+
+_THE UNKNOWN JOURNEY_
+
+"_He went out not knowing whither he went._"
+     --HEBREWS xi. 6-10.
+
+
+Abram began his journey without any knowledge of his ultimate destination.
+He obeyed a noble impulse without any discernment of its consequences. He
+took "one step," and he did not "ask to see the distant scene." And that
+is faith, to do God's will here and now, quietly leaving the results to
+Him. Faith is not concerned with the entire chain; its devoted attention
+is fixed upon the immediate link. Faith is not knowledge of a moral
+process; it is fidelity in a moral act. Faith leaves something to the
+Lord; it obeys His immediate commandment and leaves to Him direction and
+destiny.
+
+And so faith is accompanied by serenity. "He that believeth shall not make
+haste"--or, more literally, "shall not get into a fuss." He shall not get
+into a panic, neither fetching fears from his yesterdays nor from his
+to-morrows. Concerning his yesterdays faith says, "Thou hast beset me
+behind." Concerning his to-morrows faith says, "Thou hast beset me
+before." Concerning his to-day faith says, "Thou hast laid Thine hand
+upon me." That is enough, just to feel the pressure of the guiding hand.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Second
+
+_THE LARGER OUTLOOK_
+
+GENESIS xv. 5-18.
+
+
+"And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven!" The
+tent was changed for the sky! Abraham sat moodily in his tent: God brought
+him forth beneath the stars. And that is always the line of the Divine
+leading. He brings us forth out of our small imprisonments and He sets our
+feet in a large place. He desires for us height and breadth of view. For
+"as the heavens are high above the earth" so are His thoughts higher than
+our thoughts, and His ways than our ways. He wishes us, I say, to exchange
+the tent for the sky, and to live and move in great, spacious thoughts of
+His purposes and will.
+
+How is it with our love? Is it a thing of the tent or of the sky? Does it
+range over mighty spaces seeking benedictions for a multitude? Or does it
+dwell in selfish seclusion, imprisoned in merely selfish quest? How is it
+with our prayers? How big are they? Will a tent contain them, or do they
+move with the scope and greatness of the heavens? Do they just contain our
+own families, or is China in them, and India, and "the uttermost parts of
+the earth"? "Look now towards the heavens!" Such must be our outlook if we
+are the companions of God.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Third
+
+_THE NEVER-FAILING SPRINGS_
+
+GENESIS xvii. 1-8.
+
+
+"I will establish My covenant." The good promises of God are never
+revoked. They are like springs which know no shrinking in times of
+drought. Nay, in time of drought they reveal a richer fulness. The
+promises are confirmed in the hour of my need, and the greater my need the
+greater is my bounty. And so it was that the Apostle Paul came to "rejoice
+in his infirmities," for through his infirmities he discovered the riches
+of Divine grace. He brought a bigger pitcher to the fountain, and he
+always carried it away full. "As thy days so shall thy strength be."
+
+So I need never fear that the promise of yesterday will exhaust itself
+before to-morrow. God's covenant goes with us like the ever-fresh waters
+of the wilderness. "They drank of that rock which followed them, and that
+rock was Christ." Every fulfilment of God's promise is the pledge of one
+to come.
+
+God has no road without its springs. If His path stretches across the
+waste wilderness the "fountains shall break out in the desert," and "the
+wilderness shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Fourth
+
+_THE GOD OF THEIR SUCCEEDING RACE_
+
+EXODUS vi. 2-8.
+
+
+"I appeared unto Abraham.... I will be to you a God." The covenant made
+with the father was renewed to the children. The father's death did not
+disannul the promise of the Lord. Death has no power in the realms of
+grace. His moth and his rust can never destroy the ministries of Divine
+love. Abraham died and was laid to rest, but the river of life flowed on,
+and the bounties of the Lord never failed. The village well quenches the
+thirst of many generations: and so is it through the generations with the
+wells of grace and salvation. The villagers have not to dig a new well
+when the patriarch dies: "the river of God is full of water."
+
+And thus I am privileged to share the spiritual resources of Abraham, and
+the still richer resources of the Apostle Paul. Nothing was given to him
+that is withheld from me. He is like a great mountaineer, and he has
+climbed to lofty heights; but I need not be dismayed. All the strength
+that was given to him, in which he reached those lofty places, is mine
+also. I may share his elevation and his triumph. "For the promise is
+unto you and your children, and to all that are afar off."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Fifth
+
+_THE FLOWERS THAT NEVER FADE_
+
+1 PETER i. 1-9.
+
+
+"An inheritance incorruptible." I am writing these words in the Island
+of Arran. To-morrow I shall leave the land behind, but I shall take the
+landscape with me! It will be with me in the coming winter, and I shall
+gaze upon Goat Fell in the streets of New York. The land is a temporary
+possession, the landscape abides!
+
+The praise of men often dies with the shout that proclaims it. Another
+idol appears and the feverish worship is transferred to him. The world's
+garland begins to fade as soon as it is laid upon the brow. The morning
+after the coronation I possess a handful of withering leaves. But the
+garland of God's praise acquires new grace and beauty with the years. It
+is never so fresh and flourishing as just when everything else is fading
+away. It is glorious in the hour of death! The soul goes, wearing her
+garland, into the presence of the gracious Lord who gave it.
+
+We can begin even now to wear the flowers of Paradise. We can begin even
+now to furnish our minds with lovely thoughts and memories. We can have
+"the mind of Christ."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Sixth
+
+"_COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS_"
+
+PSALM cv. 1-15.
+
+
+"Count your blessings!" Yes, but over what area shall I look for them?
+There is my personal life. Let me search in every corner. I have found
+forget-me-nots on many a rutty road. I have found wild-roses behind a
+barricade of nettles. Professor Miall has a lecture on "The Botany of a
+Railway Station." He found something graceful and exquisite in the midst
+of its soot and grime. So I must look even in the dark patches of life,
+among my disappointments and defeats, and even there I shall find tokens
+of the Lord's presence, some flowers of His planting.
+
+And there is my share in the life of the nation. "Ye seed of Abraham His
+servant, ye children of Jacob His chosen." There are hands that stretch
+out to me from past days, laden with bequests of privilege and freedom.
+Our feet "stand in a large place," and the place was cleared by the
+fidelity and the courage of the men of old. I have countless blessings
+that were bought with blood. The red marks of sacrifice are over all my
+daily ways. Let me not take the inheritance and overlook the blood marks,
+and stride about as though it were nought but common ground. Mercies
+abound on every hand! "Count your blessings!"
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Seventh
+
+_A JOURNAL OF MERCIES_
+
+NEHEMIAH ix. 6-11.
+
+
+"Thou hast performed Thy words: for Thou art righteous." Frances Ridley
+Havergal kept a journal of mercies. She had a record book, and she crowded
+it with her remembrances of God's goodness. She was always on the look-out
+for tokens of the Lord's grace and bounty, and she found them everywhere.
+Everywhere she had communion with a covenant-keeping God. The Bible became
+to her more and more the history of her own life and experience. Promise
+after promise told the story of her own triumphs. She appropriated the
+goodness of God, and she set her own seal to the testimony that God is
+true.
+
+Many a complaining life would be changed into music and song by a journal
+of mercies. Many a fear can be dispersed by a ready remembrance. Memory
+can be made the handmaid of hope. Yesterday's blessing can kindle the
+courage of to-day. That is the purposed ministry of "the days that have
+been." We are to harness the strength of their experiences to the tasks
+and burdens of to-day; and in the remembrance of God's providences we
+shall march through our difficulties with singing.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Eighth
+
+_HE IS FAITHFUL!_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 54-61.
+
+
+"There hath not failed one word of all His good promise." Supposing one
+word had failed, how then? If one golden promise had turned out to be
+counterfeit, how then? If the ground had yielded anywhere we should
+have been fearful and suspicious at every part of the road. If the bell
+of God's fidelity had been broken anywhere the music would have been
+destroyed. But not one word has failed. The road has never given way in
+time of flood. Every bell of heaven is perfectly sound, and the music is
+full and glorious. "God is faithful, who also will do it."
+
+"God is love," and "love never faileth." The lamp will not die out
+at the midnight. The fountain will not fail us in the wilderness. The
+consolations will not be wanting in the hour of our distresses. Love will
+have "all things ready." "He has promised, and shall He not do it?" All
+the powers of heaven are pledged to the fulfilment of the smallest word of
+grace. We can never be deserted! "God cannot deny Himself." Every word of
+His will unburden its treasure at the appointed hour, and I shall be rich
+with the strength of my God.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Ninth
+
+_THE PERILS OF POSSESSIONS_
+
+GENESIS xiii. 1-9.
+
+
+There is nothing more divisive than wealth. As families grow rich their
+members frequently become alienated. It is rarely, indeed, that love
+increases with the increase of riches. Luxurious possessions appear to be
+a forcing-bed in which the seeds of sleeping vices waken into strength.
+For one thing, selfishness is often quickened with success. Plenty, as
+well as penury, can "freeze the genial currents of the soul." And with
+selfishness comes a whole brood of mean and petty dispositions. Envy comes
+with it, and jealousy, and a morbid sensitiveness which readily leaps into
+strife.
+
+So do our possessions multiply our temptations. So does the bright day
+"bring forth the adder." So do we need extra defences when "fortune smiles
+upon us." But our God can make us proof against "the fiery darts" of
+success. Abram remained unscathed in "the garish day." The Lord delivered
+him from "the destruction that wasteth at noonday." His wealth increased,
+but it was not allowed to force itself between his soul and God. In the
+midst of all his prosperity, he dwelt in "the secret place of the Most
+High," and he abode in "the shadow of the Almighty."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Tenth
+
+_THE LUST OF THE EYE_
+
+GENESIS xiii. 10-18.
+
+
+Look at Lot. He was a man of the world, sharp as a needle, having an eye
+to the main chance. He boasted to himself that he always "took in the
+whole situation." He said that what he did not know was not worth knowing.
+But such "knowing" men have always very imperfect sight. Lot saw "all the
+well-watered plain of Jordan," but he overlooked the city of Sodom and its
+exceedingly wicked and sinful people. And the thing he overlooked was the
+biggest thing in the outlook! It was to prove his undoing, and to bring
+his presumptuous selfishness to the ground.
+
+Look at Abram. His spirit was cool and thoughtful, unheated by the
+feverish yearning after increased possessions. He had a "quiet eye," the
+fruit of his faithful communion with God. He was more intent on peace than
+plenty. He preferred fraternal fellowship to selfish increase. And so he
+chose the unselfish way, and along that way he discovered the blessing of
+God. "The Lord is mindful of His own. He remembereth His children." In the
+unselfish way we always enjoy the Divine companionship, and in that
+companionship we are endowed with inconceivable wealth.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Eleventh
+
+_SELF-MADE OR GOD-MADE_
+
+MATTHEW vi. 26-33.
+
+
+Think of Lot and then think of a lily of the field! Think of the
+feverishness of the one and of the serenity of the other, or think of the
+ugly selfishness of the one, and of the graceful beauty of the other! Look
+upon avarice at its worst, upon a Shylock, and then gaze upon a lily of
+the field! How alarming is the contrast! The one is self-made, guided by
+vicious impulses; the other is the handiwork of God. The one is rooted in
+self-will; the other is rooted in the power of the Divine grace. God has
+nothing to do with the one; He has everything to do with the other. So one
+becomes "big" and ugly; the other grows in strength and beauty.
+
+Now the wonder is this, that we, too, may be rooted in the power from
+which the lily draws its grace. We may draw into our souls the wealth of
+the Eternal, even the unsearchable riches of Christ. We may put on "the
+beauty of holiness." We may become clothed in the graces of the Spirit.
+When we are in the field of the lilies we may appear unto the Lord as
+kindred flowers of His own garden.
+
+"He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit."
+"Rooted in Him," we shall "grow up in all things unto Him."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twelfth
+
+_TWO OPPOSITES_
+
+"If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
+     --1 JOHN ii. 13-17.
+
+
+No man can love two opposites any more than he can walk in contrary
+directions at the same time. No man can at once be mean and magnanimous,
+chivalrous and selfish. We cannot at the same moment dress appropriately
+for the arctic regions and the tropics. And we cannot wear the habits of
+the world and the garments of salvation. When we try to do it the result
+is a wretched and miserable compromise. I have seen a shopkeeper on the
+Sabbath day put up one shutter, out of presumed respect for the Holy Lord,
+and behind the shutter continue all the business of the world! That one
+shutter is typical of all the religion that is left when a man "loves the
+world" and delights in its prizes and crowns. His religion is a bit of
+idle ritual which is an offence unto God!
+
+So I must make my choice. Shall I travel north or south? Which of the two
+opposites shall I love--God or the world? Whichever love I choose will
+drive out and quench the other. And thus if I choose the love of God it
+will destroy every worldly passion, and the river of my affections and
+desires will be like "the river of water of life, clear as crystal."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Thirteenth
+
+_THE MIRACLE IN A DRY PLACE_
+
+PSALM cvii. 33-43.
+
+
+"He turneth ... the dry ground into water-springs." This is one of the
+miracles of grace. The good Lord makes a dry experience the fountain of
+blessing. I pass into an apparently waste place and I find riches of
+consolation. Even in "the valley of the shadow" I come upon "green
+pastures" and "still waters." I find flowers in the ruts of the hardest
+roads if I am in "the way of God's commandments." God's providence is the
+pioneer of every faithful pilgrim. "His blessed feet have gone before."
+What I shall need is already foreseen, and foresight with the Lord means
+forethought and provision. Every hour gives the loyal disciples surprises
+of grace.
+
+Let me therefore not fear when the path of duty turns into the wilderness.
+The wilderness is as habitable with God as the crowded city, and in His
+fellowship my bread and water are sure. The Lord has strange manna for the
+children of disappointment, and He makes water to "gush forth from the
+rock." Duty can lead me nowhere without Him, and His provision is abundant
+both in "the thirsty desert and the dewy mead." There will be a spring at
+the foot of every hill, and I shall find "lilies of peace" in the lonely
+valley of humiliation.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Fourteenth
+
+_FORGETTING GOD_
+
+DEUTERONOMY viii. 11-20.
+
+
+"Beware ... lest when thou hast eaten and art full ... thine heart be
+lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God." I was in a little cottage
+near Warwick. I said to the good man who lived in it, "Can you see the
+castle?" and he replied, "We can see it best in the winter when the leaves
+are off the trees. In the summer time it is apt to be hid!" The summer
+bounty hid the castle; the winter barrenness revealed it! And so it is in
+life. In the season of fulness we are prone to be blind to "the house of
+many mansions," and we forget the Master of the house, the Lord our God.
+Our material wealth hides our eternal treasure.
+
+What, then, shall we do in the days of our prosperity, when all our trees
+are in full leaf? We must pray that material things may never become
+opaque, that they may be always transparent, so that through the seen we
+may behold the unseen. This is a gift of the Spirit, and it may be ours.
+He will anoint our eyes with the eye-salve of grace, and everything will
+become to us a symbol of something better, so that even in the midst of
+material plenty our hearts will be with our treasure in heaven. Everything
+will be to us "as it were transparent glass."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Fifteenth
+
+_THE MINISTRY OF PRAISE_
+
+PSALM cxv.
+
+
+"The Lord hath been mindful of us: He will bless us." In that joyful
+assurance there is both retrospect and prospect. There is the trodden
+pathway of Providence, and there is the star of hope! The eyes are
+steadied and refreshed in sacred memories, and then they gaze into the
+future with serene and happy confidence. And so the Ebenezer of the soul
+becomes both a thanksgiving and a reconsecration.
+
+Now perhaps our hopes are thin because our praises are scanty. Perhaps our
+expectations are clouded because our memories are dim. There is nothing so
+quickens hope as a journey among the mercies of our yesterdays. The heart
+lays aside its fears amid the accumulated blessings of our God. Worries
+pass away like cloudlets in the warmth of a summer's morning. And the
+recollections of God's goodness always make summer even in the wintriest
+day.
+
+Now I see why the New Testament is so urgent in the matter of praise.
+Without praise many other virtues and graces cannot be born. Without
+praise they have no breath of life. Praise quickens a radiant company
+of heavenly presences, and among them is the shining spirit of hope.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Sixteenth
+
+_THE DISTINCTION OF BEING RECOGNIZED_
+
+JOHN x. 1-18.
+
+
+The Good Shepherd knows His sheep, and knows them by name. And that is
+what I am tempted to forget. I think of myself as one of an innumerable
+multitude, no one of whom receives personal attention. "My way is
+overlooked by my God." But here is the evangel--the Saviour would
+miss me, even me!
+
+At a great orchestral rehearsal, which Sir Michael Costa was conducting,
+the man who played the piccolo stayed his fingers for a moment, thinking
+that his trifling contribution would never be missed. At once Sir Michael
+raised his hand, and said: "Stop! Where's the piccolo?" He missed the
+individual note. And my Lord needs the note of my life to make the music
+of His Kingdom, and if the note be absent He will miss it, and the
+glorious music will be broken and incomplete.
+
+There is a common vice of self-conceit, but there is also a common vice of
+excessive self-depreciation. "My Lord can do nothing with me!" Yes, my
+Lord knows thee and needs thee! And by the power of His grace thou canst
+accomplish wonders!
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Seventeenth
+
+_SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT_
+
+"_My sheep hear My voice!_"
+     --JOHN x. 19-30.
+
+
+This is spiritual discernment. We may test our growth in grace by our
+expertness in detecting the voice of our Lord. It is the skill of the
+saint to catch "the still small voice" amid all the selfish clamours of
+the day, and amid the far more subtle callings of the heart. It needs a
+good ear to catch the voice of the Lord in our sorrows. I think it
+requires a better ear to discern the voice amid our joys! The twilight
+helps me to be serious; the noonday glare tends to make me heedless.
+
+"_And they follow Me!_" Discernment is succeeded by obedience. That is the
+one condition of becoming a saint--to follow the immediate call of the
+Lord. And it is the one condition of becoming an expert listener. Every
+time I hear the voice, and follow, I sharpen my sense of hearing, and the
+next time the voice will sound more clear.
+
+"_And I give unto them eternal life._" Yes, life is found in the ways of
+a listening obedience. Every faculty and function will be vitalized when I
+follow the Lord of life and glory. "In Christ shall all be made alive."
+
+My Saviour, graciously give me the listening ear! Give me the obedient
+heart.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY the Eighteenth
+
+_FALSE SHEPHERDS_
+
+EZEKIEL xxxiv. 1-10.
+
+
+This word of the Lord puts before me the unlovely lineaments of the false
+shepherds.
+
+They are self-seeking. They "_feed themselves_," but they "_feed not
+the flock_." They take up religion for what they can make out of it! It
+is a carnal ambition, not a holy service. It is used for getting, not for
+giving, for self-glorification and not for self-sacrifice. It is
+selfishness masquerading as holiness, the thief in the garb of the
+shepherd.
+
+And, therefore, the false shepherds are devoid of sympathy. "_The diseased
+have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick._"
+Selfishness always tends to benumbment. Humaneness is fostered by
+sacrifice. Our sympathetic chords are kept refined by chivalrous deeds.
+Drop the deeds and all our refinements begin to coarsen, and we make no
+response to our brother's cries of need and pain.
+
+And because there is no sympathy there is no quest. "_My sheep wandered
+... and none did seek after them._" How can we seek them if we have never
+missed them, if we have no sense that they are lost? Our Lord came in
+travail of soul to "seek that which was lost." And I must share His
+travail if I would share in the search.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Nineteenth
+
+_THE LOST SHEEP_
+
+EZEKIEL xxxiv. 11-19.
+
+
+And now, again, I am bidden to contemplate the gracious ministries of the
+Good Shepherd.
+
+The Good Shepherd searches the "far country" for His lost sheep. "_I will
+bring them ... out of all places where they have been scattered._" He goes
+into the hard wilderness of cold indifference, and wasteful pride, and
+desolating sin, searching "high and low" for His foolish sheep. And no
+place is unvisited by the Great Seeker! Every perilous ravine, where a
+sheep can be lost, knows the footprints of the Shepherd. And He knows my
+far-country, and He is seeking me!
+
+And the Good Shepherd brings His wandering sheep back home. "_I will bring
+them ... to their own land._" We return from the land of pride to the home
+of lowliness, from hard indifference to gracious sympathy, from the
+barrenness of sin to the beauty of holiness. We come back to God's
+beautiful "lily-land" of eternal light and peace.
+
+And what nutriment the Good Shepherd provides for the home-coming sheep!
+"_I will feed them in a good pasture._" Our wasted powers shall be renewed
+and strengthened by the fattening diet of grace. Love shall be both host
+and meat! "He will satisfy thy mouth with good things."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twentieth
+
+_THE PASSING OF THE BEAST_
+
+EZEKIEL xxxiv. 23-31.
+
+
+When the Good Shepherd has charge of His flock "_the wild beasts will
+cease out of the land_." All beastly passions shall be destroyed. The fair
+gardens of our souls shall no longer be ravaged by sleek pride, or fierce
+appetite, or ravenous lust. "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder,
+the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet."
+
+And the forces of nature shall be in friendly co-operation. "_I will cause
+the shower to come down in his season._" We are to have mystic allies in
+sky and field. Nature sides with the man who sides with God. Our very
+garden becomes our helpmeet when we are cultivating the fruits of the
+Spirit. The heavens assume a friendly aspect when we are "marching to
+beautiful Zion." But when we are against the Lord all these forces appear
+to be hostile. "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera."
+
+And we are to have a joyful assurance of the companionship of our God.
+"_This shall they know, that I, the Lord their God, am with them._" And
+in that precious assurance every other treasure is found! Only be sure of
+that, and we shall walk about as kings and queens!
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY the Twenty-first
+
+_THE VALUE OF ONE SOUL_
+
+MATTHEW xviii. 7-14.
+
+
+What an infinite value the Lord attaches to one soul! "And _one of them_
+be gone astray!" I thought He might never have missed the one! And yet the
+Eastern shepherd says that out of his great flock he can miss the
+individual face. A face is missing, as though a child were absent from the
+family circle. When a soul is wandering in the far country there is an
+awful gap in the Father's house! Is thy place empty? Is mine?
+
+And mark the pangs of the Shepherd's quest. He "_goeth into the mountain
+and seeketh!_" The Eastern shepherd goes out in tempest, and in rocky
+ravine, or in thorny scrub that tears the hands and feet, he seeks and
+finds his sheep. And my Lord sought me, in stony and thorny places, in the
+darkness of Gethsemane, and in the awful desolations of The Hill.
+
+And the Shepherd found His sheep, and He returns across the hills singing
+the song of the triumph of grace--
+
+    "And up from the mountains, thunder-riven,
+      And up from the rocky steep,
+     A cry arose to the gates of heaven,
+      'Rejoice! I have found My sheep!'
+     And the angels echo around the throne,
+     'Rejoice! for the Lord brings back His own!'"
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-second
+
+_MY OWN SHEPHERD_
+
+PSALM xxiii.
+
+
+How shall we touch this lovely psalm and not bruise it? It is exquisite as
+"a violet by a mossy stone!" Exposition is almost an impertinence, its
+grace is so simple and winsome.
+
+There is the ministry of rest. "_He maketh me to lie down in green
+pastures._" The Good Shepherd knows when my spirit needs relaxation. He
+will not have me always "on the stretch." The bow of the best violin
+sometimes requires to have its strings "let down." And so my Lord gives me
+rest.
+
+And there is the discipline of change. "_He leadeth me in the paths of
+righteousness._" Those strange roads in life, unknown roads, by which I
+pass into changed circumstances and surroundings! But the discipline of
+the change is only to bring me into new pastures, that I may gain fresh
+nutriment for my soul. "Because they have no changes they fear not God."
+
+And there is "_the valley of the shadow_," cold and bare! What matter? He
+is there! "I will fear no evil." What if I see "no pastures green"? "Thy
+rod and Thy staff they comfort me!" The Lord, who is leading, will see
+after my food. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine
+enemies." I have a quiet feast while my foes are looking on!
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-third
+
+_THE GIVER'S HAND_
+
+GENESIS iv. 3-15.
+
+
+Cain and Abel both brought an offering unto the Lord, but one was accepted
+and the other rejected. It is the giver who determines the worth or the
+worthlessness of the gift. God looks not at the gift, but at the hand that
+brings it. "Your hands are full of blood!" "Your hands are unclean!" The
+Lord demands "clean hands." He will not have our compliments if there is
+defilement behind them. Our courtesies are rejected if iniquity attends
+them. The shining gloss on the linen is an offence if the dirt looks
+through! Who cares for food if presented by unclean hands? "Be ye clean,
+ye that bear the vessels of the Lord!"
+
+Every gift is welcome to the Lord if offered with clean hands. A mite, or
+a cup of cold water, or our daily labour, or the first-fruits of garden or
+field--all receive the blessing of our God if the hands that bring them
+are free from defilement. So is it with everything we offer to the Lord. A
+song of praise makes sweet music in the hearing of our God if it come from
+pure lips! Purity, as Thomas a' Kempis says, gives the wings which carry
+everything into the Father's presence.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-fourth
+
+_THE VOICE OF THE DEAD_
+
+HEBREWS xi. 1-6.
+
+
+With what voice shall we speak when we are dead? What will men hear when
+they turn their thoughts toward us? What part of us will remain alive,
+singing or jarring in men's remembrance? It is the biggest part of us that
+retains its voice. In some it is wealth, in others it is goodness; some
+go on speaking in their cruelty, others in their gentleness. Cain still
+speaks in his jealous passion. Abel speaks in his faith. Dorcas speaks in
+her "good works and alms-deeds which she did"; Judas Iscariot speaks in
+his betrayal. Yes, something goes on speaking. What shall it be?
+
+But these biggest things not only continue to speak in the ears of memory,
+they persist as actual forces in the common life of men. Our faith is not
+buried with our bones, nor is our avarice or pride. Our characters do not
+die when our hearts cease to beat. "The evil that men do lives after
+them," and so does the good. But deeper than our deeds, our dominant
+dispositions persist and mingle as friends or enemies in the lives of
+others. By them we, being dead, still speak, and we speak in subtle forces
+which aid or hinder other pilgrims who are fighting their way to God and
+heaven.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-fifth
+
+_FIRST, MY BROTHER!_
+
+MATTHEW v. 17-24.
+
+
+"First be reconciled to thy brother." We are to put first things first.
+When we bring a gift unto the Lord He looks at the hand that brings it. If
+the hand is defiled the gift is rejected. "Wash you, make you clean."
+"First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
+
+All this tells us why some resplendent gifts are rejected, and why some
+commonplace gifts are received amid heavenly song. This is why the widow's
+mite goes shining through the years. The hand that offered it was hallowed
+and purified with sacrifice. Shall we say that in that palm there was
+something akin to the pierced hands of the Lord? The mite had intimate
+associations with the Cross.
+
+And it also tells me why so much of our public worship is offensive to our
+Lord. We come to the church from a broken friendship. Some holy thing has
+been broken on the way. Someone's estate has been invaded, and his
+treasure spoiled. Someone has been wronged, and God will not touch our
+gift. "Leave there thy gift; first be reconciled to thy brother."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE FIRE OF ENVY_
+
+"_Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work!_"
+     --JAMES iii. 13-18.
+
+
+In Milton's "Comus" we read of a certain potion which has the power to
+pervert all the senses of everyone who drinks it. Nothing is apprehended
+truly. Sight and hearing and taste are all disordered, and the victim is
+all unconscious of the confusion. The deadly draught is the minister of
+deceptive chaos.
+
+And envy is like that potion when it is drunk by the spirit. It perverts
+every moral and spiritual sense. The envious is more fatally stricken than
+the blind. He gazes upon untruth and thinks it true. He looks upon
+confusion and thinks it order. Envy is colour-blind. It is like jealousy,
+of which it is a blood-relation. It never sees anything in its natural
+hues. It misinterprets everything.
+
+No one can quench the unholy fire of envy but the mighty God Himself. It
+is like a prairie fire: once kindled it is beyond our power to stamp it
+out. But God's coolness is more than a match for all our feverish heat.
+His quenchings are transformations. He converts the perverted and changes
+envy into goodwill. The bitter pool is made sweet. For confusion He gives
+order, for ashes He gives beauty, and in the face of an old enemy we see
+the countenance of a friend.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE CONFESSION OF SIN_
+
+"_I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me._"
+     --PSALM li. 1-12.
+
+
+Sin that is unconfessed shuts out the energies of grace. Confession makes
+the soul receptive of the bountiful waters of life. We open the door to
+God as soon as we name our sin. Guilt that is penitently confessed is
+already in the "consuming fire" of God's love. When I "acknowledge my sin"
+I begin to enter into the knowledge of "pardon, joy, and peace." But if I
+hide my sin I also hide myself from "the unsearchable riches of Christ."
+"If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
+to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
+
+I must then make confession of sin in my daily exercises in the presence
+of the Lord. I am taking the way to recovered victory when I tell the Lord
+the story of my defeat. Satan strengthens his awful chains when he can
+induce me to keep silence concerning my sin. All his plans are thrown into
+confusion as soon as I "pour out my soul before the Lord." When I fall let
+me not add to my guilt the further sin of secrecy. Unconfessed sin breeds
+in its lurking-place and multiplies its hateful offspring. The soul that
+makes confession is washed through and through, and the seeds of iniquity
+are driven out of my soul.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-eighth
+
+_CLEAN AND UNCLEAN ANGER_
+
+EPHESIANS iv. 25-32.
+
+
+"Let all anger be put away from you." And yet only a moment ago the
+Apostle had written the words, "Be ye angry and sin not." My power of
+anger is not to be destroyed, it is to be transformed and purified. Anger
+can be like an unclean bonfire; it can also be like "a sea of glass
+mingled with fire." There can be more smoke than light in it, more selfish
+passion than holy purpose. The fuel that feeds it may be envy, and
+jealousy, and spite, and not a big desire for the good of men and the
+glory of God. Worldly anger "is set on fire of hell"; holy anger borrows
+flame from the altar-fires of God.
+
+Our anger reveals our character. What is the quality of our anger? What
+kindles it? Is it incited by our own wrongs or by the wrongs of another?
+Is it set on fire by self-indulgence or by a noble sympathy? Here is a
+sentence which describes the anger of the Apostle Paul: "Who is made to
+stumble and I burn not?" Paul's holy anger was made to burn by oppression,
+by the cruelty inflicted upon his fellow-men. His fire had nothing unclean
+in it; it was pure as the flame of oxygen.
+
+This is the anger we must cherish. We cannot "work ourselves up" into it.
+We must seek to be "baptized with the Holy Ghost _and with fire_."
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Twenty-ninth
+
+_NOBLE REVENGE_
+
+"_I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy._"
+--PSALM vii. 4.
+
+
+That is the noblest revenge, and in those moments David had intimate
+knowledge of the spirit of his Lord. "If thine enemy hunger, feed him!"
+
+_Evil for good is devil-like._ To receive a favour and to return a blow!
+To obtain the gift of language, and then to use one's speech to curse the
+giver! To use a sacred sword is unholy warfare! All this is devil-like.
+
+_Evil for evil is beast-like._ Yes, the dog bites back when it is bitten.
+The dog returns snarl for snarl, venom for venom. And if, when I have been
+injured, I "pay a man back in his own coin," if I "give him as good as he
+gave," I am living on the plane of the beast.
+
+_Good for good is man-like._ When I requite a man's kindness by kindness!
+When I send presents to one who loads me with benefits! This is a true and
+manly thing to do, and lifts us far above the beast.
+
+_Good for evil is God-like._ Yes, that lifts me into "the heavenly places
+in Christ Jesus." Then I have "the mind of Christ." Then do I unto others
+as my Saviour has done unto me.
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Thirtieth
+
+_IRRESISTIBLE ARTILLERY_
+
+"_When I cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back._"
+--PSALM lvi.
+
+
+But it must be a real "cry"! It must not be an idle recitation which sheds
+no blood. It must be a cry like the cry of the drowning, a cry which
+cleaves the air like a bullet. Said a man to me some while ago, "Assault
+the heavens with cries for me!" That is the cry which takes the kingdom by
+storm.
+
+When such a cry rends the heavens, "my enemies turn back." A secret and
+irresistible artillery begins to play upon them, and their strength fails.
+Yes, believing prayer calls these invisible allies into the field. "The
+mountains are full of horses and chariots of fire round about!" And the
+enemy flies!
+
+"_This I know._" The psalmist is building upon experience. The miracle
+has happened a hundred times. Many a morning has he seen the enemy
+vaingloriously tramping the field, and he has cried unto the Lord, and
+before nightfall there has been a perfect rout. Blessed is the man who has
+had such heartening dealings with the Lord that he can now face a hostile
+host in unclouded faith and assurance!
+
+
+
+
+JANUARY The Thirty-first
+
+_UNDER HIS WINGS_
+
+"_In the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge._"
+--PSALM lvii.
+
+
+Could anything be more tenderly gracious than this figure of hiding under
+the shadow of God's wings? It speaks of bosom-warmth, and bosom-shelter,
+and bosom-rest. "Let me to Thy bosom fly!"
+
+And what strong wings they are! Under those wings I am secure even from
+the lions. My animal passions shall not hurt me when I am "hiding in God."
+The fiercest onslaughts of the devil are powerless to break those mighty
+wings. The tenderest little chick, "one of these little ones," nestling
+behind this soft and gentle shelter, shall be perfectly secure; "none of
+its bones shall be broken."
+
+I do not wonder that this sheltering psalmist begins to sing! "_I will
+sing and give praise!_" I have often listened to the sheltering chicks,
+hiding behind the mother's wings, and I have heard that quaint,
+comfortable, contented sound for which our language has no name. It is a
+sound of incipient song, the musical murmur of satisfaction. "I will sing
+unto Thee ... for Thy mercy is great."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The First
+
+_THE SOUL IN PRISON_
+
+"_Bring my soul out of prison!_"
+--PSALM cxlii.
+
+
+I too, have my prison-house, and only the Lord can deliver me.
+
+There is _the prison-house of sin_. It is a dark and suffocating
+hole, without friendly light or morning air. And it is haunted by such
+affrighting shapes, as though my iniquities had incarnated themselves in
+ugly and repulsive forms. None but the Lord can bring me out.
+
+And there is _the prison-house of sorrow_. My griefs sometimes wrap me
+about like cold confining walls, which have neither windows nor doors. It
+seems as though a fluid sorrow can congeal into a cold, hard temperament,
+and hold me in its icy embrace. And none but the Lord can bring me out.
+
+And there is _the prison-house of death_. I must perforce pass through the
+gate of death. Shall I find it a castle of gloom, or is there another gate
+through which I shall emerge into the fair, sweet paradise of God? My
+Master is Lord of the road! And He tells me that death shall not be a
+castle of captivity, but only a thoroughfare through which I shall pass
+into the realm of eternal day.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Second
+
+_HOW TO APPROACH A CRISIS_
+
+"_It shall be given you in that same hour._"
+--MATTHEW x. 16-28.
+
+
+And so I am not to worry about the coming crisis! "God never is before His
+time, and never is behind!" When the hour is come, I shall find that the
+great Host hath made "all things ready."
+
+When the crisis comes _He will tell me how to rest_. It is a great matter
+to know just how to rest--how to be quiet when "all without tumultuous
+seems." We irritate and excite our souls about the coming emergency, and
+we approach it with worn and feverish spirits, and so mar our Master's
+purpose and work.
+
+When the crisis comes _He will tell me what to do_. The orders are not
+given until the appointed day. Why should I fume and fret and worry as to
+what the sealed envelope contains? "It is enough that He knows all," and
+when the hour strikes the secrets shall be revealed.
+
+And when the crisis comes _He will tell me what to say_. I need not begin
+to prepare my retorts and my responses. What shall I say when death comes,
+to me or to my loved one? Never mind, He will tell thee. And what when
+sorrow or persecution comes? Never mind, He will tell thee.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Third
+
+_TRANSFORMING THE HARD HEART_
+
+_The Lord "turned the flint into a fountain of waters."_
+--PSALM cxiv.
+
+
+What a violent conjunction, the flint becoming the birthplace of a spring!
+And yet this is happening every day. Men who are as "hard as flint," whose
+hearts are "like the nether millstone," become springs of gentleness and
+fountains of exquisite compassion. Beautiful graces, like lovely ferns,
+grow in the home of severities, and transform the grim, stern soul into a
+garden of fragrant friendships. This is what Zacchaeus was like when his
+flint became a fountain. It is what Matthew the publican was like when the
+Lord changed his hard heart into a land of springs.
+
+No one is "too far gone." No hardness is beyond the love and pity of God.
+The well of eternal life can gush forth even in a desert waste, and "where
+sin abounds grace doth much more abound." Let us bring our hardness to the
+Lord. Let us see what He can make of our flint. When we are dry and
+"feelingless," and desire is dead, let us bring this Sahara to the great
+Restorer, and "the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Fourth
+
+_SPIRITUAL BUOYANCY_
+
+"_When thou passeth through the waters they shall not overflow thee._"
+--ISAIAH xliii. 1-7.
+
+
+When Mrs. Booth, the mother of the Salvation Army, was dying, she quietly
+said, "The waters are rising but I am not sinking." But then she had been
+saying that all through her life. Other floods besides the waters of death
+had gathered about her soul. Often had the floods been out and the roads
+were deep in affliction. But she had never sunk! The good Lord made her
+buoyant, and she rode upon the storm! This, then, is the promise of the
+Lord, not that the waters of trouble shall never gather about the
+believer, but that he shall never be overwhelmed. He shall "keep his head
+above them." Yes, to him shall be given the grace of "aboveness." He shall
+never be under, always above! It is the precious gift of spiritual
+buoyancy, sanctified good spirits, the power of the Christian hope. When
+we are in Christ Jesus circumstances shall never be our master. One is our
+Master, and "we are more than conquerors in Him that loved us, and washed
+us from our sins in His own blood."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Fifth
+
+_EVERYWHERE THE GATE OF HEAVEN_
+
+"_Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not._"
+--GENESIS xxviii. 10-22.
+
+
+That is the first time for many a day that Jacob had named the name of
+God. In all the dark story of his wicked intrigue the name of God is never
+mentioned. Jacob wanted to forget God! God would be a disturbing presence!
+But here he encounters Him in a dream, and in the most unlikely place.
+"And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place!"
+
+Jacob had yet to learn that there is everywhere "a ladder set up on the
+earth and the top of it reaches to heaven." There was a ladder from the
+very tent in which he wore his deceptive skin. There was a ladder from the
+secret place where he and his mother wove their mischievous plot. There is
+no corner of earth which is cut away from the Divine vigilance. God gets
+at us everywhere.
+
+But there is a merciful side to all this. If the ladder be everywhere, and
+God can get at us, then also everywhere we can get at God. There are
+"ascending angels" who will carry our confessions, our prayers, our sighs
+and mournings, to the very heart of the eternally gracious God.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Sixth
+
+_THE HOME-BIRD_
+
+PSALM xci. 1-12.
+
+
+I read a sentence the other day in which a very powerful modern writer
+describes a certain woman as "having God on her visiting list." We may
+recoil from the phrase, but it very vitally describes a very awful
+commonplace. Countless thousands have God on their visiting lists. They
+pay Him courtesy-calls, and between the calls He is forgotten. Perhaps the
+call is paid once a week in the social function of worship. Perhaps it is
+paid more rarely, like calls between comparative strangers. How great the
+contrast between a caller and one who dwells in the secret place! It is
+the difference between a flirt and a "home-bird," between one who flits
+about on a score of fancies, and one who settles down in the solid
+satisfaction of a supreme affection.
+
+"_Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty._" Such is the reward of
+the "home-bird," the settled friend of the Lord. The shadow of the Lord
+shall rest upon him continually. I sometimes read of our monarchs being
+"shadowed" by protective police. In an infinitely more real and intimate
+sense the soul that dwells in "the secret place" is shadowed by the
+sleepless grace and love of God.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Seventh
+
+_LEAVING ITS MARK_
+
+"_Fear not, thou worm Jacob, I will make thee a threshing
+instrument with teeth._"
+--ISAIAH xli. 8-14.
+
+
+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 a
+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 them
+with strength by which they will leave a noble mark upon the history of
+their time.
+
+And so the "worm" may take heart. The mighty God can make us stronger than
+our circumstances. We 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," saith the Lord,
+"and shall He not do it?"
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Eighth
+
+_REVISITING OLD ALTARS_
+
+"_I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me
+in the day of my distress._"
+--GENESIS xxxv. 1-7.
+
+
+It is a blessed thing to revisit our early altars. It is good to return
+to the haunts of early vision. Places and things have their sanctifying
+influences, and can recall us to lost experiences. I know a man to whom
+the scent of a white, wild rose is always a call to prayer. I know another
+to whom Grasmere is always the window of holy vision. Sometimes a
+particular pew in a particular church can throw the heavens open, and we
+see the Son of God. The old Sunday-school has sometimes taken an old man
+back to his childhood and back to his God. So I do not wonder that God led
+Jacob back to Bethel, and that in the old place of blessing he
+reconsecrated himself to the Lord.
+
+It is a revelation of the loving-kindness of God that we have all these
+helps to the recovery of past experiences. Let us use them with reverence.
+And in our early days let us make them. Let us build altars of communion
+which in later life we shall love to revisit. Let us make our early home
+"the house of God and the gate of heaven." Let us multiply deeds of
+service which will make countless places fragrant for all our after
+years.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Ninth
+
+_THE ROCK AND THE BOWING WALL_
+
+PSALM lxii.
+
+
+Here are two symbols by which the psalmist describes the confidence of the
+righteous. "_He only is my rock._" Only yesterday I had the shelter of a
+great rock on a storm-swept mountain side. The wind tore along the
+heights, driving the rain like hail, but in the opening of the rock our
+shelter was complete.
+
+And the second symbol is this: "_He is my high place._" The high place is
+the home of the chamois, out of reach of the arrow. "Flee as a bird to
+your mountain!" Get beyond the hunter's range! Our security is found in
+loftiness. It is our unutterable privilege to live in the heavenly places
+in Christ Jesus. Such is the confidence of the righteous.
+
+In this psalm there is also another pair of symbols describing the
+futility of the wicked. The wicked is "_as a bowing wall._" The wall is
+out of perpendicular, out of conformity with the truth of the plumb-line,
+and it will assuredly topple into ruin. So is it with the wicked: he is
+building awry, and he will fall into moral disaster. He is also "_as a
+tottering fence._" The wind and the rain dislodge the fence, it rots at
+its foundations, and one day it lies prone upon the ground.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Tenth
+
+_REGISTERING A VERDICT_
+
+"_The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey._"
+--JOSHUA xxiv. 22-28.
+
+
+Here was a definite decision. Our peril is that we spend our life in
+wavering and we never decide. We are like a jury which is always hearing
+evidence and never gives a verdict. We do much thinking, but we never make
+up our minds. We let our eyes wander over many things, but we make no
+choice. Life has no crisis, no culmination.
+
+Now people who never decide spend their days in hoping to do so. But this
+kind of life becomes a vagrancy and not a noble and illumined crusade. We
+drift through our days, we do not steer, and we never arrive at any rich
+and stately haven.
+
+It is therefore vitally wise to "make a vow unto the Lord." It is good to
+pull our loose thinkings together and to "gird up the loins of the mind."
+Let a man, at some definite place, and at some definite moment, make the
+supreme choice of his life.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Eleventh
+
+_THE HILL COUNTRY OF THE SOUL_
+
+PSALM cxxi.
+
+
+There should be a hill country in every life, some great up-towering peaks
+which dominate the common plain. There should be an upland district, where
+springs are born, and where rivers of inspiration have their birth. "I
+will lift up mine eyes unto the hills."
+
+The soul that knows no hills is sure to be oppressed with the monotony of
+the road. The inspiration to do little things comes from the presence of
+big things. It is amazing what dull trifles we can get through when a
+radiant love is near. A noble companionship glorifies the dingiest road.
+And what if that Companion be God? Then, surely, "the common round and
+daily task" have a light thrown upon them from "the beauty of His
+countenance."
+
+The "heavenlies" are our salvation and our defence. "His righteousness is
+like the great mountains." "The mountains bring forth peace unto His
+people."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twelfth
+
+_THE BULB AND THE SOIL_
+
+"_He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them,
+he it is that loveth Me._"
+--JOHN xiv. 15-24.
+
+
+Yes, but how can I keep them? Some one sent me a bulb which requires a
+certain kind of soil, but he also sent me the soil in which to grow it. He
+sent instructions, but he also sent power. And when I am bidden to keep a
+commandment I feel as though I have received the bulb but not the soil!
+But is this God's way of dealing with His people? I will read on if
+perchance I may find the gift of the soil.
+
+"He that abideth in Me ... the same bringeth forth much fruit." That is
+the gift I seek. For the keeping of His commandments the Lord provides
+Himself. I am not called upon to raise fruits out of the soil of my own
+will, out of my own infirmity of aspiration or desire. I can rest
+everything in God! I can "abide in Him," and I may have the holy energies
+of the Godhead to produce in me the fruits of a holy and obedient life.
+The good Lord provides both the bulb and the soil.
+
+It is the tragedy of life that we forget this, and seek to make a soil-bed
+of our own. And thus do we suffer the calamity of fruitless labour, the
+heavy drudgery of tasks beyond our strength. "Come unto Me, all ye that
+labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Thirteenth
+
+_GRUDGES_
+
+"_Thou shalt not bear any grudge._"
+--LEVITICUS xix. 11-18.
+
+
+How searching is that demand upon the soul! My forgiveness of my brother
+is to be complete. No sullenness is to remain, no sulky temper which so
+easily gives birth to thunder and lightning. There is to be no painful
+aloofness, no assumption of a superiority which rains contempt upon the
+offender. When I forgive, I am not to carry any powder forward on the
+journey. I am to empty out all my explosives, all my ammunition of anger
+and revenge. I am not to "bear any grudge."
+
+I cannot meet this demand. It is altogether beyond me. I might utter words
+of forgiveness, but I cannot reveal a clear, bright, blue sky without a
+touch of storm brewing anywhere. But the Lord of grace can do it for me.
+He can change my weather. He can create a new climate. He can "renew a
+right spirit within me," and in that holy atmosphere nothing shall live
+which seeks to poison and destroy. Grudges shall die "like cloud-spots in
+the dawn." Revenge, that awful creation of the unclean, feverish soul,
+shall give place to goodwill, the strong genial presence which makes its
+home in the new heart.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Fourteenth
+
+_IMPERFECT CONSECRATION_
+
+MATTHEW xix. 16-22.
+
+
+The rich young ruler consecrated a part, but was unwilling to consecrate
+the whole. He hallowed the inch but not the mile. He would go part of the
+way, but not to the end. And the peril is upon us all. We give ourselves
+to the Lord, but we reserve some liberties. We offer Him our house, but
+we mark some rooms "Private." And that word "Private," denying the Lord
+admission, crucifies Him afresh. He has no joy in the house so long as any
+rooms are withheld.
+
+Dr. F. B. Meyer has told us how his early Christian life was marred and
+his ministry paralyzed just because he had kept back one key from the
+bunch of keys he had given to the Lord. Every key save one! The key of one
+room kept for personal use, and the Lord shut out. And the effects of the
+incomplete consecration were found in lack of power, lack of assurance,
+lack of joy and peace.
+
+The "joy of the Lord" begins when we hand over the last key. We sit with
+Christ on His throne as soon as we have surrendered all our crowns, and
+made Him sole and only ruler of our life and its possessions.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Fifteenth
+
+_THE WITNESS OF YESTERDAY_
+
+PSALM lxxviii. 1-8.
+
+
+Our yesterdays are to be the teachers of our children. We are to take them
+over our road, and show them the pitfalls where we stumbled and the snares
+that lured us away. And we are to show them how we found the springs of
+grace, and how the Lord made Himself known to us in daily providence and
+care. We are to relate His exploits, "His wonderful dealings with the
+children of men." We must make our life witness of God to our children,
+and when their minds roam over our road they must see it radiant with the
+grace and mercy of the Lord.
+
+The best inheritance I can give my child is a steadfast witness of my
+knowledge of God. The testimony of a light that never failed may give him
+the needful wisdom when his own way becomes troubled with clouds and
+darkness. And what a story it is, this story of the deeds of our gracious
+God. It is full of quickening for weary and desponding souls. It is a
+perfect reservoir of inspiration for those whose desire has failed, and in
+whose lives the wells of impulse have become dry. Let us bring forward
+yesterday's wealth to enrich the life of to-day. "Do ye not remember the
+miracle of the loaves?"
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Sixteenth
+
+_CROWDING OUT GOD_
+
+"_Lest thou forget._"
+--DEUTERONOMY iv. 5-13.
+
+
+That is surely the worst affront we can put upon anybody. We may oppose a
+man and hinder him in his work, or we may directly injure him, or we may
+ignore him, and treat him as nothing. Or we may forget him! Opposition,
+injury, contempt, neglect, forgetfulness! Surely this is a descending
+scale, and the last is the worst. And yet we can forget the Lord God. We
+can forget all His benefits. We can easily put Him out of mind. We can
+live as though He were dead. "My children have forgotten Me."
+
+What shall we do to escape this great disaster? "_Take heed to thyself!_"
+To take heed is to be at the helm and not asleep in the cabin. It is to
+steer and not to drift. It is to keep our eyes on the compass and our
+hands on the wheel. It is to know where we are going. We never
+deliberately forget our Lord; we carelessly drift into it. "Take heed."
+
+"_And keep thy soul diligently._" Gardens run to seed, and ill weeds grow
+apace. The fair things are crowded out, and the weed reigns everywhere. It
+is ever so with my soul. If I neglect it, the flowers of holy desire and
+devotion will be choked by weeds of worldliness. God will be crowded out,
+and the garden of the soul will become a wilderness of neglect and sin.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Seventeenth
+
+_BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS_
+
+"_He read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings._"
+--JOSHUA viii. 30-35.
+
+
+We are inclined to read only what pleases us, to hug the blessings and to
+ignore the warnings. We bask in the light, we close our eyes to the
+lightning. We recount the promises, we shut our ears to the rebukes. We
+love the passages which speak of our Master's gentleness, we turn away
+from those which reveal His severity. And all this is unwise, and
+therefore unhealthy. We become spiritually soft and anaemic. We lack moral
+stamina. We are incapable of noble hatred and of holy scorn. We are
+invertebrate, and on the evil day we are not able to stand.
+
+We must read "all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings."
+We must let the Lord brace us with His severities. We must gaze steadily
+upon the appalling fearfulness of sin, and upon its terrific issues. At
+all costs we must get rid of the spurious gentleness that holds compromise
+with uncleanness, that effeminate affection which is destitute of holy
+fire. We must seek the love which burns everlastingly against all sin; we
+must seek the gentleness which can fiercely grip a poisonous growth and
+tear it out to its last hidden root. We must seek that holy love which is
+as a "consuming fire."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Eighteenth
+
+_THE SUBTLETY OF TEMPTATION_
+
+JAMES i. 12-20.
+
+
+Evil enticements always come to us in borrowed attire. In the Boer War
+ammunition was carried out in piano cases, and military advices were
+transmitted in the skins of melons. And that is the way of the enemy of
+our souls. He makes us think we are receiving music when he is sending
+explosives; he promises life, but his gift is laden with the seeds of
+death. He offers us liberty, and he hides his chains in dazzling flowers.
+"Things are not what they seem."
+
+And so our enemy uses mirages, and will-o'-the-wisps and tinselled crowns.
+He lights friendly fires on perilous coasts to snare us to our ruin. And
+therefore we need clear, sure eyes. We need a refined moral sense which
+can discriminate between the true and the false, and which can discern the
+enemy even when he comes as "an angel of light." And we may have this
+wisdom from "the God of all wisdom." By His grace we may be kept morally
+sensitive, and we shall know our foe even when he is a long way off.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Ninteenth
+
+_THE THOUGHT AFAR OFF_
+
+PSALM cxxxix. 1-12.
+
+
+"Thou knowest my thought afar off." That fills me with awe. I cannot find
+a hiding-place where I can sin in secrecy. I cannot build an apparent
+sanctuary and conceal evil within its walls. I cannot with a sheep's skin
+hide the wolf. I cannot wrap my jealousy up in flattery and keep it
+unknown. "Thou God seest me." He knows the bottom thought that creeps in
+the basement of my being. Nothing surprises God! He sees all my sin. So am
+I filled with awe.
+
+"Thou knowest my thought afar off." This fills me also with hope and joy.
+He sees the faintest, weakest desire, aspiring after goodness. He sees the
+smallest fire of affection burning uncertainly in my soul. He sees every
+movement of penitence which looks toward home. He sees every little
+triumph, and every altar I build along life's way. Nothing is overlooked.
+My God is not like a policeman, only looking for crimes; He is the God of
+grace, looking for graces, searching for jewels to adorn His crown. So am
+I filled with hope and joy.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twentieth
+
+_TAMPERING WITH THE LABEL_
+
+1 JOHN iii. 4-10.
+
+
+Sin is transgression. It is the deliberate climbing of the fence. We see
+the trespass-board, and in spite of the warning we stride into the
+forbidden field. Sin is not ignorance, it is intention. We sin when we are
+wide-awake! There are teachers abroad who would soften words like these.
+They offer us terms which appear to lessen the harshness of our actions;
+they give our sin an aspect of innocence. But to alter the label on the
+bottle does not change the character of the contents. Poison is poison
+give it what name we please. "Sin is the transgression of the law."
+
+Let us be on our guard against the men whose pockets are filled with
+deceptive labels. Let us vigilantly resist all teachings which would
+chloroform the conscience. Let us prefer true terms to merely nice ones.
+Let us call sin by its right name, and let us tolerate no moral conjuring
+either with ourselves or with others. The first essential in all moral
+reformation is to call sin "sin." "If we confess our sin He is faithful
+and just to forgive us our sin."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-first
+
+_GRACE REIGNS!_
+
+ROMANS v. 12-21.
+
+
+When old Mr. Honest came to the river, and he entered the cold waters of
+death, the last words he was heard to utter by those who stood on the
+shore were these:--"Grace reigns!" All through his pilgrimage old Mr.
+Honest had been in Emmanuel's land where grace reigned night and day. It
+was through grace that he had found the way of life. It was through grace
+that he had been delivered from the beasts and pitfalls of the road. It
+was grace that had given him lilies of peace, and springs of refreshment,
+and the fine air that inspired him in difficult tasks. And in death he
+still found "grace abounding," and the Lord of the changing road was also
+Lord of the dark waters through which he passed into the radiant glories
+of the cloudless day.
+
+In every yard of a faithful pilgrimage we shall find the decrees of
+sovereign love. We are never in alien country. "Grace reigns" in every
+hill and valley, through every green pasture and over every rugged road,
+in every moment of "the day of life," and in the last sharp passage
+through the transient night of death.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-second
+
+_THE THREE GARDENS_
+
+REVELATION xxii. 1-14.
+
+
+The Bible opens with a garden. It closes with a garden. The first is the
+Paradise that was lost. The last is Paradise regained. And between the two
+there is a third garden, the garden of Gethsemane. And it is through the
+unspeakable bitterness and desolation of Gethsemane that we find again the
+glorious garden through which flows "the river of water of life." Without
+Gethsemane no New Jerusalem! Without its mysterious and unfathomable night
+no blessed sunrise of eternal hope! "We were reconciled to God by the
+death of His Son."
+
+We are always in dire peril of regarding our redemption lightly. We hold
+it cheaply. Privileges easily come to be esteemed as rights. And even
+grace itself can lose the strength of heavenly favour and can be received
+and used as our due. "Gethsemane can I forget?" Yes, I can; and in the
+forgetfulness I lose the sacred awe of my redemption, and I miss the real
+glory of "Paradise regained." "Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a
+price." That is the remembrance that keeps the spirit lowly, and that
+fills the heart with love for Him "whose I am," and whom I ought to
+serve.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-third
+
+_THE PROCESS AND THE END_
+
+"_Ye have seen the end of the Lord: that the Lord
+is very pitiful, and of tender mercy._"
+--JAMES v. 7-11.
+
+
+And so we are bidden to be patient. "We must wait to the end of the Lord."
+The Lord's ends are attained through very mysterious means. Sometimes the
+means are in contrast to the ends. He works toward the harvest through
+winter's frost and snow. The maker of chaste and delicate porcelain
+reaches his lovely ends through an awful mortar, where the raw material of
+bone and clay is pounded into a cream. In that mortar-chamber we have no
+hint of the finished ware. But be patient, even in this chamber of
+affliction the ware is on the way to glory!
+
+And so it is with the ministries of our Lord. He leads us through discords
+into harmonies, through opposition into union, through adversities into
+peace. His means of grace are processes, sometimes gentle, sometimes
+severe; and our folly is to assume that we have reached His ends when we
+are only on the way to them. "The end of the Lord is very pitiful, and of
+tender mercy." "Be patient, therefore," until it shall be spoken of thee
+and me, "And God saw that it was good."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-fourth
+
+_MOVING TOWARDS DAYBREAK_
+
+"_He hath brought me into darkness, but not into light._"
+--LAMENTATIONS iii. 1-9.
+
+
+But a man may be in darkness, and yet in motion toward the light. I was in
+the darkness of the subway, and it was close and oppressive, but I was
+moving toward the light and fragrance of the open country. I entered into
+a tunnel in the Black Country in England, but the motion was continued,
+and we emerged amid fields of loveliness. And therefore the great thing to
+remember is that God's darknesses are not His goals; His tunnels are means
+to get somewhere else. Yes, His darknesses are appointed ways to His
+light. In God's keeping we are always moving, and we are moving towards
+Emmanuel's land, where the sun shines, and the birds sing night and day.
+
+There is no stagnancy for the God-directed soul. He is ever guiding us,
+sometimes with the delicacy of a glance, sometimes with the firmer
+ministry of a grip, and He moves with us always, even through "the valley
+of the shadow of death." Therefore, be patient, my soul! The darkness is
+not thy bourn, the tunnel is not thy abiding home! He will bring thee out
+into a large place where thou shalt know "the liberty of the glory of the
+children of God."
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE FRESH EYE_
+
+"_His compassions fail not: they are new every morning._"
+--LAMENTATIONS iii. 22-33.
+
+
+We have not to live on yesterday's manna; we can gather it fresh to-day.
+Compassion becomes stale when it becomes thoughtless. It is new thought
+that keeps our pity strong. If our perception of need can remain vivid, as
+vivid as though we had never seen it before, our sympathies will never
+fail. The fresh eye insures the sensitive heart. And our God's compassions
+are so new because He never becomes accustomed to our need. He always sees
+it with an eye that is never dulled by the commonplace; He never becomes
+blind with much seeing! We can look at a thing so often that we cease to
+see it. God always sees a thing as though He were seeing it for the first
+time. "Thou, God, seest me," and "His compassions fail not."
+
+And if my compassions are to be like a river that never knows drought, I
+must cultivate a freshness of sight. The horrible can lose its horrors.
+The daily tragedy can become the daily commonplace. My neighbour's needs
+can become as familiar as my furniture, and I may never see either the one
+or the other. And therefore must I ask the Lord for the daily gift of
+discerning eyes. "Lord, that I may receive my sight." And with an always
+newly-awakened interest may I reveal "the compassions of the Lord!"
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE CELLARS OF AFFLICTION_
+
+PSALM xxxiv. 9-22.
+
+
+Samuel Rutherford used to say that whenever he found himself in the
+cellars of afflictions he used to look about for the King's wine. He would
+look for the wine-bottles of the promises and drink rich draughts of
+vitalizing grace. And surely that is the best deliverance in all
+affliction, to be made so spiritually exhilarant that we can rise above
+it. I might be taken out of affliction, and emerge a poor slave and
+weakling. I might remain in affliction, and yet be king in the seeming
+servitude, "more than conqueror" in Christ Jesus. It is a great thing to
+be led through green pastures and by still waters; I think it is a greater
+thing to have a "table prepared before me _in the presence of mine
+enemies_." It is good to be able to sing in the sunny noon; it is better
+still to be able to sing "songs in the night."
+
+And this deliverance may always be ours in Christ Jesus. The Lord may not
+smooth out our circumstances, but we may have the regal right of peace. He
+may not save us from the sorrows of a newly-cut grave, but we may have the
+glorious strength of the immortal hope. God will enable us to be masters
+of all our circumstances, and none shall have a deadly hold upon us.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE MIGHT OF FRAILTY_
+
+PSALM cv. 23-36.
+
+
+That is the wonder of wonders, that the Almighty God will use frail
+humanity as the vehicles of His power, and will make Moses and Aaron shine
+with reflected glory. Man can send an electric current into a fragile
+carbon film and make it incandescent. He can send his voice across a
+continent, and make it speak on a distant shore. And the Lord God can do
+wonders compared with which these are only as the dimmest dreams. He can
+send His holy power into human speech, and the words can wake the dead. He
+can send His virtue into the human will, and its strength can shake the
+thrones of iniquity. He can send His love into the human heart, and the
+power of its affection can capture the bitterest foe.
+
+And so the word "impossible" becomes itself impossible when the soul of
+man is in fellowship with the Lord of Hosts. The pliant will becomes an
+iron pillar. The weak heart becomes "as a defended city" when it is the
+home of God. Dumb lips become the thrones of mysterious eloquence when
+touched with divine inspiration.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE TEST OF FULNESS_
+
+DEUTERONOMY viii. 1-10.
+
+
+"And thou shalt eat and be full, and thou shalt bless the Lord thy God."
+Fulness is surely a more searching test than want. Fulness induces sleep
+and forgetfulness. Many a man fights a good fight with Apollyon in the
+narrow way, who lapses into sleepy indifference on the Enchanted Ground.
+Men often sit down to a full table without "grace." Pain cries out to God,
+while boisterous health strides along in heedlessness. Yes, it is our
+fulness that constitutes our direst peril. "This was the iniquity of
+Sodom, _fulness_ of bread and abundance of idleness."
+
+And so our tests may come on the sunny day. A nation's supreme tests may
+come in its prosperity. The sunshine may do more damage than the
+lightning. The soul may falter even in Beulah land, where "the sun shines
+night and day."
+
+Prayer must not, therefore, tarry until sickness and adversity come. We
+must "pray without ceasing" in the cloudless noon, lest we are stricken
+with "the arrow that flieth by day." We must seek the eternal strength
+when no apparent enemy crouches at our gate, and when our easy road is
+lined with luxuriant flowers and fruit.
+
+
+
+
+FEBRUARY The Twenty-ninth
+
+_INVINCIBLE RELIANCE_
+
+HEBREWS xi. 17-22.
+
+
+"Accounting that God was able." That is the faith that makes moral heroes.
+That is the faith that prompts mighty ventures and crusades. It is faith
+in God's willingness and ability to redeem His promises. It is faith that
+if I do my part He will most assuredly do His. It is faith that He cannot
+possibly fail. It is faith that when He makes a promise the money is
+already in the bank. It is faith that when He sends me into the wilderness
+the secret harvest is already ripe from which He will give me "daily
+bread." It is faith that "all things are now ready," and in that faith I
+will face the apparently impossible task.
+
+And thus the "impossible" leads me to the "prepared." The desert leads me
+to "fields white already." The hard call to sacrifice leads me to the
+"lamb in the thicket." "God is able," and He is never behind the time. The
+critical need unveils His grace.
+
+Faith goes out on this invincible reliance. It is "the assurance of things
+hoped for." And by faith it inherits these things and is rich and strong
+in their possession.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The First
+
+_OVERCHARGING THE HEART_
+
+LUKE xxi. 25-36.
+
+
+Here is a great peril. Our hearts may be "_overcharged with surfeiting,
+and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you
+unawares_." Our mode of living may send our spirits to sleep. Yes, we may
+so ill-use our bodies that the watchman sleeps at his post! We can
+over-eat, and dim our moral sight. A man's daily meals have vital
+relationship with his vision of the Lord. If I would have a clear spirit I
+must not overburden the flesh.
+
+And therefore am I bidden to "_take heed_" to myself. I must exercise
+common sense, the most important of all the senses. I must put a bridle
+upon my appetite, and hold it in subjection to my Lord.
+
+And I must "_watch_!" The devil is surpassingly cunning, and, if he can,
+he will mix an opiate even with the sacramental wine. He will lure me
+among the winsome poppies, and put me into a perilous sleep.
+
+And I must "_pray_!" I have a great and glorious Defender! Let me humbly
+yet confidently use Him, and I shall be delivered from the snares of
+appetite, and from the benumbing influence of all excess.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Second
+
+_THE POWER OF THE CROSS_
+
+JOHN x. 11-18.
+
+
+"I lay down my life." In that supreme sacrifice all other sacrifices turn
+pale. In the power of that sacrifice the blackest guilt finds forgiveness.
+Its energies seek out the ruined and desolate life with glorious offer of
+renewal. When the Lord laid down His life the entire race found a new
+beginning. Our hope is born at the Cross. It is there that "the burden of
+our sin rolls away." In His night we find daybreak. When He said, "It is
+finished," our soul could sing, "Life is begun."
+
+And so pilgrims gather at the Cross. Songs are heard there, the "sweetest
+ever sung by mortal tongues." And the power of the Cross never wanes. Its
+glorious grace reaches the soul to-day as in the earliest days. It
+inspires the despairing heart. It transforms the mind. It remakes the
+tissues of the will. There is no shattered power that the power of the
+Cross cannot restore. "We are complete in Him."
+
+    "In the Cross of Christ I glory,
+      Towering o'er the wrecks of time;
+    All the light of sacred story
+      Gathers round its head sublime."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Third
+
+_PREPARING FOR THE BRIDE_
+
+JOHN xiv. 1-14.
+
+
+Our Lord has prepared a place. It is the Bridegroom "getting the house
+ready" for the bride. And, therefore, the preparations are not made
+grudgingly and with slow reluctance. Everything is of the best, and done
+with the swift delight of love. "Come, for all things are now ready."
+
+And our Lord will fetch His bride to the prepared place. "I am the way."
+We become so wrapt up in Him that nothing else counts. I once travelled
+through the Black Country with a fascinating friend, and I never saw it!
+And we can become so absorbed in our glorious Bridegroom that we shall be
+almost oblivious of adverse circumstances which may beset us. Yes, even
+this is possible: "He that believeth in Me shall never see death!"
+
+"I will receive you unto Myself." The last obscuring veil is to be rent,
+and we are to see Him "face to face." And that will be home, for that will
+be satisfaction and peace. The deepest hunger of the soul will be
+gratified in a glorious contentment, and we shall find that "the half hath
+not been told."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Fourth
+
+_THE GREAT COMPANION_
+
+JOHN xiv. 15-31.
+
+
+And so even the road is to have the home-feeling in it. "_I will not leave
+you orphans._" Yes; there is to be something of home even in the way to
+it. I find something of Devonshire even in Dorsetshire; Shropshire gives
+me a taste of Wales. My Lord will not leave me comfortless. Heaven runs
+over, and I find its bounty before I arrive at its gate. The "Valley of
+Baca" becomes "a well."
+
+And there are to be wonderful visions to speed the pilgrim's feet. "_I
+will manifest Myself unto him._" At unexpected corners the glory will
+break! We shall be assuming that we have picked up a common traveller, and
+suddenly we shall discover it is the Lord, for He will be made known to us
+"in the breaking of bread." And at many "risings" of the road, where the
+climbing is stiff and burdensome, we shall be inspired with many a
+glorious view, and we shall see "the land that is very far off."
+
+The one condition is, that I keep His word. If I am obedient, He will
+appear unto me, and the humdrum road will shine with miracles of grace.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Fifth
+
+_THE TENT AND THE BUILDING_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS v. 1-9.
+
+
+At present we live in a tent--"_the earthly house of this tabernacle._"
+And often the tent is very rickety. There are rents through which the rain
+enters, and it trembles ominously in the great storm. Some tents are frail
+from the very beginning, half-rotten when they are put up, and they have
+no defence even against the breeze. But even the strongest tent becomes
+weather-worn and threadbare, and in the long run it "falls in a heap!" And
+what then?
+
+We shall exchange the frail tent for the solid house! "_If the earthly
+house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house
+not made with hands, eternal in the heavens._" When we are unclothed we
+shall find ourselves clothed with our house which is from heaven. The
+glory of this transition can only be confessed by "the saints in light."
+To awake, and discover that the creaking, breaking cords are left behind,
+that all the leakages are over, that we are no longer exposed to the
+cutting wind, that pain is passed, and sickness, and death--this must be a
+wonder of inconceivable ecstasy!
+
+And "absent from the body" we shall be "present with the Lord."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Sixth
+
+_HOME-LIFE IN GOD_
+
+JOHN xvii. 20-26.
+
+
+The home-life in God is to be a life of perfect union--"_I in them, and
+Thou in Me._" Home is only another name for union. It is the perfect
+fusion of life with life, the harmonizing of differences as many different
+notes combine to form the mystery of choral song. And so will it be in the
+home-land! Our manifold individualities will be retained, but we shall
+"fit into one another," and in the perfect harmony we shall hear the "new
+song" of heaven.
+
+And we are to prepare that union by the contemplation of the glory of the
+Lord. "_That they may behold My glory._" Yes, and we can begin to do that
+now. We can lift our eyes away from the ugly compromises of men and fix
+them upon the radiant holiness of the Lord. We can look away from the
+dirty Alpine village and gaze upon the virgin snow of the uplifted
+heights. "Looking unto Jesus!"
+
+And in that contemplation we shall most assuredly become transformed. "_I
+have given unto them the glory which Thou gavest Me._" That is our
+wonderful possibility. For thee and me is this prize offered, we can
+"awake in His likeness."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Seventh
+
+_THINGS MISSING IN HEAVEN_
+
+REVELATION xxi. 1-7.
+
+
+What a number of "conspicuous absences" there are to be in "the
+home-land!"
+
+No more sea! John was in Patmos, and the sea rolled between him and his
+kinsmen. The sea was a minister of estrangement. But in the home-country
+every cause of separation is to be done away, and the family life is to be
+one of inconceivable intimacy. No more sea!
+
+And no more pain! Its work is done, and therefore the worker is put away.
+When the building is completed the scaffolding may be removed. When the
+patient is in good health the medicine bottles can be dispensed with. And
+so shall it be with pain and all its attendants. "The inhabitant never
+says: 'I am sick!'"
+
+And no more death! "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death." Yes,
+he, too, shall drop his scythe, and his lax hand shall destroy no more for
+ever. Death himself shall die! And all things that have shared his work
+shall die with him. "The former things have passed away." The wedding-peal
+which welcomes the Lamb's bride will ring the funeral knell of Death and
+all his sable company.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Eighth
+
+_THE CITIZENS OF THE HOME-LAND_
+
+REVELATION vii. 9-17.
+
+
+The citizen of "the home-land" wears white robes. His habits are perfectly
+clean. And the purity which he wears is a Divine gift and not a human
+accomplishment. It cannot be attained by self-sacrifice; it is ours
+through the sacrifice of our Lord. "They have washed their robes and made
+them white in the blood of the Lamb."
+
+And every citizen of the home-land bears a palm in his hand. It is the
+emblem of conquest and sovereignty. By the grace of Christ they have been
+lifted above self and sin, and the devil, and death, and "made to sit with
+Him" on His throne. The palm is the heavenly symbol that all their
+spiritual enemies are under their feet.
+
+And every citizen of the home-land takes part in the new song. The
+home-folk are therefore one in purity, one in self-conquest, and one in
+praise. "Salvation unto our God which sitteth upon the throne!" In that
+melody of thankfulness their union is deepened and enriched.
+
+And we, too, can begin now to wear the white robe! And even now can we
+carry the palm! And even now we can join in the song of ceaseless praise.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Ninth
+
+_NEARING HOME!_
+
+2 TIMOTHY iv. 1-8.
+
+
+Here is a most valiant pilgrim nearing home! By the mercy of Christ he can
+look back upon a brave day, and there's a fine hopeful light in the
+evening sky.
+
+He has fought well! "_I have fought a good fight._" And his has been a
+hard field. The enemy has ever regarded him as a leader in the army of the
+Lord and against him has the fiercest fight been waged. But he has never
+lost or stained his flag.
+
+And he has run well! "_I have finished my course._" There was no
+melancholy turning back when the feverish start had cooled. There was no
+shrinking when the biting wind of malice and persecution swept across his
+track. On and on he ran, with increasing speed and ardour, until he
+reached the goal.
+
+And well had he guarded his treasure! "_I have kept the faith._" He was
+the custodian of "unsearchable riches," and he watched, day and night,
+lest any infernal burglar should despoil him of his wealth. He guarded his
+gospel, his liberty, his hope, as the sentinels guard the crown jewels in
+the Tower.
+
+And now the hard day is nearly over. "Henceforth there is laid up for me a
+crown of righteousness which the Lord will give me at that day."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Tenth
+
+_EXALTATION BY SEPARATION_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS vi. 11-18.
+
+
+When we turn away from the world, and leave it, we ourselves are not left
+to desolation and orphanhood. When we "come out from among them" the Lord
+receives us! He is waiting for us. The new companionship is ours the
+moment the old companionship is ended. "I will not leave you comfortless."
+What we have lost is compensated by infinite and eternal gain. We have
+lost "the whole world" and gained "the unsearchable riches of Christ."
+
+And therefore separation is exaltation. We leave the muddy pleasures of
+Sodom and we "drink of the river of His pleasures." We leave "the garish
+day," and all the feverish life of Vanity Fair, and He maketh us "to lie
+down in green pastures," "He leadeth us beside the still waters." We leave
+a transient sensation, we receive the bread of eternity. We forfeit
+fireworks, we gain the stars!
+
+What fools we are, and blind! We prefer the scorched desert of Sodom to
+the garden of Eden. We prefer a loud reputation to noble character. We
+prefer delirium to joy. We prefer human applause to the praise of God. We
+prefer a fading garland to the crown of life. Lord, that we may receive
+our sight!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Eleventh
+
+_GOOD AND BAD ROADS_
+
+PSALM i.
+
+
+There is nothing breaks up more speedily than a badly-made road. Every
+season is its enemy and works for its destruction. Fierce heat and
+intensest cold both strive for its undoing. And "the way of the ungodly"
+is an appallingly bad road. There is rottenness in its foundations, and
+there is built into it "wood, and hay, and stubble," How can it stand?
+"The Spirit of the Lord breatheth upon it," and it is surely brought to
+nought. All the forces of holiness are pledged to its destruction, and
+they shall pick it to pieces, and shall scatter its elements to the winds.
+
+"I am the way!" That road remains sound "in all generations." Changing
+circumstances cannot affect its stability. It is proof against every
+tempest, and against the most violent heat. It is a road in which little
+children can walk in happiness and in which old people can walk in peace.
+It is firm in the day of life, and it is absolutely sure in the hour of
+death. It never yields! "Thou hast set my feet upon a rock and hast
+established my goings." "This is the way, walk ye in it."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twelfth
+
+_THE COMING OF THE LORD_
+
+LUKE xvii. 22-32.
+
+
+In a certain very real way the Lord is coming every moment. And the great
+art of Christian living is to be able to discern Him when He arrives. He
+may appear as the village carpenter; or we may "suppose Him to be one of
+the gardeners," and we may mistake His appearing! He may meet us in some
+lowly duty, or in some seemingly unpleasant task. He may shine in the
+cheeriness of some triumph, or whisper to us in a message of good news. "I
+come again." And if our eyes are open we shall see Him coming continually.
+It is by this perception that the value of our life is measured and
+weighed.
+
+But He will also come again "suddenly," when the soul will be translated
+into unknown climes. He will come again in the sable robes of death. Shall
+we know Him? Will our eyes be so keen and true that we shall be able to
+pierce the dark veil and say "It is the Lord!" This has been the joyful
+experience of countless multitudes. When the summons came their souls went
+forth, not as victims to encounter death, but as the bride "to meet the
+bridegroom!" They had intimacy with Him in life; they had glorious
+fellowship with Him in death!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Thirteenth
+
+_SICKNESS AMONG CHRIST'S FRIENDS_
+
+JOHN xi. 1-16.
+
+
+And so sickness can enter the circle of the friends of the Lord. "_He whom
+Thou lovest is sick._" My sicknesses do not mean that I have lost His
+favour. The shadow is His, as well as the sunshine. When He removes me
+from the glare of boisterous health it may be because of some spiritual
+fern which needs the ministry of the shade. "_This sickness is ... for the
+glory of God._" Something beautiful will spring out of the shadowed
+seclusion, something which shall spread abroad the name and fame of God.
+
+And, therefore, I do not wonder at the Lord's delay. He did not hasten
+away to the sick friend: "_He abode two days still in the same place where
+He was._" Shall I put it like this: the awaking bulbs were not yet ready
+for the brighter light--just a little more shade! We are impatient to get
+healthy; the Lord desires that we become holy. Our physical sickness is
+continued in order that we may put on spiritual strength.
+
+And there are others besides sick Lazarus concerned in the sickness: "I am
+glad _for your sakes_ I was not there." The disciples were included in the
+divine scheme. Their spiritual welfare was to be affected by it. Let me
+ever remember that the circle affected by sickness is always wider than
+the patient's bed. And may God be glorified in all!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Fourteenth
+
+"_EVEN NOW!_"
+
+JOHN xi. 17-31.
+
+
+Let me consider this marvellous confession of Martha's faith. "I know that
+_even now_, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee!" Mark
+the "even now"! Lazarus was dead, and it was midnight in the desolate
+home. But "even now"! Beautiful it is when a soul's most awful crises are
+the seasons of its most radiant faith! Beautiful it is when our lamp
+shines steadily in the tempest, and when our spiritual confidence remains
+unshaken like a gloriously rooted tree. Beautiful it is when in our
+midnight men can hear the strains of the "even now"!
+
+And let me consider the wonder of the Divine response. "_I am the
+resurrection and the life._" A faith like Martha's will always win the
+Saviour's best. And here is an overwhelming best before which we can only
+bow in silent homage and awe. He is the Fountain in whom the stagnant
+brook shall find currency again. He is the Life in whom the fallen dead
+shall rise to their feet again.
+
+And what is this? "Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me _shall never
+die_!" We shall go to sleep, but we shall never taste the bitterness of
+death. In the very act of closing our material eyes we shall open our
+spiritual eyes, and find ourselves at home!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Fifteenth
+
+_JESUS AT A GRAVE_
+
+JOHN xi. 32-45.
+
+
+Here is Jesus weeping. "Jesus wept." Why did He weep? Perhaps He wept out
+of sheer sympathy with the tears of others. And perhaps, too, He wept
+because some of our tears were needless. If we were better men we should
+know more of the love and purpose of our Lord, and perhaps many of our
+tears would be dried. Still, here is the sweet and heartening evangel. He
+sympathizes with my grief! Never a bitter tear is shed without my Lord
+sharing the tang and the pang.
+
+Here is Jesus praying! "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me."
+Then it is not so much a prayer as a thanksgiving. He gives thanks for
+what He is "about to receive." Is this my way? Perhaps I do it before I
+take a meal. Do I do it before I begin to live the day? In the morning do
+I thank my God for what I am about to receive? Can I confidently give
+thanks before I receive the gifts of God, before the dish-covers are
+removed? Can I trust Him?
+
+And here is Jesus commanding, clothed in sovereign power: "Lazarus, come
+forth!" That is the same voice which "in the beginning created the heavens
+and the earth."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Sixteenth
+
+_THE NEMESIS OF BIGOTRY_
+
+JOHN xi. 46-57.
+
+
+A fearful nemesis waits upon the spirit of bigotry. Oliver Wendell Holmes
+has said that bigotry is like the pupil of the eye, the more light you
+pour into it the more it contracts. The scribes and Pharisees became
+smaller men the more the Lord revealed His glory. In the raising of
+Lazarus they saw nothing of the glory of the resurrection life, nothing of
+the joy of the reunited family, nothing of the gracious ministry of the
+Lord! "Darkness had blinded their eyes."
+
+And it is also the nemesis of bigotry to be bitter, cruel, and violent.
+They sought to kill the Giver of life!
+
+It is the ministry of light to ripen and sweeten the dispositions. "The
+fruit of the light is in all goodness." It is the ministry of the darkness
+to make men sour and unsympathetic, and revengeful, and to so pervert the
+heart as to make it a minister of poison and death.
+
+And yet, how powerless is bigotry in the long run! It can no more stay the
+progress of the Kingdom than King Canute could check the flowing tide!
+Bigotry slew the Lord, and He rose again! And so it ever is. "Truth
+crushed to earth shall rise again; the eternal years of God are hers."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Seventeenth
+
+_THE COMMONPLACE OF DEATH_
+
+LUKE vii. 11-18.
+
+
+Death is never a commonplace. We never become so accustomed to funerals as
+not to see them. Everybody sees the mournful procession go along the
+street. A momentary awe steals over the flippant thought, and for one
+brief season the superficial opens into the infinite abyss.
+
+And yet, while a thousand are arrested, only a few are compassionate.
+There can be awe without pity; there can be interest without service. When
+this humble funeral train trudged out of the city of Nain our Lord halted,
+and His heart melted! There was an "aching void," and He longed to fill
+it. There was a bleeding, broken heart, and He yearned to stand and heal
+it. He found His own joy in removing another's tears, His own satisfaction
+in another's peace.
+
+"_The Lord hath visited His people!_" That is what the people said, and I
+do not wonder at the saying! And let me, too, be a humble visitor in the
+troubled ways of men! Let my heart be a well of sweet compassion to all
+the sons and daughters of grief! Like Barnabas, let me be "a son of
+consolation."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Eighteenth
+
+_SERENITY IN THE TEMPEST_
+
+JOB xix. 23-27.
+
+
+Perhaps I am akin to Job in having experienced the pressure of calamity. I
+have felt the shock of adverse circumstances, and the house of my life has
+trembled in the convulsion. Or death has been to my door and has returned
+again and again, and every time he has left me weeping! All God's billows
+have gone over me! Verily, I can take my place by the patriarch Job.
+
+But can I share his witness, "_I know that my Redeemer liveth_"? Have I a
+calm assurance that my ruler is not caprice, and that my comings and
+goings are not determined by unfeeling chance? When death knocked at my
+door, did I know that the King had sent him? When some cherished scheme
+toppled into ruin, had I any thought that the Lord's hand was concerned in
+the shaking? Even when my circumstances are dubious, and I cannot trace a
+gracious purpose, do I know that my Vindicator liveth, and that some day
+He will justify all the happenings of the troubled road?
+
+I will pay for this gracious confidence. I would have a firm step even
+among disappointments; yea, I would "sing songs in the night!"
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Nineteenth
+
+_DEATH AS MY SERVANT_
+
+REVELATION xx. 1-6.
+
+
+Even now I would rise from the dead. Even now I would know "the power of
+His resurrection." Even now I would taste the rapture of the deathless
+life. And this is my glorious prerogative in grace. Yes, even now I can be
+"risen with Christ," and "death shall no more have dominion over me!"
+
+And yet I must die! Yes, but the old enemy shall now be my friend. He will
+not be my master, but my servant. He shall just be the porter, to open the
+door into my Father's house, into the home of unspeakable blessedness and
+glory. Death shall not hurt me!
+
+I have seen a little child fall asleep while out in the streets of the
+city, and the kind nurse has taken charge of the sleeper, and when the
+little one awaked she was at home, and she opened her eyes upon her
+mother's face.
+
+So shall it be with all who are alive in Christ, and who have risen from a
+spiritual grave. They shall just fall into a brief sweet sleep, and gentle
+death shall usher them into the glory of the endless day.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twentieth
+
+_THE LORD IS AT HAND!_
+
+"_Ye know not what hour your Lord doth come._"
+--MATTHEW xxiv. 42-51.
+
+
+Then let me always live as though my Lord were at the gate! Let me arrange
+my affairs on the assumption that the next to lift the latch will be the
+King. When I am out with my friend, walking and talking, let me assume
+that just round the corner I may meet the Lord.
+
+And so let me practise meeting Him! Said a mother to me one day concerning
+her long-absent boy: "I lay a place for him at every meal! His seat is
+always ready!" May I not do this for my Lord? May I not make a place for
+Him in all my affairs--my choices, my pleasures, my times of business, my
+season of rest? He may come just now; let His place be ready!
+
+If He delay, I must not become careless. If He give me further liberty, I
+must not take liberties with it. Here is the golden principle, ever to
+live, ever to think, ever to work as though the Lord had already arrived.
+For indeed, He has, and when the veil is rent I shall find Him at my
+side.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-first
+
+_IN THE GOLDEN CITY_
+
+ISAIAH lii. 1-12.
+
+
+And so these are the glories of the golden city. There is _wakefulness_.
+"Awake! awake!" In the golden city none will be asleep. Everybody will be
+bright-eyed, clear-minded, looking upon all beautiful things with fresh
+and ready receptiveness. "The eyes of them that see shall not be dim."
+
+There is _strength_. "Put on thy strength!" There will be no broken wills
+in the golden city, and no broken hearts. No one will walk with a limp!
+Everybody will go with a brave stride as to the strains of a band. And no
+one will tire of living, and the inhabitant never says, "I am sick."
+
+And there is _beauty_. "Put on thy beautiful garments." Bare strength
+might not be attractive. But strength clothed in beauty is a very gracious
+thing. The tender mosses on the granite make it winsome. Strength is
+companionable when it is united with grace. In the golden city there will
+be tender sentiment as well as rigid conviction.
+
+And these glories will be our defence. A positive virtue is our best
+rampart against vice. A robust health is the best protection against the
+epidemic. "The prince of this world cometh, and he hath nothing in me."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-second
+
+_COUNSEL AND MIGHT_
+
+PSALM cxix. 33-40.
+
+
+The psalmist prays for an _illumined understanding_. "Teach me, O Lord,
+the way of Thy statutes." We are so prone to be children of the twilight,
+and to see things out of their true proportions. Therefore do we need to
+be daily taught. I must go into the school of the Lord, and in docility of
+spirit I must sit at His feet. "O, teach me, Lord, teach even me!"
+
+And the psalmist prays for _rectified inclinations_. "Incline my heart
+unto Thy testimonies." We so often have the wrong bias, the fatal taste,
+and our desires are all against the will of the Lord. If only my leanings
+were toward the Lord how swift my progress would be! I strive to walk
+after holiness, while my inclinations are in the realm of sin. And so I
+need a clean mouth, with an appetite for the beautiful and the true.
+"Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness."
+
+And the psalmist prays for _a strenuous will_. "Make me to go in the path
+of Thy commandments." He is praying for "go," for moral persistence, for
+power to crash through all obstacles which may impede his heavenly
+progress. And such is my need. Good Lord, endow me with a will like "an
+iron pillar," and help me to "stand in the evil day."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-third
+
+_THE DARK BETRAYAL_
+
+JOHN xviii. 1-14.
+
+
+Our Master was betrayed by a disciple, "one of the twelve." The blow came
+from one of "His own household." The world employed a "friend" to execute
+its dark design. And so our intimacy with Christ may be our peril; our
+very association may be made our temptation. The devil would rather gain
+_one_ belonging to the inner circle than a thousand who stand confessed as
+the friends of the world. What am I doing in the kingdom? Can I be
+trusted? Or am I in the pay of the evil one?
+
+And our Master was betrayed in the garden of prayer. In the most hallowed
+place the betrayer gave the most unholy kiss. He brought his defilement
+into the most awe-inspiring sanctuary the world has ever known. And so may
+it be with me. I can kindle the unclean fire in the church. I can stab my
+Lord when I am on my knees. While I am in apparent devotion I can be in
+league with the powers of darkness.
+
+And this "dark betrayal" was for money! The Lord of Glory was bartered for
+thirty pieces of silver! And the difference between Judas and many men is
+that they often sell their Lord for less! From the power of Mammon, and
+from the blindness which falls upon his victims, good Lord, deliver me!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-fourth
+
+_IN GETHSEMANE_
+
+LUKE xxii. 39-46.
+
+
+Surely this is the very Holy of Holies! It were well for us to fall on our
+knees and "be silent unto the Lord." I would quietly listen to the awful
+words, "Remove this cup from Me!" and I would listen again and again until
+never again do I hold a cheap religion. It is in this garden that we learn
+the real values of things, and come to know the price at which our
+redemption was bought. No one can remain in Gethsemane and retain a
+frivolous and flippant spirit.
+
+"_And there appeared unto Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him._" I
+know that angel! He has been to me. He has brought me angel's food, even
+heavenly manna. Always and everywhere, when my soul has surrendered itself
+to the Divine will, the angel comes, and my soul is refreshed. The laying
+down of self is the taking up of God. When I lose my will I gain the
+Infinite. The moment of surrender is also the moment of conquest. When I
+consecrate my weakness I put on strength and majesty like a robe.
+
+"_And when He rose up from His prayer_"--what then? Just this, He was
+quietly ready for anything, ready for the betraying kiss, ready for
+crucifixion. "Arise, let us be going."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE FEAR OF MAN_
+
+JOHN xviii. 15-27.
+
+
+And this is the disciple who had been surnamed "The Rock"! Our Lord looked
+into the morrow, and He saw Simon's character, compacted by grace and
+discipline into a texture tough and firm as granite. But there is not much
+granite here! Peter is yet loose and yielding; more like a bending reed
+than an unshakable rock. A servant girl whispers, and his timid heart
+flings a lie to his lips and he denies his Lord.
+
+Peter denied the Master, not because he coveted money, but because he
+feared men. He was not seeking crowns, but escaping frowns. He was not
+clutching at a garland, but avoiding a sword. It was not avarice but
+cowardice which determined his ways. He shrank from crucifixion! He saw a
+possible cross, and with a great lie he passed by on the other side.
+
+But the Lord has not done with Peter. He is still "in the making." Some
+day he will justify his new name. Some day we shall find it written: "When
+they saw the boldness of Peter, they marvelled"! Once a maid could make
+him tremble. Now he can stand in high places, "steadfast and unmovable"!
+
+From the spirit of cowardice and from all temporising, and from the unholy
+fear of man, deliver me, good Lord!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE KING OF KINGS_
+
+JOHN xviii. 28-38.
+
+
+What a strange King our Lord appears, claiming mystic sovereignty, and yet
+betrayed by a false friend!
+
+And yet, even in His apparent subjection His majestic kingliness stands
+revealed. When I watch the demeanours of Pilate and Jesus, I can see very
+clearly who it is who is on the throne; Pilate wears the outer trappings
+of royalty, but my Lord's is "the power and the glory." Pilate fusses
+about in a little "brief authority," but my Lord stands possessed of a
+serene dominion. Even at Pilate's judgment bar Jesus is the King.
+
+But His kingdom is "_not of this world_." And therefore this King is
+unlike every other King. He seeks His possessions not by fighting, but by
+"lighting"; not by coercion, but by constraint. His servants do not go
+forth with swords, but with lamps; not to drive the peoples, but to lead
+them. His visible throne is a cross, and His conquests are made in the
+power of sacrifice.
+
+And so His armaments are the Truth, and the Truth alone. "_For this cause
+came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth._" When
+the Truth wins and wooes, the triumph is lasting. Garlands won by the
+sword perish before the evening. To be one of the King's subjects is to
+share His nature. "Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice."
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE SILENCE OF JESUS_
+
+"_He answered him nothing!_"
+--LUKE xxiii. 1-12.
+
+
+And yet, "Ask, and it shall be given you!" Yes, but everything depends
+upon the asking. Even in the realm of music there is a rudeness of
+approach which leaves true music silent. Whether the genius of music is to
+answer us or not depends upon our "touch." Herod's "touch" was wrong, and
+there was no response. Herod was flippant, and the Eternal was dumb. And
+I, too, may question a silent Lord. In the spiritual realm an idle
+curiosity is never permitted to see the crown jewels. Frivolousness never
+goes away from the royal Presence rich with surprises of grace. "Thy touch
+has still its ancient power!" So it has, but the healing touch is the
+gracious response to the touch of faith. "She touched Him, and...!"
+
+"_And Herod ... mocked Him._" That was the real spirit behind the eager
+curiosity. And I, too, may mock my Lord! I may bow before Him, and array
+Him in apparent royalty, while all the time my spirit is full of flippancy
+and jeers. I may lustily sing: "Crown Him Lord of all," while I will not
+recognize His rights on a single square foot of the soil of my
+inheritance. And this it is to be the kinsman of Herod. And this, too,
+will be the issue; the heavens will be as brass, and the Lord will answer
+us nothing.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE CHOICE OF BARABBAS_
+
+LUKE xxiii. 13-24.
+
+
+Barabbas rather than Christ! The destroyer of life rather than the Giver
+of life! This was the choice of the people; and it is a choice which has
+often stained and defiled my own life.
+
+When I choose revenge rather than forgiveness, I am preferring Barabbas to
+Christ. For revenge is a murderer, while forgiveness is a healer and
+saviour of men. But how often I have sent the sweet healer to the cross,
+and welcomed the murderer within my gate!
+
+When I choose carnal passion before holiness, I am preferring Barabbas to
+Christ. For is there any murderer so destructive as carnality? And
+holiness stands waiting, ready to make me beautiful with the wondrous
+garments of grace. But I spurn the angel, and open my door to the beast.
+
+The devil is always soliciting my service, and the devil "is a murderer
+from the beginning." Have I never preferred him, and sent my Lord to be
+"crucified afresh," and "put Him to an open shame"?
+
+Again let me pray--for all my unholy and unwholesome choices, for all my
+preference of the murderer, forgive me, good Lord!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Twenty-ninth
+
+_MYSTIC ALARM-BELLS_
+
+MATTHEW xxvii. 19-25.
+
+
+Pilate was warned. Pilate's wife had a dream, and in the dream she had
+glimpses of reality, and when she awoke her soul was troubled. "Have thou
+nothing to do with that just man!"
+
+And I, too, have mysterious warnings when I am treading perilous ways.
+Sometimes the warning comes from a friend. Sometimes "the angel of the
+Lord stands in the way for an adversary." My conscience rings loudly like
+an alarm-bell in the dead of night. Yes, the warnings are clear and
+pertinent, but...!
+
+Pilate ignored the warning, and handed the Lord to the revengeful will of
+the priests. Pilate defiled his heart, and then he washed his hands! What
+a petty attempt to escape the certain issues! And yet we have shared in
+the small evasion. We have crucified the Lord, and then we wear a
+crucifix. We violate the spirit, and then we do reverence to the letter.
+We hand the Lord over to be crucified, and then we practise the postures
+and gait of the saints. Yes, we have all sought an escape in outer
+ceremony from the nemesis of our shameful deeds.
+
+My soul, attend thou to the mystic warnings, and "play the man"!
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Thirtieth
+
+_THE VICTORY OF MEEKNESS_
+
+1 PETER ii. 17-25.
+
+
+Then I may be not only the betrayer, but the betrayed. In my inner circle
+there may be a friend who will play me false, and hand me over to the
+wolves. What then? Just this--I must imitate the grace of my Lord, and
+"consider Him."
+
+There must be no violent retaliation. "_When He was reviled, He reviled
+not again._" The fire of revenge may singe or even scorch my enemy, but it
+will do far more damage to the furniture of my own soul. After every
+indulgence in vengeful passion some precious personal possession has been
+destroyed. The fact of the matter is, this fire cannot be kept burning
+without making fuel of the priceless furnishings of the soul. "Heat not a
+furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself."
+
+There must be a serene committal of the soul to the strong keeping of the
+Eternal God. "_He committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously._"
+This is the way of peace, as this is the way of victory. If ever the enemy
+is to be conquered this must be the mode of the conquest. When men
+persecute us, let us rest more implicitly in our God.
+
+
+
+
+MARCH The Thirty-first
+
+_AT THE CROSS!_
+
+MATTHEW xxvii. 38-50.
+
+
+Let me listen to the ribald jeers which were flung upon my Lord. And let
+me listen, not as a judge, but as one who has been in the company of the
+callous crowd. For I, too, have mocked Him! I have said: "Hail, King!" and
+I have bowed before Him, but it has been mock and empty homage! I have
+sung: "Crown Him Lord of all!" but there has been no real recognition of
+His sovereignty; mine has been a mock coronation. From the seat of the
+mocker, deliver me, good Lord!
+
+And let me stand near the cross while that awful voice of desolation rends
+the heavens. "_My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?_" In that
+agonizing cry I am led to the real heart of the atonement. My Saviour was
+standing where His believers will never stand. That was the real death,
+the death of an inconceivable abandonment. And "He died for me!" He so
+died in order that I may never taste death. "He that liveth and believeth
+in Me shall never die."
+
+Every believer will go to sleep, and through a short sleep he will wake in
+the glory of the Eternal Presence. But he will never die: no, never die!
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The First
+
+_THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS_
+
+LUKE xxiii. 33-47.
+
+
+Look at our Lord in relation to His foes. "_Father, forgive them; for they
+know not what they do!_" Their bitterness has not embittered Him. The
+"milk of human kindness" was still sweet. Nothing could sour our Lord, and
+convert His goodwill into malice, His serene beneficence into wild
+revenge. And how is it with me? Are my foes able to maim my spirit as well
+as my body? Do they win their end by making me a smaller man? Or am I
+magnanimous even on the cross?
+
+And look at our Lord in relation to the penitent thief. "_To-day shalt
+thou be with Me in Paradise._" There was no self-centredness in our
+Saviour's grief. He was the good Physician, even when His body was mangled
+on the cross. He healed a broken heart even in the very pangs of death.
+When "there was darkness over all the earth," He let the light of the
+morning into the heart of a desolate thief. And, good Lord, graciously
+help me to do likewise!
+
+And all this amazing graciousness is explained in our Lord's relation to
+His Father. "_Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit!_" Yes,
+everything is there! When I and My Father are one, my spirit will remain
+sweet as the violet and pure as the dew.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Second
+
+"_ON HIM!_"
+
+"_The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all._"
+--ISAIAH liii.
+
+
+Let me tell a dream which was given by night to one of my dearest friends.
+He beheld a stupendous range of glorious sun-lit mountains, with their
+lower slopes enfolded in white mist. "Lord," he cried, "I pray that I may
+dwell upon those heights!" "Thou must first descend into the vale," a
+voice replied.
+
+Into the vale he went. And down there he found himself surrounded with all
+manner of fierce, ugly, loathsome things. As he looked upon them he saw
+that they were the incarnations of his own sins! There they were, sins
+long ago committed, showing their threatening teeth before him!
+
+Then he heard some One approaching, and instinctively he knew it was the
+Lord! And he felt so ashamed that he drew a cloak over his face, and stood
+in silence. And the Presence came nearer and nearer, until He, too, stood
+silent. After a while my friend mastered sufficient courage to lift the
+corner of his cloak and look out upon the Presence: and lo! all the
+loathsome things were _on Him_!
+
+"The Lord had laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Third
+
+_THE STONE ROLLED AWAY_
+
+MARK xvi. 1-8.
+
+
+I am always wondering who will roll away the stone! There is a great
+obstacle in the way, and my frailty is incompetent to its removal. And lo!
+when I arrive at the place I find that the angel has been before me, and
+the obstacle is gone! And I would that I might learn wisdom to-day from
+the miracle of yesterday. Let me not be confounded about a new stone when
+I know that my fears about the old one had no foundation.
+
+And then the young man at the sepulchre! He is a type of eternal youth,
+and he is sitting serenely in a routed grave. He represents the
+unwithering in the very home of corruption. And this, too, is my hope! It
+is mine in Christ to put on incorruption, and through a brief sleep to
+become clothed with immortal youth. "There everlasting spring abides, and
+never withering flowers!"
+
+And I may have the assurance of the coming glory even now. Even now may I
+taste the heavenly feast, and wear some of the unfading flowers of the
+glorified. Yes, even now my leaf need not wither, and my hopes may remain
+unshaken through all my troubled years.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Fourth
+
+_THE RESURRECTION MORNING_
+
+MATTHEW xxviii. 1-15.
+
+
+Let me reverently mark the happenings of this most wonderful morn. "_It
+began to dawn._" Yes, that was the first significance of the resurrection.
+It was a new day for the world. Everything was to be seen in a new light.
+Everything was to wear a new face--God, and heaven, and life, and duty,
+and death! "All things are become new."
+
+"_And there was a great earthquake._" Yes, and this was significant of the
+tremendous upheaval implied in the resurrection. The kingdom of the devil
+was upheaved from its foundations. All the boasted pomp of his showy
+empire was turned upside down. "I beheld Satan falling!"
+
+"_And the angel rolled away the stone._" And that, too, is significant of
+the resurrection. The awful barrier was rolled away, and the grave became
+a thoroughfare! "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes."
+
+And there was "_fear and great joy_." And mingled awe and gladness, a
+reverential delight.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Fifth
+
+_THE EMPTY TOMB_
+
+LUKE xxiv. 1-12.
+
+
+That empty tomb means the conquest of death. The Captive proved mightier
+than the captor. He emerged from the prison as the Lord of the prison, and
+death reeled at His going. In the risen Saviour death is dethroned; he
+takes his place at the footstool to do the bidding of his sovereign Lord
+and King. And that empty tomb means the conquest of sin. Sin had done its
+worst, and had failed. All the forces of hell had been rallied against the
+Lord, and above them all He rose triumphant and glorified. A little while
+ago I discovered a spring. I tried to choke it. I heaped sand and gravel
+upon it; I piled stones above it! And through them all it emerged,
+noiselessly and irresistibly, a radiant resurrection!
+
+And so the empty tomb becomes the symbol of a thoroughfare between life in
+time and life in the unshadowed Presence of our God. Death is now like a
+short tunnel which is near my home; I can look through it and see the
+other side! In the risen Lord death becomes transparent. "O death, where
+is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Sixth
+
+_FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST_
+
+"_Last of all He was seen of me also._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS xv. 1-11.
+
+
+And by that vision Saul of Tarsus was transformed. And so, by the ministry
+of a risen Lord we have received the gift of a transfigured Paul. The
+resurrection glory fell upon him, and he was glorified. In that
+superlative light he discovered his sin, his error, his need, but he also
+found the dynamic of the immortal hope.
+
+"Seen of me also!" Can I, too, calmly and confidently claim the
+experience? Or am I altogether depending upon another man's sight, and are
+my own eyes unillumined? In these realms the witness of "hear-says" counts
+for nothing; he only speaks with arresting power who has "seen for
+himself." "Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee
+of Me?" That is the question which is asked, not only by the Master, but
+by all who hear us tell the story of the risen Lord. "Has He been seen of
+thee also?"
+
+My Saviour, I humbly pray Thee to give me first-hand knowledge of Thee.
+Let me be a witness who can say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" Before
+all the doubts and hesitancies of man enable me to answer, "Have I not
+seen Jesus Christ our Lord?"
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Seventh
+
+_IF CHRIST WERE DEAD!_
+
+1 CORINTHIANS xv. 12-26.
+
+
+"_If Christ be not risen!_" That is the most appalling "if" which can be
+flung into the human mind. If it obtains lodging and entertainment, all
+the fairest hopes of the soul wither away like tender buds which have been
+nipped by sharp frost! See how they fade!
+
+"_Your faith is vain._" It has no more strength and permanency than
+Jonah's gourd. Nay, it has really never been a living thing! It has been a
+pathetic delusion, beautiful, but empty as a bubble, and collapsing at
+Joseph's tomb.
+
+"_Ye are yet in your sins._" The hope of forgiveness and reconciliation is
+stricken, and there is nothing left but "a certain fearful looking-for of
+judgment." Nemesis has only been hiding behind a screen of decorated
+falsehoods, and she will pursue us to the bitter end.
+
+"_We are of all men the most miserable._" Joy would fall and die like a
+fatally wounded lark. The song would cease from our souls. The holy place
+would become a tomb.
+
+"But now _is_ Christ risen from the dead!" Yes, let me finish on that
+word. That gives me morning, and melody, and holy merriment that knows no
+end.
+
+
+
+
+April The Eighth
+
+_MY INHERITANCE IN THE RISEN LORD_
+
+1 PETER i. 1-9.
+
+
+In my risen Lord I am born into "a living hope," a hope not only vital,
+but vitalizing, sending its mystic, vivifying influences through every
+highway and by-way of my soul.
+
+In my risen Lord mine is "_an inheritance incorruptible_." It is not
+exposed to the gnawing tooth of time. Moth and rust can not impair the
+treasure. It will not grow less as I grow old. Its glories are as
+invulnerable as my Lord.
+
+In my risen Lord mine is "an inheritance ... _undefiled_." There is no
+alloy in the fine gold. The King will give me of His best. "Bring forth
+the best robe, and put it on him." The holiest ideal proclaims my
+possibility, and foretells my ultimate attainment. Heaven's wine is not to
+be mixed with water. I am to awake "in His likeness."
+
+And mine is "an inheritance ... that _fadeth not away_." It shall not be
+as the garlands offered by men--green to-day and to-morrow sere and
+yellow. "Its leaf also shall not wither." It shall always retain its
+freshness, and shall offer me a continually fresh delight. And these are
+all mine in Him!
+
+    "Thou, O Christ, art all I want."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Ninth
+
+_THE EVER-LIVING LORD_
+
+REVELATION i. 9-18.
+
+
+Let me take the simple words, and quietly gaze into the wonderful depths
+of their fathomless simplicity. An old villager used to tell me it would
+strengthen my eyes if I looked long into deep wells. And it will assuredly
+strengthen the eyes of my soul to gaze into wells like these.
+
+"_I am He that liveth._" What a marvellous transformation it worked upon
+Dr. Dale, when one day, in his study, it flashed upon him, as never
+before, that Jesus Christ is alive! "Christ is alive!" he repeated again
+and again, until the clarion music filled all the rooms in his soul.
+"Christ is alive!"
+
+"_And was dead._" Yes, the Lord has gone right through that dark place.
+There are footprints, and they are the footprints of the Conqueror, all
+along the road. "Christ leads me through no darker room than He went
+through before."
+
+"_And, behold, I am alive for ever more._" "Jesus has conquered death and
+all its powers." Never more will it sit on a transient throne. Its power
+is broken, its "sting" has lost its poison, there isn't a boast left in
+its apparently omnivorous mouth! "Where's thy victory, O grave?" And here
+is the gospel for me--"Because I live ye shall live also."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Tenth
+
+_RESURRECTION-LIGHT_
+
+"_If we believe that Jesus died and rose again...._"
+--1 THESSALONIANS iv. 13-18.
+
+
+That is the eastern light which fills the valley of time with wonderful
+beams of glory. It is the great dawn in which we find the promise of our
+own day. Everything wears a new face in the light of our Lord's
+resurrection. I once watched the dawn on the East Coast of England. Before
+there was a grey streak in the sky everything was held in grimmest gloom.
+The toil of the two fishing-boats seemed very sombre. The sleeping houses
+on the shore looked the abodes of death. Then came grey light, and then
+the sun, and everything was transfigured! Every window in every cottage
+caught the reflected glory, and the fishing-boats glittered in morning
+radiance.
+
+And everything is transfigured in the Risen Christ. Everything is lit up
+when "the Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in His wings." Life is
+lit up, and so is death, and so are sorrow and daily labour and human
+friendships! Everything catches the gleam and is changed. "We are no
+longer of the night, but of the day." "Walk as children of light." "Awake,
+thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon
+thee."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Eleventh
+
+_THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE_
+
+ROMANS v. 1-11.
+
+
+The Lord went through death to make a path to life. He descended into
+shame and suffering, and appalling desolation in order that He might "open
+the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers." And the way is now open!
+
+Therefore, "_let us have peace with God_." Let us reverently and willingly
+tread the heavenly road, and seek the King's presence, and gratefully
+accept "the everlasting covenant." Let us go, as once rebel soldiers, and
+let us surrender our arms, and at His bidding take them again, to fight in
+His service.
+
+And let us "_glory in tribulation_." If we are in the King's road, at
+peace with the King, every stormy circumstance will be made to do us
+service. Yes, all our troubles will be compelled to minister to us, to
+robe us, and to adorn us, and to make us more like the sons and daughters
+of a royal house. "Out of the eater will come forth meat, and out of the
+strong will come forth sweetness."
+
+And, therefore, let us "_joy in God_." Don't let us be "the King's own,"
+and yet march in the sulks! Let us march to the music of grateful song and
+praise.
+
+    "Children of the heavenly King,
+     As ye journey, sweetly sing."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twelfth
+
+_THE LAMB ON THE THRONE_
+
+"_In the midst of the throne stood a Lamb as it had been slain!_"
+--REVELATION v. 6-14.
+
+
+How strange and unexpected is the figure! A lamb--the supreme type of
+gentleness! A throne, the supreme symbol of power! And the one is in the
+very midst of the other. The sacrificial has become the sovereign: the
+Cross is the principal part of the throne. "I, if I be lifted up, will
+draw all men unto Me."
+
+Yes, this sovereign sacrificial Lord is to receive universal homage and
+worship. "_Every creature which is in heaven and on the earth_" is to pay
+tribute at His feet. And this, not by a terrible coercion, but by a
+gracious constraint. We are not to be driven, we are to be drawn; we are
+to move by love--compulsion: the Lamb in God is to win the wills of men.
+
+And I, too, may take my harp and make melodious praise before my King. And
+I, too, may fill the "golden vials" with my grateful intercession, and
+heaven shall be the sweeter for the odour of my prayers. And I, too, may
+sound my loud "Amen," the note of gladsome resignation to the sovereign
+will of God. Yes, even now I may be one of "the multitude whom no man can
+number," who, in a new song, ascribe all worthiness to "the Lamb that was
+slain."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Thirteenth
+
+_PURE GOLD_
+
+"_Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold....
+And there I will meet with thee._"
+--EXODUS xxv. 10-22.
+
+
+I must put my best into my preparations, and then the Lord will honour my
+work. My part is to be of "pure gold" if my God is to dwell within it. I
+must not satisfy myself with cheap flimsy and then assume that the Lord
+will be satisfied with it. He demands my very best as a condition of His
+enriching Presence.
+
+My prayers must be of "pure gold" if He is to meet me there. There must be
+nothing vulgar about them, nothing shoddy, nothing hastily constructed,
+nothing thrown up anyhow. They must be chaste and sincere, and overlaid
+with pure gold.
+
+My home must be of "pure gold" if He is to meet me there. No unclean
+passion must dwell there, no carnal appetite, no defiling conversation, no
+immoderateness in eating and drinking. How can the Lord sit down at such a
+table, or make One at such a fireside?
+
+Let me present to Him pure gold. Let me offer Him nothing cheap. Let me
+ever make the ark of my best, and the Lord will meet me there.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Fourteenth
+
+_RELIGION AS MERE MAGIC_
+
+"_And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into
+the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout._"
+--1 SAMUEL iv. 1-11.
+
+
+They were making more of the ark than of the Lord. Their religion was
+degenerating into superstition. I become superstitious whenever the means
+of worship are permitted to eclipse the Object of worship. I then possess
+a magic instrument, and I forget the holy Lord.
+
+It can be so with prayer. I may use prayer as a magic minister to protect
+me from invasive ills. I do not pray because I desire fellowship with the
+Father, but because I should not feel safe without it. The ark is more
+than the Lord.
+
+It can be so with a crucifix. A crucifix may become a mere talisman, and
+so supplant the Lord. I may wear the thing and have no fellowship with the
+Person. And so may it be with the Lord's Supper. I may come to regard it
+as a magic feast, which makes me immune from punishment, but not immune
+from sin. It may be a minister of safety, but not of holiness.
+
+So let mine eyes be ever unto the Lord! Let me not be satisfied with the
+ark, but let me seek Him whose name is holy and whose nature is love.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Fifteenth
+
+_DEGRADING HOLY THINGS_
+
+1 SAMUEL vi. 1-15.
+
+
+I must remember that a holy thing can be the minister of a plague. Things
+that were purposed to be benedictions can be changed into blights. The
+very ark of God must be in its appointed place or it becomes the means of
+sickness and destruction. So it is with all the holy things of God: if I
+dethrone them they will uncrown me.
+
+It is even so with music. Unless I give it its holy sovereignty it will
+become a minister of the passions, and the angel within me is mastered by
+a beast. Let me read again Tennyson's "Palace of Sin," and let me
+heedfully note how music becomes the instrument of ignoble sensationalism,
+and aids in man's degradation. "But exalt her, and she shall exalt thee."
+
+It is even so with art. It is purposed to be the holy dwelling-place of
+God, but I can so abuse it as to make it the agent of degradation. Instead
+of hallowing the life it will debase and impoverish it.
+
+I will therefore remember that, if I infringe the Divine order, I can turn
+the sacramental cup into a vehicle of moral poison and spiritual blight.
+"They must be holy who bear the vessels of the Lord."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Sixteenth
+
+_PRIESTS OF THE LORD_
+
+"_None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites._"
+--1 CHRONICLES xv. 1-3, 11-15.
+
+
+There are prepared people for prepared offices. The Lord will fit the man
+to the function, the anointed and consecrated priest for the consecrated
+and consecrating ministry.
+
+But now, in the larger purpose of the Lord, and in "the exceeding riches
+of His grace," everybody may be a priest of the Lord. "He hath made us to
+be priests and kings unto God." And He will prepare us to carry our ark,
+and to "minister in holy things."
+
+I can be His priest in the home. He will anoint me as one who is to engage
+in holy ministries, and I shall be serving at the altar even while engaged
+in the lowly duties of the house. The humble meal will be sacramental, and
+common work will be heavenly sacrifice.
+
+I can be His priest in my class. The Lord will clothe me in "linen clean
+and white," and in my consecrated spirit my scholars shall discern the
+incense of sacrifice. And woe is me if I attempt to fill the godly office
+without my God.
+
+And I can be His priest in my workshop. Yes, in the carpenter's shop I may
+wear the radiant robe of the sanctified. And I, too, as one of the priests
+of the Lord, can "bear the sin of many, and make intercession for the
+transgressor."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Seventeenth
+
+_GREAT PRAISE_
+
+1 CHRONICLES xvi. 7-36.
+
+
+"Great is the Lord!" So many people have such a little God! There is
+nothing about Him august and sublime. And so He is not greatly praised.
+The worship is thin, the thanksgivings are scanty, the supplications are
+indifferent.
+
+All great saints have a great God. He fills their universe. Therefore do
+they move about in a fruitful awe, and everywhere there is only a thin
+veil between them and His appearing. Everywhere they discern His holy
+presence, as the face of a bride is dimly seen beneath her bridal veil.
+And so even the common scrub of the wilderness is aflame with sacred fire:
+the humble "primrose on the rock" becomes "the court of Deity": and the
+"strength of the hills is His also"!
+
+Yes, a great God inspires great praise, and in great praise small cares
+and small meannesses are utterly consumed away. When praise is mean,
+anxieties multiply. Therefore let me contemplate the greatness of God in
+nature and in providence, in His power, and His holiness, and His love.
+Let me "stand in awe" before His glory: and in the fruitful reverence the
+soul will be moved in acceptable praise.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Eighteenth
+
+_MECHANICAL PIETY_
+
+PHILEMON 10-18.
+
+
+The Apostle Paul declares that benefits may be given in one of two
+ways--"_of necessity_" and "_willingly_." One is mechanical, the other is
+spontaneous. I once saw a little table-fountain playing in a drawing-room,
+but I heard the click of its machinery, and the charm was gone! It had to
+be wound up before it would play, and at frequent periods it "ran down." A
+little later I saw another fountain playing on a green lawn, and it was
+fed from the deep secret resources of the hills!
+
+There is a generosity which is like the drawing-room fountain. If you
+listen you can hear the mechanical click, and a sound of friction, arising
+from murmuring and complaint. And there is a generosity which is like the
+fountain that is the child of the hills. It is clear, and sweet, and
+musical, and flows on through every season! One is "of necessity"; the
+other is "willingly." And "God loveth a cheerful giver."
+
+And prayer can be of the same two contrary orders. One prayer is
+mechanical, it is hard, formal, metallic. The other is spontaneous,
+forceful, and irresistible. Listen to the Pharisee--"Lord, I thank Thee
+that I am not as other men are." It is the click of the machine! Listen to
+the publican--"God be merciful to me, a sinner!" It is the voice of the
+deeps.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Ninteenth
+
+_UNION IN HARMONY_
+
+"_Be ye all of one mind._"
+--1 PETER iii. 8-17.
+
+
+But this is not unison: it is harmony. When an orchestra produces some
+great musical masterpiece, the instruments are all of one mind, but each
+makes its own individual contribution. There is variety with concordance:
+each one serves every other, and the result is glorious harmony. "By love
+serve one another." It is love that converts membership into fraternity:
+it is love that binds sons and daughters into a family.
+
+Look at a field of wild-flowers. What a harmony of colour! And yet what a
+variety of colours! Nothing out of place, but no sameness! All drawing
+resource from the same soil, and breathing the vitalizing substance from
+the same air!
+
+"And ye, being rooted and grounded in love," will grow up, a holy family
+in the Lord. If love be the common ground the varieties in God's family
+may be infinite!
+
+And so the unity which the apostle seeks is a unity of mood and
+disposition. It is not a unity which repeats the exact syllables of a
+common creed, but a unity which is built of common trust, and love, and
+hope. It is not sameness upon the outer lips, but fellowship in the secret
+place.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twentieth
+
+_THE JOY OF THE LOVER_
+
+ROMANS xii. 9-18.
+
+
+Love finds her joy in seeing others crowned. Envy darkens when she sees
+the garland given to another. Jealousy has no festival except when she is
+"Queen of the May." But love thrills to another's exaltation. She feels
+the glow of another's triumph. When another basks in favour her own "time
+of singing of birds is come!"
+
+And all this is because love has wonderful chords which vibrate to the
+secret things in the souls of others. Indeed, the gift of love is just the
+gift of delicate correspondence, the power of exquisite fellow-feeling,
+the ability to "rejoice with them that do rejoice, and to weep with them
+that weep." When, therefore, the soul of another is exultant, and the
+wedding-bells are ringing, love's kindred bells ring a merry peal. When
+the soul of another is depressed, and a funeral dirge is wailing, love's
+kindred chords wail in sad communion. So love can enter another's state as
+though it were her own.
+
+Our Master spake condemningly of those who have lost this exquisite gift.
+They have lost their power of response. "We have piped with you, and ye
+have not danced; we have mourned with you, and ye have not lamented." They
+lived in selfish and loveless isolation. They have lost all power of
+tender communion.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-first
+
+_LOVE AS THE GREAT MAGICIAN_
+
+1 JOHN ii. 1-11.
+
+
+A new commandment! And yet it is an old one with a new meaning. It is the
+old water-pot, but its water has been changed into wine. It is the old
+letter with a new spirit. It is the old body with a new soul. Love makes
+all things new! It changes duty into delight, and statutes into songs.
+
+What a magic difference love makes to a face. It at once becomes a face
+illumined. Love makes the plainest face winsome and attractive. It adds
+the light of heaven, and the earthly is transfigured. No cosmetics are
+needed when love is in possession. She will do her own beautifying work,
+and everybody will know her sign.
+
+What a magic difference love makes in service! The hireling goes about his
+work with heavy and reluctant feet: the lover sings and dances at his
+toil. The hireling scamps his work: the lover is always adding another
+touch, and is never satisfied. Just one more touch! And just another! And
+so on until the good God shall say that loving "patience has had her
+perfect work."
+
+Love lights up everything, for she is the light of life. Let her dwell in
+the soul, and every room in the life shall be filled with the glory of the
+Lord.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-second
+
+_SPEECH AS A SYMPTOM OF HEALTH_
+
+"_The tongue of the wise is health._"
+--PROVERBS xii. 13-22.
+
+
+Our doctors often test our physical condition by the state of our tongue.
+With another and deeper significance the tongue is also the register of
+our condition. Our words are a perfect index of our moral and spiritual
+health. If our words are unclean and untrue, our souls are assuredly
+sickly and diseased. A perverse tongue is never allied with a sanctified
+heart. And, therefore, everyone may apply a clinical test to his own life:
+"What is the character of my speech? What do my words indicate? What do
+they suggest as to the depths and background of the soul?" "By thy words
+thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
+
+God delighteth in truthful lips. Right words are fruit from the tree of
+life. The Lord turns away from falsehood as we turn away from material
+corruption, only with an infinitely intenser loathing and disgust.
+
+It is only the lips that have been purified with flame from the holy altar
+of God that can offer words that are pleasing unto Him.
+
+    "Take my lips and let them be
+     Filled with messages from Thee."
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-third
+
+_MASCULINE FORGIVENESS_
+
+COLOSSIANS iii. 12-17.
+
+
+True forgiveness is a very strong and clean and masculine virtue. There is
+a counterfeit forgiveness which is unworthy of the name. It is full of
+"buts," and "ifs," and "maybes," and "peradventures." It moves with
+reluctance, it offers with averted face, it takes back with one hand what
+it gives with the other. It forgives, but it "cannot forget." It forgives,
+but it "can never trust again." It forgives, but "things can never be the
+same as they were." What kind of forgiveness is this? It is the mercy of
+the police-court. It is the remission of penalty, not the glorious
+"abandon" of grace! It is a cold "Don't do it again," not the weeping and
+compassionate goodwill of the Lord.
+
+"_Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye._" That is to be our motive,
+and that is to be our measure. We are to forgive _because_ Christ forgave
+us. The glorious memory of His grace is to make us gracious. His tender,
+healing words to us are to redeem our speech from all harshness. In the
+contemplation of His cross we are to become "partakers of His sufferings,"
+and by the shedding of our own blood help to close and heal the alienation
+of the world.
+
+And we are to forgive _as_ Christ forgave us. Resentment is to be changed
+into frank goodwill, and filled with the grace of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-fourth
+
+LIMITED FORGIVENESS
+
+LUKE xvii. 3-10.
+
+
+We are always inclined to set a limit to our moral obligations. We wish,
+as we say, "to draw a line somewhere." We want to appoint a definite place
+where obligation ceases, and where the moral strain may be released. The
+Apostle Peter wished his Master to draw such a line in the matter of
+forgiveness. "Lord, how oft shall I forgive? Till seven times?" He wanted
+a tiny moral rule which he could apply to his brother's conduct.
+
+Not so the Lord. Our Master tells His disciple that in those spiritual
+realms relations are not governed by arithmetic. We cannot, by counting,
+measure off our obligations. Our repeated acts of forgiveness never bring
+us nearer to the freedom of revenge. No amount of sweetness will ever
+permit us to be bitter. We cannot, by being good, obtain a license to be
+evil. The fact of the matter is, if our goodness is of genuine quality,
+every act will more strongly dispose us to further goodness. It is the
+counterfeit element in our goodness that inclines us to the opposite camp.
+It is when our forgiveness is tainted that we anticipate the "sweetness"
+of revenge.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE HIDDEN FOES_
+
+MATTHEW v. 21-26.
+
+
+Our Lord always leads us to the secret, innermost roots of things. He does
+not concern Himself with symptoms, but with causes. He does not begin with
+the molten lava flowing down the fair mountain slope and destroying the
+vineyards. He begins with the central fires in which the lava is born. He
+does not begin with uncleanness. He begins with the thoughts which produce
+it. He does not begin with murder, but with the anger which causes it. He
+pierces to the secret fires!
+
+Now, all anger is not of sin. The Apostle Paul enjoins his readers to "be
+angry, and sin not." To be altogether incapable of anger would be to offer
+no antagonism to the wrongs and oppressions of the world. "Who is made to
+stumble, and I burn not?" cries the Apostle Paul. If wrong stalked abroad
+with heedless feet he burned with holy passion. There is anger which is
+like clean flame, clear and pure, as "the sea of glass mingled with fire."
+And there is anger which is like a smoky bonfire, and it pollutes while it
+destroys.
+
+It is the unclean anger which is of sin. It seeks revenge, not
+righteousness. It seeks "to get its own back," not to get the wrong-doer
+back to God. It follows wrong with further wrong. It spreads the devil's
+fire.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-sixth
+
+_GOLIATH VERSUS GOD!_
+
+1 SAMUEL xvii. 1-11.
+
+
+Goliath seemed to have everything on his side _except_ God. And the things
+in which he boasted were just the things in which men are prone to boast
+to-day.
+
+He had physical strength. "His height was six cubits and a span."
+Athletics had done all they could for him, and he was a fine type of
+animal perfection.
+
+He had splendid military equipment. "A helmet of brass," and "a coat of
+mail," and "a spear like a weaver's beam!" Surely, if fine material
+equipment determines combats, the shepherd-lad from the hills of Bethlehem
+will be annihilated.
+
+And he enjoyed the enthusiastic confidence of the Philistines. He was his
+nation's pride and glory! He strode out amid their shouts, and the cheers
+were like iron in his blood.
+
+But all this counted for nothing, because God was against him. Men and
+nations may attain to a fine animalism, their warlike equipment may
+satisfy the most exacting standard, and yet, with God against them, they
+shall be as structures woven out of mists, and they shall collapse at the
+touch of apparent weakness. The issue was not Goliath versus David, but
+Goliath versus God!
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-seventh
+
+_OBSCURE BIRTHPLACES_
+
+1 SAMUEL xvii. 12-27.
+
+
+God's champion is at present feeding sheep! Who would have expected that
+Goliath's antagonist would emerge from the quiet pastures? "Genius hatches
+her offspring in strange places." Very humble homes are the birthplaces of
+mighty emancipations.
+
+There was a little farm at St. Ives, and the farmer lived a quiet and
+unsensational life. But the affairs of the nation became more and more
+confused and threatening. Monarchical power despoiled the people's
+liberties, and tyranny became rampant. And out from the little farm strode
+Oliver Cromwell, the ordained of God, to emancipate his country.
+
+There was an obscure rectory at Epworth. The doings in the little rectory
+were just the quiet practices of similar homes in countless parts of
+England. And England was becoming brutalized, because its religious life
+was demoralized. The Church was asleep, and the devil was wide awake! And
+forth from the humble rectory strode John Wesley, the appointed champion
+of the Lord to enthuse, to purify, and to sweeten the life of the people.
+
+On what quiet farm is the coming deliverer now labouring? Who knows?
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-eighth
+
+_PREPARING FOR GREAT ENCOUNTERS_
+
+1 SAMUEL xvii. 28-37.
+
+
+This young champion of the Lord had won many victories before he faced
+Goliath. Everything depends on how I approach my supreme conflicts. If I
+have been careless in smaller combats I shall fail in the larger. If I
+come, wearing the garlands of triumph won in the shade, the shout of
+victory is already in the air! Let me look at David's trophies before he
+removed Goliath's head.
+
+He had conquered his temper. Read Eliab's irritating taunt in the
+twenty-eighth verse, and mark the fine self-possession of the young
+champion's reply! That conquest of temper helped him when he took aim at
+Goliath! There is nothing like passion for disturbing the accuracy of the
+eye and the steadiness of the hand.
+
+He had conquered fear. "_Let no man's heart fail because of him._" There
+was no panic, there was no feverish and wasteful excitement. There was no
+shouting "to keep the spirits up!" He was perfectly calm.
+
+And he had conquered unbelief. He had a rich history of the providential
+dealings of God with him, and his confidence was now unclouded and serene.
+He had known the Lord's power when he faced the bear and the lion. Now for
+Goliath!
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE MOOD OF TRIUMPH_
+
+"_I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts._"
+--1 SAMUEL xvii. 38-54.
+
+
+The man who comes up to his foes with this assurance will fight and win.
+Reasonable confidence is one of the most important weapons in the
+warrior's armoury. Fear is always wasteful. The man who calmly expects to
+win has already begun to conquer. Our mood has so much to do with our
+might. And therefore does the Word of God counsel us to attend to our
+dispositions, lest, having carefully collected our material implements, we
+have no strength to use them.
+
+And the man who comes up to his foes with holy assurance will fight with
+consummate skill. He will be quite "collected." All his powers will wait
+upon one another, and they will move together as one. He is as
+self-possessed upon the battlefield as upon parade, as undisturbed before
+Goliath as before a flock of sheep! And therefore do I say that, fighting
+with perfect composure, he fights with superlative skill. The right moment
+is seized, the right stone is chosen, the right aim is taken, and great
+Goliath is brought low.
+
+
+
+
+APRIL The Thirtieth
+
+_THE TEST OF VICTORY_
+
+"_David behaveth himself wisely._"
+--1 SAMUEL xvii. 55--xviii. 5.
+
+
+The hour of victory is a more severe moral test than the hour of defeat.
+Many a man can brave the perils of adversity who succumbs to the
+seductions of prosperity. He can stand the cold better than the heat! He
+is enriched by failure, but "spoilt by success." To test the real quality
+of a man, let us regard him just when he has slain Goliath! "David behaved
+himself wisely"!
+
+He was not "eaten up with pride." He developed no "side." He went among
+his friends as though no Goliath had ever crossed his way. He was not for
+ever recounting the triumph, and fishing for the compliments of his
+audience. He "behaved wisely." So many of us tarnish our victories by the
+manner in which we display them. We put them into the shop-window, and
+they become "soiled goods."
+
+And in this hour of triumph David made a noble friend. In his noonday he
+found Jonathan, and their hearts were knit to each other in deep and
+intimate love. It is beautiful when our victories are so nobly borne that
+they introduce us into higher fellowships, and the friends of heaven
+become our friends.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The First
+
+_THE CONDITIONS OF SERENITY_
+
+PSALM cxxiv.
+
+
+If I would be like the Psalmist, I must _clearly recognize my perils_. He
+sees the "waters," the "proud waters." He beholds the "enemy," and his
+"wrath," and his "teeth." He sees "the fowler" with his snare! I must not
+shut my eyes, and "make my judgment blind." One of the gifts of grace is
+the spirit of discernment, the eyes which not only detect hidden treasure,
+but hidden foes. The devil is an expert in mimicry; he can make himself
+look like an angel of light. And so must I be able to discover his snares,
+even when they appear as the most seductive food.
+
+And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must _clearly recognize my great
+Ally_. "If it has not been the Lord, who was on our side!" To see the Ally
+on the perilous field, and to see Him on my side, gives birth to holy
+confidence and song. "The Lord is on my side, whom shall I fear?" I must
+make sure of the Ally, and "victory is secure."
+
+And if I would be like the Psalmist, I must not omit the doxology of
+praise. When the prayer is answered, I am apt to forget the praise. My
+thanksgivings are not so ready as my requests. And so the apparently
+conquered enemy steals in again at the door of an ungrateful heart.
+
+
+
+
+May The Second
+
+_THE HAPPY WARRIOR_
+
+EPHESIANS vi. 10-18.
+
+
+Here is a portrait of the happy warrior! Let me first look at the warrior,
+and then at the implements with which he fights.
+
+"You cannot fight the French merely with red uniforms; there must be men
+inside them!" So said Thomas Carlyle. Well, look at this man.
+"_Strengthened in the Lord, and in the power of His might._" There is a
+secret communion with the Almighty, and he draws his resources from the
+Infinite. The water in my home comes from the Welsh hills; every drop was
+gathered on those grand and expansive uplands. And this man's soldierly
+strength is drawn from the hills of God; every ounce of his fighting blood
+comes from the veins of the Lord.
+
+And mark the nature of his armoury. His weapons are dispositions. He
+fights with "truth," and "righteousness," and "peace," and "faith," and
+"prayer"! There are no implements like these. A sword will fail where a
+courtesy will prevail. We can kill our enemies by kindness. And as for the
+devil himself there is nothing like a grace-filled disposition for putting
+him to flight! A prayerful disposition can drive him off any field, at any
+hour of the day or night. "Put on the whole armour of God."
+
+
+
+
+May The Third
+
+_OTHER GODS!_
+
+"_Thou shalt have no other gods before Me._"
+--EXODUS xx. 1-11.
+
+
+If we kept that commandment all the other commandments would be obeyed. If
+we secure this queen-bee we are given the swarm. To put nothing "before"
+God! What is left in the circle of obedience? God first, always and
+everywhere. Nothing allowed to usurp His throne for an hour! I was once
+allowed to sit on an earthly throne for a few seconds, but even that is
+not to be allowed with the throne of God. Nothing is to share His
+sovereignty, even for a moment. His dominion is to be unconditional and
+unbroken. "Thou shalt have no other gods beside Me."
+
+But we have many gods we set upon His throne. We put money there, and
+fame, and pleasure, and ease. Yes, we sometimes usurp God's throne, and we
+ourselves dare to sit there for days, and weeks, and years, at a time.
+Self is the idol, and we enthrone it, and we fall down and worship it. But
+no peace comes from such sovereignty, and no deep and vital joy. For the
+real King is not dead, and He is out and about, and our poor little
+monarchy is as the reign of the midge on a summer's night. Our real
+kingship is in the acknowledgment of the King of kings. When we worship
+Him, and Him only, He will ask us to sit on His throne.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Fourth
+
+_A HEALTHY PALATE_
+
+"_How sweet are Thy words unto my taste._"
+--PSALM cxix. 97-104.
+
+
+Some people like one thing, and some another. Some people appreciate the
+bitter olive; others feel it to be nauseous. Some delight in the sweetest
+grapes; others feel the sweetness to be sickly. It is all a matter of
+palate. Some people love the Word of the Lord; to others the reading of it
+is a dreary task. To some the Bible is like a vineyard; to others it is
+like a dry and tasteless meal. One takes the word of the Master, and it is
+"as honey to the mouth"; to another the same word is as unwelcome as a
+bitter drug. It is all a matter of palate.
+
+But what is a man to do who has got a perverted palate, and who calls
+sweet things bitter and bitter things sweet? He must get a new mouth! And
+where is he to get it? Not by any ministry of his own creation; his own
+endeavours will be impotent. A healthy moral palate depends upon the
+purity of the heart. Our spiritual discernments are all determined by the
+state of the soul. If the heart be pure, the mouth will be clean, and we
+shall love God's law. If the soul-appetite be healthy, God's words will be
+sweet unto our taste. And so does the good Lord give us new palates by
+giving us new hearts. "Create within us clean hearts, O God, and renew
+right spirits within us."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Fifth
+
+_HEALTHY LISTENING_
+
+"_Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only._"
+--JAMES i. 21-27.
+
+
+When we hear the word, but do not do it, there has been a defect in our
+hearing. We may listen to the word for mere entertainment. Or we may
+attach a virtue to the mere act of listening to the word. We may assume
+that some magical efficacy belongs to the mere reading of the word. And
+all this is perverse and delusive. No listening is healthy which is not
+mentally referred to obedience. We are to listen _with a view to
+obedience_, with our eyes upon the very road where the obedient feet will
+travel. That is to say, we are to listen with purpose, as though we were
+Ambassadors receiving instructions from the King concerning some momentous
+mission. Yes, we must listen with an eye on the road.
+
+"Doing" makes a new thing of "hearing." The statute obeyed becomes a song.
+The commandment is found to be a beatitude. The decree discloses riches of
+grace. The hidden things of God are not discovered until we are treading
+the path of obedience. "And it came to pass that as he went he received
+his sight." In the way of obedience the blind man found a new world. God
+has wonderful treasures for the dutiful. The faithful discover the "hidden
+manna."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Sixth
+
+_THE PERFECTING OF LOVE_
+
+"_Herein is our love made perfect._"
+--1 JOHN iv. 11-21.
+
+
+How? By dwelling in God and God in us. Love is not a manufacture; it is a
+fruit. It is not born of certain works; it springs out of certain
+relations. It does not come from doing something; it comes from living
+with Somebody. "Abide in Me." That is how love is born, for "love is of
+God, and God is love."
+
+How many people are striving who are not abiding. They live in a
+manufactory, they do not live in a home. They are trying to make something
+instead of to know Somebody. "This is life, to know Thee." When I am
+related to the Lord Jesus, when I dwell with Him, love is as surely born
+as beauty and fragrance are born when my garden and the spring-time dwell
+together. If we would only wisely cultivate the fellowship of Jesus,
+everything else would follow in its train--all that gracious succession of
+beautiful things which are called "the fruits of the Spirit."
+
+And "herein is our love made perfect." It is always growing richer,
+because it is always drawing riches from the inexhaustible love of God.
+How could it be otherwise? Endless resource must mean endless growth. "Our
+life is hid with Christ in God," and hence our love will "grow in all
+wisdom and discernment."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Seventh
+
+_IN THE WAYS OF OBEDIENCE_
+
+PSALM xix. 7-14.
+
+
+Let me listen to the exquisite chimes of this wonderful psalm as they ring
+out the blessedness of the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord.
+What shall he find in the ways of obedience?
+
+He shall find restoration. "Restoring the soul." He shall find new stores
+of food along the way. In every emergency he shall find fresh provision;
+every new need shall discover new supplies. When one store is spent,
+another shall take its place. "Thou re-storest my soul." In the ways of
+righteousness the good Lord has appointed ample stores for the provision
+of all His faithful pilgrims.
+
+He shall find joy. "Rejoicing the heart." In the way of obedience there
+shall be springs of delight as well as stores of provision. "With joy
+shall ye draw waters out of the wells of salvation." Fountains of
+delicious satisfaction rise in the realm of duty, the satisfaction of
+being right with God, and in union with the eternal will. There is no day
+without its spring, and "the joy of the Lord is our strength."
+
+He shall find vision. "Enlightening the eyes." The eyes of the obedient
+are anointed with the eye-salve of grace, and wondrous panoramas break
+upon the sight. Visions of grace! Visions of love! Visions of glory!
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Eighth
+
+_HOW NOT TO FORGET_
+
+DEUTERONOMY xi. 18-25.
+
+
+If we wish to retain "the word of the Lord" everything depends upon where
+we keep it. If we just keep it in the mind, a leaky memory may waste the
+treasure. A Chinese convert declared that he found the best way to
+remember the word was to do it! The engraved word became character,
+written upon the fleshy tables of the heart. He incarnated the word, and
+it became a vital part of his own personality. He lived it and it lived in
+him. The word became flesh. This is the only really vital "way of
+remembrance," to convert the word into the primary stuff of the life.
+
+There is a secondary way by which we may help our apprehension of God's
+word. "Ye shall teach them." Our hold upon a truth is increased while we
+impart it to others. The gospel becomes more vivid as we proclaim it to
+our fellow-men. We see it while we explain it. It grips us the more firmly
+as we use it to grip our children. This is a great law in life. In these
+matters it is literally true that memory best retains what she gives away.
+A truth that is never shared is never really possessed. The word that we
+teach becomes rooted in our own mind.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Ninth
+
+_LOVING THE LORD_
+
+LUKE x. 21-28.
+
+
+The secret of life is to love the Lord our God, and our neighbours as
+ourselves. But how are we to love the Lord? We cannot manufacture love. We
+cannot love to order. We cannot by an act of will command its appearing.
+No, not in these ways is love created. Love is not a work, it is a fruit.
+It grows in suitable soils, and it is our part to prepare the soils. When
+the conditions are congenial, love appears, just as the crocus and the
+snowdrop appear in the congenial air of the spring.
+
+What, then, can we do? We can seek the Lord's society. We can think about
+Him. We can read about Him. We can fill our imaginations with the grace of
+His life and service. We can be much with Him, talking to Him in prayer,
+singing to Him in praise, telling Him our yearnings and confessing to Him
+our defeats. And love will be quietly born. For this is how love is born
+between heart and heart. Two people are "much together," and love is born!
+And when we are much with the Lord, we are with One who already loves us
+with an everlasting love. We are with One who yearns for our love and who
+seeks in every way to win it. "We love Him because He first loved us." And
+when we truly love God, every other kind of holy love will follow. Given
+the fountain, the rivers are sure.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Tenth
+
+_GOD'S USE OF MEN_
+
+"_I have surely seen the affliction of My people ...
+come now, therefore, I will send thee._"
+--EXODUS iii. 1-14.
+
+
+Does that seem a weak ending to a powerful beginning? The Lord God looks
+upon terrible affliction and He sends a weak man to deal with it. Could He
+not have sent fire from heaven? Could He not have rent the heavens and
+sent His ministers of calamity and disasters? Why choose a man when the
+arch-angel Gabriel stands ready at obedience?
+
+This is the way of the Lord. He uses human means to divine ends. He works
+through man to the emancipation of men. He pours His strength into a worm,
+and it becomes "an instrument with teeth." He stiffens a frail reed and it
+becomes as an iron pillar.
+
+And this mighty God will use thee and me. On every side there are Egypts
+where affliction abounds, there are homes where ignorance breeds, there
+are workshops where tyranny reigns, there are lands where oppression is
+rampant. "Come now, therefore, I will send thee." Thus saith the Lord, and
+He who gives the command will also give the equipment.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Eleventh
+
+_BUT----!_
+
+"_And Moses answered and said, But_----"
+--EXODUS iv. 1-9.
+
+
+We know that "but." God has heard it from our lips a thousand times. It is
+the response of unbelief to the divine call. It is the reply of fear to
+the divine command. It is the suggestion that the resources are
+inadequate. It is a hint that God may not have looked all round. He has
+overlooked something which our own eyes have seen. The human "buts" in the
+Scriptural stories make an appalling record.
+
+"Lord, I will follow Thee, but----" There is something else to be attended
+to before discipleship can begin. Obedience is not primary: it must wait
+for something else. And so our obedience is not a straight line: it is
+crooked and circuitous; it takes the way of by-path meadow instead of the
+highway of the Lord. We do not wait upon the Lord's pleasure; we make Him
+wait upon ours.
+
+There need be no "buts" in our relationship to the King's will. Everything
+has been foreseen. Nothing will take the Lord by surprise. The entire
+field has been surveyed, and the preparations are complete. When the Lord
+says to thee or me, "I will send thee," every provision has been made for
+the appointed task. "I will not fail thee."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twelfth
+
+_MOUTH AND MATTER_
+
+"_Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth._"
+--EXODUS iv. 10-17.
+
+
+And what a promise that is for anyone who is commissioned to proclaim the
+King's decrees. Here can teachers and preachers find their strength. God
+will be with their mouths. He will control their speech, and order their
+words like troops. He does not promise to make us eloquent, but to endow
+our words with the "demonstration of power."
+
+"_And I will teach thee what thou shall say._" The Lord will not only be
+with our mouths, but with our minds. He will guide our thoughts as well as
+our words. He will be as sentinel at the lips. He will be our guide in our
+processes of meditation and judgment, and He will bring us to enlightened
+ends. All of which is just this: He will give us mouth and matter.
+
+This does not put a premium upon idleness. The Lord guides when men are
+honestly groping. He gives us fire when we have built the altar. He works
+His miracle when we have provided the five loaves. He sends His light
+through diligent thinking. The divine power is given through the
+consecrated strength.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Thirteenth
+
+_COMMONPLACE FIDELITIES_
+
+EXODUS ii. 11-25.
+
+
+God prepares us for the greater crusades by more commonplace fidelities.
+Through the practice of common kindnesses God leads us to chivalrous
+tasks. Little courtesies feed nobler reverences. No man can despise
+smaller duties and do the larger duties well. Our strength is sapped by
+small disobediences. Our discourtesies to one another impair our worship
+of God. The neglect of the "pointing" of a house may lead to dampness and
+fatal disease.
+
+And thus the only way to live is by filling every moment with fidelity. We
+are ready for anything when we have been faithful in everything. "Because
+thou hast been faithful in that which is least!" That is the order in
+moral and spiritual progress, and that is the road by which we climb to
+the seats of the mighty. When every stone in life is "well and truly laid"
+we are sure of a solid, holy temple in which the Lord will delight to
+dwell. The quality of our greatness depends upon what we do with "that
+which is least."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Fourteenth
+
+_CALAMITY AS REVEALER_
+
+"_In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord._"
+--ISAIAH vi. 1-8.
+
+
+He lost a hero, and he found the Lord. He feared because a great pillar
+had fallen: and he found the Pillar of the universe. He thought everything
+would topple into disaster, and lo! he felt the strength of the
+everlasting arms. When Uzziah lived Isaiah had forgotten his Lord. He so
+depended on the earthly that he had overlooked the heavenly. Uzziah
+concealed his Lord as a thick veil can hide a face. And when Uzziah died,
+when the earthly king passed away, the eternal King was revealed; as when
+by the passing of an earth-born cloud the moon reigns radiant in the open
+sky.
+
+And thus it is that apparent calamity is often the minister of revelation.
+The great storm clears the air, and luminous vistas come into view. The
+howling wind of adversity drives away the earth-born clouds and we see the
+face of God. Our sorrows prove the occasion of our visions. We see new
+panoramas through our tears. Bereavement gives us spiritual surprises, and
+death becomes the servant of life. And so it happens that days which began
+in gloom end in revelation, and we keep their recurring anniversary with
+deepening praise.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Fifteenth
+
+_GOD IS WIDE-AWAKE_
+
+"_Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said,
+I see a rod of an almond tree._"
+--JEREMIAH i. 7-19.
+
+
+And through the almond tree the Lord gave the trembling young prophet the
+strength of assurance. The almond tree is the first to awake from its
+wintry sleep. When all other trees are held in frozen slumber the almond
+blossoms are looking out on the barren world. And God is like that, awake
+and vigilant. Nobody anticipates Him. Wherever Jeremiah was sent on his
+prophetic mission the Lord would be there before him. Before the prophet's
+enemies could get to work the Lord was on the field. In the wintriest
+circumstances of a prophet's life God is wide awake: "He that keepeth
+Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."
+
+And still the almond tree has its heartening significance for thee and me.
+Our God is wide-awake. He looks out upon our wintry circumstances, and
+nothing is hid from His sight. There is no unrecognized and uncounted
+factor which may steal in furtively and take Him by surprise. Everything
+is open. He is wide-awake on the far-off field where the isolated
+missionary is ploughing his lonely furrow. He is wide-awake on the field
+of common labour where some young disciple finds it hard to keep clean
+hands while he earns his daily bread.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Sixteenth
+
+_THE DETAILS OF PROVIDENCE_
+
+"_The very hairs of your head are all numbered._"
+--MATTHEW x. 24-31.
+
+
+Providence goes into details. Sometimes, in our human intercourse, we
+cannot see the trees for the wood. We cannot see the individual sheep for
+the flock. We cannot see the personal soul for the masses. We are blinded
+by the bigness of things; we cannot see the individual blades of grass
+because of the field.
+
+Now God's vision is not general, it is particular. There are no "masses"
+to the Infinite. "He calleth His own sheep _by name_." The single one is
+seen as though he alone possessed the earth. When God looks at the wood He
+sees every tree. When He looks at the race He sees every man.
+
+And, therefore, I need not fear that "my way is overlooked by my God." He
+knows every turning. He knows just where the strain begins at the hill. He
+knows the perils of every descent. He knows every happening along the
+road. He knows every letter that came to me by this morning's post. He
+knows every visitor who knocks at the door of my life, whether the visitor
+come at the high noon or at the midnight. "There is nothing hid." "The
+very hairs of your head are all numbered."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Seventeenth
+
+_MY BODILY INFIRMITIES_
+
+JOHN ix. 1-12.
+
+
+An infirmity becomes doubly burdensome when we give it a false
+interpretation. The weight of a thing is determined by our conception of
+it. If I look upon my ailment as the stroke of an offended God, I wear it
+like the chains of a slave. If I look upon it as the fire of the gracious
+Refiner, I can calmly await the beneficent issue. It is my Lord, engaged
+in chastening His jewels!
+
+And so our Master first of all relieves the blind man of the false
+interpretation of his infirmity. "_Neither did this man sin, nor his
+parents._" That lifts the sorrow out of the winter into the spring. It
+sets it in the warm, sweet light of grace. It becomes transfigured. It
+wears a new face, placed there in "the light of His countenance."
+
+And then our Lord relieves the blind man of the infirmity itself. The
+ministry of blindness was accomplished, and sight was given. No man is
+kept in the darkness a moment longer than infinite love deems good. Our
+Lord does not overlook the prison-house, and leave us there forgotten. "He
+that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." So cheer thee, my
+soul! The Lord is on thy side! The Miracle-worker knows His time and "the
+dreariest path, the darkest way, shall issue out in heavenly day."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Eighteenth
+
+_BLINDED JUDGMENTS_
+
+JOHN ix. 13-25.
+
+
+Here is a ceremonialism which is blind to the humane. Its scrupulous
+ritualisms have dried up its philanthropy. It thinks more of etiquette
+than equity. It esteems genuflexions more than generosity. It values the
+husk more than the kernel. It is Sabbatarian but not humanitarian. My God,
+deliver me from all pious conventionalities which make me indifferent to
+the ailments and cries of my fellow-men!
+
+And here is a dense prejudice which is blind to the evident. "_They did
+not believe that he had been blind._" A prejudice can deflect the
+judgment, as subtle magnetic currents can deflect the needle. The film of
+an ecclesiastical prejudice can be so opaque as to make us "blind to
+facts." We do not "see things as they are." Our perverted eyes give us a
+crooked world.
+
+And here is a bitter violence which is blind to the glory of the Lord. "We
+know that this man is a sinner!" And so it comes to that. Our judgments
+can become so warped that when we look upon Him, "who is the chief among
+ten thousand and the altogether lovely," "there is no beauty that we
+should desire Him"! And therefore let this be my daily prayer, "Lord, that
+I might receive my sight!"
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Nineteenth
+
+_THE ROCK OF EXPERIENCE_
+
+JOHN ix. 26-41.
+
+
+The Lord gains a witness, and a stalwart witness too! First, he stood upon
+his own inalienable experience. "_One thing I know, that whereas I was
+blind, now I see._" Second, he drew his own firm inferences from the
+beneficence of the work. And, in the third place, he reached his grand
+conclusion. "_If this man were not of God, He could do nothing._" A grand
+testimony, and given by one who "dared to stand alone!"
+
+And the witness gained a Friend. "Jesus heard that they had cast him out,
+and when He had found him...." Our Lord is always seeking the outcasts. He
+never abandons the abandoned. When the faithful witness is driven into the
+wilderness he finds "a table spread" before him "in the presence of his
+enemies." The man who had recovered his sight was cast out, but on the
+threshold he met his Lord!
+
+And further sight was given. By the first sight he could see his parents,
+by the second sight he saw the Son of God. The film was first removed from
+his eyes, and then from his soul, and he saw "the glory of the Lord." "And
+he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twentieth
+
+_THE LONE CRY IN THE BIG CROWD_
+
+MARK x. 46-52.
+
+
+Our Lord hears the cry of need even when it rises from the midst of the
+tumultuous crowd. A mother can hear the faint cry of her child in the
+chamber above, even when the room resounds with the talk and laughter of
+her guests. And our Lord heard the wail of poor Bartimaeus! That lone,
+sorrowful cry pierced the clamour, "and Jesus stood still." My soul, cry
+to Him! "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by."
+
+And Bartimaeus knew what he wanted. He merged all his petitions in one.
+"Lord, that I might receive my sight!" And let me, too, come to my Saviour
+with some great, dominant, all-commanding request. I trifle with my
+Master. I ask Him for toys, for petty things, while all the time He is
+waiting to give me "unsearchable wealth," "sight, riches, healing of the
+mind." "The Lord is great"; and shall I add, "and greatly to be _prayed_!"
+
+And how delicately gracious it is that our Lord should attribute the
+miracle to Bartimaeus himself. "_Thy faith hath made thee whole!_" As
+though the Lord had had no share in the ministry! He makes so much of our
+faith, and our endeavour, and our obedience. "If ye had faith as a grain
+of mustard-seed!" That's all He wants, and miracles are accomplished.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-first
+
+_HUMAN FRAILTIES_
+
+ISAIAH xlii. 1-7.
+
+
+What a winsome revelation of the delicate gentleness of the Lord! "The
+bruised reed"--is it the impaired musical reed, that cannot now emit a
+musical sound, and can only be thrown away? He will not snap it and cast
+it to the void. The discordant life can be made tuneful again: He will put
+"a new song in my mouth."
+
+"And the smoking flax"--the life that has lost its fire, and therefore its
+light, its enthusiasm, and therefore its ideals; the life that is
+smouldering into the cold ashes of moral and spiritual death! He will not
+stamp it out with His foot. The smouldering fire can be rekindled, a spent
+enthusiasm can be revived. "He shall baptize you ... with fire!"
+
+And so He comes to minister to the infirm. He comes to restore injured
+faculty; "_to open blind eyes_." He comes to give vision to restored
+sight: "_to be a light of the Gentiles_." And He comes to endow the
+restored life with a rich and gracious freedom: "_to bring out the
+prisoners from the prison_." Sight, and light, and freedom! And my Lord is
+at the gate, and these gifts are in His hand.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-second
+
+_THE LIGHT AS DARKNESS_
+
+MATTHEW xiii. 10-17.
+
+
+The condition of the heart determines the quality of my discernment. If
+"the heart is waxed gross," the ears will be "dull of hearing," and the
+eyes will be "closed." My spiritual senses gain their acuteness or
+obtuseness from my affections. If my love is muddy my sight will be dim.
+If my love be "clear as crystal" the spiritual realm will be like a
+gloriously transparent air.
+
+And the awful nemesis of sin-created blindness is this, that it interprets
+itself as sight. "The light that is in thee is darkness." We think we see,
+and all the time we are the children of the night. We think it is "the
+dawn of God's sweet morning," and behold! it is the perverse flare of the
+evil one. He has given us a will-o'-the-wisp, and we boastfully proclaim
+it to be "the morning star."
+
+But there is hope for any man, however blind he be, who will humbly lay
+himself at Jesus' feet. Let this be my prayer, O Lord, "Cleanse Thou me
+from secret faults." Deliver me from self-deception, save me from
+confusing the fixed light of heaven with the wandering beacon-lights of
+hell. And again and again will I pray, "Lord, that I might receive my
+sight!"
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-third
+
+_WIND AND FIRE_
+
+ACTS ii. 1-21.
+
+
+The Holy Spirit will minister to me as a _wind_. He will create an
+atmosphere in my life which will quicken all sweet and beautiful growth.
+And this shall be my native air. Gracious seeds, which have never awaked,
+shall now unfold themselves, and "the desert shall rejoice and blossom as
+the rose." It was a saying of Huxley, that if our little island were to be
+invaded by tropical airs, tropical seeds which are now lying dormant in
+English gardens and fields would troop out of their graves in bewildering
+wealth and beauty! "Breathe on me, breath of God!"
+
+And the Holy Spirit will minister to me as a _fire_. And fire is our
+supreme minister of cleansing. Fire can purify when water is impotent. The
+great fire burnt out the great plague. There are evil germs which cannot
+be dealt with except by the searching ministry of the flame. "He shall
+baptize you ... _with fire_." He will create a holy enthusiasm in my soul,
+an intense and sacred love, which will burn up all evil intruders, but in
+which all beautiful things shall walk unhurt.
+
+    "Kindle a flame of sacred love
+     On these cold hearts of ours."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-fourth
+
+_CALVARY AND PENTECOST_
+
+ACTS ii. 22-36.
+
+
+The Apostle Peter traces the stream of Pentecostal blessing to a tomb.
+This "river of water of life" has its "rise" in a death of transcendent
+sacrifice. And I must never forget these dark beginnings of my eternal
+hope. It is well that I should frequently visit the sources of my
+blessedness, and kneel on "the green hill far away."
+
+It will save me from having a cheap religion. I shall never handle the
+gifts of grace as though they had cost nothing. There will always be the
+marks of blood upon them, the crimson stain of incomparable sacrifice.
+
+And it will save me from all flippancy in my religious life. When I visit
+the cross and the tomb, life is transformed from a picnic into a crusade.
+For that is ever my peril, to picnic on the banks of the river and to
+spend my days in emotional loitering.
+
+After all, my Pentecost is purposed to prepare me for my own Gethsemane
+and Calvary! Life is given me in order that I may spend it again in ready
+and fruitful sacrifice.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-fifth
+
+_VISIONS AND DREAMS_
+
+JOEL ii. 21-32.
+
+
+And this old-world promise is good for me to-day. It is like some
+weather-stained well, whose waters have continued flowing throughout the
+generations, right down to my own time. Let me drink!
+
+Holy inspiration will give me insight into the mind of my God. "_Your sons
+and your daughters shall prophesy._" The breath of God creates an
+atmosphere in which spiritual realities are clearly seen. It is like the
+Sabbath air in some busy city, when the fumes and smoke of commerce have
+been blown away. "Thou shalt behold the land that is very far off."
+
+And so in my younger days holy inspiration will give me visions. "Your
+young men shall see visions." I shall be an idealist, and I shall see
+things as they exist in God's idea, even though at present they be maimed
+and imperfect. I shall see them "according to the pattern on the Mount."
+
+And in my later days holy inspiration will give me dreams. "_Your old men
+shall dream dreams._" And what shall they dream about? Not like the
+Chinese, of a golden age in a distant past, but of a golden age to be.
+Their dreams shall have a "forward-looking eye." They shall see "the new
+Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God."
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE UNITING OF SUNDERED PEOPLES_
+
+"_On the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost._"
+--ACTS x. 34-48.
+
+
+And this is ever the issue of a true outpouring of the Spirit: sundered
+peoples become one. At "low tide" there are multitudes of separated pools
+along the shore: at "high tide" they flow together, and the little
+distinctions are lost in a splendid union.
+
+It is so racially. "Jew and Gentile!" Peter and Cornelius lose their
+prejudices in the emancipating ministry of the Spirit. And so shall it be
+with English and Irish, with French and German, with Asiatic and European:
+they shall be "all one" in Christ.
+
+It is so socially. "Bond and free!" The master and the servant shall
+discover a glorious intimacy and union. And so shall rich and poor, the
+learned and the illiterate, the many-talented and the obscure. The pools
+shall flow together.
+
+It is so ecclesiastically. Our sectarianisms are always most frowning and
+obtrusive when spiritually we are at "low tide." When the tide rises, it
+is amazing how the ramparts are submerged. It is not round-table
+conferences that we need, but seasons of communion when together we shall
+await the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-seventh
+
+_RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST_
+
+ACTS ii. 37-47.
+
+
+The sacred process by which the Holy Spirit is received is the same
+throughout all the years.
+
+First there is _repentance_. And repentance is not a flow of emotion, but
+a certain direction of mind. I may repent with dry eyes. It is not a
+matter of feeling, but of willing. It is to lay hold of the aimless,
+drifting thought, and _steer it toward God_! It is a change of mind.
+
+Second, there is a definite and avowed choice of my new Goal, my new Lord
+and King. The Christian life cannot be a subterfuge. It cannot be lived
+incognito. I cannot be the Christ's and wear the livery of an alien power.
+There must be _confession_, a bold and clarion-like avowal that henceforth
+I am a soldier of the Lord.
+
+And the spiritual experiences will be sure, as sure as the law-governed
+processes of the material world. There will be "_remission of sins_." The
+old guilt will fall away from my soul as the chains fell from Peter's
+limbs when the angel touched them. And there will be "_the gift of the
+Holy Ghost_." A new dynamic is mine! I enter into fellowship with the
+power of the ascended Lord.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE SONS OF GOD_
+
+"_For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God._"
+--ROMANS viii. 9-17.
+
+
+And how unspeakably wealthy are the implications of the great word!
+
+If a son, then what holy freedom is mine! Mine is not "_the spirit of
+bondage_." The son has "the run of the house." That is the great contrast
+between lodgings and home. And I am to be at home with the Lord.
+
+And if a son, then heir! "All things are yours." Samuel Rutherford used to
+counsel his friends to "take a turn" round their estate. And truly it is
+an inspiring exercise! The Spirit shall lead me over my estate, and I will
+survey, with the sense of ownership, "the things which God hath prepared
+for them that love Him."
+
+I wonder if I have the manner of a king's son? I wonder if there is
+anything in my very "walk" which indicates distinguished lineage and royal
+blood? Or am I like a vagrant who has no possessions and no heartening
+expectations?
+
+"Lord, I would serve, and be a son!"
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Twenty-ninth
+
+_MANY GIFTS--ONE SPIRIT_
+
+1 CORINTHIANS xii. 1-13.
+
+
+There is no monotony in the workmanship of my God. The multitude of His
+thoughts is like the sound of the sea, and every thought commands a new
+creation. When He thinks upon me, the result is a creative touch never
+again to be repeated on land or sea. And so, when the Holy Spirit is given
+to the people, the ministry does not work in the suppression of
+individualities, but rather in their refinement and enrichment.
+
+Our gifts will be manifold, and we must not allow the difference to breed
+a spirit of suspicion. Because my brother's gift is not mine I must not
+suspect his calling. To one man is given a trumpet, to another a lamp, and
+to another a spade. And they are all the holy gifts of grace.
+
+And thus the gifts are manifold in order that every man may find his
+completeness in his brother. One man is like an eye--he is a seer of
+visions! Another man is like a hand--he has the genius of practicality! He
+is "a handy man"! One is the architect, the other is the builder. And each
+requires the other, if either is to be perfected. And so, by God's
+gracious Spirit, the individual man is only a bit, a portion, and he is
+intended to fit into the other bits, and so make the complete man of the
+race.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Thirtieth
+
+_FINDING THE DEEP THINGS_
+
+"_The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS ii. 7-12.
+
+
+The deep things of God cannot be discovered by unaided reason. "_Eye hath
+not seen:_" they are not to be apprehended by the artistic vision. "_Ear
+hath not heard:_" they are not unveiled amid the discussion of the
+philosophic schools. "_Neither hath entered into the heart of man:_" even
+poetic insight cannot discern them. All the common lights fail in this
+realm. We need another illumination, even that provided by the Holy
+Spirit. And the Spirit is offered unto us "that we might know the things
+that are freely given to us of God."
+
+And here we have the reason why so many uncultured people are spiritually
+wiser than many who are learned. They lack talent, but they have grace.
+They lack accomplishments, but they have the Holy Ghost. They lack the
+telescope, but they have the sunlight. They are not scholars, but they are
+saints. They may not be theologians, but they have true religion. And so
+they have "the open vision." They "walk with God," and "the deep things of
+God" are made known to their souls.
+
+We must put first things first. We may be busy polishing our lenses when
+our primary and fundamental need is light. It is not a gift that we
+require, but a Friend.
+
+
+
+
+MAY The Thirty-first
+
+_CONNECTION AND CONCORD_
+
+"_By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS xii. 12-19.
+
+
+It is only in the spirit that real union is born. Every other kind of
+union is artificial, and mechanical, and dead. We can dovetail many pieces
+of wood together and make the unity of an article of furniture, but we
+cannot dovetail items together and make a tree. And it is the union of a
+tree that we require, a union born of indwelling life. We may join many
+people together in a fellowship by the bonds of a formal creed, but the
+result is only a piece of social furniture, it is not a vital communion.
+There is a vast difference between a connection and a concord.
+
+Many members of a family may bear the same name, may share the same blood,
+may sit and eat at the same table, and yet may have no more vital union
+than a handful of marbles in a boy's pocket. But let the spirit of a
+common love dwell in all their hearts and there is a family bound together
+in glorious union.
+
+And so it is in the spirit, and there alone, that vital union is to be
+found. And here is the secret of such spiritual union. "By one Spirit are
+we all baptized into one body." The Spirit of God, dwelling in all our
+spirits, attunes them into glorious harmony. Our lives blend with one
+another in the very music of the spheres.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The First
+
+_THE BEAUTY OF VARIETY_
+
+1 CORINTHIANS xii. 20-31.
+
+
+God's glory is expressed through the harmony of variety. We do not need
+sameness in order to gain union. I am now looking upon a scene of
+surpassing loveliness. There are mountains, and sea, and grassland, and
+trees, and a wide-stretching sky, and white pebbles at my feet. And a
+white bird has just flown across a little bank of dark cloud. What
+variety! And when I look closer the variety is infinitely multiplied.
+Everything blends into everything else. Nothing is out of place.
+Everything contributes to finished power and loveliness. And so it is in
+the grander sphere of human life. The glory of humanity is born of the
+glory of individuals, each one making his own distinctive contribution.
+
+And thus we have need of one another. Every note in the organ is needed
+for the full expression of noble harmony. Every instrument in the
+orchestra is required unless the music is to be lame and broken. God has
+endowed no two souls alike, and every soul is needed to make the music of
+"the realm of the blest."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Second
+
+_OUR SPIRITUAL GUIDE_
+
+"_When He, the Spirit of truth, is come,
+He will guide you into all truth._"
+--JOHN xvi. 7-14.
+
+
+How great is the difference between a guide-post and a guide! And what a
+difference between a guide-book and a companion! Mere instructions may be
+very uninspiring, and bare commandments may be very cold. Our Guide is an
+inseparable Friend.
+
+And how will He guide us? He will give us insight. "He will guide you into
+all truth." He will refine our spirits so that we may be able to
+distinguish "things that differ," and that so we may know the difference
+between "the holy and the profane." Our moral judgment is often dull and
+imperceptive. And our spiritual judgment is often lacking in vigour and
+penetration. And so our great Spirit-guide puts our spirits to school, and
+more deeply sanctifies them, that in holiness we may have discernment.
+
+And He will also give us foresight. He will enable us to interpret
+circumstances, to apprehend their drift and destiny. We shall see harvests
+while we are looking at seeds, whether the seeds be seeds of good or evil.
+All of which means that the Holy Spirit will deliver our lives from the
+governance of mere whim and caprice, and that He will make us wise with
+the wisdom of God.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Third
+
+_THE SAFETY OF THE OCCUPIED HEART_
+
+GALATIANS v. 16-25.
+
+
+Two friends were cycling through Worcestershire and Warwickshire to
+Birmingham. When they arrived in Birmingham I asked them, among other
+things, if they had seen Warwick Gaol along the road. "No," they said, "we
+hadn't a glimpse of it." "But it is only a field's length from the road!"
+"Well, we never saw it." Ah, but these two friends were lovers. They were
+so absorbed in each other that they had no spare attention for Warwick
+Gaol. Their glorious fellowship made them unresponsive to its calls. They
+were otherwise engaged.
+
+"Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh." That
+great Companionship will make us negligent of carnal allurements. "The
+world, and the flesh, and the devil" may stand by the wayside, and hold
+their glittering wares before us, but we shall scarcely be aware of their
+presence. We are otherwise engaged. We are absorbed in the "Lover of our
+souls."
+
+This is the only real and effective way to meet temptation. We must meet
+it with an occupied heart. We must have no loose and trailing affections.
+We must have no vagrant, wayward thoughts. Temptation must find us engaged
+with our Lover. We must "offer no occasion to the flesh." Walking with the
+Holy One, our elevation is our safety.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Fourth
+
+_LIFE'S REAL VALUES_
+
+PROVERBS viii. 10-19.
+
+
+Here is a man who knows the relative values of things. "_Instruction is
+better than silver_"; "_knowledge rather than choice gold_"; "_wisdom is
+better than rubies._" He weighs the inherent worth of things, and puts his
+choice upon the best.
+
+Let me remember that "all is not gold that glitters." The leaden casket is
+often the shrine of the priceless scroll. The glaring and the theatrical
+have often a ragged and seamy interior, and won't bear "looking into." A
+man may have much display and be very lonely; he may have piles of wealth
+and be destitute of joy. His libraries may cover an acre, and yet he may
+have no light. And a man may have only "a candle, and a table, and a bed,"
+and he may be the companion of the eternal God.
+
+I would seek these priceless things. And I would "_seek them early_." I
+have so often been late in the search. I have given the early moments to
+seeking the world's silver and gold, and the later weary moments have been
+idly devoted to God. "They that seek Me early shall find Me." Let me put
+"first things first." "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
+righteousness."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Fifth
+
+_THE SPEECH OF EVENTS_
+
+ACTS xiii. 14-23.
+
+
+Do I sufficiently remember the witness of history? Do I reverently listen
+to the "great voice behind me"? God has spoken in the speech of events.
+"Day unto day" has uttered speech. There has been a witness in national
+life, sometimes quiet as a fragrance, and sometimes "loud as a vale when
+storms are gone." Is it all to me as though it had never been, or is it
+part of the store of counsel by which I shape and guide my life?
+
+And do I sufficiently remember my own providences, "_all the way my God
+has led me_"? When a day is over, do I carry its helpful lamp into the
+morrow? Do I "learn wisdom" from experience? That is surely God's purpose
+in the days; one is to lead on to another in the creation of an ever
+brightening radiance, that so at eventide it may be light.
+
+And do I sufficiently remember that I, too, am making history for my
+fellows who shall succeed me? What kind of a witness will it be? Grim and
+full of warning, like the pillar of salt, or winsome and full of
+heartiness, like some "sweet Ebenezer" built by life's way? Let me pray
+and labour that my days may so shine with grace that all who remember me
+shall adore the goodness of my Lord.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Sixth
+
+_LOVE'S EXPENDITURES_
+
+1 JOHN iii. 11-18.
+
+
+Hereby perceive we the love of God, because "_He laid down His life for
+us_." And the real test of any love is what it is prepared to "lay down."
+How much is it ready to spend? How much will it bleed? There is much
+spurious love about. It lays nothing down; it only takes things up! It is
+self-seeking, using the speech and accents of love. It is a "work of the
+flesh," which has stolen the label of a "fruit of the Spirit." Love may
+always be known by its expenditures, its self-crucifixions, its Calvarys.
+Love is always laying down its life for others. Its pathway is always a
+red road. You may track its goings by the red "marks of the Lord Jesus."
+
+And this is the life, the love-life, which the Lord Jesus came to create
+among the children of men. It is His gracious purpose to form a spiritual
+fellowship in which every member will be lovingly concerned about his
+fellows' good. A real family of God would be one in which all the members
+bleed for each, and each for all.
+
+How can we gain this disposition of love? "God is love." "We love because
+He first loved us." At the fountain of eternal love we too may become
+lovers, becoming "partakers of the divine nature," and filled with all
+"the fulness of God."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Seventh
+
+_MORAL SURGERY_
+
+GALATIANS vi. 1-8.
+
+
+This is a surgical operation in the realm of the soul. A man has been
+"_overtaken in a fault_," some evil passion has pounced upon him, and he
+is broken. Some holy relationship has been snapped, and he is crippled in
+his moral and spiritual goings. Perhaps his affections have been broken,
+or his conscience, or his will. Or perhaps he has lost his glorious hope
+or the confidence of his faith. Here he is, a broken man, the victim of
+his own broken vows, lame and halt in the pilgrim-way! And some surgeon is
+needed to re-set the dislocation, and to make him whole again.
+
+And who is to be the surgeon? "_Ye which are spiritual restore such a
+one._" The men who live under the control of God's Spirit are to be the
+surgeons for broken hearts and souls. When a man has fallen by reason of
+sin, the Christian is to be a Good Samaritan, seeking to restore the
+cripple to health and strength again. We are to kneel and minister to him,
+binding up his wounds, giving him the balm and cordial of oil and wine.
+
+And what is to be the spirit of the surgeon? "The spirit of meekness." We
+are not to be supercilious, for the "touch" of pride is never the minister
+of healing. We are to heal as though some day we may need to be healed.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Eighth
+
+_THE NEW BIRTH_
+
+JOHN iii. 1-21.
+
+
+Here is the Life in contact with the icy legalism of the day. Nicodemus
+was a Pharisee, and his piety was cold and mechanical. Religion had become
+a bloodless obedience to lifeless rules. Men cared more about being proper
+than about being holy. Modes were emphasized more than moods. An external
+pose was esteemed more highly than an internal disposition. The popular
+Saint lived on "the outsides of things."
+
+Then came the Life. And what will He say to the externalist? "Ye must be
+born again." Nothing else could He have said. If the mechanical is to
+become the vital there is nothing for it but a new birth. To get from the
+outside into the inside of things, from the letter into the spirit, we
+need the miracle of renewal, the recreating ministry of grace.
+
+And so it is to-day. The ritualistic is vitalized by the evangelistic. If
+the mechanical is to become the spontaneous, there is need of the "well of
+living water, springing up unto eternal life." When we are born again,
+ritual becomes helpful trellis for the spiritual flowers; the outward form
+becomes the helpmeet of redeeming grace.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Ninth
+
+_THE STORY OF A SORROWFUL SOUL_
+
+PSALM iii.
+
+
+This tearful little psalm tells me where a sorrowful soul found a place of
+help and consolation. He resorted to God.
+
+"_Thou art a shield about me._" He got the Lord between him and his
+circumstances. There is nothing else subtle enough to interpose. Our
+hurtful circumstances are so invasive and so immediate that only God can
+come between us and them. But when God gets in between we are immune.
+"Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear."
+
+"_Thou art my glory._" And that is an honour that need never be stained.
+My worldly glory can be besmirched. An evil man throws mud, and my poor
+reputation is gone. "There's always somebody ready to believe it!" But my
+glory with God, and in God--man's mud cannot touch that fair fame! Even
+Absalom cannot defile that resplendent robe.
+
+"_Thou art the lifter-up of my head._" The flower is "looking up" again!
+In the Lord's presence we recover our lost spirits. "He restoreth my
+soul." "And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round
+about me."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Tenth
+
+_PILLARS OF CLOUD AND FIRE_
+
+"_The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud._"
+--EXODUS xiii. 17--xiv. 4.
+
+
+I need His leadership in the daytime. Sometimes the daylight is my foe. It
+tempts me into carelessness. I become the victim of distraction. The
+"garish day" can entice me into ways of trespass, and I am robbed of my
+spiritual health. Many a man has been faithful in the twilight and night
+who has lost himself in the sunshine. He went astray in his prosperity:
+success was his ruin. And so in the daytime I need the shadow of God's
+presence, the cooling, subduing, calming influence of a friendly cloud.
+
+"_And by night in a pillar of fire._" And I need God's leadership in the
+night. Sometimes the night fills me with fears, and I am confused. The
+darkness chills me, sorrow and adversity make me cold, and I shiver along
+in uncertain going. But my God will lead me as a presence of fire. He will
+keep my heart warm even in the midnight, and He will guide me by the
+kindlings of His love. There shall be "nothing hid from the heat thereof."
+And my bewildering fears shall flee away, and I will sing "songs in the
+night."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Eleventh
+
+_THE PATH ACROSS THE SEA_
+
+"_Thy way is in the sea._"
+--PSALM lxxvii. 11-20.
+
+
+And the sea appears to be the most trackless of worlds! The sea is the
+very symbol of mystery, the grim dwelling-house of innumerable things that
+have been lost. But God's way moves here and there across this trackless
+wild. God is never lost among our mysteries. He knows his way about. When
+we are bewildered He sees the road, and He sees the end even from the
+beginning. Even the sea, in every part of it, is the Lord's highway. When
+His way is in the sea we cannot trace it. Mystery is part of our appointed
+discipline. Uncertainty is to prepare us for a deeper assurance. The
+spirit of questioning is one of the ordained means of growth. And so the
+bewildering sea is our friend, as some day we shall understand. We love to
+"lie down in green pastures," and to be led "beside the still waters," and
+God gives us our share of this nourishing rest. But we need the mysterious
+sea, the overwhelming experience, the floods of sorrows which we cannot
+explain. If we had no sea we should never become robust. We should remain
+weaklings to the end of our days.
+
+God takes us out into the deeps. But His way is in the sea. He knows the
+haven, He knows the track, and we shall arrive!
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twelfth
+
+_WAITING FOR THE SPECTACULAR_
+
+"_The waves covered their enemies....
+Then believed they His words._"
+--PSALM cvi. 1-12.
+
+
+Their faith was born in a great emergency. A spectacular deliverance was
+needed to implant their trust in the Lord. They found no witness in the
+quiet daily providence; the unobtrusive miracle of daily mercy did not
+awake their song. They dwelt upon the "special" blessing, when all the
+time the really special blessing was to be found in the sleepless care
+which watched over them in their ordinary and commonplace ways.
+
+It is the old story. We are wanting God to appear in imperial glory; and
+He comes among us as a humble carpenter. We want great miracles, and we
+have the daily Providence. We see His dread goings in the earthquake; we
+do not feel His presence in the lilies of the field. We watch Him in the
+smoke and flames of Vesuvius; we do not recognize His footprints in the
+little turf-clad hill that is only a few yards from our own door.
+
+It is a great day when we discover our God in the common bush. That day is
+marked with glory when our daily bread becomes a sacrament. When we enjoy
+a closer walk with God, common things will wear the hues of heaven.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE the Thirteenth
+
+_CLOUDED BUT NOT LOST!_
+
+"_Clouds and darkness are round about Him._"
+--PSALM xcvii.
+
+
+When Lincoln had been assassinated, and word of the tragedy came to New
+York, "the people were in a state of mind which urges to violence." A man
+appeared on the balcony of one of the newspaper offices, waving a small
+flag, and a clear voice rang through the air: "Fellow-citizens! Clouds and
+darkness are round about Him! His pavilion is dark waters, and thick
+clouds of the skies! Justice and judgment are the habitation of His
+throne! Fellow-citizens, God reigns!" It was the voice of General
+Garfield.
+
+That voice proclaimed the divine sovereignty, even when the heavens were
+black with the menace of destruction. Lincoln had been assassinated, but
+God lived! Human confusion does not annihilate His throne. God liveth!
+"The firm foundation standeth sure." This is the only rock to stand upon
+when the clouds have gathered, and the waters are out, and the great deeps
+are broken up. God's sceptre does not fall from His grasp, nor is snatched
+by alien hands. The throne abideth. Joy will rise from the apparent chaos
+as springs are unsealed by the earthquake. He will bring fortune out of
+misfortune; the darkness shall be the hiding-place of His grace.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Fourteenth
+
+_THE LAW IN THE HEART_
+
+"_I will put My laws into their hearts._"
+--HEBREWS x. 16-22.
+
+
+Everything depends on where we carry the law of the Lord. If it only rests
+in the memory, any vagrant care may snatch it away. The business of the
+day may wipe it out as a sponge erases a record from a slate. A thought is
+never secure until it has passed from the mind into the heart, and has
+become a desire, an aspiration, a passion. When the law of God is taken
+into the heart, it is no longer something merely remembered: it is
+something loved. Now things that are loved have a strong defence. They are
+in the "keep" of the castle, in the innermost custody of the stronghold.
+The strength of the heart is wrapped about them, and no passing vagrant
+can carry them away.
+
+And this is where the good Lord is willing to put His laws. He is wishful
+to put them among our loves. And the wonderful thing is this: when laws
+are put among loves they change their form, and His statutes become our
+songs. Laws that are loved are no longer dreadful policemen, but
+compassionate friends. "O! how I love Thy law!" That man did not live in a
+prison, he lived in a garden, and God's will was unto him as gracious
+flowers and fruits. And so shall it be unto all of us when we love the law
+of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Fifteenth
+
+_THE KING'S GUESTS_
+
+"_Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?_"
+--PSALM xxiv.
+
+
+Who shall be permitted to pass into the sanctuary of the cloud, and have
+communion with the Lord in the holy place? "He that hath clean hands."
+These hands of mine, the symbols of conduct, the expression of the outer
+life, what are they like? "Your hands are full of blood." Those hands had
+been busy murdering others, pillaging others, brutally ill-using their
+fellow-men. We may do it in business. We may do it in conversation. We may
+do it in a criminal silence. Our hands may be foul with a brother's blood.
+And men and women with hands like these cannot "ascend into the hill of
+the Lord." There must be no stain of an unfair and scandalous life.
+
+"And a pure heart." We need not trouble about the hands if the heart be
+clean. If all the presences that move in the heart--desires, and motives,
+and sentiments, and ideals--are like white-robed angels "without spot, or
+wrinkle, or any such thing," everything that emerges into outer life will
+share the same radiant purity. The heart expresses itself in the hands.
+Character blossoms in conduct. The quality of our current coin is
+determined by the quality of the metal in the mint. "As a man thinketh in
+his heart, so is he."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Sixteenth
+
+_SINAI AND CALVARY_
+
+HEBREWS xii. 18-28.
+
+
+We need not live at the foot of Mount Sinai. It is like living at the foot
+of Mount Pelee, the home of awful eruption, and therefore the realm of
+gloom and uncertainty and fear. We are not saved by law, neither indeed
+can we be. Neither can law heal us after our transgressions and defeats.
+The law has nothing for prodigal men but "blackness, and darkness, and
+tempest." It has no sound but dreaded decree, no message but menace, no
+look but a frown. Who will build his house at the foot of Mount Sinai?
+
+"But ye are come unto Mount Zion." Our true home is not at Sinai, but at
+Calvary. There is no place for the sinner at the first mount; at the
+second mount there is a place for no one else. At Calvary we may find our
+way back to the holiness we lost at Sinai. Through grace we may drop the
+burden of our sin and begin to wear the garments of salvation. The way
+back to heaven is by "the green hill, without a city wall." It is a mount
+that can be reached by the most exhausted pilgrim; and the one who has
+"spent all" will assuredly find a full restoration of life at the gate of
+his Saviour's death. "Ye are come to Jesus, the mediator of the new
+covenant."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Seventeenth
+
+_THE INVISIBLE PRESENCE_
+
+"_Show me Thy glory._"
+--EXODUS xxxiii. 12-23.
+
+
+Moses wist not what he asked. His speech was beyond his knowledge. The
+answer to his request would have consumed him. He asked for the blazing
+noon when as yet he could only bear the quiet shining of the dawn. The
+good Lord lets in the light as our eyes are able to bear it. The
+revelation is tempered to our growth. The pilgrim could bear a brightness
+in Beulah land that he could not have borne at the wicket-gate; and the
+brilliance of the entry into the celebrated city throws the splendours of
+Beulah into the shade. Yes, the gracious Lord will unveil His glory as our
+"senses are exercised to receive it."
+
+"My Presence shall go with thee." That is all the glory we need upon the
+immediate road. His companionship means everything. The real glory is to
+possess God; let Him show us His inheritance as it shall please Him.
+Life's glory is to "feel Him near." When the loving wife feels that the
+husband is in the house, and when the loving husband feels that the wife
+is in the house, that is everything! The joy of each other's presence is
+the crown of married bliss. And so it is with the soul that is married to
+the Lord: His presence is the soul's delight. "Thou, O Christ, art all I
+want." "O Master, let me walk with Thee."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Eighteenth
+
+_THE BENEFITTED AS BENEFACTORS_
+
+"_Who comforteth us ... that we may be able to comfort._"
+--2 CORINTHIANS i. 3-7.
+
+
+And how does the Lord comfort us? He has a thousand different ways, and no
+one can ever tell by what way the comfort will come to his soul. Sometimes
+it comes by the door of memory, and sometimes by the door of hope.
+Sometimes it is borne to us through the ministry of nature, and at other
+times through the ministry of human speech and kindness. But always, I
+think, it brings us the sense of a Presence, as though we had a great
+Friend in the room, and the troubled heart gains quietness and peace. The
+mist clears a little, and we have a restful assurance of our God.
+
+Now comforted souls are to be comforters. They who have received benefits
+of grace are to be benefactors. They who have heard the sweet music of
+God's abiding love are to sing it again to others. They who have seen the
+glory are to become evangelists. We must not seek to hoard spiritual
+treasure. As soon as we lock it up we begin to lose it. A mysterious moth
+and rust take it away. If we do not comfort others, our own comfort will
+turn again to bitterness; the clouds will lower and we shall be imprisoned
+in the old woe. But the comfort which makes a comforter grows deeper and
+richer every day.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Nineteenth
+
+_RECKONING UP THINGS_
+
+PSALM xc. 1-12.
+
+
+Numbering things is one of the healthful exercises of the spiritual life.
+Unless we count, memory is apt to be very tricky and to snare us into
+strange forgetfulness. Unless we count what we have given away, we are
+very apt to exaggerate our bounty. We often think we have given when we
+have only listened to appeals; the mere audience has been mistaken for
+active beneficence. The remedy for all this is occasionally to count our
+benevolences and see how we stand in a balance-sheet which we could
+present to the Lord Himself.
+
+And we must count our blessings. It is when our arithmetic fails in the
+task, and when counting God's blessings is like telling the number of the
+stars, that our souls bow low before the eternal goodness, and all
+murmuring dies away "like cloud-spots in the dawn."
+
+And we must also "number our days." We are wasteful with them, and we
+throw them away as though they are ours in endless procession. And yet
+there are only seven days in a week! A day is of immeasurable
+preciousness, for what high accomplishment may it not witness? A day in
+health or in sickness, spent unto God, and applied unto wisdom, will
+gather treasures more precious than rubies and gold.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twentieth
+
+_THE REVEALING PRESENCE OF THE LORD_
+
+EPHESIANS vi. 1-10.
+
+
+A starling never reveals the richness of its hues until we see it in the
+sunlight. A duty never discloses its beauties until we set it in the light
+of the Lord. It is amazing how a dull road is transfigured when the
+sunshine falls upon it! God's grace reveals the graces in all healthy
+things. Hidden lovelinesses troop out when we set them in the presence of
+the Lord.
+
+And so the Apostle counsels an obedience which is "in the Lord." He wants
+us to know how beautiful common things can be when they are linked to
+Christ. And what he says about obedience he says about everything. One of
+the great secrets in the teaching of Paul is expressed in just this
+phrase, "in the Lord," "in Christ." It meant connection with a power-house
+whose energy would light up all the common lamps of life--the lamps of
+hope, of faith, of love, of daily labour, and of human service.
+
+And this is the secret of the Christian life. We need no other; at least,
+all other secrets are involved in this. If we attend to this little
+preposition "in," we have entry into the infinite. If we are "in Christ,"
+we are in the kingdom of everything that endures, and we are outside
+nothing but sin.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-first
+
+_ROOM FOR THE SAPLINGS_
+
+"_Children crying in the temple, saying Hosanna!_"
+--MATTHEW xxi. 1-16.
+
+
+Children's voices mingling in the sounds of holy praise! A little child
+can share in the consecrated life. Young hearts can offer love pure as a
+limpid spring. Their sympathy is as responsive as the most sensitive harp,
+and yields to the touch of the tenderest joy and grief. No wonder the Lord
+"called little children unto Him"! They were unto Him as gracious streams,
+and as flowers of the field.
+
+Let the loving Saviour have our children. Let there be no waiting for
+maturer years. Maturity may bring the impaired faculty and the embittered
+emotion. Let Him have things in their beginnings, the seeds and the
+saplings. Let Him have life before it is formed, before it is "set" in
+foolish moulds. Let us consecrate the cradle, and the good Lord will grow
+and nourish His saints.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-second
+
+_CHILDLIKENESS_
+
+MARK ix. 33-41.
+
+
+It is the child-spirit that finds life's golden gates, and that finds them
+all ajar. The proudly aggressive spirit, contending for place and power,
+may force many a door, but they are not doors which open into enduring
+wealth and peace. Real inheritances become ours only through humility.
+
+The proud are, therefore, self-deceived. They think they have succeeded
+when they have signally failed. They have the shadow, but they have missed
+the substance. They may have the applause of the world, but the angels
+sigh over their defeat. They pride themselves on having "got on"; the
+angels weep because they have "gone down."
+
+When we grow away from childlikeness we are "in a decline." "God resisteth
+the proud; He giveth grace to the humble." The lowly make great
+discoveries; to them the earth is full of God's glory.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-third
+
+_THE GREATEST BENEFACTORS_
+
+MATTHEW x. 29-42.
+
+
+It is a very wonderful thing that the finest services are within the power
+of the poorest people. The deepest ministries find their symbols in "cups
+of cold water," which it is in the power of everybody to give. The great
+benefactors are the great lovers, and their coin is not that of material
+money, but the wealth of the heart. A bit of affection is worth infinitely
+more than the gift of a necklace of pearls. To kindle hope in a fainting
+soul is far more precious than to adorn the weary pilgrim with dazzling
+gems. "He brought me heaps of presents, but I was hungering for love!"
+Such was the pathetic cry of one who was "clothed in purple and fine
+linen, and fared sumptuously every day."
+
+"Cups of cold water," simple ministries of refreshment, the love-thought,
+the love-prayer, the love-word--these are the privileged services of all
+of us. And everybody needs these gentle and gracious services of
+refreshment, and often there is greatest need where there seems to be
+least.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-fourth
+
+_AT EASE IN ZION_
+
+"_Woe to them that are at ease in Zion!_"
+--AMOS vi. 1-7.
+
+
+I would be delivered from the folly of confusing ease and rest. There is
+an infinite difference between comforts and comfort. It is one thing to
+lie down on a luxurious couch: it is a very different thing to "lie down
+in green pastures" under the gracious shepherdliness of the Lord. The ease
+which men covet is so often a fruit of stupefaction, the dull product of
+sinful drugs, the wretched sluggishness of carnal gratification and
+excess. The rest which God giveth is alive and wakeful, abounding in
+tireless and fruitful service. "Oh, rest in the Lord."
+
+But is it not a strange thing that men can be "at ease in Zion"? That they
+can play the beast in the holy place? Zion was full of holy memory, and
+abounded with suggestions of the Divine Presence. And yet here they could
+carouse, and lose themselves in swinish indulgence! A little while ago I
+saw a beautiful old church which had been turned into a common
+eating-house!
+
+My soul, be on thy guard. Be watchful and diligent, and busy thyself in
+the practice of "self-knowledge, self-reverence, self-control."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-fifth
+
+_DESOLATIONS WROUGHT BY SIN_
+
+"_The Lord hath spoken this word._"
+--ISAIAH xxiv. 1-12.
+
+
+"The Lord hath spoken this word," and it is a word of judgment. It unveils
+some of the terrible issues of sin.
+
+See the effects of sin upon the spirit of man. "_The merry-hearted do
+sigh._" Life loses its wings and its song. The buoyancy and the optimism
+die out of the soul. The days move with heavy feet, and duty becomes very
+stale and unwelcome. If only our ears were keen enough we should hear many
+a place of hollow laughter moaning with troubled and restless sighs. The
+soul cannot sing when God is defied.
+
+But see another effect of sin. "_The earth moaneth._" That is a frequent
+note in Bible teaching. The forces of nature are mysteriously conditioned
+by the character of man. When man is degraded, nature is despoiled. The
+beauty of the garden is checked when man has lost his crown. "The whole
+creation groaneth in pain," waiting for the manifestation of the children
+of God.
+
+Sin spreads desolation everywhere. When I sin, I become the centre of
+demoralizing forces which influence the universe. And so let me ever pray,
+"Deliver me from evil."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-sixth
+
+_CRUCIFYING THE FLESH_
+
+"_Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind._"
+--1 PETER iv. 1-8.
+
+
+Let not the body be dominant, but the soul. Let me study the example and
+counsel of the Apostle Paul.
+
+"_I keep my body under._" Literally, I pummel it! If it is obtrusive and
+aggressive, its appetites clamouring for supremacy, I pummel it! Paul was
+not afraid of severe measures where carnality was concerned. He would fast
+a whole day in order to put the flesh in its place. And so should it be
+with all the Lord's children. We are too self-indulgent. It is well at
+times to put the body on the cross, and crucify its cravings.
+
+"_Give no occasion to the flesh._" Do not give it a chance of mastery!
+And, therefore, do not feed it with illicit thought. Turn the mind away
+from the subjects in which the body will find exciting stimulant. It is
+thought which awakes passion, and thought can do much to destroy it. "Set
+your mind on things which are above." Keep the mind pure, and the swine
+will never enter the holy place.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-seventh
+
+_GOD IS LIGHT!_
+
+"_In Him is no darkness at all._"
+--1 JOHN i.
+
+
+That wonderful mansion of God's Being is gloriously radiant in every room!
+In the house of my life there are dark chambers, and rooms which are only
+partially illumined, the other parts being in the possession of night.
+Some of my faculties and powers are dark ministers, and some of my moods
+are far from being "homes of light." But "God is light," and everything is
+glorious as the meridian sun! His holiness, His grace, His love, His
+mercy: there are no dark corners where uncleanness hides; everything
+shines with undimmed and speckless radiancy!
+
+And if I "walk in the light," I, too, shall become illumined. "They looked
+unto Him and were lightened." We are fashioned by our highest
+companionships. We acquire the nature of those with whom we most
+constantly commune.
+
+And the light He gives is also fire. It will burn away our sin. We may
+measure the reality and strength of our communion by the destruction of
+our sin. A great burning will be proceeding in our life, and one evil
+habit after another will be in the love-furnace of purification. The Lord
+still "purifies Jerusalem by the spirit of burning."
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE WAITING LIGHT_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS iv. 1-6.
+
+
+I can shut out the sweet light of the morning. I can refuse to open the
+shutters and draw up the blinds. And I can shut out the Light of life. I
+can draw the thick blinds of prejudice, and close the impenetrable
+shutters of sin. And the Light of the world cannot get into my soul.
+
+And I can let in the waiting light of the morning, and flood my room with
+its glory. And the Light is "a gracious, willing guest." No fuss is
+needed, no shouting is required. Open thy casement, and the gracious guest
+is in! And my Lord has no reluctance in His coming; we have not to drag
+Him to our table. Open thy heart, and the Lord is in!
+
+And when the light is within there will be radiance at the windows. And
+when the Lord is shining in our hearts there will be a witness in the
+life. Men will see that we are "with Jesus," because we are "light in the
+Lord."
+
+Good Lord, deliver me from "the god of this world" lest I be blinded and
+become unable to see Thee! I open my heart to Thee! Shine in, Thou light
+of life, and make my soul the radiant witness of Thy grace.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Twenty-ninth
+
+_EFFECTUAL PRAYERS_
+
+"_The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much._"
+--JAMES v. 13-20.
+
+
+Or, as Weymouth translates it, "The heartfelt supplication of a righteous
+man exerts a mighty influence." Prayer may be empty words, with no more
+power than those empty shells which have been foisted upon the Turks in
+their war with the Balkan States. Firing empty shells! That is what many
+professed prayers really are; they have nothing in them, and they
+accomplish nothing. They are just forged upon the lips, and they drop to
+the earth as soon as they are spoken. Effectual prayers are born in the
+heart; they are stocked with heart-treasure, with faith, and hope, and
+desire, and holy urgency, and they go forth with power to shake the world.
+
+What are my prayers like? _If I were God, could I listen to them?_ Are
+they mere pretences at prayer, full of nothing but sound? Is there any
+reasonable ground for assuming that they can accomplish anything? Or are
+my prayers weighted with sincere desire? Do they comprehend my brother's
+good as well as my own? Are they spoken in faith? Do they go forth in
+great expectancy? Then do they surely "exert a mighty influence," and they
+become fellow-labourers with all God's ministries of grace. The greatest
+thing I can do is greatly to pray.
+
+
+
+
+JUNE The Thirtieth
+
+_GOD MY STRENGTH AND SONG_
+
+"_The Lord is my strength and my song._"
+--PSALM cxviii. 14-21.
+
+
+Yes, first of all "my strength" and then "my song"! For what song can
+there be where there is languor and fainting? What brave music can be born
+in an organ which is short of breath? There must first be strength if we
+would have fine harmonies. And so the good Lord comes to the songless, and
+with holy power He brings the gift of "saving health."
+
+"And my song"! For when life is healthy it instinctively breaks into song.
+The happy, contented soul goes about the ways of life humming its
+satisfactions to itself, and is now and again heard by the passer-by. The
+Lord fills the life with instinctive music. When life is holy it becomes
+musical with His praise.
+
+So here I see the appointed order in Christian service. It is futile to
+try to make people joyful unless we do it by seeking first to make them
+strong. First the good, and then the truly happy! First the holy, and then
+the musical. First God, and then the breath of His Holy Spirit, and then
+"the new song."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The First
+
+_THE LIFE OR THE LIGHT OF MEN_
+
+"_In Him was life._"
+--JOHN i. 1-18.
+
+
+Not merely a pool of life, but the well-spring. All rivers of enriching
+vitality have their source in Him. Nowhere is there a crystal stream which
+was not born at the Fountain. Let us make our claim for the Lord
+all-comprehensive and inclusive. Whatever energizes body, mind, or soul,
+has its origin in our Sovereign King. "All our springs are in Thee." "Thou
+of life the Fountain art."
+
+"_And the life was the light of men._" And what did He not light up? His
+amazing rays streamed down the darkest ways of men, and illumined the
+vast, sombre chambers of human circumstance. He lit up sin and showed its
+true colour! He lit up sorrow, and transfigured it! He lit up duty, and
+gave it a new face. He lit up common work, and glorified it. He lit up
+death, and we could see through it! But, above all, He lit up God, and
+"the people that sat in darkness saw a great light."
+
+"_And the darkness apprehended it not._" The darkness could not lay hold
+of it and quench it! It was not overwhelmed and eclipsed by the murkiest
+fog of prejudice, or by the dingiest antagonism of sinful pride. "The
+light showeth in the darkness," inviolable and invincible!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Second
+
+_LIGHT AND LIGHTNING_
+
+"_And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him._"
+--ISAIAH xi. 1-10.
+
+
+And the spirit is one of light! All the doors and windows are open. His
+correspondences are perfect and unbroken. He is of "quick understanding,"
+keen-scented to discern the essences of things, alert to perceive the
+reality behind the semblance, to "see things as they are." All the great
+primary senses are awake, and He has knowledge of every "secret place."
+
+"_He shall smite ... with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His
+lips shall He slay._" The spirit of light follows a crusade of holiness.
+The light becomes lightning! The "breathing," which cools the
+fever-stricken, can also become a hot breath, which wastes and destroys
+every plant of evil desire. It is an awful thing, and yet a gracious
+thing, that "our God is a consuming fire." It was foretold of our Lord
+that He should baptize "with fire."
+
+And this crusade of holiness is in the ministry of peace. He will burn
+away all that defileth, in order that He may create a profound and
+permanent fellowship. When His work is done, there will be a mingling of
+apparent opposites, and antagonisms will melt into a gracious union. "The
+sucking child will play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall
+put his hand on the adder's den."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Third
+
+_MY ELDER BROTHER_
+
+HEBREWS ii. 9-18.
+
+
+And doth my Lord call me one of His brethren? Let me leisurely think upon
+it, until my very soul moves amid my affairs in noble and hallowed
+dignity. If I steadily remember "who I am," it will assuredly transfigure
+"what I am." I lose the sense of my high kinship, and then I am quite
+content to be "sent into the fields to feed swine."
+
+And my elder Brother came to "destroy the works of the devil." That is the
+entire ministry of destruction. Nothing beautiful does He destroy, nothing
+winsome: only the insidious presences which are the foes of these things.
+He will destroy only the pestiferous microbes which ravage the vital peace
+of the soul. Our Lord is the enemy of the deadly, and therefore of "him
+that had the power of death--that is, the devil!"
+
+And in this holy ministry of destruction He can defend my soul as "one who
+knows," Himself "having been tempted." He knows the subtlety of the devil,
+and where the soul is most perilously exposed, and He is therefore "able
+to succour them that are tempted."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Fourth
+
+_EMPTYING ONESELF_
+
+"_He emptied Himself._"
+--PHILIPPIANS ii. 1-11.
+
+
+In Mr. Silvester Horne's garden a very suggestive scene was one day to be
+witnessed. A cricketer of world-wide renown was playing a game with Mr.
+Horne's little four-year-old son! And the fierce bowler "emptied himself,"
+and served such gentle, dainty little balls that the tiny man at the
+wickets was not in the least degree afraid! And the Lord of glory "emptied
+Himself," fashioning Himself to our "low estate," and in His unspeakably
+gentle approaches we find our peace.
+
+And I, too, am to seek a corresponding lowliness of mind in order that I,
+too, may be of service to my weak and needy brother. It is for me to empty
+myself of the pride of strength, the brutal aggressiveness of success, the
+sometimes unfeeling obtrusiveness of health; I must empty myself, and "get
+down" by the side of weakness and infirmity, and in gentle fellowship
+humbly proffer my help.
+
+And if the mind is to be in me "which was also in Christ Jesus," it is
+needful for me to commune with Him "without ceasing." His gentleness can
+make me great.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Fifth
+
+_THE DISCIPLESHIP THAT TELLS_
+
+"_He that followeth Me._"
+--JOHN viii. 12-20.
+
+
+Yes, but I must make sure that I follow Him in Spirit and in truth. It is
+so easy to be self-deceived. I may follow a pleasant emotion, while all
+the time a bit of grim cross-bearing is being ignored. I may be satisfied
+to be "out on the ocean sailing," singing of "a home beyond the tide,"
+while all the time there is a piece of perilous salvage work to be done
+beneath the waves. To "follow Jesus" is to face the hostility of scribes
+and Pharisees, to offer restoring friendship to publicans and sinners, to
+pray in blood-shedding in Gethsemane, to brave the derision of the brutal
+mob, and to be "ready" for the appalling happenings on Calvary! Therefore,
+following is not a light picnic; it is a possible martyrdom!
+
+But if I set my face "to go," the Lord Himself will visit me with "_the
+light of life_." And the resource shall not be broken and spasmodic: it
+shall be mine without ceasing. "Be thou faithful ... and I will give
+thee ... life." That life will flow into my soul, just as the oxygenating
+air flows down to the diver who is faithfully busy recovering wreckage
+from the wealth-strewn bed of the mighty sea. Let me be faithful, and
+every moment the Lord will crown me with His own vitalizing life!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Sixth
+
+_LIFE AS A VOICE_
+
+JOHN i. 19-34.
+
+
+This man humbly desires to be "_a voice_." He has no ambition to receive
+popular homage. He does not covet the power of the lordly purple. He does
+not crave to be a great person; he only wants to be a great voice! He
+wants to articulate the thought and purpose of God. He is quite content to
+be hidden, like a bird in a thick bush, if only his song may be heard.
+
+And in order that he may be a voice he retires into the silent solitudes
+of the desert. He will listen before he speaks. Come thou, my soul, into
+his secret! The air is clamorous with speech behind which there has been
+no hearing. Men speak, and in their words there is no pulse of the
+Infinite. In their consolations there is no balm. In their reproaches
+there is no sword. Their words are empty vessels, full of sound! Let my
+voice be hushed until I have heard the voice of the Highest. "He that hath
+ears to hear, let him hear."
+
+And when he spake, it was in clear and definite testimony, "Behold the
+Lamb of God!" The "voice" succeeded, for men began to look away from the
+herald to the herald's Lord. In forgetting John they found the King. They
+passed the _signpost_, and arrived at _home_!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Seventh
+
+_IN THE GOLDEN AGE_
+
+ISAIAH xl. 1-10.
+
+
+And so these things are to happen when the Lord has come to His own, and
+His decrees are honoured in our midst.
+
+Certain _inequalities_ are to be ended. Valleys are to be exalted, and
+mountains are to be made low. There is to be a levelling! Men are to be
+equal in freedom and opportunity.
+
+Certain _crookednesses_ are to be ended. They are to be "made straight."
+Society has become warped with the heat of lust, and the fierce fever of
+competition, and the hot, devouring fires of greed. When the Lord is
+enthroned the fires will be put out, the heat will pass, and the twisted
+fellowships will be rectified.
+
+Certain _roughnesses_ are to be ended. Class works against class with
+jagged edge, like the teeth of a saw. They tear and rend one another, and
+the family of God is always bleeding. These "rough places" are to be "made
+plain." We are to "work in to one another," smoothly, congenially, in a
+frictionless peace.
+
+And this Lord is coming, coming every day, and "His arm shall rule for
+Him." "Say unto the cities of Judah--Behold your God!"
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Eighth
+
+_WHAT MANNER OF MAN?_
+
+MATTHEW xi. 7-15.
+
+
+There are some men who are only as _desert reeds_! They move to the breath
+of the desert wind. They bend before it, no matter in what way it may be
+blowing. They never resist the wind. They never become "hiding places from
+the wind," stemming a popular drift. They are the victims of passing
+opinions, and are swayed by the current passions.
+
+And some men are "_clothed in soft raiment_"! They shrink from the rough
+fustian, the labourer's cotton smock, the leather suit of George Fox. They
+are ultra-"finicky." They are afraid of the mire. They touch the sorrows
+of the world with a timid finger, not with the kindly, healing grasp of a
+surgeon.
+
+And other men are "_prophets_"! They have a secret fellowship with the
+Infinite. When we listen to them it is like putting one's ear to the
+seashell: we catch the sound of the ocean roll. "The voice of the Great
+Eternal dwells in their mighty tones."
+
+And others are "_children of the Kingdom_." They are greater than the old
+prophets, because the mystic voice has become a Presence, and they have
+"seen the Lord." The veil has been rent, and they "walk in the light" as
+"children of light."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Ninth
+
+_SCHOLARS IN CHRIST'S SCHOOL_
+
+"_He taught His disciples._"
+--MARK ix. 30-37.
+
+
+And my Lord will teach me. He will lead me into "the deep things" of God.
+There is only one school for this sort of learning, and an old saint
+called it the Academy of Love, and it meets in Gethsemane and Calvary, and
+the Lord Himself is the teacher, and there is room in the school for thee
+and me.
+
+But the disciples were not in the mood for learning. They were not
+ambitious for heavenly knowledge, but for carnal prizes, not for wisdom,
+but for place. "They disputed one with another who was the greatest." And
+that spirit is always fatal to advancement in the school of Christ. Our
+petty ambitions close the door and windows of our souls, and the heavenly
+light can find no entrance. We turn Gethsemane into "a place of strife,"
+and we carry our clamour even to Calvary itself. From this, and all other
+sinful folly, good Lord, redeem us!
+
+They who would be great scholars in this school must become "as little
+children." Through the child-like spirit we attain unto God-like wisdom.
+By humility is honour and life.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Tenth
+
+_THE GREAT RENUNCIATION_
+
+MATTHEW xvii. 1-13.
+
+
+What if the Transfiguration was the type of the purposed consummation of
+every life? If we had remained "without sin," it may be that we should
+have gradually ripened up to a moment when we should have become
+transfigured, and in the surpassing brilliance have been translated to
+higher planes of being. Perhaps our Lord had reached this material
+consummation, and was now on the wonderful border land, and could by
+choice slip into "the glory!"
+
+But He made another choice. And this was, of a truth, the "great
+renunciation!" He turned His back on the glory, and deliberately faced the
+darkening way which led to Calvary and the grave. I do not wonder that His
+mysterious visitors spake with Him "of the decease which He should
+accomplish at Jerusalem." He could talk about nothing else! He "set His
+face to go."
+
+And in my Master's choice of death I find my hope of life. Through "the
+dark gate" I can find "the mount." My transfiguration is made possible in
+His humiliation. If my Lord had never descended I could never have
+ascended. If He had abode on the mount I should have remained in my sin.
+He has "opened to me the gates of righteousness."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Eleventh
+
+_THE FRIEND OF THE BRIDEGROOM_
+
+"_He that hath the bride is the bridegroom._"
+--JOHN iii. 23-36.
+
+
+We ministers sometimes speak of "my church." I occasionally read of Mr.
+So-and-So's church! I know that the phrase is colloquially used, but
+nevertheless, it is unfortunate. Words that are perversely used tend to
+pervert the spirit. And this phrase tends to displace the Bridegroom. It
+helps to make us obtrusive, unduly aggressive, when we ought to be
+reverently hiding our faces with our wings. The Bride is His!
+
+"_But the friend of the bridegroom._" That is my place, and that is my
+dignity. And what a title it is, making me a member of the finest and most
+select aristocracy in heaven or on earth! The "friend of the bridegroom"
+used to carry messages to the bride, to share in the wooing, and to help
+to bring the wedding about. And that, too, is my gracious office, to be a
+match-maker for my Lord, to testify concerning Him, to speak His praises,
+until the soul "fall in love" with Him.
+
+"_He must increase, but I must decrease._" Yes, when the sun is rising the
+moon becomes dim! When the glory of the Bridegroom breaks upon the bride
+He becomes "all in all," "the chief among ten thousand, and the altogether
+lovely."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twelfth
+
+_PREPARING HIS SERVANTS_
+
+JOHN i. 35-51.
+
+
+Our Lord does not stumble upon His disciples by accident. His discoveries
+are not surprises. He knows where His nuggets lie. Before He calls to
+service He has been secretly preparing the servant. "I girded thee, though
+thou hast not known Me."
+
+He knew all about Simon. "_Thou art Simon_"--just a _listener_, not yet a
+strong, bold doer: a man of many opinions not yet consolidated into the
+truth of experimental convictions. "_Thou shalt be called Peter._" Simon
+become Peter! Loose gravel become hard rock! Hear-says become the
+"verilies" of unshakable experience! The Lord proclaims our glorious
+possibilities.
+
+And He knew all about Nathanael. "_When thou wast under the fig-tree I saw
+thee._" "In that secret meditation of thine, when thy wishes and desires
+were being born, 'I saw thee!'" "When others saw nothing, I had fellowship
+with thee in the secret place."
+
+And He knows all about thee and me. "I know My sheep." We do not take Him
+by surprise. He does not come in late, and find the performance half over!
+He is in at our beginnings, when grave issues are being born. "I am
+Alpha."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Thirteenth
+
+_PLAIN GLASS_
+
+"_They were fishers._"
+--MATTHEW iv. 12-22.
+
+
+And so our Lord went first to the fishing-boats and not to the schools.
+Learning is apt to be proud and aggressive, and hostile to the
+simplicities of the Spirit. There is nothing like plain glass for letting
+in the light! And our Lord wanted transparent media, and so He went to the
+simple fishermen on the beach. "God hath chosen the foolish things of the
+world."
+
+And by choosing labouring men our Master glorified labour. He Himself had
+worn the workman's dress, and the garment which the King wears becomes
+regal attire. Yes, the workingman, if he only knew it, is wearing the
+imperial robe. He is one of the kinsmen of the Lord of Glory!
+
+Our Lord took the fisherman's humble calling, and made it the symbol of
+spiritual service. "_I will make you fishers of men._" And He will do the
+same for thee and me. He will turn our daily labour into an apocalypse,
+and through its ways and means He will make us wise in the ministry of the
+kingdom. He will make the material the handmaid of the spiritual, and
+through the letter He will lead us into the secret places of the soul.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Fourteenth
+
+_THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE UNLIKELY_
+
+MATTHEW ix. 1-13.
+
+
+A Disciple from among the publicans! In what waste places our Lord Jesus
+finds His jewels! What exquisite possibilities Ruskin saw in a pinch of
+common dust! What radiant glory the lapidary can see in the rough,
+unpolished gem! The Lord loves to go into the unlikely place, and lead
+forth His saints. "In the wilderness shall waters break out!"
+
+We must prayerfully cultivate this sacred confidence in the possibilities
+of the unlikely. We can never be successful helpers of the Lord unless we
+can see the diamond in the soot, and the radiant saint in the disregarded
+publican. It is a most gracious art to cultivate, this of discerning a
+man's possible excellencies even in the blackness of his present shame. To
+see the future best in the present worst, that is the true perception of a
+child of light.
+
+"O give us eyes to see like Thee!" Well, this is the medium of
+vision:--"Blessed are the pure in heart, for _they shall see_ God," and
+the god-like, even in the wilderness of sin. "Anoint thine eyes with
+eye-salve, that thou may'st see!"
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Fifteenth
+
+_THE DAILY CROSS_
+
+LUKE ix. 18-26.
+
+
+Our Lord never bribes His disciples by promising them ways of sunny ease.
+He does not buy them with illicit gold. He does not put the glittering
+crown upon the entrance-gate, and hide the cross behind the wall. No: on
+the very first stage of the sacred pilgrimage there falls "the shadow of
+the Cross." "_Let him take up his cross daily, and follow Me._"
+
+And yet, the Lord's blessing is hidden in the apparent curse. In the act
+of bearing the cross we increase our strength. That is the heartening
+paradox of grace. Virtuous energies pass from our very burdens into our
+spirits, and thus "out of the eater comes forth meat." We bravely shoulder
+our load, and lo! a mystic breath visits the heart, and a strange facility
+attends our goings! The dead cross becomes a tree of life, and a secret
+vitality renews our souls.
+
+How foolish, then, O heart of mine, to avoid and evade Thy cross! Refuse
+the burden, and thou declinest the strength! Ignore the duty, and thou
+shalt feel no inspiration! Carefully husband thy blood, and thou shalt
+remain for ever anaemic! But lose thy life, and thou shalt find it!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Sixteenth
+
+_THE VINE AND THE BRANCH_
+
+JOHN xv. 1-16.
+
+
+I need the Lord. What can a branch do apart from the vine? It may retain a
+certain, momentary greenness, but death is advancing apace. And there are
+multitudes of professing Christians who are like detached branches; their
+spiritual life is ebbing away: they do not startle the beholder and cause
+him to exclaim, "How full of life!" They do not _strike_ at all! They have
+no splendid "_force_ of character," and they therefore exercise no
+arresting witness for the King. They are not "abiding" in the Eternal, and
+therefore there is no powerful pulse from the Infinite. "Apart from Me ye
+can do nothing!"
+
+And my Lord needs me. For the vine has need of the branch! The vine
+expresses itself in the branch, and comes to manifestation in leaf, and
+flower, and fruit. And my Lord would manifest Himself in me, and cause my
+branch to be heavy with the glorious fruits of His grace. And if I deprive
+Him of the branch, and deny Him this means of expression, I am "limiting
+the Holy One of Israel." "My son, give Me thine heart!"
+
+Lord, help me to abide in Thee! Save me from the follies of a fatal
+independence! Good Lord, "Abide in me."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Seventeenth
+
+_THE DYING OF SELF_
+
+JOHN xii. 12-36.
+
+
+"Except a corn of wheat ... die!" Yes, it is through death we pass to
+life. Discipleship in which there is no death can never be truly alive.
+The nipping winter is essential to the green and flowery spring. No tomb,
+no resurrection glory! In every life there must be a grave, and self must
+be buried within it.
+
+We must die to self _in our prayers_. In many prayers self is obtrusive
+and aggressive from end to end. It is self, self, self! That self must be
+crucified. We must make more room for others in our supplications. On our
+knees the egotist must die, and the altruist be born. And "if it die, it
+bringeth forth much fruit"! There are multitudes of professing Christians
+who would experience a wonderful resurrection if they were more "given to
+hospitality" in their communion with the Lord.
+
+And if self die in our prayers, nowhere else will it be seen. That which
+is truly slain when we are upon our knees will not reassert itself when we
+return to common ways of work and service. And, therefore, let the corn of
+wheat fall into the ground and die!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Eighteenth
+
+_THE MESMERISM OF THE WORLD_
+
+MATTHEW xix. 23-30.
+
+
+Material possessions multiply our spiritual difficulties. It is hard for a
+rich man "_to enter into the kingdom of heaven_." For what is the kingdom?
+It is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." It is easy
+for a rich man to appear respectable, but how hard is it to be holy! He
+may surround himself with comforts, but how hard to get into peace! He may
+move in the cold gleam of a glittering happiness, but how hard to get into
+the rich, warm quietness of an abiding joy! Yes, our material possessions
+so easily range themselves as ramparts between us and our destined
+spiritual wealth.
+
+And if we find that any material thing so mesmerizes us that we are held
+in fatal bondage, we are to sacrifice it. "If thine eye offend thee, pluck
+it out, and cast it from thee!" Whatever interposes itself between us and
+our Lord must go! It is a hard way, but it leads to a sound and boisterous
+health. We verily "receive an hundredfold!" We lose "a thing," and gain a
+grace. We lose fickle sensations and gain abounding inspiration. We lose
+the world, and gain the Lord!
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Nineteenth
+
+_THE WRATH OF THE LAMB_
+
+JOHN ii. 13-22.
+
+
+The narrative of the cleansing follows the story of the wedding-feast. In
+the one the Lord has taken the spirit of the sanctuary into a worldly
+feast, and thereby illumined and glorified the feast. In the other, the
+spirit of the world has invaded the sanctuary, and thereby defiled and
+dishonoured it. The spirit of worldliness, like an unclean, insurgent
+flood, would enter and possess the entire realm of human life and service.
+And here it converted a legitimate convenience into an unhallowed
+business. It transformed a needful expedient into an unholy end. It fixed
+its tables in the very courts of the Temple, and exalted the quest of
+money above the worship of God.
+
+"_And He made a scourge of cords._" And is this "the Lamb of God"? Yes,
+"the Lamb of God" is also "the lion of Judah." The mild sunshine can
+become focussed into scorching flame! As soon as blessings touch sin they
+become curses. "For this was the Son of Man manifested, that He might
+destroy the works of the devil."
+
+My soul, remember thou the scourge of thy Lord, and do not trifle in His
+holy place! Seek thou the clean hands and the pure heart, and the thunders
+of Sinai shall come to thee as beatific music from the hill.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twentieth
+
+_DEFILING THE HOLY PLACE_
+
+MARK xi. 11-19.
+
+
+It was a teaching of the old Rabbis that no one should make a thoroughfare
+of the Temple, or enter it with the dust upon his feet. The teaching was
+full of sacred significance, however far their practice may have departed
+from its truth.
+
+Let me not use the Temple as a mere passage to something else. Let me not
+use my religion as an expedient for more easily reaching "the chief seats"
+among men. Let me not put on the garments of worship in order that I may
+readily and quickly fill my purse. Let me not make the sanctuary "a short
+cut" to the bank!
+
+And let me not carry the dust of the world on to the sacred floor. Let me
+"wipe my feet." Let me sternly shake off some things--all frivolity,
+easeful indifference, the spirit of haste and self-seeking. Let me not
+defile the courts of the Lord.
+
+And let me remember that "the whole earth is full of His glory."
+Everywhere, therefore, I am treading the sacred floor! Lord, teach me this
+high secret! Then shall I not demean the Temple into a market, but I shall
+transform the market into a temple. "Lo, God is in this place, and I knew
+it not!"
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-first
+
+_PURIFYING THE SANCTUARY_
+
+2 CHRONICLES xxix. 1-11, 15-19.
+
+
+Worship has vital connections with work. There are nerve-relationships
+between the heart and the hand. The condition of the sanctuary is
+reflected in the state of the empire. If there is uncleanness in "the holy
+place," there will be blight and degeneracy among the people. The fatal
+seeds of national instability and decay are not found in economics; they
+are found in the sanctuary. "Until I went into the sanctuary ... then
+understood I!"
+
+Hezekiah cleansed "the house of the Lord." He cast forth the filthiness
+out of the holy place. He ushered in his golden age with the reformation
+of worship. He recalled exiled and white-robed Piety to her appointed
+throne. He began the re-establishment of right by recognizing the rights
+of God. He gave the Lord His due! All our rights are born out of our
+"being right" with God! We begin to be rich when we cease to rob God!
+
+"_And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also._"
+That is ever so. Our real songs begin with our sacrifices. We enter the
+realm of music when we enter the realm of self-surrender. A willing
+offering, on a clean altar, introduces the soul into "the joy of the
+Lord."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-second
+
+_VISIONS AND TASKS_
+
+2 CHRONICLES xxxiv. 1-11.
+
+
+Josiah "_began to seek after God_." The other day I saw a young art
+student copying one of Turner's pictures in the National Gallery. His eyes
+were being continually lifted from his canvas to his "master." He put
+nothing down which he had not first seen. He was "seeking after" Turner!
+
+And thus it was with Josiah. His eyes were "ever toward the Lord!" He
+studied the "ways" of the Lord, in order that he might incarnate them in
+national life and practice. Wise doings always begin in clear seeing. We
+should be far more efficient in practice if we were more diligently
+assiduous in vision. It is never a waste of time to "look unto Him."
+Looking is a most needful part of our daily discipline. "What I say unto
+you, I say unto all, _Watch_!"
+
+And because Josiah saw the holiness of the Lord he saw the uncleanness of
+the people. He had a vision of God's holy place, and he therefore saw the
+defilement of the material worship.
+
+"_In the twelfth year he began to purge Judah._" Yes, that is the
+sequence. The reformer follows the seer. We shall begin to sweep the
+streets of our own city when we have gazed upon the glories of the holy
+city, the New Jerusalem.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-third
+
+_A GREAT SOUL AT PRAYER_
+
+2 CHRONICLES vi. 12-21.
+
+
+Let me reverently study this great prayer in order that, when I go to the
+house of God, I may be able to enrich its ministry by the wealth of my own
+supplications.
+
+Solomon prayed that the eyes of the Lord might be open toward the house
+"day and night." Like the eyes of a mother upon her child! Like the eyes
+of a lover upon his beloved! And therefore it is more than protective
+vision; shall we reverently say that it is _inventive_ vision, devising
+gracious surprises, anticipating needs, preparing love-gifts; it is sight
+which is both insight and foresight, ever inspecting and prospecting for
+the loved one's good.
+
+And Solomon prayed that God's ear might be open to the cry of His people's
+need. "_Hear Thou from Thy dwelling-place._" He prayed that the house of
+God might be the place of open communion. That is ever the secret of
+peace, and therefore of power. If I know that I have correspondence with
+the Holy One, I shall walk and work as a child of light. If God hear me,
+then I can sing!
+
+And Solomon prays for the grace of forgiveness. He prays for the sense of
+sweet emancipation which is the gift of grace. It is the miracle of
+renewal, and it ought to happen every time we open the doors of the
+sanctuary.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-fourth
+
+_LOVE OF THE SANCTUARY_
+
+PSALM lxxxiv.
+
+
+Gracious is the strength of this man's desire for the holy place. He
+covets the privilege of the very sparrow which builds its nest beneath the
+sacred eaves! When he is away from the Temple its worship and music haunt
+his mind and soul. It wooes him in the market-place. Its insistent call is
+with him by the fireside. Yes, "in his heart are the highways to Zion!"
+
+And the permanency of this devotional mood transfigures every place. It
+turns "_the valley of weeping_" into "_a place of springs_." The colour of
+any place is largely determined by our moods. It is surprising what
+treasures we find when our soul is full of light. What discoveries old
+Scrooge made when the Christmas mood possessed his own heart! When we
+carry about the spirit of the sanctuary, we convert every spot into rich
+and hallowed ground.
+
+"_I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in
+the tents of wickedness._" Better to have the temple-spirit, even as a
+menial, than the unhallowed heart in the glittering high places of sin.
+"God's worst is better than the devil's best."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-fifth
+
+_NO TEMPLE THEREIN_
+
+"_And I saw no temple therein!_"
+--REVELATION xxi. 22-27.
+
+
+And that because it was all temple! "Every place was hallowed ground."
+There was no merely localized Presence, because the Presence was
+universal. God was realized everywhere, and therefore the little
+meeting-tent had vanished, and in place of the measurable tabernacle there
+were the immeasurable and God-filled heavens.
+
+Even here on earth I can measure my spiritual growth by the corresponding
+enlargement of my temple. What is the size of my sanctuary? Am I moving
+toward the time when nothing shall be particularly hallowed because all
+will be sanctified? Are the six days of the week becoming increasingly
+like the seventh, until people can see no difference between my Monday
+manners and my Sunday mood? And how about places? Do I still speak of
+"religion being religion," and "business being business," or is something
+of the sanctuary getting into my shop, and is the exchange becoming a
+side-chapel of the Temple?
+
+"_And the Lamb is the light thereof._" When we have done with the local
+temple we can dispose of its candles. When we pass out of the twilight
+into the morning "the stars retire." The fore-gleams will change into the
+wondrous glory of the ineffable day.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE WELLS OF SALVATION_
+
+JOHN iii. 1-21.
+
+
+The springs of our redemption are found in infinite love. "God is love!"
+Redemption was not inspired by anger, but by grace. We do not contemplate
+an angry God, demanding a victim, but a compassionate Father making a
+sacrifice. At one extreme of our golden text is eternal "love," and at the
+other extreme is "eternal life." What if the two are one? Etymologically,
+"love" and "life" are akin. What if they are only two names for the same
+thing?
+
+To "believe" in the love is to receive the life. For when I believe in a
+person's love I open my doors to the lover. And to believe in the love of
+God is to let the heavenly Lover in. And with love comes a wonderful
+tropical air--light, and warmth, and air; and "all things become new!" It
+is the letting in of the spring, and things which have been in wintry
+bondage awake, and arise from their graves.
+
+And so I "_enter into the kingdom of God_." I become a native of a new and
+marvellous country. I begin to be acclimatized in the realm of the blest.
+And I "_see_ the kingdom of God." Spiritual perceptions become mine, and I
+gaze upon the mystic glories of the home of God.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE WORK OF FAITH_
+
+1 JOHN v. 1-13.
+
+
+And so by belief _I find life_. I do not obtain the vitalizing air through
+controversy, or clamour, or idle lamentation, but by opening the window!
+Faith opens the door and window of the soul to the Son of God. It can be
+done without tears, it can be done without sensationalism. "If any man
+will open the door, I will come in." "And he that hath the Son hath the
+life."
+
+And by belief _I gain my victories_. "Who is he that overcometh ... but he
+that believeth?" It is not by flashing armour that we beat the devil, but
+by an invincible life. On these battlefields a mystic breath does more
+destruction than all our fine and costly expedients. To believe is to
+obtain the winning spirit, and every battle brings its trophies to our
+feet.
+
+And by belief _I gain assurance_. "He that believeth ... hath the witness
+in him." So many Christians fight in doubt and indecision, and their
+uncertainty impairs their strength and skill. It is the man who can
+quietly say "I know" who is terrible in battle and who drives his foes in
+confusion from the field.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-eighth
+
+_ALL THINGS NEW!_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS v. 14-21.
+
+
+Here is a new constraint! "The love of Christ constraineth me." The love
+of Christ _carries me along like a crowd_. I am taken up in its mighty
+movement and swept along the appointed road! Or it _arrests me_, and makes
+me its willing prisoner. It lays a strong hand upon me, and I have no
+option but to go. A gracious "necessity is laid upon me." _I must!_
+
+And here is a new world. "_Old things are passed away._" The man who is
+the prisoner of the Lord's love will find himself in new and wonderful
+scenery. Everything will wear a new face--God, man, self, the garden, the
+sky, the sea! We shall look at all things through love-eyes, and it is
+amazing in what new light a great love will set familiar things!
+Commonplaces become beautiful when looked at through the lens of Christian
+love. When we "walk in love" our eyes are anointed with "the eye-salve" of
+grace.
+
+And here is a new service. "We are ambassadors ... for Christ." When we
+see our Lord through love-eyes, and then our brother, we shall yearn to
+serve our brother in Christ. We shall intensely long to tell the
+love-story of the Lord our Saviour. What we have seen, with confidence we
+tell.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Twenty-ninth
+
+_NAMES AND NATURES_
+
+ROMANS viii. 1-10.
+
+
+Men will recognize my Christianity by the sign of the Spirit of Christ.
+And they will accept no other witness. I saw a plant-pot the other day,
+full of soil, bearing no flower, but flaunting a stick on which was
+printed the word "Mignonette." "Thou hast a name to live and art dead."
+The world will take no notice of our labels and our badges: it is only
+arrested by the flower and the perfume. "If any man hath not the Spirit of
+Christ he is none of His."
+
+And in the Spirit of Christ I shall best deal with "_the things of the
+flesh_." There are some things which are best overcome by neglecting them.
+To give them attention is to give them nourishment. Withdraw the
+attention, and they sicken and die. And so I must seek the fellowship of
+the Spirit. That friendship will destroy the other. "Ye cannot serve God
+and Mammon." If I am in communion with the Holy One the other will pine
+away, and cease to trouble me.
+
+Lord, make my spirit a kinsman of Thine! Let the intimacy be ever deeper
+and dearer. "Draw me nearer, blessed Lord," until in nearness to Thee I
+find my peace, my joy, and my crown.
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Thirtieth
+
+_SIN AS POISON_
+
+NUMBERS xxi. 4-9.
+
+
+And this is the familiar teaching, that sin is a serpent. It possesses a
+deadly poison. We may give it pleasant names, but we are only ornamenting
+death. A chemist might put a poison into a chaste and elegant flask, but
+he has in no wise changed its nature. And when we name sin by philosophic
+euphemisms, and by less exacting terminologies--such as "cleverness,"
+"smartness," or "fault," or "misfortune," we are only changing the flask,
+and the diabolical essence remains the same.
+
+And, then, sin is a serpent because it is so subtle. It creeps into my
+presence almost before I know it. Its approaches are so insidious, its
+expedients so full of guile. "Therefore, I say unto all, Watch!"
+
+But in Christ the old serpent is dead! Christ "became sin," and in Him sin
+was crucified. The thing that bit is bitten, and its nefarious power
+destroyed. But out of Christ the serpent is still busy and malicious,
+claiming what he presumes to call his own.
+
+Let me, then, dwell in Christ, where sin "has no more dominion."
+"Whosoever believeth shall not perish but have life."
+
+
+
+
+JULY The Thirty-first
+
+_THE CLEAN FLAME OF LOVE_
+
+1 JOHN iv. 4-14.
+
+
+This aged apostle cannot get away from the counsels of love. All his
+mental movements circle about this "greatest thing in the world." Once he
+would "call down fire upon men"; now the only fire he knows is the pure
+and genial flame of love. Beautiful is it when our fires become cleaner as
+we get older, when temper changes to compassion, when malice becomes
+goodwill, when an ill-controlled conflagration becomes a homely fireside.
+
+And all the love we acquire we must get from the altars of God. "We love
+because He first loved us." We can find it nowhere else. "Love is of God."
+Why, then, not seek it in the right place? Why seek for palms in arctic
+regions, or for icebergs in the tropics? God is the country of love, and
+in His deep mines there are riches "unsearchable."
+
+And the gracious law of life is this, that every acquisition of love
+increases our powers of discernment. "He that loveth knoweth...!" It is as
+though every jewel we find gives us an extra lens for the discovery of
+finer jewels still. And thus the love-life is a continual surprise, and
+the surprise will be eternal, for the object of the wonder is the infinite
+love of God.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The First
+
+_GOD AS OUR ALLY!_
+
+ROMANS viii. 31-39.
+
+
+"If God is for us!" But we must make sure of that. Is God on the field,
+taking sides with us? Have we been so busy with our preparations, so
+concerned with many things, and everybody, that we have forgotten our
+greatest possible Ally? Is He on the field, and on which side! My soul, go
+on thy knees, and settle this in secret. That purpose of thine! That
+choice of thine! That work of thine! Is it hallowed with thy Lord's
+approval and seal?
+
+And "if God is for us, who can be against us?" Nothing else counts. It is
+ever a foolish and futile thing to count the heads in the opposing ranks.
+"God is always on the side of the big battalions!" It is a black lie of
+the devil! We need not fear the big battalions if only we are securely in
+the right. We are not to count heads, but to weigh and estimate causes.
+Which of the causes provides a tent for the Lord of Hosts? Where has the
+truth its waving flag? Stand near that flag, my soul, and thou wilt be
+near thy Lord! And nothing shall separate thee from His love, and leave
+thee weak and isolated on the field. Thou shalt be "more than conqueror"
+in Him who loves thee, and will love thee for evermore.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Second
+
+_BY JACOB'S WELL_
+
+JOHN iv. 1-15.
+
+
+A weary woman and a weary Lord! But the Lord was only weary in body; the
+woman was dry and exhausted in soul. Her heart was like some charred
+chamber after a destructive fire. All its furniture was injured, and some
+of it was almost burnt away. For sin had been blazing in the secret place,
+and had scorched the delicacies of the spirit, and the inward satisfaction
+was gone. And now she was very weary, and her daily walk had become a most
+tiresome march.
+
+And the Lord, with sympathetic insight, discerned the inward dryness.
+There was no sound of holy contentment, no melody of joyful, spiritual
+desire. There was only the cold, clammy silence of death. "He knew what
+was in man." And there was no "river of water of life" making glad the
+streets of this woman's soul.
+
+And so He would bring to her the waters of spiritual satisfaction, the
+holy well of eternal life. "In the wilderness shall waters break out, and
+springs in the desert." The Lord is about to work a miracle of grace,
+changing dull pang into healing peace, and suffocated desire into soaring
+fellowship with God. He is about to transform an outlawed woman into one
+of the "elect saints." How will He do it? Let us watch Him.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Third
+
+_CHANGING ASKING INTO THIRSTING_
+
+"_Go, call thy husband!_"
+--JOHN iv. 16-30.
+
+
+I never supposed that the transformation would begin here. I thought that
+there were some words which would remain unspoken. But here our Master
+speaks a word which only deepens the weariness of the woman, and irritates
+the sore of her galling yoke. What is He doing?
+
+He is seeking to change the sense of wretchedness into the sense of sin!
+He is seeking to change weariness into desire! _He wants to make the woman
+thirst!_ And so He puts His finger upon her sin. He cannot give the
+heavenly water to lips that merely ask for it. "Sir, give me this water!"
+No, it cannot be had for the asking, only for the thirsting! And so the
+gracious Lord turns the woman's eyes upon her own sinful life, in order
+that in the heat of a fierce shame she might cry out, "I thirst for God,
+for the living God!" And sure I am that, before the Lord had done with
+her, this quiet, lone cry leapt from her lips, and in immediate response
+to the cry she was given a deep draught from the eternal well.
+
+And, good Lord, arouse my sense of my sin that I, too, may thirst for Thy
+water! Now, make me thirst for it, and in the thirst receive it!
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Fourth
+
+_HIDDEN MANNA_
+
+"_I have meat to eat that ye know not of._"
+--JOHN iv. 31-42.
+
+
+And what sort of meat is this? The Lord found secret refreshment in
+feeding other people. In vitalizing the woman of Samaria He restored His
+own soul. The disciples were amazed when they returned to find that the
+weariness had gone out of His face, and that He looked like one who had
+been at a feast!
+
+And that is the law of life. "_My meat is to do the will._" There is a
+secret nutriment in the bread we give away. The Lord gives us to eat of
+the "hidden manna" whenever we are seeking the refreshment of our fellows.
+Distributed bread has a sacramental efficacy for our own souls. The man
+who feeds the hungry shall himself be "satisfied as with marrow."
+
+And these ways of service are open on every side. There are millions of
+weary people waiting, like the woman at the well. "_Lift up your eyes, and
+look on the fields: for they are white already to harvest!_" Be it mine to
+be a minister in the mighty service, and in the ways of obedience let me
+find delights and delicacies for my own soul.
+
+                          "Bread of Heaven,
+                    Feed me till I want no more!"
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Fifth
+
+_BROOKS BY THE WAY_
+
+ISAIAH xii.
+
+
+The wells of the Lord are to be found where most I need them. The Lord of
+the way knows the pilgrim life, and the wells have been unsealed just
+where the soul is prone to become dry and faint. At the foot of the hill
+Difficulty was found a spring! Yes, these health-springs are lifting their
+crystal flood in the cheerless wastes of evil antagonisms and exhausting
+grief.
+
+Sometimes I am foolish, and in my need I assume that the well is far away.
+I knew a farmer who for a generation had carried every pail of water from
+a distant well to meet the needs of his homestead. And one day he sunk a
+shaft by his own house door, and to his great joy he found that the water
+was waiting at his own gate! My soul, thy well is near, even here! Go not
+in search of Him! Thy pilgrimage is ended, the waters are at thy feet!
+
+But I must "_draw_ the water out of the wells of salvation." The hand of
+faith must lift the gracious gift to the parched lips, and so refresh the
+panting soul. "I will _take_ the cup of salvation." Stretch out thy "lame
+hand of faith," and take the holy, hallowing energy offered by the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Sixth
+
+_WATERS OF CONTENTMENT_
+
+ISAIAH lv. 1-7.
+
+
+The refreshing waters are offered to "everyone" that is thirsty. The
+evangel is like some clear bugle peal, sounded on some commanding upland,
+and which is heard alike in palace and cottage, in school and at the mill,
+by the child of plenty and by the child of want. "Ho, everyone!" The
+appeal is to the common heart, whether the setting be squalor or
+splendour, whether the soul faints in the glare of the prosperous noon, or
+under the chill of the burdensome night. "Ho, everyone that thirsteth!"
+
+And the waters may be ours "without money and without price." We have not
+to earn them by the sweat of body, mind, or soul. We have not to make a
+toilsome pilgrimage, on bleeding feet, to some distant Lourdes, where the
+sacred healer abides. No, we are asked to pay nothing, and for the simple
+reason that we "have nothing wherewith to pay." The reviving grace is
+given to us "freely," and all that we have to present is our thirst.
+
+And yet we spend and spend, we labour and labour, but we buy no bread of
+contentment, and the waters of satisfaction are far away. The satisfying
+bread cannot be bought; it can only be begged. The water of life cannot be
+taken from a cistern; it must be drunk at the spring.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Seventh
+
+_RIVERS FROM THE SNOW_
+
+REVELATION xxii. 1-7, 17-21.
+
+
+The water of life flows out of the throne. Grace has its rise in sovereign
+holiness. This river is born amid the virgin snow. All true love springs
+out of spotless purity. "Love" from any other source is illegitimately
+wearing a stolen name. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord!" That is the first
+note in the song of redemption. In that burning whiteness I discern the
+possibility of my own sanctification.
+
+For the grace which flows out of sovereign holiness is a minister of the
+holy Lord to make me holy. If it were not perfectly pure it would itself
+be an agent of defilement. But it is "clear as crystal," and therefore it
+purifies and fertilizes wherever it flows. Rare trees grow upon its banks,
+and grace-fruits make every season beautiful. "Everything shall live
+whither the river cometh."
+
+But without the river my soul shall be "as an unwatered garden." My life
+shall be a realm of perpetual drought. Things may begin to grow, but they
+shall speedily droop and die. The heavenly Husbandman shall find no fruit
+when He walks amid the garden in the cool of the day. And therefore, my
+soul, look to the river which flows from the throne! "There is a river,
+the streams whereof make glad the city of God," and that river is for
+thee!
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Eighth
+
+_THE SCARLET SIN_
+
+ISAIAH i. 10-20.
+
+
+How can we deal with glaring sin, with sin that is "scarlet," that is "red
+like crimson"? And when the red stain has soaked into the very texture of
+the character, and every fibre is stupefied, what can we do then? Let me
+listen.
+
+"_Wash you._" But ordinary washings will not suffice. The ministry of
+education will fail. Art, and literature, and music will leave the
+internal stain undisturbed. They may impart a polish, but the polish shall
+be like the gloss on badly-washed linen. And the ministry of work will
+fail. Work never yet made a foul soul clean. There is "a fountain opened
+for all uncleanness." I must wash "in the blood of the Lamb." That red
+sacrifice can wash out the deep red stain.
+
+"_Cease to do evil._" Yes, I must turn my back on the roads of defilement.
+There must be a sharp decision, and an immediate reversal of my ways.
+"Halt!" "Right about turn!" "Quick march!"
+
+"_Learn to do well!_" Yes, let me diligently learn, like a child at
+school, until the deliberative becomes the instructive, and "practice
+makes perfect."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Ninth
+
+_GOD'S REQUIREMENTS_
+
+"_What doth the Lord require of thee?_"
+--MICAH vi. 1-8.
+
+
+"To do justly." Then I must not be so eager about my rights as to forget
+my duties. For my duties are just the observance of my neighbour's rights.
+And to see my neighbour's rights I must cultivate his "point of view." I
+must look out of his windows! "Look not every man on his own things, but
+every man also on the things of others."
+
+"_And to love mercy._" And mercy is justice _plus_! And it is the "plus"
+which makes the Christian. His cup "runneth over." He gives, like his
+Lord, "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over." There
+is always "a little extra" for Christ's sake! And "blessed are the
+merciful."
+
+"_And to walk humbly with thy God._" And there I am at the root of the two
+graces which have been enjoined upon me. The lowly friend of the Lord will
+most surely be both just and merciful. He cannot help it. The fragrance
+will cling to him as the fragrance of the orange clings to him who labours
+in the fruitful groves of Spain.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Tenth
+
+_GOOD FRUIT_
+
+LUKE vi. 43-49.
+
+
+My Lord seeks "good fruit." It must be sound. No disease must lurk within
+it. My virtues are so often touched with defilement. There is a little
+untruth even in my truth. There is a little jealousy even in my praise.
+There is a little superciliousness even in my forbearance. There is a
+little pride even in my piety. It is not "whole," not holy. God demands
+sound fruit.
+
+And "good fruit" demands "a good tree." We must not look for truth from an
+untrue soul. If the bullet-mould is deformed, all the bullets will share
+its deformity. First get the mould right, and every bullet will share its
+rectitude. When the soul is "true," all our words, and deeds, and gestures
+will be "of the truth," and will be true indeed. "Make the tree good."
+
+And that is just what our Lord proclaims His willingness to do. He does
+not begin with effects, but with causes; not with fruit, but with trees.
+He does not begin with our speech, but with the speaker; not with conduct,
+but with character. And, blessed be His name, He can transform "corrupt
+trees" into "good trees," until it shall be said: "He that hath turned the
+world upside down has come hither also."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Eleventh
+
+_THE CONSECRATION OF THE WILL_
+
+JOHN v. 1-18.
+
+
+My Lord demands my will in the ministry of healing. "_Art thou willing_ to
+be made whole?" He will not carry me as a log. When my schoolmaster put a
+belt around me, and held me over the water with a rope, and taught me to
+swim, I had to use my arms. The condition of help was endeavour. And so in
+my salvation. I have always will-power sufficient to pray and to try. In
+the effort of faith I open the door to the energies of God. Grace flows in
+the channels of the determined will. "O, God, my heart is set!"
+
+And my Lord demands my will in the living of the consecrated life. "Sin no
+more!" I must "will" to be whole, and I must will to remain holy. And here
+is the gracious law of the kingdom, that every time I exercise my will I
+add to its power. Every difficulty overcome adds its strength to my
+resources. Every enemy conquered marches henceforth in my own ranks. I go
+"from strength to strength."
+
+"God worketh in me to will!" The gracious Lord ever strengthens the will
+that is willing. He transforms the frail reed into an iron pillar, and
+makes trembling timidity bold as a lion.
+
+    "Mighty Spirit, dwell with me,
+     I myself would mighty be."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twelfth
+
+_MY LIFE AND HOPE_
+
+JOHN v. 19-30.
+
+
+Here is my reservoir. "_The Son hath life in Himself._" All vitality has
+its source in Him. He is the enemy of death and the deadly. I can paint
+the dead to look like life; I can use rouge for blood, and make the white
+lips red, but it all remains clammy and cold. I can galvanize, but I
+cannot vitalize. I can "break the ball of nard," and make perfume, "but
+still the sleeper sleeps." "In Him is life." "In Christ shall all be made
+alive!"
+
+And here is my hope. "_The Son also quickeneth._" He is not only a
+reservoir, He is a river. He is "the river of water of life." And His
+blessed purpose is to flow into desolate places, converting deserts into
+gardens, and making wildernesses to blossom as the rose.
+
+And He will come my way if only I will "hear" and "believe." There is a
+flippant hearing which, while it listens, laughs Him to scorn. There is a
+cheap hearing which will venture nothing on His counsel. And there is the
+hearing of faith, which simply "takes Him at His word," and in the
+glorious venture experiences the unsealing of the fountain of eternal
+life. "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Thirteenth
+
+_THE INNER ROOMS_
+
+JOHN v. 31-47.
+
+
+What should I think of a man who was contented to remain in the outer
+halls and passages of Windsor Castle, when he was invited into the royal
+precincts to have gracious communion with the King? And what shall I think
+of men who are contented to "search the Scriptures" and "will not come" to
+the Lord? They spend their life exploring the lobbies, when the Host and
+the feast are waiting in the upper room!
+
+And some men spend their days in criticism and they never advance to
+worship. They are like unto one who should give his strength to the
+deciphering of some time-worn inscription on the outer wall of some grand
+cathedral, and who never treads the sacred floor in fruitful and enriching
+awe.
+
+And some men live in the senses, and not in the conscience, in the awful
+presence of the great white throne. They are for ever seeking sensations,
+and avoid the fellowship of duty. They ride about in the channel, and they
+never come to the harbour. They have no settled moral home.
+
+My Lord, help me to regard all good things as merely passages leading to
+Thee! Let all good things bring me into intimate fellowship with Thee.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Fourteenth
+
+_THE PARALYSIS OF THE SOUL_
+
+LUKE v. 17-26.
+
+
+The miracle done in the body is purposed to be a symbol of a grander
+miracle to be wrought in the soul. "_That ye may know that the Son of Man
+hath power on earth to forgive sins, then saith He...!_" He heals the
+paralyzed body that we may know what He can do with a paralyzed soul. He
+liberates the man who is bound by palsy that we may know what He can do
+for a man who is bound by guilt. We are to reason from the less to the
+greater, from the material type to the spiritual reality.
+
+And so it is with all my Lord's doings in nature. They are a glorious
+symbolism of what He will do in the spirit. "That ye may know how
+beautiful the Son of Man can make the heart of man, then saith He to the
+seeds of the spring-time, Come forth!" And so nature becomes a literature,
+in which we see our possible inheritance in the Spirit.
+
+But on our side it is all conditioned by faith. "There He could do no
+mighty works because of their unbelief." Even in the miracles of the
+Spirit our faith must co-operate. Divine grace and human faith can
+transfigure the race. "Lord, increase our faith!" And everywhere, let
+palsied souls be delivered, and attain to glorious freedom!
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Fifteenth
+
+_WITHERED LIMBS_
+
+MARK iii. 1-8.
+
+
+There are withered limbs of the spirit as well as of the body. There are
+faculties and powers which are wasting away, sacred endowments which have
+lost their vital circulation. In some lives the will is a withered limb.
+In others it is the conscience. In others, again, it is the affections.
+These splendid moral and spiritual powers are being dried up, and they
+hang comparatively limp and useless in the life. They have been withered
+by sin and sinful negligence.
+
+And the Lord is the healer of withered limbs. He can deal with imprisoned
+affections as the warm spring deals with the river which has been locked
+in ice. He can minister to a stricken will, and make it as a benumbed hand
+when the circulation has been restored. He can give it grip and tenacity.
+And so with all our powers. He, who is the Life, can vitalize all!
+
+But here again the remnant of our withered endowment must be used in the
+healing. We must surrender to the Healer. We must obey. If the Lord says:
+"Stretch forth thy hand," we must attempt the impossible! In this region
+the impossible becomes possible in sanctified endeavour.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Sixteenth
+
+_THE CHURCH AS AN INFIRMARY_
+
+LUKE xiii. 10-17.
+
+
+What infirmities gather together in the synagogue! What moral and
+spiritual ailments are congregated in every place of worship! If the veil
+of the flesh could be removed, and the inward life revealed, how we should
+pity one another, and how we should pray! In how many lives should we
+behold a spirit "bound together," who "could in no wise lift herself up!"
+Wills like crushed reeds, consciences like broken vocal chords, hopes like
+birds with injured wings, and hearts like ruined homes!
+
+But the blessed Lord still goes into the synagogue; nay, He anticipates
+our coming. And He is present "to heal the broken in heart," and to "bind
+up his wounds." His touch "has still its ancient power." Still does the
+gracious Master speak with authority. "Woman, thou art loosed from thine
+infirmity!" And immediately she is "made straight."
+
+Then why do so many spiritual cripples leave the synagogue cripples still?
+Because they do not give the Healer a chance. No one can remain crooked
+and broken in conscience and will who grips the hand of the Lord of Life.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Seventeenth
+
+_THE PSALM OF PRAISE_
+
+PSALM cvii. 1-15.
+
+
+The miracle of deliverance must be followed by the psalm of praise. There
+are multitudes who cry, "God be merciful!" who never cry, "God be
+praised!" "There were none that returned to give thanks save this
+Samaritan." Ten cleansed, and only one grateful! "Oh, that men would
+praise the Lord for His goodness!" Many a blessing becomes stale because
+it is not renewed by thanksgiving. Graces that are received ungratefully
+droop like flowers deprived of rain. Yes, gratitude gives sustenance to
+blessings already received. Therefore "in everything give thanks."
+
+But emancipated lives are not only to break into praise before God, they
+must exercise in confession before men. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say
+so!" Unconfessed blessings become like the Dead Sea; refused an outlet
+they lose their freshness and vitality. I am found by the Lord in order
+that I, too, may be a seeker. I receive His peace in order that I may be a
+peacemaker. I am comforted in order that I "may comfort others with the
+comfort wherewith I am comforted of God." Have you ever received a
+blessing; "pass it on!" Tell the story of thy deliverance to the enslaved,
+that he, too, may find "the iron gate" swing open, and so attain his
+freedom.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Eighteenth
+
+_THE CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN_
+
+"_Pray for the peace of Jerusalem._"
+--PSALM cxxii.
+
+
+And my Jerusalem is "the church of the living God." Do I carry her on my
+heart? Do I praise God for her heritage, and for her endowment of
+spiritual glory? And do I remember her perils, especially those parts of
+her walls where the defences are very thin, and can be easily broken
+through? Yes, has my Church any place in my prayer, or am I robbing her of
+part of her intended possessions?
+
+And is the _entire_ Jerusalem the subject of my supplication? Or do I only
+think of a corner of it, just that part where my own little synagogue is
+placed? I am a Congregationalist; do I remember the Anglican? I am an
+Anglican; do I remember the Quaker? Am I thus concerned only with a small
+section of Jerusalem, or does my intercession sweep the entire city?
+
+"_They shall prosper that love thee._" I cannot be healthy if I am bereft
+of fellowship. If I ignore the house of prayer I impoverish my home. The
+peaceful glow of the fireside is not unrelated to the coals upon the
+common altar. The sacrament is connected with my ordinary meal. To love
+the Church of Christ is to become enriched with "the fulness of Christ."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Nineteenth
+
+_IN GREEN PASTURES_
+
+PSALM xxiii.
+
+
+This little psalm has been called the nightingale of the psalms. It sings
+"in the shade when all things rest." It makes music in the darkness; it
+gives me "songs in the night." And what does it sing about?
+
+It sings of God's bounty in food and rest. "_Green pastures_"; "_still
+waters_." My Lord knows when my heart is faint, when it needs His reviving
+food. He knows when my heart is tired and needs His sweet rest. "_He
+restoreth my soul._"
+
+And it sings of the God-appointed way across the hill. "_He leadeth me in
+paths of righteousness._" He makes the right way clear. He walks the path
+of duty with me. "_Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow I
+will fear no evil, for Thou art with me._"
+
+And it sings of the feast which the Lord serves in the very midst of my
+foes. "_He spreadeth a table before me in the midst of mine enemies._" He
+gives me the fat things of grace in the very presence of frowning
+circumstances.
+
+And it sings of the providence _which guards the rear_. "Goodness and
+mercy shall follow me!" God's grace comes between me and my yesterdays. It
+cuts off the heredity from the old Adam, and no far-off plague comes nigh
+my dwelling.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twentieth
+
+_FEEDING THE FLOCK_
+
+ISAIAH xl. 1-11.
+
+
+Here is the gracious promise of provision. "_He shall feed His flock like
+a Shepherd._" He knows the fields where my soul will be best nourished in
+holiness. I am sometimes amazed at His choice. He takes me into an
+apparent wilderness, but I find rich herbage on the unpromising plain. And
+so I would rest in His choice even when it seems adverse to my good.
+
+And here is the gracious promise of gentle discrimination. "_He shall
+gather the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom._" Says old
+Trapp, "He hath a great care of His little ones, like as He had of the
+weaker tribes. In their march through the Wilderness He put a strong tribe
+to two weak tribes, lest they should faint or fail." Yes, "He knoweth our
+frame." He will not lay upon us more than we can bear. At the back of
+every commandment there is a promise of adequate resource. His askings are
+also His enablings. The big duty means that we shall have a big lift. And
+when we are tired He will lead on gently. Such is the grace and tenderness
+of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-first
+
+_SATISFACTION_
+
+"_My people shall be satisfied with My goodness._"
+--JEREMIAH xxxi. 10-14.
+
+
+And how unlike is all this to the feasts of the world! There is a great
+show, but no satisfaction. There is much decorative china, but no
+nutritious food or drink. "Every one that drinketh of this water shall
+thirst again." We rise from the table, and our deepest cravings are
+unappeased. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" We know. We have had a
+condiment, but no meat; a showy menu-card, but no reviving feast.
+
+Nothing but the goodness of the Lord can satisfy the soul. Whatever else
+may be on the table of life, if this be absent we shall go away unfed. We
+may have money, and pleasure, and success, and fame, but they are all
+delusive husks if the grace of the Lord be absent.
+
+This is the real furnishing of the feast. There are vast multitudes of
+things I can do without if only I have the holy bread of life in the
+gracious Presence of my Lord. In this sphere it is the Guest who makes the
+table! "Thou, O Christ, art all I want!" "Having Him we have all things."
+A glorious satisfaction possesses the soul, and though we may not increase
+our worldly possessions, we do something better, we "grow in grace and in
+the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-second
+
+_THE SICK AND THE LOST_
+
+EZEKIEL xxxiv. 11-16.
+
+
+Surely everybody is included in this redemptive purpose of the Lord! He is
+looking for everybody, for everybody finds a place in His holy quest.
+
+He is seeking the "_lost_" sheep. The one that has wandered far away, and
+now no longer hears the sound of the Shepherd's voice! The one that is
+carelessly nibbling the herbage on the very edge of perdition! He is
+looking for this one. Is He therefore looking for thee and me?
+
+He is seeking "_that which was driven away_." Some hireling, some enemy of
+the shepherd, drove it far away from the fold. "A thief and a robber," for
+his own purposes, hath done this. And the Lord's sheep are driven away by
+"principalities and powers," and by the violence of wicked men. Some
+impure and unworthy professor of religion can drive a whole household from
+the fellowship of the Church. And the Good Shepherd is seeking these. Is
+He therefore looking for thee or me?
+
+And He is seeking "_that which was sick_." And some of the Lord's sheep
+are sickly. The chill of disappointment, or failure, or bereavement has
+blown upon them, and they are "down." Or they have been feeding on illicit
+pleasure. And the Lord is seeking such. Is He therefore seeking thee or
+me?
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-third
+
+_NOT LOST IN THE FLOCK_
+
+"_I know My sheep, and am known of mine._"
+--JOHN x. 7-16.
+
+
+There is mutual recognition, and in that recognition there is confidence
+and peace.
+
+"_I know my sheep._" He knows us one by one. My knowledge of the
+individual wanes in proportion as the multitude is increased. The teacher
+with the smaller class has the deepest intimacy with her scholars. The
+individual is lost in the crowd. But not so with our Lord. There are no
+"masses" in His sight. However big the crowd, even though it be "a
+multitude which no man can number," we still remain individuals, known to
+the Lord by name, and face, and personal need. If thou art away from the
+fold, thy face is missed, and the Shepherd is away in search of thee!
+
+"_And I am known of mine._" And the knowledge deepens with every day's
+experience. There are false shepherds who can subtly mimic the Good
+Shepherd, and in my early discipleship I am liable to be deceived. The
+devil himself can array himself like a shepherd, and imitate the very
+tones of the Lord. Therefore must I watch, and ever watch. But here is my
+hope and inspiration. Every day I spend with my Good Shepherd sharpens my
+discernments, enables me to see through the outer show of things, and to
+discriminate between the false and the true.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-fourth
+
+_THE LORD'S BODY_
+
+"_I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do._"
+--JOHN xvii. 1-11.
+
+
+This quiet confession is in itself a token of our Lord's divinity. The
+serenity in which He makes His claims is as stupendous as the claims
+themselves. "Finished," perfected in the utmost refinement, to the last,
+remotest detail! Nothing scamped, nothing overlooked, nothing forgotten!
+Everything which concerns thy redemption and my redemption has been
+accomplished. "It is finished!"
+
+"_And now ... I come to Thee._" The visible Presence is withdrawn. There
+is no longer in our midst a Jesus whose body we can bruise and crucify.
+"_But these are in the world._" Yes, and His disciples are now His body.
+He becomes reincarnated in them. If they refuse Him a body, He has none!
+He looks through their eyes, listens through their ears, speaks through
+their lips, ministers through their hands, goes on sacred pilgrimages with
+their feet! "Know ye not that ye are the body?"
+
+Does my discipleship offer my Lord a limb? Can He communicate with the
+world through me? Does my discipleship multiply His powers of expression?
+Has He more eyes, more ears, more hands because I am a member of His
+Church? Or----?
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-fifth
+
+_IMPOTENT ENEMIES_
+
+"_Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?_"
+--ROMANS viii. 31-39.
+
+
+Who can get between the love of Christ and me? What sharp dividing
+minister can cleave the two in twain, and leave me like a dismembered and
+dying branch?
+
+Terrible experiences cannot do it. "_Tribulation, distress, persecution,
+famine, nakedness, peril, or sword!_" All these may come about my house,
+but they cannot reach the inner sanctuary where my Lord and I are closeted
+in loving communion and peace. They may bruise my skin, nay, they may give
+my body to be burned, but no flame can destroy the love of Jesus which
+enswathes my soul with invisible defence.
+
+And terrible ministers cannot do it. "_Angels, nor principalities, nor
+powers._" These mysterious agents of darkness, for they must be the
+legions of the evil one, are unable to quench the light and fire of my
+Saviour's love. The devil can never blow out the lamp of grace.
+
+And terrible death itself cannot do it. Death does not separate me from
+Jesus; death is the Lord's minister to lead me into deeper privilege and
+ripe experiences of grace and love. Therefore, "I will lay me down in
+peace, and take my rest."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-sixth
+
+_MISSING THE LORD_
+
+"_Thou knowest not the time of thy visitation._"
+--LUKE xix. 37-44.
+
+
+Yes, that has been my sad experience. I have wasted some of my wealthiest
+seasons. I have treated the hour as common and worthless, and the
+priceless opportunity has passed.
+
+There have been times when my Lord has come to me, and I have turned Him
+away from my door. He so often journeys "incognito," and if I am
+thoughtless I dismiss Him, and so lose the privilege of heavenly communion
+and benediction. He knocks at my door as a Carpenter, and the humble
+attire deceives me, and I treat Him with scant courtesy, and sometimes
+with contempt. I know not the time of my visitation.
+
+He comes to me in the guise of needy people--as sick, or hungry, or a
+stranger, and I cannot be troubled with His presence. I dismissed Him as a
+pauper, little knowing that I was turning away a millionaire! I knew not
+the time of my visitation! "I was an hungered, and ye gave Me no meat,"
+and so we missed the bread of life.
+
+And so there is nothing for it, but to be always "on the watch." I must
+treat everybody as though everybody was the Christ. And I must treat every
+commonplace moment as though it were the home of the eternal.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-seventh
+
+_WHAT ABOUT TO-MORROW?_
+
+JOSHUA xxiv. 1-15.
+
+
+It is not mine to worry about the coming day, but to fill the immediate
+moment with radiant duty. My Lord is the Pioneer, the great Maker of
+roads, and He will see to the appointments and provisions of the way. He
+has His scouts, His advance guard, His miners and sappers opening the
+highway across the waste! "I will send mine angel before thee!" "I will
+send hornets before you!" Yes, the Lord will look after the road. What,
+then, am I called to do? Let me find the answer in the 14th verse.
+
+"_Fear the Lord!_" The Lord must be the sovereign thought in my life. All
+true and well-proportioned living must begin in well-proportioned thought.
+God must be my biggest thought, and from that thought all others must take
+their colour and their range.
+
+"_Put away the gods._" My supreme homage must not be shared among many, it
+must be given to One. When the Lord is enthroned as King all usurpers must
+be banished. When He comes to His own the others go into exile.
+
+"_Serve ye the Lord._" My strength must be enlisted with my loyalty. I
+must not merely shout; I must work. I must not merely clap my hands when
+the King goes by, I must consecrate those hands in sacrificial service.
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-eighth
+
+_WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING_
+
+"_The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom._"
+--JOB xxviii. 12-28.
+
+
+Mere learning will not make me wise. The path to wisdom is not necessarily
+through the schools. The brilliant scholar may be an arrant fool. True
+wisdom is found, not in mental acquisitions, but in a certain spiritual
+relation. The wise man is known by the pose of his soul. He is "_inclined
+toward the Lord_!" He has returned unto his rest, and he finds light and
+vision in the fellowship of his Lord.
+
+"_To depart from evil is understanding._" Yes, I need the lens of purity
+if I am to see the secrets of things. A dirty lens is the explanation of
+much ignorance and obscurity. I do not think I can ever see a flower if my
+lens is defiled. Much less can I see "the things of others." And still
+less again can I enjoy "the secret of the Lord." What we want is not so
+much a theological training as a right spirit, not so much to go to school
+as to "_depart from evil_." When I leave an evil habit worlds unseen begin
+to show their glory. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
+God."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE RICHES OF SPIRITUALITY_
+
+PROVERBS iv. 1-13.
+
+
+Let me review some of these riches which are conferred upon the man who
+has made his soul the guest-room of spiritual religion.
+
+"_Love her, and she shall keep thee._" Spirituality is to be my true
+defence. All other ramparts are vulnerable. They are the happy
+hunting-ground of the ravages of time; they fail in the crisis; they are
+the sure victims of moth and rust. But spirituality keeps me from
+childhood to age, and its shields are invincible, even in the hour of
+death. "There shall no evil befall thee."
+
+"_Exalt her, and she shall promote thee._" She will lead me in the paths
+of progress. Every day she will lead me to new conquests, and in
+constantly enriching character I shall move towards life's appointed goal.
+Holiness is the only success worth having. Other successes are like lamps
+whose trembling flames are blown out in the first gusty, stormy night.
+"But the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more
+even unto perfect day."
+
+"_She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace._" Yes, and her
+adornments are always beautiful. No beauty ever steals into the human face
+comparable with the delicate presence of spirituality. It makes plain
+features lovely, and transfigures them with "the glory of the Lord."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Thirtieth
+
+_HOW TO DELIGHT IN THE WORD_
+
+PSALM cxix. 97-104.
+
+
+A man may measure his growth in grace by his growing delight in the speech
+of the Lord. When His words are unwelcome in my ears, when they are an
+intrusion which mars my pleasures, it is clear I am still in the far
+country of revolt. But if His words make "music in my ears," if the Lord's
+conversation is the very marrow of the feast, then I have entered into the
+circle of His intimate friends. When His words taste sweet, even with a
+bare board, I am "in heavenly places with Christ."
+
+And how can I attain unto this spiritual delight? Well, first of all I
+must make "_His testimonies my meditations._" Our doctors tell us that the
+only way to taste the real savour of food is to masticate it well. Bolted
+food never unlocks its essences. And meditation is just mental
+mastication. To "turn the word over" in my mind will help to disburden its
+treasure.
+
+And then I must diligently put the word into practice. "_I have not
+departed from Thy judgments._" There is nothing like obedience for setting
+free a spiritual essence. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear
+Him."
+
+
+
+
+AUGUST The Thirty-first
+
+_THE REAL GAINS AND LOSSES_
+
+"_Godliness with contentment is great gain._"
+--1 TIMOTHY vi. 6-16.
+
+
+And so I must go into my heart if I would make a true estimate of my gains
+and losses. The calculation is not to be made in my bank-books, or as I
+stride over my broad acres, or inspect my well-filled barns. These are the
+mere outsides of things, and do not enter into the real balance-sheet of
+my life. We can no more estimate the success of a life by methods like
+these than we can adjudge an oil-painting by the sense of smell.
+
+What is my stock of godliness? That is one of the test questions. What are
+my treasures of contentment? What about peace and joy, and hallowed and
+blessed carelessness? How much pure laughter rings in my life? How much
+bird-music is heard in the chambers of my heart? Is the note of praise to
+be found in the streets of my soul? Am I rich in these things or
+pathetically poor? "By these things men live," and therefore of these
+things will I make my balance-sheet and reckon up my gains.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The First
+
+_THE VIRTUE OF PROPORTION_
+
+MATTHEW vi. 25-34.
+
+
+I must put first things first. The radical fault in much of my living is
+want of proportion. I think more of pretty window curtains than of fresh
+air, more of "nice" wallpaper than of the moving pageant of the skies. I
+magnify the immediate desire and minimize the ultimate goal. And so
+"things do not come right!" How can they when the apportionment is so
+perverse, when everything is topsy-turvy? If I want things to be firm and
+durable I must revere the Divine order, and must put first things first.
+"_Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness._"
+
+And, therefore, I must seek holiness before success. I am to esteem
+holiness with apparent failure as infinitely better than success with
+stain and shame.
+
+I must seek character before reputation. The applause of the world must be
+as nothing compared with the approbation of God. The favouring "voice from
+heaven" must be sweeter to my ears than the noisy cheers of the crowd.
+
+And I must seek righteousness before quietness. The way of disturbance is
+sometimes the way to peace. I must not be so concerned for a quiet life as
+for a life that is "right with God."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Second
+
+_PRAYER AND REVOLUTION_
+
+JOHN iv. 43-54.
+
+
+This miracle began in a prayer. The nobleman went unto Jesus "_and
+besought Him_." In such apparently fragile things can mighty revolutions
+be born! "Prayer," said Tennyson, "opens the sluice-gates between us and
+the Infinite." It brings the frail wire into contact with the battery. It
+links together man and God.
+
+Prayer was corroborated by belief. "_The man believed the word that Jesus
+spake unto him._" By our faith we cut the channels along which the healing
+energy will flow. Faith "prepares the way of the Lord." Our faith is
+purposed to be a fellow-laborer with grace, and, if faith be absent, grace
+"can do no mighty works."
+
+The healing begins with the faith. "_It was at the same hour in which ...
+he himself believed._" These "coincidences" are inevitable happenings in
+the realm of the Spirit. When we offer the believing prayer, God's mighty
+energies begin to besiege the life for which the prayer is made. Mr.
+Cornaby, the Methodist missionary, declares how conscious he is in
+far-away China when someone is interceding for him in the home-land! The
+power possesses him in vitalizing flood! Hudson Taylor's mother shuts
+herself in a little room to pray, and eighty miles away her son is
+converted.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Third
+
+_MY SHARE IN THE MIRACLE_
+
+JOHN ii. 1-11.
+
+
+Our Lord always demands our best. He will not work with our second-best.
+His gracious "extra" is given when our own resources are exhausted. We
+must do our best before our Master will do His miracle. We must "fill the
+water-pots with water"! We must bring "the five loaves and two fishes"! We
+must "let down the net"! We must be willing "to be made whole," and we
+must make the effort to rise! Yes, the Lord will have my best.
+
+Our Lord transforms our best into His better. He changes water into wine.
+He turns the handful of seed into a harvest. Our aspirations become
+inspirations. Our willings become magnetic with the mystic power of grace.
+Our bread becomes sacramental, and He Himself is revealed to us at the
+feast. Our ordinary converse becomes a Divine fellowship, and "our hearts
+burn within us" as He talks to us by the way.
+
+And our Lord ever keeps His best wine until the last. "Greater things than
+these shall ye do!" "I will see you again," and there shall be grander
+transformations still! "The best is yet to be." "Dreams cannot picture a
+world so fair." "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered
+into the heart of man to conceive the things which God hath prepared for
+them that love Him."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Fourth
+
+_A PORTRAIT OF A GREAT SUPPLIANT_
+
+MATTHEW viii. 5-13.
+
+
+Here we have _the grace of sympathy_; one man troubled about the sickness
+of another. We are drawing very near to the Lord when our soul vibrates
+responsively to another man's need. We can measure our likeness to the
+Lord by the range of our sensitiveness to the world's sorrow and pain. Our
+God is the "Father of _pities_"; He is sensitive in every direction, no
+side is numb, and we are putting on His likeness in proportion as we
+attain an all-round responsiveness to the cries of human need.
+
+And here we have _the grace of humility_. "I am not worthy!" Our pride
+always blocks "the way of the Lord." Our humility makes us porous to the
+Divine. The "poor in spirit" are already in the kingdom, and the gracious
+powers of the kingdom are commanded to attend their bidding.
+
+And here we have _the grace of faith_. "Only say the word!" The centurion
+conceives the Lord's words as soldiers attending on the Lord's will. Let
+one be spoken, and at once the mission is executed. And so it is. "The
+words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." His words
+are vehicles of power, and when they are spoken, miracles are always
+wrought. "The entrance of Thy word giveth light."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Fifth
+
+_FAITH AND RIDICULE_
+
+MATTHEW ix. 18-26.
+
+
+And, so one man's faith is more than a match for many people's scorn. The
+steady trust of the ruler was not shaken by the rude flippancy of the
+artificial mourners, and his daughter was brought from the dead. "This is
+the victory that overcometh, even our faith." Everything bows, like
+fragile reeds, before the march of a victorious faith. Scorn, and hatred,
+and all manner of devilry, and death itself, all lose their power in the
+presence of a belief which remains steady and steadfast. "Said I not unto
+thee that, if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?"
+
+And what an infinite reservoir of power is waiting to be tapped by the
+hand of faith! A ruler believes and his daughter is vitalized. A poor
+woman, bent and broken, reaches out her thin, frail hand, and lo! she is
+erect and graceful as the pine! And "my sufficiency is of God!" All that I
+may need is in the same wonderful reservoir of grace. That healing flood
+is like the ocean fulness, and it will fill every bay, and cove, and creek
+in the wide-stretching shore of human need.
+
+    "The healing of His seamless dress
+      Is by our beds of pain,
+     We touch Him in life's throng and press,
+      And we are whole again."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Sixth
+
+_CONTEMPTUOUS WORDS_
+
+MATTHEW xv. 21-28.
+
+
+I wonder if this word "dogs" was my Saviour's word, or had He picked it up
+from the disciples that He might cast it away again for ever? Did He use
+it that He might reveal its ugliness, and so banish it from human speech?
+As Jesus and His disciples came along the road the Master walked before
+them. "And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders!" And
+the disciples whispered to one another, "Here comes one of the dogs!" And
+the Master overheard it, and His tender spirit grieved. And there and then
+He resolved to help the woman and at the same time cleanse the men.
+
+Is there not therefore something half-ironical in our Saviour's use of the
+word? When He spake of the woman as a "dog," and of the disciples as "the
+children," would there not be something significant in His very looks and
+tones? These cold, unfeeling men "the children," and this tender yearning
+woman the "dog"!
+
+When the Lord used the disciples' word they began to be ashamed, and in
+the fire of their shame their self-conceit was consumed. He turned with
+impatient longing to the woman, "O, woman, great is thy faith; be it unto
+thee even as thou wilt."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Seventh
+
+_EXPERIMENT AND EXPERIENCE_
+
+HEBREWS xi. 1-6.
+
+
+I like the marginal rendering of the introductory sentence of this great
+chapter. "_Faith is the giving substance to things hoped for._" Faith
+converts cloudy castles into substantial homes. Faith substantiates the
+unseen. Faith sucks the energy out of splendid ideals, and incorporates it
+in present and immediate life. Faith unfolds the eternal in the moment,
+the infinite in the trifle, the divine in the commonplace. Faith
+incorporates God and man. Yes, faith gives substance to "things hoped
+for," it brings them out of the air, and gives them reality and movement
+in the hard and common ways of earth and time.
+
+And faith is also "_the test of things not seen_." By a test faith gains a
+conquest. By an experiment faith acquires an experience. By a great
+speculation faith makes a great discovery. "Try me now herewith, and prove
+Me!" It is an invitation to humble and sincere assumption. Try if it
+works! Make a hallowed experiment with the powers of grace.
+
+Lord, incline me to make the gracious test! Let me stake my all upon the
+venture! Let me dare all in order that I may gain all! Let me sow
+bountifully, and so reap a bountiful harvest.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Eighth
+
+_THE BRACING AIR OF PUBLICITY_
+
+ROMANS x. 1-13.
+
+
+There is a belief which never registers itself in confession. It never
+exercises itself in the strong, bracing air of publicity. It is a
+cloistered belief, and suffers from want of ventilation. Such Christians
+are always anaemic; indeed, they are always puny, and never get beyond the
+stage of spiritual babyhood. "Ye are yet babes!" Belief which is never
+oxygenated by open confession can never nourish the soul into vigorous and
+exhilarant health.
+
+But there is a belief which expresses and confirms itself in confession.
+"_With the mouth confession is made unto salvation._" Such confession is a
+means of moral and spiritual health. And confession in the early days
+meant risk, venture which exposed the life to the shedding of blood. It
+meant a frank defiance of the world, and an eager challenge of the devil.
+And it is on such fields of open encounter for the Lord that muscle is
+made, and the soul goes "from strength to strength," and "from glory to
+glory."
+
+My soul, art thou secretly ashamed of thy Lord? Art thou afraid to "lift
+high His royal banner"? Then thou wilt always be as a feather-bed soldier,
+and the trophies of the honourable war are not for thee. Stand out in the
+open, and boldly testify, "As for me and my house, we will serve the
+Lord!"
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Ninth
+
+_DEALING WITH SIN_
+
+PSALM xxxii.
+
+
+Here is the burden of unconfessed sin. "_When I kept silence my bones
+waxed old._" There is nothing brings on premature age like secret sin. It
+keeps the mind in perpetual unrest, and a troubled mind soon makes the
+body old. The real nourisher of the body is a quiet and radiant soul. But
+let the soul be in chaos, and the body will soon be a ruin.
+
+And here, too, is the healthy act of confession. "_I acknowledged my sin
+unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid._" He retained no single germ
+of the whole unclean brood. He brought them out into the light one by one,
+as though he were emptying a noisome kennel. He brought them out, and
+named them, in the awful Presence of the Lord.
+
+And here is the ministry of forgiveness, and therefore the miracle of
+restored health. Let me mark the rich variety of the descriptive words.
+"_Forgiven!_" "_Covered!_" "_Imputed not!_" It is all removed and
+obliterated, and the place of defilement and profanity becomes the holy
+temple of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Tenth
+
+_CRITICISM AND PIETY_
+
+"_Thinkest thou, that judgest them that do such things,
+that thou shalt escape?_"
+--ROMANS ii. 1-11.
+
+
+That is always my peril, to assume that by being severe with others I
+exculpate myself. I go on to the bench, and deliver sentence upon my
+brother, when my proper place is in the dock. And this is the subtlety of
+the snare, that I regard my criticisms and condemnations of other people
+as signs of my own innocence. This is the last refinement in temptation,
+and multitudes fall before its power.
+
+The way to moral and spiritual health is to direct my criticisms upon
+myself. I must stand in the dock, and hear the grave indictment of my own
+soul. Unless I pass through the second chapter of Romans I can never enter
+the fifth and sixth, and still less the glorious forgiveness of the
+eighth. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ
+Jesus." I pass into that warm, cheery light through the cold road of
+acknowledged guilt and sin.
+
+"If we confess our sins He is just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
+us from all unrighteousness."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Eleventh
+
+_A FATAL DIVORCE_
+
+"_They feared the Lord, and served their own gods._"
+--2 KINGS xvii. 24-34.
+
+
+And that is an old-world record, but it is quite a modern experience. The
+kinsmen of these ancient people are found in our own time. Men still fear
+one God and serve another.
+
+But something is vitally wrong when men can divorce their fear from their
+obedience. And the beginning of the wrong is in the fear itself. "Fear,"
+as used in this passage, is a counterfeit coin, which does not ring true
+to the truth. It means only the payment of outward respect, a formal
+recognition, a passing nod which we give on the way to something better.
+It is a mere skin courtesy behind which there is no beating heart; a
+hollow convention in which there is no deep and sacred awe.
+
+But the real "fear of God" is a spiritual mood in which virtue thrives, an
+atmosphere in which holy living is quite inevitable. "The fear of the Lord
+is _clean_." It is not lip-worship, but heart-homage, a reverence in which
+the soul is always found upon its knees. And so "the fear of the Lord is
+to hate evil"; it is an indignant repulsion from all that is hateful to
+God. It is the sharing of the Spirit of the Lord. There cannot be any true
+fear where the soul does not worship "in spirit and in truth."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twelfth
+
+_THE GARMENTS OF THE SOUL_
+
+JOEL ii. 12-19.
+
+
+I am so apt to think that the rending of an outer garment is a token of
+true penitence and amendment of life. But it is the inner garments I must
+deal with, the raiments and habits of the soul. Some of these robes--such
+as vanity and pride--are as gay and showy as a peacock; others are dirty
+and leprous, and we should not dare to bring them to the door, and display
+them in the light. But all need severe treatment; they must be torn, fibre
+from fibre, and reduced to rags.
+
+But "rending" must be accompanied by "turning." "_Turn unto the Lord your
+God._" For the Lord our God is gracious, and His love will not only
+provide a new wardrobe, but a swift furnace in which to burn the remnants
+of the old. Yes, His "great kindness" will burn away the filth of my
+alienation, and will "bring forth the best robe" and put it on me. The
+good Lord will give me new habits. He will "cover me with the robe of
+righteousness, and the garment of salvation."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Thirteenth
+
+_THE CLEAN HEART_
+
+PSALM li.
+
+
+What will the Lord do with my sin, if in true humility I come into His
+Presence? Let me hear the music of the evangel.
+
+He will "_blot out my transgression_." He will so erase it that even His
+own holy eyes can see no stain or shame. He will blot it out, as I have
+seen a gloomy cloudlet blotted out, and there has been nothing left but
+radiant sky.
+
+And He will "_wash me throughly from mine iniquity_." Yes, and that not
+like the washing of the hands, but like the washing of clothes, not like
+the washing of a surface, but the removal of uncleanness from a fabric,
+the ousting of every germ lurking in the innermost cells of the stuff.
+When the Lord washes a soul it is "throughly" done, and every strand is
+white in holiness.
+
+So will He give me "_a clean heart_"; so will He "_renew a right spirit
+within me_." The very atmosphere of my life shall be as the air after
+deluges of cleansing rain. It shall be sweet, and clean, and clear! I
+shall walk in a new inspiration, and I shall "behold the land that is very
+far off."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Fourteenth
+
+_THE SENSE OF WANT_
+
+"_This man went down to his house justified rather than the other._"
+--LUKE xviii. 9-14.
+
+
+The Master sets the Pharisee and publican in contrast, and His judgment
+goes against the man who has made some progress in moral attainments, and
+favours the man who has no victories to show, but only a hunger for
+victory. The dissatisfied sinner is preferred to the self-satisfied saint.
+The Pharisee had gained an inch, but had lost his sense of the continent.
+The publican had not pegged out an inch of moral claim, but he had an
+overwhelming sense of the untrodden universe.
+
+So this, I think, is the teaching for me. We are justified by the penitent
+sense of want and not by the boastful sense of possession. Our sense of
+lack is the measure of our hope, and our measure of hope determines the
+poverty or fulness of our communion with the Lord. The Pharisee had no
+"beyond," no realm of admiration, no hope! Aspiration was dead, and
+therefore inspiration had ceased. Our possibilities nestle in our
+cravings.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Fifteenth
+
+_RESTORING A RUINED LIFE_
+
+PSALM ciii. 1-18.
+
+
+Could there be a sweeter chime than the opening music of this psalm?
+
+"_Who forgiveth all thine iniquities._" He receives me back home again,
+interrupts the broken story of my sin, and drowns my sobbings in His
+rejoicings.
+
+"_Who healeth all thy diseases._" He takes in hand the foul complaints
+which I acquired in "the far country," and with His powerful medicines,
+and His wonderful "bread of life," He drives the foul things from my soul.
+
+"_Who redeemeth thy life from destruction._" Yes, with His own blood He
+buys me back from a midnight servitude, strikes every chain and shackle
+from my limbs, and makes me dance in "the glorious liberty of the children
+of God."
+
+"_Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercy._" He encircles
+me with the invulnerable army of His own love. Henceforth if the devil
+would get at me he must deal with God. "As the mountains are round about
+Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people."
+
+"_Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things._" He sets before me a
+glorious table, and enlivens my spirits with glorious fellowship. That so
+I can be no other than "satisfied," and my heart is at rest in the Lord.
+"Thou, O Christ, art all I want!"
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Sixteenth
+
+_THE STEADFASTNESS OF THE LORD_
+
+"_My covenant shall stand fast._"
+--PSALM lxxxix. 19-29.
+
+
+Such a divine assurance ought to make me perfectly quiet in spirit.
+Restlessness in a Christian always spells disloyalty. The uncertainty is
+born of suspicion. There is a rift in the faith, and the disturbing breath
+of the devil blows through, and destroys my peace. If I am sure of my
+great Ally, my heart will not be troubled, neither will it be afraid.
+
+And such a divine assurance ought to make me bold in will and majestic in
+labour. I ought to be inventive in chivalrous enterprise, and I ought to
+covet the hardest parts of the field. If the mighty Ally will never fail,
+I should never be afraid of the marshalled hosts of wickedness. "One with
+God is in a majority." "He always wins who sides with God." "The Lord is
+on my side, whom shall I fear?"
+
+And such a divine assurance ought to give me a kingly demeanour. The
+members of the Court acquire a certain stateliness by their lofty
+fellowship. And, surely, one who walks with God should be characterized by
+something of the Divine glory, and men should know that his acquaintances
+are found in the courts of heaven.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Seventeenth
+
+_THE NEVER-WITHERING LEAF_
+
+JEREMIAH xvii. 5-11.
+
+
+Let me look at "the blessed man" in the interpreting symbol of this
+healthy and graceful tree.
+
+The blessed life is a life of vast resource. "_As a tree planted by the
+waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river._" It is not watered
+by an occasional shower, it is unceasingly bathed by the vitalizing flood.
+Its rootlets are always drinking the nutritious waters of grace. The
+blessed life is planted on the banks of that wonderful river which takes
+its rise in the great white throne.
+
+And just because of these boundless supplies, the blessed life is
+undisturbed in times of grave crisis and emergency. "_He shall not see
+when heat cometh._" He shall be cool when the unblessed are hot and
+fever-stricken. He shall "keep his head" in times of general panic. His
+powers of endurance shall make the world wonder! He shall "hold out" when
+everybody else is faint.
+
+So shall there be nothing "sere and yellow" about him. "_His leaf shall be
+green._" His faith, and hope, and love shall remain fresh and beautiful
+even in "the dark and cloudy day."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Eighteenth
+
+_THE ALL-ROUND DEFENCE_
+
+"_Thou hast beset me behind._"
+--PSALM cxxxix. 1-12.
+
+
+And that is a defence against the enemies which would attack me in the
+rear. There is yesterday's sin, and the guilt which is the companion of
+yesterday's sin. They pursue my soul like fierce hounds, but my gracious
+Lord will come between my pursuers and me. His mighty grace intervenes,
+and my security is complete.
+
+"Thou hast beset me ... _before_." And that is a defence against the
+enemies which would impede my advance and frighten me out of the heavenly
+way. There is fear--fear of the morrow, fear of consequences, fear of
+death! And my Lord will come between me and them, and their menace shall
+be destroyed. The fiery darts shall be quenched before they reach my soul.
+
+"_And laid Thine hand upon me._" And that is a defence against the enemies
+which may lie in ambush in present and immediate circumstances: the sudden
+temptation to passion, or the temptation to panic, or the temptation which
+would snare me to criminal ease. But my Lord's hand is all-sufficient! And
+so on every side my defence standeth; "the angel of the Lord encampeth
+round about them that fear Him."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Nineteenth
+
+_THE NEEDS OF THE BODY_
+
+JOHN vi. 1-21.
+
+
+The Lord who came to save His people was sensitive to His people's hunger.
+In the presence of the supreme need the smaller need was not forgotten. He
+honoured the body as well as the soul. He ministered to the transient as
+well as the eternal. And that is ever the characteristic of true
+kingliness; it has a kingly way of doing the smaller things. I can measure
+my own progress toward the throne by my sovereign attention to scruples.
+"He that is faithful in that which is least, the same also is great."
+
+The Lord is not oppressed by the multitude of His guests. "He Himself knew
+what He would do." We need not jostle one another for His bounty. We shall
+not crowd one another out. "There is bread enough and to spare." Even in
+the material realm this is true, and everybody would have his daily bread
+if the will of the Lord were done. There is no straitness in the gracious
+Host! It is the greed of the guests which mars the satisfaction of the
+feast.
+
+And how careful the Lord of Glory was to "gather up the fragments"! Our
+infinitely wealthy Lord is not wealthy enough to "throw things away." He
+cannot afford to waste bread. Can He afford to lose a soul? "He goeth out
+after that which is lost until He find it"!
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twentieth
+
+_THE PATHETIC MULTITUDE_
+
+MARK viii. 1-9.
+
+
+My Lord has "_compassion upon the multitude_." And (shall I reverently say
+it?) His compassion was part of His passion. His pity was always costly.
+It culminated upon Calvary, but it was bleeding all along the road! It was
+a fellow-feeling with all the pangs and sorrows of the race. And a pity
+that bleeds is a pity that heals. "In His love and in His pity He redeemed
+us."
+
+And the multitude is round about us still, and the people are in peril of
+fainting by the way. There is the multitude of misfortune, the children of
+disadvantage, who never seem to have come to their own. And there is the
+multitude of outcasts, the vast army of publicans and sinners. And there
+are the bewildering multitudes of Africa, and India, and China, and they
+have "nothing to eat"!
+
+How do I regard them? Do I share the compassion of the Lord? Do I exercise
+a sensitive and sanctified imagination, and enter somewhat into the pangs
+of their cravings? My Lord calls for my help. "How many loaves have ye?"
+"Bring out all you have! Consecrate your entire resources! Put your all
+upon the altar of sacrifice!" And in reply to the call can I humbly and
+trustfully say, "O, Lamb of God, I come!"
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-first
+
+_LIFE AS BREAD_
+
+MARK viii. 10-21.
+
+
+It is gracious to know that my Lord is "the Bread of Life," and that I can
+feed on Him. It is fearful to know that I, too, am bread, and that others
+are feeding on me. Am I the nutriment of vice or the sustenance of virtue?
+Am I an evil leaven, like the Pharisees, or a holy leaven like the Lord?
+When little children feed on my presence do they grow in strength and
+beauty? Or do they become relaxed and demoralized? Who will feed upon me
+to-day, and what will be the end of it?
+
+If I would have my life to be as hallowed and hallowing leaven I must
+regularly feed upon the Bread of Life. If I am sustained by the Lord, I
+too shall be a sustainer of all who aspire after a true and holy life. My
+very character will itself become heavenly bread, and men will be
+nourished by it even when I am unconscious of the ministry. When they have
+spent a brief hour in my company they will go away refreshed.
+
+"Lord, evermore give us this bread!" So feed us with Thyself that we may
+share Thy nature. Let "virtue" go forth from us, and let it be as holy
+bread to all who are heavy-laden, and ready to faint.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-second
+
+_THE HANDFUL OF MEAL_
+
+1 KINGS xvii. 8-16.
+
+
+What marvellous "coincidences" are prepared by Providential grace! The
+poor widow is unconsciously ordained to entertain the prophet! The ravens
+will be guided to the brook Cherith! "I have commanded them to feed thee
+there." Our road is full of surprises. We see the frowning, precipitous
+hill, and we fear it, but when we arrive at its base we find a refreshing
+spring! The Lord of the way had gone before the pilgrim. "I go to
+prepare ... for you."
+
+But how strange that a widow with only "a handful of meal" should be
+"commanded" to offer hospitality! It is once again "the impossible" which
+is set before us. It would have been a dull commonplace to have fed the
+prophet from the overflowing larder of the rich man's palace. But to work
+from an almost empty cupboard! That is the surprising way of the Lord. He
+delights to hang great weights on apparently slender wires, to have great
+events turn on seeming trifles, and to make poverty the minister of "the
+indescribable riches of Christ."
+
+The poor widow sacrificed her "handful of meal," and received an unfailing
+supply. And this, too, is the way of the Lord.
+
+    "Whatever, Lord, we lend to Thee,
+     Repaid a thousand fold will be."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-third
+
+_THE DEDICATION OF SUBSTANCE_
+
+2 KINGS iv. 38-44.
+
+
+Here is a man recognizing the sacredness of his substance. He saw the seal
+of the Lord upon his harvest, and he offered the first-fruits in token of
+its rightful Owner. Men go wrong when the only name upon their field is
+their own. "_My_ power, and the strength of _my_ hand hath gotten me this
+wealth." It matters nothing what the wealth may be--material substance,
+mental skill, or business sagacity. It becomes unhallowed power when we
+attach our own label to it, and erase the name of God.
+
+This man dedicated his substance, and the hunger of his fellows was
+appeased. That is a great principle in human life. One man's satisfaction
+is dependent on another man's fidelity. His want is to be filled with my
+fulness. If I am selfish he remains hungry. If I acknowledge "the rights
+of God," and therefore "the rights of man," he has "enough and to spare."
+If I hoard my treasure I rob both God and man.
+
+My gracious Lord, remove the scales from my eyes. Help me to be sensitive
+to the obligations of all wealth. Let my plenty call me to the children of
+need. Let me acknowledge my stewardship, and be Thy fellow minister in the
+service of man.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-fourth
+
+_AFTER THE TRIUMPH!_
+
+MATTHEW xiv. 23-33.
+
+
+After the great miracle of feeding the multitude our Lord "_went up into a
+mountain to pray_." May we reverently wonder if it was a season of
+temptation? Did they want to make Him a King? Was our human Lord assailed
+by "the destruction that wasteth at noonday"? And did He shut Himself up
+with the Father?
+
+I am so disposed to pray _up_ to my successes, and to cease to pray _in_
+them! I remember God in my struggles, I forget Him in my attainments. I
+hold fellowship with Him on the road, I part company with Him when I
+arrive. I become a practical atheist in the midst of my successes. My only
+security is to go up into a mountain apart and pray. Unless I become
+closeted with God, and see all things in their true colours and
+proportion, I shall be lifted up in most unholy and destructive pride.
+
+And let me notice that our Lord returned from His privacy with the Father
+to do even greater miracles still. He had appeased the pangs of hunger;
+now He appeases the passion of the sea. And so in my degree shall it be
+with me. If in all my triumphs I remain the humble companion of the Lord,
+my triumphs shall be repeated and enriched. "Greater works than these
+shall ye do."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE SENSE OF GRACE_
+
+PSALM cvii. 21-32.
+
+
+A vital part of all devotion is the remembrance of the goodness of God.
+Such a remembrance keeps my soul in the realm of grace. I am so inclined
+to proclaim my personal rights rather than glorify the favour of God, so
+inclined to exhibit my own prowess rather than God's most gracious bounty.
+And whenever I lose the sense of grace I become a usurper and take the
+throne. Our salvation is "not of works, lest any man should boast."
+
+And such a remembrance would keep my soul in the mood of humility.
+"Nothing in my hands I bring." I can no more claim the glory of salvation
+than a child, who has cut a shallow trench on the sands, can claim the
+glory of initiating the roll of the ocean-tide. I owe all my desires and
+all my hopes and all my present attainments to the boundless goodness of
+God.
+
+And such a remembrance would keep my soul in the dispensation of love. I
+cannot quietly and steadily contemplate the goodness of the Lord without
+my soul being kindled into loving response. Without high contemplations
+love smoulders, and will eventually die out. But God's goodness inflames
+the soul, and communicates its own most gracious heat. "We love because He
+first loved us!"
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-sixth
+
+_MY LORD AS MY BREAD_
+
+JOHN vi. 26-35.
+
+
+Our life's bread is a Person. We may have much to do with Christianity and
+nothing to do with Christ. The other day I was in a great and wonderful
+bakery, but I never ate nor touched a morsel of bread. I touched the
+machinery. I was absorbingly interested in the processes, but I ate no
+bread! And I may be deeply interested in the means of grace, I may be
+familiar with all "the ins and outs" of ecclesiastical machinery, and I
+may never handle nor taste "the bread of God." Our religion is dead and
+burdensome until it becomes a personal relation, and we have vital
+communion with Christ.
+
+"Thou, O Christ, art all I want." We find everything in Him. Everything
+else is preliminary, preparatory, subordinate, and to be in the long run
+dropped and forgotten. A ritual is only a way to "the bread," and by no
+means essential, and very often undesirable. The heart can find the Lord
+with a look, with a cry, and needs no obtrusion of ritual or priest. But
+how pathetic! To be contented to potter about among the ritual and never
+to find the Bread! To be in the house and never to see the Host! "Ye
+search the Scriptures ... and ye will not come to Me."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-seventh
+
+_TAKE AND EAT_
+
+JOHN vi. 52-63.
+
+
+There is, first of all, _appropriation_. I must "stretch out" "lame hands
+of faith"; and "take" before I "eat." In the lives of many Christians
+there is too much asking and too little taking. If it were only rightly
+regarded, prayer is companionship as well as petition, and companionship
+is literally significant of the sharing of bread. In every season of
+communion a part must be assigned to the taking of the things for which we
+have prayed. "_Receive ye_ the Holy Ghost."
+
+And there is _assimilation_. We must "eat" as well as "take." It is in the
+exercises of obedience that we digest and incorporate the bread of life.
+Without our obedience the living Lord never becomes "part of ourselves."
+We never "become one in the bundle of life" with the Lord our God. And
+truth which is not assimilated becomes a drug. Instead of being a "savour
+of life unto life," it becomes a "savour of death unto death."
+
+And there is _vitalization_. The assimilated bread of life makes
+everything alive. Every faculty in my being feels the touch of divine
+inspiration. It is native bread for native power, and everything is
+renewed.
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-eighth
+
+_THE DAILY MANNA_
+
+"_I will rain bread from heaven for you._"
+--EXODUS xvi. 11-18.
+
+
+And this gracious provision is made for people who are complaining, and
+who are sighing for the flesh-pots of Egypt! Our Lord can be patient with
+the impatient: He can be "kind to the unthankful." If it were easy to
+drive the Lord away I should have succeeded long ago. I have murmured, I
+have sulked, I have turned Him out of my thoughts, and "He stands at the
+door and knocks!" I yearn for "the flesh-pots," "He sends me manna," "Was
+there ever kindest shepherd half so gentle, half so sweet?"
+
+"_And they gathered it every morning._" And that I think is the best time
+to gather the heavenly food. At night I am weary, my body is craving
+sleep, and I am not vitalized in the fields of grace. But in the morning I
+am refreshed, and I can go to the heavenly fields and gather "the things
+which God hath prepared for them that love Him." I can be fed as the day
+begins, and I can set out to my daily work with the taste of God in my
+mouth, and His mighty grace in my heart, and I shall delight to "walk in
+the paths of His commandments."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE FOUNTAIN_
+
+1 JOHN v. 9-21.
+
+
+My Lord is "the fountain of life." "This life is in His Son." The springs
+are nowhere else--not in elaborate theologies, or in ethical ideals, or in
+literary masterpieces, or in music or art. "In Him was life." It is so
+easy to forget the medicinal spring amid the distractions of the
+fashionable spa. There are some healing waters at Scarborough, but they
+have been almost "crowded out" by bands and entertainments. It is possible
+that the secondary ministries of the Church may crowd out the Church's
+Lord. I do not object to the entertainment if only it opens out on to the
+Spring!
+
+To have the Son is to have life. Nothing else is needed. "Thou, O Christ,
+art all I want." Ritualisms, and ecclesiasticisms, and formal theologies
+are not requisite. We can be saved without an academic knowledge of "the
+plan of salvation." Many a gamekeeper's little child knows all the roads
+on the estate, although she would be quite "at sea" in explaining "the
+plan of the estate" which hangs in the house of the steward. "This is life
+eternal, to know Thee and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."
+
+
+
+
+SEPTEMBER The Thirtieth
+
+_WHITE ROBES IN THE STREETS_
+
+JOHN xvii. 11-28.
+
+
+The man who has been fed with the "bread of life" must remain "in the
+world." The Lord gives no countenance to the life of the ascetic. Our
+sanctification is not to be gained by withdrawal and retreat. At the best,
+that would be a holiness sickly and anaemic, a coddled virtue devoid of
+firm muscle and iron nerve. Our Lord purposes a holiness which shall wear
+white robes in the streets, and shine like virgin snow in the market, and
+keep itself chivalrous and stately in the common fellowships of men.
+
+"In the world," but "_not of the world_." The man who is fed on "the bread
+of life" is endowed with powers of resistance against "the noisome
+pestilence." The germs of worldly epidemics find no nutriment in him. "The
+prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." When an evil microbe
+finds no foothold it withers away. If I am not "of the world" I shall
+quite naturally and instinctively be able to resist "all the wiles of the
+devil."
+
+And my Lord purposes me to have this positive, masculine holiness in order
+"_that the world may believe_." He wants disciples who will arrest the
+world by their glorious health, and by their invincible moral defences. He
+wants my purity to advertise His grace; He wants my faith to increase "the
+household of the faith."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The First
+
+_A WONDERFUL UNBELIEF_
+
+PSALM lxxviii. 15-25.
+
+
+"They believed not in God ... though He had----" Let everyone finish that
+sentence out of his own experience. How much grace can our unbelief
+withstand? The Lord had made the rock like unto a spring of water, and yet
+these people believed not! What has He done for thee and me? Let us
+retrace the pilgrimage of our own years. Let us recall the blessings by
+the way--the streams in the desert, the pillar of fire that led us in the
+night. And yet what is the quality of our faith? It is often weak and
+reluctant, riddled with timidities, or moth-eaten with worldly ease. It is
+not mighty and daring, riding forth every morning like a chivalrous knight
+to inevitable conquest. It creeps along, like Mr. Halting, and Miss
+Much-Afraid, and Mr. Little-Faith.
+
+"He marvelled at their unbelief." The Lord Jesus wondered that men and
+women, seeing what they had seen, did not immediately spring to the life
+and service of faith. Perhaps we do not give time for faith to be born!
+Perhaps we do not see because we do not look. Perhaps we are blind to His
+mercies and are therefore dead to the faith. And therefore, perhaps, our
+first prayer should be, "Lord, that I might receive my sight," and then
+the prayer, "Lord, increase my faith."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Second
+
+_HUMBLING OUR PRIDE_
+
+JOB xxxviii. 1-15.
+
+
+"I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me." When our God begins to ask
+questions our pride is soon humbled, for the limits of our knowledge and
+power are speedily reached. The mist is very close to our doors, and in a
+very few steps we are lost on a trackless moor. Who can trace the real
+springs of a tear and lay his hand on the emotion that gave it birth? Who
+can lead us into the bright realm where smiles are born? Who knoweth the
+way of a frown, or who can uncover the secrets of fear? No living man can
+explain his own breathing, or can unravel the mysterious decree which
+moves his own finger!
+
+And as there is so much mystery, it must be surely true that mystery is a
+very gracious thing. Uncertainty is the divine ministry of blessedness. If
+it were not so, He would have told us! "I have many things to say unto
+you, but ye cannot bear them now." If it were best for us that the mist
+should be removed, He would roll it up like a garment and give us the
+light of unclouded day. But the mist remains, the home of blessing. "He
+cometh in a thick cloud." "The clouds drop fatness."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Third
+
+_WATCHING THE CREATOR_
+
+JEREMIAH x. 10-16.
+
+
+"He hath made the earth by His power." And He is making it still. Even in
+the material world "His mercies are new every morning." James Smetham used
+to speak of going into his garden "to see what the Lord is doing." He
+would stand on the top of Highgate Hill on a blustering night "to watch
+the goings of the Lord in the storm." And all this means that to James
+Smetham creation was not merely a single event, but a _process_ whose
+countless events are still going on. He watched his Lord at work! Every
+sunset was a new creation from the Almighty Maker's hands.
+
+To many of us the Creator is remote from His works. He is not immediately
+near. And so He no longer "walks in the garden in the cool of the day."
+The garden is no longer a holy place. Let us recover the sacredness of
+things. Let us "practise the presence of God." Let us link His love and
+power to every flower that blows. And so shall we be able to say, as we
+move amid the glories of the natural world, "The Lord is in His holy
+temple."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Fourth
+
+_CREATOR AND CREATURE_
+
+ISAIAH xl. 9-28.
+
+
+Let me mark the range of this teaching. "Who hath measured the waters in
+the hollow of His hand.... He shall feed His flock like a shepherd." And
+let me mark it again. "The Creator of the ends of the earth ... giveth
+power unto the faint." Almightiness offers itself to carry my burden! The
+Creator offers Himself to re-create me! I can engage the forces of the
+universe to help me on my journey. Emerson counselled us to hitch our
+wagon to a star. We can do better than that. We can hitch it to the Maker
+of the star! We have something better than an ideal; we have the Light of
+the world. We are not left to a radiant abstraction; we have a gracious
+God.
+
+The water flows from the Welsh hills to every house in Birmingham. Rich
+and poor alike share the bounty of the mountains. The wealth of the
+mountains comes to the common thirst. And everybody, too, may have the
+water from the everlasting hills. "The water that I shall give him shall
+be in him." The river of life will flow to every soul of man.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Fifth
+
+_THE SOUL AND NATURE_
+
+PSALM cxlviii.
+
+
+"Praise ye the Lord." And the Psalmist calls upon the creation to join in
+the anthem. And that is the gracious purpose of our God, that the world
+should be filled with harmonious praise. It is His will that the character
+of man should harmonize with the flowers of the field, that the beauty of
+his habits should blend with the glories of the sunrise, and that his
+speech and laughter should mingle with the songs of birds and with the
+melody of flowing streams. But man is too often a discord in creation. The
+flowers put him to shame. The birds make him sound harsh and jarring. He
+is "out of tune."
+
+What then? "Tune my heart to sing Thy praise." We must bring the broken
+strings, the rusted strings, the jarring strings to the Repairer and Tuner
+of the soul. It is the glad ministry of His grace to re-awaken silent
+chords, to restore broken harps, to "put new songs" in our mouths. He will
+make us the kinsfolk of all things bright and beautiful. We shall "go
+forth with joy," and "all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Sixth
+
+_HE KNOWETH OUR FRAME_
+
+PSALM ciii. 13-22.
+
+
+"He knoweth our frame." The Bible abounds in such gracious and tender
+words. "He remembereth us in our low estate." "I have many things to say
+unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." "He will not permit you to be
+tempted above that ye are able." The burden is suited to our strength. The
+revelation is determined by our experience. The pace is regulated by our
+years. "He carrieth the lambs in His arms." He "leads on softly." Nothing
+is done in ignorance. "The Lord is mindful of His own. He remembereth His
+children."
+
+And so I must practise the belief in God's compassionate nearness. In my
+childhood I used to sing "There's a Friend for little children, Above the
+bright blue sky." I know better now. He is nearer to me than I can dream.
+I used to sing "There is a happy land, Far, far away." Now I sing, "There
+is a happy land, _Not_ far away." The good Father and His home are not in
+some remote realm. They are very, very near to me, and He knows all about
+me. "He knoweth our frame."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Seventh
+
+_NEEDING AND WANTING_
+
+ACTS xvii. 22-31.
+
+
+"As though He needed anything." "He may not need us; but does He want us?"
+Such is the question I heard Dr. Parker ask as he preached upon these
+words. And he took up a handful of flowers which he had upon the pulpit,
+and said: "These flowers were gathered for me by little hands in a
+Devonshire lane. Did I need them? No. Did I want them?... Your little girl
+kissed you before you left for business this morning. Did you need it?...
+Did you want it?"
+
+And so Almightiness may not need our weakness, but the loving Father wants
+His children. "We are His offspring." Our Father delights in the love of
+His children. The Saviour said to a Samaritan woman, "Give Me to drink."
+And perhaps it is within the scope of our holy privilege to refresh the
+heart of our Lord. Perhaps we can give Him to drink of the well of our
+affections, and He will see of "the travail of His soul and be
+satisfied."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Eighth
+
+_GOD'S GLORIOUS PURPOSE_
+
+"_I have created him for My glory, I have formed him;
+yea, I have made him._"
+--ISAIAH xliii. 1-7.
+
+
+That is surely a superlative honour! "I have created him for My glory." I
+stood before one of Turner's paintings, and a man of fine judgment said to
+me, "That is Turner's glory!" He meant that in that picture the genius and
+the power and the grace of Turner were most abundantly expressed. And it
+is the will of God that man should express His glory, and by his
+righteousness and goodness witness to the great Creator's power and love.
+Amid all the wonders and sublimities of earth, and sky, and sea, man is to
+be the Almighty's "glory."
+
+The contrast is pathetic when we turn from the Creator's purpose to our
+immediate life. There is so much that is shameful, crooked, and perverse.
+There is little or nothing of "glory." But, blessed be God! the purpose
+abides, and the Creator's work goes on. In His redemptive grace He has
+made provision for marred work, for spoilt and perverted life. "The
+crooked shall be made straight." "I will bring again that which is out of
+the way." "Where sin abounds grace doth much more abound."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Ninth
+
+_THE LARGER WATERS_
+
+1 THESSALONIANS iv. 13-18.
+
+
+Death is not an end; it is only a new beginning. Death is not the master
+of the house; he is only the porter at the King's lodge, appointed to open
+the gate, and let in the King's guests into the realms of eternal day.
+"And so shall we be ever with the Lord."
+
+And so the range of three score years and ten is not the limit of our
+life. Our life is not a land-locked lake enclosed within the shore-lines
+of seventy years. It is an arm of the sea, and where the shore-lines seem
+to meet in old age they open out into the infinite. And so we must build
+for those larger waters. We must lay our life plans on the scale of the
+infinite, not as though we were only pilgrims of time, but as children of
+eternity! We are immortal! How, then, shall we live to-day in prospect of
+the eternal morrow?
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Tenth
+
+_OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH_
+
+PSALM xlvi.
+
+
+"God is our refuge and strength." And in the varied conflicts and perils
+of life we need both these resources. We need the "refuge." There are
+times when our mightiest warfare is to lie passive, to shelter quietly in
+the strong defences of our God. Our finest strategy is sometimes to "rest
+in the Lord and wait." We can slay some of our enemies by leaving them
+alone. We can "starve them out." They can be weakened and beaten by sheer
+neglect. We feed their strength, and give them favoured chances, if we go
+out and face them actively, "marching as to war." The best way is to hide,
+and keep quiet; and "God is our refuge."
+
+But we also need the "strength." This is positive equipment for active
+service. The defensive is changed to the offensive, and in the "strength"
+of the Lord we advance against the foe. We "ride abroad, redressing human
+wrongs." We "tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the
+dragon we trample under foot." We meet our enemy on the open field, and we
+slay him in his pride!
+
+And so our God is our resource in the double warfare of active and passive
+crusade. In Him we can take refuge, and the enemy withers. In Him we can
+find fighting strength, and the enemy is overthrown.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Eleventh
+
+_THE OLD COMPANION ON THE NEW ROAD_
+
+"_Get thee out ... and I will show thee."
+"So Abram departed ... and the Lord appeared._"
+--GENESIS xii. 1-9.
+
+
+We must bring these separated passages together if we would appreciate the
+graciousness of the Lord's call. They are like the two sides of the same
+shield. They answer each other as voice and echo. When I move in obedience
+the Lord moves in inspiration. He never lets me go on my own charges. "All
+things are now ready." Before He makes me hunger the bread is prepared.
+Before I thirst the water is at hand. Before He calls me He has opened
+springs in difficult places and arbours of rest along the road. When Abram
+set out from his own country the Lord went before him.
+
+And so I need not fear the arduous call. The very measure of its
+difficulty is also the measure of the riches of the divine provisions. "As
+thy day so shall thy strength be." At every turning of the winding way the
+Lord will appear unto us. At every new demand we shall discover new
+bounty, and everywhere in the unfamiliar road we shall gaze upon the
+familiar and friendly face of the Lord.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twelfth
+
+_ROUND-ABOUT WAYS_
+
+ACTS vii. 1-7.
+
+
+"Unto a land that I will show thee." But what mysterious windings there
+often are before that land is reached! But God's windings are never
+wasteful and purposeless. The apparent deviations are always gracious
+preparations. We are taken out of the way in order that we may the more
+richly reach our end. George Pilkington yearned to go to the foreign
+field, and God sent him to a dairy farm in Ireland. But the Irish dairy
+farm proved to be on the way to Uganda; and all the experience and
+knowledge which Pilkington picked up in this strange business proved
+invaluable when he reached his appointed field. "He bringeth the blind by
+a way that they know not."
+
+So I will remember that the "short cut" is not always the finest road.
+God's round-about ways are filled with heavenly treasure. Every winding is
+purposed for the discovery of new wealth. What riches we gather on the way
+to God's goal!
+
+    "The hill of Zion yields
+       A thousand sacred sweets
+     Before we reach the heavenly fields
+       Or walk the golden streets."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Thirteenth
+
+_THE ROYAL AIR_
+
+GALATIANS iii. 6-14.
+
+
+Emerson says somewhere that he has noticed that men whose duties are
+performed beneath great domes acquire a stately and appropriate manner.
+The vergers in our great cathedrals have a dignified stride. It is not
+otherwise with men who consciously live under the power of vast
+relationships. Princes of royal blood have a certain great "air" about
+them. The consciousness of noble kinships has an expansive influence upon
+the soul. The Jews felt its influence when they called to mind "our Father
+Abraham."
+
+So is it with men and women of glorious kinships in the realm of faith.
+Their souls expand in the vast and exalted relations. "The children of
+faith" have vital communion with all the spiritual princes and princesses
+of countless years. They have blood-relationship with the patriarchs, and
+psalmists, and prophets, and they dwell "in heavenly places" with Paul,
+and Augustine, and Luther, and Wesley.
+
+Surely, such exalted kinship should influence our very stride, and set its
+mark upon our "daily walk and conversation." It ought to make us so big
+that we can never speak a mean word, or do a petty and peevish thing.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Fourteenth
+
+_COMMONPLACE PEOPLE_
+
+JOHN i. 35-47.
+
+
+Our Lord delights to glorify the commonplace. He loves to fill the common
+water-pots with His mysterious wine. He chooses the earthen vessels into
+which to put His treasure. He calls obscure fishermen to be the
+ambassadors of His grace. He proclaims His great Gospel through provincial
+dialects, and He fills uncultured mouths with mighty arguments. He turns
+common meals into sacraments, and while He breaks ordinary bread He
+relates it to the blessing of heaven.
+
+And "this same Jesus" is among us to-day, with the same choices and
+delights. He will make a humdrum duty shine like the wayside bush that
+burned with fire and was not consumed. He will make our daily business the
+channel of His grace. He will take our disappointments, and, just as we
+sometimes put banknotes into black-edged envelopes, He will fill them with
+treasures of unspeakable consolation. He will use our poor, broken,
+stammering speech to convey the wonders of His grace to the weary sinful
+souls of men.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Fifteenth
+
+_THE CALL AND THE EQUIPMENT_
+
+LUKE v. 27-32.
+
+
+Matthew was very weary, and the all-seeing Lord read the signs of his
+spiritual dissatisfaction and unrest. As Jesus "passed by" nothing escaped
+His watchful eye. He saw a look in Matthew's eye as of some caged creature
+longing for freedom. Matthew's office, the contempt of his fellows, and
+perhaps his own self-contempt held him in imprisoning disquietude. The
+Lord knew it all, and one word from Him and the iron gate was open, and
+the prisoner was free! "Follow Me! And he left all, rose up, and followed
+Him." With the Lord's command was conveyed the ability to obey, and
+Matthew stepped into "the glorious liberty of the children of God."
+
+And this is the Master's way. His calls are always equipments. Every
+received commandment is also the vehicle of requisite grace. God's decrees
+are also promises, nay, they are immediate endowments. If we reverently
+open one of His callings we shall find it a store-house of needed
+strength.
+
+And therefore we need not fear the calls of the Lord. They are not the
+harsh commandments of a tyrant, they are the loving invitations of a
+friend. If we obey them we shall taste the grace of them, and "His
+statutes will become our songs."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Sixteenth
+
+_THE INSPIRATIONS OF THE PAST_
+
+ISAIAH li. 1-6.
+
+
+Here is a sentence from Lord Morley: "If a man is despondent about his
+work the best remedy I can prescribe for him is to turn to a good
+biography." He counsels him to go into the yesterdays to find inspiration
+for the life of to-day. Other men's attainments are bugle-calls to me.
+"Look unto Abraham, your father." Look unto the blessings which waited
+upon his obedience! See how springs of refreshment broke out in the
+troubled way! God "called him and blessed him." Rekindle your hope at his
+radiant triumph. Strengthen your will in his glorious persistence.
+
+Here do I see God's mercy in the gift of memory and in the witness of
+history. I can turn to the yesterdays for light and quickening. "Do ye not
+remember the miracle of the loaves?" Yes, I can recall the grace that met
+me in my need, the power that made the crooked straight and the rough
+places plain. And I am privileged to turn the pages of other men's
+testimonies and read the record of the Lord's dealings with them. And so
+do memory and history come as helpful angel-presences to my soul.
+
+    "His love in time past
+       Forbids me to think
+     He'll leave me at last
+       In trouble to sink."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Seventeenth
+
+_NO QUEST OF GOD_
+
+"_He inquired not of the Lord._"
+--1 CHRONICLES x. 6-14.
+
+
+That was where Saul began to go wrong. When quest ceases, conquests cease.
+"He inquired not"; and this meant loss of light. God will be inquired
+after. He insists that we draw up the blinds if we would receive the
+light. If we board up our windows He will not drive the gentle rays
+through our hindrance. We must ask if we would have. The discipline of
+inquiry fits us for the counsel of the Lord.
+
+"He inquired not"; and this meant loss of sight. When light fails, sight
+fails. The ponies in our pits become blind. When a spiritual power is not
+exercised in the heavenly, it is deprived of its appointed functions. And
+the tragedy is this, that the blind are deceived into thinking that they
+still retain their sight. "Ye say, we see!"
+
+"He inquired not"; and this meant loss of might. For "the light of life"
+is not only illumination; it is inspiration too. It is both light and
+heat; it confers guidance and dynamic. When a man, therefore, refuses the
+light he becomes a weakling, and he will meet with disaster in the first
+tempestuous day.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Eighteenth
+
+_UNANIMITY IN THE SOUL_
+
+"_A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways._"
+--JAMES i. 1-8.
+
+
+If two men are at the wheel with opposing notions of direction and
+destiny, how will it fare with the boat? If an orchestra have two
+conductors both wielding their batons at the same time and with
+conflicting conceptions of the score, what will become of the band? And a
+man whose mind is like that of two men flirting with contrary ideals at
+the same time will live a life "all sixes and sevens," and nothing will
+move to purposeful and definite issues. If the mind flirt with Satan and
+Christ, life will be filled with disastrous instability and confusion.
+
+The first thing we need, therefore, for influential and impressive living
+is unanimity. Unanimity in the mind is the primary factor in a forceful
+life. To bring "all that is within me" into concord, to make every
+instrument of the soul bow to one conductor, to lead all the powers into
+homage to the Lord--this is the unanimity which assures the perfection of
+holiness. "Unite my heart to fear Thy name." That is the mood which wins
+life's prize, "the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Nineteenth
+
+_READY!_
+
+"_Let your loins be girded about._"
+--LUKE xii. 35-40.
+
+
+Loose garments can be very troublesome. An Oriental robe, if left
+ungirdled, entangles the feet, or is caught by the wind and hinders one's
+goings. And therefore the wearer binds the loose attire together with a
+girdle, and makes it firm and compact about his body. And loose principles
+can be more dangerous than loose garments. Indefinite opinions, caught by
+the passing wind of popular caprice, are both a peril and a burden. Many
+people go through life with loose beliefs and purposes, and they never
+arrive at any glorious goal. "Let your loins be girded about." Bind your
+loose thinkings together with the girdle of truth into firm and saving
+conviction.
+
+"_And your lights burning._"
+
+Be ready for the emergency. When the darkness falls, don't have to hasten
+away to buy oil. Look after your resources, and be competent to meet the
+crisis when it comes. Let the light of conscience be burning with clear
+flame, like a brilliant lighthouse on a dangerous shore. Let the light of
+love be burning, like a lamp which sends its friendly, cheery beams to the
+pilgrims of the night. "Our sufficiency is of God," and the oil of grace
+will keep the lights burning through the longest night.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twentieth
+
+_THE LORD AS THE SERVANT_
+
+"_Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His
+hands, and that He came forth from God, and goeth to God_...."
+--JOHN xiii. 1-20.
+
+
+And how shall we expect the sentence to finish? What shall be the issue of
+so vast a consciousness? "_He took a towel, and girded Himself ... and
+began to wash the disciples' feet._"
+
+So a mighty consciousness expresses itself in lowly service. In our
+ignorance we should have assumed that divinity would have moved only in
+planetary orbits, and would have overlooked the petty streets and ways of
+men. But here the Lord of Glory girds Himself with the apron of the slave,
+and almightiness addresses itself to menial service.
+
+And that is the test of an expanding consciousness. We may be sure that we
+are growing smaller when we begin to disparage humble services. We may be
+sure we are growing larger when we love the ministries that never cry or
+lift their voices in the streets. When a man begins to despise the
+"towel," he is losing his kingly dignity, and is resigning his place on
+the throne. "I have given you an example that ye also should do as I have
+done to you."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-first
+
+_THE CONTRITE HEART_
+
+ISAIAH lvii. 13-21.
+
+
+Let us look at this description of the dwelling-place of the Eternal God.
+"_I dwell with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit._"
+
+And who are the contrite? In the original word there is the significance
+of pieces of rock or lumps of soil having been crumbled into the finest
+powder. Have I not sometimes heard the phrase--"He's just a lump of
+pride"? Well, that pride has to be broken down into the finest powder,
+until not a bit of stubborn self-conceit remains. And then the contrite
+become the humble! Our gracious Lord has sometimes to use heavy hammers in
+the destruction of this hard and stony pride: the shock of calamity, the
+battering of disappointment and defeat! Our pride _must_ be ground to
+powder. Then He will come in and dwell with us!
+
+And what then? He will "_revive the spirit of the humble, and revive the
+heart of the contrite ones_." Our broken pride shall be as broken soil in
+which our Lord will grow the flowers and fruits of the Spirit. The death
+of pride shall be followed by a revival of all things sweet and beautiful.
+When pride is laid low, it is a "day of resurrection." The wilderness
+shall "blossom as the rose."
+
+
+
+
+October The Twenty-second
+
+_THE TRUE STANDARD OF GREATNESS_
+
+MATTHEW xviii. 1-7.
+
+
+Here is our Lord's estimate of true greatness. How infinite is the
+contrast between His standard and the standards of the world! The world
+measures greatness by money, or eloquence, or intellectual skill, or even
+by prowess on the field of battle. But here is the Lord's
+standard--"_Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little
+child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven._"
+
+Those people are greatest who are most like God. We become partakers of
+the Divine nature through a child-like relationship to God. The grace and
+power of God pour into our souls when we wait upon Him like a little
+child.
+
+Child-likeness opens the doors and windows to the incoming of the
+Almighty. The child-like is the trustful, and no barriers of cynical
+suspicion block the channels of spiritual communion. And the child-like is
+the docile, and no boulders of arrogance or self-conceit block the channel
+of the invigorating waters of life. And so the child-like become the
+God-like, and, of course, they are the greatest among the sons of men. The
+little child enshrines the secret of the God-man, and we should be
+infinitely wise if we had the little child always in our midst.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-third
+
+_MASTERS AND SERVANTS_
+
+MATTHEW xx. 20-28.
+
+
+It is always our peril that we hunger for place more than for character,
+for position more than for disposition, for a temporal sceptre more than
+for a majestic self-control.
+
+These disciples coveted places on the right and left of the Lord, and they
+had little or no concern about their worthiness for the posts.
+Temporalities eclipsed spiritualities, fleeting fireworks hid the quiet
+stars. They wanted to be great and prominent, the Lord wanted them to be
+pure and good. They longed to be Prime Ministers, the Lord purposed that
+they should be glad to be ministers, working contentedly in an obscure
+place.
+
+Now mark our Lord's response. "_Are ye able to drink of the cup that I
+drink of?_" They wanted to be the King's cup-bearers; He offers them to
+drink of His cup. They call for sovereignty: He asks for sacrifice. They
+crave sweetness: He offers them bitterness. They seek a life of "getting":
+He demands a life of "giving." Who has a cup of bitterness to drink? Go
+and share it with him! Where are the morally and spiritually anaemic? Go
+and give them thy blood! "Whoever shall lose his life shall find it."
+Through self-sacrifice we pass to our throne.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-fourth
+
+"_PUSH_" _AND_ "_PULL_"
+
+LUKE xiv. 1-11.
+
+
+The world canonizes "push." It eulogizes the "man of push." It loves to
+see a man elbowing his way through the jostling crowd, and gaining for
+himself a "chief seat" at life's feast. He is proclaimed a "successful"
+man, and he rises in "the chief seat," and amid loud hurrahs he responds
+to the toast of his health.
+
+Yes, "push" is the word of the world, but "pull" is the word of the Lord,
+and between the two there is the difference of darkness and light. "Push"
+is selfish and exclusive: "pull" is inclusive and neighbourly. "Push"
+takes as its motto, "The weakest to the wall!" "Pull" takes as its motto,
+"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
+
+The final verdict upon life will be founded, not upon our own success in
+gaining a chief seat, but upon our success in encouraging the faint and
+the weakling, and in "helping lame dogs over stiles."
+
+My gracious Lord, help me to put on "a heart of compassion" that by
+neighbourly feeling and ministry I may lead my fellows to the choice
+places of life's feast.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-fifth
+
+_THE ROBE OF HUMILITY_
+
+1 PETER v. 1-11.
+
+
+Let me, therefore, learn this lesson, that if my Lord should give me
+prominence in His church it is not to feed my lust of dominion, but in
+order to strengthen and extend the influence of the church's life.
+"_Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making
+yourselves ensamples to the flock._"
+
+The only truly imperial purple is the robe of humility. Any other sort of
+attire may appear to be kingly, but it has none of the glorious
+significance which belongs to our sovereign Lord. When a man puts on the
+robe of pride, he immediately belittles his manhood. When a man puts on
+the robe of humility, he becomes a greater man.
+
+But humility is more than an imperial robe, it is a complete armour. It is
+fine for defence! The devil cannot get at the man who is "clothed in
+humility." There is no chink or crevice through which his deadly rapier
+can pierce. And it is equally fine for offence! Wearing this armour we can
+go out "redressing human wrongs." The stroke of pride is ever futile. When
+the humble man deals a blow, the power of the Almighty is in his right
+hand. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-sixth
+
+_THE LUST OF THE EXTERNAL_
+
+MATTHEW xxiii. 1-12.
+
+
+Pharisaism is the lust of externalities, and the utter negligence of the
+inward sanctities of the spirit. It thinks more of decorum than of
+holiness, more of etiquette than of equity, more of ritualism than of "the
+robe of righteousness and the garment of salvation." Pharisaism lives in
+the streets: it does not dwell in the inner chambers of our mystic life.
+
+Pharisaism thirsts for the homage of men and not for the approbation of
+God. It is far more alert to the "Rabbi! Rabbi!" of the crowd than it is
+to the secret callings of the Lord. The path between itself and the
+highest is unfrequented and grass-grown; the path between itself and the
+multitude is a well-trodden and barren road.
+
+My Lord, let me be warned! Let me not pervert the ministries of religion
+to the aggrandizement of self. Let me not, in appearing to worship Thee,
+be seeking the worship of men. Give me singleness of mind. Give me purity
+of heart. And may I discover true greatness in seeking greatness for
+others.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-seventh
+
+_PAYING HOMAGE TO THE KING_
+
+PROVERBS iii. 1-12.
+
+
+"Acknowledge Him." But not with a passing nod of recognition. I must not
+merely glance at Him now and again, admitting His existence on the field.
+To acknowledge Him is to acknowledge Him as King, with the right to
+control, and as predominant partner in all the affairs of my life, even
+the right to give the determining voice in all my decisions. No, it is not
+the recognition paid to an acquaintance, it is the homage paid to a King.
+
+And if I thus acknowledge Him, He will direct my paths. Life shall always
+be moving on to its purposed end and glory. The path chosen will not
+always be the most alluring one, but it will be the right one, and
+therefore the safe one, and there will be wonderful discoveries on the
+uninviting track.
+
+How will He let me know which path to take? I cannot say. We can never
+anticipate God's ways of dealing with us. But if my life is bent to the
+loving acknowledgment of His will, He will assuredly find a way to make
+His will known. The light will always reach the willing mind.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-eighth
+
+_PLEASANTNESS AND PEACE_
+
+"_Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace._"
+--PROVERBS iii. 13-26.
+
+
+In the ways of the Lord I shall have feasts of "pleasantness." But not
+always at the beginning of the ways. Sometimes my faith is called upon to
+take a very unattractive road, and nothing welcomes me of fascination and
+delight. But here is a law of the spiritual life. The exercised faith
+intensifies my spiritual senses, and hidden things become manifest to my
+soul--hidden beauties, hidden sounds, hidden scents! Faith adds a
+mysterious "plus" to my powers, and "all things become new."
+
+And in the ways of the Lord I shall also find the gracious gift of peace.
+Not that the road will be always smooth, but that I may be always calm. I
+can be unperturbed when "all around tumultuous seems." I can journey in
+holy serenity, because the Lord of the road is with me. For peace
+consists, not in friendliness of circumstances, but in friendship with the
+Lord.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE STORY OF THE PAST_
+
+DEUTERONOMY xxxi. 7-13.
+
+
+And no ears are more receptive to spiritual story than the ears of a
+little child. It is not needful to open the gate of interest; it is wide
+ajar already. And imagination also is there, ready to busy itself about
+the story. And so, too, is the spirit of homage and adoration. The
+children are ready for the King! "Suffer little children to come unto Me,
+for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven."
+
+And, therefore, we have need of wise tellers of the story, who know the
+story themselves. And in these delicate regions I must ever remember how
+much my spirit shares in the story I tell. My spirit is a friend or a foe
+to my power. My words may be well chosen, but they may all be light as
+empty shells, devoid of all vitality. My words have just the power of
+their spiritual contents. "You cannot fight the French with 200,000 red
+uniforms," said Carlyle; "there must be men inside them." And we cannot
+engage in the evangelization with mere uniforms of words. There must be
+spirit inside them, even the spirit of pure and consecrated lives.
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Thirtieth
+
+_A TESTIMONY MEETING_
+
+PSALM xxxiv. 1-11.
+
+
+This is a little testimony meeting, in which each of the witnesses tells
+the story of the Lord's gracious dealings with him. Let me listen to them.
+
+"_He delivered me from all my fears._" His fears held him in dungeons.
+Even the noontide was as darkness round about him, and there was no song
+in his soul. And the Lord broke open the prison-gate and let him out to
+light, and joy, and belief.
+
+"_They looked to Him and were lightened._" They looked upon the grace of
+the Lord, and were lit up, just as I have seen humble cottage windows
+ablaze with the glory of the rising sun. I must "set my face" towards the
+Lord, and I, too, shall catch the radiance of His glory.
+
+"This poor man cried ... _and the Lord saved him out of all his
+troubles_." And these troubles were what I should call "tight corners,"
+when the life is hemmed in by unfortunate circumstances, and there seems
+no way of escape. Disappointment shuts us in. Sorrow shuts us in. Lack of
+money shuts us in. Let me cry unto the Lord. He is a wonderful Friend in
+the tight corner, and He will bring my feet into "a large place."
+
+
+
+
+OCTOBER The Thirty-first
+
+_TWO GREAT MYSTERIES_
+
+PSALM lxxxi.
+
+
+This is an unutterable mystery, that a man can close his life against God.
+"_Israel would have none of Me._" We can shut out God as we can shut out
+the pure air. We can bar His entrance just as we can exclude the light
+from the chamber. And then the pity is, we can deceive ourselves into
+believing that the air is perfectly fresh and that the room is flooded
+with light. We lose our fine discernment, and we call evil good, and the
+darkness we call day. If we "refuse to have God" in our thoughts God gives
+us over to a "reprobate mind."
+
+And it is an equally unutterable mystery that a man can open his life to
+the entertainment of Almighty God. "I will dwell with them!" That is my
+supreme honour, that the Lord will be my guest. I can "hearken" to Him,
+and "talk" to Him, and "walk" with Him. And He offers me protection. He
+will "subdue my enemies." And He offers me unfailing provision. The Guest
+becomes the Host! I put my little upon the table, and lo! I find that "the
+cruse of oil fails not, and the meal in the barrel is not consumed!"
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The First
+
+_IN THE DAYS OF YOUTH_
+
+ECCLESIASTES xii. 1-7.
+
+
+In my university days at Edinburgh there was a young medical student named
+Macfarlane. He was one of our finest athletes, and everybody liked him.
+One day he was stricken with typhoid, which proved fatal. Macfarlane in
+his days of boisterous health had neglected his Lord, and when one of his
+friends, visiting him in his sickness, led his thoughts to the Saviour, he
+turned and said, "But wouldn't it be a shabby thing to turn to Christ
+now?" "Yes," replied his friend, "it will be a shabby thing, but it will
+be shabbier not to turn to Him at all!" And I believe that poor Macfarlane
+turned his shame-filled soul to the Lord.
+
+But it is shabby to offer our Lord the mere dregs in life's cup. It is
+shabby to offer Him the mere hull of the boat when the storms of passion
+have carried its serviceableness away. Let me offer Him my best, my finest
+equipment, my youth! Let me offer Him the best, and give Him the helm when
+I am just setting sail and life abounds in golden promise! "Remember now
+thy Creator in the days of thy youth."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Second
+
+_LEADING TO CHRIST_
+
+"_Suffer little children to come unto Me._"
+--MARK x. 13-22.
+
+
+"Unto _Me_!" We must not keep them at any half-way house. We are so prone
+to be satisfied if only we bring them a little way along the road. If we
+get them to pray! If we get them to attend the Lord's house! If we get
+them to be truthful and gentle! All of which is unspeakably good. It is a
+blessed thing to be in "the ways of Zion"; it is a far more blessed thing
+to be in the palace with Zion's King and Lord. When we are dealing with
+little children, every road must lead to Jesus, and not until the road is
+trodden and we arrive at Him must we think our ministry accomplished.
+
+And, therefore, if I am talking to the little ones about Samuel, or David,
+or Paul, I must always see the short lane which leads to the Lord. "Suffer
+the little children to come unto _Me_!" And once they really own Him, we
+may trust their instincts for the rest. The heart in the child will leap
+to the love of the Lord, "for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." When a
+little one sees the Saviour, it is "love at first sight"!
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Third
+
+_THE LORD'S OWN_
+
+JOHN xv. 11-25.
+
+
+The "Lord's own" possess the Lord's love. "_I have loved you._" And love
+is not a beautiful sentiment, a passive rainbow stretched over the realm
+of human life. It is a glorious, active energy, infinitely more powerful
+than electricity, and always besieging the gates of the soul, or
+ministering to its manifold needs. Love is the greatest force in the
+world.
+
+And the "Lord's own" are taken into the inner circle of intimacy, where
+the deepest secrets dwell. We are not kept on the door-step, or left
+standing in the hall, or limited to one or two "public rooms"; we are
+privileged to enter the King's privacy, and be nourished at the King's
+table, and listen to the King's table-talk concerning "all things" which
+He has heard of the Father. We have "the glorious liberty of _the
+children_ of God."
+
+And the "Lord's own" will experience the world's hatred. "_Therefore the
+world hateth you._" Our very friendship with the Lord pronounces judgment
+on the world, and its hostility is aroused. If we are "partakers of the
+glory" we shall most assuredly be "partakers of the sufferings of
+Christ."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Fourth
+
+_THE HOLY SPIRIT AS WITNESS_
+
+JOHN xv. 26--xvi. 11.
+
+
+The Holy Spirit is to be a witness of Jesus. "_He shall testify of Me._"
+He shall be "the Friend of the Bridegroom," and He shall sing the
+Bridegroom's grace, and goodness, and prowess, in the eager ear of the
+bride. And the early love of the bride shall become deeper and richer as
+more and more she enters into "the unsearchable riches of Christ."
+
+And the Holy Spirit is thus to be a strengthener of the friends of the
+Lord. He will be my "_Comforter_." By His gracious advocacy He will make
+my faith and hope invincible. The best service which can be rendered me is
+not to change my circumstances, but to make me superior to them; not to
+make a smooth road, but to enable me to "leap like an hart" over any road;
+not to remove the darkness, but to make me "sing songs in the night." And
+so I will not pray for less burdens, but for more strength! And this is
+the gracious ministry of "The Comforter."
+
+Holy Spirit, strengthen me! Transform my frail opinions into firm
+convictions, and change my fleeting, dissolving views into abiding
+visions!
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Fifth
+
+_THE TEMPLE OF THE BODY_
+
+ROMANS xii. 1-9.
+
+
+The Lord wants my body. He needs its members as ministers of
+righteousness. He would work in the world through my brain, and eyes, and
+ears, and lips, and hands, and feet.
+
+And the Lord wants my body as "_a living_ sacrifice." He asks for it when
+it is thoroughly alive! We so often deny the Lord our bodies until they
+are infirm and sickly, and sometimes we do not offer them to Him until
+they are quite "worn out." It is infinitely better to offer them even then
+than never to offer them at all. But it is best of all to offer our bodies
+to our Lord when they are strong, and vigorous, and serviceable, and when
+they can be used in the strenuous places of the field.
+
+And so let me appoint a daily consecration service, and let me every
+morning present my body "a living sacrifice" unto God. Let me regard it as
+a most holy possession, and let me keep it clean. Let me recoil from all
+abuse of it--from all gluttony, and intemperance, and "riotous living."
+Let me look upon my body as a church, and let the service of consecration
+continue all day long. "Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of
+the Holy Spirit?"
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Sixth
+
+_PEACE IN TRIBULATION_
+
+JOHN xvi. 25-33.
+
+
+Here is a strange medley of experiences! I am to enjoy the gift of peace,
+and yet I am to be smarting under tribulation!
+
+When the Holy Spirit is my guest I am to enjoy the gift of peace. "_These
+things I said unto you that ye might have peace._" The life of the soul is
+to move without jar or discord. It shall be like a quiet engine-house, in
+which every wheel co-operates with every other wheel, and there is no
+waste or friction in the holy place. "All that is within me" blesses God's
+holy name.
+
+And yet, while peace reigns within, there may be tribulation without! "_In
+the world ye shall have tribulation._" Here is a peace which is not broken
+by the noise and assault of brutal circumstance. The most tempestuous wind
+cannot disturb the quiet serenity of the stars. When the world stones me,
+not one grain of its gritty dust need enter the delicate workings of my
+soul. That was the peace of my Lord, and it is my Lord who says to me: "My
+peace I give unto you!" So "_be of good cheer_," my soul! Thy Lord has
+"_overcome the world_," and thou shalt share His victory.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Seventh
+
+_REJECTED LOVE_
+
+ISAIAH lxiii. 7-14.
+
+
+If I refuse the friendship of the Holy One I inevitably invite His
+hostility. "_But they rebelled, and vexed His holy Spirit: therefore He
+was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them._"
+
+And so, if I reject the forces of grace I do not turn them from my gate, I
+convert them into foes. Malachi teaches me that rejected sunshine becomes
+like a burning oven. The Epistle to the Hebrews teaches me that rejected
+love becomes "a consuming fire." Holiness nourishes virtue, it withers
+vice. If I offer my Lord a tender aspiration, His breath wooes it like the
+balmy air of the spring; if I come before Him with the weeds of ignoble
+dispositions, He blights them as with the nipping of the frost.
+
+And is it not well, for thee and me, that our Lord is thus fiercely
+hostile to our sins? Is not this "consuming fire" the friend of my soul?
+May I not pray: Burn on, burn on, pure flame, until all the refuse and
+rubbish of my life are utterly consumed; burn on, burn on, until fierce
+flame becomes mild light, flinging its genial radiance over a transfigured
+desert?
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Eighth
+
+_THE ORGAN OF SPIRITUAL VISION_
+
+1 CORINTHIANS ii. 9-16.
+
+
+Our finest human instruments fail to obtain for us "_the things which God
+hath prepared for them that love Him_."
+
+Art fails! "_Eye hath not seen._" The merely artistic vision is blind to
+the hidden glories of grace. Philosophy fails! "_Neither hath ear heard._"
+We may listen to the philosopher as he spins his subtle theories and
+weaves his systematic webs, but the meshes he has woven are not fine
+enough to catch "the deep things of God." Poetry fails! "_Neither hath it
+entered into the heart of man to conceive._" Poetic imagination may
+stretch her wings, and soar, but she fails to enter the guest-chamber of
+the Lord, and take an inventory of "the things prepared." All these
+gracious ministries fail to reach life's glorious and purposed end.
+
+"_But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit._" When art, and
+poetry, and philosophy all pitiably fail, the Spirit unveils to us the
+bewildering feast. And so the unlearned has the same ultimate advantage as
+the learned, and the cottager has equal privilege with the monarch. The
+greatest things are not the perquisites of culture, but the endowments of
+humility and holy faith. The poor man has access to the "many mansions,"
+and finds a place at the King's feast.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Ninth
+
+_THE HOLY SPIRIT AS EMANCIPATOR_
+
+2 CORINTHIANS iii. 4-18.
+
+
+In the Holy Spirit I experience a large emancipation. "_Where the Spirit
+of the Lord is, there is liberty._" I am delivered from all enslaving
+bondage--from the bondage of literalism, and legalism, and ritualism. I am
+not hampered by excessive harness, by multitudinous rules. The harness is
+fitting and congenial, and I have freedom of movement, and "my yoke is
+easy and my burden is light."
+
+And I am to use my emancipation of spirit in the ministry of
+contemplation. I am to "_behold, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord_."
+My thought has been set free from the cramping distractions devised by
+men, and I am now to feast my gaze upon the holy splendours of my Lord. It
+is like coming out of a little and belittling tent, to feast upon the
+sunny amplitude of the open sky! I can "cease from man," and commune with
+God.
+
+And the contemplation will effect a transformation. "_We are changed into
+the same image from glory to glory._" The serene brightness of the sky
+gets into our faces. The Lord becomes "_the health of our countenance_,"
+and we shine with borrowed glory.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Tenth
+
+_NEVERTHELESS!_
+
+LUKE v. 1-11.
+
+
+Here is obedience in spite of the night of failure. "_Nevertheless, at Thy
+word I will let down the net._" That word "nevertheless" has always made
+history. It has been spoken after scourgings, after "bonds and
+imprisonments." Ten thousand times has it been heard in the chamber of
+bereavement, the first sound to break the awful silence. "At evening my
+wife died.... In the morning I did as God commanded me." And may it be
+true of me! May my "nevertheless" of willing obedience rise like a lark
+above the storm.
+
+And because there was obedience there came vision. In the wonderful answer
+to his faith Peter beheld the glory of his Lord. And so I never know where
+the unenticing road of obedience will lead me. At the end of the dull road
+there will be some gracious surprise! It is the rugged path which leads to
+the summit! The panorama comes as the reward of the toilsome climb!
+Always, in the realm of the Spirit, the dogged "nevertheless" will lead to
+the "shining tableland to which our God Himself is moon and sun."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Eleventh
+
+_FOILING THE ENEMY'S PLOTS_
+
+LUKE xxii. 24-34.
+
+
+I do not meet my tempter alone. The engagement has been foreseen by my
+Lord. "_Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you!_" The tempter's
+plots, and wiles, and ambuscades are all clearly perceived. My Lord has
+got the enemy's maps, and his plan of campaign, for all things are open to
+the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. I do not fight a lonely warfare
+on a dark and unknown field. My Lord Himself both scouts and fights for
+those who are His own.
+
+And one great means of His co-operation is the mighty ministry of
+intercession. "_But I have prayed for thee._" That "but" is the massing of
+the forces of heaven against the black and subtle hordes of hell. Let me
+ever remember that the Lord's prayers are always the conveyers of holy
+power to those for whom He prays. It is as when Christian met Apollyon in
+the Valley of Humiliation: there comes a sudden accession of strength to
+the bleeding warrior, and Apollyon retires wounded and beaten from the
+field.
+
+And the only way to preserve the fruits of a triumph is by helping other
+warriors to gain a similar conquest. "_When thou art converted strengthen
+thy brethren._" I shall retain the hard, muscular limbs of a soldier if I
+am willing to share my blood with the entire army.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twelfth
+
+_THE FASHIONING OF A DENIAL_
+
+LUKE xxii. 54-62.
+
+
+From Peter's denial I would learn the peril of the first cowardly
+surrender to sin. Surely Peter must have "trimmed" many times in the days
+which preceded his actual discipleship. Great crises do not make men, they
+reveal them. The men have been made in the smaller issues which go before.
+We march to our crises by a gradient, every step of which is a moral
+decision. The interior of the tree is secretly eaten away by white ants;
+the tempest reveals and completes the destruction.
+
+And I would learn from Peter's denial the cumulative power of sins. One
+sin widens the road for a bigger one to follow. The second denial will be
+more vehement than the first. The third will add the element of blasphemy.
+Yes, every sin is a miner and sapper for a larger army in the rear. It not
+only does its own work, it prepares the way for its successor.
+
+But I will connect this "dark betrayal night" with that sweet
+after-morning when the Lord and His denier met face to face by the lake.
+And that sweet morning of reconciliation is a possible experience for all
+the deniers of the Lord, and it is therefore possible for thee and me.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Thirteenth
+
+_A TRANSFORMED FISHERMAN_
+
+"_Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing._"
+--JOHN xxi. 1-14.
+
+
+Simon Peter had often gone a fishing, but never had he gone as he went in
+the twilight of that most wonderful evening. He handled the ropes in a new
+style, with a new dignity born of the bigger capacity of his own soul. He
+turned to the familiar task, but with a quite unfamiliar spirit. He went a
+fishing, but the power of the resurrection went with him.
+
+This action of Simon Peter's is the only true test of the reality of any
+spiritual experience. How does it fit me for ordinary affairs? A spiritual
+festival should do for the soul what a day on the hills does for the
+body--equip it for the better doing of the duties in the vale.
+
+This action is also a preparative to a renewal of the gracious experience.
+The road of common duty was just the way appointed for another meeting
+with his Lord, for in the morning-light there came a voice across the
+waters: "Children, have ye any meat?" "And that disciple whom Jesus loved
+saith unto Peter: 'It is the Lord.'"
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Fourteenth
+
+_THE PURIFICATION OF LOVE_
+
+JOHN xxi. 15-25.
+
+
+"Lovest thou Me?" There was a day, only a little while back, when Simon
+Peter's love was not yet purified, and it indulged itself in loud and
+empty boasts. True love never blusters and brawls. It is like a stream of
+water flowing silently underground, and secretly bathing the roots of
+things, and keeping their heads fresh, and cool, and sweet. The boast has
+now dropped out of the love! It is now ashamed of words! "Lord, Thou
+knowest that I love Thee!"
+
+Yes, true love expresses itself, not in clamorous boastfulness, but in
+quiet services. It ministers to the Lord's sheep and the Lord's lambs. It
+spends its strength on the mountains, "seeking that which is lost," and it
+does this in the darkness, where there is no applauding crowd. The true
+lover does not ask for some dramatic scene where he can die for the
+beloved; he delights in obscure services, the feeding and tending of the
+sheep of the flock.
+
+But the love that does the humbler thing will be ready for the greater
+sacrifice whenever the day shall demand it. Some day the once boastful
+denier shall lay down his life for his Saviour, and through martyrdom he
+shall pass to his crown.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Fifteenth
+
+_THE MUSIC OF RECONCILIATION_
+
+PSALM lxxxv.
+
+
+Let me listen to this psalm of reconciliation, as it makes music for my
+soul to-day.
+
+It tells me of the Divine favour. "_Lord, Thou hast been favourable to Thy
+land._" As I write these words, the sun has just slipped out from behind
+the cloud. It has been there all the time, but the ministry of the cloud
+was needed, and so it appeared as though there would be sun and spring no
+more. "Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face."
+
+And it tells me of the Divine forgiveness. "_Thou hast forgiven the
+iniquity of Thy people._" Yes, when the sun appears, He loosens the frozen
+earth and streams, and turns the bondage into liberty. The soul that was
+imprisoned in freezing guilt attains a joyous freedom.
+
+And it tells me of revival. "_Wilt Thou not revive us again?_" It is the
+next step in the returning spring. The sleeping, benumbed things will all
+awake! "The flowers appear on the earth." Where grace reigns, graces
+spring! Forgiveness is attended by renewal, and the wilderness begins to
+"blossom like the rose."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Sixteenth
+
+_THE MAKING OF A BRAVE MAN_
+
+ACTS iv. 13-22.
+
+
+Here is a marvellous transformation! I have been wondering at the
+littleness of the denier, and now this same denier is making the world
+wonder by his majestic boldness! His one resource is now the risen Christ,
+and his one moral standard is "whether it be right!" Once he quailed
+before an accusing maid; now he stands undaunted before the rulers of the
+earth. How has it all come about?
+
+He has been to the empty tomb. The awe of the resurrection is upon his
+spirit. Through the once blind cul-de-sac of the grave he has seen the
+King and the great white throne.
+
+And he has been by the lake on the morning of reconciliation. The live
+coal from the altar of his Lord's love has touched him and has purged away
+the uncleanness of his denial.
+
+And he has been in the upper room at Pentecost, and the mighty Spirit has
+come upon him like wind and flame, endowing him with forceful and
+enthusiastic character. Now he can dare for God, now he can work for God,
+now he can burn for God! And this is how he has been transformed.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Seventeenth
+
+_IF GOD BE FOR US----!_
+
+ROMANS viii. 31-39.
+
+
+Who else is worth naming? How much does anybody count? If the sun be on my
+side, why should I be dismayed at any icy obstacle that may rear itself in
+my way? Sun _versus_ ice! God _versus_ my impediments! Why should I fear?
+If the atmosphere is on my side, then even the opposing strength of iron
+will rust away into powder. "The breath of the Lord bloweth upon it," and
+if the holy breath, God's Holy Spirit, is for us, then the apparently
+invincible obstacle will crumble away into dust.
+
+But we are deceived by mass, and we are forgetful of spirit. Mere size
+affrights us. We are dismayed by numbers. We forget the quiet, pervasive,
+all-powerful ministry of the Spirit of God. We are overwhelmed by the
+phenomena of tempest and earthquake and fire, and we forget that
+almightiness hides in the "still, small voice," in "the sound of a gentle
+stillness." God's breath is more than the fierce threatenings of embattled
+hosts. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" I will hide myself in
+His holy fellowship, and "none shall make me afraid."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Eighteenth
+
+_EXHILARANT SPIRITS_
+
+"_He maketh my feet like hinds' feet._"
+--PSALM xviii. 31-39.
+
+
+I think of Wordsworth's lines, in which he describes a natural lady, made
+by Nature herself:
+
+    "She shall be sportive as the fawn
+     That wild with glee across the lawn
+        Or up the mountain springs."
+
+And it is this buoyancy, this elasticity, this springiness that the Lord
+is waiting to impart to the souls of His children, so that they may move
+along the ways of life with the light steps of the fawn.
+
+Some of us move with very heavy feet. There is little of the fawn about us
+as we go along the road. There is reluctance in our obedience. There is a
+frown in our homage. Our benevolence is graceless, and there is no charm
+in our piety, and no rapture in our praise. We are the victims of "the
+spirit of heaviness." And yet here is the word which tells us that God
+will make our feet "like hinds' feet." He will give us exhilaration and
+spring, enabling us to leap over difficulties, and to have strength and
+buoyancy for the steepest hills. Let us seek the inspiration of the Lord.
+"It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Nineteenth
+
+_THE ARMOUR OF GOD_
+
+EPHESIANS vi. 10-18.
+
+
+The Word describes the armour, and it directs us to the armoury. The
+description would oppress me if the directions were absent. If I have to
+forge the armour for myself I should be in despair. But I can go to the
+armoury of grace, where there is an ever-open door and abundant welcome
+for every person who fain would be a knight-errant of the Lord. The Lord
+will provide me with perfect equipment suitable for every kind of contest
+which may meet me along the road. There are no favourites among the
+pilgrims except, perhaps, the neediest, and to them is given "more
+abundant honour."
+
+Sometimes one of the Lord's knights loses one piece of armour, and he must
+at once repair to the armoury. Perhaps he has lost his helmet, or his
+shield, or even his breastplate, and the enemy has discovered his
+vulnerable place. We must never continue our journey imperfectly armed.
+The evil one will ignore the pieces we have, and he will direct all his
+attack where there is no defence. Back to the armoury! Back to the
+armoury, that we may "put on the _whole_ armour of God." The Lord is
+waiting; let us humbly and penitently ask for the missing piece.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twentieth
+
+_THE REAL ARISTOCRACY_
+
+"_Abraham, my friend._"
+--ISAIAH xli. 8-16.
+
+
+I think that is the noblest title ever given to mortal man. It is the
+speech of the Lord God concerning one of His children. It is something to
+be coveted even to enjoy the friendship of a noble man; but to have the
+friendship of God, and to have the holy God name us as His friends, is
+surely the brightest jewel that can ever shine in a mortal's crown. And
+such recognition and such glory may be the wonderful lot of thee and me.
+
+"Abraham, my friend." The Lord of hosts found delight in human
+friendships. He comes in to sup with us. He drinks of the cup of our
+delights. For, surely, it is one of the supreme characteristics of true
+friendship that it rejoices at the other's joy. And my heavenly Friend is
+glad in my gladness as well as sympathetic in the day of sadness and
+tears. Yes, He comes in to sup with me, and I may sup with Him.
+
+"Abraham, my friend." And He shares His sweets with His friend, in inward
+counsels, and in tender revelations of His purposes and in the gifts of
+joy and peace. There is perfect openness between these friends; nothing is
+hid. They have the run of each other's hearts.
+
+    "I tell Him all my joys and fears,
+     And He reveals His love to me."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-first
+
+_THE EARLY BUILDERS_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 1-21.
+
+
+It is always a healthy means of grace to link my own accomplishments with
+the fidelity and achievements of the past. Solomon traced his finished
+Temple to the holy purpose in the heart of David his father. I lay the
+coping-stone, but who turned the first sod? I lead the water into new
+ministries, but who first dug the well?
+
+There is the temple of liberty. In our own day we are enriching it with
+most benignant legislation, but we must not forget our dauntless fathers,
+in whose blood the foundations were laid. When I am walking about in the
+finished structure, let me remember the daring architects who "did well"
+to have it in their hearts.
+
+Such retrospect will make me humble. It will save me from the isolation
+and impotence of foolish pride. It will confirm me in human fellowship by
+showing me how many springs I have in my fellow-men.
+
+And such retrospect will make me grateful to my God. Noble outlooks always
+engender the spirit of praise. The fine air of wide spaces quickens the
+soul to a song.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-second
+
+_RECOVERING LOST STRENGTH_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 22-36.
+
+
+In this portion of this great prayer I discern the unalterable mode in
+which nations and individuals recover their moral health and strength.
+
+How do they lose it? Two words tell the story. They "_sin_" and are
+"_smitten_." It is an inevitable sequence. Every sin is the minister of
+disease. Sometimes we can see it, when the disease flaunts its flags in
+the flesh; lust and drunkenness have glaring placards, and we know what is
+going on within. But even when sin makes no visible mark the wasting
+process is at work. It is as true of falsehood as of drunkenness, of
+treachery as of lust. "Evil shall slay the wicked."
+
+And how do we recover our lost estate? There are three words which tell
+the story. "_Turn!_" "_Confess!_" "_Make supplication!_" The words need no
+exposition. I must turn my face to my despised and neglected Lord; I must
+tell them all about my miserable revolt, and I must humbly crave for His
+restoring grace.
+
+And the answer is sure. Such humble exercise sets the joy-bells ringing,
+and the rich forgiveness of the Lord fills the soul with peace. "O taste
+and see how gracious the Lord is."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-third
+
+_THE STRANGER_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 37-53.
+
+
+Yes, indeed, what space has "the stranger" in my supplications? Has he any
+place at all? Are my intercessions private enclosures, intended only for
+the select among my friends? Do I ever open the door to anyone outside my
+family circle? Are my ecclesiastical sympathies large enough to include
+"outsiders" from afar? What do I do with "the stranger"?
+
+There is nothing which keeps prayer sweet and fresh and wholesome like the
+letting in of "the stranger"! To let a new guest sit down at the feast of
+my intercession is to give my own soul a most nutritious surprise. It is a
+most healthy spiritual habit to see to it that we bring in a new
+"stranger" every time we pray. Let me be continually enlarging the circle
+of hospitality! Let some new and weary bird find a resting-place in the
+branches of my supplications every time I hold communication with God.
+
+A prayer which has no room for "the stranger" can have little or no room
+for God.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-fourth
+
+_THE PRAYER WHICH ENDS IN SACRIFICE_
+
+1 KINGS viii. 54-66.
+
+
+And that is the healthy order of all true worship. It begins in spacious
+supplication in which "the stranger" finds a place. Then there is a lavish
+consecration of self and substance. And then the wedding-bells begin to
+ring, and "the joy of the Lord is our strength!" "_They went unto their
+tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had
+done._"
+
+But so many suppliants miss the middle term, and therefore the gladness is
+wanting. Supplication is not followed by consecration, and therefore there
+is no exultation. It is a fatal omission. When we are asking for "the gift
+of God" our request must be accompanied by the gift of ourselves to God.
+If we want the water we must offer the vessel. No gift of self, no bounty
+of God! No losing, no finding! "When the burnt offering began, the song of
+the Lord began."
+
+    "Take my life, and let it be
+     Consecrated, Lord, to Thee."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-fifth
+
+_AFTER THE PRAYER THE FIRE!_
+
+"_When Solomon had made an end of praying the fire
+came down from heaven._"
+--2 CHRONICLES vii. 1-11.
+
+
+And the fire is the symbol of the Holy God. Pure flame is our imperfect
+mode of expressing the Incorruptible. This burning flame is heat and light
+in one. And when Solomon had prayed, the holy Flame was in their midst.
+
+But not only is the flame the symbol of the Holy; it also typifies the
+power which can make me holy. We have no cleansing minister to compare
+with fire. Where water fails fire succeeds. After an epidemic water is
+comparatively impotent. We commit the infested garments to the flames. It
+was the great fire of London which delivered London from the tyranny of
+the plague. And so it is with my soul. God, who is holy flame, will burn
+out the germs of my sin. He will "purify Jerusalem with the spirit of
+burning." "Our God is a consuming fire."
+
+Come to my soul, O holy Flame! Place Thy "burning bliss" against my
+wickedness, and consume it utterly away!
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-sixth
+
+_UNCONSECRATED SOULS_
+
+"_This house which I have sanctified will I cast out of my sight,
+and will make it a proverb and a by-word among all nations._"
+--2 CHRONICLES vii. 12-22.
+
+
+And thus am I taught that consecrated houses are nothing without
+consecrated souls. It is not the mode of worship, but the spirit of the
+worshipper which forms the test of a consecrated people. If the worshipper
+is defiled his temple becomes an offence. When the kernel is rotten, and I
+offer the husk to God, the offering is a double insult to His most holy
+name.
+
+And yet, how tempted I am to assume that God will be pleased with the mere
+outsides of things, with words instead of aspiration, with postures
+instead of dispositions, with the letter instead of the spirit, with an
+ornate and costly temple instead of a sweet and lowly life! Day by day I
+am tempted to treat the Almighty as though He were a child! Nay, the Bible
+uses a more awful word; it says men treat the Lord as though He were a
+fool!
+
+From all such irreverence and frivolity, good Lord, deliver me! Let me
+ever remember that Thou "desirest truth in the _inward_ man." "In the
+hidden parts" help me "to know wisdom."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE VALUE OF REVERENCE_
+
+ROMANS xiii. 1-7.
+
+
+When I pay honour to honourable ministers I not only honour my God, but I
+enrich and refine my own soul. One of the great secrets of spiritual
+culture is to know how to revere. There is an uncouth spirit of
+self-aggression which, while it wounds and impoverishes others, destroys
+its finest spiritual furniture in its own ungodly heat. The man who never
+bows will never soar. To pay homage where homage is due is one of the
+exercises which will help to keep us near "the great white throne."
+
+I know my peril, for I recognize one of the prevalent perils of our time.
+Some of the old courtesies are being discarded as though they belonged to
+a younger day. Some of the old tokens of respect have been banished to the
+limbo of rejected ritual. Dignitaries are jostled in the common crowd.
+"One man is as good as another!" And so there is a tendency to strip life
+of all its reverences, and venerable fanes become stables for unclean
+things.
+
+My soul, come thou not into this shame! Move in the ways of life with
+softened tread, and pay thy respect at every shrine where dwells the grace
+and power of God.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-eighth
+
+_HOW TO FIGHT EVIL_
+
+"_Overcome evil with good._"
+--ROMANS xii. 9-21.
+
+
+For how else can we cast out evil? Satan cannot cast out Satan. No one can
+clean a room with a filthy duster. The surgeon cannot cut out the disease
+if his instruments are defiled. While he removed one ill-growth he would
+sow the seed of another. It must be health which fights disease. It will
+demand a good temper to overcome the bad temper in my brother.
+
+And therefore I must cultivate a virtue if I would eradicate a vice. That
+applies to the state of my own soul. If there be some immoral habit in my
+life, the best way to destroy it is by cultivating a good one. Take the
+mind away from the evil one. Deprive it of thought-food. Give the thought
+to the nobler mood, and the ignoble mood will die. And this also applies
+to the faults and vices of my brother. I must fight them with their
+opposites. If he is harsh and cruel, I must be considerate and gentle. If
+he is grasping, I must be generous. If he is loud and presumptuous, I must
+be soft-mannered and self-restrained. If he is devilish, I must be a
+Christian. This is the warfare which tells upon the empire of sin. I can
+overcome evil with good.
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Twenty-ninth
+
+_TRANSFORMING OUR FOES_
+
+MATTHEW v. 38-48.
+
+
+"Love your enemies."
+
+It must be the aim of a Christian to make his enemy lovely. It is not my
+supreme business to secure my safety, but to remove his ugliness. He may
+only annoy me, but he is destroying himself. He may injure my reputation;
+but far worse, he is blighting his own character. Therefore must I seek to
+remove the greater thing, the corrosive malady in his own soul. I must
+make it my purpose to recover his loveliness, and restore the lost
+likeness of the Lord.
+
+And only love can make things lovely. Revenge can never do it. Even duty
+will fail in the gracious work. There is a final touch, a consummate
+bloom, to which duty can never attain, and which is only attainable by
+love. All love's ministries are creative of loveliness. Wherever her
+finger rests, something exquisite is born. Love is a great magician: she
+transforms the desert into a garden, and she makes the wilderness blossom
+like the rose.
+
+But where shall we get the love wherewith to make our enemy lovely? From
+the great Lover Himself. "We love, because He first loved us." The great
+Lover will love love into us! And we, too, shall become fountains of love,
+for our Lord will open "rivers in the high places, and fountains in the
+midst of the valleys."
+
+
+
+
+NOVEMBER The Thirtieth
+
+_THE SPRING AND THE RIVER_
+
+"_With the Lord there is mercy._"
+--PSALM cxxx.
+
+
+That is the ultimate spring. All the pilgrims of the night may meet at
+that fountain. We have no other common meeting-place. If we make any other
+appointment we shall lose one another on the way. But we can meet one
+another at the fountain, men of all colours, and of all denominations, and
+of all creeds. "By Thy mercy, O deliver us, good Lord!"
+
+"_There is forgiveness with Thee._" That is the quickening river. Sin and
+guilt scorch the fair garden of the soul as the lightning withers and
+destroys the strong and beautiful things in woodland and field. The graces
+are stricken, holy qualities are smitten, and the soul languishes like a
+blasted heath. But from the fountain of God's mercy there flows the
+vitalizing stream of His forgiveness. "There is a river the streams
+whereof shall make glad the city of God." It is the mystic "river of life,
+clear as crystal." "Everything shall live whither the river cometh."
+
+"_With Him is plenteous redemption._" Salvation is not merely a recovered
+flower, it is a recovered garden. It is not the restoring merely of a
+withered hand; "He restoreth my soul." God does not make an oasis in a
+surrounding desert; He makes the entire wilderness to "rejoice and blossom
+as the rose."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The First
+
+_A FAITHFUL FRIEND_
+
+PROVERBS xxvii. 1-10.
+
+
+"_A faithful friend is a strong defence._"
+
+He is a gift of God, and therefore a "means of grace." The Lord's seal is
+upon his ministry. How we impoverish ourselves by separating these
+precious gifts from their Giver? We desecrate many a fair shrine by
+emptying it of God. We turn many a temple into just a common house. When
+we think of our friend let us link him to our Father, and fall upon our
+knees in grateful praise.
+
+He is God's minister in his encouragements. When he cheers me, it is "the
+Sun of righteousness who rises with healing in His wings." All radiant
+words are just lamps for "the light of life." All genial speech carries
+flame from the altar fire of heaven.
+
+And he is God's minister in his reproofs. He uses a clean knife: there is
+no poison on the blade. And when he does surgeon's work upon me, it is
+clean work, healthy work, the relentless enemy of disease. Some men cut
+me, and the wound festers. There is malice in the deed. My friend wounds
+me in order that he may give me a larger, sweeter life.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Second
+
+_THE LORD AS A FRIEND_
+
+JOHN xv. 8-17.
+
+
+"Ye are my friends!"
+
+In my Lord's friendship there is _the ministry of sacrifice_. "Greater
+love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
+This great Friend is always giving His blood. It is a lasting shame when
+professed Christians are afflicted with spiritual anaemia. And yet we are
+often so fearful, so white-faced, so chicken-hearted, so averse from
+battle, that no one would think us to be "the soldiers of the Lord." We
+need blood. "Except ye drink my blood ye have no life."
+
+And in my Lord's friendship there is the _privilege of most intimate
+communion_.
+
+"All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you." He
+takes us into His confidence, and tells us His secrets. It is His delight
+to lift the veil, and give us constant surprises of love and grace. He
+discovers flowers in desert places, and in the gloom He unbosoms "the
+treasures of darkness." He is a Friend of inexhaustible resource, and His
+companionship makes the pilgrim's way teem with interest, and abound in
+the wonders of redeeming grace.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Third
+
+_ARMS AND THE MAN!_
+
+1 THESSALONIANS v. 4-10.
+
+
+What wonderful armour is offered to me in which to meet the insidious
+assaults of the devil!
+
+There is "_the armour of light_." Sunlight is the most sanative energy we
+know. It is the foe of many a deadly microbe which seeks a lodging in our
+bodies. Light is a splendid armour, even in the realm of the flesh. And so
+it is in the soul. If the soul is a home of light, the eternal light, evil
+germs will die as soon as they approach us. They will find nothing to
+breed on. "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me."
+
+And there is the armour of "_faith and love_." The opposite to faith is
+uncertainty, and the opposite to love is cynicism, and who does not know
+that uncertainty and cynicism are the very hotbeds for the machinations of
+the evil one? When faith is enthroned the soul is open to the reception of
+grace, and when love shares the throne the sovereignty is invincible.
+
+And there is the armour of "_hope_." Even in a physical ailment a man has
+a mighty ally who wrestles in hope. And when a man's hope is in the Lord
+his God all the powers in the heavenly places are his allies, and by his
+hope he shall be saved.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Fourth
+
+_CHILDREN OF LIGHT_
+
+1 THESSALONIANS v. 5-11.
+
+
+Can we think of a more beautiful figure than this--"_children of light_"?
+As I write these words I look out upon a building every window of which is
+ablaze with light, every room the home of attractive brightness. And my
+life is to be like that! And I look again and I see a lighthouse sending
+out its strong, pure, friendly beams to guide the mariner as he seeks his
+"desired haven." And my life is to be like that! And I look once more, and
+I see a common road lamp, sending its useful light upon the busy street,
+helping the wayfarer as he goes from place to place. And my life is to be
+like that!
+
+And if my soul is all lit up in friendly radiance for others, the light
+will be my own defence. Light always scares away the vermin. Lift up a
+stone in the meadow, let in the light, and see how a hundred secret things
+will scurry away. And light in the soul scares away "the unfruitful works
+of darkness"; they cannot dwell with the light. Light repels the evil one;
+it acts upon him like burning flame. Yes, we are well protected when we
+are clothed in "the armour of light."
+
+But how can we become "children of light," holy homes of protective and
+saving radiance? Happily, it is not our lot to provide the light, it is
+ours to provide the lamp. If we offer the lamp the Lord will give the
+flame.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Fifth
+
+_THE SECOND-BEST FOR GOD_
+
+1 CHRONICLES xvii. 1-15.
+
+
+So the best was for man, and the second-best for God! The cedar for
+self-indulgence, and the curtains for the home of worship! It is a marked
+sign of spiritual awakening when a man begins to contrast his own
+indulgences with the rights of God. There are so many of us who are lavish
+in our home and miserly in the sanctuary. We multiply treasures which
+bring us little profit, and we are niggardly where treasure would be of
+most gracious service.
+
+"I dwell in a house of cedar," and yet I am thoughtless about God's poor!
+For I must remember that the poor are the arks of the Lord. "I was naked,
+and ye clothed Me not."
+
+"I dwell in a house of cedar"; my liberties are many and spacious; and yet
+there are tribes of God's people held in the tyranny of dark and hopeless
+servitude. I dwell in England, but what about the folk on the Congo? I
+dwell in a land of ample religious freedom, but what about Armenia? Do my
+sympathies remain confined within my cedar walls, or do they go out to
+God's neglected ones in every land and clime?
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Sixth
+
+_THE GRACE OF LOWLINESS_
+
+1 CHRONICLES xvii. 16-27.
+
+
+It is by such lowliness that we arrive at our true sovereignty. All
+spiritual treasures are hidden along the ways of humility, and it is
+meekness which discovers them. The uplifted head of pride overlooks them,
+and its "finds" are only pleasure of the passing day.
+
+Lowliness is the secret of spiritual perceptiveness. I find my sight in
+lowly places. The Sacred Word speaks of "the _valley_ of vision." I
+usually associate vision and outlook with mountain summits, but in
+spiritual realms the very capacity to use the heights is acquired in the
+vale.
+
+Lowliness is the secret of spiritual roominess. It is only the humble man
+who has any room for the Lord. All the chambers in the proud man's soul
+are thronged with self-conceits, and God is crowded out. Our Lord always
+finds ample room for Himself wherever the heart bows in humility and says:
+"I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come under my roof."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Seventh
+
+_CHOSEN AS BUILDERS_
+
+"_Take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build._"
+--1 CHRONICLES xxviii. 1-10.
+
+
+And how must he take heed? For it may be that the Lord hath also chosen me
+to build, and the counsel given to Solomon may serve me in this later day.
+Let me listen.
+
+"_Serve Him with a perfect heart._" God's chosen builders must be
+characterized by singleness and simplicity. He can do nothing with
+"double" men, who do things only "by half," giving one part to Him and the
+other part to Mammon. It is like offering the stock of a gun to one man
+and the barrel to another; and the effect is nil. No, the entire gun! The
+"perfect heart"!
+
+"_And with a willing mind._" For the willing mind is the ready mind, and
+God can do nothing with the unready. I never know just when He will call
+me to add another stone to the rising walls of the New Jerusalem, and if I
+am "otherwise engaged" I am a grievous hindrance to His gracious plans. He
+must be willing and ready who would be a builder of the walls of Zion. And
+to that man the Lord will entrust the privilege of responsibility.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Eighth
+
+_JUDGED BY OUR ASPIRATIONS_
+
+"_Thou didst well, it was in thine heart._"
+--2 CHRONICLES vi. 1-15.
+
+
+And this was a purpose which the man was not permitted to realize. It was
+a temple built in the substance of dreams, but never established in wood
+and stone. And God took the shadowy structure and esteemed it as a
+perfected pile. The sacred intention was regarded as a finished work. The
+will to build a temple was regarded as a temple built. And hence I discern
+the preciousness of all hallowed purpose and desire, even though it never
+receive actual accomplishment. "Thou didst well, it was in thine heart."
+
+And so the will to be, and the will to do, is acceptable sacrifice unto
+the Lord! "I wish I could be a missionary to the foreign field," but the
+duties of home forbid. But as a missionary she is accepted of our God,
+even though she never land on distant shore. Our purposes work, as well as
+the work itself. Desire is full of holy energy as well as fruition. The
+wish to do good is good itself; the very longing is a minister in the
+kingdom of our God. If, therefore, we are to be judged by our aspirations,
+there are multitudes of apparent failures who will one day be revealed as
+clothed in the radiance of spiritual victory.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Ninth
+
+_NATIONAL BLESSEDNESS_
+
+"_Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound._"
+--PSALM lxxxix. 1-18.
+
+
+Blessed is the people who love the sound of the silver trumpet which calls
+to holy convocation! Blessed is the people who are sacredly impatient for
+the hour of holy communion! Blessed is the people "in whose heart are the
+highways to Zion." And in what shall their blessedness consist?
+
+In illumination. "_They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy
+countenance._" The favour of the Lord shall shine upon them when they walk
+through rough and troublous places. There shall always be a sunny patch
+where the soul is in communion with its Lord.
+
+In exultation. "_In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day._" There is
+nothing like sunshine for making the spirits dance! Light is a great
+emancipator, a great breaker-up of frozen bondages. It thaws "the genial
+currents of the soul," and the stream of life sings in its progress.
+
+In exaltation. "_In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted._" They will
+be lifted up above their enemies. In elevation they will find their
+safety. God lifts us above our passions, above our cares, above our little
+fears and tempers, and we find our peace upon the heights.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Tenth
+
+_THE ONLY WISE BEGINNING_
+
+"_The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom._"
+--PSALM cxi.
+
+
+If I want to do anything wisely I must begin with God. That is the very
+alphabet of the matter. Every other beginning is a perverse beginning, and
+it will end in sure disaster. "I am Alpha." Everything must take its rise
+in Him, or it will plunge from folly into folly, and culminate in
+confusion.
+
+If I would be wise in my daily business I must begin all my affairs in
+God. My career itself must be chosen in His presence, and in the
+illumination of His most holy Spirit. And in the subsequent days nothing
+must be done that is not rooted and grounded in Him.
+
+If I would be wise as a teacher I must begin with God. I must not merely
+call Him in to bless my lesson when my labour is done. The very beginnings
+of my thinkings must be in Him. Our Lord will not write an appendix to a
+volume about which He has never been consulted. "They who seek Me _early_
+shall find Me." And so it is with the varied activities of our
+multitudinous life. If we would have them shine with quiet wisdom we must
+light them at the Sun of glory.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Eleventh
+
+_THE SPEECH OF THE INCARNATION_
+
+"_He hath spoken to us in His Son._"
+--HEBREWS i.
+
+
+And that blessed Son spake my language. He came into my troubled
+conditions and expressed Himself out of my humble lot. My surroundings
+afforded Him a language in which He made known His good news. The
+carpenter's shop, the shepherd on the hill, the ladened vine, a wayside
+well, common bread, a friend's sickness, the desolation of a garden, the
+darkness of "the last things"--these all offered Him a mode of speech in
+which He unveiled to me the heart of God.
+
+He came as the Son to make me a son. For I had made myself a slave, and
+called my bondage freedom. I wore my badge of servitude with unholy pride.
+But when He came and spake to me, my lost inheritance dawned upon my
+wondering eyes, and I knew myself to be enslaved. But His was the glorious
+mission not only to awake but to emancipate, not only to unveil lost
+splendour but to recover it. He came to set us free, "and if the Son shall
+make you free ye shall be free indeed."
+
+"This my son was lost and is found." Has that great word been spoken
+concerning me in the Father's home of light? "Lord, I would serve, and be
+a son. Dismiss me not, I pray."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twelfth
+
+_RELATING EVERYTHING TO GOD_
+
+"_Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatever ye do,
+do all to the glory of God._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS x. 23-33.
+
+
+And so all my days would constitute a vast temple, and life would be a
+constant worship. This is surely the science and art of holy living--to
+relate everything to the Infinite. When I take my common meal and relate
+it to "the glory of God," the common meal becomes a sacramental feast.
+When my labour is joined "unto the Lord," the sacred wedding turns my
+workshop into a church. When I link the country lane to the Saviour, I am
+walking in the Garden of Eden, and paradise is restored.
+
+The fact of the matter is, we never see anything truly until we see it in
+the light of the glory of God. Set a dull duty in that light and it shines
+like a diamond. Set a bit of drudgery in that light and it becomes
+transfigured like the wing of a starling when the sunshine falls upon it.
+Everything is seen amiss until we see it in the glory! And, therefore, it
+is my wisdom to set everything in that light, and to do all to the glory
+of God.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Thirteenth
+
+_THE HOLY AND THE PROFANE_
+
+"_Put difference between the holy and the unholy._"
+--LEVITICUS x. 1-10.
+
+
+The peril of our day is that so many of these differences are growing
+faint. The holy merges into the unholy, and we can scarcely see the
+dividing line. Black merges into white through manifold shades of grey.
+Falsehood slopes into truth through cunning expediences and white lies.
+Lust merges into purity through conviviality and geniality and
+good-fellowship. So is one thing losing itself in another, and vivid moral
+distinctions are being obscured and effaced.
+
+There is only one way to keep these native contrasts in vivid relief, and
+that is by living in the unsullied light of God's holy presence. "In Thy
+light shall we see light." Things are seen in their true colours only when
+we bring them before the great white throne. Fabrics seen in the gas-light
+reveal quite other shades when we bring them into the light of day. We
+must not make our distinctions in the gas-light of worldly standard and
+expediency; we must take them into His presence before whose radiance even
+the angels veil their faces, and we shall see things as they are, and we
+shall know "the difference between the holy and the profane."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Fourteenth
+
+_THE SACRED USE OF LIBERTY_
+
+"_Take heed lest this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling-block._"
+--1 CORINTHIANS viii. 8-13.
+
+
+That is a very solemn warning. My liberty may trip someone into bondage.
+If life were an affair of one my liberty might be wholesome; but it is an
+affair of many, and my liberty may be destructive to my fellows. I am not
+only responsible for my life, but for its influence. When a thing has been
+lived there is still the example to deal with. If orange peel be thrown
+upon the pavement, that is not the end of the feast. The man who slips
+over the peel is a factor in the incident, and my responsibility covers
+him.
+
+I am, therefore, to consider both my deeds and their influence. How does
+my life trend when it touches my brother? In what way does he move because
+of the impact of my example? Towards liberty or towards license? To the
+swamps of transgression or to the fields of holiness? These are
+determining questions, and I must not seek to escape or ignore them. My
+brother is a vital part of my life. I must never shut him out of my sight.
+How is he influenced by my example? "If meat make my brother to stumble, I
+will eat no flesh while the world standeth."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Fifteenth
+
+_WHAT IS MY TENDENCY?_
+
+"_Whether we live, we live unto_...."
+--ROMANS xiv. 7-21.
+
+
+Unto what? In what direction are we living? Whither are we going? How do
+we complete the sentence? "We live unto _money_!" That is how many would
+be compelled to finish the record. Money is their goal, and their goal
+determines their tendency. "We live unto _pleasure_!" Such would be
+another popular company. "We live unto _fame_!" That would be the banner
+of another regiment. "We live unto _ease_!" Thus would men and women
+describe their quests. "Unto" what? That is the searching question which
+probes life to its innermost desire.
+
+"For whether we live, we live _unto the Lord_." That was the apostle's
+unfailing tendency, increasing in its momentum every day. He crashed
+through obstacles in his glorious quest. He sought the Lord through
+everything and in everything. When new circumstances confronted him, his
+first question was this--"Where is Christ in all this?" He found the right
+way across every trackless moor by simply seeking Christ.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Sixteenth
+
+_THE GREATEST WONDERS_
+
+HEBREWS xi. 30-40.
+
+
+The greatest wonders are not in Nature but in grace. A regenerated soul is
+a greater marvel than the marvel of the spring-time. A transfigured face
+is a deeper mystery than a sun-lit garden. To rear graces in a life once
+scorched and blasted by sin is more wonderful than to grow flowers on a
+cinder-heap. If we want to see the realm of surpassing wonders we must
+look into a soul that has been born again and is now in vital union with
+the living Christ. Even the angels watch the sight with ever-deepening awe
+and praise.
+
+As the spiritual is the home of wonders, so also is it the field of
+brightest exploits. It is not what men have done by the sword that counts
+in the esteem of heaven--such deeds mean little or nothing; it is what
+they have done "by faith." Weak, frail men and women have put their faith
+in God, and have done the impossible! Faith unites the weakling with
+almightiness! Faith makes a lonely soul one with "the spirits of just men
+made perfect," and with them he shares "the power and the glory" of the
+eternal God.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Seventeenth
+
+_GOD'S PRESENCE OUR DEFENCE_
+
+EXODUS xv. 11-18.
+
+
+When we invent little devices to protect us against the evil one, he
+laughs at our petty presumption. It is like unto a child erecting sand
+ramparts against an incoming sea. The only thing that makes the devil fear
+is the presence of God. Our money can do nothing. Our culture can do
+nothing. Our social status can do nothing. Only God can deal with devils.
+"By the greatness of Thine arm they shall be still as a stone." When Thou
+art with me "I will fear no evil"; the fear shall be with my foes.
+
+It is, therefore, the divine in anything which endows it with a strong
+defence. If the holy God dwells in our culture, then our culture becomes
+like an invulnerable fort. If God abides in our recreations, then our very
+sports are armed against our foes. If "the joy of the Lord" is in our
+festivity, then our very merriment is proof against the invasion of the
+world. When the Lord is in us, fear dwells in the opposite camp.
+"Therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed, and though the
+mountains be shaken in the heart of the seas."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Eighteenth
+
+_THE SINNER'S GUEST_
+
+"_He is gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner._"
+--LUKE xix. 1-10.
+
+
+It was hurled as an accusation; it has been treasured as a garland. It was
+first said in contempt; it is repeated in adoration. It was thought to
+reveal His earthliness; it is now seen to unveil His glory. Our Saviour
+seeks the home of the sinner. The Best desires to be the guest of the
+worst. He spreads His kindnesses for the outcasts, and He offers His
+friendship to the exile on the loneliest road. He waits to befriend the
+defeated, the poor folk with aching consciences and broken wills. He loves
+to go to souls that have lost their power of flight, like birds with
+broken wings, which can only flutter in the unclean road. He went to
+Zacchaeus.
+
+Yes, the Lord went to be "guest with a man that is a sinner," and He
+changed the sinner into a saint. The worldling found wings. The stone
+became flesh. Gentle emotions began to stir in a heart hardened by
+heedlessness and sin. Restitution took the place of greed. The home of the
+sinner became the temple of the Lord. "To-day is salvation come to this
+house forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Nineteenth
+
+_THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS_
+
+"_A light to lighten the Gentiles._"
+--LUKE ii. 25-40.
+
+
+That was the wonder of wonders. Hitherto the light had been supposed to be
+for Israel alone; and now a heavenly splendour was to fall upon the
+Gentiles. Hitherto the light had been thought of as a lamp, illuming a
+single place; now it was to be a sun, shedding its glory upon a world. The
+"people that sat in darkness" are now to see "a great light." New regions
+are to be occupied; there is to be daybreak everywhere! "The Sun of
+Righteousness is arisen, with healing in His wings."
+
+"To lighten the Gentiles!" And thus the heavenly beams have come to thee
+and me, to Europe and America, and to all the nations of the earth. The
+amazing privilege is our personal inheritance. We are born to glorious
+rights in Christ Jesus. But a wealthy heir may neglect this inheritance.
+We may have the light and neglect our garden. We may have all the favours
+of a blessed clime, and yet our life may be like a wilderness. The
+Gentiles may have the light, and may yet be children of the darkness. It
+is ours to believe in the light that our lives may become "light in the
+Lord."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twentieth
+
+_THE COMING OF THE LORD_
+
+JOHN i. 1-14.
+
+
+My Lord came as "_the word_." He came as the expression of the mind of the
+eternal God. Ordinary words could not have carried the "good news."
+Ordinary language was an altogether inadequate vessel for this new wine.
+And so the mighty news was spoken in the incarnation of the Lord.
+
+My Lord came as "life." "_In Him was life._" But not a mere cupful of
+life, or even a cup running over. He came as "the fountain of life." Nay,
+if I had the requisite word I must get even behind and beyond this. For He
+was the Creator of fountains. "The water that I shall give him shall be
+_in him a well_." Yes, He was the fountain of fountains!
+
+The Lord came as "light." "_The life was the light._" True light is always
+the child of life. Our clearest light comes not from speech or doctrine,
+still less does it emerge from controversy. It is the fine, subtle issue
+of fine living. And my light is to "shine before men" by reason of the
+indwelling life of the Christ.
+
+And my Lord came as "power." "_To them gave He power._" All the power I
+need for a full, holy, healthy life I can find in Him. Every obligation
+has its corresponding inspiration, and I am competent to do His will.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-first
+
+_THE LORD OF WORKING MEN_
+
+LUKE ii. 8-20.
+
+
+And so the good news was told to shepherds, to working men who were
+toiling in the fields. The coming King would hallow the common work of
+man, and in His love and grace all the problems of labour would find a
+solution.
+
+The Lord of the Christmas-tide throws a halo over common toil. Even
+Christian people have not all learnt the significance of the angels' visit
+to the lonely shepherds. Some of us can see the light resting upon a
+bishop's crosier, but we cannot see the radiance on the ordinary
+shepherd's staff. We can discern the hallowedness of a priest's vocation,
+but we see no sanctity in the calling of the grocer, or of the scavenger
+in the street. We can see the nimbus on the few, but not on the crowd; on
+the unusual, but not upon the commonplace. But the very birth-hour of
+Christianity irradiated the humble doings of humble people. When the
+angels went to the shepherds, common work was encircled with an immortal
+crown.
+
+And it is in the Lord Jesus that all labour troubles are to be put to
+rest. If we work from any other centre we shall arrive at confusion
+confounded. "I have the keys."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-second
+
+_THE LORD OF THE WORSHIPPER_
+
+LUKE ii. 25-35.
+
+
+And so the good news was taken to the worshipper bowing within the gates
+of the Temple. The soul of old Simeon was filled with holy satisfaction
+and peace. The cravings of the heart were quieted, and its desires found
+the coveted feast in the holy Child of God.
+
+And thus the Lord Jesus was not only to dignify the body but to gratify
+the soul. He was to be most efficient where He was most needed. And this
+has been the unfailing experience of the years. There is a hunger in my
+soul for which I can find no satisfying bread. I have tried many breads; I
+have tried nature, and art, and music, and literature, and I have tried
+human fellowship and social service. But my soul is hungry still! And the
+Lord Jesus comes to me, as I reverently grope in the vast temple, and He
+"satisfies the hungry soul" with good things. His "bread of life" is very
+wonderful; it lifts the soul into the restfulness of strength, and gives
+me a strange buoyancy, and "the glorious liberty of the children of God."
+
+"My soul, wait thou only on Him!" He is thy hope, thy strength, and thy
+salvation! He is "the desire of all the nations."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-third
+
+_THE LORD OF THE STUDENTS_
+
+MATTHEW ii. 1-12.
+
+
+And so the good news came to "wise men," shall we say to students, busying
+themselves with the vast and intricate problems of the mind. And the
+evangel offered the students mental satisfaction, bringing the
+interpreting clue, beaming upon them with the guiding ray which would lead
+them into perfect noon.
+
+Yes, our wise men must find the key of wisdom in the Lord. In a wider
+sense than the meaning of the original word it is true that "the fear of
+the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." To seek mental satisfactions and
+leave out Jesus is like trying to make a garden and leave out the sun.
+"Without Me ye can do nothing," not even in the unravelling of the
+problems which beset and besiege the mind.
+
+If my mental pilgrimage is to be as "a shining light shining more and more
+even unto perfect day," I must begin with Jesus, and pay homage to His
+Kingly and incomparable glory. I must lay my treasures at His feet, "gold,
+and frankincense, and myrrh." Then will He lead me "into all truth," and
+"the truth shall make me free."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-fourth
+
+_ENTERING IN AT LOWLY DOORS_
+
+"_Unto us a Child is born._"
+--ISAIAH ix. 1-7.
+
+
+How gentle the coming! Who would have had sufficient daring of imagination
+to conceive that God Almighty would have appeared among men as a little
+child? We should have conceived something sensational, phenomenal,
+catastrophic, appalling! The most awful of the natural elements would have
+formed His retinue, and men would be chilled and frozen with fear. But He
+came as a little child. The great God "emptied Himself"; He let in the
+light as our eyes were able to bear it.
+
+"_Unto us a Son is given._" And that is the superlative gift! The love
+that bestows such gift is all-complete and gracious. And the Son is given
+in order that we may all be born into sonship. It is the Son's ministry to
+make sons. "Now are we the sons of God," and we are of His creation.
+
+    "Lord, I would serve, and be a son;
+       Dismiss me not, I pray."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-fifth
+
+_CHRISTMAS CHEER_
+
+"_Good will toward men!_"
+--LUKE ii. 8-20.
+
+
+The heavens are not filled with hostility. The sky does not express a
+frown. When I look up I do not contemplate a face of brass, but the face
+of infinite good will. Yet when I was a child, many a picture has made me
+think of God as suspicious, inhumanly watchful, always looking round the
+corner to catch me at the fall. That "eye," placed in the sky of many a
+picture, and placed there to represent God, filled my heart with a
+chilling fear. That God was to me a magnified policeman, watching for
+wrong-doers, and ever ready for the infliction of punishment. It was all a
+frightful perversion of the gracious teaching of Jesus.
+
+Heaven overflows with good will toward men! Our God not only wishes good,
+He wills it! "He gave His only begotten Son," as the sacred expression of
+His infinite good will. He has good will toward thee and me, and mine and
+thine. Let that holy thought make our Christmas cheer.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-sixth
+
+_DAYBREAK IN THE SOUL_
+
+ISAIAH ix. 1-7.
+
+
+It is a lonely and a chilling experience to sit in the darkness. And the
+gloom and the cold are all the more intense when there is death in the
+house. In such conditions we are in great need of light and fire.
+
+And that is how the children of men were feeling before the Saviour came.
+They "_sat in darkness_" and in "_the shadow of death_." The world was
+cold, and sin and death were in it, and they longed for light and cheer.
+And "the great Light came," and His wonderful Presence not only illumines
+the house but banishes the fear of sin and death. "_They that dwelt in the
+land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined._"
+
+Where can we get this living light except in the Lord Jesus Christ?
+Everything else is candle-light! It fails us in the midnight. It flickers
+amid conflicting currents. It goes out in the rough blast. The light of
+art and of literature fails me when I need them most. When I sit in the
+darkness, with death in the house, these kindly ministers have no
+effective beams. I turn to the Master, and He shines upon me, and it is
+daybreak in the soul!
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-seventh
+
+_THE SUNNY SIDE OF THINGS_
+
+1 JOHN i. 1-7.
+
+
+I have just come out of a gloomy room into a sunny room to write these
+words. I had my choice. I could have stayed in the sombre room, but I
+choose to come into the sun-lit room and the warm, cheering beams are even
+now falling upon my page. "Walk in the light!" And I make my choice, and
+how often I choose to walk without Christ in the unfertilizing and
+unfruitful gloom of self-will! In the light of the Lord I could have a
+garden of Eden; how often I choose the dingy wilderness where I can grow
+neither flowers nor fruits.
+
+"Walk in the light." The Lord's companionship always makes the sunny side
+of the street. It may be that the way is rough and stony and difficult,
+but in His company there is light that never fails, compared with which
+the world's noontide is only as the gloomiest night. And the souls that
+"walk in the light" gather "sacred sweets" all along the way. Heavenly
+fruits grow for the children of light, fruits of love and joy and peace,
+and the favoured pilgrim plucks them as he goes along. "All I find in
+Jesus." The way of light is the way of delight, and "the joy of the Lord
+is our strength."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-eighth
+
+_IN HIM WAS LIFE_
+
+JOHN i. 1-18.
+
+
+I have heard men speak of "wanting to see a bit of life," and I found that
+what they meant was to see a bit of death. It is as if a man should go to
+the hospital to see a bit of health, or as if he should go to a gory
+battlefield to see the human frame. It is like going to a refuse-heap to
+see a bit of garden. Life is not found in fields of license; it is not
+found among the wild oats of a dissipated youth. Life is found only in
+Christ, and if we want to see a bit of life we must go to Him.
+
+"In Him was life"; and that not merely to be looked at but to be shared.
+He is the well to which everybody can bring his pitcher, and take it away
+filled. And my pitcher is just my need. "All the fitness He requires is to
+feel our need of Him." The Life is all-sufficient for the needs of the
+race. This Life can vitalize all that is withered and dead; it can make
+decrepit wills muscular and mighty, and it can transfigure the leper with
+the glow and purity of perfect health.
+
+    "Thou of life the Fountain art,
+       Freely let me take of Thee."
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Twenty-ninth
+
+_THE LOVE OF GOD_
+
+1 JOHN iv. 7-14.
+
+
+Let me more assiduously think of God's love. Let me sit down to it. In the
+National Gallery can be seen two sorts of people. There are the mere
+vagrants, who are always "on the move," passing from picture to picture,
+without seeing any. And there are the students, who sit down, and
+contemplate, and meditate, and appropriate, and saturate. And there are
+vagrants in respect to the love of the Lord. They have a passing glimpse,
+but the impression is not vital and vitalizing, and there are the
+students, who are always gazing, and who are continually crying, "O the
+depth of the riches of the love of God in Christ!" "His riches are
+unsearchable!"
+
+And God's love is the creator of my love. "While I muse the fire burns." I
+am kindled into the same holy passion. That is to say, contemplation
+determines character. We acquire the hues of the things to which we cling.
+To hold fellowship with love is to become loveful and lovely. "We love
+because He first loved us."
+
+And then, in the third place, it is through my love that I know my Lord.
+"_Everyone that loveth knoweth God._" Love is the lens through which I
+discern the secret things of God.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Thirtieth
+
+_THE BLESSEDNESS OF FORGIVENESS_
+
+"_Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven._"
+--PSALM xxxii.
+
+
+It is the blessedness of emancipation. The boat which has been tethered to
+the weird, baleful shore is set free, and sails toward the glories of the
+morning. The man, long cramped in the dark, imprisoning pit, is brought
+out, and stretches his limbs in the sweet light and air of God's free
+world. Black servitude is ended; glorious liberty begins.
+
+It is the blessedness of education. For when we are freed we are by no
+means perfected. We are liberated babes; and our Emancipator does not
+desert us in our spiritual infancy. The foundling is not abandoned.
+"Having loved His own He loved them unto the end." He begins with us in
+the spiritual nursery, and He will train and lead and feed us until we are
+"perfect in Christ Jesus."
+
+Therefore is it the blessedness of exultation. The babe is resting on the
+bosom of the Lord, and "the joy of the Lord is his strength." It is not my
+emancipation that ensures my joy; it is the abiding Presence of the
+Emancipator.
+
+
+
+
+DECEMBER The Thirty-first
+
+_THE REAR-GUARD_
+
+"_Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life._"
+--PSALM xxiii.
+
+But why "_follow_" me? Why not "go before"? Because some of my enemies are
+in the rear; they attack me from behind. There are foes in my yesterdays
+which can give me fatal wounds. They can stab me in the back! If I could
+only get away from the past! Its guilt dogs my steps. Its sins are ever at
+my heels. I have turned my face toward the Lord, but my yesterdays pursue
+me like a relentless hound! So I have an enemy in the rear.
+
+But, blessed be His name, my mighty God is in the rear as well as my foe.
+"Goodness and mercy shall follow me!" No hound can break through that
+defence. Between me and my guilt there is the infinite love of the Lord.
+The loving Lord will not permit my past to destroy my soul. I may sorrow
+for my past, but my very sorrow shall be a minister of moral and spiritual
+health. My Lord is Lord of the past as well as of the morrow, and so
+to-day "I will trust and not be afraid."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+                                DEVOTIONAL
+     ==================================================================
+
+     _ROBERT F. HORTON_
+
+     The Triumphant Life: Life, Warfare and Victory through the Cross
+         16mo, Cloth, net 50c.
+
+     The author, one of the most influential preachers and devotional
+     writers, presents an attractive volume of brief counsels on Faith
+     and Duty.
+
+
+     _CHARLES BROWN_
+
+     Lessons from the Cross
+         16mo, Cloth, net 50c.
+
+     A volume of remarkable spiritual power which will also prove an
+     incentive to further study of this great subject.
+
+
+     _MILFORD HALL LYON_
+
+     For the Life That Now Is
+         16mo, Cloth, net 75c.
+
+     "Emphasizes the power and presence of a life hid with Christ in
+     God. It will be a revelation to many that there is such a
+     correspondence between the needs of mankind and the provisions of
+     redeeming grace."--_Reformed Church Messenger._
+
+
+     _HANNAH WHITALL SMITH_
+
+     The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life
+     New Edition, with Decorative Lace Border and Lace Cover Design.
+         12 mo, Cloth, net $1.00.
+
+     A Handsome New Gift Edition of this famous Christian classic, which
+     as a prominent writer once said will "transform the dark days of
+     your life, as it has transformed those of thousands before you."
+
+
+     _J. H. JOWETT_
+
+     Our Blessed Dead
+         16mo, Boards, 25c.
+
+     A booklet of consolation; suggestive and effective.
+
+
+     _CORTLAND MYERS_
+
+     The Real Holy Spirit
+         12mo, Cloth, net 50c.
+
+     "To make this unreality real and mighty in the life of the
+     individual and of the Church is the purpose of this book, that is
+     eminently sane and practical, and will appeal with force to every
+     thoughtful and earnest Christian."--_Christian Guardian._
+
+
+
+
+                    THE WORLD OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT
+     ==================================================================
+
+     _RICHARD ROBERTS_
+
+     The Renascence of Faith
+     With an Introduction by G. A. Johnston Ross.
+         12mo, cloth, net $1.50.
+
+     "A fresh and striking contribution to current religious discussion.
+     It is the average man,--the man in the street--who is at once the
+     subject of Mr. Roberts' study. He is keenly alive to and frankly
+     critical of the weaknesses, shortcomings and divisions of modern
+     Christianity; but he has a well-grounded optimism and a buoyant
+     faith which will be found contagious."--_Living Age._
+
+
+     _JAMES W. LEE_
+
+     The Religion of Science
+     The Faith of Coming Man
+         12mo, cloth, net $1.50.
+
+     "Dr. Lee thinks scientifically. He delivers a clear-cut thought
+     product and his powers of intellectual visualization are
+     transferred to the reader. After having read 'The Religion of
+     Science,' we can only underwrite the testimony of Dr. Birney, Dean
+     of the Theological School of Boston University: 'It is the finest
+     apologetic for the modern mood of thought concerning things
+     Christian that I have seen. The book in a masterly manner reveals
+     the pathway of triumphant faith.'"--_Christian Advocate._
+
+
+     _MARSHALL P. TALLING, Ph. D._
+     _Author of "Extempore Prayer" and "Inter-Communion with God"_
+
+     The Science of Spiritual Life
+     An Application of Scientific Method in the Exploration of Spiritual
+     Experience.
+         Cloth, net $1.50.
+
+     This comprehensive handbook of theology is a mediatory work of real
+     value, combining as it does the insight of a spiritually minded man
+     with the keen perception of one who fully recognizes what science
+     has done and is doing to-day.
+
+
+     _JOHN DOUGLAS ADAM, D.D._
+
+     Religion and the Growing Mind
+         12mo, cloth, net 75c.
+
+     This stimulating treatise on the development of a science of soul
+     culture is intended primarily for young people. The expansion of
+     the spiritual nature is shown to be the supreme thing in life. In
+     clear, brief, logical, sane manner Dr. Adam describes man's
+     psychical nature and methods of its development in terms of modern
+     psychology.
+
+
+     _W. H. P. FAUNCE, D.D._
+
+     What Does Christianity Mean?
+     The Cole Lectures for 1912.
+         12mo, cloth, net $1.25.
+
+     Dr. Faunce, President of Brown University, has chosen an unusually
+     attractive theme which is discussed in this series of lectures on
+     the following subjects:
+
+     1. The Essence of the Christian Faith. 2. The Meaning of God. 3.
+     The Basis of Character. 4. The principle of Fellowship. 5. The Aim
+     of Education. 6. The Goal of Our Effort.
+
+
+
+
+                        THEOLOGICAL DISCUSSION
+     ==================================================================
+
+     _ROBERT F. HORTON, D.D._
+
+     How the Cross Saves
+         16mo, cloth, net 50c.
+
+     "Will bring help and light to minds perplexed and darkened by
+     doubt. It is a clear statement of the central truth of
+     Christianity. Logically and biblically Dr. Horton calls to mind the
+     fact that the atonement is of God; that men need it; and that
+     man-made atonements which minimize sin will not do. Then he
+     discusses the atonement, the meaning and the victory of the
+     cross."--_Advance._
+
+
+     _JAMES A. ANDERSON, L.L.D._ _Editor of "the Western Methodist"_
+
+     Religious Unrest and Its Remedy
+         12mo, cloth, net 75c.
+
+     A query raised by theological unrest and an attempt to indicate
+     where rest is found.
+
+
+     _Christian Faith and Doctrine Series_
+         12mo, cloth, each net $1.00.
+
+
+     _PRINCIPAL W. F. ADENEY, D.D._
+
+     The Christian Conception of God
+
+     A vitalizing, tonic treatise of a fundamental theme. The scholarly
+     author of "The Theology of the New Testament" needs no
+     introduction. He is a stalwart defender of the essential truths of
+     Christianity. The _British Congregationalist_ says: "This
+     remarkable book will have a place of its own side by side with
+     Prof. Newton Clarke's more elaborate work."
+
+
+     _J. MONRO GIBSON, D.D._
+
+     The Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scriptures
+     _With Introduction by Principal Forsythe_
+
+     Principal Forsythe's Introduction gives the key to the book: "There
+     is no more difficult position to-day than that of the minister who
+     has to stand between the world of modern knowledge and the world of
+     traditional religion and mediate between them." "Its facts have
+     been verified in the writer's own experience, and they are set down
+     in the precise order that they appear to be necessary in the life
+     of a man who desires to live well and die well."--_Expository
+     Times._
+
+
+     _GEORGE HANSON, D.D._
+
+     The Resurrection and the Life
+
+     This thorough-going study of the Resurrection of Jesus is
+     characterized by a vigorous intellectual grasp of the subject. The
+     author presents a most assuring and comforting contribution to
+     Christian apologetics. It is a work that will not only meet the
+     demands of the scholarly and thoughtful, but minister to those who
+     have no questionings.
+
+
+
+
+                         GIFT BOOKS, ESSAYS, Etc.
+     ==================================================================
+
+     _W. J. DAWSON, D.D._
+
+     The Book of Courage
+         12mo, decorated cloth, net $1.25.
+
+     To meet a present day demand. Everyone needs help to live the
+     courageous life--to learn to face life as it is and yet continue to
+     be in love with it. The Book of Courage meets the need of all who
+     search for help. It is a mine of inspiration to courageous living.
+
+
+     _NEWELL DWIGHT HILLIS, D.D._
+
+     The Contagion of Character
+     Studies in Culture and Success.
+         Gilt top, net $1.20.
+
+     _The Outlook_ says: "Brief, pungent studies, sparks struck out on
+     the anvil of events. Sparkling indeed they are and likewise full of
+     ethical wisdom and vigor. Essays for the times whose lessons are
+     printed and clinched at every turn with personal experiences that
+     grip attention."
+
+
+     _PROF. HUGH BLACK, D.D._
+
+     Happiness
+         Decorated, 8vo, cloth, gilt top, net $1.50.
+
+     This is the fourth in a quartette of gift books which began with
+     FRIENDSHIP and naturally ends with HAPPINESS. Similar to FRIENDSHIP
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+     season's most delightful gift books--the mechanical setting being
+     worthy of the subject matter in every respect.
+
+
+     _HERBERT G. STOCKWELL_
+
+     Essential Elements of Business Character
+         16mo, cloth, net 60c.
+
+     The author has won an enviable reputation through his articles on
+     "Business" in recent issues of _The Outlook_. The editors say that
+     the readers of _The Outlook_ have expressed their appreciation in a
+     very unusual way. Some of the largest corporations in the country
+     have written asking for permission to reprint extracts in their
+     "house organs."
+
+
+     _FREDERICK A. ATKINS_
+
+     Life Worth While
+     A Volume of Inspiration for Young Men.
+         Net 50c.
+
+     This new volume of talks to young men by Mr. Atkins contains the
+     same tonic qualities that made MORAL MUSCLE, FIRST BATTLES and
+     ASPIRATION AND ACHIEVEMENT so truly helpful. The author is a man of
+     magnetic and winning personality. His appeal is particularly to
+     young men. The virile and persuasive tone will stimulate to greater
+     endeavor and higher achievement.
+
+
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #23241 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23241)
author	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 02:04:05 -0700
committer	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 02:04:05 -0700
commit	8593f342977c3e9c8de873c7c3761def194a1ef3 (patch)
tree	6668c87aed73beb6705740d440d27d8cc540c547