Daily Strength for Daily Needs Part 22

April 30

_Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward_.--EX. xiv. 15.

_No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of G.o.d_.--LUKE ix. 62.

Be trustful, be steadfast, whatever betide thee, Only one thing do thou ask of the Lord,-- Grace to go forward wherever He guide thee, Simply believing the truth of His word.

ANON.

The soul ceases to weary itself with planning and foreseeing, giving itself up to G.o.d's Holy Spirit within, and to the teachings of His providence without. He is not forever fretting as to his progress, or looking back to see how far he is getting on; rather he goes steadily and quietly on, and makes all the more progress because it is unconscious. So he never gets troubled and discouraged; if he falls he humbles himself, but gets up at once, and goes on with renewed earnestness.

JEAN NICOLAS GROU.

May 1

_I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth_.--PS. x.x.xiv. I.

_I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvellous works_.--PS. ix. I.

Thrice blest will all our blessings be, When we can look through them to Thee; When each glad heart its tribute pays Of love and grat.i.tude and praise.

JANE COTTERILL.

That which befits us, embosomed in beauty and wonder as we are, is cheerfulness, and courage, and the endeavor to realize our aspirations.

Shall not the heart which has received so much, trust the Power by which it lives? May it not quit other leadings, and listen to the Soul that has guided it so gently, and taught it so much, secure that the future will be worthy of the past?

R. W. EMERSON.

I have experienced that the habit of taking out of the hand of our Lord every little blessing and brightness on our path, confirms us, in an especial manner, in communion with His love.

M. A. SCHIMMELPENNINCK.

May 2

_The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of G.o.d of great price_.--I PETER iii. 4.

_To present you holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable in His sight_.--COL. i. 22.

Thy sinless mind in us reveal, Thy spirit's plenitude impart!

Till all my spotless life shall tell The abundance of a loving heart.

C. WESLEY.

Holiness appeared to me to be of a sweet, pleasant, charming, serene, calm nature. It seemed to me, it brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, and ravishment to the soul; and that it made the soul like a field or garden of G.o.d, with all manner of pleasant flowers, that is all pleasant, delightful, and undisturbed; enjoying a sweet calm, and the gently vivifying beams of the sun. The soul of a true Christian appeared like such a little white flower, as we see in the spring of the year, low and humble on the ground, opening its bosom to receive the pleasant beams of the sun's glory; rejoicing, as it were, in a calm rapture; diffusing around a sweet fragrancy; standing peacefully and lovingly in the midst of other flowers round about, all in like manner opening their bosoms to drink in the light of the sun.

JONATHAN EDWARDS.

May 3

_The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him_.--NAHUM i. 7.

Leave G.o.d to order all thy ways, And hope in Him, whate'er betide; Thou 'It find Him in the evil days Thy all-sufficient strength and guide; Who trusts in G.o.d's unchanging love, Builds on the rock that nought can move.

G. NEUMARK.

Our whole trouble in our lot in this world rises from the disagreement of our mind therewith. Let the mind be brought to the lot, and the whole tumult is instantly hushed; let it be kept in that disposition, and the man shall stand at ease, in his affliction, like a rock unmoved with waters beating upon it.

T. BOSTON.

How does our will become sanctified? By conforming itself unreservedly to that of G.o.d. We will all that He wills, and will nothing that He does not will; we attach our feeble will to that all-powerful will which performs everything. Thus, nothing can ever come to pa.s.s against our will; for nothing can happen save that which G.o.d wills, and we find in His good pleasure an inexhaustible source of peace and consolation.

FRANcOIS DE LA MOTHE FeNELON.

May 4

_Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, out of weakness were made strong_.--HEB xi. 33, 34.

She met the hosts of Sorrow with a look That altered not beneath the frown they wore, And soon the lowering brood were tamed, and took, Meekly, her gentle rule, and frowned no more.

Her soft hand put aside the a.s.saults of wrath, And calmly broke in twain The fiery shafts of pain, And rent the nets of pa.s.sion from her path.

By that victorious hand despair was slain; With love she vanquished hate, and overcame Evil with good, in her great Master's name.

W. C. BRYANT.

As to what may befall us outwardly, in this confused state of things, shall we not trust our tender Father, and rest satisfied in His will? Shall anything hurt us? Can tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword, come between the love of the Father to the child, or the child's rest, content, and delight in His love? And doth not the love, the rest, the peace, the joy felt, swallow up all the bitterness and sorrow of the outward condition?

I. PENINGTON.

May 5

_If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan_?--JER. xii. 5.

How couldst thou hang upon the cross, To whom a weary hour is loss?

Or how the thorns and scourging brook, Who shrinkest from a scornful look?