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June 1931 humble degree upon u s ; may our hearts be stirred to like expectations as we de liberately set ourselves to turn God’s promises into present facts. —Northcote Deck. — o — June 20— “He was moved with com passion” (Matt. 9 :36). He is always being “touched with com passion.” The multitude without a shep herd, the sorrowing widow of Nain, the little dead child of the ruler, the demo niac of Gadara, the hungry five thousand! His very wrath against the scribes and Pharisees is but the excess of His sym pathy for those who suffer under their hard self-righteousness. He “healed all their sick.” And what grace there is in His sympathy!— C. I. Scofield. —o—^ 1 June 21— "Do all things without mur- murings and disputings” (Phil. 2:14). I have read of Caesar that, having pre pared a great feast for his nobles and friends, . . . the day appointed was so extremely foul that nothing could be done to the honor of their meeting. Caesar was so displeased and enraged that he com manded all that had bows to shoot their arrows at Jupiter, their chief god, as in defiance of him for the rainy .weather . . . Their arrows fell short of heaven and fell upon their own heads, so that many of them were very sorely wounded. - So all our mutterings and murmurings, which are so many arrows shot i t God Himself, will return upon our own hearts. They will not reach Him, but they will hit us; they will not hurt Him, but they will wound us. Therefore, it is better to be mute than to murmur.— Thomas Brooks. — o — June 22—“Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirsf’ (John 4:14). Thirst is a blessed thing, if cold water be at hand; cold water is a blessed thing to those who thirst. Needy sinners get; a gracious Saviour gives. When thirst drinks in -cold water . . . the giver arid the receiver rejoice together. While the redeemed obtain a great refreshment in the act, the Redeemer obtains a greater. He Himself was wont to say: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” — W. Arnot. From the riven Rock there floweth Living water, ever clear; Weary pilgrim, journeying onward, Know you not that Fount is near? —George C. Needham. •—o—f June 23— “Thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee” (2 Sam. 7:27). There is good reason to cry, “Eureka!” when we find prayer in our heart . . . If it is not in my heart to pray, I must pray until it is. But oh, the delight of pleading with God when the heart casts forth mighty jets of supplication, like a geyser in full action! How mighty is supplica tion when the whole soul becomes one living, hungering, expecting desire 1 — Selected. — o — June 24— “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10 : 12 ) . A shepherd once stood and watched an eagle soar out from a cliff. The bird
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June 15— “Looking unto Jesus the auth or and finisher o f our faith" (Heb. 12:2). During David’s flight, when Absalom usurped the throne, we have a beautiful illustration of the Christian’s deportment and affection for Christ in the case of Mephibosheth, who received into his heart David’s love, care, purpose, and wisdom on his behalf, which caused his eyes to be filled with David as his only portion and object. The absence of David had left a blank in Mephibosheth’s heart, that nothing in Jerusalem could fill. He had no fellowship with the things around him. So he “neither dressed his feet, nor trim med his beard, nor washed his clothes,” until “the man after God’s own heart” returned. Blessed attitude of Mephibo sheth ! Beloved Christian, if we only felt the absence of the Lord Jesus Christ from this scene, as Mephibosheth felt the absence of David from Jerusalem, it would be impossible for us to be worldly and unreal. “If thy soul would be distressed, look around; Care and trouble, strife, unrest there .abound. , If thy soul would sorrow know, look within; How unlike thy Lord art thou, prone to sin. But if thou wouldst joy in love, Restful be; sister, brother, Fix thine eye above—Christ to see.” —John F. Gray. —o— June 16— “The brightness of his glory” (Heb. 1:3). His personal glories, as the divine and eternal-Son of God, are infinite, inscru table, and beyond the measure of mortal mind. His official glories, as Son of David and King of Israel, are concerned more especially with His chosen people. But it is through the effulgence of His moral glories, which make the gospels the most radiant books ever written, that our hearts are fullest of praise, our spirits most humbled, and yet at the same time drawn out in most earnest, prayerful de sire, that we may learn to “walk even as he walked” and may thus come to bear some traces of His image. - — A. T. Schofield. —o— June 17— “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5). One of the outstanding needs of Chrisr tian workers today is a willingness to obey the divine impulse without waiting to con sider precedents. It is impossible to think of Mary standing with the alabaster box in her hands, discussing within herself the question as to whether some other - gift would not meet the necessities of the case without parting with so costly a treasure . . . We are too apt to be gov erned by the consideration as to what other people would do . . . Even when
we feel moved by the Spirit of God to some act of service or self-sacrifice for the Master, we are apt to be swayed by our “second thoughts.” Not so Mary! Her Lord must have her greatest treasure, al though it involved the accusation of un necessary wastefulness. Better let Judas condemn our act than offer Christ our second best.— F. J. Horsefield. — o — June 18— “God hath sent forth the Spirit o f his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6). If God by His Spirit teaches me to call Him “Father,”, that in itself is a pledge that He undertakes to fulfill all the re sponsibilities of a father. Those who are parents will understand something of what this means. My children never at any time had one moment’s concern about where their next meal was to come from. They knew their parents looked after that . . . And is my Father in heaven, who has begotten me and taught me to call Him “Father,” going to deny His respon sibility? Is He going to show Himself less worthy of the honored name of “Father” than an earthly parent? Would I not be a foolish child to carry the bur dens and charge myself with the respon sibilities that belong to Him as my Fath er?— John R. Caldwell. ■ — o — June 19— “The just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4). Oh, often put out, even tremblingly, thy hand of faith, and touch, and so take! This is the happy life of faith. And as we go through the long and luminous portrait gallery of the Bible and find there the paladins of faith and listen to the cadence of their triumphant voices as they “subdued kingdoms . . ■. obtained promises . . . out of weakness were made strong,” may their mantle descend in some
Our Words Luke 22:59 Oh, that my tongue might so possess The accent o f His tenderness That every word I breathed should bless! For those who mourn, a word of. cheer; A word o f hope for those who fear, And love to all men, far and near. Oh, that it might be said of me, “Surely thy speech betrayeth thee,” . A friend of Christ of Galilee. — Selected.
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