May 1930
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May 5— “To offer •up spiritual sacri fices, acceptable to God" (1 Pet, 2,:5). Get away into the quiet with God, and offer something definite to Him, and the day will come when, you will humbly, even as I do; yet very thankfully, testify; to the acceptance of the offering. So God calls us to place afresh and anew all that we have .at His feet. What I want to say is this, that this is His right. Christ should have the best you can offer Him. Christ, who expresses the Father’s love, cannot surely have less than all in the consecration of ourselves to Him. — Dr. Charles Inw ood. My spirit, soul, and body, Jesus, I give to Thee. A consecrated offering, Thine evermore to be. My all is on the altar, I am all Thine own; . Oh, may my faith ne’er falter, Lord, keep me Thine alone. —o— May 6—“What wilt thout" ( M a r k 10:51). As long as, in prayer, we just pour out our hearts in a multitude of petitions, without taking time to see whether every petition is sent with the purpose and ex pectation of getting an answer, not many will reach the mark. But. if, as in silence of soul we bow before the Lord, We were to ask such questions as these: What is now really my desire? Do I desire it in faith, expecting to receive? Am I now ready to place and leave it in the Father’s bosom? Is it a settled thing between God and me that I am to have the answer? we should learn so to pray that God would see and we would know what we really expect. But, it may be asked, is it not best to make our wishes known to God, and then to leave it to Him to decide what is best, without seeking to assert our will? By no means. This is the very essence of the prayer of faith, to which Jesus sought to train His disciples, that it does not only make known its desire and then leave the decision with God. That would be the prayer of submission, for cases in which we cannot know God’s will. But the prayer of faith, finding God’s will in some promise of the Word, pleads for that till it comes. When the child has yielded his own will in entire surrender to the Father, he receives liberty and power to will what he would have.— Rev. Andrew Murray. ■ Being filled with God’s Spirit is the secret of all Christlike character. There is no more beautiful picture of the char acter of Christ, and of those who are His, than that in Galatians five, where we have the ninefold fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, good ness, faith, meekness/' tenipeftlhce. • In Jesus Christ every one of those attributes was reproduced. Is the Spirit of God bearing this fruit in you ? The fruit of the Spirit is only seen in Spirit-filled lives.— Rev. W. H . Aldis. O the Spirit-filled life ; is it thine, is it thine? . Is thy soul wholly filled with the Spirit divine ? May 7— “Walking in . . . the com fort o f the H oly Spirit” (Acts 9:31).
! D a ily D ev o tion a l R ead in g s j A M essag e for E verg D ag o f the Month
ough knowledge of ourselves, our own follies and sins of the past, our present infirmities and imperfect characters, with that perfect charity which “seeketh not her own,” “beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” May 3— “B ecause o f his importunity" (Luke 11:8). The setting of this parable is, of course, Eastern. After nightfall, the stillness which settles down upon the city is broken by the loud knocking at a door, and an earnest voice which says, “Friend! Friend! Lend me three loaves. A visitor has unexpectedly arrived, and my larder is empty.” The unwelcome intruder knocks and calls and entreats until at last he conquers his sleepy, surly, selfish neigh bor, and makes himself master of the sit uation by his persistence. How much more shall we prevail by our persistence with One who “longs to be longed for, who longs to be sought,” who is never so glad as when He is pouring into the hands of His children the wealth of His treasure-house. I f you conquer slumber and selfishness by importunity, how much more can you conquer wakefulness a,nd love! We do not stir ourselves up to take hold of God. Our prayers are easy and indolent. We turn away from the door before the porter has had time to open it. We interpret delays into denials; and because we faint in prayer, we miser ably fail. If we saw the obstacles in our path—an unbelieving, ease-loving heart; a cold and hostile world; an enemy that trembles at our persistence, but laughs at our indolence—we should take the king dom of heaven by violence, and hold on to the knocker of the door like men who had grasped the full portent of the word, “To him that knocketh it shall be opened.” —Rev, J . Gregory Mantle. —o— May 4—“I f any man be in Christ, h e is a new creature" (2 Cor. 5:17), Begin to act as though Jesus were present. And He is. He could not be more really here if He stood before us in His seamless robe as of old. Begin to act as you would if you satv Him. What would happen? Why, everyone else would be forgotten, and some tilings would be told to Him that you cannot tell to any one else. Thoughts and purposes you have long had in regard to amendment of life would begin to take shape; the gift that He of fers would be accepted; your life would be laid low at His feet; His Word would be believed and rested on ; and you would go forward knowing that He lived in your heart henceforth and for ever. —Dr. Stuart Holden.
May 1— “The L ord is able to give thee much more than this” (2 Chron. 25:9). The ability of God is beyond our prayers! I have been thinking of some of the petitions that have entered into my supplications innumerable times. What have I asked for ? I have asked for a cup ful, and the ocean remains! I have asked for a sunbeam, and the sun abides 1 My best asking falls immeasurably short of My Father’s giving! It is beyond what we ask.— Dr. low ett. “A sk on . . . I w ill not say thee nay" (1 Kings 2:20). “Ask on, I will not say thee nay—” Father, can this be true? My hands are empty, dare I come Expecting Thee to do Far above'all I ask or think? Yes, child, I bid thee eat and drink. You have not, for you do not ask, Why fear to trust My Word? Come, prove Me now, a blessing take, Thy simplest prayer is heard; My fulness waits you day by day— Ask on, I will not say thee nay. My Holy Spirit waits to fill The heart that yields to Me, Come, then, and merge thy will in Mine, And great things thou shalt see. All things are yours—in Me abide— Ask on, thou shalt be satisfied! —o— May 2— “H ave patience with me" (Matt. 18:26). Find fault, if you must find fault, in private if possible; and some time after the offense rather than at the time. The blamed are less inclined to resist when they are blamed without witnesses; both parties are calmer, and the accused party is struck with the forbearance of the ac cuser, who has seen the fault, and watched for a private and proper time for mentioning it.— Sydney Smith. To understand everything would be to pardon everything.— G. Eliot. So many faults we find, We see them, for not blind Is love. We see them, but if you and I Perhaps remember them some by and by, They will not be Faults then—grave faults—to you or me, But just odd ways—mistakes or even less— Remembrances to bless. Days‘change so many things—yes, hours; We see so differently in suns and showers. Mistaken words tonight May be so cherished by tomorrow’s light. We may be patient: for we know There’s such a little way to go. — J . R. Miller. The best way to have patience with others, “not only the good and gentle, but also with the froward,” is to have a thor-
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