October 1932
B u s i n e s s
T h e K i n g ’ s
456
"The words that I speak untò you 1 speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10). The Lord Jesus is in you as the very power of God. During His earthly life, He bore the significant title o f “ Servant” o f God. . . Why should not He work in you and through you, as of old He wrought through His mortal body ? Let Him have the opportunity! Cease from your own works, as the Son did from His. And as He emptied Himself, so that the Father which dwelt in Him was really thè doer o f His works, so empty yourself o f your own efforts and strivings, and let Him work in you to will and to do o f His own good pleasure. You will soon be delivered from impotence, and indolence, and failure, and you will find yourself energized might ily in all manner of strenuous and noble deeds. OCTOBER 22 C onfession M ade E asy "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son o f God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God” (1 John 4:15). The days are past in which every con fessor was called to be a martyr. And yet confession is hard enough: it is not easy to stand up for Christ in the commercial room, or in the workshop, in the railway carriage, or amid the frivolities o f a draw ingroom. There is a natural proneness in us all to a false shame, which gags our mouths, and chokes our utterance, and keeps us silent, when we know we ought to speak.. . . Indeed, matters will never mend until we abandon our own feeble attempts and draw heavily on the glorious fact of His mighty indwelling. W e can do nothing; but all things are possible to Him. OCTOBER 23 C lad in C hrist ’ s R ighteousness “I will rejoice in the Lord . . . for he hath clothed me with the garments o f sal vation, he hath covered me with the robe o f righteousness” (Isa. 61 :10). The first moment o f faith is the time when we begin to appropriate the right eousness of Christ. A t first.it is with trem bling hands that we gird ourselves in the dress that cost our Lord so much. W e fear, as we enter the most holy place, and stand where angels worship ; but, as the days pass on, and we learn more o f its efficiency, its adaptation to our need, and its precious ness in the sight o f God, we become more assured o f our position, and notwithstand ing repeated failures ip the past, the mis givings o f nature, and the.taunts o f hell, we have boldness to enter into that which is within the vail. OCTOBER 24 E xperimental K nowledge "I am-crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). Before the blessed consciousness o f the presence o f Christ can be ours, we must know experimentally the meaning o f the apostle’s words, “ Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2 :20). In point o f fact, there is a lovely rec iprocity in this indwelling. W e abide in Him, because He abides in us. In the trans lucent depths o f southern seas, the voy ager is aware o f the infinite variety o f sponge-growth, Waving to and fro with the gentle movement o f the tide; and the ocean is in the sponge, whilst the sponge-is in the ocean, illustrating the reciprocal in dwelling o f the believer in Christ, and
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like, with whom we have no natural sympa thy, and who seem made to irritate us. It is easy to like nice people. No special grace is required for this. . . W e only learn what the love of God is when we have to do with people who defy our own powers of affec tion. The fairest powers o f nature are never so apparent as when they are called in to drape the rents in the earth’s surface, or to clothe some unsightly rock, rearing its form amid a paradise o f beauty. Is there such a person in your life, the source of constant chafe, annoyance, fret? Since the strong Son o f God, who is im mortal love, is in you, let Him love that loveless one through you, as the channel and medium o f blessing; let His love speak through your voice, and look through your eyes, and nerve your fingers. Love with His love. You can do all things through Christ that strengthened! you. OCTOBER 19 G od M ust G uide “And the Lord shall guide thee contin ually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring o f water, whose waters fail not” (Isa. 58:11). How much o f our Christian work has been abortive, because we have persisted in initiating it for ourselves instead of ascer taining what God was doing, and where He required our presence. W e dream bright dreams of success. W e try and com mand it. W e call to our aid all kinds o f expedients, questionable or otherwise. And at last we turn back, disheartened and ashamed, like children who are torn and scratched by the brambles, and soiled by the quagmire. None of this had come about, if only we had been, from the first, under God’s unerring guidance. He might test us, but He could not allow us to mis take. Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty; Hold me with Thy powerful hand; Bread o f heaven, Bread o f heaven, Feed me till I want no more. It is for lack o f subordination that we often miss the guidance we seek. There is a secret controversy between our will and God’s. And we shall never be right till we have let Him take, and break, and make. Oh, do seek for that! Never rest till that attitude be yours. Hand yourself over to Him to work in you to will and to do o f H is-own good pleasure. W e must be as plastic clay, ready to take any shape that the great Potter may choose: so shall we be able to detect His guidance. OCTOBER 21 D ivine and H uman E mptying —W illiam W illiams . OCTOBER 20 I nsubordination “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Pet. 5 :6 ).
[The prose selections this month are all taken from the devotional writings o f that prince of expositors, F. B. Meyer.—E ditor ] . OCTOBER 15 I dentification with the V ictor "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist” (1 Pet. 5:8, 9 ). It is not necessary to suppose that the prince of the power o f the air is the author o f temptation in every believer, the world over; for that would go near to investing him with the attributes o f omniscience and omnipresence. But he is surrounded by le gions o f inferior spirits, the wicked spir its in heavenly places, as malignant in their hate as he is ; and who are ever waiting to carry out his plans: and any one of these is sufficient to master the soul that has not learned the secret o f victory through faith in the Stronger than the strong man armed. OCTOBER 16 / T o W ill the W ill of G od ' "Not my will, but thine, be done” (Lk. 22:42). Oh, is not this a sight on which angels love to dwell?—when a human soul, amid its keenest agony, still is able to will the will of G od; not swerving from it to. the right or to the le ft; sure it must be good and wise, though all appearances are con trary; and daring to cry from the midst of its agony, whilst all the nature beside is in revolt, “ My God, I trust Thee; I choose Thy will.” I f thus we yield our will to God, in our blindness, not because we feel it pleasant, but because we dare to believe in Him, we shall find that a wonderful change will steal over us, winning over our emotions and feelings to the self-same side; so that we shall come to accept the will of God with our feelings, as well as to will it with our wills. OCTOBER 17 A G auge for G rowth in G race “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead in deed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:11). The nearer we live to God, the more sen sitive we become to the presence of sin. In creasing light means increasing self-judg- ment; and things which were allowed in the twilight o f the dawn become abhorrent as the noontide light reveals their true character. You may gauge your growth in grace, and your increasing reception of the Holy Spirit, by the tenderness o f your con science with respect to sins which you once permitted without remorse, and almost without remark. . . When we hear o f God, we are self-satisfied; but when we see Him, we abhor ourselves, and repent in dust and ashes. OCTOBER 18 L et G od Do the L oving “He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16). W e must love people whom we cannot
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