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that we do not blame our Maker. It may be that a slow tongue is not so great an evil as a fast one, and fewness of words may be more of a blessing than floods of verbiage.— C harles H addon S purgeon . SEPTEMBER 8 Quiet Strength “In thy presence is fulness of joy” (Psa. 16:11). Thank God for peace and rest, and light His presence brings, When all commotion of the day We leave behind, and turn away To quiet things. Thus in a quiet hour with Him Our hearts rejoice, Recalling how wind, quake, and flame Had ceased ere to Elijah came The still small voice. And like Elijah from that mount Of answered prayer, So may we from this quiet place, Renewed in strength by God’s own grace, Go forth and dare! — J onathan M . D ow . SEPTEMBER 9 Possessing Peace “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him” (Psa. 37:7). The worry in life is friction that wears and tears. The yielded life means peace with God, and this is followed by the peace of God that passeth all understanding. As children of God, will we accept God’s remedy, and rest in Him? “ O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river.” — W . H . J ordan . Worry is the rust on the blade. It is not the revolution that destroys the ma chinery, but the friction.—H. W . B eecher . “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). Biographers of Fenelon tell us that he lived in such intimate fellowship with God that his very face shone. Lord Peterbor ough, a skeptic, was obliged to spend the night with him at an inn. In the morning he rushed away saying, “ If I stay another night with that man, I shall be a Christian in spite of myself.” Some one else said of him, “ His manners were full of grace, his voice full of love, and his face full of glory.”— The Christian Index. I covet, above all things, a fresh vision of God.— A lfred , L ord T ennyson . SEPTEMBER 10 Changed by Beholding
DA ILY Devotional Readings A M E S SAG E FOR EVERY DAY O F THE M O N T H
as “his only begotten Son.” . . . “ Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” are the words of Jesus to His Father. There never was, and never shall be a moment in eternity or in time when He did not dwell in the bosom of His Father; “the only begotten Son, which is in [or exists in] the bosom of the Father,” is the way He is described. The Father’s bosom was, and is, His dwelling place. It is by such language that we are told how dear, infinitely dear He is to the Father, and worthy of that Father’s love. But He came forth from the Father to be the Saviour of sinners!— J. T . M awson . “ Every man’s work shall be made mani fest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is” (1 Cor. 3:13). We regard the small stones in the temple as well as the large ones. A small stone can go where a large one would have "to be cut down to fit. Some Christian people are often wishing to do something heroic, and to be seen . . . It is what we do, and how we do it, that makes it acceptable to God. There is some of this work that is called gold, and some of it hay, and some of it stubble. I would rather have the gold than any amount of hay, and especial ly if there should be a fire; for the fire is to try all men’s work.— W . P. M ackay . SEPTEMBER 6 Our Abundant Supply “Eat, 0 friends; drink, yea, drink abun dantly, O beloved” (Cant. 5:1). Oh, the glory of the Christian life when lived in the fullness of its prerogatives, when we learn to participate in Christ in all the wealth of the redemption which He has wrought out for us! Oh, that we might see the poverty of our spirits, the barren ness of our life, the death which still en velopes us because we have not incorpor ated in our being all that Christ would have us to receive! John could say: “ And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” How little of His full ness have we received!—F. J. H uegel . “ Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” (Ex. 4:12). Many a true servant of the Lord is slow of speech, and when called upon to plead for his Lord he is in great confusion lest he should spoil a good cause by his bad advocacy. In such a case it is well to re member that the Lord made the tongue which is so slow, and we must take care SEPTEMBER S How Are You Building? SEPTEMBER 7 Blessed Eloquence
SEPTEMBER 1 Let Us Draw Near “ Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22). Let us draw near! The blood is spilt, The Lamb has borne the sinner’s guilt; The atoning Sacrifice is made, The righteous wrath of God is stayed— Let us draw near! Let us draw near, with hearts aglow, In rev’rent stillness bowing low ; Before the throne Love’s emblems plead— In simple faith, with all our need, Let us draw near! —E. M argaret C larkson . Zaccheus was short of stature, yet his desire to see Jesus gave him sufficient initiative to seek a way to fulfill his desire. Are you short of stature, spiritually? Are there habits of thought too “tall” for you? Is the pressure of duties too heavy? Would you see Jesus? Look over the “crowd” that stands in your way.—self-indulgence, self opinion, self-righteousness, indolence, inertia, either mental or physical; face your own individual “ crowd.” Be a Zaccheus. Seek a tree. There is only one that will serve. That is the cross of Jesus Christ. As you seek the cross, the “crowd” will shrink and your spirit will find its desire fulfilled. You will see Jesus.— I one L owm an . Only as we appropriate the life of the heavenlies moment by moment, hold our true position there by a living faith, and refuse to yield to the downward tug of the “ law of sin and death,” can we possibly function in dispensing light upon the earth . . . The Holy Spirit imparts the power to live the conquering life, and as the will is yielded to His blessed sway, so the believer lives, thinks, serves, speaks, and witnesses from his proper position, on the mountain heights with God. — C aptain R eginald W allis . SEPTEMBER 2 Spiritual Stature “ And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature” (Lk. 19:3). SEPTEMBER 3 Sin’s Power Broken "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). Who can tell what it cost God to give this great gift? Mark well how language labors and strains to express the precious ness of God’s Son to Him. He is spoken of SEPTEMBER 4 Love’s Gift
SEPTEMBER 11 Polished Stones
“ W e glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience” (Rom. 5:3). If the measure of our spiritual attain ments was to be inferred from the measure of our patience, what likelihood would there
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