August, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S CD allyCDevohonalDReadings A M E S S A G E F O R E V E R Y D A Y O F T H E M O N T H
284
hour that we will spend before His throne in loving communion with Him—and then we let other things consume the time, and it is gone. How can we hope to know the exquisite pleasure of “the kiss o f full as surance,” if we do not take time to culti vate a holy intimacy with the Lord? —S elected . SEPTEMBER 7 “I m il arise and go to my father” (Lk. 15:18). The heart of God is the soul’s true home. “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place,” confessed the Hebrew poet. “Return unto thy rest, O my soul.” “ He arose, and came to his father,” and the days of his exile were ended. “ This my son was lost and is found.” The air is filled with voices that say to us, “ Go home to God.” The disil lusionment o f evil, the bankruptcy o f the far country, the desertion, the swine, the rags, the discontent, all cry sternly and harshly, “Go home! Go home to your Fa ther.” And sweeter voices also speak: memory calls; friends call; home calls; the dear dead call; the Father calls; the Sav iour calls: “ Come home—come home to God.” And the lone heart of man turns the invitation into a prayer. “Just as I am, .Thy love unknown Hast broken every barrier down— Now to be Thine, yea Thine alone, Oh, Lamb of God, I come!” SEPTEMBER 8 “I have appeared unto thee for this pur pose, to make thee a minister” (Acts 26:16). Conversion is followed by ministry. “I have appeared unto thee for this purpose,”' said Christ to Paul, to make thee a min ister. There is no true and fruitful min istry which has not conversion behind it; and, on the other hand, there is no genuine conversion but should have its consequence and its demonstration in ministry. I can not work until I am alive; and, if I am alive, I ought to work. Christ has no room for drones in His hive, for laggards in His race, for idlers in His kingdom. Vision is tested by obedience. “I was no.t disobe dient,” said Paul, “ unto the heavenly vi sion.” I prove the value of mysteries, reve lations, ecstasies, raptures, by translating them into action. Will they bear the strain of daily life?—A lexander S mellie . SEPTEMBER 9 “ Wilt thou be made wholet” (John 5 :6). The one question which the Lord Jesus puts to every one o f us is that which He put, beside Bethesda’s pool, to the sufferer who wistfully scanned His face for help: “ Wilt thou be made whole?” The whole question turns on the attitude of the will. And it is for lack of realizing this, that many grope for years in darkness, who might otherwise walk in the light of life. —F. B. M eyer . The New Testament truth finds an Old Testament illustration in Naaman. “Wilt thou be made whole?” the Lord asked the leper through His prophet. “ The price of healing is the deep burial of thy pride and self-effort—all of it—in Jordan’s muddy stream. Art thou willing to pay that price, Naaman?” Not at first, but finally, the unhappy one became willing—wholly will ing—and was wholly restored. How will ing art thou?—S elected . SEPTEMBER 10 "Though I walk in the midst of. trouble, thou wilt revive me” (Psa. 138:7). W e are accustomed to think of faith as —J ohn M acreath .
not at all easy to convince ourselves that we are going speedily to recover. It is so human to look and crave for something in sight that will help the Lord out! Now, to God’s child, what is the real situation? . . . It is not at all necessary for you to see any help in sight, nor is it really necessary for God to have any relief on hand. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. What did He make them out o f? Nothing, absolutely nothing! . . . He can supply all your needs, whether He has anything to begin to work with or not. Wonderful, isn’t it? —F rom a T ract by P. J. S. SEPTEMBER 4 "Fret not thyself’ (Psa. 37:1). Do not get unduly heated 1 Keep cool 1 Even in a good cause, fretfulness is not a wise helpmeet. Fretting only heats the bearings; it does not generate the steam. . . . Is it not a suggestive fact that this word “ fret” is closely akin to the word “ friction,” and is indicative of the absence of the anointing oil o f the grace o f God? In fretfulness, thought is grinding against thought, desire against desire, will against w ill; a little bit of grit gets into the bear ings—some slight disappointment, some in gratitude, some discourtesy, and the smooth working o f the life is checked. Friction begets heat, and with the heat most dan gerous conditions are created. “ Fret not thyself.1fBDo not let thy bearings get hot. Let the oil of the Lord keep thee cool, lest by reason o f an unclean heat thou be reck oned among the evildoers.—J. H. J owett . SEPTEMBER 5 “H e goeth before” (John 10:4). Jesus never sends a man ahead alone. He blazes a clear way through every thicket and woods, and then softly calls, “Follow Me. Let’s go on together, you and Me.” He has been everywhere that we are called to go . . . The only safe way to travel is with Him alongside and in control. This was the original Eden plan. God was the Host in Eden. Man was His house-guest. That is still the plan. God plans thought fully for everything that concerns us. And we need to exercise the guest’s thoughtful care that no shadow o f misunderstanding be allowed to disturb the rare intimacy between Host and guest.—S. D. G ordon . SEPTEMBER 6 “ Thy face, Lord, will I seek” (Psa. 27:8). As sure as God is God, if you this day are seeking Him aright, through Christ, the day shall come when the kiss of full assurance shall be on your lip, when the arms o f sovereign love shall embrace you, and you shall know it to be so. Thou may- est have despised Him, but thou shalt know Him yet to be thy Father and thy Friend. Thou mayest have broken His Sabbaths and despised His W ord; the day is coming when the Sabbath shall be thy delight, and His Word thy treasure. —C harles H addon S purgeon . The trouble with most o f us is that we seek everything else but the Lord’s pres ence. We anticipate with real delight the
SEPTEMBER 1 “And she went up, and laid him on the bed o f the man of God, and shut the doot upon him, and went out” (2 Ki. 4:21). The Shunammite woman . . . had lost her only son, who had been given to her as the special gift o f God. She held him dead in her arms. What could she do? She had a consecrated room where she entertained the prophet o f God, and this room meant to her the very presence of God. She took up her precious burden “and she went up” there. How blessed it is to be able to go up to the secret place of the Most High and to bring our troubles under the shadow of the Almighty 1 “And she laid him on the bed o f the man of God.” This is a beautiful picture of com mittal, laying our troubles, our business, our whole way over on God . . . “And shut the door . . . and went out.” The temptation is to not shut the door ; we still see our trouble, we still handle it, we go over it again and again, we think our pres ence is needed, while His presence is more than sufficient. It takes faith to “shut the door” and go out. It takes real confidence for us to let the matter that is troubling us pass entirely out o f our hands into God’s hands. In no other way can God fully work.—C. H. P. SEPTEMBER 2 “Rest in the Lord” (Psa. 37:7). Our Lord Jesus .was always swift to recognize the inevitable weariness that accompanies and follows human toil. On one occasion, when His disciples had re turned from their mission of mercy, He said to them: “ Come ye yourselves apart, and rest awhile.” And, on another occa sion, He cried: “ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” These familiar words, which have been the basis and inspiration of many an evangelistic appeal, are really addressed to those who have already found the way of peace and reconciliation, and who are now engaged in the work of the Lord. The first meaning of the invitation, suggests Dr. Campbell Morgan, “is not for me while the shadows are lengthening, as the days are declining in the west, and I have lost the buoyancy o f youth. It is for those who are putting into life all the splendid forces and powers o f their life, laboring and working.”:|s;LiFE of F aith . Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, Know what wealth o f grace is Thine, Know Thy certainty of promise, And have made it mine. —J ean S. P igott . SEPTEMBER 3 "H e hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). In looking to God for deliverance o f any kind, we are prone to try to discover what material He has on hand to work on in coming to our relief. If we are praying for financial help, we are apt to look over the community to see if we can think of any one whom the Lord might influence to lend us some money. . . If we are ill, and our physician is at a loss to know what next to try in order to alleviate us, it is
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker