503
October 1929
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
God has many an Aeolian harp. Will you be one? —o— October 11— “I have commanded the ra vens . . . . a widow woman . . . . there" (1 Kings 17:4, 9). If we are where God wants us to be, He will see to the supply of our need. It is as easy for Him to feed us by the ravens as by the widow woman. As long as God says stay here, or there, be sure that He is pledged to provide for you. Though you resemble a lonely sen tinel in some distant post of missionary service, God will see to you. The ravens are not less amenable to His command than of old: and out of the stores of widow women He is as able to supply your need as He did Elijah’s, and Zare- phath. How often God teaches best in seclu sion and solitude! It is by the murmuring brooks of nature that we have our deep est lessons. It is in the homes of the poor that we are fitted for our greatest tasks. It is beside couches where children suffer and die, that we receive those prepara tions of the heart which avail us when the bugle note summons us to some difficult post. —o— October 12— “I f thou hadst been here my brother had not died” (John 11:32). “I f thou const believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9: 23), You see here two “Ifs,” and what we need to see is that every “if” in our life (and there is an “if” in every life) is to be met by His. “If thou canst believe,” out of every “if” in you life will come something grander than had the “if” not been there. Your faith must triumph over every “if.” Some day we shall see that it is from the “if” in human lives that streams of usefulness have come to re fresh the weary. Only let the two “ifs” come together; only believe that the sor rowful thing in your life, the thing which He could prevent but does not—out of that are to come the grandest results of your life, and you shall see the glory of God. —o— October 13— “Ask and it shall be given you” (Matt. 7:7). What did you ask for in prayer this morning? Is it all indefinite to you now? Prayer is wanting something. Did you
“l i | l
Da ily D evo t iona l R ead ings A Message (or Every Day of th e Month
October 7— “I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). But he lost his head! They cut that off, but it didn’t touch his faith. He rejoiced in three things—this great apostle to the Gentiles; he had “fought a good fight,” he had “finished his course,” he had “kept the faith.” Saint Paul won the race; he gained the prize; and he has not only the admiration of earth today, but the admi ration of heaven. Why do we not act as if it paid to lose all to win Christ? Why are we not loyal to truth as he was? Ah, we haven’t his arithmetic. He counted differently from u s; we count the things gain that he counted loss. We must have his faith, and keep it if we would wear the same crown. October 8 — “So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel" (1 Kings 18:42). Though he must have been exhausted with the excitements and efforts of the day, Elijah must spend the evening hour with God. Though he knew that the rain was near, he felt that his prayers were a needful condition for its bestowment. Though any part of Carmel might have become his oratory, he sought the lonely solitudes of the summit with the out spread sea before him, that his soul might hold undisturbed vigil, and that he might see, over the wide expanse of the ocean, the first tokens of the coming an swer. His attitude denoted his humility; his repeated injunction to the lad, his per severance. His success approved his faith. Stand, O suppliant soul, on the highest point of expectant hope; see the hurrying answer, which was being prepared from pools and^ lakes and seas, long ere thy prayer began. “Before they call, I will answer.” — o — October 9— “And the oil stayed" (2 Kings 4:6).
What a sorrowful confession! There was no reason why it should stay. There was as much oil as ever, and the power which had made so much could have gone on without limit or exhaustion. The only reason for the ceasing of the oil was in the failure of the vessels. The widow and her sons had secured only a limited num ber of vessels, and therefore there was only a limited supply of the precious oil. This is why so many of God’s promises are unfulfilled in your experience. In former days you kept claiming their ful fillment ; frequently you brought God’s promises to Him and said, “Do as Thou hast said.” Vessel after vessel of need was brought empty and taken away full. But of late years you have refrained, you have rested on your oars, you have ceased to bring the vessels of your need. Hence the dwindling supply. This is why your life is not so produc tive of blessing as it might be. You do not bring vessels enough. You think that God has wrought as much through you as He can or will. You do not expect Him to fill the latter years of your life as He did the former. You can trust Him for two sermons a week, but not the five or six. jr — o — October 10— “Stormy wind fulfilling his word” (Psalm 148:8). I lived in an old house in the country once, where the wind would sometimes whistle around so that I thought I would have to have some music if it must blow like that. So I made a rude Aeolian harp of mere sewing-silk strung across a board, and placed it under the slightly lifted sash of a north window, and the music was so sweet through all the house when the wild storms came! Is there any north window in your life? Could you not so arrange the three wires of faith, hope and love that the storms of life should only bring more music into this sad world? Many are doing it, and perhaps more music than we dream of comes this way.
TH E NEW E R C T P E C T L X DESCRIBING 16 Bible Courses by Mail IS NOW READY FOR YOU!
CORR. SCHOOL BIBLE INST. OF LOS ANGELES 536 So. Hope St.f Los Angeles, Calif. D ear Sirs: Kindly send me Descriptive Prospectus of Home Bible Study Courses.
COURSES IN:
TEACHER TRAINING BIBLE GEOGRAPHY CHURCH EPISTLES CHRISTIAN WORK BIBLE HISTORY PROPHECY, ETC.
ACTS GOSPELS DOCTRINE SYNTHESIS
Signed Address.
BOOK STUDIES BIBLE OUTLINE
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs