217
April 1930
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
“Lord, Thou hast said it in Thy Word, And I Thy Word receive;' All things are possible to those Who in Thy Word believe.” April 5— “Seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matt, 6:33, R. V.). We are to put the Kingdom first; first in our thoughts, first in our affections, first in 'our outlook on life, and first in our sacrifices. The thought which I want to press home is this, not a mere interest in the Kingdom, but a flaming passion for the Kingdom. A passion that will give until it has no more it can give for the King dom. A passion that is jealous for the honor of the Kingdom, A passion that will face the most desperate risks to ex tend the Kingdom ; a passion that will spurn all compromise; a passion that will burn and glow in the soul continually; a passion that will be ready to storm the strongholds of the foe. —Dr. Donald Davidson. The -fields all are ripening, and far and wide, The world now is waiting the harvest I tide: But reapers are few, and the work is great, And much will be lost should the har vest wait. So come with your sickles, ye sons of njen, And, gather together the golden grain ; Toil on till the Lord of the harvest come, Then share in the joy of the “harvest home.” Even when we go forth at Christ’s command, we need not expect to escape storms ; fo r. these disciples were going forth at Christ’s command, yet they en countered the fiercest storm and were in great danger of being overwhelmed, so that they cried out. in their distress for Christ’s assistance. Though Christ may delay His Coming in our time of distress, it is only that . our faith may be tried and strengthened, and that our prayers may be more intense, and that our desires for deliverance may ; be increased, so that when the deliverance j does come we will appreciate it more : fully. Christ gave them a gentle rebuke, say ing, “Where is your faith?” Why did you not shout victory in the very face of the 1storm, and say to the raging winds and rolling waves : “You can do no .harm, for Christ, the mighty Saviour, is on : board” ? It is much easier to trust when the sun is shining than when the storm is raging. We never know how much real faith we have until it is put to the test in some fierce storm; and that is the reason why the Saviour is on board. If you are ever to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, your strength will be born in some storm. — Streams, in the Desert. With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm. Christ said, “Let us go to the other ’ side,”—not to the middle of the lake to be drowned.— Dan Crawford. April 6— “Let us pass over unto the other side” (Mark 4:35).
! ( D a i l y ( D e v o t i o n a l R e a d i n g s
I
A Message for Every Dag of the Month
His dealings With His children. It is not one thing by itself, but one thing put with another thing, and that with a third, and that with a fourth, and all these to gether, that work your good. — Rev. F. B. Meyer. — o— April 3— “In all their affliction he was afflicted” (Isa. 63:9). You shall be a blessing and comfort to other sufferers, for you will know just what they are passing through, and will know how God came and helped you, so that you may help them. No one can fully sympathize unless they have been through the same. The trial of your faith is more precious than gold, for it cannot be bought, only gained by experience, and then only can we comfort others. “For in pain His hand so soothes me, While His arm is underneath, For I know His heart is longing All the time to give relief. So I’m waiting, daily learning How to trust Him more and more. Oh, the sweetness of His presence, While He keeps me hour by hour.” — Selected. —o— April 4— -“Who gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). This is much like saving faith but when a man believes, he wants to go further and deeper; he wants to feel, This promise is for me. He wants to realize more than ever, “Christ loved me and gave himself for me.” When we are saved we begin to realize our weakness, our insufficiency, our poorness of prayer, our feeble attempts, our nothingness and worthlessness. Then it is we turn to God’s Word to look into it to find some comfort and assurance of faith. It fs like the new-born babe crying' for the mother, who is so real and true, for nourishment. The babe gets all it wants for himself, he knows nothing about other babies. So the babe in Christ wants comfort and nourishment for himself. And in the Word he finds the promises for believ ers. If he is wise, he will say, “This is for me. . This means m e” and he will take it to himself, plead it with God, be lieve and accept it, rejoice in it, and thank God for it. In the margin of a Bible were found the letters B, T, and P. The owner, being asked the meaning of this, answered: “B means I believe God for this; T stands for Tried; and when P is added, it means I have proved the reality of it all in my heart and life. I have made the promises mine." Look through the first Epistle of St. John and study how many times he says, “We know.” And no one can say “We know,” “We are sure,” “We are confident,” with out plenty of appropriating faith.
April 1— “In everything . . . . let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6). The power of any life is in its ex pectancy. What do you hope for? What do you expect? The answer to these questions is the measure of the degree in which a man is living. He who can answer these questions by declaring, “The LORD is at hand; I am expecting a higher, deeper, more pervading mastery of CHRIST,” we know that that man is thoroughly alive. —Bishop Phillips Brooks. Unanswered yet? Nay, do not say un granted ; Perhaps your part is not yet wholly done; The work began when first your prayer was uttered, And God will finish what He has begun. If you will keep the incense burning there, His glory you shall see—sometime, some where. Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unan swered,— Her feet were firmly planted on the Rock; Amid the wildest storms she stands un daunted, Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock— She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer, And cries, “It shall be done—sometime, somewhere.” . —o— April 2 —“God meant it unto good” (Gen. 50:20). Men are fond of distinguishing be tween general and particular providences. They are willing to acknowledge the finger of God in some striking event, or in the swift flashing out of God’s sword of justice. They do not hesitate to ad mit that life as a whole is under God’s direction, but they hesitate to say that He is concerned with its ordinary com monplaces. Miles, if you like, but not steps. But love refuses to believe this teaching. It looks on it as practical athe ism. It feels that God cannot let the thread of life pass from His hands for a single moment. The fabric of the char acter cannot for an instant be taken off God’s looms. To the eye of sense things seem contrary the one to the other; the north wind against the south; the frost against the spring’s outburst in bud and blossom; tears against smiles. But love detects the harmony of all things, and sees that they work together, like the wheels of some huge machine which re volve in different directions, cog in cog, but which are hastening forward an iden tical result. Do not ask in dark suspicion how this one thing can be for your good. Wait to see the other things with which the Great Physician is about to balance it. There are wondrous compensations in
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs