592
T h e ' K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
December 1930
Yès, that is it. When we anticipate the future, our hearts might well misgive us if we were counting on meeting its de mands from our slender resources. But this is not necessary. We do not give light to the world; we only receive the oil from thé Holy Spirit and the spark o f His fire; and if we burn steadily through the long dark hours, it is because we have learned to translate into living beauty those supplies of grace which we receive in fellowship with Jesus. But how necessary it is that nothing shall interrupt the flow o f oil, that there be no uncleanliness permitted to clog and obstruct the narrow bore o f the golden spout of faith! Let us daily see to this. Let us watch and pray, and see that there is no hindrance or impediment. Let us draw 'from our King-Priest more and more of His grace to enable us to perse vere. It cannot be too often repeated that it is not what we do for Him, but what He does through us, that really blesses men. Be satisfied, then, to be only a wick, un seen amid the glory of the light that crowns it, and willing to be consumed by the. daily removal of the charred fringe, delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus may be manifest in your mortal flesh. —Daily Devotional Commentary. —o— ; December 29— “Have faith in God” (Mk. 1 1 : 22 ). •-fWhat is they remedy for unbelief or feeble faith? Jesus: Give up trying to work ,up faith in your own dead soul; but simply come to Him, give up all you have, and then take Him—your offered Right eousness—to be in- you. the spirit o f faith for all your need of faith: Then go for ward and act as if you had it, and He will fulfill your expectations, giving you not your poor, broken, and inconstant confi dence, but His own great heart to believe in you, and you shall have “ the faith o f God.” Is it not precious exceedingly that we can go calmly forward to claim the greatest promises and meet the most dif ficult emergencies, and know with infinite repose and strength that. He will meet us with His all-sufficiency? We cling for a while to our little faith and power; we fight our enemies with our boasted weapons, and ask God to help us out. But there is a much better way ; namely, to give up all our fancied resources, and just become one with God, making our cause His own. Then shall all. His strength be come ours, and we can defy our foes to touch Him. — A. B. Simpson. — , December 30— “Every vision fadleth” (Ezek. 12:22). The Jews, in their hope of deliverance from the enemy, had been disappointed so often that their discouragement passed in to a proverb : “ Every vision faileth.” Then said God: “ Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them there fore, Thus saith the Lord God, I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.” The effect of
every vision in your life and mine, as you will learn from the next verse, is to bring us to see that God is the Lord, and that the word that He shall speak shall come to pass. He is at hand, and in Him there is no disappointment. Every broken dream has its fulfilment in Him. Thus we see why all the earthly visions fade; it is in order that we may come to that which is unfading. The effect will be a character for eternity.— Selected. December 31— “ The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in, from this time forth, and even forevermore" (Psa. 121:8). Farewell, Old Year, the rustle of whose garment, Fragrant with memory, I still can hear; For all thy tender kindness and thy bounty, I drop my thankful tribute on thy bier. What is in store for me, brave New Year, hidden Beneath thy glistening robe o f ice and snows ? Are there sweet songs o f birds, and breath of lilacs, And blushing blooms o f June’s scent laden rose? As silent art thou o f the unknown future As if thy days were numbered with the dead; Yet, as I enter thy wide-open portal, I cross thy threshold with glad hope, not dread. To me no pain or fear or crushing sorrow Hast thou the power without His will to bring; And so I fear thee not, O untried mor row I For well I know my Father is thy King. If joy thou bringest, straight to God, the giver, My gratitude shall rise, for ’tis His gift; If sorrow, still, ’mid waves o f grief’s deep river, My trembling heart I’ll to my Father lift. So, hope-lit New Year, with thy joys uncertain, Whose unsolved mystery none may fore tell, I calmly trust my God to lift thy curtain; Safe in His love, for me ’twill all be well. — Selected. — 0 — January 1— “Be strong in the Lord, and in the power o f Ms might” (Eph. 6:10). As we turn our faces to the days and tasks ahead, may we do so with bouyant step, as into a land where larger happi ness and usefulness await us. May we wisely forget every vestige o f cenSorious- ness, vindictiveness, cynicism, uncharit ableness . . . Let us face the future.with purpose fixed to learn its lessons with humility; to meet its responsibilities with resolute will; to bear its crosses with patient hope; to be absolutely just and generous in all life’s relations; to be too busy with the highest duties to remember injuries, and too magnanimous to cherish
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