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February 1943
continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name” (Heb. 13:15). We are all prone to forget that prayer should be mingled with the perfume of praise. Indeed, the native selfishness of our hearts n e v e r so clearly expresses itself as in the forms of our address to the Lord. And, short sightedly, we miss His richest bless ings in consequence. It is the man who feathers the arrows of his peti tions with gratitude and thanksgiv ing whose prayers c a r r y farthest. Thanksgiving in prayer is one secret o f prevailing.—^!: Stuart Holden. 7. The Lowest Place “Be of the same mind one toward another. Set not your ,mind on high things, but condescend to things that are lowly. Be not wise in your own conceits” (Rom. 12:16, R. V.). Give me the lowest place; not that I dare Ask for that lowest place, but Thou hast died That I might live and share Thy glory by Thy side. Give me the lowest place; or if for me That lowest place too high, make one more low Where I may sit and see My God, and love Thee so. —Christina Rossetti. 8. Blotted Out “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins” (Isa. 44:22). Some of us are unwisely remember ing forgotten sins. There is the sin of a far-off yesterday, of which we have- repented, and which we have con fessed, and which the Lord has for given, and yet we-turn to it again and again with heavy" and unrelieved heart There ought to be no room in our memories for the heaviness of forgiven sin. We may testify that where sin abounded grace doth much more abound.—Selected. 9. Unlikely Instruments “He chose David also his servant and took him from the sheepfolds” (Psa. 78:70). All through the ages God has chosen the most unlikely instruments to ac complish His greatest purposes. Tak ing unknown men from obscure cor ners He has placed them in positions of prominence and power, and used them as His agents to effect some cherished plan for the world’s good. In God’s unerring judgment it is the heart that tells, not the exterior, how ever attractive a n d imposing; and purity of motive is more precious in His sight than the costliest apparel or the highest learning.—S. E. Burrow.
DA I LY Devot ional Readings
While God loved the whole world, it is the saints who are called the “ beloved of God.” They are His house hold, His dear children. Sinners should believe that God loved them anckgave His Son for them; but saints, that they are the “beloved of God.” The unsaved are never named God’s “be loved.” A man, even, may, and should, love his neighbors; but his wife and children are “his beloved.” —William R. Newell. 4. Where Are Your Children? “ Fathers, provoke not your children” (Col. 3:21). Job, when his* sons and daughters were bent upon feasting and dancing in their eldest brother’s house, did not lay an interdict upon the enter tainment. He did not take part in it, but neither did he absolutely forbid it.- If it mu'st be, it must be, said the wise patriarch - . . I will not go up into* my bed till I have prayed for all my seven sons and three daugh ters, each one of them by their names . . . And do you think that those inter cessions would go for nothing? —-Alexander Whyte. 5. God's Gift “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). The Holy Spirit is God’s Gift. When you were converted, the Spirit of God came in to take up His abode in your hearts; and your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost What a wonderful miracle—the Holy Ghost dwelling within these bodies of ours! And if we are to walk in the liberty of the sons of God, we need the in filling of God’s Holy Spirit. Does He possess you? —A. Lindsay Glegg. 6. Thanksgiving Perfume “By him [Christ] therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God A SOLDIER'S THANKS From Fort Ord, Calif., comes this cheering word: "1 find THE KING'S BUSINESS a great help to me as I strive to live a Chris tian life here in the Army." Special offer: For mi l i t a r y men, four annual subscriptions, $3.00 (regular price $1.00 each, in U. S.); 558 South Hope St., Los Angeles, Calif.
1. A Call to Valoi “Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s” (2 Chron. 20: 15). Unfurl the Christian standard and follow through the strife The noble army who have won the martyr’s erown of life; Our ancestry could die for Truth, could brave the deadly blow, And shall we let the standard, fall, and yield it to the foe? But if ye dare not hold it fast, yours only is the loss, For it shall be victorious, this stand ard of the cross! It shall not suffer, though ye rest beneath your sheltering trees, And cast away the victor’s crown for love of timid ease. The Lord of Hosts, in whom alone our weakness shall be strong, Shall lead us on to conquest with a ' ' mighty battle song; Arid soon the warfare shall be past, the glorious triumph won, . The kingdoms of this world shall be the kingdom of His Son! —Frances Ridley Havergal. 2. Spiritual Nearsightedness “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth re- ceiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may re joice together” (John 4:35, 36). A great many Christians are walk ing about with their eyes turned down, because they do not wish to see the harvest fields. The devil has eased their consciences with dollar bills and missionary barrels, and blinded their eyes with the filthy rags of good works and self-righteousness. The fact that some one lingered and ago nized in prayer for them, never bothers them . . . Lift up your eyes to see the thousands of souls that are yet. in their sins—dying without the gospel —without Christ . . . Come away from the place of prayer—seeing. —Sunday School Worker. 3. Beloved of God “But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren be loved of the Lord, because God „hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13).
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