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The same apostle uttered the words of both these passages. T o be content with the divine ordering o f our lives, receiving with grateful and loving trust that which comes to us is essential to that serenity of soul, without which . . . life is a dismal failure. We cannot be at our best when discontent rules the spirit. If we are will ing to have God choose our paths, we need no longer be a prey to wearing .anxiety, gloomy foreboding, and heart-sickening dread. To be content is to have the peace o f God that passeth all understanding. On the other hand, to be satisfied with our attainments in the spiritual life is dishonor ing to God. In the spiritual life, there are heights to be scaled, depths to be sounded, and broad extended plains to be occupied. . . . Contentment with the ways of God toward us, dissatisfaction with our attain ments in the heavenly way—this is the true ideal of the Christian life.— S elected . JUNE 7 Made Able by the Promises “ W e are well able to overcome it” (Num. 13:30). The men who went up with Caleb said, “ We be not able to go up against the peo ple; for they are stronger than we.” They acted as though the difficulties in the way o f the fulfillment of the word o f the Lord had cancelled the promise of the living God. Letting go the reality of the promise, they were overwhelmed by the reality of the difficulties. Dismay, misery, and dis aster overtook and overwhelmed them. Clear vision o f a good land o f promise is often followed by a vivid panorama of multiplied hindrances, walled cities, and threatening giants. . . . There are occasions when our great enemy seems to employ all his art and skill and knowledge in a terrible effort to press upon us the reality of diffi culty and temptation, and at the same time to hide from us, when most we need it, the delivering word of our God. . . . “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor o f God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day .”—Alliance Weekly. JUNE 8 The Source and Growth of the River “ The waters were to the ankles?’ (Ezek. 47:3). The most direct significance o f this liv ing stream is ever the Holy Spirit applying to us the blessings o f Christ’s redeeming work. The word translated “ issued” liter ally means “trickled.” Just a few tiny drops were trickling down the little channel, and it scarcely could be called a river. The first manifestations of the Holy Spirit are often faint and almost imperceptible; but the touch o f God’s little finger always means that God Himself is behind even the slight est manifestations o f His presence and of His working. Let us cherish the first faint touches o f spiritual life and divine grace, and soon we “shall know if we follow on to know the Lord.” The river broadens and deepens as it flows, and after the first measurement it has become a considerable stream so that it is described as “waters to the ankles.”— A . B . S im p s o n . JUNE 9 Begetting Reverent Amazement “All the people, when they beheld him, •were greatly amazed” (Mk. 9:15). No other adequate reason for their won-' der being assignable, it seems most like ly that, as happened with Moses on his descent from Sinai, “the skin of his face shone’’ ; or that there yet lingered on His countenance some remains o f that luster
which made it shine as the sun; there was at least something supernatural and ma jestic in His appearance, that struck the spectators with astonishment. In a spiritual sense, so should it be with us, when we come down from Calvary. . . . On our re turn from beholding such a sight, our whole aspect and bearing should greatly amaze those who meet us; not, as too often happens, through our conformity to the world, and forgetfulness of eternal things, but by reason o f the spirituality, and holi ness, and heavenward bias of our spirits, as indicated by the words we utter and the conduct we maintain. —Scottish Christian Herald. JUNE 10 Jehovah-Jireh “In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul" (Psa. 138:3). As it is with temporal, so is it with spiritual blessings—God has power to sup ply them. When Abraham was on the mount, and had bound his son as a victim on the pile of wood, he saw a ram caught in a thicket; and then he named the place Jehovah-Jireh—“the Lord will provide.” There are many scenes in the Christian life, to which this name may be applied. The divine promises with respect to the spir itual life are most ample.. . . The full God head, with its array o f perfections, is on the Christian’s side: not merely power, but wisdom; not merely wisdom, but justice; not merely justice, but truth; not merely truth, but holiness; not merely holiness, but love. These attributes meet all con ceivable emergencies. — A rch ibald B e n n ie . JUNE 11 Serving an Exalted Christ “ It is high time to awake out of. sleep” (Rom. 13:11). The Lord Jesus Christ has been revealed to us as sitting on His throne high over all; high over all our sins, high over all our weaknesses, high over all the happen ings in the World . . . God has got a work that He wants done in the world, and God will yet seek to gather out in these last years a people prepared for His name. There are souls whom He wants you to warn; there is service which He wants you to render, and you and I, whether we will or no, lie under the burden of respon sibility of all that God has shown to us. May God give us grace that we may not shrink from the pain o f it. May we take the whole church of God upon our hearts. — J. R u ssell H ow d en . JUNE 12 Paying the Price “ Kept back part of the price” (Acts 5 :2 ). Keep not back part of the price. Make a full surrender o f every motion o f thy heart; labor to have but one object and one aim, and for this purpose give God the keeping of thine heart. Cry out for more of the divine influences o f the Holy Spirit, that so when thy soul is preserved and protected by Him it may be directed into one channel, and one only, that thy life may run deep and pure, and clear and peaceful; its only banks being God’s will, its only channel the love o f Christ and a desire to please Him. — C h ar les H addon S purgeon . . I choose Thy will, Lord Jesus,
The Observatory. Star-Gazing IT t is said that all great astronomers A believe in God. And there is a rea son. They behold constantly the heavens and the illimitable spaces of the Uni verse, which declare His glory and which only He could have created. For similar reasons the Wheaton student customarily yields his heart and his life to Christ. He secures a thorough intellectual and physical training from a Class A College with the highest accorded scho lastic recognition. But he also receives deep and lasting religious impressions. His gaze is constantly directed to Christ, the alone Saviour of men. He looks — and be lives. For this reason, Wheaton is a safe col- lege for young people in the formative ages of their lives. Communism, and modernism, are not in vogue at Wheaton. Moreover, their theories are refuted and conclusively disproven. You may safely entrust Wheaton with your funds, as well. Arrangements for a Life Annuity Contract will give you regular returns from your gift — better investigate.
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Por complete data write—Office of the Vice Presi dent, Box KB 535 W heaton College, Wheaton, III.
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This holy will o f Thine, Let nothing bar or hinder, No feeble wish o f mine.
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