December, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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lines. It was a good trout stream, but they met with no success. They concluded that the brook had been fished out, and were about to go home in disgust, when they met an old man whose basket was fairly filled with fish. Amazed, they asked him how he had caught so many while they had caught none. “ I have been watching you,” he answered. “You have had your hooks in the air most o f the time. The fish are not in the air but in the water. Keep your hooks wet.” That is good advice for “ fishers of men,”, as well as fishers of fish. Always keep trying. . . . Make that your business, your main business* your passion, your in stinct.— A m os R. W ells . “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench” (Isa. 42:3). What a winsome revelation of the deli cate gentleness of the Lord 1 “ The bruised reed”—is it the impaired musical reed, that cannot now emit a musical sound, and can only be thrown away? He will not snap it and cast it to the void. The dis cordant life can be made tuneful again : He will put “a new song in my mouth.” “And the smoking flax”—the life that has lost its fire, and therefore its light, its enthusiasm, and therefore its ideals ; the life that is smoldering into the cold ashes of moral and spiritual death! He will not stamp it out with His foot. The smol dering fire can be rekindled, a spent en thusiasm can be revived. “He shall bap tize you . . . with fire !” . . . Sight, and light, and freedom ! And my Lord is at the gate, and these gifts are in His hand.— J. H. J ow ett . JANUARY 11 Restored Again
poor, and lowly, and meek. God’s claims I must own as Jesus Christ owned them in my name. The sentence which righteous ly condemns me I must accept as He accepted it for me. . . . The Christian is one who, though he was rich once in his own conceit, has become poor with the poverty o f the Son o f G od; or, if rich now, is rich only in the riches of Christ. -—J. O sw ald D y k e s . JANUARY 9 _ Omnipotence Waits "Behold I stand at the door, and knock” (Rev. 3:20). Why does He not come in? Is not this divine Spirit omnipotent? . . . Why, then, does He stand without, knocking at the door of a frail human heart? Could He not break down that door in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and annihilate that opposing barrier which disputes His claim to universal empire? God made me, because He wanted me to be more than a star, more than a breath of heaven; He meant me to respond to Himself, to open at His knocking. He could have no joy in breaking down the door, in taking the king dom o f my heart by violence; there would be no response in that, no answer of a heart to His heart, no acceptance of a will by His will. Therefore, He prefers to stand without till I open, to knock till I hear, to speak till I respond.— G eorge M a t h e so n .
Satan which we e n c o u n t e r e d have gone down, one by one, conquered through the power of prevailing prayer. Many are the churches standing now, and growing, too, that were founded by our united ef forts. In the streets of a score of cities, memories o f our fellowship together will rush to meet you like familiar friends. I know it, Timothy. Let me give you the key to victory over sadness such as yours must be. It is found in this thought that has dominated my life: Remember Jesus Christ! Remember His life—spotless! Re member His death—cruel! Remember His work—finished I Remember His resurrec tion-triumphant ! Remember His promise —‘I will come again!’ Oh, remember Him, yield to Him, and find in His. full ness the balm for every heartache, the solu tion to every difficulty. ‘Remember Jesus Christ,’ ”— R obert A . C ook . JANUARY 8 Christ’s Poverty, and Ours “ Though he was rich, yet fo r your sakes he became poor” (2 Cor. 8:9 ). We shall reap no profit from this adopted poverty o f Christ’s, unless we do, each one of us, recognize in it our own poverty, follow Him by penitence in His emptying of self, and learn of Him how to be poor in spirit before God. When the backbone of my arrogance before God is broken by the cross of Jesus; when I recognize in that meek Man giving up life without re serve, a picture of my proper self; when I consent to see in His death what is due to m e; then I am learning of Him to be Lest I forget Gethsemane; Lest I forget Thine agony; Lest I forget Thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. — S elected .
JANUARY 10 A Wet Hook
“ Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers o f men” (Mk. 1:17). Once some boys were out fishing for trout. They walked back and forth along the stream, now and then throwing in the
£ LOCATED IN BIBLE INSTITUTE BLOCK —ADJO INING THE CHURCH OF THE OPEN DOOR AND ABUTTING ON THE PARK OF THE LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY. (Frances8) WILLARD HOTEL ANNOUNCES that the success at the polls of the prohibition repeal campaign will in no way affect its conservative management. No intoxicating beverages will he sold or delivered in the Hotel Willard. We trust that you will be interested in knowing that there is still a hotel in Los Angeles which is willing to continue as a quiet orderly tem perance hotel. F. B. HARRISON, Manager. RATES: Rooms with detached baths $15.00 to $22.00 per month. Rooms with bath . . . . $25.00 to $35.00 per month. Daily and weekly rates in proportion. CHILDREN. HEADQUARTERS FOR OUT OF TOWN VISITORS TO BIBLE INSTITUTE AND CHURCH OF THE OPEN DOOR. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT W ILL ESPECIALLY INTEREST LADIES TRAVELING ALONE OR WITH
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