Daily Strength for Daily Needs Part 33

F. W. FABER.

Every relation to mankind, of hate or scorn or neglect, is full of vexation and torment. There is nothing to do with men but to love them; to contemplate their virtues with admiration, their faults with pity and forbearance, and their injuries with forgiveness. Task all the ingenuity of your mind to devise some other thing, but you never can find it. To hate your adversary will not help you; to kill him will not help you; nothing within the compa.s.s of the universe can help you, but to love him. But let that love flow out upon all around you, and what could harm you? How many a knot of mystery and misunderstanding would be untied by one word spoken in simple and confiding truth of heart! How many a solitary place would be made glad if love were there; and how many a dark dwelling would be filled with light!

ORVILLE DEWEY.

June 27

_The kingdom of G.o.d is within you_.--LUKE xvii. 21.

Oh, take this heart that I would give Forever to be all Thine own; I to myself no more would live,-- Come, Lord, be Thou my King alone.

G. TERSTEEGEN.

Herein is the work a.s.signed to the individual soul, to have life in itself, to make our sphere, whatever it is, sufficient for a reign of G.o.d within ourselves, for a true and full reign of our Father's abounding spirit,--thankful, unutterably thankful, if with the place and the companionship a.s.signed to us we are permitted to build an earthly tabernacle of grace and goodness and holy love, a home like a temple; but, should this be denied us, resolved for our own souls that G.o.d shall reign there, for ourselves at least that we will not, by sin or disobedience or impious distrust, break with our own wills, our filial connection with our Father,--that whether joyful or sorrowing, struggling with the perplexity and foulness of circ.u.mstance, or in an atmosphere of peace, whether in dear fellowship or alone, our desire and prayer shall be that G.o.d may have in us a realm where His will is law, and where obedience and submission spring, not from calculating prudence or unG.o.dly fear, but from communion of spirit, ever humble aspiration, and ever loving trust.

J. H. THOM.

June 28

_The Lord preserveth the simple_.--PS. cxvi. 6.

Thy home is with the humble, Lord!

The simple are Thy rest; Thy lodging is in childlike hearts; Thou makest there Thy nest.

F. W. FABER.

This deliverance of the soul from all useless and selfish and unquiet cares, brings to it an unspeakable peace and freedom; this is true simplicity. This state of entire resignation and perpetual acquiescence produces true liberty; and this liberty brings perfect simplicity. The soul which knows no self-seeking, no interested ends, is thoroughly candid; it goes straight forward without hindrance; its path opens daily more and more to "perfect day," in proportion as its self-renunciation and its self-forgetfulness increase; and its peace, amid whatever troubles beset it, will be as boundless as the depths of the sea.

FRANcOIS DE LA MOTHE FeNELON.

June 29

_Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off_.--I KINGS xx. 11.

_Put on the whole armor of G.o.d_.--EPH. vi. 11.

Was I not girded for the battle-field?

Bore I not helm of pride and glittering sword?

Behold the fragments of my broken shield, And lend to me Thy heavenly armor, Lord!

ANON.

Oh, be at least able to say in that day,--Lord, I am no hero. I have been careless, cowardly, sometimes all but mutinous. Punishment I have deserved, I deny it not. But a traitor I have never been; a deserter I have never been. I have tried to fight on Thy side in Thy battle against evil. I have tried to do the duty which lay nearest me; and to leave whatever Thou didst commit to my charge a little better than I found it. I have not been good, but I have at least tried to be good. Take the will for the deed, good Lord. Strike not my unworthy name off the roll-call of the n.o.ble and victorious army, which is the blessed company of all faithful people; and let me, too, be found written in the Book of Life; even though I stand the lowest and last upon its list. Amen.

C. KINGSLEY.

June 30

_And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and a.s.surance forever_.--ISA. x.x.xii. 17.

The heart that ministers for Thee In Thy own work will rest; And the subject spirit of a child Can serve Thy children best.

A. L. WARING.

It matters not where or what we are, so we be His servants. They are happy who have a wide field and great strength to fulfil His missions of compa.s.sion; and they, too, are blessed who, in sheltered homes and narrow ways of duty, wait upon Him in lowly services of love. Wise or simple, gifted or slender in knowledge, in the world's gaze or in hidden paths, high or low, encompa.s.sed by affections and joys of home, or lonely and content in G.o.d alone, what matters, so that they bear the seal of the living G.o.d? Blessed company, unknown to each other, unknowing even themselves!

H. E. MANNING.

July 1

_In the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord_.--EX. xvi. 7.

_Serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope_.--ROM. xii. 11, 12.

Every day is a fresh beginning, Every morn is the world made new.

You who are weary of sorrow and sinning, Here is a beautiful hope for you; A hope for me and a hope for you.

SUSAN COOLIDGE.

Be patient with every one, but above all with yourself. I mean, do not be disturbed because of your imperfections, and always rise up bravely from a fall. I am glad that you make a daily new beginning; there is no better means of progress in the spiritual life than to be continually beginning afresh, and never to think that we have done enough.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES.

Because perseverance is so difficult, even when supported by the grace of G.o.d, thence is the value of new beginnings. For new beginnings are the life of perseverance.

E. B. PUSEY.

July 2

_Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward G.o.d, and toward men_.--ACTS xxiv. 16.