Daily Strength for Daily Needs Part 34

_I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye_.--PS. x.x.xii. 8.

Oh, keep thy conscience sensitive; No inward token miss; And go where grace entices thee;-- Perfection lies in this.

F. W. FABER.

We need only obey. There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening we shall hear the right word.

R. W. EMERSON.

The heights of Christian perfection can only be reached by faithfully each moment following the Guide who is to lead you there, and He reveals your way to you one step at a time, in the little things of your daily lives, asking only on your part that you yield yourselves up to His guidance. If then, in anything you feel doubtful or troubled, be sure that it is the voice of your Lord, and surrender it at once to His bidding, rejoicing with a great joy that He has begun thus to lead and guide you.

H. W. SMITH.

July 3

_He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities_.--PS. cx.x.x. 8.

Be it according to Thy word; Redeem me from all sin; My heart would now receive Thee, Lord, Come in, my Lord, come in!

C. WESLEY.

When you wake, or as soon as you are dressed, offer up your whole self to G.o.d, soul and body, thoughts and purposes and desires, to be for that day what He wills. Think of the occasions of the sin likely to befall you, and go, as a child, to your Father which is in heaven, and tell Him in childlike, simple words, your trials--in some such simple words as these--"Thou knowest, good Lord, that I am tempted to--[_then name the temptations to it, and the ways in which you sin, as well as you know them_]. But, good Lord, for love of Thee, I would this day keep wholly from all [_naming the sin_] and be very [naming the opposite grace]. I will not, by Thy grace, do one [N.] act, or speak one [N.] word, or give one [N.]

look, or harbor one [N.] thought in my soul. If Thou allow any of these temptations to come upon me this day, I desire to think, speak, and do only what Thou willest. Lord, without Thee I can do nothing; with Thee I can do all."

E. B. PUSEY.

July 4

_Look at the generations of old, and see; did ever any trust in the Lord, and was confounded? or did any abide in His fear, and was forsaken? or whom did He ever despise, that called upon Him_?--ECCLESIASTICUS ii. 10.

_Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies, and Thy loving-kindnesses; for they have been ever of old_.--PS. xxv. 6.

My Father! see I trust the faithfulness displayed of old, I trust the love that never can grow cold-- I trust in Thee.

CHRISTIAN INTELLIGENCER.

Be not so much discouraged in the sight of what is yet to be done, as comforted in His good-will towards thee. 'Tis true, He hath chastened thee with rods and sore afflictions; but did He ever take away His loving-kindness from thee? or did His faithfulness ever fail in the sorest, blackest, thickest, darkest night that ever befell thee?

I. PENINGTON.

WE call Him the "_G.o.d of our fathers_;" and we feel that there is some stability at centre, while we can tell our cares to One listening at our right hand, by whom theirs are remembered and removed.

J. MARTINEAU.

July 5

_He stayeth His rough wind in the day of the east wind_.--ISA. xxvii. 8.

_A bruised reed shall He not break_.--ISA. xlii. 3.

All my life I still have found, And I will forget it never; Every sorrow hath its bound, And no cross endures forever.

All things else have but their day, G.o.d's love only lasts for aye.

P. GERHARDT.

We never have more than we can bear. The present hour we are always able to endure. As our day, so is our strength. If the trials of many years were gathered into one, they would overwhelm us; therefore, in pity to our little strength, He sends first one, then another, then removes both, and lays on a third, heavier, perhaps, than either; but all is so wisely measured to our strength that the bruised reed is never broken. We do not enough look at our trials in this continuous and successive view. Each one is sent to teach us something, and altogether they have a lesson which is beyond the power of any to teach alone.

H. E. MANNING.

July 6

_I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee_.--ISA. xlii. 6.

_O keep my soul, and deliver me: for I put my trust in Thee_.--PS. xxv. 20.

I do not ask my cross to understand, My way to see; Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand, And follow Thee.

ADELAIDE A. PROCTER.

O Lord, if only my will may remain right and firm towards Thee, do with me whatsoever it shall please Thee. For it cannot be anything but good, whatsoever Thou shalt do with me. If it be Thy will I should be in darkness, be Thou blessed; and, if it be Thy will I should be in light, be Thou again blessed. If Thou vouchsafe to comfort me, be Thou blessed; and, if Thou wilt have me afflicted, be Thou equally blessed. O Lord! for Thy sake I will cheerfully suffer whatever shall come on me with Thy permission.

THOMAS a KEMPIS.

My soul could not incline itself on the one side or the other, since another will had taken the place of its own; but only nourished itself with the daily providences of G.o.d.

MADAME GUYON.

July 7

_The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid_?--PS. xxvii. I.

Thou hidden Source of calm repose, Thou all-sufficient Love divine, My Help and Refuge from my foes, Secure I am while Thou art mine: And lo! from sin, and grief, and shame, I hide me, Father, in Thy name.