Thoughts for the Quiet Hour Part 9

An active faith can give thanks for a promise, though it be not yet performed; knowing that G.o.d's bonds are as good as ready money.--_Matthew Henry._

=April 21st.=

_In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto G.o.d. Phil, iv. 6._

The natural temptation with every difficulty is to plan for it, to put it out of the way yourself; but stop short with all your planning, your thinking, your worry, and talk to Him! "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." You may not always be able to do this in a moment or two. Then keep on with supplication until you know He has it, and prayer becomes praise. Rest, trust, and wait, and see how He does that which you wanted to do, and had so much care about. "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord."--_A. E. Funk._

=April 22nd.=

_They that wait upon the Lord shall . . . mount up with wings as eagles. Isa. xl. 31._

All creatures that have wings can escape from every snare that is set for them, if only they will fly high enough; and the soul that uses its wings can always find a sure "way to escape" from all that can hurt or trouble it.--_Smith._

=April 23rd.=

_Perfect love casteth out fear. 1 John iv. 18._

Fear and love rise up in antagonism to each other as motives in life, like those two mountains from which respectively the blessings and curses of the old law were p.r.o.nounced--the Mount of Cursing all barren, stony, without verdure and without water; the Mount of Blessing green and bright with many a flower, and blessed with many a trickling rill.

Fear is barren. Love is fruitful. The one is a slave, and its work is little worth. The other is free, and its deeds are great and precious.

From the blasted summit of the mountain which gendereth to bondage may be heard the words of the law; but the power to keep all these laws must be sought on the sunny hill where liberty dwells in love and gives energy to obedience. Therefore, if you would use in your own life the highest power that G.o.d has given us for our growth in grace, draw your arguments, not from fear, but from love.--_Alex. McLaren._

=April 24th.=

_The love of Christ constraineth us. 2 Cor. v. 14._

The love of Christ is too large for any heart to hold it. It will overflow into others' hearts: it will give itself out, give itself away, for the enriching of other lives. The heart of Christ is a costly thing for any one to have. It will lead those who have it where it led Him. If it cost Him the cross, it will cost them no less.--_J. M. Campbell._

=April 25th.=

_I the Lord thy G.o.d will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee. Isa. xli. 13._

Don't try to hold G.o.d's hand; let Him hold yours. Let Him do the _holding_, and you do the _trusting_.--_H. W. Webb Peploe._

=April 26th.=

_Consider how great things He hath done for you. 1 Sam. xii. 24._

Look back on all the way the Lord your G.o.d has led you. Do you not see it dotted with ten thousand blessings in disguise? Call to mind the needed succor sent at the critical moment; the right way chosen for you, in stead of the wrong way you had chosen for yourself; the hurtful thing to which your heart so fondly clung, removed out of your path; the breathing-time granted, which your tried and struggling spirit just at the moment needed. Oh, has not Jesus stood at your side when you knew it not? Has not Infinite Love encircled every event with its everlasting arms, and gilded every cloud with its merciful lining? Oh, retrace your steps, and mark His footprint in each one! Thank Him for them all, and learn the needed lesson of leaning more simply on Jesus.--_F.

Whitfield._

=April 27th.=

_He . . . said . . . I . . . hid thy talent in the earth. . . . His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant. Matt. xxv. 24-26._

Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing.--_Monod._

=April 28th.=

_To Him be glory both now and forever. 2 Pet. iii.

18._

Believer, you are antic.i.p.ating the time when you shall join the saints above in ascribing all glory to Jesus; but are you glorifying Him _now_?

The apostle's words are, "To Him be glory both _now_ and forever."--_C.

H. Spurgeon._

=April 29th.=

_Thou shall know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. Isa. xlix. 23._

J. Hudson Taylor says: "Quiet waiting before G.o.d could save from many a mistake and from many a sorrow."

=April 30th.=

_Be it unto thee even as thou wilt. Matt. xv. 28._

Oh, the victories of prayer! They are the mountain-tops of the Bible.

They take us back to the plains of Mamre, to the fords of Peniel, to the prison of Joseph, to the triumphs of Moses, to the transcendent victories of Joshua, to the deliverances of David, to the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, to the whole story of the Master's life, to the secret of Pentecost, to the key-note of Paul's unparalleled ministry, to the lives of saints and the deaths of martyrs, to all that is most sacred and sweet in the history of the Church and the experience of the children of G.o.d. And when, for us, the last conflict shall have pa.s.sed, and the footstool of prayer shall have given place to the harp of praise, the spots of time that shall be gilded with the most celestial and eternal radiance, shall be those, often linked with deepest sorrow and darkest night, over which we have the inscription, "Jehovah-Shammah: The Lord was there!"--_A. B. Simpson._

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAY]

=May 1st.=

_Thou art my G.o.d: early will I seek Thee. Psa. lxiii.

1._

In a world where there is so much to ruffle the spirit's plumes, how needful that entering into the secret of G.o.d's pavilion, which will alone bring it back to composure and peace! In a world where there is so much to sadden and depress, how blessed the communion with Him in whom is the one true source and fountain of all true gladness and abiding joy! In a world where so much is ever seeking to unhallow our spirits, to render them common and profane, how high the privilege of consecrating them anew in prayer to holiness and to G.o.d.--_Archbishop Trench._

=May 2nd.=

_In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.

John i. 4. Ye are the light of the world. Matt. v.

14._

In the light we can walk and work. We walk in the light and become entirely children of light. We let our light, the light of G.o.d, shine, so that men may see our good works, and glorify our Father in heaven.