Daily Strength for Daily Needs - Mary W. Tileston (latest novels to read .txt) 📗
- Author: Mary W. Tileston
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Thee?
R. C. TRENCH.
It is impossible for us to make the duties of our lot minister to our sanctification without a habit of devout fellowship with God. This is the spring of all our life, and the strength of it. It is prayer, meditation, and converse with God, that refreshes, restores, and renews the temper of our minds, at all times, under all trials, after all conflicts with the world. By this contact with the world unseen we receive continual accesses of strength. As our day, so is our strength. Without this healing and refreshing of spirit, duties grow to be burdens, the events of life chafe our temper, employments lower the tone of our minds, and we become fretful, irritable, and impatient.
H. E. MANNING.
September 9
_This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works_.--TITUS iii. 8.
Faith's meanest deed more favor bears Where hearts and wills are weighed, Than brightest transports, choicest prayers, Which bloom their hour and fade.
J. H. NEWMAN.
One secret act of self-denial, one sacrifice of inclination to duty, is worth all the mere good thoughts, warm feelings, passionate prayers, in which idle people indulge themselves.
J. H. NEWMAN.
It is impossible for us to live in fellowship with God without holiness in all the duties of life. These things act and react on each other. Without a diligent and faithful obedience to the calls and claims of others upon us, our religious profession is simply dead. To disobey conscience when it points to relative duties irritates the whole temper, and quenches the first beginnings of devotion. We cannot go from strife, breaches, and angry words, to God. Selfishness, an imperious will, want of sympathy with the sufferings and sorrows of other men, neglect of charitable offices, suspicions, hard censures of those with whom our lot is cast, will miserably darken our own hearts, and hide the face of God from us.
H. E. MANNING.
September 10
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.--JOHN xiii. 9.
Take my hands, and let them move At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be Swift and "beautiful" for Thee.
Take my intellect, and use Every power as Thou shall choose.
F. R. HAVERGAL.
If a man may attain thereunto, to be unto God as his hand is to a man, let him be therewith content, and not seek further. That is to say, let him strive and wrestle with all his might to obey God and His commandments so thoroughly at all times, and in all things, that in him there be nothing, spiritual or natural, which opposeth God; and that his whole soul and body, with all their members, may stand ready and willing for that to which God hath created them; as ready and willing as his hand is to a man, which is so wholly in his power, that in the twinkling of an eye, he moveth and turneth it whither he will. And when we find it otherwise with us, we must give our whole diligence to amend our state.
THEOLOGIA GERMANICA.
When the mind thinks nothing, when the soul covets nothing, and the body acteth nothing that is contrary to the will of God, this is perfect sanctification.
ANONYMOUS, in an old Bible, 1599.
September 11
Thy kingdom come.--MATT. vi. 10.
The kingdom of established peace, Which can no more remove; The perfect powers of godliness, The omnipotence of love.
C. WESLEY.
My child, thou mayest not measure out thine offering unto me by what others have done or left undone; but be it thine to seek out, even to the last moment of thine earthly life, what is the utmost height of pure devotion to which I have called thine own self. Remember that, if thou fall short of this, each time thou utterest in prayer the words, "Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come," thou dost most fearfully condemn thyself, for is it not a mockery to ask for that thou wilt not seek to promote even unto the uttermost, within the narrow compass of thine own heart and spirit?
THE DIVINE MASTER.
If you do not wish for His kingdom, don't pray for it. But if you do, you must do more than pray for it; you must work for it.
J. RUSKIN.
September 12
_She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not In the Lord; she drew not near to her God_.--ZEPH. iii. 2.
Oh! let us not this thought allow; The heat, the dust upon our brow, Signs of the contest, we may wear; Yet thus we shall appear more fair In our Almighty Master's eye, Than if in fear to lose the bloom, Or ruffle the soul's lightest plume, We from the strife should fly.
R. C. TRENCH.
If God requires anything of us, we have no right to draw back under the pretext that we are liable to commit some fault in obeying. It is better to obey imperfectly than not at all. Perhaps you ought to rebuke some one dependent on you, but you are silent for fear of giving way to vehemence;--or you avoid the society of certain persons, because they make you cross and impatient. How are you to attain self-control, if you shun all occasions of practising it? Is not such self-choosing a greater fault than those into which you fear to fall? Aim at a steady mind to do right, go wherever duty calls you, and believe firmly that God will forgive the faults that take our weakness by surprise in spite of our sincere desire to please Him.
JEAN NICOLAS GROU.
September 13
_It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord_.--LAM. iii. 26.
Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation.--PS. lxii. I.
Not so in haste, my heart; Have faith in God, and wait; Although He linger long, He never comes too late.
ANON.
The true use to be made of all the imperfections of which you are conscious is neither to justify, nor to condemn them, but to present them before God, conforming your will to His, and remaining in peace; for peace is the divine order, in whatever state we may be.
FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.
You will find it less easy to uproot faults, than to choke them by gaining virtues. Do not think of your faults; still less of others' faults; in every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong: honor that; rejoice in it; and, as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off, like dead leaves, when their time comes.
J. RUSKIN.
September 14
_Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not_.--JER. xxxiii. 3.
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked.--I KINGS iii. 13.
No voice of prayer to Thee can rise, But swift as light Thy Love replies; Not always what we ask, indeed, But, O most Kind! what most we need.
H. M. KIMBALL.
If you have any trial which seems intolerable, pray,--pray that it be relieved or changed. There is no harm in that. We may pray for anything, not wrong in itself, with perfect freedom, if we do not pray selfishly. One disabled from duty by sickness may pray for health, that he may do his work; or one hemmed in by internal impediments may pray for utterance, that he may serve better the truth and the right. Or, if we have a besetting sin, we may pray to be delivered from it, in order to serve God and man, and not be ourselves Satans to mislead and destroy. But the answer to the prayer may be, as it was to Paul, not the removal of the thorn, but, instead, a growing insight into its meaning and value. The voice of God in our soul may show us, as we look up to Him, that His strength is enough to enable us to bear it.
J. F. CLARKE.
September 15
_Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with_?--MARK. x. 38.
Whate'er my God ordains is right; Though I the cup must drink That bitter seems to my faint heart, I will not fear nor shrink.
S. RODIGAST.
The worst part of martyrdom is not the last agonizing moment; it is the wearing, daily steadfastness. Men who can make up their minds to hold out against the torture of an hour have sunk under the weariness and the harass of small prolonged vexations. And there are many Christians who have the weight of some deep, incommunicable grief pressing, cold as ice, upon their hearts. To bear that cheerfully and manfully is to be a martyr. There is many a Christian bereaved and stricken in the best hopes of life. For such a one to say quietly, "Father, not as I will, but as Thou wilt," is to be a martyr. There is many a Christian who feels the irksomeness of the duties of life, and feels his spirit revolting from them. To get up every morning with the firm resolve to find pleasure in those duties, and do them well, and finish the work which God has given us to do, that is to drink Christ's cup. The humblest occupation has in it materials of discipline for the highest heaven.
F. W. ROBERTSON.
September 16
_For the whole world before thee is as a little grain of the balance, yea, as a drop of the morning dew that falleth down upon the earth. But Thou hast mercy upon all. For Thou lovest all the things that are_.--WISDOM OF SOLOMON xi. 22-24.
Oh! Source divine, and Life of all, The Fount of Being's fearful sea, Thy depth would every heart appal, That saw not love supreme in Thee.
J. STERLING.
He showed a little thing, the quantity of a hazel-nut, lying in the palm of my hand, as meseemed, and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereon with the eye of my understanding, and thought, "What may this be?" and it was answered generally thus, "It is all that is made." I marvelled how it might last; for methought it might suddenly have fallen to naught for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding, "It lasteth, and ever shall: For God loveth it. And so hath all thing being by the Love of God." In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is, that God made it. The second is, that God loveth it. The third is, that God keepeth it. For this is the cause which we be not all in ease of heart and soul: for we seek here rest in this thing which is so little, where no rest is in: and we know not our God that is all Mighty, all Wise, and all Good, for He is very rest.
MOTHER JULIANA, 1373.
September 17
_Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many_.--MARK x. 43-45.
A child's kiss
R. C. TRENCH.
It is impossible for us to make the duties of our lot minister to our sanctification without a habit of devout fellowship with God. This is the spring of all our life, and the strength of it. It is prayer, meditation, and converse with God, that refreshes, restores, and renews the temper of our minds, at all times, under all trials, after all conflicts with the world. By this contact with the world unseen we receive continual accesses of strength. As our day, so is our strength. Without this healing and refreshing of spirit, duties grow to be burdens, the events of life chafe our temper, employments lower the tone of our minds, and we become fretful, irritable, and impatient.
H. E. MANNING.
September 9
_This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works_.--TITUS iii. 8.
Faith's meanest deed more favor bears Where hearts and wills are weighed, Than brightest transports, choicest prayers, Which bloom their hour and fade.
J. H. NEWMAN.
One secret act of self-denial, one sacrifice of inclination to duty, is worth all the mere good thoughts, warm feelings, passionate prayers, in which idle people indulge themselves.
J. H. NEWMAN.
It is impossible for us to live in fellowship with God without holiness in all the duties of life. These things act and react on each other. Without a diligent and faithful obedience to the calls and claims of others upon us, our religious profession is simply dead. To disobey conscience when it points to relative duties irritates the whole temper, and quenches the first beginnings of devotion. We cannot go from strife, breaches, and angry words, to God. Selfishness, an imperious will, want of sympathy with the sufferings and sorrows of other men, neglect of charitable offices, suspicions, hard censures of those with whom our lot is cast, will miserably darken our own hearts, and hide the face of God from us.
H. E. MANNING.
September 10
Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.--JOHN xiii. 9.
Take my hands, and let them move At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be Swift and "beautiful" for Thee.
Take my intellect, and use Every power as Thou shall choose.
F. R. HAVERGAL.
If a man may attain thereunto, to be unto God as his hand is to a man, let him be therewith content, and not seek further. That is to say, let him strive and wrestle with all his might to obey God and His commandments so thoroughly at all times, and in all things, that in him there be nothing, spiritual or natural, which opposeth God; and that his whole soul and body, with all their members, may stand ready and willing for that to which God hath created them; as ready and willing as his hand is to a man, which is so wholly in his power, that in the twinkling of an eye, he moveth and turneth it whither he will. And when we find it otherwise with us, we must give our whole diligence to amend our state.
THEOLOGIA GERMANICA.
When the mind thinks nothing, when the soul covets nothing, and the body acteth nothing that is contrary to the will of God, this is perfect sanctification.
ANONYMOUS, in an old Bible, 1599.
September 11
Thy kingdom come.--MATT. vi. 10.
The kingdom of established peace, Which can no more remove; The perfect powers of godliness, The omnipotence of love.
C. WESLEY.
My child, thou mayest not measure out thine offering unto me by what others have done or left undone; but be it thine to seek out, even to the last moment of thine earthly life, what is the utmost height of pure devotion to which I have called thine own self. Remember that, if thou fall short of this, each time thou utterest in prayer the words, "Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come," thou dost most fearfully condemn thyself, for is it not a mockery to ask for that thou wilt not seek to promote even unto the uttermost, within the narrow compass of thine own heart and spirit?
THE DIVINE MASTER.
If you do not wish for His kingdom, don't pray for it. But if you do, you must do more than pray for it; you must work for it.
J. RUSKIN.
September 12
_She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not In the Lord; she drew not near to her God_.--ZEPH. iii. 2.
Oh! let us not this thought allow; The heat, the dust upon our brow, Signs of the contest, we may wear; Yet thus we shall appear more fair In our Almighty Master's eye, Than if in fear to lose the bloom, Or ruffle the soul's lightest plume, We from the strife should fly.
R. C. TRENCH.
If God requires anything of us, we have no right to draw back under the pretext that we are liable to commit some fault in obeying. It is better to obey imperfectly than not at all. Perhaps you ought to rebuke some one dependent on you, but you are silent for fear of giving way to vehemence;--or you avoid the society of certain persons, because they make you cross and impatient. How are you to attain self-control, if you shun all occasions of practising it? Is not such self-choosing a greater fault than those into which you fear to fall? Aim at a steady mind to do right, go wherever duty calls you, and believe firmly that God will forgive the faults that take our weakness by surprise in spite of our sincere desire to please Him.
JEAN NICOLAS GROU.
September 13
_It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord_.--LAM. iii. 26.
Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from Him cometh my salvation.--PS. lxii. I.
Not so in haste, my heart; Have faith in God, and wait; Although He linger long, He never comes too late.
ANON.
The true use to be made of all the imperfections of which you are conscious is neither to justify, nor to condemn them, but to present them before God, conforming your will to His, and remaining in peace; for peace is the divine order, in whatever state we may be.
FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.
You will find it less easy to uproot faults, than to choke them by gaining virtues. Do not think of your faults; still less of others' faults; in every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong: honor that; rejoice in it; and, as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off, like dead leaves, when their time comes.
J. RUSKIN.
September 14
_Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not_.--JER. xxxiii. 3.
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked.--I KINGS iii. 13.
No voice of prayer to Thee can rise, But swift as light Thy Love replies; Not always what we ask, indeed, But, O most Kind! what most we need.
H. M. KIMBALL.
If you have any trial which seems intolerable, pray,--pray that it be relieved or changed. There is no harm in that. We may pray for anything, not wrong in itself, with perfect freedom, if we do not pray selfishly. One disabled from duty by sickness may pray for health, that he may do his work; or one hemmed in by internal impediments may pray for utterance, that he may serve better the truth and the right. Or, if we have a besetting sin, we may pray to be delivered from it, in order to serve God and man, and not be ourselves Satans to mislead and destroy. But the answer to the prayer may be, as it was to Paul, not the removal of the thorn, but, instead, a growing insight into its meaning and value. The voice of God in our soul may show us, as we look up to Him, that His strength is enough to enable us to bear it.
J. F. CLARKE.
September 15
_Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with_?--MARK. x. 38.
Whate'er my God ordains is right; Though I the cup must drink That bitter seems to my faint heart, I will not fear nor shrink.
S. RODIGAST.
The worst part of martyrdom is not the last agonizing moment; it is the wearing, daily steadfastness. Men who can make up their minds to hold out against the torture of an hour have sunk under the weariness and the harass of small prolonged vexations. And there are many Christians who have the weight of some deep, incommunicable grief pressing, cold as ice, upon their hearts. To bear that cheerfully and manfully is to be a martyr. There is many a Christian bereaved and stricken in the best hopes of life. For such a one to say quietly, "Father, not as I will, but as Thou wilt," is to be a martyr. There is many a Christian who feels the irksomeness of the duties of life, and feels his spirit revolting from them. To get up every morning with the firm resolve to find pleasure in those duties, and do them well, and finish the work which God has given us to do, that is to drink Christ's cup. The humblest occupation has in it materials of discipline for the highest heaven.
F. W. ROBERTSON.
September 16
_For the whole world before thee is as a little grain of the balance, yea, as a drop of the morning dew that falleth down upon the earth. But Thou hast mercy upon all. For Thou lovest all the things that are_.--WISDOM OF SOLOMON xi. 22-24.
Oh! Source divine, and Life of all, The Fount of Being's fearful sea, Thy depth would every heart appal, That saw not love supreme in Thee.
J. STERLING.
He showed a little thing, the quantity of a hazel-nut, lying in the palm of my hand, as meseemed, and it was as round as a ball. I looked thereon with the eye of my understanding, and thought, "What may this be?" and it was answered generally thus, "It is all that is made." I marvelled how it might last; for methought it might suddenly have fallen to naught for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding, "It lasteth, and ever shall: For God loveth it. And so hath all thing being by the Love of God." In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is, that God made it. The second is, that God loveth it. The third is, that God keepeth it. For this is the cause which we be not all in ease of heart and soul: for we seek here rest in this thing which is so little, where no rest is in: and we know not our God that is all Mighty, all Wise, and all Good, for He is very rest.
MOTHER JULIANA, 1373.
September 17
_Whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many_.--MARK x. 43-45.
A child's kiss
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