Daily Strength for Daily Needs, Mary W. Tileston [good book recommendations .TXT] 📗

puts forth greater power over itself than when, in great trials, it yields up calmly its desires, affections, interests to God. There are seasons when to be still demands immeasurably higher strength than to act. Composure is often the highest result of power. Think you it demands no power to calm the stormy elements of passion, to moderate the vehemence of desire, to throw off the load of dejection, to suppress every repining thought, when the dearest hopes are withered, and to turn the wounded spirit from dangerous reveries and wasting grief, to the quiet discharge of ordinary duties? Is there no power put forth, when a man, stripped of his property, of the fruits of a life's labors, quells discontent and gloomy forebodings, and serenely and patiently returns to the tasks which Providence assigns?

WM. E. CHANNING.

August 10

The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?--JOHN xviii. 11.

Whatsoever is brought upon thee, take cheerfully.--ECCLESIASTICUS ii. 4.

Every sorrow, every smart, That the Eternal Father's heart Hath appointed me of yore, Or hath yet for me in store, As my life flows on, I 'll take Calmly, gladly, for His sake, No more faithless murmurs make

P. GERHARDT.

The very least and the very greatest sorrows that God ever suffers to befall thee, proceed from the depths of His unspeakable love; and such great love were better for thee than the highest and best gifts besides that He has given thee, or ever could give thee, if thou couldst but see it in this light. So that if your little finger only aches, if you are cold, if you are hungry or thirsty, if others vex you by their words or deeds, or whatever happens to you that causes you distress or pain, it will all help to fit you for a noble and blessed state.

J. TAULER.

AUGUST 11

_The Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto_.--DEUT. xv. 10.

My place of lowly service, too, Beneath Thy sheltering wings I see; For all the work I have to do Is done through strengthening rest in Thee.

A. L. WARING.

I think I find most help in trying to look on all interruptions and hindrances to work that one has planned out for oneself as discipline, trials sent by God to help one against getting selfish over one's work. Then one can feel that perhaps one's true work--one's work for God--consists in doing some trifling haphazard thing that has been thrown into one's day. It is not waste of time, as one is tempted to think, it is the most important part of the work of the day,--the part one can best offer to God. After such a hindrance, do not rush after the planned work; trust that the time to finish it will be given sometime, and keep a quiet heart about it.

ANNIE KEARY.

August 12

Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?--LUKE x. 25.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.--ECCLES. ix. 10.

"What shall I do to gain eternal life?" "Discharge aright The simple dues with which each day is rife, Yea, with thy might."

F. VON SCHILLER.

A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work, and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace.

R. W. EMERSON.

Be diligent, after thy power, to do deeds of love. Think nothing too little, nothing too low, to do lovingly for the sake of God. Bear with infirmities, ungentle tempers, contradictions; visit, if thou mayest, the sick; relieve the poor; forego thyself and thine own ways for love; and He whom in them thou lovest, to whom in them thou ministerest, will own thy love, and will pour His own love into thee.

E. B. PUSEY.

August 13

In your patience possess ye your souls.--LUKE xxi. 19.

What though thy way be dark, and earth With ceaseless care do cark, till mirth To thee no sweet strain singeth; Still hide thy life above, and still Believe that God is love; fulfil Whatever lot He bringeth.

ALBERT E. EVANS.

The soul loses command of itself when it is impatient. Whereas, when it submits without a murmur it possesses itself in peace, and possesses God. To be impatient, is to desire what we have not, or not to desire what we have. When we acquiesce in an evil, it is no longer such. Why make a real calamity of it by resistance? Peace does not dwell in outward things, but within the soul. We may preserve it in the midst of the bitterest pain, if our will remains firm and submissive. Peace in this life springs from acquiescence even in disagreeable things, not in an exemption from bearing them.

FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.

The chief pang of most trials is not so much the actual suffering itself, as our own spirit of resistance to it.

JEAN NICOLAS GROU.

August 14

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.--PS. cxxi. 1.

My grace is sufficient for thee.--2 COR. xii. 9.

I look to Thee in every need, And never look in vain; I feel Thy touch, Eternal Love, And all is well again: The thought of Thee is mightier far Than sin and pain and sorrow are.

S. LONGFELLOW.

How can you live sweetly amid the vexatious things, the irritating things, the multitude of little worries and frets, which lie all along your way, and which you cannot evade? You cannot at present change your surroundings. Whatever kind of life you are to live, must be lived amid precisely the experiences in which you are now moving. Here you must win your victories or suffer your defeats. No restlessness or discontent can change your lot. Others may have other circumstances surrounding them, but here are yours. You had better make up your mind to accept what you cannot alter. You can live a beautiful life in the midst of your present circumstances.

J. R. MILLER.

Strive to realize a state of inward happiness, independent of circumstances.

J. P. GREAVES.

August 15

_God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind_.--2 TIM. i. 7.

We cast behind fear, sin, and death; With Thee we seek the things above; Our inmost souls Thy spirit breathe, Of power, of calmness, and of love.

HYMNS OF THE SPIRIT.

I must conclude with a more delightful subject,--my most dear and blessed sister. I never saw a more perfect instance of the spirit of power and of love, and of a sound mind; intense love, almost to the annihilation of selfishness--a daily martyrdom for twenty years, during which she adhered to her early-formed resolution of never talking about herself; thoughtful about the very pins and ribands of my wife's dress, about the making of a doll's cap for a child,--but of herself, save only as regarded her ripening in all goodness, wholly thoughtless; enjoying everything lovely, graceful, beautiful, high-minded, whether in God's works or man's, with the keenest relish; inheriting the earth to the very fulness of the promise, though never leaving her crib, nor changing her posture; and preserved through the very valley of the shadow of death, from all fear or impatience, or from every cloud of impaired reason, which might mar the beauty of Christ's spirit's glorious work.

THOMAS ARNOLD.

August 16

Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.--GAL. vi. 7.

The life above, when this is past, Is the ripe fruit of life below.

Sow love, and taste its fruitage pure; Sow peace, and reap its harvest bright; Sow sunbeams on the rock and moor, And find a harvest-home of light.

H. BONAR.

The dispositions, affections, inclinations of soul, which shall issue hereafter in perfection, must be trained and nurtured in us throughout the whole course of this earthly life. When shall we bear in mind this plain truth, that the future perfection of the saints is not a translation from one state or disposition of soul into another, diverse from the former; but the carrying out, and, as it were, the blossom and the fruitage of one and the same principle of spiritual life, which, through their whole career on earth, has been growing with an even strength, putting itself forth in the beginnings and promise of perfection, reaching upward with steadfast aspirations after perfect holiness?

H. E. MANNING.

August 17

_O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and save the son of Thy handmaid_.--PS. lxxxvi. 16.

Thou art my King-- My King henceforth alone; And I, Thy servant, Lord, am all Thine own. Give me Thy strength; oh! let Thy dwelling be In this poor heart that pants, my Lord, for Thee!

G. TERSTEEGEN.

When it is the one ruling, never-ceasing desire of our hearts, that God may be the beginning and end, the reason and motive, the rule and measure, of our doing or not doing, from morning to night; then everywhere, whether speaking or silent, whether inwardly or outwardly employed, we are equally offered up to the eternal Spirit, have our life in Him and from Him, and are united to Him by that Spirit of Prayer which is the comfort, the support, the strength and security of the soul, travelling, by the help of God, through the vanity of time into the riches of eternity. Let us have no thought or care, but how to be wholly His devoted instruments; everywhere, and in everything, His adoring, joyful, and thankful servants.

WM. LAW.

August 18

_Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God_--I JOHN iii. 21.

O Lord, how happy is the time When in Thy love I rest: When from my weariness I climb E'en to Thy tender breast. The night of sorrow endeth there, Thy rays outshine the sun; And in Thy pardon and Thy care The heaven of heavens is won.

W. C. DESSLER.

Nothing doth so much establish the mind amidst the rollings and turbulency of present things, as both a look above them, and a look beyond them; above them to the good and steady Hand by which they are ruled, and beyond them to the sweet and beautiful end to which, by that Hand, they shall be brought. Study pure and holy walking, if you would have your confidence firm, and have boldness and joy in God. You will find that a little sin will shake your trust and disturb your peace more than the greatest sufferings: yea, in those sufferings, your assurance and joy in God will grow and abound most if sin be kept out. So much sin as gets in, so much peace will go out.

R. LEIGHTON.

August 19

Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path.--PS. xxvii. 11.

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on; The night is dark, and I am far from home, Lead Thou me on. Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene; one step enough for me.

J. H. NEWMAN.

God only is holy; He alone knows how to lead His children in the paths of holiness. He knows every aspect of your soul, every thought of your heart, every secret of your character, its difficulties