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

On the contrary, it is the yielding of our wills without restriction and without choice, to tread cheerfully every day in the path in which Providence leads us, to seek nothing, to be discouraged by nothing, to see our duty in the present moment, to trust all else without reserve to the will and power of God.

FRANÇOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON.

Godliness is the devotion of the soul to God, as to a living person whose will is to be its law, whose love is to be its life. It is the habit of living before the face of God, and not the simply doing certain things.

J. B. BROWN.

October 18

_Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven_.--MATT. v. 20.

The freedom from all wilful sin, The Christian's daily task,-- Oh these are graces far below What longing love would ask! Dole not thy duties out to God.

F. W. FABER.

You perhaps will say that all people fall short of the perfection of the Gospel, and therefore you are content with your failings. But this is saying nothing to the purpose: for the question is not whether Gospel perfection can be fully attained, but whether you come as near it as a sincere intention and careful diligence can carry you. Whether you are not in a much lower state than you might be if you sincerely intended and carefully labored to advance yourself in all Christian virtues.

WM. LAW.

We know not exactly how low the least degree of obedience is, which will bring a man to heaven; but this we are quite sure of, that he who aims no higher will be sure to fall short even of that, and that he who goes farthest beyond it will be most blessed.

JOHN KEBLE.

October 19

_Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go_.--ISA. xlviii. 17.

I seek Thy aid, I ask direction, Teach me to do what pleaseth Thee; I can bear toil, endure affliction, Only Thy leadings let me see.

ANON.

Of all paths a man could strike into, there is, at any given moment, a best path for every man; a thing which, here and now, it were of all things wisest for him to do; which could he but be led or driven to do, he were then doing "like a man," as we phrase it. His success, in such case, were complete, his felicity a maximum. This path, to find this path, and walk in it, is the one thing needful for him.

T. CARLYLE.

Every man has his own vocation. There is one direction in which all space is open to him. He has faculties silently inviting him thither to endless exertion. He is like a ship in a river; he runs against obstructions on every side but one; on that side all obstruction is taken away, and he sweeps serenely over a deepening channel into an infinite sea.

R. W. EMERSON.

October 20

Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.--ROM. xii. 21.

Come, in this accepted hour; Bring Thy heavenly kingdom in; Fill us with Thy glorious power, Rooting out the seeds of sin.

C. WESLEY.

If we wish to overcome evil, we must overcome it by good. There are doubtless many ways of overcoming the evil in our own hearts, but the simplest, easiest, most universal, is to overcome it by active occupation in some good word or work. The best antidote against evil of all kinds, against the evil thoughts which haunt the soul, against the needless perplexities which distract the conscience, is to keep hold of the good we have. Impure thoughts will not stand against pure words, and prayers, and deeds. Little doubts will not avail against great certainties. Fix your affections on things above, and then you will be less and less troubled by the cares, the temptations, the troubles of things on earth.

A. P. STANLEY.

October 21

I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.--GEN. xvii. I.

Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord.--EX. xxxii. 29.

Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days; Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

F. R. HAVERGAL.

I have noticed that wherever there has been a faithful following of the Lord in a consecrated soul, several things have inevitably followed, sooner or later. Meekness and quietness of spirit become in time the characteristics of the daily life. A submissive acceptance of the will of God as it comes in the hourly events of each day; pliability in the hands of God to do or to suffer all the good pleasure of His will; sweetness under provocation; calmness in the midst of turmoil and bustle; yieldingness to the wishes of others, and an insensibility to slights and affronts; absence of worry or anxiety; deliverance from care and fear;--all these, and many similar graces, are invariably found to be the natural outward development of that inward life which is hid with Christ in God.

H. W. SMITH.

October 22

_Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but Thine, be done_.--LUKE xxii. 42.

Just as Thou wilt is just what I would will; Give me but this, the heart to be content, And, if my wish is thwarted, to lie still, Waiting till puzzle and till pain are spent, And the sweet thing made plain which the Lord meant.

SUSAN COOLIDGE.

Let your will be one with His will, and be glad to be disposed of by Him. He will order all things for you. What can cross your will, when it is one with His will, on which all creation hangs, round which all things revolve? Keep your hearts clear of evil thoughts; for as evil choices estrange the will from His will, so evil thoughts cloud the soul, and hide Him from us. Whatever sets us in opposition to Him makes our will an intolerable torment. So long as we will one thing and He another, we go on piercing ourselves through and through with a perpetual wound; and His will advances moving on in sanctity and majesty, crushing ours into the dust.

H. E. MANNING.

October 23

_Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God: Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness_.--PS. cxliii. 10.

The battle of our life is won, And heaven begun, When we can say, "Thy will be done!" But, Lord, until These restless hearts in Thy deep love are still, We pray Thee, "Teach us how to do Thy will!"

LUCY LARCOM.

"You are seeking your own will, my daughter. You are seeking some good other than the law you are bound to obey. But how will you find good? It is not a thing of choice; it is a river that flows from the foot of the Invisible Throne, and flows by the path of obedience. I say again, man cannot choose his duties. You may choose to forsake your duties, and choose not to have the sorrow they bring. But you will go forth, and what will you find, my daughter? Sorrow without duty--bitter herbs, and no bread with them."

GEORGE ELIOT.

However dark and profitless, however painful and weary, existence may have become, life is not done, and our Christian character is not won, so long as God has anything left for us to suffer, or anything left for us to do.

F. W. ROBERTSON.

October 24

_The Lord is my strength, and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him_.--PS. xxviii. 7.

Well may Thy happy children cease From restless wishes, prone to sin, And, in Thy own exceeding peace, Yield to Thy daily discipline.

A. L. WARING.

Talk of hair-cloth shirts, and scourgings, and sleeping on ashes, as means of saintship! There is no need of them in our country. Let a woman once look at her domestic trials as her hair-cloth, her ashes, her scourges,--accept them,--rejoice in them,--smile and be quiet, silent, patient, and loving under them,--and the convent can teach her no more; she is a victorious saint.

H. B. STOWE.

Perhaps it is a greater energy of Divine Providence, which keeps the Christian from day to day, from year to year--praying, hoping, running, believing--against all hindrances--which maintains him as a _living martyr_, than that which bears him up for an hour in sacrificing himself at the stake.

R. CECIL.

October 25

_For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord_.--ROM. viii. 38, 39.

I know not what the future hath Of marvel or surprise, Assured alone that life and death His mercy underlies.

J. G. WHITTIER.

Be of good faith, my dear Friends, look not out at any thing; fear none of those things ye may be exposed to suffer, either outwardly or inwardly; but trust the Lord over all, and your life will spring, and grow, and refresh you, and ye will learn obedience and faithfulness daily more and more, even by your exercises and sufferings; yea, the Lord will teach you the very mystery of faith and obedience; the wisdom, power, love, and goodness of the Lord ordering every thing for you, and ordering your hearts in every thing.

I. PENINGTON.

October 26

Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope.--ZECH. ix. 12.

O power to do; O baffled will! O prayer and action! ye are one. Who may not strive, may yet fulfil The harder task of standing still, And good but wished with God is done.

J. G. WHITTIER.

That God has circumscribed our life may add a peculiar element of trial, but often it defines our way and cuts off many tempting possibilities that perplex the free and the strong; whilst it leaves intact the whole body of spiritual reality, with the Beatitude thereon, "that if we know these things, happy are we if we do them." We know that God orders the lot; and to meet it with the energies it requires and permits, neither more nor less,--to fill it at every available point with the light and action of an earnest and spiritually inventive mind, though its scene be no wider than a sick chamber, and its action narrowed to patient suffering, and gentle, cheerful words, and all the light it can emit the thankful quiet of a trustful eye,--without chafing as though God had misjudged our sphere, and placed us wrong, and did not know where we could best serve Him,--this is what, in that condition, we have to do.

J. H. THOM.

October 27

_Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong_.--2 COR. xii. 10.

Whatever God does is well! In patience let us wait; He doth Himself our burdens bear, He doth for us take care, And He, our God, knows all our weary days. Come, give Him praise.

B.