March 14.

March 14.“We are His workmanship”(Eph. ii. 10).Christ sends us to serve Him, not in our own strength, but in His resources and might.“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them.”We do not have to prepare them; but to wear them as garments, made to order for every occasion of our life.We must receive them by faith and go forth in His work, believing that He is with us, and in us, as our all sufficiency for wisdom, faith, love, prayer, power, and every grace and gift that our work requires. In this work of faith we shall have to feel weak and helpless, and even have little consciousness of power. But if we believe and go forward, He will be the power and send the fruits.The most useful services we render are those which, like the sweet fruits of the wilderness, spring from hours of barrenness.“I will bring her into the wilderness and I will give her vineyards from thence.”Let us learn to work by faith as well as walk by faith, then we shall receive even the end of our faith, the salvation of precious souls, and our lives will bear fruit which shall be manifest throughout all eternity.[pg 080]March 15.“Continue ye in My love”(John xv. 9).Many atmospheres there are in which we may live. Some people live in an atmosphere of thought. Their faces are thoughtful, minds intellectual. They live in their ideas, their conceptions of truth, their tastes, and esthetic nature. Some people, again, live in their animal nature, in the lusts of the flesh and eye, the coarse, low atmosphere of a sensuous life, or something worse. Some, again, live in a world of duty. The predominating feature of their life is conscience, and it carries with it a certain shadowy fear that takes away the simple freedom and gladness of life, but there is a rectitude, and uprightness, a strictness of purpose, and of conduct which cannot be gainsaid or questioned.But Christ bids us live in an atmosphere of love.“As My Father has loved Me, so have I loved you; continue ye in My love.”In the original it is,“Live in My love.”Love is the atmosphere that He would have us ever live in, that is, believing that He ever loves us, and claiming His sweet approval and tender regard. This is a life of love.[pg 081]March 16.“The Lord will give grace and glory”(Ps. lxxxiv. 11).The Lord will give grace and glory. This wordgloryis very difficult to translate, define and explain; but there is something in the spiritual consciousness of the quickened Christian that interprets it. It is the overflow of grace; it is the wine of life; it is the foretaste of heaven; it is a flash from the Throne and an inspiration from the heart of God which we may have and in which we may live.“The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them,”the Master prayed for us. Let us take it and live in it. David used to say,“Wake up my glory.”Ask God to wake up your glory and enable you to mount up with wings as eagles, to dwell on high and sit with Christ in the heavenly places.Mounting up with wings as eagles,Waiting on the Lord we rise,Strength exchanging, life renewing,How our spirit heavenward flies.Then our springing feet returning,Tread the pathway of the saint,We shall run and not be weary,We shall walk and never faint.[pg 082]March 17.“He hath remembered His covenant forever”(Ps. cv. 8).So long as you struggle under law, that is by your own effort, sin shall have dominion over you: but the moment you step from under the shadow of Sinai, throw yourself upon the simple grace of Christ and His free and absolute gift of righteousness, and take Him to be to you what He has pledged Himself to be, your righteousness of thought and feeling, and to keep you in spite of everything, that ever can be against you, in His perfect will and peace, the struggle is practically over. Beloved, do you really know and believe that this is the very promise of the Gospel, the very essence of the new covenant, that Christ pledges Himself to put His law in your heart, and to cause you to walk in His statutes, and to keep His judgments and do them? Do you know that this is the oath which He sware unto Abraham, that He would grant unto us.“That we being delivered from the hands of our enemies, and from all that hate us, might serve Him without fear, in righteousness and holiness before Him all the days of our life.”He has sworn to do this for you, and He is faithful, that promised. Trust Him ever.[pg 083]March 18.“Neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling”(Ps. xci. 10).We know what it is to be fireproof, to be waterproof: but it is a greater thing to be proof against sin. It is possible to be so filled with the Spirit and presence of Jesus that all the shafts of the enemy glance off our heavenly armor; that all the burrs and thistles which grow on the wayside fail to stick to our heavenly robes; that all the noxious vapors of the pit disappear before the warm breath of the Holy Ghost, and we walk with a charmed life even through the valley of the shadow of death. The red hot iron repels the water that touches it, and the fingers that would trifle with it: and, if we are on fire with the Holy Ghost, Satan will keep his fingers off us, and the cold water that he pours over us will roll off and leave us unharmed:“for He that was begotten of God keepeth us, and that wicked one toucheth us not.”It is said that before going into a malarious region, it is well to fortify the system with nourishing food. So we should be fed and filled by the life of Christ in such a way that the evil does not really touch our life.[pg 084]March 19.“Launch out into the deep”(Luke v. 4).Many difficulties and perplexities in connection with our Christian life might be best settled by a simple and bold decision of our will to go forward with the light we have and leave the speculations and theories that we cannot decide for further settlement. What we need is to act, and to act with the best light we have, and as we step out into the present duty and full obedience, many things will be made plain which it is no use waiting to decide.Beloved, cut the Gordian knot, like Alexander, with the sword of decision. Launch out into the deep with a bold plunge, and Christ will settle for you all the questions that you are now debating, and more probably show you their insignificance, and let you see that the only way to settle them is to overleap them. They are Satan's petty snares to waste your time and keep you halting when you should be marching on.The mercy of God is an ocean divine,A boundless and fathomless flood;Launch out in the deep, cut away the shore line,And be lost in the fulness of God.[pg 085]March 20.“They which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life”(Rom. v. 17).Precious souls sometimes fight tremendous battles in order to attain to righteousness in trying places. Perhaps the heart has become wrong in some matter where temptation has been allowed to overcome, or at least to turn it aside from its singleness unto God; and the conflict is a terrible one as it seeks to adjust itself and be right with God, and finds itself baffled by its own spiritual foes, and its own helplessness, perplexity and perversity. How dark and dreary the struggle, and how helpless and ineffectual it often seems at such times! It is almost sure to strive in the spirit of the law, and the result always is, and must ever be, condemnation and failure. Every disobedience is met by a blow of wrath, and discouragement, and it well nigh sinks to despair. Oh, if the tempted and struggling one could only understand or remember what perhaps he has learned before, that Christ is our righteousness, and that it is not by law but by grace alone,“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”That is the secret of the whole battle.[pg 086]March 21.“Casting all your care upon Him”(I. Peter v. 7).Some things there are that God will not tolerate in us. We must leave them. Nehemiah would not talk with Sanballat about his charges and fears, but simply refused to have anything to do with the matter—even to go into the temple and pray about it. How very few things we really have to do with in life. If we would only drop all the needless things and simply do the things that absolutely touch and require our attention from morning till night, we would find what a small slender thread life was; but we string upon it a thousand imaginary beads that never come, and burden ourselves with cares and flurries that if we had trusted more, would never have needed to preoccupy our attention. Wise indeed was the testimony of the dear old saint who said, in review of her past life,“I have had a great many troubles in my life, especially those that never came.”Trust and rest with heart abiding,Like a birdling in its nest,Underneath His feathers hiding,Fold thy wings and trust and rest.Trust and rest, trust and rest,God is working for the best.[pg 087]March 22.“Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end”(Heb. iii. 6).The attitude of faith is simple trust. It is Elijah saying to Ahab,“There is a sound of abundance of rain.”But then there comes usually a deeper experience in which the prayer is inwrought; it is Elijah on the mount, with his face between his knees, travailing, as it were, in birth for the promised blessing. He has believed for it—and now he must take. The first is Joash shooting the arrow out of the windows, but the second is Joash smiting on the ground and following up his faith by perseverance and victorious testing.It is in this latter place that many of us come short. We ask much from God, and when God proceeds to give it to us we are not found equal to His expectation. We are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, and trust Him through it all.Fainting soldier of the Lord,Hear His sweet inspiring word,“I have conquered all thy foes.I have suffered all thy woes;Struggling soldier, trust in Me,I have overcome for thee.”[pg 088]March 23.“He is a new creature”(II. Cor. v. 17).Resurrected, not raised. There is so much in this distinction. The teaching of human philosophy is that we are to raise humanity to a higher plane. This is not the Gospel. On the contrary, the teaching of the cross is that humanity must die and sink out of sight and then be resurrected, not raised. Resurrection is not improvement. It is not elevation, but it is a new supernatural life lifting us from nothingness into God and making us partakers of the Divine nature. It is a new creation. It is an infinite elevation above the highest plane. Let us not take less than resurrection life.I am crucified with Jesus,And the cross has set me free;I have ris'n again with Jesus,And He lives and reigns in me.This the story of the Master,Through the cross He reached the throne,And like Him our path to glory,Ever leads through death alone.Lord, teach me the death-born life. Lord, let me live in the power of Thy resurrection![pg 089]March 24.“And again I say, rejoice”(Phil. iv. 4).It is a good thing to rejoice in the Lord. Perhaps you found the first dose ineffectual. Keep on with your medicine, and when you cannot feel any joy, when there is no spring, and no seeming comfort and encouragement, still rejoice, and count it all joy. Even when you fall into divers temptations, reckon it joy, and delight, and God will make your reckoning good. Do you suppose your Father will let you carry the banner of His victory and His gladness on to the front of the battle, and then coolly stand back and see you captured or beaten back by the enemy? Never! the Holy Spirit will sustain you in your bold advance, and fill your heart with gladness and praise, and you will find your heart all exhilarated and refreshed by the fulness of the heart within.Lord, teach me to rejoice in Thee, and to rejoice evermore.The joy of the Lord is the strength of His people.The sunshine that scatters their sadness and gloom;The fountain that bursts in the desert of sorrow,And sheds o'er the wilderness, gladness and bloom.[pg 090]March 25.“The beauty of holiness”(Ps. xxix. 2).Some one remarked once that he did not know more disagreeable people than sanctified Christians. He probably meant people that only profess sanctification. There is an angular, hard, unlovely type of Christian character that is not true holiness; at least, not the highest type of it. It is the skeleton without the flesh covering; it is the naked rock without the vines and foliage that cushion its rugged sides. Jesus was not only virtuous and pure, but He was also beautiful and full of the sweet attractiveness of love.We read of two kinds of graces: First,“Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely and of good report.”There are a thousand little graces in Christian life that we cannot afford to ignore. In fact, the last stages in any work of art are always the finishing touches; and so let us not wonder if God shall spend a great deal of time in teaching us the little things that many might consider trifles.God would have His Bride without a spot or even a wrinkle.[pg 091]March 26.“Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith”(Heb. xii. 2).Add to your faith—do not add to yourself. This is where we make the mistake. We must not only enter by faith, but we must advance by faith each step of the way. At every new stage we shall find ourselves as incompetent and unequal for the pressure as before, and we must take the grace and the victory simply by faith. Is it courage? We shall find ourselves lacking in the needed courage; we must claim it by faith. Is it love? Our own love will be inadequate; but we must take His love, and we shall find it given. Is it faith itself? We must have the faith of God, and Christ in us will be the spirit of faith, as well as the blessing that faith claims. So our whole life from beginning to end, is but Christ in us—in the exceeding riches of His grace; and our everlasting song will be: Not I; but Christ who liveth in me.'Tis so sweet to walk with Jesus,Step by step and day by day;Stepping in His very footprints,Walking with Him all the way.[pg 092]March 27.“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee”(Ps. lvi. 3).We shall never forget a remark Mr. George Mueller once made in answer to a gentleman who asked him the best way to have strong faith.“The only way,”replied the patriarch of faith,“to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.”This is very true. The time to trust is when all else fails. Dear one, if you scarcely realize the value of your present opportunity, if you are passing through great afflictions, you are in the very soul of the strongest faith, and if you will only let go, He will teach you in these hours the mightiest hold upon this throne which you can ever know.“Be not afraid, only believe”; and if you are afraid, just look up and say,“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee,”and you will yet thank God for the school of sorrow which was to you the school of faith.O brother, give heed to the warning,And obey His voice to-day.The Spirit to thee is calling,O do not grieve Him away.[pg 093]March 28.“The fruit of the Spirit is all goodness”(Gal. v. 22).Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit. Goodness is just“Godness.”It is to be like God. And God-like goodness has special reference to the active benevolence of God. The apostle gives us the difference between goodness and righteousness in this passage in Romans,“Scarcely for a righteous man would one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.”The righteous man is the man of stiff, inflexible uprightness; but he may be as hard as a granite mountain side. The good man is that mountain side all covered with velvet moss and flowers, and flowing with cascades and springs. Goodness respects“whatsoever things are lovely.”It is kindness, affectionateness, benevolence, sympathy, rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and weeping with them that weep. Lord, fill us with Thyself, and let us be God-men and good men, and so represent Thy goodness.There are lonely hearts to cherish,While the days are going by;There are weary souls who perish,While the days are going by.[pg 094]March 29.“He will keep the feet of His saints”(I. Sam. ii. 9).Perils as well as privileges attend the higher Christian life. The nearer we come to God, the thicker the hosts of darkness in heavenly places. The safe place lies in obedience to God's Word, singleness of heart, and holy vigilance.When Christians speak of standing in a place where they do not need to watch, they are in great danger. Let us walk in sweet and holy confidence, and yet with holy, humble watchfulness, and“He will keep the feet of His saints.”And“now unto Him who is able to keep us from stumbling, and present us faultless before the presence of His glory, to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory, and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”What to do we often wonder,As we seek some watchword true,Lo, the answer God has given,What would Jesus do?When the shafts of fierce temptation,With their fiery darts pursue,This will be your heavenly armor,What would Jesus do?[pg 095]March 30.“I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth”(III. John 2).In the way of righteousness is life and in the pathway thereof is no death. That is the secret of healing. Be right with God. Keep so. Live in the consciousness of it, and nothing can hurt you. Off from the breastplate of righteousness will glance all of the fiery darts of the devil, and faith be stronger for every fierce assault. How true it is,“Who is he that shall harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?”And how true also,“Holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away, concerning faith, have made shipwreck.”And yet again,“If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt keep all His statutes and commandments, I will put none of these diseases upon thee that I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee.”There's a question God is askingEvery conscience in His sight,Let it search thine inmost being,Is it right with God, all right?[pg 096]March 31.“What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them”(Mark xi. 24).Faith is not working up by will power a sort of certainty that something is coming to pass, but it is seeing as an actual fact that God has said that this thing shall come to pass, and that it is true, and then rejoicing to know that it is true, and just resting and entering into it because God has said it. Faith turns the promise into a prophecy. While it is merely a promise it is contingent upon our co-operation; it may or may not be. But when faith claims it, it becomes a prophecy and we go forth feeling that it is something that must be done because God cannot lie.Faith is the answer from the throne saying,“It is done.”Faith is the echo of God's voice. Let us catch it from on high. Let us repeat it, and go out to triumph in its glorious power.Hear the answer from the throne,Claim the promise, doubting one,God hath spoken,“It is done.”Faith hath answered,“It is done”;Prayer is over, praise begun,Hallelujah! It is done.[pg 097]April 1.“Vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory”(Rom. ix. 23).Our Father is fitting us for eternity. A vessel fitted for the kitchen will find itself in the kitchen. A vessel for the art gallery or the reception room will generally find itself there at last.What are you getting fitted for? To be a slop-pail to hold all the stuff that people pour into your ears, or a vase to hold sweet fragrance and flowers for the King's palace and a harp of many strings that sounds the melodies and harmonies of His love and praise? Each one of us is going to his own place. Let us get fitted now.The days of heaven are Christly days,The Light of Heaven is He;So walking at His side, our daysAs the days of heaven would be.The days of heaven are endless days—Days of eternity;So may our lives and works endureWhile the days of heaven shall be.Walk with us, Lord, through all the days,And let us walk with Thee;'Til as Thy will is done in heaven,On earth so shall it be.[pg 098]April 2.“He shall dwell on high”(Isa. xxxiii. 16).It is easier for a consecrated Christian to live an out and out life for God than to live a mixed life. A soul redeemed and sanctified by Christ is too large for the shoals and sands of a selfish, worldly, sinful life. The great steamship, St. Paul, could sail in deep water without an effort, but she could make no progress in the shallow pool, or on the Long Branch sands; the smallest tugboat is worth a dozen of her there; but out in mid-ocean she could distance them in an hour.Beloved, your life is too large, too glorious, too divine for the small place that you are trying to live in. Your purpose is too petty; arise and dwell on high in the resurrection life of Jesus, and the inspiring hope of His blessed coming.Rise with thy risen Lord,Ascend with Christ above,And in the heavenlies walk with Him,Whom seeing not, you love.Walk as a heavenly race,Princes of royal blood;Walk as the children of the light,The sons and heirs of God.[pg 099]April 3.“My expectation is from Him”(Ps. lxii. 5).When we believe for a blessing, we must take the attitude of faith, and begin to act and pray as if we had our blessing. We must treat God as if He had given us our request. We must lean our weight over upon Him for the thing that we have claimed, and just take it for granted that He gives it, and is going to continue to give it. This is the attitude of trust. When the wife is married, she at once falls into a new attitude, and acts in accordance with the fact, and so when we take Christ as a Saviour, as a Sanctifier, as a Healer, or as a Deliverer, He expects us to fall into the attitude of recognizing Him in the capacity that we have claimed, and expect Him to be to us all that we have trusted Him for.You may bring Him ev'ry care and burden,You may tell Him ev'ry need in pray'r,You may trust Him for the darkest moment,He is caring, wherefore need you care?Faith can never reach its consummation,'Til the victor's thankful song we raise:In the glorious city of salvation,God has told us all the gates are praise.[pg 100]April 4.“Resist the devil and he will flee”(James iv. 7).Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. This is a promise, and God will keep it to us. If we resist the adversary, He will compel him to flee, and will give us the victory. We can, at all times, fearlessly stand up in defiance, in resistance to the enemy, and claim the protection of our heavenly King just as a citizen would claim the protection of the government against an outrage or injustice on the part of violent men. At the same time we are not to stand on the adversary's ground anywhere by any attitude or disobedience, or we give him a terrible power over us, which, while God will restrain in great mercy and kindness, He will not fully remove until we get fully on holy ground. Therefore, we must be armed with the breastplate of righteousness, as well as the shield of faith, if we would successfully resist the prince of darkness and the principalities in heavenly places.Your full redemption rightsWith holy boldness claim,And to the utmost fulness proveThe power of Jesus' name.[pg 101]April 5.“Many shall be purified and made white and tried”(Dan. xii. 10).This is the promise for the Lord's coming. It is more than purity. It is to be made white, lustrous, or bright. To be purified is to have the sin burned out; to be made white is to have the glory of the Lord burned in. The one is cleansing, the other is illumination and glorification. The Lord has both for us, but in order for us to have both, we must be put into the fire to be tried, and to be led into difficult and peculiar places where Christ shall be more to us because of the very extremity of the situation. We are approaching these days. Indeed, they are already around us, and they are the precursors of the Lord's coming.Blessed is he that keepeth his garments lest he walk naked.There are voices in the air, filling men with hope and fear;There are signals everywhere that the end is drawing near,There are warnings to prepare, for the King will soon be here;O it must be the coming of the Lord![pg 102]April 6.“As we have many members in one body, so we being many are one body in Christ”(Rom. xii. 4, 5).Sometimes our communion with God is cut off, or interrupted because of something wrong with a brother, or some lack of unity in the body of Christ. We try to get at the Lord, but we cannot, because we are separated from some member of the Lord's body, or because there is not the freedom of His love flowing through every organic part. It does not need a blow upon the head to paralyze the brain; a blow upon some nerve may do it; or a wound in some artery at the extremities may be fatal to the heart. Therefore we must stand right with all His children, and meet in the body of Christ in the sweetest, fullest fellowship, if we would keep our perfect communion with Christ Himself. Sometimes we will find that an altered attitude to one Christian will bring us into the flood-tides of the Holy Ghost. It seems impossible to have faith without love, or to have Christ alone without the fulness of fellowship with all His dear saints; and if one member suffer, all suffer together, and if one rejoice, all are blessed in common.[pg 103]

“We are His workmanship”(Eph. ii. 10).

Christ sends us to serve Him, not in our own strength, but in His resources and might.“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them.”We do not have to prepare them; but to wear them as garments, made to order for every occasion of our life.

We must receive them by faith and go forth in His work, believing that He is with us, and in us, as our all sufficiency for wisdom, faith, love, prayer, power, and every grace and gift that our work requires. In this work of faith we shall have to feel weak and helpless, and even have little consciousness of power. But if we believe and go forward, He will be the power and send the fruits.

The most useful services we render are those which, like the sweet fruits of the wilderness, spring from hours of barrenness.“I will bring her into the wilderness and I will give her vineyards from thence.”Let us learn to work by faith as well as walk by faith, then we shall receive even the end of our faith, the salvation of precious souls, and our lives will bear fruit which shall be manifest throughout all eternity.

March 15.“Continue ye in My love”(John xv. 9).Many atmospheres there are in which we may live. Some people live in an atmosphere of thought. Their faces are thoughtful, minds intellectual. They live in their ideas, their conceptions of truth, their tastes, and esthetic nature. Some people, again, live in their animal nature, in the lusts of the flesh and eye, the coarse, low atmosphere of a sensuous life, or something worse. Some, again, live in a world of duty. The predominating feature of their life is conscience, and it carries with it a certain shadowy fear that takes away the simple freedom and gladness of life, but there is a rectitude, and uprightness, a strictness of purpose, and of conduct which cannot be gainsaid or questioned.But Christ bids us live in an atmosphere of love.“As My Father has loved Me, so have I loved you; continue ye in My love.”In the original it is,“Live in My love.”Love is the atmosphere that He would have us ever live in, that is, believing that He ever loves us, and claiming His sweet approval and tender regard. This is a life of love.

“Continue ye in My love”(John xv. 9).

Many atmospheres there are in which we may live. Some people live in an atmosphere of thought. Their faces are thoughtful, minds intellectual. They live in their ideas, their conceptions of truth, their tastes, and esthetic nature. Some people, again, live in their animal nature, in the lusts of the flesh and eye, the coarse, low atmosphere of a sensuous life, or something worse. Some, again, live in a world of duty. The predominating feature of their life is conscience, and it carries with it a certain shadowy fear that takes away the simple freedom and gladness of life, but there is a rectitude, and uprightness, a strictness of purpose, and of conduct which cannot be gainsaid or questioned.

But Christ bids us live in an atmosphere of love.“As My Father has loved Me, so have I loved you; continue ye in My love.”In the original it is,“Live in My love.”Love is the atmosphere that He would have us ever live in, that is, believing that He ever loves us, and claiming His sweet approval and tender regard. This is a life of love.

March 16.“The Lord will give grace and glory”(Ps. lxxxiv. 11).The Lord will give grace and glory. This wordgloryis very difficult to translate, define and explain; but there is something in the spiritual consciousness of the quickened Christian that interprets it. It is the overflow of grace; it is the wine of life; it is the foretaste of heaven; it is a flash from the Throne and an inspiration from the heart of God which we may have and in which we may live.“The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them,”the Master prayed for us. Let us take it and live in it. David used to say,“Wake up my glory.”Ask God to wake up your glory and enable you to mount up with wings as eagles, to dwell on high and sit with Christ in the heavenly places.Mounting up with wings as eagles,Waiting on the Lord we rise,Strength exchanging, life renewing,How our spirit heavenward flies.Then our springing feet returning,Tread the pathway of the saint,We shall run and not be weary,We shall walk and never faint.

“The Lord will give grace and glory”(Ps. lxxxiv. 11).

The Lord will give grace and glory. This wordgloryis very difficult to translate, define and explain; but there is something in the spiritual consciousness of the quickened Christian that interprets it. It is the overflow of grace; it is the wine of life; it is the foretaste of heaven; it is a flash from the Throne and an inspiration from the heart of God which we may have and in which we may live.“The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them,”the Master prayed for us. Let us take it and live in it. David used to say,“Wake up my glory.”Ask God to wake up your glory and enable you to mount up with wings as eagles, to dwell on high and sit with Christ in the heavenly places.

Mounting up with wings as eagles,Waiting on the Lord we rise,Strength exchanging, life renewing,How our spirit heavenward flies.Then our springing feet returning,Tread the pathway of the saint,We shall run and not be weary,We shall walk and never faint.

Mounting up with wings as eagles,

Waiting on the Lord we rise,

Strength exchanging, life renewing,

How our spirit heavenward flies.

Then our springing feet returning,

Tread the pathway of the saint,

We shall run and not be weary,

We shall walk and never faint.

March 17.“He hath remembered His covenant forever”(Ps. cv. 8).So long as you struggle under law, that is by your own effort, sin shall have dominion over you: but the moment you step from under the shadow of Sinai, throw yourself upon the simple grace of Christ and His free and absolute gift of righteousness, and take Him to be to you what He has pledged Himself to be, your righteousness of thought and feeling, and to keep you in spite of everything, that ever can be against you, in His perfect will and peace, the struggle is practically over. Beloved, do you really know and believe that this is the very promise of the Gospel, the very essence of the new covenant, that Christ pledges Himself to put His law in your heart, and to cause you to walk in His statutes, and to keep His judgments and do them? Do you know that this is the oath which He sware unto Abraham, that He would grant unto us.“That we being delivered from the hands of our enemies, and from all that hate us, might serve Him without fear, in righteousness and holiness before Him all the days of our life.”He has sworn to do this for you, and He is faithful, that promised. Trust Him ever.

“He hath remembered His covenant forever”(Ps. cv. 8).

So long as you struggle under law, that is by your own effort, sin shall have dominion over you: but the moment you step from under the shadow of Sinai, throw yourself upon the simple grace of Christ and His free and absolute gift of righteousness, and take Him to be to you what He has pledged Himself to be, your righteousness of thought and feeling, and to keep you in spite of everything, that ever can be against you, in His perfect will and peace, the struggle is practically over. Beloved, do you really know and believe that this is the very promise of the Gospel, the very essence of the new covenant, that Christ pledges Himself to put His law in your heart, and to cause you to walk in His statutes, and to keep His judgments and do them? Do you know that this is the oath which He sware unto Abraham, that He would grant unto us.“That we being delivered from the hands of our enemies, and from all that hate us, might serve Him without fear, in righteousness and holiness before Him all the days of our life.”He has sworn to do this for you, and He is faithful, that promised. Trust Him ever.

March 18.“Neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling”(Ps. xci. 10).We know what it is to be fireproof, to be waterproof: but it is a greater thing to be proof against sin. It is possible to be so filled with the Spirit and presence of Jesus that all the shafts of the enemy glance off our heavenly armor; that all the burrs and thistles which grow on the wayside fail to stick to our heavenly robes; that all the noxious vapors of the pit disappear before the warm breath of the Holy Ghost, and we walk with a charmed life even through the valley of the shadow of death. The red hot iron repels the water that touches it, and the fingers that would trifle with it: and, if we are on fire with the Holy Ghost, Satan will keep his fingers off us, and the cold water that he pours over us will roll off and leave us unharmed:“for He that was begotten of God keepeth us, and that wicked one toucheth us not.”It is said that before going into a malarious region, it is well to fortify the system with nourishing food. So we should be fed and filled by the life of Christ in such a way that the evil does not really touch our life.

“Neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling”(Ps. xci. 10).

We know what it is to be fireproof, to be waterproof: but it is a greater thing to be proof against sin. It is possible to be so filled with the Spirit and presence of Jesus that all the shafts of the enemy glance off our heavenly armor; that all the burrs and thistles which grow on the wayside fail to stick to our heavenly robes; that all the noxious vapors of the pit disappear before the warm breath of the Holy Ghost, and we walk with a charmed life even through the valley of the shadow of death. The red hot iron repels the water that touches it, and the fingers that would trifle with it: and, if we are on fire with the Holy Ghost, Satan will keep his fingers off us, and the cold water that he pours over us will roll off and leave us unharmed:“for He that was begotten of God keepeth us, and that wicked one toucheth us not.”

It is said that before going into a malarious region, it is well to fortify the system with nourishing food. So we should be fed and filled by the life of Christ in such a way that the evil does not really touch our life.

March 19.“Launch out into the deep”(Luke v. 4).Many difficulties and perplexities in connection with our Christian life might be best settled by a simple and bold decision of our will to go forward with the light we have and leave the speculations and theories that we cannot decide for further settlement. What we need is to act, and to act with the best light we have, and as we step out into the present duty and full obedience, many things will be made plain which it is no use waiting to decide.Beloved, cut the Gordian knot, like Alexander, with the sword of decision. Launch out into the deep with a bold plunge, and Christ will settle for you all the questions that you are now debating, and more probably show you their insignificance, and let you see that the only way to settle them is to overleap them. They are Satan's petty snares to waste your time and keep you halting when you should be marching on.The mercy of God is an ocean divine,A boundless and fathomless flood;Launch out in the deep, cut away the shore line,And be lost in the fulness of God.

“Launch out into the deep”(Luke v. 4).

Many difficulties and perplexities in connection with our Christian life might be best settled by a simple and bold decision of our will to go forward with the light we have and leave the speculations and theories that we cannot decide for further settlement. What we need is to act, and to act with the best light we have, and as we step out into the present duty and full obedience, many things will be made plain which it is no use waiting to decide.

Beloved, cut the Gordian knot, like Alexander, with the sword of decision. Launch out into the deep with a bold plunge, and Christ will settle for you all the questions that you are now debating, and more probably show you their insignificance, and let you see that the only way to settle them is to overleap them. They are Satan's petty snares to waste your time and keep you halting when you should be marching on.

The mercy of God is an ocean divine,A boundless and fathomless flood;Launch out in the deep, cut away the shore line,And be lost in the fulness of God.

The mercy of God is an ocean divine,

A boundless and fathomless flood;

Launch out in the deep, cut away the shore line,

And be lost in the fulness of God.

March 20.“They which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life”(Rom. v. 17).Precious souls sometimes fight tremendous battles in order to attain to righteousness in trying places. Perhaps the heart has become wrong in some matter where temptation has been allowed to overcome, or at least to turn it aside from its singleness unto God; and the conflict is a terrible one as it seeks to adjust itself and be right with God, and finds itself baffled by its own spiritual foes, and its own helplessness, perplexity and perversity. How dark and dreary the struggle, and how helpless and ineffectual it often seems at such times! It is almost sure to strive in the spirit of the law, and the result always is, and must ever be, condemnation and failure. Every disobedience is met by a blow of wrath, and discouragement, and it well nigh sinks to despair. Oh, if the tempted and struggling one could only understand or remember what perhaps he has learned before, that Christ is our righteousness, and that it is not by law but by grace alone,“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”That is the secret of the whole battle.

“They which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life”(Rom. v. 17).

Precious souls sometimes fight tremendous battles in order to attain to righteousness in trying places. Perhaps the heart has become wrong in some matter where temptation has been allowed to overcome, or at least to turn it aside from its singleness unto God; and the conflict is a terrible one as it seeks to adjust itself and be right with God, and finds itself baffled by its own spiritual foes, and its own helplessness, perplexity and perversity. How dark and dreary the struggle, and how helpless and ineffectual it often seems at such times! It is almost sure to strive in the spirit of the law, and the result always is, and must ever be, condemnation and failure. Every disobedience is met by a blow of wrath, and discouragement, and it well nigh sinks to despair. Oh, if the tempted and struggling one could only understand or remember what perhaps he has learned before, that Christ is our righteousness, and that it is not by law but by grace alone,“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”That is the secret of the whole battle.

March 21.“Casting all your care upon Him”(I. Peter v. 7).Some things there are that God will not tolerate in us. We must leave them. Nehemiah would not talk with Sanballat about his charges and fears, but simply refused to have anything to do with the matter—even to go into the temple and pray about it. How very few things we really have to do with in life. If we would only drop all the needless things and simply do the things that absolutely touch and require our attention from morning till night, we would find what a small slender thread life was; but we string upon it a thousand imaginary beads that never come, and burden ourselves with cares and flurries that if we had trusted more, would never have needed to preoccupy our attention. Wise indeed was the testimony of the dear old saint who said, in review of her past life,“I have had a great many troubles in my life, especially those that never came.”Trust and rest with heart abiding,Like a birdling in its nest,Underneath His feathers hiding,Fold thy wings and trust and rest.Trust and rest, trust and rest,God is working for the best.

“Casting all your care upon Him”(I. Peter v. 7).

Some things there are that God will not tolerate in us. We must leave them. Nehemiah would not talk with Sanballat about his charges and fears, but simply refused to have anything to do with the matter—even to go into the temple and pray about it. How very few things we really have to do with in life. If we would only drop all the needless things and simply do the things that absolutely touch and require our attention from morning till night, we would find what a small slender thread life was; but we string upon it a thousand imaginary beads that never come, and burden ourselves with cares and flurries that if we had trusted more, would never have needed to preoccupy our attention. Wise indeed was the testimony of the dear old saint who said, in review of her past life,“I have had a great many troubles in my life, especially those that never came.”

Trust and rest with heart abiding,Like a birdling in its nest,Underneath His feathers hiding,Fold thy wings and trust and rest.Trust and rest, trust and rest,God is working for the best.

Trust and rest with heart abiding,

Like a birdling in its nest,

Underneath His feathers hiding,

Fold thy wings and trust and rest.

Trust and rest, trust and rest,

God is working for the best.

March 22.“Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end”(Heb. iii. 6).The attitude of faith is simple trust. It is Elijah saying to Ahab,“There is a sound of abundance of rain.”But then there comes usually a deeper experience in which the prayer is inwrought; it is Elijah on the mount, with his face between his knees, travailing, as it were, in birth for the promised blessing. He has believed for it—and now he must take. The first is Joash shooting the arrow out of the windows, but the second is Joash smiting on the ground and following up his faith by perseverance and victorious testing.It is in this latter place that many of us come short. We ask much from God, and when God proceeds to give it to us we are not found equal to His expectation. We are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, and trust Him through it all.Fainting soldier of the Lord,Hear His sweet inspiring word,“I have conquered all thy foes.I have suffered all thy woes;Struggling soldier, trust in Me,I have overcome for thee.”

“Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end”(Heb. iii. 6).

The attitude of faith is simple trust. It is Elijah saying to Ahab,“There is a sound of abundance of rain.”But then there comes usually a deeper experience in which the prayer is inwrought; it is Elijah on the mount, with his face between his knees, travailing, as it were, in birth for the promised blessing. He has believed for it—and now he must take. The first is Joash shooting the arrow out of the windows, but the second is Joash smiting on the ground and following up his faith by perseverance and victorious testing.

It is in this latter place that many of us come short. We ask much from God, and when God proceeds to give it to us we are not found equal to His expectation. We are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, and trust Him through it all.

Fainting soldier of the Lord,Hear His sweet inspiring word,“I have conquered all thy foes.I have suffered all thy woes;Struggling soldier, trust in Me,I have overcome for thee.”

Fainting soldier of the Lord,

Hear His sweet inspiring word,

“I have conquered all thy foes.

I have suffered all thy woes;

Struggling soldier, trust in Me,

I have overcome for thee.”

March 23.“He is a new creature”(II. Cor. v. 17).Resurrected, not raised. There is so much in this distinction. The teaching of human philosophy is that we are to raise humanity to a higher plane. This is not the Gospel. On the contrary, the teaching of the cross is that humanity must die and sink out of sight and then be resurrected, not raised. Resurrection is not improvement. It is not elevation, but it is a new supernatural life lifting us from nothingness into God and making us partakers of the Divine nature. It is a new creation. It is an infinite elevation above the highest plane. Let us not take less than resurrection life.I am crucified with Jesus,And the cross has set me free;I have ris'n again with Jesus,And He lives and reigns in me.This the story of the Master,Through the cross He reached the throne,And like Him our path to glory,Ever leads through death alone.Lord, teach me the death-born life. Lord, let me live in the power of Thy resurrection!

“He is a new creature”(II. Cor. v. 17).

Resurrected, not raised. There is so much in this distinction. The teaching of human philosophy is that we are to raise humanity to a higher plane. This is not the Gospel. On the contrary, the teaching of the cross is that humanity must die and sink out of sight and then be resurrected, not raised. Resurrection is not improvement. It is not elevation, but it is a new supernatural life lifting us from nothingness into God and making us partakers of the Divine nature. It is a new creation. It is an infinite elevation above the highest plane. Let us not take less than resurrection life.

I am crucified with Jesus,And the cross has set me free;I have ris'n again with Jesus,And He lives and reigns in me.

I am crucified with Jesus,

And the cross has set me free;

I have ris'n again with Jesus,

And He lives and reigns in me.

This the story of the Master,Through the cross He reached the throne,And like Him our path to glory,Ever leads through death alone.

This the story of the Master,

Through the cross He reached the throne,

And like Him our path to glory,

Ever leads through death alone.

Lord, teach me the death-born life. Lord, let me live in the power of Thy resurrection!

March 24.“And again I say, rejoice”(Phil. iv. 4).It is a good thing to rejoice in the Lord. Perhaps you found the first dose ineffectual. Keep on with your medicine, and when you cannot feel any joy, when there is no spring, and no seeming comfort and encouragement, still rejoice, and count it all joy. Even when you fall into divers temptations, reckon it joy, and delight, and God will make your reckoning good. Do you suppose your Father will let you carry the banner of His victory and His gladness on to the front of the battle, and then coolly stand back and see you captured or beaten back by the enemy? Never! the Holy Spirit will sustain you in your bold advance, and fill your heart with gladness and praise, and you will find your heart all exhilarated and refreshed by the fulness of the heart within.Lord, teach me to rejoice in Thee, and to rejoice evermore.The joy of the Lord is the strength of His people.The sunshine that scatters their sadness and gloom;The fountain that bursts in the desert of sorrow,And sheds o'er the wilderness, gladness and bloom.

“And again I say, rejoice”(Phil. iv. 4).

It is a good thing to rejoice in the Lord. Perhaps you found the first dose ineffectual. Keep on with your medicine, and when you cannot feel any joy, when there is no spring, and no seeming comfort and encouragement, still rejoice, and count it all joy. Even when you fall into divers temptations, reckon it joy, and delight, and God will make your reckoning good. Do you suppose your Father will let you carry the banner of His victory and His gladness on to the front of the battle, and then coolly stand back and see you captured or beaten back by the enemy? Never! the Holy Spirit will sustain you in your bold advance, and fill your heart with gladness and praise, and you will find your heart all exhilarated and refreshed by the fulness of the heart within.

Lord, teach me to rejoice in Thee, and to rejoice evermore.

The joy of the Lord is the strength of His people.The sunshine that scatters their sadness and gloom;The fountain that bursts in the desert of sorrow,And sheds o'er the wilderness, gladness and bloom.

The joy of the Lord is the strength of His people.

The sunshine that scatters their sadness and gloom;

The fountain that bursts in the desert of sorrow,

And sheds o'er the wilderness, gladness and bloom.

March 25.“The beauty of holiness”(Ps. xxix. 2).Some one remarked once that he did not know more disagreeable people than sanctified Christians. He probably meant people that only profess sanctification. There is an angular, hard, unlovely type of Christian character that is not true holiness; at least, not the highest type of it. It is the skeleton without the flesh covering; it is the naked rock without the vines and foliage that cushion its rugged sides. Jesus was not only virtuous and pure, but He was also beautiful and full of the sweet attractiveness of love.We read of two kinds of graces: First,“Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely and of good report.”There are a thousand little graces in Christian life that we cannot afford to ignore. In fact, the last stages in any work of art are always the finishing touches; and so let us not wonder if God shall spend a great deal of time in teaching us the little things that many might consider trifles.God would have His Bride without a spot or even a wrinkle.

“The beauty of holiness”(Ps. xxix. 2).

Some one remarked once that he did not know more disagreeable people than sanctified Christians. He probably meant people that only profess sanctification. There is an angular, hard, unlovely type of Christian character that is not true holiness; at least, not the highest type of it. It is the skeleton without the flesh covering; it is the naked rock without the vines and foliage that cushion its rugged sides. Jesus was not only virtuous and pure, but He was also beautiful and full of the sweet attractiveness of love.

We read of two kinds of graces: First,“Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely and of good report.”There are a thousand little graces in Christian life that we cannot afford to ignore. In fact, the last stages in any work of art are always the finishing touches; and so let us not wonder if God shall spend a great deal of time in teaching us the little things that many might consider trifles.

God would have His Bride without a spot or even a wrinkle.

March 26.“Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith”(Heb. xii. 2).Add to your faith—do not add to yourself. This is where we make the mistake. We must not only enter by faith, but we must advance by faith each step of the way. At every new stage we shall find ourselves as incompetent and unequal for the pressure as before, and we must take the grace and the victory simply by faith. Is it courage? We shall find ourselves lacking in the needed courage; we must claim it by faith. Is it love? Our own love will be inadequate; but we must take His love, and we shall find it given. Is it faith itself? We must have the faith of God, and Christ in us will be the spirit of faith, as well as the blessing that faith claims. So our whole life from beginning to end, is but Christ in us—in the exceeding riches of His grace; and our everlasting song will be: Not I; but Christ who liveth in me.'Tis so sweet to walk with Jesus,Step by step and day by day;Stepping in His very footprints,Walking with Him all the way.

“Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith”(Heb. xii. 2).

Add to your faith—do not add to yourself. This is where we make the mistake. We must not only enter by faith, but we must advance by faith each step of the way. At every new stage we shall find ourselves as incompetent and unequal for the pressure as before, and we must take the grace and the victory simply by faith. Is it courage? We shall find ourselves lacking in the needed courage; we must claim it by faith. Is it love? Our own love will be inadequate; but we must take His love, and we shall find it given. Is it faith itself? We must have the faith of God, and Christ in us will be the spirit of faith, as well as the blessing that faith claims. So our whole life from beginning to end, is but Christ in us—in the exceeding riches of His grace; and our everlasting song will be: Not I; but Christ who liveth in me.

'Tis so sweet to walk with Jesus,Step by step and day by day;Stepping in His very footprints,Walking with Him all the way.

'Tis so sweet to walk with Jesus,

Step by step and day by day;

Stepping in His very footprints,

Walking with Him all the way.

March 27.“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee”(Ps. lvi. 3).We shall never forget a remark Mr. George Mueller once made in answer to a gentleman who asked him the best way to have strong faith.“The only way,”replied the patriarch of faith,“to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.”This is very true. The time to trust is when all else fails. Dear one, if you scarcely realize the value of your present opportunity, if you are passing through great afflictions, you are in the very soul of the strongest faith, and if you will only let go, He will teach you in these hours the mightiest hold upon this throne which you can ever know.“Be not afraid, only believe”; and if you are afraid, just look up and say,“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee,”and you will yet thank God for the school of sorrow which was to you the school of faith.O brother, give heed to the warning,And obey His voice to-day.The Spirit to thee is calling,O do not grieve Him away.

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee”(Ps. lvi. 3).

We shall never forget a remark Mr. George Mueller once made in answer to a gentleman who asked him the best way to have strong faith.“The only way,”replied the patriarch of faith,“to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings.”This is very true. The time to trust is when all else fails. Dear one, if you scarcely realize the value of your present opportunity, if you are passing through great afflictions, you are in the very soul of the strongest faith, and if you will only let go, He will teach you in these hours the mightiest hold upon this throne which you can ever know.“Be not afraid, only believe”; and if you are afraid, just look up and say,“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee,”and you will yet thank God for the school of sorrow which was to you the school of faith.

O brother, give heed to the warning,And obey His voice to-day.The Spirit to thee is calling,O do not grieve Him away.

O brother, give heed to the warning,

And obey His voice to-day.

The Spirit to thee is calling,

O do not grieve Him away.

March 28.“The fruit of the Spirit is all goodness”(Gal. v. 22).Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit. Goodness is just“Godness.”It is to be like God. And God-like goodness has special reference to the active benevolence of God. The apostle gives us the difference between goodness and righteousness in this passage in Romans,“Scarcely for a righteous man would one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.”The righteous man is the man of stiff, inflexible uprightness; but he may be as hard as a granite mountain side. The good man is that mountain side all covered with velvet moss and flowers, and flowing with cascades and springs. Goodness respects“whatsoever things are lovely.”It is kindness, affectionateness, benevolence, sympathy, rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and weeping with them that weep. Lord, fill us with Thyself, and let us be God-men and good men, and so represent Thy goodness.There are lonely hearts to cherish,While the days are going by;There are weary souls who perish,While the days are going by.

“The fruit of the Spirit is all goodness”(Gal. v. 22).

Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit. Goodness is just“Godness.”It is to be like God. And God-like goodness has special reference to the active benevolence of God. The apostle gives us the difference between goodness and righteousness in this passage in Romans,“Scarcely for a righteous man would one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.”The righteous man is the man of stiff, inflexible uprightness; but he may be as hard as a granite mountain side. The good man is that mountain side all covered with velvet moss and flowers, and flowing with cascades and springs. Goodness respects“whatsoever things are lovely.”It is kindness, affectionateness, benevolence, sympathy, rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and weeping with them that weep. Lord, fill us with Thyself, and let us be God-men and good men, and so represent Thy goodness.

There are lonely hearts to cherish,While the days are going by;There are weary souls who perish,While the days are going by.

There are lonely hearts to cherish,

While the days are going by;

There are weary souls who perish,

While the days are going by.

March 29.“He will keep the feet of His saints”(I. Sam. ii. 9).Perils as well as privileges attend the higher Christian life. The nearer we come to God, the thicker the hosts of darkness in heavenly places. The safe place lies in obedience to God's Word, singleness of heart, and holy vigilance.When Christians speak of standing in a place where they do not need to watch, they are in great danger. Let us walk in sweet and holy confidence, and yet with holy, humble watchfulness, and“He will keep the feet of His saints.”And“now unto Him who is able to keep us from stumbling, and present us faultless before the presence of His glory, to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory, and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”What to do we often wonder,As we seek some watchword true,Lo, the answer God has given,What would Jesus do?When the shafts of fierce temptation,With their fiery darts pursue,This will be your heavenly armor,What would Jesus do?

“He will keep the feet of His saints”(I. Sam. ii. 9).

Perils as well as privileges attend the higher Christian life. The nearer we come to God, the thicker the hosts of darkness in heavenly places. The safe place lies in obedience to God's Word, singleness of heart, and holy vigilance.

When Christians speak of standing in a place where they do not need to watch, they are in great danger. Let us walk in sweet and holy confidence, and yet with holy, humble watchfulness, and“He will keep the feet of His saints.”And“now unto Him who is able to keep us from stumbling, and present us faultless before the presence of His glory, to the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory, and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”

What to do we often wonder,As we seek some watchword true,Lo, the answer God has given,What would Jesus do?

What to do we often wonder,

As we seek some watchword true,

Lo, the answer God has given,

What would Jesus do?

When the shafts of fierce temptation,With their fiery darts pursue,This will be your heavenly armor,What would Jesus do?

When the shafts of fierce temptation,

With their fiery darts pursue,

This will be your heavenly armor,

What would Jesus do?

March 30.“I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth”(III. John 2).In the way of righteousness is life and in the pathway thereof is no death. That is the secret of healing. Be right with God. Keep so. Live in the consciousness of it, and nothing can hurt you. Off from the breastplate of righteousness will glance all of the fiery darts of the devil, and faith be stronger for every fierce assault. How true it is,“Who is he that shall harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?”And how true also,“Holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away, concerning faith, have made shipwreck.”And yet again,“If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt keep all His statutes and commandments, I will put none of these diseases upon thee that I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee.”There's a question God is askingEvery conscience in His sight,Let it search thine inmost being,Is it right with God, all right?

“I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth”(III. John 2).

In the way of righteousness is life and in the pathway thereof is no death. That is the secret of healing. Be right with God. Keep so. Live in the consciousness of it, and nothing can hurt you. Off from the breastplate of righteousness will glance all of the fiery darts of the devil, and faith be stronger for every fierce assault. How true it is,“Who is he that shall harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?”And how true also,“Holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away, concerning faith, have made shipwreck.”

And yet again,“If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt keep all His statutes and commandments, I will put none of these diseases upon thee that I have brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee.”

There's a question God is askingEvery conscience in His sight,Let it search thine inmost being,Is it right with God, all right?

There's a question God is asking

Every conscience in His sight,

Let it search thine inmost being,

Is it right with God, all right?

March 31.“What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them”(Mark xi. 24).Faith is not working up by will power a sort of certainty that something is coming to pass, but it is seeing as an actual fact that God has said that this thing shall come to pass, and that it is true, and then rejoicing to know that it is true, and just resting and entering into it because God has said it. Faith turns the promise into a prophecy. While it is merely a promise it is contingent upon our co-operation; it may or may not be. But when faith claims it, it becomes a prophecy and we go forth feeling that it is something that must be done because God cannot lie.Faith is the answer from the throne saying,“It is done.”Faith is the echo of God's voice. Let us catch it from on high. Let us repeat it, and go out to triumph in its glorious power.Hear the answer from the throne,Claim the promise, doubting one,God hath spoken,“It is done.”Faith hath answered,“It is done”;Prayer is over, praise begun,Hallelujah! It is done.

“What things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them”(Mark xi. 24).

Faith is not working up by will power a sort of certainty that something is coming to pass, but it is seeing as an actual fact that God has said that this thing shall come to pass, and that it is true, and then rejoicing to know that it is true, and just resting and entering into it because God has said it. Faith turns the promise into a prophecy. While it is merely a promise it is contingent upon our co-operation; it may or may not be. But when faith claims it, it becomes a prophecy and we go forth feeling that it is something that must be done because God cannot lie.

Faith is the answer from the throne saying,“It is done.”Faith is the echo of God's voice. Let us catch it from on high. Let us repeat it, and go out to triumph in its glorious power.

Hear the answer from the throne,Claim the promise, doubting one,God hath spoken,“It is done.”Faith hath answered,“It is done”;Prayer is over, praise begun,Hallelujah! It is done.

Hear the answer from the throne,

Claim the promise, doubting one,

God hath spoken,“It is done.”

Faith hath answered,“It is done”;

Prayer is over, praise begun,

Hallelujah! It is done.

April 1.“Vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory”(Rom. ix. 23).Our Father is fitting us for eternity. A vessel fitted for the kitchen will find itself in the kitchen. A vessel for the art gallery or the reception room will generally find itself there at last.What are you getting fitted for? To be a slop-pail to hold all the stuff that people pour into your ears, or a vase to hold sweet fragrance and flowers for the King's palace and a harp of many strings that sounds the melodies and harmonies of His love and praise? Each one of us is going to his own place. Let us get fitted now.The days of heaven are Christly days,The Light of Heaven is He;So walking at His side, our daysAs the days of heaven would be.The days of heaven are endless days—Days of eternity;So may our lives and works endureWhile the days of heaven shall be.Walk with us, Lord, through all the days,And let us walk with Thee;'Til as Thy will is done in heaven,On earth so shall it be.

“Vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory”(Rom. ix. 23).

Our Father is fitting us for eternity. A vessel fitted for the kitchen will find itself in the kitchen. A vessel for the art gallery or the reception room will generally find itself there at last.

What are you getting fitted for? To be a slop-pail to hold all the stuff that people pour into your ears, or a vase to hold sweet fragrance and flowers for the King's palace and a harp of many strings that sounds the melodies and harmonies of His love and praise? Each one of us is going to his own place. Let us get fitted now.

The days of heaven are Christly days,The Light of Heaven is He;So walking at His side, our daysAs the days of heaven would be.

The days of heaven are Christly days,

The Light of Heaven is He;

So walking at His side, our days

As the days of heaven would be.

The days of heaven are endless days—Days of eternity;So may our lives and works endureWhile the days of heaven shall be.

The days of heaven are endless days—

Days of eternity;

So may our lives and works endure

While the days of heaven shall be.

Walk with us, Lord, through all the days,And let us walk with Thee;'Til as Thy will is done in heaven,On earth so shall it be.

Walk with us, Lord, through all the days,

And let us walk with Thee;

'Til as Thy will is done in heaven,

On earth so shall it be.

April 2.“He shall dwell on high”(Isa. xxxiii. 16).It is easier for a consecrated Christian to live an out and out life for God than to live a mixed life. A soul redeemed and sanctified by Christ is too large for the shoals and sands of a selfish, worldly, sinful life. The great steamship, St. Paul, could sail in deep water without an effort, but she could make no progress in the shallow pool, or on the Long Branch sands; the smallest tugboat is worth a dozen of her there; but out in mid-ocean she could distance them in an hour.Beloved, your life is too large, too glorious, too divine for the small place that you are trying to live in. Your purpose is too petty; arise and dwell on high in the resurrection life of Jesus, and the inspiring hope of His blessed coming.Rise with thy risen Lord,Ascend with Christ above,And in the heavenlies walk with Him,Whom seeing not, you love.Walk as a heavenly race,Princes of royal blood;Walk as the children of the light,The sons and heirs of God.

“He shall dwell on high”(Isa. xxxiii. 16).

It is easier for a consecrated Christian to live an out and out life for God than to live a mixed life. A soul redeemed and sanctified by Christ is too large for the shoals and sands of a selfish, worldly, sinful life. The great steamship, St. Paul, could sail in deep water without an effort, but she could make no progress in the shallow pool, or on the Long Branch sands; the smallest tugboat is worth a dozen of her there; but out in mid-ocean she could distance them in an hour.

Beloved, your life is too large, too glorious, too divine for the small place that you are trying to live in. Your purpose is too petty; arise and dwell on high in the resurrection life of Jesus, and the inspiring hope of His blessed coming.

Rise with thy risen Lord,Ascend with Christ above,And in the heavenlies walk with Him,Whom seeing not, you love.

Rise with thy risen Lord,

Ascend with Christ above,

And in the heavenlies walk with Him,

Whom seeing not, you love.

Walk as a heavenly race,Princes of royal blood;Walk as the children of the light,The sons and heirs of God.

Walk as a heavenly race,

Princes of royal blood;

Walk as the children of the light,

The sons and heirs of God.

April 3.“My expectation is from Him”(Ps. lxii. 5).When we believe for a blessing, we must take the attitude of faith, and begin to act and pray as if we had our blessing. We must treat God as if He had given us our request. We must lean our weight over upon Him for the thing that we have claimed, and just take it for granted that He gives it, and is going to continue to give it. This is the attitude of trust. When the wife is married, she at once falls into a new attitude, and acts in accordance with the fact, and so when we take Christ as a Saviour, as a Sanctifier, as a Healer, or as a Deliverer, He expects us to fall into the attitude of recognizing Him in the capacity that we have claimed, and expect Him to be to us all that we have trusted Him for.You may bring Him ev'ry care and burden,You may tell Him ev'ry need in pray'r,You may trust Him for the darkest moment,He is caring, wherefore need you care?Faith can never reach its consummation,'Til the victor's thankful song we raise:In the glorious city of salvation,God has told us all the gates are praise.

“My expectation is from Him”(Ps. lxii. 5).

When we believe for a blessing, we must take the attitude of faith, and begin to act and pray as if we had our blessing. We must treat God as if He had given us our request. We must lean our weight over upon Him for the thing that we have claimed, and just take it for granted that He gives it, and is going to continue to give it. This is the attitude of trust. When the wife is married, she at once falls into a new attitude, and acts in accordance with the fact, and so when we take Christ as a Saviour, as a Sanctifier, as a Healer, or as a Deliverer, He expects us to fall into the attitude of recognizing Him in the capacity that we have claimed, and expect Him to be to us all that we have trusted Him for.

You may bring Him ev'ry care and burden,You may tell Him ev'ry need in pray'r,You may trust Him for the darkest moment,He is caring, wherefore need you care?

You may bring Him ev'ry care and burden,

You may tell Him ev'ry need in pray'r,

You may trust Him for the darkest moment,

He is caring, wherefore need you care?

Faith can never reach its consummation,'Til the victor's thankful song we raise:In the glorious city of salvation,God has told us all the gates are praise.

Faith can never reach its consummation,

'Til the victor's thankful song we raise:

In the glorious city of salvation,

God has told us all the gates are praise.

April 4.“Resist the devil and he will flee”(James iv. 7).Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. This is a promise, and God will keep it to us. If we resist the adversary, He will compel him to flee, and will give us the victory. We can, at all times, fearlessly stand up in defiance, in resistance to the enemy, and claim the protection of our heavenly King just as a citizen would claim the protection of the government against an outrage or injustice on the part of violent men. At the same time we are not to stand on the adversary's ground anywhere by any attitude or disobedience, or we give him a terrible power over us, which, while God will restrain in great mercy and kindness, He will not fully remove until we get fully on holy ground. Therefore, we must be armed with the breastplate of righteousness, as well as the shield of faith, if we would successfully resist the prince of darkness and the principalities in heavenly places.Your full redemption rightsWith holy boldness claim,And to the utmost fulness proveThe power of Jesus' name.

“Resist the devil and he will flee”(James iv. 7).

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. This is a promise, and God will keep it to us. If we resist the adversary, He will compel him to flee, and will give us the victory. We can, at all times, fearlessly stand up in defiance, in resistance to the enemy, and claim the protection of our heavenly King just as a citizen would claim the protection of the government against an outrage or injustice on the part of violent men. At the same time we are not to stand on the adversary's ground anywhere by any attitude or disobedience, or we give him a terrible power over us, which, while God will restrain in great mercy and kindness, He will not fully remove until we get fully on holy ground. Therefore, we must be armed with the breastplate of righteousness, as well as the shield of faith, if we would successfully resist the prince of darkness and the principalities in heavenly places.

Your full redemption rightsWith holy boldness claim,And to the utmost fulness proveThe power of Jesus' name.

Your full redemption rights

With holy boldness claim,

And to the utmost fulness prove

The power of Jesus' name.

April 5.“Many shall be purified and made white and tried”(Dan. xii. 10).This is the promise for the Lord's coming. It is more than purity. It is to be made white, lustrous, or bright. To be purified is to have the sin burned out; to be made white is to have the glory of the Lord burned in. The one is cleansing, the other is illumination and glorification. The Lord has both for us, but in order for us to have both, we must be put into the fire to be tried, and to be led into difficult and peculiar places where Christ shall be more to us because of the very extremity of the situation. We are approaching these days. Indeed, they are already around us, and they are the precursors of the Lord's coming.Blessed is he that keepeth his garments lest he walk naked.There are voices in the air, filling men with hope and fear;There are signals everywhere that the end is drawing near,There are warnings to prepare, for the King will soon be here;O it must be the coming of the Lord!

“Many shall be purified and made white and tried”(Dan. xii. 10).

This is the promise for the Lord's coming. It is more than purity. It is to be made white, lustrous, or bright. To be purified is to have the sin burned out; to be made white is to have the glory of the Lord burned in. The one is cleansing, the other is illumination and glorification. The Lord has both for us, but in order for us to have both, we must be put into the fire to be tried, and to be led into difficult and peculiar places where Christ shall be more to us because of the very extremity of the situation. We are approaching these days. Indeed, they are already around us, and they are the precursors of the Lord's coming.

Blessed is he that keepeth his garments lest he walk naked.

There are voices in the air, filling men with hope and fear;There are signals everywhere that the end is drawing near,There are warnings to prepare, for the King will soon be here;O it must be the coming of the Lord!

There are voices in the air, filling men with hope and fear;

There are signals everywhere that the end is drawing near,

There are warnings to prepare, for the King will soon be here;

O it must be the coming of the Lord!

April 6.“As we have many members in one body, so we being many are one body in Christ”(Rom. xii. 4, 5).Sometimes our communion with God is cut off, or interrupted because of something wrong with a brother, or some lack of unity in the body of Christ. We try to get at the Lord, but we cannot, because we are separated from some member of the Lord's body, or because there is not the freedom of His love flowing through every organic part. It does not need a blow upon the head to paralyze the brain; a blow upon some nerve may do it; or a wound in some artery at the extremities may be fatal to the heart. Therefore we must stand right with all His children, and meet in the body of Christ in the sweetest, fullest fellowship, if we would keep our perfect communion with Christ Himself. Sometimes we will find that an altered attitude to one Christian will bring us into the flood-tides of the Holy Ghost. It seems impossible to have faith without love, or to have Christ alone without the fulness of fellowship with all His dear saints; and if one member suffer, all suffer together, and if one rejoice, all are blessed in common.

“As we have many members in one body, so we being many are one body in Christ”(Rom. xii. 4, 5).

Sometimes our communion with God is cut off, or interrupted because of something wrong with a brother, or some lack of unity in the body of Christ. We try to get at the Lord, but we cannot, because we are separated from some member of the Lord's body, or because there is not the freedom of His love flowing through every organic part. It does not need a blow upon the head to paralyze the brain; a blow upon some nerve may do it; or a wound in some artery at the extremities may be fatal to the heart. Therefore we must stand right with all His children, and meet in the body of Christ in the sweetest, fullest fellowship, if we would keep our perfect communion with Christ Himself. Sometimes we will find that an altered attitude to one Christian will bring us into the flood-tides of the Holy Ghost. It seems impossible to have faith without love, or to have Christ alone without the fulness of fellowship with all His dear saints; and if one member suffer, all suffer together, and if one rejoice, all are blessed in common.

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