November 28.

November 28.“Without Me ye can do nothing”(John xv. 5).How much can I do for Christ? We are accustomed to say.—As much as I can. Have we ever thought we can do more than we can?This thought was lately suggested by the remarks of a Christian friend, who told how God had laid it upon her heart to do something for His cause which was beyond her power, and when she dared to obey Him, He gave her the assurance of His power and resources, and so marvelously met her faith that she was enabled to do more than she could otherwise, and accomplish her heart's desire, and see a work fulfilled to which her resources were unequal.The apostle says,“I can do all things through Christ, who is my strength,”and yet He says we are not able to think anything, as of ourselves.Oh, blessed insufficiency! Oh, blessed All-Sufficiency! Oh, blessed nothingness, which brings us all things! Oh, blessed faith, whose rich dowry is,“All things are possible to him that believeth”!O to be found of Him in peace,Spotless and free from blame.[pg 339]November 29.“Could ye not watch with Me one hour?”(Matt. xxvi. 40.)A young lady whose parents had died while she was an infant, had been kindly cared for by a dear friend of the family. Before she was old enough to know him, he went to Europe. Regularly he wrote to her through all his years of absence, and never failed to send her money for all her wants. Finally word came that during a certain week he would return and visit her. He did not fix the day or the hour. She received several invitations to take pleasant trips with her friends during that week. One of these was of so pleasant a nature that she could not resist accepting it. During her trip, he came, inquired as to her absence, and left. Returning she found this note:“My life has been a struggle for you, might you not have waited one week for me?”More she never heard, and her life of plenty became one of want. Jesus has not fixed the day or hour of His return, but He has said,“Watch,”and should He come to-day, would He find us absorbed in thoughtless dissipation? May we be found each day, in the expectant attitude of those watching for a loved one.[pg 340]November 30.“In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves”(Phil. ii. 3).When the apostle speaks of“the deep things of God,”he means more than deep spiritual truth. There must be something before this. There must be a deep soil and a thorough foundation.Very much of our spiritual teaching fails, because the people to whom we give it are so shallow. Their deeper nature has never been stirred.The beatitudes begin at the bottom of things, the poor in spirit, the mourners, and the hungry hearts. Suffering is essential to profound spiritual life. We need not go to a monastery or a leper hospital to find it. The first real opportunity for unselfishness will bring into your life the anguish of crucifixion, unless you are born of some different race from Adam's.It is because men and women have not faced this that they know so little of suffering and death. We must have deep convictions. Truth must be to us a necessity, and principle a part of our very being. Lord, make me poor in spirit. Lord help me to be even as Thou wert when on earth, always the lowest, and therefore“highly exalted.”[pg 341]December 1.“As He is, so are we in this world”(I. John iv. 17).Jesus will come into the surrendered heart and unite Himself with it, impart to it His own life and being and become anew from day to day, the supply of its spiritual needs and the substitute for its helplessness.Our part is simply to yield ourselves fully recognizing our own worthlessness and then take Jesus Himself to live in us and be, moment by moment, our strength, purity and victory.One in His death on the tree,One as He rose from the dead;I from the curse am as freeE'en as my glorious Head.One in His merits I stand,One as I Pray in His name,All that His worth can demandI may with confidence claim.One on the Throne by His side,One in His Sonship divine,One as the Bridegroom and Bride,One as the Branch and the Vine.All that He has shall be mine,All that He is I shall be;Robed in His glory divine,I shall be even as He.[pg 342]December 2.“Looking diligently lest any man fail”(Heb. xii. 15).It is not losing all, but coming short we are to fear. We may not lose our souls, but we may lose something more precious than life—His full approval, His highest choice, and our incorruptible and star-gemmed crown. It is the one degree more that counts, and makes all the difference between hot water—powerless in the boiler—and steam—all alive with power, and bearing its precious freight across the continent.I want, in this short life of mine,As much as can be pressedOf service true for God and man,Help me to be my best.I want to stand when Christ appearsAnd hear my name confessedNumbered among the hidden ones,His holiest and best.I want, among the victor throng,To have my name confessed;And hear my Master say at last,Well done, you did your best.Give me, O Lord, Thy highest choice;Let others take the rest:Their good things have no charm for me,For I have got Thy best.[pg 343]December 3.Thy thoughts are very deep (Ps. xcii. 5).When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey it would probably be fatal he answered,“It is necessary for me to go, it is not necessary for me to live.”That was depth. When we are convicted like that we shall come to something.The shallow nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its intuitions, its instincts, and very largely in its surroundings. The profound character looks beyond all these and moves steadily on, sailing past all the storms and clouds into the clear sunshine which is always on the other side, and waiting for the afterwards which always brings the reversion of sorrow and seeming defeat and failure.When God has deepened us, then He can give us His deeper truths, His profoundest secrets, and His mightier trusts.Lord, lead me into the depths of Thy life and save me from a shallow experience.On to broader fields of holy vision;On to loftier heights of faith and love;Onward, upward, apprehending wholly,All for which He calls thee from above.[pg 344]December 4.“From me is thy fruit found”(Hos. xiv. 8).Nothing keeps us from advancement more than ruts and drifts, and wheel-tracks into which our chariots roll and then move on in the narrow line with unchanging monotony, currents in life's stream on which we are borne in the old direction until the law of habit almost makes advance impossible. The true remedy for this is to commence at nothing; taking Christ afresh to be the Alpha and Omega for a deeper, higher, Divine experience, waiting even for His conception of thought, desire, prayer, and afraid lest our highest thought should be below His great plan of wisdom and love.O Comforter gentle and tender,O holy and heavenly Dove,We're yielding our heart in surrender,We're waiting Thy fulness to prove.O come as the heart-searching fire,O come as the sin-cleansing flood;Consume us with holy desire,And fill with the fulness of God.Anoint us with gladness and healing;Baptize us with power from on high;O come with filling and sealingWhile low at the Thy footstool we lie.[pg 345]December 5.“With a perfect heart to make David King”(I. Chron. xii. 38).“What is the supreme purpose of our life? They were all of one heart to make David king.”Is this our purpose, to prepare the Bride, to prepare the world, to prepare His way? Does it dwarf and dim all other ambitions, all other cares? Does it fill and satisfy every capacity, every power, every desire? Does it absorb every moment, every energy, every resource? Does it give direction and tone to every plan and work of life? Does it decide for us the education of our children, the investment of our means, the friendships and associations of life, the whole activity, interest and outlook of our being? Are we in it, spirit, soul and body, all we are, all we do, all we hope for—of one heart to make Jesus King?We're going forth unitedWith loyal heart and hand,To bear His royal bannerAboard o'er every land.From every tribe and nationWe'll haste His Bride to bring.And Oh, with what glad welcomeWe'll make our Jesus King.[pg 346]December 6.“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you”(I. Peter v. 6).Opposition is essential to a true equilibrium of forces. The centripetal and centrifugal forces acting in opposition to each other keep our planet in her orbit. The one propelling, and the other repelling, so act and react, that instead of sweeping off into space in a pathway of desolation and destruction, she pursues her even orbit around her solar center.So God guides our lives. It is not enough to have an impelling force—we need just as much a repelling force, and so He holds us back by the testing ordeals of life, by the pressure of temptation and trial, by the things that seem to be against us, but really are furthering our way and stablishing our goings. Let us thank Him for both, let us take the weights as well as the wings, and thus divinely impelled, let us press on with faith and patience in our high and heavenly calling.Lord, help me to learn from all that comes to me this day Thy highest will.Lord, help me to-day to sink under Thy blessed hand, that Thou mayest have Thy way and will with me.[pg 347]December 7.“Abide with us; for it is toward evening”(Luke xxiv. 29).In His last messages to the disciples in the 14th and 15th chapters of John, the Lord Jesus clearly teaches us that the very essence of the highest holiness is,“Abide in Me, and I in you, for without Me ye can do nothing.”The very purpose of the Holy Ghost whom He promised was to reveal Him, that at“that day, ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you,”and the closing echo of His intercessory prayer was embraced in these three small but infinite words,“I in them.”Is it for me to be cleansed by His powerFrom the pollution of sin?Is it for me to be kept every hourBy His abiding within?Is it for me to be perfectly wholeThro' His anointing divine;Claiming in body, and spirit, and soul,All of His fulness as mine?Wonderful promise so full and so free,Wonderful Saviour, Oh, how can it be,Cleansing and pardon and mercy for me?Yes, it's for me, for me.[pg 348]December 8.“Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?”(Jer. viii. 22).Divine healing is just divine life. It is the headship of Christ over the body. It is the life of Christ in the frame. It is the union of our members with the very body of Christ and the inflowing life of Christ in our living members. It is as real as His risen and glorified body. It is as reasonable as the fact that He was raised from the dead and is a living man with a true body and a rational soul to-day, at God's right hand. That living Christ belongs to us in all His attributes and powers. We are members of His body, His flesh and His bones, and if we can only believe and receive it, we may live upon the very life of the Son of God.Lord, help me to know the“Lord for the body and the body for the Lord.”There is healing in the promise,There is healing in the blood,There is strength for all our weaknessIn the risen Son of God.And the feeblest of His children,All His glorious life may share;He has healing balm in Gilead,He's the Great Physician there.[pg 349]December 9.“Launch out into the deep”(Luke v. 4).One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit Of boldness. One of the most essential qualities of the faith that is to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we are dealing with a supernatural Being, and taking from Him things that are humanly impossible, it is easier to take much than little; it is easier to stand in a place of audacious trust than in a place of cautious, timid clinging to the shore. Like wise seamen in the life of faith, let us launch out into the deep, and find that all things are possible with God, and all things are possible unto him that believeth.Let us to-day attempt great things for God, take His faith and believe for them and His strength to accomplish them.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.Oh, let us launch out in this ocean so broad,Where the floods of salvation o'erflow,Oh, let us be lost in the mercy of God,Till the depth of His fulness we know.[pg 350]December 10.“According to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed”(II. Cor. x. 13).According to thy faith be it unto thee was Christ's great law of healing and blessing in His earthly ministry. This was what He meant when He said,“With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.”These mighty measures are limited by the the measures that we bring. God deals out His heavenly treasures to us in these glorious vessels, but each of us must bring our drinking cup, and according to its measure we shall be filled.But even the measure of our faith may be a Divine one. Thank God, the little cup has become enlarged through the grace of Jesus, until from its bottom there flows a pipe into the great ocean, and if that connection is kept open we shall find that our cup is as large as the ocean and never can be drained to the bottom. For He has said to us,“Have the faith of God,”and surely this is an illimitable measure.Let us claim the mighty promise,Let us light the torches dim;Let us join the glorious chorus,Nothing is too hard for Him.[pg 351]December 11.“I pray not for the world, but for them”(John xvii. 9).How often we say we would like to get some strong spirit to pray for us, and feel so helped when we think they are carrying us in their faith. But there is One whose prayers never fail to be fulfilled and who is more willing to give them to us than any human friend. His one business at God's right hand is to make intercession for His people, and we are simply coming in the line of His own appointment and His own definite promise and provision, when we lay our burdens upon Him and claim His advocacy without doubt or fear.“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may find help in time of need.”Like a golden censer glowing,Filled with burning odors rare,All my heart is upward flowing,In a cloud of ceaseless prayer.O'er the heavenly altar bending,Jesus interceding stands,All our prayers to heaven ascending,Reach the Father through His hands.[pg 352]December 12.“To abide in the flesh is more needful for you, and having this confidence, I know that I shall abide”(Phil. i. 24, 25).One of the most blessed things about divine healing is that the strength it brings is holy strength, and finds its natural and congenial outflow in holy acts and exercises.Mere natural strength seeks its gratification in natural pleasures and activities, but the strength of Christ leads us to do as Christ would do, and to seek our congenial employment in His holy service.The life of Christ in a human body saves it from a thousand temptations to self-indulgence and sin, and not only gives us strength for higher service, but also a desire for it, and puts into it a zest and spring which gives it double power.Lord, help us to-day to claim Thy life and then give it for the help of others.Have you found the branch of healing?Pass it on.Have you felt the Spirit's sealing,Pass it on.'Twas for this His mercy sought you,And to all His fulness brought you,By the precious blood that bought you,Pass it on.[pg 353]December 13.“He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for apart from Me ye can do nothing”(John xv. 5).So familiar are the vine and the branches, it is not necessary to explain; only the branches and the vine are one. The vine does not say, I am the central trunk running up and you are the little branches; but I am the whole thing, and you are the whole thing. He counts us partakers of His nature.“Apart from Me ye can do nothing.”The husband and the wife, and many more figures contribute to this marvelous Christ teaching, which has no parallel, no precedent in any other teaching under the sun; that Christ is the life of His people, and that we are absolutely linked with and dependent upon Him. All other systems teach how much man is and may become. Christianity shows how a man must lose all he is if he would come into full unity with Christ in His life.Lord, help me this day to abide in Thee.Oh! what a wonderful placeJesus has given to me!Saved by His glorious grace,I may be even as He.[pg 354]December 14.“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree”(Isa. lv. 13).Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fulness and all-sufficiency of Jesus, and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting Him, we may be tested, we may have to wait and let patience have her perfect work, but we shall surely find at last the stone rolled away, and the Lord waiting to render unto us double for our time of testing, and fulfil the promise,“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, instead of the brier the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”Oft there comes a wondrous messageWhen my hopes are growing dim;I can hear it through the darkness,Like some sweet and far-off hymn.Nothing is too hard for Jesus,No man can work like Him.When my way is closed in darknessAnd my foes are fierce and grim,Still it sings above the conflictLike some glad, victorious hymn:Nothing is too hard for Jesus,No man can work like Him.[pg 355]December 15.“When my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the Rock that is higher than I”(Ps. lxi. 2).The end of self is the beginning of God.“When the tale of bricks is doubled then comes Moses.”That is the old Hebrew way of putting it.“Man's extremity is God's opportunity.”That is the proverbial expression of it.“When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”That is David's way of expressing it.“We have no might against this company, neither know we what to do.”No might, no light—“but our eyes are upon Thee,”that was Jehoshaphat's experience of it.“Mine eyes fail with looking upward. I am oppressed, Lord, undertake for me.”“When I had great trouble I always went to God and was wondrously carried through; but in my little trials I used to try to manage them myself, and often most signally failed.”So Miss Havergal has expressed the experience of many a Christian. God wants us“at our wit's end,”and then He will show His wisdom, love and power. How often we ask God to help, and then begin to count up the human probabilities! God's very blessings become a hindrance to us if we look from Him to them.[pg 356]December 16.“I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm and the caterpillar and the palmer worm, my great army, which I sent among you”(Joel ii. 25).A friend said to me once:“I have got to reap what I sowed, for God has said:‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’Then why don't you apply this in the spiritual world, and compel the sinner to pay the penalty of his sins?”Christ has borne this penalty, and the same Christ has borne the natural penalties, too, and delivered us out of condemnation in every sense. Physical sufferings come to us, but not under the law of retribution, but only as a Divine discipline. Every penalty has been fulfilled by Christ and every law satisfied, and so far as we can have risen with Him into the plane of spiritual and eternal life, we are lifted above the mere realm of law, and we enter into the full effects of His complete satisfaction of every claim against us. So it is true that even the wreck that sin has brought upon our physical and temporal life is removed by His great atonement, and the promise is made real to us,“I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.”[pg 357]December 17.“Be careful for nothing”(Phil. iv. 6).What is the way to lay your burden down?“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”That is the way to take His burden up. You will find that His burden is always light. Yours is a very heavy one. Happy day if you have exchanged burdens and laid down your loads at His blessed feet to take up His own instead. God wants to rest His workers, and He is too kind to put His burden on hearts that are already bowed down with their own weight of cares.Are you fearing, fretting or repining?You can never know God's perfect peace.On His bosom all your weight reclining.All your anxious doubts and cares must cease.Would you know the peace that God has given?Would you find the very joy of heaven?Be careful for nothing,Be prayerful for everything,Be thankful for anything,And the peace of God that passeth understandingShall keep your mind and heart.[pg 358]December 18.“The faith of the Son of God”(Gal. ii. 20).Faith is hindered most of all by what we call“our faith,”and fruitless struggles to work out a faith which is but a make-believe and a desperate trying to trust God, which must ever come short of His vast and glorious promises. The truth is that the only faith that is equal to the stupendous promises of God and the measureless needs of our life, is“the faith of God”Himself, the very trust which He will breathe into the heart which intelligently expects Him as its power to believe, as well as its power to love, obey, or perform any other exercise of the new life.Blessed be His name! He has not given us a chain which reaches within a single link of our poor helpless heart, but that one last link is fatal to all the chain. Nay, the last link, the one that fastens on the human side is as Divine as the link that binds the chain of promise in the heavens.“Have the faith of God,”is His great command.“I live by the faith of the Son of God”is the victorious testimony of one who had proved it true.Lord, teach me to have the faith of the Son of God.[pg 359]December 19.“God giveth grace unto the humble”(James iv. 6).One of the marks of highest worth is deep lowliness. The shallow nature, conscious of its weakness and insufficiency, is always trying to advertise itself and make sure of its being appreciated. The strong nature, conscious of its strength, is willing to wait and let its work be made manifest in due time. Indeed, the truest natures are so free from all self-consciousness and self-consideration that their object is not to be appreciated, understood or recompensed, but to accomplish their true mission and fulfil the real work of life.One of the most suggestive expressions used respecting the Lord Jesus is given by the evangelist John in the thirteenth chapter of His Gospel, where we read,“Jesus, knowing that He came from God, and went to God, riseth from supper and began to wash the disciples' feet.”It was because He knew His high dignity and His high destiny that He could stoop to the lowest place and that place could not degrade Him.God give to us the Divine insignia of heavenly rank, a bowed head, a meek and lowly spirit.[pg 360]

“Without Me ye can do nothing”(John xv. 5).

How much can I do for Christ? We are accustomed to say.—As much as I can. Have we ever thought we can do more than we can?

This thought was lately suggested by the remarks of a Christian friend, who told how God had laid it upon her heart to do something for His cause which was beyond her power, and when she dared to obey Him, He gave her the assurance of His power and resources, and so marvelously met her faith that she was enabled to do more than she could otherwise, and accomplish her heart's desire, and see a work fulfilled to which her resources were unequal.

The apostle says,“I can do all things through Christ, who is my strength,”and yet He says we are not able to think anything, as of ourselves.

Oh, blessed insufficiency! Oh, blessed All-Sufficiency! Oh, blessed nothingness, which brings us all things! Oh, blessed faith, whose rich dowry is,“All things are possible to him that believeth”!

O to be found of Him in peace,Spotless and free from blame.

O to be found of Him in peace,

Spotless and free from blame.

November 29.“Could ye not watch with Me one hour?”(Matt. xxvi. 40.)A young lady whose parents had died while she was an infant, had been kindly cared for by a dear friend of the family. Before she was old enough to know him, he went to Europe. Regularly he wrote to her through all his years of absence, and never failed to send her money for all her wants. Finally word came that during a certain week he would return and visit her. He did not fix the day or the hour. She received several invitations to take pleasant trips with her friends during that week. One of these was of so pleasant a nature that she could not resist accepting it. During her trip, he came, inquired as to her absence, and left. Returning she found this note:“My life has been a struggle for you, might you not have waited one week for me?”More she never heard, and her life of plenty became one of want. Jesus has not fixed the day or hour of His return, but He has said,“Watch,”and should He come to-day, would He find us absorbed in thoughtless dissipation? May we be found each day, in the expectant attitude of those watching for a loved one.

“Could ye not watch with Me one hour?”(Matt. xxvi. 40.)

A young lady whose parents had died while she was an infant, had been kindly cared for by a dear friend of the family. Before she was old enough to know him, he went to Europe. Regularly he wrote to her through all his years of absence, and never failed to send her money for all her wants. Finally word came that during a certain week he would return and visit her. He did not fix the day or the hour. She received several invitations to take pleasant trips with her friends during that week. One of these was of so pleasant a nature that she could not resist accepting it. During her trip, he came, inquired as to her absence, and left. Returning she found this note:“My life has been a struggle for you, might you not have waited one week for me?”More she never heard, and her life of plenty became one of want. Jesus has not fixed the day or hour of His return, but He has said,“Watch,”and should He come to-day, would He find us absorbed in thoughtless dissipation? May we be found each day, in the expectant attitude of those watching for a loved one.

November 30.“In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves”(Phil. ii. 3).When the apostle speaks of“the deep things of God,”he means more than deep spiritual truth. There must be something before this. There must be a deep soil and a thorough foundation.Very much of our spiritual teaching fails, because the people to whom we give it are so shallow. Their deeper nature has never been stirred.The beatitudes begin at the bottom of things, the poor in spirit, the mourners, and the hungry hearts. Suffering is essential to profound spiritual life. We need not go to a monastery or a leper hospital to find it. The first real opportunity for unselfishness will bring into your life the anguish of crucifixion, unless you are born of some different race from Adam's.It is because men and women have not faced this that they know so little of suffering and death. We must have deep convictions. Truth must be to us a necessity, and principle a part of our very being. Lord, make me poor in spirit. Lord help me to be even as Thou wert when on earth, always the lowest, and therefore“highly exalted.”

“In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves”(Phil. ii. 3).

When the apostle speaks of“the deep things of God,”he means more than deep spiritual truth. There must be something before this. There must be a deep soil and a thorough foundation.

Very much of our spiritual teaching fails, because the people to whom we give it are so shallow. Their deeper nature has never been stirred.

The beatitudes begin at the bottom of things, the poor in spirit, the mourners, and the hungry hearts. Suffering is essential to profound spiritual life. We need not go to a monastery or a leper hospital to find it. The first real opportunity for unselfishness will bring into your life the anguish of crucifixion, unless you are born of some different race from Adam's.

It is because men and women have not faced this that they know so little of suffering and death. We must have deep convictions. Truth must be to us a necessity, and principle a part of our very being. Lord, make me poor in spirit. Lord help me to be even as Thou wert when on earth, always the lowest, and therefore“highly exalted.”

December 1.“As He is, so are we in this world”(I. John iv. 17).Jesus will come into the surrendered heart and unite Himself with it, impart to it His own life and being and become anew from day to day, the supply of its spiritual needs and the substitute for its helplessness.Our part is simply to yield ourselves fully recognizing our own worthlessness and then take Jesus Himself to live in us and be, moment by moment, our strength, purity and victory.One in His death on the tree,One as He rose from the dead;I from the curse am as freeE'en as my glorious Head.One in His merits I stand,One as I Pray in His name,All that His worth can demandI may with confidence claim.One on the Throne by His side,One in His Sonship divine,One as the Bridegroom and Bride,One as the Branch and the Vine.All that He has shall be mine,All that He is I shall be;Robed in His glory divine,I shall be even as He.

“As He is, so are we in this world”(I. John iv. 17).

Jesus will come into the surrendered heart and unite Himself with it, impart to it His own life and being and become anew from day to day, the supply of its spiritual needs and the substitute for its helplessness.

Our part is simply to yield ourselves fully recognizing our own worthlessness and then take Jesus Himself to live in us and be, moment by moment, our strength, purity and victory.

One in His death on the tree,One as He rose from the dead;I from the curse am as freeE'en as my glorious Head.

One in His death on the tree,

One as He rose from the dead;

I from the curse am as free

E'en as my glorious Head.

One in His merits I stand,One as I Pray in His name,All that His worth can demandI may with confidence claim.

One in His merits I stand,

One as I Pray in His name,

All that His worth can demand

I may with confidence claim.

One on the Throne by His side,One in His Sonship divine,One as the Bridegroom and Bride,One as the Branch and the Vine.

One on the Throne by His side,

One in His Sonship divine,

One as the Bridegroom and Bride,

One as the Branch and the Vine.

All that He has shall be mine,All that He is I shall be;Robed in His glory divine,I shall be even as He.

All that He has shall be mine,

All that He is I shall be;

Robed in His glory divine,

I shall be even as He.

December 2.“Looking diligently lest any man fail”(Heb. xii. 15).It is not losing all, but coming short we are to fear. We may not lose our souls, but we may lose something more precious than life—His full approval, His highest choice, and our incorruptible and star-gemmed crown. It is the one degree more that counts, and makes all the difference between hot water—powerless in the boiler—and steam—all alive with power, and bearing its precious freight across the continent.I want, in this short life of mine,As much as can be pressedOf service true for God and man,Help me to be my best.I want to stand when Christ appearsAnd hear my name confessedNumbered among the hidden ones,His holiest and best.I want, among the victor throng,To have my name confessed;And hear my Master say at last,Well done, you did your best.Give me, O Lord, Thy highest choice;Let others take the rest:Their good things have no charm for me,For I have got Thy best.

“Looking diligently lest any man fail”(Heb. xii. 15).

It is not losing all, but coming short we are to fear. We may not lose our souls, but we may lose something more precious than life—His full approval, His highest choice, and our incorruptible and star-gemmed crown. It is the one degree more that counts, and makes all the difference between hot water—powerless in the boiler—and steam—all alive with power, and bearing its precious freight across the continent.

I want, in this short life of mine,As much as can be pressedOf service true for God and man,Help me to be my best.

I want, in this short life of mine,

As much as can be pressed

Of service true for God and man,

Help me to be my best.

I want to stand when Christ appearsAnd hear my name confessedNumbered among the hidden ones,His holiest and best.

I want to stand when Christ appears

And hear my name confessed

Numbered among the hidden ones,

His holiest and best.

I want, among the victor throng,To have my name confessed;And hear my Master say at last,Well done, you did your best.

I want, among the victor throng,

To have my name confessed;

And hear my Master say at last,

Well done, you did your best.

Give me, O Lord, Thy highest choice;Let others take the rest:Their good things have no charm for me,For I have got Thy best.

Give me, O Lord, Thy highest choice;

Let others take the rest:

Their good things have no charm for me,

For I have got Thy best.

December 3.Thy thoughts are very deep (Ps. xcii. 5).When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey it would probably be fatal he answered,“It is necessary for me to go, it is not necessary for me to live.”That was depth. When we are convicted like that we shall come to something.The shallow nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its intuitions, its instincts, and very largely in its surroundings. The profound character looks beyond all these and moves steadily on, sailing past all the storms and clouds into the clear sunshine which is always on the other side, and waiting for the afterwards which always brings the reversion of sorrow and seeming defeat and failure.When God has deepened us, then He can give us His deeper truths, His profoundest secrets, and His mightier trusts.Lord, lead me into the depths of Thy life and save me from a shallow experience.On to broader fields of holy vision;On to loftier heights of faith and love;Onward, upward, apprehending wholly,All for which He calls thee from above.

Thy thoughts are very deep (Ps. xcii. 5).

When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey it would probably be fatal he answered,“It is necessary for me to go, it is not necessary for me to live.”That was depth. When we are convicted like that we shall come to something.

The shallow nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its intuitions, its instincts, and very largely in its surroundings. The profound character looks beyond all these and moves steadily on, sailing past all the storms and clouds into the clear sunshine which is always on the other side, and waiting for the afterwards which always brings the reversion of sorrow and seeming defeat and failure.

When God has deepened us, then He can give us His deeper truths, His profoundest secrets, and His mightier trusts.

Lord, lead me into the depths of Thy life and save me from a shallow experience.

On to broader fields of holy vision;On to loftier heights of faith and love;Onward, upward, apprehending wholly,All for which He calls thee from above.

On to broader fields of holy vision;

On to loftier heights of faith and love;

Onward, upward, apprehending wholly,

All for which He calls thee from above.

December 4.“From me is thy fruit found”(Hos. xiv. 8).Nothing keeps us from advancement more than ruts and drifts, and wheel-tracks into which our chariots roll and then move on in the narrow line with unchanging monotony, currents in life's stream on which we are borne in the old direction until the law of habit almost makes advance impossible. The true remedy for this is to commence at nothing; taking Christ afresh to be the Alpha and Omega for a deeper, higher, Divine experience, waiting even for His conception of thought, desire, prayer, and afraid lest our highest thought should be below His great plan of wisdom and love.O Comforter gentle and tender,O holy and heavenly Dove,We're yielding our heart in surrender,We're waiting Thy fulness to prove.O come as the heart-searching fire,O come as the sin-cleansing flood;Consume us with holy desire,And fill with the fulness of God.Anoint us with gladness and healing;Baptize us with power from on high;O come with filling and sealingWhile low at the Thy footstool we lie.

“From me is thy fruit found”(Hos. xiv. 8).

Nothing keeps us from advancement more than ruts and drifts, and wheel-tracks into which our chariots roll and then move on in the narrow line with unchanging monotony, currents in life's stream on which we are borne in the old direction until the law of habit almost makes advance impossible. The true remedy for this is to commence at nothing; taking Christ afresh to be the Alpha and Omega for a deeper, higher, Divine experience, waiting even for His conception of thought, desire, prayer, and afraid lest our highest thought should be below His great plan of wisdom and love.

O Comforter gentle and tender,O holy and heavenly Dove,We're yielding our heart in surrender,We're waiting Thy fulness to prove.

O Comforter gentle and tender,

O holy and heavenly Dove,

We're yielding our heart in surrender,

We're waiting Thy fulness to prove.

O come as the heart-searching fire,O come as the sin-cleansing flood;Consume us with holy desire,And fill with the fulness of God.

O come as the heart-searching fire,

O come as the sin-cleansing flood;

Consume us with holy desire,

And fill with the fulness of God.

Anoint us with gladness and healing;Baptize us with power from on high;O come with filling and sealingWhile low at the Thy footstool we lie.

Anoint us with gladness and healing;

Baptize us with power from on high;

O come with filling and sealing

While low at the Thy footstool we lie.

December 5.“With a perfect heart to make David King”(I. Chron. xii. 38).“What is the supreme purpose of our life? They were all of one heart to make David king.”Is this our purpose, to prepare the Bride, to prepare the world, to prepare His way? Does it dwarf and dim all other ambitions, all other cares? Does it fill and satisfy every capacity, every power, every desire? Does it absorb every moment, every energy, every resource? Does it give direction and tone to every plan and work of life? Does it decide for us the education of our children, the investment of our means, the friendships and associations of life, the whole activity, interest and outlook of our being? Are we in it, spirit, soul and body, all we are, all we do, all we hope for—of one heart to make Jesus King?We're going forth unitedWith loyal heart and hand,To bear His royal bannerAboard o'er every land.From every tribe and nationWe'll haste His Bride to bring.And Oh, with what glad welcomeWe'll make our Jesus King.

“With a perfect heart to make David King”(I. Chron. xii. 38).

“What is the supreme purpose of our life? They were all of one heart to make David king.”Is this our purpose, to prepare the Bride, to prepare the world, to prepare His way? Does it dwarf and dim all other ambitions, all other cares? Does it fill and satisfy every capacity, every power, every desire? Does it absorb every moment, every energy, every resource? Does it give direction and tone to every plan and work of life? Does it decide for us the education of our children, the investment of our means, the friendships and associations of life, the whole activity, interest and outlook of our being? Are we in it, spirit, soul and body, all we are, all we do, all we hope for—of one heart to make Jesus King?

We're going forth unitedWith loyal heart and hand,To bear His royal bannerAboard o'er every land.

We're going forth united

With loyal heart and hand,

To bear His royal banner

Aboard o'er every land.

From every tribe and nationWe'll haste His Bride to bring.And Oh, with what glad welcomeWe'll make our Jesus King.

From every tribe and nation

We'll haste His Bride to bring.

And Oh, with what glad welcome

We'll make our Jesus King.

December 6.“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you”(I. Peter v. 6).Opposition is essential to a true equilibrium of forces. The centripetal and centrifugal forces acting in opposition to each other keep our planet in her orbit. The one propelling, and the other repelling, so act and react, that instead of sweeping off into space in a pathway of desolation and destruction, she pursues her even orbit around her solar center.So God guides our lives. It is not enough to have an impelling force—we need just as much a repelling force, and so He holds us back by the testing ordeals of life, by the pressure of temptation and trial, by the things that seem to be against us, but really are furthering our way and stablishing our goings. Let us thank Him for both, let us take the weights as well as the wings, and thus divinely impelled, let us press on with faith and patience in our high and heavenly calling.Lord, help me to learn from all that comes to me this day Thy highest will.Lord, help me to-day to sink under Thy blessed hand, that Thou mayest have Thy way and will with me.

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you”(I. Peter v. 6).

Opposition is essential to a true equilibrium of forces. The centripetal and centrifugal forces acting in opposition to each other keep our planet in her orbit. The one propelling, and the other repelling, so act and react, that instead of sweeping off into space in a pathway of desolation and destruction, she pursues her even orbit around her solar center.

So God guides our lives. It is not enough to have an impelling force—we need just as much a repelling force, and so He holds us back by the testing ordeals of life, by the pressure of temptation and trial, by the things that seem to be against us, but really are furthering our way and stablishing our goings. Let us thank Him for both, let us take the weights as well as the wings, and thus divinely impelled, let us press on with faith and patience in our high and heavenly calling.

Lord, help me to learn from all that comes to me this day Thy highest will.

Lord, help me to-day to sink under Thy blessed hand, that Thou mayest have Thy way and will with me.

December 7.“Abide with us; for it is toward evening”(Luke xxiv. 29).In His last messages to the disciples in the 14th and 15th chapters of John, the Lord Jesus clearly teaches us that the very essence of the highest holiness is,“Abide in Me, and I in you, for without Me ye can do nothing.”The very purpose of the Holy Ghost whom He promised was to reveal Him, that at“that day, ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you,”and the closing echo of His intercessory prayer was embraced in these three small but infinite words,“I in them.”Is it for me to be cleansed by His powerFrom the pollution of sin?Is it for me to be kept every hourBy His abiding within?Is it for me to be perfectly wholeThro' His anointing divine;Claiming in body, and spirit, and soul,All of His fulness as mine?Wonderful promise so full and so free,Wonderful Saviour, Oh, how can it be,Cleansing and pardon and mercy for me?Yes, it's for me, for me.

“Abide with us; for it is toward evening”(Luke xxiv. 29).

In His last messages to the disciples in the 14th and 15th chapters of John, the Lord Jesus clearly teaches us that the very essence of the highest holiness is,“Abide in Me, and I in you, for without Me ye can do nothing.”

The very purpose of the Holy Ghost whom He promised was to reveal Him, that at“that day, ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you,”and the closing echo of His intercessory prayer was embraced in these three small but infinite words,“I in them.”

Is it for me to be cleansed by His powerFrom the pollution of sin?Is it for me to be kept every hourBy His abiding within?

Is it for me to be cleansed by His power

From the pollution of sin?

Is it for me to be kept every hour

By His abiding within?

Is it for me to be perfectly wholeThro' His anointing divine;Claiming in body, and spirit, and soul,All of His fulness as mine?

Is it for me to be perfectly whole

Thro' His anointing divine;

Claiming in body, and spirit, and soul,

All of His fulness as mine?

Wonderful promise so full and so free,Wonderful Saviour, Oh, how can it be,Cleansing and pardon and mercy for me?Yes, it's for me, for me.

Wonderful promise so full and so free,

Wonderful Saviour, Oh, how can it be,

Cleansing and pardon and mercy for me?

Yes, it's for me, for me.

December 8.“Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?”(Jer. viii. 22).Divine healing is just divine life. It is the headship of Christ over the body. It is the life of Christ in the frame. It is the union of our members with the very body of Christ and the inflowing life of Christ in our living members. It is as real as His risen and glorified body. It is as reasonable as the fact that He was raised from the dead and is a living man with a true body and a rational soul to-day, at God's right hand. That living Christ belongs to us in all His attributes and powers. We are members of His body, His flesh and His bones, and if we can only believe and receive it, we may live upon the very life of the Son of God.Lord, help me to know the“Lord for the body and the body for the Lord.”There is healing in the promise,There is healing in the blood,There is strength for all our weaknessIn the risen Son of God.And the feeblest of His children,All His glorious life may share;He has healing balm in Gilead,He's the Great Physician there.

“Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?”(Jer. viii. 22).

Divine healing is just divine life. It is the headship of Christ over the body. It is the life of Christ in the frame. It is the union of our members with the very body of Christ and the inflowing life of Christ in our living members. It is as real as His risen and glorified body. It is as reasonable as the fact that He was raised from the dead and is a living man with a true body and a rational soul to-day, at God's right hand. That living Christ belongs to us in all His attributes and powers. We are members of His body, His flesh and His bones, and if we can only believe and receive it, we may live upon the very life of the Son of God.

Lord, help me to know the“Lord for the body and the body for the Lord.”

There is healing in the promise,There is healing in the blood,There is strength for all our weaknessIn the risen Son of God.

There is healing in the promise,

There is healing in the blood,

There is strength for all our weakness

In the risen Son of God.

And the feeblest of His children,All His glorious life may share;He has healing balm in Gilead,He's the Great Physician there.

And the feeblest of His children,

All His glorious life may share;

He has healing balm in Gilead,

He's the Great Physician there.

December 9.“Launch out into the deep”(Luke v. 4).One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit Of boldness. One of the most essential qualities of the faith that is to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we are dealing with a supernatural Being, and taking from Him things that are humanly impossible, it is easier to take much than little; it is easier to stand in a place of audacious trust than in a place of cautious, timid clinging to the shore. Like wise seamen in the life of faith, let us launch out into the deep, and find that all things are possible with God, and all things are possible unto him that believeth.Let us to-day attempt great things for God, take His faith and believe for them and His strength to accomplish them.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.Oh, let us launch out in this ocean so broad,Where the floods of salvation o'erflow,Oh, let us be lost in the mercy of God,Till the depth of His fulness we know.

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

One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit Of boldness. One of the most essential qualities of the faith that is to attempt great things for God and expect great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we are dealing with a supernatural Being, and taking from Him things that are humanly impossible, it is easier to take much than little; it is easier to stand in a place of audacious trust than in a place of cautious, timid clinging to the shore. Like wise seamen in the life of faith, let us launch out into the deep, and find that all things are possible with God, and all things are possible unto him that believeth.

Let us to-day attempt great things for God, take His faith and believe for them and His strength to accomplish them.

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.

Oh, let us launch out in this ocean so broad,Where the floods of salvation o'erflow,Oh, let us be lost in the mercy of God,Till the depth of His fulness we know.

Oh, let us launch out in this ocean so broad,

Where the floods of salvation o'erflow,

Oh, let us be lost in the mercy of God,

Till the depth of His fulness we know.

December 10.“According to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed”(II. Cor. x. 13).According to thy faith be it unto thee was Christ's great law of healing and blessing in His earthly ministry. This was what He meant when He said,“With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.”These mighty measures are limited by the the measures that we bring. God deals out His heavenly treasures to us in these glorious vessels, but each of us must bring our drinking cup, and according to its measure we shall be filled.But even the measure of our faith may be a Divine one. Thank God, the little cup has become enlarged through the grace of Jesus, until from its bottom there flows a pipe into the great ocean, and if that connection is kept open we shall find that our cup is as large as the ocean and never can be drained to the bottom. For He has said to us,“Have the faith of God,”and surely this is an illimitable measure.Let us claim the mighty promise,Let us light the torches dim;Let us join the glorious chorus,Nothing is too hard for Him.

“According to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed”(II. Cor. x. 13).

According to thy faith be it unto thee was Christ's great law of healing and blessing in His earthly ministry. This was what He meant when He said,“With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.”These mighty measures are limited by the the measures that we bring. God deals out His heavenly treasures to us in these glorious vessels, but each of us must bring our drinking cup, and according to its measure we shall be filled.

But even the measure of our faith may be a Divine one. Thank God, the little cup has become enlarged through the grace of Jesus, until from its bottom there flows a pipe into the great ocean, and if that connection is kept open we shall find that our cup is as large as the ocean and never can be drained to the bottom. For He has said to us,“Have the faith of God,”and surely this is an illimitable measure.

Let us claim the mighty promise,Let us light the torches dim;Let us join the glorious chorus,Nothing is too hard for Him.

Let us claim the mighty promise,

Let us light the torches dim;

Let us join the glorious chorus,

Nothing is too hard for Him.

December 11.“I pray not for the world, but for them”(John xvii. 9).How often we say we would like to get some strong spirit to pray for us, and feel so helped when we think they are carrying us in their faith. But there is One whose prayers never fail to be fulfilled and who is more willing to give them to us than any human friend. His one business at God's right hand is to make intercession for His people, and we are simply coming in the line of His own appointment and His own definite promise and provision, when we lay our burdens upon Him and claim His advocacy without doubt or fear.“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may find help in time of need.”Like a golden censer glowing,Filled with burning odors rare,All my heart is upward flowing,In a cloud of ceaseless prayer.O'er the heavenly altar bending,Jesus interceding stands,All our prayers to heaven ascending,Reach the Father through His hands.

“I pray not for the world, but for them”(John xvii. 9).

How often we say we would like to get some strong spirit to pray for us, and feel so helped when we think they are carrying us in their faith. But there is One whose prayers never fail to be fulfilled and who is more willing to give them to us than any human friend. His one business at God's right hand is to make intercession for His people, and we are simply coming in the line of His own appointment and His own definite promise and provision, when we lay our burdens upon Him and claim His advocacy without doubt or fear.“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may find help in time of need.”

Like a golden censer glowing,Filled with burning odors rare,All my heart is upward flowing,In a cloud of ceaseless prayer.

Like a golden censer glowing,

Filled with burning odors rare,

All my heart is upward flowing,

In a cloud of ceaseless prayer.

O'er the heavenly altar bending,Jesus interceding stands,All our prayers to heaven ascending,Reach the Father through His hands.

O'er the heavenly altar bending,

Jesus interceding stands,

All our prayers to heaven ascending,

Reach the Father through His hands.

December 12.“To abide in the flesh is more needful for you, and having this confidence, I know that I shall abide”(Phil. i. 24, 25).One of the most blessed things about divine healing is that the strength it brings is holy strength, and finds its natural and congenial outflow in holy acts and exercises.Mere natural strength seeks its gratification in natural pleasures and activities, but the strength of Christ leads us to do as Christ would do, and to seek our congenial employment in His holy service.The life of Christ in a human body saves it from a thousand temptations to self-indulgence and sin, and not only gives us strength for higher service, but also a desire for it, and puts into it a zest and spring which gives it double power.Lord, help us to-day to claim Thy life and then give it for the help of others.Have you found the branch of healing?Pass it on.Have you felt the Spirit's sealing,Pass it on.'Twas for this His mercy sought you,And to all His fulness brought you,By the precious blood that bought you,Pass it on.

“To abide in the flesh is more needful for you, and having this confidence, I know that I shall abide”(Phil. i. 24, 25).

One of the most blessed things about divine healing is that the strength it brings is holy strength, and finds its natural and congenial outflow in holy acts and exercises.

Mere natural strength seeks its gratification in natural pleasures and activities, but the strength of Christ leads us to do as Christ would do, and to seek our congenial employment in His holy service.

The life of Christ in a human body saves it from a thousand temptations to self-indulgence and sin, and not only gives us strength for higher service, but also a desire for it, and puts into it a zest and spring which gives it double power.

Lord, help us to-day to claim Thy life and then give it for the help of others.

Have you found the branch of healing?Pass it on.Have you felt the Spirit's sealing,Pass it on.'Twas for this His mercy sought you,And to all His fulness brought you,By the precious blood that bought you,Pass it on.

Have you found the branch of healing?

Pass it on.

Have you felt the Spirit's sealing,

Pass it on.

'Twas for this His mercy sought you,

And to all His fulness brought you,

By the precious blood that bought you,

Pass it on.

December 13.“He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for apart from Me ye can do nothing”(John xv. 5).So familiar are the vine and the branches, it is not necessary to explain; only the branches and the vine are one. The vine does not say, I am the central trunk running up and you are the little branches; but I am the whole thing, and you are the whole thing. He counts us partakers of His nature.“Apart from Me ye can do nothing.”The husband and the wife, and many more figures contribute to this marvelous Christ teaching, which has no parallel, no precedent in any other teaching under the sun; that Christ is the life of His people, and that we are absolutely linked with and dependent upon Him. All other systems teach how much man is and may become. Christianity shows how a man must lose all he is if he would come into full unity with Christ in His life.Lord, help me this day to abide in Thee.Oh! what a wonderful placeJesus has given to me!Saved by His glorious grace,I may be even as He.

“He that abideth in Me and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit for apart from Me ye can do nothing”(John xv. 5).

So familiar are the vine and the branches, it is not necessary to explain; only the branches and the vine are one. The vine does not say, I am the central trunk running up and you are the little branches; but I am the whole thing, and you are the whole thing. He counts us partakers of His nature.“Apart from Me ye can do nothing.”The husband and the wife, and many more figures contribute to this marvelous Christ teaching, which has no parallel, no precedent in any other teaching under the sun; that Christ is the life of His people, and that we are absolutely linked with and dependent upon Him. All other systems teach how much man is and may become. Christianity shows how a man must lose all he is if he would come into full unity with Christ in His life.

Lord, help me this day to abide in Thee.

Oh! what a wonderful placeJesus has given to me!Saved by His glorious grace,I may be even as He.

Oh! what a wonderful place

Jesus has given to me!

Saved by His glorious grace,

I may be even as He.

December 14.“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree”(Isa. lv. 13).Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fulness and all-sufficiency of Jesus, and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting Him, we may be tested, we may have to wait and let patience have her perfect work, but we shall surely find at last the stone rolled away, and the Lord waiting to render unto us double for our time of testing, and fulfil the promise,“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, instead of the brier the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”Oft there comes a wondrous messageWhen my hopes are growing dim;I can hear it through the darkness,Like some sweet and far-off hymn.Nothing is too hard for Jesus,No man can work like Him.When my way is closed in darknessAnd my foes are fierce and grim,Still it sings above the conflictLike some glad, victorious hymn:Nothing is too hard for Jesus,No man can work like Him.

“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree”(Isa. lv. 13).

Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fulness and all-sufficiency of Jesus, and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting Him, we may be tested, we may have to wait and let patience have her perfect work, but we shall surely find at last the stone rolled away, and the Lord waiting to render unto us double for our time of testing, and fulfil the promise,“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, instead of the brier the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Oft there comes a wondrous messageWhen my hopes are growing dim;I can hear it through the darkness,Like some sweet and far-off hymn.Nothing is too hard for Jesus,No man can work like Him.

Oft there comes a wondrous message

When my hopes are growing dim;

I can hear it through the darkness,

Like some sweet and far-off hymn.

Nothing is too hard for Jesus,

No man can work like Him.

When my way is closed in darknessAnd my foes are fierce and grim,Still it sings above the conflictLike some glad, victorious hymn:Nothing is too hard for Jesus,No man can work like Him.

When my way is closed in darkness

And my foes are fierce and grim,

Still it sings above the conflict

Like some glad, victorious hymn:

Nothing is too hard for Jesus,

No man can work like Him.

December 15.“When my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the Rock that is higher than I”(Ps. lxi. 2).The end of self is the beginning of God.“When the tale of bricks is doubled then comes Moses.”That is the old Hebrew way of putting it.“Man's extremity is God's opportunity.”That is the proverbial expression of it.“When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”That is David's way of expressing it.“We have no might against this company, neither know we what to do.”No might, no light—“but our eyes are upon Thee,”that was Jehoshaphat's experience of it.“Mine eyes fail with looking upward. I am oppressed, Lord, undertake for me.”“When I had great trouble I always went to God and was wondrously carried through; but in my little trials I used to try to manage them myself, and often most signally failed.”So Miss Havergal has expressed the experience of many a Christian. God wants us“at our wit's end,”and then He will show His wisdom, love and power. How often we ask God to help, and then begin to count up the human probabilities! God's very blessings become a hindrance to us if we look from Him to them.

“When my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the Rock that is higher than I”(Ps. lxi. 2).

The end of self is the beginning of God.“When the tale of bricks is doubled then comes Moses.”That is the old Hebrew way of putting it.“Man's extremity is God's opportunity.”That is the proverbial expression of it.“When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”That is David's way of expressing it.“We have no might against this company, neither know we what to do.”No might, no light—“but our eyes are upon Thee,”that was Jehoshaphat's experience of it.“Mine eyes fail with looking upward. I am oppressed, Lord, undertake for me.”

“When I had great trouble I always went to God and was wondrously carried through; but in my little trials I used to try to manage them myself, and often most signally failed.”So Miss Havergal has expressed the experience of many a Christian. God wants us“at our wit's end,”and then He will show His wisdom, love and power. How often we ask God to help, and then begin to count up the human probabilities! God's very blessings become a hindrance to us if we look from Him to them.

December 16.“I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm and the caterpillar and the palmer worm, my great army, which I sent among you”(Joel ii. 25).A friend said to me once:“I have got to reap what I sowed, for God has said:‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’Then why don't you apply this in the spiritual world, and compel the sinner to pay the penalty of his sins?”Christ has borne this penalty, and the same Christ has borne the natural penalties, too, and delivered us out of condemnation in every sense. Physical sufferings come to us, but not under the law of retribution, but only as a Divine discipline. Every penalty has been fulfilled by Christ and every law satisfied, and so far as we can have risen with Him into the plane of spiritual and eternal life, we are lifted above the mere realm of law, and we enter into the full effects of His complete satisfaction of every claim against us. So it is true that even the wreck that sin has brought upon our physical and temporal life is removed by His great atonement, and the promise is made real to us,“I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.”

“I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm and the caterpillar and the palmer worm, my great army, which I sent among you”(Joel ii. 25).

A friend said to me once:“I have got to reap what I sowed, for God has said:‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’Then why don't you apply this in the spiritual world, and compel the sinner to pay the penalty of his sins?”

Christ has borne this penalty, and the same Christ has borne the natural penalties, too, and delivered us out of condemnation in every sense. Physical sufferings come to us, but not under the law of retribution, but only as a Divine discipline. Every penalty has been fulfilled by Christ and every law satisfied, and so far as we can have risen with Him into the plane of spiritual and eternal life, we are lifted above the mere realm of law, and we enter into the full effects of His complete satisfaction of every claim against us. So it is true that even the wreck that sin has brought upon our physical and temporal life is removed by His great atonement, and the promise is made real to us,“I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.”

December 17.“Be careful for nothing”(Phil. iv. 6).What is the way to lay your burden down?“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”That is the way to take His burden up. You will find that His burden is always light. Yours is a very heavy one. Happy day if you have exchanged burdens and laid down your loads at His blessed feet to take up His own instead. God wants to rest His workers, and He is too kind to put His burden on hearts that are already bowed down with their own weight of cares.Are you fearing, fretting or repining?You can never know God's perfect peace.On His bosom all your weight reclining.All your anxious doubts and cares must cease.Would you know the peace that God has given?Would you find the very joy of heaven?Be careful for nothing,Be prayerful for everything,Be thankful for anything,And the peace of God that passeth understandingShall keep your mind and heart.

“Be careful for nothing”(Phil. iv. 6).

What is the way to lay your burden down?“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

“For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”That is the way to take His burden up. You will find that His burden is always light. Yours is a very heavy one. Happy day if you have exchanged burdens and laid down your loads at His blessed feet to take up His own instead. God wants to rest His workers, and He is too kind to put His burden on hearts that are already bowed down with their own weight of cares.

Are you fearing, fretting or repining?You can never know God's perfect peace.On His bosom all your weight reclining.All your anxious doubts and cares must cease.Would you know the peace that God has given?Would you find the very joy of heaven?Be careful for nothing,Be prayerful for everything,Be thankful for anything,And the peace of God that passeth understandingShall keep your mind and heart.

Are you fearing, fretting or repining?

You can never know God's perfect peace.

On His bosom all your weight reclining.

All your anxious doubts and cares must cease.

Would you know the peace that God has given?

Would you find the very joy of heaven?

Be careful for nothing,

Be prayerful for everything,

Be thankful for anything,

And the peace of God that passeth understanding

Shall keep your mind and heart.

December 18.“The faith of the Son of God”(Gal. ii. 20).Faith is hindered most of all by what we call“our faith,”and fruitless struggles to work out a faith which is but a make-believe and a desperate trying to trust God, which must ever come short of His vast and glorious promises. The truth is that the only faith that is equal to the stupendous promises of God and the measureless needs of our life, is“the faith of God”Himself, the very trust which He will breathe into the heart which intelligently expects Him as its power to believe, as well as its power to love, obey, or perform any other exercise of the new life.Blessed be His name! He has not given us a chain which reaches within a single link of our poor helpless heart, but that one last link is fatal to all the chain. Nay, the last link, the one that fastens on the human side is as Divine as the link that binds the chain of promise in the heavens.“Have the faith of God,”is His great command.“I live by the faith of the Son of God”is the victorious testimony of one who had proved it true.Lord, teach me to have the faith of the Son of God.

“The faith of the Son of God”(Gal. ii. 20).

Faith is hindered most of all by what we call“our faith,”and fruitless struggles to work out a faith which is but a make-believe and a desperate trying to trust God, which must ever come short of His vast and glorious promises. The truth is that the only faith that is equal to the stupendous promises of God and the measureless needs of our life, is“the faith of God”Himself, the very trust which He will breathe into the heart which intelligently expects Him as its power to believe, as well as its power to love, obey, or perform any other exercise of the new life.

Blessed be His name! He has not given us a chain which reaches within a single link of our poor helpless heart, but that one last link is fatal to all the chain. Nay, the last link, the one that fastens on the human side is as Divine as the link that binds the chain of promise in the heavens.“Have the faith of God,”is His great command.“I live by the faith of the Son of God”is the victorious testimony of one who had proved it true.

Lord, teach me to have the faith of the Son of God.

December 19.“God giveth grace unto the humble”(James iv. 6).One of the marks of highest worth is deep lowliness. The shallow nature, conscious of its weakness and insufficiency, is always trying to advertise itself and make sure of its being appreciated. The strong nature, conscious of its strength, is willing to wait and let its work be made manifest in due time. Indeed, the truest natures are so free from all self-consciousness and self-consideration that their object is not to be appreciated, understood or recompensed, but to accomplish their true mission and fulfil the real work of life.One of the most suggestive expressions used respecting the Lord Jesus is given by the evangelist John in the thirteenth chapter of His Gospel, where we read,“Jesus, knowing that He came from God, and went to God, riseth from supper and began to wash the disciples' feet.”It was because He knew His high dignity and His high destiny that He could stoop to the lowest place and that place could not degrade Him.God give to us the Divine insignia of heavenly rank, a bowed head, a meek and lowly spirit.

“God giveth grace unto the humble”(James iv. 6).

One of the marks of highest worth is deep lowliness. The shallow nature, conscious of its weakness and insufficiency, is always trying to advertise itself and make sure of its being appreciated. The strong nature, conscious of its strength, is willing to wait and let its work be made manifest in due time. Indeed, the truest natures are so free from all self-consciousness and self-consideration that their object is not to be appreciated, understood or recompensed, but to accomplish their true mission and fulfil the real work of life.

One of the most suggestive expressions used respecting the Lord Jesus is given by the evangelist John in the thirteenth chapter of His Gospel, where we read,“Jesus, knowing that He came from God, and went to God, riseth from supper and began to wash the disciples' feet.”It was because He knew His high dignity and His high destiny that He could stoop to the lowest place and that place could not degrade Him.

God give to us the Divine insignia of heavenly rank, a bowed head, a meek and lowly spirit.

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