DEVOTIONAL COLUMN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 46, 23 January 1926, Page 6

DEVOTIONAL COLUMN.

PRAYER. 0 Lord Christ, who wast Thyself heard gladly by common folk, and who didst commit trustfully to simple men the high tasks of Thy Kingdom, we beseech Thee still to give power to Thy messengers to touch human hearts for Thee. And do Thou work before them, preparing the way for Thyself, that there may be an entrance for Thee into the life of Thy world, and into the souls which were created for Thy glory. Amen. READING. Come now, and lot us reason together, snith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they bo rod like crimson, they shall be as wool.—lsaiah 1, 18. A SABBATH EVENING HYMN. (By Dr. Henry Burton.) Lord of the Sabbath and its Light, To Whom the dark is as the day! We seek Thee, a,s the shades of night Call us again to praise and pray. We would not come with empty form, With postures fair, yet insincere, But with a reverent heart, and warm With strong desire to meet Thee here. Wipe from our eyes the earthly dust That makes our vision blurred and dim; Give us the childlike heart of trust, The love of glowing seraphim. Shine on our soul, 0 Love divine, Till doubt and fear and sin depart! And Thou shall have a temple shrine, With silent music in our heart. Come in Thy Power, Thou risen Christ, Seeker and Saviour of the lost, And at this hour of sacrifice Give us a breath of Pentecost! THE HELPER WHO NEVER ? FAILS. “Oh, the world is full of sighs,” Full of sad and weeping eyes.” How oft do we sing these words, and then go on our way, forgetting all about the tears to be dried, and the sad and sorrowing hearts to be comforted. If we only knew the secret burdens and heart-aches which many carry hidden beneath a smiling face, we would be led to pray more earnestly every day “for a heart, at leisure from itself, to soothe and sympath ise.” But, although we cannjot see into the inner recesses of the hearts of those with whom we come in contact, yet there is One who can, and IV ho tells us to cast all our cares at His feet. “If I had not had Christ to go to when this trouble came upon me, I could never have lived through it,” said one recently, when speaking of a great sorrow that had come into her life, almost threatening to crush her. We had tried to bring a little ray of comfort, but felt somewhat powerless to help in a case like this, but Jesus knows all about her sorrows, He understands it all, and will lighten the darkness for her in His own way. For just as surely as He walked this earth in the days of His flesh to bind up the broken-hearted, does Tie walk our streets to-day, bent upon the same mission.

The healing of His seamless dress., Is by our beds of pain, We touch Him -in life’s throng and press, And we are whole again.

YOUR GOD. Wlmt is tho imino of our God? What is the name of the deity you worship? In the present modern sense of name, by which nothing more that epithet is meant of course, tho reply is easy. The name of yours is the God of Christian worship—tho Threefold One—the Author of Existence, manifested in Div.ino humanity, commingling with us as pure spirit—tho Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. That, of com so, yon say, is the name of your God. Now put away names; give words to the winds. What •do you adore in your heart of hearts? What is the name oftenest on your lips in your unfettered spontaneous moments? If wo overheard your secret thoughts, who and what is it which is to you the greatest and the best that you would desire to realise? The character of the rich man, or the successful, or the admired? Would the worst misery which could happen to you he the wreck of property; the worst shame not to have done wrong, but to have sunk in tho estimation of society? Then, in tho classifications of earth, which separate men into Jews, Christians, Mohammedans, o + c., you may rank as a worshipper of the Christian’s God. But in tho nomenclature of heaven, where names cannot stand for things, God sees you as an idolater—your highest is not His highest. The Name that is above every name is not the description of vour God. —F. W. Robertson. V THE CREED OF JESUS. He believed in God so naturally that He never tried to prove His existence, but took it for granted like the air He breathed or the food Ho ate.

Ho believed in His own mission, which was to give men life abundantly.

He believed in the fact of sin, and man's redemption from it by repentance and faitii.

He believed in Heaven and Hell, and taught that men make their choice 1 1 . ween right and wrong. He believed in the possibility of Human Brotherhood, based on tho oneness of human need and dependence.

He believed in the capacity of mankind to learn and accept tho greatness of the abundant life. He believed in the fact of immortality, and took it for granted, as He did the existence of God, never arguing about it. He believed in the seriousness of life, without being gloomy or ascetic, and He taught that life should bo measured not by pleasure, but by its joy in service.

He believed that prayer is a necessity for a full-grown life, and taught the need of it without arguing about its meaning. He believed in His own teaching so much that He commanded it to bo taught to every nation, and laid it upon the Church as a last and binding commission. What do you think of the creed of Jesus P Can you find a better one for yourself?—China Christian Advocate. OUR TRUST IS IN HIM. 0 Thou who art of all that is Reginning both and end; We follow Thee through unknown paths Since all to Thee must tend. Thy judgments are a mighty deep Beyond all fathom line, Our wisdom is the childlike heart, Our strength—to trust in Thine.