DEVOTIONAL COLUMN

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 8, 7 December 1935, Page 14

DEVOTIONAL COLUMN

PRAYER. Our Father, Thou hast given Thy people, in all the days, abounding revelations of Thy will. For this we thank Thee with grateful hearts today, for we do not need to stumble through life without the guidance which is within thy purposes for each one of Thy children. We praise Thy name for the great fact that we have a God who cares, a Saviour who ever lives to make intercession for us. May we not become indifferent, or discouraged. May we not lose our sensitiveness to sin, or to Thy. compelling voice of love calling us away from the paths that lead to destruction. May we be good watchmen in warning others of the dangers along the way, and encourage the lifting up of eyes to heavenly places in Cnrist Jesus. In Thy dear name, 0 Lord, we pray Amen. ■ REALISING. President Roosevelt said “Render unto Uncle Sam or else—-!” God tells us what to do with this silver and gold of his, and in exchange he gives us his sweet and blessed promises. I have been living, doing busines, and travelling on these promises for years, and they have never once failed to be “legal tender.” Yea, they are always regal tender 1 Here are three of my favourite “bills”: Deut. 36: 6; Prov. 16: 7; Phil. 4: 19. Indeed, my “pocketbook” is full o’ them.—Anon. HIS LIFE WITHIN. (By Opal Leonore Gibbs.) On my table the gold-hearted roses stand, And, oh, what odours they cast! They seem to be living and loving things— But the sentence of death is passed ; And I know that as sure as time moves apace My table will hold but an empty vase. In the garden there stands a young green tree, > Less beautiful than a rose, Yet through storm and sun there wells up within The life by which it grows; And it whispers a calm, sure word to me: To live in my Lord like the growing tree. IN ADVERSITY. Remember Edwards’s magnificent resolution : “Resolved to improve afflictions to the uttermost.” Spread the sail when the breeze of adversity blows, and let it drive your vessel onwards on its course. —Robert Murray McCheyne. FOR ANOTHER’S SAKE. God for Christ’s sake hath given you. (Eph. 4, 32.) In ancient Rome there were two brothers, one of whom was a brave soldier who had lost both his hands in the battles of his country. The other on one occasion was a criminal, standing before the judge to receive a terrible sentence for a great crime. Just as the sentence was about to be pronounced upon the culprit, his brave soldier brother rushed _ hastily into the Court, and, going right up before the judge, held up those wounded and disfigured arms as the only appealing plea for his guilty brother. They seemed to say, “Spare him for what I have done.” The guilty one was pardoned for liis brother’s sake. —Hy Pickering. THE WHOLE COUNSEL.

I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. (Acts 20. 27). Of too many it must be said, they are not convinced by Scripture. They do not possess an insight into the scope of the Bible. They know little of Moses and still less of the prophets. They do not understand the drift of an epistle. And therefore they may easily be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. A good flow of language, solemnity of manner, and plausible philosophy carry them away. Our armour is the Word. Read the Scripture, and prayerfully and diligently study “the whole counsel of God.” —Adolph Sapliir, B.A. NO NEED TO FEAR.

Darkness cannot be complete so long as the Sun of Righteousness is in the Heavens; sorrow cannot be all-engross-ing so long as His promises are left us; nor can our faith fail, while we can cry to a present and a living God, and rest entirely in Him.—Dr Alfred Edersheim. “WITH MY SONG WILL I PRAISE HIM.” (Psalm 28:7.) When all round was bright In Thee I found delight, And gladness filled my heart. When hours of pain were long ■ My soul burst into song, For gladness filled my heart. ' I’ve found Thy grace so sure For all I must endure. That gladness fills my heart. I know whate’er beset Thy strength is stronger yet, Tliy joy will fill my heart. LIFE INDEED. The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.—Galatians 2 :20. The love that Jesus had for me, To suffer on the cruel tree, That I' a ransomed soul might be, ■ Is more than tongue can tell. LET ME NOT. Let me not} 0 Blessed Saviour, Mock, Thy wonders or Thy power; Grant me strength to serve Thee only, Be my joy each idle hour. When my worldly journey’s ended, And from earthly grief I’m free, This I ask in prayer and pleading, Grant the light of heav’n to me. Let me not ? O Blessed Saviour, Wander irom Thy tender care; Be my joy for each to-morrow, Shield me from this world’s despair; Be my soul’s eternal comfort, And the glory of my mind, Be my Light, my Peace, my Refuge, Jesus, Lover of mankind. Let me not. 0 Blessed Saviour, Scorn the shadow of Thy cross, Wrap me in Thy loving presence, ' Ere my soul in sin be lost; Teach my tongue to praise Thee only, Share with me Thy love Divine, And when the flower of life has faded, Take me to that homo of Thine.