Devotional Column

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 175, 27 July 1935, Page 10

Devotional Column

Precept. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. Ps. 115. 11. Promise. He is their help and their shield. Ps. 115. 11. Praise. The God which fed me all my life long unto this day. Gen. 48. 15. God hnows the difference between the idle waiting of the desire to escape His will, and the honest waiting ol' a willing heart to have His will made plain, in order to do it. “Rest in .the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."—Psa. 07:7. THE NECESSITY OF A SPIRITUAL BIRTH. John 0:0, 6, S. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man bo born again, ho cannot see the kingdom of God. 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirt. S; The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it comcth, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is horn of the Spirit. John 1:12, 10. As many as received him, to them gave he power to become tho sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

HOME TO COME. “And there came a leper to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him, and saying unto Him, If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” — Mark 1: 40. In this verso we have one of God’s pictures. It is a four-fold picture full of Jove and mercy.

Ist. Ho came as a leper—without excuse, or comparison—he came honestly. 2nd. He came beseeching Him. Why? He knew his condition and all that it meant —suffering, death, and then judgment. 3rd. He came kneeling down to Him —his utter helplessness—tho low place. It meant life or death, so ho was in earnest.

4th. He came in faith —“Thou canst make me whole.” Reward of faith — “I will: be thou clean.” Oh! wlmt joy—cleansed! He did not return to the leper camp. —A.R.T.

GAIN COUNTED LOSS. Philippines 3, 7. That I may win Christ—Person, Phil. 3, S. That I may know Him and the Power of His Resurrection—Power, Phil. 3, 10. That I may apprehend—Purpose Phil. 3, 12. ABUNDANCE IN GOD. The Grace of God, Eph. 3,2. This has special reference to the stewardship, or administration, of the Church ‘‘secret,” specially committed to the Apostle Paul, for communication to the saints.

Tlic Wisdom ol' God, Eph. 5. 10. To angelic intelligences in the hoavenlies there is made known the allvarious wisdom ol! God, bv means ol' (ho Church. They have had many marvellous displays of Divine wisdom, so wonderfully various; hut this secret, long kept, but now made, known, far exceeds them all. The .Fulness of God, Eph. D, 19. In view of God's wondrous secret, so intimately connected with Christ, the love of Christ Himself should fully engage our hearts. Wc know 4 lns, may get to know it, yet it surpasses knowledge —paradox as it may seem. The result is to be tilled, even to all the fulness of God. The secret, the love, the fulness, who can measure:

THE CHANGELESS ONE. e Through the yesterday f , Of ages, n Jesus, Thou art Still the same Through our own life’s ; Chequered pages, Still the one, dear, c Changeless Name! I Well may we ( In Thee confide, c Faithful Saviour, c i’ruved and “tried." s Gazing down 1 The far for ever, c Brighter glows i The one sweet Name; s Scad fast radiance, t Paling never! < Jesus, Jesus! t Still the same. i Evermore 1 Thou shalt endure, i Our own Saviour, i Strong and “sure." i THE UPWARD LOOK. “I will lift up mine eyes." Has it ever struck you how few people in the world ever look up. Watch the crowds as they pass along the street and you find that practically every one has his head down and is staring at the ground. The eves are only lifted occasionally to stare ahead, but. so seldom is the gaze turned upwards to the skies. Why should this be'? The vast expanse of the blue sky is surely an inspiring and a lovely sight, much more worth while contemplating than Iho mud in the street. With many people, indeed with most, the downcats eyes arc an indication, particularly in these days, of the attitude of the soul. The spirits of the neople are depressed and sad, and the souls of many Christians even are much discouraged because‘of the w ay. But the downcast eyes may be a sign also of the lack of faith, indicating, per-1 haps, that the soul is earthbound. The classic example of the latter is that pictured by Bunyan in the man with the muckrake, who. gathering to himself the straws from the mud and dust

of the earth, fails to see the angel with the crown over his head. Yes, the downcast eyes may indicate the set of the soul. But the set of the soul can be changed ns can the set of a sail. The soul can be turned Godward if it has been set earthward. The love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ can Hood tht soul of any man or woman, and there is nothing that will so lift up the eyes to the hills and the skies above like the consciousness of His love and abiding Presence in the heart. These are difficult, trying,) depressing days for multitudes.of people, and many Christians are suffering iu common with others the loss of many things. But no Christian will ever suffer the loss of the best things. Let us make no mistake about that. There is no depression in too Divine economy. God’s love is not stinted, His arm of power is not shortened. The The Lord Jesus Christ is with us, and the Holy Spirit in all the plenitude of His power is within to comfort and to bless. Does the loss of a few material things then really matter?

0, happy band of pilgrims, lock upward to the skies, Where such a light, affliction, shall win you such a prize.