Joy And Strength

[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Corinthians 5:17


Earth and Heaven

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

HIS perfect peace has swept from sight
The narrow bounds of time and space,
And, looking up with still delight,
We catch the glory of His face.
AUGUSTA LARNED

IN every moment of our days, when once our hearts are yielded to His service, God is working in us and through us. Hitherto, perhaps, our little world has only been large enough to hold self and the present, But, gradually, through tender leadings and unfoldings, and, it may be, through pain and suffering, we come to learn life's lesson,--that it is God's world, not ours; that our existence is not finished and rounded off here, but forms part of one vast scheme to which mind and heart and spirit expand and grow, while all the horizon round them grows and expands too, until it touches the shore of the illimitable future, and we become conscious that earth and heaven are not so far separated but that the first is but the vestibule of the second,--imperfect, cloudy, full of broken fragments, but still part of the same Temple of God as that to which we shall pass in by and by.
H. BOWMAN

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Mark 9:23


Cast Every Day on Him

All things are possible to him that believeth.
MARK 9:23

My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:9

IT is possible, I dare to say, for those who will in-deed draw on their Lord's power for deliverance and victory, to live a life in which His promises are taken as they stand, and found to be true. It is possible to cast every care on Him, daily, and to be at peace amidst the pressure. It is possible to see the will of God in everything, and to find it, as one has said, no longer a sigh, but a song. It is possible, in the world of inner act and motion, to put away, to get put away, all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and evil speaking, daily and hourly. It is possible, by unreserved resort to divine power, under divine conditions, to become strongest, through and through, at our weakest point; to find the thing which yesterday upset all our obligations to patience, or to purity, or to humility, an occasion today, through Him who loveth us, and worketh in us, for a joyful consent to His will, and a delightful sense of His presence and sin-annulling power. These are things divinely possible.
HANDLEY C. G. MOULE

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Colossians 3:23


Serve His Will

And, whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.
COLOSSIANS 3:23

IF you love Him as I want you to do, you will offer Him the whole use of your day, as you open your eyes to the light of each morning, to be spent in active service or silent suffering, according to His good pleasure. You will not select the most agreeable task, but His task, whatever it may be; you will not disdain humble service, or be ambitious for distinguished service; you will lie, like a straw, on the current of His will, to be swept away and be forgotten, if it pleases Him, or to be caught up by His mighty hand and transformed thereby into a thunderbolt.
ELIZABETH PRENTISS

Let us pray Him, therefore, to shed abroad in us the mind that was in Christ; that we may offer up our-selves to be disposed of as He sees best, whether for joy or sorrow; to be slighted, or esteemed; to have many friends, or to dwell in a lonely home; to be passed by, or called to serve Him and His kingdom in our own land, or among people of a strange tongue; to be, to go, to do, to suffer even as He wills, even as He ordains, even as Christ endured, "who, through the Eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God."
HENRY EDWARD MANNING

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Philippians 2:14 Proverbs 25:28


Check Your Grumbling

Do all things without murmurings and disputings!
PHILIPPIANS 2:14

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
PROVERBS 25:28

BEHOLD, the paths of life are ours,--we see
Our blest inheritance where'er we tread;
Sorrow and danger our security,
And disappointment lifting up our head.
ANNA L. WARING

ONE valuable way of practising self-control is in checking grumbling, and an unnecessary display of vexation at petty inconveniences. A workman has fulfilled his task imperfectly, some order is wrongly executed, some one keeps you waiting unreasonably; people are careless or forgetful, or do what they have in hand badly. Try not to be disturbed; be just, and show the persons to blame where they are wrong, even (if it be needful) make them do the thing over again properly; but refrain from diffuse or vehement expressions of displeasure. A naturally quick, impetuous person will find that to cultivate a calm external habit is a great help towards gaining the inward even spirit he needs.
H. L. SIDNEY LEAR

A repining life is a lingering death.
BENJAMIN WHICHCOTE

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Corinthians 12:9 2 Timothy 4:17


Strength For What Comes

Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 CORINTHIANS 12:9

The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me.
2 TIMOTHY 4:17

TO His own the Saviour giveth
Daily strength;
To each troubled soul that liveth,
Peace at length.
KARL RUDOLPH HAGENBACH

REMEMBER that your work comes only moment by moment, and as surely as God calls you to work, He gives the strength to do it. Do not think in the morning, "How shall I go through this day? I have such-and-such work to do, and persons to see, and I have not strength for it." No, you have not, for you do not need it. Each moment, as you need it, the strength will come, only do not look forward an hour; circumstances may be very different from what you expect. At any rate you will be borne through each needful and right thing "on eagles' wings." Do not worry yourself with misgivings; take each thing quietly.
PRISCILLA MAURICE

God does not demand impossibilities.
ST. AUGUSTINE

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalms 37:23


Occupations of Every Day

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delighteth in his way.
PSALMS 37:23

SO her life was full of sunshine, for in toiling for the Lord
She had found the hidden sweetness that in common things lies stored;
He has strewn the earth with flowers, and each eye their brightness sees;
But He filled their cups with honey for His humble working bees.
FRANCESCA ALEXANDER

THE occupations of every day seem often trifling, we may do them without thinking as ordinary things, yet they are the scenes of our appointed lot--appointed by God for you and me. The ordering, the application of these ordinary occupations, is the appointing of the Divine purpose; it is for ourselves to carry them out. And secretly our character forms according as we handle them. Give thy heart to God Eternal, since thou art thyself eternal. join thy heart to what He has given thee to do. Join thy heart to His teaching, and thou becomest of a will like to His own will. Nothing comes by pure accident, not even the interruptions in our busy day. And such as follow on to know God's will see in all events what may lead to good, and so trust grows into a habit, as habit grows by perpetual use, till every circumstance may be seen to be but a fresh manifestation of the will of God working itself out in us.
T. T. CARTER

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalms 104:16-17 Matthew 10:31 Luke 12:6


More Value

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?
LUKE 12:6

Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
MATTHEW 10:31

The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted; where the birds make their nests; as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
PSALMS 104:16,17

IT was a beautiful sight to see the herons come home, rising into the golden sunlight above the hills I could not tell from whence, and sailing on the glorious arches of their wings, on and on--always alone, and each as he came down with outstretched neck and pendent legs ready to settle, taking one last sweep down, then up, on to the summit of the tall Scotch fir, to take a survey of the realm, and, as another approached, plunging into the thick heads of lower trees with a loud good-night to his neighbors, and to all the fair land and water round about him, and a Deo Gratias for all his day's happiness, pleasant unto the ear of his dear God, if not consciously addressed to Him.
MY HEAVENLY FATHER CARETH FOR THEM, I AM OF MORE VALUE THAN MANY HERONS.
EDWARD WHITE BENSON

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 Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Habakkuk 1:12 Psalms 104:34


Happiness of God

Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die.
HABAKKUK 1:12

My meditation of Him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the Lord.
PSALMS 104:34

THE more our ideas about God are multiplied, the more various our thoughts, and images, and recollections of things which have to do with Him, of course the more our minds and hearts are engrossed with Him, and so it becomes easier to live all day in His sensible presence. And is not the practice of the presence of God one half of holiness? And so, weary with work or foiled with disappointment, when the dark night is closing in, bringing with it to our sick spirits a sense of imprisonment, and when the dismal rain curtains us round, and we fret to be at liberty and at large, there is the very freedom of a sovereign to a soul traversing this boundless empire of God and Jesus, angels, saints, men, and the blameless creatures, and rejoicing in that never-ceasing sacrifice of praise which is rising up from every nook and corner of creation to the dear Majesty of our most loving God and Father!
FREDERICK WM. FABER

Delight in the happiness of God.
LORENZO SCUPOLL

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Isaiah 26:4


The Lord Will Do All

Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.
ISAIAH 26:4

COME, children, let us go!
Our Father is our guide;
And when the way grows steep and dark,
He journeys at our side.
Our spirits He would cheer,
The sunshine of His love
Revives and helps us as we rove,
Ah, blest our lot e'en here!
GERHARD TERSTEEGEN

WE are living out these lives of ours too much apart from God. We toil on dismally, as if the making or the marring of our destinies rested wholly with ourselves. It is not so. We are not the lonely, orphaned creatures we let ourselves suppose ourselves to be. The earth, rolling on its way through space, does not go unattended. The Maker and Controller of it is with it, and around it, and upon it. He is with us here and now. He knows us infinitely more thoroughly than we know ourselves. He loves us better than we have ever dared to believe could be possible.
WILLIAM R. HUNTINGTON

Some of us believe that God is all mighty, and may do all; and that He is all wisdom, and can do all; but that He is all love, and will do all, there we fail.
MOTHER JULIANA

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Leviticus 9:4 2 Corinthians 6:2


Please the Lord Now

For to-day the Lord will appear unto you.
LEVITICUS 9:4

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
2 CORINTHIANS 6:2

DO not let your growth in holiness depend upon surrounding circumstances, but rather constrain those circumstances to minister to your growth. Beware of looking onward, or out of the present in any way, for the sanctification of your life. The only thing you can really control is the present--the actual moment that is passing by. Sanctify that from hour to hour, and you sanctify your whole life; but brood over the past, or project yourself into the future, and you will lose all. The little act of obedience, love, self-restraint, meekness, patience, devotion, offered to you actually, is all you can do now, and if you neglect that to fret about something else at a distance, you lose your real opportunity of serving God. A moment's silence, when some irritating words are said by another, may stem a very small thing; yet at that moment it is your one duty, your one way of serving and pleasing God, and if you break it, you have lost your opportunity.
H. L. SIDNEY LEAR

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Judges 10:15


Peace of Heart

Do Thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto Thee.
JUDGES 10:15

DEAR Lord, whose mercy veileth all
That may our coming days befall,
Still hide from us the things to be,
But rest our troubled hearts in Thee.
HARRIET MCEWEN KIMBALL

PEACE of heart lies in perfect resignation to the will of God. What you need is true simplicity, a certain calmness of spirit which comes from entire surrender to all that God wills, patience and toleration for your neighbor's faults, and a certain candor and childlike docility in acknowledging your own faults. The trouble you feel about so many things comes from your not accepting everything which may happen to you, with sufficient resignation to God. Put all things, then, in His hands, and offer them beforehand to Him in your heart, as a sacrifice. From the moment when you cease to want things to be according to your own judgment, and accept unconditionally whatever He sends, you will be free from all your uneasy retrospects and anxieties about your own concerns.
FRANCOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Deuteronomy 10:14


No Change

Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also with all that therein is.
DEUTERONOMY 10:14

FATHER, there is no change to live with Thee,
Save that in Christ I grow from day to day;
In each new word I hear, each thing I see,
I but rejoicing hasten on my way.
JONES VERY

THE immediate result of the coming of these good tidings of great joy to me was no outward change in anything, but an inward change of everything, making everything translucent with the light within and beyond. The sum of it all was always that the universe is full of God, and God is love. We are His, and all things are His; therefore in Him all things are ours. In the home, in society, in nature, our beloved moors and woods, and rivers and glens and seas, there was the touch, the breath of God's living, real presence.
ELIZABETH RUNDLE CHARLES

He is so infinitely blessed, that every perception of His blissful presence imparts a vital gladness to the heart. Every degree of approach to Him is, in the same proportion, a degree of happiness. And I often think that were He always present to our mind, as we are present to Him, there would be no pain, nor sense of misery.
SUSANNA WESLEY

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Samuel 10:12


Conforming to His Will

The Lord do that which seemeth Him good.
2 SAMUEL 10:12

THE best will is our Father's will,
And we may rest there calm and still;
Oh! make it hour by hour thine own,
And wish for nought but that alone
Which pleases God.
PAUL GERHARDT

"THY will be done." For instance, when you wish, and by every means endeavor, to be well, and yet remain ill,--then say, "Thy will be done." When you undertake something, and your undertaking does not succeed, say, "Thy will be done." When you do good to others, and they repay you with evil, say, "Thy will be done." Or when you would like to sleep, and are overtaken by sleeplessness, say, "Thy will be done." In general, do not become irritated when anything is not done in accordance with your will, but learn to submit in everything to the Will of the Heavenly Father.
FATHER JOHN

Try to make an instantaneous act of conformity to God's Will, at everything which vexes you.
EDWARD B. PUSEY

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Isaiah 42:16


The Acceptance of the Divine

I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
ISAIAH 16

WHEN over dizzy heights we go,
One soft hand blinds our eyes,
The other leads us, safe and slow,
O Love of God most wise!
ELIZA SCUDDER

THE simple thought of a life which is to be the unfolding of a Divine plan is too beautiful, too captivating, to suffer one indifferent or heedless moment. Living in this manner, every turn of your experience will be a discovery to you of God, every change a token of His fatherly counsel. Whatever obscurity, darkness, trial, suffering, falls upon you; your defeats, losses, injuries; your outward state, employment, relations; what seems hard, unaccountable, severe, or, as nature might say, vexatious--all these you will see are parts or constitutive elements in God's beautiful and good plan for you, and, as such, are to be accepted with a smile. Take your burdens, and troubles, and losses, and wrongs, if come they must and will, as your opportunities, knowing that God has girded you for greater things than these.
HORACE BUSHNELL

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Isaiah 30:18


Strength to Walk

Blessed are all they that wait for Him.
ISAIAH 30:19

I WILL trust again His love, His power,
Though I cannot feel His hand to-day;
To His help anew I will betake me,
Though His countenance seems turned away!
Though without one smile, one gracious token,
Through the flames and floods my path must go,
When the fires subside, the waves pass over,
My Deliverer I again shall know.
JOACHIM LANGE

IN the night of distress, feel after somewhat which may quiet and stay thy heart till the next springing of the day. The sun will arise, which will scatter the clouds. And in the day of His power thou wilt find strength to walk with Him; yea, in the day of thy weakness His grace will be sufficient for thee.
ISAAC PENINGTON

My times are in Thy hand, O Lord! And, surely, that is the best. Were I to choose, they should be in no other hands, neither mine own, nor any others. When He withholds mercies or comforts for a season, it is but till the due season. Therefore it is our wisdom and our peace to resign all things into His hands, to have no will nor desires, but only this, that we may still wait for Him. Never was any one who waited for Him miserable with disappointment.
ROBERT LEIGHTON

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