Joy And Strength

[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 1 Corinthians 1:30

Christ is All

Who is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:30

CHRIST with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right hand, Christ at my left.

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

ST. PATRICK

CHRIST is in all His redeemed, as the soul of their soul, the life of their life. He is the pitying heart and the helping hand of God with every needy, praying spirit in the world. He is the sweet light of the knowledge of God that breaks in upon every penitent heart. He is not only with those who believe in Him and love Him, but also with those who neither believe in Him nor love Him, that He may be to them also Jesus their Saviour. The Christ of God is in thy heart, waiting and aiming to get the consent of thy will, that He may save thee. Wherever man is, there also is Christ, endeavoring to free him from the law of sin and death, by becoming Himself the law of the spirit of his life.
JOHN PULSFORD

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 97:10

Adding to the Stock

Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.
PSALMS 97:10

THERE is a general stock of evil in the world to which we all contribute, or which, by God's grace, some may diminish; a vast and fertile tract of ungodliness, of low motives, of low aims, of low desires, of low sense of duty or no sense at all. it is the creation of ages, that tradition; but each age does something for it, and each individual in each age does, if he does not advisedly refuse to do, his share in augmenting it, just as the chimney of every small house does something to thicken and darken the air of London. And this general fund or stock of evil touches us all like the common atmosphere which we breathe. And thus it is that when you or I, even in lesser matters, do or say what our conscience condemns, we do really make a contribution to that general fund of wickedness which, in other circumstances and social conditions than ours, produces flagrant crime. Especially if it should happen that we defend what we do, or make light of it, or make a joke of the misdeeds of others, we do most actively and seriously augment this common fund or tradition of wickedness.
HENRY PARRY LIDDON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Acts 28:15

Why We Fight

From thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum, and The Three Taverns; whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.
ACTS 28:15

THROUGH the night of doubt and sorrow
Onward goes the pilgrim band,
Singing songs of expectation,
Marching to the promised land.
Clear before us through the darkness
Gleams and burns the guiding light;
Brother clasps the hand of brother,
Stepping fearless through the night.
BERNARD S. INGEMANN

WE fight not for ourselves alone. These are they--our brethren--the cloud wherewith we walk encompassed; it is for them that we wrestle through the long night; they count on the strength that we might bring them, if we so wrestle that we prevail. The morning that follows the night of our lonely trial would, if we be faithful, find us new men, with a new name of help, and of promise, and of comfort, in the memory of which others would endure bravely, and fight as we had fought. Oh! turn to God in fear, lest through hidden disloyalty we have not a cup of cold water to give those who turn to us for succor in their sore need!
HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Romans 8:2

Leave Your Soul to Him

The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
ROMANS 8:2

NOT yet thou knowest what I do
Within thine own weak breast,
To mould thee to My image true,
And fit thee for My rest.
But yield thee to My loving skill;
The veiled work of grace,
>From day to day progressing still,
It is not thine to trace.
FRANCES R. HAVERGAL

GOD will have the service which comes of a sound mind and a joyous heart; and nothing more impedes and impairs soundness of mind and joyousness of heart than petty scruples.
EDWARD M. GOULBURN

Be content to go on quietly. When you discover somewhat in yourself which is earthly and imperfect, be patient while you strive to cast it out. Your perceptions will grow,--at first God will show you very obvious stumbling-blocks;--be diligent in clearing these away, and do not aim at heights to which you are not yet equal. Leave all to God, and while you earnestly desire that He would purify your intention, and seek to work with Him to that end, be satisfied with the gradual progress He sets before you; and remember that He often works in ways unseen by us.
JEAN NICOLAS GROU

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Matthew 26:38 Matthew 25:45

Duty to All

Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
MATTHEW 25:45

Abide ye here, and watch with me.
MATTHEW 26: 38 (R. V.)

IF to-day thou turn'st aside
In thy luxury and pride,
Wrapped within thyself, and blind
To the sorrows of thy kind,
Thou a faithless watch dost keep,
Thou art one of those who sleep.
ANNA C. LYNCH BOTTA

I HAVE been sorrowfully convinced that in what I thought necessary attention to home duties, my time and strength have been engrossed to a degree that I fear has interfered with my duty to others. It is a serious consideration, how much good we miss of doing by our want of watchfulness for opportunities, and our engrossment even in our lawful and necessary cares; and there is another way, too, in the influence we might continually exert over all who come in contact with us, and through them over others, to an extent of which we are probably not aware, if we continually kept in a meek and quiet spirit. Ah, it may be with some of us that it is more for what we leave undone than for what we do, that we shall be called to an account.
ELIZABETH TABER KING

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Deuteronomy 6:17-18

Where We Are

Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies, and His statutes, which He hath commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with thee. DEUTERONOMY 6:17,18

WE ought to become holy in the state in which Providence has placed us, instead of making projects of goodness in the future; and we need the greatest faithfulness to God in the smallest things. That state of life to which God has called us is safe for us, if we fulfil all our duties therein. Accustom yourself to adore His holy will frequently, by humbly submitting your own to His orders and His Providence. Let us do what we know He requires of us, and, as soon as we know His will, let us not spare ourselves, but be very faithful to Him. Such faithfulness ought not merely to lead us to do great things for His service, but whatever our hand finds to do, and which belongs to our state of life. The smallest things become great when God requires them of us; they are small only in themselves; they are always great when they are done for God, and when they serve to unite us with Him eternally.
FRANCOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference John 10:3-4

Power to Obey

He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. When He hath put forth all His own, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him; for they know His voice.

JOHN 10:3,4 (R. V.)

HE only asks thee to yield thyself to Him, that He may work in thee to will and to do by His own mighty power. Thy part is to yield thyself, His part is to work; and never, never will He give thee any command which is not accompanied by ample power to obey it. Take no thought for the morrow in this matter; but abandon thyself with a generous trust to thy loving Lord, who has promised never to call His own sheep out into any path without Himself going before them to make the way easy and safe. Take each little step as He makes it plain to thee. Bring all thy life in each of its details to Him to regulate and guide. Follow gladly and quickly the sweet suggestions of His Spirit in thy soul. And day by day thou wilt find Him bringing thee more and more into conformity with His will in all things; moulding thee and fashioning thee, as thou art able to bear it, into a vessel unto His honor, sanctified and meet for His use, and fitted to every good work.
HANNAH WHITALL SMITH

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Philippians 1:6 1 John 4:4

Power Without Will

Being confident of this very thing that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

PHILIPPIANS 1:6 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

1 JOHN 4:4

WHY is it that we, in the very kingdom of grace, surrounded by angels, and preceded by saints, nevertheless, can do so little, and, instead of mounting with wings like eagles, grovel in the dust, and do but sin, and confess sin alternately? Is it that the power of God is not within us? Is it literally that we are not able to perform God's commandments? God forbid. We are able. We have that given us which makes us able. We do have a power within us to do what we are commanded to do. What is it we lack? The power? No; the will. What we lack is the simple, earnest, sincere inclination and aim to use what God has given us, and what we have in us.
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

GOD is on my side. He makes Himself responsible for my being. If I will only entrust myself to Him with the cordial return of trustful love, then all that He has ever breathed into my heart of human possibility He will realize and bring to perfection.
CHARLES GORE

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Luke 1:38

Surrender in Faith

Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.
LUKE 1:38

OH, let my thought, my actions, and my will
Obedient solely to Thy impulse move,
My heart and senses keep Thou blameless still,
Fixed and absorbed in Thine unbounded love.
Thy praying, teaching, striving, in my heart,
Let me not quench, nor make Thee to depart.
GERHARD TERSTEEGEN

WE can see plainly how her ready self-surrender in faith, in trust, to her unknown, her mysterious destiny; how her instant expression of entire self-oblation to the Divine Will, to all that she was called to be and to do, to bear all that might in the future be required of her, is a constant witness of the mind that ought to animate and pervade the whole action of the soul. Life, if true, should be always the offering up of what we are, to do our best for Him who has called us. The responsibilities, the ventures, the conscious obligations which press on the soul, with all their conditions and unknown possibilities, supply the question that is to be solved; but the true response is the result of a habit formed through countless, nameless acts of conscientious obedience, which by use have become the bright and cheerful exercise of the one purpose of giving its best and purest to One most fully loved.
T. T. CARTER

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference John 13:15

As He Has Done

I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
JOHN 13:15

THERE are often bound to us, in the closest intimacy of social or family ties, natures hard and ungenial, with whom sympathy is impossible, and whose daily presence necessitates a constant conflict with an adverse influence. There are, too, enemies,--open or secret,--whose enmity we may feel yet cannot define. Our Lord, going before us in this hard way, showed us how we should walk. It will be appropriate to the solemn self-examination of the period of Lent to ask ourselves, Is there any false friend or covert enemy whom we must learn to tolerate, to forbear with, to pity and forgive? Can we in silent offices of love wash their feet as our Master washed the feet of Judas? And, if we have no real enemies, are there any bound to us in the relations of life whose habits and ways are annoying and distasteful to us? Can we bear with them in love? Can we avoid harsh judgments, and harsh speech, and the making known to others our annoyance? The examination will probably teach us to feel the infinite distance between us and our divine Ideal, and change censoriousness of others into prayer for ourselves.
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Matthew 26:39

Not As We Will

Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.
MATTHEW 26:39

THY will, not mine, 0 Lord,
However dark it be!
Lead me by Thine own hand,
Choose out the path for me.
I dare not choose my lot;
I would not, if I might;
Choose Thou for me, my God;
So shall I walk aright.
HORATIUS BONAR

CHOOSE but the will of God, and thou willest with His wisdom, thou choosest with His all-perfect choice; thou enterest into His counsels; thou lovest with His love. Be this our watch-word, brethren, for the Church, for those we love, for our own souls. Be this our rule in action, "not what I will, but what Thou"; this, in suffering; "not what I, but what Thou." This shall hallow our hopes; this shall hush our fears; this shall ward off disquiet; this shall preserve our peace; this shall calm anxieties; this (if so it must be) shall soothe our heart-aches; this shall give repose to our weariness; this, the deeper our trouble, shall be the deeper foretaste of everlasting peace and rest. "Lord, not what I will, but what Thou"; not what I, in my misery, and ignorance, and blindness, and sin, but what Thou, in Thy mercy, and holiness, and wisdom, and love.
E. B. PUSEY

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 1 John 3:16

What Can We Offer

Hereby know we love, because He laid down His life for us.
1 JOHN 3:16 (R. V.)

LOVE which outlives
All sin and wrong, Compassion which forgives
To the uttermost, and Justice whose clear eyes
Through lapse and failure look to the intent,
And judge our frailty by the life we meant.
JOHN G. WHITTIER

IN return for the love which brought the Son of Man down from heaven, in return for the love which led Him to die for us on the cross, we cannot give Him holy lives, for we are not holy; we cannot give Him pure souls, for our souls are not pure; but this one thing we can give, and this is what He asks, hearts that shall never cease from this day forward, till we reach the grave, to strive to be more like Him; to come nearer to Him; to root out from within us the sin that keeps us from Him. To such a battle I call you in His name. And even if at the last day you shall not be able to show any other service, yet be sure that when thousands of His saints go forth to meet Him, and to show His triumph, He will turn to embrace with arms of tenderness the poor penitent who has nothing to offer but a life spent in one never-ceasing struggle with himself, an unwearied battle with the faults that had taken possession of his soul.
FREDERICK TEMPLE

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Author: Mary Tileston Wilder
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Colossians 3:15

Inner Peace

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful.
COLOSSIANS 3:15 (R. V.)

MAY faith, deep rooted in the soul,
Subdue our flesh, our minds control;
May guile depart, and discord cease,
And all within be joy and peace.
ST. AMBROSE

THE repose, the quiet balanced rest which marks our Lord's perfected life, is intended to grow more and more steadfast in those who are truly His; not the repose of indolence, not the calm arising from absence of trial and lack of temptation, a mere accidental freedom from inward struggle or difficulty, but the repose which lives in the conquest of passion, in the crucifixion of self, in a subdued will, in the reconciliation of every thought with a perfected obedience, as the whole inner being, entranced in God, yields itself in delighted harmony with His perfect mind. Such repose is attained through the continual progress of a life of grace, as it gradually overcomes the restlessness of nature, the excitements of self, the disturbance of temper or passion, the fruitless impatience of the will.
T. T. CARTER

Peace, when "ruling" the heart and "ruling" the mind, opens in both every avenue of joy.
SARAH W.STEPHEN

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[nChrist]

Title: The Joy of Easter
Book: Joy and Strength
Author: Mary Tileston Wilder

He died for all, that they which live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him who for their sakes died and rose again.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:15 (R. V.) I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

JOHN 16:22

THEN let thy life through all its ways
One long thanksgiving be,
Its theme of joy, its song of praise,
"Christ died, and rose for me."

J. B. S. MONSELL

IF you come to seek His face, not in the empty sepulchre, but in the living power of His presence, as indeed realizing that He has finished His glorious work, and is alive for evermore, then your hearts will be full of true Easter joy, and that joy will shed itself abroad in your homes. And let your joy not end with the hymns and the prayers and the communions in His house. Take with you the joy of Easter to the home, and make that home bright with more unselfish love, more hearty service; take it into your work, and do all in the name of the Lord Jesus; take it to your heart, and let that heart rise anew on Easter wings to a higher, a gladder, a fuller life; take it to the dear grave-side and say there the two words "Jesus lives!" and find in them the secret of calm expectation, the hope of eternal reunion.
JOHN ELLERTON

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[nChrist]

Title: Called to Be Sons
Book: Joy and Strength
Author: Mary Tileston Wilder

Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.

I JOHN 3:1

DOST think thy prayers He doth not heed?
He knows full well what thou dost need,
And heaven and earth are His;
My Father and my God, who still
Is with my soul in every ill.

HANS SACHS

BEHOLD and see thy Lord thy God that is thy Maker, and thy endless joy. See thine own Brother, thy Saviour, my child; behold and see what liking and bliss I have in thy salvation; and for my love, rejoice with me. How should it now be, that thou shouldst anything pray me that pleased me, but that I should full gladly grant it thee; for my pleasure is thy holiness, and thy endless joy and bliss with me.
MOTHER JULIANA

Did not Jesus say, "I am the door of the sheepfold"? What to us is the sheepfold, dear children? It is the heart of the Father, whereunto Christ is the Gate that is called Beautiful. 0 children, how sweetly and how gladly has He opened that door into the Father's heart, into the treasure-chamber of God! And there within He unfolds to us the hidden riches, the nearness and the sweetness of companionship with Himself.
JOHN TAULER

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