Joy And Strength

[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 1 John 2:6

The Divine Example

He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.
I JOHN 2:6

SINCE our way is troublesome and obscure, He commands us to mark His footsteps, tread where His feet have stood, and not only invites us forward by the argument of His example, but He hath trodden down much of the difficulty, and made the way easier and fit for our feet.
JEREMY TAYLOR

DO deeds of love for Him, to Him, following His steps. Believest thou in Christ? Do the works of Christ, that thy faith may live. Thou who sayest thou abidest in Christ, oughtest so to walk as He walked. If thou seekest thine own glory, enviest the prosperous, speakest ill of the absent, renderest evil to him who injureth thee, this did not Christ.
EDWARD B. PUSEY

To know Christ is the way to grow in holiness. Christianity is not a religion of rules. It is the religion of the divine example. Try to follow the blessed steps of the most holy life. Take His advice. Ask yourself, in the moment of perplexity or temptation, what would He do if He were here? Nothing else will so surely lead us into the way of holy living,
GEORGE HODGES

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Matthew 19:22

Respond to the Call

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Matthew 19:22

We too, in our own way, have often a quite impression that we are keeping all the commandments sufficiently, and inheriting the eternal life. One day a tremendous duty opens before us, and we are aghast at its hardness. What shall we do? What shall we answer? Is Christ deserving of everything from us, or only of part? It is a tremendous test which all cannot stand.
ANTHONY W. THOROLD

A great necessity is a great opportunity. Nothing is really lost by a life of sacrifice; everything is lost by failure to obey God's call. The opportunities of generously serving Jesus Christ are few; perhaps not more than one in a lifetime. They come, they do not return. What we do upon a great occasion will probably depend upon what we already are; what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline under the grace of Christ, or of the absence of it.
HENRY PARRY LIDDON

Things are not to be done by the effort of the moment, but by the preparation of past moments.
RICHARD CECIL

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Isaiah 50:10

Trust is the Answer

Who is among you that walketh in darkness and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.
ISAIAH 1:10

THE heart that yet can hope and trust,
And cry to Thee, though from the dust,
Is all unconquered still.
PAUL GERHARDT

PRESS this upon thy soul, for there is not such another charm for all its fears and disquiet; therefore repeat it still with David, sing this till it be stilled, and chide thy distrustful heart into believing: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him." Though I am all out of tune for the present, never a right thing in my soul, yet He will put forth His hand and redress all, and I shall yet once again praise, and therefore, even now, I will hope.
ROBERT LEIGHTON

Oh, that we could breathe out new hope, and new submission, every day. Our waters are but ebb, and come neither to our chin, nor to the stopping of our breath. I may see (if I would borrow eyes from Christ) dry land, and that near: why then should we not laugh at adversity, and scorn our short-born and soon-dying temptations?
SAMUEL RUTHERFORD

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Luke 10:19 Isaiah 43:2

Rising in His Confidence

Nothing shall by any means hurt you.
LUKE 10:19 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
ISAIAH 43:2

JUST as soon as we turn toward Him with loving confidence, and say, "Thy will be done," whatever chills or cripples or enslaves our spirits, clogs their powers, or hinders their development, melts away in the sunshine of His sympathy. He does not free us from the pain, but from its power to dull the sensibilities; not from poverty and care, but from their tendency to narrow and harden; not from calumny, but from the maddening poison in its sting; not from disappointment, but from the hoplessness and bitterness of thought which it so often engenders. We attain unto this perfect liberty when we rise superior to untoward circumstances, triumph over the pain and weakness of disease, over unjust criticism, the wreck of earthly hopes, over promptings to envy, every sordid and selfish desire, every unhallowed longing, every doubt of God's wisdom and love and kindly care, when we rise into an atmosphere of undaunted moral courage, of restful content, of child-like trust, of holy, all-conquering calm.
WILLIAM W. KINSLEY

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 6:3-4

Tell Him Your Thoughts

My soul is also sore vexed; but Thou, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver my soul; oh, save me for Thy mercies' sake.
PSALMS 6:3, 4

I LAY my head upon Thy infinite heart,
I hide beneath the shelter of Thy wing;
Pursued and tempted, helpless, I must cling
To Thee, my Father; bid me not depart,
For sin and death pursue, and Life is where Thou art!
ANONYMOUS

ACCUSTOM yourself to commune with God, not with thoughts deliberately formed to be expressed at a certain time, but with the feelings with which your heart is filled. If you enjoy His presence, and feel drawn by the attraction of His love, tell Him that you delight in Him, that you are happy in loving Him, and that He is very good to inspire so much affection in a heart so unworthy of His love. But what shall you say in seasons of dryness, coldness, weariness? Still say what you have in your heart. Tell God that you no longer find His love within you, that you feel a terrible void, that He wearies you, that His presence does not move you. Say to Him, "O God, look upon my ingratitude, my inconstancy, my unfaithfulness. Take my heart, for I cannot give it; and when Thou hast it, oh, keep it, for I cannot keep it for Thee; and save me in spite of myself."
FRANCOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 1 John 4:10

Unfailing Love

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:10

I saw a little child, with bandaged eyes,
Put up its hands to feel its mothers' face;
She bent, and took the tender groping palms,
And pressed them to her lips a little space.

I know a soul made blind by its desires,
And yet its faith keeps feeling for God's face,
Bend down, O Mighty Love, and let that faith
One little moment touch Thy lips of Grace.
ANNA J. GRANNIS

If I felt my heart as hard as a stone; if I did not love God, or man, or woman, or little child, I would yet say to God in my heart, "O God, see how I trust Thee, because Thou are perfect, and not changeable like me. I do not love Thee, I love nobody. I am not even sorry for it. Thou seest how much I need Thee to come close to me, to put Thy arm round me, to say to me, my child; for the worse my state, the greater my need of my Father who loves me. Come to me , and my day will dawn; my love will come back, and , oh! how I shall love Thee, my God! and know that my love is Thy love, my blessedness Thy being."
GEORGE MACDONALD

Be persuaded, timid soul, that He has loved you too much to cease loving you.
FRANCOIS DE LA MOTHE FENELON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Corinthians 4:11

God's Purpose Revealed

That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:11

THE fretting friction of our daily life,
Heart-weariness with loving patience borne,
The meek endurance of the inward strife,
The painful crown of thorn,

Prepare the heart for God's own dwelling-place,
Adorn with sacred loveliness His shrine,
And brighten every inconspicuous grace,
For God alone to shine.
MARY E. ATKINSON

GOD has a purpose for each one of us, a work for each one to do, a place for each one to fill, an influence for each one to exert, a likeness to His dear Son for each one to manifest, and then, a place for each one to fill in His holy Temple.
ARTHUR C. A. HALL

The surest method of arriving at a knowledge of God's eternal purposes about us is to be found in the right use of the present moment. God's will does not come to us in the whole, but in fragments, and generally in small fragments. It is our business to piece it together, and to live it into one orderly vocation.
F. W. FABER

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Luke 24:51

Parting Blessing

And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
LUKE 24:51

LIFT up our thoughts, lift up our songs,
And let Thy grace be given,
That while we linger here below,
Our hearts may be in heaven.
C. F. ALEXANDER

THE parting blessing of our Lord was changed in the moment of its utterance into a pledge of eternal love, of unfailing and ever-watchful care for the well-being of His people.
JOHN ELLERTON

When the living presence of Jesus was taken away from His own, it was not that they were to have Him less, but in a lovelier, in a diviner way. For when He rose up to heaven, He took there with Him, all their hearts, and all their minds, and all their love. So is it with us. He is gone up to heaven, into the bosom of the Father, into the Father's heart of love, and we ascend up there with Him, with all our hearts, and all our love, and rest where He resteth, in the Father's heart. There is there no separation, but one life, one existence, as He is one with the Father. And thus it is that being one with Him we can be as clear, bright mirrors that reflect His glory.
HENRY SUSO

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Galatians 5:25 John 8:12

Spirit's Leading

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
GALATIANS 5:25

He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.
JOHN 8:12

NO, my dear Lord, in following Thee,
Not in the dark, uncertainly,
This foot obedient moves;
'Tis with a Brother and a King,
Who many to His yoke will bring;
Who ever lives and ever loves.
JOHN GAMBOLD

IF we are so led by the Spirit, where we go, and what we do, is of comparatively little moment; we may be forced by the circumstances of our life into surroundings that seem full of peril, but if God sent us there, such surroundings can do us no harm, though they may dull our feeling of happiness. Only let us remember that if, by God's mercy, we are free agents, and can choose our own way of life, then it is simple mockery to talk of aspirations for the higher life, if we deliberately indulge our lower nature, by living in an atmosphere of worldliness, or by doing something which is, perhaps, quite innocent for others, but consciously works us harm.
GEORGE H. WILKINSON

No one who has not tried it would believe how many difficulties are cleared out of a man's road by the simple act of trying to follow Christ.
ALEXANDER MACLAREN

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Hebrews 11:14 Philippians 3:20

Our Citizenship

They that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
HEBREWS 11:14 For our citizenship is in heaven.
PHILIPPIANS 3:20 (R. V.)

GREEN are the fields of the earth, holy and sweet her joys;
Take, and taste, and be glad--as fruit and blossom and bird,
But still as an exile, Soul; then, hey, with a singing voice,
For the stars and sun and sweet heaven, whose ultimate height is the Lord!
Ripe, lovely, and glad, you shall grow in the light of His face and His word.
KATHERINE TYNAN HINKSON

STAND still awhile, and seriously consider the noble end for which thou wast created, and for which God hath placed thee in this world! Thou wast not created for time and the creature, but for God and eternity, and to employ thyself with God and eternity. And thou art in the world, to the end that thou mayest again seek God, and His countenance which giveth blessedness, from which thou hast turned thyself away by sin; in order that thou mayest become thoroughly sanctified and enlightened, and that God may have joy, delight, peace, and pleasure in thee, and thou in God.
GERHARD TERSTEEGEN

That prayer taught by the saint, "Make me reach, my God, the degree of holiness to which Thou didst call me in creating me!"
LADY GEORGIANA FULLERTON

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Timothy 1:12

Forgetfulness of Self

I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.
2 TIMOTHY 1:12

LET me Thy power, Thy beauty see;
So shall the hopeless labor cease,
And my free heart shall follow Thee
Through paths of everlasting peace.
My strength Thy gift--my life Thy care,--
I shall forget to seek elsewhere
The wealth to which my soul is heir.
ANNA L. WARING

TO give heart and mind to God, so that they are ours no longer--to do good without being conscious of it, to pray ceaselessly and without effort as we breathe--to love without stopping to reflect upon our feelings--such is the perfect forgetfulness of self, which casts us upon God, as a babe rests upon its mother's breast.
JEAN NICOLAS GROU

Abiding in Jesus is not a work that needs each moment the mind to be engaged, or the affections to be directly and actively occupied with it. It is an entrusting of oneself to the keeping of the Eternal Love, in the faith that it will abide near us, and with its holy presence watch over us and ward off the evil, even when we have to be most intently occupied with other things. And so the heart has rest and peace and joy in the consciousness of being kept when it cannot keep itself.
ANDREW MURRAY

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Titus 2:14

In the Fighting

Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works.
TITUS 2:14 (R. v.)

LOVE only can the conquest win,
The strength of sin subdue;
Come, O my Saviour, cast out sin,
And form my soul anew.
CHARLES WESLEY

LIVING and victorious faith is that whereby Christ dwelleth in our hearts. But Christ will not dwell in our hearts, if we fill our hearts with things which He hates. Yet is there then no victory, nor real faith, when the world holds a struggle with us, sometimes overcoming us, sometimes overcome? In some things victory should be complete at once. Sins of infirmity there may be; sins against light there should not be. To do wilfully and knowingly what God hates, destroys faith, and hope, and love. But so that thou art fighting against thy besetting sin, if thou art conquering thyself, thou art still Christ's soldier, even though in thought, word, or deed, thou be, from time to time, in lesser things surprised. This, then, is matter of faith, that if we will, we can, by the grace of God, prevail over every temptation.
EDWARD B. PUSEY

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 119:111

Not Separated from Service

Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever; for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
PSALMS 119:111

GIRT with the love of God on every side,
Breathing that love as heaven's own healing air,
I work or wait, still following my Guide,
Braving each foe, escaping every snare.
HORATIUS SONAR

THE Lord preserve us near unto Himself, out of that which separates from Him and weakens; and nothing shall be able to interrupt our joy in the Lord, nor our delight and pleasure in His will.
ISAAC PENINGTON

It is easy to make great sacrifices when God does not ask them, but to give up our own will in each detail of life is something far harder. And this is what He does ask. To hold ourselves ever in readiness for His bidding--to count no token of it too slight--such is His call to each. Thus only shall we be ready for further service if He sees fit to lead us on to it.
H. BOWMAN

To live in the Spirit is the right condition of man, his normal condition; and to live in the Spirit is to live with God--hearing Him, and knowing Him, and loving Him, and delighting to do His will.
THOMAS ERSKINE

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 62:8

Fixed Seasons

Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.
PSALMS 62:8

FROM tedious toil, from anxious care,
Dear Lord, I turn again to Thee;
Thy presence and Thy smile to share
Makes every burden light to me.
RAY PALMER

IT is a good thing to have fixed seasons for lifting up the heart to God, not merely the appointed hours of prayer, but a momentary act before and after meals, beginning any occupation, entering into society, leaving the house, etc. Especially it is a help to make such brief acts after having said or done anything either wrong or foolish, after any trifling vexation or disappointment, when the spirit feels, it may be, wounded and desolate, or when one's vanity is annoyed at having been guilty of some little folly or unseemliness. Sometimes we are more really troubled and sore at trifles of this sort than at far weightier things. But if all such things were met with a momentary uplifting of the heart to God, all these little frailties and worries would tend to mould the character more and more to God's pattern, and they would assuredly lose their sting; for he who thinks much of God will daily think less of himself.
H. L. SIDNEY LEAR

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 59:16

Overcome by Melancholy

Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.
PSALMS 59:16

COMMIT thy way to God,
The weight which makes thee faint;
Worlds are to Him no load,
To Him breathe thy complaint.
Up! up! the day is breaking,
Say to thy cares, good-night!
Thy troubles from thee shaking,
Like dreams in day's fresh light.
PAUL GERHARDT

WHEN you find yourself, as I dare say you sometimes do, overpowered as it were by melancholy, the best way is to go out, and do something kind to somebody or other.
JOHN BLE

Do not give way to depression,--but resign yourself to our dear Lord with the object of bearing bravely the discomforts and petty contradictions of this life.
CHARLES DE CONDREN

Never suffer yourself to be subdued by melancholy; it is amongst the things that will most injure you. It is impossible to persevere in the path of holiness, if we give not ourselves to it with joy. The love of God should impart peace to the soul.
MADAME DE GUYON

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