Joy And Strength

[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference

The Lord Shall Answer

Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am.
ISAIAH 58:9

EVER quickly Thou dost hear
Thy children's feeble cry,
And dost keep them everywhere
Beneath Thy watchful eye;
And 'midst the worlds that lean on Thee
Thou hast faithful thoughts of me.
ANONYMOUS

"HE will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry." That has comforted me often, more than any promise of answer; it includes answers, and a great deal more besides; it tells us what He is towards us, and that is more than what He will do. And the "cry" is not long, connected, thoughtful prayers, a cry is just an unworded dart upwards of the heart, and at that "voice" He will be very gracious. What a smile there is in these words!
F. R. HAVERGAL

He that hath not tempted you hitherto above your strength will continue so to the end. If, for a time, He hide His face from you, yet He doth it but for a moment, to make you the more heartily to cry to Him; and surely He will hear you, not only when you are in crying, but also whilst you are in thinking how to cry. He is with you in trouble, and will indeed deliver you.
JOHN BRADFORD

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference John 16:24

Joy of the Lord

Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name, ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
JOHN 16:24

GOD'S "ask"
Meaneth all fulness and all grace,
Access in every time and place;
Yet we
To whom this mercy is so free,
This privilege of light to bask
In the full sunshine of His face,
Regard prayer even as a task.
ANNA E. HAMILTON

THERE is some power we have not yet discovered, some secret as yet unknown--but oh! what a marvelous power! what a blessed secret! that can make the Christian life a life of love, and trust, and bright serenity; something different from the duty-life, which, though real, does not satisfy; having all the activity and earnestness of the duty-life, but having with it the peace and joy which many and many a soul is craving.
WILLIAM R. HUNTINGTON

We do not value as we ought our inestimable privilege of being allowed to worship God. We do not prize our heavenly prerogative of being permitted to keep His commandments. We look at that as an obligation which is more properly a boon.
FREDERICK W. FABER

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Thessalonians 1:5

Gain or Loss

That ye may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God.
2 THESSALONIANS 1:5

FEAR not, for He hath sworn;
Faithful and true His name;
The glorious hours are onward borne;
'Tis lit, th'immortal flame;
It glows around thee; kneel, and strive, and win
Daily one living ray--'twill brighter glow within.
JOHN KEBLE

COUNT that day lost (though thou mayest have despatched much business therein) in which thou hast neither gained some victory over thine own evil inclinations and thy self-will, nor returned thanks to thy Lord for His mercies.
LORENZO SCUPOLI

Between dawn and dark there is time enough for the collisions of disinterestedness with selfishness in our dealings with our fellow-creatures, in the life of our own homes; time enough to meet or to evade the demands of homely faithfulness in our several work, time enough to confront the sturdy rebellion of passions and besetting sins against our spiritual nature, time enough to win or to lose heaven in.
HENRY WILDER FOOTE

It is no small matter to lose or to gain the Kingdom of God.
THOMAS À KEMPIS

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 1 Corinthians 3:21-23

Delight Fully

All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
1 CORINTHIANS 3:21-23

FOR those who worship Thee there is no death,
For all they do is but with Thee to dwell;
Now while I take from Thee this passing breath,
It is but of Thy glorious name to tell.
JONES VERY

MARK those men whose life is hidden in God, so that of themselves they make no account. Thus can they delight themselves fully and freely in all that which God is doing, apart from the thought of themselves; and to them therefore it is true that heaven and earth are theirs, and all things are theirs, and fulfil their will, because the will of God is their will. And their cup overfloweth with joy even here below, because in all things they have a joy and delight that is steadfast and full. Whilst they walk with God, all is peace. For in Him sorrow is not sorrow, and pain is not pain, but all is peace and rest, all that God willeth, to them is sweet and pleasant. Nor is it only that to them the will of God is sweet. It is more than this. For to them He gives the fair sunshine of His comfort, and the blessed joy of heaven, even here below. So that they live already as it were in heaven.
HENRY SUSO

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Jeremiah 17:7

Blessed Trust

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
JEREMIAH 17:7

THUS will I live and walk from day to day,
Contented, trustful, satisfied, and still;
What life so shielded, or what life so free,
As that within the centre of Thy will!
JANE WOODFALL

FOLLOW Christ in the denial of all the wills of self, and then all is put away that separates you from God; the heaven-born new creature will come to life in you, which alone knows and enjoys the things of God, and has his daily food of gladness in that manifold BLESSED, and BLESSED, which Christ preached on the mount.
WILLIAM LAW

Divine tranquillity grows from the life of God in the soul, which is the same as the life of pure love. Why should a soul be otherwise than tranquil, which seeks for nothing but what comes in the providence of God; and which, forgetful of self, has nothing to do but to love? It has an innate conviction, strong as the everlasting foundations, that, if there is a God above us, all is well, all must be well.
THOMAS C. UPHAM

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Acts 27:22 Psalm 9:2

Good Cheer

And now I exhort you to be of good cheer.
ACTS 27:22

I will be glad and rejoice in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, O Thou most High.
PSALMS 9:2

IF you have a murmuring spirit, you cannot have true cheerfulness; it will generally show in your countenance and your voice. Some little fretfulness or restlessness of tone will betray it. Your cheerfulness is forced, it does not spring up freely and healthily out of your heart, which it can only do when that is truly at rest in God; when you are satisfied with His ways, and wishing no change in them. When this is truly your case, then your heart and mind are free, and you can rejoice in spirit.
PRISCILLA MAURICE

Let us seek the grace of a cheerful heart, an even temper, sweetness, gentleness, and brightness of mind, as walking in His light, and by His grace. Let us pray to Him to give us the spirit of ever-abundant, everspringing love, which overpowers and sweeps away the vexations of life by its own richness and strength, and which, above all things, unites us to Him who is the fountain and the centre of all mercy, loving-kindness, and joy.
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 119:48 Psalm 119:32

Seek to Please Him

I will run the way of Thy commandments, when Thou shalt enlarge my heart.
PSALMS 119:32

My hands also will I lift up unto Thy commandments, which I have loved.
PSALMS 119:48

LOVE is higher than duty. But the reason is that love in reality contains duty in itself. Love without a sense of duty is a mere delusion, from which we cannot too soon set ourselves free. Love is duty and something more.
FREDERICK TEMPLE

THINK not anything little, wherein we may fulfil His commandments. It is in the midst of common and ordinary duties that our life is placed; common occupations make up our lives. By faith and love we obey; but by obedience are the faith and love, which God gives us, strengthened. Then shall we indeed love our Lord, when we seek to please Him in all things, speak or are silent, sleep or wake, labor or rest, do or suffer, with a single eye to His service. God give us grace so to love Him, that we may in all things see Him; in all, obey; and, obeying, see Him more clearly and love Him less unworthily; and so, in that blissful harmony of obedience and of love, be prepared to see Him "face to face."
EDWARD B. PUSEY

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Ephesians 3:16-17

Strong in Christ

Strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.
EPHESIANS 3:16,17

MAY we not only be delivered from the outward act or word that grieves Thee, but may the very springs of our nature be purified!
F. B. MEYER

TAKE the last transient swell of petty impatience, or of unkind criticism; things which to the unawakened conscience look so small, to the awakened conscience so large. There is not one that need have taken place. Had I been walking that moment with God, abiding that moment in Christ, drawing that moment on the sanctifying Spirit's power, I should not have lost temper, I should not have thought unkindly;--not only should I not have looked impatience, or indulged in needless severity of words. The occasion for the very feeling would have been as if it were not, because neutralized in Jesus Christ. And if that might have been true for the last five minutes, why should it not be true for the next five, for the present minute? "I can do all things," I have resources for all circumstances, "in Him that strengtheneth me."
HANDLEY C. G. MOULE

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Colossians 3:12-13

Turn Your Eyes Out

Put on therefore, a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye.
COLOSSIANS 3:12,13 (R. V.)

THE discord is within, which jars
So sadly in life's song;
'Tis we, not they who are in fault,
When others seem so wrong.
FREDERICK WM. FABER

SELF-PREOCCUPATION, self-broodings, self-interest, self-love,--these are the reasons why you go jarring against your fellows. Turn your eyes off yourself; look up, and out! There are men, your brothers, and women, your sisters; they have needs that you can aid. Listen for their confidences; keep your heart wide open to their calls, and your hands alert for their service. Learn to give, and not to take; to drown your own hungry wants in the happiness of lending yourself to fulfil the interests of those nearest or dearest. Look up and out, from this narrow, cabined self of yours, and you will jar no longer; you will fret no more, you will provoke no more; but you will, to your own glad surprise, find the secret of "the meekness and the gentleness of Jesus"; and the fruits of the Spirit will all bud and blossom from out of your life.
HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Deuteronomy 33:27 Numbers 6:24-26

Experience His Rest

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
NUMBERS 6:24-26

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
DEUTERONOMY 33:27

THOU wilt in time experience that thou dost belong not only to this life, but also art capable of enjoying and beholding God and eternal things, to thy perfect contentment and rest. Thou wilt then fix thine eyes, like a little innocent child, upon the face of God, steadfastly and joyfully; and He in return, like a faithful and loving mother, will keep His eyes upon thee, by which thou wilt be made holy through and through, and transformed into the same image from glory to glory. All thy delight, joy, and bliss will be in God, and God, in return, will have His joy and good pleasure in thee. He will rest and dwell in thee, as in His serene throne of peace; and thy spirit, that had so long gone astray, like a friendless child in a foreign land, will again sweetly repose in its true rest and home, in undisturbed peace. And thus thou wilt become a clear heaven of the ever-blessed God, in which He will dwell, and which He will fill with His divine light and love, and in which He will be glorified in time and in eternity.
GERHARD TERSTEEGEN

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[nChrist]

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

Peace With Ourselves

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
ROMANS 15:13

DO, I entreat you, drive away all these anxious thoughts which hinder your soul, and try to serve God cheerfully. Be resolute in overcoming self, and in hearing with your mental troubles whatever they be, leaving all to God, and doing whatever you know to be His will, quickly and heartily; be gentle, patient, humble, and courteous to all, but especially be gentle and patient with yourself. I think that many of your troubles arise from an exaggerated anxiety, a secret impatience with your own faults; and this restlessness, when once it has got possession of your mind, is the cause of numberless trifling faults, which worry you, and go on adding to your burden until it becomes unbearable, I would have you honest in checking and correcting yourself, but at the same time patient under the consciousness of your frailty. Remember that Jesus our Lord loves to dwell within a quiet heart, and to come to those who are at peace with themselves; restlessness and anxiety hinder our seeing Him, even when He is beside us and speaking to us.
PÈRE HYACINTHE BESSON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 138:7

Daily Check

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me.
PSALMS 138:7

IT is very helpful to make a habit of offering, morning by morning, the troubles of the day just beginning to our dear Lord, accepting His will in all things, expecially in all little personal trials and vexations. Some persons have found great benefit from making, when first they wake, the act taught to Madame de Chantal by St. Francis de Sales, accepting "all things tolerable and intolerable" for love of Christ; then at midday, a moment's inward search to see whether there has been any voluntary slackening of submission, any deliberate opposition to God's will, any hesitation in resisting the distaste or fretfulness, the impatience or discouragement we are tempted to feel when things go contrary to our own will and likings, making a fresh resolution to go on heartily; and, at night, a quick review of the day's failures for which to ask pardon, and strength to go on better anew. Some such habit as this is a great check to that terrible hindrance of the spiritual life which, terrible though it be, is so apt to steal upon many good and earnest souls,--a complaining, grumbling, self-pitying spirit.
H. L. SIDNEY LEAR

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Ephesians 3:27 Colossians 1:27

Jesus In Your Heart

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.
EPHESIANS 3:17

Christ in you, the hope of glory.
COLOSSIANS 1:27

ENTER my opening heart;
Fill in with love and peace and light from heaven;
Give me Thyself--for all in Thee is given;
Come--never to depart.
THOMAS WILLIAM WEBB

WHEREVER thou goest, whatever thou dost at home, or abroad, in the field, or at church, do all in a desire of union with Christ, in imitation of His tempers and inclinations, and look upon all as nothing, but that which exercises, and increases the spirit and life of Christ in thy soul. From morning to night keep Jesus in thy heart, long for nothing, desire nothing, hope for nothing but to have all that is within thee changed into the spirit and temper of the holy Jesus. This new birth in Christ, thus firmly believed and continually desired, will do everything that thou wantest to have done in thee, it will dry up all the springs of vice, stop all the workings of evil in thy nature, it will bring all that is good into thee, it will open all the gospel within thee, and thou wilt know what it is to be taught of God.
WILLIAM LAW

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 84:11

Work to Abide

The Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.
PSALMS 84:11

JUST to trust Him, this is all!
Then the day will surely be
Peaceful, whatsoe'er befall,
Bright and blessed, calm and free.
FRANCES R. HAVERGAL

WHAT we should do is really, very often, to be still. And if we want something to make us more active and energetic, watchful and holy, I know but one thought, that is faith,--faith producing love. More trust and confidence and joy in God would be the secret--the only true or successful secret--of more goodness. And this should come quietly and calmly, not in great effort; this kingdom of God has come not with observation. Rest and quiet growth are what you want.
JAMES HINTON

Open wide every avenue of your being to receive the blessed influences your Divine Husbandman may bring to bear upon you. Bask in the sunshine of His love. Drink in of the waters of His goodness. Keep your face upturned to Him. You need make no efforts to grow. But let your efforts instead be all concentrated on this, that you abide in the Vine.
HANNAH WHITALL SMITH

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Luke 19:9 Haggai 2:19

Decide to Rest

This day is salvation come to this house.
LUKE 19:9

From this day will I bless you.
HAGGAI 2:19

EVERY day is a fresh beginning;
Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain,
And spite of old sorrow and older sinning,
And puzzles forecasted and possible pain,
Take heart with the day, and begin again.
SUSAN COOLIDGE

EVERY temptation to evil temper which can assail us to-day will be an opportunity to decide the question whether we shall gain the calmness and the rest of Christ, or whether we shall be tossed by the restlessness and agitation of the world. Nay, the very vicissitudes of the seasons, day and night, heat and cold, affecting us variably, and producing exhilaration or depression, are so contrived as to conduce towards the being which we become, and decide whether we shall be master of ourselves, or whether we shall be swept at the mercy of accident and circumstance, miserably susceptible of merely outward influences.
F. W. ROBERTSON

Why wilt thou defer thy good purpose from day to day? Arise, and begin in this very instant, and say, "Now is the time to be doing; now is the time to be striving; now is the fit time to amend myself." Unless thou dost earnestly force thyself, thou shalt never get the victory over sin.
THOMAS À KEMPIS

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