Joy And Strength

[nChrist]

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


Love Comes From Action


If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.
  --JOHN 15:10

THIS did not once so trouble me,
That better I could not love Thee;
But now I feel and know
That only when we love, we find
How far our hearts remain behind
The love they should bestow.
  --RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH

OUR Lord gives the answer to a difficulty continually perplexing honest Christians--"How am I to learn to love God? I want to do my duty, but I do not feel as if I loved God." Our Lord gives the answer, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Act for God, do and say the things that He wills; direct your thoughts and intentions God-ward; and, depend upon it, in the slow process of nature, all that belongs to you--your instincts, your intelligence, your affections, your feelings--will gradually follow along the line of your action. Act for God; you are already showing love to Him and you will learn to feel it.
  --CHARLES GORE

They who, continuing faithful to divine grace, however partially communicated, serve God with their whole lives, will never fail of that one reward, the greatest which even He has to bestow, the being made able to love Him with their whole hearts.
  --DORA GREENWELL

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[Willowbirch]

THIS did not once so trouble me,
That better I could not love Thee;
But now I feel and know
That only when we love, we find
How far our hearts remain behind
The love they should bestow.
  --RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH

I love this verse; how true it is! Does it belong with a song?

[nChrist]

THIS did not once so trouble me,
That better I could not love Thee;
But now I feel and know
That only when we love, we find
How far our hearts remain behind
The love they should bestow.
  --RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH

I love this verse; how true it is! Does it belong with a song?

Hello Willowbirch,

Sister, I really don't know. Some of the sources, especially for "Streams in the Desert", are very old. The lines don't look quite long enough for a hymn, but they could be. You made me curious, so I tried a quick Google search. Richard Chenevix Trench was an Anglican Archbishop who died in 1886. He wrote poetry and hymns, so which might remain a mystery. I also enjoy many of the very old works in many of these devotions.

Love In Christ,
Tom

John 1:10-13 NASB  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Philippians 2:2-5


Inner Change


Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. . . . Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
--PHILIPPIANS 2:2, 5

JESUS, Thy all-victorious love
Shed in my heart abroad;
Then shall my feet no longer rove,
Rooted and fixed in God.
My steadfast soul, from falling free,
Shall then no longer move,
While Christ is all the world to me,
And all my heart is love.
--CHARLES WESLEY

LET our temper be under the rule of the love of Jesus: He can not alone curb it,--He can make us gentle and patient. Let the vow, that not an unkind word of others shall ever be heard from our lips, be laid trustingly at His feet. Let the gentleness that refuses to take offence, that is always ready to excuse, to think and hope the best, mark our intercourse with all. Let our life be one of self-sacrifice, always studying the welfare of others, finding our highest joy in blessing others. And let us, in studying the Divine art of doing good, yield ourselves as obedient learners to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. By His grace, the most common-place life can be transfigured with the brightness of a heavenly beauty, as the infinite love of the Divine nature shines out through our frail humanity.
--ANDREW MURRAY

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 1 Thessalonians 4:9 1 John 4:12


Resisting the Everyday Temptations


Ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
--1 THESSALONIANS 4:9

If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us.
--1 JOHN 4:12

THIS is the great business and meaning of our life on earth: that we should more and more yield up our hearts to God's great grace of love; that we should let it enter ever more fully and more freely into us, so that it may even fill our whole heart and life. We must day after day be driving back, in His strength, the sin that doth so easily beset us, and the selfishness that sin has fastened in our hearts; and then His love will day by day increase in us. Prayer will win and keep it; work will strengthen and exercise it; the Bible will teach us how to know and prize it, how to praise God for it; the Holy Eucharist will ever renew and quicken its power in our hearts. And so (blessed be God!), love and joy and peace will grow in us, beyond all that we can ask or think; and He will forgive us, for love's sake, all the failures, all the faults in whatever work He has given us to do; and will bring us at last into the fulness of that life which even here He has suffered us to know; into that one Eternal Home, where Love is perfect, and unwearied, and unending; and where nothing ever can part us from one another or from Him.
--FRANCIS PAGET

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Corinthians 10:5


Keeping the Focus


Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
  --2 CORINTHIANS 10:5

"I WILL lift up mine eyes unto the hills." The vision of God unseals the lips of man. Herein lies strength for conflict with the common enemy of the praying world known as wandering thoughts. If the eye is fixed on God, thought may roam where it will without irreverence, for every thought is then converted into a prayer.

Some have found it a useful thing when their minds have wandered off from devotion and been snared by some good but irrelevant consideration, not to cast away the offending thought as the eyes are again lifted to the Divine Face, but to take it captive, carry it into the presence of God and weave it into a prayer before putting it aside and resuming the original topic. This is to lead captivity captive.
  --CHARLES H. BRENT

Each wish to pray is a breath from heaven, to strengthen and refresh us; each act of faith, done to amend our prayers, is wrought in us by Him, and draws us to Him, and His gracious look on us. Neglect nothing which can produce reverence.
  --EDWARD B. PUSEY

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Romans 14:18 Psalms 119:6


Singleness of Heart


He that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
--ROMANS 14:18

Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all Thy commandments.
--PSALMS 119:6

TRUE fidelity consists in obeying God in all things, and in following the light that points out our duty, and the grace which guides us; taking as our rule of life the intention to please God in all things, and to do always not only what is acceptable to Him, but, if possible, what is most acceptable; not trifling with petty distinctions between sins great and small, imperfections and faults, for, though there may be such distinctions, they should have no weight with the soul that is determined to do all His will. To this sincere desire to do the will of God, we must add a cheerful spirit, that is not overcome when it has failed, but begins again and again to do better; hoping always to the very end to be able to do it; bearing with its own involuntary weakness, as God bears with it; waiting with patience for the moment when it shall be delivered from it; going straight on in singleness of heart, according to the strength that it can command; losing no time by looking back, nor making useless reflections upon its falls, which can only embarrass and retard its progress.
--FRANCOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalms 37:5


Invincible Patience


Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
--Psalms 37:5

Plan not, nor scheme,--but calmly wait;
His choice is best.
While blind and erring is thy sight,
His wisdom sees and judges right,
So trust and rest.
--ADELAIDE A. PROCTER

"GREAT peace have they which love My law." They see that from Me, the sovereign Ruler of the world, who governth all things with infinite wisdom, order, and love, nothing but good can spring; and that I can take care of them and their affairs far better and more successfully than they could of themselves. Thus, considering that all that happens to them comes from Me, they are strong with an invincible patience, and bear all things, not only with resignation, but with cheerfulness and joy, tasting in all things that befall them externally or internally the sweetness of My ineffable love. And this is to believe, and meditate with a cheerful and grateful spirit, even in the midst of tribulations and difficulties, that it is I who sweetly dispose all things, and that whatever happens springs from the inexhaustible fountain of My goodness.
--ST. CATHARINE OF SIENA

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Romans 8:1


Past Faults


There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
  --ROMANS 8:1

IT may be that recollections of the past hinder you, but you must reject them; anxious thoughts may arise, put them away; your faults seem to raise up a barrier, but no past faults can separate a loving heart from God.
  --H. L. SIDNEY LEAR

Do not scrutinize so closely whether you are doing much or little, ill or well, so long as what you do is not sinful, and that you are heartily seeking to do everything for God. Try as far as you can to do every.thing well, but when it is done do not think about it; try rather to think of what is to be done next. Go on simply in the Lord's way, and do not torment yourself. We ought to hate our faults, but with a quiet, calm hatred, not pettishly and anxiously. We must learn to look patiently at them, and win through them the grace of self-abnegation and humility. Be constant and courageous, and rejoice that He has given you the will to be wholly His.
  --ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Hebrews 1:14


Marching Together


Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
  --HEBREWS 1:14

NEAR you in sympathy the angels stand,
Their unseen hosts encompass you around;
Strong and unconquerable the glorious band,
And loud their songs and hymns of victory sound.
And near you, though invisible, are those,
The good and just of every age and clime,
Who while on earth have fought the self-same foes,
And won the fight through faith and love sublime;
Let not the hosts of sin inspire a fear,
For lo! far mightier hosts are ever near!
  --JONES VERY

With every evil overcome, and every new likeness of Christ inwardly put on, you are brought more completely within the circle of the great cloud of witnesses, the myriads of angels in full assembly, and the spirits of good men made perfect; their strength passes mightily into your soul and their peace is laid brightly within the heart. This is one of the essential elements of our strength when we are supported and buoyed up in doing the Divine will. You are not marching alone. You feel it; you know it. Visible or invisible, a mighty host is with you; you are marching with them in countless and serried numbers; one spirit moves the whole and lifts their feet, and they keep step to the same music.
  --EDMUND H. SEARS

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Deuteronomy 3:22 2 Chronicles 13:12


Fighting Our Battles


Ye shall not fear them; for the Lord your God He shall fight for you.
  --DEUTERONOMY 3:22

And behold God Himself is with us for our captain.
  --2 CHRONICLES 13:12

OH, for trust that brings the triumph
When defeat seems strangely near!
Oh, for faith that changes fighting
Into victory's ringing cheer;
Faith triumphant, knowing not defeat or fear!
  --HERBERT BOOTH

HOPEFULNESS of final victory is ours, if we only remember that we are fighting God's battles. And can He know defeat? He who is the God of the great world around us is the God of the little world within. It is He who is contending in thee; thou art but His soldier, guided by His wisdom, strengthened by His might, shielded by His love. Keep thy will united to the Will of God, and final defeat is impossible; for He is invincible.
  --GEORGE BODY

Our only victory over temptations is through persisting courage, and an indomitable cheerfulness.
  --FREDERICK W. FABER

Courage, it shall be well: we follow a conquering general; yea, who hath conquered already; and He that hath conquered for us shall ever conquer in us.
  --ROBERT LEIGHTON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalms 73:23


Staying Near the Power


Nevertheless, I am continually with Thee: Thou hast holden me by my right hand.
  --PSALMS 73:23

FAITH is a grasping of Almighty power;
The hand of man laid on the arm of God;
The grand and blessed hour
In which the things, impossible to me,
Become the possible, O Lord, through Thee.
  --ANNA E. HAMILTON

NOTHING is necessary for you in maintaining a triumphant Christian life, but just to stay by the helm, and put yourself in where the power is. Come unto God, unite yourself to God, and the doing power you have is infinite!--and is none the less yours because it is His. Trim your ship steadily to the course, and God's own gales will waft it.
  --HORACE BUSHNELL

Gaze intently with the eye of faith at the infinite wisdom and omnipotence of God, to whom nothing is impossible or difficult, and consider that His goodness is unbounded, and unspeakable His willingness to give, hour by hour, and moment by moment, all things needful for the spiritual life, and for complete victory over self, if we will throw ourselves with confidence into His arms.
  --LORENZO SCUPOLI

Whatever God tells us to do, He also helps us to do.
  --DORA GREENWELL

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Chronicles 31:21


Love the Daily Tasks


And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.
  --2 CHRONICLES 31:21

HELP me in Christ to learn to do Thy will,
That I may have from Him eternal life;
And here on earth Thy perfect love fulfil,
Then home return victorious from the strife.
  -JONES VERY

THERE is no other way in which one's life will be so surely, so quickly transfigured, as in the faithful, happy, cheerful doing of every-day tasks. We need to remember that this world is not so much a place for doing things as for making character. Right in the midst of what some people call drudgery is the very best place to get the transformed, transfigured life. The doing of common tasks patiently, promptly, faithfully, cheerfully, makes the character beautiful and bright. But we must take heed always that we do our tasks, whatever they are, with love in our heart. Doing any kind of work unwillingly, with complaint and murmuring, hurts the life.
  --J. R. MILLER

God weigheth more with how much love a man worketh, than how much he doeth. He doeth much that loveth much. He doeth much that doeth a thing well.
  --THOMAS À KEMPIS

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference John 16:33


Loving God


These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
--JOHN 16:33

THEE will I love, my Crown of gladness,
Thee will I love, my God and Lord,
Amid the darkest depths of sadness;
Not for the hope of high reward,---
For Thine own sake, O Light Divine,
So long as life is mine.
--JOHANN SCHEFFLER

WHAT is the secret of serenity? We all want to know it. Indeed, we do know it already. There is no secret about it. St. Paul speaks it out plainly enough. Everybody can see what it is. All things work together for good to them that love God. We must love God; that is the heart of it. Happiness, content, and right satisfaction, all doubts answered, all dark places lighted up, heaven begun here--this is the reward of loving God. In this world, tribulation; yes, but good cheer in spite of that, for the Son of God, whom we love, has overcome the world.
--GEORGE HODGES

Man's happiness consists in present peace, even in the midst of the greatest trials, and in more than hope of a glorious future.
--CHARLES G. GORDON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalms 102:22


Praise in All Things


Bless the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion--bless the Lord, O my soul.
  --PSALMS 102:22

O MOST high, almighty, good Lord God, to Thee belong praise, glory, honor, and all blessing.

Praised be my Lord God with all His creatures, and specially our brother the sun, who brings us the day; fair is he and shines with a very great splendor; O Lord, he signifies to us Thee. Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon, and for the stars, the which He has set clear and lovely in heaven.

Praised be my Lord for our sister water, who is very serviceable unto us, and humble and precious and clean. Praised be Thou, my Lord, for our brother fire; he is bright and pleasant and very mighty and strong. Praised be my Lord for our Mother the earth, who doth sustain us and keep us, and bringeth forth divers fruits and flowers of many colors, and grass.

Praised be my Lord for all those who pardon one another for His love's sake, and who endure weakness and tribulation. Praised be Thou, my Lord, for our sister, the death of the body, from which no man escapeth.

Praise ye and bless ye the Lord, and give thanks unto Him and serve Him with great humility.
  --ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

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