Joy And Strength

[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Colossians 1:13

Members of the Kingdom

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.
COLOSSIANS 1:13

IT is right that we should have an aim of our own, determined by our individuality and our surroundings; but this may readily degenerate into exclusive narrowness, unless it has for a background the great thought that there is a Kingdom of God within us, around us, and above us, in which we, with all our powers and aims, are called to be conscious workers. Toward the forwarding of this silent, ever-advancing Kingdom, our little work, whatever it be, if good and true, may contribute something. And this thought lends to any calling, however lowly, a consecration which is wanting even to the loftiest self-chosen ideals. But even if our aim should be frustrated and our work come to naught, yet the failure of our most cherished plans may be more than compensated. In the thought that we are members of this Kingdom, already begun, here and now, yet reaching forward through all time, we shall have a reserve of consolation better than any which success without this could give.
JOHN CAMPBELL SHAIRP

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 119:94 1 John 2:17

Abandoning Self

He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
1 JOHN 2:17

I am Thine, save me.
PSALMS 119:94

TAKE, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given it to me; to Thee, O Lord, I restore it; all is Thine, dispose of it according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is enough for me.

Are we willing to give ourselves entirely to God; to let Him do with us whatever He pleases; to follow anywhere at His bidding; to renounce anything at His call; asking only, in return, that He will give us Himself, with all His infinite love, to be ours from this time forever? If we are thus willing, let us kneel down this moment and tell Him so. Alone with God, let us give Him ourselves, all we have and are and shall be, to be unreservedly His.
WILLIAM R. HUNTINGTON

There is no stay so strong as an unreserved aban-donment of self into God's hand.
H. L. SIDNEY LEAR

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Isaiah 51:7 Exodus 23:2 1 Samuel 15:24

Peer Pressure

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him.
  --DEUTERONOMY 13:4

GOD visits a soul when He brings before it a new vision of truth or duty, a new range of opportunities, a new endowment of force as well as insight, at some time to which all that precedes has led up, and from which all that follows depends in its solemn history. No Divine visitation leaves us where it found us; it always leaves us better or worse; if not better, then certainly worse.
  --HENRY PARRY LIDDON

The issues are with God, and His servants know not the word disappointment, for they are incapable of reading His designs. Only this they know, that the slightest hesitation in obeying what they believe to be a divine impulse, produces a suffering more intense than any consequences which may accrue to them from the world.
  --LAURENCE OLIPHANT

Never shrink from deep devotion, because you fear its trials or its sacrifices. Paul, in martyrdom, was unspeakably happier than God's half-hearted servants.
  --WILLIAM R. HUNTINGTON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Deuteronomy 13:4

Complete Devotion

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him and keep His commandments, and obey His voice, and ye shall serve Him, and cleave unto Him.
  --DEUTERONOMY 13:4

GOD visits a soul when He brings before it a new vision of truth or duty, a new range of opportunities, a new endowment of force as well as insight, at some time to which all that precedes has led up, and from which all that follows depends in its solemn history. No Divine visitation leaves us where it found us; it always leaves us better or worse; if not better, then certainly worse.
  --HENRY PARRY LIDDON

The issues are with God, and His servants know not the word disappointment, for they are incapable of reading His designs. Only this they know, that the slightest hesitation in obeying what they believe to be a divine impulse, produces a suffering more intense than any consequences which may accrue to them from the world.
  --LAURENCE OLIPHANT

Never shrink from deep devotion, because you fear its trials or its sacrifices. Paul, in martyrdom, was unspeakably happier than God's half-hearted servants.
  --WILLIAM R. HUNTINGTON

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Isaiah 48:18

The Ideal Life

Oh, that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
--ISAIAH 48:18

IT is so easy to become more thick-skinned in conscience, more tolerant of evil, more hopeless of good, more careful of one's own comfort and one's own property, more self-satisfied in leaving high aims and great deeds to enthusiasts, and then to believe that one is growing older and wiser. And yet those high examples, those good works, those great triumphs over evil, which single hands effect sometimes, we are all grateful for, when they are done, whatever we may have said of the doing. But we speak of saints and enthusiasts for good, as if some special gifts were made to them in middle age which are withheld from other men. Is it not rather that some few souls keep alive the lamp of zeal and high desire which God lights for most of us while life is young?
--JULIANA HORATIA EWING

To live with a high ideal is a successful life. It is not what one does, but what one tries to do, that makes the soul strong and fit for a noble career.
--E. P. TENNEY

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Isaiah 63:9 Psalm 103:13

His Love, Not Ours

In His love and in His pity He redeemed them.
  --ISAIAH 63:9

Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.
  --PSALMS 103:13

GOD only knows the love of God:
Oh, that it now were shed abroad
In this poor stony heart;
For love I sigh, for love I pine;
This only portion, Lord, be mine,
Be mine this better part.
  --CHARLES WESLEY

DON'T measure God's mind by your own. It would be a poor love that depended not on itself, but on the feelings of the person loved. A crying baby turns away from its mother's breast, but she does not put it away till it stops crying. She holds it closer. For my part, in the worst mood I am ever in, when I don't feel I love God at all, I just look up to His love. I say to Him, "Look at me. See what state I am in. Help me!" Ah! you would wonder how that makes peace. And the love comes of itself; sometimes so strong, it nearly breaks my heart.
  --GEORGE MACDONALD

He does not love us because we art so lovely, but because He always loves what He pities.
  --ELIZABETH PRENTISS

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Thessalonians 1:12 Romans 13:14

Like Christ

That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  --2 THESSALONIANS 1:12

Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.
  --ROMANS 13:14

SEND down Thy likeness from above,
And let this my adorning be:
Clothe me with wisdom, patience, love,
With lowliness and purity.
  --JOACHIM LANGE

EVIDENTLY, in order to be a manifestation of Christ we must be in some way like Him. He is a Christian who follows Christ, who measures all things by the standard of His approbation, who would not willingly say a word which he would not like to have Christ hear, nor do an act which he would not like to have Christ see. He is a Christian who tries to be the kind of neighbor Christ would be, and the kind of citizen Christ would be, and who asks himself in all the alternatives of his business life, and his social life, and his personal life, what would the Master do in this case? The best Christian is he who most reminds the people with whom he lives of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who never reminds anybody of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a Christian at all.
  --GEORGE HODGES

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Mark 9:5 Matthew 17:2

The Transfiguration

And was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light.
--MATTHEW 17:2

Master, it is good for us to be here.
--MARK 9:5

MASTER, it is good to be
Entranced, enwrapt, alone with Thee;
Watching the glistering raiment glow,
Whiter than Hermon's whitest snow;
The human lineaments that shine
Irradiant with a light Divine:
Till we too change from grace to grace,
Gazing on that transfigured face.
--A. P. STANLEY

THE Transfiguration has lived on through ages, and has shed its light upon all ages. It has brought the past into union with the present. "The decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem" has been owned as the bond of fellowship between those who walk the earth and suffer in it, and those who are departed from it. In the light of that "countenance which was altered, of that raiment which was white and glistering," all human countenances have acquired a brightness, all common things have been transfigured. A glimpse of the Divine beauty has broken through the darkness, and has cheered the humblest pilgrims.
--FREDERIC DENISON MAURICE

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 36:9

Getting What You Look For

With Thee is the fountain of life; in Thy light shall we see light.
  --PSALMS 36:9

How beautiful our lives may be; how bright
In privilege; how fruitful of delight!
And lo! all round us His bright servants stand;
Events, His duteous ministers and wise,
With frowning brows, perhaps, for their disguise,
But with such wells of love in their deep eyes,
And such strong rescue hidden in their hands!
  --HENRY SEPTIMUS SUTTON

WE see always what we are looking for, and if our mind has become trained to look for trouble and difficulty and all dark and dreary things, we find just what we seek. On the other hand, it is quite as easy to form the habit of looking always for beauty, for good, for happiness, for gladness, and here, too, we shall find precisely what we seek.
  --J. R. MILLER

I never knew her [Mrs. Ewing] fail to find happiness wherever she was placed, and good in whomever she came across. Whatever her circumstances might be, they always yielded to her causes for thankfulness, and work to be done with a ready and hopeful heart.
  --HORATIA K. F. EDEN

 

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Proverbs 16:20

Looking to God

Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.
--PROVERBS 16:20

THIS world of ours is a happy world, so that God is our end, so that we can say to Him, "Thou art my God." Then everything takes new hues of joy and love. Our daily comforts have a soul in them, for they abound in thanksgiving; our daily infirmities or crosses have a special joy in them, because they are so tenderly fitted to us by the medicinal hand of our God; the commonest acts of life are full of deep interest, because their end is God; daily duties are daily joys, because they are something which God gives us to offer unto Him, to do to our very best, in acknowledgment of His love. It is His earth we walk on; His air, we breathe; His sun, the emblem of His all-penetrating love, which gladdens us. Eternity! Yes, that too is present to us, and is part of our joy on earth. God has given us faith to make our future home as certain to us, as this our spot of earth; and hope, to aspire strongly to it; and love, as a foretaste of the all-surrounding, ever-unfolding, Almighty love of our own God.
--E. B. PUSEY

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 86:4

Peaceful Time

Rejoice the soul of Thy servant; for unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
  --PSALMS 86:4

AH, dearest Lord! to feel that Thou art near,
Brings deepest peace, and hushes every fear;
To see Thy smile, to hear Thy gracious voice,
Makes soul and body inwardly rejoice
With praise and thanks!
  --CHRISTIAN GREGOR

PRAYER is a habit; and the more we pray the better we shall pray. Sometimes to go to be alone with God and Christ in the fellowship of the Spirit, just for the joy and blessedness of it; to open, with reverent yet eager hands, the door into the presence chamber of the great King, and then to fall down before Him, it may be, in silent adoration; our very attitude an act of homage, our merely being there, through the motive that prompts it, being the testimony of our soul's love; to have our set day-hours of close communion, with which no other friends shall interfere, and which no other occupations may interrupt; to which we learn to look forward with a living gladness; on which we look back with satisfaction and peace; this indeed is prayer.
  --ANTHONY W. THOROLD

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference John 14:27 Psalm 119:35

Serenity in Christ

Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments, for therein do I delight.
  --PSALMS 119:35

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
  --JOHN 14:27

THEN may Thy glorious, perfect will
Be evermore fulfilled in me,
And make my life an answering chord
Of glad, responsive harmony.
  --JEAN SOPHIA PIGOTT

CHRIST is the embodied harmony of God, and he that receives Him settles into harmony with Him, "My peace I give unto you," are the Saviour's words; and this peace of Christ is the equanimity, dignity, firmness, serenity, which made His outwardly-afflicted life appear to flow in a calmness so sublime. The soul is such a nature that, no sooner is it set in peace with itself, than it becomes an instrument in tune, a living instrument, discoursing heavenly music in its thoughts, and chanting melodies of bliss, even in its dreams. We may even say, that when a soul is in this harmony, no fires of calamity, no pains of outward torment can for one moment break the sovereign spell of its joy. It will turn the fires to freshening gales, and the pains to sweet instigations of love and blessing.
  --HORACE BUSHNELL

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 60:4

Strong in His Strength

Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth.
--PSALMS 60:4

MY cloud of battle dust may dim,
His veil of splendor curtain Him;
And, in the midnight of my fear,
I may not feel Him standing near:
But, as I lift mine eyes above,
His banner over me is love.
--GERALD MASSEY

MY son, thou art never secure in this life, but, as long as thou livest, thou shalt always need spiritual armor.

Thou oughtest manfully to go through all, and to use a strong hand against whatsoever withstandeth thee.

For to him that overcometh is manna given, and for the indolent there remaineth much misery.

Dispose not thyself for much rest, but for great patience.

Wait for the Lord, behave thyself manfully, and be of good courage; do not distrust Him, do not leave thy place, but steadily expose both body and soul for the glory of God.
--THOMAS À KEMPIS

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Luke 10:39 Psalm 119:16

Seeing the Master

I will delight myself in Thy statutes: I will not forget Thy word.
  --PSALMS 119:16

Which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word.
  --LUKE 10:39

Lo! at Thy feet I wait Thy will,
Let that alone my being fill,
All earthly passions calm and still.
  --C. S.

WHATEVER happens let us not be too busy to sit at Jesus' feet. We shall not really lose time by enjoying this; nay, we shall redeem the time; for there is usually much more time and strength forfeited by friction than by toil, and we shall gain in blessedness and enjoyment of our work, and gain in the quality of our work; and, above all, we shall gain in that we shall give Him pleasure where otherwise we might only grieve Him. And this is indeed the crown of all our endeavors. He who pleases Him does not live in vain.
  --WM. HAY M. H. AITKEN

A low standard of prayer means a low standard of character and a low standard of service. Those alone labor effectively among men who impetuously fling themselves upward towards God.
  --CHARLES H. BRENT

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[nChrist]

Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalm 33:21

Music of the Lord

Our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name.
  --PSALMS 33:21

ON our way rejoicing as we homeward move,
Hearken to our praises, O Thou God of love!
Is there grief or sadness? Thine it cannot be!
Is our sky beclouded? Clouds are not from Thee!
On our way rejoicing as we homeward move,
Hearken to our praises, O Thou God of love!
  --J. B. S. MONSELL

MY position has come to this, Am I living near my Saviour; then I am as happy as the day is long, and as light-hearted as a child. It may be that I have plenty of annoyances, but they don't trouble me when His presence is with me. Am I downcast and worried: then I am away from God.
  --JOHN KENNETH MACKENZIE

We may sing beforehand, even in our winter storm, in the expectation of a summer sun at the turn of the year; no created powers can mar our Lord Jesus' music, nor spill our song of joy. Let us then be glad and rejoice in the salvation of our Lord; for faith had never yet cause to have wet cheeks, and hanging-down brows, or to droop or die.
  --SAMUEL RUTHERFORD

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