Joy And Strength

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalms 92:1-2


Why Praise God?


It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most High: to show forth Thy lovingkindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night.
--PSALMS 92:1,2

PRAISE to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise;
In all His words most wonderful,
Most sure in all His ways.
  --JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

IF our hearts were tuned to praise, we should see causes unnumbered, which we had never seen before, for thanking God. Thanksgiving is spoken of as a "sacrifice well pleasing unto God." It is a far higher offering than prayer. When we pray we ask for things which we want; or we tell out our sorrows. We pray, in order to bring down blessings upon ourselves; we praise, because our hearts overflow with love to God, and we must speak it out to Him. It flows out of pure love, and then the love goes back to our hearts, and warms them anew, and revives and quickens them.
  --PRISCILLA MAURICE

Learn the lesson of thanksgiving. It is due to God, it is due to ourselves. Thanksgiving for the past makes us trustful in the present and hopeful for the future. What He has done is the pledge of what He will do.
  --A. C. A. HALL

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalms 37:7


The Patience of the Saints


Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.
  --PSALMS 37:7

Is it the Lord that shuts me in?
Then I can bear to wait!
No place so dark, no place so poor,
So strong and fast no prisoning door,
Though walled by grievous fate,
But out of it goes fair and broad
An unseen pathway, straight to God,
By which I mount to Thee.
  --SUSAN COOLIDGE

WE cannot be useless while we are doing and suffering God's will, whatever it may be found to be. And we can always do that. If we are bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, we are not useless. And we can always do that. If we are increasing in the knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, we are not useless. And we can always do that. While we pray we cannot be useless. And we can always do that. God will always find us a work to do, a niche to fill, a place to serve, nay, even a soul to save, when it is His will, and not ours, that we desire to do; and if it should please Him that we should sit still for the rest of our lives, doing nothing else but waiting on Him, and waiting for Him, why should we complain? Here is the patience of the saints.
  --ANTHONY W. THOROLD

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 1 Samuel 30:24


Waiting or Doing


As his share is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his share be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall share alike.
  --1 SAMUEL 30:24 (R. V.)

WORSHIP or service,--which? Ah, that is best
To which He calls us, be it toil or rest,--
To labor for Him in life's busy stir,
Or seek His feet, a silent worshipper.
 --CAROLINE A. MASON

LET us no more yearn for present employment when God's providence bids us "be still," than we would think it good to yearn after cessation while God bids work. Shall we not miss a blessing if we call rest a weariness and a discontent, no less than if we called God's work a thankless labor? If we would be holy in body and spirit, shall we not keep smooth brow, light heart, whether He bids us serve His table, or wait our summons?
  --EDWARD WHITE BENSON

He who acts with a view to please God alone, wishes to have that only which it pleases God that he should have, and at the time and in the way which may be most agreeable to Him: and, whether he have it or not, he is equally tranquil and contented, because in either case he obtains his wish, and fulfils his intention, which was no other than purely to please God.
  --LORENZO SCUPOLI

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Revelation 2:10 Psalms 119:77


The Endurance of God


Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
  --REVELATION 2:10

Let Thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for Thy law is my delight.
  --PSALMS 19:77

O BLESSED life! the heart at rest
When all without tumultuous seems;
That trusts a higher Will, and deems
That higher Will, not mine, the best.
  --WILLIAM TIDD MATSON

NOTHING is so trying to nature as suspense between a faint hope and a mighty fear; but we must have faith as to the extent of our trials, as in all else. Our sensitiveness makes us often disposed to fancy that we are tried beyond our strength; but we really know neither our strength to endure nor the nature of God's trials. Only He who knows both these, and every turn of the hearts which He has made, knows how to deal out a due proportion. Let us leave it all to Him, and be content to bear in silence.
  --FRANCOIS DE LA MOTHE FÉNELON

It is not the sunny side of Christ that we must look to, and we must not forsake Him for want of that. Oh, how sweet a thing were it for us to learn to make our burdens light, by framing our hearts to the burden, and making our Lord's will a law!
  --SAMUEL RUTHERFORD

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Luke 12:21


Trials not Evils


So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
  --LUKE 12:21

IT seems as if God gathered into His storehouse, from each of our lives, fruit in which He delights. And the daily cross-bearings and self-denials, the bright word spoken when head and heart are weary, the meek endurance of misunderstanding, the steady going on in one unbroken round, with a patient cheerfulness that knows nothing of "moods,"--all these are garnered there, and add to our riches towards Him.
  --H. BOWMAN

IT is a great matter to learn to look upon troubles and trials not as simply evils. How can that be evil which God sends? And those who can repress complaints, murmurs, and peevish bemoaning--better still, the vexed feelings which beset us when those around inflict petty annoyances and slights on us--will really find that their little daily worries are turning into blessings.
  --H. L. Sidney LEAR

Just to leave in His dear hand
Little things;
All we cannot understand,
All that stings.
Just to let Him take the care
Sorely pressing,
Finding all we let Him bear
Changed to blessing.
  --FRANCES R. HAVERGAL

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


Promise of Peace


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

TAKE anxious care for nought,
To God your wants make known;
And soar on wings of heavenly thought
Toward His eternal throne;
So, though our path is steep,
And many a tempest lowers,
Shall His own peace our spirits keep,
And Christ's dear love be ours.
  --JOHN MOULTRIE

CHERISH thankfulness with prayer. St. Paul gives us in two words this secret of peace. "In everything," (he excepts nothing, so do not you) "by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." He does not say it as a benediction only: he tells us, it "shall keep your hearts and minds." Do the one and God will do the other. Ask what you will, be thankful; and not peace only, but peace which passeth all which our poor minds can think, shall keep these poor breaking, restless hearts--these ever wearying, worrying minds of ours--in Christ Jesus.
  --E. B. PUSEY

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Romans 12:2 John 18:11


Dying to Self


The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink?
  --JOHN 18:11

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
  --ROMANS 12:2

WE are often greatly hindered in the fulfilment of our duties by an unconscious clinging to self, which holds us back from God, and which leads us to seek our rest in something other than the simple fulfilment of His most holy will. If we honestly sought nothing save His will, we should always be in a state of perfect peace, let what may happen. But, very often, even when we ask that God's will may be done, we still wish it to be done after our fashion.
  --PÉRE HYACINTHE BESSON

When we are fully delivered from the influence of selfish considerations, and have become conformed to the desires and purposes of the Infinite Mind, we shall drink the cup, and drink it cheerfully, whatever it may be. In a word, we shall necessarily be submissive and happy in all trials, and in every change and diversity of situation. Not because we are seeking happiness, or thinking of happiness, as a distinct object, but because the glorious will of Him whom our soul loves supremely, is accomplished in us.
  --THOMAS C. UPHAM

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Malachi 1:13 Ephesians 5:14 Psalms 119:25


Praying in Spite of Yourself


Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it.
--MALACHI 1:13

My soul cleaveth unto the dust; quicken Thou me according to Thy word.
  --PSALMS 119:25

Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
  --EPHESIANS 5:14

THERE are some who give up their prayers because they have so little feeling in their prayers--so little warmth of feeling. But who told us that feeling was to be a test of prayer? The work of prayer is a far too noble and necessary work to be laid aside for any lack of feeling. Press on, you who are dry and cold in your prayers, press on as a work and as a duty, and the Holy Spirit will, in His good time, refresh your prayers Himself.
  --ARTHUR F. WINNINGTON INGRAM

You do not feel in the spirit of prayer; you have no spiritual uplift; you are simply indifferent. Give that unhappy mood no heed. You know very well what you ought to do. You ought to present yourself before God; you ought to say your prayers. Do that, and the devout attitude, the bended knees, the folded hands, the quiet and the silence, the lips busied with holy words, will induce the consciousness of the divine presence, and help you to pray in spirit and in truth.
--GEORGE HODGES

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 1 John 4:16


A Broken and Contrite Heart


We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
--1 JOHN 4:16

NOT what I am, O Lord, but what Thou art!
That, that alone can be my soul's true rest;
Thy love, not mine, bids fear and doubt depart, And stills the tempest of my tossing breast.
--HORATIUS BONAR

WHEN you go to prayer, your first thought must be: The Father is in secret, the Father waits me there. Just because your heart is cold and prayerless, get you into the presence of the loving Father. As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth you. Do not be thinking of how little you have to bring God, but of how much He wants to give you. Just place yourself before Him, and look up into His face; think of His love, His wonderful, tender, pitying love. Tell Him how sinful and cold and dark all is; it is the Father's loving heart will give light and warmth to yours.
--ANDREW MURRAY

God is not found in multiplicity, but in simplicity of thoughts and words. If one word suffice for your prayer, keep to that word, and to whatever short sentence will unite your heart with God,
--MARGARET MARY HALLAHAN

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Psalms 119:28 Colossians 2:2


Possibilities in Love


My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen Thou me according unto Thy word.
--PSALMS 119:28

That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love.
--COLOSSIANS 2:2

WHEN I am with Thee as Thou art with me,
Life will be self-forgetting power;
Love, ever conscious, buoyant, clear, and free
Will flame in darkest hour.
--GEORGE MACDONALD

EVERYTHING becomes possible to those who love. The commands of the Lord are no longer grievous, for the soul that loves is gifted by that love with fresh energies; it discovers in itself unsuspected possibilities, and is supplied with ever-flowing currents of new vigor. We shall be enabled to do so much if only we love. We live by loving, and the more we love the more we live; and therefore, when life feels dull and the spirits are low, turn and love God, love your neighbor, and you will be healed of your wound. Love Christ, the dear Master; look at His face, listen to His words, and love will waken, and you will do all things through Christ who strengtheneth you.
--HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND

The noble love of Jesus impels a man to do great things, and stirs him up to be always longing for what is more perfect.
--THOMAS À KEMPIS

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 1 John 4:21


Preeminent Love


This commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
  --1 JOHN 4:21

HE who loves God all else above,
His own shall also clasp
In circles ampler far of love
Than weaker arms can grasp;
And farther down through space and time
His sympathies descend and climb.
  --SIR AUBREY DE VERE

THE true proficiency of the soul consists not so much in deep thinking, or eloquent speaking, or beautiful writing; as in much and warm loving. Now, if you ask me in what way this much and warm love may be acquired, I answer,--By resolving to do the will of God, and by watching to do His will as often as occasion offers. Those who truly love God love all good wherever they find it. They seek all good to all men. They commend all good, they always acknowledge and defend all good. They have no quarrels. They bear no envy. O Lord, give me more and more of this blessed love! It will be a magnificent comfort in the hour of death to know that we are on our way to be judged by Him whom we have loved above all things. We are not going to a strange country, since it is His country whom we love and who loves us.
  --ST. TERESA

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Joy and Strength: October 17, 2005

Title: Recognize Sin
Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Scripture References:
Ephesians 4:31
Devotion: Joy and Strength
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Title: Recognize Sin

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and
clamor, and evil-speaking, be put away from you,
with all malice.
  --EPHESIANS 4:31

THE wider vision of the mind;
The spirit bright with sun;
The temper like a fragrant wind,
Chilling and grieving none;
The quickened heart to know God's will,
And on His errands run.
  --SUSAN COOLIDGE

IT is of the very greatest moment to know the
occasions of our sin, and the way in which it
shows itself. To know the occasions, puts us on
our guard; to know how our sin shows itself,
gives us the means of stopping it. Thus, as to
these occasions; one is made angry, if he is
found fault with roughly, or even at all, or
slighted, or spoken slightly of, or laughed at,
or kept waiting, or treated rudely, or hurt even
unintentionally, or if his will is crossed, or he
is contradicted, or interrupted, or not attended
to, or another be preferred to him, or if he
cannot succeed in what he has to do. These sound
little things when we speak of them in the
presence of God, and in the sight of eternity.
But these and such like little things make up our
daily trials, our habits of mind, our life; our
likeness or unlikeness to God, who made us in His
own image; our eternity.
  --E. B. PUSEY

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


The Strongest Power


Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
--LUKE 10:19

SHED down on me Thy mighty power,
To strengthen for each coming hour;
And then, through flood, through fire and sword,
I'll follow Thee, my Lord, my Lord!
--JOHANN RAMBACH

WHY do we grow so little in grace? It is because we do not use our intellect to meditate upon the forces of the unseen world amidst which we live, or our will to draw upon them. We know that we are weak, and sin and Satan are strong, and we know the truth. But there is a third power stronger than either our weakness or the forces of evil, which we commonly forget, and which will never disclose itself except in our using of it. We must stir up the gift within us. Within us we have the Spirit of power, the Spirit of Jesus, the life of Jesus. It remains to us to appeal to it; in constant acts of faith to draw upon it and to use it. Thus it will become to each of us as much a truth of experience as it was to St. Paul, and no vague language of metaphor, that "it is no longer merely I that live, but Christ that liveth in me."
--CHARLES GORE

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference 2 Corinthians 4:17


Turn Trials to Opportunity


Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
  --2 CORINTHIANS 4:17

ONLY be still, and wait His leisure
In cheerful hope, with heart content
To take whate'er thy Father's pleasure,
And all-discerning love hath sent;
Nor doubt our inmost wants are known
To Him who chose us for His own.
  --GEORG NEUMARK, 1657

OH, how is the face of life altered, as soon as a man has in earnest made his first object to do his Father's will! Oh, how do, what before seemed grievous burdens, bodily sickness, domestic trial, privations, losses, bereavement, the world's scorn, man's unthankfulness, or whatever grief his Father may put upon him, how do these things change! To those, whose hope is in heaven, everything becomes a means of discipline, an instrument of strengthening their cheerful acceptance of their Father's will. Their irksome tasks, privations, sickness, heaviness of heart, unkindness of others, and all the sorrows which their Father allots them in this world, are so many means of conforming them to their Saviour's image. Then doth everything which God doeth with them seem to them "very good," even because He doth it.   --EDWARD B. PUSEY

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Author: Mary Wilder Tileston
Source: Joy and Strength
Scripture Reference Matthew 26:42


Thy Will Be Done


O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, Thy will be done.
  --MATTHEW 26:42

To do or not to do,--to have,
Or not to have I leave to Thee;
To be or not to be, I leave,--
Thy only will be done to me:
All my requests are lost in one,
Father, Thy only will be done!
  --C. WESLEY

DEAR Lord, in all our loneliest pains
Thou hast the largest share,
And that which is unbearable,
'Tis Thine, not ours, to bear.
  --FREDERICK W. FABER

OFFER thyself as a sacrifice to God in peace and quietness of spirit. And the better to proceed in this journey, and support thyself without weariness and disquiet, dispose thy soul at every step, by widening out thy will to meet the Will of God. The more thou dost widen it, the more wilt thou receive. Thy will must be disposed as follows: to will everything and to will nothing, if God wills it or wills it not.
  --LORENZO SCUPOLI

You must make, at least once every week, a special act of love to God's will above all else, and that not only in things supportable, but also in things insupportable.
  --ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

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