Treasury of Daily Devotions

By Ambassador International

It has been said that, "We stand on the shoulders of giants" in reference to the legacy of those who walked with God in previous generations. The Treasury of Daily Devotions brings us the writings of influential Christians in previous eras. Their zeal will challenge us to go forward in the Christian life and be equipped to serve the Lord. Spiritual growth, like physical growth, requires careful nurture. For this we need help from God and from His servants sent to encourage us along the way. May this "Cloud of Witnesses" minister to our timeless needs. 365 Reflections from: C.H. Spurgeon, F.B. Meyer, Catherine Booth, Matthew Henry, George Mueller, R.A. Torrey, E.M. Bounds, John Wesley, D.L. Moody, Frances Havergal, J.C. Ryle, Andrew Murray, John Owen , Amy Carmichael, John Bunyan, Robert Murray McCheyne, A.W. Tozer, Martin Luther, J. Hudson Taylor and many other people of faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ambassador International
• Release date: Nov 1, 41
• ISBN: 9781620201756

Book preview

Treasury of Daily Devotions

eISBN: 978-1-62020-175-6

Cover design and typesetting: Matthew Mulder

E-book conversion: Anna Riebe

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible unless otherwise noted. Public Domain.

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Day by day manna fell:

O to learn Thy lesson well.

Still by constant mercy fed,

Give me Lord, my daily bread.

Day by day, the promise reads,

Daily strength for daily needs:

Cast foreboding fears away;

Take the manna for today.

Lord! my times are in Thy hand:

All my sanguine hopes have planned,

To Thy wisdom I resign,

And would make Thy treasure mine

JOSIAH CONDER

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Copyright

January 1

January 2

January 3

January 4

January 5

January 6

January 7

January 8

January 9

January 10

January 11

January 12

January 13

January 14

January 15

January 16

January 17

January 18

January 19

January 20

January 21

January 22

January 23

January 24

January 25

January 26

January 27

January 28

January 29

January 30

January 31

February 1

February 2

February 3

February 4

February 5

February 6

February 7

February 8

February 9

February 10

February 11

February 12

February 13

February 14

February 15

February 16

February 17

February 18

February 19

February 20

February 21

February 22

February 23

February 24

February 25

February 26

February 27

February 28

February 29

March 1

March 2

March 3

March 4

March 5

March 6

March 7

March 8

March 9

March 10

March 11

March 12

March 13

March 14

March 15

March 16

March 17

March 18

March 19

March 20

March 21

March 22

March 23

March 24

March 25

March 26

March 27

March 28

March 29

March 30

March 31

April 1

April 2

April 3

April 4

April 5

April 6

April 7

April 8

April 9

April 10

April 11

April 12

April 13

April 14

April 15

April 16

April 17

April 18

April 19

April 20

April 21

April 22

April 23

April 24

April 25

April 26

April 27

April 28

April 29

April 30

May 1

May 2

May 3

May 4

May 5

May 6

May 7

May 8

May 9

May 10

May 11

May 12

May 13

May 14

May 15

May 16

May 17

May 18

May 19

May 20

May 21

May 22

May 23

May 24

May 25

May 26

May 27

May 28

May 29

May 30

May 31

June 1

June 2

June 3

June 4

June 5

June 6

June 7

June 8

June 9

June 10

June 11

June 12

June 13

June 14

June 15

June 16

June 17

June 18

June 19

June 20

June 21

June 22

June 23

June 24

June 25

June 26

June 27

June 28

June 29

June 30

July 1

July 2

July 3

July 4

July 5

July 6

July 7

July 8

July 9

July 10

July 11

July 12

July 13

July 14

July 15

July 16

July 17

July 18

July 19

July 20

July 21

July 22

July 23

July 24

July 25

July 26

July 27

July 28

July 29

July 30

July 31

August 1

August 2

August 3

August 4

August 5

August 6

August 7

August 8

August 9

August 10

August 11

August 12

August 13

August 14

August 15

August 16

August 17

August 18

August 19

August 20

August 21

August 22

August 23

August 24

August 25

August 26

August 27

August 28

August 29

August 30

August 31

September 1

September 2

September 3

September 4

September 5

September 6

September 7

September 8

September 9

September 10

September 11

September 12

September 13

September 14

September 15

September 16

September 17

September 18

September 19

September 20

September 21

September 22

September 23

September 24

September 25

September 26

September 27

September 28

September 29

September 30

October 1

October 2

October 3

October 4

October 5

October 6

October 7

October 8

October 9

October 10

October 11

October 12

October 13

October 14

October 15

October 16

October 17

October 18

October 19

October 20

October 21

October 22

October 23

October 24

October 25

October 26

October 27

October 28

October 29

October 30

October 31

November 1

November 2

November 3

November 4

November 5

November 6

November 7

November 8

November 9

November 10

November 11

November 12

November 13

November 14

November 15

November 16

November 17

November 18

November 19

November 20

November 21

November 22

November 23

November 24

November 25

November 26

November 27

November 28

November 29

November 30

December 1

December 2

December 3

December 4

December 5

December 6

December 7

December 8

December 9

December 10

December 11

December 12

December 13

December 14

December 15

December 16

December 17

December 18

December 19

December 20

December 21

December 22

December 23

December 24

December 25

December 26

December 27

December 28

December 29

December 30

December 31

January 1

CONSIDER YOUR WAYS

Exhort one another daily.

HEBREWS 3:13

WHEN A TRAVELLER PASSES VERY rapidly through a country, the eye has not time to rest upon the different objects in it, so that, when he comes to the end of his journey, no distinct impressions have been made upon his mind - he has only a confused notion of the country through which he has travelled.

This explains how it is that death, judgment and eternity, make so little impression upon most men's minds. Most people never stop to think, but hurry on through life, and find themselves in eternity, before they have once put the question, What must I do to be saved? More souls are lost through want of consideration than in any other way.

The reason why men are not awakened and made anxious for their souls is, that the devil never gives them time to consider. Therefore God cries, Stop, poor sinner, stop and think. Consider your ways. Oh that you were wise, that you understood this, that you considered your latter end! And, again He cries, Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider.

In the same way does the devil try to make the children of God doubt if there be a Providence. He hurries them away to the shop and market. Lose no time, he says, but make money. Therefore God cries, Stop, poor sinner, stop and think; and Jesus says, Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; consider the ravens, which have neither storehouse nor bam.

In the same way does the devil try to make the children of God live uncomfortable and unholy lives. He beguiles them away from simply looking to Jesus; he hurries them away to look at a thousand other things, as he led Peter, walking on the sea, to look around at the waves. But God says, Look here, consider the Apostle and High Priest of your profession; look unto me and be ye saved; run your race, looking unto Jesus; consider Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.

ROBERT MURRAY MCCHEYNE

January 2

KEPT FOR JESUS

What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

PSALM 8:4

WHILE WE HAVE BEEN UNDERVALUING these fractions of eternity, what has our gracious God been doing in them? How strangely touching are the words, What is man, that. . .Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him, and that Thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment? Terribly solemn and awful would be the thought that He has been trying us every moment, were it not for the yearning gentleness and love of the Father revealed in that wonderful expression of wonder, What is man, that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him? Think of that ceaseless setting of His heart upon us, careless and forgetful children as we have been! And then think of those other words, none the less literally true because given under a figure: I, the Lord, do keep it; I will water it every moment.

We see something of God's infinite greatness and wisdom when we try to fix our dazzled gaze on infinite space. But when we turn to the marvels of the microscope, we gain a clearer view and more definite grasp of these attributes by gazing on the perfection of His infinitesimal handiwork. Just so, whereas we cannot realize the infinite love that fills eternity, and the infinite vistas of the great future are dark with excess of light even to the strongest telescopes of faith, we see that love magnified in the microscope of the moments, brought very close to vis, and revealing its unspeakable perfection of detail to our wondering sight.

But we do not see this as long as the moments are kept in our own hands. We are like little children closing our fingers over diamonds. How can they receive and reflect the rays of light, analyzing them into all the splendor of their prismatic beauty, while they are kept shut up tight in the dirty little hands? Give them up! Let our Father hold them for us, and throw His own great light upon them. Then we shall see them full of fair colors of His manifold loving-kindness.

Let Him always keep them for us, and then we shall always see His light and His love reflected in them.

FRANCES R. HAVERGAL

January 3

CALVARY’S CROSS

. . .Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

I CORINTHIANS 2:2

THE CROSS MEANS THAT CHRIST died for sinners upon the cross, that He made atonement for sinners by His suffering for them on the cross – a complete and perfect sacrifice for sin, which He offered up when He gave His own body to be crucified. This is the meaning in which Paul used the expression, when he told the Corinthians, The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. (1 Corinthians 1:18), and when he wrote to the Galatians, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross, he simply meant, I glory in nothing but Christ crucified as the salvation of my soul."

This is the subject he loved to preach about.

He was a man who went to and fro on the earth, proclaiming to sinners that the Son of God had shed His own heart's blood to save their souls, that Jesus Christ had loved them and died for their sins upon the cross. Mark how he says to the Corinthians, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins. (I Corinthians 15: 3). He - a blaspheming, persecuting Pharisee - had been washed in Christ’s blood. He could not hold his peace about it. He was never weary of telling the story of the cross.

This is the subject he loved to dwell upon when he wrote to believers.

It is wonderful to observe how full his epistles generally are of the sufferings and death of Christ. He enlarges on the subject constantly. He returns to it continually. It is the golden thread that runs through all his doctrinal teaching and practical exhortation. He seems to think that the most advanced Christian can never hear too much of the cross.

This is what he lived upon all his life, from the time of his conversion. He tells the Galatians, The life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). What made him so strong to labour, so willing to work, so unwearied in endeavoring to save some, so persevering and patient? The secret of it all was that he was always feeding by faith on Christ's body and Christ's blood. Jesus crucified was the meat and drink of his soul.

J. C. RYLE

January 4

YOUR ONLY HOPE

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us.

EPHESIANS 2:4

I KNOW WHAT IT IS you want. You want the best robe without your Father's giving it to you, and the shoes on your feet of your own procuring. You do not like going in a beggar's suit and receiving all from the Lord's loving hand. But this pride of yours must be given up, and you must get away to God, or perish forever. You must forget yourself, or only remember yourself so as to feel that you are bad throughout and no more worthy to be called God's son. Give yourself up as a sinking vessel that is not worth pumping, but must be left to go down, and get you into the lifeboat of free grace. Think of God your Father and of His dear Son, the one Mediator and Redeemer of the sons of men. There is your hope - to fly away from self and to reach your Father.

Sinner, your business is with God. Hasten to Him at once. You have nothing to do with yourself or your own doings or what others can do for you. The turning point of salvation is He arose and came to his father. There must be a real, living, earnest, contact of your poor guilty soul with God, a recognition that there is a God and that God can be spoken to, and an actual speech of your soul to Him through Jesus Christ for it is only God in Christ Jesus that is accessible to all. Going thus to God, we tell Him that we are all wrong, and want to be set right; we tell Him we wish to be reconciled to Him and are ashamed that we should have sinned against Him; we then put our trust in His Son, and we are saved.

O soul, go to God; it matters not that the prayer you come with may be a very broken prayer, or even if it has mistakes in it, as the prodigal's prayer had when he said, Make me as one of thy hired servants; the language of the prayer will not matter so long as you really approach God. Him that cometh to me, says Jesus, I will in no wise cast out; and Jesus ever liveth to make intercession for them that come to God through Him.

CHARLES H. SPURGEON

January 5

THE BOOK ABOVE ALL BOOKS

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

COLOSSIANS 3:16

LIKE MANY BELIEVERS, I PRACTICALLY preferred, for the first four years of my divine life, the works of uninspired men to the oracles of the living God. The consequence was that I remained a babe, both in knowledge and grace. In knowledge I say; for all true knowledge must be derived by the Spirit, from the Word. And as I neglected the Word, I was for nearly four years so ignorant that I did not clearly know even the fundamental points of our holy faith. And this lack of knowledge most sadly kept me from walking steadily in the ways of God.

For it is the truth that makes us free (John 8: 31-32), by delivering us from the slavery of the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. The Word proves it. The experience of the saints proves it; and also my own experience most decidedly proves it. For when it pleased the Lord in August 1829 to bring me really to the Scriptures, my life and walk became very different. And though ever since that I have very much fallen short of what I might and ought to be, yet, by the grace of God, I have been enabled to live much nearer to Him than before.

If any believers read this who prefer other books to the Holy Scriptures, and who enjoy the writings of men much more than the Word of God, may they be warned by my loss. I shall consider this book to have been the means of doing much good, should it please the Lord, through its instrumentality, to lead some of His people no longer to neglect the Holy Scriptures, but to give them the preference, which they have hitherto bestowed on the writings of men.

My dislike to increase the number of books would have been sufficient to deter me from writing these pages had I not been convinced that this is the only way in which the brethren at large may be benefited through my mistakes and errors, and been influenced by the hope that, in answer to my prayers, the reading of my experience may be the means of leading them to value the Scriptures more highly and to make them the rule of all their actions.

GEORGE MUELLER

January 6

TWO KINDS OF PEACE

The peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

PHILIPPIANS 4:7

THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF peace mentioned in the New Testament. The first peace, for blood-washed men and women is, Justified by faith, we have peace with God. That is not something that you gain: it is a gift. It is not a payment. It does not matter what your denomination may be, or whether you have any denomination, or who you are or what you are, if you are saved by God's grace you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

But there is another peace mentioned in Scripture, which you find in Philippians 4: 7, . . .the peace of God, to garrison your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Every born-again one has peace with God, but it is not every Christian that has the peace of God, though he should have it. The first peace is determined by your union with the Lord; the second, by your communion with your Lord. If I am walking in the light as He is in the light, we are having fellowship one with the other and I possess the peace of God. Come unto Me. . .and I will give you rest. This is a first call. But beyond it there is something far richer and deeper. There remaineth a rest for the people of God, and they who enter into this rest have ceased from their own works, and enter into a possession that is peculiar and wonderfully precious - the peace of God.

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?

The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?

To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.

W. P. NICHOLSON

January 7

ASSURANCE FOREVER

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

PSALM 51:7

GOD REFUSES TO COMPROMISE HIS own character for the sake of anyone, much as He yearns to have all men to be saved.

It was this that stirred the soul of Luther, and brought new light and help after long, weary months of groping in the darkness, trying in vain to save himself in conformity to the demands of blind leaders of the blind. As Luther was reading the Latin Psalter, he came across David's prayer, Save me in thy righteousness. Luther exclaimed, What does this mean? I can understand how God can damn me in His righteousness, but if He would save me it must surely be in His mercy! The more he meditated on it, the more the wonder grew. But little by little the truth dawned upon his troubled soul that God Himself had devised a righteous method whereby He could justify unrighteous sinners who came to Him in repentance and received His word in faith.

Isaiah stresses this great and glorious truth throughout his marvelous Old Testament unfolding of the gospel plan. In unsparing severity, the prophet portrays man's utterly lost and absolutely hopeless condition apart from divine grace. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. (Isaiah 1:5-6). It is surely a revolting picture, but nevertheless it is true of the unsaved man as God sees him. Sin is a vile disease that has fastened upon the very vitals of its victim. None can free himself from its pollution or deliver himself from its power.

But God has a remedy. He says, Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Verse 18). It is God Himself who can thus purge the leper from all his uncleanness, and justify the ungodly from all his guilt. And He does it, not at the expense of righteousness, but in a perfectly righteous way.

HARRY IRONSIDE

January 8

GOD’S PURPOSE

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.

PSALM 32:8

THERE ARE THREE POSSIBLE PLANNINGS for human life. We may be guided by our senses - We like this or do not like that. We may be guided by our own will and choice. But, best of all, we may be guided, as our Lord was, by constantly waiting for the indication of God's purpose. That indication is like a deep-toned bell ringing in our heart-depths, but finally corroborated by circumstances and certainly vindicated by results.

One Sunday morning, I was sitting on the porch of Mr. Moody's home, looking down on the Connecticut River. We were talking of the ways of God, and he recalled a sermon of Dr. Andrew Bonar on the words, repeated five times in Scripture, See that thou make all things according to the pattern shown thee on the Mount. Dr. Bonar described the tabernacle pattern as woven out of sunbeams; and Moses walked with God from one part to another of the ethereal structure, learning the specific reason for each. When, for instance, they viewed the altar of sacrifice, God explained that in process of time Calvary would bear the weight of the dying Savior; and, as they looked on the laver, God would explain that the soul, redeemed by the blood of Christ, would always need cleansing. So also the significance of the altar of incense, the veil, the ark, and the mercy-seat. When presently Moses returned to the people, he discovered that for everything that had been revealed in the vision there was exact and adequate provision in the gifts of the people.

This is a most helpful lesson. The first thing for any of us is not to run hither and thither, consulting people or soliciting their help, but to be perfectly assured that we are in the mind of the Lord and that He will supply all our need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

It must never be forgotten that none of those that live in God's purposes need ever be ashamed. His delays are not denials. (From of old), men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him. (Isaiah 64:4)

F. B. MEYER

January 9

TRUE HAPPINESS

. . .Your joy no man taketh from you.

JOHN 16:22

THAT THE WORLD IS GUILTY before God, is not only declared by Scripture, but is also to be seen by the present state of man with regard to happiness. It is obvious to any impartial observer that the human race is miserable, even amidst its mirth and dissipation. Men are seeking happiness (a proof that they do not have it) from the enjoyment of earthly things, according to their various tastes and appetites; but they find it not. From the highest to the lowest, there is that which mars their peace and enjoyment. The very things which the poor regard as evidences of the happiness of the rich, are but so many devices to drive away sorrow. If they would honestly express themselves, the millionaire in his mansion and the king on his throne would declare, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. True happiness is to be found in God alone.

In such a state of guilt and misery is placed the whole human race. It is indeed a melancholy truth, but one which is altogether incontestable. Instead, then, of disputing the Divine testimony, let us inquire from the same authority, whether there be any way of escape. Is the fate of fallen men as hopeless as that of fallen angels? No, blessed be God, it is not. The same Word of Truth which tells of man's ruin, announces the Divine remedy; the same Book which describes human guilt and wretchedness, tells of a way of deliverance therefrom. The One, who, in the exercise of His high sovereignty, reserved the sinning angels in everlasting chains of darkness unto the judgment of the great day, has, in His abounding mercy, provided salvation for undone sinners of Adam's race.

It was dawn at the feet cf Jesus,

O the happy, happy day!

That my soul found peace in believing,

And my sins were washed away.

A. W. PINK

January 10

FOR HIS JOY

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.

JOHN 15:8

WHAT A LONG TIME IT takes us to come to the conviction, and still more to the realization, that without Christ we can do nothing, but that He must work all our works in us! This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. And no less must it be the work of God that we go on believing and that we go on trusting. Then, dear friends, who are longing to trust Him with unbroken and unwavering trust, cease the effort and drop the burden, and now entrust your trust to him! He is just as well able to keep that as any other part of the complex lives we want Him to take and keep for Himself.

And do not be content with the thought Yes, that is a good idea, perhaps I should find that a great help. But, now, then, do it. It is no help to the sailor to see a flash of light across a dark sea, if he does not instantly steer accordingly.

Consecration is not a religiously selfish thing. If it sinks to that, it ceases to be consecration. We want our lives kept, not that we may feel happy, and be saved the distress consequent on wandering, and get the power with God and man, and all the other privileges linked with it. We shall have all this, because the lower is included in the higher, but our true aim, if the love of Christ constrains us, will be far beyond this. Not of me at all, but for Jesus; not for my comfort, but for His joy; not that I may find rest but that He may see the travail of His soul and be satisfied!

Yes, for Him I want to be kept. Kept for His sake; kept for His use; kept to be His witness; kept for His joy! Kept for Him, that in me He may show forth some tiny sparkle of His light and beauty. By being kept in Him I shall be able to do His will and His work in His own way.

I take Thee, blessed Lord,

I give myself to Thee;

And Thou, according to Thy Word,

Dost undertake for me.

FRANCES R. HAVERGAL

January 11

OCCUPY TILL I COME

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

EPHESIANS 5:16

WHAT IS THE PRESENT DUTY of all Christ's professing disciples? When I speak of present duty, I mean, of course, their duty between the period of Christ's first and second advents. I find an answer in the words of the nobleman, in the parable, to his servants, He delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.

Few words are more searching and impressive than these four: Occupy till I come. They are spoken to all who profess and call themselves Christians. And they address everyone who has not formally turned his back on Christianity. They ought to stir up all hearers of the gospel to examine themselves whether they are in the faith and to prove themselves. For your sake, remember, these words were written: Occupy till I come.

The Lord Jesus bids you to occupy. By that He means you are to be a doer in your Christianity and not merely a hearer and professor. He wants His servants not only to receive His wages and to eat His bread and dwell in His house and belong to His family - but also to do His work. You are to let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works. Have you faith? It must not be a dead faith; it must work by love. Do you love Christ? Prove the reality of your love by keeping Christ's commandments.

Do not forget this charge to occupy. Beware of an idle, talking, gossiping, sentimental, do-nothing religion. Think not because your doings cannot justify you, or put away one single sin, that therefore it matters not whether you do anything at all. Away with such delusion! Cast it behind you as an invention of the devil. As ever you would make your calling and election sure, be a doing Christian.

J. C. RYLE

January 12

THE LIFE OF OBEDIENCE

. . . What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

MICAH 6:8

CHRIST REVEALED THE NEW LAW of love to be merciful as the Father in heaven, to forgive just as He does, to love enemies and to do good to them that hate us, and to live lives of self-sacrifice and beneficence. This was the religion Jesus taught on earth.

When we are provoked or ill-used, let us look upon an unforgiving spirit, upon unloving thoughts and sharp or unkind words, upon the neglect of the call to show mercy and do good and bless, all as so much disobedience. As such, our disobedience must be felt and mourned over and plucked out like a right eye; only then can the power of a full obedience be ours.

Christ spoke much of self-denial. Self is the root of all lack of love and obedience. Our Lord called each disciple to deny him - or herself and to take up the cross, forsake self and become the servant of all. Christ issued the call because self - self-will, self-pleasing, self-seeking - is simply the source of all sin.

When we indulge the flesh in such a simple thing as eating and drinking, when we gratify self by seeking or accepting or rejoicing in what indulges our pride, when self-will is allowed to assert itself and we make provision for the fulfillment of its desire, we are guilty of disobedience to His command. This gradually clouds the soul and makes the full enjoyment of His light and peace an impossibility.

Christ claimed for God the love of the whole heart. For Himself He equally claimed the sacrifices of all to come and follow Him. The Christian who has not definitely at heart made this his aim, who has not determined to seek for grace so to live, is guilty of disobedience. There may be much in his religion that appears good and earnest, but he cannot possibly have the joy consciousness of knowing that he is doing the will of his Lord, and keeping His commandments.

ANDREW MURRAY

January 13

THE MUST OF THE DECREASING SELF

. . .Walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

ROMANS 8:4

SOME OF US CAN NEVER forget the hymn composed by the late Pastor Theodore Monod of Paris in his first radiant vision of a life hidden in Christ with God:

All of Self and none of Thee!

Some of Self and some of Thee!

Less of Self and more of Thee!

None of Self and all of Thee!

Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We must receive more of the grace of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 7, the apostle Paul complains of being tied and bound by the self-life. He is like a caged bird, which beats its breast against the bars of its cage in vain aspirations for liberty. Then suddenly, in Romans 8, he changes his note and cries, There is now no more of this self-condemnation, for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk and live after the Spirit, because the law of the Spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, has made them free from the law of sin and death.

Let us stand together on the deck of an ocean-bound steamer and watch the flight of a seagull. There is, of course, the downward pull of gravitation; but, for every pull downwards, there is a stroke of the live bird's wing on the elastic air; and this more than compensates for the downward pull. That stroke, we know, is due to the spirit of life, which throbs in the bird's breast.

So, by the Holy Spirit, who indwells our spirit, there is given to each one of us the very life of our glorious Savior. The regularity, immediacy, and quality of the Christ-life are more than sufficient to counteract the downward pull of sin. At the first slight suggestion of sin, the Holy Spirt resists the self-life, so that we may not do the things that we otherwise would; nor shall we fall into those sins of will and thought and act, which were once natural to us. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us walk. (see Galatians 5:16-26). The Spirit will lust against the flesh and obtain absolute victory, which will fill our hearts with joy. Indeed, temptation may even promote a stronger character by making Jesus a more living reality.

F. B. MEYER

January 14

POWER RELIGION

Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.

ACTS 1:8

WE BOAST ABOUT OUR RELIGION that it is a religion, of power. We glory in the Cross of Christ towering o'er the wrecks of time. It is the marvelous power in Christ and in this Gospel that is our boast. We cannot boast of that too much; but there is a difference between what you read today in the Bible and its manifestation in your life. The world is concerned more about the power in your life than about what you say. They have a right to know and see the expression of that power in your life and mine. The Lord told His disciples Ye shall receive power. Are you living the powerless or paralyzed life? Is your life full of Divine energy? or is it a life where the paramount thing is weakness? Here is what the Word of God says, and here is how I live: Do they correspond? Is my life a life of power or of paralysis? Am I being wheeled around like a paralytic invalid? or am I a mighty man helping on the work of Christ in the strength of God? Is the life full of Divine energy or of human weakness? is it a life of failure or of victory? Are you triumphing in Christ, or are the devil and the world triumphing over you?

Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,

With all Thy quickening powers;

Kindle a flame of sacred love

In these cold hearts of ours.

W. P. NICHOLSON

January 15

THE VERACITY OF GOD

God is not a man, that he should lie.

NUMBERS 23:19

IN THE PAST ETERNITY THE Father made definite promises to the Mediator. From these we may cite the following: I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison (Is. 42:6,7). In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel (namely the Israel of God Gal. 6:16) be justified, and shall glory (Isa. 45:25). "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and