Leaves of Life
Welcome to Leaves of Life, a free devotional from Crosswalk, the world's largest Christian website.
OCTOBER TWENTY-SEVENTH
James Cook born 1728.
Nicolo Paganini born 1782.
Theodore Roosevelt , New York , twenty-fifth President United States , born 1858.
The vice of envy is not only a dangerous, but a mean vice; for it is always a confession of inferiority. It may promote conduct which will be fruitful of wrong to others, and it must cause misery to the man who feels it.
--Theodore Roosevelt.
Of all the passions, jealousy is that which exacts the hardest service, and pays the bitterest wages. Its service is to watch the success of one's enemy; its wages to be sure of it.
--C. C. Colton.
Dear to me is the friend, yet I can also make use of an enemy. The friend shows me what I can do, the foe teaches me what I should.
--Schiller.
Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another.
--Galatians 5. 26.
Almighty God, I would ask thee that my days be filled with aspiration, and that my heart may know no envy. Help me to love humanity. May I be so glad of the success of others that I may never know what it is to be envious. Amen.
Leaves of Life,
OCTOBER TWENTY-EIGHTH
Desiderius Erasmus born 1465.
John Locke died 1704.
Georges Jacques Danton born 1759.
Not so in haste, my heart!
Have faith in God and wait;
Although he linger long,
He never comes too late.
Until he cometh, rest,
Nor grudge the hours that roll;
The feet that wait for God
Are soonest at the goal;
Are soonest at the goal
That is not gained by speed;
Then hold thee still, my heart,
For I shall wait his lead.
--Bayard Taylor.
It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Jehovah.
--Lamentations 3. 26.
Lord of life, may I pause to remember that rest may not be obtained with wretched thoughts, nor can it be enjoyed in discontent. In my moments of rest wilt thou show me how to relax, and with tranquillity may I gather hope for renewed ambition. Amen.
OCTOBER TWENTY-NINTH
Sir Walter Raleigh beheaded 1618.
James Boswell born 1740.
John Keats born 1795.
Thomas Bayard born 1828.
Thomas Edward Brown died 1897.
Rise, O my soul, with thy desires to heaven,
And with divinest contemplation use
Thy time where time's eternity is given,
And let vain thoughts no more thy thoughts abuse;
But down in darkness let them lie:
So live thy better, let thy worse thoughts die!
--Sir Walter Raleigh.
The great elements we know of are no mean comforters; the open sky sits upon our senses like a sapphire crown--the air is our robe of state, the Earth is our throne, and the Sea a mighty minstrel playing before it.
--John Keats.
Ah Lord Jehovah! behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by thine outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for thee.
--Jeremiah 32. 17.
Almighty God, I thank thee for the power that gives me the breath of life. May I be willing to be controlled by its guiding care. Amen.
OCTOBER THIRTIETH
Rev. John Whitaker died 1808.
John Adams, Massachusetts, second President United States, born 1735.
Adelaide Anne Procter born 1825.
And yet thou canst know,
And yet thou canst not see;
Wisdom and sight are slow
In poor humanity.
If thou couldst trust, poor soul,
In Him who rules the whole,
Thou wouldst find peace and rest;
Wisdom and right are well, but trust is best.
--Adelaide Anne Procter.
The heart to speak in vain essayed,
Nor could his purpose reach--
His will nor voice nor tongue obeyed,
His silence was his speech.
--John Quincy Adams.
But still believe that story wrong
Which ought not to be true.
--Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
Blessed is the man that maketh Jehovah his trust.
--Psalm 40. 4.
My Father, may I not be given to unkindly speech. Deliver me from a critical spirit; and may I not encourage mistrust, but cultivate the kindly considerations in which life abounds. Amen.
OCTOBER THIRTY-FIRST
All Hallow's Eve.
John Evelyn born 1620.
Christopher Anstey born 1724.
Ere, in the northern gale
The summer tresses of the trees are gone,
The woods of autumn, all around our vale,
Have put their glory on.
The mountains that unfold,
In their wide sweep, the colored landscape round,
Seem groups of giant kings, in purple and gold,
That guard the enchanted ground.
Ah! 'twere a lot too blessed
Forever in thy colored shades to stray;
Amid the kisses of the soft southwest
To rove and dream for aye;
And leave the vain low strife
That makes men mad; the tug for wealth and power,
The passions and the cares that wither life,
And waste its little hour.
--William Cullen Bryant.
Let the field exult, and all that is therein; Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy.
--Psalm 96. 12.
My Father, may I have an appreciation of the wonderful creations of the earth. Give me a discriminating eye, that I may know the precious things that thou art growing; and throughout my life may I love the beautiful, and choose that which will make my life worthy of growth. Amen.
NOVEMBER FIRST
Sir Matthew Hale born 1609.
William M. Chase born 1849.
Sir Robert Grant died 1892.
O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing his power and his love;
Our Shield and Defender, the ancient of days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.
Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.
--Robert Grant.
Ye shall walk in all the way which Jehovah your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
--Deuteronomy 5. 33.
Almighty God, help me to make my life refulgent while I have the abundance of summer, that I may not find the November of life bleak and barren. Help me to live in the realities of life, that I may gain energy and repose, to use for the lonesome and anxious hours. May I be watchful for the conditions that thwart life, and with patience wait for the awakening of truth. Amen.
NOVEMBER SECOND
Marie Antoinette born 1755.
Field-Marshal Radetzky born 1766.
James Knox Polk, North Carolina, eleventh President United States, born 1795.
Overmastering pain--the most deadly and tragical element in life--alas! pain has its own way with all of us; it breaks in, a rude visitant, upon the fairy garden where the child wanders in a dream, no less surely than it rules upon the field of battle, or sends the immortal war-god whimpering to his father; and innocence, no more than philosophy, can protect us from this sting.
--Robert Louis Stevenson.
My hopes retire; my wishes as before
Struggle to find their resting place in vain;
The ebbing sea thus beats against the shore;
The shore repels it; it returns again.
--W. S. Landor.
Yet Jehovah will command his loving-kindness in the day-time, And in the night his song shall be with me.
--Psalm 42. 8.
Loving Father, I bless thee for thy goodness and tender mercy which is over all. May I trust thy provision and love through all circumstances, and as I trust myself to thee may I have faith to believe that thou wilt give me strength for what I may have to endure, and believe that thou wilt care for me, as thou dost care for all. Amen.
NOVEMBER THIRD
Lucan born A. D. 39.
William Cullen Bryant born 1794.
Francis D. Millet born 1846.
John Watson (Ian Maclaren) born 1850.
Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie (John Oliver Hobbes) born 1867.
Whither, midst falling dew,
While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue
Thy solitary way!
Vainly the fowler's eye
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,
Thy figure floats along.
He who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright.
--William Cullen Bryant.
For Jehovah your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over.
--Joshua 4. 23.
Almighty God, help me to guard against gratification that leads to disappointment, that I may not miss the true way. I pray that thou wilt lift me in my weakness, and carry me over the rough and discouraging places, that I may be made strong in thy loving care, and be able to continue alone. Amen.
NOVEMBER FOURTH
Guido Reni born 1575.
James Montgomery born 1771.
Edmund Keane born 1787.
Ernest Howard Crosby born 1856.
Eugene Field died 1895.
Keep me, I pray, in wisdom's way,
That I may truths eternal seek;
I need protecting care to-day--
My purse is light, my flesh is weak.
--Eugene Field.
No one could tell me where my Soul might be,
I searched for God, but God eluded me.
I sought my brother out, and found all three.
--Ernest H. Crosby.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths.
--Proverbs 3. 6.
My Father, may I not face the going down of the sun to-day, looking at life, in a mirror that reflects my own privileges and prejudices, but may I see it as it is, known to those who are living to make it better. May the days to come prove my sincerity in wanting the truth that I might live by it, and help to do good with it. Amen.
NOVEMBER FIFTH
Hans Sachs born 1494.
Dr. John Brown born 1715.
Benjamin Butler born 1818.
The thing that goes the farthest
Toward making life worth while,
That costs the least, and does the most,
Is just a pleasant smile.
That smile that bubbles from a heart
That loves its fellow men
Will drive away the cloud of gloom
And coax the sun again.
--Anonymous.
One whom I knew intimately, and whose memory I revere, once in my hearing remarked that, "Unless we love people we cannot understand them." This was a new light to me.
--Christina G. Rossetti.
Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; So doth the sweetness of a man's friend that cometh of hearty counsel.
--Proverbs 27. 9.
Lord God, I pray that I may be worthy of my friends. May I not fear to go where I am called, and may I go cheerfully, even though the way be dark and lonesome. Amen.
NOVEMBER SIXTH & SEVENTH
James Gregory born 1638.
John Bright born 1811.
Sir George Williams died 1905.
Look full into thy spirit's self,
The world of mystery scan;
What if thy way to faith in God
Should lie through faith in man?
--John Bright.
Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of oneself and seeing and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another.
--Thomas Hughes.
Be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
--2 Corinthians 13. 11.
Lord God, I earnestly entreat thee to show me if I may be cramping the happiness in another's life by forcing in my selfishness and demands. May I understand that perfect gifts are those that come through loving sacrifice. Make me ashamed to ask for what I refuse or prefer not to give. Amen.
NOVEMBER EIGHTH
Edmund Halley born 1656.
John Milton died 1674.
Owen Meredith (Bulwer Edward Lytton) born 1831.
The morning drum-call on my eager ear
Thrills unforgotten yet! the morning dew
Lies yet undried along my field of noon.
But now I pause a while in what I do,
And count the bell, and tremble lest I hear
(My work untrimmed) the sunset gun too soon.
--Robert Louis Stevenson.
I fear
Life's many changes, not Death's changelessness.
So perfect is this moment's passing cheer,
I needs must tremble lest it pass to less.
Thus in fickle love of life I live,
Lest fickle life me of my love deprive.
--Owen Meredith.
And Jehovah said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore art thou thus fallen upon thy face?
Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow.
--Joshua 7. 10, 13.
Almighty God, help me in these fleeting days that I may not use my time to consider and hesitate, but be positive in my desires and pursue them. Grant that I may have the strength to hold each day precious, and live it more than consistently. Amen.
NOVEMBER NINTH
Mark Akenside born 1721.
William Sotheby born 1757.
Charles F. Thwing born 1853.
The victor's road is the easy way.
Straight it stretches and climbs to where
Fame is waiting with garlands gay
To wreathe the fighter who clambers there.
There's applause in plenty and gold's red gleam
For the man who plays on the winning team.
The loser travels a longer lane;
Level it leads to a lonely land.
There's little glory for him to gain
The voices mock him on either hand;
But the man who wins in the greater game
Is the man who, beaten, fights on the same.
--G. Rice.
The hero is not fed on sweets,
Daily his own heart he eats;
Chambers of the great are jails,
And head-winds right for royal sails.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
He thanked God, and took courage.
--Acts 28. 15.
O Lord, I pray that whether I may be successful in the sight of the world, or whether I may be successful in my own sacrifices, I may have the freedom of courage, and be master of my life. Amen.
NOVEMBER TENTH
Martin Luther born 1483.
William Hogarth born 1697.
Oliver Goldsmith born 1728.
Johann von Schiller born 1759.
Joaquin Miller born 1841.
Henry van Dyke born 1852.
As faith, so is God.
--Martin Luther.
Learn the luxury of doing good.
--Oliver Goldsmith.
Love is the ladder by which we climb up to the likeness of God.
--Johann von Schiller.
And who will walk a mile with me
Along life's weary way?
A friend whose heart has eyes to see
The stars shine out o'er the darkening lea,
And the quiet rest at the end of the day--
A friend who knows and dares to say,
The brave sweet words that cheer the way
Where he walks a mile with me.
--Henry van Dyke.
And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two.
--Matthew 5. 41.
My Father, may I not dwell in the appearances of life, where I may grow selfish; but live in the realities of simplicity. May I not only seek those who may return me pleasure, but may I find delight in brightening the walk of a weary friend. Amen.
NOVEMBER ELEVENTH
Alfred de Musset born 1810.
Thomas Bailey Aldrich born 1836.
Rev. Joshua Brookes died 1821.
I'll not confer with Sorrow
Till to-morrow,
But joy shall have her way
This very day.
--Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
Shall we have ears on the stretch for the footfalls of sorrow that never come, but be deaf to the whirr of the wings of happiness that fill all space?
--Maurice Maeterlinck.
This day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, punishment will overtake, us; now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household.
--2 Kings 7. 9.
Loving Father, I pray that thou wilt help me to overcome unhappiness. May I not let depression overpower me, but claim the promises of joy that are open to every life. May I be blest by my own cheerfulness and encourage others to possess it. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWELFTH
Saint Augustine died A. D. 354.
Richard Baxter born 1615.
Amelia Opie born 1769.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton born 1815.
Thomas Lord Fairfax died 1671.
In life it is difficult to say who do you the most mischief--enemies with the worst intentions or friends with the best.
--Edward Bulwer.
The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel.
--William Shakespeare.
Where persons who ought to esteem and love each other are kept asunder, as often happens, by some cause which three words of frank explanation would remove, they are fortunate if they possess an indiscreet friend who blurts out the whole truth.
--Thomas B. Macaulay.
Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
Who did eat of my bread,
Hath lifted up his heel against me.
--Psalm 41. 9.
Lord God, help me to consider more carefully what I offer to my friends; and may I not be critical of what I receive from my friends. May I not be a hindrance instead of a help to those who would have my companionship. Amen.
NOVEMBER THIRTEENTH
Sir John Moore born 1761.
Robert Louis Stevenson born 1850.
Sir John Forbes died 1861.
Little do we know our own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the True Success is to labor.
--Robert Louis Stevenson.
Whether thy work be fine or coarse, planting corn or writing epics, so only it be honest work, done to thine own approbation, it shall earn a reward to sense as well as to the thought.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Nature gives to labor; and to labor alone. In a very garden of Eden a man would starve but for human exertion.
--Henry George.
But let each man prove his own work, and then shall he have his glorying in regard of himself alone, and not of his neighbor.
--Galatians 6. 4.
My Father, make pure living clear to me, that I may not be deceived in my work; and may I not use my working hours searching for more suitable work, but may I be sure in what I am that I may feel secure in what I undertake to do. Amen.
NOVEMBER FOURTEENTH
Bishop Hoadley born 1676.
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel born 1805.
Robert Smythe Hichens born 1864.
Give us, O give us, the man who sings at his work! Be his occupation what it may, he is better than any of those who follow the same pursuit in silent sullenness.
--Thomas Carlyle.
What doctor possesses such curative resources as those latent in a single ray of hope? The mainspring of life is in the heart. Joy is the vital air of the soul, and grief is a kind of asthma complicated by atony.
--Amiel.
I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live:
I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
--Psalm 104. 33.
Loving Father, restore the spirit of gentleness and meekness if it may be withered within me, that I may be contented. May I make it a habit to be happy over my work and cheerful about my duties. May I never lose the view of the glory of thy kingdom. Amen.
NOVEMBER FIFTEENTH
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, born 1708.
William Cowper born 1731.
Sir William Herschel born 1738.
Johann Lavater born 1741.
Richard Henry Dana born 1787.
Ida Tarbell born 1857.
The parting sun sends out a glow
Across the placid bay,
Touching with glory all the show--
A breeze! Up helm! Away!
Careening to the wind, they reach,
With laugh and call, the shore.
They've left their footprints on the beach,
But them I hear no more.
--Richard Henry Dana.
Art little? Do thy little well:
And for thy comfort know
The great can do their greatest work
No better than just so.
--Goethe.
But be thou an ensample to them that believe, in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity.
--1 Timothy 4. 12.
Lord God, grant that if I may be complaining of what Providence has not sent me, I may not be neglecting what Providence has given me. May I not pause too long over what I have done, or over what I might have done, but may I be appreciative of what thou dost expect of me and endeavor to accomplish it. Amen.
NOVEMBER SIXTEENTH
Tiberius born B. C. 42.
Gustavus Adolphus killed 1632.
Francis Danby born 1793.
Judge not the workings of his brain
And of his heart thou canst not see;
What looks to thy dim eyes a stain
In God's pure light may only be
A scar, brought from some well-won field,
Where thou would'st only faint and yield.
And judge none lost; but wait and see,
With hopeful pity, not disdain;
The depth of the abyss may be
The measure of the height of pain
And love and glory that may raise
The soul to God in after days!
-- Adelaide A. Procter.
I am more afraid of deserving criticism, than of receiving it.
--William Gladstone.
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
--Matthew 7.1.
Lord Jehovah, judge of all mankind, forbid that I should set myself as a judge of another's life, and neglect to live for the higher judgment of my own. May I not be absorbed in that which thrives in darkness, but live in the light of honesty and gentleness. Amen.
NOVEMBER SEVENTEENTH
Queen Mary of England died 1558.
Joost van den Vondel born 1587.
George Grote born 1794.
There are evergreen men and women in the world, praise be to God!--not many of them, but a few. They are not the showy folk. (Nature is an old-fashioned shopkeeper; she never puts her best goods in the window.) They are only the quiet, strong folk; they are stronger than Fate. The storms of life sweep over them, and the biting frosts creep round them; but the winds and the frosts pass away, and they are still standing, green and straight.
--Jerome K. Jerome.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also doth not wither;
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
--Psalm 1.3.
Gracious Lord, may I not spend most in equipment and forget the tides, which may desert me on the sands, or the rocks in the channels, which may crush the finest vessel. May I be prepared for the hard knocks if they come, but may I know how to keep clear of them. Amen.
NOVEMBER EIGHTEENTH
Sir David Wilkie born 1785.
Louis J. M. Daguerre born 1789.
Cyrus Field born 1819.
William S. Gilbert born 1836.
If e'er when man had fallen asleep,
I heard a voice, "Believe no more,"
A warmth within the breast would melt
The freezing reason's colder part,
And like a man in wrath, the heart
Stood up and answered, "I have felt."
--Alfred Tennyson.
Faith is the deep want of the soul. We have faculties for the spiritual, as truly as for the outward world. God, the foundation of all existence, may become to the mind the most real of all beings. The believer feels himself resting on an everlasting foundation.
--William Henry Channing.
And they said one to another, Was not our heart burning within us, while he spake to us in the way, while he opened to us the scriptures?
--Luke 24. 32.
Lord God, save me from a hard and doubting heart. May I be trustful and come to thee in faith. All the days of my life may my lips sing thy praise as I unfold thy love and purposes. Amen.
NOVEMBER NINETEENTH
Nicolas Poussin died 1665.
Albert Thorwaldsen born 1770.
James A. Garfield, Ohio, twentieth President United States, born 1831.
Mary Hallock Foote born 1847.
Count Lyoff (Leo) Tolstoy died 1910.
And son I live, you see,
Go through the world, try, prove, reject,
Prefer, still struggling to effect
My warfare; happy that I can
Be crossed and thwarted as a man,
Not left in God's contempt apart,
With ghastly smooth life, dead at heart,
Tame in earth's paddock, as her prize.
--Robert Browning.
Be good at the depths of you, and you will discover that those who surround you will be good even to the same depths. Therein lies a force that has no name; a spiritual rivalry that has no resistance.
--Maurice Maeterlinck.
First of all, I must make myself a man; if I do not succeed in that, I can succeed in nothing.
--James A. Garfield.
That we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error.
--Ephesians 4. 14.
Eternal God, I thank thee for all the sterling elements that greaten the individual life. I pray that I may not desire to be kept a small creature, but seek to grow in wisdom and love, and qualify for mighty purposes and achievements. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTIETH
Paul Potter born 1625.
Thomas Chatterton born 1752.
William Ellery Channing born 1818.
Sir Wilfred Laurier born 1841.
Then why, my soul, dost thou complain?
Why drooping seek the dark recess?
Shake off the melancholy chain,
For God created all to bless.
The gloomy mantle of the night,
Which on my sinking spirits steals,
Will vanish at the morning light,
Which God, my East, my Sun, reveals.
--Thomas Chatterton.
Lady, there is a hope that all men have--
Some mercy for their faults, a grassy place
To rest in, and a flower-strewn, gentle grave:
Another hope which purifies our race,
That when that fearful bourne forever past,
They may find rest--and rest so long to last.
I seek it not, I ask no rest forever,
My path is onward to the farthest shores.
--William Ellery Channing.
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay;
And he set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
And he put a new song in my mouth.
--Psalm 40. 2, 3.
My Father, I pray that I may have patience to live through the difficulties of life. May I correct my faults, that they may not destroy my peace and take from me my strength; help me to center my life in brightness and hope. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTY-FIRST
Claude Lorraine died 1682.
Bryan Waller Procter (Barry Cornwall) born 1787.
Mary Johnston born 1870.
There is not a creature from England 's king
To the peasant that delves the soil,
Who knows half the pleasures the seasons bring
If he had not his share of toil.
--Barry Cornwall.
It may be proved, with much certainty, that God intends no man to live in this world without working; but it seems to me no less evident that he intends every man to be happy in his work. Now, in order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: they must be fit for it; and they must not do too much of it; and they must have a sense of success in it.
--John Ruskin.
Let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.
--Ephesians 4. 28.
My Father, if my work seems hard to-day, may I not cease working if I grow weary, but may my strength be renewed to continue my work. May the aim of my work be to please thee, and to help in the progress of humanity. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTY-SECOND
Saint Cecilia martyred A. D. 230.
Sir Henry Havelock died 1857.
Justin M'Carthy born 1830.
Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,
My garden makes a desert spot,
Sometimes a blight upon the tree
Takes all my fruit away from me;
And then with throes of bitter pain
Rebellious passions rise and swell;
And so I sing and all is well.
--Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like benediction
That follows after prayer.
--Henry W. Longfellow.
Songs consecrate to truth and liberty.
--Percy Bysshe Shelley.
David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
--1 Samuel 16. 23.
Almighty God, I thank thee that thou wilt come to me as my heart cries for need. I bless thee that thou dost come to me as my lips sing thy praise. I pray that I may be saved from a cruel and cheerless heart, and be a sharer of the songs that are sung to the soul. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTY-THIRD
Thomas Tallis died 1585.
Franklin Pierce , New Hampshire , fourteenth President United States, born 1804.
Marie Bashkirtseff born 1860.
Asleep, awake, by night or day,
The friends I seek are seeking me;
No word can drive my bark astray,
Nor change the tide of destiny.
The stars come nightly to the sky,
The tidal wave unto the sea;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
Can keep my own away from me.
--John Burroughs.
If a man could make a single rose we would give him an empire; yet flowers no less beautiful are scattered in profusion over the world, and no one regards them.
--Martin Luther.
Let patience have its perfect work.
--James 1. 4.
My Creator, may I remember that after thou didst create the earth thou didst say it was good. May I love the fragrance and beauty of the flowers which were made to nourish the soul, and the fruits and herbs which were made to nourish the body. May my song of thanksgiving be new every morning, as I awake in the abundance of what thou hast prepared. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH
John Knox died 1572.
Baron Spinoza born 1632.
Grace Darling born 1815.
Frances Hodgson Burnett born 1849.
I waited long until the sky
Should give me of its blue
To weave and wear, and share, and weave
The very stars into.
The days they went, the years they went,
And left my hands instead
Another thing for wonderment,
The mending and the bread.
Ah me, and one must set a hand
To burnish up the task,
And hush and hush the old demand
A wakeful heart will ask.
But with a star's clear eye on me,
O, I can hear it said,
"What souls there be that only see
The mending and the bread!"
--Josephine P. Peabody.
The riches of a commonwealth
Are free, strong minds and hearts of health.
And more to her than gold or grain,
The cunning hand and cultured brain.
--John G. Whittier.
For the life is more than the food, and the body than the raiment.
--Luke 12. 23.
My Father, I pray that thou wilt help me, that I may not consume my life in preparing clothes and food for my body. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH
Charles Kemble born 1775.
John Bigelow born 1817.
Paul Haupt born 1858.
John Kitto died 1854.
I will not kill or hurt any living creature needlessly, nor destroy any beautiful thing, but will strive to save and comfort all gentle life and guard and perfect all natural beauty on earth. I will strive to raise my own body and soul daily into all the higher powers of duty and-happiness, not in rivalship or contention with others, but for help, delight, and honor of others and for the joy and peace of my own life.
--John Ruskin.
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.
--Isaiah 11. 9.
Lord God, I rejoice in the blessedness of peace. May I not try to force peace where cruelty has entered, but keep a watch for what may come into my life. I pray that if I may be in turbulence to-day, thou wilt quiet me with thy peace which knows no fear or wrong. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH
Sir William Ware born 1594.
John Elwes died 1789.
John Loudoun Macadam died 1836.
I'd like a way
To change the clouds that bring us sorrow,
And build to-day a bright to-morrow;
To banish cares that tarry long,
And have the days like the blue-bird's song--
I'd like a way.
I'll find a way--
I'll set sail when the breeze is high,
And calmly drift when pleasure's nigh;
I'll steer a course afar from tears,
And take in joy the coming years--
I'll find a way.
I've lost the way!
Out through the gloom a beam of light
Looks like a purpose looming bright!
Up with the sail! I'll out to sea
And bring that purpose back with me,
Or go its way.
--M. B. S.
Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: He is gracious, and merciful, and righteous.
--Psalm 112. 4.
My Father, I pray that I may not through indifference wander without a purpose, or through discouragement stumble through the darkness. May I be drawn to the light by the vision of hopeful and useful days. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH
Horace died B. C. 8.
Marquise d'Aubigné Maintenon born 16324.
General Artemus Ward born 1727.
Fanny Kemble born 1809.
Alexandra Dumas died 1895.
Be this thy brazen bulwark of defense, to preserve a conscience void of offense, and never turn pale with guilt.
--Horace.
Is life a noxious weed which whirlwinds sow?
A useless flint o'er which the waters flow?
Not so!
A life well spent has not its weight in gold;
It is the clearest crystal earth doth hold,
A gem beside which suns seem dull and cold.
--Robert Louis Stevenson.
That they may lay hold on the life which is life indeed.
--1 Timothy 6. 19.
Lord God, I pray that my life may not be impoverished by neglect, nor burdened with indulgences, but that it may be kept in condition for high endeavors. Grant that I may never be content to rest in satisfaction and ease when I could struggle and accomplish a good work. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH
William Blake born 1757.
Anton G. Rubinstein born 1829
Washington Irving died 1859.
The sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced. Every other wound we seek to heal, every other affliction to forget. Take warning by the bitterness of this thy contrite affliction over the dead, and henceforth be more faithful and affectionate in the discharge of thy duties to the living.
-- Washington Irving .
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine;
Every grief and pine
Runs a joy with a silken twine.
--William Blake.
Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
--John 16. 20.
Heavenly Father, grant that I may not lose the kindness that I may give and receive to-day. I thank thee for the memories of yesterday, the hope of to-morrow, and the wisdom of to-day. May I have a vision of immortality that will keep me through the closest sorrow. Amen.
NOVEMBER TWENTY-NINTH
Sir Philip Sidney born 1554.
A. Bronson Alcott born 1799.
Wendell Phillips born 1811.
Louisa M. Alcott born 1832.
Truth is sensitive and jealous of the least encroachment of its sacredness.
--A. Bronson Alcott.
Faith that withstood the shocks of toil and time,
Hope that defied despair,
Patience that conquered care,
And loyalty whose courage was sublime;
Teaching us how to seek the highest goal,
To earn the true success;
To live to love, to bless,
And make death proud to take a royal soul.
--Louisa M. Alcott.
Nor is it
Wiser to weep a true occasion lost,
But trim our sails, and let old bygones be.
--Alfred Tennyson.
In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before times eternal.
--Titus 1. 2.
Heavenly Father, I pray that I may live in truth; and without fear of life or death live content in the faith of eternal life. Amen.
NOVEMBER THIRTIETH
Peregrine White born New England 1620.
Jonathan Swift born 1687.
Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain) born 1835.
Winston Churchill born 1874.
He gave it for his opinion that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.
--Jonathan Swift.
That man may last, but never lives,
Who much receives, but nothing gives;
Whom none can love, whom none can thank,--
Creation's blot, creation's blank.
--Thomas Gibbons.
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. For with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again.
--Luke 6. 38.
My Father, preserve my soul from all selfishness. May I delight in thy teaching as I trust in thy word. I pray that I may not only speak truthfully, but that I may leave the door of my spirit open, that truth may always enter and abide continually. Amen.
DECEMBER FIRST
Dr. George Birkbeck died 1841.
Queen Alexandra born 1844.
R. W. Dale born 1829.
Ebenezer Elliott died 1849.
We would fill the hours with the sweetest things,
If we had but a day:
We should drink alone at the purest springs,
In our upward way:
We should guide our wayward or wearied will,
By the clearest light:
We should keep our eyes on the heavenly hills,
If they lay in sight:
We should be from our clamorous selves set free,
To work and pray:
And be what the Father would have us to be,
If we had but a day.
--Margaret E. Sangster.
Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
--Philippians 4. 8.
Gracious Father, help me to understand that my life grows out of what I put into my days. Forgive me for the unspoken words and the kind deeds which I kept for rare days, and had so few occasions to use. May I be as useful in kindness as I am in work, remembering that to thee every day is a golden day. Amen.
DECEMBER SECOND
David Masson born 1822.
John Brown hanged, Charlestown , West Virginia 1859.
Hugh Miller died 1856.
The solitude of life is known to us all; for the most part we are alone, and the voices of friends come only faint and broken across the impassable gulfs which surround every human soul.
-- Hamilton Mabie.
To have an ideal or to have none, to have this ideal or that--this is what digs gulfs between men, even between those who live in the same family circle, under the same roof, or in the same room. You must love with the same love, think with the same thoughts as some one else if you are to escape solitude.
--Amiel.
The plans of the heart belong to man;
But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.
--Proverbs 16. 1.
Lord God, help me to take in the glory of life, that my spirit may never be lonely, even though I may have to be much alone. I pray that thou wilt spare me the loneliness and the solitude that may be brought on by selfishness. Make me considerate of others. May I soar above the disappointments and losses that may come to me, and stay where I may have thy companionship. Amen.
DECEMBER THIRD
Samuel Crompton born 1753.
Sir Frederick Leighton born 1830.
Robert Louis Stevenson died 1894.
To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying "Amen" to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.
--Robert Louis Stevenson.
There is precious instruction to be got by finding we were wrong. Let a man try faithfully, manfully to be right. He will grow daily more and more right.
--Thomas Carlyle.
The hero is the man who is immovably centered.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water.
--Hebrews 10. 22.
Gracious Father, grant that I may not be content to follow through ignorance and indolence and be led to the lowly paths of life. Make my Hie positive; and from my surroundings may I look out and struggle to mount to the highest ideals, that I may be qualified to select the best in life. Amen.
DECEMBER FOURTH
Cardinal Richelieu died 1642.
William Drummond died 1649.
Madame Recamier born 1777.
Thomas Carlyle born 1795.
John Kitto born 1804.
It is with a man's soul as it is with nature: the beginning of Creation is--Light. Till the eye have visions the whole members are in bonds. Divine moment, when over the tempest-tost Soul, as once over the wild-weltering Chaos, it is spoken: Let there be Light!
--Thomas Carlyle.
What in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the light of this great argument
I may assert eternal Providence
And justify the ways of God to men.
--John Milton.
For thou art my lamp, O Jehovah; And Jehovah will lighten my darkness.
--2 Samuel 22. 29.
My Lord, forgive me if I have allowed bitterness and misery to darken my life, for my soul yearns continually for the light. In thy compassion lead me to the "sunny side of the road where the beautiful flowers grow," that my path may be made bright and cheerful all the rest of the way. Amen.
DECEMBER FIFTH
Martin Van Buren , New York , eighth President United States, born 1782.
Christina G. Rossetti born 1830.
Alice Brown born 1857.
A cold wind stirs the blackthorn
To burgeon and to blow,
Besprinkling half-green hedges
With flakes and sprays of snow.
Through coldness and through keenness,
Dear hearts take comfort so:
Somewhere or other doubtless
These make the blackthorn blow.
--Christina G. Rossetti.
There are some men and women in whose company we are always at our best. All the best stops in our nature are drawn out by their intercourse, and we find a music in our souls never there before.
--Henry Drummond.
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.
--Hebrews 10. 24.
My Father, I thank thee for life. Make me sensitive to the unseen influences that bring thy messages. May I be led where great riches may be found through small kindnesses, and where I may learn from the meek the beauty of earth. Amen.
DECEMBER SIXTH
General George Monk born 1608.
Warren Hastings born 1732.
Dr. Richard Barham born 1786.
That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it:
This high man, with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,
His hundred's soon hit:
This high man, aiming at a million,
Misses an unit.
That, has the world here--should he need the next,
Let the world mind him!
This, throws himself on God, and unperplexed
Seeking shall find him.
--Robert Browning.
Hitch your wagon to a star.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Jehovah, will I seek.
--Psalm 27. 8.
Almighty God, show me what thou hast given for me to do, that I may not leave undone that which is mine. Forgive me for useless planning and blind asking for the things which cannot be mine. I pray that my work may be honest work, well done, and acceptable for thy service. Amen.
DECEMBER SEVENTH
Cicero assassinated B. C. 43.
John Dalton born 1766.
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, born 1542.
It is virtue--yes, let me repeat it again--it is virtue alone that can give birth, strength, and permanency to friendship. For virtue is a uniform and steady principle ever acting consistently with itself.
-- Cicero .
A common friendship--who talks of a common friendship? There is no such thing in the world. On earth no word is more sublime.
--Henry Drummond.
But thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need.
--Deuteronomy 15. 8.
Lord God, wilt thou reveal to me my weakness if I may be insincere; and give me the strength that I lack to keep me true. May I not take advantage of the ignorant, or thoughtlessly lead the innocent into temptation. Grant that I may be a trustful and kind friend. Amen.
DECEMBER EIGHTH
John Pym died 1643.
Richard Baxter died 1691.
Thomas De Quincey died 1859.
Elihu Burritt born 1810.
Robert Collyer born 1823.
Into the dusk of the East,
Gray with the coming of night,
This may we know at least--
After the night comes light!
Over the mariners' graves,
Grim in the depths below,
Buoyantly breasting the waves,
Into the East we go.
On to a distant strand,
Wonderful, far, unseen,
On to a stranger land,
Skimming the seas between;
On through the days and nights,
Hope in each sailor's breast,
On till the harbor lights
Flash on the shores of rest!
--J. H. Jowett.
So he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
--Psalm 107. 30.
Lord God, I pray that thou wilt provide me with thy indwelling peace. May it keep me reconciled to the decline of years, and enable me to bear the earthly separation from those whom I love. May I always have hope and trust in thee. Amen.
DECEMBER NINTH
John Milton born 1608.
Sir Anthony Van Dyck died 1641.
Joel Chandler Harris born 1848.
Doth God exact day labor, light denied?
I fondly ask: but Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
Either man's work, or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best; his state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait."
--John Milton.
"'Tain't on'y chilluns w'at got de consate er doin' eve'ything dey see yuther folks do. Hit's grown folks w'at oughter know better," said Uncle Remus.
--Joel Chandler Harris.
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe.
--Hebrews 12. 28.
My Father, teach me to select my work from that which is noble and true. May I not mold my life in affectation or feel that I must imitate the lives of others, but grant that I may perfect my life through experiences which are worthy of increasing endeavors. Amen.
DECEMBER TENTH
Thomas Holcroft born 1745.
Dr. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet born 1787.
Eugene Sue born 1804.
Be of good cheer. Do not think of to-day's failures, but of success that may come to-morrow. You have set yourselves a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will have a joy in overcoming obstacles--a delight in climbing rugged paths which you would perhaps never know if you did not sometimes slip backward, if the road were always smooth and pleasant. Remember, no effort that we make to attain something beautiful is ever lost.
--Helen Keller.
We rise by things that are beneath our feet,
By what we have mastered by good and gain,
By the pride deposed and passion slain,
And the vanquished ills that we hourly meet.
--J. G. Holland.
He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with, me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.
--Revelation 3. 21.
My Father, I pray that I may not be given to contradicting and doubting, nor take for granted that which needs to be considered. Grant that I may have the faith and strength of heart to fulfill the longings of my soul. Amen.
DECEMBER ELEVENTH
Sir Roger L'Estrange died 1704.
Dr. William Cullen born 1712.
Colley Cibber died 1757.
Lord, subdue our selfish will;
Each to each our tempers suit,
By thy modulating skill,
Heart to heart, as lute to lute.
--Charles Wesley.
One of the last, slowly murmured sayings of Whittier , was this: "Give--my--love--to--the--world." And this is the world's supreme need to-day; more than our eloquence, or our knowledge, or our wealth, or all else besides, it needs our love. True, even love may sometimes err; but the cure for love's mistakes is just more love; we often blunder because we do not love enough. God help us all that, like Whittier , we may live and die, giving our love to the world.
--George Jackson.
Love never faileth.
--1 Corinthians 13. 8.
Lord God, help me to see the beauty of the world, and through my duty may I find the love in the world. May I not spend my life in discontent, but may I remember that thou hast said, "The meek shall inherit the earth." Fill my heart with compassion, that I may love my fellow man as I love myself. Amen.
Lord God, help me to see the beauty of the world, and through my duty may I find the love in the world. May I not spend my life in discontent, but may I remember that thou hast said, "The meek shall inherit the earth." Fill my heart with compassion, that I may love my fellow man as I love myself. Amen.
Judy, keep telling me this, some days I think I am losing faith.
Frank
DECEMBER TWELFTH
Chief Justice John Jay born 1745.
Gustav Flaubert born 1821.
Robert Browning died 1889.
A people is but the attempt of many
To rise to the completer life of one.
And those who live for models for the mass
Are singly of more value than they all.
--Robert Browning.
Give me the power to labor for mankind;
Make me the mouth of such as cannot speak;
Eyes let me be to groping men and blind;
A conscience to the base; and to the weak
Let me be hands and feet, and to the foolish, mind;
And lead still further on such as thy kingdom seek.
--Theodore Parker.
I was eyes to the blind,
And feet was I to the lame.
--Job 29. 15.
Almighty God, wilt thou guide me in the direction where I may choose a useful life; open wide my heart as well as my eyes, that I may early see my work and be diligent in its prosecution. Reveal to me, when I may have failed, that I may do better to-morrow. Amen.
DECEMBER THIRTEENTH
William Drummond born 1585.
Dr. Samuel Johnson died 1784.
Joseph Noel Paton born 1821.
Phillips Brooks born 1835.
Hamilton Mabie born 1846.
When the clouds of sorrow gather over us, we see nothing beyond them, nor can imagine how they can be dispelled; yet a new day succeeded to the night, and sorrow is never long without a dawn of ease.
--Dr. Samuel Johnson.
The fountains of joy and sorrow are for the most part locked up in ourselves....
DECEMBER FOURTEENTH
Daniel Neal born 1678.
Rev. Charles Wolfe born 1791.
George Washington died 1799.
Frances Ridley Havergal born 1836.
Seldom can the heart be lonely,
If it seek a lonelier still;
Self-forgetting, seeking only
Emptier cups of love to fill.
--Frances R. Havergal.
When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought.
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste
* * * * *
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored, and sorrows end.
--William Shakespeare.
The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of them that are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him that is weary.
--Isaiah 50. 4.
Gracious Father, keep me cheerful and courageous, that I may not be given to weary murmurings. May my hours of solitude be spent profitably as they pass. Grant that I may be a help to those who are in need of sympathy and encouragement, and through the peace that is given to me help them to a tranquil life. Amen.
DECEMBER FIFTEENTH
Catherine of Aragon born 1485.
George Romney born 1734.
Franklin B. Sanborn born 1831.
Yet frequent visitors shall kiss the shrine,
And ever keep its vestal lamp alight;
All noble thoughts, all dreams divinely bright,
That waken or delight this soul of mine.
--F. B. Sanborn.
One small cloud can hide the sunlight;
Loose one string, the pearls are scattered;
Think one thought, a soul may perish;
Say one word, a heart may break.
--A. A. Procter.
Self-scrutiny is often the most unpleasant, and always the most difficult, of moral actions. But it is also the most important and salutary; for, as the wisest of the Greeks said, "An unexamined life is not worth living."
--J. Strachan.
Try your own selves, whether ye are in the faith; prove your own selves.
--2 Corinthians 13. 5.
Gracious Father, help me that I may not be thoughtless and unkind. May I be gentle and sympathetic. Forgive me for any unhappiness which I may have made, and may it be mine to know the rejoicing that comes hi lifting a discouraged life in time. Amen.
DECEMBER SIXTEENTH
John Selden born 1584.
François La Rochefoucauld born 1610.
George Whitefield born 1714.
Jane Austen born 1775.
So live that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan that moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.
--William Cullen Bryant.
As the wind extinguishes a taper but kindles the fire, so absence is the death of an ordinary passion, but lends strength to the greater.
--La Rochefoucauld.
If a man die, shall he live again?
--Job 14. 14.
Heavenly Father, with thy help may I enter into the hope that overcomes the fear of death. May my days be full of aspiration, and through faith may my life move toward the eternal and the sublime. Amen.
DECEMBER SEVENTEENTH
Sir Roger L'Estrange born 1616.
Ludwig van Beethoven born 1770.
Sir Humphry Davy born 1779.
John Greenleaf Whittier born 1807.
The night is mother of the day,
The winter of the spring;
And ever upon old decay
The greenest mosses cling.
Behind the cloud the starlight lurks,
Through showers the sunbeams fall;
For God, who loveth all his works,
Has left his hope with all.
--John Greenleaf Whittier.
The sun set; but not his hope:
Stars rose; his faith was earlier up.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
What I am I have made myself.
--Sir Humphry Davy.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
My flesh also shall dwell in safety.
--Psalm 16. 9.
My Father, may I never be content to pass by thy beautiful offerings and keep on in wretched despair. Save me if I may 'be inclining toward misery. Give me the spirit of repose, and help me to confide in thee as I daily seek the strength of thy love. Amen.
DECEMBER EIGHTEENTH
Charles Wesley born 1708.
Lyman Abbott born 1835.
Samuel Rogers died 1855.
Sir Joseph John Thomson born 1845.
And let this feeble body fail,
And let it faint or die;
My soul shall quit this mournful vale,
And soar to worlds on high.
--Charles Wesley.
It were better to live an immortal life and be robbed of immortality hereafter by some supernal power, than to live the mortal, fleshly animal life, and live it endlessly. Who would not rather have a right to immortality than to be immortal without a right to be?
--Lyman Abbott.
So when a great man dies,
For years beyond our ken,
The light he leaves behind him lies
Upon the paths of men.
--Henry W. Longfellow.
But he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.
--Galatians 6. 8.
My Father, I pray that I may be spared the deprivations that may come from years spent in selfishness. Help me to realize before it is too late how little self can hold and how much remorse may accumulate. Help me to aspire to ideals that compel me to live an immortal life. Amen.
DECEMBER NINETEENTH
Gustavus Adolphus born 1594.
Horatio Bonar born 1808.
F. Delsarte born 1811.
Mary A. Livermore born 1820.
J. M. W. Turner died 1851.
If a man is to be a pillar in the temple of his God by and by, he must be some kind of a prop in God's house to-day. We are here to support, not to be supported. No one can be a living stone on the foundations of the Spiritual House which is God's habitation without being a foundation to the stones above him.
--Maltbie Babcock.
Since trifles make the sum of human things,
And half our misery from our foibles springs;
Since life's best joys consist in peace and ease,
O let th' ungentle spirit learn from hence,
A small unkindness is a great offense.
--Hannah More.
He that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more.
--Revelation 3. 12.
My Father, grant that I may not deceive myself and expect big results from little efforts; nor be willing to receive assistance and refuse my support. May I not only be anxious to give others all that I can, and share their burdens, but may I be glad to help make fewer burdens for others to bear. Amen.
DECEMBER TWENTIETH
Louis the Dauphin died 1765.
John Wilson Croker born 1780.
Cyrus Townsend Brady born 1861.
Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken.
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
--William Shakespeare.
I will not doubt the love untold
Which not my worth nor want hath bought,
Which wooed me young and wooes me old,
And to this evening hath me brought.
--Henry David Thoreau.
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
--Jeremiah 81. 3.
Loving Father, teach me the secret of constancy, that none may ever be disappointed in me. May I not reckon what I give on recompense, but have the spirit of giving which has no measure for what it may receive in return. May I not be forgetful of thy love which will hold me to deeper reverence and devotion. Amen.
DECEMBER TWENTY-SECOND
Franz Abt born 1819.
Thomas W. Higginson born 1823.
George Eliot died 1880.
Love and Pain
Make their own measure of all things that be.
No clock's slow ticking marks their deathless strain;
The life they own is not the life we see;
Love's single moment is eternity.
--Thomas W. Higginson.
Life is made stronger
Giving, receiving;
Love is made longer
Hoping, believing.
Life is made sweeter,
Truly worth living;
Love is completer,
Trusting, forgiving.
--M. B. S.
In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another.
--Romans 12. 10.
Loving Father, I thank thee that every morn breaks in a new day without the sadness of yesterday or the gladness of to-morrow. I pray that I may not lose the love and joy that it brings to-day. Amen.
DECEMBER TWENTY-THIRD
Michael Drayton died 1631.
Robert Barclay born 1648.
James Sargent Storer died 1854.
When heaven endows you with all gifts, you are an incomplete being if you stay still in your corner instead of taking advantage of your real value.
--Marie Bashkirtseff.
Life, which ought to be a thing complete in itself, and ought to be spent partly in gathering materials, and partly in drawing inferences, is apt to be a hurried accumulation lasting to the edge of the tomb. We are put into the world, I cannot help feeling, to be rather than do.
--Arthur C. Benson.
Jehovah is the strength of my life.
--Psalm 27. 1.
Heavenly Father, I pray that thou wilt reverse my standards of life if I may be striving only for selfish gain. May I care for all that I could be, and may I care for where I should be found, but, most of all, may I care for what I really am. Help me to keep my mind on thee that I may find delight in doing thy will. Amen.
DECEMBER TWENTY-FOURTH
George Crabbe born 1754.
Kit Carson born 1809.
Matthew Arnold born 1822.
John Morley born 1838.
William Makepeace Thackeray died 1863.
+
Ah, friend, let us be true
To one another! For the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain,
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
--Matthew Arnold.
We take care of our health, we lay up money, we make our roof tight and our clothing sufficient, but who provides wisely that we shall not be wanting in the best property of all--friends?
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
--Proverbs 27. 6.
Gracious Lord, fill my life with the spirit of love and sacrifice. I bless thee for the deep fellowships and tender intimacies; and on the eve of this Christmas ask thy blessing for all, as my heart rings with joy for those whom I love. Amen.
DECEMBER TWENTY-FIFTH
Christmas Day.
Sir Isaac Newton born 1642.
William Collins born 1721.
Father Taylor born 1794.
This is the month, and this is the happy morn,
Wherein the Son of heaven's eternal King,
Of wedded maid, and virgin mother born,
Our great redemption from above did bring.
--John Milton.
Christmas is here;
Winds whistle shrill,
Icy and chill,
Little care we;
Little we fear
Weather without,
Shelter'd about
The Mahogany tree.
--William M. Thackeray.
And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
--Luke 2. 10, 11.
Almighty God, I give honor and praise to express my joy for thy great love in the gift of thy Son, Jesus Christ. With a glad heart I wish all mankind "A merry Christmas," and may I ever remember, where the angels sang, "Peace on earth, good will toward men." Amen.
DECEMBER TWENTY-SIXTH
Thomas Gray born 1716.
Mrs. Southworth born 1818.
Stephen Girard died 1831.
Let not ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor.
Nor you, ye proud, impute to those the fault,
If memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where, through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
--Thomas Gray.
Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty;
Neither do I exercise myself in great matters,
Or in things too wonderful for me.
--Psalm 131. 1.
Gracious Father, give me the courage to live my life, and the endurance to overcome the disappointments that may come to me. May I not be neglectful of the great opportunities of which I am privileged to take advantage. May I not be pretentious of what I have not done, or boastful of what I am, but with my best ability live in truth. Amen.
DECEMBER TWENTY-SEVENTH
Jacques Bernoulli born 1654.
Johann Kepler born 1571.
Charles Lamb died 1834.
There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better or worse, as his portion; that, though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given him to till.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Knowing ourselves, our world, our task so great,
Our time so brief, 'tis clear if we refuse
The means so limited, the tools so rude
To execute our purpose, life will fleet,
And we shall fade, and leave our task undone.
--Robert Browning.
Study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands.
--1 Thessalonians 4. 11.
Lord God of life, give me the desire to learn, and the wisdom to live in my best. May I not fail to culture my mind and heart and make life productive and worthy. Help me to see the mistakes that I have made in the past, and in the year that is approaching not only try to avoid them, but try to make amends for them. Amen.
DECEMBER TWENTY-EIGHTH
Catherine M. Sedgwick born 1789.
Woodrow Wilson , Virginia , twenty-seventh President United States , born 1856.
Thomas B. Macaulay died 1859.
The government might be serviceable for many things. It might assist in a hundred ways to safeguard the lives and the health and promote the comfort and happiness of the people; but it can do these things only if they respond to public opinion, only if those who lead government see the country as a whole, feel a deep thrill of intimate sympathy with every class and every interest in it.
--Woodrow Wilson.
The hearts of men are their books; events are their tutors; great actions are their eloquence.
--Thomas B. Macaulay.
Be of good courage, and let us play the man for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Jehovah do that which seemeth him good.
--2 Samuel 10. 12.
Lord God, I pray that my estimate of life may not be as I take it, but as thou hast given it for peace and prosperity. Teach me my duty to my country, and make me useful in uplifting and serving humanity. Amen.
DECEMBER TWENTY-NINTH
Thomas a Becket died 1170.
Andrew Johnson , Tennessee , seventeenth President United States, born 1808.
William E. Gladstone born 1809.
Margaret Bottome born 1827.
Pauline O. Louise, Queen of Roumania (Carmen Sylva), born 1843.
Christina G. Rossetti died 1894.
One example is worth a thousand arguments.
--William E. Gladstone .
One day at a time! That's all it can be
No faster than that is the hardest of fate,
And days have their limit, however we
Begin them too early or stretch them late.
--J. R. Miller.
He lives happy and master of himself
Who can say, as each day passes on,
I have lived! no matter whether to-morrow
The great Father shall give us a clouded sky or a clear day.
--Horace.
Give us this day our daily bread.
--Matthew 6. 11.
Eternal God, guard me against the love of praise, that I may not lose the sense of duty. Start me for the right places and give me strength with my days, that I may press toward their possession. Deliver me from drifting when it is mine to pull against the tide, that I may not be carried out of my course. Shield me from the storms that may gather about me, and bring us all to the desired haven safe in thy keeping. Amen.
DECEMBER THIRTIETH
Titus born A. D. 40.
William R. Alger born 1822.
Rudyard Kipling born 1865.
God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle line,
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine:
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!
For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard;
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And guarding calls not thee to guard:
For frantic boast and foolish word,
Thy mercy on thy people, Lord! Amen.
--Rudyard Kipling.
But thou shalt remember Jehovah thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.
--Deuteronomy 8. 18.
Almighty God, as I come to thee wilt thou forgive me for the errors I have made, and for the promises that I have broken. Help me to be as true as the holly that keeps itself red through the snow. Remind me of my opportunities as I breathe in thy blessings, "Lest I forget!" Amen.
DECEMBER THIRTY-FIRST
New Year's Eve.
John Wycliffe died 1384.
Battle of Wakefield 1460.
Charles Marquis Cornwallis born 1738.
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrow lust of gold:
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
--Alfred Tennyson.
Let every dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of life, and every setting sun be to you as its close.
--John Ruskin.
The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
--Romans 13. 12.
My Father, as I look to the past days, I feel much of my happiness and much of my misery has come from my own choice. May I be more watchful of my standards and less wasteful of my time, and keep a poise in life that will leave a memory of well-spent days. For the year that has passed and for its blessings I thank thee. Amen.
JANUARY FIRST
Bartolome Esteban Murillo, baptized 1618.
Paul Revere born 1735.
Betsy Ross born 1752.
Maria Edgeworth born 1767.
Arthur Hugh Clough born 1819.
Old things need not be therefore true,
O brother men, nor yet the new;
Ah! still awhile the old thought retain,
And yet consider it again!
We! what do we see? each a space
Of some few yards before his face;
Does that the whole wide plan explain?
Ah, yet consider it again!
Alas! the great world goes its way,
And takes its truth from each new day;
They do not quit, nor can retain,
Far less consider it again.
--Arthur Hugh Clough.
There are two sorts of content; one is connected with exertion, the other habits of indolence. The first is a virtue; the other a vice.
--Maria Edgeworth.
Oh send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me:
Let them bring me unto thy holy hill,
And to thy tabernacles.
--Psalm 43. 3.
Almighty God, lead me in the search for life. Teach me what is important and what is unimportant; what is false, and what is true. Remove the hindrances that keep me from the worthiest deeds, and grant that I may have the peace that comes with surrender of self to thy will. Amen.
JANUARY SECOND
General James Wolfe born 1727.
Colonial flag first raised 1776.
Mary Carey Thomas born 1857.
To what profit we could use the time for our present task that we spend in impatient waiting and wondering over the future! So often the future is just one step up from the present, but some of us miss it by preferring to wait for an elevator.--M. B. S.
Prepare to live by all means, but for heaven's sake do not forget to live. You will never have a better chance than you have at present. You may think you will have, but you are mistaken.
--Arnold Bennett.
He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night; while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him. He that lives on hope will die fasting.
--Benjamin Franklin.
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in Sheol, whither thou goest.
--Ecclesiastes 9. 10.
Gracious Father, my heart burns with shame when I think how much I claim, and how little I am. I pray that my body may not cast a shadow to-day, and cloud the light of my life to-morrow. Cleanse the windows of my soul that I may take in thy glory. Amen.
JANUARY THIRD
Marcus Tullius Cicero born B. C. 106.
Martin Luther excommunicated 1521.
Douglas Jerrold born 1803.
Charles Wagner (France) born 1852.
To be continually advancing in the paths of knowledge is one of the most pleasing satisfactions of the human mind. These are pleasures perfect consistent with every degree of advanced years.
--Cicero.
Fidelity in small things is at the base of every great achievement. We too often forget this and yet no truth needs more to be kept in mind particularly in the troubled eras of history and in the crises of individual life. In shipwreck a splintered beam, an oar, any scrap of wreckage saves us. To despise the remnants is demoralization.
--Charles Wagner.
He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.
--Luke 16. 10
Almighty God, may I understand that thou art in everything and that I cannot hide from thee, for thou boldest me though I know it not. Give me the desire, and help me to learn of thy laws, that I may know that even in the least of things, I have the liberty to obtain happiness by obeying them. Amen.
JANUARY FOURTH
Archbishop Usher born 1580.
Jacob L. Carl Grimm born 1785.
Elizabeth Peabody died 1894.
Years rush by us like the wind, we see not whence the eddy comes, nor whitherward it is tending, and we seem ourselves to witness their flight without a sense that we are changed: and yet time is beguiling man of his strength, as the winds rob the trees of their foliage.
--Sir Walter Scott.
The bell strikes one. We take no note of Time
But from its loss. To give it, then a tongue
Is wise in man; as if an angel spoke
I feel the solemn sound. If heard aright
It is the knell of my departed hours:
Where are they?
--Edward Young.
Days should speak, And multitude of years should teach wisdom. And the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding. It is not the great that are wise, Nor the aged that understand justice.
--Job 32. 7, 9.
Lord God, help me to see my mistakes, and bring me to the realization of my life. Grant that I may no longer use the time that thou gavest me to learn in, heedlessly, but to give it my best thought and care. Amen.
JANUARY FIFTH
Stephen Decatur born 1779.
Robert Morrison born 1782.
Thomas Pringle born 1789.
Let me go where'er I will,
I hear a sky-born music still:
It sounds from all things old,
It sounds from all things young,
From all that's fair, from all that's foul,
Peals out a cheerful song.
It is not only in the rose,
It is not only in the bird,
Not only where the rainbow glows,
Nor in the song of woman heard,
But in the darkest, meanest things
There alway, alway something sings.
'Tis not in the high stars alone,
Nor in the cup of budding flowers,
Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone,
Nor in the bow that smiles in showers,
But in the mud and scum of things
There alway, alway something sings.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork.
--Psalm 19. 1.
Almighty God, grant that my life may no longer be a noise, but be kept in tune with the sublimest melodies, that wherever I am, there may be no discords in the songs of my soul. Through thy loving-kindness may my songs resound. Amen.
JANUARY SIXTH
Epiphany, or Twelfth-Day.
Joan d'Arc born 1412.
David Dale born 1739.
'Twas even so! and thou the shepherd's child,
Joanne, the lowly dreamer of the wild!
Never before and never since that hour
Hath woman, mantled with victorious power,
Stood forth as thou beside the shrine didst stand,
Holy amidst the knighthood of the land.
--Mrs. Felicia Hemans.
Every one must recognize the splendid work which has been done by women in social and educational fields. And it will, I believe, come more and more to be recognized that in some respects women are specially fitted for government and for official-municipal life.
--Sir Oliver Lodge.
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill-country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.
--Judges 4. 4, 5.
My Father, help me to be thoughtful and just. May I consider the great truths and broader visions that may not be seen from where I stand. May I be willing to accept a better view. Grant that I may realize that the battle of life is not a sham battle, but a struggle for the advancement of life. Amen.
JANUARY SEVENTH
General Putnam born 1718.
Robert Nicholl born 1814.
T. DeWitt Talmage born 1832.
Opportunities fly in a straight line, touch us but once and never return, but the wrongs we do others fly in a circle; they come back from the place they started.
--T. DeWitt Talmage.
Our share of night to bear,
Our share of morning,
Our blank is bliss to fill,
Our blank is scorning.
Here a star, and there a star,
Some lose their way,
Here a mist, and there a mist,
Afterwards--day!
--Emily Dickinson.
Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your resting-place.
--Micah 2. 10.
Lord God, give me the desire to be persistent in service, while I have health and strength. May I experience the sweetness that comes in doing the thing that I ought to have done, as well as that in which I took the most pleasure. Help me to so live that my days may be useful, and be recalled with bright and happy recollections. Amen.
JANUARY EIGHTH
John Earl of Stair died 1707.
Sir William Draper died 1787.
Alfred Russel Wallace born 1823.
William Wilkie Collins born 1824.
Sir Laurence Alma-Tadema born 1836.
A blue bird built his nest
Here in my breast.
"O bird of Light! Whence comest thou?"
Said he, "From God above:
My name is Love."
A mate he brought one day,
Of plumage gray.
"O bird of Night! Why comest thou?"
Said she: "Seek no relief!
My name is Grief."
--Laurence Alma-Tadema.
It is not so much resolution as renunciation, not so much courage as resignation, that we need. He that has once yielded thoroughly to God will yield to nothing but God.
--John Ruskin.
Behold, God will not cast away a perfect man, Neither will he uphold the evildoers. He will yet fill thy mouth with laughter, And thy lips with shouting.
--Job 8. 20, 21.
Almighty God, help me to understand that peace does not come in rebellion or grieving, but is obtained through the calm of the soul. Grant that if I may be perplexed or worried to-day, I may have the power to control myself and wait in thy strength. Amen.
JANUARY NINTH
Dr. Thomas Brown born 1778.
Elizabeth O. Benger died 1822.
Caroline Lucretia Herschel died 1848, aged ninety-seven.
Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness altogether past calculation its powers of endurance. Efforts to be permanently useful must be uniformly joyous--a spirit of all sunshine.
--Thomas Carlyle.
Honest good humor is the oil and wine of a merry meeting.
--Washington Irving.
A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any market.
--Charles Lamb.
A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance; But by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
Better is a dinner of herbs, where love is, Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.
--Proverbs 15. 13, 17.
Gracious Father, if I am sorrowing over disappointment and am forgetful, grant that I may see the things thou hast made, for which I should be thankful. Help me to so live that I may have a right to claim a cheerful heart. Amen.
JANUARY TENTH
Dr. George Birkbeck born 1776.
Michel or Marshal Ney born 1769.
Karl von Linné, Linnæus, died 1778.
Ethan Allen born 1737.
Shall I hold on with both hands to every paltry possession? All I have teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The practical weakness of the vast mass of modern pity for the poor and the oppressed is precisely that it is merely pity; the pity is pitiful but not respectful. Men feel that the cruelty to the poor is a kind of cruelty to animals. They never feel that it is injustice to equals; nay, it is treachery to comrades.
--G. K. Chesterton.
Be ye all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tender-hearted, humble-minded: not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing.
--1 Peter 3. 8, 9.
JANUARY ELEVENTH
Alexander Hamilton born 1757.
Bayard Taylor born 1825.
William James born 1842.
Alice Caldwell Regan Rice born 1870.
The paternal relation to man was the basis of that religion which appealed directly to the heart; so the fraternity of each man with his fellow was its practical application.
--Bayard Taylor.
It is indeed a remarkable fact that sufferings and hardships do not, as a rule, abate the love of life; they seem on the contrary, usually to give it a keener zest; and the sovereign source of melancholy is repletion. Need and struggle are what excite and inspire. Our hour of triumph is what brings the void.
--William James.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him.
--James 1. 12.
Lord God, I come to thee for help that the small things may not force themselves into my life, and keep me from pursuing the larger things which are continually open to me. May I not be blind to what I may have and be, through inspiration and work. Grant that I may not be satisfied to remain in that in which I have triumphed, but climb to greater endeavors. Amen.
JANUARY TWELFTH
Edmund Burke born 1729.
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi born 1746.
François Coppée born 1842.
John S. Sargent born 1856.
Show the thing you contend for to be reason; show it to be common sense; show it to be the means of attaining some useful end. The question with me is not whether you have a right to render your people miserable, but whether it is your interest to make them happy.
--Edmund Burke.
Like the star
That shines afar,
Without haste
And without rest,
Let each man wheel with steady sway
Round the task that rules the day,
And do his best.
--Goethe.
Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.
--1 Corinthians 13. 4.
Gracious Father, cause me to be critical of my life, that I may not be deceived in myself. Help me to look into my soul and see what thou dost find there; and with humility may I acknowledge what I am to thee, and seek thy wisdom and love. Amen.
JANUARY THIRTEENTH
George Fox, founder Society of Friends, died 1691.
Samuel Woodworth (Old Oaken Bucket) born 1785.
Order of King's Daughters founded 1886.
Have thy soul feel the universal breath
With which all nature's quick, and learn to be
Sharer in all that thou dost touch or see;
Break from thy body's grasp thy spirit's trance;
Give thy soul air, thy faculties expanse;
Love, joy, even sorrow,--yield thyself to all!
They make thy freedom, groveling, not thy thrall.
Knock off the shackles which thy spirit bind
To dust and sense, and set at large the mind!
Then move in sympathy with God's great whole,
And be like man at first, a Living Soul.
--Richard Henry Dana.
I was deeply impressed by what a gardener once said to me concerning his work. "I feel, sir," he said, "when I am growing the flowers or rearing the vegetables, that I am having a share in creation." I thought it a very noble way of regarding his work.
--J. H. Jowett.
For we are God's fellow workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's building.
--1 Corinthians 3. 9.
Creator of all, help me to see what there is for me to do; and help me to know that I cannot be productive if I am hovering in the choice of my work. May I learn from thy great works of heaven and earth the ways of selection and steadfastness. Give me the desire to work and the confidence that is needed to carry on my work. Amen.
JANUARY FOURTEENTH
Madame de Sévigné died 1696.
Edmund Halley died 1742.
Pierre Loti born 1850.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute
What you can do, or dream you can; begin it;
Boldness has genius, power magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated;
Begin and then the work will be completed.
--Goethe.
Were half the power that fills the world with terror,
Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts,
Given to redeem the human mind from error,
There were no need of arsenals or forts.
--Henry W. Longfellow.
Choose you this day whom ye will serve;... but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.
--Joshua 24. 15.
Almighty God, help me to appreciate the sacredness of work while I have it to do. Grant that I may be spared the wretchedness that comes from working with fragments from idleness. May I do my part, even if it be in obscurity and the night overtakes me before it is done. Amen.
JANUARY FIFTEENTH
Molière born 1622.
Dr. Samuel Parr born 1747.
Edward Everett died 1865.
The sun withholds his generous beam;
Athwart my soul the shadows stream;
The weird winds boisterously blow,
And drift the melancholy snow.
When I, in sorrow and despair,
Expect the storm, with tender care
He rends the clouds and through the blue
The glorious sun breaks forth anew.
--M. B. S.
So with the wan waste grasses on my spear,
I ride forever seeking after God.
My hair grows whiter than my thistle plume
And all my limbs are loose; but in my eyes
The star of an unconquerable praise;
For in my soul one hope forever sings,
That at the next white corner of the road
My eyes may look on Him.
--G. K. Chesterton.
He brought me forth also into a large place;
He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
--Psalm 18. 19.
Loving Father, if I may be discouraged to-day, strengthen my faith. May I not weary of waiting for thee, but trust in thy promises. Amen.
JANUARY SIXTEENTH
Edmund Spenser died 1599.
Johann August Neander born 1789.
Edward Gibbon died 1794.
Sir John Moore died 1809.
But lovely concord, and most sacred peace,
Doth nourish vertue, and fast friendship breeds;
Weake she makes strong, and strong thing does increase,
Till it the pitch of highest praise exceeds.
--Edmund Spenser.
Perfect good-breeding is the result of nature and not of education; for it may be found in a cottage, and may be missed in a palace. 'Tis the genial regard for the feeling of others that springs from an absence of selfishness.
--Disraeli.
Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? neither can salt water yield sweet.
--James 3. 12.
Heavenly Father, help me to value my thoughts, words, and deeds. If at the close of the day, there may be one who has been wounded by my injustice, may I be willing to make quick atonement. May I avoid the ways and words that hurt; and not only wish rightly and work rightly, but speak to enrich others with tenderness. Amen.
JANUARY SEVENTEENTH
John Ray died 1705.
Benjamin Franklin born 1706.
George Bancroft died 1891.
Employ thy time well if thou meanest to gain leisure; and since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour! Leisure is time for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never; a life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things.
--Benjamin Franklin.
There is nothing to gain and everything to lose by despising the example of nature, and making arbitrary rules for oneself. Our liberty wisely understood is but a voluntary obedience to the universal laws of life.
--Amiel.
I will meditate on thy precepts,
And have respect unto thy ways.
--Psalm 119. 15.
My Father, help me to understand the power of nature, that I may be willing to obey her laws. I pray that I may so live that my life will proclaim itself without need of boasting or deception. Forbid that I should spend my life in perfecting trifles, and have no leisure to enjoy thy great gifts. Amen.
JANUARY EIGHTEENTH
Charles de Montesquieu born 1689.
John Gillies born 1747.
Daniel Webster born 1782.
We would leave for the consideration of those who shall occupy our places some proof that we hold the blessings transmitted from our fathers in just estimation; some proof of our attachment to the cause of good government and of civil and religious liberty; some proof of a sincere and ardent desire to promote every thing which may enlarge the understanding and improve the hearts of men.
--Daniel Webster.
Brother and friend, the world is wide,
But I care not whether there be
The soothing song of a summer tide
Or the thrash of a wintry sea,
If but through shimmer and storm you bide,
Brother and friend, with me.
--Percy C. Ainsworth.
Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King.
--1 Peter 2. 17.
Almighty God, I thank thee for all the tender influences of life; for all the gentleness and strength that may be given and received through friendship. Help me to be careful of what I do, for my sake, and for the sake of those who may follow me. Amen.
NINETEENTH
Hans Sachs died 1576.
William Congreve died 1729.
James Watt born 1736.
Robert E. Lee born 1807.
Edgar Allan Poe born 1809.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! Yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God, can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
--Edgar Allan Poe.
Do not train up your children in hostility to the government of the United States. Remember that we are one country now. Dismiss from your mind all sectional feeling, and bring them up to be Americans.
--Robert E. Lee.
Wait for Jehovah: Be strong, and let thy heart take courage; Yea, wait thou for Jehovah.
--Psalm 27. 14.
Lord God, I pray that if I have struggled for the wrong, and have worked with weak hands, thou wilt forgive me for my lost strength. Give me more light to shine upon my work, upon thy promises, and upon my duties; and with thy wisdom may I search for the truth that is behind every wrong, and for the purpose that is beyond all journeyings. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTIETH
Eve of Saint Agnes.
David Garrick died 1779.
John Howard died 1790.
John Ruskin died 1900.
Nathaniel P. Willis born 1806.
How like a mounting devil in the heart
Rules the unreigned ambition! Let it once
But play the monarch, and its haughty brow
Glows with a beauty that bewilders thought
And unthrones peace forever. Putting on
The very pomp of Lucifer, it turns
The heart to ashes.
--Nathaniel P. Willis.
Temperance, in the nobler sense, does not mean a subdued and imperfect energy; it does not mean a stopping short in any good thing, as love or in faith; but it means the power which governs the most intense energy, and prevents its acting in any way but as it ought.
--John Ruskin.
And thy gentleness hath made me great.
--Psalm 18. 35.
Gracious Father, I pray that I may be willing to profit by the experience of great teachers, and appreciate the value of strong principles. May I too live for the higher ideals of life, and through a sympathetic response add power and virtue to other lives, while gaining strength for my own. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-FIRST
Miles Coverdale died 1568.
John Fitch born 1743.
John C. Fremont born 1813.
Thomas Erskine born 1750.
Thomas Jonathan (Stonewall) Jackson born 1824.
So long as we love we serve; so long as we are loved by others I would almost say that we are indispensable; and no man is useless while he has a friend.
--Robert L. Stevenson.
So to the calmly gathered thought
The innermost of life is taught,
The mystery dimly understood,
That love of God is love of good:
That to be saved is only this--
Salvation from our selfishness.
--John Greenleaf Whittier.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed.
--Romans 13. 10, 11.
Tender Father, may I not attempt to serve life for my own gratification. May I not interpret love through vanity, but from reality. Make me worth while, that I may be relied upon for my pledges, and needed for my services. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-SECOND
Andrea del Sarto died 1531.
Francis Bacon born 1561.
Lord George Byron born 1788.
Queen Victoria died 1901.
Father of light! to thee I call,
My soul is dark within:
Thou who canst mark the sparrow's fall,
Avert the death of sin,
Thou who canst guide the wandering star,
Who calm'st the elemental war,
Whose mantle is yon boundless sky,
My thoughts, my words, my crimes forgive;
And since I soon must cease to live,
Instruct me how to die.
--Lord Byron.
Knowledge, whether it descend from divine inspiration or spring from human sense, would soon perish and vanish to oblivion if it were not preserved in books, traditions, conferences, and places appointed.
--Francis Bacon.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein.
--Revelation 1. 3.
Almighty God, I would have thy counsel as I read the words and follow the deeds of helpful lives, that I may be inspired to nobler activities. Give me the desire to know more of thy holy word, that I may have a better knowledge of life. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-THIRD
John Hancock born 1737.
William Pitt died 1806.
Charles Kingsley died 1875.
Paul Gustave Doré died 1883.
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful. Welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank Him for it, who is the fountain of all loveliness.
--Charles Kingsley.
Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her; 'tis her privilege
Through all the years of this life, to lead,
From joy to joy; for she can so impress
With quietness and beauty, and so feed
With lofty thoughts, that neither evil tongues,
* * * * *
Nor all the dreary intercourse of daily life,
Shall e'er prevail against us or disturb
Our cheerful faith, that all which we behold
Is full of blessings.
--William Wordsworth.
Is not God in the height of heaven?
And behold the height of the stars, how high they are!
And thou sayest, What doth God know?
Can he judge through the thick darkness?
--Job 22. 12, 13.
Lord God, I pray that I may not overlook thy blessings of beauty while endeavoring to perform my duties. Guide me that I may not struggle to be where thou wouldst not have me go. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-FOURTH
Charles Earl of Dorset born 1637.
Frederick the Great born 1712.
Charles James Fox born 1749.
The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall,
Stately and high;
The little men climb the low clay wall
To gape and spy;
"We wait for the Gods," the little men cry,
"But these are our brothers passing by."
The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall;
Who can see?
The little men nod by the low clay wall,
So tired they be;
'"Tis weary waiting for Gods," they yawn,
"There's a world o' men, but the Gods are gone."
--A.H. Begbie.
But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. --Luke 24. 16.
My Father, may I be careful of getting weary and missing the best through the need of rest. Intensify my desire for the songs and glorious ways, that I may not settle into dullness and slumber, while others pass on in the light. I pray for a keener sense of the possessions made possible by the deeds and cares of noble men and women. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-FOURTH
Charles Earl of Dorset born 1637.
Frederick the Great born 1712.
Charles James Fox born 1749.
The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall,
Stately and high;
The little men climb the low clay wall
To gape and spy;
"We wait for the Gods," the little men cry,
"But these are our brothers passing by."
The great Gods pass through the great Time-hall;
Who can see?
The little men nod by the low clay wall,
So tired they be;
'"Tis weary waiting for Gods," they yawn,
"There's a world o' men, but the Gods are gone."
--A.H. Begbie.
But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. --Luke 24. 16.
My Father, may I be careful of getting weary and missing the best through the need of rest. Intensify my desire for the songs and glorious ways, that I may not settle into dullness and slumber, while others pass on in the light. I pray for a keener sense of the possessions made possible by the deeds and cares of noble men and women. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-SIXTH
Lord George Sackville born 1716.
Benjamin Robert Haydon born 1786.
Mary Mapes Dodge born 1838.
General Gordon (Chinese Gordon) killed 1885.
Ave Maria! blessed be the hour,
That time, the clime, the spot, where I so oft
Have felt that moment in its fullest power
Sink o'er the earth so beautiful and soft,
While swung the deep bell in the distant tower
Or the faint dying day-hymn stole aloft,
And not a breath crept through the rosy air,
And yet the forest leaves seemed stirred with
prayer.
--Lord Byron.
I am quite happy, thank God, and like Lawrence, I have tried to do my duty.
--General Gordon (just before death).
For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly
in his pavilion:
In the covert of his tabernacle will he hide me;
He will lift me up upon a rock.
--Psalm 27. 5.
Heavenly Father, teach me how to breathe in the sweetness of life. Reveal to me the life that will bring peace to the soul. May I not be dismayed, but find the "Peace that passeth all understanding," the perfect peace that comes from thee. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH
Johannes Wolfgang Mozart born 1756.
A. W. von Schlegel born 1767.
David Friedrich Strauss born 1808.
To keep young, every day read a poem, hear a choice piece of music, view a fine painting, and, if possible, do a good action. Man's highest merit always is, as much as possible, to rule external circumstances, and as little as possible to let himself be ruled by them.
--Goethe.
Let us not always say,
"Spite of this flesh to-day
I strove, made head, gained ground upon the whole!"
As the bird wings and sings,
Let us cry, "All good things
Are ours, nor soul helps flesh more now than flesh helps soul!"
--Robert Browning.
Surely goodness and loving-kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.
--Psalm 23. 6.
Loving Father, help me to foresee that it is what I care for to-day that determines how I will find old age. May I not bring my closing years to weariness and lonesomeness, but may I have the restfulness that comes with communing with thee. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH
Charlemagne died 814.
Sir Francis Drake died 1596.
Peter the Great died 1725.
Charles George Gordon (Chinese Gordon) born 1833.
He only is advancing in life whose heart is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain quicker, and whose spirit is entering into living peace. And the men who have this life in them are the true lords and kings of the earth--they, and they only.
--John Ruskin.
Just where you stand in the conflict,
There is your place!
Just where you think you are useless,
Hide not your face!
God placed you there for a purpose,
What e'er it be;
Think you he has chosen you for it:
Work loyally.
--Anonymous.
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
--Romans 11. 33.
My Father, I thank thee that thou hast endowed me with a will; help me to use it aright. May I have the knowledge of what thou dost demand of my soul, that I may do my best with what thou hast given me. Help me that I may reach out for the highest ideals of life. Amen.
JANUARY TWENTY-NINTH
Emanuel Swedenborg born 1688.
Thomas Paine born 1737.
Adelaide Ristori born 1822.
William McKinley, Ohio, twenty-fourth President United States, born 1843.
God will keep no nation in supreme place that will not do supreme duty.
--William McKinley.
Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and the angels know of us.
--Thomas Paine.
The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.
--George Eliot.
Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand,
Upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
So shall we not go back from thee:
Quicken thou us, and we will call upon thy name.
--Psalm 80. 17, 18.
My Father, I pray that I may be just and be given to kindness. May I be conscious of my virtues, and use them to overcome my faults. May I hear clearly thy call that I may be sure of the way as I lead others to duty and happiness. Amen.
JANUARY THIRTIETH
Archbishop Butler born 1774.
Walter Savage Landor born 1775.
Henri Rochefort born 1830.
Why, why repine, my pensive friend,
At pleasures slipped away?
Some the stern fates will never lend,
And all refuse to stay.
I see the rainbow in the sky,
The dew upon the grass;
I see them and I ask not why
They glimmer or they pass.
With folded arms I linger not
To call them back; 'twere vain;
In this, or in some other spot,
I know they'll shine again.
--Walter Savage Landor.
When disappointment comes meet it, but do not carry it along with you; nor fetter your spirit by changeless haste. "Memory will always pursue some precious instance of itself," which will bring either renewed confidence or resignation.
--M. B. S.
For thou shalt forget thy misery;
Thou shalt remember it as waters that are passed away.
--Job 11. 16.
Gracious Father, help me to "Lift mine eyes unto the hills" that glorify the discouraging ways. May I appreciate thy great love, and from my limitations find the possibilities that are limitless. Amen.
JANUARY THIRTY-FIRST
Cromwell dissolved Parliament 1655.
Charles Edward (Young Pretender) died 1788.
Franz Schubert born 1797.
James G. Elaine born 1830.
Nature demands that man be ever at the top of his condition. He who violates her laws must pay the penalty, though he sit on a throne.
--James G. Elaine.
Dig channels for the streams of love,
Where they may broadly run;
And love has overflowing streams
To fill them every one.
For we must share if we must keep
The good things from above;
Ceasing to give, we cease to have--
Such is the law of love.
--R. C. Trench.
And thy life shall be clearer than the noonday;
Though there be darkness, it shall be as the morning.
--Job 11. 17.
My Father, I would remember that it is mostly from my inspirations that I conceive life. Take away hatred and vanity that keep me in faults, and awake in me the thoughts that are responsible for visions that lead to high ideals. Amen.
FEBRUARY FIRST
Ben Jonson born 1574.
John Philip Kemble born 1757.
Arthur Henry Hallam born 1811.
George Cruikshank died 1878.
It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it fall and die that night--
It was the plant and flower of Light.
In small proportions we just beauties see;
And in short measure life may perfect be.
--Ben Jonson.
There are four things which are little upon the earth,
But they are exceeding wise:
The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they provide their food in the summer;
The conies are but a feeble folk,
Yet make they their houses in the rocks;
The locusts have no king,
Yet go they forth all of them by bands;
The lizard taketh hold with her hands,
Yet is she in king's palaces.
--Proverbs 30. 24-28.
Creator of all, lead me to see the light, and instruct me that I may be able to reason. Guard me against spectacular endeavors, that I may be genuine. Amen.
FEBRUARY SECOND
Candlemas Day.
Nell Gwynn born 1650.
Hannah More born 1745.
William Henry Burleigh born 1812.
'Twas doing nothing was his curse--
Is there a vice can plague us worse?
The wretch who digs the mine for bread,
Or plows, that others may be fed,
Feels less fatigue than that decreed
To him who cannot think, or read.
Not all the peril of temptations,
Not all the conflict of the passions,
Can quench the spark of Glory's flame,
Or quite extinguish Virtue's name.
--Hannah More.
Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife!
To all the sensual world proclaim,
One crowded hour of glorious life
Is worth an age without a name.
--Sir Walter Scott.
He went out, and found others standing; and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard.
--Matthew 20. 6, 7.
Eternal God, who hath weighed the mountains and measured the seas, I pray that I may not be satisfied to wait in idleness, and let thy wisdom pass away from me as the days. Steady me in my weakness, and reveal to me my strength as I draw near and ask of thee. Amen.
FEBRUARY THIRD
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy born 1809.
Horace Greeley born 1811.
Frederick William Robertson born 1816.
Sidney Lanier born 1842.
My soul is sailing through the sea,
But the past is heavy and hindereth me.
The past hath crusted cumbrous shells
That hold the flesh of cold sea-mells
About my soul.
The huge waves wash, the high waves roll,
Each barnacle clingeth and worketh dole
And hindereth me from sailing.
--Sidney Lanier.
To stand with a smile upon your face, against a stake from which you cannot get away--that no doubt is heroic. True glory is resignation to the inevitable. But to stand unchained, with perfect liberty to go away held only by the higher chains of duty, and let the fire creep up to the heart--that is heroism.
--F. W. Robertson.
We are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed.
--2 Corinthians 4. 8, 9.
Gracious Father, thou knowest what I am and the condition of my life. May I seek thy will for me. Grant that I may never struggle for consolation through indulgence and indolence, but in my sorrow and failure may I reach out for thy enduring comfort. Amen.
FEBRUARY FOURTH
Mark Hopkins born 1802.
W. Harrison Ainsworth born 1805.
Jean Richepin born 1849.
Thomas Carlyle died 1881.
Life is not a May-game, but a battle and a march, a warfare with principalities and powers. No idle promenade through fragrant orange groves and green flowery spaces, waited on by coral muses, and the rosy hours; it is a stern pilgrimage through the rough, burning, sandy solitudes, through regions of thick-ribbed ice.
--Thomas Carlyle.
For all sweet and pleasant passages in the great story of life men may well thank God; for leisure and ease and health and friendship may God make us truly and humbly grateful; but our chief song of thanksgiving must be always for our kinship with him, with all that such divinity of greatness brings of peril, hardship, toil, and sacrifice.
--Hamilton Mabie.
Thy bars shall be iron and brass;
And as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
--Deuteronomy 33. 25.
My Father, help me to choose the road that leads to my work, and may I not fail to reach it, by wandering away from it. Keep me in touch with the human side of life, holding in mind that "Truth and honesty are the noblest works of God." Amen.
FEBRUARY FIFTH
Sir Robert Peel born 1788.
Ole Boreman Bull born 1810.
John Muir born 1810.
Dwight L. Moody born 1837.
When a great man dies, then has the time come for putting us in mind that he was alive!
--Thomas Carlyle.
If I practice one day, I can see the result. If I practice two days, my friends can see it. If I practice three days, the great public can see it.
--Ole Bull.
Those who say they will forgive but can't forget an injury simply bury the hatchet while they leave the handle out, ready for immediate use.
--Dwight L. Moody.
But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, so that I may accomplish my course.
--Acts 20. 24.
Almighty God, if I am uncertain, and tremble at the crossroads in doubt of the right way, may I wait and be led by thee, and follow on, even if the way be dark and rough. May I be faithful and have thy presence as thou promised at the end. Amen.
FEBRUARY SIXTH
Queen Anne of England born 1665.
Aaron Burr born 1756.
Sir Henry Irving born 1838.
Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair. I encourage myself in the Lord my God and go forward.
--David Livingstone.
To expect defeat is nine tenths of defeat itself.
--Marion Crawford.
I do not see how any man can afford, for the sake of his nerves and his nap, to spare any action in which he can partake.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Art is a jealous mistress, she requires the whole man.
--Michael Angelo.
Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
--1 Corinthians 16. 13.
Almighty God, help me to have true conceptions, that my life may not be secured to needless purposes. May my soul be influenced by high ideals, and my work be the production of truth and not of selfishness. Protect me from evil that I may be kept pure and strong for my work. Amen.
FEBRUARY SEVENTH
Millard Fillmore, New York, thirteenth President United States born 1800.
Sir Thomas More born 1478.
Charles Dickens born 1812.
Anne Radcliffe died 1823.
Sidney Cooper died 1902.
Let no man turn aside ever so slightly, from the broad path of honor, on the plausible pretense that he is justified by the goodness of his end. All good ends can be worked out by good means.
—Charles Dickens.
If evils come not, then our fears are vain;
And if they do, fear but augments the pain.
—Sir Thomas More.
A human heart knows aught of littleness,
Suspects no man, compares with no one's ways,
Hath in one hour most glorious length of days,
A recompense, a joy, a loveliness;
Like eaglet keen, shoots into azure far,
And always dwelling nigh is the remotest star.
—William Ellery Channing.
Teach me thy way, O Jehovah;
I will walk in thy truth:
Unite my heart to fear thy name.
—Psalm 86. 11.
Gracious Father, I pray that thou wilt control my impulses, and protect me from false interpretations. May I have wisdom, and search for the high and holy ways. Help me to be patient for thy purposes, and may my relations to life be triumphant in thy standards. Amen.
FEBRUARY EIGHTH
Samuel Butler born 1612.
John Ruskin born 1819.
General Sherman born 1820.
Jules Verne born 1828.
Richard Watson Gilder born 1844.
If you want knowledge, you must toil for it; and if pleasure, you must toil for it. Toil is the law. Pleasure comes through toil, and not by self-indulgence and indolence. When one gets to love work his life is a happy one.
--John Ruskin.
Whatever sceptic could inquire for,
For every why he had a wherefore.
--Samuel Butler.
Through love to light! O wonderful the way,
That leads from darkness to the perfect day!
From darkness and from sorrow of the night
To morning that comes singing o'er the sea.
Through love to light! through light O God to Thee!
Who art the love, the eternal light of light!
--Richard Watson Gilder.
We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
--John 9. 4.
My Father, I pray that I may not weight my life with worthless efforts. May I be guided to the right work, and through the love of it find strength for my soul. Amen.
FEBRUARY NINTH
C. F. Volney born 1757.
William Henry Harrison, Virginia, ninth President United States, born 1773.
Anthony Hope (Hawkins) born 1863.
George Ade born 1866.
A man's own observation, what he finds good of, and what he finds hurt of, is the best physic to preserve health. But it is a safer conclusion to say, "This agreeth not well with me, therefore I will not continue it"; than to say, "I find no offense of this, therefore I may use it." For strength of nature in youth passeth over many excesses, which are owing a man till his age.
—Francis Bacon.
Though man a thinking being is defined,
Few use the grand prerogative of mind.
How few think justly of the thinking few!
How many never think, who think they do!
—Jane Taylor.
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life.
—James 1. 12.
Almighty God, I would learn that while thou art a forgiving Lord, nature has no mercy on them that break her laws. Forgive me for all my neglect, and help me to see the way in which thou hast through mercy led me. Give me the power to endure and the strength to resist temptation. May I seek to understand thy laws, that I may not fail through ignorance. Amen.
FEBRUARY TENTH
Rev. Henry Hart Milman born 1791.
Charles Lamb born 1775.
Sir William Napier died 1860.
Never let the most well-intended falsehood escape your lips; for Heaven, which is entirely Truth, will make the seed which you have sown of untruth to yield miseries a thousandfold.
--Charles Lamb.
We cannot command veracity at will; the power of seeing and reporting truly is a form of health that has to be distinctly guarded, and as an ancient rabbi has solemnly said, "The penalty of untruth is untruth."
--George Eliot.
The bat hangs upside down and laughs at a topsy-turvy world.
--Unknown.
The lip of truth shall be established for ever;
But a lying tongue is but for a moment.
--Proverbs 12. 19.
Lord God, give me the will to hold to the truth and the strength to help keep the world true; and may I help others to look up and catch the truth from the purest light. Amen.
FEBRUARY ELEVENTH
Mary, Queen of England, born 1516.
Daniel Boone born 1735.
Lydia M. Child born 1802.
Washington Gladden born 1836.
Thomas A. Edison born 1847.
Few, in the days of early youth,
Trusted like me in love and truth.
I've learned sad lessons from the years;
But slowly and with many tears;
For God made me to kindly view
The world that I was passing through.
And all who tempt a trusting heart
From faith and hope to drift apart,
May they themselves be spared the pain
Of losing power to trust again!
God help us all to kindly view
The world that we are passing through!
--Lydia M. Child.
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
--Isaiah 55. 12.
Lord God, I pray that I may not rest my hope in self alone, but know that the greatest joy is in the hope of the world. Help me to have faith in mankind; and with a loyal heart and a brave spirit be as kind to the world as I can. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWELFTH
Dr. Cotton Mather born 1663.
Peter Cooper born 1791.
Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky, sixteenth President United States, born 1809.
Robert Charles Darwin born 1809.
George Meredith born 1828.
With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds, ... to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
—Abraham Lincoln.
The great moral combat between human life and each human soul must be single.... When a soul arms for battle she goes forth alone.
—Owen Meredith.
According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon.
—1 Corinthians 3. 10.
Almighty God, I thank thee for the courage that comes with a great life. Help me to be brave, even if it is only that others may be blest. May I lay a careful foundation and plan to build the best that I can afford. Amen.
FEBRUARY THIRTEENTH
David Allan born 1744.
Maurice de Talleyrand-Prigord born 1754.
Richard Wagner died 1883.
A man is not his hope, nor yet his despair, nor yet his past deed. We know not yet what we have done; still less what we are doing.Wait till evening, and other parts of our work will shine than we had thought at noon, and we shall discover the real purport of our toil.
--Henry D. Thoreau.
When you make a mistake don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom.... The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.
--Hugh White.
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
--Psalm 126. 6.
My Father, help me to survey my life. Make me compassionate and considerate, that I may be qualified to promote that which is helpful. May I appreciate that what is worth keeping I can obtain from thee. Amen.
FEBRUARY FOURTEENTH
Saint Valentine's Day.
Captain James Cook killed 1779.
Jean Ernest Reynaud born 1808.
Oh! little loveliest lady mine,
What shall I send for your valentine?
Summer and flowers are far away;
Gloomy old Winter is king to-day;
Buds will not blow, and sun will not shine:
What shall I do for a valentine?
I've searched the gardens all through and through
For a bud to tell of my love so true;
But buds are asleep and blossoms are dead,
And the snow beats down on my poor little head:
So, little loveliest lady mine,
Here is my heart for your valentine.
--Laura E. Richards.
Oh rank is gold, and gold is fair,
And high and low mate ill;
But love has never known a law
Beyond its own sweet will!
--John G. Whittier.
FEBRUARY FIFTEENTH
Galileo Galilei born 1564.
Louis XV born 1710.
S. Weir Mitchell born 1829.
Sir Frederick Treves born 1853.
The night I know is nigh at hand,
The mists lie low on hill and bay,
The autumn sheaves are brown and dry,
But I have had the day.
Yes, I have had, dear Lord, the day.
When at thy call I have the night
Brief be the twilight as I pass
From light to dark, from dark to light.
--S. Weir Mitchell.
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small--too small to be worth talking about, for the day of adversity is its first real opportunity.
--Maltbie Babcock.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
--Romans 8. 37.
My Father, may my daily work not be the means of separating me from thee, but may I have thee for my companion through my work. Forbid that I should ever submit to despair from weakness of body, but that I may be blest and grow strong as my spirit lives in thee. Amen.
FEBRUARY SIXTEENTH
Philip Melanchthon born 1497.
Gasper de Coligny born 1517.
Thomas Robert Malthus born 1766.
Ernst Heinrich Haeckel born 1834.
Thy love shall chant its own beatitudes
After its own life working. A child's kiss
Set on thy sighing lips shall make thee glad.
A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;
A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;
Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense
Of service which thou renderest.
—Elizabeth B. Browning.
Ask nothing more of me, sweet;
All I can give you I give.
Heart of my heart, were it more,
More would be laid at your feet:
Love that should help you to live,
Song that should help you to soar.
—Algernon Charles Swinburne.
All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them.
—Matthew 7. 12.
Lord God, I pray that I may not neglect the help and happiness that I may give with compassion and love. Make me strong in all the senses that answer to the call of humanity. Help me to guide and protect little children, and to care for the comforts of the old. Amen.
FEBRUARY SEVENTEENTH
Kate Greenaway born 1846.
Michael Angelo Buonarroti died 1563.
Giordano Bruno burned at Rome 1600.
Molière died 1673.
Rose Terry Cooke born 1827.
Frances E. Willard died 1898.
It is not much
To give a gentle word or kindly touch
To one gone down
Beneath the world's cold frown,
And yet who knows
How great a thing from such a little grows?
O, oftentimes,
Some brother upward climbs
And hope again
Uplifts its head, that in the dust had lain,
Gives place to morning's light.
--E. H. Divall.
I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick.
--Ezekiel 34. 16.
My Father, may I not sorrow so that I fail to comfort the sorrowing, and may I not be so happy that I fail to see that others need to be glad. I thank thee for thy providences. May I serve thee in helping others to brighter lives. Amen.
FEBRUARY EIGHTEENTH
Martin Luther died 1546.
George Peabody born 1795.
Wilson Barrett born 1846.
A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing:
Our helper he amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great:
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
--Martin Luther.
Let us stand by our duty fearlessly and effectively. I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light that I have.
--Abraham Lincoln.
Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge.
--Psalm 18. 2.
Lord God, help me to lay my life in the rocks of thy foundation, and not in moving sands which are tossed from shore to shore. May I cling to the rock that was cleft for me and trust for thy care. Amen.
FEBRUARY NINETEENTH
Copernicus born 1473.
Leonard Bacon born 1802.
W. W. Story born 1819.
Adelina Patti born 1843.
So mine are these new fruitings rich,
The simple to the common brings;
I keep the youth of souls who pitch
Their joy in this old heart of things;
Full lasting is the song, though he
The singer passes; lasting too,
For souls not lent in usury,
The rapture of the forward view.
George Meredith.
All deep things are Song. It seems, somehow, the very central essence of us, Song; as if all the rest were wrappages and hulls! the primal element of us; of us, and all things.
Thomas Carlyle.
Ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah.
Isaiah 30. 29.
Lord God, help me to feel the power of praise. "As words without thoughts never to heaven go," so the highest praises are never sung alone, but rendered with service and love. May I have the heart to sing thy praises far and near, and rejoice in him from whom all blessings flow. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTIETH
J. H. Voss born 1828.
Joseph Jefferson born 1829
Mihaly Munkacsy (Michael Lieb) born 1844.
Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.
Voltaire.
Lo, Spring comes forth with all her warmth and love,
She brings sweet justice from the realms above;
She breaks the chrysalis, she resurrects the dead;
Two butterflies ascend encircling her head.
And so this emblem shall forever be
A sign of immortality.
Joseph Jefferson.
Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
Psalm 73. 24.
Lord God, I pray that I may not neglect my soul in trying to fathom immortal life. If I may be hesitating between comfort and work, remind me of the greatness of the place which I started to reach. May I not grow weary of climbing and falter on the stair. Breathe upon me thy inspiration and love, that I may continue in faith all the way. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIRST
Edmund William Gosse born 1849.
Karl Czerny born 1791.
Cardinal John H. Newman born 1801.
Jean L. E. Meissonier born 1815.
Alice Freeman Palmer born 1855.
Prune thou thy words, the thoughts control
That o'er thee swell and throng;
They will condense within thy soul,
And change to purpose strong.
--John H. Newman.
Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world's famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.
--Horatio Bonar.
We ought to love everybody and make everybody love us. Then everything else is easy.
--Alice Freeman Palmer.
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rearward.
--Isaiah 58. 8.
Almighty God, look upon me with pity; so often I have obeyed the thoughts that have been misleading and profitless. Make me more careful of what I think and say, and may I learn from my mistakes the forbidden paths. Help me to keep my mind in unity with thy will. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-SECOND
George Washington, Virginia, first President United States, born 1732.
James Russell Lowell born 1819.
Margaret E. Sangster born 1838.
Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.
--George Washington.
Life is a sheet of paper white
Whereon each one of us may write
His word or two, and then comes night.
Greatly begin! though thou hast time
But for a line, be that sublime.
Not failure, but low aim is crime.
--James Russell Lowell.
God keep us through the common days,
The level stretches white with dust,
When thought is tired, and hands upraise
Their burdens feebly since they must;
In days of slowly fretting care
Then most we need the strength of prayer.
--Margaret E. Sangster.
Make level the path of thy feet,
And let all thy ways be established.
--Proverbs 4. 26.
Lord God, help me to realize the influence of the individual life. And as I would care for my own, may I seek to do for others; and may I not criticize, but help all who are trying to make the world better. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-THIRD
Samuel Pepys born 1633.
George F. Handel born 1685.
George Frederick Watts born 1817.
John Keats died 1821.
Margaret Deland born 1857.
Labor is life! 'tis the still water faileth;
Idleness ever despaireth, bewaileth:
Keep the watch wound, or the dark rust assaileth;
Flowers droop and die in the stillness of noon.
Labor is glory! the flying cloud lightens;
Only the waving wing changes and brightens,
Idle hearts only the dark future frightens,
Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune.
—Frances S. Osgood.
KEATS
Palled death, with kisses ghostly,
Wooed and won him while too young,
And the world reveres him mostly,
For the songs he might have sung.
—Samuel A. Wood.
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.
—Isaiah 54. 2.
Almighty God, I pray for the will to do my finest work. Disclose to me if I am being detained by serving selfishness in myself or in others. Lead me to what is right for me to do; and may I diligently tarry in it. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-FOURTH
Samuel Lover born 1797.
Robert Fulton died 1815.
George William Curtis born 1824.
'Tis not to enjoy that we exist,
For that end only; something must be done;
I must not walk in unreproved delight
These narrow bounds, and think of nothing more,
No duty that looks further and no care.
--William Wordsworth.
We weave our thoughts into heart-spun plans,
And weave secure for a fitful day,
But lose in the web of earthly things
The pattern of sublimity.
Shall days spring up as wild vines grow,
Unheeding where they climb or cling?
Consider, child, before you sow,
And wait not until harvesting.
--M. B. S.
Jehovah is my strength and my shield;
My heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped:
Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth;
And with my song will I praise him.
--Psalm 28. 7.
Loving Father, command my judgment for the influences which I permit to come into my life. Grant that I may not delay my purposes for the lack of comforts which are so often made more than life. With thy strength may I be steadfast in what I would achieve. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-FIFTH
William Seely died 1521.
Sir Christopher Wren died 1723.
Jane Goodwin Austin born 1831.
Camille Flammarion born 1842.
In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes. All other passions do occasionally good; but wherever pride puts in its word everything goes wrong.
--John Ruskin.
He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his own glass, his own trumpet, his own chronicle; and whatever praises itself but in the deed, devours the deed in the praise.
--William Shakespeare.
Save me alike from foolish pride
Or impious discontent;
At aught Thy wisdom hath denied,
Or aught Thy wisdom lent.
--Alexander Pope.
A man's pride shall bring him low; But he that is of a lowly spirit shall obtain honor.
--Proverbs 29. 23.
Heavenly Father, I pray that I may not let pride keep me down when it may be mine to be carried to the heights. With tenderness take me out of myself, that I may see how pride deceives, and destroys an humble spirit. Help me to master both stubbornness and pride. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-SIXTH
Christopher Marlowe (baptized 1564).
Victor Hugo born 1802.
Lord Cromer born 1841.
Thomas Moore died 1852.
When I go down to the grave I can say, like so many others, I have finished my work; but I cannot say I have finished my life; my day's work will begin again the next morning. My tomb is not a blind alley; it is a thoroughfare. It closes in the twilight to open in the dawn.
—Victor Hugo.
There's nothing bright above, below,
From flowers that bloom to stars that glow,
But in the light my soul can see
Some feature of the Deity.
There's nothing dark below, above,
But in its gloom I trace God's love,
And meekly wait that moment when
His truth shall turn all bright again.
—Thomas Moore.
Jehovah redeemeth the soul of his servants;
And none of them that take refuge in him shall be condemned.
—Psalm 34. 22.
Lord God, may I not only feel the need of thee when I am burdened with sorrow and care, but may I have need of thee in my pleasures and joys. I thank thee for thy gracious kindness, thy mercy and thy protection. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-SEVENTH
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow born 1807.
Ellen Terry born 1848.
Mary F. Robinson born 1857.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time--
Footprints that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's wintry main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
--Henry W. Longfellow.
They are slaves who fear to speak
For the fallen and the weak;
They are slaves who will not choose
Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
Rather than in silence shrink
From the truth they needs must think;
They are slaves who dare not be
In the right with two or three.
--James Russell Lowell.
Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
--Matthew 5. 16.
Merciful Father, help me to know that my shadow cannot fall without me, and that my footprints cannot be found where I have never trodden. I pray that thou wilt make me so familiar with the right path that it may be mine to have the privilege of leading others to the right places. Amen.
FEBRUARY TWENTY-EIGHTH
Montaigne born 1533.
Mary Lyon born 1797.
Sir John Tenniel born 1820.
Soul, rule thyself; on passion, deed, desire,
Lay thou the laws of thy deliberate will.
Stand at thy chosen post, Faith's sentinel:
Though Hell's lost legions ring thee round with fire,
Learn to endure.
--Arthur Symonds.
The confidence in another man's virtue is no slight evidence of a man's own, and God willingly favors such a confidence.
--Montaigne.
Though a host should encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear:
Though war should rise against me,
Even then will I be confident.
--Psalm 27. 3.
My Father, may I ever be kept in remembrance of my virtue, and may I be sensitive to its strength. As I go on my way, keep me within control of the impetuous desires of my nature, and in call of the duties and obligations of my daily life. Amen.
MARCH FIRST
Alexander Balfour born 1767.
Frederick François Chopin born 1809.
Augustus Saint-Gaudens born 1848.
William Dean Howells born 1837.
Thy soul shall enter on its heritage
Of God's unuttered wisdom. Thou shalt sweep
With hand assured the ringing lyre of life,
Till the fierce anguish of its bitter strife,
Its pain, death, discord, sorrow, and despair,
Break into rhythmic music. Thou shalt share
The prophet-joy that kept forever glad
God's poet-souls when all a world was sad.
Enter and live! Thou hast not lived before.
--S. Weir Mitchell.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul;
For Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee.
For thou hast delivered my soul from death,
Mine eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
--Psalm 116. 7, 8.
Almighty God, grant that I may never be so discouraged that I feel my life has been spent. Help me to so live, that I may not follow into hopeless days, but look for the bright and beautiful in to-morrow. Forgive me for all that I have asked for and accepted through willful judgment, and make me more careful in selecting my needs. Amen.
MARCH SECOND
Juvenal born A. D. 40.
John Wesley died 1791.
Horace Walpole died 1797.
Nature never says one thing, Wisdom another.
—Juvenal.
By all means, use some times to be alone;
Salute thyself—see what thy soul doth wear;
Dare to look in thy chest, for 'tis thine own,
And tumble up and down what thou findest there.
—William Wordsworth.
Lonesomeness is part of the cost of power. The higher you climb, the less can you hope for companionship. The heavier and the more immediate the responsibility, the less can a man delegate his tasks or escape his own mistakes.
—Shailer Mathews.
But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.
—Matthew 6. 6.
My Father, I pray that thou wilt take care of my thoughts when I am alone and tired, and keep them strong and clean. Grant that while I commune with thee I may yield to my needs and be restored with keener energy for worthier deeds. May I ask of thy wisdom every day. Amen.
MARCH THIRD
Edmund Waller born 1605.
George Herbert died 1633.
Christine Nilsson born 1843.
Pitch thy behaviour low, thy projects high,
So shalt thou humble and magnanimous be;
Sink not in spirit: who aimeth at the sky,
Shoots higher than he that means a tree.
--George Herbert.
We and God have business with each other; and in opening ourselves to his influence our deepest destiny is fulfilled.
--William James.
While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
--2 Corinthians 4. 18.
Almighty God, help me to remember that "the power of character is the highest point of success," and that thou hast put within reach of all the choice ideals of life. May I have the desire to cultivate strong purposes, and strive for high endeavors, that I may not aim for the low. Amen.
MARCH FOURTH
Casimer Pulaski born 1748.
Sir Henry Raeburn born 1756.
E. W. Bull, originator Concord grape, born 1806.
Alexander Graham Bell born 1847.
It is perfectly obvious that men do necessarily absorb, out of the influences in which they grow up, something which gives a complexion to their whole after-character.
--Anthony Froude.
All common things, each day's events
That with the hour begin and end,
Our pleasures and our discontents
Are rounds by which we may ascend.
--Henry W. Longfellow.
Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.
--Shakespeare.
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth.
--1 Samuel 17. 49.
My Father, I would remember that my life may decline from the neglect of small things; for as thou dost nourish the wheat from flakes of snow, and supply the springs from drops of rain, so thou wilt strengthen my soul from every little blessing. I pray that I may not forget to watch my habits, and keep track of the hours that culture and sustain my life. Amen.
MARCH FIFTH
Correggio died 1534.
Howard Pyle born 1853.
Arthur Foote born 1853.
When I have the time so many things I'll do,
To make life happier and more fair
For those whose lives are crowded now with care,
I'll help to lift them from their low despair
When I have time.
When I have time the friend I love so well
Shall know no more the weary, toiling days;
I'll lead his feet in pleasant paths always,
And cheer his heart with words of sweetest praise,
When I have time.
Now is the time! Speed, friend; no longer wait
To scatter loving smiles and words of cheer
To those around whose lives are drear;
They may not need you in the far-off year:
Now is the time.
--Unknown.
Behold now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
--2 Corinthians 6. 2.
Lord God, teach me this day to know that the veriest trifle often keeps happiness alive, and that the smallest trifle often may kill it. I pray that now thou wilt put within my heart that touch of love, which brings consideration for others, and the care that brings the greatest happiness. Amen.
March 6
Michael Angelo Buonarroti born 1475.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning born 1806.
George du Maurier born 1831.
Beloved, let us love so well
Our work shall still be better for our love,
And still our love be sweeter for our work:
And both commended for the sake of each
By all true workers and true lovers born.
--Elizabeth B. Browning.
Earth saddens, never shall remove,
Affections purely given;
And e'en that mortal grief shall prove
The immortality of love,
And heighten it with heaven.
--Elizabeth B. Browning.
And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.
--1 Corinthians 13. 3.
Loving Father, I pray that I may not try to change the standard of love by grafting on my own selfishness and infirmities. May I remember that it is mostly for gratification that love is held to the base in life; may I follow it to the summits, where it is divine. Amen.
Heartlight Daily Verse
March 7
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Thoughts on today's verse
God knows us. We can't pretend we are something we are not with him. This should liberate us to a remarkable degree of intimacy, but most of us run from such a close relationship with God. If our desire, however, is to become more like him, the only way to be transformed is by inviting him and looking at our heart, our motivations, and our desires.
Prayer:
O God, I know you are the one who "searches hearts and minds" yet because of the grace you demonstrated in Jesus, I am confident that you love me. My heart is sorry for the sin I have committed, but I am really trying to serve you in honor and purity. Please fill me with your Spirit to enable me to become more like Christ. In the name of your holy Son I pray. Amen.
March 8
Dr. John Fothergill born 1712.
C. P. Cranch born 1813.
Anna Letitia Barbauld died 1825.
O boundless self-contentment voiced
In flying air-born bubbles!
O joy that mocks our sad unrest,
And frowns our earth-born troubles!
The life that floods the happy fields
With song and light and color,
Will shape our lives to richer states
And heap our measures fuller.
--C. P. Cranch.
One may secure and preserve that repose in the turbulence of a great city--as Shakespeare surely found and preserved it in the London of the sixteenth century. For repose does not depend on external conditions; it depends on sound adjustment to tasks, opportunities, pleasures, and the general order of life.
--Hamilton Mabie.
That we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in godliness and gravity.
--1 Timothy 2.2.
Gracious Father, help me to understand that peace cannot abide in misery, nor can it stay with every mood. May I be able to overcome the depression that may keep me in sadness and isolation, and have delight in the gladness of friends, and live in the peace of strong resolutions. Amen.
Heartlight Daily
March 8
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Thoughts on today's verse
We are comforted to comfort others. God doesn't bless us because we are somehow uniquely better than everyone else, but specifically to equip, empower, and encourage us to comfort others. God has human hands only when I use mine to his glory and for his purposes!
Prayer:
Tender Shepherd, there have been times when I was so broken I could not go on. I know the strength to continue came from your rich grace and mercy. Please use me this week to offer your comfort and love to others so they may feel your warm embrace and come to yearn more for the day we see you face to face in heaven. Through my brother Jesus, I pray. Amen.'
March 9
Americus Vespucius born 1451.
Lewis Gonzaga born 1568.
Comte de Mirabeau born 1749.
William Cobbett born 1762.
Edwin Forrest born 1806.
Yet nerve thy spirit to the Proof, and blanch not at thy chosen lot;
The timid good may stand aloof, the sage may frown--yet faint thou not;
Nor heed the shaft too surely cast, the foul and hissing bolt of scorn;
For with thy Side shall dwell, at last, the victory of endurance born.
--William C. Bryant.
You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself into one.
--James Anthony Froude.
Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee?
--Ezekiel 22.14.
Loving Father, search me, and if there be any evil ways in me, correct them, and lead me into the ways everlasting. I pray that I may not be deformed from selfishness, but with a lowly and expectant heart run with patience and triumph the race that is set before me. Amen.
Heartlight Daily Verse
Welcome to Heartlight Daily Verse, a free devotional from Crosswalk.
March 9
2 Timothy 1:9
God has saved us and called us to a holy life -- not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.
Thoughts on today's verse
Before the beginning of time! How do you understand when that was? God first thought of us at a time we cannot even begin to understand! His reason for thinking of us was to demonstrate his grace and call others to his side. Jesus has always been God's plan, and we have always been his goal. Let's make sure we respond by living that holy life!
Prayer:
Thank you so much, Father, for knowing me and thinking of my needs, even before there was a world. I dedicate this day to your honor and pledge to live a life that reflects your righteousness and grace. Through Jesus, the one who had no sin, I pray. Amen.
March 10
1 Peter 3:15
In your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
Thoughts on today's verse
We are to be ready and able to tell folks about the hope that Jesus has brought to our lives! But when we share this hope, two things are important: our credibility -- is Jesus really Lord of our hearts -- and our character -- do we show gentleness and respect in our approach. The goal is not to win arguments, but hearts to the God of character!
Prayer:
Holy and Loving Father, thank you for speaking your grace in Jesus. I'm not sure I would have heard any other message. Give me the conviction I need to share my hope in Jesus, but in a way that reflects your grace. Through my Living Hope I pray. Amen.
March 11
Deuteronomy 7:9
The Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
Thoughts on today's verse
God is faithful and his covenant is a covenant of love. He will not forsake us and will treat us better than we deserve just as a loving parent treats a rebellious child better than s/he deserves. But our hearts must be tuned to honor God as God, not as just a good luck charm or a weekly guest into our otherwise busy lives. What we do must be done in awareness that it is done before and for him!
Prayer:
Faithful God, thank you for loving me so sacrificially and steadfastly. Thank you for the way you preserved your promises to the Israelites and brought Jesus just as you promised. I trust your promise to send him back to bring me home to you. Please receive the deeds and words of this day as my thanks to you for your covenant of love with me and those I love. Through Jesus, your gift of love, I pray. Amen.
March 12
2 Peter 1:4
He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Thoughts on today's verse
God made us to be like him in character and holiness. We are called to participate in the divine nature and are assured that we will be made ready when Jesus comes again. His promise is sure if we will follow wholeheartedly!
Prayer:
Almighty God, my Everlasting Fortress, thank you for giving me your great promises. I long to know you more fully and be able to see your face today, just as I believe I will one day. Please protect me and my heart from corruption. In all love and appreciation I pray. Amen.
March 13
Romans 8:28
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Thoughts on today's verse
God is in our lives. He is at work right now, undoing Satan's destructive messes and leading us to places he wants us to go. This is true in everything we do and everywhere we go. The key is for us to seek his purpose, to live his will. If that is our goal, then we can be sure our God is with us every step of our way.
Prayer:
Thank you, God, for being at work in my life. Thank you for not leaving me alone to my best effort, insight, and choice. Thank you for having a plan for me and being the assurance that I can't mess that plan up if I seek your will. Thank you for being my God, my Father, and my Partner through all of life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
March 14
2 Peter 1:5-8
Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to gooodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thoughts on today's verse
Wow! What a message. God wants us to be productive in our lives. He wants us to have more than just head knowledge. He wants us to put it to work in our lives and be effective and productive with it. But, I've got to put out some effort and try to grow in these qualities. Peter is saying, "Okay folks, God wants you to get after it and make a difference through your life!" I'm ready! Let's begin today.
Prayer:
Holy God, I am going to put out the effort to grow in your grace. Please bless my efforts and receive them as my heartfelt appreciation for loving me when I was unlovable and redeeming me when I was lost. I want to be productive to your glory in my life with Jesus, through whom I pray. Amen.
March 15
Acts 4:12
The name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth... Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
Thoughts on today's verse
"Jesus, there's just something about that name!" The words to the song are right. Salvation from what is warped and broken in our world is found in no one else. He is our Savior because he was willing to come to this world, bear our limitations, shame, and sin, and then triumph over them.
Prayer:
Through the precious name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, my Lord, I thank and praise you God, Most High. Your love has given the sacrifice for my sin and your power has given me the assurance of my resurrection from the dead. Your Son's willingness to spend a lifetime with us has given me a Great High Priest who intercedes with empathy for my struggles. His example lets me know of your great love. Thank You O God, for being so gracious and giving me such a wonderful Savior. Amen.
March 16
Colossians 3:12
As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Thoughts on today's verse
"Wonder what I'll need to wear to that meeting?" Paul reminds us that there is a set of clothing that is always in style. We wear this clothing because we are special. This clothing is from the Ultimate Designer's collection called character and is best worn when with other people. These qualities are hard to wear, but always a blessing to those who meet us when we're decked out in this wardrobe.
Prayer:
Abba Father, thank you for bringing me into your family. May I never disappoint you in the way I treat others. May they see in me the qualities of character that can only be attributed to your presence in my life. To you be the glory and the honor, forever and ever, through Jesus my Lord. Amen
March 17
Psalm 23:1-3
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.
Thoughts on today's verse
He restores my soul. My, that sounds so good. But it is more than talk. When we've reached point that we can't go on, God blesses us with strength to just keep on walking. When we're in a struggle and things are tough, his power upholds us and we run to victory. When we're winning victories in his name, we can soar on wings like eagles. He is a shepherd and more. He is the Rock and Sustainer of our lives!
Prayer:
O Gentle Shepherd, help me rest tonight in your grace and in the confidence that you are nearby. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
March 18
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thoughts on today's verse
Hope and joy and peace sound terrific! Two things are vital for this to be a part of our lives. First, we must trust God to meet our needs and get us to where we need to be. Second, we expect the power of the Holy Spirit to bless us and empower us with God's qualities.
Prayer:
Great and Mighty God, bless me with greater trust that you are nearby and long to help. Bless and empower me to be the person you want me to be. Fill me with your Spirit so I may live my life more like Jesus lived his life here on earth. Through him I pray. Amen.
March 19
Galatians 5:22-23
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Thoughts on today's verse
A lot of different religious groups will give you all sorts of ways to know whether or not you have the Holy Spirit. Jesus has one simple answer: "by their fruit you will know them." Paul gives us the definition of holy fruit. Say them out loud and ask the Lord to make it true in you: LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL.
Prayer:
Abba Father, through the Spirit I call upon you. Please fulfill in me the character you possess. I want to exhibit the qualities of your child, Jesus, through whom I pray. Amen.
March 20
1 Peter 2:2-3
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Thoughts on today's verse
Salvation is such a precious thing! But like a newborn baby, we become obnoxious or sick if we stay in the same place we were spiritually when we were saved! Read Hebrews 6 and see what God has to say about remaining immature! We must really want to grow. We must crave what is good and what builds us up. What are you going to do today to satisfy your spiritual appetite?
Prayer:
Mighty God, thank you for loving me and saving me. I really want to mature in your grace. Bless me today as I seek to pattern holy habits and fill myself spiritually with the things that will help me grow. But Holy God, I know that true growth comes only from you, so I ask you to strengthen me by your Spirit as I pursue your character. Through Jesus' mighty name I pray. Amen.
March 21
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought.
Thoughts on today's verse
Trust. Can we trust in God? Is the Lord faithful? While we may wish to have been alive when Jesus walked the earth or Jeremiah spoke fearlessly God's hard truth, we are especially blessed to be alive today. We stand at the end of an incredible stream of God work and know him to be profoundly faithful to his people. We can launch out into the future with boldness because we know, as Psalm 139 says, God is there!
Prayer:
Holy God, I know you are there! In the morning, in the evening, in the long nights, I know I am not alone. Thank you for knowing me and going with me through all my days. Please make your presence known to me this day as I seek to honor you in what I do and say. Through Jesus my Lord I ask this. Amen.
March 22
Ephesians 6:10-11
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
Thoughts on today's verse
Many of the struggles in our lives are not mere accidents! In fact, many of them are not put there by God. Our challenges often come from the hand of our enemy, Satan. He always prowls around looking for the best scheme to knock us out of our commitment to, and relationship with, the Lord. Placing ourselves firmly in the hands of the Lord and using his tools of warfare will help us defeat our enemy, who has already been humiliated by Jesus and the cross.
Prayer:
Strengthen me, O God, that I may stand against my foe and triumph by the power of your Spirit and bring honor and glory to my conquering Savior You will return one day and take me home in victory. Through the Rider on the White Horse I pray. Amen.
March 23
James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive he crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
Thoughts on today's verse
Only Christians win at life. That's because none of us have the power to hold back our greatest enemy, death. But when we have persevered, we are given the ultimate victory, LIFE that will not end.
Prayer:
Thank You, O Father, for giving me the assurance that when all is said and done, I will share in your life and your victory forever. Help me this day to live confidently, knowing that I have your life. Through Jesus, my conquering King, I pray. Amen.
March 24
Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thoughts on today's verse
When we get death for sin, we're only being paid what we're owed -- sin is rebellion against the God who loves us and gave us his most precious gift to redeem us from sin! But God's gift is free -- eternal life in Jesus Christ. He gave it without our assurance of following.
Prayer:
Thank you, God, for loving me when no one else could or would. Thank you for sacrificing the most precious gift of heaven so I could join you there. Of all the gifts I've ever received, yours is the best. This thanksgiving I offer through the gift that set me free! Amen.
March 25
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Thoughts on today's verse
We can be forgiven of our sins! That's great. We can be purified of any stain from sin!! That's incredible. But only because of God's grace and his willingness to give us the perfect sacrifice for our sins.
Prayer:
Forgiving Father, please forgive me today for my lack of passion to love and forgive others in the way you have forgiven me. Create in me a heart like your own. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
March 26
Philippians 1:29
It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.
Thoughts on today's verse
When we read the book of Acts, we find the disciples overjoyed at suffering "for the sake of the name." Jesus' followers consider it a privilege and not just a hardship. The truth of our commitment is often best shown to the skeptical when we are "under fire."
Prayer:
What a precious name you have given to your son, O Lord. May it be exalted in all the earth and through out all the heavens, until all existence knows that he is truly Lord. Through him I pray. Amen.
March 27
Psalm 62:7
My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Thoughts on today's verse
Who we are, what becomes of us in life, is in God's hands. We cannot purchase or achieve lasting honor for ourselves without his blessing. We cannot secure the future or our safety without his protection and blessing. The basis of all achievement and glory is dependent upon us placing our lives in his care.
Prayer:
O Rock, Fortress of my life, I place myself in your care. Take charge of my future and use me for your glory. In you I take refuge, and on your strength I rely to make my days worthwhile. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
MARCH TWENTY-SEVENTH
Alfred Vigny born 1799.
General A. W. Greely born 1847.
Sir Gilbert Scott died 1878.
It takes great strength to bring your life up square
With your accepted thought and hold it there:
Resisting the inertia that drags it back
From new attempts, to the old habit's track.
It is so easy to drift back, to sink.
So hard to live abreast of what you think.
--Charlotte Perkins Stetson.
If a person had delivered up your body to anyone whom he met in his way, you would certainly be angry. And do you feel no shame in delivering up your own mind to be disconcerted and confounded by anyone who happens to give you ill language.
--Epictetus.
Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.
--Acts 26. 19.
My Father, my soul sinks with shame when I think of the great moments that I have given over to mean little things. Help me that I may reckon more on the value of time, and live not to tolerate life, but to have a great need for it, that day by day I may have a deeper consciousness of its appropriate use. Amen.
March 29
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Thoughts on today's verse
Righteousness! That's what we are. God's righteousness. We are the testimony of how holy, just, and gracious he truly is, because in Jesus, we are his righteousness!
Prayer:
Thank you, O Almighty God, for making me righteous in the blood of your son's death. May people see in me a reflection of your holiness, justice, and mercy. Through Jesus, who sacrificed for my sins, I pray. Amen
April 1
Psalm 14:1
The fool says in his heart there is no God.
Thoughts on today's verse
We have raised an angry fist to fate, cursed the darkness, and denied there is a God. Each of these is equally ineffective. To rob heaven of God is only to rob ourselves of grace, hope, and a future. How foolish indeed to forget that behind a creation of wonder, order, variety, beauty, ferocity, and pattern is the Creator who is far greater than his handiwork.
Prayer:
O Lord God Almighty, Creator and Sustainer, thank you for being there, but for being with me today. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
April 2
Matthew 20:17-19
Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"
Thoughts on today's verse
One thing the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) make clear is that Jesus' death on the cross was no accident. Jesus knew the challenge that awaited him in Jerusalem, and he walked into it to deliver us from the same fate.
Prayer:
Holy God and Loving Father, thank you for your plan to cover my sin with your grace by the death of your Son. May I live today aware of his sacrifice and confident of his victory over sin and death so my life may reflect your victory. Through Jesus, my precious Savior, I pray. Amen
April 3
Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Thoughts on today's verse
"He drives where he looks, he drives where he looks!" That statement by a disgruntled elderly wife about her husband really spoke the truth. But then it's true of all of us. We "live like where we look" That's why it's important to fix our eyes on Jesus!
Prayer:
Almighty and holy God, without your grace and the gift of your salvation I could not approach you with confidence. Thank you for sending Jesus! Thank you for his life, his death, his resurrection, his exaltation and his intercession. I pledge this day to keep my eyes on him! Through him I pray. Amen.
HeartLight
April 4
Ephesians 1:7
In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.
Thoughts on today's verse
Forgiveness. What a sweet and precious gift. What we could not fix, make up, or pay for, God did for us in Jesus. With him each day is a fresh start and rebirth of springtime. But my what a cost!
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, for your anguish it cost to forgive my sins by the blood of your Son. I pledge today that I will not take lightly the cost of my sin and will live to your glory in appreciation of your grace. Through him who sacrificed all for my salvation I pray. Amen
HeartLight
April 5
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
Thoughts on today's verse
"What am I living for?" While that is an important question, the most important question of all is, "Who am I living for?" Only one person I can live for insures that I will never die, because he has already died for me and conquered death!
Prayer:
Victorious Lord, thank you for giving me triumph over death through Jesus my Lord. Thank you for giving me victory over sin through his sacrificial death. Thank you for giving me victory today in my life as I live it for him. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
April 6
1 John 3:16
This is how we know love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
Thoughts on today's verse
What does it mean to lay down our lives for our brothers? Sounds pretty extravagant, but the next verse in 1 John 3 reminds us that most often it's very simple: if we have a brother or sister in Christ with needs, we give up what we have to fill that need!
Prayer:
Lord God Almighty, I am convicted by your sacrifice and ask for eyes to see and grace to act when my brothers and sisters are in need. Through the name of Jesus I ask this. Amen.
April 7
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Thoughts on today's verse
When we are baptized into Christ, we share in his crucifixion and we are raised up to be new people. Christ is alive in us. The real challenge is for us to be "Christ alive!" Our motivation? Not to earn salvation, which has already been given us by grace, but to honor him who sacrificed all to save us. (See Romans 6:1-14)
Prayer:
Thank you, God, for loving me and sending Jesus to redeem me from my sin. I promise you today that I will live by faith in your Son who gave himself so I can spend eternity with you. I ask that by your Spirit, you help Jesus' life be seen in me. Through him I pray. Amen.
April 8 HeartLight
Romans 5:10
If, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life.
Thoughts on today's verse
Jesus didn't just die for my sins, he lives for me. In fact, he is at God's right hand claiming me as his own (see 1 John 2:1-2). If he was willing to die to save me, what will he withhold now that he lives victorious over death?
Prayer:
Holy and Righteous Father, I thank you for Jesus, who is at your side and knows my heart, struggles, and world. I thank you for your constant care and protection through all of my difficulties and triumphs. Please make your presence known more clearly today than ever before as I try to serve you with wholehearted devotion. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
April 9 HEARTLIGHT
Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Thoughts on today's verse
Jesus was God with us. No imitation, knock off, or clone. He was God with us. To this day, he sustains creation with his word -- so much for "Mother Nature." But now "God with us" has paid for our sins and is not just God with us, but God for us at the Father's side.
Prayer:
Precious Lord, as you have so many times in the past, you take these humble human words and bring them to the Father as my friend and brother. Thank you for your sacrifice, which saved me. Thank you for your sustaining presence in our universe. Thank you for your daily intercession. Thank you for being God for me at the Father's side. To the glorious, majestic, and holy God, who sent Jesus as Savior, be glory, honor, and adoration forever and ever. Amen.
April 10
Romans 5:6-8
At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Thoughts on today's verse
Jesus died for us,but not because he had some high hopes for who we are or what we would be. No, he died for us because he knew exactly who we are and what we would be without him. But praise be to God, we are now God's righteousness because he took our sin and gave us God's grace (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
Prayer:
Holy God, thank you for Jesus, my Savior. No words are adequate to express my love and devotion to you for such an incredible gift! Through him I give and live my thanks to you. Amen.
April 11
1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness, by his wounds you have been healed.
Thoughts on today's verse
He bore our sins. He didn't just carry them, he suffered the penalty we deserved. His anguish was our healing, his suffering our righteousness. How can we ever think of going back to sin after he suffered so much to bear their penalty?
Prayer:
Holy God, how you could stand to see your precious Son under the weight of my sin, all sin, I will never understand. Thank you for such a great love and for being so great a God. There is none who can be compared to you, O God. Your greatness is beyond imagining and your love beyond my dreams. I will live this day to your glory through him who bore my sin so I could be your child. Amen.
Heartlight Daily Verse
April 12
Luke 9:23-24
Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
Thoughts on today's verse
"I've just got to find myself." Won't ever happen. We do not "find ourselves, our life" by pursuing it. We find it by losing it to something or someone greater than ourselves. We find our life be losing it to Jesus and the work of his Kingdom.
Prayer:
Master and Maker of all that lives and breathes, take my life and every breath and use it for your glory. May my words and actions this day be pleasing to you. Through Jesus I offer you this prayer and praise. Amen.
April 13
Heartlight Daily Verse
Romans 3:23-24
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Thoughts on today's verse
"I blew it!" Come to think of it, we've all blown it! We don't measure up. We're not divine. We might be decent, but decent won't do. Only the divine, the truly righteous, make it past the grave in glory. Thank God that grace is freely given and the price for our sin was paid by Jesus. While I "blew it" he renewed it!
Prayer:
Kind and Loving Father, thank you for being so generous with your grace. May I be as passionate for your righteousness as you were in redeeming me from my sin. Through Jesus I ask this. Amen.
April 14
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you... that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according Scriptures.
Thoughts on today's verse
The Gospel story is pretty simple to understand. The grace of the Gospel is glorious to receive. The sacrifice of the Gospel is incomprehensible. The victory of the Gospel is life.
Prayer:
Almighty Lord, thank you for the empty tomb and Jesus' victory over the grave. Just as Jesus' death pardoned my sin, his resurrection assures my future. Thank you for grace and glory. May my life today be lived by the power of the resurrection. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
April 15
Romans 13:6-7
This is why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him. If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Thoughts on today's verse
Owe! Tax day. Not my favorite, how about yours? But where would we be without government, order and laws? While we may not like how the system functions today, what if we had no system? Let's be redemptive in our living and obedient in our citizenship.
Prayer:
Holy God, I thank you that I am free in you and belong to no man or power. Yet because I want your name to be respected, I pledge to obey the laws of this land as long as they do not run directly in contradiction to your will. At the same time, I fervently pray that you heal our land. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
April 16
Romans 13:8
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
Thoughts on today's verse
He paid a debt and I owe one. Thank God I don't owe the debt for my sin, but I owe others the same love, respect and grace with which God has treated me!
Prayer:
Holy God who owns all things, I thank you for not just owning me, but for having bought me out of slavery, sin, and death. Please kindle love in my heart through the Holy Spirit so I will love others as you do. In Jesus' name. Amen.'
April 17
1 Corinthians 1:18
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Thoughts on today's verse
Power! We love power. We love the sound and fury of power. We love the ability to change things that power brings. But the greatest power ever unleashed on this earth was the power displayed when the Almighty God held back his power while his Son was persecuted and murdered so we could be saved. Now that's an awesome display of power.
Prayer:
Holy and Majestic God on high, I praise you for your incredible might and power. But I also thank you for your love, which guides the release of that power. Thank you for knowing that I am but dust without your sustaining Spirit. Thank you for saving me by withholding your mighty power so I could be pardoned by your sacrificial power. Through Jesus' mercy I offer this prayer. Amen.
April 18
HeartLight
Romans 10:9-10
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Thoughts on today's verse
Imagine Jesus being proud of you! He said if we confess him before others here on earth, he will speak up for us in heaven. Confessing that Jesus is Lord is simply acknowledging the truth. But for believers, it is more than that, since at the close of time every knee will bow and every tongue confess his name. For us, confessing Jesus is anticipating his triumph in which we will share.
Prayer:
Mighty God, your Son is my Lord. I love him and praise him for his redeeming sacrifice. I thank him for his conquest of the grave. I marvel at his sacrificial and triumphant grace. Jesus is Lord. I know it sounds sweet in your ears so I say it again, Jesus is my Lord. Thank you for being so great that you would be so sacrificial. Through my Lord and Savior I offer this thanks. Amen.
April 19
1 Corinthians 15:20-22
Christ has indeed been raised, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Thoughts on today's verse
Being eternal is nothing new. Being like Jesus, completely, immortally will be new. But when the moment of glory hung in the balance as Jesus was revived from his death sleep, we too were given the assurance that death no longer claims us. The only death that really matters is our death to sin with Jesus in baptism. If we have shared in that death, we will most certainly share in his resurrection (see Romans 6:1-14).
Prayer:
Almighty, Most Powerful God. Because of your grace and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, I know I will see you face to face. Help me now, however, to live that resurrected life being more like Jesus today than any day ever before. Through my Risen Lord I pray! . Amen.'
April 20
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thoughts on today's verse
Victory! Ultimate Victory!! If you don't have the answer for life's biggest test, death, then you have no victory. The Super Bowl and World Series are played every year. The champion is a victor for only one year. But a Christian is a champion forever because of Jesus. A Christian has victory over death.
Prayer:
Thank you God for giving me victory in Jesus Christ. Make his will triumphant in my daily struggles with sin. Through my Triumphant King I ask it. Amen.
April 21
The Christian answer to suffering
For reading & meditation: Matthew 26:36-46
"Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go!" (vv.45-46)
Yesterday we looked at some of the world's ineffectual answers to the problem of unmerited suffering. In them there are no wounds to answer our wounds, no death to answer our death. Their so-called answers remind me of a cartoon I once saw which depicted two toddlers in a children's boxing ring. Stripped for action, with nothing on but shorts and boxing gloves, they were ready for the fray. The attention of one of the youngsters was caught by two butterflies flitting just above his head and he stood gazing up at them, exposing himself to the blow which his opponent was about to land on his nose. Gazing at butterflies while in the midst of a conflict is a dangerous occupation. Any system of thought that takes your attention off the grim facts of life by calling attention to butterflies is doomed inevitably to produce pessimism as the blows begin to fall. What, then, is the Christian answer to this problem? First, we must realistically face the fact that life involves suffering. There is no escaping that fact; to deny it is a denial of reality. I have found from experience that the first thing many Christians do when caught up in a form of suffering is to deny its reality and say something like this: "I don't have any problems, for Jesus is the Great Insulator between me and everything that happens." It is not lack of faith to acknowledge a problem. You don't have to dwell upon it, but before you can deal with it, you must acknowledge it. Remember, you must first be willing to face reality before you can expect to overcome it.
Prayer:
O God, give me courage to face up to issues and not dodge them. Help me to be open and honest. Father, I look to You now to help me put this into daily practice. For Jesus' sake. Amen.
For further study:
Matthew 26:36-46; Psalms 34:19-20; 2 Timothy 2:12
1. What is the purpose of our affliction?
2. What has God promised?
April 22
HeartLight
Romans 1:20
Since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Thoughts on today's verse
The touch of the Master's hand is all around us. We see it in the order, beauty, and dazzling variety in creation. The great expanse of space with its billions of planets and the incredible world of the microscopic are all testimony to an Orderer of great creativity. God has left his fingerprints all over his world so we can know he is here.
Prayer:
O God, thank you for your creation. Thank you for its beauty and variety. Thank you for changing seasons and the beauty of Spring. But most of all, thank you for choosing to show yourself to us, your creatures. In Jesus' name. Amen.
April 23
Romans 14:11
It is written, "As surely as I live," says the Lord, "every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God."
Thoughts on today's verse
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." "Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!" Yes, every knee will bow. But ours already do. We live in anticipation of the day when all peoples will bow before our King. Until that day, let's do all we can to make sure they do so in joy and not on that day in fear!
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for saving me. May my anticipation of the day of Jesus' victory move me to be your agent of reconciliation so others are ready for that day and will welcome it with joy. Gives me eyes to see those who need to come to Jesus today. Through him I pray. Amen.'
April 24
1 Peter 1:18-19
You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
Thoughts on today's verse
If value is determined by price, we are incredibly valuable. God took the most precious treasure of heaven to buy us out of sin and death and adopt us into his family. Silver and gold pale in comparison to that value.
Prayer:
Holy God, may I live today constantly aware of my inestimable value to you. May my words, thoughts and actions be permeated with a sense of worth. Not so that I may seem important but so that I may live in holiness and honor to your precious gift to me. Through him I pray. Amen.
April 25
Colossians 1:27-28
God has chosen you to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
Thoughts on today's verse
Christ lives in me. Until I can become completely like him through the power of the Spirit (2 Cor 3:18), he lives in me. Until I can go home to be with him he lives in me (John14:1-21). Everywhere I go and everything I do, he is with me.
Prayer:
O God, may the presence of Jesus within me stir me to your work today. May your abiding grace, through the presence of your gracious Son, call me to your character and your concerns. O Jesus, please make my heart like our Father's. Amen.
April 26
Hebrews 7:25
Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Thoughts on today's verse
Jesus didn't just come and die for us. He wasn't raised only to give us life. No, as incredible as those gifts are, he adds another until he can come and take us home to God: Jesus lives to ask God for grace in our behalf.
Prayer:
Precious Savior, my Jesus, how I love you. You sacrificed heaven for me. You gave up dignity to redeem me. You destroyed death to assure me. But today, I am most thankful and most aware that every prayer I make, every step I take, you are in the Father's presence to bless me. Thank you. Amen.
April 27
Luke 19:10
The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
Thoughts on today's verse
"The Friend of Sinners." Of all the things Jesus was called, I believe that was his favorite. Come to think of it, I believe it's my favorite, too!
Prayer:
Father, while I know you hate sin and the havoc it creates in our lives, I am so thankful that when you came to earth you were not our judge but our Savior, you were our friend. I promise to live today more aware of your love for the lost because I know what it means to be found. Through Jesus my Lord, I pray. Amen.'
April 28
Philippians 2:5-8
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!
Thoughts on today's verse
"Lord, humble us gently." That is one of my friend's favorite prayers. I like it, too. But thank God that Jesus was not gently humbled. While I hate he had to go through agony, his self-emptying humility the fact that was stark, bold, drastic, and outrageous. But I am to have this same attitude when it comes to reaching the lost and loving God's children.
Prayer:
God, you are all-powerful and yet you emptied yourself to redeem me. May I be more selfless in my attitude and treatment of others, like Jesus was with me. In his name, I pray. Amen.
April 29
Job 19:25
I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
Thoughts on today's verse
Beyond what these words were first meant to convey, we know today that our Redeemer will return as the Rider on the white horse in triumph and victory. Hallelujah, what a day!
Prayer:
Conquering King, Immortal God, I look forward to the day of your ultimate triumph in our world. Until that day, I pray that your Kingdom may be reflected in my church, my family and my life. Through the Rider on the white horse, I pray. Amen.'
April 30
Ephesians 4:15
Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
Thoughts on today's verse
Speaking the truth is hard enough. You mean I have to do it in love? Yes, if I am to be Christ's man or woman, I must speak to others as he did.
Prayer:
Father, forgive me for the bitterness in my heart and unfairness on my lips. Through your Spirit, help me better use my speech to bless others and glorify you. May I speak your truth with your love today in all my conversations. Through him who is Truth and Love I pray. Amen.'
May 1
Hebrews 11:6
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Thoughts on today's verse
I believe! I believe that God not only knows me, but cares about me. I believe that God not only created the universe, but he knows the number of hairs on my head. I believe that God not only sent his Son to save the world, but that he's sending him back to bring me home. What's more, I believe that God is pleased by my belief.
Prayer:
Almighty, Most Holy Lord, I thank you for your steadfast love and enduring faithfulness. I thank you for your grace and mercy. I thank you for your might and power. I thank you for your awesome holiness. I thank you... for being you and choosing to reveal yourself to mortals like me. Through Jesus, your final Word, I pray. Amen.'
May 2
1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.
Thoughts on today's verse
Confidence before God. Through the presence of Jesus at the Father's right hand and the intercession of the Holy Spirit, we can have confidence and come boldly before the Creator of the universe and know that he not only hears us, but also cares for us. Wow, what an audience! Oh, and one final thing, he also ACTS on what we ask.
Prayer:
Abba Father, for the grace of your listening ear I thank you more than words can say. Through the authority of Jesus, my brother, and by the grace of your interceding Holy Spirit, I offer you my thanks and love this day. Amen.
May 3
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Thoughts on today's verse
Sometimes the key to survival is simply "setting our jaw" and going on faithfully trusting that God is there helping us, despite the outward circumstances. Choosing joy through hope rather than despair, choosing patient endurance in times of affliction, and choosing faithfulness in prayer are all decisions of the will. We trust that God, who raised Jesus from the dead, can also change our circumstances because he hears our voice.
Prayer:
Create in me, O Mighty God, a resolute and steadfast heart so that I might persevere with joy no matter what the difficulty. This I ask through your faithful Son. Amen.
May 4
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Thoughts on today's verse
Humility is not our culture's biggest asset or most desired character quality. But humility is what is demanded -- not so much because it's commanded (thought that would be enough), but because we've earned it. Every year brings another wave of major failures in morality, character, and spirituality. Rather than progressing culturally, we find ourselves slipping. Humility is earned! So let's be humble and call upon the Lord!
Prayer:
Holy and Almighty God, your deeds are awesome, your faithfulness is overwhelming, and your mercy and grace are such a blessing. Yet I come to you knowing that you hear me, despite the incredible distance between you and I, between your worth and holiness and my lack. I confess that I, and my culture and country around me have made a mess of what you so wonderfully blessed us with. I come humbly asking that you reassert yourself in our nation in clearly recognizable ways. I ask this in faith through Jesus. Amen.
May 5
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Thoughts on today's verse
God wants to hear our prayers, but to keep them from becoming too self-focused, God wants us always to remember to give thanks. It is so easy for us to turn prayer into a request line. We are the ones who are left bereft when thanksgiving and praise are robbed from our prayers.
Prayer:
Gracious God, I have so many reasons to praise you. In the face of trial and hardship I have your promises to reawaken my hope. In the moment of victory I have you to thank for my abilities. In the boredom of the routine, I have great joys in your surprises. Thank you, God, for being so great and yet so loving. In Jesus name. Amen.
May 6
James 5:16
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Thoughts on today's verse
To confess is to do two things with our sin: 1) to recognize sin for what it is in God's eyes and 2) to get rid of our secrets and be honest with another Christian. James' language is powerful. He mentions that this confession doesn't just bring forgiveness. It also brings healing.
Prayer:
Holy Father, I have sinned. I now confess my own personal sin of ____________. I ask for your forgiveness and for your Spirit to strengthen me in overcoming temptation. I want to live for you and not let my sin, any sin, entangle me and draw me away from you. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
May 7
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Thoughts on today's verse
Where does your heart live? That's what these verses are all about. Is there a constant awareness in your life that God is present? Is he the unseen but always present companion in all your ups and downs? Or is God here when it is convenient and gone when things are busy? Joy comes from knowing we are never alone. Prayer is the ongoing conversation we have, Spirit to Spirit, with God. Thanksgiving is the great reminder that we have been blessed no matter what the circumstances may suggest.
Prayer:
Precious and Righteous Father, thank you for being there. Give me a deeper appreciation and a always more profound awareness of your presence today. May my life reflect the joy you have given me by saving me by grace. And may my heart always find its home in you. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
May 8
Colossians 4:5-6
Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Thoughts on today's verse
There are no random acts of kindness, only intentional acts given the opportunity to happen. This is true not just in deeds, but in words as well. But more than trying to avoid poor speech, we are urged to use our speech to bless and help others to come to know Christ.
Prayer:
Father, forgive me for the careless words I have uttered this week. I understand that these careless words are twice sins -- a sin once when I committed it and a sin a second time because I didn't see the opportunity to be redemptive. Open my eyes Lord so that I may see what you have placed in my path. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
May 9
Romans 8:1-2
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set me free from the law of sin and death.
Thoughts on today's verse
"Free at last, free at last, praise Lord God Almighty I am free at last." Becoming a Christian means we have been liberated from law-keeping. We now have God living in us, through the Holy Spirit, to not only help us know his will, but to live it. Through the Spirit's power, we can do what no law could make us do: live up to God's standards of righteousness.
Prayer:
Gracious father, thank you for all of your gifts to me. Today, I want to especially thank you for liberating me from law and empowering me with your Spirit. Fill me and empower me today with your Spirit as I live my life for you. Through Jesus my Lord I pray. Amen.
May 10
Matthew 18:15
If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
Thoughts on today's verse
The right thing is so hard to do sometimes. It is so much easier to gossip, to mention another's wrong against us in a prayer with others, to pass around innuendo. But only one thing is the right thing to do! Go to the person who has wronged you and try to keep the damage contained to just the two of you.
Prayer:
Lord God Almighty, forgive my foolish and selfish ways. Through your Spirit, help me to be as forgiving as you are. Give me courage to lovingly confront those who have sinned against me, but if I cannot bring reconciliation, help me to forgive as you have forgiven me. Through Jesus, the atoning sacrifice for sin I pray. Amen.
May 11
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Thoughts on today's verse
Be kind and compassionate, -- two qualities that seem to be in short supply. Maybe its because we hold up the wrong heroes, but these two qualities are often seen as a sign of weakness rather than strength. To forgive as God forgave us requires great courage and great strength. So let's be strong!
Prayer:
Holy God, there is no way I can adequately thank you for sacrificing so much to forgive me. So this day, I pledge to be more like you, to share more of kindness and grace with those who have wronged me. Today, I ask you to help me release my bitterness toward _____________ and I ask you to bless this person with your kindness and grace. By the power of Jesus' example I ask this. Amen.
May 12
Proverbs 31:10 27-28
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies... She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.
Thoughts on today's verse
Give honor to whom honor is due! This biblical principle is most certainly true of women, and especially those who are godly mothers. Let's make sure we praise the key women in our lives today!
Prayer:
Father, I want to thank you for the women of character and grace, tenderness and fire, love that and tenacity, who have helped shape my life in a way helped me find you. Please bless them this day, I ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
May 13
Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceptive and beauty if fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Thoughts on today's verse
So many things we honor and exalt in our culture are shallow and temporary. The one thing that lasts in a beautiful woman is not her charm or her beauty, but her godliness. Let's make sure in our church families and our physical families that true and lasting beauty is clearly valued and amply praised!
Prayer:
Holy God, please give us better eyes and more faithful hearts that we may value in all people qualities that reflect your character. Bless us as we raise our children that we may instill in them a sense of proper values as they choose their life partner. And dear God, please help us in our churches to value and praise women for their holy character. In Jesus name. Amen.'
May 14
Psalm 139:13-14
You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Thoughts on today's verse
I am made by God! You are made by God. Just as surely as ANYone has been made by God, we have been made by God. He knew us before anyone knew we were there. He had plans for us before anyone planned our arrival. And he made us well! How do we know? Look at all God has made.
Prayer:
God Almighty, my Savior and Redeemer, thank you for knowing me before I was able to know. Thank you for choosing my life and giving it to me. Thank you for giving me the gifts, abilities and talents that you have given me. Now help me live as if I was made special by you, because I am! Through Jesus I pray. Amen.'
May 15
Ecclesiastes 11:5
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
Thoughts on today's verse
I don't know. I don't know! That has to be one of the hardest phrases for us to use. But when thinking about God and his ways, that's really all we can say. We know about God only what he in his grace has chosen to reveal to us. He is the Mystery of mysteries. He is the supreme knowable Unknown. Yet what we do know of him, what he has revealed to us in Jesus, is not only mighty and awesome, but loving and merciful.
Prayer:
To you, O Lord God, I can only offer my wonder and awe. When I consider the universe in which our tiny blue planet spins its existence, I am humbled at your vastness. But at the same time, I treasure your nearness. You are a good far above all I know, but a God who is also near. Thank you for being accessible but not penetrable. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
May 16
Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
Thoughts on today's verse
So God likes to sing too! He even likes to share his lullabies with those he loves. Not only is God Abba Father, he is also like a mother. He gently rocks and quiets his children with his affectionate care.
Prayer:
O God, I pray that when the storms of life rage against me, I will remember these words and find refuge, comfort and peace in your sheltering care. Make me aware, O God, of your singing in my life as you make your salvation more clear to me each day. Through my Savior Jesus I pray. Amen.
May 17
Romans 11:33
Oh, the depth and riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out.
Thoughts on today's verse
God's plan to save us is incredible. His blueprints for the creation of our universe are beyond our imagining. He is so rich in wisdom and knowledge. What else can we do but go to him and ask him to open our minds to his work and his will in our lives.
Prayer:
Precious and Almighty Father, thank you for reawakening me each spring to the power of your sustaining presence in the world, but even more in my life. Bless me today as I seek to put you first in all I do. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
May 18
Hebrews 6:10
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
Thoughts on today's verse
So much assurance in such a short verse! God is not unjust -- boy is that an understatement. If he produced the atoning sacrifice for our sins, what will he deny us if we seek after him? He will not forget our work and love -- an eternal record of the good we have done! When we help our brothers and sisters in Christ, we bless him! We are HIS people!! That's real motivation to keep on maturing in Christ.
Prayer:
God, you are so gracious. Thank you. Words cannot express my joy at hearing such a simple and profound statement describing your virtues. I am so glad I am your child. Through my brother Jesus I pray. Amen.
May 19
James 3:17-18
The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.
Thoughts on today's verse
Now I know why righteousness is so hard to find: there aren't many sowers! Heavenly wisdom is full of sacrificial earthly action. That's a powerful reminder to me that wisdom is not what you know but what you sow!
Prayer:
Holy and Wise Father, thank you for demonstrating purity, peace making, consideration, submissiveness, mercy, good fruit, impartiality, and sincerity in Jesus. I ask for the power and the courage to demonstrate those qualities this week as I seek to live more like him. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
May 20
Romans 15:5-6
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thoughts on today's verse
Unity comes from God's Spirit as we follow Jesus. But unity has a purpose much deeper than our getting along with each other. Jesus prayed that we would be one so the world would know that God sent him (John 17). We want to be united so our praise can bring glory to God. Unity is far more than a goal, it is a process through which the world learns of Jesus and we glorify the Father who sent him and saved us. Can you think of anything more fundamental to our faith than that!
Prayer:
Great and Almighty God, Eternal Strength for all who call on your name, I apologize and ask your forgiveness for everything I've done and every word I've spoken that has hurt someone in your family and brought a wound to the unity of your Church. Please bless my efforts as I seek less of my will and more for your glory and the encouragement of others. Through Jesus I ask it. Amen
May 21
1 Corinthians 1:10
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
Thoughts on today's verse
For churches to get along, sometimes their leaders must remind them about unity, using the authority of the One who made his dying prayer a prayer for unity. We must work together or perish.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you have presented so many of my prayers to our Father, but today, I want to thank you for loving me so. I promise that I will do all I can, to the glory of our Father, to live at peace and serve those who belong to you. By your name and through the blessed Holy Spirit I pray. Amen.
May 22
Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Thoughts on today's verse
Freedom is a wonderful gift when it is handled with responsibility. Not being under law is such a sweet grace, but we must pass that sweetness on to each other through service, kindness, and care.
Prayer:
O Great God of Deliverance, thank you for rescuing Israel from Pharaoh's grasp, David from the sword of Goliath, and Daniel from the lion's den. But O Great Deliverer, thank you most of all for the triumph of Jesus over sin at Calvary and his victory over death at the empty tomb. I long to see you face to face and thank you for my freedom. Until that day, guide me as I use this gift of liberation to serve your children and live for you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
May 23
Romans 15:2
Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Thoughts on today's verse
Being depressed and dissatisfied with life can be caused by a myriad of things. But for many of us, these are symptoms that we have focused too much on ourselves and are angry with life. We have forgotten to count our blessings, thank and praise God, and help those around us. This verse addresses the last in this list: thinking of others is just what Christ did. It makes a difference in the life we bless and we also find ourselves immensely blessed.
Prayer:
Holy and Matchless God, help me to see the brokenness, hurt, and difficulties in the lives around me, not so I can gloat or feel better about myself, but so that I might bless another with your love and grace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
May 24
Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Thoughts on today's verse
Being "devoted to another in brotherly love" requires that our church conversations -- we're family, brothers and sisters, children of God -- must be more than mere words. We must enter each others' lives, getting to know one another so that we can serve, love, and bless each other. What have you done lately to get more involved in the lives of your fellow Christians? Devotion to others follows a commitment to know and be known by them!
Prayer:
Father, thank you for giving me a world-wide family. Thank you for loving me so completely. Father I ask that you help me be more open with myself and my time to those in your family. Give me a heart that burns to bless and be blessed by those you have made your children. Through my brother Jesus I pray. Amen.
May 25
James 1:19
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
Thoughts on today's verse
Have a brake on your tongue, hit the throttle on your ears. Let your angry email sit three days before responding and make sure you read it and edit it before you send it. Keep you mouth shut and your ears open. They all say the same thing. Now if we would just do it, wouldn't the Christian community be so much more blessed!
Prayer:
Mighty and Holy God, you are incredible. Beyond my comprehending. How you put up with all the drivel, senseless, and hurtful speech that I and your other children spew out is beyond my understanding. I ask that you release the Holy Spirit to convict my heart and guard my lips from any form of hurtful speech. I want my voice to be as much yours as my heart is. This I pray through Jesus. Amen.
May 26
John 3:17
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Thoughts on today's verse
How do you view God? Is he someone looking for a way to condemn you? Is he an out-of-touch old man who doesn't really know what it's like in our modern world? Is he too holy to soil himself with the concerns of mere mortals and has left it up to us to work everything out for ourselves? No. NO. NO! God chose to enter our world and experience it from the side of mortality. God chose to enter our world, not to condemn us, or it, but to redeem it. Jesus is the great reminder that God longs to save us, not judge us. Thank God for God! Thank God for Jesus who was God with us.
Prayer:
Holy and Heavenly God, thank you that you live with those who are contrite and repentant and who long for your presence. You know we are only mortal, but you love us. You know that we are flawed, but you redeemed us. You know that we are not perfect, but you sent Jesus as the perfect sacrifice to save us. Thank you. Through my Savior I offer my sincerest gratitude and praise. Amen.
May 27
Acts 20:24
I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given to me -- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
Thoughts on today's verse
How important is grace? Paul said it was more important than his life! Telling about grace was more important to Paul than his life! In fact, that was his life!
Prayer:
Almighty God, Holy Father, thank you for your lavish grace demonstrated and fully expressed in sending Jesus to die for me. As your child, and in thanks to your sacrificial gift, I pledge to you my life, my love, and my all. Through Jesus. Amen.
May 28
Romans 12:15
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
Thoughts on today's verse
We are not alone. God has given us each other to live our lives for him and get us back home to him. Along the way, we want to share each others' burdens, soar on each others joys, and love each others' hurts. There is no such thing as a solo Christian.
Prayer:
Loving Father, lead me to the people today who need their burdens lifted and their joys shared. Let me be your presence in the world of your children today. This I ask in Jesus name. Amen.
May 29
Psalm 103:17-18
From everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousnesswith their children's children -- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
Thoughts on today's verse
Forever love is talked about in dime store novels, but only found in God. We tap that reservoir of eternal and divine love through the Holy Spirit, who helps us receive it and share it.
Prayer:
Everlasting Father, may your love fill your people so the world may know we are Jesus' disciples. Through him I pray. Amen.
May 30
Psalm 56:4
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. what can mortal man do to me?
Thoughts on today's verse
One of the powerful things about having a Bible, a repository of God's words, is that its age and varied countries and cultures remind us how enduring God's truth actually is. Yet it is God in whom we put our trust. His enduring presence through cultures, centuries, and countries reminds us that eternal is outside our grasp, but God holds us in his grasp.
Prayer:
O Great and Eternal God, thank you that you are more stable than the ground on which I stand, more enduring than the mountain peaks I admire, and more constant than the waves upon the oceans. I trust my life and my future and soul with you. Please be pleased, but even more, help me to be constant in faithfulness to you. Through Jesus I ask this prayer. Amen.
May 31
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
The Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Thoughts on today's verse
What do you have that is forever? Most of everything we have falls apart, breaks, or runs down in a short time. But we have three things that last forever: God, our Christian friends, and our praise of God. These are eternal.
Prayer:
God, I look forward to the day of your next great surprise. I join the angels in standing on tiptoe as I look to the clouds to see my Lord, your Son, return in glory and receive the welcome and honor he deserves. I praise you for that day now, even though I see it only by faith. Until I see you on that day, please know my heart's desire is to serve you, even when my weakness gets in the way of showing it as fully as I should. My thanks to you in Jesus name. Amen.
June 1
Revelation 21:2-4
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of thing has passed away.
Thoughts on today's verse
I don't know about you, but I'm kind of ready for that old order stuff to go away. The end of tears, death, mourning, crying and pain sounds pretty good to me! No wonder the early Christians would say, "Marantha. Come Lord Jesus!" They couldn't wait.
Prayer:
Holy God, please help me as I try to continue serving you faithfully. My desire is to be steadfast in my love and living for you until the glorious day that so many of your children have longed for over the centuries. I long to see you in your glory and to share in your presence and to join with the saints of all ages past praising you around your glorious throne. Through Jesus, I pray. Amen.
June 2
Hebrews 9:28
Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Thoughts on today's verse
Who are you waiting for? Can you think of anything more exciting than to wait for Jesus to come take us home in his glory.
Prayer:
Majestic King of the Ages, may your Kingdom come in all its fullness and every knee bow to your Savior, and may you grant that it may come to pass in our generation. Through Jesus I expectantly pray. Amen.
June 4
1 Chronicles 29:11
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
Thoughts on today's verse
Praise is letting God know we recognize him for who he is, what he has done, and what he is doing. But more than informing God of his greatness, praise is rejoicing before him in his greatness and recognizing that not only is his grace without comparison, his majesty and might and holiness and faithfulness and righteousness and mercy and love and forgiveness and justice and... are without comparison. Praise is thankful celebration that he is God, and even more importantly, that he is our God.
Prayer:
Great and Gracious God without comparison, you are truly worthy of my best words and best thoughts and best imaginings. I worship and submit to you, rejoice that you are who you are, celebrate what you have done, and long for what you are yet to do. You are magnificent, my Father and my God. Through Jesus, and because of his matchless love, I praise you. Amen.
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June 5
1 Thessalonians 5:11
Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Thoughts on today's verse
While Paul's exhortation here is excellent, it is the style of the exhortation we should especially notice. We live in an age where we are constantly pressured to emphasize the novel, new, or improved versions of things. But in our lives as Christians, we need to remind each other of what we are doing right and just simply say, "Hey, you're doing well, just keep doing what you're doing!"
Prayer:
Faithful Father, thank you for noticing and keeping record of the things I've done that are good and pleasing to you. Please help me to keep doing those things that please you, only do them better, that you may be pleased and glorified. In Jesus name. Amen.
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June 6
Ephesians 3:17-19
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Thoughts on today's verse
Love that surpasses knowledge. That's very difficult to explain, but when you have loved your spouse for decades you experience what this means. When you love a child and do what you never dreamed you could do for another human being, you understand this phrase. And when you stand before God, adopted as a full heir of all his great riches, a full sibling to Jesus Christ the Lord, and know you are seen as holy, without reproach, and blameless, you begin to understand this phrase.
Prayer:
Holy and incredible God, help me to know in my soul the love that is greater than words and knowledge so that I may not only be like you, but that I may know you in experience just as I know you in faith. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
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June 7
Psalm 90:2 and 4
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
Thoughts on today's verse
So many things about our lives are uncertain. This one thing, however, is sure: no matter where, when, or how long, God will be there and will be with us.
Prayer:
Everlasting Father, I find great comfort in knowing that I cannot be in a place or time where you are not. Stir my courage through your Spirit that I may be more bold, by your power and presence, to share the Gospel of Jesus. Through whom I pray. Amen.
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June 8
Habakkuk 3:19
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.
Thoughts on today's verse
"The Lord is my strength!" Wow, what power we have in his abiding and empowering presence in the Holy Spirit.
Prayer:
Sovereign God and Almighty Father, be not only my strength, but the strength of those battling depression, grief and despair. I ask your blessings especially and specifically for _________ at this time of difficulty and struggle. Through Jesus I ask this. Amen.'
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