Thoughts for the Quiet Hour Part 4

=February 18th.=

_To every man his work. Mark xiii. 34._

He does the most for G.o.d's great world who does the best in his own little world.--_Selected._

=February 19th.=

_Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. John xxi.

10._

Why was this? Oh, the Lord wants us to minister to Him as well as to receive from Him, and our service finds its true end when it becomes food for our dear Lord. He was pleased to feed on their fish while they were feeding on His. It was the double banquet of which He speaks in the tender message of revelation, "I will sup with him, and he with Me."--_A. B. Simpson._

=February 20th.=

_By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed. Heb. xi. 8._

Whither he went, he knew not; it was enough for him to know that he went with G.o.d. He leant not so much upon the promises as upon the Promiser.

He looked not on the difficulties of his lot, but on the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise G.o.d, who had deigned to appoint his course, and would certainly vindicate Himself. O glorious faith! This is thy work, these are thy possibilities: contentment to sail with sealed orders, because of unwavering confidence in the love and wisdom of the Lord High Admiral: willinghood to rise up, leave all, and follow Christ, because of the glad a.s.surance that earth's best cannot bear comparison with heaven's least.--_F. B. Meyer._

=February 21st.=

_The Lord is a G.o.d of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. 1 Sam. ii. 3._

G.o.d does not _measure_ what we bring to Him. He _weighs_ it.--_Mark Guy Pea.r.s.e._

=February 22nd.=

_After ye were illuminated ye endured a great fight of afflictions. Heb. x. 32._

Our boldness for G.o.d _before the world_ must always be the result of individual dealing with G.o.d _in secret_. Our victories over self, and sin, and the world, are always first fought where no eye sees but G.o.d's. . . . If we have not these _secret_ conflicts, well may we not have any _open_ ones. The _outward_ absence of conflict betrays the _inward_ sleep of the soul.--_F. Whitfield._

=February 23d.=

_Philip findeth Nathaniel and saith unto him, We have found Him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write. . . . Come and see. John i. 45, 46._

The next thing to knowing that "we have found Him" is to find someone else, and say, "Come and see."--_Frances Ridley Havergal._

=February 24th.=

_The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John iii. 8._

We know that the wind listeth to blow where there is a vacuum. If you find a tremendous rush of wind, you know that somewhere there is an empty s.p.a.ce. I am perfectly sure about this fact: if we could expel all pride, vanity, self-righteousness, self-seeking, desire for applause, honor, and promotion--if by some divine power we should be utterly emptied of all that, the Spirit would come as a rus.h.i.+ng mighty wind to fill us.--_A. J. Gordon._

=February 25th.=

_Thy gentleness hath made me great. 2 Sam. xxii. 36._

The gentleness of Christ is the comeliest ornament that a Christian can wear.--_William Arnot._

=February 26th.=

_Jacob went on his way, and the angels of G.o.d met him.

Gen. x.x.xii. 1._

It is in the path where G.o.d has bade us walk that we shall find the angels around us. We may meet them, indeed, on paths of our own choosing, but it will be the sort of angel that Balaam met, with a sword in his hand, mighty and beautiful, but wrathful too; and we had better not front him! But the friendly helpers, the emissaries of G.o.d's love, the apostles of His grace, do not haunt the roads that we make for ourselves.--_Alex. McLaren._

=February 27th.=

_I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me. John xiv. 6._

Heaven often seems distant and unknown, but if He who made the road thither is our guide, we need not fear to lose the way. We do not want to see far ahead--only far enough to discern Him and trace His footsteps. . . . They who follow Christ, even through darkness, will surely reach the Father.--_Henry Van d.y.k.e._

=February 28th.=

_Forgetting those things which are behind . . . I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of G.o.d in Christ Jesus. Phil. iii. 13, 14._

It is not by regretting what is irreparable that true work is to be done, but by making the best of what we are. It is not by complaining that we have not the right tools, but by using well the tools we have.

What we are, and where we are, is G.o.d's providential arrangement--G.o.d's doing, though it may be man's misdoing. Life is a series of mistakes, and he is not the best Christian who makes the fewest false steps. He is the best who wins the most splendid victories by the retrieval of mistakes.--_F. W. Robertson._

[Ill.u.s.tration: MARCH]

=March 1st.=

_Come up in the morning . . . and present thyself unto me in the top of the mount. Ex. x.x.xiv. 2._

The morning is the time fixed for my meeting the Lord. This very word _morning_ is as a cl.u.s.ter of rich grapes. Let me crush them, and drink the sacred wine.

In the morning! Then G.o.d means me to be at my best in strength and hope.

I have not to climb in my weakness. In the night I have buried yesterday's fatigue, and in the morning I take a new lease of energy.

Sweet morning! There is hope in its music. Blessed is the day whose morning is sanctified! Successful is the day whose first victory was won in prayer! Holy is the day whose dawn finds thee on the top of the mount! Health is established in the morning. Wealth is won in the morning. The light is brightest in the morning. "Wake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake early."--_Joseph Parker._

=March 2nd.=