March 31

"Thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace." -JOB. v. 23, 24.

March 30

"Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." -PS. lxxiii. 24.

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." -HEB. iv. 9.

GUIDE us through life; and when at last

We enter into rest,

Thy tender arms around us cast,

And fold us to Thy breast.

-H. F. LYTE

GO forth to meet the solemnities and to conquer the trials of existence, believing in a Shepherd of your souls. Then faith in Him will support you in duty, and duty firmly done will strengthen faith; till at last, when all is over here, and the noise and strife of the earthly battle fades upon your dying ear, and you hear, instead thereof, the deep and musical sound of the ocean of eternity, and see the lights of heaven shining on its waters still and fair in their radiant rest, your faith will raise the song of conquest, and in its retrospect of the life which has ended, and its forward glance upon the life to come, take up the poetic inspiration of the Hebrew king, 'Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.'

-STOPFORD BROOKE

March 29

"There shall no evil befall thee." -PS. xci. 10

"Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." -PROV. 1. 33.

March 28

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God." -EPH. v. 20.

March 27

"If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us." -1 JOHN iv. 12.

"And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." -1 JOHN iii. 24.

March 26

"Are they not ministering spirits?" -HEB. i. 14.

March 25

"I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people." -PS. lxxxv. 8.

March 24

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for Thou, Lord, only makes me dwell in safety."

-PS. iv. 8.

"He giveth His beloved sleep." -PS. cxxvii. 2.

March 23

"Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest." -3 JOHN 5.

"And this also we wish, even your perfection." -2 COR. xiii. 9.

March 22

"He that contemneth small things shall fll by little and little." -ECCLUS. xix. 1.

March 21

"Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." -MATT. vi. 32.

March 20

"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." -MATT. iv. 10.

Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart." -PS. cxix. 2.

March 19

"Showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

-TITUS ii. 10.

March 18

"Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another; love as brethren, be pitiful be courteous." -1 PETER iii. 8.

March 17

 

"Where hast thou gleaned to-day?" -RUTH ii. 19.

WHAT have I learnt where'er I've been,

From all I've heard, from all I've seen?

What know I more that's worth the knowing?

What have I done that's worth the doing?

What have I sought that I should shun?

What duties have I undone?

 

-PYTHAGORAS

 

 

ALL of this world will soon have passed away. But God will remain, and thou, whatever thou hast become, good or bad. Thy deeds now are the seed-corn of eternity. Each single act, in each several day, good or bad, is a portion that seed. Each day adds some line, making thee more or less like Him, more or less capable of His love.

 

E. B. PUSEY

 

 

THERE is something very solemn in the thought that part of our work which we have left undone may first be revealed to us at the end of life filled up, as we had fondly hoped, with useful and necessary employments.

 

-ANNA, OR PASSAGES HOME LIFE

March 16

"Whether therefor ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." -1 COR. x. 31.

"With good will doing service, as to the Lord and not unto men." -EPH. vi. 7.

A SERVANT, with this clause,

Makes drudgery divine:

Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws,

Makes that and th' action fine.

-G. HERBERT

SURELY the truth must be, that whatsoever in our daily life is lawful and right for us to be engaged in, is in itself a part of our obedience to God; a part, that is, of our very religion. Whensoever we hear people complaining of obstructions and hindrances put by the duties of life in the way of devoting themselves to God, we may be sure they are under some false view or other. They do not look upon their daily work as the task God has set them, and as obedience due to Him. We may go farther; and say, not only that the duties of life, be they never be toilsome and distracting, are no obstructions to a life of any degree of inward holiness; but that they are even direct means, when rightly used, to promote our sanctification.

H. E. MANNING

March 15

"Hear me, O Lord, for Thy loving-kindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies." -PS. lxix. 16.

"Let, I pray Thee, Thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to Thy word unto Thy servant." -PS. cxix. 76.

LOVE divine has  seen and counted

Every tear it caused to fall;

And the storm which Love appointed

Was its choicest gift of all.

-ANONYMOUS

O THAT thou couldst dwell in the knowledge and sense of this! even, that the Lord beholds thy sufferings with an eye of pity; and is able, not only to uphold thee under them, but also to do thee good by them. Therefore, grieve not at thy lot, be not discontented, look not out at the hardness of thy condition; but, when the storm and matters of vexation are sharp, look up to Him who can give meekness and patience, can lift up thy head over all, and cause thy life to grow, and be a gainer by all. If the Lord God help thee proportionably to thy condition of affliction and distress, thous wilt have no cause to complain, but to bless His Name.

-I. PENINGTON

March 14

"I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt hear me, O God: incline Thine ear unto, and hear my speech." -PS. xvii. 6.

"Ye people, put out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us." -PS. lxii. 8.

WHATE'ER the care which breaks thy rest,

Whate'er the wish that swells thy breast;

Spread before God that wish, that care,

And change anxiety to prayer.

-ANONYMOUS

TROUBLE and perplexity drive us to prayer, and prayer driveth away trouble and perplexity.

-P. MELANCHTHON

WHATSOEVER it is that presses thee, go tell thy Father; put over the matter into His hand, and so thou shalt be freed from that dividing, perplexing care that the world is full of. When thou art either to do or suffer anything, when thou art about any purpose or business, go tell God of it, and acquaint Him with it; yea burden Him with it, and thou hast done for matter of caring; no more care, but quiet, sweet diligence in thy duty, and dependence on Him for the carriage of thy matters. Roll thy cares, and thyself with them, as one burden, all on thy God.

-R. LEIGHTON

March 13

"He that abideth in me, and I in him, bringeth forth much fruit." -JOHN xv. 5.

"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us." - PS. xc. 17.

March 12

"The Lord bless thee, and keep thee; the Lord make His face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." -NUM. vi. 24-26.

O LOVE, how cheering is Thy ray!

All pain before Thy presence flies;

Care, anguish,sorrow, melt away,

Where'er Thy healing beams arise.

O Father, nothing may I see,

Nothing desire, or seek, but Thee.

-P. GERHARDT

THERE is a faith in God, and a clear perception of His will and designs, and providence, and glory, which gives to its possessor a confidence and patience and sweet composure, under every varied and troubling aspect of events, such as no man can realize who has not felt its influences in his own heart. There is a communion with God, in which the soul feels the presence of the unseen One, in the profound depths of its being, with a vivid distinctness and a holy reverence, such as no words can describe. There is a state of union with God, I do not say often reached, yet in has been attained in this world, in which all the past and present and future seem reconciled, and eternity is won and enjoyed; and God and man, earth and heaven, with all their mysteries, are apprehended in truth as they lie in the mind of the Infinite.

-SAMUEL D. ROBBINS

March 11

"Cast thy burden upon thee Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." -PS. lv. 22.

NOW our wants and burdens leaving,

To His care, who cares for all,

Cause we fearing, cease we grieving,

At His touch our burdens fall.

-S. LONGFELLOW

"THE circumstances of her life she could not alter, but she took them to the Lord, and handed them over into His management; and then she believed that He took it, and she left all the responsibility and the worry and anxiety with Him. As often as the anxieties returned she took them back; and the result was that, although the circumstances remained unchanged, her soul was kept in perfect peace in the midst of them. And the secret she found so effectual in her outward affairs, she found to be still more effectual in her inward ones, which were in truth even more utterly unmanageable. She abandoned her whole self to the Lord, with all that she was and all that she had; and, believing that He took that which she had committed to Him, she ceased to fret and worry, and her life became all sunshine in the gladness of belonging to Him.

-H. W. S.

March 10

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." -ISA. xliii. 2.

"I am with thee to deliver thee." -JER. i. 8. 

WHEN through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;

For I will be with thee thy troubles to bless,

And sanctity to thee thy deepest distress.

-ANON.

TURN it as thou wilt, thou must give thyself to suffer what is appointed thee. But if we did that, God would bear us up at all times in all our sorrows and troubles, and God would lay His shoulder under our burdens, and help us to bear them. For if, with a cheerful courage, we submitted ourselves to God, no suffering would be unbearable.

-J. TAULER

LEARN to be as the angel, who could descend among the miseries of Bethesda without losing his heavenly purity or his perfect happiness. Gain healing from troubled waters. Make up your mind to the prospect of sustaining a certain measure of pain and trouble in your passage through life. By the blessing of God this will prepare you for it; it will make you thoughtful and resigned without interfering with your cheerfulness.

-J. H. NEWMAN

March 9

"Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, in all that thou outtest thine hands unto."

-DEUT. xii. 18.

"Be ye thankful." -COL. iii. 15.

THOU that hast given so much to me,

Give one thing more, a grateful heart.

Not thankful when it pleaseth me,

As is thy blessings had spare days;

But such a heart, whose pulse may be

Thy praise.

-G. HERBERT

IF any one would tell you the shortest, surest way to happiness and all perfection, he must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happens to you. For it is certain that whatevert seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing. Could you, therefore, work miracles, you could not do more for yourself than by this thankful spirit; for it heals with a word speaking, and turns all that it touches into happines.

W. M. LAW

March 8

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed."

-2. TIM. ii. 5.

"And let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due reason we shall reap if we faint not." 

-GAL. vi, 9.

March 7

"There are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." 

-1 COR. xii. 6.

"I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I  the Lord do all these things. 

-ISA. xlv. 7.

March 6

"The shadow of a great rock in a weary land." -ISA. xxxii. 2.

"In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."

-ISA. xxx. 15.

March 5

"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." 

-1 JOHN iii. 3.

March 4

"But the hands of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them. In the sight f the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken from misery, an their going from us to be utter destruction but they are in peace." -WISDOM OF SOLOMON iii. 1-3.

March 3

"I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments." -PS. cxix. 60.

"Ye know not what shall be on the morrow." -JAMES iv. 14.

March 2

"But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."

-HEB. xiii. 16.

For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

1 JOHN iii. II.

March 1

"Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on." -MATT. vi. 25.