April 30

"Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward." -EX. xiv. 15.

"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 

-LUKE ix. 62

April 29

"I will arise and go to my Father." -LUKE xv. 18.

O MY God, my Father! hear,

And help me to believe;

Weak and weary I draw near;

Thy child, O God, receive.

I so oft have gone astray;

Thou wilt turn me not away,

Thy love is pledged to me.

-HYMNS OF THE SPIRIT

O CHILD, hast thou fallen? arise, and go, with childlike trust, to thy Father, like the prodigal son, and humbly say, with heart and mouth, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy son; make me as one of Thy hired servants.' And what will thy heavenly Father do but what that father did in the parable? Assuredly He will not change His essence, which is love, for the sake of thy misdoings. Is it not His own precious treasure, and a small thing with Him to forgive thee thy trespasses, if thou believe in Him? for His hand is not shortened that it cannot make thee fit to be saved.

-JOHN TAULER

April 28

"The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand." -PS. cxxi. 5.

"Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them." -PS cxix. 165.

April 27

"Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour." -ZECH. viii. 16.


"For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity . . .
we have had our conversation in the world." -2 COR. i. 12.

APPEAR I always what I am?

And am I what I am pretending?

Know I what way my course is bending?

And sound my word and thought the same?

-ANONYMOUS

AM I acting in simplicity, from a germ of the Divine life within, or am I shaping my path to obtain some immediate result of expediency? Am I endeavouring to compass effects, amidst a tangled web of foreign influences I cannot calculate; or am I seeking simply to do what is right, and leaving the consequences to the good providence of God?

M. A. SCHIMMELPENNINCK

LET it not be in any man's power to say truly of thee that thou art not simple, or that thou art not good; but let him be a liar whoever shall think anything of this kind about thee; and this is altogether  in thy power. For who is he that shall hinder thee from being good and simple?

-MARCUS ANTONINUS

April 26

"If we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." -ROM. viii. 25

"One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." -2 PETER iii. 8.

LORD! who Thy thousand years dost wait

To work the thousandth part

Of Thy vast plan, for us create

With zeal a patient heart.

-J. H. NEWMAN

I BELIEVE that if we could only see beforehand what it is that our heavenly Father means us to be, -the soul beauty and perfection and glory, the glorious and lovely spiritual body that this soul is to dwell in through all eternity, -if we could have a glimpse of this, we should not grudge all the trouble and pains He is taking with us now, to bring us up to that ideal, which is His thought of us. We know that it is God's way to work slowly, so we must not be surprised if He takes a great many years of discipline to turn a mortal being into an immortal, glorious angel.

-ANNIE KEARY

April 25

"Surely, I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother; my soul is even as a weaned child." -PS. cxxxi. 2.

April 24

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the laws of Christ. -GAL. vi. 2.

April 23

"These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work." -1 CHRON. iv

April 22

"Enter thou into the joy of  thy Lord." -MATT. xxv. 

"Serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope." -ROM. xii. 11, 12.

April 21

"Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." -1 PETER i. 8.

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." -JOHN xiv. 15.

April 20

"I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. -PS. xl. 1

"Tribulation worketh patience; and patience. experience; and experience, hope." -ROM. v. 3, 4.

LORD, we have wandered forth through doubt and sorrow,

And Thou hast made each step an onward one;

And we will ever trust each unknown morrow,-

Thou wilt sustain us till its work is done.

-S. JOHNSON

IT is possible, when the fututre is dim, when our depressed faculties can form no bright ideas of the perfection and happiness of a better world, -it is possible still to cling to the conviction of God's merciful purpose towards His creatures, of His parental goodness even in suffering; still to feel that the path of duty, though trodden with a heavy heart, leads to peace; still to be true to conscience; still to do our work, to resist temptation, to be usefulm though with diminished energy, to give up our wills when we cannot rejoice under God's mysteriously providence. In this patient, though uncheered obedience, we become prepared for light. Thy soul gathers force.

-WM. E. CHANNING

April 19

"The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him." -EZRA viii. 22.

"Into Thy hand I commit my spirit." -PS. xxxi. 5.

THOU layest Thy hand on the fluttering heart,

And sayest, 'Be still!'

The silence and shadow are only a part

Of Thy sweet will;

Thy presence is with me, and where Thou art I fear no ill.

-F. R. HAVERGAL

BE still and cool in thy own mind and spirit from thy own thoughts, and then thou wilt feel the principle of God, to turn thy mind to the Lord, from whom life comes; whereby thou mayest receive His strength, and power to allay all blustering storms and tempests. That is it which works up into patience, into innocency, into soberness, into stillness, into stayedness, into quietness, up to God with His power. . . . Therefore be still awhile from thy own thought, searching, seeking, desires, and imaginations, and be stayed in the principle of God thee, that it may raise thy mind up to God, and stay it upon God; and thou wilt find strength from Him, and find him to be a God at hand, a present help in the time of trouble and need.

-GEORGE FOX

April 18

"What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul?"

-DEUT. x. 12

April 17

"Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust." -PS. xl. 4.

That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life." -1 TIM. ii. 2.

JUST to let thy Father do

What He will;

Just to know that He is true,

And be still;

Just to trust Him, this is all!

Then the day will surely be

Peaceful, whatsoe'er befall,

Bright and blessed, calm and free.

-F. R. HAVERGAL

EVERY morning compose your soul for a tranquil day, and all through it be careful often to recall your resolution, and bring yourself back to it, so say. If something discomposes you, do not be upset, or troubled; but having discovered the fact, humble yourself gently before God, and try to bring your mind into a quiet attitude. Say to yourself, 'Well, I have made a false step; now I must go more carefully and watchfully.' Do this each time, however frequently you fall. When you are at peace use it profitably, making constant acts of meekness, and seeking to be calm even in the most trifling things. Above all, do not be discouraged; be patient; wait; strive to attain a calm, gentle spirit.

-FRANCIS DE SALES

April 16

"The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it. -THESS. V. 23, 24.

BE still, my soul!-the Lord is on thy side;

Bear patiently the cross of grief and pain; Leave to thy God to order and provide,-

In every change He faithful will remain.

-HYMNS FROM THE LAND OF LUTHER

IT was no relief from temporal evils that the Apostle promised. . . . No; the merct of God might send them to the stake, or the lions; it was still His mercy, if it but kept them 'unspotted from the world'. It might expose them to insult, calumny, and wrong; they received it still as mercy, if it 'established them in every good word and work'. O brethren! how many of you are content with such faithfulness as this on the part of your heavenly Father? Is this, indeed, the tone and tenor of your prayers?

WM. ARCHER BUTLER

April 15

"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." -ROM. viii. 28.

"As for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good." -GEN. 1. 20.

April 14

"All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephass, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours." -1 COR. iii. 21, 22.

"As having nothing, and yet possessing all things." -2. COR. vi. 10.

OLD friends, old scenes, will lovelier be,

As more of Heaven in each we see:

Some softening gleam of love and prayer

Shall dawn on every cross and care.

-J. KEBLE

OUT of love and hatred, out of earnings, and borrowings, and lendings, and losses; out of sickness and pain; out of wooing and worshipping; out of travelling, and voting, and watching, and caring; out of disgrace and contempt, comes our intuition in the serene and beautiful laws. Let him not slur his lesson; let him learn it by heart. Let him endeavour exactly, bravely, and cheerfully, to solve the problem of that life which is set before him. And this, by punctual action, and not by promises or dreams. Believing, as in God, in the presence and favour of the grandest influences, let him deserve that favour, and learn how to receive and use it, by fidelity also to the lower observances. 

-R. W. EMERSON

April 13

"In all things we are more than conquerors through Him tha loved us." -ROM. viii. 37.

April 12

"Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be wth you." -2 COR. xii. 11.

"He that lovth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

-1 JOHN iv. 20.

April 11

"Therefore, beloved . . . be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless." -2 PETER iii.

April 10

"Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lod, and not unto men. -COL. iii. 23.

"Not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God. -COL. iii. 22.

April 9

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." -MATT. xxvi. 41

April 8

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." -PS. xxiii. 1.


"They that seek the Lord shall not want any good things." -PS. xxxiv. 10.

April 7

"That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." -ROM. xii. 2.

April 6

"In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul." -PS. xciv. 19

"Perplexed, but not in despair; cast down, but not destroyed." -2 COR. iv. 8, 9.

April 5

"Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." -1 KINGS xix. 18.

April 4

"Well done, good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." -MATT. xxv. 23.

April 3

"As for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do." -DEUT. xviii. 14.

April 2

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you?"

-1 COR. iii. 16.

April 1

"For Thou lovest all things that are, and abhorrest nothing which Thou hast made: for never wouldest Thou have made any thing, if Thou hadst hated it. But Thou sparest all: for they are Thine, O Lord, Thou lover of souls." -WISDOM OF SOLOMON xi. 24, 26.