In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. PHIL. IV. 6, 7 (R. V.). UST think of having His wonderful peace guarding one's heart and one's thoughts all day long. But it is only on condition that we fulfil the sixth verse, "In nothing be anxious," this is a distinct command, and, if we fail to fulfil it, we shall not get the blessing. Sorrow even is anxiety, and should be laid upon our blessed Lord. Then in prayer and supplication we must not forget that thanksgiving is also distinctly commanded; we must praise God for His dealings with us, even though we cannot make them out at times. Pray God to make you cease from anxiety about yourself and your plans; just be willing to do the work our dear Father gives you at the time. JOHN KENNETH MACKENZIE. Oh, how great peace and quietness would he possess who should cut off all vain anxiety and place all his confidence in God. THOMAS À KEMPIS. I girded thee, though thou bast not known me.— Isa. xlv. 5. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord; thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. — JER. xxix. 11. THOU knowest,-oh, the precious truth That bids my soul be strong! The care, the never-weary care That cannot lead me wrong! There is a blessed end for me, Whereon thine eyes are set ; Thou hast a comfort in Thy love, Too great to show me yet. ANNA L. WARING. TО room for a discouraged or depressed N feeling is left you. If your sphere is outwardly humble, if it even appears to be quite insignificant, God understands it better than you do, and it is a part of His wisdom to bring out great sentiments in humble conditions, great principles in works that are outwardly trivial, great characters under great adversities and heavy loads of encumbrance. Let it fill you with cheerfulness and exalted feeling, however deep in obscurity your lot may be, that God is leading you on, girding you for a work, preparing you for a good that is worthy of His divine magnificence. If God is really preparing us all to become that which is the very highest and best thing possible, there ought never to be a discouraged or uncheerful being in the world. HORACE BUSHNELL. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant. Ps. xxv. 14. THEN shall my days be Thine, Such as are known above. Come, Holy Spirit, quickly come, And make my heart Thy lasting home. ANDREW REED. T is a sign that the soul is living in God, if IT it maintain calmness within through the con sciousness of His Presence, while working for Him in active ministrations. Such restfulness will show itself in the commonest ways, in doing common duties at the right time, in preserving a sweetness and evenness of temper in the midst of ordinary interruptions and disturbances, in walking to and fro quietly on the day's varied errands, in speaking gentle words, in sweetly meeting unexpected calls. A calm, restful temper grows as self is learning to lose itself in God. Such grace tells gradually on the daily life; even the minutest detail may be brought under the power of God, and carried out in union with Him. T. T. CARter. See that ye hasten the matter. xxiv. 5. N° AND grant me, Lord, to do, 2 CHRON. JOHANN HEERMANN. O unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till to-morrow. It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquillity, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it. ALEXANDER MACLAREN. She constantly yielded to that kind of selfishness which makes the writing, or not writing, a letter depend upon the inclination of the SARAH W. STEPHEN. moment. Let us not therefore judge one another any more. T "TELL not abroad another's faults “Jesu, Saviour, pitying be; Parce mihi, Domine !" LYRA MYSTICA. HE habit of judging is so nearly incurable, and its cure is such an almost intermi nable process, that we must concentrate ourselves for a long while on keeping it in check, and this check is to be found in kind interpretations. We must come to esteem very lightly our sharp eye for evil, on which perhaps we once prided ourselves as cleverness. We must look at our talent for analysis of character as a dreadful possibility of huge uncharitableness. We are sure to continue to say clever things, so long as we continue to indulge in this analysis; and clever things are equally sure to be sharp and acid. We must grow to something higher, and something truer, than a quickness in detecting evil. FREDERICK WM. FABER. |