My peace I give unto you - John 14:27 Here lies the secret of abiding peace God's peace. We give ourselves to God and the Holy Spirit takes possession of our breast. It is indeed Peace, Peace. But it is just then that the devil begins to turn us away, and he does it through our thoughts, diverting or distracting them as occasion requires. This is the time to prove the sincerity of our consecration and the singleness of our heart. If we truly desire His Presence more than all else, we will turn away from every conflicting thought and look steadily up to Jesus. But if we desire the gratification of our impulse more than His Presence, we will yield to the passionate word or the frivolous thought or the sinful diversion, and when we come back our Shepherd has gone, and we wonder why our peace has departed. Failure occurs often in some trifling thing, and the soul failure has occurred in some trifling thing, usually a thought or word, and the soul which would not have feared to clim...

Hallowed be thy name. - Matt 6:9 While the name “Our Father” over the gate of prayer assures us of loving welcome and of all tenderness, thoughtfulness, and care, the words “which art in heaven” remind us of the surpassing glory and majesty of God. We should not lessen the force of “hallowed be thy name.” We should not rush into His presence as we do into the presence of an earthly parent. We should remember His infinite greatness and holiness, and should come always with reverence. His is a name to be “hallowed.” “Holy and reverend is his name.” Of this, this petition reminds us. It checks the flow of our thoughts and feelings, and bids us approach God with a suitable sense of our unworthiness and of His holiness. It bids us be reverent though bold. The Prayer found here in Matthew’s Gospel is a prayer for the glorifying of God in this world. When we pray it we must be sure that we do our part in making His name hallowed. We can do this by our own reverent use of that holy name. Go...

“I will bless you; and you will be a blessing.” - Gen 12:2 This God’s offer and message to all of us. He wants to bless us, and then he wants us in turn to be a blessing to others. God’s way is to send very many of his good things, through human mediators. When he would bless a little child, he puts a gift of wondrous love into a mother’s heart. When he would bless a class of young people or children, he sends a teacher with a heart full of warm sympathy and earnest interest in life. When he would bless a community, he raises up a good man, and touches his heart, that he may scatter benefits among the people. When God enriches us with gifts of whatever kind, he wants them to be blessings to others. Nothing that we have, is ours for ourselves alone; we receive–that we may dispense. When God gives a man money–he intends him to use it so as to make it a blessing to the world. When God bestows upon anyone the gift of song, of eloquence, of the ar...

A nd it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered - Joel 2:32 Why do not I call on His name? Why do I run to this neighbor and that when God is so near and will hear my faintest call? Why do I sit down and devise schemes and invent plans? Why not at once roll myself and my burden upon the Lord? Straightforward is the best runner—why do not I run at once to the living God? In vain shall I look for "deliverance anywhere else; but with God I shall find it; for here I have His royal shall to make it sure. I need not ask whether I may call on Him or not, for that word “Whosoever” is a very wide and comprehensive one. Whosoever means me, for it means anybody and everybody who calls upon God. I will therefore follow the leading of the text, and at once call upon the glorious Lord who has made so large a promise.

I even reckon all things as pure loss because of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord - Phil 3:8 Shining is always costly. Light comes only at the cost of that which produces it. An unlit candle does no shining. Burning must come before shining. We cannot be of great use to others without cost to ourselves. Burning suggests suffering. We shrink from pain. We are apt to feel that we are doing the greatest good in the world when we are strong, and able for active duty, and when the heart and hands are full of kindly service. When we are called aside and can only suffer; when we are sick; when we are consumed with pain; when all our activities have been dropped, we feel that we are no longer of use, that we are not doing anything. But, if we are patient and submissive, it is almost certain that we are a greater blessing to the world in our time of suffering and pain than we were in the days when we thought we were doing the most of our work. We are burning no...