Part 83

Now shed Thy mighty influence abroad On souls that would their Father's image bear; Make us as holy temples of our God, Where dwells forever calm, adoring prayer.

C. J. P. SPITTA.

This pearl of eternity is the church or temple of God within thee, the consecrated place of divine worship, where alone thou canst worship God in spirit and in truth. When once thou art well grounded in this inward worship, thou wilt have learned to live unto God above time and place. For every day will be Sunday to thee, and, wherever thou goest, thou wilt have a priest, a church, and an altar along with thee. For when God has all that He should have of thy heart, when thou art wholly given up to the obedience of the light and spirit of God within thee, to will only in His will, to love only in His love, to be wise only in His wisdom, then it is that everything thou dost is as a song of praise, and the common business of thy life is a conforming to God's will on earth as angels do in heaven.

WM. LAW.

November 6

He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him: He also will hear their cry, and will save them;--PS. cxlv. 19.

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.--PS. xxxvii. 4.

Though to-day may not fulfil All thy hopes, have patience still; For perchance to-morrow's sun Sees thy happier days begun.

P. GERHARDT.

His great desire and delight is God; and by desiring and delighting, he hath Him. Delight thou in the Lord, and He shall give thee thy heart's desire,--HIMSELF; and then surely thou shall have all. Any other thing commit it to Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

R. LEIGHTON.

All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired, although not in the hour or in the measure, or the very thing which they ask; yet they will obtain something greater and more glorious than they had dared to ask.

MARTIN LUTHER.

November 7

I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.--ACTS xxvi. 19.

The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey.--JOSH. xxiv. 24.

I will shun no toil or woe, Where Thou leadest I will go, Be my pathway plain or rough; If but every hour may be Spent in work that pleases Thee, Ah, dear Lord, it is enough!

G. TERSTEEGEN.

All these longings and doubts, and this inward distress, are the voice of the Good Shepherd in your heart, seeking to call you out of all that is contrary to His will. Oh, let me entreat of you not to turn away from His gentle pleadings.

H. W. SMITH.

The fear of man brings a snare. By halting in our duty and giving back in the time of trial, our hands grow weaker, our ears grow dull as to hearing the language of the true Shepherd; so that when we look at the way of the righteous, it seems as though it was not for us to follow them.

J. WOOLMAN.

November 8

Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God.--HEB. x. 9.

Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God.--PS. cxliii. 10.

Lo! I come with joy to do The Father's blessed will; Him in outward works pursue, And serve His pleasure still. Faithful to my Lord's commands, I still would choose the better part; Serve with careful Martha's hands, And loving Mary's heart.

C. WESLEY.

A soul cannot be regarded as truly subdued and consecrated in its will, and as having passed into union with the Divine will, until it has a disposition to do promptly and faithfully all that God requires, as well as to endure patiently and thankfully all that He imposes.