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8 THE PRESBYTERIAN
Devotional and Selections
i iiiTin;
A SONG OF CHRIST.
I can not always see the way that leads
To heights above;
I sometimes quite forget that he leads on
With hands of love;
nut yet I know the path must lead me to
Immanuel's land,
And when I reach life's summit 1 shall know
And understand.
.
I can not always trace the onward course
My ship must take,
But, looking backward, I behold afar
its shining wake
Illumined with God's light of love; and so
I onward go,
In perfect trust that he who holds the helm
The course must know.
-Ti
I can not always see the plain on which
He builds my life;
For oft the sound of hammers, blow on blow,
The noise of strife,
Confuse me till I quite forget he knows
Aim oversees,
And that in all details with his good plan
My life agrees.
* . ' i
I can not always know and understand
The Master's rule;
I can not always do the tasks he gives
In life's hard school:
But I am learning, with his help to solve
Them one by one,
And when I can not understand to say,
"Thy will be done."
?Unknown.
THE SPIRIT nu ruppopiTT
? wiuuivru^nbOS).
A gloomy person is not inspiring in any line of
work. His presence throws a damper over the zeal
of those who would otherwise be earnest laborers.
Such is our relation to each other that we impart our
experiences to those with whom we associate. If we
are of a melancholy disposition we cast a sort of
gloom over the circle that we enter. But if we are
bright and hopeful we communicate an in^nirati^n
to our associates. They extend to us a welcome because
our very presence is uplifting.
A gloomy nature is sometimes the result of disease.
We are sick in body and the world does not seem to
contain much for us. The appetite is bad, sleep goes
from us, and we are depressed. What we need is rest
from toil, or a good dose of medicine, or a change in
work. Sometimes we are gloomy because we are selfcentered.
We can not think t/-?/-? m""!' ?'?* *'
- fiiuvn dUUUl SC1I Williout
becoming impressed with the idea that somebody
has mistreated us, or we have been neglected and we
are not appreciated. That sort of gloom is enough
to make any one miserable. All the remedy we need
is to get out of self and put ourselves into the self of
somebody else. Self-forgetfulness is a good medicine.
It is our duty to be cheerful, to be hopeful. God does
not want us to hang our heads and mourn life away.
He wants us to to look toward the morning and smile.
There is too much good in the world for us to go moping
around in search of the bad and diea
J OF THE SOUTH December 29, 1909.
The sky above us, the sunshine, the ?hower, the bird
songs, the hills, the plains, the rivers, fche brooks, happy-hearted
children?in fact, everything about us, fcfells
us to be gb.d and rejoice. Let us then fill the soul
with religion, go forth to bless some pilgrim in life's
journey, and happiness will force itself into spirits.
Then our faces will cmil?? f ?
...aivau ui nwwu, our nearis
be glad instead of sorrowful, and men and women will
welcome us when we approach their circles.?Texas
Christian Advocate.
We doubt whether these promises have strength as
well as truth, and whether they are not mocking voices
calling us over mountains which we can never climb.
And still to us there is the same answer, and that
...... - ' "? ?
aiiowci is me me ot t^nrist. To every doubt about
our duty, and about our Father's love, and about our
own hope of reaching him, the life of Christ forever answers,
"Yea," and forever, "Amen." Yea, they are
the promises of God; yea, they are certain to be fulfilled;
yea, you shall have strength to share in their
fulfilment. You may trust them when they call; you
may follow them where they lead; you may hold by
them in the darkness; you may call upon their aid
when you are defeated; for to all of them the life of
Christ, the love and holiness that speak in His life and
death, forever say, "Yea," and forever, "Amen." This
is the fixed purpose of Christ, to fulfill the promises of
God;'and so the servants of Christ will reflect in their
lives the same fixed purpose, which shall grow with
their growth, and increase with their strength, and
give steadiness to their youth, and energy to their
manhood, and fire to their old age. For how can
he vacillate or change who has the deep purpose of
his life at once called into activity, and upheld with
unchanging firmness, by the knowledge of the power
of Christ??Archbishop Temple.
THE NEW BIRTH.
What most remarkable change this produces! No
wonder Paul cave :f " "
w-jj. mtitiuic, u any man dc in Llirist,
he is a new creature: old things have passed away; behold
all things are become new" (II Cor. 8: 17.)
Blessings of those who have received the new birth;
Paul testifies of the new birth when he says: "Ye are
all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal.
3:26). In Gal. 4:6, we read: "And because ye are sons,
God hath sent forth tlie Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying Abba, Father." In the next verse he
gives us another blessing: "If a son, then an heir of
God through Christ." Since Christ has been appointor
?-ii - - -
?ji an iniiigs, we are joint heirs with Him"
(Rom. 8: 17) by being children.
"Forgiveness of sins," the "robe of righteousness,"
"joy" and "peace" in believing are all ours while here
in the world; a place at the "marriage feast," "an inheritance
among them which are sanctified," being
made "like Him when He. mmec" uV.oii -.11 1?
? vwtitvw diiaii an uc ugi ^
in the future.
All praise "to Him who has loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings
and priest? unto God; to Him be glory and dominion,
forever and ever. Amen."?John H. Moseman, in
Gospel Herald.