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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.