_Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Psa. xix. 12._
The world wants men who are saved from secret faults. The world can put on an outside goodness and go very far in uprightness and morality, and it expects that a Christian shall go beyond it, and be free from secret faults. A little crack will spoil the ring of the coin. . . . The world expects, and rightly, that the Christian should be more gentle, and patient, and generous, than he who does not profess to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus. For the sake of those who take their notion of religion from our lives, we need to put up this prayer earnestly, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults."--_Mark Guy Pea.r.s.e._
=July 25th.=
_Do thou that which is good. 2 Kings x. 5._
Keep as few good intentions hovering about as possible. They are like ghosts haunting a dwelling. The way to lay them is to find bodies for them. When they are embodied in substantial deeds they are no longer dangerous.--_William Arnot._
=July 26th.=
_Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 2 Pet. iii. 18._
Grace has its dawn as well as day; grace has its green blade, and afterwards its ripe corn in the ear; grace has its babes and its men in Christ. With G.o.d"s work there, as with all His works, "in all places of His dominion," progress is both the prelude and the path to perfection.
Therefore we are exhorted to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to go on to perfection, saying with Paul, "I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of G.o.d in Christ Jesus."--_Guthrie._
=July 27th.=
_Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived, and by it slew me. Rom. vii. 11._
Christian, beware how thou thinkest lightly of sin. Take heed lest thou fall by little and little. Sin, a _little_ thing? Is it not a poison?
Who knows its deadliness? Sin, a little thing? Do not the little foxes spoil the grapes? Doth not the tiny coral insect build a rock which wrecks a navy? Do not little strokes fell lofty oaks? Will not continual droppings wear away stones? Sin, a little thing? It girded the Redeemer"s head with thorns, and pierced His heart! It made _Him_ suffer anguish, bitterness and woe. Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity, you would fly from it as from a serpent, and abhor _the least appearance of evil_. Look upon all sin as that which crucified the Savior, and you will see it to be "exceeding sinful."--_Spurgeon._
=July 28th.=
_Your heavenly Father knoweth. Matt. vi. 32._
The Master judges by the result, but our Father judges by the effort.
Failure does not always mean fault. He knows how much things cost, and weighs them where others only measure. Your Father! Think how great store His love sets by the poor beginnings of the little ones, clumsy and unmeaning as they may be to others. All this lies in this blessed relationship, and infinitely more. Do not fear to take it all as your own.--_Mark Guy Pea.r.s.e._
=July 29th.=
_Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in G.o.d.
Col. iii. 3._
It is neither talent, nor power, nor gifts that do the work of G.o.d, but it is that which lies within the power of the humblest; it is the simple, earnest life hid with Christ in G.o.d.--_F. W. Robertson._
=July 30th.=
_The mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it. John ii. 3, 4, 5._
In asking for temporal blessings, true wisdom lies in putting the matter into the Lord"s hand, and leaving it there. He knows our sorrows, and, if He sees it is good for us that the water should be turned into wine, He will do it. It is not for us to dictate: He sees what is best for us.
When we ask for prosperity, perhaps the thing which we should have is trial. When we want to be relieved of a "thorn in the flesh," He knows what we should have is an apprehension of the fact that His grace is sufficient for us. So we are put into His school, and have to learn the lessons He has to teach us.--_W. Hay Aitken._
=July 31st.=
_Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 Cor x. 12._
Angels fell in heaven, Adam in paradise, Peter in Christ"s presence.--_Theophilus Polwheile._
[Ill.u.s.tration: AUGUST]
=August 1st.=
_Continue in prayer. Col. iv. 2._
The greatest and the best talent that G.o.d gives to any man or woman in this world is the talent of prayer. And the best usury that any man or woman brings back to G.o.d when He comes to reckon with them at the end of this world is a life of prayer. And those servants best put their Lord"s money to the exchangers who rise early and sit late, as long as they are in this world, ever finding out, and ever following after better and better methods of prayer, and ever forming more secret, more steadfast, and more spiritually fruitful habits of prayer, till they literally pray without ceasing, and till they continually strike out into new enterprises in prayer, and new achievements, and new enrichments.--_Alex. Whyte._
=August 2nd.=
_He entered into one of the ships . . . and . . . sat down. Luke v. iii._
When Jesus sits in the ship everything is in its right place. The cargo is in the hold, _not in the heart_. Cares and gains, fears and losses, yesterday"s failure and today"s success do not thrust themselves in between us and His presence. The heart cleaves to _Him_. "Goodness and mercy shall _follow_ me," sang the psalmist. Alas, when the goodness and mercy come before us, and our blessings shut Jesus from view! Here is the blessed order--the Lord ever first, I following Him, His goodness and mercy following me.--_Mark Guy Pea.r.s.e._
=August 3rd.=
_Now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light. Eph. v. 8._
We do not realize the importance of the unconscious part of our life ministry. It goes on continually. In every greeting we give to another on the street, in every moment"s conversation, in every letter we write, in every contact with other lives, there is a subtle influence that goes from us that often reaches further, and leaves a deep impression than the things themselves that we are doing at the time. It is not so much what we _do_ in this world as what we _are_, that tells in spiritual results and impressions.--_J. R. Miller._
=August 4th.=
_Created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Eph. ii.
10._
Let us ask Him to work in us to _will_ those good works, so that our _will_, without being impaired in its free operation, may be permeated and moulded by His will, just as light suffuses the atmosphere without displacing it. And let us also expect that He will infuse into us sufficient strength that we may be able to _do_ His will unto all pleasing. Thus, day by day, our life will be a manifestation of those holy volitions and lovely deeds which shall attest the indwelling and inworking of G.o.d. And men shall see our good works, and glorify our Father which is in heaven.--_F. B. Meyer._
=August 5th.=
_Go in this thy might . . . have not I sent thee? Judges vi. 14._
G.o.d never leaves His child to fail when in the path of obedience.--_Theodore Cuyler._