April

April 1

In the morning came the word of the Lord unto me. Ezek. xii. 8.

A quiet hour spent alone with God at the beginning of the day is the best beginning for the toils and cares of active business. A brief season of prayer, looking above for wisdom and grace and strength, and seeking for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, helps us to carry our religion into the business of the day. It brings joy and peace within the heart. And as we place all our concerns in the care and keeping of the Lord, faithfully striving to do His will, we have a joyful trust that however dark or discouraging events may appear, our Father's hand is guiding everything, and will give the wisest direction to all our toils.—Selected.

April 2

The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Gen. ii. 7.

And so this soul of mine is a compound of two worlds—dust and deity! It touches the boundary line of two hemispheres. It is allied on one side to the divine; on the other, to the beast of the field. Its beginning is from beneath, but its culmination is from above; it is started from the dust of the ground, but it is finished in the breath of God.

My soul, art thou living up to thy twofold origin? Art thou remembering thy double parentage, and therefore thy double duty? Thou hast a duty to thy God, for His breath is in thee; thou hast a duty to the earth, for out of it wast thou taken.—George Matheson.

April 3

Always rejoicing. 2 Cor. vi. 10.

No Christian can ever know what is meant by those two little words, “always rejoicing,” but the Christian who takes up his cross and follows Jesus.—W. Hay Aitken.

April 4

All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. Gen. xiii. 15.

God's promises are ever on the ascending scale. One leads up to another, fuller and more blessed than itself. In Mesopotamia God said, “I will show thee the land.” At Bethel, “This is the land.” Here, “I will give thee all the land, and children innumerable as the grains of sand.” And we shall find even these eclipsed.

It is thus that God allures us to saintliness. Not giving anything till we have dared to act—that He may test us. Not giving everything at first—that He may not overwhelm us. And always keeping in hand an infinite reserve of blessing. Oh, the unexplored remainders of God! Whoever saw His last star?—F. B. Meyer.

April 5

That night they caught nothing. John xxi. 3.

God may let the sinful world succeed in their forbidden schemes, but, blessed be His name, He does not allow His chosen ones to prosper in the path which leads them out of His holy will! He has a storm to send after every Jonah, and an empty net for every unbelieving and inconsistent Simon.—A. B. Simpson.

April 6

They made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Song of Sol. i. 6.

Our attention is here drawn to a danger which is preeminently one of this day: the intense activity of our times may lead to zeal in service to the neglect of personal communion; but such neglect will not only lessen the value of the service, but tend to incapacitate us for the highest service.—J. Hudson Taylor.

April 7

We came unto the land whither thou sentest us . . . we saw the children of Anak there. Num. xiii. 27, 28.

It is when we are in the way of duty that we find giants. It was when Israel was going forward that the giants appeared. When they turned back into the wilderness they found none.—Selected.

April 8

Each one resembled the children of a king. Judg. viii. 18.

Frances Ridley Havergal says: “If the King is indeed near of kin to us, the royal likeness will be recognizable.”

April 9

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. Psa. xxiii. 2.

This suggests the rest into which our Good Shepherd leads His flock. Life is not all toil. God gives us many quiet resting-places in our pilgrim way.

Night is one of these, when, after the day's toil, struggle, and exhaustion, we are led aside, and the curtains are drawn to shut out the noise, and He giveth His beloved sleep, in sleep giving the wonderful blessings of renewal. The Sabbath is another of these quiet resting-places. God would have us drop our worldly tasks, and have a day for the refreshing of both body and soul. . . . Friendship's trysts are also quiet resting-places, where heart may commune with heart, where Jesus comes, too, unseen, and gives His blessing. All ordinances of Christian worship—seasons of prayer and devotion, hours of communion with God—are quiet resting-places.

Far more than we are apt to realize do we need these silent times in our busy life, needing them all the more the busier the life may be.—J. R. Miller.

April 10

A daily rate for every day. 2 Kings xxv. 30.

One staff aids a traveler, but a bundle of staves is a heavy burden.—Spurgeon.

April 11

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Gal. vi. 2.

However perplexed you may at any hour become about some question of truth, one refuge and resource is always at hand: you can do something for some one beside yourself. At the times when you cannot see God, there is still open to you this sacred possibility, to show God: for it is the love and kindness of human hearts through which the divine reality comes home to men, whether they name it or not. Let this thought, then, stay with you: there may be times when you cannot find help, but there is no time when you cannot give help.—George Merriam.

April 12

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Phil. ii. 12, 13.

It is not your business and mine to study whether we shall get to heaven, or even to study whether we shall be good men; it is our business to study how we shall come into the midst of the purposes of God and have the unspeakable privilege in these few years of doing something of His work.—Phillips Brooks.

April 13

God . . . hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor. iv. 6.

Christian! rest not until thou knowest the full, the unbroken shining of God in thy heart. To this end, yield to every stirring of it that shows thee some unconquered and perhaps unconquerable evil. Just bring it to the light; let the light shine upon it, and shine it out. Wait upon the Lord more than watchers for the morning, for “the path of the just is as the shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day.” Count upon it that God wants to fill thee with the light of His glory: wait on Him more than watchers for the morning. “Wait, I say, on the Lord.”—Andrew Murray.

April 14

My soul, wait thou only upon God. Psa. lxii. 5.

Did it ever occur to you that if you do not hear God's answer to prayer, it may be not because He is dumb, but because you are deaf; not because He has no answer to give, but because you have not been listening for it? We are so busy with our service, so busy with our work, and sometimes so busy with our praying, that it does not occur to us to stop our own talking and listen if God has some answer to give us with “the still small voice”; to be passive, to be quiet, to do nothing, say nothing, in some true sense think nothing; simply to be receptive and waiting for the voice. “Wait thou only upon God,” says the Psalmist; and again “Wait on the Lord.”—Selected.

April 15

Could ye not watch with me one hour? Matt. xxvi. 40.

Oh! ye who sigh and languish, and mourn your lack of power,
Heed ye this gentle whisper, “Could ye not watch one hour?”
To fruitfulness and blessing, there is no “royal road”;
The power for holy service is intercourse with God.
—Selected.

April 16

My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me. John iv. 34.

Seek your life's nourishment in your life's work.—Phillips Brooks.

April 17

It is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Phil. ii. 13.

Full salvation is to realize that everything we see in Christ, our Example, may be ours, not by imitation, but by reproduction.—Selected.

April 18

Lo, I am with you all the days. Matt, xxviii. 20. (R. V., margin.)

“All the days”—in winter days, when joys are fled; in sunless days, when the clouds return again and again after rain; in days of sickness and pain; in days of temptation and perplexity, as much as in days when the heart is as full of joy as the woodlands in spring are full of song. That day never comes when the Lord Jesus is not at the side of His saints. Lover and friend may stand afar, but He walks with them through the fires; He fords with them the rivers; He stands by them when face to face with the lion. We can never be alone. We must always add His resources to our own when making our calculations.—F. B. Meyer.

April 19

Having . . . boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus . . . let us draw near with a true heart. Heb. x. 19, 22.

Oh, the glory of the message! For fifteen centuries Israel had a sanctuary with a Holiest of All, into which, under pain of death, no one might enter. Its one witness was: Man cannot dwell in God's presence; cannot abide in His fellowship. And now how changed is all! As then the warning sounded: “No admittance! enter not!” so now the call goes forth: “Enter in! the veil is rent; the Holiest is open; God waits to welcome you to His bosom; henceforth you are to live with Him.” This is the message. Child! thy Father longs for thee to enter, to dwell, and to go out no more forever.—Andrew Murray.

April 20

There stood by me this night the angel of God . . . saying, Fear not, Paul. . . . God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore . . . be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Acts xxvii. 23, 24, 25.

An active faith can give thanks for a promise, though it be not yet performed; knowing that God's bonds are as good as ready money.—Matthew Henry.

April 21

In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Phil, iv. 6.

The natural temptation with every difficulty is to plan for it, to put it out of the way yourself; but stop short with all your planning, your thinking, your worry, and talk to Him! “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee.” You may not always be able to do this in a moment or two. Then keep on with supplication until you know He has it, and prayer becomes praise. Rest, trust, and wait, and see how He does that which you wanted to do, and had so much care about. “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.”—A. E. Funk.

April 22

They that wait upon the Lord shall . . . mount up with wings as eagles. Isa. xl. 31.

All creatures that have wings can escape from every snare that is set for them, if only they will fly high enough; and the soul that uses its wings can always find a sure “way to escape” from all that can hurt or trouble it.—Smith.

April 23

Perfect love casteth out fear. 1 John iv. 18.

Fear and love rise up in antagonism to each other as motives in life, like those two mountains from which respectively the blessings and curses of the old law were pronounced—the Mount of Cursing all barren, stony, without verdure and without water; the Mount of Blessing green and bright with many a flower, and blessed with many a trickling rill. Fear is barren. Love is fruitful. The one is a slave, and its work is little worth. The other is free, and its deeds are great and precious. From the blasted summit of the mountain which gendereth to bondage may be heard the words of the law; but the power to keep all these laws must be sought on the sunny hill where liberty dwells in love and gives energy to obedience. Therefore, if you would use in your own life the highest power that God has given us for our growth in grace, draw your arguments, not from fear, but from love.—Alex. McLaren.

April 24

The love of Christ constraineth us. 2 Cor. v. 14.

The love of Christ is too large for any heart to hold it. It will overflow into others' hearts: it will give itself out, give itself away, for the enriching of other lives. The heart of Christ is a costly thing for any one to have. It will lead those who have it where it led Him. If it cost Him the cross, it will cost them no less.—J. M. Campbell.

April 25

I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee. Isa. xli. 13.

Don't try to hold God's hand; let Him hold yours. Let Him do the holding, and you do the trusting.—H. W. Webb Peploe.

April 26

Consider how great things He hath done for you. 1 Sam. xii. 24.

Look back on all the way the Lord your God has led you. Do you not see it dotted with ten thousand blessings in disguise? Call to mind the needed succor sent at the critical moment; the right way chosen for you, in stead of the wrong way you had chosen for yourself; the hurtful thing to which your heart so fondly clung, removed out of your path; the breathing-time granted, which your tried and struggling spirit just at the moment needed. Oh, has not Jesus stood at your side when you knew it not? Has not Infinite Love encircled every event with its everlasting arms, and gilded every cloud with its merciful lining? Oh, retrace your steps, and mark His footprint in each one! Thank Him for them all, and learn the needed lesson of leaning more simply on Jesus.—F. Whitfield.

April 27

He . . . said . . . I . . . hid thy talent in the earth. . . . His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant. Matt. xxv. 24-26.

Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing.—Monod.

April 28

To Him be glory both now and forever. 2 Pet. iii. 18.

Believer, you are anticipating the time when you shall join the saints above in ascribing all glory to Jesus; but are you glorifying Him now? The apostle's words are, “To Him be glory both now and forever.”—C. H. Spurgeon.

April 29

Thou shall know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. Isa. xlix. 23.

J. Hudson Taylor says: “Quiet waiting before God could save from many a mistake and from many a sorrow.”

April 30

Be it unto thee even as thou wilt. Matt. xv. 28.

Oh, the victories of prayer! They are the mountain-tops of the Bible. They take us back to the plains of Mamre, to the fords of Peniel, to the prison of Joseph, to the triumphs of Moses, to the transcendent victories of Joshua, to the deliverances of David, to the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, to the whole story of the Master's life, to the secret of Pentecost, to the key-note of Paul's unparalleled ministry, to the lives of saints and the deaths of martyrs, to all that is most sacred and sweet in the history of the Church and the experience of the children of God. And when, for us, the last conflict shall have passed, and the footstool of prayer shall have given place to the harp of praise, the spots of time that shall be gilded with the most celestial and eternal radiance, shall be those, often linked with deepest sorrow and darkest night, over which we have the inscription, “Jehovah-Shammah: The Lord was there!”—A. B. Simpson.