Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 15
He [John] saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. —John 1:36, 37
To be a Christian means to know the presence of a true personal Christ among us, and to follow. —Phillips Brooks
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 14
Behold the man! —John 19:5
“Behold the man!” was Pilate’s jeer. That is what all the ages have been doing since, and the vision has grown more and more glorious. As they have looked, the crown of thorns has become a crown of golden radiance, and the cast-off robe has glistened like the garments He wore on the night of the transfiguration. Martyrs have smiled in the flames at that vision. Sinners have turned at it to a new life. Little children have seen it, and have had awakened by it dim …
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 13
Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. —Song of Solomon 4:16
There are two winds mentioned in this beautiful prayer. God may send either or both, as seemeth Him good. He may send the north wind of conviction, to bring us to repentance, or He may send the south wind of love, to melt us into gratitude and holy joy. If we often require the sharp blasts of trial to develop our graces, do we not also need the warm …
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 12
Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. —Song of Solomon 4:16
Sometimes God sends severe blasts of trial upon His children to develop their graces. Just as torches burn most brightly when swung violently to and fro; just as the juniper plant smells sweetest when flung into the flames; so the richest qualities of a Christian often come out under the north wind of suffering and adversity. Bruised hearts often emit the fragrance that God loveth to smell. Almost every …
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 11
Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue. —2 Peter 1:5
You will find it less easy to unroot faults than to choke them by gaining virtues. Do not think of your faults, still less of others’ faults; in every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; rejoice in it, and, as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off, like dead leaves, when their time comes. —John Ruskin
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 10
My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me. —John 4:34
The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will. —J. Hudson Taylor
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 9
Surely the LORD is in this place, and I knew it not. —Genesis 28:16
“Surely the Lord was in this place, and I knew it not.” My soul, this is also thine experience! How often hast thou said in thy sorrow, “Verily thou art a God that hidest Thyself!” How often hast thou slept for very heaviness of heart, and desired not to wake again! And when thou didst wake again, lo, the darkness was all a dream! Thy vision of yesterday was a delusion. God had been with thee all …
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 8
As thy days, so shall thy strength be. —Deuteronomy 33:25
No day without its duty; no duty without strength to perform it. —Selected
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 7
Let every man take heed how he buildeth. —1 Corinthians 3:10
Our business is not to build quickly, but to build upon a right foundation, and in a right spirit. Life is more than a mere competition as between man and man; it is not who can be done first, but who can work best; it is not who can rise highest in the shortest time, but who is working most patiently and lovingly in accordance with the designs of God. —Joseph Parker
Thoughts for the Quiet Hour - July 6
Judas Iscariot…was a thief, and had the bag, and bore what was put therein. —John 12:4, 6
Freely ye have received, freely give. —Matthew 10:8
Ah, but if we should go thoroughly into this matter, should we not probably find that many of us are guilty, in some modified and yet sufficiently alarming sense, of treachery to the poor? Are we not, some of us, sent to them with benefactions which never reach them, and are only unconscious of guilt because so long accustomed to look upon the goods as bestowed on …