December
December / 209 him must be given up. "He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."
Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.
(Heb 12:2) It is a simple fact that we see what we look at and cannot see what we look away from. We cannot look to Jesus while we are looking at ourselves. The power for victory and the power for endurance are to come from looking to Jesus and considering him, not from looking to or considering ourselves, our circumstances, Our sins, or our temptation. All looking at ourselves causes weakness and defeat. The reason for this is that when we look at ourselves, we see nothing but ourselves, and our own weakness, and poverty, and sin; and we do not, and cannot, see the remedy and the supply for these, and as a matter of course we are defeated. The remedy and the supply are there all the time, but they are not to be found in the place we are looking, for they are not in self, but in Christ; and we cannot be looking at ourselves and looking at Christ at the same time. It is a simple question of choice for us, whether it shall be] or Christ; whether we shall turn our backs on Christ and look at ourselves, or whether we shall turn our backs on self and look at Christ.
You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem. (Neh 2:17) Ezra describes how the temple was rebuilt and God's dwelling place restored. Now, Nehemiah raises the call to build up the wall of Jerusalem. Inward restoration always paves the way and prepares the heart for outward restoration; and this rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem seems to me to typify the outward work and service of the Christian in whose heart the Lord dwells.
Jerusalem may be taken as a figure of the church, and the
210 / Daily He Leads Me building of her walls and gates, as symbolizing that building up of the church now, of which the Apostle speaks when he says,
"So with yourselves; since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church" (1 Cor 14:12).
"And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ" (Eph
4:11-12).
And Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and set its doors, its bolts and its bars. (Neh 3:6)
In chapter 3 of Nehemiah, we have a detailed account of the work that was done to the walls of Jerusalem and the names of the men who did it. This is a sample page out of the Lord's book of records. How precious to see God taking note of each man and of all the details of each man's work. Men may pass over lightly the work which their brethren do for the Lord, and may even think their own work not worth remembering; but the Lord never forgets the smallest thing. How little did Joiada the son of Paseah and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah think, as they laid the beams of the old gate and set the door amid the sneers and assaults of their enemies, that the record of their work was to go down to untold millions. The weakest laborer may be sure that he is honorably mentioned in that blessed book of records, which is kept in the Lord's own house on high.
Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. (1 Tm 6:12) Iam aware that those who teach a life of perfect rest and peace are sometimes supposed to mean that there are no more assaults from our enemy in such a life. But this is so manifestly a misunderstanding, that it hardly seems necessary to say anything about it. Yet it is so difficult to explain just what we do mean, that I do not wonder we are misunderstood. For it is one of
December / 211 those marvelous paradoxes in which two apparently irreconcilable things exist at the same moment and perfectly harmonize. Peace and war, rest and labor—they are one here. We fight, but it is the fight of faith, not of effort, for "our God fights for us,' and therefore we are at perfect peace. We work, but it is not we who work, but God who works in us and through us, and therefore we rest. But to understand this, we must experience it.
We work as the instrument works in the hand of the skillful workman. We fight as the baby fights, who hides its head in its mother's bosom.
Thus I cleansed them from everything foreign, and | established the duties of the priest and Levites, each in his work. (Neh 13:30) Thus ends the book of Nehemiah. As Nehemiah dealt with the Israelites, cleansing them from everything foreign, so will the blessed Holy Spirit deal now in faithful and loving rebuke with every soul that returns afresh to the law of the Lord. What comfort this is! You may have wandered far from the Lord and have been taken captive by cruel enemies. His law may have been lost to you, and your heart may have formed many close alliances with foreigners. But a path is here opened before you, by which you may return, and which will lead you out of all that is contrary to his will. Don't be afraid to face the truth about your present spiritual condition; and don't admit the thought that you have been carried captive too far and too long for restoration to be possible. For in the swift transitions of our spiritual life, the very time that reveals a failure may reveal the remedy also, and at once that remedy may be applied and the soul delivered. That which took years for the children of Israel may be accomplished for you in a divine moment.
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared
God, and turned away from evil. (Jb 1:1)
212 / Daily He Leads Me It was necessary that a righteous man should have been chosen to suffer what Job suffered, since it is the training of God's saints that is here set forth; and none but a good man could have understood the lessons or profited by them. Moreover it is plain to the simplest comprehension that a wicked man needs to be brought to the end of himself. But that an upright man should also need this is not so clear. Some
Christians are mystified by the sufferings that beset them. It may be that they are conscious of the integrity of their hearts and cannot see the justice or the need for their trials. "I was doing what I thought right," such a Christian will say, "why should these things come upon me?" But the subtle forms of self-life that would ruin us, if left undiscovered and unchecked, are often most vigorous in those whose outward life is all that could be desired; and it needs sometimes a very sharp discipline to uproot them. In this fact lies hidden the secret of much that is mysterious in the dealings of the Lord with the souls of his servants. He loves us too much to permit any evil to linger undiscovered and uncured in our natures. This is not severity, but mercy. For the great object of all the discipline of life here is character-building. We are to be the "friends of God" throughout all eternity, and to be his friends means something far grander than merely being saved by him. It requires a far deeper harmony with his will. Therefore it is an unspeakable blessing that he loves us enough to take the necessary pains to make us fit companions for him. How well we know the strength of love it requires for us to discipline our children. Let us be thankful, then, that we have a God whose love is so strong that he will not withhold the hand of his discipline, until he has purged away all our dross, and taken away all our tin, and has presented us to himself a "glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing."
I So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and afflicted Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. (Jb 2:7)
December / 213 By all that happened to him, Job was brought to a knowledge of his own heart and was made to abhor himself in dust and ashes. The instrument used was Satan, but the hand that used this instrument was the Lord's. In both cases, when Job's possessions were taken, and also when his own body was smitten with sores, Satan's power extended only so far as the Lord permitted and not one hair's breadth further. While Satan seemed to do it all, there was One behind Satan, who overruled everything and made it all work together to accomplish his purposes of grace toward Job.
I I Then Job answered: "Today also my complaint is bitter, / his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning." (Jb 23:1-2)
When the Lord begins to empty us and to break us, the means he is obliged to use puzzle us and seem unreasonable, and often unkind and unjust. No chastening for the present can seem joyous to us but must necessarily be grievous, and we ought not to think it mysterious that it should be so. We must not question, therefore, nor admit the slightest inward rebellion against it, but thankfully submit to that which our Lord permits to come, let the instrumentality be what it may, whether Satan directly, or the wickedness and treachery of men. For not a sparrow falls without our Father's notice, and all that he permits to come upon us is meant to make us "partakers of his holiness," if only we will learn what he is trying to teach us. For it is the cross, and the cross alone, that brings us out of self.
Lives that we are apt to call wasted, which have ended in sorrow and humiliation, are not really wasted, but are simply being stripped of that which separated them from the Lord and from a perfect conformity to his likeness. That man is happy who goes into the next world emptied of self, no matter how painful the humbling may have been.
214 / Daily He Leads Me I Job answered the Lord: / "Behold, | am of small account; what shall l answer thee?/1 lay my hand on my mouth./
I have spoken once, and I will not answer; / twice, but I will proceed no further." / Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind. (Jb 40:3-6) God took away all Job's possessions, everything in which he delighted or upon which he could rest; and then "out of the whirlwind, ""out of the storm" he answered Job with a revelation of himself.
Just so is it sometimes now in the lives of God's children who have great possessions, whether inward or outward. Only "out of the storm" that has destroyed their possessions, can they havea revelation of God.
I I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, / but now my eye sees thee; /therefore I despise myself, / and repent in dust and ashes. (Jb 42:5-6) The moment came when Job could say from the depth of a convicted heart, "I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
But it did not come, until the Lord had revealed himself. That which all the reproaches and accusations of his friends had failed to do, one sight of God accomplished in a moment. Job had prayed that he might but see him and hear him speak, and the answer had come, bringing with it a revelation of self, which Job could hardly have expected, and yet which he found to be the beginning of richest blessings. He saw the Lord, but he also saw himself, as he was in the Lord's presence, and all his selfrighteousness turned into filthy rags in an instant.
I I have uttered what I did not understand, / things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. (Jb 42:3)
One deeply important lesson to be drawn from Job's experience is this, that all true knowledge of self and abhorrence of self must come, not from self-examination, but from beholding the
December / 215 Lord. Until Job had his eyes opened to see the Lord, he was very well satisfied with himself, and all his self-examination seemed to lead only to self-justification. But the moment the Lord was revealed, all was changed, and the man, who, while looking at self had seen nothing but good, now despised himself in dust and ashes.
Self-examination is sometimes extolled among Christians as a most commendable and necessary duty; but in my view it is often a very great evil. It leads either to self-justification and self-commiseration, or else to discouragement and despair. It fills our lives with chapters full of the personal pronoun "I" and "my," as Job's was. The soul that looks away from self, and examines the Lord instead, finds its mouth filled with his name, and his praises, and his glorious power.
I And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another. (2 Cor 3:18}
I feel very sure that the commands to look to Jesus, to behold his glory, to have our eyes ever toward the Lord, mean something very literal. And it is very certain that when we are looking to Jesus, we cannot see ourselves. For if our face is to the One, our back will necessarily be to the other. It is by "beholding the glory of the Lord" that we are to be "changed into his likeness." It is by keeping our eyes "ever toward the Lord," that our feet are to be plucked out of the net. It is by looking to him, that all the ends of the earth are to be saved.
Nothing hinders us more in our Christian life than to keep our eyes fixed on ourselves, trying to search out evidence of our own goodness and fitness for the mercy of the Lord, or tokens of our growth in grace. If we think we find any, then at once we are frightened at the danger of pride; and if we do not find any, then we are plunged into the depths of discouragement. The true way is to give up self as hopelessly bad and to have no eyes nor thoughts for anything but the Lord and his salvation. This, I think, is what the scriptures mean by self-denial and self-
216 / Daily He Leads Me crucifixion. It is to say to this "I," "I am a stranger to you," and to refuse to listen for a moment to its pretensions or its claims.
I Awake to punish all the nations; / spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. (Ps 59:5) Besides those psalms which expressly refer to the Lord Jesus, there are many others whose praises, desires, hopes, and deliverances could have in him alone their truest realization.
Only by seeing this, can we understand much of what is written in the Psalms. And only by understanding that the desires for vengeance upon enemies is to be interpreted as referring to Christ's great enemy, Satan, and all his host of evil spirits, and to the dreadful effects of sin in the hearts and lives of men, can we be relieved from the painful sense of vindictive cruelty that otherwise would oppress us. The Lord, who has told us to love our enemies, and to do good to them that hate us, could surely not do otherwise himself; and I cannot but feel that we must read of his wrath as being directed against the sin and not against the sinner, and his vengeance as being poured out upon the cruel Enemy, who carries captive his helpless flock, and not upon the poor flock, thus attacked and enslaved. l ie For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Phil 1:21)
A poor woman was once scoffed at by an infidel for supposing that she, in her weakness and ignorance, could ever travel over the long and weary road from earth to heaven. "Ah, master," she replied, "It is a very short road, and easily traveled. There are only three steps in it.""Three steps," he repeated scornfully, "and what are they?' The answer was a memorable one—"Out of self, into Christ, and into glory." If then to some of my readers the road to present peace and victory looks long and hard, let me assure you that it only needs but two of these steps to take you there. Out of self, and into Christ! That is all. That is enough for the deepest experiences and the richest blessings. The process that brings this about may be hard for flesh and blood, but the
December / 217 end is worth it all. And, although hard, it need not be long, for entire consecration and perfect faith will hasten every stage. We often are many years learning our lesson, because we are not able to bear rapid and severe strokes of the divine chastising hand. "Out of self" is a step to be taken by faith, but it is alsoa step to be taken actually and experimentally as well. And the Lord's part is to turn our faith into a reality, by his dealings with us, both inward and outward. The life of trust looks beautiful to us, and we long to live it, but we forget that something must be done first. No soul can trust utterly in the Lord who has anything of self left in which to trust, and we must therefore come out of the self-life entirely, before we can fully enter into the life hid with Christ in God. For it is utter weakness alone that can bring any soul to the point of utter trust. If our faith will but grasp it now, and if we will but let the Lord work as he pleases, without any shrinking or hindrance on our part, who can say by what rapid steps he may bring us out into this place of perfect peace, or how soon he may make the language of absolute trust our language also.
I 8 Praise the Lord, O my soul! /1 will praise the Lord as long as I live. (Ps 146:1-2) Let us join in this anthem here and now. Let us praise God whether we understand him or not. Let us praise him, even though his ways with us may seem to be too mysterious ever to be understood. Let us praise him out of our weakness, and out of our ignorance, and out of our very vileness itself. Let us praise him that we are weak, and ignorant, and covered with infirmity, because this is our most irresistible claim upon him, and because only so can his power rest upon us. Let us praise him that we are nothing and that he is all.
I All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Lk 10:22)
218 / Daily He Leads Me We may, and we do, have all sorts of thoughts of God. We may conjecture this or imagine that, but we are wasting our energies in it all. We simply cannot know God. No man can, except through the revelation of Christ.
We may know a good many things about him, but that is very different from knowing him, as he really is in nature and character. Other witnesses have told us of his visible acts, but from these we often get very wrong impressions of his true character. No other witness but Christ can tell us of the real secrets of God's bosom. It will make all the difference in our
Christian lives, whether or not we believe this to be a fact. If we do believe it to be a fact, then the stern judge and hard taskmaster whom we have feared, even while we tried to follow him, and whose service we have found so irksome and so full of discomfort, will disappear; and his place will be taken by the God of love who is revealed to us in "the face of Jesus Christ," the God who cares for us as he cares for the sparrows, and for the flowers of the field, and who tells us that he numbers even the hairs of our head.
) When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. (Jn 10:4) Our Lord has declared that his sheep shall "know his voice," but we shall need to live very near him, and have much close communion with him before this can be. For amid the multitude of voices clamoring for our attention, it is not easy to distinguish the Shepherd's voice, unless we have become familiar with its sound. At first all voices are alike to the infant, and some time must pass before it can learn to distinguish even its mother's tones; and doubtless in the learning it makes many mistakes. But the time comes when the child knows that dear voice from every other and cannot mistake it, and when the voice of a stranger makes it afraid. And for us also, if we but follow on to know unwaveringly, the time will surely come when we likewise shall be able to distinguish the Shepherd's voice and shall "flee from the voice of a stranger."
December / 219 o The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (Jn 10:3) Not long ago a friend told me the following story. A farmer, wishing to purchase some sheep, made a selection from the flocks of a neighbor and started to drive them home. But he found it impossible to induce a single sheep to leave its owner's sheepfold by any force or persuasion. In despair he called upon the shepherd, who told him the trouble was that the sheep did not know his voice. Going to the fold himself, the shepherd stood and called them. Immediately, every one of the sheep bounded eagerly and joyfully out. He walked on, the sheep following him through strange and unknown roads, while he called out continually to let them know that he was their leader, until he had secured them safely in the sheepfolds of their new owner. No doubt these sheep would come to know the voice of their new shepherd, but, until they had learned it, they could not follow him willingly, nor yield a ready obedience to his commands.
Subjection to a voice is one of the sweetest ways of learning to know it. We shall find that each time we obey the voice of our
Shepherd, it will become easier for us to distinguish it the next time. bY, Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, / vanity of vanities! All is vanity. (Eccl 1:2) It may seem sad to some that the world should be so unsatisfactory that "all is vanity." But when we understand the reason for it and the blessed result, we will surely praise the Lord with all our hearts that he has so arranged it. For he has commanded us to hate the world and to forsake it, and how could we obey him if it was attractive and satisfying? If there should be poison in our food, would we not be thankful if it had so bitter a taste as to make it impossible for us to eat? And, since there is a fatal poison in the world to all who love it, shall we not be thankful that the Lord has given it such a bitter taste as to make it too nauseous to be enjoyed for very long? If we
220 / Daily He Leads Me understood this, we would not grieve so bitterly over the spoiling of our pleasant plans, or think it so mysterious that disappointments should come. For it is a grand victory not to love the world; and the soul that has gained this victory finds itself set in a large place, and cannot help but be thankful for whatever disappointment may have brought it there. ry Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life! And why are you anxious about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. (Mt 6:27-29) The lily grows by the power of its inward life principle and according to the laws of a lily's life. No amount of its own stretching or straining, nor any pulling up by others, would help its growth. It is all folly and worse than folly, for Christians to make such mighty efforts to grow. If they would only let the Christ life within them grow, unhindered by their interference, they need have no fear of the result. But we are so ignorant of the laws of our spiritual life, that we are continually tempted to meddle with it.
Let us imagine a seed that has just been quickened, talking to itself. "What dreadful place am I in? How can anything grow in the dark like this, and with such heaps of heavy earth on top of it? And, oh dear! what is the matter with me? I seem to be all splitting up! Look at that bit of me going down! I thought I was meant to grow upwards. What does it all mean? I am afraid things are all wrong. Just when I thought I was getting out into the nice sunshine, here comes a dreadful storm and drenches me. I can never live through all this. Besides, look how little I am. I know I was meant to be a big tree. Where is the fruit I was to bear? I have only got two or three tiny green leaves." And so on, and so on.
Have you never known anyone who has made similar complaints?
December / 221 y 4 Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. (Mt 25:21]
One evening in the spring of 1819 Thomas Moore wrote in his diary: "The sunset this evening was glorious; the thoughts that came over me while I looked at it, of how little I have done in the world, and how much my mind feels capable of, would have made me cry like a child if I had given way to them." The discrepancy between aspiration and achievement here expressed is a thing which has frequently been lamented. Most persons of any sensibility have at some time been troubled with a sense of it; yet, notwithstanding all the manifold regrets it has occasioned, nobody appears to be benefited by the contemplation of former failures, but every new adventurer in the pursuits of life repeats the old experience. It would seem as if the greater part of our existence were little more than an apprenticeship to the business of living; and that if ever we come to understand how our time and talents might have been most wisely employed, it is at a stage of life when the journey is drawing to a close, and hardly an opportunity is left us to turn what we have been learning to account.
It is impossible that anyone not wholly degraded and ignorant should be able to contemplate a nobler and better form of his own life without desiring in some measure to realize it. The very fact that it is nobler and better makes it desired. Everyone wishes to become the best he can be. The wish may not always be very effective, but still, the desire naturally springs up. This desire is what is termed "aspiration." To keep one's foot firmly set in the way that leads upwards is to conquer. y For to you is born this day in the city of Davida
Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Lk 2:11) If Christ is called by any one name more than another it is
Savior. He is called over and over the Savior of the world. No one can question that this is his God-given name. He is one who
222 / Daily He Leads Me saves. He is not one who merely offers to save, but he must of necessity, from the very nature of the name, be one who actually does it. The only claim to the name lies in the fact behind the name. We might as rightly call a man a king who had only offered to reign, as to call a man a savior who has only offered to save. When we say Christ is our Savior, what are we thinking of him? Do we think of him as One who is actually saving us now?
Or do we think of him as One who only offers to save us at some future time, and who has accompanied that offer with such well-nigh impossible conditions that salvation is practically not available for us at all? Everything in our Christian life depends, not on what we say of Christ, but on what we think of him when we Call him our Savior.
26 A friend loves at all times. {Prv 17:17) Much of the happiness and purity of our lives depends upon our making a wise choice of our companions and friends.
Friendship is based upon common sympathies arising out of oneness of tastes, sentiments, forms of thought and feeling, and modes of life. These common sympathies thus beget affection which makes intercourse a happiness. Friendship increases the range of life by making the interests, the aims, the affections of others as precious and dear to us as our own. It divides sorrows and multiplies joys. Each friend is another self. Not only does friendship thus widen the range of life by this simple process of adding the interests of others to our own and multiplying our sympathies by theirs; it raises our common life to a higher plane.
It is the constant intercourse of friends, the gradual development of one another's thoughts and feelings, the reciprocal stimulus to intellectual action, the communication to one another of new truths, new interests, new projects—these things it is which constitute the happiness of social intercourse, and which can only take place truly and fully among real friends.
December / 223 i) For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything, (2 Cor 2:9)
Until you have found and obeyed God's will in reference to any subject as it is revealed in scripture, you need not ask nor expect a separate, direct, personal revelation. A great many fatal mistakes are made in this matter of guidance by overlooking this simple rule. Where our Father has written out for us a plain direction about anything, he will not of course make a special revelation to us about that thing. If we fail to search out and obey the scripture rule, where there is one, and look instead for an inward voice, we shall open ourselves to the deceptions of Satan and shall almost inevitably fall into error. No man, for instance, needs or could expect any direct revelation to tell him not to steal, because God has already in the scriptures plainly declared his will about it. This seems such an obvious thing that I would not speak of it, but that I have frequently met with Christians who have overlooked it and have gone off into fanaticism as the result. I know the Bible does not always give a rule for every particular course of action, and in these cases we need and must expect the direct voice of the Spirit.
Dy Whena man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word.
(Nm 30:2) Because God is not visibly present to the eye, it is sometimes difficult to feel that a transaction with him is real. If, when we made our acts of consecration, we could actually see him present with us, we should feel it to be a very real thing, and would realize that we had given our word to him and would not dare to take it back, no matter how much we might wish to do so. Such a transaction would have the binding power that a spoken promise to an earthly friend always has to a man of honor. We need to realize that God's presence is a certain fact always, and that every act of our soul is done in his presence. A word spoken in prayer is really spoken to him as if our eyes
224 / Daily He Leads Me could see him and our hands could touch him. Then we shall cease to have such vague conceptions of our relations with him, and shall feel the binding force of every word we say in his presence.
2 9 According to your faith be it done unto you. (Mt 9:29) Try to imagine yourself acting in your daily life as you do in your spiritual life. Suppose you should begin tomorrow with the notion that you could not trust anybody, because you had no faith. When you sat down to breakfast you would say, "I cannot eat anything on this table, for I have no faith, and I cannot believe the cook has not put poison in the coffee, or that the butcher has not sent home a diseased piece of meat." You would starve to death.
When you went outside, you would say, "I cannot ride ina car for I have no faith, and therefore I cannot trust the driver, the factory that constructed the car, or the street signs." You would be forced to walk everywhere. Besides becoming weary with the effort, you wouldn't be able to reach all the places you could reach in a car. You would be forced to disbelieve many things, saying, "I really cannot believe there is any such person as the president or the Queen of England, for I never saw them, nor any such country as Ireland, for I was never there. And I have no faith, so of course, I cannot believe anything that I have not actually felt and touched myself."
Just picture a day like this, and see how disastrous it would be and what utter folly it would appear to anyone who watched you. Realize how your friends would feel insulted, and how your co-workers would refuse to work with you another day. Then ask yourself—if this lack of faith in other people would be so dreadful and such utter folly, what must it be when you tell God that you have no power to trust him nor to believe his word?
When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth:
(Lk 18:8)
December / 225 There are two things which are more utterly incompatible than even oil and water, and these two are trust and worry.
Would you call it trust, if you gave something into the hands of a friend to attend to for you and then spent your days and nights in anxious thought and worry about it? Can you call it trust, when you have given the saving and keeping of your soul into the hands of the Lord, if day after day and night after night you are spending hours of anxious thought and questioning about the matter? When a believer really trusts anything, he ceases to worry about it. Worry only comes when trust is not present.
Tested by this rule, how little real trust there is in the church of Christ. No wonder our Lord asked the pathetic question, "When the Son of man comes will he find faith on earth?" He will find plenty of activity and a great deal of earnestness, but will he find faith—the one thing he values more than all the rest? It is a solemn question, and every Christian heart should ponder it well.
3] The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. (Eccl 12:13) All that is really necessary for life is declared to us in this one passage. The message of Ecclesiastes is that we cannot understand the world; we cannot find any comfort in it; it is all hopelessly empty and mysterious. But, even so, the Lord reigns and holds the clue; and to fear him and keep his commandments is the only thing needed to make everything straight. Obedience is the golden key to every mystery. Those who do his will shall sooner or later understand. A walk with him is a walk through a region of grandeur, and life is transfigured before us. Let us praise him, then, that the only thing which is declared to be our duty, is also the only thing possible for us to do. For the "world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that does the will of God abides forever."
Scripture Index Genesis Deuteronomy | 2 oie aie eee A eRe Re eee 39 SOLO tise Sere cae era 45 ED EDD CEE eel RRC ee ae ee
Side pests esr esas es a 54 SONOS oo acbeee eh cede 67 Bea yederstorstetooal etorotebo-ataretraleate b's 76
DAES! he ree nee wee 110 DEAR cineca ac bacctes's oe tite 52 DEAT AGB ionic os cacee os token 82 9.10) | Ee ana A Serr 170 BS 2 oe meee a ccs seen 169 Exodus Joshua eee aus seiccne efits 57 BORA o Seacn wacesvaln youd 142 LL S an ae ieee ei eee 50 A Cy eae ae, ee 58 We ya Ee RE 118 VCE 0. ae ian oy 08 6 47 Ma ee cs mide ua taee 155 Re es ce ee 48
DAC TIE a:
ree 67 O28 ae meee oes
PE I ee EIEIO 49 | OP 3 ees cease 122, 185 Se ee ne
Nee ete oot fhe tae 187 ER manta ae SA 148, 187 1 betel Ws eee ca ist al Are 188 Gre Sessa te eee Rotnacies 147 TESLOR FCS v Seno a Ua OR ae 144
CL 3 A RELIED
ene 1 MOS Snr oie ai niacaee nee 96 MN ree ecsiecisinaisieeien 193 Leviticus Judges Gabor ORAS eters okeee 50 16-222 re tte 51 Dif hit sc ae RSPR E DEERE POE Ee
SME Ici st arolevalalovstnowialncies 192 yo) SR Se etaheneee ae eh he 193 Os snap icvctsherwiasescveradene 142 G23 fo siaisiteaninnonisieerioune Oe 4 Numbers Ruth eNO ech ce. Sew cicewswomes 59 OU] area ce cgeeteie sees 52 1h SIA S! 7 56 Poe teee o srece seen 47 ESTE | he, Rep an Re NeRSRMIMO Rr
| 22 0 Se LN eT
BAIS AG coe ccc cscs nae bet 186 DUA nccceiacuiectass nank 141 1 7 he RN aa berm 223 Be hte hb hanasu Aghctel ates 194 SLO Ngercseeane eo ouna aes 195 1 Samuel PMOU ieee cua neenses i002 152 Re nas sande cat eck ses 197 US chic A A 146
228 / Daily He Leads Me DOS: UB sewccn ce slestepeces 36 BED Gers cs ee o awe bake 182 AO :3-G) dG d Seine Sie wre oie 010 ee 214 BD BS ii Winn ahs slag eave 214 42-5 -Gitix case tdeaceeas tte 214 Psalms Ba Diss Saicrute seats arn alae oe areertae 84 BAS oe cc crc die sawn ore 178 BS Nira vk ecg eck ace eee 32 PD ion cen ae aies Cae aos ee 119 DASE ES EN
ES RATIOS
cont c 156 DUB a2 pueteatewie hues 133 SA Sines donivieinn caeraiere eee Z UE a IR?
ORE aE NG 180
LOG-F 2256
SS SELE OLLI 78
BOT Ss cbe Cer des i iasaceees 183 Oe ee eer eee Pre er oer. 83
4G: 254-5 sesso eae ee eases 139 86:10 ese ccedtscdeaecenes 196
AGB NOVAS
Ha dal bdiedsdedee fee 104 5O202 1 02 ec sceseadaccedees 44, BOO "pos edahac esas dedence Re 152 SOS cher ecdar nests Feee dene 216 OF2-3 Sos Foe earaadaees core 12 co) a eR rr eee eee: 12
Gon rg cnc ce ieee aeons Gee 64 OB eis Saves enc cnah econ 190 (AE Saar at ete a yer rhe Gb: 141
LR O POC Gree eches eee 41 WOET Oe ow tas ate c ae ee 89 POU iene conchae eee 124 FRED dag ope Meets Sa ete 7, 145 Pe A te ce eerie ee ae. 84
DO onsen cred eles bes 10, 14 QO: Feces SaS Eee 72 OF 2 sh vies cdetee ees eee 13 OT:9Oars ce8cseee res cece ll OTs eld ss ccessceesereitereer 6 U2 Ge See ee a bea a, 127 Se 12-33 cers sss eee ee 88 OED ie raond Tee eT ee Sa 161 L004 esac cee eset sees 157 2 Chronicles SO TSAGOY cones ccc ia ess CORED vicet esc ea nls ceenes
Index / 229 AE
1S A GES AEA RR es DP 8 RD OW aisshnie osm cojare 6 aa Cee 169 MO ie ccd ic acc cnet 26 PRO n ac ses cuagecee sets 153 PTDIO) carcsnn senweesceas es 28 BELO Dic cir etna stantkexn 178 PeOAe2 i canckwie eves akan 171 BIG-G's tc ninwesdesesses 655583 83 PSO % wis hie 6540446
65ERE SON 70
62.2 CA eee eee se ee
DSO Br Nees enextaasaek cs 40 POO AET 2) occ se ees sesh Soo 08 41 CD ea ee eee 217 Pao sik ick leas are 88 De Oe rin cs aie niecois Cao enn 18 GOR G We ciectececcseclcciec ue ees 24 OS DIS eros cicsstaverehs s oats 5h TOR 21 (Supls) GAB cee ee eae 28 GOMER cers och cae ir iowientionae 171 Jeremiah ESR iis sabia ecsstatnan eaters 143 ODAC Gs 23s Gig EUs SCH aes A 97 ZS rose eslers 6 vie wea so Ee 129 NB 5G cas hecasa vaca dee cee 39 ZEOO ics sok octa denn oer hs tee 5 3 Lee We A eet ay
LS) Ee ee Reet en Aer 90 Proverbs BEARER Ek GA CAN EMG es on cok 77 BOA cio GR kWeeon bine bos 99 D2 Aoi, 4 rsa wes nian se eeeES 87 DA oI loin ce Rr esieaiy cle 222 aire ois 6.6 cael acres on RE 13 DIC e eee viva c sc dle seca 117 Ezekiel A eh ia cot te host CORE 174 Daniel PQLTAR
LTRS CRORE
TOR RARE 68
Ecclesiastes Hosea BD SOEs Re ENS SHS le 219 7 Oh a eS eee 79 1025 fe eke
DAA ete race eoes cere 29 FFP Nes a aA see
RET NRRESR c,-- 176
Jonah Song of Songs ORR AONE SF ak hs battie Aae Ral ep 156 [5S OS SEES ere ree ere 201 Habakkuk Isaiah BWelLOR Rr ren re ke es 31 11.) 9. peared 144 EE) SPE
OE OEe OEE 173
21 7 er rete
BOM Sirians cont eaeannee 118 TN Bee oak oes diate tapes 102 BOF 2B iy aie eal ee ee eee 91 BOs. oS cndows saveeaieers 166
A TELOAE 6
ck ecrce wcuneien avers 106 MNO choc cosie eae 120 BOS ev cmie seme Clee eee 30 UA ae parecer earl rr So 31 Zechariah WO core cdc reterccictcrte ciate eines 81 MSO rrres orca cterciete erctone ave het 87
Matthew [Exe be ie ES Cea a Ree 1 Sam 29 544-45, 48... ccecssccceus 114 EAS ett ed Maleleee anes s atone 161 COE RAR Re ete 121
230 / Daily He Leads Me 29) a ay Se ee 902 32-28'300 vive vee eee
626) eee ee, 165) BEIGE 92 697-29 sche te eS 220 GIRD9.0. freee Site, 175 John Cie ee Ar GES: sesceccssbetreonee (7 SOM 8 TAY apie soln omipiawes anal Re 16.
PSs ee 26 E0) nee eRe oe 183 corse
VIG A eo | dO W and all detalles BE okra eee ee 60 DIN er ae hme ae en mm & Yj SER Ste 27 MOO Poca era he te isi~
7. EAE ER
AR Or 72 PE Va Ree nS: 9
= CE ioc cupauune ence 97 199380. oe eee 106 1 | eons ase 61 Das tthe ec oe
GIB DO cnn eens cee eeee 33 Peele ot) ae Fe 116 i RNS, ARSE. 126
Ey Rea ee aati 7.
© Ro SE ORR
tery
a slag elie etre octane
Tice a Sateen Comme 219 172601 ee ae 160 Od Gee cates 218 17oe eee 133 TOO 222240400 eee 64 ODOT se pce reese ete 100.
Sao. js es Se ONE KS nee Oi tee ee 11-56: 14:18! 21 .ck2cstan 85-86 Pll) ee ae 221 POOH Abs orctencsteeeeeeee 10 SRA eee hee
ee ia « WED ence ans sateen 191 POOLE So ai Nein ES ee et ERE Ie es
VAP occu ck acct ae 22 Mark PABORS co chee eee ne 24 4189 40: ui eone seep ee TOS) PRC Mey see reste teuee es 166, 200 l l 24 Lee oe Toe ae 8 Lye
15:4 ois 'o\'e e's wile ea eb os eilbie ws elalere 175 Bute ae fa YEO oct 197 13 34 Noe Wear et eam
15:16 oe 6 bc 0 0 0 0 0 be Seley 6 ob a ee
TBo8 cet ns ee 132 16:21-22.................. 119
16083 ek 147, 149 rate WOR.
AS Aaa yaaa 177, 197 DD Fea ca k Sore en 221 ~# Acts . aoe sree e eee e eee ee eens 3 8 BERET RC Ce TR 40, 160 Sak eee 0 6 ee eielee erete ee Os. ee © 2:
B3Qe ea heh ee hs Bee Hee eta ee 47 $0, 202 TES ees 123 T38D ape eee 37 Romans 1337.40: ccs ree S04 G1012s cence neat 46 TESHO aoe ee MO BIN97 Beni neen see 177 WI7A9 ocosccaienen see 49 BIO" arse a ce 172 16:92 34 ee ASY.
ISTE hon tee een aee 66 19:8) Se re2 eee Oy) a oo Pe Tre ees 189
Index / 231 DDO Dd atieteee Metre oe 162 Eh Fe sfoavarstenavoanatahal stcdh ence tel 174 (od BS) eer a eee a
OLA G iicrctcraditectcheietc eee 2 OAT eavatstererorinctotevcte oe ae lll ee eeeeecereeeeeoeceves eee eeeeeeceoseeeeeeseses ee ewer eceee esse nesense ee eee reoseeeereecerececceos eee eoeeserereceeescecece Philippians eee eee rere reer se eeeeeeees Ce ee ON ee teint oles as oe 216 aes Ot ee i Pett) Se 73 Core eeeereresreresreeseeose eee reese esereecseereesreee DIDS ora 'siecacalavaleciais ave po. eee 51 DN OM Dee Sies ec ea ce ited 72 7S UREA) cnet lian ea Patee.
BIB WORMS PGi, PR
re il 99 US Lace te es ee ee 133 BO ae ee oe 179 4657 e a idee eh dae be ee 5, 164 Cre i wir ene
eee eeeeeeeesreccerseoseeees ee ee eee eeoeeeeeeeoeee eeeeesececeoeereereeeesesees ee eee ereeeseeresresese essen ee eer esreeoeeoseereeeeeee ee eeoseoeeeseeeoeeeeeeses Colossians eee ee eee eseeeeesesesee UIC UW a eda ae te Se 2 201 ZO Le ante t er no ere 154 DLO a en ree 100-101 BO ioe Pee ae a ty aot 159 eoeoeereereeresecereees 1 Thessalonians A OPN sac eens oe 104 Ft Co) 6 ea cae nna OR Bai ors
Hal bod gta pe ee ee Eee 153 eevee eeerereessoseseeeoeoen eoceeereeesr ees eseeeeees 1 Timothy eeoeeeeoeeeeseseeeesees eeoeeeees eres eo oeereeove Ope en tate Cece d be falcon 210 2 Timothy eee ereeeeceseeoseseeseeresene Toa a wad ces a eee 106 | ted AUN An eee ee Roe nS 126, 179 eer eoeeeereoere eee esos eooee eee oees eee esses esees eee eee eeeseeseeeecereeeeeee Titus Bar| 1c OE a ee
Hebrews eoeoeeeesee soe eooeeseeeeee eoeeeeeereeeeoe ree ese sene
232 / Daily He Leads Me Mi Aue vie aenn oo ee aed avoiar ond ore 194 Si Meet cai acaie care eat ernie haere es 80 De See ica hcnala char deal toe aiateters 38 BS EREO) gies are uisardvolcve cone Soe 148 7 19s vin. «cesveisyepsrorele cet 55 Be) fois os ofectsecinisicis oueusisaens 180-81 SLOT. ocescccseceysieteerceuectere ste 128
M322. a. s. c.ssaieieso,0,srcseiccoies ner nees 24 SO io eine ciagsyeubintovesaie ee ae 139 PSSA eee ack stavwin arate arches sree 9
| OARS IOGION
co oe D.C 90 2 Peter 2h) BS) ape aaa eet ppareury ame 204 VE S73 Siaco.cis cte.0eietorn ois eee eis 129 ND iD i posse are otetoteteleteteetate etter 209
LO eS AA ISCAS Roe & 86 22627 re ote tee eee 136 N22 Ser eles ee eile cs Serene 138, 140 LETS hea ocho beck aetna 172 1 John 2) | a a ARE DS ama come 1
210) A AESOP
foe Ol 5 6 158 COLES
RS SEI SOO 123
ONS SRA 8 Ves Soe SW eae > Boe 35 20) eB PE DEC
BOC ENE 170
NOISY ER he ae
cs MBIA RIOR CHICO 65
2) Lee AF PRI REN SENE CITIES 23
2 (CTs Bee en
ISIE ROTH
ROROOENE 170
James LO: Bie mtaie nh iets since eee ete 33 HL SPD eh ctocerchate* Notelelalere'stefeetetaters 108
S212 otk toiotersteteteretehe het elok ote 62 Revelation 1 Peter | ee ae bee A ar gt ee are
IDG)
oo EES OIE 162 D128 eae wee oS sean Seas 107
eS een one NE
LO 7a Seicislo mate ees ce aise ares 109
Every Day with the Author of The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life —— Let Hannah Whitall Smith speak to you every day about the joys and challenges of faith, the everlasting and allpowerful love of God, the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, and your own need for his love and care. Daily He Leads Me offers a treasury of good counsel from the pen of one of America's best-loved spiritual writers. Millions of people
— have read The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. This new devotional will introduce readers to many of her other writings, all on scriptural themes.
'Whether you have been living the Christian life for a few days or for many decades, Daily He Leads Me will lead you into a more joyous and dedicated relationship with God.
Hannah Whitall Smith was a nineteenth-century writer and evangelist, active in America and England. Her books include The Open Secret and The Commonseyse Teaching of the Bible. Ann Spangler is a senior editor at Servant Books and the editor of Bright Legdcy: Portraits of Ten Outstanding
Christian Women.
ISBN 0-89283-228-2