Daily Strength for Daily Needs - Mary Wilder Tileston

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      E. B. PUSEY.

      That which is called considering what is our duty in a particular case, is very often nothing but endeavoring to explain it away.

      JOSEPH BUTLER.

      January 23

      If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday; and the Lord shall guide thee continually.—ISA. lviii. 10, 11.

      If thou hast Yesterday thy duty done,

       And thereby cleared firm footing for To-day,

       Whatever clouds make dark To-morrow's sun,

       Thou shall not miss thy solitary way.

      J. W. VON GOETHE.

      O Lord, who art our Guide even unto death, grant us, I pray Thee, grace to follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. In little daily duties to which Thou callest us, bow down our wills to simple obedience, patience under pain or provocation, strict truthfulness of word and manner, humility, kindness; in great acts of duty or perfection, if Thou shouldest call us to them, uplift us to self-sacrifice, heroic courage, laying down of life for Thy truth's sake, or for a brother. Amen.

      C. G. ROSSETTI.

      January 24

      I will bless the Lord, who bath given me counsel.—PS. xvi. 7.

      Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.—ROM. xii. 11.

      Mine be the reverent, listening love

       That waits all day on Thee,

       With the service of a watchful heart

       Which no one else can see.

      A. L. WARING.

      Nothing is small or great in God's sight; whatever He wills becomes great to us, however seemingly trifling, and if once the voice of conscience tells us that He requires anything of us, we have no right to measure its importance. On the other hand, whatever He would not have us do, however important we may think it, is as nought to us.

      How do you know what you may lose by neglecting this duty, which you think so trifling, or the blessing which its faithful performance may bring? Be sure that if you do your very best in that which is laid upon you daily, you will not be left without sufficient help when some weightier occasion arises. Give yourself to Him, trust Him, fix your eye upon Him, listen to His voice, and then go on bravely and cheerfully.

      JEAN NICOLAS GROU.

      January 25

      If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.—JOHN xiii. 17.

      Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.—JAMES iv. 17.

      We cannot kindle when we will

       The fire that in the heart resides,

       The spirit bloweth and is still,

       In mystery our soul abides:

       But tasks in hours of insight willed

       Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.

      MATTHEW ARNOLD.

      Hurt not your conscience with any known sin.

      S. RUTHERFORD.

      Deep-rooted customs, though wrong, are not easily altered; but it is the duty of all to be firm in that which they certainly know is right for them.

      JOHN WOOLMAN.

      He often acts unjustly who does not do a certain thing; not only he who does a certain thing.

      MARCUS ANTONINUS.

      Every duty we omit obscures some truth we should have known.

      JOHN RUSKIN.

      January 26

      O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His—ways past finding out!—ROM. xi. 33.

      It doth not yet appear what we shall be.—I JOHN iii. 2.

      No star is ever lost we once have seen,

       We always may be what we might have been.

       Since Good, though only thought, has life and breath,

       God's life—can always be redeemed from death;

       And evil, in its nature, is decay,

       And any hour can blot it all away;

       The hopes that lost in some far distance seem,

       May be the truer life, and this the dream.

      A. A. PROCTER.

      St. Bernard has said: "Man, if thou desirest a noble and holy life, and unceasingly prayest to God for it, if thou continue constant in this thy desire, it will be granted unto thee without fail, even if only in the day or hour of thy death; and if God should not give it to thee then, thou shalt find it in Him in eternity: of this be assured." Therefore do not relinquish your desire, though it be not fulfilled immediately, or though ye may swerve from your aspirations, or even forget them for a time. … The love and aspiration which once really existed live forever before God, and in Him ye shall find the fruit thereof; that is, to all eternity it shall be better for you than if you had never felt them.

      J. TAULER.

      January 27

      For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.—ISA. lvii. 15.

      Without an end or bound

       Thy life lies all outspread in light;

       Our lives feel Thy life all around,

       Making our weakness strong, our darkness bright;

       Yet is it neither wilderness nor sea,

       But the calm gladness of a full eternity.

      F. W. FABER.

      O truth who art Eternity! And Love who art Truth! And Eternity who art Love! Thou art my God, to Thee do I sigh night and day. When I first knew Thee, Thou liftedst me up, that I might see there was somewhat for me to see, and that I was not yet such as to see. And Thou streaming forth Thy beams of light upon me most strongly, didst beat back the weakness of my sight, and I trembled with love and awe: and I perceived myself to be far off from Thee in the region of unlikeness.

      ST. AUGUSTINE.

      January 28

      O fear the Lord, ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him—PS. xxxiv. 9.

      Thou openest Thine hand, and satisfies the desire of every living thing.—PS. cxlv. 16.

      What Thou shalt to-day provide,

       Let me as a child receive;

       What to-morrow may betide,

       Calmly to Thy wisdom leave.

       'Tis enough that Thou wilt care;

       Why should I the burden bear?

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