January 16 – Friend in Drudgery
It is the daily strivings that count, not the momentary heights. The obeying of My Will day in, day out, in the wilderness plains, rather than the occasional Mount of Transfiguration.
Perseverance is nowhere needed so much as in the religious life. The drudgery of the Kingdom it is that secures My intimate Friendship. I am the Lord of little things, the Divine Control of little happenings.
Nothing in the day is too small to be a part of My scheme. The little stones in a mosaic play a big part.
Joy in Me. Joy is the God-given cement that secures the harmony and beauty of My mosaic.
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh;
is there any thing too hard for me? – Jeremiah 32:27
January 17 – God’s Rush To Give
Silence. Be silent before Me. Seek to know, and then to do My will in all things.
Abide in My Love. An atmosphere of loving understanding to all men. This your part to carry out, and then I surround you with a protective screen that keeps all evil from you. It is fashioned by your own attitude of mind, words, and deeds, towards others.
I want to give you all things, good measure, pressed down and running over. Be quick to learn. You know little yet of the Divine Impatience which longs to rush to give. Does one worrying thought enter your mind, one impatient thought? Fight it at once.
Love and Trust are the solvents for the worry and cares and frets of a life. Apply them at once. You are channels and though the channel may not be altogether blocked, fret and impatience and worry corrode, and in time would become beyond your help.
Persevere, oh! persevere. Never lose heart. All is well.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto
thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths. – Proverbs 3:5,6
January 18 – Faith – Works
Pray daily for Faith. It is My Gift.
It is your only requisite for the accomplishment of mighty deeds. Certainly you have to work, you have to pray, but upon Faith alone depends the answer to your prayers – your works.
I give it you in response to your prayer, because it is the necessary weapon for you to possess for the dispersion of evil – the overcoming of all adverse conditions, and the accomplishment of all good in your lives, and then you having Faith, give it back to Me. It is the envelope in which every request to Me should be placed.
And yet “Faith without works is dead.” So you need works, too, to feed your Faith in Me. As you seek to do, you feel your helplessness. You then turn to Me. In knowing Me, your faith grows – and that faith is all you need for My Power to work.
Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him:
but the just shall live by his faith. – Habakkuk 2:4
January 19 – Love Anticipates
Lord, I will seek Thee.
None ever sought Me in vain. I wait, wait with a hungry longing to be called upon; and I, who have already seen your hearts’ needs before you cried upon Me, before perhaps you were conscious of those needs yourself, I am already preparing the answer.
It is like a Mother, who is setting aside suitable gifts for her daughter’s wedding, before Love even has come into the daughter’s life.
The Anticipatory Love of God is a thing mortals seldom realize. Dwell on this thought. Dismiss from your minds the thought of a grudging God, who had to be petitioned with sighs and tears and much speaking before reluctantly He loosed the desired treasures. Man’s thoughts of Me need revolutionizing.
Try and see a Mother preparing birthday or Christmas delights for her child – the while her Mother-heart sings: “Will she not love that? How she will love this!” and anticipates the rapture of her child, her own heart full of the tenderest joy. Where did the Mother learn all this preparation – joy? From Me – a faint echo this of My preparation-joy.
Try to see this as plans unfold of My preparing. It means much to Me to be understood, and the understanding of Me will bring great joy to you.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the
power that worketh in us. Ephesians 3:20
January 20 – At One With God
One with Me. I and My Father are one. One with the Lord of the whole Universe!
Could human aspiration reach higher? Could man’s demands transcend this? One with Me.
If you realize your high privilege, you have only to think and immediately the object of your thought is called into being. Indeed, well may I have said, “Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth.”
To dwell in thought on the material, when once you live in Me – is to call it into being. So you must be careful only to think of and desire that which will help, not hinder, your spiritual growth. The same law operates too on the spiritual plane.
Think Love, and Love surrounds you, and all about whom you think. Think thoughts of ill-will and ill surrounds you, and those about whom you think. Think health – health comes. The physical reflects the mental and spiritual.
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. – Proverbs 23:7
January 21 – A Crowded Day
Believe that I am with you and controlling all. When My Word has gone forth, all are powerless against it.
Be calm. Never fear. You have much to learn. Go on until you can take the most crowded day with a song. “Sing unto the Lord.” The finest accompaniment to a Song of Praise to Me is a very crowded day. Let Love be the motif running through all.
Be glad all the time. Rejoice exceedingly. Joy in Me. Rest in Me. Never be afraid. Pray more. Do not get worried. I am thy Helper. “Underneath are the Everlasting Arms.” You cannot get below that. Rest in them, as a tired child rests.
Be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said,
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. – Hebrews 13:5
January 22 – Gray Days
Be not afraid. I am your God, your Deliverer. From all evil, I will deliver you. Trust Me. Fear not.
Never forget your “Thank you.” Do you not see it is a lesson? You MUST say “Thank You” on the grayest days. You MUST do it. All cannot be light unless you do. There is gray-day practice. It is absolutely necessary.
My death upon the Cross was not only necessary to save a world, it was necessary if only to train My disciples. It was all a part of their training: My entering Jerusalem in triumph; My washing the disciples’ feet; My sorrow-time in Gethsemane; My being despised, judged, crucified, buried. Every step was necessary to their development – and so with you.
If a gray day is not one of thankfulness, the lesson has to be repeated until it is. Not to everyone is it so. But only to those who ask to serve Me well, and to do much for Me. A great work requires a great and careful training.
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy
God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness. – Isaiah 41:10
January 23 – How Power Comes
Lord, Thou art our Refuge. Our God, in Thee do we trust. O Master, come and talk with us.
All power is given unto Me. It is Mine to give, Mine to withhold, but even I have to acknowledge that I cannot withhold it from the soul that dwells near Me, because it is then not a gift, but passes insensibly from Me to My disciples.
It is breathed in by the soul who lives in My Presence.
Learn to shut yourself away in My Presence – and then, without speaking, you have those things you desire of Me, Strength – Power – Joy – Riches.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. – Psalm 91:1
January 24 Your Great Reward
You pray for Faith, and you are told to do so. But I make provision in the House of My Abiding for those who turn towards Me and yet have weak knees and hearts that faint. Be not afraid. I am your God. Your Great Reward. Yours to look up and say, “All is well.”
I am your Guide. Do not want to see the road ahead. Go just one step at a time. I rarely grant the long vista to My disciples, especially in personal affairs, for one step at a time is the best way to cultivate Faith.
You are in uncharted waters. But the Lord of all Seas is with you, the Controller of all Storms is with you. Sing with Joy. You follow the Lord of Limitations, as well as the God in whose service is perfect freedom.
He, the God of the Universe, confined Himself within the narrow limits of a Baby-form and, in growing Boyhood, and young Manhood, submitted to your human limitations, and you have to learn that your vision and power, boundless as far as spiritual things are concerned, must in temporal affairs submit to limitations, too.
But I am with you. It was when the disciples gave up effort after a night of fruitless fishing, that I came, and the nets broke with the overabundance of supply.
He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. – John 15:5
January 25 The Way of Happiness
Complete surrender of every moment to God is the foundation of happiness, the superstructure is the joy of Communion with Him. And that is, for each, the place, the mansion, I went to prepare for you.
My followers have misunderstood that, and looked too often upon that promise as referring only to an After-Life, and too often – far too often – upon this life as a something to be struggled through in order to get the reward and the joy of the next.
Seek to carry out all I say, and such understanding, insight, vision, and joy will be yours as shall pass indeed all understanding. The plans of God are very wonderful – beyond your highest hopes.
Cling to thoughts of protection, safety, guidance.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. – Romans 12:1
January 26 – Keep Calm
Keep your Spirit-Life calm and unruffled. Nothing else matters. Leave all to Me. This is your great task, to get calm in My Presence, not to let one ruffled feeling stay for one moment. Years of blessing may be checked in one moment by that.
No matter who frets you or what, yours is the task to stop all else until absolute calm comes. Any block means My Power diverted into other channels.
Pour forth – pour forth – pour forth – I cannot bless a life that does not act as a channel. My Spirit brooks no stagnation, not even in rest. Its Power must flow on. Pass on everything, every blessing. Abide in Me.
See how many you can bless each day. Dwell much in My Presence.
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of
it are the issues of life. – Proverbs 4:23
January 27 – Height of the Storm
Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. – John 6:68
I am with you both. Go forward unafraid. Health and strength, peace and happiness and joy – they are all My gifts. Yours for the asking. In the spiritual (as in the material) world there is no empty space, and as self and fears and worries depart out of your lives, it follows that the things of the Spirit, that you crave so, rush in to take their places. All things are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. What a wonderful cycle, because ye are God’s.
Be not afraid. Fear not. It is to the drowning man the Rescuer comes. To the brave swimmer who can fare well alone He comes not. And no rush of Joy can be like that of a man towards his Rescuer.
It is a part of My method to wait till the storm is at its full violence. So did I with My disciples on the Lake. I could have bidden the first angry wave be calm, the first gust of wind be still, but what a lesson unlearned? What a sense of tender nearness of refuge and safety would have been lost.
Remember this – My disciples thought that in sleep I had forgotten them. Remember how mistaken they were. Gain strength and confidence and joyful dependence and anticipation from that.
Never fear. Joy is yours, and the radiant joy of the rescued shall be yours.
Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. – Psalm 25:4
January 28 – Low Ambitions
Fear not. Do not fear to be busy. You are the servant of all. “He that would be the greatest among you, let him be the servant of all.”
Service is the word of My disciples. I served indeed, the humblest, the lowliest. I was at their command. My highest powers were at their service.
Be used. Be used by all, by the lowest, the smallest. How best you can serve? Let that be your daily seeking, not how best can you be served.
Look around you. Do the aims and ambitions that man strives for bring peace, or the world’s awards bring heart-rest and happiness? No! indeed, man is at war with man. Those whom the world has most rewarded, with name, fame, honour, wealth, are weary and disappointed.
And yet, to the listening ear, above the jangle of the world’s discordant cries, there echoes down the 1900 years My message, “Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
And the weary and disappointed who listen and turn to Me find indeed that rest. Joy of the Weary I am, Music to the Heart I am, Health to the Sick, Wealth to the Poor, Food to the Hungry, Home to the Wanderer, Rapture to the Jaded, Love to the Lonely.
There is not one want of the soul that I do not supply for the asking, and to you too, I long to be all.
Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may
be gracious unto you. – Isaiah 30:18
January 29 – I Clear the Path
Wait on the Lord. – Psalm 27:14
I am thy shield. Have no fear. You must know that “All is well.” I will never let anyone do to you both, other than My Will for you.
I can see the future. I can read men’s hearts. I know better than you what you need. Trust me absolutely. You are not at the mercy of Fate, or buffeted about by others. You are being led in a very definite way, and others, who do not serve your purpose, are being moved out of your Path by Me.
Never fear, whatever may happen. You are both being led. Do not try to plan. I have planned. You are the builder, not the Architect.
Go very quietly, very gently. All is for the very best for you.
Trust me for all. Your very extremity will ensure My activity for you. And having your foundation on the Rock – Christ, Faith in Him, and “being rooted and grounded in Him,” and having belief in My Divinity as your Corner Stone, it is yours to build, knowing all is well.
Literally, you have to depend on Me for everything – everything. It was out of the depths that David cried unto Me, and I heard his voice. All is well.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. – Psalm 37:23
January 30 – The Soul At War
No evil can befall you, if I am with you. “Ill that He blesses is our good.” Every time of being laid aside is a time of retreat into the quiet place with Me. Never fear but in that place you shall find restoration and power and joy and healing.
Plan both of your retreat days now and then – days when you live apart with Me, and arise rested and refreshed – physically, mentally, and spiritually, to carry on the work I have given to you. I will never give you a load greater than you can bear.
Love, Joy, Peace, welcome these. Let no personal feelings, no thoughts of self banish these. Singly, they are miracle-producing in a life, but together, they can command all that is needed on the physical, mental, and spiritual planes.
It is in these wonder-realm attributes all success lies. You have to see your inner lives are all they should be, and then the work is accomplished. Not in rushing and striving on the material plane, but on the battlefield of the Soul are these things won.
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common
to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to
be tempted above that ye are able.”
1 Corinthians 10:13
January 31 – Suffering Redeems
All sacrifice and all suffering is redemptive: to teach the individual or to be used to raise and help others.
Nothing is by chance.
Divine Mind, and its wonder working, is beyond your finite mind to understand.
No detail is forgotten in My Plans, already perfect.
O let me hear Thee speaking In accents clear and still, Above the storms of passion, The murmurs of self-will.
O speak to reassure me, To hasten, or control; O speak, and make me listen, Thou guardian of my soul!
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,
saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not
of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 29:11