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Andrew Murray
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 A Ministry dedicated to preserving the truth and accuracy of the infallible Word of God. |
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| Devotionals: Counsel And Help, Daily Readings Selected from the Writings of J R Miller | |
Back to Devotionals >> "Counsel And Help" Daily Readings Selected from the Writings of J R Miller January February March April May June July August September October November December Counsel And Help was first published in 1907 by The Pilgrim Press, London. JUNE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Tasks Made Easy No doubt even angels have errand and tasks given to them which in themselves would be hard, but which become easy, a delight, because they are accepted as parts of the will of God for them. This is the great secret of joy in service. Anything that is God’s will for us it should be gladness for us to do. If we love God deeply, everything that He wants us to do is a joy for us to do. If we love not God, then even the commonest, simplest duties which His will requires are hard and dreary tasks for us.
Hard Won Blessings It costs to become a friend of Christ. His followers are transformed – old things pass away, and all things become new. Those who believe on Him are fashioned into His image. But these blessings do not come easily. The heavenly graces are not put into our life as one might hang up lovely pictures on the walls to adorn a home. They can become ours only through our own experience. They must be wrought into our life in a sense by our own hands. We must work out our own salvation, although it is God that worketh in us both to will and to work.
A Matter Of Character Men find in the world just what is in themselves. One man says it is a world of sadness. There is nothing in it but sorrow. All its songs are songs of tears. He has not found a bit of blue, nor heard a note of gladness in all his rounds. Poor man! It is only the gloom of his own heart that he is reporting. He has in him no capacity for seeing beauty or for hearing joy notes. Another man goes out over precisely the same course, hearing the same sounds, and seeing the same sights, and he reports that he found only music and loveliness everywhere. The world was full of sweet songs. On every spot flowers bloomed, everywhere light was shining.
Death Ends Nothing Good What a dreary thought it is that the dead rise not! Think what it would mean to us. Would it be wroth while to take such pains with our lives as many of us do if death ended all? There are many people who give up pleasure, ease, and comfort to have their intellects disciplined. Would this pay if at death all goes down into the grave never to come up again? There are thousands who live lives of self denial. They crucify their natural desires, that the better part of them may be developed. Would this pay if the grave is the goal of life? Think, too, of love. Souls are knit together in this life in union which makes them as one. How terrible if love is only for the earth, if it goes out at death! Thank God, there is not a shadow of truth in it. The trained mind is for immortality. The disciplined nature is fitted for honour in heaven. Love never fails. The grave ends nothing. We shall rise again.
We Are His Witnesses Some people are ashamed of the Gospel. They profess to be Christians, but they have not courage to confess Christ out in the world. It is easy to confess Him where everybody is Christ’s friend, and where all are confessing Him. But the fewer Christians there are in a place or company, the more reason is there for the few to be courageous for Him. Miss Havergal tells of going to a boarding school just after she had confessed Christ. She was young and timid, was startled to find that in a school family of a hundred she was the only Christian. Her first feeling was that she could not avow her love for Christ, with all that company of worldly girls around her. But her second thought was that she was the only on Christ had there to represent Him. This thought was more strengthening, and from that hour she quietly but firmly took her place in the school as a friend of Christ. It ought to help us, whenever we stand amid enemies of Christ, to remember that He has put us there to represent Him.
Christ Is The Justifier Some people fancy that their morality is enough to save them. As well hope to climb to the stars by going up the tallest mountain, as to gain heaven by the best moralities. No man can live well enough to merit salvation. No man can live without sin, and "The wages of sin is death." There have been some very holy people in this world, who have lived very close to God, but there never has been one who was received into heaven on the ground of his own good works. The law is so broad and deep, extending not only to acts and words, but to thoughts, motives, feelings, and affections, that it is utterly impossible for any fallen being perfectly to meet all its demands. If this verse were the last word of the Bible, if the law of inspiration revealed to us only the law of inspiration revealed to us only the law and our sinfulness, inability and guilt, declaring that by our own works none of us ever can be justified in God’s sight, – it would be a dark and terrible finality.
Transfiguring Prayer It was as Jesus was praying that He was transfigured. Prayer always transfigures. When we pray we go into the very presence of God, and that should brighten our life. Prayer lifts up our thoughts and feelings from earthly to heavenly things, and that should make our face shine. True prayer brings our will into submission to God’s will, for we cannot pray truly until we say, "Thy will, not mine, be done." Thus it brings quiet peace into the heart, and this transfigures the life. Prayer also drives out all bitter and unloving thoughts, for we cannot pray unless we forgive and love. This, too, has a transfiguring influence.
Let In The Sun Let the sunshine into your heart, these bright days – ye who are young – God’s sunshine of grace and truth. Read good, bright, helpful books that will leave great and lofty thoughts in your mind. Especially read the Bible daily, study and ponder it, and store its divine words in your heart. Do beautiful things, things of love, of unselfishness, of helpfulness; things that are true, honourable, just, and pure. Nothing darkens life’s winter days as do memories of sinful things. Nothing makes life so sweet in old age as does the memory of right, good, and kindly things wrought along the years.
The Common Task There are many people who think their greatest obstacle in the way of spiritual growth and transformed character is in the drudgeries to which they are indentured by their condition. They fancy that if they could be freed from these, and could have leisure for reading, for study, and for social fellowship, they would grow into far more radiant beauty of character. But this is a mistaken impression. The one only perfectly transfigured life the world has ever known was spent, "not with a book, but with a hammer and saw." The school of common task-work, with its perpetual round of dreary duties, is the best place in the world in which to grow into noble spiritual culture.
Making Our Surroundings In a far truer sense than many of us are aware do our hearts make our world for us. The things we behold are but the shadows of the things that are in us. If we have bright pictures in our heart, the whole world, wherever we go, will be a picture gallery. Every scene will be a panorama of beauty. The most repulsive objects will wear a tinge of loveliness. On the other hand, a sombre, cheerless heart clothes the whole world in shadow and gloom.
Joy Makers There are those who live to give cheer and encouragement. They may have burdens, or even sore griefs, of their own, but they hide them away deep in their own hearts, not carrying them so as to cast their shadows on any other life. When you meet them, it is as when you go out on a June morning under a cloudless sky, with dewy fragrance breathing all around and bird songs filling the air. There is a loving radiance in their countenances. Even if you do not know them personally, and merely meet them without salutation on the street, there is something in their expression that leaves a benediction on you, whose holy influence follows you all day like the memory of a lovely picture or the refrain of a sweet song.
Looking Forward With immortality glowing before us, our brief years on earth should be marked by earnestness, reverence, love, and faithfulness. Soon we shall break out of our narrow circle, and traverse the boundless fields that we see now only in the far away and momentary glimpse. But it will be a blessed thing if we can get into our hearts even here something of the personal consciousness of our immortality, with its limitless possessions and possibilities, and feel something in our souls of the power of an endless life.
Not Here; Hereafter It is not in vain that we continue our well-doing, that we obey God’s commandments, that we devote our lives in self sacrificing service to men for Christ’s sake. What seems to be loss is gain. The good man may seem to have more trouble than his unchristian neighbour. His business may not appear to prosper so well. His ventures may miscarry. His faithfulness may bring him human enmity and even persecution. But life’s accounts are not always settled at once. Harvest does not follow sowing immediately. It is so in nature. There are days and months when the seed seems to have perished. Afterward, however, it yields fruit. It is the same in spiritual life. For a time there may seem to be no blessing in well doing. But in the end righteousness succeeds. "He that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
According To Our Faith We should learn that the measure of faith is always the measure of God’s giving. We should go to God, making large requests, and should never be discouraged by delays, by apparent repulses, by obstacles or hindrances. God has large things for us, and we should take all from His hand. In the words, "Be it done unto thee even as thou wilt," heaven is thrown open to our faith. So upon ourselves is the responsibility of the less or the greater blessing which we receive from our bountiful God.
Love Its Own Reward Our Lord Himself loved and gave and blessed many, at last giving His very life, but few came to give Him blessing and sweetness of love in His own soul. It is more divine to love than to be loved. At least, God’s will for us is that we should love, pouring out our heart’s richest treasures upon others, not asking meanwhile for any return. Loving is its own best return and reward.
Hungry Hearts In nature the tree’s fruits feed the hunger of men. No tree consumes its own fruits; it drops them for those who come to gather them. This suggests that we should not be selfish in our fruit bearing. We should not seek the culture of our characters merely for our own sake. Our aim should be to provide something in our lives that will feed others and bless the world. All about us are hungry hearts. There are those who crave sympathy and love, those who yearn for comfort, and those who desire to be saved. We are so to live that our lives shall yield bread for these.
Seeking God Not literally all who seek find. The seeking must be earnest. There is a remarkable word in one of the old prophets: "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." The seeking must also be for good things. If our quest is for sinful things, or for worldly good that would work in us spiritual harm, God will not give us what we seek. Then we must live right. "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." The thing itself must be good; and we must walk in paths of obedience, or there is no promise of reward for our quest.
God's Candles The mission of every Christian is to bear witness of the Light. The Bible says that the spirit of man is the Candle of the Lord; but in our natural, unregenerate state the candle is unlighted. It is capable of being lighted; but until the divine Spirit touches it with heavenly fire and sets it ablaze, it is dead and dark. When the candle is lighted, however, it shines within us and makes us light. Thus it is that we bear witness of the Light; it is Christ in us that shines; our light is but a little of His light breaking through our dull souls. Every one that sees us sees in us a few gleams of the true Light.
Nearness To God If we would learn what God’s will for us in life’s common affairs is, we should always keep near to Christ, so near that we can speak to Him any moment, ask Him any question, and let our hand rest in His. He always finds some way of making His will known to those who thus trust Him and look to Him for direction.
All Service The Same The bird praises God by singing; the flower pays its tribute in fragrant incense as its censer swings in the breeze; the tree shakes down fruits from its bending boughs; the stars pour out their silver beams to gladden the earth; the clouds give their blessings in gentle rain; yet all with equal faithfulness fulfill their mission. So among Christ’s redeemed servants, one serves by incessant toil in the home, caring for a large family; another by silent example as a sufferer, patient and uncomplaining; another with the pen, sending forth words that inspire, help, cheer, and bless; another by the living voice, whose eloquence moves men, and starts impulses to better, grander living; yet each and all of these may be serving Christ acceptably, hearing at the close of each day the whispered word, "Well done."
The Healer Physicians in their rounds do not stop at the homes of the well, but of the sick. Surgeons on the field of battle do not pay attention to the unhurt, the unwounded; they bend over those who have been torn by shot or shell, or pierced by bayonet or saber. So it is with God in His movements through this world; it is not to the whole and well, but to the wounded and stricken, that He comes with sweetest tenderness. Jesus said of His mission: "He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted."
Consecrated Lives Consecration must first be a spirit in us, a spirit of love, a life in our hearts which shall flow out to everyone we desire to bless and help and make better. Thackeray tells of one who kept his pockets full of acorns, and wherever he saw a vacant place in his estate he took out one and planted it. In like manner he exhorts his readers to do with kind words as they go through life, never losing a chance of saying one. "An acorn costs nothing, but it may sprout into a prodigious bit of timber." To such a life true consecration prompts and inspires. It takes lowliness of mind in many of us to accept such obscure services. We think too often of some great things to be given to us to do when we devote ourselves to Christ.
Friendship's Best Gift There are better things to give than gold and silver. If we can put new life and hope into the heart of a discouraged man, so that he rises out of his weak despair, and takes his place again in the ranks of active life, we have done a far better thing for him than if we had put our hands into our pockets and given him money to help him nurse a little longer his miserable and unmanly despair. The truest sympathy is not that weak emotion which only sits down and weeps with a sufferer, imparting no courage or hope, but that wiser love which, while it is touched by his pain and grief, and feels tenderly toward him, seeks to put new strength into his heart, to enable him to endure his sufferings in a victorious way.
Encouragers Many men sink under their burdens or faint in their battles, because no one ever thinks to express the kindly interest and appreciation which are in his heart. One of the best services any one can render to his fellows is always to be an encourager. How rarely do we say the hearty word of cheer which would warm the blood and make it tingle?
No Standing Still The law of Christian life is progress – progress by giving up the good to take the better. We never come to a point where we may rest content because we have reached the full measure of our attainment and achievement. Heaven lies above us, however high we climb. There always are better things to gain, however full our hands may be of goodly treasures. Sweet as is the joy that fills our hearts today, there is a still sweeter song that we may learn to sing.
Beautiful Living If we knew that this present day were our very last, we should certainly strive to make it a most beautiful day. We should fill it with all loving service and gentle ministries. We should not mar it with selfishness and ugly tempers. We should awake every energy of our being to its best power, and should work with all our might; we should not have one moment to spare for discontent, for idle dreaming, for complaint or murmuring, for pride, for regret; we should crowd the day to its last moment with love’s fidelities and duties. Since any day may really be our last, we should live continually as if it were the last. We should make each day that God gives us beautiful enough to be the end of life.
Thoughtful For Others Thoughtfulness is one of the truest and best tests of fine character. Thoughtlessness is rudeness, boorishness. It is selfishness, cold heartedness. It is unrefined. It is cruel and unkind. Thoughtfulness is refined. It is love working in all delicate ways. It is unselfishness which forgets itself, and thinks only of others. It is love which demands not to be served, to be honoured, to be helped, but thinks continually of serving and honouring others. Thoughtlessness is "want of heart," and he who has a gentle heart cannot be thoughtless. Love is always thoughtful.
Rough Or Smooth We can easily worship the "sweet will of God" when this will is indeed sweet to our natural taste. But how is it when God directs us to go the way we do not want to go, to do the thing that is unpleasant, that will cause pain or require sacrifice or loss? How is it when the voice of God, answering to our question, bids us take the path that leads to a cross; bids us turn away from the pleasant thing that we craves; bids us give up the friendship that has grown dear to our heart, but is drawing us away from God; bids us give into the Father’s hand the child or the loved one we so desire to keep with us? "In all thy ways" means the hard ways as well as the easy ways, the thorny path as well as the path of flowers; when it breaks our heart as well as when it gives us joy or gladness.
Mellowed By Trial Many of the finest things in character are the fruits of pain. Many a Christian enters trial, cold, worldly, unspiritual, with the best possibilities of his nature still locked up in his life, and emerges from the experience a little later with spirit softened, mellowed, and enriched, the lovely things brought out. A photographer carries his picture into a darkened room that he may bring out its features. He says the light of the sun would mar the impression on the sensitized plate. There are features of spiritual beauty which cannot be produced in a life in the glare of human joy and prosperity. God brings out in many a soul its loveliest qualities when the curtain is drawn and the light of human joy is shut out.
Dying to Live No human life can ever truly please God by saving itself, by keeping itself from self denial and sacrifice. No matter how magnificent its natural powers, nor how graceful its form and its accomplishments, it has neither strength nor beauty in heaven’s sight until it has devoted itself to service of love. It must die to live. |
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