HEAVENWARD THOUGHTS

FOR

CHRISTIAN HOUSEHOLDS.

JANUARY I.

"Give us day by day our daily bread.”—LUKE xi. 3. WE enter a New Year this day. Let us do so in a spirit of prayer. Our Lord Himself puts into our mouths a daily petition for the year, from which there is much to learn. It asks bread for our bodies, and bread for our souls. It reminds us that every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above: therefore, we pray, "Give us our daily bread." In every temporal supply, in every spiritual blessing, let us see God's hand, acknowledge His bounty, and seek its continuance by fervent daily prayer. He says of His own promised blessing, "I will yet for this be enquired of." We may not look for dainties or superfluities. Do we ask bread, adopting Agur's prayer, "Feed me with food convenient for me"? Many crave bread for the body, but leave the soul to starve. Are we, by faith, daily feeding on the Bread of Life, and drawing water from the wells of Salvation?

The prayer will have to be daily renewed throughout the year. A prayerful to-day, and a prayerless to-morrow, must bring leanness to the soul. Has your God and Father fed you thus long? Then commit your body and soul to Him afresh, that bread may still be given you, and your water still be sure. Even

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bread of adversity, and water of affliction, if given by His hand, may be received as children's food; and so will bring a blessing with it.

JANUARY II.

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be."-DEUT. xxxiii. 25. WHO but the Lord Jehovah, with whom is everlasting strength, could give such an assurance? But from His mouth, is it not enough to hush every anxious misgiving, and to send the child of God forth cheerfully to his daily work? Perhaps things look otherwise now than formerly, and "the evil days" seem approaching. It is not for you curiously to pry into the "times" which lie hidden in your Saviour's hands. Whatever they be, here is His promise. If He say, "Go, work to-day in my vineyard," the needful strength for the day's work will not be withheld. That for to-morrow, must be waited for. Were it to be sought from any inferior source, you might well expect it to fail; but "the grace that is in Christ Jesus," is an inexhaustible treasury; and "strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man," amidst all your feebleness, the arms of your hands shall be made strong, by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob. Yea, when even constrained to say, "My heart and my flesh faileth," you will still add, "But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

JANUARY III.

Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."-PSALM xxxvii. 4.

ONE fountain only can satisfy the desires of the heart; a fountain ever-flowing, ever-free. Yet that is just the one never turned to by many; and too little by any, till they have first tested and proved for themselves the vanity of all earth's broken cisterns. "In the Lord" is the watchword for true 66 delight." satisfieth the longing soul." All other delights are daily melting away: He is "ever the same Lord." Before, however, we can follow the direction, and claim the privilege referred to, we

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"must be born again." "The carnal mind" being "enmity against God," for it to delight in Him, is an impossibility. If a new heart and a right spirit have been vouchsafed, then, being "in the Lord," delight in Him is to be aimed at, as a privilege and duty. Are you daily so rejoicing in the beams of the Sun of Righteousness, that others, seeing your joy in the Lord, may be won by your bright example to say, "We will go with you, for God is with you"?

JANUARY IV.

"The fear of the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments.". PSALM CXi. 10.

He who made man, and knows him altogether, so pronounces for him; as again by His servant Job, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding;" and by Solomon, "The beginning," or (marginal reading)" principal part of knowledge." It is the foundation of all true wisdom: it lies at the very threshold of all saving knowledge. This fear is not the dread of a slave, but the reverence of a child: not "the spirit of bondage," but the service which is perfect freedom. "In keeping His commandments, there is great reward;" present peace and satisfaction; brighter and clearer light, shining both on doctrine and practice, from day to day. Christ, the Wisdom of God, has said, "If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine." Are we desiring to be taught of Him, as humble, diligent, constant learners in His school? Then shall we truly find rest unto our souls.

JANUARY V.

"Fight the good fight of faith: lay hold on eternal life.— 1 TIM. vi. 12.

ALL fighting is not good: but here is a warfare in which all must both engage and overcome, if they would be safe. The way to eternal life is through the land of an enemy, who will

dispute every inch of it. But it is to a glorious prize we are called to fight our way. The fight is against sin, Satan, the world, and the flesh. It is good, in its object, equipment, and issue. It is maintained by faith, which "is the victory that overcometh the world," by laying hold on the strength of Christ, the Captain of our salvation. He knows every danger to which His soldiers are exposed, and all their individual circumstances. He has provided "the whole armour of God" for their defence; and as the Lord their strength, is ready to "teach their hands to war, and their fingers to fight." Are we daily learning to war this good warfare, with eyes more steadfastly fixed on Him, hearts more fully realizing the greatness of the prize set before us, souls more filled with faith, hope, and love? Then shall we be at last "more than conquerors, through Him that hath loved us."

JANUARY VI.

"Work out your own salvation with fear aud trembling.— PHIL. ii. 12

God sends us not into this world to be idle, but gives "to every man his work." A work is here set before us, to engage our anxious thought, and supreme attention. It is the work of Salvation; to be wrought out with fear and trembling. About this, we are called to be as busy, as though it were possible for us to redeem our own souls by our own works. True, it is all, from first to last, of God, and not of us; but we may not, on that account, fold our hands in idleness. Diligence and dependence must go hand in hand. Salvation is not a thing to be trifled with; but the soul which Jesus has bought with His blood, must be kept by us, "above all keeping," (marginal reading); the firm confidence and rejoicing of hope in Him, being coupled with the trembling of a godly fear. As the husbandman tills the ground, weeding, watering, watching, though knowing God alone can give the increase; so must it be with us, in the culture of our souls for eternal salvation. If doing any thing for the souls of others, doubly let us take heed to work out, or about, our own salvation.