Thoughts for the Quiet Hour.

by Various.

TO THE READER

One of the brightest signs of the times is that many Christians in our Young People's Societies and churches are observing a "Quiet Hour"

daily. In this age of rush and activity we need some special call to go apart and be alone with G.o.d for a part of each day. Any man or woman who does this faithfully and earnestly cannot be more than twenty-four hours away from G.o.d.

The selections given in this volume were first published in the monthly issues of the "_Record of Christian Work_," and were found very helpful for devotional purposes. They are also a mine of thoughts, to light up the verses quoted. Being of permanent value, it has been thought desirable to transfer them from the pages of the magazine to this permanent volume.

May they have a helpful ministry, leading many into closer communion with G.o.d!

[Ill.u.s.tration: D. L. Moody]

[Ill.u.s.tration: JANUARY]

=January 1st.=

_Come up in the morning . . . and present thyself . . .

to me in the top of the mount. Ex. x.x.xiv. 2._

My Father, I am coming. Nothing on the mean plain shall keep me away from the holy heights. Help me to climb fast, and keep Thou my foot, lest it fall upon the hard rock! At Thy bidding I come, so Thou wilt not mock my heart. Bring with Thee honey from heaven, yea, milk and wine, and oil for my soul's good, and stay the sun in his course, or the time will be too short in which to look upon Thy face, and to hear Thy gentle voice.

Morning on the mount! It will make me strong and glad all the rest of the day so well begun.--_Joseph Parker._

=January 2nd.=

_My reward is with me. Rev. xxii. 12._

We are to be rewarded, not only for work done, but for burdens borne, and I am not sure but that the brightest rewards will be for those who have borne burdens without murmuring. On that day He will take the lily, that has been growing so long among thorns, and lift it up to be the glory and wonder of all the universe; and the fragrance of that lily will draw forth ineffable praises from all the hosts of heaven.--_Andrew Bonar._

=January 3rd.=

_Where art thou? Gen. iii. 9._

Art thou hiding thyself away from Him who would send thee forth to do His own blessed work in His own way? Oh, let me say to thee this morning, "The Lord hath need of thee." It may seem to be only a little thing He has for you to do, but it is an important one. He has "need of thee." Turn not thy back upon Him; put not thyself out of the way of being employed by Him; do not begin by laying down laws for thyself as to what thou wilt do and what thou wilt not do; but cry out from the very depth of thy heart, "Here am I, send me,"--_W. Hay Aitken._

=January 4th.=

_Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. Psa. x.x.xiv. 19._

All the afflictions of the righteous open out into something glorious.

The prisoner is not merely delivered, but he finds an angel waiting for him at the door. And with every deliverance comes a specific blessing.

One angel is named faith; another, love; another, joy; another, longsuffering; another, gentleness; another, goodness; another, meekness; another, temperance; another, peace. Each of these graces says, "We have come out of great tribulation."--_G. Bowen._

=January 5th.=

_The Lord is my . . . song. Psa. cxviii. 14._

Let us think of G.o.d Himself becoming our song. This is the fulness and perfection of knowing G.o.d: so to know Him that He Himself becomes our delight; so to know Him that praise is sweetest, and fullest, and freshest, and gladdest, when we sing of Him. He who has learned this blessed secret carries the golden key of heaven--nay, he hath fetched heaven down to earth, and need not envy the angels now.--_Mark Guy Pea.r.s.e._

=January 6th.=

_Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. Ex. xiv. 13._

Often G.o.d seems to place His children in positions of profound difficulty--leading them into a wedge from which there is no escape; contriving a situation which no human judgment would have permitted, had it been previously consulted. The very cloud conducts them thither. You may be thus involved at this very hour. It does seem perplexing and very serious to the last degree; but it is perfectly right. The issue will more than justify Him who has brought you hither. It is a platform for the display of His almighty grace and power. He will not only deliver you, but in doing so He will give you a lesson that you will never forget; and to which, in many a psalm and song in after days, you will revert. You will never be able to thank G.o.d enough for having done just as He has.--_F. B. Meyer._

=January 7th.=

_Now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light. Eph. v. 8._

The influence we exert in the world is created by our relationship to Jesus Christ; and our relationship to Jesus Christ is revealed by our influence.--_Selected._

=January 8th.=

_Take good heed therefore unto your souls. Josh.

xxiii. 11._ (_Margin._)

Gold cannot be used for currency as long as it is mixed with the quartz and rock in which it lies imbedded. So your soul is useless to G.o.d till taken out from sin and earthliness and selfishness, in which it lies buried. By the regenerating power of the Spirit you must be separated unto Christ, stamped with His image and superscription, and made into a divine currency, which shall bear His likeness among men. The Christian is, so to speak, the circulating medium of Christ, the coin of the realm by whom the great transactions of mercy and grace to a lost world are carried on. As the currency stands for the gold, so does the Christian stand for Christ, representing His good and acceptable will.--_A. J.

Gordon._

=January 9th.=

_He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much. Luke xvi. 10._

The least action of life can be as surely done from the loftiest motive as the highest and n.o.blest. Faithfulness measures acts as G.o.d measures them. True conscientiousness deals with our duties as G.o.d deals with them. Duty is duty, conscience is conscience, right is right, and wrong is wrong, whatever sized type they be printed in. "Large" and "small"

are not words for the vocabulary of conscience. It knows only two words--right and wrong.--_Alex. McLaren._

=January 10th.=

_My G.o.d shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Phil. iv. 19._