Commemoration of Denys, Bishop of Paris, & his Companions, Martyrs, 258 Commemoration of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, Philosopher, Scientist, 1253 The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As along as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal, how can you hope to find inward peace?
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Feast of Luke the Evangelist Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons read more
Feast of Luke the Evangelist Study universal holiness of life. Your whole usefulness depends on this, for your sermons last but an hour or two: your life preaches all week. If Satan can only make a covetous minister a lover of praise, of pleasure, of good eating, he has ruined your ministry. Give yourself to prayer, and get your texts, your thoughts, your words, from God.
Feast of Edward the Confessor, 1066 The Lord afflicts us at times; but it is always a thousand read more
Feast of Edward the Confessor, 1066 The Lord afflicts us at times; but it is always a thousand times less than we deserve, and much less than many of our fellow-creatures are suffering around us. Let us therefore pray for grace to be humble, thankful, and patient.
Feast of Chad, Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of Lichfield, Missionary, 672 Peace comes when there is no cloud between read more
Feast of Chad, Abbot of Lastingham, Bishop of Lichfield, Missionary, 672 Peace comes when there is no cloud between us and God. Peace is the consequence of forgiveness, God's removal of that which obscures His face and so breaks union with Him. The happy sequence culminating in fellowship with God is penitence, pardon, and peace -- the first we offer, the second we accept, and the third we inherit.
Commemoration of Giles of Provence, Hermit, c.710 Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's read more
Commemoration of Giles of Provence, Hermit, c.710 Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God's gift of himself.
Feast of Henry Martyn, Translator of the Scriptures, Missionary in India & Persia, 1812 Continuing a series on the read more
Feast of Henry Martyn, Translator of the Scriptures, Missionary in India & Persia, 1812 Continuing a series on the church: The apostle asked the converts of Apollos one question: "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" and got a plain answer. His modern successors are more inclined to ask either "Did you believe exactly what we teach?" or "Were the hands that were laid on you our hands?", and -- if the answer is satisfactory -- to assure the converts that they have received the Holy Spirit even if they don't know it.
Commemoration of William Augustus Muhlenberg of New York, Priest, 1877 To put it shortly, the Church forgets that Christianity read more
Commemoration of William Augustus Muhlenberg of New York, Priest, 1877 To put it shortly, the Church forgets that Christianity is not an attitude of mind, but a type of life: a man's spirit is not known by his opinion, but by his action and general conduct.
God appears, and God is Light, To those poor souls who dwell in Night; But does a Human Form read more
God appears, and God is Light, To those poor souls who dwell in Night; But does a Human Form display To those who dwell in realms of Day.
God sometimes marvelously raiseth the souls of his saints with some close and near approaches unto them -- gives them read more
God sometimes marvelously raiseth the souls of his saints with some close and near approaches unto them -- gives them a sense of His eternal love, a taste of the embraces of His Son and the inhabitation of the Spirit, without the least intervening disturbance; and then this is their assurance. But this life is not a season to be always taking wages in; our work is not yet done; we are not always to abide in this mount; we must down again into the battle -- fight again, cry again, complain again. Shall the soul be thought now to have lost its assurance? Not at all. It had before assurance with joy, triumph, and exultation; it hath it now, or may have, with wrestling, cries, tears, and supplications. And a man's assurance may be as good, as true, when he lies on the earth with a sense of sin, as when he is carried up to the third heaven with a sense of love and foretaste of glory.
The word "Comforter" as applied to the Holy Spirit needs to be translated by some vigorous term. Literally, it means read more
The word "Comforter" as applied to the Holy Spirit needs to be translated by some vigorous term. Literally, it means "with strength." Jesus promised His followers that "The Strengthener" would be with them forever. This promise is no lullaby for the faint-hearted. It is a blood transfusion for courageous living.
