1991 March/April issue Part 1

Small Things

When i want to do only great things for You, 

Make me willing to do small, unnoticed things, too. 

When i want to do what the world will acclaim, 

Make me willing to do what will lift up your name. 

B.J. Hoff

"Well done, my good and trusty servant!" said the master. "You have proved trustworthy in a small way; i will now put you in charge of somethings big. Come and share your master's delight" (Matthew 25:23, NEB). 

1989 May/June issue Part 1

Do it at once
"No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are put behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the rememberance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessings, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it." (Alexander MacLarer)

1989 January/February issue Part 1

He sufficeth thee: apart from Him nothing sufficeth thee.

- St. Augustine

1988 November/December issue Part 4

The Sweet Running of Household Wheels

"If i am inconsiderate about the comfort

of others,

or their feelings,

or even their little weaknesses; if i am careless about little

hurts and miss opportunities to

smooth their way;

if i make the sweet running of

household wheels more difficult

to accomplish,

then i know nothing of Calvary love."

(Amy Carmichael: If, London, SPCK, 1949, p.40)

1988 March/April issue Part 4

The Little Red Notebook
several readers wanted more from the little red notebook i found among my mother's things when she died last year. Someone wanted prayers for grandchildren. Here is one from mother's notebook;

Holy Father, in Thy mercy, hear our

anxious prayer;

Keep our loved, ones now far distant,

'neath Thy care.

Jesus Saviour, let Thy presence be their

light and guide;

Keep, O keep them, in their weakness,

at Thy side.

When in sorrow, when in danger, when

in loneliness,

In Thy love look down and comfort

their distress.

May the joy of Thy salvation be their

strength and stay,

May they love and may they praise Thee

day by day.

Holy Spirit; let Thy teaching sanctify

their life;

Send Thy grace that they may conquer

in the strife.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God the One

in Three,

Bless them, guide them, save them,

keep them near to Thee.

(I.S. Stevenson, 1869)

1988 March/April issue Part 1

If the heart wonders or is distracted, bring it back to the point quite gently and replace it tenderly in its Master's presence. And even if you did nothing during the whole of your hour but bring your heart back and place it again in our Lord's presence, thought it went away every time you brought it back, you hour will be very well employed.

St. Francis de Sales

1987 July/August issue Part 1

Draw Near That Fire
The following was written by my mother, Katherine Gillingham Howard, found in her little prayer notebook after her death.

How cold the heart and stony-like one dead-

On which the beams of God's own Word,

In daily meditation, fail to shed their warmth.

If through neglect, we draw not near that fire,

At first, unnoticed, creeps a shivering chill.

But when, neglected, lies the Book for days,

That chill takes hold, till the whole soul is ill.

And yet when once again we seek God's Word,

With empty heart and soul and deep despair,

In faithfulness He meets us. Praise the Lord!

And pours in oil and wine on all our care. .

1986 January/February issue Part 7

Drastic Obedience

"One reads tomes on the work of the Holy Spirit when one five-minutes of drastic obedience would make things as clear as a sunbeam." Oswald Chambers: My Utmost for His Highest.

1984 November/December issue Part 4

Questions and Answers

I have a question about submission. I agree that a wife should submit to her husband, but is there a point of carrying it so far that the wife loses her identity?


I don't think so. The submission the Bible talks about is voluntary, wholehearted, and for the Lord's sake. Did Jesus lose His identity by submitting Himself to the Father? You'll say, "Oh, but it's a different thing when you have to submit to a sinner!" Yes, it is, in one sense, yet when we do so in obedience to the Lord (see Eph 5:22; 1 Pt 3:1, 5:5; Ti 2:5) we will not only not lose our identity, but we will in fact find it. "Whoever cares for his own safety is lost, but if a man will let himself be lost for my sake, he will find his true self" (Mt 16:25).

TO GO FORWARD IS TO DIE TO GO BACK IS TO DIE LET US GO FORWARD
-Zulu warrior's motto

1983 November/December issue Part 6

My Vow.

Whatsoever Thou sayest unto me, by thy grace I will do it.

 

 

My Constraint.

Thy love, O Christ, my Lord.

 

 

My Confidence.

Thou are able to keep that which I have committed unto Thee.

 

 

My Joy.

To do Thy will, O God.

 

 

My Discipline.

That which I would not choose, but which Thy love appoints.

 

 

My Prayer.

Conform my will to Thine.

 

 

My Portion.

The Lord is my portion of inheritance.

Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee more faithfully; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not ask for any reward save that of knowing that we do Thy will, O Lord our God.

(From Gold Cord by Amy Carmichael, 1867-1957, founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship of South India.)