A Royal Princess

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you ot of darkness into his wonderful light.” I Peter 2:9

While every woman’s life story is unique, there are longings of the heart that seem to be universal: the desire to find true love, the desire that someone will affirm our inherent value regardless of our situation, the hope that we can change. In this regard, we each need a Cinderella story of our own. God finds each of us in the cinders of a less than perfect world, held back from the life we dream of living. He longs to raise us up to a high position, transform us and grant us his power, so he seeks us out, inviting each of us to dance with him. And yet each of us needs someone to affirm our inherent value and encourage our transformation. We each need a Cinderella story of our own. Each woman’s relationship with God is such that he finds her in the ashes, held back from the life she dreams of living. He seeks her, invites her to dance with him, transforms her by revealing the beauty hidden beneath the ashes, then confers on her his power and position.

Dancing in ten arms of God is a relationship between you and God that is based on love and mutual respect. The two of you communicate in a close, intimate setting. He holds you, but his embrace is the embrace of a lover, not the restraint of an oppressor. As partners in this dance, God leads, and you let him, moving with the flow of his leading. You are not enveloped in God, losing your identity as a unique person; you are who you are, retaining your freedom and individuality at every turn.

By Connie Neal taken from "Woman’s Devotional Bible 2"

Faith

"Will give you . . . as he hath promised." Exodus 12:25

God is to be trusted for what He is, and not for what He is not. We may confidently expect Him to act according to His nature, but never contrary to it. To dream that God will do this and that because we wish that He would is not faith, but fanaticism. Faith can only stand upon trust. We may be sure that God will so act as to honor His own justice, mercy, wisdom, power - in a word, so as to be Himself. Beyond all doubt. He will fulfill His promises; and when faith grasps a promise she is on sure ground. To believe that God will give us what He has never promised to give is mere dreaming. Faith without a promise revealed or implied is folly. Yea, though our trust should cry itself hoarse in prayer, it should be none the less a vain dotard if is had no word o God to warrant it. Happily, the promises and unveilings of Scripture are ample for every real emergency; but when unrestrained credence catches at every whim of is own crazy imagination and thinks to see it realized, the disappointment is not to be wondered at.

It is ours to believe the sure things of God's revelation, but we are not to waste a grain of precious reliance upon anything outside of that circle. -- Rev. C. H. Spurgeon

"Faith does not mean that we are tying to believe something that is not so; it just means that we are taking God at His Word."

Faith is a thread
Slender and frail,
Easy to tear;

Yet it can life
The weight of a soul
Up form despair.

- Matthew Biller

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Springs in the Valley"

The Flame

"When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned." Isaiah 43:2

In giving a lecture on flame a scientist once made a most interesting experiment. He wanted to show that in the center of each flame there is a hollow - a place of entire stillness - around which its fire is a mere wall. To prove this he introduced into the midst of the flame a minute and carefully shielded charge of explosive powder. The protection was then carefully removed and no explosion followed. A second time the experiment was tried, and by the slight agitation of the hand the central security was lost and an immediate explosion was the result.

Our safety, then, is only in stillness of soul. If we are affrighted and exchange the principle of faith for that of fear, or if we are rebellious and restless, we shall be hurt by the flames and anguish and disappointment will do the result.

Moreover, God will be disappointed in us if we break down. Testing is the proof of His love and confidence, and who can tell what pleasure our steadfastness and stillness give to Him? If He allowed us to go without testing it would not be complimentary to our spiritual experience. Much trial and suffering mean, therefore, that God has confidence in us; that He believes we are strong enough to endure; that we shall be true to Him even when He has left us without outward evidence of His care and seemingly at the mercy of His adversaries. If He increase the trials instead of diminishing them it is an expression of confidence in us up to the present, and a further proof that He is looking to us to glorify Him in yet hotter fires through which He is calling us to pass. Let us not be afraid! We shall be delivered from the transitory and the outward and drawn into closer fellowship with God Himself!

O God, make us children of quietness! - An Ancient Liturgy.

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Springs in the Valley"

The Future

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past." Isaiah 43:18

God is more interested in your future than He is in your past.

Yesterday

"You shall not go out with haste,...for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Isreal will be your rear guard" Isaiah 52:12

Security from Yesterday. "...God requires an account of what is past" (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God's grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday's sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.

Security for Tomorrow. "...the Lord will go before you..." This is a gracious revelation - that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our "rear guard." And God's hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.

Security for Today. "You shall not go out with haste..." As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Isreal will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.

Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.

By Oswald Chambers taken from "My Utmost for His Highest"

Lost

"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:10

Have you ever been lost? I have. It happened when I was 7 years old. That was the year we moved and I had to go to Summer school because I had missed a few weeks of school. While my parents finished working on our new home I would be going to school. They would pick me up where the bus dropped me off down the street from our new home. It seemed like a simple plan.

On the first day of school I somehow got on the wrong bus going home. As the bus trip wound down to the last stop I ended up being the last kid on it. We were sitting at the last drop off wondering where I lived and I couldn't tell the bus driver because I didn't recognize the area. He ended up taking me to the bus station and eventually contacting my parents. My poor parents were frantic. I can only imagine how frightened they were not knowing where I was and not being familiar with the area. As it turned out the last bus stop was close to my new house but I didn't know it. I was lost but so close to home that I really didn't have to be lost if I had only known my way home.

Do you realize that we are all close to home? God has a wonderful home waiting for us and it's so close that it's only a prayer away. A prayer and accepting Him into your life away! He doesn't want you to be lost and is seeking you out like my parents were seeking me out. All you have to do is talk to Him. He will help you find your way. I urge you to realize how much He loves you. He made you to know Him. Yes, you have a special place in your heart that only He can fill. It's the place in your heart that you seek to fill but may not know you're seeking to fill it with God.

Jesus died on a cross for me and YOU. He was crucified so that we would be free. I like what Max Lucado says about the crucifixion in his book, "No Wonder They Call Him the Savior": "every witness either step toward it or away from it. It simultaneously compelled or repelled. And today, two thousand years later, the same is true. It's the watershed. It's the Continental Divide. It's Normandy. And you are either on one side or the other. A choice is demanded. We can do what we want with the cross. We can examine it's history. We can study it's theology. We can reflect upon its prophecies. Yet the one thing we can't do is walk away in neutral. No fence sitting is permitted." (Pg. 62-63). You have a choice and no one can force you to believe. But I pray that you at least give Jesus the chance. Don't look at me because I've already failed many people. Don't look at the church who failed you in some way or the family member who hurt you while claiming to be a Christian. Take a look at Jesus, His life and what He did for you. Take a look at the Bible in the book of John and see for yourself. Then decide what side of the fence you're going to be on.

Krista Jones
9.20.06

A Flower From a Thorn

“These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” I Peter i:7

Here it is - in the gorse blossoming from thorns, in the harvest of wheat from the solitary grain - the gospel, the Good News of life out of death, a gospel for every individual, every need, every hopeless and helpless situation.

“It’ll never work for mine,” someone is tempted to say. Are you sure that your problems baffle the one who since the world began has been bringing flower from thorns? Your thorns are a different story, ar they? You have been brought to a place of self-despair, nothingness. It is hard even to think of any good reason for going on. You live in most unfavorable conditions, with intractable people, you are up against impossible odds. Is this something new? The people of Israel were up against impossible odds when they found themselves between the chariots of Egypt and the Read Sea. Their God is our God. The God of Israel . . . looks down on us with love and says, “Nothing has happened to you which is not common to all. I can manage it. Trust me.”

He wants to transform every form of human suffering into something glorious. He can redeem it. He can bring life out of death. Every event of our lives provides opportunity to learn the deepest lesson anyone can learn on earth: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galations 2:20). When our souls lie barren in a winter which seems hopeless and endless, God has not abandoned us. His work goes on. He asks our acceptance of the painful process and our trust that he will indeed give resurrection life.

By Elisabeth Elliot taken from "Woman’s Devotional Bible 2"

How Do You React?

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these vitrues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3:12-14

Pascal says: "One-half of the ills of life come because men are unwilling to sit down for thirty minutes to think through all the possible consequences of their acts."

I've been thinking about a lot of things I've done over the past year. To be honest with you, some of what I've said and done hasn't been done in a loving manner. I came across this quote in a devotional today and wanted to share it with you. I know there are times in our lives when we get hurt, scared and angry over what has been done or said to us. I have been caught red handed in being selfish in how I handled a few situations over the year. Instead of being loving I was horrible and unkind and even to this day still am. I love this quote. Just imagine if we all took some quiet time to sit and think before we acted? How would doing this simple act change the course of our lives?

I know I wish I would have taken the time to think before I acted. If I'd reacted with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience I may be in a different position then I am today. I encourage you to take the time to breathe, turn away from whatever hurt that is being thrown your way and take the time to think before you react. We can not get through life without disagreements or confrontations but we are in control of how we react to them. May we reflect Jesus instead of ourselves.

Krista Jones
9.19.06

Tithing

"Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not keep them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "in tithes and offerings........Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3: 7, 8 & 10

The date of October 16, 2001 is marked next to these verses in my Bible with a note beside it saying, "Time for us to stop robbing God of His money. Take a leap in faith."

The previous year was the year we had Emily, I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkinds Lymphoma, went through 6 months of treatment and Eric got laid off of his job of 5 years. In 2001 we were trying to make ends meet on $900.00 a month from unemployment. VISA, car, house, health, auto insurance payments, other living expenses and unforeseen expenses had to come out of this money. It seemed impossible to meet all our needs.

One day during a sermon on tithing these verses were brought to our attention. We were never good at tithing and always made it the last check of the month to write out. Pastor Steve challenged us to tithe every month even if we didn't have the money to do so. To take that leap of faith and see how God would take care of our needs. We decided to take up the challenge.

Our needs were great and the unemployment check didn't even cover our house payment let alone everything else. We did have many wonderful people help us along the way which really did keep us going and for which we're so thankful for. But writing out the first check of the month to tithing before paying the bills was a scary thing to do. It didn't make sense on paper. Yet, God stretched our $900.00 so that we were able to pay every bill and stay afloat for 14 months. Twice we were blessed with $1,000 in cash in the mail that was the exact amount we needed. Who gave us $2,000 is still a mystery but God moved them to bless us with it.

You may think tithing is a way for the church to get your money and, yes, through tithing the staff is paid, the building is paid for and kept up and other ministries are supported. But in all reality, what we are given is from God and what He asks back is an act of obedience and a leap of faith. In doing so, He is showing us that He cares for us and does watch over ALL of our needs and we grow in ways we never expected.

To this day I can't tell you how we ended up in a better position then before Eric lost his job. I have no clue how God worked it all out and I give Him all the glory for blessing us in so many ways. God cares for us and wants us to live the life He intended for us to live. Take the leap of faith in turning to Him, in following His leading or if you are a Believer and part of a Church body, in tithing.

Krista Jones
9.18.06

Made in the Shade

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up... (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

As we begin to understand who we are in God's eyes, to truly see ourselves the way God sees us, he gives us the awesome responsibility of giving that same SIGHT to others. The Bible tells us that we should build up the self-esteem of others, so that they too can see themselves in the light of God's love for them. And putting on the right "shades" is the key to really seeing both ourselves and others from God's perspective. With spiritually-filtered lenses on our minds and hearts, God gives us special S-I-G-H-T to be able to build others up in Christ.

S-upport the Uniqueness of Others: Instead of trying to remake others into your mold, encourage their unique personalities, skills, and talents. (1 Corinthians 13:5, NLT)

I-nspire Others with Responsibility: When you trust others with responsibility, it will put wind in their sails and give them confidence to accomplish even greater things. (John 20:21)

G-ive Correction and Criticism Carefully: "Carefully" is the keyword. The purpose of correcting someone is for their growth, so criticism should be given in love, to help and not hurt them. (Ephesians 4:29)

H-ear the Messages of Others: Listening, really listening, to someone can be one of the biggest boosters to their self-esteem. Your eye-contact and interest in what they have to say communicates love and respect. (James 1:19)

T-ouch their Hearts: When you give integrity-laden, meaningful touch to the significant others in your life, you are communicating just how significant they really are.

Ed Young Ministries
www.crosswalk.com

Your Attitude

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the past...we cannot change that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes."

Love Song For A Savior

In open fields of wild flowers, she breathes the air and flies away. She thanks
her Jesus for the daisies and the roses in no simple language. Someday she'll
understand the meaning of it all.

He's more than the laughter or the stars in the heaven. As close as a heartbeat
or a song on her lips. Someday she'll trust Him and learn how to see HIm.
Someday He'll call her and she will come running and fall in His arms and the
tear will fall down and she'll pray,

"I want to fall in love with You"

Sitting silent wearing Sunday best. The sermon echoes through the walls. A great
salvation through it calls to the people who stare, into nowhere and can't feel
the chains on their souls.

It seems too easy to call you 'Savior'. Not close enough to call you 'God'. So
as I sit and think of words I can mention to show my devotion

"I want to fall in love with You"

He's more than the laughter or the stars in the heaven. As close as a heartbeat
or a son on our lips. Someday we'll trust Him and learn how to see Him. Someday
He'll call us and we will come running and fall in His arms and the tears will
fall down and we'll pray,

"I want to fall in love with You, my heart beats for You."

Song by Jars of Clay

Close the Door When You Leave

I never asked you to visit-
at least I don't believe I did.
Maybe, I don't know-
it's so confusing.

At any rate, you're a rude guest.
You take my energy, rob my sleep,
and with a stick, swirl and distort my dreams.

All right, you're here- for now.
But understand, there are two places that are forever off limits-
You may not tread on my spirit.
You may not occupy my soul.

I have heard of your visits to others-
I know the damage you leave in your path;
the wanton disregard for innocence, value, and fairness.

I also hear that laughter confuses you;
that good food makes you feel bad,
and that nothing causes you more distress than an autumn sunset, a summer sky, or the unconditional radiance of a childs' smile.

Listen and understand-
you might pilfer my closets,
empty all the drawers, and trash my house...
but there are two places forever off limits.

You may not tread on my spirit.
You may not occupy my soul.

Do not mistake my nausea, weakness, and pain as signs of your victory.
They are simiply small dents in the armor I wear to fight you.
Instead, look deeply into my eyes-
they will once again remind you that there are two places forever off limits.

You may not tread on my spirit.
You may not occupy my soul.

Poem about cancer taken from Stop Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Message Board from Neptune

A Life of Pure and Holy Sacrifice

He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow . . . —John 7:38

Jesus did not say, "He who believes in Me will realize all the blessings of the fullness of God," but, in essence, "He who believes in Me will have everything he receives escape out of him." Our Lord’s teaching was always anti-self-realization. His purpose is not the development of a person— His purpose is to make a person exactly like Himself, and the Son of God is characterized by self-expenditure. If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain but what He pours through us that really counts. God’s purpose is not simply to make us beautiful, plump grapes, but to make us grapes so that He may squeeze the sweetness out of us. Our spiritual life cannot be measured by success as the world measures it, but only by what God pours through us— and we cannot measure that at all.

When Mary of Bethany "broke the flask . . . of very costly oil . . . and poured it on [Jesus’] head," it was an act for which no one else saw any special occasion; in fact, ". . . there were some who . . . said, ’Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ " (Mark 14:3-4 ). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion, and said, ". . . wherever this gospel is preached . . . what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her" ( Mark 14:9 ). Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did— not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him. God poured out the life of His Son "that the world through Him might be saved" ( John 3:17 ). Are we prepared to pour out our lives for Him?

"He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water"— and hundreds of other lives will be continually refreshed. Now is the time for us to break "the flask" of our lives, to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him. Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him?

Oswald Chambers - "My Utmost For His Highest"

Hope For Morning

When the orange glow of the sky turns from sunset to city light / And the moon slowly rises through the trees / When the clenched hands of the day have released the stars to play /And night rides on a gentle breeze /

Hold my hand and whisper my name / I promise you that I will always love you the same / Close your eyes and look for nothing more / Let my gentle spirit give you the wind to soar /

On the wings of angels we will go lifted higher by the dawns glow / I heard a voice say “follow me for I have led the way.” / Reach for me embrace your heart where today has ended we will once again start / Tomorrow together for the rest of our days /

If you wake in the middle of the night to a small burning light / Feel its warmth and then realize / That it is lit to keep you safe until the sun has been seen through daybreak / By your soul seen through child eyes

Song by Christopher Williams
One Man Service Station
www.christopherw.com

God's Workmanship

"He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hide me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver." Isaiah 49:2

Rarest gems bear hardest grinding - God's own workmanship are we.

The Potter

"But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him." Jeremiah 18:4

There is no type of failure that He has not taken hold of and re-made.

In The Clouds

"If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth" (Eccles. 11:3).

Why, then, do we dread the clouds which now darken our sky? True, for a while they hide the sun, but the sun is not quenched; he will be out again before long. Meanwhile those black clouds are filled with rain; and the blacker they are, the more likely they will yield plentiful showers.

How can we have rain without clouds? Our troubles have always brought us blessings, and they always will. They are the dark chariots of bright grace. These clouds will empty themselves before long, and every tender herb will be gladder for the shower. Our God may drench us with grief, but He will refresh us with mercy. Our Lord's love-letters often come to us in black-edged envelopes. His wagons rumble, but they are loaded with benefits. His rod blossoms with sweet flowers and nourishing fruits. Let us not worry about the clouds, but sing because May flowers are brought to us through the April clouds and showers.

O Lord, the clouds are the dust of Thy feet! How near Thou art in the cloudy and dark day! Love beholds Thee, and is glad. Faith sees the clouds emptying themselves and making the little hills rejoice on every side.--C H. Spurgeon

"What seems so dark to thy dim sight
May be a shadow, seen aright
Making some brightness doubly bright.

"The flash that struck thy tree--no more
To shelter thee--lets heaven's blue floor
Shine where it never shone before.

"The cry wrung from thy spirit's pain
May echo on some far-off plain,
And guide a wanderer home again."

"The blue of heaven is larger than the clouds."

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Streams in the Desert"

Roots, then Roses

"He cometh forth like a flower." Job 14:2

The lotus flower (the spiritual symbol of the East) is rooted in the mud. It is quite as much indebted to the mud and water for it's beauty as to the air and the sunshine in which it blooms.

We must not scorn the study of root culture, no neglect it in enthusiasm for the beauties of the orchid: for though that exquisite flower is an air plant, it needs to attach itself to the sturdier growth that is rooted in the ground and draws its nourishment from the soil to feed both itself and its parasite. The tree will outlive many seasons of orchids!

"Some time ago in the late autumn," says a writer, "I was in the hot-house of one of our florists. We were in the cellar, and in the dimly lighted place one could see arranged in regular file long rows of flower pots. The florist explained that in these pots had been planted the bulbs for their winter flowers. It was best for them, he said, that they be rooted in the dark. Not in the glaring sunlight, but in the subdued shadows their life-giving roots were putting forth. They would be ready for the open day a little later. Then their gray colors would cheer many hearts; then their sweet perfume would laden the winter air.

Rooted in the shadows to bloom in the light! Roots, then roses.

By Mrs. Charles E Cowman, taken from "Springs in the Valley"

Forgetting the Past

"I am pressing on . . . forgetting everything which is past." - Philippians 3:12, 13

In the very depths of yourself, dig a grave. Let it be like some forgotten spot to which no path leads; and there, in the eternal silence, bury the wrongs that you have suffered. Your heart will feel as if a weight had fallen from it, and a divine peace come to abide with you. - Charles Wagner.

To be misunderstood even by those whom one loves is the cross of bitterness of life. It is the secret of that sad and melancholy smile on the lips of great men which so few understand. It is what must have oftenset wrung the heart of the Son of man. - Amiel.

Blasted rock and broken stone,
Ordinary earth,
Rolled and rammed and trampled on,
Forgotten, nothing worth,
And blamed, but used day after day;
An open road - the king's highway.

Often left outside the door,
Sometimes in the rain,
Always lying on the floor,
And made for mud and stain:
Men wipe their feet, and tread it flat,
And beat it clean - the master's mat.

Thou wast broken, left alone,
Thou wast blamed, and worse,
Thou wast scourged and spat upon,
Thou didst become my curse -
Lord Jesus, as I think of that
I pray, make me Thy road, Thy mat.

- Gold Cord.

"The power to help others depends upon the acceptance of a trampled life."

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Springs in the Valley"

Out of Wounding

"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22.).

The best things of life come out of wounding. Wheat is crushed before it becomes bread. Incense must be cast upon the fire before its odors are set free. The ground must be broken with the sharp plough before it is ready to receive the seed. It is the broken heart that pleases God. The sweetest joys in life are the fruits of sorrow. Human nature seems to need suffering to fit it for being a blessing to the world.

"Beside my cottage door it grows,
The loveliest, daintiest flower that blows,
A sweetbriar rose.

"At dewy morn or twilight's close,
The rarest perfume from it flows,
This strange wild rose.

"But when the rain-drops on it beat,
Ah, then, its odors grow more sweet,
About my feet.

"Ofttimes with loving tenderness,
Its soft green leaves I gently press,
In sweet caress.

"A still more wondrous fragrance flows
The more my fingers close
And crush the rose.

"Dear Lord, oh, let my life be so
Its perfume when tempests blow,
The sweeter flow.

"And should it be Thy blessed will,
With crushing grief my soul to fill,
Press harder still.

"And while its dying fragrance flows
I'll whisper low, 'He loves and knows
His crushed briar rose.'"

If you aspire to be a son of consolation; if you would partake of the priestly gift of sympathy; if you would pour something beyond commonplace consolation into a tempted heart; if you would pass through the intercourse of daily life with the delicate tact that never inflicts pain; you must be content to pay the price of a costly education--like Him, you must suffer.--F. W. Robertson

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Streams in the Desert"