God Calling

by Two Listeners

Edited by A. J. Russell

December 16 - 31

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Lord, give us Thy Joy, that Joy that no man, no poverty, no circumstances, no conditions can take from us.

You shall have My Joy. But Life just now for you both is a march -- a toilsome march. . . .The Joy will come, but for the moment do not think of that, think simply of the march. Joy is the reward. . . .

Between My Promise of the Gift of Joy to My disciples and their realization of that Joy came sense of failure, disappointment, denial, desertion, hopelessness, then hope, waiting, and courage in the face of danger.

Joy is the reward of patiently seeing Me in the dull dark days, of trusting when you cannot see. . . .Joy is as it were your heart's response to My smile of recognition of your faithfulness. . . .

Stop thinking your lives are all wrong if you do not feel it. . . . Remember you may not yet be joyous, but you are brave, and courage and unselfish thought for others are as sure signs of true discipleship as Joy.

"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
in believing, that ye may abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost." Romans 15:13

December 17 - Conditions of Blessing

Jesus, we love Thee. We see that all things are planned by Thee. We rejoice in that vision.

Rejoice in the fact that you are Mine. The privileges of the members of My Kingdom are many. When I said of My Father, "He maketh His Sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust," you will notice it was the temporal and material blessings I spoke.

I did not mean that the believer and unbeliever could be treated alike. That is not possible; I can send rain and sunshine and money and worldly blessings equally to both, but of the blessing of the Kingdom that would be impossible.

There are conditions that control the bestowal of these. My followers do not always understand this, it is necessary they should do so if they are remembering My injunction which followed -- "Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect."

To attempt to bestow on all alike your Love and Understanding and interchange of thought would be impossible. But temporal blessings you too bestow, as does My Father. All must be done in Love and in the spirit of true forgiveness.

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that
ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." John 15:16

December 18 - See Wonders

Think your thought-way into the very heart of My Kingdom. See there the abundance of delights in my storehouse, and lay eager hands on them.

See wonders, ask wonders, bear wonders away with you. Remember this beautiful earth on which you are was once only a thought of Divine Mind. Think how from your thought one corner of it could grow and become the Garden of the Lord, the Bethany-Home for your Master, a place to which I have a right to bring My friends, My needy ones, for talk and rest with Me.

"For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
A good man...bringeth forth good things: and
an evil man...bringeth forth evil things." Matthew 12:34, 35

December 19 - Perfect Love

Our Lord, give us that Perfect Love of Thee that casts out all fear.

Never let yourselves fear anybody or anything. No fear of My failing you. No fear that your faith will fail you. No fear of poverty or loneliness. No fear of not knowing the way. No fear of others. No fear of their misunderstanding.

But, My children, this absolute casting out of fear is the result of a Perfect Love, a perfect Love of Me and My Father. Speak to Me about everything. Listen to Me at all times. Feel My tender nearness, substituting at once some thought of Me for the fear.

The powers of evil watch you as a besieging force would watch a guarded city -- the object being always to find some weak spot, attack that, and so gain an entrance. So evil lurks around you, and seeks to surprise you in some fear.

The fear may have been but a small one, but it affords evil a weak spot of attack and entrance, and then in some rushing despondency, doubt of Me, and so many other sins. Pray, My beloved children, for that Perfect Love of Me that indeed casts out all fear.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Whom resist steadfast in the faith." 1 Peter 5:8, 9

December 20 - Depression

Fight fear as you would fight a plague. Fight it in My Name. . . . Fear, even the smallest fear, is the hacking at the cords of Love that bind you to Me.

However small the impression, in time those cords will wear thin, and then one disappointment, or shock, and they snap. But for the little fears the cords of Love would have held.

Fight fear.

Depression is a state of fear. Fight that too. Fight. Fight. Depression is the impression left by fear. Fight and conquer, and oh! for Love of Me, for the sake of My tender, never-failing Love of you, fight and love and win.

"Here my voice, O God, in my prayer; preserve my life from fear of the enemy." Psalm 64:1

December 21 - Smile Indulgently

Children, take every moment as of My Planning and ordering. Remember your Master is the Lord of the day's little happenings. In all the small things yield to My gentle pressure on your arm. Stay or go, as that pressure, Love's pressure, indicates.

The Lord of the moments, Creator of the snowdrop and the mighty oak. More tender with the snowdrop than the oak.

And when things do not fall out according to your plan, then smile at Me indulgently, a smile of Love, and say, as you would to a human loved one, "Have Your way then" -- knowing that My loving response will be to make that way as easy for your feet as it can be.

"And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful
in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities." Luke 19:17

December 22 - Practice Protection

Fear no evil because I have conquered evil. It has power to hurt only those who do not place themselves under My Protection. This is not a question of feeling, it is an assured fact.

All you have to do is say with assurance that whatever it is cannot harm you, as I have conquered it. Children, in not only the big, but the little things of life, be sure of My conquering Power. Know that all is well. Be sure of it. Practice this. Learn it until it is unfailing and instinctive with you.

But practice it in the quite small things, and then you will find you will do it easily, naturally, lovingly, trustingly, in the big things of life.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Psalm 23:4

December 23 - The World's Song

Bless us, O Lord, we beseech Thee and show us the way in which Thou wouldst have us walk.

Walk with Me in the way of Peace. Shed Peace, not discord, wherever you go. But it must be My Peace.

Never a Peace that is a truce with the power of evil. Never harmony if that means your life-music being adapted to the mood and music of the world.

My disciples so often make the mistake of thinking all must be harmonious. No! Not when it means singing the song of the world.

I, the Prince of Peace, said that I came "not to bring Peace but a sword."

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which
also we are called...and be ye thankful." Colossians 3:15

December 24 - He Is Coming

Our Lord, Thou art here. Let us feel thy nearness.

Yes! but remember the first Hail must be that of the Magi in the Bethlehem stable. Not as King and Lord in Heavenly triumph must you first hail Me. But as amongst the lowliest, bereft of earth's pomp like the Magi.

So to the humble the worship of humility -- the Bethlehem Babe -- must be the first Hail.

Then the worship of repentance. As earth's sinner, you stand by Me in the Jordan, baptized of John, worshiping Me the Friend and Servant of sinners.

Dwell much on My Life. Step out beside Me. Share it with Me. Humility, Service, Worship, Sacrifice, Sanctification -- Steps in the Christian Life.

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14

December 25 - Babe of Bethlehem

Kneel before the Babe of Bethlehem. Accept the truth that the Kingdom of Heaven is for the lowly, the simple.

Bring to Me, the Christ-child, your gifts, truly the gifts of earth's wisest.

The Gold -- your money.

Frankincense -- the adoration of a consecrated life.

Myrrh -- your sharing in My sorrows and those of the world.

"And they presented unto Him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh."

"Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the
lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off." Psalm 138:6

December 26 - Health and Wealth

Be not afraid, health and wealth are coming to you both. My wealth which is sufficiency for your needs, and for My work you long to do.

Money, as some call wealth, to hoard, to display, you know is not for My Disciples.

Journey through this world simply seeking the means to do My Will and work. Never keep anything you are not using. Remember all I give you will be Mine, only given to you to use. Could you think of Me hoarding My Treasures? You must never do it. Rely on Me.

To store for the future is to fear and to doubt me. Check every doubt of Me at once. Live in the Joy of My constant Presence. Yield every moment to Me. Perform every task, however humble, as at My gentle bidding, and for Me, for love of Me. So live, so love, so work.

You are the Apostles of the Little Services.

"Trust not in oppression, and become not vain in robbery:
if riches increase, set your heart upon them." Psalm 62:10

December 27 - Glorious Work

I have stripped you of much, that it should be truly a life of well-being. Build up stone by stone upon a firm foundation, and that Rock is your Master -- that Rock is Christ.

A life of discipline and a joyous fulfillment is to be yours . . . . Never lose sight of the glorious work to which you have been called.

Let no riches, no ease entice you from the path of miracle-working with Me upon which your feet are set. Love and Laugh. Trust and pray. Ride on now in a loving humility to victory.

"Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death." Proverbs 11:4

December 28 - Signs and Feelings

Our Lord, Thou art here. Let us feel Thy nearness.

I am here. Do not need feeling too much. To ask for feeling too much is to ask for a sign, and then the answer is the same as that I gave when on earth. "There shall no sign be given but the sign of the prophet Jonah. . . . For as Jonah was three days and three nights . . . so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

Veiled from sight to the unbeliever. To the believer the veiling is only temporary, to be followed by a glorious Resurrection. . . .

What does it matter what you feel? What matters is what I am, was, and ever shall be to you -- A Risen Lord. . . . the feeling that I am with you may depend upon any passing mood of yours -- upon a change of circumstances, upon a mere trifle.

I am uninfluenced by circumstances. . . . My Promise given is kept. I am here, one with you in tender loving friendship.

"Thou art near, O Lord; and all thy commandments are truth." Psalm 119:151

December 29 -Work and Prayer

Work and prayer represent the two forces that will ensure your success. Your work and My work.

For prayer, believing prayer, is based on the certainty that I am working for you and with you and in you.

Go forward gladly and unafraid. I am with you. With men your task may be impossible, but with God all things are possible.

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13

December 30 - Fishers of Men

When you think of those of whom you read who are in anguish, do you ever think how My Heart must ache with the woe of it, with the anguish of it?

If I beheld the city and wept over it, how much more should I weep over the agony of these troubled hearts, over lives that seek to live without My sustaining Power.

"They will not come into Me that they might have Life."

Live to bring others to Me, the only Source of Happiness and Heart-Peace.

"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold,
I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields; for they are white already to harvest." John 4:35

December 31 - Jesus the Conqueror

Jesus. That is the Name by which you conquer. Jesus. Not as cringing suppliants but as those recognizing a friend, say My Name -- Jesus. "Thou shalt call His Name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."

And in that word "sins" read not only vice and degradation, but doubts, fears, tempers, despondencies, impatience, lack of Love in big and little things. Jesus. "He shall save His people from their sins." The very uttering of the Name lifts the soul away from petty valley-irritations to mountain heights.

"He shall save His people from their sins." Savior and Friend, Joy-bringer and Rescuer, Leader and Guide -- Jesus. Do you need delivering from cowardice, from adverse circumstances, from poverty, from failure, from weakness?

"There is none other Name . . . whereby you can be saved" -- Jesus. Say it often. Claim the Power it brings.

"Let them praise the name of the Lord: for his name alone is
excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven." Psalm 148:13

Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25

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