To Be Like Thee

Oh Jesus Christ, in self-despair
I come to Thee! Hear Thou the prayer
Laid at Thy feet; I leave it there--
To be like Thee!

Turn out the darling bosom sin,
The love of self that rules within,
My earnest longing let me win--
To be like Thee!

O let me see Thy lovely face,
O let me hear Thy words of grace,
In Thine own image grow apace--
To be like Thee!

O Gentle, Sinless, Undefiled,
Ev'n in Thy Justice meek and mild,
Help me, Thy loving, longing child--
To be like Thee!

~ From Golden Hours, Heart-Hymns of the Christian Life

The Bruised Horace

We all know how important it is to teach our children the Word of God. By doing so, we can spare them much difficulty, which would have been spared Horace had he a better understanding of the truths of Scriptures. Hop over to Scraps of Glory to read more..

Faithful in Little Things First

"Then, dear Katy, suppose your first act of heroism tomorrow should be gratifying your mother in these little things, little though they are. Surely your first duty, next to pleasing God, is to please your mother and in every possible way to sweeten and beautify her life. You may depend upon it that a life of real heroism and self-sacrifice must begin and lay its foundation in this little world wherein it learns its first lesson and takes its first steps."

"And do you really think that God notices such little things?

"My dear child, what a question! If there is any one truth I would gladly impress on the mind of a young Christian, it is just this, that God notices the most trivial , accepts the poorest, most threadbare little service, listens to the coldest, feeblest petition, and gathers up with parental fondness all our fragmentary desires and attempts at good works. Oh, if we would only begin to conceive how He loves us, what different creatures we should be!" ~ entry for March 17, 1834, Stepping Heavenward.

[These words of wisdom from Mrs. Cabot to Katy are important words for any young lady of any time period.]

Complete in Christ

Complete in Him! Oh, Lord, I flee,
Laden with this great thought, to Thee
With tears and smiles contending, cry,
Are words like these for such as I?

Complete in Him! No word of mine
is needed, Lord, to perfect Thine;
Wise Master-Builder, Let Thy hand
Fashion the fabric Thou hast planned.

Complete in Him! I nothing bring,
Am an imperfect, useless thing;
But human eyes shall joy to see
What God's dear hand shall add to me.

Complete in Him! Oh, longed-for-day,
When my poor, sinful heart can say,
Naught in myself, for ruin meet,
In Jesus Christ I stand complete!

~ From Golden Hours: Hymns and Songs of the Christian Life

Some Truths Discovered

We are imperfect creatures, wayward and foolish as little children, horribly unreasonable, selfish, and willful. We are not capable of enduring the shock of finding, at every turn, that our idol is made of clay and that it is prone to tumble off its pedestal and lie in the dust till we pick it up and set it in its place again. I was struck with Ernest's asking in the very first prayer he offered in my presence, after our marriage, that God would help us love each other; I felt that love was the very foundation of which I was built and that there was no danger that I should ever fall short in giving my husband all he wanted in full measure. But as he went on day after day repeating this prayer, and I naturally made it with him, I came to see that this most precious of earthly blessings has been and must be God's gift, and that while we both looked at it in that light and felt our dependence on Him for it, we might safely encounter together all the assaults made upon us by the world, the flesh, and the devil. ~ From Stepping Heavenward - Katy to Helen, February, 1847

The Sands of Time are Sinking

Exact Moment of Salvation

"There is one thing more that troubles me," I said. "Most persons know the exact moment when they begin real Christian lives. But I do not know of any such time in my history. This causes me many uneasy moments."

"You are wrong in thinking that most persons have this advantage over you. I believe that the children of Christian parents, who have been judiciously trained, rarely can point to any day or hour when they began to live this new life. The question is not, Do you remember, my child, when you entered this world and how? It is simply this: Are you now alive and an inhabitant thereof? . . .
~ Dr. Cabot to Kay, Stepping Heavenward, February 21, 1834 entry.