Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1911-02-23
EPWORTH DEVOTIONAL MEETING
MEETING.
Topic for February 26th, @The Influ.
ence OF Great Passion" Phil. 81
1911; Psalm 42-1.

he decided to forget Il lest it hinder
him in his strenuous effort to reach
the goal-"the prize OF the high call
ing Of God IN Christ Jesus Doubt
less his heart was wrung with re-
morse when he recalled the persecu-
tons he blindly, yet conscientiously.
inflicted upon the followers of Him,
whom he later had to acknowledge
Conquer; when the searchlight OF
Heaven blinded him that day az the
Gate of Damascus. the real position
In which he stood to the God he was
trying to serve was revealed to him,
and all the years OF faithful service
| by which he afterwards evinced his
allegiance to the Jesus whom he had
prosecuted, could not restore Stephen
nor bring back happiness TO those
whose hearts he had made desolate,
thus Il was no small matter he was
trying 10 erase from his memory.
No matter how much like the Mas
ter you are at the present moment, II
you are perfectly honest with your
self, your God aud your fellowman,
there is something In the past you
N prefer 10 forget. II may be q low
estimate you placed upon some friend
and the years have showed the true
gold OF their friendship I'm spite Of
the idiosyncrasies which caused you
amusement in days when you did not
need their friendship--this ought 20
cause a blush Of shame for ingrati-
tude Is base element in character;
J II may be you justly censured some
one whom you trusted only to and
them faithless. and of all hard things
. to bear this is the worst But God
, says Vengeance is mine-I will re-
p pay II is not yours TO sit in judg-
! ment, only TO be more guarded In the
. future. Perhaps you have been al
I most swept of your feet by the dis
covery of the falseness Of some one
. who stands for what is true-you say,
} "There Is none that doeth good-no,
{ not one" But take couragel All
are not idolatersl All have not bowed
J the knee TO Baal! Forget your own
mistakes, forgive your friends treach-
cry, looking away from the imperfec-
ton that Is IN us all and around us
all to the perfection that is In God,
r learn 70 love more and more the
beauty and the fairness OF what Is
- right"
r God, the Father. has infinite patti
I ence. How often we break our VOWS
TO Him. How feeble our best effort
5 TO measure up TO the high standard I!
This patience with ourselves and with
= others is what we need daily, hourly,
{ yes. moment by moment.
A We must forget our past failures or
we shall find weights hindering our
activity. A constant Analysing of our
feelings Is depressing. and II we are
sensitive 10 the point that we believe
3 others are always thinking Of our
s, past blunders, we sit IN dumbness
a when we ought to be praising the
I, Lord. The fact Is each has his own
g garden 90 keep free of weeds and he
isn't spending time cultivating his
i, neighbours lot one-half as much as the
= neighbor may suppose, when h'
} builds up q high wall TO keep th'
:, weeds out Of sight, perhaps he is TAX
~ ing unnecessary trouble. Very oftei
- the material might be used 10 advant
age on the other side OF the way
~ where the neighbors are less occupie
" and more interested in the public a
os large!
When we think how hard q Is
forget grievances we wonder at III
- love of God which is broader tina
the measure OF mans mind
"As far as the east is from IN
r west'-the measure Of His forgive
l. nessl
m Bishop Warren has written a poem
81 which is very suggestive;
!. Help us Forget
Is 20 God most merciful and kind,
The principles that are behind,
J. Mere turnings, not thy keynote SGT
d For making manhoods perfect PLAN
+ yet,
+ Help us forget. help us forget.
70 The words of slandrous men, thu
n taunt
d That clings and stings as demoni
haunt
e The soul. and into fury fret
5, Things we forget ere we could pardon
l. get,
N Help us forget. help US forget
Then forgetting the past, we lonl
u for fellowship with God. David said
m "As panteth the hart after the waite
X brook. 80 panteth my soul after thee
3. o God" What we long to be we be
NJ come Just for the instant that tn
4. longing fills our hearts; If we see
q God, we shall find Him-"He vii
never turn you away" Il Is so salts
8. flying to know we have a grip on On
who never fails u.s. This world /
- beautiful. there are true friends LEI
y us, thank God; loved ones make M
m worth living, but there are times whel
the longing for fellowship with TIA
"A only One who understands us drive
- us TO our knees, and the nearer W
4, live TO God, the more pressing thi
communion with the Infinite become.
The more we pray, the NOR
we love to pray; the NOR
we read our Bible the deare
it seems 70 us, and the more we dc
| pend on the Saviour as our intimat
Friend and Counselor, the more "
are apt to tell Him all OF our trouble
and Joys and our victories over sir
Some Of us have experienced this One
ness with God, but have allowed petit
affairs to come between and instant
ly break the connection and we ar
losing ground thereby. Let us be
ware how we mistake the tinsel {
4 this world for true gold; the ques
1 tionable happiness which keeps Il
asking, "Is this right?" must
q answered by an emphatic NO" All
4 woe be to us>if we have not a quic
i conscience and some force Of char
4 acter to help us to keep saying mol
4 Then, II the ruling passion Of on
y lives is to reach the highest possib
Christian experience and help other
. TO attain the same. we must walk
- fho Footctouc ~ fbnea trho han