386 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



May 



ing forth without any agency of my own, 

 and giving me something fresh, bright, and 

 new to give to my friends all around, to 

 cheer and encourage them, and to revive 

 and refresh their hopes and their faith. 

 This thing of which I have been speaking 

 has been one of the joys of my life, and I 

 have been led to expect it. But let me tell 

 you that this fountain is easily dimmed and 

 choked up, if I do not constantly beware of 

 the tempter. The experience 1 spoke of a 

 few months ago, where Satan for a time bid 

 fair to get a foothold, for a time checked or 

 kept back these experiences. I knew it 

 would be so ; and when he was trying to 

 make a barter for something he had to offer, 

 over and against everlasting life, one of the 

 things that kept me back was, that I knew 

 I should soon lose these bright experiences 

 of that living water, coming forth, often- 

 times, when 1 least expected it. "Ye can 

 not serve both God and mammon." If I 

 listened to him, I knew I should have to 

 abandon all at once. And yet I did not get 

 away from him easily. He followed me 

 days and nights. He tried first one thing 

 and then another ; and even after he seem- 

 ed to have abandoned his undertaking, he 

 would come back now and then. I hardly 

 need tell you that the one who expects to do 

 spiritual work — who expects to be success- 

 ful in bringing souls to Christ, must be 

 wholly in the service of the Master. There 

 can be no half way about it. 



For some time I had been feeling that my 

 gift, if that is the right name for it, in pre- 

 senting the cause of Christ to my friends 

 and acquaintances, was being drawn grad- 

 ually from me ; but when I turned resolute- 

 ly about, and prayed earnestly, alone by my- 

 self, it has come back again ; and within a 

 few days these experiences that 1 have been 

 telling you of have been coming thick and 

 fast ; the shackles and fetters have fallen 

 away, and Satan has no power, and my 

 spiritual vision is uudimmed and uncloud- 

 ed, as in the time of my first turning to the 

 Lord. Xow, when we "feel that this well of 

 water that should constantly be in the heart 

 of every Christian seems in danger of dry- 

 ing up, or ceasing to give its accustomed 

 light-heartedness and bright faith, what 

 should we do? And it is this thought that 

 has prompted this paper to-day. 



One who would have this living water 

 springing up in his heart must first ac- 

 knowledge God the creator of all things. A 

 friend of mine who lives in California wrote 

 some time since something like this : Said 

 he, " If I were a praying man I would thank 

 God every day of my life for this beautiful 

 climate, for my growing crops, and pleas- 

 ant surroundings, etc." I wrote back to 

 him not to wait till he was a praying man, 

 but to commence thanking God right away, 

 and to do it out loud. I tell you, my friends, 

 it is a grand thing, many times, to speak 

 out plain and clear ; and it is a grand thing 

 to acknowledge your Creator and the great 

 Judge of all the earth, right out loud. I told 

 this friend, the next time he went out over 

 those wonderful hills after his horses, in the 

 bright morning, to begin speaking loud 

 to the great God above, and to give him 



thanks and praise. Dear readers, if there 

 are any of you who feel like this one of 

 whom i have just spoken, try the experi- 

 ment. When off alone by yourself, give 

 praise to God. It will help you in a great 

 many ways. First, you are acknowledging 

 and paying respect and deference to the great 

 Ruler over all; second, you are getinga start 

 in being thankful to somebody. A human 

 being who has no thanks to give to anybody 

 — not even to God the Father — is in a de- 

 plorable state of mind. When you get in a 

 way of thanking God. you are very like- 

 ly to begin to feel like thanking friends and 

 your neighbors when you meet them ; and a 

 man who has thanks to give to each one, 

 and who/ee?s thankful, is a gainer in a great 

 many ways. He will get more of every 

 thing good by having thankfulness ai^d 

 thanksgiving in his heart. After j'ou have 

 for some time become accustomed to thank 

 God in your fashion, and after your own 

 way, you will be pretty sure to begin to 

 think of texts of Scripture right along in 

 this line. How full are the Psalms of Da- 

 vid of such expressions ! When David was 

 a shepherd-boy, off in the fields with the 

 sheep, alone by himself, oftentimes with 

 only the stars above him for company, he 

 learned to give thanks. While I dictate I 

 open the Bible at random. The Psalms are 

 pretty nearly in the middle of the book. 

 The first thing that meets my eye is this : 



O Lord, my God, in thee do I put my trust. 



And after this comes a prayer : 



Save me from them that persecute me, and deliv- 

 er me. 



On the same page I read : 



O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in 

 all the earth 1 who hast set thy g'lory above the 

 heavens. . . . When I consider thy heavens, the 

 work of thy flng-ers, the moon and stars, which thou 

 hast ordained, what is man, that thou art mindful 

 of him? 



If you have never loved the Bible, when 

 you commence giving thanks to God you 

 will find in it something that harmonizes 

 with your feelings. Perhaps you will re- 

 member the prayer that Jesus uttered— 

 "Our Father who art in heaven." And 

 then how naturally comes the next — " Hal- 

 lowed be thy name !" Why, as you utter 

 these words and feel this sentiment in your 

 heart, you will stand more erect, you will 

 have a broader view of the universe, man- 

 kind included, and you will feel more like 

 being honest, good, and true. 



When you have learned to love God, and 

 to love these Bible texts that speak of him 

 —when you have learned to pray, even aft- 

 er the humlile fashion I have indicated^ 

 you will begin to feel Satan striving to draw 

 you away from sacred and holy thoughts. 

 This new joy of yours can not be a well of 

 water springing up into everlasting life un- 

 til you begin to put aside self. These feel- 

 ings of gratitude that bring joy and glad- 

 ness will be dried up, and will soon be 

 quenched if you give way to the temptation 

 to wrong or to defraud your fellow-man. 



You may dishonor the Master in a very 

 small matter of business deal ; and when 

 you do so, this avenue is choked. It is hard 

 to realize how exceedingly careful we 



