OCTOHKR, l!)12ti 



W?IEN I coin- 

 Ill e n e e d 

 reading tlie 

 Bible at the 

 tnrning-point of 

 my life fwliich 

 T have rof erred 

 to so 111 a n y 

 times) 1 would 

 now and then 

 burst out laugli- 

 ing, and it really 

 frightened the 

 dear wife. Tt was 

 contrnry to her 

 bringing-up. She 

 had always been 

 taught, or sup- 

 posed that the 

 reading of the 

 Bible was a sa- 

 ered and solemn 

 tiling; and T 



agree with her when I saj' it is. But j'^et 

 there is a lot in the Bible that should prompt 

 us to "rejoice and be glad." And there 

 are man}- funny things that the Bible tells 

 about — at least they were funny to me, be- 

 cause of the many vtie.rpccted triumphs of 

 righteousness over iniquity. A friend of 

 mine, a man who had been addicted to drink- 

 ing, gambling, and no one knows what else, 

 was suddenly converted. His wife told Mrs. 

 Root and me that he would often break out 

 suddenly and say: "O Polly! Just listen to 

 this. Did you ever know before there are 

 such glorious promises in the Bible?" 



And this, my friends, i=!. as it should bo. 

 The Bible is a literal gold mine when the 

 the Holy Spirit goes with it to make it 

 plain. I have told you that frequently some 

 precious promise from the Bible comes to 

 me as if it were the voice of somebody 

 speaking. And sometimes it speaks plainer 

 than literal words. I am now going to tell 

 you how it has pint ^>ee)i speaking to me. 



If you will turn to Our Homes in the Sep 

 tember issue, page 601, last paragraph, where 

 T mentioned that precious promise, "My 

 grace is sufficient for thee," you will get 

 at the point. After that page was in print 

 and I was looking over the printed words, 

 the Holy Spirit spoke to me again (T hope 

 you will excuse me for putting it that way), 

 and this is what it said: 



"Count it all /o// when ye fall into di- 

 vers temptations." Instead of having the 

 blues and beginning to doubt God's word — 

 that is, T am afraid I began to doubt .inst a 

 little — T ought to have counted it "all joy." 

 Tlio idea seemed almost ridiculous^ or pre- 

 posterous, if you will excuse my using such 

 terms. The idea of counting it oil ion, when 

 Satan has been testing you perhaps dav 

 and night for days, or maybe weeks! .Tust 

 think of the idea of scraping up courage 

 enough to rejoice and praise God that he 

 has honored vou and trusted you fmind the 

 word trusted) to let Satan get in all his 

 tricks. And then for you to feel blue and 



(i li K A N T N r; S IN li E E C U L T U R K 



OUR HOMES 



A. I. ROOT 



n 



My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into 

 divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying 

 of your faith workctli patience. But let patience 

 have licr perfect work, that ye may be perfect and 

 entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wis- 

 dom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men 

 liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given 

 him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; 

 for he that wavercth is like a wave of the sea 

 driven with the wind and tossed. — James 1:2-6, 



669 



discouraged be- 

 cause you have 

 yielded just a 

 little by listen- 

 ing to what Sa- 

 tan had to offer. 

 Instead of feel- 

 ing as guilty as 

 if you had al- 

 ready committed 

 a crime, you 

 should just 

 "count it all 

 joy. ' ' 



Now, my dear 

 brother or sister, 

 while what T 

 have been telling 

 you is in mind 

 read over the 

 Psalms of David, 

 and see if they 

 do not shine out 

 with a new meaning.* You will then be 

 ready to go on and read the first verses of 

 that Avonderful epistle of James. This ex- 

 perience which the dear Savior has per- 

 mitted you to go through with has been to 

 try your faith and make it stronger. A 

 baby in learning to walk would make no 

 headway if it did not get any bumps and 

 falls; and the newborn soul that is just 

 learning to follow the Master gets stronger 

 and braver by his bumps and falls. There- 

 fore "let patience have her perfect work." 

 And the last verse tells us to hold fast to 

 our faith. No matter what happens, do not 

 get discouraged, and do not even think of 

 turning back, for Jesus says, "No man, hav- 

 ing put his hand to the plow, and looking 

 back, is fit for the kingdom of God." 



Now, dear friends, I want to switch off a 

 little and talk about "casting your bread 

 on the waters," and the promise that, after 

 you have forgotten all about it, and can not 

 remember the transaction at all, you should 

 find it "after many days." Read the fol- 

 loAving letter: 



By the way, I do not think I ever told you 

 younger folk of the firm how A. I. Root treated 

 me nearly 40 years ago. At that time T ■«'as a raw 

 unsophisticated country lad with little knowledge 

 of business methods, but even then a crank on 

 bees. I had over a dozen colonies at the time 

 all in hives and frames fashioned with a hand- 

 saw. Somehow T obtained possession of A. T. 



* Here is one as an illustration : 



For innumerable evils have compassed me about: 

 mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that 

 T am not able to look up; they are more than 

 the hairs of mine head; therefore my heart faileth 

 me. — Psalm 40 :]2. 



T have seen that verse many times,, hut I had 

 somehow got it into my head that David said his 

 enemies were more than the hairs of his head, and 

 that had always seemed to me rather preposter- 

 ous. If he had really said encmiex it would have 

 )>een preposterous; hut. bless your heart, it was 

 not his enemies — it was his iniqt/itie.i. It was not 

 the outside world that troubled him. It was Satan 

 in his own heart. Remember the dear Savior said 

 (Mark 7;18) that it is not "that which ent^reth 

 into the man," that defiles him. but "that which 

 Cometh out of the man." With this explanation, 

 read from verse 1 8 to verse 24 of Psalm 40. 



