April 13

Rejoice evermore — 1 Thess 5:16

Do not lose your joy whatever else you lose. Keep the spirit of spring. Rejoice evermore, and Again I say, rejoice.

The loss of Canaan began in the spirit of murmurings, When the people, as it were, murmured, it displeased the Lord. The first break in their fellowship, the first falter in their advance, came when they began to doubt, and grieve, and fret.

Oh, keep the heart from the perforations of depression, discouragement, distrust and gloom, for Satan cannot crush a rejoicing and praiseful soul.

Look out for the beginning of sin. Don't let the first touch of evil be harbored. It is the first step that loses all. Oh, to keep so encased in the Holy Ghost and in the very life of Jesus that the evil cannot reach us!

The little fly on the inside of the window–pane may be attacked by the little bird on the outside, and it may seem to him that he is lost, but the crystal pane between keeps him safely from all danger as certainly as if it were a mighty wall of iron.