Wednesday, January 20, 2021

One day at a time

 

 I have so many posts rattling around in my head, but there is no time to work on them today.  Posts for the new year, goals for the year and the month, recipe posts, memory posts, things we've done ... so many ideas, so little time!  But the one I am going to share is something I consider very important.  I fully expect that the internet could go down sometime today, so I want to leave you with some encouragement.

The little booklet pictured at the top of the post is one of many that I found at my parents' home.  With their business, they often included a Gospel tract or booklet in the employees' paychecks, and sometimes with bills that were being paid.  So they kept large amounts and a great variety of such printed material on hand.  I donated many to our church and threw really dated ones away.  But this one is the only one of its kind that I found.  It may have been part of a sample assortment, I'm not sure.  Regardless, it has been on my nightstand for weeks and I have read through it often in that time.  I thought it would be a blessing to many of my readers as well.

What this booklet basically is, is a wonderful poem by Annie Johnson Flint.  Some Scripture is also included.  With the lovely illustration on the front and the attractive graphics within, this little booklet is indeed a blessing for believers.  Unfortunately The Tract League, from whence this originally came, is no longer selling tracts as of December 2020.  Here is the poem:

ONE DAY AT A TIME

One day at a time,
with its failures and fears,
With its hurts and mistakes,
with its weakness and tears.
With its portion of pain
and its burden of care;
One day at a time we must
 meet and must bear.

One day at a time to be
patient and strong:
To be calm under trial and
sweet under wrong;
Then its toiling shall pass
and its sorrow shall cease;
It shall darken and die,
and the night
shall bring peace.

One day at a time --
but the day is so long,
And the heart is not brave,
and the soul is not strong.
O Thou merciful Christ,
be Thou near all the way;
Give courage and patience
and strength for the day.

Swift cometh His answer,
so clear and so sweet;
"Yea, I will be with thee'
thy troubles to meet;
I will not forget thee,
nor fail thee, nor grieve;
I will not forsake thee;
I never will leave."

Not yesterday's load we
are called on to bear,
Nor the morrow's uncertain
and shadowy care;
Why should we look forward
or back with dismay?
Our needs, as our mercies,
are but for the day.

One day at a time,
and the day is His day;
He hath numbered its hours,
though they haste or delay.
His grace is sufficient,
we walk not alone;
As the day, so the strength
that He giveth His own.

 

Scripture verses included with the poem are as follows.  You might wish to look them up.

"My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever."  (Psalm 73:26)

"For which cause we faint not: but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."  (2 Corinthians 4:16)

"O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for Thee; be Thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble."  (Isaiah 33:2)

"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  (2 Corinthians 12:9)

"He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."  (Hebrews 13:5)

"But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you."

 May we all feel strengthened and settled today!  This is what God wants for us.  Remember. as our days, so shall our strength be.  And please be praying for our country, today and every day.

3 comments:

  1. I am sorry to hear that the Tract League is no longer publishing! For many years, I purchased and used their tracts, especially at Christmas time. Thanks for sharing this treasure!

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    Replies
    1. I was so sorry to read that, too. The reason given was "the decline of tract use in the U.S.". I find that very sad.

      I'm glad you enjoyed the post. I felt that it was an important one to share.

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  2. What a beautiful poem and also wonderful appropriate scriptures for us today. It is sad to think that our Bible Tract businesses are closing. People don't do much person to person witnessing anymore it seems. Everything is on social media and we have lost that human to human touch. I am just as guilty of not using them for the same reasons...it seems easier to communicate via the internet than in person. But it is sad that we have come to that. Thank you for sharing this today. We all need this kind of encouragement, especially during these times.

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