God Calling/God at Eventide John Hunt Publishing, Ltd., New Alresford, Hants, UK
Print ISBN 978-1-64352-845-8
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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
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Introduction
Very few books, even number-one bestsellers, are read with much passion a decade after their release. In twenty or thirty years, most are largely forgotten.
So there must be something special about a book that is not only read but revered more than seventy years after its first publication. God Calling is such a volume.
It began in the fall of 1932 when two British women met to pray and share fellowship with each other, and to write down what they thought God was saying to them through His Son, Jesus Christ. Ultimately, they generated a years worth of writings, which were then edited for publication by A. J. Russell, a London newspaperman.
The two women, who have always remained anonymous, were poor, brave [and] courageously fighting against sickness and penury, in Russells words. They were facing a hopeless future and one of them even longed to be quit of this hard world for good, he wrote in his original introduction. But then God spoke to their hearts, and God Calling was born.
Over the decades, the anonymous friends work has become one of the most read and beloved daily devotionals of all time. Millions of copies have been printed and sold, read personally, and given as gifts, in Great Britain and the United States. The book has also been translated for use around the world, and followed by a sequel, God at Eventide.
Their literary approachGod Calling and God at Eventide are written as if Jesus Himself is speaking to the readerresonates with both men and women, of varying ages and cultures. Open this book at any page and taste its beauty, Russell wrote in the original introduction to God Calling. Dwell lovingly on its tender phrases. Let its wonderful quality sink deep into your spirit.
Both of these marvelous books are presented here in their entirety, with a God Calling reading for each morning, and its accompanying God at Eventide passage for the end of the day. We hope this volume will provide challenge, encouragement, and inspiration for your Christian walk. Read on to meet your loving Savior.
T HE P UBLISHER
Note: The book contains the original unabridged text of both God Calling and God at Eventide, with very minimal editorial changes. That is why you will find no God at Eventide reading for February 29.
J ANUARY 1
God Calling: BETWEEN THE YEARS
Our Lord and our God. We joy in Thee. Without
Thy Help we could not face unafraid the year before us.
I stand between the years. The Light of My Presence is flung across the year to comethe radiance of the Sun of Righteousness. Backward, over the past year, is My Shadow thrown, hiding trouble and sorrow and disappointment.
Dwell not on the pastonly on the present. Only use the past as the trees use My Sunlight to absorb it, to make from it in after days the warming fire-rays. So store only the blessings from Me, the Light of the World. Encourage yourselves by the thought of these.
Bury every fear of the future, of poverty for those dear to you, of suffering, of loss. Bury all thought of unkindness and bitterness, all your dislikes, your resentments, your sense of failure, your disappointment in others and in yourselves, your gloom, your despondency, and let us leave them all, buried, and go forward to a new and risen life.
Remember that you must not see as the world sees. I hold the year in My Handsin trust for you. But I shall guide you one day at a time.
Leave the rest with Me. You must not anticipate the gift by fears or thoughts of the days ahead.
And for each day I shall supply the wisdom and the strength.
God at Eventide: ALL IS READY
Write for all things are now ready.
The world is waiting for My Message of Love, and Hope and Cheer. The very unrest of spirit is a sign. The turning from the husk of religion is a sign.
Man is no longer lulled by empty phrases and promises of a better life hereafter. He must know Me before he would wish to spend Eternity with Me. He must know Me here in the storm where he needs strength and rest.
He has been sleeping; now he has been shocked awake. Now he must find Me or fling defiance at Me or school himself into denial, or indifference.
Reason and argument avail nothing. Only by the lives of My followers can man be helped; only by seeing Mine unmoved, at peace, joyful, in a world of sorrow, disillusionment, and mistrust.
Your denial today will not be I know not the man. The world is indifferent as to whether you profess Me or not. No, it will be your failure to present Me in your life as I amvital, sustaining, spirit-renewing, your All.
J ANUARY 2
God Calling: ARM OF LOVE
You are to help to save others. Never let one day pass when you have not reached out an arm of Love to someone outside your homea note, a letter, a visit, help in some way.
Be full of Joy. Joy saves. Joy cures. Joy in Me. In every ray of sunlight, every smile, every act of kindness, or love, every trifling servicejoy.
Each day do something to lift another soul out of the sea of sin, or disease or doubt into which man has fallen. I still walk today by the lakeside and call My Disciples to follow Me and to become fishers of men.
The helping hand is needed that raises the helpless to courage, to struggle, to faith, to health. Love. Laugh. Love and laughter are the beckoners to faith and courage. Trust on, love on, joy on.
Refuse to be downcast. Refuse to be checked in your upward climb. Love and laugh. I am with you. I bear your burdens. Cast your burden upon Me and I will sustain thee. And then in very lightheartedness you turn and help another with the burden that is pressing too heavily upon him or her.