Here is something which will prove very valuable to you in your Christian life if you can only get to fully comprehend it: You can do nothing; your will is powerless without God and his grace, and God can do nothing in you without the consent of your will. God does everything, and we do everything: we are to purify our hearts, and yet it is God who purifies our hearts; we are to make us a new heart, and yet it is God who gives us a new heart; we are commanded to work out our salvation, and God gives us power to do it. God furnishes the power; we are to do. Do not think that God will act for you. He will give you power to act, but he will not do the act for you. Do not, therefore, say, "I can't." You can do "all things" through Christ, who strengthens you. You can serve God in a way acceptable to him; you can keep your mind stayed on him; you can pray; you can resist the devil and temptation and be an overcomer; you can endure unto the end--you can do "all things" by the grace and power of God, and he will always give you power to do his pleasure. Do not serve and praise God only when he gives you blessings and joy, but serve him and praise him when the way is dark. Have a fixed decision of the will to serve God no matter what the feelings may be. Be thankful to God for the will-power he has given you, and use it manfully, nobly in his service. Do not cower and tremble before temptation. You are to "fear and tremble" before God, but never before trials, temptations, sin, nor the devil. God will cause you to triumph by giving you power to will. Be steadfast, be faithful, fix your will unswervingly to serve God, and in due season you shall reap if you faint not. GOD OUR GUIDE. This is a dark world of sin, error, and uncertainties. It is weak and transitory. Man, God's chief and highest work in the things of creation, is weak, ignorant, and can of himself do absolutely nothing. Though he may have a most scholarly mind, he can not peer with any degree of certainty one hour into the future. Who knows what the morrow may have in store? Life may run about the same as to-day, or fortune may come, or misfortune. Man may plan for the future, but the plan may never be carried into effect. It is not in man to direct his way.