read in the morning

"... the Bible should not be left to the chances of inclination; it should be read seriously and at stated seasons. The morning watch makes safe and sure the day. Before the business of the day intrudes, while you are still rested after sleep, sit down for a little while to listen to God's message to you... Make the daily closet service a habit, not to be lightly broken, and do not leave your room until you have read your chapter, or your few texts, if you have the time for no more. Take a text with you each morning as your motto for the whole day."

as a brook in the desert

"[Sisters], may I remind you to read your Bibles? Not merely a few hurried texts in the early morning, and a few verses at night when you are half asleep, but with a listening ear, and with a reverent eye, realizing that you are in God's presence and that He is speaking to you, read the Divine word. Do not omit the old Testament, nor forget the new: one is the following out of the other, and the two are inter-dependent... come to the Books, as they who are thirsty come to a well, as they who are weary, to a pillow, as they who are afraid to a refuge. Learn the Bible by heart... and be assured the day will come, when the precious bits of truth, will be to you as the fine gold and the fadeless gem. Choose where you will: the whole Bible is God's inspired message to humanity and you cannot read a single book without profit. Whatever other literature be noble this is nobler; whatever else be full of sweetness and light, this Book of God surpasses it. It is a lamp on a dark night, as a brook in the desert, as a flower in the fallow field, as a star in the sky."

known for studying

"A true woman will be known for her practice of studying God's Word with the intent of being edified, challenged, and sanctified."

breakfast

"A good way to start your day: invite your Bible to breakfast."

(note: all recent pictures have been of Israel)

change

"God's Word exposes my motives, points out my faults, rebukes my sins, and expects me to change."

imitate His son

"I'm taking a lifetime class in the art of being Christlike. By studying God's Word, He teaches me to imitate His son."

conditions

"My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commands with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God." {Proverbs 2:1-5}

Conditions: open ears, mind, and heart. Must cry out for it, search for it, work for it, labor for it.

daily readings

"Let your readings be private, individual, and at the right time of day. Reading with others is good in its place, but cannot settle to the subject with that thoroughness of grip that is needful for thorough results. Do your Bible readings by yourself, whatever luxury you may indulge in with your friends. And let it be when your faculties are wide awake. To put it off to the last thing, just before going to bed, after your pith has been spent on other things, is not doing justice to yourself or God. A little extra Bible reading at such a time, such as a psalm or a chapter from the epistles is very well as a soothing finish to the day, but to leave your Bible readings till then is to attend to do it under conditions that almost preclude the possibility of getting the intended good."

close to the Word

"If I keep close to the Word of God and realize its teachings in the experience of discipleship--I will be able to know how to live and how to react to the problems and possibilities which confront me from day to day."

worth the sacrifice

"The grand truth of God's Word is that glory, honor, incorruptibility, and life are the reward of a character formed in harmony with the commandments delivered to a man in the several dispensations of time under which they live. They are the rewarder of a good character; a character which shall be pronounced by the Judge 'without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that shall be holy, and without blemish'. If glory, honor, and eternal life be worth the sacrifice of every thing on earth to obtain, then the inducement to a holy, righteous, and unblemished life in Jesus Christ is found in these, transcendentally powerful."