Mr. C. G. Taylor as editor of "The Australian Christian" prepared and published a series of daily devotions under the title, "When Soars the Soul"; and these were found so helpful to many readers that we now present a selection of these in this form. We appreciate the courtesy of Mr. Taylor in allowing us to make this selection and to use his material in this way. We trust that our readers will find them as helpful as we believe they will be if used for the purposes for which they are intended. As we read these with our hearts open to God our souls may find wings to rise into purer air of spiritual devotion.

SUNDAY.
Matthew 28:9-20.
Thought Text: "Remember, I am with you always, day by day" (v. 20, Weymouth).

      Jesus had no word of rebuke for those among his disciples who still doubted. Instead, he put before them all a task so great that it would have been fantastic without the assertion of power with which he introduced it, and the promise of his unfailing presence with which he ended it. If they dared to attempt such a task, he knew they would find their doubts fully answered in the reality of his power and his presence.

      As an 85-year-old saint said to Dr. Campbell Morgan, when he read this passage to her during a pastoral call, "That is not a promise at all; that is a fact!"

      Make us so aware of thy nearness every day that we may think and speak and do only the things thou canst fully share with us. Amen.

MONDAY.
Acts 1:1-8.
Thought Text: "Ye shall be witnesses unto me" (v. 8).

      To men who had never been more than a few miles from home Jesus talks of "the uttermost parts of the earth"--of far off lands where they would bear their witness to him. Humanly speaking, it was an impossible assignment, but these men were so "overmastered by the love of Christ," so filled and guided by his Spirit, that they did the impossible--and others have gone on doing it ever since.

      What the witness of a Christian life can mean was once superbly expressed by H. M. Stanley, after some time spent with Livingstone: "If I had been with him any longer I would have been compelled to be a Christian, and he never spoke to me about it at all!"

      But there are times when the witness must be made in words. Do I miss my opportunities?

      Make thy servants everywhere responsive to every chance to speak a word for thee, O Lord. Amen.

TUESDAY.
Acts 2:22-24, 36-42.
Thought Text: "Death could not hold him" (v. 24. Moffatt).

      It was as simple--and sweeping--as that; "death could not hold him." The unbelievable had happened; death had been defeated by him whom Peter later dares to call "the Author of life" (Acts 3:15).

      It was a thrilling transition from the despair of Calvary to the growing certainty that with such a Lord there could have been no other outcome than: "Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept!" (1 Cor. 15:20).

      Because of him, death holds no terrors for the Christian, who shares Paul's great conviction, "In Christ shall all be made alive!"

      For such a faith, and such a future, we give thee thanks, O Lord of life.

WEDNESDAY.
Acts 3:1-18.
Thought Text: "Such as I have give I thee" (v. 6).

      Our materialistic age thinks, "Without money, what has a man got?" But his lack of silver and gold mattered little to Peter in the knowledge of what he possessed through Christ. Later he was to write: "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Pet. 1:18, 19). Peter knew where life's real values lay.

      Whenever the Church, or the individual Christian, has sought first for material possessions and power, there has been a corresponding loss of spiritual power. What matters most in my life? What have I got to give?

      Make us dissatisfied, O Lord, with anything less than the life that knows, and eagerly shares, the things of the Spirit. Amen.

THURSDAY.
Acts 4:1-12.
Thought Text: "Howbeit many of them which heard . . . believed" (v. 4).

      There is a certain ring of triumph in that old-fashioned word, "Howbeit." The preachers of the gospel might be arrested, but not the power of their word. That went on winning men, despite all the Jewish leaders could do.

      As Paul put it so well, "The word of God is not bound" (2 Tim 2:9). No prison has ever been able to hold it. For example, what happened in Madagascar last century has been repeated many times in the Christian era. There persecution banned all missionaries from the island, but when, after 25 years they were able to return, they found that the number of Christians had multiplied five-fold, held together by their reading of a banned book--the Bible.

      We thank thee, O Lord, for all printers, distributors and preachers of thy Word. May many find thee today through their faithfulness. Amen.

FRIDAY.
Acts 5:17-20, 25-32.
Thought Text: "We must obey God rather than men" (v. 29, R.S.V.).

      This was exactly how Martin Luther felt, fifteen hundred years later, when he faced his accusers, saying, "My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to act against conscience is wrong and dangerous. Here I stand. God help me. Amen."

      It was in just such a situation that a German of Adolf Hitler's time said, "This is my tragic dilemma. I am the servant of a totalitarian God, and the citizen of a totalitarian State." He knew where his ultimate loyalties must lie. Do we, in the clashes of loyalty we face? Are we absolutely loyal to him?

      O God, when we are tempted to compromise, give us the courage of our convictions, whatever the cost.

SATURDAY.
Acts 2:1-8.
Thought Text "They were all gathered together in unity of purpose" (v. 2, Knox).

      Without that unity of purpose, Pentecost would have been impossible. But such unity is never an accident; it is born out of obedience and prayer. These men on whom the Spirit's power came had obeyed without question the Master's command, "Tarry ye in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power" As the days passed and nothing happened, their faith must have been sorely tested. But "they resorted with one mind to prayer," and doubts never had a chance of destroying a unity born of such obedience and prayer.

      As we come to Pentecost Sunday, let it be in that same spirit of absolute surrender.

      Lord, hasten the day when thy Church shall be truly one, in prayerful obedience to thy will. Amen.

SUNDAY.
Malachi 3:13-18.
Thought Text: "They that feared the Lord spake often one to another" (v. 18).

      Translators are uncertain as to whether the questions and doubts expressed in verses 13 to 15 are the conversation of those "who feared the Lord," or whether Malachi means that, in answer to the doubts raised by cynical scoffers, believers found fresh strength in fellowship, and in encouraging one another in the things most surely believed by them.

      If the former is true, then these men were wise in facing their doubts together. There ought always to be room in the church for the honest facing of doubt. If the latter is right--and how often it has been proved true in Christian experience--why do so many do themselves the wrong of "forsaking the assembling of themselves together?"

      We thank thee, O God, for what Christian fellowship means to us, with its revelations of thyself, its renewals of our faith, its relationships with fellow-believers. Amen.

MONDAY.
Acts 2:41-47.
Thought Text: "All that believed were together" (v. 44).

      Here is the key to all that followed after Pentecost--the believers stayed together, learning, communing (with their Lord and with each other), praying, sharing, praising. No wonder a victorious community was born out of those who were determined to stay together. Physically, that wasn't possible for long; all too soon they were "scattered abroad." But there had been time enough for a bond to be formed which persecution could not break.

      That true "togetherness" of spirit was seen later in the Gentile churches' gifts to the needy in Judea. It is still seen in ventures like InterChurch Aid.

      O Lord, may the isolationist in spirit be drawn into real fellowship, and the spiritually proud discover true love and humility. Amen.

TUESDAY.
1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 3:21-23.
Thought Text: "You should be achieving a unity in thought and judgment" (v. 10, Phillips).

      The unity of the church meant a great deal to the Apostle Paul, and he was deeply grieved when Corinth's competing cliques destroyed any hope of such a unity. He called them back to the ideal--which he never expressed better than when he told the Philippians, "If you have known something of the fellowship of his Spirit . . . live together in harmony, live together in love, as though you had only one mind and one spirit between you" (Phil. 2:1, 2; Phillips).

      Have we ever made a real effort to achieve that ideal, in our relationships with others with whom we have disagreed--in the local church, or in inter-church affairs?

      Give me, O Lord, a mind unafraid of the quest for truth, and a spirit that shuts none out from fellowship in such a quest. Amen.

WEDNESDAY.
1 Corinthians 12:14-27.
Thought Text: "The body does not consist of one part, but of many" (v. 14, Goodspeed).

      As foot and eye, nose and ear, all nave their essential function in the human body, so, says Paul, there is room in the service of the Body of Christ for many varied ministries. Elsewhere, he emphasises that the Christian cannot treat his life as a "self-contained unit;" we are caught up with others in the true "unity of the Spirit," and that involves both fellowship and responsibility, "in honor preferring one another."

      John Short has well pointed out that, as obscure glands perform vital functions for the human body, so even the seemingly ?east important member of the church may play a vital part in God's ongoing purposes.

      O God, whatever our task, help us to do it heartily. Amen.

THURSDAY.
Hebrews 11:39-12:3.
Thought Text: "With so great a cloud of witnesses" (v. 1).

      The word "witnesses" here means more than "spectators"; it refers to the heroes of faith (as in ch. 11) who had already run the course and borne a brave witness--as though a mile race were watched by former milers, who knew what it was like to struggle to keep going, and finally to strain for the tape.

      We are not alone. Others have run the race before us, and finished the course, with eyes fixed on Jesus, "Author and Finisher of our faith." When we read their stories, we feel their eyes on us. We must not fail them--or him!

      Father, we thank thee for those whose lives remain a constant inspiration to us. Keep us, like them, true to the highest and best. Amen.

FRIDAY.
Philippians 4:1-8.
Thought Text: "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (v. 7).

      "Keep" is a military word here, meaning "keep guard" or "garrison." As Scott says, "The image is that of an armed escort, protecting the traveller from all possible danger. With the peace of God encompassing us, we have nothing to fear." Paul's words are not the glib writing of a man basking in life's sunshine. He was in prison, and he had proved for himself how real was the peace of God, even there. In the same way, our Lord, facing the cross, said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you" (John 14:27).

      Fill my soul with thy peace, my mind with thy thoughts, my whole life with thee, O thou whose every gift passes understanding. Amen.

SATURDAY.
1 John 1:1-9.
Thought Text: "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (v. 9).

      "Ever true to his word, ever dealing right with us" is how Ronald Knox renders "faithful and just." When we confess our sins to God, we open the way for his redemptive forgiveness, which not only shows the fulness of his love, but satisfies every demand of his justice.

      For Divine forgiveness is no easy thing. It cost God his Son upon a cross. But it does things with broken lives that nothing else can do, through what Dr. Stewart calls "the regenerative force of a great forgiveness." It brings them into unique, enriching fellowship with God and man.

      Redeeming Lord, give thy Church the compassionate understanding which will make so great a forgiveness real to seeking men. Amen.

SUNDAY.
Acts 9:36-43.
Thought Text: "Showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made" (v. 39).

      Little had Dorcas thought, when her nimble fingers plied needle through cloth, that garments like these would be her memorial. But they were--those and the tears of the widows who held them, recalling the loving heart that had kept fingers so busy.

      The Church is still rich in women of the Dorcas-heart, and their memorials are all around us. What would happen, asks Maurice Fogle, if church women went on strike? "The Church would be as confused as the government when the miners or dockhands walk out. But, year after year, the dependable, unwearying service of the women of our churches goes on. Theirs is loyalty in action."

      Father, we thank thee for women like these, and for all that the touch of their ministering hands means in the life and work of the Church. Amen.

MONDAY.
Acts 10:1-16.
Thought Text: "What God has cleansed you must not call common" (v. 15, R.S.V.).

      With a Gentile's servants even then hastening to his door, it was urgent that Peter should face the revolutionary fact implicit in a gospel meant for all men. No barriers must be allowed to halt the onward thrust of the gospel.

      How decisively Christianity sweeps aside the racial, color, cultural and other distinctions which man's pride makes sinfully important! But has the Church always remembered that? What of the Church in South Africa today? What of our own attitudes to those who in some way or other, can be classified as "different"? "We are all one in Christ

      Jesus!" Do we live as if we really believe that?

      From all intolerance and pride; from the blindness that fails to see a brother in any man who needs to be helped; O Lord, preserve thy Church. Amen.

TUESDAY.
Acts 18:24-28.
Thought Text: "They took him unto them" (v. 26).

      Aquila and Priscilla were quick to sense that something was missing in the witness of the eloquent Apollos. But they didn't denounce him in public or criticise him to others. "They took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly." They were zealous, but they were also courteous--and, unfortunately, the two don't always go together.

      "They took him unto them"--just exactly what does that mean? Knox says, they "made friends with him"; most other modern translations have, "they took him home." They showed him the warmth of their love and concern before they sought to correct his doctrine. No wonder he listened to them!

      Forgive us, Lord, that sometimes we have been too critical of others, without first reaching out to them with friendship and love. Amen.

WEDNESDAY.
Acts 10:34-43.
Thought Text: "God has no favorites" (v. 34, Moffatt).

      This was a revolutionary statement--especially coming from one whose nation rejoiced to call itself God's peculiar people." Many strongly disagreed, and even Peter himself later compromised on the issue--so much so that Paul publicly protested.

      But the Church itself stands condemned with Peter, as having often made statements like these and failing to live up to them. Even today, with all our lip-service to so-called "partnership" of nations, we have not yet fully freed ourselves from the patronising assumption that we Western Christians are God's favorites!

      Our Father, we thank thee for our brethren in other lands, and for the Christian leaders of other races whose lives challenge us all. Amen.

THURSDAY.
Acts 11:1-4, 15-21.
Thought Text: "Men of Cyprus and Cyrene . . . spoke to the Greeks""(v. 20, R.S.V).

      Amazingly, it is left to men whose names we do not even know to take this daring, decisive step forward in the preaching of the gospel. Without waiting to be invited (as Peter had been by Cornelius), they began preaching to Gentiles as well as to Jews. By this act, says Theodore Ferris, Christianity "stepped out of its local pasture, and took the fields of the world for its grazing."

      Campbell Morgan rightly says that "the teaching of the passage is that the Spirit of God ever moves out in new directions, apart from all officialism." Are we responsive to his guidance, or timidly waiting on man's word?

      O Saviour of the world, may no prejudice of mine ever limit the outreach of thy gospel. Amen.

FRIDAY.
Acts 12:1-10.
Thought Text: "Prayer was made without ceasing . . . for him" v. 5).

      The Church's answer to prison for Peter was--prayer for Peter! In this case, the prison gates swung open. That did not always happen, but the Church always prayed; it believed there was more power in prayer than in any prison bars, whether the prisoner was released, or died bravely for his faith. As George Stewart asserted, such intercessory prayer sometimes changes circumstances, and it always changes hearts.

      Dare we fail, then, those who say to us still, "Brethren, pray for us"?

      For all missionaries of the Cross, especially these I know . . . for my minister and church officers; for all in need, I pray thy help, O Lord.

SATURDAY.
Acts 12:11-17.
Thought Text: "But Peter continued knocking" (v. 16).

      This was hardly the kind of welcome Peter had expected! The prison doors that had seemed so impassable were behind him, but the door of the home where he had thought he would be most welcome stayed barred, while frightened consultations went on behind it.

      But a new sense of understanding had come to the once impetuous Peter--he continued knocking, until at last the door was opened. "Even then, he did not chide them with their lack of faith. His rescue had been as unexpected to himself as to them. They had all prayed for strength, but God had given much more.

      Father, we thank thee for our Lord, who stands still at men's heart-door and knocks. May doors swing open wide through our witness. Amen.

SUNDAY.
Acts 7:55-60.
Thought Text: "He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing" (v. 65).

      Stephen was in the highest court of his people, among judges who so far forgot themselves in their frenzied hate that they "gnashed on him with their teeth." Nothing seemed surer in that moment tartan that they would put him to death. But to Stephen there was one thing surer--"the glory of God," of which even death could not rob him; a glory in which he saw his risen Lord standing at the right hand of God, in the place of ultimate power and authority--standing, as though to welcome him home in triumph.

      God never forsakes his own. For believing souls, his nearness is always real.

      O God, help us never to lose our awareness of thee in the midst of life's clamoring demands and crises. Give us Stephen's clear vision and forgiving courage. Amen.

MONDAY.
Acts 8:1-8.
Thought Text: "And there was great joy in that city" (v. 8).

      Luke leaves us in no doubt as to the reason for that joy; "Philip preached Christ unto them" (v. 5). Campbell Morgan points out that the Greek word translated "preached" means "to proclaim as a herald"--and there was something as thrilling as that about the way Philip came to a city which was under the spell of a sorcerer, and so effectively presented Christ to needy men that even the sorcerer himself believed!

      Faithful preaching of Christ, and loyal witnessing to him, will always set people rejoicing, not with the bubbling effervescence of a passing emotion, but with an enduring experience which proves his words real: "Your joy no man taketh from you."

      May all who follow thee, O Lord, find a growing joy in believing. Amen.

TUESDAY.
Acts 8:9-17.
Thought Text: "Saying that he himself was somebody great" (v. 9, R.S.V).

      Here is the real point of contrast between Philip and Simon--Philip preached Christ, Simon preached himself. The sorcerer welcomed the title, "The Great Power of God." Philip showed the real power of God at work, beside which Simon's quackery was shown up for what it was.

      History has a long and sorry record of those who have reached for power, and made blasphemous claims for themselves. Hitler was such a man, allowing another to say of him, "Adolf Hitler is the true Holy Spirit." The power he once claimed is gone, but the power of men like Paul who say, "We preach not ourselves but Christ," grows ever greater.

      Help us, O Lord, to keep such discipline of mind and soul that self will never usurp thy rightful place in our lives. Amen.

WEDNESDAY.
Acts 8:26-40.
Thought Text: "Philip began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus" (v. 35).

      Facing the whole city, or an individual, Philip had one story to tell, one Man to present. These early preachers wasted no time before confronting men with Christ, and when, as in this case, a man came questioning, they were ready to make full use of their opportunity to show that Christ himself was the Answer. No wonder the Church grew!

      The modern preacher may not find many non-Christians reading their Bibles, but their multiplying questionings and fears still give him his opportunity. Are we dealing with the things that matter most? Is it Christ we preach?

      Lord, help us to use every opportunity each day brings to be a true witness to thy saving grace. Amen.

THURSDAY.
Acts 10:1-16.
Thought Text: "What God has cleansed you must not call common" (v. 15).

      In this vivid way God prepared Peter's mind and heart for the challenge of seeing that the gospel was meant also for, Gentiles, like the earnest Cornelius, whose servants were even then hastening to his door.

      How decisively the gospel sweeps aside distinctions like those of race, color and culture, which man's pride makes sinfully important! "We are all one in Christ Jesus!" A phrase like this reminds us that we too glibly distinguish between the sacred and the secular in life; all activity of any kind that has love of God at the heart of it is truly divine.

      From all intolerance and pride; from the blindness that fails to see a brother in any man who needs to be helped; O Lord, preserve thy Church. Amen.

FRIDAY.
Acts 10:17-33.
Thought Text: "He called them in to be his guests" (v. 23, R.S.V.).

      That seems a simple enough act, but this was a Jew inviting Gentiles, and (as William Barclay points out) no strict Jew would ever have as his guest, or be himself the guest of, a man who did not observe the Law. By this act, Peter begins to "earth" his vision.

      Even before this, he had broken away from tradition by agreeing to lodge with a tanner--a man whose trade made him unclean in the eyes of strict Jews. What a strangely assorted group of men slept in that house that night! Only the Spirit of God could ever have made it possible.

      Are our hospitality lists dictated by convention or by Christian love?

      O God, make our churches and homes such centres of warmth and love that none need ever turn away, unwanted and unhelped. Amen.

SATURDAY.
Acts 10:34-48.
Thought Text: "They were astonished" (v. 45).

      It was one thing for Peter to make for himself the thrilling discovery that God has no favorites. It was another thing for the very men who believed that he did, to see the evidence that God didn't. It was a shock to all their smug assumptions of superiority. They were astonished!

      Some of the ablest delegations to attend world gatherings of Christians in this century have come from the so-called Mission lands. Some of the most fearless thought and action in the interests of Christian union have come from Asian Christians. Like the Jews of old, we Western Christians have much to learn!

      Lord, we pray for the Church in Asia, and thank thee for the challenges which come from it to the rest of the Christian world. May we and they alike know thy mighty power in our midst. Amen.