ry.[93]
He will give both grace and glory.[94] Grace is the beginning of glory,
and glory is the fulness of grace. It is all grace, free unmerited favour.

Now I have grouped these experiences in this way to get a clear
understanding of them. But we must remember that they did not come in
groups in Christ's life, and they won't in ours. The red and yellow
threads, the dark and bright, are interwoven throughout the web, to make
the beauty of the pattern. The minor chords come up here and there through
the others, sometimes overcoming, sometimes yielding to, the joyous
notes. The road of life runs valley and hill, valley and hill, up and
down.

There were great crises in Christ's life, and there may be, there quite
likely will be, crisis points in ours, but in the main the hard places
intersperse with the smooth going. The weaver sitting at his loom runs in
a dark shuttle-thread, and then a sharp blow of the beam puts it in place;
then a bright thread and a sharp blow of the beam, and so, slowly,
patiently, threads and blows follow each other till the design has been
worked out.

Even so will it be in this "Follow Me" road. A glad, joyous experience may
be followed by the one that is bitter and that hurts; and that again,
perhaps, by something gladsome and cheery, while the daily round of life
plods slowly on, day after day, week in and out, as the calendar works its
steady way to the end, and then begins anew.

But all the while there's the presence of the wondrous One, unseen by
outer eyes, but unmistakably real. And His presence gives peace. And
there's an unfailing, guiding hand, whose grasp steadies you as you push
along.

This is the road. And yonder, just ahead, is the Lone Man, whose wondrous
face calls, and the reach of His pierced hand beckons. Let us take a
careful look at the road, and a long look at the Man, and then----.

Shall We Go?

The Deeper Meaning of Friendship.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. Our Lord Jesus was our friend in our
need. It was a desperate need. It could not be worse. We had been badly
hurt by sin. The hurt was so bad that we could do nothing without help.
Our Lord Jesus came to our help.

It was not easy for Him to be our friend. Friendship is sometimes very
costly. His reputation went, and then His life. But He never flinched. He
was thinking of us. Our need controlled Him. There were two controlling
words in our Lord Jesus' life--passion and compassion. H