useless without the support of those around you? Ah, well, do not repine.
Do not forget that God's call comes often--Oh, so often--to just such as
you--to witness for Him in spite of "these bonds," to declare the truth,
to dare to reprove sin. Above all, _do not doubt your God. You may be
very dependent to-day, but you may be more than victorious to-morrow_.



III.

_Poverty and friendlessness are often
found in company with a great heart_.


There was no home for Jesus in Bethlehem. There was no room for Him in the
inn. There was no cradle in the stable. There was no protector when Herod
arose to kill. What a strange world it is! Did ever babe open eyes on such
a topsy-turvy condition of affairs? The King of Glory had not where to lay
His head! Mary, it is true, was strong in faith, but both she and Joseph
must needs soon fly into Egypt with the Babe. Refused at the inn, soon
even the stable must cast them out!

He came to take all men into His heart, and they, ere ever they saw Him,
cast Him forth as an outlaw!

And we who know what it means to be loved of Him, what can we say? Our
hearts are bowed with something of shame and grief that He thus suffered,
and yet we have a secret joy because He suffered so well! For of all the
greatnesses of the Babe this is the greatest--the greatness of His heart.
"The Sacred Heart of Jesus," the Romanists call it. "The All-Conquering