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(转繁)
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January 11
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一月十一日
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“Comfort ye, comfort ye my
people, saith your God.”
(Isa
40:1)
Store up comfort. This was the prophet's mission. The world is
full of comfortless hearts, and ere thou art sufficient for this lofty ministry,
thou must be trained. And thy training is costly in the extreme; for, to
render it perfect, thou too must pass through the same afflictions as are
wringing countless hearts of tears and blood. Thus thy own life becomes the
hospital ward where thou art taught the Divine art of comfort. Thou art
wounded, that in the binding up of thy wounds by the Great Physician, thou mayest learn how to render first aid to the wounded
everywhere. Dost thou wonder why thou art passing through some special
sorrow? Wait till ten years are passed, and thou wilt find many other
afflicted as thou art. Thou wilt tell them how thou hast suffered and hast
been comforted; then as the tale is unfolded, and the anodynes applied which
once thy God wrapped around thee, in the eager look and the gleam of hope
that shall chase the shadow of despair across the soul, thou shalt know why thou wast
afflicted, and bless God for the discipline that stored thy life with such a
fund of experience and helpfulness. – Selected.
God does not comfort us to make
us comfortable, but to make us comforters. – Dr. Jowett.
“They tell
me I must bruise
The rose's
leaf,
Ere I can
keep and use
It's
fragrance brief.
”They tell
me I must break
The
skylark's heart,
Ere her cage
song will make
The silence
start.
“They tell
me love must bleed,
And
friendship weep,
Ere in my
deepest need
I touch that
deep.
“Must it be
always so
With
precious things?
Must they be
bruised and go
With beaten
wings?
“Ah, yes! by
crushing days,
By caging nights,
by scar
Of thorn and
stony ways,
These
blessings are!”
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“你们的神说，你们要安慰，安慰我的百姓” （赛四十：1）
安慰，供给安慰，这是那位先知所负的使命。世上充满了需要安慰的人，可是如果你要作一个安慰使者，你自己必须受过训练，否则不足胜任。这种训练的代价极大；因为，你必须亲身尝过那种使人流泪流血的苦楚。这样，你自己的生活就会变成一间病房，在那里你可以学习安慰的艺术。你自己必须先受伤，当那位大医师替你洗涤，消毒，抹膏，包扎创伤的时侯，你就可学习初步的救护。你是不是正在希奇为甚么你目前会经过一阵特别的忧愁？等到十年以后，你纔会明白。那时候你会遇见许多人受你从前所尝过的痛苦。你可以见证怎样你从前和他们同病，怎样得着医治；把病情说明了，照着神从前包扎你的方法敷上一点止痛油。那时侯，你会明白为甚么你从前受这许多的苦楚，你也会感谢神所给你的训练和替你预先储蓄在你生命中的经历。━选
神安慰我们，不是要我们享受安慰，乃是要我们作安慰的使者。━乔怀德
据说捣烂了玫瑰花瓣，
才能提取它的芳馨。
据说云雀在伤心的时候，
歌声更加婉转动听。
据说在流血和洒涕之时，
显出友谊与爱情的贞坚。
难道一切珍爱的事物，
都要受此残酷苦刑？
一如受伤的小鸟，
可怜地垂下翅翎。
是的！苦难，困辱和坎坷，
为福祉降临必有的过程。
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January 12
“Reckon it nothing but joy...whenever you find yourself hedged
in by the various trials, be assured that the testing of your faith leads to
power of endurance.”
(James 1:2, 3) (Weymouth)
God hedges in His own that He may
preserve them, but oftentimes they only see the wrong side of the hedge, and
so misunderstand His dealings. It was so with Job (Job 3:23). Ah, but Satan knew the value of that hedge! See his testimony
in chapter 1:10. Through the leaves of every trial there are chinks of light
to shine through. Thorns do not prick you unless you lean against them, and
not one touches without His knowledge. The words that hurt you, the letter
which gave you pain, the cruel wound of your dearest friend, shortness of
money ━ are all known to Him, who sympathizes as none else can and
watches to see, if, through all, you will dare to trust Him wholly.
“The hawthorn hedge that keeps
us from intruding,
Looks very fierce and bare
When stripped by winter, every
branch protruding
Its thorns that wound and
tear.
“But spring-time comes; and like
the rod that budded,
Each twig breaks out in green;
And cushions soft of tender
leaves are studded,
Where spines alone are seen.
“The sorrows, that to us seem
so perplexing,
Are mercies kindly sent,
To guard our wayward souls
from sadder vexing,
And greater ills prevent.
“To save us from the pit, no
screen of roses
Would serve for our defense,
The hindrance that completely
interposes
Stings back like thorny fence.
“At first, when smarting from
the shock, complaining
Of wounds that freely bleed,
God’s hedges of severity us
paining,
May seem severe indeed.
“But afterwards, Gods blessed
spring-time cometh,
And bitter murmurs cease;
The sharp severity that
pierced us bloometh,
And yields the fruits of
peace.
Then let us sing, our guarded way
thus wending
Life’s hidden snares among,
Of mercy and of judgment
sweetly blending;
Earths sad, but lovely song.”
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一月十二日
“无论何时你们看见自己被各样试炼围困了，都要以为大喜乐；因为知道你们的信心经过试验，就生忍耐” （雅一：2-3）
神常围困祂自己的儿女们，为着要训练他们；可是人总错看祂的围困，误会祂的作为。约伯就是这样，他说：“人的道路旣然遮隐，神又把他四面围困，为何有光赐给他呢？”（伯三：23）。啊，神的儿女们！试炼虽然围困我们，仍有许多隙缝可以透光进来的。荆棘不会来刺你，除非你靠着它。并且那些伤你的话语，使你痛心的信札，亲朋的弃绝，经济的压迫…神都知道。如果，你敢完全信靠祂，祂必与你表同情，并且负你一切的责任。
荆棘编成的藩篱，
被寒冬剥夺了青翠，
剩下光秃的树枝，
满眼针扎尖刺。
春来了，像花朵怒放，
抽出了绿色枝条，
嫩叶纷披，婆娑掩隐，
如何地青葱美娇。
别以为悲哀多么恼人，
却是天赐的宏恩，
免得任性的灵魂，
陷入更深的纠纷。
为了免去我们沉沦地狱，
不用玫瑰花作护佑的屏风，
我们的四周，祇有
触着生痛的荆篱重重。
荆棘刺得我们疼痛，
还要埋怨创口流血，
多么的严厉凛冽，
这是神的圭臬。
终于神赐的春天来了，
痛苦的呻吟停止，
艰难中开出花朵，
结成平安的果子。
让我们高歌前进，
穿过隐伏的人生陷阱，
走上恩威兼施神安排的道路，
高唱悲壮柔和的歌咏。
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January 13
“In all these things we
are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37)
This is more than victory. This
is a triumph so complete that we have not only escaped defeat and
destruction, but we have destroyed our enemies and won a spoil so rich and
valuable that we can thank God that the battle ever came. How can we be “more
than conquerors"? We can get out of the conflict a spiritual discipline
that will greatly strengthen our faith and establish our spiritual character.
Temptation is necessary to settle and confirm us in the spiritual life. It is
like the fire which burns in the colors of mineral painting, or like winds
that cause the mighty cedars of the mountain to strike more deeply into the
soil. Our spiritual conflicts are among our choicest blessings, and our great
adversary is used to train us for his ultimate defeat. The ancient Phrygians
had a legend that every time they conquered an enemy the victor absorbed the
physical strength of his victim and added so much more to his own strength
and valor. So temptation victoriously met doubles our spiritual strength and
equipment. It is possible thus not only to defeat our enemy, but to capture
him and make him fight in our ranks. The prophet Isaiah speaks of flying on
the shoulders of the Philistines (Isa. 11:14). These Philistines were their deadly foes, but the figure
suggested that they would be enabled not only to conquer the Philistines, but
to use them to carry the victors on their shoulders for further triumphs.
Just as the wise sailor can use a head wind to carry him forward by tacking
and taking advantage of its impelling force; so it is possible for us in our
spiritual life through the victorious grace of God to turn to account the
things that seem most unfriendly and unfavorable, and to be able to say
continually, "The things that were against me have happened to the
furtherance of the gospel." ━Life More Abundantly.
“Now thanks be unto God Who always leads us forth to triumph with the
Anointed One, and Who diffuses by us the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in
every place.”(2 Cor. 2:14, literal translation.)
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一月十三日
“靠着爱我们的主，在这一切的事上，已经得胜有余了” （罗八：37）
得胜有余！得胜有余并不是仅仅得胜，乃是得胜到一个地步非但不输，而且还攻陷敌阵，掳掠战利品。我们如何可以“得胜有余”呢？“得胜有余”必须在一个受试炼，逼迫的处境中，方能得到。所有的试炼都是绝对必需的，试炼可以使我们的灵命坚固。这好比瓷器上的画，必须经过火烧，纔能永久存留；也像山岭上的香柏木，必须经过疾风的摇动，纔会扎根更深。我们所遭遇的属灵战争，实在是一种变相的祝福；我们的大仇敌撒但，原是被利用来训练我们，为要我们得最后胜利的。相传古时弗利家民族，每次战胜仇敌后，总把敌人的血吸尽，他们以为这样可以把敌人的体力和胆量加进自己的身体中去。不错，胜一次试炼，就是倍一次我们属灵的力量。因此，以后我们不只能胜仇敌，而且还能掳掠他们，使他们站在我们的战线上替我们争战。以赛亚说：“他们要向西飞，扑在非利士人的肩头上；一同掳掠东方人，伸手按住以东和摩押；亚们人也必须顺服他们”（赛十一：14）。非利士人是他们的敌人，但是他们不只能战胜非利士人，而且还能骑在与他们不两立的敌人肩上一同掳掠别人。正好像聪明的水手能利用大风的推动来前进一样；所以在我们属灵的生命中许多不利的逆境，因着那加我们恩典和力量的，都是使我们进入更深，更完全的机会。我们巴不得能和保罗一样说，“我所遭遇的事，更是叫福音兴旺”（腓一：12）。 ━译自《更丰盛的生命》
“感谢神，常帅领我们在基督里夸胜，并藉着我们在各处显扬那因认识基督而有的香气”（林后二：14）
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January
14
“He putteth forth his own sheep.” (John 10:4)
"Oh, this is bitter work for
Him and us ━ bitter for us to go, but equally bitter for Him to cause us
pain; yet it must be done. It would not be conducive to our true welfare to
stay always in one happy and comfortable lot. He therefore puts us forth. The
fold is deserted, that the sheep may wander over the bracing mountain slope.
The laborers must be thrust out into the harvest,
else the golden grain would spoil.
Take Heart! It could not be better to stay when He determines
otherwise; and if the loving hand of our Lord puts us forth, it must be well.
On, in His name, to green pastures and still waters and mountain heights! He goeth before thee. Whatever awaits us is encountered
first by Him. Faith’s eye can always discern. His majestic presence in front;
and when that cannot be seen, it is dangerous to move forward. Bind this
comfort to your heart, that the Savior has tried for Himself all the
experiences through which He asks you to pass; and He would not ask you to
pass through them unless He was sure that they were not too difficult for
your feet, or too trying for your strength.
This is the Blessed life ━ not anxious to see far in front,
nor careful about the next step, not eager to choose the path, nor weighted
with the heavy responsibilities of the future, but quietly following behind
the Shepherd, one step at a time.
Dark is the sky! and veiled the
unknown morrow !
Dark is life's way, for night is not yet o'er;
The longed-for glimpse I may not meanwhile borrow;
But, this I know, HE GOETH ON BEFORE.
Dangers are nigh! and fears my mind are shaking;
Heart seems to dread what life may hold in store;
But I am His ━ He knows the way I'm taking,
More blessed still ━ HE GOETH ON BEFORE.
Doubts cast their weird, unwelcome shadows o'er me,
Doubts that life's best ━ life's choicest things are
o'er;
What but His Word can strengthen, can restore me,
And this blest fact; that still HE GOES BEFORE.
HE GOES BEFORE! Be this my consolation!
He goes before! On this my heart would dwell!
He goes before! This guarantees salvation!
HE GOES BEFORE! And therefore all is well.
━ Danson
Smith
The Oriental shepherd was always ahead of his sheep. He was down
in front. Any attack upon them had to take him into account. Now God is down
in front. He is in the tomorrows. It is tomorrow that fills men with dread.
God is there already. All the tomorrows of our life have to pass Him before
they can get to us. ━ F. B. M.
“God is in every tomorrow,
Therefore I live for today,
Certain of finding at sunrise,
Guidance and strength for the way;
Power for each moment of weakness,
Hope for each moment of pain,
Comfort for every sorrow,
Sunshine and joy after rain."
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一月十四日
“他放出自己的羊” （约十：4）
主把自己的羊放出来。虽然羊走路很辛苦，然而必须如此。一直懒在一个又暖又舒适的羊圈中并不是真幸福。所以祂必须放羊出来，使牠们吃草喝水，呼吸新鲜的空气，欣赏美丽的风景。
觉悟罢，让我们不再留恋原有的地罢！如果祂指挥我们出来，如果是我们的主亲手放我们出来的，一切决不会错误的。起来罢，奉祂的名，向着青草地和可安歇的水边开步罢！放胆罢，因为祂“在前头走”。无论甚么危险必须先经过祂。信心的眼睛能看见前面领路的好牧人；如果看不见了，自己再向前走去就危险了。安心罢，主叫我们走的路，祂自己都有过经历的；祂不会叫我们走一步我们不能走的路。
这纔是一个有福的生命━不远看将来不罣虑前面一步，不自己选择路程，不把理想的重担压在背上，只是静静地一步一步紧跟着牧人。
漫天漆黑，遮掩了未知的明天，
祇能暗中摸索，因為夜幕未收，
此刻或許得不到久盼的曙光，
但我知道，神走在我的前頭
危險卽在身旁，恐懼搖撼我的心，
生命前途，在在使我憂愁，
但我是屬主的，祂知道我應走的路，
更幸運的是，祂走在我的前頭。
疑竇投下了不詳的陰影，
擔心人生佳境，已不復可求，
唯有祂的諾言使我堅強振奮，
最幸運的是，祂走在我的前頭。
祂走在前頭，這是我的安慰，
祂走在前頭，我心有了寄托，
祂走在前頭，保證我的得救，
祂走在前頭，一切必然順利。
━史密斯
在东方的旷野中，牧童总是走在羊群前头的。有甚么危险的事情发生，必定先临到他，因为他在羊群前头。现在，神也在我们前头。祂在明天。明天顶会使我们挂虑，可是神已经在那边了。我们一生的明天，都必须先经过祂，然后纔临到我们。━梅尔
每一个明天，都有神的领导，
因此今天尽可欢笑，
行路所需的指示与力量，
明天未爽，我就能找到；
祂给了我疲惫时的鼓励，
悲哀时所需的慰劳，
苦痛时所需的希望，
以及雨后开朗，阳光普照。
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January
15
“And the Lord appeared unto Isaac the same
night.”
(Gen. 26:24)
"Appeared the same
night," the night on which he went to Beer-sheba.
Do you think this revelation was an accident? Do you think the time of it was
an accident? Do you think it could have happened on any other night as well
as this? If so, you are grievously mistaken. Why did it come to Isaac in the
night on which he reached Beer-sheba? Because that
was the night on which he reached rest. In his old locality, he had been
tormented. There had been a whole series of petty quarrels about the
possession of paltry wells. There are no worries like little worries,
particularly if there is an accumulation of them. Isaac felt this. Even after
the strife was past, the place retained a disagreeable association. He
determined to leave. He sought change of scene. He pitched his tent away from
the place of former strife. That very night the revelation came. God spoke
when there was no inward storm. He could not speak when the mind was fretted;
His voice demands the silence of the soul. Only in the hush of the spirit
could Isaac hear the garments of his God sweep by. His still night was his
starry night.
My soul, hast thou pondered these
words, "Be still, and know"? In the hour of perturbation, thou
canst not hear the answer to thy prayers. How often has the answer seemed to
come long after ! The heart got no response in the
moment of its crying ━ in its thunder, its earthquake, and its fire. But when the
crying ceased, when the stillness fell, when thy hand desisted from knocking
on the iron gate, when the interest of other lives broke the tragedy of thine own, then appeared the long-delayed reply. Thou
must rest, O soul, if thou wouldst have thy heart's desire. Still the beating
of thy pulse of personal care. Hide thy tempest of individual trouble behind
the altar of a common tribulation and, that same night, the Lord shall appear
to thee. The rainbow shall span the place of the subsiding flood, and in thy
stillness thou shalt hear the everlasting music. ━George Matheson
Tread in solitude thy pathway,
Quiet heart and undismayed.
Thou shalt know things strange,
mysterious,
Which to thee no voice has said.
While the crowd of petty hustlers
Grasps at vain and paltry things,
Thou wilt see a great world rising
Where soft mystic music rings.
Leave the dusty road to others,
Spotless keep thy soul and bright,
As the radiant ocean's surface
When the sun is taking flight.
━(From the German of V. Schoffel) H. F.
“But may the God
of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you
have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”
(1 Pet.5:10)
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一月十五日
“当夜耶和华向他显现”
（创二十六：24）
以撒上别示巴去，当夜耶和华向他显现。你想这个显现是偶然的么？你想“当夜”也是碰巧的么？你想神尽可以在别一夜显现么？如果你这样想，你是绝对错误了。为甚么神在以撒到别示巴的那一夜向他显现呢？因为那一夜以撒进入了安息。在原有之地，他为了几口井起了几次的争闹，他的心顶纷乱，顶痛苦。虽然争闹过去了，可是难保那地的居民以后无事。他觉悟了，决意离开那争闹之地，上别示巴去，另换一个环境。那里他把所有的争闹抛卸了，他得了安息。当夜耶和华向他显现。神的启示只临到灵里没有风波的人。以撒在灵的安息里听见神的话语。那安静的夜也就是多星的夜。
我的心哪，你可记得“你们要镇静，并要知道…”（诗四六：10）。你心里纷乱的时候，你不能听见神给你的祷告的答应。多少时候，我们祷告了许久，可是还没有得到神的答应，都因为内心有雷轰，地震，风波，炸裂。可是当你的心静下来，进入了安息，神的答应就来了。哦，我的心哪，你必须安息，不要为了争闹，纷乱，罣虑…而跳得紧张了。那么，当夜耶和华会向你显现。洪水退落的时候，发见了虹霓；照样，当你镇静的时候，也会听见神的声音。━马得胜
在孤寂中走你的路，
心平气和，无惧无虑，
你会领略神的奇迹，
决非语言所能倾诉。
那群市井小人，
锱铢计较，而结果一切流于空妄，
你眼前却浮现出天国的美景，
玄妙的音乐，正在那里回荡。
让别人去走污浊的道路，
保持你灵魂的纯洁光明，
正当海面太阳的飞升，
反射出天水一色，辉耀晶莹。
“那赐诸般恩典的神，曾在基督里召你们，得享他永远的荣耀，等你们暂受苦难之后，必要亲自成全你们，坚固你们，赐力量给你们。”（彼前五：10）
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January
16
“And there arose a great storm. ” (Mark 4:37)
Some of the storms of life come
suddenly: a great sorrow, a bitter disappointment, a crushing defeat. Some
come slowly. They appear upon the ragged edges of the horizon no larger than
a man's hand, but, trouble that seems so insignificant spreads until it
covers the sky and overwhelms us.
Yet it is in the storm that God equips us for service. When God
wants an oak He plants it on the moor where the storms will shake it and the
rains will beat down upon it, and it is in the midnight battle with elements that the oak wins its rugged fiber and
becomes the king of the forest.
When God wants to make a man He puts him into some storm. The
history of mankind is always rough and rugged. No man is made until he has
been out into the surge of the storm and found the sublime fulfillment of the
prayer: "O God, take me, break me, make
me."
The beauties of nature come after the storm. The rugged beauty of
the mountain is born in a storm, and the heroes of life are the storm-swept
and battle-scarred.
You have been in the storms and swept by the blasts. Have they
left you broken, weary, beaten in the valley, or have they lifted you to the
sunlit summits of a richer, deeper, more abiding manhood and womanhood? Have
they left you with more sympathy with the storm-swept and the battle-scarred?
━Selected.
The wind that blows can never kill
The tree that God plants;
It bloweth east, it bloweth west,
The tender leaves have little rest.
But any wind that blows is best.
The tree that God plants
Strikes deeper root, grows higher still,
Spreads greater boughs, for God's good will
Meets all its wants.
There is no storm hath power to blast
The tree God knows;
No thunderbolt, nor beating rain,
Nor lightning flash, nor hurricane;
When they are spent, it doth remain,
The tree God knows,
Through every tempest standeth fast,
And from its first day to its last
Still fairer grows.
━Selected.
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一月十六日
“忽然起了暴风雨” （可四：37直译）
在信徒的生活中，有许多风雨都是突然之间起的：忧患，失望，失败，病痛等等。也有许多风雨是渐渐而来的。起初只有手掌那么大的一点，后来渐渐给我们威胁。
虽然如此，这些暴风雨都是神所许可的，为要我们得益处。神愿意有橡树，祂就栽了一棵，祂让它在风雨中飘摇…纔能使它根深，干高，成为林中之王。
照样，神愿意造就一个可用之材，神就把他放在风雨之中，让他经过风雨的生活。世上许多作大事业的伟人，都是经历过艰难和痛苦的，神国中的伟人，也是如此。如果神要用一个人，祂必定会先答应了这人奉献的祷告：“主啊，拿我，劈我，用我。”
然而风雨一过，自然的美显得更完全了。天空中饰着彩色的虹，草木的叶上镶着闪光的珠子。照样，风雨之后，信徒穿上圣洁的生活，脸上带着属天的光彩。亲爱的，你经历过神所预备的风雨么？你愿意免去一时的痛苦，从风雨中逃出来呢？还是让风雨抬你到更高，更丰的生命中去？
吹来吹去的风，
不能吹倒神所栽的树木。
它吹向西，吹向东，
柔软的树叶不断战抖觳觫，
但决不会使树木连根倾覆，
神所种的树木，
根植得更深，枝干更壮硕可靠，
长得更大更高，
神的美意无一不顾到。
凡是神所属意的树，
任何狂风都摧毁不了；
无论是疾雷急雨，
无论是霹雳狂飙，
当暴风雨过后，
神的树依然屹立，
在磨难中矫健美好，
它的一生，始终欣欣向荣。
━选
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January
17
“O Daniel, servant of the
living God, is thy God whom thou servest
continually, able to deliver thee. ”
(Dan. 6:20)
How many times we find this
expression in the Scriptures, and yet it is just this very thing that we are
so prone to lose sight of. We know it is written "the living God";
but in our daily life there is scarcely anything we practically so much lose
sight of as the fact that God is the living God; that He is now whatever He
was three or four thousand years since; that He has the same sovereign power,
the same saving love towards those who love and serve Him as ever He had and
that He will do for them now what He did for others two, three, four thousand
years ago, simply because He is the living God, the unchanging One. Oh, how
therefore we should confide in Him, and in our darkest moments never lose
sight of the fact that He is still and ever will be the living God!
Be assured, if you walk with Him and look to Him and expect help
from Him, He will never fail you. An older brother who has known the Lord for
forty-four years, who writes this, says to you for your encouragement that He
has never failed him. In the greatest difficulties, in the heaviest trials,
in the deepest poverty and necessities, He has never failed me; but because I
was enabled by His grace to trust Him He has always appeared for my help. I
delight in speaking well of His name. ━George Mueller
Luther was once found at a moment of peril and fear, when he had
need to grasp unseen strength, sitting in an abstracted mood tracing on the
table with his finger the words, "Vivit! vivit!" ("He lives! He
lives!"). It is our hope for ourselves, and for
His truth, and for mankind. Men come and go; leaders, teachers, thinkers
speak and work for a season, and then fall silent and impotent. He abides.
They die, but He lives. They are lights kindled, and, therefore, sooner or
later quenched; but He is the true light from which they draw all their
brightness, and He shines for evermore. ━Alexander Maclaren
"One day I came to know Dr. John Douglas Adam," writes
C. G. Trumbull. "I learned from him that what he counted his greatest
spiritual asset was his unvarying consciousness of the actual presence of
Jesus. Nothing bore him up so, he said, as the realization that Jesus was
always with him in actual presence; and that this was so independent of his
own feelings, independent of his deserts, and independent of his own notions
as to how Jesus would manifest His presence.
"Moreover, he said that Christ was the home of his thoughts.
Whenever his mind was free from other matters it would turn to Christ; and he
would talk aloud to Christ when he was alone ━ on the street, anywhere ━ as easily and
naturally as to a human friend. So real to him was Jesus' actual presence.
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一月十七日
“永活神的仆人但以理阿，你所常事奉的神，能救你……” （但六：20直译）
虽然这节圣经我们曾读了多次，可是我们常把它忽略过去。我们知道经上记着神是活的真神；然而在我们日常的生活中，我们最会忘记的，乃是神是活的神；因为祂是活的神祂在三四千年以前怎样，现在还是怎样；祂以前是全能的，现在还是；以前有慈爱怜悯，如今对于那些爱祂，事奉祂的人仍有；祂是不改变的。所以我们该完全信靠祂，在我们最黑暗的时侯，仍不失去这个事实━祂仍是，永是活的神！
如果你与神同行，仰望祂给你随时的帮助，永活的神保险不会误你的事。一个主内年长的弟兄，认识活的神已经四十四年了，他作见证告诉说：神从来没有耽误过我。在极大的艰难极重的试炼，极深的穷困和需要中，神从来没有误过我的事；因为我靠着祂的恩典能信祂，祂总随时给我帮助。我乐意述说祂的名。━莫勒
马丁路得有一次觉得他前途中危机四伏，因此他心中充满了忧愁和恐惧；这时他自己知道必须抓住上面来的力量，纔能过去；他独自枯坐着，用他的手指在棹面上画这几个字：“祂是永活的！”祂是永活的！他喜乐了，他恢复了。“祂是永活的，”也是我们的力量和盼望。今天世上的伟人，领袖，科学家，哲学家等等，只能发光一时，不久完了。人都会过去；祂是永存的。人是点着的灯，所以迟早会熄的；惟有祂是真光，众光之源，永远常存的。━马克拉伦
崔伦保说，“有一天，我去见灵命顶深的亚当博士他告述我他以为灵命中最宝贵的一份，就是灵中不断的感觉主的确实同在。没有一样东西比感觉主的确实同在更能坚固他；这是实在的，并不是一种情感，幻想，或者心理作用。
“而且基督是他思想的家。无论什么时侯他的思想在别的事情上释放了，就回到基督那里去；他在一个人的时侯，会出声与基督谈话━不管在街上，或在别处━顶自然地如同和一个朋友谈话一般。主的同在对于他是顶实在的”。
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January
18
“Now thanks be unto God,
which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. ” (2 Cor. 2:14)
God gets His greatest victories
out of apparent defeats. Very often the enemy seems to triumph for a little,
and God lets it be so; but then He comes in and upsets all the work of the
enemy, overthrows the apparent victory, and as the Bible says, "turns
the way of the wicked upside down." (Ps.146:9) Thus He gives a great
deal larger victory than we would have known if He had not allowed the enemy,
seemingly, to triumph in the first place.
The story of the three Hebrew children being cast into the fiery
furnace is a familiar one. Here was an apparent victory for the enemy. It
looked as if the servants of the living God were going to have a terrible
defeat. We have all been in places where it seemed as though we were
defeated, and the enemy rejoiced. We can imagine what a complete defeat this
looked to be. They fell down into the flames, and their enemies watched them
to see them burn up in that awful fire, but were greatly astonished to see
them walking around in the fire enjoying themselves. Nebuchadnezzar told them
to "come forth out of the midst of the fire." Not even a hair was
singed, nor was the smell of fire on their garments, "because there is
no other god that can deliver after this sort."(Dan.3:29)
This apparent defeat resulted in a marvelous victory.
Suppose that these three men had lost their faith and courage,
and had complained, saying, "Why did not God keep us out of the
furnace!" They would have been burned, and God would not have been
glorified. If there is a great trial in your life today, do not own it as a
defeat, but continue, by faith, to claim the victory through Him who is able
to make you more than conqueror, and a glorious victory will soon be
apparent. Let us learn that in all the hard places God brings us into, He is
making opportunities for us to exercise such faith in Him as will bring about
blessed results and greatly glorify His name. ━Life of Praise
"Defeat may serve as well as victory
To shake the soul and let the glory out.
When the great oak is straining in the wind,
The boughs drink in new beauty, and the trunk
Sends down a deeper root on the windward side.
Only the soul that knows the mighty grief
Can know the mighty rapture. Sorrows come
To stretch out spaces in the heart for joy."
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一月十八日
“感謝神，常帥領我們在基督裏誇勝”
（林後二：14）
在人顯著的失敗中，神得着最完全的勝利。許多時侯，仇敵似乎得勝了，神也容讓牠得勝；可是後來神終究剷除牠所有的作為，推翻牠顯著的勝利，一如經上所說，“使惡人的道路顛倒”（詩篇一四六：9）。如果神不讓仇敵先得勢，神就不能給我們一個更大更可誇的得勝。
三個希伯來人被擲入火窯的故事，是一個很好的例子。這裏，仇敵顯然勝利了。按事情看來，永活神的僕人將陷於一敗塗地的光景中了。（許多時侯，我們也有這樣失敗的光景，同時仇敵真是歡喜。）他們跌在火焰中，他們的仇敵盼望看他們在可怕的火焰中頃刻之間化成飛灰，萬想不到這三個希伯來人竟在火窯中遊行自娛。這真使仇敵喫驚不小。尼布甲尼撒王叫他們從火中出來，甚至一根頭髮也沒有燒焦，一塊布也沒有變色，也沒有一些火燎的氣味，“因為沒有別神能這樣施行拯救”（但三：29）
顯著的失敗的結果，反是希奇的勝利。
假定這三個希伯來人失去了信心和勇氣，在受困之時怨神說：“為什麼神不救我們脫離火窯呢？”他們定規會被火燒死，神也得不着榮耀了。親愛的，今天在你的生活中若是正有一個極大的試煉，不要氣餒，自認失敗，仍要繼續用信心藉着那能使你得勝有餘的主宣告勝利，榮耀的勝利立刻就要來了。我們應當知道：在一切神應許我們進入的艱難中，神在替我們造成機會，使我們在祂裏面學習信心的功課，藉着主基督誇勝，大大榮耀祂自己的名。 ━譯自讚美的生命
失敗可能與勝利同樣微妙，
受憾的靈魂成就了榮耀，
你看狂風中掙扎的橡樹，
在那擋風的一面，受壓的樹身，
它的根卻向地下長得更深更穩。
唯有經歷過極大的悲痛，
纔能領會極大的歡欣，
憂患給心靈打開喜悅之門。
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January
19
“Men ought always to pray and not to faint. ”
(Luke18:1)
"Go to the ant." Tammerlane used to relate to his friends an anecdote of
his early life. "I once,” he said, "was forced to take shelter from
my enemies in a ruined building, where I sat alone many hours. Desiring to
divert my mind from my hopeless condition, I fixed my eyes on an ant that was
carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall. I numbered the efforts
it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell
sixty-nine times to the ground; but the insect persevered, and the seventieth
time it reached the top. This sight gave me courage at the moment, and I
never forgot the lesson. ━The King's Business.
Prayer which takes the fact that past prayers have not been
answered as a reason for languor, has already ceased to be the prayer of
faith. To the prayer of faith the fact that prayers remain unanswered is only
evidence that the moment of the answer is so much nearer. From first to last,
the lessons and examples of our Lord all tell us that prayer which cannot
persevere and urge its plea importunately, and renew, and renew itself again,
and gather strength from every past petition, is not the prayer that will
prevail. ━William Arthur.
Rubenstein, the great musician, once said, "If I omit
practice one day, I notice it; if two days, my friends notice it; if three
days, the public notice it." It is the old doctrine, "Practice
makes perfect." We must continue believing, continue praying, continue doing His will. Suppose along any line of art,
one should cease practicing, we know what the result would be. If we would
only use the same quality of common sense in our religion that we use in our
everyday life, we should go on to perfection.
The motto of David Livingstone was in these words, "I
determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my
purpose." By unfaltering persistence and faith in God he conquered.
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一月十九日
“常常祷告，不可灰心”
（路十八：1）
泰墨兰常喜欢向他的朋友述说他早年的轶事。他说：“我有一次被仇敌追逼，不得已藏匿在一所破屋中，我在那里独自枯坐了几个钟头。那时万念俱灰，再也没有志气和勇敢去干前面的事业了。在绝望中我看见一只小小的蚂蚁，背着一粒比牠大数倍的谷，尽力向墙上拖走。牠跌下来多次，但是每一次牠仍旧努力向上。我曾数过牠跌下来了六十九次，可是牠并不灰心气馁，第七十次牠到达了高墙的顶上。那时我得了兴奋，我终身不能遗忘这个教训。━译自《君王的轶事》
我们如果看以前许多祷告都得不着答应，因此就有点灰心，我告述你那就不是信心的祷告了。信心的祷告看以前没有得到答应的祷告是一种鼓励，一种证据，暗示我们神的答应的来到是更近了，就在前面了。从起初到末了，主的教训和榜样都告诉我们：应当常常祷告，不可灰心；恳求的祷告若是没有得到答应，就该集中以前所有的力量，继续求神，直等到神给你应许，或是成就。如果神已经听了你的祷告，这并不是说，祷告可以中止了，仍该继续，只是恳求的祷告应当改为赞美和感谢的祷告。━亚塞
大音乐家鲁班斯坦有一次说：“如果我一天不练习音乐，我自己会觉得；如果两天不练习，我的朋友会觉得；如果三天不练习，人人都会觉得。”我们的祷告也是如此，若不常常祷告，你和别人都会发觉：你的祷告是走了样的。
莫勒先生曾为他五个不信的朋友祷告。他天天求神不肯放松，虽然一时看不见甚么效果，可是他绝不灰心，一直继续求神。结果：五年之后，第一个朋友得救了；十年之后，第二得救了。他在祷告上所花的工夫，并不是徒然的。
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January 20
“Sorrow is better than
laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. ”
(Eccles. 7:3)
When sorrow comes under the power
of Divine grace, it works out a manifold ministry in our lives. Sorrow
reveals unknown depths in the soul, and unknown capabilities of experience
and service. Gay, trifling people are always shallow, and never suspect the
little meannesses in their nature. Sorrow is God's
plowshare that turns up and subsoils the depths of
the soul, that it may yield richer harvests. If we had never fallen, or were
in a glorified state, then the strong torrents of Divine joy would be the
normal force to open up all our souls' capacities; but in a fallen world,
sorrow, with despair taken out of it, is the chosen power to reveal ourselves
to ourselves. Hence it is sorrow that makes us think deeply, long, and
soberly.
Sorrow makes us go slower and more considerately, and introspect
our motives and dispositions. It is sorrow that opens up within us the
capacities of the heavenly life, and it is sorrow that makes us willing to
launch our capacities on a boundless sea of service for God and our fellows.
We may suppose a class of indolent people living at the base of a
great mountain range, who had never ventured to explore the valleys and
canyons back in the mountains; and some day, when a great thunderstorm goes
careening through the mountains, it turns the hidden glens into echoing
trumpets, and reveals the inner recesses of the valley, like the convolutions
of a monster shell, and then the dwellers at the foot of the hills are
astonished at the labyrinths and unexplored recesses of a region so near by,
and yet so little known. So it is with many souls who indolently live on the
outer edge of their own natures until great thunderstorms of sorrow reveal hidden
depths within that were never hitherto suspected.
God never uses anybody to a large degree, until after He breaks
that one all to pieces. Joseph had more sorrow than all the other sons of Jacob, and it led him out into a ministry of bread for all
nations. For this reason, the Holy Spirit said of him, "Joseph is a
fruitful bough … by a well, whose branches run over the wall" (Gen. 49:22). It
takes sorrow to widen the soul. ━The Heavenly Life.
The dark brown mould's upturned
By the sharp-pointed plow;
And I've a lesson learned.
My life is but a field,
Stretched out beneath God's sky,
Some harvest rich to yield.
Where grows the golden grain?
Where faith? Where sympathy?
In a furrow cut by pain.
━Maltbie D. Babcock.
Every person and every nation
must take lessons in God's school of adversity. "We can say, 'Blessed is
night, for it reveals to us the stars.' In the same way we can say, 'Blessed
is sorrow, for it reveals God's comfort.' The floods washed away home and
mill, all the poor man had in the world. But as he stood on the scene of his
loss, after the water had subsided, broken-hearted and discouraged, he saw
something shining in the bank which the waters had washed bare. 'It looks
like gold,' he said. It was gold. The flood which had beggared him made him
rich. So it is ofttimes in life." ━H. C. Trumbull.
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一月二十日
“忧愁强如喜笑，因为面带愁容，终必使心喜乐” （传七：3）
在神的恩典下，有时也有忧愁临到，作我们生命上的益处。忧愁不是罣虑，忧愁常会带领我们进入更深。终日嘻嘻哈哈的人，常是浅薄的人。忧愁是神的犁头，掘到土的深处，地就能多结果子。如果我们从来没有堕落过，我们就不需要忧愁；我们只需要属天的喜乐鼓励我们进入更深；可是我们曾堕落过，我们就需要忧愁带领我们省察，痛悔，认识自己。所以忧愁常使我们多思想多考虑。
忧愁使我们想得更周到，不致操之过急，以及深深体察我们的动机和目标。忧愁可以从我们的内心启发天堂生活，使我们愿意施展我们的力量，对神和人类作无穷的服务。
我们不妨设想一群懒惰的人，住在山岭之下，他们从未一探山中的峡谷与岩穴；有一天，大雷雨扫荡这山岭，在那些峡谷岩穴之间呼啸回荡，声若擂鼓，揭露了山谷内部的深奥幽秘，象个盘旋曲折的大螺壳。然后，住在山麓的居民，对于这近在咫尺而从未接触过并且素不熟悉的迷津，大感惊异。许多得过且过祇在人性浮面生活的人，也是如此，直到要受到了大雷雨似的打击，他们纔窥见灵魂的深奥。
凡被神大用的人，神先要使他的心片片破碎。约瑟比雅各布其余的儿子所遭遇的愁烦更多，神却使他负起了拯救一切民族的使命，因此圣灵说：“约瑟是多结果子的树枝，是泉旁多结果的枝子，他的枝条探出墙外。”（创四九：22）。这是需要忧愁来开拓灵魂。━属天的生命
尖锐的犂耙，
翻开了棕褐色的泥土；
使我得到了启示。
我的生命就像一块田地，
伸展在天空之下，
等待未来的丰年。
何来金黄的谷穗？
何来信心？何来同情？
乃是被犂耙耕得粉碎的泥土。
━巴伯哥格
每一个人和每一个国家，都必须在神所赐的逆境中接受教训。我们能够说：“夜是有福的，因为夜显示了星星”。我们同样可以说：“忧愁是有福的，因为忧愁显示了神的安慰”。洪水冲走了穷人的家和磨坊，这是他仅有的财产，当洪水退去之后，而他心碎地站在那遭劫的地点，却看到被洪水冲刷过的竿上有些亮晶晶的东西。“好像金子“，他说。真是金子，曾使他的财产一扫而光的洪水，却亦能使他成了富翁，人生亦常如此。━崔伦保
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