January 2

“And there was an enlarging, and a winding¹ about still upward to the side chambers³: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward and so increased from the lowest chamber² to the highest by the midst.“ (Ezek. 41:7)

“Still upward be thine onward⁴ course:

For this I pray today;

Still upward as the years go by,

And seasons pass away.

“Still upward in this coming year,

Thy path is all untried;

Still upward may’st thou journey on,

Close by thy Savior’s side.

“Still upward e’en though sorrow come,

And trials crush thine heart;

Still upward may they draw thy soul,

With Christ to walk apart.

We ought not to rest content in the mists of the valley when the summit of Tabor awaits us. How pure are the dews of the hills, how fresh is the mountain air, how rich the fare of the dwellers⁵ aloft, whose windows look into the New Jerusalem! Many saints are content to live like men in coal mines, who see not the sun. Tears mar⁶ their faces when they might anoint them with celestial⁷ oil. Satisfied I am that many a believer pines in a dungeon⁸ when he might walk on the palace roof, and view the goodly land and Lebanon. Rouse thee, O believer, from thy low condition! Cast away thy sloth⁹, thy lethargy, thy coldness, or whatever interferes¹⁰ with thy chaste¹¹ and pure love to Christ. Make Him the source, the center, and the circumference¹² of all thy soul’s range of delight. Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish¹³ attainments¹⁴. Aspire¹⁵ to a higher, a nobler, a fuller life. Upward to heaven! Nearer to God! – Spurgeon.

“I want to scale the utmost height,

And catch a gleam of glory bright;

But still I’ll pray, till heaven I’ve found,

Lord, lead me on to higher ground!”

Not many of us are living at our best. We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains. The steepness and ruggedness¹⁶ dismay us, and so we stay in the misty¹⁷ valleys and do not learn the mystery of the hills. We do not know what we lose in our self-indulgence, what glory awaits us if only we had courage for the mountain climb, what blessing¹⁸ we should find if only we would move to the uplands of God. ━ J. R. M.

“Too low they build who build beneath the stars.”

一月二日

　 “这围殿的旁屋，越高越宽。因旁屋围殿悬迭而上；所以越上越宽，从下一层，由中一层，到上一层。” （结四十一：7）

愿你的前程永远向高向上,

今天我就为此祷告而瞻望；

随着岁月推移,季节更新，

愿你的前程永远向高向上。

愿你天天继续向高向上,

你的前途等你去开创，

愿你继续向高向上,

一直到救主的身旁。

虽然苦难磨折你,悲怆临到你；

你仍要向高向上,

魔鬼设计引诱你离开基督，

但你仍要向高向上。

　　能在平地上驰驱，不该就算知足，我们还该力求登峰造极。在山顶上，露珠何等光明、美丽，空气多么清洁、新鲜，居民何其幽逸、清高，他们一推窗就可望见新耶路撒冷！

　　多少信徒甘心乐意地过着矿工一般的生活，终日不见天日。他们的脸上原该膏着天上的喜乐油，可是却抹着泪珠。他们原该在宫殿顶上散步，欣赏利巴嫩的美景，可是却满足于牢狱中的枯萎。醒来罢，信徒们，离开你的平地，努力向上罢！丢去你的倦、懒、冷，以及一切拦阻你向上追求基督的。让基督作你的源头、你的中心，要让祂在万有上居首位。不要满意你目前所有的。渴望一个更高、更贵、更丰更富的生命。向着天！追求更近神！━司布真

我愿攀登绝顶，

沾得一缕神的容光；

到达之前，我仍要不断祈求，

主啊：引我升向更上方。

　　我们中间没有多少人真是尽我们所能的活着。我们留恋在地上，因为我们怕攀山越岭。山程的崎岖、峻峭，寒了我们的心，因此我们终生耽搁在雾谷中，从不会了解山顶上的佳境。啊！宽容自己的损失何其大啊！只要我们肯决心登高寻求神，前面有极大的荣耀和祝福等着我们。━密勒

繁星之下的建造者,他们所建造太渺少。

1 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

2 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

3 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

4 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

5 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

7 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

8 dungeon   

n.地牢，土牢

参考例句：

• They were driven into a dark dungeon.他们被人驱赶进入一个黑暗的地牢。
• He was just set free from a dungeon a few days ago.几天前，他刚从土牢里被放出来。

9 sloth   

n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散

参考例句：

• Absence of competition makes for sloth.没有竞争会导致懒惰。
• The sloth spends most of its time hanging upside down from the branches.大部分时间里树懒都是倒挂在树枝上。

10 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

11 chaste   

adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的

参考例句：

• Comparatively speaking,I like chaste poetry better.相比较而言，我更喜欢朴实无华的诗。
• Tess was a chaste young girl.苔丝是一个善良的少女。

12 circumference   

n.圆周，周长，圆周线

参考例句：

• It's a mile round the circumference of the field.运动场周长一英里。
• The diameter and the circumference of a circle correlate.圆的直径与圆周有相互关系。

13 dwarfish   

a.像侏儒的，矮小的

参考例句：

• Her dwarfish spouse still smoked his cigar and drank his rum without heeding her. 她那矮老公还在吸他的雪茄，喝他的蔗酒，睬也不睬她。
• Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments, but press forward to things and heavenly. 不要再满足于属世的成就，要努力奔向属天的事物。

14 attainments   

成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就

参考例句：

• a young woman of impressive educational attainments 一位学业成就斐然的年轻女子
• He is a scholar of the highest attainments in this field. 他在这一领域是一位颇有造就的学者。

15 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。

16 ruggedness   

险峻，粗野； 耐久性； 坚固性

参考例句：

• RUGGEDNESS. Automotive ring gear differential. Axle shafts on roller bearings. 强度：自动差速齿轮，滚子轴承上的刚性车轴。
• The ruggedness of his exams caused half the class to fail. 他的测验的难度使班上半数学生都没有通过。

17 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

18 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。