January 5

“Lord, there is none beside thee to help.”

(2 Chron. 14:11 R. V.)

Remind God of His entire responsibility. "There is none beside thee to help." The odds¹ against Asa were enormous. There was a million of men in arms against him, besides three hundred chariots. It seemed impossible to hold his own against that vast multitude. There were no allies who would come to his help; his only hope, therefore, was in God. It may be that your difficulties have been allowed to come to so alarming a pitch that you may be compelled to renounce² all creature aid, to which in lesser³ trials you have had recourse, and cast yourself back on your Almighty⁴ Friend.

Put God between yourself and the foe⁵. To Asa's faith, Jehovah seemed to stand between the might of Zerah and himself, as one who had no strength. Nor was he mistaken. We are told that the Ethiopians were destroyed before the Lord and before His host, as though celestial⁶ combatants flung themselves against the foe in Israel's behalf, and put the large host to rout⁷, so that Israel had only to follow up and gather the spoil. Our God is Jehovah of hosts, who can summon unexpected reinforcements at any moment to aid His people. Believe that He is there between you and your difficulty, and what baffles you will flee before Him, as clouds before the gale⁸. – F. B. Meyer.

“When nothing whereon to lean remains,

When strongholds crumble⁹ to dust;

When nothing is sure but that God still reigns,

That is just the time to trust.

“’Tis better to walk by faith than sight.

In this path of yours and mine;

And the pitch-black night, when there’s no outer light

Is the time for faith to shine.”

Abraham believed God, and said to sight, “Stand back!” and to the laws of nature, “Hold your peace!” and to a misgiving¹⁰ heart, “Silence, thou lying temper!” He believed God. – Joseph Parker

一月五日

“耶和华啊，惟有你能帮助…” （代下十四：11）

　　让我们提醒神，叫祂负完全的责任，“惟有你能帮助…”攻击亚撒的有兵士百万、战车三百。亚撒和犹太人要抵挡古实王的大军似乎是不可能的一回事。没有联盟军队去援助他；所以，他惟一的盼望是神。或许你也有这般可怕的难处逼你放弃你平时所有的依据，而专一投靠全能的神。

　　亚撒的信心看见耶和华站在那耀武扬威的谢拉和毫无力量的自己中间。他并没有错误。我们看见古实人果然败在耶和华和祂军队面前，所以犹太人只要跟在祂后面收集掠物就是了。我们的神是万军之耶和华，祂能随时召集援军来拯救祂的子民。相信祂站在你和你的难处中间，无论什么困难都会在祂面前逃跑，如云在疾风面前被吹散一般。━梅尔

当堡垒碎成瓦砾，

正是你无所依恃，

除了神以外，一无可靠

这正是信主之时。

在你我所行这条路口，

信心比眼见更可依仗，

虽然茫茫夜色黑暗，

但是信心能放光亮。

　　亚伯拉罕信神，对眼见说：“退去”！对自然的定律说：“不要作声”！对疑惧的心说：“闭口，你这谎言的诱惑者”！祂信神。━帕克约瑟

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 renounce   

v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系

参考例句：

• She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
• It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

3 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

4 almighty   

adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的

参考例句：

• Those rebels did not really challenge Gods almighty power.这些叛徒没有对上帝的全能力量表示怀疑。
• It's almighty cold outside.外面冷得要命。

5 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

6 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。

7 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

8 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

9 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

10 misgiving   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕

参考例句：

• She had some misgivings about what she was about to do.她对自己即将要做的事情存有一些顾虑。
• The first words of the text filled us with misgiving.正文开头的文字让我们颇为担心。