January 8

“I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing¹.” (Ezek. 34:26)

What is thy season this morning? Is it the season of drought? Then that is the season for showers. Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds? Then that is the season for showers. “As thy day so shall thy strength be.” “I will give thee showers of blessing.” The word is in the plural². All kinds of blessings³ God will send. All God's blessings go together, like links in a golden chain. If He gives converting grace, He will also give comforting grace. He will send “showers of blessings.” Look up today, O parched⁴ plant, and open thy leaves and flowers for a heavenly watering. – Spurgeon.

“Let but thy heart become a valley low,

And God will rain on it till it will overflow⁵.”

Thou, O Lord, canst transform my thorn into a flower. And I want my thorn transformed into a flower. Job got the sunshine after the rain, but has the rain been all waste? Job wants to know, I want to know, if the shower had nothing to do with the shining. And Thou canst tell me ━ Thy Cross can tell me. Thou hast crowned Thy sorrow. Be this my crown, O Lord. I only triumph in Thee when I have learned the radiance of the rain. ━ George Matheson.

The fruitful life seeks showers as well as sunshine.

"The landscape, brown and sere⁶ beneath the sun,

Needs but the cloud to lift it into life;

The dews may damp the leaves of tree and flower,

But it requires the cloud-distilled shower

To bring rich verdure to the lifeless life.

“Ah, how like this, the landscape of a life:

Dews of trial fall like incense⁷, rich and sweet;

But bearing little in the crystal tray –

Like nymphs of night, dews lift at break of day

And transient impress leave, like lips that meet.

"But clouds of trials, bearing burdens rare,

Leave in the soul, a moisture settled deep:

Life kindles⁸ by the magic law of God;

And where before the thirsty camel trod,

There richest beauties to life’s landscape leap.

"Then read thou in each cloud that comes to thee

The words of Paul, in letters large and clear:

So shall those clouds thy soul with blessing feed,

And with a constant trust as thou dost read,

All things together work for good. Fret⁹ not, nor fear !”

一月八日

　　“我也必叫时雨落下，必有福如甘霖而降”（结三十四：26）

　　今天早晨你的光景如何？是不是一个枯燥的光景？那么你正需要时雨滋润了。是不是一个忧郁烦恼的光景？那么你正需要时雨调剂了。“你的日子如何，你的力量也必如何”（申三十三：25）。“必有福如甘霖而降”。“福”字在原文中是多数的。意思是神要降各种━不止一样━的福。神一切的祝福联在一起，如一条金链一般，━降下。如果祂给我们得救的恩典，祂也要给我们得胜的恩典。恩典上还要加上恩典。祂的祝福真如甘霖一般。哦，枯萎的植物呵！张开你的叶子和花瓣来接受从天上来的时雨罢。　━司布真

只要让你的心，像低洼的山谷，

神时降下甘霖，直到谷中沾足。

　　主啊：你能使我的荆棘变成花朵。我愿我的荆棘变成花朵。乔布在雨后获得阳光，雨是完全白费的吗？乔布想知道，我也想知道，那场倾盆大雨和雨后的阳光普照，是否毫无关系？你能告诉我━你的十字架能告诉我。你已给你的苦难加上王冠。主啊！愿这是我的王冠。我知道了雨的荣耀，我唯有为你而欢欣。 ━ 马得逊



　　收获丰富的生命需求阳光，同时也需求时雨。

烈日之下的景色，一片枯黄憔悴，

只望云儿将生机换回。

露珠或能滋润枝叶，

怎能比得沛然甘霖，

使繁茂代替枯萎。

人生何尝不是如此，

滴滴露珠，何让甘旨，

玉盘中浅浅的沾润，

可惜朝曦一现，即复消逝，

宛若庭间的少女，

轻轻一吻，疾去如矢。

雨从云中毫不费力，倾泄如注，

浸润到灵魂的深处，

神的大能点燃了生命，

如在饥渴的骆驼面前，

展开了一片嫩绿的草原。

细看每一朵飞来的云块，

仿佛铭刻着保罗的训导，

祂说其中有你灵魂的粮食，

以永恒的信心牢记此语，

万事互相效力，

你不必忧虑，更不必恐惧。

1 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。

2 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。

3 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

5 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

6 sere   

adj.干枯的；n.演替系列

参考例句：

• The desert was edged with sere vegetation.沙漠周围零星地长着一些干枯的植被。
• A sere on uncovered rock is a lithosere.在光秃岩石上的演替系列是岩生演替系列。

7 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

8 kindles   

（使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的第三人称单数 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光

参考例句：

• And as kindles hope, millions more will find it. 他们的自由又将影响周围，使更多的人民得到自由。
• A person who stirs up trouble or kindles a revolt. 煽动叛乱者，挑动争端者挑起麻烦或引起叛乱的人。

9 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.