April 3

"Glorify¹ ye the Lord in the fires." (Isa. 24:15)

Mark the little word "in"! We are to honor Him in the trial--in that which is an affliction indeed and though there have been cases where God did not let His saints feel the fire, yet, ordinarily, fire hurts.

But just here we are to glorify Him by our perfect faith in His goodness and love that has permitted all this to come upon us.

And more than that, we are to believe that out of this is coming something more for His praise than could have come but for this fiery² trial.

We can only go through some fires with a large faith; little faith will fail. We must have the victory in the furnace. --Margaret Bottome.

A man has as much religion as he can show in times of trouble. The men who were cast into the fiery furnace came out as they went in--except their bonds.

How often in some furnace of affliction God strikes them off! Their bodies were unhurt--their skin not even blistered³. Their hair was unsinged, their garments not scorched⁴, and even the smell of fire had not passed upon them. And that is the way Christians⁵ should come out of furnace trials--liberated from their bonds, but untouched by the flames.

"Triumphing over them in it." (Col. 2:15)

That is the real triumph--triumphing over sickness, in it; triumphing over death, dying; triumphing over adverse⁶ circumstances, in them. Oh, believe me, there is a power that can make us victors in the strife⁷. There are heights to be reached where we can look down and over the way we have come, and sing our song of triumph on this side of Heaven. We can make others regard us as rich, while we are poor, and make many rich in our poverty. Our triumph is to be in it. Christ's triumph was in His humiliation⁸. Possibly our triumph, also, is to be made manifest in what seems to others humiliation. --Margaret Bottome.

Is there not something captivating in the sight of a man or a woman burdened with many tribulations⁹ and yet carrying a heart as sound as a bell? Is there not something contagiously¹⁰ valorous in the vision of one who is greatly tempted¹¹, but is more than conqueror¹²? Is it not heartening to see some pilgrim who is broken in body, but who retains the splendor¹³ of an unbroken patience? What a witness all this offers to the enduement of His grace! --J. H. Jowett.

"When each earthly prop¹⁴ gives under,

And life seems a restless sea,

Are you then a God-kept wonder,

Satisfied and calm and free?"

　 四月三日

“因你们要在火中荣耀耶和华”（赛二十四：15直译）。

　　注意这小字“在！”我们要在火中——试炼中（彼前四：12）——荣耀他。虽然那里是一个受苦的地方，我们要用信心来荣耀他。我们相信他是良善的，慈爱的，他既准许“火炼的试验临到”我们，我们相信试炼过后，我们会有更多赞美和感谢的根据。

　　只有大信心才能通过火的试炼，小信必注定失败，让我们争取烈火中的得胜！——濮登

　　在困难中的人才能表现他的信心坚决，被投入烈焰中的三个少年人（但以理的同伴），他们从火焰中出来的时候，和被投进去的时候只有一点不同——他们的捆绑已经解除了。

　　神使他们经过了炉火的试炼，结果毫无损伤——身体不伤，头发不焦，衣裳不变色，也没有火燎气味。前后不同的就是身上缺了捆绑，脸上添了荣光。难怪亵渎神的尼布甲尼撒不得不屈服来赞美荣耀神了。今天基督徒从试炼的炉中出来的时候，也该这样——脱了捆绑，添上荣光，丝毫不受火的影响。——选

“就仗着十字架夸胜。”（西二：15）

　　这是真正的得胜，从疾病中战胜病魔，从奄奄一息中战胜死亡，从逆境中战胜。必需相信，在奋斗中，有一种使我们胜利的力量。要从试炼之中去获取胜利。基督在他的屈辱中得到胜利。我们的胜利，或许也要从别人认为屈辱的境遇中去发现。——濮登

　　有许多人，肩头上压着沉重的担子，心中仍满了喜乐，岂非可奇吗？有许多人在受到逼迫攻击下，仍能得胜有余，岂非可敬？有许多人身体破碎，仍保持着完好的信心，岂非可羡？他们对神的恩典，这些都是最美好的见证。——乔怀德

人间的支柱都在动摇，

生命如在烈火中煎熬，

你是否不愧为基督信徒，

镇定，自在而心无牢骚？

1 glorify   

vt.颂扬，赞美，使增光，美化

参考例句：

• Politicians have complained that the media glorify drugs.政治家们抱怨媒体美化毒品。
• We are all committed to serving the Lord and glorifying His name in the best way we know.我们全心全意敬奉上帝，竭尽所能颂扬他的美名。

2 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

3 blistered   

adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂

参考例句：

• He had a blistered heel. 他的脚后跟起了泡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their hands blistered, but no one complained. 他们手起了泡，可是没有一个人有怨言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

5 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

6 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

7 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

8 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

9 tribulations   

n.苦难( tribulation的名词复数 )；艰难；苦难的缘由；痛苦

参考例句：

• the tribulations of modern life 现代生活的苦恼
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence. 这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 contagiously   

传染性地，蔓延地

参考例句：

• The book is unpretentious; it can present names without dropping them, and the tone is contagiously warm. 这本书写得朴实无华，它提了几个名字，但又没有滥用来抬高自己，而且书的语气热情洋溢。
• She was contagiously bubbly. 她快乐而富有感染力。

11 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

12 conqueror   

n.征服者，胜利者

参考例句：

• We shall never yield to a conqueror.我们永远不会向征服者低头。
• They abandoned the city to the conqueror.他们把那个城市丢弃给征服者。

13 splendor   

n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌

参考例句：

• Never in his life had he gazed on such splendor.他生平从没有见过如此辉煌壮丽的场面。
• All the splendor in the world is not worth a good friend.人世间所有的荣华富贵不如一个好朋友。

14 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。