January 1
“The land whither ye go to possess it is a land of hills and valleys and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: a land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.” (Deut. 11:11-12)Today, dear friends, we stand upon the verge of the unknown. There lies before us the new year and we are going forth to possess it. Who can tell what we shall find? What new experiences, what changes shall come, what new needs shall arise? But here is the cheering, comforting, gladdening message from our Heavenly Father, “The Lord thy God careth for it.” “His eyes are upon it away to the ending of the year.”All our supply is to come from the Lord. Here are springs that shall never dry; here are fountains and streams that shall never be cut off. Here, anxious one, is the gracious pledge of the Heavenly Father. If He be the Source of our mercies they can never fail us. No heat, no drought can parch that river, “the streams whereof make glad the city of God.”The land is a land of hills and valleys. It is not all smooth nor all down hill. If life were all one dead level the dull sameness it would oppress us; we want the hills and the valleys. The hills collect the rain for a hundred fruitful valleys. Ah, so it is with us! It is the hill difficulty that drives us to the throne of grace and brings down the shower of blessing; the hills, the bleak hills of life that we wonder at and perhaps grumble at, bring down the showers. How many have perished in the wilderness, buried under its golden sands, who would have lived and thriven in the hill-country; how many would have been killed by the frost, blighted with winds, swept desolate of tree and fruit but for the hill—stern, hard, rugged, so steep to climb. God’s hills are a gracious protection for His people against their foes!We cannot tell what loss and sorrow and trial are doing. Trust only. The Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today. It shall be a good, a blessed new year!He leads us on by paths we did not know;Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow,Though oft we faint and falter on the way,Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day;Yet when the clouds are gone,We know He leads us on.He leads us on through all the unquiet years;Past all our dreamland hopes, and doubts and fears,He guides our steps, through all the tangled mazeOf losses, sorrows, and o’erclouded days;We know His will is done;And still He leads us on.━ N. L. Zinzendorf.一月一日“你们要过去得为业的那地，乃是有山，有谷，雨水滋润之地。是耶和华你神所眷顾的，从岁首到年终，耶和华你神的眼目时常看顾那地” (申十一:11-12)　　亲爱的读者，今天我们站在一个新的境界上，前途茫然。摆在我们面前的是一个新年，等待我们经过。谁也不能预知在将来的路程中有什么遭遇，什么变迁，什么需要。可是在这里有一段从父神那里来的信息，顶能安慰我们，顶能激励我们，━“耶和华你神…眷顾…从岁首到年终，耶和华你神的眼目时常看顾那地。”我们所有的接济都可仰赖于神。祂那里有不干的活泉，永流的江河。祂那里有恩典的誓约。如果祂作我们供给的源头，就什么都不能使我们失望。没有热，没有旱能叫那道“使神的城欢喜”(诗四十六篇四节)的河干涸。我们要得的那地乃是有山有谷之地。不是一片光滑的平原。若是我们前面的生活只是平而又光，何等乏味！我们需要山和谷。山使雨水汇集谷中，使地肥沃多结果子。山对于我们的生命也是这样。山一般的难处原是催赶我们到施恩座前去得有福的甘霖的；我们所厌烦的山境，反使我们得福。多少人因为厌烦山谷的辛苦，贪恋平地的舒服，因此受风霜的摧残，倒毙在山下的平地，埋葬在黄金色的沙中。神的山是祂子民的保障！我们不能说前面没有损失，忧虑，试炼。我们只能信靠。父神必从今日起伸出祂大能的手来扶持我们走当走的路程。所以我们的新年是一个快乐，有福的新年！祂引导我们走上新的路程，虽然我们步伐缓慢艰困，祂引导我们往高处攀登，有时我们沮丧逡巡，有时目眩头昏，甚之那风雨使白昼晦冥；但等天朗云散，祂仍在引导我们。祂引导我们度过坎坷岁月，其间有多少梦幻境况，有多少疑惧惊恐：祂指引我们的脚步，不至落入失望，伤心和忧虑的迷津；祂的旨意已完成，祂仍在引导我们。━秦成陶夫 
January 2
“And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: 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 chamber to the highest by the midst.“ (Ezek. 41:7)“Still upward be thine onward 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 dwellers 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 mar their faces when they might anoint them with celestial oil. Satisfied I am that many a believer pines in a dungeon 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 sloth, thy lethargy, thy coldness, or whatever interferes with thy chaste and pure love to Christ. Make Him the source, the center, and the circumference of all thy soul’s range of delight. Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments. Aspire 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 ruggedness dismay us, and so we stay in the misty 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 blessing 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。 
January 3
“I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure.” (Gen. 33:14)What a beautiful picture of Jacob’s thoughtfulness for the cattle and the children! He would not allow them to be overdriven even for one day. He would not lead on according to what a strong man like Esau could do and expected them to do, but only according to what they were able to endure. He knew exactly how far they could go in a day; and he made that his only consideration in arranging the marches. He had gone the same wilderness journey years before, and knew all about its roughness and heat and length, by personal experience. And so he said, “I will lead on softly.” (Gen. 33:14) “For ye have not passed this way heretofore” (Josh. 3:4).We have not passed this way heretofore, but the Lord Jesus has. It is all untrodden and unknown ground to us, but He knows it all by personal experience. The steep bits that take away our breath, the stony bits that make our feet ache so, the hot shadeless stretches that make us feel so exhausted, the rushing rivers that we have to pass through ━ Jesus has gone through it all before us. "He was wearied with his journey." Not some, but all the many waters went over Him, and yet did not quench His love. He was made a perfect Leader by the things which He suffered. "He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." Think of that when you are tempted to question the gentleness of His leading. He is remembering all the time; and not one step will He make you take beyond what your foot is able to endure. Never mind if you think it will not be able for the step that seems to come next; either He will so strengthen it that it shall be able, or He will call a sudden halt, and you shall not have to take it at all. ━ Frances Ridley Havergal.In "pastures green"? Not always; sometimes HeWho knowest best, in kindness leadeth meIn weary ways, where heavy shadows be.So, whether on the hill-tops high and fairI dwell, or in the sunless valleys, whereThe shadows lie, what matter? He is there.━ Barry一月三日“我要量着在我面前群畜和孩子的力量慢慢的前行。” （创三十三：14）　　这真是一幅惟妙惟肖的图画，描写雅各布对群畜和孩子的慈心！他不愿意他们赶走一天的路程。他不愿意照粗人以扫的心意去催促他们。他乃是量着他们的力量慢慢地领他们前行。他知道他的儿女们年幼娇嫩，牛羊正在乳养的时候。他知道他们一天能行多少路；他考虑了然后才安排他们的行程。而且这条旷野的路程，以前他也曾走过；何处崎岖、何处凶险、何处炎热、何处寒冷，他都经历过。所以他对他们说：“我要慢慢地领你们前行。”“因为这条路你们向来没有走过。”（书三：4）　　前面的路程我们也向来没有走过，可是主耶稣曾走过。我们的前途真是茫然无所知，可是主都经过。这一程使我们心慌意乱，那一程使我们筋疲力尽，另一程使我们干渴得舌贴牙床，又一程使我们喘不过气来━其实以前主都尝过、走过。经上说：“耶稣因走路困乏。”（约四：6）众水冲淹祂，却不能息灭祂的爱情。祂所经历的苦难使祂成为最好的牧者。“祂知道我们的本体，思念我们不过是尘土”（诗一零三：14）。祂每时每刻体恤我们；不让我们走一步过于我们力量的路。前面一程虽然有些难行，但是尽可放心；因为祂不是加力量使我们得以安然过去，定是吩咐我们突然止步。━海弗格尔决非永远是葱绿的牧场，有时全知全能的神祂指引我们走过崎岖的道路，黑暗茫茫。不论是山顶的鸟语花香，不论是深谷的阴沈凄凉，因为祂总在那里，我决不彷徨━巴雷 
January 4
"Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way." (John 4:50)"When ye pray, believe." (Mark 11:24)When there is a matter that requires definite prayer, pray till you believe God, until with unfeigned lips you can thank Him for the answer. If the answer still tarries outwardly, do not pray for it in such a way that it is evident that you are not definitely believing for it. Such a prayer in place of being a help will be a hindrance; and when you are finished praying, you will find that your faith has weakened or has entirely gone. The urgency that you felt to offer this kind of prayer is clearly from self and Satan. It may not be wrong to mention the matter in question to the Lord again, if He is keeping you waiting, but be sure you do so in such a way that it implies faith. Do not pray yourself out of faith. You may tell Him that you are waiting and that you are still believing Him and therefore praise Him for the answer. There is nothing that so fully clinches faith as to be so sure of the answer that you can thank God for it. Prayers that pray us out of faith deny both God's promise in His Word and also His whisper "Yes," that He gave us in our hearts. Such prayers are but the expression of the unrest of one's heart, and unrest implies unbelief in reference to the answer to prayer. "For we which have believed do enter into rest" (Heb. 4:3). This prayer that prays ourselves out of faith frequently arises from centering our thoughts on the difficulty rather than on God's promise. Abraham "considered not his own body," "he staggered not at the promise of God" (Rom. 4:19, 20). May we watch and pray that we enter not into temptation of praying ourselves out of faith. ━ C. H. P.Faith is not a sense, nor sight, nor reason, but a taking God at His Word. – Evans.The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. ━ George Mueller.You will never learn faith in comfortable surroundings. God gives us the promises in a quiet hour; God seals our covenants with great and gracious words, then He steps back and waits to see how much we believe; then He lets the tempter come, and the test seems to contradict all that He has spoken. It is then that faith wins its crown. That is the time to look up through the storm, and among the trembling, frightened seamen cry, "I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me."(Acts.27:25)一月四日　“耶稣对他说回去罢；你的儿子活了。那人信耶稣所说的话，就回去了。” （约四：50）“你们祷告祈求…只要信…” （可十一：24）　　如果这里有一件事需要专一的祷告，就该祷告直到你能信神，直到你能发出无伪的赞美来感谢神的答应。如果神的答应一时还在中途，切勿重新求神答应你的祈求，因为这表示你没有信神。这种不信的祷告非但不能帮助你什么，反能减少或消灭你的信心。献上这种祷告的催促，定是出乎撒但或是自己。这也许不能算错：当神还放你在一个等候的地位，你再去向祂申说，可是切记你必须带着信心。不要把你自己祷告得失了信心。你可以告诉祂你仍然等着祂、相信祂，因此仍然赞美感谢祂的答应。你如果确信答应必将来到，你能够先为着尚未来到的答应感谢赞美神。我告诉你：没有一件东西比这更能坚固你的信心。把我们祷告得失了信心的祷告，是否认神在经上给我们的应许，也否认神在我们心中给我们的一声“是”。这种祷告不过表示我们的心没有安息，没有安息就是不信祷告的答应。“但我们已相信的人，得以进入那安息”（来四：3）。这种把我们自己祷告得失了信心的祷告，常是因为我们的思想集中在难处上过于在神的应许上。亚伯拉罕“不想到自己的身体…不疑惑神的应许”（罗四章19/20直译）。让我们儆醒祷告，免得入了迷惑，以致把我们自己祷告得失了信心。　　信心不是感觉、不是眼见、不是理由，乃是在神的话语上抓住神。━伊文思　　焦急的开始就是信心的结束，信心的开始就是焦急的结束。━莫勒　　在舒适的环境中你绝不会学到信心的功课。神常在我们孤单的时候给我们应许；然后用祂恩典的话语当作印盖在所给我们的约上，便暂时退后去看我们究竟相信多少；祂又让那诱惑人的来试探我们，让我们的遭遇似乎与祂所说的完全相反。这时候就是信心赢得冠冕的时候。这时候就该在黑云之下、风波之中，发出胜利的欢呼来；“我信神祂怎样对我说，事情也要怎样成就”（徒二十七：25） 
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 odds 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 renounce all creature aid, to which in lesser trials you have had recourse, and cast yourself back on your Almighty Friend.Put God between yourself and the foe. 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 celestial combatants flung themselves against the foe in Israel's behalf, and put the large host to rout, 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 gale. – F. B. Meyer.“When nothing whereon to lean remains,When strongholds crumble 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 lightIs 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 misgiving 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 
January 6
“When thou passest through the waters…they shall not overflow thee.” (Isa. 43:2)"God does not open paths for us in advance of our coming. He does not promise help before help is needed. He does not remove obstacles out of our way before we reach them. Yet when we are on the edge of our need, God's hand is stretched out.Many people forget this, and are forever worrying about difficulties which they foresee in the future. They expect that God is going to make the way plain and open before them, miles and miles ahead; whereas He has promised to do it only step by step as they may need. You must get to the waters and into their floods before you can claim the promise. Many people dread death, and lament that they have not “dying grace.” Of course, they will not have dying grace when they are in good health, in the midst of life's duties, with death far in advance. Why should they have it then? Grace for duty is what they need then, living grace; then dying grace when they come to die. – J. R. M."When thou passest through the waters"Deep the waves may be and cold,But Jehovah is our refuge,And His Promise is our hold;For the Lord Himself hath sait it,He, the faithful God and true:"When thou comest to the watersThou shalt not go down, BUT THROUGH."Seas of sorrow, seas of trial,Bitterest anguish, fiercest pain,Rolling surges of temptationSweeping over heart and brain ━They shall never overflow usFor we know His word is true;All His waves and all His billowsHe will lead us safely through.Threatening breakers of destruction,Doubt's insidious undertow,Shall not sink us, shall not drag usOut to ocean depths of woe;For His promise shall sustain us,Praise the Lord, whose Word is true!We shall not go down, or under,For He saith, "Thou passest THROUGH."━ Annie Johnson Flint.一月六日“你从水中经过...水必不漫过你” (赛四十三；2)　　神并不为我们开路，如果我们尚未起步。神并不给我们帮助，如果我们还不需要帮助，神并不除去我们路上的拦阻，如果我们还没有碰到。可是一等到我们真有需要的时侯神的手就伸出来了。　　许多神的儿女竟把这个原则忘了，终日挂虑前面未来的难处。他们盼望神先把前面几十里的路都铺平了；但是神只肯照着他们的需要一步一步的开路。你必须从水中经过，然后才可求神实现祂的应许。有许多人怕死，叹息自己并没有得到神在临终时所给的祝福。当然，他们得不到，因为身体健康，正在作工的时侯，离死还远得很哩。他们没有这种需要。祂们需要的是工作的恩典，生活的恩典；等到死期临到才需要临终时的恩典。━密勒当你从水中经过，浪何深，水何冷。我们有耶和华神的庇护；祂的诺言使我们无所恐怖，因为真实的神可信的主，祂曾亲口说过；“当你来到江河，你必不下沉，定能安渡。”如海的悲哀，如海的磨难，无限的烦恼，极顶的痛苦。诱惑如汹涌的浪潮，阵阵袭上心头，都不能使我们沉沦偃仆，我们深信祂的话为真。一切的波涛，一切的风浪，祂会引导我们安渡。暗礁多么险恶，潜流像可疑的陷阱，但不能倾覆我们，也不能把我们逐到大海深处。因为祂的诺言给我们帮助，赞美主，祂的话是真！我们必不向下沉沦，祂曾说：你们必得安渡。━范丽 
January 7
"I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." (Phil. 4:11)Paul, denied of every comfort, wrote the above words in his dungeon. A story is told of a king who went into his garden one morning, and found everything withered and dying. He asked the oak that stood near the gate what the trouble was. He found it was sick of life and determined to die because it was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine was all out of heart because it could not bear grapes, like the vine. The vine was going to throw its life away because it could not stand erect and have as fine fruit as the peach tree. The geranium was fretting because it was not tall and fragrant like the lilac; and so on all through the garden. Coming to a heart's-ease, he found its bright face lifted as cheery as ever. "Well, heart's-ease, I'm glad, amidst all this discouragement, to find one brave little flower. You do not seem to be the least disheartened." "No, I am not of much account, but I thought that if you wanted an oak, or a pine, or a peach tree, or a lilac, you would have planted one; but as I knew you wanted a heart's-ease, I am determined to be the best little heart's-ease that I can.""Others may do a greater work,But you have your part to do;And no one in all God's heritageCan do it so well as you."They who are God's without reserve, are in every state content; for they will only what He wills, and desire to do for Him whatever He desires them to do; they strip themselves of everything, and in this nakedness find all things restored an hundredfold.　一月七日“我无论在什么景况，都可以知足，这是我已经学会了“ (腓四：11)　　保罗，轻看了一切的福乐，在监狱中写上面的几句话。有一个故事讲到一个国王一天早晨独自到他的花园中去散步，他发现所有的花草树木都枯萎凋谢了。园中充满了死象，一无生气。国王非常诧异，就问园门口的一棵橡树：它们中间究竟出了什么岔子。后来他才知道橡树因为自怨没有松树那样高大俊秀，所以就生出厌世之心，不想活了。松树又恨自己不能像葡萄藤那样多结果子。葡萄藤也将自尽，因为它终日匍伏于地，不能直立，又不能像桃树那样开美丽可爱的花。牵牛花，也病倒了，因为它叹自己没有紫丁香那样芬芳。其余的都垂头丧气，怨自己不如人，只有一枝顶小的心安草，国王见它仍在喷香吐艳，维持原状。国王高兴极了，对它说： “心安草，我真欢喜，别的都悲观厌世，只有你这枝小草这样勇敢。你似乎一点都没有沮丧。”小草儿回答说：“王阿，我绝对没有，连一丝的灰心，一毫的失望，也没有。我虽然算不得什么，但是我知道如果你要一棵橡树，或者一棵松树或者葡萄藤，或者桃树，或者牵牛花，或者紫丁香，你就会去种植；我知道你要我作一枝小的心安草，所以我就心满意足地尽力作一枝小的心安草”。别人或担当更大任务，但你有你本分的工作，在神所拣选子民之中，无人比得上你更适确。　　那些不为自己留起丝毫地位的奉献者，在万事上都能知足；因为他们只愿意神所愿意的，只作神所要他们作的。他们剥夺自己的一切，在这样的赤裸中，神在今世偿还他们百倍。 
January 8
“I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” (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 plural. All kinds of blessings 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 parched 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 overflow.”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 sere 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 showerTo bring rich verdure to the lifeless life.“Ah, how like this, the landscape of a life:Dews of trial fall like incense, rich and sweet;But bearing little in the crystal tray –Like nymphs of night, dews lift at break of dayAnd transient impress leave, like lips that meet."But clouds of trials, bearing burdens rare,Leave in the soul, a moisture settled deep:Life kindles 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 theeThe 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. Fret 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。 
January 9
“For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:18)I kept for nearly a year the flask-shaped cocoon of an emperor moth. It is very peculiar in its construction. A narrow opening is left in the neck of the flask, through which the perfect insect forces its way, so that a forsaken cocoon is as entire as one still tenanted, no rupture of the interlacing fibers having taken place. The great disproportion between the means of egress and the size of the imprisoned insect makes one wonder how the exit is ever accomplished at all ━ and it never is without great labor and difficulty. It is supposed that the pressure to which the moth's body is subject in passing through such a narrow opening is a provision of nature for forcing the juices into the vessels of the wings, these being less developed at the period of emerging from the chrysalis than they are in other insects.I happened to witness the first efforts of my prisoned moth to escape from its long confinement. During a whole forenoon, from time to time, I watched it patiently striving and struggling to get out. It never seemed able to get beyond a certain point, and at last my patience was exhausted. Very probably the confining fibers were drier and less elastic than if the cocoon had been left all winter on its native heather, as nature meant it to be. At all events I thought I was wiser and more compassionate than its Maker, and I resolved to give it a helping hand. With the point of my scissors I snipped the confining threads to make the exit just a very little easier, and lo! immediately, and with perfect ease, out crawled my moth dragging a swollen body and little shrivelled wings. In vain I watched to see that marvellous process of expansion in which these silently and swiftly develop before one's eyes; and as I traced the exquisite spots and markings of divers colors which were all there in miniature, I longed to see these assume their due proportions and the creature to appear in all its perfect beauty, as it is, in truth, one of the loveliest of its kind. But I looked in vain. My false tenderness had proved its ruin. It never was anything but a stunted abortion, crawling painfully through that brief life which it should have spent flying through the air on rainbow wings. I have thought of it often, often, when watching with pitiful eyes those who were struggling with sorrow, suffering, and distress; and I would fain cut short the discipline and give deliverance. Short-sighted man! How know I that one of these pangs or groans could be spared? The far-sighted, perfect love that seeks the perfection of its object does not weakly shrink from present, transient suffering. Our Father's love is too true to be weak. Because He loves His children, He chastises them that they may be partakers of His holiness. With this glorious end in view, He spares not for their crying. Made perfect through sufferings, as the Elder Brother was, the sons of God are trained up to obedience and brought to glory through much tribulation. ━ Tract.一月九日　　“我想现在的苦楚，若比起将来要显于我们的荣耀，就不足介意了” （罗八：18）　　我有一个天蛾的茧儿，差不多藏了一年。它的结构非常特异。一头是一条细管，一头是一个球形的囊，很像试验室中的细颈瓶。当蛾出茧的时侯，它必须从球形囊那里爬过那条极细的管儿，然后才能脱身，飞翔在空中。它的身体这样肥大，那条管儿这样细小，人人都会希奇它怎样能够出来呢，它一定会碰见多少难处，花费多少心机与力气。据生物学家讲：它在作蛹的时侯，翅膀萎缩不发达；脱茧的时侯，必须经过这一番挣扎，身体中的体质才能流到翅脉中去，两翅才能有力飞翔空中。　　有一天，我恰巧看见那久囚的虫儿开始活动了。整个的早晨，我忍耐着在它旁边看它在里面努力，奋斗，挣扎，可是还不能进前丝毫。它似乎再没有可能出来了，最后我的耐心破产了。我就想我比造物者更智慧，更慈爱，我决意要帮它一忙。我用我的小剪刀把茧上的丝剪薄了些，让它出来得稍为容易一些这正是我得意之作！看哪！一会儿我的蛾儿很容易地爬出来了，身体是反常的臃肿，翅膀是反常的萎缩。我守在它旁边等它徐徐地伸展它的翅膀，显露它细巧精致的彩纹。岂知大失所望。我虚伪的温柔竟成了祸根。可怜的虫儿，非但不能扑着它带虹的翅翼，飞翔空中，呈现它完全的美丽，竟很痛苦地爬了一会就不寿而终了。啊，我的智慧和慈爱害了它！一个没有发育完全的蛾儿，被我强使流产了！我把这事想了又想。许多时侯我们看见人们在忧愁，困苦，艰难中挣扎，我们觉得很是可怜；我们常愿意把神的法则变更，给他们属人的帮助。啊，眼光浅近的人啊！我们怎么知道这些唏嘘和呻吟不是他们的必需呢？目光深远的，完全的爱，为要人们得益，只得不顾怜祂们目前暂时的苦楚了。我们父神的爱正是如此。因为祂爱祂的儿女，所以才施管教，要使祂们有分于祂的圣洁。有了这样荣耀的目的，祂才不顾祂们的眼泪。神使祂的长子在苦难中得荣耀；照样，也使祂的众儿女在患难中学习顺服，得以进入荣耀。 
January 10
"They were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the Word in Asia." (Acts. 16:6)It is interesting to study the methods of His guidance as it was extended towards these early heralds of the Cross. It consisted largely in prohibitions, when they attempted to take another course than the right. When they would turn to the left, to Asia, He stayed them. When they sought to turn to the right, to Bithynia, again He stayed them. In after years Paul would do some of the greatest work of his life in that very region; but just now the door was closed against him by the Holy Spirit. The time was not yet ripe for the attack on these apparently impregnable bastions of the kingdom of Satan. Apollos must come there for pioneer work. Paul and Barnabas are needed yet more urgently elsewhere, and must receive further training before undertaking this responsible task.Beloved, whenever you are doubtful as to your course, submit your judgment absolutely to the Spirit of God, and ask Him to shut against you every door but the right one. Say,"Blessed Spirit, I cast on Thee the entire responsibility of closing against my steps any and every course which is not of God. Let me hear Thy voice behind me whenever I turn to the right hand or the left."In the meanwhile, continue along the path which you have been already treading. Abide in the calling in which you are called, unless you are clearly told to do something else. The Spirit of Jesus waits to be to you, O pilgrim, what He was to Paul. Only be careful to obey His least prohibition; and where, after believing prayer, there are no apparent hindrances, go forward with enlarged heart. Do not be surprised if the answer comes in closed doors. But when doors are shut right and left, an open road is sure to lead to Troas. There Luke awaits, and visions will point the way, where vast opportunities stand open, and faithful friends are waiting. ━ Paul, by Meyer.Is there some problem in your life to solve,Some passage seeming full of mystery?God knows, who brings the hidden things to light.He keeps the key.Is there some door closed by the Father's handWhich widely opened you had hoped to see?Trust God and wait ━ for when He shuts the doorHe keeps the key.Is there some earnest prayer unanswered yet,Or answered NOT as you had thought 'twould be?God will make clear His purpose by-and-by.He keeps the key.Have patience with your God, your patient God,All wise, all knowing, no long tarrier He,And of the door of all thy future lifeHe keeps the key.Unfailing comfort, sweet and blessed rest,To know of EVERY door He keeps the key.That He at last when just HE sees 'tis best,Will give it THEE.━Anonymous一月十日“圣灵……禁止他们在亚西亚讲道” （徒十六：6）　　在圣经中研究圣灵怎样引导以前的十字架先锋，是很有趣味的一回事。祂的引导大半是禁止，因为祂们顶容易走错误的路。这次保罗和西拉想向左，到亚西亚一行，圣灵禁止祂们。祂们想向右，到庇推尼去，圣灵又禁止祂们。再过一时保罗将在那里兴起祂生平最大的工作；可是目前圣灵在那里还未替祂开传道之门。在那里攻破撒但城堡的时机尚未成熟。亚波罗必须在那里先起开垦的工作。况且当时别的地方更需要祂们去工作；祂们也必须受更深的造就，然后才能到亚西亚和庇推尼一带去建立神的教会。　　亲爱的，当你茫然不知前途的时侯，你就该完全让圣灵替你定规，求祂封闭一切左道开启唯一的正路。你该说：　　“神的灵阿，我把选择的责任完全交托给你，求你封闭左道，不让我的脚步走在一切不是神命定的路上。当我偏左倾右的时侯，求你让我听见你的声音”。　　同时，在你没有清楚圣灵的指引之先，你应当继续站在你原来的路上。守在你原有的呼召中，除非你得了新的清楚的呼召。哦，旅客哪，耶稣的灵今日等着要启示你，好似祂当日启示保罗一样。在你这方面，只须小心顺服，连一个顶小的禁止也须顺服；信心的祷告之后，如果圣灵没有拦阻，你只管放胆前进。可是也不要希奇，圣灵的答应尽可以是禁止。若是左右的路是关闭的，前面的路是开启的，那条路顶清楚是通到特罗亚去的。在那里有路加等着，在那里有异象会指引我们当走的路，在那里有“敞开的门”和机会，在那里也有忠心的朋友们等着。 ━梅尔在人生的过程中，充满了谜一般的问题，你想找寻答案吗？唯有神知道，祂能揭开奇妙，祂有一把匙钥。几扇门被天父关闭，你希望开启吗？你想瞧透门里的奥秘吗？当信赖神，当等待神，祂有一把匙钥。有些恳切的祈祷，有否回音？或虽有答复，却不是你所祈求！神慢慢地会显明祂的旨意，祂有一把匙钥。神有最大的耐心，祂是无所不知，你也要对神有耐心，安分等待。你未来的生命之门，在祂有一把匙钥。我知道了祂有匙钥，可开我心扉之门，就得到了无穷的安慰，心中安息平宁。祂选择最适当的时候，终于为我们一一开启。━佚名 
January 11
“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 bruiseThe rose's leaf,Ere I can keep and useIt's fragrance brief.”They tell me I must breakThe skylark's heart,Ere her cage song will makeThe silence start.“They tell me love must bleed,And friendship weep,Ere in my deepest needI touch that deep.“Must it be always soWith precious things?Must they be bruised and goWith beaten wings?“Ah, yes! by crushing days,By caging nights, by scarOf thorn and stony ways,These blessings are!”　　“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。 
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 bareWhen stripped by winter, every branch protrudingIts 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 rosesWould serve for our defense,The hindrance that completely interposesStings back like thorny fence.“At first, when smarting from the shock, complainingOf 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 wendingLife’s hidden snares among,Of mercy and of judgment sweetly blending;Earths sad, but lovely song.”　　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。乔布就是这样，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。 
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.)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） 
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 SmithThe 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."　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，因为夜幕未收，此刻或许得不到久盼的曙光，但我知道，神走在我的前头危险卽在身旁，恐惧摇撼我的心，生命前途，在在使我忧愁，但我是属主的，祂知道我应走的路，更幸运的是，祂走在我的前头。疑窦投下了不详的阴影，担心人生佳境，已不复可求，唯有祂的诺言使我坚强振奋，最幸运的是，祂走在我的前头。祂走在前头，这是我的安慰，祂走在前头，我心有了寄托，祂走在前头，保证我的得救，祂走在前头，一切必然顺利。━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。 
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 MathesonTread 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 hustlersGrasps at vain and paltry things,Thou wilt see a great world risingWhere soft mystic music rings.Leave the dusty road to others,Spotless keep thy soul and bright,As the radiant ocean's surfaceWhen 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)　一月十五日“当夜耶和华向他显现” （创二十六：24）　　艾萨克上别示巴去，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。为甚么神在艾萨克到别示巴的那一夜向他显现呢？因为那一夜艾萨克进入了安息。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。艾萨克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） 
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 killThe 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 plantsStrikes deeper root, grows higher still,Spreads greater boughs, for God's good willMeets all its wants.There is no storm hath power to blastThe 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 lastStill fairer grows.━Selected.　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 
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 MuellerLuther 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.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━挺自然地如同和一个朋友谈话一般。主的同在对于他是挺实在的”。 
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 victoryTo 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 trunkSends down a deeper root on the windward side.Only the soul that knows the mighty griefCan know the mighty rapture. Sorrows comeTo stretch out spaces in the heart for joy."一月十八日　“感谢神，常帅领我们在基督里夸胜”（林后二：14）　　在人显著的失败中，神得着最完全的胜利。许多时侯，仇敌似乎得胜了，神也容让牠得胜；可是后来神终究铲除牠所有的作为，推翻牠显著的胜利，一如经上所说，“使恶人的道路颠倒”（诗篇一四六：9）。如果神不让仇敌先得势，神就不能给我们一个更大更可夸的得胜。　　三个希伯来人被掷入火窑的故事，是一个很好的例子。这里，仇敌显然胜利了。按事情看来，永活神的仆人将陷于一败涂地的光景中了。（许多时侯，我们也有这样失败的光景，同时仇敌真是欢喜。）他们跌在火焰中，他们的仇敌盼望看他们在可怕的火焰中顷刻之间化成飞灰，万想不到这三个希伯来人竟在火窑中游行自娱。这真使仇敌吃惊不小。尼布甲尼撒王叫他们从火中出来，甚至一根头发也没有烧焦，一块布也没有变色，也没有一些火燎的气味，“因为没有别神能这样施行拯救” （但三：29）　　显著的失败的结果，反是希奇的胜利。　　假定这三个希伯来人失去了信心和勇气，在受困之时怨神说： “为什么神不救我们脱离火窑呢？”他们定规会被火烧死，神也得不着荣耀了。亲爱的，今天在你的生活中若是正有一个极大的试炼，不要气馁，自认失败，仍要继续用信心藉着那能使你得胜有余的主宣告胜利，荣耀的胜利立刻就要来了。我们应当知道：在一切神应许我们进入的艰难中，神在替我们造成机会，使我们在祂里面学习信心的功课，藉着主基督夸胜，大大荣耀祂自己的名。 ━译自赞美的生命失败可能与胜利同样微妙，受憾的灵魂成就了荣耀，你看狂风中挣扎的橡树，在那挡风的一面，受压的树身，它的根却向地下长得更深更稳。唯有经历过极大的悲痛，纔能领会极大的欢欣，忧患给心灵打开喜悦之门。 
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.　　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。 
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 upturnedBy 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.　　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 
January 21
一月二十一日"…saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me…"(Acts20:23-24)We read in the book of Samuel that the moment that David was crowned at Hebron, "All the Philistines came up to seek David."(2 Sam5:17) And the moment we get anything from the Lord worth contending for, then the devil comes to seek us.When the enemy meets us at the threshold of any great work for God, let us accept it as "a token of salvation," and claim double blessing, victory, and power. Power is developed by resistance. The cannon carries twice as far because the exploding power has to find its way through resistance. The way electricity is produced in the powerhouse yonder is by the sharp friction of the revolving wheels. And so we shall find some day that even Satan has been one of God's agencies of blessing. ━ Days of Heaven upon EarthA hero is not fed on sweets,Daily his own heart he eats;Chambers of the great are jails,And head winds right for royal sails.━EmersonTribulation is the way to triumph. The valley-way opens into the highway. Tribulation's imprint is on all great things. Crowns are cast in crucibles. Chains of character that wind about the feet of God are forged in earthly flames. No man is greatest victor till he has trodden the winepress of woe. With seams of anguish deep in His brow, the "Man of Sorrows" said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation" ━ but after this sob comes the psalm of promise, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."(Jn.16:33)The footprints are traceable everywhere. Bloodmarks stain the steps that lead to thrones. Sears are the price of scepters. Our crowns will be wrested from the giants we conquer. Grief has always been the lot of greatness. It is an open secret."The mark of rank in nature.Is capacity for pain;And the anguish of the singerMakes the sweetest of the strain."Tribulation has always marked the trail of the true reformer. It is the story of Paul, Luther, Savonarola, Knox, Wesley, and all the rest of the mighty army. “…These are they who have come out of the great tribulation….”(Rev.7:14)Every great book has been written with the author's blood. "These are they that have come out of great tribulation." Who was the peerless poet of the Greeks? Homer. But that illustrious singer was blind. Who wrote the fadeless dream of "Pilgrim's Progress"? A prince in royal purple upon a couch of ease? Nay! The trailing splendor of that vision gilded the dingy walls of old Bedford jail while John Bunyan, a princely prisoner, a glorious genius, made a faithful transcript of the scene.Great is the facile conqueror;Yet haply, he, who, wounded sore,Breathless, all covered o'er with blood and sweat,Sinks fainting, but fighting evermore━Is greater yet.━Selected　“…有捆锁与患难等待我。我却不以性命为念…”（徒二十：23-24）　　我们在塞缪尔记里面看见：当戴维在希伯仑受膏作王的时候，“非利士众人就上来寻索戴维”（撒下五：17）。照样，我们在神前受宠蒙爱的时候，仇敌撒但顶不甘心，就上来寻索我们，前来拦阻我们，和我们捣乱。　　仇敌的攻击，破坏，和拦阻，我们应当看为神施行拯救的记号；这时候，就是我们向神支取加倍的祝福，胜利，和能力的机会。能力常是从拦阻中产生的。电力的产生，就是由于发电机的机轮互相摩擦（拦阻）。将来有一天我们会明白撒但也是被神利用的。━译自地上的属天生活甘脂不是英雄的粮食，他以悲哀充填心胸；监狱是伟人的第宅，顶帆最适宜于挡逆风。━埃默森　　患难是胜利的快捷方式。山路之后，就是大路。一切伟大的事业上面，都有患难的印迹的。发光的金炼，必须经过炉火的烧和锤。没有一个人配算为得胜者，除非他经历苦楚。额上有刺痕的忧患之子，说：“在世上你们有苦难”━可是在这伤心的一句之后，就来了一句应许，“但你们可以放心，我已经胜了世界”（约十六：33）。主在世上留下的脚踪，原是叫我们跟随祂的。那带血的脚步，是引领我们上宝座的。伤斑是铁杖的代价。我们的冠冕必须花力争夺的。这些都是公开的秘密。造化的标准，以耐苦为度量。确定人格高低。最美的声乐，出于歌者的。回肠荡气，哀惋悲凄。　　先圣都曾经过许多患难━保罗，马丁路得，撒房那罗拉，拿克司，韦斯利以及一切大能的先锋。他们都从患难进入掌权的地位。将来环绕在宝座前唱诗赞美的人们，他们都是“…从大患难中出来的…”（启七：14）　　每一本伟大的著作都是作者血的结晶。谁是希腊的大诗人？鸿谟。他是一个盲人。谁是写那部不朽之作“天路历程”的？是一个穿紫袍，享受安乐的王子吗？不是！乃是培德福牢狱中的一个囚犯本仁约翰。伟大的战士，矫健如游龙。意外地受了创伤，混身血汗，屏息再向敌人进攻，到力竭倒地，还不肯收敛刀锋。伟大，伟大，浩气贯苍穹。━选 
January 22
"Into a desert place apart." (Matt. 14:13)"There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it." In our whole life-melody the music is broken off here and there by "rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, disappointed plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives; and we lament that our voices must be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the "rest"? See him beat the time with unvarying count, and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come between.Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the tune, and not be dismayed at the "rests." They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not to destroy the melody, not to change the keynote. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we sadly say to ourselves, "There is no music in a 'rest,'" let us not forget "there is the making of music in it." The making of music is often a slow and painful process in this life. How patiently God works to teach us! How long He waits for us to learn the lesson! – Ruskin"Called aside—From the glad working of thy busy life,From the world's ceaseless stir of care and strife,Into the shade and stillness by thy Heavenly GuideFor a brief space thou hast been called aside."Called aside—Perhaps into a desert garden dim;And yet not alone, when thou hast been with Him,And heard His voice in sweetest accents say:'Child, wilt thou not with Me this still hour stay?'"Called aside—In hidden paths with Christ thy Lord to tread,Deeper to drink at the sweet Fountainhead,Closer in fellowship with Him to roam,Nearer, perchance, to feel thy Heavenly Home."Called aside—Oh, knowledge deeper grows with Him alone;In secret of His deeper love is shown,And learnt in many an hour of dark distressSome rare, sweet lesson of His tenderness."Called aside—We thank thee for the stillness and the shade;We thank Thee for the hidden paths Thy love hath made,And, so that we have wept and watched with Thee,We thank Thee for our dark Gethsemane."Called aside—Oh, restful thought━He doeth all things well;Oh, blessed sense, with Christ alone to dwell;So in the shadow of Thy cross to hide,We thank Thee, Lord, to have been called aside."一月二十二日“退到野地里去” （太十四：13）　　在音乐谱中有一种符号，叫做休止符。当音乐奏到休止符时，声音完全停止；这常是音乐最精采之处。我们的一生，也如音乐一般，时时有休止符，可是我们顶愚昧，以为这些休止符是我们的末路和尽头，一生就完毕于此。神常叫我们失败，病痛，挫折，失业，我们就非常悲哀，以为我们的人生音乐从此不能再达到造物者的耳中了。可是让我们看，音乐家如何对付这些休止符呢？他们照常击拍，在休止符之后，重奏音乐，一若中间并无甚么间断。　　神编我们一生的乐章，并非没有计划的。我们只管按谱奏乐，不必怕遇见休止符而恐惶。它们是不能删去的，因为一删去就会破坏音乐的精采。如果我们仰望我们音乐的导师“神” 祂自己正在为我们击拍，我们的本分只是按照祂的指导奏乐；奏到休止符的时候，虽然音乐停止了，可是请记得：这是音乐的精采处。过了一拍子之久，音乐就要从新奏起。让我们学习这功课。━罗斯金招呼你━离开忙碌紧张的生活，离开你不断搅扰的尘世烦腻，天国的向导招呼你暂到一旁，在宁静的荫蔽中作片刻休憩。招呼你━虽是一所杳无人迹的荒园但你并不孤独，因为祂与你同在，祂以最柔美的声调向你问道：“孩子：你岂不愿意与我共此安静一刻？”招呼你━去和主耶稣同步幽深，溯源一尝甘泉的清澄，你和祂影形不离，想携漫游，已经接近了天国的家庭。招呼你━和祂单独相处，增进了渊博智慧，祂的挚爱常在幽秘中显明表征，在许多寂寞凄凉的夜晚，你将得到出自祂深情的珍贵良箴。招呼你━我们感谢主所赐的宁静和荫蔽，我们感谢主，祢以爱所辟出的蹊径，因此我们虽流着泪而注视祢。感谢主，祢为了我们黑暗的客西马尼。招呼你━想到祂完成了一切，我们就获得平安，和基督单独相处，幸福美好无比，我们躲在祢十字架的荫影下，主啊，感谢祢招呼我们在祢一边。 
January 23
"Why standest thou afar off, O Lord?" (Psalm 10:1)　God is "a very present help in trouble." (Ps.46:1)But He permits trouble to pursue us, as though He were indifferent to its overwhelming pressure, that we may be brought to the end of ourselves, and led to discover the treasure of darkness, the unmeasurable gains of tribulation. We may be sure that He who permits the suffering is with us in it. It may be that we shall see Him only when the trial is passing; but we must dare to believe that He never leaves the crucible. Our eyes are holden; and we cannot behold Him whom our soul loveth. It is dark━the bandages blind us so that we cannot see the form of our High Priest; but He is there, deeply touched. Let us not rely on feeling, but on faith in His unswerving fidelity; and though we see Him not, let us talk to Him. Directly we begin to speak to Jesus, as being literally present, though His presence is veiled, there comes an answering voice which shows that He is in the shadow, keeping watch upon His own. Your Father is as near when you journey through the dark tunnel as when under the open heaven! ━Daily Devotional Commentary"What though the path be all unknown?What though the way be drear?Its shades I traverse not aloneWhen steps of Thine are near."　　一月二十三日“耶和华啊，祢为甚么站在远处？“ （诗十：1）　　神确然是我们“在患难中随时的帮助”（诗四十六：1）。但是祂常常一面许可患难追逼我们，一面又自己站在远处隐藏起来好似不关心我们的样子，这样好叫我们自己的帮助告一结束，而看见从患难中能得到无限的教训和益处。让我们深信那许可患难临到我们的神，是和我们一同在患难中。也许要等到试炼过去的时候，我们纔能看见祂；可是我们敢相信祂从来没有离开过我们。我们的眼睛迷糊了；我们不能看见祂。在黑暗中我们的眼睛似乎是瞎了，不能看见我们大祭司的影踪；但是祂终究和我们同在，和我们深深地接触着。让我们不依靠感觉，不凭眼见，惟独根据于神是信实的；虽然我们看不见祂，让我们和祂说话。我们一开始和祂说话，深信祂的同在，虽然祂的同在我们看不见，我们就会得到祂答应的声音，这就证明祂在黑暗中始终眷顾我们。我们无论在黑暗的通道中，无论在光明的天路中，我们的父是一样偎近我们的。━译自日诚报卽使途径陌生，这有何妨？卽使道路艰难，又有何妨？我并非在黑暗中独自彷徨因为你的脚步就在近边。 
January 24
"But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him...And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf." (Gen. 8:9-11)God knows just when to withhold from us any visible sign of encouragement, and when to grant us such a sign. How good it is that we may trust Him anyway! When all visible evidences that He is remembering us are withheld, that is best; He wants us to realize that His Word, His promise of remembrance, is more substantial and dependable than any evidence of our senses. When He sends the visible evidence, that is well also; we appreciate it all the more after we have trusted Him without it. Those who are readiest to trust God without other evidence than His Word always receive the greatest number of visible evidences of His love. ━C. G. Trumbull"Believing Him; if storm-clouds gather darkly 'round,And even if the heaven seem brass, without a sound?He hears each prayer and even notes the sparrow's fall."And praising Him; when sorrow, grief, and pain are near,And even when we lose the thing that seems most dear?Our loss is gain. Praise Him; in Him we have our All."Our hand in His; e'en though the path seems long and drearWe scarcely see a step ahead, and almost fear?He guides aright. He has it thus to keep us near."And satisfied; when every path is blocked and bare,And worldly things are gone and dead which were so fair?Believe and rest and trust in Him, He comes to stay."Delays are not refusals; many a prayer is registered, and underneath it the words: "My time is not yet come." God has a set time as well as a set purpose, and He who orders the bounds of our habitation orders also the time of our deliverance. ━Selected　　一月二十四日“但…鸽子找不着落脚之地就回到…挪亚那里…到了晚上，鸽子回到他那里，嘴里叼着一个…橄榄叶子“ （创八：9-11）　　神知道甚么时候该不给我们看得见的凭据，甚么时候给我们看得见的凭据。我们若能完全信靠祂，这是何等美好的一件事呢？当所有眼见的凭据都收回了的时候，是最美好的时候；因为神的美旨是要我们承认：祂的话语，祂的应许，祂的恩约，比我们眼见的一切凭据更实在，更可靠。神若给我们眼见的凭据，也好；也是可宝贵的。那些只信神的话而不用其它凭据的人们，常得到许多看得见的凭据。━崔伦保相信祂；卽使暴风欲来，乌云盖天，即使穹苍如铜号，却默然无声，祂听清楚你的祷告中的每一句言语，甚之连麻雀轻轻落地之声祂都听闻。赞美祂，如果忧愁悲痛已到眼前，卽使连我们以为最亲爱的事物遭受损失！可是损失卽是获得，赞美祂，从神那里什么都全备。祂紧握我们的手，纵使路途遥远又可怖，战兢恐惧前途一步亦看不清，祂正在引导我，只要我紧紧依附祂！当人世一切珍贵如浮云消散，荒凉寂寞，走头无路，你该满足，因为信靠了祂，绝对不会使你缺任何。　　暂缓不是拒绝。许多祷告上批着：“我的时候还没有到”。神有规定的旨意也有规定的时间。━选 
January 25
"…Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…." (Psa. 23:4)At my father's house in the country there is a little closet in the chimney corner where are kept the canes and walking-sticks of several generations of our family. In my visits to the old house, when my father and I are going out for a walk, we often go to the cane closet, and pick out our sticks to suit the fancy of the occasion. In this I have frequently been reminded that the Word of God is a staff.During the war, when the season of discouragement and impending danger was upon us, the verse, "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord," (Ps.112:7) was a staff to walk with many dark days.When death took away our child and left us almost heartbroken, I found another staff in the promise that "weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning."(Ps.30:5)When in impaired health, I was exiled for a year, not knowing whether I should be permitted to return to my home and work again, I took with me this staff which never failed, "He knoweth the thoughts that he thinketh toward me, thoughts of peace and not of evil."(Jer.29:11)In times of special danger or doubt, when human judgment has seemed to be set at naught, I have found it easy to go forward with this staff, "……In quietness and confidence shall be your strength……."(Is.30:15) And in emergencies, when there has seemed to be no adequate time for deliberation or for action, I have never found that this staff has failed me, "……He that believeth shall not make haste."(Is.28:16) ━Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, in The Outlook."I had never known," said Martin Luther's wife, "what such and such things meant, in such and such psalms, such complaints and workings of spirit; I had never understood the practice of Christian duties, had not God brought me under some affliction." It is very true that God's rod is as the schoolmaster's pointer to the child, pointing out the letter, that he may the better take notice of it; thus He pointeth out to us many good lessons which we should never otherwise have learned. –Selected"God always sends His staff with His rod.""Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut. 33:25).Each of us may be sure that if God sends us on stony paths He will provide us with strong shoes, and He will not send us out on any journey for which He does not equip us well. –Maclaren.一月二十五日“…祢的杖，祢的竿，都安慰我…” （诗廿三：4）　　在我父亲的家中有一个小房间，里面藏着我家几代所用的许多手杖。有的是爬山用的，有的是走平坦大道用的，有的是走泥泞之地用的，有的是雨后雪后行路用的，每种手杖的样式各不相同。有时我回故乡去探望父亲，他老人家常喜欢和我出外散步；每次出发之前，我们总先到手杖室中去拣选我们那一次所适用的手杖。因此我常常想起神的话语是我们生活中的手杖，会给我无限帮助和安慰。　　在打仗的时候，紧急的风声使我们心慌意乱，神给我们的杖是：“他必不怕凶恶的信息；他心坚定，依靠耶和华”（诗一一二：7）。这杖扶持我们经过许多黑暗的日子。　　当死亡夺去我们的孩子，使我们心碎的时候，我在应许中找到另一根安慰的杖：“……一宿虽然有哭泣，早晨便必欢呼”（诗三十：5）　　有一次我病倒了，在外养病有一年之久，在这时期中我不知道究竟我是否再会恢复，再能回到我的家中去，再担任我以前的工作。在这样没有指望之中，我始终抓住神的杖。“耶和华说，我知道我向你们所怀的意念，是赐平安的意念，不是降灾祸的意念…”（耶廿九：11）　　在危险或疑惧的时候，人的评判都说“完了”的时候，我发见了一根带领我安然过去的杖：“……你们得力在乎平静安稳……”（赛三十：15）。在遇到意外事情的时候，似乎没有一点工夫可以设法补救了，我发现了一根从来没有误过我的杖：“……信靠的人必不着急“（赛二十八：16）━亚保德便雅悯　　马丁路得的妻子说：“如果神不叫我经过苦难，我永远不会知道诗篇中这些话语是甚么意思；我也永远不会明白基督徒的责任是甚么。“真的，神的杖好像教员指示孩子识字的教鞭一般，指到某一个字，孩子就注意这一个字；照样，神指导我们许多有益的功课，是我们在别的地方永不会学到的。━选　　“神总是用祂的竿和杖指引我们。”　　“你的鞋是铜的，铁的。你的日子如何，你的力量也必如何”（申三十三：25）　　让我们记得：如果神要我们走在坚固的石路上，祂必先给我们穿上铁鞋或铜鞋；祂决不会不先替我们预备好了，就差我们出外去走崎岖的路。━麦克劳 
January 26
"...I have begun to give;...begin to possess."(Deut. 2:31)A great deal is said in the Bible about waiting for God. The lesson cannot be too strongly enforced. We easily grow impatient of God's delays. Much of our trouble in life comes out of our restless, sometimes reckless, haste. We cannot wait for the fruit to ripen, but insist on plucking it while it is green. We cannot wait for the answers to our prayers, although the things we ask for may require long years in their preparation for us. We are exhorted to walk with God; but ofttimes God walks very slowly. But there is another phase of the lesson. God often waits for us.We fail many times to receive the blessing He has ready for us, because we do not go forward with Him. While we miss much good through not waiting for God, we also miss much through over-waiting. There are times when our strength is to sit still, but there are also times when we are to go forward with a firm step.There are many Divine promises which are conditioned upon the beginning of some action on our part. When we begin to obey, God will begin to bless us. Great things were promised to Abraham, but not one of them could have been obtained by waiting in Chaldea. He must leave home, friends, and country, and go out into unknown paths and press on in unfaltering obedience in order to receive the promises. The ten lepers were told to show themselves to the priest, and "as they went they were cleansed." (Lk.17:14) If they had waited to see the cleansing come in their flesh before they would start, they would never have seen it. God was waiting to cleanse them; and the moment their faith began to work, the blessing came.When the Israelites were shut in by a pursuing army at the Red Sea, they were commanded to "……Go forward." Their duty was no longer one of waiting, but of rising up from bended knees and going forward in the way of heroic faith. They were commanded to show their faith at another time by beginning their march over the Jordan while the river ran to its widest banks. The key to unlock the gate into the Land of Promise they held in their own hands, and the gate would not turn on its hinges until they had approached it and unlocked it. That key was faith. We are set to fight certain battles. We say we can never be victorious; that we never can conquer these enemies; but, as we enter the conflict, One comes and fights by our side, and through Him we are more than conquerors. If we had waited, trembling and fearing, for our Helper to come before we would join the battle, we should have waited in vain. This would have been the over-waiting of unbelief. God is waiting to pour richest blessings upon you. Press forward with bold confidence and take what is yours. "I have begun to give, begin to possess." ━J. R. Miller　一月二十六日“……从此起首，……交给你，你要得……为业”（申二：31）　　圣经中常讲起信徒该怎样等待神，这个真理不能太偏于一面。诚然，有许多时候我们顶容易不耐神的迟延。我们生活中多少的烦恼都是出于自己的纷扰，鲁莽和焦急。我们不能等果子成熟，只管把青色的果子采下来。我们不能耐心等待我们祷告的答应，不管所求的须有较长时间的预备。我们想和神同行，不料神行得很慢。这些都是我们的失败，不能耐心等候神。然而圣经中还有另一方面的真理。就是神常等待我们，可惜我们总是耽误神。　　多少时候，我们没有得到神已经为我们预备好了的祝福，因为我们不上前去接受。虽然有时我们的损失，是因为不等待神；但是多少时候我们的损失，也是因为待得过度了。有的时候，我们应该静坐；也有时候，我们应该迈步上前。　　圣经中有许多的应许都是带条件的。在我们方面必须先有条件的履行，然后神方面纔有应许的实现。我们开始顺服的时候，神就开始祝福我们。神给亚伯拉罕许多的应许；可是这许多应许之中，没有一个能彀实现，当亚伯拉罕还等在迦勒底的时候。他必须先离开本乡，本族，本家，以及一切的朋友到一个异乡去，然后神纔一件一件成就祂的应许。主肯医治十个长大麻疯的，对他们说：“你们去把身体给祭司察看；”他们在甚么时候得医治的？“他们去的时候就洁净了”（路十七：14）。如果他们等待，要先看见他们的肉洁净了，然后再去，他们决不会得到医治。神等待去洁净他们，只消他们的信心一开始活动，祝福就来了。　　当以色列人被仇敌追逼到红海的时候，神吩咐他们“……往前走”（出十四：15）。他们的责任不是等待，乃是鼓着勇敢的信心起来往前走。还有一次，当他们渡过泛滥两岸的约旦河时，他们必须先有信心伸足入水。信心是一把钥匙一把开入应许之地的门的钥匙。这把钥匙是在他们自己的手中，他们若不走近那门，用钥匙去开门的话，门就决不会自动开启的。哦，信徒们，今日我们是命定在世争战的。当然我们决不能得胜，竟不堪仇敌一击；然而，我们凭信心冲过前线的时候，就有那唯一的得胜者来到我们身边，替我们争战；靠着祂，我们已经得胜有余了。如果我们犹疑，战兢，等候那得胜者先来了，然后向前争战。我们定规空等。这就是不信的过度等候。神今天在等待，要厚厚地赐福与我们。我们应该用勇敢的信心前去接受。“从此起首，我要…交给你，你要得…为业。”━密勒 
January 27
"……Stablish, strengthen, settle you."(1 Peter 5:10)In taking Christ in any new relationship, we must first have sufficient intellectual light to satisfy our mind that we are entitled to stand in this relationship. The shadow of a question here will wreck our confidence. Then, having seen this, we must make the venture, the committal, the choice, and take the place just as definitely as the tree is planted in the soil, or the bride gives herself away at the marriage altar. It must be once for all, without reserve, without recall.Then there is a season of establishing, settling and testing, during which we must "stay put" until the new relationship gets so fixed as to become a permanent habit. It is just the same as when the surgeon sets the broken arm. He puts it in splints to keep it from vibration. So God has His spiritual splints that He wants to put upon His children and keep them quiet and unmoved until they pass the first stage of faith. It is not always easy work for us, "but the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after that ye have suffered awhile, stablish, strengthen, settle you." ━A.B. Simpson.There is a natural law in sin and sickness; and if we just let ourselves go and sink into the trend of circumstances, we shall go down and sink under the power of the tempter. But there is another law of spiritual life and of physical life in Christ Jesus to which we can rise, and through which we can counterpoise and overcome the other law that bears us down.But to do this requires real spiritual energy and fixed purpose and a settled posture and habit of faith. It is just the same as when we use the power in our factory. We must turn on the belt and keep it on. The power is there, but we must keep the connection; and while we do so, the higher power will work and all the machinery will be in operation.There is a spiritual law of choosing, believing, abiding, and holding steady in our walk with God, which is essential to the working of the Holy Ghost either in our sanctification or healing. ━Days of Heaven upon Earth.一月二十七日“那赐诸般恩典的神，曾在基督里召你们，得享祂永远的荣耀，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）　　当我们和基督结合进入新的关系之时，我们首先要有足够的智慧使自己认识，我们应该始终保持这个关系。在这开头，任何疑问的阴影，都会破坏我们的亲密。看清了这一点之后，我们必须大胆作承担的抉择，就象树木种在泥土中，或新娘在礼坛前许配终身一样，确定自己的地位。必须永远不渝，既无保留，亦无反悔的余地。　　然后，要经过一段试炼和培植的时期，在这个期间，我们必须坚毅稳定，直到新的关系变为根深蒂固的常规。臂膊折了骨，使它避免任何震动。神也要给祂的子女按上了精神的夹板，使他们安定不动，直到他们通过信心的第一阶段。对于我们，这不一定是容易的，“但赐我们以一切恩典的神，曾在基督里召你们，得享祂永远的荣耀，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”。━辛浦生　　罪恶和病患，都有一条相通的自然律；如果我们让自己去陷入它们的不良趋势之中，我们就会沉沦下去，落入魔鬼的掌握。但在耶稣基督里，另有一条关于精神生活和肉体生活的定律，可使我们超升，藉此抵制或克服那另一条使我们沉沦的自然律。　　但要达到此目的，必须具有真正的精神力量，坚决的志愿，安定的情绪，和恒常的信心。这就象我们在工厂里运用动力一样。我们必须使轮机继续运转。因为动力是存在的，但我们必须保持联系，有了这个联系之后，动力发生了作用，整个机器也就开动了。　　有一条精神生活的定律，要我们在和神同行时，有选择的决断，有信仰的恒心，和坚固的执着，圣灵之使我们神圣化和救治我们，这条定律是整个紧要的关键。━地上属天生活　 
January 28
"I am jealous over you with God's own jealousy." (2 Cor. 11:2) (Weymouth.)How an old harper dotes on his harp! How he fondles and caresses it, as a child resting on his bosom! His life is bound up in it. But, see him tuning it. He grasps it firmly, strikes a chord with a sharp, quick blow; and while it quivers as if in pain, he leans over intently to catch the first note that rises. The note, as he feared, is false and harsh. He strains the chord with the torturing thumb-screw; and though it seems ready to snap with the tension, he strikes it again, bending down to listen softly as before, till at length you see a smile on his face as the first true tone trembles upward.So it may be that God is dealing with you. Loving you better than any harper loves his harp, He finds you a mass of jarring discords. He wrings your heartstrings with some torturing anguish; He bends over you tenderly, striking and listening; and, hearing only a harsh murmur, strikes you again, while His heart bleeds for you, anxiously waiting for that strain━"Not my will, but thine be done"(Lk.22:42) ━which is melody sweet to His ear as angels' songs.Nor will He cease to strike until your chastened soul shall blend with all the pure and infinite harmonies of His own being. ━Selected"Oh, the sweetness that dwells in a harp of many strings,While each, all vocal with love in a tuneful harmony rings!But, oh, the wail and the discord,when one and another is rent,Tensionless, broken and lost, from the cherished instrument."For rapture of love is linked with the pain or fear of loss,And the hand that takes the crown,must ache with many a cross;Yet he who hath never a conflict,hath never a victor's palm,And only the toilers know the sweetness of rest and calm."Only between the storms can the Alpine traveller knowTranscendent glory of clearness,marvels of gleam and glow;Had he the brightness unbroken of cloudless summer days, This had been dimmed by the dust and the veil of a brooding haze."Who would dare the choice, neither or both to know,The finest quiver of joy or the agony thrill of woe!Never the exquisite pain, then never the exquisite bliss,For the heart that is dull to that can never be strung to this."一月二十八日　“我为你们起的愤恨，原是神那样的愤恨”（林后十一：2）　　一个善奏古琴的琴师，何等宠爱他的古琴呢！他把它怀抱在胸中，抚它，亲它，偎它！他和它相依为命。可是，你看他怎样调整弦音。他把它紧紧握住，用力地在弦上拨一下；弦立刻震颤，好似惊痛之下的战栗；他侧耳细听，觉得弦音粗浮，还未准确。于是他把弦绞紧；弹拨再三，直等到它能发出柔和准确的声音来。他脸上纔露出笑容，点头满意。　　亲爱的，其实神也是如此对待你。祂爱你远胜琴师爱琴，祂发现你的声音不和谐。祂把你紧紧抓住，用力拨你的心弦；祂侧耳细听，岂知你所发的声音仍是咒诅和怨言；祂只得绞紧你的心弦，再拨，再弹，直等你的声音是赞美，感谢，和“不要成就我的意思，只要成就你的意思”（路二十二：42）━神所最喜听的音乐。这是像天使歌唱一样，祂所最爱听的音乐。直到你纯洁化了的灵魂，和祂完全一致，乳水交融，否则祂决不停止祂的乐器音阶的调整。━选竖琴有许多琴弦，在爱的旋律中震颤，一一和谐合拍，流露出蕴蓄的甜美。忽有一二弦蓦地断裂崩弛，破坏了紧凑，就如不起波澜的一泓死水。爱的狂喜和伤痛相连，取得王冠的手，必曾受过许多苦难和酸痛；未曾争鬬的人，不会有得胜者的荣誉，经过了辛苦，才能领略休息和平静的美梦。阿尔卑斯山的游客，唯有在两场风雨之间，才能欣赏天空的明净和霞光的奇观；如果夏天永远碧空无云，也会有十丈红尘飞扬迷漫。悲哀与快乐，谁也不能作分别的选择，两者，必须都有体念，否则懵懂恍惚，无所知悉，没有非常的痛苦，就没有非常的福祉，对苦痛麻木的心灵，对福祉也不会敏感。 
January 29
"…God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early."(Psa. 46:2, 3, 5)"Shall not be moved"━what an inspiring declaration! Can it be possible that we, who are so easily moved by the things of earth, can arrive at a place where nothing can upset us or disturb our calm? Yes, it is possible; and the Apostle Paul knew it. When he was on his way to Jerusalem where he foresaw that "bonds and afflictions" (Acts.20:23) awaited him, he could say triumphantly, "But none of these things move me."(verse 24) Everything in Paul's life and experience that could be shaken had been shaken, and he no longer counted his life, or any of life's possessions, dear to him. And we, if we will but let God have His way with us, may come to the same place, so that neither the fret and tear of little things of life, nor the great and heavy trials, can have power to move us from the peace that passeth understanding, which is declared to be the portion of those who have learned to rest only on God."Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God; and he shall go no more out." (Rev.3:12) To be as immovable as a pillar in the house of our God, is an end for which one would gladly endure all the shakings that may be necessary to bring us there! ━Hannah Whitall SmithWhen God is in the midst of a kingdom or city He makes it as firm as Mount Zion, that cannot be removed. When He is in the midst of a soul, though calamities throng about it on all hands, and roar like the billows of the sea, yet there is a constant calm within, such a peace as the world can neither give nor take away. What is it but want of lodging God in the soul, and that in His stead the world is in men's hearts, that makes them shake like leaves at every blast of danger? ━Archbishop Leighton"They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever." (Ps.125:1) There is a quaint old Scottish version that puts iron into our blood:"Who sticketh to God in stable trustAs Zion's mount he stands full just,Which moveth no whit, nor yet doth reel,But standeth forever as stiff as steel!"一月二十九日“…神在其中，城必不动摇；到天一亮，神必帮助这城” （诗四十六：5）　　“必不动摇”━这是何等的宣言！像我们这样最容易给属地的东西所摇动的人，竟可以到一个地步，没有一件东西能彀摇动或是颠覆我们？是的，这是绝对可能的事；使徒保罗就懂得这一个秘诀。在他到耶路撒冷去的路上，他已经预见前面“有捆锁与患难等待”（徒二十：23），可是他能彀坦然说，“这些东西没有一件可以摇动我”（24节）。保罗一生中间，凡是可以摇动的东西，都已经摇动掉了；他并不以性命为念，也不以他所有的为宝贵。照样，我们如果愿意让神按照祂的方法对付我们，如同对付保罗一般，我们也能彀达到同样的地步：没有一件琐碎的事情，也没有一件重大的试炼，能彀摇动我们离开平安了。这样的平安，只有完全安息在神里面的人们纔有分的。　　“得胜的，我要叫他在我神殿中作柱子，他也必不再从那里出去”（启三：12）。在我神殿中作柱子是不能摇动的；这就是欢喜忍受一切环境的震动的结果！━司密斯　　当神在一个城中，祂使那城象锡安山一般坚固，不能移动分毫。当祂在我们里面，虽然四周有骇浪怒涛，狂风暴雨，可是在我们里面仍有恒久的平安；这种平安，是世界所不能给我们的，也是世界所不能夺去我们的。在我们里面是神，在世人里面是世界；这就是为甚么我们能有平安，而他们当风浪来的时候，就会像叶子那样飘摇不定。━雷登　　“倚靠耶和华的人，好像锡安山，永不动摇”（诗一二五：1）。有一首苏格兰古诗，能在我们的血液中注入铁一般的力量：以坚定的信心依靠神，像锡安山那样站稳脚跟，永远屹立，像钢铁般的，不摇撼，也不移动毫分。 
January 30
"I will be as the dew unto Israel." (Hosea 14:5)The dew is a source of freshness. It is nature's provision for renewing the face of the earth. It falls at night, and without it the vegetation would die. It is this great value of the dew which is so often recognized in the Scriptures. It is used as the symbol of spiritual refreshing. Just as nature is bathed in dew, so the Lord renews His people. In Titus 3:5 the same thought of spiritual refreshing is connected with the ministry of the Holy Ghost━"renewing of the Holy Ghost."Many Christian workers do not recognize the importance of the heavenly dew in their lives, and as a result they lack freshness and vigor. Their spirits are drooping for lack of dew.Beloved fellow-worker, you recognize the folly of a laboring man attempting to do his day's work without eating. Do you recognize the folly of a servant of God attempting to minister without eating of the heavenly manna? Nor will it suffice to have spiritual nourishment occasionally. Every day you must receive the renewing of the Holy Ghost. You know when your whole being is pulsating with the vigor and freshness of Divine life and when you feel jaded and worn. Quietness and absorption bring the dew. At night when the leaf and blade are still, the vegetable pores are open to receive the refreshing and invigorating bath; so spiritual dew comes from quiet lingering in the Master's presence. Get still before Him. Haste will prevent your receiving the dew. Wait before God until you feel saturated with His presence; then go forth to your next duty with the conscious freshness and vigor of Christ. ━Dr. Pardington.Dew will never gather while there is either heat or wind. The temperature must fall, and the wind cease, and the air come to a point of coolness and rest━absolute rest, so to speak━before it can yield up its invisible particles of moisture to bedew either herb or flower. So the grace of God does not come forth to rest the soul of man until the still point is fairly and fully reached. ━Selected"Drop Thy still dews of quietness,Till all our strivings cease:Take from our souls the strain and stress;And let our ordered lives confessThe beauty of Thy peace."Breathe through the pulses of desireThy coolness and Thy balm;Let sense be dumb, its beats expire:Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,O still small voice of calm!"一月三十日“我必向以色列如甘露” （何十四：5）　　露是代表新鲜，朝气，活泼。神降露原是为着更新大地，滋润花草。圣经中也常说起露，用来表明属灵的更新。神常藉圣灵更新祂的子民，犹如用露更新大地一般。在提多三章五章所说的：“圣灵的更新”就是讲圣灵有露珠一般的执事。　　许多神的仆人不懂得属灵的露珠在他们生命中的重要。结果，他们没有活泼，缺乏朝气。他们的灵性下沉（甚至枯萎）就是因为没有灵露的更新。　　亲爱的同工，你想一个工人能不吃东西，而整天作工么？你想一个神的工人能不吃属灵的吗哪，而专一事奉么？不，绝对不能。偶然吃一次也是不彀的。你必须每天接受圣灵的更新当作你灵性的滋养。怎样去接受神的灵露呢？安静，吸收。到了深夜寂静时，花草叶子的气孔都张开了，这时候正是他们受露珠的时候；属灵的露珠也是这样，当我们在神前安静等待的时候，我们就会得到更新和滋润。急躁不会叫你得到甚么。安静等待，直到你浸沉在主的同在里；然后带着基督的新鲜和活泼到工场里去。━巴亭登　　有风或是有热的时候，露珠凝结不起来。风必须平静，热度必须下降，大气必须到又静又冷的一点，露珠纔能凝结在叶子或花瓣上。照样，神更新的恩典，也是如此；必须等到你的火气退去，你灵安静，然后神纔降甘露滋润你。━选滴下祢安静的灵珠，让我们也一切宁静，卸却灵魂的紧张与重负，在生活中反映出祢的美丽和平意境。为人欲而奔腾的脉搏，需要一剂镇定与清凉，不必再狂跳和慌张，风火地震的大变动中，依旧宁静安详。 
January 31
"He giveth quietness." (Job 34:29)Quietness amid the dash of the storm. We sail the lake with Him still; and as we reach its middle waters, far from land, under midnight skies, suddenly a great storm sweeps down. Earth and hell seem arrayed against us, and each billow threatens to overwhelm. Then He arises from His sleep, and rebukes the winds and the waves; His hand waves benediction and repose over the rage of the tempestuous elements. His voice is heard above the scream of the wind in the cordage and the conflict of the billows, "Peace, be still!" Can you not hear it? And there is instantly a great calm. "He giveth quietness." Quietness amid the loss of inward consolations. He sometimes withdraws these, because we make too much of them. We are tempted to look at our joy, our ecstasies, our transports, or our visions, with too great complacency. Then love for love's sake, withdraws them. But, by His grace, He leads us to distinguish between them and Himself. He draws nigh, and whispers the assurance of His presence. Thus an infinite calm comes to keep our heart and mind. "He giveth quietness.""He giveth quietness." O Elder Brother,Whose homeless feet have pressed our path of pain,Whose hands have borne the burden of our sorrow,That in our losses we might find our gain."Of all Thy gifts and infinite consolings,I ask but this: in every troubled hourTo hear Thy voice through all the tumults stealing,And rest serene beneath its tranquil power."Cares cannot fret me if my soul be dwellingIn the still air of faith's untroubled day;Grief cannot shake me if I walk beside thee,My hand in Thine along the darkening way."Content to know there comes a radiant morningWhen from all shadows I shall find release,Serene to wait the rapture of its dawning—Who can make trouble when Thou sendest peace?"一月三十一日“祂使人安静“ （伯三十四：29）　　神能在风浪中给人安静。今天我们仍旧和祂一同在船中；在深夜离岸甚远，船到了湖中心的时候，忽然起了暴风，甚至船被波浪掩盖。这时候似乎世人联络一致地逼迫我们，地狱张了口等待吞吃我们，每一个波浪威胁我们。在这样绝望的光景中，主顶镇静地起来，斥责风和浪。在祂一挥手之下，祝福来了，风浪去了，风号浪湃，不能混乱祂的声音，“住了罢，静了罢”（可四：39）。你听见祂的声音么？“祂使人安静“。这安静不是普通的安静，乃是在失去指望和安慰中的安静。有时候祂故意把指望和安慰从我们收回，因为我们太注重这些了。我们顶容易专看喜乐，奋心，盼望，安慰，经历，恩赐，异象等等过于看主。所以为了爱的缘故，主把这些暂时收回；好叫我们靠着祂的恩典，分辨主所赐的和主自己。但是当我们以为失去了一切福份的时候，主就来了，叫我们尝到祂同在的滋味。这时候我们因为有了祂自己，就忘记了祂所收回的，心中只觉得无限的安静。“祂使人安静”。“祂使人安静”基督流浪的脚步，曾踏过我们痛苦的荒径，祂的双手担承过我们悲愁的重负，祂使人安宁，丧失之中找到新的生命。在祢一切的赐予和无尽的安慰中，我只祈求：在遭遇困难的时际，听到祢的声音隐隐穿过一切喧嚣，使我在它安静的力量下泰然休憩。只要我灵魂寓于平静的信仰，一切忧虑都不能使我心焦，只要祢握着我的手，我走在祢身旁，一切悲痛都不能使我动摇。光明的早晨将使黑暗消散，知道了这一点，我已心满意足，我将静待黎明时分的狂喜，谁还能扰乱祢所赐的安宁平静？ 
February 1
"This thing is from me." (1 Kings 12:24)
"Life's disappointments are veiled love's appointments."━Rev. C. A. Fox
My child, I have a message for you today; let me whisper it in your ear, that it may gild with glory any storm clouds which may arise, and smooth the rough places upon which you may have to tread. It is short, only five words, but let them sink into your inmost soul; use them as a pillow upon which to rest your weary head. This thing is from ME.
Have you ever thought of it, that all that concerns you concerns Me too? For, "……he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye" (Zech. 2:8). “…You are very precious in My sight….” (Isa.43:4) Therefore, it is My special delight to educate you.
I would have you learn when temptations assail you, and the "…enemy comes in like a flood,…"(Is.59:19) that this thing is from Me, that your weakness needs My might, and your safety lies in letting Me fight for you
Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, who never consult your taste, who put you in the background? This thing is from Me. I am the God of circumstances. Thou camest not to thy place by accident, it is the very place God meant for thee.
Have you not asked to be made humble? See then, I have placed you in the very school where this lesson is taught; your surroundings and companions are only working out My will.
Are you in money difficulties? Is it hard to make both ends meet? This thing is from Me, for I am your purse-bearer and would have you draw from and depend upon Me. My supplies are limitless (Phil.4:19). I would have you prove my promises. Let it not be said of you, "…In this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God" (Deut. 1:32).
Are you passing through a night of sorrow? This thing is from Me. I am the Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief. I have let earthly comforters fail you, that by turning to Me you may obtain everlasting consolation (2 Thess. 2:16-17). Have you longed to do some great work for Me and instead have been laid aside on a bed of pain and weakness? This thing is from Me. I could not get your attention in your busy days and I want to teach you some of my deepest lessons. "They also serve who only stand and wait." Some of My greatest workers are those shut out from active service, that they may learn to wield the weapon of all-prayer.
This day I place in your hand this pot of holy oil. Make use of it free, my child. Let every circumstance that arises, every word that pains you, every interruption that would make you impatient, every revelation of your weakness be anointed with it. The sting will go as you learn to see Me in all things. ━Laura A. Barter Snow
"'This is from Me,' the Saviour said,
As bending low He kissed my brow,
'For One who loves you thus has led.
Just rest in Me, be patient now,
Your Father knows you have need of this,
Tho', why perchance you cannot see.━
Grieve not for things you've seemed to miss.
The thing I send is best for thee."'
"Then, looking through my tears, I plead,
'Dear Lord, forgive, I did not know,
'Twill not be hard since Thou dost tread,
Each path before me here below.
And for my good this thing must be,
His grace sufficient for each test.
So still I'll sing, "Whatever be
God's way for me is always best."'"
　二月一日
　　 “这事出于我” （王上十二：24）
　　“得意暗藏在失意之中”━福克斯牧师
　　我的孩子，今天我有一个信息传给你；好叫你上面的黑云消散，前面的岖路变平。这个信息是很短的，只有五个字，但是我要你铭刻心中；又把它当作一个枕头来安放你疲倦的头，使你真能高枕无忧。这个信息是甚么呢？就是“这事出于我”。
　　你有没有想到过：凡与你有关的事，也与我有关？因为：“……摸你们的，就是摸我眼中的瞳仁”（亚二：8）；“…我看你为宝，为尊…”（赛四十三：4）。所以，我特别喜欢训练你。
　　当试炼攻击你，“…仇敌好像急流的河水冲来…“（赛五十九：19）的时候，我要你知道“这事出于我”，你的软弱需要我的刚强，你的安全在乎让我替你争战。
　　你是不是正在艰难的环境中，四周的人都不了解你，都不遂你的心意，都看不起你？“这事出于我”。我是管理环境的神。你所处的境遇并非偶然的，都有我的美意在其中的。
　　你不是曾求我给你谦卑吗？你看，我已经把你放在一个学习谦卑的学校里了，你所接触的人和环境是被我利用来成全我的旨意的。
　　你是不是正感觉经济缺乏呢？“这事出于我”，因为我是经营你用度的，我要你向我支取，完全仰赖于我。我的供给是无限的（腓四：19）。我要你证实我的应许，我不愿意你“…在这事上却不信耶和华你们的神”（申一：32）。
　　你是不是整夜忧愁呢？“这事出于我”。我是忧患之子，常经忧患，深知怎样担当忧患的。当你向世人寻求安慰时，我故意叫他们不给你同情，好叫你转向我寻求永远的安慰（帖后二：16-17）。你是不是渴望为我作些伟大的工作，结果倒反卧病在床呢？“这事出于我”。在你忙碌的日子，我不能引起你的注意力来；我要你学习一些更深的功课。事奉不是体贴自己的热心，乃是遵行我的旨意。我有许多顶心腹的仆人，都是关于最冷僻的地方，用祷告事奉我。
　　今天我把这个信息当作一瓶香膏送在你手里。你可以自由敷用。我的孩子，不顺的环境，扎心的毁谤，无故的逼迫等等，临到你的时候，你就敷上这香膏。如果你能在一切事上看见“这事出于我”，所有的痛苦便会立时消失了。━司诺
救世主俯身吻我说：“这是出于我，
引导者故意如此安排。
爱你的，只要耐心信赖我，
天父知道你有此需要，
虽然有时你看不明了。
表面的损失，不必悲伤，
我所赐的，才对你最好。”
于是我睁开泪眼，祷告于天：
“亲爱的主，恕我无知，
前面的路，你既都曾走过，
还有什么艰难可言！
这事完全为了有益于我，
神的恩典足以应付每一试炼。
我将继续歌唱：神为我
安排任何道路，总是最好的拣选。”
February 2
"In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft: in his quiver hath he hid me."(Isa. 49:2)
"In the shadow." We must all go there sometimes. The glare of the daylight is too brilliant; our eyes become injured, and unable to discern the delicate shades of color, or appreciate neutral tints━the shadowed chamber of sickness, the shadowed house of mourning, the shadowed life from which the sunlight has gone.
But fear not! It is the shadow of God's hand. He is leading thee. There are lessons that can be learned only there.
The photograph of His face can only be fixed in the dark chamber. But do not suppose that He has cast thee aside. Thou art still in His quiver; He has not flung thee away as a worthless thing.
He is only keeping thee close till the moment comes when He can send thee most swiftly and surely on some errand in which He will be glorified. Oh, shadowed, solitary ones, remember how closely the quiver is bound to the warrior, within easy reach of the hand, and guarded jealously. ━Christ in Isaiah, Meyer.
In some spheres the shadow condition is the condition of greatest growth. The beautiful Indian corn never grows more rapidly than in the shadow of a warm summer night. The sun curls the leaves in the sultry noon light, but they quickly unfold, if a cloud slips over the sky. There is a service in the shadow that is not in the shine. The world of stellar beauty is never seen at its best till the shadows of night slip over the sky. There are beauties that bloom in the shade that will not bloom in the sun. There is much greenery in lands of fog and clouds and shadow. The florist has "evening glories" now, as well as "morning glories." The "evening glory" will not shine in the noon's splendor, but comes to its best as the shadows of evening deepen.
If all of life were sunshine,
Our faces would be fain
To feel once more upon them
The cooling plash of rain.
━Henry Van Dyk　
二月二日
　　“祂…将我藏在祂手荫之下；又使我成为磨亮的箭，将我藏在祂箭袋之中“ （赛四十九：2）
　　“在祂手荫之下“。我们常有到那里去的需要。日光太炫耀了；我们的目光会受到损伤，使我们不能分辨相仿的颜色。所以神将我们暂时藏在疾病的荫中，忧愁的荫中，穷苦的荫中，在那里和日光隔绝。
　　但是不要怕这是神的手荫祂正在引导。你有许多功课只能彀在那边学得的。
　　不要想神已经把你丢在一边了。你仍旧在祂箭袋之中；祂并没有把你当作无用之物抛去。
　　祂现在把你藏起，保守你直到相当的时候，祂要配你在弓弦上，送你出去，使仇敌受亏损，使神得荣耀。哦！在神手荫之下的信徒阿，战士如何宝贝他的箭，把它藏在贴身的箭袋中，神也如此宝贝你爱护你，藏你在祂的荫庇之下。━梅尔
　　许多时候，黑荫倒是生长必需的条件。美丽的玉蜀黍在夏夜的荫下生长得最快。在炎热的日光下，牠的叶子是鬈着的，到了天上起黑云的时候，叶子很快地开放了。也有许多美丽的花，日间藏起它们的美丽来，晚荫降时方纔开放。多云多雾和多荫的地带，草木也葱郁茂盛。花圃里不但有晨间怒放的花朵，也有“夜来香”，“夜来香”在日正当中时并无光彩，到深夜纔散布它的芬芳。
假如一生尽是阳光，
我们将会盼望，
清凉的雨滴，
洒到我们脸上。
━亨利·范戴卡
February 3
"And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness." (Mark 1:12)
It seemed a strange proof of Divine favor. "Immediately." Immediately after what? After the opened heavens and the dove-like peace and the voice of the Father's blessing, "......Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mk.1:11)It is no abnormal experience. Thou, too, hast passed through it, O my soul. Are not the times of thy deepest depression just the moments that follow thy loftiest flight? Yesterday thou wert soaring far in the firmament, and singing in the radiance of the morn; today thy wings are folded and thy song silent. At noon thou wert basking in the sunshine of a Father's smile; at eve thou art saying in the wilderness, "...My way is hid from the Lord...."(Is.40:27) 
Nay, but, my soul, the very suddenness of the change is a proof that it is not revolutionary.
Hast thou weighed the comfort of that word "immediately"? Why does it come so soon after the blessing? Just to show that it is the sequel to the blessing. God shines on thee to make thee fit for life's desert-places━for its Gethsemanes, for its Calvaries. He lifts thee up that He may give thee strength to go further down; He illuminates thee that He may send thee into the night, that He may make thee a help to the helpless.
Not at all times art thou worthy of the wilderness; thou art only worthy of the wilderness after the splendors of Jordan. Nothing but the Son's vision can fit thee for the Spirit's burden; only the glory of the baptism can support the hunger of the desert. ━George Matheson
After benediction comes battle.
The time of testing that marks and mightily enriches a soul's spiritual career is no ordinary one, but a period when all hell seems let loose, a period when we realize our souls are brought into a net, when we know that God is permitting us to be in the devil's hand. But it is a period which always ends in certain triumph for those who have committed the keeping of their souls to Him, a period of marvelous "nevertheless afterward" of abundant usefulness, the sixty-fold that surely follows. ━Aphra White
二月三日
　　“圣灵立刻把耶稣催到旷野里去”（可一：12直译）
　　这似乎是很可怪的一回事。“立刻”。在甚么事情发生了之后，纔有“立刻“呢？在主从水里上来，看见天裂开了，圣灵仿佛鸽子降在祂身上，父神公开宣布：“......你是我的爱子，我喜悦你”（可一：11）之后。这并不是反常的经历。你有否这样的经历？岂不是山峯一程之后，立刻就是山谷的一程么？也许昨天你曾飞翔天空，歌唱赞美；今天你的翅膀下垂，歌声全止了。早晨你曾享受父神的欢笑；晚上你会在旷野中说：“...我的道路向耶和华隐藏...”（赛四十：27）。 
　　可是，信徒们啊，事情突然转变，并非出乎偶然，乃是有神的美意在其中。
　　你有没有想过：为甚么祝福之后，就有这“立刻”呢？原来祝福是手续，“立刻”是目的。“立刻”就是祝福的下文。神给你祝福，原是要使你能胜任前面的荒漠━客西马尼，各各他。神光照你，高举你，给你力量，原是要你冲过前面可怕的阵地；神给你亮光，原是要你经过黑夜；神给你帮助，原是要帮助那些无助的。
　　并非随时有资格到旷野去受试炼的，你必须先有约旦河的祝福，然后纔配到旷野去。唯有圣子的启示，才能使你承担圣灵的重负；惟有洗礼的荣耀，才能支持沙漠中的饥饿。━马得胜
　　祝福之后就是战争。
　　一个人的精神修养，将因试炼而充实，而有显著的进步。但试炼时期是不平常的。在这个时期，地狱好象张开了口的门户，我们的灵魂如入罗网之中，神并且让我们落到魔鬼的手掌中去。但这个时期，对于永远把灵魂依赖祂的人，迟早必会结束于胜利之中，不管这试炼时期有多长，时有神奇的功用，无穷的后效。━怀特
February 4
"I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth." (Isa. 58:14)
Those who fly through the air in airships tell us that one of the first rules they learn is to turn their ship toward the wind, and fly against it. The wind lifts the ship up to higher heights. Where did they learn that? They learned it from the birds. If a bird is flying for pleasure, it goes with the wind. But if the bird meets danger, it turns right around and faces the wind, in order that it may rise higher; and it flies away towards the very sun.
Sufferings are God's winds, His contrary winds, sometimes His strong winds. They are God's hurricanes, but, they take human life and lift it to higher levels and toward God's heavens.
You have seen in the summer time a day when the atmosphere was so oppressive that you could hardly breathe? But a cloud appeared on the western horizon and that cloud grew larger and threw out rich blessing for the world. The storm rose, lightning flashed and thunder pealed. The storm covered the world, and the atmosphere was cleansed; new life was in the air, and the world was changed.
Human life is worked out according to exactly the same principle. When the storm breaks the atmosphere is changed, clarified, filled with new life; and a part of heaven is brought down to earth. ━Selected
Obstacles ought to set us singing. The wind finds voice, not when rushing across the open sea, but when hindered by the outstretched arms of the pine trees, or broken by the fine strings of an Aeolian harp. Then it has songs of power and beauty. Set your freed soul sweeping across the obstacles of life, through grim forests of pain, against even the tiny hindrances and frets that love uses, and it, too, will find its singing voice. ━Selected
"Be like a bird that, halting in its flight,
Rests on a bough too slight.
And feeling it give way beneath him sings,
Knowing he hath wings."
二月四日
“耶和华要使你乘驾地的高处” （赛五十八：14）
　　熟习航空的人告诉我们：他们初习的时候，常是逆风驾驶。逆风会把飞机抬得高些。这个秘诀，他们是从甚么地方学来的呢？他们从鸟类那里学来的。如果一只鸟儿正飞着玩，牠就随风而飞。如果遇见了危险，牠就立刻转过身来，面向风飞；这样，牠可以飞得高些。向着太阳直飞。
　　人生的逆境，是神给你的逆风，它们能抬你到最高级的━属天的━生活去。这就是“耶和华要使你乘驾地的高处”的方法。让我们作一个带响弦的风筝，在神的风中越飘越高，同时发出最好听的音乐━赞美━来以悦神耳。
　　你有没有经历过：夏日空气热闷的时候，有时竟连气也会透不过来。但在西方的天空，出现了一朵云，跟踵而至。暴风雨掩盖了这世界，给这世界带来了无穷的舒适，空气也澄清了，气象为之一新，世界是改观了。
　　人生也完全一样的道理。当暴风雨来临的时候，环境可能起了恶劣的变化，但它能发生澄清的作用，充满了新的气象，好象天堂的一角也被带到地上来了。━选
　　障碍应该使我们欢唱。风之能发生曼妙的声响，并不在海洋上畅行无阻的时候，而是在艰难地吹过层层枝叶交织的松树林间，或是吹到“爱奥良”琴的弦上，起了阻抗作用的时候。在上面这些场合，风才发出有力和美丽的音韵。释放你的灵魂，让它横扫生命的障碍，穿过痛苦的可怖森林，小至微细的磨折和烦恼，那么你的灵魂，也会唱出它的歌声了。━选
像一只停飞的小鸟，
栖息在细细的树梢，
歌唱时抖抖下垂，
我有翅膀，不必烦恼。
February 5
"Ye shall not go out with haste." (Isa. 52:12)
I do not believe that we have begun to understand the marvelous power there is in stillness. We are in such a hurry━we must be doing━so that we are in danger of not giving God a chance to work. You may depend upon it, God never says to us, "Stand still,"(Ex.14:13) or "Sit still,"(Lk.3:18) or "Be still,"(MK.4:39) unless He is going to do something.
This is our trouble in regard to our Christian life; we want to do something to be Christians when we need to let Him work in us. Do you know how still you have to be when your likeness is being taken?
Now God has one eternal purpose concerning us, and that is that we should be like His Son; and in order that this may be so, we must be passive. We hear so much about activity, may be we need to know what it is to be quiet. ━Crumbs
Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!
Nor deem these days━these waiting days━as ill!
The One who loves thee best, who plans thy way,
Hath not forgotten thy great need today!
And, if He waits, 'tis sure He waits to prove
To thee, His tender child, His heart's deep love.
Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!
Thou longest much to know thy dear Lord's will!
While anxious thoughts would almost steal their way
Corrodingly within, because of His delay━
Persuade thyself in simple faith to rest
That He, who knows and loves, will do the best.
Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!
Nor move one step, not even one, until
His way hath opened. Then, ah then, how sweet!
How glad thy heart, and then how swift thy feet
Thy inner being then, ah then, how strong!
And waiting days not counted then too long.
Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!
What higher service could'st thou for Him fill?
'Tis hard! ah yes! But choicest things must cost!
For lack of losing all how much is lost!
'Tis hard, 'tis true! But then━He giveth grace
To count the hardest spot the sweetest place.
━J. D. Smith
二月五日
　“你们出来必不至急忙” （赛五十二：12）
　　我不相信，我们已经了解在安静中的奇妙的能力了。我们常太急躁━我们自己一定要去作━不给神一个机会彰显祂的荣耀。因此，神常对我们说，“站住”（出十四：13），“安坐”（路三：18），“住了罢；静了罢“（可四：39），祂纔可以发挥祂的全能。
　　在我们基督徒的生活中，我们的失败常是因为我们要自己工作得胜；其实，我们需要让神在我们里面工作。当你请一个摄影师替你照相的时候，你必须安静不动，完全让他作。
　　神对于我们有一个永久的目的，就是要我们象祂的儿子；如果要达成这个目的，我们必须处在被动的地位，关于如何主动，我们听得太多了，也许我们更需要了解安静的意义。
“女儿啊！你只管安坐静待”
别以为等候的日子对你有害，
最爱你的祂，为你安排前程，
祂不会忘记你今日的迫切的需要，
假若祂在等待，祂的等待，
是为了证实祂对你的深爱。
“女儿啊，你只管安坐静待”
你渴想知道主的旨意！
由于祂的缓慢
切莫让焦躁侵蚀心怀，
你当一心坚信等待，
祂对你的爱，至善至美。
“女儿啊，你只管安坐静待”
一步亦不动，直等到祂的路为你畅开，
那时你将多么舒泰，
你的脚步将如何轻快，
你的灵魂将多么坚强，
等候的日子并不长得不可忍耐。
“女儿啊，你只管安坐静待”
你还能为祂作什么更大的奉献？
是的，这是很难，但好的东西，代价亦贵，
为了吝啬破费，招来多少损害。
是的，这很难，但祂的恩典俱在，
你的等待，换来了福如东海。
━史密斯
February 6
"He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him."
(Psalm. 66:6)
 
It is a striking assertion, "through the floods" (the place where we might have expected nothing but trembling and terror, anguish and dismay) "there," says the Psalmist, "did we rejoice in him!"
 
How many there are who can endorse this as their experience: that "there," in their very seasons of distress and sadness, they have been enabled, as they never did before, to triumph and rejoice.
 
How near their God in covenant is brought! How brightly shine His promises! In the day of our prosperity we cannot see the brilliancy of these. Like the sun at noon, hiding out the stars from sight, they are indiscernible; but when night overtakes, the deep, dark night of sorrow, out come these clustering stars━blessed constellations of Bible hope and promise of consolation.
 
Like Jacob at Jabbok, it is when our earthly sun goes down that the Divine Angel comes forth, and we wrestle with Him and prevail.
 
It was at night, "in the evening," Aaron lit the sanctuary lamps. It is in the night of trouble the brightest lamps of the believer are often kindled.
 
It was in his loneliness and exile John had the glorious vision of his Redeemer. There is many a Patmos still in the world, whose brightest remembrances are those of God's presence and upholding grace and love in solitude and sadness.
 
How many pilgrims, still passing through these Red Seas and Jordans of earthly affliction, will be enabled in the retrospect of eternity to say━full of the memories of God's great goodness━"We went through the flood on foot, there━there, in these dark experiences, with the surging waves on every side, deep calling to deep, Jordan, as when Israel crossed it, in 'the time of the overflowing' (flood), yet, 'there did we rejoice in Him!'" ━Dr. Macduff
 
"And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the door of trouble for a door of hope: and she shall sing THERE." (Hosea 2:15)
 
　
二月六日
 
　　“祂将海变成干地；众民步行过河；我们在那里因祂欢喜“ （诗六十六：6）
 
　　按常情来说，百姓过红海时，波涛在两边翻腾，追兵在后面呐喊，他们一定惊恐，战栗，痛苦仓皇；可是作诗篇的人竟说，“我们在那里”━大水中━“因祂欢喜”。
 
　　有多少信徒能有这样的经历：“在那里”━在一个失望的绝境中，一个外患内忧的时侯，能“因祂欢喜“？
 
　　“在那里”立约的神来了！“在那里”祂的应许实现了！“在那里”仇敌消灭了！“在那里”信不过来的经历尝到了！如果不“在那里”，在一个顺利的境遇中，卽使花尽力气去找，也找不到这些荣耀的事实。好象白日有了阳光，把星光遮掩了；黑夜一到，满天的明星出现了━经上的应许，安慰，盼望，也都是在忧愁之夜出现的。
 
　　象雅各布在“雅博”一样，日落之后，才有天使前来，我们经过虔诚祈祷之后，才能获得结果。
 
　　亚伦在夜晚点燃神灯，在困苦艰难之夜晚，信徒的明灯，放出最灿烂的光亮。
 
　　拔摩海岛上的约翰，在孤单凄凉中得见主荣耀的异象。今天在地上仍有许多荒凉的拔摩海岛，那里有主的爱和恩典，有主的同在，可以消灭孤单和忧愁。读者，你愿不愿意去呢？
 
　　有多少旅客，在经过红海和约但河的苦难时，能一心想念神，说：“我们步行过河，在那里━在这些黑暗的经历里，在波涛四边翻腾的光景里━因祂欢喜。“━马克特夫
 
　　“…从那里…我必赐他葡萄园，又赐他亚割谷作为指望的门，他必在那里歌唱”（何二：15）。
February 7
"Why art thou cast down, O my soul." (Psalm. 43:5)
Is there ever any ground to be cast down? There are two reasons, but only two. If we are as yet unconverted, we have ground to be cast down; or if we have been converted and live in sin, then we are rightly cast down.
But except for these two things there is no ground to be cast down, for all else may be brought before God in prayer with supplication and thanksgiving. And regarding all our necessities, all our difficulties, all our trials, we may exercise faith in the power of God, and in the love of God.
"Hope thou in God." Oh, remember this: There is never a time when we may not hope in God. Whatever our necessities, however great our difficulties, and though to all appearance help is impossible, yet our business is to hope in God, and it will be found that it is not in vain. In the Lord's own time help will come.
Oh, the hundreds, yea, the thousands of times that I have found it thus within the past seventy years and four months!
When it seemed impossible that help could come, help did come; for God has His own resources. He is not confined. In ten thousand different ways, and at ten thousand different times God may help us.
Our business is to spread our cases before the Lord, in childlike simplicity to pour out all our heart before God, saying,
"I do not deserve that Thou shouldst hear me and answer my requests, but for the sake of my precious Lord Jesus; for His sake answer my prayer, and give me grace quietly to wait till it please Thee to answer my prayer. For I believe Thou wilt do it in Thine own time and way."
"For I shall yet praise him." More prayer, more exercise of faith, more patient waiting, and the result will be blessing, abundant blessing. Thus I have found it many hundreds of times, and therefore I continually say to myself, "Hope thou in God." ━George Mueller
二月七日
“我的心哪，你为何忧闷…应当仰望神；因我还要称赞祂" （诗四十三：5）
　　有甚么理由叫我们忧闷呢？有两个理由，可叫我们忧闷：第一，如果我们还没有得救，我们就有理由忧闷；第二，如果我们已经得救了，而仍活在罪中；那么，我们一定会忧闷的。
　　除了这两件事情以外，我们就没有理由可以忧闷。一个正常的信徒，如果忧闷，是一件可怪的事；因为一切的事我们都可以藉着祷告，祈求，和感谢来告诉我们的神。我们一切的需要，我们一切的困难，我们一切的试炼，只要相信神的大能和神的爱，样样都可以过去的。
　　“应当仰望神。”哦，让我们记住这句话：我们没有一个时侯可以不仰望神。不管我们的需要何等多，我们的难处何等大，我们的指望何等小，我们的责任只是仰望神；结果，我们会发现：这样的仰望并不是徒然的。到了神自己的时侯，帮助来了。
　　哦，在我以往的七十年又四个月中，我已经试过几百，几千次；仰望神并没有一次失败的！
　　当我以为帮助再没有可能来了的时侯：帮助就在这个时侯来了；神有千万个不同的方法，千万个不同的时间，可以帮助我们。祂不受任何限制。
　　我们只消把我们的事情摆在神前，带着小孩子那样的简单，倾心吐意地对神说：“父神阿，我本来不配求你听我的祷告，但是为了我主耶稣基督的缘故，求你答应我的祈求，也给我恩典使我能安静等候你的时侯。我深信你必在你自己的时侯，用你自己的方法，为我成就”。
　　“因我还要称赞祂“。多祷告，多运用信心，多赞美，多忍耐等候，结果就是顶大顶丰富的祝福。我有这样的经历何止千百次，所以我要继续自勉说，“应当仰望神。”━莫勒
February 8
"Lo, I am with you all the appointed days." (Matt. 28:20) (Variorum Version)
Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear. Rather look at them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto; do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms.
Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then, put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations. ━Frances do Sales
"The Lord is my shepherd…."(Ps.23:1)
Not was, not may be, nor will be. "The Lord is my shepherd," is on Sunday, is on Monday, and is through every day of the week; is in January, is in December, and every month of the year; is at home, and is in China; is in peace, and, is in war; in abundance, and in penury. ━J. Hudson Taylor
HE will silently plan for thee,
Object thou of omniscient care;
God Himself undertakes to be
Thy Pilot through each subtle snare.
He WILL silently plan for thee,
So certainly, He cannot fail!
Rest on the faithfulness of God,
In Him thou surely shalt prevail.
He will SILENTLY plan for thee
Some wonderful surprise of love.
Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard,
But it is kept for thee above.
He will silently PLAN for thee,
His purposes shall all unfold;
The tangled skein shall shine at last,
A masterpiece of skill untold.
He will silently plan FOR THEE,
Happy child of a Father's care,
As though no other claimed His love,
But thou alone to Him wert dear.
━E. Mary Grimes
二月八日
“我…常与你们同在，直到世界的末了”（太二十八：20）
　　不要带着惧怕的心去看前面将临的事。要带着盼望去看牠们，因为主是我们的主，必要带领我们一步一步过去。祂常与你同在；你只要紧紧抓住祂的手，祂会引导你安然经过一切的；当你软弱无力，站立不住的时侯，祂会将你怀抱在祂大能的膀臂中。
　　不要为明天忧虑。永活的神今天旣然看顾你，明天，每一天，也必定会同样看顾你。有时祂不叫你遇见试探，有时祂加你力量使你能忍受试探。所以放心抛弃一切焦急的意念和烦恼的理想。━赛尔斯
　　“耶和华是我的牧者…”（诗篇二十三：1） 
　　“是”字在原文是现在式，不是过去式“曾是”，也不是将来式“将是”，也不是未定式“或是”，“耶和华是我的牧者”，祂现在是，祂永远是。在主日是，在星期一也是，在一星期中每一天都是；在正月是，在十二月也是，在一年中每一月都是；在家里是，在外乡也是；在平安时是，在危险时也是；在富余时是，在缺乏时也是。在任何环境中都是。━戴德生
祂一声不响为你安排，
给你无微不至的关怀，
祂担任你的响导，
渡过埋伏着的陷阱与圈套。
祂一声不响为你安排，
确实可靠，决无乖差，
依赖神的信义，
你必会因祂而奏效。
祂一声不响为你安排，
出乎意料的仁爱无涯，
眼不曾见，耳不曾闻，
却在天上为你保存。
祂一声不响为你安排，
起初你不明白祂的意念，
这谜一样的杰作，似乎复杂，
最后终将祂的旨意全揭开。
祂一声不响为你安排，
好像慈父对宠儿的关怀，
似乎除了你以外，
无人为神所钟爱。
━格兰姆斯
February 9
"He answered her not a word." (Matt. 15:23)
It may be a child of God is reading these words who has had some great crushing sorrow, some bitter disappointment, some heart-breaking blow from a totally unexpected quarter. You are longing for your Master's voice bidding you "…Be of good cheer,…"(Jn.16:33) but only silence and a sense of mystery and misery meet you ━"He answered her not a word."
God's tender heart must often ache listening to all the sad, complaining cries which arise from our weak, impatient hearts, because we do not see that for our own sakes He answers not at all or otherwise than seems best to our tear-blinded, short-sighted eyes.
The silences of Jesus are as eloquent as His speech and may be a sign, not of His disapproval, but of His approval and of a deep purpose of blessing for you.
"…Why art thou cast down, O … soul?..." (Ps.43:5) Thou shalt yet praise Him, yes, even for His silence. Listen to an old and beautiful story of how one Christian dreamed that she saw three others at prayer. As they knelt the Master drew near to them.
As He approached the first of the three, He bent over her in tenderness and grace, with smiles full of radiant love and spoke to her in accents of purest, sweetest music.
Leaving her, He came to the next, but only placed His hand upon her bowed bead, and gave her one look of loving approval.
The third woman He passed almost abruptly without stopping for a word or glance. The woman in her dream said to herself, "How greatly He must love the first one, to the second He gave His approval, but none of the special demonstrations of love He gave the first; and the third must have grieved Him deeply, for He gave her no word at all and not even a passing look.
"I wonder what she has done, and why He made so much difference between them?" As she tried to account for the action of her Lord, He Himself stood by her and said: "O woman! how wrongly hast thou interpreted Me. The first kneeling woman needs all the weight of My tenderness and care to keep her feet in My narrow way. She needs My love, thought and help every moment of the day. Without it she would fail and fall.
"The second has stronger faith and deeper love, and I can trust her to trust Me however things may go and whatever people do.
"The third, whom I seemed not to notice, and even to neglect, has faith and love of the finest quality, and her I am training by quick and drastic processes for the highest and holiest service.
"She knows Me so intimately, and trusts Me so utterly, that she is independent of words or looks or any outward intimation of My approval. She is not dismayed nor discouraged by any circumstances through which I arrange that she shall pass; she trusts Me when sense and reason and every finer instinct of the natural heart would rebel;━because she knows that I am working in her for eternity, and that what I do, though she knows not the explanation now, she will understand hereafter.
"I am silent in My love because I love beyond the power of words to express, or of human hearts to understand, and also for your sakes that you may learn to love and trust Me in Spirit-taught, spontaneous response to My love, without the spur of anything outward to call it forth."
He "...…will do marvels...…"(Ex.34:10) if you will learn the mystery of His silence, and praise Him, for every time He withdraws His gifts that you may better know and love the Giver. 
━Selected 
二月九日
“耶稣却一言不答” （太十五：23）
　　一个受苦的神的孩子读到这两句话，或许会希奇。你正在渴望主安慰的声音“…你们可以放心…”（约十六：33），或者“不要怕，因为我与你同在”，可是等了许久，一点得不着甚么━“耶稣却一言不答”。
　　当神听见我们哀声哭诉的时侯，祂的心常顶难受；因为祂看见我们还是这样软弱，这样急躁，还不能懂得祂不答的美意，我们的目光还是这样短视。
　　主的不答，并非是拒绝，乃是表示祂的默许和顶深的同情。
　　失望的基督徒阿，“…你为何忧闷？…”（诗篇四十三：5）卽使祂静默不答，你“还要称赞祂”。让我们听一个故事，并细细领会里面的教训。一个基督徒梦见三个同作肢体的姐妹跪着祷告。她看见主渐渐走近她们。
　　当祂走到第一个姊妹面前，祂脸上带着荣光和爱，俯下身去，用顶温柔，顶甜蜜的声音安慰她，勉励她。
　　随后祂走近第二个姊妹身边，只伸出祂的手来在她额上一按点点头走了。
　　最末后，当祂走过第三个姊妹那里，祂一声不响，连看都不看，就去了。那个做梦的基督徒自言自语地说道，“第一个姊妹，一定灵命顶深，所以主顶爱她；第二个姊妹也不错，可是不及第一个；第三个姊妹，一定在甚么事情上得罪了主，深深地伤了主的心所以主不屑睬她。
　　“我不知道她究竟做错了甚么？为甚么主对待他们有这大的不同呢？“当她正在猜疑之间，主站在她旁边说：“无知的妇人！你完全误会我。那第一个跪着祷告的女人最软弱，最幼稚。她时刻需要我的扶持与眷顾，否则她在我的窄路上简直一步都不能行。她时刻需要我的爱和帮助，否则她就会失败，跌倒。
　　“那第二个跪着祷告的女人较好得多，她有较强的信心和较深的爱，我能彀信任她在无论甚么环境中因我站住。
　　“那第三个跪着祷告的女人，（就是我似乎不去注意，把她略过的那一个），她的灵命顶高，顶深，她的信心和爱心顶大，顶强，我正用一种猛烈的方法训练她，为着她将来最高，最圣洁的事奉。
　　“她已经完全认识我，完全信任我，她不需要能听，能见，能摸，能觉的帮助。她不因我所安排给她的环境而丧志，灰心，跌倒；虽然理由不能通过，天性不能佩服，她还是绝对顺从我；━因为她知道我的用意是为她将来永远的荣耀，我所作的，她如今虽然不知道，后来必明白。
　　“我默然爱她因为我爱她的心不是言语所能表达的，也不是人心所能领会的”。
　　如果你知道祂默然的奥秘，赞美祂，祂就会“......行奇妙的事......”（出三十四：10），因为每次祂收回恩典，就是要你更认识，更爱那赐恩者。━选
February 10
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves." (Rom. 12:19)
There are seasons when to be still demands immeasurably higher strength than to act. Composure is often the highest result of power. To the vilest and most deadly charges Jesus responded with deep, unbroken silence, such as excited the wonder of the judge and the spectators. To the grossest insults, the most violent ill-treatment and mockery that might well bring indignation into the feeblest heart, He responded with voiceless complacent calmness. Those who are unjustly accused, and causelessly ill-treated know what tremendous strength is necessary to keep silence to God.
St. Paul said, "None of these things move me."(Acts.20:24 Literal translation)
"Men may misjudge thy aim,
Think they have cause to blame,
Say, thou art wrong;
Keep on thy quiet way,
Christ is the Judge, not they,
Fear not, be strong."
He did not say, none of these things hurt me. It is one thing to be hurt, and quite another to be moved. St. Paul had a very tender heart. We do not read of any apostle who cried as St. Paul did. It takes a strong man to cry. Jesus wept, and He was the manliest Man that ever lived. So it does not say, none of these things hurt me. But the apostle had determined not to move from what he believed was right. He did not count as we are apt to count; he did not care for ease; he did not care for this mortal life. He cared for only one thing, and that was to be loyal to Christ, to have His smile. To St. Paul, more than to any other man, His work was wages, His smile was Heaven. 
━Margaret Bottome
二月十日
“亲爱的弟兄，不要自己伸冤” （罗十二：19）
　　许多时侯，静比动更费力。静是力的最高效能。对于那些一无根据的最恶最毒的控告，主始终“甚么都不回答…连一句话也不说”，以至审判官甚觉希奇。对于那些无理的侮辱，不堪的虐待和嘲笑，连旁人都会激起忿怒，可是主始终镇静。祂大有能力，纔能不动。凡曾受过冤枉，毁谤，虐待的，都知道维持镇静，需要何等大的力量。
　　使徒保罗说，“没有一件东西可以摇动我”（徒二十：24直译）
人们可能误解你的意图，
你给不给叫他们该受谴责，
你错了，审判之权将在基督
他的褒贬，无关你的人格，
仅可安静，不介于心，
毋恐无怵，自强不息。
他不是说，“没有一件东西可以伤害我”。伤害是一件事，摇动又是一件事。使徒保罗的心顶仁慈。我们没有读着过有甚么使徒曾像使徒保罗那样痛哭过。一个男子汉哭泣是无碍于一个人的强毅。主曾哭过，祂是有史以来最强毅的人，所以并不说没有一件东西可以伤害我，但保罗立定决心，凡是他所言为正确真实的任何事物都不能摇动他。我们往常所计较的，他并不计较，他不贪求安适，他不以性命为念。他所追求的只有一件事，就是对主忠心至死，要得主的喜悦。保罗比任何人更能认识了，主的功德就是他的酬报，主的微笑就是天堂。━汉登
February 11
"As soon as the soles of the feet of the priests…shall rest in the water…the waters shall be cut off."(Joshua 3:13)
The people were not to wait in their camps until the way was opened, they were to walk by faith. They were to break camp, pack up their goods, form in line to march, and move down to the very banks before the river would be opened.
If they had come down to the edge of the river and then had stopped for the stream to divide before they stepped into it, they would have waited in vain. They must take one step into the water before the river would be cut off.
We must learn to take God at His Word, and go straight on in duty, although we see no way in which we can go forward. The reason we are so often balked by difficulties is that we expect to see them removed before we try to pass through them.
If we would move straight on in faith, the path would be opened for us. We stand still, waiting for the obstacle to be removed, when we ought to go forward as if there were no obstacles.━Evening Thoughts
Behind him lay the gray Azores,
Behind the gates of Hercules;
Before him not the ghost of shores,
Before him only shoreless seas.
The good Mate said: "Now we must pray,
For lo! the very stars are gone.
Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?"
"Why, say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!'"
"My men grow mutinous day by day;
My men grow ghastly wan and weak!"
The stout Mate thought of home; a spray
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.
"What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,
If we sight naught but seas at dawn?"
"Why, you shall say at break of day,
'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!'"
They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the Mate:
"This mad sea shows its teeth tonight.
He curls his lip, he lies in wait,
With lifted teeth, as if to bite!
Brave Admiral, say but one good word;
What shall we do when hope is gone?"
The words leapt like a leaping sword:
"Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"
Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck
And peered through darkness. Ah! that night
Of all dark nights! And then a speck—
A light! A light! A light! A light!
It grew, a starlit flag unfurled!
It grew to be Time's burst of dawn.
He gained a world; he gave that world
Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!"
━Joaquin Miller
Faith that goes forward triumphs.
　二月十一日
“等到…祭司把脚站在…水里，…水…必然断绝”（书三：13）
　　百姓必须凭信向前进，并不能在营中坐待外面的路开通了之后方纔起行。他们必须拔营开步，整装束荷，排齐队伍，直达河边，虽然河水还没有起变化。
　　到了河边，若是他们想停在那里，等河水分开了，然后伸足下水，他们定规空等，定规到今天还在河东。他们在水断绝之前，必须先举足涉水。
　　让我们也学习怎样用信心抓住神的话前进，不看前面的道路能否通行。我们常受拦阻和难处的挫折，都是因为我们想等神先替我们开路，挪去了一切的拦阻和难处，然后再试着前行。这是何等的错误。若是神要我们向前冲，我们就凭着信心抓住祂的话语向前冲，好像一无拦阻一般，路自然会为我们一步步地敞开。━译自晚思
他背后躺着灰色的亚速尔岛，
已经远离了直布罗陀海峡，
前面看不见海岸的影子；
茫茫大海，白浪滔天。
船上的大副说：“我们必须祷告，
看哪！星星都已隐湮。
勇敢的船长，我该怎样下令？”
你说：“驶向前去！向前！向前！”
“我的船员一天比一天更想叛变，
他们形容憔悴，衰弱可怜，”
大副这样报告，心中思念家乡。
咸涩的浪花溅上他黝黑的脸。
“我该怎样下令，英勇的船长，
假若明早仍只见海水无边？”
“哦，破晓的时候你该说：
驶向前去！向前！向前！”
他们继续航行，大副说道：
“今夜狂暴的海洋露出了獠牙，
掀开了唇，张开了大嘴，
好像要吞灭我们，咬死我们！
英勇的船长，只求你说一句话；
希望已渺，无法持守！”
但船长的话如利刃出鞘说：
“驶向前去！向前！向前！”
他精疲力竭，苦守甲板，
从黑暗中远远眺望，
有一夜，忽然遥见一点微光，
光明！光明！光明已在望！
它的发展，就是日后的旗旌，
时代的黎明，展开在黑暗之间，
他达到了那新世界，并且给那世界
一个最伟大的启示，“驶向前去！向前！”
━密勒
凭着信心前进，卽是胜利。
February 12
"Your heavenly Father knoweth." (Matt. 6:32)
A visitor at a school for the deaf and dumb was writing questions on the blackboard for the children. By and by he wrote this sentence: "Why has God made me to hear and speak, and made you deaf and dumb?"
The awful sentence fell upon the little ones like a fierce blow in the face. They sat palsied before that dreadful "Why?" And then a little girl arose.
Her lip was trembling. Her eyes were swimming with tears. Straight to the board she walked, and, picking up the crayon, wrote with firm hand these precious words: "Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight!"(Mt.11:26) What a reply! It reaches up and lays hold of an eternal truth upon which the maturest believer as well as the youngest child of God may alike securely rest━the truth that God is your Father.
Do you mean that? Do you really and fully believe that? When you do, then your dove of faith will no longer wander in weary unrest, but will settle down forever in its eternal resting place of peace. "Your Father!"
I can still believe that a day comes for all of us, however far off it may be, when we shall understand; when these tragedies, that now blacken and darken the very air of heaven for us, will sink into their places in a scheme so august, so magnificent, so joyful, that we shall laugh for wonder and delight. ━Arthur Christopher Bacon
No chance hath brought this ill to me;
'Tis God's own hand, so let it be,
He seeth what I cannot see.
There is a need-be for each pain,
And He one day will make it plain
That earthly loss is heavenly gain.
Like as a piece of tapestry
Viewed from the back appears to be
Naught but threads tangled hopelessly;
But in the front a picture f air
Rewards the worker for his care,
Proving his skill and patience rare.
Thou art the Workman, I the frame.
Lord, for the glory of Thy Name,
Perfect Thine image on the same.
━Selected
二月十二日
　　“你们的天父是知道的” （太六：32）
　　有一位访客，一次去参观一间聋哑学校。他看见那些聋哑的学生正在圣经班上顶虔诚地读神的话语。他就在他们的黑板上写了一个问题请他们答复：“神旣然爱你们，为甚么使你们聋哑，倒反使我能听能说呢”？
　　全班学生都因这一个苛刻的问题受打击。他们大家坐着相对唏嘘，向着那可怕的“为甚么”发呆。过了一会儿，一位顶小的女孩子站了起来。
　　她的嘴唇还在颤动。她的目眶中饱满了眼泪。她走到前面，爬在椅子上，（因为黑板高，她的身体矮小），拿起粉笔，用坚定的手笔写上这几个宝贝的字：“父啊，是的，因为祢的美意本是如此”（太十一：26）。这是何等切实的一个答复呢！这是一个永久的真理，无论大人，无论小孩，都可以安息在其中的━天地之主是我们的父。
　　读者，你信不信神是你的父呢？如果你真信，那么你信心的鸽子不会再游荡无依找不着落脚之地了，因为可以永远稳定在安息所━你们的父那里了！
　　我一直相信，总有一天，不管它离开现在还有多久，我们会明白一切；到了那一天，如今使我们觉得遮蔽天空的许多黑暗悲伤，都将消散，由那新的图案来代替黑暗，那新的图案设计得如何庄严华丽和喜悦，我们将在此奇妙的喜乐中了。━培根
并非机遇给我带来的不幸；
这是神的赐予，所以只有听命，
因为祂看见我所见不到的情境。
任何痛苦都有它们的原因，
有一天祂将会给你说明，
地上的损失，换来了天上的欢欣。
像毡毯织满了花，
从背面去看，
只是线乱如麻。
但正面却是一幅美画，
表现了作者的绝妙才华，
丝丝入扣的匠心，有了代价。
主啊，你是艺匠，我是作品，
为了荣耀祢的名，
以祢的形像来塑我的型。
━选
February 13
"The hill country shall be thine." (Josh. 17:18, R.V.)
There is always room higher up. When the valleys are full of Canaanites, whose iron chariots withstand your progress, get up into the hills, occupy the upper spaces. If you can no longer work for God, pray for those who can. If you cannot move earth by your speech, you may move Heaven. If the development of life on the lower slopes is impossible, through limitations of service, the necessity of maintaining others, and such-like restrictions, let it break out toward the unseen, the eternal, the Divine.
Faith can fell forests. Even if the tribes had realized what treasures lay above them, they would hardly have dared to suppose it possible to rid the hills of their dense forest-growth. But as God indicated their task, He reminded them that they had power enough. The visions of things that seem impossible are presented to us, like these forest-covered steeps, not to mock us, but to incite us to spiritual exploits which would be impossible unless God had stored within us the great strength of His own indwelling.
Difficulty is sent to reveal to us what God can do in answer to the faith that prays and works. Are you straitened in the valleys? Get away to the hills, live there; get honey out of the rock, and wealth out of the terraced slopes now hidden by forest. ━Daily Devotional Commentary
Got any rivers they say are uncrossable,
Got any mountains they say 'can't tunnel through'?
We specialize in the wholly impossible,
Doing the things they say you can't do.
━Song of the Panama builders
二月十三日
“山地也要归你” （书十七：18）
　　山上有宽畅的地盘。平原上住满了迦南人，他们都有铁车阻碍你的扩张，所以你该上山去，占据山上的地业。也许今日你受阻不能为神作工，你该求神兴起能作工的。也许你的话语不能感动人，你可以感动天。也许你的工作受经济，人才，恩赐，以及种种难处的限制，你可以在上面看不见的，永活的神那里发展。
　　山上有树林的拦阻，然而凭着信心可以砍伐。当初以色列各支派虽然明知山上有宽地和宝藏，他们还不敢自信能砍伐丛密的树林，开路上山。但是神指示他们，提醒他们：他们有足够的力量可以把树木砍去。今天许多的拦阻，许多似乎不可能的事情，摆在我们面前，像山上的树林一般，并不是来嘲笑我们的，乃是来催促我们向神恳求应许和支取力量的。
　　每一次难处来到，都是暗示我们神怎样答应我们信心的祷告和工作的。读者，你觉得平原太窄小么？上山去罢，住在那里，在那里发展罢；在那里你可以从盘石中得蜜，从地中得宝藏。━译自日诚报
可曾遇到，被认为跨不过的大江？
可曾遇到，被认为凿不通的山岗？
别人说不可能做的事，我们都能，
克服任何不可能，是我们的专长。
━巴拿马运河工人之歌
February 14
"And again I say, Rejoice." (Phil. 4:4)
It is a good thing to rejoice in the Lord. Perhaps you have tried this, and the first time seemed to fail. Never mind, keep right on and when you cannot feel any joy, when there is no spring, and no seeming comfort and encouragement, still rejoice, and count it all joy. Even when you fall into divers temptations, reckon it joy and delight and God will make your reckoning good. Do you suppose your Father will let you carry the banner of His victory and His gladness on to the front of the battle, and then coolly stand back and see you captured or beaten back by the enemy? NEVER! The Holy Spirit will sustain you in your bold advance, and fill your heart with gladness and praise, and you will find your heart all exhilarated and refreshed by the fullness within. Lord teach me to rejoice in Thee, and to "rejoice evermore." (1 Thess.5:16)━Selected
"The weakest saint may Satan rout,
Who meets him with a praiseful shout."
"…Be filled with the Spirit,...singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." (Eph. 5:18, 19)
Here the Apostle urges the use of singing as one of the inspiring helps in the spiritual life. He counsels his readers not to seek their stimulus through the body, but through the spirit; not by the quickening of the flesh, but by the exaltation of the soul
"Sometimes a light surprises
The Christian while he sings."
Let us sing even when we do not feel like it, for thus we may give wings to leaden feet and turn weariness into strength. ━J. H. Jowett
"At midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." (Acts 16:25)
Oh, Paul, thou wondrous example to the flock, who could thus glory, bearing in the body as thou didst "…the marks of the Lord Jesus"!(Gal.6:17) Marks from stoning almost to the death, from thrice beating with rods, from those hundred and ninety-five stripes laid on thee by the Jews, and from stripes received in that Philippian jail, which had they not drawn blood would not have called for washing! Surely the grace which enabled thee to sing praises under such suffering is all-sufficient grace. ━J. Roach
"Oh, let us rejoice in the Lord, evermore,
When darts of the tempter are flying,
For Satan still dreads, as he oft did of yore,
Our singing much more than our sighing."
二月十四日
“我再说你们要喜乐”（腓四：4）
　　在主里喜乐，何其佳美！也许你曾试过要凡事喜乐，可是不久卽告失败。不要紧，仍继续下去，当你不能感觉喜乐，没有可以喜乐的理由，安慰和鼓励时，仍该喜乐，算作喜乐。甚至当你落在百般试炼中的时侯，仍要算作喜乐；这样，神就要证明你的“算”不是徒然的。你想你的父亲会不会让你举着得胜和喜乐的旗号到前线去，然后祂冷冷地向后一退，任凭你被仇敌掳去或击败呢？决不！父的圣灵必定会在你勇敢地前进的时侯支持你，将喜乐和赞美充满你的心，那时侯你就会因着里面的充满感到非常的新鲜和欢乐了。主啊，教导我们怎样在你里面喜乐，“要常常喜乐”（帖前五：16）━选
“向撒但高唱对主的赞美，
最弱的圣徒，也能击败魔鬼。”
　　“…要被圣灵充满…口唱心和赞美主”（弗五：18-19）
　　这里使徒保罗劝我们用歌唱赞美来增进我们的灵命。他劝告读者，要从圣灵里寻求激动，而不是外表的兴奋，不是求肉体的刺激，乃是求灵里的欢欣。
“圣徒以歌讼赞美神，
时常会见到光明的骤临。”
　　让我们不断地歌唱赞美，甚至不喜欢唱的时侯也得唱。这或许可以使你沉滞的腿上有似添了活泼的翅翼，转变疲乏成为力量。━乔怀得
　　“约在半夜，保罗和西拉，祷告﹑唱诗﹑赞美神；众囚犯也侧耳而听”（徒十六：25）
哦！使徒保罗，你真是众圣徒的表率，你能够这样荣耀神，你“…身上带着耶稣的印记。”（加六：17）你有被石掷伤的记号三次棍打的伤疤，犹太人给你的一百九十五鞭的鞭痕，腓立比监狱中无数的血斑！你靠着恩典还能在受苦的牢狱中唱出赞美来。啊，我相信那恩典一定是彀用的恩典！━罗区
魔鬼的飞箭如雨而来，
我们永远在主里欢喜，
从古到今，撒但总有它的戒心，
我们的歌唱，远胜我们的哀叹。
February 15
"Fret not thyself……" Psalm 37:1)
Do not get into a perilous heat about things. If ever heat were justified, it was surely justified in the circumstances outlined in the Psalm. Evil-doers were moving about clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day. "…Workers of iniquity…" (Ps.92:7) were climbing into the supreme places of power, and were tyrannizing their less fortunate brethren. Sinful men and women were stalking through the land in the pride of life and basking in the light and comfort of great prosperity, and good men were becoming heated and fretful.
"Fret not thyself." Do not get unduly heated! Keep cool! Even in a good cause, fretfulness is not a wise help-meet. Fretting only heats the bearings; it does not generate the steam. It is no help to a train for the axles to get hot; their heat is only a hindrance. When the axles get heated, it is because of unnecessary friction; dry surfaces are grinding together, which ought to be kept in smooth co-operation by a delicate cushion of oil.
And is it not a suggestive fact that this word "fret" is closely akin to the word "friction," and is an indication of absence of the anointing oil of the grace of God?
In fretfulness, a little bit of grit gets into the bearings━some slight disappointment, some ingratitude, some discourtesy━and the smooth working of the life is checked. Friction begets heat; and with the heat, most dangerous conditions are created.
Do not let thy bearings get hot. Let the oil of the Lord keep thee cool, lest by reason of an unholy heat thou be reckoned among the evil-doers. ━The Silver Lining.
Dear restless heart, be still; don't fret and worry so
God has a thousand ways His love and help to show
Just trust, and trust, and trust, until His will you know.
Dear restless heart, be still, for peace is God's own smile
His love can every wrong and sorrow reconcile
Just love, and love, and love, and calmly wait awhile.
Dear restless heart, be brave; don't moan and sorrow so,
He hath a meaning kind in chilly winds that blow;
Just hope, and hope, and hope, until you braver grow.
Dear restless heart, repose upon His breast this hour,
His grace is strength and life, His love is bloom and flower;
Just rest, and rest, and rest, within His tender power.
Dear restless heart, be still! Don't struggle to be free;
God's life is in your life, from Him you may not flee;
Just pray, and pray, and pray, till you have faith to see.
━Edith Willis Linn
二月十五日
　　“不要…心怀不平…” （诗三十七：1）
　　不要冒火，抱不平。我们常见作恶者穿了紫色细麻布的长袍，终日宴乐，凡事顺利。“恶人…”（诗九十二：7）执掌大权，欺压不幸的人们。犯罪的男女享受安逸骄奢的生活，因此好人常会冒火，抱不平。
　　可是经上说：“不要…心怀不平”。不要冒火！把火气冷下去！卽使你的冒火是很有理由的，但是也不是一个聪明的办法。不平只会起摩擦，（一种冲突）；不平不能变成和平。一部火车的车轴如果发热了，并不能帮助火车前进；它们的发热只能产生障碍。车轴发热的缘故，乃是为了不必需的摩擦；我们应该让神用祂的恩膏涂在我们不平的地方，以免生出轧轹来。
　　心中怀了不平，就会有许多尖锐锋利的砂粒━急躁，恼恨，嫉妒，无礼等—嵌进来，叫你失去生活中谦和的香气。摩擦生热，热后就会发生最危险的破坏。所以不要怀抱不平。让神的圣膏油使你平滑罢；否则，恐怕因着冒火的缘故，你自己就会列在做恶者之中了。━银衬
不安的心，要宁静；莫烦恼，莫忿怒；
神有无数方法，来显示祂的爱与帮助，
只有信主，深信祂，直到你明白祂的旨意和嘱咐。
不安的心，要宁静，安详表示神的欢颜，
祂的爱能消除一切的乖戾和悲哀；
只要爱主，深爱祂，暂且安详的等待。
不安的心，要勇敢，不要悲伤惆怅，
在那刺骨的寒风中，神送来了慈爱恩惠；
只要盼望，要盼望，直到你的胆大气壮。
不安的心，这时候该在怀里憩息，
祂的慈爱是花，祂的恩典是生命活力，
只管安息，需安息，安息在祂温柔的怀中。
不安的心，要宁静，不必自我挣扎，
神与你的生命已成一片，不可分离，
只管祈祷，多祈祷，使你的信心不移。
━李因译自银衬
February 16
"Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more." (Nah. 1:12)
There is a limit to affliction. God sends it, and removes it. Do you sigh and say, "When will the end be?" Let us quietly wait and patiently endure the will of the Lord till He cometh. Our Father takes away the rod when His design in using it is fully served.
If the affliction is sent for testing us, that our graces may glorify God, it will end when the Lord has made us bear witness to His praise.
We would not wish the affliction to depart until God has gotten out of us all the honor which we can possibly yield Him. There may be today "a great calm." Who knows how soon those raging billows will give place to a sea of glass, and the sea birds sit on the gentle waves?
After long tribulation, the flail is hung up, and the wheat rests in the garner. We may, before many hours are past, be just as happy as now we are sorrowful.
It is not hard for the Lord to turn night into day. He that sends the clouds can as easily clear the skies. Let us be of good cheer. It is better farther on. Let us sing Hallelujah by anticipation. ━C. H. Spurgeon.
The great Husbandman is not always threshing. Trial is only for a season. The showers soon pass. Weeping may tarry only for the few hours of the short summer night; it must be gone at daybreak. Our light affliction is but for a moment. Trial is for a purpose, "If needs be."
The very fact of trial proves that there is something in us very precious to our Lord; else He would not spend so much pains and time on us. Christ would not test us if He did not see the precious ore of faith mingled in the rocky matrix of our nature; and it is to bring this out into purity and beauty that He forces us through the fiery ordeal.
Be patient, O sufferer! The result will more than compensate for all our trials, when we see how they wrought out the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. To have one word of God's commendation; to be honored before the holy angels; to be glorified in Christ, so as to be better able to flash His glory on Himself━ah! that will more than repay for all. ━Tried by Fire.
As the weights of the clock, or the ballast in the vessel, are necessary for their right ordering, so is trouble in the soul-life. The sweetest scents are only obtained by tremendous pressure; the fairest flowers grow amid Alpine snow-solitudes; the fairest gems have suffered longest from the lapidary's wheel; the noblest statues have borne most blows of the chisel. All, however, are under law. Nothing happens that has not been appointed with consummate care and foresight. ━Daily Devotional Commentary　
二月十六日
“我虽然使你受苦，却不再使你受苦”（鸿一：12）
　　受苦是有限制的。神能使你受苦，也能免去你受苦。读者啊，你岂不是在叹息说：“要受苦到几时方纔停止呢？”哦，让我们耐心等待，直到神的旨意成功。当父用杖的目的完成以后，我们的父自然会把杖挪去的。
　　神使我们受苦，若是目的为要试验我们，要我们在受苦中靠恩典荣耀祂，那么，必须等到我们在人前有了明显的见证之后，苦难纔会停止。
　　我们不该盼望苦难早些离去，除非神已经从我们得到了我们该给祂的一切荣耀和尊贵。也许今天就会有平安。谁知道波浪翻腾的海顷刻之间就会变成平静如镜，让海鸟在波上滑翔呢？
　　农夫经历了许多艰难之后，犁和镰可以藏起来了，禾可以扎成捆收在仓里了。那时我们都要欢喜快乐了。
　　在神不难将黑夜变成白昼。祂能将黑云密布天空，祂也能很容易地使天气清朗。所以让我们放心罢。苦难终究是要过去的。让我们预先唱哈利路亚罢。━司布真
　　农夫不会一直打谷的，神也不会一直用杖的。试炼不过是暂时的。目前虽然有暴雨，不久却要停止的。一宿虽然有哭泣，早晨便必欢呼。因为祂的怒气不过是转眼之间，祂的恩典乃是一生之久。我们这至轻的苦楚，乃是至暂的。并且这至暂的苦楚也是有目标的━为要完成我们永远的荣耀。
　　信徒受试炼，就是证明我们在主面前的宝贵；不然主不会花这许多时间，力气和心机在我们身上的。主决不会来试炼我们，除非祂发现我们有顶宝贵的信心的矿苗，混在我们肉体的砂石中，祂要把我们纯粹的信心提出来，就必须放我们在试炼的炉火中。
　　哦，受苦的信徒们阿，耐着罢！将来我们所得的酬报，将远超过现在所出的代价。在万王之王的面前得称赞；在千万圣天使面前受尊敬；在基督里得荣耀；在国度和永世里戴冠冕，操铁杖，坐宝座━坐王，直到永远。阿，这是何等的赏赐呢！━译自火的试炼
　　时鸣钟上的钟锤，是使时鸣钟走得准确的必需品；照样，患难也是属灵生命的必需品。香料越压得紧，香气越是浓郁；最美丽的花卉，是生长在荒僻的雪地里的；最精美的宝石，受匠人琢磨的时间最长；最贵重的雕刻，受凿子的击打最多。这是一个定律。任何事物的完成，都要经过远见高大而无微不至的磨炼。━日诚报
February 17
"The land which I do give them, even the children of Israel." (Joshua 1:2)
God here speaks in the immediate present. It is not something He is going to do, but something He does do, this moment. So faith ever speaks. So God ever gives. So He is meeting you today, in the present moment. This is the test of faith. So long as you are waiting for a thing, hoping for it, looking for it, you are not believing. It may be hope, it may be earnest desire, but it is not faith; for "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb.11:1)The command in regard to believing prayer is the present tense. "…When ye pray, believe that ye receive the things that ye desire, and ye shall have them." (Mk.11:24) Have we come to that moment? Have we met God in His everlasting NOW? ━Joshua, by Simpson
True faith counts on God, and believes before it sees. Naturally, we want some evidence that our petition is granted before we believe; but when we walk by faith we need no other evidence than God's Word. He has spoken, and according to our faith it shall be done unto us. We shall see because we have believed, and this faith sustains us in the most trying places, when everything around us seems to contradict God's Word.
The Psalmist says, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living" (Ps.27:13). He did not see as yet the Lord's answer to his prayers, but he believed to see; and this kept him from fainting.
If we have the faith that believes to see, it will keep us from growing discouraged. We shall "laugh at impossibilities," we shall watch with delight to see how God is going to open up a path through the Red Sea when there is no human way out of our difficulty. It is just in such places of severe testing that our faith grows and strengthens.
Have you been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have feared that you were forgotten? Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you. ━Life of Praise
二月十七日
“我……赐给以色列人的地” （书一：2直译）
　　这里神所说的“赐给”是现在式。并不是神将要作的事，乃是神就在此刻要作的。信心求神现在，神就现在赐给。神今天就要工作。许多时侯我们在神面前等候一件东西，盼望一件东西，寻求一件东西，却并没有相信。这不过是我们的盼望，这不过是我们的需要，并不是我们的信心；因为“信就是所望之事的实底，是未见之事的确据”（来十一：1）。「…凡你们祷告祈求的,无论是甚么,只要信是得着的,就必得着。」(可11:24)这里说到信心的祷告，所用的动词都是现在式的。我们有没有这现在的信心呢？━宣信,<乔舒亚记> 
　　真实的信心，就是以神的话为算数，在未见应验之前，就已经深信了。顶自然地，我们常要先有眼见，或是凭据，证明我们所求的已经蒙神应许，然后纔肯相信；但是如果我们走信心的道路，除了神的话以外，我们不需要别的凭据，虽然四周的环境仅可和祂的话相反。祂已经说了，必定会按照我们的信心，给我们成全的。我们将要看见祂话语的应验，因为我们已经信了。
　　写诗篇的人说：“我若不信在活人之地得见耶和华的恩惠，就早已丧胆了”（诗二十七：13）。他虽然还没有看见神对他祷告的答应，但是他已经相信得见；这就能保守他不丧胆。
　　若是我们也有“信得见”的信心，我们就不会灰心了。我们要笑“不可能”，我们要顶高兴地看神怎样在红海━人没有方法可以脱离艰难的时侯━开路。在这种试验中，我们的信心最会长发。
　　亲爱的受苦的信徒阿，你是不是日夜在等待神，深怕神已经把你忘了呢？决不会的，你当举起你的头来，为着那已经在半路上的拯救开始赞美祂。━译自赞美的生命
February 18
"Have faith that whatever you ask for in prayer is already granted you, and you will find that it will be." (Mark 11:24)
When my little son was about ten years of age, his grandmother promised him a stamp album for Christmas. Christmas came, but no stamp album, and no word from grandmother. The matter, however, was not mentioned; but when his playmates came to see his Christmas presents, I was astonished, after he had named over this and that as gifts received, to hear him add,
"And a stamp album from grandmother."
I had heard it several times, when I called him to me, and said, "But, Georgie, you did not get an album from your grandmother. Why do you say so?"
There was a wondering look on his face, as if he thought it strange that I should ask such a question, and he replied, "Well, mamma, grandma said, so it is the same as." I could not say a word to check his faith.
A month went by, and nothing was heard from the album. Finally, one day, I said, to test his faith, and really wondering in my heart why the album had not been sent,
"Well, Georgie, I think grandma has forgotten her promise."
"Oh, no, mamma," he quickly and firmly said, "she hasn't."
I watched the dear, trusting face, which, for a while, looked very sober, as if debating the possibilities I had suggested. Finally a bright light passed over it, and he said,
"Mamma, do you think it would do any good if I should write to her thanking her for the album?"
"I do not know," I said, "but you might try it."
A rich spiritual truth began to dawn upon me. In a few minutes a letter was prepared and committed to the mail, and he went off whistling his confidence in his grandma. In just a short time a letter came, saying:
"My dear Georgie: I have not forgotten my promise to you, of an album. I tried to get such a book as you desired, but could not get the sort you wanted; so I sent on to New York. It did not get here till after Christmas, and it was still not right, so I sent for another, and as it has not come as yet, I send you three dollars to get one in Chicago. Your loving grandma."
As he read the letter, his face was the face of a victor. "Now, mamma, didn't I tell you?" came from the depths of a heart that never doubted, that, "…against hope, believed in hope…"(Rom.4:18) that the stamp album would come. While he was trusting, grandma was working, and in due season faith became sight.
It is so human to want sight when we step out on the promises of God, but our Savior said to Thomas, and to the long roll of doubters who have ever since followed him: "…Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed."(Jn.20:29) ━Mrs. Rounds　
二月十八日
“凡你们祷告祈求的，无论是甚么，只要信是得着的，就必得着” （可十一：24）
　　我有一个十岁的孩子，他的祖母应许给他一本邮票簿，作为圣诞礼物。可是过了许久，她并没有给他，也不再提起。这孩子也并不放在心上；可是，当他的同伴来看他的礼物时，他一件一件把收到的礼物拿出来给他们看了之后，总加上一句：
　　“祖母给我一本邮票簿。”
　　我听他说了好几次，很是希奇，所以我特地叫他到我面前来，问他说：“孩子，你并没有从你祖母那里得到一本邮票簿。你为甚么常对你的同伴这样说呢？”
　　他脸上起了诧异之色，似乎希奇我会发这样一个问题。他回答说：“妈妈，祖母旣应许了，这就等于我已经得着了。“我就不能再说甚么，免得伤他的信心。
　　一个月过去了，邮票簿仍是无着。一天，我要试试他的信心，就对他说：“孩子，我想祖母已经忘记了她的应许了”。
　　他很快，很坚持地说：“不，妈妈，她决不会忘记的”。
　　我望着那亲爱的，深信的小脸，看见他现在很正经的样子，好似要辩服我方纔所说的话一般。过了一会儿，他脸上现出了喜悦的光彩，说道：
　　“妈妈，你想我好不好现在写一封信去谢谢她的礼物呢？”
　　我说：“我不替你规定；可是，你可以试一试”。
　　（这时侯神用光照亮我，给我看见了一段丰富属灵的真理）。几分钟之内，他已把谢信写好寄出了，回来的时侯，嘴里还唱着欢乐的歌儿，证明他对祖母的信任。不久回信来了，里面写着：
　　“我所亲爱的乔琪：我并没有忘记我对你的应许━一本邮票簿。我想照你合意的样式去买，可是在本城买不到；所以我就到纽约城去函购。寄到了以后，一看，仍旧不对，所以我又到芝加哥去函购了。你所爱的祖母”。
　　他读完了信，脸上带着胜利的气概，对我说：“妈妈，我不是告述过你么？祖母旣应许了，这就等于我已经得着了”。他的心里，从来没有疑惑过，这就是“…在无可指望的时侯，因信仍有指望…”（罗四：18）。他深信邮票簿一定会来的。他信他的祖母进行，不久信心就变成了事实。
　　人们常要在神的应许上先有眼见，但是我们的主对多马说，也对那些跟从他而怀疑的人说：“…那没有看见就信的，有福了”（约二十：29）━朗滋夫人
February 19
"And every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." (John 15:2)
A child of God was dazed by the variety of afflictions which seemed to make her their target. Walking past a vineyard in the rich autumnal glow she noticed the untrimmed appearance and the luxuriant wealth of leaves on the vines, that the ground was given over to a tangle of weeds and grass, and that the whole place looked utterly uncared for; and as she pondered, the Heavenly Gardener whispered so precious a message that she would fain pass it on:
"My dear child, are you wondering at the sequence of trials in your life? Behold that vineyard and learn of it. The gardener ceases to prune, to trim, to harrow, or to pluck the ripe fruit only when he expects nothing more from the vine during that season. It is left to itself, because the season of fruit is past and further effort for the present would yield no profit. Comparative uselessness is the condition of freedom from suffering. Do you then wish me to cease pruning your life? Shall I leave you alone?" And the comforted heart cried, "No!"━Homera Homer-Dixon
It is the branch that bears the fruit,
That feels the knife,
To prune it for a larger growth,
A fuller life.
Though every budding twig be lopped,
And every grace
Of swaying tendril, springing leaf,
Be lost a space.
O thou whose life of joy seems reft
Of beauty shorn;
Whose aspirations lie in dust,
All bruised and torn,
Rejoice, tho' each desire, each dream,
Each hope of thine
Shall fall and fade; it is the hand
Of Love Divine
That holds the knife, that cuts and breaks
With tenderest touch,
That thou, whose life has borne some fruit
May'st now bear much.
━Annie Johnson Flint　
二月十九日
“凡结果子的，他就修理干净，使枝子结果子更多” （约十五：2）
　　有一个神的孩子正希奇像她这样爱主的信徒，为甚么神还要使她落在百般的试炼中呢？有一次，她走过一个葡萄园，看见里边有许多的葡萄藤，未经修剪枝子繁多，叶子茂盛，四周长了无数的杂草，地上堆了许多的枯叶；显然是一个完全没有人经营的荒园；当她站着沉思的时侯，神就光照她给她看见一段顶宝贝的信息。
　　“我所爱的孩子阿，你是不是在希奇你一生的遭遇呢？你看这个葡萄园，从其中学习一个功课吧。园丁不替它修剪不结果的枝子，不摘去不需要的叶子，不除去害虫和杂草，要不要我把你放在一边呢”？她的心受了安慰大声说道：“不！不！”━狄克生
结果子的枝干，
才会受到剪栽，
为了帮助它的生长，
结出更多的果子来。
摇曳生姿的细枝，
含苞欲放的蓓蕾，
青葱可爱的嫩芽，
━都会摧残。
欢乐的生命，
摧残得黯淡无光，
抱负化为尘土，
磨折得遍体鳞伤。
你一切欲望，
一切希求和幻梦，
都将化为泡影，
你要欢喜，你要庆幸。
那是神执着刀，
细心在给你修剪，
使你结果子的生命，
更为丰富繁衍。
━富林德
February 20
"Nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matt. 17:20)
It is possible, for those who really are willing to reckon on the power of the Lord for keeping and victory, to lead a life in which His promises are taken as they stand and are found to be true.
It is possible to cast all our care upon Him daily and to enjoy deep peace in doing it.
It is possible to have the thoughts and imaginations of our hearts purified, in the deepest meaning of the word.
It is possible to see the will of God in everything, and to receive it, not with sighing, but with singing.
It is possible by taking complete refuge in Divine power to become strong through and through; and, where previously our greatest weakness lay, to find that things which formerly upset all our resolves to be patient, or pure, or humble, furnish today an opportunity━through Him who loved us, and works in us an agreement with His will and a blessed sense of His presence and His power━to make sin powerless over us.
These things are DIVINE POSSIBILITIES, and because they are His work, the true experience of them will always cause us to bow lower at His feet and to learn to thirst and long for more.
We cannot possibly be satisfied with anything less━each day, each hour, each moment, in Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit━than to WALK WITH GOD. ━H. C. G. Moule.
We may have as much of God as we will. Christ puts the key of the treasure-chamber into our hand, and bids us take all that we want. If a man is admitted into the bullion vault of a bank, and told to help himself, and comes out with one cent, whose fault is it that he is poor? Whose fault is it that Christian people generally have such scanty portions of the free riches of God? ━McLaren
二月二十日
“你们没有一件不能作的事了“ （太十七：20）
　　有了信心，我们就没有一件不能的事了。只要我们真相信神有保守和得胜的能力，我们就能看见祂所说的话语和应许，都是实在的。
　　我们能天天把我们一切的罣虑和重担卸给神，享受平安和喜乐。
　　我们能管辖头脑中的思想，昼夜系念神的话语。
　　我们能在每一件事情上清楚神的旨意；不是用叹息，乃是用赞美去接受。
　　我们能靠神的恩典刚强；我们以前的软弱，以前叫我们不能忍耐，圣洁与谦卑的罪，今天都能靠着爱我们的主胜过了，使罪完全失去它在我们身上的权势。
　　这些都是神恩典中可能的事，如果我们有了这些经历，就会更愿意俯伏在神脚前，也就会更渴慕最高的灵命。
　　我们如果不能每天，每小时，每分钟，在基督里，藉着圣灵的能力与神同行，我们就不会得到满足。━慕
　　在基督里，我们能有神一切的丰富。主已经把神宝库的钥匙放在我们手中了，祂吩咐我们去无限制地领取一切我们所要的。若是一个银行的行长，准许一个穷人到银行库中去任意取他所要的；假定那个穷人出来的时侯，只带了一文钱，这是谁的过失呢？基督徒能得到神完全的丰富，而仍过着极穷的生活，这是谁的过失呢？━马克拉伦
February 21
"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him."(Psalm 37:7)
Have you prayed and prayed and waited and waited, and still there is no manifestation?
Are you tired of seeing nothing move? Are you just at the point of giving it all up? Perhaps you have not waited in the right way? This would take you out of the right place━the place where He can meet you.
"With patience wait" (Rom.8:25). Patience takes away worry. He said He would come, and His promise is equal to His presence. Patience takes away your weeping. Why feel sad and despondent? He knows your need better than you do, and His purpose in waiting is to bring more glory out of it all. Patience takes away self-works. The work He desires is that you "believe" (John 6:29), and when you believe, you may then know that all is well. Patience takes away all want. Your desire for the thing you wish is perhaps stronger than your desire for the will of God to be fulfilled in its arrival.
Patience takes away all weakening. Instead of having the delaying time, a time of letting go, know that God is getting a larger supply ready and must get you ready too. Patience takes away all wobbling. "Make me stand upon my standing" (Daniel 8:18, margin). God's foundations are steady; and when His patience is within, we are steady while we wait. Patience gives worship. A praiseful patience sometimes "long-suffering with joyfulness" (Col.1:11) is the best part of it all. "Let (all these phases of) patience have her perfect work" (James 1:4), while you wait, and you will find great enrichment. ━C. H. P.
Hold steady when the fires burn,
When inner lessons come to learn,
And from this path there seems no turn━
"Let patience have her perfect work."
━L.S.P.
二月二十一日
　　“你当默然倚靠耶和华，耐性等候祂“（诗卅七：7）
　　你有没有祷告了又祷告，等候了又等候，而仍旧没有效果呢？
　　你看见没有效果，觉得厌倦么？你正想放弃么？你或许要想你等候错了。如果你这样想，就会叫你离开正路━离开神所能遇见你的地方了。
　“忍耐等候”（罗八：25）。忍耐能挪去愁烦。若是主说祂要来，祂的应许就等于祂的同在。忍耐也能擦去你的眼泪。为甚么难过沮丧呢？祂比你自己更加知道你的需要，祂等候的目的，乃是要使你得到更荣耀，更丰富的祝福。忍耐也能挪去自己的工作。主所要求的工作乃是“信”（约六：29）。当你相信的时侯，你就会知道一切都已经成功了。忍耐也能挪去一切的欲。你切望得到你所要的欲，也许远胜过完成神的旨意。
　　忍耐也能挪去一切的软弱。忍耐不是懒惰，也不是虚度光阴。你旣知道神在预备更荣耀，更丰富的祝福给你，你自己也必须预备去接受。忍耐也能挪去一切的飘摇无定，“扶我站起来”（但八：18）。神的根基是顶稳固的；我们有祂的忍耐在里面，我们等候的时侯也稳固了。忍耐有赞美和快乐。赞美的忍耐━“欢欢喜喜的忍耐”（西一：11）━是最美丽的忍耐。“但愿忍耐成功”（雅一：4直译），叫我们在等候中得神丰富的恩典。
火焰燃烧在你胸中，
正是领受内心教训的时候，
要把握得住，不再怔忡，
舍此别无瞻顾，
忍耐必获成功。
February 22
"If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23)
Seldom have we heard a better definition of faith than was given once in one of our meetings, by a dear old colored woman, as she answered the question of a young man how to take the Lord for needed help.
In her characteristic way, pointing her finger toward him, she said with great emphasis: "You've just got to believe that He's done it and it's done." The great danger with most of us is that, after we ask Him to do it, we do not believe that it is done, but we keep on helping Him, and getting others to help Him; and waiting to see how He is going to do it.
Faith adds its "Amen" to God's "Yea," and then takes its hands off, and leaves God to finish His work. Its language is, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him; and he worketh. "(Ps.37:5)━Days of Heaven upon Earth
"I simply take Him at His word,
I praise Him that my prayer is heard,
And claim my answer from the Lord;
I take, He undertakes."
An active faith can give thanks for a promise, though it be not as yet performed; knowing that God's bonds are as good as ready money. ━Matthew Henry.
Passive faith accepts the word as true━
But never moves.
Active faith begins the work to do,
And thereby proves.
Passive faith says, "I believe it! every word of God is true. Well I know He hath not spoken what He cannot, will not, do. He hath bidden me, 'Go forward!' but a closed-up way I see, When the waters are divided, soon in Canaan's land I'll be. Lo! I hear His voice commanding, 'Rise and walk: take up thy bed';And, 'Stretch forth thy withered member!' which for so long has been dead. When I am a little stronger, then, I know I'll surely stand: When there comes a thrill of heating, I will use with ease my other hand. Yes, I know that 'God is able' and full willing all to do: I believe that every promise, sometime, will to me come true."
Active faith says, "I believe it! and the promise now I take, Knowing well, as I receive it, God, each promise, real will make. So I step into the waters, finding there an open way; Onward press, the land possessing; nothing can my progress stay. Yea, I rise at His commanding, walk straightway, and joyfully: This, my hand, so sadly shrivelled, as I reach, restored shall be. What beyond His faithful promise, would I wish or do I need? Looking not for 'signs or wonders,' I'll no contradiction heed. Well I know that 'God is able,' and full willing all to do: I believe that every promise, at this moment can come true."
Passive faith but praises in the light,
When sun doth shine.
Active faith will praise in darkest night—
Which faith is thine?
━Selected
二月二十二日
　“你若能信在信的人，凡事都能” （可九：23）
　　我们难得能听到信心准确的解释。有一次，我们聚会的时侯，一个青年人问起怎样可以从神那里得到需要的帮助；于是有一个亲爱的黑种老妇人站起来，伸出她的指头来指着那个青年人，很郑重地回答说：“你只要相信神已经作了，事情就成了。”这纔是信心准确的解释。多少时侯，我们最大的危险乃是：求了神之后，我们不相信神已经作了，我们倒设法去帮助祂，还请别人去帮助祂；然后看神怎样去作这件事。
　　真的信心，一经“阿门”神的“我肯”，就放手，让神独自去完成祂的工作。它的不二法门就是，“当将你的事交托耶和华，并依靠祂，祂就必成全”（诗三十七：5）。━译自地上的天上生活
神的话已经够我相信，
赞美神，祂已经听到我的祈祷，
祇求主给我一个回讯，
我不问祂的如何完成。
　　积极的信心，在得到了神的应许以后，立刻能发出赞美和感谢来，虽然应许还没有实践；因为祂知道神的支票和神的现款一样好。━亨利马太
消极的信心，接受了神的诺言，
并不照神的指示行动，
积极的信心，照神的旨意，
去进行，证实祂所赐的荣宠。
　　消极的信心说：“我相信，神的话句句都真。我知道祂的吩咐决没有不能或不愿帮助的成份，祂吩咐我“前进”，但我只见路途已遭封闭，还是等洪水分开再说，那时我会到达迦南福地了。我并且听见祂在命令：“起来，拿你的褥子回家去罢；”还有祂对久已枯萎的手臂说：“伸出你的枯手来”；只要等我身体强壮的时候，我就可以站起来了，等我霍然痊愈时，我的手也一定伸展自如了。我知道“神的万能”，掌有一切的权力，我相信，每个允许到了那时候都会给我应验。
　　积极的信心说：“我相信；现在我就接受祂的吩咐，我知道只要我接受，每个允许都会应验。因此我举步入水，就发现了前进的坦途，一直往前进入了美地；不为任何所阻挡。有了祂的吩咐，我立刻应命起身，忻然举步，我把手一伸，枯萎的残臂恢复健康。除了祂可靠的应许，我还有什么需求和愿望呢？我不期待奇迹或征兆，一点也不会滞延。我确知神的万能，掌有一切权力，我相信每个允许立刻能应验。”
消极的信心，
祇在光明环境中赞美深恩，
积极的信心，
最黑暗的境遇也会感激主恩，
你的信心何属？自己可细细的忖。
━选
February 23
"And there came a lion." (1 Sam. 17:34)
It is a source of inspiration and strength to come in touch with the youthful David, trusting God. Through faith in God he conquered a lion and a bear, and afterwards overthrew the mighty Goliath. When that lion came to despoil that flock, it came as a wondrous opportunity to David. If he had failed or faltered he would have missed God's opportunity for him and probably would never have come to be God's chosen king of Israel. "And there came a lion."
One would not think that a lion was a special blessing from God; one would think that only an occasion of alarm. The lion was God's opportunity in disguise. Every difficulty that presents itself to us, if we receive it in the right way, is God's opportunity. Every temptation that comes is God's opportunity.
When the "lion" comes, recognize it as God's opportunity no matter how rough the exterior. The very tabernacle of God was covered with badgers' skins and goats' hair; one would not think there would be any glory there. The Shekinah of God was manifest under that kind of covering. May God open our eyes to see Him, whether in temptations, trials, dangers, or misfortunes. ━C. H. P.
二月二十三日
“有时来了狮子” （撒上十七：34）
　　读到年轻的戴维怎样信靠神，真能使我们得到鼓励和力量。藉着信心，他胜过狮子和熊，后来胜过大力的歌利亚。当狮子来攫夺羊羔的时侯，他看为一个非常的机会。若是他失败了，或者惊恐，逃跑了，他就失去了神所给他的机会，恐怕以后也会失去作神所拣选的以色列王的资格。
　　“有时来了狮子”。人从来不想狮子是从神那里来的一个特别的祝福；人总是把牠看为一件不幸的，受惊吓的事情。岂知这是神化装的祝福。每一次临到我们的苦难和试炼，若是我们用正当的方法接受，都是神给我们的机会和祝福。
　　当狮子来的时侯，不管牠外表如何可怕，你该认作这是神给你的机会。神的会幕外面是用公羊皮和海狗皮作顶盖的；人从来不想那里有神的荣耀。岂知耶和华的荣耀就在掩盖之中。但愿神开启我们的眼睛，叫我们无论在患难中，试炼中，危险中，不幸中，都能彀看见神。
February 24
"John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true." (John 10:41)
You may be very discontented with yourself. You are no genius, have no brilliant gifts, and are inconspicuous for any special faculty. Mediocrity is the law of your existence. Your days are remarkable for nothing but sameness and insipidity. Yet you may live a great life.
John did no miracle, but Jesus said that among those born of women there had not appeared a greater than he.
John's main business was to bear witness to the Light, and this may be yours and mine. John was content to be only a voice, if men would think of Christ.
Be willing to be only a voice, heard but not seen; a mirror whose surface is lost to view, because it reflects the dazzling glory of the sun; a breeze that springs up just before daylight, and says, "The dawn! the dawn!" and then dies away.
Do the commonest and smallest things as beneath His eye. If you must live with uncongenial people, set to their conquest by love. If you have made a great mistake in your life, do not let it becloud all of it; but, locking the secret in your breast, compel it to yield strength and sweetness.
We are doing more good than we know, sowing seeds, starting streamlets, giving men true thoughts of Christ, to which they will refer one day as the first things that started them thinking of Him; and, of my part, I shall be satisfied if no great mausoleum is raised over my grave, but that simple souls shall gather there when I am gone, and say,
"He was a good man; he wrought no miracles, but he spake words about Christ, which led me to know Him for myself." ━George Matheson.
"THY HIDDEN ONES" (Psa. 83:3)
"Thick green leaves from the soft brown earth,
Happy springtime hath called them forth;
First faint promise of summer bloom
Breathes from the fragrant, sweet perfume,
Under the leaves.
"Lift them! what marvelous beauty lies
Hidden beneath, from our thoughtless eyes!
Mayflowers, rosy or purest white,
Lift their cups to the sudden light,
Under the leaves.
"Are there no lives whose holy deeds—
Seen by no eye save His who reads
Motive and action━in silence grow
Into rare beauty, and bud and blow
Under the leaves?
"Fair white flowers of faith and trust,
Springing from spirits bruised and crushed;
Blossoms of love, rose-tinted and bright,
Touched and painted with Heaven's own light
Under the leaves.
"Full fresh clusters of duty borne,
Fairest of all in that shadow grown;
Wondrous the fragrance that sweet and rare
Comes from the flower-cups hidden there
Under the leaves.
"Though unseen by our vision dim,
Bud and blossom are known to Him;
Wait we content for His heavenly ray—
Wait till our Master Himself one day
Lifteth the leaves."
"God calls many of His most valued workers from the unknown multitude." (Luke 14:23)
二月二十四日
“约翰一件神迹没有行过，但约翰指着这人所说的一切话都是真的"（约十：41）
　　也许你对于自己非常不满意。因为你旣不是一个天才，又没有显着的恩赐，又没有特别的技能。虽然你的生活顶平庸，你的日子都是平淡无奇的，然而你仍旧可以活出一个伟大的，非常的生命来。
　　约翰一件神迹没有行过，但是主耶稣赞许他说：“凡妇人所生的，没有一个兴起来大过施洗约翰的”。
　　约翰唯一的职务，是为光作见证，这件事是你我都作得到的。约翰的目的，只要有人需要基督，他自己只作一个呼召的声音就满足了。你我亦该如此。
　　甘愿只作一个声音，只能被听见，不能被看见；甘愿只作一面镜子，因反射日光的荣耀，以至镜面被隐蔽；甘愿只作黎明的微风，早晨起来报告：“白日将至！白日将至”！ 报告已毕，逐卽隐逝。作主的工作也是如此。
　　或许你作的是一件最普通，最微小的事情，绝没有人注意你，赞许你，但是这正是主所委派你的工作。如果你生活在性情不相投的人们中间，你就当用爱心去战胜他们。如果你有了错误，不要让它伸长开来，而遮蔽了一切，你要把它深锁在胸中，消除它和战败它。
　　也许不知不觉间我们自己还不知道，我们已经作了顶美的工作：撒种，通水泉，领人对基督有正当的认识…虽然没有广告替我们鼓吹，没有纪念碑为我们建立，然而我的心已经满足，如果有人━只有一个人也不妨━能说：
　　“…他一件神迹没有行过，但是因着他见证的声音，我们就亲自认识主了 “。━马得胜
“你所隐藏的人” （诗八十三：3）
从泥土里，萌茁了浓浓的绿叶，
这是由于春风的呼唤与吹拂，
叶子底下微微的清香，
预示着花之将发。
多么美好的花，躲在叶子下面，
为我们粗疏的目光所没有发现，
揭开叶子让粉红或纯白的五月花，
仰起头来迎接外面射来的亮光。
不是正有这样的生命，
他的美德善行，
只被洞烛几微的神所看见，
有如隐在叶下的花，长得无比的美艳？
被摧残的灵魂开出了，
纯洁美丽的信与爱之花，
因为叶子的遮掩，
隐没了它可爱的容华。
忠义之花，冠盖群芳，
生长在人所不见的地方，
奇妙的是藏在叶下的花，
发出最甜蜜的芬芳。
我们模糊的视觉虽无所见，
一苞一萼，祂却完全知道；
安心等待圣光的启示，总有一天，
主会亲手揭开叶子，显出它的美好。
　　许多神最宝贵的工人，都是从普通的人群里召出来的。（路十四：23）
February 25
"Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you." (Joshua 1:3)
Beside the literal ground, unoccupied for Christ, there is the unclaimed, untrodden territory of Divine promises. What did God say to Joshua? "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you," and then He draws the outlines of the Land of Promise━all theirs on one condition: that they shall march through the length and breadth of it, and measure it off with their own feet.
They never did that to more than one-third of the property, and consequently they never had more than one-third; they had just what they measured off, and no more.
In 2 Peter, we read of the "land of promise" that is opened up to us, and it is God's will that we should, as it were, measure off that territory by the feet of obedient faith and believing obedience, thus claiming and appropriating it for our own.
How many of us have ever taken possession of the promises of God in the name of Christ?
Here is a magnificent territory for faith to lay hold on and march through the length and breadth of, and faith has never done it yet.
Let us enter into all our inheritance. Let us lift up our eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, and hear Him say, "All the land that thou seest will I give to thee."(Gen.13:14-15) ━A. T. Pierson.
Wherever Judah should set his foot that should be his; wherever Benjamin should set his foot, that should be his. Each should get his inheritance by setting his foot upon it. Now, think you not, when either had set his foot upon a given territory, he did not instantly and instinctively feel, "This is mine"?
An old colored man, who had a marvelous experience in grace, was asked: "Daniel, why is it that you have so much peace and joy in religion?" "O Massa!" he replied, "I just fall flat on the exceeding great and precious promises, and I have all that is in them. Glory! Glory!" He who falls flat on the promises feels that all the riches embraced in them are his. ━Faith Papers
二月二十五日
　　“凡你们脚掌所踏之地，我都…赐给你们了”（书一：3）
　　今天除了有许多地方我们还没有得来归主以外，还有许多神给的应许，我们也没有得到。神对乔舒亚讲甚么呢？“凡你们脚掌所踏之地，我都…赐给你们了”，于是神也把那应许之地的地界画给他们看━只要是他们脚掌走遍的地方，都归给他们。
　　可是他们从来没有完全走遍神所指定的境地，他们只走遍地的三分之一；结果，他们从来没有完全得着，他们只得着地的三分之一；他们所得着的，正是他们所走遍的，一点都不多。
　　在彼得后书，我们看见“主所应许的尚未成就”，神的旨意仍旧要我们用信心和顺服的脚掌去走遍，然后纔得到。
　　今天我们中间有多少信徒曾藉基督的名得到神应许的实现呢？
　　在我们面前有一块宽广的地业，需要我们用信心的脚掌去走遍的，可是我们至今还没有起步。
　　让我们起来去占有神给我们的一切产业罢！让我们举目向东西南北观看。听神对我们说：“凡你所看见的一切地，我都要赐给你”（创十三：14-15）。━裴尔逊
　　凡是犹大脚掌所踏之地，就归犹大；凡是便雅悯脚掌所踏之地，就归便雅悯。每支派都是这样，只要脚掌一踏下去，那地就归他们。这样，你想，岂不是他们的脚掌一踏下去的时侯，立刻就会顶自然地觉得，“这是我的了”？
　　有一次，有人问一位黑种年老而灵历很深的弟兄：“但以理，为甚么你有这样多的平安与喜乐“？他回答说：“哦，先生！我只仆在神极大且极宝贝的应许上，把神应许中一切的丰富算作我的，我就得着了。荣耀啊！荣耀啊“！凡仆在神应许上的，就得着神所有的丰富。━译自信报
February 26
"My grace is sufficient for thee." (2 Cor. 12:9)
The other evening I was riding home after a heavy day's work. I felt very wearied, and sore depressed, when swiftly, and suddenly as a lightning flash, that text came to me, "My grace is sufficient for thee." I reached home and looked it up in the original, and at last it came to me in this way, "MY grace is sufficient for thee"; and I said, "I should think it is, Lord," and burst out laughing. I never fully understood what the holy laughter of Abraham was until then. It seemed to make unbelief so absurd. It was as though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and Father Thames said, "Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee." Or, it seemed after the seven years of plenty, a mouse feared it might die of famine; and Joseph might say, "Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee." Again, I imagined a man away up yonder, in a lofty mountain, saying to himself, "I breathe so many cubic feet of air every year, I fear I shall exhaust the oxygen in the atmosphere," but the earth might say, "Breathe away, O man, and fill the lungs ever, my atmosphere is sufficient for thee." Oh, brethren, be great believers! Little faith will bring your souls to Heaven, but great faith will bring Heaven to your souls. ━C. H. Spurgeon.
His grace is great enough to meet the great things—
The crashing waves that overwhelm the soul,
The roaring winds that leave us stunned and breathless,
The sudden storm beyond our life's control.
His grace is great enough to meet the small things━
The little pin-prick troubles that annoy,
The insect worries, buzzing and persistent,
The squeaking wheels that grate upon our joy.
━Annie Johnson Flint
There is always a large balance to our credit in the bank of Heaven waiting for our exercise of faith in drawing it. Draw heavily upon His resources. ━Selected
二月二十六日
“我的恩典是彀你用的“ （林后十二：9直译）
　　有一天晚上，我整天工作之后，骑马回家。路上我极感疲乏，差不多要马上倒下来了；忽然之间，一节圣经像闪电一般地照在我的心中，“我的恩典是彀你用的“。到家之后，我就在圣经的原文中查考，发现祂的语气是：“我的恩典是彀你用的”；我就对主说：“主啊，我信，我信你的恩典是彀我用的”；此时里面的喜乐爆发出来，成为欢笑。直到那晚，我纔知道不信神彀用的恩典是何等可笑，亦复可怜。这犹如海洋中一条口渴的小鱼，不敢喝水，深怕把水喝干了；虽然海洋对牠说：“小鱼儿尽量罢，我的水是彀你喝的”，但是牠仍不敢。这又好比七个丰年之后，仓廪中一只小鼠，不敢吃食，深怕以后要饿死；虽然约瑟对牠说：“小鼠儿，尽量罢，我的谷粒是彀你吃的”，但是牠仍不敢。这也很像一个人，在高山上，对自己说：“我每年呼吸这许多空气，我怕我会把空气中的养气吸尽罢”；虽然大气对他说：“可怜的人阿，尽量罢，我的养气是彀你呼吸的”，但是他仍不敢。哦，弟兄们，让我们每一个都作信心的伟人！小信心会带你的灵到天上去，大信心会带天到你的灵里来。━司布真
祂的恩典，伟大得足够应付大灾难，
席卷灵魂的惊波险涛，
窒息生命的暴风怒潮，
不能控制的急雨狂颷。
祂的恩典，伟大得也够祛除小麻烦，
急躁不宁，如坐针毡，
疑虑荣心，如蝇附膻，
忧戚如焚，独夜自煎。
━富林德
　　神替我们在天上的银行中存了无数的款子，等待我们用信心任意支取。让我们放胆前去支取罢。━选
February 27
"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day." (Gen. 32:24)
Left alone! What different sensations those words conjure up to each of us. To some they spell loneliness and desolation, to others rest and quiet. To be left alone without God, would be too awful for words, but to be left alone with Him is a foretaste of Heaven! If His followers spent more time alone with Him, we should have spiritual giants again.
The Master set us an example. Note how often He went to be alone with God; and He had a mighty purpose behind the command, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray."(Mt.6:6)
The greatest miracles of Elijah and Elisha took place when they were alone with God. It was alone with God that Jacob became a prince; and just there that we, too, may become princes━"men (aye, and women too!) wondered at" (Gen. 32:28). Joshua was alone when the Lord came to him. (Josh. 1:1) Gideon and Jephthah were by themselves when commissioned to save Israel. (Judges 6:11 and 11:29) Moses was by himself at the wilderness bush. (Exodus 3:1-5) Cornelius was praying by himself when the angel came to him. (Acts 10:2) No one was with Peter on the house top, when he was instructed to go to the Gentiles. (Acts 10:9) John the Baptist was alone in the wilderness (Luke 1:80), and John the Beloved alone in Patmos, when nearest God. (Rev. 1:9)
Covet to get alone with God. If we neglect it, we not only rob ourselves, but others too, of blessing, since when we are blessed we are able to pass on blessing to others. It may mean less outside work; it must mean more depth and power, and the consequence, too, will be "they saw no man save Jesus only."(Mt.17:8) ━Selected
二月二十七日
“只剩下雅各布一人；有一个人来和他摔交，直到黎明” （创卅二：24）
　　剩下一人！我们各人对于这四个字都有不同的感觉。有人剩下一人时感觉何等孤单寂寞；也有人剩下一人时感觉幽静，可得安息。总之，剩下一人而没有神同在，是太凄凉的事；剩下一人而有主同在的话，是预尝天上的光景！如果神的儿女能多和祂单独接触，我们都要变作属灵的伟人了。
　　我们的主给我们作了一个榜样。多少次数祂独自退去单独亲近神；祂吩咐我们“你祷告的时侯，要进你的内屋，关上门”（太六：6）的目的，乃是要我们单独亲近神。
　　伊莱贾和伊莱沙最大的神迹，乃是在他们单独亲近神的时侯出现的。雅各布在单独亲近神的时侯，成为一个王子。（以色列的意思就是王子）。我们若单独亲近神,也能成为王子。乔舒亚在单独亲近神的时侯，得到胜利的把握 (书1:1)。基甸和耶弗他在单独亲近神的时侯，得到神的遣征。(士6:11 及11:29) 摩西独自在旷野中的时候，看见神的异象。(出3:1-5) 哥尼流在独自祷告的时候，看见天使。(徒10:2) 彼得独自在房顶上与神单独接触的时侯，受神托付到外邦人中去 (徒10:9)。施洗约翰独自住在旷野 (路1:80)；耶稣所爱的门徒约翰独自在拔摩海岛上，孤单中他最接近神，所以得到了神最大的启示。(启1:9)
　　让我们渴慕单独和神亲近。如果我们把这件事情忽略了，我们就要失去树和枝子的交通，能力，以及天上各样属灵的福气。这是何等大的损失呢？并且我们不但剥夺了自己的祝福，也剥夺了别人的祝福，因为在我们自己得到祝福的时侯，我们纔能带祝福给别人。单独亲近神也许要减少我们外面的工作；但是单独亲近神会给我们更大的能力；结果，我们就会“不见一人，只见耶稣在那里”。（太十七：8）━选
February 28
"Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually."(Heb. 13:15)
A city missionary, stumbling through the dirt of a dark entry, heard a voice say, "Who's there, Honey?" Striking a match, he caught a vision of earthly want and suffering, of saintly trust and peace, "cut in ebony"━calm, appealing eyes set amid the wrinkles of a pinched, black face that lay on a tattered bed. It was a bitter night in February, and she had no fire, no fuel, no light. She had had no supper, no dinner, no breakfast. She seemed to have nothing at all but rheumatism and faith in God. One could not well be more completely exiled from all pleasantness of circumstances, yet the favorite song of this old creature ran:
"Nobody knows de trouble I see,
Nobody knows but Jesus;
Nobody knows de trouble I see—
Sing Glory Hallelu!
"Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down,
Sometimes I'm level on the groun',
Sometimes the glory shines aroun'
Sing Glory Hallelu!"
And so it went on: "Nobody knows de work I does, Nobody knows de griefs I has," the constant refrain being the "Glory Hallelu!" until the last verse rose:
"Nobody knows de joys I has,
Nobody knows but Jesus!"
"Troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."(2 Cor.4:8-9) It takes great Bible words to tell the cheer of that old negro auntie.
Remember Luther on his sick-bed. Between his groans he managed to preach on this wise: "These pains and trouble here are like the type which the printers set; as they look now, we have to read them backwards, and they seem to have no sense or meaning in them; but up yonder, when the Lord God prints us off in the life to come, we shall find they make brave reading." Only we do not need to wait till then. Remember Paul walking the hurricane deck amid a boiling sea, bidding the frightened crew "Be of good cheer," (Acts.27:22) Luther, the old negro auntie━all of them human sun-flowers. ━Wm. G. Garnett
二月二十八日
“我们应当…常常以颂赞为祭，献给神”（来十三：15）
　　一个传道人，在乡村工作；某天晚上，无意之中走进了一所又暗又脏的小屋；他听见屋隅发出微弱的声音问说：“是谁”？他点了一根火柴，从火光中看见了地上的缺乏和痛苦，天上的喜乐和平安━一个黑色的老妇人，卧病在床。她患着风湿症，痛苦异常；可是她仍顶平安，顶喜乐。那时正是最冷的二月，她没有燃料，也没有粮食；没有灯光，也没有早﹑午﹑晚餐。她所有的，只是依靠神的信心。人生的痛苦，在她身上都齐全了，一点也没有甚么可以叫她快乐的了，可是她仍旧能彀发出“哈利路亚”的赞美来，好似一无缺乏和病痛一般。
“无人知道我所经历的困苦，
无人知道，除了耶稣；
无人知道我所经历的困苦━
哈利路亚，赞美主！”
“有时我高升，有时我下沉，
有时被弃于地，受屈蒙尘，
有时荣光自四处照临━
哈利路亚，赞美主！”
歌词接下去：“无人知道我的工作，无人知道我的悲痛，”结尾还是重复那一句，“哈利路亚，赞美主！”一直到最后二句：
“无人知道我的欢愉
无人知道，祇有耶稣！”
　　她真是“四面受敌，却不被困住；心里作难，却不至失望；遭逼迫，却不被丢弃；打倒了，却不至死亡。”（林后四：8-9）。
　　马丁路得在他的病榻上顶痛苦的时侯，仍不住的赞美和感谢，并传这段信息：“这些痛苦和困难，很像排字人所排的铅版；现在看上去，字是反的，也读不出甚么意义来；可是等到铅版印在纸上，我们就看得顶清楚，而且亦明了其中的意义了。今天我们所受的痛苦，果然解释不通，但是到了那一天，我们就会明白的”。保罗在狂风大浪的中间，出来站在船板上，安慰害怕的众人：“你们放心”（徒二十七：22）。保罗，马丁路得，和那位黑色的妇人，都是我们的好榜样。━迦内德
March 1
"Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked." (Eccles. 7:13)
Often God seems to place His children in positions of profound difficulty, leading them into a wedge from which there is no escape; contriving a situation which no human judgment would have permitted, had it been previously consulted. The very cloud conducts them thither. You may be thus involved at this very hour.
It does seem perplexing and very serious to the last degree, but it is perfectly right. The issue will more than justify Him who has brought you hither. It is a platform for the display of His almighty grace and power.
He will not only deliver you; but in doing so, He will give you a lesson that you will never forget, and to which, in many a psalm and song, in after days, you will revert. You will never be able to thank God enough for having done just as He has. –Selected
"We may wait till He explains,
Because we know that Jesus reigns."
It puzzles me; but, Lord, Thou understandest,
And wilt one day explain this crooked thing.
Meanwhile, I know that it has worked out Thy best—
Its very crookedness taught me to cling.
Thou hast fenced up my ways, made my paths crooked,
To keep my wand'ring eyes fixed on Thee;
To make me what I was not, humble, patient;
To draw my heart from earthly love to Thee.
So I will thank and praise Thee for this puzzle,
And trust where I cannot understand.
Rejoicing Thou dost hold me worth such testing,
I cling the closer to Thy guiding hand.
--F. E. M. I.
三月一日
“你要察看神的作为，因神使为曲的，谁能变为直呢？”（传七：13）
神似乎常把他的儿女放在极困难的处境中，使他们无法逃避，也无法解决。这种处境绝非人类的判断所能解决的，但这种阴暗际遇，自有其目的，也许你正在陷入这种际遇之中。
似乎你的遭遇是顶烦恼，顶严重。你也不懂得为什么神要如此待你，但是神的处理绝没有错误，不久你就会看见他的美意。你所处的地位是一个戏台，你正在戏台上表演神的荣耀、恩典和权能。
他不只要施行拯救；他也要借此使你学习一个不能遗忘的功课，叫你在事情经过之后，还能常常唱出新的赞美，发出足够的感谢来。——选
“我们知道，一切都在主的统驭之中，
所以我们必须静待他的解释“
我虽模糊，主，你却完全知道，
总有一天，你会解释其中奥秘，
那时我才会明白是你最好的安排，
这些曲折，正是教训我对你的顺服。
给我围上了藩篱，使我的途径成为曲折，
我的目光虽游移不定，但你却成了目标；
纠正了我的不耐与高傲，
转移了我的心，只听你的呼召。
我感谢你与赞美你曲折的安排，
我虽不知道，还是一心信靠，
你把我作了试炼，何等忭幸，
我要紧紧依靠着你的指导。
March 2
"Be ready in the morning, and come up...present thyself there to me in the top of the mount. And no man shall come up with thee." (Exod. 34:2, 3)The morning watch is essential. You must not face the day until you have faced God, nor look into the face of others until you have looked into His.You cannot expect to be victorious, if the day begins only in your own strength. Face the work of every day with the influence of a few thoughtful, quiet moments with your heart and God. Do not meet other people, even those of your own home, until you have first met the great Guest and honored Companion of your life--Jesus Christ.Meet Him alone. Meet Him regularly. Meet Him with His open Book of counsel before you; and face the regular and the irregular duties of each day with the influence of His personality definitely controlling your every act.Begin the day with God!He is thy Sun and Day!His is the radiance of thy dawn;To Him address thy lay.Sing a new song at morn!Join the glad woods and hills;Join the fresh winds and seas and plains,Join the bright flowers and rills.Sing thy first song to God!Not to thy fellow men;Not to the creatures of His hand,But to the glorious One.Take thy first walk with God!Let Him go forth with thee;By stream, or sea, or mountain path,Seek still His company.Thy first transaction beWith God Himself above;So shall thy business prosper well,And all the day be love.--Horatius Bonar.The men who have done the most for God in this world have been early upon their knees.Matthew Henry used to be in his study at four, and remain there till eight; then, after breakfast and family prayer, he used to be there again till noon; after dinner, he resumed his book or pen till four, and spent the rest of the day in visiting his friends.　 三月二日“明日早晨，你要预备好了，上…山，在山顶上站在我面前。谁也不可和你一同上去”（出三十四：2/3）。　　在基督人的生命中，晨更是非常重要的。每天早晨我们必须先见神的面，然后再见人和世界。　　如果一天的开始是凭我们自己的力量的，我们就不能盼望得胜。在每天开始工作之前，必须在读经中，祷告中，或静默中，先和神有交通。切勿先见别人，甚至自己的家人，直等到我们先接见了我们生命中至大至尊的贵客耶稣基督。　　单独去见他。天天按时去见他。带着圣经去见他；把我们一天中要作的事都带到他面前去，我们就会得到意想不到的力量和指示。一天开始，先与神见面，他是你的光明，你的太阳！他是破除黑暗的曙光；献上你的祈祷，让他度量。清晨起来唱一首新歌；与山林一同喜悦相合唱，与清新空气，海洋和原野，与那明媚的花朵一同歌唱。将你第一首歌献给主，不是唱给凡人去听闻，不是唱给任何被造物，只是唱给独一荣耀之真神。先和神去作一次同行，好让神在你前面引导，在河边，在海滩，在山径，全由神来作你的护行。在天上的父，作你今天第一位主顾；你的事业必然兴旺，整天都在神的慈爱中。——庞纳　　许多为神作大事业的信徒，都是一早就跪在神面前的。　　亨利马太（Henry Matthew）每天早晨四点钟就在他的书房里读经，祷告了；到八点钟出来用早餐。早餐后，举行家庭晨祷；完毕后，又到密室中去和神亲近，直到午时；午餐后，他又回到书房里去读属灵的书籍，或写作，直到四点钟；其余的时间，去探望朋友。——选 
March 3
"And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him." (Mark 9:26)Evil never surrenders its hold without a sore fight. We never pass into any spiritual inheritance through the delightful exercises of a picnic, but always through the grim contentions of the battle field. It is so in the secret realm of the soul. Every faculty which wins its spiritual freedom does so at the price of blood. Apollyon is not put to flight by a courteous request; he straddles across the full breadth of the way, and our progress has to be registered in blood and tears. This we must remember or we shall add to all the other burdens of life the gall of misinterpretation. We are not "born again" into soft and protected nurseries, but in the open country where we suck strength from the very terror of the tempest. "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." --Dr. J. H. Jowett."Faith of our Fathers! living still,In spite of dungeon, fire and sword:O how our hearts beat high with joyWhene'er we hear that glorious word.Faith of our Fathers! Holy Faith!We will be true to Thee till death!"Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,Were still in heart and conscience free;How sweet would be their children's fate,If they, like them, could die for Thee!"　 　 三月三日“那鬼喊叫，使孩子大大的抽了一阵疯，就出来了”（可九：26）。　　恶者从来不肯放弃他的地盘，除非先有一阵激烈的战争。我们得到属灵的产业，并不是在宴乐中得到的，乃是在战场上得到的。这是属灵领域中的秘密。我们的身体各部分，亦是如此，要恢复属灵的自由，必须要有宝血的代价。亚玻伦（启九：11）不是能用情谊，礼貌，要求，请出来的；他在里面高视阔步；所以我们必须用属灵的武力，宝血和眼泪，驱逐他，他才会出去。这一点我们必须记得，否则我们生活中会有许多误解。我们重生，并不是重生在王宫中，乃是重生在旷野；那里我们吃的奶，就是四周的风波和战争。“我们进入神的国，必须经历许多艰难”（徒十四：22）。——乔怀德我们祖先的信心，虽历经火与剑，甚至牢狱的迫害，仍然不变，我们听到了这许多光荣的史迹，我们的心啊！何等的跳跃欢腾。我们祖先的信心，神圣的信心，我们亦愿矢忠矢诚，至死不易！我们的祖先，被关在黑牢之中，可是他们心中自由的良知，谁能索缚？倘若后代子孙也能为神殉道，那是何等美妙何等幸福！ 
March 4
"Followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Heb. 6:12)They (heroes of faith) are calling to us from the heights that they have won, and telling us that what man once did man can do again. Not only do they remind us of the necessity of faith, but also of that patience by which faith has its perfect work. Let us fear to take ourselves out of the hands of our heavenly Guide or to miss a single lesson of His loving discipline by discouragement or doubt."There is only one thing," said a village blacksmith, "that I fear, and that is to be thrown on the scrap heap."When I am tempering a piece of steel, I first beat it, hammer it, and then suddenly plunge it into this bucket of cold water. I very soon find whether it will take temper or go to pieces in the process. When I discover after one or two tests that it is not going to allow itself to be tempered, I throw it on the scrap heap and sell it for a cent a pound when the junk man comes around."So I find the Lord tests me, too, by fire and water and heavy blows of His heavy hammer, and if I am not willing to stand the test, or am not going to prove a fit subject for His tempering process, I am afraid He may throw me on the scrap heap."When the fire is hottest, hold still, for there will be a blessed "afterward"; and with Job we may be able to say, "When he hath tried me I shall come forth as gold." –Selected.Sainthood springs out of suffering. It takes eleven tons of pressure on a piano to tune it. God will tune you to harmonize with Heaven's key-note if you can stand the strain."Things that hurt and things that marShape the man for perfect praise;Shock and strain and ruin areFriendlier than the smiling days."　 三月四日“总要效法那些凭信心和忍耐承受应许的人”（来六：12）。　　信心的英雄今天在荣耀中指示我们：凡他们所成功的，我们亦能。成功的秘诀不只是信心，也在乎忍耐。所以，不让我们疑惑，焦急，沮丧，以至失去受主出乎爱的锻炼的机会。　　有一个打铁的铁匠说：“只有一件事是我们所怕的，就是被神丢到碎铁堆里去。当我锻炼钢铁的时侯，我先把它在炉中烧红，然后用铁锤锤它，又忽然把它投入一桶冷水中。这样，不久我便能试验出来这块铁到底经不经得起锻炼，会不会裂成碎片。我把它这样试验至少二叁次，如果它经不起锻炼，我就把它甩在碎铁堆里；等到收旧货的来了，我就一分钱一磅卖给他”。　　“照样，我觉得主也用火，用锤，用水试验我，如果我没有信心和忍耐就经不起试验，以至不能合乎他的标准，我怕他也会把我丢到碎铁堆里去呢”！　　虽然火是挺热，锤是挺重，水是挺冷，你还该凭信心和忍耐站住，因为祝福就在后面；让我们和约伯同声说：“他试炼我之后，我必如精金”（伯二十三：10）。——选　　圣人出于苦难的磨炼。要一架钢琴出声，须用十一吨压力。如果你经得起压力，神就要把你压出音调来和天上的音乐相和。——选困苦的考验，疼痛的伤痕，锻炼出十全十美的灵魂，惊恐，紧张和灾难的刺激，更有益于笑话温存 
March 5
"We are made partaker of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end." (Heb. 3:14)It is the last step that wins; and there is no place in the pilgrim's progress where so many dangers lurk as the region that lies hard by the portals of the Celestial City. It was there that Doubting Castle stood. It was there that the enchanted ground lured the tired traveler to fatal slumber. It is when Heaven's heights are full in view that hell's gate is most persistent and full of deadly peril. "Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." "So run, that ye may obtain."In the bitter waves of woeBeaten and tossed aboutBy the sullen winds that blowFrom the desolate shores of doubt,Where the anchors that faith has castAre dragging in the gale,I am quietly holding fastTo the things that cannot fail.And fierce though the fiends may fight,And long though the angels hide,I know that truth and rightHave the universe on their side;And that somewhere beyond the starsIs a love that is better than fate.When the night unlocks her barsI shall see Him--and I will wait.--Washington Gladden.　 　 三月五日　　“我们若将起初确实的信心，坚持到底，就在基督里有分了”（来三：14）。　　胜利是坚持到最后一步获得的。在天路历程一书中描述的危机四伏，越靠近天门，难关越多，那里有迷楼，疑寨，及温柔蛊惑之处，把疲倦的旅客诱入致命的梦乡。旅伴啊！天堂高阁连云，历历在望，正当这个时候，地狱之门却大开，同时那地狱之门却最富有吸引力，成了旅客的最大危机。“我们行善，不可丧志；若不灰心，到了时侯，就要收成”。（加六：9）“所以你们当跑，好叫你们得着奖赏”。（林前九：24直译）。在苦海的波涛中，一叶扁舟，随着风浪起伏升沉。这是疑惑之岸吹来的寒风，何等凛冽阴森。以信心为锚，抛在海底，锚链在暴风雨绷得紧紧，我镇静地把握住这救星，它永远可靠，永远稳妥。魔鬼的攻击虽然凶狠，天使隐藏着，一时还不显现，但我知道真理和正义，乃为整个宇宙所维护。在星空遥远的那边，有胜过命运的慈爱。黑暗过去，光明之门大开，我就会见到他，我愿等待。——格拉登 
March 6
"We trusted." (Luke 24:21)I have always felt so sorry that in that walk to Emmaus the disciples had not said to Jesus, "We still trust"; instead of "We trusted." That is so sad--something that is all over.If they had only said, "Everything is against our hope; it looks as if our trust was vain, but we do not give up; we believe we shall see Him again." But no, they walked by His side declaring their lost faith, and He had to say to them "O fools, and slow of heart to believe!"Are we not in the same danger of having these words said to us? We can afford to lose anything and everything if we do not lose our faith in the God of truth and love.Let us never put our faith, as these disciples did, in a past tense--"We trusted." But let us ever say, "I am trusting." --Crumbs.The soft, sweet summer was warm and glowing,Bright were the blossoms on every bough:I trusted Him when the roses were blooming;I trust Him now…Small were my faith should it weakly falterNow that the roses have ceased to blow;Frail were the trust that now should alter,Doubting His love when storm clouds grow.--The Song of a Bird in a Winter Storm.　 三月六日“我们曾信…”（路二十四：21直译）。　　我常常觉得很难过；往以马忤斯去的两个门徒不对耶稣说：“我们仍信”；却说：“我们曾信…”。可怜，他们以为事情都完了。　　他们若说：“似乎每一件事情都使我们失望；似乎我们的信心落了空，但是我们并不灰心；我们相信我们要再见他…”岂不好么？可惜他们并没有这么说，他们站在他旁边，脸上带着愁容，以为主已死了叁天；难怪主责备他们说：“无知的人哪…你们的心，信得太迟钝了”！（二十五节）　　亲爱的，我们有否相类的情形，受主同样的责备呢？我们宁可放弃任何东西，每一件东西，却不能放弃对主的信心。　　让我们不像这两个门徒一样，把我们的信心变成过去式——“我们曾信…”。让我们永远坚持现在式的信心——“我们永信”。——碎锦温暖的春天已去，那枝头开满如锦鲜花。玫瑰怒放的季节，我曾盼望，现在仍在盼望他……如今玫瑰不开，花事阑珊，若畏缩踌躇，我的信心何颟顸；尤其风雪欲来的此刻，若灰心失望，更是脆弱可叹。——风雪中小鸟之歌 
March 7
"We are troubled on every side." (2 Cor. 7:5)Why should God have to lead us thus, and allow the pressure to be so hard and constant? Well, in the first place, it shows His all-sufficient strength and grace much better than if we were exempt from pressure and trial. "The treasure is in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."It makes us more conscious of our dependence upon Him. God is constantly trying to teach us our dependence, and to hold us absolutely in His hand and hanging upon His care.This was the place where Jesus Himself stood and where He wants us to stand, not with self-constituted strength, but with a hand ever leaning upon His, and a trust that dare not take one step alone. It teaches us trust.There is no way of learning faith except by trial. It is God's school of faith, and it is far better for us to learn to trust God than to enjoy life.The lesson of faith once learned, is an everlasting acquisition and an eternal fortune made; and without trust even riches will leave us poor. --Days of Heaven upon Earth."Why must I weep when others sing?'To test the deeps of suffering.'Why must I work while others rest?'To spend my strength at God's request.'Why must I lose while others gain?'To understand defeat's sharp pain.'Why must this lot of life be mineWhen that which fairer seems is thine?'Because God knows what plans for meShall blossom in eternity.'"　 三月七日“我们…周围遭患难”（林后七：5）。　　为什么神这样带领我们，应许患难一直临到我们？第一，神够用的恩典和能力可以彰显得完全，远胜在安逸中。“我们有这宝贝放在瓦器里，要显明这莫大的能力，是出于神，不是出于我们”（林后四：7）。　　第二，患难使我们更依靠神。神一直在教导我们依靠他，让他把我们紧握在手中，把所有的难处交给他，由他照顾。　　第三，主自己曾站过那“四围遭患难”之地，今天他也要我们去经历；并不用自己的力，乃是一直用手拉住他依靠他不敢独自跨前一步。用以训练我们的信心。　　第四，除了在患难中，没有别的地方可以学习信心的功课。四周遭患难之地是神所设立的信心学校，在那里我们受到信心的训练。　　信心的秘诀一次学会，就永远会了，并且是一个永远的幸福；有信，贫穷变为富足；没有信，富足也是贫穷。——译自地上的天上生活别人欢唱，我为何悲哭？“为了探测苦海的深度。”别人休息，我为何工作？“为了出力完成神的吩咐。”别人获得，我为何损失？“为了体验失败的惨痛。”美好的幸福为你所有，为何厄运偏纠缠我，自朝至暮？“因为神知道如此的安排，将使我在永恒中获得无上丰富。” 
March 8
"Do as thou hast said, that thy name may be magnified forever." (1 Chron. 17:23, 24)This is a most blessed phase of true prayer. Many a time we ask for things which are not absolutely promised. We are not sure therefore until we have persevered for some time whether our petitions are in the line of God's purpose or no. There are other occasions, and in the life of David this was one, when we are fully persuaded that what we ask is according to God's will. We feel led to take up and plead some promise from the page of Scripture, under the special impression that it contains a message for us. At such times, in confident faith, we say, "Do as Thou hast said." There is hardly any position more utterly beautiful, strong, or safe, than to put the finger upon some promise of the Divine word, and claim it. There need be no anguish, or struggle, or wrestling; we simply present the check and ask for cash, produce the promise, and claim its fulfillment; nor can there be any doubt as to the issue. It would give much interest to prayer, if we were more definite. It is far better to claim a few things specifically than a score vaguely. --F. B. Meyer.Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request: "Do as Thou hast said." The Creator will not cheat His creature who depends upon His truth; and far more, the Heavenly Father will not break His word to His own child."Remember the word unto thy servant, on which thou hast caused me to hope," is most prevalent pleading. It is a double argument: it is Thy Word. Wilt Thou not keep it? Why hast thou spoken of it, if Thou wilt not make it good. Thou hast caused me to hope in it, wilt Thou disappoint the hope which Thou has Thyself begotten in me? --C. H. Spurgeon."Being absolutely certain that whatever promise he is bound by, he is able also to make good." (Rom. 4:21, Weymouth's Translation)It is the everlasting faithfulness of God that makes a Bible promise "exceeding great and precious." Human promises are often worthless. Many a broken promise has left a broken heart. But since the world was made, God has never broken a single promise made to one of His trusting children.Oh, it is sad for a poor Christian to stand at the door of the promise, in the dark night of affliction, afraid to draw the latch, whereas he should then come boldly for shelter as a child into his father's house. --Gurnal.Every promise is built upon four pillars: God's justice and holiness, which will not suffer Him to deceive; His grace or goodness, which will not suffer Him to forget; His truth, which will not suffer Him to change, which makes Him able to accomplish. --Selected.　 三月八日“求你...照你所说的而行。愿你的名永远...被尊为大”(代上十七：23/24)。　　这是一个真信的祷告的样本。许多时侯，我们所求的，并不是神所应许的。　因此我们一时不会明白我们的祷告是否合乎神的旨意。大卫在这里的祷告，告诉我们，他深信所求的应许；在这种时候，我们只须带着信心，用手指按着那应许祈求神说：“求你照你所说的而行”。这是最美丽，最有力，最稳妥的祷告。用不着焦急，用不着苦求，用不着挣扎；我们只要拿出支票来兑现就是了——拿出应许来，要求实践。这样必会增加我们祷告的兴趣。求一件神的应许，远胜求一百件不清楚神旨的事情。——梅尔　　圣经中每一个应许，都是神亲笔签字的，我们都可以去要求：“求你照你所说的而行”。创造者决不会欺骗信靠他的受造者；天上的父决不会对他自己的孩子失信。　　“求你记念向你仆人从所应许的那叫我有盼望的话”(诗一一九：49直译),是一个最有力的祷告。他给神的理由是:这是你的话,你岂不守信吗？如果你不实践,又何必说呢？你既叫我在你的话上有盼望,难道有使我失去你自己所给我的盼望吗?——司布真　　“且满心相信,　神所应许的必能作成”(罗四：21)。　　神的永久信实使圣经中的应许“又宝贵,又极大”(彼后一：4)。人的应许常是一无价值的。许多毁约使人碎心。但是神从创世以来,　从没有向他的孩子失过一次信。　　哦，一个基督徒在痛苦之夜站在应许的门口，不敢拿门闩，这是何等可怜呢？他应该放胆进去，尤如一个孩子进父亲的家一般。　　神每一个应许都是建立在四个根基上的：神的公义，神的圣洁，神的恩典，神的真实。神的公义，不让他失信；神的圣洁，不让他欺骗；神的恩典，不让他遗忘；神的真实，不让他改变 
March 9
"Look from the top." (Song of Solomon 4:8)Crushing weights give the Christian wings. It seems like a contradiction in terms, but it is a blessed truth. David out of some bitter experience cried: "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away, and be at rest" (Psa. 55:6). But before he finished this meditation he seems to have realized that his wish for wings was a realizable one. For he says, "Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee."The word "burden" is translated in the Bible margin, "what he (Jehovah) hath given thee." The saints' burdens are God-given; they lead him to "wait upon Jehovah," and when that is done, in the magic of trust, the "burden" is metamorphosed into a pair of wings, and the weighted one "mounts up with wings as eagles. --Sunday School Times.One day when walking down the street,On business bent, while thinking hardAbout the "hundred cares" which seemedLike thunder clouds about to breakIn torrents, Self-pity said to me:"You poor, poor thing, you have too muchTo do. Your life is far too hard.This heavy load will crush you soon."A swift response of sympathyWelled up within. The burning sunSeemed more intense. The dust and noiseOf puffing motors flying pastWith rasping blast of blowing hornIncensed still more the whining nerves,The fabled last back-breaking strawTo weary, troubled, fretting mind."Ah, yes, 'twill break and crush my life;I cannot bear this constant strainOf endless, aggravating cares;They are too great for such as I."So thus my heart condoled itself,"Enjoying misery," when lo!A "still small voice" distinctly said,"Twas sent to lift you--not to crush."I saw at once my great mistake.My place was not beneath the loadBut on the top! God meant it notThat I should carry it. He sentIt here to carry me. Full wellHe knew my incapacityBefore the plan was made. He sawA child of His in need of graceAnd power to serve; a puny twigRequiring sun and rain to grow;An undeveloped chrysalis;A weak soul lacking faith in God.He could not help but see all thisAnd more. And then, with tender thoughtHe placed it where it had to grow—Or die. To lie and cringe beneathOne's load means death, but life and powerAwait all those who dare to rise above.Our burdens are our wings; on themWe soar to higher realms of grace;Without them we must roam for ayeOn planes of undeveloped faith,(For faith grows but by exerciseIn circumstance impossible).Oh, paradox of Heaven. The loadWe think will crush was sent to lift usUp to God! Then, soul of mine,Climb up! for naught can e'er be crushedSave what is underneath the weight.How may we climb! By what ascentShall we surmount the carping caresOf life! Within His word is foundThe key which opes His secret stairs;Alone with Christ, secluded there,We mount our loads, and rest in Him.--Miss Mary Butterfield.　 三月九日“从...顶...往下观看”(歌四:8) 。　　重压使基督徒飞腾。似乎是矛盾，其实是真理。大卫在苦难中喊叫说:“但愿我有翅膀像鸽子，我就飞去，得享安息”(诗五十五：6)。他的祷告尚未完毕，他似乎已经承认他的心愿已经达到，真生了翅膀。因为他不再觉得重压，并且还能凭他的经验劝人说:“你要把你的重担卸给耶和华，他必抚养你”(二十二节) 。　　“重担”在圣经的边注里译作“神所给你的东西”。信徒的重担原是神给的;　重担帮助我们等候神，依赖神；什么时侯我们能满足神的用意，什么时侯身上的重担就化成翅膀，我们就能“如鹰展翅上腾”。(赛四十：31)——译自主日学报　　一日，我在街上奔走，　　事业的重负使我忧心忡忡，　　种种烦虑有如阵雨之欲来，　　胸中乌云密布。　　于是自怜的心对自己说：　　“可怜的人啊！你要做的事太多。　　你实在太劳苦。　　这沉重负担不久会使你困苦。”　　心中起了强烈反应，　　好如暴露在炎热阳光下，　　更如街车疾驶而过,灰尘飞扬，　　喧哗杂闹和刺耳的噪音，　　紧张更添了刺激，疲累而困恼的心，　　已经达到了崩裂的边疆。　　“哦!　是的,　它会压碎我的生命；　　我无法忍受无穷无尽的紧张，　　不断而来的忧虑，　　对我真是重压难当。”　　我的心哪自安自慰说：　　“安心於不幸吧！”　　忽然听到细微之声清晰地说：　　“这不是来压碎你，而是来支持你。”　　我立刻发现落入重大错误中，　　我的地位不在重负下，却在重负上！　　神的美意不是让我去背负，而是神背负我。　　神在安排他旨意之前，　　他早已知道我的缺点，　　亦看清了我的脆弱灵魂，他的子民需要恩典和能力，一枝嫩芽需要阳光雨露来培养。他未作帮助之前把一切看清，然后按照他的旨意与周详的慈念，把它放在它应站的地位上，这是生死两可的关键。在重负之下畏缩瘫痪下死亡，有勇气站起身来，就得生命力量。我们的负担就是我们的翅膀；借此可以飞升到天上恩慈座旁；如果没有信心的翅膀，我们信心将永不成熟仰望。“信心非经困难环境的锻练，决不成长”。这是天国奥秘的真理。我们以为有压碎我们生命的重负，其实是背负我们飞向天上神的翅膀。向上爬吧！决不会被压碎，除非你沉滞在重负之下，我们怎样向上爬！如何能凌驾在忧患与苦闷之上；哦神；你的话显示向上的阶梯，就是我们先隐退一时，和基督单独相处，就是凌驾一切忧患重负的秘方，因着主耶稣基督，得到他安息与慈祥。——白德菲 
March 10
"The just shall live by faith." (Heb. 10:38)Seemings and feelings are often substituted for faith. Pleasurable emotions and deep satisfying experiences are part of the Christian life, but they are not all of it. Trials, conflicts, battles and testings lie along the way, and are not to be counted as misfortunes, but rather as part of our necessary discipline.In all these varying experiences we are to reckon on Christ as dwelling in the heart, regardless of our feelings if we are walking obediently before Him. Here is where many get into trouble; they try to walk by feeling rather than faith.One of the saints tells us that it seemed as though God had withdrawn Himself from her. His mercy seemed clean gone. For six weeks her desolation lasted, and then the Heavenly Lover seemed to say:"Catherine, thou hast looked for Me without in the world of sense, but all the while I have been within waiting for thee; meet Me in the inner chamber of thy spirit, for I am there."Distinguish between the fact of God's presence, and the emotion of the fact. It is a happy thing when the soul seems desolate and deserted, if our faith can say, "I see Thee not. I feel Thee not, but Thou art certainly and graciously here, where I am as I am." Say it again and again: "Thou art here: though the bush does not seem to burn with fire, it does burn. I will take the shoes from off my feet, for the place on which I stand is holy ground." --London Christian.Believe God's word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your Rock is Christ, and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows, but your sea. --Samuel Rutherford.Keep your eye steadily fixed on the infinite grandeur of Christ's finished work and righteousness. Look to Jesus and believe, look to Jesus and live! Nay, more; as you look to him, hoist your sails and buffet manfully the sea of life. Do not remain in the haven of distrust, or sleeping on your shadows in inactive repose, or suffering your frames and feelings to pitch and toss on one another like vessels idly moored in a harbor. The religious life is not a brooding over emotions, grazing the keel of faith in the shallows, or dragging the anchor of hope through the oozy tide mud as if afraid of encountering the healthy breeze. Away! With your canvas spread to the gale, trusting in Him, who rules the raging of the waters. The safety of the tinted bird is to be on the wing. If its haunt be near the ground--if it fly low--it exposes itself to the fowler's net or snare. If we remain grovelling on the low ground of feeling and emotion, we shall find ourselves entangled in a thousand meshes of doubt and despondency, temptation and unbelief. "But surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of THAT WHICH HATH A WING" (marginal reading Prov. 1:17). Hope thou in God. --J. R. Macduff.　 三月十日“义人必因信而活”(来十：38直译) 。　　眼见和感觉常会代替信心。高兴的情感和满足的经历仅是基督徒生活中的一部分，并不是全部分。前途中埋伏着的试炼，逼迫，战争，绝非不幸，乃是我们必受的训练。　　在这一切患难的经历中，我们须认定主活在我们里面，不管我们的感觉怎样。许多人因为感觉而跌倒；他们依靠感觉，不依靠信心。　　有一个姐妹告诉我们：她有一次觉得神离开了她。他的恩典怜悯，似乎完全跑开了。她在这种情形之下有六星期之久，有一天神对她说:“凯塞林，你一直在外面的感觉上寻找我，所以找不着我；这六星期中我却在里面等待你；你应当到你灵中内室里来找我，因为我在那里”。　　我们应该分辨情感和事实，这是何等快乐的一回事：当魂感觉孤单凄凉的时侯，我们的信心仍能说：“我看不见你，我觉不到你，但是你始终在这里，所以我一直是这样的我。哦，主，你一直在这里；荆棘虽然没有烧毁，但是的确被火烧着。我要把我脚上的鞋脱下来，因为我所站的是圣地”。——基督徒报　　我们应该信神的话语和能力过于信我们自己的感觉和经历。我们的磐石是基督，涨落的不是磐石，乃是我们魂中的海潮。——罗斯福特　　我们的眼睛应该凝视基督所已经完成的工作。我们应当仰望耶稣，张起我们的帆来，勇勇敢敢地与浪相搏。不要留恋在不信的港口里，不要躺卧在黑暗的死寂里，不要任你的感觉上下颠簸像碇泊在港口的船只一般。属灵的生活不是蹲伏在情感上的，也不是留恋在浅水里的。撑开去！撑到大风大浪中去。信靠主，他是管理洋海的主。飞鸟越飞得高，越是安全。如果它飞得低——靠近地面——它也许会陷入捕鸟者所设的网罗里去.　照样，如果我们一直匍匐在低地上——依靠感觉，情感 ——我们就要看见我们自己将要被千万种网罗——怀疑，失望，诱惑，不信……——所缠累。这就是“好象飞鸟，网罗设在眼前仍不躲避”(箴一：17) 。——马克特夫 
March 11
"Now it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now, therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people." (Joshua 1:1, 2)Sorrow came to you yesterday, and emptied your home. Your first impulse now is to give up, and sit down in despair amid the wrecks of your hopes. But you dare not do it. You are in the line of battle, and the crisis is at hand. To falter a moment would be to imperil some holy interest. Other lives would be harmed by your pausing, holy interests would suffer, should your hands be folded. You must not linger even to indulge your grief.A distinguished general related this pathetic incident of his own experience in time of war. The general's son was a lieutenant of battery. An assault was in progress. The father was leading his division in a charge; as he pressed on in the field, suddenly his eye was caught by the sight of a dead battery-officer lying just before him. One glance showed him it was his own son. His fatherly impulse was to stop beside the loved form and give vent to his grief, but the duty of the moment demanded that he should press on in the charge; so, quickly snatching one hot kiss from the dead lips, he hastened away, leading his command in the assault.Weeping inconsolably beside a grave can never give back love's banished treasure, nor can any blessing come out of such sadness. Sorrow makes deep scars; it writes its record ineffaceably on the heart which suffers. We really never get over our great griefs; we are never altogether the same after we have passed through them as we were before. Yet there is a humanizing and fertilizing influence in sorrow which has been rightly accepted and cheerfully borne. Indeed, they are poor who have never suffered, and have none of sorrow's marks upon them. The joy set before us should shine upon our grief as the sun shines through the clouds, glorifying them. God has so ordered, that in pressing on in duty we shall find the truest, richest comfort for ourselves. Sitting down to brood over our sorrows, the darkness deepens about us and creeps into our heart, and our strength changes to weakness. But, if we turn away from the gloom, and take up the tasks and duties to which God calls us, the light will come again, and we shall grow stronger.--J. R. Miller.Thou knowest that through our tearsOf hasty, selfish weepingComes surer sin, and for our petty fearsOf loss thou hast in keepingA greater gain than all of which we dreamed;Thou knowest that in graspingThe bright possessions which so precious seemedWe lose them; but if, claspingThy faithful hand, we tread with steadfast feetThe path of thy appointing,There waits for us a treasury of sweetDelight, royal anointingWith oil of gladness and of strength.--Helen Hunt Jackson.三月十一日“耶和华的仆人摩西死了以后，耶和华晓谕摩西的帮手嫩的儿子约书亚，说，我的仆人摩西死了；现在你要起来，和众百姓过这约但河” (书一：1/2) 。　　当忧愁和损失同时临到你的时侯，你第一个冲动就是想放弃一切，坐在失望中伤心。但是你决不能这样。须知你是在战场的前线，正当胜败关头。如果你踌躇一刻，同胞就要丧胆，神就要受着亏损。所以你不该稍有耽延，连痛哭一场的时间也不能。　　某名将常述说他在战争时所遭遇的一段伤心的经历：将军的儿子是一个陆军中尉。一次，父子各率一军，开拔前线。不久，总攻击开始，将军身先士卒，向敌阵冲锋；在战场上，他偶然瞥见一个本国的战死军官躺在地上。跑近一看，乃是他自己的儿子。他第一个意念就是抱了尸身痛哭一场，但是转念之间，他想到身负重责，战争的胜败就在这一仗，岂可因个人私事贻误大事；于是在死者灰白的冷唇上抢了一个热吻，鼓着勇气，急忙率领军兵向前冲去。　　如果约书亚在摩西的墓旁一直哀哭，是哭不活摩西的，也哭不出神的祝福来。忧愁哀痛留下深深的伤痕，在哀痛者的心上，刻划着不可磨灭的记录。我们从来无法真正去解脱大悲哀；经历了大悲痛之后，决不会和经历之前完全一样。然而，倘能正确和欣然去接受悲哀，它能发挥培养人格的丰富影响力。那些从未受过痛苦，心上从未留下过悲哀烙印的人，才是可怜虫。我们未来的欢乐，一定要像穿过乌云的阳光，才能倍见光明。神既如此吩咐了。我们要从履行任务中，去找寻最真切最丰富的安慰。如果坐下悲哀，会使我们四围的环境更艰难，我们的心更痛苦，我们的力量衰弱。只要我们不去理会痛苦，立即负起神的使命，光明就会随着来到,我们也会发挥刚强的力量了。——密勒轻率的啼哭，自私的泪珠，将招来深的罪过。我们忧虑那微不足道的损失，你却给我准备了梦想不到的收获；我们若不肯放下自以为珍贵的一切，结果还是丧失，何能持到永久？但若紧握着你的手，坚定步伐走在你指示的道路前途是浸润着快乐与丰富，充满了幸福和尊容的宝库。——杰克逊 
March 12
"The Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts....Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste....And the Lord turned a mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts, and cast them into the Red sea; there remained not one locust in all the coasts of Egypt." (Exod. 10:13, 19)See how in the olden times, when the Lord fought for Israel against the cruel Pharaoh, the stormy winds wrought out their deliverance; and yet again, in that grandest display of power--the last blow that God struck at the proud defiance of Egypt. A strange, almost cruel thing it must have seemed to Israel to be hemmed in by such a host of dangers--in front the wild sea defying them, on either hand the rocky heights cutting off all hope of escape, the night of hurricane gathering over them. It was as if that first deliverance had come only to hand them over to more certain death. Completing the terror there rang out the cry: "The Egyptians are upon us!"When it seemed they were trapped for the foe, then came the glorious triumph. Forth swept the stormy wind and beat back the waves, and the hosts of Israel marched forward, down into the path of the great deep--a way arched over with God's protecting love.On either hand were the crystal walls glowing in the light of the glory of the Lord; and high above them swept the thunder of the storm. So on through all that night; and when, at dawn of the next day, the last of Israel's host set foot upon the other shore, the work of the stormy wind was done.Then sang Israel unto the Lord the song of the "stormy wind fulfilling his word.""The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil...Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters."One day, by God's great mercy, we, too, shall stand upon the sea of glass, having the harps of God. Then we shall sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: "Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." We shall know then how the stormy winds have wrought out our deliverance.Now you see only the mystery of this great sorrow; then you shall see how the threatening enemy was swept away in the wild night of fear and grief.Now you look only at the loss; then you shall see how it struck at the evil that had begun to rivet its fetters upon you.Now you shrink from the howling winds and muttering thunders; then you shall see how they beat back the waters of destruction, and opened up your way to the goodly land of promise.--Mark Guy Pearse."Though winds are wild;And the gale unleashed,My trusting heart still sings:I know that they meanNo harm to me,He rideth on their wings."　 三月十二日“那一昼一夜，耶和华使东风刮在埃及地上，到了早晨，东风 把蝗虫刮了来。…于是法老急忙召了摩西亚伦来，…耶和华转了极大的西风，把蝗虫刮起，吹入红海，在埃及的四境连一个也没有留下” (出十：13，16，19)。　　我们看神怎样利用暴风来拯救以色列人脱离残酷的法老；还有，神在表显他最大的神权时——神最后一次对付埃及的军队——也利用大东风(十四：21)。当时以色列人都以为他们的处境太危急，太残酷了——前面是红海，后面是追兵，两旁都是高耸的山岩，断绝了一切逃生的希望。以色列人在这时侯只能够仰望耶和华的拯救了。可是他的拯救是大东风。这真出他们意外。可怕的风声加增他们的惊慌，四周的寒冷冻得他们战栗。他们怨神的拯救无非催逼他们死得快一点。恐怕中那时他们全营的呼声是：“我们死啦！埃及人追及我们了”。　　正在绝望的时侯，荣耀的胜利来了。吼声可怕的东风把浪击退，把海吹干，以色列人向前走去，进入神的保护和慈爱中。两旁是水晶的墙，前面是耶和华的荣光。终夜都是这样；到了天一亮，最后一个以色列人也上了岸，大东风的使命便完成了。　　于是以色列人向耶和华唱歌说:“成就他命的狂风…都当赞美耶和华”(诗一四八：8，12)。　　“仇敌说，我要追赶，我要追上，我要分掳物…你叫风一吹，海就把他们(埃及军兵)淹没，他们如铅沉在大水之中”(出十五：9/10) 。　　到有一天，我们要站在玻璃海上，拿着神的琴；与众圣徒一同唱神仆人摩西的歌和羔羊的歌说：“众圣之王啊，你的方法义哉，诚哉”——(启十五：3直译)。——披尔斯　　如今你只觉得大风暴的不可思议；将来你必看见威胁你的敌人，在战栗恐怖的夜里，歼灭净尽。　　如今你只注意到损失；将来你必见到他为何打击那已经开始桎梏你的罪恶。　　如今你因风啸雷鸣而畏缩；将来你必知道他如何击退那灭绝生命的洪水，为你们开辟道路，通往那应许的福地。——披尔斯风虽猖狂奔放，我的信心仍在歌唱。我知道这不会伤害我，神附在它的翅膀之上。 
March 13
"Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." (Rev. 15:3)The following incident is related by Mrs. Charles Spurgeon, who was a great sufferer for more than a quarter of a century:"At the close of a dark and gloomy day, I lay resting on my couch as the deeper night drew on; and though all was bright within my cozy room, some of the external darkness seemed to have entered into my soul and obscured its spiritual vision. Vainly I tried to see the Hand which I knew held mine, and guided my fog-enveloped feet along a steep and slippery path of suffering. In sorrow of heart I asked,"'Why does my Lord thus deal with His child? Why does He so often send sharp and bitter pain to visit me? Why does He permit lingering weakness to hinder the sweet service I long to render to His poor servants?'"These fretful questions were quickly answered, and through a strange language; no interpreter was needed save the conscious whisper of my heart."For a while silence reigned in the little room, broken only by the crackling of the oak log burning in the fireplace. Suddenly I heard a sweet, soft sound, a little, clear, musical note, like the tender trill of a robin beneath my window."'What can it be? surely no bird can be singing out there at this time of the year and night.'"Again came the faint, plaintive notes, so sweet, so melodious, yet mysterious enough to provoke our wonder. My friend exclaimed,"Perchance he had garnered up this song in the days when all was well with him, when birds twittered merrily on his branches, and the soft sunlight flecked his tender leaves with gold. But he had grown old since then, and hardened; ring after ring of knotty growth had sealed up the long-forgotten melody, until the fierce tongues of the flames came to consume his callousness, and the vehement heart of the fire wrung from him at once a song and a sacrifice. 'Ah,' thought I, 'when the fire of affliction draws songs of praise from us, then indeed we are purified, and our God is glorified!'"Perhaps some of us are like this old oak log, cold, hard, insensible; we should give forth no melodious sounds, were it not for the fire which kindles around us, and releases notes of trust in Him, and cheerful compliance with His will."Singing in the fire! Yes, God helping us, if that is the only way to get harmony out of these hard apathetic hearts, let the furnace be heated seven times hotter than before."　 　 三月十三日“众圣之王啊，你的方法义哉，诚哉” (启十五：3)。　　在患难中经历顶深的司布真师母说：　　有一天阴沉的晚上，我独自坐在椅子上休息；虽然室中很光亮，但是我心灵中有一层黑暗罩着，使我不能看见什么。我也不觉得主的手搀住我，我好似滑跌在伤痛中。我忧忧愁愁地自问说：　　“为什么我的神如此待他的孩子呢？为什么他一直把锐利的痛苦加给我呢？为什么他应许缠绵的软弱来拦阻我去事奉他呢？”　　这些烦恼的问题立即得到了答复；顶希奇，答复我的一个特异的声音；用不着翻译的人，神在我心中轻轻地替我解释。　　室内寂静了好久，我忽然听见一声清幽悦耳的乐音，很像窗下知更雀的歌声。　　这是什么声音？决不会是知更雀在那里唱歌，因为这是寒冷的晚上。　　又是一声。这次我才发现：原来是壁炉中一根橡树枝，正被猛烈的火焰焚烧着，从裂口中发出那个好听的音乐来！　此时，我发生了一些感想：当这根树枝嫩绿青翠的时侯，许多歌鸟游歇其上，唱出美丽的调儿来，它就把那些歌声收集起来，含蓄在里面。后来它渐渐老了，树枝渐渐硬了；那声音便永久被封住在里面了，直到猛烈的火焰烧毁了它的坚硬，久囚的音乐才被释放。啊，照样，神用痛苦的火焰燃烧我们，原是要从我们久寂的心中抽出赞美的歌声来，叫我们的神得着荣耀！就在此时，我得了安慰。　　恐怕我们中间有几个很像这根橡树枝——老，冷，硬，麻木；我们不会发出赞美的声音来，如果没有火的催逼。　　如果苦难的火焰会叫无情的冷心得到温暖，愿炉中的火焰较前加旺“七倍”！——选 
March 14
"Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." (Exod. 20:21)God has still His hidden secrets, hidden from the wise and prudent. Do not fear them; be content to accept things that you cannot understand; wait patiently. Presently He will reveal to you the treasures of darkness, the riches of the glory of the mystery. Mystery is only the veil of God's face.Do not be afraid to enter the cloud that is settling down on your life. God is in it. The other side is radiant with His glory. "Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings." When you seem loneliest and most forsaken, God is nigh. He is in the dark cloud. Plunge into the blackness of its darkness without flinching; under the shrouding curtain of His pavilion you will find God awaiting you. --Selected."Hast thou a cloud?Something that is dark and full of dread;A messenger of tempest overhead?A something that is darkening the sky;A something growing darker bye and bye;A something that thou fear'st will burst at last;A cloud that doth a deep, long shadow cast,God cometh in that cloud.Hast thou a cloud?It is Jehovah's triumph car: in thisHe rideth to thee, o'er the wide abyss.It is the robe in which He wraps His form;For He doth gird Him with the flashing storm.It is the veil in which He hides the lightOf His fair face, too dazzling for thy sight.God cometh in that cloud.Hast thou a cloud?A trial that is terrible to thee?A black temptation threatening to see?A loss of some dear one long thine own?A mist, a veiling, bringing the unknown?A mystery that unsubstantial seems:A cloud between thee and the sun's bright beams?God cometh in that cloud.Hast thou a cloud?A sickness--weak old age--distress and death?These clouds will scatter at thy last faint breath.Fear not the clouds that hover o'er thy barque,Making the harbour's entrance dire and dark;The cloud of death, though misty, chill and cold,Will yet grow radiant with a fringe of gold.GOD cometh in that cloud."As Dr. C. stood on a high peak of the Rocky Mountains watching a storm raging below him, an eagle came up through the clouds, and soared away towards the sun and the water upon him glistened in the sunlight like diamonds. Had it not been for the storm he might have remained in the valley. The sorrows of life cause us to rise towards God.　 三月十四日“摩西就挨近神所在的幽暗之中”(出二十：21)。　　神今天仍有他隐藏的秘密，向聪明通达人藏起来。可是你不必怕它们；尽管在神面前接受你所不解的东西；忍耐等候。不久他要指示你黑暗中的宝贝，隐密中的荣耀。　　不要怕进前面的黑云。神在其中。“有火炼的试验临到你们，不要以为奇怪，(似乎是遭遇非常的事)倒要欢喜；因为你们是与基督一同受苦”(彼前四：12/13) 。当你感到孤单的时侯，须知神在咫尺。他在黑云中，等候你进去亲近他。——选黑云罩上了你的生命，这种遭遇，可怕阴沉，它预示风雨来临，云渐渐迷漫开来，一阵紧一阵，地暗天昏，云中却隐藏着天上的神。黑云罩上了你的生命，这是耶和华的凯旋车，载着他前来给你温存，云是他的面纱，他的衣襟。你受不住那样的光辉，所以要遮掩他的圣容。黑云罩上了你的生命，何等可怕的考验，如失去了可爱的亲人，又如威胁更如诱惑，你将不知所措，心迷神昏，但云中却隐藏着天上的神。黑云罩上了你的生命，你是否遇上了衰老病痛和死亡的阴云？这些云将皆在你奄奄一息时来到，正像驾舟归航，别怕港口黑暗；死亡之云虽然寒冷阴沉，终将镀上金边，逐渐光明，神就在这云里来临。　　某医师一天站在一座高山顶上，观看山下的阵雨；他看见一头鹰冲出黑云，向上高飞，身上带着的水珠，在日光下闪烁，好似金钢钻一般美丽。如果山下没有阵雨，它必是仍在谷中。人生的苦难使我们向上近神。——选 
March 15
"Fear not, thou worm Jacob...I will make thee a threshing instrument with teeth." (Isa. 41:14, 15)Could any two things be in greater contrast than a worm and an instrument with teeth? The worm is delicate, bruised by a stone, crushed beneath the passing wheel; an instrument with teeth can break and not be broken; it can grave its mark upon the rock. And the mighty God can convert the one into the other. He can take a man or a nation, who has all the impotence of the worm, and by the invigoration of His own Spirit, He can endow with strength by which a noble mark is left upon the history of the time.And so the "worm" may take heart. The mighty God can make us stronger than our circumstances. He can bend them all to our good. In God's strength we can make them all pay tribute to our souls. We can even take hold of a black disappointment, break it open, and extract some jewel of grace. When God gives us wills like iron, we can drive through difficulties as the iron share cuts through the toughest soil. "I will make thee," and shall He not do it? --Dr. Jowett.Christ is building His kingdom with earth's broken things. Men want only the strong, the successful, the victorious, the unbroken, in building their kingdoms; but God is the God of the unsuccessful, of those who have failed. Heaven is filling with earth's broken lives, and there is no bruised reed that Christ cannot take and restore to glorious blessedness and beauty. He can take the life crushed by pain or sorrow and make it into a harp whose music shall be all praise. He can lift earth's saddest failure up to heaven's glory. --J. R. Miller."Follow Me, and I will make you"…Make you speak My words with power,Make you channels of My mercy,Make you helpful every hour."Follow Me, and I will make you"…Make you what you cannot be--Make you loving, trustful, godly,Make you even like to Me.--L. S. P.　 三月十五日　　“你这虫雅各…不要害怕…我已使你成为有快齿打粮的新器具”(赛四十一：14/15直译)。　　虫与快齿的器具怎样可以相比呢？虫是多么软弱，给我们石头或车轮一压，就会压得稀烂；快齿的器具是多么坚强；甚至能“把山岭打得粉碎，使冈陵如同糠秕” (十五节) 。但是全能的神能使虫成为有快齿的器具。神能使个人或民族，藉着他的灵，从虫的软弱变到快齿器具的刚强，在历史上留着很深的痕迹。　　所以我们这些虫不要丧胆。全能的神能使我们在四围患难的环境中变成刚强。靠着他的力量，我们能叫我们的环境向我们屈服，向我们进贡。我们甚至能随便抓住一个黑色的失望，把它劈开来，从其中抽出恩典的宝石来。神也能给我们像铁那般的意志，所有的难处都能迎刃而解，犹如坚土遇到铁犁那样松散。神既说：“我要使你…”，他岂会不如此行呢？——乔怀德　　基督建造他的国度，都是用地上破碎的东西建造的。人们所要的是强健的，成功的，胜利的，不碎的；但是神所要的乃是在地上不成功的，失败的，伤心的，软弱的。天上充满着地上破碎的生命，没有一根压伤的芦苇是基督所不能恢复的。他能使一个被痛苦忧愁所压伤的生命变成一架弹出赞美的音乐来的古琴。他把地上的失败变成天上的荣耀。——密勒跟从我，我要铸造你们，有力地传布我的福音，成为流出慈恩的沟洫，使你们成为有用之人。跟从我，我要铸造你们，脱胎换骨，重新做人，有信，有爱，忠实虔诚，不愧为神的子民。 
March 16
"For our profit." (Heb. 12:10)In one of Ralph Connor's books he tells a story of Gwen. Gwen was a wild, wilful lassie and one who had always been accustomed to having her own way. Then one day she met with a terrible accident which crippled her for life. She became very rebellious and in the murmuring state she was visited by the Sky Pilot, as the missionary among the mountaineers was termed.He told her the parable of the canyon. "At first there were no canyons, but only the broad, open prairie. One day the Master of the Prairie, walking over his great lawns, where were only grasses, asked the Prairie, 'Where are your flowers?' and the Prairie said, 'Master I have no seeds.'"Then he spoke to the birds, and they carried seeds of every kind of flower and strewed them far and wide, and soon the prairie bloomed with crocuses and roses and buffalo beans and the yellow crowfoot and the wild sunflowers and the red lilies all summer long. Then the Master came and was well pleased; but he missed the flowers he loved best of all, and he said to the Prairie: 'Where are the clematis and the columbine, the sweet violets and wind-flowers, and all the ferns and flowering shrubs?'"And again he spoke to the birds, and again they carried all the seeds and scattered them far and wide. But, again, when the Master came he could not find the flowers he loved best of all, and he said:"'Where are those my sweetest flowers?' and the Prairie cried sorrowfully:"'Oh, Master, I cannot keep the flowers, for the winds sweep fiercely, and the sun beats upon my breast, and they wither up and fly away.'"Then the Master spoke to the Lightning, and with one swift blow the Lightning cleft the Prairie to the heart. And the Prairie rocked and groaned in agony, and for many a day moaned bitterly over the black, jagged, gaping wound."But the river poured its waters through the cleft, and carried down deep black mould, and once more the birds carried seeds and strewed them in the canyon. And after a long time the rough rocks were decked out with soft mosses and trailing vines, and all the nooks were hung with clematis and columbine, and great elms lifted their huge tops high up into the sunlight, and down about their feet clustered the low cedars and balsams, and everywhere the violets and wind-flower and maiden-hair grew and bloomed, till the canyon became the Master's favorite place for rest and peace and joy."Then the Sky Pilot read to her: "The fruit--I'll read 'flowers'--of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness--and some of these grow only in the canyon.""Which are the canyon flowers?" asked Gwen softly, and the Pilot answered: "Gentleness, meekness, longsuffering; but though the others, love, joy, peace, bloom in the open, yet never with so rich a bloom and so sweet a perfume as in the canyon."For a long time Gwen lay quite still, and then said wistfully, while her lips trembled: "There are no flowers in my canyon, but only ragged rocks.""Some day they will bloom, Gwen dear; the Master will find them, and we, too, shall see them."Beloved, when you come to your canyon, remember!　 三月十六日“生身的父都是暂随己意管教我们，惟有万灵的父管教我们,是要我们得益处，使我们在他的圣洁上有分”(来十二：10)。　　康诺氏所写的书中，说有一个山野少女葛文的故事。葛文顽皮任性，她在某一日不幸遇到了意外，成了残废。卧病在床第中，性情更加暴躁，当她在怨天尤人的时候,“天的响导”来看她，所谓“天的响导”，是山中居民对传教士的尊敬称呼。　　传教士给她讲了一个峡谷的寓言，他说：地球最初的时候，只有一望无际的原野，并没有峡谷。原野的主人，有一天出外散步，看见大地上只长着青草，就问原野道:“你的花在哪里? ”，原野回答说：“主人，我没有种子”。　　于是主人吩咐禽鸟把各类花的种子带来，四处播种。不久原野上就开出了番红玫瑰，水豆花，毛莨花，向日葵，红钤兰，以及一些耐热的夏季花卉。主人看了很高兴，但他找不到他最心爱的几种花，于是他对原野说：“还有铁线莲,缕斗菜，紫罗兰，白头翁，各种凤尾草和开花的灌木在哪里呢?”　　他又吩咐禽鸟把所有的种子带来，四处播种。但主人再来的时候，还是找不到他最心爱的几种花，于是他说：“那些最可爱的花在哪里?”　　原野悲哀地说：“主人，我无法保存这些花，因为狂风拼命的吹刮，烈阳炙烤着我的胸膛，这些花忍不住原野的气候，它们都零落凋萎了。”　　于是主人吩咐闪电劈开原野的胸怀.原野在剧痛中颤抖哀号,为那黝黑而凹凸不平的裂口，悲痛呻吟了许多日子。　　由于河水涌进了裂口，把深黑色的泥土带了进来，禽鸟再把种子带来，在那峡谷中播种。过了很长一段的时间之后，粗糙的岩石上，铺满了柔软的青苔和绵延的藤蔓，各处角落，都垂挂着铁线莲和缕斗菜，硕壮的榆树，仰起粗大枝干，升向高空的阳光，树根附近盘屈着矮杉和凤仙花，到处都有紫罗兰，白头翁和孔雀草在生长开花，峡谷终于成了主人所寻求的安息，平安和快乐的心爱之地了。　　传教士讲完了故事之后，就对她说：“圣灵所结的果子，也可以称之谓圣灵之花，包括爱，喜乐，平安，坚忍，温和等等，其中有些只能在峡谷中生长”。　　“只能在峡谷里生长的是什么花呢?”葛文轻声问。传教士答道：“温和，谦卑，忍耐，其他如爱，喜乐，和平安，虽能在原野开放，但若生长在峡谷里，它们将更美丽，更芬芳。”　　葛文默默地躺了好一会，然后嘴唇颤抖地自言自语道：“在我的峡谷里没有花，只有粗陋的岩石”。　　“亲爱的葛文，总有一天它们会开出花来，主会发现，我们也会看到”。　　亲爱的，当你沦入你的峡谷时，请记着这句话！ 
March 17
"Be thou there till I bring thee word." (Matt. 2:13)"I'll stay where You've put me; I will, dear Lord,Though I wanted so badly to go;I was eager to march with the 'rank and file,'Yes, I wanted to lead them, You know.I planned to keep step to the music loud,To cheer when the banner unfurled,To stand in the midst of the fight straight and proud,But I'll stay where You've put me."I'll stay where You've put me; I'll work, dear Lord,Though the field be narrow and small,And the ground be fallow, and the stones lie thick,And there seems to be no life at all.The field is Thine own, only give me the seed,I'll sow it with never a fear;I'll till the dry soil while I wait for the rain,And rejoice when the green blades appear;I'll work where You've put me."I'll stay where You've put me; I will, dear Lord;I'll bear the day's burden and heat,Always trusting Thee fully; when even has comeI'll lay heavy sheaves at Thy feet.And then, when my earth work is ended and done,In the light of eternity's glow,Life's record all closed, I surely shall findIt was better to stay than to go;I'll stay where You've put me.""Oh restless heart, that beat against your prison bars of circumstances, yearning for a wider sphere of usefulness, leave God to order all your days. Patience and trust, in the dullness of the routine of life, will be the best preparation for a courageous bearing of the tug and strain of the larger opportunity which God may some time send you."　 三月十七日“住在那里，等我吩咐你”(太二：13) 。亲爱的主，我愿留在你安置我的地方；我虽渴想离此远扬；我有意和大队一起前进，是的，你知道我要做他们的领导人。为了鲜明的旗帜而欢呼，把脚步配合着军乐的悠扬，光荣地身先士卒，驰骋疆场，但我愿留在你安置我的地方。亲爱的主，我愿留在你安置我的地方；地的面积虽狭小，而又是一片荒凉，石砾既多，土质更是浇薄，似乎不会有生命在此滋长。这是你的土地，只要给我种子，我将放胆去播种插秧，我愿耕耘，等待雨水沛降，一旦绿苗抽茁，我将欣喜若狂！我愿留在你安置我的地方。亲爱的主，我愿留在你安置我的地方，我永远敬虔忠诚来信靠你；白日的辛劳和炎热，我都愿一尝，夜间我可伏卧在你的脚旁。当我把尘世工作一一做完，将可沐浴在永世的荣光，来结束我一生的全部记录，那时我必发觉留着比离开更为适当；我愿留在你安置我的地方。　　哦，不安定的心哪，你跳得多么厉害，撞在环境的铁栏上，想冲出去到外面更宽大的场地去工作。静下来罢，让神替你安排你的日子罢。今天的忍耐和信靠，就是将来神差你出去作大事业的预备。——选 
March 18
"He answered nothing." (Mark 15:3)There is no spectacle in all the Bible so sublime as the silent Savior answering not a word to the men who were maligning Him, and whom He could have laid prostrate at His feet by one look of Divine power, or one word of fiery rebuke. But He let them say and do their worst, and He stood in THE POWER OF STILLNESS--God's holy silent Lamb.There is a stillness that lets God work for us, and holds our peace; the stillness that ceases from its contriving and its self-vindication, and its expedients of wisdom and forethought, and lets God provide and answer the cruel blow, in His own unfailing, faithful love.How often we lose God's interposition by taking up our own cause, and striking for our defense. God give to us this silent power, this conquered spirit! And after the heat and strife of earth are over, men will remember us as we remember the morning dew, the gentle light and sunshine, the evening breeze, the Lamb of Calvary, and the gentle, holy heavenly Dove. --A. B. Simpson.The day when Jesus stood aloneAnd felt the hearts of men like stone,And knew He came but to atoneThat day "He held His peace."They witnessed falsely to His word,They bound Him with a cruel cord,And mockingly proclaimed Him Lord;"But Jesus held His peace."They spat upon Him in the face,They dragged Him on from place to place,They heaped upon Him all disgrace;"But Jesus held His peace."My friend, have you for far much less,With rage, which you called righteousness,Resented slights with great distress?Your Saviour "held His peace."--L. S. P.I remember once hearing Bishop Whipple, of Minnesota, so well known as "The Apostle of the Indians," utter these beautiful words: "For thirty years I have tried to see the face of Christ in those with whom I differed." When this spirit actuates us we shall be preserved at once from a narrow bigotry and an easy-going tolerance, from passionate vindictiveness and everything that would mar or injure our testimony for Him who came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them. --W. H. Griffith Thomas.　 三月十八日“耶稣仍不回答”(可十五：5)。　　圣经中顶希奇的一幕，就是创造天地的主，一声不响地站在诽谤他的人面前受冤枉。他可以运用他的能力向他们一看，或者向他们出一声责备，就使他们倒在他的脚前。但是他不动声色，任凭他们作恶妄为。他站着是表显神镇静的能力——神无声的羔羊！　　我们也当有这样的镇静。这样的镇静可以给神机会替我们工作，给我们平安；这样的镇静就是停止自己的谋画和活动，摒除自己的智慧和成见，让神单独去应付人们的攻击。　　多少时侯，我们失败，就是因为没有神的镇静。我们顶会用自己的智慧和力量来自卫，因此失去了神爱的力量，以致落入急躁慌乱。因为这正是神所赐下的缄默和自制力量。当尘世的扰攘过去之后，人们将怀念我们，好象我们怀念露珠，曙光和太阳，那晚风和各各他的羔羊，和那至善至尊至福的天堂。——宣信这一天，耶稣形单影只，体验到人心硬如铁石，但知道他之降临人世，他缄默为了救赎众生。他们以假见证对他毁谤，用绳索残酷地把他捆绑，讥嘲他为犹太人的王；但耶稣缄默着，不作反抗。唾沫污辱了他的脸，把耶稣拖东拉西任意磨折，使他受尽了屈辱与轻蔑；但耶稣保持缄默。为了远逊于此的轻微小事，你曾否发怒，自以为理直气壮，小小的龃龉，当作了大侮辱？救世主却保持缄默。L.S.P.　　在明尼苏达州的威波主教，众人都称他为印地安人的使徒，我记得他曾说过这样一句动人的话：“叁十年来，当我与人龃龉不合的时候，我总是想法从对方的脸上见到基督的圣容”。假若我们亦被这种美德所感动，我们立刻化褊狭为谦容，不至有报复的冲动，而损伤了我们为主作见证人的立场，因为他来到尘世，不是要毁灭生命，乃是要拯救人类。——汤麦斯 
March 19
"Beloved, do not be surprised at the ordeal that has come to test you…you are sharing what Christ suffered; so rejoice in it." (1 Peter 4:12)Many a waiting hour was needful to enrich the harp of David, and many a waiting hour in the wilderness will gather for us a psalm of "thanksgiving, and the voice of melody," to cheer the hearts of fainting ones here below, and to make glad our Father's house on high.What was the preparation of the son of Jesse for the songs like unto which none other have ever sounded on this earth?The outrage of the wicked, which brought forth cries for God's help. Then the faint hope in God's goodness blossomed into a song of rejoicing for His mighty deliverances and manifold mercies. Every sorrow was another string to his harp; every deliverance another theme for praise.One thrill of anguish spared, one blessing unmarked or unprized, one difficulty or danger evaded, how great would have been our loss in that thrilling Psalmody in which God's people today find the expression of their grief or praise!To wait for God, and to suffer His will, is to know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings, and to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. So now, if the vessel is to be enlarged for spiritual understanding, be not affrighted at the wider sphere of suffering that awaits you. The Divine capacity of sympathy will have a more extended sphere, for the breathing of the Holy Ghost in the new creation never made a stoic, but left the heart's affection tender and true. --Anna Shipton."He tested me ere He entrusted me." (1 Tim. 1:12) ( Way's Trans.)　 三月十九日“亲爱的啊，有火炼的试验临到你们，不要以为奇怪…倒要欢喜；因为你们是与基督一同受苦”(彼前四：12/13)。　　大卫的遭难使他的古琴发出更悦耳的音乐来，他的遇险使他发出“感谢，和歌唱的声音”(赛五十一：3)来；他的诗篇直到今天仍能叫地上的许多软弱信徒得到帮助，叫天上的父神得到快乐。　　究竟什么东西使耶西的儿子有这般属灵的修养呢？　　仇敌的吼叫，逼他发出向神的呼吁来。神大能的拯救，丰富的恩慈，使他唱出感谢和欢乐的赞美来。所以，每一次的苦难在他琴上添一根弦；每一次的拯救给他一个赞美的新题目。　　一次痛苦躲过，一次祝福扣留；一次危难避去，一次荣耀失去。平稳度日的人不懂得依靠，所以他们不会看见神的荣耀，也不会唱出赞美来。　　如果我们要多明白属灵的奥秘，我们就不能惧怕在前面等待我们的苦难；因为有许多宝贝的功课，是必须在苦难中方能学到的。——薛伯登　　“他试验我，为要派我服事他”(提前一：12韦氏译本)。 
March 20
"As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing." (2 Cor. 6:10)The stoic scorns to shed a tear; the Christian is not forbidden to weep. The soul may be dumb with excessive grief, as the shearer's scissors pass over the quivering flesh; or, when the heart is on the point of breaking beneath the meeting surges of trial, the sufferer may seek relief by crying out with a loud voice. But there is something even better.They say that springs of sweet fresh water well up amid the brine of salt seas; that the fairest Alpine flowers bloom in the wildest and most rugged mountain passes; that the noblest psalms were the outcome of the profoundest agony of soul.Be it so. And thus amid manifold trials, souls which love God will find reasons for bounding, leaping joy. Though deep call to deep, yet the Lord's song will be heard in silver cadence through the night. And it is possible in the darkest hour that ever swept a human life to bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Have you learned this lesson yet? Not simply to endure God's will, nor only to choose it; but to rejoice in it with joy unspeakable and full of glory. --Tried as by Fire.I will be still, my bruised heart faintly murmured,As o'er me rolled a crushing load of woe;The cry, the call, e'en the low moan was stifled;I pressed my lips; I barred the tear drop's flow.I will be still, although I cannot see it,The love that bares a soul and fans pain's fire;That takes away the last sweet drop of solace,Breaks the lone harp string, hides Thy precious lyre.But God is love, so I will bide me, bide me--We'll doubt not, Soul, we will be very still;We'll wait till after while, when He shall lift us--Yes, after while, when it shall be His will.And I did listen to my heart's brave promise;And I did quiver, struggling to be still;And I did lift my tearless eyes to Heaven,Repeating ever, "Yea, Christ, have Thy will."But soon my heart upspake from 'neath our burden,Reproved my tight-drawn lips, my visage sad:"We can do more than this, O Soul," it whispered."We can be more than still, we can be glad!"And now my heart and I are sweetly singing—Singing without the sound of tuneful strings;Drinking abundant waters in the desert,Crushed, and yet soaring as on eagle's wings.--S. P. W.　　 三月二十日“似乎忧愁，却是常常快乐的”(林后六：10) 。　　主张苦行主义者，连流泪也在禁止之列；基督徒却不然。许多时候，我们忧闷得发昏；当剪毛的剪刀碰在颤抖的肉上时，当仇敌的欺侮达到顶点时，当我们的心几乎碎裂时，最自然我们巴不得寻找机会痛哭一场，释出胸中的忧郁。但是还有一个比痛哭更好的方法。　　航海者知道甘泉是在苦且咸的海水中找到的；旅行家知道阿尔卑斯山最美丽的花是开在最荒僻，最崎岖的山路上的；属灵人知道最宝贵的诗篇是在最痛苦的时候写成的。　　所以让我们在黑暗中赞美神我们主耶稣基督的父。试炼越深，愿我们的歌声越高。亲爱的，你有没有学会这个功课呢？我们不只要忍受神的旨意，拣选神的旨意，遵行神的旨意，并且要用赞美来欢迎神的旨意。——译自火中的试验当我辗转于祸患的重负之下，伤痛的心却喃喃说，要安详；不必叫喊号哭，也不用呻吟，紧闭嘴唇，不让泪珠流出眼眶。这爱使我灵魂无所掩蔽，苦痛与煎熬，如煽沸汤，最后一丝的安慰也化为乌有，我虽不明究竟，我仍愿安详。这爱是神的爱，因此我要忍耐，灵魂啊，我们切莫疑怀，安详等待，是的，等一会，他会照着他的美意，把我们从苦难中提拔出来。我听从心给我这个应许，会在战抖中竭力保持安静，曾向天举起无泪的眼睛，我说：“主啊，照你的旨意去行”过不久，我心又在重负下，斥责我的嘴唇绷紧，满脸愁哀。它轻声说，“我们还要更进一步”，“不但安定，还要乐以忘忧！”如今我和我心都在欢唱，用不着弦乐伴奏的声响，在荒漠中畅饮甘泉，受了挫折，仍如振翅翱翔。——S.P.M. 
March 21
"According to your faith be it unto you." (Matt. 9:29)"Praying through" might be defined as praying one's way into full faith, emerging while yet praying into the assurance that one has been accepted and heard, so that one becomes actually aware of receiving, by firmest anticipation and in advance of the event, the thing for which he asks.Let us remember that no earthly circumstances can hinder the fulfillment of His Word if we look steadfastly at the immutability of that Word and not at the uncertainty of this ever-changing world. God would have us believe His Word without other confirmation, and then He is ready to give us "according to our faith.""When once His Word is past,When He hath said , 'I will,' (Heb. 13:5)The thing shall come at last;God keeps His promise still." (2 Cor. 1:20)The prayer of the Pentecostal age was like a cheque to be paid in coin over the counter. --Sir R. Anderson."And God said…and it was so." (Gen. 1:9) 　 　三月二十一日“照着你们的信给你们成全了罢”(太九：29) 。　　“祷告透切”的意思就是祷告到完全的信心里去；祷告到还在祷告的时候就已经有了一种把握：觉得我们的祷告已蒙垂听，已蒙悦纳了；祷告到事情还没有实现之先，已经得着了所求的。　　让我们记得世上任何环境，都不能拦阻神的话应验，所以让我们坚信他的话没有改变的可能，虽然世界一直在改变。神要我们单信他的话，不用别的证实，或凭据，然后他要照着我们的信给我们成全。　　事情终会实现,　　 他有过应许在先；　　他说:“不撇下你”，(来十三：5)　　 神永远信守诺言。(林后一：20)　　古代信徒的祷告，像放在银行柜台上的支票一样，立刻可以兑取现金。——安德生　　“神说…事就这样成了”(创一：9) 。 
March 22
"And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush…saying…I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt." (Acts 7:30, 32, 34)That was a long wait in preparation for a great mission. When God delays, He is not inactive. He is getting ready His instruments, He is ripening our powers; and at the appointed moment we shall arise equal to our task. Even Jesus of Nazareth was thirty years in privacy, growing in wisdom before He began His work. --Dr. Jowett.God is never in a hurry but spends years with those He expects to greatly use. He never thinks the days of preparation too long or too dull.The hardest ingredient in suffering is often time. A short, sharp pang is easily borne, but when a sorrow drags its weary way through long, monotonous years, and day after day returns with the same dull routine of hopeless agony, the heart loses its strength, and without the grace of God, is sure to sink into the very sullenness of despair. Joseph's was a long trial, and God often has to burn His lessons into the depths of our being by the fires of protracted pain. "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver," but He knows how long, and like a true goldsmith He stops the fires the moment He sees His image in the glowing metal. We may not see now the outcome of the beautiful plan which God is hiding in the shadow of His hand; it yet may be long concealed; but faith may be sure that He is sitting on the throne, calmly waiting the hour when, with adoring rapture, we shall say, "All things have worked together for good." Like Joseph, let us be more careful to learn all the lessons in the school of sorrow than we are anxious for the hour of deliverance. There is a "need-be" for every lesson, and when we are ready, our deliverance will surely come, and we shall find that we could not have stood in our place of higher service without the very things that were taught us in the ordeal. God is educating us for the future, for higher service and nobler blessings; and if we have the qualities that fit us for a throne, nothing can keep us from it when God's time has come. Don't steal tomorrow out of God's hands. Give God time to speak to you and reveal His will. He is never too late; learn to wait. –Selected。"He never comes too late; He knoweth what is best;Vex not thyself in vain; until He cometh--REST."Do not run impetuously before the Lord; learn to wait His time: the minute-hand as well as the hour-hand must point the exact moment for action.　 三月二十二日“过了四十年，在西乃山的旷野，有一位天使，从荆棘火焰中，向摩西显现…说:我下来要救他们，你来，我要差你往埃及去” (徒七：30，31，34)　　接受一个重大使命之前，需要何等长的等候和预备！神若延迟，并不是遗忘。他是在预备他的器皿，给他们相当的训练和教育；到了神所指定的时侯，神要兴起他们来背负他们的工作。就是拿撒勒人耶稣，也必须有叁十年的准备，直等他的智慧和身量，并神和人喜爱他的心长完全了，才开始他的工作。——乔怀德　　神从不性急，他肯花长时期去预备他要重用的器皿。他从不以为预备的日子太长了，或是太无聊了。　　在苦难中最难受的成分常是时间。短而急的痛苦易受，长而慢的痛苦难当。有时侯我们的痛苦缠绵数年；一天一天过去，并没有得着轻减；那时侯我们的力量就会失去；如果没有神的恩典，我们定规会沉入绝境。约瑟的试炼是一个长时期的，到了时侯，他成了何等样人！神常藉着火把他的功课，煎熬在我们的最深处。“他必坐下如炼净银子的”(玛三：3)，他知道该炼多少时侯；像银匠一般，他一看见银子炼得能照见他的形象时，便立即把火停止。现在我们虽然看不见神的美意，也看不见将来荣耀的结果；但是信心知道神是不会错误的，他叫“万事都互相效力，叫爱神的人得益处”(罗八：28)。让我们像约瑟一样，在神苦难的学校中用心学习一切的功课，少盼望立时的拯救。每一课功课都是必需的；我们学会了，拯救自然会来的；那时侯我们就要看见：如果没有在试炼中受过教育，我们决不能站在更大的工场上担任更重要的工作。所以，亲爱的，神现在训练我们，是为着我们的将来——将来更大的事奉和更多的祝福；——如果我们有资格可以坐宝座了，神的拯救就来了，那时侯没有东西再能拦阻我们。但愿我们不去夺神手中的明天。给神充分的时间来栽培我们。他决不会来得太迟的；学习耐心等候罢。——选　　他决不会来得太迟，他在作最好的安排；不要空寻烦恼，安心等候他的来到。　　不要很性急地跑在神前面；学习等候他的时间：钟表上的分针和时针走起来都有一定的规律。 
March 23
"Out of the spoils won in battle did they dedicate to maintain the house of the Lord." (1 Chron. 26:27)Physical force is stored in the bowels of the earth, in the coal mines, which came from the fiery heat that burned up great forests in ancient ages; and so spiritual force is stored in the depths of our being, through the very pain which we cannot understand.Some day we shall find that the spoils we have won from our trials were just preparing us to become true "Great Hearts" in the Pilgrim's Progress, and to lead our fellow pilgrims triumphantly through trial to the city of the King.But let us never forget that the source of helping other people must be victorious suffering. The whining, murmuring pang never does anybody any good.Paul did not carry a cemetery with him, but a chorus of victorious praise; and the harder the trial, the more he trusted and rejoiced, shouting from the very altar of sacrifice. He said, "Yea, and if I be offered upon the service and sacrifice of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all." Lord, help me this day to draw strength from all that comes to me! --Days of Heaven upon Earth."He placed me in a little cage,Away from gardens fair;But I must sing the sweetest songsBecause He placed me there.Not beat my wings against the cageIf it's my Maker's will,But raise my voice to heaven's gateAnd sing the louder still!"　 三月二十三日“他们将争战时所夺的财物分别为圣，以备修造耶和华的殿 (代上二十六：27) 。　　物质的力量是含蓄在地里煤层中的，煤是古代的植物受压，受烧而成的；照样，属灵的力量是含蓄在我们里面灵中的，灵越经过试炼和战争，越加增力量。但是这种试炼和战争的痛苦，是我们现在所不能明白的。　　有一天我们要看见：我们在试炼和战争时所夺的财物，能叫我们帮助及引领别人，鼓励他们经过试炼和战争而进入天城。　　可是，我们决不能忘记：帮助别人的条件，乃是自己先在苦难中得胜。在苦难中怨天尤人，决不能给别人甚么益处。　　保罗带到各处的，并不是他的坟墓，乃是他得胜的赞美；他的试炼越难，他的信靠和欢呼也越多。他说：“我若被浇奠在你们信心的祭物上，也是喜乐，并且与你们众人一同喜乐”(腓二：17直译)。主，求你帮助我们从一切临到我们的事上得到力量！在试炼和战争中发出赞美来叫你得着快乐！叫同走天路者得着鼓励！ ——译自地上的天上生活他把我放进笼中，离开了园中的树木青葱；但我仍要唱出最美的歌颂，因为是他把我放进笼中。这是造物主的旨意，我决不挣扎却安定从容，还要引声高歌，使歌声直达天城。 
March 24
"And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: Deliver me, I pray thee." (Gen. 32:9, 11)There are many healthy symptoms in that prayer. In some respects it may serve as a mould into which our own spirits may pour themselves, when melted in the fiery furnace of sorrow.He began by quoting God's promise: "Thou saidst." He did so twice (9 and 12). Ah, he has got God in his power then! God puts Himself within our reach in His promises; and when we can say to Him, "Thou saidst," He cannot say nay. He must do as He has said. If Herod was so particular for his oath's sake, what will not our God be? Be sure in prayer, to get your feet well on a promise; it will give you purchase enough to force open the gates of heaven, and to take it by force. --Practical Portions for the Prayer-life.Jesus desires that we shall be definite in our requests, and that we shall ask for some special thing. "What will ye that I shall do unto you?" is the question that He asks of every one who in affliction and trial comes to Him. Make your requests with definite earnestness if you would have definite answers. Aimlessness in prayer accounts for so many seemingly unanswered prayers. Be definite in your petition. Fill out your check for something definite, and it will be cashed at the bank of Heaven when presented in Jesus' Name. Dare to be definite with God. --Selected.Miss Havergal has said: "Every year, I might almost say every day, that I live, I seem to see more clearly how all the rest and gladness and power of our Christian life hinges on one thing; and that is, taking God at His word, believing that He really means exactly what He says, and accepting the very words in which He reveals His goodness and grace, without substituting others or altering the precise modes and tenses which He has seen fit to use."Bring Christ's Word--Christ's promise, and Christ's sacrifice--His blood, with thee, and not one of Heaven's blessings can be denied thee. --Adam Clarke.　 三月二十四日“雅各说，耶和华，我祖亚伯拉罕的神，我父亲以撒的神啊，你曾对我说，回你本地本族去，我要厚待你…求你救我” (创三十二：9，12)。　在这个祷告中有好几点可以做我们的帮助，使我们在忧伤的火窑中知道如何向神倾心吐意。　　雅各开场就把神的应许拿出来提醒神：“你…曾说”。他这样说了两次 (九节，十二节)。啊，他抓住了神！原来神的应许就是神给我们的把柄，我们能藉着这个去抓住他；什么时侯我们能对他说：“你曾说”，他决不能说不。他必须照他所说的去做。希律王尚且能守信，何况我们的神呢？所以我们祷告的时侯，应当把我们的脚站稳在他的应许上；这样，天上的门也只得为你敞开了，那时你可以用武力去取你所求的。——译自实用祷告生活　　主耶稣要我们有专一的祷告。每一个因痛苦，试炼，而来就他的人，他都问他们说：“要我为你作什么”？(可十：51)如果你盼望有清楚的答应，就得有清楚的祷告。没有目的的祷告，是没有答应的。所以你的祷告应当专一。在你祷告的支票上写明指定的数目，天上的银行看见了主耶稣的名字，就要付你指定的现款。——选　　海弗格尔(Havergal)女士说：“每年，每天，我活着，真看见基督徒所有的安息，喜乐，能力，都因着一件事情：就是以神的话为算数——相信他怎样说，就必怎样做。我们该照他所用的字眼去接受，切勿更改或变换他所用的语气和时候”。　　只要把基督的话语——基督的应许，和基督的宝血拿出来，天上的祝福就没有一样能不给你了。——莫拉克 
March 25
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Heb. 11:6)The faith for desperate days.The Bible is full of such days. Its record is made up of them, its songs are inspired by them, its prophecy is concerned with them, and its revelation has come through them.The desperate days are the stepping-stones in the path of light. They seem to have been God's opportunity and man's school of wisdom.There is a story of an Old Testament love feast in Psalm 107, and in every story of deliverance the point of desperation gave God His chance. The "wit's end" of desperation was the beginning of God's power. Recall the promise of seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sands of the sea, to a couple as good as dead. Read again the story of the Red Sea and its deliverance, and of Jordan with its ark standing mid-stream. Study once more the prayers of Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah, when they were sore pressed and knew not what to do. Go over the history of Nehemiah, Daniel, Hosea, and Habakkuk. Stand with awe in the darkness of Gethsemane, and linger by the grave in Joseph's garden through those terrible days. Call the witnesses of the early Church, and ask the apostles the story of their desperate days.Desperation is better than despair.Faith did not make our desperate days. Its work is to sustain and solve them. The only alternative to a desperate faith is despair, and faith holds on and prevails.There is no more heroic example of desperate faith than that of the three Hebrew children. The situation was desperate, but they answered bravely, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." I like that, "but if not!"I have only space to mention Gethsemane. Ponder deeply its "Nevertheless." "If it is possible…evertheless!" Deep darkness had settled upon the soul of our Lord. Trust meant anguish unto blood and darkness to the descent of hell--Nevertheless! Nevertheless!!Now get your hymn book and sing your favorite hymn of desperate faith. --Rev. S. Chadwick."When obstacles and trials seemLike prison walls to be,I do the little I can doAnd leave the rest to Thee."And when there seems no chance, no change,From grief can set me free,Hope finds its strength in helplessness,And calmly waits for Thee."　 三月二十五日“人非有信，不能的神的喜悦，因为到神面前来的人,必须信有神，且信他赏赐那寻求他的人”(来十一：6)。　　信心在危急中更能发挥它的力量。　　圣经中充满着危难的日子。它的故事由危难的日子所构成的，它的诗篇,是在危难日子中获得的灵感，它的预言也与此有关，它的启示也以此为透露的媒介。　　危难的日子是通往光明之路的踏脚石；是神的机会，也是人类智慧的训练所。　诗篇第一百零七篇歌颂耶和华的慈爱，此外在每个救赎的故事中，危急存亡之秋，往往是神的好机会。人的才智穷竭，绝望无援的时候，是神的能力开始发挥。记得吗?神曾应许——对从未生过孩子而老得形同朽木的夫妇，将可获有后裔，并且多如天上的星，又如海边的沙。你可翻开圣经再读一读以色列人在红海得救的故事，还有以色列人抬着约柜，从约但河中涉水而过的故事。还有，亚撒，约沙法和希西家被苦难逼迫，不知如何是好的时候，他们是怎样祈祷的。再温习一下尼希米，但以理，何西阿和哈巴古的历史。再以敬畏的心默默立于“客西马尼”的幽暗中，到约瑟家的坟墓旁，回想那些可怕的日子，去拜访最初创立教会的见证人，去探问使徒在危难日子中所经历的故事。　　危急胜于灰心。　　信心不会使危急变成绝望。信心的任务是支持你去解决危难，在危难之际，信心的反面就是灰心，信心维持不变,就能得胜。　　在危难恐怕没有比那三个希伯来子民所表现更伟大。他们的处境虽然危急万分，但他们仍能勇敢地回答道:“我们事奉的神，必能把我们救出这烈焰的火窑；　他更能把我们从暴君的手中救出来，但即使不是如此，暴君你也该知道，我们决不事奉你的神，也不敬拜你所立的偶像”。( 参阅但以理书三章 )　　“但即使不是如此”，这句话何等令人钦佩。　　我想把余剩的篇幅，来说起耶稣在客西马尼园中的祷告。请深切地体味其中“然而”二字，“倘若可行，求你叫这杯离开我，然而不要照我的意思，只要照你的意思! ”深沉的黑暗已笼罩着主的灵魂。信靠神，就要受流血的痛苦，沦入死亡的深渊，——然而!　　现在拿起你们的歌本子，唱你们所最喜爱的，那些赞美危急中信心的诗吧：——蔡特威克障碍与苦难，像囹圄与牢狱，我只尽我的本分，其余让神去完成。脱离悲痛的机会与变化，久待不来，似已消失，危急中终有希望的力量，静静等待神赐恩泽。 
March 26
"Look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it." (Gen. 13:14,15)No instinct can be put in you by the Holy Ghost but He purposes to fulfill. Let your faith then rise and soar away and claim all the land you can discover. --S. A. Keen.All you can apprehend in the vision of faith is your own. Look as far as you can, for it is all yours. All that you long to be as a Christian, all that you long to do for God, are within the possibilities of faith. Then come, still closer, and with your Bible before you, and your soul open to all the influences of the Spirit, let your whole being receive the baptism of His presence; and as He opens your understanding to see all His fulness, believe He has it all for you. Accept for yourself all the promises of His word, all the desires He awakens within you, all the possibilities of what you may be as a follower of Jesus. All the land you see is given to you.The actual provisions of His grace come from the inner vision. He who puts the instinct in the bosom of yonder bird to cross the continent in search of summer sunshine in the Southern clime is too good to deceive it, and just as surely as He has put the instinct in its breast, so has He also put the balmy breezes and the vernal sunshine yonder to meet it when it arrives.He who breathes into our hearts the heavenly hope, will not deceive or fail us when we press forward to its realization. --Selected."And they found as he had said unto them." (Luke 22:13)　 三月二十六日　　“罗得离别亚伯兰以后，耶和华对亚伯兰说，从你所有的地方，你举目向东西南北观看，凡你所看见的一切，我都要赐给你和你的后裔，直到永远”(创十三：14/15)。　　除非圣灵有成全的目的，否则不会给你任何启示。得到启示以后，你要让信心高飞远扬，凡你所能发现的一切土地，都可归属于你。——凯恩　　在信心的祝福中所能领会的一切，都是为你所有。你要尽可能的往远看，因为你所看见的一切，都是你的。你以基督徒身份所盼望的一切，以及你希望为神效劳的一切，都包括在信心的可能范围之内。来吧，靠近一点，捧着你的圣经，为圣灵的一切感召，开启你的心扉，让你全身全灵，接受他降临的洗礼，当他启发你的智慧，使你看到他的丰足时，你要相信，他所有的一切都是为了你。你当接受他所应许的一切诺言，接受他提醒你的一切愿望，接受耶稣信徒所能成就的一切机会。凡你目光所及的一切土地，都是赐给你的。　　他以恩宠所赐的真正粮食，来自内心的领悟。他给远方的鸟一个启示，要它飞过大陆到南方去寻见夏季的阳光，决不会欺骗它，他一方面使鸟领悟这个启示，他还给芳香的微风，与和暖的阳光同样确切的启示，要他们在遥远的南方迎接那鸟的飞临。　　他在我们心中注入天国的希望，当我们向目标奋勇前进的时候，他决不会欺骗我们或使我们失望。　　“他们去了，所遇见的，正如耶稣所说的。”( 路二十二：13) 
March 27
"I do not count the sufferings of our present life worthy of mention when compared with the glory that is to be revealed and bestowed upon us." (Rom. 8:18) (20th Century Trans.)A remarkable incident occurred recently at a wedding in England. A young man of large wealth and high social position, who had been blinded by an accident when he was ten years old, and who won University honors in spite of his blindness, had won a beautiful bride, though he had never looked upon her face. A little while before his marriage, he submitted to a course of treatment by experts, and the climax came on the day of his wedding.The day came, and the presents, and guests. There were present cabinet ministers and generals arid bishops and learned men and women. The bridegroom, dressed for the wedding, his eyes still shrouded in linen, drove to the church with his father, and the famous oculist met them in the vestry.The bride, entered the church on the arm of her white-haired father. So moved was she that she could hardly speak. Was her lover at last to see her face that others admired, but which he knew only through his delicate finger tips?As she neared the altar, while the soft strains of the wedding march floated through the church, her eyes fell on a strange group.The father stood there with his son. Before the latter was the great oculist in the act of cutting away the last bandage. The bridegroom took a step forward, with the spasmodic uncertainty of one who cannot believe that he is awake. A beam of rose-colored light from a pane in the chancel window fell across his face, but he did not seem to see it.Did he see anything? Yes! Recovering in an instant his steadiness of mien, and with a dignity and joy never before seen in his face, he went forward to meet his bride. They looked into each other's eyes, and one would have thought that his eyes would never wander from her face."At last!" she said. "At last!" he echoed solemnly, bowing his head. That was a scene of great dramatic power, and no doubt of great joy, and is but a mere suggestion of what will actually take place in Heaven when the Christian who has been walking through this world of trial and sorrow, shall see Him face to face. --Selceted."Just a-wearying for you,Jesus, Lord, beloved and true;Wishing for you, wondering whenYou'll be coming back again,Under all I say and do,Just a-wearying for you."Some glad day, all watching past,You will come for me at last;Then I'll see you, hear your voice,Be with you, with you rejoice;How the sweet hope thrills me through,Sets me wearying for you."　 三月二十七日“我想现在的苦楚，若比起将来要显于我们的荣耀，就不足介意了”。 （罗八：18）最近在英国举行的一次婚礼中，发生了奇迹。新郎是富有的青年，社会地位很高，不幸在十岁的时候，因遇意外而双目失明，他虽然瞎了眼，仍能读得大学的学位，并且得到一个美丽的新娘，虽然从未看见过她的面容。结婚前不久，他由眼科专家施行手术。故事的最高峰，就发生在举行婚礼的那天。那天，宾客和礼物纷纷而到。有内阁大臣、将军、主教和学术界的仕女们。新郎穿了礼服，眼睛上仍蒙着纱布和他父亲一同乘车来到教堂，那位有名的眼科专家也早等在牧师的法衣室里了。新娘挽着白发苍苍的老父的手臂，进入教堂。她的情绪激动万分，不能开口。在今天她的爱人究竟能否恢复视觉，终将看见她的容貌？她的美丽素为别人所艳羡，而他在过去，只能以敏锐的指尖去摸索的。当她走近圣坛的时候，婚礼进行曲的柔和音调，弥漫了整个教堂，她的目光注视着新郎和伴着他的眼科医生。父与子都站在那里，新郎面前，站着那位眼科专家，正在割断最后一条绷带。新郎向前跨了一步，好像大梦初醒，仍有些迷茫不知所措的样子。一道玫瑰色的光线穿过教堂的有色玻璃，照到他脸上，他好像仍旧不敢相信已经看见了这道亮光。究竟看见了没有呢？看见了！瞬刻间恢复了稳定的姿态，带着空前的庄严和喜悦，走向前去会见他的新娘。他们眼对眼彼此凝视，旁观者不禁觉得，他的目光似乎永不会移开她的脸了。女的说：“终于看见了！”男的低下头去庄重地应声道：“终于看见了！”这是十分感人的一幕，也是极大的喜悦。它暗示我们，这将是发生于天堂的实际情景，当基督徒经历了人世的苦难和悲哀，终将同样地和神面对着面彼此相见。亲爱的真主耶稣，我永远渴念你，不知何年何日，你再临人世，我是一心在翘企。我所言所行，都是为了渴望着你。那欢乐的日子到来的时候，使望待成为过去，我会看见你，听到你的声音，分享你的欢欣，这希望给我多少鼓励，我正企盼殷勤。 
March 28
"And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon a heap." (Joshua 3:13)Brave Levites! Who can help admiring them, to carry the Ark right into the stream; for the waters were not divided till their feet dipped in the water (ver. 15). God had not promised aught else. God honors faith. "Obstinate faith," that the PROMISE sees and "looks to that alone." You can fancy how the people would watch these holy men march on, and some of the bystanders would be saying, "You would not catch me running that risk! Why, man, the ark will be carried away!" Not so; "the priests stood firm on dry ground." We must not overlook the fact that faith on our part helps God to carry out His plans. "Come up to the help of the Lord."The Ark had staves for the shoulders. Even the Ark did not move of itself; it was carried. When God is the architect, men are the masons and laborers. Faith assists God. It can stop the mouth of lions and quench the violence of fire. It yet honors God, and God honors it. Oh, for this faith that will go on, leaving God to fulfill His promise when He sees fit! Fellow Levites, let us shoulder our load, and do not let us look as if we were carrying God's coffin. It is the Ark of the living God! Sing as you march towards the flood! --Thomas Champness.One of the special marks of the Holy Ghost in the Apostolic Church was the spirit of boldness. One of the most essential qualities of the faith that is to attempt great things for God, and expect great things from God, is holy audacity. Where we are dealing with a supernatural Being, and taking from Him things that are humanly impossible, it is easier to take much than little; it is easier to stand in a place of audacious trust than in a place of cautious, timid clinging to the shore.Like wise seamen in the life of faith, let us launch out into the deep, and find that all things are possible with God, and all things are possible unto him that believeth.Let us, today, attempt great things for God; take His faith and believe for them and His strength to accomplish them. --Days of Heaven upon Earth.　 三月二十八日　　“等到抬普天下主耶和华约柜的祭司把脚站在约但河水里，约但河的水就是从上往下流的水，必然断绝立起成垒”(书三：13)。　　勇敢的利未人！谁能不佩服他们的胆量，抬了约柜伸脚到还未分开的水中去。神也一无其他的勉励和应许，只等待看他们的信心。神重视信心，尤其是不凭理由的信心，你可以推想当初许多百姓看见这些利未人抬了约柜下水，他们一定发急地说：“要是我，决不这样作无谓的牺牲！冒这样大的险！可惜，他们和约柜就要被约但河的急流冲去了！”可是，并不这样；“抬耶和华约柜的祭司在约但河中的干地上站定”(十七节)。我们不要小看信心，我们的信心能帮助神成功他的计划。 “……来帮助耶和华”(士五：23)。约柜有四根长杠，以便放到肩上扛抬，它本身不必行动，要有人去抬它。神有如建筑师，而人只是承造的匠人。信心能协助神，信心能叫神命令封住狮子的口，能叫神使火失其威势。信心尊重神，神也尊重信心。信心是永续的，让神认为适当的时候，实现神的应许。　　今天在恩典下同作利未人的哪，让我们凭着无理由的信心，抬起神的应许来，不要想我们抬的是神的棺材。这是永活之神的约柜呀！让我们一面唱歌，一面下水罢！——强卜奈斯　　勇敢的精神是使徒时代教会的特点。如果我们想为神做大事业，想从神得到大使命，我们必须有勇敢的信心。如果我们与超然的神接触，向他要人力所不能得到的东西，我告诉你：拿得多比拿得少还容易；大胆地站在应许上比胆怯地攀住海岸来得容易。　　在的生活中，让我们像聪明的水手一样，把船向深海驶去，你会发现在神凡事都能；在信的人也凡事都能。　　让我们今天来替神作大事业；相信他的能力是能完成一切的。——译自在地上的天上生活 
March 29
"Consider the lilies, how they grow." (Matt. 6:28)I need oil," said an ancient monk; so he planted an olive sapling. "Lord," he prayed, "it needs rain that its tender roots may drink and swell. Send gentle showers." And the Lord sent gentle showers. "Lord," prayed the monk, "my tree needs sun. Send sun, I pray Thee." And the sun shone, gilding the dripping clouds. "Now frost, my Lord, to brace its tissues," cried the monk. And behold, the little tree stood sparkling with frost, but at evening it died.Then the monk sought the cell of a brother monk, and told his strange experience. "I, too, planted a little tree," he said, "and see! it thrives well. But I entrust my tree to its God. He who made it knows better what it needs than a man like me. I laid no condition. I fixed not ways or means. 'Lord, send what it needs,' I prayed, 'storm or sunshine, wind, rain, or frost. Thou hast made it and Thou dost know.'"Yes, leave it with Him,The lilies all do,And they grow--They grow in the rain,And they grow in the dew--Yes, they grow:They grow in the darkness, all hid in the night--They grow in the sunshine, revealed by the light--Still they grow.Yes, leave it with Him'Tis more dear to His heart,You will know,Than the lilies that bloom,Or the flowers that start'Neath the snow:Whatever you need, if you seek it in prayer,You can leave it with Him--for you are His care.You, you know.--Selected.　 三月二十九日　　“你想野地里的百合花，怎么长起来” (太六：28)。　　古时有一个修道士，种了一棵橄榄树。他祷告说：“神啊，它需要水分，好叫它柔嫩的根得吸收而长发。求你降下滋润的甘霖来。”神就降雨下来。他又祷告说： “神啊，我的树需要日光，我求你给它日光”。于是云散雨止，神就给它日光。他再祷告说：“神啊，现在它需要霜来坚固它的组织。”看哪，那株幼小的植物上果然罩上了一层薄霜。但是到了傍晚，树却死了。　　于是他就去见另一个修道士，告诉他自己奇异的经历。那修道士回答说：“我也种了一棵小树。看哪！现在长得多么茂盛。我没有为我的树操一点心，只把它交给它的神。造它的神知道它的需要，远胜过像我这样无知的人。所以我并不向神提出条件，建议，方法。我祷告说：‘神啊，你把它所需要的给它，无论是风，是雨，是霜，是雪，是日光，是什么…你既造它，你一定知道它，也一定会供给它。’”——选是的，像百合花那样，一切让神去安排，它们自然生长成材，在雨露阴晴之中，照常发育，叶茂花盛，无庸你顾虑喋喋。是的，一切让神去安排，他爱你，为你的设想周全，更甚于百合花落花开；在祷告中表示了愿望，一切让神去安排，靠他为你栽培。 
March 30
"Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow." (Isa. 50:11)What a solemn warning to those who walk in darkness and yet who try to help themselves out into the light. They are represented as kindling a fire, and compassing themselves with sparks. What does this mean?Why, it means that when we are in darkness the temptation is to find a way without trusting in the Lord and relying upon Him. Instead of letting Him help us out, we try to help ourselves out. We seek the light of nature, and get the advice of our friends. We try the conclusions of our reason, and might almost be tempted to accept a way of deliverance which would not be of God at all.All these are fires of our own kindling; rushlights that will surely lead us onto the shoals. And God will let us walk in the light of those sparks, but the end will be sorrow.Beloved, do not try to get out of a dark place, except, in God's time and in God's way. The time of trouble is meant to teach you lessons that you sorely need.Premature deliverance may frustrate God's work of grace in your life. Just commit the whole situation to Him. Be willing to abide in darkness so long as you have His presence. Remember that it is better to walk in the dark with God than to walk alone in the light. --The Still Small Voice.Cease meddling with God's plans and will. You touch anything of His, and you mar the work. You may move the hands of a clock to suit you, but you do not change the time; so you may hurry the unfolding of God's will, but you harm and do not help the work. You can open a rosebud but you spoil the flower. Leave all to Him. Hands down. Thy will, not mine. --Stephen Merritt.HIS WAYGod bade me go when I would stay('Twas cool within the wood);I did not know the reason why.I heard a boulder crashing byAcross the path where I stood.He bade me stay when I would go;"Thy will be done," I said.They found one day at early dawn,Across the way I would have gone,A serpent with a mangled head.No more I ask the reason why,Although I may not seeThe path ahead, His way I go;For though I know not, He doth know,And He will choose safe paths for me.--The Sunday School Times.　　 三月三十日　　“凡你们点火用火把围绕自己的，可以行在你们的火焰里，并你们所点的火把中。这是我手所定的；你们必躺在悲惨之中”(赛五十：11)。　　这是一个严重的警告，对付那行在黑暗中而想设法自救的人们的。神说他们好象自己点火，用火把围绕自己。这是什么意思呢？　　这意思说：当我们在黑暗中遭遇试炼的时侯，我们总想自谋出路，不肯信神靠神。我们本该让他施行拯救，可是我们顶喜欢自己筹划。我们寻求理由的结论，亲友的劝告。结果，就会采纳一个不出于神的方法。这些都是我们自己点的火焰和火把，凡匆促的引导，必定会把我们引导错误入了歧途，若想这种光亮前进，结果却是悲惨。　　所以，亲爱的，不要想用自己的谋算逃出黑暗，我们该等候神的时间和神的方法。受试炼，试炼是学习我们所需要的功课。　　不成熟的拯救会阻挠神在我们身上的工作。我们应该把一切的难处交给神。只要有他的同在，就该甘心等在黑暗中。请记得在黑暗中与神同在，强如在光明中单独行走。——译自微小的声音　　我们不该干预神的计划和旨意。什么时候我们摸一摸他的事情，我们立刻会弄坏他的工作。我们尽可以把钟拨到我们所要的时间，但是我们不能改变实在的时间；我们尽可以擘开玫瑰的花蕾，可是我们擘坏了那花。照样，我们尽可以自己谋算来躲避神所要我们经过的遭遇，但是于事无补。所以我们该将一切完全交给他。让我们住手罢。让我们对神说：“只要照你的旨意，不要照我的旨意。”——麦力德山林里寒冷阴冥，我想停步，神却要我前行，我不明白为了什么原因。忽在意欲停步的地方，传出了岩石崩塌的巨声。我要前进，神吩咐我停止，我说：“遵照你的意旨”。一大清晨有人发现，在我要去的路上，躺着斫死的毒蟒。我或许不明究竟，但我不再计问，什么缘故，他指点我的路径，我就走去，我虽无知，却有数，总为我…选择全安道路。 
March 31
"'The wind was contrary." (Matt. 14:24)Rude and blustering the winds of March often are. Do they not typify the tempestuous seasons of my life? But, indeed, I ought to be glad that I make acquaintance with these seasons. Better it is that the rains descend and the floods come than that I should stay perpetually in the Lotus Land where it seems always afternoon, or in that deep meadowed Valley of Avilion where never wind blows loudly. Storms of temptation appear cruel, but do they not give intenser earnestness to prayer? Do they not compel me to seize the promises with a tighter hand grip? Do they not leave me with a character refined?Storms of bereavement are keen; but, then, they are one of the Father's ways of driving me to Himself, that in the secret of His presence His voice may speak to my heart, soft and low. There is a glory of the Master which can be seen only when the wind is contrary and the ship tossed with waves."Jesus Christ is no security against storms, but He is perfect security in storms. He has never promised you an easy passage, only a safe landing."Oh, set your sail to the heavenly gale,And then, no matter what winds prevail,No reef can wreck you, no calm delay;No mist shall hinder, no storm shall stay;Though far you wander and long you roamThrough salt sea sprays and o'er white sea foam,No wind that can blow but shall speed you Home.--Annie Johnson Flint.　　 三月三十一日“那时船在水中，因风不顺，被浪摇撼”（太十四：24）有的季节，往往刮着狂风。岂不象征着人生的坎坷？但能体验这种季节，我应该觉得欣幸。如果求远留在希腊神话中的百合花乡，那里的气候终年如一日，或永远留在绿草如茵的极乐岛，那里总是吹着和煦的轻风，与其如此，我宁愿有大雨的倾注，风潮的来临。试炼的风雨虽是狂暴，但我因此而有了更虔诚的祈祷，不仅使我把神的应许抓得更紧，而且使我的人格能提炼得更为纯洁。风雨的磨难是尖锐的，但这是神驱驰我们接近他的方法之一，在他冥冥存在之中，用轻柔低沉的声音，向我们说话，透入我们心之深处。主的荣耀，也只有在逆风及船舶为巨浪所抛掷的时候，才能显现。基督不能保证暴风雨之不来，但他能保证你在暴雨中的绝对安全。他没有应许你旅程的平静无事，他只应许你能安全到达目的地。趁着天赐的风，扬帆出航，然后不管它的顺逆强弱，只向前进，不怕任何阻挠，没有暗礁或雾能使你遭殃。风雨不会如此永远猖狂，也许要漂荡较长的时间，绕道较远，终必送你回家，结束碧白浪间的彷徨。——富林德 
April 1
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." (Job 13:15) 
"For I know whom I have believed." (2 Tim. 1:12)
"I will not doubt, though all my prayers return 
Unanswered from the still, white realm above;
I will believe it is an all-wise love
Which has refused these things for which I yearn;
And though at times I cannot keep from grieving,
Yet the pure ardor of my fixed believing
Undimmed shall burn.
"I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails;
I will believe the Hand which never fails,
From seeming evil worketh good for me.
And though I weep because those sails are tattered, 
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered:
'I trust in Thee.'
"I will not doubt, though sorrows fall like rain,
And troubles swarm like bees about a hive.
I will believe the heights for which I strive
Are only reached by anguish and by pain;
And though I groan and writhe beneath my crosses.
I yet shall see through my severest losses
The greater gain.
"I will not doubt. Well anchored is this faith,
Like some staunch ship, my soul braves every gale;
So strong its courage that it will not quail
To breast the mighty unknown sea of death.
Oh, may I cry, though body parts with spirit,
'I do not doubt,' so listening worlds may hear it,
With my last breath."
"In fierce storms," said an old seaman, "we must do one thing; there is only one way: we must put the ship in a certain position and keep her there."
This, Christian, is what you must do. Sometimes, like Paul, you can see neither sun nor stars, and no small tempest lies on you; and then you can do but one thing; there is only one way.
Reason cannot help you; past experiences give you no light. Even prayer fetches no consolation. Only a single course is left. You must put your soul in one position and keep it there.
You must stay upon the Lord; and come what may--winds, waves, cross-seas, thunder, lightning, frowning rocks, roaring breakers--no matter what, you must lash yourself to the helm, and hold fast your confidence in God's faithfulness, His covenant engagement, His everlasting love in Christ Jesus. --Richard Fuller. 
四月一日
“他虽杀我，然而我还要信靠他”（伯十三：15直译）。
“因为我知道我所信的是谁”（提后一：12直译）。
我决不怀疑，虽然我的船队
在海上漂泊颠簸，帆樯破碎。
相信那从不失误的神之手，
将转灾祸为福祉充沛，
在失望中，我仍高呼信靠神，
纵然惋惜着船的破碎狼狈。
我决不怀疑，虽然祈求的一切
苍天还没有给我回音，
相信拒绝实现这些愿望，
乃是出于全智者的哀矜，
有时虽不禁愁闷，
丝毫未损我至诚不变的信心。
我决不怀疑，悲哀虽如雨降潮涨，
困难群集，像蜜蜂围聚蜂房。
相信要达成我争取的崇高目标，
唯有伤痛和苦难，才能担当，
虽在十字架下呻吟号呼，
将从惨痛失丧中获得更大报偿。
决不怀疑，我的信心碇泊稳妥，
如坚固巨艇，能受任何风浪，
绝不气馁，有的是毅力与勇敢，
足以面对那祸患莫测的海洋。
纵然牺牲尘世生命，只要一息尚存，
“决不怀疑”，让这呼声播扬。
　　人生如渡洋海，不免遭遇风浪。一位老于航行者说道：“当浪高如山，风疾如火时，唯一的办法，就是将船停在一个地方，让它一直留在那里。”
　　在基督徒的生命中也是如此。有时，像保罗一样，“我们被风浪逼得甚急…太阳和星辰多日不愿露，又有狂风大浪催逼，我们得救的指望就都绝了”。（徒二十七：18/20）在这样的光景中，我们只能作一件事：将自己停在一个地方。
　　那时候，理由不能帮助我们；竭力挣扎，也不能产生效果；以往的经验，不能给我们亮光；甚至祷告，也得不着安慰。我们只有一个方法，就是安息我们自己在一个地方，一直留在那里。
　　我们只能安息在神的胸怀中；来的无论是狂风，暴雨，骇浪，怒涛，轰雷，闪电，浓雾，冰山…我们只要紧紧抓住舵柄——神的信实，誓约，和在基督耶稣里不止息的爱——好了。——付勒
April 2
"They looked…and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud." (Exod. 16:10)
Get into the habit of looking for the silver lining of the cloud and when you have found it, continue to look at it, rather than at the leaden gray in the middle.
Do not yield to discouragement no matter how sorely pressed or beset you may be. A discouraged soul is helpless. He can neither resist the wiles of the enemy himself, while in this state, nor can he prevail in prayer for others.
Flee from every symptom of this deadly foe as you would flee from a viper. And be not slow in turning your back on it, unless you want to bite the dust in bitter defeat.
Search out God's promises and say aloud of each one: "This promise is mine." If you still experience a feeling of doubt and discouragement, pour out your heart to God and ask Him to rebuke the adversary who is so mercilessly nagging you.
The very instant you whole-heartedly turn away from every symptom of distrust and discouragement, the blessed Holy Spirit will quicken your faith and inbreathe Divine strength into your soul.
At first you may not be conscious of this, still as you resolutely and uncompromisingly "snub" every tendency toward doubt and depression that assails you, you will soon be made aware that the powers of darkness are falling back.
Oh, if our eyes could only behold the solid phalanx of strength, of power, that is ever behind every turning away from the hosts of darkness, God-ward, what scant heed would be given to the effort of the wily foe to distress, depress, discourage us!
All the marvelous attributes of the Godhead are on the side of the weakest believer, who in the name of Christ, and in simple, childlike trust, yields himself to God and turns to Him for help and guidance. --Selected.
On a day in the autumn, I saw a prairie eagle mortally wounded by a rifle shot. His eye still gleamed like a circle of light. Then he slowly turned his head, and gave one more searching and longing look at the sky. He had often swept those starry spaces with his wonderful wings. The beautiful sky was the home of his heart. It was the eagle's domain. A thousand times he had exploited there his splendid strength. In those far away heights he had played with the lightnings, and raced with the winds, and now, so far away from home, the eagle lay dying, done to the death, because for once be forgot and flew too low. The soul is that eagle. This is not its home. It must not lose the skyward look. We must keep faith, we must keep hope, we must keep courage, we must keep Christ. We would better creep away from the battlefield at once if we are not going to be brave. There is no time for the soul to stampede. Keep the skyward look, my soul; keep the skyward look!
"Keep looking up—
The waves that roar around thy feet,
Jehovah-Jireh will defeat
When looking up.
"Keep looking up—
Though darkness seems to wrap thy soul;
The Light of Light shall fill thy soul 
When looking up.
"Keep looking up—
When worn, distracted with the fight;
Your Captain gives you conquering might
When you look up."
We can never see the sun rise by looking into the west. --Japanese Proverb.
　 四月二日
“他们…观看，不料，耶和华的荣光在云中显现”（出十六：10）。
　　黑云当空时，当养成一个习惯：一直看它银色的夹里，不去看它黑色的面子。
　　事情无论怎样糟，不可落到失望的地步。人失望简直等于无望。因为一个失望的人，既不能抵抗仇敌的攻击，又不能为人发出有效的代祷。
　　当逃避这样可怕的仇敌——失望，——犹如逃避一条致命的毒蛇一般。不要在它面前慢慢地转身，除非你愿意一败涂地。
　　在神前搜寻他的应许。既得着了，就用指头指着它说：“神，你曾说过这个。这应许是给我的”。若是你仍感觉怀疑或失望，向神倾心吐意地求他为你斥责欺侮你的仇敌。
　　一等到你全心离开不信和失望，圣灵立刻要复活你的信心，将属天的能力吹入你里面去。
　　起先你也许不觉得有什么动静，可是你只要决心抵抗每一个偏于疑惑和失望的倾向，你就会看见黑暗的势力败退。
　　哦，巴不得我们的眼睛能看见在黑暗势力后面的神的权能，我们就不会惧怕仇敌的狡猾，恶魔欲使我们落入悲伤，抑郁，灰心，气馁等的各种欺骗，将不值得一顾了。
神所具有伟大的权力，都是为了维护我们脆弱的心灵，只要奉基督的名，与纯洁无邪的信心，依靠神，向神祈求和引导。
　　一天，我看见草场上躺着一只重伤的老鹰。它的眼睛仍在射出光来。它慢慢地转过它的头来，再望一望它所渴幕的天空。它以前常在那里疾驰高飞。这美丽的天空是它心目中的老家。它曾千万次在那里表演它的勇力。它曾在高处与闪电同玩，与疾风竞走；现在呢，离家这么远，只因一次不小心飞得太低，就在这里等死。啊，让我们拿老鹰来比我们的心：世界并不是我们的老家。虽然我们在世上受了创伤，但是我们的心还得向着天家。我们应该守住信心，守住盼望，守住勇气，守住基督。如果我们没有勇气，我们还是早些离开战场的好。我的魂哪，你当仰望天！——选
继续向天盼望，
围着你怒号的浪涛，
就会被耶和华一扫而光！
当你向天盼望。
继续向天盼望，
虽然灵魂如被笼罩黑乡，
但终于充满了永恒之光，
当你向天盼望。
继续向天盼望，
虽然到了疲惫志丧，
主会给你得胜的力量，
当你向天盼望。
April 3
"Glorify 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 fiery 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 blistered. Their hair was unsinged, their garments not scorched, and even the smell of fire had not passed upon them. And that is the way Christians 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 adverse circumstances, in them. Oh, believe me, there is a power that can make us victors in the strife. 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 humiliation. 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 tribulations and yet carrying a heart as sound as a bell? Is there not something contagiously valorous in the vision of one who is greatly tempted, but is more than conqueror? Is it not heartening to see some pilgrim who is broken in body, but who retains the splendor of an unbroken patience? What a witness all this offers to the enduement of His grace! --J. H. Jowett.
"When each earthly prop 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？
April 4
"Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see." (2 Kings 6:17)
This is the prayer we need to pray for ourselves and for one another, "Lord, open our eyes that we may see"; for the world all around us, as well as around the prophet, is full of God's horses and chariots, waiting to carry us to places of glorious victory. And when our eyes are thus opened, we shall see in all events of life, whether great or small, whether joyful or sad, a "chariot" for our souls.
Everything that comes to us becomes a chariot the moment we treat it as such; and, on the other hand, even the smallest trial may be a Juggernaut car to crush us into misery or despair if we consider it.
It lies with each of us to choose which they shall be. It all depends, not upon what these events are, but upon how we take them. If we lie down under them, and let them roll over us and crush us, they become Juggernaut cars, but if we climb up into them, as into a car of victory, and make them carry us triumphantly onward and upward, they become the chariots of God. --Hannah Whitall Smith.
The Lord cannot do much with a crushed soul, hence the adversary's attempt to push the Lord's people into despair and hopelessness over the condition of themselves, or of the church. It has often been said that a dispirited army goes forth to battle with the certainty of being beaten. We heard a missionary say recently that she had been invalided home purely because her spirit had fainted, with the consequence that her body sunk also. We need to understand more of these attacks of the enemy upon our spirits and how to resist them. If the enemy can dislodge us from our position, then he seeks to "wear us out" (Daniel 7:25) by a prolonged siege, so that at last we, out of sheer weakness, let go the cry of victory.
　 四月四日
“以利沙祷告说，耶和华啊，求你开这少年人的眼目，使他能看见”（王下六：17）。
　　这一个祷告，也是我们需要为己为人求神的，“耶和华啊，开我们的眼目，使我们能看见；”因为在我们四围，和当日神人一样，都是火车火马，等待带领我们进入荣耀的胜利。当我们的眼目开启了以后，我们就能看见生活中所有的事情——无论大小，无论顺逆——都是我们进入胜利的“火车”。
　　山一般大的难处，也可以作我们的“火车”，只消我们看它是我们的“火车”；反而言之芥菜子那样的小事也可以作我们的“极轧闹车”。（印度教中费熙奴偶像所乘之车谓之“极轧闹车”。当车出行时，教徒躺身于地，任轮碾过伤命）。
　　这是我们各人自己定规的。这并不在事情的大小，乃在我们如何去看它。如果我们躺下来，任其碾过，顶小的难处也是我们的“极轧闹车”；如果我们爬上去，乘在上面，天大的难事也是神的“火车”，带领我们进入胜利的。——司密斯
　　神不能重用一个失望的人，因为仇敌的诡计就是尽力将神的子民推入绝望的境地去。常有人说：“垂头丧气的军队出去打仗，结果是稳败的”。这句话一点不错。今天我们需要知道仇敌怎样在我们的里面施行攻击，我们应当怎样去抵挡他。如果仇敌能把我们逐出阵地，他就能“折磨”（但七：25）我们叫我们全然失败，失去胜利的呼声。所以我们应当怎样小心站牢我们的阵地啊！——选
April 5
"Thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons." (2 Kings 4:4)
They were to be alone with God, for they were not dealing with the laws of nature, nor human government, nor the church, nor the priesthood, nor even with the great prophet of God, but they must needs be isolated from all creatures, from all leaning circumstances, from all props of human reason, and swung off, as it were, into the vast blue inter-stellar space, hanging on God alone, in touch with the fountain of miracles.
Here is a part in the programme of God's dealings, a secret chamber of isolation in prayer and faith which every soul must enter that is very fruitful.
There are times and places where God will form a mysterious wall around us, and cut away all props, and all the ordinary ways of doing things, and shut us up to something Divine, which is utterly new and unexpected, something that old circumstances do not fit into, where we do not know just what will happen, where God is cutting the cloth of our lives on a new pattern, where He makes us look to Himself.
Most religious people live in a sort of treadmill life, where they can calculate almost everything that will happen, but the souls that God leads out into immediate and special dealings, He shuts in where all they know is that God has hold of them, and is dealing with them, and their expectation is from Him alone.
Like this widow, we must be detached from outward things and attached inwardly to the Lord alone in order to see His wonders. --Soul Food.
In the sorest trials God often makes the sweetest discoveries of Himself. --Gems.
"God sometimes shuts the door and shuts us in,
That He may speak, perchance through grief or pain,
And softly, heart to heart, above the din,
May tell some precious thought to us again." 
　 　 四月五日
“关上门，你和你儿子在里面”（王下四：4）。
　　他们必须关上门，与世隔别，专一亲近神；因为他们不是靠自然的定律，不是靠世人的方法，不是靠教会的帮助，不是靠先知的神迹；他们必须从可借助的人们，从可靠的环境，从可信的理由中出来，专一到密室中去亲近神。
　　这里就是神课程中的一段，每一个信徒在隔离的密室中操练祷告和信心是非常有效果的。
　　许多时侯，许多地方，神特地在我们四周围一层神秘的墙来环绕我们，不让我们和人的计谋和办法接触；在那里神要我们依靠一个新而出乎常情的办法；绝非旧环境所能适合，在没有进入这个环境之先，亦非事先可以料想；换一句话说，就是在那里神替我们裁一件新式的服装，叫我们穿了像他自己。
　　多数的信徒都过着刻板文章一般的生活，他们知道什么事情在什么时侯发生，该用什么方法对付；但是神抱有特别盼望的信徒，常被神圈在一个隔离的处境中，和一切常情向例断绝，使他们知道只有神在维护他们，他们的希望也唯有仰望于神。
　　让我们像这个寡妇一样：外面与世隔离，里面与神亲近；这样，我们就会看见神的神迹了。——译自灵食
　　在最痛的试炼中，神常给你们的最甜。——选
神有时关了门，使我们与世隔绝，
或许还要经过了悲愁与苦痛，
向我们倾吐胸臆。
此时已经外界的尘嚣，
心心相印，给我们宝贵的信息。
April 6
"I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me." (Hab. 2: 1)
There is no waiting on God for help, and there is no help from God, without watchful expectation on our part. If we ever fail to receive strength and defense from Him, it is because we are not on the outlook for it. Many a proffered succour from heaven goes past us, because we are not standing on our watch-tower to catch the far-off indications of its approach, and to fling open the gates of our heart for its entrance. He whose expectation does not lead him to be on the alert for its coming will get but little. Watch for God in the events of your life.
The old homely proverb says: "They that watch for Providence will never want a providence to watch for," and you may turn it the other way and say, "They that do not watch for providences will never have a providence to watch for." Unless you put out your water-jars when it rains you will catch no water.
We want to be more business-like and use common sense with God in pleading promises. If you were to go to one of the banks, and see a man go in and out and lay a piece of paper on the table, and take it up again and nothing more--if he did that several times a day, I think there would soon be orders to keep the man out.
Those men who come to the bank in earnest present their checks, they wait until they receive their gold, and then they go; but not without having transacted real business.
They do not put the paper down, speak about the excellent signature, and discuss the excellent document; but they want their money for it, and they are not content without it. These are the people who are always welcome at the bank, and not triflers. Alas, a great many people play at praying. They do not expect God to give them an answer, and thus they are mere triflers. Our Heavenly Father would have us do real business with Him in our praying. --C. H. Spurgeon.
"Thine expectation shall not be cut off."
　 四月六日
“我要站在守望所，立在望楼上观看，看耶和华对我说什么话“（哈二：1）。
　　不等神的帮助，不得神的帮助。许多时侯我们从神那里得不到所求的，都因为我们没有等候他的答应。许多从天来的援助只经过我们，而不临到我们，都是因为我们没有站在守望所远远看它临近，开我们的心门来迎接它。所以一个人的期待，倘使不能警觉到神助之将临，所得必属稀少。在你生命的过程中，应随时注意着神。
　　古谚有云：“凡是等候天神的人，就无需天神守护”。反过来也可以说：“凡是不守候天神的人，就没有天神守护他”。天下雨的时侯，你如果不把你的水缸拿出来，你还是得不到水。
　　人到银行里去支钱，决不会一会儿进去，一会儿出来，一会儿把支票放在柜台上，一会儿把它收回来——如果有人一天这样作几次的话，我想定规会有命令下来把这人赶出去。凡诚心到银行里来拿钱的人，都是把支票交出来，静静地在那里等待，直到他们拿到了钱，然后出去的。
　　正常的人往银行去取款，决不会把支票放下，反而空论签字的笔法如何，纸张的优劣又如何。记着，人到银行的目的是取款，取不到不罢休，这才是银行欢迎的顾客，不是浪费时间去作无聊之事。啊，可惜今天有顶多的人把祷告当作儿戏。他们祷告了，不等神的答应，就收回了；再求，再收。
　　信徒们，让我们学习在守望所的望楼上多守候神！——司布真
　　“你的指望…不至断绝”（箴二十三：18）。
April 7
"Their strength is to sit still." (Isa. 30:7)
In order really to know God, inward stillness is absolutely necessary. I remember when I first learned this. A time of great emergency had risen in my life, when every part of my being seemed to throb with anxiety, and when the necessity for immediate and vigorous action seemed overpowering; and yet circumstances were such that I could do nothing, and the person who could, would not stir.
For a little while it seemed as if I must fly to pieces with the inward turmoil, when suddenly the still small voice whispered in the depths of my soul, "Be still, and know that I am God." The word was with power, and I hearkened. I composed my body to perfect stillness, and I constrained my troubled spirit into quietness, and looked up and waited; and then I did "know" that it was God, God even in the very emergency and in my helplessness to meet it; and I rested in Him. It was an experience that I would not have missed for worlds; and I may add also, that out of this stillness seemed to arise a power to deal with the emergency, that very soon brought it to a successful issue. I learned then effectually that my "strength was to sit still." --Hannah Whitall Smith.
There is a perfect passivity which is not indolence. It is a living stillness born of trust. Quiet tension is not trust. It is simply compressed anxiety.
Not in the tumult of the rending storm,
Not in the earthquake or devouring flame;
But in the hush that could all fear transform,
The still, small whisper to the prophet came.
O Soul, keep silence on the mount of God,
Though cares and needs throb around thee like a sea;
From supplications and desires unshod,
Be still, and hear what God shall say to thee.
All fellowship hath interludes of rest,
New strength maturing in each poise of power;
The sweetest Alleluias of the blest
Are silent, for the space of half an hour.
O rest, in utter quietude of soul,
Abandon words, leave prayer and praise awhile;
Let thy whole being, hushed in His control,
Learn the full meaning of His voice and smile.
Not as an athlete wrestling for a crown,
Not taking Heaven by violence of will;
But with thy Father as a child sit down,
And know the bliss that follows His "Be Still!"
--Mary Rowles Jarvis.
　 四月七日
“你们要安静，要知道我是神”（诗四十六：10）。
　　若要真认识神，内心的镇静是绝对必需的。我记得我当初怎样学习这功课，那时正有一件大难处临头，我焦急得全身颤动，所有的血管都紧张，事情又需要立即对付；可是四周的环境又不容我移动丝毫，可以帮助我的人，又不愿动作。
　　因着内心的纷乱，我的身体好象要四分五裂了，忽然一个微小的声音在灵的深处向我说：“你要安静，要知道我是神”。我接受了这真带有能力的劝告，于是镇定我的身体，约束我那搅乱的灵，使之安静，把我的急难交给神，仰望等候他；我觉得真有一股力量从镇静中出来应付难处。结果，事情平安过去，我自己在他里面得了安息。这是我最宝贝的经历，因为从此我更认识了神。——司密斯
　　这种不动，并不是懒惰，乃是从信心产生的一种活的镇静。如果紧张而不露声色，故作镇静，仍非信心的结果，不过是抑制住了焦虑而已，并非真正的镇静。
先知听见天上启示的声音，
并非在狂风暴雨的时辰，
也非地震或火灾之时，
神在万籁无声降临。
灵魂哪，在神的座前要安详，
你的忧困难如浪潮起伏，
在祈求与愿望中保持镇静，
盼听神启示你万全之方。
集中用力，需有间歇的休憩
每次静止，生出新的能力，
最美丽的赞颂乐曲，
其间也有短时间的默息。
休息吧，休息在肃静的灵里，
暂时把语言，思虑和行动搁起，
让整个身心，寂寞在神的控制中，
领会他一言一笑的全部意义。
不要像运动员争夺锦标，
要登天堂，不可凭意志的强暴，
像孩子似的陪你天父坐下，
要知道安静之后，就有幸福来到。
April 8
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Cor. 12:10)
The literal translation of this verse gives a startling emphasis to it, and makes it speak for itself with a force that we have probably never realized. Here it is: "Therefore I take pleasure in being without strength, in insults, in being pinched, in being chased about, in being cooped up in a corner for Christ's sake; for when I am without strength, then am I dynamite."
Here is the secret of Divine all-sufficiency, to come to the end of everything in ourselves and in our circumstances. When we reach this place, we will stop asking for sympathy because of our hard situation or bad treatment, for we will recognize these things as the very conditions of our blessing, and we will turn from them to God and find in them a claim upon Him. --A. B. Simpson.
George Matheson, the well-known blind preacher of Scotland, who recently went to be with the Lord, said: "My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorn. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I have been looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation for my cross; but I have never thought of my cross as itself a present glory.
"Teach me the glory of my cross; teach me the value of my thorn. Show me that I have climbed to Thee by the path of pain. Show me that my tears have made my rainbows."
"Alas for him who never sees 
The stars shine through the cypress trees."
　 四月八日
“我为基督的缘故，就以软弱，凌辱，急难，逼迫，困苦，为可喜乐的。因我什么时侯软弱，什么时侯就刚强了“（林后十二：10）。
　　若是把这一节圣经直译出来，是非常有力的。直译该是：“我为基督的缘故，就是没有力量，被人侮辱，受折磨，被追赶，关入绝境，还是喜乐的，因我什么时侯没有力量，什么时侯就像炸药一般猛烈”。
　　这是得神够用恩典的秘诀：就是承认我们自己的环境和一切都已完了。当我们到了这种境地的时候，我们就不会再去求人的同情了。所以所有的患难，痛苦，都是我们得祝福的条件，我们可以藉此向神有所要求。——信宣
　　苏格兰（Scotland）的盲目布道家马得胜（George Matheson）说：“我的神啊，我从来没有为我的遭遇感谢过你。我曾为我的玫瑰感谢你过一千次，却没有为我的刺感谢你过一次。我一直注目仰望那个因背十字架而得的奖赏，却从来没有想到十字架本身就是现在荣耀的奖赏。
　　求你给我知道十字架的荣耀；求你给我知道刺的价值。求你给我看见痛苦的路径是到你那里去的梯级；求你给我看见我的眼泪是筑成虹彩的材料”。
“未见穿过柏树的星光，
将是人生莫大的悲伤”。
April 9
"All these things are against me." (Gen. 42:36)
"All things work together for good to them that love God." (Rom. 8:28)
Many people are wanting power. Now how is power produced? The other day we passed the great works where the trolley engines are supplied with electricity. We heard the hum and roar of the countless wheels, and we asked our friend,
"How do they make the power?"
"Why," he said, "just by the revolution of those wheels and the friction they produce. The rubbing creates the electric current."
And so, when God wants to bring more power into your life, He brings more pressure. He is generating spiritual force by hard rubbing. Some do not like it and try to run away from the pressure, instead of getting the power and using it to rise above the painful causes.
Opposition is essential to a true equilibrium of forces. The centripetal and centrifugal forces acting in opposition to each other keep our planet in her orbit. The one propelling, and the other repelling, so act and re-act, that instead of sweeping off into space in a pathway of desolation, she pursues her even orbit around her solar centre.
So God guides our lives. It is not enough to have an impelling force--we need just as much a repelling force, and so He holds us back by the testing ordeals of life, by the pressure of temptation and trial, by the things that seem against us, but really are furthering our way and establishing our goings.
Let us thank Him for both, let us take the weights as well as the wings, and thus divinely impelled, let us press on with faith and patience in our high and heavenly calling. --A. B. Simpson.
In a factory building there are wheels and gearings,
There are cranks and pulleys, beltings tight or slack--
Some are whirling swiftly, some are turning slowly,
Some are thrusting forward, some are pulling back;
Some are smooth and silent, some are rough and noisy,
Pounding, rattling, clanking, moving with a jerk;
In a wild confusion in a seeming chaos,
Lifting, pushing, driving--but they do their work.
From the mightiest lever to the tiniest pinion,
All things move together for the purpose planned;
And behind the working is a mind controlling,
And a force directing, and a guiding hand.
So all things are working for the Lord's beloved;
Some things might be hurtful if alone they stood;
Some might seem to hinder; some might draw us backward;
But they work together, and they work for good,
All the thwarted longings, all the stern denials,
All the contradictions, hard to understand.
And the force that holds them, speeds them and retards them,
Stops and starts and guides them--is our Father's hand.
--Annie Johnson Flint.　
　 四月九日
“这些事都归到我身上了”（创四十二：36节）。
“万事都互相效力，叫爱神的人得益处”（罗八：28）。
　　许多信徒都在求能力。能力是怎样产生的呢？有一天我们参观电机厂，听见无数的机轮发出轧轧的机声来，我们就问里边的人说，“电力究竟是如何产生的呢？”他说，“轮与轮转动，就生磨擦。磨擦就生电力”。
　　同样的道理，当神要给你更多的能力时，他就给你更多的难处给你起磨擦。可惜许多人不喜欢磨擦，反要逃避磨擦，因此失去了得能力的机会。
　　凡事都有正有反，正与反乃是平衡力量的要素。向心力和离心力互相对峙的缘故，遂能使行星在轨道上行动。一个推进，一个拉回，才会不使它越出轨道，而能绕着太阳安全运行。
　　神也这样管理我们的生命。只有前进的力是不够的，我们还需要一个拉回的力，所以神给我们一些试验，一些反对我们的重压；其实这些东西都是帮助我们前进的。
　　让我们感谢他；让我们欢迎他给我们的重压，像欢迎他给我们的翅膀一样；让我们用信心和忍耐来前进。什么地方有磨擦，什么地方就有能力。——信宣
一所工厂里有机器和齿轮，
有曲杆与滑车，还有皮带或紧或松，
有的旋转如飞，有的慢慢滚动，
有的往后拉，有的向前推，
有的光滑无声，有的粗糙喧嚷，
碰，撞，弹，跳，铿锵作声。
在一个似若纷乱的混沌中，
忽升忽降忽推忽拉都是作工，
从最大的杠杆到最小的齿轮，
都是为预定的目标配合行动；
在动作的背后，有意志在控制，
有权力在指挥，有一只手在操纵。
一切东西都在为主所爱的人作工，
若把它们单独分开，有的可能为害；
有的似若阻碍；有的可能把我拖倒；
但它们互相效力，为了使我们得益。
一切受挫的愿望，一切严厉的拒斥，
一切难以了解的矛盾龃龉。
它们的前进后退，开始和停止，
都有我们天父的力量在控制。
April 10
"Show me wherefore thou contendest with me." (Job 10:2)
Perhaps, O tried soul, the Lord is doing this to develop thy graces. There are some of thy graces which would never have been discovered if it were not for the trials. Dost thou not know that thy faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is too oft like a glowworm, showing but little light except it be in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star--not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. Afflictions are often the black folds in which God doth set the jewels of His children's graces, to make them shine the better.
It was but a little while ago that, on thy knees, thou wast saying, "Lord, I fear I have no faith: let me know that I have faith."
Was not this really, though perhaps unconsciously, praying for trials?--for how canst thou know that thou hast faith until thy faith is exercised? Depend upon it. God often sends us trials that our graces may be discovered, and that we may be certified of their existence. Besides, it is not merely discovery; real growth in grace is the result of sanctified trials.
God trains His soldiers, not in tents of ease and luxury, but by turning them out and using them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers and climb mountains, and walk many a weary mile with heavy knapsacks on their backs. Well, Christian, may not this account for the troubles through which you are passing? Is not this the reason why He is contending with you? --C. H. Spurgeon.
To be left unmolested by Satan is no evidence of blessing.
　 四月十日
“要指示我，你为何与我争辩”（伯十：2）。
　　哦，受试炼的人们，神正在训练你们诸般的德行。有许多德行，必须在试炼中，才会彰显。你的信心在得意中不及在失意中表现得伟大。爱心好象萤火虫一般，非在黑暗的环境中，发不出明亮的光来。盼望好象星一般——在顺利的日光下是看不见什么的，惟在黑暗的夜间会照出美丽的光彩来。所有的苦难都是宝石匣内所衬的云绒，为要叫宝石——我们的德行——显得更美丽的。
　　你不是刚跪着祷告说，“主啊，我怕我没有信心；让我知道我有没有信心”吗？你这样祷告，岂不是不知不觉地在求试炼吗？——因为你的信心不受试炼，你怎么能知道你有没有信心呢？神给我们试炼，常是为着要彰显我们的德行，让我们可以知道我们到底有没有这些德行。并且，试炼不只叫我们的德行彰显，也叫我们的德行长进。
　　神训练他的兵士，不能在安适奢华的宫中训练他们，必须在野地的营中训练他们，他必须打发他们出去实习——兼程进兵，劳力服役。有时叫他们攀山，有时叫他们涉水，有时叫他们游泳，有时叫他们背着重负行军。基督徒啊，这是神的方法，难道你还抱怨么？——司布真
　　不被撒但打扰，并不是得福的证据。
April 11
"What I tell you in the darkness, speak ye in the light." (Matt. 10:27)
Our Lord is constantly taking us into the dark, that He may tell us things. Into the dark of the shadowed home, where bereavement has drawn the blinds; into the dark of the lonely, desolate life, where some infirmity closes us in from the light and stir of life; into the dark of some crushing sorrow and disappointment.
Then He tells us His secrets, great and wonderful, eternal and infinite; He causes the eye which has become dazzled by the glare of earth to behold the heavenly constellations; and the car to detect the undertones of His voice, which is often drowned amid the tumult of earth's strident cries.
But such revelations always imply a corresponding responsibility—"that speak ye in the light--that proclaim upon the housetops."
We are not meant to always linger in the dark, or stay in the closet; presently we shall be summoned to take our place in the rush and storm of life; and when that moment comes, we are to speak and proclaim what we have learned.
This gives a new meaning to suffering, the saddest element in which is often its apparent aimlessness. "How useless I am!" "What am I doing for the betterment of men?" "Wherefore this waste of the precious spikenard of my soul?"
Such are the desperate laments of the sufferer. But God has a purpose in it all. He has withdrawn His child to the higher altitudes of fellowship, that he may hear God speaking face to face, and bear the message to his fellows at the mountain foot.
Were the forty days wasted that Moses spent on the Mount, or the period spent at Horeb by Elijah, or the years spent in Arabia by Paul?
There is no short cut to the life of faith, which is the all-vital condition of a holy and victorious life. We must have periods of lonely meditation and fellowship with God. That our souls should have their mountains of fellowship, their valley of quiet rest beneath the shadow of a great rock, their nights beneath the stars, when darkness has veiled the material and silenced the stir of human life, and has opened the view of the infinite and eternal, is as indispensable as that our bodies should have food.
Thus alone can the sense of God's presence become the fixed possession of the soul, enabling it to say repeatedly, with the Psalmist, "Thou art near, O God." --F. B. Meyer.
四月十一日
“我在暗中告诉你们的，你们要在明处说出来”（太十：27）。
　　我们的主常带我们到黑暗中去，为着要和我们说话。有时他带我们进入孤单的黑暗，有时他带我们进入忧伤的黑暗，有时他带我们进入失望的黑暗，有时他带我们进入疾病的黑暗。
　　然后他告诉我们他伟大的，神奇的，永远的，无限的奥秘；他开启我们迷糊的眼睛，叫我们看见属天的荣耀；他开通我们聋聩的耳朵，叫我们听见他的声音。在黑暗里我们能学到以前从来没有学到的功课。
　　可是我们得到了启示以后，就有一个责任——“你们要在明处说出来——要在屋顶上宣扬出来。”
　　我们并不会一直沉在黑暗中的；不久我们就要出来的；那时候我们就当把我们所学到的说出来，宣扬出来。
　　这样看来，我们受苦，并非是毫无意义，毫无目的的。许多时候，我们在受苦的时候会悲叹说：“我还有什么用处呢？我于人类有什么益处呢？我宝贵的一生就这样浪费了么 ”？我告诉你：神是有目的的。神要我们和他有最高的交通，神要我们能面对面听他说话，将信息带给在山脚下的人们。
　　摩西在西乃山，以利亚在何烈山，保罗在亚拉伯，岂都是白费时日呢？信心圣洁与得胜生活的必要条件，别无捷径可循，所以基督徒必须有单独默想，与神交通的时间。我们的灵，需要与至高者交通，也需要在岩石的阴影和夜晚的星光之下，静静安息。当黑暗遮蔽了尘世的烦嚣，也就展开了永恒与不朽的景象，这对于灵魂的需要，好象肉体之需要粮食毫无两样。
　　这样，我们才会时时觉得神的同在，能和大卫一同说：“耶和华啊，你与我相近”（诗一一九：151）。
——梅尔
April 12
"And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil." (Luke 4:1, 2)
Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost, and yet He was tempted. Temptation often comes upon a man with its strongest power when he is nearest to God. As someone has said, "The devil aims high." He got one apostle to say he did not even know Christ.
Very few men have such conflicts with the devil as Martin Luther had. Why? Because Martin Luther was going to shake the very kingdom of hell. Oh, what conflicts John Bunyan had!
If a man has much of the Spirit of God, he will have great conflicts with the tempter. God permits temptation because it does for us what the storms do for the oaks--it roots us; and what the fire does for the paintings on the porcelain--it makes them permanent.
You never know that you have a grip on Christ, or that He has a grip on you, as well as when the devil is using all his force to attract you from Him; then you feel the pull of Christ's right hand. --Selected.
Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces. God hath many sharp-cutting instruments, and rough files for the polishing of His jewels; and those He especially loves, and means to make the most resplendent, He hath oftenest His tools upon. --Archbishop Leighton.
I bear my willing witness that I owe more to the fire, and the hammer, and the file, than to anything else in my Lord's workshop. I sometimes question whether I have ever learned anything except through the rod. When my schoolroom is darkened, I see most. --C. H. Spurgeon.
　 四月十二日
“耶稣被圣灵充满，从约但河回来，圣灵将他引到旷野，四十天受魔鬼的试探”（路四：1）。
　　耶稣被圣灵充满，但是也被魔鬼试探。魔鬼的试探常带着它全副力量去寻找一个最近神的人。有人说：“魔鬼有大志”，这句话实在不错。他曾抓住一个使徒，叫他说他不认得主。
　　马丁路得（Martin Luther）所受的撒但的攻击比任何人更多。因为马丁路得把地狱的根基摇动。约翰本仁（John Bunyan）也如此。
　　越被圣灵充满的人，越多受到撒但的攻击。神许可试探临到我们，因为试探能叫我们得到益处。正如暴风使橡树扎根更深，烈火使磁上的油彩更为耐久。
　　你从来不知道主怎样护庇你，用手抓住你；直到撒但尽力引诱你离开主的时侯，你才会觉得主全能的手紧紧牵着你。——选
　　特别的苦难不一定是特别的罪恶的刑罚，有时候反是特别的祝福。神有许多锐利的器具，是用以琢磨他心爱的宝石的；凡是他所特别心爱的，他就常常加以琢磨。——雷登
　　我今天愿意在这里作一个见证：我一生的转变，全靠我主工厂里的烈火，钉锤，锉刀，棒杖。——司布真
April 13
"And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth unto the plain, and I will there talk with thee." (Ezek. 3:22)
Did you ever hear of any one being much used for Christ who did not have some special waiting time, some complete upset of all his or her plans first; from St. Paul's being sent off into the desert of Arabia for three years, when he must have been boiling over with the glad tidings, down to the present day?
You were looking forward to telling about trusting Jesus in Syria; now He says, "I want you to show what it is to trust Me, without waiting for Syria."
My own case is far less severe, but the same in principle, that when I thought the door was flung open for me to go with a bound into literary work, it is opposed, and doctor steps in and says, simply, "Never! She must choose between writing and living; she can't do both."
That was in 1860. Then I came out of the shell with "Ministry of Song" in 1869, and saw the evident wisdom of being kept waiting nine years in the shade. God's love being unchangeable, He is just as loving when we do not see or feel His love. Also His love and His sovereignty are co-equal and universal; so He withholds the enjoyment and conscious progress because He knows best what will really ripen and further His work in us. --Memorials of Frances Ridley Havergal.
I laid it down in silence,
This work of mine,
And took what had been sent me--
A resting time.
The Master's voice had called me
To rest apart;
"Apart with Jesus only,"
Echoed my heart.
I took the rest and stillness
From His own Hand,
And felt this present illness
Was what He planned.
How often we choose labor,
When He says "Rest"--
Our ways are blind and crooked;
His way is best.
The work Himself has given,
He will complete.
There may be other errands
For tired feet;
There may be other duties
For tired hands,
The present, is obedience
To His commands.
There is a blessed resting
In lying still,
In letting His hand mould us,
Just as He will.
His work must be completed.
His lesson set;
He is the higher Workman:
Do not forget!
It is not only "working."
We must be trained;
And Jesus "learnt" obedience,
Through suffering gained.
For us, His yoke is easy,
His burden light.
His discipline most needful,
And all is right.
We are but under-workmen;
They never choose
If this tool or if that one
Their hands shall use.
In working or in waiting
May we fulfill
Not ours at all, but only
The Master's will! --Selected.
God provides resting places as well as working places. Rest, then, and be thankful when He brings you, wearied to a wayside well.
　 　 四月十三日
“耶和华的手在那里降在我身上，他对我说，你起来往平原去，我要在那里和你说话”（结三：22）。
　　使徒保罗在亚拉伯的沙漠中，历时三年，在那时期中，他心中为主传福音的火充溢。故自古以来，我们常常可以从任何一位被基督所重用的仆人看见，他们自己的计划往往整个地推翻，且经过了一段特殊的等待时间。
　　你瞻望着到了叙利亚之后，再懂得信靠耶稣，现在他说：“我要你无需等到叙利亚，就表示信靠我是什么意思。”
　　我的等待情形，远不及保罗那样严重，原则却有相通的道理，当我以为职业之门已给我打开，欢迎我投入文学工作时，却被阻挡了，有一位先进直截了当地表示：“绝对不行，她必须在写作和谋生之间作一选择，两者不能兼得。”
　　那是主历一八六〇年，到了一八六九年，我的“歌之使命”问世，了解了在韬光隐晦中，等待了九年，确有主明智的道理。神的爱是不变的，当我们看不见或觉不到他的爱时，他还是一样的爱我们。他的爱和他的能力，是对等而交相为用的，他阻止我们享乐，不要我们自以为进步，因为我们究竟是否真正成熟，以及如何策励我们，他知道得最清楚。——海弗格
我默默搁下自己的事务，
接受他给我暂作休息的吩咐，
主亲口唤我单独默想，
我心中应着说，愿与主单独相处。
我从他手中取得休息与宁静，
才知他为何给我安排目前的不幸，
我们常在他吩咐休息时偏要劳动，
何等盲目迂回，他所指示的才是最佳路径。
他安排的工作，他会完成，
也许有别的任务，
要劳累你疲倦的手足，
现在只要你遵从他的吩咐。
宁静地躺着，享受他慈爱的眷顾，
让他的手塑造我们的模样，
他的工作和教训终必完成，
别忘记他是最高明的艺匠。
我们不仅要作工，还要受训练；
救主耶稣之顺从，出自痛苦经历中，
他给我们的负的轭何等轻省，
他的教导如此切实，一切都成全。
我们仅是做助手的小工人，
不可去挑剔工具之良窳，
无论在工作或等待之时，
要让主的旨意来显明。
　神给我们准备了工作的界限，和休息的所在，因此我们在极其疲乏时，他带领我们到路旁的井边，你当该歇息，并将赞美感谢归给主。
April 14
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thess. 4:16, 17)
It was "very early in the morning" while "it was yet dark," that Jesus rose from the dead. Not the sun, but only the morning-star shone upon His opening tomb. The shadows had not fled, the citizens of Jerusalem had not awaked. It was still night--the hour of sleep and darkness, when He arose. Nor did his rising break the slumbers of the city. So shall it be "very early in the morning while it is yet dark," and when nought but the morning-star is shining, that Christ's body, the Church, shall arise. Like Him, His saints shall awake when the children of the night and darkness are still sleeping their sleep of death. In their arising they disturb no one. The world hears not the voice that summons them. As Jesus laid them quietly to rest, each in his own still tomb, like children in the arms of their mother; so, as quietly, as gently, shall He awake them when the hour arrives. To them come the quickening words, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust" (Isa. 26:19). Into their tomb the earliest ray of glory finds its way. They drink in the first gleams of morning, while as yet the eastern clouds give but the faintest signs of the uprising. Its genial fragrance, its soothing stillness, its bracing freshness, its sweet loneliness, its quiet purity, all so solemn and yet so full of hope, these are theirs.
Oh, the contrast between these things and the dark night through which they have passed! Oh, the contrast between these things and the grave from which they have sprung! And as they shake off the encumbering turf, flinging mortality aside, and rising, in glorified bodies, to meet their Lord in the air, they are lighted and guided upward, along the untrodden pathway, by the beams of that Star of the morning, which, like the Star of Bethlehem, conducts them to the presence of the King. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." --Horatius Bonar.
"While the hosts cry Hosanna, from heaven descending,
With glorified saints and the angels attending,
With grace on His brow, like, a halo of glory,
Will Jesus receive His own."
"Even so, come quickly."
A soldier said, "When I die do not sound taps over my grave, but reveillé, the morning call, the summons to rise."
　 四月十四日
“因为主必亲自从天降临，有呼叫的声音，和天使长的声音，又有神的号吹响；那在基督里死了的人必先复活。以后我们这活着还存留的人，必和他们一同被提到云里，在空中与主相遇；这样，我们就要和主永远同在”（帖前四：16/17）。
　“清早，还黑的时候”（约二十：1），主耶稣从死里复活了。没有太阳，只有晨星发光照在那挪开的坟墓上。黑夜还没有退去，耶路撒冷的市民还没有睡醒。因此，教会的复兴，也要在天尚未亮的凌晨只有晨星在照耀的时候。门徒们也跟他一样，也要趁云夜的子民们仍在沉睡的时候醒来。门徒们起身，不惊动任何人。世间也听不见他们被呼召的声音，主耶稣悄悄地使他们各自安息，好象孩子躺在母亲的怀中一样；当时候来到，他也要悄悄地用温柔的声音叫醒他们。因为苏醒的人，才能听到了呼召的声音说：“睡在尘埃的呀，要醒来歌唱”。（赛二十六：19）破晓的阳光射入在门徒们中间，他们沐浴着晨曦，其时东方的云彩淡淡一抹，只露出极微薄的日出迹象。那轻轻的芳香，平和的宁静，振奋的清新，甜蜜的沉静，朴素的纯净；一切庄严肃穆，同时又充满了希望，这一切都是他们的了。
　　哦，这一切和他们所经过的黑夜，是如何鲜明的对照；这一切和他们刚才脱离的坟墓，又是如何鲜明的对照！他们抖掉盖在身上的尘土撇开死神，以蒙受尊荣的形体上升，去和主在空中相会，其时，他们由晨星的光所烛照和引导，沿着无人踏过的路径上升，那颗晨星就象耶稣降生时的伯利恒之星，带领他们到万王之王的面前。“你可能整夜哭泣，欢乐却在早晨来临”。——布纳
天使天军高喊“和散那”，耶稣从天下降
圣徒和天使随侍在旁，
额上显现着一圈神圣荣光，
他是来接他的子民，
仍愿他快来，这是我们的希望。
　一位兵士说：“当我死在我坟墓上不要吹熄灯，和就寝的号角，要催促我起床的晨号。”
April 15
"I trust in thy word." (Psa. 119:42)
Just in proportion in which we believe that God will do just what He has said, is our faith strong or weak. Faith has nothing to do with feelings, or with impressions, with improbabilities, or with outward appearances. If we desire to couple them with faith, then we are no longer resting on the Word of God because faith needs nothing of the kind. Faith rests on the naked Word of God. When we take Him at His Word, the heart is at peace.
God delights to exercise faith, first for blessing in our own souls, then for blessing in the Church at large, and also for those without. But this exercise we shrink from instead of welcoming. When trials come, we should say: "My Heavenly Father puts this cup of trial into my hands, that I may have something sweet afterwards."
Trials are the food of faith. Oh, let us leave ourselves in the hands of our Heavenly Father! It is the joy of His heart to do good to all His children.
But trials and difficulties are not the only means by which faith is exercised and thereby increased. There is the reading of the Scriptures, that we may by them acquaint ourselves with God as He has revealed Himself in His Word.
Are you able to say, from the acquaintance you have made with God, that He is a lovely Being? If not, let me affectionately entreat you to ask God to bring you to this, that you may admire His gentleness and kindness, that you may be able to say how good He is, and what a delight it is to the heart of God to do good to His children.
Now the nearer we come to this in our inmost souls, the more ready we are to leave ourselves in His hands, satisfied with all His dealings with us. And when trial comes, we shall say:
"I will wait and see what good God will do to me by it, assured He will do it." Thus we shall bear an honorable testimony before the world, and thus we shall strengthen the hands of others. --George Mueller.
　 四月十五日
“我信靠你的话”（诗一百十九：42）。
　　我们信神的话有多少，就是我们的信心有多少。信心与感觉，影像，可能性，眼见，和外面的表征都无关。如果我们把它们与信心并列，我们就是不信神的话；因为信心用不着这种东西。信心单信神的话。当我们凭他的话抓住他的时候我们的心就得到了安息。
　　神乐意锻炼我们的信心，为着我们个人的益处，教会的益处，世人的益处。但是这种锻炼，我们非但不欢迎，反常躲避。当试炼临到我们的时候，我们应当这样说：“我的天父把这试炼的杯放在我手中，为要叫我将来享受甘甜”。
　　试炼是信心的粮食。让我们把我们自己交在我们天父的手中吧！因为他乐意赐好处给他的孩子。
　　不只试炼和困难能锻炼，加增我们的信心；读经亦然。读经使我们熟识神，与神成为至交，因为神在圣经中显露，启示他的自己。
　　你能否说，神是可爱的神呢？如果你还不能，让我用挚诚的心来劝你赶快求神给你养成读经的嗜好来，好使你知道他的温柔，仁爱；好使你能说：神是多好！神的心何等欢喜善待他的儿女！
　　我们越进入这种地步，我们越愿意把我们自己交托在神手中，越满意他对于我们的一切处置。这样，当试炼来到的时候，我们就会这样说：
　　“我要等待看神这一次将要给我什么好处。无论如何，他必定叫我得益。”如此，我们就能在世人面前作美好的见证，同时也能坚固别的信徒的信心。——莫勒
April 16
"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed." (Heb. 11:8)
Whither he went, he knew not; it was enough for him to know that he went with God. He leant not so much upon the promises as upon the Promiser. He looked not on the difficulties of his lot, but on the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, who had deigned to appoint his course, and would certainly vindicate Himself. O glorious faith! This is thy work, these are thy possibilities; contentment to sail with sealed orders, because of unwavering confidence in the wisdom of the Lord High Admiral; willinghood to rise up, leave all, and follow Christ, because of the glad assurance that earth's best cannot bear comparison with Heaven's least. --F. B. M.
It is by no means enough to set out cheerfully with your God on any venture of faith. Tear into smallest pieces any itinerary for the journey which your imagination may have drawn up.
Nothing will fall out as you expect.
Your guide will keep to no beaten path. He will lead you by a way such as you never dreamed your eyes would look upon. He knows no fear, and He expects you to fear nothing while He is with you.
The day had gone; alone and weak
I groped my way within a bleak
And sunless land.
The path that led into the light
I could not find! In that dark night
God took my hand.
He led me that I might not stray,
And brought me by a new, safe way
I had not known.
By waters still, through pastures green
I followed Him--the path was clean
Of briar and stone.
The heavy darkness lost its strength,
My waiting eyes beheld at length
The streaking dawn.
On, safely on, through sunrise glow
I walked, my hand in His, and lo,
The night had gone.
--Annie Porter Johnson.
　 四月十六日
“亚伯拉罕因着信，蒙召的时候，就遵命出去往将来要得为业的地方去”（来十一：8）。
　　他往哪里去，他不知道；他只知道神和他同去，这就够他放心了。他对于所得的应许，虽然不顶清楚，但是他对于赐应许的应许者，已够清楚了。他不看前面的难处，只看那全能，全智，公义，信实，永远活着的神。这样的一位神既安排了他的路程，当然不会和他儿戏的。哦，这是荣耀的信心！你也可以作得到的。当他打发你出去的时候，虽然路线还未显明，但是你尽可信任那打发者——天地之主，宇宙之神。起来吧，放下自己的一切，跟从主，因为地上顶好的还不堪与天上顶坏的一比。——梅尔
　　光是欢欢喜喜地和主一同出发冒信心的险，还不足够；还当把你自己所计划的路程表撕得粉碎。
　　没有一件事会照你所意料的实现。
　　你的向导知道怎样引领你前进。他将领你走一条你所梦想不到的路径。他不知道惧怕，他也希望你因着他的同在不知惧怕。——选
白天已去，我孤单困疲，
在阴暗中摸索路径，
我问：何处是光明？
神握着我的手前进。
他引导我，免我走入歧途，
这是陌生安全的新路，
经过了幽静的溪流与绿野，
没有石砾和荆棘阻我脚步。
黑暗失去了原有的力量，
终于盼望到一线曙光，
他握着我平安前进，
朝晖渐现，黑夜已遁。
——强逊
April 17
"The hand of the Lord hath wrought this." (Job 12:9)
Several years ago there was found in an African mine the most magnificent diamond in the world's history. It was presented to the King of England to blaze in his crown of state. The King sent it to Amsterdam to be cut. It was put into the hands of an expert lapidary. And what do you suppose he did with it?
He took the gem of priceless value, and cut a notch in it. Then he struck it a hard blow with his instrument, and lo! the superb jewel lay in his hand cleft in twain. What recklessness I what wastefulness! what criminal carelessness!
Not so. For days and weeks that blow had been studied and planned. Drawings and models had been made of the gem. Its quality, its defects, its lines of cleavage had all been studied with minutest care. The man to whom it was committed was one of the most skillful lapidaries in the world.
Do you say that blow was a mistake? Nay. It was the climax of the lapidary's skill. When he struck that blow, he did the one thing which would bring that gem to its most perfect shapeliness, radiance, and jewelled splendor. That blow which seemed to ruin the superb precious stone was, in fact, its perfect redemption. For, from those two halves were wrought the two magnificent gems which the skilled eye of the lapidary saw hidden in the rough, uncut stone as it came from the mine.
So, sometimes, God lets a stinging blow fall upon your life. The blood spurts. The nerves wince. The soul cries out in agony. The blow seems to you an apalling mistake. But it is not, for you are the most priceless jewel in the world to God. And He is the most skilled lapidary in the universe.
Some day you are to blaze in the diadem of the King. As you lie in His hand now He knows just how to deal with you. Not a blow will be permitted to fall upon your shrinking soul but that the love of God permits it, and works out from its depths, blessing and spiritual enrichment unseen, and unthought of by you. --J. H. McC.
In one of George MacDonald's books occurs this fragment of conversation: "I wonder why God made me," said Mrs. Faber bitterly. "I'm sure I don't know what was the use of making me!"
"Perhaps not much yet," said Dorothy, "but then He hasn't done with you yet. He is making you now, and you are quarrelling with the process."
If men would but believe that they are in process of creation, and consent to be made--let the Maker handle them as the potter the clay, yielding themselves in resplendent motion and submissive, hopeful action with the turning of His wheel--they would ere long find themselves able to welcome every pressure of that hand on them, even when it was felt in pain; and sometimes not only to believe but to recognize the Divine end in view, the bringing of a son unto glory.
"Not a single shaft can hit,
Till the God of love sees fit."
　 四月十七日
“…是耶和华的手作成的…“（伯十二：9）。
　　几年前，在非洲矿中，发现了一颗有史以来从未有过的大钻石。人把它进贡给英皇，做他冠冕上的饰物。英皇就把它送到荷京阿姆斯坦，交给一个世上最着名的宝石匠，请他切磋。你想他怎样作？
　　他拿起这无价之宝来，先刻了一个深痕。然后拿起铁锤来把它狠命一击。看哪！一块世上仅有的宝石顿时一裂为二。啊，荒谬！该死的宝石匠，闯了弥天大祸！
　　事实并不是这样。那一击是曾经过好几星期的考虑和计划。绘图，打样，曾花了许多功夫。它的性质，硬度，和里面的裂纹，都曾经过详细的研究。英皇所委托的这人，是世上宝石匠中第一名手。
　　你说那一击是击错了么？不。这是宝石匠技术最高的表演。那一击使那块宝石成了世上最玲珑，最炫耀的两颗金刚钻。那一击实在是它的拯救。匠人在这块钻石未经琢凿之前，早经胸有成竹，一劈两半，方能显明它是无上的价值。
　　有时，在你的生活中，神也把你猛击一下。挂泪，流血，丧志，灰心。你说那一击是击错了。可是并没有，你是神的无价之宝。神是你的宝石匠。
　　有一天，你将作神冠冕上发光的宝石。现在你既在他手中，他知道怎样对付你。若不是神的爱所许可的，没有一击能临到你。——马克康该
　　在乔治·麦唐纳的著作里，录有二位女士的对话，一是费柏太太，一是桃乐赛女士。
　　费柏太太恼恨地说：“我不知道神为何要造我，造我有什么用处”？
　　桃乐赛告诉她道：“也许目前还没有显明用处，神尚未将你造得完全，但是在神制造你的过程中，而你就对制造者有所抱怨了！”
　　人们只要相信自己尚在被制造的过程中，并且愿意让造物主随意处理，象陶人处理泥土一样，顺服于神的一切工作，不久人们就会欢迎那双加在他们身上压力的手，虽然有时压得痛苦，但是他们深信，而且认识了神制造的目的，是要把人引导进入光荣之境。
除非神认为适合，
否则这支箭决不会射中你。
April 18
"And he shall bring it to pass." (Psa. 37:5)
I once thought that after I prayed that it was my duty to do everything that I could do to bring the answer to pass. He taught me a better way, and showed that my self-effort always hindered His working, and that when I prayed and definitely believed Him for anything, He wanted me to wait in the spirit of praise, and only do what He bade me. It seems so unsafe to just sit still, and do nothing but trust the Lord; and the temptation to take the battle into our own hands is often tremendous.
We all know how impossible it is to rescue a drowning man who tries to help his rescuer, and it is equally impossible for the Lord to fight our battles for us when we insist upon trying to fight them ourselves. It is not that He will not, but He cannot. Our interference hinders His working. --C.H.P.
Spiritual forces cannot work while earthly forces are active.
It takes God time to answer prayer. We often fail to give God a chance in this respect. It takes time for God to paint a rose. It takes time for God to grow an oak. It takes time for God to make bread from wheat fields. He takes the earth. He pulverizes. He softens. He enriches. He wets with showers and dews. He warms with life. He gives the blade, the stock, the amber grain, and then at last the bread for the hungry.
All this takes time. Therefore we sow, and till, and wait, and trust, until all God's purpose has been wrought out. We give God a chance in this matter of time. We need to learn this same lesson in our prayer life. It takes God time to answer prayer. --J. H. M.
　 四月十八日
“他就必成全”（诗三十七：5）。
　　我以前以为我祷告了之后，该负一个责任：按我所能作的尽力去作，来帮助神成全。后来，神亲自教导我，指示我，这是绝对的错误，这反能阻拦他的工作。他要我祷告了之后，完全相信，用赞美和感谢去等待他的答应。坐着不动，单信靠神，未免太不稳妥吧；我们常会有极大的试探想去自己活动。
　　我们都知道一个善于游泳者不能拯救一个溺者，如果后者不肯停止他自己的挣扎。神也照样不能替我们做什么，如果我们不肯停止我们自己的活动。并不是神不肯，乃是神不能。我们的干涉反拦阻他的工作。
　　属地的力在活动的时侯，属天的力不能工作。
　　神答应祷告是需要时间的。我们常不肯给神相当的时间。神需要时间去画一朵玫瑰。神需要时间去长一棵橡树。神也需要时间来供给我们面包：神先预备一块麦田，耕松，撒种，加肥料，降雨露，降日光，长嫩叶，生穗，结实，磨粉，烘烤，然后制成面包，使饥饿的人得着饱足。
　　每一部手续都需要时间。所以我们今天耕了地，撒了种，就应当等待，信靠，直到神的日期来到。我们应该给神相当的时间。让我们在祷告的生活中也学习同样的功课——神答应祷告是需要时间的。
April 19
"Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord." (Exod. 14:13)
These words contain God's command to the believer when he is reduced to great straits and brought into extraordinary difficulties. He cannot retreat; he cannot go forward; he is shut upon the right hand and on the left. What is he now to do?
The Master's word to him is "stand still." It will be well for him if, at such times, he listens only to his Master's word, for other and evil advisers come with their suggestions. Despair whispers, "Lie down and die; give it all up." But God would have us put on a cheerful courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in His love and faithfulness.
Cowardice says, "Retreat; go back to the worldling's way of action; you cannot play the Christian's part; it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles."
But, however much Satan may urge this course upon you, you cannot follow it, if you are a child of God. His Divine fiat has bid thee go from strength to strength, and so thou shalt, and neither death nor hell shall turn thee from thy course. What if for a while thou art called to stand still; yet this is but to renew thy strength for some greater advance in due time.
Precipitancy cries, "Do something; stir yourself; to stand still and wait is sheer idleness." We must be doing something at once--we must do it, so we think--instead of looking to the Lord, who will not only do something, but will do everything.
Presumption boasts, "If the sea be before you, march into it, and expect a miracle." But faith listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, "Stand still," and immovable as a rock it stands.
"Stand still"--keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, "Go forward. " --Spurgeon.
"Be quiet! why this anxious heed
About thy tangled ways?
God knows them all. He giveth speed
And He allows delays.
'Tis good for thee to walk by faith
And not by sight.
Take it on trust a little while.
Soon shalt thou read the mystery aright
In the full sunshine of His smile."
In times of uncertainty, wait. Always, if you have any doubt, wait. Do not force yourself to any action. If you have a restraint in your spirit, wait until all is clear, and do not go against it.
　 四月十九日
“只管站住，看耶和华今天向你们所要施行的救恩”（出十四：13）。
　　这节经文对那些遭遇大患难，沦入四面楚歌的圣徒们，正当他左右为难，进退维谷，不知怎样办的时候，就是神给他一个明确的指示。
　　神所给的指示是“只管站住”。在这种情形之下，只有听神的话才能得救，否则魔鬼及其他的建议，将纷至沓来。“绝望”小声对你说：“放弃一切，躺下来等死吧！”但神要我们鼓起勇气，满了乐观与希望，即使在最患难的时候，也要因他的仁慈和信实而欢欣。
　　“懦弱”对你说：“向后退却，退回到你原来的世俗办法中去，你不配做基督徒，这正是太难做了，放弃你的信仰吧！”
　　假若你真是神的子民，无论魔鬼如何催促你采取世俗的途径，你决不会信从。神命令你努力再努力向前进，你就该遵行，前途无论是死亡或地狱，都不能更变你前进的方向。神吩咐你站立一会儿，只是要你添增新的力量，以备在适当的时候奔向更远的前程。
　　“急躁”也向你诱惑，它说：“行动要积极，方称有所作为，站住等待全是无聊与浪费”。我们在肉身头脑的领悟中很能受它的话影响，心中就想必须立刻有所作为，我们必须下手行动，于是不再去仰望神了。殊不知他要你站住，不但有所作为，而且还作一切胜利临到的准备。
　　“傲慢”对你夸口说：“假若海洋挡在你面前，冲过去，要求奇迹的出现！”但是信心对于傲慢，绝望，懦弱，和急躁等等的话，一概不听，只听神的吩咐，“只管站住”屹立不动，有如磐石。
　　“只管站住”，以昂然直立的姿态，准备行动，期待以后的吩咐，愉快而谨慎地等候神的指引。不久神就会对你说，象摩西对以色列人民那样清晰地说：“往前走”。——司布真
你要宁静！不必为了路径的纷绕，
心中就如此不安与焦躁，
神催促你加速，也让你绥慢。
他一切都成竹在胸，清楚知道，
走路要凭信心，不是单凭感觉，
愿你对此指示完全信靠，
不久你会在他笑容的光照下，
了解这神秘的真理和奥妙。
　　在没有把握的时候，你要等待。心中任何疑惑的时候，也要等待。不要勉强作任何行动。假若你的心灵如受约束，就该等待到一切澄清，不要故意违抗。
April 20
"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts." (Zech. 4:6)
My way led up a hill, and right at the foot I saw a boy on a bicycle. He was pedalling up hill against the wind, and evidently found it a tremendously hard work. Just as he was working most strenuously and doing his best painfully, there came a trolley car going in the same direction--up the hill.
It was not going too fast for the boy to get behind it, and with one hand to lay hold of the bar at the back. Then you know what happened. He went up that hill like a bird. Then it flashed upon me:
"Why, I am like that boy on the bicycle in my weariness and weakness. I am pedalling up hill against all kinds of opposition, and am almost worn out with the task. But here at hand is a great available power, the strength of the Lord Jesus.
"I have only to get in touch with Him and to maintain communication with Him, though it may be only one little finger of faith, and that will be enough to make His power mine for the doing of this bit of service that just now seems too much for me." And I was helped to dismiss my weariness and to realize this truth. --The Life of Fuller Purpose.
ABANDONED
Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost!
Seeking all His fulness at whatever cost;
Cutting all the shore-lines, launching in the deep
Of His mighty power--strong to save and keep.
Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost!
Oh! the sinking, sinking, until self is lost!
Until the emptied vessel lies broken at His feet;
Waiting till His filling shall make the work complete.
Utterly abandoned to the will of God;
Seeking for no other path than my Master trod;
Leaving ease and pleasure, making Him my choice,
Waiting for His guidance, listening for His voice.
Utterly abandoned! no will of my own;
For time and for eternity, His, and His alone;
All my plans and purposes lost in His sweet will,
Having nothing, yet in Him all things possessing still.
Utterly abandoned! 'tis so sweet to be
Captive in His bonds of love, yet so wondrous free;
Free from sin's entanglements, free from doubt and fear,
Free from every worry, burden, grief or care.
Utterly abandoned! oh, the rest is sweet,
As I tarry, waiting, at His blessed feet;
Waiting for the coming of the Guest divine,
Who my inmost being shall perfectly refine.
Lo! He comes and fills me, Holy Spirit sweet!
I, in Him, am satisfied! I, in Him, complete!
And the light within my soul shall nevermore grow dim
While I keep my covenant--abandoned unto Him!
--Author Unknown.
　 四月二十日
“万军之耶和华说，不是倚靠势力，不是倚靠才能，乃是倚靠我的灵，方能成事”（亚四：6）。
　　有一次我在山脚下散步，看见一个小孩骑着自行车上山去。路又斜，风又紧，那孩子用尽了力气，却仍向前不得。他正感力竭的时侯，恰巧一辆无轨电车经过，向着山顶驶去。
　　那孩子赶紧伸手抓住车后的一根横梗。他一点力气都不用花，似飞一般地上了山顶。此时我就发生了一个感想：
　　“我现在这样疲乏，软弱，正像自行车上的孩子一般。我尽力向上而行，可是多少困难，拦阻，接踵而来，使我筋疲力尽。但是在这里有一个力量——主耶稣无限的力量——可以给我使用。
　　我只需与他接触，与他交通，虽然仅有信心的一个小指头钩住他，也已经足够叫他的力量给我使用，来应付一切我所不能胜任的事情了”。
　　这一次，我不只得了一个属灵的教训，也把我一身的重压抛去了。——译自更完美的生命
放弃一切，依靠圣灵！
求其成全，不惜任何牺牲；
舍弃海岸，投入他全能无边的大洋，
他是指引你得救和生存的明灯。
放弃一切，依靠圣灵！
深深地浸润，直到无我之境；
躺在他脚下承受他来充满，
像一只空虚的器皿。
放弃一切，尊从神的意旨，
以他的路径为路径，专志一心；
放弃安乐，以他为我的选择，
听他命令，等待他的指正。
放弃一切，不再有自己的主张，
从今而后永远照他旨意；
打消一切计划，自己一无所有，
却从神那里获得一切富足。
放弃一切，受他爱的束缚，
这是多么自由而舒服；
解脱罪恶怀疑和恐惧的纠缠，
释放一切忧虑悲痛的桎梏。
放弃一切，滞留在他的脚下等待，
何等的气爽神清；
等待神给我锻炼，
净化我的心灵。
看哪！圣灵充满我的内心，
我感到丰满和全备，
只要坚守誓约，放弃一切依靠主！
我的心哪！光明永放，不绝绵绵。
April 21
"And being absolutely certain that whatever promise He is bound by, He is able to make good." (Rom. 4:21)
We are told that Abraham could look at his own body and consider it as good as dead without being discouraged, because he was not looking at himself but at the Almighty One.
He did not stagger at the promise, but stood straight up unbending beneath his mighty load of blessing; and instead of growing weak he waxed strong in the faith, grew more robust, the more difficulties became apparent, glorifying God through His very sufficiency and being "fully persuaded" (as the Greek expresses it) "that he who had promised was," not merely able, but as it literally means "abundantly able," munificently able, able with an infinite surplus of resources, infinitely able "to perform."
He is the God of boundless resources. The only limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our praying are too small; our expectations are too limited. He is trying to lift us up to a higher conception, and lure us on to a mightier expectation and appropriation. Oh, shall we put Him in derision? There is no limit to what we may ask and expect of our glorious El-Shaddai; and there is but one measure here given for His blessing, and that is "according to the power that worketh in us." --A. B. Simpson.
"Climb to the treasure house of blessing on the ladder made of divine promises. By a promise as by a key open the door to the riches of God's grace and favor."
四月二十一日　 
“满心相信，神所应许的必能作成”（罗四：21）。
　　亚伯拉罕将近百岁的时候，虽然想到自己的身体如同已死，还是不失望，因为他不看自己，只看全能的神。
　　他对于神的应许没有丝毫疑惑，他直立在神的恩典之下，一点也不气馁；他的信心非但不软弱，并且愈过愈强，将荣耀归给神；且“满心相信，神所应许的必能作成”。不只能，直译起来，是“丰丰富富的能”，宽宽厚厚的能，无限量的能“作成”。
　　神是万有之神，他不受限制。所有的限制都是我们自己造成的。我们所求的，所想的，所盼望的，太小了，不够彰显神原有的荣耀和大能。神要我们有一个扩大的眼界，因为他是全能的者，难道我们要辜负他的美意吗？我们向全能的神有所要求，是没有限度的，他之赐福于你，却有一个准绳，就是以你的信心程度的深浅多寡为标准。——信宣
　　我们可以用神的应许来作梯子，爬到神的宝藏室去。每一个应许，是开恩典之门的一个钥匙。
April 22
"He knoweth the way that I take." (Job 23:10)
Believer! What a glorious assurance! This way of thine--this, it may be, a crooked, mysterious, tangled way--this way of trial and tears. "He knoweth it." The furnace seven times heated--He lighted it. There is an Almighty Guide knowing and directing our footsteps, whether it be to the bitter Marah pool, or to the joy and refreshment of Elim.
That way, dark to the Egyptians, has its pillar of cloud and fire for His own Israel. The furnace is hot; but not only can we trust the hand that kindles it, but we have the assurance that the fires are lighted not to consume, but to refine; and that when the refining process is completed (no sooner--no later) He brings His people forth as gold.
When they think Him least near, He is often nearest. "When my spirit was overwhelmed, then thou knewest my path."
Do we know of ONE brighter than the brightest radiance of the visible sun, visiting our chamber with the first waking beam of the morning; an eye of infinite tenderness and compassion following us throughout the day, knowing the way that we take?
The world, in its cold vocabulary in the hour of adversity, speaks of "Providence"--"the will of Providence"--"the strokes of Providence." PROVIDENCE! what is that?
Why dethrone a living, directing God from the sovereignty of His own earth? Why substitute an inanimate, death-like abstraction, in place of an acting, controlling, personal Jehovah?
How it would take the sting from many a goading trial, to see what Job saw (in his hour of aggravated woe, when every earthly hope lay prostrate at his feet)--no hand but the Divine. He saw that hand behind the gleaming swords of the Sabeans--he saw it behind the lightning flash--he saw it giving wings to the careening tempest--he saw it in the awful silence of his rifled home.
"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!"
Thus seeing God in everything, his faith reached its climax when this once powerful prince of the desert, seated on his bed of ashes, could say, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." --Macduff.
　 四月二十二日
“他知道我所行的路”（伯二十三：10）。
　　信徒哪！这是何等靠得住的事实！你的路——不管是曲是直，是窄是宽，是崎岖是平坦——他都知道。他是全能的神，指导我们的脚步有时向着玛拉，有时向着以琳。
　　路不一定尽都是易行，但在出埃及黑暗的路口，神供给以色列子民以云柱和火柱，吗哪和甘泉，炉子里燃烧着烈火，我们不仅仅能信靠那点火的人，并且我们可以断定烈火不是用来烧毁我们，乃是用来锻炼我们，锻炼过程中迟早完成之后，我们将成精金。
　　人们认为神离我们很远的时候，他却最接近我们。“我的灵在我里面发昏的时候，你知道我的道路”（诗一四二：3）。
　　你可知道，神比太阳最光辉的辐射还要光明，早晨他以荣光唤醒我们，整天以慈爱和温柔的视线，照着我们，知道我们要走的道路。你明白这道理吗？
　　世人在患难的时候，往往空洞地喊着“天意”一词。何谓天意？为什么放弃了活的神，放弃了有生命的耶和华，代之以空洞无生命的所谓天意！
　　我们如果能像约伯一样，在灾难中间，只看见神的手，我们的试炼就会变得轻松了。约伯在示巴人的刀剑后面，在天上降下的火后面，在旷野刮来的狂风后面，都看见神的手。
　　“赏赐的是耶和华，收取的也是耶和华；耶和华的名是应当称颂的”（伯一：21）。
　　约伯在每一件事情上看见神，所以他能在炉火中说：“他虽杀我，我还要信靠他”（伯十三：15直译）。——马克特夫
April 23
"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me." (Psalm 138:7)
The Hebrew rendering of the above is "go on in the center of trouble." What descriptive words! We have called on God in the day of trouble; we have pleaded His promise of deliverance but no deliverance has been given; the enemy has continued oppressing until we were in the very thick of the fight, in the center of trouble. Why then trouble the Master any further?
When Martha said, "Lord, if thou hadst been here my brother had not died," our Lord met her lack of hope with His further promise, "Thy brother shall rise again." And when we walk "in the center of trouble" and are tempted to think like Martha that the time of deliverance is past, He meets us too with a promise from His Word. "Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me."
Though His answer has so long delayed, though we may still continue to "go on" in the midst of trouble, "the center of trouble" is the place where He revives, not the place where He fails us.
When in the hopeless place, the continued hopeless place, is the very time when He will stretch forth His hand against the wrath of our enemies and perfect that which concerneth us, the very time when He will make the attack to cease and fail and come to an end. What occasion is there then for fainting? --Aphra White.
THE EYE OF THE STORM
"Fear not that the whirlwind shall carry thee hence,
Nor wait for its onslaught in breathless suspense,
Nor shrink from the whips of the terrible hail,
But pass through the edge to the heart of the gale,
For there is a shelter, sunlighted and warm,
And Faith sees her God through the eye of the storm.
"The passionate tempest with rush and wild roar
And threatenings of evil may beat on the shore,
The waves may be mountains, the fields battle plains,
And the earth be immersed in a deluge of rains,
Yet, the soul, stayed on God, may sing bravely its psalm,
For the heart of the storm is the center of calm.
"Let hope be not quenched in the blackness of night,
Though the cyclone awhile may have blotted the light,
For behind the great darkness the stars ever shine,
And the light of God's heavens, His love shall make thine,
Let no gloom dim thine eyes, but uplift them on high
To the face of thy God and the blue of His sky.
"The storm is thy shelter from danger and sin,
And God Himself takes thee for safety within;
The tempest with Him passeth into deep calm,
And the roar of the winds is the sound of a psalm.
Be glad and serene when the tempest clouds form;
God smiles on His child in the eye of the storm."
　 　 四月二十三日
“我虽行在患难中，你必将我救活”（诗一百三十八；7）。
　　希伯来原文的直译是“我虽行在患难的中心，你必将我救活。”许多时候，我们在患难中求告神；我们恳请他实行他拯救的应许，可是拯救仍不来到；原来他要等到我们被仇敌逼到患难的中心，然后伸手施行拯救。所以，目前何必急于烦劳他呢？
　　马大对主说：“主啊，你若早在这里，我兄弟必不死”（约十一：21）；我们的主答应她的绝望说：“你兄弟必然复活。”（约十一：23）当我们到了患难的中心，我们也会像马大一般想拯救的时候过去了，但是主坚固我们说：“我虽行在患难中，你必将我救活”。
　　虽然他的答应延搁了许久，虽然我们还须在患难中继续受逼迫，但是患难的中心是他施行拯救的地方，不是他误事的地方。到了那时，他要伸出他的手来对付仇敌的忿怒，停止一切的攻击。信徒们，为什么这样绝望呢？——华爱德
不要怕飓风把你卷离此地，
也不要屏息等它的攻击，
也不要畏缩于冰雹的暴戾，
却要从风暴的边缘进入它中间，
那飓风眼，有阳光温暖和遮蔽。
信心从飓风眼里去见神。
狂啸怒吼奔腾而来的大风浪，
这凶恶的威胁可能以你为目标，
海中波涛如山，陆上田野成战场，
地土几乎沉没于大雨洪流中，
信靠神的人，却仍把诗篇高唱，
因为暴风雨的中心是安宁的地方。
风暴可能暂时遮掩光明，
但不要在黑暗中丧失希望，
因为星星永远在黑暗的后面照耀，
神的大爱，使你获得天上的光芒，
不要让阴暗蒙蔽你的眼睛，
要仰望神的圣容和蓝色的天堂。
风雨是阻挡危险与罪恶的遮荫，
神将亲自带你进去获得安宁，
浪随着他会化为平静，
风的怒号变成赞美的歌声，
当阴云密布时，要安详而欢欣，
神的微笑在暴风雨中心降临。
April 24
"Faith is...the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1)
True faith drops its letter in the post office box, and lets it go. Distrust holds on to a corner of it, and wonders that the answer never comes. I have some letters in my desk that have been written for weeks, but there was some slight uncertainty about the address or the contents, so they are yet unmailed. They have not done either me or anybody else any good yet. They will never accomplish anything until I let them go out of my hands and trust them to the postman and the mail.
This the way with true faith. It hands its case over to God, and then He works. That is a fine verse in the Thirty-seventh Psalm: "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He worketh." But He never worketh till we commit. Faith is a receiving or still better, a taking of God's proffered gifts. We may believe, and come, and commit, and rest; but we will not fully realize all our blessing until we begin to receive and come into the attitude of abiding and taking. --Days of Heaven upon Earth.
Dr. Payson, when a young man, wrote as follows, to an aged mother, burdened with intense anxiety on account of the condition of her son: "You give yourself too much trouble about him. After you have prayed for him, as you have done, and committed him to God, should you not cease to feel anxious respecting him? The command, 'Be careful for nothing,' is unlimited; and so is the expression, 'Casting all your care on him.' If we cast our burdens upon another, can they continue to press upon us? If we bring them away with us from the Throne of Grace, it is evident we do not leave them there. With respect to myself, I have made this one test of my prayers: if after committing anything to God, I can, like Hannah, come away and have my mind no more sad, my heart no more pained or anxious, I look upon it as one proof that I have prayed in faith; but, if I bring away my burden, I conclude that faith was not in exercise."
　 四月二十四日
“信……是未见之事的确据”（来十一：1）。
　　真信心把信件投在邮箱里以后就让它去了。不信把信件放在邮箱口，执住一角，不肯脱手同时又诧异回信还没有来。在我的书桌里有好几封写就了好久的信，到今天还没有发出去，因为我不确知地址有否错误。它们对于我和我的亲友还没有发生什么关系。它们也永远不会发生什么，除非我把它们投在邮箱里，完全信托邮局。
　　真信心就是这样。它把事情交给神以后就让它去了。神就成全。诗篇三十七篇五节说得顶好：“当将你的事交托耶和华，并倚靠他，他就必成全”。但是我们不交托，神就不成全。信就是接受，或更准确一点，领取，神所预备的礼物。让我们前来相信，交托，接受，在我们以顺从的态度，开始接受之前，我们是不会完全认识我们所得的祝福。——地上的天上生活
　　贝逊博士在他年轻的时候，遇到一位老妇人。她焦心忧虑她的儿子。贝逊写信给这位老妇人说：“你过于为你的儿子担心了。你已经为他祈祷，把他交付给神，还不应当安心吗”？神命令我们不要为任何事情担心，这是没有限度的，所谓把一切忧虑卸给神，用意即在于此。如果我们已把肩上的重负交给了别人，我们岂非完全轻松了吗？如果再从神那里取了回来，显然就没有交给神。在我自己，常常把下面这个原则来测验我的祷告；倘使把任何事情交给了神，我就可以轻松地离开，心中再无半点悲哀，苦痛或焦虑，这可以证明我们的祈祷是出于信心；如果再把负担放在自己的肩头，就证明我们的信心不够，没有发生作用。
April 25
 
 
 
"And there was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre." (Matt. 27:61)
How strangely stupid is grief. It neither learns nor knows nor wishes to learn or know. When the sor rowing sisters sat over against the door of God's sepulchre, did they see the two thousand years that have passed triumphing away? Did they see any thing but this: "Our Christ is gone!"
Your Christ and my Christ came from their loss; Myriad mourning hearts have had resurrection in the midst of their grief; and yet the sorrowing watchers looked at the seed-form of this result, and saw nothing. What they regarded as the end of life was the very preparation for coronation; for Christ was silent that He might live again in tenfold power.
They saw it not. They mourned, they wept, and went away, and came again, driven by their hearts to the sepulchre. Still it was a sepulchre, unprophetic, voiceless, lusterless.
So with us. Every man sits over against the sepulchre in his garden, in the first instance, and says, "This woe is irremediable. I see no benefit in it. I will take no comfort in it." And yet, right in our deepest and worst mishaps, often, our Christ is lying, waiting for resurrection.
Where our death seems to be, there our Saviour is. Where the end of hope is, there is the brightest beginning of fruition. Where the darkness is thickest, there the bright beaming light that never is set is about to emerge. When the whole experience is consummated, then we find that a garden is not disfigured by a sepulchre. Our joys are made better if there be sorrow in the midst of them. And our sorrows are made bright by the joys that God has planted around about them. The flowers may not be pleasing to us, they may not be such as we are fond of plucking, but they are heart-flowers, love, hope, faith, joy, peace--these are flowers which are planted around about every grave that is sunk in the Christian heart.
"'Twas by a path of sorrows drear
Christ entered into rest;
And shall I look for roses here,
Or think that earth is blessed?
Heaven's whitest lilies blow
From earth's sharp crown of woe.
Who here his cross can meekly bear,
Shall wear the kingly purple there."
　 　 四月二十五日
“应当一无挂虑”（腓四：6）
　　盲目的悲哀，其实是无比的愚蠢。在这种情绪之中，既不思考，也不了解，更不想思考，亦不愿去了解。当两位马利亚坐在主的墓门前伤心哀悼之时，她们可曾知道，此后千万年的岁月，已在胜利中了。她们在当时心中只知道：“我们的主不见了”。
　　你们的基督在她们的失望中回来；无数哀恸的心灵，在她们的悲悼中复活；然而忧闷哀悼地在墓旁守望的人，眼前虽已摆着未来结果的端倪，却没有看见。她们所认为的生命末日，殊不知正是加冕大典的筹备过程；基督之所以静默安息，是为了在再醒时能增加十倍的力量。
　　她们不知道这一点。她们的悲悼，哭泣，离去，然后又受内心的驱策，回到墓地。但仍只见一个没有预兆，没有声音，没有光彩的坟墓。
　　我们也是如此，最初坐在自己的园子里对着坟墓说：“此一丧失无可挽回，我看已无益处，我将从此不能得到慰籍”。然而往往就在我们最失丧的时候，基督正在那里准备复活。
　　我们认为死亡的地方，有我们的救世主在那里。希望似乎终了，却是丰富收获的开始。黑暗最浓重的时候，却是光明即将涌现了。当整个过程的变演就绪之后，我们会发现坟墓并未破坏花园的美观。含有悲哀的欢乐，胜于一般的欢乐。我们的悲哀，为神所布置的乐园所围绕，就变得光明。爱，信，希望，欢乐与和平，这些心灵之花，也许不为常人所欣赏，也不是她们的花，但这些心灵之花，都种植在基督徒内心深处的每一个坟墓周围。
经过了哀恸阴暗的道路，
基督进入了他的安息之处；
我在这里能否找到玫瑰花，
作为世界纳福的证据！
天上最洁白的水仙，
生自人间的苦痛熬煎，
谁能卑微地背起十字架，
谁就披上君王的紫袍翩翩。
April 26
"I even reckon all things as pure loss because of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Phil. 3:8) (Weymouth)
Shining is always costly. Light comes only at the cost of that which produces it. An unlit candle does no shining. Burning must come before shining. We cannot be of great use to others without cost to ourselves. Burning suggests suffering. We shrink from pain.
We are apt to feel that we are doing the greatest good in the world when we are strong, and able for active duty, and when the heart and hands are full of kindly service.
When we are called aside and can only suffer; when we are sick; when we are consumed with pain; when all our activities have been dropped, we feel that we are no longer of use, that we are not doing anything.
But, if we are patient and submissive, it is almost certain that we are a greater blessing to the world in our time of suffering and pain than we were in the days when we thought we were doing the most of our work. We are burning now, and shining because we are burning. --Evening Thoughts.
"The glory of tomorrow is rooted in the drudgery of today."
Many want the glory without the cross, the shining without the burning, but crucifixion comes before coronation.
Have you heard the tale of the aloe plant,
Away in the sunny clime?
By humble growth of a hundred years
It reaches its blooming time;
And then a wondrous bud at its crown
Breaks into a thousand flowers;
This floral queen, in its blooming seen,
Is the pride of the tropical bowers,
But the plant to the flower is sacrifice,
For it blooms but once, and it dies.
Have you further heard of the aloe plant,
That grows in the sunny clime;
How every one of its thousand flowers,
As they drop in the blooming time,
Is an infant plant that fastens its roots
In the place where it falls on the ground,
And as fast as they drop from the dying stem,
Grow lively and lovely around?
By dying, it liveth a thousand-fold
In the young that spring from the death of the old.
Have you heard the tale of the pelican,
The Arabs' Gimel el Bahr,
That lives in the African solitudes,
Where the birds that live lonely are?
Have you heard how it loves its tender young,
And cares and toils for their good,
It brings them water from mountain far,
And fishes the seas for their food.
In famine it feeds them--what love can devise!
The blood of its bosom--and, feeding them, dies.
Have you heard this tale--the best of them all--
The tale of the Holy and True,
He dies, but His life, in untold souls
Lives on in the world anew;
His seed prevails, and is filling the earth,
As the stars fill the sky above.
He taught us to yield up the love of life,
For the sake of the life of love.
His death is our life, His loss is our gain;
The joy for the tear, the peace for the pain.
--Selected.
　 四月二十六日
“我也将万事当作有损的，因我以认识我主基督耶稣为至宝”（腓三：8）。
　　要发光必须先有损失。发光体受了相当的损失以后，才会有光照出来。烛不燃烧，根本便没有光。有了燃烧，然后才能有光。我们自己若不先有损失，就不能有益于人。燃烧好似人生中的痛苦。信徒必须经过痛苦，然后才能有益于人。可是我们见了痛苦，却常喜欢逃避。
　　当我们被唤到一旁，在苦痛中磨炼的时候，例如病倒了，或煎熬于患难之中，我们所有的活动都遭停止，这种时候，我们觉得自己已不再有何贡献了。
　　但是，假若我们有耐心，肯服从主，我们就可确信，我们在受苦难中，对世界的贡献，更大于活动工作。我们此时正如蜡烛在燃烧，光明灿烂是从燃烧中发出来的。
　　明天的荣耀，是因今天的痛苦。
　　许多人只要荣耀，不要十架；只要发光，不要燃烧；但是我告诉你：十架是冠冕的先锋；没有十架；就没有冠冕。
你可曾听说过，热带有一种名曰“芦荟”植物，无声无臭生长了一百年，才到它开花的时候。顶端长出一个奇妙的蓓蕾，这蓓蕾里开出一千朵美丽的奇葩。成为热带所夸耀花中之后。然而这植物的开花，对它却是牺牲，因为只开一次花，开过就枯萎死亡了。
你可曾更听闻过，热带的植物“芦荟”更奇妙的是，那一千朵花落到地上，立刻在土中生根，成为芦荟的幼苗。也就是在它母株枯萎的时候，花就纷纷落地，于是下一代的芦荟就蓬勃生长了起来。一个生命的死亡，换得了一千个新的生命。
你可曾听说过，在非洲的荒山里，有一种鸟名曰鹈鹉，阿拉伯人称之为“吉美，艾，巴尔”。它对于后一代的爱护，辛劳，甚之牺牲，也是无微不至的。它从遥远的地方，带着泉水给小鸟喝，还从海中捉了鱼作他子女的粮食，在找不到食物饥荒时节，他竟用自己胸口的血，去喂饱小鸟，自己由此而牺牲了生命。
你已听到了芦荟与鹈鹉之牺牲自己，以培植更多新的生命，使我们联想到一个更伟大的故事，就是我们的救主耶稣，神圣与真理的化身，他牺牲了，但他的生命，永留在人间，在无数灵魂中获得了新生，他那生命的种子，播满了大地，多得象星星布满了天空。他教我们为了爱的生命，放弃对生命的留恋。他的牺牲成了我们的光明，他的损失，即是我们的收获，也是流泪者的欢乐，痛苦者的安慰。
April 27
"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore." (Rev1:18)
Flowers! Easter lilies! speak to me this morning the same dear old lesson of immortality which you have been speaking to so many sorrowing souls.
Wise old Book! let me read again in your pages of firm assurance that to die is gain.
Poets! recite to me your verses which repeat in every line the Gospel of eternal life.
Singers! break forth once more into songs of joy; let me hear again the well-known resurrection psalms.
Tree and blossom and bird and sea and sky and wind whisper it, sound it afresh, warble it, echo it, let it throb and pulsate through every atom and particle; let the air be filled with it.
Let it be told and retold and still retold until hope rises to conviction, and conviction to certitude of knowledge; until we, like Paul, even though going to our death, go with triumphant mien, with assured faith, and with serene and shining face.
O sad-faced mourners, who each day are wending
Through churchyard paths of cypress and of yew,
Leave for today the low graves you are tending,
And lift your eyes to God's eternal blue!
It is no time for bitterness or sadness;
Twine Easter lilies, not pale asphodels;
Let your souls thrill to the caress of gladness,
And answer the sweet chime of Easter bells.
If Christ were still within the grave's low prison,
A captive of the enemy we dread;
If from that moldering cell He had not risen,
Who then could chide the gloomy tears you shed?
If Christ were dead there would be need to sorrow,
But He has risen and vanquished death for aye;
Hush, then your sighs, if only till the morrow,
At Easter give your grief a holiday.
--May Riley Smith.
A well-known minister was in his study writing an Easter sermon when the thought gripped him that his Lord was living. He jumped up excitedly and paced the floor repeating to himself, "Why Christ is alive, His ashes are warm, He is not the great 'I was,' He is the great 'I am.'" He is not only a fact, but a living fact. Glorious truth of Easter Day!
We believe that out of every grave there blooms an Easter lily, and in every tomb there sits an angel. We believe in a risen Lord. Turn not your faces to the past that we may worship only at His grave, but above and within that we may worship the Christ that lives. And because He lives, we shall live also. --Abbott.
　 四月二十七日
“我是那存活的，我曾死过，现在又活了，直活到永永远远”（启一：18）
　　复活节的百合花！请把那关于永生的古老教训，讲给我听，这是你讲给许多悲哀的人们听过的。
　　代表智慧的古老圣经，请我们再翻阅你的这些记载，确证“死即是得生”。
　　诗人哪！把你充满永生福音的诗句念给我听。
　　歌手哪！再唱一遍欢乐的颂赞，让我再倾听那刻骨铭心的复活颂。
　　树木，花草，禽鸟，海洋，风和天籁，请你们都轻轻吹奏这歌曲，以清新的音调，婉转的乐章，使世上一切的物质，都受到它的震动和鼓荡，让它充满在宇宙之中。
　　让它一遍又一遍地传进世人的耳中，直到希望成为信心，信念变成确知；直到我们象保罗那样，即使走向死亡，也能带着胜利的雄壮，坚定的信心，沉着而明亮的容光。
哀恸的人，你每天徘徊于
松柏夹道的墓地，心碎神伤，
今天该离开你凭吊的坟场，
举目仰望神的蓝色天堂。
做一串复活节的百合花环，
用不着幽兰的芬芳，
现今不是痛苦悲哀的日子，
要喜悦响应那甜美的复活钟声。
假若基督仍在坟墓的监狱，
当俘虏且受制于死敌魔君；
假若他未曾从朽腐的洞穴复活，
谁能呵责你流下忧伤的泪滴。
假若基督真是死了那就该悲伤，
但他已经复活，而且永远战胜死亡；
停止你的长叹，你应破涕为笑，
在复活节，要把悲痛遗忘。 ——司密斯
　　一位名传道人在屋里撰写复活节的讲道稿，他突然为一个思想所感动；他的主是活着的，他兴奋地跳了起来，在屋里踱来踱去，一遍又一遍地对自己说：“基督是活着的，他那温暖的身体，不仅过去是伟大的，而现在仍旧是伟大”。他不但是一个事实，而且是活的事实。这就是复活节光荣的真理。
　　我们相信每一个墓穴都开出一朵复活节的百合花；每个墓穴里坐着一位天使，我们是信仰复活的主，不要面对过去，以免我们崇拜坟墓，而要转向上方，以心灵诚实来崇拜活着的基督，因为他活着，我们也必活着。
April 28
"And when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer...who delivered them, even Othniel...Caleb's younger brother. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him." (Judges 3:9, 10)
God is preparing His heroes; and when opportunity comes, He can fit them into their place in a moment, and the world will wonder where they came from.
Let the Holy Ghost prepare you, dear friend, by the discipline of life; and when the last finishing touch has been given to the marble, it will be easy for God to put it on the pedestal, and fit it into its niche.
There is a day coming when, like Othniel, we, too, shall judge the nations, and rule and reign with Christ on the millennial earth. But ere that glorious day can be we must let God prepare us, as He did Othniel at Kirjath-sepher, amid the trials of our present life, and the little victories, the significance of which, perhaps, we little dream. At least, let us be sure of this, and if the Holy Ghost has an Othniel ready, the Lord of Heaven and earth has a throne prepared for him. --A. B. Simpson.
"Human strength and human greatness
Spring not from life's sunny side,
Heroes must be more than driftwood
Floating on a waveless tide."
"Every highway of human life dips in the dale now and then. Every man must go through the tunnel of tribulation before he can travel on the elevated road of triumph."
　 四月二十八日
“以色列人呼求耶和华的时候，耶和华就为他们兴起一位拯救者救他们，就是迦勒兄弟……俄陀聂。耶和华的灵降在他身上”（士三：9/10）。
　　神一直在预备他的勇士；等到时期满了，他就把他们放在适当的地位上，世界就要惊异，不知他们从何而来。
　　亲爱的，让圣灵用各种不同的方法来预备你，塑造你；一等到末了一步手续完毕神就要安放你在适当的位置上。
　　有一天要来，像俄陀聂一样，我们也将坐在宝座上与基督一同掌权，管辖列国。可是在那荣耀的日子以前，我们必须让神预备我们，犹如神在古珊利萨田的苛政之下预备俄陀聂。神在地上预备一个俄陀聂，在天上就预备一个宝座。——宣信
人类的伟大力量，
并非得自安乐之乡，
英雄决不像一叶浮萍，
仅在平静的止水中徜徉。
　　每一个人必须先经过患难的隧道，然后才能走上胜利的大道。
April 29
"Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are." (James 5:17)
Thank God for that! He got under a juniper tree, as you and I have often done; he complained and murmured, as we have often done; was unbelieving, as we have often been. But that was not the case when he really got into touch with God. Though "a man subject to like passions as we are," "he prayed praying." It is sublime in the original--not "earnestly," but "he prayed in prayer." He kept on praying. What is the lesson here? You must keep praying.
Come up on the top of Carmel, and see that remarkable parable of Faith and Sight. It was not the descent of the fire that now was necessary, but the descent of the flood; and the man that can command the fire can command the flood by the same means and methods. We are told that he bowed himself to the ground with his face between his knees; that is, shutting out all sights and sounds. He was putting himself in a position where, beneath his mantle, he could neither see nor hear what was going forward.
He said to his servant, "Go and take an observation." He went and came back, and said--how sublimely brief! one word--"Nothing!"
What do we do under such circumstances?
We say, "It is just as I expected!" and we give up praying. Did Elijah? No, he said, "Go again." His servant again came back and said, "Nothing!" "Go again." "Nothing!"
By and by he came back, and said, "There is a little cloud like a man's hand." A man's hand had been raised in supplication, and presently down came the rain; and Ahab had not time to get back to the gate of Samaria with all his fast steeds. This is a parable of Faith and Sight--faith shutting itself up with God; sight taking observations and seeing nothing; faith going right on, and "praying in prayer," with utterly hopeless reports from sight.
Do you know how to pray that way, how to pray prevailingly? Let sight give as discouraging reports as it may, but pay no attention to these. The living God is still in the heavens and even to delay is part of His goodness. --Arthur T. Pierson.
Each of three boys gave a definition of faith which is an illustration of the tenacity of faith. The first boy said, "It is taking hold of Christ"; the second, "Keeping hold"; and the third, "Not letting go."
　 四月二十九日
“以利亚与我们是一样性情的人”（雅二：17）。
　　我们要为此感谢神，以利亚躺在罗滕树下，诉苦埋怨，疑惑不信，真是我们的写照。但当以利亚与神交通的时候，情况立刻转变了。以利亚是与我们一样性情的人，他却祷告了又祷告。这是最重要的一点，不仅是恳切祷告，而是“他祷告了又祷告”。继续不断的祷告。我们从这一点教训上应有所得着，因其关键所在，乃是必须继续不断的祷告。
　　以利亚上了迦密山顶，他领悟了“信心”和“眼见”之所以不同的伟大启示。当时所需要的不是降下火来，而是降雨；能命令火的人可用同样方法命令洪水。圣经告诉我们，他屈身在地，将脸伏在两膝之中；使自己的视觉和听觉与外界隔绝，一切不见不闻。
　　以利亚对他仆人说：“你上去观看”。他去了回来，很简单地报告道：“没有什么”。
　　我们若处于这种情形下将如何呢？
　　我们会说：“这是同我所料想的一样”！于是放弃了祷告。可是以利亚是这样吗？不，他说：“再去看看”。他的仆人回来报告说：“没有什么”！“再去看”。“没有什么”。
　　后来，仆人回来报告道：“有手掌那么大的一小片云”。手掌大的一片云在以利亚祈祷中升起，霎时间降下雨来；亚哈虽有快马拉车，也来不及赶回撒马利亚的城门。这是信心之所以与眼见不同之处。信心把本身和外界隔绝，专心注目于神；眼见是凭观察，什么也看不到；视觉虽带来毫无希望的消息，信心则继续坚持，“祷告了又祷告”。如何方能如此祷告而发生效力呢？让视觉带来任何失望的报告，都不要加以理会。永生的神总是在天上垂听，即使延迟不答，也是出于他的美意。——披尔生
　　下面是三个孩子对信心所下的定义，可以说明信心坚强的程度。第一个孩子说：“信心是去握住基督”；第二个孩子说：“信心是抓牢基督”，第三个孩子说：“信心是绝不放松基督”。
April 30
"And the ill favored and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well favored and fat kine…and the thin, ears swallowed up the seven rank and full ears." (Gen. 41:47)
There is a warning for us in that dream, just as it stands: It is possible for the best years of our life, the best experiences, the best victories won, the best service rendered, to be swallowed up by times of failure, defeat, dishonor, uselessness in the kingdom. Some men's lives of rare promise and rare achievement have ended so. It is awful to think of, but it is true. Yet it is never necessary.
S. D. Gordon has said that the only assurance of safety against this tragedy is "fresh touch with God," daily, hourly. The blessed, fruitful, victorious experiences of yesterday are not only of no value to me today, but they will actually be eaten up or reversed by today's failures, unless they serve as incentives to still better, richer experiences today.
"Fresh touch with God," by abiding in Christ, alone will keep the lean kine and the ill favored grain out of my life. --Messages for the Morning Watch.
　 四月三十日
“这又丑陋，又干瘦的七只母牛，吃尽了那又美好，又肥壮的七只母牛…这细弱的穗子，吞了那七个又肥大又饱满的穗子”（创四十一：4，7）。
　　埃及法老的梦也给我们一个警告：我们一生最得意的几年，最宝贵的经历，最可夸的得胜，最有效的事奉，常会被后来的软弱，失败，跌倒，灰心，冷淡，退缩……等等吞吃去。许多成大事业的伟人，往往如此结果。想起了也觉得可怕。虽然这是的确的事实，但并非是必须有，而不可避免的。
　　戈登说：要避免这种悲剧，只有一个稳妥的方法，就是时时与神有新鲜的接触。昨天最光荣的胜利，在今天并不发生什么功效，最多只能作一种得更深更丰经历的参考罢了。
　　只有与神发生新鲜的接触——能使我们生命中的瘦牛和细穗跑掉。——译自晨更信息
May 1
"God that cannot lie promised." (Titus 1:2)
Faith is not working up by will power a sort of certainty that something is coming to pass, but it is seeing as an actual fact that God has said that this thing shall come to pass, and that it is true, and then rejoicing to know that it is true, and just resting because God has said it.
Faith turns the promise into a prophecy. While it is merely a promise it is contingent upon our cooperation. But when faith claims it, it becomes a prophecy, and we go forth feeling that it is something that must be done because God cannot lie. --Days of Heaven upon Earth
I hear men praying everywhere for more faith, but when I listen to them carefully, and get at the real heart of their prayer, very often it is not more faith at all that they are wanting, but a change from faith to sight.
Faith says not, "I see that it is good for me, so God must have sent it," but, "God sent it, and so it must be good for me."
Faith, walking in the dark with God, only prays Him to clasp its hand more closely. --Phillips Brooks.
"The Shepherd does not ask of thee
Faith in thy faith, but only faith in Him;
And this He meant in saying, 'Come to me.'
In light or darkness seek to do His will,
And leave the. work of faith to Jesus still."　 
五月一日
“那无谎言的神…所应许的”（多一：2）。
　　信心并不是运用意志的力量来说事情必将成功，乃是看准这个事实：神既说过这件事必将成功，这是实在的；于是就安息下去，因为神已经说过了。
　　信心能把应许变作预言，光是应许，还须我们方面没有拦阻，才能实现。现在信心既然能把应许变作预言，我们就可以公开宣布：某件事情必会成功，因为神不能说谎。——译自地上的天上生活
　　我在各处常听见人祷告时，求神给他们更多的信心；但是当我仔细听他们祷告的时候，我就发现他们所要的并不是更多的信心，乃是更多的眼见。
　　信心并不说：“我看这件事是对我有益的，所以神必定会给我成功的”；信心乃是说：“这件事是神成功的，所以必定是对我有益的”。
　　信心，在黑暗中与神同行的时候，只求一件事：求神紧紧握住他的手。——白罗克斯
基督要你只信神，
不是信你自己的信，
所以他说：“到我这里来”。
无论顺利或困难，
一心归向天上的主，
寻求他的旨意遵行。
May 2
"The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all." (Psa. 103:19)
Some time since, in the early spring, I was going out at my door when round the corner came a blast of east wind--defiant and pitiless, fierce and withering--sending a cloud of dust before it.
I was just taking the latchkey from the door as I said, half impatiently, "I wish the wind would"--I was going to say change; but the word was checked, and the sentence was never finished.
As I went on my way, the incident became a parable to me. There came an angel holding out a key; and he said:
"My Master sends thee His love, and bids me give you this."
"What is it?" I asked, wondering. "The key of the winds," said the angel, and disappeared.
Now indeed should I be happy. I hurried away up into the heights whence the winds came, and stood amongst the caves. "I will have done with the east wind at any rate--and that shall plague us no more," I cried; and calling in that friendless wind, I closed the door, and heard the echoes ringing in the hollow places. I turned the key triumphantly. "There," I said, now we have done with that."
"What shall I choose in its place?" I asked myself, looking about me. "The south wind is pleasant"; and I thought of the lambs, and the young life on every hand, and the flowers that had begun to deck the hedgerows. But as I set the key within the door, it began to burn my hand.
"What am I doing?" I cried; "who knows what mischief I may bring about? How do I know what the fields want! Ten thousand things of ill may come of this foolish wish of mine."
Bewildered and ashamed, I looked up and prayed that the Lord would send His angel yet again to take the key; and for my part I promised that I would never want to have it any more.
But lo, the Lord Himself stood by me. He reached His hand to take the key;and as I laid it down, I saw that it rested against the sacred wound-print.
It hurt me indeed that I could ever have murmured against anything wrought by Him who bare such sacred tokens of His love. Then He took the key and hung it on His girdle.
"Dost THOU keep the key of the winds?" I asked.
"I do, my child," He answered graciously.
And lo, I looked again and there hung all the keys of all my life. He saw my look of amazement, and asked, "Didst thou not know, my child, that my kingdom ruleth over all?"
"Over all, my Lord!" I answered; "then it is not safe for me to murmur at anything?" Then did He lay His hand upon me tenderly. "My child," He said, "thy only safety is, in everything, to love and trust and praise." --Mark Guy Pearse.　
五月二日
“耶和华在天上立定宝座；他的国统管万有”（诗一〇三：19）。
　　有一次，在初春的早晨，我刚开门出外，一阵残酷，无情的东风，吹着一阵灰沙，向我扑来。
　　我急躁地埋怨道：“我巴不得这风…”——我意思要说：“不再有”；可是这三个字在我喉间搁住了，说不出来。
　　在我途中，这件事继续居住在我脑海中。我把它演绎成了一段寓言故事：
　　一个天使来了，手中执着一把钥匙；他说：“我的主人吩咐我把这一把钥匙给你”。
　　我带着惊奇的口吻问道，“这是什么？“天使说，“掌管风的钥匙”，说罢便不见了。
　　现在我应该非常快乐了。从此可以随我的心愿，随便对付我所厌恶的风了。我急忙跑到山上，风的库房就在前面。“我无论如何必先解决寒冷的东风，使它不再为害人间”，我这样说，于是把无情的东风叫了来，关入岩穴，听它在里面咆哮。我胜利地旋上钥匙，得意地说：“问题就此解决了”。我去开启了南风的门。我顶得意地说：“世上再没有残酷，无情的冷欺人了。从此植物月月开花，季季结果；年初到年终，都是和暖，可爱的气候…”言未毕，一股热气从门里冲出来，把我的手灼得痛彻肺腑。
　　地上的青草一霎那间都转黄了，我的得意之作摧残了全世界的生命。我发急喊道：“我闯了多大的祸啊！我没有想到它们的需要！我真多么愚蠢”！
　　又惘怅，又羞愧，我求主再差遣他的天使来把钥匙拿去；我同时应许说我以后决不敢再掌管风的钥匙了。
　　看哪，主自己站在我旁边。他伸出有钉痕的手来把钥匙拿去，把其余三扇门都打开；空气中调剂了许多冷风，顿时觉得满身凉快了。
　　我这时就想到：我是谁，竟敢埋怨主所安排的呢？他把钥匙挂在腰间。
　　我问道：“主啊，这风的钥匙是你经管的么”？
　　他答道：“是的，我的孩子”。
　　看哪，我又看见我生活中所有的钥匙都挂在那里。他看见我脸上带着惊奇之色，就问我说：“我的孩子，你岂不知道我的国统管万有么？”
　　我回答说：“主啊，是的。既是你有钉痕的手——满有爱的手——使用那些钥匙，叫我遭遇平安或患难，喜乐或忧愁，顺境或逆境，从此以后，无论什么事情，我就不再埋怨；都要信靠，安息，赞美了。“——披尔斯
May 3
"And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." (Joel 2:32)
Why do not I call on His name? Why do I run to this neighbor and that when God is so near and will hear my faintest call? Why do I sit down and devise schemes and invent plans? Why not at once roll myself and my burden upon the Lord?
Straightforward is the best runner--why do not I run at once to the living God? In vain shall I look for deliverance anywhere else; but with God I shall find it; for here I have His royal shall to make it sure.
I need not ask whether I may call on Him or not, for that word "Whosoever" is a very wide and comprehensive one. Whosoever means me, for it means anybody and everybody who calls upon God. I will therefore follow the leading of the text, and at once call upon the glorious Lord who has made so large a promise.
My case is urgent, and I do not see how I am to be delivered; but this is no business of mine. He who makes the promise will find ways and means of keeping it. It is mine to obey His commands; it is not mine to direct His counsels. I am His servant, not His solicitor. I call upon Him, and He will deliver. --C. H. Spurgeon.
　 　 五月三日
“到那时候，凡求告耶和华名的就必得救”（珥二：32）。
　　为什么我不求告耶和华的名呢？为什么我还要跑东跑西去请教我的亲朋邻舍呢？神不是就在这里么？神不是听祷告的神么？为什么我呆坐着设计筹划呢？为什么不立刻把自己和重担一起交给主呢？
　　直跑，是顶近顶快的一条路。为什么我不立刻跑到活的神那里去呢？除了主以外，在天下人间，别无拯救。
　　我不必先考虑我有否资格去求告他，约珥书说：“凡”字已经足够包括我在内了。“凡”字指着我，也指着任何人，每一个人。所以我要凭着经上的话，立刻去求告那赐应许的主。
　　我的事情非常紧急，我不知道怎样才能得着拯救；但是这不是我的事，乃是主的事。他既应许了，必会设法遵守他的应许。顺服他的命令是我的事；替他设计不是我的事。我是他的奴隶，不是他的参谋。我只消求告他的名，他必施行拯救。——司布真
May 4
"He maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth and his hands make whole." (Job 5:18)
The ministry of a great sorrow.
As we pass beneath the hills which have been shaken by the earthquake and torn by convulsion, we find that periods of perfect repose succeed those of destruction. The pools of calm water lie clear beneath their fallen rocks, the water lilies gleam, and the reeds whisper among the shadows; the village rises again over the forgotten graves, and its church tower, white through the storm twilight, proclaims a renewed appeal to His protection "in whose hand are all the corners of the earth, and the strength of the hills is his also." –Ruskin.
God ploughed one day with an earthquake,
And drove His furrows deep!
The huddling plains upstarted,
The hills were all aleap!
But that is the mountains' secret,
Age-hidden in their breast;
"God's peace is everlasting,"
Are the dream-words of their rest.
He made them the haunts of beauty,
The home elect of His grace;
He spreadeth His mornings upon them,
His sunsets light their face.
His winds bring messages to them--
Wild storm-news from the main;
They sing it down the valleys
In the love-song of the rain.
They are nurseries for young rivers,
Nests for His flying cloud,
Homesteads for new-born races,
Masterful, free, and proud.
The people of tired cities
Come up to their shrines and pray;
God freshens again within them,
As He passes by all day.
And lo, I have caught their secret!
The beauty deeper than all!
This faith--that life's hard moments,
When the jarring sorrows befall,
Are but God ploughing His mountains;
And those mountains yet shall be
The source of His grace and freshness,
And His peace everlasting to me.
--William C. Gannett.
五月四日
“因为他打破，又缠裹，他击伤，用手医治”（伯五：18）
　　我们行经那在昔日曾被地震所摇撼过的山麓，我们看到那经历了灾难的破坏之后，却有若干岁月的平静与安宁。池塘中水波不兴，躺在那昔年崩塌的岩石之下，水百合鲜艳明媚，芦苇浓密成荫，摇曳生姿，在那被遗忘的坟墓上，已建起了新的村庄，教堂的塔尖，在风雨晦冥之中巍然高耸，发出了新的呼吁，祈求神的保护。诗篇中说：“地的深处在他手中，山的高峰也属他”。（诗九十五：4）
有一天，神以地震代替耕耘，
把土地开掘得甚深，
广袤的平原朝天被翻起，
山岭也震动得如腾如崩。
但久藏于心之深处，
山岭有它的秘密，
知道神赐予永恒和平，
从这秘诀里得着安息。
神使山岭成为美丽处所，
也是他恩典的表征，
他以朝阳来照耀，
也以晚霞增加它们的婢婷。
风带来消息，
雨将从海上袭来；
声如音乐的鸣奏，
潺潺地传下山崖。
江河在这里孕育，
飞云也如此为巢，
新生的急流从此发源，
峰峦挺秀，独立巍峨。
城市里疲倦的人们，
上山来敬拜祈求圣恩，
神终日在这里经过，
给他们注入新的能力。
我已明白了其中奥秘，
虽当不幸的灾难降临，
要相信人生的艰困，
只是神在耕耘他的山岭。
这些山岭是说出
神恩与新生命的源头；
我们企求的永恒和平，
也可从这征象上找到因由。
——盖奈脱
May 5
"When they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushments...and they were smitten." (2 Chron. 20:22)
Oh, that we could reason less about our troubles, and sing and praise more! There are thousands of things that we wear as shackles which we might use as instruments with music in them, if we only knew how.
Those men that ponder, and meditate, and weigh the affairs of life, and study the mysterious developments of God's providence, and wonder why they should be burdened and thwarted and hampered--how different and how much more joyful would be their lives, if, instead of forever indulging in self-revolving and inward thinking, they would take their experiences, day by day, and lift them up, and praise God for them.
We can sing our cares away easier than we can reason them away. Sing in the morning. The birds are the earliest to sing, and birds are more without care than anything else that I know of.
Sing at evening. Singing is the last thing that robins do. When they have done their daily work; when they have flown their last flight, and picked up their last morsel of food, then on a topmost twig, they sing one song of praise.
Oh, that we might sing morning and evening, and let song touch song all the way through. –Selected.
"Don't let the song go out of your life 
Though it chance sometimes to flow
In a minor strain; it will blend again
With the major tone you know.
"What though shadows rise to obscure life's skies,
And hide for a time the sun,
The sooner they'll lift and reveal the rift,
If you let the melody run.
"Don't let the song go out of your life;
Though the voice may have lost its trill,
Though the tremulous note may die in your throat,
Let it sing in your spirit still.
"Don't let the song go out of your life;
Let it ring in the soul while here;
And when you go hence, 'twill follow you thence,
And live on in another sphere."
　 五月五日
“众人方唱歌赞美的时候，耶和华就派伏兵击杀…他们就被打败了”（代志下二十：22）。
　　哦，但愿我们少为忧虑操心，多多赞美！一切的事物，对我们的像桎梧，又如枷锁，假若我们知道如何去运动，就都可以成了音韵悦耳的乐器。
　　那些为人生的遭遇，常千思百虑，操心挂念，并且揣测神的旨意如何发展，他们为什么负累重重，遭受挫折和阻碍呢？假若他们不要沉溺于患得患失的内心无谓的筹划中，他们的生活将大为改观，有更多的快乐得着，并承受天天加增的生活经历，喜乐的心，将赞美献给神。
　　也应当在晚间歌唱。知更雀每晚最后一件工作就是歌唱，当它们做完了一天的工作，飞完了最后一次任务，捡起了最后一颗食粮，便停住在树枝的高处，唱出赞美的歌声。
　　哦，巴不得我们早晨也唱，晚间也唱，每天的生活中充满了歌唱赞美！
不要让歌唱脱离你的生活，
有时声调虽然失却铿锵，
如咽如哽，它终会恢复美畅，
响遏行云，婉转绕樑。
即使降云升起，一时遮掩太阳，
蒙蔽了生命的辉煌，
只要你颂赞歌唱，
阴云就会飘散，露出阳光。
不要让歌唱脱离你的生活，
嗓子虽会喑哑不畅，
震颤的音符在喉头阻梗，
你要继续在灵里歌唱。
不要让歌唱脱离你的生活，
在此世上让歌声充满你的灵；
将来它会随你而去，
在另一个世界获得新生。
May 6
"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." (Ps. 25:14)
There are secrets of Providence which God's dear children may learn. His dealings with them often seem, to the outward eye, dark and terrible. Faith looks deeper and says, "This is God's secret. You look only on the outside; I can look deeper and see the hidden meaning."
Sometimes diamonds are done up in rough packages, so that their value cannot be seen. When the Tabernacle was built in the wilderness there was nothing rich in its outside appearance. The costly things were all within, and its outward covering of rough badger skin gave no hint of the valuable things which it contained.
God may send you, dear friends, some costly packages. Do not worry if they are done up in rough wrappings. You may be sure there are treasures of love, and kindness, and wisdom hidden within. If we take what He sends, and trust Him for the goodness in it, even in the dark, we shall learn the meaning of the secrets of Providence. --A. B. Simpson.
"Not until each loom is silent,
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the pattern
And explain the reason why
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
For the pattern which He planned."
He that is mastered by Christ is the master of every circumstance. Does the circumstance press hard against you? Do not push it away. It is the Potter's hand. Your mastery will come, not by arresting its progress, but by enduring its discipline, for it is not only shaping you into a vessel of beauty and honor, but it is making your resources available.
　 五月六日
“耶和华与敬畏他的人亲密”（诗二十五：14）。
　　神有他的秘密，敬畏他的儿女们都可以知道的。神对付他们的手段，在外表看来，常是严厉，可怕的。只有信心能看到深处，而说：“这是神的秘密。你只能看见外面；我却能看见其中包含着的意义”。
　　金刚钻和翡翠都是藏在顶粗大的石中的，它们的美丽和价值在外面一点都看不出来。古犹太人荒野中的会幕，在外面并不能看出什么价值来。岂知里面尽是宝贵的东西，虽然外面仅罩着一重顶难看的海狗皮。
　　亲爱的，神也许送你一包顶宝贵的东西。不要难受，如果外面的装璜并不好看。你可确实知道：里面定规包着爱和智慧。如果我们用信心接受，我们就是在黑暗中，也可以看见：在里面有神的秘密。——信宣
直到织机声息全无，
纺梭停止飞舞，
神才摊开织造的图案，
解释其中的原故。
为什么灵巧的织工
把黑色的线拿在手中，
对于他所设计的花式，
和金线银线同样成功
　　凡是接受基督支配的人，他可以支配一切的环境。你觉得环境给你的压力很大吗？不要躲避。这是主在塑造你，正像窑匠塑造瓷器一样。对你的支配，即将到来，并非阻止你前进，而是要你忍受其训练，因为他不仅要把你制成美丽大方的器皿，且使你发挥天赋的功能。
May 7
"He spake a parable unto them...that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." (Luke 18:1)
No temptation in the life of intercession is more common than this of failure to persevere. We begin to pray for a certain thing; we put up our petitions for a day, a week, a month; and then, receiving as yet no definite answer, straightway we faint, and cease altogether from prayer concerning it.
This is a deadly fault. It is simply the snare of many beginnings with no completions. It is ruinous in all spheres of life.
The man who forms the habit of beginning without finishing has simply formed the habit of failure. The man who begins to pray about a thing and does not pray it through to a successful issue of answer has formed the same habit in prayer.
To faint is to fail; then defeat begets disheartenment, and unfaith in the reality of prayer, which is fatal to all success.
But someone says, "How long shall we pray? Do we not come to a place where we may cease from our petitions and rest the matter in God's hands?"
There is but one answer. Pray until the thing you pray for has actually been granted, or until you have the assurance in your heart that it will be.
Only at one of these two places dare we stay our importunity, for prayer is not only a calling upon God, but also a conflict with Satan. And inasmuch as God is using our intercession as a mighty factor of victory in that conflict, He alone, and not we, must decide when we dare cease from our petitioning. So we dare not stay our prayer until the answer itself has come, or until we receive the assurance that it will come.
In the first case we stop because we see. In the other, we stop because we believe, and the faith of our heart is just as sure as the sight of our eyes; for it is faith from, yes, the faith of God, within us.
More and more, as we live the prayer life, shall we come to experience and recognize this God-given assurance, and know when to rest quietly in it, or when to continue our petitioning until we receive it. --The Practice of Prayer.
Tarry at the promise till God meets you there. He always returns by way of His promises. --Selected.
　 五月七日
“耶稣设一个比喻，是要人常常祷告，不可灰心”（路十八：1）。
　　祷告生活中顶普遍的失败，就是缺少恒心。我们开始为某件事祈求；祈求了一日，一星期，一月；如果一无所得，我们就立刻灰心，认为无望了；于是在祷告中再不提起了。
　　这是顶大的错误。有始无终的人在无论什么事上都是无结果的。
　　有了有始无终的习惯，就是有了失败的命定。半途而废的祷告也是如此。
　　灰心生失望，失望生不信，不信生失败——这都是祷告的致命伤。
　　有人问说：“我们祷告，应该到什么时侯为止呢？难道不能把事情交在神手中而停止祷告么”？
　　只有一个答复：祷告到你已经得着你所求的，或者到你心中已有确实的把握——信神必为你成就的时候为止。
　　只有这二处我们可以停止我们的祷告，因为祷告不只是呼求神，也是抵挡撒但。神常用我们的祷告来使我们制服撒但，所以只有神，不是我们能随便停止祷告。
　　但愿我们不敢随意停止祷告，除非答应已经来到了，或者已经有把握了。在第一处我们可以停止祷告，因为我们看见了。在第二处我们可以停止祷告，因为信心的眼睛也已经看见了。——译自祈祷训练
　　在祷告生活中，有了长期的经验，我们就能认识这是神赐的“把握”，而知道什么时候可以停止，什么时候应当继续祈求，直到获得回音。
　　停留在神的应许上，直到你在那里遇见了神。——选
May 8
"Walking in the midst of the fire." (Daniel 3:25)
The fire did not arrest their motion; they walked in the midst of it. It was one of the streets through which they moved to their destiny. The comfort of Christ's revelation is not that it teaches emancipation from sorrow, but emancipation through sorrow.
O my God, teach me, when the shadows have gathered, that I am only in a tunnel. It is enough for me to know that it will be all right some day.
They tell me that I shall stand upon the peaks of Olivet, the heights of resurrection glory. But I want more, O my Father; I want Calvary to lead up to it. I want to know that the shadows of this world are the shades of an avenue--the avenue to the house of my Father. Tell me I am only forced to climb because Thy house is on the hill! I shall receive no hurt from sorrow if I shall walk in the midst of the fire. --George Matheson.
"'The road is too rough,' I said;
'It is uphill all the way;
No flowers, but thorns instead;
And the skies over head are grey.'
But One took my hand at the entrance dim,
And sweet is the road that I walk with Him.
"The cross is too great,' I cried—
'More than the back can bear,
So rough and heavy and wide,
And nobody by to care.'
And One stooped softly and touched my hand:
'I know. I care. And I understand.'
"Then why do we fret and sigh;
Cross-bearers all we go:
But the road ends by-and-by
In the dearest place we know,
And every step in the journey we
May take in the Lord's own company."
　 五月八日
“在火中游行”（但三：25）。
　　火并没有制服他们；他们倒在火中游行。那里他们看见了神大能的异迹。神的拯救，不是免去患难的拯救，乃是经过患难的拯救。
　　哦，我的神啊，当黑暗罩住我的时候，求你教导我知道：我不过是暂时在隧道中，不久就会重见天日的。
　　他们告诉我：有一天我将站在橄榄山顶享受复活的荣耀。但是，父啊，我还要向你讨一件东西——我要十字架一步一步领我上去。我要知道这世界的患难是一条进路——一条进入父家的路。求你叫我知道爬山的一段力气是必须花的，因为你的家是在山上！我既能在火中游行，患难怎能伤害我呢？——马得胜
我说这山路崎岖嵯峨，
一直要攀登上坡，
只有荆棘，没有花朵，
阴云如晦，晴少雨多，
但有一位握住我的手，
和他同行轻快尤如投梭。
我说这十字架太大，
我的背脊承受不起，
这么长，这么宽，又这么重，
没有人关心我的苦楚。
他悄悄地屈身对我说；
我关心你，我完全明鉴。
背十字架的人们一同前行
我们何必悲叹忿恨，
不久到了最向往的所在，
艰苦的路终于走完，
要知道旅程中的每一步，
都有主在旁指引向前。
May 9
"Abraham stood yet before the Lord." (Gen. 18:22)
The friend of God can plead with Him for others. Perhaps Abraham's height of faith and friendship seems beyond our little possibilities. Do not be discouraged, Abraham grew; so may we. He went step by step, not by great leaps.
The man whose faith has been deeply tested and who has come off victorious, is the man to whom supreme tests must come.
The finest jewels are most carefully cut and polished; the hottest fires try the most precious metal. Abraham would never have been called the Father of the Faithful if he had not been proved to the uttermost. Read Genesis, twenty-second chapter:
"Take thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest." See him going with a chastened, wistful, yet humbly obedient heart up Moriah's height, with the idol of his heart beside him about to be sacrificed at the command of God whom he had faithfully loved and served!
What a rebuke to our questionings of God's dealings with us! Away with all doubting explanations of this stupendous scene! It was an object lesson for the ages. Angels were looking.
Shall this man's faith stand forever for the strength and help of all God's people? Shall it be known through him that unfaltering faith will always prove the faithfulness of God?
Yes; and when faith has borne victoriously its uttermost test, the angel of the Lord--who? The Lord Jesus, Jehovah, He in whom "all the promises of God are yea and amen"--spoke to him, saying, "Now I know that thou fearest God." Thou hast trusted me to the uttermost. I will also trust thee; thou shalt ever be My friend, and I will bless thee, and make thee a blessing.
It is always so, and always will be. "They that are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." --Selected
It is no small thing to be on terms of friendship with God.
　 五月九日
“亚伯拉罕仍旧站在耶和华面前”（创十八：22）。
　　神的朋友可以为别人说情。也许我们以为亚伯拉罕的信心，同与神的友谊，是我们没有可能及到的。不要失望，亚伯拉罕是渐渐上进的；我们也可以渐渐上进的。我们追求，是跑步，不是跳远。
　　凡是信心经过许多试炼而得胜的人，这人必定有一个顶大的试炼等在前面。
　　无价的钻石都是曾经过切磋琢磨的；贵重的金属都是曾经过烈火试验的。亚伯拉罕决不能被称为信心之父，假使他未曾受过极大的试炼。请读创世记二十二章二节：
　　“你带着你的儿子，就是你独生的儿子，你所爱的”。看哪，他带着一个谦卑顺服的心，一步一步牵着他的心上人，向摩利亚山上走去，预备献给他所敬爱，事奉的神！
　　他这么作，给今天疑惑神的对付的人们何等大的责备！他这么作，惹起天使的注意。他这么作，坚固以后神的儿女的信心。他这么作，使信徒知道不犹豫的信心能证明神的信实。
　　当得胜的信心达到顶点的时候，耶和华的使者对他说：“现在我知道你是敬畏神的了”。你既信任我到极点，现在我也要信任你；你可以永远作我的朋友，我必祝福你，也必使你成为一个祝福。
　　这是一条不改变的原则：“那以信为本的人，和有信心的亚伯拉罕一同得福”（加三：9）。
　　与神作朋友不是一件小事。
May 10
"I had fainted unless…!" (Psalm. 27:13).
"FAINT NOT!"
How great is the temptation at this point! How the soul sinks, the heart grows sick, and the faith staggers under the keen trials and testings which come into our lives in times of special bereavement and suffering.
"I cannot bear up any longer, I am fainting under this providence. What shall I do? God tells me not to faint. But what can one do when he is fainting?"
What do you do when you are about to faint physically? You cannot do anything. You cease from your own doings. In your faintness, you fall upon the shoulder of some strong loved one. You lean hard. You rest. You lie still and trust.
It is so when we are tempted to faint under affliction. God's message to us is not, "Be strong and of good courage," for He knows our strength and courage have fled away. But it is that sweet word, "Be still, and know that I am God."
Hudson Taylor was so feeble in the closing months of his life that he wrote a dear friend: "I am so weak I cannot write; I cannot read my Bible; I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in God's arms like a little child, and trust."
This wondrous man of God with all his spiritual power came to a place of physical suffering and weakness where he could only lie still and trust.
And that is all God asks of you, His dear child, when you grow faint in the fierce fires of affliction. Do not try to be strong. Just be still and know that He is God, and will sustain you, and bring you through.
"God keeps His choicest cordials for our deepest faintings."
"Stay firm and let thine heart take courage." (Psa. 27:14 --After Osterwald)
Stay firm, He has not failed thee
In all the past,
And will He go and leave thee 
To sink at last?
Nay, He said He will hide thee 
Beneath His wing;
And sweetly there in safety 
Thou mayest sing.
--Selected.
　 五月十日
“我若不信在活人之地得见耶和华的恩惠，就早已丧胆了”（诗二十七：13）。
　　“不要…丧胆”（弗三：13）。这句话是何等重大的考验关头，当我们受到了特别的痛苦和丧失的时候，我们的灵何其之消沉，我们的心又是何等的悲痛，我们的信心如何在试炼中发生摇动。
　　“我不能再忍受了，我丧胆了；我心里发昏，快要倒下来了。我该怎样作呢？神叮嘱我不要丧胆。但是我连一分钟都不能支持了。怎么办呢”？
　　当你身体要昏倒的时候，你怎样作呢？你什么事情都不能作。你停止你自己的活动。你倒在你所爱的人身上，紧紧靠着他，安息。你不再自己设法或努力了，因为你信靠他。
　　当你灵性软弱要昏倒的时候，也该如此。神给我们的信息不是“你当刚强壮胆”，因为他知道我们已经筋疲力尽，奋兴不起来了；他知道我们的力量和胆量已经消失了。他给我们的信息乃是“你要休息，要知道我是神”。
　　戴德生（Hudson Taylor）先生在临终几个月，身灵软弱到极顶，他给他知己朋友的信中说：“我极其软弱，我不能写信，我不能读经，甚至不能祷告。我只能像一个小孩子一样躺在神的怀中安静，休息，信靠。”
　　神要你也如此，当你在痛苦的烈火中丧胆的时候，不必自己设法，只要休息，知道他是神，他必支持你，带你过去。——选
　　“神为了我们的昏晕，准备着最佳良的起死回生之药剂”。
　　“当壮胆，坚固你的心”。（诗二十七：14）
你当坚定，你当壮胆，
过去他从未使你失望，
难道他将撤离去，
让你沉沦，失去了依仗？
不，他曾经说过，
他将以翅翼将你围护，
在那最安全之地，
你可以愉快唱歌。
May 11
"We went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place." (Psa. 66:12)
Paradoxical though it be, only that man is at rest who attains it through conflict. This peace, born of conflict, is not like the deadly hush preceding the tempest, but the serene and pure-aired quiet that follows it.
It is not generally the prosperous one, who has never sorrowed, who is strong and at rest. His quality has never been tried, and he knows not how he can stand even a gentle shock. He is not the safest sailor who never saw a tempest; he will do for fair-weather service, but when the storm is rising, place at the important post the man who has fought out a gale, who has tested the ship, who knows her hulk sound, her rigging strong, and her anchor-flukes able to grasp and hold by the ribs of the world.
When first affliction comes upon us, how everything gives way! Our clinging, tendril hopes are snapped, and our heart lies prostrate like a vine that the storm has torn from its trellis; but when the first shock is past, and we are able to look up, and say, "It is the Lord," faith lifts the shattered hopes once more, and binds them fast to the feet of God. Thus the end is confidence, safety, and peace. --Selected.
The adverse winds blew against my life;
My little ship with grief was tossed;
My plans were gone--heart full of strife,
And all my hope seemed to be lost--
"Then He arose"--one word of peace.
"There was a calm"--a sweet release.
A tempest great of doubt and fear
Possessed my mind; no light was there
To guide, or make my vision clear.
Dark night! 'twas more than I could bear--
"Then He arose," I saw His face—
"There was a calm" filled with His grace.
My heart was sinking 'neath the wave
Of deepening test and raging grief;
All seemed as lost, and none could save,
And nothing could bring me relief--
"Then He arose"--and spoke one word,
"There was a calm!" IT IS THE LORD.
--L. S. P.
“我们经过水火；你却使我们到丰富之地”（诗六六；12）。
　　只有那曾经历患难和痛苦的人才能得到安息。这种安息——从患难中产生的安息——不是勉强的镇静，也不是死寂，乃是顶自然地从里面涌出来的安息。
　　平常我们以为顺利的人，从来不知道忧愁的人，是最有安息的人。可是错了。这种人从来没有受过试验，从来没有受过苦楚，所以或许轻轻的一震也受不住。凡没有看见过风浪的水手，不是最可靠的水手；所以船上新来的水手总是派在不重要的地位上工作的；风浪澎湃的时候，站在重要职位上的，总是那些曾遇见过许多患难危险而能死里逃生的水手，他们能推测波浪的力量，他们能知道桅杆的坚度，他们能预料风雨的久暂，他们能断定轮索的韧性。
　　当患难初临的时候，似乎一切都经不起它的打击，无能为力地躺了下来；可是等到风暴的最初一阵子的袭击过去之后，我们又能抬起头来说：“这是出于耶和华”，（撒上三：18）信心把残破的希望，重又收拾了起来，紧紧系住在神的脚上，其结果为信，可靠与安全。
一叶扁舟在惊涛骇浪中，
逆风打击着我的生命，
计划归于虚无，希望渺茫，
悲叹着命运的蹉跎。
圣经说：耶稣醒了，风浪静了，
这是平安的福音，安慰的叮咛。
心头意念被侵袭，
疑虑和恐惧的风暴，
模糊黑暗，它遮蔽了一切，
没有光明作我的向导。
圣经说：耶稣醒了，风浪静了，
我看见了他温柔的笑貌。
我的心似沉入巨波，
深深地卷入，无力抗拒，
似乎一切都已丧失，无人挽救，
什么也不能解除我的痛楚，
圣经说：耶稣醒了，风浪静了，
无穷的能力来自我主。
May 12
"All things are possible to him that believeth." (Mark 9:23)
The "all things" do not always come simply for the asking, for the reason that God is ever seeking to teach us the way of faith, and in our training in the faith life there must be room for the trial of faith, the discipline of faith, the patience of faith, the courage of faith, and often many stages are passed before we really realize what is the end of faith, namely, the victory of faith.
Real moral fibre is developed through discipline of faith. You have made your request of God, but the answer does not come. What are you to do?
Keep on believing God's Word; never be moved away from it by what you see or feel, and thus as you stand steady, enlarged power and experience is being developed. The fact of looking at the apparent contradiction as to God's Word and being unmoved from your position of faith make you stronger on every other line.
Often God delays purposely, and the delay is just as much an answer to your prayer as is the fulfillment when it comes.
In the lives of all the great Bible characters, God worked thus. Abraham, Moses and Elijah were not great in the beginning, but were made great through the discipline of their faith, and only thus were they fitted for the positions to which God had called them.
For example, in the case of Joseph whom the Lord was training for the throne of Egypt, we read in the Psalms:
"The word of the Lord tried him." It was not the prison life with its hard beds or poor food that tried him, but it was the word God had spoken into his heart in the early years concerning elevation and honor which were greater than his brethren were to receive; it was this which was ever before him, when every step in his career made it seem more and more impossible of fulfillment, until he was there imprisoned, and all in innocency, while others who were perhaps justly incarcerated, were released, and he was left to languish alone.
These were hours that tried his soul, but hours of spiritual growth and development, that, "when his word came" (the word of release), found him fitted for the delicate task of dealing with his wayward brethren, with a love and patience only surpassed by God Himself.
No amount of persecution tries like such experiences as these. When God has spoken of His purpose to do, and yet the days go on and He does not do it, that is truly hard; but it is a discipline of faith that will bring us into a knowledge of God which would otherwise be impossible.
　 五月十二日
“在信的人，凡事都能”（可九：23）。
　　许多合理的祈求，有时被神故意延搁，原因是为了神要教导我们信心的功课。在信心大学中有许多必修课：信心的试验，信心的实习，信心的忍耐，信心的毅力，信心的得胜，等等。这些都是要花许多时间去学习的。
　　人的坚韧性，是从信心训练中发展出来的。如果你向神祈求了，可是答应并不来临。你怎样呢？
　　继续相信神的话；不要因眼见或感觉摇动；在你这样站牢的时候，你的能力和经验都会增长的。即使你看到了对神的应许似乎发生了矛盾，你仍要丝毫不移动你的信心与立场，那是可以增加你的坚强。神往往故意迟延，这迟延就是对你的祷告的答复的一种，到你的所求实现的时候，其功效则并无二样。
　　圣经中的伟人——亚伯拉罕，摩西，以利亚等——并非开始就是伟人，都是受过信心的训练以后，才能胜任神所为他们安排的地位的。姑以约瑟为例。诗篇一百零五篇十九节说：“耶和华的话试炼他”。试炼他的，并不是囚犯生活的苦楚，乃是早年神在梦中应许他的话——他将比他的哥哥们更高贵；这句话常在他面前；按照他一生的经历，这个应许的实现似乎是不可能了——现在他孤孤单单地被囚在牢狱里，受着冤枉；别人应该下狱的，倒得了释放。他在监中不知祈求过多少次：求神使他恢复自由，可是神故意把他的祈求延搁，好使他在绝望中多学习信心的功课。等到他的灵性长进了，“他所说的应验了”（诗一〇五：19），神看他有爱心和忍耐对付他的哥哥们了，神就把他放在首相的地位上。
　　这样的经历是非常难受的。当神宣布了他的心意以后，过了好久，仍不实现，这实在是非常难忍的事情；但是这就是信心的训练，这训练能使我们更认识神。
“你们的信心既被实验，就比那被火试验，仍然能坏的金子，更显宝贵”（彼前一：7）。
May 13
"We know not what we should pray for as we ought." (Rom. 8:26)
Much that perplexes us in our Christian experience is but the answer to our prayers. We pray for patience, and our Father sends those who tax us to the utmost; for "tribulation worketh patience."
We pray for submission, and God sends sufferings; for "we learn obedience by the things we suffer."
We pray for unselfishness, and God gives us opportunities to sacrifice ourselves by thinking on the things of others, and by laying down our lives for the brethren.
We pray for strength and humility, and some messenger of Satan torments us until we lie in the dust crying for its removal.
We pray, "Lord, increase our faith," and money takes wings; or the children are alarmingly ill; or a servant comes who is careless, extravagant, untidy or slow, or some hitherto unknown trial calls for an increase of faith along a line where we have not needed to exercise much faith before.
We pray for the Lamb-life, and are given a portion of lowly service, or we are injured and must seek no redress; for "he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and … opened not his mouth."
We pray for gentleness, and there comes a perfect storm of temptation to harshness and irritability. We pray for quietness, and every nerve is strung to the utmost tension, so that looking to Him we may learn that when He giveth quietness, no one can make trouble.
We pray for love, and God sends peculiar suffering and puts us with apparently unlovely people, and lets them say things which rasp the nerves and lacerate the heart; for love suffereth long and is kind, love is not impolite, love is not provoked. LOVE BEARETH ALL THINGS, believeth, hopeth and endureth, love never faileth. We pray for likeness to Jesus, and the answer is, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong?" "Are ye able?"
The way to peace and victory is to accept every circumstance, every trial, straight from the hand of a loving Father; and to live up in the heavenly places, above the clouds, in the very presence of the Throne, and to look down from the Glory upon our environment as lovingly and divinely appointed. –Selected.
I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart,
The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;
But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.
I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
And all my little candle flames burned out;
But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.
I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;
But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice and perfect peace I knew.
I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than all I asked or thought;
Giver of good, so answer each request
With Thine own giving, better than my best.
--Annie Johnson Flint
　 　 五月十三日
“我们本不晓得怎样祷告”（罗八：26）。
神给我们的祷告的答应，常出我们意外。我们求忍耐，神却给我们患难；因为“患难生忍耐”（罗五:3）。
　我们求顺服，神却给我们苦难，好使我们“因所受的苦难学了顺从”（来五：8）。
　　我们求不利己，神却给我们牺牲自己的机会，想念别人，为弟兄舍命。
　　我们求能力和谦卑，神却给我们撒但的苦害。直到我们躺在尘土里求告他。
　　我们“求主加增我们的信心”（路十七：5），神却使我们伤财，害病，失业，遭难，逼我们比以前更运用信心。
　　我们求羔羊的生命，神却给我们最低微的职业，使我们受逼迫，因为“他像羊羔被牵到宰杀之地…不开口“（赛五十三：7）。
　　我们求温柔，神却给我们许多惹厌和激怒的东西。我们求安静，神却使我们每一根神经都紧张起来了，好叫我们到他那里去寻求安息。
　　我们求爱心，神却放我们在最不可爱的人中，让他们刺激我们的神经，刺伤我们的赤心；因为爱是恒久忍耐，又有恩慈，爱是不求自己的益处，爱是不轻易发怒。爱是凡事包容，凡事相信，凡事盼望，凡事忍耐。爱是永不止息。
　　得胜和得安息的方法，就是直接从爱父的手中接受他所给你的每一个环境，每一个试炼；而享受其中互相效力的益处。——选
我祈求的力量却丧失了一段时间，
就是与神之间亲密的联系，
我所倚靠的爱，使我失望，伤透了心，
我所攀住的手好像松开，把我抛弃，
可是当我摇晃软弱颤抖孤独的时候，
神立刻援手，把我挽住，免我颠蹶。
我祈求的光明，但太阳没入了云层，
怀疑的雾，遮掩了月亮的光明，
尘世的忧虑，蒙蔽了天上的星星，
我微弱的烛焰将告熄灭；
正当被黑暗所包围的时候，
基督圣荣的光辉，消散一切幽冥。
我祈求和平，也梦想恬静，
如疼痛后的沉睡甜息安宁；
忽然狂风暴雨从天边袭来，
敌人的攻击，更见可怕狰狞；
正当战争激烈，狂风怒号之时，
我听见他的声音，就知美满和平。
我卑微的祷告，渺小的祈求，
在全智的主，原可不值得垂听，
可是我感谢你所赐的丰盛，
超过了我的想象与希望，
赐恩的主，你对于每一个祈求，
必以恩典来答复我们的翘首。
——富林德
May 14
"In the selfsame day, as God had said unto him." (Gen. 17:23)
Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Every time God calls us to any duty, He is offering to make a covenant with us; doing the duty is our part, and He will do His part in special blessing.
The only way we can obey is to obey "in the selfsame day," as Abraham did. To be sure, we often postpone a duty and then later on do it as fully as we can. It is better to do this than not to do it at all. But it is then, at the best, only a crippled, disfigured, half-way sort of duty-doing; and a postponed duty never can bring the full blessing that God intended, and that it would have brought if done at the earliest possible moment.
It is a pity to rob ourselves, along with robbing God and others, by procrastination. "In the selfsame day" is the Genesis way of saying, "Do it now." --Messages for the Morning Watch.
Luther says that "a true believer will crucify the question, 'Why?' He will obey without questioning." I will not be one of those who, except they see signs and wonders, will in no wise believe. I will obey without questioning.
"Ours not to make reply,
Ours not to reason why,
Ours but to do and die."
Obedience is the fruit of faith; patience, the bloom on the fruit. --Christina Rossetti.
　 五月十四日
“正当那日……遵着神的命”（创十七：23）。
　　立刻的顺服是唯一的顺服；延宕的顺服是不顺服。每次神给我们一个命令，他同时给我们一个应许；顺服他的命令是我们的事，成就他的应许是他的事。
　　不顺服则已，要顺服就当在“正当那日”，象亚伯拉罕一样。可是我们常先要看神的命令是否容易，是否合乎自己的喜好，是否合乎群众的心理…考虑再叁，然后再顺服。我们以为这样比不顺服总好。但是，你要知道，延宕的顺服决不能叫你得到神所预备给你的完全的祝福。若要不折不扣得到他所应许的福祉，除非立刻顺服。
　　延宕是剥夺了自己从神那里赐下的机会，经文说：“正当那日”，换一句话说，就是立刻去做。
　　马丁路得说：一个真肯顺服的信徒已经把他的“为什么”钉死了。他的顺服是无疑问的顺服。看见了迹象才信的人不是最智慧的人，我要不问原由而服从。
我们不问原由，
也不作答案的寻求，
立刻去执行，至死不休。
　　顺服是信心的果子，忍耐是果子的彩色。——罗赛弟
May 15
"Men see not the bright light which is in the clouds." (Job 37:21)
The world owes much of its beauty to cloudland. The unchanging blue of the Italian sky hardly compensates for the changefulness and glory of the clouds. Earth would become a wilderness apart from their ministry. There are clouds in human life, shadowing, refreshing, and sometimes draping it in blackness of night; but there is never a cloud without its bright light. "I do set my bow in the cloud!"
If we could see the clouds from the other side where they lie in billowy glory, bathed in the light they intercept, like heaped ranges of Alps, we should be amazed at their splendid magnificence.
We look at their under side; but who shall describe the bright light that bathes their summits and searches their valleys and is reflected from every pinnacle of their expanse? Is not every drop drinking in health-giving qualities, which it will carry to the earth?
O child of God! If you could see your sorrows and troubles from the other side; if instead of looking up at them from earth, you would look down on them from the heavenly places where you sit with Christ; if you knew how they are reflecting in prismatic beauty before the gaze of Heaven, the bright light of Christ's face, you would be content that they should cast their deep shadows over the mountain slopes of existence. Only remember that clouds are always moving and passing before God's cleansing wind. --Selected.
"I cannot know why suddenly the storm
Should rage so fiercely round me in its wrath;
But this I know--God watches all my path,
And I can trust.
"I may not draw aside the mystic veil
That hides the unknown future from my sight,
Nor know if for me waits the dark or light;
But I can trust.
"I have no power to look across the tide,
To see while here the land beyond the river;
But this I know--I shall be God’s forever;
So I can trust."
　 五月十五日
　　“现在有云遮蔽，人不得见穹苍的光亮”（伯三十七：21）。
　　云彩点缀了世界的美丽，天上如果永远蔚蓝一片，缺少了变幻多端的云彩的美景。地球也会失去常态，变成一片单调。人生也时有云彩罩上来，有时阴暗，有时灿烂宜人，有时漆黑如夜；但任何一种云，都有它的光明面，所谓“我把虹放在云彩中。”（创9：13）
　　如果我们能从另一方向去观察，这些云彩静伏如波涛，高耸如阿尔卑斯山的峰峦，浴于它们所遮断的光明中，我们将惊叹它们的灿烂与美丽。
　　我们在地上抬头看见的是它向下的一面，谁能从整个的空间，居于云端之上，给我们描述那照耀着云锋，云谷的光明呢？次之，每一滴使生命滋长的水分，亦不是云给我们带来的吗？
　　神的孩子啊，使你痛心的遭遇，使你流泪的难处，都是你灵程中的乌云。你若从地上望上去，果然是又黑又暗；可是你若从与基督同坐的天上望下来，如果你因此知道了它们在天堂的美景与基督满面春风的笑貌之前，如何反映出五光十色，彩虹一般的美丽，那么它们虽在你人生的旅程中投下阴影，你也会欣然领会，不再沮丧了。你只要知道，在神的清风之前，云彩永远是在来来去去的。
我不知为什么大风暴，
突然围着我狂吼怒啸,
但我知，神一路照顾我,
因此我能信靠。
我也许没有办法除掉,
遮掩未来的神秘幕罩,
不知道前面是黑暗或光明,
但是我能信靠。
我的视力不能透过浪潮,
看不见彼岸的乡郊,
但我知我永远属于神，
我的信绝不动摇。
May 16
"Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days." (Dan. 10:12, 13)
We have wonderful teaching here on prayer, and we are shown the direct hindrance from Satan.
Daniel had fasted and prayed twenty-one days, and had a very hard time in prayer. As far as we read the narrative, it was not because Daniel was not a good man, nor because his prayer was not right; but it was because of a special attack of Satan.
The Lord started a messenger to tell Daniel that his prayer was answered the moment Daniel began to pray; but an evil angel met the good angel and wrestled with him, hindering him. There was a conflict in the heavens; and Daniel seemed to go through an agony on earth the same as that which was going on in the heavens.
"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers…against wicked spirits in high places" (Eph. 6:12, margin).
Satan delayed the answer three full weeks. Daniel nearly succumbed, and Satan would have been glad to kill him; but God will not suffer anything to come above that we "are able to bear."
Many a Christian's prayer is hindered by Satan; but you need not fear when your prayers and faith pile up; for after a while they will be like a flood, and will not only sweep the answer through, but will also bring some new accompanying blessing. --Sermon.
Hell does its worst with the saints. The rarest souls have been tested with high pressures and temperatures, but Heaven will not desert them. --W. L. Watkinson.
　 五月十六日
“但以理啊，不要惧怕，因为从你第一日专心求明白将来的事，又在你神面前刻苦己心，你的言语已蒙应允，我是因你的言语而来。但波斯国的魔君，拦阻我二十一日”（但十：12/13）。
　　这几节圣经给我们看见祷告方面一件非常的事情，就是撒但直接的拦阻。
　　但以理禁食祷告了二十一天在祷告上花了极大的苦工；可是没有得到答应。从历史上我们看见这并非是因为但以理有罪的阻隔，也并非是因为他的祷告不正当；乃是因为撒但特别的攻击。
　　神的使者告诉但以理：当但以理一起始祷告，神就差遣使者去答应他；但是波斯国的魔君中途拦阻神的使者，和他摔跤。以至但以理在地上受苦。
　　“我们并不是与属血气的摔跤，乃是与那些执政的，掌权的…天空属灵气的恶魔摔跤”（弗六：12）。
　　撒但延迟了神的答应有三星期之久。但以理差不多要悲伤死了（但十：2），撒但的目的原想使他悲伤至死的；但是神不让他的儿女背负过于他们所能背负的轭。
　　许多基督徒的祷告都同样被撒但拦阻；但是你用不着怕你的祷告和信心会堆积得太多；因为不久它们要像洪水一般骤然冲来，不但带着答应，也带着新的祝福。
　　最属灵的信徒，常会受到最厉害的试探。但是神必不遗弃他们。——华金生
May 17
"And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness…an angel of the Lord…saying…now come, I will send thee into Egypt." (Acts 7:30-34)
Often the Lord calls us aside from our work for a season, and bids us be still and learn ere we go forth again to minister. There is no time lost in such waiting hours.
Fleeing from his enemies, the ancient knight found that his horse needed to be re-shod. Prudence seemed to urge him on without delay, but higher wisdom taught him to halt a few minutes at the blacksmith's forge by the way, to have the shoe replaced; and although he heard the feet of his pursuers galloping hard behind, yet he waited those minutes until his charger was refitted for his flight. And then, leaping into his saddle just as they appeared a hundred yards away, he dashed away from them with the fleetness of the wind, and knew that his halting had hastened his escape.
So often God bids us tarry ere we go, and fully recover ourselves for the next stage of the journey and work. --Days of Heaven upon Earth.
Waiting! Yes, patiently waiting!
Till next steps made plain shall be;
To hear, with the inner hearing,
The Voice that will call for me.
Waiting! Yes, hopefully waiting!
With hope that need not grow dim;
The Master is pledged to guide me,
And my eyes are unto Him.
Waiting! Expectantly waiting!
Perhaps it may be today
The Master will quickly open
The gate to my future way.
Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!
The Master will not be late:
He knoweth that I am waiting
For Him to unlatch the gate.
--J. Danson Smith.
五月十七日
“过了四十年，在…旷野，有一位天使…显现…说…你来，我要差你往埃及去”（徒七：30/34）。
　　神常从我们工作中召我们出来，叫我们休息一时，趁此静心学习功课，然后重新出发到他所指定的工场中去工作。这段等候的时期，绝非耗废。
　　从前有一位战士，从他仇敌手中逃出来，半途发觉他的马有换马蹄铁的必要。焦急催他从速逃生，勿稍耽延，但是智慧教他停在路上一家铁匠门口，花数分钟重换马铁；虽然他听见追踪者的脚步由远而近，他仍耐性等着马铁装好。当仇敌和他只有一百码距离的时候，他一跃马鞍，似风驰去，顷刻间脱离了危险。他的暂停并不失算，反加快他的速率。
　　神也常如此：在我们工作之前叫我们有片刻的暂停，好恢复我们的体力和灵力来走前面的路程。——译自地上的天上生活
等待，等待要有耐心，
直到下一个命令来临，
用心灵之耳聆听，
神呼召的声音。
等待，以乐观之心等待，
有了希望，就不会沮丧；
主保证给我引路，
我只要依照他的方向。
等待，以希望之心等待，
也许就在此一刻，
主会突然开启了，
他的迟延决无差谬。
等待，等待，继续等待，
主不会久久不来；
他知道我在等候，
等待他把门闩拔开。
May 18
"I was crushed...so much so that I despaired even of life, but that was to make me rely not on myself, but on the God who raises the dead." (2 Cor. 1:8, 9)
"Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length;
Pressed so intensely it seems, beyond strength;
Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul,
Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll.
Pressure by foes, and a pressure from friends.
Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.
"Pressed into knowing no helper but God;
Pressed into loving the staff and the rod.
Pressed into liberty where nothing clings;
Pressed into faith for impossible things.
Pressed into living a life in the Lord, 
Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured."
The pressure of hard places makes us value life. Every time our life is given back to us from such a trial, it is like a new beginning, and we learn better how much it is worth, and make more of it for God and man. The pressure helps us to understand the trials of others, and fits us to help and sympathize with them.
There is a shallow, superficial nature, that gets hold of a theory or a promise lightly, and talks very glibly about the distrust of those who shrink from every trial; but the man or woman who has suffered much never does this, but is very tender and gentle, and knows what suffering really means. This is what Paul meant when he said, "Death worketh in you."
Trials and hard places are needed to press us forward, even as the furnace fires in the hold of that mighty ship give force that moves the piston, drives the engine, and propels that great vessel across the sea in the face of the winds and waves. --A. B. Simpson.
"Out of the presses of pain,
Cometh the soul's best wine;
And the eyes that have shed no rain,
Can shed but little shine."
　 五月十八日
“我们……遭遇苦难，被压太重……甚至连活命的指望都绝了。自己心里也断定是必死的，叫我们不靠自己，只靠叫死人复活的神。”（林后一：8/9）。
压力之重，似乎无法估计，
压迫得非力之所能抗御，
压在身上，压在心头，
如在浪中颠覆，神昏目眩。
敌人的压力，也有友人的压力，
压上加压，压得你喘不出气。
从压力中，认识了唯有主可救你，
从压力中，知道爱他的竿和杖，
压力使你无靠中得自由，
不可能之时有了依仗，
压力使你与主融成一片，
生命在他恩典里滋长。
　　遭遇苦难，常使我们重视生命。每一次死里逃生之后，我们觉得这真是一个新的开始，该怎样多事神事人。遭遇苦难，也使我们能谅解、同情别人的苦难。
　　人们总常喜欢批评别人没有信心，逃避试炼；但是曾经苦难的人决不如此，他知道，懂得，别人所遭遇的苦是什么。保罗说：　“死在我们心中发动，生却在你们心中发动”（林后四：12）
　　苦难是催逼我们前进的必需品，正如船中的炉火是使船驶行的必需品一般。——宣信
从苦痛的压迫中，
榨取出灵魂的佳酿，
没有泪珠的眼睛，
如何反映出晶光明亮？
May 19
"And it came to pass, before he had done speaking...and he said, Blessed be Jehovah…who hath not forsaken his lovingkindness and his truth." (Gen. 24:15, 27)
Every right prayer is answered before the prayer itself is finished--before we have "done speaking." This is because God has pledged His Word to us that whatsoever we ask in Christ's name (that is, in oneness with Christ and His will) and in faith, shall be done.
As God's Word cannot fail, whenever we meet those simple conditions in prayer, the answer to our prayer has been granted and completed in Heaven as we pray, even though its showing forth on earth may not occur until long afterward.
So it is well to close every prayer with praise to God for the answer that He has already granted; He who never forsakes His loving-kindness and His truth. (See Daniel 9:20-27 and 10:12.) --Messages for the Morning Watch.
When we believe for a blessing, we must take the attitude of faith, and begin to act and pray as if we had the blessing. We must treat God as if He had given us our request. We must lean our weight over upon Him for the thing that we have claimed, and just take it for granted that He gives it, and is going to continue to give it. This is the attitude of trust.
When the wife is married, she at once falls into a new attitude, and acts in accordance with the fact; and so when we take Christ as our Savior, as our Sanctifier, as our Healer, or as our Deliverer, He expects us to fall into the attitude of recognizing Him in the capacity that we have claimed, and expect Him to be to us all that we have trusted Him for. --Selected.
"The thing I ask when God doth bid me pray,
Begins in that same act to come my way."
　 五月十九日
“话还没有说完……说，耶和华……是应当称颂的，因他不断的以慈爱诚实待我……”（创二十四：15，27）。
　　每一个正当的祷告，都是“话还没有说完”，神就答应的。这是因为神已经给了我们他的应许——凡奉主的名（就是与主并他的旨意合一）无论求什么，只要信，就必得着。
　　神不能抵赖他所应许的，当我们履行了这些简单的祷告的条件，他不能不答应我们所求的。我们祷告的“话还没有说完”，在天上宝座前就已经成全了；虽然在地上不一定就能看见。
　　所以祷告之后，最好用赞美来作结束——赞美神已经听了我们的祷告，赞美神不断的以慈爱诚实待我们。（参读但九章二十至二十七节，又十章十二节）。——译自晨更信息
　　当我们相信一件事的时候，我们就应该有相信的行为——我们的动作，我们的祷告，都当和我们的信心相符。我们应该算神已经给了我们所求的，这才是信心的态度。——选
　　一个妇人结婚之后，她当进入一种的生活态度，一切行动都要以这个结婚的事实为依据。我们既尊基督是我们的救主，我们成圣称义的引导，诊治我们疾病的医生，拯救我们的恩主，他就希望我们亦采取一种新的态度，一切以承认他是我们的救主，导师，医生，恩人的事实为依归，并且盼望他的确是我们所希望的一样完全来成全我们。
“遵照神的命令祷告，我所祈求的，
在开始的时候，已在向我降临了”。
May 20
"Shall I refuse to drink the cup of sorrow which the Father has given me to drink?" (John 18:11.) (Weymouth)
God takes a thousand times more pains with us than the artist with his picture, by many touches of sorrow, and by many colors of circumstance, to bring us into the form which is the highest and noblest in His sight, if only we receive His gifts of myrrh in the right spirit.
But when the cup is put away, and these feelings are stifled or unheeded, a greater injury is done to the soul that can ever be amended. For no heart can conceive in what surpassing love God giveth us this myrrh; yet this which we ought to receive to our souls' good we suffer to pass by us in our sleepy indifference, and nothing comes of it.
Then we come and complain: "Alas, Lord! I am so dry, and it is so dark within me!" I tell thee, dear child, open thy heart to the pain, and it will do thee more good than if thou wert full of feeling and devoutness. --Tauler.
"The cry of man's anguish went up to God,
'Lord take away pain:
The shadow that darkens the world Thou hast made,
The close-coiling chain
That strangles the heart, the burden that weighs
On the wings that would soar,
Lord, take away pain from the world Thou hast made,
That it love Thee the more.'
"Then answered the Lord to the cry of His world:
'Shall I take away pain,
And with it the power of the soul to endure,
Made strong by the strain?
Shall I take away pity, that knits heart to heart
And sacrifice high?
Will ye lose all your heroes that lift from the fire
White brows to the sky?
Shall I take away love that redeems with a price
And smiles at its loss?
Can ye spare from your lives that would climb unto Me
The Christ on His cross?"
　 五月二十日
“耶稣就对彼得说，收刀入鞘罢，我父给我的那杯，我岂可不喝呢”。（约十八：11）
　　神塑造我们，比艺术家作画要辛苦千倍，要经过许多充满悲痛的笔法，加以各种色调的背景，才把我们造成他心目中最高贵的形式。而在我们方面，只要以正当的精神接受他所赐的“没药”。
　　但若把那杯推开，抹煞或漠视这些充满悲痛的感情，对于灵魂就会造成比以往所能修补者更大的伤害。没有人能想象神以何等超越的爱，把没药赐给我们，我们应该接受这对灵魂有益的恩赐。然而我们却让它在不注意的疏忽中过去，于是从它那儿得不到什么。
　　口中却抱怨起来，说道：“主啊，我是如何地饥渴，心中是如何地黑暗！”亲爱的孩子，我告诉你，你要打开心扉接受神所赐的苦药，这比仅有情感和虔诚，对你更为有益。——陶勒
世人向神发出悲惨的呼吁：
“求主把我们的苦痛除去，
还有你所制造的阴影，
请代之以永远的阳光和煦，
去掉桎梏我们心灵的锁链，
压住我们翅膀的重负，
求你去除你所给的一切痛苦，
使世人对你更为爱慕“。
神答复世人的呼吁道：
“你们的见识，何其渺小，
要我除去苦痛吗？
苦痛增加你的耐力，
使你的灵魂坚如城堡，
你要我除去怜悯之心，
它却结成心心相印的同情，
也发展了人间高度的牺牲。
他们曾从烈火中锻炼出坚贞。
你要我除去爱与笑吗？
这些都从苦痛的磨炼中产生。
你们的生命要追随我，
难道能免除基督到十架的旅程”？
May 21
"I call to remembrance my song in the night." (Psalm 77:6)
I have read somewhere of a little bird that will never sing the melody his master wishes while his cage is full of light. He learns a snatch of this, a bar of that, but never an entire song of its own until the cage is covered and the morning beams shut out.
A good many people never learn to sing until the darkling shadows fall. The fabled nightingale carols with his breast against a thorn. It was in the night that the song of the angels was heard. It was at midnight that the cry came, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him."
Indeed it is extremely doubtful if a soul can really know the love of God in its richness and in its comforting, satisfying completeness until the skies are black and lowering.
Light comes out of darkness, morning out of the womb of the night.
James Creelman, in one of his letters, describes his trip through the Balkan States in search of Natalie, the exiled Queen of Serbia.
"In that memorable journey," he says, "I learned for the first time that the world's supply of attar of roses comes from the Balkan Mountains. And the thing that interested me most," he goes on, "is that the roses must be gathered in the darkest hours. The pickers start out at one o'clock and finish picking them at two.
"At first it seemed to me a relic of superstition; but I investigated the picturesque mystery, and learned that actual scientific tests had proven that fully forty per cent of the fragrance of roses disappeared in the light of day."
And in human life and human culture that is not a playful, fanciful conceit; it is a real veritable fact. --Malcolm J. McLeod.
　五月二十一日
“我想起我夜间的歌曲”（诗七十七：6）。
　　据说有一种小鸟，在亮光中不会唱歌的，虽然主人竭力设法去引它出声，但它总是默然。有时偶然发出一些鸣声，但不足以代表它歌唱的艺术。只有一个方法可以使它唱出美丽悦耳的歌声来，就是在笼的上下四周罩上一层不透光的黑布。
　　有许多人都要在夜幕下降之后，才知道歌唱，传说夜莺在荆棘刺着胸口时鸣啼。夜晚才听见天使的歌颂之声，那是大喜的信息说：“新郎来了，你们出来迎接他”。（太二十五：6）这是在半夜三更，天顶黑的时候报的！
　　人何独不然；天色尚未黑暗，灵魂充满了自己的安逸，他能否真正领悟神爱的丰富和甘甜？倒不如在最黑暗的处境中才能有所表现。
　　光明是从黑暗中出来的，早晨亦自从夜晚滋长的。
　　詹姆斯·克里曼历访巴尔干诸国，寻找塞维亚流亡女王娜塔丽，他记述此行的信札中说：“在那值得纪念的旅程中，我第一次知道市上玫瑰香油精的原料，产自巴尔干山中。使我感到兴趣的是，玫瑰必须在黑暗的半夜方可采摘，采花工作就在短短的一二小时内完成”。
　　“起初我觉得这个采集方式似乎是古代迷信的遗传；后来深入调查，终于知道连科学家的实验亦证明了玫瑰花若在日光中采摘，它将损失其香味的百分之四十。”
　对于人类的生活和文化，确是事实，不是儿戏幻想。——马克李奥
May 22
"He worketh." (Psalm 37:5)
The translation that we find in Young of "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass," reads: "Roll upon Jehovah thy way; trust upon him: and he worketh."
It calls our attention to the immediate action of God when we truly commit, or roll out of our hands into His, the burden of whatever kind it may be; a way of sorrow, of difficulty, of physical need, or of anxiety for the conversion of some dear one.
"He worketh." When? Now. We are so in danger of postponing our expectation of His acceptance of the trust, and His undertaking to accomplish what we ask Him to do, instead of saying as we commit, "He worketh." "He worketh" even now; and praise Him that it is so.
The very expectancy enables the Holy Spirit to do the very thing we have rolled upon Him. It is out of our reach. We are not trying to do it any more. "He worketh!"
Let us take the comfort out of it and not put our hands on it again. Oh, what a relief it brings! He is really working on the difficulty.
But someone may say, "I see no results." Never mind. "He worketh," if you have rolled it over and are looking to Jesus to do it. Faith may be tested, but "He worketh"; the Word is sure! --V. H. F. 
"I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me." (Psalm 57:2)
The beautiful old translation says, "He shall perform the cause which I have in hand." Does not that make it very real to us today? Just the very thing that "I have in hand"--my own particular bit of work today, this cause that I cannot manage, this thing that I undertook in miscalculation of my own powers--this is what I may ask Him to do "for me," and rest assured that He will perform it. "The wise and their works are in the hands of God." –Havergal.
The Lord will go through with His covenant engagements. Whatever He takes in hand He will accomplish; hence past mercies are guarantees for the future and admirable reasons for continuing to cry unto Him. --C. H. Spurgeon.
　 五月二十二日
“他就工作”（诗三十七：5直译）。
　　杨氏译本把诗篇三十七篇五节“当将你的事交托耶和华，并倚靠他，他就必成全”译作“当将你的事辊在耶和华身上倚靠他，他就工作”。
　　这给我们看见当我们把无论什么重担真正交托，或者从我们手中辊到他手中的时候，他就立刻工作；他并非将要工作，或者或许工作，乃是就工作——现在就工作。真的，如果我们把所有的重担——忧愁的重担，难处的重担，物质需要的重担，工作的重担等等——都交托他，他必现在就替我们工作。
　　诗篇说：“他就工作”。什么时候呢？现在！可是我们信神现在就工作的信心太迟钝。我们不信当我们——交托给神的时候，神就工作；我们以为神必慢慢而行。我们立刻信，神就立刻行；我们就用不着自己再去试了。我们不能，神能；赞美感谢他！
　　立刻的期望，可使圣灵眷顾到我们所交托的事。这不是我们的能力所及，亦不必自己去徒然费力，“他就工作”。
　　让我们在这里享受安息，不要把我们的手放上去罢！哦，多么轻松！他正在替我们工作！
　　但是有人要说：“我看不见什么结果”。不要紧的。如果你已经辊给他了“他就工作”。信心或许要受试验，但是他的话语必定可靠！
“我要求告至高的神，就是为我成全诸事的神”（诗五十七：2）。
　　有一种古译本把“为我成全诸事”译作“为我成全在我手中的事”。正在我手中的事——今天我自己的一点特别的琐事我所不能办的事情——这就是我可以求他“为我”作的；让我们自己安息下来罢！深信他必成全。“智慧人，并他们的作为都在神手中”（传九：1）。——海弗格尔
　　神必履行他的圣约，凡在神手中的，神必成全。因此过去的恩典，即为将来的保障，也是继续求告于神的力量。——司布真
May 23
"At their wit's end, they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out." (Psalm 107:27, 28)
Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner,"
Christian, with troubled brow?
Are you thinking of what is before you,
And all you are bearing now?
Does all the world seem against you,
And you in the battle alone?
Remember--at "Wit's End Corner"
Is just where God's power is shown.
Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner,"
Blinded with wearying pain,
Feeling you cannot endure it,
You cannot bear the strain,
Bruised through the constant suffering,
Dizzy, and dazed, and numb?
Remember--at "Wit's End Corner"
Is where Jesus loves to come.
Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner"?
Your work before you spread,
All lying begun, unfinished,
And pressing on heart and head,
Longing for strength to do it,
Stretching out trembling hands?
Remember--at. "Wit's End Corner"
The Burden-bearer stands.
Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner"?
Then you're just in the very spot
To learn the wondrous resources
Of Him who faileth not:
No doubt to a brighter pathway
Your footsteps will soon be moved,
But only at "Wit's End Corner"
Is the "God who is able" proved.
--Antoinette Wilson.
Do not get discouraged; it may be the last key in the bunch that opens the door. --Stansifer.
　 　 五月二十三日
“他们的智慧无法可施。于是他们在苦难中哀求耶和华，他从他们的祸患中领出他们来”（诗一百零七：28）。
基督徒哪！你的愁眉紧锁，
你是否到了才穷智竭的地步，
你是不是在想面前的遭遇，
以及承担着种种重负？
全世界都像与你相忤，
你在战场上孤独无助？
要记得到了才穷智竭的地步，
神的丰满和能力才会显露。
你四周的苦痛，使你眼花缭乱，
你是否到了才穷智竭的地步，
你觉得力不能支持否！
这种紧张的局面无法应付？
不断的苦难，使你带着种种伤痕，
昏晕，麻木，如生疾痼。
要记得：到了才穷智竭的地步，
就会得着耶稣的爱护。
环境在你的面前展开，
你是否到了才穷智竭的地步，
这正在开始，尚待结束，
它们侵扰你的心，如蚀如磨。
渴望有能力去处理，
伸出的手却颤抖无措。
要记得：到了才穷智竭的地步，
耶稣就会卸下你的重负。
你是否到了才穷智竭的地步，
那么你所站立之处，
正可认识从不失误的，
神所有的神奇财富。
你的脚步即将
移向更光明的道路。
唯有到了才穷智竭的地步，
才能证实万能的天父。
——威尔逊
　　你不要失望，也许最后的一把钥匙，它才是替你开了门。——司单雪弗
May 24
"Sarah bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him." (Gen. 21:2)
The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations" (Psalm 33:11). But we must be prepared to wait God's time. God has His set times. It is not for us to know them; indeed, we cannot know them; we must wait for them.
If God had told Abraham in Haran that he must wait for thirty years until he pressed the promised child to his bosom, his heart would have failed him. So, in gracious love, the length of the weary years was hidden, and only as they were nearly spent, and there were only a few more months to wait, God told him that "according to the time of life, Sarah shall have a son." (Gen. 18:14.)
The set time came at last; and then the laughter that filled the patriarch's home made the aged pair forget the long and weary vigil.
Take heart, waiting one, thou waitest for One who cannot disappoint thee; and who will not be five minutes behind the appointed moment: ere long "your sorrow shall be turned into joy."
Ah, happy soul, when God makes thee laugh! Then sorrow and crying shall flee away forever, as darkness before the dawn. --Selected.
It is not for us who are passengers, to meddle with the chart and with the compass. Let that all-skilled Pilot alone with His own work. –Hall.
"Some things cannot be done in a day. God does not make a sunset glory in a moment, but for days may be massing the mist out of which He builds His palaces beautiful in the west."
"Some glorious morn--but when? Ah, who shall say?
The steepest mountain will become a plain,
And the parched land be satisfied with rain.
The gates of brass all broken; iron bars,
Transfigured, form a ladder to the stars.
Rough places plain, and crooked ways all straight, 
For him who with a patient heart can wait.
These things shall be on God's appointed day:
It may not be tomorrow--yet it may."
　 五月二十四日
“当亚伯拉罕年老的时候，撒拉怀了孕；到神所说的日期，就给亚伯拉罕生了一个儿子”（创二十一：2）。
　　“耶和华的筹算永远立定，他心中的思念万代常存”（诗三十三：11）。但是我们必须预备等待神的时间。神有他的定时，我们不能预知；只能等待。
　　如果神在哈兰，就告诉亚伯拉罕：他必须等待三十年，然后才得到以撒，亚伯拉罕的心要何等难过呢！所以，这是神的爱——神特意将这长而乏味的时期不说，只说“到了日期，撒拉必生一个儿子”。
　　最后，神的定时来了；喜乐充满了信心之父的家；这对年老的夫妇忘了他们所等的长而乏味的时期。
　　啊，焦急的信徒们啊，你要知道你所等的那一个，是不会叫你失望的；他不会比定时迟五分钟的：不久“你们的忧愁，要变为喜乐”（约十六：20）。神要使你欢笑！忧愁要在你面前逃跑，好像黑暗在早晨前逃跑一般。——选
　　我们是船上的乘客，尽可不必去过问那航海图与罗盘针。让全能的舵手单独去驾驶吧。
　　有的事情绝非一天之内可以完成的。神并非在片刻之间构成落日时的彩霞，他要经过好几天的积聚云雾，才在天的西边造成了那美丽的宫殿。
光荣的黎明，谁能说何时出现？
到那时崎岖的地形将变为平原，
干枯的土地有充分的雨水，
紧锁的铜门，再不将你阻拦，
铁栅改成阶梯，通往天国堂殿，
平原千里，弯曲的道路都修齐，
一切都为了那些忍耐等候的人。
何时出现？神会确定他的时间，
也许不是明天，也许就是明天。
May 25
"I endure all things for the sake of God's own people; so that they also may obtain salvation...and with it eternal glory." (2 Tim. 2:10) (Weymouth)
If Job could have known as he sat there in the ashes, bruising his heart on this problem of Providence--that in the trouble that had come upon him he was doing what one man may do to work out the problem for the world, he might again have taken courage. No man lives to himself. Job's life is but your life and mine written in larger text….So, then, though we may not know what trials wait on any of us, we can believe that, as the days in which Job wrestled with his dark maladies are the only days that make him worth remembrance, and but for which his name had never been written in the book of life, so the days through which we struggle, finding no way, but never losing the light, will be the most significant we are called to live. --Robert Collyer.
Who does not know that our most sorrowful days have been amongst our best? When the face is wreathed in smiles and we trip lightly over meadows bespangled with spring flowers, the heart is often running to waste.
The soul which is always blithe and gay misses the deepest life. It has its reward, and it is satisfied to its measure, though that measure is a very scanty one. But the heart is dwarfed; and the nature, which is capable of the highest heights, the deepest depths, is undeveloped; and life presently burns down to its socket without having known the resonance of the deepest chords of joy.
"Blessed are they that mourn." Stars shine brightest in the long dark night of winter. The gentians show their fairest bloom amid almost inaccessible heights of snow and ice.
God's promises seem to wait for the pressure of pain to trample out their richest juice as in a wine-press. Only those who have sorrowed know how tender is the "Man of Sorrows." --Selected.
Thou hast but little sunshine, but thy long glooms are wisely appointed thee; for perhaps a stretch of summer weather would have made thee as a parched land and barren wilderness. Thy Lord knows best, and He has the clouds and the sun at His disposal. --Selected.
"It is a gray day." "Yes, but dinna ye see the patch of blue?" --Scotch Shoemaker.
　 　 五月二十五日
　　“我为选民凡事忍耐，叫他们也可以得着……救恩，和永远的荣耀”（提后二：10）
　　当约伯坐在灰烬之中，假使他能知道神的旨意，究竟如何的时候，他所遭遇的磨难，正是给世人解答这回问题，他可能重新鼓起勇气来。没有人只为自己而活。约伯的生命，只是你我生命扩大的写照。我们虽不知道每一个人将遭遇到何种的试炼，但能相信，使约伯在苦痛疾病中挣扎着过那些日子，就是使他值得为后世之人怀念的日子。若不是那些日子，他的名字决不会写在圣经上。因此我们在奋斗前进，遭遇到这种阻挠，而从不灰心的这些日子，也将成为我们一生中最有意义的日子。
　　谁不知道我们最大的悲痛，是发生在最幸福的时候！当我们笑容满面，闲步于春花怒放的庭园时，我们的心常在此时颓唐下沉。
　　生活愉快逍遥的人，得不到最高属天的生命，他已有了酬报，而且满足于所得的酬报，却是他属灵生命长进的阻碍；使他本能意愿向最高最深之处的发展，亦因此而停滞了；他的生命还没有和最高贵的喜悦之音产生共鸣，就很快的耗为灰烬了。
　　“哀恸的人有福了；因为他们必得安慰”（太五：4）。星光照耀得最亮的时候，是在黑暗的冬夜。龙胆花开得最美丽的地方，是在冰雪的山顶。
　　神的应许，似乎要等待痛苦的压力，象酒坊中的压酢机那样，酢出最香烈的佳酿来。唯有经历悲哀的人，才知道耶稣是多么慈爱。
　　你虽只有一点点阳光，但对于你这长夜的阴暗是明智的安排。如果永远骄阳丽日的夏天，也许会把你晒成一片干枯不毛之地。你的主无所不知，云和太阳，都受他的使唤与调节。
　　“这是个阴天”“不错，但你难道没有看见也有补丁似的几片蔚蓝的天空吗”？
May 26
"Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it." (Num. 21:17)
This was a strange song and a strange well. They had been traveling over the desert's barren sands, no water was in sight and they were famishing with thirst. Then God spake to Moses and said:
"Gather the people together, and I will give them water," and this is how it came. They gathered in circles on the sands. They took their staves and dug deep down into the burning earth and as they dug, they sang,
"Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it," and lo, there came a gurgling sound, a rush of water and a flowing stream which filled the well and ran along the ground.
When they dug this well in the desert, they touched the stream that was running beneath, and reached the flowing tides that had long been out of sight.
How beautiful the picture given, telling us of the river of blessing that flows all through our lives, and we have only to reach by faith and praise to find our wants supplied in the most barren desert.
How did they reach the waters of this well? It was by praise. They sang upon the sand their song of faith, while with their staff of promise they dug the well.
Our praise will still open fountains in the desert, when murmuring will only bring us judgment, and even prayer may fail to reach the fountains of blessing.
There is nothing that pleases the Lord so much as praise. There is no test of faith so true as the grace of thanksgiving. Are you praising God enough? Are you thanking Him for your actual blessings that are more than can be numbered, and are you daring to praise Him even for those trials which are but blessings in disguise? Have you learned to praise Him in advance for the things that have not yet come? --Selected.
"Thou waitest for deliverance!
O soul, thou waitest long!
Believe that now deliverance
Doth wait for thee in song!
"Sigh not until deliverance
Thy fettered feet doth free:
With songs of glad deliverance
God now doth compass thee."
　 五月二十六日
“井啊！涌上水来。你们要向这井歌唱”（民二十一：17）。
　　一口希奇的井！一首希奇的歌！当以色列人在旷野流荡，没有水喝，几乎渴死的时候，耶和华对摩西说：
　　“招聚百姓，我好给他们水喝”（十六节）。于是他们集合在一处，用杖挖掘粗松的沙地；他们一面掘，一面唱，
　　“井啊，涌上水来。你们要向这井歌唱”。看哪，顷刻间，久藏地下的泉源，一起涌上来满足他们的需要。
　　这个故事也教训我们一件事：今天在这属灵的旷野行走的枯乾的我们也可以凭信心和赞美来得到祝福的泉源。
　　他们怎样得到井水呢？藉着赞美。他们在沙地上唱信心的歌，同时用应许的杖掘井。
　　赞美使我们得泉源，怨言使我们招审判。甚至祷告亦不能使井涌上水来，因为没有一件东西比赞美更能叫神喜悦。赞美是信心最准确的凭据。信徒啊，你有没有赞美神呢？神给你数不过来的恩典，你有否赞美他呢？你有没有胆量为着他所给你的患难——化装的祝福——来赞美他呢？你有否学会为着尚未来到的祝福预先赞美他呢？——选
灵魂啊，你等了好久，
等待主的拯救，
要相信此刻救主，
已在歌声中守候。
不要叹息，等待天父，
解除你双足桎梏，
他正在快乐的歌声中，
给你引路，赐你救赎。
May 27
"Bring them hither to me." (Matt. 14:18)
Are you encompassed with needs at this very moment, and almost overwhelmed with difficulties, trials, and emergencies? These are all divinely provided vessels for the Holy Spirit to fill, and if you but rightly understood their meaning, they would become opportunities for receiving new blessings and deliverances which you can get in no other way.
Bring these vessels to God. Hold them steadily before Him in faith and prayer. Keep still, and stop your own restless working until He begins to work. Do nothing that He does not Himself command you to do. Give Him a chance to work, and He will surely do so; and the very trials that threatened to overcome you with discouragement and disaster, will become God's opportunity for the revelation of His grace and glory in your life, as you have never known Him before. "Bring them (all needs) to me." --A. B. Simpson.
"My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19)
What a source--"God!" What a supply--"His riches in glory!" What a channel--"Christ Jesus!" It is your sweet privilege to place all your need over against His riches, and lose sight of the former in the presence of the latter. His exhaustless treasury is thrown open to you, in all the love of His heart; go and draw upon it, in the artless simplicity of faith, and you will never have occasion to look to a creature-stream, or lean on a creature-prop. --C. H. M.
"MY CUP RUNNETH OVER"
There is always something over,
When we trust our gracious Lord;
Every cup He fills o'erfloweth,
His great rivers all are broad.
Nothing narrow, nothing stinted,
Ever issues from His store;
To His own He gives full measure,
Running over, evermore.
There is always something over,
When we, from the Father's hand,
Take our portion with thanksgiving,
Praising for the path He planned.
Satisfaction, full and deepening,
Fills the soul, and lights the eye,
When the heart has trusted Jesus
All its need to satisfy.
There is always something over,
When we tell of all His love;
Unplumbed depths still lie beneath us,
Unsealed heights rise far above:
Human lips can never utter
All His wondrous tenderness,
We can only praise and wonder,
And His name forever bless.
--Margaret E. Barber
"How can He but, in giving Him, lavish on us all things." (Rom. 8:32)
　 五月二十七日
“拿过来给我”（太十四：18）。
　　你现在是不是正被患难，试炼，危险，缺乏所包围呢？这些都是神为你安排的器皿，为着盛满圣灵用的；如果你能懂得神的用意，它们就会作你得新祝福和新拯救的机会；这种祝福和拯救，除此之外，别无他法可得。
　　把这些器皿拿过来给神。用信心和祷告带到他面前来。安静罢，停止你自己的活动，除非他有所吩咐。不要作他所没有吩咐你作的事情。给他一个机会去作罢；这样，使你害怕的患难，试炼，危险，缺乏，都要变作神彰显他恩典和荣耀的机会。神吩咐我们：“拿过来给我”。——宣信
　　“我的神必照他荣耀的丰富，在基督耶稣里使你们一切所需用的都充足”（腓四：19）
　　何等的来源——“神”！何等的宝贝——“他荣耀的丰富”！何等的导管——“基督耶稣”！何等的供给——“一切所需用的”！这是你无上的权利——把你一切所需用的去换他荣耀的丰富！他无尽的宝库，已因他不竭之爱，为你开着了；用无伪的，简单的信心去支取你的需用罢！他绝不会怕你支取得过多的，因为他的宝库从无缺货之虞。——马金都
“使我的福杯满溢”。（诗二十三：5）
信靠了慈爱的主，
他会把祝福注入杯中，
多得满溢，岂但充满！
且波浪滚滚之大江，
永不枯竭，绝不缺短，
他的赐予从无限止，
他给子民丰满的供应，
如滔滔的激湍流长源远。
我们的杯，将永远充溢不竭，
只要我们从天父手边，
接受给我们杯中的分，
以感激之心赞美他的成全。
我衷心信赖了耶稣，
灵中注满了完实的欢欣，
只有耶稣使我心足意满，
一片光明，充沛眼前。
只要我们称颂他的爱，
我们的杯将永远不竭；
他的爱高得无法言喻，
那样奇妙的爱，
那样温柔的爱，
永远称颂他的名，
永远称颂他的名，
我们赞美，我们欣欢。 ——巴伯
　　“神既不爱惜自己的儿子为我们众人舍了，岂不也把万物和他一同白白的赐给我们吗”？（罗八：32）。
May 28
"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me ... and he blessed him there." (Gen.32:26, 29.)
Jacob got the victory and the blessing not by wrestling, but by clinging. His limb was out of joint and he could struggle no longer, but he would not let go. Unable to wrestle, he wound his arms around the neck of his mysterious antagonist and hung all his helpless weight upon him, until at last he conquered.
We will not get victory in prayer until we too cease our struggling, giving up our own will and throw our arms about our Father's neck in clinging faith.
What can puny human strength take by force out of the hand of Omnipotence? Can we wrest blessing by force from God? It is never the violence of wilfulness that prevails with God. It is the might of clinging faith, that gets the blessing and the victories. It is not when we press and urge our own will, but when humility and trust unite in saying, "Not my will, but Thine." We are strong with God only in the degree that self is conquered and is dead. Not by wrestling, but by clinging can we get the blessing. --J. R. Miller.
An incident from the prayer life of Charles H. Usher (illustrating "soul-cling" as a hindrance to prevailing prayer): "My little boy was very ill. The doctors held out little hope of his recovery. I had used all the knowledge of prayer which I possessed on his behalf, but he got worse and worse. This went on for several weeks.
"One day I stood watching him as he lay in his cot, and I saw that he could not live long unless he had a turn for the better. I said to God, 'O God, I have given much time in prayer for my boy and he gets no better; I must now leave him to Thee, and I will give myself to prayer for others. If it is Thy will to take him, I choose Thy will--I surrender him entirely to Thee.'
"I called in my dear wife, and told her what I had done. She shed some tears, but handed him over to God. Two days afterwards a man of God came to see us. He had been very interested in our boy Frank, and had been much in prayer for him.
"He said, 'God has given me faith to believe that he will recover--have you faith?'
"I said, 'I have surrendered him to God, but I will go again to God regarding him.' I did; and in prayer I discovered that I had faith for his recovery. From that time he began to get better. It was the 'soul-cling' in my prayers which had hindered God answering; and if I had continued to cling and had been unwilling to surrender him, I doubt if my boy would be with me today.
"Child of God! If you want God to answer your prayers, you must be prepared to follow the footsteps of 'our father Abraham,' even to the Mount of Sacrifice." (See Rom. 4:12)
　 五月二十八日
“你不给我祝福，我就不容你去……于是在那里给雅各祝福”（创三十二：26，29）。
　　雅各得着祝福，不是因着奋斗乃是因着纠缠。他的大腿窝扭了，不能再摔跤了；但是他缠住对方，不肯放他去。他的腿瘸了，他只能伸出他的手臂来围着对方的颈项，把他全身的重量挂在其上。
　我们祷告，也是这样。什么时候我们停止自己的努力，放弃我们自己的主意，用信心的手臂缠住父的颈项，什么时候我们就会得着答应。
　　微弱的人们能用武力从全能者的手中夺取祝福么？我们的努力会叫神屈服么？决不。顽强决不能从神得到什么。只有不移的信心，完全的依靠，能叫我们得到神的祝福。我们坚强的意志不能帮助我们得到什么，只有谦卑和信靠联合说：“不要…我的意思，只要…你的意思”（路二十二：42）。能帮助我们得到祝福。只有己的死能叫我们与神一同刚强。——密勒
　　有一位乌喧先生说他祷告的经历如后：“我的小儿子病得很重，医生亦说希望甚少。我只有恳切地为这孩子祷告，但这孩子的情况日趋恶化，这样过了多日”。
　　“一天，我站在孩子的病榻之旁，凭我的观察，如无神迹，恐将不治了。所以我祈求在神面前：“神啊；我费了多少时间为这孩子祈祷，并未有什么转机，我现在把他交给你，我将为别人而代祷了；如果你有意思要将孩子带走，我亦接受你的美意——把孩子完完全全交给神”。
　　“我把太太叫来，把事情经过告诉了她。她洒着眼泪，也愿把孩子交给神。两天之后，有一位传教士来看我们，他也很关心孩子，而且常常为他代祷。”
　　他说：“神给我信心，相信这孩子会康复的。你有信心吗”？
　　我说：“我把孩子交给了神，但我将继续祷告。”在祷告中，我发现了对他康复的信心。
　　从此孩子也渐渐地好转，过去因为在祷告中没有排除己意，所以妨碍了神的答复，如果坚持固执己见，不愿将孩子交给神，我想后果堪虑了。
　　“神的孩子们哪！倘使你要神给你回答，必须准备跟从先圣亚伯拉罕的脚踪，先要走上自我牺牲的道路”。
May 29
"I have called you friends." (John 15:15)
Years ago there was an old German professor whose beautiful life was a marvel to his students. Some of them resolved to know the secret of it; so one of their number hid in the study where the old professor spent his evenings.
It was late when the teacher came in. He was very tired, but he sat down and spent an hour with his Bible. Then he bowed his head in secret prayer; and finally closing the Book of books, he said, 
"Well, Lord Jesus, we're on the same old terms."
To know Him is life's highest attainment; and at all costs, every Christian should strive to be "on the same old terms with Him."
The reality of Jesus comes as a result of secret prayer, and a personal study of the Bible that is devotional and sympathetic. Christ becomes more real to the one who persists in the cultivation of His presence.
Speak thou to Him for He heareth,
And spirit with spirit will meet!
Nearer is He than breathing,
Nearer than hands and feet.
--Maltbie D. Babcock.
　 五月二十九日
“我乃称你们为朋友”（约十五：15）。
　　数年前某大学有一位年老的德文教授，他的生活是为全校学生所钦佩的。他们中间有几个好奇的学生，很想探听他所以这样生活的秘诀；所以其中有一个学生隐匿在教授的书室中，看他每天晚上在那里干些什么。
　　教授走进书室，时间已很迟了。看他的样子似乎很累，但是他坐下来，打开圣经，顶虔诚的读了一个钟头。然后低头默祷；最后，把圣经关起来，说：
　　“主耶稣，我们又是一次欢聚”！
　　与主欢聚是属灵生活中的最高点；每一个基督人，该不惜任何代价，寻求与主“又是一次欢聚”。
　　祷告和读经能使我们觉得基督的实在。越在密室中追求主的同在的，越觉得主的实在。——贝伯考克
他正听着，
用你的心声与他接触，
灵灵相交，密如心腹，
呼吸相通，亲同手足。——贝伯考克
May 30
"And no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth." (Rev. 14:3)
There are songs which can only be learned in the valley. No art can teach them; no rules of voice can make them perfectly sung. Their music is in the heart. They are songs of memory, of personal experience. They bring out their burden from the shadow of the past; they mount on the wings of yesterday.
St. John says that even in Heaven there will be a song that can only be fully sung by the sons of earth--the strain of redemption. Doubtless it is a song of triumph, a hymn of victory to the Christ who made us free. But the sense of triumph must come from the memory of the chain.
No angel, no archangel can sing it so sweetly as I can. To sing it as I sing it, they must pass through my exile, and this they cannot do. None can learn it but the children of the Cross.
And so, my soul, thou art receiving a music lesson from thy Father. Thou art being educated for the choir invisible. There are parts of the symphony that none can take but thee.
There are chords too minor for the angels. There may be heights in the symphony which are beyond the scale--heights which angels alone can reach; but there are depths which belong to thee, and can only be touched by thee.
Thy Father is training thee for the part the angels cannot sing; and the school is sorrow. I have heard many say that He sends sorrow to prove thee; nay, He sends sorrow to educate thee, to train thee for the choir invisible.
In the night He is preparing thy song. In the valley He is tuning thy voice. In the cloud He is deepening thy chords. In the rain He is sweetening thy melody. In the cold He is moulding thy expression. In the transition from hope to fear He is perfecting thy lights.
Despise not thy school of sorrow, O my soul; it will give thee a unique part in the universal song. --George Matheson.
"Is the midnight closing round you?
Are the shadows dark and long?
Ask Him to come close beside you,
And He'll give you a new, sweet song.
He'll give it and sing it with you;
And when weakness lets it down,
He'll take up the broken cadence,
And blend it with His own.
"And many a rapturous minstrel
Among those sons of light,
Will say of His sweetest music
'I learned it in the night.'
And many a rolling anthem,
That fills the Father's home,
Sobbed out its first rehearsal,
In the shade of a darkened room."
　 五月三十日
“除了从地上买来的那十四万四千人以外，没有人能学这歌”（启十四：3）。
　　有一种歌，既非艺术所能教，也非乐理所能编，只有在患难中能学会的。这种歌它发自内心，是一种记忆与亲身经历的歌声，从过去的苦难中宣泄出来，而以昨天的体验，构成了今天的赞美。圣约翰说，即使在天上，也只有一首世人唱得完美的歌曲——救赎之颂。无疑地这是胜利之歌。但胜利意义之产生，必须来自锁链的回忆。
　　没有一个天使能唱得象我们这么好听。他们要唱，他们就必须走我们所走的道路，经历我们所经历的经历。没有一人能学会，除了十架之子。
　　所以，我的己哪，你现在正在从父学习音乐功课。他训练你，要使你有资格加入天上的大歌咏团。有一部分声音，没有别人能担任，连天使和天使长也不能。只有你一人能担任的。天使虽能唱高音，但是这幽而且沉的低音，只有你一人能唱。
　　你的父在训练你担任那天使所不能担任的一部分；训练你的学校就是苦难。很多人说，神给你苦难，为了要证验你，但有一个更确当的说法，就是神给你的苦难，为了要教育你，训练你能参加天上的歌咏团。
　　在黑云中他试你的声音。在忧伤中他教你唱歌的表情。在患难中他练你的气。在试炼中他教你发音的准确。
　　不要轻看这神的音乐院；许多人虽然羡慕，可是还不能被选呢！——马得胜
黑夜已包围上来了吗？
带着它深长的阴沉；
此时，求他到你身旁，
他会教你一首新的咏吟。
他要陪同你歌唱，
如果你气衰而歌声不高扬，
他会补缀零落的音韵，
用他的歌声来调节均匀。
许多逍遥的吟游诗人，
沐浴着属天的圣恩，
见证他们学到了最美的韵音，
是在万籁俱寂的夜深。
许多上达宝座的赞颂，
音律抑扬生动，
都是在幽暗的内室，
发出初次的吟诵。
May 31
"Like a shock of corn fully ripe." (Job 5:26)
A gentleman, writing about the breaking up of old ships, recently said that it is not the age alone which improves the quality of the fiber in the wood of an old vessel, but the straining and wrenching of the vessel by the sea, the chemical action of the bilge water, and of many kinds of cargoes.
Some planks and veneers made from an oak beam which had been part of a ship eighty years old were exhibited a few years ago at a fashionable furniture store on Broadway, New York, and attracted general notice for the exquisite coloring and beautiful grain.
Equally striking were some beams of mahogany taken from a bark which sailed the seas sixty years ago. The years and the traffic had contracted the pores and deepened the color, until it looked as superb in its chromatic intensity as an antique Chinese vase. It was made into a cabinet, and has today a place of honor in the drawing-room of a wealthy New York family.
So there is a vast difference between the quality of old people who have lived flabby, self-indulgent, useless lives, and the fiber of those who have sailed all seas and carried all cargoes as the servants of God and the helpers of their fellow men.
Not only the wrenching and straining of life, but also something of the sweetness of the cargoes carried get into the very pores and fiber of character. --Louis Albert Banks.
When the sun goes below the horizon he is not set; the heavens glow for a full hour after his departure. And when a great and good man sets, the sky of this world is luminous long after he is out of sight. Such a man cannot die out of this world. When he goes he leaves behind him much of himself. Being dead, he speaks. –Beecher.
When Victor Hugo was past eighty years of age he gave expression to his religious faith in these sublime sentences: "I feel in myself the future life. I am like a forest which has been more than once cut down. The new shoots are livelier than ever. I am rising toward the sky. The sunshine is on my head. The earth gives me its generous sap, but Heaven lights me with its unknown worlds.
"You say the soul is nothing but the resultant of the bodily powers. Why, then, is my soul more luminous when my bodily powers begin to fail? Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. I breathe at this hour the fragrance of the lilacs, the violets, and the roses as at twenty years. The nearer I approach the end the plainer I hear around me the immortal symphonies of the worlds which invite me. It is marvelous, yet simple."
　
　 五月三十一日
“好象禾捆到时收藏”（伯五：25）。
　　有一个人提出了关于拆卸古老海船的报告，他说旧船木料质地之所以佳良，不仅因为年代久远，而且还因为船只曾在海上历受了种种的磨炼，以及它所接触的海水，所载的各种货品，使它发生了化学作用。
　　在纽约百老汇街一家时式家具店，展出了一些橡木板料，这些板料取材于一艘具有八十年历史的旧船的横梁，其色泽之美，纹理之精致，吸引了许多市民的注意参观。
　　还有一艘在六十年前航行海上的帆船，它那桃花心木的横梁，也非常出色。悠长的岁月和航行的历史，使木料气孔紧缩，颜色变深，它坚韧的质地，古趣盎然的色泽，可与中国古瓶比美。这木料如今在纽约一位富豪的客厅里制成了一个小小的暖阁，成为客厅中的尊贵之地。
　　由此看来，那些不经磨炼，悠悠忽忽，虚度一生的人们，和那些曾经沧海，载负过各种货物，事奉神而帮助人的基督徒，在性质上具有极大的差别。后者不仅有磨练的经验，他们所载运的货物中的甜蜜气质，也渗入了他们的待人接物的美德中。
　　太阳虽下了地平线，其实并未消逝，它离去以后，天上仍有整整一个小时的光亮。一位伟人和义人去世之后，他的踪迹虽逝，但他的音容宛在此世，他虽死了，他身后留下的一切对世有贡献的事物，虽死犹生。——皮邱
　　法国文豪雨果过了八十岁以后，他以下面的一段名言来表达他的心意说：“我感觉到未来的新生命。我象一度曾经数度砍伐的森林，而新的萌芽充满了前所未有的活泼生机。我升向天空，阳光照在我的头上。大地给我丰富的活力，天的光明四照，使我看清了神秘的宇宙万象”。
　　“你说灵魂不过是肉体力量的延长。那么为什么我的体力已开始衰退，而我的灵魂变得更为光明？冬季已临到我的头上，永恒的春季却在我的心头。此刻我呼吸着紫丁香，紫罗兰，和玫瑰花，就象在二十岁的时候一样，我愈接近人生的终点，愈能听清楚四周欢迎我的交响乐，欢迎我前往那不朽的世界。这虽属神奇，但道理却十分单纯”。
June 1
"This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing." (Isa. 28:12)
Why dost thou worry thyself? What use can thy fretting serve? Thou art on board a vessel which thou couldst not steer even if the great Captain put thee at the helm, of which thou couldst not so much as reef a sail, yet thou worriest as if thou wert captain and helmsman. Oh, be quiet; God is Master!
Dost thou think that all this din and hurly-burly that is abroad betokens that God has left His throne?
No, man, His coursers rush furiously on, and His chariot is the storm; but there is a bit between their jaws, and He holds the reins, and guides them as He wills! Jehovah is Master yet; believe it; peace be unto thee! be not afraid. --C. H. Spurgeon.
"Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
The storms are raging on God's deep--
God's deep, not thine; be still and sleep.
"Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God's hands shall still the tempter's sweep--
God's hands, not thine; be still and sleep.
"Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God's love is strong while night hours creep--
God's love, not thine; be still and sleep.
"Tonight, my soul, be still and sleep;
God's heaven will comfort those who weep--
God's heaven, not thine; be still and sleep."
I entreat you, give no place to despondency. This is a dangerous temptation--a refined, not a gross temptation of the adversary. Melancholy contracts and withers the heart, and renders it unfit to receive the impressions of grace. It magnifies and gives a false coloring to objects, and thus renders your burdens too heavy to bear. God's designs regarding you, and His methods of bringing about these designs, are infinitely wise. --Madame Guyon.　 
六月一日
“你们要使疲乏人得安息，这样的安息才得舒畅”（赛二十八：12直译）。
　　为什么你要挂虑呢？你的挂虑有什么用处呢？你现在好似一只大船上的乘客，你不会驾驶；就是船主——主耶稣——把你放在舵边，你也不会把它；你连将帆卷起来也不会；为什么你要担心好象你是船主，舵工，一般呢？哦，安息罢；主耶稣是船主！
　　你看见波浪翻腾，船身颠簸，就以为神已经离开了你！不，他始终在你的左右，波浪就是他的马车，马正在飞奔，可是它们都有羁勒，他握着缰绳，照他的意志驾驶着。耶和华是你的船长，只要信，不要怕，愿你平安。——司布真
灵魂哪，今夜要安心睡觉，
神的海上正沸腾着大风暴，
神自会安排，你只管安心睡觉。
灵魂哪，今夜要安心睡觉，
神的手会把恶魔的诱惑除掉，，
神自会安排，你只管安心睡觉。
灵魂哪，今夜要安心睡觉，
神的爱护在夜间特别周到，
神自会安排，你只管安心睡觉。
灵魂哪，今夜要安心睡觉，
神的天堂，会给哭泣者带来欢笑，
神自会安排，你只管安心睡觉。
　　我恳求你，不要为沮丧留地步。这是一个很危险的引诱——一个精巧的引诱。沮丧使你的心收缩枯萎，以至不能接受恩典。它把事情扩大，又描上凶险的颜色；使你觉得担子太重太难。请记得神在你身上的计划，和实现这些计划的方法，都是绝顶智慧的。——盖恩夫人
June 2
"For Abraham, when hope was gone, hoped on in faith. His faith never quailed." (Rom. 4:18, 19)
We shall never forget a remark that George Mueller once made to a gentleman who had asked him the best way to have strong faith.
"The only way," replied the patriarch of faith, "to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings." This is very true. The time to trust is when all else fails.
Dear one, you scarcely realize the value of your present opportunity; if you are passing through great afflictions you are in the very soul of the strongest faith, and if you will only let go, He will teach you in these hours the mightiest hold upon His throne which you can ever know.
"Be not afraid, only believe." And if you are afraid, just look up and say, "What time I am afraid I will trust in thee," and you will yet thank God for the school of sorrow which was to you the school of faith. --A. B. Simpson.
"Great faith must have great trials."
"God's greatest gifts come through travail. Whether we look into the spiritual or temporal sphere, can we discover anything, any great reform, any beneficent discovery, any soul-awakening revival, which did not come through the toils and tears, the vigils and blood-shedding of men and women whose sufferings were the pangs of its birth? If the temple of God is raised, David must bear sore afflictions; if the Gospel of the grace of God is to be disentangled from Jewish tradition, Paul's life must be one long agony."
"Take heart, O weary, burdened one, bowed down
Beneath thy cross;
Remember that thy greatest gain may come 
Through greatest loss.
Thy life is nobler for a sacrifice, 
And more divine.
Acres of bloom are crushed to make a drop
Of perfume fine.
"Because of storms that lash the ocean waves,
The waters there
Keep purer than if the heavens o'erhead
Were always fair.
The brightest banner of the skies floats not
At noonday warm;
The rainbow traileth after thunder-clouds,
And after storm."　
　 六月二日
“他在无可指望的时候因信仍有指望……他的信心还是不软弱”（罗四：18/19）。
　　记得有一次有人问莫勒（George Mueller）先生如何可得坚强的信心。这位信心之王答复说：“只有一个方法，就是忍受试炼。我个人学得信心，都是因为在凶险的试炼中站住的缘故”。这话是真实的。当一切都无可靠的时候，才是信靠神的时候。
　　亲爱的，你太轻看你目前的机会了；你现在所受的苦难，就是学得坚强信心的学校；神要在那里教导你怎样在绝望中抓住他的施恩宝座。
　“不要怕，只要信”（可五：36）。什么时候你怕，什么时候你就抬头向天说：“什么时候我怕，什么时候我更要信靠你”。这样，你就会感谢神了，因为苦难的学校就是信心的学校。——宣信
　　大的信心必经大的试炼。
　　神的最大赐予，都要经过了苦痛方能得到。无论从精神的领域，或人世的领域去观察，任何伟大的事业与改革，有益的发明与复兴，没有一样不是来自人类的辛苦，不眠不休，流血流泪呢？那一件事物的产生，不是先有如生产之痛苦呢？要树立神的殿，大卫必须承受酷烈的痛苦；要使神的福音和犹太传统分离圣别，保罗的一生必须经历长期的磨难。
辛劳的人，鼓起你的勇气，
十字架压得你挺不直身子，
要记住，你最大的收获，
可能得自最大的辛勤。
牺牲使生命更高贵更神圣，
几亩地的花只榨出一滴香醇。
如果没有暴风鞭打着海洋，
空中永远是平晴无云，
如何还有浪花的晶光明亮？
最美丽的云不在中午飘扬；
在雷雨和风云之后，
彩虹才放出它的光芒。
June 3
"Let us pass over unto the other side." (Mark 4:35)
Even when we go forth at Christ's command, we need not expect to escape storms; for these disciples were going forth at Christ's command, yet they encountered the fiercest storm and were in great danger of being overwhelmed, so that they cried out in their distress for Christ's assistance.
Though Christ may delay His coming in our time of distress, it is only that our faith may be tried and strengthened, and that our prayers may be more intense, and that our desires for deliverance may be increased, so that when the deliverance does come we will appreciate it more fully.
Christ gave them a gentle rebuke, saying, "Where is your faith?" Why did you not shout victory in the very face of the storm, and say to the raging winds and rolling waves, "You can do no harm, for Christ, the mighty Savior is on board"?
It is much easier to trust when the sun is shining than when the storm is raging.
We never know how much real faith we have until it is put to the test in some fierce storm; and that is the reason why the Savior is on board.
If you are ever to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, your strength will be born in some storm. --Selected.
"With Christ in the vessel,
I smile at the storm."
Christ said, "Let us go to the other side"--not to the middle of the lake to be drowned. --Dan Crawford.
　 　 六月三日
“我们渡到那边去罢”（可四：35）。
　　我们就是遵着神的命令出去，我们还是不能盼望不遇见患难的；这些门徒听从主的命令出去，他们还是遭遇了顶危险的暴雨，甚至他们大声急呼主的拯救。
　　虽然在我们顶紧急的时候，主还耽延他的拯救，但是他的目的乃是要使我们的信心经过试炼，而更增强；使我们的祷告更加虔诚；使我们得拯救的渴望更加迫切；使我们从此更重视主的拯救。
　　主给他们一个温柔的责备，说：“你们的信心何在”？意思就是说：你们为什么不向狂风怒涛夸胜说：“你们不能伤害我们，因为主在船上呢”！
　　在日光中信靠，比在风波中信靠，容易得多。
　　若不放我们在试炼中，我们决不会知道我们自己有多少信心。所以救主要一同与我们坐船。倘若你经常因主而坚强起来，你的力量将在暴风雨中诞生。
“与主同舟，我复何忧！
笑彼风浪，岂能为仇”？
　　基督耶稣说：“我们渡到那边去吧“。他不是说任凭我们沉在水里。
June 4
"The Lord caused the sea to go back…alll that night." (Exod. 14:21)
In this verse there is a comforting message showing how God works in the dark. The real work of God for the children of Israel, was not when they awakened and found that they could get over the Red Sea; but it was "all that night."
So there may be a great working in your life when it all seems dark and you cannot see or trace, but yet God is working. Just as truly did He work "all that night," as all the next day. The next day simply manifested what God had done during the night. Is there anyone reading these lines who may have gotten to a place where it seems dark? You believe to see, but you are not seeing. In your life-progress there is not constant victory; the daily, undisturbed communion is not there, and all seems dark.
"The Lord caused the sea to go back…all that night." Do not forget that it was "all that night." God works all the night, until the light comes. You may not see it, but all that "night" in your life, as you believe God, He works. --C. H. P.
"All that night" the Lord was working,
Working in the tempest blast,
Working with the swelling current,
Flooding, flowing, free and fast.
"All that night" God's children waited--
Hearts, perhaps in agony--
With the enemy behind them,
And, in front, the cruel sea.
"All that night" seemed blacker darkness
Than they ever saw before,
Though the light of God's own presence
Near them was, and sheltered o'er.
"All that night" that weary vigil
Passed; the day at last did break,
And they saw that God was working
"All that night" a path to make.
"All that night," O child of sorrow,
Canst thou not thy heartbreak stay?
Know thy God in darkest midnight
Works, as well as in the day.
--L. S. P.
　 六月四日
“耶和华…使海水一夜退去”（出十四：21）。
　　在这节圣经中有一个宝贵的信息，就是神在黑暗中工作。神当初为他的选民以色列人所行的神迹，并非在白昼，乃是在黑夜——在看不见，摸不到，觉不得的时候。
　　照样也许你的生活，在你的黑暗中，虽然你看不见什么，可是神正在工作。等天一亮，你就会象当初的以色列人一般，看见水已退去，有一条干路，在顶危险的环境中，要带你平安过去。
　　亲爱的读者，有没有人正处在似若黑暗的环境中？你相信能够看见，但此时看不见。你生命的长进，不会永远顺利；此时已失去了往常的和谐，似乎一切都黑暗无光。
　　“耶和华……使海水一夜退去。”要记住“一夜”两个字。神整夜作工，直到天亮。你也许看不见，但由于你信神，他在你生命中的这“一夜”，正在工作。
那一夜，神整夜作工，
工作在暴风雨吹打之中，
其时海水高涨，
浪潮汹涌，狂流激冲。
那一夜，神的子民在等待，
他们心中痛苦和愤慨，
后面有敌人在追赶，
前面却是茫茫的大海。
那一夜，无比的黑暗，
为他们前所未见，
虽然神的光明就在旁，
冥冥之中保护他们。
那一夜，焦急又疲困，
但终于过去，到了天光破晓，
他们看见神的大作为，
一夜之间已把拯救之路铺好。
那一夜，哀恸的子民，
你岂不应当停止伤心，
要知道神的工作在最黑的夜，
正如白天一样的辛劳。
June 5
"Make thy petition deep." (Isa. 7:11, margin)
Make thy petition deep, O heart of mine,
Thy God can do much more
Than thou canst ask;
Launch out on the Divine,
Draw from His love-filled store.
Trust Him with everything;
Begin today,
And find the joy that comes
When Jesus has His way! --Selected.
We must keep on praying and waiting upon the Lord, until the sound of a mighty rain is heard. There is no reason why we should not ask for large things; and without doubt we shall get large things if we ask in faith, and have the courage to wait with patient perservance upon Him, meantime doing those things which lie within our power to do.
We cannot create the wind or set it in motion, but we can set our sails to catch it when it comes; we cannot make the electricity, but we can stretch the wire along upon which it is to run and do its work; we cannot, in a word, control the Spirit, but we can so place ourselves before the Lord, and so do the things He has bidden us do, that we will come under the influence and power of His mighty breath. --Selected.
"Cannot the same wonders be done now as of old? Where is the God of Elijah. He is waiting for Elijah to call on Him."
The greatest saints who ever lived, whether under the Old or New Dispensation, are on a level which is quite within our reach. The same forces of the spiritual world which were at their command, and the exertion of which made them such spiritual heroes, are open to us also. If we had the same faith, the same hope, the same love which they exhibited, we would achieve marvels as great as those which they achieved. A word of prayer in our mouths would be as potent to call down the gracious dews and melting fires of God's Spirit, as it was in Elijah's mouth to call down literal rain and fire, if we could only speak the word with that full assurance of faith wherewith he said it. --Dr. Goulburn, Dean of Norwich.
　 　 六月五日
“求得深”（赛七：11直译）。
哦，我的心哪，求得更深，
神之大作为，远超我所求，
在神宝库中，充满慈爱忱。
速从今日起，惟主可全信，
求主必须诚，欢乐永无尽。
　　我们必须继续祈求和等候神，直到听见了回音。断乎没有理由可以禁止我们祈求重大的事物。如果我们用信心祈求，用耐心等候，我们必能从神那里如愿以偿的求得。
　　我们不能造风，或使风吹动，但在有风的时候，我们可以张起帆篷来利用风；我们亦不能制造电，但我们可以架设电线来引导使之流通。换言之，我们不能控制圣灵，但可以陈情于主前，遵照神旨，我们在他万能之下得到圣灵的大能来充满。
　　古时的神迹，能否重演于今日？以利亚的神在何处？以利亚的神正等待今天的以利亚去呼求他。
　　历世历代的古圣徒，他们所能得到的圣灵的力量，今天我们都能得到。如果我们有他们那样的信心，他们那样的盼望，他们那样的爱心，他们那样的忍耐，我们也必得到他们所得到的神迹。
　　倘使我们秉着以利亚祈祷时的坚定信心，我们也有能力唤下圣灵的火和雨，象以利亚一样。——哥尔本
June 6
"Watch unto prayer." (1 Peter 4:7)
Go not, my friend, into the dangerous world without prayer. You kneel down at night to pray, drowsiness weighs down your eyelids; a hard day's work is a kind of excuse, and you shorten your prayer, and resign yourself softly to repose. The morning breaks; and it may be you rise late, and so your early devotions are not done, or are done with irregular haste.
No watching unto prayer! Wakefulness once more omitted; and now is that reparable? We solemnly believe not.
There has been that done which cannot be undone. You have given up your prayer, and you will suffer for it.
Temptation is before you, and you are not ready to meet it. There is a guilty feeling on the soul, and you linger at a distance from God. It is no marvel if that day in which you suffer drowsiness to interfere with prayer be a day in which you shrink from duty.
Moments of prayer intruded on by sloth cannot be made up. We may get experience, but we cannot get back the rich freshness and strength which were wrapped up in those moments. --Frederick W. Robertson.
If Jesus, the strong Son of God, felt it necessary to rise before the breaking of the day to pour out His heart to God in prayer, how much more ought you to pray unto Him who is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, and who has promised all things necessary for our good.
What Jesus gathered into His life from His prayers we can never know; but this we do know, that the prayerless life is a powerless life. A prayerless life may be a noisy life, and fuss around a great deal; but such a life is far removed from Him who, by day and night, prayed to God. --Selected.　
　 六月六日
“你们要……儆醒祷告”（彼前四：7）。
　　朋友，不要冒险和世界接触，如果你还没有祷告。当你晚上跪下祷告的时候，瞌睡前来压在你眼脸上；一天辛苦的工作成了你的托辞，你就缩短你的祷告，从神前退去休息了。到了早晨，因为起身迟了，一天的工作已经堆在你面前，你又向神通融一下，匆匆促促把晨间最宝贵的交通草率了事。
　　你一点都不儆醒祷告！你忽略了儆醒；这样的忽略能不能补救的呢？不能！
　　你不儆醒祷告，是一件何等严重的事！试探在你面前，你无法对付。仇敌在前引诱，你无法站住。四周的压迫你无法忍耐。和神的交通你无法维持。和同作肢体的生了隔膜。在不信的人前失了见证。属灵的能力消失。爱主的心冷淡。作事凭自己的喜好，不凭神的旨意。你会觉得你和神离得非常遥远。不祷告一天，等于堕落一天。
　　祷告的时候，如此因疲倦为籍口，敷衍了事，你的损失是无法弥补的，这一天或许照常过去，但包含在祷告里的新鲜力量，却没有你的分了。——劳勃生
　　信徒们，不要作无谓的冒险，把儆醒祷告这件事忽略了。神的独生子耶稣基督尚且需要天未亮即起身祷告把他心中的事向神倾倒出来，何况我们呢？神是种种美德的赐与者，他曾有应许，要把一切最上好的赐给我们。
　　主耶稣籍着祷告而充实了属灵的生命，我们不太明了，但是我们却实知道不祷告的生命，是没有力量的生命。不祷告的生命可能在外表忙忙碌碌，但是却远离了日夜为我们向神代求的救主耶稣基督了。
June 7
"Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night." (Job 35:10)
Do you have sleepless nights, tossing on the hot pillow, and watching for the first glint of dawn? Ask the Divine Spirit to enable you to fix your thoughts on God your Maker, and believe that He can fill those lonely, dreary hours with song.
Is yours the night of bereavement? Is it not often at such a time that God draws near, and assures the mourner that the Lord has need of the departed loved one, and called "the eager, earnest spirit to stand in the bright throng of the invisible, liberated, radiant, active, intent on some high mission"; and as the thought enters, is there not the beginning of a song?
Is yours the night of discouragement and fancied or actual failure? No one understands you, your friends reproach; but your Maker draws nigh, and gives you a song--a song of hope, the song which is harmonious with the strong, deep music of His providence. Be ready to sing the songs that your Maker gives. --Selected.
"What then? Shall we sit idly down and say
The night hath come; it is no longer day? 
Yet as the evening twilight fades away, 
The sky is filled with stars, invisible to day."
The strength of the vessel can be demonstrated only by the hurricane, and the power of the Gospel can be fully shown only when the Christian is subjected to some fiery trial. If God would make manifest the fact that "He giveth songs in the night," He must first make it night. --William Taylor.　
　 六月七日
“造我的神在那里。他使人夜间歌唱”（伯三十五：10）。
　　你是不是睡不着，在枕上翻来翻去，等待天亮呢？求神的灵使你的思想集中于神，信他能使你在难过，寂寞的黑夜中歌唱。
　　你的失眠，是不是因为失去了亲爱者呢？岂不知道你的神这时正亲近你要你知道离你的已经平安在神那里，并且快乐远胜在地；当这种思想进来的时候岂不是你立刻会开始唱歌么？
　　你的失眠，是不是因为灰心，或思想将来的失败呢？果然，没有人谅解你，亲朋不顾怜你；岂不知道你的神这时正亲近你，领你唱歌——一首得胜歌。预备你的声音和他同唱。——选
怎样呢，我们坐着不动吗？
只是叹息黑夜幽冥，
因为不是白天，无意诵吟？
然而在暮色笼罩之后，
天空却显出了白天所无的繁星。
　　轮船的力量在风浪中才能彰显完全，基督的得胜在火般的试炼中才能彰显得完全。如果神要　“使人夜间歌唱”，他必须先造夜。——戴威廉
June 8
"For every child of God overcomes the world: and the victorious principle which has overcome the world is our faith." (1 John 5:4) (Weymouth)
At every turn in the road one can find something that will rob him of his victory and peace of mind, if he permits it. Satan is a long way from having retired from the business of deluding and ruining God's children if he can. At every milestone it is well to look carefully to the thermometer of one's experience, to see whether the temperature is well up.
Sometimes a person can, if he will, actually snatch victory from the very jaws of defeat, if he will resolutely put his faith up at just the right moment.
Faith can change any situation. No matter how dark it is, no matter what the trouble may be, a quick lifting of the heart to God in a moment of real, actual faith in Him, will alter the situation in a moment.
God is still on His throne, and He can turn defeat into victory in a second of time, if we really trust Him.
"When one has faith, one does not retire; one stops the enemy where he finds him." --Marshal Foch.
　 六月八日
“因为凡从神生的，就胜过世界。使我们胜了世界的，就是我们的信心”（约壹五：4）。
　　在基督徒的路程中，每一处都有网罗和陷阱，使他跌倒，堕落，失去胜利，失去平安。撒但从不肯告退，放弃他攻击，诱惑，毁灭神儿女的事业的。所以，我们该在途中随时检查自己有否失去得胜。
　　有时我们能，若是我们愿意，在狮子的口中反败为胜，如果我们在千钧一发之际运用信心。
　　信心能造时势，改环境。无论如何黑，无论如何凶危，只要用信心和神作一敏捷的联合，胜败立刻因之一变。
　　神始终在他的宝座上，他能在一秒钟之内转败为胜，如果我们真信靠他。
　　一个有信心的人，从不向后退的；他在遇见仇敌的地方，立刻阻拦仇敌前进。——福煦
June 9
"Feed on his faithfulness." (Psalm 37:3, R.V.)
I once met a poor colored woman, who earned a precarious living by hard daily labor; but who was a joyous triumphant Christian. "Ah, Nancy," said a gloomy Christian lady to her one day, "it is well enough to be happy now; but I should think the thoughts of your future would sober you.
"Only suppose, for instance, you should have a spell of sickness, and be unable to work; or suppose your present employers should move away, and no one else should give you anything to do; or suppose--"
"Stop!" cried Nancy, "I never supposes. De Lord is my Shepherd, and I knows I shall not want. And, Honey," she added, to her gloomy friend, "it's all dem supposes as is makin' you so mis'able. You'd better give dem all up, and just trust de Lord."
There is one text that will take all the "supposes" out of a believer's life, if it be received and acted on in childlike faith; it is Hebrews 13:5, 6: "Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." --H. W. S.
"There's a stream of trouble across my path;
It is black and deep and wide.
Bitter the hour the future hath
When I cross its swelling tide.
But I smile and sing and say:
'I will hope and trust alway;
I'll bear the sorrow that comes tomorrow,
But I'll borrow none today.'
"Tomorrow's bridge is a dangerous thing;
I dare not cross it now.
I can see its timbers sway and swing,
And its arches reel and bow.
O heart, you must hope alway;
You must sing and trust and say:
'I'll bear the sorrow that comes tomorrow,
But I'll borrow none today."'
The eagle that soars in the upper air does not worry itself as to how it is to cross rivers. --Selected.
　 六月九日
“以他的信实为粮”（诗三十七：3）。
　　我认识一位黑种妇人，她是做佣工的，生活很艰难；然而她是一个顶喜乐的基督徒。有一天，一个善于忧郁的姊妹问她说：“南茜，现在你固然快乐；可是我替你担心将来的前途；说来或许会使你伤心。
　“假若你生病了，不能工作了；假若你的东家辞退你了，没有别人雇用你了，假若…”“够了，太太”！她打岔说：“我从来不“假若”的。耶和华是我的牧者，我必不至缺乏。你有了这许多“假若”，自然不会喜乐了。丢弃它们罢，信靠你的神”。
　　只消两节圣经，就可以使我们丢弃一切难丢弃的“假若”，如果我们用孩子般简单的信去接受它们。请读希伯来书十三章五节六节：“要以自己所有的为足。因为主曾说，我总不撇下你，也不丢弃你。所有我们可以放胆说，主是帮助我的，我必不惧怕；人能把我怎样呢”？信徒只要以单纯的信心接受这段经文，让神的话在你里面发生效力，就能除去所有的“假若”了。
灾难横在我的路上，如一道洪流，
既深且广，黑暗凄凉，
在它浪潮高涨之时，我必须渡过，
未来的困苦将不堪思索。
但我一面欢唱一面说道：
“我将以希望之心永远信靠；
我愿承受明日的痛苦，
今天无须预先悲悼”。
明天的桥，险象环生，
走过去时会胆战心惊，
它的桥板幌幌然摇动，
它的拱梁如摆如倾。
哦，我的心哪，要永远信靠，
必须欢唱，希望，并且说道：
“我愿承受明日的苦难，
今天我无须预先悲伤”。
　　高飞天空的鹫鹰，从不挂虑它将怎样渡过江河。——选
June 10
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." (Rom. 8:28)
How wide is this assertion of the Apostle Paul! He does not say, "We know that some things," or "most things," or "joyous things," but "ALL things." From the minutest to the most momentous; from the humblest event in daily providence to the great crisis hours in grace.
And all things "work"--they are working; not all things have worked, or shall work; but it is a present operation.
At this very moment, when some voice may be saying, "Thy judgments are a great deep," the angels above, who are watching the development of the great plan, are with folded wings exclaiming, "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." (Psa. 145:17)
And then all things "work together." It is a beautiful blending. Many different colors, in themselves raw and unsightly, are required in order to weave the harmonious pattern.
Many separate tones and notes of music, even discords and dissonances, are required to make up the harmonious anthem.
Many separate wheels and joints are required to make the piece of machinery. Take a thread separately, or a note separately, or a wheel or a tooth of a wheel separately, and there may be neither use nor beauty discernible.
But complete the web, combine the notes, put together the separate parts of steel and iron, and you see how perfect and symmetrical is the result. Here is the lesson for faith: "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." –Macduff.
In one thousand trials it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer's good, but nine hundred and ninety-nine of them, and one beside. --George Mueller.
"GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD" (Gen. 50:20).
"God meant it unto good"--O blest assurance,
Falling like sunshine all across life's way,
Touching with Heaven's gold earth's darkest storm clouds,
Bringing fresh peace and comfort day by day.
'Twas not by chance the hands of faithless brethren
Sold Joseph captive to a foreign land;
Nor was it chance which, after years of suffering,
Brought him before the monarch's throne to stand.
One Eye all-seeing saw the need of thousands,
And planned to meet it through that one lone soul;
And through the weary days of prison bondage
Was working towards the great and glorious goal.
As yet the end was hidden from the captive,
The iron entered even to his soul;
His eye could scan the present path of sorrow,
Not yet his gaze might rest upon the whole.
Faith failed not through those long, dark days of waiting,
His trust in God was recompensed at last,
The moment came when God led forth his servant
To succour many, all his sufferings past.
"God means it unto good" for thee, beloved,
The God of Joseph is the same today;
His love permits afflictions strange and bitter,
His hand is guiding through the unknown way.
Thy Lord, who sees the end from the beginning,
Hath purposes for thee of love untold.
Then place thy hand in His and follow fearless,
Till thou the riches of His grace behold.
There, when thou standest in the Home of Glory,
And all life's path ties open to thy gaze,
Thine eyes shall SEE the hand which now thou trustest,
And magnify His love through endless days.
--Freda Hanbury Allen.
　 六月十日
“我们晓得万事都互相效力，叫爱神的人得益处”（罗八：28）。
　　使徒保罗所说的范围何其广阔！他不是说“我们晓得有几件事”，或者“多数的事”，或者“快乐的事”，他乃是说“万事”。从至微的事到至大的事，从至可爱的事到至可怕的事。
　　“万事都互相效力”——它们正在“互相效力”；并不是“万事已经互相效力”，或者　“将要互相效力”；这里所用的动词是现在式。
　恐怕这时有人要说：“耶和华阿…你的判断，如同深渊”（诗三十六：6）；可是天使在天上答应说：“耶和华在他一切所行的，无不公义，在他一切所作的，都有慈爱”（诗一四五：17）。
　　“万事都互相效力”。所以顶不悦目的黑色和灰色也是必须的；有了它们，才可以使你们图画美丽。
　　悲音和哀调是必须的；有了它们，才可以使你的音乐动听。
　　各种的齿轮和枢纽都是必须的；有了它们，才可以使你的机器活动。你若把每一根线一个音符，一组齿轮拆了开来，那就没有效用可言，也没有美感可言；但是把各色的线编织起来，各种的音符结合并和谐起来，各组机器零件齿轮装配起来，你可以发现它们的结果是多么的完美和调和！
　　今天我们所学的信心的功课乃是：“我所作的，你如今不知道，后来必明白”（约十三：7）。——马克夫
　　在一千件试炼中，并不是五百件是叫爱神的人得益处的；乃是九百九十九件加上一件，能叫爱神的人得益处。——莫勒
“神的意思是好的”。（创五十：20）
“神的意思是好的”这是幸福的保证，
像阳光一样普照人间的生命，
它给地上的阴云抹上了天堂的金辉，
每天带来新的安慰和安宁。
约瑟被不义的长兄们贩卖，
以致流落异邦，这决非偶然。
经过了多年的磨难与困辱，
他得召见于帝王座前，更非偶然。
锁镣深深桎梏了他的灵魂，
但那俘囚看不见终极目标，
只有眼前的折磨与苦痛，
注意不到全部意义的崇高。
神的眼目遍察千万人的需要，
他的计划以一人来应召，
为了那伟大光荣的终极目标，
先要经过监狱中的锁链铁镣。
他在黑暗中长期等待而不沮丧，
他对神的信心终于得到补偿，
到了时候，神差遣这位忠仆，
去救助众人，就可把痛苦丢光。
对于你，“神的意思原是好的，
约瑟的神就是今天的神，
他让你受了奇酷的磨折，
他一直在艰难的路上给你指示。
你的主从开头看到终极，
对你有说不尽的爱的目的，
让他牵着你手，勇敢地跟随他，
直到你认识他的恩情永无止息。
当你站在光荣的天堂边，
一生的经历展露在你眼前，
你必看到你如今信靠的手，
你必发扬他的爱永世绵延。
June 11
"The servant of the Lord must be gentle." (2 Tim. 2:24)
When God conquers us and takes all the flint out of our nature, and we get deep visions into the Spirit of Jesus, we then see as never before the great rarity of gentleness of spirit in this dark and unheavenly world.
The graces of the Spirit do not settle themselves down upon us by chance, and if we do not discern certain states of grace, and choose them, and in our thoughts nourish them, they never become fastened in our nature or behavior.
Every advance step in grace must be preceded by first apprehending it, and then a prayerful resolve to have it.
So few are willing to undergo the suffering out of which thorough gentleness comes. We must die before we are turned into gentleness, and crucifixion involves suffering; it is a real breaking and crushing of self, which wrings the heart and conquers the mind.
There is a good deal of mere mental and logical sanctification nowadays, which is only a religious fiction. It consists of mentally putting one's self on the altar, and then mentally saying the altar sanctifies the gift, and then logically concluding therefore one is sanctified; and such an one goes forth with a gay, flippant, theological prattle about the deep things of God.
But the natural heartstrings have not been snapped, and the Adamic flint has not been ground to powder, and the bosom has not throbbed with the lonely, surging sighs of Gethsemane; and not having the real death marks of Calvary, there cannot be that soft, sweet, gentle, floating, victorious, overflowing, triumphant life that flows like a spring morning from an empty tomb. --G. D. W.
"And great grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33)
六月十一日
“主的仆人不可争竞，只要温温和和的待众人”（提后二：24）。
　　是神征服了我们，驱除了我们人性中一切残酷无情的因素，使我们对耶稣的灵有了深刻的认识，于是我们在这黑暗的世间，了解了温柔敦厚的气质，何等的珍贵！
　　这种圣灵的恩赐，并非偶然的机运降临到我们身上。我们若认识不清，不去选取，在我们的思想里不去培养发展，则它们永远不会深入我们的性格，或见之于行为。
　　在这恩典里欲求长进，必先领悟它，并且继续不断以坚定的祷告才能得到。
　　很少人愿意接受苦难，然而纯洁的温和，却是从苦难中产生的，欲养成我们的温和性格，必须经历十字架，也就是把“自我”破碎，内心经过一番的扭绞，而把优良的气质转变过来。
现时有许多仅仅属乎心理上和逻辑上的圣洁化，这不是真正的属灵的圣洁，或可名之曰“伪装的圣洁”，它经过的程序如下：先在心目中把自己供上圣坛，然后在心里上假定凡圣坛上的都会使供物成为圣洁，于是以逻辑推得结论，自己已经圣洁了，这个人就以浅薄的神学理论而大谈神的深义。
然而先天的恶心并未脱体，原始的罪性并未破碎，他胸怀中并没有“客西马尼”园中的孤独，也没有“各各他”地真正钉死的标志，他决不能获得那种轻柔，甜蜜，温和等等美德的生命，真象基督复活的生命一样。
“众人也都蒙大恩”。（徒四：33）
June 12
"In everything ye are enriched by him." (1 Cor. 1:5)
Have you ever seen men and women whom some disaster drove to a great act of prayer, and by and by the disaster was forgotten, but the sweetness of religion remained and warmed their souls?
So have I seen a storm in later spring; and all was black, save where the lightning tore the cloud with thundering rent.
The winds blew and the rains fell, as though heaven had opened its windows. What a devastation there was! Not a spider's web that was out of doors escaped the storm, which tore up even the strong-branched oak.
But ere long the lightning had gone by, the thunder was spent and silent, the rain was over, the western wind came up with its sweet breath, the clouds were chased away, and the retreating storm threw a scarf of rainbows over her fair shoulders and resplendent neck, and looked back and smiled, and so withdrew and passed out of sight.
But for weeks long the fields held up their bands full of ambrosial flowers, and all the summer through the grass was greener, the brooks were fuller, and the trees cast a more umbrageous shade, because the storm passed by--though all the rest of the earth had long ago forgotten the storm, its rainbows and its rain. --Theodore Parker.
God may not give us an easy journey to the Promised Land, but He will give us a safe one.--Bonar.
It was a storm that occasioned the discovery of the gold mines of India. Hath not a storm driven some to the discovery of the richer mines of the love of God in Christ?
Is it raining, little flower?
Be glad of rain;
Too much sun would wither thee;
'Twill shine again.
The clouds are very black, 'tis true;
But just behind them shines the blue.
Art thou weary, tender heart? 
Be glad of pain:
In sorrow sweetest virtues grow, 
As flowers in rain.
God watches, and thou wilt have sun,
When clouds their perfect work have done.
--Lucy Larcom.
　 六月十二日
“因你们在他里面凡事富足……”（林前一：5）。
　　有人在灾难中或逼迫中的时候，驱使他们作了虔诚的祈祷，但不久难处过去，他记忆中的痕迹亦退去，可是对于神对他们呼求而保守他们的甘甜，仍留存心头，永远温暖他们的心灵；你曾否看见过这样的信徒吗？
　　我曾经历过暮春时节的一场暴风雨，它所启示的意义，很值得拿来印证一下：那日黑云蔽天，云层中闪闪的电光外整个大地都被黑暗笼罩了。
　　暴风怒吼，大雨如注，好像天上开了许多大洞。何等可怕的一场风雨，屋檐前的蛛网亦无一幸存，就是粗枝大叶的橡树都被连根拔起。
　　但不久雷声渐稀，闪电亦竭，风收雨止，云开天晴，轻轻的西风带来清新的空气，阵雨业已过去，留下半圆弧形的彩虹，悬挂在天际。
经过这场风雨的洗礼之后，有好多日子，田野开满了芬芳的花卉，整个夏天，青草长得更为葱绿，溪水更为充足，然而都早已忘记了这场风雨和当时的彩虹。
神引导我们走到蒙福之地去的路，也许不易行走，但他会给我们预备一条安全的路。
有一场暴风雨曾帮助人们发现了印度的金矿，难道没有暴风雨促使人们在基督里发现那更丰富的宝藏。神的爱！
小小的花，雨从天而下，
你要喜欢它的倾泻，
太多的阳光会使你枯萎，
你可等它重现光华。
此刻乌云诚属黑暗，
背后却是蔚蓝如画。
温柔的心，你是否倦了？
你要喜欢苦痛的缠绕，
悲恸产生了美德，
像雨中长出的花草。
乌云完成了使命，
阳光依旧如此美好。——拉康
June 13
"My own peace I give to you." (John 14:27) (Weymouth)
Two painters each painted a picture to illustrate his conception of rest. The first chose for his scene a still, lone lake among the far-off mountains.
The second threw on his canvas a thundering waterfall, with a fragile birch tree bending over the foam; and at the fork of the branch, almost wet with the cataract's spray, sat a robin on its nest.
The first was only stagnation; the last was rest.
Christ's life outwardly was one of the most troubled lives that ever lived: tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time until the worn body was laid in the grave. But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there.
At any moment you might have gone to Him and found rest. And even when the human bloodhounds were dogging Him in the streets of Jerusalem, He turned to His disciples and offered them, as a last legacy, "My peace."
Rest is not a hallowed feeling that comes over us in church; it is the repose of a heart set deep in God. –Drummond.
My peace I give in times of deepest grief,
Imparting calm and trust and My relief.
My peace I give when prayer seems lost, unheard;
Know that My promises are ever in My Word.
My peace I give when thou art left alone--
The nightingale at night has sweetest tone.
My peace I give in time of utter loss,
The way of glory leads right to the cross.
My peace I give when enemies will blame,
Thy fellowship is sweet through cruel shame.
My peace I give in agony and sweat,
For mine own brow with bloody drops was wet.
My peace I give when nearest friend betrays--
Peace that is merged in love, and for them prays.
My peace I give when there's but death for thee--
The gateway is the cross to get to Me.
--L. S. P.
　 　 六月十三日
“我将我的平安赐给你们”（约十四：27）。
　　有两个画家，相约各绘一幅画，表露安息之意。第一个画家画下一个大湖，风静浪平，湖面如镜；山上的美景在水中映得清清楚楚。
第二个画家画下一片极大的瀑布，旁边有一棵小灌木的枝子弯在水中；它顶端的分枝上搁着一个小巢（几乎被浪花浸湿），中间睡着一只知更雀。
第一幅画仅是停滞；第二幅画才是安息。要有安息，须先有安息的对象。
基督在地上的生活，外表无时无刻不在患难和危险之中；可是他里面的生活却是极端安息的。所以十字架就在前面，他仍能对他的门徒说：“我将我的平安赐给你们”。
安息并不是我们坐在礼拜堂的那种肃静；安息乃是我们的心在神里面得着休息。——屈伦梦
在你最悲痛时，我赐予平安：
教导你宁静，坚信，和我的救援。
在你祈祷似若无望时，我赐予平安；
应知我的话里，永远有我的应许。
在你孤立无援时，我赐予平安。
夜间的莺声最显得玉润珠圆。
在你全功尽弃时，我赐予平安，
荣耀之道，通往十字架的凯旋。
在你受毁谤时，我赐予平安，
残酷的侮辱，加强了你与神的关连。
在你流血流汗时，我赐予平安，
因为我的额上，也曾血迹斑斑。
在你被知己出卖时，我赐予平安，
平安生于爱心，为他们祷告上天。
在你面临死亡时，我赐予平安，
投奔我的关口是十字架的苦难。
June 14
"I have prayed that your own faith may not fail." (Luke 22:32)
Christian, take good care of thy faith, for recollect that faith is the only means whereby thou canst obtain blessings. Prayer cannot draw down answers from God's throne except it be the earnest prayer of the man who believes.
Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth to Heaven, on which God's messages of love fly so fast that before we call He answers, and while we are yet speaking He hears us. But if that telegraphic wire of faith be snapped, how can we obtain the promise?
Am I in trouble? I can obtain help for trouble by faith. Am I beaten about by the enemy? My soul on her dear Refuge leans by faith.
But take faith away, then in vain I call to God. There is no other road betwixt my soul and Heaven. Blockade the road, and how can I communicate with the Great King?
Faith links me with Divinity. Faith clothes me with the power of Jehovah. Faith insures every attribute of God in my defense. It helps me to defy the hosts of hell. It makes me march triumphant over the necks of my enemies. But without faith how can I receive anything from the Lord?
Oh, then, Christian, watch well thy faith. "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." --C. H. Spurgeon.
We boast of being so practical a people that we want to have a surer thing than faith. But did not Paul say that the promise was by FAITH that it might be SURE? (Romans 4:16) --Dan Crawford.
Faith honors God; God honors faith.
　 六月十四日
“我已经为你祈求叫你不至于失了信心”（路二十二：32）。
　　基督徒，当心你的信心，因为只有信心能使你得着上面来的祝福。祷告不能叫你从神的宝座上得着什么，除非祷告有信心。
　　信心是连天接地的电线；藉它，我们可以传达我们的请求给神，神可以传达他爱的答应给我们。如果信心的电线折断了，我们怎样能得到神的答应呢？
　　我现在在患难中间么？我可以藉信心得到帮助。我现在将被仇敌打败么？我可以藉信心躲在天父的背后。
　　没有信心，我便无法呼求神。它是通天唯一之路。如果阻塞了，我怎能和神交通呢？
　　信心使我和天接触。信心使我披戴耶和华的能力。信心使“神……帮助我们”（罗八：31）。它使我消灭阴府的势力。它使我践踏蛇首龙体。哦，没有它，我不知要到什么地步！
　　所以，基督徒，当心你的信心。“你若能信，在信的人，凡事都能”（可九：23）。——司布真
我们自称为“重视现实”的民族，于是要求比信心更摸得到的东西，可是保罗不是说过的吗？
他说：“本乎信…叫应许定然归给一切后裔”（罗四：16）。
信心尊重神；神尊重信心。——选
June 15
"For God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." (Gen. 41:52)
The summer showers are falling. The poet stands by the window watching them. They are beating and buffeting the earth with their fierce downpour. But the poet sees in his imaginings more than the showers which are falling before his eyes. He sees myriads of lovely flowers which shall be soon breaking forth from the watered earth, filling it with matchless beauty and fragrance. And so he sings:
"It isn't raining rain for me, it's raining daffodils;
In every dimpling drop I see wild flowers upon the hills.
A cloud of gray engulfs the day, and overwhelms the town;
It isn't raining rain for me: it's raining roses down."
Perchance some one of God's chastened children is even now saying, "O God, it is raining hard for me tonight.
"Testings are raining upon me which seem beyond my power to endure. Disappointments are raining fast, to the utter defeat of all my chosen plans. Bereavements are raining into my life which are making my shrinking heart quiver in its intensity of suffering. The rain of affliction is surely beating down upon my soul these days."
Withal, friend, you are mistaken. It isn't raining rain for you. It's raining blessing. For, if you will but believe your Father's Word, under that beating rain are springing up spiritual flowers of such fragrance and beauty as never before grew in that stormless, unchastened life of yours.
You indeed see the rain. But do you see also the flowers? You are pained by the testings. But God sees the sweet flower of faith which is upspringing in your life under those very trials.
You shrink from the suffering. But God sees the tender compassion for other sufferers which is finding birth in your soul.
Your heart winces under the sore bereavement. But God sees the deepening and enriching which that sorrow has brought to you.
It isn't raining afflictions for you. It is raining tenderness, love, compassion, patience, and a thousand other flowers and fruits of the blessed Spirit, which are bringing into your life such a spiritual enrichment as all the fullness of worldly prosperity and ease was never able to beget in your innermost soul. --J. M. McC.
SONGS ACROSS THE STORM
"A harp stood in the moveless air,
Where showers of sunshine washed a thousand fragrant blooms;
A traveler bowed with loads of care
Essayed from morning till the dusk of evening glooms
To thrum sweet sounds from the songless strings;
The pilgrim strives in vain with each unanswering chord,
Until the tempest's thunder sings,
And, moving on the storm, the fingers of the Lord
A wondrous melody awakes;
And though the battling winds their soldier deeds perform,
Their trumpet-sound brave music makes
While God's assuring voice sings love across the storm."
　 　 六月十五日
“因他说，神使我在受苦的地方昌盛”（创四十一：52）。
　　一位诗人站在窗口观望夏天的阵雨，那雨点鞭打着大地，势若倾盆。但在诗人的意念中，他不仅看到的眼前这阵雨，而是雨后无数可爱的花卉，不久从潮润的泥土中萌出嫩芽，给大地增添了无比的美丽和芳香。于是他咏吟道：
这不是下雨，而是下水仙；
每一滴雨珠，把一株野花浇灌，
乌云蔽日，大雨不停如注，
这不是下雨，下的是玫瑰满田。
　　也许此刻正有爱神考验的信徒们说：“神啊，各种试炼，如滂沱大雨，落在我身上，我实无力忍受，各种失望急降在我身上，摧毁了我的希冀的所有计划。各种丧失向我生命倾注，使我畏缩的心灵在剧烈的折磨中发抖。这些日子，痛苦正如雨点似打击我的灵魂。”
　　哦；朋友，你错了。这不是给你下雨，而是降福于你。只要你深信天父不疑，那属灵的花朵，正是在雨后开放，你以前未经风雨，亦未受考验的生命，绝对开不出这样芬芳美丽之花来。
你确实看见了雨，但你也看见了花吗？你因受试炼而痛苦。但神看到在这些试炼之下，你的生命正开放出可爱信心之花。
你畏惧痛苦，但神看到。你同情别一个受苦的温爱，正是这痛苦中孕育出来。
你的心因哀痛而萎缩。但神看到，悲哀使你的意念更为深刻，更为丰富。
这不是给你下痛苦之雨。降的是慈爱，同情，忍耐，和一切圣灵之花，圣灵之果；它们给你的生命注入丰富的灵力，俗世的一切荣华安逸，都不能使你心灵深处得到如此的丰满。
静静的空气里，放着一架竖琴，
阳光遍洒，万花缤纷，
一位吟咏诗人心忧如焚，
从早晨到蒙胧的黄昏，
意欲在弦上弹出曼妙之音，
可是这琴声不能协调，力不从心，
直到暴风雨的雷声来临，
耶和华的手指抚弄风云，
激起了一段奇妙旋律之音，
猛烈的风虽如进攻的大军，
它的呼号却奏出了雄壮声音，
暴风雨中传来神慈爱之歌声。
June 16
"My expectation is from him." (Psalm 62:5)
Our too general neglect of looking for answers to what we ask, shows how little we are in earnest in our petitions. A husbandman is not content without the harvest; a marksman will observe whether the ball hits the target; a physician watches the effect of the medicine which he gives; and shall the Christian be careless about the effect of his labor?
Every prayer of the Christian, made in faith, according to the will of God, for which God has promised, offered up in the name of Jesus Christ, and under the influence of the Spirit, whether for temporal or for spiritual blessings, is, or will be, fully answered.
God always answers the general design and intention of His people's prayers, in doing that which, all things considered, is most for His own glory and their spiritual and eternal welfare. As we never find that Jesus Christ rejected a single supplicant who came to Him for mercy, so we believe that no prayer made in His name will be in vain.
The answer to prayer may be approaching, though we discern not its coming. The seed that lies under ground in winter is taking root in order to a spring and harvest, though it appears not above ground, but seems dead and lost. --Bickersteth.
Delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, but they give us opportunities of honoring God by our steadfast confidence in Him under apparent repulses. --C. H. Spurgeon.
　 六月十六日
“我的盼望是从他而来”（诗六十二：5）。
　　我们祷告了以后，常不关心神的答应是否来到，这就表明我们的祷告并不诚恳。农夫的注意力集中于收获，医生的注意力集中于药的功效；一个祷告的基督徒岂可漠然不关心神的答应呢？
　基督徒每一次的祷告，若有信心，符合神的旨意和应许，奉主名祈求，无有不被神答应的。
　　神答应我们的祷告，有两个分不开的目的：荣耀自己的名和祝福他的儿女。当初人到主面前来求怜悯，他从未拒绝过；今天奉他的名到神前来，也决不会被拒绝的。
　　祷告的答应或许就要来了，虽然我们看不见它的来到。种子埋在土中伸根，在上面看来，一点没有动静，好似死了一般。——别克司蒂
　　祷告的答应耽延，不单是信心的试炼，也是我们用坚信来尊重神的机会。——司布真
June 17
"And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings." (Ezek. 1:25)
What is the letting down of the wings? People so often say, "How do you get the voice of the Lord?" Here is the secret. They heard the voice when they stood and let down their wings.
We have seen a bird with fluttering wings; though standing still, its wings are fluttering. But here we are told they heard the voice when they stood and had let down their wings.
Do we not sometimes kneel or sit before the Lord and yet feel conscious of a fluttering of our spirits? Not a real stillness in His presence.
A dear one told me several days ago of a certain thing she prayed about, "But," said she, "I did not wait until the answer came."
She did not get still enough to hear Him speak, but went away and followed her own thought in the matter. And the result proved disastrous and she had to retrace her steps.
Oh, how much energy is wasted! How much time is lost by not letting down the wings of our spirit and getting very quiet before Him! Oh, the calm, the rest, the peace which come as we wait In His presence until we hear from Him!
Then, ah then, we can go like lightning, and turn not as we go but go straight forward whithersoever the Spirit goes. (Ezek. 1:1, 20)
"Be still! Just now be still!
Something thy soul hath never heard,
Something unknown to any song of bird,
Something unknown to any wind, or wave, or star,
A message from the Fatherland afar,
That with sweet joy the homesick soul shall thrill,
Cometh to thee if thou canst but be still.
"Be still! Just now be still!
There comes a presence very mild and sweet;
White are the sandals of His noiseless feet.
It is the Comforter whom Jesus sent
To teach thee what the words He uttered meant.
The willing, waiting spirit, He doth fill.
If thou would'st hear His message,
Dear soul, be still!"
　 六月十七日
“当活物站住，将翅膀垂下的时候，在他们头以上的穹苍之上有声音”（结一：25直译）。
　　人常问：“你如何听见神的声音的”？在这里有一个秘诀。当活物站住，垂下翅膀时，在他们上面就有全能者的声音发出来了。什么是“站住”和“垂下”呢？只有一个意思——停止自己的活动。
　　我们看见过扑动翅膀的鸟雀，他虽站着，还是在煽动翅膀。这一节经文告诉我们，我们要站住，垂下翅膀不动，就可以听到天上的声音。
有时我们虽跪在主面前，但我们觉得心思意念仍在扑动，你有这种经验吗？这是在主的面前，并未真正的安定。
　　一位朋友告诉我：前几天她专心为着某件事祷告；她说：“但是我不等到答应来到，就照我自己的意思去做了”。结果非常不幸。
　　哦，因为我们不肯“站住”和“垂下”的缘故，以致吃多少亏！——耗费光阴，损失精力，而事情又必须重新开始。
　　啊，基督徒，让我们“站住”，把“翅膀垂下”，领受神的话，然后我们可以“直往前行，灵往哪里去……就往哪里去，行走并不转身”（结一：12）了。——选
安静，此刻就安静你的心，
你所没有听过的信息即来临，
这不是风浪之声所可比拟,
也绝不类于鸟雀的唱鸣,
它将鼓舞愁思的灵魂,
这是天国传来的福音,
一定会到,只要安静你的心。
安静,此刻就安静你的心,
来的是主所遣的保惠师,
步履轻盈,温和慈爱,
在你面前显出眉目依稀,
他将给虔诚等待的灵魂,
充实以宝训中所含的精微,
心如止水,即可聆受妙机。
June 18
"Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed." (Heb. 12:12, 13)
This is God's word of encouragement to us to lift up the hands of faith, and confirm the knees of prayer. Often our faith grows tired, languid, and relaxed, and our prayers lose their force and effectiveness.
The figure used here is a very striking one. The idea seems to be that we become discouraged and so timid that a little obstacle depresses and frightens us, and we are tempted to walk around it, and not face it: to take the easier way.
Perhaps it is some physical trouble that God is ready to heal, but the exertion is hard, or it is easier to secure some human help, or walk around in some other way.
There are many ways of walking around emergencies instead of going straight through them. How often we come up against something that appalls us, and we want to evade the issue with the excuse:
"I am not quite ready for that now." Some sacrifice is to be made, some obedience demanded, some Jericho to be taken, some soul that we have not the courage to claim and carry through, some prayer that is hanging fire, or perhaps some physical trouble that is half healed and we are walking around it.
God says, "Lift up the hands that hang down." March straight through the flood, and lo, the waters will divide, the Red Sea will open, the Jordan will part, and the Lord will lead you through to victory.
Don't let your feet "be turned out of the way," but let your body "be healed," your faith strengthened. Go right ahead and leave no Jericho behind you unconquered and no place where Satan can say that he was too much for you. This is a profitable lesson and an intensely practical one. How often have we been in that place. Perhaps you are there today. --A. B. Simpson.
Pay as little attention to discouragement as possible. Plough ahead as a steamer does, rough or smooth--rain or shine. To carry your cargo and make your port is the point. --Maltbie D. Babcock.
　 六月十八日
“所以你们要把下垂的手，发酸的腿，挺起来。也要为自己的脚把道路修直了，使瘸子不至歪脚，反得痊愈”（来十二：12/13）。
　　这是神激励我们的话，叫我们挺起信心的手和祷告的腿来。我们的信心时常会疲惫，衰弱，疏懈：我们的祷告时常会失了能力和功效。
　　这节圣经真有能力，它似乎看出我们已经气馁，已经胆怯了——一点极小的试炼就会使我们沮丧，使我们惊骇；我们就会绕道而行，不敢面对面去对抗；我们会选择一条比较容易的路去走。
也许今天你身体上有一点疾病，神原预备亲自医治你的；可是你却去找些人的救助，施用些人的方法；结果并未好些。
　　我们时常会用很多的方法去逃避试炼；当我们遇到了使我们为难的环境，多少次我们总是用“我现在还没有准备好”来推脱，来闪避。啊！有多少需要我们牺牲的时候，需要我们顺服的时候，需要夺取耶利哥的时候，需要勇气去带领失丧的灵魂的时候，需要祷告的时候，或者当我们的疾病神已经医治了一半的时候，我们却绕道而行——拣选了别条路。
　　神说：“你们要把下垂的手……挺起来”。一直向大水走去，看啊，水便分开，红海成了干地，约旦河立起成垒；不要惧怕，神自会带领你进入胜利的。
不要任你自己“歪着脚”，快来“得痊愈”。啊！让你的信心坚强起来！一直向前走去！不要遗留一座耶利哥不被攻破！不要留一点破口任撒但向你夸口！这真是一课有益而实用的功课。多少时候我们的灵会这样冷落下来。也许你今天就是这样。——信宣
不要去注意那些使你气馁的事情，无论你的道路是崎岖，是平坦，总当像一只轮船一样——不管雨天，晴天，依然向前行驶。因为你的责任只在装载货物按时进港。——贝伯考克
June 19
"Bread corn is bruised." (Isa. 28:28)
Many of us cannot be used to become food for the world's hunger until we are broken in Christ's hands. "Bread corn is bruised." Christ's blessing ofttimes means sorrow, but even sorrow is not too great a price to pay for the privilege of touching other lives with benediction. The sweetest things in this world today have come to us through tears and pain. --J. R. Miller.
God has made me bread for His elect, and if it be needful that the bread must be ground in the teeth of the lion to feed His children, blessed be the name of the Lord. --Ignatius.
"We must burn out before we can give out. We cease to bless when we cease to bleed."
"Poverty, hardship and misfortune have pressed many a life to moral heroism and spiritual greatness. Difficulty challenges energy and perseverance. It calls into activity the strongest qualities of the soul. It was the weights on father's old clock that kept it going. Many a head wind has been utilized to make port. God has appointed opposition as an incentive to faith and holy activity.
"The most illustrious characters of the Bible were bruised and threshed and ground into bread for the hungry. Abraham's diploma styles him as 'the father of the faithful.' That was because he stood at the head of his class in affliction and obedience.
"Jacob suffered severe threshings and grindings. Joseph was bruised and beaten and had to go through Potiphar's kitchen and Egypt's prison to get to his throne.
"David, hunted like a partridge on the mountain, bruised, weary and footsore, was ground into bread for a kingdom. Paul never could have been bread for Caesar's household if he had not endured the bruising, whippings and stonings. He was ground into fine flour for the royal family."
"Like combat, like victory. If for you He has appointed special trials, be assured that in His heart He has kept for you a special place. A soul sorely bruised is a soul elect."
　 六月十九日
“作饼的粮食是用磨磨碎”（赛二十八：28）。
　　我们没有在主的手里被摔碎以前，主不能用我们来做世人的粮食。“作饼使别人的生命得福，那么我们所付的代价价也不算太大了。世上最可爱的东西，往往是从眼泪和痛苦中得来的。——密勒
神已经派定我做他选民的粮食，如果这粮食必须经过狮子牙缝的磨碎才能喂养他儿女的话，我还是感谢赞美他。——意内息斯
世上的英雄，医界的伟人，差不多都是由贫乏，患难，不幸，促成的。因为借着苦难，才会生出毅力和忍耐来。旧式挂钟能摆动的原因，就是因着钟锤有重量。许多时候，我们可以利用暴风的力量，来促进船只的进港。这就是说：神往往利用人的反对，来激进信徒的信心和工作。
　　圣经上最光荣的人物，都是先被磨碎，压伤，然后才成了他人的粮食。亚伯拉罕被称为“信心之父”，是因为他的苦难最多，顺服也最多。雅各也曾遭受过不少难忍的磨练。
　　约瑟必须做过波提乏的仆役，坐过埃及的监狱，才能得到宰相的高位。
　　大卫在山上象鹧鸪般被人追逐——又疲倦，又痛苦，至终却成了全国的粮食。
　　保罗如果没有受过鞭打和石击，也决不会成为该撒家的粮食。他是为王家作磨碎的细粉。
June 20
"Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." (Isa. 30:21)
When we are in doubt or difficulty, when many voices urge this course or the other, when prudence utters one advice and faith another, then let us be still, hushing each intruder, calming ourselves in the sacred hush of God's presence; let us study His Word in the attitude of devout attention; let us lift up our nature into the pure light of His face, eager only to know what God the Lord shall determine--and ere long a very distinct impression will be made, the unmistakable forth-telling of His secret counsel.
It is not wise in the earlier stages of Christian life to depend on this alone, but to wait for the corroboration of circumstances. But those who have had many dealings with God know well the value of secret fellowship with Him, to ascertain His will.
Are you in difficulty about your way? Go to God with your question; get direction from the light of His smile or the cloud of His refusal.
If you will only get alone, where the lights and shadows of earth cannot interfere, where human opinions fail to reach--and if you will dare to wait there silent and expectant, though all around you insist on immediate decision or action--the will of God will be made clear; and you will have a new conception of God, a deeper insight into His nature and heart of love, which shall be for yourself alone--a rapturous experience, to abide your precious perquisite forever, the rich guerdon of those long waiting hours. --David.
"STAND STILL," my soul, for so thy Lord commands:
E'en when thy way seems blocked, leave it in His wise hands;
His arm is mighty to divide the wave.
"Stand still," my soul, "stand still" and thou shalt see
How God can work the "impossible" for thee,
For with a great deliverance He doth save.
Be not impatient, but in stillness stand,
Even when compassed 'round on every hand,
In ways thy spirit does not comprehend.
God cannot clear thy way till thou art still,
That He may work in thee His blessed will,
And all thy heart and will to Him do bend.
"BE STILL," my soul, for just as thou art still,
Can God reveal Himself to thee; until
Through thee His love and light and life can freely flow;
In stillness God can work through thee and reach
The souls around thee. He then through thee can teach
His lessons, and His power in weakness show.
"BE STILL"--a deeper step in faith and rest.
"Be still and know" thy Father knoweth best
The way to lead His child to that fair land,
A "summer" land, where quiet waters flow;
Where longing souls are satisfied, and "know
Their God," and praise for all that He has planned.—Selected.
　 六月二十日
“你或向左或向右，你必听见后边有声音说，这是正路，要行在其间”（赛三十：21）。
　　当我们犹豫不决的时候，或者遭遇了什么困难的时候，有许多声音会来催促我们这样做，那样做；智慧会发表意见，信心也会发表意见；遇到这样的时候，我们就当安静下来，排除所有的意见静静地等候在神的面前。恭恭敬敬地把神的话寻思一回；专心仰望神的旨意——不久我们就会得到一个极清楚的声音，明明白白地告诉我们神机密的指导。
　　灵命幼稚的信徒，不当单独凭依这样的直觉来行事，最好还须等待环境的证实。与神多有交通的信徒，很容易知道神的旨意。
　　读者，你是不是正在困难的处境中？将你的问题带到神面前去；从他脸上的微笑或峻拒，你就可以找到你所要找的答案。
　　只要你肯独自安静在一个地方——人世间的光明和黑暗，一概接触不到的地方——人们的意见不能到达的地方——只要你敢在那里静静地等候着，不顾你四围一切的催促，那时神旨意就要向你显明；你对神就会有一种新的概念，对他的神性和爱心会有更深切的洞见，这会成了你极乐的经历——永久可宝贵的经历。你等待的时间虽长，至此也得到了丰富的酬报。——大卫
灵魂啊，要安静，这是神的命令，
即使前途封闭，还是信靠他的权柄。
他万能的臂可以把波浪分开。
要安定，灵魂啊，只要安定，
必见神为你使不可能为可能，
他大施拯救，使你得获全胜。
不要没有耐心，只管安稳站定，
即使你方向莫辨，无路可循，
神给你开路僻径，
先要你能安定，静如星辰，
然后他可以领导你，
一切心意归向万能的神。
灵魂哪，只要你安静，
神就会向你显出他的大能，
在安静中，他的爱和光，
还有他的生命，会在你里面运行，
直达你周围的人们，
传他的圣言，使弱者得胜。
要安定，踏入信与静的深处，
要安静，要知道你的天父，
最清楚带他子女上祝福的路，
那里常年如忧，清溪在悄悄奔流，
一切可以满足人们的渴慕，
知道天父，赞美他的一切爱护。
June 21
"It was noised that he was in the house." (Mark 2:1)
The polyps which construct the coral reefs, work away under water, never dreaming that they are building the foundation of a new island on which, by-and-by, plants and animals will live and children of God be born and fitted for eternal glory as joint-heirs of Christ.
If your place in God's ranks is a hidden and secluded one, beloved, do not murmur, do not complain, do not seek to get out of God's will, if He has placed you there; for without the polyps, the coral reefs would never be built, and God needs some who are willing to be spiritual polyps, and work away out of sight of men, but sustained by the Holy Ghost and in full view of Heaven.
The day will come when Jesus will give the rewards, and He makes no mistakes, although some people may wonder how you came to merit such a reward, as they had never heard of you before. --Selected.
Just where you stand in the conflict,
There is your place.
Just where you think you are useless,
Hide not your face.
God placed you there for a purpose,
Whate'er it be;
Think He has chosen you for it;
Work loyally.
Gird on your armor! Be faithful
At toil or rest!
Whate'er it be, never doubting
God's way is best.
Out in the fight or on picket,
Stand firm and true;
This is the work which your Master
Gives you to do. --Selected.
Safely we may leave the crowded meeting, the inspiring mountain top, the helpful fellowship of "just men," and betake ourselves to our dim homely Emmaus, or to our dread public Colossae, or even to our far Macedonia in the mission field, quietly confident that just where He has placed us, in the usual round of life, He ordains that the borderland may be possessed, the victory won. --Northcote Deck.　 
六月二十一日
“人听见他在房子里”（可二：1）。
　　构成礁石的珊瑚虫，勤勤劳劳地在水底下工作着，从来没有梦想到他们正在建立一个新的海岛；在这个岛上，渐渐地会长了植物又住了动物，和神的儿女们，他们就是做基督的后嗣，享受永世的荣耀。
　　亲爱的，如果现在神给你的地位是一个隐藏的，幽闭的，没有人知道的，不要怨恨，不要忧愁；如果神将你放在那里的，总不要希图走出神的旨意之外；因为没有珊瑚虫，就永不会有礁石建立起来；神需要一些乐意作属灵珊瑚虫的人；他们的工作，虽没有人发觉，可是他们有圣灵的扶持，和属天的亮光。
　　那日子将到，主耶稣要施行赏罚；他决不会弄错；那时，有些人因为从来没有听到过，你便会诧异：你怎样也得到这么大的赏赐！——选
你所站立的战斗场地，
就是你应有的岗位，
你虽不觉得它的作用，
心中切莫失望烦腻。
神把你安放在那里，
总有目的和道理，
他既选中你去担当，
你必须忠心奋斗到底。
穿上铠甲，拿起武器，
始终保持忠义，
无论在休息或苦斗，
从不怀疑他美意。
你出去放哨或作战，
要坚定，要百折不回，
这一份任务和工作，
是神给你的差遣。
　　也许神要我们离去一个弟兄姊妹众多的聚会，一个最能给我们生气的山顶，一些有帮助的义人的交通，而回到平庸的以马忤斯去，或者到世俗的歌罗西去，或者竟到遥远的马其顿去，我们应当大着胆深信：神无论将我们放在什么地方，他早已命定那地方的胜利，会给我们获得。——德克
June 22
"Love covereth." (Prov. 10:12) "Be eager in pursuit of this love." (1 Cor. 13:7-13) (Weymouth)
Rehearse your troubles to God only. Not long ago I read in a paper a bit of personal experience from a precious child of God, and it made such an impression upon me that I record it here. She wrote:
"I found myself one midnight wholly sleepless as the surges of a cruel injustice swept over me, and the love which covers seemed to have crept out of my heart. Then I cried to God in an agony for the power to obey His injunction, 'Love covereth.'
"Immediately the Spirit began to work in me the power that brought about the forgetfulness.
"Mentally I dug a grave. Deliberately I threw up the earth until the excavation was deep.
"Sorrowfully I lowered into it the thing which wounded me. Quickly I shoveled in the clods.
"Over the mound I carefully laid the green sods. Then I covered it with white roses and forget-me-nots, and quickly walked away.
"Sweet sleep came. The wound which had been so nearly deadly was healed without a scar, and I know not today what caused my grief."
"There was a scar on yonder mountain-side,
Gashed out where once the cruel storm had trod;
A barren, desolate chasm, reaching wide
Across the soft green sod.
"But years crept by beneath the purple pines,
And veiled the scar with grass and moss once more,
And left it fairer now with flowers and vines
Than it had been before.
"There was a wound once in a gentle heart,
Whence all life's sweetness seemed to ebb and die;
And love's confiding changed to bitter smart,
While slow, sad years went by.
"Yet as they passed, unseen an angel stole
And laid a balm of healing on the pain,
Till love grew purer in the heart made whole,
And peace came back again."
　 六月二十二日
“爱，能遮掩一切过错”（箴十：12）。
　　前几天我在报纸上看到一个神的孩子的一些个人经历。这些经历在我的脑海中留下了深深的印象，所以我特地将它记在这里。她说：
　　“一天夜半我想起了一件痛苦不平的事情，叫我翻来覆去地再也不能睡熟；爱心似乎已经偷偷地从我心中逃了出去。于是我拼命向神呼求能力，叫我能服从他的命令：“爱能遮掩一切过错”。
　　“圣灵立刻在我里面开始工作，给我能力忘却一切。
　　起初，我在脑海中掘开了一个坟墓。从从容容地将泥土挖开，直到挖成了一个极深的孔穴。
　　我悲悲哀哀地尽往下挖那件曾使我受伤的东西。很快地将泥土一铲一铲地铲起来。
　　可是后来，我却谨谨慎慎地将绿色的草土铺在土墩上面。再用白玫瑰花和勿忘侬花（forget-me-not ——花名）将他覆盖，很快地跑开了。
　　甜蜜的睡眠来了，那几乎致命的创伤，竟被医愈得一无瘢痕；到今天我连想也想不起来：到底是什么东西，曾使我那样悲哀”。——选
远处山边有一道裂痕，
那是被雷电所摧残的地方，
这个荒芜不毛的陷坑，
割裂了绿色的山岗。
裂痕在树荫下过了好些年，
又重盖满了青草和苔藓，
点缀着野花和葡萄藤，
比以前更显得美观。
温柔的心也有一个创伤，
生命的甜蜜因此全消亡，
爱的信心变成刺骨的剧痛，
在岁月消逝中，折磨备尝。
不知不觉中有位天使，
用药膏把那创痛医好，
爱的信心长得更为纯洁，
平安重新代替了烦恼。
June 23
"When Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." (Matt. 14:29, 30)
Peter had a little faith in the midst of his doubts, says Bunyan; and so with crying and coming he was brought to Christ.
But here you see that sight was a hindrance; the waves were none of his business when once he had set out; all Peter had any concern with, was the pathway of light that came gleaming across the darkness from where Christ stood. If it was tenfold Egypt beyond that, Peter had no call to look and see.
When the Lord shall call to you over the waters, "Come," step gladly forth. Look not for a moment away from Him.
Not by measuring the waves can you prevail; not by gauging the wind will you grow strong; to scan the danger may be to fall before it; to pause at the difficulties, is to have them break above your head. Lift up your eyes unto the hills, and go forward--there is no other way.
"Dost thou fear to launch away?
Faith lets go to swim!
Never will He let thee go;
'Tis by trusting thou shalt know
Fellowship with Him."
　 　 六月二十三日
“耶稣说，你来罢。彼得就从船上下去，在水面上走，要到耶稣那里去；只因见风甚大，就害怕；将要沉下去，便喊着说，主啊，救我”（太十四：29/30）。
　　读者，你看见吗？彼得的小信是一个极大的障碍：他既然已经开步走了，波浪的大小，无须他去操心；他所当注意的，乃是从主所在的地方射过来的那道光彩。光彩以外，纵有十个埃及，彼得也无须去注意。
　　读者，当主在水面上叫你：“来罢”的时候，欢欢喜喜地向前走去！不要转过你的眼去注视别的东西！
　　因为你不能因着测度波浪得到胜利；也不能因着测量风力得到坚固。越去注意危险，越会坠入危险；越是见难而止，越会遭遇苦难。读者，你应当举起你的两眼来专心仰望主，大着胆向前走去！——选
你是否畏惧出海远航？
信心会使你安渡重洋。
神不让你沉沦海底，
凭了信心主常在身旁。
June 24
"Concerning the work of my hands command ye me." (Isa. 45:11)
Our Lord spoke in this tone when He said, "Father, I will." Joshua used it when, in the supreme moment of triumph, he lifted up his spear toward the setting sun, and cried, "Sun, stand thou still!"
Elijah used it when he shut the heavens for three years and six months, and again opened them.
Luther used it when, kneeling by the dying Melanchthon, he forbade death to take his prey.
It is a marvelous relationship into which God bids us enter. We are familiar with words like those which follow in this paragraph: "I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded." But that God should invite us to command Him, this is a change in relationship which is altogether startling!
What a difference there is between this attitude and the hesitating, halting, unbelieving prayers to which we are accustomed, and which by their perpetual repetition lose edge and point!
How often during His earthly life did Jesus put men into a position to command Him! When entering Jericho, He stood still, and said to the blind beggars:
"What will ye that I shall do unto you?" It was as though He said, "I am yours to command."
Can we ever forget how He yielded to the Syrophenician woman the key to His resources and told her to help herself even as she would?
What mortal mind can realize the full significance of the position to which our God lovingly raises His little children? He seems to say, "All my resources are at your command." "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do." --F. B. Meyer.
Say to this mountain, "Go,
Be cast into the sea";
And doubt not in thine heart
That it shall be to thee.
It shall be done, doubt not His Word,
Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!
Compass the frowning wall
With silent prayer, then raise--
Before its ramparts fall--
The victor's shout of praise.
It shall be done, faith rests assured,
Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!
The two-leaved gates of brass,
The bars of iron yield,
To let the faithful pass,
Conquerors in every field.
It shall be done, the foe ignored,
Challenge thy mountain in the Lord!
Take then the faith of God,
Free from the taint of doubt;
The miracle-working rod
That casts all reasoning out.
It shall be done, stand on the Word,
Challenge thy mountain in the Lord! 
--Selected.
　 六月二十四日
“……我手的工作，你们可以吩咐我”（赛四十五：11）。
　　神说：“你们可以吩咐我”。这是何等的权利！我们可以吩咐神吗？可以。主耶稣在世的时候，曾享受过这样的权利；约书亚，马丁路得…都曾享受过这样的权利。
　　约书亚在大获胜利的时候，举起他的枪来对着将落的日头，大声喊叫说：“日头啊，你要停在基遍”（书十：12）。他说话的语气多么勇敢！多有把握！
　　以利亚三年零六个月封闭了天——使天闭塞不下雨；然后，又将天打开——求下雨来。他在神面前是多么勇敢！
　　马丁路得跪在将死的麦兰基登(Melanchthon)旁边，大声禁止死神夺去他亲爱的朋友。他又是多么勇敢呢！
　　亲爱的读者，神允许我们与他发生了多么奇妙的关系！我们平常只知道神曾说过：“我亲手铺张诸天，天上万象也是我所命定的”（赛四十五：12）。但是现在我们却看见神叫我们去吩咐神！命令神！这是颠倒次序！多么奇怪呢！
　 我们平常祷告的态度——狐疑，踌躇，不信——和主耶稣、约书亚、以利亚、马丁路得…祷告的态度——坚决，勇敢，深信——是多么不同啊！我们的祷告时常会变成重复，以致失去锐利。
　 主耶稣在世的时候，常给人们机会去吩咐他！当他将近耶利哥的时候，站住，问那讨饭的瞎子说：
“你要我为你做什么”？（路十八：41）他似乎说：“你可以吩咐我”。
我们当然不会忘记，主如何接受希利尼妇人的祈求，告诉她可以如愿以偿。（可七：26）
　 人类有限的头脑，怎能领会慈爱的父神所给我们的地位呢？神似乎说：“我一切所有的，你们可以吩咐。”“你们奉我的名，无论求什么，我必成就”（约十四：13）。——梅尔
对这山说：“快快移开
投在海里”。
倘若一点没有怀疑，
山就会移到海底。
只要信，事必成就，
凭主扫除这一块污泥。
围绕那坚固的城堡，
作默默的祈祷，
发出赞美的欢呼，
堡垒会立刻塌倒。
只要信，事必成就，
凭主把山投入白浪洪涛。
毁弃铁的栏栅，
打开那紧闭的双扉，
让信徒们通过，
到处获得全胜，
这事必成，仇敌于我何有？
凭主叫山移开此地。
把握忠于神的坚信，
丝毫不留一点疑义，
那根行奇迹的杖，
能驱除意念之间的障碍。
接受神的话，事必成就，
凭主叫山移开此地。
June 25
"Speak unto the children of Israe, that they go forward." (Exod. 14:15)
Imagine, O child of God, if you can, that triumphal march! The excited children restrained from ejaculations of wonder by the perpetual hush of their parents; the most uncontrollable excitement of the women as they found themselves suddenly saved from a fate worse than death; while the men followed or accompanied them ashamed or confounded that they had ever mistrusted God or murmured against Moses; and as you see those mighty walls of water piled by the outstretched hand of the Eternal, in response to the faith of a single man, learn what God will do for His own.
Dread not any result of implicit obedience to His command; fear not the angry waters which, in their proud insolence, forbid your progress. Above the voices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, "the Lord sitteth King for ever."
A storm is only as the outskirts of His robe, the symptom of His advent, the environment of His presence.
Dare to trust Him; dare to follow Him! And discover that the very forces which barred your progress and threatened your life, at His bidding become the materials of which an avenue is made to liberty. --F. B. Meyer.
Have you come to the Red Sea place in your life,
Where, in spite of all you can do,
There is no way out, there is no way back,
There is no other way but through?
Then wait on the Lord with a trust serene
Till the night of your fear is gone;
He will send the wind, He will heap the floods,
When He says to your soul, "Go on."
And His hand will lead you through--clear through--
Ere the watery walls roll down,
No foe can reach you, no wave can touch,
No mightiest sea can drown;
The tossing billows may rear their crests,
Their foam at your feet may break,
But over their bed you shall walk dry shod
In the path that your Lord will make.
In the morning watch, 'neath the lifted cloud,
You shall see but the Lord alone,
When He leads you on from the place of the sea
To a land that you have not known;
And your fears shall pass as your foes have passed,
You shall be no more afraid;
You shall sing His praise in a better place,
A place that His hand has made.
--Annie Johnson Flint.
　　 六月二十五日
“你吩咐以色列人往前走。”（出十四：15）。
　　神的儿女啊，你当回想以色列人渡红海时的那段凯旋光景！他们的妇女孩子怎样因着看见自己忽然得了拯救——脱离了比死还可怕的命运——而惊讶；他们的男子怎样因着想到自己以前屡次不肯信靠神，怨恨反叛摩西而羞愧。亲爱的读者，当你看见永生的神怎样因着一人的信心，伸出他的手来将大水堆成墙垣，你就该知道神也照样会按着你的信心给你成就。
　　当你决意顺服神的时候，不要担心顺服的结局怎样；不要去怕那阻止你前进的狂风暴浪，因为“在洪水泛滥之时，耶和华坐着为王，直到永远”（诗二十九：10）。
　　风浪是神义袍的边襟，再临的征候，同在的证据。
　　大着胆信靠他！大着胆随从他！不久你就会发见：那拦阻你前进的阻力，会因着神的命令，变成自由的进路。——梅尔
你生平可曾遇见红海似的绝境？
在那儿，不论你有多少本领，
无法后退，也无法前进，
除了冲过去，没有别的路径。
然后以安定的信心依靠神，
静待你所畏惧的黑夜消隐，
他会送来大风，把海水堆成高峰，
再吩咐你的灵魂，继续前进。
他的手会引导你从海中经过，
然后水堆的高墙再渐渐合拢，
仇敌不能追你，海水亦不能伤你，
不必担心波涛的汹涌，
也许翻腾的浪花耸得嵩高，
也许有水沫溅到你脚边，
但你必踏着干燥海底，
你路上安排有主安排，向前跨前。
到了早晨，在升起的云层里，
你必见主的圣荣和光芒，
引导你过海前进，
到你所不知道的地方，
敌人逃遁，恐惧也就遗忘，
再没有什么可使你惊惶，
你将在理想的安全之处，
欢声高唱，赞美神。 ——富林德
June 26
"For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" (Rom. 3:3)
I think that I can trace every scrap of sorrow in my life to simple unbelief. How could I be anything but quite happy if I believed always that all the past is forgiven, and all the present furnished with power, and all the future bright with hope because of the same abiding facts which do not change with my mood, do not stumble because I totter and stagger at the promise through unbelief, but stand firm and clear with their peaks of pearl cleaving the air of Eternity, and the bases of their hills rooted unfathomably in the Rock of God. Mont Blanc does not become a phantom or a mist because a climber grows dizzy on its side. --James Smetham.
Is it any wonder that, when we stagger at any promise of God through unbelief, we do not receive it? Not that faith merits an answer, or in any way earns it, or works it out; but God has made believing a condition of receiving, and the Giver has a sovereign right to choose His own terms of gift. --Rev. Samuel Hart.
Unbelief says, "How can such and such things be?" It is full of "hows"; but faith has one great answer to the ten thousand "hows," and that answer is--GOD! --C. H. M.
No praying man or woman accomplishes so much with so little expenditure of time as when he or she is praying.
If there should arise, it has been said--and the words are surely true to the thought of our Lord Jesus Christ in all His teaching on prayer--if there should arise ONE UTTERLY BELIEVING MAN, the history of the world might be changed.
Will YOU not be that one in the providence and guidance of God our Father? --A. E. McAdam.
Prayer without faith degenerates into objectless routine, or soulless hypocrisy. Prayer with faith brings Omnipotence to back our petitions. Better not pray unless and until your whole being responds to the efficacy of your supplication. When the true prayer is breathed, earth and heaven, the past and the future, say Amen. And Christ prayed such prayers. --P. C. M.
"Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God."
　 六月二十六日
“即便有不信的，这有何妨呢？难道他们的不信，就废掉神的信么”？（罗三：3）。
　　我可以说：我一生所有的忧虑，都是由不信产生的。如果我时常相信——我已往的一切都已蒙神赦免；现在的一切都带着主的能力；将来的一切多么光明，因为永生的真实，不会因为我的冷淡而更变，不会因我的失败而消灭——我怎能不欢喜快乐呢？——司买丹
　　当我们带着不信的恶心来怀疑神的允许的时候，顶希奇，我们就得不着那允许了。这并不是说我们的信心该受神的答应，也不是说神的答应是能用信心赚得的；却是因为神曾这样命定：得允许的条件就是信心。赐恩者自有主权选定任何条件来换取他的恩赐。——赫德
　　不信说：“怎样会这样？怎样会那样？”信心只用一个字去答复它的千万个“怎样”，这个字就是——神！——马金都
从来没有一个人，只花极少的时间祷告，却获得极大的成功的。
　　有人说：世上如果兴起一个全然相信的人来，世界的历史就会随着改变。
读者，你愿不愿意起来做这个人呢？——马克亚当
　　没有信心的祷告，会造成无目标的惯例，卑陋的虚伪。如果你的全人还没有同心合意地参加你的祈祷，我劝你还是再等一会祈祷吧！真实的祈祷一发声，天地都会同说阿们。耶稣基督的祈祷，就是这样。
没有一件东西不能借着祈祷求得除非那件东西在神的旨意以外。
June 27
"The Lord hath sent strength for thee." (Psa. 68.28, P.B.V.)
The Lord imparts unto us that primary strength of character which makes everything in life work with intensity and decision. We are "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." And the strength is continuous; reserves of power come to us which we cannot exhaust.
"As thy days, so shall thy strength be"--strength of will, strength of affection, strength of judgment, strength of ideals and achievement.
"The Lord is my strength" to go on. He gives us power to tread the dead level, to walk the long lane that seems never to have a turning, to go through those long reaches of life which afford no pleasant surprise, and which depress the spirits in the sameness of a terrible drudgery.
"The Lord is my strength" to go up. He is to me the power by which I can climb the Hill Difficulty and not be afraid.
"The Lord is my strength" to go down. It is when we leave the bracing heights, where the wind and the sun have been about us, and when we begin to come down the hill into closer and more sultry spheres, that the heart is apt to grow faint.
I heard a man say the other day concerning his growing physical frailty, "It is the coming down that tires me!"
"The Lord is my strength" to sit still. And how difficult is the attainment! Do we not often say to one another, in seasons when we are compelled to be quiet, "If only I could do something!"
When the child is ill, and the mother stands by in comparative impotence, how severe is the test! But to do nothing, just to sit still and wait, requires tremendous strength. "The Lord is my strength!" "Our sufficiency is of God." --The Silver Lining.
　 六月二十七日
“以色列的能力，是神所赐的”(诗六十八：28) 。
　　神给我们的力量原是丰丰富富的，总叫我们无论在工作上，生活上，都有够用的能力和决心去应付。以弗所书三章十六节说：“…藉着他的灵，叫你们心里的力量刚强起来”。所以我们看见：我们的力量后面，乃是圣灵；我们的力量是从来不会止息的，因为我们后面的贮藏是取不竭，用不尽的。哈利路亚！
　“你的日子如何，你的力量也必如何”(申三十三：25)。这里所说的力量，包括意志的力量，爱的力量，判断的力量，理想与成功的力量。
　　“耶和华是我的力量” ——前进的力量。他给我力量践踏死亡的平地，行走永不转弯的长巷，忍受长期苦闷的单调生活。
　　“耶和华是我的力量” ——往上的力量。他是我攀登艰难的力量。有了他，我攀登的时候，一点惧怕也没有。
　　“耶和华是我的力量” ——往下的力量。当我们离开凉风习习的山顶，开始下到沉闷酷热的地区去的时候，我们的心最容易沮丧。所以当我们往下走的时候，我们更需要神的力量。有一位身体日趋孱弱的人，曾经说：“每况愈下，最使人难于支持”。
　　“耶和华是我的力量” ——静止的力量。不要想静止是一件容易的事！当我们不得不安静的时候，常会对人说：“让我作点事，多好呢”！
当一个孩子病得非常沉重的时候，作母亲的无能为力地站在旁边，这是多么难堪的一回事！一点也不能作什么；只能静静地守着，望着，等着，等着；这种时候，我们就需要神给我们静止的力量。感谢主！“我所能承担的，乃是出于神”。（林后三：5）。——译自银衬
June 28
"A door opened in heaven." (Rev. 4:1)
You must remember that John was in the Isle of Patmos, a lone, rocky, inhospitable prison, for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And yet to him, under such circumstances, separated from all the loved ones of Ephesus; debarred from the worship of the Church; condemned to the companionship of uncongenial fellow-captives, were vouchsafed these visions. For him, also a door was opened.
We are reminded of Jacob, exiled from his father's house, who laid himself down in a desert place to sleep, and in his dreams beheld a ladder which united Heaven with earth, and at the top stood God.
Not to these only, but to many more, doors have been opened into Heaven, when, so far as the world was concerned, it seemed as though their circumstances were altogether unlikely for such revelations.
To prisoners and captives; to constant sufferers, bound by iron chains of pain to sick couches; to lonely pilgrims and wanderers; to women detained from the Lord's house by the demands of home, how often has the door been opened to Heaven.
But there are conditions. You must know what it is to be in the Spirit; you must be pure in heart and obedient in faith; you must be willing to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; then when God is all in all to us, when we live, move and have our being in His favor, to us also will the door be opened. --Daily Devotional Commentary.
"God hath His mountains bleak and bare,
Where He doth bid us rest awhile;
Crags where we breathe a purer air,
Lone peaks that catch the day's first smile.
"God hath His deserts broad and brown--
A solitude--a sea of sand,
Where He doth let heaven's curtain down,
Unknit by His Almighty hand."　
　 六月二十八日
“见天上有门开了”(启四：1) 。
　　你一定记得约翰为神的道，并为耶稣作的见证，曾囚在那名叫拔摩的海岛上——一个凄凉，冷落，荒野的监狱里。离开了以弗所的亲人；断绝了教会中的交通；所接触的，尽是些不相投的俘虏。在这种境遇之下，神会给他这样大的异象。在他无路可走的时候，神给他开了天上的门。
　　我们也记得雅各曾离开了父家，躺卧在一个荒寂的旷野里，梦见一个梯子立在地上，梯子的一头顶着天，耶和华站在梯子以上。
　　不只这两个人，还有许多信徒，从世界的眼光看来，他们的境遇未必能使他们得到这种启示；可是事实上，他们都曾看见天上有门为他们开了。
　　许多囚犯俘虏，许多被痛苦的铁链束缚在病榻上的长期受苦者，许多孤单漂泊的旅客，许多被家务缠累不能来聚会的妇女们，都曾看见过天上的门为她们打开了。
　　但是有条件的啊！我们要看见天上的门打开，必须知道怎样生活在灵里；必须有一颗清洁顺服的心；必须象保罗一样将万事当作有损的，以认识我们的主基督耶稣为至宝。等到我们把神当作一切的一切的时候，等到我们一举一动都蒙他喜悦的时候，天上的门自然也会为我们打开了。——译自日诚报
这一带寂寞的荒山，
神指定为我们休息的地方，
在悬崖上呼吸新鲜的空气，
在孤峰上欣赏微笑的曙光。
这一带黄沙万里，
极目无垠，广若海洋，
他亲手解开天国的帷幕，
在这里垂挂，在这里悬张。
June 29
"There we saw the giants." (Num. 13:33)
Yes, they saw the giants, but Caleb and Joshua saw God! Those who doubt say, "We be not able to go up." Those who believe say, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able."
Giants stand for great difficulties; and giants are stalking everywhere. They are in our families, in our churches, in our social life, in our own hearts; and we must overcome them or they will eat us up, as these men of old said of the giants of Canaan.
The men of faith said, "They are bread for us; we will eat them up." In other words, "We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to overcome."
Now the fact is, unless we have the overcoming faith we shall be eaten up, consumed by the giants in our path. Let us have the spirit of faith that these men of faith had, and see God, and He will take care of the difficulties. --Selected.
It is when we are in the way of duty that we find giants. It was when Israel was going forward that the giants appeared. When they turned back into the wilderness they found none.
There is a prevalent idea that the power of God in a human life should lift us above all trials and conflicts. The fact is, the power of God always brings a conflict and a struggle. One would have thought that on his great missionary journey to Rome, Paul would have been carried by some mighty providence above the power of storms and tempests and enemies. But, on the contrary, it was one long, hard fight with persecuting Jews, with wild tempests, with venomous vipers and all the powers of earth and hell, and at last he was saved, as it seemed, by the narrowest margin, and had to swim ashore at Malta on a piece of wreckage and barely escape a watery grave.
Was that like a God of infinite power? Yes, just like Him. And so Paul tells us that when he took the Lord Jesus Christ as the life of his body, a severe conflict immediately came; indeed, a conflict that never ended, a pressure that was persistent, but out of which he always emerged victorious through the strength of Jesus Christ.
The language in which he describes this is most graphic. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body."
What a ceaseless, strenuous struggle! It is impossible to express in English the forcible language of the original. There are five pictures in succession. In the first, the idea is crowding enemies pressing in from every side, and yet not crushing him because the police of heaven cleared the way just wide enough for him to get through. The literal translation would be, "We are crowded on every side, but not crushed."
The second picture is that of one whose way seems utterly closed and yet he has pressed through; there is light enough to show him the next step. The Revised Version translates it, "Perplexed but not unto despair." Rotherham still more literally renders it, "Without a way, but not without a by-way."
The third figure is that of an enemy in hot pursuit while the divine Defender still stands by, and he is not left alone. Again we adopt the fine rendering of Rotherham, "Pursued but not abandoned."
The fourth figure is still more vivid and dramatic. The enemy has overtaken him, has struck him, has knocked him down. But it is not a fatal blow; he is able to rise again. It might be translated, "Overthrown but not overcome."
Once more the figure advances, and now it seems to be even death itself, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." But he does not die, for "the life also of Jesus" now comes to his aid and he lives in the life of another until his life work is done.
The reason so many fail in this experience of divine healing is because they expect to have it all without a struggle, and when the conflict comes and the battle wages long, they become discouraged and surrender. God has nothing worth having that is easy. There are no cheap goods in the heavenly market. Our redemption cost all that God had to give, and everything worth having is expensive. Hard places are the very school of faith and character, and if we are to rise over mere human strength and prove the power of life divine in these mortal bodies, it must be through a process of conflict that may well be called the birth travail of a new life. It is the old figure of the bush that burned, but was not consumed, or of the Vision in the house of the Interpreter of the flame that would not expire, notwithstanding the fact that the demon ceaselessly poured water on it, because in the background stood an angel ever pouring oil and keeping the flame aglow.
No, dear suffering child of God, you cannot fail if only you dare to believe, to stand fast and refuse to be overcome. --Tract.
　 六月二十九日
“我们在那里看见亚衲族人，就是伟人”(民十三：33) 。
　　是的，他们看见了亚衲族人，但是迦勒和约书亚所看见的只是神！疑惧的说：“我们不能上去”(三十一节) 。相信的却说：“我们立刻上去得那地罢，我们足能得胜”(三十节) 。
　　在属灵的意义上，亚衲族人是代表艰难；无论在什么地方，我们都能够看见有亚衲族人在高视阔步。在我们的家庭里，在我们的教会里，在我们的社会生活里，在我们自己的心里都有；我们必须战胜他们，否则他们就会象以色列人所说的迦南地的亚衲族一样“吞吃”我们(三十二节)。
　　有信心的敢说：“他们是我们的食物；我们可以吞吃他们。吞吃了他们以后，我们会变得更强壮了”
　　事实是如此：除非我们有战胜的信心，否则便会被他们吞吃。让我们有迦勒和约书亚的信心来专心仰望神，神必定会顾念我们一切的困难。——选
　　只在我们忠顺的时候，才会遇见亚衲族人。我们看见：当以色列人预备前进的时候，才有亚衲族人出现；当他们转回往旷野去的时候，就没有了。
一般的想法，以为神的力量可以使我们免于患难，实则神的力量常把我们放进患难中去受考验。
保罗往罗马去传道的时候，照人想来，大能的神一定要祝福他一路平安，脱离一切仇敌和风雨的侵害。可是，事实适相反：他遭尽了犹太人的迫害，狂风大浪的摧残，毒蛇的侵噬，一切地上和阴间所有的攻击；最后总算蒙了拯救——驮着一块破损的船板漂到了米利大海岸——只仅仅逃免了葬身鱼腹。
难道全能的神是这样的神吗？是，正是这样的神。所以保罗告诉我们当他接受主耶稣基督作他生命的时候，立即就有猛烈的争战发生；这种争战是永无止息的，但是他屡次倚靠主的力量，在凡事上得胜有余。
他描写这段经历的字句极为生动：“我们四面受敌，却不被困住。心里作难，却不至失望。遭逼迫，却不被丢弃。打倒了，却不至死亡。身上常带着耶稣的死，使耶稣的生，也显明在我们身上”（林后四：8/10）。
保罗的奋斗是多么持久，多么费力啊！这几节圣经在原文里更是有力，中文英文都难以将它译得达意。这里有五幅连贯的图画。在第一幅里，我们看见许许多多仇敌从四面挤着进来，却不能把他压伤，因为天上的使者替他澄清了一条走道让他过去。照字面直译，该译作：“我们四面被挤压，却不被压伤”。
在第二幅图画里，我们看见他四面的出路完全被封闭了，但是他却仍旧能走出去；因为有神的光指示他当走的路径。更正本译作：“心里困惑，却不至绝望”。罗得罕(Rotherham）译得更近原文：“没有路，却不是没有侧路”。
在第三幅图画里，我们看见一个仇敌紧紧地追逐着他，同时仍有护卫的神站在他的身旁，所以他并不孤独。我们再采用罗得罕的译文：“被追逐，却不被丢弃”。
第四幅图画更活泼生动了。仇敌已经追上了他，打了他，并且将他打倒。但是他所受的却不是致命的伤：他能够再从地爬起来。也可以译作：“击倒了，却不至被克服”。
这些图画一幅一幅地前进，现在到了第五幅，死亡临到了他——“身上常带着耶稣的死”。但是他不能被死亡克服，因为他借着“耶稣的生”，活着主自己的生命。
我们中间，为什么有许多人得不到这样的医治呢？原因是为了我们总希望不用奋斗就得到医治；当我们的争战延得久长一些，我们就会由沮丧而投降。我们该知道：在神那里的东西，没有一件是容易得到的；天上是没有价廉的物品的；因着给我们的救恩，神不得不割弃他最宝贵的独生子；凡是有价值的东西，件件都是需要代价的；艰难是造就我们信心和品性的工具。
从前摩西看见荆棘被火烧着，却没有烧毁；我们正如那荆棘一样——虽然魔鬼不时地向我们浇上冷水，在我们的后方却立着一位浇油的天使，不停地在添上燃料，使我们的火光永不熄灭。
　　神的亲爱的受苦的孩子啊，只要你肯信靠，坚持，不允许仇敌来克服你，你是不能失败的。
June 30
"There was silence, and I heard a still voice." (Job 4:16, margin)
A score of years ago, a friend placed in my hand a book called True Peace. It was an old mediaeval message, and it had but one thought--that God was waiting in the depths of my being to talk to me if I would only get still enough to hear His voice.
I thought this would be a very easy matter, and so began to get still. But I had no sooner commenced than a perfect pandemonium of voices reached my ears, a thousand clamoring notes from without and within, until I could hear nothing but their noise and din.
Some were my own voices, my own questions, some my very prayers. Others were suggestions of the tempter and the voices from the world's turmoil.
In every direction I was pulled and pushed and greeted with noisy acclamations and unspeakable unrest. It seemed necessary for me to listen to some of them and to answer some of them; but God said,
"Be still, and know that I am God." Then came the conflict of thoughts for tomorrow, and its duties and cares; but God said, "Be still."
And as I listened, and slowly learned to obey, and shut my ears to every sound, I found after a while that when the other voices ceased, or I ceased to hear them, there was a still small voice in the depths of my being that began to speak with an inexpressible tenderness, power and comfort.
As I listened, it became to me the voice of prayer, the voice of wisdom, the voice of duty, and I did not need to think so hard, or pray so hard, or trust so hard; but that "still small voice" of the Holy Spirit in my heart was God's prayer in my secret soul, was God's answer to all my questions, was God's life and strength for soul and body, and became the substance of all knowledge, and all prayer and all blessing: for it was the living GOD Himself as my life, my all.
It is thus that our spirit drinks in the life of our risen Lord, and we go forth to life's conflicts and duties like a flower that has drunk in, through the shades of night, the cool and crystal drops of dew. But as dew never falls on a stormy night, so the dews of His grace never come to the restless soul. --A. B. Simpson.
　 六月三十日
“我在静默中，听见有声音”(伯四：16) 。
二十年前，一位朋友送了我一本书，这本书的名字叫作“平安”(True Peace)。其中的信息是说：神在我里面最深处等待着与我谈话，只要我愿意安静下来，就可以听见他的声音。
我想这是一件很容易的事，所以我就开始去安静起来。我一开始，便有一阵喧噪的声浪送进我的耳鼓来，有的是从外面来的，有的是从里面来的，成千的喊声吵得我除了这些闹声以外，听不见一点别的声音。
这些闹声里面有的是我自己的声音，我自己的问句，甚至有我的祷告夹在里面。有的是撒但的控告和世界的喧嚷。
各方面似乎都有声音拉我，推我，大声招呼我，真叫我说不出的不平安。似乎我不能不去听他们，不能不去回答他们。但是神对我说：“要安静，要知道我是神”(诗四十六：10直译)。
我竭力将我的耳朵塞住，不让它去听到任何声音；不久，别的声音一概停止了，我就觉得在我里面最深处，有一个微小的声音开始发声了——啊！这声音里面充满了温柔，能力和安慰。
我听着…听着…从这微小的声音里，神答复了我一切所要问的；这声音竟成了一切智慧和知识的泉源。
如果我们的灵常常这样就饮于主的生命，我们前去工作或争战的时候，便会像一朵曾在夜的荫凉下吸满了露水的花一般新鲜。但是我们不能希望在风雨夜中找到露水，照样，我们也不能希望在纷扰的心绪中找到神的声音。——宣信
July 1
"There shall be a performance." (Luke 1:45)
"My words shall be fulfilled in their season" 
(their fixed appointed time). (Greek, Luke 1:20)
There shall be a performance of those things,
That loving heart hath waited long to see;
Those words shall be fulfilled to which she clings,
Because her God hath promised faithfully ;
And, knowing Him, she ne'er can doubt His Word;
"He speaks and it is done." The mighty Lord!
There shall be a performance of those things,
O burdened heart, rest ever in His care ;
In quietness beneath His shadowing wings,
Await the answer to thy longing prayer.
When thou hast "cast thy care," the heart then sings,
There shall be a performance of those things.
There shall be a performance of those things,
O tired heart, believe and wait and pray;
At eventide the peaceful vesper rings,
Though cloud and rain and storm have filled the day.
Faith pierces through the mist of doubt that bars
The coming night sometimes, and finds the stars.
There shall be a performance of those things,
O trusting heart, the Lord to thee hath told;
Let Faith and Hope arise, and plume their wings,
And soar towards the sunrise clouds of gold;
The portals of the rosy dawn swing wide,
Revealing joys the darkening night did hide.
━Bessie Porter
Matthew Henry says: "We must depend upon the performance of the promise, when all the ways leading up to it are shut up. 'For all the promises of God in him are yea (yes), and in him Amen (so be it), unto the glory of God by us.' " (2 Cor.1:20)
七月一日
“主对他所说的话，都要应验” （路一：45）
“到了时候，这话必然应验” （路一：20）
她那可爱的心所久待的事，
到了时候，都要实现，
神旣忠实地告诉了她，
她信靠的话自必应验。
她知道神，她决不怀疑，
神说有，还能没有吗？
全能者的话，卽成定谳。
到了时候，那些事都要实行，
在神的眷顾中，安静你心，
以祂的翅膀为隐蔽，静静地，
等待祂对你祈祷的答复与叮咛。
将一切的忧虑卸给祂，
心中就会发出歌声。
到了时候，那些事都要实行。
到了时候，那些事都要实行，
疲倦的心，要相信，等待，祈求不停；
这日子，虽然充满了阴云风雨，
日暮时分仍响起晚祷的歌声，
有时疑虑的云雾遮掩了夜晚，
信心会透过它，照射得有如明亮的星。
虔诚的心，主曾向你说明，
到了时候，那些事都要实行，
让信心与希望鼓起翅膀，
飞向凌晨金黄灿烂的云层，
天国以朝霞为门，此时向你开启，
显示喜悦，驱散了黑夜的阴冥。
━波特
亨利马太说：“当我们四面的出路都被封了起来，对于神的应许发生了疑问的时候，就该想到神的应许，是不能不应验的”。因为“神的应许，不论有多少，在基督都是是的。所以藉着祂也都是实在的，叫神因我们得荣耀" （林后一：20）
July 2
"When thou goest, thy way shall be opened up before thee step by step.
(Proverbs 4:12, free translation)
The Lord never builds a bridge of faith except under the feet of the faith-filled traveler. If He builds the bridge a rod ahead, it would not be a bridge of faith. That which is of sight is not of faith.
There is a self-opening gate which is sometimes used in country roads. It stands fast and firm across the road as a traveler approaches it. If he stops before he gets to it, it will not open. But if he will drive right at it, his wagon wheels press the springs below the roadway, and the gate swings back to let him through. He must push right on at the closed gate, or it will continue to be closed.
This illustrates the way to pass every barrier on the road of duty. Whether it is a river, a gate, or a mountain, all the child of Jesus has to do is to go for it. If it is a river, it will dry up when you put your feet in its waters. If it is a gate, it will fly open when you are near enough to it, and are still pushing on. If it is a mountain, it will be lifted up and cast into a sea when you come squarely up, without flinching, to where you thought it was. Is there a great barrier across your path of duty just now? Just go for it, in the name of the Lord, and it won't be there. ━Henry Clay Trumbull.
We sit and weep in vain. The voice of the Almighty said, "Up and onward forevermore." Let us move on and step out boldly, though it be into the night, and we can scarcely see the way. The path will open, as we progress, like the trail through the forest, or the Alpine pass, which discloses but a few rods of its length from any single point of view. Press on! If necessary, we will find even the pillar of cloud and fire to mark our journey through the wilderness. There are guides and wayside inns along the road. We will find food, clothes and friends at every stage of the journey, and as Rutherford so quaintly says: "However matters go, the worst will be a tired traveler and a joyful and sweet welcome home."
I'm going by the upper road, for that
still holds the sun,
I'm climbing through night's pastures where
the starry rivers run:
If you should think to seek me in my
old dark abode,
You'll find this writing on the door,
"He's on the Upper Road." 
━Selected 
七月二日
“你行走，脚步必不至狭窄” （箴四：12）
神从来不替我们预先建筑一架信心的桥梁来等待我们经过的，必须等我们走到那里，祂纔为我们开路。如果祂先替我们建筑好了，那就不能称作“信心的桥梁”了，眼见的不能算作信心。
一个花园大门旁边有一种出口的小门。当我们行近那门的时候，它一点都没有变动。我们在它旁边站立一天，仍旧不会见它打开一点。但是如果我们向前走去，门上的机轮经了人体的推动，就会向左转动；这样，便给我们一个出口。
走信心的道路，也是如此。无论我们的拦阻是江河，是铜门，是高山，我们只要大着胆向前走去就是了。如果是一道江河，当我们脚一入水的时候，江河便会变成干地。如果是一扇铜门，当我们向前推进的时候，铜门便会自动开展。如果是一座高山，当我们奋勇前进的时候，高山便会倒入海中。读者，你的道路上现在有没有东西在拦阻你前进？你只要奉主的名向前走去，一切的拦阻都会冰消瓦解了。━崔伦保
我们坐着哭泣有甚么用处呢？全能者说：“起来，一直向前走去。”虽然夜已深了，前面的途径颇难分辨，我们还该大胆举步前进。等我们到了前面，途径自会分明的。在必需的时候，我们也能得到云柱和火柱的引领。沿途都有向导和客店为我们预备着。一路上我们随处能彀找到食物，衣服和朋友。罗斯福特说得顶好：“无论在甚么环境中，我们疲倦的时候，总会得到一些甜蜜的欢迎和招待”。
我已踏上登高的道路，
高处永远有阳光照耀，
夜里越过原野的时候，
溪流里反映出繁星的笑。
假若你为了找我，
到了那黑暗的故寓，
你将发现门上的通告，
他已乘风飞去，登上高原。
July 3
"Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?"(Isa. 28:24)
One day in early summer I walked past a beautiful meadow. The grass was as soft and thick and fine as an immense green Oriental rug. In one corner stood a fine old tree, a sanctuary for numberless wild birds; the crisp, sweet air was full of their happy songs. Two cows lay in the shade, the very picture of content.Down by the roadside the saucy dandelion mingled his gold with the royal purple of the wild violet.
I leaned against the fence for a long time, feasting my hungry eyes, and thinking in my soul that God never made a fairer spot than my lovely meadow.
The next day I passed that way again, and lo! the hand of the despoiler had been there. A plowman and his great plow, now standing idle in the furrow, had in a day wrought a terrible havoc. Instead of the green grass there was turned up to view the ugly, bare, brown earth; instead of the singing birds there were only a few hens industriously scratching for worms. Gone were the dandelion and the pretty violet. I said in my grief, "How could any one spoil a thing so fair?"
Then my eyes were opened by some unseen hand, and I saw a vision, a vision of a field of ripe corn ready for the harvest. I could see the giant, heavily laden stalks in the autumn sun; I could almost hear the music of the wind as it would sweep across the golden tassels. And before I was aware, the brown earth took on a splendor it had not had the day before.
Oh, that we might always catch the vision of an abundant harvest, when the great Master Plowman comes, as He often does, and furrows through our very souls, uprooting and turning under that which we thought most fair, and leaving for our tortured gaze only the bare and the unbeautiful. ━Selected
Why should I start at the plough of my Lord, that maketh the deep furrows on my soul? I know He is no idle husbandman, He purposeth a crop. ━Samuel Rutherford 
七月三日
“那耕地为要撒种的岂是常常耕地呢？”（赛廿八：24）
一天初夏，我走过一块美丽的草场。上面的青草非常柔软，浓厚，纯粹，真像一块东方的绿色大地毯。草场的一隅栽着一棵佳美的古树，树上停着无数美丽的野鸟；晴爽的空中充满了牠们悦耳的歌声。两只母牛躺卧在凉爽的树荫下，表现出洋洋得意的样子来。路旁种着黄色的蒲公英，蒲公英中间，又夹着紫色的紫罗兰。
我倚着竹篱呆望了好久，尽量饱享了一顿眼福，心中想着：神所造的宇宙中，没有一处能比这里更美丽更可爱了。
第二天我又走过那条路，看啊！那幅美丽的图画全被拆毁了。一个农夫扶着铁犁，站在畦间，在一天之内造成了这一个大破坏！绿色的青草没有了，留着的祇是一片丑陋，光秃的黄土；歌唱的野鸟不见了，却换来了几只抓土啄虫的老母鸡。路旁的蒲公英，美丽的紫罗兰，一概都不见了。我忧忧愁愁地自语道：“这样美丽的东西，也有人忍心损害吗？”
那时全能者的手打开了我的眼睛，叫我看见已熟的禾稼等待人去收割。我能彀看见巨大迟笨的草人巍立在日光之下；我能彀听见秋风掠过麦穗的响声。那时我就觉悟到：若不经过那块丑陋光秃的黄土，就得不到收割禾稼的光荣。
亲爱的读者，我们的神是我们心田的农夫，祂常常来耕垦我们的心田，将我们自以为最美丽的东西拔去，留给们一个光秃秃不美丽的光景；我们应当忍着暂时的痛楚，仰望前面收获的丰富。━选
我们为什么要对主的犁头惊诧呢？祂深深耕耘着我们的灵魂？我知道祂不是无目的农夫，祂瞻望着丰富的收获。━陆瑟福
July 4
"For the vision is yet for an appointed time…though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." (Hab. 2:3)
In the charming little booklet, Expectation Corner, Adam Slowman was led into the Lord's treasure houses, and among many other wonders there revealed to him was the "Delayed Blessings Office," where God kept certain things, prayed for, until the wise time came to send them.
It takes a long time for some pensioners to learn that delays are not denials. Ah, there are secrets of love and wisdom in the "Delayed Blessings Department," which are little dreamt of! Men would pluck their mercies green when the Lord would have them ripe. "Therefore will the Lord WAIT, that He may be gracious unto you" (Isa. 30:18). He is watching in the hard places and will not allow one trial too many; He will let the dross be consumed, and then He will come gloriously to your help.
Do not grieve Him by doubting His love. Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on the way to you, and you will be abundantly rewarded for the delay which has tried your faith.
O Thou of little faith,
God hath not failed thee yet!
When all looks dark and gloomy,
Thou dost so soon forget━
Forget that He has led thee,
And gently cleared thy way;
On clouds has poured His sunshine,
And turned thy night to day.
And if He's helped thee hitherto,
He will not fail thee now;
How it must wound His loving heart
To see thy anxious brow!
Oh! doubt not any longer,
To Him commit thy way,
Whom in the past thou trusted,
And is "just the same today."
━Selected
七月四日
“因为这默示有一定的日期，…虽然迟延，还要等待。因为必然临到，不再迟延” （哈二：3）
有一本美丽的小书，名叫《期望所》，里面讲到斯罗门在异象中进入神的储藏室，在那里他看见了许多奇异的东西。在许多奇异的东西中间，有一间“延福室”，里面藏着人们向神求告的一切东西；神将那些东西留在储藏室内，等候相当的时日赐给人们。
许多人不明白，“迟延”不是“拒绝”。他们不能领会“迟延”是神的慈爱和智慧！以赛亚三十章十八节说：“耶和华必然等候，要赐恩给你们”。你所遭遇的患难，祂都知道；祂必定不是叫过于你能忍受的试炼临到你；祂必须等到你里面的废物都烧尽了，纔来救助你。
读者，你不要怀疑神的慈爱来伤神的慈心。你应当为着正在途中的拯救抬起头来赞美祂；这样，你一定会得到更丰富的报偿。
信心微小的信徒啊，
神何尝把你遗弃？
在一切似若黑暗无望之时，
你竟这么快就把真理忘记。
忘记了祂曾带你前行，
温和地为你把路开平，
祂的太阳曾照透密云，
把你的黑暗变成光明。
祂旣一直给你帮助，
如今决不会把你辜负，
这将如何伤祂慈爱的心，
假若看到你如此烦恼。
把你的前途交托给神，
不要再存怀疑之心，
你过去虔诚信靠的祂，
从不改变，自古至今。
━选
July 5
"I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness…And I will give her her vineyards from thence."(Hosea 2:14, 15)
A strange place to find vineyards━in the wilderness! And can it be that the riches which a soul needs can be obtained in the wilderness, which stands for a lonely place, out of which you can seldom find your way? It would seem so, and not only that, but the "Valley of Achor," which means bitterness, is called a door of hope. And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth!
Yes, God knows our need of the wilderness experience. He knows where and how to bring out that which is enduring. The soul has been idolatrous, rebellious; has forgotten God, and with a perfect self-will has said, "I will follow after my lovers." (Hos.2:5) But she did not overtake them. And, when she was hopeless and forsaken, God said, "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." What a loving God is ours! ━Crumbs
We never know where God hides His pools. We see a rock, and we cannot guess it is the home of the spring. We see a flinty place, and we cannot tell it is the hiding place of a fountain. God leads me into the hard places, and then I find I have gone into the dwelling place of eternal springs. ━Selected 
七月五日
“…我必劝导他，领他到旷野，对他说安慰的话。从那里我必赐他葡萄园，又赐他亚割谷作为指望的门，他必在那里歌唱，与幼年的日子一样”（何二：14-15直译）
在甚么地方找到“葡萄园”？在“旷野”里！真奇怪，在一个连出路也难找的“旷野”里找到“葡萄园”！读者，这给我们看见：我们属灵的丰富能在“旷野”里━寂静的地方━找到。不但能找到“葡萄园”，也能找到“亚割谷（亚割意卽苦难）作为指望的门“。“他必在那里歌唱，与幼年的日子一样”！
是的，神知道我们需要旷野的经历。祂知道在甚么地方能生出忍耐来，祂也知道怎样能生出忍耐来。我们的心是叛逆的，善于崇拜偶像的，最会忘记神，也最会固执地说：“我要随从我所爱的”（何二章五节译）。到我们绝了望被人弃绝的时候，神却说：“我必劝导他，领他到旷野，对他说安慰的话”。啊，我们的神是一个爱的神啊！━碎锦
我们不知道神把泉源藏在什么地方。我们看见一块岩石，但不能断定下面藏着甘泉。直到神把我们领到艰苦的环境下，我们纔会发现永生之泉，就发源在那里。━选
July 6
"Neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon thee." (2 Chron. 20:12)
A life was lost in Israel because a pair of human hands were laid unbidden upon the ark of God. They were placed upon it with the best intent, to steady it when trembling and shaking as the oxen drew it along the rough way; but they touched God's work presumptuously, and they fell paralyzed and lifeless. Much of the life of faith consists in letting things alone.
If we wholly trust an interest to God, we must keep our hands off it; and He will guard it for us better than we can help Him. "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."(Ps.37:7)
Things may seem to be going all wrong, but He knows as well as we; and He will arise in the right moment if we are really trusting Him so fully as to let Him work in His own way and time. There is nothing so masterly as inactivity in some things, and there is nothing so hurtful as restless working, for God has undertaken to work His sovereign will. ━A.B. Simpson
"Being perplexed, I say,
'Lord, make it right!
Night is as day to Thee,
Darkness as light.
I am afraid to touchThings that involve so much;
My trembling hand may shake,
My skilless hand may break;
Thine can make no mistake.' "
"Being in doubt I say,
'Lord, make it plain;
Which is the true, safe way?
Which would be gain?
I am not wise to know,
Nor sure of foot to go;
What is so clear to Thee,
Lord, make it clear to me!' "
It is such a comfort to drop the tangles of life into God's hands and leave them there.
七月六日
“我们也不知道怎样行，我们的眼目，单仰望你”（代下二十：12）
以色列人中因为未奉神命，轻易用人手去扶住约柜，以致遭了击杀。虽然他去扶的目的顶好━为着要按住约柜的震动━但是他的僭越使他丧失了生命。信心的生活是怎样的生活呢？就是自己一点不管，让神去负全责。
如果我们已经将一件事情完全交托了神，我们自己就不该再去顾问；全能的神莫非还需要我们的帮助吗？祂所作的莫非还不及我们吗？诗篇三十七篇七节说：“你当默然倚靠耶和华，耐性等候祂。不要因那道路通达的，和那恶谋成就的，心怀不平”。
也许你看见事情越过越糟了，但是我们旣知道，神那里会不知道呢？如果我们真心完全托付祂，让祂按照祂自己的方法和时间去成就，祂一定会在适当的时间起来的。在许多事情上，我们能完全不动，真是莫大的帮助；反之，如果我们自己仍不息地工作着，却是一个极大的阻碍。━宣信
当我感到迷惑烦恼，我说：
“主，请你替我们把事情弄好！
对于你，阴暗等于光明，
黑夜犹如白日杲杲。
我怕接触这些事情，
含有如许纠缠和骚扰，
我无力的手可能发抖，
你决不会错，准把事情弄好”。
当我感到疑惑不决，我说：
“主，请你明白吩咐；
那一条路将有收获？
那一条路安全无误？
我的智慧看不清路途，
也没有把握举步，
主啊，你旣了如指掌，
也使我清楚，不会弄错”。
把一团乱麻的人生，交到神的手里，让祂去处理，岂不是无上的安慰。
July 7
"He hath made me a polished shaft." (Isa. 49:2)
There is a very famous "Pebble Beach" at Pescadero, on the California coast. The long line of white surf comes up with its everlasting roar, and rattles and thunders among the stones on the shore. They are caught in the arms of the pitiless waves, and tossed and rolled, and rubbed together, and ground against the sharp-grained cliffs. Day and night forever the ceaseless attrition goes on━never any rest. And the result?
Tourists from all the world flock thither to gather the round and beautiful stones. They are laid up in cabinets; they ornament the parlor mantels. But go yonder, around the point of the cliff that breaks off the force of the sea; and up in that quiet cove, sheltered from the storms, and lying ever in the sun, you shall find abundance of pebbles that have never been chosen by the traveler.
Why are these left all the years through unsought? For the simple reason that they have escaped all the turmoil and attrition of the waves, and the quiet and peace have left them as they found them, rough and angular and devoid of beauty. Polish comes through trouble.
Since God knows what niche we are to fill, let us trust Him to shape us to it. Since He knows what work we are to do, let us trust Him to drill us to the proper preparation.
"O blows that smite! O hurts that pierce
This shrinking heart of mine!
What are ye but the Master's tools
Forming a work Divine?"
"Nearly all God's jewels are crystallized tears."
七月七日
“祂使我成为磨亮的箭“ （赛四十九：2直译）
在美国加里福尼亚省派司开特罗地方，有一个著名的“卵石滩”。滩上的石子时时受着海滨大浪的冲击，有时被残酷的大浪卷去抛掷，有时被抛在尖锐的峭壁上受到擦磨。它们日夜受着这样的磨练，得到怎样的结果呢？
全世界的游客蜂拥着到那里去采集圆滑美丽的石子，采集了回去，将它们谨谨慎慎地安置在陈列室中，装饰在客室的壁板上。但是你如果到冲破海浪的峭壁尖顶去看，或者到风雨侵蚀不到的凹处去找，你能彀看见大量从来没有人去搜寻的卵石。
为甚么这些卵石总没有人来采集呢？唯一的原因就是因为它们没有经过海浪的冲击擦磨，它们平静的生活使它们变得又粗糙，又丑陋。啊，原来光泽是由苦难磨出来的！
神知道我们配做那种器皿，祂就将我们磨成那种器皿。祂知道我们要去担任的是那种工作，祂就照我们所需要的磨练我们，给我们相当的准备，我们只要完全信靠祂就是了。━选
猛烈的打击，痛苦的损伤，
刺碎我畏缩的心房。
岂不就是神所用的工具，
要把我们琢磨得雪亮精光。
神的每一颗宝石，几乎全是晶莹的泪珠。
July 8
"They shall mount up with wings as eagles."(Isa.40:31)
There is a fable about the way the birds got their wings at the beginning. They were first made without wings. Then God made the wings and put them down before the wingless birds and said to them, "Come, take up these burdens and bear them."
The birds had lovely plumage and sweet voices; they could sing, and their feathers gleamed in the sunshine, but they could not soar in the air. They hesitated at first when bidden to take up the burdens that lay at their feet, but soon they obeyed, and taking up the wings in their beaks, laid them on their shoulders to carry them.
For a little while the load seemed heavy and hard to bear, but presently, as they went on carrying the burdens, folding them over their hearts, the wings grew fast to their little bodies, and soon they discovered how to use them, and were lifted by them up into the air━the weights became wings.
It is a parable. We are the wingless birds, and our duties and tasks are the pinions God has made to lift us up and carry us heavenward. We look at our burdens and heavy loads, and shrink from them; but as we lift them and bind them about our hearts, they become wings, and on them we rise and soar toward God.
There is no burden which, if we lift it cheerfully and bear it with love in our hearts, will not become a blessing to us. God means our tasks to be our helpers; to refuse to bend our shoulders to receive a load, is to decline a new opportunity for growth. ━J. R. Miller
Blessed is any weight, however overwhelming, which God has been so good as to fasten with His own hand upon our shoulders. ━F. W. Faber 
七月八日 
“他们必如鹰展翅上腾。” （赛四十：31）
相传有一个寓言，说鸟类最初被造的时候，是没有翅膀的。神将翅膀造好了放在牠们面前，对牠们说：“来，戴起这些翅膀来”。
那时的鸟类也有丰美的羽毛和悦耳的歌喉；牠们戴起翅膀来的时候，牠们起初还不大愿意，但是不久就服从了，用嘴尖啄起翅膀来，安在肩头上。
起初，肩头上的担子似乎很重，背着也很费力，但是不一会，牠们将翅膀展开，觉察了利用翅膀的方法，于是就能高飞空中━啊，重担变成了翅膀！
读者，这是一个比喻，我们就是那些无翅的小鸟，我们的工作和职务是神替我们预备带领我们向天的翅翼。我们也顶会望着我们面前的重担畏缩；但是只要我们一挑起那担子来，它们便会变成我们的翅膀，藉着牠们我们便能飞向神去。
如果我们高高兴兴地用爱心负起一切重担来，我告诉你，没有一件重担不能变成我们的福祉。神原命定我们的工作来做我们的帮助的；所以读者阿，拒绝一个重担，就是拒绝一个新的生机。━密勒
凡是神亲手系在我们肩头上的重担，无论怎样沉重，都是可喜爱的。━费勃尔
July 9
"I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." (Isa. 48:10)
Does not the Word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yes, is it not an asbestos armor, against which the heat has no power? Let the affliction come━God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door; but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude; but I have a balsam ready━God has chosen me. Whatever befall me in this vale of tears, I know that He has chosen me.
Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials, His presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own. "Fear not, for I am with thee," is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in "the furnace of affliction."(Gen.26:24) ━C. H. Spurgeon
Pain's furnace heat within me quivers,
God's breath upon the flame doth blow;
And all my heart in anguish shivers
And trembles at the fiery glow;
And yet I whisper, "As God will!"
And in the hottest fire hold still.
He comes and lays my heart, all heated,
On the hard anvil, minded so
Into His own fair shape to beat it
With His great hammer, blow on blow;
And yet I whisper, "As God will!"
And at His heaviest blows hold still.
He takes my softened heart and beats it;
The sparks fly off at every blow;
He turns it o'er and o'er and heats it,
And lets it cool, and makes it glow;
And yet I whisper, "As God will!"
And in His mighty hand hold still.
Why should I murmur? for the sorrow
Thus only longer-lived would be;
The end may come, and will tomorrow,
When God has done His work in me;
So I say trusting, "As God will!"
And, trusting to the end, hold still.
━Julius Sturm
The burden of suffering seems a tombstone hung about our necks, while in reality it is only the weight which is necessary to keep down the diver while he is hunting for pearls. ━Richter
七月九日
“你在苦难的炉中，我拣选你。” （赛四十八：10）
感谢神，神给了我们多大的安慰!这真像火焰中忽然来了一阵细雨，又像给我们穿上了一身耐火衣，使火势不能将我们焚伤。苦难阿，你尽管来罢，神已经拣选了我。贫穷阿，疾病阿，你们尽管来袭击我罢，神已经拣选了我。无论甚么患难临到我的时候，我就知道神已经拣选了我。
信徒阿，不要惧怕；主是常与你同在的。在你一切猛烈的试炼中，祂的同在是你的慰藉和平安。祂决不会离开祂为自己所拣选的。祂曾允许过：“不要惧怕，因为我与你同在”（创二十六：24）。━司布真
苦难的烈火在我心中焚烧，
神鼓着风，吹拨火焰，
我整个心灵，痛苦得抖泣，
在融融的火舌中受着考验；
我轻声说：“照神的意思”!
在烈火的燃烧时保持信念。
祂把我烧得通红的一颗心，
放在铁砧上，照祂的意愿，
用大铁锤重重敲击，
打成像祂那样完美的图案；
我轻说：“照神的旨意”！
在最重的打击下保持信念。
祂拿我烧软的心，再加敲炼，
每一锤都有火星飞溅，
翻来覆去，先要冷却，
一会儿又烧得火光闪闪，
我轻说：“照神的意思”！
在祂万能的手中保持信念。
我决不悲叹埋怨，
那无补于苦痛的收敛，
神做完了祂的工作，
也许明天就结束考验。
我虔诚地说：“照神的意思”！
我自始至终保持信念。
━朱尼斯.史坦 
苦难的重负，并不是像挂在我们颈项上的墓碑，乃是像潜水采珠人那样，必须加一些重量，才可以使我们的身体沉到更深的水底。━韦西特
July 10
"I called upon him, but he gave me no answer. " (S. of Sol. 5:6)
The Lord, when He hath given great faith, hath been known to try it by long delayings. He has suffered His servants' voices to echo in their ears as from a brazen sky. They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has remained unmovable, as though it were rusted upon its hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, "Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,that our prayer should not pass through."(Lam3:44)
Thus have true saints continued long in patient waiting without reply, not because their prayers were not vehement, nor because they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign, and who gives according to His own pleasure. If it pleases Him to bid our patience exercise itself, shall He not do as He will with His own!
No prayer is lost. Praying breath was never spent in vain. There is no such thing as prayer unanswered or unnoticed by God, and some things that we count refusals or denials are simply delays. ━H. Bonar.
Christ sometimes delays His help that He may try our faith and quicken our prayers. The boat may be covered with the waves, and He sleeps on; but He will wake up before it sinks. He sleeps, but He never oversleeps; and there are no "too lates" with Him. ━Alexander Maclaren
Be still, sad soul! lift thou no passionate cry,
But spread the desert of thy being bare
To the full searching of the All-seeing eye;
Wait! and through dark misgiving, black despair,
God will come down in pity, and fill the dry
Dead place with light, and life, and vernal air.
━J. C. Shairp 
七月十日
“我呼叫祂，祂却不回答" （歌五：6）
神常常喜欢在赐给我们信心以后，用迟延的方法来试炼我们的信心。祂常常容忍祂的仆人们大声呼喊着，却不去回答他们。他们推着门，门却依然丝毫不动，好似门键上长满了铁锈一般。他们常像杰里迈亚一样哀呼，“你以黑云遮蔽自己，以至祷告不得透入”（哀三：44）
许多忠信的圣徒都曾持久不变地耐心等候，可是他们还没有得到答复，这并不是因为他们的祷告不够迫切，也不是他们的祷告不蒙悦纳，乃是神喜欢这样━神是天地的主，祂可以按照祂自己的意旨赐恩给我们。如果祂喜欢让我们忍耐经过试炼，为甚么不可以呢？
没有一个祷告会虚耗。我们的祷告神从来不会不答应或者不注意；有许多事情我们以为被拒绝了，实在，祇是迟延罢了。━彭纳
主有时延迟祂的救助，为着要试炼我们的信心，催促我们的祈祷。船被波浪掩盖了，耶稣却仍睡着；但是在船沉以前，祂自然会醒过来的。祂睡是睡，却从来不会睡过度；在祂没有“太迟了”的事情。━马克拉伦
安静，悲恸的人，不要哀哭悲哽，
把你生命中那荒漠似的阴影，
给无所不见的神细细辨明。
等待，经过了黑暗可怕的困境，
神将怀着怜悯来临，给干枯荒漠，
充满生命的活力和炯炯光明。
━ 薛普
July 11
"It came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land." (1 Kings 17:7)
WEEK after week, with unfaltering and steadfast spirit, Elijah watched that dwindling brook; often tempted to stag-ger through unbelief, but refusing to allow his circumstances to come between himself and God.
Unbelief sees God through circumstances, as we sometimes see the sun shorn of his rays through smoky air; but faith puts God between itself and circumstances, and looks at them through Him. 
And so the dwindling brook became a silver thread; and the silver thread stood presently in pools at the foot of the largest boulders; and the pools shrank. The birds fled; the wild creatures of field and forest came no more to drink; the brook was dry. Only then to his patient and unwavering spirit, "the word of the Lord came, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath."(1 Kings17:8-9) 
Most of us would have gotten anxious and worn with planning long before that. We should have ceased our songs as soon as the streamlet caroled less musically over its rocky bed; and with harps swinging on the willows, we should have paced to and fro upon the withering grass, lost in pensive thought. And probably, long ere the brook was dry, we should have devised some plan, and asking God's blessing on it, would have started off elsewhere. 
God often does extricate us, because His mercy endureth forever; but if we had only waited first to see the unfolding of His plans, we should never found ourselves landed in such an inextricable labyrinth; and we should never have been compelled to retrace our steps with so many tears of shame. Wait, patiently wait! --- F. B. Meyer. 　
七月十一日
「过了些日子，溪水就干了，因为雨没有下在地上。」（王上十七:7）
　　一星期一星期地过去，伊莱贾带着坚忍不挠的精神，守着那日渐干涸的溪水；撒但常常诱惑他叫他发生疑惧，但是他始终不允许环境来插在他与神的中间。 
　　我们有时常会藉环境来看神，正像在烟雾中看太阳，觉得太阳的光辉减少了一样；但是信心是将神放在环境和自己中间的━用神的看法来看环境的。 
　　一天天地过去，那日渐干涸的溪水只剩下了一条银色的细线了；银色的细线不久又断成了小小的池沼；池沼又渐渐干涸。 飞鸟逃去了；田间和林中的野兽也不再来取饮了；到了一天，溪水全然干涸了。伊莱贾忍耐坚持到那时候，才有「耶和华的话临到他， 说，你起身往西顿的撒勒法去……」（列王纪上十七章 8-9 节）。 
　　如果是我们，一定早已急坏了━早在东打算西打算地妄用自己的聪明了。当水流潺潺的声音稍为减少了一些的时候， 我们感谢赞美的歌声可能早就停止了；我们会将歌颂神的乐器丢在柳树枝上，自己却在枯黄的草地上踏来踏去，焦虑得像失去了魂一般。 或许，在溪水干涸以前，我们早会想出些方法来求神祝福，然后出发往他处去了。 
　　神常常按照祂自己的时候来解救我们，因为祂的慈爱是永远常存的；我们如果肯先等候看明神的旨意，我们便不会流落到不及解救的地步， 我们也不会带着羞愧的泪眼走回头路了。所以读者阿，我们应当等候，耐心等候神的旨意向我们显明！── 梅尔
July 12
"He hath acquainted himself with my beaten path. When he hath searched me out, I shall come out shining." (Job 23:10, free translation.)
FAITH grows amid storms" -just four words, but oh, how full of import to the soul who has been in the storms! Faith is that God-given faculty which, when exercised, brings the unseen into plain view, and by which the impossible things are made possible. It deals with supernaturals. 
But it "grows amid storms"; that is, where there are disturbances in the spiritual atmosphere. Storms are caused by the conflicts of elements; and the storms of the spiritual world are conflicts with hostile elements. In such an atmosphere faith finds its most productive soil; in such an element it comes more quickly to full fruition. 
The staunchest tree in not found in the shelter of the forest, but out in the open where the winds from every quarter beat upon it, and bend and twist it until it becomes a giant in stature-this is the tree which the mechanic wants his tools made of, and the wagon-maker seeks. 
So in the spiritual world, when you see a giant, remember the road you must travel to come up to his side is not along the sunny lane where wild flowers ever bloom; but a steep, rocky, narrow pathway where the blasts of hell will almost blow you off your feet; where the sharp rocks cut the flesh, where the projecting thorns scratch the brow, and the venomous beasts hiss on every side. 
It is a pathway of sorrow and joy, of suffering and healing balm, of tears and smiles, of trials and victories, of conflicts and triumphs, of hardships and perils and buffetings, of persecutions and misunderstandings, of troubles and distress; through all of which we are made more than conquerors through Him who loves us. 
"Amid storms." Right in the midst where it is fiercest. You may shrink back from the ordeal of a fierce storm of trial...but go in! God is there to meet you in the center of all your trials, and to whisper His secrets which will make you come forth with a shining face and an indomitable faith that all the demons of hell shall never afterwards cause to waver. --- E. A. Kilbourne　
七月十二日
「然而祂知道我所行的路，祂试炼我之后，我必如精金。」（伯二十三:10）
　　「风雨生信心」━这不是很简单的五个字吗？但是这五个字，对于在风雨中的人是多么有意味啊！信心是神所赐的，信心经过试炼之后，能行种种神奇的事━不可见的能变成可见，不可能的能变成可能。 
　　「风雨生信心」就是说，当我们在灵界上遭到困难的时候，我们的信心会得着长进。 
　　最坚实的树木并不是生长在森林的庇护下的，乃是暴露在风雨打击得到的空旷之处；它们因着风雨的击打摇动，竟长得极其高大━工匠用来制作器具车辆的，就是这种木料。 
　　所以，你应当常常记得你所当行的路，不是阳光闪烁、野花开放的那条，却是一条崄岨狭窄的小路，在那里阴间的狂风险些会将你吹倒，尖锐的石子会割破你的皮肉，突出的荆棘会抓伤你的头额，恶毒的野兽会在你四面吼叫。 
　　这是一条又悲伤又欢乐的道路，有痛苦，也有医治；有眼泪，也有眷顾；有试炼，也有胜利。有战争，也有凯旋。路上时常会遇到困难危险、拳打掌击、逼迫误会、烦恼苦楚，然而靠着爱我们的主，在这一切的事上，已经得胜有余了。 
　　在风雨最猛烈的当儿，也许你会退缩…但是你只管前进，神要在你试炼的中心与你会面，祂要将祂的奥秘告诉你，使你出来的时候，脸上带着「精金」一般的光彩，心中带着坚定不屈的信心，甚至阴间里的鬼魔再也不能摇动你。──吉博文
July 13
"God...calleth those things which be not as though they were." (Rom. 4:17.)
WHAT does that mean? Why Abraham did this thing: he dared to believe God.It seemed an impossibility at his age that Abraham should become the father of a child; it looked incredible; and yet God called him a "father of many nations" before there was a sign of a child; and so Abraham called himself "father" because God called him so. That is faith; it is to believe and assert what God says. "Faith steps on seeming void, and finds the rock beneath." 
Only say you have what God says you have, and He will make good to you all you believe. Only it must be real faith, all there is in you must go over in that act of faith to God. --- Crumbs. 
Be willing to live by believing and neither think nor desire to live in any other way. Be willing to see every outward light extinguished, to see the eclipse of every star in the blue heavens, leaving nothing but darkness and perils around, if God will only leave in thy soul the inner radiance, the pure bright lamp which faith has kindled. --- Thomas C. Upham. 
The moment has come when you must get off the perch of distrust, out of the nest of seeming safety, and onto the wings of faith; just such a time as comes to the bird when it must begin to try the air. It may seem as though you must drop to the earth; so it may seem to the fledgling. It, too, may feel very like falling; but it does not fall-it's pinions give it support, or, if they fail, the parent birds sweeps under and bears it upon its wings. 
Even so will God bear you. Only trust Him; "thou shalt be holden up."(Rom14:4) "Well, but" you say, "am I to cast myself upon nothing?" That is what the bird seems to have to do; but we know the air is there, and the air is not so unsubstantial as it seems. And you know the promises of God are there, and they are not unsubstantial at all. "But it seems an unlikely thing to come about that my poor weak soul should be girded with such strength." Has God said it shall? "That my tempted, yielding nature shall be victor in the strife." Has God said it shall? "That my timorous, trembling heart shall find peace?" 
Has God said it shall? for, if He has, you surely do not mean to give Him the lie! Hath he spoken, and shall He not do it? If you have gotten a word- "a sure word" of promise-take it implicitly, trust it absolutely. And this sure word you have; nay, you have more-you have Him who speaks the word confidently. "Yea, I say unto you," trust Him. --- J. B. Figges, M. A. 　
七月十三日 
「亚伯拉罕所信的，是那叫死人复活，使无变为有的神，祂在主面前作我们世人的父。如经上所记，我已经立你作多国的父。」（罗4:17）
　　亚伯拉罕为甚么这样信靠神？照世人的眼光看来，亚伯拉罕到了这么大的年龄，是不能再有作父亲的希望了；但是神却在他还没有一些生子的兆头以先，就叫他「多国的父」了；神既这样说，亚伯拉罕就这样信。这就是信心；信心就是相信拥护神所说的。信心举步的时候，彷佛前面全是空虚；但是脚一踏上去，就立即发见底下有一块稳固的盘石了。 
神说你有甚么，你就信你有甚么；这样，神必将你所信的给你。── 碎锦
　　你应当甘心乐意地过着信心的生活，不要羡慕别的。虽然你看见你外面的灯光都熄灭了，天上的星光也蒙蔽了，四围剩下的只是黑暗和危险， 但是你还该欢喜快乐，因为知道神在你内心仍给你留下属灵的灿烂━信心点燃的明灯。── 阿伯汉
　　时候已经到了，你不该再栖息怀疑的木竿上了，走出你自以为安全的巢窝来，披上信心的翅翼罢；小鸟儿必须出来学习飞了。学习的时候， 牠深怕自己会跌下去，可是事实上并没有跌━牠的翅膀支住了牠。 
　　读者啊！只要信靠神，「你必要站住」（罗马书 14 章 4 节）。你也许要说：「我这样软弱的人，未必会得着能力罢！」神说：「你会」。你也许要说：「我这易受诱惑、易于降服的天性，未必会得着胜利吧！」神说：「你会」。你也许要说：「我这怯懦震颤的心魂，未必会得着安宁罢！」神说：「你会」。 
　　神既这样说过，你当然不能以神为说谎的！祂说过了，难道会不去作吗？所以如果你已经得到了神一句话━一个确实的允许━你就当丝毫不疑完完全全地信任祂，因为你不只有一句确实的话，你也有一位说这话的信实的主。── 费极斯
July 14
"Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar." (Psalm 118:27.
IS not this altar inviting thee? Shall we not ask to be bound to it, the we may never be able to start back from our attitude of consecration? There are times when life is full of roseate light, and we choose the Cross; at other times, when the sky is grey, we shrink from it. It is well to be bound. 
Wilt Thou bind us, most blessed Spirit, and enamor us with the Cross, and let us never leave it? Bind us with the scarlet cord of redemption, and the golden cord of love, and the silver cord of Advent-hope, so we will not go back from it, or wish for another lot than to be the humble partners with our Lord in His pain and sorrow! 
The horns of the altar invite thee. Wilt thou come ? Wilt thou dwell ever in a spirit of resigned humility, and give thyself wholly to the Lord? 
--- Selected. 
The story is told of a colored brother who, at a camp meeting, tried to give himself to God. Every night at the altar he consecrated himself; but every night before he left the meeting, the devil would come to him and convince him that he did not feel any different and therefore he was not consecrated. 
Again and again he was beaten back by the adversary. Finally, one evening he came to the meeting with an axe and a big stake. After consecrating himself, he drove the stake into the ground just where he had knelt. As he was leaving the building, the devil came to him as usual and tried to make him believe that it was all a farce. 
At once he went back to the stake and, pointing to it, said, "Look here, Mr. Devil, do you see the stake? Well, that's my witness that God has forever accepted me." Immediately the devil left him, and he had no further doubts on the subject.─The Still Small Voice. 
Beloved, if you are tempted to doubt the finality of your consecration, drive a stake down somewhere and let it be your witness before God and even the devil that you have settled the question forever. 
Are you groping for a blessing,
Never getting there?
Listen to a word in season,
Get somewhere.
Are you struggling for salvation,
By your anxious prayer?
Stop your struggling, simply trust, and-
Get somewhere.
Does the answer seem to linger,
To your earnest prayer?
Turn your praying into praise, and-
Get somewhere.
You will never know His fullness,
Till you boldly dare
To commit your all to Him, and-
Get somewhere.
─Songs of the Spirit.　
七月十四日 
「用绳索把祭牲拴住，牵到坛角那里。（诗篇一一八:27）
　　读者阿，祭坛不是在呼召我们吗？我们不是要请求绳索把我们拴在祭坛上，使我们永远不把我们的奉献拿回来吗？我们常常在生活充满了玫瑰色光彩的时候，乐意选择十字架；在天色灰暗的时候，就退缩了。所以如果能用绳索把我们拴住的话，多么好呢！ 
　　圣灵阿，求你把我们拴住，拴在十字架上，让我们永远不会离开它。求你用救恩的红绳、爱的金绳、望的银绳、把我们拴住，叫不能逃回旧日的宽路去，也叫我们不去羡慕别的命运━只羡慕作主痛苦悲伤中卑贱的伴侣！ 
　　读者阿，坛角在呼召你了。你愿不愿意来呢？你愿不愿意永远居在顺从谦卑的灵中，把你自己完全奉献给主呢？──选 
　　在一次野外聚会里，有一位弟兄，愿意把自己奉献给神。他每天晚上在祭坛旁边奉献自己；但是每天晚上在他离开聚会以前，魔鬼就来使他相信：他并没有感觉什么分别，一定是神没有接受他的奉献。 
　　一次一次他这样被仇敌击退，最后一天晚上，他来赴会的时候，带了一把斧头和一根长大的木椿来。他把自己奉献了以后，就将木椿钉入他所跪的那块地上。当他走出会场的时候，魔鬼又来引诱他相信这一切都不过是一幕闹剧而已。 
　　他立刻回到木椿那里，指着木椿说：「你看，魔鬼先生，你看见那根木椿吗？那就是我的证人━ 证明神已经永远接受了我。」魔鬼立即离开了他， 这位弟兄对于这个问题，以后再没有什么疑惑了。 ── 微小的声音
　　亲爱的，如果你也受了引诱疑惑你的奉献的话，你也可以在一个地方钉下一根木椿，让它在神前、魔鬼前，做一个证人说，你已经永远解决了这个问题。
July 15
"This is the victory that overcometh the world even our faith." (1 John 5:4.)
It is easy to love Him when the blue is in the sky. When summer winds are blowing, and we smell the roses nigh; There is little effort needed to obey His precious will When it leads through flower-decked valley, or over sun-kissed hill. 
It is when the rain is falling, or the mist hangs in the air, When the road is dark and rugged, and the wind no longer fair, When the rosy dawn has settled in a shadowland of gray, That we find it hard to trust Him, and are slower to obey. 
It is easy to trust Him when the singing birds have come, And their canticles are echoed in our heart and in our home; But 'tis when we miss the music, and the days are dull and drear, That we need a faith triumphant over every doubt and fear. 
And our blessed Lord will give it; what we lack He will supply; Let us ask in faith believing-on His promises rely; He will ever be our Leader, whether smooth or rough the way, And will prove Himself sufficient for the needs of every day. 
To trust in spite of the look of being forsaken; to keep crying out into the vast, whence comes no returning voice, and where seems no hearing; to see the machinery of the world pauselessly grinding on as if self-moved, caring for no life, nor shifting a hair-breadth for all entreaty, and yet believe that God is awake and utterly loving; to desire nothing but what comes meant for us from His hand; to wait patiently, ready to die of hunger, fearing only lest faith should fail-such is the victory that overcometh the world, such is faith indeed. ---George MacDonald 
七月十五日
「使我们胜了世界的，就是我们的信心。（约翰壹书五:4）
　什么叫作胜了世界呢？
　　胜了世界就是说，虽然你的环境告诉你神已经弃绝了你，你对于神的信赖，却仍然丝毫不移；虽然你的祷告得不着答应，好似神并没听见一般，你却仍然继续呼喊着；虽然你看见世上充满了残忍，毫不顾惜人类的生命，也不顾念人类的恳求，你却仍然相信神是醒着的，并且是全然慈爱的。除神亲手给你的东西以外，并不愿望别的；忍耐等候，宁愿饿死，也不愿失去丝毫信心━这就是胜了世界，这就是真实的信心。── 麦唐纳 
July 16
"Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not with held thy son, thine only son…I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven; …… because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Gen. 22:16-18.)
AND from that day to this, men have been learning that when, at God's voice, they surrender up to Him the one thing above all else that was dearest to their very hearts, that same thing is returned to them by Him a thousand times over. Abraham gives up his one and only son, at God's call, and with this disappear all his hopes for the boy's life and manhood, and for a noble family his name. But the boy is restored, the family becomes as the stars and sands in number, and out of it, in the fullness of time, appears Jesus Christ. 
That is just the way God meets every real sacrifice of every child of His. We surrender all and accept poverty; and He sends wealth. We renounce a rich field of service; He sends us a richer one than we had dared to dream of. We give up all our cherished hopes, and die unto self; He sends us the life more abundant, and tingling joy. And the crown of it all is our Jesus Christ. For we can never know the fullness of the life that is in Christ until we have made Abraham's supreme sacrifice. The earthly founder of the family of Christ must commence by losing himself and his only son, just as the Heavenly Founder of that family did. We cannot be members of that family with the full privileges and joys of membership upon any other basis. --- C. G. Trumbull. 
We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes He takes in fire; (Isa.48:10) and that the only way to the resurrection life and the ascension mount is the way of the garden, the cross, and the grave. 
Think not, O soul of man, that Abraham's was a unique and solitary experience. It is simply a specimen and pattern of God's dealings with all souls who are prepared to obey Him at whetever cost. After thou hast patiently endured, thou shalt receive the promise. The moment of supreme sacrifice shall be the moment of supreme and rapturous blessing. God's river, which is full of water, shall burst its banks, and pour upon thee a tide of wealth and grace. There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him. --- F. B. Meyer. 　
七月十六日 
『你既行了这事，不留下你的儿子，就是你独生的儿子…我必叫你的子孙多起来，如同天上的星，海边的沙……因为你听从了我的话。』（创二十二:16-18）
从这几节圣经里，我们知道：凡照着神的要求，将我们心中最宝贵的那件东西献给神的，祂仍要将那件东西还给我们，并且加上千倍。亚伯拉罕因着神的命令甘心舍弃他的独生子，那时，他对于孩子的生命和成人的希望，都同时消失了；他高贵的种族也将从此绝代了。但是结果怎样呢？不但孩子归还了他，他的子孙竟多得如星沙一般；并且到了指定的日期，我们的主耶稣基督也出世在这个家族里。 
这正是神对待祂每一个孩子的方法。当我们为祂舍弃富贵选择贫穷的时候，祂就给我们富贵。当我们为祂舍弃一个丰裕的职位时，祂就给我们一个梦想不到的更丰裕的职位。我们为祂舍弃一切甜蜜的希望，看自己是死了的时候，祂就给我们更丰盛的生命、更希罕的欢乐。我们越多为祂牺牲，就越多得到基督；直到像亚伯拉罕一般牺牲到最宝贵的那一件的时候，我们就要看见在基督里的那完美的生命。－崔伦保 
我们有时候好像忘记了神拣选我们，是要在苦难的炉中拣选的（赛四十八章十节）。我们也忘记了复活的生命，和升天的荣耀，是从客西马尼、十字架和坟墓里来的。 
亲爱的读者啊，不要想亚伯拉罕的经历是一件绝无仅有的奇事。我告诉你，这正是神神对待一切愿出代价来顺服祂的人们的一个样品、一个模型。牺牲最大的一剎那，就是祝福最大的一剎那。神对于一个胆敢为着祂向烟雾中前进的人，是没有一件东西不肯给的。－梅尔
July 17
"I will be still, and I will behold in my dwelling place." (Isa. 18:4, R. V.)
ASSYRIA was marching against Ethiopia, the people of which are described as tall and smooth. And as the armies advance, God makes no effort to arrest them; it seems as though they will be allowed to work their will. He is still watching them from His dwelling place, the sun still shines on them; but before the harvest, the whole of the proud army of Assyria is smitten as easily as when sprigs are cut off by the pruning hook of the husbandman. 
Is not this a marvelous conception of God-being still and watching? His stillness is not acquiescence. His silence is not consent. He is only biding His time, and will arise, in the most opportune moment, and when the designs of the wicked seem on the point of success, to overwhelm them with disaster. As we look out on the evil of the world; as we think of the apparent success of wrong-doing; as we wince beneath the oppression of those that hate us, let us remember these marvelous words about God being still and beholding. 
There is another side to this. Jesus beheld His disciples toiling at the oars through the stormy night; and watched though unseen, the successive steps of the anguish of Bethany, when Lazarus slowly passed through the stages of mortal sickness, until he succumbed and was borne to the rocky tomb. But He was only waiting the moment when He could interpose most effectually. Is He still to thee? He is not unobservant; He is beholding all things; He has His finger on thy pulse, keenly sensitive to all its fluctuations. He will come to save thee when the precise moment arrived. --- Devotional Commentary. 
Whatever His questions or His reticences, we may be absolutely sure of an unperplexed and undismayed Saviour.
"O troubled soul, beneath the rod,
Thy Father speaks, be still, be still;
Learn to be silent unto God,
And let Him mould thee to His will.
"O praying soul, be still, be still,
He cannot break His plighted Word;
Sink down into His blessed will,
And wait in patience on the Lord.
"O waiting soul, be still, be strong,
And though He tarry, trust and wait;
Doubt not, He will not wait too long,
Fear not, He will not come too late."　
七月十七日
「我要安静，在我的居所观看。」（以赛亚书十八: 4）
　　你们记得亚述王西拿基立上来攻击犹大的那段故事吗？当亚述军队上来的时候，神并没有阻止他们；似乎神许可他们这样作一般。神仍旧安安静静地在祂的居所观看，太阳也仍旧照着他们；但是到了夜间，耶和华的使者击杀了全批傲慢的亚述军队，正如农夫的镰刀割剪树枝一般容易。 
　　我们看，神的观念多么奇异━祂喜欢安静，在祂的居所观看！祂的安静并不是默许，祂的缄默并不是同意；祂不过在等待祂自己的时候罢了 ━ 在最合宜的时候，祂要起来，在恶者的图谋正要成功的时候，祂要起来用灾祸毁灭他们。当我们看到世上的邪恶，想到恶人的成功， 挣扎在仇人的欺压下的时候，就应当想到神是在安静观看。 
　　我们再看主耶稣在世时的态度。一天晚上，耶稣独自在岸上，看见门徒在海中，因风不顺，摇橹甚苦，祂怎么样呢？静静地望着； 拉撒路生病的时候，祂明知道祂所爱的人在伯大尼何等痛苦，但是祂却不去....直等到拉撒路的病势一天沉重一天，死了，安放在坟墓里了， 祂才前去，为的是要等待最合宜的时间。 
　　亲爱的读者，祂对你是不是也是这样「安静」呢？祂并不是不关心；一切祂都看见；祂的手指正按在你的脉搏上，很留意地在数算起伏的次数。 在祂看为最恰当的时候，祂就要起来拯救你。── 译自日诚报
July 18
"The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." (2Chron. 16:9.)
GOD is looking for a man, or woman, whose heart will be always set on Him, and who will trust Him for all He desires to do. God is eager to work more mightily now than He ever has through any soul. The clock of the centuries points to the eleventh hour. 
"The world is waiting yet to see what God can do through a consecrated soul." Not the world alone, but God Himself is waiting for one, who will be more fully devoted to Him than any who have ever lived; who will be willing to be nothing that Christ may be all; who will grasp God's own purposes; and taking His humility and His faith, His love and His power, will, without hindering, continue to let God do exploits. --- C. H. P. 
"There is no limit to what God can do with a man, providing he will not touch the glory." 
In an address given to ministers and workers after his ninetieth birthday, George Mueller spoke thus of himself: "I was converted in November, 1825, but I only came into the full surrender of the four years later, in July, 1829. The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone. God, God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else. 
And by the grace of God this has remained, and has made me a happy man, an exceedingly happy man, and it led me to care only about the things of God. 
I ask affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you fully surrendered the heart to God, or is there this thing or that thing with which you are taken up irrespective of God? I read a little of the Scriptures before, but preferred other books; but since that time the revelation He has made of Himself has become unspeakably blessed to me, and I can say from my heart, God is an infinitely lovely Being. 
Oh, be not satisfied until in your own inmost soul you can say, God is an infinitely lovely Being!" --- Selected. 　
七月十八日
「耶和华的眼目遍察全地。」（历代志下十六:9）
　亲爱的读者阿，神正在寻找一个人━一个肯全心倾向祂的人，一个肯完全顺服他的人。神切望在这人身上动一件重要的工程━祂要重用祝福这人，比以前灵界上的一切伟人更甚；因为这世代的钟已经走到午夜十一点了。 
　　世界在等待━要看神借着一个献身的圣徒能成功何等大的事！不独世界，就是神自己也在等待一个人出来━一个肯完全献身于祂比一切先圣更甚的人；一个愿意把一切视为粪土、看基督是一切的人；一个能体会神心意的人；一个有主的谦卑、主的信心、主的爱、主的能力，而不肯阻止神的计划，一直让神借着他工作的人。── C.H.P. 
　　一个被神重用的人，只要不偷享神的荣耀，神在他身上的祝福是无限量的。 
　　穆勒在九十岁那年，对一班教师和工人所发表的一篇演说里面，有一段讲到他自己的见证说：「我是在一八二五年十一月里得救的，但是一直到四年以后，一八二九年七月里才完全顺服。那时候，爱钱财的心没有了，爱都市的心没有了，爱地位的心没有了，爱属世的娱乐的心也没有了。神，惟有神，是我所爱的。我在祂里面找到了一切，所以我不再需要其它的东西了。」 
　　「感谢神，靠着祂的恩典，这倾向一直存留到今天，使我终身得成一个快乐的人━一个极其快乐的人；这倾向也叫我只爱慕属天的事物。」 
　　「现在，我亲爱的弟兄们啊，让我诚诚恳恳地问你们一句话，你们有没有完全顺服神呢？你们所作的是不是还有这件或者那件没有顾到神的心呢？我以前只读一点点圣经，我宁愿多读些别的书籍；但是自从那时候起，神的话对于我便成了说不尽的福乐，我能够从心坎中发出喊声来说，神真可爱极了。」 
　　「弟兄们啊，你们不要自满自足，我真希望在你们心的最深处也能够喊叫说，神真可爱极了！」 ── 选
July 19
"The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11.)
THIS was a greater thing to say and do than to calm the seas or raise the dead. 
Prophets and apostles could work wondrous miracles, but they could not always do and suffer the will of God. To do and suffer God's will is still the highest form of faith, the most sublime Christian achievement. 
To have the bright aspirations of a young life forever blasted; to bear a daily burden never congenial and to see no relief; to be pinched by poverty when you only desire a competency for the good and comfort of loved ones; to be fettered by some incurable physical disability; to be stripped bare of loved ones until you stand alone to meet the shocks of life-to be able to say in such a school of discipline, "The cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?" -this is faith at its highest and spiritual success at the crowning point. Great faith is exhibited not so much in ability to do as to suffer. --- Dr. Charles Parkhurst. 
To have a sympathizing God we must have a suffering Saviour, and there is no true fellow-feeling with another save in the heart of him who has been afflicted like him. 
We cannot do good to others save at a cost to ourselves, and our afflictions are the price we pay for our ability to sympathize. He who would be a helper, must first be a sufferer. He who would be a saviour must somewhere and somehow have been upon a cross; and we cannot have the highest happiness of life in succoring others without tasting the cup which Jesus drank, and submitting to the baptism wherewith He was baptized. 
The most comforting of David's psalms were pressed out by suffering; and if Paul had not had his thorn in the flesh we had missed much of that tenderness which quivers in so many of his letters. 
The present circumstance, which presses so hard against you (if surrendered to Christ), is the best shaped tool in the Father's hand to chisel you for eternity. Trust Him, then. Do not push away the instrument lest you lose its work." 
The school of suffering graduates rare scholars.--- Selected. 
"Strange and difficult indeed
We may find it,
But the blessing that we need
Is behind it　
七月十九日
「我父所给我的那杯，我岂可不喝呢？」（约十八: 11）
　　亲爱的读者，你可知道说这句话，比平静风和海、叫死人复活更伟大吗？ 
　　先知和使徒能行许多神迹奇事，却不能事事遵行忍受神的旨意。遵行忍受神的旨意是最高点的信心，是基督徒所能作到的最高一点。 
　　有时候你光明的希望遭了永久的毁灭；每天所背负的重担永得不着减轻；当你渴望有充足的财力能使所爱的过些幸福舒适的生活时， 反遭到了贫穷拮据；或者竟被身体上不治的病症捆锁拘禁在病榻上；赤裸裸地被剥夺了一切所爱的人们，剩下你独自一人孤孤单单地去抵御一切外来的袭击━在这种试炼之下，你依然能说：「我父所给我的那杯，我岂可不喝呢？」━这就是最高点的信心！这就是最高点属灵的成功！ 最大的信心不是在行为上呈现出来的，乃是在忍受上呈现出来的。── 巴赫司脱
　　要有一个同情的神，必须先有一个受苦的主；一个没有尝过同样痛苦的心，对于别人不会发生真实的同情。 
　　我们自己不出代价，就不能帮助别人；我们的痛苦就是我们所付的代价，叫我们以后能同情于他人的难堪。要做一个帮助人的人，必须先做一个受苦的人；要做一个救人的人，必须先经过十字架的对付；我们若不喝主所喝的杯，受主所受的苦，就不能享受救助人的那种人生最高的喜乐。 
　　戴维的诗篇中最能安慰人的几篇，乃是在苦难中压出来的；如果保罗没有一根刺加在他肉体上，在他许多的书信上一定会失去许多温柔！ 
　　亲爱的读者，你现在的受压的环境，就是父神手里用以雕制你的一件最合式的工具。不要去推开祂━恐怕你一动，就会弄坏了父的工作呢！ 
　　受苦学校毕业的学生绝少。──选
July 20
"Seeing then that we have a great high priest...Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fas our profession. Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."(Heb. 4:14,16.)
OUR great Helper in prayer is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Advocate with the Father, our Great High Priest, whose chief ministry for us these centuries has been intercession and prayer. He it is who takes our imperfect petitions from our hands, cleanses then from their defects, corrects their faults, and then claims their answer from His Father on His own account and through His all-atoning merits and righteousness. 
Brother, are you fainting in prayer? Look up. Your blessed Advocate has already claimed your answer, and you would grieve and disappoint Him if you were to give up the conflict in the very moment when victory is on its way to meet you. He has gone in for you into the inner chamber, and already holds up your name upon the palms of His hands; and the messenger, which is to bring you your blessing, is now on his way, and the Spirit is only waiting your trust to whisper in your heart the echo of the answer from the throne, "It is done." --- A. B. Simpson. 
The Spirit has much to do with acceptable prayer, and His work in prayer is too much neglected. He enlightens the mind to see its wants, softens the heart to feel them, quickens our desires after suitable supplies, gives clear views of God's power, wisdom, and grace to relieve us, and stirs up that confidence in His truth which excludes all wavering. Prayer is, therefore, a wonderful thing. In every acceptable prayer the whole Trinity is concerned. --- J. Angell James. 
七月二十日
「我们既然有一位....大祭司，就是神的儿子耶稣，便当持定所承认的道。....我们只管坦然无惧，来到施恩的宝座前，为要得怜恤，蒙恩惠作随时的帮助。」（来四: 14、16）
　　我们祷告上最大的帮手就是主耶稣基督，祂是我们在父那里的中保、我们的大祭司，祂现在主要的职务，就是替我们在父前说情、代求。祂从我们手里把我们不完全的祈祷接过去，将其中的污秽洁净了，错误更正了，然后用自己的名义，藉赎罪的功绩和正直到父前去索取答应。 
弟兄姊妹，你对于祷告已经灰心了吗？决不要这样。你的中保已经替你索到答应了，胜利已经在路上了。如果祂看见你放弃了祈求， 这要使祂多么忧愁多么失望呢！祂已经为你进到神的内室，已经将你的名字用两手递了上去；报好信息的使者也在路上了，圣灵只在等待━要在你信靠的时候，将宝座前答应的回声━「已成了」━轻声报在你心里。── 信宣
　　在每一个蒙答应的祷告上，圣灵都曾花了极大的力量来帮助我们，可惜我们常常将祂的工作忽略了。祂启发我们的意志，叫我们看见祷告的需要； 祂软化我们的心来同意；祂催促我们的愿望；祂叫我们清楚看见神的能力、智慧和恩典来享受慰藉；祂鼓励我们倚靠主的信实来排斥一切的疑惧。 所以在每一个蒙答应的祷告上，父、子、灵，都占了极重要的地位。── 安格雅各布
July 21
"Let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece." (Judges 6:39.) 
THERE are degrees to faith. At one stage of Christian experience we cannot believe unless we have some sign or some great manifestation of feeling. We feel our fleece, like Gideon, and if it is wet we are willing to trust God. This may be true faith, but it is imperfect. It always looks for feeling or some token besides the Word of God.
It marks quite an advance in faith when we trust God without feelings. It is blessed to believe without having any emotion. 
There is a third stage of faith which even transcends that of Gideon and his fleece. The first phase of faith believes when there are favorable emotions, the second believes when there is the absence of feeling, but this third form of faith believes God and His Word when circumstances, emotions, appearances, people, and human reason all urge to the contrary. Paul exercised this faith in (Acts. 27:20, 25), "And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away." Not-withstanding all this Paul said, "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer; for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." 
May God give us faith to fully trust His Word though everything else witness the other way. -- C. H. P. 
When is the time to trust?
Is it when all is calm,
When waves the victor's palm,
And life is one glad psalm
Of joy and praise?
Nay! but the time to trust
Is when the waves beat high,
When storm clouds fill to sky,
And prayer is one long cry,
O help and save!
When is the time to trust?
Is it when friends are true?
Is it when comforts woo,
And is all we say and do
We meet but praise?
Nay! but the time to trust
Is when we stand alone,
And summer birds have flown,
And every prop is gone,
All else but God.
What is the time to trust?
Is it some future day,
When you have tricd your way,
And learned to trust and pray
By bitter woe?
Nay! but the time to trust
Is in this moment's need.
Poor, broken, bruised reed!
Poor, troubled soul, make speea
To trust thy God.
What is the time to trust?
Is it when hopes beat high,
When sunshine gilds the sky,
And joy and ecstasy
Fill all the heart?
Nay! but the time to trust
Is when our joy is fled,
When sorrow bows the head,
And all is cold and dead,
All else but God.
─Selected.
七月二十一日
「让我将羊毛再试一次；但愿羊毛是干的，别的地方都有露水。」（士六:39） 
　　基督徒的信心有三个时期。在第一个时期里，我们对于一件事，如果没有看见兆头或者显著的感觉，就不容易相信。像基甸一样，一定要先去摸摸羊毛，如果羊毛是干的，才愿意相信。这一种信心，也许是真实的信心，不过这种信心不完全。这种信心常常要在神的话语以外，另外找些感觉和证据。 
　　在第二个时期里，我们对于一件事，如果没有感觉，也能够相信。这就是告诉我们说，我们的信心有了显著的进步了。 
　　在第三个时期里的信心和基甸摸羊毛的信心适正相反。第一期的信心，是凭依顺利的感觉来相信的；第二期的信心，没有感觉，也能相信了； 第三期的信心，在环境、感觉、外表、世人、理智，都催促你向反面作去的时候，你依旧持守神的话语。保罗在使徒行传二十七章二十、二十五节所运用的，就是这样的信心━「太阳和星辰多日不显露，又有狂风大浪催逼，我们得救的指望就都绝了。」虽然这样，保罗却说：「所以众位可以放心， 我信神祂怎样对我说，事情也要怎样成就。」 
　　愿神赐我们这样的信心，叫我们不看环境，完全信赖神的话语。－－C. H. P.
July 22
"And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you...blessed are all they that wait for him." (Isa. 30:18.) 
WE must not only think of our waiting upon God, but also of what is more wonderful still, of God's waiting upon us. 
The vision of Him waiting on us, will give new impulse and inspiration to our waiting upon Him. It will give us unspeakable confidence the our waiting cannot be in vain.
Let us seek even now, at this moment, in the spirit of waiting on God, to find out something of what it means. He has inconceivably glorious purposes concerning every one of His children. And you ask, "How is it, if He waits to be gracious, that even after I come and wait upon Him, He does not give the help I seek, but waits on longer and longer?" 
God is a wise husbandman, "who waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it." (Jas.5:7) He cannot gather the fruit till it is ripe.He knows when we are spiritually ready to receive the blessing to our profit and His glory. Waiting in the sunshine of His love in what will ripen the soul for His blessing. Waiting under the cloud of trial, that breaks in showers of blessings, is as needful. Be assured that if God waits longer than you could wish, it is only to make the blessing doubly precious. God waited four thousand years, till the fullness of time, ere He sent His Son. 
Our times are in His hands; He will avenge His elect speedily; He will make haste for our help, and not delay one hour too long. --- Andrew Murray. 
七月二十二日
「耶和华必然等候，要施恩给你们....凡等候祂的，都是有福的。」（赛三十:18） 
　　我们不该单想到我们在等候神，也应该想到更奇异的━神在等候我们。 
　　我们若看见祂在等候我们，这会给我们新的鼓舞、新的激励，来等候祂；这也会给我们极大的平安━知道我们的等候不是徒然的。 
　　也许你要问：「既然祂在等候施恩，为什么我来等候祂的时候，祂仍不给我所寻找的帮助，而继续等候着呢？」 
　　亲爱的读者，神是一位聪明的农夫，祂「忍耐等候地里宝贵的出产」（雅各布书五章7节）。如果出产尚未成熟，祂就不能收割。 祂知道什么时候我们的灵可以接受祝福来荣耀祂。在祂爱的阳光下等候会叫我们渐渐成熟，在试炼的黑云下等候也是如此。神在差遣祂儿子到世上来以前，自己曾等候了四千年，为的是要等候最适当的时期。 
　　亲爱的读者，祂替祂选民复仇的日子快到了，祂就要起来帮助我们了，祂决不会迟延太久，叫我们多等一刻的。── 慕安得烈
July 23
"Giving thanks always for all things unto God."(Eph. 5:20.) 
NO matter what the source of the evil, if you are in God and surrounded by Him as by an atmosphere, all evil has to pass through Him before it comes to you. Therefore you can thank God for everything that comes, not for the sin of it, but for what God will bring out of it and through it. May God make our lives thanksgiving and perpetual praise, then He will make everything a blessing. 
We once saw a man draw some black dots. We looked and could make nothing of them but an irregular assemblage of black dots. Then he drew a few lines, put in a few rests, then a clef at the beginning, and we saw these black dots were musical notes. On sounding them we were singing."Praise God from whom all blessing flow, Praise Him all creature here below." 
There are many black dots and black spots in our lives, and we cannot understand why they are there or why God permitted them to come. But if we let God come into our lives, and adjust the dots in the proper why, and draw the lines He wants, and separate this from that, and put in the rests at the proper places; out of the black dots and spots in our lives He will make a glorious harmony. Let us not hinder Him in this glorious work! --- C. H. P. 
"Would we know that the major chords were sweet,
If there were no minor key?
Would the painter's work be fair to our eyes,
Without shade on land or sea?
"Would we know the meaning of happiness,
Would we feet that the day was bright,
If we'd never known what it was to grieve,
Nor gazed on the dark of night?"
Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties.---C. H. Spurgeon.
When the musician presses the black keys on the great organ, the music is as sweet as when he touches the white ones, but to get the capacity of the instrument he must touch them all.--- Selected.
七月二十三日
「凡事....常常感谢父神。」（弗五:20） 
　　如果你是在主里面的，你就是被主包围着，如同被空气包围着一般，不论什么灾祸，必须先经过祂，然后才能临到你身上来。所以每一件临到你身上的事情，都是值得感谢赞美的。愿神叫我们的生活充满感谢赞美的声浪！这样，祝福就会多多加给我们。 
　　可惜有许多时候，我们看不出一件事情是值得感谢赞美的，正如同有一次我看见一个人在画黑点，我看了半天，看不出这一群黑点是什么意思。后来他画了几条直线，加上几个停音符，在开头的地方加上一个音部记号，那时我才看出这些黑点原来是音乐上的音符。 
　　我们的生活上也有许多黑点，我们不明白为什么要有，这些黑点，为什么神容许它们留着。但是如果我们让神进到我们的生活里来，让祂将黑点按照适当的方法调节起来，画上一些祂所要画的直线，在适当的地方加上一些停音符，祂就要从我们生活的黑点里编出一首美丽和谐的音乐来。－－C. H. P.
July 24
"Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel; but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul."(Psa. 106:12-15.) 
WE read of Moses, that "he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." (Heb.11:27) Exactly the opposite was true of the children of Israel in this record. They endured only when the circumstances were favorable; they were largely governed by the things that appealed to their senses, in place of resting in the invisible and eternal God. 
In the present day there are those who live intermittent Christian lives because they have become occupied with the outward, and center in circumstances, in place of centering in God. God wants us more and more to see Him in everything, and to call nothing small if it bears us His message. 
Here we read of the children of Israel, "Then they believed his words." They did not believe till after they saw-when they saw Him work, then they believed. They really doubted God when they came to the Red Sea; but when God opened the way and led them across and they saw Pharaoh and his host drowned- "then they believed." 
They led an up and down life because of this kind of faith; it was a faith that depended upon circumstances. This is not the kind of faith God wants us to have. 
The world says "seeing is believing," but God wants us to believe in order to see. The Psalmist said, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." (Ps.27:13) 
Do you believe God only when the circumstances are favorable, or do you believe no matter what the circumstances may be? --- C. H. P. 
Faith is to believe what we do not see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe. --- St. Augustine. 
七月二十四日 
「那时他们才信了祂的话，歌唱赞美祂。等不多时，他们就忘了祂的作为，不仰望祂的指教，反倒在旷野大起欲心，在荒地试探神。祂将他们所求的赐给他们，却使他们的心灵软弱。」（诗篇一○六 :12-15） 
　　我们曾读过摩西，「他恒心忍耐，如同看见那不能看见的主」（希伯来书十一章27节）。在上面一段记载里，我们又看见以色列人，却和摩西适正相反。他们只会在环境顺利的时候歌唱赞美神；环境一改变，信心也随着改变了。他们原应该安息在那看不见的永生的神里面的，可是他们却被四围物质的东西统治了。 
　　有一班基督徒，他们的生活一时冷，一时热；一时高，一时低；这是什么原因呢？原因就是他们被物质的东西占住了，他们本该以神为中心的，却去以环境为中心了。神愿意我们在每一件事物上都看见祂，凡带有祂信息的事物，一件都不能忽略。 
　　刚才我们读过以色列人，「那时他们纔信了祂的话。」他们一直不信－直到看见了神的工作以后纔信。当他们行近红海的时候，他们对神还是怀疑的；但是当神为他们开了路，带领他们过去，让他们看见法老和他的全军被水淹没了━「那时他们纔信。」 
　　他们一直过着一上一下的生活，就是为了这种信心；这是一种倚靠环境的信心。这种信心，不是神所能满足的。 
　　世界告诉我们应当「见而信」，但是神要我们「信而见」。写诗篇的人说：「我若不信在活人之地得见耶和华的恩惠，就早已丧胆了」（诗篇廿七篇13节）。 
　　亲爱的读者，你是单在环境顺利得时候信神呢，还是不论环境怎样，你总是信祂呢？--C.H.P. 
　　信心是相信我们所不见的，信心的酬报，就是得见我们所相信的。--奥古斯丁
July 25
"What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." (John 13:7.) 
WE have only a partial view here of God's dealings, His half-completed, half-developed plan; but all will stand out in fair and graceful proportions in the great finished Temple of Eternity! 
Go, in the reign of Israel's greatest king, to the heights of Lebanon. See that noble cedar, the pride of its compeers, an old wrestler with northern blasts! Summer loves to smile upon it, night spangle its feathery foliage with dewdrops, the birds nestle on its branches, the weary pilgrim or wandering shepherd reposes under its shadows from the midday heat or from the furious storm; but all at once it is marked out to fall; The aged denizen of the forest is doomed to succumb to the woodman's stroke! 
As we see the axe making its first gash on its gnarled trunk, then the noble limbs stripped of their branches, and at last the "Tree of God," as was its distinctive epithet, coming with a crash to the ground, we exclaim against the wanton destruction, the demolition of this proud pillar in the temple of nature. We are tempted to cry with the prophet, as if inviting the sympathy of every lowlier stem-invoking inanimate things to resent the affront- "Howl, fir tree; for the cedar has fallen!" (Zech.11:2)
But wait a little. Follow that gigantic trunk as the workmen of Hiram launch it down the mountain side; thence conveyed in rafts along the blue waters of the Mediterranean; and last of all, behold it set a glorious polished beam in the Temple of God. As you see its destination, placed in the very Holy of Holies, in the diadem of the Great King-say, can you grudge that "the crown of Lebanon" was despoiled, in order that this jewel might have so noble a setting? 
That cedar stood as a stately prop in Nature's sanctuary, but "the glory of the latter house was greater than the glory of the former!" (Hag.2:9)
How many of our souls are like these cedars of old! God's axes of trial have stripped and bared them. We see no reason for dealings so dark and mysterious, but He has a noble end and object in view; to set them as everlasting pillars and rafters in His Heavenly Zion; to make them a "crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of our God."(Isa,62:3) --- J.R.Macduff. 
"I do not ask my cross to understand.
My way to see-
Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand,
And follow Thee." 
七月二十五日
「我所作的，你如今不知道，后来必明白。」（约十三: 7） 
　　我们现在所看见的神的作为，只是局部的━一个半完成、半发展的计划；到永生的殿完成的时候，全部工程就要清清楚楚地显露出来！ 
　　让我们上利巴嫩山顶去看看。在那里有高大的香柏树，它是同辈的光荣，狂风的对手！夏喜欢对着它微笑；夜喜欢用露珠镶饰它的叶子；飞鸟喜欢巢居在它的枝干上；疲倦的旅客、流浪的牧童都喜欢在它的荫下憩息━躲避日中的炎热、狂暴的风雨。虽然这样，有一天，它却被砍倒了；多年在林中享有权利的香柏树，竟死在樵夫手下！ 
　　当斧子砍下去的时候，树枝都从树身上脱下来了，那株高大的香柏树，哗啦一声，倒在地上了。那时候，我们禁不住和先知一般喊叫说：「松树阿，应当哀号。因为香柏树倾倒了！」（撒迦利亚书十一章 2 节） 
　　但是等一等。让我们跟着希兰的工人将那株大树运下山来：从那里沿着蓝色的地中海漂去；看啊，这株香柏树最后成了神殿中的栋梁━一根荣耀光泽的栋梁。当你看见了它的结局━被安置在圣殿的至圣所里、万王之王的宫殿里━你会不会再可惜利巴嫩的香柏树被砍倒了呢？ 
　　「这殿后来的荣耀，必大过先前的荣耀。」（哈该书二章 9 节） 
多少时候，我们正像那香柏树林!神的斧子将我们剥夺得一无所有。我们看不出有甚么理由叫我们遇见这样神秘的对付，但是神自有祂的目的在:神预备永远用我们来作天上的楝梁，叫我们「在耶和华的手中要作为华冠,在你神的掌上必作为冕旒。? ━ 马克特夫
July 26
"For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness." (Gal. 5:5, R. V.) 
THERE are times when things look very dark to me so dark that I have to wait even for hope. It is bad enough to wait in hope. A long-deferred fulfillment carries its own pain, but to wait for hope, to see no glimmer of a prospect and yet refuse to despair; to have nothing but night before the casement and yet to keep the casement open for possible stars; to have a vacant place in my heart and yet to allow that place to be filled by no inferior presence-that is the grandest patience in the universe. It is job in the tempest; it is Abraham on the road to Moriah; it is Moses in the desert of Midian; it is the Son of man in the Garden of Gethsemane. 
There is no patience so hard as that which endures, "as seeing him who is invisible;" (Heb.11:27) it is the waiting for hope. 
Thou hast made waiting beautiful; Thou has made patience divine. Thou hast taught us that the Father's will may be received just because it is His will. Thou hast revealed to us that a soul may see nothing but sorrow in the cup and yet may refuse to let it go, convinced that the eye of the Father sees further than its own. 
Give me this Divine power of Thine, the power of Gethsemane. Give me the power to wait for hope itself, to look out from the casement where there are no stars. Give me the power, when the very joy that was set before me is gone, to stand unconquered amid the night, and say, "To the eye of my Father it is perhaps shining still," I shall reach the climax of strength when I have learned to wait for hope. --- George Matheson. 
Strive to be one of those─so few─who walk the earth with ever─present consciousness─all mornings, middays, star─times─that the unknown which men call Heaven is "close behind the visible scene of things." 
七月二十六日
「我们靠着圣灵，凭着信心，等候义的盼望。」（加五: 5，英文圣经直译） 
有时候，光景似乎非常黑暗━黑暗得连盼望都要等起来了。在盼望中等候已经够难了，何况等候盼望呢？一线光明也没有，却仍不肯绝望；窗前尽是黑暗，却仍开着窗等候星宿；心中有了空处，却不许装置污秽━这就是宇宙中最大的忍耐。这就是乔布在患难中、亚伯拉罕在往摩利亚去的路上、摩西在米甸的旷野、人子在客西马尼的那种忍耐。
「恒心忍耐，如同看见那不能看见的主」（来书十一章 27节）━这样的忍耐，比任何样的忍耐都难；这就是等候盼望。 
　主啊，给我你的力量━你客西马尼的力量。给我等候盼望的力量━叫我在没有星宿的黑夜，仍有力量守望窗外；在最大的欢乐失去了的时候， 仍有力量站住。── 马得胜
July 27
"Prove me now." (Mal. 3:10.) 
WHAT is God saying here but this: "My child, I still have windows in Heaven. They are yet in service. The bolts slide as easily as of old. The hinges have not grown rusty. I would rather fling them open, and pour forth, than keep them shut, and hold back. I opened them for Moses, and the sea parted. I opened them for Joshua, and Jordan rolled back. I opened them for Gideon, and hosts fled. I will open them for you─if you will only let Me. On this side of the windows, Heaven is the same rich storehouse as of old. The fountains and streams still overflow. The treasure rooms are still bursting with gifts. 
The lack is not on my side. It is on yours. I am waiting. Prove Me now. Fulfill the conditions, on your part. Bring in the tithes. Give Me a chance. --- Selected. 
I can never forget my mother's very brief paraphrase of Malachi 3:10. The verse begins, "Bring ye the whole tithe in," and it ends up with "I will pour" the blessing out till you'll be embarrassed for space. Her paraphrase was this: Give all He asks; take all He promises." --- S. D. Gordon. 
The ability of God is beyond our prayers, beyond our largest prayers! I have been thinking of some of the petitions that have entered into my supplication innumerable times. What have I asked for? I have asked for a cupful, and the ocean remains! I have asked for a sunbeam, and the sun abides! My best asking falls immeasurably short of my Father's giving: it is beyond that we can ask.---J.H. Jowett. 
"All the rivers of Thy grace I claim. Over every promise write my name." 
七月二十七日
「你们要将当纳的十分之一，全然送入仓库....以此试试我，是否为你们敞开天上的窗户，倾福与你们，甚至无处可容。」（玛三:10） 
　　亲爱的读者，神在这里对我们说：「我的孩子，天上的窗户和从前一点没有两样，窗闩和从前一样光滑，铁钮也一点没有生锈。这窗户我曾为摩西敞开，红海分开了。我曾为乔舒亚敞开，约但河停住了。我曾为基甸敞开，敌军逃跑了。现在我也愿意为你敞开━只要你肯让我这样作。在我这一面，天仍旧是一个丰富的仓库，泉源仍旧是满溢的，宝藏室仍旧满贮着礼物。」 
　　「所有的缺乏不是在我，乃是在你。但是我现在还在等候。试试我看！你去履行你方面的条件━将当纳的十分之一，全然送入仓库━其余的事情便是我的了。孩子，给我一个机会━给我一个倾福与你的机会！」──选 
　　我永远不会忘却我母亲所说的两句话：给一切神所要求的，取一切神所允许的。──戈登 
　　神的能力真是远超过我们所祷告的！我今天回想一想我多次在神前的请求━我所请求的是什么？我所请求的不过是一小杯水，海洋却依然留着！我所请求的不过是一线日光，日头却依然在着！我所求的和父所给的相差得多远啊━父所给的真是远超过我所求的！── 乔怀德
July 28
"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead."(Phil.3:13.) 
Oh Lord! Let me forget my past overcoming and past defeat, my past glory and past humiliation, my past achievement and past failure. I beseech You to let me forget my past experiences , forget the past ten years, the past years, the past month, yesterday, the past hour.
Oh Lord, I beseech you, let me forget! I beseech you to let me be like a new-born baby looking to You without anything else to lean on. Let me strain toward what is ahead, let me run straight onward on the path which You have prepared for me, to be devoted to the work which You have assigned to me. Let me be obedient to Your purpose which You have planned for me. But I beseech You let not the worry of tomorrow touch me. I want “To see, today, the salvation You have accomplished for me,”
Oh Lord, fulfill my desire! Amen!-Philip Zhang. 
七月二十八日
「忘记背后，努力面前。」（腓三:13） 
　　主啊！求你叫我忘记我过去的得胜和过去的失败；过去的荣耀和过去的羞辱；过去的得意和过去的失意。求你叫我忘记我过去的经历；忘记十年前的，去年的，上个月的；忘记昨天的，上一个钟点的。 
　　主啊！求你使我忘记！求你使我做一个才生的婴孩那样无依无靠的仰望你！求你使我努力面前的；使我在你为我所预备的道路上直跑；在你为我所计划的工作上忠心；在你为我所规定的旨意上顺服。虽然如此，但求你不要让明天的忧虑来摸着我。我要「看你今天向我所要施行的救恩」。 
　　主啊！我相信今天的头发掉落一根，你在天上的簿子上必为我划出一根。但愿我天天的生活和工作，都和你天上的簿子相符！ 
　　主啊！成全我的心愿！阿们！ ── 愚
July 29
"Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the day of trouble?" (Job 38:22, 23.) 
OUR trials are great opportunities. Too often we look on them as great obstacles. It would be a haven of rest and an inspiration of unspeakable power if each of us would henceforth recognize every difficult situation as one of God's chosen ways of proving to us His love and look around for the signals of His glorious manifestations; then, indeed, would every cloud become a rainbow, and every mountain a path of ascension and a scene of transfiguration. 
If we will look back upon the past, many of us will find that the very time our Heavenly Father has chosen to do the kindest things for us, and given us the richest blessings, has been the time we were strained and shut in on every side, God's jewels are often sent us in rough packages and by dark liveried servants, but within we find the very treasures of the King's palace and the Bridegroom's love. --- A. B. Simpson. 
Trust Him in the dark, honor Him with unwavering confidence even in the midst of mysterious dispensations, and the recompense of such faith will be like the moulting of the eagle's plumes, which was said to give them a new lease of youth and strength. --- J. R. Macduff. 
"If we could see beyond today,
As God can see;
If all the clouds should roll away,
The shadows flee;
O'er presents griefs we would not fret.
Each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are waiting yet,
For you and me.
"If we could know beyond today,
As God doth know,
Why dearest treasures pass away,
And tears must flow;
And why the darioness leads to light,
Why dreary paths will soon grow bright;
Some day life's wrong will be made right, < so. us tells Faith>
"If we could see, if we could know;
We often say,
But God in love a veil doth throw,
Across our way;
We cannot see what lies before,
And so we cling to Him the more,
He leads us till this life is o'er; Trust and obey." 
七月二十九日
「你曾....见过雹仓么？....这....雹乃是我为降灾....的日子所预备的。」（伯三十八: 22、23 ） 
　　我们所遭遇的试炼是神给我们的好机会，我们却常常将它当作障碍。如果我们知道每一次的困难都是神所选的方法━向我们证明祂爱的方法━我们就能得到安息和激励。 
　　让我们回想回想过去的经历，我们中间一定有许多人会记得：什么时候我们的父要替我们成就一件美事，要赐我们一件福份，什么时候我们就会遭到痛苦和逼迫。神送我们的礼物，总是包裹得很粗陋，藉皮色黝黑的仆人送来的；但是一打开来，我们就发现里面所包着的，是王宫里的珍宝和新郎的爱。── 信宣 
　　读者，你当在黑暗中仰赖主，用不移的信心尊敬祂；这样，你就会得到新的力量。── 马克特夫
July 30
"A cup of cold water only." (Matt. 10:42.) 
WHAT am I to do? I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good work, therefore, any kindness, or any service I can render to any soul of man or animal, let me do it now. Let me not neglect or defer it, for I shall not pass this way again. --- An Old Quaker Saying.
Give what you have; to someone it may be better than you dare to think.--- Longfellow. 
It isn't the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you the bitter heartache
At the setting of the sun;
The tender word unspoken,
The letter you did not write,
The flower you might have sent, dear,
Are your haunting ghosts at night.
The stone you might have lifted
Out of your brother's way,
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say;
The loving touch of the hand, dear,
The gentle and winsome tone,
That you had no time or thought for,
With troubles enough of your own.
These little acts of kindness,
So easily out of mind,
These chances to be angels,
Which even mortals find-
They come in night and silence,
Each chill reproachful wraith,
When hope is faint and flagging,
And a blight has dropped on faith.
For life is all too short, dear.
And sorrow is all too great,
To suffer our slow compassion
That tarries until too late.
And it's not the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you the bitter heartache,
At the setting of the sun.
─Adelaide Proctor. 
七月三十日
「只……一杯凉水。」（太十:42） 
　　我应当怎样作呢？我在这世界的日子非常短少，所以有什么工作、恩惠、服役，我能给人的，让我现在就给吧。让我不再忽视，不再迁延吧； 因为以后我没有机会再经过这条路了。── 贵格会格言
　　把你所有的给人；你所给的，对他也许有出你意外的帮助。── 郎弗罗
July 31
"He guided them by the skillfulness of his hands."(Psa. 78:72.) 
WHEN you are doubtful as to your course, submit your judgment absolutely to the Spirit of God, and ask Him to shut against you every door but the right one...Meanwhile keep on as you are, and consider the absence of indication to be the indication of God's will that you are on His track...As you go down the long corridor, you will find that He has preceded you, and locked many doors which you would fain have entered; but be sure that beyond these there is one which He has left unlocked. Open it and enter, and you will find yourself face to face with a bend of the river of opportunity, broader and deeper than anything you had dared to imagine in your sunniest dreams. Launch forth upon it; it conducts to the open sea. 
God guides us, often by circumstances. At one moment the way may seem utterly blocked; and then shortly afterward some trivial incident occurs, which might not seem much to others, but which to the keen eye of faith speaks volumes. Sometimes these things are repeated in various ways, in answer to prayer. They are not haphazard results of chance, but the opening up of circumstances in the direction in which we would walk. And they begin to multiply as we advance toward our goal, just as the lights do as we near a populous town, when darting through the land by night express. --- F. B. Meyer. 
If you go to Him to be guided, He will guide you; but He will not comfort your distrust or half-trust of Him by showing you the chart of all His purposed concerning you. He will show you only into a way where, if you go cheerfully and trustfully forward, He will show you on still farther. --- Horace Bushnell. 
As moves my fragile bark across the storm-swept sea.Great waves beat o'er her side, as north wind blows;
Deep in the darkness hid lie threat'ning rocks and shoals;
But all of these, and more, my Pilot knows.
Sometimes when dark the night, and every light gone out,I wonder to what port my frail ship goes; Still though the night be long, and restless all my hours, My distant good, I'm sure, my Pilot knows.─Thomas Curtis Clark.
七月三十一日
「祂...用手中的巧妙，引导他们。」（诗篇七十八:72） 
　　当你前面的道路不明显的时候，你就应当将你的判断力完全让位给圣灵，求祂为你封锁每一扇别的门户━只剩下那扇合宜的。同时，你应当继续站在你原来的地位上不动，如果你没有得到清楚的指示，就当把你所在的路径算为神的旨意....当你在长廊上行走的时候， 你就要看见神行在你的前面，封锁了许多你愿意进去的门户；但是你必须记得：在这些门户以外，还有一扇，是祂为你的缘故留着不锁的。打开来，走进去，在那里你要面对面看见一道充满机会的河流━比你在最欢乐的梦中所想象的更阔、更深；并且是直通大海的。 
　　神常常藉环境引导我们。有时候，前面的道路似乎完全塞住了；但是隔不多久，一件平凡的事情发生了。这件事情，对于别人，也许算不了一回事；但是对于信心敏锐的眼睛，却能示意不少。有时候，这样的事情，竟会翻覆遇到好几次。这并不是偶然的事，乃是神在为我们敞开一条当走的路径来。我们越往前走，所得到的指导也越多；正如坐在一部飞快的夜快车上：火车越近城市，我们所看见的灯光也越多。── 梅尔
　　如果你到神那里去求祂引导，祂必引导你。但是祂决不会因为要安慰你对祂的不信或半信，便将那张图表━祂在你身上的旨意━拿出来给你看的。祂只指导你一条路，如果你高高兴兴，相相信信地往前行去，祂就要再指导你前面的路径。── 蒲秀纳尔）
August 1
"Surrender your very selves to God as living men who have risen from the dead" (Romans 6:13). (Weymouth)
I went one night to hear an address on consecration. No special message came to me from it, but as the speaker kneeled to pray, he dropped this sentence: "O Lord, Thou knowest we can trust the Man that died for us." And that was my message. I rose and walked down the street to the train; and as I walked, I pondered deeply all that consecration might mean to my life and--I was afraid. And then, above the noise and clatter of the street traffic came to me the message: "You can trust the Man that died for you."
I got into the train to ride homeward; and as I rode, I thought of the changes, the sacrifices, the disappointments which consecration might mean to me and--I was afraid. 
I reached home and sought my room, and there upon my knees I saw my past life. I had been a Christian, an officer in the church, a Sunday-school superintendent, but had never definitely yielded my life to God. 
Yet as I thought of the darling plans which might be baffled, of the cherished hopes to be surrendered, and the chosen profession which I might be called upon to abandoned--I was afraid. 
I did not see the better things God had for me, so my soul was shrinking back; and then for the last time, with a swift rush of convicting power, came to my innermost heart that searching message: 
"My child, you can trust the Man that died for you. If you cannot trust Him whom can you trust?" 
That settled it for me, for in a flash I saw that the Man who so loved me as to die for me could be absolutely trusted with all the concerns of the life He had saved. 
Friend, you can trust the Man that died for you. You can trust Him to baffle no plan which is not best to be foiled, and to carry out every one which is for God's glory and your highest good. You can trust Him to lead you in the path which is the very best in this world for you.--J H. McC 
“Just as I am, thy love unknown, 
Has broken every barrier down, 
Now to be Thin, yea, Thin ALONE, 
O lamb of God, I come!”
“Life is not salvage to be saved out of the world ,but an investment to be used in the world.”
「要像从死里复活的人，将自己献给神。」（罗六13） 
一天晚上，我去听一篇将自己献给神的演说。这篇演说对我并没有特别的帮助，不过当演说者跪下来祷告的时候，他说：「哦，主阿！我们感谢祢，因为我们可以信托那替我们死的救主。」这一句话抓住了我。我立起身来，走向火车站去乘坐火车回家去；在街上行走的时候，我想到：将自己献给神也许会影响我一生的事业━我就畏惧。那时候，车马喧嚷声中来了那个信息：「你可以信托那替你死的救主。」
坐上火车，我又想到：将自己献给神，也许会遭到许多改变、牺牲、失望━我又畏惧。 
到了家中，进了我自己的房间，一跪下来，我就看见我以往的失败。我虽然作了一个基督人，一个教会中的执事，一个主日学校的校长，但是我却未曾将自己献给神。
那时候，我又想到：将自己献给神，也许要挫折我心爱的计划，消灭我将来的希望，放弃所选择的职业━我又畏惧。
我看不见神要给我的那些更美好的东西，所以我的心一直在畏缩；最后，那敏锐的信息，带着责备的口吻，很快地临到了我心的最深处：「我的孩子，你可以信托那替你死的救主。如果你不能信托祂，你还能信托谁呢？」 
这句话替我解决了一切，因为在转瞬间我就看见了：那爱我甚至替我死的救主，是绝对可以信托的；祂对于祂所拯救的人，是负全责的。 
朋友，你可以信托那替你死的救主。你可以信托祂━如果不是应当挫折的计划，祂绝不会去挫折；祂所做的每一件事情，都是为着神的荣耀和你的幸福。你可以信托祂━祂将引领你行走那对你最合适的道路。──麦克康
August 2
"I will make all my mountains a way" (Isa.49:11).
God will make obstacles serve His purpose. We all have mountains in our lives. There are people and things that threaten to bar our progress in the Divine life. Those heavy claims, that uncongenial occupation, that thorn in the flesh, that daily cross--we think that if only these were removed we might live purer, tenderer, holier lives; and often we pray for their removal. 
"Oh, fools, and slow of heart!" (Lk.24:25) These are the very conditions of achievement; they have been put into our lives as the means to the very graces and virtues for which we have been praying so long. Thou hast prayed for patience through long years, but there is something that tries thee beyond endurance; thou hast fled from it, evaded it, accounted it an unsurmountable obstacle to the desired attainment, and supposed that its removal would secure thy immediate deliverance and victory. 
Not so! Thou wouldest gain only the cessation of temptations to impatience. But this would not be patience. Patience can be acquired only through just such trials as now seem unbearable. 
Go back; submit thyself. Claim to be a partaker in the patience of Jesus. Meet thy trials in Him. There is nothing in life which harasses and annoys that may not become subservient to the highest ends. They are His mountains. He puts them there. We know that God will not fail to keep His promise. "God understandeth the way thereof and knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven"; (Job.28:23-24) and when we come to the foot of the mountains, we shall find the way.--Christ in Isaiah, by Meyer 
"The meaning of trial is not only to test worthiness, but to increase it; as the oak is not only tested by the storm, but toughened by them." 
八月二日
「我必使我的众山成为大道。」（赛四十九11）　　
神常常利用障碍来完成祂的旨意，所以我们各人在生活上都会遇到高山━恫吓我们、阻碍我们属灵生活前进的人们；苛刻的要求；性情不相投的职业；肉体上的刺；每天的十字架━我们常常想：只要这些东西除去了，我们的生活就会变得更纯粹、更温柔、更圣洁；所以我们常常求神将它们除去。 
「无知的人哪….你们的心….太迟钝了！」（路廿四25）这些正是成功的条件；这些正是神放在我们生活中，叫我们得到恩惠和德行的方法。也许你现在有一件不能忍受的试炼，你一看见就逃避、就闪躲，当作你成功的障碍，你以为它一除去，你就能立刻得到释放和胜利。 
亲爱的读者阿，事实并不是这样！当试炼一停止的时候，你所能得到的，即是急躁，不是忍耐。忍耐只能在似乎不堪忍受的试炼中求得的。 
回去容忍罢！做一个有分于主的忍耐的人！战胜在祂里面的一切试炼！要记得你生活上困恼和烦扰，没有一点是徒然的。它们都是神的山━是神将它们放在那里的。我们知道「神明白智慧的所在。因祂鉴察直到地极，遍观普天之下」（伯廿八23-24）；当我们走到山脚下的时候，我们就要看见智慧的道路了。──梅尔
试炼的意义，不单是试验一件东西的价值，并且是增加这东西的价值；正如同风雨不单是击打橡树，并且增加像树的坚韧。
August 3
"Quit you like men, be strong" (1 Cor. 16:13). 
Do not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. --Phillips Brooks. 
We must remember that it is not in any easy or self-indulgent life that Christ will lead us to greatness. The easy life leads not upward, but downward. Heaven always is above us, and we must ever be looking up toward it. These are some people who always avoid things that are costly, that require self-denial, or self-restraint and sacrifice, but toil and hardship show us the only way to nobleness. Greatness comes not by having a mossy path made for you through the meadow, but by being sent to hew out a roadway by your own hands. Are you going to reach the mountain splendors? --Selected. 
Be strong !
We are not here to play to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift.
Shun not the struggle; face it. Tis God's gift.
Be strong !
Say not the days are evil-Who's to blame?
And fold the hands and acquiesce-O shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, In God's name.
Be strong !
It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long,
Faint not, fight on.! Tomorrow comes the song.
-Maltbie D. Babcock 
八月三日
「要作大丈夫，要刚强。」（林前十六13） 
不要求安乐的生活，要求作刚强的大丈夫。不要求与你能力相等的工作，要求与你工作相等的能力。这样，你所行的算不得神迹，你自己却是一个神迹。━白罗克斯
我们必须记得：在一个安乐的、放纵的生活中，神不能引领我们前进。安乐的生活不能引领我们向上，只会带领我们向下。天总是在我们上面的，所以我们必须时时望着上面。许多人常常喜欢逃避那些要出代价、自制、克己、牺牲的事情，但是我告诉你们：祇有劳苦和困难是走向尊贵的惟一路径。伟大不是从一条为你开好的现成的青草路上来的，乃是从一条要你亲手去凿的道路来的。──选
August 4
"And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me" (John 11:41).
This is a very strange and unusual order. Lazarus is still in the grave, and the thanksgiving precedes the miracle of resurrection. I thought that the thanksgiving would have risen when the great deed had been wrought, and Lazarus was restored to life again. But Jesus gives thanks for what He is about to receive. The gratitude breaks forth before the bounty has arrived, in the assurance that it is certainly on the way. The song of victory is sung before the battle has been fought. It is the sower who is singing the song of the harvest home. It is thanksgiving before the miracle! 
Who thinks of announcing a victory-psalm when the crusaders are just starting out for the field? Where can we hear the grateful song for the answer which has not yet been received? And after all, there is nothing strange or forced, or unreasonable in the Master's order. Praise is really the most vital preparatory ministry to the working of the miracles. Miracles are wrought by spiritual power. Spiritual power is always proportioned to our faith.--Dr. Jowett 
Nothing so pleases God in connection with our prayer as our praise, and nothing so blesses the man who prays as the praise which he offers. I got a great blessing once in China in this connection. I had received bad and sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. I prayed, but the darkness did not vanish. I summoned myself to endure, but the darkness only deepened. Just then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these words: "Try Thanksgiving." I did, and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return. Yes, the Psalmist was right, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord."(Ps.92:1-3)--Rev. Henry W. Frost
八月四日 
「他们就把石头挪开。耶稣举目说，父阿，我感谢祢，因为祢已经听我。」（约十一41） 
这眞是一个奇怪的、反常的次序；拉撒路还在坟墓里，可是感谢已经先有了。我总以为感谢的时候，应当在大功告成，拉撒路复活以后；但是我们的主耶稣却为着那尚未成就的事情感谢━感谢发生在恩典到临之前，深信恩典已经在半途了。争战之前应当先唱胜利的凯歌！神迹前面应当先有感谢！ 
十字军出发启行的时候，谁肯先唱胜利的凯歌呢？祷告的答应尚未来到之前，谁肯先唱感恩的诗歌呢？但是我们的主所留给我们的榜样，并不是奇怪的、勉强的、没有理由的。赞美在行神迹的工作上实在是非常重要的。神迹由于灵力，灵力的大小是和信心成正比例的。──乔怀德
祷告的时候，没有一件东西比赞美更能得神的喜悦，也没有一件东西比赞美更能祝福祷告的人。有一次我在中国借着赞美得到一个很大的祝福：我从家乡接到很多不快乐的消息，焦虑密布了我的全心。我祷告，焦虑并不轻减。我竭力忍住，事实上却焦虑得更厉害。正在那时候我出发到一处内地去，看见在一家传道人住宅的墙上写着「要感谢」三个大字。我就立即开口感谢，不一会，我的焦虑全都消散了，一点也没有留下。啊，写诗篇的人说得正对：「称谢耶和华….这本为美事。」（诗九十二1-3）──富勒斯
August 5
"My grace IS sufficient for you" (2 Cor. 12:9).
It had pleased God to remove my youngest child under circumstances of peculiar trial and pain; and as I had just laid my little one's body in the churchyard, on return home, I felt it my duty to preach to my people on the meaning of trial. 
Finding that this text was in the lesson for the following Sabbath, I chose it as my Master's message to them and myself; but on trying to prepare the notes, I found that in honesty I could not say that the words were true; and therefore I knelt down and asked God to let His grace be sufficient for me. While I was thus pleading, I opened my eyes and saw a framed illuminated text, which my mother had given me only a few days before, and which I had told my servant to place upon the wall during my absence at the holiday resort where my little one was taken away from us. 
I did not notice the words on returning to my house; but as I looked up and wiped my eyes, the words met my gaze, "My grace is sufficient for thee." 
The "is" was picked out in bright green while the "My" and the "thee" were painted in another color. 
In one moment the message came straight to my soul, as a rebuke for offering such a prayer as, "Lord, let Thy grace be sufficient for me"; for the answer was almost as an audible voice, "How dare you ask that which is?" God cannot make it any more sufficient than He has made it; get up and believe it, and you will find it true, because the Lord says it in the simplest way: "My grace is (not shall be or may be) sufficient for thee." 
"My," "is," and "thee" were from that moment, I hope, indelibly fixed upon my heart; and I (thank God) have been trying to live in the reality of the message from that day forward to the present time. 
The lesson that came to me, and which I seek to convey to others, is, Never turn God's facts into hopes, or prayers, but simply use them as realities, and you will find them powerful as you believe them.--Prebendary H. W. Webb Peploe 
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercies,
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father's full giving is only begun.
His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.
-Annie Johnson Flint
八月五日
「我的恩典是彀你用的。」（林后十二9） 
神乐意在我受特殊试炼和痛苦的环境下，将我最小的孩子取去；当我将孩子安放在坟墓里，回到家中以后，我觉得我应该对弟兄姊妹们宣讲一些试炼的意义。
我就选择这个题目来作主日的信息；但是在我预备资料的时候，我发现我所要讲的，连我自己也不能相信；我就跪下来求神给我够用的恩典。我这样恳求了之后，张开眼睛来看见一幅彩色的经文━这幅经文是前几天，我陪着孩子在游息所的时候，我的母亲送到家中来的；我虽然未曾看见过，却曾听见过我的仆人这样告诉我，我也曾吩咐我的仆人将它挂在墙上。 
在我回家以后，我未曾去注意上面的字句；这时候，我仰起面来，拭干了眼睛，幅上的字句吸引了我的注意：「我的恩典是够你用的。」 
「是」字是鲜绿色的，「我的」和「你」是另一种颜色。
这个信息立即进入了我的心内，责备我不该求神给我够用的恩典；因为神已经很清楚地告诉了我：「我的恩典是彀你用的，你怎么还来要求？只要起来相信，你就要发现这句话是多眞实！」神已经用最简易的字句告诉我们：「我的恩典是（不是将要或者也许）够你用的。」
从那时候起，「我的」，「是」，「你」，都深深地刻上了我的心版；感谢神，从那天起，直到现在，我天天活在这个信息的实现中。
这次我所得到的功课，眞愿意别人也得到：总当将神的事实看为事实，千万不要将事实当作希望、恳求；甚么时候你相信一个事实，你就会发现这个事实是有能力的。──韦迫伯鲁
August 6
"Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south, blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out!" (Song of Solomon 4:16)
Look at the meaning of this prayer a moment. Its root is found in the fact that, as delicious odors may lie latent in a spice tree, so graces may lie unexercised and undeveloped in a Christian's heart. There is many a plant of profession; but from the ground there breathes forth no fragrance of holy affections or of godly deeds. The same winds blow on the thistle bush and on the spice tree, but it is only one of them which gives out rich odors. 
Sometimes God sends severe blasts of trial upon His children to develop their graces. Just as torches burn most brightly when swung to and fro; just as the juniper plant smells sweetest when flung into the flames; so the richest qualities of a Christian often come out under the north wind of suffering and adversity. Bruised hearts often emit the fragrance that God loveth to smell. --Selected. 
“I had a tiny box, a precious box
Of human love-my spikenard of great price;
I kept it close within my heart of hearts,
And scarce would lift the lid lest it should waste
Its perfume on the air. One day a strange
Deep sorrow carne with crushing weight, and fell
Upon my costly treasure, sweet and rare,
And broke the box to atoms. All my heart
Rose in dismay and sorrow at this waste,
But as I mourned, behold ca miracle
Of grace Divine. My human love was changed
To Heaven's own, and poured in healing streams
On other broken hearts, while soft and clear
A voice above me whispered, "Child of Mine,
With comfort wherewith thou art comforted,
From this time forth, go comfort others,
And thou shalt know blest fellowship with Me,
Whose broken heart of love hath healed the world.”
八月六日
「北风阿，兴起。南风阿，吹来。吹在我的围内，使其中的香气发出来。」（歌四16）
我们先把这节圣经的意义看一看。事实告诉我们芬芳的香气是潜伏在香料里面的；照样，没有运用没有开发的恩典，也是隐伏在基督人的心内的。 
有时候，神用猛烈的狂风来试炼祂的孩子们，为的是要开发隐伏的恩典。火把着得最旺的时候，是将它拿着晃动的时候；桧木的气味最香的时候，是将它投在火中焚烧的时候。照样，一个基督人最丰富的灵命，也是各种苦难和试炼下挣扎出来的。一个压伤的心，纔会发出神所爱的芬芳来。──选
August 7
"And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection" (Acts 4:31, 33). 
Christmas Evans tells us in his diary that one Sunday afternoon he was traveling a very lonely road to attend an appointment, and he was convicted of a cold heart. He says, "I tethered my horse and went to a sequestered spot, where I walked to and fro in an agony as I reviewed my life. I waited three hours before God, broken with sorrow, until there broke over me a sweet sense of His forgiving love. I received from God a new baptism of the Holy Ghost. As the sun was westering, I went back to the road, found my horse, mounted it and went to my appointment. On the following day I preached with such new power to a vast concourse of people gathered on the hillside, that a revival broke out that day and spread through all Wales." 
The greatest question that can be asked of the "twice born" ones is, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" This was the password into the early Church.
"0 the Spirit-filled life; is it thine, is it thine?
Is thy soul wholly filled with the Spirit Divine?
O thou child of the King, has He fallen on thee?
Does He reign in thy soul, so that all men may see
The dear Savior's blest image reflected in thee?”
"Has He swept through thy soul like the waves of the sea?
Does the Spirit of God daily rest upon thee?
Does He sweeten thy life, does He keep thee from care?
Does He guide thee and bless thee in answer to prayer?
Is it joy to be led of the Lord anywhere?”
"Is He near thee each hour, does He stand at thy side?
Does He gird thee with strength, has He come to abide?
Does He give thee to know that all things may be done
Through the grace and the power of the Crucified One.2
Does He witness to thee of the glorified Son ?”
"Has He purged thee of dross with the fire from above?
Is He first in thy thoughts, has He all of thy love ?
Is His service thy choice, and is sacrifice sweet?
Is the doing His will both thy drink and thy meat?
Dost thou run at His bidding with glad eager feet?”
"Has He freed thee from self and from all of thy greed?
Dost thou hasten to succor thy brother in need?
As ct soldier of Christ dost thou hardness endure ?
Is thy hope in the Lord everlasting and sure?
Hast thou patience and meekness, art tender and pure?”
0 the Spirit-filled life may be thine, may be thine,
In thy soul evermore the Shekinah may shine;
It is thine to live with the tempests all stilled,
It 2's thine with the blessed Holy Ghost to be filled;
It is thine, even thine, for thy Lord has so willed.”
八月七日
「祷告完了，聚会的地方震动。他们就都被圣灵充满，放胆讲论神的道。….使徒大有能力，见证主耶稣复活。」（徒四31-33）
　伊文思在他的日记中告诉我们：一天下午，他行经一条很荒僻的道路去出席一个聚会，他自己觉得他那时候的心是冰冷冷的。他说：「我系住了我的马，步行到一处与尘世隔绝的地方去，在那里我很痛苦地走来走去，检阅我自己的生活。我在神前等候了三小时，我的心被悲哀压服着；最后，一个甘甜仁慈的爱的感觉温暖了我的心━在那里我重新受了一次圣灵的浇灌。日头平西的时候，我回到原路上，找到了我的马，向前骑去。次日，我在山坡上对一大群听众讲道，觉得自己充满了新的能力，以致全韦尔斯城的人民，在那天都得到一个极大的复兴。」 
当你遇见一个重生的人，第一个问题你应当问他的就是：「你…信的时候受了圣灵没有？」这是进入早期教会的暗语。
August 8
"Thou art my king, O God: Command deliverance (victories, margin) for Jacob" (Ps. 44:4 RV).
Here is no foe to your growth in grace, no enemy in your Christian work, which was not included in your Savior's conquests. 
You need not be afraid of them. When you touch them, they will flee before you. God has promised to deliver them up before you. Only be strong and very courageous! Fear not, nor be dismayed! The Lord is with you, O mighty men of valor--mighty because one with the Mightiest. Claim victory! 
Whenever your enemies close in upon you, claim victory! Whenever heart and flesh fail, look up and claim VICTORY! 
Be sure that you have a share in that triumph which Jesus won, not for Himself alone, but for us all; remember that you were in Him when He won it, and claim victory! 
Reckon that it is yours, and gather spoil. Neither the Anakim nor fenced cities need daunt or abash you. You are one of the conquering legion. Claim your share in the Savior's victory.
--Joshua, by Meyer 
We are children of the King. In which way do we most honor our Divine Sovereign, by failing to claim our rights and even doubting whether they belong to us, or by asserting our privilege as children of the Royal Family and demanding the rights which belong to our heirship? 
八月八日「神阿，祢是我的王。求祢出令，使雅各得胜。」（诗四十四4）
亲爱的读者，你应当知道：当你在恩典中长进的时候，你就会遭遇到许多仇敌；但是这些仇敌都是主的战利品。 
你用不着怕他们。你一碰他们，他们就会在你面前逃跑。神已经允许将他们交在你手里了。你应当刚强、勇敢！不要惧怕，也不要惊慌！神是与你同在的，大能的勇士阿──你是大能的，因为与你同在者是大能的。前去夺取胜利罢！ 
甚么时候你的仇敌前来围困你，你应当夺取胜利！甚么时候你的肉体衰弱了，你还当仰望神来夺取胜利！ 
你应当知道：在主耶稣里面，你有一份的，因为祂不是安替自己得胜，乃是替众信徒得胜；你要记得，当祂得胜的时候，你是在祂里面，所以在祂得胜的时候，你就已经得胜了。
你应当承认：胜利已经属于你了，起来收集战利品罢。不论亚衲人，不论坚固城，都不足以威吓你。你是一支战胜的军队。在主的胜利里面去夺取你的一份罢。──梅尔
我们是君王的孩子。我们怎样纔能加增我们至尊元首的荣誉呢？还是不敢索取我们的权利，甚至怀疑这些权利是否属于我们的呢；还是坚持我们皇室的特权，大胆前去索取我们承继的权利呢？
August 9
"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. . .who passing through the valley of weeping, make it a well" (Ps. 84:5, 6).
Comfort does not come to the light-hearted and merry. We must go down into "depths" if we would experience this most precious of God's gifts—comfort, and thus be prepared to be co-workers together with Him. 
When night━needful night━gathers over the garden of our souls, when the leaves close up, and the flowers no longer hold any sunlight within their folded petals, there shall never be wanting, even in the thickest darkness, drops of heavenly dew--dew which falls only when the sun has gone. –Selected
“I have been through the valley of weeping,
The valley of sorrow and pain;
But the ‘ God of all comfort ’ was with me,
At hand to uphold and sustain.”
"As the earth needs the clouds and sunshine,
Our souls need both sorrow and joy
So He places us oft in the furnace,
The dross from the gold to destroy.”
“When he leads thro'some valley of trouble,
His omnipotent hand we trace;
For the trials and sorrows He sends us,
Are part of His lessons in grace.”
“Oft we shrink from the purging and pruning,
Forgetting the Husbandman knows
That the deeper the cutting and paring,
The richer the cluster that grows”.
“Well He knows that affliction is needed;
He has ct wise purpose in view,
And in the dark valley He whispers,
'Hereafter Thou 'It know what I do.”
“As We travel thro ' life's shadow 'd valley,
Fresh springs of His love ever rise;
And we learn that our sorrows and losses,
Are blessings just sent in disguise.”
“So we'll follow; wherever He leadeth,
Let the path be dreary or bright;
For we've proved that our God can give comfort;
Our God can give songs in the night.” 
八月九日
「靠祢有力量….的，这人便为有福。他们经过流泪谷，叫这谷变为泉源之地。」（诗八十四5-6） 
快乐欢欣的人，不能知道安慰的甜蜜。如果我们想得到神最贵重的礼物━安慰━我们必须进入「深处」与神合作。
大地怎样需要黑云与日光，我们也同样需要悲伤与欢乐。──选
August 10
"When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was" (John 11:6).
In the forefront of this marvelous chapter stands the affirmation, "Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus," (John11:5) as if to teach us that at the very heart and foundation of all God's dealings with us, however dark and mysterious they may be, we must dare to believe in and assert the infinite, unmerited, and unchanging love of God. Love permits pain. The sisters never doubted that He would speed at all hazards and stay their brother from death, but, "When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was." 
What a startling "therefore"! He abstained from going, not because He did not love them, but because He did love them. His love alone kept Him back from hasting at once to the dear and stricken home. Anything less than infinite love must have rushed instantly to the relief of those loved and troubled hearts, to stay their grief and to have the luxury of wiping and stanching their tears and causing sorrow and sighing to flee away. Divine love could alone hold back the impetuosity of the Savior's tender-heartedness until the Angel of Pain had done her work. 
Who can estimate how much we owe to suffering and pain? But for them we should have little scope for many of the chief virtues of the Christian life. Where were faith, without trial to test it; or patience, with nothing to bear; or experience, without tribulation to develop it?--Selected 
“Loved! then the way will not be drear;
For One we know is ever near,
Proving it to our hearts so clear
That we are loved.”
“Loved when our sky is clouded o'er,
And days of sorrow press us sore;
Still we will trust Him evermore,
For we are loved.”
“Time, that affects all things below,
Can never change the love He'll show;
The heart of Christ with love will flow,
And we are loved.” 
八月十日
「听见拉撒路病了，就在所居之地，仍住了两天。」（约十一6） 
在前一节圣经里，我们明明看见：「耶稣素来爱马大和她的妹子，并拉撒路」（约十一5）。怎么祂所爱的人病了，还不立即前去呢？这就是告诉我们：神对付我们的方法，无论怎样严厉、怎样神秘，我们仍可相信并断言神的爱是无限的、丰裕的、不变的，按照马大和马利亚姊妹两人的心理想来，耶稣一听到拉撒路生病的消息，一定会立即不顾一切地赶去医治她们的兄弟，但是，耶稣怎样呢？「听见拉撒路病了，就在所居之地，仍住了两天。」 
祂不立即前去，并不是因为不爱她们，乃是因为爱她们。惟有祂的爱能保持祂不立即赶往祂所亲爱的那个忧伤的家庭去。主若没有无限的爱，就会立即跑去安慰那些所爱的、困恼的心，止住他们的忧愁、揩干她们的眼泪、消解她们的悲哀和叹息。只有神的爱，能不急躁━能任天使做完祂要做的工。 
在许多事情，我们不能不归功于患难和痛苦。基督人生活上有许多美德，都是由患难和痛苦来的；因为没有试炼，就没有信心；没有需要容忍的事情，就没有忍耐；没有艰难就没有经历。──选
August 11
"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 3:17, 18). 
Observe,I entreat you, how calamitous a circumstance is here supposed, and how heroic a faith is expressed.It is really as if he said, "Though I should be reduced to so great extremity as not to know where to find my necessary food, though I should look around about me on an empty house and a desolate field, and see the marks of the Divine scourge where I had once seen the fruits of God's bounty, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord." " 
Methinks these words are worthy of being written as with a diamond on a rock forever. Oh, that by Divine grace they might be deeply engraven on each of our hearts! Concise as the form of speaking in the text is, it evidently implies or expresses the following particulars: That in the day of his distress he would fly to God; that he would maintain a holy composure of spirit under this dark dispensation, nay, that in the midst of all he would indulge in a sacred joy in God, and a cheerful expectation from Him. Heroic confidence! Illustrious faith! Unconquerable love!--Doddridge..
Last night I heard a robin singing in the rain,
And the raindrop'sfiatter made ct sweet refrain,
Making all the sweeter the music of the strain.
So, I thought, when trouble comes, as trouble will,
Why should I stop singing? Just beyond the hill
It may be that sunshine floods the green world still.
He who faces the trouble with ct heart of cheer
Makes the burden lighter. If there falls ct tear,
Sweeter is the cadence in the song we hear.
I have learned your lesson, bird with dappled wing,
Listening to your music with its lilt of spring-
When the storm-cloud darkens, then's the TIME to sing. 
-Eben E. Rexfor 
八月十一日
「虽然无花果树不发旺，葡萄树不结果，橄榄树也不効力，田地不出粮食，圈中绝了，羊棚内也没有牛。然而我要因耶和华欢欣，因救我的神喜乐。」（哈三17-18）
你看这里所说的，是一个多么不幸的境遇。这里所给我们看见的，是一个多么伟大的信心。他的意思说：「虽然我受到这样大的灾祸━甚至连养生的食物，也不知道到甚么地方去找；四围所看见的，不过是一所空旷的房屋，一块荒芜的田地；在以前看见神赐恩的地方，现在看见神鞭打的伤疤━然而我要因耶和华欢欣。」
我想这两节圣经，眞值得用金钢钻记录在盘石上，永远保存起来。哦，巴不得靠神的恩典，这几节圣经能深深地铭刻在我们每一个人的心版上！句法虽然简短，其中却显著地含蓄着不少属灵的意义。他告诉我们：在他遭难的日子，他怎样到神里去躲避；在黑暗的命运下，他怎样赖主保持灵的镇静；在一切的试炼中，他怎样在神里面享受属灵的喜乐，从祂得到欢乐的期望。这就是伟大的信心！这就是光荣的信心！──陶杜力慈
August 12
"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises" (2 Pet. 1:4).
When a shipwright builds a vessel, does he build it to keep it upon the stocks? Nay, he builds it for the sea and the storm. When he was making it, he thought of tempests and hurricanes; if he did not, he was a poor shipbuilder. 
When God made thee a believer, He meant to try thee; and when He gave thee promises, and bade thee trust them, He gave such promises as are suitable for times of tempest and tossing. Dost thou think that God makes shams like some that have made belts for swimming, which were good to exhibit in a shop, but of no use in the sea? 
We have all heard of swords which were useless in war; and even of shoes which were made to sell, but were never meant to walk in. God's shoes are of iron and brass, and you can walk to Heaven in them without their ever wearing out; and His life-belts, you may swim a thousand Atlantics upon them, and there will be no fear of your sinking. His Word of promise is meant to be tried and proved. 
There is nothing Christ dislikes more than for His people to make a show-thing of Him, and not to use Him. He loves to be employed by us. Covenant blessings are not meant to be looked at only, but to be appropriated. Even our Lord Jesus is given to us for our present use. Thou dost not make use of Christ as thou oughtest to do. 
O man, I beseech you do not treat God's promises as if they were curiosities for a museum; but use them as every day sources of comfort. Trust the Lord whenever your time of need comes on.--C. H. Spurgeon 
“Go to the deeps of God's promise,
And claim whatsoever ye will;
The blessing of God will not fail thee,
His Word He will surely fulfill.”
How can God say no to something He has promised?
八月十二日
「因此祂已将又宝贵又极大的应许赐给我们。」（彼后一4）
一个造船匠造船的目的，是不是为了要把船搁在船架上呢？不，他造船的目的，乃是要把船放在海洋和波涛中。他在造的时候，就已经想到了。 
当神把你造成一个信徒的时候，祂的目的就是要把你放在试炼中；所以当祂给你应许，吩咐你信赖的时候，祂就给你一些在狂浪顚簸中所能应用的应许。你想神的应许，会不会像有些商店里出卖的游泳圈──只能在玻璃窗内陈列，不能在洋海中应用呢？ 
我们都知道：作玩具的刀剑，在战场上是没有用处的；作玩具的鞋子，是不能穿着走路的。但是神的鞋是铜的、铁的，你能够穿着它们走上天去，它们永远也不会穿坏；神的救生圈，你用以游过一千个大西洋，也不会使你沉溺。
神最不喜欢的，就是祂的子民把祂当作一个展览品，不去用祂。祂喜欢我们享用祂。所立的约并不是给人看的，乃是给我们享用的。我们的主耶稣，也是神赐给我们，给我们现在享用的。读者，你有没有照你应得的，去享用基督？ 
信徒阿，我求你不要把神的应许，当作展览会里的古玩；你应当天天用它们来作安慰的泉源，在患难中随时仰赖祂。──司布眞
神对于已经应许过的东西，怎能说「不」呢？
August 13
"If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth" (Eccles. 11:3)
Why, then, do we dread the clouds which now darken our sky? True, for a while they hide the sun, but the sun is not quenched; he will be out again before long. Meanwhile those black clouds are filled with rain; and the blacker they are, the more likely they will yield plentiful showers. 
How can we have rain without clouds? Our troubles have always brought us blessings, and they always will. They are the dark chariots of bright grace. These clouds will empty themselves before long, and every tender herb will be gladder for the shower. Our God may drench us with grief, but He will refresh us with mercy. Our Lord's love-letters often come to us in black-edged envelopes. His wagons rumble, but they are loaded with benefits. His rod blossoms with sweet flowers and nourishing fruits. Let us not worry about the clouds, but sing because May flowers are brought to us through the April clouds and showers. 
O Lord, the clouds are the dust of Thy feet! How near Thou art in the cloudy and dark day! Love beholds Thee, and is glad. Faith sees the clouds emptying themselves and making the little hills rejoice on every side.--C H. Spurgeon 
“What seems so dark to thy dim sight
May be a shadow, seen aright
Making some brightness doubly bright.”
“The flash that struck thy tree-no more
To shelter thee-lets heaven's blue floor
Shine where it never shone before.”
“The cry wrung from thy spirit's pain
May echo on some far-off plain,
And guide a wanderer home again.”
“The blue of heaven is larger than the clouds.”　
八月十三日
「云若满了雨，就必倾倒在地上。」
（传十一3）　　
这样，我们为甚么要惧怕我们环境中的黑云呢？虽然它们暂时遮蔽了太阳，但是太阳并没有熄灭；不久它仍旧会出来的。云里充满了雨；云越黑，下雨的希望越大。
没有云，我们怎么能有雨呢？我们的患难，常将祝福带来给我们。它们是装载恩典的黑车。看啊，黑云不久就要变成细雨了；那时候，每一种植物都会因着所下的雨欢乐。我们的神虽然用灾祸压伤我们，却要用怜悯医治我们。祂给我们情书，总是用黑边信封封来的。祂的货车虽然发出辚辚的粗声来，其上所装载的，却是满溢的恩泽。祂的杖，开着芳香的花卉和甘甜的果实。所以，我们不要再为着黑云烦恼罢，我们应当歌唱，因为五月里的花草，是四月里的云雨带给我们的。
主阿，黑云是祢的脚前的尘埃！在黑云满布的日子，祢和我是隔得多近啊！─
August 14
"Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" (John 19:11). 
Nothing that is not God's will can come into the life of one who trusts and obeys God. This fact is enough to make our life one of ceaseless thanksgiving and joy. For "God's will is the one hopeful, glad, and glorious thing in the world"; and it is working in the omnipotence for us all the time, with nothing to prevent it if we are surrendered and believing. 
One who was passing through deep waters of affliction wrote to a friend: "Is it not a glorious thing to know that, no difference how unjust a thing may be, or how absolutely it may seem to be from Satan, by the time it reaches us it is God's will for us, and will work for good to us? For all things work together for good to us who love God. And even of the betrayal, Christ said, "The cup which my Father gave me, shall I not drink it?"(John18:123) We live charmed lives if we are living in the center of God's will. All the attacks that Satan, through others' sin, can hurl against us are not only powerless to harm us, but are turned into blessings on the way.--H. W. S.
In the center of the circle
Of the Will of God I stand:
There can come no second causes,
All must come from His dear hand.
All is well! for 'tis my Father
Who my life hath planned.
Shall I pass through waves of sorrow?
Then I know it will be best;
Though / cannot tell the reason,
I can trust, and so am blest.
God is Love, and God is faithful,
So in perfect Peace I rest.
With the shade and with the sunshine,
With the joy and with the pain,
Lord, / trust Thee! both are needed,
Each Thy wayward child to train,
Earthly loss, did tor but know it,
Often means our heavenly gain.
- I.G.W.　
八月十四日
「若不是从上头赐给你的，你就毫无权柄办我。」（约十九11） 
凡是临到一个信靠顺服神的人身上的事情，没有一件不是神的旨意。这就足够叫我们不息地感谢赞美了。因为神的旨意，是世上最有希望的、最快活的、最荣耀的东西；祂也是全能的；只要我们肯顺服信靠，没有东西能阻止祂。 
一个深受痛苦的人写信给他的朋友说：「不管这件事多么不公正，多么像出乎撒但，但我一想到这事临到我，是神的旨意，并且是叫我得益处的，我就立刻觉得荣耀了。」感谢神，我们晓得万事都互相効力，叫爱神的人得益处。就是被卖这一件事，基督尚且说：「我父所给我的那杯，我岂可不喝呢？」（约十八13）如果我们生活在神的旨意中，我们的生活是何等佳美？撒但给我们的一切袭击，不但无力伤害我们，并且在半路上都已经变成祝福了。──H. W. S.
August 15
"Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22.).
The best things of life come out of wounding. Wheat is crushed before it becomes bread. Incense must be cast upon the fire before its odors are set free. The ground must be broken with the sharp plough before it is ready to receive the seed. It is the broken heart that pleases God. The sweetest joys in life are the fruits of sorrow. Human nature seems to need suffering to fit it for being a blessing to the world. 
If you aspire to be a son of consolation; if you would partake of the priestly gift of sympathy; if you would pour something beyond commonplace consolation into a tempted heart; if you would pass through the intercourse of daily life with the delicate tact that never inflicts pain; you must be content to pay the price of a costly education--like Him, you must suffer.--F. W. Robertson 
“Beside my cottage door it grows,
The loveliest, daintiest flower that blows,
A sweetbriar rose.”
“At dewy morn or twilight's close,
The rarest perfume from it flows,
This strange wild rose.”
“But when the rain-drops on it beat,
Ah, then, its odors grow more sweet,
About my feet.”
“Ofttimes with loving tenderness,
Its soft green leaves I gently press,
In sweet caress.”
“A still more wondrous fragrance flows
The more my fingers close
And crush the rose.”
“Dear Lord, oh, let my life be so
Its perfume when tempests blow,
The sweeter flow.”
“And should it be Thy blessed will,
With crushing grief my soul to fill,
Press harder still.”
“And while its dying fragrance flows
I'll whisper low, 'He loves and knows
His crushed briar rose.”　 　
八月十五日 
「我进入神的国，必须经历许多艰难。」（徒十四22）
人生最佳美的东西，都是从苦难中得来的。麦子必须磨碎，纔能做成面包。香料必须经火，纔能发出浓郁的香气。泥土必须耕松，纔能适于下种。照样，一个破碎的心，纔会得到神的喜悦。人生最甜蜜的欢乐，都是忧伤的果子。我们必须亲身经历许多艰难，然后纔会去安慰别人。 
如果，你渴望作一个安慰使者；如果，你愿意有怜恤的恩赐，如果，你想从你身上流出新鲜的慰语来扶持受试炼的弟兄姊妹；如果，你要在日常过着光润的生活不叫别人感到你的酸辣，你必须甘心乐意地付一笔昂贵的教育费━你必须像主那样受苦。──劳
August 16
"In waiting, I waited, for the Lord" (Ps. 40:1, margin).
Waiting is much more difficult than walking. Waiting requires patience, and patience is a rare virtue. It is fine to know that God builds hedges around His people--when the hedge is looked at from the viewpoint of protection.But when the hedge is kept around one until it grows so high that he cannot see over the top, and wonders whether he is ever to get out of the little sphere of influence and service in which he is pent up, it is hard for him sometimes to understand why he may not have a larger environment--hard for him to "brighten the corner" where he is. But God has a purpose in all HIS holdups. "The steps of a good man
are ordered of the Lord,"(Psalm37:23) 
On the margin of his Bible at this verse George Mueller had a notation, "And the stops also." It is a sad mistake for men to break through God's hedges. It is a vital principle of guidance for a Christian never to move out of the place in which he is sure God has placed him, until the
Pillar of Cloud moves.--Sunday School Times 
When we learn to wait for our Lord's lead in everything, we shall know the strength that finds its climax in an even, steady walk. Many of us are lacking in the strength we so covet. But God gives full power for every task He appoints. Waiting, holding oneself true to His lead--this is the secret of strength. And anything that falls out of the line of obedience is a waste of time and strength. Watch
For His leading.--S. D. Gordon 
Must life be a failure for one compelled to stand still in enforced inaction and see the great throbbing tides of life go by? No; victory is then to be gotten by standing still, by quiet waiting. It is a thousand times harder to do this than it was in the active days to rush on in the columns of stirring life. It requires a grander heroism to stand and wait and not lose heart and not lose hope, to submit to the will of God, to give up work and honors to others, to be quiet, confident and rejoicing, while the happy, busy multitude go on and away. It is the grandest life "having done all, to stand."--J. R. Miller　
八月十六日
「我曾耐性等候耶和华。」（诗四十1）
你知道吗？等候比前进困难得多。等候需要忍耐，忍耐是一件难得的美德。神在祂的子民的四周都在建筑篱笆保护他们。当篱笆越筑越高，甚至连顶也看不见的时候，我们就要发急──极欲知道以后有没有机会能从这个幽闭的势力范围里出去，我们不能明白为甚么我们不能有一个较大的环境。但是神在祂一切工作上都有目的的。「义人的脚步，被耶和华立定。」（诗卅七23） 
在穆勒的圣经上，这一节经文旁边注着：「义人的止步也被耶和华立定。」但是我们却常常喜欢穿出神为我们所建筑的篱笆外去，这实在是一个极大的错误。一个基督人如果已经确实知到是神将他放在他的地位上的，他千万不可以轻易活动；直到云柱移动了，他纔可以移动这是极重要的。──译自主日学报
甚么时候我们学会了每件事情等待神的引导，甚么时候我们就会知道只有在安静中，我们的灵力纔会达到最高点。我们中间有许多人缺乏这种安静的力量。但是如果神指定我们去做一件工作，祂必定会给我们够用的力量。耐性等候，遵行神的引导──这是得能力的秘诀。在神旨意之外的，都是浪费。让我们等候神的引导罢. --戈登
在神的引导没有来到之先，我们实行不动，坐看良机错失，结果岂不是一个极大的失败吗？不；胜利就是在不动中、静候中得到的。这要比活动艰难千倍。这个需要更大的勇气去站住、等候、不丧胆、不绝望；绝对服从神的旨意；将工作和荣誉让给他人；别人都快快活活、忙忙碌碌在工作，自己却能安安静静，带着信心而欢乐。这纔是最伟大的生活──「成就了一切还能站立得住」（弗六13）。──密勒
August 17
"I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me" (Acts 27:25).
I went to America some years ago with the captain of a steamer, who was a very devoted Christian. When off the coast of Newfoundland he said to me, "The last time I crossed here, five weeks ago, something happened which revolutionized the whole of my Christian life. We had George Mueller of Bristol on board. I had been on the bridge twenty-four hours and never left it. George Mueller came to me, and said, "Captain I have come to tell you that I must be in Quebec Saturday afternoon." "It is impossible," I said. "Very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement for fifty-seven years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray." 
I looked at that man of God, and thought to myself, what lunatic asylum can that man have come from? I never heard of such a thing as this. "Mr. Mueller," I said, "do you know how dense this fog is?" "No," he replied, "my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life." 
He knelt down and prayed one of the most simple prayers, and when he had finished I was going to pray; but he put his hand on my shoulder, and told me not to pray. “First, you do not believe He will answer; and second I BELIEVE HE HAS, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it.”
I looked at him, and he said, "Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get audience with the King. Get up, Captain and open the door, and you will find the fog gone." I got up, and the fog was indeed gone. On Saturday afternoon, George Mueller was in Quebec for his engagement.—Selected
“If our love were but more simple,
We should take Him at His word;
And our lives would be all sunshine,
In the sweetness of our Lord.”　
八月十七日
「我信神祂怎对我说，事情也要怎样成就。」（徒廿七25）
几年前我乘船到美国去。这船上的船主，是一个很热心的基督徒。当船离开纽方兰海岸的时候，他对我叙述下面一段故事：「上一次我经过此地，是在五星期前，船上发生了一件事，这件事情是我灵程上的一个大革新。在我们的乘客当中，有一位别斯脱城的穆勒先生，那时因为雾大，轮船已经停顿了二十四小时。穆勒来对我说：『船主我来告诉你：星期六下午我是一定要到桂拜城的。』我说：『这是做不到的事。』他说：『很好，如果你的船不能叫我按时到达，神有别的方法的。五十七年以来，我从来没有对人失过约，让我们下去祷告。』 
「我呆望着这位神的人，心中想：这个人不知道从那一家疯人院里出来的？我从来没有听见过这样的话。我就对他说：『穆勒先生，你知不知道雾有多么厚？』祂答道：『不，我的眼睛并不看雾的厚薄，我的眼睛只看见活的神，祂是管理我一生的环境的。』 
「他跪下来作了一个很简单的祷告，当他做完了，我正想接下去做的时候，他放他的手在我的肩背上，叫我不要做了。他说：『第一，你不相信神会答应你；第二，我相信神已经答应了，用不着你再求了。』
「我呆呆地望着他，他对我说：『船主，我已经认识我的主五十七年了；在这五十七年中，神从来没有一次不听我过。起来，船主把门打开，你要看见雾已经全消了。』我立起身来，雾果然已经全消了。星期六下午，穆勒如约到了桂拜城。」－－选
August 18
"Alone" (Deut. 32:12).
"The hill was steep, but cheered along the way 
By converse sweet, I mounted on the thought 
That so it might be till the height was reached; 
But suddenly a narrow winding path 
Appeared, and then the Master said, 'My child, 
Here thou wilt safest walk with Me alone.' 
"I trembled, yet my heart's deep trust replied, 
'So be it, Lord.' He took my feeble hand 
In His, accepting thus my will to yield Him 
All, and to find all in Him. 
One long, dark moment, 
And no friend I saw, save Jesus only. 
"But oh! so tenderly He led me on 
And up, and spoke to me such words of cheer, 
Such secret whisperings of His wondrous love, 
That soon I told Him all my grief and fear, 
And leaned on His strong arm confidingly. 
"And then I found my footsteps quickened, 
And light ineffable, the rugged way 
Illumined, such light as only can be seen 
In close companionship with God. 
"A little while, and we shall meet again 
The loved and lost; but in the rapturous joy 
Of greetings, such as here we cannot know, 
And happy song, and heavenly embraces, 
And tender recollections rushing back 
Of pilgrim life, methinks one memory 
More dear and sacred than the rest, shall rise, 
"And we who gather in the golden streets, 
Shall oft be stirred to speak with grateful love 
Of that dark day when Jesus bade us climb 
Some narrow steep, leaning on Him alone."
"There is no high hill but beside some deep valley. 
There is no birth without a pang."--Dan Crawford　
八月十八日
「耶和华独自引导他。」（申卅二12）
　 山路虽然崄阻，但是沿途有同伴的谈笑，也就不觉得怎样困难了；我想这样走上山顶，也不算难啊；那里知道突然间一条狭窄曲折的小径出现了，那时主对我说：「我的孩子，这里你独自跟我走罢。」
我战栗了，但是在我心的深处却带着信心答道：「主阿，愿祢的旨意成就。」祂握住了我弱小的手，接受了我的顺服。我跟祂走了一条很长、很黑暗的道路；除祂以外，没有看见一个朋友。
哦！祂眞温柔，祂用温暖的手牵着我前进，对我说了许多激励的话语，在我耳边流露了祂奇妙的爱情；不久，我也把我的忧愁和恐惧一一告诉祂，放放心心地倚偎在祂强壮的手臂中。
那时候，我的脚步加速了，我的欢乐眞是难以言喻，崎岖的山路发出了明亮的光辉。 
再过一回，我们要在天上遇见许多我们所亲爱、所失去的人们；但是在不能想象的狂喜、快活的歌唱、亲密的拥抱、旅程的回忆中，有一件事情最值得我们回忆的，就是我们在黑暗中攀登狭窄的绝壁时，耶和华独自引导我们。
August 19
"As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Cor. 6:10).
Sorrow was beautiful, but her beauty was the beauty of the moonlight shining through the leafy branches of the trees in the wood, and making little pools of silver here and there on the soft green moss below. 
When Sorrow sang, her notes were like the low sweet call of the nightingale, and in her eyes was the unexpectant gaze of one who has ceased to look for coming gladness. She could weep in tender sympathy with those who weep, but to rejoice with those who rejoice was unknown to her. 
Joy was beautiful, too, but his was the radiant beauty of the summer morning. His eyes still held the glad laughter of childhood, and his hair had the glint of the sunshine's kiss. When Joy sang his voice soared upward as the lark's, and his step was the step of a conqueror who has never known defeat. He could rejoice with all who rejoice, but to weep with those who weep was unknown to him.
"But we can never be united," said Sorrow wistfully. 
"No, never." And Joy's eyes shadowed as he spoke. "My path lies through the sunlit meadows, the sweetest roses bloom for my gathering, and the blackbirds and thrushes await my coming to pour forth their most joyous lays." 
"My path," said Sorrow, turning slowly away, "leads through the darkening woods, with moon-flowers only shall my hands be filled. Yet the sweetest of all earth-songs--the love song of the night--shall be mine; farewell, Joy, farewell." 
Even as she spoke they became conscious of a form standing beside them; dimly seen, but of a Kingly Presence, and a great and holy awe stole over them as they sank on their knees before Him. 
"I see Him as the King of Joy," whispered Sorrow, "for on His Head are many crowns, and the nailprints in His hands and feet are the scars of a great victory. Before Him all my sorrow is melting away into deathless love and gladness, and I give myself to Him forever."
"Nay, Sorrow," said Joy softly, "but I see Him as the King of Sorrow, and the crown on His head is a crown of thorns, and the nailprints in His hands and feet are the scars of a great agony. I, too, give myself to Him forever, for sorrow with Him must be sweeter than any joy that I have known." 
"Then we are one in Him," they cried in gladness, "for none but He could unite Joy and Sorrow." 
Hand in hand they passed out into the world to follow Him through storm and sunshine, in the bleakness of winter cold and the warmth of summer gladness, "as sorrowful yet always rejoicing." –Selected
“Should Sorrow lay her hand upon thy shoulder, And walk with thee in silence on life's way,
While Joy, thy bright companion once, grown colder, Becomes to thee more distant day by day?
Shrink not from the companionship of Sorrow, She is the messenger of God to thee;
And thou wilt thank Him in His great tomorrow- For what thou knowest not now, thou then shalt see;
She is God's angel, clad in weeds of night, With whom we walk by faith and not by sight.”　
八月十九日
「似乎忧愁，却是常常快乐的。」（林后六10）
忧愁是很美丽的，她的美丽是月光的美丽，她的歌声好像夜莺的鸣声，她的目光带着并不期望快乐的神情。她能够与哀哭的人同哭，却不能与快乐的人同乐。
快乐也是很美丽的，他的美丽是夏晨的美丽。他的目光含蓄儿童时代的欢笑，他的头发受着日光的闪射。他的歌声像百灵鸟的歌声一般翱翔云上，他的脚步是一个从来不知道失败的得胜者的脚步。他能够与一切快乐的人同乐，却不能与哀哭的人同哭。
忧愁沉思着道：「我俩是绝不能合作的了。」 
快乐说：「是啊，绝不能了。我的道路是在充满阳光的草场上的，玫瑰为我开着芳香的花朵，山鸟和画眉为我唱欢乐的情歌。」
忧愁徐徐转过身去说道：「我的道路是在黑暗的森林中的。但是世上最甜蜜的诗歌━深夜的情歌━却是属于我的；再会，快乐，再会罢。」 
在她说话的时候，他们觉得有一个人体立在他们旁边；虽然看不清楚是谁，却知道是一位君王，他们跪倒在祂面前，感觉非常惧怕。
忧愁轻声说道：「我看祂一定是快乐的王，因为祂头上戴着许多冠冕，手上和脚上带着胜利的钉痕。我在祂面前，一切的忧愁都化为不熄的爱和欢乐了，我愿意把我自己奉献给祂。」
快乐低声说道：「你错了，忧愁，我看祂是忧愁的王，祂头上戴着的冠冕是荆棘的冠冕，祂手上和脚上带着的钉痕是痛苦的伤痕。我也愿意把我自己永远奉献给祂，因为有祂同在的忧愁一定比我所知道的快乐更加甘甜。」
他俩同声欢呼说道：「这样，我们在祂里面乃是一体，只有祂能将快乐和忧愁合成一体。」他俩手牵着手同在世上跟随祂走━有时在风雨中，有时在阳光中，有时在冬日的凛冽中，有时在夏日的温暖中━「似乎忧愁，却是常长快乐的。」──选
August 20
"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day" (Gen. 32:24).
God is wrestling with Jacob more than Jacob is wrestling with God.It was the Son of man,the Angel of the Covenant. It was God in human form pressing down and pressing out the old Jacob life; and ere the morning broke, God had prevailed and Jacob fell with his thigh dislocated. But as he fell, he fell into the arms of God, and there he clung and wrestled, too, until the blessing came; and the new life was born and he arose from the earthly to the heavenly, the human to the divine, the natural to the supernatural. And as he went forth that morning he was a weak and broken man, but God was there instead; and the heavenly voice proclaimed, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." 
Beloved, this must ever be a typical scene in every transformed life. There comes a crisis-hour to each of us, if God has called us to the highest and best, when all resources fail; when we face either ruin or something higher than we ever dreamed; when we must have infinite help from God and yet, ere we can have it, we must let something go; we must surrender completely; we must cease from our own wisdom, strength, and righteousness, and become crucified with Christ and alive in Him. God knows how to lead us up to this crisis, and He knows how to lead us through.
Is He leading you thus? Is this the meaning of your deep trial, or your difficult surroundings, or that impossible situation, or that trying place through which you cannot go without Him, and yet you have not enough of Him to give you the victory?
Oh, turn to Jacob's God! Cast yourself helplessly at His feet. Die to your strength and wisdom in His loving arms and rise, like Jacob, into His strength and all-sufficiency. There is no way out of your hard and narrow place but at the top. You must get deliverance by rising higher and coming into a new experience with God. Oh, may it bring you into all that is meant by the revelation of the Mighty One of Jacob!--But God—Selected
“At Thy feet I fall, Yield Thee up,my ALL, To suffer LIVE,OR DIE For my Lord crucifield.” 　
八月二十日
「只剩雅各一人。有一个人来和他摔跤，直到黎明。」（创卅二24）
在这里我们看见神来和雅各摔跤。在黎明以前，雅各的大腿窝扭了。但是他一倒下去，正倒在神的双臂中，雅各就紧紧抓住不放，直到得着了他所要的祝福；一个新生命由此产生了。━他倒下去的时候，是一个属地的、属人的、天然的生命，他起来的时候，已成了属天的、属神的、超然的生命了。他那天早晨前行的时候，虽然成了一个疲弱残废的人，神却宣言说：「你的名字不要叫雅各，要叫以色列；因为你与神与人较力都得了胜」
亲爱的读者，如果神要我们进入最高最美的一步。我们每一个人都必须经历同样的争战━一切策略都会失败，所遭遇的尽是想不到的毁灭━那时候，我们必须从神领受超然的能力纔能站住；但是，在领受神超然的能力之前，我们必须先出代价━我们必须完全顺服；我们必须停止我们自己的智慧、能力和公义，与基督同钉十字架，在祂里面复活。神知道怎样引领我们上这一步，祂也知道用甚么方法引领我们经过。 
亲爱的读者，神现在是不是正在这样引领你呢？你是不是正遭到了极严重的试炼、极困难的环境、极险恶的情势呢？你是不是没有神竟不能过去呢？你是不是没有力量来得胜呢？
去投靠雅各的神罢！将你自己无力地摔在祂的脚前。在祂慈爱的双臂中死去你自己的能力和智慧，像雅各一样带，着神的能力和充足起来。如果你想走出你的困难狭窄的处境，出路是在顶上。你必须向上走，纔能得到释放。哦，巴不得你也能得到雅各所得到的一切！－－选　
August 21
"He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me; because he delighted in me" (Ps. 18:19).
And what is this "large place"? What can it be but God Himself, that infinite Being in whom all other beings and all other streams of life terminate? God is a large place indeed. And it was through humiliation, through abasement, through nothingness that David was brought into it.—Madame Guyon
"I bare you on eagle's wings, and brought you unto myself" (Exod.19:4).
Fearing to launch on “full surrender's” tide,
I asked the Lord where would its waters glide
My little bark, “To troubled seas I dread?”
“Unto Myself,” He said.
Weeping beside an open grave I stood,
In batterness of soul I cued to God:
“Where leads this path of sorrow; that I tread?”
“Unto Myself,” He said.
Striving for souls, I loved the work too well;
Then disappointments came; I could not tell
The reason, till He said, “I am thine all;
Unto Myself I call.”
Watching my heroes-those I loved the best-
I saw them fail; they could not stand the test,
Even by this the Lord, through tears not few,
Unto Himself me drew.
Unto Himself ! No earthly tongue can tell
The bliss I find, since in His heart I dwell;
The things that charmed me once seem all as naught;
Unto Himself I'm brought.
-Selected
八月二十一日
「祂又领我到宽阔之处，祂救拔我，因祂喜悦我。」（诗十八19） 
这「宽阔之处」究竟是甚么呢？这不是别的，乃是神自己━切生命河流的归宿。神实在是一个宽阔之处。戴维被领到宽阔之处，是先经过羞辱和侮辱的。－－盖恩夫人
「我如鹰将你们背在翅膀上，带来归我。」（出:十九:4)
August 22
"And the rest, some on boards, some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land" (Acts 27:44)
The marvelous story of Paul's voyage to Rome, with its trials and triumphs, is a fine pattern of the lights and shades of the way of faith all through the story of human life. The remarkable feature of it is the hard and narrow places which we find intermingled with God's most extraordinary interpositions and providences.
It is the common idea that the pathway of faith is strewn with flowers, and that when God interposes in the life of His people, He does it on a scale so grand that He lifts us quite out of the plane of difficulties. The actual fact, however, is that the real experience is quite contrary. The story of the Bible is one of alternate trial and triumph in the case of everyone of the cloud of witnesses from Abel down to the latest martyr.
Paul, more than anyone else, was an example of how much a child of God can suffer without being crushed or broken in spirit. On account of his testifying in Damascus, he was hunted down by persecutors and obliged to fly for his life. but we behold no heavenly chariot transporting the holy apostle amid thunderbolts of flame from the reach of his foes, but "through a window in a basket,"(Act.9:25) was he let down over the walls of Damascus and so escaped their hands. In an old clothes basket, like a bundle of laundry, or groceries, the servant of Jesus Christ was dropped from the window and ignominiously fled from the hate of his foes. 
Again we find him left for months in the lonely dungeons; we find him telling of his watchings, his fastings, and his desertion by friends, of his brutal and shameful beatings, and here even after God has promised to deliver him, we see him for days left to toss upon a stormy sea, obliged to stand guard over the treacherous seaman, and at last when the deliverance comes, there is no heavenly galley sailing from the skies to take off the noble prisoner; there is no angel form walking along the waters and stilling the raging breakers; there is no supernatural sign of the transcendent miracle that is being wrought; but one is compelled to seize a spar, another a floating plank, another to climb on a fragment of the wreck, another to strike out and swim for his life.
Here is God's pattern for our own lives. Here is a Gospel of help for people that have to live in this every day world with real and ordinary surroundings, and a thousand practical conditions which have to be met in a thoroughly practical way. 
God's promises and God's providences do not lift us out of the plane of common sense and commonplace trial, but it is through these very things that faith is perfected, and that God loves to interweave the golden threads of His love along the warp and woof of our every day experience.--Hard Places in the Way of Faith 
八月二十二日
「其余的人，可以用板子，或船上的零碎东西上岸。这样，众人都得了救上了岸。」（徒廿七44） 
保罗上罗马去的那奇异的经历━所受试炼和所得的荣耀━眞是信徒走信心道路的一个好模型，其中最宝贵的教训乃是：在我们所到的一切困难狭窄的地方，都有神特殊的办法和预备的。
按照人们普通的眼光看来，信心的道路，一定是满撒着鲜花的；甚么时候神要拯救祂的子民脱离危险，神就立刻将他们从困难中提出来。事实却正相反。圣经上的故事告诉我们：每一个见证人━从埃布尔起，一直到最近殉道者━都是先受试炼，后得荣耀的。
保罗的经历告诉我们：一个神的孩子，无论受多少苦，仍能不在灵里受压。保罗因为在大马色宣传耶稣的缘故，犹太人商议要杀他，我们看见那时候天上并没有在火焰雷电中降下战车战马来把这位大使徒从仇敌的势力范围中护送出去，他是「用筐子….从城墙缒下去」的（徒九25）。你看被装在一只旧的衣筐里面！像一包送出去洗濯的衣服一般！耶稣基督的仆人竟这样坍台地从窗户口缒下去！ 
后来，我们又看见他被下在监里，我们看见他怎样被亲友遗弃，怎样受残酷可耻的鞭打；就是在神允许拯救他以后，我们还看见他被留在波涛汹涌的海中顚簸；最后，拯救来了，可是天上并没有大船飞下来把这位尊贵的囚犯接出去；也没有天使在水面上平静猖獗的怒涛；船上的人，必须有的抓住桅杆，有的抓住木板，有的攀住破船的碎片，有的跳下水去游泳，纔能得救上岸。这就是神对待我们的方法。
这是神给我们的生活模式；这种帮助人的福音,为要给予那些活在实际境遇中的人群。他们有数以千计的现实境遇,需要以切实可行的方来处理。
许多时候，神的允许并不是立刻将我们从试炼中提出来的，因为神知道经过试炼以后，我们的信心会变成精金。－－译自信心道路上的艰难
August 23
"He went out, not knowing whither he went" (Heb. 11:8)
It is faith without sight. When we can see, it is not faith, but reasoning. In crossing the Atlantic we observed this very principle of faith. We saw no path upon the sea, nor sign of the shore. And yet day by day we were marking our path upon the chart as exactly as if there had followed us a great chalk line upon the sea. And when we came within twenty miles of land, we knew where we were as exactly as if we had seen it all three thousand miles ahead. 
How had we measured and marked our course? Day by day our captain had taken his instruments and, looking up to the sky, had fixed his course by the sun. He was sailing by the heavenly, not the earthly lights.
So faith looks up and sails on, by God's great Sun, not seeing one shore line or earthly lighthouse or path upon the way. Often its steps seem to lead into utter uncertainty, and even darkness and disaster; but He opens the way, and often makes such midnight hours the very gates of day. Let us go forth this day, not knowing, but trusting.--Days of Heaven upon Eart
"Too many of us want to see our way through before starting new enterprises. If we could and did, from whence would come the development of our Christian graces? Faith, hope and love cannot be plucked from trees, like ripe apples. After the words 'In the beginning' comes the word 'God'! The first step turns the key into God's power-house, and it is not only true that God helps those who help themselves, but He also helps those who cannot help themselves. You can depend upon Him every time." 
"Waiting on God brings us to our journey's end quicker than our feet." 
The opportunity is often lost by deliberation--Selected. 
八月二十三日
「亚伯拉罕因着信，蒙召的时候，就遵命出去，往将来要得为业的地方去。出去的时候，还不知往那里去。」（来十一8）
这就是不凭眼见的信心。凡凭眼见的，就不是凭信心，乃是凭理由了。轮船横渡大西洋，也是本着信心的原则的。我们在海面上看不见甚么途径，看不见甚么海岸，我们却能一天过一天地在航海图上画着标号，当轮船前行了若干哩的时候，我们立刻就会知道我们已经到了甚么地方。
但是，我们是怎样来测量我们所画的行程的呢？我们的船主每天拿着他的测量器，望着天，借着太阳来规定他的行程。他是借着天上的光━不是地上的光━来航行的。
信心也是这样航行的━望着天，借着神的光；虽然并没有看见航线、灯塔、或者途径。许多时候，信心的脚步似乎牵引我们进入了黑暗和灾祸，但是神开了路，夜半变成了黎明。让我们今天也这样前行罢━不是因着知道，乃是因着相信。－－译自地上的天上生活
我们中间有许多人常常要先看清路程，纔肯起行。这样，怎能在基督里有长进呢？信、望、爱，是不能像长熟的苹果那样从树上摘下来的。创世记一章一节「起初」后面接着就说「神」。神是全能的，神不单引领那自己帮助自己的人，神也引领那自己不能帮助自己的人，你只要全心倚赖祂就是了。
良好的机会，常是因审慎过度失去的。－－选
August 24
"I have all, and abound" (Phil. 4:18).
In one of my garden books there is a chapter with a very interesting heading, "Flowers that Grow in the Gloom." It deals with those patches in a garden which never catch the sunlight. And my guide tells me the sort of flowers which are not afraid of these dingy corners--may rather like them and flourish in them. 
And there are similar things in the world of the spirit. They come out when material circumstances become stern and severe. They grow in the gloom. How can we otherwise explain some of the experiences of the Apostle Paul? 
Here he is in captivity at Rome. The supreme mission of his life appears to be broken. But it is just in this besetting dinginess that flowers begin to show their faces in bright and fascinating glory. He may have seen them before, growing in the open road, but never as they now appeared in incomparable strength and beauty. Words of promise opened out their treasures as he had never seen them before.
Among those treasures were such wonderful things as the grace of Christ, the love of Christ, the joy and peace of Christ; and it seemed as though they needed an "encircling gloom" to draw out their secret and their inner glory. At any rate the realm of gloom became the home of revelation, and Paul began to realize as never before the range and wealth of his spiritual inheritance. 
Who has not known men and women who, when they arrive at seasons of gloom and solitude, put on strength and hopefulness like a robe? You may imprison such folk where you please; but you shut up their treasure with them. You cannot shut it out. You may make their material lot a desert, but “the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.”--Dr. Jowett 
“Every flower, even the fairest, has its shadow beneath it as it swings in the sunlight.”
Where there is much light there is much shade. 
八月二十四日 
「我样样都有，并且有余。」（腓四18） 
在我一本园艺书籍里面，有一篇叫做「生在黑暗里的花」。内中讲到有一种小花，是从来不需要日光的。我的先生告诉我说，这种小花不但不怕黑暗，并且在黑暗里反倒生长得快。
灵界里也有同样的小花，当物质环境最黑暗的时候，他们就出来了。他们是生在黑暗里的。
使徒保罗写这封腓立比书信的时候，正在罗马作俘虏。那时候，他一生的事业似乎将要结束了。正是在这样受围困的黑暗里，花儿开放得特别可爱。也许保罗以前已经看见过这些花儿，但是它们却从来没有像今天这样浓郁美丽的。神的话替他揭开了一个他以前没有看见过的宝藏。
在这个宝藏里面有几样奇异的东西：基督恩典、基督的爱、基督的喜乐和平安；这些东西似乎需要黑暗去开发他们的神秘和荣耀一般。经历了黑暗以后，保罗开始发现他以前所没有发现的属灵产业的广大和丰富了。－－乔怀德
每一朵花，就是最美丽的，在日光下也都有它的黑影的。
光越强烈，影越黑暗。
August 25
"Shut up to faith" (Gal. 3:23)
God, in olden time suffered man to be kept in ward by the law that he might learn the more excellent way of faith. For by the law he would see God's holy standard and by the law he would see his own utter helplessness; then he would be glad to learn God's way of faith. 
God still shuts us up to faith. Our natures, our circumstances, trials, disappointments, all serve to shut us up and keep us in ward till we see that the only way out is God's way of faith. Moses tried by self-effort, by personal influence, even by violence, to bring about the deliverance of his people. God had to shut him up forty years in the wilderness before he was prepared for God's work. 
Paul and Silas were bidden of God to preach the Gospel in Europe. They landed and proceeded to Philippi. They were flogged, they were shut up in prison, their feet were put fast in the stocks. They were shut up to faith. They trusted God. They sang praises to Him in the darkest hour, and God wrought deliverance and salvation. 
John was banished to the Isle of Patmos. He was shut up to faith. Had he not been so shut up, he would never have seen such glorious visions of God. 
Dear reader, are you in some great trouble? Have you had some great disappointment, have you met some sorrow, some unspeakable loss? Are you in a hard place? Cheer up! You are shut up to faith. Take your trouble the right way. Commit it to God. Praise Him that He maketh "all things work together for good,"(Rom.8:28) and that "God worketh for him that waiteth for him."(Isa.64:4) There will be blessings, help and revelations of God that will come to you that never could otherwise have come; and many besides yourself will receive great light and blessing because you were shut up to faith.--C. H. P
“Great things are done when men and mountains meet, These are not done by jostling in the street.”
八月二十五日
「但信还未来以先，我们被看守在律法之下，直圈到那将来的信显明出来。」
（加三23，直译）
在英文译本里，「直圈到那….信」这几个字译作Shut up to faith。「Shut up」的意思是关闭；这就是说，我们被关闭在律法之下，自己不会做好，也没有希望做好；在这样完全没有办法，四面的路都关闭起来的光景之下，只有一条路是开着的，这条路就是信。神往昔允许人们被看守在律法之下，为的是要人们知道信的可贵。在律法下面，人们能够看见神圣洁的标准；在律法下面，人们能够看见自己的完全无能；在这样没有办法的时候，知道了神的因信称义的救法，应该多么欢喜快乐呢？ 
神现在还是常常喜欢将我们关闭起来，只留给我们一条信心的道路。我们的天性、我们的环境、试炼、失望，都是神用来关闭看守我们的东西，要叫我们看见：唯一的出路乃是神所预备的信心的道路。摩西少年的时候，在埃及曾想用自己的努力，个人的势力，甚至武力、暴力，来拯救他的民族，所以神必须将他关闭野外四十年，然后纔用他去做神的工作。
保罗和西拉往腓立比去宣传福音，受了鞭打，被下在监里，两脚上了木狗。他们四面的出路都关住了，只剩下一条信心的道路。他们靠神。在最黑暗的光景里还祷告、唱诗、赞美神，神就向他们施行拯救。
约翰被放逐到拔摩海岛。他四面的出路都关住了，只留下一条信心的道路。如果他不经过这样关闭的话，他绝不能见到神荣耀的启示。
亲爱的读者，你是不是正遭遇了极大的困难呢？是不是正有一件极大的失望临到你呢？这件事情是不是叫你悲哀，叫你遭到说不尽的损失呢？你是不是很难过去呢？不要紧，你四面的出路虽然都已经关住了，却还留着一条信心的道路。好好地负起你的困难来交托神。赞美祂！因为祂使「万事都互相效力，叫爱神的人得益处」（罗八28）。并且「神为等候祂的人行事」（赛六十四4）。你受过试炼以后，神的祝福、帮助、启示，都要加倍地临到你；除你自己以外，还有许多别的人，也都会因着你的试炼得到亮光和祝福。－－C. H. P.
成就大事,乃是人与山相遇;不是人与人在街道上拥挤。
August 26
"It is not in me" (Job 28:14).
I remember a summer in which I said, "It is the ocean I need," and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, "It is not in me!" The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, "The mountains will rest me," and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain that I had wanted so much to see; but it said, "It is not in me!" It did not satisfy. Ah! I needed the ocean of His love, and the high mountains of His truth within. It was wisdom that the "depths" said they did not contain, and that could not be compared with jewels or gold or precious stones. Christ is wisdom and our deepest need. Our restlessness within can only be met by the revelation of His eternal friendship and love for us.--Margaret Bottome
“My heart is there!
Where, on eternal hills, my loved one dwells.
Among the lilies and asphodels;
Clad in the brightness of the Great White Throne,
Glad in the smile of Him who sits thereon,
The glory gilding all His wealth of hair.
And making His immortal face more fair—
THERE IS MY TREASURE and my heart is there.”
“My heart is there!
With Him who made all earthly life so sweet,
So fit to live, and yet to die so meet;
So mild, so grand, so gentle and so brave,
So ready to forgive , so strong to save.
His fair, pure Spirit makes the Heavens more fair,
And thither rises all my longing prayer—
THERE IS MY TREASURE and my heart is there.”
-Favorite poem of the late- Chas.E.Cowman
You cannot detain the eagle in the forest. You may gather around him a chorus of the choicest birds; you may give him a perch on the goodliest pine; you may charge winged messengers to bring him choicest dainties; but he will spurn them all. Spreading his lofty wings, and with his eye on the Alpine cliff, he will soar away to his own ancestral halls amid the munition of rocks and the wild music of tempest and waterfall.
The soul of man, in its eagle soarings, will rest with nothing short of the Rock of Ages. Its ancestral halls are the halls of Heaven. Its munitions of rocks are the attributes of God. The sweep of its majestic flight is Eternity! “Lord, THOU hast been our dwelling place in all generations.”(Ps.90:1)--Macduff.
“My Home is God Himself ”; Christ brought me there.
I laid me down within His mighty arms;
He took me up, and safe from all alarms
He bore me "where no foot but His hath trod,”
Within the holiest at Home with God,
And bade me dwell in Him, rejoicing there.
0 Holy Place! O Home divinely fair!
And we, God's little ones, abiding there.
"My Home is God Himself"; it was not so.!
A long, long road I traveled night and day,
And sought to find within myself some way,
Aught I could do, or feel to bring me near;
Self effort failed, and I was filled with fear,
And then I found Christ was the only way,
That I must come to Him and in Him stay,
And God had told me so.
And now "My Home is God ", and sheltered there,
God meets the trails of my earthly life,
God compasses me round from storm and strife,
God takes the burden of my daily care.
O Wondrous Place ! O Home divinely fair!
And I, God's little one, safe hidden there.
Lord, as I dwell in Thee and Thou in me,
So make me dead to everything but Thee;
That as I rest within my Home most fair,
My soul may evermore and only see,
My God in everything and everywhere;
My Home is God.
-Author Unknown
八月二十六日
「深渊说，不在我内。」（伯廿八14）
我记得有一年夏天，我说：「我所需要的是海洋。」我就到海洋的地方去，但是海洋说：「不在我内！」海洋并不照我所要的给我成就。于是我说：「高山一定会使我得到安息。」我就到有高山的地方去，我清晨醒来，前面立着我所渴望的巍然的高山，但是高山说：「不在我内！」高山又不能使我满足。哦！我所需要的究竟是甚么呢？我所需要的乃是神的眞理山。深渊说，智慧不在它里面；是的，智慧本不像珍珠、黄金和宝石那样多。惟有基督是智慧，是我们最大的需要。我们的烦恼，只有基督的友谊和爱情能安慰我们。－－濮登
你没有法子将一只老鹰扣留在森林里。你就是替牠聚集了一群最美丽的小鸟在牠四围歌唱，你就是给牠在最大的松树上安放一根栖木，你就是差遣有翼的使者带最美味的珍馐给牠，都不能动牠的心。伸展着高耸的翅膀，眼望着高临的绝壁，牠喜欢飞往牠自己的老家━盘石、风雨、瀑布中━去安息的。
人类的心，也像老应一般。如果没有永久的盘石，就永远得不到安息。我们的老家乃是天家。「主阿，祢世世代代作我们的居所。」（诗九十1）－－马克特夫
August 27
"And he took him aside from the multitude" (Mark 7:33).
Paul not only stood the tests in Christian activity, but in the solitude of captivity. You may stand the strain of the most intense labor, coupled with severe suffering, and yet break down utterly when laid aside from all religious activities; when forced into close confinement in some prison house. 
That noble bird, soaring the highest above the clouds and enduring the longest flights, sinks into despair when in a cage where it is forced to beat its helpless wings against its prison bars. You have seen the great eagle languish in its narrow cell with bowed head and drooping wings. What a picture of the sorrow of inactivity. 
Paul in prison. That was another side of life. Do you want to see how he takes it? I see him looking out over the top of his prison wall and over the heads of his enemies. I see him write a document and sign his name--not the prisoner of Festus, nor of Caesar; not the victim of the Sanhedrin; but the--"prisoner of the Lord." (Eph.3:1) He saw only the hand of God in it all. To him the prison becomes a palace. Its corridors ring with shouts of triumphant praise and joy. 
Restrained from the missionary work he loved so well, he now built a new pulpit━a new witness stand━and from that place of bondage come some of the sweetest and most helpful ministries of Christian liberty. What precious messages of light come from those dark shadows of captivity.
Think of the long train of imprisoned saints who have followed in Paul's wake. For twelve long years Bunyan's lips were silenced in Bedford jail. It was there that he did the greatest and best work of his life. There he wrote the book that has been read next to the Bible. He says, "I was at home in prison and I sat me down and wrote, and wrote, for joy did make me write."
The wonderful dream of that long night has lighted the pathway of millions of weary pilgrims. That sweet-spirited French lady, Madam Guyon, lay long between prison walls. Like some caged birds that sing the sweeter for their confinement, the music of her soul has gone out far beyond the dungeon walls and scattered the desolation of many drooping hearts. 
Oh, the heavenly consolation that has poured forth from places of solitude!--S. G. Rees
“Taken aside by Jesus,
To feel the touch of His hand;
To rest for a while in the shadow,
Of the Rock in a weary land.”
“Taken aside by Jesus,
In the loneliness dark and drear,
Where no other comfort may reach me,
Than His voice to my heart so dear.”
“Taken aside by Jesus,
To be quite alone with Him,
To hear His wonderful tones of love,
Mid the silence and shadows dim.”
“Taken aside by Jesus,
Shall I shrink from the desert place;
When I hear as I never heard before,
And see Him face to face ?”
八月二十七日
「耶稣领他离开众人，到一边去。」（可七33）
保罗不但在活动的时候忍受了试炼，在被禁的时候也忍受了试炼。我们在最剧烈的劳动下受苦，也许还站得住；但是到了放下一切活动的时候，被监禁在牢狱中的时候，恐怕最容易失败吧！
勇敢的小鸟，在翱翔的时候，能高飞直上云霄，忍受长途的辛劳；但是在笼中的时候，却只能垂头丧气地在笼门上拍着无力的翅膀了。你一定看见过：大鹰被幽禁在笼中的时候，是怎样无生气地低着头，垂着翅膀！啊！不活动是一个多么悲哀的景象啊！
保罗在监狱中！这是另一面的生活！你要不要看看他在监狱中做甚么呢？他所望的，不是监狱，乃是狱顶上面的天；不是仇敌，乃是仇敌头上顶着的天！我看见他在缮写书信，签上了他的名字━不是非斯都的囚犯，也不是该撒的囚犯；乃是━『基督耶稣的囚犯』（弗三1，直译）。在这一切的事上他只看见神的手。他看监狱为宫殿，所以监狱中满布了胜利的欢呼、赞美和喜乐。
被强迫离开了所喜爱的工作，他设立了一个新的讲坛━一个新的见证坛━他的监狱带给了我们一条最甘甜、最有益的自由之路。他在黑暗的拘禁中所带给我们的信息和亮光，是多么可贵啊！
保罗之后，曾有好多圣徒入狱。十二年之久，本仁的口，在培特福的监狱中，一声都不准开！但是，在那里他却成功了他一生最伟大最佳美的工作。在那里他著作了一本书━除了圣经以外，最被人诵读的书。他说：「我在监狱中，和在家中一样安适；我一直坐下来写，写，因为喜乐催促我写。」 
那个奇异的梦照耀了无数疲劳的旅客的路程。那位精神焕发的法国女士盖恩夫人，也曾许久被囚在监狱中。小鸟常会因受监禁唱出更悦耳的歌来，盖恩夫人心中的音乐也远荡出了牢狱墙外，驱散了人们不少的愁苦与伤心。 
哦属天的安慰都是从寂寞中流出来的！－－李斯
August 28
"There he proved them" (Exod. 15:25).
I stood once in the test room of a great steel mill. All around me were little partitions and compartments. Steel had been tested to the limit, and marked with figures that showed its breaking point. Some pieces had been twisted until they broke, and the strength of torsion was marked on them. Some had been stretched to the breaking point and their tensile strength indicated. Some had been compressed to the crushing point, and also marked. The master of the steel mill knew just what these pieces of steel would stand under strain. He knew just what they would bear if placed in the great ship, building, or bridge. He knew this because his testing room revealed it.
It is often so with God's children. God does not want us to be like vases of glass or porcelain. He would have us like these toughened pieces of steel, able to bear twisting and crushing to the uttermost without collapse. 
He wants us to be, not hothouse plants, but storm-beaten oaks; not sand dunes driven with every gust of wind, but granite rocks withstanding the fiercest storms. To make us such He must needs bring us into His testing room of suffering. 
Many of us need no other argument than our own experiences to prove that suffering is indeed God's testing room of faith.--J.H.McC 
It is very easy for us to speak and theorize about faith, but God often casts us into crucibles to try our gold, and to separate it from the dross and alloy. Oh, happy are we if the hurricanes that ripple life's unquiet sea have the effect of making Jesus more precious. Better the storm with Christ than smooth waters without Him.—Macduff
What if God could not manage to ripen your life without suffering?
八月二十八日
「耶和华……在那里试验他们。」（出十五25）
有一天，我到一家大规模的钢厂试验室去参观。在我四围都是一间一间分开的小房间。钢受试验到一个限度，就用数码标着优劣的等级。有的一绞就断，有的可以拉得很长，有的可以压得很紧；它们的扭力，紧张力，和压力大小，都有数码标明在上面。厂主知道这一块钢受得住多少压力。他知道一块钢如果用来造大船、造屋宇，或者造桥梁，能够承担多少重力。他知道，因为他的试验室这样告诉他。
神的孩子也常如此受试验。神不要我们像玻璃或者瓷器的花瓶一样脆弱。祂要我们像坚韧的钢一般，无论怎样受绞受压，都不会破碎。
祂不要我们作花棚里面的花草，祂要我们作能被风雨击打的橡树；祂不要我们作会被疾风吹散的沙丘，祂要我们作抵抗狂风的花岗岩。要将我们做得这样，祂必须带我们到祂受苦的试验室去。我们中间有许多人都有自己的经验可以证明：受苦实在是神信心的试验室。－－马克康该
对别人讲说信心是很容易的事；但是，神常常将我们丢入坩埚里去提炼我们，要把贵金与劣金分别出来。哦！如果顚簸我们生活的飓风，能使我们的主更加宝贵的话，我们的顚簸也是舒适的了。有基督同在的风雨，比无基督同在的平静更好！－－马克特夫 
若不受苦，神不能设法叫你的生命成熟。
August 29
"And he went out carrying his own cross" (John 19:17).
There is a poem called "The Changed Cross." It represents a weary one who thought that her cross was surely heavier than those of others whom she saw about her, and she wished that she might choose an other instead of her own. She slept, and in her dream she was led to a place where many crosses lay, crosses of different shapes and sizes. There was a little one most beauteous to behold, set in jewels and gold. "Ah, this I can wear with comfort," she said. So she took it up, but her weak form shook beneath it. The jewels and the gold were beautiful, but they were far too heavy for her.
Next she saw a lovely cross with fair flowers entwined around its sculptured form. Surely that was the one for her. She lifted it, but beneath the flowers were piercing thorns which tore her flesh.
At last, as she went on, she came to a plain cross, without jewels, without carvings, with only a few words of love inscribed upon it. This she took up and it proved the best of all, the easiest to be borne. And as she looked upon it, bathed in the radiance that fell from Heaven, she recognized her own old cross. She had found it again, and it was the best of all and lightest for her. 
God knows best what cross we need to bear. We do not know how heavy other people's crosses are. We envy someone who is rich; his is a golden cross set with jewels, but we do not know how heavy it is. Here is another whose life seems very lovely. She bears a cross twined with flowers. If we could try all the other crosses that we think lighter than our own, we would at last find that not one of them suited us so well as our own.--Glimpses through Life's Windows
If thou, impatient, dost let slip thy cross,
Thou wilt not find it in this world again;
Nor in another: here and here alone,
Is given thee to suffer for God's sake.
In other worlds we may more perfectly,
Love Him and serve Him, praise Him,
Grow nearer and nearer to Him with delight.
But then we shall not any more,
Be called to suffer, which is our appointment here.
Const thou not suffer, then, one hour or two?
If He should call thee from thy cross today,
Saying: “It is finished-that hard cross of thine.
From which thou prayest for deliverance,”
Thinkest thou not some passion of regret
Would overcome thee? Thou would'st say,
“So soon? Let me go back and suffer yet awhile
More patiently. I have not yet praised God.”
Whensoe'er it comes, that summons that we look for,
It will seem soon, too soon. Let us take heed in time,
That God may now be glorified in us.
-Ugo Bassi's Sermon in a Hospital
八月二十九日
「耶稣背着自己的十字架出来。」（约十九17） 
有一首诗名叫「换来的十字架」。里面讲到一个疲乏的姊妹，以为她的十字架，一定比别人的更重；所以，渴望和别人换一个背背。一天，她做了一个梦，梦中她到了一个地方，在那里横着许多十字架━各种形状不同，大小不同的十字架。有一个小十字架形状最美丽，上面镶着宝石和黄金。这个姊妹一看见就说：「啊，这一个背着一定舒适。」所以，她就把它拿起来；不料，她虚弱的身体，竟在这个十字架下面震颤了。宝石和黄金果然美丽，可是它们太重了，她背不动。
后来，她又看见一个可爱的十字架，雕刻的木架上，盘着美丽的鲜花。她想：这一定容易背了。她就将它举取来，不料鲜花下面，有许多尖刺，刺痛了她的皮肉。她一步一步向前走去，一个一个试着，发现每一个十字架，都不容易背。最后，她看见一个朴素的十字架，上面没有宝石，也没有雕刻，只书着几句亲爱的话。她拿起它来，觉得这是许多中间最容易背的一个。她向它仔细一看，在阳光下，她认得这原来是她自己的旧十字架。啊！这个旧十字架竟是许多十字架中间最好、最轻的一个！
亲爱的读者，神知道我们需要背的是那一个十字架。我们不知道别人的十字架多么重。我们常常艳羡有钱的人━他们的十字架是黄金的，上面镶嵌着宝石━我们却不知道这十字架是多么重。还有一些人，她们的生活似乎很是可爱━她们背上盘着鲜花的十字架━我们却不知道鲜花下面有许多尖锐的刺。如果我们能去试试别人的━我们以为比我们自己的更轻的━十字架看，我们就会发现：这些十字架中间，没有一个像我们自己这个那样叫我们满意。－－译自信徒生活一瞥
August 30
"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep" (Ps. 107:23, 24).
He is but an apprentice and no master in the art, who has not learned that every wind that blows is fair for Heaven. The only thing that helps nobody, is a dead calm. North or south, cast or west, it matters not, every wind may help towards that blessed port. Seek one thing only: keep well out to sea, and then have no fear of stormy winds. Let our prayer be that of an old Cornishman: "O Lord, send us out to sea━out in the deep water. Here we are so close to the rocks that the first bit of breeze with the devil, we are all knocked to pieces. Lord, send us out to sea--out in the deep water, where we shall have room enough to get a glorious victory."--Mark Guy Pearse. 
Remember that we have no more faith at any time than we have in the hour of trial. All that will not bear to be tested is mere carnal confidence. Fair-weather faith is no faith.--C. H. Spurgeon 
八月三十日
「在海上坐船，在大水中经理事务的，他们看见耶和华的作为；并祂在深水中的奇事。」（诗一○七23-24）
凡是风，都是叫我们的灵程得帮助的。不能帮助我们的，乃是全然无风。北风、南风、东风、西风，都没有关系，只要是风，都可以帮助我们进港。所以你应当寻求一件事：生活在海洋里，不要惧怕风雨。让我们祷告说：「哦，主啊！送我们到海洋里去━到大水中去。我们现在所在的地方太靠近岩石了，和恶魔稍微一争，我们就会撞得粉碎。主阿，送我们到海洋里去━到大水中去，在那里我们可以有够大的地域来得到荣耀的胜利。」－－披尔斯
在受试炼的时候，我们的信心最大。一切不能忍受试验的，都不过是肉体的信心。顺境中的信心不是信心。－－司布眞
August 31
"Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (John 20:29).
How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that axe unseen! If Peter is to walk on the water he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim, but he cannot do both. If the bird is going to fly it must keep away from fences and the trees, and trust to its buoyant wings. But if it tries to keep within easy reach of the ground, it will make poor work of flying. 
God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength, and to let him see that in his own body he could do nothing. He had to consider his own body as good as dead, and then take God for the whole work; and when he looked away from himself, and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform. That is what God is teaching us, and He has to keep away encouraging results until we learn to trust without them, and then He loves to make His Word real in fact as well as faith.--A.B. Simpson
I do not ask that He must prove
His Word is true to me,
And that before I can believe
He first must let me see.
It is enough for me to know
'Tis true because He says 'tis so;
On His unchanging Word I'll stand
And trust till I can understand.
-E.M.Winter
 
八月三十一日
「那没有看见就信的，有福了。」（约廿29）
眼见的事物是多么靠不住。所以，神必须保守我们在看不见的事物里，这是多么要紧的一回事！如果一只鸟儿要飞，牠必须离开墙垣和树枝，单独信赖牠的翅膀。如果牠要接近地面，牠飞行的工作就要受到亏损。
亚伯拉罕必须先看见自己的力量完了，自己不能再做甚么了，自己已经死了，然后纔肯完全让神来做；当他不看自己，单独信靠神的时候，他纔能完全相信：神所允许的，必能做成。这就是现在神所要我们学习的功课；神必须拿去一切鼓励我们的东西，直到我们能够不凭东西来信靠祂；那时候祂就要叫祂的话语成为事实。－－信宣
September 1
"I will lay thy stones with fair colors" (Isa. 54:11).
The stones from the wall said, "We come from the mountains far away, from the sides of the craggy hills. Fire and water have worked on us for ages, but made us only crags. Human hands have made us into a dwelling where the children of your immortal race are born, and suffer, and rejoice, and find rest and shelter, and learn the lessons set them by our Maker and yours. But we have passed through much to fit us for this. Gunpowder has rent our very heart; pickaxes have cleaved and broken us, it seemed to us often with out design or meaning, as we lay misshapen stones in the quarry; but gradually we were cut into blocks, and some of us were chiseled with finer instruments to a sharper edge. But we are complete now, and are in our places, and are of service.
You are in the quarry still, and not complete, and therefore to you, as once to us, much is inexplicable. But you are destined for a higher building, and one day you will be placed in it by hands not human, a living stone in a heavenly temple. --Selected.
“In the still air the music lies unheard;
In the rough marble beauty hides unseen;
To make the music and the beauty needs
The master's touch, the sculptor's chisel keen.”
“Great Master, touch us with Thy skillful hands;
Let not the music that 1's in us die!.
Great Sculptor, hew and polish us; nor let,
Hidden and lost, thy form within us lie!”
九月一日
「我必以彩色安置你的石头。」（赛五十四11）
墙上的石头说：「我们是从遥远的高山那边来的。火和水造作了我们好久，不过将我们造成了峭壁。人手将我们造成了一所住宅━你们的子孙在里面生长、受苦、享乐，得到休息和庇护，学习造我们的主━也是造你们的主━所给他们的功课。但是我们得到今天的地步，是曾经经历了许多苦难的，火药曾炸裂了我们的心；利斧曾劈开了我们的肺；我们常常觉得这样摧残我们，是毫无理由的，因为我们仍在石坑里丑陋地横着，毫无用处。后来我们逐渐被截成了整齐的石块。到了现在，我们已经完备了，已经在这里尽职了。 
你们却还在石坑里，还没有完备，所以你们，正像我们从前一样，还有许多事情解释不通。但是有一件事，是我所知道的：有一天，你们将要被神手（非人手）安置在天殿里做活石。」－－选
September 2
"Unto you it is given . . .to suffer" (Phil. 1:29).
God keeps a costly school. Many of its lessons are spelled out through tears. Richard Baxter said, "O God, I thank Thee for a bodily discipline of eight and fifty years"; and he is not the only man who has turned a trouble into triumph. 
This school of our Heavenly Father will soon close for us; the term time is shortening every day. Let us not shrink from a hard lesson or wince under any rod of chastisement. The richer will be the crown, and the sweeter will be Heaven, if we endure cheerfully to the end and graduate in glory.--Theodore L. Cuyler 
The finest china in the world is burned at least three times, some of it more than three times. Dresden china is always burned three times. Why does it go through that intense fire? Once ought to be enough; twice ought to be enough. No, three times are necessary to burn that china so that the gold and the crimson are brought out more beautiful and then fastened there to stay. 
We are fashioned after the same principle in human life. Our trials are burned into us once, twice, thrice; and by God's grace these beautiful colors are there and they are there to stay forever.--Cortland Myers
Earth's fairest flowers grow not on sunny plain,
But where some vast upheaval rent in twain
The smiling land...
After the whirlwind's devastating blast,
After the molten fire and- ashen pall,
God's still small voice breathes healing over all
From riven rocks and fern-clad chasms deep,
Flow living waters as from hearts that weep,
There in the afterglow soft dews distill
And angels tend God's plants when night falls still,
And the Beloved passing by that way
Will gather lilies at the break of day -] H.D. 
九月二日
「….你们蒙恩……要为基督受苦。」（腓一29）　
神开办了一个严紧的学校。校中许多功课，都是要在眼泪中费力研究的。裴克斯脱说：「哦，神阿，我感谢祢，因为祢给了我五十八年的训练。」他的困难变成他的胜利。 
我们的天父所开办的这学校，不久就要结束了；我们能受训练的日期，也一天一天减少了。让我们不要畏缩难学的功课，和逃避教鞭的惩罚了。如果我们能高高兴兴地忍耐到底，直到在荣耀中学成毕业的话，我们一定会觉得冠冕更美丽，天堂可爱了。－－克勒
世上最精细的瓷器，都至少经火烧过三次，有的还不止三次。掘来斯登的瓷器，总是烧三次的。为甚么瓷器要经过强烈的猛火呢？一次应当够了；两次应当够了。不，瓷器必须烧过三次，然后其上的金色和红色纔会更为美丽和牢固。 
人生也根据这个同样的原则。试炼一次、两次、三次地临到我们；感谢主，靠着祂的恩典，这些美丽的颜色会永久存留在我们的身上了。－－麦友
September 3
"And he saw them toiling in rowing" (Mark 6:48).
Straining, driving effort does not accomplish the work God gives man to do. Only God Himself, who always works without strain, and who never overworks, can do the work that He assigns to His children. When they restfully trust Him to do it, it will be well done and completely done. The way to let Him do His work through us is to partake of Christ so fully, by faith, that He more than fills our life. 
A man who had learned this secret once said: "I came to Jesus and I drank, and I do not think that I shall ever be thirsty again. I have taken for my motto, 'Not overwork, but overflow'; and already it has made all the difference in my life." 
There is no effort in overflow. It is quietly irresistible. It is the normal life of omnipotent and ceaseless accomplishment into which Christ invites us today and always.--Sunday School Times 
Be all at rest, my soul, 0 blessed secret,
Of the true life that glorifies thy Lord:
Not always doth the busiest soul best serve Him,
But he that resteth on His faithful Word.
Be all at rest, let not)our heart be rippled,
For tiny wavelets mar the image fair,
Which the still pool reflects of heaven's glory---
And thus the image He would have thee bear.
Be all al rest, my soul, for rest is service,
To the still heart God doth His secrets tell;
Thus shalt thou learn to wait, and watch, and labor,
Strengthened to bear, since Christ in thee doth dwell.
For what is service but the life of Jesus,
Lived through a vessel of earth's fragile clay
Loving and giving and poured forth for others,
A living sacrifice from day to day.
Be all al rest, so shalt thou be an answer
To those who queslion, “Who is God and where?”
For God is rest, and- where He dwells is stillness,
And they who dwell in Him, His rest shall share.
And what shall meet the deep unrest around thee,
But the calm peace of God that filled His breast?
For still a living Voice calls to the weary,
From Him who said, “ Come unto Me and rest.”
-Freda Hanbury Allen
"In resurrection stillness there is resurrection power." 
九月三日
「看见门徒……摇橹甚苦。」（可六48）
我们不能靠自己的努力，来成就神所给我们的工作。神所委派的工作，只有神自己能。我们如果安安静静地信托祂去做，我们就要看见：事情做得又好、又完全。那么，我们用甚么方法让祂藉我们来做呢？没有别的，只要完全用信心享用基督，深信祂已经充满了我们的生命。 
有一次，一位已经学到这个秘诀的弟兄说：「我已经在耶稣里喝了祂所赐的活水，所以我永远不会再渴了。我的格言是：『不要过劳，乃要过溢。』这个格言已经叫我的生活和从前完全不同了。」 
过溢是不需要费力的，是闲逸的，是无可抵抗的。这种全能的，无穷的成功，原是基督今天及永远所给我们享受的寻常生活。－－译自主日学报
复活的静止中，含蓄着复活的能力。
September 4
"And when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him" (Joshua 6:5).
The shout of steadfast faith is in direct contrast to the moans of wavering faith, and to the wails of discouraged hearts. Among the many "secrets of the Lord," I do not know of any that is more valuable than the secret of this shout of faith. The Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour." (Jos.6:2) He had not said, "I will give," but "I have given." It belonged to them already; and now they were called to take possession of it. But the great question was, How? It looked impossible, but the Lord declared His plan. 
Now, no one can suppose for a moment that this shout caused the walls to fall. And yet the secret of their victory lay in just this shout, for it was the shout of a faith which dared, on the authority of God's Word alone, to claim a promised victory, while as yet there were no signs of this victory being accomplished. And according to their faith God did unto them; so that, when they shouted, He made the walls to fall. 
God had declared that He had given them the city, and faith reckoned this to be true. And long centuries afterwards the Holy Ghost recorded this triumph of faith in Hebrews: 
"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days." (Heb.11:30) Hannah Whitall Smith.
“Faith can never reach its consummation,
Till the victor's thankful song we raise:
In the glorious city of salvation,
God has told us all the gates are praise.” 
九月四日 
「他们吹的角声拖长，你们听见角声，众百姓要大声呼喊，城墙就必塌陷。各人都要往前直上。」（书六5）
信心的呼喊不是踌躇的呻吟，也不是失望的哀泣。在许多「耶和华的奥秘」中，我不知道有甚么比信心的呼喊更为宝贵。耶和华晓谕乔舒亚说：「看哪，我已经把耶利哥，和耶利哥的王，并大能的勇士，都交在你手中。」（书六2）祂不是说：「我将要把….」，祂乃是说：「我已经把….」。耶利哥城已经属于以色列人了；现在只叫他们去占领好了。但是问题是：如何占领呢？在人看来，这是不可能的事；于是神又详细说明了祂的计划。
没有一个人想到呼喊会使城墙倒塌。可是他们得胜的秘诀，却正在呼喊之中，因为这是一个信心的呼喊━一个敢在毫无胜利征兆的时候，单独凭神的话，向神索取所应许的胜利的信心！于是神照他们的信心给他们成全；当他们呼喊的时候，城墙果然倒塌了。
神说祂已经把耶利哥城交在他们手中了，信心就这样相信。数世纪后，圣灵还将这次信心的胜利记载在希伯来书上面：「因着信，围绕耶利哥城七日，城墙就倒塌了。」（来十一30）－－司密斯
September 5
"Blessed are all they that wait for him" (Isa 30:18).
We hear a great deal about waiting on God. There is, however, another side. When we wait on God, He is waiting till we are ready; when we wait for God, we are waiting till He is ready.
There are some people who say, and many more who believe, that as soon as we meet all the conditions, God will answer our prayers. They say that God lives in an eternal now; with Him there is no past nor future; and that if we could fulfill all that He requires in the way of obedience to His will, immediately our needs would be supplied, our desires fulfilled, our prayers answered. 
There is much truth in this belief, and yet it expresses only one side of the truth. While God lives in an eternal now, yet He works out His purposes in time. A petition presented before God is like a seed dropped in the ground. Forces above and beyond our control must work upon it, till the true fruition of the answer is given.--The Still Small Voice
I longed to walk along an easy road,
And leave behind the dull routine of home,
Thinking in other fields to serve my God;
But Jesus said, My time has not yet come.”
I longed to sow the seed in other soil,
To be unfettered in the work, and free,
To join with other laborers in their toil;
But Jesus said, “Tis not My choice for thee.”
I longed to leave the desert, and be led
To work where souls were sunk in sin and shame,
That I might win them; but the Master said,
"I have not called thee, publish here My name. "
I longed to fight the battles of my King,
Lift high His standards in the thickest strife;
But my great Captain bade me wait and sing
Songs of His conquests in my quiet life.
I longed to leave the uncongenial sphere,
Where all alone I seemed to stand and wait,
To feel I had some human helper near,
But Jesus bade me guard one lonely gate.
I longed to leave the round of daily toil,
Where no one seemed to understand or care;
But Jesus said, “I choose for thee this soil,
That thou might 'st raise for Me some blossoms rare.”
And now I have no longing but to do
At home, or else afar, His blessed will,
To work amid the many or the few;
Thus, "choosing not to choose, II my heart is still.
-Selected
"And Patience was willing to wait. "-Pilgrim's Progress
九月五日
「凡等候祂的，都是有福的。」（赛卅18）
关于等候神的眞理，我们已经听得很多了
有些人说━也有许多人相信━我们一履行了所有的条件，神就要立即答应我们的祷告。他们说：神永远是现在的神；在神没有过去，也没有将来；如果我们能够顺服祂的旨意，实行祂的命令，立刻我们的需要可以得到供给，我们的欲望可以得到满足，我们的祷告可以得到答应。 
这种信仰也有许多眞理，但是可惜只表达了眞理的一面。神永远是现在的神，这句话一点都不错；但是神行事是有祂的「时候」的。一个呈在神前的请求，好像一粒在地里的种子。上面的力，必须多方栽培，答应纔会得到眞实的实现。－－译自微小的声音
September 6
"Thou remainest" (Heb. 1:11).
There are always lone hearth-fires; so many! And those who sit beside them, with the empty chair, cannot restrain the tears that will come. One sits alone so much. There is some One unseen, just here within reach. But somehow we don't realize His presence. Realizing is blessed, but--rare. It belongs to the mood, to the feelings. It is dependent on weather conditions and bodily conditions. The rain, the heavy fog outside, the poor sleep, the twinging pain, these make one's mood so much, they seem to blur out the realizing. But there is something a little higher up than realizing. It is yet more blessed. It is independent of these outer conditions, it is something that abides. It is this: recognizing that Presence unseen, so wondrous and quieting, so soothing and calming and warming. Recognize His presence--the Master's own. He is here, close by; His presence is real. 
Recognizing will help realizing, too, but it never depends on it. Aye, more, immensely more, the Truth is a Presence, not a thing, a fact, a statement. Some One is present, a warm-hearted Friend, an all-powerful Lord. And this is the joyful truth for weeping hearts everywhere, whatever be the hand that has drawn the tears; by whatever stream it be that your weeping willow is planted. --S. D.Gordon
When from my life the old-time joy have vanished,
Treasures once mine, I ma) no longer claim,
This truth rnay feed my hungry heart, and furnished:
Lord, THOUREMAINEST! THOU art still the same!
When streams have dried, those streams of glad refreshing-
Friendships so blest, so rich, so free;
When sun-kissed skies give place to clouds depressing
Lord, THOUREMAINEST! Still my heart hath THEE.
When strength hath failed and feet now worn and weary
On gladsome errands may no longer go,
Why should I sigh, or let the day be dreary?
Lord, THOUREMAINEST! Could'st Thou more bestow?
Thus through life's days-whoe'er or what may fail me,
Friends, friendships, joys, in small or great degree,
Songs may be rnine, no sadness need assail me,
Lord, THOUREMAINEST! Still my heart hath THEE.
-]. D. Smith 
九月六日
「祢却仍旧在那里。」（来一11，直译）
许多时候，我们独自坐在炉旁烤火，会感觉非常寂寞。望见空着的座位，常会禁不住掉下泪来。但是亲爱的读者阿，你要知道：一位看不见的，正在你面前啊！只是你不觉得就是了。觉得果然是一件幸福的事，但是觉得是凭依心境，凭依感觉的。觉得也是凭依天气和身体的状况的。下雨、下雾、睡眠不足、痛苦难当，都会影响我们的心境，叫我们不能觉得。有一件东西比觉得更高超、更幸福。这件东西是不随外面的情形转变的。这件东西是甚么呢？就是承认，承认那看不见的正和我同在━这样奇妙、安静、温和、镇定和热切！亲爱的读者阿，主在这里，正在你旁边；祂的同在是真实的。
承认能帮助感觉，但承认不凭依感觉。有这样一位热情的朋友，全能的恩主，和你同在，纵使有甚么事情叫你流泪，也足能叫你悲伤的心喜乐了。－－戈登
September 7
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1).
The question often comes, "Why didn't He help me sooner?" It is not His order. He must first adjust you to the trouble and cause you to learn your lesson from it. His promise is, "I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him." He must be with you in the trouble first all day and all night. Then He will take you out of it. This will not come till you have stopped being restless and fretful about it and become calm and quiet. Then He will say, "It is enough."(2 Sam.24:16) 
God uses trouble to teach His children precious lessons. They are intended to educate us. When their good work is done, a glorious recompense will come to us through them. There is a sweet joy and a real value in them. He does not regard them as difficulties but as opportunities. --Selected
Not always OUT of our troublous times,
And the struggles fierce and grim,
But IN-deeper IN-to our one sure rest,
The place of our peace, in Him.
-Annie Johnson Flint
We once heard a simple old colored man say something that we have never forgotten: "When God tests you, it is a good time for you to test Him by putting His promises to the proof, and claiming from Him just as much as your trials have rendered necessary." 
There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is to simply try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had, and to hail it with delight as an opportunity of obtaining a larger measure of Divine grace. Thus even the adversary becomes an auxiliary, and the things that seem to be against us turn out to be for the furtherance of our way. Surely, this is to be more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 
--A. B. Simpson 
九月七日
「神是我们的避难所，是我们的力量，是我们在患难中随时的帮助。」（诗四十六1）
　常有人问：「神为甚么不早一点帮助我？」我们的回答乃是：这不是神的次序。神要你先在患难中学习功课。神的应许是：「他在急难中，我要与他同在，我要搭救他，使他尊贵。」（诗九十一15）神必须先和你同在急难中，然后再救你从其中出来。甚么时候纔救你出来呢？乃是在你不再好动，不再烦躁，完全镇定、安静的时候。那时候神要说：「够了」（撒下廿四16）
神常常借着患难给我们宝贵的功课。目的为要教导我们。当神的目的达到了之后，我们就要得着荣耀的报偿。所以患难里面蕴藏着的，乃是甘甜的喜乐和眞实的价值。这样看来，神给我们的，不是患难，乃是机会。－－选
我记得有一次有一位年老的弟兄对我说：「当神试验你的时候，正是你试验神的好机会－－你可以把祂的应许拿来放在祂面前，尽量向祂索取你在试炼中所需用的一切」
要脱离试炼，有两种方法。一种是直接求神救你脱离试炼；当试炼过去的时候，就当感谢。另一种是承认试炼是从神来的一个挑战，你应当抓住这个机会，向神索取更大的祝福。这样，连仇敌也被我们利用了；反对我们的，成了我们的帮助。这就是靠着爱我们的主已得胜有余了。－－宣信
September 8
"Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress" (Ps. 4:1).
This is one of the grandest testimonies ever given by man to the moral government of God. It is not a man's thanksgiving that he has been set free from suffering. It is a thanksgiving that he has been set free through suffering: "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress." He declares the sorrows of life to have been themselves the source of life's enlargement.
And have not you and I a thousand times felt this to be true? It is written of Joseph in the dungeon that "the iron entered into his soul." (Ps.105:18) We all feel that what Joseph needed for his soul was just the iron. He had seen only the glitter of the gold. He had been rejoicing in youthful dreams; and dreaming hardens the heart. He who sheds tears over a romance will not be most apt to help reality; real sorrow will be too unpoetic for him. We need the iron to enlarge our nature. The gold is but a vision; the iron is an experience. The chain which unites me to humanity must be an iron chain. That touch of nature which makes the world akin is not joy, but sorrow; gold is partial, but iron is universal.
My soul, if thou wouldst be enlarged into human sympathy, thou must be narrowed into limits of human suffering. Joseph's dungeon is the road to Joseph's throne. Thou canst not lift the iron load of thy brother if the iron hath not entered into thee. It is thy limit that is thine enlargement. It is the shadows of thy life that are the real fulfillment of thy dreams of glory. Murmur not at the shadows; they are better revelations than thy dreams. Say not that the shades of the prison-house have fettered thee; thy fetters are wings--wings of flight into the bosom of humanity. The door of thy prison-house is a door into the heart of the universe. God has enlarged thee by the binding of sorrow's chain.--George Matheson 
If Joseph had not been Egypt's prisoner, he had never been Egypt's governor. The iron chain about his feet ushered in the golden chain about his neck.—Selected 
九月八日
「我在困苦中，祢曾使我宽广。」（诗四1）
这是一个最伟大的见证。他的感谢不是因为从苦难得到释放，乃是因为因苦难得到释放：「我在困苦中，你曾使我宽广。」他告诉我们：人生的困苦，就是人生宽广的来源。
经上记着约瑟在牢狱中「……被铁捆拘」（诗一○五18）。约瑟所需要的正是铁。他以前所看见的，只是黄金的灿烂，所享受的，只是少年的幻梦。人生的悲哀，是他所不能想象的。我们，像约瑟一样，也都需要铁来使我们宽广。金不过是幻梦，铁纔是经历。
啊！我的己哪！如果你要宽广，你必须先去受苦。约瑟的牢狱，是约瑟登宝座的路径。如果你自己没有被铁捆拘，你就不能取去你弟兄的铁荷。神用悲哀的铁链约束你，为要使你宽广。－－马德胜
如果约瑟不做埃及的囚犯，绝不能做埃及的宰相。他脚上的铁链，引上了他颈上的金链。－－选
September 9
"Not much earth" (Matt. 13:5).
Shallow! It would seem from the teaching of this parable that we have something to do with the soil. The fruitful seed fell into "good and honest hearts." (Lk.8:15) I suppose the shallow people are the soil without much earth--those who have no real purpose, are moved by a tender appeal, a good sermon, a pathetic melody, and at first it looks as if they would amount to something; but not much earth--no depth, no deep, honest purpose, no earnest desire to know duty in order to do it. Let us look after the soil of our hearts.
When a Roman soldier was told by his guide that if he insisted on taking a certain journey it would probably be fatal, he answered, "It is necessary for me to go; it is not necessary for me to live."
This was depth. When we are convicted something like that we shall come to something. The shallow nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its intuitions, its instincts, and very largely its surroundings. The profound character looks beyond all these, and moves steadily on, sailing past all storms and clouds into the clear sunshine which is always on the other side, and waiting for the afterwards which always brings the reversion of sorrow, seeming defeat and failure. 
When God has deepened us, then He can give us His deeper truths, His profoundest secrets, and His mightier trusts. Lord, lead me into the depths of Thy life and save me from a shallow experience! —Selected
On to broader fields of holy vision;
On to loftier heights of faith and love:
Onward, upward, apprehending wholly,
All for which He calls thee from above.
--A.B.Simpson 
九月九日
「有落在土浅石头地上的……。」（太十三5）
「….土浅！….」圣经告诉我们：好土是「诚实善良的心。」（路八15）那么，浅土是甚么呢？浅土乃是那些没有眞诚目的的心。一个温柔的请求，一篇良好的讲演，一首动人的诗歌，立刻就能感动他们；起初看看，似乎会有相当的成效；但是因为土浅，没有深入━没有进深的、诚实的目的；没有恳挚的欲望要明白眞理━不久就枯干了。亲爱的读者阿，让我们各人看看我们自己心里的土壤怎样。
有一次，一位罗把兵士决意要向某路前进，他的向导告诉他：这条路是很危险的，一不小心，就会丧命；这位罗马兵士回答说：「去是必需的；活不是必需的。」 
这就是深入。肤浅的人，倚靠感情、印象、直觉、性好、环境而生活。深入的人，一点不看这些东西，他只知道向前行去，冲破一切风雨云雾，直至到了对岸晴朗的日光中。
当神将我们掘深了以后，祂纔能交付我们更多的眞理、更深的奥秘、更大的责任。主阿，求祢引我进入祢生命的深处！并救我脱离肤浅！－－选
September 10
"The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me" (Ps. 138:8).
There is a Divine mystery in suffering, a strange and supernatural power in it, which has never been fathomed by the human reason. There never has been known great saintliness of soul which did not pass through great suffering. When the suffering soul reaches a calm sweet carelessness, when it can inwardly smile at its own suffering, and does not even ask God to deliver it from suffering, then it has wrought its blessed ministry; then patience has its perfect work; then the crucifixion begins to weave itself into a crown. 
It is in this state of the perfection of suffering that the Holy Spirit works many marvelous things in our souls. In such a condition, our whole being lies perfectly still under the hand of God; every faculty of the mind and will and heart are at last subdued; a quietness of eternity settles down into the whole being; the tongue grows still, and has but few words to say; it stops asking God questions; it stops crying, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" 
The imagination stops building air castles, or running off on foolish lines; the reason is tame and gentle; the choices are annihilated; it has no choice in anything but the purpose of God. The affections are weaned from all creatures and all things; it is so dead that nothing can hurt it, nothing can offend it, nothing can hinder it, nothing can get in its way; for, let the circumstances be what they may, it seeks only for God and His will, and it feels assured that God is making everything in the universe, good or bad, past or present, work together for its good.
Oh, the blessedness of being absolutely conquered! of losing our own strength, and wisdom, and plans, and desires, and being where every atom of our nature is like placid Galilee under the omnipotent feet of our Jesus. --Soul Food 
The great thing is to suffer without being discouraged.–Fenelon
“The heart that serves, and loves, and clings,
Hears everywhere the rush of angel wings.” 
九月十日
「耶和华必成全关乎我的事。」（诗一三八8）
苦难中间，有一种神秘、奇妙、超然的能力，绝不是人类理智所能了解的。凡没有经过大苦难的人，绝不会知道。一个受苦的人，若能得到镇静，窃笑他自己的苦难，而不再求神救他脱离苦难，他就有福了；那时候，十字要开始变成冠冕了。
在这个时候，圣灵要在他心里作许多奇妙的工。他的全人会完全安安静静地伏在神的手下；他的心思、意志和情感都会降服了；全人会感到一种非常的安宁；舌头也会变得静默，没有甚么要说的了；他也不再会问神许多无谓的问题了。 
他的思想不再会建造空中楼阁，也不再会追逐无智的事物了；他的理智会变得柔顺温良了；他自己的选择会归于乌有━除了神的旨意以外，没有别的选择了。他对一切人物的爱情都会死灭净尽━死灭得没有一件东西能再伤害他，没有一件东西能再绊倒他，没有一件东西能再妨碍他，没有一件东西能再阻止他；因为，不论环境怎样，他所寻求的，只是神和神的旨意；他深信神在宇宙中所做的每一件事，无论是好是坏，是过去是现在，都是互相効力，叫他得益处的。
哦，这样绝对的得胜━失去我们自己的力量、智慧、计划、欲望，将属于天然的每一个微小的分子，都放在我们主耶稣全能的脚下━是多么有福阿！－－译自灵粮
受苦而不挫气，是一件伟大的事情。－－费内伦
September 11
"And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise" (Heb. 6:15).
Abraham was long tried, but he was richly rewarded. The Lord tried him by delaying to fulfill His promise. Satan tried him by temptation; men tried him by jealousy, distrust, and opposition; Sarah tried him by her peevishness. But he patiently endured. He did not question God's veracity, nor limit His power, nor doubt His faithfulness, nor grieve His love; but he bowed to Divine Sovereignty, submitted to Infinite Wisdom, and was silent under delays, waiting the Lord's time. And so, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 
God's promises cannot fail of their accomplishment. Patient waiters cannot be disappointed. Believing expectation shall be realized. 
Beloved, Abraham's conduct condemns a hasty spirit, reproves a murmuring one, commends a patient one, and encourages quiet submission to God's will and way. Remember, Abraham was tried; he patiently waited; he received the promise, and was satisfied. Imitate his example, and you will share the same blessing.—Selected 
九月十一日
「这样，亚伯拉罕既恒久忍耐，就得了所应许的。」（来六15）
读者，亚伯拉罕所受的试验极久，但是他所得到的酬报却极厚。神用迁延应许的方法试验他，撒但用诱惑试验他；世人用嫉妒、怀疑、反对、；试验他撒拉用乖戾的性情试验他。但是他却恒久忍耐。他并不质问神的诚实，也不限制神的权力；他不怀疑神的信实，也不伤忧神的慈心；但向神圣的君王俯伏、绝对信任祂的智慧。虽然神迁延日久，他却并不作声，只安安心心地等待神的时候。这样，他既恒久忍耐，就得了所应许的。
神的应许，是不能不完成的。忍耐的等候者，是不能失望的。信心的盼望，终必实现。亲爱的，亚伯拉罕的德行，眞叫急躁的人受羞愧，叫出怨言的人受谴责，叫忍耐的人得揄扬，叫安心顺服神旨的人得鼓励。请你记得，亚伯拉罕曾受过试验，曾恒久等候，曾得了所应许的，而心满意足了。你当效法他的榜样，这样，你将要享受到同样的祝福。－－选
September 12
"Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" (S. of Sol. 8:5).
Some one gained a good lesson from a Southern prayer meeting. A brother asked the Lord for various blessings--as you and I do, and thanked the Lord for many already received--as you and I do; but he closed with this unusual petition: "And, O Lord, support us! Yes support us Lord on every leanin' side!" Have you any leaning sides? This humble man's prayer pictures them in a new way and shows the Great Supporter in a new light also. He is always walking by the Christian, ready to extend His mighty arm and steady the weak one on "every leanin' side." —Selected
“Child of My love, lean hard,
And let Me feel the pressure of thy care;
I know; thy burden, child. I shaped it;
Poised it in Mine Own hand; made no proportion
In its weight to thine unaided strength,
For even as I laid it on, I said,
I shall be near, and while she leans on Me,
This burden shall be Mine, not hers;
So shall I keep My child within the circling arms
Of My Own love. Here lay it down, nor fear
To impose it on a shoulder which upholds
the government of worlds. Yet closer come:
Thou art not near enough. I would embrace thy care;
So I might feel My child reposing on My breast.
Thou lovest Me? I knew it. Doubt not then;
But Loving Me, lean hard.” 
九月十二日
「那靠着良人从旷也上来的，是谁呢？」（歌八5）
一次，我在一个祈祷会中，学到了一课有益的功课。有一位弟兄，起来祷告，求神赐各种祝福给我们－－正如你我所求的；他也为着已经得到的感谢神－－正如你我所感谢的；但是，在他结束的时候，他加上了一个奇妙的请求。他说：「哦，主阿，撑住我们！是的，主阿，在我们所靠的每一边撑住我们！」亲爱的读者，你有没有可倚靠的主呢？这位弟兄，用一个新的方法，把我们所倚靠的描写清楚了；他对我们所倚靠的主，有了新的亮光，他也把这个亮光，介绍给我们了。读者，主是时时在信徒旁边的，祂随时都能张开祂仁爱的双臂来撑住软弱的信徒。－－选
September 13
"Come up in the morning . . . and present thyself unto me in the top of the mount" (Exod. 34:2).
The morning is the time fixed for my meeting the Lord. The very word morning is as a cluster of rich grapes. Let us crush them, and drink the sacred wine. In the morning! Then God means me to be at my best in strength and hope. I have not to climb in my weakness. In the night I have buried yesterday's fatigue, and in the morning take a new lease of energy. Blessed is the day whose morning is sanctified! Successful is the day whose first victory was won in prayer! Holy is the day whose dawn finds thee on the top of the mount! 
My Father, I am coming. Nothing on the mean plain shall keep me away from the holy heights. At Thy bidding I come, so Thou wilt meet me. Morning on the mount! It will make me strong and glad all the rest of the day so well begun. --Joseph Parker. 
Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.
Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows,
The solemn hush of nature newly born;
Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,
In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.
As in the dawning o'er the waveless ocean,
The image of the morning-star doth rest,
So in this stillness, Thou beholdest only
Thine image in the waters of my breast.
When sinks the soul, subdued by toil, to slumber,
Its closing eyes look up to Thee in prayer;
Sweet the repose, beneath Thy wings o'er shadowing,
But sweeter still to wake and find Thee there.
-Harriet Botcher Stowe
My mother's habit was every day, immediately after breakfast, to withdraw for an hour to her own room, and to spend that hour in reading the Bible, in meditation and prayer. From that hour, as from a pure fountain, she drew the strength and sweetness which enabled her to fulfill all her duties, and to remain unruffled by the worries and pettinesses which are so often the trial of narrow neighborhoods. As I think of her life, and all it had to bear, I see the absolute triumph of Christian grace in the lovely ideal of a Christian lady. I never saw her temper disturbed; I never heard her speak one word of anger, of calumny, or of idle gossip; I never observed in her any sign of a single sentiment unbecoming to a soul which had drunk of the river of the water of life, and which had fed upon manna in the barren wilderness.--Farrar 
九月十三日
「明日早晨，你要……在山顶上站在我面前。」（出卅四2）
早晨是我所规定的朝见的时间，因为早晨是我气力最大、希望最大的时间；早晨我用不着爬山过岭。在夜间我已将一天的疲乏全行埋葬了，在早晨我已得着了新的精力。早晨已经被主洁净的，这一天一定是快乐的！第一个胜利已经在祷告中获得的，这一天一定是成功的！黎明在山顶上的这，一天一定是圣洁的！
我的父阿，我现在到祢这里来了。平原上没有甚么东西能够抓住我，叫我不上圣洁的高原来。我现在依照您的命令上来朝见祢。早晨在山顶上，会叫我全天强健喜乐。－－帕克约瑟
我的母亲有一个习惯：每天早晨，必须在她自己房里退修一小时━读经、默想、祷告。从那一小时里面━好像从一个清洁的泉源里面一样━她吸取力量和安慰来担任她一天的职务，保守她不被邻里间的琐事纷扰。我一想到她的生活，和她生活上一切的负担，我就立刻看见基督在她身上的得胜。我从来没有看见她发过一次脾气；我从来没有听见她说过一句过火的话，一句谗言，或者一句闲言；我从来没有感到她有过一些不适当的出于情感的态度；她的秘诀，在甚么地方呢？乃在她每天早晨饮了生命水的河里的活水，吃了旷野的吗哪。－－法勒尔
September 14
"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34).
The cross which my Lord bids me take up and carry may assume different shapes. I may have to content myself with a lowly and narrow sphere, when I feel that I have capacities for much higher work. I may have to go on cultivating year after year, a field which seems to yield me no harvests whatsoever. I may be bidden to cherish kind and loving thoughts about someone who has wronged me--be bidden speak to him tenderly, and take his part against all who oppose him, and crown him with sympathy and succor. I may have to confess my Master amongst those who do not wish to be reminded of Him and His claims. I may be called to "move among my race, and show a glorious morning face," when my heart is breaking. 
There are many crosses, and every one of them is sore and heavy. None of them is likely to be sought out by me of my own accord. But never is Jesus so near me as when I lift my cross, and lay it submissively on my shoulder, and give it the welcome of a patient and unmurmuring spirit. 
He draws close, to ripen my wisdom, to deepen my peace, to increase my courage, to augment my power to be of use to others, through the very experience which is so grievous and distressing, and then--as I read on the seal of one of those Scottish Covenanters whom Claverhouse imprisoned on the lonely Bass, with the sea surging and sobbing round--I grow under the load.--Alexander Smellie. 
"Use your cross as a crutch to help you on, and not as a stumblingblock to cast you down."
“You may others from sadness to gladness beguile, If you carry your cross with a smile” 
九月十四日 
「若有人要跟从我，就当舍己，背起他的十字架来跟从我。」（可八34）
我主所吩咐我背的十字架，形状大小，都是祂亲自拟定的。当我觉得有能力做大事业的时候，也许我的十字架要我怀着知足的心，在一个粗陋狭窄的工场里安心工作；或者在一个似乎没有果子可结的田地里，一年过一年地继续耕种下去。也许我的十字架要我用仁慈恩惠去爱一个曾经虐待过我的仇人－－用温柔的态度去和他讲话，去站在他一边帮他抵抗一切反对他的人，用同情和援助去抬举他。也许我的十字架要我在那些不愿意听见神的名字的人中间承认基督；也许我的十字架要我在心碎的时候，到人们面前去露一个早晨的荣脸。 
十字架的大小种类，各有不同，但是每一个都是痛而且重的。我找不出一个合乎理想的。但是当我举起我的十字架来，顺顺服服地把它背在肩上，用忍耐不挠的精神去欢迎它的时候，乃是主离我最近的时候。
主常在我最忧愁最痛苦的时候，加添我的智慧，加深我的平安，加增我的勇气，加大我的能力。－－司买莉
用你的十字架来做帮助你前进的拐杖，不要用你的十字架做绊倒你的绊脚石。
September 15
"Blow upon my garden that the spices may flow out" (S. of Sol. 4:16).
Some of the spices mentioned in this chapter are quite suggestive. The aloe was a bitter spice, and it tells of the sweetness of bitter things, the bitter-sweet, which has its own fine application that only those can understand who have felt it. The myrrh was used to embalm the dead, and it tells of death to something. It is the sweetness which comes to the heart after it has died to its self-will and pride and sin. 
Oh, the inexpressible charm that hovers about some Christians simply because they bear upon the chastened countenance and mellow spirit the impress of the cross, the holy evidence of having died to something that was once proud and strong, but is now forever at the feet of Jesus. It is the heavenly charm of a broken spirit and a contrite heart, the music that springs from the minor key, the sweetness that comes from the touch of the frost upon the ripened fruit. 
And then the frankincense was a fragrance that came from the touch of the fire. It was the burning powder that rose in clouds of sweetness from the bosom of the flames. It tells of 
the heart whose sweetness has been called forth, perhaps by the flames of affliction, until the holy place of the soul is filled with clouds of praise and prayer. Beloved, are we giving out the spices, the perfumes, the sweet odors of the heart? --The Love-Life of Our Lord.
A Persian fable says: One day
A wanderer found a lump of clay
So redolent of sweet perfume
Its odors scented all the room.
'What are thou? was his quick demand,
Art thou some gem from Samarcand,
Or spikenard in this rude disguise,
Or other costly merchandise?'
Nay: I am but a lump of clay.
Then whence this wondrous perfume-say!
'Friend, if the secret / disclose,
I have been dwelling with the rose. '
Sweet parable! and will not those
'Who love to dwell with Sharon's rose,
Distil sweet odors all around,
Though low and mean themselves are found?
Dear Lord, abide with us that we
May draw our perfume fresh from Thee.”
九月十五日
「吹在我的园内，使其中的香气发出来。」（歌四16）
雅歌第四章所说的几种香料都是含有深意的。沉香是一种苦味的香料，这是表明苦中有甜的意思。没药是用来保存尸身的，这是表明我们自己的刚愎、骄傲….等罪都当钉死；然后我们的心中纔会发出香气来。
哦，有几个基督人眞可爱，他们的脸上佩戴着十字架的印痕，一看就知到他们以前的骄傲和刚愎都已经与基督同钉十字架了，永远被丢在主的脚前了━这是属天的可爱。
乳香是一种必须经火然后纔会发出香气来香料。它的香气在猛烈的火焰中最为浓厚。这是表明我们的心被痛苦的火焰所扎的时候，会发出最浓厚的香气来，直到我们的心充满了赞美和祷告。亲爱的，我们有没有发出这样的香气来呢？－－译自主的爱情生活
September 16
"Hide thyself by the brook Cherith" (1 Kings 17:3)..
God's servants must be taught the value of the hidden life. The man who is to take a high place before his fellows must take a low place before his God. We must not be surprised if sometimes our Father says: "There, child, thou hast had enough of this hurry, and publicity, and excitement; get thee hence, and hide thyself b the brook--hide thyself in the Cherith of the sick chamber, or in the Cherith of bereavement, or in some solitude from which the crowds have ebbed away." 
Happy is he who can reply, "This Thy will is also mine; I flee unto Thee to hide me. Hide me in the secret of Thy tabernacle, and beneath the covert of Thy wings!" 
Every saintly soul that would wield great power with men must win it in some hidden Cherith. The acquisition of spiritual power is impossible, unless we can hide ourselves from men and from ourselves in some deep gorge where we may absorb the power of the eternal God; as vegetation through long ages absorbed these qualities of sunshine, which it now gives back through burning coal. 
Bishop Andrews had his Cherith, in which he spent five hours every day in prayer and devotion. John Welsh had it--who thought the day ill spent which did not witness eight or ten hours of closet communion. David Brainerd had it in the woods of North America. Christmas Evans had it in his long and lonely journeys amid the hills of Wales. 
Or, passing back to the blessed age from which we date the centuries: Patmos, the seclusion of the Roman prisons, the Arabian desert, the hills and vales of Palestine, are forever memorable as the Cheriths of those who have made our modern world. 
Our Lord found His Cherith at Nazareth, and in the wilderness of Judea; amid the olives of Bethany, and the solitude of Gadara. None of us, therefore, can dispense with some Cherith where the sounds of human voices are exchanged for the waters of quietness which are fed from the throne; and where we may taste the sweets and imbibe the power of a life hidden with Christ.--Elijah, by Meyer.
九月十六日
「你离开这里……藏在……基立溪旁」（王上十七3）
神的仆人应该知隐藏生活的宝贵。我们不必惊奇，如果我们父神对我们说：「孩子，你已经有了足够的忙碌、名誉、刺激了；你离开这里，藏在溪旁━藏在病室里，藏在丧失中，藏在群众已经退去的荒僻。」
我们肯不肯这样回答呢：「父神阿，祢的旨意就是我的，我现在逃到祢这里来，求祢把我藏在帐幕的隐密处，祢翅翼的覆庇下！」
每一个属灵人如果要得着能力，必须到隐藏的基立去。若非离开人们，离开自己，到一个深峡中去吸收，属灵的能力是得不到的。
安得烈主教有他的基立，他每天花五小时在那里专心祷告。韦尔息约翰也有━如果那一天没有八小时在密室中与神交通，他就要以为这一天太浪费了。勃兰纳戴维的基立在北美洲森林里。伊文思的基立在韦尔斯山谷中。
让我们回去看看：拔摩海岛、罗马监狱、亚拉伯旷野、巴勒斯坦山谷，都是先圣永远值得记忆的基立。
主的基立在拿撒勒、犹大地的旷野、伯大尼的橄榄树下、格拉森的荒地里。我们中间没有一个人可以没有基立，因为在基立我们可以得到宝座前的安息，尝到隐藏生活的甘甜，吸取基督耶稣的能力。－－梅尔
September 17
"It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good". (1 Sam. 3:18)
See God in everything, and God will calm and color all that thou dost see!" It may be that the circumstances of our sorrows will not be removed, their condition will remain unchanged; but if Christ, as Lord and Master of our life, is brought into our grief and gloom, "HE will compass us about with songs of deliverance." (Psalm32:7) To see HIM, and to be sure that His wisdom cannot err, His power cannot fail, His love can never change; to know that even His direst dealings with us are for our deepest spiritual gain, is to be able to say, in the midst of bereavement, sorrow, pain, and loss, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath, taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."(Job.1:21)
Nothing else but seeing God in everything will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only instruments for accomplishing His tender and wise purposes toward us, and we shall even find ourselves at last inwardly thanking them for the blessings they bring us. Nothing else will completely put an end to all murmuring or rebelling thoughts.--H. W. Smith.
“Give me a new idea,” I said,
While musing on a sleepless bed;
“A new idea that'll bring to earth
A balm for souls of priceless worth;
That'll give men thoughts of things above,
And teach them how to serve and love,
That'll banish every selfish thought,
And rid men of the sins they’ve fought.”
The new thought came, just how, I’ll tell:
'Twas when on bended knee I fell,
And sought from HIM who knows full well
The way our sorrow to expel.
SEE GOD IN ALL THINGS, great and small,
And give HIM praise whate'er befall,
In life or death, in pain or woe,
See God, and overcome thy foe.
I saw HIM in the morning light,
HE made the day shine clear and bright;
I saw HIM in the noontide hour,
And gained from HIM refreshing shower.
Al eventide, when worn and sad,
HE gave me help, and made me glad.
At midnight, when on tossing bed
My weary soul to sleep HE led.
I saw HIM when great losses came,
And found HE loved me just the same.
When heavy loads / had to bear,
I found HE lightened every care.
By sickness, sorrow, sore distress,
HE calmed my mind and gave me rest.
HE'S filled my heart with gladsome praise
Since I gave HIM the upward gaze.
'Twas new to me, yet old to some,
This thought that to me has become
A revelation of the way
We all should /tie throughout the day;
For as each day unfolds its light,
We'll walk by faith and not by sight.
Life will, indeed, a blessing bring,
If we SEE GOD IN EVERYTHING."
-A.E.Finn 
九月十七日
「这是出于耶和华，愿祂凭自己的意旨而行。」
　如果我们在每一件事情上看见神，神就会在我们所看见的事情上替我们着上颜色。也许痛苦并没有挪去，环境并没有改变；但是如果我们生活的主━基督，在我们的忧愁痛苦之中，「祂必以得救的乐歌，四面环绕我。」（诗卅二7）如果我们眞看见祂，确信祂的智慧不能错误，祂的能力不能失败，祂的慈爱不能变更，祂最严厉的对付乃是我们灵程上最深的获益，我们就能在丧失、忧愁、痛苦、失败中，像乔布一样说：「赏赐的是耶和华，收取的也是耶和华。耶和华的名是应当称颂的。」（伯一21） 
没有别的方法，只有在每一件事情上看见神，能叫我们爱那些伤害我们、烦扰我们的；能叫我们看见他们不过是神所利用的工具，来完成神慈爱、智慧的目的；能叫我们完全停止一切的怨言和判思。－－司密斯
September 18
"Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Prov. 19 :18)
Waiting upon God is necessary in order to see Him, to have a vision of Him. The time element in vision is essential. Our hearts are like a sensitive photographer's plate; and in order to have God revealed there, we must sit at His feet a long time. The troubled surface of a lake will not reflect an object. 
Our lives must be quiet and restful if we would see God. There is power in the sight of some things to affect one's life. A quiet sunset will bring peace to a troubled heart. Thus the vision of God always transforms human life. 
Jacob saw God at Jabbok's ford, and became Israel. The vision of God transformed Gideon from a coward into a valiant soldier. The vision of Christ changed Thomas from a doubting follower into a loyal, devout disciple.
But men have had visions of God since Bible times. William Carey saw God, and left his shoemaker's bench and went to India. David Livingstone saw God, and left all to follow Him through the jungles of dark Africa. Scores and hundreds have had visions of God, and are today in the uttermost parts of the earth working for the speedy evangelization of the heathen. 
--Dr. Pardington 
There is hardly ever a complete silence in the soul. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear the whisperings of God. He is always whispering to us, only we do not hear, because of the noise, hurry, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on. --F. W. Faber 
“Speak, Lord, in the stillness,
While I wait on Thee;
Hushed my heart to listen
In expectancy.”
“Speak, 0 blessed Master,
In this quiet hour;
Let me see Thy face, Lord,
Feel Thy touch of power.”
“For the words Thou speakest,
'They are life, ' indeed;
Living bread from Heaven,
Now my spirit feed!”
“Speak, Thy servant heareth!
Be not silent, Lord;
Waits my soul upon Thee
For the quickening word!”
九月十八日
「没有默示，民就放肆。」（箴廿九18）
要看见神，必须花功夫等候。时间在这里是一个主要的元素。我们必须在神的脚前静候多时，神纔会把祂自己显示在我们心里。一个波动的湖面是映不出甚么东西来的。所以，如果我们要看见神，我们必须先安息在神面前，把我们生活中的风波平静下来。
看见神是最有能力，最能影响我们生活的一回事。看见神常会叫人类的生活得到极大的转变。
雅各布在雅博渡口看见了神，就成了以色列。基甸看见了神，懦夫变成了勇士！多马看见了主，疑惑变成了忠实！
开雷看见了神，舍弃了鞋匠的生活到印度去。李文斯东看见了神，舍弃了一切跟随主，经历非洲的丛林。多少人都是因为看见了神；所以，今天在地极宣传福音，使人归向基督。－－巴亭登
灵里全然安静是一件非常不容易的事情。其实神一直在和我们讲话。甚么时候世界的声音在灵里消灭或低沉了，甚么时候我们就能听见神的声音。我们听不见，是因为我们生活中充满了喧闹、急躁和愁闷的缘故。
－－费勃尔
September 19
"My Father is the husbandman" (John 15:1).
It is comforting to think of trouble, in whatever form it may come to, us, as a heavenly messenger, bringing us something from God. In its earthly aspect it may seem hurtful, even destructive; but in its spiritual out-working it yields blessing. Many of the richest blessings which have come down to us from the past are the fruit of sorrow or pain. We should never forget that redemption, the world's greatest blessing, is the fruit of the world's greatest sorrow. In every time of sharp pruning, when the knife is deep and the pain is sore, it is an unspeakable comfort to read, "My Father is the husbandman." 
Doctor Vincent tells of being in a great hothouse where luscious clusters of grapes were hanging on every side. The owner said, "When my new gardener came, he said he would have nothing to do with these vines unless he could cut them clean down to the stalk; and he did, and we had no grapes for two years, but this is the result." 
There is rich suggestiveness in this interpretation of the pruning process, as we apply it to the Christian life. Pruning seems to be destroying the vine, the gardener appears to be cutting it all away; but he looks on into the future and knows that the final outcome will be the enrichment of its life and greater abundance of fruit. 
There are blessings we can never have unless we are ready to pay the price of pain. There is no way to reach them save through suffering. --Dr. Miller. 
“I walked at mile with Pleasure,
She chattered all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.”
“I walked at mile with Sorrow,
And ne'er a word said she;
But, oh, the things I learned from her
When sorrow walked with me.” 
九月十九日
「我父是栽培的人。」（约十五1）
临到我们的各种苦难，都是父神的使者，受父神的差遣，送礼物来给我们的；我们如果知道这个，就会得到安慰了。虽然照属世的眼光看来，苦难似乎是伤害我们、毁灭我们的；但是照属灵的眼光看来，苦难却是产生祝福。我们永不该忘记：救恩━世上最大的祝福━乃是世上最大痛苦的结果。所以每一次我们受到神严厉的修剪，刀虽然割得深，痛虽然刺得剧，但是一想到「我父是栽培的人」，立刻会得到说不尽的安慰。
闻声博士在一个挂满了葡萄的花房里讲说他的故事：「我的园丁新来的时候，告诉我说这些葡萄藤若不一起割光，祇留下藤茎的话，他对它们一点办法都没有了；我就让他去割；两年我们一粒葡萄也吃不到，可是到了今年，竟长得这般丰满。」
让我们拿这个故事来解释基督人受修剪的经过。修剪好像把葡萄藤剪坏了，园丁好像把葡藤割光了；但是他所顾念的是将来，他知道这样修剪的结果会使它的生命更丰盛，它的果子更饶多。
有许多祝福，若不出代价，是永远得不到的。－－密勒
September 20
"Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?"
Mary and Martha could not understand what their Lord was doing. Both of them said to Him, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." Back of it all, we seem to read their thought: "Lord, we do not understand why you have stayed away so long. We do not understand how you could let death come to the man whom you loved. We do not understand how you could let sorrow and suffering ravage our lives when your presence might have stayed it all. Why did you not come? It is too late now, for already he has been dead four days!" 
And to it all Jesus had but one great truth: "You may not understand; but I tell you if you believe, you will see." 
Abraham could not understand why God should ask the sacrifice of the boy; but he trusted. And he saw the glory of God in his restoration to his love. Moses could not understand why God should keep him forty years in the wilderness, but he trusted; and he saw when God called him to lead forth Israel from bondage. 
Joseph could not understand the cruelty of his brethren, the false witness of a perfidious woman, and the long years of an unjust imprisonment; but he trusted, and he saw at last the glory of God in it all. 
Jacob could not understand the strange providence which permitted the same Joseph to be torn from his father's love, but he saw the glory of God when he looked into the face of that same Joseph as the viceroy of a great king, and the preserver of his own life and the lives of a great nation. 
And so, perhaps in your life. You say, "I do not understand why God let my dear one be taken. I do not understand why affliction has been permitted to smite me. I do not understand the devious paths by which the Lord is leading me. I do not understand why plans and purposes that seemed good to my eyes should be baffled. I do not understand why blessings I so much need are so long delayed. 
Friend, you do not have to understand all God's ways with you. God does not expect you to understand them. You do not expect your child to understand, only believe. Some day you will see the glory of God in the things which you do not understand.--J. H. McC
“If we could push ajar the gates of life,
And stand within, and all God's working see,
We might interpret all this doubt and strife,
And for each my story could find a key.”
“But not today Then be content, poor heart;
God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold.
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart-
Time will reveal the calyxes of gold.”
“And if through patient toil, we reach the land
Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest,
When we shall clearly know and understand,
I think that we shall say, 'God knew best.”
九月二十日
「我不是对你说过，你若信，就必看见神的荣耀么。」（约十一40）
马大和马利亚不明白她们的主所做的是甚么。她们两人都先后对祂说：「主阿!祢若早在这里，我兄弟必不死。」（约十一21，23）她们似乎在想：「主阿!我们不明白祢为甚么来得这般迟。我们不明白祢怎么忍心让死亡临到祢所爱的。我们不明白祢怎么忍心让忧伤和苦难来蹂躏我们的生命。为甚么祢不早些来呢？现在是太迟了，因为他死了已经四天了！」
对于这一切疑问，耶稣只用一个伟大的眞理来答复她们：「你也许不明白；但是我告诉你….你若信，就必看见。」 
亚伯拉罕不明白为甚么神要他把他独生的儿子献为燔祭；但是他信，他就看见了神的荣耀。摩西不明白为甚么神要他在旷野隐居四十年，但是他信。当神呼召他去将以色列人从为奴之地领出来的时候，他就看见了。
约瑟对于他哥哥们的残忍，对于一个泼妇的假见证，对于多年不公正的监禁，都丝毫不能明白；但是他信，最后他看见了神在其中的一切荣耀。 
雅各布不明白为什么神应许把约瑟从他怀中扯去，但是当他看见约瑟做了王的宰相，保存了他自己和一国的性命的时候，他就看见了神的荣耀。
亲爱的，在你身上，也是这样。你说：「我不明白为甚么神容让我心所爱的被夺去。我不明白为甚么神应许苦难来侵袭我。我不明白为甚么神领我行走这样曲折的道路。我不明白为甚么我视为美好的计划和目的要受到挫折。我不明白为甚么我这样急迫的需要，迁延了这么久，还没有来到。」
朋友，你用不着明白神对付你的方法。神不盼望你能明白。你并不盼望你的孩子能明白你所做的，是吗？只要信，有一天你必在你所不明白的事上看见神的荣耀。－－马克康该
September 21
"I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord" (Phil. 3:8).
This is the happy season of ripening cornfields, of the merry song of the reapers, of the secured and garnered grain. But let me hearken to the sermon of the field. This is its solemn word to me. You must die in order to live. You must refuse to consult your own case and well-being. You must be crucified, not only in desires and habits which are sinful, but in many more which appear innocent and right. 
If you would save others, you cannot save yourself. If you would bear much fruit, you must be buried in darkness and solitude. 
My heart fails me as I listen. But, when Jesus asks it, let me tell myself that it is my high dignity to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings; and thus I am in the best of company. And let me tell myself again that it is all meant to make me a vessel meet for His use. His own Calvary has blossomed into fertility; and so shall mine. Plenty out of pain, life out of death: is it not the law of the Kingdom? --In the Hour of Silence 
Do we call it dying when the bud bursts into flower? –Selected
“Finding, following, keeping, struggling, Is He sure to bless? Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs, Answer, Yes.”
九月二十一日
「我……将万事当作有损的，因我以认识我主基督耶稣为至宝。」（腓三8）
现在，正是五谷成熟的时期，农夫唱着欢乐的凯歌，把农产物收敛在仓廪里。但是，让我们想一想：如果不是有一粒麦子先死在地里的话，怎么能结出这么多的子粒来呢？属灵的事情也这样。我们自己的生命如果不死，怎么能活出基督的生命来呢？所以，让我们不再顾念我们自己的安乐和幸福。我们必须将自己的生命完全钉死在基督的十字架上－－不但将犯罪的欲望和习惯钉死，连天然生命中一切无罪的、美好的，也该一起钉死。因为如果我们要多结果子，就必须先被埋在黑暗和孤寂中。
亲爱的，恐怕你一定会像我一样━一听到这个消息，心中会感到非常失望。但是让我们记着：主竟看上了我们，要我们与祂一同受苦，在我们这岂不是一件极顶荣幸的事吗？并且，一切所遭遇的，无非要把我们造成合乎主用的器皿。痛苦生丰富，死亡生生命━这是神国中的定律。－－译自静默的时候
September 22
"And the Lord said . . . Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:31, 32).
Our faith is the center of the target at which God doth shoot when He tries us; and if any other grace shall escape untried, certainly faith shall not. There is no way of piercing faith to its very marrow like the sticking of the arrow of desertion into it; this finds it out whether it be of the immortals or no. Strip it of its armor of conscious enjoyment, and suffer the terrors of the Lord to set themselves in array against it; and that is faith indeed which can escape unhurt from the midst of the attack. Faith must be tried, and seeming desertion is the furnace, heated seven times, into which it might be thrust. Blest the man who can endure the ordeal!--C. H. Spurgeon
Paul said, "I have kept the faith,"(2 Timothy.4:7) but he lost his head! They cut that off, but it didn't touch his faith. He rejoiced in three things--this great Apostle to the Gentiles; he had "fought a good fight," he had "finished his course," he had "kept the faith." What did all the rest amount to? St. Paul won the race; he gained the prize, and he has not only the admiration of earth today, but the admiration of Heaven. Why do we not act as if it paid to lose all to win Christ? Why are we not loyal to truth as he was? Ah, we haven't his arithmetic. He counted differently from us; we count the things gain that he counted loss. We must have his faith, and keep it if we would wear the same crown. --Selected 
九月二十二日
「主又说……撒但想要得着你们，好筛你们，像筛麦子一样。但我巳经为你祈求，叫你不至于失了信心。」（路廿二31~32）
神试验我们的时候，把我们的信心当作射击的箭靶；如果，别的可以免去试验的话，信心是定规免不了试验的。信心最大的试炼乃是被世人遗弃。许多时候神把我们喜乐的甲冑剥去，让我们遭遇一些恐惧战兢的经历，要看我们的信心在试炼中受不受到伤损。眞实的信心能丝毫受不到伤损。－－司布眞
保罗说：「所信的道我已经守住了。」（提后四7）虽然他的头没有守住。人们虽能把他的头斩去，却不能把他的信心斩去。这位外邦人的大使徒自以为乐的有三件事━「那美好的仗我已经打过了。当跑的路我已经跑尽了。所信的道我已经守住了。」其余的一切算甚么呢？他获得了胜利；他赢得了奖赏；他不但在地上得到钦仰，并且在天上得到称赞。为甚么我们不能像他那样将万事当作有损的，为要得着基督呢？为甚么我们不能像他那样忠于眞理呢？啊，这是因为我们没有他的算学。他和我们算得不同；我们算为得着的，他算作有损的。但是如果我们要像他那样得戴冠冕，就必须有他那样的信心，并且像他那样守住信心。－－选
September 23
"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his inner being shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38).
Some of us are shivering and wondering why the Holy Spirit does not fill us. We have plenty coming in, but we do not give it out. Give out the blessing that you have, start larger plans for service and blessing, and you will soon find that the Holy Ghost is before you, and He will present you with blessings for service, and give you all that He can trust you to give away to others.
There is a beautiful fact in nature which has its spiritual parallels. There is no music so heavenly as an Aeolian harp, and the Aeolian harp is nothing but a set of musical chords arranged in harmony, and then left to be touched by the unseen fingers of the wandering winds. And as the breath of heaven floats over the chords, it is said that notes almost Divine float out upon the air, as if a choir of angels were wandering around and touching the strings. 
And so it is possible to keep our hearts so open to the touch of the Holy Spirit that He can play upon them at will, as we quietly wait in the pathway of His service.--Days of Heaven upon Earth 
When the apostles received the baptism with the Holy Ghost they did not rent the upper room and stay there to hold holiness meetings, but went everywhere preaching the gospel. --Will Huff 
“ If I have eaten my morsel alone, ”
The patriarch spoke with scorn;
What would he think of the Church were he shown
Heathendom-huge, forlorn,
Godless, Christless, with soul unfed,
While the Church's ailment is fullness of bread,
Eating her morsel alone ?
“ Freely ye have received, so give, ”
He bade, who hath given us all.
How shall the soul in us longer live
Deaf to their starving call,
For whom the blood of the Lord was shed,
And His body broken to give them bread,
If we eat our morsel alone!
-Archbishop Alexander
"Where is Abel thy brother?" (Gen. 4:9). 
九月二十三日
「信我的人就如经上所说，从他腹中要流出活水的江河来。」（约七38）
我们常会奇怪，常会发急地说：「为甚么我们不能流出活水的江河来呢？」我告诉你：多少时候是因为我们祇受不给的缘故。进来的东西太多了，我们从来不想到应该让它流出去；所以，里面常会停滞，常会发沉。我们应该让我们所得到的流出去━多作见证，多传福音，多做帮助探望的工作，多找事奉主的机会━这样，你就会看见圣灵要替你开更大工作的门，要给你更多事奉的恩赐。－－译自地上的属天生活
门徒在五旬节受了圣灵的浸以后，并不租着楼房，留在那里聚会，却到各地去宣讲福音。－－赫夫
「你兄弟埃布尔在那里」（创四9）今天神也要照样问我们：「你的父母在那里？你的子女在那里？你的兄弟在那里？你的姊妹在那里？你的亲戚在那里？你的朋友在那里？」我们是不是只能像该隐那样说「我不知道」呢？
September 24
"After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithyma: but the Spirit suffered them not" (Acts 16:7).
What a strange prohibition! These men were going into Bithynia just to do Christ's work, and the door is shut against them by Christ's own Spirit. I, too, have experienced this in certain moments. I have sometimes found myself interrupted in what seemed to me a career of usefulness. Opposition came and forced me to go back, or sickness came and compelled me to retire into a desert apart. 
It was hard at such times to leave my work undone when I believed that work to be the service of the Spirit. But I came to remember that the Spirit has not only a service of work, but a service of waiting. I came to see that in the Kingdom of Christ there are not only times for action, but times in which to forbear acting. I came to learn that the desert place apart is often the most useful spot in the varied life of man--more rich in harvest than the seasons in which the corn and wine abounded. I have been taught to thank the blessed Spirit that many a darling Bithynia had to be left unvisited by me. 
And so, Thou Divine Spirit, would I still be led by Thee. Still there come to me disappointed prospects of usefulness. Today the door seems to open into life and work for Thee; tomorrow it closes before me just as I am about to enter. 
Teach me to see another door in the very inaction of the hour. Help me to find in the very prohibition thus to serve Thee, a new opening into Thy service. Inspire me with the knowledge that a man may at times be called to do his duty by doing nothing, to work by keeping still, to serve by waiting. When I remember the power of the "still small voice," I shall not murmur that sometimes the Spirit suffers me not to go. --George Matheson 
“ When I cannot understand my father’s leading, And it seems to be but hard and cruel fate, Still I hear that gentle whisper ever pleading, God is working, God is faithful, ONLY WAIT. " 
九月二十四日 
「到了每西亚的边界，他们想要往庇推尼去，耶稣的灵却不许。」（徒十六7）
这是一个多么奇怪的禁止！这些人想要往庇推尼去，目的是为作主的工，但是主自几反把工作的门关了起来。我自己也曾有这样的经历。有时候，我自以为成功的路径，反受到了许多拦阻。反对起来摧逼我回去，疾病进来强迫我退到荒野去。
有时工作尚未做完圣灵要我把它放下，这实在是非常困难的事。但是神给我看见：工作是事奉神，等候也是事奉神。要我活动的是神，禁止我活动的是神。感谢神，我现在知道多少时候荒野原是最有益的地方。我感谢神，许多我所爱去的庇推尼，我都没有去。
圣灵阿，虽然我的前途常遭挫折，我仍然愿意拣选祢的引导。今天工作的门似乎开了，明天当我正要进去的时候又忽然关了，这都是祢的事情。 
求祢教导我在等候中看见前面的路径。求祢教导我在禁止中寻见事奉祢的新路。求祢教导我在不作工的时候尽忠━用安静来作工，用等候来事奉。－－马德胜
September 25
"Why go I mourning?" (Psalm 42:9).
Canst thou answer this, believer? Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told thee that the night would never end in day? Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter? Hope thou then! Hope thou ever! for God fails thee not. --C. H. Spurgeon
“ He was better to me than all my hopes;
He was better than all my fears;
He made a bridge of my broken works,
And a rainbow of my tears.
The billows that guarded rny sea-girt path,
But carried my Lord on their crest;
When I dwell on the days of my wilderness march
I can lean on His love for the rest. ”
“ He emptied my hands of my treasured store,
And His covenant love revealed,
There zoos not at wound in my aching heart,
But the balm of His breath hath healed.
Oh, tender and true was the chastening sore,
In wisdom, that taught and tried,
Till the soul that He sought was trusting in Him,
And nothing on earth beside. ”
“ He guided by paths that I could not see,
By ways that I have not known;
The crooked was straight, and the rough was plain,
As I followed the Lord alone.
I praise Him still for the pleasant palms,
And the water-springs by the way,
For the glowing pillar of flame by night,
And the sheltering cloud by day. ”
“ Never a watch on the dreariest halt,
But some promise of love endears;
I read from the past, that my future shall be,
Far better than all my fears.
Like the golden pot, of the wilderness bread,
Laid up with the blossoming rod,
All safe in the ark, with the law of the Lord,
Is the covenant care of my God. ”
九月二十五日
「我为何……时常哀痛？」（诗四十二9）
信徒阿，你能不能回答这个问句呢？你有没有甚么理由叫你时常哀痛毫无喜乐呢？你为甚么容让未来的忧郁这样摧残你呢？谁告诉你黑夜永不会变白昼呢？谁告诉你冬日的霜雪冰雹永不会融解呢？谁告诉你今日的风雨会越下越大呢？谁告诉你你的失望会变成绝望呢？岂不知严冬一过就是春夏么？所以你当仰望神！－－司布眞
September 26
"We walk by faith, not by appearance" (2 Cor. 5:7, RV).
By faith, not appearance; God never wants us to look at our feelings. Self may want us to; and Satan may want us to. But God wants us to face facts, not feelings; the facts of Christ and of His finished and perfect work for us. 
When we face these precious facts, and believe them because God says they are facts, God will take care of our feelings.
God never gives feeling to enable us to trust Him; God never gives feeling to encourage us to trust Him; God never gives feeling to show that we have already and utterly trusted Him. 
God gives feeling only when He sees that we trust Him apart from all feeling, resting on His own Word, and on His own faithfulness to His promise. 
Never until then can the feeling (which is from God) possibly come; and God will give the feeling in such a measure and at such a time as His love sees best for the individual case. 
We must choose between facing toward our feelings and facing toward God's facts. Our feelings may be as uncertain as the sea or the shifting sands. God's facts are as certain as the Rock of Ages, even Christ Himself, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. --Selected 
“When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.” 
九月二十六日
「……我们行事为人，是凭着信心，不是凭着眼见。」（林后五7）
神不要我们凭感觉。「己」要我们凭感觉，撒但要我们凭感觉，但是神要我们凭事实━凭基督已经为我们完成的事实。
神从来不用感觉来吸引我们去信靠祂；神也从来不用感觉来鼓励我们去信靠祂。
那么，甚么时候神纔给我们一些感觉呢？当神看见我们已经能不凭感觉来信靠祂，安息在祂的话语、信实、应许上的时候，祂就给我们一些感觉。
不到那个时候，感觉是不会来的。但是神知道该给我们的分量和时间，因为祂知道各人的情形和需要。 
我们必须选择：我们究竟愿意凭依我们的感觉呢？还是凭依神的事实？我们的感觉像海沙那般不可靠；神的事实像永久的盘石那般稳固，因为耶稣基督昨日、今日，一直到永远是一样的。－－选
September 27
"I have found an atonement" (Job 33:24, margin)..
Divine healing is just divine life. It is the headship of Christ over the body. It is the life of Christ in the frame. It is the union of our members with the very body of Christ and the inflowing life of Christ in our living members. It is as real as His risen and glorified body. It is as reasonable as the fact that He was raised from the dead and is a living Man with a true body and a rational soul today at God's right hand. 
That living Christ belongs to us in all His attributes and powers. We are members of His body, His flesh and His bones, and if we can only believe and receive it, we may live upon the very life of the Son of God. Lord, help me to know "the Lord for the body and the body for the Lord.'(1 Cor.6:13) --A. B. Simpson 
"The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty." (Zeph. 3:17). This was the text that first flashed the truth of Divine healing into my mind and worn-out body nearly a quarter century ago. It is still the door, wide open more than ever, through which the living Christ passes moment by moment into my redeemed body, filling, energizing, vitalizing it with the presence and power of His own personality, turning my whole being into a "new heaven and new earth."(Reve.21:1) "The Lord, thy God." Thy God. My God. Then all that is in God Almighty is mine and in me just as far as I am able and willing to appropriate Him and all that belongs to Him. This God, "Mighty," ALL Mighty God, is our INSIDE God. He is, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in the midst of me, just as really as the sun is in the center of the heavens, or like the great dynamo in the center of the power-house of my three-fold being. He is in the midst, at the center of my physical being. He is in the midst of my brain. He is in the midst of my nerve centers. 
For twenty-one years it has been not only a living reality to me, but a reality growing deeper and richer, until now at the age of seventy years, I am in every sense a younger, fresher man than I was at thirty. At this present time I am in the strength of God, doing full twice as much work, mental and physical, as I have ever done in the best days of the past, and this observe, with less than half the effort then necessary. My life, physical, mental and spiritual, is like an artesian well--always full, overflowing. To speak, teach, travel by night and day in all weather and through all the sudden and violent changes of our variable climate, is no more effort to me than it is for the mill-wheel to turn when the stream is full or for the pipe to let the water run through. --Selected
My body, soul and spirit thus redeemed,
Sanctified and healed I give, O Lord, to Thee,
A consecrated offering Thine ever more to be.
That all my powers with all their might;
In Thy sole glory may unite.━Halleluijah!
--Dr.Henry Wilson 
九月二十七日
「我以经得了赎价。」（伯卅三24）
信心医病是信心生活中的一部份。这就是基督在我们身体上掌权。这就是基督的生命在我们身体上活出来。这就是我们身体与基督的身体联合了，基督的生命流到我们身体上来。所以，我们今天所有的，乃是祂升天以后得荣耀的身体。祂从死里复活，今天带着一个复活的身体，坐在神的右边。我们今天所有的，就是那样的身体。
这活着的基督是属于我们的，祂一切的品性和能力也是属于我们的。我们是祂身上的肢体━祂的肉、祂的骨━只要我们能相信、能接受，我们立刻可以活出神儿子的生命来。主阿，求祢使我知道甚么叫做「身体……是为主，主也是为身子。」（林前六13）－－信宣
「在你中间的耶和华你的神是大有能力的」（番三17）。二十余年前把信心医病的眞理照入我心中，叫我破坏的身体得到医治的，就是这节圣经。直到今天，这节圣经仍是一扇门户，大大地开放着，好叫基督时时得进入这买回的身体来，用祂自己的同在和能力充满、浇灌、活动，把我的全人造成一个「新天新地」（启廿一1）。「耶和华你的神！」啊！你的神！我的神！神既是我的，那么在神里面的一切也定规是我的了，定归在我里面了；我能够信多少，我愿意用多少，这是我自己的事。这位神，「大有能力的」神，全能的神，是我们里面的神！这是何等的权利！祂━父、子、灵━在我里面━在我身体里面，在我头脑里面，在我神经里面。 
二十一年以来这不但是我实在的经历，并且是一个日深一日，日丰一日的经历。现在我七十岁了，却比三十岁的时候还健壮、还新鲜。靠着神的力量，我现在体力、上智力，上都负担着常人两倍的工作，却还用不到一半气力。我的体力、智力、灵力，都像喷水井一般━一直是满溢的、泛滥的。无论讲道、教书、日夜旅行，在各种气候下都像管子通水那般容易。－－选
September 28
"In me . . . peace" (John 16:33)
There is a vast difference between happiness and blessedness. Paul had imprisonments and pains, sacrifice and suffering up to the very limit; but in the midst of it all, he was blessed. All the beatitudes came into his heart and life in the midst of those very conditions. 
Paganini, the great violinist, came out before his audience one day and made the discovery just as they ended their applause that there was something wrong with his violin. He looked at it a second and then saw that it was not his famous and valuable one.
He felt paralyzed for a moment, then turned to his audience and told them there had been some mistake and he did not have his own violin. He stepped back behind the curtain thinking that it was still where he had left it, but discovered that some one had stolen his and left that old second-hand one in its place. He remained back of the curtain a moment, then came out before his audience and said: 
"Ladies and Gentlemen: I will show you that the music is not in the instrument, but in the soul." And he played as he had never played before; and out of that second-hand instrument, the music poured forth until the audience was enraptured with enthusiasm and the applause almost lifted the ceiling of the building, because the man had revealed to them that music was not in the machine but in his own soul. 
It is your mission, tested and tried one, to walk out on the stage of this world and reveal to all earth and Heaven that the music is not in conditions, not in the things, not in externals, but the music of life is in your own soul. --Selected 
If peace be in the heart,
The wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty,
The midnight flash but shows the path of duty,
Each living creature tells some new and joyous story,
The very trees and stones all catch a ray of glory,
If peace be in the heart.
--Charles Francis Richardson
九月二十八日
「在我里面有平安。」（约十六33）
幸福和祝福是两件不同的东西。保罗虽受尽监禁、痛苦、损失、患难，但在这一切中间，他却得到了祝福。 
帕甘尼尼是一位善奏小提琴的大音乐家。一天，他出来站在听众面前，在采声之下，忽然发现他手中所提的小提琴有点不对。再仔细一看，发觉了他所提的，并不是他平日珍爱的那架贵重的提琴。
他发了会儿呆，然后不得不告诉他的听众，他拿错了他的琴。他退了下去，在幕后寻思他的琴到底留在甚么地方，不久就发觉曾有人把他的琴偷了去，换下一把破旧的留在原处。他懊丧了一回，仍然出来站在听众面前说：
「诸位男女来宾，今天我要证明给诸位看：音乐并不是在乐器里，乃是在人心里。」他就用心来奏，从那破旧的乐器里流出了悠扬悦耳的音乐来；听众个个得到奋激，采声差不多轰穿了屋顶。他果然向他们证实了音乐并不是在乐器里，乃是在他心里。 
受试炼的信徒阿，你今天的使命就是出来站在这世界的舞台上，向天上地下一切所有的证实说：人生的音乐并不是在环境里，并不是在事物里，并不是在外表里。乃是在你心里。－－选
September 29
"I will give myself unto prayer" (Ps. 109:4)
We are often in a religious hurry in our devotions. How much time do we spend in them daily? Can it not be easily reckoned in minutes? Who ever knew an eminently holy man who did not spend much of his time in prayer? Did ever a man exhibit much of the spirit of prayer, who did not devote much time in his closet? 
Whitefield says, "Whole days and weeks have I spent prostrate on the ground, in silent or vocal prayer." "Fall upon your knees and grow there," is the language of another, who knew whereof he affirmed.
It has been said that no great work in literature or science was ever wrought by a man who did not love solitude. We may lay it down as an elemental principle of religion, that no large growth in holiness was ever gained by one who did not take time to be often, and long, alone with God. --The Still Hour
“Come come, He saith, O soul oppressed and weary,
Come to the shadows of my desert rest;
Come walk with Me far from life’s babbling discords,
And peace shall breathe like music in thy breast.”
九月二十九日
「我专心祈祷。」（诗一○九4）
我们祷告的时间常顶匆促、顶急忙。每天我们究竟花多少时间来祷告呢？岂不是很容易以分来计算━最多数分钟，数十分钟吗？谁曾看见过一个灵界的伟人未曾花许多时间来祷告的呢？谁曾看见过一个被圣灵充满的人未曾花许多时间专心在密室中的呢？ 
华德飞说：「数日数夜，甚至数星期，我平卧地上专心祷告━有时出声，有时不出声。」还有一位祷告有经验的说：「双膝跪下来，就在那里长进。」他知道他所说的是甚么。
有人说，一个不喜爱单独的人，绝不能在文学上或者科学上有所成功。属灵的事情也是这样，一个不常花长时间与神单独亲近的人，绝不能在属灵的事情上得到多大的长进－－译自静默的时候
September 30
"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange God with him" (Deut. 32:11, 12)
Our Almighty Parent delights to conduct the tender nestlings of His care to the very edge of the precipice, and even to thrust them off into the steeps of air, that they may learn their possession of unrealized power of flight, to be forever a luxury; and if, in the attempt, they be exposed to unwonted peril, He is prepared to swoop beneath them, and to bear them upward on His mighty pinions. When God brings any of His children into a position of unparalleled difficulty, they may always count upon Him to deliver them. --The Song of Victory 
"When God puts a burden upon you He puts His own arm underneath." 
There is a little plant, small and stunted, growing under the shade of a broad-spreading oak; and this little plant values the shade which covers it, and greatly does it esteem the quiet rest which its noble friend affords. But a blessing is designed for this little plant. 
Once upon a time there comes along the woodman, and with his sharp axe he fells the oak. The plant weeps and cries, "My shelter is departed; every rough wind will blow upon me, and every storm will seek to uproot me!" 
"No, no," saith the angel of that flower; "now will the sun get at thee; now will the shower fall on thee in more copious abundance than before; now thy stunted form shall spring up into loveliness, and thy flower, which could never have expanded itself to perfection shall now laugh in the sunshine, and men shall say, 'How greatly hath that plant increased! How glorious hath become its beauty, through the removal of that which was its shade and its delight!'" 
See you not, then, that God may take away your comforts and your privileges, to make you the better Christians? Why, the Lord always trains His soldiers, not by letting them lie on feather-beds, but by turning them out, and using them to forced marches and hard service. He makes them ford through streams, and swim through rivers, and climb mountains, and walk many a long march with heavy knapsacks of sorrow on their backs. This is the way in which He makes them soldiers--not by dressing them up in fine uniforms, to swagger at the barrack gates, and to be fine gentlemen in the eyes of the loungers in the park. God knows that soldiers are only to be made in battle; they are not to be grown in peaceful times. We may grow the stuff of which soldiers are made; but warriors are really educated by the smell of powder, in the midst of whizzing bullets and roaring cannonades, not in soft and peaceful times. Well, Christian, may not this account for it all? Is not thy Lord bringing out thy graces and making them grow? Is He not developing in you the qualities of the soldier by throwing you into the heat of battle, and should you not use every appliance to come off conqueror? --Spurgeon. 
九月三十日
「又如鹰搅动巢窝，在雏鹰以上两翅搧展，接取雏鹰，背在两翼之上，这样，耶和华独自引导他，并无外邦神与他同在。」（申卅二11-12）
我们全能的父常喜欢将祂保护下的雏鹰引到绝壁顶上，推他们下去，好使他们知道自己有飞行的能力；倘使，他们遭到了危险，祂便立即猝然下降，把他们背在两翼之上。所以，信徒阿，神如果把我们放在一个非常困难的地位上，我们只要大胆依赖祂，因为我们深信祂的拯救就在旁边。－－译自胜利的凯歌
甚么时候神放一个重担在你上面，祂必放祂自己的膀臂在你下面。
有一株小花生，长在一棵高大的橡树荫下，这株小花非常尊重那庇护它的树荫，也非常宝贵它所享受的安静。
不久，来了一个樵夫，把橡树砍了去。小花非常伤心哭道：「啊，我的保护失去了；从此狂风会把我吹倒，大雨会把我打倒！」
小花的天使安慰它道：「不，不，太阳会照耀你，甘霖会滋润你；你弱小的身躯将长得更加可爱，你张开的花瓣将欢笑于日光之下；人们也会称赞你说：『这株小花长得多快啊！橡树砍去以后，长得更其美丽了！』」 
亲爱的读者，你不看见吗？神挪去你的安慰、你的利益，为要叫你长得更美丽。神训练祂的精兵，不能在柔软的床上训练，祂必须领他们出去，强迫他们行军，强迫他们服役；使他们涉河、游江、攀山、负荷。这样，纔能把他们练成精兵━并不是给他们穿上精致的军服，叫他们在营门前高视阔步，也不是叫他们在公园里闲荡逍遥。神知道精兵是在战争中造成的，不是在平安中造成的。他们必须饱尝火药气味，饱经枪林弹雨。信徒阿！你的神要把你造成一个精兵，你愿不愿意呢？祂把你投在战争的火焰中，你岂不该穿上祂给你的全副军装来运用祂的得胜呢－－司布眞
October 1
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted" (Ps. 119:71)
It is a remarkable circumstance that the most brilliant colors of plants are to be seen on the highest mountains, in spots that are most exposed to the wildest weather. The brightest lichens and mosses, the loveliest gems of wild flowers, abound far up on the bleak, storm-scalped peak. 
One of the richest displays of organic coloring I ever beheld was near the summit of Mount Chenebettaz, a hill about 10,000 feet high, immediately above the great St. Bernard Hospice. The whole face of an extensive rock was covered with a most vivid yellow lichen which shone in the sunshine like the golden battlement of an enchanted castle.
There, in that lofty region, amid the most frowning desolation, exposed to the fiercest tempest of the sky, this lichen exhibited a glory of color such as it never showed in the sheltered valley. I have two specimens of the same lichen before me while I write these lines, one from the great St. Bernard, and the other from the wall of a Scottish castle, deeply embossed among sycamore trees; and the difference in point of form and coloring between them is most striking. 
The specimen nurtured amid the wild storms of the mountain peak is of a lovely primrose hue, and is smooth in texture and complete in outline, while the specimen nurtured amid the soft airs and the delicate showers of the lowland valley is of a dim rusty hue, and is scurfy in texture, and broken in outline. 
And is it not so with the Christian who is afflicted, tempest-tossed, and not comforted? Till the storms and vicissitudes of God's providence beat upon him again and again, his character appears marred and clouded; but trials clear away the obscurity, perfect the outlines of his disposition, and give brightness and blessing to his life. ━selected 
Amidst my list of blessings infinte,
Stands this the foremost, that my heart has bled;
For all I bless Thee, most for the severe.
─Hugh Macmillan
十月一日
「我受苦是与我有益」 （诗一一九:71）
在这里有一件值得注意的事情：最鲜艳的花草是生长在荒野的高山上的。最鲜明的苔藓、最美丽的野花，都长在荒凉光秃的高峰巅上。
我个人所看见的最艳丽的颜色是在一个一万尺高的山顶上。山面长满了金黄色的苔藓，在日光下闪耀，非常美丽夺目。
你看，在那样高的地方，那样荒凉的地方，苔藓受尽狂风暴雨的击打，反呈露出这样灿烂的颜色来，岂不奇怪？我有两个苔藓的标本，一个是从高山上采集来的，一个是从城墙上篨悬树中采集来的；这两个标本是的形状和颜色，有极显著的不同。 
生长在山顚上风雨中的那个标本是樱红色的，质地光滑，轮廓完美；生长在低地上温气中的那个标本是暗黑色的，质地粗糙，轮廓破碎。
受苦的信徒阿，你不是受尽了风雨的摧残吗？你不是失尽了所有的安慰吗？ 神预备了风雨一次一次击打你，叫你的外貌变得毁损阴沉；但是试炼一过，黑暗就要变成光明，你就要得到非常的祝福。━选
在我所列永世幸福的项目中,
第一项是:我的心曾流过血,
我最感谢的是,神绝不放纵。
─麦克密
October 2
"And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place" (Luke 9:10)
In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone. It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously. In one single quiet hour of prayer it will often make more progress than in days of company with others. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest.━Andrew Bonar
“Come yourselves apart and rest awhile,
Weary, I know it, of the press and throng,
Wipe front your brow the sweat and dust of toil
And in My quiet strength again be strong.”
“Come ye aside from all the world holds dear,
For converse which, the world has never known,
Alone with Me, and with My Father here,
With Me and with My Father not alone.” 
十月二日
「耶稣就带他们暗暗的离开那里，往伯赛城的野地里去。」（路九:10，直译）
我们如果要在恩典上长进，必须多有单独的时候。与人交往并不一定会叫我们的灵得到多大长进。一小时安静的祷告所给我们的进步，比一整天与人的交往更多。野地里有新鲜的露珠，有清洁的空气，让我们退到那里去呼吸罢！━彭纳
你们分别来作片刻的休息,
我和你们已不堪重受压逼和拥挤,
擦去你们额上的汗和灰尘,
在我宁静的力量中恢复元气。
你要丢开世人所紧抓的一切,
来获得世人所不懂的交谈,
在这里和我及我父独处,
有我和父,就不会孤单。
October 3
"And after the earthquake a fire; and after the fire a sound of gentle stillness" (1 Kings 19:12, RV margin.)
A soul, who made rapid progress in her understanding of the Lord, was once asked the secret of her easy advancement. She replied tersely, "Mind the checks." And the reason that many of us do not know and better understand Him is, we do not give heed to His gentle checks, His delicate restraints and constraints. His is a still, small voice. A still voice can hardly be heard. It must be felt. A steady, gentle pressure upon the heart and mind like the touch of a morning zephyr to your face. A small voice, quietly, almost timidly spoken in your heart, but if heeded growing noiselessly clearer to your inner ear. His voice is for the ear of love, and love is intent upon hearing even faintest whispers. 
There comes a time also when love ceases to speak if not responded to, or believed in. He is love, and if you would know Him and His voice, give constant ear to His gentle touches. In conversation, when about to utter some word, give heed to that gentle voice, mind the check and refrain from speech. When about to pursue some course that seems all clear and right and there comes quietly to your spirit a suggestion that has in it the force almost of a conviction, give heed, even if changed plans seem highest folly from standpoint of human wisdom.
Learn also to wait on God for the unfolding of His will. Let God form your plans about everything in your mind and heart and then let Him execute them. Do not possess any wisdom of your own. For many times His execution will seem so contradictory to the plan He gave. He will seem to work against Himself. Simply listen, obey and trust God even when it seems highest folly so to do. He will in the end make "all things work together," but so many times in the first appearance of the outworking of His plans.(Rom. 8:28) 
So if you would know His voice, never consider results or possible effects. Obey even when He asks you to move in the dark. He Himself will be gloriously light in you. And there will spring up rapidly in your heart an acquaintanceship and a fellowship with God which will be overpowering in itself to hold you and Him together, even in severest testings and under most terrible pressures. ━Way of Faith
十月三日
「地震后有火……火后有微小的声音。」(王上19:12)
有一位姊妹，在明白神旨意这件事上，进步得非常之快；有一次，有人问到她容易进步的秘诀。她简洁地回答道：「注意里面的禁止。」眞的，我们中间许多人不明白神旨意的缘故，就是因为不注意里面圣灵的禁止。圣灵的声音是微小的。一个微小的声音是不容易听见的，但是却能教你觉得━叫你心中觉得一种平稳微小的压力，好像早晨的微风吹在你脸上那样觉得。这种微小的声音，如果你好好注意它，会一次比一次更清楚，一次比一次更容易听的。当我们全心专注在爱人身上的时候，爱人一句顶轻细的耳语，我们很快地就领会了；圣灵的声音就是爱人耳语的声音。
但是如果我们不回答他、不理会他、不相信他，爱人也就会不再说甚么的。神是爱，我们要认识祂和祂的声音，必须时常留心注意。当你与人谈话，正要发言的时候，如果里面有禁止的话，就该立即闭口不言。当你正要进行某种事业━正当的事业━的时候，如果你灵里觉得不平安的话，就该立即改变计划，虽然按照人的智慧来看，这也许是一个顶大的愚眛。
在注意里面的禁止以外，我们还该学习等候神披露祂的旨意。在一切事上让神替你计划、替你执行。不要倚靠你自己的聪明。许多时候神的执行和神的计划似乎相反━祂似乎在反对自己；但是你只要听从、顺服信靠，虽然看上去这似乎是顶愚昧的事。至终，祂必使「万事互相効力，叫爱神的人得益处。」（罗八:28） 
所以如果你要认识神的声音，你必须先有一个绝对顺服的存心━不顾结果，不顾成败。就是神要你在暗中前进，你也愿意顺服；因为神自己是你里面荣耀的光辉。这样，你就会更认识神、更亲近神；甚至在最猛烈的试炼下、可怕的压力下，你也会感到神的同在。━译自信心的方法
October 4
"So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning" (Job 42:12)
Through his griefs Job came to his heritage. He was tried that his godliness might be confirmed. Are not my troubles intended to deepen my character and to robe me in graces I had little of before? I come to my glory through eclipses, tears, death. My ripest fruit grows against the roughest wall. Job's afflictions left him with higher conceptions of God and lowlier thoughts of himself. "Now," he cried, "mine eye seeth thee.(Job 42:5) 
And if, through pain and loss, I feel God so near in His majesty that I bend low before Him and pray, "Thy will be done,"(Mt.26:42) I gain very much. God gave Job glimpses of the future glory. In those wearisome days and nights, he penetrated within the veil, and could say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth."(Job 19:25) Surely the latter end of Job was more blessed than the beginning. ━In the Hour of Silence 
"Trouble never comes to a man unless she brings a nugget of gold in her hand." 
Apparent adversity will finally turn out to be the advantage of the right if we are only willing to keep on working and to wait patiently. How steadfastly the great victor souls have kept at their work, dauntless and unafraid! There are blessings which we cannot obtain if we cannot accept and endure suffering. There are joys that can come to us only through sorrow. There are revealings of Divine truth which we can get only when earth's lights have gone out. There are harvests which can grow only after the plowshare has done its work. ━Selected 
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seamed with scars; martyrs have put on their coronation robes glittering with fire, and through their tears have the sorrowful first seen the gates of Heaven. ━Chapin 
I shall know by the gleam and glitter;
Of the golden chain you wear,
By your heart’s calm strength in loving,
Of the fire you have had to bear.
Beat on, true heart, forever:
Shine bright, strong golden chain;
And bless the cleansing fire,
And the furnace of living pain!
━Adelaide Proctor 
十月四日 
「这样，耶和华后来赐福给乔布，比先前更多。」 （伯四十二:12）
乔布虽然遭遇了许多灾祸，结果却得到许多祝福。他受试炼，是为要证实他的敬虔。那么，我们今天的灾祸，岂非也是为要叫神得到荣耀吗？荣耀原是从眼泪中出来的。乔布的苦难使他更高看神，更低看自己。他喊叫说：「我从前风闻有祢，现在亲眼看见祢。」（伯四十二:5）
如果，在痛苦失望中，我们能感觉神的同在而求告说：「愿祢的意旨成全。」（太廿六:42）我们就有福了。乔布在痛苦之中，竟能看见说：「我知道我的救赎主活着。」（伯十九:25）这是多么不容易啊！果然，耶和华后来赐福给乔布，比先前更多。━译自静默的时候 
患难每一次来找你，都是手里拿着一块黄金的。
如果我们能在患难中忍耐等候，患难至终必变成我们的祝福。如果我们不能忍受苦难，有许多祝福我们不能得到。有许多快乐是只能在忧伤中得到的。有许多眞理的光是只能在属地的光熄灭之后纔启示出来的。━选
最属灵的信徒都是从苦难中出来的；最伟大的人物都是佩戴着伤痕的；殉道者的冠冕都是闪着火花的，他们进入天门都是挂着眼泪带着愁容的。━卓秉
看到了它的光茫回照,
我认识你所带的金炼,何等宝贵,
体会了你的心,充满着爱的定力,
我知道你曾受烈火的锻炼。
真挚的心,让它永远跳动,
坚实的金炼,让它照耀明亮,
祝福那么砺性命的炼炉,
祝福那除净罪恶的火坑。
━普洛克脱
October 5
"It came to pass . . . that the brook dried up" (1 Kings 17:7)
The education of our faith is incomplete if we have not learned that there is a providence of loss, a ministry of failing and of fading things, a gift of emptiness. The material insecurities of life make for its spiritual establishment. The dwindling stream by which Elijah sat and mused is a true picture of the life of each of us. "It came to pass…that the brook dried up"━that is the history of our yesterday, and a prophecy of our morrows. 
In some way or other we will have to learn the difference between trusting in the gift and trusting in the Giver. The gift may be good for a while, but the Giver is the Eternal Love. 
Cherith was a difficult problem to Elijah until he got to Zarephath, and then it was all as clear as daylight. God's hard words are never His last words. The woe and the waste and the tears of life belong to the interlude and not to the finale. 
Had Elijah been led straight to Zarephath he would have missed something that helped to make him a wiser prophet and a better man. He lived by faith at Cherith. And whensoever in your life and mine some spring of earthly and outward resource has dried up, it has been that we might learn that our hope and help are in God who made Heaven and earth. ━F. B. Meyer
Perchance thou, too, 
hast camped by such sweet waters,
And quenched with joy thy weary, 
parched soul’s thirst;
To find, as time goes on,
thy streamlet alters
From, what it was at first.
Hearts that have cheered, or soothed, or blest,
or strengthened, Loves that have lavished so unstintedly; Joys, treasure joys ━ have passed,
as time hath lengthened, Into obscurity.
If thus, ah soul, the brook thy heart hath cherished,
Doth fail thee now - no more thy thirst assuage,
If its once glad refreshing streams have perished,
Let HIM thy heart engage.
He will not fail, nor mock, nor disappoint thee,
His consolations change not with the years,
With oil of joy He surely will anoint thee,
And wipe away thy tears.
━J.Danson Smith 
十月五日
「过了些日子，溪水就干了。」 （王上十七:7）
如果我们不知道损失是祝福，失败是成功，空虚是礼物的话，我们所受的信心教育还不完全。物质的缺乏常是灵力的建设。伊莱贾坐在基立溪旁注视那日渐干涸的溪水，正是我们生活的写眞。「过了些日子，溪水就干了。」━这是我们昨天的历史，明天的豫言。
有一天我们总会知道信靠恩赐和信靠赐恩者有甚么不同。恩赐也许有一时好用，可是赐恩者是永久的爱。
伊莱贾在未到撒勒法之前，基立对于他是一个难题。等他到了撒勒法之后，他就清楚明白了。神严厉的对付并不是最后的对付。生活中的灾祸、沙漠、眼泪，都是一些插入的音乐，并不是最后的精采。 
如果伊莱贾不经过基立，直接由基列往撒勒法去的话，他必定会失去许多帮助他的东西，因为他在基立过的是信心生活。在你我的生活中，甚么时候属地的泉源干了，属人的方法完了，我们就该知道我们的希望和帮助是在乎创造天地的神。━梅尔
你可能也曾露营歇息,
在这样美好的溪水之旁,
消除了你的疲倦,滋润了你的灵魂,
可是后来溪水枯干,不再有当日的风光。
安慰和福佑,曾经鼓舞你的心,
无穷的爱,无限的欢欣,
可是随着时光消逝,一切变了,
没有了温情,一片冷冷清清。
灵魂啊!假若曾使你欣喜的溪水干枯,
不能再给你解渴,你将如何?
祇要你投入神的怀抱,你无需烦恼。
祂不会使你失望,更不会对你讥笑,
祂的安慰不随时光流逝而改变,
擦去你的眼泪,把你的创伤医好。
━司密斯
October 6
"He opened not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7)
How much grace it requires to bear a misunderstanding rightly, and to receive an unkind judgment in holy sweetness! Nothing tests the Christian character more than to have some evil thing said about him. This is the file that soon proves whether we are electro-plate or solid gold. If we could only know the blessings that lie hidden in our trials we would say like David, when Shimei cursed him, "Let him curse;…it may be…that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day."(2 Sam.16:11-12) 
Some people get easily turned aside from the grandeur of their life-work by pursuing their own grievances and enemies, until their life gets turned into one little petty whirl of warfare. It is like a nest of hornets. You may disperse the hornets, but you will probably get terribly stung, and get nothing for your pains, for even their honey is not worth a search. 
God give us more of His Spirit, "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again"; (1Pet.2:23) but "committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." "Consider him that endureth such contradiction of sinners against himself."(Heb.12:3)━A.B.Simpson
"Before you" He trod all the path of woe,
He took the sharp thrusts with His head bent low,
He knew deepest sorrow and pain and grief,
He knew long endurance without relief,
He took all the bitter from death's deep cup,
He kept not a blood-drop but gave all up.
"Before you" and for you, He won the fight
To bring you, to glory and realms of light.
━L.S.P. 
十月六日
「 祂……却不开口。」 （赛五十三:7）
用缄默来容忍误会，用温和来容纳冤屈，需要何等的宽大！试验基督人最好的方法乃是说他的坏话；因为这是一把锉刀，立刻能把他试验出来究竟是镀金还是纯金。如果我们能知道我们试炼下藏着祝福的话，我们定规会像戴维一样说：「由他咒骂罢……或者耶和华……为我今日被这人咒骂，就施恩与我。」（撒下十六:11-12）
许多人因为报仇雪恨的缘故，放弃了一生伟大的事业，坠落在不需要的争竞中。这正像采黄蜂巢里的蜜一般不值得━你虽然能把黄蜂驱散，但是你定规会被牠刺伤。 
感谢神！祂给了我们祂自己的灵━一个「被骂不还口」（彼前二:23）的灵，一个「只将自己交托那按公义审判人的主」的灵。「那忍受罪人这样顶撞的，你们要思想！」（来十二:3）━宣信
在你之前,祂踏过一切苦难的路程,
祂低头忍受过惨酷打击和劳瘁,
祂了解最深刻的悲哀和伤痛,
祂受过绝无安慰的长期暗晦,
祂从死神的大杯中饮尽苦汁,
祂不保留一滴血,全部捐弃。
祂在你之前,为你而战斗,
把你带入荣耀和光明境地。
━L.S.P.
October 7
"Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? He that walketh in darkness and hath no light,let him trust in the name of Jehovah and rely upon his God"(Isa.50:10, RV)
What shall the believer do in times of darkness the darkness of perplexity and confusion, not of heart but of mind? Times of darkness come to the faithful and believing disciple who is walking obediently in the will of God; seasons when he does not know what to do, nor which way to turn. The sky is overcast with clouds. The clear light of Heaven does not shine upon his pathway. One feels as if he were groping his way in darkness. 
Beloved, is this you? What shall the believer do in times of darkness? Listen! "Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and rely upon his God."
The first thing to do is do nothing. This is hard for poor human nature to do. In the West there is a saying that runs thus, "When you're rattled, don't rush"; in other words, "When you don't know what to do, don't do it." 
When you run into a spiritual fog bank, don't tear ahead; slow down the machinery of your life. If necessary, anchor your bark or let it swing at its moorings. We are to simply trust God. While we trust, God can work. Worry prevents Him from doing anything for us. If our minds are distracted and our hearts distressed; if the darkness that overshadows us strikes terror to us; if we run hither and yon in a vain effort to find some way of escape out of a dark place of trial, where Divine providence has put us, the Lord can do nothing for us.
The peace of God must quiet our minds and rest our hearts. We must put our hand in the hand of God like a little child, and let Him lead us out into the bright sunshine of His love.
He knows the way out of the woods. Let us climb up into His arms, and trust Him to take us out by the shortest and surest road.━Dr.Pardington 
Remember we are never without a pilot when we know not how to steer.
“Hold on, my heart, in thy believing-
The steadfast only wins the crown;
He who, when stormy winds are heaving,
Parts with its anchor, shall go down;
But he who Jesus holds through all,
Shall stand, though Heaven and earth should fall,”
“Hold out.! There comes an end to sorrow;
Hope from the dust shall conquering rise;
The storm foretells a summer's morrow;
The Cross points on to Paradise;
The Father reigneth! cease all doubt;
Hold on, my heart hold on, hold out.” 
十月七日
「你们中间谁是敬畏耶和华听从祂仆人之话的。这人行在暗中，没有亮光，当倚靠耶和华的名，仗赖自己的神。」 （赛五十:10）
一个信徒在黑暗苦闷中应该怎样呢？在疑难困恼中应该怎样呢？一个忠心顺服神旨意的信徒常会遭到黑暗苦闷的经历，有时竟会叫他不知道该怎样行━天上满布着黑云，路上也看不见亮光；眞好像在暗中摸索一般。 
亲爱的，这在暗中摸索的是不是正是你呢？一个信徒在这种黑暗苦闷的时候该怎样行呢？听神的话！「当倚靠耶和华的名，仗赖自己的神。」
第一件当做的事，就是不做甚么。这是可怜的人性很难做到的一件事。在西方有一句格言说：「困恼的时候不要急冲。」这意思就是说：「你不知当做甚么的时候，就当不做。」
要是前面有雾，就不该再向前航行。在必需的时候，还该抛下锚去。照样，在黑暗苦闷的时候，我们不该再做甚么。我们所要做的祇是信靠仰赖神。惟有在我们信靠的时候，神纔能替我们工作。如果我们的心仍自忧急痛苦，如果覆蔽我们的黑暗仍能叫我们恐怖，如果我们仍然东奔西走地去逃避神给我们的试炼，我告诉你：神一点都不能替我们做甚么。 
我们应当静下我们的心来安息在神的平安里。我们应当像小孩一般把我们的手放在神的手中，让祂引领我们进入祂爱的光明中去。
树林里的路径只有祂最熟悉，所以让我们爬上祂的双臂去；祂必怀抱我们从最简捷最稳妥的路径出去。━巴亭登
我们不知道该怎样驾驶的时候，旁边绝不会没有向导的。
我的心哪,要坚持你的信仰-
唯有固守不移者才会得胜；
在海上遇到了狂风暴浪,
若离开铁锚,你的命运势必蹭蹬；
凡是始终握住耶稣的人,
即使天崩地塌,也能站立稳定。
你要坚守!悲痛终会完结之时,
尘土之中将兴起战胜的光芒,
暴风雨预示忧日的来临；
十字架指向天上的王,
父神在统治一切,停止你种种疑虑,
我的心,你要握住,坚持不放。
October 8
"Do not begin to be anxious" (Phil. 4:6, PBV)
Not a few Christians live in a state of unbroken anxiety, and others fret and fume terribly. To be perfectly at peace amid the hurly-burly of daily life is a secret worth knowing. What is the use of worrying? It never made anybody strong; never helped anybody to do God's will; never made a way of escape for anyone out of perplexity. Worry spoils lives which would otherwise be useful and beautiful. Restlessness, anxiety, and care are absolutely forbidden by our Lord, who said: "Take no thought," that is, no anxious thought, "saying what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed?"(Mt.6:25) 
He does not mean that we are not to take forethought and that our life is to be without plan or method; but that we are not to worry about these things. People know you live in the realm of anxious care by the lines on your face, the tones of your voice, the minor key in your life, and the lack of joy in your spirit. Scale the heights of a life abandoned to God, then you will look down on the clouds beneath your feet.(Mt.11:28) ━Rev. Darlow Sargeant
It is always weakness to be fretting and worrying, questioning and mistrusting. Can we gain anything by it? Do we not unfit ourselves for action, and unhinge our minds for wise decision? We are sinking by our struggles when we might float by faith. 
Oh, for grace to be quiet! Oh, to be still and know that Jehovah is God! The Holy One of Israel must defend and deliver His own. We may be sure that every word of His will stand, though the mountains should depart. He deserves to be confided in. Come, my soul, return unto thy rest, and lean thy head upon the bosom of the Lord Jesus.━Selected
十月八日
「应当一无挂虑。」 （腓四:6）
许多基督人不断地过着焦急挂虑的生活，有的竟烦恼得可怜。怎样能在日常忙乱的生活中得到完全的安息是一个值得知道的秘诀。让我们先看：挂虑究竟有甚么用处？挂虑从来没有使谁强壮过；从来没有使谁遵行神旨意过；也从来没有使谁逃出困难过。挂虑只会损害有用的生命、美丽的生命。焦急、挂虑、担忧，都是我们的主所绝对禁止的，我们的主说：「不要…忧虑吃甚么…穿甚么。」（太六:25）
主的意思并不是说：我们用不着预先思想，我们的生活可以毫无计划、毫无规律；祂乃是说：我们用不着为这些事挂虑。你以为你这样挂虑、担忧，别人不会知道么？我告诉你：从你脸上的愁纹，从你说话的声调，从你生活中最微小的动作，从你缺乏喜乐的精神看来，别人早已知道了。我们应当把我们的挂虑卸给神！因为祂说：「凡劳苦担重担的人可以到我这里来，我就使你们得安息。」（太十一:28）━沙勤德
烦恼、挂虑、猜疑、不信，都是基督人最大的弱点。我们究竟能不能从它得到甚么呢？它们不是常使我们失去活动的机会么？它们不是常使我们失却智慧的果断么？许多时候我们原可以依靠信心漂浮的，却因为自己挣扎的缘故反沉下去了。
哦，我们多么需要安静的能力！哦，我们当安静，当知道耶和华是神！以色列的圣者不能不保护拯救祂自己的子民。祂的每一句话都是有效力的；高山可以挪开，天地可以废去，祂的话却不能废去。祂值得我们信任，也应得我们信任。我的魂哪，归来罢，归来安息罢，归来倒在主的怀里罢！━选
October 9
"Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you" (Isa. 30:18)
Where showers fall most, there the grass is greenest. I suppose the fogs and mists of Ireland make it "the Emerald Isle"; and whenever you find great fogs of trouble, and mists of sorrow, you always find emerald green hearts; full of the beautiful verdure of the comfort and love of God.
O Christian, do not thou be saying, "Where are the swallows gone? They are gone; they are dead." They are not dead; they have skimmed the purple sea, and gone to a far-off land; but they will be back again by and by. Child of God, say not the flowers are dead; say not the winter has killed them, and they are gone. Ah, no! though winter hath coated them with the ermine of its snow; they will put up their heads again, and will be alive very soon.
Say not, child of God, that the sun is quenched, because the cloud hath hidden it. Ah, no; he is behind there, brewing summer for thee; for when he cometh out again, he will have made the clouds fit to drop in April showers, all of them mothers of the sweet May flowers. And oh! above all, when thy God hides His face, say not that He hath forgotten thee. He is but tarrying a little while to make thee love Him better; and when He cometh, thou shalt have joy in the Lord, and shalt rejoice with joy unspeakable. Waiting exercises our grace; waiting tries our faith; therefore, wait on in hope; for though the promise tarry, it can never come too late. ━C. H. Spurgeon”
"Oh, every year hath its winter,
And every year hath its rain-
But a day is always coming,
When the birds go north again.
“When new leaves swell in the forest,
And grass springs green on the plain,
And alders’ veins turn crimson-
And the birds go north again.
“Oh, every heart hath its sorrow,
And event heart hath its pain-
But a day is always coming,
And the birds go north again.
“Is the sweetest thing to remember,
If courage be on the wane,
When the cold, dark days are over-
Why, the birds go north again.”
十月九日
「耶和华必然等候，要施恩给你们。」（赛卅:18）
雨水最多的地方，青草最绿。爱尔兰地方素来多雾，结果得到了「翡翠岛」的尊称。甚么时候我们遭到了「苦难的雾」、「悲哀的雾」，甚么时候我们定归会有一颗翡翠的心──充满了神的安慰和爱的心。
哦，信徒阿，你不要说：「燕子不见了，牠们死了。」牠们并不是死了；牠们掠过大海，飞往远方去了；祂们不久还会再回来的。你不要说：「花儿死了，严冬把它们杀死了。」不是的！虽然严冬给它们加上了白鼬皮的大衣，不久它们仍要抬头吐气的。
你不要说：「太阳熄了，黑云把它扑灭了。」不是的！太阳在黑云后面替你酿造夏天。你也不要说：「我的神忘记了。」你的神并不是忘记，乃是迟延，为要叫你爱祂更深。神让我们等候，为要操练我们的忍耐，试验我们的信心；因此，我们应当继续在盼望中等候；应许虽然迟延，绝不会延的太迟的。──司布眞
啊,每年都有冬季,
每年都有雨天,
但这个日子终会来临,
其时,候鸟将归还北边。
当树林里缀满了嫩叶,
青草窜出了平原,
赤杨恢复了生机,
其时,候鸟将归还北边。
啊,每颗心都悲哀,
每颗心都有创伤,
但这个日子终会来临,
其时,候鸟将归还北边。
假若失去了勇气,
切莫把这件事遗忘,
当阴暗的冬天过完,
其时,候鸟将归还北边。
October 10
"Fret not" (Ps. 37:1)
This to me is a Divine command; the same as "Thou shalt not steal." (Ex.20:15) Now let us get to the definition of fretting. One good definition is, "Made rough on the surface." "Rubbed, or worn away"; and a peevish, irrational, fault-finding person not only wears himself out, but is very wearing to others. To fret is to be in a state of vexation, and in this Psalm we are not only told not to fret because of evildoers, but to fret not "in anywise." It is injurious, and God does not want us to hurt ourselves. 
A physician will tell you that a fit of anger is more injurious to the system than a fever, and a fretful disposition is not conducive to a healthy body; and you know rules are apt to work both ways, and the next step down from fretting is crossness, and that amounts to anger. Let us settle this matter, and be obedient to the command, "Fret not."━Margaret Bottome 
【OVERHEARD IN AN ORCHARD】
Said the Robin to the Sparrow:
“I should really like to know,
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so?”
Said the Sparrow to the Robin:
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no Heavenly Father,
Such as cares for you and me.”
━Elizabeth Cheney 
十月十日
「不要….心怀不平。」 （诗卅七:1）
这是神的命令，和「不可偷盗」（出廿:15）一样是神的命令。现在让我们替「心怀不平」下一个定义。到底甚么叫作「心怀不平」呢？在这里有一个很好的定义：「『心怀不平』是平面上起皱纹。」「磨擦或者消磨」。一个乖戾的、无理性的、吹毛求疵的人不但消磨自己，并且消磨别人。「心怀不平」就是心中烦恼。这是有害的，神不要我们自己伤害自己。 
医生能告诉你：发一次怒，对于身体损害，比发一次热还厉害，所以一个常常「心怀不平」的人不能得到康健的身体，因为我们知道「心怀不平」容易叫我们生气，生气容易叫我们发怒。让我们服从神的命令━「不要…心怀不平！」━襥登 
【园内偶闻】
知更鸟对麻雀说:
「我真希望知道,
这些忧心如焚的人类,
为何如此紧张烦恼?」
麻雀对知更鸟说:
「同伴啊,我想是这缘故,
他们不像你和我,
有天父在照顾。」
━伊利莎伯.珍妮
October 11
"As dying and behold we live" (2 Cor. 6:9)
I had a bed of asters last summer, that reached clear across my garden in the country. Oh, how gaily they bloomed. They were planted late. On the sides were yet fresh blossoming flowers, while the tops had gone to seed. Early frosts came, and I found one day that that long line of radiant beauty was seared, and I said, "Ah! the season is too much for them; they have perished"; and I bade them farewell. 
I disliked to go and look at the bed, it looked so like a graveyard of flowers. But, four or five weeks ago one of my men called my attention to the fact that along the whole line of that bed there were asters coming up in the greatest abundance; and I looked, and behold, for every plant that I thought the winter had destroyed there were fifty plants that it had planted. What did those frosts and surly winds do? 
They caught my flowers, they slew them, they cast them to the ground, they trod with snowy feet upon them, and they said, leaving their work, "This is the end of you." And the next spring there were for every root, fifty witnesses to rise up and say, "By death we live."
And as it is in the floral tribe, so it is in God's kingdom. By death came everlasting life. By crucifixion and the sepulchre came the throne and the palace of the Eternal God. By overthrow came victory.
Do not be afraid to suffer. Do not be afraid to be overthrown. 
It is by being cast down and not destroyed; it is by being shaken to pieces, and the pieces torn to shreds, that men become men of might, and that one a host; whereas men that yield to the appearance of things, and go with the world, have their quick blossoming, their momentary prosperity and then their end, which is an end forever.━Beecher 
“Measure thy life by loss and not by gain,
Not by the wine drunk, but by the wine poured forth.
For love’s strength standeth in love’s sacrifice,
And he who suffers most has most to give”
十月十一日
「似乎要死，却是活着。」 （林后六:9）
有一年夏天，我在乡间园子里修了一个长方形的花圃，种着紫菀花，花开茂盛。但它们下种是很晚，当枝顶结子的时候，两侧还在萌出鲜花。初霜降临后，我发现那些艳丽的花朵枯萎了，我叹道：「唉，它们受不住这里的气候，都完了。」我向它们告别。
我不愿再去看那花圃，它的样子落到好相像一个花的坟场。但到了翌年春天，有一位园丁请我注意那块花圃，已长满了极其茂盛的紫菀；我去一看，只见那我认为在去年冬季枯萎而死的每一株紫菀，却已经繁殖了五十株新苗。去冬的冰霜和寒风，完成了繁殖紫菀的任务，我问自己：是破坏呢，是建设呢！
当那去年冬季的寒风将紫菀花横施摧折，吹掷满地，用沾雪的脚任意践踏，并且说：「这是你们的末日。」到了第二年的春天，每一枝残花的所在却长出了根来，说道：「我们因死得生。」 
在植物界如此，在天国也是如此。从死亡里茁出了不朽的生命。永生真神的宝座和宫殿，得自十字架和坟墓。胜利得自失败。
不要怕受苦，不要怕失败。
凡是伟人常被打倒而未被消灭，先被折磨得片片粉碎，然后才能变成伟人，才能力敌千军；而那些只顾眼前的人，随俗浮沈，必然昙花一现，在短暂的兴旺之后，随即消逝，而永劫不复。━皮邱
生命要以捐失，而非收获来估计,
不问你之所得,而问你的所施多少,
因爱的力量,建立在犠牲之中,
受苦最多的人,施给纔会周到。
October 12
"And Joseph's master took him, and put him into a prison…But Jehovah was with Joseph… and that which he did, Jehovah made it to prosper" (Gen. 39:20-23) 
When God lets us go to prison because we have been serving Him, and goes there with us, prison is about the most blessed place in the world that we could be in. Joseph seems to have known that. He did not sulk and grow discouraged and rebellious because "everything was against him." If he had, the prison-keeper would never have trusted him so. Joseph does not even seem to have pitied himself. 
Let us remember that if self-pity is allowed to set in, that is the end of us━until it is cast utterly from us. Joseph just turned over everything in joyous trust to God, and so the keeper of the prison turned over everything to Joseph. Lord Jesus, when the prison doors close in on me, keep me trusting, and keep my joy full and abounding. Prosper Thy work through me in prison: even there, make me free indeed.━Selected 
I have learnt to love the darkness of sorrow; there you see the brightness of His face.━Madame Guyon 
A little bird I am,
Shut from the fields of air,
And in my cage I sit and sing
To Him who placed me there;
Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.
My cage confines me round,
Abroad I cannot fly,
But though my wing is closely bound,
My soul is at liberty;
For prison walls cannot control,
The flight, the freedom of the soul.
I have learnt to love the darkness of sorrow;
there you see the brightness of His face.
━Madame Guyon 
十月十二日
「把约瑟下在监里…但耶和华与约瑟同在…耶和华使他所作的尽都顺利。」 （创卅十九:20-23）
如果神应许我们因为事奉祂的缘故被下在监里的话，祂必与我们同在；这样，监狱反成了世上最幸福的地方。约瑟知道这个。所以他在监狱里并不愤懑，并不沮丧，也并不反叛。如果他有一点点不甘心的表示，司狱也绝不会这样信任他了。约瑟连自怜的心也没有一点。
让我们记住：甚么时候我们容让自怜的心进来，甚么时候我们就完了。约瑟把所有的事情欢欢喜喜地交托神，所以司狱把所有的事情交托约瑟。主耶稣阿，当我被囚在监里的时候，求祢叫我能信靠、能喜乐。求祢藉着我在监狱里完成祢的工作。━选 
我已经学会了喜爱黑暗；因为处境越黑暗，主的脸越光明。━盖恩夫人
我是一只小鸟，
隔离了空旷的天空，
可是我坐在笼中歌唱，
感赞祂把我放好,
我高兴做个囚徒，
因为这样才叫祂喜悦。
笼子围困着我，
我不能飞出笼外,
但翅膀虽受束缚，
灵魂却自逍遥,
因为监狱控制不了,
灵魂的自由崇拜。
我已经学会了喜爱黑暗;
因为,处境越黑暗,主的脸越光明。
━盖恩夫人
October 13
"In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus."(Phil. 4:6-7)
No anxiety ought to be found in a believer. Great, many and varied may be our trials, our afflictions, our difficulties, and yet there should be no anxiety under any circumstances, because we have a Father in Heaven who is almighty, who loves His children as He loves His only-begotten Son, and whose very joy and delight it is to succor and help them at all times and under all circumstances. We should attend to the Word, "In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." 
"In everything," that is not merely when the house is on fire, not merely when the beloved wife and children are on the brink of the grave, but in the smallest matters of life, bring everything before God, the little things, the very little things, what the world calls trifling things━everything━living in holy communion with our Heavenly Father, arid with our precious Lord Jesus all day long. And when we awake at night, by a kind of spiritual instinct again turning to Him, and speaking to Him, bringing our various little matters before Him in the sleepless night, the difficulties in connection with the family, our trade, our profession. Whatever tries us in any way, speak to the Lord about it. 
"By prayer and supplication," taking the place of beggars, with earnestness, with perseverance, going on and waiting, waiting, waiting on God. 
"With thanksgiving." We should at all times lay a good foundation with thanksgiving. If everything else were wanting, this is always present, that He has saved us from hell. Then, that He has given us His Holy Word--His Son, His choicest gift━and the Holy Spirit. Therefore we have abundant reason for thanksgiving. O let us aim at this!
"And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And this is so great a blessing, so real a blessing, so precious a blessing, that it must be known experimentally to be entered into, for it passeth understanding. O let us lay these things to heart, and the result will be, if we habitually walk in this spirit, we shall far more abundantly glorify God, than as yet we have done.━George Mueller, in Life of Trust
Twice or thrice a day, look to see if your heart is not disquieted about something; and if you find that it is, take care forthwith to restore it to calm.━Francis De Sales 
十月十三日
「应当一无挂虑，只要凡事藉着祷告、祈求和感谢，将你们所要的告诉　神。神所赐出人意外的平安，必在基督耶稣里，保守你们的心怀意念。」（腓四:6-7）
一个信徒不该有丝毫挂虑。无论我们的试炼多大，痛苦多深，困难多杂，总不能叫我们有挂虑的理由，因为我们有一位父在天上，祂是全能的，祂爱我们，正如爱祂的独生子一般，祂乐意随时随地救济我们、帮助我们。所以让我们听祂对我们所说的话：「应当一无罣虑，只要凡事藉着祷告、祈求、和感谢，将你们所要的告诉神。神所赐出人意外的平安，必在基督耶稣里，保守你们的心怀意念。」 
「凡事」不只是房屋着火，不只是所爱的病危，「凡事」包括日常生活中一切大大小小的事情；我们应当将「凡事」带到神面前去！当我们夜半醒来，辗转不能成眠的时候，就该顶自然地倾向神去，与祂谈话，将我们种种琐碎的事情带到祂面前去━将一切家庭方面、职业方面的困难全告诉祂。
「藉着祷告祈求」，站在乞丐的地位上，
用诚恳和坚忍来等候祂。
「和感谢」，我们应当随时存感谢的心。如果，我们以为没有甚么可叫我们感谢的话，至少有一件事是值得我们感谢的━祂救我们脱离死亡，祂给我们祂的道━祂的儿子━和圣灵。哦，这就够我们大声感谢赞美了。
「神所赐出人意外的平安，必在基督耶稣里，保守你们的心怀意念。」这是一个何等大、何等真、何等宝贵的祝福！但是这个祝福必须亲身经历纔会知道，因为这是出人意外的。哦，让我们把这些话放在心上。如果我们能一直照着行的话，结果定会叫神得到更大的荣耀。━莫勒（信靠的生活）
我们应当时时察看自己有没有甚么叫我的心得不到安息？就当立刻到神前去对付，直到恢复了内心的镇静。
━赛尔斯
October 14
"The angel of the Lord came upon him (Peter) and a light shined in the prison; and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off"(Acts 12:7)
"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God…And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's bands were loosed" (Acts 16:25, 26).
This is God's way. In the darkest hours of the night, His tread draws near across the billows. As the day of execution is breaking, the angel comes to Peter's cell. When the scaffold for Mordecai is complete, the royal sleeplessness leads to a reaction in favor of the favored race.
Ah, soul, it may have to come to the worst with thee ere thou art delivered; but thou wilt be delivered! God may keep thee waiting, but he will ever be mindful of His covenant, and will appear to fulfill His inviolable Word. ━F. B. Meyer 
There's a simplicity about God in working out His plans, yet a resourcefulness equal to any difficulty, and an unswerving faithfulness to His trusting child, and an unforgetting steadiness in holding to His purpose. Through a fellow-prisoner, then a dream, He lifts Joseph from a prison to a premiership. And the length of stay in the prison prevents dizziness in the premier. It's safe to trust God's methods and to go by His clock. ━S. D. Gordon
Providence hath a thousand keys to open a thousand sundry doors for the deliverance of His own, when it is even come to a desperate case. Let us be faithful; and care for our own part which is to suffer for Him, and lay Christ's part on Himself, and leave it there.━George MacDonald
Difficulty is the very atmosphere of miracle━it is miracle in its first stage. If it is to be a great miracle, the condition is not difficulty but impossibility.
The clinging hand of His child makes a desperate situation a delight to Him.
十月十四日 
「有主的一个使者，站在旁边，屋里有光照耀。天使拍彼得的肋旁，拍醒了他，说，快快起来。那铁链就从他手上脱落下来。」 （徒十二:7）
「约在半夜，保罗和西拉，祷告唱诗赞美神……忽然地大震动，甚至监牢的地基都摇动了。监门立刻全开，众囚犯的锁炼也都松开了。」（徒十六:25-26）
这是神的方法。神的脚步常要等到深夜最黑暗的时候，纔渐临近。我们看见，直到希律要提彼得出来处决的前一夜，天使纔来救彼得出监。挂末底改的木架预备好了以后，纔有哈随鲁王睡不着觉的事情发生。
啊，我的魂哪，也许在拯救临到你以前，你还须经过最黑暗的时期；但是不要怕，神必拯救你！神也许喜欢让你多等一会儿，但是祂不能忘记祂的誓约，祂必要实践祂那不可更改的应许。━梅尔
神有智慧的策略对付任何困难，神有不溺的信实对待信靠祂的，神有不变的公义坚持祂的旨意，我们还怕甚么呢？藉着一个同坐监牢的囚犯，藉着一个梦，神就把约瑟从监狱里提到王宫里。所以信靠神的方法、神的时间，是最安稳不过的。━戈登
神有一千把钥匙可以开一千扇不同的门户来拯救祂自己的孩子。所以让我们忠忠心心地去尽我们自己的那一份━为祂受苦━基督自然会去尽祂那一份的。━麦唐纳
困难是神迹的第一期。如果是大神迹的话，情形不仅「困难」，并且「不可能」。
神最喜欢祂的孩子用小手紧紧抱住祂，因此神常常给祂的孩子一些绝望。
October 15
"By reason of breakings they purify themselves" (Job 41:25)
God uses most for His glory those people and things which are most perfectly broken. The sacrifices He accepts are broken and contrite hearts. It was the breaking down of Jacob's natural strength at Peniel that got him where God could clothe him with spiritual power. It was breaking the surface of the rock at Horeb, by the stroke of Moses' rod that let out the cool waters to thirsty people.
It was when the 300 elect soldiers under Gideon broke their pitchers, a type of breaking themselves, that the hidden lights shone forth to the consternation of their adversaries. It was when the poor widow broke the seal of the little pot of oil, and poured it forth, that God multiplied it to pay her debts and supply means of support.
It was when Esther risked her life and broke through the rigid etiquette of a heathen court, that she obtained favor to rescue her people from death. It was when Jesus took the five loaves and broke them, that the bread was multiplied in the very act of breaking, sufficient to feed five thousand. It was when Mary broke her beautiful alabaster box, rendering it henceforth useless, that the pent-up perfume filled the house. It was when Jesus allowed His precious body to be broken to pieces by thorns and nails and spear, that His inner life was poured out, like a crystal ocean, for thirsty sinners to drink and live.
It is when a beautiful grain of corn is broken up in the earth by DEATH, that its inner heart sprouts forth and bears hundreds of other grains. And thus, on and on, through all history, and all biography, and all vegetation, and all spiritual life, God must have BROKEN THINGS.
Those who are broken in wealth, and broken in self-will, and broken in their ambitions, and broken in their beautiful ideals, and broken in worldly reputation, and broken in their affections, and broken ofttimes in health; those who are despised and seem utterly forlorn and helpless, the Holy Ghost is seizing upon, and using for God's glory. "The lame take the prey," Isaiah tells us.━Selected 
十月十五日
「心里慌乱，便都昏迷。」 （伯四十一:25）
神所最重用的人、物，都是先被击打得粉碎的。因为神所悦纳的祭，乃是忧伤痛悔的心。雅各布属天然的大腿窝在毘努伊勒扭了，神纔能给他属超然的能力。摩西用杖击打何烈的盘石，纔有水流出来给口渴的百姓喝。
基甸和跟随他的三百精兵打破瓶子━打破自己━他们的火把纔能使他们的仇敌惊乱。
以斯帖在一个异邦宫中冒死违例进去见王，纔得拯救她本族脱离灭亡。主耶稣拿着五个饼、两条鱼，必须把它们擘开，然后纔能叫五千人吃饱。马利亚打破她至贵的玉瓶，纔能教屋里充满香气。主耶稣宝贵的身体，必须被荆棘、钉子、枪矛，刺得粉碎，祂里面的生命纔能像活水一般倾倒出来给口渴的罪人喝。
一粒麦子必须落在地里面死了，纔能结出无数的粒子来。所以，我们看见：无论在历史上、传记上、植物上、属灵的生命上，神必须擘开打碎一切人、物，然后纔能重用他们。
啊！财物受了击打、「己生命」受了击打、美丽的理想受了击打、地上的名誉受了击打、爱情受了击打、健康受了击打的信徒阿，你虽然被人轻视、被人弃绝，圣灵却正抓住你，要用你叫神得着荣耀。你愿不愿意呢？以赛亚告诉我们：「瘸腿的把掠物夺去了。」你愿不愿意甘甘心心做一个瘸腿的来夺取掠物呢？━选
October 16
"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and, let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb.12:1)
There are weights which are not sins in themselves, but which become distractions and stumbling blocks in our Christian progress. One of the worst of these is despondency. The heavy heart is indeed a weight that will surely drag us down in our holiness and usefulness.
The failure of Israel to enter the land of promise began in murmuring, or, as the text in Numbers literally puts it, "as it were murmured." (Ref to Num.14:29-30) Just a faint desire to complain and be discontented. This led on until it blossomed and ripened into rebellion and ruin. Let us give ourselves no liberty ever to doubt God or His love and faithfulness to us in everything and forever.
We can set our will against doubt just as we do against any other sin; and as we stand firm and refuse to doubt, the Holy Spirit will come to our aid and give us the faith of God and crown us with victory.
It is very easy to fall into the habit of doubting, fretting, and wondering if God has forsaken us and if after all our hopes are to end in failure. Let us refuse to be discouraged. Let us refuse to be unhappy. Let us "count it all joy"(Jas.1:2) when we cannot feel one emotion of happiness. Let us rejoice by faith, by resolution, by reckoning, and we shall surely find that God will make the reckoning real.━Selected
The devil has two master tricks. One is to get us discouraged; then for a time at least we can be of no service to others, and so are defeated. The other is to make us doubt, thus breaking the faith link by which we are bound to our Father. Lookout! Do not be tricked either way.━G.E.M.
Gladness! I like to cultivate the spirit of gladness! It puts the soul so in tune again, and keeps it in tune, so that Satan is shy of touching it━the chords of the soul become too warm, or too full of heavenly electricity, for his infernal fingers, and he goes off somewhere else! Satan is always very shy of meddling with me when my heart is full of gladness and joy in the Holy Ghost.
My plan is to shun the spirit of sadness as I would Satan; but, alas! I am not always successful. Like the devil himself it meets me on the highway of usefulness, looks me so fully in my face, till my poor soul changes color!
Sadness discolors everything; it leaves all objects charmless; it involves future prospects in darkness; it deprives the soul of all its aspirations, enchains all its powers, and produces a mental paralysis!
An old believer remarked, that cheerfulness in religion makes all its services come off with delight; and that we are never carried forward so swiftly in the ways of duty as when borne on the wings of delight; adding, that Melancholy clips such wings; or, to alter the figure, takes off our chariot wheels in duty, and makes them, like those of the Egyptians, drag heavily.━Selected 
十月十六日
「我们…就当放下各样的重担，脱去容易缠累我们的罪，存心忍耐，奔那摆在我们前头的路程。」（来十二:1）
有许多重担它们的本身并不是罪，但是会叫基督人分心，变成他们长进的障碍。其中最有害的是灰心。灰心实在是一个曳我们往下的重担。 
以色列人不得进入应许之地的原因就是发怨言；民数记十四章二十九至三十节明明告诉我们：「凡…向我发怨言的，必不得进我起誓应许叫你们住的那地。」一点点鸣不平的欲望，一点点不知足的欲望，常会造成叛逆大罪。所以我们永远不当让我们自己有一点点自由来疑惑神在凡事上对我们的慈爱和信实。
我们怎样抵挡别的罪，也当照样抵挡疑惑；当我们坚拒疑惑的时候，圣灵会来帮助我们，赐给我们得胜的信心。
我们顶容易流入疑惑，怀抱不平，猜想神已经弃绝我们，我们的盼望行将破产….让我们拒绝这一切思想，因为它们的目的是要叫我们失望。让我们拒绝一切叫我们不快乐的思想。我们不能感觉喜乐的时候，让我们「以为…喜乐」（雅一:2），凭信心来喜乐；这样，神必叫我们的「以为」变成事实。━选
魔鬼有两个最大的诡计。一个就是叫我们失望；一个就是叫我们疑惑━斩断我们与父神中间的信心连索。当心啊！不要被牠的诡计欺骗了。━G.E.M.
 
喜乐！一个喜乐的灵能使我们的心合调，使撒但不敢前来弹奏━因为心弦太热的时候，充满了属天的电力的时候，会使撒但的手指烫痛。
 
应当尽力远避忧郁，好像远避撒但一样；但是多少时候，我们在大道上，遇见了它，它便钉住我们，直钉得我们的心变色。
 
忧郁会叫凡事变色；它会使一切东西变得「不可爱」；它会使未来的希望沦入黑暗；它会剥夺人们一切的热望，锁住人们一切的能力，给人一个精神上的麻痹。
 
一个经历很深的信徒告诉我们说：「喜乐能使工作顺利；当我们戴上喜乐的翅膀时，我们的工作也会做得迅速了；忧郁是剪去这种翅膀的；换言之，忧郁能挪去我们工作的车轮，使我们的车轮像埃及人的车轮一样，脱落难行。」━选
October 17
"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6:14)
They were living to themselves; self with its hopes, and promises and dreams, still had hold of them; but the Lord began to fulfill their prayers. They had asked for contrition, and had surrendered for it to be given them at any cost, and He sent them sorrow; they had asked for purity, and He sent them thrilling anguish; they had asked to be meek, and He had broken their hearts; they had asked to be dead to the world, and He slew all their living hopes; they had asked to be made like unto Him, and He placed them in the furnace, sitting by "as a refiner and purifier of silver,"(Mal.3:3) until they should reflect His image; they had asked to lay hold of His cross, and when He had reached it to them it lacerated their hands.
They had asked they knew not what, nor how, but He had taken them at their word, and granted them all their petitions. They were hardly willing to follow Him so far, or to draw so nigh to Him. They had upon them an awe and fear, as Jacob at Bethel, or Eliphaz in the night visions, or as the apostles when they thought that they had seen a spirit, and knew not that it was Jesus. They could almost pray Him to depart from them, or to hide His awfulness. They found it easier to obey than to suffer, to do than to give up, to bear the cross than to hang upon it. But they cannot go back, for they have come too near the unseen cross, and its virtues have pierced too deeply within them. He is fulfilling to them His promise, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32)
But now at last their turn has come. Before, they had only heard of the mystery, but now they feel it. He has fastened on them His look of love, as He did on Mary and Peter, and they can but choose to follow.
Little by little, from time to time, by flitting gleams, the mystery of His cross shines out upon them. They behold Him lifted up, they gaze on the glory which rays from the wounds of His holy passion; and as they gaze they advance, and are changed into His likeness, and His name shines out through them, for He dwells in them. They live alone with Him above, in unspeakable fellowship; willing to lack what others own (and what they might have had), and to be unlike all, so that they are only like Him.
Such, are they in all ages, "who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth."(.Rev.14:4)
Had they chosen for themselves, or their friends chosen for them, they would have chosen otherwise. They would have been brighter here, but less glorious in His Kingdom. They would have had Lot's portion, not Abraham's. If they had halted anywhere━if God had taken off His hand and let them stray back━what would they not have lost? What forfeits in the resurrection?
But He stayed them up, even against themselves. Many a time their foot had well nigh slipped; but He in mercy held them up. Now, even in this life, they know that all He did was done well. It was good to suffer here, that they might reign hereafter; to bear the cross below, for they shall wear the crown above; and that not their will but His was done on them and in them.━Anonymous. 
十月十七日
「但我断不以别的夸口，只夸我们主耶稣基督的十字架。因这十字架，就我而论，世界已经钉在十字架上。就世界而论，我已经钉在十字上架上。」 （加六:14）
有一班信徒，他们本来是为自己活着的━他们有自己的盼望，有自己的梦想；但是他们在祷告中求了一些他们自己所不明白的东西，主就开始成就他们的祷告。他们求一个痛悔的心，愿意出任何代价去得到它，主就给他们悲哀；他们求圣洁，主就给他们剧烈的痛苦；他们求谦和，主就打碎他们的心；他们求对着世界「死」，主就消灭他们一切的盼望；他们求像主，主就放他们在炉中，「坐下如炼净银子的」（玛三:3），直到他们反照出主的肖像来；他们求主的十字架，主就给他们十字架。
他们所求的，他们自己并不明白，但是主就照他们所求的允准他们。其实他们未必愿意跟主走得这么远，与主接触得这么近。他们的心充满了惧怕，好像雅各布在伯特利一般，又像门徒看见耶稣在海面上行走，以为是鬼怪一般。他们几乎会求主离开他们。他们觉得顺服比受苦容易，作比放容易，背十字架比挂十字架容易。但是那时候他们要想退回去，已经不可能了，因为他们已经走得太近了，十字架的功効在他们里面已经刺得太深了。主向他们成就了祂的应许：「我若从地上被举起来，就要吸引万人来归我。」（约十二:32）
以前他们只风闻这个奥秘，如今他们亲身尝到了。主已经把祂可爱的面容深深刻在他们心上，好像刻在马利亚和彼得心上一般；他们现在已经作了爱的奴隶，不能不拣选跟随祂了。
渐渐地，十字架的奥秘一天一天光照他们。他们看见祂被高举，他们看见祂得荣耀；他们看见一点，前进一点，最后他们竟变成了祂的肖像，从他们身上世人看见祂，因为祂住在他们里面。他们与祂发生了难以形容的交情；他们甘心舍弃别人所宝贵的合法权利，为要见证他们不像别人，只像他们的主。
这就是历代「羔羊无论往那里去，他们都跟随他。」（启十四:4）的那一批人。
如果让他们自己选择，或者让他们的朋友替他们选择的话，他们定规不会这样选择。他们会在这个世界上多得一点荣耀，在神国里少得一点荣耀。他们会得到罗得的命运，不会得到亚伯拉罕的命运。如果他们在半途上停住了━如果主放一放手让他们退回去的话━他们为甚么不会失去呢？在复活的时候要受到何等大的损失呢！
但是主保守他们━甚至违反他们的本心来保守他们。多少时候他们的脚滑跌了；但是主用祂的慈爱扶他们起来。让他们知道：在这个世界受苦，能叫他们在神国里掌权；在地上背十字架，能叫他们在天上戴冠冕。━无名氏
Chapter 18
"Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs;…they shall afflict them four hundred years;... and afterward they shall come out with great substance" (Gen. 15:12-14)
An assured part of God's pledged blessing to us is delay and suffering. A delay in Abram's own lifetime that seemed to put God's pledge beyond fulfillment was followed by seemingly unendurable delay of Abram's descendants. But it was only a delay: they “came out with great substance.”(Ex.12:36)The pledge was redeemed. 
God is going to test me with delays; and with the delays will come suffering, but through it all stands God's pledge: His new covenant with me in Christ, and His inviolable promise of every lesser blessing that I need. The delay and the suffering are part of the promised blessing; let me praise Him for them today; and let me wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He will strengthen my heart.━C. G. Trumbull
Unanswered yet the prayer your lips have pleaded
In agony of heart these many years?
Does faith begin to fail? Is hope departing?
And think you all in vain those falling tears?
Say not the Father hath not heard your prayer;
You shall have your desire sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Nay do not say ungranted;
Perhaps your work is not yet wholly done.
The work began when first your prayer was uttered,
And God will finish what He has begun.
If you will keep the incense burning there,
His glory you shall see sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered,
Her feet are firmly planted on the Rock;
Amid the wildest storms she stands undaunted,
Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock.
She knows Omnipotence has heard her prayer,
And cries, “It shall be done”–sometime, somewhere.
━Miss Ophelia G. Browning 
十月十八日
「你要的确知道，你的后裔必寄居别人的地…那地的人要苦待他们四百年…后来他们必带着许多财物，从那里出来。」（创十五:12-14）
神给我们的祝福中间，有两个是我们所最不欢迎的：一个是迟延，一个是苦难。神给埃布尔兰本身的一个誓约尚未实现，现在又给他的后裔一个同样彷佛不可忍耐的誓约。但是无论如何，这些誓约虽然迟延，至终都得到了实现：以色列人出埃及的时候，果然「把埃及人的财物夺去了」（出十二:36）
神常用迟延和苦难来试验我们；但是在这一切中间却站着神的誓约━祂在基督里与我们所立的新约。所以让我们为着迟延和苦难来赞美祂罢，因为这是祂给我们的祝福。━崔伦保
多年来你从苦痛中发生的祷告，
是不是至如今还没有得到回音？
信心在消沉，希望在幻灭吗？
你可是灰心得泪下沿襟？
莫说天父未曾听到你的祈祷，
总有一天,你期望的音讯必然降临。
还没有回音？莫说未蒙接受,
也许你的事还有全部完工。
在你首次祈祷时就动手,
神作诸事向来有始有终。
只要你继续虔诚崇拜,
某时某地你必见祂荣光。
还没有回音？信心决不会徒劳,
她坚定安稳,如在盘石植根；
在最响的霹雳之下不丧胆,
在狂风暴雨里显出坚贞,
她知道全能的神已听见祈祷,
高喊道:「某时某地,这事必成-------。」
━布兰宁
October 19
"The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them"(Num. 10:33)
God does give us impressions, but not that we should act on them as impressions. If the impression be from God, He will Himself give sufficient evidence to establish it beyond the possibility of a doubt. 
How beautiful is the story of Jeremiah, of the impression that came to him respecting the purchase of the field of Anathoth. But Jeremiah did not act upon this impression until after the following day, when his uncle's son came to him and brought him external evidence by making a proposal for the purchase. Then Jeremiah said: "I knew this was the word of the Lord."(Jer.32:8) 
He waited until God seconded the impression by a providence, and then he acted in full view of the open facts, which could bring conviction unto others as well as to himself. God wants us to act according to His mind. We are not to ignore the Shepherd's personal voice but, like Paul and his companions at Troas, we are to listen to all the voices that speak and "gather" from all the circumstances, as they did, the full mind of the Lord. ━Dr. Simpson 
"Where God's finger points, there God's hand will make the way." 
Do not say in thine heart what thou wilt or wilt not do, but wait upon God until He makes known His way. So long as that way is hidden it is clear that there is no need of action, and that He accounts Himself responsible for all the results of keeping thee where thou art. ━Selected 
“ For God through ways we have not known, Will lead His own.”
十月十九日
「耶和华的约柜在前头行。」 （民十:33）
许多时候，我们里面起了一个声音，自己不知道这声音究竟是出乎神的呢，还是出乎自己的。在这种情形之下，我们还是不动的好。如果这是出乎神的，神必给我们充足的证据来证实这是出乎祂的，叫我们丝毫没有疑惑的可能。
杰里迈亚的故事多美丽：杰里迈亚对于购买亚拿突那块地的事，已经知道是出乎耶和华的，但是他不去做，直到他叔叔的儿子果然到他那里去求他买回━给了他证据。于是杰里迈亚说：「我….就知道这是耶和华的话。」（耶卅二:8）
他等着，直到神叫他明白━叫别人和自己都相信━以后，他纔照着事实去做。神喜欢我们照着祂的心意行事。所以我们不可轻举妄动，以致违反了祂的心意。━信宣
神的手指所点的道路，神的手必去预备。
信徒阿，你不要说你要做甚么、你不要做甚么；你只要求神叫你看见祂所为你选择的是那一条路。如果道路还未显明，这就是说：现在还没有行动的需要；你站在你现在所站的地位上，神是负全责的。━选
神会引导祂的子民,通过不认识的路径。
October 20
"And the peace of God, which transcends all our powers of thought, will be a garrison to guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7) (Weymouth)
There is what is called the "cushion of the sea." Down beneath the surface that is agitated by storms, and driven about with winds, there is a part of the sea that is never stirred. When we dredge the bottom and bring up the remains of animal and vegetable life we find that they give evidence of not having been disturbed in the least, for hundreds and thousands of years. The peace of God is that eternal calm which, like the cushion of the sea, lies far too deep down to be reached by any external trouble and disturbance; and he who enters into the presence of God, becomes partaker of that undisturbed and undisturbable calm. ━Dr. A. T. Pierson
When winds are raging o'er the upper ocean,
And billows wild contend with angry roar,
'Tis said, far down beneath the wild commotion,
That peaceful stillness reigneth evermore.
Far, far beneath, the noise of tempest dieth,And silver waves chime ever peacefully,
And no rude storm, how fierce soe'er it flieth,
Disturbs the Sabbath of that deeper sea.
So to the heart that knows Thy love, 0 Purest,
There is a temple sacred evermore,
And all the babble of life's angry voices
Dies in hushed silence at its peaceful door.
Far, far away, the roar of passion dieth,
And loving thoughts rise calm and peacefully,
And no rude storm, how fierce soe'er it flieth,
Disturbs the soul that dwells, 0 Lord, in Thee.
━Harriet Beecher Stowe
"The Pilgrim they laid in a large upper chamber,
facing the sun-rising. 
The name of the chamber was Peace."
━Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress 
十月二十日
「神所赐出人意外的平安，必在基督耶稣里，保守你们的心怀意念。」 （腓四:7，直译）
洋海深处有一个最镇定的中心，人们称它为「海垫褥」。无论海面波浪多大，狂风多猛，「海垫褥」绝不会受到丝毫扰动。从海底里捞起来的动植物的遗迹，能对我们证明：它们在海底里数百年数千年之久，从来没有受到丝毫扰动过。神的平安是永久的平安，像「海垫褥」一样，是在人的最深处的━是外面的困难和骚动所不能摸到的：凡进到神前的人，都能享受这样的平安。━裴尔逊
当狂风在海面上扫荡，
暴浪在怒潮中翻腾；
可是在汹涌的海洋深处，
永远保持着宁静平和。
在那深处，听不见暴风的喧嚷，
银色的微波，永远在和谐低鸣，
无论海面上的风浪多么凶猛，
都不能打扰海洋深处的安宁。
主啊!在那深知祢爱的心中，
永远有一座神圣的宝殿，
人生所有的怨声和怒言，
都消失在它和平之门前面。
激烈的呼喊远远逝去，
爱的思想静静地上升，
无论世上的风浪多么猛烈，
都不能打扰，信靠祢的心灵。
━史托威
「那些天路历程中的旅客,
都安置在面向日出的高楼里。
这楼名日平安阁。」
━本仁约翰，(天路历程)
October 21
"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens"Cor.5:1)
The owner of the tenement which I have occupied for many years has given notice that he will furnish but little or nothing more for repairs. I am advised to be ready to move. 
At first this was not a very welcome notice. The surroundings here are in many respects very pleasant, and were it not for the evidence of decay, I should consider the house good enough. But even a light wind causes it to tremble and totter, and all the braces are not sufficient to make it secure. So I am getting ready to move. 
It is strange how quickly one's interest is transferred to the prospective home. I have been consulting maps of the new country and reading descriptions of its inhabitants. One who visited it has returned, and from him I learn that it is beautiful beyond description; language breaks down in attempting to tell of what he heard while there. He says that, in order to make an investment there, he has suffered the loss of all things that he owned here, and even rejoices in what others would call making a sacrifice. Another, whose love to me has been proven by the greatest possible test, is now there. He has sent me several clusters of the most delicious fruits. After tasting them, all food here seems insipid. 
Two or three times I have been down by the border of the river that forms the boundary, and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King on the other side. Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving they spoke of my coming later. I have seen the smile upon their faces as they passed out of sight. Often I am asked to make some new investments here, but my answer in every case is, "I am getting ready to move." ━Selected 
The words often on Jesus' lips in His last days express vividly the idea, "going to the Father."(Jn.16:17) We, too, who are Christ's people, have vision of something beyond the difficulties and disappointments of this life. We are journeying towards fulfillment, completion, expansion of life. We, too, are "going to the Father." Much is dim concerning our home-country, but two things are clear. It is home, "the Father's House."(Jn.14:2) It is the nearer presence of the Lord. We are all wayfarers, but the believer knows it and accepts it. He is a traveller, not a settler. ━R. C. Gillie 
The little birds trust God, for they go singing,
From northern woods where autumn winds have blown,
With joyous faith their trackless pathway winging,
To summer-lands of song, afar, unknown.
Let us g singing, then, and not go sighing:
Since we are sure our times are in His hand,
Why should we weep, and fear, and call it dying?
'Tis only flitting to a summer-land.
━selected 
十月二十一日
「我们原知道，我们这地上的帐棚若拆毁了，必得神所造，不是人手所造，在天上永存的房屋。」（林后五:1）
我居住了多年的屋子已经破旧不堪了，屋主通知我他不愿意再花钱去修理了。他劝我还是预备迁居罢。 
我听了这个消息，起初很不乐意。这屋子四围的环境太有趣了，如果不是因为太破旧的缘故，我简直不想迁居。但是如今一阵微风就够叫它摇动震颤，所以我不能不预备迁居了。
眞奇怪，我的兴趣很快就转移到未来的新屋上面去了。我参考地图，调查居民，遣人到那边去视察。视察的人回来告诉我那边的情形非常美好。他说他因为要在那边投资的缘故，情愿变卖他在这边一切所有的；虽然别人说他牺牲太大，他还是乐意去做。还有一个我所最爱的朋友，现在也在那边。他托人带来最美味的水果来给我。我尝了以后，再吃这边的水果，简直无味极了。 
啊！我眞渴望立刻到那边去━和那些人站在一起唱诗赞美被杀的羔羊。我有许多朋友已经搬到那边去了。他们去的时候，他们的脸上都带着微笑。多少时候，有人劝我在这边投资，我总回答说：「我已在预备迁居了。」━选 
主耶稣在世上末了几天所说的，都说到「往父那里去」（约十六:17）。我们今天也该在今生的困难、失望之外，看见将来的「往父那里去」。虽然我们将来的家到底怎样，我们现在看不清楚；但是有两点是顶清楚的：这是家━「父的家」（约十四:2）。这是我们的主所在的地方。就这两点，已经够我们渴慕了。━吉利 
秋风起了,小鸟们离开北方,
一边飞,一边唱又再唱,
牠们有的是欣悦之信心,
勇往直前,投到南方的新城。
让我们也唱,继续唱,
命运既掌握在神的手里,
何必畏怯、叹气快死亡?
至终是飞往暖夏的地土。
━选
October 22
"Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside, of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush" (Ex.3:1-2)
The vision came in the midst of common toil, and that is where the Lord delights to give His revelations. He seeks a man who is on the ordinary road, and the Divine fire leaps out at his feet. The mystic ladder can rise from the market place to Heaven. It can connect the realm of drudgery with the realms of grace. 
My Father God, help me to expect Thee on the ordinary road. I do not ask for sensational happenings. Commune with me through ordinary work and duty. Be my Companion when I take the common journey. Let the humble life be transfigured by Thy presence.
Some Christians think they must be always up to mounts of extraordinary joy and revelation; this is not after God's method. Those spiritual visits to high places, and that wonderful intercourse with the unseen world, are not in the promises; the daily life of communion is. And it is enough. We shall have the exceptional revelation if it be right for us. 
There were but three disciples allowed to see the transfiguration, and those three entered the gloom of Gethsemane. No one can stay on the mount of privilege. There are duties in the valley. Christ found His life━work, not in the glory, but in the valley and was there truly and fully the Messiah. The value of the vision and glory is but their gift of fitness for work and endurance. ━Selected 
十月二十二日
「摩西牧养他岳父米甸祭司叶忒罗的羊群，一日领羊群往野外去，到了上帝的山，就是何烈山。耶和华的使者从荆棘里火焰中向摩西显现。」（出三:1-2）
我们普通总以为异象必须在特别环境中纔能看见，在这里我们看见我们的理想错了：异象是在日常生活中看见的，神喜欢在我们日常生活中启示祂自己。祂常到顶普通的路上去寻找一个人，忽然向他显现。 
我的父神阿，求祢教导我怎样在日常生活中等待祢。我并不求甚么超然的感觉；我只求祢在日常生活中与我交通，求祢在我日常的道路上作我的伴侣，让这卑贱的人生因着祢的同在得着变化。
有些基督人喜欢常有特别的喜乐和启示；但是这并不是神的方法。那些魂游象外，与看不见的世界有奇异的接触，并不是神所给我们的应许；神所给我们的应许乃是日常生活上的交通。其实这也已经够了。
门徒中间，看见耶稣在高山上变形的，只有三个人；这三个人也就是同尝客西马尼苦味的。没有一个人能一直留在山上，因为山下还有许多工作等待我们去做。━选
October 23
"There hath not failed one word of all his good promise"(1 Kings 8:56)
Some day we shall understand that God has a reason in every NO which He speaks through the slow movement of life. "Somehow God makes up to us." How often, when His people are worrying and perplexing themselves about their prayers not being answered, is God answering them in a far richer way! Glimpses of this we see occasionally, but the full revelation of it remains for the future.
"If God say 'Yes' to our prayer, dear heart,
And the sunlight is golden, the sky is blue,
While the smooth road beckons to me and you,
And the song-birds warble as on we go,
Pausing to gather the buds at our feet,
Stopping to drink of the streamlets we meet,
Happy, more happy our journey will grow,
If God says 'Yes' to our prayer, dear heart.
"If God says 'No'to our prayer, dear heart,
And the clouds hang heavy and dull and gray;
If the rough rocks hinder and block the way,
While the sharp winds pierce us and sting with cold;
Ah, dear, there is home at the journey's end,
And these are the trials the Father doth send
To draw us as sheep to His Heavenly fold,
If God says 'No'to our prayer, dear heart. "
Oh for the faith that does not make haste, but waits patiently for the Lord, waits for the explanation that shall come in the end, at the revelation of Jesus Christ! When did God take anything from a man, without giving him manifold more in return? Suppose that the return had not been made immediately manifest, what then? Is today the limit of God's working time? Has He no provinces beyond this little world? Does the door of the grave open upon nothing but infinite darkness and eternal silence ? 
Yet, even confining the judgment within the hour of this life, it is true that God never touches the heart with a trial without intending to bring upon it some grander gift, some tenderer benediction. He has attained to an eminent degree of Christian grace who knows how to wait.━Selected
When the frosts are in the valley,
And the mountain tops are grey,
And the choicest buds are blighted,
And the blossoms die away,
A loving Father whispers,
"This cometh from my hand";
Blessed are ye if ye trust
Where ye cannot understand.
If, after years of toiling,
Your wealth should fly away,
And leave your hands all empty,
And your locks are turning grey,
Remember then your Father
Owns all the sea and land;
Blessed are ye if ye trust
Where ye cannot understand. ━Selected 
十月二十三日
「…应许赐福的话，一句都没有落空。」（王上八:56）
有一天我们会明白：神每一个「不」，都是有理由的。可是祂每一次，总用一些别的方法来补救祂的「不」。多少时候，祂的子民在担忧，在烦恼说，为甚么他们的祷告还没有得着答应，那知神正在用一个更丰富的方法答应他们。这种光景我们是常看见的，但是完全的启示尚须留待将来纔能显明。
假若神听了我们的祈祷说：「行」，
天空变为蔚蓝，阳光变为黄金，
平坦的大道在前面向我们招手，
鸟儿在我们面前鸣唱飞翔，
偶或停步采集脚边的花草，
偶或站在清澈溪旁解渴歇凉，
假若神听了我们的祈祷说：「行」，
我们的旅程必然欢乐安康。
假若神听了我们的祈祷说：「不行」，
空中阴云密集，光明变为黑暗，
粗糙的岩石，阻挡着我们前进，
尖锐的寒风，刺得我们在打颤，
假若神听了我们的祈祷说：「不行」，
这些却是神赐给我们的考验。
要把我们像羊羣似的引入羊圈，
我们的家就在这旅程的终点。
哦，信心是不会着急的，信心只知道忍耐等候主━等候末日的解释。信徒阿，甚么时候神曾拿去你的，而不加倍还给你呢？假使神不立刻归还你，怎么样呢？莫非今天是神的末了一天么？难道在这个小小的世界以外，祂就没有别的领土了么？ 
我们就是只说今生，也知道神从来不单给我们一个试炼，而不带一些更大的恩赐、更大的祝福，来给我们的。所以知道怎样等候神乃是基督人最高的祝福。━选
寒霜覆山着幽谷，
山顶一片荒芜，
植物不发嫩芽，
花草也给摧残；
亲爱的天父在说：
「这出自我的手」；
只要信，就有福了，
不论你明白与否。
假若经过多年劳苦，
你的财富不翼而飞，
剩下了两手空空，
你的黑发逐渐转灰，
要记住你的天父：
乃拥有整个宇宙，
假如你不懂,也能信，
就可得到福佑。
━选
October 24
"I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument"(Isa. 41:15)
A bar of steel worth five dollars, when wrought into horseshoes, is worth ten dollars. If made into needles, it is worth three hundred and fifty dollars; if into penknife blades, it is worth thirty-two thousand dollars; if into springs for watches it is worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. What a drilling the poor bar must undergo to be worth this! But the more it is manipulated, the more it is hammered and passed through the fire, and beaten and pounded and polished, the greater the value. 
May this parable help us to be silent, still, and longsuffering. Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is through pain that God is getting the most out of us, for His glory and the blessing of others. ━Selected 
"Oh, give Thy servant patience to be still,
And bear Thy will;
Courage to venture wholly on the arm
That will not harm;
The wisdom that will never let me stray
Out of my way;
The love that, now afflicting, knoweth best
When I should rest. "
Life is very mysterious. Indeed it would be inexplicable unless we believed that God was preparing us for scenes and ministries that lie beyond the veil of sense in the eternal world, where highly-tempered spirits will be required for special service. 
"The turning-lathe that has the sharpest knives produces the finest work."
十月二十四日 
「我已使你成为有快齿打粮的新器具。」 （赛四十一:15）
一条值五块钱的钢铁，如果作成蹄铁，可以卖十块钱；如果作成细针，可以卖三百五十块钱；如果作成小刀，可以卖三万二千块钱；如果作成钟表上的发条，可以卖二十五万块钱。但愿一根钢条，要值到这许多钱，必须经过多少锻炼啊！钢铁越经锻炼、锤打、琢磨、越是值钱，这是人所共知的。
但愿这个譬喻能帮住我们缄默、安静、坚忍。受苦受得最多的人，常是结果结得最多的人，因为我们的苦难能叫神得到荣耀，叫人得到祝福。━选 
赐祢仆人耐心，
能安静遵从祢的旨意；
赐我勇气，
敢完全投靠到祢的手臂；
赐我智慧，
使我永远不致走入邪途；
赐我爱心，
使我知道暂时苦楚必得安憩。
生命是很神秘的，生命确实是难以说明的，除非我们相信神正在为我们准备场所和事工，那里需要经过高度锻炼的心灵来从事特殊的事工。
「配有最锋利刀具的车床，能生产出最精细的产品。」
October 25
"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full"(John 16:24)
During the Civil War, a man had an only son who enlisted in the armies of the Union. The father was a banker and, although he consented to his son's going, it seemed as if it would break his heart to let him go. 
He became deeply interested in the soldier boys, and whenever he saw a uniform, his heart went out as he thought of his own dear boy. He spent his time, neglected his business, gave his money to caring for the soldiers who came home invalid. His friends remonstrated with him, saying he had no right to neglect his business and spend so much thought upon the soldiers, so he fully decided to give it all up. 
After he had come to this decision, there stepped into his bank one day a private soldier in a faded, worn uniform, who showed in his face and hands the marks of the hospital.
The poor fellow was fumbling in his pocket to get something or other, when the banker saw him and, perceiving his purpose, said to him: 
"My dear fellow, I cannot do anything for you today. I am extremely busy. You will have to go to your headquarters; the officers there will look after you." 
Still the poor convalescent stood, not seeming to fully understand what was said to him. Still he fumbled in his pockets and, by and by, drew out a scrap of dirty paper, on which there were a few lines written with a pencil, and laid this soiled sheet before the banker. On it he found these words: 
"Dear Father: "This is one of my comrades who was wounded in the last fight, and has been in the hospital. Please receive him as myself.━Charlie." 
In a moment all the resolutions of indifference which this man made, flew away. He took the boy to his palatial home, put him in Charlie's room, gave him Charlie's seat at the table, kept him until food and rest and love had brought him back to health, and then sent him back again to imperil his life for the flag.━Selected
"Now shalt thou SEE what I will do. " (Ex.6:1) 
十月二十五日
「向来你们没有奉我的名求什么，如今你们求就必得着，叫你们的喜乐可以满足。」 （约16：24）
当美国在南北内战时期，有一人的独生子加入联邦方面的军队作战，父亲是银行家，他虽同意儿子投军，但父子分离，他心中终觉得黯然自伤。
他开始对年轻的军人发生深挚的关怀，每当看到穿军服的人，他的心就因为想到自己的儿子而要跳出胸膛。他神不守舍，疏忽业务，把钱财用去照顾回乡的残废军人。他的亲友从旁规劝，说他不应该荒废事业，不该为军人花费那么多的心思，他听了劝谏，于是决心改变方针。
当他如此决定之后，有一天，有个士兵走进银行来，军服破烂不堪，脸上和手上都有医疗过的伤痕。
那可怜的士兵手忙脚乱地想从口袋里掏出什么东西来，银行家看见了，猜知他的目的，就对他说：
「孩子，今天我实在忙不过来，没有办法接待你。你应该到你们的司令部去；那儿有军官会照顾你。」
那个士兵仍旧站着不动，好像不大明白对他说的话。仍旧在口袋里摸索，不久掏出一张肮脏的字条，上面有几行铅笔字，他把这张污秽的字条放在银行家的面前，上面写的是：
「亲爱的父亲：这是我的战友之一，他在上次战役中负伤，进过医院，请你接待他像接待我一样。–查理。」
银行家顿时打消了原来准备采取漠视态度的决定，他把那孩子带到豪华的家里，让他住在他儿子查理的房间，用餐时坐在查理的位置，留住他直到饮食休息和爱护使他恢复了健康，然后再送他到前方为国效命。━选
「你必看见我所行的事」。(出六:1)
October 26
"He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when evening was come, he was there alone" (Matt. 14:23)
The man Christ Jesus felt the need of perfect solitude━Himself alone, entirely by Himself, alone with Himself. We know how much intercourse with men draws us away from ourselves and exhausts our powers. The man Christ Jesus knew this, too, and felt the need of being by Himself again, of gathering all His powers, of realizing fully His high destiny, His human weakness, His entire dependence on the Father. 
How much more does the child of God need this━himself alone with spiritual realities, himself alone with God the Father. If ever there were one who could dispense with special seasons for solitude and fellowship, it was our Lord. But He could not do His work or maintain His fellowship in full power, without His quiet time.
Would God that every servant of His understood and practiced this blessed art, and that the Church knew how to train its children into some sense of this high and holy privilege, that every believer may and must have his time when he is indeed himself alone with God. Oh, the thought to have God all alone to myself, and to know that God has me all alone to Himself!━Andrew Murray
Lamertine speaks in one of his books of a secluded walk in his garden where his mother always spent a certain hour of the day, upon which nobody ever dreamed for a moment of intruding. It was the holy garden of the Lord to her. Poor souls that have no such Beulah land! Seek thy private chamber, Jesus says. It is in the solitude that we catch the mystic notes that issue from the soul of things.
【A MEDITATION】
My soul, practice being alone with Christ! It is written that when they were alone He expounded all things to His disciples.(Mk.4:34) Do not wonder at the saying; it is true to thine experience. If thou wouldst understand thyself send the multitude away. Let them go out one by one till thou art left alone with Jesus……Has thou ever pictured thyself the one remaining creature in the earth, the one remaining creature in all the starry worlds?
In such a universe thine every thought would be "God and I! God and I!" And yet He is as near to thee as that━as near as if in the boundless spaces there throbbed no heart but His and thine. Practice that solitude, O my soul! Practice the expulsion of the crowd! Practice the stillness of thine own heart! Practice the solemn refrain "God and I! God and I!" Let none interpose between thee and thy wrestling angel! Thou shalt be both condemned and pardoned when thou shalt meet Jesus alone! ━George Matheson 
十月二十六日
「散了众人以后，他就独自上山去祷告。到了晚上，只有祂一人在那里。」 （太十四:23）
主耶稣在世为人的时候，常喜欢独自与神亲近。我们都知道与人交接是一件多么费力的事情！主耶稣也知道，所以祂需要机会去恢复祂的能力。祂在世上为人，所以祂有人的疲乏。
主既如此，何况我们呢？我们岂不更需要单独与父神亲近么？如果有甚么人能例外━不需要与神单独亲近━的话，这人定规是主耶稣。如今主既不能一直工作，毫不安息，那么，就没有人能了。
但愿每一个神的仆人看见这个功课的重要！但愿神的教会知道怎样训练信徒夺取这无上的权利！但愿每一个信徒都有时间单独与神亲近！━慕安得烈
栾莫丁在一本书上告诉我们：在他花园里有一处极隐密的地方，他的母亲每天必到那里去安静一小时；这地方是从来没有人会进去打扰的。亲爱的读者！也许你要说：你没有这样安静的地方。不要紧，主耶稣说，进入你的内屋！在那里我们必会听见神秘的音乐。━选
【默 想】
信徒阿，你当学习单独与主亲近！经上记着说：「若不用比喻，就不对他们讲。没有人的时侯，就把一切的道讲给门徒听。」（可四:34）你不要希奇，你自己也可以这样经历的。如果你要明白，你只消把众人散开，让他们一个一个出去，直等到只剩下你和主…
这时候，你每一个思想会变成「神和我！神和我！」神和你会非常接近━接近得好似在这无涯的宇宙中，除了祂的心和你的心在跳动以外，没有别的东西了。哦，信徒阿，学习这个！学习退避群众！学习内心的安静！学习歌唱「神和我！神和我！」不让一个人来插入你和天使的摔跤！━马德胜
October 27
"All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. " Psalm 42:7
THEY are HIS billows, whether they go o'er us,
Hiding His face in smothering spray and foam;
Or smooth and sparkling, spread at path before us,
And to our haven bear us safely home.
They are HIS billows, whether for our succor
He walks across them, stilling all our fear;
Or to our cry there comes no aid nor answer,
And in the lonely silence none is near.
They are HIS billows, whether we are toiling
Through tempest-driven waves that never cease,
While deep to deep with clamor loud is calling;
Or at His word they hush themselves in peace.
They are HIS billows, whether He divides them,
Making us walk dryshod where seas had flowed;
Or lets tumultuous breakers surge about us,
Rushing unchecked across our only road.
They are HIS billows, and He brings us through them;
So He has promised, so His love will do.
Keeping and leading, guiding and upholding,
To His sure harbor, He will bring us through.
━Annie Johnson Flint
Stand up in the place where the dear Lord has put you, and there do your best. God gives us trial tests. He puts life before us as an antagonist face to face. Out of the buffeting of a serious conflict we are expected to grow strong. The tree that grows where tempests toss its boughs and bend its trunk often almost to breaking, is often more firmly rooted than the tree which grows in the sequestered valley where no storm ever brings stress or strain. The same is true of life. The grandest character is grown in hardship. ━Selected
十月二十七日
「你的波浪洪涛漫过我身。」 （诗四十二:7）
这是祂的洪涛，漫过了我身，
有时以窒息的浪花，掩着圣容；
有时以柔细的泡沬，为我们开路，
带我们安全进港，安回家中。
这是祂的洪涛，有时为救我们，
祂从海口走过，使忧愁逐出我们的心胸；
也有时候我们呼求，却没有回应，
孤寂之中竟没有援助到临。
这是祂的洪涛，有时冲着我们，
它们狂啸怒的喧嚷航行，
在永不停息的风浪中历尽艰辛,
也有时候祂一声命令,万籁肃静。
这是祂的洪涛，有时将海水分开，
让我们走过海底、如踏干地；
也有时候祂任凭巨浪澎湃，
在我们的路上横行无忌。
这是祂的洪涛，祂带我们通过；
既曾如此应许，祂必实现诺言。
祂用保护和指挥，引导扶持；
带我们通过，抵达安全港湾。
━富林德
信徒阿，让我们在主所安放我们的地位上好好站住，尽我们所能的去做。神常喜欢给我们一些试炼，因为神希望我们经过剧烈的争斗以后，能发育得更加强壮。生长在风雨之下，曾受风雨击打的树木，往往比生长在退隐的山谷下，从未受过风雨摧残的树木，扎根更深。人生也是这样。伟大的人物都是生长在艰苦中的。━选
October 28
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ… and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6)
This is our rightful place, to be "seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," and to "sit still" there. But how few there are who make it their actual experience! How few, indeed think even that it is possible for them to "sit still" in these "heavenly places" in the everyday life of a world so full of turmoil as this.
We may believe perhaps that to pay a little visit to these heavenly places on Sundays, or now and then in times of spiritual exaltation, may be within the range of possibility; but to be actually "seated" there every day and all day long is altogether another matter; and yet it is very plain that it is for Sundays and week-days as well.
A quiet spirit is of inestimable value in carrying on outward activities; and nothing so hinders the working of the hidden spiritual forces, upon which, after all, our success in everything really depends, as a spirit of unrest and anxiety.
There is immense power in stillness. A great saint once said, "All things come to him who knows how to trust and be silent." The words are pregnant with meaning. A knowledge of this fact would immensely change our ways of working. Instead of restless struggles, we would "sit down" inwardly before the Lord, and would let the Divine forces of His Spirit work out in silence the ends to which we aspire. You may not see or feel the operations of this silent force, but be assured it is always working mightily, and will work for you, if you only get your spirit still enough to be carried along by the currents of its power. 
━Hannah Whitall Smith 
"There is a point of rest
At the great center of the cyclone's force,
A silence at its secret source;
A little child might slumber undisturbed,
Without the ruffle of one fair curl,
In that strange, central calm, amid the mighty whirl. "
It is your business to learn to be peaceful and safe in God in every situation.
十月二十八日
「然而神既有丰富的怜悯，因祂爱我们的大爱，当我们死在过犯中的时候，便叫我们与基督一同活过来。….祂又叫我们与基督耶稣一同复活，一同坐在天上。」
（弗二:4-6）
「与基督耶稣一同坐在天上」━安安静静地坐着━是我们的权利，是我们的本分。但是有几个人眞有这样的经历呢？有几个人眞想这是一件可能的事呢？ 
我们也许会想：恐怕在主日，或者灵程猛进的时候，偶然能有这样的经历；如果每天随时都坐在天上，是不可能的事罢！但是我告诉你：主日能，周日也能，天天都能！ 
一个安静的灵，对于外面的活动是非常有帮助的；反言之，没有一件东西，比灵里的焦急挂虑，更妨碍属灵的能力和成功。 
一位属灵的信徒有一次告诉我们：「知道怎样信靠，怎样安静，就是得到了一切。」这句话是非常有意思的。我们如果知道这个，我们工作的方法就会大大改变了。我们不会再不息地挣扎了；我们会安安静静地坐在主面前，让圣灵去替我们完成我们所希望的。我们也许看不见、感不到，圣灵在替我们工作，但是我们应当相信：祂一直在很出力地替我们做啊！我们只要把我们灵安静下来好了。━司密斯
有一个宁静的处所，
在大旋风的中央，
风卷着它疯狂旋转，
这中心出奇地安详,
如果有小孩在那里酣睡，
连发丝都不会飘扬。
我们应当在任何环境中学习享受神的平安。
October 29
"He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" (Mal. 3:3)
Our Father, who seeks to perfect His saints in holiness, knows the value of the refiner's fire. It is with the most precious metals that the assayer takes the most pains, and subjects them to the hot fire, because such fires melt the metal, and only the molten mass releases its alloy or takes perfectly its new form in the mould. The old refiner never leaves his crucible, but sits down by it, lest there should be one excessive degree of heat to mar the metal. But as soon as he skims from the surface the last of the dross, and sees his own face reflected, he puts out the fire.━Arthur T. Pierson
"He sat by at fire of seven-fold heat,
As He watched by the precious ore,
And closer He bent with a searching gaze
As He heated it more and more.
He knew He had ore that could stand the test,
And He wanted the finest gold
To mould as a crown for the King to wear,
Set with gems with a price untold.
So He laid our gold in the burning fire,
Tho ' we fain would have said Him 'Nay, '
And He watched the dross that we had not seen,
And it melted and passed away
And the gold grew brighter and yet more bright,
But our eyes were so dim with tears,
We saw but the fire-not the Master's hand,
And questioned with anxious fears.
Yet our gold shone out with a richer glow,
As it mirrored a Form above,
That bent o'er the fire, tho'unseen by us,
With a look of ineffable love.
Can we think that it pleases His loving heart
To cause us a moment's pain?
Ah, no! but He saw through the present cross
The bliss of eternal gain.
So He waited there with a watchful eye,
With a love that is strong and sure,
And His gold did not suffer a bit more heat,
Than was needed to make it pure. "
十月二十九日
「祂必坐下如炼净银子的。」 （玛三:3）
我们的父要我们完全圣洁，像祂自己圣洁一样。祂知道炉火的价值。我们都知道金属越贵重，化炼越费力━它们必须经过烈火，因为烈火能叫它们镕化；只有在镕化的时候，纔能把搀合在里面的杂质分别出来；也只有在镕化的时候，纔能把它们造成新的模型。老练的化炼师是一直坐在坩埚旁边，从不走开的，他惟恐热度一高就会叫金属受损。他把最后的渣滓从表面上撇去；一看见他自己的脸从其上反照出来，他就立刻把炉火熄灭.
━裴尔逊
祂坐在燃烧着七倍烈火的炉旁，
注视着祂所珍爱的金属受炼熬；
祂一面俯身仔细观察着，
一面加热炼炉使热度更高。
祂知道这金属经得起试炼，
需要把它炼成最纯的精金，
铸成一顶给万王之王戴的冠冕，
镶嵌着无价的宝石。
因此，祂把我们这些黄金放入火炉中，
虽然，我们很愿意祂说:「不用烧了」，
祂注意我们所不留意的渣滓，
把这些渣滓溶化销掉。
黄金愈炼愈精纯，光辉愈明亮，
但我们的泪眼亦模糊，
我们只看见烈火,不见主的手，
还带着焦虑所发出的询问。
然而,精金终于大放光彩，
映出我们所看不见的圣容，
祂带着不可名状的慈爱，
正凝神俯视着我们。
我们受此痛苦，
当然是不!祂慈心会高兴吗?
但祂却从目前的苦难，
看到了永恒的幸福。
因此，祂坐在那里等待，
带着坚定的爱，留神察看;
祂不会让祂的金子,
在所需之热度以外,受到更多苦痛。
October 30
"Let us run with patience" (Heb. 12:1)
O run with patience is a very difficult thing. Running is apt to suggest the absence of patience, the eagerness to reach the goal. We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet, I do not think the invalid's patience the hardest to achieve.
There is a patience which I believe to be harder--the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: It is the power to work under a stroke; to have a great weight at your heart and still to run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily task. It is a Christlike thing!
Many of us would nurse our grief without crying if we were allowed to nurse it. The hard thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in bed, but in the street. We are called to bury our sorrows, not in lethargic quiescence, but in active service━in the exchange, in the workshop, in the hour of social intercourse, in the contribution to another's joy. There is no burial of sorrow so difficult as that; it is the "running with patience."
This was Thy patience, O Son of man! It was at once a waiting and a running--a waiting for the goal, and a doing of the lesser work meantime. I see Thee at Cana turning the water into wine lest the marriage feast should be clouded. I see Thee in the desert feeding a multitude with bread just to relieve a temporary want. All, all the time, Thou wert bearing a mighty grief, unshared, unspoken. Men ask for a rainbow in the cloud; but I would ask more from Thee. I would be, in my cloud, myself a rainbow--a minister to others' joy. My patience will be perfect when it can work in the vineyard. ━George Matheson 
"When all our hopes are gone,
'Tis well our hands must keep toiling on
For others ' sake:
For strength to bear is found in duty done;
And he is best indeed who learns to make
The joy of others cure his own heartache. "
十月三十日
「……存心忍耐，奔……」 （来十二:1）
「…..存心忍耐，奔……」是一件非常困难的事情。「奔」的时候，常是缺乏「忍耐」的时候；因为「奔」的时候，常是急急想达到目的的时候。我们平常说起「忍耐」，立刻就会联想到「静止」━一幕天使守护病榻的图画。然而我以为静止的忍耐，并不是最难做到的忍耐。 
我相信有一种忍耐，更难做到━就是那同时能「奔」的忍耐。固然，在悲伤的时候不动，在不幸的时候不言，需要极大的忍耐；可是我知道一件事，需要更大的忍耐：就是在袭击之下继续工作━心中负着重压，仍不停止往前「奔」；灵里深感痛苦，仍然勉力尽职。这纔是基督的忍耐！
许多时候，神要我们学习忍耐，不是在床上，乃是在街上。神要我们埋葬我们的悲哀，不是在寂静中，乃是在活动中━在贸易中、在工场中、在交际的时候、在帮助别人的时候。没有一种埋葬比这种埋葬更难；可是这就是所谓 「……存心忍耐，奔……」
哦，人子阿，这就是祢的忍耐！这就是又等又奔的忍耐！虽然祢没有一刻不背负着极大的忧伤，可是我看见祢仍在迦拿变水为酒，在野地变饼济众。人们都向祢求云中虹；我要向祢求更大的：求祢叫我作一条云中的虹━一条叫别人喜乐的虹！━马德胜 
当我们丧失了一切希望，
最好继续为别人操劳，
助人能获得更大更坚强的力量，
最聪明的人必能懂得，
以别人的快乐，医治自己的悲伤。
October 31
"Likewise also the Spirit helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what to pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom. 8:26-27) 
This is the deep mystery of prayer. This is the delicate divine mechanism which words cannot interpret, and which theology cannot explain, but which the humblest believer knows even when he does not understand. 
Oh, the burdens that we love to bear and cannot understand! Oh, the inarticulate out-reachings of our hearts for things we cannot comprehend! And yet we know they are an echo from the throne and a whisper from the heart of God. It is often a groan rather than a song, a burden rather than a buoyant wing. But it is a blessed burden, and it is a groan whose undertone is praise and unutterable joy. It is "a groaning which cannot be uttered." We could not ourselves express it always, and sometimes we do not understand any more than that God is praying in us, for something that needs His touch and that He understands. 
And so we can just pour out the fullness of our heart, the burden of our spirit, the sorrow that crushes us, and know that He hears, He loves, He understands, He receives; and He separates from our prayer all that is imperfect, ignorant and wrong, and presents the rest, with the incense of the great High Priest, before the throne on high; and our prayer is heard, accepted and answered in His name. ━A. B. Simpson 
It is not necessary to be always speaking to God or always hearing from God, to have communion with Him; there is an inarticulate fellowship more sweet than words. The little child can sit all day long beside its busy mother and, although few words are spoken on either side, and both are busy, the one at his absorbing play, the other at her engrossing work, yet both are in perfect fellowship. He knows that she is there, and she knows that he is all right. So the saint and the Saviour can go on for hours in the silent fellowship of love, and he be busy about the most common things, and yet conscious that every little thing he does is touched with the complexion of His presence, and the sense of His approval and blessing. 
And then, when pressed with burdens and troubles too complicated to put into words and too mysterious to tell or understand, how sweet it is to fall back into His blessed arms, and just sob out the sorrow that we cannot speak! ━Selected 
十月三十一日
「况且我们的软弱有圣灵帮助，我们本不晓得当怎样祷告，只是圣灵亲自用说不出来的叹息，替我们祷告。鉴察人心的，晓得圣灵的意思。因为圣灵照着神的旨意替圣徒祈求。」（罗八:26-27）
这是祷告的奥秘━是言语不能解释，神学不能说明的奥秘；可是最无知的信徒也能知道，虽然他也许不能明白。
哦，多少重担，我们背是背着，可是不明白！多少声音，我们听是听见，可是不领会！无论如何，我们知道他们是宝座上面的回声，是父神的耳语。许多时候，我们所听见的，并不是诗歌，乃是叹息；我们所背负的，并不是翅膀，乃是重担。但是这是一个有福的重担，一个带着赞美和欢乐的叹息━一个「说不出来的叹息」。有时候，我们自己也表白不出来，我们自己也不明白，只知道圣灵在我们里面祷告祂所明白的。
所以我们只要把我们心中所充满的重压、悲哀，一起倾倒出来，因为我们知道祂听、祂爱、祂明白、祂接受；并且祂将我们祷告中一切不完全的、愚昧的、错误的、分别出来；将其余的，和大祭司的香一同献在宝座面前；我们的祷告，靠着这位大祭司的名，得蒙垂听、悦纳、答应。━宣信
与神交通，不一定需要一直向神说话，或者一直听神说话的；有一种无声的交通，比言语更加甘甜。小孩子尽可以整天坐在妈妈身边，虽然两个人都不说话，两个人都很忙碌━一个忙着玩耍，一个忙着做事━可是他们两人中间却保持着极完美的交通。他知到她在那里，她知道他在那里。照样，信徒和主也可以这样保持静默的爱和交通。我们一方面尽可以顶忙碌地做日常的琐事，一方面应当知道我们所做的每一件事，是否都曾得到主的同意和祝福。
当我们的重担太复杂，不能用言语表达出来的时候，或者太神秘，不能明白的时候，让我们倒在主的怀中，把我们说不出来的悲哀痛哭出来！━选
November 1
“When the cloud tarried…then the children of Israel…journeyed not” (Num. 9:19)
This was the supreme test of obedience. It was comparatively easy to strike tents, when the fleecy folds of the cloud were slowly gathering from off the Tabernacle, and it floated majestically before the host. Change is always delightful; and there was excitement and interest in the route, the scenery, and the locality of the next halting-place. But, ah, the tarrying.
Then, however uninviting and sultry the location, however trying to flesh and blood, however irksome to the impatient disposition, however perilously exposed to danger--there was no option but to remain encamped.
The Psalmist says, "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." (Ps.40:1) And what He did for the Old Testament saints He will do for believers throughout all ages.
Still God often keeps us waiting. Face to face with threatening foes, in the midst of alarms, encircled by perils, beneath the impending rock. May we not go? Is it not time to strike our tents? Have we not suffered to the point of utter collapse? May we not exchange the glare and heat for green pastures and still waters?
There is no answer. The cloud tarries, and we must remain, though sure of manna, rock-water, shelter, and defense. God never keeps us at post without assuring us of His presence, and sending us daily supplies.
Wait, young man, do not be in a hurry to make a change! Minister, remain at your post! Until the cloud clearly moves, you must tarry. Wait, then, thy Lord's good pleasure! He will be in plenty of time!--Daily Devotional Commentary
An hour of waiting !
Yet there seems such need
To reach that spot sublime !
I long to reach them━but I long far more
To trust HIS time !
“Sit still, my daughter”—(Ruth3:18)
Yet the heathen die,
They perish while I stay !
I long to reach them━but I long far more
To trust HIS way !
‘Tis good to get,
‘Tis good indeed to give !
Yet is it better still—
O’er breadth, thro’length, up height,
To trust HIS will !
━F.M.N.
十一月一日
「云彩……停留……以色列人……不起行。」（民九:19）
「不起行」比「起行」更难顺服。为甚么呢？因为人的天性都是喜欢动的──拆帐棚、探新奇；云彩缓缓地收上去，威风凛凛地行在他们前头….啊，多么威武！路上有兴奋、有美景，多么有趣！可是一到了云彩停留的时候，他们也只得停留了。
无论云彩停留的的地方多么讨厌、多么炎热；他们的肉体多么难堪、多么急躁；停留的地方多么危险、多么荒凉；他们没有选择的权利，他们只得耐性等候。
戴维说：「我曾耐性等候耶和华。祂垂听我的呼求。」（诗四十:1）戴维得到耶和华的「垂听」，是「曾耐性等候」的。神怎样对待旧约时代的信徒，也会照样对待新约时代的信徒。
眞的，神常喜欢叫我们等候，当我们面对面遇见可怕的仇敌的时候在惊恐之中，危险之下，我们就求问神说：「神阿，我们可不可以跑开一点呢？现在岂不是拆帐棚的时候了么？我们岂不已受尽了痛苦和失败么？我可不可以暂时逃避一下炎热，往青草地上和可安歇的水边去休息一下呢？」
没有回音！云彩停留了，我们也只得停在那里；但是无论如何，路上吗哪、活水、保护、安慰是一定有的。神从来不叫我们停在一个地方，而不给我们祂的同在和日常的供给的。
小子哪，你当耐性等候，不要匆匆向前冲去！停留在你原来的地位上！直到云彩清清楚楚地向上收去。因为这是你的主所喜悦的！祂是不会使你「太迟」的！──译自日诚报
再等一个钟头的时间,
而我好像急需,
到达了那荣耀的顶巅,
我虽渴望如此,
但我更愿遵从祂的时间。
“女儿啊!你只管安坐等待”,(得三:18)
在等待之时,我愿
清除邪教徒的战役奏凯,
我虽渴望如此,
但我更愿遵从祂是主宰。
不论是取,还是给,
都有它的优点,
但更好的是:
用你的全心全力,
遵从祂的旨意。
━F.M.N.
November 2
“But prayer” (Acts 12:5)
But prayer is the link that connects us with God. This is the bridge that spans every gulf and bears us over every abyss of danger or of need.
How significant the picture of the Apostolic Church: Peter in prison, the Jews triumphant, Herod supreme, the arena of martyrdom awaiting the dawning of the morning to drink up the apostle's blood, and everything else against it. "But prayer was made unto God without ceasing." And what was the sequel? The prison open, the apostle free, the Jews baffled, the wicked king eaten of worms, a spectacle of hidden retribution, and the Word of God rolling on in greater victory.
Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? God baptize us with holy audacity and Divine confidence! He is not wanting great men, but He is wanting men who will dare to prove the greatness of their God. But God! But prayer! ━A. B. Simpson
Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ; and expect great things. ━Andrew Murray
Our prayers are God's opportunities.
Are you in sorrow? Prayer can make your affliction sweet and strengthening. Are you in gladness? Prayer can add to your joy a celestial perfume. Are you in extreme danger from outward or inward enemies? Prayer can set at your right hand an angel whose touch could shatter a millstone into smaller dust than the flour it grinds, and whose glance could lay an army low. What will prayer do for you? I answer: All that God can do for you. "Ask what I shall give thee."(1 kings 3:5) ━Farrar 
“Wrestling prayer can wonders do,
Bring relief in deepest straits;
Prayer Can force a passage through,
Iron bars and brazen gates.”
十一月二日
「教会却为他切切的祷告神。」 （徒十二:5）
祷告是我们与神交接的连索，是一座跨过深渊的桥梁，是带领我们经过危险、缺乏的。 
使徒时代的教会多么美丽：彼得被囚在监里，犹太人大奏凯旋；希律执着无上的权力；殉道场期待着使徒的血….每一件事情都和他们作对。可是他们「却…切切祷告神。」结果怎样呢？监门开了，使徒自由了，犹太人失败了，恶王被虫咬死了，神的道日见兴旺，越发广传。
祷告是我们属灵的兵器。我们知不知道这兵器的能力呢？我们敢不敢用信心的权柄来使用这兵器━不只求，并且命令━呢？愿神给我们胆量！给我们信心！神现在所要的，并不是一些伟人，乃是一些敢证明神的伟大的人。
━宣信
在你祷告的时候，你要小心，不要限制神的能力━不仅不信能限制神的能力，自以为知道神所能做的也能限制神的能力。你当期望那不能期望的━超过我们一切所求所想的。你每一次祷告，当先安静──想一想祂所能做的，想一想你在基督里的地位。━慕安得烈
我们的祷告是神的机会。
亲爱的，你悲伤么？祷告能叫你的痛苦变成喜乐。你快乐么？祷告能在你的欢乐上替你加上一阵属天的香味。你被内外的仇敌攻击得非常危险么？祷告能叫你得到天使的帮助━他的一摸能使磨石粉碎，他的一瞥能将全军打倒。祷告究竟能给你一些甚么呢？让我回答你：能给你一切神能为你做的。神说：「你愿我赐你甚么，你可以来求。」（王上三:5）━法勒尔 
热心祷告能造成奇迹,
每每使你逢凶化吉,
热心祷告能开辟生路,
甚之穿过铜墙铁壁。
November 3
“On all bare heights shall be their pasture”(Isa. 49:9, RV)
Toys and trinkets are easily won, but the greatest things are greatly bought. The top-most place of power is always bought with blood. You may have the pinnacles if you have enough blood to pay. That is the conquest condition of the holy heights everywhere. The story of real heroisms is the story of sacrificial blood. The chiefest values in life and character are not blown across our way by vagrant winds. Great souls have great sorrows.
“Geat truths are dearly bought, the common truths,
Such as men give and take from day to day,
Come in the common walk of easy life,
Blown by the careless wind across our way. ”
“Great truths are greatly won, not found by chance,
Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream;
But grasped in the great struggle of the soul,
Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream.”
“But in the day of conflict, fear and grief,
When the strong hand of God, put forth in might,
Plows up the subsoil of the stagnant heart,
And brings the imprisoned truth seed to the light.”
“Wrung from the troubled spirit, in hard hours,
Of weakness, solitude, perchance of pain,
Truth springs like harvest from the well-plowedfield,
And the soul feels it has not wept in vain.”
The capacity for knowing God enlarges as we are brought by Him into circumstances which oblige us to exercise faith; so, when difficulties beset our path let us thank God that He is taking trouble with us, and lean hard upon Him. ━Selected
十一月三日
「在一切净光的高处必有他们的牧场。」（赛四十九:9，直译）
小玩意儿很容易到手,但是贵重的东西却须要花费巨大的代价。 能力的最高处是用血买来的。只要你有血可付，你尽可得到顶巅的能力。英雄的故事都是流血的故事。人生最有价值的东西，都不是偶然被风吹来的。
伟大的真理,要以高价换来,
不像平凡事物得之甚易,
在日常生活中到处可遇,
随风飘到我们的面前。
伟大的胜利,得之非易，
它不会在酣梦中来到，
灵魂在和逆境苦斗时，
才能把握它的奥秘。
或是在忧伤烦恼的日子，
那时神伸出强力的手指，
松我沉滞的心底泥土，
挑起了埋藏的胜利种子。
在软弱孤寂痛苦之时候，
被折磨的心在扭绞中挤出真理，
好像辛勤的耕耘,产生了收获，
这样何尝白费了血泪洗礼。
我们的环境越难，我们认识神的能力越大；所以，当困难围困我们的时候，让我们一方面感谢神，一方面紧紧偎依祂。━选
November 4
“As I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God…and the hand of the Lord was there upon me”(Ezek. 1:1-3)
There is no commentator of the Scriptures half so valuable as a captivity. The old Psalms have quavered for us with a new pathos as we sat by our "Babel's stream," and have sounded for us with new joy as we found our captivity turned as the streams in the South.
The man who has seen much affliction will not readily part with his copy of the Word of God. Another book may seem to others to be identical with his own; but it is not the same to him, for over his old and tear-stained Bible he has written, in characters which are visible to no eyes but his own, the record of his experiences, and ever and anon he comes on Bethel pillars or Elim palms, which are to him the memorials of some critical chapter in his history.
If we are to receive benefit from our captivity we must accept the situation and turn it to the best possible account. Fretting over that from which we have been removed or which has been taken away from us, will not make things better, but it will prevent us from improving those which remain. The bond is only tightened by our stretching it to the uttermost.
The impatient horse which will not quietly endure his halter only strangles himself in his stall. The high-mettled animal that is restive in the yoke only galls his shoulders; and every one will understand the difference between the restless starling of which Sterne has written, breaking its wings against the bars of the cage, and crying, "I can't get out, I can't get out," and the docile canary that sits upon its perch and sings as if it would outrival the lark soaring to heaven's gate.
No calamity can be to us an unmixed evil if we carry it in direct and fervent prayer to God, for even as one in taking shelter from the rain beneath a tree may find on its branches fruit which he looked not for, so we in fleeing for refuge beneath the shadow of God's wing, will always find more in God than we had seen or known before.
It is thus through our trials and afflictions that God gives us fresh revelations of Himself; and the Jabbok ford leads to Peniel, where, as the result of our wrestling, we "see God face to face,"(Gen.32:30) and our lives are preserved. Take this to thyself, O captive, and He will give thee "songs in the night," and turn for thee "the shadow of death into the morning."(Amos 5:8) ━William Taylor
“Submission to the divine will is the softest pillow on which to recline.”
“ It filled the room, and it filled my life,
With a glory of source unseen;
It made me clam in the midst of strife,
And in winter my heart was green,
And in birds of promise sang on the tree,
When the storm was breaking on land and sea .” 
十一月四日 
「以西结在迦巴鲁河边被掳的人中，天就开了，得见上帝的异象。……耶和华的话特特临到。」（结一:1-3）
被掳的人是最佳的释经家。当我们坐在自己的巴别溪旁时，旧的「诗篇」用新的感力为我们发颤音；当我们发现自己被掳的人归还，好像南地的水复流，并为我们响起了新的喜乐之声。
凡是经历过许多苦难的人，不会轻易离开他的那本「圣经」。在别人看来，似乎另一本书与他自己的一本书相同，但是对他来说，却不相同，因为他曾在他的这本泪痕斑斑的旧「圣经」上写有许多字，这些字除了他自己外，别人的眼睛都认不出，其中记载着他自己的亲身经验，例如他一再遇到伯特利的柱子和以琳的棕树，所以这些字是他一生中几个关键性章节的备忘录。
如果我们要从自己「被掳」中得到益处，我们就必须接受自己的处境，并尽可能转变它为最好的处境。为已经挪去或已经除掉的环境烦恼，非但无补于事，反足以妨碍我们改进现有的环境。有时神喜欢把我们暂时幽禁在试炼、患难中；如果我们竭力挣扎的话，我们的桎梏就会越挣越紧。
一匹急躁的马，如果不肯安安静静地套着马头络，反竭力挣扎的话，结果无非在厩舍中勒死。一只负轭的动物，如果倔强挣扎，结果无非擦伤牠自己的颈肩。所以让我们不学愚昧好动的掠鸟，用翅膀拍扑鸟笼，结果反拍伤了自己的翅膀；让我们来作驯良的金丝雀，静坐在栖木上歌唱。
没有一件灾祸能伤害我们，如果我们立刻用虔诚的祷告把它带到神面前去。常有人在树下避雨，无意间在树上找到果子；照样当我们逃到神的翅膀荫下去避难的时候，也将在神着面找到许多我们以前所未曾看见，未曾知道的东西。
这样，神藉着我们的试炼、患难，给了我们新的启示；雅博渡口变成了毘努依勒━摔跤变成了「面对面见了神」（创卅二:30）。受苦的信徒阿，你还有甚么可伤心的呢？神将使你「夜间歌唱」，「使死荫变为晨光」（摩五:8）。你快来赞美祂罢！━戴威廉
「服从神的旨意是最柔软的靠头枕。
在我的周围,在我的生命中,
充满了不可见的荣光,
使我寒冷的心,有了春意,
使我在争斗时,保持安详,
当暴风笼罩了世界,
希望的歌声,如转笙簧。
November 5
“Is there anything too hard for Jehovah?” (Gen.18:14)
Here is God's loving challenge to you and to me today. He wants us to think of the deepest, highest, worthiest desire and longing of our hearts, something which perhaps was our desire for ourselves or for someone dear to us, yet which has been so long unfulfilled that we have looked upon it as only a lost desire, that which might have been but now cannot be, and so have given up hope of seeing it fulfilled in this life.
That thing, if it is in line with what we know to be His expressed will (as a son to Abraham and Sarah was), God intends to do for us, even if we know that it is of such utter impossibility that we only laugh at the absurdity of anyone's supposing it could ever now come to pass. That thing God intends to do for us, if we will let Him.
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" Not when we believe in Him enough to go forward and do His will, and let Him do the impossible for us. Even Abraham and Sarah could have blocked God's plan if they had continued to disbelieve.
The only thing too hard for Jehovah is deliberate, continued disbelief in His love and power, and our final rejection of His plans for us. Nothing is too hard for Jehovah to do for them that trust Him ━Messages for the Morning Watch 
十一月五日
「耶和华岂有难成的事么？」 （创十八:14）
这是神今天给你我的一个责问。也许我们心中曾经有过一个最深、最高、最大的愿望━或者是关于我们自己的，或者是关于我们所爱的人的━经过了好久，还没有成就；我们就以为以前还有成功的可能，现在是绝不能成功的了，于是就把今生能成为事实的希望完全放弃了。 
那一个愿望，如果是合乎神旨意的，神必替我们成就；虽然照我们看来，也许是完全不可能的一回事了──也许我们一听见人说起，还会笑为荒谬。那一个愿望，神必替我们成就，如果我们肯让祂成就。 
「耶和华岂有难成的事么？」没有；如果我们相信祂，按照祂的旨意前行，让祂独自去替我们做那不可能的，耶和华就没有难成的事了。不然的话，连亚伯拉罕和撒拉也有拦阻神旨意的可能。
那惟一能拦阻神的，就是：继续不信祂的慈爱与能力；和一直拒绝神在我们身上的计划。对于那些信靠祂的人，耶和华是没有一件难成的事的。━译自晨更信息
November 6
“As many as I love I rebuke and chasten” (Rev. 3:19)
God takes the most eminent and choicest of His servants for the choicest and most eminent afflictions. They who have received most grace from God are able to bear most afflictions from God. Affliction does not hit the saint by chance, but by direction. God does not draw His bow at a venture. Every one of His arrows goes upon a special errand and touches no breast but his against whom it is sent. It is not only the grace, but the glory of a believer when we can stand and take affliction quietly. ━Joseph Cary l
If all my days were sunny, could I say,
“In His fair land He wipes all tears away”?
If I were never weary, could I keep
Close to my heart, “He gives His loved ones sleep”?
Were no graves mine, might I not come to deem
The Life Eternal but a baseless dream?
My winter, and my tears, and weariness,
Even my graves, may be His way to bless.
I call them ills; yet that can surely be
Nothing but love that shows my Lord to me!
━Selected
"The most deeply taught Christians are generally those who have been brought into the searching fires of deep soul-anguish. If you have been praying to know more of Christ, do not be surprised if He takes you aside into a desert place, or leads you into a furnace of pain."
Do not punish me, Lord, by taking my cross from me, but comfort me by submitting me to Thy will, and by making me to love the cross. Give me that by which Thou shalt be best served……and let me hold it for the greatest of all Thy mercies, that Thou shouldst glorify Thy name in me, according to Thy will. ━A Captive's Prayer
十一月六日
「凡我所疼爱的，我就责备管教他。」（启三:19）
受到最剧烈的痛苦的，常是最属灵的信徒。恩典受得最多的人，也是受苦受得最多的人。苦难临到信徒，没有一次是偶然的，每一次都是受着父神的指挥的。父神绝不随意冒险张弓发矢。祂的每一枝箭都是带着特别的使命出去的。━卡力尔
假若我所有日子永不阴沉，
怎能说:「祂擦干一切泪眼涔涔」？
假若我从不疲困，我的心里,
怎记得祂赐安眠予所爱的？
假若此世没有我的坟场，
永生会变作无稽的梦想。
我的阴天、眼泪、疲困、坟墓，
都可能是祂导我入幸福的路。
它们被我称为祸害，
却显示了主的情爱。
━选
最属灵的基督人都是曾经过烈火的。如果你要更认识基督，你不要惊异，祂必须带你从你现在的环境中出来，引你经过荒野、炉火。
主阿，别的刑罚我都愿意受，只求祢不要拿去我的十字架；求祢叫我能顺从祢的旨意，求祢叫我能爱祢所给我的十字架。求祢给我那最能叫祢满足的恩赐，好叫祢在我身上按照祢自己的旨意荣耀祢名。━一个俘虏的祷告
November 7
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Phil. 3:7)
WHEN they buried the blind preacher, George Matheson, they lined his grave with red roses in memory of his love-life of sacrifice. And it was this man, so beautifully and significantly honored, who wrote,
“O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee,
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow,
May richer, fuller be.”
“O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee,
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be. ”
“O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee,
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shalt tearless be. ”
“O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee,
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red,
Life that shall endless be.”
There is a legend of an artist who had found the secret of a wonderful red which no other artist could imitate. The secret of his color died with him. But after his death an old wound was discovered over his heart. This revealed the source of the matchless hue in his pictures. The legend teaches that no great achievement can be made, no lofty attainment reached, nothing of much value to the world done, save at the cost of heart's blood.
十一月七日
「只是我先前以为与我有益的，我现在因基督都当作有损的。」 （腓三:7）
盲目传道人乔治·马得胜去世安葬的时候，人们以红玫瑰遍布他坟地四周，以记念这舍己为人的热情牧师。他深为大众的敬爱，以下这首诗是他的作品：
你的爱，不放我走开，
我疲倦的灵魂因你而得安息；
我把你所赐的生命还给你，
在你的深海中，让源流更为丰溢。
你的光一路照耀着我，
我把摇曳的火把交给你，
心中重新亮起你赐的光，
在你的天空中，风光更显旖旎。
你的欢欣透过痛苦来找我，
我无法对你关闭心门，
我透过雨丝去追寻彩虹，
感知诺言非虚，明日必是良辰。
你的十字架举起我的头，
我不敢要求逃避离弃，
我把已逝的光荣埋于尘土，
鲜红的花朵冒出无尽的生气。
传说有位艺术家，会调制一种不同凡俗的红色，是别的艺术家所不能模仿。他调制的秘密，一直保守到他逝世。后世人们发现他心口有个老旧的伤痕，泄露了他作画时所用那种颜色的来源。这个故事告诉我们，任何伟大的成就，任何崇高的造诣，任何对世界重大价值的贡献，都要花费心血。
November 8
“He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray, and as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering…they saw his glory” (Luke 9:29, 32) 
“If I have found grace in thy sight, show me thy glory”(Exod.33:13)
When Jesus took these three disciples up into that high mountain apart, He brought them into close communion with Himself. They saw no man but Jesus only; and it was good to be there. Heaven is not far from those who tarry on the mount with their Lord. 
Who has not in moments of meditation and prayer caught a glimpse of opening gates? Who has not in the secret place of holy communion felt the rush of some white surging wave of emotion--a foretaste of the joy of the blessed?
The Master had times and places for quiet converse with His disciples, once on the peak of Hermon, but oftener on the sacred slopes of Olivet. Every Christian should have his Olivet. Most of us, especially in the cities and towns, live at high pressure. From early morning until bedtime we are exposed to the whirl. Amid all this maelstrom how little chance for quiet thought, for God's Word, for prayer and heart fellowship! 
Daniel needed to have an Olivet in his chamber amid Babylon's roar and idolatries. Peter found his on a housetop in Joppa; and Martin Luther found his in the“upper room” at Wittenberg, which is still held sacred. 
Dr. Joseph Parker once said: "If we do not get back to visions, peeps into heaven, consciousness of the higher glory and the larger life, we shall lose our religion; our altar will become a bare stone, unblessed by visitant from Heaven." Here is the world's need today━men who have seen their Lord. ━The Lost Art of Meditation 
Come close to Him! He may take you today up into the mountain top, for where He took Peter with his blundering, and James and John, those sons of thunder who again and again so utterly misunderstood their Master and His mission, there is no reason why He should not take you. So don't shut yourself out of it and say, “Ah, these wonderful visions and revelations of the Lord are for choice spirits!” They may be for you! ━John McNeill 
十一月八日
「耶稣带着彼得、约翰、雅各布，上山去祷告。正祷告的时候，祂的面貌就改变了，衣服洁白放光…他们看见耶稣的荣光。」（路九28~29，32，直译）
「我如今若在祢眼前蒙恩，求祢将祢的道指示我。（出卅三:13）
耶稣带着这三个门徒，暗暗的上了高山，和他们在那里有一个极亲密的交通。他们不见一人，只见耶稣在那里；啊！他们在那里眞好！
凡与主同在山上的人，天离他们不远了。
有多少人，在默想祷告的时候，看见天开了。有多少人，在密室里与神交通的时候，感觉一阵汹涌的波涛突然冲进来。这些都是预尝天上的快乐。
主耶稣在世的时候，常和祂的门徒到安静的山上去谈话。今天我们呢？我们的生活多么急促━从早到晚过着极其纷乱的生活。在这恶势力之下，安静默想、读经祈祷，与主交通的机会多么少啊！
但以理在巴比伦的吼怒、迷信之下，仍不忽略他的密室生活。彼得的密室在约帕的一个房顶上；马丁路得的密室在韦伯登的一间上房里。━译自已失去的默想的艺术
信徒阿，来亲近主！也许主今天要带你上山顶去；不要想只有彼得、约翰、雅各布是配去的；彼得是一个最会闯祸的人，雅各布和约翰是火气最大的人，他们曾一再误会他们的主和主的使命；所以没有理由可以叫主不带你去。你不要自暴自弃地说：「啊，这些奇异的经历是只有最少数的属灵人能得到的！」也许你今天就能得到呢！━马克乃尔
November 9
“They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn and grow as the vine”(Hosea 14:7)
The day closed with heavy showers. The plants in my garden were beaten down before the pelting storm, and I saw one flower that I had admired for its beauty and loved for its fragrance exposed to the pitiless storm. The flower fell, shut up its petals, dropped its head; and I saw that all its glory was gone. “I must wait till next year,”I said, “before I see that beautiful thing again.”
That night passed, and morning came; the sun shone again, and the morning brought strength to the flower. The light looked at it, and the flower looked at the light. There was contact and communion, and power passed into the flower. It held up its head, opened its petals, regained its glory, and seemed fairer than before. I wonder how it took place━this feeble thing coming into contact with the strong thing, and gaining strength!
I cannot tell how it is that I should be able to receive into my being a power to do and to bear by communion with God, but I know It is a fact.
Are you in peril through some crushing, heavy trial? Seek this communion with Christ, and you will receive strength and be able to conquer. “……I will strengthen thee…….”(Is.41:10)
YESTERDA Y'S GRIEF
The rain that fell a-yesterday is ruby on the roses,
Silver on the poplar leaf, and gold on willow stern;
The grief that chanced a-yesterday is silence that incloses
Holy loves when time and change shall never trouble them.
The rain that fell a-yesterday makes all the hillsides glisten,
Coral on the laurel and beryl on the grass;
The grief that chanced a-yesterday has taught the soul to listen
For whispers of eternity in all the winds that pass.
O faint-of-heart, storm-beaten, this rain will gleam tomorrow,
Flame within the columbine and jewels on the thorn,
Heaven in the forget-me-not; though sorrow now be sorrow,
Yet sorrow shall be beauty in the magic of the morn,
━Katherine Lee Bates 
十一月九日
「曾住在祂荫下的必归回，发旺如五谷，开花如葡萄树。」 （何十四:7）
昨天傍晚，下了一阵大雨。花园里的花草都被风雨击倒了，我所最爱的那朵最美丽、最芳香的花儿，也受了风雨的影响。花瓣折陇了，花头下垂了；它一切的荣华都失去了。我说：「要等到明年再看见这朵美丽的花儿了。」 
黑夜过去了，早晨来临了；太阳又放出和暖的光辉来了，衰颓的花儿重新得到了活力。日光看看花儿，花儿看看日光。它们一有了接触，一有了交通，能力就进到了花儿里面。花儿立刻举起头来，开起瓣来，回复了当初的荣华；并且似乎比以前更美丽了。我奇怪怎么会有这样一回事的━一件柔弱的东西，接触了一件有力的东西，就得到了能力！
照样，我怎样靠着与神交通，得到了工作和忍受的能力，我不知道，我只知道这是一个事实。
亲爱的，你的试炼不是太重么？你当寻找与主交通，祂必给你战胜的能力。因为祂曾应许说：「……我必坚固你……。」（赛四十一:10）━选
昨日的忧伤
昨日下的雨，是玫瑰花上的红宝石，
白杨叶上的银光，柳条上的黄金；
昨日的悲哀楚，是沉默的神圣的爱，
任何因素不能搅扰祂的深情。
昨日的雨，使山岗晶莹明亮，
使桂树美丽如珊瑚，青草如碧玉，
昨日的悲哀，教你的灵魂聆倾，
四周风声中永世的低语。
畏惧暴风的心啊，这雨到了明天，
就是花奔的色泽，荆棘上的光冠，
玻璃草的润饰；虽然此刻有悲哀，
悲哀将被奇妙的明天化为欣欢。
━李佩芝
November 10
“Under hopeless circumstances he hopefully believed”(Rom. 4:18) (Weymouth)
Abraham's faith seemed to be in a thorough correspondence with the power and constant faithfulness of Jehovah. In the outward circumstances in which he was placed, he had not the greatest cause to expect the fulfillment of the promise. Yet he believed the Word of the Lord, and looked forward to the time when his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude.
O my soul, thou hast not one single promise only, like Abraham, but a thousand promises, and many patterns of faithful believers before thee: it behooves thee, therefore, to rely with confidence upon the Word of God. And though He delayeth His help, and the evil seemeth to grow worse and worse, be not weak, but rather strong, and rejoice, since the most glorious promises of God are generally fulfilled in such a wondrous manner that He steps forth to save us at a time when there is the least appearance of it.
He commonly brings His help in our greatest extremity, that His finger may plainly appear in our deliverance. And this method He chooses that we may not trust upon anything that we see or feel, as we are always apt to do, but only upon His bare Word, which we may depend upon in every state. ━C. H. Von Bogatzky
Remember it is the very time for faith to work when sight ceases. The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith; as long as there remain certain natural prospects, faith does not get on even as easily as where natural prospects fail. ━George Mueller
十一月十日
「他在无可指望的时候，因信仍有指望。」（罗四:18）
按照外表的情形看来，亚伯拉罕再没有丝毫理由可以期望应许的实现了。但是他相信耶和华的话，仍然期望他的后裔多如众星。
我的己哪，你不像亚伯拉罕那样，只有一个应许；在你面前摆着许多应许，许多信心的模范；所以你应当大胆信赖神的话了。虽然救助也许不即来到，恶者的势力也许日甚一日，你不要丧胆；你还当刚强、喜乐，因为神最荣耀的应许都是这样成就的━在最没有盼望的时候成就的。 
神的拯救，平常总在我们极端困难、极端痛苦、极端危险的时候纔肯出现，好叫我们清清楚楚看见这是神的手指，好叫我们不再信靠眼见和感觉。单单信靠神的话语是最稳妥不过的，因为神的话语在任何情形下都是可靠的。━纀该斯该
记住！眼见停止的时候，乃是信心工作的时候。困难越大，信心越容易工作；天然的能力还留着一点的时候，信心就没有像天然能力完全失败的时候那样容易工作。━莫勒
November 11
“He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass”(Ps.72:6)
Amos speaks of the king's mowings. Our King has many scythes, and is perpetually mowing His lawns. The musical tinkle of the whetstone on the scythe portends the cutting down of myriads of green blades, daisies and other flowers. Beautiful as they were in the morning, within an hour or two they lie in long, faded rows.
Thus in human life we make a brave show, before the scythe of pain, the shears of disappointment, the sickle of death.
There is no method of obtaining a velvety lawn but by repeated mowings; and there is no way of developing tenderness, evenness, sympathy, but by the passing of God's scythes. How constantly the Word of God compares man to grass, and His glory to its flower! But when grass is mown, and all the tender shoots are bleeding, and desolation reigns where flowers were bursting, it is the most acceptable time for showers of rain falling soft and warm.
O soul, thou hast been mown! Time after time the King has come to thee with His sharp scythe. Do not dread the scythe—it is sure to be followed by the shower. ━F. B. Meyer
“When across the heart deep waves of sorrow,
Break, as on a dry and barren shore;
When hope glistens with no bright tomorrow,
And the storm seems sweeping evermore;”
“When the cup of every earthly gladness,
Bears no taste of the life-giving stream;
And high hopes, as though to mock our sadness,
Fade and die as in some fitful dream,”
“Who shall hush the weary spirit's chiding?
Who the aching void within shall fill?
Who shall whisper of c peace abiding,
And each surging billow calmly still?”
“Only He whose wounded heart was broken
With the bitter cross and thorny crown;
Whose dear love glad words of joy had spoken,
Who His life for us laid meekly down. ”
“Blessed Healer, all our burdens lighten;
Give us peace, Thine own sweet peace, we pray !
Keep us near Thee till the morn shall brighten,
And all the mists and shadows flee away ! ”
十一月十一日
「祂必降临，像雨降在已割的草地上。」（诗七十二:6）
阿摩司曾谈到列王割草的事。我们的王有许多镰刀,永远在刈割祂的草地,磨刀霍霍之声,预告着要割去草的数种绿叶,和雏菊等一些杂在草中的野花。虽然,它们在早晨很美丽,不出一两个钟头,那被割的部份都要倒入枯萎的行列之中。
人生也同样在其痛苦的刈割,失望的收剪,和伤残的芟削之前,表现出勇敢的精神。
要得到一块柔润的草地，唯一的方法就是常常割草；要得到一个温柔、和平、怜悯的心，唯一的方法就是常经神的镰刀割修。当草刚割好，嫩枝还在出血的时候，能有一阵柔细、温暖的小雨降在上面，是非常舒服的。所以经上也说：「….雨降在已割的草地上。」
信徒阿，你是不是正在被神的镰刀修割呢？不要怕镰刀━镰刀后面定规有细雨跟着的。━梅尔
当悲哀的巨浪掠过心头,
像冲上了荒凉的海岸,
当前途黯淡,失去了光辉,
暴风雨似乎永无止限;
当每一只尘世欢乐之杯,
尝不出生命之泉的甘味;
当希望似在讥笑着我们的悲哀,
而彷佛在捉摸不定的梦中消退。
谁会充填痛苦的空虚;
谁会平息精疲力竭的怨声?
谁会高唱永久和平之歌?
使汹涌的浪涛变得安宁?
唯有祂,十字架和荆冠,
破碎了祂那受伤心肠,
祂为我们忍受羞辱与谦卑,
祂的爱说出了喜悦的福音。
赐福之救主,减轻了我们的负担;
求祢把甜美的平安赐给我们!
使我们靠近祢,直到雾浓和阴影,
完全消隐,天色光明!
November 12
“These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work”
(1 Chron. 4:23)
 
Anywhere and everywhere we may dwell "with the king for his work." We may be in a very unlikely and unfavorable place for this; it may be in a literal country life, with little enough to be seen of the "goings" of the King around us; it may be among the hedges of all sorts, hindrances in all directions; it may be furthermore, with our hands full of all manner of pottery for our daily task.
 
No matter! The King who placed us "there" will come and dwell there with us; the hedges are right, or He would soon do away with them. And it does not follow that what seems to hinder our way may not be for its very protection; and as for the pottery, why, that is just exactly what He has seen fit to put into our hands, and therefore it is, for the present, "His work."━Frances Ridley Havergal
 
“Go back to thy garden-plot,sweetheart !
Go back till the the evening falls,
And bind thy lilies and train thy vines,
Till for thee the Master calls.”
 
“Go make thy garden fair as thou canst,
Thou workest never alone;
Perhaps he whose plot is next to thine,
Will see it and mend his own.”
 
The colored sunsets and starry heavens, the beautiful mountains and the shining seas, the fragrant woods and painted flowers, are not half so beautiful as a soul that is serving Jesus out of love, in the wear and tear of common, unpoetic life.━Faber
 
The most saintly spirits are often existing in those who have never distinguished themselves as authors, or left any memorial of themselves to be the theme of the world's talk; but who have led an interior angelic life, having borne their sweet blossoms unseen like the young lily in a sequestered vale on the bank of a limpid stream. ━Kenelm Digby
 
十一月十二日
「这些人都是窑匠，是住在田园和篱笆中间的，在那里他们与王同处，为王作工。」
(代上四:23，直译）
 
无论在甚么地方，我们都有「与王同处，为王作工」的可能。也许是在一个非常不顺遂的地方；也许是在一个粗俗的乡野，一个看不见有王与我们同处的地方；也许是在各种篱笆中间，障碍下面，也许我们的手还须拿着各种陶器，天天过着窑匠的生活。不论在甚么地方，那安放我们「在那里」的王，必来与我们同处；如果祂以为篱笆是不需要的话，祂必定会立刻把它们拆去的。或许那似乎妨碍我们的，倒成了我们的保护呢！至于那放在我们手中的陶器，正是王看为最适于我们「为王作工」的。━海弗格尔
 
亲爱的,回到你的园地,
回去,直到夜幕深垂,
去收拾水仙,修理葡萄,
直到主把你唤归。
 
回去尽力整好你的园地,
作工的决不会只有你一人,
也许和你相邻的那位园丁,
看见之后,也会仿效你的辛勤。
 
彩色的落日、嵌星的天空、美丽的高山、明净的洋海、芳香的树木、鲜艳的花草━它们虽然美丽，还及不到一个在普通生活上用爱心、眼泪事奉主的信徒一半美丽。━费勃尔
 
最圣洁的灵魂,往往在于那些声名不显赫的人物身上,他们圣洁的内在生活,像清澈的池塘隐僻之处,藏着一枝看不见的娇嫩莲花。━迪比
November 13
“I know him, that he will command his children” (Gen.18:19)
God wants people that He can depend upon. He could say of Abraham, "I know him, that he will command his children . . . that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken." God can be depended upon; He wants us to be just as decided, as reliable, as stable. This is just what faith means.
God is looking for men on whom He can put the weight of all His love and power and faithful promises. God's engines are strong enough to draw any weight we attach to them. Unfortunately the cable which we fasten to the engine is often too weak to hold the weight of our prayer; therefore God is drilling us, disciplining us to stability and certainty in the life of faith. Let us learn our lessons and stand fast.━A.B. Simpson
God knows that you can stand that trial; He would not give it to you if you could not. It is His trust in you that explains the trials of life, however bitter they may be. God knows our strength, and He measures it to the last inch; and a trial was never given to any man that was greater than that man's strength, through God, to bear it.━ Selected 
十一月十三日
「我知道他，他将吩咐他的众子……使我所应许亚伯拉罕的话都成就了。」 （创十八:19，直译）
神需要一班能被祂信托的人。神对于亚伯拉罕，神能说：「我知道他，他将吩咐他的众子……使我所应许亚伯拉罕的话都成就了。」神是可靠的，神要我们也像祂一样可靠。
神在寻找一班人━一班受得住祂一切爱、能力、应许的人。神的机器原拖得动我们一切的重担的，可惜我们用以缚住机器的那根锚索太细弱了；所以神必须训练我们的信心。━信宣
神知道你能忍受多少；祂必不会将你所不能忍受的试炼加给你的。祂叫你经过试炼，是表明祂信任你。━选
November 14
“Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains a single grain, but if it dies away in the ground, the grain is freed to spring up in a plant bearing many grains”(John12:24)
Go to the old burying ground of Northampton, Mass., and look upon the early grave of David Brainerd, beside that of the fair Jerusha Edwards, whom he loved but did not live to wed.
What hopes, what expectations for Christ's cause went down to the grave with the wasted form of that young missionary of whose work nothing now remained but the dear memory, and a few score of swarthy Indian converts! But that majestic old Puritan saint, Jonathan Edwards, who had hoped to call him his son, gathered up the memorials of his life in a little book, and the little book took wings and flew beyond the sea, and alighted on the table of a Cambridge student, Henry Martyn.
Poor Martyn! Why should he throw himself away, with all his scholarship, his genius, his opportunities! What had he accomplished when he turned homeward from "India's coral strand," broken in health, and dragged himself northward as far as that dreary khan at Tocat by the Black Sea, where he crouched under the piled-up saddles, to cool his burning fever against the earth, and there died alone?
To what purpose was this waste? Out of that early grave of Brainerd, and the lonely grave of Martyn far away by the splashing of the Euxine Sea, has sprung the noble army of modern missionaries. ━Leonard Woolsey Bacon
Is there some desert, or some boundless sea,
Where Thou, great God of angles, wilt send me?
Some oak for me to rend,
Some sod for me to break,
Some handful of Thy corn to take
And scatter far afield,
Till it in turn shall yield
Its hundredfold
Of grains of gold
To feed the happy children of my God?
“Show me the desert, Father, or the sea;
Is it Thine enterprise? Great God, send me!
And though this body lies where ocean rolls,
Father, count me among all faithful souls.”
十一月十四日 
「一粒麦子不落在地里死了,仍旧是一粒,若是死了,就结出许多子粒来。」 （约十二:24）
到美国马塞诸塞州诺桑普顿城的古坟场，凭吊戴维．勃雷奈特的坟墓，这墓是在他所心爱的美丽的杰鲁霞．爱德华兹小姐坟墓旁边，他因死得早，生前没有与她结婚。 
这位年轻的传教士对于基督事业的多少希望和多少期待，都随着他的遗体进入坟墓，关于他的工作，现在只留下亲切的回忆和几十个浅黑皮肤的印第安信徒。然而那位德高望重的清圣徒乔纳单．爱德华兹曾希望戴维成为他的女婿，他把戴维一生事迹收集在一本小册子里；而这本小册子竟插翅飞过海洋，落到剑桥大学一个学生亨利．马廷的桌上。
那位马廷就抛弃他的学业成绩、他的才华和他的机会到印度去传教。当他从印度的珊瑚海滨启程回家，中途患病，于是带病向北跋涉，远到黑海之滨那阴郁沉闷的托卡特可汗，在那里他蹲伏在园木堆下，贴着泥土来减轻高烧，终于孤独地死在那里。他成就了什么？
这种浪费达到什么目的呢？从勃雷奈特的古墓中，和远在黑海海滨的马廷坟墓中，已兴起了现代传教士的浩荡大军。━倍根
伟大的主,有没有甚么地方,
像沙漠,或是海角天涯,
你要孤遣我前往?
有没有障碍,要我打开?
有没有土地要我耕耘?
把你的种子,在田野里种栽,
直到它结出一百倍的黄金壳粒,
来喂饱你子民的饥怀。
天父指示我,沙漠或海在那里,
若是你的计划,请派遣我去。
即使我躯体在波浪的翻腾中,
你忠实信徒的队伍里,我也能参与。
November 15
“Pressed out of measure” (2 Cor.1:8)
“That the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor.12:9)
God allowed the crisis to close around Jacob on the night when he bowed at Peniel in supplication, to bring him to the place where he could take hold of God as he never would have done; and from that narrow pass of peril, Jacob became enlarged in his faith and knowledge of God, and in the power of a new and victorious life.
God had to compel David, by a long and painful discipline of years, to learn the almighty power and faithfulness of his God, and grow up into the established principles of faith and godliness, which were indispensable for his glorious career as the king of Israel
Nothing but the extremities in which Paul was constantly placed could ever have taught him, and taught the Church through him, the full meaning of the great promise he so learned to claim, "My grace is sufficient for thee."
And nothing but our trials and perils would ever have led some of us to know Him as we do, to trust Him as we have, and to draw from Him the measures of grace which our very extremities made indispensable.
Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty, we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fullness and all-sufficiency of Jesus; and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting Him, we may be tested, we may have to wait and let patience have her perfect work; but we shall surely find at last the stone rolled away, and the Lord waiting to render unto us double for our time of testing. ━A. B. Simpson 
十一月十五日
「被压太重，力不能胜。」 （林后一:8）
「好叫基督的能力覆庇我。」 （林后十二:9）
雅各在毘努依勒，初次经历了一个从未经历的秘诀━抓住神；从那一次以后，雅各的信心有了长进，他对神有了更深的认识，他的生活也有新的得胜能力了。 
对待大卫，神必须让他经过长期痛苦的训练，叫他知道神的全能与信实好使他的信心和敬畏的心得以增长，因为这些美德对于他将来作王是极其紧要的。 
没有别的，只有保罗所不断经历的困难、痛苦、危险，能叫保罗学到，能叫全教会学到，「我的恩典够你用的」（林后十二9）这伟大应许的完全意义。 
今天能带我们认识主、信靠主、向主支取无限恩典的，不是别的，乃是我们的试炼和危险。 
神给我们困难和障碍，为的是要对付我们的信心。我们在日常的道路上，如果遭遇甚么障碍，我们就该认识它们是装信心的器皿，立刻拿主的丰富和「够用」去装满它们；当我们前进，简简单单、完完全全信靠的时候，我们也许还会受到试验，我们也许还需要忍耐等候；但是无论如何，到了最后，我们一定会看见石头辊开，主耶稣等着赐恩给我们的。━宣信
November 16
“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb… and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev.12:11)
When James and John came to Christ with their mother, asking Him to give them the best place in the kingdom, He did not refuse their request, but told them it would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be baptized with His baptism.
Do we want the competition? The greatest things are always hedged about by the hardest things, and we, too, shall find mountains and forests and chariots of iron. Hardship is the price of coronation. Triumphal arches are not woven out of rose blossoms and silken cords, but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships that you are enduring in your life today are given by the Master for the explicit purpose of enabling you to win your crown.
Do not wait for some ideal situation, some romantic difficulty, some far-away emergency; but rise to meet the actual conditions which the Providence of God has placed around you today. Your crown of glory lies embedded in the very heart of these things--those hardships and trials that are pressing you this very hour, week and month of your life. The hardest things are not those that the world knows of. Down in your secret soul unseen and unknown by any but Jesus, there is a little trial that you would not dare to mention that is harder for you to bear than martyrdom.
There, beloved, lies your crown. God help you to overcome, and sometime wear it.━Selected
“It matters not how the battle goes,
The day how long;
Faint not ! Fight on !
Tomorrow comes the song.”
十一月十六日
「弟兄胜过他，是因羔羊的血，…..他们虽至于死，也不爱惜生命。」 （启十二:11）
当西庇太的儿子雅各、约翰，同他们的母亲前来，求耶稣赐他们在祂国里一个坐在祂的右边，一个坐在祂左边的时候，耶稣并不拒绝他们的请求；不过告诉他们：如果他们能作祂所作的工，能喝祂所喝的杯，能受祂所受的浸，他们并非是没有希望的。 
雅各、约翰所要的，我们要不要呢？我们也并非没有希望的。最宝贵的东西往往是包围在最艰难的东西中间的；所以我们如果要得到它们，就必须先遇见高山、深林、铁车、烈火。因为艰难是冠冕的代价。得胜的牌坊不是用玫瑰和丝线织成的，乃是用重击和血痕织成的。我们今天所忍受的艰苦，乃是主给我们用以赢得冠冕的工具。 
你不必等候理想的环境、离奇的困难、梦想的危险；你只要起来对付神今天所放在你四围的现成的事情好了。你荣耀的冠冕原埋在这些东西━你生活上每月每日每时所压迫你的那些艰难和试炼━中心。最困难的事情，并不是世界所知道的那些；乃是在你心里一件极小的秘密，除了主以外，没有人看见，没有知道的━一件你连提都不敢提起的小试炼，那常比殉道还难受！ 
亲爱的，你的冠冕正埋在那个地方。但愿你能赢得！━选
不论今天要奋战多少时间,
也不论这战争将如何演变,
莫要气馁,继续前进,
明天就有高歌凯旋。
November 17
“Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily”(Luke 18:6-7)
God's seasons are not at your beck. If the first stroke of the flint doth not bring forth the fire, you must strike again. God will hear prayer, but He may not answer it at the time which we in our minds have appointed; He will reveal Himself to our seeking hearts, but not just when and where we have settled in our own expectations. Hence the need of perseverance and importunity in supplication.
In the days of flint and steel and brimstone matches we had to strike and strike again, dozens of times, before we could get a spark to live in the tinder; and we were thankful enough if we succeeded at last.
Shall we not be as persevering and hopeful as to heavenly things? We have more certainty of success in this business than we had with our flint and steel, for we have God's promises at our back.
Never let us despair. God's time for mercy will come; yea, it has come, if our time for believing has arrived. Ask in faith nothing wavering; but never cease from petitioning because the King delays to reply. Strike the steel again. Make the sparks fly and have your tinder ready; you will get a light before long.━C. H. Spurgeon
I do not believe that there is such a thing in the history of God's kingdom as a right prayer offered in a right spirit that is forever left unanswered. ━Theodore L. Cuyler 
十一月十七日
「你们听这不义之官所说的话。神的选民，昼夜呼吁他，他纵然为他们忍了多时，岂不终久给他伸冤么。我告诉你们，要快快的给他们伸冤了。」（路十八:6-7）
神的时候是不能听你指挥的。如果第一击不能叫燧石发出火来，你就当再击一次。神听了我们的祷告，不一定按照我们所指定的时候答应我们的；我们寻找祂，祂必向我们显现，不过不一定照我们所希望、所定规的时间和地点的。 
在燧石时代，我们要想取得一火，必须一击再击，击数十次，纔能得到；只要能得到的话，就已经满心感激了。
对于属天的事情，我们为甚么不能这样坚忍呢？属天的事情比击石取火更有成工的把握，因为我们后面站着神的应许。
信徒阿，不要绝望！神赐怜悯的时候快到了。你当用不移的信心呼求；不要因为王的耽搁停止呼吁。再击一次燧石罢！这一次你就会得到了。━司布眞
我不相信在神国的历史中有这样的事情：用正当的灵所献上的正当的祷告永远不得着答应。━克勒
November 18
“Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me”(Luke7:23)
It is sometimes very difficult not to be offended in Jesus Christ. 
The offenses may be circumstantial. I find myself in a prison-house━a narrow sphere, a sick chamber, an unpopular position━when I had hoped for wide opportunities. Yes, but He knows what is best for me. My environment is of His determining. He means it to intensify my faith, to draw me into nearer communion with Himself, to ripen my power. In the dungeon my soul should prosper.
The offense may be mental. I am haunted by perplexities, questions, which I cannot solve. I had hoped that, when I gave myself to Him, my sky would always be clear; but often it is overspread by mist and cloud. Yet let me believe that, if difficulties remain, it is that I may learn to trust Him all the more implicitly━to trust and not be afraid. Yes, and by my intellectual conflicts, I am trained to be a tutor to other storm-driven men.
The offense may be spiritual. I had fancied that within His fold I should never feel the biting winds of temptation; but it is best as it is. His grace is magnified. My own character is matured. His Heaven is sweeter at the close of the day. There I shall look back on the turnings and trials of the way, and shall sing the praises of my Guide. So, let come what will come, His will is welcome; and I shall refuse to be offended in my loving Lord.━Alexander Smellie 
Blessed is he whose faith is not offended,
When all around his way
The power of God is working out deliverance
For others day by day;
Though in some prison drear has own soul languish,
Till life itself be spent,
Yet still can trust his Father's love and purpose,
And rest therein content.
Blessed is he, who through long years of suffering,
Cut off from active toil,
Still shares by prayer and praise the work of others,
And thus “divides the spoil.”
Blessed are thou, 0 child of God, who sufferest,
And canst not understand
The reason for thy pain, yet gladly leavest
Thy life in His blest Hand.
Yea, blessed art thou whose faith is "not offended"
By trials unexplained,
By mysteries unsolved, past understanding,
Until the goal is gained.
━Freda Hanbury Allen 
十一月十八日
「凡不因我跌倒的，就有福了。」 （路七:23）
有时候，「不因主跌倒」，的确是一件很难做到的事情。
叫我们跌倒的也许是环境方面的事情━当我们渴望为主作工的时候，却被囚在一个极狭窄的地方、一间病室里、一个不顺遂的地位上。但是，无论如何，主知道我们的需要。我们所在的环境，都是主亲手替我们安排的。祂放我们在现在的地位上，是要加增我们的信心，牵引我们更近主。 
叫我们跌倒的也许是思想方面的事情━思想一直萦绕着许多我们所不能解决的疑问、难题。我们原希望：当我们把自己交给主的时候，天色就会变蓝的；可是交托了以后，天空仍满布着烟雾、黑云。让我们在这里相信：如果我们把自己交给主以后，困难仍在的话，这定规是因为主要我们学习更深信祂的缘故。 
叫我跌倒的也许是属灵方面的事情━我们曾以为在主的怀抱中，不再受到试探的狂风了；可是，不料试探的狂风却比以前来得更猛。试探越加猛，主的恩典越加大。我们如果回过头去看看我们一路所遭遇的试炼，我们就会大声歌咏赞美我们的向导了。所以，不论前面将遭遇的是甚么，只要是主的旨意，我们都该欢迎。但愿我们不再因我们的爱主跌倒！━司买莉
神在他周围救赎别人,
发挥着无穷的大力；
他虽轮不到,仍能不违信心,
他就有了福泽；
他的灵魂虽在幽禁中凋萎,
直到生命结朿,
他仍能信靠天父的爱和目的,
而得安息满足。
种人是有福的;经过长期痛苦,
隔离了实际的活动与服务,
仍以祈祷和赞美分担别人工作,
他也必分享到应有的酬报。
神的子女,你是有福的,
你虽不懂你受苦的去迹来踪,
你接受了最大的苦难,
仍乐意把生命交在祂手中。
始终不违信心的,就有福了,
经过不能说明的试炼,
经过无法解答和领会的谜团,
直到目标的实现。
一艾伦
November 19
“Thou, who hast showed us many and sore troubles, wilt quicken us again”(Ps.71:20,)
God shows us the troubles. Sometimes, as this part of our education is being carried forward, we have to descend into "the lower parts of the earth," pass through subterranean passages, lie buried amongst the dead, but never for a moment is the cord of fellowship and union between God and us strained to breaking; and from the depths God will bring us again.
Never doubt God! Never say that He has forsaken or forgotten. Never think that He is unsympathetic. He will quicken again. There is always a smooth piece in every skein, however tangled. The longest day at last rings out the evensong. The winter snow lies long, but it goes at last.
Be steadfast; your labor is not in vain. God turns again, and comforts. And when He does, the heart which had forgotten its Psalmody breaks out in jubilant song, as does the Psalmist:“I will thank thee, I will harp unto thee, my lips shall sing aloud.”━Selected 
“ Though the rain may fall and the wind be blowing﹐
And cold and chill is the wintry blast;
Though the cloudy sky is still cloudier growing﹐
And the dead leaves tell that the summer has passed;
My face I hold to the stormy heaven,
My heart is as calm as the summer sea,
Glad to receive what my God has given﹐
Whate'er it be﹒
When I feel the cold, I can say, 'He sends it,’
And His winds blow blessing, I surely know;
For I've never a want but that He attends it;
And my heart beats warm﹐though the winds may blow.”
十一月十九日
「你是叫我们多经历重大急难的，必使我们复活。」（诗七十一:20）
神是叫我们经历急难的。有时，祂教我们进入「地的深处」（赛四十四23），行走隐秘的道路，埋在死人中间；虽然这样，神和我们中间的交通和联合是没有一刻间断的。神既叫我们进入「深处」，也必从「深处」带领我们出来。 
信徒阿，你不要对神怀疑！你不要说神已经弃绝你了、忘记你了。你不要想祂不和你表同情。白日无论如何长，总要完结的。冬日雪无论如何厚，总要融化的。 
你当站住；你的工作不是徒然的。神必安慰你。那时，你就要高唱凯歌了。━选
雨或许还要下,风或许还要吹,
冬季的寒流锐如刀刺；
天上的阴云层层密布,
落叶告诉我们,夏季已逝；
我仰脸对着暴风雨的天空,
我的心平静如夏日的红霓,
愿意接受神所赐的一切,
不管是劳苦还是安息。
感觉冷时,我说:「这是神所赐」,
我确知祂的风带来吉兆；
我一无所求,只望祂随风而至,
虽然风吹雨打,我心依旧欢跳。
November 20
“Blessed is he that waiteth” (Dan.12:12)
It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still.
There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption?
No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid.
Wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him. Believe that if He keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time; the vision shall come, and shall not tarry.
Wait in quiet patience. Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses. Accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, “Now, Lord, not my will, but Thine be done. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities; but I will wait until Thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back my foes. I will wait, if Thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon Thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for Thee in full conviction that Thou wilt yet be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower.” ━Morning by Morning
Wait, patiently wait,
God never is late;
Thy budding plans are in Thy Father's holding,
And only wait His grand divine unfolding.
Then wait, wait,
Patiently wait.
Trust, hopefully trust,
That God will adjust
Thy tangled life; and from its dark concealings,
Will bring His will, in all its bright revealings.
Then trust, trust,
Hopefully trust.
Rest, peacefully rest
On thy Saviour's breast;
Breathe in His ear thy sacred high ambition,
And He will bring it forth in blest fruition.
Then rest, rest,
Peacefully rest!
━Mercy A. Gladwin 
十一月二十日
「等到….的，那人便为有福。」 （但十二:12）
「等候」这件事，看看似乎顶容易，可是学学总要花几年。「开步走」、「跑步」，比「立正」容易得多。
许多时候，我们顶愿意、顶渴望事奉神，但是不知道怎样着手。那么，怎么样呢？就此绝望、烦恼么？就此胆怯、退后么？就此惧怕、停住么？还是擅自前冲呢？ 
不，都不；只要等候。
用祷告等候、呼求神，把事情展在祂面前；把你的难处告诉祂，向祂求应许。 
用信心等候。向祂表白你对于祂不移的信任。你要相信：就是祂叫你等到半夜，祂也必按时来临。
用忍耐等候。不要发怨言，像以色列人向摩西发怨言一样。用简单的心完全接受凡临到你身上的一切，把它们放在神的手里，说：「现在，主阿，不要成就我的意思，只要成就祢的意思。我不知道该怎样做；我的心非常痛苦；但是我愿意等候祢来叫水分开，使敌溃退。我愿意等候，就是祢叫我等候多日，我也愿意；因为我的心单仰望祢，哦，神阿，我深信祢是我的喜乐、我的拯救、我的避难所、我的坚固台。」━每晨必读
等待,耐心等待,
神从不把时间忘怀；
你那锦绣前途,握在天父手中,
只要等候祂尊贵神圣来开启。
等待,等待,耐心等待。
信赖,热诚地信赖,
一切是神旨意的安排,
你那纷乱的生命,出自黑暗的隐密处,
神把祂的旨意,在光明中全部揭开。
信赖,信赖,热诚信赖,
安息,安息在
救主慈爱的胸怀,
在祂身边倾吐你仰慕的抱负,
祂会使你抱负结出幸福果实来。
安息,安息在救主的胸怀。
━格莱特温
November 21
“Roll on Jehovah thy way” (Ps. 37:5, margin) 
Whatever it is that presses thee, go tell the Father; put the whole matter over into His hand, and so shalt thou be freed from that dividing, perplexing care that the world is full of. When thou art either to do or suffer anything, when thou art about any purpose or business, go tell God of it, and acquaint Him with it; yes, burden Him with it, and thou hast done for matter of caring; no more care, but quiet, sweet, diligence in thy duty, and dependence on Him for the carriage of thy matters. Roll thy cares, and thyself with them, as one burden, all on thy God. ━R. Leighton
We shall find it impossible to commit our way unto the Lord, unless it be a way that He approves. It is only by faith that a man can commit his way unto the Lord; if there be the slightest doubt in the heart that "our way" is not a good one, faith will refuse to have anything to do with it. This committing of our way must be a continuous, not a single act. However extraordinary and unexpected may seem to be His guidance, however near the precipice He may take you, you are not to snatch the guiding reins out of His hands. Are we willing to have all our ways submitted to God, for Him to pronounce judgment on them? There is nothing a Christian needs to be more scrutinizing about than about his confirmed habits and views. He is too apt to take for granted the Divine approbation of them. Why are some Christians so anxious, so fearful? Evidently because they have not left their way with the Lord. They took it to Him, but brought it away with them again. ━Selected 
Build a little fence of trust,
Around today;
Fill the space of loving work,
And therein stay.
Look not through the sheltering bars,
Upon tomorrow;
God will help thee bear what comes,
Of joy or sorrow.
━Mary Butts 
十一月二十一日 
「当将你的事交托耶和华。」 （诗卅七:5） 
压逼你的无论是甚么，你只要把它们完完全全交在父神的手里；这样，你就不会有甚么挂虑了。甚么时候，你预备做一件事，你就先去告诉祂，把重担加在祂身上；然后你就安安静静、快快乐乐、勤勤勉勉地去尽你前面的本分，专心仰赖神替你成就。信徒阿，把你一切挂虑，和你自己，捆成一捆，辊到神身上去罢！━雷登
我们如果没有信心，「把我们的事交托主」是一件不可能的事。无论主的引导多么异常，无论主带领你走上多么陡峭的绝壁，只要你没有放松你手里的缰绳，是绝对没有危险的。我们到底愿不愿意把我们一切的事交托神，让祂去宣判呢？这是要每一个基督人自己决定的。为甚么许多基督人这样不安、这样胆怯呢？很明显的是因为他们没有把他们的事交托主。他们把他们的事带到主那里去，又把它们带了回来。━选 
筑起一条虔诚的篱, 
围绕着今天, 
你住在篱里面, 
以爱的工作填满空间。 
不要从篱落缝中, 
去探望明天, 
神会帮助你承受未来的? 
欢乐或苦难的熬煎。 
━柏特士
November 22
“Believe ye that I am able to do this?”(Matt.9:28)
God deals with impossibilities. It is never too late for Him to do so, when the impossible is brought to Him, in full faith, by the one in whose life and circumstances the impossible must be accomplished if God is to be glorified. If in our own life there have been rebellion, unbelief, sin, and disaster, it is never too late for God to deal triumphantly with these tragic facts if brought to Him in full surrender and trust. It has often been said, and with truth, that Christianity is the only religion that can deal with man's past. God can "restore the years that the locust hath eaten" (Joel 2:25); and He will do this when we put the whole situation and ourselves unreservedly and believingly into His hands. Not because of what we are but because of what He is. God forgives and heals and restores. He is "the God of all grace."(1 Pet.5:10) Let us praise Him and trust Him. ━Sunday School Times 
"Nothing is too hard for Jesus
No man can work like Him."
"We have a God who delights in impossibilities." Nothing too hard for Me. 
━Andrew Murray 
十一月二十二日 
「你们信我能作这事么？」 （太九:28） 
我们的神是专门对付「不可能」的神。在祂是没有「太迟的」。一件不可能的事带到祂面前来，只要是用完全的信心带来的，总是有办法的。许多生活上、环境上的「不可能」，都是为要叫神得着荣耀。如果在我们已往的生活上，有了叛逆、不信、罪恶、不幸，只要我们肯完全降服、信靠，神决不会说「太迟」的，因为神有办法对付这些悲剧。常有人说基督教是惟一能对付人已往的宗教；这话是眞实的。神能「将蝗虫….所吃的那些年补还」（珥二:25，直译）；当我们把环境和自己完全用信心丝毫不留地交在祂手里的时候，祂必补还我们以前失败的那些年日。这并不是因着我们，乃是因着祂自己。神是赦免的神、医治的神、补还的神、「赐诸般恩典的神」（彼前五:10）。让我们赞美祂、信靠祂罢！
━译自主日学报 
没有甚么事会使耶稣觉得太难, 
也没有甚么人能像耶稣那样苦干。 
我们有一位神，是专门对付「不可能」的。在祂没有「太难」。━慕安得烈
November 23
“Thou hast shewed thy people hard things” (Ps.60:3)
I have always been glad that the Psalmist said to God that some things were hard. There is no mistake about it; there are hard things in life. Some beautiful pink flowers were given me this summer, and as I took them I said, "What are they?" And the answer came, "They are rock flowers; they grow and bloom only on rocks where you can see no soil." Then I thought of God's flowers growing in hard places; and I feel, somehow, that He may have a peculiar tenderness for His "rock flowers" that He may not have for His lilies and roses. ━Margaret Bottome
The tests of life are to make, not break us. Trouble may demolish a man's business but build up his character. The blow at the outward man may be the greatest blessing to the inner man. If God, then, puts or permits anything hard in our lives, be sure that the real peril, the real trouble, is what we shall lose if we flinch or rebel. ━Maltbie D. Babcock
"Neroes are forged on anvils hot with pain,
And splendid courage comes but with the test,
Some natures ripen and some natures bloom,
Only on blood-wet soil,some souls prove great,
Only in moments dark with death or doom." 
“God gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction.” 
十一月二十三日 
「祢叫祢的民遇见艰难。 」 （诗六十:3）
我很高兴的是诗篇作者对神说有些事是艰难的。这句话说得不错，生活中确实有许多艰难的事。今年夏天，有人送给我一些美丽的粉红色花，我问这是什么花，回答是：「这些是石花；石花只在你看不见泥土的岩石上生长开花。」于是我想到在艰难处生长的神的花；因此，不知怎么地，我感觉到神可能对其「石花」特别亲切，其亲切的程度可能是祂对其百合花和玫瑰花所没有的。━玛格丽特?博顿
人生的试验都是造就我们，不是破坏我们的。患难也许会拆毁我们的事业，可是能建立我们的品性。外面最大的打击，乃是里面最大的祝福。如果神允许艰难临到我们，那临到我们的危险、患难，定规都是于我们有益的；倘使我们退缩、叛逆，我们必会蒙到损失。━贝伯考克 
英雄在痛苦的铁砧上成的,
唯有试炼才能培养无畏的勇气,
有些德性只在沾血的泥土上成熟开花,
有些灵魂只在危难时显出伟大和卓异。 
神的精兵都是从苦难中得来的。
November 24
“Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10)
Is there any note of music in all the chorus as mighty as the emphatic pause? Is there any word in all the Psalter more eloquent than that one word, Selah (Pause)? Is there anything more thrilling and awful than the hush that comes before the bursting of the tempest and the strange quiet that seems to fall upon all nature before some preternatural phenomenon or convulsion? Is there anything that can touch our hearts as the power of stillness? 
There is for the heart that will cease from itself, “the peace of God that passeth all understanding,”(Phil.4:6)a “quietness and confidence”(Is.30:15) which is the source of all strength, a sweet peace “which nothing can offend,” a deep rest which the world can neither give nor take away. There is in the deepest center of the soul a chamber of peace where God dwells, and where, if we will only enter in and hush every other sound, we can hear His still, small voice. 
There is in the swiftest wheel that revolves upon its axis a place in the very center, where there is no movement at all; and so in the busiest life there may be a place where we dwell alone with God, in eternal stillness, There is only one way to know God. “Be still, and know.”“God is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”(Hag.2:20) ━Selected 
“All-loving Father, sometimes we have walked under starless skies that dripped darkness like drenching rain. We despaired of starshine or moonlight or sunrise. The sullen blackness gloomed above us as if it would last forever. And out of the dark there spoke no soothing voice to mend our broken hearts. We would gladly have welcomed some wild thunder peal to break the torturing stillness of that over-brooding night.”
“But Thy winsome whisper of eternal love spoke more sweetly to our bruised and bleeding souls than any winds that breathe across Aeolian harps. It was Thy 'still small voice' that spoke to us. We were listening and we heard. We looked and saw Thy face radiant with the light of love. And when we heard Thy voice and saw Thy face, new life came back to us as life comes back to withered blooms that drink the summer rain.” ━Selected 
十一月二十四日 
「你们要安静，要知道我是神。」 （诗四十六:10/直译）
音乐谱中能不能漏去休止符呢？诗篇中能不能漏去「细拉」呢？如果不能的话，人生也不能漏去安静。世上没有一件东西能像「安静」那样摸着我们的心。 
只有在安静的时候，我们纔能得到「神所赐出人意外的平安」（腓四:7）；纔能得到「平静安稳」（赛卅:15）━得力的来源；纔能得到世界所不能给与，不能夺去的安息；纔能听见神微小的声音。
在轴上旋转得最快的车轮，它的中心有一个地方，是一无动静的；照样，在我们最忙碌的生活，我们的灵里仍能顶安静地与神单独亲近的。「耶和华在祂的圣殿中。全地的人，都当在他面前肃敬静默。」（哈二:20）━选
慈爱的父阿，有时我们在无星之夜行走，四围全是黑暗；前面既没有星光，又没有月光。惨淡的黑暗似乎永远不会退去了。
在这样的沉寂中，祢柔和的微声安慰了我们流血的心。我们听见了祢微小的声音，看见了祢焕发的慈容，我们的生命就新鲜得如同枯萎的花儿饮了雨露一般。━选
November 25
"Take the arrows. . . . Smite upon the ground. And he smote twice and stayed. And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times" (2 Kings 13:18-19) 
How striking and eloquent the message of these words! Jehoash thought he had done very well when he duplicated and triplicated what to him was certainly an extraordinary act of faith. But the Lord and the prophet were bitterly disappointed because he had stopped half way.
He got something. He got much. He got exactly what he believed for in the final test, but he did not get all that the prophet meant and the Lord wanted to bestow. He missed much of the meaning of the promise and the fullness of the blessing. He got something better than the human, but he did not get God's best.
Beloved, how solemn is the application! How heartsearching the message of God to us! How important that we should learn to pray through! Shall we claim all the fullness of the promise and all the possibilities of believing prayer?━A. B. Simpson
"Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Eph. 3:20)
There is no other such piling up of words in Paul's writings as these, "exceeding abundantly above all," and each word is packed with infinite love and power to "do" for His praying saints. There is one limitation, "according to the power that worketh in us." He will do just as much for us as we let Him do in us. The power that saved us, washed us with His own blood, filled us with might by His Spirit, kept us in manifold temptations, will work for us, meeting every emergency, every crisis, every circumstance, and every adversary. ━The Alliance 
十一月二十五日
「取几枝箭来…打地罢。他打了三次，便止住了。神人向他发怒，说，应当击打五、六次。」
(王下十三:18-19） 
这几句话的信息多么警惕！约阿施自以为打了二次、三次，已经很有信心了。但是神和神人都大失望。
约阿施曾得到一些东西，并且得的不少━他所得的，和他所信的，适正相符；但是他没有得到神所要给他的一切。他失了许多应许和祝福。他得了一些比别人好的东西，可是他没有得到神的最好。 
亲爱的，这是多么严重的一件事！我们应当学习祷告得透切！━宣信
「充充足足的成就一切超过我们所求所想的。」（弗三20）
让我们看保罗所用的字句━「充充足足」、「一切」、「超过」…啊！每一个字里面包含着神无限的爱和能 力！━宣道会报
November 26
"And Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? Who answered, give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs" (Joshua 15:18-19) 
There are both upper and nether springs. They are springs, not stagnant pools. There are joys and blessings that flow from above through the hottest summer and the most desert land of sorrow and trial. The lands of Achsah were "south lands," lying under a burning sun and often parched with burning heat. But from the hills came the unfailing springs, that cooled, refreshed and fertilized all the land.
There are springs that flow in the low places of life, in the hard places, in the desert places, in the lone places, in the common places, and no matter what may be our situation, we can always find these upper springs.
Abraham found them amid the hills of Canaan. Moses found them among the rocks of Midian. David found them among the ashes of Ziklag when his property was gone, his family captives and his people talked of stoning him, but "David encouraged himself in the Lord."(1 Sam.30:6)
Habakkuk found them when the fig tree was withered and the fields were brown, but as he drank from them he could sing: "Yet will I rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of my salvation."(Hab.3:18)
Isaiah found them in the awful days of Sennacherib's invasion, when the mountains seemed hurled into the midst of the sea, but faith could sing: "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. God is in the midst of her: she shall not be moved."(Ps.46:4-5)
The martyrs found them amid the flames, and reformers amid their foes and conflicts, and we can find them all the year if we have the Comforter in our hearts and have learned to say with David: "All my springs are in thee."(Ps.87:7)
How many and how precious these springs, and how much more there is to be possessed of God's own fulness! ━A. B. Simpson
I said: "The desert is so wide!"
I said: "The desert is so bare!
What springs to quench my thirst are there?
Whence shall I from the tempest hide?"
I said: "The desert is so lone!
Nor gentle voice, nor loving face
Will brighten any smallest space. "
I paused or ere my moan was done!
I heard a flow of hidden springs;
Before me palms rose green and fair;
The birds were singing; all the air
Did shine and stir with angels' wings!
And One said mildly: "Why, indeed,
Take over-anxious thought for that
The morrow bringeth! See you not
The Father knoweth what you need?"
━Selected 
十一月二十六日 
「迦勒问他说，你要甚么。他说，求你赐福给我，你既将我安置在南地，求你也给我水泉。他父亲就把上泉下泉赐给他。」 （书十五:18-19）
押撒的地是「南地」━一块在烈日之下非常炎热的地。他父亲给了他水泉，从此山上有不竭的泉水流下来使全地凉爽、肥沃了。
我们所在环境，无论如何炎热、荒芜、艰难、痛苦、寂寞、平庸，我们总能找到喜乐和祝福的。因为我们的父亲已把活水的泉源赐给我们了。
亚伯拉罕曾在迦南的山中,摩西在米甸的岩石里,都曾发现过这种泉水。戴维在洗格拉的灰烬中，虽然他妻子儿女都被掳去，众人说要用石头打死他，「戴维却倚靠耶和华」（撒上卅:6）
哈巴谷虽然看见无花果树不发旺、田地不出粮食…他仍能唱说：「然而我要因耶和华欢欣，因救我的神喜乐。」（哈三:18） 
以赛亚在西拿基立上来攻击犹大的时候，虽然似乎都摇动到海心了，他仍能用信心唱说：「有一道河。这河的分汊，使神的城欢喜…神在其中。城必不动摇。」（诗四十六:4-5）
许多殉道者在火焰中仍有喜乐；许多信徒在患难中仍有平安；这是为甚么缘故呢？乃是因为他们能和戴维一同唱说：「我的泉源都在祢里面。」（诗八十七:7）
啊！我们的父亲所赐给我们的水泉多么宝贵！━宣信 
我说：「这沙漠多么广大！」 
我说：「这沙漠多么荒凉！ 
那里有泉水给我解渴？ 
何处?可给我躲避风沙猖狂！」
我说：「这沙漠多么寂寥！ 
没有柔声细语，没有可爱脸孔 
给最小地方带来盼望。」 
我停下来，抱怨声仍在！ 
忽然,听见潜藏地下的泉声；
面前升起葱绿的棕榈； 
鸟儿在歌唱；整个空中 
都闪耀着天使的翅羽！ 
有一位在温柔地说： 
「何必为明天忧虑悲惨， 
你难道还不明白， 
天父知道你需要的东西吗？」 
━选
November 27
"For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37)
Far up in the Alpine hollows, year by year God works one of His marvels. The snow-patches lie there, frozen with ice at their edge from the strife of sunny days and frosty nights; and through that ice-crust come, unscathed, flowers that bloom.
Back in the days of the by-gone summer, the little soldanelle plant spread its leaves wide and flat on the ground, to drink in the sun-rays, and it kept them stored in the root through the winter. Then spring came, and stirred the pulses even below the snow-shroud, and as it sprouted, warmth was given out in such strange measure that it thawed a little dome in the snow above its head.
Higher and higher it grew and always above it rose the bell of air, till the flower-bud formed safely within it: and at last the icy covering of the air-bell gave way and let the blossom through into the sunshine, the crystalline texture of its mauve petals sparkling like snow itself as if it bore the traces of the flight through which it had come.
And the fragile thing rings an echo in our hearts that none of the jewel-like flowers nestled in the warm turf on the slopes below could waken. We love to see the impossible done. And so does God.
Face it out to the end, cast away every shadow of hope on the human side as an absolute hindrance to the Divine, heap up all the difficulties together recklessly, and pile as many more on as you can find; you cannot get beyond the blessed climax of impossibility. Let faith swing out to Him. He is the God of the impossible. ━Selected 
十一月二十七日 
「因为出于神话，没有一句不带能力的。」（路一:37）
在阿尔卑斯山的顶巅，神年年创造祂的奇迹，山上覆盖着厚雪，被白天的阳光和寒夜的严霜交相作用之下，积雪的边缘结成了冰，可是在这一层冰壳之下，却有花朵，正在完整无恙在开放出来。 
这种花属樱花科，只长在高山之上，在夏季里，它舒展叶子，平躺在地，畅饮阳光，吸收了大自然阳光的热量，能贮藏在根里过冬。然后春天来了，一切植物都在苏醒过来，积雪下的生命也不例外，这种樱草科发出了芽，它放出暖气，那奇妙的热度，恰好把顶上的积雪溶成一钟形的小汽罩。 
它继续长高，头上总是戴着那个钟形的小汽罩，直到里面长好了花苞。最后，钟形小汽罩的外壳脱落，花就直接与阳光接触，紫红色的花瓣，莹净剔透，络脉有似雪花，好像还保留着它生长斗争中所历经的痕迹。 
这种织柔的植物，它在我们心中所引起的反响，决非那些长在山坡下面，从温暖泥土中孕育的花卉所能比拟。我们喜欢不可能的事，成为事实，神亦如此。 
对不可能的事，要坚持到底，把所有的困难，毫无顾忌地堆在一起，并且把你所能找到的更多困难加上去，让信心倾向祂，祂是对付一切不可能的神。━选
November 28
“Thou makest the outgoing of the morning and evening to rejoice” (Ps. 65:8)
Get up early and go to the mountain and watch God make a morning. The dull gray will give way as God pushes the sun towards the horizon, and there will be tints and hues of every shade, that will blend into one perfect light as the full-orbed sun bursts into view. As the King of day moves forth majestically, flooding the earth and every lowly vale, listen to the music of heaven's choir as it sings of the majesty of God and the glory of the morning."
In the holy hush of the early dawn,
I hear a Voice━ 
“I am with you all the day,
Rejoice! Rejoice!”
The clear, pure light of the morning made me long for the truth in my heart, which alone could make me pure and clear as the morning, tune me up to the concert-pitch of the nature around me. And the wind that blew from the sunrise made me hope in the God who had first breathed into my nostrils the breath of life; that He would at length so fill me with His breath, His mind, His Spirit, that I should think only His thoughts, and live His life, finding therein my own life, only glorified infinitely. What should we poor humans do without our God's nights and mornings? ━George MacDonald
"In the early morning hours,
'Twixt the night and day,
While from earth the darkness passes
Silently away;
"Then 'tis sweet to talk with Jesus
In thy chamber still━
For the coming day and duties
Ask to know His will.
"Then He'll lead the way before you,
Mountains laying low;
Making desert places blossom,
Sweet'ning Marah's flow.
"Would you know this life of triumph,
Victory all the way?
Then put God in the beginning
Of each coming day. "
十一月二十八日 
「住在地极的人，因祢的神迹惧怕。祢使日出日落之地都欢呼。」 （ 诗65：8） 
早晨起身，上到山去瞧瞧神如何制造早晨，神把太阳推向地平线，朦胧的灰暗消逝，到浑圆的太阳出现之时，各种深浅的颜色，混合成了一幅完美的光彩。白昼庄严地渐渐展开，它的光明，已遍照大地和每一低谷，你可以聆听天国合唱团的乐曲，在歌颂的尊贵下和早晨的荣光。
在黎明的肃穆中,
我听见一个声音━ 
「我整天都和你同在,
欢欣!欢欣!」
早晨的纯洁之光，使我的心渴慕真理，惟有这种仰望真理之心，能使我纯洁如早晨，使我和周围的自然交响乐和谐合拍起来。日出时吹来的风，使我盼望神，祂曾首先把生命的呼吸，吸进我鼻孔；盼望祂始终以祂的生气和生命来充满我，使我所想的只是祂的思想，所过的只是祂的生活，在我自己的生命中，只发现永恒的光荣。假若没有神的夜和早晨，我们这些可怜的人类该怎样办呢？━麦克唐纳 
清晨，也就是 
祂与日交替的时间， 
黑暗正悄悄逝去， 
光明已显露在天边， 
此时，在祢宁静的厢房里， 
最宜和耶稣作竟见的交换━ 
把这一天将要来的事情， 
探询祂的意愿。 
然后，祂会给你领路， 
使山巅不再崎岖， 
沙漠中开放鲜花， 
玛拉的水，甜如甘饴。 
若要知道得胜的生命， 
如何一路凯旋？ 
就当把神高举在 
每天的开端。
November 29
"Nevertheless afterward" (Heb. 12:11)
There is a legend that tells of a German baron who, at his castle on the Rhine, stretched wires from tower to tower, that the winds might convert them into an Aeolian harp. And the soft breezes played about the castle, but no music was born.
But one night there arose a great tempest, and hill and castle were smitten by the fury of the mighty winds. The baron went to the threshold to look out upon the terror of the storm, and the Aeolian harp was filling the air with strains that rang out even above the clamor of the tempest. It needed the tempest to bring out the music!
And have we not known men whose lives have not given out any entrancing music in the day of a calm prosperity, but who, when the tempest drove against them have astonished their fellows by the power and strength of their music?
"Rain, rain,
Beating against the pane!
How endlessly it pours
Out of doors
From the blackened sky━ 
I wonder why!
"Flowers, flowers,
Upspringing after showers,
Blossoming fresh and fair,
Everywhere!
Ah, God has explained
Why it rained! "
十一月二十九日
「凡管教的事……不觉得快乐……后来却……。」（来十二:11） 
相传有位德国男爵，住在莱因河畔的宫堡里，他在楼塔之间，搭上了若干金属线，希望这些线，因风吹拂而自然发音，成为一种类似「伊奥良」式之弦琴。但威风在宫堡之间吹过，那些金属线没有产生音乐。 
某晚，起了暴风，宫堡和附近山地都遭袭击，男爵走到门口去观看暴风带来的恐怖景象，而空中正弥漫着「伊奥良」琴的弦音，盖过了粗暴的风声，它需要暴风来奏出音乐。 
我们知道有许多人，他们在平安顺利的时候，从来不会奏出优美的人生音乐来的；但是一遭遇了狂风暴雨，就奏出悠扬绝伦的音乐来了━这音乐精美得会叫我们惊奇！
雨，雨， 
雨点打着玻璃窗框！ 
无休无止,
从乌黑的天幕,
倾泻下来,如怨如怒,
我不懂甚么缘故！ 
花，花， 
草木在阵雨后发芽， 
到处开出,
如锦的奇葩， 
啊，神已给我们解释,
下雨为使这世界美丽堪夸！ 
你永远可以依靠神给你以困难的酬报，只要你用正当的方法克服困难,将来的结果,一定比以前的更为丰美。(凡管教的事,当时不觉得快乐,反觉得愁苦。后来,却为那经炼的人,结出平安的果子,就是义)。这是多大的收获!
November 30
"And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest" (Jer. 45:5) 
A promise given for hard places, and a promise of safety and life in the midst of tremendous pressure, a life "for a prey." It may well adjust itself to our own times, which are growing harder as we near the end of the age, and the Tribulation times.
 
What is the meaning of "a life for a prey"? It means a life snatched out of the jaws of the destroyer, as David snatched the lamb from the lion. It means not removal from the noise of the battle and the presence of our foes; but it means a table in the midst of our enemies, a shelter from the storm, a fortress amid the foe, a life preserved in the face of continual pressure: Paul's healing when pressed out of measure so that he despaired of life; Paul's Divine help when the thorn remained, but the power of Christ rested upon him and the grace of Christ was sufficient. Lord, give me my life for a prey, and in the hardest places help me today to be victorious. ━Days of Heaven upon Earth
 
We often pray to be delivered from calamities; we even trust that we shall be; but we do not pray to be made what we should be, in the very presence of the calamities; to live amid them, as long as they last, in the consciousness that we are, held and sheltered by the Lord, and can therefore remain in the midst of them, so long as they continue, without any hurt. For forty days and nights, the Saviour was kept in the presence of Satan in the wilderness, and that, under circumstances of special trial, His human nature being weakened by want of food and rest. The furnace was heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated, but the three Hebrew children were kept a season amid its flames as calm and composed in the presence of the tyrant's last appliances of torture, as they were in the presence of himself before their time of deliverance came. And the livelong night did Daniel sit among the lions, and when he was taken up out of the den, "no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God."(Dan.6:23) They dwelt in the presence of the enemy, because they dwelt in the presence of God. ━Selected 
 
 
十一月三十日 
「你为自己图谋大事么？不要图谋。我必使灾祸临到凡有血气的。但你无论往那里去，我必使你以自己的命为掠物。这是耶和华说的。」 
（耶四十五:5）
 
在极大的灾祸中，耶和华给杰里迈亚一个安全的应许，就是「以自己的命为掠物」。在这末世时代，这应许在我们身上，也是非常适用的。 
「以自己的命为掠物」到底是甚么意思呢？意思说：我们能从毁灭者的爪牙中间抢出我们自己的命来，好像戴维从狮子口中抢出羊羔来一般。这并不是挪去战争、挪去仇敌；这乃是在敌人面前摆设筵席，在风雨中间建立避难所，在灾祸中间存留性命。保罗的刺虽然没有离开他，但是基督的恩典够他用的，基督的能力覆庇了他。主阿，求祢使我以自己的命为掠物，在最危险难的环境中获得胜利！━译自地上的属天生活
 
我们常求脱离灾祸，却不求在灾祸中间得胜；我们应当活在灾祸中间，深信我们被保守在神的庇护之下，绝不能受到丝毫伤损。我们的主在旷野，受魔鬼的试探四十昼夜，虽然又饿又倦，魔鬼并不能伤害祂。火窑虽然比寻长烧热七倍，三个希伯来人却在火中游行。但以理虽然被扔在狮子坑中，当他从坑里被系上来的时候，「身上毫无伤损，因为信靠他的神。」（但六:23）━选
December 1
"There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God" (Heb.4:9)
The rest includes victory, "And the Lord gave them rest round about; . . . the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand" (Joshua 21:44)
"He will beautify the meek with victory”(Ps.149:4)(Rotherham,margin)
An eminent Christian worker tells of his mother who was a very anxious and troubled Christian. He would talk with her by the hour trying to convince her of the sinfulness of fretting, but to no avail. She was like the old lady who once said she had suffered so much, especially from the troubles that never came. 
But one morning the mother came down to breakfast wreathed in smiles. He asked her what had happened, and she told him that in the night she had a dream.
She was walking along a highway with a great crowd of people who seemed so tired and burdened. They were nearly all carrying little black bundles, and she noticed that there were numerous repulsive looking beings which she thought were demons dropping these black bundles for the people to pick up and carry.
Like the rest, she too had her needless load, and was weighed down with the devil's bundles. Looking up, after a while, she saw a Man with a bright and loving face, passing hither and thither through the crowd, and comforting the people.
At last He came near her, and she saw that it was her Saviour. She looked up and told Him how tired she was, and He smiled sadly and said:
"My dear child, I did not give you these loads; you have no need of them. They are the devil's burdens and they are wearing out your life. Just drop them; refuse to touch them with one of your fingers and you will find the path easy and you will be as if borne on eagle's wings."
He touched her hand, and lo, peace and joy thrilled her frame and, flinging down her burden, she was about to throw herself at His feet in joyful thanksgiving, when suddenly she awoke and found that all her cares were gone. From that day to the close of her life she was the most cheerful and happy member of the household.
━Selected 
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.
━Longfellow 
十二月一日
「这样看来，必另有一安息，为神的子民存留。」 （来四:9直译）
「耶和华…使他们四境平安…耶和华把一切仇敌都交在他们手中。」 （书廿一:44） 
「祂要用救恩当作谦卑人的妆饰。」（诗一四九:4） 
一位著名的事奉主的工人告诉我们他母亲的故事： 
他的母亲是一位非常多忧多虑的基督人。他常花数小时和她谈话，要想叫她看见烦恼是一个罪，但是没有一点用处。她曾饱经许多苦楚，特别是那些从未来临的。 
一天早晨，他母亲下楼来吃早餐；满面笑容，和平常大不相同。他心中非常诧异，就问她甚么事情叫她这样喜乐；她告诉他：夜间她做了一个奇异的梦。
梦中她和一大群疲倦、背重担的人，同在一条大路上行走。他们背上都背着许多黑色的包裹；她看见许多形状可憎的恶魔把那些黑色的包裹撒在地上，让人们去拾起来背着。 
她自己也像别人一样，背着那些无须背的重担，觉得非常苦重。过了一会，她抬起头来，看见一位人子，带着一个荣耀的慈颜，在人群中走来走去，安慰人们。 
最后那位人子走到她身边来了；她仔细一看，原来是她的主。她仰起头来告诉祂，她非常疲倦，祂带着一个忧愁的笑容对说： 
「亲爱的孩子，这些重担不是我给你的，你用不着去背它们。它们是魔鬼给你的，魔鬼要把的你命压出来，你知道么？所以你只要将它们丢下来，连你的手指也不去摸一摸，你就会觉得道路容易了，你也会觉得像生了翅膀一样。」
祂用手一模，看哪，平安和喜乐充满了她的全身；她把她的重担一掷，正想倒在祂脚前感谢祂，她突然醒了，发觉她一切的挂虑都消失了。从这一天起，直到她死的日子，她成了全家最喜乐的一个人。━选 
黑夜弥漫着乐声,
白昼的忧虑,
会像阿拉伯人卷起营帐,
悄悄地离去。 
━朗斐罗
December 2
"Perfect through suffering" (Heb.2:10) 
Steel is iron plus fire. Soil is rock, plus heat, or glacier crushing. Linen is flax plus the bath that cleans, the comb that separates, and the flail that pounds, and the shuttle that weaves. Human character must have a plus attached to it. The world does not forget great characters. But great characters are not made of luxuries, they are made by suffering.
I heard of a mother who brought into her home as a companion to her own son, a crippled boy who was also a hunchback. She had warned her boy to be very careful in his relations to him, and not to touch the sensitive part of his life but go right on playing with him as if he were an ordinary boy. She listened to her son as they were playing; and after a few minutes he said to his companion: "Do you know what you have got on your back?" The little hunchback was embarrassed, and he hesitated a moment. The boy said: "It is the box in which your wings are; and some day God is going to cut it open, and then you will fly away and be an angel."
Some day, God is going to reveal the fact to every Christian, that the very principles they now rebel against, have been the instruments which He used in perfecting their characters and moulding them into perfection, polished stones for His great building yonder. ━Cortland Myers
Suffering is a wonderful fertilizer to the roots of character. The great object of this life is character. This is the only thing we can carry with us into eternity. . . . To gain the most of it and the best of it is the object of probation. ━Austin Phelps
"By the thorn road and no other is the mount of vision won." 
十二月二日 
「因受苦难得以完全。」 （来二:10）
铁加上火成为钢。土地是岩石加上热，或冰河的冲压。麻布是亚麻纤维加上清洗，梳劈，槌击，和纺织。人格也是一定有其附加的因素。伟大人物决不为世界所遗忘，但伟大人物不是由逸乐，而是由苦难所造成的。 
　　有一个母亲，带了一个瘸腿而又驼背的孩子回来，作他儿子的游伴。她曾警告她的儿子，要十分当心，不要用言语去伤这残废孩子的心：只要好好地和他玩耍，当他一个普通的孩子。当他们玩耍的时候，她暗暗地偷听她儿子说些什么；过了几分钟，他对他的游伴说：“你知道你背上所背的是什么吗”？小驼背大为受窘，答不出一句话来。他说：“这是一个装翅膀的匣子；有一天，神要替你打开来；那时你就能象天使一样飞行了”。 
　　有一天，神必让每一个基督徒看见：他们现在所反对的，乃是他所用的工具，为要叫他们完全。他要他们成为磨光的石子，好用以建造天上的殿宇。━麦友
　　苦难对于人格的培植，是一种奇妙的肥料。人生的伟大目的，是培植人格，惟有人格，是我们能够带入永恒的东西……试炼的目的，就是要我们获得高尚的人格。━斐尔泼斯 
「走尽荆棘路，能登异象山。」
December 3
"Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well" (2 kings 4:26)
"BE strong, my soul!
Thy loved ones go
Within the veil. God's thine, e'en so;
Be strong.”
"Be strong, my soul!
Death looms in view.
Lo, here thy God! He'll bear thee through;
Be strong.” 
For sixty-two years and five months I had a beloved wife, and now, in my ninety-second year I am left alone. But I turn to the ever present Jesus, as I walk up and down in my room, and say, "Lord Jesus, I am alone, and yet not alone━Thou art with me, Thou art my Friend. Now, Lord, comfort me, strengthen me, give to Thy poor servant everything Thou seest he needs." 
And we should not be satisfied till we are brought to this, that we know the Lord Jesus Christ experimentally, habitually to be our Friend: at all times, and under all circumstances, ready to prove Himself to be our Friend. 
━George Mueller
Afflictions cannot injure when blended with submission. 
Ice breaks many a branch, and so I see a great many persons bowed down and crushed by their afflictions. But now and then I meet one that sings in affliction, and then I thank God for my own sake as well as his. There is no such sweet singing as a song in the night. You recollect the story of the woman who, when her only child died, in rapture looking up, as with the face of an angel, said, "I give you joy, my darling." That single sentence has gone with me years and years down through my life, quickening and comforting me. ━Henry Ward Beecher
"E 'en for the dead I will not bind my soul to grief;
Death cannot long divide﹒ 
For is it not as though the rose that climbed my garden wall〃 
Has blossomed on the other side?
Death doth hide﹐ 
But not divide;
Thou art but on Christ's other side!
Thou art with Christ, and Christ with me;
In Christ united still are we﹒〃 
十二月三日 
「你丈夫平安么？孩子平安么？」她说:「平安。」 （王下四:26） 
灵魂啊，要坚强！ 
你亲爱的人正进入天堂。 
神是属你的，即然如此， 
灵魂啊，要坚强。 
灵魂啊，要坚强！ 
你毛见的虽是死亡， 
但你的神会带你渡过危难； 
灵魂啊，要坚强。 
我所爱的妻子和我同居六十二年零五个月，在我九十二岁这一年，竟然离开我去了。虽然在我这样衰老的日子，觉得非常孤单，但是当我在房中踱来踱去的时候，我看见我的主是一直与我同在的；我就对祂说：「主耶稣阿，我虽然孤单，仍不孤单━祢与我同在，祢是我的朋友。现在，主阿，求祢安慰我、坚固我；祢看祢可怜的仆人需要甚么，祢就给他甚么。」
多少时候，我们的心得不着满足，是因为我们没有在经历上、习惯上，认识主耶稣基督是我们的朋友：无论在甚么时候、甚么环境中，祂总是我们的朋友。━莫勒 
以驯服之心，接受痛苦，决不会受伤的。
冰冻折裂了许多树枝，同样地，我看到许多人被痛苦所 屈服，所摧残。但我时时遇见在痛苦中歌唱的人，我就为他和自己而感谢神。最美的声乐，莫过于深夜高歌。一位妇人，当她独生儿子去世时，她脸上带着天使般的表情，喜不自胜地仰望着说：「亲爱的，我给你欢欣。」这句简单的话，一直萦绕在我的生命中，年复一年地激励我，安慰我。━皮邱 
即使你死了，我不愿悲伤； 
死神不能永久把我们隔开。 
不过像墙头的花， 
爬到墙的那一边开出花来?
看不见，可是仍然存在， 
它岂能把我们隔开； 
你只是到了基督的那一边!
你和基督在一起，基督和我； 
我们在基督里并没有分开。
December 4
"He went up into a mountain apart" (Matt.14:23)
One of the blessings of the old-time Sabbath was its calm, its restfulness, its holy peace. There is a strange strength conceived in solitude. Crows go in flocks and wolves in packs, but the lion and the eagle are solitaires.
Strength is not in bluster and noise. Strength is in quietness. The lake must be calm if the heavens are to be reflected on its surface. Our Lord loved the people, but how often we read of His going away from them for a brief season. He tried every little while to withdraw from the crowd. He was always stealing away at evening to the hills. Most of His ministry was carried on in the towns and cities by the seashore, but He loved the hills the best, and oftentimes when night fell He would plunge into their peaceful depths.
The one thing needed above all others today is that we shall go apart with our Lord, and sit at His feet in the sacred privacy of His blessed presence. Oh, for the lost art of meditation! Oh, for the culture of the secret place! Oh, for the tonic of waiting upon God! ━Selected
"It is well to live in the valley sweet,
Where the work of the world is done,
Where the reapers sing in the fields of wheat,
As they toil till the set of sun.
But beyond the meadows, the hills I see
Where the noises of traffic cease,
And I follow a Voice that calleth to me
From the hilltop regions of peace.”
"Aye, to live is sweet in the valley fair,
And to toil till the set of sun;
But my spirit yearns for the hilltop's air
When the day and its work are done.
For a Presence breathes o'er the silent hills,
And its sweetness is living yet;
The same deep calm all the hillside fills,
As breathed over Olivet.”
"Every life that would be strong must have its Holy of Holies into which only God enters." 
十二月四日 
「祂就独自上山去祷告。」 （太十四:23）
古代安息日的福祉之一，就是它的幽寂与安静。寂静里面含蓄着一种奇异的能力。乌鸦和豺狼是喜欢集群的，狮子和鹫鹰，是喜欢单独的。 
能力不在喧扰中，乃在安静中。湖水必须极其平静，纔能在面上映照出美丽的天空来。我们的主是极其爱世人的，可是多少次我们在经上读到祂暂时离开群众，退去祷告。祂工作的地方常在海边，可是祂最爱山上。所以我们看见祂晚间常上山去休息。 
今天我们所最需要的一件事，乃是独自与主亲近，坐在祂脚前安静。哦，巴不得我们能恢复那已失去的默想的艺术！哦，巴不得我们能受到密室的教育！━选 
生活在这山谷中，多么美好， 
我们的工作就在这里完成， 
收割的农人在麦田里歌唱， 
他们辛勤到日落黄昏。 
但我望见草原外的山巅， 
那里没有一点喧嚣的市声， 
我跟随着一个呼唤我的声音， 
它发自宁静的峰顶。 
不错,住在山谷里多么美好，
辛勤地耕作到日落黄昏； 
但当一日工作结束的时辰， 
我心向往着山顶。 
因为有位神曾在山上吹气， 
那甜美的气息存留至今； 
和昔日在橄榄山一样， 
所有的峰峦弥满着宁静。 
「任何生命要想坚强，都必须有一个让神进入的至圣所。」
December 5
"O Lord , I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer.10:23)
"Lead me in a plain path" (Ps. 27:14)
Many people want to direct God, instead of resigning themelves to be directed by Him; to show Him a way, instead of passively following where He leads. 
━Madame Guyon
I said:"Let me walk in the field”;
God said: 'Nay, walk in the town”;
I said:"There are no flowers there”;
He said: :" No flowers, but a crown.” 
I said: "But the sky is black,
There is nothing but noise and din ";
But He wept as He sent me back,
"There is more, " He said, "there is sin.
I said: "But the air is thick,
And fogs are veiling the sun";
He answered: "Yet souls are sick,
And souls in the dark undone. "
I said: "I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say";
He answered me, "Choose tonight,
If I am to miss you, or they. "
I pleaded for time to be given;
He said: "Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem hard in Heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide. "
I cast one look at the fields,
Then set my face to the town;
He said: "My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"
Then into His hand went mine,
And into my heart came He;
And I walk in a light Divine,
The path I had feared to see.
━George MacDonald 
十二月五日 
「耶和华阿，我晓得人的道路不由自己。行路的人，也不能定自己的脚步。」 （耶十:23）
「求祢……引导我走平坦的路。」（诗廿七:11）
许多人非但不听从神的指导，反要指导神；非但不跟神走，反要神跟他走。━盖恩夫人
我说:「让我走向野外」，
神说: 「不，你要领略城市的壮观」，
我说:「那里没有花」，
祂说: 「没有花，却有一顶王冠」。
我说:「可是天空乌黑,
只有喧哗与污浊。」;
而祂含泪看着我,
说道:「还有罪恶。」
我说:「可是天气阴霾,
浓雾遮掩了阳光。」;
祂答道:「正因为人们有病,
黑暗中盼望医疗之方。」 
我说:「我将失去光明,
朋友也将失去我这个伴侣。」;
祂回答说:「今夜就选择,
失去他们,还是与我共处。」
我恳求祂给我考虑的时间,
祂说:「这有甚么难于决定?
在天堂的观点看来,
只要跟随你向导者的足印。」 
我回头向野外看了一眼,
然后转脸对着城市。 
祂说:「你愿意了吗?
为王冠而放弃花儿呢?」
然后我让祂握住我的手,
祂进入我的心灵； 
在神圣的光照下,
走向了先前所害怕的路径。 
━麦克唐纳
December 6
"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" (Rev.3:11)
George Mueller bears this testimony, "When it pleased God in July, 1829, to reveal to my heart the truth of the personal return of the Lord Jesus, and to show me that I had made a great mistake in looking for the conversion of the world, the effect that it produced upon me was this: From my inmost soul I was stirred up to feel compassion for perishing sinners, and for the slumbering world around me lying in the wicked one, and considered, 'Ought I not to do what I can for the Lord Jesus while He tarries, and to rouse a slumbering church?"'
There may be many hard years of hard work before the consummation, but the signs are to me so encouraging that I would not be unbelieving if I saw the wing of the apocalyptic angel spread for its last triumphal flight in this day's sunset; or if tomorrow morning the ocean cables should thrill us with the news that Christ the Lord had alighted on Mount Olivet or Mount Calvary to proclaim universal dominion. O you dead churches wake up! O Christ, descend! Scarred temple, take the crown! Bruised hand, take the sceptre! Wounded foot, step the throne! Thine is the kingdom. ━Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage, D. D.
“It may be in the evening,
When the work of the day is done,
And you have time to sit in the twilight,
And watch the sinking sun,
While the long bright day dies slowly
Over the sea,
And the hours grow quiet and holy
With thoughts of Me;
While you hear the village children
Passing along the street━ 
Among those passing footsteps
May come the sound of My Feet.
Therefore I tell you. Watch!
By the light of the evening star
When the room is growing dusky
As the clouds afar,
Let the door be on the latch
In your home,
For it may be through the gloaming
I will come."
十二月六日 
「我必快来，你要持守你所有的，免得人夺去你的冠冕。」 （启三:11）
这是莫勒先生所作的见证：「一八二九年七月神启示我主耶稣再来的真理。并叫我看见我以前等候全世界的人得救，是一个极大的错误；这样的启示在我身上所产生的效果乃是：从我灵里激起了一种怜悯灭亡的罪人和酣睡的世界的心情；于是我就想道：『当主耶稣迟延的时候，我岂不应该替祂唤醒沉睡的人们呢？』」
完美世界的来临，或许还要经过许多艰苦的岁月和艰苦的工作，但它的迹象是乐观的，如果我看见日落时所启示的天使，展开它胜利的翅翼，或者明天早晨海外传来消息，耶稣基督又在橄榄山出现，重掌世界统驭权，我决不会不相信。主耶稣再来的预兆，一天一天增多了。沉睡的教会阿，醒来罢！基督徒阿，你有没有预备戴冠冕、执王权、登王位呢？━泰尔美其 
到了傍晚,你一天的工作已成,
或许有时间坐在薄暮里,
观看太阳西沉,
白昼跟着渐渐隐泯,
此时你思念着我,
感到神圣和宁静。 
你听见那些街头的儿童,
沿着大街走过,
在他们的脚步声中,
可能会辨出我的足音。 
因此,我告诉你,要儆醒!
在星光闪耀的黄昏,
房间里也像远方的天边,
笼罩了乌云的阴暝,
你的注意家里的大门,
只下键,不要上锁,
因为,我可能在薄暮中来临。
December 7
"And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand." (2 Kings 3:16-18)
To human thinking it was simply impossible, but nothing is hard for God.
Without a sound or sign, from sources invisible and apparently impossible, the floods came stealing in all night long; and when the morning dawned, those ditches were flooded with the crystal waters, and reflecting the rays of the morning sun from the red hills of Edom.
Our unbelief is always wanting some outward sign. The religion of many is largely sensational, and they are not satisfied of its genuineness without manifestations, etc.; but the greatest triumph of faith is to be still and know that He is God.
The great victory of faith is to stand before some impassable Red Sea, and hear the Master say, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord,"(Ex.14:13) and "Go forward!"(Ex.14:15) As we step out without any sign or sound━not a wave-splash━and wetting our very feet as we take the first step into its waters, still marching on we shall see the sea divide and the pathway open through the very midst of the waters.
If we have seen the miraculous workings of God in some marvelous case of healing or some extraordinary providential deliverance, I am sure the thing that has impressed us most has been the quietness with which it was all done, the absence of everything spectacular and sensational, and the utter sense of nothingness which came to us as we stood in the presence of this mighty God and felt how easy, it was for Him to do it all without the faintest effort on His part or the slightest help on ours.
It is not the part of faith to question, but to obey. The ditches were made, and the water came pouring in from some supernatural source. What a lesson for our faith!
Are you craving a spiritual blessing? Open the trenches, and God will fill them. And this, too, in the most unexpected places and in the most unexpected ways.
Oh, for that faith that can act by faith and not by sight, and expect God to work although we see no wind or rain. ━A. B. Simpson 
十二月七日
『他便说，耶和华如此说，你们要在这谷中满处挖沟?因为,耶和华如此说:「你们虽不见风、不见雨、这谷必满了水，使你们和牲畜有水喝。」在耶和华眼中这还算为小事，他也必将摩押人交在你们手中?』
（王下三:16-18）
照人看来，这是绝对不可能的事，但是在神没有难事。
没有风、没有雨、没有声响、没有征兆；但是次日早晨，有水从以东而来，沟中就满了澄清的水。
我们常喜欢凭征兆、凭感觉；没有表显，我们的心不会满足；但是最大的信心的胜利，乃是在安静中知道祂是神。
最大的信心的胜利，乃是站在不能通行的红海面前，听耶和华说：「只管站住，看耶和华…的救恩。」（出十四:13）和「往前走。」（出十四:15）我们举步的时候，没有声响，也没有征兆，第一步跨下去的时候，脚还沿着水，但若勇往直前走去，海分开了，水里展开了一条通道。 
质问不是信心的事，服从纔是信心的事。他们必须先挖沟，然后纔有水来。他们必须先服从，然后纔有祝福临到。这是我们信心的功课！ 
信徒阿，你是不是在渴望属灵的祝福呢？挖开你的沟来，神会用想不到的方法来填满它们的。
哦，巴不得我们行事只凭信心，不凭眼见；我们虽不见风、不见雨，仍当仰望神来工作！━宣信
December 8
"Put on as the elect of God, kindness" (Col.3:12) 
There is a story of an old man who carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and if he passed through a door that squeaked, he poured a little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he oiled the latch. And thus he passed through life lubricating all hard places and making it easier for those who came after him.
People called him eccentric, queer, and cranky; but the old man went steadily on refilling his can of oil when it became empty, and oiled the hard places he found.
There are many lives that creak and grate harshly as they live day by day. Nothing goes right with them. They need lubricating with the oil of gladness, gentleness, or thoughtfulness. Have you your own can of oil with you? Be ready with your oil of helpfulness in the early morning to the one nearest you. It may lubricate the whole day for him. The oil, of good cheer to the downhearted one━Oh, how much it may mean! The word of courage to the despairing. Speak it.
Our lives touch others but once, perhaps, on the road of life; and then, mayhap, our ways diverge, never to meet again, The oil of kindness has worn the sharp, hard edges off of many a sin-hardened life and left it soft and pliable and ready for the redeeming grace of the Saviour.
A word spoken pleasantly is a large spot of sunshine on a sad heart. Therefore, "Give others the sunshine, tell Jesus the rest."
"We cannot know the grief
That men may borrow;
We cannot see the souls
Storm-swept by sorrow;
But love can shine upon the way
Today, tomorrow;
Let us be kind.
Upon the wheel of pain so many weary lives are broken,
We live in vain who give no tender token.
Let us be kind. "
"Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love" (Rom.12:10)
━Selected 
十二月八日 
「你们既是神的选民…就要穿上怜悯、恩惠…」 （西三:12）
从前有一位老人，无论走到甚么地方，身边总带着一小瓶油的；如果他走过一扇门，门上发出辗轧的响声来，他就倒一些油在铰链上。如果他遇到一扇难开的门，他就涂一些油在门闩上。他一生就是这样做加油的工作，使他以后的人得着便利。 
人们称他为怪人；但是这位老人依然照旧行走━瓶里的油倒空了再装，倒空了再装…… 
有许多人，他们每天的生活顶不和谐━充满轧轧声、咒骂声…他们需要喜乐油、温柔油、关切油…你身上有没有带着油呢？你应当随时带着你的帮助油━从早到晚去分给人━从你最近的人分起。也许你早晨分给他的油，可以够他一日应用。把喜乐油分给沮丧的人━对绝望的人说一句鼓励的话━哦，这是一件何等美丽的事。 
在人生的道路上，有许多人，我们也许一生只会碰到一次；以后永远不会再相遇了，所以千万不要错过这惟一的机会啊！多少次，一滴恩慈油，会叫一个顶硬的罪人软化过来。预备接受救主赎罪的恩典。
一句悦耳的话，对于一个忧伤的心，就是照明黑暗的阳光。 
我们不知道 
伤痛如何磨折着人们的心,
我们也不了解,
悲哀如何冲激着人们的灵； 
唯有慈爱能天天照耀他们,
使他们得到一点光明,
我们要心存慈爱。
你看多少困倦的生命,
转辗于痛苦的车轮下,悲啼呻吟?
不能给人以同情的温暖,
人生还有甚么意义?
我们要行义存仁。 
「爱弟兄要彼此亲热。」（罗十二:10）━选
December 9
"For this our light and transitory burden of suffering is achieving for us a weight of glory" (2 Cor.4:17)
"Is achieving for us," mark. The question is repeatedly asked━Why is the life of man drenched with so much blood, and blistered with so many tears? The answer is to be found in the word "achieving"; these things are achieving for us something precious. They are teaching us not only the way to victory, but better still the laws of victory. There is a compensation in every sorrow, and the sorrow is working out the compensation. It is the cry of the dear old hymn:
"Nearer my God to Thee, nearer to Thee, E'en tho' it be a cross that raiseth me."
Joy sometimes needs pain to give it birth. Fanny Crosby could never have written her beautiful hymn, "I shall see Him face to face," were it not for the fact that she had never looked upon the green fields nor the evening sunset nor the kindly twinkle in her mother's eye. It was the loss of her own vision that helped her to gain her remarkable spiritual discernment.
It is the tree that suffers that is capable of polish. When the woodman wants some curved lines of beauty in the grain he cuts down some maple that has been gashed by the axe and twisted by the storm. In this way he secures the knots and the hardness that take the gloss.
It is comforting to know that sorrow tarries only for the night; it takes its leave in the morning. A thunderstorm is very brief when put alongside the long summer day. "Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning."(Ps.30:5) ━Songs in the Night
"There is a peace that cometh after sorrow,
Of hope surrendered, not of hope fulfilled;
A peace that looketh not upon tomorrow,
But calmly on a tempest that it stilled. ”
"A peace that lives not now in joy's excesses,
Nor in the happy life of love secure;
But in the unerring strength the heart possesses,
Of conflicts won while learning to endure.”
"A peace there is, in sacrifice secluded,
A life subdued, from will and passion free;
‘Tis not the peace that over Eden brooded,
But that which triumphed in Gethsemane. 
十二月九日 
「我们这至暂至轻的苦楚，要为我们成就极重无比永远的荣耀。」 （林后四:17）
「要为我们成就」，请注意这句话。许多人常一再问说━为甚么人生需要流血、流泪！回答在这里：「要为我们成就」━成就极重无比永远的荣耀。苦难不单教导我们得胜的方法，更教导我们得胜的定律。 
古谚有云：「纵使为十字架所举起，你却更靠近了神。」
有时，喜乐是需要痛苦来产生的。芬妮．克劳斯贝是一个瞎子，她从未看到过绿色的田野，傍晚的日落，和她母亲眼里的慈爱，光芒，若不是这个痛苦的事实，她绝对写不出那首美丽的颂赞「我将和他见面」。因为她丧失了视觉，才使她获得了优异的灵感。 
饱受磨折的树，才有坚实而细致的木材。
最使我们得安慰的，乃是：忧愁虽然耽延，到了早晨，是必须离去的。「一宿虽然有哭泣，早晨便必欢呼。」（诗卅:5）━译自夜间的歌
那里是平安,经忧伤来临,
摒弃了愿望与它的满足；
这种平安并不注视明天,
但凝视它所平息的騒动。 
这种平安并不在过度的喜乐里,
也不在安定快乐﹑爱情的人生里； 
但却在内心拥有坚定的力量,
从持久学习过程中化解了冲突。 
这种平安,在于暗中的祈祷,
顺服的生命,意志的降服与受苦；
绝非伊甸园里弥漫的平安,
乃是客西马尼园里的得胜。
December 10
"If I am in distress, it is in the interests of your comfort, which is effective as it nerves you to endure the same sufferings as I suffered myself. Hence my hope for you is well-founded, since I know that as you share the sufferings you share the comfort also"(2 Cor. 1:6-7)
Are there not some in your circle to whom you naturally betake yourself in times of trial and sorrow? They always seem to speak the right word, to give the very counsel you are longing for; you do not realize, however, the cost which they had to pay ere they became so skillful in binding up the gaping wounds and drying tears. But if you were to investigate their past history you would find that they have suffered more than most. They have watched the slow untwisting of some silver cord on which the lamp of life hung. They have seen the golden bowl of joy dashed to their feet, and its contents spilt. They have stood by ebbing tides, and drooping gourds, and noon sunsets; but all this has been necessary to make them the nurses, the physicians, the priests of men. The boxes that come from foreign climes are clumsy enough; but they contain spices which scent the air with the fragrance of the Orient. So suffering is rough and hard to bear; but it hides beneath it discipline, education, possibilities, which not only leave us nobler, but perfect us to help others. Do not fret, or set your teeth, or wait doggedly for the suffering to pass; but get out of it all you can, both for yourself and for your service to your generation, according to the will of God. ━Selected
Once I heard a song of sweetness,
As it cleft the morning air,
Sounding in its blest completeness,
Like a tender, pleading prayer;
And I sought to find the singer,
Whence the wondrous song was borne;
And I found e bird, sore wounded,
Pinioned by a cruel thorn.
I have seen a soul in sadness,
While its wings toith pain were furl'd,
Giving hope, and cheer and gladness
That should bless a weeping world;
And I knew that life of sweetness,
Was of pain and sorrow borne,
And a stricken soul was singing,
With its heart against a thorn.
Ye are told of One who loved you,
Of a Saviour crucified,
Ye are told of nails that pinioned,
And a spear that pierced His side;
Ye are told of cruel scourging,
Of a Saviour bearing scorn,
And He died for your salvation,
With His brow against a thorn.
Ye "are not above the Master.”
Will you breathe a sweet refrain?
And His grace will be sufficient,
When your heart is pierced with pain.
Will you live to bless His loved ones,
Tho'your life be bruised and torn,
Like the bird that sang so sweetly,
With its heart against a thorn?
━Selected 
十二月十日 
「我们受患难呢，是为叫你们得安慰……这安慰能叫你们忍受我们所受的那样苦楚。我们为你们所存的盼望是确定的。因为知道你们既是同受苦楚、也必同得安慰。」 （林后一:6-7） 
在你四围有没有甚么人是特别会帮助你，你在试炼中、忧伤中，特别会去向他寻求安慰呢？这个人每次所说的话，都顶能帮助你，顶合你的需要。你知道他是顶会帮助你，但是你知不知道他怎样会是的呢？他这样会扎缚人的伤口、揩干人的眼泪，绝非偶然的事，乃是曾出了重大代价的。如果你去调查他以往的历史，你就会发现他曾受过多少苦难。他曾亲见他喜乐的金碗被摔在地上，他曾站在怒潮旁边、烈日之下；但是这一切都是他成为保姆、医生，所必需经历的。苦难固然顶难忍受；可是底下却隐藏着顶宝贵的教育━教导我们怎样帮助别人。所以信徒阿，你不要动怒，你不要咬牙，你只要看见这是训练你成为一个安慰使者的；因此你当甘甘心心在神的旨意里面忍受。━选
某日我听见一阵悦耳的歌声,
在清晨的空气中萦绕,
完美无瑕的嗓音。 
宛如一篇温柔恳切的祷告。 
我去寻找那位歌唱者,
谁能唱得如此美妙； 
我发现一只鸟为荆棘所刺,
在受伤中婉转鸣叫。 
我曾见到一个悲恸的生灵,
卷缩着疼痛的翅膀,
他祝福这流泪啼泣的世界,
散播着欢欣鼓励和希望。 
我知道可爱的生命,
来自痛苦和悲伤； 
这一个受了击打的灵魂,
心里带着荆棘而歌唱。 
你曾听说爱你的救主,
被钉十字架的故事； 
你曾听说那无情的尖钉,
和戳穿祂胁肋的矛刺； 
你曾听说那残酷的鞭笞,
这位救主如何忍辱至死； 
祂带着刺痛额上的荆棘,
为救赎你我而去世。 
你「不能高过先生。」 
你可愿意哼唱甜美的歌声?
当你的心受着刺痛,
祂的恩典足够给你温暖。 
虽然你的生命受了伤,
你可愿意祝福祂所爱的子民,
像那只心里带荆棘的鸟,
唱出那样悦耳的清吟?
━━选
December 11
"Ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion" (Ps.134:1-3) 
Strange time for adoration, you say, to stand in God's house by night, to worship in the depth of sorrow ━it is indeed an arduous thing. Yes, and therein lies the blessing; it is the test of perfect faith. If I would know the love of my friend I must see what it can do in the winter. So with the Divine love. 
It is easy for me to worship in the summer sunshine when the melodies of life are in the air and the fruits of life are on the tree. But let the song of the bird cease and the fruit of the tree fall, and will my heart still go on to sing? Will I stand in God's house by night? Will I love Him in His own night? Will I watch with Him even one hour in His Gethsemane? Will I help to bear His cross up the dolorous way? Will I stand beside Him in His dying moments with Mary and the beloved disciple? Will I be able with Nicodemus to take up the dead Christ? Then is my worship complete and my blessing glorious. My love has come to Him in His humiliation. My faith has found Him in His lowliness. My heart has recognized His majesty through His mean disguise, and I know at last that I desire not the gift but the Giver. When I can stand in His house by night I have accepted Him for Himself alone. ━George Matheson 
"My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;
'Tis His to lead me there, not mine, but His-
'At any cost, dear Lord, by my road!"
"So faith bounds forward to its goal in God
And love can trust her Lord to lead her there;
'Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard
Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer."
"No matter if the way be sometimes dark,
No matter though the cost be ofttimes great,
He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark,
The way that leads to Him must needs be straight.
"One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay;
One thing I do, I press towards my Lord;
My God my glory here, from day to day,
And in the glory there my Great Reward.” 
十二月十一日
「耶和华的仆人，夜间在耶和华殿中的……愿造天地的耶和华，从锡安赐福给你们。」 （诗一三四:1-3）
「夜间在耶和华殿中」━在忧伤中敬拜神━实在是一件困难的事情。是的，是困难的，可是里面蕴藏着祝福。这是信心的考验，雪中送炭，可以见出朋友的真情，对神的爱亦复如此。
我们在夏日阳光中━空中充满了音乐，树上结满了果子的时候━敬拜神是一件容易的事情。但是当小鸟的歌声停止了，树上的果子下坠了，我们的心能不能继续歌唱呢？我们愿不愿意做夜间站在耶和华殿中的呢？我们会不会再爱祂呢？我们肯不肯在客西马尼同祂儆醒片时呢？我们肯不肯作古利奈人西门去背祂的十字架呢？我们肯不肯在祂临死的时候和马利亚并祂所爱的那门徒一同站在祂旁边呢？我们肯不肯和尼哥底母一同带着没药和沉香去安葬死的基督呢？亲爱的，如果你肯，愿造天地的耶和华，从锡安赐福给你！━马德胜
我的目的不是欢乐或平安,
也不是幸福,乃是我的神;
引导我到那里的,是祂不是我,
主啊,任何犠牲,任何路途,我都愿意。
凭信直往前,要得神自己,
凭爱来跟随,从不依别的;
愿主拯救我,脱离我自己,
我深处所祷,神是我一切。
不论所经的路途有时多么黑暗,
不论所付的代价为数多少,
祂深知如何使我达到目的,
通往祂的路,必是正直之道。
我知道的只是我不能违背祂,
我所作的只是紧随我的响导;
日复一日,这是我的神和光荣,
在那光荣里,有我伟大的酬报
December 12
"The last drops of my sacrifice are falling; my time to go has come. I have fought in the good fight; I have kept the faith" (2 Tim.4:6-7)
As soldiers show their scars and talk of battles when they come at last to spend their old age in the country at home, so shall we in the dear land to which we are hastening, speak of the goodness and faithfulness of God who brought us through all the trials of the way. I would not like to stand in the white-robed host and hear it said, "These are they that came out of great tribulation, all except one."
Would you like to be there and see yourself pointed at as the one saint who never knew a sorrow? Oh, no! for you would be an alien in the midst of the sacred brotherhood. We will be content to share the battle, for we shall soon wear the crown and wave the palm. ━C. H. Spurgeon
"Where were you wounded?" asked the surgeon of a soldier at Lookout Mountain. "Almost at the top," he answered. He forgot even his gaping wound━he only remembered that he had won the heights. So let us go forth to higher endeavors for Christ and never rest till we can shout from the very top, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
"Finish thy work, then rest,
Till then rest never;
The rest for thee by God,
Is rest forever. "
"God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars."
Of an old hero the minstrel sang━ 
“With his Yemen sword for aid;
Ornament it carried none,
But the notches on the blade.”
What nobler decoration of honor can any godly man seek after than his scars of service, his losses for the crown, his reproaches for Christ's sake, his being worn out in his Master's service! ━Selected
十二月十二日 
「我离世的时候到了。那美好的仗我已经打过了,当跑的路我已经跑尽了,所信的道我已经守住了。」 
（提后四:6-7）
军人到了年老退休在家的时候，最喜欢谈讲战场上的经历，也最喜欢把他们的伤痕指给人看；我们也是这样，当我们到了天家的时候，一定耶最喜欢述说神的良善、神的信实、神怎养带领我们经过路上一切的试炼。我们喜不喜欢站在穿白衣的中间，听见说：「这些人━除了一个━都是从大患难中出来的」呢？ 
你喜不喜欢在那里有人这样指着你说呢？一定不罢！今天我们能有分于患难，已经可以叫我们知足了；因为不久我们就要头戴冠冕、手拿棕树枝了。━司布眞
有一个军人，攀登洛考得山受了伤，医生问他说：“你是在什么地方受伤的”？他答道：“我记不清楚了，大概在山顶附近。”他只记得他攀登了山顶，连如何受伤也记不在心上。愿我们也以同样的精神为基督作更崇高的努力，直等到我们抵达山顶，可以高声喊说：“我已完成了我们的奋斗，跑完了我的路，保持了我的信心。” 
到任务完毕之后再休息,
决不中途停竭;
神所赐给你的,
才是永恒的休息。 
神不会到你身上找奖章、学位、文凭；祂却会去找伤痕。
古代吟唱诗人歌颂一位英雄说:
「他所佩的宝刀,一无装饰,
除了刀锋的那条凹槽。」 
一个属神的人所能寻求的最光荣的勋章，乃是因事奉而受到的伤痕，因冠冕而受到的损失，因基督而受到的耻辱，因工作而受到的耗损。━选
December 13
"I will give thee the treasures of darkness" (Isa.45:3) 
In the famous lace shops of Brussels, there are certain rooms devoted to the spinning of the finest and most delicate patterns. These rooms are altogether darkened, save for a light from one very small window, which falls directly upon the pattern. There is only one spinner in the room, and he sits where the narrow stream of light falls upon the threads of his weaving. "Thus," we are told by the guide, "do we secure our choicest products. Lace is always more delicately and beautifully woven when the worker himself is in the dark and only his pattern is in the light."
May it not be the same with us in our weaving? Sometimes it is very dark. We cannot understand what we are doing. We do not see the web we are weaving. We are not able to discover any beauty, any possible good in our experience. Yet if we are faithful and fail not and faint not, we shall some day know that the most exquisite work of all our life was done in those days when it was so dark.
If you are in the deep shadows because of some strange, mysterious providence, do not be afraid. Simply go on in faith and love, never doubting. God is watching, and He will bring good and beauty out of all your pain and tears. ━J. R. Miller 
The shuttles of His purpose move,
To carry out His own design;
Seek not too soon to disapprove,
His work, nor yet assign,
Dark motives, when, with silent tread,
You view some somber fold;
For lo, within each darker thread,
There twines a thread of gold.
Spin cheerfully,
Not tearfully,
He knows the way you plod;
Spin carefully,
Spin prayerfully,
But leave the thread with God.
━Canadian Home Journal 
十二月十三日 
「我要将暗中的宝物……赐给你。」 （赛四十五:3） 
在比京勃鲁赛尔有几家著名的花边店，他们有几间特别的房间，专门为纺织最精致，最优美的花边用的。这些房间是全黑的，只从一扇极小的窗外射进一线日光来，这一线日光恰正照在花样上面。引导我们参观的那位告诉我们说：「最上等的出产就是这样得到的。最优美的花边，都是工人坐在黑暗中织成的」。 
我们不也这样么？有时，环境非常黑暗。我们自己也不能明白我们到底在做甚么。我们看不见我们自己所织的东西。我们看不见一点美丽、一点好处。但是如果我们忠忠心心去做，不沮丧、不失望，有一天我们就要看见我们生命中最精美的工作，乃是在黑暗中做成的。 
亲爱的，如果你正在黑暗中，不要惧怕。只要凭信心和爱心前进，切勿怀疑。神必从你一切痛苦和眼泪中找出良善和美丽来。━密勒 
照祂的旨意投梭,
织出祂拟定图案;
不要急躁,不要对工作非难,
看到了阴暗的色泽,
也不要灰心悲观,
因为在每朿深黑的线里;
都夹杂着金线的灿烂。 
带着笑脸去织,不必流泪,
祂知道你的辛苦和忧患;
以祈祷的心,谨慎工作,
用甚么线,让神来置配。
━加拿大家庭日志
December 14
"His disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray . . . and he said unto them, When ye pray, say. . .Thy kingdom come" (Luke 11:1-2) 
When they said, "Teach us to pray," the Master lifted His eyes and swept the far horizon of God. He gathered up the ultimate dream of the Eternal, and, rounding the sum of everything God intends to do in the life of man, He packed it all into these three terse pregnant phrases and said, "When you pray, pray after this manner."(Mt.6:9)
What a contrast between this and much praying we have heard. When we follow the devices of our own hearts, how runs it? "O Lord bless me, then My family, My church, My city, My country," and away on the far fringe as we close up, there is a prayer for the extension of His Kingdom throughout the wide parish of the world.
The Master begins where we leave off. The world first, my personal needs second, is the order of this prayer. Only after my prayer has crossed every continent and every far-flung island of the sea, after it has taken in the last man in the last backward race, after it has covered the entire wish and purpose, of God for the world, only then am I taught to ask for a piece of bread for myself.
When Jesus gave His all, Himself for us and to us in the holy extravagance of the Cross, is it too much if He asks us to do the same thing? No man or woman amounts to anything in the kingdom, no soul ever touches even the edge of the zone of power, until this lesson is learned that Christ's business is the supreme concern of life and that all personal considerations, however dear or important, are tributary thereto. ━Dr. Francis
When Robert Moffat, the veteran African missionary and explorer, was asked once to write in a young lady's album, he penned these lines: 
"My album is a savage breast,
Where tempests brood and shadows rest,
Without one ray of light;
To write the name of Jesus there,
And see that savage bow in prayer,
And point to worlds more bright and fair,
This is my soul's delight."
"And His Kingdom shall have no frontier"
(Luke 1:33, the old Moravian version)
The missionary enterprise is not the Church's afterthought; it is Christ's forethought;━Henry van Dyke
十二月十四日 
「有个门徒对祂说，求主教导我们祷告……耶稣说，你们祷告的时候，要说……愿祢的国降临。」
（路十一:1-2）
当门徒对祂说：「教导我们祷告」的时候，我们的主就想起了永世，所以祂说：「你们祷告，要这样说。」
(太六:9） 
主所教导我们的祷告，和我们所常听见的祷告，相差多远呢！我们常照我们自己的心意祷告：「哦，主阿，祝福我、我的家、我的教会、我的本乡、我的本国…。」我们所求的，和神的国相差得太远了。
我们的主放在前面的，我们偏把它漏去。主的次序是：先世界，后个人。主教导我们先按照神对于全世界愿望和目的，为全世界祈求，然后纔教导我们为自己祈求日用的饮食。 
主耶稣既然把祂一切都给我们，连性命也在十字架上为我们舍弃，如果，祂要求我们把祂的国放在第一位祈求，岂是过分的呢？只有让基督在凡事上居首位的人，纔能得着属天的能力。━弗朗西斯
莫法特是一位资深的非洲宣教士与探险家。有一回，当他应邀在一位年轻女仕的记念册上留言时;他写了以下几句:
我的记念册如同野人的胸膛， 
又如避暴风和可乘凉之处， 
那里无一丝光线;
只有书写了耶稣的名字， 
并见到野人在低头祈祷， 
遥望着那光明美丽的世界， 
表达我灵里的欣喜。 
「祂的国没有穷尽」（路一:33）。
布道事业并不是教会的后见乃是基督的先见。━范达爱克
December 15
" Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. " (Ps.37:5) 
The word trust is the heart word of faith. It is the Old Testament word, the word given to the early and infant stage of faith. The word faith expresses more the act of the will, the word belief the act of the mind or intellect, but trust is the language of the heart. The other has reference more to a truth believed or a thing expected.
Trust implies more than this, it sees and feels, and leans upon a person, a great, true, living heart of love. So let us "trust also in him," through all the delays, in spite of all the difficulties, in the face of all the denials, notwithstanding all the seemings, even when we cannot understand the way, and know not the issue; still "trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass." The way will open, the right issue will come, the end will be peace, the cloud will be lifted, and the light of an eternal noonday shall shine at last. 
"Trust and rest when all around thee
Puts thy faith to sorest test;
Let no fear or foe confound thee,
Wait for God and trust and rest.
"Trust and rest with heart abiding,
Like a birdling in its nest,
Underneath His feathers hiding,
Fold thy wings and trust and rest. ”
十二月十五日 
「当将你的事交托耶和华，并倚靠祂，祂就必成全?」 （诗卅七:5）
「依靠」是信的基本型态，它出于旧约，用来表示初民时期的信心。「信心」一词所表示的，以意志的活动较多。「信仰」一词所表现的，以精神或理智的活动较多，但「信靠」却发自心的根本。「信心」和「信仰」比较接近于一种业已相信的真理或期望。 
「依靠」则含有更多的意义，它看到，感觉到，并且依靠着一个对象，依靠着那伟大，真实，永生的爱，但愿我们在一再延误之后，不顾一切困难，不顾一切逆境，不顾各种外表的情势，甚至当我们不明路径，不知因果的时候，也「依靠祂」。永远「依靠祂，祂就必成全」。路途会开通，正义会来到，平安会降临，乌云会散开，永恒的正午之光终会照耀。 
信心遭受着严酷的考验,
你当对神应安心倚靠； 
莫让忧惧或仇敌,把你騒扰,
等候神,安心倚靠。 
以持久的信心对祂倚靠,
像巢里的一只幼鸟,
躲在祂的羽毛之下,
缩着翅膀,安心倚靠。
December 16
"And there was Anna, a prophetess. . .which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day" (Luke 2:36-37) 
No doubt by praying we learn to pray, and the more we pray the oftener we can pray, and the better we can pray. He who prays in fits and starts is never likely to attain to that effectual, fervent prayer which availeth much.
Great power in prayer is within our reach, but we must go to work to obtain it. Let us never imagine that Abraham could have interceded so successfully for Sodom if he had not been all his lifetime in the practice of communion with God.
Jacob's all-night at Peniel was not the first occasion upon which he had met his God. We may even look upon our Lord's most choice and wonderful prayer with his disciples before His Passion as the flower and fruit of His many nights of devotion, and of His often rising up a great while before day to pray.
If a man dreams that he can become mighty in prayer just as he pleases, he labors under a great mistake. The prayer of Elias which shut up heaven and afterwards opened its floodgates, was one of long series of mighty prevailings with God. Oh, that Christian men would remember this! Perseverance in prayer is necessary to prevalence in prayer.
Those great intercessors, who are not so often mentioned as they ought to be in connection with confessors and martyrs, were nevertheless the grandest benefactors of the Church; but it was only by abiding at the mercy-seat that they attained to be such channels of mercy to men. We must pray to pray, and continue in prayer that our prayers may continue. ━G. H.. Spurgeon 
十二月十六日 
「有女先知名亚拿……并不离开圣殿，禁食祈求，昼夜事奉神。」 （路二:36-37） 
我们越常祷告，就越会祷告。这是无疑的事，凡对于祷告时作时辍的人，他的祷告绝不会发生多大效力。 
祷告的能力是我们每一个人都能得到的，但是，却不是不费力就能得到的。亚伯拉罕和神如果不常有交通，他为所多玛祈求，绝不能有这样的成功。
雅各在毗努伊勒并不是首次与神相见。主受难前与门徒的祷告，大家认为这是最赤心的祷告，但这是许多夜晚真诚奉献的结果，而且时常天未黎明祂就起来祷告。
　 如果有人想毫不费力，就可以成功为一个祷告的伟人，他就大错了。以利亚的祷告，先求天关闭，然后又求雨降下，这是不断的祷告的结果。 
　 哦，巴不得每一位基督徒都记得：祷告的效力，在乎祷告的坚忍。代祷者是教会最大的保护人；他们是施恩座前神施怜悯给人的导管。我们应当藉祷告来学习祷告，藉继续祷告来使祷告继续。━司布真
December 17
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it" (1 Thess. 5:23-24) 
Many years since I saw that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." I began by following after it and inciting all with whom I had intercourse to do the same. Ten years after, God gave me a clearer view than I ever had before of the way to obtain it; namely, by faith in the Son of God. And immediately I declared to all, "We are saved from sin, we are made holy by faith." This I testified in private, in public, and in print, and God confirmed it by a thousand witnesses. I have continued to declare this for above thirty years, and God has continued to confirm my work. ━John Wesley in 1771
"I knew Jesus, and He was very precious to my soul; but I found something in me that would not keep sweet and patient and kind. I did what I could to keep it down, but it was there. I besought Jesus to do something for me, and, when I gave Him my will, He came to my heart, and took out all that would not be sweet, all that would not be kind, all that would not be patient, and then HE shut the door." ━George Fox
My whole heart has not one single grain, this moment, of thirst after approbation. I feel alone with God; He fills the void; I have not one wish, one will, one desire, but in Him; He hath set my feet in a large room. I have wondered and stood amazed that God should make a conquest of all within me by love. ━Lady Huntington 
"All at once I felt as though a hand━not feeble, but omnipotent; not of wrath, but of love━was laid on my brow. I felt it not outwardly but inwardly. It seemed to press upon my whole being, and to diffuse all through me a holy, sin-consuming energy. As it passed downward, my heart as well as my head was conscious of the presence of this soul-cleansing energy, under the influence of which I fell to the floor, and in the joyful surprise of the moment, cried out in a loud voice. Still the hand of power wrought without and within; and wherever it moved, it seemed to leave the glorious influence of the Saviour's image. For a few minutes the deep ocean of God's love swallowed me up; all its waves and billows rolled over me." ━Bishop Hamline
Holiness━as I then wrote down some of my contemplations on it━appeared to me to be of a sweet, calm, pleasant, charming, serene nature, which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness, ravishment to the soul; in other words, that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant fruits and flowers, all delightful and undisturbed, enjoying a sweet calm and the gentle vivifying beams of the sun.━Jonathan Edwards 
十二月十七日 
「愿赐平安的神，亲自使你们全然成圣。又愿你们的灵、与魂、与身子，得蒙保守，在我主耶稣基督降临的时候，完全无可指摘。那召你们的本是信实的，他必成就这事。」 （帖前五:23-24） 
从前我曾竭力追求圣洁，并且鼓励一切和我交往的人都追求圣洁。十年以后，神给我清楚看见一个我以前从未看见过的得到圣洁的方法，就是相信神的儿子。我就立刻传扬这个真理：「信能把我们从罪恶中拯救出来，信能使我们成为圣洁。」我把这真理在私人生活上见证出来，在公共场所见证出来，在印刷物上见证出来；神也藉着许多见证人来证实。我继续传扬这个真理，到现在已经差不多三十年了，神继续给了我无数证实。━约翰韦斯利 
主耶稣，对于我是非常宝贵的；但是我发现在我里面有一件东西我不能温柔，不能忍耐，不能仁爱。我尽力把这件东西压制下去，但是它仍在那里。直到我把我的意志完全让位给主的时候，主就替我拿去了一切使我不能温柔的，不能仁爱的，不能忍耐的。━福克斯 
现在我的心不再希图人的称赞了。神填满了我心的一切空虚处；除祂以外，我不再有甚么希图、甚么意志、甚么欲望了。我自己也觉得非常奇怪━神竟用爱来征服了我的一切。━亨丁登
「忽然觉得好象有一只手，放到我的额上，力量很大，并非轻轻的一摸；而是出于爱，并非出于怒。我内心如此感觉。他似乎压着我的全身，那神圣与除罪涤污的力量，浇灌着我整个身体，他自上而下，我的心神清晰地感觉到这清洁灵力的临到。我心中惊喜，高声喊叫了出来，那双手的力量，仍在活动，他接触之处，似乎留下了救主的荣光。在一瞬之间，神的爱象潮水似的漫过了我，我好象随着爱波卷动。」━海林主教
圣洁是美丽的、平静的、爽快的、可爱的；它带给我们难以形容的光明、平安和喜乐；换言之，圣洁使我们的心变成神的花园━里面充满了佳美的果子和花卉，享受着暖和的、活泼的阳光。━爱德华思
December 18
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us"(Rom.8:37)
The Gospel is so arranged and the gift of God so great that you may take the very enemies that fight you and the forces that are arrayed against you and make them steps up to the very gates of heaven and into the presence of God.
Like the eagle, who sits on a crag and watches the sky as it is filling with blackness, and the forked lightnings are playing up and down, and he is sitting perfectly still, turning one eye and then the other toward the storm. But he never moves until he begins to feel the burst of the breeze and knows that the hurricane has struck him; with a scream, he swings his breast to the storm, and uses the storm to go up to the sky; away he goes, borne upward upon it.
That is what God wants of every one of His children, to be more than conqueror, turning the storm-cloud into a chariot. You know when one army is more than conqueror it is likely to drive the other from the field, to get all the ammunition, the food and supplies, and to take possession of the whole. That is just what our text means. There are spoils to be taken!
Beloved, have you got them? When you went into that terrible valley of suffering did you come out of it with spoils? When that injury struck you and you thought everything was gone, did you so trust in God that you came out richer than you went in? To be more than conqueror is to take the spoils from the enemy and appropriate them to yourself. What he had arranged for your overthrow, take and appropriate for yourself.
When Dr. Moon, of Brighton, England, was stricken with blindness, he said "Lord, I accept this talent of blindness from Thee. Help me to use it for Thy glory that at Thy coming Thou mayest receive Thine own with usury." Then God enabled him to invent the Moon Alphabet for the blind, by which thousands of blind people were enabled to read the Word of God, and many of them were gloriously saved. ━Selected
God did not take away Paul's thorn; He did better━He mastered that thorn, and made it Paul's servant. The ministry of thorns has often been a greater ministry to man than the ministry of thrones. ━Selected 
十二月十八日 
「靠着爱我们的主，在这一切的事上，已经得胜有余了。」 （罗八:37）
福音这样指示我们，攻击我们的仇敌，反对我们的势力，是我们进到神前的梯阶。 
　 正如鹫鹰坐在峭壁上，守望黑云密布的天空；虽然叉状的闪电穿上穿下，牠仍顶安静的坐着，期待那将来的风雨。牠从不肯早一刻飞行的；牠必须觉到风雨已经爆发了，已经打到身上了；然后尖叫一声，就冲入风雨之中，借风之势向天空飞去。 
这正是神要祂每一个孩子做的事━把黑云当作火车，藉此得胜有余。「得胜有余」不单是把对方驱逐出去，并且还掠得对方一切的军火、粮食…。 
亲爱的，你有没有得到战利品呢？当你进入苦难谷的时候，你有没有带着掠物出来呢？当毁灭临到你的时候，你有没有信靠神：祂必叫你出来的时候，比进去的时候更丰富呢？「得胜有余」就是从仇敌那里把掠物夺来，拨作己用。要比以前的力量更充实更强大。
英国孟博士（Dr.Moon）瞎眼的时候说：「主阿，我从祢手里接受这盲目的恩典。求祢叫我用它铸造祢的荣耀，好使祢来的时候，得着满足。」神果然藉着他发明盲人所用的凸版文字，千万盲人得读神的话语；有许多竟因此蒙了救赎。━选
神并不挪去保罗的刺；神做的比「挪去」更好━神利用那刺。刺的用处比宝座的用处更大。━选
December 19
"It shall turn to you for a testimony'' (Luke21:13) 
Life is a steep climb, and it does the heart good to have somebody "call back" and cheerily beckon us on up the high hill. We are all climbers together, and we must help one another. This mountain climbing is serious business, but glorious. It takes strength and steady step to find the summits. The outlook widens with the altitude. If anyone among us has found anything worth while, we ought to "call back." ━Selected
If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back━ 
'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track;
And if perchance, Faith's light is dim, because the oil is low,
Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.
Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;
Call back, and say He kept you when the forest's roots were torn; That, when the heavens thunder and the earthquake shook the hill,
He bore you up and held you where the very air was still.
Oh, friend, call back, and tell me for I cannot see your face,
They say it glows with triumph, and your feet bound in the race;
But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim,
And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.
But if you'll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,
And if you'll say He saw you through the night's sin-darkened sky━ 
If you have gone a little way ahead, oh, friend, call back━ 
'Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track.
━selected
十二月十九日 
「这些事终必为你们的见证。」 （路廿一:13） 
基督人的生活是爬山的生活；如果爬在前面的人能常回头喊一声，笑一笑，点一点头，招一招手，对于爬在后面的人是大有帮助的。我们都是爬山的人，我们应该互相帮助、勉励，纔是。这样的爬山是顶危险的，可是也是顶荣耀的。我们要爬上山顶，一方面必须费力，一方面必须谨慎、坚忍。我们越爬得高，前途的景色越望得清。我们中间如果有甚么人发现了甚么值得注意的东西，应该立即回头喊一声，叫后面疲倦的同伴得着兴奋。━选 
如果你走在我前面不远,请回头喊一声━
这会振作我心,帮助我脚,爬上崎岖的路；
假若信心之光,因灯油将尽而暗淡,
你的喊声,能照亮我疲倦而落后的路程。
回头喊一声,告诉我:祂陪你走入暴风之中；
回头喊一声,告诉我: 祂保护了你,当树倒根起,；
当雷电和地震摇撼着山岗,
祂扶持着你,把你带到宁静的空气里。
朋友啊,回头喊一声,因为我看不清你的脸；
他们说你在飞奔,你的脸色十分高兴；
但我们之间隔着迷雾,我灵的视线模糊不清；
我虽渴望听祂的福音,但看不到祂的荣光。
告诉我,祂听着你的祈祷,虽然那只是哀号,
告诉我,祂看见了你,虽然罪恶遮黑了夜空━
假若你走在我前面不远,请回头喊一声━
这会振作我心,帮助我脚爬上山峰。
━选
December 20
"Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me(John16:32) 
It need not be said that to carry out conviction into action is a costly sacrifice. It may make necessary renunciations and separations which leave one to feel a strange sense both of deprivation and loneliness. But he who will fly, as an eagle does, into the higher levels where cloudless day abides, and live in the sunshine of God, must be content to live a comparatively lonely life.
No bird is so solitary as the eagle. Eagles never fly in flocks; one, or at most two, ever being seen at once. But the life that is lived unto God, however it forfeits human companionships, knows Divine fellowship.
God seeks eagle-men. No man ever comes into a realization of the best things of God, who does not, upon the Godward side of his life, learn to walk alone with God. We find Abraham alone in Horeb upon the heights, but Lot, dwelling in Sodom. Moses, skilled in all the wisdom of Egypt must go forty years into the desert alone with God. Paul, who was filled with Greek learning and had also sat at the feet of Gamaliel, must go into Arabia and learn the desert life with God. Let God isolate us. I do not mean the isolation of a monastery. In this isolating experience He develops an independence of faith and life so that the soul needs no longer the constant help, prayer, faith or attention of his neighbor. Such assistance and inspiration from the other members are necessary and have their place in the Christian's development, but there comes a time when they act as a direct hindrance to the individual's faith and welfare. God knows how to change the circumstances in order to give us an isolating experience. We yield to God and He takes us through something, and when it is over, those about us, who are no less loved than before, are no longer depended upon. We realize that He has wrought some things in us, and that the wings of our souls have learned to beat the upper air.
We must dare to be alone. Jacob must be left alone if the Angel of God is to whisper in his ear the mystic name of Shiloh; Daniel must be left alone if he is to see celestial visions; John must be banished to Patmos if he is deeply to take and firmly to keep "the print of heaven."
He trod the wine-press alone. Are we prepared for a "splendid isolation" rather than fail Him? ━Selected
十二月二十日
「其实我不是独自一人，因为有父与我同在。」 （约十六:32）
我们都知道：要跟从主，是要出重大代价的。也许要我们放弃合法的权利，也许要我们离开至亲的爱人，叫我们尝到非常的剥夺和孤独。但是我们如果像鹫鹰那样飞上高天，直穿云霄，我们就能与神同居；虽然地上的生活孤独一点，也可以叫我们知足了。 
鹫鹰是鸟类中最喜欢独栖的。牠们从不集群而飞；每次我们看见牠们，只能看见一只，最多两只。 
一个与神同居的人，虽然没有人的交往，定规有神的交往。
神在寻找像鹫鹰那样的人。因为凡不与神单独同行的人，绝不能明白神最好。摩西虽然精通埃及人的一切学问，他还须在旷野与神单独亲近四十年。保罗虽然精通希腊学问，且曾在迦玛列门下受教，他还须到亚拉伯去学习去沙漠的生活。所以，信徒阿，任神隔离我们罢。不过我并不指寺院式的隔离。隔离能使我们有独立的信心和生活━使我们不再不断的依赖别人的帮助、祷告、信心和照顾。别人的帮助和激励，对于基督人的长进，是绝对必需的，但是到了一个时期，它们会成为个人信心和幸福的直接妨碍。神知道甚么时候我们的环境需要更换，甚么时候我们需要隔离生活。所以让我们把一切交给神罢，祂必带领我们过去。
我们必须有体验单独生活勇气。神的使者，在雅各布耳边轻轻告诉他神秘地名示罗的时候，必须在他单独的时候；但以理得见天上的异象也须先要单独；约翰之得天上的启示，也先要有拔摩岛的经历。
主独自踹酒醡。我们预备跟从祂的脚踪行呢？还是预备叫祂失望呢？━选
December 21
“To him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon because he hath wholly followed the Lord”(Deut.1:36) 
Every hard duty that lies in your path, that you would rather not do, that it will cost you pain and struggle or sore effort to do, has a blessing in it. Not to do it, at whatever cost, is to miss the blessing.
Every hard piece of road on which you see the Master's shoe-prints and along which He bids you follow Him, surely leads to blessing, which you cannot get if you cannot go over the steep, thorny path.
Every point of battle to which you come, where you must draw your sword and fight the enemy, has a possible victory which will prove a rich blessing to your life. Every heavy load that you are called to lift hides in itself some strange secret of strength. ━J. R. Miller
“I cannot do it alone;
The waves run fast and high,
And the fogs close all around,
The light goes out in the sky;
But I know that we two
Shall win in the end,
Jesus and I.”
“Coward and wayward and weak,
I change with the changing sky;
Today so eager and bright,
Tomorrow too weak to try;
But He never gives in,
So we two shall win,
Jesus and I.”
“I could not guide it myself,
My boat on life’s wild sea;
There’s One who sits by my side,
Who pulls and steers with me.
And I know that we two,
Shall safe enter port,
Jesus and I.” 
十二月二十一日
「我要将他所踏过的地赐给他……因为他专心跟从我。」 （申一:36）
信徒啊，在你所走的道路上，你是不是常遇见困难的事、不愿意的事、痛苦的事呢？在每一件这样的事里面，都藏着一个极大的祝福。你如果不肯出任何代价去做的话，你就会失去顶宝贵的祝福。
每一条有主足迹的道路，无论如何艰险，你必须跟着去行，因为那是带领你进入祝福的；如果你不能走那样险阻的荆棘道路，你就不要想得到祝福。
路上每一个战争，你都有获胜的可能；这样的胜利，对于你的灵命是极大的祝福。每一个要你负荷的重担，其中都隐藏着神的能力。━密勒
我不能单独航行, 
波浪如此暴戾, 
四周浓雾重重, 
天空一片昏暗； 
但我知道我们俩人, 
耶稣和我终会胜利。 
懦弱、胆怯、犹豫不定, 
我心随着莫测的天空在摇曳；
今天这样热心和高兴, 
明天却衰弱得毫无勇气； 
但祂从不掘服退缩, 
耶稣和我终会胜利。 
我自己不会驾驶我的船, 
渡过这人生的大海, 
有一位坐在我身边, 
同我一起掌舵和划浆。 
我知道我们俩人, 
耶稣和我将安全进港。
December 22
“Lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him”(Gen.15:12)
The sun at last went down, and the swift, eastern night cast its heavy veil over the scene. Worn out with the mental conflict, the watchings, and the exertions of the day, Abraham fell into a deep sleep, and in that sleep is soul was oppressed with a dense and dreadful darkness, such as almost stifled him, and lay like a nightmare upon his heart. Do you understand something of the horror of that darkness? When some terrible sorrow which seems so hard to reconcile with perfect love, crushes down upon the soul, wringing from it all its peaceful rest in the pitifulness of God, and launching it on a sea unlit by a ray of hope; when unkindness, and cruelty maltreat the trusting heart, till it begins to doubt whether there be a God overhead who can see and still permit━these know something of the "horror of great darkness." It is thus that human life is made up; brightness and gloom; shadow and sun; long tracks of cloud, succeeded by brilliant glints of light, and amid all Divine justice is working out its own schemes, affecting others equally with the individual soul which seems the subject of special discipline. O ye who are filled with the horror of great darkness because of God's dealings with mankind, learn to trust that infallible wisdom, which is co-assessor with immutable justice; and know that He who passed through the horror of the darkness of Calvary, with the cry of forsakenness, is ready to bear you company through the valley of the shadow of death till you see the sun shining upon its further side. Let us, by our Forerunner, send forward our anchor, Hope, within the veil that parts us from the unseen; where it will grapple in ground and will not yield, but hold until the day dawns, and we follow it into the haven guaranteed to us by God's immutable counsel. ━F. B. Meyer
The disciples thought that that angry sea separated them from Jesus. Nay, some of them thought worse than that; they thought that the trouble that had come upon them was a sign that Jesus had forgotten all about them, and did not care for them. Oh, dear friend, that is when troubles have a sting, when the devil whispers, "God has forgotten you; God has forsaken you"; when your unbelieving heart cries as Gideon cried, "If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?" The evil has come upon you to bring the Lord nearer to you. The evil has not come upon you to separate you from Jesus, but to make you cling to Him more faithfully, more tenaciously, more simply. ━F. S. Webster, M.A.
Never should we so abandon ourselves to God as when He seems to have abandoned us. Let us enjoy light and consolation when it is His pleasure to give it to us, but let us not attach ourselves to His gifts, but to Himself; and when He plunges us into the night of pure faith, let us still press on through the agonizing darkness.━Selected
Oh, for faith that brings the triumph
When defeat seems strangely near!
oh, for faith that brings the triumph
Into victory's ringing cheer一 
Faith triumphant; knowing not defeat or fear.
一Herbert Booth
十二月二十二日 
“忽然有惊人的大黑暗落在他身上”。（创十五：12）
太阳西沉，夜自东方迅速展开，给大地遮上了一层黑暗的业障。亚伯拉罕经过整天的内心争斗和努力，全神贯注的守候之后；已疲倦不堪，沉沉入睡了。就在那睡眠之中，他的灵魂被浓厚而可怖的黑暗所压迫，几乎使他窒息，象梦魇在他的心上。你认识这种黑暗惊人程度吗？有时漆黑一团的悲哀，似乎与神的爱绝不调和，压着你的灵魂，把神怜悯之心所给你的一切安息都挤压净尽，投入看不见一丝希望的海里；残酷和不仁，嘲笑着那信靠的心，直到它发生怀疑：到底天上有没有看见这一切的神？他是否允许这惊人的大黑暗？人生的构成，就是交错着光明与黑暗。阴影和太阳，层层乌云之后，紧跟着灿烂的光辉，在神的一切义行之中，都有其预定的计划，它的影响遍及于某些仿佛受有特殊教训的个别灵魂，也及于其它的灵魂啊，你们看到了那种惊人的黑暗，因为这是神为人类所作的安排，应当学会信靠那绝无错误的智慧，这和永恒之义是一体的两面；你要知道那位大声喊道：“我的神，我的神，为甚么离弃我”（太27：46）经过各各他可怖黑暗的主耶稣，他一直准备着要陪你行过死荫的幽谷，直到你们看见太阳在那一边照耀。愿我们凭着我们的先驱者，把我们的希望之锚，抛向前去，投入遮掩未来的阴暗中，安稳坚定，抓住不放，直到天光破晓，我们跟着它安全进港，这有神确定的指示给我们作过保证。━梅尔
门徒以为那汹涌的海水，把他们和耶稣隔离了。不但如此，有几位还作更坏的想法，以为所遭遇的患难，象征着耶稣已把他们整个忘怀，不再关心他们了。哦，亲爱的朋友，这种时候，正是患难长了毒刺，正是魔鬼对你耳语：“神已经忘记你了；神已经弃绝你了”。也就是你不信神的心，象基甸那样喊道：“耶和华若与我们同在，我们何至遭遇这一切事呢？”其实，你之遭遇患难，目的只是使你更亲近主。患难不是来隔离你和主，而是来使你更加忠贞，不屈不挠，一心一意地依附他。
　　唯有当我们觉得似乎神已弃绝了我们的时候，我们才把自己完全交托给神。愿我们来享受神乐意赐给我们的亮光和安慰，但愿我们所依恋的，不是他的恩赐，乃是他的自己，而当他把我们投入纯粹的信心之夜时，我们仍要在痛苦的黑暗中努力前进。━选
信心帶來了勝利,
就在即將失敗之際!
信心帶來了勝利,
震起凱旋的歡呼━ 
得勝的信心,不知失敗或憂懼。
一布芙
December 23
“The journey is too great for thee” (1 King 19:7)
And what did God do with His tired servant? Gave him something good to eat, and put him to sleep. Elijah had done splendid work, and had run alongside of the chariot in his excitement, and it had been too much for his physical strength, and the reaction had come on, and he was depressed. The physical needed to be cared for. What many people want is sleep, and the physical ailment attended to. There are grand men and women who get where Elijah was━under the juniper tree! and it comes very soothingly to such to hear the words of the Master: “The journey is too great for thee, and I am going to refresh you.” Let us not confound physical weariness with spiritual weakness. ━Selected
“I’m too tired to trust and too tired to pray,
Said one, as the over-taxed strength gave way.
The one conscious thought by my mind possessed,
Is, oh, could I just drop it all and rest.”
“Will God forgive me, do you suppose,
If I go right to sleep as a baby goes,
Without an asking if I may,
Without ever trying to trust and pray?”
“Will God forgive you? why think, dear heart,
When language to you was an unknown art,
Did a mother deny you needed rest,
Or refuse to pillow your head on her breast?”
“Did she let you want when you could not ask?
Did she set her child an unequal task?
Or did she cradle you in her arms,
And then guard your slumber against alarms?”
“Ah, how quick was her mother love to see,
The unconscious yearnings of infancy.
When you‘ve grown too tired to trust and pray,
When over-wrought nature has quite given way:
“Then just drop it all, and give up to rest,
As you used to do on a mother's breast,
He knows all about it-the dear Lord knows,
So just go to sleep as a baby goes;”
“Without even asking if you may,
God knows when His child is too tired to pray.
He judges not solely by uttered prayer,
He knows when the yearnings of love are there.”
“He knows you do pray, He know you do trust,
And He knows, too, the limits of poor weak dust,
Oh, the wonderful sympathy of Christ,
For His chosen ones in that midnight tryst,”
“When He bade them sleep and take their rest,
While on Him the guilt of the whole world pressed—
You’ve given your life up to Him to keep,
Then don’t be afraid to go right to sleep.” 
十二月二十三日 
“你当走的路甚远。 （王上十九：7）
　　神怎样对待他疲乏的仆人？给他好东西吃，给他甜蜜睡眠。以利亚曾行了奇妙的神迹，曾奔在亚哈的车子前头，所以他的身体非常疲惫；疲惫的反应就是受压。在这里我们看见：身体的保重是必需的。今天许多神的仆人所缺乏的都是睡眠和调养。有许多属灵的伟人都像以利亚一般━在罗腾树下求死！啊，听哪，这声调何等甘甜：“你当走的路甚远，起来吃吧！”━选 
有人在操劳过度后说道:
我已倦得无力信靠和祷告,
我心中存着一个有意识的念头,
啊!我能不能丢开一切而安睡!
你是否想神会不会原谅我,
假如我就像婴孩似的睡眠,
不问一声可不可以让我这样做,
根本不去试试信靠和祷告?
神会不会原谅你?你必这样想,
在你还不会讲话的幼年,
母亲难道不给你所需的休息,
或着拒绝你靠着她怀中安眠!
你不会发问时,她会让你缺乏吗?
她曾否叫孩子做不能胜任的事情?
她岂不曾把你抱在臂弯里,
守护着安睡,不受震惊?
母爱是多么的敏锐,
她洞察婴儿不自觉的愿望。 
当你倦得无力信靠和祷告,
当你身体操劳过度而疲乏。 
你就把一切丢开,安心休息,
像从前那样,靠在母亲怀中,
祂知道你,亲爱的主知道一切,
你只管像婴孩似的睡觉。 
你无需去问可以不可以,
祂知道祂孩子疲倦无力祷告。 
祂不仅凭有声的祷告来判断,
何处有爱的渴望,祂都知道。
祂也知道能力微弱的肉身,
对于和祂在午夜相会的选民,
基督俱有多么奇妙的同情。 
当祂唤他们去睡觉去休息,
其时全世界的罪恶都由祂承挑,
你已把你的生命交给祂保护,
只管去睡觉,用不着心焦。
December 24
“And Isaac went out to meditate in the fields at eventide” (Gen. 24:63)
We should be better Christians if we were more alone; we should do more if we attempted less, and spent more time in retirement, and quiet waiting upon God. The world is too much with us; we are afflicted with the idea that we are doing nothing unless we are fussily running to and fro; we do not believe in "the calm retreat, the silent shade." As a people, we are of a very practical turn of mind; "we believe," as someone has said, "in having all our irons in the fire, and consider the time not spent between the anvil and the fire as lost, or much the same as lost." Yet no time is more profitably spent than that which is set apart for quiet musing, for talking with God, for looking up to Heaven. We cannot have too many of these open spaces in life, hours in which the soul is left accessible to any sweet thought or influence it may please God to send.
“Reverie,” it has been said, “is the Sunday of the mind.” Let us often in these days give our mind a "Sunday," in which it will do no manner of work but simply lie still, and look upward, and spread itself out before the Lord like Gideon's fleece, to be soaked and moistened with the dews of Heaven. Let there be intervals when we shall do nothing, think nothing, plan nothing, but just lay ourselves on the green lap of nature and “rest awhile.”
Time so spent is not lost time. The fisherman cannot be said to be losing time when he is mending his nets, nor the mower when he takes a few minutes to sharpen his scythe at the top of the ridge. City men cannot do better than follow the example of Isaac, and, as often as they can, get away from the fret and fever of life into fields. Wearied with the heat and din, the noise and bustle, communion with nature is very grateful; it will have a calming, healing influence. A walk through the fields, a saunter by the seashore or across the daisy-sprinkled meadows, will purge your life from sordidness, and make the heart beat with new joy and hope.━Selected 
The little cares that fretted me,I lost them yesterday, Out in the field with God.” 
Christmas Eve
BELLS ACROSS THE SNOW
“0 Christmas, merry Christmas,
Is it really come again,
With its memories and greetings,
With its joy and with its pain!
There's a minor in the carol
And a shadow in the light,
And a spray of cypress twining
With the holly wreath tonight.
And the hush is never broken,
By laughter light and low,
As we listen in the starlight,
To the "bells across the snow.“
“0 Christmas, merry Christmas,
'Tis not so very long
Since other voices blended
With the carol and the song!
If we could but hear them singing,
As they are singing now,
If we could but see the radiance,
Of the crown on each dear brow,
There would be no sigh to smother,
No hidden tear to flow,
As we listen in the starlight,
To the "bells across the snow."
“0 Christmas, merry Christmas,
This never more can be;
We cannot bring again the days
Of our unshadowed glee,
But Christmas, happy Christmas,
Sweet herald of good will,
With holy songs of glory
Brings holy gladness still.
For peace and hope may brighten,
And patient love may glow,
As we listen in the starlight,
To the"bells across the snow.”
━Frances Ridley Havergal 
十二月二十四日 
天将晚，以撒出来在田间默想。”（创廿四：63）
我们若有更多单独的时间，就必有更多属灵的长进；我们若少尝试，多退修，就必有更大工作的果效。我们常以为不做事是懒惰、是羞耻，所以我们顶喜欢跑来跑去瞎忙。其实，默想的时候，与神谈话的时间，举目望天的时间，是对我们最有益的时间。这种时间从不会“太多”的。
或说：默想是心灵的休息，让我们常常给心灵以休息的机会，那时任何有形的工作都要暂停止，只是静静地躺下，仰望着星宿，好象基甸的羊群那样，在神面前展开身体，接受天降的甘露，我们亦要有间歇的时间，不工作，不计算，躺在大自然的怀抱里，好好的安息。 
这种时间绝对不是虚耗。渔夫坐下补网，你能不能说他虚耗时间呢？割草者坐下磨刀，你能不能说他虚耗时间呢？我们应该常学以撒的样，从热闷的生活中出来，到田间去默想。我们所过的是热闹的生活、喧噪的生活、忙录的生活，能常与大自然接触的话，的确是一件非常痛快的事情。田间散步，海边闲游，能使我们心中充满新的喜乐和盼望。━选 
“昨天我失去了那些使我苦恼的忧虑和不安，……其时，我和神同在田野之间”。
圣诞前夕之歌
静听雪地钟声
啊,圣诞,快乐圣诞,
果然再度来临,
带着它的记念和祝福,
带着它的苦痛和欢欣!
歌声中有低沉的音节,
亮光里也有一些暗冥,
今夜,有表示神圣的花园,
交织着一枝枝松柏青青。
只是笑声那末低微,
打不破寂然的沉静,
我们在星光下听聆,
雪地里传来的钟声。
啊,圣诞,快乐圣诞,
离开现在并不太久,
其时还有别的声息,
于颂赞中交响而奏!
只要能听到他们的歌唱,
正像此刻的音节铿锵,
只要能看到他们的额上,
闪耀着冠冕的光芒,
就不会有窒息的哀叹,
也不会有眼泪的暗洒,
我们在星光下听聆,
雪地里传来的钟声。
啊,圣诞,快乐圣诞,
佳节不常,良辰不再；
已经过去的欢愉日子,
我们无法唤它重复回来,
但一年一度的快乐圣诞,
预告着甜美的福音,
随着光荣的圣歌,
依旧带来了天上的欢欣。
坚贞的爱会洋溢人间,
和平与希望会放出光明,
我们在星光下听聆,
雪地里传来的钟声。
━海弗格尔
December 25
“His name shall be called Emmanuel. . .God with us.” (Matt. 1:23)
“The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6)
A few years ago a striking Christmas card was published, with the title, “If Christ had not come.” It was founded upon our Saviour's words, “If I had not come.” (Jn.15:22) The card represented a clergyman falling into a short sleep in his study on Christmas morning and dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come.
In his dream he found himself looking through his home, but there were no little stockings in the chimney corner, no Christmas bells or wreaths of holly, and no Christ to comfort, gladden and save. He walked out on the public street, but there was no church with its spire pointing to Heaven. He came back and sat down in his library, but every book about the Saviour had disappeared.
A ring at the door-bell, and a messenger asked him to visit a poor dying mother. He hastened with, the weeping child and as he reached the home he sat down and said, "I have something here that will comfort you." He opened his Bible to look for a familiar promise, but it ended at Malachi, and there was no gospel and no promise of hope and salvation, and he could only bow his head and weep with her in bitter despair.
Two days afterward he stood beside her coffin and conducted the funeral service, but there was no message of consolation, no word of a glorious resurrection, no open Heaven, but only "dust to dust, ashes to ashes," and one long eternal farewell. He realized at length that "He had not come," and burst into tears and bitter weeping in his sorrowful dream.
Suddenly he woke with a start, and a great shout of joy and praise burst from his lips as he heard his choir singing in his church close by:
“O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels,
O come let us adore Him, Christ, the Lord.”
Let us be glad and rejoice today, because “He has come.” And let us remember the annunciation of the angel, “Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)
“He comes to make His blessing flow, 
Far as the curse is found.”
May our hearts go out to the people in heathen lands who have no blessed Christmas day. “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and SEND PORTIONS TO THEM FOR WHOM NOTHING IS PREPARED.” (Neh. 8:10)
十二月二十五日 
“人要称祂的名为以马内利”。（太一：23）
“祂名称为奇妙，策士，全能的神，永在的父，和平的君”。 （赛九：6）
数年前，坊间发行过一张异于寻常的圣诞卡片，标题是：“假若基督没来”。它源出于我们救主的一句话：“我若没有来”。（约15：22）卡上描述某个圣诞节早晨，有位牧师在书房里睡了一会儿，梦见耶稣从未到过的一个世界。
　　他在梦中环顾自己的家室，壁炉角落里没有长袜，没有圣诞铃或冬青花圈，没有基督的安慰，喜悦和救赎。他走到大街，也看不到指向天国的教堂尖阁。他回来坐在书房里，但每一本有关救主的书都不见了。
　　门铃响了，有个孩子来请他去看望那将断气的可怜母亲。他急忙跟着那啼哭的孩子赶去，到了那里，他坐下来说道：“我这儿有点东西能安慰你”。他打开圣经，想找一句熟悉的诺言，但圣经只写到玛拉基书，没有福音，没有希望和救世的诺言，他只能垂着头和她一同在痛苦的绝望中哭泣。
　　两天后，他站在她棺材旁，主持葬仪，但是找不到安慰亡灵的唁词，没有光荣复活的字句，没有敞开天堂的言语，只要“尘归于尘，土归于土”，和遥遥无期的永别。他终于明白“祂未曾来到”，于是泪如泉涌，在那悲哀的梦中痛苦起来。
　　他突然惊醒，听道他的唱班正在教堂里歌唱，于是发出了一声欣喜和赞美的欢呼。
齊來!宗主信徒,快樂又歡欣,
齊來!一齊來!,大家上伯利恆;
來朝見聖嬰,新生王已降臨,
齊來崇拜我主基督。
　　让我们今天快乐欢欣，因为“祂已来临”。让我们记得天使的通告：“我报给你们的大喜的信息，是关于万民的，因今天在大卫的城里，为你们生了救主，就是基督。”（路2：10-11）
“ 祂来使祂的祝福漫溢着遭受咒诅的所有地面。” 
　　愿我们关心那些住在邪教区域的人民，他们没有幸福的圣诞节。“你们去吃肥美的，喝甘甜的，有不能预备的，就分给他。”（尼8：10）
December 26
“Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder” (Matt. 26:36)
It is a hard thing to be kept in the background at a time of crisis. In the Garden of Gethsemane eight of the eleven disciples were left to do nothing. Jesus went to the front to pray; Peter, James and John went to the middle to watch; the rest sat down in the rear to wait. Methinks that party in the rear must have murmured. They were in the garden, but that was all; they had no share in the cultivation of its flowers. It was a time of crisis, a time of storm and stress; and yet they were not suffered to work.
You and I have often felt that experience, that disappointment. There has arisen, mayhap a great opportunity for Christian service. Some are sent to the front; some are sent to the middle. But we are made to lie down in the rear. Perhaps sickness has come; perhaps poverty has come; perhaps obloquy has come; in any case we are hindered and we feel sore. We do not see why we should be excluded from a part in the Christian life. It seems like an unjust thing that, seeing we have been allowed to enter the garden, no path should be assigned to us there.
Be still, my soul, it is not as thou deemest! Thou art not excluded from a part of the Christian life. Thinkest thou that the garden of the Lord has only a place for those who walk and for those who stand! Nay, it has a spot consecrated to those who are compelled to sit. 
There are three voices in a verb━active, passive and neuter. So, too, there are three voices in Christ's verb "to live." There are the active, watching souls, who go to the front, and struggle till the breaking of the day. There are the passive, watching souls, who stand in the middle, and report to others the progress of the fight. But there are also the neuter souls━those who can neither fight, nor be spectators of the fight, but have simply to lie down.
When that experience comes to thee, remember, thou are not shunted. Remember it is Christ that says, "Sit ye here." Thy spot in the garden has also been consecrated. It has a special name. It is not "the place of wrestling," nor "the place of watching," but "the place of waiting." There are lives that come into this world neither to do great work nor to bear great burdens, but simply to be; they are the neuter verbs. They are the flowers of the garden which have had no active mission. They have wreathed no chaplet; they have graced no table; they have escaped the eye of Peter and James and John. But they have gladdened the sight of Jesus. By their mere perfume, by their mere beauty, they have brought Him joy; by the very preservation of their loveliness in the valley they have lifted the Master's heart. Thou needst not murmur shouldst thou be one of these flowers! ━Selected 
十二月二十六日 
“你们坐在这里，等我到那边去祷告。”（太廿六:36）
　在一个危急的时候，被遗留在后面，是一件非常难堪的事情。在客西马尼园里，十一个门徒里面，有八个被留在后面不做甚么。主耶稣往前面去祷告：彼得、雅各、约翰在中间儆醒，其余的在后面等着。照我想来，在后面的门徒必定会抱怨。他们虽在花园里面却不过只在花园里面罢了；他们对于花园里面花草的耕种，无分无关。那时正是一个危急的时候，一个紧要的关头；可是他们又不能擅自妄动。
　　你和我也常有这种经历、这种失望。也许现在正有许多机会给基督徒工作。有的弟兄姐妹已经到前方去了；有的弟兄姐妹已经到中间去了，只有我们仍留在后方伏着。或者因着疾病；或者因着缺乏；或者因着诽谤；无论因着什么，我们受到拦阻，心中非常悲痛。我们不明白为甚么我们不能有分于主的工作。这似乎是一件非常不公平的事情━既然允许我们进了花园，又不在花园里分派我们工作。
　　我的魂哪，应当安静，事情并不照你所想的那样悲痛！你并不是无分于主的工作；你想主的花园里只有走的地方、立的地方么？不，里面来有一个地方，是专为那些不得不坐的人预备的。
　　一个动字，有三个位格（Voices）━施事格（Active），受事格（Passive），不及物格（Neuter）。为基督活着的“活”字，也有三个位格。施事格━往前方去奋斗。受事格━站在中间报告前方战事的进展。不及物格━既不能打仗，又无能看仗，只能伏在后方。
　　如果今天你正伏在后方的话，请你记得，对你说：“你坐在这里”的，是主。你所坐的地方并不是“摔跤处”，也不是“儆醒处”，乃是“等候处”。有许多人神把他们放在世上，并不是要他们成功伟大的事业，也不是要他们背负重大的担子，乃是要他们单单活着；他们是不及物动字。他们是没有使命的花。他们用不着包扎花圈，他们用不着点缀食桌。他们虽没有彼得、雅各布、约翰看见，他们却已经叫主耶稣喜悦了。他们的香气、他们的美丽，已够叫主喜乐了。亲爱的，如果你正是这一朵花，请你不要抱怨。━选
December 27
“His soul entered into iron” (Ps. 105:18)
Turn that about and render it in our language, and it reads thus, "Iron entered his soul." Is there not a truth in this? That sorrow and privation, the yoke borne in the youth, the soul's enforced restraint, are all conducive to an iron tenacity and strength of purpose, and endurance or fortitude, which are the indispensable foundation and framework of a noble character.
Do not flinch from suffering; bear it silently, patiently, resignedly; and be sure that it is God's way of infusing iron into your spiritual life. The world wants iron dukes, iron battalions, iron sinews, and thews of steel. God wants iron saints; and since there is no way of imparting iron to the moral nature but by letting people suffer, He lets them suffer.
Are the best years of your life slipping away in enforced monotony? Are you beset by opposition, misunderstanding, and scorn, as the thick undergrowth besets the passage of the woodsman pioneer? Then take heart; the time is not wasted; God is only putting you through the iron regimen. The iron crown of suffering precedes the golden crown of glory. And iron is entering into your soul to make it strong and brave. ━F. B. Meyer
“But you will not mind the roughness nor the steepness of the way,
Nor the chill, unrested morning, nor the searness of the day;
And you will not take a turning to the left or the right,
But go straight ahead, nor tremble at the coming of the night,
For the road leads home.” 
十二月二十七日
“他的魂被铁捆拘。” （诗一百零五:18直译）
我们的悲哀、困难、铁轭、束缚，好似一个铁圈，把我们紧紧围住。它们替我们造出力量来、忍耐来、刚毅来。
　　信徒啊，不要逃避苦难；安安静静、忍忍耐耐、顺顺服服地忍受着；要知到这是神泡制你的方法。世界喜欢铁血将军；神喜欢铁血圣徒。除了让我们受苦以外，没有别的方法可以把我们制成铁血圣徒；所以神只得忍痛让我们受苦。
　　亲爱的，你觉得一生最好的年日在沙漠生活中虚渡了么？你是不是正被反对、误会、侮蔑…等围困呢？振起精神来，你现在所花的时间并不是虚度的；神叫你经过铁的训练。荣耀的金冠冕之前，必有苦难的铁冠冕。
━梅尔
你不會介意路途的不平或艱險,
也不會介意寒冷莫測的早晨,
更不會介意白晝的炎熱難堪；
你不會向左或向右轉彎,
只是勇往直前,不怕黑夜來臨,
因為這條路通往家門。
December 28
“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice”(Phil. 4:4)
“Sing a little song of trust,
0 my heart!
Sing it just because you must,
As leaves start;
As flowers push their way through dust;
Sing, my heart, because you must.”
“Wait not for an eager throng—
Bird on bird;
'Tis the solitary song
That is heard.
Every voice at dawn will start,
Be a nightingale, my heart! ”
“Sing across the winter snow,
Pierce the cloud;
Sing when mists are drooping low—
Clear and loud;
But sing sweetest in the dark;
He who slumbers not will hark.”
“An' when He hears yo' sing, He bends down wid a smile on His kin' face an' listens mighty keerful, an' He says, 'Sing on, chile, I hears, an' I's comin' down to deliber yo': I'll tote dat load fer yo'; jest lean hawd on Me and de road will get smoother bime by.'” 
十二月二十八日
“你们要靠主常常喜乐，我再说你们要喜乐”（腓四：4） 
我的心哪!
唱一首信靠的歌,
唱吧,你必須要唱,
像嫩芽一樣的萌出,
又像花朵自然地開放；
唱吧,用心靈來唱,你必須要唱。
莫等待熱鬧的
百鳥齊鳴；
唯有單獨的歌唱,
不受聆聽。
天亮了我們歌聲開放,
我的心啊,像夜鶯一般地獨唱。
歌聲飄揚過雪地,
穿雲層之上,
當迷霧低垂的時候,
唱得清脆響亮,
在黑暗中才能唱出甜美的歌聲,
讓失喪的人靜靜欣賞。
神听到你的歌唱，祂就弯下身来，慈祥的脸上带着微笑，非常高兴的听着。然后祂说：“孩子，唱下去，我在听，我正要下来拯救你；我将为你承担重负，只管紧靠着我，路途不久就会逐渐平坦。”
December 29
“Arise . . . for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good; and are ye still? Be not slothful to go, and enter to possess the land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth” (Judges 18:9-10) 
Arise! Then there is something definite for us to do. Nothing is ours unless we take it. “The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance” (Josh.16:4) “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions” (Obad.17) “The upright shall have good things in possession.” (Prov.28:10)
We need to have appropriating faith in regard to God's promises. We must make God's Word our own personal possession. A child was asked once what appropriating faith was, and the answer was, “It is taking a pencil and underscoring all the me's and mine's and my's in the Bible.”
Take any word you please that He has spoken and say, “That word is my word.” Put your finger on this promise and say, “It is mine.”How much of the Word has been endorsed and receipted and said “It is done.” How many promises can you subscribe and say, “Fulfilled to me.”
“Son, thou art ever with Me, and all that I have is thine.” Don't let your inheritance go by default.
“When faith goes to market it always takes a basket.” 
十二月二十九日 
「起来……我们已经窥探那地，见那地甚好。你们为何静坐不动呢？要急速前往得那地为业，不可迟延。……神已将那地交在你们手中，那地百物俱全，一无所缺。」 （士十八:9-10） 
　　起来！有许多土地等着我们去得。我们如果静坐不动，没有一件东西会落到我们手中。“约瑟的儿子玛拿西、以法莲，就得了他们的地业。”（书16章4节）。“雅各家必得原有的产业”（俄17节）。“惟有完全人，必承受福份”（箴28章10节）。产业和福分都是要去得、去承受的。
　　对于神的应许，我们当有“据为己有”的信心。我们当把神的话算为我们个人的产业。有一次，一为教员问一个孩子道：“甚么是据为己有的信心？”孩子回答说：“据为己有的信心乃是：拿一支红笔，把圣经胜所有的“我”， “我的”旁边，都画上红线。”
　　凡是主所说的无论那一句话，你都可以把你的手指放在上面说：“这是我的。”读者阿，有多少应许你能说：“在我身上已经成就了”呢？
　　“儿啊，你常和我同在，我一切所有的，都是你的。”（路15章31节）亲爱的啊，不要因懈怠失去你的遗产啊！
　　信心上市场的时候，总是带着篮子的。━选
December 30
“Peter was kept in prison: but prayer (instant and earnest prayer) was made for him.”(Acts 12:5,margin)
Peter was in prison awaiting his execution. The Church had neither human power nor influence to save him. There was no earthly help, but there was help to be obtained by the way of Heaven. They gave themselves to fervent, importunate prayer. God sent His angel, who aroused Peter from sleep and led him out through the first and second wards of the prison; and when they came to the iron gate, it opened to them of its own accord, and Peter was free.
There may be some iron gate in your life that has blocked your way. Like a caged bird you have often beaten against the bars, but instead of helping, you have only had to fall back tired, exhausted and sore at heart. There is a secret for you to learn, and that is believing prayer; and when you come to the iron gate, it will open of its own accord. How much wasted energy and sore disappointment will be saved if you will learn to pray as did the Church in the upper room! Insurmountable difficulties will disappear; adverse circumstances will prove favorable if you learn to pray, not with your own faith but with the faith of God (Mark 11:22, margin). Souls in prison have been waiting for years for the gate to open; love ones out of Christ, bound by Satan, will be set free when you pray till you definitely believe God. ━C. H. P.
Emergencies call for intense prayer. When the man becomes the prayer nothing can resist its touch. Elijah on Carmel, bowed down on the ground, with his face between his knees, that was prayer━the man himself. No words are mentioned. Prayer can be too tense for words. The man's whole being was in touch with God, and was set with God against the powers of evil. They couldn't withstand such praying. There's more of this embodied praying needed. ━The Bent-knee Time
“Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused.”
━C. H. Spurgeon 
十二月三十日 
“彼得被囚在监。教会却为他切切的祷告神（徒十二:5）
彼得在监里等候处决。教会既没有能力拯救他，又没有势力拯救他。地上的帮助得不到了，可是天上的帮助还得得到。他们切切的祷告神。神遂差遣他的使者，夜间去拍醒彼得，领他过了第一层、第二层监牢，来到临街铁门。那门自己开了，彼得就得了自由。
　亲爱的，在你的道路上，也许也有铁门阻塞你的前进。像一只笼中的鸟一般，你一直击打门闩；可是非但得不到帮助，反使你非常疲惫，非常疼痛。你如果学会了秘诀，就不会这样了。甚么秘诀呢？就是相信祷告；(可11:22) 这样，当你来到铁门旁边，那门就会自己开了。如果你能想象当初的教会在楼房里那样恳切祷告，你就会节省许多精力，免除许多烦恼，困难也能胜过了；逆境也能顺利了；被撒但所捆绑的亲友也能得到释放了。
━C.H.P.
　　危急的时候，是祷告最恳切的时候。伊莱贾在迦密山顶屈身在地，将脸伏在两膝之中。虽然没有出声的话语，他的全人已经与神合一━与神同心合意地反对恶者的势力。这是我们祷告时所当有的态度。━译自屈膝的时候
　　说不出来的叹息常是不能拒绝的祷告。━司布真
December 31
“Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” (1Samuel 7:12)
The word“hitherto”seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, and yet“hitherto hath the Lord helped us!”Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health; at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea; in honor, in dishonor, in perplexity, in joy, in trial, in triumph in prayer, in temptation-“hitherto hath the Lord helped!” 
We delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from one end of the long vista, a sort of verdant temple, with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves. Even so look down the long aisles of your years, at the green boughs of mercy overhead, and the strong pillars of lovingkindness and faithfulness which bear up your joys.
Are there no birds in yonder branches singing? Surely, there must be many, and they all sing of mercy received“hitherto.” 
But the word also points forward. For when a man gets up to a certain mark, and writes “hitherto,”he is not yet at the end; there are still distances to be traversed. More trials, more joys; more temptations, more triumphs; more prayers, more answers; more toils, more strength; more fights, more victories; and then come sickness, old age, disease, death.
Is it over now? No! there is more yet-awakening in Jesus’ likeness, thrones, harps, songs psalms, white raiment, the face of Jesus, the society of saints, the glory of God, the fullness of eternity, the infinity of bliss. Oh, be of good courage, believer, and with grateful confidence raise thy“Ebenezer,”for,
“He who hath helped thee hitherto 
Will help thee ail thy journey through.”
When read in Heaven’s light, how glorious and marvelous a prospect will thy “hitherto”unfold to thy grateful eye. ━ C. H. Spurgeon.
The Alpine shepherds have a beautiful custom of ending the day by singing to one another an evening farewell. The air is so crystalline that the song will carry long distances. As the dusk begins to fall, they gather their flocks and begin to lead them down the mountain paths, singing, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. Let us praise His name!” And at last with a sweet courtesy, they sing to one another the friendly farewell: “Goodnight! Goodnight! ”The words are taken up by the echoes, and from side to side the song goes reverberating sweetly and softly until the music dies away in the distance. 
So let us call out to one another through the darkness, till the gloom becomes vocal with many voices, encouraging the pilgrim host. Let the echoes gather till a very storm of Hallelujahs break in thundering waves around the sapphire throne, and then as the morning breaks we shall find ourselves at the margin of the sea of glass, cryinjg, with the redeemed host,“Blessing and honor and glory be unto him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever!”
“This my song through endless ages,
Jesus led me all the way.”
“AND AGAIN THEY SAID, HALLELUJAH!” (Rev.19:3, R.V.) ━Selected 
十二月三十一日
　“到如今耶和华都帮助我们。”（撒上7:12） 
“到如今”三个字，指着以往━以往二十年、以往七十年，“耶和华都帮助我们！”无论在贫乏中、在丰裕中；在疾病中、在健康中；在家、在外；在陆地、在海洋；在光荣中、在羞辱中；在疑难中、在欢乐中；在试炼中、在胜利中；在祷告中、在试探中━“耶和华都帮助我们！” 
我们有时看见一条两旁有树的大道，非常欣赏━从这一头往那一头望去，有绿的景色，看了非常爽快；一株一株的树，正像殿中一根一根柱子。现在让我们来看我们自己年来所走的道路━上面铺张着的是神的怜悯，两旁直立着的是神的慈爱和信实。啊，你看了快乐不快乐呢？
树上岂没有小鸟在唱歌么？有，并且有许多，它们都在唱“到如今”所领受的恩典和怜悯。
“到如今”三个字，也指着将来。因为当我们写“到如今”这三个字的时候，我们的人生还没结束；前面还有很远的道路要走。前面还有更多的试炼、更多的胜利；更多的祷告、更多的答应；更多的跋涉、更多的力量；更多的战争、更多的凯旋；然后才有疾病、老年、死亡。
就这样完了？不！还有许多哩━带着主的形像复活、坐宝座、弹金琴、唱新歌、发赞美、穿白衣、享永生……哦，信徒啊，振起你的精神来，用感激的心来唱“以便以谢”罢！（撒上7:12）
「祂到如今都帮助你,必定帮助你到底。」
求主给我们天上的亮光，叫我们的眼睛能看见“到如今”三个字里面的荣耀的盼望。━司布真
爱尔帕地方的牧童，有一个美丽的习惯：他们每天傍晚分别之前，互相对唱一首“再见歌”。他们一面走，一面唱，“到如今耶和华都帮助我们。让我们赞美他的名！”然后互相行一个再见礼，唱道：“再见！再见！”
但愿我们在黑暗的旅程中，也这样互相呼唤、互相激励。“哈利路亚，赞美主！”我们真需要这口号来破这沉闷的空气！让我们高唱：“但愿颂赞、尊贵、荣耀、权势，都归给坐宝座的和羔羊，直到永永远远。”
（启5：13）
「这是我的诗歌,一直到底;耶稣领导我全程。」 
又说:“哈利路亚”(启19:3)━选