耶稣吩咐完了十二个门徒，就离开那里，往各城去传道教训人。（太十一1）
若神叫你“去”，你却因为过于牵挂本地的人而留下来；那么，你反剥夺了他们领受主耶稣教训的机会。你若顺服，把一切后果交给神，他就到你的城里去教训人。你一天不顺服，就成了阻碍。当心辩论一开始，你所谓的责任，就与主的命令相抗衡。“我知道神叫我去，但他们——我的责任却在此。”这样说，就表示你不把主的话当真。他吩咐我们不要去教导的地方，他自己会去。
“夫子……我们搭三座棚。”我们是否在别人身上，充当了业余的神明？我们教导别人的声音，是否使神根本无法就近他人？要闭嘴，保持心灵的敏锐。神要把他儿子的事教训我们，要把我们祷告的时间变成登山变像的经历。可是，我们却不让他这样做。我们自以为知道神一定用某种方法行事时，他就不再用那种方法。他吩咐我们在那里等候，他就在那里作工。
“等候，直到……”等候神，他就必作工。可是等候的时候，不要因为看不到出路而鬱鬱不乐。我们能否离开自己那份属灵的激情去等候神？等候不是抱着手呆着，乃是学习按神的吩咐而行。神在这几方面的作为，我们甚少人认识。
祈祷◆主啊，在这个早上，我的处境对我的意识构成极大的压力。让我的思想、情感，我的整个本性，去思想你为我所命定的是什么；由此，我便可以知道我所做的并没有错。
August 1 Something More About His Ways
He comes where He commands us to leave.
“When Jesus had made an end of commanding his disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.” Matthew 11:1.
If when God said “Go”, you stayed because you were so concerned about your people at home, you robbed them of the teaching and preaching of Jesus Christ Himself. When you obeyed and left all consequences to God, the Lord went into your city to teach; as long as you would not obey, you were in the way. Watch where you begin to debate and to put what you call duty in competition with your Lord's commands. “I know He told me to go, but then my duty was here”; that means you do not believe that Jesus means what He says.
He teaches where He instructs us not to.
“Master, . . . let us make three tabernacles.”
Are we playing the spiritual amateur providence in other lives? Are we so noisy in our instruction of others that God cannot get anywhere near them? We have to keep our mouths shut and our spirits alert. God wants to instruct us in regard to His Son, He wants to turn our times of prayer into mounts of transfiguration, and we will not let Him. When we are certain of the way God is going to work, He will never work in that way any more.
He works where He sends us to wait.
“Tarry ye . . . until . . .” Wait on God and He will work, but don't wait in spiritual sulks because you cannot see an inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our own spiritual hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told.
These are phases of His ways we rarely recognize.
在世上你们有苦难，但你们可以放心，我已经胜了世界。（约十六33）
一般人都以为基督徒的人生，是没有苦难的。其实并非如此，基督徒乃是患难中得拯救。“住在至高者隐密处的，必住在全能者的荫下……祸患必不临到你。”没有灾难能临到你与神合一的处所。你若是神的儿女，必定会遭遇困难，但主耶稣说不必惊奇：“在世上你们有苦难，但你们可以放心，我已经胜了世界。”意思就是没有什么值得你害怕。在信主前不屑谈苦难的人，重生后往往变得软弱无力，因为他们对作圣徒有错误的理解。
神没有给我们胜过一切的生命；却在我们夸胜时，赐给生命。压力就是力量。没有压力，就没有力量。你求神赐生命、自由与喜乐吗？除非你肯接受压力，否则他无法把这些赐给你。你一面对压力，就得力量。胜过胆怯，踏上那一步，神就让你得吃生命树的果子，你就得着滋养。你若消耗体力，会觉得疲惫；但若你在属灵上愈用力，便愈发得力。神从来不赐明天的力量，也不赐下一刻的力量，他只给你胜过现今压力的力量。我们很容易以常理去面对困难；但圣徒若被苦难压透，反会大大喜乐，因为事情是这样困难，除了神以外，根本没有人能有办法。
祈祷◆主啊，你的思想是何等令人惊服！可是，我何时才发现自己顺服的心全然被你所占据？我似乎已被本身的渺小、自私和罪恶弄得毫无力量。
August 2 The Discipline Of Difficulty
“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
An average view of the Christian life is that it means deliverance from trouble. It is deliverance in trouble, which is very different. “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High . . . there shall no evil befall thee” – no plague can come nigh the place where you are at one with God.
If you are a child of God, there certainly will be troubles to meet, but Jesus says do not be surprised when they come. “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, there is nothing for you to fear.” Men who before they were saved would scorn to talk about troubles, often become “fushionless” after being born again because they have a wrong idea of a saint.
God does not give us overcoming life: He gives us life as we overcome. The strain is the strength. If there is no strain, there is no strength. Are you asking God to give you life and liberty and joy? He cannot, unless you will accept the strain. Immediately you face the strain, you will get the strength. Overcome your own timidity and take the step, and God will give you to eat of the tree of life and you will get nourishment. If you spend yourself out physically, you become exhausted; but spend yourself spiritually, and you get more strength. God never gives strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the minute. The temptation is to face difficulties from a common-sense standpoint. The saint is hilarious when he is crushed with difficulties because the thing is so ludicrously impossible to anyone but God.
看哪，我们上耶路撒冷去。(路十八31)
在主耶稣的生命中，耶路撒冷是他成就父神旨意的顶峰。“我不求自己的意思，只求那差我来者的意思。”在救主的一生中，这是他唯一最大的关注。路途上所遇的一切，不论忧喜成败，从不使他偏离这个目标。
“他就定意向耶路撒冷去。”最重要的是知道上耶路撒冷去，是要完成神的计划，而不是我们自己的计划。很自然的，雄心是出于我们自己；但在信徒的生命中，该没有自己的目标。今天太多人提出自己为基督而作的决定－－我们决志作基督徒，我们决定做这做那－－但新约带出的资讯，却是神自己的催逼。
“不是你们拣选了我，是我拣选了你们。”我们并未有意识地同意神的计划，乃是在不知不觉中进到神的计划里去。我们根本不知道神怎样筹算，而且一日比一日模糊。神的目标似乎总是达不到，其实是因为我们太短视，看不见他的目标。初信之时，我们对神的计划有自己的想法－－“我应该到某处某处。”“神呼召我作这特别的工作。”于是，我们去了，做了，但神的催逼依然存在。我们所作的工算不得什么，与神的催逼比较，不过是平台架而已。“耶稣带着十二个门徒。”他不住地带领着我们，我们还有许多未进入之地。
祈祷◆噢，主啊，我来到你面前；无论自觉或非自觉地，我怀着极大的需要靠近你。求你为着你的荣耀高举我、带领我、充满我，使我能和谐地配合你的计划和旨意。
August 3 The Big Compelling Of God
“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem.” Luke 18:31
Jerusalem stands in the life of Our Lord as the place where He reached the climax of His Father's will. “I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me.” That was the one dominating interest all through our Lord's life, and the things He met with on the way, joy or sorrow, success or failure, never deterred Him from His purpose. “He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”
The great thing to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfil God's purpose, not our own. Naturally, our ambitions are our own; in the Christian life we have no aim of our own. There is so much said today about our decisions for Christ, our determination to be Christians, our decisions for this and that, but in the New Testament it is the aspect of God's compelling that is brought out. “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you.” We are not taken up into conscious agreement with God's purpose, we are taken up into God's purpose without any consciousness at all. We have no conception of what God is aiming at, and as we go on it gets more and more vague. God's aim looks like missing the mark because we are too short sighted to see what He is aiming at. At the beginning of the Christian life we have our own ideas as to what God's purpose is – ‘I am meant to go here or there,’ ‘God has called me to do this special work’; and we go and do the thing, and still the big compelling of God remains. The work we do is of no account, it is so much scaffolding compared with the big compelling of God. “He took unto Him the twelve,” He takes us all the time. There is more than we have got at as yet.
耶稣带着十二个门徒。（路十八31）
神信任我们，这是多大的勇气！你说：“他挑选了我，实在不智，因为我一无所有，也一文不值。”这正是神拣选你的原因。你若自以为有，神就无法拣选你，因为你还有自己的目的。你若让他带你去到自满自足的尽头，他就能拣选你一同上耶路撒冷。这样，就成就他没有与你商量的计划。
我们常因一个人具有天然才干，便说他可以成为好的基督徒。其实，问题不在我们的装备，而在我们的贫穷；不在我们带什么来，而在神放什么在我们里面；不在知识、经验、天然的德行或坚强的个性－－这一切都无关重要。唯一要紧的，是我们在神的强力催策下，成为与他同行的人（比较林前一26-30）。对自认为对神有用的人，神不会做什么。作为基督徒，我们绝不是为自己的目标，而是单为神的目标。神的目标绝不同人的目标。我们不知道神怎样打算，但无论发生什么事，也必须保持与他的关系。绝不可容让任何事损害我们与神的关系，若这关系有损，就必须花时间去复原。基督教的重点不在于我们所作的工，乃在我们所持守的关系，以及因着这关系而产生的情操。神要我们看守的就是这个，而不断受到攻击的也正是这个。
祈祷◆噢，主啊，你何等清楚地向我显明，最重要的是神，惟独是神。愿我在这伟大的认知上，绝不绊跌任何人。
August 4 The Brave Comradeship Of God
“Then He took unto Him the twelve.” Luke 18:31
The bravery of God in trusting us! You say – “But He has been unwise to choose me, because there is nothing in me; I am not of any value.” That is why He chose you. As long as you think there is something in you, He cannot choose you because you have ends of your own to serve; but if you have let Him bring you to the end of your self-sufficiency then He can choose you to go with Him to Jerusalem, and that will mean the fulfilment of purposes which He does not discuss with you.
We are apt to say that because a man has natural ability, therefore he will make a good Christian. It is not a question of our equipment but of our poverty, not of what we bring with us, but of what God puts into us; not a question of natural virtues of strength of character, knowledge, and experience – all that is of no avail in this matter. The only thing that avails is that we are taken up into the big compelling of God and made His comrades (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26-30). The comradeship of God is made up out of men who know their poverty. He can do nothing with the man who thinks that he is of use to God. As Christians we are not out for our own cause at all, we are out for the cause of God, which can never be our cause. We do not know what God is after, but we have to maintain our relationship with Him whatever happens. We must never allow anything to injure our relationship with God; if it does get injured we must take time and get it put right. The main thing about Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the atmosphere produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to look after, and it is the one thing that is being continually assailed.
先知所写的一切事，都要成就在人子身上……他们不晓得所说的是什么。（路十八31、34）
神要耶稣基督所受的，似乎是彻头彻尾的酷灾。耶稣基督叫门徒亲眼看他受死，领他们到心碎欲绝的境地。耶稣基督的一生，除了从神的观点以外，无论从任何角度看来，都是绝对的惨败。可是，在人看来的失败，在神却为极大的胜利，因为神的心思永远与人的不同。在我们生命中，令人狐疑的呼召也会临到。神的呼召永不明确的说明，乃是内蕴的。神的呼召像海洋的呼召，除了那与海有缘的人外，没有人听得见。神的呼召难以明说，因为他的呼召是要人作他的战友，完成他的计划。而考验就是要我们相信神确知自己的目的。事情发生绝非出于偶然，一切全出于神的吩咐。因为神在进行他的计划。
我们若与神相交，又知道他要带我们进入他的计划里去，就不用再追问他的计划到底是怎样。我们在信主的路上愈久，久愈单纯，我们不会再问－－“为什么神让这事发生？”整件事情的背后，是神莫大的催策。“我的结局都有全能者去塑造。”信徒该信赖的，不是自己的智慧，而是神的智慧聪明。我们若有自己的目标，就会破坏那单纯与悠然的安息，而这正是神儿女该有的特征。
祈祷◆噢，主啊，释放我，我极之渴望与你有着单纯的关系，以致能改变任何事情，并向周遭的人散播恩福和福气。
August 5 The Baffling Call Of God
“And all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished . . . And they understood none of these things.” Luke 18:31, 34
God called Jesus Christ to what seemed unmitigated disaster. Jesus Christ called His disciples to see Him put to death; He led every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. Jesus Christ's life was an absolute failure from every standpoint but God's. But what seemed failure from man's standpoint was a tremendous triumph from God's, because God's purpose is never man's purpose.
There comes the baffling call of God in our lives also. The call of God can never be stated explicitly; it is implicit. The call of God is like the call of the sea, no one hears it but the one who has the nature of the sea in him. It cannot be stated definitely what the call of God is to, because His call is to be in comradeship with Himself for His own purposes, and the test is to believe that God knows what He is after. The things that happen do not happen by chance, they happen entirely in the decree of God. God is working out His purposes.
If we are in communion with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, we shall no longer try to find out what His purposes are. As we go on in the Christian life it gets simpler, because we are less inclined to say – Now why did God allow this and that? Behind the whole thing lies the compelling of God. “There's a divinity that shapes our ends.” A Christian is one who trusts the wits and the wisdom of God, and not his own wits. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize the children of God.
到那日，你们要奉我的名祈求。（约十六26）
我们往往以为十字架是我们要捱过去的东西；我们捱过去，是为了要走进去。其实十字架对我们只有一个意义－－完全绝对的与耶稣基督合而为一，没有什么比祷告更能实现我们与主合一。
“你们没有祈求以先，你们所需用的，你们的父早已知道了。”这样还有何需求呢？祷告的目的不是为求答允；而是与神完全的合一。如果祷告是为求答允，我们就会对神抱怨不满。其实神每次都有回答，不过并非一定照我们所期望的。我们灵里面的抱怨，只表示我们不甘愿在祷告上与主合一。在此不是要证明神听祷告，而是要作神恩惠的活证。“我并不是要为你们求父，因父已经爱你们。”你与神的关系有没有这样密切，以致主耶稣的祷告生活，成为你祷告生活的唯一理由？主耶稣代祷的生命，是否成了你有力的生命？“到那日”，你既与主完全合一，就再没有分别了。
当祷告不蒙应允，千万不要归咎别人，这是撒旦常用的网罗。祷告不蒙应允，其中必有原因，就是神要给你深切的教训，这教训不是为别人，乃是单单为你。
祈祷◆“愿你赦免我隐而未现的过错。求你拦阻仆人不犯任意妄为的罪。”噢，如此我便能够发现你在我里面所展示的平安和纯洁！
August 6 The Cross In Prayer
“At that day ye shall ask in My name.” John 16:26
We are too much given to thinking of the Cross as something we have to get through; we get through it only in order to get into it. The Cross stands for one thing only for us – a complete and entire and absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is nothing in which this identification is realized more than in prayer.
“Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.” Then why ask? The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God; prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God. If we pray because we want answers, we will get huffed with God. The answers come every time, but not always in the way we expect, and our spiritual huff shows a refusal to identify ourselves with Our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove God answers prayer; we are here to be living monuments of God's grace.
“I say not that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you.” Have you reached such an intimacy with God that the Lord Jesus Christ's life of prayer is the only explanation of your life of prayer? Has Our Lord's vicarious life become your vital life? “At that day” you will be so identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.
When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to fix the blame on someone else. That is always a snare of Satan. You will find there is a reason which is a deep instruction to you, not to anyone else.
岂不知我应当在我父的家里吗？ (路二49)
主的童年是成熟的成年。祂的童年是一个永恒的事实。我是否圣洁无瑕的孩子，像我的救主一样？我是活在父神的家里？这是否我对人生的看法？神的儿子在我里面，是否活在祂父的家里？
永恒的真实是神自己，祂的吩咐是时刻不断的。我是否时刻与真实连系？还是事情不顺遂、生命起了波澜时才祷告？我必须学习与我的主无间断的联合，这是许多人还未学会的。“我应当以我父的事为念。”生命的每一刻都活在我父家里。
单拿你自己的环境来看，你是否与主的生命紧密地合一？单纯地作神的孩子，不断与祂谈话，又知凡事皆出于祂的手？那永恒神的儿子在你的里面，是否活在父的家里？祂事奉的生命带来的诸般恩典，有没有透过你在家庭、工作并亲友间流露？你是否因着父神的旨意，在你的成圣上神子与你建立的关系，让祂作主，与祂保持完全的合一？
主代赎的生命，要成为你纯一有力的生命。昔日祂活在世人中间所作所行的，今天活在你里面，也要照样行。
祈祷◆噢，主啊，我的本性似乎是何等不愿意思想祢恩典的深奥真理，然而，我岂可不认识与祢相交的能力和纯洁？
August 7 Prayer In The Father's House
“Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's house?” Luke 2:49 (R.V.)
Our Lord's childhood was not immature man-hood; our Lord's childhood is an eternal fact. Am I a holy innocent child of God by identification with my Lord and Saviour? Do I look upon life as being in my Father's house? Is the Son of God living in His Father's house in me?
The abiding Reality is God, and His order comes through the moments. Am I always in contact with Reality, or do I only pray when things have gone wrong, when there is a disturbance in the moments of my life? I have to learn to identify myself with my Lord in holy communion in ways some of us have not begun to learn as yet. “I must be about My Father's business” – live the moments in My Father's house.
Narrow it down to your individual circumstances – are you so identified with the Lord's life that you are simply a child of God, continually talking to Him and realizing that all things come from His hands? Is the Eternal Child in you living in the Father's house? Are the graces of His ministering life working out through you in your home, in your business, in your domestic circle? Have you been wondering why you are going through the things you are? It is not that you have to go through them, it is because of the relation into which the Son of God has come in His Father's providence in your particular sainthood. Let Him have His way, keep in perfect union with Him.
The vicarious life of your Lord is to become your vital simple life; the way He worked and lived among men must be the way He lives in you.
所要生的圣者，必称为神的儿子。（路一35）
神的儿子若住在我这肉身里，他的神圣、无罪、单纯和与父的合一，能藉着我彰显吗？神的儿子怎样历史性地藉童女马利亚降生世上，也在每一个圣徒里面降生。神儿子降生在我里面，是神自己直接的行动。然后我这作为神儿女的，必须用儿女的权利，也就是时刻与父面对面。我是否常常惊异地对自己说：“你为何总是打岔？岂不知我该以我父的事为念吗？”不论环境怎样，那圣洁无暇永恒的儿子，必须与他的父亲保持联系。
我是否这样单纯地与我的主合一？他奇妙的旨意在我身上得以通行吗？神能否看见他儿子成形在我里面？还是我可以地把他放在一旁？啊，这些日子太多扰攘！人人都在喧嚷－－为了什么？要把神儿子置于死地。此时没有地方为神的儿子存留，没有地方与父静交。神的儿子在我里面祷告呢？还是听我支配？他在我里面的工作，是否与他昔日在肉身时的工作一样？在我里面神的儿子，有没有为了达成他的目标而经受苦难？我们愈认识成熟圣徒的内在生命，就愈明白神的计划－－“是要补满基督患难的缺欠。”既是“补满”，就常有可为之处。
祈祷◆噢，主啊，我何等爱慕你，但我所渴求的，是更加自觉地敬拜你、与你相交和赞美神。求你洁净我因远离你而产生的玷污。
August 8 Prayer In The Father's Honour
“That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35
If the Son of God is born into my mortal flesh, is His holy innocence and simplicity and oneness with the Father getting a chance to manifest itself in me? What was true of the Virgin Mary in the historic introduction of God's Son into this earth is true in every saint. The Son of God is born into me by the direct act of God; then I as a child of God have to exercise the right of a child, the right of being always face to face with my Father. Am I continually saying with amazement to my common-sense life – why do you want to turn me off here? Don't you know that I must be about my Father's business? Whatever the circumstances may be, that Holy Innocent Eternal Child must be in contact with His Father.
Am I simple enough to identify myself with my Lord in this way? Is He getting his wonderful way in me? Is God realizing that His Son is formed in me, or have I carefully put Him on one side? Oh, the clamour of these days! Everyone is clamouring – for what? For the Son of God to be put to death. There is no room here for the Son of God just now, no room for quiet holy communion with the Father.
Is the Son of God praying in me or am I dictating to Him? Is He ministering in me as He did in the days of His flesh? Is the Son of God in me going through His passion for His own purposes? The more one knows of the inner life of God's ripest saints, the more one sees what God's purpose is – “filling up that which is behind of the affliction of Christ.” There is always something to be done in the sense of “filling up.”
父啊，我感谢你，因为你已经听我。（约十一41）
当神的儿子祷告，他只有一个意念，就是父自己。神必然听他儿子的祷告，因此神子若成形在我里面，父也必听我的祷告。我要留心让神子在我肉身上彰显。“你们的身子就是圣灵的殿”，也就是神儿子的“伯利恒”。神子在我身上有得着他自己的机会吗？神儿子的生命是否直接纯全地在我身上活出，正如在他的历史生命中活出一样？作为一个普通人，在我日常生活里，神永恒之子向他父的祷告有没有在我里面出来？“到那日，你们要奉我的名祷告……”哪一日？就是圣灵进入我里面，叫我真与主成为一体的那日。
主耶稣在你生命中是否感到心满意足？还是你在我行我素？不要让人的常理闯进来，把神的儿子挤到一角去。常理是神给人类的一份礼物，可是并不是神儿子的礼物。神儿子所赐的是超然之理，所以不要把常理放在宝座上。神的儿子体察父心，但常理从不。我们的智慧从来不会敬拜神，除非因着住在我们里面的神子而得着改变。我们要留意身体对他完全顺服，让他可以随时自由作工。我们在人生的一切事上，是否对主完全投靠，以致他的生命在我们肉身上彰显无遗？
祈祷◆主啊，愿我“像一颗树栽在溪水旁，按时候结果子”，求你向我证明这句话的真实。
August 9 Prayer In The Father's Hearing
“Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.” John 11:41
When the Son of God prays, He has only one consciousness, and that consciousness is of His Father. God always hears the prayers of His Son, and if the Son of God is formed in me the Father will always hear my prayers. I have to see that the Son of God is manifested in my mortal flesh. “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost,” i.e., the Bethlehem of the Son of God. Is the Son of God getting His chance in me? Is the direct simplicity of the life of God's Son being worked out exactly as it was worked out in His historic life? When I come in contact with the occurrences of life as an ordinary human being, is the prayer of God's Eternal Son to His Father being prayed in me? “In that day ye shall ask in My name. . . .” What day? The day when the Holy Ghost has come to me and made me effectually one with my Lord.
Is the Lord Jesus Christ being abundantly satisfied in your life or have you got a spiritual strut on? Never let common sense obtrude and push the Son of God on one side. Common sense is a gift which God gave to human nature; but common sense is not the gift of His Son. Supernatural sense is the gift of His Son; never enthrone common sense. The Son detects the Father; common sense never yet detected the Father and never will. Our ordinary wits never worship God unless they are transfigured by the indwelling Son of God. We have to see that this mortal flesh is kept in perfect subjection to Him and that He works through it moment by moment. Are we living in such human dependence upon Jesus Christ that His life is being manifested moment by moment?
所以那照神旨意受苦的人，要一心为善，将自己灵魂交与那信实的造化之主。（彼前四19）
故意选择受苦是不妥当的；但若是为了神的旨意而甘心受苦，就完全不同了。正常的圣徒不会选择受苦；像主耶稣一样，他的选择是为了神的旨意，不管这是否需要受苦。没有圣徒能干预别的圣徒在受苦上的操练。
一个满足主心意的圣徒，能使别的圣徒靠神坚强、成熟起来。能帮助我们的，并非那些一味同情我们的人。他们会成为阻碍，因为同情可能叫人软弱。最明白圣徒的，就是最靠近主心怀的圣徒。我们若接受别人的同情，反应就是－－“神对我实在太苛刻了。”所以主耶稣说自怜出于魔鬼（太十六23）。他从不反驳，也从不维护自己。
不要以为主耶稣在世时需要人的同情；他从不接受人的同情，是因为深知地上没有人真明白他的使命。他只接受天父及天使的同情（比较路十五10）。按世人的眼光来看，神把圣徒放在最无出色的角落去，实在是极大的浪费。我们会说：“神放我在这里，因为我非常有用。”耶稣却从不这样衡量自己的生命。其实神是把圣徒放在能荣耀他的地方，我们是无权选择到底那是什么地方。
祈祷◆主啊，我完全仰赖你；在你出现之前，我若有“迷失”的感觉，相信对我是好的.
August 10 The Sacrament Of The Saint
“Let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing.” 1 Peter 4:19
To choose to suffer means that there is something wrong; to choose God's Will even if it means suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses suffering; he chooses God's will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not. No saint dare interfere with the discipline of suffering in another saint.
The saint who satisfies the heart of Jesus will make other saints strong and mature for God. The people who do us good are never those who sympathize with us, they always hinder, because sympathy enervates. No one understands a saint but the saint who is nearest to the Saviour. If we accept the sympathy of a saint, the reflex feeling is – Well, God is dealing hardly with me. That is why Jesus said self-pity was of the devil (see Matt. 16:23). Be merciful to God's reputation. It is easy to blacken God's character because God never answers back, He never vindicates Himself. Beware of the thought that Jesus needed sympathy in His earthly life; He refused sympathy from man because He knew far too wisely that no one on earth understood what He was after. He took sympathy from His Father only, and from the angels in heaven. (Cf. Luke 15:10.)
Notice God's unutterable waste of saints, according to the judgment of the world. God plants His saints in the most useless places. We say – God intends me to be here because I am so useful. Jesus never estimated His life along the line of the greatest use. God puts His saints where they will glorify Him, and we are no judges at all of where that is.
以后不再见他了。（王下二12）
倚赖以利亚是没有错的，只要是神把他给你；可是别忘记，总有一天他会离开。他不再做你的领导，因为神认为他不应该再做你的领导。你会说：“没有以利亚，我无法前行。”但神说你一定要前行。
独自在你的约但（14节）。约但是分离的表征，表示再没有人与你相交，没有人分担你的责任。你必须把从以利亚学习所得的，拿出来考验。你跟以利亚过约但河不知有多少次了，但如今你得独自面对。空说不能过，是没有用处的。这事已经临到，你必定要前行。你若要知道神是否如你所信的一样，就得单独过你的约但河。
独自在你的耶利哥（15节）。你曾在耶利哥看见以利亚行大事，但当你来到自己的耶利哥，就退缩，不肯主动去信靠神，只想别人去替你担当。可是，你若遵从以利亚所学的，就必得着神与你同在。
独自在你的伯利恒（23节）。在伯利恒你来到自己才智的尽头，这却是神智慧的开端。千万不可在智穷力竭时，仆倒恐慌之中，要紧靠着神，忠于他，他自有方法把真理显明，使你的生命成圣。把你跟以利亚所学的行出来，用他的外衣和他的祈祷。立志信靠神，不要再寻找你的以利亚了。
祈祷◆主啊，我的生命是如此倾斜，如此充满漏洞，求你今天让我全神贯注于你！愿我回到你的家中，重新过着完全倚靠你的生活。
August 11 This Experience Must Come
“And he saw him no more.” 2 Kings 2:12
It is not wrong to depend upon Elijah as long as God gives him to you, but remember the time will come when he will have to go; when he stands no more to you as your guide and leader, because God does not intend he should. You say – “I cannot go on without Elijah.” God says you must.
Alone at your Jordan. v.14. Jordan is the type of separation where there is no fellowship with anyone else, and where no one can take the responsibility for you. You have to put to the test now what you learned when you were with your Elijah. You have been to Jordan over and over again with Elijah, but now you are up against it alone. It is no use saying you cannot go; this experience has come, and you must go. If you want to know whether God is the God you have faith to believe Him to be, then go through your Jordan alone.
Alone at your Jericho. v.15. Jericho is the place where you have seen your Elijah do great things. When you come to your Jericho you have a strong disinclination to take the initiative and trust in God, you want someone else to take it for you. If you remain true to what you learned with Elijah, you will get the sign that God is with you.
Alone at your Bethel. v.23. At your Bethel you will find yourself at your wits' end and at the beginning of God's wisdom. When you get to your wits' end and feel inclined to succumb to panic, don't; stand true to God and He will bring His truth out in a way that will make your life a sacrament. Put into practice what you learned with your Elijah, use his cloak and pray. Determine to trust in God and do not look for Elijah any more.
你们这小信的人哪，为什么胆怯呢？（太八26）
我们恐惧的时候，最不可少的就是向神祷告；可是，我们的主有权要求属他的人，对他有一种深切了解的信任。神期望他的儿女对他大有信心，以致在任何重要关头仍然站得住。但我们对神的信任往往只止于某一点，就回复祷告初阶时的惊惶失措，像那些不认识神的人一样。在走投无路时，我们表现得对神毫无信心，也不信他掌管全世界；他似乎睡了，我们只看见前面的风浪。
“你们这小信的人哪！”门徒是何等难过－－“又失败了！”我们也会同样难过。我们知道其实可以叫主的心欢畅快乐－－只要对他保持绝对的信心，不管前路如何。人生风平浪静时，我们会安然的尽人的力量做到最好；但当危难一到，就立即显出倚靠的到底是谁。我们若不断地学习敬拜神、信靠他，那么在风浪的日子，对他的信心也同样至死不移。我们多次的谈到成圣的问题－－最终的目的是什么呢？就是在神里面安息，与神合一。这合一不但使我们在他眼前成为无可指摘的，更叫我们成为他的喜乐。
祈祷◆主啊，我的快乐全在乎对你的纪念，否则对你那欢愉而单纯的信靠，不过是一种轻率的举动。愿你今天让快乐四面环绕我们。
August 12 The Theology Of Rest
“Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Matthew 8:26
When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Our trust is in God up to a certain point, then we go back to the elementary panic prayers of those who do not know God. We get to our wits' end, showing that we have not the slightest confidence in Him and His government of the world; He seems to be asleep, and we see nothing but breakers ahead.
“0 ye of little faith!” What a pang must have shot through the disciples – ‘Missed it again!’ And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced down right joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead.
There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him.
We have been talking a great deal about sanctification – what is it all going to amount to? It should work out into rest in God which means oneness with God, a oneness which will make us not only blameless in His sight, but a deep joy to Him.
不要消灭圣灵的感动。（帖前五19）
圣灵的声音柔如微风，除非与神完全契合，否则不能听见。圣灵的拦阻来得极其柔细，你若不够敏感，就不能察觉他的声音。消灭了他的感动，你属灵的生命就受亏损。他拦阻的声音总是微细的，只有圣徒才听得见。
当心在你个人的见证里，要追述过去说：“许多年前，我得救了。”你若行在光中，就不必追忆，过去一切已经融合在今日与神的合一里了。你若不在光中行，就会变成一个感情用事的信徒；你若活在回忆之中，见证也变得生硬。当心别拿过去行在光中的经历，来缝补你现今不肯在光中行的破洞。圣灵一拦阻，就要停下来回转，否则，你就使他忧伤而不自知。
假设神叫你面临一个重要关头，你就差一点点未能胜过。然后神会叫你再面对同样的情形，不过没有上次那么明显。渐渐地，你对神的辨认减弱了，因自己未曾顺服而带来的羞辱却加强。
若你仍继续叫圣灵担忧，终有一天机会不再有，因为你把圣灵忧伤得退去了。但你若在这重要关头中夸胜，无边的赞美就要对神升起。对那些不断刺痛神的东西，你绝不应表同情。会刺伤神的那些东西，你必须撇弃。
祈祷◆噢，主啊，我举目仰望你，将我的盼望、我的祷告呈献给你。求你从高处藉着圣灵的内住使我重新得力，以致神的亮光在今天可以在我们周围和里面点燃起来。愿你按着本身的喜悦，以甜蜜和荣耀来充满这天。
August 13 Quench Not The Spirit
“Quench not the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19
The voice of the Spirit is as gentle as a zephyr, so gentle that unless you are living in perfect communion with God, you never hear it. The checks of the Spirit come in the most extraordinarily gentle ways, and if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice you will quench it, and your personal spiritual life will be impaired. His checks always come as a still small voice, so small that no one but the saint notices them.
Beware if in personal testimony you have to hark back and say – “Once, so many years ago, I was saved.” If you are walking in the light, there is no harking back, the past is transfused into the present wonder of communion with God. If you get out of the light you become a sentimental Christian and live on memories, your testimony has a hard, metallic note. Beware of trying to patch up a present refusal to walk in the light by recalling past experiences when you did walk in the light. Whenever the Spirit checks, call a halt and get the thing right, or you will go on grieving Him without knowing it.
Suppose God has brought you up to a crisis and you nearly go through but not quite, He will engineer the crisis again, but it will not be so keen as it was before. There will be less discernment of God and more humiliation at not having obeyed; and if you go on grieving the Spirit, there will come a time when that crisis cannot be repeated, you have grieved Him away. But if you go through the crisis, there will be the pæan of praise to God. Never sympathize with the thing that is stabbing God all the time. God has to hurt the thing that must go.
你不可轻看主的管教，被他责备的时候，也不可灰心。（来十二5）
消灭圣灵的感动是很容易的，只要我们轻看主的管教，在他责备的时候灰心，那便成了。我们对圣灵的认识若是肤浅，就会把影子当作实体，圣灵一拦阻，我们就会说：“嗯，那一定是魔鬼。”
圣灵说：“不要再在这事上盲目了；你不知道自己所处的光景。我一直未能向你显示，但现在我要向你启示。”这时候，你不可消灭圣灵的感动，也不可轻看他。当主这样管教你，就让他去做吧，让他恢复你与神的正常关系。“被他责备的时候，也不可灰心。”我们往往生神的气说：“唉，我也没有办法；我曾祷告，但事情并不如理想，我要全部放弃了。”试想若在生活其他事情上也这样说，会带来怎样的后果！
我是否愿意让神用大能抓紧我，以致他在我身上作他的工作？成圣不是要神为我作什么，乃是神要在我身上作什么。他必要使我心志上有正确的态度，以致不惜任何代价，我也愿意全然成圣。
祈祷◆愿你使我对你的感觉、辨认和专注更加敏锐，以致我最关注的是与你的关系。
August 14 Chastening
“Despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.” Hebrews 12:5
It is very easy to quench the Spirit; we do it by despising the chastening of the Lord, by fainting when we are rebuked by Him. If we have only a shallow experience of sanctification, we mistake the shadow for the reality, and when the Spirit of God begins to check, we say – oh, that must be the devil.
Never quench the Spirit, and do not despise Him when He says to you – “Don't be blind on this point any more; you are not where you thought you were. Up to the present I have not been able to reveal it to you, but I reveal it now.” When the Lord chastens you like that, let Him have His way. Let Him relate you rightly to God.
“Nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.” We get into sulks with God and say – “Oh, well, I can't help it; I did pray and things did not turn out right, and I am going to give it all up.” Think what would happen if we talked like this in any other domain of life!
Am I prepared to let God grip me by His power and do a work in me that is worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God's idea of what He wants to do for me, and He has to get me into the attitude of mind and spirit where at any cost I will let Him sanctify me wholly.
你们必须重生。（约三7）
“人老了，如何能重生呢？”答案是在于人肯死去－－对自己的权利、德行、宗教，以及其他一切全然死去，然后接受一个他从来没有的生命。这新生命是从有意识的悔改，及不自觉的成圣中孕育出来。
“凡接待他的。”（约一12）我对耶稣的认识，是因内在属灵生命的体会，还是从听人家讲论而来？我生命中有没有什么使我与主耶稣相连，使我以他为个人救主？一切的灵性历史，都必须以个人认识作为基石。重生的意思，就是我看见了主耶稣。
“人若不重生，就不能见神的国。”（约三3）我是否在寻找天国？还是看到神的统治？重生使我有了新的异象，叫我能够体察神的统治。他的统治其实一直存在，是与他的本性相符的；如今我既接受了他，就看得见他的统治。“凡从神生的，就不犯罪。”（约壹三9）我是设法不犯罪？还是已经停止犯罪？从神生的，就有神超然的能力，可以停止犯罪。圣经从没有问：基督徒应否犯罪？圣经强调基督徒必不可犯罪。新生命的效能就是使我们不犯罪，不单是有能力不犯罪，而是根本停止去犯。约翰一书三章9节不是说我们没有犯罪的可能；乃是说我们若顺服神在我们里面的生命，就不会犯罪。
祈祷◆主啊，我似乎令你忧心－－那将会带来什么后果呢？让我在你的门口守候和等待。
August 15 Signs Of The New Birth
“Ye must be born again.” John 3:7
The answer to the question “How can a man be born when he is old?” is – When he is old enough to die – to die right out to his “rag rights,” to his virtues, to his religion, to everything, and to receive into himself the life which never was there before. The new life manifests itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness.
“As many as received Him.” (John 1:12) Is my knowledge of Jesus born of internal spiritual perception, or is it only what I have learned by listening to others? Have I something in my life that connects me with the Lord Jesus as my personal Saviour? All spiritual history must have a personal knowledge for its bedrock. To be born again means that I see Jesus.
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) Do I seek for signs of the Kingdom, or do I perceive God's rule? The new birth gives a new power of vision whereby I begin to discern God's rule. His rule was there all the time, but true to His nature; now that I have received His nature I can see His rule.
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” (1 John 3:9) Do I seek to stop sinning or have I stopped sinning? To be born of God means that I have the supernatural power of God to stop sinning. In the Bible it is never – Should a Christian sin? The Bible puts it emphatically – A Christian must not sin. The effective working of the new birth life in us is that we do not commit sin, not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have stopped sinning. 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin; it means that if we obey the life of God in us, we need not sin.
他按着名叫自己的羊。（约十3）
当我误会祂时，祂认识我吗？（约二十17）人可以认识所有教义，却不一定认识耶稣。若教义只是霸占了与主的相亲，那人就陷入危机里。马利亚为什么哭？教义对马利亚来说，无重于脚下的草。任何法利赛人都可以在教义上愚弄马利亚，可是有一件事实却是他们无法抹煞的；耶稣曾从她身上赶出七个鬼。不过祂的赐福，绝对比不上祂自己。马利亚“看见耶稣站在那里，却不知道是耶稣。”但当她一听见祂的声音，便立刻知道说话的那一位原与她有关系。“夫子！”
在我固执地怀疑时，祂认识我吗？（约二十27）我有没有对主某一方面存疑－－怀疑人家的见证，因为我没有那样的经历？门徒告诉多马看见了主，多马却怀疑－－“我非看见……我总不信。”多马需要主耶稣个人的接触。祂什么时候触摸，怎样触摸，我们不晓得，但当这临到，是何等的宝贵哩。“我的主，我的神！”
我自私地不认祂时，祂认识我吗？（约二十一15-17）彼得曾发咒起誓不认耶稣，但主复活以后，却单独向他显现。祂扶起他，然后又在别人面前复兴他。“主啊，你知道我爱你！”（约二十15-17）我与耶稣基督有没有一段个人的历史？门徒的标记之一，就是与主紧密的联系，深切的认识祂，以致任何东西也不能摇动对祂的信心。
祈祷◆我们所需要的就只有你！愿今天我们与你的亲密关系，成为永远难忘的日子！
August 16 Does He Know Me?
“He calleth . . . by name.” John 10:3
When I have sadly misunderstood Him? (John 10:17) It is possible to know all about doctrine and yet not know Jesus. The soul is in danger when knowledge of doctrine outsteps intimate touch with Jesus. Why was Mary weeping? Doctrine was no more to Mary than the grass under her feet. Any Pharisee could have made a fool of Mary doctrinally, but one thing they could not ridicule out of her was the fact that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her; yet His blessings were nothing in comparison to Himself. Mary “saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus . . ;” immediately she heard the voice, she knew she had a past history with the One who spoke. “Master!”
When I have stubbornly doubted? (John 10:27) Have I been doubting something about Jesus – an experience to which others testify but which I have not had? The other disciples told Thomas that they had seen Jesus, but Thomas doubted – “Except I shall see . . , I will not believe.” Thomas needed the personal touch of Jesus. When His touches come, or how they come, we do not know; but when they do come they are indescribably precious. “My Lord and my God!”
When I have selfishly denied Him? (John 21:15-17) Peter had denied Jesus Christ with oaths and curses, and yet after the Resurrection Jesus appeared to Peter alone. He restored him in private, then He restored him before the others. “Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.”
Have I a personal history with Jesus Christ? The one sign of discipleship is intimate connection with Him, a knowledge of Jesus Christ which nothing can shake.
你还缺少一件，要变卖你一切所有的……你还要来跟从我。（路十八22）
“他听见这话……”你听过主说严厉的话吗？若没有，可能你从未听见他的话。我们听了主说许多话，却没有听见。若是真听见，他的话会显得出奇的严厉。耶稣似乎并不在乎这人是否照他的话去行。他也没有设法去挽留他。他只说：“变卖你所有的，来跟从我。”我们的主从不乞求，不劝诱，也不笼络。他只用人从未听过的严厉话，然后就顺其自然。
我听过主说严厉的话吗？他直接对我说话时，我是否立意恭听？我是否直截地听他向我说话，而不是随意解说？这个人确实明白耶稣的话，他听见了，又衡量过，然而这些话叫他心碎。他不是侮慢地离开，乃是忧愁地离开，颓丧极了。他怀着满腔热诚来见耶稣，耶稣的话却给他一盆冷水。他的话没有带来忠诚的奉献，相反地却叫人心碎地灰心失意。耶稣没有去追他，是任他离去。主知道他的话一发出，人听见了，总有一天会结出果子。可怕的事实却是我们当中好些人，不让主的话在实际生活上结果。一旦我们决志忠于主，我不知道我们会说些什么。但有一点可以肯定，他绝不会苛责我们。
祈祷◆噢，主啊，为着这些日子以来，你赐给我们的身心健康，我感谢你。噢，主啊，求你继续赐予我们。使我们脱离一切虚假的情绪、感伤和悲哀。愿你今天以活力和喜乐来赐福我们各人。
August 17 Are You Discouraged In Devotion?
“Yet lackest thou one thing; sell all that thou hast . . and come, follow Me.” Luke 18:22
“And when he heard this . . .” Have you ever heard the Master say a hard word? If you have not, I question whether you have heard Him say anything. Jesus Christ says a great deal that we listen to, but do not hear; when we do hear, His words are amazingly hard.
Jesus did not seem in the least solicitous that this man should do what He told him, He made no attempt to keep him with Him. He simply said – Sell all you have, and come, follow Me. Our Lord never pleaded, He never cajoled, He never entrapped; He simply spoke the sternest words mortal ears ever listened to, and then left it alone.
Have I ever heard Jesus say a hard word? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened? Not something I can expound or say this and that about, but something I have heard Him say to me? This man did understand what Jesus said, he heard it and he sized up what it meant, and it broke his heart. He did not go away defiant; he went away sorrowful, thoroughly discouraged. He had come to Jesus full of the fire of earnest desire, and the word of Jesus simply froze him; instead of producing an enthusiastic devotion, it produced a heart-breaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, He let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly that when once His word is heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. The terrible thing is that some of us prevent it bearing fruit in actual life. I wonder what we will say when we do make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain, He will never cast anything up at us.
他听见这话，就甚忧愁，因为他很富有。（路十八23）
这年轻富有的官黯然无语，忧忧愁愁地走了。他无话可说，他明白耶稣的话，不带半点怀疑，但主的话却叫他产生一种无以名状的忧愁。有过这样的经历吗？神曾否指着你最好的东西要你献给他？那或许是你某些特质、你所宝贵的关系、心灵与思想所想慕的事情，那时你忧愁得无言以对。主不会追逼你，也不求你，他每次在这事上遇着你，只会简单地说：“你若是认真的话，条件就是这些。”
“去变卖你所有的”，把一切在道德上可能成为你财产的东西挪去，赤裸裸的只剩下一个有意识的人站在神面前，然后把这个体交给神。争战就是在此 – 在神面前的决志。你是否忠于自己的意思，过于忠于主？若然，就很可能会听见他那叫你忧愁的严厉话。他所说的话的确严厉，只有对于那些具有他性情的人，才变得容易。当心不要让任何东西把主耶稣严厉的话削弱了。
我可以以个人贫乏为富足，或自觉一无是处，以致无法作主耶稣的门徒；我也可能太自觉于个人的价值，而无法作主的门徒。我能否在一无所有中，丢弃一无所有的自觉而真正一无所有？不然，我们便会变得灰心。灰心是自爱的幻灭，而自爱可以是爱上了对主耶稣的那份渴慕追求 – 而不是主自己。
August 18 Have You Ever Been Expressionless With Sorrow?
“And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.” Luke 18:23
The rich young ruler went away expressionless with sorrow; he had not a word to say. He had no doubt as to what Jesus said, no debate as to what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow that had not any words. Have you ever been there? Has God's word come to you about something you are very rich in – temperament, personal affinity, relationships of heart and mind? Then you have often been expressionless with sorrow. The Lord will not go after you, He will not plead, but every time He meets you on that point He will simply repeat – If you mean what you say, those are the conditions.
“Sell all that thou hast,” undress yourself morally before God of everything that might be a possession until you are a mere conscious human being, and then give God that. That is where the battle is fought – in the domain of the will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His hard sayings that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is hard, it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His disposition. Beware of allowing anything to soften a hard word of Jesus Christ's.
I can be so rich in poverty, so rich in the consciousness that I am nobody, that I shall never be a disciple of Jesus; and I can be so rich in the consciousness that I am somebody that I shall never be a disciple. Am I willing to be destitute of the sense that I am destitute? This is where discouragement comes in. Discouragement is disenchanted self-love, and self-love may be love of my devotion to Jesus.
可以到我这里来。（太十一28）
神的心意是要我们过一个完全以基督为中心的生活，但有时外界的攻击来了，我们就掉进向内观察的圈中，还以为这些东西早已对付了。自觉是破坏我们在神里面完整生命的第一个敌人，并且会不断带来摔跤。自觉不是罪，神经质的个性，或突然碰到新环境，都会产生自觉。神的心意是要我们在他里面绝对完全。任何搅扰我们在他里面安息的东西，都必须接受治疗，置之不理并非治方，而治疗的方法是来到主耶稣面前。我们若来就他，求他叫我们有基督的意识，他一定会作工，直到我们住在他里面。
绝不可让在主里的生命分割而置之不理。当心滴漏，就是因朋友或环境的影响，而造成生命的分割。当心任何破坏你与主合一、叫你单独看自己的事。保持属灵状态的正常，是至重要的。解决的办法很简单－－“到我这里来。”这句话就是我们有多少实质，我们的心志、道德、灵性有多少深度的考验。若有任何虚假的成分，那我们宁愿争辩，也不愿到耶稣那里。
祈祷◆主啊，为着今早我内心的平安感觉，我赞美你。为着救赎的深刻启示，我何其称颂你！愿你的光辉从无云的青空上，照耀我们！
August 19 Self-Consciousness
“Come unto Me.” Matthew 11:28
God means us to live a fully-orbed life in Christ Jesus, but there are times when that life is attacked from the outside, and we tumble into a way of introspection which we thought had gone. Self-consciousness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of the life in God, and self-consciousness continually produces wrestling. Self-consciousness is not sin; it may be produced by a nervous temperament or by a sudden dumping down into new circumstances. It is never God's will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs rest in Him must be cured at once, and it is not cured by being ignored, but by coming to Jesus Christ. If we come to Him and ask Him to produce Christ-consciousness, He will always do it until we learn to abide in Him.
Never allow the dividing up of your life in Christ to remain without facing it. Beware of leakage, of the dividing up of your life by the influence of friends or of circumstances; beware of anything that is going to split up your oneness with Him and make you see yourself separately. Nothing is so important as to keep right spiritually. The great solution is the simple one – “Come unto Me.” The depth of our reality, intellectually, morally and spiritually, is tested by these words. In every degree in which we are not real, we will dispute rather than come.
我就使你们得安息。（太十一28）
若有任何事物开始分化你与耶稣基督的关系，就要立即转向他，求他使你安息。不可容让任何制造不安的东西存留，要视一切分化的东西为摔跤的物件，而不要去容忍。对主说：“主啊，请证实你的意识却在我里面。”自我的意识就必退去，只要他成为一切的一切。不要让自觉意识不断的占据，因为慢慢地就会变成自怜，而自怜是属撒但的。“我被人误会了，他们该向我道歉；这一点我早就该澄清了。”不要理会别人怎样，求神给你基督的意识，他会使你绝对安全。完全的生命是小孩子的生命。当我有强烈的自觉，必然是出了乱子。只有生病的人才知道健康为何物。神的孩子不会意识到神的旨意，因为他就是神的旨意。当我们稍有偏离，才会问“你的旨意是什么？”神的孩子绝不求神让他知道神听祷告，因为他确实知道神一向垂听祈祷。
我们若想用常理去胜过自觉意识，反会使它增强。耶稣说：“到我这里来，我就使你们得安息。”也就是说，基督的意识取代了自我的意识。耶稣一来，就带来安息，这是最完美的安息，是永不自觉的。
祈祷◆我的心灵和肉体向永生神呼求！啊，我是何等软弱无力！主啊，你是我的活力和喜乐！
August 20 Completeness
“And I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once and ask Him to establish rest. Never allow anything to remain which is making the dis-peace. Take every element of disintegration as something to wrestle against, and not to suffer. Say – Lord, prove Thy consciousness in me, and self-consciousness will go and He will be all in all. Beware of allowing self-consciousness to continue because by slow degrees it will awaken self-pity, and self-pity is Satanic. Well, I am not understood; this is a thing they ought to apologize for; that is a point I really must have cleared up. Leave others alone and ask the Lord to give you Christ-consciousness, and He will poise you until the completeness is absolute.
The complete life is the life of a child. When I am consciously conscious, there is something wrong. It is the sick man who knows what health is. The child of God is not conscious of the will of God because he is the will of God. When there has been the slightest deviation from the will of God, we begin to ask – What is Thy will? A child of God never prays to be conscious that God answers prayer, he is so restfully certain that God always does answer prayer.
If we try to overcome self-consciousness by any common-sense method, we will develop it tremendously. Jesus says, “Come unto Me and I will give you rest,” i.e., Christ-consciousness will take the place of self-consciousness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest, the rest of the perfection of activity that is never conscious of itself.
虚心的人有福了。（太五3）
依我们的标准来看，新约所注意的事物，似乎都是微不足道的。“虚心的人有福了”，按原意解释是贫穷的人有福了。贫穷的人，何等平凡！今日的讲台很容易侧重意志的力量、品性的美善－－一些易于惹人注目的东西。今日常听的口号－－为主决志，其实是强调了一件我们的主从不信任的事。他从没有叫我们为他决志，他只要我们降服，这是截然不同的两件事。耶稣基督国度的基础，是在于未经修饰的平凡事物。叫我蒙福的，是我的贫穷。我若自知没有意志力、没有高贵的品质，耶稣就会说：“你有福了。”因为我是透过贫穷无有，得以进入他的国。我不能以好人的身分进入，只能以一无所有的叫化子身分进去。
一切表彰神可爱事物的真正品质，必然是不自觉的。自觉有影响力，是自负及非信徒的表现。若我说：“我怀疑自己到底是否有用。”立时就与主的生命失了连络。“信我的，要从他腹中流出活水的江河来。”我若检查那流出来的水，就失去了主的能力。哪些人影响我们最深？不是那自以为影响了我们的人，而是那些完全不知道影响我们的人。在基督徒的生命中，内涵的东西总不是自知自觉的；一旦意识到，就会失掉那未经修饰的美，这正是主耶稣亲手抚摸的特质。我们往往可以知道耶稣何时在作工，因为他能在平凡中制造超卓。
祈祷◆主啊，我要赞美你，你在每个人的生命中，也透过每个人的生命，来实行你完美的旨意。
August 21 The Ministry Of The Unnoticed
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Matthew 5:3
The New Testament notices things which from our standards do not seem to count. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” literally – Blessed are the paupers – an exceedingly commonplace thing! The preaching of to-day is apt to emphasize strength of will, beauty of character – the things that are easily noticed. The phrase we hear so often, Decide for Christ, is an emphasis on something Our Lord never trusted. He never asks us to decide for Him, but to yield to Him – a very different thing. At the basis of Jesus Christ's Kingdom is the unaffected loveliness of the commonplace. The thing I am blessed in is my poverty. If I know I have no strength of will, no nobility of disposition, then Jesus says – Blessed are you, because it is through this poverty that I enter His Kingdom. I cannot enter His Kingdom as a good man or woman, I can only enter it as a complete pauper.
The true character of the loveliness that tells for God is always unconscious. Conscious influence is priggish and un-Christian. If I say – I wonder if I am of any use – I instantly lose the bloom of the touch of the Lord. “He that believeth in me, out of him shall flow rivers of living water.” If I examine the outflow, I lose the touch of the Lord.
Which are the people who have influenced us most? Not the ones who thought they did, but those who had not the remotest notion that they were influencing us. In the Christian life the implicit is never conscious, if it is conscious it ceases to have this unaffected loveliness which is the characteristic of the touch of Jesus. We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring.
我是用水给你们施洗，……但……他要用圣灵与火给你们施洗。（太三11）
我是否已经到达可以说“我是……但他”的地步？未经历这一刻，便实在不知道圣灵的洗到底是什么意思。我果真到了尽头，一无办法；他就在此开始作人所无法作的。我预备好迎接他的来临吗？若路上有东西阻隔，不论是好是坏，他都不能来。在他来的时候，我是否预备好让他把我一切的错失带到光中对付？他正要在这些事上临到你。我明知不洁的地方，他就插足其中；我以为洁净的地方，他就离去。
悔改并不会带来罪疚感，只会叫人觉得自己绝对的不配。我悔改时，知道自己无能为力，连替他提鞋也不配。我有没有这样悔改过？还是暗地里还为自己留一点余地？神仍未能进入我的生命，是因为我还未彻底悔改。“他要用圣灵与火给你们施洗。”约翰并没有把圣灵的洗当作一个经历，他是视之为耶稣基督的工作。“他要给你们施洗。”凡受过圣灵施洗的人，唯一的知觉就是自己完全不配。“我是……”这样或那样，“但他”来了，奇妙的事就发生。我们退居末位吧，让他成就一切。
祈祷◆主啊，我多么贫乏！那么多的软弱潜伏在隐藏的地方，要将我整个人摧毁。噢，主啊，我投向你。我何等需要认识到，离开了你，我便不能作什么。
August 22 “I Indeed… But He”
I indeed baptize you with water . . but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire.” Matthew 3:11
Have I ever come to a place in my experience where I can say – “I indeed – but He”? Until that moment does come, I will never know what the baptism of the Holy Ghost means. I indeed am at an end, I cannot do a thing: but He begins just there – He does the things no one else can ever do. Am I prepared for His coming? Jesus cannot come as long as there is anything in the way either of goodness or badness. When He comes am I prepared for Him to drag into the light every wrong thing I have done? It is just there that He comes. Wherever I know I am unclean, He will put His feet; wherever I think I am clean, He will withdraw them.
Repentance does not bring a sense of sin, but a sense of unutterable unworthiness. When I repent, I realize that I am utterly helpless; I know all through me that I am not worthy even to bear His shoes. Have I repented like that? Or is there a lingering suggestion of standing up for myself? The reason God cannot come into my life is because I am not through into repentance.
“He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire.” John does not speak of the baptism of the Holy Ghost as an experience, but as a work performed by Jesus Christ. “He shall baptize you.” The only conscious experience those who are baptized with the Holy Ghost ever have is a sense of absolute unworthiness.
I indeed was this and that; but He came, and a marvellous thing happened. Get to the margin where He does everything.
你祷告的时候，要进你的内屋，关上门，祷告你在暗中的父。（太六6）
耶稣不是说“梦想你在暗中的父”，而是“祷告你在暗中的父”。祷告是一项意志的行动。我们进到内室，关上门，这时最难的事就是祷告。我们无法控制心思，就是思想的浮游。私祷最大的争战，就是要胜过心不在焉。必须控制心思，集中心力去祷告。
我们必须选一个地方来祷告，可是我们一进去，那蝇灾就来了－－这个要做，那个也要做。“关上门。”在隐密处的安静，就是着意地把情感的门关上，只纪念神自己。神是在暗中的，他从暗中察看；他看我们，不同别人看我们，也不同我们看自己。活在内室之中，就根本没有可能怀疑神，我们对他比对一切更肯定。耶稣说是在暗中的，而不在别的地方。进入内室，你就会在一切日常事务当中，发现神时刻同在。要习惯每一件事与神来往。每天清早张开眼，就该把门向神大开，让神进来，否则你整天的工作就不对劲。向神大开心门，向暗中的父祷告，这样，你每一件生活中公开的事，都必打上神同在的印记。
祈祷◆噢，主啊，在清晨的时间与你相交是何等美好。愿你耐心地帮助我，将这宁静的高贵时刻，转化在这天的活动中。
August 23 Prayer Choice And Prayer Conflict
“When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and pray to thy Father which is in secret.” Matthew 6:6
Jesus did not say – Dream about thy Father in secret, but pray to thy Father in secret. Prayer is an effort of will. After we have entered our secret place and have shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is to pray; we cannot get our minds into working order, and the first thing that conflicts is wandering thoughts. The great battle in private prayer is the overcoming of mental wool-gathering. We have to discipline our minds and concentrate on wilful prayer.
We must have a selected place for prayer and when we get there the plague of flies begins – This must be done, and that. “Shut thy door.” A secret silence means to shut the door deliberately on emotions and remember God. God is in secret, and He sees us from the secret place; He does not see us as other people see us, or as we see ourselves. When we live in the secret place it becomes impossible for us to doubt God, we become more sure of Him than of anything else. Your Father, Jesus says, is in secret and nowhere else. Enter the secret place, and right in the centre of the common round you find God there all the time. Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day; but swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God.
你们中间，谁有儿子求饼，反给他石头呢？（太七9）
主在这里拿一个好孩子求好东西作比方，来说明祷告。我们似乎觉得神听不听祷告，跟我们与他的关系无关（比较太五45）。不要说得不着所求的，是出于神的旨意。不要就此颓然丧志，要找出原因，翻开索引。你与妻子、丈夫、儿女、同学的关系正常吗？你是个好孩子吗？“主啊，我易怒，又暴躁，但是真想得着属灵的福气。”可是你得不着，直到你变成了好孩子。
我们把悖逆当作敬虔；把与神争论当作抛弃一切。我们不去查一下索引。我是否还有未偿还的债，却又向神求金钱买东西？我是否一面求神给我自由，一面却不肯把自由给属我的人？我未饶恕人家的过犯，对别人不仁，在亲友中未活出神的样式。（第12节）我惟独藉重生才可以成为神的儿女，而作为神的儿女，只有行在光中才算是好儿女。祷告对许多人变成一种虔诚的陈腔滥调，成为情感的事，一种与神的神秘相交。在属灵上，我们最擅于制造烟雾。但只要我们翻查一下索引，就必知道毛病出在何处－－朋友、债项、心思的粗暴。我们生活若不像神的儿女，祷告是毫无用处的。若像神的儿女，耶稣说：“凡祈求的，就得着。”
祈祷◆噢，主啊，今天早上我谦恭地祈求，充满了崇拜和敬仰；当我想起自己的生命是如何备受保护，内心便充满了谦卑。
August 24 The Spiritual Index
“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” Matthew 7:9
The illustration of prayer that Our Lord uses here is that of a good child asking for a good thing. We talk about prayer as if God heard us irrespective of the fact of our relationship to Him (cf. Matthew 5:45). Never say it is not God's will to give you what you ask, don't sit down and faint, but find out the reason, turn up the index. Are you rightly related to your wife, to your husband, to your children, to your fellow-students – are you a “good child” there? “0 Lord, I have been irritable and cross, but I do want spiritual blessing.” You cannot have it, you will have to do without until you come into the attitude of a good child.
We mistake defiance for devotion; arguing with God for abandonment. We will not look at the index. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want when there is something I have not paid for? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? I have not forgiven someone his trespasses; I have not been kind to him; I have not been living as God's child among my relatives and friends. (v.12.)
I am a child of God only by regeneration, and as a child of God I am good only as I walk in the light. Prayer with most of us is turned into pious platitude, it is a matter of emotion, mystical communion with God. Spiritually we are all good at producing fogs. If we turn up the index, we will see very clearly what is wrong – that friendship, that debt, that temper of mind. It is no use praying unless we are living as children of God. Then, Jesus says – “Everyone that asketh receiveth.”
我乃称你们为朋友。（约十五15）
除非我们完全的投上，否则不能真正体会献上的喜乐。自我的降服是最难的事－－“如果……我就肯了！”“或许我也该把生命奉献给神。”其中是没有丝毫舍己的喜乐。待我们真的完全舍弃了，圣灵就叫我们尝到主耶稣的喜乐。舍己的最终目标是为“朋友”（主耶稣）舍命。圣灵一来，最大的心愿就是为耶稣舍命；以往舍己的意念从不会触动我们的心，因为舍己是圣灵的爱。
主舍己的一生是我们的榜样－－“我的神，我乐意照你的旨意行。”主的舍己是满有喜乐的。我已经完全降服耶稣基督了吗？耶稣基督若不是我们的目标，我们的舍己奉献就毫无益处；我们的奉献若是专注在他身上，那模造的工夫就必逐渐明朗地显明。
当心别让私欲阻碍你行在神的爱中。扼杀人性的爱最残酷的方法之一，源自渴想追求个人私欲而否定别人需要。圣徒唯一的吸引是主耶稣自己。对神的爱并非情感用事，因为圣徒以神的爱去爱，是最实际不过的事。
“我乃称你们为朋友。”这友谊的根基是我们里面新造的生命。这新生命只与神的生命相连，与旧生命没有半点关系，是无可言喻的谦和，没有玷污的洁净，绝对忠于神。
August 25 The Fruitfulness Of Friendship
“I have called you friends.” John 15:15
We never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we abandon in every particular. Self-surrender is the most difficult thing – I will if . . . ! Oh, well, I suppose I must devote my life to God. There is none of the joy of self-sacrifice in that.
As soon as we do abandon, the Holy Ghost gives us an intimation of the joy of Jesus. The final aim of self-sacrifice is laying down our lives for our Friend. When the Holy Ghost comes in, the great desire is to lay down the life for Jesus, and the thought of sacrifice never touches us because sacrifice is the love passion of the Holy Ghost.
Our Lord is our example in the life of self-sacrifice – “I delight to do Thy will, O my God.” He went on with His sacrifice with exuberant joy. Have I ever yielded in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If Jesus Christ is not the lodestar, there is no benefit in the sacrifice; but when the sacrifice is made with the eyes on Him, slowly and surely the moulding influence begins to tell.
Beware of letting natural affinities hinder your walk in love. One of the most cruel ways of killing natural love is by disdain built on natural affinities. The affinity of the saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not sentimental, for the saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing.
“I have called you friends.” It is a friendship based on the new life created in us which has no affinity with our old life, but only with the life of God. It is unutterably humble, unsulliedly pure, and absolutely devoted to God.
我留下平安给你们，我将我的平安赐给你们。（约十四27）
有时我们感觉平安，是因为无知；但当我们醒悟人生的现实，内心平安就消失了。除非我们从主耶稣得着平安，否则就不能有内在的平安。主耶稣说平安，他就成就平安。他的话永远是“灵和生命”。我接受了他所说的话吗？“我将我的平安赐给你们。”－－这平安是由于定睛在他脸上，体会他那不能动摇的安稳而来的。
你如今是否因困扰而痛苦？在神的允许下，你正受着风浪的冲击，虽然翻开信心的礁石，却仍找不着平安、喜乐与安慰。一切都绝望了，你该仰望主，接受他那无法动摇的平安。你若能彰显他的平安，便证明你与神有正确的关系，因为你可以自由地把心转向他。要是你与神的关系不对劲，你的心除了转向自己之外，便无路可通。若让任何事物掩蔽主的脸，你不是没有平安，就是活在虚假的稳妥里。
你现今是否仰望耶稣？在你逼近眉睫的事上去接受他的平安？若然，他要藉着你，也要在你里面，成为最美妙平安的福气。可是你若担忧，就拦阻了他，那你受的苦，就是咎由自取了。我们受困扰，是因为未有想到他。人一与主相会，困惑就必离开，因为在他没有困惑的事。我们唯一要注意的，是住在他里面。把一切铺陈在他面前，在一切困难、伤痛、愁苦之中，听他说：“你们心里不要忧愁。”
祈祷◆主啊，愿你的脸光临到我，并赐给我平安。你的平安，深如无法测度的大海，高如难以量度的高天。愿你在此刻感动我，直至光明、生命和自由穿透我。
August 26 Are You Ever Disturbed?
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you.” John 14:27
There are times when our peace is based upon ignorance, but when we awaken to the facts of life, inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus. When Our Lord speaks peace, He makes peace, His words are ever “spirit and life.” Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? “My peace I give unto you” – it is a peace which comes from looking into His face and realizing His undisturbedness.
Are you painfully disturbed just now, distracted by the waves and billows of God's providential permission, and having, as it were, turned over the boulders of your belief, are you still finding no well of peace or joy or comfort; is all barren? Then look up and receive the undisturbedness of the Lord Jesus. Reflected peace is the proof that you are right with God because you are at liberty to turn your mind to Him. If you are not right with God, you can never turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. If you allow anything to hide the face of Jesus Christ from you, you are either disturbed or you have a false security.
Are you looking unto Jesus now, in the immediate matter that is pressing and receiving from Him peace? If so, He will be a gracious benediction of peace in and through you. But if you try to worry it out, you obliterate Him and deserve all you get. We get disturbed because we have not been considering Him. When one confers with Jesus Christ the perplexity goes, because He has no perplexity, and our only concern is to abide in Him. Lay it all out before Him, and in the face of difficulty, bereavement and sorrow, hear Him say, “Let not your heart be troubled.”
应当趁着有光行走，免得黑暗临到你们。（约十二35）
应当把你在山上与神同在时所见的活出来。你若不顺从光，光就会变成黑暗。“你里头的光若黑暗了，那黑暗是何等大呢！”每当你放开成圣的问题，或任何事上神给你的亮光，你属灵生命就开始陷入枯干腐烂之中。要不断把真理活出来，在每一个范畴内都要实行，否则你所得的光，反成了咒诅。
最难对付的人，就是因过去的经历自满自足，却又没有把经历付诸实行的人。你若说成圣了，就要表现出来。经历若是真的，就必然在生活中流露。当心那些叫你自我放纵的信念，不论它们有多动听，都是从暗坑中出来的。
神学必须在最实际的关系中表现出来。主说：“你们的义若不胜于文士和法利赛人的义……”那就是说，你必须比最具德行的人更有道德。你可以懂得一切成圣的教义，但到底有没有在生活上行出来？你生命的每一部分：身体、道德、灵性，都要凭救赎的标准去审定。
祈祷◆主啊，愿我“像一颗树栽在溪水旁，按时候结果子”。求你显明这句话的真实。
August 27 Theology Alive
“Walk while ye have the light lest darkness come upon you.” John 12:35
Beware of not acting upon what you see in your moments on the mount with God. If you do not obey the light, it will turn into darkness. “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” The second you waive the question of sanctification or any other thing upon which God gave you light, you begin to get dry rot in your spiritual life. Continually bring the truth out into actuality; work it out in every domain, or the very light you have will prove a curse.
The most difficult person to deal with is the one who has the smug satisfaction of an experience to which he can refer back, but who is not working it out in practical life. If you say you are sanctified, show it. The experience must be so genuine that it is shown in the life. Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent; it came from the pit, no matter how beautiful it sounds.
Theology must work itself out in the most practical relationships. “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees . . .” said Our Lord, i.e., you must be more moral than the most moral being you know. You may know all about the doctrine of sanctification, but are you running it out into the practical issues of your life? Every bit of your life, physical, moral and spiritual, is to be judged by the standard of the Atonement.
求主教导我们祷告。（路十一1）
祈祷在人的生命中并无地位。我们常听到这样的说法：一个人若不祷告，他的生命就会受亏损。这个我不同意。受亏损的是在他里面神儿子的生命，那生命不是靠食物养活，而是靠祷告养活的。人重生以后，神儿子的生命就住在他里面；他可以养育这生命，也可以叫它饿坏。祷告是属神生命得滋养的方法。我们一般对祷告的看法，并不是新约圣经的看法。我们往往视祷告为从神求讨东西的途径。但圣经中的祷告，是叫我们得以认识神自己。
“凡祈求的，就得着。”我们在神面前埋怨，或与他辩论，或对他冷漠，却甚少求什么。试看有小孩子样式的儿女那种坦率大胆，是多么可爱！我们的主说：“你们若不回转，变成小孩子的样式－－”求吧。神必然成就。给主耶稣一个机会，让他可以自由行事。人非到了尽头，不会这样作。
当人到了尽头去祈求，并不是懦弱，因为这是唯一通往现实的方法。在神面前，只管按你的本相，摆出你那来到尽头的问题。每当你自满自足，就不会来求神。与其说“祷告改变万事”，不如说祷告改变我，然后我改变万事。神的行事方法，就是藉基于救赎的祷告，改变一个人对事物的看法。祷告不是改变外在事态，乃是在人的本性上行奇事。
祈祷◆“主－－我们的神、全能者作王了。”主啊，这句话是何等伟大和令人振奋。愿我因着知道你作王，而充满了宁谧的平安。
August 28 What's The Good Of Prayer?
“Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1
It is not part of the life of a natural man to pray. We hear it said that a man will suffer in his life if he does not pray; I question it. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a man is born from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve that life or nourish it. Prayer is the way the life of God is nourished. Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.
“Ask and ye shall receive.” We grouse before God, we are apologetic or apathetic, but we ask very few things. Yet what a splendid audacity a childlike child has! Our Lord says – “Except ye become as little children.” Ask, and God will do. Give Jesus Christ a chance, give Him elbow room, and no man will ever do this unless he is at his wits' end. When a man is at his wits' end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get into touch with Reality. Be yourself before God and present your problems, the things you know you have come to your wits' end over. As long as you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.
It is not so true that “prayer changes things” as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man's disposition.
我不是对你说过，你若信，就必看见神的荣耀吗？（约十一40）
每次你凭信心出去闯荡，总会发觉在常理的环境下，有些事物是完全违反你的信心的。常理并不是信心，信心也不是常理，二者的关系就是天然生命与属灵生命之间的关系。当理性叫你不能信靠主，你仍能坚信他吗？当生活中的事实高呼这是“谎话”，你能否依然信靠主的话勇往直前？在山上很容易说：“我相信神会成就。”但你必须下到鬼附的山谷去，面对讽刺的现实－－对你山上变像信念当面讥讽的现实。每次在我清楚自己有信心时，就必遇到与信心互相抵触的事情。我若说相信神会供给我需用的一切，然后不名一文，又没有出路，那我能否通得过这信心的考验？还是会倒退？
信心必须受试验，只有经过争战，信心才能成为你个人的产业。你的信心如今遇何试炼？这试炼或证明你的信心正确，或会置之于死地。“凡不因我跌倒的，就有福了。”最终的目标是对主的信靠。坚定信靠他，一切反对的事物只会更坚定你的信心。信心的生活要不断经历考验，而最后最大的考验，就是死。求神保守我们常装备好去作战：信心是对神说不出来的信任，绝不去想神不支持我们。
祈祷◆噢，我惊讶自己竟那么迟缓去发出赞美；愿你使我快速而正确地赞美你。愿你赐给我适当的感觉，强烈地认知到你的美善，以致我能使你的内心充满喜乐满足。
August 29 Sublime Intimacy
“Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” John 11:40
Every time you venture out in the life of faith, you will find something in your common-sense circumstances that flatly contradicts your faith. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? Can you venture heroically on Jesus Christ's statements when the facts of your common-sense life shout – “It's a lie?” On the mount it is easy to say – ‘Oh, yes, I believe God can do it’; but you have to come down into the demon-possessed valley and meet with facts that laugh ironically at the whole of your mount-of-transfiguration belief. Every time my programme of belief is clear to my own mind, I come across something that contradicts it. Let me say I believe God will supply all my need, and then let me run dry, with no outlook, and see whether I will go through the trial of faith, or whether I will sink back to something lower.
Faith must be tested, because it can be turned into a personal possession only through conflict. What is your faith up against just now? The test will either prove that your faith is right, or it will kill it. “Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me.” The final thing is confidence in Jesus. Believe steadfastly on Him and all you come up against will develop your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith, and the last great test is death. May God keep us in fighting trim! Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that He will not stand by us.
然而不要因鬼服了你们就欢喜，要因你们的名记录在天上欢喜。（路十20）
耶稣在这里其实是说：不要因工作成功而欢喜，要因与我亲密的关系而欢喜。信徒事奉的网罗，往往是因成功而欢喜，因得神使用而欢喜。其实你若与他有正确的关系，他要藉你成就的，实难以估量。所以，要保持与他紧密的相连，那么不论环境如何，不管你每天碰见什么人，他都会透过你倾倒活水，而因着他的怜悯不让你察觉。藉救赎及成圣你与神连合了，那么不论你在哪里，都是出于神。若你保守自己在光明中，正如神在光明中一样，他就会藉着你在环境中的反应，成就他的计划。
今日的趋势是把重点放在事奉上。当心有些人把自己的用处，作为身分的根据。若拿用处作考验的根据，耶稣基督就是地上最大的失败。圣徒的指标该是神自己，不是用处有多少。算得上有价值的是神透过我们所作的工，而不是我们自己为神作的工。我们的主所关注的，是一个人与父的关系有多深。耶稣正率领许多儿子进到荣耀里去。
祈祷◆噢，主啊，我因你的话－－“好像人得了许多掳物”－－而感到欢喜。当我今天向你祈求，愿你将你的话放在我的口中，求你成就，以致凡我口所发出的，都是你的话。
August 30 Am I Convinced By Christ?
“Notwithstanding in this rejoice not . . . , but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:19, 20
Jesus Christ says, in effect, Don't rejoice in successful service, but rejoice because you are rightly related to Me. The snare in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service, to rejoice in the fact that God has used you. You never can measure what God will do through you if you are rightly related to Jesus Christ. Keep your relationship right with Him, then whatever circumstances you are in, and whoever you meet day by day, He is pouring rivers of living water through you, and it is of His mercy that He does not let you know it. When once you are rightly related to God by salvation and sanctification, remember that wherever you are, you are put there by God; and by the reaction of your life on the circumstances around you, you will fulfil God's purpose, as long as you keep in the light as God is in the light.
The tendency to-day is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make usefulness their ground of appeal. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure that ever lived. The lodestar of the saint is God Himself, not estimated usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that Our Lord heeds in a man's life is the relationship of worth to His Father. Jesus is bringing many sons to glory.
要叫我的喜乐，存在你们心里，并叫你们的喜乐可以满足。（约十五11）
耶稣的喜乐是什么？若在耶稣身上应用“快乐”这词，实在是一种侮辱。耶稣的喜乐是对父绝对的顺服与舍己。因作成他父差他来作的工而喜乐。“我乐意照你的旨意行。”耶稣的祷告是要我们的喜乐日趋完备，直到像他的喜乐一样。我有没有让主把喜乐带给我？
生命的满溢不是在身体的健康，不是在外在的事物，不是在看见神的事工成就，乃在对神完全的明白，有耶稣与父神那种契合。拦阻这喜乐的第一件事，是挑剔猜度而来的恼怒。耶稣说今生的忧虑会阻塞神的话。我们还未知身处何方，已经被纷繁的事物抓住了。神为我们所作成的一切只带我们来到门槛，他还要我们进入，作他的见证，活出耶稣是谁。更与神连合，从而得喜乐，就有活水从你涌流。要做活水的中心，让主透过你倒出活水。不要在沉浸在自觉里，不要做成圣的自负者，要藏在基督里活。与神连合的生命，自然得像呼吸一般。那些最叫你蒙福的人，是那些不觉自己成为别人祝福的人。
祈祷◆噢，神啊，让我更多的认识你，并更切实地认识你的儿子、我的救主和主。愿你赐我愈来愈认识你的主权和统治，并且愈享受在你里面的单纯喜乐。
August 31 My Joy . . . Your Joy
“That My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:11
What was the joy that Jesus had? It is an insult to use the word happiness in connection with Jesus Christ. The joy of Jesus was the absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice of Himself to His Father, the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do. “I delight to do Thy will.” Jesus prayed that our joy might go on fulfilling itself until it was the same joy as His. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce His joy to me?
The full flood of my life is not in bodily health, not in external happenings, not in seeing God's work succeed, but in the perfect understanding of God, and in the communion with Him that Jesus Himself had. The first thing that will hinder this joy is the captious irritation of thinking out circumstances. The cares of this world, said Jesus, will choke God's word. Before we know where we are, we are caught up in the shows of things. All that God has done for us is the mere threshold; He wants to get us to the place where we will be His witnesses and proclaim Who Jesus is.
Be rightly related to God, find your joy there, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. Be a centre for Jesus Christ to pour living water through. Stop being self-conscious, stop being a sanctified prig, and live the life hid with Christ. The life that is rightly related to God is as natural as breathing wherever it goes. The lives that have been of most blessing to you are those who were unconscious of it.