02/10
Like the star, that shines afar,
Without haste and without rest,
Let each person wheel with steady sway,
Round the task that rules the day,
And do one's best. Goethe: "Without Haste"
Be Slow
Be slow. Take ample time in doing things. Be satisfied with small things. Only do them well. "One who believes shall not make haste" (Isaiah 28:16). God has done for us in His Son what we ought to do for Him. It only remains for us to fill up here and there "that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ" (Colossians 1:24). The Christian is God Almighty's gentleman or lady; and the one is not the kind of gentleman or lady who is always in hurry. Salvation has been accomplished for us; the prize has been won; and blessed eternity lies before us. God is working with us, and we with God.
02/11
I did not sit in the circle of mockers, nor rejoice; I sat alone because of Your hand; for You have filled me with indignation. Jeremiah 15:17
Serving by Alone
To serve human beings, none of social intercourse will be necessary. We can, but alone, serve human society amply. Everyone is an ingredient of humanity. To serve oneself is therefore to serve human beings. By alone one can discover the truth, face God, and have one's inner being purified, so as to step higher and higher to perfection. We can each serve ourselves as good examples of humanity to the world. Being alone, life is never a state of doing nothing.
02/12
Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. John 6:68-69
Christ is My Universe
Christ is my universe. Spiritually I live in Him, am moved by Him and exist for Him. Apart from Him, I can do nothing, as if a monkey falls down from the tree. My misery would be beyond comparison if I were separated from Christ. To follow Christ indeed is the first and last of my living although it is not the gain of my effort. Suffering, contempt, and failure of life will compass around me for the sake of Christ. If there is a life of honor for me, it is to cling to Christ. Miserable yet enviable being I am.
02/13
Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the Life. One who believes in Me, though one die, yet one shall live. John 11:25
Resurrection of Christian
A Christian hopes resurrection not by one's own accord but by the Lord Christ's. A Christian never be able to resurrect oneself. But the Lord Jesus Christ resurrects the Christian; that is, Christ resurrects in the Christian again. A Christian is a person in whom Christ abides. Christ, who spoke "I am the resurrection; I am the life," will abide in a Christian's body and will resurrect him or her also. Where Christ's spirit goes, there shall be resurrection. With the spirit of Jesus, resurrection shall be viewed as a natural outcome.
02/14
The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is on Me; because the LORD has anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Isaiah 61: 1
Silent Missionary
Being an instrument of God, we become His delight and powerful missionary whether in the closed room or in the field. Believing in God deeply and devoutly, we carry out the power of the Gospel without a word or a letter. Because such silent and hidden missionary is always carried out in this world, loud and noisy missionaries can have some fruits. The most powerful missionary is silent missionary, as the Psalm says, "there is no speech nor are there words where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world" (Psalms 19: 3-4). Offer yourself tot he experiment of the truth, study in deep, suffer seriously, saved from the bottom of the heart, and rejoice from the belly of the mind. You are a delighted missionary of God.
02/15
Now faith, hope, love, these three remain; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
Faith, Hope and Love
Faith, Hope, and Love, these three are everlasting. All else are temporary and perish. Faith in God will be needed all the time. Hope in God's mercy will be wanted all the time. And, without Love of God, we die. An everlasting life must be lived in Faith, Hope, and Love. When these three are integrated in our life, there begins everlasting life. Faith, Hope, and Love exist eternally and equally. But the greatest of these is Love. Just as the God of trinity is integrated into God the Father, so these eternal sisters unite in Love. Stand with Faith; march with Hope; and end with Love. Love is the terminal of human life. Here, human is embraced by God, as God's child, and will live forever. "For God is Love" (I John 4: 8).
02/16
We are fellow-workers of God, a field-worker of God, and you are a building of God. 1 Corinthians 3: 9
Build Christian Character
Build a Christian character. Cultivation of a Christian character is done by the communication with God by prayer, and it is not just mediation or reading alone. This is to find God's will in the Bible, and then to practice one's faculty given by God, in the field, at the factory or at the shop.
02/17
By grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His work, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has predestined that we should walk in good works. Ephesians 2: 8-10
Mystery of Salvation
False-prophets and false-pastors have told me often that unless I repented of my own accord, God would not be able to save us. Yea, I shall not be saved without my repentance. But God causes me to repent by giving His Holy Spirit. I have not repented by effort of my own will. This would be entirely beyond my power. But God, abiding in me and transforming my will into His will, prompts me to repent with the power of His will. Never did I repent with my own power. Yet God is gracious enough to accept the repentance on my own. Oh, the mystery of mysteries, that pertains to the mystery of God and His will. Moreover, the mystery of salvation exists in this mystery. We may not be able to explain it philosophically. But we know it as the surest fact, pertaining to our will.
02/18
The Nation of Heaven is like to a merchant who is seeking goodly pearls; when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46
Crown Jewel
Sell not the gospel cheap; buy not the gospel cheap. The truth is evaluated by the price paid. Who paid the more will value it the more; who paid the less will value it the less. No one who paid dearly for the gospel has ever abandoned it. An apostate is one who usually bought the gospel cheap.
02/19
Jesus, beholding him, loved him and said to him, One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have and give it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, take up the cross and follow Me. And he was sad at that saying and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. Mark 10:21-22
Crucial Time
God demands us to give up the best we have whether child, or wife, or treasure, or dignity, or worldly fame, or sometimes talents and intelligence. Whichever the case is, God demands each of us to give up what we value more than life. This is the crucial time of our faith. Passing this, we are allowed perfectly to be God's possession. Failing this, we are doomed to lose everything hitherto earned. "Life or death," for each of us, is determined at this moment of time.
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