灵命日粮 - 2005年3月21日
读经: 腓立比书1章27-30节

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金句: 「因为你们蒙恩，不但得以信服基督，并要为他受苦。」（腓立比书1章29节）

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全年读经: 士师记9-12章  

当人们告诉我活着真不容易时，我总是说：「肯定是这样的。」除此之外，没有更好的答案。作家查尔斯．威廉（Charles Williams）曾说：「这个世界总是令人痛苦，但如果有人认为，我们应该喜欢这样的世界，那实在让人无法忍受。」
上帝带领我们走的道路，似乎常与我们所认定好的道路有所偏差，使我们深信自己已错过一些路口并走上了错路。因为我们听到很多错误的教导，认为若行在上帝恩典的路上，我们的生活自然会无忧无虑。

那是一个远离圣经观点的白日梦，在属世的安慰不能满足我们时，上帝的爱会带领我们走过低潮。使徒保罗说过：「因为你们蒙恩，不但得以信服基督，并要为他受苦」（腓立比书1章29节）。当我们走过所有死荫幽谷后将会了解，每个情况都是为我们那终极好处而允许发生的。

「没有其他路径会比我们所行的路更安全保险」。圣经教师梅尔博士（F. B. Meyer）说过：「如果我们能用上帝的眼光看待我们的道路，我们一定也会选择它。」DHR


若黑暗之地于我有益，
主啊，请教导我忍受；
忧伤、痛苦或是孤独，
必能使我的灵性洁净。Irons


若知试炼是上帝所允许的，它就不会使我沮丧。
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A Bumpy Road



Read:Philippians 1:27-30
To you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. —Philippians 1:29


Bible In One Year: Judges 9-12

When people tell me life is hard, I always reply, "Of course it is." I find that answer more satisfying than anything else I can say. Writer Charles Williams said, "The world is painful in any case; but it is quite unbearable if anybody gives us the idea that we are meant to be liking it."

The path by which God takes us often seems to lead away from what we perceive as our good, causing us to believe we've missed a turn and taken the wrong road. That's because most of us have been taught to believe that if we're on the right track God's goodness will always translate into a life free of trouble.

But that's a pipe dream far removed from the biblical perspective. God's love often leads us down roads where earthly comforts fail us. Paul said, "To you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Philippians 1:29). When we come to the end of all our dark valleys, we'll understand that every circumstance has been allowed for our ultimate good.

"No other route would have been as safe and as certain as the one by which we came," Bible teacher F. B. Meyer said. "If only we could see the path as God has always seen it, we would have selected it as well." —David Roper


If some darker lot be good,
Lord, teach us to endure
The sorrow, pain, or solitude
That makes the spirit pure. —Irons

No trial would cause us to despair if we knew God's reason for allowing it.