考门夫人（Mrs. Charles E. Cowman,
1870-1960），美国作家、传教士。1901年，考门夫妇来东方授经讲道二十余年，先后在日本、韩国创办远东传教会；1925年，考门夫人遭丧偶之痛，次年在我国上海开办圣经学院。
考门先生罹病期间，考门夫人着手记录夫妇二人的“见证和灵修生活”，这便是我们见到的《荒漠甘泉》，“一座支取不尽的心灵宝库，一泓鲜活、甜美的生命甘泉。”
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 thy God 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? 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 of 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 maze Of losses,
sorrows, and o′er clouded days; We know His will is done; And still
he leads us on. --- N. L. Zinzendorf
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 the 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 the 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.″
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 the 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.″
″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 He
Who knowest best, in kindness leadeth me
In weary ways, where heavy shadows be.
So, whether on the hill-tops high and fair
I dwell, or in the sunless valleys, where
The shadows lie, what matter? He is there. --- Barry
……
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