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經文：「弟兄勝過他，是因羔羊的血，....他們雖至於死，也不愛惜生命。」（啟12:11） 當西庇太的兒子雅各與約翰同他們的母親前來基督的面前，求主賜他們在國度裡坐在祂左右邊的地位的時候，主並沒有拒絕他們的請求；只是告訴他們：如果他們能作祂所作的工，喝祂所喝的杯，受祂所受的浸，他們所求的並非是沒有希望的。 雅各與約翰所求的，我們要不要呢？我們同樣可以如此的期望。最寶貴的事物，往往被包圍在最艱難的環境中。所以我們若是想要得到它們，就必須先遭遇高山、深林、鐵車、烈火。因為艱難是冠冕的代價；得勝的牌坊不是用玫瑰和絲線織成的，而是用重擊和血痕織成。我們今日所忍受的艱苦，乃是主給我們用以贏得冠冕的工具。 你不需要等那理想的環境、離奇的困難、夢想的危險；你只需要起來對付神今日放在你身邊現有的工作就好。屬於你的榮耀冠冕原是埋在這些個人生活中：每月、每日、每時正壓迫你的那些艱難和試煉的中心。 最困難的事，並不是世人所以為的那些；而是在你心裡一件極小的秘密，那是除了主以外，沒有人看見，也沒有人知道的；一件你說不出口的小試煉，常常是比殉道還難受！親愛的，你的冠冕正藏在那個地方，但願你可以贏得！--選 新譯｜荒漠甘泉讀書會
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Scripture: "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 ｜ Mrs. Charles Cowman
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