January 11 "These have no root" (Luke 8: 13). My soul, examine yourself this morning by the light of this text. You have received the Word with joy. Your feelings have been stirred, and a lively impression has been made. Remember that to receive the Word in the ear is one thing, but to receive Jesus into your soul is quite another. In the parable, the seed in one case fell on ground having a rocky bottom covered over with a thin layer of earth. When the seed began to take root, its downward growth was hindered by the hard stone. Therefore, it used its strength in pushing its green shoot up as high as it could. But having no inward moisture derived from root nourishment, it withered away. Is this my case? Have I been making a fair show in the flesh without having a corresponding inner life? Good growth takes place upward and downward at the same time. Am I rooted in sincere allegiance and love to Jesus? If my heart remains unsoftened and unfertilized by grace, the good seed may germinate for a season; but it must ultimately withter, for it cannot flourish on a rocky, unbroken, unsanctified heart. Let me dread a godliness as rapid in growth and as lacking in endurance as Jonah's gourd. Let me count the cost of being a follower of Jesus. Let me feel the energy of His Holy Spirit, and then I will possess an abiding and enduring seed in my soul.

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1900년 8월 25일, 프리드리히 빌헬름 니체(Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, 1844-1900) 별세

Day 14 Morning/John Baillie, A Diary of Private Prayer/You, the reflection of whose transcendent glory once appeared unbroken in the face of Jesus Christ, give me today a heart like His -- a brave heart, a true heart, a tender heart, a heart with great room in it, a heart fixed on Yourself; for His name's sake. Amen.

신명기 34장 (새번역/개역개정, 자비교회 성경통독)