My favorite Lincoln's Quotes

God and Religion
1. Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.

2. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong.

3. When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.

4. Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.

5. With Malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds.

6. There is nothing true anywhere, The true is nowhere to be seen; If you say you see the true, This seeing is not the true one.

7. I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

Life and Man
1. Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them.

2. Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

3. I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.

4. I don't know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.

5. I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.

6. Important principles may, and must, be inflexible.

7. It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.

8. It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

9. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

10. People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.

11. The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.

12. The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.

13. We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

14. You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

“与你何干” 和“这又何妨”

与你何干（what is that to you)
主耶稣在地上对彼得说的最后一句话：“我若要留他直到我来的时候，与你何干？你跟从我罢。”
我们的难处就是眼睛总是看着别人，象彼得一样问 “主啊，这人将来如何？”， 其实我们只要关心一件事就好，"You must follow me."
主的话很直接很难听，却是彼得需要的。彼得就像我们一样，除了三次说“主啊，我爱你”以外，还要加上一条潜在的台词，“我比你更爱主”，因为“即使众人因你绊跌，我总不绊跌." (马太26：33）。然而“神总是真实的，人都是虚谎的。” （罗3：4）若不能认识我们的局限性，我们就会在比来比去中失去神的真实，而被人的虚谎所蒙蔽。

这又何妨 （what does it matter?)
保罗的一生的喜乐有一个秘诀，就是“这又何妨”。 有没有不信主不爱主的，肯定有，只是福音本是“神的大能”，不是“出于人的意思”（加1：11）(from man)，也不是“借着人” （by man), “ 即便有不信的，这有何妨？难道他们的不信，就废掉神的信么？” （罗马书3：3）。
有没有借着主的名行不法之事的，当然有，只是轮不到我们去审判，“人哪，每一个审判人的！你是无法推诿的，你在什么事上审判人，就在什么事上定自己的罪。”（罗2：1）， 就算是出于假意，不是出于真诚，“这有何妨呢？无论怎样，基督究竟被传开了。” （腓利比1：18）

读经偶拾

“门徒被称为基督徒是从安提阿起首”（使徒行传11：26）

这里的“被称为”，说明了基督徒不是自封的，也不能要求别人去称呼你，实在是要有一种光，能够被人看见，因为“你们是世上的光。城立在山上，是不能隐藏的。”（马太福音5：14）很多基督徒是号称的，主当然知道，因为如果能够隐藏，不能说众人看不见，是瞎眼的，只能说明一件事，就是你还没有光。“善行也有显明的；就是那些不显明的，也不能隐藏。”（提前5：25）

主说：“你们若彼此相爱，众人因此就认出你们是我的门徒了。”（约翰福音13：35），我们相信安提阿的教会是一个彼此相爱的教会，也许没有耶路撒冷教会的规模和地位，但门徒们却在这里被认出来是基督徒，而不再是被当作犹太教的一个分支。 行传里的吕底亚在受浸以后对保罗说：“你们若断定我对主是忠信的，就请到我家里来住。”（使徒行传16：15) 吕底亚没有自称是对主忠信的，她需要保罗和他的同工们来断定。 我们何等需要这样的谦卑，这样对着主的态度。

电影“末代皇帝”里，少年溥仪和他的英国老师RJ有一段对话，溥仪问“Are you a gentleman? "， RJ回答说：“I would like to be a gentleman, Your Majesty， I try to be.” 真正的gentleman当然不会自封，只能不断地努力，期望能每天有一些进步，离gentleman近一点。愿我们这些主的门徒能“忘记背后，努力面前，向着标杆直跑”，活出我们主光的见证！

敬畏神是智慧的开端

人的智慧开启起源于认识到自己的渺小和不足（Knowing how small we are is the beginning of wisdom)， 什么时候我们自大了，感觉富足了，什么时候我们就失去了智慧，就进入属灵的黑暗。

主说，“灵里贫穷的人有福了，因为诸天的国是他们的。” （马太福音5：3），“祂的怜悯归与敬畏祂的人，直到世世代代。 祂用膀臂施展权能，驱散那些心里妄想的狂傲人。祂叫有权柄的失位，叫卑微的升高。叫饥饿的得饱美物，叫富足的空着回去。（路加福音1：50-53）

但我们个人的渺小没有关系，因为 “神若帮助我们，谁能抵挡我们？”（罗马书8：31）