[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":4},["ShallowReactive",2],{"reading-0827":3},"AUGUST 27\r\nAnd he took him aside from the multitude (Mark 7.33).\r\nPaul not only stood the tests in Christian activity, but in the\r\nsolitude of captivity. You may stand the strain of the most intense labor, coupled with severe suffering, and yet break down utterly    when laid aside from all religious activities; when forced into\r\nclose confinement in some prison house.\r\nThat noble bird, soaring the highest above the clouds and enduring the longest flights, sinks into despair when in a cage where it is\r\nforced to beat its helpless wings against its prison bars. You have seen the great eagle languish in its narrow cell with bowed head   and drooping wings. What a picture of the sorrow in inactivity.\r\nPaul in prison. That was another side of life. Do you want to see\r\nhow he takes it? I see him looking out over the top of his prison\r\nwall and over the heads of his enemies. I see him write a document\r\n\r\nand sign his name--not the prisoner of Festus, nor of Caesar, not the victim of the Sanhedrin; but the-- \"prisoner of the Lord.\" He\r\nsaw only the hand of God in it all. To him the prison becomes a\r\npalace. Its corridors ring with shouts of triumphant praise and joy.\r\nRestrained from the missionary work he loved so well, he now built a new pulpit-a new witness stand-and from that place of bondage    come some of the sweetest and most helpful ministries of Christian liberty. What precious messages of fight come from those dark\r\nshadows of captivity.\r\nThink of the long train of imprisoned saints who have followed in   Paul's wake. For twelve long years Bunyan's lips were silenced in Bedford jail. It was there that he did the greatest and best work\r\nof his life. There he wrote the book that has been read next to the Bible. He says, \"I was at home in prison and I sat me down and\r\nwrote, and wrote, for joy did make me write.\"\r\nThe wonderful dream of that long night has lighted the pathway of\r\nmillions of weary pilgrims. That sweet-spirited French lady, Madam Guyon lay long between prison walls. Like some caged birds that\r\nsing the sweeter for their confinement, the music of her soul has\r\ngone out far beyond the dungeon walls and scattered the desolation of many drooping hearts.\r\nOh, the heavenly consolation that has poured forth from places of solitude!\r\n--S. C. Rees.\r\nTaken aside by Jesus,\r\nTo feel the touch of His hand;\r\nTo rest for a while in the shadow Of the Rock in a weary land.\r\nTaken aside by Jesus,\r\nIn the loneliness dark and drear,\r\nWhere no other comfort may reach me, Than His voice to my heart so dear.\r\nTaken aside by Jesus,\r\nTo be quite alone with Him,\r\nTo hear His wonderful tones of love 'Mid the silence and shadows dim.\r\nTaken aside by Jesus,\r\nShall I shrink from the desert place;   When I hear as I never heard before, And see Him \"face to face?\"",1783499793782]