Life on earth has its many cares and problems. Yet not because we are Christians are we therefore exempt from having them. Nevertheless, God has given us His precious and exceedingly great promises that we may live a life of heaven on earth. In the pages that are to follow, Watchman Nee takes up these various problems of this life, such problems as tears, the temper, our tongue, and so forth, and then shows us how they can be transformed by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit into values of eternal worth. Instead of being smothered, we may breathe the air of heaven. The selection of messages included in this volume, dealing as they all do with the practical issues of this life, were given by the author on various occasions during the earlier days of his ministry in China. The truths contained are nonetheless relevant and applicable to us today, since in spite of the great changes that have occurred in the world, this life itself retains all the cares and problems which it has always had. In this connection, we need again to be reminded of our Lord’s admonition to His disciples, "Take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with … cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare" (Luke 21. 34).