害怕死去的麦子
肺腑之言

经文
哥林多前书十五1-11
1弟兄们,我如今把先前所传给你们的福音告诉你们知道;这福音你们也领受了,又靠着站立得住,
2并且你们若不是徒然相信,能以持守我所传给你们的,就必因这福音得救。
3我当日所领受又传给你们的:第一,就是基督照圣经所说,为我们的罪死了,
4而且埋葬了;又照圣经所说,第三天复活了,
5并且显给矶法看,然后显给十二使徒看;
6后来一时显给五百多弟兄看,其中一大半到如今还在,却也有已经睡了的。
7以后显给雅各看,再显给众使徒看,
8末了也显给我看;我如同未到产期而生的人一般。
9我原是使徒中最小的,不配称为使徒,因为我从前逼迫神的教会。
10然而,我今日成了何等人,是蒙神的恩才成的,并且他所赐我的恩不是徒然的。我比众使徒格外劳苦;这原不是我,乃是神的恩与我同在。
11不拘是我,是众使徒,我们如此传,你们也如此信了。
信息分享
在开始今天的信息以先,我想请你思想一个问题:为甚么虽然我们对神有颇成熟的信仰,但是在没有得到神清晰的指示或控制的时候,我们仍然会感到沮丧?这问题的答案是:因为我们过份倚靠自己,而没有完全的倚靠神。
当我检视自己的生命时,不断会感到惊讶,因为在经过了超过五十年的基督教信仰,我有时仍然会独立自主而不是倚靠神的取向。你不是也有类似的问题吗?我非常渴望行走神的道路,但是又想使用自己的方法。不错,虽然现在与三十年前相比,这个情况已经没有那么严重,但有时仍然需要一番挣扎。
今天的信息对我有些甚么启示呢?它表示在我生命的领域里,我仍然需要摈弃自我中心的老我,而在写下这些话以前,我跪下来向主承认这点。我将来可能仍然会与这个问题搏斗,但在这一刻我非常能够肯定我比以前任何时候都更愿意顺服神。也许这是我在这件事上要打的最后一场仗,当我发现自己在面对未来那些模糊不清的景况、而不再害怕结果时,我便知道这个问题已经彻底解决了。今天我顺服了圣灵的催促向你坦诚分享了我内心的想法,因为我和你一样都是那么的需要神。
「我们总是喜欢以自己的方式去行走神的道路」
进深研究
罗八1-14,十五1;加五24;彼前二24
1. 要是我们以罪的本性来生活,情况会怎么样?
2. 我们怎知道自己是神的儿女?
祈祷
天父,我们再次看到我们应该以您为中心;求您帮助我们向生命中那些独立自主的部份死去。只有在您里面我们才能够平安、稳定的成长。亲爱的主,求您帮助我们。阿们。
The Corn of Wheat Afraid to Die
A personal word

Bible reading:
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1 Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Message
Today we ask ourselves: Why is it that even though we may have a fairly mature faith in God, we still find it frustrating to be caught up in situations where we have no clear direction or control? The root cause of this is misplaced dependency - we depend too much upon ourselves and not enough upon God.
As I examine my own life, I am constantly amazed that after over fifty years' experience in the Christian faith, I am still sometimes prone to take the way of independence rather than dependence. Do you not find a similar tendency in yourself? I want God's way - so very much - but I want it on my own terms. Granted, this is less of a problem now than it was, say, thirty years ago, but it is still sometimes a struggle nevertheless.
What does this say about me? It says that in this area of my life, there is still a need to die to my own self-concern, and even before these lines were written I had to get down on my knees and acknowledge this before the Lord. I may still have struggles with this issue in the future, but I know for sure that at this moment, my will is more yielded to Him than ever. Perhaps this is the last battle I shall have to fight on this matter, and when I find myself facing situations in the future that are vague and ambiguous without fearing the outcome, I will know the issue has been settled once and for all. I have exposed my heart to you in obedience to the prompting of the Spirit. I need Him as much as you.
"We tend to want God's way on our own terms"
Prayer
O Father, as we see yet again where we should be centred - in You - help us to die in those areas of life where we have established our independence. Only in You can we be safe and steady and growing. Help us, dear Lord. Amen.
Further study
Romans 8:1-14; 15:1
Galatians 3:24
1 Peter 2:24
1.What happens if we live according to the sinful nature?
2. How do we know we are sons of God?
本文英文版权属 CWR 所有,承蒙允准刊载。
背景音乐版权属 赞美之泉音乐事工 所有,承蒙允准使用。

