經文: 「我們若是靠聖靈得生，就當靠聖靈行事。」(聖經·加拉太書 5章25節)「若有人在基督裡，他就是新造的人，舊事已過，都變成新的了。」(聖經·哥林多後書 5章17節)
自從始祖亞當墮落之後，人從以「上帝為中心」的生活，掉入以「人為中心」的生活，只求自我的滿足、自我的成就，以追求世俗轉眼成空的享樂為目標。所有的罪、死亡、陰間的權勢，都是由「自我中心」的心態所發動、所造成的。
五旬節那天，是上帝恩典世代的來臨。以上帝這方面來說，是要把聖靈的恩賜澆灌給教會，以人這方面來說，則是用心靈與誠實，全心全意地來敬拜上帝，這些都是為了上帝能在人的靈魂中直接動奇妙的善工；當人整個沈浸在聖靈當中，就絕對會棄絕自己以及外在事物，將全人降服在上帝面前，讓聖靈對著我心說話、啟示。
墮落後的人是以「自我」為中心的，而重生得救的人，是以「上帝」為中心的，心中有上帝的能力與聖靈的彰顯。當聖靈在你心中要你認罪悔改時，就要默然不語，謙卑地求上帝來做光照潔淨的工作，而把自己的理性與意志擺在一邊，不予理會。
對付老我的喜好、脾氣、情緒、判斷，自我否定與禁慾苦修是必要的，理由很簡單，因老我的生命是可咒詛的，裡面毫無良善可言。了解到這一點，且承認自己毫無能力行善，惟一的方法只有從上帝那兒得來新生命，如此老我的生命才能被釘死，自我中心的國度才能被粉碎。
現在你應該知道何謂天天讓「死」在我身上發動，「生」也同時在我身上發動；我們當常懷憂傷痛悔的心，謙卑俯伏在上帝腳前，求上帝的靈每時每刻來充滿我心，並從內心深處向上帝呼求，求祂將我們久受俗塵蒙蔽的心田，再次復甦活絡起來，來讓那生命之光、永恆的生命，照亮我心房。
弟兄們，牢記一點，若要上帝的靈在我們心中做直接持續的工作，惟一的方法就是釘死老我並降服耶穌，讓聖靈內住。若要彰顯上帝救贖大愛，並分享展現屬天福份，釘死老我及禁慾苦修是不可少的步驟，因此讓我們花時間謙卑等候在上帝的面前吧！求祂的靈每時每刻掌管我們的全人。
—《 神 的 心 意 》
(每日靈修 8月26日)
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興
『 The kingdom of self 』
Scripture: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” — (Galatians 5:25) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” —(2 Corinthians 5:17)
“Man by his fall had fallen from a life in God into a life of self, an animal life of self-love, self-esteem and self-seeking, m the poor perishing enjoyments of the world. All sin , death .and hell are nothing else but this kingdom of self or the various operations of self-love, self-esteem and self-seeking.
“On the Day of Pentecost a new dispensation of God came forth. On God’s part it was the operation of the Holy Spirit in gifts and graces upon the whole Church. On man’s part it was the adoration of God in spirit and in truth. All this was to make way for the immediate and continual operation of God in the soul; that man, baptized with the Holy Spirit, should absolutely renounce self, and give up his whole soul to use the faculties of his mind, and all the outward things of the world, as enlightened and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
“The kingdom of self is the fall of man and the great apostasy from the life of God in the soul. The Kingdom of Christ is the Spirit and Power of God manifesting itself in the birth of a new inward man. When the call of God to repentance first arisei in thy soul, be retired, silent, passive and humbly attentive to the new risen life within thee, disregarding the working of thine own will and reason.
“Hence is to be seen the true ground and necessity of that universal mortification and self-denial with regard to all senses, appetites, tempers, passions and judgments. Our own life is to be hated; and the reason is plain, because there is nothing lovely in it. By this knowing and owning our own nothingness and inability, that we have no other capacity for good, but that of receiving it from God alone, self is wholly denied, and its kingdom destroyed.
“You know now to what it is that you are daily to die, and daily to live; and therefore look upon every day as lost that does not help forward both this death and this life in you. Casting yourself with a broken heart at the feet of the Divine Mercy, desire nothing but that every moment of your life may be given to God, and pray from the bottom of your heart that the seed of eternity, the spark of life that had so long been smothered under earthly rubbish, might breathe and come to life in you.”
Let us take hold of the central thought here that, to make way for the immediate and continual operation of God in our souls, we need, in the power of the Holy Spirit, absolutely to renounce self, and yield our whole being for God to dwell and work in. The universal mortification and self-denial is indispensable if God’s redeeming love is to display its power and shed forth all its blessing. Let us cast ourselves with a broken heart at the feet of the Divine mercy, and desire nothing but that every moment of our life may be given to God.
— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 26 August 」
