經文: 「我要從父那裡差保惠師來，就是從父出來真理的聖靈；祂來了，就要為我作見證。」[聖經·約翰福音 15章26節]「上帝所賜、出人意外的平安必在基督耶穌裡保守你們的心懷意念。」[聖經·腓立比書 4章7節]
若非你接受了這新生命，你就不知道何謂神聖的愛；因為這愛滿有平安喜樂，在祂裡面沒有煩亂，只有自由滿足與幸福。只要接受了神子耶穌，自然而然湧現各樣的福份，補足我們各樣的缺憾，不但使我們稱義，也賜下那出人意外的平安在我們心中。
若人離棄上帝，轉向自我中心，就會發現裡面充滿了惡及各樣的不義，諸如自私、驕傲、嫉妒等；這些天然的罪性，都與老我緊緊地連在一起，若我們被聖靈光照，能真正分別善惡，必定謹慎恐懼，除惡務盡，不敢耽溺於各樣不義、憤怒、擾攘等自我私慾，也不會縱容內心毒蛇的種類，任其滋養長大邪惡薰心。狡滑的老我會化裝成光明的天使，引誘我們墮落偏離正道；所以信徒們當儆醒禱告並禁食刻苦，好得著屬靈的力量與生命，戰勝老我，來過得勝的生活。
我們無法憑己力來抗拒罪惡的權勢，也無法憑藉天然人的意志來勝過老我及向自己死。得勝之道非常簡單，不但人人能做而且垂手可得，況且在每一件事上都能來操練這課題時，老練之後必能得心應手且應付自如。 你要知道這簡單淺顯易學實用的真理是什麼嗎？那就是向上帝絕對的謙卑、完全的順服，學習祂的柔順忍耐，這也就是走十字架窄路，向自己死的惟一途徑。
要真正認識老我，是非常非常不容易的事，它可怕的權勢以及屬肉體的律，是我們犯罪的源頭，也是使我們昧於認清自己的本相，以致我們不能完全相信上帝的愛，也不肯完全順服上帝。除非我們願意完全向自己死，否則我們就無法從肉體的律被釋放出來；惟有憑藉著信心，與耶穌同釘十字架，聖靈就會教導我們進入真理，學會耶穌的柔和謙卑，完全地降服於上帝。記得這真理-與耶穌同死的步驟，這在上帝眼中看來，是極其寶貴。
—《 神 的 心 意 》
[每日靈修 8月20日]
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興
『 The Monster of Self 』
Scripture: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:” — [John 15:26] “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” — [Philippians 4:7]
“Until this birth of the Spirit of Divine Love is found in you, you cannot know what Divine Love is in itself. For Divine Love is perfect Peace and Joy, it is a Freedom from all disquiet, it is all Content and mere Happiness, and makes everything to rejoice in itself. Love is the Christ of God; wherever it comes, it comes as the Blessing and Happiness of every natural life, as the Restorer of every lost perfection, a Fulfiller of all righteousness, and a Peace of God which passes all understanding.
“When the intelligent creature turns from God to self, he finds nature only as it is in himself and without God. Nothing is to be had from it, or found in it, but the working of every kind of evil. Covetousness, envy, pride and wrath are the four elements of self, or nature, all of them inseparable from it. Were we truly affected with things as they are our real Good, or real Evil, we should be much more afraid of having the serpents of Covetousness, Envy, Pride and Wrath, well nourished and kept alive in us, than of being shut up in a Pest-house, or cast into a Dungeon of venomous beasts. This monster of self can hide himself under all forms of goodness, can watch and fast, pray much and preach long, and yet often gets more life and strength, and more immovable abode in these forms of virtue than he has in publicans and sinners.
“To die to self, or to come from under its power, cannot be done by any act of resistance we can make to it by the powers of nature. The one only way of dying to self is most simple and plain; it is equally practicable by everybody; it is always at hand; it meets you in everything, and is never without success.
“If you ask what is this one true simple, plain, immediate and unerring way, it is the way of Patience, Meekness, Humility and Resignation to God. This is the truth and perfection of dying to self.”
There is not a more difficult lesson in the Christian life than to attain a true knowledge of what self is. Its terrible power, its secret and universal rule, and the blinding influence it exerts in keeping us from the .knowledge of what it is, are the cause of all our sin and evil. Hence it comes that so few really believe in their absolute impotence to obey God or to believe in His love. And there is nothing that can deliver us from it but that entire willingness to die to self, which comes through by faith we understand that we died in Christ Jesus. It is that alone that can make us partakers, through faith and the Holy Spirit, of that meekness1 and gentleness and humility and surrender to God which gave Christ’s death its worth and its beauty in the sight of the Father.
— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
「 20 August 」
