0601 令人震惊的问题
他对我说：「人子啊，这些骸骨能复活吗？」《以西结书37:3》
罪人能变成圣人吗？扭曲的人生能否变得正直？只有一个合适的答案——「主耶和华啊，你是知道的。」（以西结书 37:3）。永远不要以你的宗教常识进展下去，并说：「哦，是的，只要多读一点圣经，多一点灵修时间和祷告，我就能看出是可能的。」
做事比信靠神容易得多；我们看到活动，并把恐慌误认为是灵感。这就是为什么我们看到与神同工的人如此之少，而为神作工的人却如此之多。我们宁愿为神工作也不愿相信祂。我真的相信神会在我身上做我不能做的事吗？我对其他人感到绝望的程度来自于从未意识到神为我做了任何事情。我自己的个人经历是神的权能和力量如此奇妙地实现，以至于我永远不会对我所看到的任何其他的人感到绝望吗？在我身上有任何属灵作为的完成吗？我生活中恐慌活动的程度等于我个人属灵经历的缺乏程度。
「看哪，我的民啊，我必开你们的坟墓…」（以西结书 37:12）。当神想要向你展示与祂分离的人性是什么样子时，祂会在你自己身上向你展示。如果神的灵曾经给你关于离开神的恩典你会是什么样子的异象（只有当祂的灵在你里面工作时，祂才会这么做），那么你就会知道，实际上没有一个罪犯会像你如果没有祂的恩典情况下一半的坏。我的「坟墓」已经被神打开了，「我也知道在我里头，就是我肉体之中，没有良善。」（罗马书 7:18）。神的灵不断地向祂的孩子们揭示，离开祂的恩典，人性会是什么样子。
来自章伯斯的智慧
我们应该总是选择我们的书籍如同神选择我们的朋友一样，稍微超出我们一点点，这样我们就必须尽全力以跟上它们。《神手之阴》
0601 The Staggering Question
He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” —Ezekiel 37:3
Can a sinner be turned into a saint? Can a twisted life be made right? There is only one appropriate answer— “O Lord God, You know” (Ezekiel 37:3). Never forge ahead with your religious common sense and say, “Oh, yes, with just a little more Bible reading, devotional time, and prayer, I see how it can be done.”
It is much easier to do something than to trust in God; we see the activity and mistake panic for inspiration. That is why we see so few fellow workers with God, yet so many people working for God. We would much rather work for God than believe in Him. Do I really believe that God will do in me what I cannot do? The degree of hopelessness I have for others comes from never realizing that God has done anything for me. Is my own personal experience such a wonderful realization of God’s power and might that I can never have a sense of hopelessness for anyone else I see? Has any spiritual work been accomplished in me at all? The degree of panic activity in my life is equal to the degree of my lack of personal spiritual experience.
“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves…” (Ezekiel 37:12). When God wants to show you what human nature is like separated from Himself, He shows it to you in yourself. If the Spirit of God has ever given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God (and He will only do this when His Spirit is at work in you), then you know that in reality there is no criminal half as bad as you yourself could be without His grace. My “grave” has been opened by God and “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Romans 7:18). God’s Spirit continually reveals to His children what human nature is like apart from His grace.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them. Shade of His Hand, 1216 L