0803 神令人信服之目的
他…对他们说：「看哪，我们上耶路撒冷去。」《路加福音 18:31》
耶路撒冷在我们主的生命中，代表了祂实现天父旨意的巅峰之地。耶稣说：「…我不求自己的意思，只求那差我来者的意思。」（约翰福音5:30）。寻求遵行「天父的旨意」是我们的主一生中最主要的关心。无论祂一路上遇到的是喜乐还是悲伤，是成功还是失败，祂从未从那目的中知难而退。 「…他就定意向耶路撒冷去…」（路加福音 9:51）
我们要记住最重要的是，我们上耶路撒冷是为了实现神的目的，而不是我们自己的目的。在天然人的生活中，我们的野心是自己的雄心壮志，但在基督徒的生活中，我们没有自己的目标。今日我们谈论了很多关于我们为基督的决定，我们成为基督徒的决心，以及我们对这个或那个的决定，但在新约中，唯一被提出的是这个神的令人信服之目的。「不是你们拣选了我，是我拣选了你们…」（约翰福音 15:16）。
我们不是有意识地赞同神的目的，我们是在毫无意识的情况下就被带入神的目的中。我们不知道神的目标可能是什么；随着我们继续前行，祂的目标变得甚至越来越模糊。神的目标似乎偏离标靶，因为我们目光太短浅，以至于看不到祂所瞄准的目标。在基督徒生活的开始，我们对神的目的有自己的想法。我们说：「神的意思要我去那里」，并且「神呼召我去做这项特殊的工作。」我们做我们认为正确的事，但神令人信服之目的仍然在我们身上。与神令人信服之目的相比，我们所做的工作是微不足道的；那只是围绕着祂的工作和计划的鹰架。 「耶稣带着十二个门徒【在身边】…」（路加福音18:31）。神一直把我们带在身边；我们还没有完全了解神令人信服之目的。
来自章伯斯的智慧
没有任何生活状态是我们不能住在耶稣里的。无论我们被放置何处，我们都必须学会住在祂里面。《我们的辉煌遗产》
0803 The Compelling Purpose of God
He…said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…” —Luke 18:31
Jerusalem, in the life of our Lord, represents the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will. Jesus said, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). Seeking to do “the will of the Father” was the one dominating concern throughout our Lord’s life. And whatever He encountered along the way, whether joy or sorrow, success or failure, He was never deterred from that purpose. “…He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem…” (Luke 9:51).
The greatest thing for us to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfill God’s purpose, not our own. In the natural life our ambitions are our own, but in the Christian life we have no goals of our own. We talk so much today about our decisions for Christ, our determination to be Christians, and our decisions for this and that, but in the New Testament the only aspect that is brought out is the compelling purpose of God. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…” (John 15:16).
We are not taken into a conscious agreement with God’s purpose— we are taken into God’s purpose with no awareness of it at all. We have no idea what God’s goal may be; as we continue, His purpose becomes even more and more vague. God’s aim appears to have missed the mark, because we are too nearsighted to see the target at which He is aiming. At the beginning of the Christian life, we have our own ideas as to what God’s purpose is. We say, “God means for me to go over there,” and, “God has called me to do this special work.” We do what we think is right, and yet the compelling purpose of God remains upon us. The work we do is of no account when compared with the compelling purpose of God. It is simply the scaffolding surrounding His work and His plan. “He took the twelve aside…” (Luke 18:31). God takes us aside all the time. We have not yet understood all there is to know of the compelling purpose of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. –Our Brilliant Heritage