0825 犧牲與友誼
我乃稱你們為朋友…《約翰福音 15:15》
我們永遠不會知道自我犧牲的喜樂，除非我們在生活的每一個細節上都降服了。然而，自我的降服對我們來說是最難做到的。我們藉着說「如果…..我會降服！」使降服是有條件的。或我們藉着說：「我想我必須把我的生命奉獻給神。」來面對降服。無論以哪種方式，我們永遠都不會找到自我犧牲的喜樂。
然而一旦我們完全降服，棄絕自己交給耶穌，聖靈就會讓我們嘗到祂的喜樂。自我犧牲的終極目標是為我們的朋友捨命（見約翰福音 15:13-14）。當聖靈進入我們的生命時，我們最大的願望就是為耶穌捨命。然而，自我犧牲的想法從來沒有在我們的腦海中閃過，因為犧牲是聖靈的愛的終極表達。
我們的主是自我犧牲生命的榜樣，祂完美地示範了詩篇 40:8：「我的神啊，我樂意照你的旨意行。」祂忍受了巨大的個人犧牲，然而卻喜樂涌流。我是否曾經絕對順服耶穌基督？如果祂不是我所尋求方向和引導的那一位，那麼我的犧牲舍己就沒有益處。但是，當我的眼睛專註於祂而做出犧牲時，祂的塑造影響力緩慢但確定地成為我生命中的明證（見希伯來書12:1-2）。
小心不要讓你天然的慾望阻礙你在神面前在愛中行走。扼殺自然之愛最殘酷方式之一，就是拒絕它，那是將愛建立在天然的慾望上而導致的。但聖徒唯一真正的慾望就是主耶穌。對神的愛不是感傷或情緒化的一些東西——對聖徒來說，像神一樣去愛是可以想象到的最實際之事。
「我乃稱你們為朋友…」我們與耶穌的友誼是基於祂創造在我們裡面的新生命，與我們的舊生命沒有相似之處或吸引力，而只與神的生命相似。這是一種完全謙卑、純潔、委身於神的生命。
來自章伯斯的智慧
我們不是要宣揚行善。善行不是被宣講的，而是要被實踐的。《故我差遣你》
0825 Sacrifice and Friendship
I have called you friends… —John 15:15
We will never know the joy of self-sacrifice until we surrender in every detail of our lives. Yet self-surrender is the most difficult thing for us to do. We make it conditional by saying, “I’ll surrender if…!” Or we approach it by saying, “I suppose I have to devote my life to God.” We will never find the joy of self-sacrifice in either of these ways.
But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love.
Our Lord is our example of a life of self-sacrifice, and He perfectly exemplified Psalm 40:8, “I delight to do Your will, O my God….” He endured tremendous personal sacrifice, yet with overflowing joy. Have I ever yielded myself in absolute submission to Jesus Christ? If He is not the One to whom I am looking for direction and guidance, then there is no benefit in my sacrifice. But when my sacrifice is made with my eyes focused on Him, slowly but surely His molding influence becomes evident in my life (see Hebrews 12:1-2).
Beware of letting your natural desires hinder your walk in love before God. One of the cruelest ways to kill natural love is through the rejection that results from having built the love on natural desires. But the one true desire of a saint is the Lord Jesus. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.
“I have called you friends….” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed. –So Send I You, 1330 L