1110 福音中的團契
打發我們的兄弟在基督福音上作神執事的提摩太前去，堅固你們，並在你們所信的道上勸慰你們…《帖撒羅尼迦前書3:2》
你成聖之後，就很難再說出你的人生目標是什麼，因為神已藉着聖靈將你帶入祂的美意中。祂為了祂在全世界的計劃，祂現在正使用你，正如祂為了我們的救恩計劃，使用祂的兒子一樣。如果你為自己圖謀大事，想着「神已經呼召我做這做那」，你就阻礙了神使用你。只要你保持自己個人的興趣和野心，你就不可能完全與神的利益對準或認同；要做到這點，只能透過一次且永遠地放棄你所有的個人計劃，並容讓神把你直接帶進祂對世界的計劃里。你也必須放棄對自己道路的理解，因為它們現在是主的道路。
我必須學習，我生命的目的是屬於神的，而不是我自己的。神從祂偉大的個人視角來使用我，祂所要求於我的，只是我信任祂。我永遠不應該說：「神，這讓我如此心痛。」那樣說，只會使我成為絆腳石。當我停止告訴神說我想要什麼之時，祂就能自由地在我身上施展祂的目的，沒有任何阻礙。祂可以壓垮我，高升我，或者做祂選擇的任何事。祂只是要求我對祂和祂的良善有絕對的信心。自憐是出於魔鬼的，如果我沉湎於其中，我就不能被神使用在祂對世界的計劃里。這樣做會為我製造出我自己舒適的「世界裡的世界」，因為我害怕「凍傷」，我就不讓神把我從其中帶出來。
來自章伯斯的智慧
我們容易認為發生在我們身上的一切，都要轉化為有益的教訓；它是要成為比教訓更好的東西，即轉化為品格。我們會發現，神帶我們進入的領域並不是要教導我們什麼，而是要陶塑我們。《神的愛——不被注意的事工》
1110 Fellowship in the Gospel
…fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ… —1 Thessalonians 3:2
After sanctification, it is difficult to state what your purpose in life is, because God has moved you into His purpose through the Holy Spirit. He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself, thinking, “God has called me for this and for that,” you barricade God from using you. As long as you maintain your own personal interests and ambitions, you cannot be completely aligned or identified with God’s interests. This can only be accomplished by giving up all of your personal plans once and for all, and by allowing God to take you directly into His purpose for the world. Your understanding of your ways must also be surrendered, because they are now the ways of the Lord.
I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him. I should never say, “Lord, this causes me such heartache.” To talk that way makes me a stumbling block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance. He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness. Self-pity is of the devil, and if I wallow in it I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. Doing this creates for me my own cozy “world within the world,” and God will not be allowed to move me from it because of my fear of being “frost-bitten.”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, viz. into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something. The Love of God—The Ministry of the Unnoticed, 664 L