1127 灵力的奉献
…对于我来说，世界已经钉在十字架上，对于世界来说，我也已经钉在十字架上。《加拉太书 6:14》
如果我沉思基督的十字架，我不仅内心会变得虔诚，只对自己的圣洁感兴趣，我还变得更加关注耶稣基督的利益。我们的主不是隐士，也不是操练自我否定的狂热圣徒。身体上祂并没有将自己与社会隔绝，但祂的内心始终与社会隔绝。祂并非超然孤立，但祂活在另一个世界；事实上，祂如此沉浸在一般的日常生活中，以至于当时宗教人士指责祂是一个贪食好酒的人。然而，我们的主从未允许任何事情干扰祂将属灵力量奉献给神。
认为我们可以拒绝现在被神使用，以便储存灵力以备后用，那不是真正的奉献；那是一个无望的错误。神的灵已经使许多人从罪恶中得释放，然而他们却未经历丰满的生命，没有真正的自由感。今日我们在世界各地看到那种宗教生活，与耶稣基督充满活力的圣洁生活完全不同。「我不求你叫他们离开世界，只求你保守他们脱离那恶者。（或作脱离罪恶）」（约翰福音 17:15）。我们是活在这个世界上，但不属于这个世界，是内在与世界分离，而非外在分离（见约翰福音17:16）；我们决不能让任何事情干扰我们灵力的奉献。
奉献（献给神的服事）是我们的本分，成圣（从罪分离出来，成为圣洁）是神的部分。我们必须下定决心，只关注神所关注的事。当面对令人困惑的问题时，要下定那个决心的方法，就是问自己：「这是耶稣基督所关注的事，还是敌对耶稣的灵所关注的事？」
来自章伯斯的智慧
「人子来的时候，遇得见世上有信德么？」我们对良好的原则、良好的管理、良好的常识都有信心，但我们当中谁对耶稣基督有信心呢？身体上的勇气是伟大的，道德上的勇气更伟大，但是在面对生活中巨大问题时信靠耶稣基督的人，抵得上一群英雄。《至善》
1127 The Consecration of Spiritual Power
…by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. —Galatians 6:14
If I dwell on the Cross of Christ, I do not simply become inwardly devout and solely interested in my own holiness— I become strongly focused on Jesus Christ’s interests. Our Lord was not a recluse nor a fanatical holy man practicing self-denial. He did not physically cut Himself off from society, but He was inwardly disconnected all the time. He was not aloof, but He lived in another world. In fact, He was so much in the common everyday world that the religious people of His day accused Him of being a glutton and a drunkard. Yet our Lord never allowed anything to interfere with His consecration of spiritual power.
It is not genuine consecration to think that we can refuse to be used of God now in order to store up our spiritual power for later use. That is a hopeless mistake. The Spirit of God has set a great many people free from their sin, yet they are experiencing no fullness in their lives— no true sense of freedom. The kind of religious life we see around the world today is entirely different from the vigorous holiness of the life of Jesus Christ. “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). We are to be in the world but not of it— to be separated internally, not externally (see John 17:16). We must never allow anything to interfere with the consecration of our spiritual power.
Consecration (being dedicated to God’s service) is our part; sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God’s part. We must make a deliberate determination to be interested only in what God is interested. The way to make that determination, when faced with a perplexing problem, is to ask yourself, “Is this the kind of thing in which Jesus Christ is interested, or is it something in which the spirit that is diametrically opposed to Jesus is interested?”
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” We all have faith in good principles, in good management, in good common sense, but who amongst us has faith in Jesus Christ? Physical courage is grand, moral courage is grander, but the man who trusts Jesus Christ in the face of the terrific problems of life is worth a whole crowd of heroes. The Highest Good, 544 R