屬天的智慧(2)

每日读经: 利未记16-18

在这一切的事上、你们都不可玷污自己、因为我在你们面前所逐出的列邦、在这一切的事上、玷污了自己。连地也玷污了、所以我追讨那地的罪孽、那地也吐出他的居民。故此、你们要守我的律例、典章．这一切可憎恶的事、无论是本地人、是寄居在你们中间的外人、都不可行。（在你们以先居住那地的人、行了这一切可憎恶的事、地就玷污了。) (利未记16:2-5)

祷告会灵修集锦: 掺杂的生命 (二)

1. 「爱是盲目的」–这是谚语,也是经验之谈; 如果爱使人盲目,那麽比一切爱都更倔强,更狡猾,更顽固,也更难拔

    除的「自爱」,就更叫人瞎眼了.自爱与自恃都叫我们看不见自己的过错,也不肯接受别人对我们的指正. 这种

    无知使我们变得麻木不仁.我们可恶的仇敌善於伪装成与其真面目恰恰相反的样子,以致我们不觉其恶;正如马

    丁路德所说,白色的魔鬼比黑色的魔鬼更可怕.

2. 顺从「自爱」会产生偏见,并使我们陷於自以为是的「乐园」之中,我们所需要的就是神鉴察的光了.惟独这光

    能搅动我们的自满和自欺. 「人心比万物都诡诈,坏到极处.谁能识透呢? 我耶和华是鉴察人心,试验人肺腑的,

    要照各人所行的,和他作事的结果报应他.」(耶17:9-10) 这里所提到的「肺腑」在全本圣经中,都是指人心里

    隐密的心思意念与情怀.

3. 人心是如此地复杂紊乱,以致难以探索! 人心几乎没有几件事是赤露敞开,可供略加探索的.倒是有许多无法探

    察的密室.探索这密室乃是神的特权.

4. 我们处在灵命肤浅幼稚的时代,又被「自欺」蒙蔽到不可思议的地步,这些都是仇敌用来毁坏我们灵命成长的

    最有功效的武器.我们需要真心祈祷: 「神啊! 求祢鉴察我,知道我的心思,试炼我,知道我的意念,看在我里面有

    什麽恶行没有,引导我走永生的道路.」(诗139:23-24)

5. 鉴察与显露固然会带来痛苦与降卑,但惟有绝对诚实地让神显明我们目前属灵实际的光景,才是「全人归主」

    之生活的起头.

6. 圣经所启示的「真基督教」乃是立在两大支柱上:一是我们极深的堕落,二是上帝超越的救赎.罗威廉(William

     Law)说: 「除非你的心思得着更新,否则你的德行不过是教导出来的伪善行为,并建立在必朽坏的根基上.你所

    作的每一件事都掺杂着善与恶.你的谦卑只会助长你的骄傲,你对别人的仁慈只会培养你的自爱,而多多的祷告

    只有使你更自鸣清高.除非人心彻底被洁净,且恶根被铲除了,否则从心中发出来的一切事都会带着其不洁与败

    坏的成份.

7. 「自欺」是极其普遍的事,但真实揭开「己」则非常困难.我们可以传讲成圣的道理,也有成圣的经验,却对

    「完全治死肉体与天然生命」仍然一无所知.让我们不要把理论误作经历; 外表的虔诚误作成圣; 油嘴滑舌误

    作圣灵的膏抹,真理的知识误作真理的圣灵.

8. 希伯来书4章13节说: 「并且被造的没有一样在祂面前不显然的,原来万物在那与我们有关系的主眼前,

    都是赤露敞开的.」(Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.)

    照原意来译则为: 「万物是被剥光并击昏的.」这是描写古罗马竞技场中,一位运动员在尽力奋斗之後,被击倒

    在敌人脚前,他被击昏,剥光,解除武装的可怜光景.求主让我们深思,不再拥有掺杂的生命.

节录自「十字架的道路」(The Way of the Cross by J. Gregory Mantle, D.D.)

圣方济和平祷词

主啊! 让我做祢的工具，去缔造和平:

在有仇恨的地方，播送友爱;

在有冒犯的地方，给予宽恕;

在有分裂的地方，促成团结;

在有疑虑的地方，激发信心;

在有错谬的地方，宣扬真理;

在有失望的地方，唤起希望;

在有忧伤的地方，宣扬真理;

在有黑暗的地方，放射光明;

神圣的导师!

愿我不求他人的安慰，只求安慰他人;

不求他人的谅解，只求谅解他人;

不求他人的爱护，只求爱护他人;

因为在施与中，我们有所收获;

在宽恕时，我们得到宽恕;

在死亡时，我们生於永恒。

1182圣方济出生於意大利阿西西一个是富裕布商的家中，他是独生子，少年也曾有过轻狂的一段时光。但是，他心中一直保有一股对神的爱与钦慕。他常思想：上帝是那麽抽象而遥不可及，人如何去爱祂呢？有一天，在默想中，他忽然蒙了圣灵的光照，他明白了神就在一切的造物中。他以爱一切、守贫、助人为他建立的方济修会的宗旨。10/3/1226 在证道时蒙主恩召，经文是诗篇141篇。

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Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace－St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of Your Peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

And where there is doubting, let me bring Your Faith.

And Lord, make me an instrument of Your Peace,

Where there is despairing, let me bring Your hope.

Where there is darkness, Your Light.

And where there is sadness, let me bring Your Joy.

O, Divine Master,

Grant that I might seek not so much be consoled, as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

not so much to be loved, as to love one another ,

For it is in giving that we now receive,

It is in pardoning, that we are now pardoned.

And it is in dying that we are now born again.

                                                   9/26/1182 –  10/3/1226

Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, and he lived the high-spirited life typical of a wealthy young man, even fighting as a soldier for Assisi. While going off to war in 1204, Francis had a vision that directed him back to Assisi, where he lost his taste for his worldly life. On a pilgrimage to Rome, he begged with the beggars at St. Peter’s. The experience moved him to live in poverty. Francis returned home, began preaching on the streets, and soon amassed a following. His order was endorsed by Pope Innocent III in 1210. He then founded the Order of Poor Clares, which was an enclosed order for women, as well as the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance. In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan. By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the order. Once his organization was endorsed by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas manger scene. In 1224, he received the stigmata, making him the first person to bear the wounds of Christ’s Passion. He died in 1226 while preaching Psalm 141.

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