In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . . —Isaiah 6:1
Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?
My vision of God is dependent upon the condition of my character. My character determines whether or not truth can even be revealed to me. Before I can say, “I saw the Lord,” there must be something in my character that conforms to the likeness of God. Until I am born again and really begin to see the kingdom of God, I only see from the perspective of my own biases. What I need is God’s surgical procedure— His use of external circumstances to bring about internal purification.
Your priorities must be God first, God second, and God third, until your life is continually face to face with God and no one else is taken into account whatsoever. Your prayer will then be, “In all the world there is no one but You, dear God; there is no one but You.”
Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision.
異象的代價
當烏西雅王崩的那年,我見主坐在高高的寶座上。 (賽六1)
我們心靈與神的歷程,往往是英雄人物式逝去的歷程。神一次又一次地把我們的朋友挪開,使他自己可以代替他們的地位,我們卻因此失敗灰心。就個人經驗來說:那年那個替代了神位置的人死了——我是否萬念俱灰?病了?頹喪灰心?還是看見了主?
我對神的異象,有賴於我品性的狀況。品性決定啟示。我若要說[我看見了主],就必先在品性上有了與神相呼應的成分。在我重生得見神的國以前,所看見的都隨我的偏見而定;我需要接受手術,切除外在的事物,也需要內裡的潔淨。第一是神,第二、第三也是神,直到生命單單面對神,其他人都無關重要。 [世上除你還有誰?我的神,只有你。 ]不斷付代價,讓神知道你甘願達成異象。
祈禱◆主啊,我感謝你,因為我發現自己在盼望你再來時,深感熱切的喜樂!噢由此我可以在你眼前蒙恩,並且,要讓自己的行事為人,與你的偉大救恩更為相稱!
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