Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As an Offering? (2)

I am already being poured out as a drink offering . . . —2 Timothy 4:6

Are you ready to be poured out as an offering? It is an act of your will, not your emotions. Tell God you are ready to be offered as a sacrifice for Him. Then accept the consequences as they come, without any complaints, in spite of what God may send your way. God sends you through a crisis in private, where no other person can help you. From the outside your life may appear to be the same, but the difference is taking place in your will. Once you have experienced the crisis in your will, you will take no thought of the cost when it begins to affect you externally. If you don’t deal with God on the level of your will first, the result will be only to arouse sympathy for yourself.

“Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar” (Psalm 118:27). You must be willing to be placed on the altar and go through the fire; willing to experience what the altar represents-burning, purification, and separation for only one purpose-the elimination of every desire and affection not grounded in or directed toward God. But you don’t eliminate it, God does. You “bind the sacrifice . . . to the horns of the altar” and see to it that you don’t wallow in self-pity once the fire begins. After you have gone through the fire, there will be nothing that will be able to trouble or depress you. When another crisis arises, you will realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What fire lies ahead in your life?

Tell God you are ready to be poured out as an offering, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be.

---

你準備好被澆奠嗎？

我已經預備好被澆奠。 （提後四6，意譯）

[我現在已預備好獻上。 ]這是意志的抉擇，而不是情緒的衝動。告訴神你已預備好獻上；就是不顧後果，神怎樣安排也沒有絲毫的怨嘆。神能把你帶過難關，這是沒有人可以幫你的。外面環境可能依舊，裡面的心志卻有了不同。在心志里首先經歷這種轉變，那麼當事情臨到，就不會斤斤計較了。你若沒有與神這樣碰頭，最終便會自憐自嘆。

[用繩索把祭牲綁上、拴在祭壇的角上。 ]祭壇就是火的意思－－焚燒、潔淨、隔離，其目的就是斷絕一切不由神而來的關係，隔絕所有不屬於神的物品。不是你去燒毀，乃是神；你只要把祭牲拴在壇角。 當火起來燃燒，不要去惋惜這些東西。經過了火的焚燒，就再沒有什麼會壓制你，或使你沮喪。當重要關頭臨到，發覺沒有什麼可以像昔日那樣摸著你了。你的 [火]是什麼？告訴神你預備獻上，神便會向你顯示他自己，就是你日夕所想的。

祈禱◆[但到了神我們救主的恩慈，和他向人所施的慈愛顯明的時候……]噢，主啊，這句話經常縈繞我的心頭；然而，我極少將你的恩典和慈愛展示人前！