Taking the Next Step

. . . in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses —2 Corinthians 6:4

When you have no vision from God, no enthusiasm left in your life, and no one watching and encouraging you, it requires the grace of Almighty God to take the next step in your devotion to Him, in the reading and studying of His Word, in your family life, or in your duty to Him. It takes much more of the grace of God, and a much greater awareness of drawing upon Him, to take that next step, than it does to preach the gospel.

Every Christian must experience the essence of the incarnation by bringing the next step down into flesh-and-blood reality and by working it out with his hands. We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God and for the people of God in the long run is steady perseverance, even when the work cannot be seen by others. And the only way to live an undefeated life is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to discourage you. Never allow yourself to think that some tasks are beneath your dignity or too insignificant for you to do, and remind yourself of the example of Christ in John 13:1-17.

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瑣務纏身

就如在許多的忍耐、患難、窮乏、困苦。 （林後六4）

沒有異象，沒有觀眾，要踏上下一步，實在需要全能神的恩典。奉獻的下一步，求學的下一步，讀書的下一步，烹飪的下一步，工作的下一步，沒有從神來的異象，沒有熱情的洶湧，也沒有觀眾。這時比傳福音更需要神的厚恩，更需要刻意地從神支取，才能走下一步。

每一個信徒要有分於道成肉身的精義，就必須腳踏實地，付諸行動，用十個指頭去實踐。我們在沒有異象，沒有刺激，日復一日平凡無奇的生活下，容易萎靡不振。其實，至終為神與人所共認的，是那些在暗中堅忍耐勞的工作。若要生命不至於受摧壓，唯一的方法是仰望神而活。

求神使你心靈的眼睛注目於復活的主，這樣，一切的辛勞就無法擊敗你了。要從你心思中不斷的除掉繁瑣的事物，專心思想約翰福音十三章。

祈禱◆噢，主啊，懇求你繼續賜下力量和純真的喜樂。讓我的動機和心思，都能夠保持謙卑，不會自以為是優越的人。