第一週■週四

w01d04-ch

晨興餧養

提前四7 ～ 8『…操練自己以至於敬虔。因爲操練身體益處還少；惟獨敬虔，凡事都有益處，有今生和來生的應許。』

提後一6 ～ 7『…將…在你裏面神的恩賜，再如火挑旺起來。因爲神賜給我們的，不是膽怯的靈，乃是能力、愛、並清明自守的靈。』

我們已經看見我們靈的重要性，現在我們要來看我們靈的操練。我們必須建立操練靈的習慣。我早上起來的時候，自然而然會說的第一句話是：『哦，主。』藉着說『哦，主』而呼求主，乃是操練靈的習慣。…這會有很大的不同。你早上起來如果甚麼也不說，你可能有例行公事的禱告，卻沒有真正的摸着主；這是因爲你沒有操練靈。我們必須建立說『哦，主』的習慣。當我們說『哦，主』的時候，我們就摸着主。這是操練靈的習慣（李常受文集一九九三年第二册，二四一頁）。

信息選讀

我們應當勉強自己說，『哦，主耶穌！』『操練』這個辭含示勉強。操練總是一件勉強的事。當奧林匹克運動員爲着練習或競賽操練自己時，他們必須有剛強的意志。他們勉強自己操練。我們基督徒若要剛強並要在主裏長大，就必須勉強自己用我們的靈。

假定我們的家庭生活遇到了難處；可能是在你和配偶之間、你和兒女之間或你和父母之間的難處。那時你如果不操練你的靈，你整個魂，包括你的心思、意志、情感，就會得勝。你的魂就會勝過你，制伏你，征服你的靈。這甚至會使你很厲害的發脾氣。因此，每當你在艱難的光景中，你必須勉強自己操練你的靈。勉強你自己操練、使用你的靈，會使你成爲不一樣的人。

在提前四章七至八節裏，保羅說到兩種操練。在操練身體之外的那種操練，也就是操練以至於敬虔的操練，必定是靈的操練。操練我們自己以至於敬虔，乃是在我們日常生活中操練我們的靈活基督。

提後一章六至七節指明，我們必須將我們的靈，如火挑旺起來。…有些人可能以爲，這兩節不是說我們應當將我們的靈挑旺起來，而是說將我們的恩賜挑旺起來。但你若深入這節經文，你就會看見，將我們的恩賜挑旺起來，就是將我們的靈挑旺起來。保羅在六節告訴我們：『將…神的恩賜，再如火挑旺起來。』到了七節他說，『因爲神賜給我們的…靈。』神所給我們的靈，是我們必須挑旺起來的。我們必須挑旺我們的靈。

我們可以說，我們必須如火挑旺起來的神的恩賜，乃是屬靈的恩賜。但若沒有我們的靈，我們怎能有恩賜？屬靈的恩賜是在我們的靈裏。在我們那有聖靈內住的重生的靈裏有火。事實上，我們可以說，我們的靈就是火。

你若要將你的靈挑旺起來，就必須敞開口，敞開心，敞開靈。你必須敞開你全人的這三層。你必須用口說，『哦，主耶穌。』但你還必須加深的用口、用心來說，『哦，主耶穌。』然後你還必須更深的用口、用心、用靈來說，『哦，主耶穌。』這是從深處敞開你的靈。火就會燒起來。你如果下沉，就應當從你的深處操練你的靈，一再的呼求：『哦，主耶穌。』這樣，你就會高昂起來（李常受文集一九九三年第二册，二四一至二四四頁）。

參讀：提摩太前書生命讀經，第三至四篇；提摩太後書生命讀經，第一篇。

WEEK 1 — DAY 4

Morning Nourishment

1 Tim. 4:7-8 …Exercise yourself unto godliness. For bodily exercise is profitable for a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the present life and of that which is to come.

2 Tim. 1:6-7 …Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.

Now that we have seen the importance of our spirit, we want to see the exercise of our spirit. We must build up a habit of exercising our spirit…In the morning, the first thing I spontaneously say is “O Lord.” To call on the Lord by saying, “O Lord” is a habit of exercising our spirit…[It] makes a big difference. If you rise up in the morning without saying anything, you may pray in a routine way without really touching the Lord. This is because there is no exercise of your spirit. We have to build up a habit of saying, “O Lord.” When we say, “O Lord,” we touch the Lord. This is the habit of exercising our spirit. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” p. 181)

Todays Reading

We should force ourselves to say, “O Lord Jesus!” The word exercise implies forcing. To exercise is always a forced matter. When the Olympic athletes are exercising to practice or compete, they must have a strong will. They force themselves to exercise. If we Christians want to be strong and want to grow in the Lord, we must force ourselves to use our spirit.

Let us suppose that a problem comes into your family life. It may be a problem between you and your spouse, between you and your children, or between you and your parents. If you do not exercise your spirit at that time, your entire soul with your mind, will, and emotion will become prevailing. Then the soul will overcome and subdue you, conquering your spirit. This can even cause you to lose your temper in a bad way. Therefore, whenever you are in a hard situation, you have to force yourself to exercise your spirit. To force yourself to exercise, or to use, your spirit makes you a different person.

In [1 Timothy 4:7-8] Paul speaks of two kinds of exercise. The exercise besides that of the body, which is the exercise unto godliness, must be the exercise of the spirit. To exercise ourselves unto godliness is to exercise our spirit to live Christ in our daily life.

Second Timothy 1:6-7 indicates that we need to fan our spirit into flame… Some might think that these verses do not say that we should fan our spirit but that we should fan our gift. But if you get into these verses, you will see that the fanning of our gift into flame is the fanning of our spirit into flame. Paul tells us in verse 6 to “fan into flame the gift of God.” Then in verse 7 he says, “For God has not given us a spirit…” Our God-given spirit is what we must fan into flame. We have to fan our spirit.

We may say that the gift of God that we must fan into flame is a spiritual gift. But without our spirit, how could we have the gift? The spiritual gift is in our spirit. There is fire in our regenerated spirit, which is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Actually, we may say that our spirit is the fire.

If you want to fan your spirit into flame, you need to open up your mouth, open up your heart, and open up your spirit. You need to open these three layers of your being. You have to use your mouth to say, “O Lord Jesus.” But then you have to go deeper by using your mouth with your heart to say, “O Lord Jesus.” Then you need to go even deeper by using your mouth with your heart and with your spirit to say, “O Lord Jesus.” This is to open up your spirit from deep within. Then the fire burns. If you are down, you should call “O Lord Jesus” again and again from deep within with the exercise of your spirit. Then you will be up. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” pp. 181-183)

Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Timothy, msgs. 3-4; Life-study of 2 Timothy, msg. 1