第一週■週五

w01d05-ch

晨興餧養

徒十四22『堅固門徒的魂，勸勉他們恆守信仰，又說，我們進入神的國，必須經歷許多患難。』

提後一7『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。』

人的魂是由人的心思、情感、意志所組成的。堅固門徒的魂就是：㈠堅固他們的心思，使他們認識並領會主和關於主的事；…㈡堅固他們的情感，使他們愛主並有心爲着主的權益；…㈢堅固他們的意志，使他們剛強與主同在，行主所喜悅的事（聖經恢復本，徒十四22 註1）。

信息選讀

提後一章七節說到能力、愛、清明自守這三個項目，是很有意思的。…這是因爲魂完全包圍着我們的靈，而魂是由心思、情感、意志三部分所組成。所以說到靈，不是說到一個、兩個或四個項目，而是三個項目。靈是由魂的三部分所包圍，因此，這三部分必定與我們的靈適切相關。

首先，我們的『意志』必須被靈征服，而成爲降服的。…能力的靈指明，意志必定是被征服而向靈降服的。…有時，我們會說一個人有剛強的意志力。事實上，我們可能用錯了字眼。他的意志不是剛強的，而是剛硬、頑固的。…我們的意志惟有在靈的管治下，纔會剛強並有能。何時一位信徒成爲殉道者，他必是剛強的；他有剛強的意志，因爲那時他的意志全然降服於靈。我們的意志被征服並降服於靈時，我們的意志就變得剛強而有能。這樣，我們就真正有一個能力的靈！

然而，許多時候，當靈征服了我們的意志，並使其降服於主，我們會變得非常冰冷。因此，我們需要愛作爲平衡。我們不僅需要能力的靈，更需要愛的靈。卽使我們的意志是降服的，若是沒有愛的靈，我們對人就會是冷漠的。我們甚至會批評他們，定罪他們，認爲他們太叛逆了。我們必須用愛的靈平衡我們能力的靈。我們的靈必須旣有能力，又有愛。

主耶穌在地上的時候，祂的意志是降服於靈的，祂順從父。因此，祂的靈很剛強，卻又一直滿了愛。祂不僅有剛強的靈，還有愛的靈。祂非常平衡。對於那惡者撒但，祂的靈非常剛強而有能！但對於罪人和稅吏，祂的靈滿了愛與同情。這是真正的平衡。

我們有了情感之後，還需要再被平衡！現在我們必須有清明自守的靈。…單單只有愛，會使我們變得愚昧且盲目，甚至把我們帶進黑暗裏。因此，我們必須保持平衡，不要愚昧的愛，而要以健全的心思，清楚、正確、清明的來愛。

因此，對付靈並不是對付靈的本身，而是對付在靈周圍之魂的各部分。〔正如水源是純淨的，但水也許流過硫磺，就有了硫磺味，〕問題不在於水源，乃在於水所流過的通道。…如果我們的心思錯了，我們的靈就絕不可能正確。當我們的意志或情感不對時，我們的靈也絕不可能是對的。所以，我們必須對付魂的各部分：意志必須被征服，情感必須受平衡，心思必須清明或健全。如此，靈就會有能力、滿了愛且是清明的。這給我們看見魂的三部分如何與靈的操練有關係（譯自英文『水流報』合訂本第一册，二九八至三三一頁）。

參讀：生命信息，第二十六章。

WEEK 1 — DAY 5

Morning Nourishment

Acts 14:22 Establishing the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.

2 Tim. 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.

Man’s soul is composed of his mind, emotion, and will. To establish the souls of the disciples is to establish them (1) in their mind, that they may know and understand the Lord and the things concerning Him…; (2) in their emotion, that they may love the Lord and have a heart for the Lord’s interest…; and (3) in their will, that they may be strong to remain with the Lord and do the things that please the Lord. (Acts 14:22, footnote 1)

Todays Reading

[Second Timothy 1:7] is very interesting. Three items are mentioned: power, love, and sobermindedness…This is because the soul completely surrounds our spirit. Since the soul is composed of three parts—the mind, emotion, and will— the spirit is not mentioned with one, two, or four items, but with three. The spirit is surrounded by three parts of the soul. Therefore, each of these three parts must be related to the spirit in a proper way.

First, our will has to be subdued by the spirit in order to become submissive…A spirit of power means that the will must be first subdued and then submissive to the spirit. Sometimes we describe a certain person by his strong will. Actually, we are using the wrong expression to describe that person. His is not a strong will, but a hard, stubborn one…Our will can become strong and powerful only under the control of the spirit. Whenever a believer becomes a martyr, he is strong; he has a strong will because at that time his will is completely submissive to the spirit. When our will is subdued and becomes submissive to the spirit, it becomes strong and powerful. Then we will truly have a spirit of power!

However, many times when the spirit subdues our will and makes it submissive to the Lord, we then become very cold. Therefore, we need love as a balance. We not only need a spirit of power, but also a spirit of love. Even though our will is submissive, if we do not have a spirit of love, it is very easy for us to be cold toward others. We will even be critical of them, condemning them because they are so rebellious…We must balance our spirit of power with a spirit of love. Our spirit has to be both of power and of love.

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, His will was submissive to the spirit, and He was obedient to the Father. Therefore, His spirit was very strong—but it was also continually full of love. He had not only a strong spirit, but one of love. He was very balanced. His spirit toward Satan, the evil one, was very strong and powerful! But toward the sinners and publicans, His spirit was full of love and sympathy. Here is real balance.

Love is a matter of the emotion…After we become emotional, we need to be balanced again! Now we must have a spirit of sobermindedness…Love alone causes us to be foolish and blind and will even bring us into darkness. Therefore, we must be so balanced that we will not love foolishly, but clearly, properly and soberly with a sound mind.

Therefore, to deal with the spirit is not a matter of dealing with the spirit itself, but with all of the parts of the soul which surround it…[A spring itself is pure, but the water may flow through sulphur or salt.] The passage through which the water flows is the problem…If our mind is wrong, our spirit could never be right. When our will or emotion are wrong, our spirit could never be right. So, we must deal with all these parts of the soul. The will has to be subdued, the emotion has to be balanced, and the mind has to be sober or sound. Then the spirit will be powerful, loving and sober. Thus, we see how these three parts of the soul are related to the exercise of the spirit. (The Stream Magazine, Book One, pp. 302-306)

Further Reading: The Stream Magazine, Book One, pp. 298-331; CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” ch. 26