<起初的愛心>7/14-7/20/14
「然而,有一件事我要責備你,就是你把起初的愛心離棄了。」
“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first![a] 2:4 Greek -You have lost your first love.” (Revelation 2:4NLT)
默想禱告: 週末晨早禱讀啟示錄主耶穌親自對七間教會的勸戒。讀完再看大衛. 鮑森David Pawson釋經錄像, 逐節研讀,內心深深受到衝擊, 恍惚每句警惕的話都是對著自己說的。更令我惶恐的是,我已經淡忘
其實那時我的信仰是重「理」而不重「情」, 祇認知基督信仰的神學架構、宇宙論、
故此很長時間我沒有產生把福音傳給别人的意圖和感動, 因為我不懂得甚麼是真正的愛, 也沒有嚐過。
直到來了美國, 我孤獨奮鬥, 無依無靠地讀書生活。 每當我面臨艱難的境遇, 總是感覺到有一雙無形的手在攙扶著我。一次可以當成是巧合, 但到了經歷無數次的奇妙搭救以後, 連最遲鈍的我也終於體察出神的愛, 原來衪從沒有離開過我, 撇棄過我。
是衪先愛我, 讓我嚐到愛的滋味-神的具體作為, 然後慢慢從祂身上我才學習去愛別人。約翰壹書4:19「我們愛、
默想思考了半天, 突然聽到一連串門鈴聲, 思維立刻被打斷, 我慢吞吞穿衣下樓開門, 以為人已經走了。怎料門一打開, 一位年青貌似大學生的中國女子站在我的眼前。
她露出靦腆羞澀的臉容,帶著北方人口音輕聲地對我說: 「先生,你聽過福音嗎?」
我趕快回答: 「我已經是基督徒!」
「那太好了, 我們在附近剛成立新教會, 歡迎您來聚會。」她把一張小卡片遞給我, 然後慢慢走往下一户。
關緊了門, 我卻隱約聽見隣居衹說台山話的老伯對她的邀請作出强烈反應。
我現在更清楚明白甚麼是「起初的愛」-就是在愛中沒有懼怕, 沒有保留, 願意付上代價, 懷著激情地回應主耶穌對我們的愛, 將這份愛傳達給別人, 也學習彼此相愛的功課。
求主幫助, 以衪神聖的愛的熱量再度鎔化我們冷卻的心, 聖靈引導不讓我們顛倒了愛的對象, 把愛主的心轉成戀慕世界。正如啟示錄2:5所言: 「所以,應當回想你是從哪裡墜落的,並要悔改,行起初所行的事。
Meditation & Prayer: I was studying the 7 churches described in Revelation, while watching David Pawson’s exegesis videos on our Lord’s complaint against Ephesus. “You have lost the first love.” I can’t quite grasp the meaning per my own experience.
I remember I accepted Christ in Taiwan attending college. My conversion in fact involved mostly a mental and philosophical change based on human reasoning, viewing Christianity as a far more superior philosophical and moral system than all other secular religions. Yet I completely ignored the core value of being a Christian is to establish an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Without a relationship, I could hardly experience God’s love toward me in a personal way. True love does not exist in a realm of sheer objective and rational thought process, but must require emotional/spiritual interface for its manifestation.
The Lord demonstrated his love to me despite my insensitivity. His care for me was so real when I was alone in U.S. struggling to survive with insurmountable odds. His guidance and blessings in every aspect of my life have been so genuine and unimaginable that I finally got a glimpse of God’s love. “We love because God first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
I admit that I did not know what love is and how to love, but the Lord demonstrates his love to me by sacrificing himself for the atonement of my sins, and continues to show his mercy and grace toward me when I accept him as my personal Savior.
How I respond to this greatest love, in my attitude and actions, will reflect the intensity level of my first love toward him. The deeper my understanding and appreciation of his unfathomable love, the more commitment I show to maintain and enjoy a continuous loving relationship with Jesus.
I pray that we always recount those moments of our first love toward God and continue to connect with him like vines and branches, in Jesus holy name I pray, amen. (Brother Mike Chan sharing)
紧急代禱:
亲爱的主内弟兄姊妹:
敬请各位弟兄姊妹迫切为温州地区十字架被拆事件祷告。
自4月份以来,已经有162个教堂被拆掉十字架,
7月16日,温州有三位来自不同教会的传道人写了遗书,
7月21日夜,一千来位基督徒一夜守在温州平阳水头救恩堂(
亲爱的弟兄姊妹,恳请大家举手为我们的肢体祷告!请转发,
主内
王峙军牧师/师母
生命季刊编辑
生命季刊网页:http://cclifefl.org/
生命季刊微信公共号:cclife2013gmail
生命季刊博客:http://blog.sina.com.
生命季刊微博:http://weibo.com/
王倚真、楊靜姝、陈炽 榮神传播協會
Majesty Multimedia Ministries www.mmm4him.org
Like or Follow us through social media. We often update through our vast network. Have a comment or question? Ask away.
Email: Use Contact Form
Tel: 123-987-6655