最棒的基督徒生命17

結果子

在約翰福音十五章8節主說：『你們多結果子，我父就因此得榮耀，你們也就是我的門徒了。』成為主的門徒那刻起，我們便開始結果子，但當我們進入與主下一階段的關係─成為祂的僕人─藉由做祂的工來多結果子便成為我們的主要焦點。門徒訓練多半都與我們有關，關乎我們的學習，我們的成長。但要成為僕人，我們需要應用一切所學為著祂的目的，而不是我們的益處。我們便從這裡開始真正做主的工，行在順服的全新層面裡。

當我還未婚，仍是個年輕的基督徒，我可以用兼職工作餬口度日，因此我可以每週花超過40小時來研讀，我一次又一次研讀聖經，我也讀遍基督教叢書。我深入研讀歷史、末世論；為了更多瞭解造物主，我也向一些教師或牧師學習。我對主完全著迷，我最大的寶藏就是找到任何關於祂和祂道路的一絲知識。在我生命中此階段的尾聲，我帶領由大學生所組成的小組。當時我嘗試成為一位牧師，我發現身為領袖自己非常不夠，即使我已經比他們擁有更多的屬靈知識了。要成為好的領袖，需要的不單是聰明與知識，還需要智慧、經歷。要成為屬靈領袖，最重要的莫過於聖靈的果子。

我在和人的相處中犯下許多錯誤，感到自己實在不足，以致於我離開牧養工作，成為機師，也讓自己大部分的時間用來研讀。然而，在那時期我所需要的不是更多研讀，我所需要的乃是學習應用所學成為僕人，每天盡可能的與主更緊密同行。不論我們有多認識祂，若沒有祂，我們便無法做祂的工。

我繞了一大圈才走到那裡，浪費不少時間逃離我的呼召，但靠著主的恩典，祂賜給我第二次的呼召。當我終於順服成為祂的僕人，我也學習到沒有比成為祂的奴僕更大的自由，沒有比放下一切給祂來得更大的豐盛。我們要如何做呢？下週我將分享一些我覺得有所助益的個人經歷。

(摘自喬納 word for the week, Week17, 2015)


Bearing Fruit- The Greatest Christian Life, Part 17
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Week 17, 2015 
Rick Joyner 

In John 15:8 the Lord said, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples” (NKJV). We begin to bear fruit as disciples, but when we go to the next level of relationship with the Lord—being His bondservant—bearing fruit by doing His work becomes our primary focus. Discipleship is mostly about us, us learning, and us growing. But becoming a bondservant requires us to apply all we have learned for His purposes, not our benefit. This is where we start doing the real work of the Lord, walking in a whole new level of obedience. 

When I was a young Christian and not married, I could support myself with a part-time job, so I was able to spend about forty hours or more a week in study. I read The Bible over and over. I read every Christian book I could. I studied history in depth. I studied eschatology. I studied the creation in order to better understand the Creator. I went to hear any teacher or preacher I thought I could learn from. I was consumed with fascination about the Lord, and my greatest treasure was finding any bit of knowledge about Him and His ways.

During the last part of this phase of my life, I was leading a small group that was mostly made up of college students. It was when I tried to be a pastor that I learned how painfully inadequate I was as a leader, even though I had so much more knowledge than they. It takes a lot more than knowledge and intelligence to be a good leader. It takes wisdom, experience, and most of all, for spiritual leadership, the fruit of the Spirit.

I made so many mistakes with people and felt so inadequate that I left the pastorate and took a corporate flying job that also allowed me to spend most of my time in study.

However, at that point, more study was not what I needed. I needed to learn how to apply the knowledge by being a bondservant and to daily walk as closely as possible with the Lord. It does not matter how much we know about Him, we cannot do His work without Him.

I took a round-about way to get there, and spent some time running from my calling, but by His grace, He gave me a second call. When I finally submitted to the service as a bondservant, I also learned there is no greater freedom than being His slave. There is no greater prosperity we could ever know than when we give up everything to Him. How do we do this? Next week I will interject some personal experiences I think will be helpful.