感覺，紀律，還是兩者皆有─啟示錄 

這週我們將開始更多瞭解並保有我們對主『起初的愛心』（參考啟示錄2:4）。此重要到主對以弗所的教會說，倘若他們沒有悔改，他們的燈臺將被挪去─這意味著他們不再屬於祂的教會。因此，我們得先確定這件事是否沒問題，再看其他的事。保羅在哥林多後書十三章5節勸誡信徒：

你們總要自己省察有信心沒有，也要自己試驗。豈不知你們若不是可棄絕的，就有耶穌基督在你們心裡嗎？

我們身為人的主要工作就是愛神，我們應當從各方面來自我評估，但首要與最重要的評估在於我們是否更加愛主。這將是決定我們是否擁有成功人生的首要之事。

生命的道路是愛不斷增加的道路，先從我們對神的愛開始。倘若我們失去對祂的熱情，我們對他人的愛亦會減少。我們可能仍辛勤工作並擁有輝煌成就，但正如哥林多前書十三章所言，『沒有愛，我就算不得什麼』。若沒有愛，這些工作就算不得什麼，唯有愛才是首要之事。

正如我們所學到的，沒有任何毒品所帶來的亢奮可以與『墜入情網』的經歷相比，不單是令人心情愉快，除了你所愛的人，真的很難去想其他事或其他人。在自然領域，這樣極端、極致的熱情只持續幾個月其實是好的，然後就轉換成比較深層、沒有那麼激情的愛。倘若不如此，我們真的很難完成任何事。然而，以弗所的教會被責備失去這樣起初的愛！此表明對主『起初的愛心』（參考啟示錄2:4）所帶來的熱情與愉悅不但要持久，而且必須要持久。 

正如我們上週所討論的，人熱烈的愛是我們與主關係的一種類型或模式。我們對神的愛可以比我們所經歷對人的愛來得真實。因此，我們要如何才能擁有對主如此熱切、近乎狂熱的愛，卻仍在生活中運作得宜呢？ 

首先，對主擁有這種熱切的愛很難在生活中運作得宜，雖然可行，卻不容易。這樣的人可能會被人說他們的想法太屬天，對地上沒有太多益處。有些人的確如此，若是，他們便在此生選擇了上好的福份。我們必須謹記在心：主愛馬利亞也愛馬大。要擁有『上好的福份』，馬大需要更像馬利亞，但馬利亞也需要向馬大學習，只是不要學習她的態度。這不是兩者選一，而是兩者都要。 

雅各說：『信心沒有行為是死的』（參考雅各書2:26），但愛沒有行為也可能是死的。有哪一個丈夫想要回家發現屋子一團亂，孩子沒餵也沒照顧？假使他問起發生什麼事，太太卻回答說她充滿對他的愛，所以什麼都做不了，只能成天坐在那裡思念他。同樣地，若家庭主婦聽到丈夫說他無法工作來供應家庭需要，因為他只能坐在那想著他有多愛他太太。 

正如海蒂貝克曾說：『愛看起來像某個東西』，真愛帶來行動。現在想一下：愛可以被命令嗎？我們可以命令某人愛我們嗎？神命令我們愛祂。我們做得如何？愛不單是一種感情，但它的確是一種感情。誰會想聽到他們的配偶說他們憑信心來愛他們？

我經歷過被神的愛充滿、滿溢出來的感情，它使我無法運作得宜，因為我在其他根基上並不成熟，但這樣的經歷真的很棒！我想要再經歷一次，並持續下去，只要再加上現在的成熟度，可以持續做我的工作。正如主讓我看見，我必須在此上成長。當我們凡事長進連於基督，我們會同時在愛的情感與紀律上成長，因為其兩者皆有。倘若神命令我們愛祂，我們可能必須從單單尋求順服祂開始。倘若我們這樣做，愛的感覺會隨之而來。其他先從感覺來愛神的人，也必須學習紀律。兩者都是我們生活中的首要追求。 

其他熱情或毒品都是此終極生活形態─行在祂愛中的仿冒品。還有什麼比行在祂愛中更美好的事？對主而言，我們成為什麼比我們做了什麼更為重要。我們身為人類的最高目的就是愛神。唯有愛，我們才可以實現我們被呼召來做的事。正如哥林多前書十三章所告訴我們的，沒有愛，我們的工作便算不得什麼。這就是首要之事，而『首要之事就是讓首要之事成為首要之事。』 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week,Week18, 2016)

 
Feelings, Discipline, or Both? The Book of Revelation
Week 18, 2016
Rick Joyner

         This week, we will go a bit further in seeking to understand and keep our “first love” (see Revelation 2:4) of the Lord. This is so important that the Lord told the Ephesian church that if they did not recover and keep this, their candlestick would be removed—meaning they would no longer be His church. So, we should be sure to get this right before anything else. In II Corinthians 13:5, Paul exhorts believers to:    

       Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

         Our main job description as human beings is to love God. We should evaluate ourselves in a number of ways, but our first and most important evaluation is if we are growing in love for Him. This is the main thing that determines if we truly have a successful life.

         The path of life is the way of ever-increasing love, beginning with our love for God. If we lose this increasing passion for Him, even our love for others will wane. We may still work hard and do great exploits, but as I Corinthians 13 says, these works will not count without love. Love is the main thing.

         As we have learned, no drug-induced high can compare with the experience of “falling in love.” Not just euphoric, it is difficult to think about anything or anyone except for the one you love. In the natural, it’s a good thing that this extreme, all-consuming passion only lasts for a few months before transforming into a deeper, if less all-consuming love. If it did not, we would hardly accomplish anything. However, the church at Ephesus was rebuked for losing this first love! This indicates that with the Lord, this “first love” (see Revelation 2:4) passion and euphoria cannot only be sustained, but it must be sustained.

         As we discussed last week, human passionate love is a type or model of our relationship to the Lord. The love we have with God can be that much more substantial than what we experience with any other human. So, how could we have this kind of passionate, virtually all-consuming love for the Lord and still function in life?

         At first, it is difficult to function in life with this kind of passionate love for the Lord. It can be done, but it is hard. Those caught up in this were probably the original ones about whom it was said that they were so heavenly minded they weren’t much earthly good. This can be true of some, but if it is, then they have chosen the best part of this life. We must keep in mind that the Lord loved Mary and Martha. To have the “best part,” Martha needed to be more like Mary, but Mary needed to learn from Martha too, although not from her attitude. It is not either/or, but both.  

         James wrote that “faith without works is dead” (see James 2:26), but it is also true that love without works can be deadly. What husband would want to come home and find the house a wreck and the kids neither fed nor watched over? What if he asks what happened and his wife replies that she is so filled with love for him that she could not do anything but sit and think of him? Likewise, what housewife would like to hear her husband say he could not work and provide for the family because he can only sit and think of how he loves them so much?

         As Heidi Baker says, “Love looks like something.” True love provokes action. Now think about this: Can love be commanded? Can we command someone to feel love for us? God commanded us to love Him. How does that work? Love is not just an emotion, but it is an emotion. Who would want to hear their spouse say they love them by faith?

         I have experienced the overwhelming emotion of being filled with God’s love. It incapacitated me because of my immaturity in other basics, but it was wonderful! I want to experience it again and continually, but with the maturity to keep doing my job. As He showed me, I must grow into this. As we grow up into Him, we will grow in the emotion and the discipline of love because it is both. If God commanded us to love Him, we may have to begin with simply seeking to obey. If we do this, the feelings will come. Others begin with the feelings and have to learn the discipline. Both must be primary pursuits of our life.   

         Every other passion or drug is a counterfeit to this ultimate state of life—walking in His love. What could we possibly have better to do? What we become is more important to Him than what we do. Our highest purpose as human beings is to love God. We can only attain this and achieve what we are called to do by love. As we are told in I Corinthians 13, without the love, our works do not count. This is the main thing, and “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”