於2022-05-27發佈

 

誰造就了誰?
Who makes Who?
雷克-喬納 Rick Joyner
翻譯:Kate 2022.5.27
轉載/轉寄 請註明出處:國度禱告網

有一個重要的問題,許多人都曾問過,似乎適合在此討論。是主使我們成為我們應該成為的樣子,還是新婦"使自己預備好"?健全聖經教導顯示這兩者都是真的。當我們在聖經中遇到這樣的悖論時,是因為兩者是真理。事實上,許多歷史上的異端都是基督徒在不理解和不接受與之相對應的真理的情況下,擁護某一真理的結果。這些人就像那些看不到硬幣有兩個不同面的人,因此他們看到的一半硬幣,都認為是假幣。

這是一個永恆的真理,只有靈才能孕育出屬靈的事物。沒有祂,我們不能把自己變成我們應該成為的樣子。然而,沒有我們的意願,祂也不會改變我們。我們必須非常想得到神的事物來追求它們,正如馬太福音7:7-8中告訴我們的那樣。

"你們祈求,就給你們;尋找,就尋見;叩門,就給你們開門。
因為凡祈求的,就得著;尋找的,就尋見;叩門的,就給他開門。

當我們重生後,我們像新生兒一樣來到神面前。當我們需要什麼時,我們會哭,而祂通常會很快回應。像嬰兒一樣,我們需要感情、食物、換尿布等。經歷神的愛是我們作為人所能知道的最大的喜樂和成就,但如果我們餓了,就很難得。因此,主在給我們食物的同時,也給我們感情。即使如此,來自祂的觸摸也有吸引人的力量,使我們的靈進入遠超世界的榮耀和美麗的境界。

許多人有錯誤概念,認為天父是舊約中這位僵硬的、不容忍的、神聖的上帝,如果耶穌沒有來為我們犧牲自己,祂現在就會打我們。事實是,天父如此愛世人,以至於將祂的兒子賜給我們。天父愛我們,喜歡深情地擁抱祂的孩子。上帝是靈,祂的觸摸不像身體上的觸摸--它比身體上的觸摸要多得多。我們需要神的觸摸,而不是需要那些經常吸引我們的事物。天父對我們的愛遠遠超過我們所能知道的。祂愛我們,即使我們在犯罪時。事實上,即使我們在罪中時,祂也是如此愛我們,以至於祂賜下自己的兒子來幫助我們脫離罪中。

就像父子關係隨著孩子成熟而改變一樣,天父與我們的關係也隨著我們的成熟而改變。當我女兒還小時,我可以一言不發地抱著她們很長時間,這似乎是她們想要的一切。現在她們已經十幾歲了,她們希望我帶她們出去吃飯,有時只是坐下來聊一會兒。同樣,當我們成熟時,天父對我們的愛和感情也不會減少,但祂表現的方式不同,因為祂的表達與我們的成熟狀態有關。

當我的孩子還很小時,他們的母親和我幾乎做了他們生活中的所有決定。甚至當他們打掃房間時,我們也要指出每一件要做的事情。這對一個3歲的孩子來說還可以,但如果我們必須為一個16歲的孩子做這些事,我們就有問題了!這並不意味著我對16歲孩子的愛減少了,因為我沒有給她每件小事的具體指示,是我更信任她。如果我不得不在她16歲時給她提供像她3歲時那樣的具體指示,我會非常擔心和惱火的。當我們不能成熟時,也不會得到我們天父的喜悅。

我從談論新婦如何預備好自己到談論我們與天父的關係是有原因的。許多人沒有區分,也不明白如何與父神和神子建立關係。從我女兒出生的那天起,我就知道她們每個人都會有一天,我不再是她們生命中的主要人物。對於女孩來說,要成熟成為女人,有需要父親,但成熟後她需要丈夫。儘管她與父親的關係在那個時候會發生巨大的變化,但這種關係可以繼續下去,甚至越來越深,越來越特別。明智的父親會考慮到這種變化的到來,它是自然和正確的,並會努力為他的女兒預備。

同樣,我們需要與天父建立特殊的關係,以便我們為新婦與聖子的婚姻做好預備。天父愛我們,我們將永遠與祂保持關係。它將在整個永恆中越來越深,越來越豐富,但有一種不同的關係,我們被要求與聖子建立。我們現在正在為婚姻做預備,但在整個永恆中,我們與聖子的關係也同樣會成熟和加深。這兩種關係都是我們靈性成熟所需要的,從而成為我們被呼召的人。

甘保羅(Paul Cain)曾說過:"靈性成熟不是靠時間的流逝,而是靠對神與神子關係的正確反應"。這是真的。我們說,屬靈的成熟只能通過對我們與父和子的關係的正確反應來實現。

最近,由於教會對父的感情和愛的需要,產生了偉大的運動。這很及時,也很需要。然而,隨著我們越來越接近末世,新婦將逐漸成熟,她將開始渴望她的丈夫。然後她將開始"為自己做預備"。這將是最偉大的記號,表明我們確實已經到了此時代的盡頭,開始了主大而可畏的日子。 


Who makes Who?
Rick Joyner

There is an important question that many ask which seems appropriate to address here. Does the Lord make us into what we should be, or does the bride "make herself ready"? There is sound biblical teaching that reveals both to be true. When we run into paradoxes like this in Scripture it is because there is truth to both. In fact, many of the historic heresies are the result of Christians embracing a truth without understanding and embracing the counterbalancing truth. These are like those who cannot see that a coin has two different sides and therefore half the coins they see, they believe to be fake.

It is an eternal truth that only the Spirit can begat that which is spirit. We cannot make ourselves into what we should be without Him. However, He will not change us without our desiring it. We must want the things of God badly enough to pursue them, as we are told in Matthew 7:7-8:

"Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened to you.
"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds,
and to him who knocks it shall be opened."

When we are born again we begin coming to God like a newborn. We cry when we need something, and He usually responds quickly. Like an infant, we need affection as well as food, diaper changes, etc. Experiencing the affection of God is the greatest joy and fulfillment that we can know as human beings, but it is hard to receive it if we are hungry. Therefore, the Lord gives us food as well as affection. Even so, a touch from Him has the drawing power to lift our spirits into realms of glory and beauty that are far beyond the earthly realm.

Many have the false concept that the Father is this rigid, intolerant, holy God of the Old Testament, who would be smiting us right now if Jesus had not come to sacrifice Himself for us. The truth is the Father so loved the world that He gave His Son. The Father loves us and loves to affectionately hold His children. God is Spirit and His touch is not like a physical touch—it is much more than a physical touch could ever be. We need this more than we need the things that so often captivate us. The Father loves us much more than we could ever know. He loves us even when we are in sin. In fact, He loves us so much even when we were in sin that He gave His own Son to help us out of it.

Just as a father's relationship to his children changes as they mature, so does the Father's relationship with us change as we mature. When my daughters were small children, I could hold them for long periods of time without saying a thing and it seemed to be all they wanted. Now that they are teenagers, they want me to take them out to dinner, and sometimes just sit and talk for a while. In the same way, the Father's love and affection for us is no less when we mature, but the way He shows it is different because He relates more to our maturing state.

When my children were very young their mother and I made almost all the decisions in their lives. Even when they cleaned their room, we would have to point out each thing to do. That's okay for a three year old, but if we had to do that for a sixteen year old, we would have a problem! It does not mean I love my sixteen year old less because I do not give her specific instructions about every little thing, but that I trust her more. I would get very concerned and annoyed if I had to give her the kind of specific instructions when she is sixteen as I did when she was three. Neither is it pleasing to our Father in heaven when we fail to mature.

There is a reason why I went from talking about the way the bride makes herself ready to our relationship to the Father. Many fail to distinguish, or understand how to relate to God the Father and God the Son. I knew the day my girls were born that a day would come for each of them when I would no longer be the main man in their life. For a girl to mature into a woman, there are ways she needs a father, but there is a time when that changes and she needs a husband. Even though her relationship to her father will change even more drastically at that point, it can continue, and even grow deeper and more special. A wise father will consider all along that this change is coming, that it is natural and right, and will try to prepare his daughter for it.

Likewise, we need a special relationship with our Father in heaven for us to be prepared for the marriage of the bride to the Son. The Father loves us and we will always have a relationship with Him. It will grow deeper and richer for all of eternity, but there is a different kind of relationship that we are called to have with the Son. We are now preparing for the marriage, but for all of eternity our relationship to the Son will likewise mature and grow deeper. Both of these relationships are required for us to mature spiritually, thus becoming who we are called to be.

Paul Cain once said, "Spiritual maturity does not come by the passage of time, but by right responses to the dealings of God." This is true. We could say that spiritual maturity can only come by right responses to our relationships to both the Father and the Son.

Great movements have recently been born out of the church's need for the affection and love of the Father. This was timely, and badly needed. However, as we get closer to the end of this age the bride is going to be maturing, and she will start yearning for her Husband. Then she will begin to "make herself ready." That will be the greatest sign of all that we have indeed come to the end of this age and are beginning the great day of the Lord.