第7天
天 Heaven
雷克-喬納 Rick Joyner
翻譯：Kate
轉載/轉寄 請註明出處：國度禱告網

神說：諸水之間要有空氣，將水分為上下。
神就造出空氣，將空氣以下的水、空氣以上的水分開了。事就這樣成了。
神稱空氣為天。有晚上，有早晨，是第二日。（創世記1:6-8）。

在我們開始分離生活中的光明與黑暗的過程後，我們必須立即舉目，開始看到天的廣闊。天堂不是童話故事，也不是主用來讓我們變好的棒上的胡蘿蔔。它比物理宇宙更真實，天在物理宇宙之上。天也不在最遙遠的星系之外。它是一個在我們中間的境界，而且我們現在就可以看到並開始體驗，正如以弗所書中所說：

願頌讚歸與我們主耶穌基督的父神！祂在基督裡曾賜給我們天上各樣屬靈的福氣：（以弗所書1:3）。

然而，神既有豐富的憐憫，因祂愛我們的大愛，
當我們死在過犯中的時候，便叫我們與基督一同活過來。你們得救是本乎恩。
祂又叫我們與基督耶穌一同復活，一同坐在天上，
（以弗所書2:4-6）。

就在我們與我們生活中的黑暗爭戰時，我們同時看到我們在過犯中死，以及天父是如何使我們與祂的兒子一起復活並同坐在天上。當我們看到天上的榮耀，即基督坐在那裡，遠遠超過所有的統治、權柄和能力，我們知道我們與祂同坐席是靠著祂十字架的力量，而不是靠著我們自己的公義。我們不是只掩蓋我們生命中的黑暗，相反地，我們必須超越它，進入一個新的和不斷擴大的榮耀。

世俗的心態會不斷地試圖限制那些尋求神的人，比如說："不要變得如此屬天，以至於你沒有屬地的好處。"這恰恰與真正的智慧相反。天是我們被呼召與基督耶穌同在的境界，我們在這個世界上唯一真正有效的事奉是源於天。變得過於屬世的教會對地上沒有任何好處。我們被呼召成為天與地之間的橋樑，並代表我們在基督耶穌裡所得到的一切在天上的現實。基督徒應該被天浸透，對他們來說，天堂比自然界的任何東西都更真實。只有這樣，我們才能揭示出比任何黑暗都更強大的光，並開始呼喚地球走出可怕的黑夜，進入基督的黎明之光。

"從那時候，耶穌就傳起道來，說：天國近了，你們應當悔改！''（馬太福音4:17）。耶穌在地上傳講的全部信息都是圍繞著關於 "天國"的教導。祂的大多數教導都以 "天國就像.... "開始。如果我們要理解耶穌的信息，最根本的是我們要理解天國。

使徒約翰在啟示錄4:1中記載："此後，我觀看，見天上有門開了。我初次聽見好像吹號的聲音，對我說：你上到這裡來，我要將以後必成的事指示你。" 那個聲音仍然在呼喚所有願意聽的人。天上裡有一扇門開著，聖靈在召喚我們上去。每個基督徒的最終追求是坐在天上，在地上與基督耶穌一起行走。

因此，我們的禱告必須是祂教導門徒的禱告，希望祂國降臨，祂的旨意行在地上，如同行在天上（見馬太福音6:10）。天國思想永遠不嫌多。我們在地上能夠做的真正的好事，將取決於我們拿到天上的寶藏的程度。我們必須始終保持遵守馬太福音6:33的虔誠，"你們要先求他的國和他的義，這些東西都要加給你們了。"

DAY 7
Heaven
Rick Joyner

Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."

And God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse
from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day (Genesis 1:6-8).

Immediately after we start the process of separating the light from the darkness in our lives, we must look up and begin to see the expanse of heaven. Heaven is not a fairy tale, nor a carrot on a stick that the Lord uses to make us be good. It is more real than the physical universe, and heaven is above the physical universe. Neither is heaven beyond the farthest galaxy. It is a realm in our very midst, and one which we can see and begin to experience now, as we are told in Ephesians:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-6).

At the very time we are struggling with the darkness that manifests in our lives, we begin to see both how dead we are in our transgressions, and how the Father has raised and seated us with His Son in the heavenly places. As we behold the glory of the heavenlies, where Christ is seated, far above all rule, authority, and power, we know we have been placed with Him by the power of His cross, not by our own righteousness. We do not just cover the darkness in our lives, but instead we must rise above it into a new and ever expanding glory.

The earthly minded will constantly try to restrain those who are seekers of God with such statements as, "Don't become so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good," which is precisely the opposite of true wisdom. Heaven is the realm in which we are called to abide with Christ Jesus, and the only truly effective ministry we will ever have on this earth is originated from that position. The church that becomes too earthly minded is not doing the earth any good. We are called to be a bridge between heaven and earth, and to represent the reality of all we have been given in Christ Jesus in the heavenly places. Christians should be so saturated with heaven that it is more real to them than anything in the natural realm. Only then will we reveal the light that is more powerful than any darkness, and begin to call the earth out of her terrible night into the dawning light of Christ.

"From that time Jesus began to preach and say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"' (Matthew 4:17). The entire message that Jesus preached on the earth was centered around His teachings on "the kingdom of heaven." Most of His teachings began with "the kingdom of heaven is like...." If we are to understand the message of Jesus, it is fundamental that we understand the kingdom of heaven.

The Apostle John recorded in Revelation 4:1: "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things." That voice is still calling to all who will hear. There is a door open in heaven and the Spirit is beckoning us to come up there. The ultimate quest of every Christian is to walk the earth from a position seated with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places.

Therefore, our prayer must be the one that He taught His disciples, for His kingdom to come, and His will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven (see Matthew 6:l0). We can never be too heavenly minded. The true good that we are able to do on earth will be dependent on the degree to which we have attained the heavenly treasures. We must always keep our devotion to obey Matthew 6:33, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you."