DAY 22
團契
雷克-喬納 Rick Joyner
翻譯：Kate
轉載/轉寄 請註明出處：國度禱告網

耶和華神說：那人獨居不好，我要為他造一個配偶幫助他。
耶和華神用土所造成的野地各樣走獸和空中各樣飛鳥都帶到那人面前，看他叫什麼。那人怎樣叫各樣的活物，那就是他的名字。
那人便給一切牲畜和空中飛鳥、野地走獸都起了名；只是那人沒有遇見配偶幫助他。（創世記2:18-20）

人被創造為社會性的生物。神說："那人獨居不好"。有趣的是，儘管人與神有團契，但他卻很孤獨。這意味著對人來說只有神是不夠的。這可能是一個令人震驚的想法，但主創造了人，使人需要與他以及與他的同類人團契。

主允許人在所有的受造物中尋找適合他的幫助者，但沒有找到一個。主從一開始就知道結局，所以祂為什麼不直接告訴這人，這些幫手中沒有一個是他要找的人，讓他沉睡並帶來女人呢？正是出於同樣的原因，主會經常讓我們在生活中追逐許多努力來尋求滿足，儘管祂已經知道這是徒勞的。主創造人是為了自由，祂不會侵犯這種自由。主已經說過，祂要造一個適合人的幫手，但人還是要尋找，而主也讓他尋找。如果我們堅持要向自己證明什麼，祂也會讓我們追尋許多無果的努力。

許多人仍在用他們的生命做著與亞當一樣的尋找。他們可以將女性視為性物件，但不能將其視為能夠觸動他們內心深處需求的團契的來源，並治癒孤獨。因此，男人常常在他們的職業、運動、愛好、養動物等方面尋求滿足。這些不一定是壞事，而且在一定程度上可以得到滿足，但這些都不適合填補空虛，只有找到合適的幫手才能填補。

然而，我們決不能把與伴侶的關係看得高於與神的關係。我們對祂的需要更大。然而，在我們的心中會有一個空洞，只有與我們的伴侶建立適當的關係才能填補。我們必須與神和我們的伴侶相交，才算完整。男人和女人之間的適當關係是神創造的一種美妙關係，以幫助我們更好地理解我們與祂的關連。這種關係是需要的，但它永遠不能替代對祂的更大需要。

如果我們不愛神勝過愛我們的伴侶，我們就不會像我們應該的那樣愛我們的伴侶。我們與神的關係被創造在第一位，而且必須永遠保持在第一位。即便如此，正如我們在《約翰一書》4:20中所看到的："人若說我愛神，卻恨他的弟兄，就是說謊話的；不愛他所看見的弟兄，就不能愛沒有看見的神。" 我們與他人的關係是我們與神關係的良好晴雨錶。如果我們真正愛神，就會在我們對他人的愛中體現出來。這在我們對伴侶的愛中尤其如此，這旨在反映基督對教會的愛。

因為孤獨是神說的第一件不好的事，如果我們尋求愛和幫助我們的鄰舍，我們應該特別注意孤獨的人。這不僅僅是指那些獨自生活的人。你可以在人群中而感到孤獨。孤獨是沒有超越表面的、觸及靈魂的團契的結果。深入的、有意義的團契對我們的精神、身體和靈性的完整至關重要。我們被創造出來的團契不是神和人之間非此即彼的情況，而是兩者都是。如果我們感到孤獨，那是因為我們沒有正確地保持它們之間的平衡。

即便如此，許多人還是試圖通過他們的伴侶，甚至是教會裡的人，來尋找他們與神的關係中的滿足感。通常，這將導致挫折感，損害我們與伴侶和其他人的關係，因為我們會開始覺得他們對我們來說是不夠的。他們不是，因為他們永遠無法取代神在我們生命中的位置。

DAY 22
Fellowship
Rick Joyner

Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky,
and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.
And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field,
but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him (Genesis 2:18-20).

Man was created to be a social creature. God said, "it is not good for man to be alone." It is interesting that man was lonely even though he had fellowship with God. This implies that God alone was not enough for man. This may be a shocking thought, but the Lord created man to need fellowship with Him, as well as with those of his own kind.

The Lord allowed the man to seek through all of creation to find the helper suitable for him, but one was not found. The Lord knows the end from the beginning, so why didn't He just tell the man that none of these helpers was the one that he was seeking, and put him to sleep and bring forth the woman? It is for the same reason that the Lord will often let us chase many endeavors in our lives to seek fulfillment, even though He already knows this is futile. The Lord created man to be free and He will not violate that freedom. The Lord had already said that He would make a helper suitable to man, but man still had to search, and the Lord let him. He will also let us chase many fruitless endeavors, if we insist on having to prove something to ourselves.

Many still spend their lives making the same search that Adam did. They can view women as sex objects, but not as the source of fellowship that can touch the deepest needs of their hearts, and cure the loneliness. Therefore, men often seek fulfillment in their professions, sports, hobbies, raising animals, etc. These are not necessarily bad, and can be fulfilling to a degree, but none of these will ever be suitable for filling the void that can only be filled when the suitable helpmate is found.

However, we must not esteem the fellowship with our mates above our fellowship with God. Our need for Him is greater. Nevertheless, there will be a void in our hearts that can only be filled with a proper relationship to our mates. We must have fellowship with God and our mates to be complete. The proper relationship between a man and a woman is a wonderful relationship that God created to help us better understand our union with Him. This relationship is needed, but it can never substitute for the greater need for Him.

If we do not love God more than we love our mates, we will not love our mates as much as we should. Our relationship to God was created first and must always remain first. Even so, as we see in I John 4:20: "If someone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." Our relationship to other people is a good barometer of our relationship to God. If we truly love God, it will be manifested in our love for others. This will be especially true in our love for our mates, which is intended to be a reflection of Christ's love for the church. Our relationship to other people is a good barometer of our relationship to God. If we truly love God, it will be manifested in our love for others. This will be especially true in our love for our mates, which is intended to be a reflection of Christ's love for the church.

Because loneliness is the first thing God said was not good, if we are seeking to love and help our neighbors, we should especially watch out for the lonely. This does not just mean those who are living alone. You can be in a crowd and be lonely. Loneliness is the result of not having fellowship that goes beyond the superficial to touch the soul. Deep, meaningful fellowship is essential for our mental, physical, and spiritual wholeness. The fellowship that we were created to have is not an either/or situation between God and men, but rather both. If we are lonely, it is because we have not kept the balance between them properly.

Even so, many try to find the fulfillment that they can only find in their relationship to God through their mates, or theirs, and even those in the church. Usually, this will lead to frustration that will damage our relationship to our mates and others, because we will begin to feel that they are not enough for us. They aren't, because they can never take the place of God in our lives.