5月20日 真實的領域

你們常存忍耐，就必保存靈魂。（路二十一19）

人重生了，他的思想和理智有一段時候就沒有往日那樣明達。我們要把新生命表現出來，要培養基督的心。“要用忍耐保存靈魂。”我們大多數人寧可站在信徒生活的門檻上，而不根據神所賦予裡頭的新生命來建立自己的靈命。我們失敗，是因為不明白自己的本相，在許多事上，只一意抵賴魔鬼，而不歸咎在自己那不受約束的本性上。試想想我們受激動時那副樣子便可知了。

有些事是我們不可祈求的：例如情緒。情緒不是禱告可以驅散的，是要一腳把它踢開。人的情緒，多半是根據肉體的情況而定，與德性無關。要經常竭力拒絕聽從因肉體情況而生髮的情緒，一秒鐘也不可容讓。我們要揪著自己的領口，振作起來，就會發覺能夠做自己以為不能做的事。我們不肯做，就成了自己的咒詛。信徒的生命，是屬靈勇氣在肉身的一種表現。

祈禱◆主啊，為著你的說話－－“你們常存忍耐，就必保存靈魂"－－我讚美你。當我正按著你的心意，努力要得著靈魂時，為著你那將要臨到的恩典，我讚美你。

May 20 The Realm Of The Real

“In your patience possess ye your souls.” Luke 21:19

When a man is born again, there is not the same robustness in his thinking or reasoning for a time as formerly. We have to make an expression of the new life, to form the mind of Christ. “Acquire your soul with patience.” Many of us prefer to stay at the threshold of the Christian life instead of going on to construct a soul in accordance with the new life God has put within. We fail because we are ignorant of the way we are made, we put things down to the devil instead of our own undisciplined natures. Think what we can be when we are roused!

There are certain things we must not pray about – moods, for instance. Moods never go by praying, moods go by kicking. A mood nearly always has its seat in the physical condition, not in the moral. It is a continual effort not to listen to the moods which arise from a physical condition, never submit to them for a second. We have to take ourselves by the scruff of the neck and shake ourselves, and we will find that we can do what we said we could not. The curse with most of us is that we won't. The Christian life is one of incarnate spiritual pluck.