2月23日 神在试探中的帮助
神在试探中的帮助
你如今明白神为何容许祂的儿女遭遇试探了吗？因为祂在掌权！祂勒住撒但的缰绳，绝不容许牠践踏你。
在试探来到之前，信心常掺杂着许多外表的虚浮之物；但当试探临到，火一般的试炼就会显露并烧尽这些渣滓。炼净后的信心，就像基甸那剩下的三百精兵：当那些无益于信靠的冗余累赘被遣散后，剩下的信心反而比人多时更强有力。这就是魔鬼最终的“战利品”：牠非但没有毁掉圣徒的信心，反而成了炼净信心的工具，使其更坚固、更宝贵。
受试探的圣徒对基督的爱，也会在试探的火焰中被点燃。你是否因太靠近火，而灼伤了灵魂？除了基督，你还能去哪里求洁净呢？祂温柔慈爱的帮助，岂不更要把你对祂胜过一切的爱再次点燃吗？基督的爱是我们爱的燃料：祂越显明祂的爱，我们的爱就越发炽热。除了基督舍命的爱，再没有比祂在试探中拯救人的爱更伟大的了。
母亲显明母爱最好的时机，往往是孩子最困苦的时候——在生病、贫穷或遭难之时。基督对我们的爱也是如此，祂既是母亲也是乳母，滋养并保守我们的爱。当祂的孩子被囚在撒但的监牢里，良心的伤口流血不止时，祂会急忙显出祂怜恤的柔肠、代求的信实、眷顾的安排，以及借着保惠师圣灵亲自探访的深情。在神家里，没有哪个孩子比那悔改转回的人更显顺服。撒但原以为能把基督从信徒的灵魂中排挤出去，结果基督末了却在圣徒的情感中坐得比从前更高更稳。
你如今明白神为何容许祂的儿女遭遇试探了吗？因为祂在掌权！祂勒住撒但的缰绳，绝不容许牠践踏你。若你从未经历撒但列阵相攻的汹汹之势，你就永远无法领略神为你显明的那无所不能的权能。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：出6章，路9章，
个人灵修：伯23章，林前10章
FEBRUARY 23, MONDAY
GOD’S HELP IN TEMPTATION
Do you see now why God allows His children to meet with temptation? He is in control! He holds the reins on Satan and will not let him trample you.
Faith before temptation has much extraneous stuff that clings to it and passes for faith; but when temptation comes, the dross is discovered and consumed by the fiery trial. The quality of faith that emerges is like Gideon’s handful of men—stronger when all these worthless accessories to faith are sent away than when they were present. And here is all the devil gets: Instead of destroying the saint’s faith, he is the means of refining it, thereby making it stronger and more precious.
The love of tempted saints is enkindled to Christ by the fires of temptation. Did you edge too close to the flames and singe your soul? Where will you go for cleansing, if not to Christ? And will His kindly aid not rekindle your love for Him above all others? Christ’s love is fuel to ours; the more He puts forth His love, the more heat our love gets. And next to Christ’s dying love, none is greater than His rescuing love in temptation. The greatest opportunity a mother has to show her child how much she loves him is when he is in distress—sick, poor, or imprisoned. Christ is both mother and nurse to our love. When His children lie in Satan’s prison, bleeding from the wounds of their consciences, He hurries to reveal His tender heart in pitying, His faithfulness in praying, His mindfulness in sending help to them, and His dear love in visiting them by His comforting Spirit. No child is more dutiful in all the family than the one who has repented of his rebellion. Jesus Christ, whom Satan thought to shut out of the soul’s favor, comes in the end to sit higher and surer than ever in the saint’s affections.
Do you see now why God allows His children to meet with temptation? He is in control! He holds the reins on Satan and will not let him trample you. If you never experienced the mighty power of Satan arrayed against you, you could not know the almighty power of God displayed for you.