双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：4月28日 柔而不弱

4月28日

柔而不弱

“温柔的人有福了！因为他们必承受地土。”

马太福音5:5

在我们的文化里面，温柔意味着软弱。但那不是圣经的观点。一匹受伤后的野马并不逊色，它对人还有用处。

耶稣很温柔，但是他绝不是软弱。耶稣过去是神，现在仍然是神。

祂为什么说，温柔的人要承受地土？祂说的是一种态度，一种谦卑的形式，是我们的文化中所缺失的。一位著名的棒球教练曾经说过：“好人没有出头天（好人没好报）。”几年前一本最畅销的书叫《为自己着想》。社会学家将七十年代描述为“以自我为中心的年代。”

没有人天生就是温柔的。这是圣灵的工作。摩西是温柔的，但他生来并不温柔。神花了四十年让他变得温柔。彼得生性显然不温柔。他非常冲动，说话做事不经过大脑。在耶稣复活之后，圣灵改变了彼得。保罗以前并不温柔，他的工作就是逼迫基督徒！但是，圣灵改变了保罗，他写信给加拉太教会说：“圣灵所结的果子就是…恩慈、良善…温柔。（加5:22）。”

人的本性就是骄傲的，而不是温柔的。只有圣灵才能使我们通过重生的经历改变生命，使我们重新有基督的形象，效法基督，温柔谦卑，蒙神喜悦。

今日祷告：

天父，祢救赎了我。求祢让我保持谦卑。以祢圣灵的大能，使我温柔顺服；奉耶稣的名，阿门。

April 28

MEEKNESS IS NOT WEAKNESS

Blessed are the meek:for they shall inherit the earth.Matthew 5:5

In our culture,meekness has come to mean weakness.But that is not the biblical view.A wild horse which has been broken is no less strong,but he has been made useful to man.

Jesus was meek,but by no stretch of the imagination was He weak.Jesus was and is God.

What did He mean,then,when He said that the meek will inherit the earth?He was speaking of an attitude,a form of humility that is sorely lacking in our culture.A famous baseball coach once declared that“nice guys finish last.”One of the best-selling books a few years ago was Looking Out for Number One.The seventies were described by some sociologists as the“me decade.”

No person is meek by nature.It is the work of the Spirit of God.Moses was meek,but he was not meek by nature.God worked meekness into him over a forty-year period.Peter was certainly not meek by nature.He was impetuous,saying and doing the first thing that came into his mind.The Holy Spirit of God transformed Peter after the resurrection of Jesus.Before his conversion,Paul was not meek.His job was to persecute Christians!Yet Paul wrote to the church at Galatia,“The fruit of the Spirit is…gentleness,goodness…meekness.”

It is our human nature to be proud,not meek.Only the Spirit of God can transform our lives through the new birth experience and then make us over again into the image of Christ,our example of what pleases God in the way of meekness.

Pray for the Day:

Father,You have redeemed me.Keep me humble.Fill me with an attitude of meekness by the power of Your Spirit;in Jesus’Name,Amen.