双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：9月25日 生命改变

9月25日

生命改变

我们原是祂的工作，在基督耶稣里造成的，为要叫我们行善，就是神所预备叫我们行的。

以弗所书2:10

新生远不止是改革。许多人立下新年决心，却因没能力坚持而告终。人总是在改革，但充其量也只是暂时的，人的本性必须发生蜕变。

一群理发师在他们的年会上决定一展身手，于是他们到贫民窟里找来一个流浪汉，给他理发、刮胡子、洗澡；还给他穿上裁剪最精致的新衣。他们满意地证明了理发师的精湛水平。但三天后，这个人又回到了贫民窟。他外表虽然变成了一个体面的人，但他内心的意念和欲望并没有被改变。他抹了粉，喷了香水，却没有改变。

你可以把一头猪刷洗干净，在它身上喷上香奈儿香水，在它脖子上系上丝带，然后把它带进客厅。可是当你放开它时，它马上就会找到一个泥潭跳进去，因为它的本性从未改变，它仍然是一头猪。

圣经教导我们，通过新生，人进入了一个新的世界，生活有了新的维度。圣经用各种对比来表示一个人身上的改变：情欲与圣洁、黑暗与光明、死亡与复活、神国的局外人与现在的国民。经历过新生的人被称为神家的一员。圣经告诉我们：他的意志改变了，生活目标改变了，性情改变了，情感也改变了，他的生命有了目标和意义。

今日祷告：

天父，求祢引导我去做一个新造的人所要做的事。奉耶稣的名，阿们。

September 25

TRANSFORMATION,NOT REFORMATION

For we are his workmanship,created in Christ Jesus unto good works,which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.Ephesians 2:10

This new birth is far more than reformation.Many persons make New Year’s resolutions only to break them because they do not have the capacity to keep them.Man is ever reforming,but reformation at best is only temporary.Man’s nature must be transforme

A group of barbers at their annual convention decided to exhibit the value of their tonsorial art.They found a derelict on skid row,gave him a haircut,a shave,and a bath;and they dressed him in new clothes of the finest tailoring.They had demonstrated to their satisfaction the worth of tonsorial excellence,but three days later the man was in the gutter again.He had been outwardly transformed into a respectable-looking man,but the impulses and drives of his inner being had not been changed.He had been powdered and perfumed,but not changed.

You can scrub a pig,sprinkle Chanel No.5 on him,put a ribbon around his neck,and take him into your living room.But when you turn him loose,he will jump into the first mud puddle he sees because his nature has never been changed.He is still a pig.

Through the new birth the Bible teaches that man enters a new world.There is a new dimension of living.The change that comes over a man is expressed in the Bible in various contrasts:lust and holiness,darkness and light,death and resurrection,a stranger to the kingdom of God and now a citizen.The man who has experienced the new birth is called a member of God’s household.The Bible teaches that his will is changed,his objectives for living are changed,his disposition is changed,his affections are changed,and he now has purpose and meaning in his life.

Pray for the Day:

Father,lead me in the works that I was created to do,in Jesus’Name,Amen.