第七章

¹⁸我知道在我裡面，就是在我肉體之中，沒有良善，因為立志行善由得我，行出來卻由不得我。¹⁹所以我願意行的善，我沒有去行；我不願意作的惡，我倒去作了。²⁰我若作自己不願意作的事，那就不是我作的，而是住在我裡面的罪作的。²¹因此，我發現了一個律，就是我想向善的時候，惡就在我裡面出現。²²按著我裡面的人來說，我是喜歡神的律，²³但我發覺肢體中另有一個律，和我心中的律爭戰，把我擄去附從肢體中的罪律。²⁴我這個人真是苦啊！誰能救我脫離這使我死亡的身體呢？²⁵感謝神，藉著我們的主耶穌基督就能脫離了。可見，一方面我自己心裡服事神的律，另一方面我的肉體卻服事罪的律。

 

默想

1. 我們信主後，仍會遇到許多棘手的問題，依然會有困難、掙扎、失敗、疑惑、絕望和缺乏。 我是否也曾發出像保羅那樣的吶喊：“誰能救我”？
2. 慢慢地讀這段文：

神使用失敗、疾病、崩潰、罪、悲慘事件、憂傷，來塑造祂的百姓成為神有用的僕人。除非他完全依靠神，不再依靠自己，否則他仍是太堅硬而無多大用途的。– Robert C. Girard

3. 禱告

主啊，我承認我是軟弱、冷淡、容易陷入罪中；若是靠自己，我一定是越來越差、越陷愈深。但是，謝謝主耶穌的拯救，以及繼續不斷的拯救，使我有能力來勝過罪惡及引誘。謝謝主的拯救。

禱告與筆錄：

繼續安靜在神面前，與神對話，並聆聽祂對我說的話。將心中的思想（心得），或是與神的禱告，記錄在“靈程筆記”簿上面。

 

Chapter 7

¹⁸I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

²¹So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

 

Meditation

1. There is no use looking for a “secret” to the spiritual life that exempts us from trouble and conflict, defeat and doubt, despair and inadequacy.  No doubt we are “at war” (v23).  There are fierce difficulties with the resurrection life.  Have I uttered the cry as Paul did: “Who will rescue me”?
2. Read slowly:

God uses failure, sickness, breakdown, sin, personal tragedy, and sorrow to reduce His people to usefulness.  Unless the servant of God learns to depend utterly on God and to forsake self-dependence of any kind, he or she remains too strong to be of much value.  – Robert C. Girard

3. Prayer

Lord, I come humbly to you and admit that I am weak, cold and easy to fall into sin.  Depending on myself, I will only be worse and sink deeper. Thank you for your salvation and the continued deliverance that I will be able to overcome sin and temptation.  Thank you, Lord.

 

Prayer & Journaling:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the 2011 “Spiritual Journal” book.