英文灵修文章-The Greatest Test

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The Greatest Test TGIF Today God Is First, by Os Hillman 

I know, my God, that You test the heart and are pleased with integrity. - 1 Chronicles 29:17a

我的神阿，我知道你察验人心，喜悦正直。（历代志上 29：17a)

God tests His children to know what is in their hearts. God's desire for each of His children is to walk in relationship with Him, to uphold His righteousness and integrity. It is a high calling that we will fail to achieve without complete dependence on Him.

The greatest tests come not in great adversities, but in great prosperity (繁荣,兴旺). For it is in prosperity that we begin to lose the sensitivity to sin in our lives.
Adversity(患难，逆境）motivates us to righteousness out of a desire to see our adversity changed. Prosperity fails to provide this motivation for obedience. We fall into a satisfaction and confidence in life that is based on our prosperity rather than on God.

Hezekiah 希西家 was a great godly king. He was a faithful, God-honoring king most of his life, but toward the end he became proud. God wanted to find out if he would still honor Him and recognize His blessings in his life. He failed the test when God sent an envoy（外交使节） to his palace to inquire about a miracle that God performed on behalf of Hezekiah. The test was designed to find out if Hezekiah would publicly acknowledge the miracle performed on his behalf.

But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart (2 Chronicle 32:31).(惟有一件事，就是巴比伦王差遣使者来见希西家，访问国中所现的奇事。这件事　神离开他，要试验他，好知道他心内如何。历代志下 32：31)

Hezekiah's failure resulted in his children failing to carry on as rulers of Israel, and the nation would eventually be taken over by Babylon.

The lesson of Hezekiah is clear. If we are to remain faithful to our Lord, we must remain steadfast in our obedience to Him. Prosperity can be our greatest test. Ask the Lord to give you the grace to be a faithful follower during times of prosperity.

[此贴子已经被作者于2007-6-8 2:08:34编辑过]

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Amen！Amen！