[推荐]卢云（Henri J.M.Nouwen）心灵面包（Bread for the journey）－－6月8日（June 8）

marylu

著者：Henri.J.M.Nouwen
译者:徐成德

Empowered to Speak

The Spirit that Jesus gives us empowers us to speak. Often when we are expected to speak in front of people who intimidate us, we are nervous and self-conscious. But if we live in the Spirit, we don't have to worry about what to say. We will find ourselves ready to speak when the need is there. "When they take you before ... authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say, because when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say" (Luke 12:11-12).

We waste much of our time in anxious preparation. Let's claim the truth that the Spirit that Jesus gave us will speak in us and speak convincingly.

得力发言

耶稣所赐的圣灵使我们得着能力发言。在那些令我们畏惧的人面前发言的时候，会紧张又不自在。但是我们若在圣灵里，就不必担心要说些什么。需要的话，我们随时都能发言。“人把你们拉到……当权者的面前，你们不要思虑怎样申辩或说什么话。到了时候，圣灵必把当说的话教导你们”（路十二11－12，新译）

焦虑地准备无异于浪费时间。让我们相信所赐的圣灵会在我们里面说话，而且说得令人信服。

marylu

著者：Henri.J.M.Nouwen
译者:徐成德


Empowered to Pray

Prayer is the gift of the Spirit. Often we wonder how to pray, when to pray, and what to pray. We can become very concerned about methods and techniques of prayer. But finally it is not we who pray but the Spirit who prays in us.

Paul says: "The Spirit ... comes to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then the Spirit personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words; and he who can see into all hearts knows what the Spirit means because the prayers that the Spirit makes for God's holy people are always in accordance with the mind of God" (Romans 8:26-27). These words explain why the Spirit is called "the Consoler."

得力祷告

祷告是圣灵的恩赐。我们有时不知如何祷告、何时祷告、祷告些什么，过于担心祷告的技巧与方法。其实，祷告的不是我们，而是在我们里面的圣灵。

保罗说：“况且我们的软弱有圣灵帮助；我们本不晓得当怎样祷告，只是圣灵亲自用说不出来的叹息替我们祷告。鉴查人心的，晓得圣灵的意思，因为圣灵照着神的旨意替圣徒祈求。”（罗八26－27）这段话说明了圣灵何以被称为保惠师（安慰者）。

marylu

著者：Henri.J.M.Nouwen
译者:徐成德


Empowered to Be

Who are we? Are we what we do? Are we what others say about us? Are we the power we have? It often seems that way in our society. But the Spirit of Jesus given to us reveals our true spiritual identities. The Spirit reveals that we belong not to a world of success, fame, or power but to God. The world enslaves us with fear; the Spirit frees us from that slavery and restores us to the true relationship. That is what Paul means when he says: "All who are guided by the Spirit of God are sons [daughters] of God, for what you received was not the spirit of slavery to bring you back into fear; you received the spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Romans 8:15).

Who are we? We are God's beloved sons and daughters!

得力活出自己

我们是谁？我们的工作、别人对我们的看法，或我们的能力是否就代表了我们的身分？这个社会就是以此看我们。但是，耶稣所赐的圣灵显明我们真正的属灵身分：我们不属于讲究成功、名声、权力的世界，而是属于神。世界以惧怕的心捆绑我们；圣灵却使我们脱离奴役，恢复正确的名分。这也是保罗的意思：“因为凡被神的灵引导的，都是神的儿子。你们所受的不是奴仆的心，仍旧害怕；所受的乃是儿子的心，因此我们呼叫：阿爸！父！”（罗八15）

我们是谁？我们乃是神所爱的儿女！

followjesus

“Often when we are expected to speak in front of people who intimidate us, we are nervous and self-conscious.”

  Often when I meet with such kind of circumstances，I would pray silently first：“Lord，please give me words of prayer."

marylu

著者：Henri.J.M.Nouwen
译者:徐成德


Empowered to Call God "Abba"

Calling God "Abba, Father" is different from giving God a familiar name. Calling God "Abba" is entering into the same intimate, fearless, trusting, and empowering relationship with God that Jesus had. That relationship is called Spirit, and that Spirit is given to us by Jesus and enables us to cry out with him, "Abba, Father."

Calling God "Abba, Father" (see Roman 8:15; Galatians 4:6) is a cry of the heart, a prayer welling up from our innermost beings. It has nothing do with naming God but everything to do with claiming God as the source of who we are. This claim does not come from any sudden insight or acquired conviction; it is the claim that the Spirit of Jesus makes in communion with our spirits. It is the claim of love.

得力称呼神为“阿爸”

称呼神为“阿爸”，与用其他亲切的名称称呼神并不一样。称呼神为“阿爸”，就是进入神与耶稣一样的关系：亲密、无惧、信赖、激励。这就是圣灵的关系，而耶稣把圣灵给我们，使我们能够称呼神“阿爸！父”。

称呼神为“阿爸！父 ”（见罗八15；加四6），是由心发出的呼声，是从生命深处涌流的祷告。这不是给神一个名字，而是承认神是我们生命的本源。这种体认不是突发的心得或学来的见解，而是神的灵与我们的灵相通的体认，也是爱的体认。

marylu

著者：Henri.J.M.Nouwen
译者:徐成德

Empowered to Receive Love

The Spirit reveals to us not only that God is "Abba, Father" but also that we belong to God as his beloved children. The Spirit thus restores in us the relationship from which all other relationships derive their meaning.

Abba is a very intimate word. The best translation for it is: "Daddy." The word Abba expresses trust, safety, confidence, belonging, and most of all intimacy. It does not have the connotation of authority, power, and control, that the word Father often evokes. On the contrary, Abba implies an embracing and nurturing love. This love includes and infinitely transcends all the love that comes to us from our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, spouses, and lovers. It is the gift of the Spirit.

得力领受爱

圣灵不仅向我们显明神是“阿爸！父”，也向我们显明我们是属于神的心爱子女。如此，圣灵恢复了我们与神的真正关系，也是一切人伦关系的本源。

“阿爸”（abba）是个很亲密的字眼，最好的翻译是“老爸”。这个字流露出信赖、安全、笃定、归属，以及亲密的含义，却没有“父亲”这个字通常有的威严、权力、主掌这些意思。“阿爸”表现的是滋润覆庇的爱。这爱囊括了人间诸般的爱－－父母、兄弟姐妹、配偶、朋友、情人所给我们的爱－－也远超乎这些爱。这爱是圣灵的恩赐。

marylu

著者：Henri.J.M.Nouwen
译者:徐成德

The Source of All Love

Without the love of our parents, sisters, brothers, spouses, lovers, and friends, we cannot live. Without love we die. Still, for many people this love comes in a very broken and limited way. It can be tainted by power plays, jealousy, resentment, vindictiveness, and even abuse. No human love is the perfect love our hearts desire, and sometimes human love is so imperfect that we can hardly recognise it as love.

In order not to be destroyed by the wounds inflicted by that imperfect human love, we must trust that the source of all love is God's unlimited, unconditional, perfect love, and that this love is not far away from us but is the gift of God's Spirit dwelling within us.

万爱之源

没有父母、兄弟、姐妹、配偶、朋友的爱，我们就不能存活。没有爱，我们会死。然而，很多人所接受的爱是支离破碎而且是有限的爱。爱会收到权力游戏、嫉妒、憎恨、报复。甚至滥用的污染。人间没有任何一种爱，是我们心仪向往的完全之爱。而人的爱有时又是如此残缺不全，我们甚至看不出那是一种爱。

要免于自己被人间残缺的爱伤害、阵亡，我们必须信赖万爱之源是神那无限、无条件的完全之爱。这爱离我们并不远，是神的灵在我心中所赐下的恩典。

marylu

著者：Henri.J.M.Nouwen
译者:徐成德

Choosing Love

How can someone ever trust in the existence of an unconditional divine love when most, if not all, of what he or she has experienced is the opposite of love - fear, hatred, violence, and abuse?

They are not condemned to be victims! There remains within them, hidden as it may seem, the possibility to choose love. Many people who have suffered the most horrendous rejections and been subject to the most cruel torture are able to choose love. By choosing love they become witnesses not only to enormous human resiliency but also to the divine love that transcends all human loves. Those who choose, even on a small scale, to love in the midst of hatred and fear are the people who offer true hope to our world.

选择爱

如果一个人十之八九的经历都是与爱相反的惧怕、仇恨、暴力、虐待，那个人又怎能相信真的有无条件的爱，属天之爱？

然而，他们不会就此沦为受害人，因为在他们里面隐含选择爱的能力，或许连他们自己都不知道。有些人遭受无情的遗弃或是残酷的折磨，还是能够选择爱。他们选择爱，不仅见证了坚忍不拔的美德，也见证了凌驾人间众爱的属天之爱。在仇恨、惧怕之中选择爱的人，就算他们做的都是些小时，却能把希望带给我们的世界。