赒济贫穷的不致缺乏

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箴言28:25    心中贪婪的挑起争端，倚靠耶和华的必得丰裕。

阅读经文：箴言 28:24-28

24偷窃父母的说「这不是罪」，此人就是与强盗同类。25心中贪婪的挑起争端，倚靠耶和华的必得丰裕。26心中自是的便是愚昧人，凭智慧行事的必蒙拯救。27赒济贫穷的不致缺乏，佯为不见的必多受咒诅。28恶人兴起，人就躲藏；恶人败亡，义人增多。

24偷窃父母的说「这不是罪」，此人就是与强盗同类。

可能因为从小就吃父母的，用父母的，所以在拿父母的东西时觉得理所当然。即使不经过父母同意就拿，也不以为自己在偷父母的东西。但是这经文告诉我们一个事实，不管父母多么爱我们，他们的东西还是他们的。儿女若想使用或拿走，都必须经过他们的同意。不然，就是偷窃父母了。

对上帝也是一样。神把一切都给了我们，但我们却不可以把神所分别为圣的时间和金钱占为已有。若是如此，我们便与强盗无异了。

25心中贪婪的挑起争端，倚靠耶和华的必得丰裕。

贪婪，是因为心里没有安全感；总是想要多一点，难免与人发生争执。因此把倚靠耶和华拿来作比较，人的贪婪是因为倚靠的对象有问题。倚靠耶和华和倚靠自己，便是心里丰裕和缺乏的表征。

有的人拥有很多，却总是不满足，因为没有安全感；唯有倚靠神的人，知道神的供应何等信实，一切身外物都将如流云而逝，才能有真正的丰裕，就是心灵的满足和喜乐。

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The Hand of God

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 5:1-12.  Let’s go!

Daniel 5:1-4 (NIV)
1  King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.
2  While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.
3  So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.
4  As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

On verses 1-4:  After succeeding his father Nebuchadnezzar as king of Babylon, Belshazzar holds a massive and lavish banquet.  He takes the gold and silver goblets that belonged in the temple in Jerusalem and uses them to drink at his party.  What can we learn from this?  Both the spirit of secularism and the Holy Spirit are in the business of repurposing things, just in opposite directions.  The spirit of secularism wants to take that which belongs in God’s house and use it for purposes that exclude God and that exalt something other than God.  The Spirit of God wants to take that which belongs to the world, sanctify it and use it to bring God glory.

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Pride Before the Fall, Humility Before Honor

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 4:19-37.  Let’s go!

Daniel 4:19-27 (NIV)
19  Then Daniel (also called Belteshazzar) was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its meaning alarm you.” Belteshazzar answered, “My lord, if only the dream applied to your enemies and its meaning to your adversaries!
20  The tree you saw, which grew large and strong, with its top touching the sky, visible to the whole earth,
21  with beautiful leaves and abundant fruit, providing food for all, giving shelter to the beasts of the field, and having nesting places in its branches for the birds of the air–

On verses 19-27:  In Daniel 1 we saw how God gifted Daniel with the ability to understand visions and dreams of all kinds (Daniel 1:17).  In Daniel 2 we saw how God gifted Daniel with the ability to know what King Nebuchadnezzar was dreaming, which might be called a prophetic gift or a word of knowledge.  Here in Daniel 4, we see Daniel not only being able to understand and interpret King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream; even more we see evangelist Daniel calling Nebuchadnezzar to repentance. 

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关说不关说

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箴言28:21    看人的情面乃为不好，人因一块饼枉法也为不好。

阅读经文：箴言 28:21-23

21看人的情面乃为不好，人因一块饼枉法也为不好。22人有恶眼想要急速发财，却不知穷乏必临到他身。23责备人的后来蒙人喜悦，多于那用舌头谄媚人的。

关说不关说

「看人的情面乃为不好，人因一块饼枉法也为不好」(箴言二十八:21)。

这是在人的社会里极为寻常的一件事。有位外科医生说在医院里，经常病人才排了开刀日期，就会有好多人打电话来，说病人的儿子是警官、女婿是议员、姪子是里长，等等，让他烦不胜烦。到医院关说的事很多，例如：希望早一点入病房、排第一台刀、挂早一点的号、早一点出院，也有人希望晚一点出院，有人希望住健保房，当然也有人希望住头等房，所以什么愿望都有。很多人都说要打倒特权，要求平等；但是关说最厉害的，也就是提倡要打倒特权的人。

你知道后来这件事怎样解决吗？一个老医生教他“一口答应”，但是“刀还是照样开，药还是照样用”。有很多地方是用“钱”来做情面。但是不管看什么情面做事，都是偏心，对另一些人就造成了伤害。所以即使为一块饼而枉法也不好，因为这法是神所立的。所以宁可把事情交在神的手里，让祂成全；因为你以为关说一定有帮助，但是很可能人家只是跟你虚与伪蛇。

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读利未记有感

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God’s Love Is Pursuing You

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 4:1-18.  Let’s go!

Daniel 4:1-18 (NIV)
1  King Nebuchadnezzar, To the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world: May you prosper greatly!
2  It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.
3  How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.
4  I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous…

On verses 1-18:  We’ll get to the lesson behind King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream when we look at verses 19-37 tomorrow.  In the meantime, with my wild imagination I could imagine King Nebuchadnezzar sharing this testimony from the stage of Thrive Church.   The fact that this is the second dream that God gave Nebuchadnezzar as recorded in the book of Daniel really highlights for me how much God pursued Nebuchadnezzar. 

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都是为了急速发财

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箴言28:18    行动正直的必蒙拯救，行事弯曲的立时跌倒。

阅读经文：箴言 28:18-20

18行动正直的必蒙拯救，行事弯曲的立时跌倒。19耕种自己田地的必得饱食，追随虚浮的足受穷乏。20诚实人必多得福，想要急速发财的不免受罚。

外子曾经提及，他在大学时参加的团契，有次为了某种需要而不断求神帮助。你猜猜看，神怎样回应他们的祷告呢？在他们去抽奖时，给他们抽中一个存钱筒。天父的幽默感令人莞尔。有时候我们想到有需要就向神呼求，却忘了自己也有努力的责任。生活里总会有金钱的需要，那么我们有什么责任呢？

今天的三节经文看起来像是分开的，实际上却都一致地指向一个教导：要以诚实正直的方法取得所需，不要想急速发财，因为走捷径，难免误入歧途。看看新闻，便知道那些行事弯曲的人，莫不为了急速发财，以致身败名裂，赔了夫人又折兵。

想急速发财，行事必然弯曲，追随虚浮的做法。例如，有很多人喜欢买名牌。在台湾有位商人鱼目混珠，自己一身真的名牌，但是货品里却真假参杂，十年来骗了约卅名以上的经销商。也有人去淘宝买一堆假货，再到网路上说是真货便宜卖。很多人受骗而不自知。但是这种作法迟早会被发现，就像那位不法商人被抓一样。这便是想要急速发财，行事弯曲的后果，难免受罚。

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God Is With You In The Fire

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 3:16-30.  Let’s go!

Daniel 3:16-18 (NIV)
16  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.
17  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.
18  But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

On verses 16-18:  Despite King Nebuchadnezzar threatening to throw them into blazing furnace, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refuse to bow down to the image the king had set up.

What can we learn from this?  When the commands of human leaders directly conflict with the command of God, we must courageously choose to obey God.

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暴虐的君专制如狮熊

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箴言28:15    暴虐的君王辖制贫民，好像吼叫的狮子、觅食的熊。

阅读经文：箴言 28:15-17

15暴虐的君王辖制贫民，好像吼叫的狮子、觅食的熊。16无知的君多行暴虐，以贪财为可恨的必年长日久。17背负流人血之罪的必往坑里奔跑，谁也不可拦阻他。

专制如狮熊

「暴虐的君王辖制贫民，好像吼叫的狮子，觅食的熊。」(箴言二十八：15)。

暴虐式的管理，第一个特征是在公众的场合，以狂吼恫吓人，以咆哮叫人害怕，以威胁令人害怕，如同狮子的攻击。

第二个特征是寻觅人的细处，抓住人的隐密，拿到人的弱点。将人视为猎物，如熊的追逐，这称为「觅食的熊」。「觅食」是个独特的用词，是带着饥饿与贪婪，前后左右细细的找。

在历史上，人类为了强大，必须成为大国。大国人多不好管理，经常采用专制。专制者的真相是残忍，使用强大的军队；经常多疑，使用众多的密探，控制百姓。结 果伤害、破坏、反抗等，接续产生。不幸的是，人类为了安全，又选了暴虐的君王。人类为什么不选择上帝，成为他们的王呢？（张文亮教授）

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Worship Out of Love, Not Fear

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 3:1-15.  Let’s go!

Daniel 3:1-7 (NIV)
1  King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, ninety feet high and nine feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
2  He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up.

On verses 1-7:  Did King Nebuchadnezzar command all of his government officials to worship this colossal image because Nebuchadnezzar himself loved and worshiped this image?  Not necessarily.  A good argument can be made that Nebuchadnezzar’s command had less to do with worship and more to do with Nebuchadnezzar testing the loyalty of his government officials.  Thus we don’t even learn the name of this image; instead, it is repeatedly referred to as the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 

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