Satan’s Arsenal of Untruths

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James 4:7  Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Satan connives, plots, and deploys tactics. He has a strategy – that’s cause for concern. He is predictable – that is reason for hope. The devil, while potent, is a rotten chess player. He signals his moves in advance. He runs the same play over and over. And since we know it, we can defend against it.

Satan always starts with an untruth. It might be a blatant lie or simply an inaccurate assumption. Either way, it is untrue. Do you remember his words to Eve? “Did God really say, ‘You may not eat from any tree in the garden’?…God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:1,5 NIV).

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認出上帝

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希伯來書1:3  祂是神榮耀所發的光輝，是神本體的真像，常用祂權能的命令托住萬有。祂洗淨了人的罪，就坐在高天至大者的右邊。

這是我首次飛往印度，班機在凌晨抵達班加羅爾機場。儘管要來接機的朋友先前已經寄給我許多電子郵件，但我還是不知道誰會來接我，也不知道該在哪裡與對方碰面。我隨著人群來到行李領取處，再前往海關，在潮濕悶熱的黑夜裡，試圖從茫茫人海中看到友善的眼神。

整整一小時，我在人群前面來回走動，希望有人能認出我。最終，有個和藹可親的人走過來，問道：「你是惟恩嗎？真抱歉！你就在我面前走來走去，我卻認不出你，但你的樣子跟我想像的完全不一樣。」

我們經常因為一時糊塗，而無法認出我們應認得的人或地方。但上帝提供一種明確的方式，讓我們能準確無誤地認出祂。

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Monitor Your Default Thoughts

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Proverbs 4:23  Above all else, guard your heart,  for everything you do flows from it.

Monitor your default thoughts. Most of us are unaware of the inner dialogue we carry on with ourselves each day. Appraisals. Criticisms. Assumptions. They are knee-jerk reactions. “I’m so stupid.” “I’ll never get this under control.”

When self-criticism or worry plays like a tape in your head, there is always a reason.  Someone trained you to think this way. They are the result of injury after injury, influence after influence, regret after regret—days, years, decades of immobilizing notions until a person cannot escape.

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看不見嗎？聽不見嗎？不記得嗎？不明白嗎？

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馬可福音8:14-21   門徒忘了帶餅，在船上除了一個餅，沒有別的食物。 15 耶穌囑咐他們說：「你們要謹慎，防備法利賽人的酵和希律的酵。」 16 他們彼此議論說：「這是因為我們沒有餅吧？」 17 耶穌看出來，就說：「你們為什麼因為沒有餅就議論呢？你們還不醒悟，還不明白嗎？你們的心還是愚頑嗎？ 18 你們有眼睛看不見嗎？有耳朵聽不見嗎？也不記得嗎？ 

「吃飯囉！」太太吆喝著。「好吃的嗎？」總是有個期待，「哇！吃草哩！苜蓿芽…」在驚嘆中享用晚餐。女兒抱著小紙盒進家門。「好吃的嗎？」歡迎她回家。「來來來！吃吃看！一本書。」女兒逗趣著回應。

在家裡，自己口頭禪「好吃的嗎？」似乎多過於「感謝主！」

「活在恩典很隨意，認知恩典不經意」是我們的日常生活寫照，耶穌的門徒似乎也是如此。

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Open the Book

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John 8:31-32  To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

I’ve listened to lesser voices. Locker-room know-it-alls. Godless teachers. Messed-up movie stars. Self-absorbed talk show hosts. They don’t know what they are talking about. I need an authoritative voice, an owner’s manual. And so do you.

I played catcher in Little League baseball, Pony League baseball, and high school baseball. I noticed something: the width of home plate never changed. It was always seventeen inches wide. The width of the plate was permanent.

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七次提醒-剛強壯膽

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約書亞記6:2-5    耶和華曉諭約書亞說：「看哪，我已經把耶利哥和耶利哥的王，並大能的勇士，都交在你手中。 3 你們的一切兵丁要圍繞這城，一日圍繞一次，六日都要這樣行。 4 七個祭司要拿七個羊角走在約櫃前。到第七日，你們要繞城七次，祭司也要吹角。 5 他們吹的角聲拖長，你們聽見角聲，眾百姓要大聲呼喊，城牆就必塌陷，各人都要往前直上。」

七個祭司拿七個羊角，繞耶利哥城七日，第七日繞城七次，耶利哥城牆就塌陷了。七是聖經中的完全數，神用六日創造天地，第七日安息（創世記2:1-3），七日成為一週，七代表完美、完全。

最近我也經歷七次「剛強壯膽」的提醒。前些日子讀經，從申命記末幾章讀到約書亞記第一章，發現約書亞分別從摩西（申命記31:7）、神（申命記31:23，約書亞記1:6，1:9）以及以色列百姓（約書亞記1:18）得著五次鼓勵，當「剛強壯膽」承接摩西的使命，降服於神，竭力追求神的旨意，帶領以色列人進入迦南地。

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多加種子，多增果子，多方施捨

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哥林多後書9:10-11  那賜種給撒種的、賜糧給人吃的，必多多加給你們種地的種子，又增添你們仁義的果子， 11 叫你們凡事富足，可以多多施捨，就藉著我們使感謝歸於神。

使徒保羅在哥林多後書第九章鼓勵教會信徒樂意慷慨捐獻：「那賜種給撒種的，賜糧給人吃的，必多多加給你們種地的種子，又增添你們仁義的果子；叫你們凡事富足，可以多多施捨，就藉著我們使感謝歸於神。」（哥林多後書9:10-11）

種子或果實除了靠自體的掉落或彈力外，也會藉風力或水流等自然力量來傳播，甚至利用鳥類、螞蟻、動物來幫忙攜帶至遠方。

作物成長需要日光、水、空氣和營養素，營養素可由空氣、水和土壤中吸收，也可以靠現代化的肥料來供給。

在神的創造裡，祂撒種於大地，孕育作物成長，結出果實、成為糧食給人吃。從種子到結出果實、成為糧食的過程中，人參與其中，與神同行，且與神同工。

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The Bible Works

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Ephesians 2:10  “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Can we genuinely believe that the Bible is the word of God? The unique and ultimate standard? Many people don’t. Others of us, however, do so for good reasons. Here are my three:

Jesus believed it. When the devil came to tempt him, Jesus quoted Scripture. When Jesus rose from the dead, he taught from Scripture. He set his own stamp of approval upon Scripture. What else is needed?

Fulfilled prophecies confirm it. In his life Christ fulfilled 332 distinct prophecies from the Old Testament. The mathematical probability of these prophecies being fulfilled by one man is one in 840 untrigintillion. That’s 840 followed by 96 zeroes.

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「十」分出「一」

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利未記27:30-34

「地上所有的，無論是地上的種子是樹上的果子，十分之一是耶和華的，是歸給耶和華為聖的。 31 人若要贖這十分之一的什麼物，就要加上五分之一。 32 凡牛群羊群中，一切從杖下經過的，每第十隻要歸給耶和華為聖。 33 不可問是好是壞，也不可更換；若定要更換，所更換的與本來的牲畜都要成為聖，不可贖回。」

34 這就是耶和華在西奈山為以色列人所吩咐摩西的命令。

拿供物獻給神源自於該隱和亞伯兩兄弟（創世記4:1-16），而最早的十分之一奉獻，則是當亞伯蘭殺敗諸王回來，把所得的拿出十分之一奉獻給來迎接他、給他祝福的撒冷王麥基洗德（至高神的祭司，希伯來書7:1）。

申命記14:22-26論及以色列人的十一奉獻：「你要把你撒種所產的，就是你田地每年所出的，十分取一分；又要把你的五穀、新酒、和油的十分之一，並牛群羊群中頭生的，吃在耶和華─你神面前，就是他所選擇要立為他名的居所。這樣，你可以學習時常敬畏耶和華─你的神。…」

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Take Every Thought Captive

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2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (GNT) reads, “The weapons we use in our fight are not the world’s weapons but God’s powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.”

The image is that of a warrior, a soldier, a fighter. Our enemy is the unsolicited, unhealthy, and unwelcome idea. Rather than indulge such thoughts, we take a wrecking ball to them. We “take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” We poke a spear against the spine of toxic thoughts, march them outside, and toss them on their derrieres. Discipleship, at its core, is Christlike thinking.

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