巴谷書3:17-18 雖然無花果樹不發旺，葡萄樹不結果，橄欖樹也不效力，田地不出糧食，圈中絕了羊，棚內也沒有牛；然而，我要因耶和華歡欣，因救我的神喜樂。
保羅和同工西拉在腓立比傳講福音（使徒行傳16:16-40），被誣告而遭到捉拿，受到眾人攻擊、毆打，最後被下到監裡，雙腳上了木狗，處境極為艱難。然而，即便是在這樣的困境中，保羅和西拉並沒有感到絕望，反而在監裡禱告，並且唱詩讚美神。
這時，令人驚奇的事發生了。一場地震使監牢的地基搖動，監門全開，囚犯的鎖鏈也都鬆開了。驚慌的獄卒以為囚犯都逃走了，想要拔刀自盡，但保羅喊住他：「不要傷害自己！我們都在這裡。」
獄卒被保羅和西拉的喜樂、信心及行為感動，戰兢地俯伏在他們面前，問道：「我當怎樣行才可以得救？」他們回應說：「當信主耶穌，你和你一家都必得救。」（使徒行傳16:30-31）最後，獄卒和他的全家接受了福音，並受了洗。
聖靈的同在帶給使徒力量與喜樂，即便是在最黑暗的時刻。保羅和西拉的信心和喜樂不僅讓自己得安慰，還讓其他人被感化，並榮耀了神。
Crankcase oil coursed my dad’s veins. He repaired engines for a living; Dad loved machines. God gave my dad a mechanical moron, a son who couldn’t differentiate between a differential and a brake disc. Dad tried to teach me. I tried to learn. Honestly, I did. Machines anesthetized me, but books fascinated me.
What does a mechanic do with a son who loves books? He gives him a library card. Buys him a few volumes for Christmas. Places a lamp by his bed so he can read at night. Pays tuition so his son can study college literature in high school. My dad did that. You know what he didn’t do? Never once did he say, “Why can’t you be a mechanic like your dad and granddad?”
Study your children while you can. The greatest gift you can give your children is not your riches, but revealing to them their own.
加拉太書5:6 原來在基督耶穌裡，受割禮不受割禮全無功效，惟獨使人生發仁愛的信心才有功效。
德蕾莎修女(Mother Teresa)以她對印度加爾各答貧困病患的無私奉獻而聞名於世。她創立了「仁愛傳教女修會」，致力於照顧「最貧困中的貧困者」。她不僅提供食物、醫療照護，更重要的是，她給予那些被社會遺棄的人們愛與尊嚴。她的行動表達對人們最深切的關懷，即使面對艱難的環境，也始終堅持付出愛。
曼德拉(Nelson Mandela)在南非種族隔離時期，為了爭取平等與正義，被監禁長達27年。出獄後，他沒有選擇報復，而是以寬恕與和解來帶領南非走向和平轉型。他的行動展現出強大的仁愛力量，即使面對曾經迫害自己的人，也能夠選擇寬恕，並為整個社會福祉而努力。
How would you fill in this blank: a person is made right with God through…what? A person is made right with God through…being good. Pay your taxes. Give sandwiches to the poor. Don’t drink too much, or drink at all. Christian conduct, that’s the secret. Suffering, there’s the answer. Doctrine, that’s how to be made right with God.
No, no, no. All of the above are tried, all are taught, but none are from God. In fact, that’s the problem – none are from God. Who does the saving, you or him?
Romans 3:28 says, “A person is made right with God through faith.” Not through good works, suffering, or doctrine. They may be the result of salvation, but they’re not the cause of it. Faith in God’s sacrifice, in the gift of his Son. It’s not what you do; it’s what he did.
The Bible says in Romans 8:28 that “in everything God works for the good of those who love him.” Do this simple exercise. Remove the word “everything” and replace it with the symbol of your tragedy. How would Romans 8:28 read in your life? In hospital stays God works for the good. In divorce papers God works for the good. As hard as it may be to believe, you could be only a Saturday away from a resurrection. Hours from that precious prayer of a changed heart. “God, you did this for me?”
“Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,” Paul said. “The Scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope” (Romans 15:4 NCV). These are not somewhere-over-the-rainbow illusions. They are historic moments in which a real God met real pain so we could answer the question, “where is God when I hurt?”
約伯記 23:10 然而祂知道我所行的路，祂試煉我之後，我必如精金。
約伯記42:5 我從前風聞有祢，現在親眼看見祢。
當大火席捲而過，一切盡毀後，能存留下來的是什麼？是稻禾、碎屑，還是精金？
甚麼材料是信心的根基？我們所仰望的，是神蹟奇事，還是平凡卻深遠的點滴？如果今天上帝沒有醫治我的病，祂就不是我的救主嗎？如果我一生貧困潦倒，最終未能進入更美的國度，祂就不信實嗎？如果惡人沒有受到懲罰，祂就不公義嗎？
但，真的是這樣嗎？我們的信心，真的建立在這些條件之上嗎？是神蹟？是命運的逆轉？還是惡人遭報？
詩篇第23篇 大衛的詩。
1 耶和華是我的牧者，我必不致缺乏。
2 祂使我躺臥在青草地上，領我在可安歇的水邊。
3 祂使我的靈魂甦醒，為自己的名引導我走義路。
4 我雖然行過死蔭的幽谷，也不怕遭害，因為祢與我同在，祢的杖、祢的竿都安慰我。
5 在我敵人面前，祢為我擺設筵席，祢用油膏了我的頭，使我的福杯滿溢。
6 我一生一世必有恩惠、慈愛隨著我，我且要住在耶和華的殿中，直到永遠。
久未謀面的西北弟兄回應昨天「我必不致缺乏」的分享，他捎來Leanna Crawford在2024年創作的一首以詩篇第23篇為靈感的歌曲《Still Waters》（可安歇的水邊），這首歌帶來一個不同的詮釋。
Leanna在歌曲中唱出「我現在正缺乏」的渴望…，我知道祢的話語充滿力量，所以我要一遍又一遍地說，直到我的靈魂甦醒(I’ll say it over and over till my soul’s reminded)。這首歌的中譯歌詞是這樣寫著…
瑪琳姑媽一百零三歲時說：將經文刻在心版上，以備不時之需。
I’m about to tell you something you may find hard to believe. You don’t have to agree with me, but I’d like you to consider it with me. Here it is: if you were the only person on earth, the earth would look exactly the same. The Himalayas would still have their drama and the Caribbean its charm. The sun would still nestle behind the Rockies in the evenings and spray light on the desert in the mornings.
If you were the sole pilgrim on this globe, God would not diminish its beauty one degree.
Because he did it all for you. And he’s waiting for you to discover his gift, for your eyes to pop, your heart to stop. He’s waiting for the moment between the dropping of the jaw and the leap of the heart. For in that silence he whispers, “I did it just for you.”
They sat on opposite sides of the room, a man and a woman, bidding on an adorable puppy at a school auction. Others dropped off, but not this duo. Back and forth until they’d one-upped the bid to several thousand dollars. This was the Wimbledon finals, and neither player was backing off the net. Finally, the fellow gave in and didn’t return the bid. Going once, going twice, sold! You know what she did? Amidst the applause, she walked across the room and presented the puppy to the competition.
Suppose you did that to the competition, with your enemy, with the boss who fired you. Suppose you surprised them with kindness. Not easy? No, it’s not. But mercy is the deepest gesture of kindness.
詩篇第23篇 大衛的詩。
1 耶和華是我的牧者，我必不致缺乏。
2 祂使我躺臥在青草地上，領我在可安歇的水邊。
3 祂使我的靈魂甦醒，為自己的名引導我走義路。
4 我雖然行過死蔭的幽谷，也不怕遭害，因為祢與我同在，祢的杖、祢的竿都安慰我。
5 在我敵人面前，祢為我擺設筵席，祢用油膏了我的頭，使我的福杯滿溢。
6 我一生一世必有恩惠、慈愛隨著我，我且要住在耶和華的殿中，直到永遠。
每一次讀大衛所寫的詩篇第23篇，總會有不一樣的領受。大衛是牧羊人，他深深體會牧羊人照顧羊群的心意，他說：「耶和華是我的牧者，我必不致缺乏。」這句話反映出，他處身羊群，他「滿足」於神的牧養。
「我必不致缺乏(I shall not want)」指的是「夠了，不缺乏，就無所需求」；有如詩篇16:2，大衛的心對神說：「我的好處不在祢以外(I have no good apart from you)」，一切的好處都在神裡面，在神裡面就不致缺乏。「我必不致缺乏」這句話是詩篇第23篇的起頭，也是結論。
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每日親近神 2012-2018 数据整理中