Entries by

智慧和勇力

2023-01-10 in , /by

傳道書9:17 寧可在安靜之中聽智慧人的言語，不聽掌管愚昧人的喊聲。

閱讀經文：傳道書9:13-18

13我見日光之下有一樣智慧，據我看乃是廣大。14就是有一小城，其中的人數稀少，有大君王來攻擊，修築營壘，將城圍困。15城中有一個貧窮的智慧人，他用智慧救了那城，卻沒有人記念那窮人。16我就說：「智慧勝過勇力。」然而那貧窮人的智慧被人藐視，他的話也無人聽從。17寧可在安靜之中聽智慧人的言語，不聽掌管愚昧人的喊聲。18智慧勝過打仗的兵器，但一個罪人能敗壞許多善事。

在台灣放連假時，若是天氣晴朗，很多民眾會攜家帶眷出遊。有次在連假結束後，高鐵各站擠滿北返的乘客。因為人潮擁擠，有些乘客幾度爆發口角，局面十分混亂。正當惡劣的情緒快要把人弄得失去理性時，有一位高鐵女列車長站出來講了一句話，瞬間讓整節車廂乘客都安靜下來。你猜猜看她說了什麼？換了你是列車長，你會說什麼？

她說：“你們放4天假，我上4天班”。這句話讓吵鬧和發怨言的人都不好意思了。自己玩了四天，難道連這一點辛苦都不能忍嗎？我想，這算是很智慧地解決了當時混亂局面的問題。因為假如大家都心煩氣燥地抱怨個不停，不僅吵架，到最後失去控制，可能會打架，甚至鬧出人命。所以一句話能讓大家都冷靜下來，實在了不起。

What You Think About Jesus

2023-01-10 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 14:53-65.  Let’s go!

Mark 14:53-59 (NIV)
53  They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together.
54  Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
55  The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any.
56  Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
57  Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him:
58  “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this man-made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.'”
59  Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
 
On verses 53-59:  As much as the chief priests and the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling council) tried, they could not find any dirt on Jesus that would justify putting him to death. 
 
You’ll never find anything to incriminate Jesus.  Through and through Jesus is blameless and holy.  We, on the other hand, are guilty of so much sin.  As Psalm 130:3-4 says, “If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.”
 

快跑的未必能贏

2023-01-09 in , /by

傳道書9:11  我又轉念，見日光之下，快跑的未必能贏，力戰的未必得勝，智慧的未必得糧食，明哲的未必得資財，靈巧的未必得喜悅，所臨到眾人的，是在乎當時的機會。。

閱讀經文：傳道書9:11-12

11我又轉念，見日光之下，快跑的未必能贏，力戰的未必得勝，智慧的未必得糧食，明哲的未必得資財，靈巧的未必得喜悅，所臨到眾人的，是在乎當時的機會。12原來人也不知道自己的定期：魚被惡網圈住，鳥被網羅捉住，禍患忽然臨到的時候，世人陷在其中，也是如此。

許多人說人定勝天，但是往往努力了一輩子，才發現自己的奮鬥枉然。因為不管人怎樣努力，當我們面臨人生的盡頭時，你都會問自己：我這一生的努力是為了什麼？為什麼我盡力了，卻要撒手而歸了？“撒手而歸”這句話裡的“歸”，提醒人要回到他永遠的家，所以假如在人的努力當中沒有找到歸家的路，那麼他就是迷路了，他的一生就是白白度過了。所以所羅門王寫下了他觀察到的一些例子。

“快跑的未必能贏”，最出名的例子便是龜兔賽跑。兔子雖然佔有先天的優勢，卻因為驕傲疏懶，以致輸給了烏龜。所以贏在起跑點的，未必能先到達終點。“力戰的未必得勝”，想想看自以色列在1948年建國以來，她周圍的阿拉伯國家有多少次想把她趕進地中海，超過十個以上的國家與她為敵，不能說他們不奮力而戰，實在是傾巢而出，但是不但未能打下以色列，反而次次被以色列打回去，敗得一塌糊塗。

It Happened in the Dark

2023-01-09 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 14:43-52.  Let’s go!

Mark 14:43-46 (NIV)
43  Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
44  Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.”
45  Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.
46  The men seized Jesus and arrested him.
 
On verses 43-46:  Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.  It’s ironic how something so intimate could be used to signal something so evil.  That’s what Satan loves to do: take good things that God always meant to unite, give life, set free and express love, and pervert them into tools that divide, destroy, oppress and hate.
 

Gethsemane

2023-01-08 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 14:32-42.  Let’s go!

Mark 14:32-42 (NIV)
32  They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
33  He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.
34  “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
35  Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.
36  “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

On verses 32-42: Gethsemane is a transliteration of two words in Hebrew that mean “olive press”.  It’s also the name of a garden at the foot of Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives.  Scholars say that in Gethsemane there was an olive grove as well as an olive press where olives would be pressed and the oil would be collected.  On this most difficult night of Jesus’ life, Jesus is in Gethsemane.  He knows that incomparable suffering and death await him in just hours.  Thus far in Mark, it is Jesus who has been getting his followers ready for his suffering and death, assuring them that this is the way it has to be.  But now, on the eve of this suffering taking place, Jesus faces his own stress and difficult emotions.  Like an olive being pressed till the oil comes out, Jesus is in Gethsemane, feeling tremendous pressure from knowing that very soon he would be handed over to his enemies, tortured and killed.  In Gethsemane Jesus’ suffering has already begun.

享受人生

2023-01-08 in , /by

傳道書9:7 你只管去歡歡喜喜吃你的飯，心中快樂喝你的酒，因為神已經悅納你的作為。

閱讀經文：傳道書9:7-10

7你只管去歡歡喜喜吃你的飯，心中快樂喝你的酒，因為神已經悅納你的作為。8你的衣服當時常潔白，你頭上也不要缺少膏油。9在你一生虛空的年日，就是神賜你在日光之下虛空的年日，當同你所愛的妻快活度日，因為那是你生前，在日光之下勞碌的事上所得的份。10凡你手所當做的事，要盡力去做，因為在你所必去的陰間，沒有工作，沒有謀算，沒有知識，也沒有智慧。

假如你知道死了的人毫無所知，他們的愛、他們的恨、他們的嫉妒早都消滅了，在日光之下所行的一切事上，他們永不再有份了。這樣的認識會不會讓你改變現有的一些心態或作法？想想看，從以前到現在的人，有幾個是你認識或記得的，你就明白，自己也會列在被遺忘的人之中。有的人以為子孫會記得自己，但是你想想看，你記得哪一個先祖？你就明白，被遺忘是遲早的事。那麼，現在還需要和人競爭嗎？爭來的不管是名譽或金錢或地位，終將成為過去。所以所羅門王給我們一點提示，想要不虛度人生，便是把握人生。

不必跟別人比較，不用羨慕或嫉妒別人擁有的，只要你把和神的關係弄好了，在神面前存著無虧的良心，那就歡歡喜喜吃你的飯，心中快樂喝你的酒。吃你的飯，不要去吃別人的飯心中快樂亮無擔憂；喝自己的酒，不用去喝別人的酒，享受神賜給你的一切福份。吃你的飯時，不要去看別人吃什麼；喝你的酒時，也不要去看別人喝什麼牌子的；因為你的胃口和別人的不一樣，吃適合你健康、你口味的食物，你才能真正地享受食物的美味和好處。

生命中必須破除的五種謊言

2023-01-06 in , /by

傳道書9:4  與一切活人相連的，那人還有指望，因為活著的狗比死了的獅子更強。

閱讀經文：傳道書9:4-6

4與一切活人相連的，那人還有指望，因為活著的狗比死了的獅子更強。5活著的人知道必死，死了的人毫無所知，也不再得賞賜，他們的名無人記念。6他們的愛、他們的恨、他們的嫉妒早都消滅了，在日光之下所行的一切事上，他們永不再有份了。

最近在台灣有位清潔工作人員因為開後門，讓朋友入垃圾掩埋場倒垃圾，在接受廉政署調查前燒炭死亡。普通人會一時想不開而自殺，不普通的名人也會，例如美國著名作家海明威用雙管獵槍結束自己的生命；希臘著名哲學家亞里士多德跳海自殺；日本名作家川端康成在一個深夜含媒氣管自殺。自殺彷彿是解決問題最容易的方法，但是肉體死了，還有靈魂要向神交帳，問題未了啊！為何會有取自己性命的想法呢？在水深之處網站有位作者提出了他的看法，很值得我們思考。以下便是：〈生命中必須破除的五種謊言〉。

在這一生當中，你會遇到很多謊言，其中最可怕的謊言不是別人說的，而是自己說給自己聽的。其實，那也不算是自己說的，因為主耶穌告訴我們，魔鬼從起初就是殺人的，同時，他也是說謊者的父。換句話說，魔鬼為了殺害我們，使我們的人生無效，會在我們裡面鼓動我們，用許多謊言欺瞞我們。這裡列出五個令人沮喪的謊言，當你聽見腦海裡浮現這些話時，趕快找主耶穌，祂能驅逐它們！

Don’t Overestimate Yourself

2023-01-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 14:26-31.  Let’s go!

Mark 14:26-31 (NIV)
26  When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
27  “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’
28  But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
29  Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”
30  “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “today–yes, tonight–before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”
31  But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.
 
On verses 26-31:  Peter was so sure and passionate about his commitment to Jesus that he acted as if nothing could possibly shake him.  Not even Jesus’ Scripture-based prophecy that all the disciples would fall away (v27) seemed to affect Peter’s confidence that he would remain faithful to Jesus till the end.  “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you”, Peter says in verse 31.  But that was more Peter’s own pride speaking.  Peter underestimated his own weakness and how on his own, without Jesus’ help, he didn’t stand a chance of hanging onto his faith.  Peter wasn’t the only disciple who made this mistake.  All the other disciples made the same mistake.  Peter was just the most vocal about it.

人的結局都一樣嗎？

2023-01-05 in , /by

傳道書9:3a   在日光之下所行的一切事上，有一件禍患，就是眾人所遭遇的都是一樣。

閱讀經文：傳道書9:1-3

1我將這一切事放在心上，詳細考究，就知道義人和智慧人並他們的作為，都在神手中。或是愛，或是恨，都在他們的前面，人不能知道。2凡臨到眾人的事都是一樣：義人和惡人都遭遇一樣的事；好人、潔淨人和不潔淨人，獻祭的與不獻祭的，也是一樣。好人如何，罪人也如何；起誓的如何，怕起誓的也如何。3在日光之下所行的一切事上，有一件禍患，就是眾人所遭遇的都是一樣。並且世人的心充滿了惡，活著的時候心裡狂妄，後來就歸死人那裡去了。

在這忙碌的人生中，我們每天都有許多安排，天天都在忙。有何事會讓你的腳步暫停一下呢？所羅門王查看之後，他發現義人和智慧人，還有他們所做的事，都在神的手中；即使如此，不管是將要發生在他們生活中的愛或恨，他們也不能預先知道。義人或智慧人，都該算是敬畏神的人。義人是指在神的眼中不以為有罪的，屬神的人；而敬畏神是智慧的開端，所以有智慧的人應該是敬畏神的人。