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The God Who Hears When You Call

2022-10-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 9:15-27.  Let’s go!

Daniel 9:15-18 (NIV)
15  “Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong.
16  O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
17  “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary.
18  Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.

On verses 15-18:  Why is Daniel not afraid to bring His requests before God?  It’s because though Daniel is acutely aware of God’s holiness as well as his and his people’s sin, Daniel also knows that God is full of mercy.  I love Daniel’s statement in verse 18: “We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.”

為主而做，敬主而行

2022-10-30 in , /by

箴言29:21  人將僕人從小嬌養，這僕人終久必成了他的兒子。

閱讀經文：箴言 29:21

21人將僕人從小嬌養，這僕人終久必成了他的兒子。

在舊約和新約時代裡，奴隸制度是一直存在的社會結構。作者在這裡闡明主僕應有的界限。例如在第19節裡說：“只用言語，僕人不肯受管教，他雖然明白，也不留意”。僕人的職份原是聽命於主人，按著主人的命令去行事；倘若一個僕人不肯聽命，處處違抗主人的命令，甚至轄制主人。這樣的僕人就成了主人的禍患。

保羅在〈以弗所書〉六章5-9節裡說：“你們做僕人的，要懼怕戰兢，用誠實的心聽從你們肉身的主人，好像聽從基督一般。不要只在眼前侍奉，像是討人喜歡的，要像基督的僕人，從心裡遵行神的旨意，甘心侍奉，好像服侍主，不像服侍人。因為曉得各人所行的善事，不論是為奴的，是自主的，都必按所行的得主的賞賜。你們做主人的，待僕人也是一理，不要威嚇他們。因為知道，他們和你們同有一位主在天上，祂並不偏待人”。

行事急燥的都必缺乏

2022-10-28 in , /by

箴言29:20  你見言語急躁的人嗎？愚昧人比他更有指望。

閱讀經文：箴言 29:20

20你見言語急躁的人嗎？愚昧人比他更有指望。

行事急燥的都必缺乏

有一次某政黨提名縣市議員候選人的前夕，某有意參選者不知從何處得到消息，說他未被提名，極為生氣，於是召開記者會，聲明退出該黨，並當眾撕毀黨證。但次日發現他的名字仍在被提名名單中，未被提名的消息是錯誤的。這下子麻煩大了，真是後悔，如果能稍等一下，在次日名單發表後，如確未被提名，再召開記者會亦不遲嘛。

聖經箴言書說：「你見言語急躁的人麼，愚昧人比他更有指望。」意思是說，言語急躁的人比愚昧的人還不如。言語急躁的人，常常語急不能清楚傳達意思；語急思考時間不夠，易生錯誤，說錯話收不回來；語急態度就差，容易產生誤會。這些都會造成溝通不良，常會惹出許多不必要的困擾。說錯一句有時會難過一輩子，往往花千百倍的口舌，都不能收回一句令人傷心的話，所謂禍從口出就是這個意思。

Interceding for Others

2022-10-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 9:1-14.  Let’s go!

Daniel 9:1-2 (NIV)
1  In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom–
2  in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

On verses 1-2:  Daniel had been reading the book of Jeremiah where Jeremiah predicts that the Jews of Jerusalem would be exiles and would only return to Jerusalem after 70 years.  See Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10.  Jeremiah had given this prophecy found in Jeremiah 25:11-12 back in approximately 605 B.C. when Daniel would still have been a teenager.  Cyrus, king of Persia, would let the Jewish exiles return to Jerusalem in 538/537 B.C., which is approximately 68 years later.  How remarkable it is that Jeremiah’s prophecy was right.

Gabriel (A Discussion about Angels)

2022-10-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 8:15-27.  Let’s go!

Daniel 8:15-27 (NIV)
15  While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man.
16  And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai calling, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.”
17  As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”
18  While he was speaking to me, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me and raised me to my feet.
19  He said: “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end.
20  The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia.

On verses 15-27:  Yesterday in discussing verses 1-14 we addressed the meaning of the visions that Daniel had seen about the two-horned ram, the shaggy goat, the large horn on the goat’s head as well as the little horn that would later rise up in power.  What strikes me here is WHO tells Daniel the meaning of these visions.  It was the angel Gabriel, who goes to Daniel, at the instructions of a voice from the Ulai River (presumably, the voice of the LORD).

有福的人生

2022-10-27 in , /by

箴言29:18   沒有異象，民就放肆；唯遵守律法的，便為有福。

閱讀經文：箴言 29:18-19

18沒有異象，民就放肆；唯遵守律法的，便為有福。19只用言語，僕人不肯受管教，他雖然明白也不留意。

異象與使命

「沒有異象，民就放肆。」(箴言二十九：18)

「異象」是看見的意思，「放肆」是軍事用詞，表示作戰時軍隊鬆懈、管理一盤散沙，容易在危險中暴露行蹤。

領袖若沒有美好的看見，沒有到道德的持守，沒有做事的原則，百姓就會亂，會悖逆、會叛變。單單給予太多的自由，百姓將是無所適從。沒有要求，就沒有跟從。 太多的意見，就沒有看法。沒有選擇的法則，選擇將是虛擲。講一切都是相對，是拒絕真理的教導。若沒有好的看見，任何團體、組織、學校、班級、公司、家庭， 都會放肆。

放肆之時，不要責怪領袖，自己要為自己的行為負責。因此，我們需要讀聖經。求主耶穌給我們亮光，明白祂的旨意。否則我們的思想、行為、話語、決定也會放肆、茫無所從。就像一個人在踩油門、開快車，卻不知道要往哪裡去。或像荒野上的小草，風往哪裡吹，就向那邊倒。

不要把年輕的日子，交給放肆，回頭一場亂。交給上帝，按真理而行。在教會裡學習與人配搭，在社會裡努力盡職，在家裡有見證。我們至今仍堅持真理，期待不讓放肆來掌權。

上帝要我們體罰孩子嗎？

2022-10-26 in , /by

箴言29:15  杖打和責備能加增智慧，放縱的兒子使母親羞愧。

閱讀經文：箴言 29:14-17

14君王憑誠實判斷窮人，他的國位必永遠堅立。15杖打和責備能加增智慧，放縱的兒子使母親羞愧。16惡人加多，過犯也加多，義人必看見他們跌倒。17管教你的兒子，他就使你得安息，也必使你心裡喜樂。

上帝要我們體罰孩子嗎？

「杖打和責備，能加增智慧。」(箴言二十九：15)。

上帝教導我們，要用智慧引導孩子，使他們有智慧。有些孩子缺乏認識智慧的智慧，就用責備，使他們歸向智慧。有些頑強的孩子，聽不懂責備，就用責打，使他們知道錯。

上帝不是要我們用體罰教導孩子，體罰的目的不在發洩自己的怒氣，不是打了的孩子才會乖，不是用打使孩子就範，不是用打加強孩子的記憶，而是使孩子的智慧增加。所以杖打不在傷害孩子，之後是要解釋，並給孩子再思的空間，等待孩子智慧生長的時間。

我們在怒氣之下，就沒有教育孩子的權力。上帝要我們知道，關鍵不在體罰，而是有智慧的教導孩子，才使孩子有智慧。

The Greater King We Serve

2022-10-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 8:1-14.  Let’s go!

Daniel 8:1-8 (NIV)
1  In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me.
2  In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal.
3  I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later.
4  I watched the ram as he charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against him, and none could rescue from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.

On verses 1-8:  While King Belshazzar was still king of the Babylonians, Daniel receives another vision, this time of an aggressive two-horned ram (representing two kings of Medo-Persia – v20) who is defeated by a large-horned goat (representing Greece – v21).  Some scholars equate the large horn with Alexander the Great. 

貧窮的蒙光照

2022-10-25 in , /by

箴言29:13   貧窮人強暴人在世相遇，他們的眼目都蒙耶和華光照。

閱讀經文：箴言 29:13

13貧窮人強暴人在世相遇，他們的眼目都蒙耶和華光照。

有一種喜好認知的動機，是深知自己的貧窮。知道自己不明白的太多，這是知識的貧窮。平日太少喜樂，這是生活的貧窮。面對未來太少盼望，這是靈性的貧窮。

貧窮的人啊，要在哪裡得供應呢？我們需要蒙上帝的光照，看見周遭充滿祂的恩惠與供應，不要落在這個不足、那個不足，要抓到一些人、事、物，才能證明自己的 足夠。上帝知道我們的需要，祂沒有立刻供應所需，祂有美意。也許我們迫切的需求，不是真需求，而是需要等待；抓到的不是問題的解決，而是更多問題的前來。

軟弱的器皿，一生要承受多少？貧窮的目的，是什麼？也許貧窮是讓我們蒙受上帝的光照，單純的仰望主。

The Winner of This Bout by Submission: God and His People

2022-10-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Daniel 7:15-28.  Let’s go!

Daniel 7:15-18 (NIV)
15  “I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit, and the visions that passed through my mind disturbed me.
16  I approached one of those standing there and asked him the true meaning of all this. “So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things:
17  ‘The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth.
18  But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever–yes, for ever and ever.’

On verses 15-18:  Still within his own dream, Daniel inquires as to their meaning of the visions he saw.  He is given a short explanation: the four great beasts he saw represent four kingdoms that will arise from the earth (v17).  In the end, however, it is God’s people (“the saints of the Most High” – v18) who will prevail and receive a kingdom that will last forever.