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人口中的言语如同深水

2022-07-05 in , /by

〈箴言〉18:4  人口中的言语如同深水，智慧的泉源好像涌流的河水。

阅读经文：箴言18:1-4

1与众寡合的，独自寻求心愿，并恼恨一切真智慧。 2 愚昧人不喜爱明哲，只喜爱显露心意。 3 恶人来，藐视随来；羞耻到，辱骂同到。 4 人口中的言语如同深水，智慧的泉源好像涌流的河水。

与众寡合的，独自寻求心愿，并恼恨一切真智慧。 Loners who care only for themselves spit on the common good. 《The Message》

在电影或小说里，经常都抬举单刀独斗的英雄或英雌，例如超人、蝙蝠侠、蜘蛛人，等等。但是在现实里，一个人根本无法成就什么事情，因为生活里大家环环相扣，要一起寻求众人的福利，而不是个人的名声。即使是总统或王室，有什么事情是一个人能解决的？

可能你会说，我可以自食其力。自食其力时要去工作，工作是公司请你，但是你只是其中的一份子，有的外销，有的筹划，有的负责广告，有的做产品设计，少了你一个，还有别人顶上来；若是没有其他同事，你一个人能做什么？你会煮菜，自己做饭吃。也需要有人种稻、种菜，挑出来卖，还有各样调味品，没有其他人的配合，就是巧妇难为无米炊。

所以这节经文告诉我们，要和众人一起合作，才能在当中并发出真智慧，合乎众人的需要。所以不要妄自尊大，也不要故步自封，学习倾听，活到老学到老。

Partying, Justice and True Worship

2022-07-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 16:13-22.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 16:13-15 (NIV)
13  Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.
14  Be joyful at your Feast–you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.
15  For seven days celebrate the Feast to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

On verses 13-15:  What does the Feast of Tabernacles tell you about God and His purpose for our lives?  To understand the purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles and how it relates to us today, click HERE. 

Deuteronomy 16:16-17 (NIV)
16  Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed:
17  Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.

不说意见不表示呆

2022-07-04 in , /by

〈箴言〉17:28   愚昧人若静默不言，也可算为智慧；闭口不说，也可算为聪明。

阅读经文：箴言17:26-28

26刑罚义人为不善，责打君子为不义。27寡少言语的有知识，性情温良的有聪明。28愚昧人若静默不言，也可算为智慧；闭口不说，也可算为聪明。

刑罚义人为不善，责打君子为不义。It’s wrong to penalize good behavior,  or make good citizens pay for the crimes of others.《The Message》

在这个社会，我们经常会听到不公义的事情发生。例如，有人为了去扶起一个跌倒在马路上的老妇人，却反而被控告是使老妇人跌倒者，还要赔偿。最近读到一位台湾医生写的一篇短文，有位老翁死了，他的女儿拿了一大袋的药物退还给医生。原来老翁生前每周按时领药，却从不吃药，连打开都没有，就这样，很多昂贵的药就给浪费了。因为患者必须付的钱很少，所以很多人就觉得不拿白不拿，拿了就往抽屉一丢，下次再去拿。每年有上百吨药品被扔进垃圾桶，造成极大的浪费。这样的情况造成健保的恶性循环，钱永远不够。少数不浪费的人要承担多数不负责任的人造成的损失，最后也是一起受害，因为将来药费一定上涨。

How Should Christians Today Celebrate Passover and Pentecost?

2022-07-04 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 16:1-12.  Let’s go!

In Deuteronomy 16:1-12, Moses describes to the current generation of Israelites two of the three most important feasts in the Jewish calendar: Passover (also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread) and Pentecost (also known as the Feast of Weeks).  

Deuteronomy 16:1-8 (NIV)
1  Observe the month of Abib and celebrate the Passover of the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib he brought you out of Egypt by night.
2  Sacrifice as the Passover to the LORD your God an animal from your flock or herd at the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for his Name.
3  Do not eat it with bread made with yeast, but for seven days eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because you left Egypt in haste–so that all the days of your life you may remember the time of your departure from Egypt.
4  Let no yeast be found in your possession in all your land for seven days. Do not let any of the meat you sacrifice on the evening of the first day remain until morning.
5  You must not sacrifice the Passover in any town the LORD your God gives you
6  except in the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name. There you must sacrifice the Passover in the evening, when the sun goes down, on the anniversary of your departure from Egypt.
7  Roast it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.
8  For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the LORD your God and do no work.
 
On verses 1-8:  Why don’t Christians celebrate Passover today in the way Deuteronomy 16:1-8 talks about?  It’s because we now have something even greater than Passover to remember and observe:  Jesus Christ, His death and His resurrection — also known as Easter.  

You’re Blessed with the Best

2022-07-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 15:12-23.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 15:12-15 (NIV)
12  If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free.
13  And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed.
14  Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you.
15  Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.
 
On verses 12-15:  Moses tells the Israelites to be gracious to a servant who leaves them after several years of service. He tells the Israelites to “supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress.” (v14)  Applied to us today, when a person has served you well for a long time, instead of bitterly grieving their departure or indifferently letting them go, go out of your way to honour and bless that person.  Celebrate the ways you are better off because of them and bless them liberally.  Be gracious to them as God has been gracious to you.  When we send people off this way, we will be blessed as well (see v18).

以身作则

2022-07-03 in , /by

〈箴言〉17:23   恶人暗中受贿赂，为要颠倒判断。

阅读经文：箴言17:23-25

23恶人暗中受贿赂，为要颠倒判断。24明哲人眼前有智慧，愚昧人眼望地极。25愚昧子使父亲愁烦，使母亲忧苦。

第23节：恶人暗中受贿赂，为要颠倒判断

讲到贿赂，华人最有这方面的亲身体验了。从古时候的官场到现代的贿赂，莫不是在用钱办事，没有钱就寸步难行。何谓贿赂？维基百科提供了一些例子：政界人物在选举宣传时向团体提供特殊利益，以取得其支持（意即贿选）；唱片公司向电台的DJ贿赂，以换取旗下歌手的歌曲能播出更多。美国著名的摇滚爱好者、DJ Alan Freed（1921-1965）便因多次受贿而变得声名狼藉，没重要的电台肯聘用他，最后因酗酒带来的疾病而死。印度在早期「许可证」经济政策时期，也有民众以贿赂的方式买到「许可证」以期可以买到需要「许可证」才可买到的商品。

God Gives You Accelerated Forgiveness

2022-07-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 15:1-11.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 15:1-3 (NIV)
1  At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.
2  This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.
3  You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.

On verses 1-3:  Moses instituted a system where every 7 years debts between fellow Israelites were to be canceled.  It was a way to remember and demonstrate God’s grace, as well as to give people a fresh start.  For that is God’s heart for every person: to give them a fresh start.

喜乐的心乃是良药

2022-07-01 in , /by

〈箴言〉17:22   喜乐的心乃是良药，忧伤的灵使骨枯干。

阅读经文：箴言17:21-22

21生愚昧子的必自愁苦，愚顽人的父毫无喜乐。22喜乐的心乃是良药，忧伤的灵使骨枯干。

『喜乐的心乃是良药』，是圣经中一句有名的话，但您是否知道，根据医学研究，这句话不仅是一句劝勉的话，更是一句千真万确、符合科学证据的话！

东方人很早就注意到心理影响生理的现象，所以在中医的处方中有许多是『身心兼顾』的。而近代西方医学也发现许多病是『心身症』，例如：偏头痛、心肌梗塞、胃溃疡、肠躁症等。每当情绪恶化时，病情也加重；加上现代社会步调快速，压力大、紧张、焦虑，失眠的人比比皆是。

不可颠倒是非

2022-06-30 in , /by

〈箴言〉17:17   朋友乃时常亲爱，弟兄为患难而生。

阅读经文：箴言17:15-20

15定恶人为义的，定义人为恶的，这都为耶和华所憎恶。16愚昧人既无聪明，为何手拿价银买智慧呢？17朋友乃时常亲爱，弟兄为患难而生。18在邻舍面前击掌作保，乃是无知的人。19喜爱争竞的是喜爱过犯，高立家门的乃自取败坏。20心存邪僻的寻不著好处，舌弄是非的陷在祸患中。

定恶人为义，定义人为恶，便是颠倒是非。其实这句话的本身是要指出，人的判断往往是不正确的，所以主耶稣教导我们：“你们不要论断人，免得你们被论断。（太7:1）”当我们开口论断人时，我们就已经在定人为义或恶了。对我们好的，有利益的，我们就讲好话；对我们不好，有利益冲突的，就定对方为恶。

著名基督教作家杨腓力说，他知道有两类的假冒为善者，一是完美主义者或自认为诚实的人。因为他从未遇见有人真的尽心、尽力、尽意地爱神，并且爱他（她）的隣舍如同爱自己一样。他也不认为，完美是现实里的一个选择，我们的唯一选择，就是诚实，在神面前悔改。因为神的恩典可以遮掩人的罪，任何罪。假冒为善徒然使人看不清楚自己需要救恩。当面具摘下来之后，假冒为善便是一条为了逃避救恩而走的坎坷之路。

Since Jesus Gave Up Everything For Us

2022-06-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 14:22-29.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 14:22-23 (NIV)
22  Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year.
23  Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.
 
On verses 22-23:  In Deuteronomy 14:22-29, we learn five reasons why it is important for us to tithe (i.e. set aside a tenth of our income and give it to God at the place – that is, the house of God – where we worship Him).  The first reason we learn from verse 23: By tithing we “learn to revere the LORD your God always” (v23).  Tithing trains us to have an attitude of worship toward God no matter what our circumstances are like.  Tithing is a tool for our own spiritual maturity, training us to put God first in our lives.