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You Can’t Always Control This But It’s Okay

2022-05-25 in /by

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 28:1-16.  Let’s go!

Acts 28:1-10 (NIV)
1  Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.
2  The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.
3  Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.
4  When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”……

On verses 1-10:  Has anyone ever judged you and jumped to conclusions about you because of your circumstances?  In Acts 28:34, Paul is bitten by a snake and based on these unfortunate circumstances the residents of Malta assume he is guilty of murder.  But when Paul shows no ill effects from the snake bite, those same people change their minds and call him a god (v6)!  That’s how fickle public opinion can be.

如何选择好大厨

2022-05-25 in , /by

〈箴言〉12:10  义人顾惜他牲畜的命，恶人的怜悯也是残忍。

阅读经文：箴言12:9-11

9 被人轻贱却有仆人，强如自尊缺少食物。 10 义人顾惜他牲畜的命，恶人的怜悯也是残忍。 11 耕种自己田地的必得饱食，追随虚浮的却是无知。

第9节： 被人轻贱却有仆人，强如自尊缺少食物。

《新译本》：被人轻看却有仆人的人，胜过自尊自大却缺少食物的人。

《吕振中译本》：地位轻微、而自己有农产物（传统︰仆人），胜过自尊自大、而缺少食粮。

《The Message》：Better to be ordinary and work for a living  than act important and starve in the process.

这句话很像在形容没落的贵族，假如你喜欢看韩剧的话，里面有时也有一些没落的两班，因为好赌，赌到连自己的家谱都卖掉以维生。当我们这样对照几本不同的经文时，立刻有更清彻的明白。中文的翻译道出现实的残酷，为何时下有些大学生宁可放下身份去做出卖肉体的生意呢？因为想赚容易钱。因为这个世界笑贫不笑娼。大家都觉得钱很重要，可以让自己活得有体面。

但是信息圣经，也就是毕德生牧师的英文翻译有点不一样，他说，人最好活得平凡，为生活而工作，强如为了摆阔而饿死。这样我们就非常清楚这句经文的意思了。人要活得实实在在，不要为了面子害死自己。

忍辱的美

2022-05-24 in , /by

〈箴言〉12:16  愚妄人的恼怒立时显露，通达人能忍辱藏羞。

阅读经文：箴言12:12-16

12恶人想得坏人的网罗，义人的根得以结实。13恶人嘴中的过错是自己的网罗，但义人必脱离患难。14人因口所结的果子必饱得美福，人手所做的必为自己的报应。15愚妄人所行的在自己眼中看为正直，唯智慧人肯听人的劝教。16愚妄人的恼怒立时显露，通达人能忍辱藏羞。

根部与结果

箴言12:12 恶人想得坏人的网罗，义人的根得以结实。

许多事情，我们祷告很久，仍未成就。上帝为什么让我们等待又等待、期盼又期盼？这里有一个答案，「义人的根，得以结实」(箴言12:12)，这是上帝做事的法则，先长树根，再结实。树根我们看不见，以致不知结实前的预备。等到有了结果，上帝早就在预备。

这节箴言，乍读之时，也许会想结果是在树上，怎么会是在根上呢？但是细想，植物结果营养分输自根部，水分却来自根部，支撑需要根部，稳定在乎根部，任何植物要结果，必须基盘稳固。
何等多次，我们期待结果，上帝却引导我们，先在根部的成长与修补。

The One Who Rescues You From The Wreck

2022-05-24 in /by

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 27:27-44.  Let’s go!

Acts 27:27-32 (NIV)
27  On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.
28  They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep.
29  Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.
30  In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.
31  Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”
32  So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.
 
On verses 27-32:  Knowing that the ship was soon going to crash into land, some sailors try to secretly let a lifeboat down into the sea to save themselves.  But for the sake of everyone’s safety including the sailors trying to escape, Paul warns the centurion and soldiers that everyone needs to stay with the ship if they want any hope of being saved. 
 

实实在在地活

2022-05-23 in , /by

〈箴言〉12:10  义人顾惜他牲畜的命，恶人的怜悯也是残忍。

阅读经文：箴言12:9-11

9 被人轻贱却有仆人，强如自尊缺少食物。 10 义人顾惜他牲畜的命，恶人的怜悯也是残忍。 11 耕种自己田地的必得饱食，追随虚浮的却是无知。

第9节： 被人轻贱却有仆人，强如自尊缺少食物。

《新译本》：被人轻看却有仆人的人，胜过自尊自大却缺少食物的人。

《吕振中译本》：地位轻微、而自己有农产物（传统︰仆人），胜过自尊自大、而缺少食粮。

《The Message》：Better to be ordinary and work for a living  than act important and starve in the process.

这句话很像在形容没落的贵族，假如你喜欢看韩剧的话，里面有时也有一些没落的两班，因为好赌，赌到连自己的家谱都卖掉以维生。当我们这样对照几本不同的经文时，立刻有更清彻的明白。中文的翻译道出现实的残酷，为何时下有些大学生宁可放下身份去做出卖肉体的生意呢？因为想赚容易钱。因为这个世界笑贫不笑娼。大家都觉得钱很重要，可以让自己活得有体面。

但是信息圣经，也就是毕德生牧师的英文翻译有点不一样，他说，人最好活得平凡，为生活而工作，强如为了摆阔而饿死。这样我们就非常清楚这句经文的意思了。人要活得实实在在，不要为了面子害死自己。

How to Keep Up Your Courage and Not Lose it

2022-05-23 in /by

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 27:13-26.  Let’s go!

Acts 27:13-26 (NIV)
13  When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.
14  Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the “northeaster,” swept down from the island.
15  The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.
16  As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure.
17  When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along…..

On verses 13-26:  As Paul and about 270 others sail to Rome, their ship is caught in the middle of a storm of hurricane proportions called a northeaster.  After many days of fearing for their lives, Paul stands up and addresses everyone on the ship, telling them that to keep up their courage, because God spoke to Paul and assured him that he would go to Rome to testify before Caesar and that not one person on this ship would be lost.

何谓乖谬

2022-05-22 in , /by

〈箴言〉12:5  义人的思念是公平，恶人的计谋是诡诈。

阅读经文：箴言12:5-8

5 义人的思念是公平，恶人的计谋是诡诈。 6 恶人的言论是埋伏流人的血，正直人的口必拯救人。 7 恶人倾覆归于无有，义人的家必站得住。 8 人必按自己的智慧被称赞，心中乖谬的必被藐视。

5-6节：义人的思念是公平，恶人的计谋是诡诈。 恶人的言论是埋伏流人的血，正直人的口必拯救人。

《新译本》：义人的筹算是公平，恶人的计谋却是诡诈。恶人的言语等着要流人的血，正直人的口能拯救人。

《The Message》：The thinking of principled people makes for justice;  the plots of degenerates corrupt. The words of the wicked kill;  the speech of the upright saves.

这两句经文点出人心里的黑暗，有时明明心里有鬼，表面却说得冠冕堂堂，头头是道。例如买卖房子为何需要律师呢？因为有的人借的房债没还清，但是不讲就把房子卖了。若没有律师代查，买者很容易被骗。译经家James Moffatt翻译得相当清楚：「好人的目标是可尊敬的；坏人的计画是卑鄙的」。

美国奥运游泳健将Ryan Lochte在巴西比赛后喝醉闹事，结果谎称被劫。他闹事的过程都有摄影为证，最后只好承认自己做了很不成熟的行为。结果所有支持他的一些公司，全都撤消对他的支持。什么是筹算，何谓计谋？当他想说谎嫁祸于人时，没想到却有录影暴露他的诡诈。这就是在最后的审判时，我们所要面对的情形。

所有的事都要像影片在我们眼前经过，使我们无可推诿。若不是有录影为证，他的谎言很可能会害到一些无辜的人。因为他的好成绩会让人以为他说的都是真的。不管是诡诈或正直，假如人都能借着录影而明辨，那么，何况神呢？祂岂不明白我们的所作所为吗？

This is Your Shelter in the Storm

2022-05-22 in /by

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 27:1-12.  Let’s go!

Acts 27:1-12 (NIV)
1  When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment.
2  We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
3  The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.
4  From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.
5  When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.
6  There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board…..

On verses 1-12:  Paul and other prisoners are heading for Rome and these verses detail the first stages of their voyage.  Notice that when the winds were especially strong, Paul’s ship would head toward the “lee” of a nearby island, in one case the “lee” of Cyprus (v4), in another case the “lee” of Crete (v7).  What is a “lee”?  A “lee” is the sheltered side of something, the side that is away from the wind.  When the winds were strong, Paul’s shipmates would look for a lee and go to it for shelter from the storm.  In fact, we see a contrast here between the lees that provided shelter for Paul’s ship (v4, 7) and a harbor in Crete that was not suitable for Paul’s ship to stay in (v12).

If You Get Intimidated By People Easily, Knowing THIS Will Ease Your Mind

2022-05-20 in /by

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 26:19-32.  Let’s go!

Acts 26:19-23 (NIV)
19  “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.
20  First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
21  That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.
22  But I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen–
23  that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
 
On verses 19-23:  Paul continues his defense in the presence of King Agrippa, insisting that the message he has been preaching is nothing beyond what the Jewish Scriptures already said would happen.  In other words, Paul was not starting some new sect or religion that departed from the Jewish faith, but rather was preaching what the Jewish Scriptures themselves speak about: that the Christ (Messiah) would die, rise from death and give light to both Jews and Gentiles alike.

才德的妇人

2022-05-20 in , /by

〈箴言〉12:4  才德的妇人是丈夫的冠冕，贻羞的妇人如同朽烂，在他丈夫的骨中。

阅读经文：箴言12:1-4

1喜爱管教的就是喜爱知识，恨恶责备的却是畜类。2善人必蒙耶和华的恩惠，设诡计的人，耶和华必定他的罪。3人靠恶行不能坚立，义人的根必不动摇。4才德的妇人是丈夫的冠冕，贻羞的妇人如同朽烂，在他丈夫的骨中。

1节：喜爱管教的就是喜爱知识，恨恶责备的却是畜类。

《新译本》：喜爱教训的，就是喜爱知识；厌恶责备的，却是愚顽人。

《TheMessage》：If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes with it— how short sighted to refuse correction!

很少人喜欢被人管，被人教；因为被人管，代表被限制，没有为所欲为的自由；被人教表示别人比你强。但是毕德生牧师翻译得很好：假如你喜欢学习，就会喜欢随之而来的管教。因为不愿意被纠正的人的太短视了。

的确，学习的过程里一定会有犯错误的时候，在他人的纠正里，我们才能调整自己，变得更好更进步。假如在学习的过程中没有他人的指正，我们就无法有真正的学习。有人说，要好好去听敌人所说的话，因为敌人的攻击里多半是真话。愿意讲真话的可能不一定是敌人，却有可能被我们误以为是敌人。不中听的话才能帮助我们成长，因为它多半指出事实，我们不愿面对的事实。