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不要陷在網羅裡

2022-08-24 in , /by

箴言22:25   恐怕你效法他的行為，自己就陷在網羅裡。

閱讀經文：箴言 22:22-25

22貧窮人，你不可因他貧窮就搶奪他的物，也不可在城門口欺壓困苦人。23因耶和華必為他辨屈，搶奪他的，耶和華必奪取那人的命。24好生氣的人，不可與他結交；暴怒的人，不可與他來往。25恐怕你效法他的行為，自己就陷在網羅裡。

第22-23節：貧窮人，你不可因他貧窮就搶奪他的物，也不可在城門口欺壓困苦人。因耶和華必為他辨屈，搶奪他的，耶和華必奪取那人的命。

好奇怪，貧窮人，不可因他貧窮就搶奪他的物。這話很不通，要搶奪應該是搶富裕的，或他東西多的才奪，貧窮的人兩個理由我們不應該搶奪：第一個，他已經沒有東西了，搶什麼？第二個，因為他沒有東西所以他很可憐，為什麼要搶他？可是這話真的顯出我們人這種杮子撿軟的捏的懦弱個性。這個世界上的罪，常常就是壓制窮乏、欺負那些更軟弱的人；讓弱者越弱、貧者越貧。

「城門口」就是斷定事情的地方，等於就是法院，你不可以在那種斷定事情的地方欺壓困苦的人。你不可以，但我們會這樣做；我們真是很懦弱也很卑鄙。實在很少人像羅賓漢一樣專門搶有錢人、劫富濟貧（當然劫富也不對），都是做了最卑鄙、最不應該的欺負貧窮的人。你說我沒有欺負貧窮的人，但我想整個世界就是這樣，不一定在貧窮的事上，譬如說在一個團體裡面，一群新來的朋友、迎新會之類，一定都是掌聲最多的人繼續得到掌聲；一個漂亮的女孩子身邊總是蒼蠅多，可能一個比較醜的人需要多一點安慰，就沒有人理他。對不起我用這例子，我想其他也是一樣，就是錦上添花大家都會做，雪中送炭就比較不會做，我們的個性是這樣。求神幫助我們做得恰如其份（聖經也沒有說貧窮人就是有理：在審判的時候不可偏袒貧窮人）。

Worship God and Not Created Things

2022-08-24 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Romans 1:24-32.  Let’s go!

Romans 1:24-32 (NIV)
24  Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.
26  Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28  Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29  They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30  slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31  they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32  Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

On verses 24-32:  Have you ever been ripped off?  Have you ever exchanged something incredibly valuable for something that turned out to have little or no value?

How to Know that God Exists

2022-08-23 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Romans 1:18-23.  Let’s go!

Romans 1:18-20 (NIV)
18  The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19  since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
 
On verses 18-20:  What can we learn from these verses?  First, it’s that God is holy, completely just and morally perfect, so much so that God’s wrath goes out against anything that is godless, unjust or evil.  God could not be loving or just if He didn’t have wrath toward what is unloving or unjust.
 
Second, it’s that God has not been hiding Himself but has made His invisible qualities – such as His eternal power and divine nature – known through the visible universe.  In other words, when you observe the universe (“what has been made”), it is reasonable to conclude that the best explanation for it all is that an all-powerful, eternal God who exists outside of time and space caused it to come into being.

知道真言的實理

2022-08-23 in , /by

箴言22:21   要使你知道真言的實理，你好將真言回覆那打發你來的人。

閱讀經文：箴言 22:20-21

20謀略和知識的美事，我豈沒有寫給你嗎？21要使你知道真言的實理，你好將真言回覆那打發你來的人。

第20節：“謀略和知識的美事，我豈沒有寫給你嗎？”新譯本：我不是曾經給你們寫下（或譯：「我不是給你們寫了三十條」）有關謀略和知識的事嗎？

謀略和知識的美事，英文譯為excellent things in counsels and knowledge；換句話說，所羅門王曾為後人寫下了卅條（thirty sterling principles）純正的原則，他的目的是想讓後人明白，這些純正的原則都是很實用的真理(v.21)。

第21節：要使你知道真言的實理，你好將真言回覆那打發你來的人。

“回覆那打發你來的人”，英文可譯為 will keep you accountable to those who sent you，也就是對那派你來的人負責。

誰是這本書的受信者呢？在前面的章節裡，所羅門王經常提到“我兒”。他有妃七百，都是公主，還有嬪三百（王上11:3），有多少兒子，卻沒有記錄。但是〈箴言〉這本書卻成了後人稱謂的智慧書信，不僅是給他兒子們看，也是給眾人看，以增加智慧的一本書。

那麼，誰是打發我們來的人，以至於我們需要對他負責呢？除了賜給人生命氣息的神，有誰能打發每一個人？是否要我們去尋求智慧，以得到真言來回應神差我們來世上的目的？

全然倚靠神

2022-08-22 in , /by

箴言22:19   我今日以此特特指教你，為要使你倚靠耶和華。

閱讀經文：箴言 22:16-19

16欺壓貧窮為要利己的，並送禮於富戶的，都必缺乏。17你須側耳聽受智慧人的言語，留心領會我的知識。18你若心中存記，嘴上咬定，這便為美。19我今日以此特特指教你，為要使你倚靠耶和華。

第16節：欺壓貧窮為要利己的，並送禮與富戶的，都必缺乏。

這又是：神叫有智慧的中了自己的詭計，惡人所編的網羅自己掉在其中。

「欺壓貧窮」目的就是要自己豐富起來（利己就是要自己豐富），「送禮與富戶」也是希望得到更大的好處。當然沒有什麼利圖他人的事，這世界上沒有這麼偉大的人；真的利圖他人，最後都是利圖自己。然後這種送紅包利圖自己，到最後還是缺乏，不管他在世上可不可能得到一時的風光。

The Power of God for All of Us

2022-08-22 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Romans 1:8-17.  Let’s go!
 
Romans 1:8 (NIV)
8  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
 
On verse 8:  I love how Paul always begins his letters with thanks.  That’s such a great to live life and to do relationships.  Always begin with an attitude of gratitude.
 
Romans 1:9-10 (NIV)
9  God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
10  in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
 
On verses 9-10:  Paul had never met the Christians in Rome before, but his heart went out to them and he would pray for them often.  A great way to love people when you can’t be with them is to pray for them.

It’s All Through Jesus and For Jesus

2022-08-21 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today we begin our study of the book of Romans.  Romans is a letter written by the apostle Paul in approximately 56 A.D. probably while Paul was on his third missionary journey and probably while he was staying in Corinth, a city in Greece (see Acts 20:2-3).  Because Paul’s goal had always been to preach the Gospel in places where Christ was not yet known (Romans 15:20), Paul had his heart set on going to Spain and saw Rome as a critical stopover on his way to Spain.   So Paul writes this letter to the Christians in Rome, whom he had never met, as a way to introduce himself before he went to visit them personally.  In particular, Paul attempts to give a clear and thorough statement of the gospel as Paul understood it, especially since his message had been misunderstood and misrepresented by some in the past.  Perhaps for this reason Romans is the longest of all of Paul’s letters.

你交了桃花運嗎？

2022-08-21 in , /by

箴言22:13 懶惰人說：「外頭有獅子，我在街上就必被殺！」

閱讀經文：箴言 22:13-15

13 懶惰人說：「外頭有獅子，我在街上就必被殺！」14淫婦的口為深坑，耶和華所憎惡的必陷在其中。15愚蒙迷住孩童的心，用管教的杖可以遠遠趕除。

第13節：懶惰人說：「外頭有獅子，我在街上就必被殺！」

這句經文很幽默：懶惰，不想工作，就說外面有獅子。獅子是困難，是麻煩，是災難，也是藉口。我們換句話來講也是，如果要勤快，是會有獅子、是會有難處，但靠著主，我們可以作一個勤快的人殺掉這獅子，而不是被獅子吃掉。

喜愛清心的人

2022-08-19 in , /by

箴言22:11  喜愛清心的人，因他嘴上的恩言，王必與他為友。

閱讀經文：箴言 22:9-12

9眼目慈善的就必蒙福，因他將食物分給窮人。10趕出褻慢人，爭端就消除，紛爭和羞辱也必止息。11喜愛清心的人，因他嘴上的恩言，王必與他為友。12耶和華的眼目眷顧聰明人，卻傾敗奸詐人的言語。 

第9節：眼目慈善的就必蒙福，因他將食物分給窮人。

我們不是因為要蒙福才把食物分給窮人，最重要的目標：我們求主讓我們有一個慈善的眼目，尤其當我們有錢時；就算沒有錢，我們總要有一個慈善的眼目看到人的需要。這不是作濫好人，而是把最恰當的東西給最需要的人。我始終覺得我們不要作散財童子，但始終要作福音的傳播者、真理的傳播者；這是人最需要的，我們讓人能得到心靈的滿足。

Never Lose Your Vision

2022-08-19 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 34:1-12.  Let’s go!
 
Deuteronomy 34:1-12 (NIV)
1  Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land–from Gilead to Dan,
2  all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea,
3  the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.
4  Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

On verses 1-12:  In the last chapter of Deuteronomy, God takes Moses up to the top of Mount Nebo to a peak called Pisgah.  There God shows Moses the entire Promised Land (v1-4).  Shortly after, Moses passes away in the country of Moab (v5).