路加福音 1:26-33 到了第六个月，天使加百列奉神的差遣往加利利的一座城去，这城名叫拿撒勒； 27 到一个童女那里，是已经许配大卫家的一个人，名叫约瑟，童女的名字叫马利亚。 28 天使进去，对她说：「蒙大恩的女子，我问你安，主和你同在了！」 29 马利亚因这话就很惊慌，又反复思想这样问安是什么意思。 30 天使对她说：「马利亚，不要怕，你在神面前已经蒙恩了。 31 你要怀孕生子，可以给祂起名叫耶稣。 32 祂要为大，称为至高者的儿子；主神要把祂祖大卫的位给祂， 33 祂要做雅各家的王，直到永远；祂的国也没有穷尽。」
在这个圣诞季，我们总是听到天使的歌声。事实上，圣经从未提及天使会唱歌；只提到他们在圣殿里彼此呼喊，他们有自己的语言，并用言语赞美主。那么，我们为何会有天使唱歌这种美好的误解呢？
首先，天使的声音在我们听来如同音乐一般悦耳动听。相反，我们现代的音乐听起来却像是叫喊、呻吟和争吵。所以你看，我们的歌声甚至不如我们说话的声音悦耳。你知道汉语比其他语言更具音乐性吗？我们应该利用这个特点，好好说话。
Paul asks the question in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The question isn’t simply, “Who can be against you?” You could answer that one. Who is against you? Disease, inflation, corruption, exhaustion. Calamities confront, fears imprison. Were Paul’s question, “Who can be against us?” we could list our foes much easier than we could fight them.
God is for us. God is for us. God is for us. Your parents may have forgotten you, your teachers may have neglected you, your siblings may be ashamed of you. But within reach of your prayers is the maker of the oceans – God! God is for you. Not may be, not has been, not was, but God is! He is for you. Today. At this hour. At this minute. As you hear this, he is with you. God is for you.
God rewards those who seek him. Not those who seek doctrine or religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus himself. And what is the reward? What awaits those who seek Jesus? Nothing short of the heart of Jesus. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 (TLB), “And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.”
Can you think of a greater gift than to be like Jesus? Christ felt no guilt; God wants to banish yours. Jesus had no bad habits; God wants to remove yours. Jesus had no fear of death; God wants you to be fearless. Jesus had kindness for the diseased and mercy for the rebellious and courage for the challenges. God wants you to have the same. Isn’t it just like Jesus!
以赛亚书 7:14 因此，主自己要给你们一个兆头，必有童女怀孕生子，给祂起名叫以马内利。
以赛亚书 9:6-7 因有一婴孩为我们而生，有一子赐给我们，政权必担在祂的肩头上。祂名称为奇妙、策士、全能的神、永在的父、和平的君。7 祂的权与平安必加增无穷，祂必在大卫的宝座上治理他的国，以公平、公义使国坚定稳固，从今直到永远。万军之耶和华的热心必成就这事。
「待降节」是基督教节期的开始。所谓「待降」（Advent）这名辞原出于拉丁文，意思是「来临」，就是等待耶稣基督的再度降临，一方面纪念祂曾降临，一方面则期待祂二次降临。「待降节」更好是说「待降节期」，因为这个节期包括了四个礼拜，就是圣诞节的前四个礼拜。所以一般来说都是从十一月最后的那个主日开始算起，持续四个主日，直到圣诞节达到节庆高潮。今年的待降节从11月30日开始到12月24日。
从教会历史来看，「待降节」可以溯源至主后第四世纪的末期，在那个时候是称为「圣诞节前的准备期」，当时基督徒以40天的灵修、禁食祈祷预备心来迎接救主的圣诞，到了第七世纪时才缩减成四个主日。为何「待降节」需有四个主日呢？这四个主日代表了四个意义：纪念主的道成肉身、主的死、耶路撒冷的毁坏，以及基督即将再来的审判。
以弗所书4:32 要以恩慈相待，存怜悯的心，彼此饶恕，正如神在基督里饶恕了你们一样。
马丁·路德·金恩博士是美国历史上重要的民权运动领袖之一，他也是一位敬虔的基督徒牧师。面对种族歧视、暴力与不公，他选择非暴力抗争与爱的回应，显出圣灵结出的「恩慈」果子。
在1950-60年代，金恩博士与他的追随者常常面对辱骂、暴力攻击、甚至死亡威胁。然而，他坚持以「恩慈」来回应仇恨。他在演讲中不止一次提到：
「黑暗不能驱逐黑暗，只有光可以做到；仇恨不能驱逐仇恨，只有爱可以做到。(Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.)」
God will always be the same. No one else will. Companies follow pay raises with pink slips. Friends applaud you when you drive a classic and dismiss you when you drive a dud. Not God. God is always the same.
James 1:17 says, with him, “there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Catch God in a bad mood? Won’t happen. Fear exhausting His grace? A sardine will swallow the Atlantic first. Think he’s given up on you? Wrong. Did he not make a promise to you?
You see, God is not a human being, and he will not lie. He is not a human, and he does not change his mind. What he says, he will do. What he promises, he will make come true. His strength, truth, ways, and love never change. Hebrews 13:8 declares he is “the same yesterday and today and forever.” What he says, he will do!
以弗所书4:32 要以恩慈相待，存怜悯的心，彼此饶恕，正如神在基督里饶恕了你们一样。
马丁·路德·金恩博士是美国历史上重要的民权运动领袖之一，他也是一位敬虔的基督徒牧师。面对种族歧视、暴力与不公，他选择非暴力抗争与爱的回应，显出圣灵结出的「恩慈」果子。
在1950-60年代，金恩博士与他的追随者常常面对辱骂、暴力攻击、甚至死亡威胁。然而，他坚持以「恩慈」来回应仇恨。他在演讲中不止一次提到：
「黑暗不能驱逐黑暗，只有光可以做到；仇恨不能驱逐仇恨，只有爱可以做到。(Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.)」
People came to Jesus. My, how they came to him! They touched him as he walked down the street; they followed him around the sea; they invited him into their homes and placed their children at his feet. Why? Because he refused to be a statue in a cathedral or a priest in an elevated pulpit. He chose instead to be Jesus.
There’s not a hint of one person who was afraid to draw near him. There were those who mocked him. Those who were envious of him. There were those who misunderstood him. There was not one person who was reluctant to approach him for fear of being rejected.
Remember that. Remember that the next time you find yourself amazed at your own failures. Or the next time acidic accusations burn holes in your soul. Remember, it’s man who creates the distance. It’s Jesus who builds the bridge!
雅各书1:2-4 我的弟兄们，你们落在百般试炼中，都要以为大喜乐；因为知道你们的信心经过试验，就生忍耐。但忍耐也当成功，使你们成全、完备，毫无缺欠。
尼克・胡哲(Nick Vujicic)患有先天性四肢切断症，出生时没有四肢，从小就面临极大的身体限制与心理挑战。他曾经在童年时期感到绝望，甚至想过结束自己的生命。然而，他后来透过信仰耶稣，找到了人生的意义与希望。
今天的尼克成为了世界知名的基督徒演讲家、励志作家、慈善机构创办人，并且经常公开见证圣灵在他生命中结出了「忍耐」的果子。尼克分享过，从小到大，他的生活充满了延迟的希望和长时间的等待。他说：
「我必须学会接受，祷告的答案不一定会按我想要的时间和方式实现，但我可以相信神依然是美善的。(I had to learn that my prayers wouldn’t always be answered when and how I wanted them to be, but I could trust that God was still good.)」
I can’t assure you your family will ever give you the blessing you seek, but God will. Let God give you what your family doesn’t. How do you do that? By emotionally accepting God as your father. It’s one thing to accept him as Lord, another to recognize him as Savior, but another matter entirely to accept him as Father.
To recognize God as Lord is to acknowledge that he is sovereign in the universe. To accept him as Savior is to accept his gift of salvation offered on the cross. But to regard him as Father is to go a step further. Ideally, a father is the one in your life who provides and protects. That’s exactly what God has done! God’s proven himself as a faithful father. Now let God fill the void others have left. You are his child, and he’ll give you the blessing he promised!
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