傳道書5:18-19 我所見為善為美的，就是人在神賜他一生的日子吃喝，享受日光之下勞碌得來的好處，因為這是他的份。 19 神賜人資財豐富，使他能以吃用，能取自己的份，在他勞碌中喜樂，這乃是神的恩賜。
畢業分別多年的同學相約拜訪老師，一坐下，老師高興地垂問大家生活過得如何。不料，這句話勾出了大家的滿腹牢騷，每個人輪流訴說生活的不如意：「工作壓力大！家庭煩惱多！做生意的資金套牢！當公務的仕途受阻！…」仿佛大家都成了時代的棄兒。
一陣子的訴苦抱怨，老師看出大家口乾舌燥，從櫥櫃裡拿出一大堆杯子，擺在茶几上。各式各樣的杯子，瓷器的、玻璃的、塑鋼的…，杯子表面有彩繪風景、雕塑圖騰、還有紀念圖案…，老師提把水壺說：「大家都是我的學生，我不把你們當客人看待了。你們要是渴了，就自己倒水喝吧。」
大家紛紛選了自己看中的杯子倒水喝，留下了一落疊在一起的紙杯，老師拿起一個紙杯說：「你們有沒有發現，大家手裡的杯子都是最好看、最別緻的杯子，而像這紙杯就沒人選中它。」當然，還用說？我們都希望自己拿著的是一隻好看的杯子。
There is a difference between healthy romance and lurid lust. Lust is a longing for sexual satisfaction outside of a covenant relationship. What is the epicenter for the pandemic of lust? Pornography. Never in the history of the world has it been so easy to look twice where a person has no business looking once. Anyone with unfiltered internet is a click away from images that were inaccessible and unimaginable a few years ago.
Solomon asked, “Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?” (Proverbs 6:27 ESV). Or in our day: can a person view click after click, page after page, image after image of violent, deviant, degrading immorality and not be infected? The answer is no.
希伯來書9:27 按著定命，人人都有一死，死後且有審判。
約翰福音3:16-17 神愛世人，甚至將祂的獨生子賜給他們，叫一切信祂的不致滅亡，反得永生。 17 因為神差祂的兒子降世，不是要定世人的罪，乃是要叫世人因祂得救。
有一位軍閥每次處決死刑犯時，都會留給犯人最後的機會，選擇一槍斃命，或是選擇進入側牆的一扇門。從來沒有人知道進入那扇門的命運將如何？因為所有死刑犯都寧可選擇一槍斃命，也不願進入裡面不知有何光景的那扇門。
一天，酒酣耳熱後，軍閥顯得很開心。旁人大膽地問他：「大帥，您可不可以告訴我們，從那扇門走進去究竟會有什麼結果？」
「沒什麼啦！其實走進那扇門的人只要踏上幾個台階，便可以順利地自由離開了。人們不想走進去，只是不敢面對不可知的未來罷了。」軍閥回答。
Our quest to manage life by taming thoughts would fail the test of relevancy if we did not discuss lust. To lust is to crave what does not belong to you. Lust and love are not synonyms. Romance is healthy. God wired you to connect deeply, enjoyably, and nakedly to a person of the opposite sex under the canopy of marriage. Ever since Adam saw Eve, the power of sexual attraction has been part of life. God gave sex as a gift—a wedding gift.
“Enjoy the wife you married as a young man! Lovely as an angel, beautiful as a rose—don’t ever quit taking delight in her body. Never take her love for granted!” (Proverbs 5:19 MSG). Delight in each other!
希伯來書9:27 按著定命，人人都有一死，死後且有審判。
約翰福音3:16-17 神愛世人，甚至將祂的獨生子賜給他們，叫一切信祂的不致滅亡，反得永生。 17 因為神差祂的兒子降世，不是要定世人的罪，乃是要叫世人因祂得救。
有一位軍閥每次處決死刑犯時，都會留給犯人最後的機會，選擇一槍斃命，或是選擇進入側牆的一扇門。從來沒有人知道進入那扇門的命運將如何？因為所有死刑犯都寧可選擇一槍斃命，也不願進入裡面不知有何光景的那扇門。
一天，酒酣耳熱後，軍閥顯得很開心。旁人大膽地問他：「大帥，您可不可以告訴我們，從那扇門走進去究竟會有什麼結果？」
「沒什麼啦！其實走進那扇門的人只要踏上幾個台階，便可以順利地自由離開了。人們不想走進去，只是不敢面對不可知的未來罷了。」軍閥回答。
It would be folly to think life can be lived with no setbacks. But problems have no more power over us than we allow them to have. Remember, joy is more than a good mood. It is a deep-seated confidence in God’s presence, power, and promises. Joy might feel elusive, and finding it might take a long time. But it always remains an option.
Some of the saddest words in Scripture are recorded in Mark 6:5 (CEB). “[Jesus] was unable to do any miracles there, except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them.” Why was Jesus unable to do the works? The answer is found in the next passage: “He was appalled by their disbelief” (Mark 6:6 CEB).
What a tragic loss! God was in their midst, and they did not seek him. Let’s not make the same mistake.
Assess your joy level. The prophet Jeremiah modeled the vigilance we need. He was nicknamed the “Weeping Prophet” because he was exactly that. His beloved nation had turned from God. But then he remembered the answer for his despair. “This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:21-22 ESV).
We choose what we remember. So, let’s remember our call to joy. Stay in the present moment. Harvard researchers discovered that unhappy people focus on what is not happening; happy people focus on what is happening. Wasn’t this the point Jesus made in the Sermon on the Mount? “Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25 NIV). Don’t settle for a joyless life!
哥林多前書 12:18-21
但如今，神隨自己的意思把肢體俱各安排在身上了。 19 若都是一個肢體，身子在哪裡呢？ 20 但如今肢體是多的，身子卻是一個。 21 眼不能對手說：「我用不著你。」頭也不能對腳說：「我用不著你。」
王先生是一個不苟言笑的人，平常很吝嗇給人讚美或掌聲。有一天他在家裡吃飯，發現有一道烤鴨的鴨子只有一條腿，於是問太太：「為什麼這隻鴨子只有一隻腳？」。太太說：「有什麼好奇怪的，我們家的鴨子都只有一隻腳呀。」
「我不信，所有鴨子都有兩隻腳，為什麼只有我們家的鴨子比較特別？」「不信，你不會自己到池塘去看。」於是王先生跑到池塘去看他的鴨子。
鴨子正好在睡午覺，因此都縮著一條腿，只用一條腿站立。看過去，好像所有的鴨子真的都只有一條腿。王先生靈機一動，朝鴨子棲息的方向很用力地鼓掌，鼓掌的聲音把鴨子都驚醒了，紛紛把縮著的那隻腳放了下來。
The first Christians were joyful Christians. The phrase “joyful Christian” is redundant. Do we need the adjective? Ideally, we should not have to put joyful in front of Christian. But we do because we tend to major in contingent joy and not courageous joy. Let’s invite God to deposit unspeakable joy in our hearts.
According to a study from sociologists at Harvard University, joy is contagious, spreading among friends, neighbors, and colleagues like the flu. Joy has a ripple effect. The pursuit of happiness is more than a line in the Declaration of Independence. It is a necessary step in enhancing the happiness of others. Is it time for you to bump up your joy level?
路加福音 19:1-10
耶穌進了耶利哥，正經過的時候， 2 有一個人名叫撒該，做稅吏長，是個財主， 3 他要看看耶穌是怎樣的人。只因人多，他的身量又矮，所以不得看見。 4 就跑到前頭，爬上桑樹，要看耶穌，因為耶穌必從那裡經過。 5 耶穌到了那裡，抬頭一看，對他說：「撒該，快下來！今天我必住在你家裡。」
在廣大的世界裏，我們常覺得自己只不過是群眾中一個微不足道的小人物罷了。世界的趨勢驅使我們除去個人的特質，要我們認同周圍的人，而且成為與他們相同的一份子。然而，神卻以祂獨特的方式來愛我們。
耶穌在前往耶路撒冷的路上，群眾蜂擁包圍祂，矮小的撒該非得爬上一棵樹，才看得到耶穌。撒該原想，只要看最偉大的教師一眼，就心滿意足，但耶穌居然停下來，抬頭直視他！對他說：「撒該，快下來！今天我必住在你家裡。」
南丁格爾(Florence Nightingale)是近代護理學的創始人，但很多人不知道，她其實也是統計學的傳奇人物，她是用統計改變世界的護理先鋒。
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