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。
耶穌愛我，我知道，因有聖經告訴我
拿起一本書，一本厚厚的書，我們總想要先了解書的大概內容，這才能驅動我們逐頁的閱讀下去，於是，我們會試著看書的序言、或是書評來認識這本書。
舊約聖經有39卷，929章，23,214節；新約聖經有27卷，260章，7,959節；新舊約聖經合計有66卷，1,189章，31,173節。要仔細讀完這本接近八、九十萬字（不同中文譯本字數不同）的鉅著，殊屬不易。
聖經沒有序言，可能也沒有人能寫出中肯且完整的書評，但新舊約聖經的頭尾自然的表明了聖經的內容及神對我們的心意。
舊約聖經的起頭：起初，神創造天地。（創世記1:1）
Confession is agreeing with God. We agree about the reality of our sin. We don’t pretend we never sinned, nor do we discount its severity. We admit to it. God has an acceptable standard of behavior. “Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NCV). God’s standard is perfection, and we are anything but.
We are prone to tamper with the standard. We compare ourselves with others, we justify misbehavior, we downplay the severity of our sin. In confession we quit tinkering with the system. Our thought process should go something like this: I took the wrong path. I ignored the direction of God. But though my sin is great, God’s grace is greater. I trust him to forgive me. We agree with God about the reality of our sin.
“God raised Christ from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything” (Ephesians 1:20-22 MSG).
Christ runs the show. He has authority over the world, and he has authority over your world. Your date of birth, your date of death. Your mood swings, sleep patterns, eating habits, your salary. He’s never surprised, he’s never caught off guard. He’s never ever uttered the phrase, “ Now how did that happen?”
Uproot your fear of pandemonium and replant the assuring promise: “God makes everything work out according to his plan” (Ephesians 1:11 NLT).
哥林多後書4:13-16 但我們既有信心，正如經上記著說：「我因信，所以如此說話」，我們也信，所以也說話。14 自己知道那叫主耶穌復活的，也必叫我們與耶穌一同復活，並且叫我們與你們一同站在他面前。 15 凡事都是為你們，好叫恩惠因人多越發加增，感謝格外顯多，以致榮耀歸於神。
你曾否只坐在那兒靜靜想念你所關心的人，卻突然覺得為他（她）做了件好事的經驗。那是天父的同在，祂透過你心中的聖靈對你們說話…
你是否曾想念久未見面的朋友，而過不久就遇見或接到他們的電話。那是天父的同在，祂使我們心意相通…
你曾否收過一件很棒但你從未要求的事物，譬如信箱擺錢，或欠債神秘的被清償，或獲得極想要買但買不起物品的商家折價券。那是天父的同在，祂知道你內心最深的渴求…
“God raised Christ from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything” (Ephesians 1:20-22 MSG).
Christ runs the show. He has authority over the world, and he has authority over your world. Your date of birth, your date of death. Your mood swings, sleep patterns, eating habits, your salary. He’s never surprised, he’s never caught off guard. He’s never ever uttered the phrase, “ Now how did that happen?”
Uproot your fear of pandemonium and replant the assuring promise: “God makes everything work out according to his plan” (Ephesians 1:11 NLT).
詩篇8:3-4 我觀看祢指頭所造的天，並祢所陳設的月亮星宿，便說：人算什麼，祢竟顧念他？世人算什麼，祢竟眷顧他？
我從一位未曾認識的上班族聽到一些故事，我知道這是天父要我聽到，且認真思想的故事。
他是一位被聘任在911被毀雙子星大廈倖存者共用辦公室的保全公司人員，他用充滿敬畏的聲音告訴我，為什麼這些人得以倖存，而其他的人死亡的故事。這些故事都只是源於一些小小的事…
這公司的老板那天早上遲到，是因為他的兒子第一天上幼稚園，另一個人則因輪到他去買甜甜圈，他們得以躲開災難。還有一個讓我訝異的是那天因穿新鞋上班而倖存者，他轉很多道車上班，就在他到辦公室前，發現腳起了水泡，他轉到藥房買OK綳，這就是他倖存的原因。
Satan hates to see you pray. He does not scatter when you listen to a sermon. Demons do not backpedal when you perform acts of benevolence. The principalities of hell are not flustered when you open a Christian book. But the walls of hell shake when, with an honest heart and faithful confession, you bow your head and pray. Satan knows the power of prayer.
Do you long for peace? Then pray. “Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long” (Ephesians 6:18 MSG). You cannot control events that are uncontrollable, so don’t try. You cannot change the future as long as the future is in the future, so don’t try. There is so much we cannot do. But there is one thing we must do. We must pray.
創世記6:19-20 凡有血肉的活物，每樣兩個，一公一母，你要帶進方舟，好在你那裡保全生命。20 飛鳥各從其類，牲畜各從其類，地上的昆蟲各從其類，每樣兩個，要到你那裡，好保全生命。
創世記8:1 神記念挪亞和挪亞方舟裡的一切走獸牲畜。神叫風吹地，水勢漸落。
有關洪水的災劫，聖經用了整整創世記7、8兩章來記錄其過程，若我們細心查看，不難發現這段記錄原有一個非常工整的對稱結構：
七日等候洪水降臨（創世記7:4），七日後洪水降臨（創世記7:10），四十日洪水上升（創世記7:17），一百五十日洪水淹浸（創世記7:24）；
神記念挪亞和挪亞方舟裡的一切走獸牲畜。神叫風吹地，水勢漸落（創世記8:1）；
一百五十日洪水漸退（創世記8:3），四十日洪水下降（創世記8:6），七日鴿子叼回葉子（創世記8:10），七日鴿子不再回來（創世記8:12）。
Jesus offers this assurance: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27 NKJV).
Jesus contrasts two types of peace—the peace the world offers and the peace he offers. The peace the world offers depends upon circumstances. If the weather is right, if the traffic is light, if the stock market is up. If…If…If. Exchange if peace for his peace. We can have the peace of Jesus. We can uproot thoughts of catastrophe and replace them with truths like this one: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts” (Philippians 4:7 NKJV).
希伯來書 4:16 所以我們只管坦然無懼地來到施恩的寶座前，為要得憐恤，蒙恩惠，做隨時的幫助。
還記得摩西遇見上帝嗎？還記得雅各遇見上帝嗎？還記得約伯遇見上帝嗎？上帝的來訪，不總是充滿喜樂，可能是飄泊、折磨、也可能是撒旦的攪擾。
17世紀著名的英國傳教士約翰·多恩(John Donne)對於病痛的肇因沒有找到合理的解釋，但他卻提到了「反應」才是最為關鍵的議題。如果有正確的反應，我們就可以坦然無懼的信靠上帝。
我們無法接近一位令我們害怕的上帝。求上帝給我們正確的敬畏與信靠，猶如面對耶穌復活的婦女們既驚恐又喜樂，因為上帝親自用祂的大能，征服最後的敵人—死亡。
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