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Let God Be the Judge of That

2019-12-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is James 4:11-17.  Let’s go!

James 4:11 (ESV) 
11  Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

On verse 11:  How is it that when I bad mouth someone and judge them I am bad mouthing God’s law and judging it?  It’s because when I bad mouth or judge another person, I am acting not in accordance with God’s law which tells me to not slander my neighbour and to love my neighbour as myself; rather I am acting in accordance with my own made up law which says, “JB is the judge and jury”.   When I bad mouth another person and break God’s law to not slander others, I send the message that God’s law at least in this case is not worth following and that instead I should follow my own law.   So by railing and ranting against people who we think have disobeyed God’s law, ironically and hypocritically we break God’s law ourselves and speak evil of the very law we think we’re holding other people accountable to.

詩篇一百十九篇97-104節

2019-12-26 in /by

ם Mem　（第13段）

97 我何等愛慕祢的律法，終日不住地思想。
98 祢的命令常存在我心裡，使我比仇敵有智慧。
99 我比我的師傅更通達，因我思想祢的法度。
100 我比年老的更明白，因我守了祢的訓詞。
101 我禁止我腳走一切的邪路，為要遵守祢的話。
102 我沒有偏離祢的典章，因為祢教訓了我。
103 祢的言語在我上膛何等甘美，在我口中比蜜更甜！
104 我藉著你的訓詞得以明白，所以我恨一切的假道。

在以色列人無法完成律法的要求時，為何詩人會愛慕神的律法，而終日不住地思想？律法中有哪些吸引他的地方？你能不能列舉一些例子，為何神的話會吸引你呢？有沒有哪一句話使你終日思想？最經常聽到的分享就是詩篇23篇第一節，耶和華是我的牧者，我必不至缺乏。為什麼呢？因為人最大的盼望就是不致缺乏！所以一唸就上心了。與人有利有益的事，人比較會上心，不然都是無所謂啦！詩人也是這樣，他在神的律法中發現了好多秘密寶藏啊，使他快樂到終日不住地思想，希望能挖掘出更多寶貴的，隱密的信息。

他的第一個發現是，當他把神的命令放在心裡時，他變得比仇敵更有智慧了。原來以為面對的敵人都很厲害，很可怕，可是當他的心裡有神的話語時，他發現原來神在掌權，那些敵人變得一點都不可怕了。有一位在柬埔寨的宣教士說起在當地坐摩托計程車（摩的）的經歷，起初感到非常可怕，但是當聖靈問她是否已經準備好隨時回天家時，神就挪去了她的恐懼，讓撒旦不能再驚嚇她，因為生命的權柄在神的手裡。她至今依然無恙。所以我們的心裡若有恐懼時，你要記得神的話語安定在天，祂比萬物都大，祂是掌管生命的神。

When You Ask But Don’t Receive

2019-12-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is James 4:1-10.  Let’s go!

James 4:1-2 (ESV) 
1  What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 
2  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
 
On verses 1-2:  James is saying that often times the reason why we slander, hurt and argue with the people around us is because there is something unhealthy going on inside of us. When we lust after things that don’t belong to us, when we envy what other people have, that unhealthy inside of us causes us to treat the people outside of us in unhealthy and hurtful ways.  Instead of looking to God for what we lack, we sit there, sulk and give others a hard time.

詩篇一百十九篇89-96節

2019-12-26 in /by

ל Lamed　（第12段）

89耶和華啊，祢的話安定在天，直到永遠。
90祢的誠實存到萬代，祢堅定了地，地就長存。
91天地照祢的安排存到今日，萬物都是祢的僕役。
92我若不是喜愛祢的律法，早就在苦難中滅絕了。
93我永不忘記祢的訓詞，因祢用這訓詞將我救活了。
94我是屬祢的，求祢救我，因我尋求了祢的訓詞。
95惡人等待我，要滅絕我，我卻要揣摩祢的法度。
96我看萬事盡都有限，唯有祢的命令極其寬廣。

誰的話能安定在天，直到永遠呢？除了創造宇宙的真神，誰有這份能耐呢？

這世界上萬物的定律是不改變的：星辰和日月地球的運行，四季的循環，空氣和水對人的重要性；生老病死，等等，都是永恒的定律，是神在創世時所定的；正如祂的話一樣，永遠不會改變。

神的話先是給摩西，再給以色列人，而後讓聖靈放在我們心中，賜人悟性，又藉著《聖經》讓人明白祂的心意。所以神使用許多宣教士去翻譯祂的話語。根據維基百科，《聖經》已經被譯成超過兩千多種語言，至今有超過90%的人可以用自己的母語閱讀《聖經》。為何神要讓這個工作繼續下去？因為知道和明白神的話語是一件非常重要的事。這段經文只是詩篇119篇其中的一段，但是從我們讀過的每一段，你都會發現，詩人認為這世界上最寶貴的就是神的話語，不管在怎樣的情況下，他唯一謹守的就是神的話語。

How Do I Know If I’m Really Being Wise?

2019-12-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is James 3:13-18.  Let’s go!

James 3:13a (NIV) 
13  Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life…

On verse 13a:  Earlier James told his readers to ask God for wisdom (James 1:5).  Now James addresses the question: How do you know if a person is truly wise or not?  Here in verse 13 we learn that wisdom is not so much shown in what facts and figures a person can recite.   Rather, how much wisdom a person has is shown by the way that person lives and by the decisions that person makes.  Wisdom and being book smart are not the same thing.  Some people are book smart and can tell you all sorts of facts and figures, but when it comes to making life decisions, or handling relationships, time or money, they live very foolishly.  God calls us to be wise and understanding in practical ways that matter the most.

James 3:13b (NIV) 
13  …by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

詩篇一百十九篇81-88節

2019-12-25 in /by

ך Kaph（第11段）

81我心渴想祢的救恩，仰望祢的應許。
82我因盼望祢的應許眼睛失明，說：「祢何時安慰我？」
83我好像煙薰的皮袋，卻不忘記祢的律例。
84祢僕人的年日有多少呢？祢幾時向逼迫我的人施行審判呢？
85不從祢律法的驕傲人，為我掘了坑。
86祢的命令盡都誠實，他們無理地逼迫我，求祢幫助我。
87他們幾乎把我從世上滅絕，但我沒有離棄祢的訓詞。
88求祢照祢的慈愛將我救活，我就遵守祢口中的法度。

在這段經文裡，詩人形容他好像煙薰的皮袋。煙薰的皮袋的什麼意思？那是指在古代用來裝水、盛酒或盛其他液體的容器，是用皮做的袋子。假如皮袋裡裝著水或酒時，冬天為了保暖，免於結冰，經常會掛在屋裡的火爐旁，讓爐子上昇的煙使袋子裡的液體保持液狀且溫暖，要喝時比較方便。如果屋子裏沒有煙囱，皮袋就會被煙熏得十分乾燥且皺巴巴的。當詩人形容他好像煙薰的皮袋時，第一個提到的就是他的眼睛因而失明。

因為眼睛長久在煙薰之下無法張開，時時流淚，久而久之就看不見了。詩人盼望得著神的應許和救恩，但是敵人的逼迫使他日日以淚洗面，無法看見他的拯救。敵人怎樣對付他呢？一是逼迫，二是為他掘坑，意思就是要把他置於死地，甚至活埋；三是要把他滅絕。詩人的心裡很苦，因為眼睛都看不到出路，根本無路可走，只能仰望神。在等待神的救恩時，他好像一個煙薰的皮袋，不停地被煙的熱氣弄得又乾又疼，卻無法挪移。

The Power of Your Tongue

2019-12-24 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is James 3:1-12.  Let’s go!

James 3:1 (NIV) 
1  Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

On verse 1:  Some love the limelight that comes with being a teacher of God’s Word, but with the power of the podium comes great responsibility.  Teachers of God’s Word are often looked to as examples of how Christians should act and live.  That’s why if you want to teach God’s Word with effectiveness and longevity, your character in private needs to exceed your charisma on stage.

James 3:2 (NIV) 
2  We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

On verse 2:  This verse teaches us two important truths.  First, none of us is perfect – “we all stumble in many ways”.   Second, when you are careful with your words, you keep yourself from getting into unnecessary trouble (or, in James’ words, you keep your body in check).  As Proverbs 13:3 says, “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.”

詩篇一百十九篇73-80節

2019-12-23 in /by

י Yod（第十段）

73祢的手製造我，建立我，求祢賜我悟性，可以學習祢的命令。
74敬畏祢的人見我就要歡喜，因我仰望祢的話。
75耶和華啊，我知道祢的判語是公義的，祢使我受苦是以誠實待我。
76求祢照著應許僕人的話，以慈愛安慰我。
77願祢的慈悲臨到我，使我存活，因祢的律法是我所喜愛的。
78願驕傲人蒙羞，因為他們無理地傾覆我，但我要思想祢的訓詞。
79願敬畏祢的人歸向我，他們就知道祢的法度。
80願我的心在祢的律例上完全，使我不致蒙羞。

這段經文是從希伯來文字母的Yod開始，Yod是希伯來語albet的第十個字母，它也是一隻手的象形文字。更切確地說，yod是全能者“手”的象形文字，它代表著神那雙隱藏的手不斷地在引導我們，有時放在我們的肩膀上推動我們往前行，有時安慰鼓勵我們，祂的手總是與我們同在。

今天是12月24日，這個Yod字使我聯想到「以馬內利」，那位應許與我們同在的神，彌賽亞耶穌基督就在兩千多年前誕生，成為世人的救主。因此這個Yod字在今天特別有意義。神的手不僅製造我們，建立我們，還賜給我們悟性，可以學習神的命令。神的同在不是一天兩天，而是每一天，是永遠。祂要用手引導我們。

Is Having Faith in Jesus Enough to Save You?

2019-12-23 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is James 2:14-26.  Let’s go!

On verses 14-26:  What a powerful and hard-hitting passage.  How do you reconcile this passage with other famous passages in the Bible like Ephesians 2:8 which clearly teach that “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…not by works so that no one can boast”?  Is James saying here that you can earn your way to heaven by your own good works?  No.  Is he questioning whether faith in Jesus can really save you?  No.  Rather, here James is defining what real saving faith in Christ looks like.  If someone has real saving faith in Christ, that faith will express itself through action.  Anyone can say, “Jesus is my Saviour”, but whether or not that person truly believes that Jesus is their Saviour will become evident in how that person lives. 

James is not saying that you need to live a perfect Christian life before it can be concluded that you have true saving faith. (As James will later write in chapter 3, “we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2)).  

詩篇一百十九篇65-72節

2019-12-23 in /by

ט Teth　（第九段）

65耶和華啊，祢向來是照祢的話善待僕人。
66求祢將精明和知識賜給我，因我信了祢的命令。
67我未受苦以先走迷了路，現在卻遵守祢的話。
68祢本為善，所行的也善，求祢將祢的律例教訓我。
69驕傲人編造謊言攻擊我，我卻要一心守祢的訓詞。
70他們心蒙脂油，我卻喜愛祢的律法。
71我受苦是與我有益，為要使我學習祢的律例。
72祢口中的訓言與我有益，勝於千萬的金銀。

在這段經文裡，給我最大的感受是71節: 「我受苦是與我有益，為要使我學習祢的律例」。誰都不喜歡受苦，可是苦痛卻是人生真正的福，因為沒有受苦，往往不能得到真正的利益。

我第一次對這句話有感受是在牙醫診所洗牙之後。因為洗牙時要忍受機器吱吱叫，然後有時弄到牙齦時會敏感，全身都酸麻。不過，我知道這樣的受苦於我有益，免得牙齒或牙齦有更大的問題出現。

Paul Brand醫生寫過一本書, 痛苦是人生最大的祝福。他是一位醫治痲瘋病人的專家，醫治過無數的痲瘋病人。他發現疾病本身並不可怕，可怕的是病毒使身體的神經失去功能，以致感受不到痛覺，而痛覺恰恰是神給身體最大的保護。當手沒有痛覺時,拿再燙的東西也不知道，就會被燒傷；踼到重物或被壓到也不知道，以致受傷。因此他寫書讓人明白，痛是一樣神給人何等寶貴的禮物。