Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth —2 Timothy 2:15
If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else. But you must be willing to go through God’s winepress where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle, experiment, and rehearse your words to express God’s truth clearly. Then the time will come when that very expression will become God’s wine of strength to someone else. But if you are not diligent and say, “I’m not going to study and struggle to express this truth in my own words; I’ll just borrow my words from someone else,” then the words will be of no value to you or to others. Try to state to yourself what you believe to be the absolute truth of God, and you will be allowing God the opportunity to pass it on through you to someone else.
Always make it a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly.
蒙神悅納
你當努力，在神面前得蒙喜悅，作無愧的工人，接著正意分解真理的道。 （提後二15）
要是你不能在任何題目上表達自己，就當好好努力，直至你能表達出來，否則，有些人會因此一生貧瘠。試把神某些真理對自己再三說出來，力求改進，神會藉你的話叫別人得益。要進入神的壓酒池，竭力用各種方式把道理表達，時候到了，那些話就成為別人得力的美酒。若你懶洋洋地說：[我自己不必努力去表達，我可以藉用別人的話。 ]這樣，不但自己無用，對別人也無益。試把神的真理說出來，這樣你就給神機會，把資訊帶給人。
經常保持反謅的習慣，刺激腦袋再三思想那些理所當然的東西。經過苦練，崗位才真正成為我們的。一個作者叫你收益最大，不是因他把你從不知曉的東西告訴你，而是他把你不能表達的東西表達出來。
祈禱◆主啊，我願稱頌和讚美你，然而，當我身體軟弱，我感到讚美你是何其困難，但為何必然是這樣呢？這意味著惟有當我感到愉快，我才讚美你。但願我的心能持續不斷地讚美你！
Showing posts with label Bible Scripture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible Scripture. Show all posts
December 15, 2012
December 01, 2012
The Law and the Gospel
Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all —James 2:10
The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “. . . sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!
We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.
律法與福音
因為凡遵守金法律的，只在一條上跌倒，他就是犯了眾條。 （雅二10)
律法並不因我們是軟弱的人而稍徇情面，它不理會我們有什麼遺傳因素和缺陷，只要求我們絕對道德。律法從不更改，不管你是最高尚還是最軟弱的，它永遠都不改變。神所定的律法，並不遷就人的軟弱，也不因人的缺點而修改，它是永遠絕對的。我們若不領會這一點，是因為我們並未真正活著；一旦活著，生命就成了一個悲劇。 [我以前沒有律法是活著的，但是誡命來到，罪又活了，我就死了。 ]若明白這點，神的靈就叫我們自知有罪。除非人到了自知絕望的地步，否則耶穌基督的十字架不過是一場鬧劇。自覺有罪，叫人對捆綁人的律法產生恐懼，又叫人絕望，因為[被賣給罪]。我，一個污穢的罪人，永無法與神和好，是絕無可能的。只有一個方法可以與神和好，就是藉耶穌基督的死。我必須除掉那潛伏的思想，以為可以因順服得與神和好－－有誰能絕對完全順服神哩！
當律法帶著[假若]而來，我們才體會它勢力之大。神從不勉強我們。我們有時想神逼我們去做，但心情變了時，又想神不要管我們。當神的旨意得勢，就不會有被逼的感覺了。我們若是定志順服他，他就會以無窮的大能，召喚最遠的星，乃最後的一粒沙來幫助我們。
祈禱◆主啊，我完全投向你。願這樣的氣氛充滿我們環繞我們，好叫我們成為湧流活水江河的人。
The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “. . . sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!
We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.
律法與福音
因為凡遵守金法律的，只在一條上跌倒，他就是犯了眾條。 （雅二10)
律法並不因我們是軟弱的人而稍徇情面，它不理會我們有什麼遺傳因素和缺陷，只要求我們絕對道德。律法從不更改，不管你是最高尚還是最軟弱的，它永遠都不改變。神所定的律法，並不遷就人的軟弱，也不因人的缺點而修改，它是永遠絕對的。我們若不領會這一點，是因為我們並未真正活著；一旦活著，生命就成了一個悲劇。 [我以前沒有律法是活著的，但是誡命來到，罪又活了，我就死了。 ]若明白這點，神的靈就叫我們自知有罪。除非人到了自知絕望的地步，否則耶穌基督的十字架不過是一場鬧劇。自覺有罪，叫人對捆綁人的律法產生恐懼，又叫人絕望，因為[被賣給罪]。我，一個污穢的罪人，永無法與神和好，是絕無可能的。只有一個方法可以與神和好，就是藉耶穌基督的死。我必須除掉那潛伏的思想，以為可以因順服得與神和好－－有誰能絕對完全順服神哩！
當律法帶著[假若]而來，我們才體會它勢力之大。神從不勉強我們。我們有時想神逼我們去做，但心情變了時，又想神不要管我們。當神的旨意得勢，就不會有被逼的感覺了。我們若是定志順服他，他就會以無窮的大能，召喚最遠的星，乃最後的一粒沙來幫助我們。
祈禱◆主啊，我完全投向你。願這樣的氣氛充滿我們環繞我們，好叫我們成為湧流活水江河的人。
July 25, 2012
Am I Blessed Like This?
Blessed are . . . —Matthew 5:3-11
When we first read the statements of Jesus, they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling, and they sink unnoticed into our subconscious minds. For instance, the Beatitudes initially seem to be merely soothing and beautiful precepts for overly spiritual and seemingly useless people, but of very little practical use in the rigid, fast-paced workdays of the world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the “dynamite” of the Holy Spirit. And they “explode” when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. When the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance one of the Beatitudes, we say, “What a startling statement that is!” Then we must decide whether or not we will accept the tremendous spiritual upheaval that will be produced in our circumstances if we obey His words. That is the way the Spirit of God works. We do not need to be born again to apply the Sermon on the Mount literally. The literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is as easy as child’s play. But the interpretation by the Spirit of God as He applies our Lord’s statements to our circumstances is the strict and difficult work of a saint.
The teachings of Jesus are all out of proportion when compared to our natural way of looking at things, and they come to us initially with astonishing discomfort. We gradually have to conform our walk and conversation to the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances. The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations— it is a picture of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His unhindered way with us.
我有這福嗎？
……有福了。 （太五3-10）
初讀主耶穌的話時，但覺平平無奇，於是不自覺地拋諸腦後。例如八福就似乎只是一套溫和優美的觀念。是為那些超世閒逸的人而設的，對於這個冷酷、平凡的世界，並無實際用場。可是，不久我們就會發現，八福其實有聖靈的炸藥，當碰到生活環境的引發線，就會爆炸。聖靈會提醒人八福中的某一項，我們就會說：[多令人震驚的一句話呀！ ]我們就得決定，是否願意接受屬靈上的重大的改變。我們若肯順服，在所處的環境中就必產生得救的人，也可以依字面應用登山寶訓。按字面意義來解釋登山寶訓是小孩的玩意；但照神的靈把主的話應用在我們的際遇上，卻是聖徒一項嚴肅的功課。
耶穌的教訓與我們看事的常理大不相同，開始的時候會令人渾身不舒服。當聖靈把主的話應用在我們實際環境中，我們便要慢慢學習，依從主耶穌的觀念來做事及說話。登山寶訓不是一套規條，而是生活的寫照，就是當我們順服聖靈時所活出的生命。
祈禱◆主啊，最近我感到暗晦而不明朗，好像你正在帶領我進入一個真理的範疇，是我前所未到過的。主啊，高舉我，直至我看見你；支持我，直至我完成你的計劃。
When we first read the statements of Jesus, they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling, and they sink unnoticed into our subconscious minds. For instance, the Beatitudes initially seem to be merely soothing and beautiful precepts for overly spiritual and seemingly useless people, but of very little practical use in the rigid, fast-paced workdays of the world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the “dynamite” of the Holy Spirit. And they “explode” when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. When the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance one of the Beatitudes, we say, “What a startling statement that is!” Then we must decide whether or not we will accept the tremendous spiritual upheaval that will be produced in our circumstances if we obey His words. That is the way the Spirit of God works. We do not need to be born again to apply the Sermon on the Mount literally. The literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is as easy as child’s play. But the interpretation by the Spirit of God as He applies our Lord’s statements to our circumstances is the strict and difficult work of a saint.
The teachings of Jesus are all out of proportion when compared to our natural way of looking at things, and they come to us initially with astonishing discomfort. We gradually have to conform our walk and conversation to the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances. The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations— it is a picture of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His unhindered way with us.
我有這福嗎？
……有福了。 （太五3-10）
初讀主耶穌的話時，但覺平平無奇，於是不自覺地拋諸腦後。例如八福就似乎只是一套溫和優美的觀念。是為那些超世閒逸的人而設的，對於這個冷酷、平凡的世界，並無實際用場。可是，不久我們就會發現，八福其實有聖靈的炸藥，當碰到生活環境的引發線，就會爆炸。聖靈會提醒人八福中的某一項，我們就會說：[多令人震驚的一句話呀！ ]我們就得決定，是否願意接受屬靈上的重大的改變。我們若肯順服，在所處的環境中就必產生得救的人，也可以依字面應用登山寶訓。按字面意義來解釋登山寶訓是小孩的玩意；但照神的靈把主的話應用在我們的際遇上，卻是聖徒一項嚴肅的功課。
耶穌的教訓與我們看事的常理大不相同，開始的時候會令人渾身不舒服。當聖靈把主的話應用在我們實際環境中，我們便要慢慢學習，依從主耶穌的觀念來做事及說話。登山寶訓不是一套規條，而是生活的寫照，就是當我們順服聖靈時所活出的生命。
祈禱◆主啊，最近我感到暗晦而不明朗，好像你正在帶領我進入一個真理的範疇，是我前所未到過的。主啊，高舉我，直至我看見你；支持我，直至我完成你的計劃。
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