Sunday, 3 May 2020

Proverbs 3:21-24 New Living Translation (NLT)

21 My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment.
Hang on to them,
22 for they will refresh your soul.
They are like jewels on a necklace.
23 They keep you safe on your way,
and your feet will not stumble.
24 You can go to bed without fear;
you will lie down and sleep soundly.

DON’T LET WISDOM OUT OF YOUR SIGHT

In the earlier chapters, King Solomon advises his son to find wisdom and get understanding like seeking for silver or hidden treasure. In these few verses, he advises his son when once you found it keep it or retain it. Hold on to it tightly, don’t let them out of your sight wherever you go.

Over the years, we have listened to many wonderful sermons. We often forget them. It is easy to acquire things but is hard to hold on to it. Is not enough to have a good start but we must also finish well. Solomon says if you continue to retain sound wisdom and discretion it will be real blessing all through your life. With wisdom from the Lord, we will be able to see through things. It will help us to say and do thing appropriately in a given situation.

When you keep sound wisdom and discretion or have common sense and discernment, the result “will be life for your soul.” On the other hand, when you do not have wisdom and discernment, there is no life for your soul. Many individuals and families live literally in death. They usually live in depression, dysfunctional, fear, anxiety, hopelessness, strife, misery and sleeplessness. But true wisdom and discernment give life. It refreshes your soul. With wisdom and discernment accompanying you daily, they will make you look good “like jewels on a necklace”. In the Old Testament, when a king honours a person. He will place a beautiful necklace of expensive jewellery on him. This denotes glory and honour. Similarly, when we walk with wisdom and discernment from the Lord, he will exalt our reputation.

There are many more benefits that will be ours when we live with common sense and discernment.

• They will keep us safe and secure.
• We will not slip or stumble.
• We can go to bed without fear.
• We will have sound and sweet sleep.

Psalm 119:165

Those who love your instructions have great peace and do not stumble.

Psalm 4:8

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe.

John 14:27

I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

It is one thing to achieve great fame, wealth and power. It is another thing to continue to keep them. We can learn many words of wisdom very quickly, but it takes a lifetime of faithfulness to retain them. This is what Solomon is telling his son in Proverbs 3.21. Keeping wisdom requires us to practice it daily. It requires us to be disciplined in making tough choices with the help of God. It is not going through the motion of being a Christian. We are just keeping a routine of Knowing all the right words, pray, reading of Bible and going to church. To really retain the wisdom of God requires us to be a doer of His word rather than just hearers only. We keep God’s wisdom in our heart and using it in all the things we do in our lives.

Prayer for today

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Matt. 7.24

We praise You, Lord, for being the everlasting God, the Creator of all things. We praise You, Lord, for your way is perfect and You are holy. Lord, You are our shield, our fortress and our refuge during this pandemic. We don’t understand the situation but we trust your ways and your thoughts are higher than ours. We ask Lord to grant us much wisdom and discernment in all the confusion that has dawned on us. Hold our hands and lead us through this temporal storm of the Coronavirus.
We ask for your forgiveness for not consistently holding on to your word of wisdom. Help us to be faithful not only be hearers but doers of your word. Some of us have started well but along the way, we have been distracted by the things of the world. Help us to fix our eyes on you and be faithful to the end. Help us to finish well.
Lord, fear and anxiety of the future have robbed us of our peace, hope, joy and even our sleep. Give us wisdom and discernment so that we be able to make wise decision to plan for the future. Give us the humility to seek the wise counsel of older brothers and sisters so as to grow into maturity. Grant us your wisdom, increase our faith in You and we know fear will be driven away.

On this Lord’s Day, as we gather in each of our homes to worship, we ask that you will refresh and strengthen us to live in hope. As we partake of the Lord’s Supper, remind us of your love and sacrifice on the cross at Calvary.

Let’s make the Lord’s Supper a personal time with God.

Lord Jesus, I bow before you in humility and ask you to examine my heart today. Reveal to me anything that is not pleasing to You. Reveal any secret pride, any unconfessed sin, any unforgiveness that may be hindering my relationship with You. I know I am your child because I have received you into my heart and life as Lord and Saviour

As I take the bread and the cup, I am reminded of the agonizing pain You have gone through as the supreme sacrifice for my sin. Thank you, Jesus, you have overcome the power of death. You are my Living God and Saviour.

Lord, I want to recommit my life to you as a living sacrifice. Fill me with the Power of your Holy Spirit, so that I can live for you. Help me to stay close to you. Help me to love You more and more, to love my family to love the lost people around me. Teach me to be faithful in sharing what Christ has done for me till you come again. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Jude 24-25. Amen.

Pastor Isaac Yim

xxx

每日灵粮
03/05/20
星期日
作者：严以撒牧师
箴言3:21-24
21 我儿、要谨守真智慧和谋略．不可使他离开你的眼目．
22 这样、他必作你的生命、颈项的美饰。
23 你就坦然行路、不至碰脚。
24 你躺下、必不惧怕．你躺卧、睡得香甜。

不要让智慧离开你的眼目
在前面的章节中，所罗门王劝告他的儿子寻找智慧和聪明，当如寻找银子和隐藏的珍宝一样。在这几节经文中，他劝告他的儿子，一旦你发现了它，你就要保有它或留住它。要紧紧地抓住它，无论你走到哪里，总不要让它们离开你的眼目。多年以来，我们听了许多精彩的讲道。但我们却经常忘记这些讲道的内容。通常我们很容易就能获得一些东西，但我们却很难留住它们。拥有一个完美的开端并不足够，我们还需要完美的完成它。所罗门说，如果你继续保有这些真智慧和谋略，那将是你一生真正的祝福。有了主的智慧，我们就能看透万事。这将帮助我们在特定的情况下适当地说和做事。

当你保有这些真智慧和谋略或具有常识和识别能力时，那个结果就是“他必作你的生命”。另一方面，当你没有智慧和谋略时，你就没有生命。许多个体和家庭实际上活着就如死了一般。他们经常沮丧，失去生活的功能，恐惧，焦虑，绝望，冲突，痛苦和失眠。但是真智慧和谋略却能赋予生命。它使你精神焕发。每天生活上伴随着智慧和谋略，它们将使你看起来“像颈项的美饰”。在旧约中，当国王要赐尊荣给一个人时。他将给他戴上一条镶着昂贵珠宝的美丽项链。这象征着荣耀和尊荣。同样的，当我们靠着从主而来的智慧和谋略过活时，我们的声誉也将被高举。

当我们以智慧与谋略来过生活时，还有许多的好处。
•它们将确保我们的安全。
•我们不会失足或绊倒。
•我们躺下、必不惧怕。
•我们躺卧、睡得香甜。

诗篇119:165
爱你律法的人、有大平安．甚么都不能使他们绊脚。
诗篇 4:8
我必安然躺下睡觉、因为独有你耶和华使我安然居住。
约翰福音 14:27
我留下平安给你们、我将我的平安赐给你们．我所赐的、不像世人所赐的．你们心里不要忧愁、也不要胆怯。

获得极好的声誉，财富和权力是一回事。继续保有它们又是另一回事。我们可以很快地学到很多有关智慧的词语，但是却要用一生的忠诚来保有它们。这就是所罗门在箴言3.21中告诉儿子的。要保有智慧是需要我们每天操练的。我们在面对艰难的选择时需要来自上帝的帮助。这不单是成为一个基督徒那么简单。我们不是只是例行公事的去祷告，读经和去教会。要真正的保有上帝的智慧，我们需要成为一个实践者，而不仅仅是成为一个聆听者。我们应该把上帝的智慧保存在我们的心中，并在我们的生活中运用出来。

今天的祷告：
所以凡听见我这话就去行的、好比一个聪明人、把房子盖在磐石上。马可福音7.24
我们赞美你上帝，因你是永恒的上帝，是万物的创造者。我们赞美主你，因为你的道路是完美的，你是圣洁的。主啊，在这病毒大流行期间，你是我们的盾牌，我们的堡垒和避难所。我们不知道情况将会是如何，但我们相信你的道路，你的意念是高过我们的。我们求主在我们面对这一切的混乱中，给我们更多的智慧和谋略。握紧我们的双手，带领我们度过此冠状病毒的短暂风暴。

我们请求你的宽恕，因为我们没有经常地抓紧你智慧的言语。帮助我们成为一个你话语的忠诚实践者而不仅是个倾听者。我们当中的一些人有不错的起步，但在过程中，我们却被世界的事物所转向分心了。帮助我们注目于你，并忠诚到底。帮助我们顺利的完成。

主，对未来