八福
健康地站出來
經文
申命記三十1-20
1我所陳明在你面前的這一切咒詛都臨到你身上；你在耶和華─你神追趕你到的萬國中必心裡追念祝福的話；
2你和你的子孫若盡心盡性歸向耶和華─你的神，照著我今日一切所吩咐的聽從他的話；
3那時，耶和華─你的神必憐恤你，救回你這被擄的子民；耶和華─你的神要回轉過來，從分散你到的萬民中將你招聚回來。
4你被趕散的人，就是在天涯的，耶和華─你的神也必從那裡將你招聚回來。
5耶和華─你的神必領你進入你列祖所得的地，使你可以得著；又必善待你，使你的人數比你列祖眾多。
6耶和華─你神必將你心裡和你後裔心裡的污穢除掉，好叫你盡心盡性愛耶和華─你的神，使你可以存活。
7耶和華─你的神必將這一切咒詛加在你仇敵和恨惡你、逼迫你的人身上。
8你必歸回，聽從耶和華的話，遵行他的一切誡命，就是我今日所吩咐你的。
9、10你若聽從耶和華─你神的話，謹守這律法書上所寫的誡命律例，又盡心盡性歸向耶和華─你的神，他必使你手裡所辦的一切事，並你身所生的，牲畜所下的，地土所產的，都綽綽有餘；因為耶和華必再喜悅你，降福與你，像從前喜悅你列祖一樣。
11我今日所吩咐你的誡命不是你難行的，也不是離你遠的；
12不是在天上，使你說：誰替我們上天取下來，使我們聽見可以遵行呢？
13也不是在海外，使你說：誰替我們過海取了來，使我們聽見可以遵行呢？
14這話卻離你甚近，就在你口中，在你心裡，使你可以遵行。
15看哪，我今日將生與福，死與禍，陳明在你面前。
16吩咐你愛耶和華─你的神，遵行他的道，謹守他的誡命、律例、典章，使你可以存活，人數增多，耶和華─你神就必在你所要進去得為業的地上賜福與你。
17倘若你心裡偏離，不肯聽從，卻被勾引去敬拜事奉別神，
18我今日明明告訴你們，你們必要滅亡；在你過約但河、進去得為業的地上，你的日子必不長久。
19我今日呼天喚地向你作見證；我將生死禍福陳明在你面前，所以你要揀選生命，使你和你的後裔都得存活；
20且愛耶和華─你的神，聽從他的話，專靠他；因為他是你的生命，你的日子長久也在乎他。這樣，你就可以在耶和華向你列祖亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各起誓應許所賜的地上居住。
信息分享
今天是我們最後一天默想第八福，也是最後一福。有人認為，在這福之後的經文（11和12節）是第九福，但它們實際上只是闡釋了主耶穌在第10節所說的話。我必須指出，主對第八福所說的話，比其他福更多，說明了第八福的重要性。
我們當問自己一個問題：第八福如何為我們帶來良好的心理和靈性健康？答案是藉著鼓勵我們站出來和活得有價值。據說多年前，著名的宣教士醫生和科學家史懷哲博士（Dr. Albert Schweitzer）向非洲一群醫護界人士演說時說道：「你必須有某些你願意支持的東西和信念，你甚至會為它們付出代價，否則的話你不可能得到健康。」
那些認同基督、不以祂為恥，並且為了祂而站出來的人，知道這樣的立場無可避免的會帶來某種形式的迫害；然而，他們的內心卻經歷一種內在的釋放，不會懼怕，並且對他們的人格有正面的影響。積極的人可能會受到迫害，但他們也是最具有影響力的人，在其他人跌倒的時候他們仍然能夠生存。所以，不要再耗損你的神經系統；停止使用寶貴的能量去尋找屬世成功的辦法。跟隨神在八福中列出的藍圖，你的生命便會透過耶穌的心理學，讓你以最少的焦慮，得著最大的效果。但要是你選擇任何其他的途徑，你就會經歷最多的焦慮，換來極小的回報。你決定選擇甚麼了嗎？我自己會揀選生命。
「站出來並且活得有價值」
進深研究
門1-25；弗三1；彼前三15-16
1.保羅怎樣看自己被囚？
2.你上次被迫害是在甚麼時候？
祈禱
天父，我也揀選生命。求您幫助我吸收您的態度以及被它們同化，這樣我的生命才更有價值。親愛的主，有了您的幫助，我才能踏實的生活。哈利路亞！
The Beatitudes
Stand and be - healthy
Bible reading:
Deuteronomy 30:1-20
1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,
2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,
3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes[a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.
4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.
5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.
6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.
8 You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today.
9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors,
10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.
12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?"
13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?"
14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.
16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,
18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live
20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Message
We spend one last day meditating on the eighth and final Beatitude. Some feel that the verses which follow this Beatitude (verses 11 and 12) constitute a ninth Beatitude, but really they are an amplification of what our Lord has been saying in verse 10. It must be pointed out in passing that more is said about this eighth Beatitude than is said about the others - a fact that surely underlines its supreme importance.
The question we ask ourselves today is this: How does this eighth Beatitude contribute to good mental and spiritual health? It does so by encouraging us to stand up and be counted. The famous missionary doctor and scientist Dr Albert Schweitzer, when addressing a group of medical men in Africa many years ago, is reported to have said: "You cannot be healthy unless you stand for something - even at a cost."
The person who unashamedly identifies with Christ and stands up for Him, knowing that their stand will produce, in one form or another, inevitable persecution experiences an inner release from fear that affects every part of the personality in the most positive way. The positive may be persecuted, but they are also the most productive - they survive when others fall by the way. So stop wearing out your nervous system. Cease using up precious energy trying to find ways to make it through this world. Follow God's blueprint as laid out in the eight Beatitudes and yours will be a life which, through the psychology of Jesus, will bring you maximum effectiveness with minimum weariness. Choose any other way and you will experience minimum effectiveness with maximum weariness. I choose life.
"Stand up and be counted"
Prayer
Father, I, too, choose life. Help me to absorb and assimilate Your attitudes until they become my attitudes. Then life will always have to be spelt with a capital "L". With Your help, dear Lord, I'm on my way to real living. Hallelujah!
Further study
Philemon 1-25
Ephesians 3:1
1 Peter 3:15-16
1. How did Paul view his imprisonment?
2. When were you last persecuted?
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