害怕死去的麥子
甚麼是金錢上的神蹟？
經文
瑪拉基書三1-12
1萬軍之耶和華說：我要差遣我的使者在我前面預備道路。你們所尋求的主必忽然進入他的殿；立約的使者，就是你們所仰慕的，快要來到。
2他來的日子，誰能當得起呢？他顯現的時候，誰能立得住呢？因為他如煉金之人的火，如漂布之人的鹼。
3他必坐下如煉淨銀子的，必潔淨利未人，熬煉他們像金銀一樣；他們就憑公義獻供物給耶和華。
4那時，猶大和耶路撒冷所獻的供物必蒙耶和華悅納，彷彿古時之日、上古之年。
5萬軍之耶和華說：我必臨近你們，施行審判。我必速速作見證，警戒行邪術的、犯姦淫的、起假誓的、虧負人之工價的、欺壓寡婦孤兒的、屈枉寄居的，和不敬畏我的。
6因我─耶和華是不改變的，所以你們雅各之子沒有滅亡。
7萬軍之耶和華說：從你們列祖的日子以來，你們常常偏離我的典章而不遵守。現在你們要轉向我，我就轉向你們。你們卻問說：我們如何才是轉向呢？
8人豈可奪取神之物呢？你們竟奪取我的供物。你們卻說：我們在何事上奪取你的供物呢？就是你們在當納的十分之一和當獻的供物上。
9因你們通國的人都奪取我的供物，咒詛就臨到你們身上。
10萬軍之耶和華說：你們要將當納的十分之一全然送入倉庫，使我家有糧，以此試試我，是否為你們敞開天上的窗戶，傾福與你們，甚至無處可容。
11萬軍之耶和華說：我必為你們斥責蝗蟲（原文是吞噬者），不容他毀壞你們的土產。你們田間的葡萄樹在未熟之先也不掉果子。
12萬軍之耶和華說：萬國必稱你們為有福的，因你們的地必成為喜樂之地。
信息分享
我們前幾天已思想了神設置金錢的三個目的，今天要思想第四個目的，就是顯示祂神聖的大能。神是超自然的神，很多基督徒常常忘記這一個要點。神樂意向祂的子民顯示祂的真實和能力，而其中一個方法就是使用金錢供應的神蹟。
金錢上的神蹟是甚麼意思呢？那是一種超自然的事情，神藉著給祂的兒女提供所需的金錢來滿足他們一些經濟上的需要。這種神蹟經常是非常及時的出現，以顯明是神的直接介入。比如說：當一名基督徒在為金錢上的需要迫切的祈求時，神差遣了一位對那需要毫不知情的人意外地給他送來一份完全恰當的禮物，這就是神在其中一種超自然能力的顯示。
在以利亞的日子，以色列國同時敬拜真神和事奉巴力。以利亞知道這種罪行一定會帶來神的審判，因此他提出一個簡單的試驗──建造兩座壇，一座為神，一座為巴力，哪一位神能以超自然的能力來回應便會受到敬拜。巴力的先知整天向他們那不存在的神呼喊，但是得不到任何結果，後來以利亞開始禱告，神回應了他的禱告，從天上把火降了下來。
當今這個時代其中一個最大的假神就是金錢，它成了眾人的偶像，因為大家都期望金錢能夠給人帶來只有神才能夠給予的東西──真正的保障。事實上，當世人都在渴求金錢的時候，神要向那些尋求祂的人證明，他們是不會有所缺乏的。
「神給人提供了金錢所不能提供的保障」
進深研究
林後九1-15；申三十9；詩一三二15
1. 神愛甚麼？
2. 我們可以豐富地收割甚麼？
祈禱
天父，求您幫助我看到自己是在所事奉的神的形象中成長，我不要好像金錢一樣的堅硬和冰冷，我要像您一樣仁愛和恩慈。求您幫助我只注目於您。奉耶穌的名祈求，阿們。
The Corn of Wheat Afraid to Die
What is a financial miracle?
Bible reading:
Malachi 3:1-12
1 "I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the Lord Almighty.
2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,
4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
5 "So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me," says the Lord Almighty.
6 "I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
8 "Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How are we robbing you?' "In tithes and offerings.
9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the Lord Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe," says the Lord Almighty.
12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the Lord Almighty.
Message
We look now at God's fourth purpose for money: to show His divine power. God is a supernatural God - something Christians seem to forget - and He delights to demonstrate His reality and power among His people. One means through which God has chosen to do this is through His miraculous provision of money.
What is a financial miracle? It is a supernatural event whereby God provides one of His children with the money required to meet a financial need - and usually it involves such precise timing that it cannot fail to point to the Lord's direct intervention. When a Christian prays about a financial need, for example, and an unexpected gift is given to him by someone who knows nothing about the need, the supernatural power of God is demonstrated.
In the days of Elijah, the nation of Israel tried to worship God and serve Baal at the same time. Elijah knew that this would inevitably lead to God's judgment, so he proposed a simple test. The test involved building two altars, one for God and one for Baal, and whichever answered by a display of supernatural power was the one whom they would worship. The prophets of Baal cried out to their non-existent deity all day, but nothing happened. Then Elijah prayed, and in response to his prayer God sent fire from heaven.
One of the biggest of the false gods of this age is money. It has become an idol because people expect from it what only God can give - true security. As the world hankers after money, God wants to prove to those who seek Him that they will not lack any good thing.
"God offers the security money cannot provide"
Prayer
O Father, help me to see that I grow into the image of the god that I serve. I don't want to be like money - hard and metallic; I want to be like You - gracious and beneficent. Help me to keep my focus only on You. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
Further study
2 Corinthians 9:1-15
Deuteronomy 30:9
Psalm 132:15
1.What does God love?
2. How can we reap bountifully?
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