新視域的力量
接受並傳講
經文
約翰福音二十10-18
10於是兩個門徒回自己的住處去了。
11馬利亞卻站在墳墓外面哭。哭的時候，低頭往墳墓裡看，
12就見兩個天使，穿著白衣，在安放耶穌身體的地方坐著，一個在頭，一個在腳。
13天使對他說：婦人，你為甚麼哭？他說：因為有人把我主挪了去，我不知道放在那裡。
14說了這話，就轉過身來，看見耶穌站在那裡，卻不知道是耶穌。
15耶穌問他說：婦人，為甚麼哭？你找誰呢？馬利亞以為是看園的，就對他說：先生，若是你把他移了去，請告訴我，你把他放在那裡，我便去取他。
16耶穌說：馬利亞。馬利亞就轉過來，用希伯來話對他說：拉波尼！（拉波尼就是夫子的意思。）
17耶穌說：不要摸我，因我還沒有升上去見我的父。你往我弟兄那裡去，告訴他們說，我要升上去見我的父，也是你們的父，見我的神，也是你們的神。
18抹大拉的馬利亞就去告訴門徒說：我已經看見了主。他又將主對他說的這話告訴他們。
信息分享
我們研讀詩篇七十三篇已經來到最後的兩天，現在要面對一個重要而實際的問題，那就是：我們當怎樣保持親近神？首先，我們可以藉著禱告。保持親近神的人總是常常與神交流。很多人已經提出了許多禱告的定義，我要再加上一個：禱告是與神合作。在禱告中，你將自己的渴望，自己的意志，自己的生命與神配合。神與你在生命的渴望、生命的目的、生命的計劃上需要有一致的看法，然後一起實行出來。
第二，我們可以藉著不住研讀聖經來保持親近神。神的聖言是有生命的，充滿意義的，你閱讀它的時候就會得到改變，因為「神的道是活潑的，是有功效的，比一切兩刃的劍更快」（來四12）。當你期望聖經對你說話的時候它便會對你說話。信心是一種期望，如經文說「照著你們的信，給你們成全了吧！」（太九29）。同時，也要降服於啟示出來的真理：「人若立志遵著他的旨意行，就必曉得……」（約七17）。在道德的宇宙中，知識的關鍵是道德的回應。我們若停止順服，啟示便停止出現。
第三，我們可以藉著與別人分享來保持親近神。要記得，如果我們不願意分享，那些東西也不屬於我們。當我們分享時，那些訊息便更進到我們內心深處。我們必須與別人分享神正在做的事情，包括與基督徒和非基督徒。詩人最後的話是：「好叫我述說你一切的作為。」我們要接受並且不斷傳講神的信息，因為這是基督徒信仰的重要經驗。
「要與神有一致的看法」
進深研究
耶二十1-9；詩六十六16；賽六十三7
1. 神的話在耶利米心裡好像甚麼？
2. 詩人說他會做甚麼？
祈禱
慈愛的天父，我不想只是偶然親近您，我想它成為一種持續的經歷。求您幫助我付上代價，無論是多大的代價。奉耶穌的名祈求，阿們。
The Power of a New Perspective
Take and tell
Bible reading:
John 20:10-18
10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb
12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him."
14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher").
17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Message
Today, on this penultimate day of our meditations on Psalm 73, we face the important practical question: How do we go about the task of keeping close to God? Firstly, we do so by prayer. The person who keeps close to God is the one who is always talking to God. Many definitions of prayer have been given; I add another prayer is co-operation with God. In prayer you align your desires, your will, your life to God. You and God become agreed on life desires, life purposes, life plans, and you work them out together.
Secondly, we do it by constant study of the Scriptures. God's Word is alive with meaning, and when you read it something will happen to you, for "the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Heb. 4:12, NKJ). Expect it to speak to you - and it will. Faith is expectancy: "According to your faith will it be done to you" (Matt. 9:29). Remember also to surrender to the truth that is revealed: "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know..." (John 7:17, NKJ). In a moral universe the key to knowledge is moral response. The moment we cease to obey, that moment the revelation ceases to reveal
We do it, thirdly, by sharing with others. Remember, nothing is ours if we do not share it. When we share, the things go deeper inside us. We must share what God is doing, both with our fellow Christians and with non-Christians also. The psalmist's last words are these: "I will tell of all your deeds." We take and we tell - we take and we tell; these, we must never forget, are the two heartbeats of the Christian experience.
"Be agreed with God"
Prayer
Gracious Father, I don't want nearness to You to be an occasional experience - I want it to be a perpetual experience. Help me to pay the price, no matter what it costs. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.
Further study
Jeremiah. 20:1-9
Psalm 66:16
Isaiah 63:7
1. What was God's Word like in Jeremiah's heart?
2. What did the psalmist say he would do?
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