Year: 2024

03/01/2024

引言：苦难叫人反思人生！

一、人生苦短稍纵即逝（V1-3）

经历苦难中的约伯看事情是有偏差的，他感叹人生苦短，稍纵即逝，这岂不都是神的计划和安排，而神要审判这样的人吗？约伯身在苦难中，他不知道原来背后是魔鬼在试探和攻击他。

他不知道原来经过熬炼之后，将来他还有重新蒙福发旺的日子。他不知道神有绝对的公平和恩慈去对待每一个人，这是生命的价值啊！

二、岁数疆界都在于神（V4-6）

约伯理解人有年龄与疆界的局限、人在污秽的环境中就难免沾染污秽，这些理解其实也不完全。虽然神有命定，但是人有自由选择，并且在与神的互动中可以产生很大的变化。结局如何很在乎选择和积极回应的心态；愿意跟从神的人岂能不蒙福呢？这是生命有神的价值啊！

三、植物能够生生不息（V7-9）

约伯发现植物界的奥秘，只要有水份，一棵被砍掉的树、或者已经枯干多年的枝干，都有可能还可以重新发芽再长。植物的生生不息，代代相传真是很奇妙。人更是如此，只要不失去信心，基督徒的生命不但个人要有延续，群体更要不断繁衍。这正是神所期待的生命回馈的价值啊！

四、人的生命一去不返（V10-12）

约伯说了一个错误的观念，人死后就什么都没有了！就像海水消失、河水枯干，一切都消失了。死亡就像人永远都睡了，就不会再苏醒过来。 约伯的经历虽然成为圣经的一部分，但是我们所得的真理启示却比约伯所了解的更全面。关于永生、关于复活，这是我们所拥有的盼望，和完备信仰生命的价值啊！

五、人的生命在神手中（V13-14）

虽然约伯对神的认识不完整，但是他仍然捉住了一个信心的盼望。知道神的怒气和管教会有止息的时候；既是他不知道死后还可以复活，但是他却产生一个超越他理解的思想，就是自己有被释放的一天。换言之，自己的生命在神手中，在神岂有难成的事呢？这是长时间的苦难所带来的生命认知的价值啊！

六、当神呼唤罪得遮盖（V15-17）

约伯终于酝酿了对神的一种更深的认识，既是自己已经在阴间死亡之地，只要神会呼唤他，他就得以回应，这是神的作为啊！那时约伯的罪孽就被灰泥遮盖了。约伯虽然不像我们得知耶稣基督的救恩，但是也开始意识到神的拯救之恩！

七、人之有限转眼即逝（V18-22）

苦难中的人很容易在疼痛中失去盼望。想到坚固的磐石都遭山崩地裂而改变；水流也可以消磨石头，可见人也同样会遭灭没而无望。想到人的生命转眼即逝，消失无踪。以后儿女如何都无法再知道了。这是痛苦的侵蚀力，因为神允许约伯的三个朋友继续以不同的言语激发他转移焦点。以便不断的转移实际的痛苦。

总结：生命如果没有神的拯救？

人生就不再有生存的目的了！因为连好人也一样会受苦！但是生命的价值在于有神、有永恒啊！

Job Chapter 14: What is the price of life?
GK611 Morning Devotion
3/1/2024
The Morning Devotion Speaker: Rev David Tan

Introduction: Suffering calls for reflection on life!

1. Life is short and fleeting (14:1-3)

Job, who was in the midst of suffering, looked at things with a bias, lamenting that life is short and fleeting, and that this is not all God’s plan and arrangement, and that God would judge such a person? Job was in the midst of suffering, but he did not know that it was the devil who was tempting and attacking him behind his back.

He did not know that he would be blessed and prosperous again in the future after his suffering. He did not know that God is absolutely fair and merciful to everyone, which is the value of life!

2. The boundaries of age lie with God (14:4-6)

Job’s understanding of the limitations of man’s age and boundaries, and the fact that man is inevitably defiled in a defiled environment, is actually incomplete. Although God has ordained it, man has free choice and can make a big difference in his interaction with God. The outcome is very much a matter of choice and a responsive heart; how can those who are willing to follow God not be blessed? This is the value of life to God!

3. Plants are constantly growing and reproducing (14:7-9)

Job discovers the mystery of the plant world. As long as there is water, a tree that has been cut down or a branch that has been dried up for many years may be able to sprout and grow again. It’s amazing how plants live on and pass on from generation to generation. This is especially true of people. As long as we do not lose faith, Christian life should continue not only as individuals, but also as a group. This is exactly the value of life that God expects to give back!

4. Once a man’s life is gone (14:10-12)

Job spoke of the false concept that when a person dies there is nothing left! It is like the sea disappearing or the river drying up; everything is gone. Death is like when a person goes to sleep forever and never wakes up again. Although Job’s experience became part of the Bible, the revelation of truth we receive is more comprehensive than what Job knew. About eternal life, about the resurrection, this is the hope we have, and the value of a complete life of faith!

5. Human Life in God’s Hands (14:13-14)

Though Job’s knowledge of God was incomplete, he still caught hold of a hope of faith. Knowing that there would be a time when God’s wrath and discipline would cease; even though he did not know that there could be a resurrection after death, he developed a thought that surpassed his understanding, namely, that there would be a day when he himself would be released. In other words, his own life was in God’s hands, and is there anything difficult in God? What a value of the perception of life that comes from long suffering!

6. When God calls for sin to be covered (14:15-17)

Job finally conceived a deeper realisation of God, that since he was already in the land of the dead in Hades, as long as God would call him, he would be able to respond, and this was the work of God! It was then that Job’s sins were covered with mortar. Job did not learn of the salvation of Jesus Christ as we do, but he began to realise the saving grace of God!

7. The finite nature of man turns away (14:18-22)

It is easy to lose hope in the pain of suffering. When we think that even a solid rock is changed by a landslide, and that water can wear away a stone, we can see that man is also perishable and hopeless. Think of the fleeting nature of human life, which vanishes without a trace. What happens to the children afterward can no longer be known. This is the erosive power of pain, for God allowed Job’s three friends to continue to inspire him with different words to shift his focus. So as to continually divert the actual pain.

Conclusion: Life without God’s salvation?

Life would no longer have a purpose for existence! For even good people suffer just as much! But the value of life is that there is God and eternity!

02/01/2024

引言：

约伯在受苦难求问神的过程中，知道神是他唯一的指望和拯救！所以他至死不渝地寻求神！

一、请不要再作声了朋友（V1-12)

1.因为都是无用的医生（V1-5)

约伯的三个朋友完全令他失望，一味乱套地定他的罪，所以约伯形容他们是无用的医生，用谎言作为药物来涂抹他的伤口，不仅没用还加重了病情。所以约伯愿他们不要再做声，因为安静比说话更有智慧。

对于我们的灵命而言，除了主耶稣之外，其他人都是无用的医生。所以，如果灵命生病了，除主以外，别无拯救。我们也应该把所爱的人，带到真正可以医治灵魂的主耶稣那里。

2. 因为都是炉灰的箴言（V6-12)

约伯指出三友的言论，充满不义诡诈，不过是‘炉灰的箴言’、‘淤泥的坚垒’：毫无价值与分量；不堪一击，毫无用处。

我们要小心说话，免得加重了人的痛苦，也扭曲了神的旨意，而要受到神的责备。安静地‘与哭泣的人一同哭泣，与喜乐的人一同喜乐’是最好的安慰。

二、不惜死亡要向神辨明（V13-19)

约伯经过朋友的一番谈论后，他觉得人比神更难对付，因此他决定还是回到神面前辨明他所行的，他说他愿承担任何的后果，甚至不惜死亡！因为这是在无助中唯一的指望（V15）。

虽然约伯觉得神要杀他，但他仍然要来到神面前辨明自己所行的。他并没有因此就拒绝神、远离神，而是因着这些事情更加努力地来到神面前，向神诉说自己的情况，求神给他一个明确的答案，最终他都没有离开神。这是我们应该效法的。

三、祈求与天父恢复沟通（V20-28）

约伯强烈要恢复与天父交流沟通。他像一个天真的孩子，要求父亲停止责打和惊吓他，以便彼此能谈个明白，因为他不知自己究竟犯了什么罪。他想惟一可能是他‘幼年的罪孽’，但那是多年以前早已对付清楚了，神也绝不会再算旧账，因此他想问神为什么这么严厉地苦待他？

约伯向神倾诉他的苦状，希望打动神的心，使神愿意与他恢复亲密的关系。我们当中的一些人可能正在经历痛苦、失望和煎熬，你们也要像约伯一样坚持寻求神。因为天父知道祂在做什么！祂从来没有离开我们，总有一天，所有的答案都会揭晓！在等候期间，请保持与神沟通，祂在聆听也在看顾！

总结：至死不渝地寻求神

如果有一天我们也落在约伯的处境，我们也要至死不渝地寻求神！因为神是唯一的指望和拯救！

Job Chapter 13: Seeking God until death
GK611 Morning Devotion
02/01/2024
The Morning Devotion Speaker: Ps Daniel Kew

Introduction:

In the course of his suffering and inquiring of God, Job knew that God was his only hope and salvation! So he sought God unswervingly until he died!

1. Job asks his friends to be silent (V1-12)

(1) Because they are useless doctors (V1-5)

Job’s three friends had completely disappointed him by condemning him in a messy way, so Job described them as useless doctors who used lies as medicine to anoint his wounds, which not only didn’t work but also aggravated his condition. So Job wished them to stop making noise, for silence is wiser than speech.

For our spiritual life, everyone else is a useless doctor except the Lord Jesus. Therefore, if the spiritual life is sick, there is no salvation except from the Lord. We should also bring our loved ones to the Lord Jesus who can truly heal the soul.

(2) For all are ashes (V6-12)

Job points out that the words of the three friends are full of iniquity and deceit, and are nothing but ‘words of ashes’ and ‘a fortress of muck’: worthless and weightless; untenable and useless.

Let us be careful what we say, lest we aggravate the sufferings of men, and pervert the will of God, and be rebuked by Him. Quietly ‘weeping with those who weep, and rejoicing with those who rejoice’ is the best comfort.

2. To discern to God at the risk of death (V13-19)

After Job’s talk with his friends, he felt that man was more difficult to deal with than God, so he decided that it would be better to go back to God and discern what he had done, saying that he was willing to take any consequences, even death! For this was the only thing to count on in the midst of helplessness (V15).

Even though Job felt that God was going to kill him, he still had to come before God to discern what he had done. He did not reject God or turn away from God because of this, but because of these things he tried harder to come before God, to tell God about his situation, to ask God to give him a clear answer, and in the end he did not even leave God. This is what we should imitate.

3. Persistently seeking God to restore relationships (V20-28)

Job strongly wanted to resume communication with his Heavenly Father. Like an innocent child, he asked his father to stop chastising and frightening him so that we could talk to each other, for he did not know what his sin was. He thought the only possibility was his ‘sins of infancy’, but that had been dealt with many years ago and God would never settle old scores, so he wanted to ask God why He was treating him so harshly and bitterly.

Job poured out his bitter complaint to God, hoping to impress God’s heart so that He would be willing to restore intimacy with him. Some of us may be experiencing pain, disappointment, and suffering, and you too must persist in seeking God as Job did. Because the Father knows what He is doing! One day all the answers will be revealed! While waiting, stay in communication with God, He is listening and watching!

Conclusion: Seek God till death do us part!

If one day we are in Job’s situation, we too must seek God until death do us part! For God is the only hope and salvation!