752 英翻中 (452) God’s power in changing our lives is thankfulness. 上帝改變信徒生命的大能的証据是使我知道感恩。 5/3/2024

 752 英翻中 (452)                      God’s power in changing our lives is thankfulness.                                                                                  上帝改變信徒生命的大能的証据是使我知道感恩。                 5/3/2024

It is easy for God to perform miracles in the realms of the material or physical, because everything in creation obeys His command. Jesus could heal Malchus’s ear, but He could not automatically change Peter’s heart and remove the hatred and violence that was in it (Luke 22:50–51). God could bring water out of the rock, but He could not force Moses to be patient.                                                                                                                                                         因为所有被造物都遵守上帝的命令，所以祂在物质或身体的领域上行神迹很容易。耶稣可以治愈马尔库(Malchus)的耳朵，但祂不能自动改变彼得的心，消除他心中的仇恨和暴力（路22：50-51）。上帝可以使水从岩石中流出来，但祂不能使摩西有耐心去做。

A pastor often visited a Christian young man who had been badly burned. The young man had to lie still for hours, and it was difficult for him to perform even the basic functions of life.               牧师经常拜访一位遭受严重烧伤的年輕基督徒。他必須安靜的躺臥一些时間，甚至有些基本的生活功能他都不能作。

“I wish God would do a miracle and heal me,” the young man said to his pastor one day.              有一天他对牧师说，“我希望上帝会行奇迹治愈我。” 

“God is doing a miracle,” the pastor replied, “but not the kind you are looking for. I have watched you grow in patience and kindness during these weeks. That, to me, is a greater miracle than the healing of your body.”                                                                                                                               牧师回答说，“上帝正在行神迹，但不是你所求的那個。 我已经在这几星期中，察看你的耐心和慈祥。那对我来说，是比醫治你燒傷的身体，上帝行了更大的神迹。"

God’s power is evidenced in our lives not only in our patience and longsuffering, but also in our joyfulness. When circumstances are difficult, we should exhibit joyful patience, and when people are hard to live with, we should reveal joyful longsuffering. There is a kind of patience that “endures but does not enjoy.” Paul prayed that the Colossian Christians might experience joyful patience and longsuffering.                                                                                                                     上帝的大能顯示在我们的生活中，不仅在耐心和長期受苦中，並且也在我们的喜乐中。環境困难时，我们应该表现出喜乐的耐心，当人们生活在一起时，我们应该表现出喜乐的來承受痛苦的耐力。有一种耐心，“堅忍而不喜樂”。保罗祈祷，歌罗西的基督徒可能会经历喜乐的忍耐和堅忍苦難。

We often use the words joy and happiness interchangeably, but a distinction should be made. Happiness often depends on happenings. If circumstances are encouraging and people are kind, we are happy. But joy is independent of both circumstances and people. The most joyful epistle Paul wrote was Philippians, and he wrote it from jail as he faced the possibility of being martyred for his faith.                                                                                                                                               我们经常把 “喜乐”和“快樂”相互换的使用，它們是应该有区别的。快樂往往取决于環境。如果環境令人鼓舞，及遇到的人很慈祥，那麼我们會很快樂。但喜樂却不受環境和人的影響。保罗写的最喜乐的书信是腓立比书，那是他从监牢中写的，是他要面临着为了對基督信仰的信心，而將有為基督殉难的可能性。

Only God’s Spirit working within us can give us joy in the midst of problem circumstances and problem people. “The fruit of the Spirit is … joy” (Gal. 5:22). Joy is not something that we ourselves “work up”; it is something the Spirit Himself “works in”—“joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17 niv).                                                                                                                                      在有问题的環境裡，和與有问题的人的交通時，只有在我们内心工作的上帝聖灵，才能为我们带来喜乐。 “圣灵的果子是 ……喜乐”（加     5:22）。喜乐不是我们自己 “能做得到”的。 这是圣灵，祂自己 “在人內心” 中所行的  —— “圣灵的喜乐”（罗     14:17 新國際版）。

I can recall times in my life when all the circumstances around me pointed to difficulty and possible defeat. Yet my heart was filled with a spiritual joy that could only come from God. Sad to say, I also remember times (far too many!) when I gave in to the problems around me, and I lost both the joy and the victory.                                                                                                                       我還能回忆起，在我生命過去的时光中，当周围的所有境遇都是惡劣困难，使我可能要失败。然而，我的心却充满了只能从上帝来的屬靈喜乐。可悲的是，我也记得多次（太多了！）当我因環境的问题放弃時，同時我就失去了喜樂和胜利。 

The fourth evidence of God’s power in our lives is thankfulness. Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit will be joyful and thankful (Eph. 5:18–20). When we lose our joy, we start complaining and becoming critical.                                                                                                        上  帝在我们生命中的大能的第四个证据是，祂使我知道感恩。圣灵充满的基督徒是喜乐和感恩的人（弗   5：18-20）。当失去喜樂时，我们就开始抱怨，并变得刻薄挑剔。

The Colossian epistle is filled with thanksgiving. Paul gave thanks for the church in Colosse (Col. 1:3), and he prayed that they might grow in their own thanksgiving to God (Col. 1:12). The Christian life should abound with thanksgiving (Col. 2:7). One of the evidences of spiritual growth in our Bible study is thanksgiving (Col. 3:15–17). Our prayers should always include thanksgiving (Col. 4:2). The Christian who is filled with the Spirit, filled with the Word, and watching in prayer will prove it by his attitude of appreciation and thanksgiving to God.             歌罗西书信充满了感恩。保罗為歌罗西的教会感谢（西   1：3），并祈祷他们可以自己成长對上帝感恩（西     1:12）。基督徒的生活应该充满感恩（西     2:7）。在我們研究圣经中，有關屬靈成长证据之一是感恩（西     3：15-17）。我们的祷告应该永远含有感恩（西     4：2）。充满圣灵，及充满圣言的基督徒，在他守望相助的祷告中，将以他对上帝的感謝和感恩的心态而得证明。

 Some people are appreciative by nature, but some are not, and it is these latter people who especially need God’s power to express thanksgiving. We should remember that every good gift comes from God (James 1:17) and that He is (as the theologians put it) “the Source, Support, and End of all things.” The very breath in our mouths is the free gift of God.                                         有些人感謝老天，但有些人不是，而后者是特别需要上帝的大能來表达感恩。我们应该记住，每一件好礼物都是从上帝来的（雅     1:17），祂是（如神学家所说的）“所有萬物的来源，支援和结局”。人口中的氣息是上帝免费的礼物。

Years ago, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois had a life-saving squad that assisted passengers on the Lake Michigan boats. On September 8, 1860, a passenger boat, the Lady Elgin, floundered near Evanston, and a ministerial student, Edward Spencer, personally rescued seventeen persons. The exertion of that day permanently damaged his health and he was unable to train for the ministry. When he died some years later, it was noted that not one of the seventeen persons he had saved ever came to thank him.                                                                                     几年前，在伊利诺州的埃文斯顿 (Evanston) 的西北大学有一个救生队，帮助保護密歇根湖上的乘客。 1860年9月8日，一艘名稱埃金(Elgin)夫人的客船，在埃文斯顿附近翻船，一位受宣教士訓育的学生，名稱爱德华 · 斯潘塞(Edward Spencer)  他一人總共救起17個人。那天的劳累，大大损害了他的健康，以後无法繼續求學。几年后，当他去世时，有人提起他曾救了17个溺水人的命，但其中没有人回來感谢他。

Thankfulness is the opposite of selfishness. The selfish person says, “I deserve what comes to me! Other people ought to make me happy!” But the mature Christian realizes that life is a gift from God, and that the blessings of life come only from His bountiful hand.                                              感恩与自私是相反的。自私的人说，“我应該得到這些給我的東西！其他人应该让我开心！＂ 但是，成熟的基督徒領悟到生命是上帝的恩赐，生命的祝福只是从祂丰盛的手中得来的。

Of course, the one blessing that ought to move us constantly to thanksgiving is that God has made us “meet [fit] to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:12). The word fit means “qualified”: God has qualified us for heaven! And, while we are waiting for Christ to return, we enjoy our share of the spiritual inheritance that we have in Him (Eph. 1:11, 18–23).    当然，上帝叫我们  “能與眾聖徒（配合）在光明中同得基業” 的這祝福， 应该使我们不停的感恩（西     1:12）。（配合）的意思是  “合格”：上帝已经認定使我们能進天堂！而且，当我们在等待基再来的时候，我们分享在祂裡面所拥有的属灵基業（弗     1:11,18-23）。                          

In the Old Testament, God’s people had an earthly inheritance, the land of Canaan. Christians today have a spiritual inheritance in Christ. Canaan is not a picture of heaven, for there will be no battles or defeats in heaven. Canaan is a picture of our present inheritance in Christ. We must claim our inheritance by faith as we step out on the promises of God (Josh. 1:1–9). Day by day, we claim our blessings, and this makes us even more thankful to the Lord.                                           在旧约中，上帝的子民有地上迦南地的基業。今天的基督徒在基督里有属灵的基業。 迦南不是天堂的寫照，因为在天堂没有战斗或失败。迦南地是我们目前在基督里基業的寫照。当我们踏出走在上帝的应许上时，必须藉着信心向祂懇求我们的基业（书  1：1-9）。日復一日的向祂懇求我们的祝福，这甚至使我们對主更加感恩。

As we review this marvelous prayer, we can see how penetrating it is. We need spiritual intelligence if we are going to live to please God. We also need practical obedience in our walk and work. But the result of all of this must be spiritual power in the inner man, power that leads to joyful patience and longsuffering, with thanksgiving.                                                                           当回顧这奇妙的祷告时，我们可以看到它是多么的深入。如果我们為討上帝喜悅的去生活，確實需要屬靈的智慧。 也需要在我们與主同行和工作中实質的顺服。但是，所有这一切的结果，必须是來自内心的屬靈的能力，這能力將会导致喜乐的忍耐，堅忍及感恩。

Have you been praying this way lately?                                                                                                 你最近一直是這樣的祷告吗？

( 第三章完)