4/40 & 5/40

4/40
Made to last forever

When you fully comprehend that there is more to life than just here and now, and you realize that life is just preparation for eternity, you will begin to live differently. you will start living in light of eternity, and that will color how you handle every relationship, tasks, and circumstance. Suddenly many activites, goals, and even problems that seemed so important will appear trivial, petty, and unworthy of your attention. The closer you live to God, the smaller everything else appears.

不就正正和我昨天想起的歌詞一樣嗎？

耶穌曾經說過要改變一個人的想法，比起叫一個死人復活更難。
在創造天地的主面前還會有甚麼難事嗎？為何祂不直接把我們都"變成"乖乖的基督徒就好？
而事實是，做了十年基督徒，我沒有一天當過"乖乖"的一個基督徒。
然而因為祂愛我，祂每天每天等，像浪子的父親，不計較我的過去，遠遠看見，就跑了過來...
祂竟不去計較我的自私，我的自負，我的不負責任，我的心硬，我的厚顏，我對祂的傷害； 每天每天等，等我明白祂的愛，和祂為我所預備永恆的生命。 我能不感動嗎？

"This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever." 1 John 2:17 (NLT)


5/40
Seeing life from God's view

The Bible offers three metaphors that teach us God's view of life: Life is a test, life is a trust, and life is a temporary assignment.
Life is a test:
When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demostrate love, or to depend on God.
The good news is that God wants you to pass the tests of life, so he never allows the tests you face to be greater than the grace he gives you to handle them.

除了這本the purpose driven life之外，我同時在讀Philip Yancy的What's so amazing about Grace?，邊讀邊對恩典有一個更深入的了解和體會。
神給我們的恩典是白白給我們的，祂叫日頭照好人，也照壞人。 沒有一個人可以因為自己有多好或多強或多乖而多得神的恩典， 而神從來也不會因為我們有多壞或多頹或多頑固而減少給我們恩典。我們不能做甚麼叫神愛我們更多，同時，我們也沒有甚麼可做去叫神對我們少愛一點。
好成甘（！），這樣的一位神，要到哪裡找？
祂的恩典可以是無限大的，足夠我們面對任何試煉。而我相信，所有試煉的終極目的，除了叫我們學得更堅強之外，就是要叫我們更清楚自己的不足，更看見祂的恩典夠用，從而更認識主 -- the Amazing God of Grace.

但願我所學到的不是紙上談兵，當實際生活中要面對試煉時，我能體會主的恩典。