对今日诗句的想法
神的百姓在顺境中离弃了主，去随从他们自己的神，而且照着自己的意思行事。其实那根本不是“他们的”神，以色列北部支派只是效仿了四周的外邦人，像他们一样淫乱可憎。他们不记念穷苦人与寄居者，欺骗寡妇与软弱无助之人。神想要他们知道，神清楚他们的所作所为；全能者想要他们明白，他将采取行动并施行公义；掌管一切的主想要以色列北部支派意识到，他们已经为自己种下了毁灭的恶果，即使他们甚至不明白将遭受毁灭的可能性，然而因为他们刚硬的心且拒绝活出应有的品格，神已经定意要施行审判。他们的毁灭极大地提醒了我们——除非我们的生命活出主的品格，我们的心展现主的怜悯并遵行主的旨意，否则我们被称为基督徒、神的选民、神的圣洁祭司(彼得前书2章)都无足轻重。
Thoughts on Today's Verse...
Please note:
We chose these verses over a decade ago. Each reference this year corresponds to its date — 8/14/2024 became Hosea 8:14. This method challenges us to hear verses we often ignore and calls us to adjust our lives and priorities to align with God's teaching.
In prosperity, God's people left the Lord. They followed the cultural gods around them and engaged in the immorality of that world. The northern tribes, known as Israel at that time, became secular and pagan, like those around them. They lived immoral lives, forgot to care for the poor, overlooked the foreigners among them, cheated widows, mistreated the fatherless, and took advantage of the powerless (Amos 5:9-15). God's prophets, Amos and Hosea, denounced these vices. God saw and knew their sins. The Sovereign Lord wanted the northern tribes of Israel to recognize they had caused their coming destruction. Their hard hearts and their repeated refusal to live with God's character (Deuteronomy 10:14-22) led to their obliteration. As Christians, part of God's chosen people and his holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:9-12), we must heed the warning of Israel's history. Our lives must portray his values, our hearts must display his compassion, and our hands must do his will, or our claims are meaningless, and our future is tenuous. We must seek the Lord and live, not all the false props of pseudo-religious practices that ignore the heart of God (Amos 5:1-27).
我的祷告
我们都犯了罪，天父啊，愿你饶恕我们！我们都将目光偏向罪，另眼看待社交、司法、种族歧视。亲爱的主啊，请加添我力量，赐给我们力量使我们成为你真正的圣洁子民，靠着我们在主里的信心团结在一起，而不是因种族、年龄、国籍、政见或社会经济地位；靠着赞美你的荣耀而紧密相联；向这个充满仇恨的世界彰显你的恩典，这恩典是从认识你是我们的天父而来的。奉主耶稣之名祈求，阿们！
My Prayer...
Father, forgive us, for we have sinned. Father, forgive me, for I have sinned. We have too often looked the other way and ignored social, judicial, and racial injustice. Empower me, dear Lord, empower us to truly be your holy people, bound together by our faith in Jesus — not by our race, age, nationality, political preferences, or socioeconomic status. Please connect us back to you and to each other through our praise and our actions that exemplify your character and grace to our divided and often hate-filled world. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
