LỰA CHỌN PHƯỚC TRONG CHÚA 2

Kinh thánh: Thi thiên 37: 1-11

Câu gốc: THI THIÊN 37: 7 phần B – Chớ phiền lòng vì cớ kẻ được may mắn trong con đường mình, hoặc vì cớ người làm thành những mưu ác.

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SELECTING BLESSINGS FROM GOD 2

Bible: Psalm 37: 1-11

Main verse: PSALM 37: 7 part B – Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

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– For us Christians, when we seek God’s blessings, we must remember that the greatest and most important blessing that God wants us to have is the salvation in Jesus Christ and the eternal life, as it was recorded in the Bible:

1TIMOTHY 2: 4 – [God] desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

1TI-MÔ-THÊ 2: 4 – Ngài muốn cho mọi người được cứu rỗi và hiểu biết lẽ thật.

– Therefore, if Christians neglected God’s desire of salvation for ourselves, we will never be truly blessed in Him. Or more exactly, if we have not tried our best to seek eternal life fervently, whatever we have had was just a very small portion of what God has intended for us to have.

– In His Word, God has emphasized that in order for us to be saved, He rather let us live a simple life or in poverty than in richness that could cause us lose eternal life:

MATTHEW 16: 26 – For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

MA-THI-Ơ 16: 26 – Người nào nếu được cả thiên hạ mà mất linh hồn mình, thì có ích gì? Vậy thì người sẽ lấy chi mà đổi linh hồn mình lại?

PROVERBS 15: 16 – Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble.

CHÂM NGÔN 15: 16 – Thà có ít của mà kính sợ Đức Giê-hô-va, còn hơn là tài sản nhiều mà bối rối cặp theo.

– That’s why we should always seek the salvation in Jesus Christ for ourselves first before we ask God for more blessings for other aspects of our lives.

– When we seek the salvation for ourselves, we already know that we must truly believe in God with our full hearts, then asking the Holy Spirit to make us being born again in Him and from there on must live a godly life according to God’s commands and standards in the Bible.

– By living that way we also prepare ourselves being worthy to receive God’s blessings and know how to use them properly to glorify God and to help those who live around us wisely. That is the connection between salvation and blessings that God has intended for all mankind. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had received both of them in their life times on earth because of their strong and steady faith in the Lord.

– Because of his faith that Abraham was blessed abundantly by God and became a rich man, so rich that he had enough able servants to defeat kings:

GENESIS 13: 2 – Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

SÁNG THẾ KÝ 13: 2 – Vả, Áp-ram rất giàu có súc vật, vàng và bạc.

GENESIS 14: 14-15 – Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

SÁNG THẾ KÝ 14: 14-15 – Khi Áp-ram hay được cháu mình bị quân giặc bắt, bèn chiêu tập ba trăm mười tám gia nhân đã tập luyện, sanh đẻ nơi nhà mình, mà đuổi theo các vua đó đến đất Đan. Đoạn Áp-ram chia bọn đầy tớ mình ra, thừa ban đêm xông hãm quân nghịch, đánh đuổi theo đến đất Hô-ba ở về phía tả Đa-mách.

– Isaac was also richly blessed by God that even kings were so envied of him:

GENESIS 26: 12-16 – Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him. Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac: Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.

SÁNG THẾ KÝ 26: 12-16 – Y-sác gieo hột giống trong xứ đó; năm ấy gặt được bội trăm phần; vì Đức Giê-hô-va đã ban phước cho. Người nên thạnh vượng, của cải càng ngày càng thêm cho đến đỗi người trở nên rất lớn. Người có nhiều bầy chiên, bầy bò và tôi tớ rất đông. Bởi cớ ấy, dân Phi-li-tin đem lòng ganh ghét. Mấy cái giếng lúc trước đầy tớ của Áp-ra-ham, cha người, đã đào, bây giờ đều bị dân Phi-li-tin lấp đất lại hết. A-bi-mê-léc nói cùng Y-sác rằng: Hãy ra khỏi nơi ta, vì ngươi thạnh vượng hơn chúng ta bội phần.

– And now we can understand that the secret of gaining more blessings from God is trying to live a holy life in Jesus then everything else will be given to us plentifully. That is the promise that God has made to us in Jesus Christ:

MATTHEW 6: 33 – But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

MA-THI-Ơ 6: 33 – Nhưng trước hết, hãy tìm kiếm nước Đức Chúa Trời và sự công bình của Ngài, thì Ngài sẽ cho thêm các ngươi mọi điều ấy nữa.

– Almost all Christians know this promise from God but only a few of us actually live according to it in order to receive more blessings from Him. That’s why we Christians have not received God’s blessings as abundantly as it should be, although we all know and memorized by hearts what was described in Psalm 23, especially verse 5:

PSALM 23: 5 – You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

THI THIÊN 23: 5 – Chúa dọn bàn cho tôi trước mặt kẻ thù nghịch tôi; Chúa xức dầu cho đầu tôi, chén tôi đầy tràn.

– We Christians have not often questioned ourselves why we could not received God’s blessings as much as it should be, but on the other hand and quite contrary, we seem always asking why unbelievers, even criminals, are more successful than us in building up their fortunes and riches.

– We can find the answer for that question in the Bible which has given us long time ago in order to help us living an understanding and joyous life on earth as God’s children. According to the Bible there is one main reasons that made unbelievers being more successful and richer than Christians. There are also others but we will leave them for another time.

– We should remember that although God is The One Who blesses and punishes mankind according to their deeds, but He also allows Satan to give people some material rewards or being able to destroy human possessions in order to test people’s faith in Him, as in the case of Job:

JOB 1: 12 – And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he (Job) has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

GIÓP 1: 12 – Đức Giê-hô-va phán với Sa-tan rằng: Nầy, các vật người có đều phó trong tay ngươi; nhưng chớ tra tay vào mình nó. Sa-tan bèn lui ra khỏi mặt Đức Giê-hô-va.

– Because Satan was allowed to give or to take earthly possessions from humans, so he even dared to temp Jesus with them:

MATTHEW 4: 8-9 – Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him: All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.

MATTHEW 4: 8-9 – Ma quỉ lại đem Ngài lên trên núi rất cao, chỉ cho Ngài các nước thế gian, cùng sự vinh hiển các nước ấy; mà nói rằng: Ví bằng ngươi sấp mình trước mặt ta mà thờ lạy, thì ta sẽ cho ngươi hết thảy mọi sự nầy.

– That’s why Satan and his demons were called kings of darkness on Earth:

EPHESIANS 6: 12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Ê-PHÊ-SÔ 6: 12 – Vì chúng ta đánh trận, chẳng phải cùng thịt và huyết, bèn là cùng chủ quyền, cùng thế lực, cùng vua chúa của thế gian mờ tối nầy, cùng các thần dữ ở các miền trên trời vậy.

– Thus, now we know that God has allowed unbelievers and criminals to be rich and successful to test Christians’ faith in Him. If we are truly trusting God, we should never let their riches or successes bothering us or affecting our way of life according to the Bible’ standards.

PSALM 37: 7 – Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

THI THIÊN 37: 7 – Hãy yên tịnh trước mặt Đức Giê-hô-va, và chờ đợi Ngài. Chớ phiền lòng vì cớ kẻ được may mắn trong con đường mình, hoặc vì cớ người làm thành những mưu ác.

– By allowing that happened, God wants us to put our trust on His faithfulness as He has promised to look after us for eternity:

PSALM 37: 3 – Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

THI THIÊN 37: 3 – Hãy tin cậy Đức Giê-hô-va, và làm điều lành; Khá ở trong xứ, và nuôi mình bằng sự thành tín của Ngài.

– Many Christians have failed this kind of test when they abandoned their faith in Jesus Christ in exchange for riches and successes in this life. Some of them pretended to keep their faith by going to church sometimes or claimed that they were still Christians but their actions and their ways of life were completely contradicting or even opposing to God’s truth in the Bible.

– Therefore we should understand that because God knows exactly what are in our hearts, so if Christians had the tendency to go astray when being blessed with earthly materials, God rather lets us being poor (but not desperate) than rich in order for us to trust Him and gain salvation later.

LUKE 6: 20 – Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

LU-CA 6: 20 – Đức Chúa Jêsus bèn ngước mắt ngó môn đồ, mà phán rằng: Phước cho các ngươi nghèo khó, vì nước Đức Chúa Trời thuộc về các ngươi!

– Only when Christians prove ourselves that we are worthy of His physical blessings by living a godly life and following carefully His instructions in the Bible that God will give us more than what we wish for.

JOSHUA 1: 8 – This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you ] shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

GIÔ-SUÊ 1: 8 – Quyển sách luật pháp nầy chớ xa miệng ngươi, hãy suy gẫm ngày và đêm, hầu cho cẩn thận làm theo mọi điều đã chép ở trong; vì như vậy ngươi mới được may mắn trong con đường mình, và mới được phước.

– But there is one more problem that Christians have been faced relating to this matter. It’s the question of how to distinguish which one is a blessing from God and which one came from Satan. About this question we will have another time to look into it through the lenses of the Bible’s verses.

– In the mean time, may God give us strength and determination to live according to the standards setting forth for us in Scriptures so that we can grow strongly in faith and will receive many more blessings from Him, both spiritual and physical, in this life before Jesus comes back to earth. Amen.

(will be continued)