Philippians 4:19
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
“This war will affect the world’s economy.”
“Unemployment is at an all-time high.”
People of the world feel helpless as systems of the world go up and down. But God does not want you to feel helpless because you are not of the world. (John 17:16) You are of God and therefore need not be subject to the world’s systems. Whatever the world’s situation is, fear not because “God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.

Notice that Philippians 4:19 says that “God shall supply all your need”. It does not say that God may supply some of your needs. It also says that God will do it “according to His riches”. It is not out of His riches. If a millionaire gives you a hundred dollars, it is out of his riches. The sum is only a small portion of his riches. However, if he gives to you according to his riches, it means that he is lining up his millions for your supply!

 

Lastly, the verse says that God does it “according to His riches in glory”. It is not according to the riches of your company or how well the economy is doing. No, it is according to God’s riches in glory!

So how do you stop yourself from feeling helpless in uncertain, shaky times? The same way I stopped myself from getting sea-sick when I was on board a navy ship for the first time during my National Service stint. A senior navy officer had advised me, “Don’t look at the waves around you. Look at the horizon far away. Look at that stable, stationary line and you will feel better.” When I fixed my eyes on that unshakeable, unwavering line, even though the ship bobbed in the rough sea, I did not feel sea-sick anymore. 

My friend, don’t look at your circumstances or the bad things that are happening in the world because you will get “earth-sick”. Instead, look at the unshakeable, eternal Word of God. Your heart will become stable and you will see your God supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus!

 

NEW CREATION CHURCH

Matthew 1:23
23“… and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated “God with us.”

God has promised you His constant presence (Hebrews 13:5), but are you conscious of His presence daily? When you are conscious of His presence every day, you will experience a peace that gives you rest, great joy in your spirit and a power nothing in this world can offer. In fact, you will begin to be peaceful and powerful like Jesus. You will speak like Jesus and behave like Jesus. This is because you cannot be in God’s presence without His beauty, love, peace, power and glory rubbing off on you.

So how do you practise being conscious of God’s presence? Start by seeing God with you in what you do and wherever you are. For example, at your board meeting, while deliberating on issues, see the Lord there in the boardroom with you, guiding you in your thinking. And you can be sure that His presence will bring clarity of thought and wisdom to you. You will find yourself flowing with great and sound ideas.

If you are going for an interview, see the Lord there in the interview room with you, putting answers in your mouth. Your nervousness will melt away as you see His favour on you bringing on smiles and approving nods from the interviewers.

Perhaps you are going for surgery. Well, see the Lord in the operating theatre with you, guiding the hands of the surgeons. Your worries will dissipate because nothing can go wrong in the Lord’s presence.

If you are in the middle of an argument, see the Lord standing within earshot. Your words will change and your body language will become more reconciliatory as you see the Lord right there with you and the grace He extends to you. Somehow, supernaturally, there will be self-control which is not borne of willpower, but which comes supernaturally by knowing that the One who loves you and watches over you is with you. 

Beloved, when you become conscious of God’s presence in your life, worries and fears have no foothold in your mind. You will see Him maximising your joy and fun, and prospering you in what you say and do!

 

                                                                                                                                     NEW CREATION CHURCH

你是刺猬，还是狐狸呢？

以赛亚.柏林在他著名的小品文《刺猬与狐狸》中把人分为刺猬和狐狸两种类型。他依据的是古希腊的一则寓言——《刺猬与狐狸》，讲的是狐狸知道很多事情，但是刺猬知道一件大事。狐狸是一种狡猾的动物，能够设计无数复杂的策略偷偷向刺猬发动进攻。狐狸从早到晚在刺猬的巢穴四周徘徊，等待最佳袭击时间。狐狸行动迅速，皮毛光滑，脚步飞快，阴险狡猾，看上去准是赢家。而刺猬毫不起眼，遗传基因上就象豪猪和犰狳的杂交品种。它走起路来一摇一摆，整天到处走动，寻觅食物和照料它的家。

狐狸在小路的岔口不动声色地等待着。刺猬只做着自己的事情，一不留神瞎转到狐狸所在的小道上。"啊，我抓住你啦！"狐狸暗自想着。它向前扑去，跳过路面，如闪电般迅速。刺猬意识到了危险，抬起头，想着："我们真是冤家路窄，又碰上了，它就不能吸取教训吗？"它立刻蜷缩成一个圆球，浑身尖刺，指向四面八方。狐狸正向它的猎物扑过去，看见了刺猬的防御工事，只好停止了进攻。撤回森林后，狐狸策划新一轮的进攻。刺猬和狐狸之间的这种战斗每天都以某种战斗每天都以某种形式发生，但是尽管狐狸比刺猬聪明，刺猬总是屡战屡胜。

从这则寓言中得到启发，我们可以把人分为两个基本的类型：狐狸和刺猬。狐狸同时追求很多目标，把世界当做一个复杂的整体来看待。狐狸的思维是"凌乱或是扩散的，在很多层次上发展"，从来没有是它们的思想集中成为一个总体理论或统一的观点。而刺猬则把复杂的世界简化成单个有组织性的观点，一条基本原则或一个基本理念，发挥统帅和指导作用。不管世界多么复杂，刺猬都会把所有的挑战和进退维谷的局面压缩为简单的——实际上几乎是过于简单的——刺猬理念。对于刺猬，任何与刺猬理念无关的观点都毫无意义。

普林斯顿大学教授指出了刺猬的威力："你想知道是什么把那些产生重大影响的人与其他和他们同样聪明的人区别开来吗？是刺猬。"弗洛伊德之于潜意识，达尔文之于自然选择，马克思之于阶级斗争，爱因斯坦之于相对论，亚当斯密之于劳动分工——他们都是刺猬。他们把复杂的世界简化了。"那些留下深深的历史印记的人，"布莱斯勒说，"拥有成千上万的追随者，他们会说，‘真是好主意，不过你做得太过分啦！'"

要明白一点，刺猬并不是愚蠢。恰好相反，他们懂得深刻思想的本质是简单。难道有比把无意识的观点总结为本我、自我和超我更单纯的吗？什么比亚当.斯密的大头针和 "看不见的手"更明确的呢?不，刺猬决不是傻瓜；它们拥有穿透性的洞察力,能够看透复杂事物并且识别隐藏的模式。刺猬注重本质，而忽略其他。


那些实现跨越公司的精英，在某种程度上都是刺猬。他们运用自己的刺猬本性，为公司努力建立今天所称的"刺猬理念"。相反，那些与之相对照公司的领导却倾向与做狐狸，从来没有获得刺猬理念的优势。他们的思想是分散的、不集中的、不连贯的。

确切地说，刺猬理念是一个简单明确的概念，他来自于对以下三环交叉部分的深刻理解：

     最近比较空闲，终于把一直以来想读的一本书《GOOD TO GREAT(从优秀到卓越）》读完了，真的是名不虚传，收获很大，在这里和大家分享一下，也希望大家都有阅读的好习惯。我感到印象最深刻的是本书没有太多的理论指导，都是根据调查研究，真实的数据得出的结论。有几点值得思考，推翻了我的一些传统看法。

     斯托克代尔悖论(The Stockdale Paradox)：美国海军上将吉姆.斯托克代尔，越战激烈时期“河内希尔顿”关押的的美军最高军事指挥官。从1965年到1973年8年间，他被严刑拷打二十多次。他没有享受任何优待战俘的权利，相反，他不知道是否能获释，不敢确定是否能活着见到家人。但他顶住来自越方的压力和折磨，竭尽所能，创造战俘获释的机会。他在战俘内部组织起一场斗争，破坏越方用战俘作宣传的企图。他用一个5对5模型敲击代码来代替字母，煞费苦心地建立了一套内部交流办法。有一次，他的狱友们面带愁容，在院子中央掩面哭泣，在大家约定的沉默之后，后来用代码敲出了“我爱你”，以纪念他被俘3周年。因为他的不懈斗争，在获释后，他获得了崇高的荣誉，在大学里进行哲学研究，并与妻子合著《爱情与战争》（In Love and War)。

当记者问他何以如此坚定时，斯托克代尔说：“我从不对故事的结局失去信心，我从不怀疑我可以出来，而且会最终成功。回忆起来，这要归功于我在人生的关键时刻不会出卖自己。”

当记者问有哪些人没有出来时，他的回答则令人大吃一惊：“是那些乐观主义者。”这里似乎和刚才的讲法有一些矛盾，他继续说：“他们会说：圣诞节之前，我们肯定出得去。圣诞节来了又过去，他们又说：复活节之前，我们一定出得去。复活节来了又去了，然后是感恩节，然后又是圣诞节。在一次又一次的希望、失望之后，他们抑郁而终。”

“这是一个非常重要的教训。不能把信念和原则搞混，信念是一定会成功——这点可千万不能失去——而原则是同时一定要面对现状中最残忍的事实，无论有多大困难，无论它们是什么。”

    作为一个基督徒来说，不是说信主之后一切就会非常的顺利，还会经历失望和打击，还会有很多看起来是无缘无故的挫折，还有很多的问题和困难等待我们去面对。但由于耶稣的死而复活，我们是胜了这世界的，结果是已经确定了，只是过程不会一帆风顺。如果说别人看到这个悖论学到是要有坚定的信念，并且直面残酷的现实，而我们则是确定的信心，并且经历上帝加给我们的能够承受的磨难。将人们区分开的不是困难的有无，而是对待生活中无法避免的困难的态度，讲基督徒区分开的不是困难的有无，而是在困难中对神的信心的大小。困难不是使我们变得软弱，而是变得更坚强，对神更有信心。

    神会听你的祷告，要祝福你美好的家庭，充足的金钱，美好的同事，自豪的事业，良好的人及关系等，也许不是明天，不是明年，但他一定会的！！！

    待续