Circumcised by Jesus

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 5:1-8.  Let’s go!

Joshua 5:1 (NIV) 
1  Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until we had crossed over, their hearts melted and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.

On verse 1:  Upon hearing about the past miracles God had performed for the Israelites, Israel’s enemies were very much intimidated.  Nevertheless, as we will see in the verses that follow, God would lead the Israelites through an important process internally before they would be ready to enter and conquer the promised land.

What can we learn from this?  God has a promised land for you to conquer.  That promised land is the dream God has placed in your heart, the destiny God made you for, the calling on your life.  But before you can take over your promised land successfully, God has an internal, private preparation process that He wants you to go through, one which people who know you from a distance will not be aware of.  Promotion in public is preceded by preparation in private. 

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贖罪日Yom Kippur

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利未記 16:6-10亞倫要把贖罪祭的公牛奉上，為自己和本家贖罪；也要把兩隻公山羊安置在會幕門口、耶和華面前，為那兩隻羊拈鬮，一鬮歸與耶和華，一鬮歸與阿撒瀉勒。亞倫要把那拈鬮歸與耶和華的羊獻為贖罪祭，但那拈鬮歸與阿撒瀉勒的羊要活著安置在耶和華面前，用以贖罪，打發人送到曠野去，歸與阿撒瀉勒。

根據猶太傳統：起初，上帝創造天地 (創1:1) 。創造的第一天是在希伯來提敘黎月（猶太曆七月）的第一天。猶太新年(Rosh Hashanah) 字面上的意思是「年頭」，今年(2020年)落在陽曆9月18日。當天黃昏，便進入了猶太曆5781年。猶太曆不是從亞伯拉罕被揀選、摩西被呼召或大衛王朝的時候開始，而是在宇宙被造時開始的，因為《聖經》是萬物的歷史。

對於猶太人，神在《聖經》裡有很明確的指示，新年代表審判，因此要自我內省、禱告和悔改。新年也是莊嚴的節期，用來進行個人靈命反省和思考人類未來的方向，這節日是「敬畏的日子」(Days of Awe)，用來檢視自己的生活並重新將自己歸向神，與神和好。

依《聖經》記載，新年又稱作「吹角節」。在這段節期，猶太百姓會在以色列營地四處吹起號角，尖銳剌耳的聲音是要喚起人民悔改與出征，是指屬靈爭戰。號角的聲音涉及到西奈山的啟示(出19:16)、信心(詩81)、聚集猶太子民(賽27:13)、對罪的告誡(賽58:1)、以色列國的復興和對列國的審判(撒9:14)。最終，號角聲預表了主耶穌的復臨。祂將回來審判列國(太25)，從困苦中釋放以色列子民(賽63)、和以色列國立新約(耶31)、為祂將在平安禧年掌權預備道路。

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God Is Never Too Early and Never Too Late

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 4:11-24.  We’ll include verse 10 in here too.  Let’s go!

Joshua 4:10-18 (NIV) 
10  Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over,
11  and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched.
12  The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them…….

On verses 10-18:  If I was one of the priests carrying the ark, and I had to remain standing in the middle of the Jordan River while everyone else is passing through, I would probably be more than a little nervous, thinking, “Can we go over already?  What if the river collapses on us and washes us away?”  But the priests stayed until all 40,000 Israelites crossed over the Jordan River (v13).  It wasn’t until all the soldiers crossed over that God gave the command for the priests to come out of the Jordan (v13-17), and the moment the priests stepped foot on the other side of the Jordan River the river waters returned to flood stage as before (v18).

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Remember and Celebrate What God Has Done

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 4:1-10.  Let’s go!

Joshua 4:1-9 (NIV) 
1  When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 
2  “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 
3  and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” 
4  So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 
5  and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, …….

On verses 1-9:  Why did Joshua tell the twelve representatives from the twelve tribes of Israel to take a stone from the middle of the Jordan River where the priests were standing.  It’s because these stones were “to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever” (v7).  In other words, these large stones, which they would carry on their shoulders (v5) from the bottom of the Jordan River, would serve as a long-lasting reminder that God had cut off the flow of the Jordan and that the people crossed the Jordan on dry land.

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兩種光—「外面的光」與「裡面的光」 　　

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箴言3章6節  在你一切所行的事上都要認定祂，祂必指引你的路。

兩種光——「外面的光」與「裡面的光」

聖經給我們看見我們身上有兩種的光，一種就是眼睛看得見的「外面的光」，一種是照明我們心腸肺腑、代表上帝對我們進行道德審判的「裡面的光」，這是良知所發出來的光，這兩種光能使一個人的生命產生非常大的價值。

人看人的時候，一定先看人的眼睛，因為眼睛是人的面孔中唯一能反照出光的地方。眼睛是人身上的燈，人看你，就從你綻放光彩的眼睛建立他對你的印象。如果你的眼睛明亮，人看見你，就看見你美麗的外表與光彩。裡面的光，使人從裡面看見自己，這一點是許多宗教都注意到的。

沒有光，就無法顯明事物的模樣與真實的情況。以弗所書5章13節告訴我們：「一切能顯明的就是光。」你到倉庫找東西，一定要先打開燈，因為光能顯明倉庫裡有什麼。人的心也需要光，才知道什麼當存留、什麼當去除，詩篇139篇24節說：「看在我裡面有什麼惡行沒有，引導我走永生的道路」。

「眼睛」是「外面的光」，「良知」是「裡面的光」。箴言告訴我們：「人的靈是耶和華的燈」（箴20:27），上帝把光放在你的裡面，照亮你的內在，使你有自知之明，知道你的心存著什麼。人之所以遮住他裡面的光，是因為他不願意聽良心對他所說的話，也不願意聽良心對他所做的見證。

裡面的光——「良心」

挪威神學家哈列斯比（Ole Kristian Hallesby, 1879-1961）的論文「良心論」說：「人之所以為人，因為人有一個向上帝負責的良心。良心是上帝的代表，是上帝的光，是上帝的聲音，照明我們，指責我們，使我們自知我們裡面有什麼。」

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The Walk of Faith

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 3:9-17.  Let’s go!

Joshua 3:9-14 (NIV) 
9  Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. 
10  This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 
11  See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 
12  Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 
13  And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD–the Lord of all the earth–set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” 
14  So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.

On verses 9-14:  The priests carrying the ark of the covenant go ahead of the people to lead the way through the Jordan River.  What can we learn from this?  A good leader will not tell his or her people to do what he himself is unwilling to do.  The best leaders lead not just with their words but also with their example.  

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患漏症的處理

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利未記15章11節   患漏症的人沒有用水涮手，無論摸了誰，誰必不潔淨到晚上，並要洗衣服，用水洗澡。

可能有的人看到這章經文的主題會覺得很不自在，怎麼在這樣神聖的一本書裡，會出現這樣的主題呢？這種事情不是都隱秘不宣的嗎？但是當我們再讀下去時，就會發現原來只有造人的神才知道人的每一層需要；也相對地發現，耶穌所講的：「從人裡面出來的，那才能污穢人。」這句話何等真實。原來人的裡面是那樣地藏污納垢，從亞倫的兩個兒子取凡火獻祭，到人長大痲瘋，以及屋子長大痲瘋如何潔淨，讓我們充份體會到人的本質是何等地骯髒悖逆。也讓我們明白，原來罪的本質，非用血不能得以潔淨。

英文比較能表達這一章所要說的，有關人身體產生的分泌物discharge，一旦到了體外便是不潔，需要注意如何去潔淨，以免細菌到處感染，使人生病。因為分泌物包括的不只是男女性器官流出的東西，分泌物也包括口裡吐出的痰。只要我們思想一下，便會承認凡是從肉體裡出來的東西，都是不潔的。以前有些老祖母把食物在嘴裡嚼爛了，再放到嬰兒或小孩嘴裡，雖是一番好意，但是給現代母親看到，一定會大叫，「不要這樣，太髒了。」為什麼口水在自己嘴裡不覺得髒，一旦到了嘴巴外面就變髒了？以前的華人比較沒有衛生的概念，上至君王，下至販夫走卒，走到哪兒就吐痰吐到哪兒。有的人還洋洋得意，練得一口吐痰的痰功，一口飛痰可以把人打暈。但我想，也有可能是被嚇暈的，想到一口髒兮兮的痰向你飛來，能不先嚇暈嗎？

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When You’re Not Sure Which Way to Go

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 3:1-8.  Let’s go!

Joshua 3:1-4a (NIV) 
1  Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 
2  After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 
3  giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 
4  Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.

On verses 1-4a:  Here Joshua and the Israelites are preparing to cross the Jordan River on their way to Canaan, also known as the promised land.  Joshua orders his officers, who in turn order the people to move out and follow two things: (1) the ark of the covenant, which was an ornate, gold-plated box that symbolized the presence of God; and (2) and the priests carrying that ark.  That way they knew which way to go (v4).

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