清心的人有福了!

马太福音5:8 清心的人有福了!因为他们必得见神。

Matthew 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (NIV)

Matthew 5:8  You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. (MSG)

清心是什么意思?我们不如从反面来思考。不清心是什么意思?不清心就是心里有一大堆事情,理也理不清;不清,就是混浊,或者也带有有肮脏的意思,也就是在心里骂人、看不起他人,性幻想,嫉妒或是苦毒,甚至想谋害人,等等。当我们的心又乱又浊时,别说想把事情弄清楚,可能自己都活得混混噩噩,更别说想看得见神了。

有时我们的心被忧虑缠住,被恐惧罩住,被哀伤蒙敝,被烦恼顶住,被愤怒控制,被利益熏心,对外界的一切都视若无睹,对真相更是模糊不清。这种情况下更看不见神。

因此,你可能会发现,我们这些俗人若要见神,非得靠信心不可。只有靠着信心冲破这一切世俗的链子,用信心的眼去单单仰望神,才能进入与神相交的境界。单单仰望神,就是只有看耶稣,不看钱,不看人的脸色,不看除了耶稣以外的一切人或物。

What does it mean to “worship in spirit and in truth”?

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 4:15-30.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

John 4:15-18 (NIV)
15  The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16  He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17  “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18  The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

Verses 15-18: The Samaritan woman’s curiosity for the living water Jesus offers turns into a real desire for it. She asks Jesus for this living water, but Jesus responds by saying “Go, call your husband and come back.” Why does Jesus do that? It’s because Jesus knew that this woman had been in a handful of failed marriages, and now she was living with someone she was not married to. Subtly Jesus was telling the woman that in order to experience the living water that Jesus makes available, she needed to repent of sin.  

怜恤人的人有福了!

马太福音5:7 怜恤人的人有福了!因为他们必蒙怜恤。

Matthew 5:7  Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (NIV)

Matthew 5:7  You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for. (MSG)

耶稣说:「怜恤人的人有福了!因为他们必蒙怜恤。」(太5:7)

怜恤别人,重点不在于自己感觉好不好、能不能,而在于我们肯不肯。我们的肯,可以将神的怜恤、爱和能力带给需要的人,同时也带给我们自己,神的怜恤会改变别人、也改变我们自己。神的怜恤就是福音的大能,需要透过人的「肯」,才会流露出来,一两个人的「肯」,可以带出神的怜恤;许多人的「肯」,可以带出神丰沛的怜恤。

有一天,有个区牧来和我交通,最近有许多老人家决志信主,有些已经受洗、有些人躺在病床上等着他去探访,他说,老人家对于爱的探访、祷告、关怀是非常有反应的。那天早上他去探访一对老人家,他们摆了「满汉全席」请他吃早餐,他一口气吃了五碗稀饭、两个馒头,把他撑得半死!﹙怜恤老人家的有福了,因为必有稀饭、早餐吃!﹚

The Answer to Your Deepest Longing

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 4:1-14.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!
 
John 4:1-3 (NIV)
1  The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John,
2  although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.
3  When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
 
On verses 1-3:  Notice that Jesus was intentional and careful in his movements. 
 
John 4:4-6 (NIV)
4  Now he had to go through Samaria.
5  So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6  Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

饥渴慕义的人有福了!

马太福音5:6 饥渴慕义的人有福了!因为他们必得饱足。

Matthew 5:6  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.(NIV)

Matthew 5:6  You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. (MSG)

耶稣说:「饥渴慕义的人有福了!因为他们必得饱足(喂养、内在被满足)。」(太5:6)「饥渴慕义的人」是渴望实行神旨意的人,渴望个人称义、个人行为合于义,并让神的公义得以彰显。神给这种人的赏赐就是「满足他们的渴望」。

耶稣在加利利遇见伯赛大人腓力,对他说:「来跟从我吧。」接着,腓力找到拿但业,带他见耶稣,耶稣指着他说:「看哪,这是个真以色列人,他心里是没有诡诈的。…腓力还没有招呼你,你在无花果树底下,我就看见你了。…你将要看见比这更大的事…。」(约1:43-51)

Let Jesus Get the Glory

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 3:22-36.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

John 3:22-30 (NIV)
22  After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.
23  Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized.

On verses 22-30:  I absolutely love and admire the humility of John the Baptist.  Instead of envying Jesus because Jesus was baptizing more people than he was and becoming more popular than he was (v26), John the Baptist displays incredible humility.  First, John says, “A man can only receive what has been given to him from heaven.” (v27)  In other words, instead of worrying about what he didn’t have, John the Baptist simply focused on what he did have because of God’s grace and was thankful for it.  Likewise, may you not worry and fret about what you don’t have but be thankful for what you do have.

温柔的人有福了!

马太福音5:5 温柔的人有福了!因为他们必承受地土。

Matthew 5:5  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.(NIV)

Matthew 5:5  You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. (MSG)

神记念与亚伯拉罕所立的约,向以撒所起的誓,向雅各定为律例,向以色列定为永远的约,说:我必将迦南地赐给你,作你产业的分(代上16:15-18,诗105:8-11)。以色列人进入迦南地,他们按家室拈阄,承受那地;人多的,把产业多分给他们;人少的,把产业少分给他们(民33:54)。

地土是神应许以色列人的产业,天降甘露,地土必有出产,百姓因而蒙福(该1:11,亚8:12)。

我们所处的环境充满竞争和比较,大卫在诗篇37篇提醒我们:不要为作恶的心怀不平,也不要向那行不义的生出嫉妒(诗37:1);…等候耶和华的必承受地土(诗37:9),

From Death to Life

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 3:9-21.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!
 
John 3:9-13 (NIV)
9  “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10  “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
11  I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
12  I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
13  No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven–the Son of Man.
 
On verses 9-13:  Nicodemus was known as “the teacher of Israel” (v10 ESV, NKJV).  Yet here Israel’s teacher is unable to understand what Jesus, the Son of Man, was saying.  It shows that Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, had wisdom and experience that Israel’s greatest teachers could not match.  Teachers like Nicodemus were mere men reaching for heaven, whereas Jesus is the one who “came from heaven” to reach people on earth.

What Does It Mean To Be “Born Again”?

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 3:1-8.  I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!
 
John 3:1-2 (NIV)
1  Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2  He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
 
On verses 1-2:   Jesus’ most vocal opponents and critics were the Pharisees, the religious elite of Israel.  Yet even among the Pharisees, there were those who secretly believed that Jesus was a teacher sent from God.  One of them was Nicodemus, who was not only a Pharisee but also a member of the powerful ruling council of Israel (v1b).  Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night (v2), perhaps because he did not want to be seen associating with Jesus.

哀恸的人有福了

马太福音5:4 哀恸的人有福了!因为他们必得安慰。

Matthew 5:4  Blessed are those who mourn,  for they will be comforted.(NIV)

Matthew 5:4 You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. (MSG)

人的哀恸可能来自受伤害、受逼迫,也可能是失去至亲好友、忍受试探或试验,或是无法面对的困境;在人生的窘境中哀恸,表达出人生命中最深层的无助,无助让人谦卑,谦卑带出神的怜恤和安慰。耶稣说:哀恸的人有福了!因为他们必得安慰。(太5:4)

惟有神,是安慰我们的。(赛51:12)我们照着神的话语(诗119:50)、公义的典章(诗119:52)、丰盛的应许(诗119:76)得安慰。

我虽然行过死荫的幽谷,也不怕遭害,因为祢与我同在;祢的杖,祢的竿,都安慰我。(诗23:4)