July 2024 – Page 3 – 海外华人福音网

When It’s Not Politically Correct To Obey God

2024-07-21/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 5:17-32. As usual, 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!

Acts 5:17-25 (NIV)
17  Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.
18  They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.
19  But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.
20  “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”

On verses 17-25: The high priest is jealous of the apostles and the positive attention they were getting from the miracles God had enabled them to perform. The high priest throws the apostles in jail. Yet miraculously God sends an angel to deliver the apostles, taking them out of jail without being noticed. At daybreak the next morning, the high priest finds the apostles in the temple courts telling people “the full message of this life” (v20).

因著信，我們能愛

2024-07-19/in 每日親近神, 每日親近神-2024 /by meiling

馬太福音 17:14-21

14 耶穌和門徒到了眾人那裡，有一個人來見耶穌，跪下， 15 說：「主啊，憐憫我的兒子！他害癲癇的病很苦，屢次跌在火裡，屢次跌在水裡。 16 我帶他到你門徒那裡，他們卻不能醫治他。」 17 耶穌說：「唉！這又不信又悖謬的世代啊，我在你們這裡要到幾時呢？我忍耐你們要到幾時呢？把他帶到我這裡來吧！」 18 耶穌斥責那鬼，鬼就出來，從此孩子就痊癒了。

車子飛快地奔馳著，心想還有半小時就到台南，應該可以準時回家吃中飯。一轉瞬，街道旁中年婦人的身影閃過我的眼角，一身破爛、一根柺杖、還有纏著繃帶且不斷揮舞的雙手，顯然的，她在期待撘便車。荒郊野地，一位髒兮兮的婦人，讓她撘便車，不方便吧！那根柺杖，會不會有危險啊！日頭赤焰焰，隨人顧生命……。是的！中午的日頭赤焰焰，她的手可能要揮舞好久，才能盼到第二輛車子。心念一轉，隨著右腳的煞車動作，心中嘮叨了幾句，上帝啊！祢可得幫幫忙喔！保守我的平安。車子拐個彎，停在婦人的身旁。

Integrity Matters

2024-07-19/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 5:1-16. As usual, 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!

Acts 5:1-11 (NIV)
1  Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property.
2  With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3  Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

On verses 1-11: What exactly did Ananias and Sapphira do wrong here? Weren’t they generous in giving money to the church? Did God strike them down simply because they kept a bit of the money for themselves? Are we not allowed to keep anything for ourselves when we sell something?

How Situations Can Changewith Prayer and God’s Word

2024-07-18/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 4:23-37. As usual, 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!

Acts 4:23-36 (NIV)
23  On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.
24  When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
25  You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26  The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.

On verses 24-26: Notice how much the early church relied on two habits: prayer and studying the Scriptures. Before the book of Acts, we see no record of the disciples searching and quoting the Scriptures themselves, but now after seeing the resurrected Jesus and after being filled with the Holy Spirit, the Scriptures become so important and alive to them.

一句話的能力

2024-07-18/in 每日親近神, 每日親近神-2024 /by meiling

羅馬書 13:9 像那「不可姦淫，不可殺人，不可偷盜，不可貪婪」，或有別的誡命，都包在「愛人如己」這一句話之內了。

有一天我走路經過麵包店的騎樓，恰好碰到我的研究生，我不經意的問她：「妳最近好嗎？」打過招呼後，我們就各走各路。她來自大陸，先在德國讀書，再來台灣修讀雙學位。她是女生，我比較不方便，也未曾關心過她的生活情形。幾個月後，她完成雙學位後到美國，她捎來一封信告訴我，「妳最近好嗎？」那一句話溫暖了她的心，安慰她思鄉之苦，因為她出外讀書多年，從未有人關心過她。從此以後，她在過年過節總會email問候，分享她在美國的生活，有時也尋求我的建議。

The Most Important Proof that Jesus is Alive

2024-07-17/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 4:13-22. As usual, 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!

Acts 4:13 (NIV)
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

On verse 13: Peter and John did not have any formal education, but they had spent three years with the Word, Jesus Christ. You don’t need to have a formal education or spectacular worldly credentials to be used by God. In the end, all you need is to have been with the Word, Jesus Christ. The more you’ve been with the Word, Jesus Christ, who is wisdom personified, the more He gives you wisdom to live, to do relationships well, to pursue God-given dreams and to serve His people with power.

一句話也不說

2024-07-17/in 每日親近神, 每日親近神-2024 /by meiling

創世記 24:21 那人定睛看她，一句話也不說，要曉得耶和華賜他通達的道路沒有。

書6:10 約書亞吩咐百姓說：「你們不可呼喊，不可出聲，連一句話也不可出你們的口，等到我吩咐你們呼喊的日子，那時才可以呼喊。」

馬太福音 27:14 耶穌仍不回答，連一句話也不說，以致巡撫甚覺稀奇。

以賽亞書 53:7 祂被欺壓，在受苦的時候卻不開口。像羊羔被牽到宰殺之地，又像羊在剪毛的人手下無聲，祂也是這樣不開口。

「一句話也不說」是信心的功課，亞伯拉罕的老僕人認真等候神，約書亞和百姓倚靠祂得勝，耶穌謙卑順服天父旨意。許多時候，我們需要一句話也不說，定睛仰望神。

管理亞伯拉罕全業最老的僕人定睛看利百加，一句話也不說，要曉得耶和華賜他通達的道路沒有。（創24:21）

約書亞吩咐百姓不可呼喊，不可出聲，一句話也不可出口，等到呼喊的日子。（書6:10）百姓圍繞耶利哥城六日，一日一次，第七日繞城七次，他們聽見角聲，百姓大聲呼喊，城牆塌陷，各人往前直上，將城奪取。

The One Name That Saves

2024-07-16/in GAMEtime Sharing /by meiling

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 4:1-12. As usual, 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!

Acts 4:1-4 (NIV)
1  The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.
2  They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
3  They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.
4  But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

On verses 1-4: The Sadducees were a group that did not believe in the idea of resurrection and were big critics of anyone who preached it (see for example Matthew 22:23, Mark 12:18 and Acts 23:8). According to Acts 5:17, the high priest and all his associates were members of the Sadducees.