生命的第二層跨越-離開為奴之地

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出1:1-14   以色列的眾子各帶家眷和雅各一同來到埃及，他們的名字記在下面。 2 有魯本、西緬、利未、猶大、 3 以薩迦、西布倫、便雅憫、 4 但、拿弗他利、迦得、亞設。 5 凡從雅各而生的，共有七十人。約瑟已經在埃及。 6 約瑟和他的弟兄，並那一代的人都死了。 7 以色列人生養眾多，並且繁茂，極其強盛，滿了那地。

8 有不認識約瑟的新王起來，治理埃及， 9 對他的百姓說：「看哪，這以色列民比我們還多，又比我們強盛。 10 來吧，我們不如用巧計待他們，恐怕他們多起來，日後若遇什麼爭戰的事，就聯合我們的仇敵攻擊我們，離開這地去了。」 11 於是埃及人派督工的轄制他們，加重擔苦害他們。他們為法老建造兩座積貨城，就是比東和蘭塞。 12 只是越發苦害他們，他們越發多起來，越發蔓延，埃及人就因以色列人愁煩。

亞伯拉罕的後裔（雅各家族）因大饑荒，遷徙到埃及歌珊地，投靠時任宰相的約瑟。四百多年來，以色列人生養眾多，繁茂且強盛；有不認識約瑟的新王起來治理埃及，畏懼以色列人的強盛，採取高壓政策，強制他們做工，加重擔苦害他們，甚至要求收生婆殺死初生男嬰（出1:1-14）。

神看見以色列人在埃及所受的困苦，聽見他們因受督工轄制所發的哀聲，祂打發摩西去見法老，將以色列人從埃及領出來，回到美好、寬闊、流奶與蜜的迦南地（出3:7-10）。

神降下災害在埃及地，迫使法老容許以色列人出埃及。逾越節過後，以色列人帶著羊群、牛群，還有向埃及人要的金器、銀器、衣裳、財物，從蘭塞起行，往疏割去；除了婦人孩子，步行的男人約有六十萬。正滿了四百三十年的那天，耶和華的軍隊都從埃及地出來了（出12:31-41）。

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It All Points to Jesus in the End

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 13:13-25.  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 13:13-15 (NIV)
13  From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.
14  From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.
15  After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak.”
 
On verses 13-15:  Here John Mark decides to leave Paul and Barnabas and go back to Jerusalem, while Paul, Barnabas and the rest of their team continue a physically challenging and dangerous journey to Pisidian Antioch.  You can’t tell from Acts 13:13 that John’s decision to leave bothered Paul, but it did.  In fact, John’s decision to leave would become a point of contention between Barnabas and Paul later on (see Acts 15:37-38). 

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Greater is He who is in You

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 13:1-12.  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 13:1 (NIV)
1  In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
 
On verse 1:  The church at Antioch had a team of prophet-teachers who spoke to the congregation.  Notice the diversity on this teaching team: Barnabas was Jewish but grew up in Greek-influenced Cyprus, likely making him a “Grecian Jew”.   Simeon, scholars say, was probably black.  Lucius was from Cyrene (North Africa).  Manaen grew up with King Herod Antipas the tetrarch, which meant he probably came a very wealthy background and was older.  Saul, of course, was a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Philippians 3:5) but was also well traveled and from Tarsus (modern day Turkey).   God loves diversity.  In fact Jesus’ Church is the largest and most racially, ethnically and culturally diverse family that has ever existed.  

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生命的第一層跨越-離開本族父家

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使徒行傳 7:2-3   司提反說：「諸位父兄請聽！當日我們的祖宗亞伯拉罕在美索不達米亞，還未住哈蘭的時候，榮耀的神向他顯現，3 對他說：『你要離開本地和親族，往我所要指示你的地方去。』

創世記 11:31-32  他拉帶著他兒子亞伯蘭和他孫子哈蘭的兒子羅得，並他兒婦亞伯蘭的妻子撒萊，出了迦勒底的吾珥，要往迦南地去。他們走到哈蘭，就住在那裡。 32 他拉共活了二百零五歲，就死在哈蘭。

亞伯蘭被呼召（徒7:2）。他的父親他拉帶著亞伯蘭和妻子撒萊、亞伯蘭的侄子羅得，出了迦勒底的吾珥，要往迦南地去；他們沿著美索不達米亞平原的伯拉大河（幼發拉底河）北上走到哈蘭，就住在那裡，他拉後來死在哈蘭（創11:31-32）。

耶和華再呼召亞伯蘭離開本地、本族、父家，帶著撒萊和羅得，以及在哈蘭所積蓄的財物、所得的人口，渡過伯拉大河，進入迦南地（創12:1-5）。

亞伯蘭75歲被呼召出哈蘭，經歷饑荒與異鄉的危難（創12:10-20），因財物甚多不能同居而與羅得分手（創13:14-18），從基大老瑪和同盟王中拯救羅得後，神與亞伯蘭立約（創15:4-21），亞伯蘭99歲時，神以改名為亞伯拉罕與割禮為證據，預言生以撒（創17:1-21）。亞伯拉罕年100歲生以撒，以撒生下來第八日，亞伯拉罕照著神所吩咐的，給以撒行了割禮（創21:1-5）。

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我們眼睛要能看見！

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馬太福音 6:22-23  「眼睛就是身上的燈。你的眼睛若瞭亮，全身就光明； 23 你的眼睛若昏花，全身就黑暗。你裡頭的光若黑暗了，那黑暗是何等大呢！

馬太福音 20:30-34  有兩個瞎子坐在路旁，聽說是耶穌經過，就喊著說：「主啊，大衛的子孫，可憐我們吧！」 31 眾人責備他們，不許他們作聲，他們卻越發喊著說：「主啊，大衛的子孫，可憐我們吧！」 32 耶穌就站住，叫他們來，說：「要我為你們做什麼？」 33 他們說：「主啊，要我們的眼睛能看見！」 34 耶穌就動了慈心，把他們的眼睛一摸，他們立刻看見，就跟從了耶穌。

疫情蔓延許久，大家戴上多采多姿的各式口罩，沒有嘴巴的臉上露出兩顆眼睛，顯得晶亮有神，靈魂之窗閃爍出神起初創造我們的美好，在茫然不見終了的疫情裡帶來無限的希望。

眼睛不僅用於視覺，也是光進入我們身體的主要入口。光經由眼睛可以直接剌激和調節神經糸統及內分泌系統，光送到腦裡的丘腦下部，控制交感神經及副交感神經，包含七情六慾的調節，可視為人體的靈魂座位及光量計（松果腺）。第四世紀希臘醫師Herophilus稱松果腺為思想的括約肌，印度人及瑜珈信徒稱其為第三隻眼睛，文學家莎士比亞說：「眼睛是靈魂之窗」。

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In Case You’re Tested By This

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 12:11-25.  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 12:11-12 (NIV)
11  Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
12  When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.
 
On verses 11-12:  Peter now realizes that the deliverance from prison he was dreaming about was actually real.  His first instinct is to go to the house of Mary, mother of John-Mark, where many are praying for him.  Peter wants those praying for him to see for themselves the incredible deliverance God made possible for him, knowing how much encouragement that would bring to them. 

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Walk By Faith, Not By Feelings

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 12:1-10.  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 12:1-3 (NIV)
1  It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.
2  He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
3  When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

On verses 1-3:  James, the brother of John and one of the original twelve disciples, is martyred for his faith, put to death with the sword by King Herod.  Seeing how the killing of a Christian leader was seemingly gaining him favour with other people in his kingdom, King Herod decides to seize Peter with plans to put him on trial and to execute Peter just like he did James.  “This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread” (v3) – in other words, on the anniversary of Jesus’ own arrest, crucifixion and death on Passover weekend, Peter was being seized and on the verge of being executed.  Peter probably imagined that this is exactly how his life was supposed to end. 

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天父了解我嗎？

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詩篇144:3  耶和華啊，人算甚麼，祢竟認識他！世人算甚麼，祢竟顧念他！

詩篇139:1-3 耶和華啊，祢已經鑒察我，認識我。我坐下，我起來，祢都曉得；祢從遠處知道我的意念。我行路，我躺臥，祢都細察；祢也深知我一切所行的。

三年前，天下雜誌有個親子溝通大調查，探討孩子對親子關係的認知，調查結果發現「僅15.1%孩子覺得被父母了解」。

我們稱神為天父，常用親子關係來形容我們和天父的關係，我試著將天下雜誌調查資料的「父母」改為「天父」，發現：

敏感議題不告訴天父30.2%，能自己打理天父不過問17.0%，覺得天父很了解我15.1%，天父不熟無法幫助12.8%，天父採取放任管理10.0%，其實與天父沒甚麼話題4.3%，天父忙碌無暇互動3.1%，天父知道我在敷衍2.8%，其他4.5%。

當代親子疏離關係的調查資料不能類比我們和神之間的親密關係，但也值得我們審視我們和天父間的關係，你覺得天父很了解你嗎？還是，敏感議題不告訴天父，能自己打理天父不過問，天父對我不熟無法幫助，天父採取放任管理，其實與天父沒甚麼話題，天父忙碌無暇互動，天父知道我在敷衍…

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When The Holy Spirit Is At Work

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Acts 11:19-30.  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 11:19-24 (NIV)
19  Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews.
20  Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.
21  The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

On verses 19-24:  When Stephen was martyred and persecution broke out on the church in Jerusalem (Acts 7-8:3), the church scattered (Acts 8:4) and some Christians traveled to places like Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch (v19).  Despite not having heard or seen the incredible ways that the Holy Spirit had touched the lives of Gentiles like Cornelius and household in Judea (Acts 10) or what the Holy Spirit did among Samaritans in Samaria (Acts 8), some of these scattered believers also began speaking to Gentiles about Jesus Christ, in particular Greeks at Antioch, who responded in great numbers (v21). 

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看著數字、數算數目

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以賽亞書 6:9-10  祂說：「你去告訴這百姓說：『你們聽是要聽見，卻不明白；看是要看見，卻不曉得。』 10 要使這百姓心蒙脂油，耳朵發沉，眼睛昏迷，恐怕眼睛看見，耳朵聽見，心裡明白，回轉過來，便得醫治。」

2022年6月27日下午3時52分左右，我在世界即時數據網站（worldometers, https://www.worldometers.info/tw/）攫取一些即時數據：

目前世界人口總數7,956,696,381，今年出生人數68,185,135，今年死亡人數28,625,753；今年由於傳染病死亡的人數6,317,984，由癌症致死的人數3,997,092，由吸菸而造成死亡的人數2,432,949，由酗酒而造成死亡的人數1,217,242，五歲以下兒童死亡人數3,699,306，墮胎數20,796,626，自殺人數521,894。

目前世界上營養不良的人數861,751,469，肥胖的人數1,729,204,783，過度肥胖的人數812,067,281，今天死於飢餓的人數20,210。

今天全世界政府的醫療支出總額(美元) $10,597,752,569，教育支出總額$7,142,555,268，軍事支出總額$3,117,582,002。

目前世界網路用戶總數5,351,325,573，今天發出的電子郵件數187,233,853,619，今天谷歌搜索次數5,896,897,062，今天手機銷售量4,664,565。

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