饶恕始于被饶恕

罗马书5:8  惟有基督在我们还作罪人的时候为我们死,神的爱就在此向我们显明了。

饶恕人是个困难的挑战,它的难处在于我们认为对方不配得这样的宽容。

提姆凯勒牧师曾分享,他在教会中做婚姻咨商时,如果夫妻双方都出轨,就算两人都不想挽救婚姻,但他们不会陷入定罪对方的苦毒中,因为他们都看见自己的软弱。

反倒是如果夫妻中只有一方出轨,另一方将会很难跨越伤害,饶恕对方,因为被伤害的这一方可能认为自己没有错,或是不容易看见自己的错。

饶恕的力量来自,很真实面对自己的罪和软弱,并且很真实经验到神无条件的接纳、白白的恩典、以及舍己的爱。唯有深刻看见自己的罪有多糟糕,自己有多软弱,才会发现耶稣的爱、耶稣的赦免有多宝贵。

Resting Takes Faith

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 25:8-22. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 25:8-12 (NIV)
8  “‘Count off seven sabbaths of years–seven times seven years–so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years.
9  Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land.

On verses 8-12:  Starting at Leviticus 25:8 we read about how every 50th year the Israelites were to proclaim it a Year of Jubilee.  The Year of Jubilee was meant to be:

– a time of reunion when Israelites would return to their family clans and to the places where they grew up (v10, 13);

Work Hard, Rest Well

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 25:1-7. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 25:1-7 (NIV)
1  The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
2  “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD.

On verses 1-7:  Here God prepares the Israelites for when they enter the promised land.  He commands the Israelites to work the land they have been given (i.e. sow the fields, prune the vineyards and gather the crops for six years) (v2-3), but in the seventh year they are to give their land a rest and to live off of what the land produces that year (v4-7).

什么是饶恕?

罗马书5:1 我们既因信称义,就借着我们的主耶稣基督得与神相和。

哥林多后书12:9  祂的恩典够我用的,因为祂的能力是在人的软弱上显得完全。

当我们被伤害,会有负面情绪,在痛苦中甚至会希望对方受到惩罚,承受跟我同等的痛苦。有一次当我在祷告时,神提醒我,饶恕别人其实就是让别人活过来。

「你们从前在过犯和未受割礼的肉体中死了,神赦免了你们一切过犯,便叫你们与基督一同活过来;又涂抹了在律例上所写、攻击我们、有碍于我们的字据,把它撤去,钉在十字架上。」(歌罗西书2:13-14)

这段经文提到,我们在罪中死了,神让我们在基督里活过来。耶稣撤销我们的罪债纪录,把这些不利于我们的控告都与祂同钉在十字架上,我们的罪被赦免了,所以我们在上帝面前能不被定罪,能在上帝面前活着。

当我想着别人对我造成的伤害,想着他该负上的代价,其实就是将他定死罪,让他死在错误之中,没有办法能获得机会活着。当我选择让对方有机会活着,撤掉致他于死地的控告,这就是饶恕了。

Seek God’s Will, Protect God’s Name

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 24:10-23. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 24:10-23 (NIV)
10  Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite.
11  The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.)

On verses 10-23:  Leviticus 24:10-23 describes how Moses dealt with a half-Israelite, half-Egyptian man who had been found “blaspheming the name of God” (that is, misusing God’s name and speaking about God’s name in ways that were untrue and irreverent).

献给感到不安的你

诗篇46:1-3   神是我们的避难所,是我们的力量,是我们在患难中随时的帮助。所以地虽改变,山虽摇动到海心,其中的水虽匉訇翻腾,山虽因海涨而战抖,我们也不害怕。

在世界越来越动荡的今日,「灾难」与「末日」的话题总被频繁提起。有人担心2025年7月5日会发生大地震,有人转发预言梦、灵性解读与阴谋论,让原本平静的心被悬空了。但圣经告诉我们:我们的信仰不是建立在「预言」的风声中,而是建筑在那位不动摇的「磐石」上。

敬拜永活独一的真神,荣耀在全地彰显,永远不改变。
国度权柄能力归给祂,公义慈爱显威严,亘古到永远。

神掌权到永远,在天地之间;立晨星铺穹苍,划出地平线;
降恩雨赐丰年,海不越过界;神掌权到永远!

不要将圣经当作圣经

诗篇119:105   祢的话是我脚前的灯,是我路上的光。

提摩太后书 3:16  圣经都是神所默示的,于教训、督责、使人归正、教导人学义都是有益的, 17 叫属神的人得以完全,预备行各样的善事。

在许多人的书架上,圣经被端正地摆放在最显眼的位置,封面泛著微光,书侧金边闪闪发亮,仿佛那就是信仰的象征与心灵的保障。然而,这本书被翻开过几次?被读过多少页?被默想、被实践、或被活出多少?

我们常笑称某些艰深难读、厚重无比的专业书是某专业领域的「圣经」,代表着它的权威、完整,却也难读、不易懂;但是,它必须被摆在最显眼、尊贵的位置上,凸显出我拥有它,我属于这专业领域里的一员,它提升了我的专业价值和地位。事实上,我可能从未读它、懂它、用它。

而这「难读、不易懂」的认知竟也悄悄转移到真正的圣经上,我们尊敬它、敬畏它,却不敢轻易打开它;我们拥有它,却不让它进入我们的生活。

What You Need to Keep Burning Brightly

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 24:1-9. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!
 
Leviticus 24:1-4 (NIV)
1  The LORD said to Moses,
2  “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually.

On verses 1-4:   In Leviticus 24:2 God tells Moses that the lamps used to light up the tent of meeting are to “be kept burning continually” (v2).  In the same way, you and I, as followers of Jesus, are what Jesus calls “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14-16).

Atonement is God’s work, not ours

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 23:26-44. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!
 
Leviticus 23:26-32 (NIV)
26  The LORD said to Moses,
27  “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire.
28  Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.

On verses 26-32:  Verses 26-32 describe the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur in Hebrew), a day when the people remembered how God atoned for their sins so that they could be forgiven.  Why was God so strict about people not doing any work on the Day of Atonement? 

混乱中的盼望

罗马书5:12  这就如罪是从一人入了世界,死又是从罪来的;于是死就临到众人,因为众人都犯了罪。

彼得前书1:7  叫你们的信心既被试验,就比那被火试验仍然能坏的金子更显宝贵。

约翰福音16:33  在世上你们有苦难;但你们可以放心,我已经胜了世界。

始祖犯罪后,罪进入世界,混乱随之而来,死(隔离与绝望)就临到世人。在人类历史的漫漫长河中,世人被罪衍生的混乱如漩窝般的团团环绕,战争的硝烟、灾难的阴影、社会的动荡、人间的纷争、心灵的挣扎,历历在目,也多有体验。有时混乱虽远在天际,然随着资讯发达,它却缭绕耳际,让我们身历其境。

你不害怕吗?忧愁的面容、无声的叹气是你我无奈的回应。我们不禁问:天父祢在哪里?祢何时掌权?

在历世历代的混乱中,神的手始终未曾缩短。「外邦喧嚷,列国动摇;神发声,地便镕化。万军之耶和华与我们同在;雅各的神是我们的避难所。」(诗篇46:6-7)神从不因世局混乱而失去主权,祂仍坐王掌权,引导万事走向祂永恒的计画。

混乱是神塑造我们、炼净我们信心的炉火。「叫你们的信心既被试验,就比那被火试验仍然能坏的金子更显宝贵。」(彼得前书1:7)混乱中,我们被选召成为光和盐(马太福音5:13-16),如历代的信徒,引导人归向真光,扶助人脱离混乱。