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與神相處/成為祂的朋友

創世記18:16-19    三人就從那裡起行,向所多瑪觀看,亞伯拉罕也與他們同行,要送他們一程。 17 耶和華說:「我所要做的事,豈可瞞著亞伯拉罕呢? 18 亞伯拉罕必要成為強大的國,地上的萬國都必因他得福。 19 我眷顧他,為要叫他吩咐他的眾子和他的眷屬,遵守我的道,秉公行義,使我所應許亞伯拉罕的話都成就了。」

亞伯拉罕在幔利橡樹接待天使,天使即將啟程離開,望向所多瑪,神說:「我所要做的事豈可瞞著亞伯拉罕呢?…所多瑪和蛾摩拉的罪惡甚重,聲聞於我。…」(創世記18:16-21)

亞伯拉罕近前來,說:「無論善惡,你都要剿滅嗎?假若那城裡有五十個義人,你還剿滅那地方嗎?不為城裡這五十個義人饒恕其中的人嗎?將義人與惡人同殺,將義人與惡人一樣看待,這斷不是你所行的。審判全地的主豈不行公義嗎?」耶和華說:「我若在所多瑪城裡見有五十個義人,我就為他們的緣故饒恕那地方的眾人。」(創世記18:23-26)

Don’t Play the Blame Game + When Sincerity Is Not Enough

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 18:16-29.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 18:17-18 (NIV) 
17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” 
18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. 

On verses 16-18:  Ahab meets Elijah and contemptuously calls him “you troubler of Israel”.  Ahab was blaming the famine on Elijah, thinking, “This famine is all your fault, all because you prayed.”  Elijah retorts the root cause of the famine was not Elijah but rather Ahab and his family, and how they had led Israel to abandon the LORD’s commands and fall headlong into idolatry.

與神相處/小信也無妨

創世記18:9-15 他們問亞伯拉罕說:「你妻子撒拉在哪裡?」他說:「在帳篷裡。」 10 三人中有一位說:「到明年這時候,我必要回到你這裡,你的妻子撒拉必生一個兒子。」撒拉在那人後邊的帳篷門口也聽見了這話。 11 亞伯拉罕和撒拉年紀老邁,撒拉的月經已斷絕了。 12 撒拉心裡暗笑,說:「我既已衰敗,我主也老邁,豈能有這喜事呢?」 13 耶和華對亞伯拉罕說:「撒拉為什麼暗笑,說:『我既已年老,果真能生養嗎?』 14 耶和華豈有難成的事嗎?到了日期,明年這時候,我必回到你這裡,撒拉必生一個兒子。」 15 撒拉就害怕,不承認,說:「我沒有笑。」那位說:「不然,你實在笑了。」

希伯來書11章談到古人在信心上得到美好的證據,這許多見證人如同雲彩圍繞著我們;然而想到自己,就有點擔憂自己的小信,甚至有些時候的不信,不禁會問:「神啊,祢能悅納小信的我嗎?」

撒拉聽到天使對她丈夫亞伯拉罕說,明年,撒拉會生一個兒子!她面對現實:亞伯拉罕已經99歲,她也89歲,而且月經已斷絕了;於是心裡暗笑,說:「我既已衰敗,我主也老邁,豈能有這喜事呢?」撒拉的小舉動,當場被天使抓包,她害怕,不敢承認,但天使沒有責備,只堅定地告訴他們:在神豈有難成的事嗎?(創世記18:9-15)結果,神改變現實成為真實:亞伯拉罕100歲,撒拉90歲,生了以撒。

Do THIS if you want God to move powerfully in your life

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 18:1-15.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 18:1-2 (NIV) 
1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.” 
2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab…

On verses 1-2a:  God used Elijah to perform some of the most incredible miracles you will read about in the Bible.  Why Elijah?  I believe Elijah’s secret is not just that he was gifted, but that he was obedient.  Whenever God told him to do something, in faith he would obey.  As verse 2 says, “So Elijah went…”.  Remember that in this case God is telling Elijah to present himself to King Ahab, the very person who had been trying to kill Elijah for years.  Yet Elijah goes in faith and obeys God’s Word.  

How’s Your “Miracles Memory”?

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 17:17-24.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 17:17-18 (NIV)
17  Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.
18  She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

On verses 17-18:  A mother experiences her worst nightmare: the death of her child.  In this case it wasn’t a sudden death but an illness which took her son’s life, one where his sickness got worse and worse until he was gone.  It’s not clear why the woman would blame her son’s death on Elijah, the prophet who was staying as a guest in her house.  Sometimes when we can’t understand why something is happening to us, we can be tempted to blame God for what we’re going through. 

勇於承認犯錯

創世記3:14-19    耶和華神對蛇說:「你既做了這事,就必受咒詛,比一切的牲畜野獸更甚!你必用肚子行走,終身吃土。 15 我又要叫你和女人彼此為仇,你的後裔和女人的後裔也彼此為仇,女人的後裔要傷你的頭,你要傷他的腳跟。」 16 又對女人說:「我必多多加增你懷胎的苦楚,你生產兒女必多受苦楚。你必戀慕你丈夫,你丈夫必管轄你。」 17 又對亞當說:「你既聽從妻子的話,吃了我所吩咐你不可吃的那樹上的果子,地必為你的緣故受咒詛,你必終身勞苦,才能從地裡得吃的。 18 地必給你長出荊棘和蒺藜來,你也要吃田間的菜蔬。 19 你必汗流滿面才得糊口,直到你歸了土,因為你是從土而出的。你本是塵土,仍要歸於塵土。」  

面對神的詢問,亞當將罪責推給夏娃,夏娃又推卸給蛇,這就是我們常經歷的犯罪三部曲:人犯罪、逃避神、推諉卸責。人犯罪違背神,人與神間有了裂痕,逃避神和推諉卸責更加深人神間的鴻溝,使得人離神愈來愈遠,因此,神的懲罰隨即依序臨到蛇、夏娃、亞當(創世記3:14-19)。

耶和華說:「誰告訴你赤身露體呢?莫非你吃了我吩咐你不可吃的那樹上的果子嗎?」那人說:「你所賜給我、與我同居的女人,她把那樹上的果子給我,我就吃了。」耶和華神對女人說:「你做的是甚麼事呢?」女人說:「那蛇引誘我,我就吃了。」(創世記3:11-13)

與神相處/不要躲避祂的面

馬太福音11:28  凡勞苦擔重擔的人可以到我這裡來,我就使你們得安息。

創世記記載始祖亞當後續第十代子孫挪亞,他父親拉麥給他起名叫挪亞(字意是休息),說:「這個兒子必為我們的操作和手中的勞苦安慰我們;這操作勞苦是因為耶和華咒詛地。」(創世記5:28-29)

始祖亞當犯罪被逐出伊甸園,自此人們就陷在「終身勞苦才得吃的,汗流滿面才得糊口」(創世記3:17-19)的窘境中,休息(挪亞)是那個世代的渴望,「脫離勞苦,得到休息」不也是綿延世代我們每一個人的渴望嗎?我們期盼「休息」可以為我們的操作和手中的勞苦「安慰」我們。是嗎?

大衛形容耶和華是牧者,他是羊,說:「我雖然行過死蔭的幽谷,也不怕遭害,因為祢與我同在;祢的杖,祢的竿,都安慰我。」(詩篇23:4)牧羊人的杖是掛在腰間的短棍,用來趕走豺狼,保護羊群;竿是長的柺杖,用來引導羊群,前端有個鉤子,可以勾回走岔、走迷的羊。

大衛形容當他行過死蔭的幽谷時,神與他同在,在杖的「保護」、竿的「引導」下,他得「安慰」。「安慰」原文有嘆息、遺憾、憐憫、安慰、後悔的意思,大衛描述當他降伏於神的保護和引領下,他得著安慰。

How to Experience God’s Supernatural Provision

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 17:1-16.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 17:1-6 (NIV)
1  Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”
2  Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah:

On verses 1-6:  God is the star of 1 Kings, and here we meet God’s best supporting actor.  He is the prophet Elijah.  Elijah boldly proclaims to Ahab that there would be no dew or rain in the next few years except when Elijah proclaims there to be (of course not by his own power but by God’s).  Knowing that Ahab wanted to coerce, manipulate and harm Elijah, God tells Elijah where to hide, tells him where he can find water to drink and provides ravens who send him food.

It Matters Whom You Marry

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 16:29-34.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 16:29-33 (NIV)
29  In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years.
30  Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him.
31  He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.

On verses 29-33:  These verses summarize the 22 year reign of Ahab as king of Israel, although we will read about Ahab again in later chapters of 1 Kings.  One can make the argument that Ahab was the most wicked king in Israel’s history.  According to the writer of 1 Kings, Ahab “did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him” (v30) and “did more to provoke the Lord to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him” (v32).  He went even further than his precedent-breaking father Omri.

得安慰、享安息

馬太福音11:28  凡勞苦擔重擔的人可以到我這裡來,我就使你們得安息。

創世記記載始祖亞當後續第十代子孫挪亞,他父親拉麥給他起名叫挪亞(字意是休息),說:「這個兒子必為我們的操作和手中的勞苦安慰我們;這操作勞苦是因為耶和華咒詛地。」(創世記5:28-29)

始祖亞當犯罪被逐出伊甸園,自此人們就陷在「終身勞苦才得吃的,汗流滿面才得糊口」(創世記3:17-19)的窘境中,休息(挪亞)是那個世代的渴望,「脫離勞苦,得到休息」不也是綿延世代我們每一個人的渴望嗎?我們期盼「休息」可以為我們的操作和手中的勞苦「安慰」我們。是嗎?

大衛形容耶和華是牧者,他是羊,說:「我雖然行過死蔭的幽谷,也不怕遭害,因為祢與我同在;祢的杖,祢的竿,都安慰我。」(詩篇23:4)牧羊人的杖是掛在腰間的短棍,用來趕走豺狼,保護羊群;竿是長的柺杖,用來引導羊群,前端有個鉤子,可以勾回走岔、走迷的羊。

大衛形容當他行過死蔭的幽谷時,神與他同在,在杖的「保護」、竿的「引導」下,他得「安慰」。「安慰」原文有嘆息、遺憾、憐憫、安慰、後悔的意思,大衛描述當他降伏於神的保護和引領下,他得著安慰。