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What To Do With This Chance?

2024-12-15 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 11:1-13.  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! 

2 Samuel 11:1-4 (NIV)
1  In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
2  One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,
3  and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
4  Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home.
 
On verses 1-4:  Notice the factors that led to David’s fall into adultery:

小耶稣和大希律

2024-12-15 in , /by

马太福音2:1  当希律王的时候，耶稣生在犹太的伯利恒。

当耶稣降生时，犹大的掌权者是大希律。

主前163年，犹太人奋起反抗希腊的统治，成立了马加比王朝。在这段时期里，他们曾经征服了以东人(以扫的后裔)，但是他们不像大卫当年统治以东人，而是接纳了以东人，并强迫以东人受割礼，意欲同化以东人。从此以后，以东人住在以色列境内，被称为以土买人。

马加比王朝因为内乱被罗马消灭后，罗马占领犹大，改为罗马的犹大省，希律被任命为加利利的总督。主前43年，帕提亚人侵袭犹大，希律逃到罗马，后由该撒亚古士督指派去收复巴勒斯坦。希律借助罗马势力，在主前33年被封为犹太王，并娶了马加比的重孙女马利亚米为第二王后，因此他有了以色列国的王位继承权。

践信于行的约瑟

2024-12-13 in , /by

马太福音1:24-25   约瑟醒了，起来，就遵著主使者的吩咐把妻子娶过来， 25 只是没有和她同房，等她生了儿子，就给他起名叫耶稣。

约瑟在圣经里是一个非常安静的人，我们甚至找不到他讲过话的记载，但是他在沉默里所做的每一件事，却都可以成为我们的典范。

第一， 他在得知马利亚怀孕后，就想暗暗的把她休了，让她不再受婚约的束缚。他关心的是希望把伤害减到最低。这是他对人的善良。

第二， 当神的使者在梦中传话之后，他就遵著主使者的吩咐把妻子娶过来。不再疑神疑鬼，怀疑马利亚不贞。这是他对神的相信。

第三， 他和马利亚结婚了，却在她生儿子之前，都没有和她同房。这是对神和对马利亚的尊重。

第四， 他按著神的吩咐，给婴孩取名耶稣。这是对神的顺服。

Be Quick To Admit When You’re Wrong

2024-12-13 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 10:1-19.  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! 

2 Samuel 10:1-4 (NIV)
1  In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king.
2  David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites,

On verses 1-4:  In 2 Samuel 9, David showed God’s kindness to Mephibosheth, and Mephibosheth is both humbled and overwhelmed.  Now here in 2 Samuel 10, David shows kindness to Hanun leader of the Ammonites when his father died.  But rather than responding with gratitude, in return Hanun, influenced by his skeptical nobles, treats David poorly.  Hanun publicly humiliates the messengers whom David had sent to pay his family respect. 

The Kindness of the King

2024-12-12 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 9:1-13.  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!

2 Samuel 9:1-13 (NIV)
1  David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
2  Now there was a servant of Saul’s household named Ziba. They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” “Your servant,” he replied.
3  The king asked, “Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet.”

On verses 1-13:  Back in 1 Samuel 20:14-17 David made a promise to his best friend Jonathan that he would show kindness to Jonathan’s family.  David asks who is left from Saul’s household and Ziba, a servant in Saul’s household, tells David about Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son who was crippled in both feet.  Faithful to his promise to Jonathan, David reaches out to Mephibosheth.  At the time Mephibosheth is living in Lodebar (literally, “a pastureless place”), probably hiding for fear that David’s troops would hunt him down.  Could you imagine the fear that Mephibosheth must have felt when David’s troops found him?

以马内利

2024-12-12 in , /by

马太福音1:22-23   这一切的事成就，是要应验主藉先知所说的话说： 23 「必有童女怀孕生子，人要称他的名为以马内利。」（「以马内利」翻出来就是「神与我们同在」。）
以赛亚书7:13-14   以赛亚说：「大卫家啊，你们当听！你们使人厌烦岂算小事？还要使我的神厌烦吗？ 14 因此，主自己要给你们一个兆头，必有童女怀孕生子，给他起名叫以马内利。

天使又接着对约瑟说：这一切的事成就，是要应验主藉先知所说的话。这事不是空穴来风，不是编造的，也不是神突然起意，来个即兴活动，而是神在创世时就己经订下的计划。祂又借着以赛亚先知预告：「必有童女怀孕生子，人要称祂的名为以马内利。」以赛亚是犹大南国的先知，大约与耶稣相距七百年。神的话没有一句不应验，人会忘记，神却不会忘记。

这一切的事成就，是要应验主藉先知所说的话。因为祂是信实的神。神来告诉约瑟，我以前派以赛亚先知说过的话，现在我要成全了。这是见证神蹟的时刻。

这个神蹟就是童女生子。童女怎么会生孩子呢？在人不能，在神凡事都能。

这个孩子不仅要起名为耶稣，人还要称祂另一个名字为以马内利。

给祂起名叫耶稣

2024-12-11 in , /by

马太福音 1:18-20
18 耶稣基督降生的事记在下面：他母亲马利亚已经许配了约瑟，还没有迎娶，马利亚就从圣灵怀了孕。 19 她丈夫约瑟是个义人，不愿意明明地羞辱她，想要暗暗地把她休了。 20 正思念这事的时候，有主的使者向他梦中显现，说：「大卫的子孙约瑟，不要怕，只管娶过你的妻子马利亚来，因她所怀的孕是从圣灵来的。

为什么约瑟被称为义人呢？在圣经里被称为义的人不多，约瑟是其中的一个。他的“义”是从何事上表明的呢？

亚伯拉罕被称为义，是因为他相信神(创15:6)；挪亚被称为义人，是因为他与神同行，在当时的世代里被认为是个完全人(创6:9)；罗得是义人，因为他常为恶人的淫行忧伤(彼后2:7)；耶稣说「为义受逼迫的人是有福的，因为天国是他们的。」这里的义，指的是为神的国或福音。那么约瑟在何事上被称为义？

在当时的世代里未婚先孕，是一件大事。按照旧约的律法，在婚约之外与人行淫，是可以用石头打死的(申22:23-27)；而对犹太人来说，除了离婚和死亡之外，无法推翻婚姻的誓约。

马利亚己经许配给约瑟，在众人眼中就是公认的一对了，只差迎娶和圆房成为正式的夫妻。但是马利亚有身孕了？! 对约瑟而言，是一个沉重的打击，表明了马利亚别有新欢，以及对他的背叛。对一个男人而言，这是一个极大的耻辱。在婚约中任何一方面的出轨，对另一方都是沉重的打击。

The Mindset God Wants You To Have

2024-12-11 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 8:1-18.  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! 

2 Samuel 8:1-18 (NIV)
1  In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines.
2  David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought tribute.

On verses 1-14:  In the previous chapter (2 Samuel 7), God gives David some powerful promises regarding his future — that God would raise up a descendant of David to succeed David as king, that God would establish this descendant’s kingdom for all time and that through this descendant, David’s house, kingdom and throne would reign forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16).  Now in these verses (v1-14), David, as king of Israel, scores victory after victory over a long list of Israel’s opponents: the Philistines (v1), the Moabites (v2), Hadadezer (v3-4, 7-8), the Arameans of Damascus (v5-6), the Edomites (v12), the Ammonites (v12), and the Amalekites (v12).

义人约瑟

2024-12-10 in , /by

马太福音 1:18-20
18 耶稣基督降生的事记在下面：他母亲马利亚已经许配了约瑟，还没有迎娶，马利亚就从圣灵怀了孕。 19 她丈夫约瑟是个义人，不愿意明明地羞辱她，想要暗暗地把她休了。 20 正思念这事的时候，有主的使者向他梦中显现，说：「大卫的子孙约瑟，不要怕，只管娶过你的妻子马利亚来，因她所怀的孕是从圣灵来的。

为什么约瑟被称为义人呢？在圣经里被称为义的人不多，约瑟是其中的一个。他的“义”是从何事上表明的呢？

亚伯拉罕被称为义，是因为他相信神(创15:6)；挪亚被称为义人，是因为他与神同行，在当时的世代里被认为是个完全人(创6:9)；罗得是义人，因为他常为恶人的淫行忧伤(彼后2:7)；耶稣说「为义受逼迫的人是有福的，因为天国是他们的。」这里的义，指的是为神的国或福音。那么约瑟在何事上被称为义？

在当时的世代里未婚先孕，是一件大事。按照旧约的律法，在婚约之外与人行淫，是可以用石头打死的(申22:23-27)；而对犹太人来说，除了离婚和死亡之外，无法推翻婚姻的誓约。

马利亚己经许配给约瑟，在众人眼中就是公认的一对了，只差迎娶和圆房成为正式的夫妻。但是马利亚有身孕了？! 对约瑟而言，是一个沉重的打击，表明了马利亚别有新欢，以及对他的背叛。对一个男人而言，这是一个极大的耻辱。在婚约中任何一方面的出轨，对另一方都是沉重的打击。

Respond to God’s Promises with Wonder, Worship and Faith

2024-12-10 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 7:18-29.  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! 

2 Samuel 7:18a (NIV)
18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD

On verse 18a:  Notice how David responds after hearing the powerful promises God spoke to him through the prophet Nathan.  David doesn’t say, “That’s interesting” and walk away.  Rather David responds by getting into God’s presence and sitting before the Lord.  When God speaks to you, don’t just go, “That’s nice” and walk away.  Take time to sit in God’s presence and let your soul digest what you have received.  Then you can respond to God in an appropriate way.  One of the most powerful things you can do any day is to sit in God’s presence and be still.  When I sit down in God’s presence, I experience His peace, receive insight for my situation and direction for what to do next.