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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.

Jesus = God’s Promises Fulfilled

2024-12-09 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 7:1-17.  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 7:1-2 (NIV) 
1 After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 
2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”

On verses 1-2:  When God had given David rest from all his enemies around him, David’s heart was still restless for God.  David restlessly dreamed of building a house for the Lord.  You can tell what is in a person’s heart by what stirs their heart even when their circumstances are peaceful.  Like David, I believe God has placed a dream in your heart to do something significant for His glory.  That dream will keep you awake and gnaw at you even when – or especially when – life seems relatively peaceful.

道成肉身

2024-12-09 in , /by

马太福音 1:18 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。

路加福音 1:26-38
26 到了第六个月，天使加百列奉神的差遣往加利利的一座城去，这城名叫拿撒勒； 27 到一个童女那里，是已经许配大卫家的一个人，名叫约瑟，童女的名字叫马利亚。 28 天使进去，对她说：「蒙大恩的女子，我问你安，主和你同在了！」29 马利亚因这话就很惊慌，又反复思想这样问安是什么意思。 30 天使对她说：「马利亚，不要怕，你在神面前已经蒙恩了。 31 你要怀孕生子，可以给祂起名叫耶稣。

在这段短短的经文里，我们看到了一个神话故事，神的话应验的故事。两千年前的某天，有位天使去犹大地看一个犹大妙龄少女，告诉她，她己经从圣灵怀孕了。而这个少女马利亚，竟然很快乐地接受了这件事。她只是好奇，没有结婚的我，怎能生孩子？

天使回答：「圣灵要临到你身上，至高者的能力要荫庇你。因此，所要生的圣者必称为神的儿子。」这句话至关重要。因为很多人质疑耶稣的无罪性，既然是从马利亚出生，怎么可能没有原罪？「圣灵要临到你身上」，这句话就是指道成肉身的真相，圣灵亲自成为一个受精卵进入了马利亚的子宫；然后「至高者的能力要荫庇你」，换句话说其他的事神会亲自成就。假如神能创造人，祂岂不能使马利亚的身体可以因为从圣灵受孕，而开始有各方面的变化吗？当然可以，那就是神的能力荫庇马利亚的实证。

三个十四代

2024-12-08 in , /by

马太福音 1 : 3-6

犹大从她玛氏生法勒斯和谢拉，法勒斯生希斯仑，希斯仑生亚兰，5 撒门从喇合氏生波阿斯，波阿斯从路得氏生俄备得，俄备得生耶西， 6 耶西生大卫王。大卫从乌利亚的妻子(拔示巴)生所罗门。

圣经在很多人心中具有很神圣的地位，耶稣是弥赛亚，人类的救赎主，祂的地位更是无比崇高。因此当许多人看到耶稣的家谱上出现了四个女人的名字，都大感惊讶。
她玛，喇合，路得，拔示巴，她们代表的是怎样的社会地位呢？

她玛，曾经是犹大的媳妇，犹大是雅各的四子。因为犹大的长子早死，按照犹太人的规矩，次子要为长子留后，免得长子的产业无人继承。犹大的次子与她玛结婚，却不肯为哥哥留后，因此神也不给他长留人世。犹大还有一个小儿子，尚未成年；成年后，犹大却不舍得让他和她玛成婚，怕万一他又得罪神。她玛看到小叔己成长，却没有来娶她，她立刻明白公公的意思。

某天她听到公公会经过某条路去剪羊毛，于是她打扮成一个妓女蒙着脸，引诱她公公上床。因为犹大当时没准备，所以把他的印、带子和手杖放在她那里。等犹大派人带着羊羔去找她时，却找不到她了；反而听到她玛怀孕的消息。他本来要惩罚她，却不料她玛派人把他的当头送来。

Worship the Lord With All Your Might

2024-12-08 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 6:12-23.  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 6:12 (NIV) 
12 Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing.

On verse 12:   For a season David was afraid to get near God’s presence (v9-10), but when he saw how much God had blessed Obed-Edom because Obed-Edom drew near to God’s presence, David decided that he needed the presence of God no matter what the cost.

Longing for God’s Presence

2024-12-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 6:1-11.  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 6:1-2 (NIV) 
1 David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. 
2 He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark.

On verses 1-2:   The ark here was a gold covered box 2.5 feet wide, 2.5 feet high, and 4 feet long.  It was where centuries before Moses would meet with God on behalf of the people (Exodus 25:22).  Why did David want to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem?  It’s because the ark of God represented the presence of God.  David longed for God’s presence to fill Jerusalem and his entire kingdom.  So he leads a massive processional of 30,000 men where together they would bring the ark of God into Jerusalem.
Like David, our greatest longing should be for God’s presence and glory to fill our marriages, homes, churches, and cities.

四个女人

2024-12-06 in , /by

马太福音 1 : 3-6

犹大从她玛氏生法勒斯和谢拉，法勒斯生希斯仑，希斯仑生亚兰，5 撒门从喇合氏生波阿斯，波阿斯从路得氏生俄备得，俄备得生耶西， 6 耶西生大卫王。大卫从乌利亚的妻子(拔示巴)生所罗门。

圣经在很多人心中具有很神圣的地位，耶稣是弥赛亚，人类的救赎主，祂的地位更是无比崇高。因此当许多人看到耶稣的家谱上出现了四个女人的名字，都大感惊讶。
她玛，喇合，路得，拔示巴，她们代表的是怎样的社会地位呢？

她玛，曾经是犹大的媳妇，犹大是雅各的四子。因为犹大的长子早死，按照犹太人的规矩，次子要为长子留后，免得长子的产业无人继承。犹大的次子与她玛结婚，却不肯为哥哥留后，因此神也不给他长留人世。犹大还有一个小儿子，尚未成年；成年后，犹大却不舍得让他和她玛成婚，怕万一他又得罪神。她玛看到小叔己成长，却没有来娶她，她立刻明白公公的意思。

某天她听到公公会经过某条路去剪羊毛，于是她打扮成一个妓女蒙着脸，引诱她公公上床。因为犹大当时没准备，所以把他的印、带子和手杖放在她那里。等犹大派人带着羊羔去找她时，却找不到她了；反而听到她玛怀孕的消息。他本来要惩罚她，却不料她玛派人把他的当头送来。

耶稣基督的家谱

2024-12-05 in , /by

马太福音 1:1 亚伯拉罕的后裔、大卫的子孙耶稣基督的家谱：

2 亚伯拉罕生以撒，以撒生雅各，雅各生犹大和他的弟兄， 3 犹大从她玛氏生法勒斯和谢拉，法勒斯生希斯仑，希斯仑生亚兰， 4 亚兰生亚米拿达，亚米拿达生拿顺，拿顺生撒门， 5 撒门从喇合氏生波阿斯，波阿斯从路得氏生俄备得，俄备得生耶西， 6 耶西生大卫王。
大卫从乌利亚的妻子生所罗门， 7 所罗门生罗波安，罗波安生亚比雅，亚比雅生亚撒， 8 亚撒生约沙法，约沙法生约兰，约兰生乌西亚， 9 乌西亚生约坦，约坦生亚哈斯，亚哈斯生希西家， 10 希西家生玛拿西，玛拿西生亚们，亚们生约西亚， 11 百姓被迁到巴比伦的时候，约西亚生耶哥尼雅和他的弟兄。

这段简单的记录便是神救恩的蓝图：亚伯拉罕 — 信心之父；大卫 –- 合神心意的人；耶稣，神的儿子，祂为亚伯拉罕和大卫的一生做了总结，并彰显神为我们所做的一切。

谁说先祖的记录不重要呢？

耶稣来了，让我们看到在历史上一系列的名字，不是日子，不是节期 – 借着这些人名，祢以恩慈和责任拣选了他们，也拣选了我们。因此，我们也以相信和喜乐的心接受祢的名，耶稣。

圣经里所列的家谱并不像一般人所感觉的无聊和没有意义， 相反的，这些名字所代表的，是神在他们每一个人身上的磨炼，显明他们和神的关系，还有神的应许怎样一一应验在他们身上的史实。

Don’t Just Rely On Your Experience. Look to God.

2024-12-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 5:17-25.  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 5:17-25 (NIV)
17  When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold.
18  Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim;
19  so David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The LORD answered him, “Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you.”

On verses 17-25:   There was a season in David’s life when for 16 months David had allied himself with the Philistines, such that King Achish of the Philistines thought David was fighting for them (1 Samuel 27).  So when the Philistines hear that David has now been anointed king over Israel, they must have felt in some ways betrayed and rejected by David.  So the Philistines come in full force, spreading their entire army across the Valley of Rephaim to fight David.  David inquires of the Lord, gets God’s signal to attack the Philistines, obeys God’s signal, and is victorious over the Philistines (v19-20).