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饥渴慕义的人有福了！

2024-04-10 in , /by

马太福音5:6 饥渴慕义的人有福了！因为他们必得饱足。

Matthew 5:6  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.(NIV)

Matthew 5:6  You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. (MSG)

耶稣说：「饥渴慕义的人有福了！因为他们必得饱足（喂养、内在被满足）。」（太5:6）「饥渴慕义的人」是渴望实行神旨意的人，渴望个人称义、个人行为合于义，并让神的公义得以彰显。神给这种人的赏赐就是「满足他们的渴望」。

耶稣在加利利遇见伯赛大人腓力，对他说：「来跟从我吧。」接着，腓力找到拿但业，带他见耶稣，耶稣指着他说：「看哪，这是个真以色列人，他心里是没有诡诈的。…腓力还没有招呼你，你在无花果树底下，我就看见你了。…你将要看见比这更大的事…。」（约1:43-51）

Let Jesus Get the Glory

2024-04-10 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 3:22-36.  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!

John 3:22-30 (NIV)
22  After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.
23  Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized.

On verses 22-30:  I absolutely love and admire the humility of John the Baptist.  Instead of envying Jesus because Jesus was baptizing more people than he was and becoming more popular than he was (v26), John the Baptist displays incredible humility.  First, John says, “A man can only receive what has been given to him from heaven.” (v27)  In other words, instead of worrying about what he didn’t have, John the Baptist simply focused on what he did have because of God’s grace and was thankful for it.  Likewise, may you not worry and fret about what you don’t have but be thankful for what you do have.

温柔的人有福了！

2024-04-09 in , /by

马太福音5:5 温柔的人有福了！因为他们必承受地土。

Matthew 5:5  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.(NIV)

Matthew 5:5  You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. (MSG)

神记念与亚伯拉罕所立的约，向以撒所起的誓，向雅各定为律例，向以色列定为永远的约，说：我必将迦南地赐给你，作你产业的分（代上16:15-18，诗105:8-11）。以色列人进入迦南地，他们按家室拈阄，承受那地；人多的，把产业多分给他们；人少的，把产业少分给他们（民33:54）。

地土是神应许以色列人的产业，天降甘露，地土必有出产，百姓因而蒙福（该1:11，亚8:12）。

我们所处的环境充满竞争和比较，大卫在诗篇37篇提醒我们：不要为作恶的心怀不平，也不要向那行不义的生出嫉妒（诗37:1）；…等候耶和华的必承受地土（诗37:9），

From Death to Life

2024-04-09 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 3:9-21.  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!
 
John 3:9-13 (NIV)
9  “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10  “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
11  I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
12  I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
13  No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven–the Son of Man.
 
On verses 9-13:  Nicodemus was known as “the teacher of Israel” (v10 ESV, NKJV).  Yet here Israel’s teacher is unable to understand what Jesus, the Son of Man, was saying.  It shows that Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, had wisdom and experience that Israel’s greatest teachers could not match.  Teachers like Nicodemus were mere men reaching for heaven, whereas Jesus is the one who “came from heaven” to reach people on earth.

What Does It Mean To Be “Born Again”?

2024-04-08 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 3:1-8.  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!
 
John 3:1-2 (NIV)
1  Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2  He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
 
On verses 1-2:   Jesus’ most vocal opponents and critics were the Pharisees, the religious elite of Israel.  Yet even among the Pharisees, there were those who secretly believed that Jesus was a teacher sent from God.  One of them was Nicodemus, who was not only a Pharisee but also a member of the powerful ruling council of Israel (v1b).  Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night (v2), perhaps because he did not want to be seen associating with Jesus.

哀恸的人有福了

2024-04-08 in , /by

马太福音5:4 哀恸的人有福了！因为他们必得安慰。

Matthew 5:4  Blessed are those who mourn,  for they will be comforted.(NIV)

Matthew 5:4 You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. (MSG)

人的哀恸可能来自受伤害、受逼迫，也可能是失去至亲好友、忍受试探或试验，或是无法面对的困境；在人生的窘境中哀恸，表达出人生命中最深层的无助，无助让人谦卑，谦卑带出神的怜恤和安慰。耶稣说：哀恸的人有福了！因为他们必得安慰。（太5:4）

惟有神，是安慰我们的。（赛51:12）我们照着神的话语（诗119:50）、公义的典章（诗119:52）、丰盛的应许（诗119:76）得安慰。

我虽然行过死荫的幽谷，也不怕遭害，因为祢与我同在；祢的杖，祢的竿，都安慰我。（诗23:4）

Take Great Care of God’s House

2024-04-07 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 2:13-25.  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!

John 2:13-17 (NIV)
13  When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14  In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.
15  So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
16  To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
17  His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
 
On verses 13-17:  Here we read of Jesus going to Jerusalem, visiting the temple courts and driving out those who had turned the temple courts into a marketplace. 

虚心的人有福了

2024-04-07 in , /by

马太福音5:3  虚心的人有福了！因为天国是他们的。

Matthew 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit,  for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(NIV)

虚心的原文是贫穷的、低劣的、堪怜的，是仰仗别人养生的；圣经有些地方将「虚心的」诠译为「灵里贫穷的」（太5:3，路6:20）。

人们不管是物质贫穷或是灵里贫穷，通常会寻求人的帮助；唯有走到人的极限时，我们才会谦卑低头、仰目望天，渴慕神的恩典。

神给世人的应许：…但我所看顾的，就是虚心（原文是贫穷）痛悔、因我话而战兢的人。（赛66:2）

耶稣给我们的应许：虚心的人有福了！因为天国是他们的。（太5:3）

明白自己是那困苦、可怜、贫穷、瞎眼、赤身的（启3:17），「谦卑求靠神」是我们穷极一生最需要的智慧。

作主的见证人

2024-04-05 in , /by

马太福音28:16-20

16 十一个门徒往加利利去，到了耶稣约定的山上。 17 他们见了耶稣就拜他，然而还有人疑惑。 18 耶稣进前来，对他们说：「天上地下所有的权柄都赐给我了。 19 所以你们要去，使万民做我的门徒，奉父、子、圣灵的名给他们施洗， 20 凡我所吩咐你们的，都教训他们遵守。我就常与你们同在，直到世界的末了。」

圣经记载耶稣复活后，在升天前向地上的人多次显现，包括：抹大拉的马利亚（约20:12-18）、众妇女（太28:8-10）、前往以马忤斯村落的两位门徒（路24:13-35）、三次向使徒们（第一次，约20:19-23；第二次，约20:24-29；第三次，约21:1-14）；此外，尚有间接转述的记载，向彼得显现（路24:33-34），显给五百多弟兄看、显给耶稣的弟弟雅各看、再显给众使徒看（林前15:3-7）…。徒1:3综合记述：祂受害之后，用许多的凭据将自己活活地显给使徒看，四十天之久向他们显现，讲说神国的事。

耶稣复活四十天后，和使徒们来到耶路撒冷附近的橄榄山，应许他们领受圣灵，嘱咐他们作主的见证直到地极，然后祂就被取升天（可16:19，路24:50-53，徒1:3-11）。

他们聚集的时候，问耶稣说：「主啊，祢复兴以色列国就在这时候吗？」耶稣对他们说：「父凭著自己的权柄所定的时候、日期，不是你们可以知道的。但圣灵降临在你们身上，你们就必得着能力，并要在耶路撒冷、犹太全地，和撒马利亚，直到地极，作我的见证。」（徒1:6-8）耶稣和使徒们的最后问答让我们明白神的心意。

Jesus Always RSVPs

2024-04-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 2:1-12.  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!
 
John 2:1-2 (NIV)
1  On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,
2  and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.
 
On verses 1-2:  Jesus is about to do his first miracle of turning water into wine.  And guess who were the ones who got to experience it?  It was those who invited Jesus, as well as those closest to him.
 
What can we learn from this? If you want Jesus’ involvement in a situation, invite Jesus into the situation.   Whenever you sincerely invite Jesus, you can count on Him to be there.  Jesus always RSVP’s.