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Heaven Always Gets the Last Laugh

2024-03-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 11:1-19, considered by many to be the most difficult chapter in the book of Revelation.  As usual, 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!

Revelation 11:1-2 (NIV) 
1  I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. 
2  But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.
 
On verses 1-2:  In John’s vision John receives a reed like a measuring rod and is told to measure the temple of God and the altar as well as to count the worshipers there (v1).  John is told not to include the outer court in his measurements, because “it has been given to the Gentiles” who “will trample on the holy city for 42 months” (v2).  The holy city is most likely a reference to the city of Jerusalem.  

愛在管會堂的家裡

2024-03-06 in , /by

馬太福音 9:18-19 / 9:23-26

18 耶穌說這話的時候，有一個管會堂的來拜他，說：「我女兒剛才死了，求你去按手在她身上，她就必活了。」 19 耶穌便起來跟著他去，門徒也跟了去。

23 耶穌到了管會堂的家裡，看見有吹手，又有許多人亂嚷， 24 就說：「退去吧！這閨女不是死了，是睡著了。」他們就嗤笑他。 25 眾人既被攆出，耶穌就進去，拉著閨女的手，閨女便起來了。 26 於是這風聲傳遍了那地方。

愛在管會堂的家裡：因著愛，祂對睚魯說：不要怕，只要信！接著拉著孩子的手，對她說：閨女！我吩咐妳起來。（太9:18-19, 23-26，可5:22-24, 35-43，路8:40-42, 49-56）

在猶太人的社會，「管會堂的」是會堂的領袖，身份背後代表諸多深意：神的揀選、摩西的律法、輝煌的聖殿、被擄的屈辱、榮耀的盼望。管會堂睚魯的小女兒病得快死了，他愛女兒，不顧自己的身分地位，大庭廣眾下俯伏在耶穌面前，再三求祂去醫治自己的女兒。

睚魯求主幫助的經歷可說是驚滔駭浪、高潮迭起，先被患了十二年血漏的女人半途插隊攔截耶穌，趕不及到家就聽到女兒的噩耗，看見眾人為女兒哀哭捶胸頓失希望，最後驚奇的面對復活的女兒。

愛在格拉森外邦之地

2024-03-05 in , /by

馬太福音 8:28-34

28 耶穌既渡到那邊去，來到加大拉人的地方，就有兩個被鬼附的人從墳塋裡出來迎著他，極其凶猛，甚至沒有人能從那條路上經過。 29 他們喊著說：「神的兒子，我們與你有什麼相干？時候還沒有到，你就上這裡來叫我們受苦嗎？」

30 離他們很遠，有一大群豬吃食。 31 鬼就央求耶穌，說：「若把我們趕出去，就打發我們進入豬群吧。」 32 耶穌說：「去吧！」鬼就出來，進入豬群。全群忽然闖下山崖，投在海裡淹死了。 33 放豬的就逃跑進城，將這一切事和被鬼附的人所遭遇的都告訴人。 34 合城的人都出來迎見耶穌，既見了，就央求他離開他們的境界。

愛在格拉森外邦之地：因著愛，祂釋放被污鬼附著的人，鬼入豬群，投海淹死。（太8:28-34，可5:1-20，路8:26-39）

格拉森（有古卷：加大拉）坐落外約但的山區，距加利利海東南面約35哩，離約但河東19哩；格拉森處於當時羅馬帝國的低加坡里行政區，這地區是由十個外邦人城市組成，位於撒馬利亞和加利利以東的地方。當地的文化、生活習慣趨向希臘化，經文中談及在山上吃食的一大群豬，顯示格拉森人可能以養豬為生，並未遵循摩西律法中有關潔淨的規條（利11:7-8），對於猶太人而言，格拉森就等同於一個亂七八糟、污穢之地。

Eat the Word of God and Be a Blessing

2024-03-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 10:1-11.  As usual, 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!

Revelation 10:1-4 (NIV) 
1  Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 
2  He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 
3  and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 
4  And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”
 
On verses 1-4:  Revelation is full of strange and awesome creatures: living creatures, fallen angels, the scariest locusts ever, crazy “horses”, the list goes on.  Sometimes I think that if Pokemon could be transported into the world of Revelation, Pikachu, Charmander and all their Pokemon friends would look at some of the creatures in Revelation and think, “They’re so weird.”  Here in these verses we meet the next awesome creature in Revelation:  a mighty angel whose shout like a lion causes the voices of the “seven thunders” to speak (v3).  What are the seven thunders?  It is not clear.  Also, it is not clear to us what they said because John is commanded by a voice from heaven to seal up what the seven thunders said and not to write it down (v4).

愛在風浪中

2024-03-04 in , /by

馬太福音 14:22-33

22 耶穌隨即催門徒上船，先渡到那邊去，等他叫眾人散開。 23 散了眾人以後，他就獨自上山去禱告。到了晚上，只有他一人在那裡。 24 那時船在海中，因風不順，被浪搖撼。 25 夜裡四更天，耶穌在海面上走，往門徒那裡去。 26 門徒看見他在海面上走，就驚慌了，說：「是個鬼怪！」便害怕，喊叫起來。 27 耶穌連忙對他們說：「你們放心！是我，不要怕！」 28 彼得說：「主，如果是你，請叫我從水面上走到你那裡去。」 29 耶穌說：「你來吧！」彼得就從船上下去，在水面上走，要到耶穌那裡去。

愛在風浪中：因著愛，祂伸手拉住彼得，對他說：你這小信的人哪！為什麼疑惑呢？（太14:22-33，可6:45-52，約6:15-21）

福音書記載：耶穌和門徒夜裡前往外邦人之地格拉森，坐船遇見風浪，祂斥責狂風大浪，風浪就止住，平靜了。（太8:23-27，可4:35-41，路8:22-25）

前次，耶穌和門徒一同在被風浪搖撼的船中，這次，祂從海面上接近因風不順，被浪搖撼，搖櫓甚苦的門徒（太14:23-24，可6:48），祂邀請彼得走在水面上，進入風浪中（太14:28-31）。

It’s a Matter of Your Heart, Not Your Circumstances

2024-03-04 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 9:1-21.  As usual, 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!

Revelation 9:1-11 (NIV) 
1  The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 
2  When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 
3  And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 

On verses 1-11:  If there was any passage in the Bible that resembled a science fiction movie, it’s these 11 verses.  What is going on here? The fifth angel sounds his trumpet, which then triggers “a star that had fallen from the sky” to appear. Apparently this star is not an actual star from space, but a fallen angel who is referred to as “he” in verse 2.  This fallen star (or fallen angel) is given the key to “the Abyss”.  While “the Abyss” sounds like some kind of spacecraft, it is not clear what exactly the Abyss is.  We do know that when the fallen angel opens the Abyss, enough smoke comes out of the Abyss to darken the sun and sky.  After that, the most powerful and scariest looking locusts come out of the Abyss.

愛在稅關上

2024-03-03 in , /by

馬太福音 9:9-13

9 耶穌從那裡往前走，看見一個人，名叫馬太，坐在稅關上，就對他說：「你跟從我來！」他就起來跟從了耶穌。

10 耶穌在屋裡坐席的時候，有好些稅吏和罪人來，與耶穌和他的門徒一同坐席。 11 法利賽人看見，就對耶穌的門徒說：「你們的先生為什麼和稅吏並罪人一同吃飯呢？」 12 耶穌聽見就說：「康健的人用不著醫生，有病的人才用得著。 13 經上說：『我喜愛憐恤，不喜愛祭祀』，這句話的意思你們且去揣摩；我來本不是召義人，乃是召罪人。」

愛在稅關上：因著愛，祂呼召馬太（利未），和好些稅吏並罪人一同坐席吃飯。（太9:9-13，可2:13-17，路5:27-32）

使徒馬太是加利利人，信主前是迦百農城的稅吏，他熟悉稅務相關的貿易通商、財務簿記，可能善於速記，熟悉通用的亞蘭文與希臘文，是耶穌門徒中少數受過教育且有學問的，之後他寫下文筆流暢的《馬太福音》，記載他親眼所見耶穌的行跡。

羅馬帝國當時的稅吏是被殖民利用專為徵收稅款（關稅、路費）的猶太人，他們常與官員狼狽為奸，訛詐牟利以飽私囊；在猶太人的眼中，稅吏被視為賣國賊（效忠羅馬皇帝）、叛教徒（與外邦人來往），在宗教上他們是不潔的，與強盜、娼妓、罪犯同列。

You Can Never Win When You Fight God

2024-03-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 8:1-13. As usual, 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!

Revelation 8:1-13 (NIV)
1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.

On verses 1-13: When the Lamb opens the seventh seal, there is about a half hour of silence. Then heaven launches a series of attacks on the earth. First an angel takes a gold censer and fills it with fire from an altar where incense (representing the prayers of God’s people) is burning. That angel hurls the gold censer onto the earth. This causes peals of thunder, rumblings, lightning and an earthquake to occur. After that comes the next series of attacks, where one by one seven angels each with a trumpet in hand blow their trumpet to call forth a specific attack from heaven on the earth. Chapter 7 describes what happens when the first four angels with trumpets blow their horns.

The Power of Jesus’ Blood

2024-03-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 7:1-17.  As usual, 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!

Revelation 7:1 (NIV) 
1  After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.

On verse 1:  After the sixth seal is broken, John sees four angels holding back “the four winds of the earth” (v1), effectively stopping any wind from blowing on the earth.  According to some scientists, if there was no more wind on the earth, much of the earth would become uninhabitable, temperatures on the earth would become either extremely hot or extremely cold, mass migration would lead to coastal regions being heavily populated, marine life would die, widespread famine would occur and many people would not be able to survive.

愛在長大痲瘋者身上

2024-03-01 in , /by

馬太福音 8:1-4

耶穌下了山，有許多人跟著他。 2 有一個長大痲瘋的來拜他，說：「主若肯，必能叫我潔淨了。」 3 耶穌伸手摸他，說：「我肯，你潔淨了吧！」他的大痲瘋立刻就潔淨了。 4 耶穌對他說：「你切不可告訴人，只要去把身體給祭司察看，獻上摩西所吩咐的禮物，對眾人做證據。」

愛在長大痲瘋者身上：因著愛，祂肯，伸手摸，他立刻得潔淨。（太8:1-4，可1:40-45，路5:12-15）

長大痲瘋者得醫治被記載在馬太、馬可和路加三卷福音書，描述著同樣的場景：長大痲瘋的（拜祂、向祂跪下、俯伏在地求祂）說：「主若肯，必能叫我潔淨了。」耶穌伸手摸他，說：「我肯（願意），你潔淨了吧！」他的大痲瘋即時離開他，立刻就潔淨了。

「主若肯」：長大痲瘋者相信耶穌的權柄、能力，相信自己能被潔淨、能被醫治。

「伸手摸他」：耶穌的手觸摸潰爛疼痛的皮膚，祂的愛是真實的觸摸傷痛，撫慰傷痛，進入傷痛，且醫治傷痛。