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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.  

爱在管会堂的家里

2024-03-06 in , /by

马太福音 9:18-19 / 9:23-26

18 耶稣说这话的时候，有一个管会堂的来拜他，说：「我女儿刚才死了，求你去按手在她身上，她就必活了。」 19 耶稣便起来跟着他去，门徒也跟了去。

23 耶稣到了管会堂的家里，看见有吹手，又有许多人乱嚷， 24 就说：「退去吧！这闺女不是死了，是睡着了。」他们就嗤笑他。 25 众人既被撵出，耶稣就进去，拉着闺女的手，闺女便起来了。 26 于是这风声传遍了那地方。

爱在管会堂的家里：因着爱，祂对睚鲁说：不要怕，只要信！接着拉着孩子的手，对她说：闺女！我吩咐妳起来。（太9:18-19, 23-26，可5:22-24, 35-43，路8:40-42, 49-56）

在犹太人的社会，「管会堂的」是会堂的领袖，身份背后代表诸多深意：神的拣选、摩西的律法、辉煌的圣殿、被掳的屈辱、荣耀的盼望。管会堂睚鲁的小女儿病得快死了，他爱女儿，不顾自己的身分地位，大庭广众下俯伏在耶稣面前，再三求祂去医治自己的女儿。

睚鲁求主帮助的经历可说是惊滔骇浪、高潮迭起，先被患了十二年血漏的女人半途插队拦截耶稣，赶不及到家就听到女儿的噩耗，看见众人为女儿哀哭捶胸顿失希望，最后惊奇的面对复活的女儿。

爱在格拉森外邦之地

2024-03-05 in , /by

马太福音 8:28-34

28 耶稣既渡到那边去，来到加大拉人的地方，就有两个被鬼附的人从坟茔里出来迎着他，极其凶猛，甚至没有人能从那条路上经过。 29 他们喊著说：「神的儿子，我们与你有什么相干？时候还没有到，你就上这里来叫我们受苦吗？」

30 离他们很远，有一大群猪吃食。 31 鬼就央求耶稣，说：「若把我们赶出去，就打发我们进入猪群吧。」 32 耶稣说：「去吧！」鬼就出来，进入猪群。全群忽然闯下山崖，投在海里淹死了。 33 放猪的就逃跑进城，将这一切事和被鬼附的人所遭遇的都告诉人。 34 合城的人都出来迎见耶稣，既见了，就央求他离开他们的境界。

爱在格拉森外邦之地：因着爱，祂释放被污鬼附着的人，鬼入猪群，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）坐落外约但的山区，距加利利海东南面约35哩，离约但河东19哩；格拉森处于当时罗马帝国的低加坡里行政区，这地区是由十个外邦人城市组成，位于撒马利亚和加利利以东的地方。当地的文化、生活习惯趋向希腊化，经文中谈及在山上吃食的一大群猪，显示格拉森人可能以养猪为生，并未遵循摩西律法中有关洁净的规条（利11:7-8），对于犹太人而言，格拉森就等同于一个乱七八糟、污秽之地。

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).

爱在风浪中

2024-03-04 in , /by

马太福音 14:22-33

22 耶稣随即催门徒上船，先渡到那边去，等他叫众人散开。 23 散了众人以后，他就独自上山去祷告。到了晚上，只有他一人在那里。 24 那时船在海中，因风不顺，被浪摇撼。 25 夜里四更天，耶稣在海面上走，往门徒那里去。 26 门徒看见他在海面上走，就惊慌了，说：「是个鬼怪！」便害怕，喊叫起来。 27 耶稣连忙对他们说：「你们放心！是我，不要怕！」 28 彼得说：「主，如果是你，请叫我从水面上走到你那里去。」 29 耶稣说：「你来吧！」彼得就从船上下去，在水面上走，要到耶稣那里去。

爱在风浪中：因着爱，祂伸手拉住彼得，对他说：你这小信的人哪！为什么疑惑呢？（太14:22-33，可6:45-52，约6:15-21）

福音书记载：耶稣和门徒夜里前往外邦人之地格拉森，坐船遇见风浪，祂斥责狂风大浪，风浪就止住，平静了。（太8:23-27，可4:35-41，路8:22-25）

前次，耶稣和门徒一同在被风浪摇撼的船中，这次，祂从海面上接近因风不顺，被浪摇撼，摇橹甚苦的门徒（太14:23-24，可6:48），祂邀请彼得走在水面上，进入风浪中（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.

爱在税关上

2024-03-03 in , /by

马太福音 9:9-13

9 耶稣从那里往前走，看见一个人，名叫马太，坐在税关上，就对他说：「你跟从我来！」他就起来跟从了耶稣。

10 耶稣在屋里坐席的时候，有好些税吏和罪人来，与耶稣和他的门徒一同坐席。 11 法利赛人看见，就对耶稣的门徒说：「你们的先生为什么和税吏并罪人一同吃饭呢？」 12 耶稣听见就说：「康健的人用不着医生，有病的人才用得着。 13 经上说：『我喜爱怜恤，不喜爱祭祀』，这句话的意思你们且去揣摩；我来本不是召义人，乃是召罪人。」

爱在税关上：因着爱，祂呼召马太（利未），和好些税吏并罪人一同坐席吃饭。（太9:9-13，可2:13-17，路5:27-32）

使徒马太是加利利人，信主前是迦百农城的税吏，他熟悉税务相关的贸易通商、财务簿记，可能善于速记，熟悉通用的亚兰文与希腊文，是耶稣门徒中少数受过教育且有学问的，之后他写下文笔流畅的《马太福音》，记载他亲眼所见耶稣的行迹。

罗马帝国当时的税吏是被殖民利用专为征收税款（关税、路费）的犹太人，他们常与官员狼狈为奸，讹诈牟利以饱私囊；在犹太人的眼中，税吏被视为卖国贼（效忠罗马皇帝）、叛教徒（与外邦人来往），在宗教上他们是不洁的，与强盗、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.

爱在长大痲疯者身上

2024-03-01 in , /by

马太福音 8:1-4

耶稣下了山，有许多人跟着他。 2 有一个长大痲疯的来拜他，说：「主若肯，必能叫我洁净了。」 3 耶稣伸手摸他，说：「我肯，你洁净了吧！」他的大痲疯立刻就洁净了。 4 耶稣对他说：「你切不可告诉人，只要去把身体给祭司察看，献上摩西所吩咐的礼物，对众人做证据。」

爱在长大痲疯者身上：因着爱，祂肯，伸手摸，他立刻得洁净。（太8:1-4，可1:40-45，路5:12-15）

长大痲疯者得医治被记载在马太、马可和路加三卷福音书，描述著同样的场景：长大痲疯的（拜祂、向祂跪下、俯伏在地求祂）说：「主若肯，必能叫我洁净了。」耶稣伸手摸他，说：「我肯（愿意），你洁净了吧！」他的大痲疯即时离开他，立刻就洁净了。

「主若肯」：长大痲疯者相信耶稣的权柄、能力，相信自己能被洁净、能被医治。

「伸手摸他」：耶稣的手触摸溃烂疼痛的皮肤，祂的爱是真实的触摸伤痛，抚慰伤痛，进入伤痛，且医治伤痛。