Entries by

谨守你们的心

2024-02-02 in , /by

玛拉基书 2:15 虽然神有灵的余力能造多人，他不是单造一人吗？为何只造一人呢？乃是他愿人得虔诚的后裔。所以当谨守你们的心，谁也不可以诡诈待幼年所娶的妻。

阅读经文: 玛拉基书 2:10-17

10 我们岂不都是一位父吗？岂不是一位神所造的吗？我们各人怎么以诡诈待弟兄，背弃了神与我们列祖所立的约呢？ 11 犹大人行事诡诈，并且在以色列和耶路撒冷中行一件可憎的事，因为犹大人亵渎耶和华所喜爱的圣洁，娶侍奉外邦神的女子为妻。 12 凡行这事的，无论何人，就是献供物给万军之耶和华，耶和华也必从雅各的帐篷中剪除他。

在我们的网站上有个﹝问题答疑﹞的信箱，本来是为了信仰的问题而设立的，没想到有不少人为了感情的事而来信。特别让我感到难过的是，有一些挂著基督徒之名的弟兄，在感情上却没有办法做一个有原则有承担的人，不但不能带领女友信主，反而因自己的言行使人受害，并使主名不得荣耀。

我想这也是为什么当年Bill McCartney成立Promise Keepers(诺言守护者)的主要原因，因为有许多男性，包括教会的弟兄都没办法守住婚约的承诺，以致于像玛拉基说的，“使前妻叹息哭泣的眼泪遮盖耶和华的坛，以致耶和华不再看顾那供物，也不乐意从你们手中收纳”。

玛拉基提到在尼希米的时代，以色列人抛弃发妻，娶侍奉外邦神的女子为妻。在神的眼中，抛弃发妻已是“亵渎耶和华所喜爱的圣洁”，更何况学所罗门娶外女去拜他们的假神，真是败坏之极。

Moving Mountains by the Power of God’s Spirit

2024-02-02 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Zechariah 4:1-14.  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!
 
Zechariah 4:1-6 (NLT2)
1  Then the angel who had been talking with me returned and woke me, as though I had been asleep.
2  “What do you see now?” he asked. I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. Around the bowl are seven lamps, each having seven spouts with wicks.
3  And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl.”
4  Then I asked the angel, “What are these, my lord? What do they mean?”
5  “Don’t you know?” the angel asked. “No, my lord,” I replied.
6  Then he said to me, “This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
 
On verses 1-6:  The same angel that spoke to Zechariah earlier wakes Zechariah from his slumber (v1) and Zechariah sees a fifth vision.  In this fifth vision, Zechariah sees a golden lampstand.  Usually to keep a lampstand burning, priests would have to keep coming back to that lampstand to fill it with oil.  However, what Zechariah sees is a lampstand that keeps burning without stopping and without needing people to refill it with oil. 

Because of Jesus You Can Serve God Without Shame

2024-02-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Zechariah 3:1-10.  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!
 
Zechariah 3:1-5 (NIV)
1  Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.
2  The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
3  Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.
4  The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.”
5  Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.

On verses 1-5:  Here Zechariah describes a fourth vision that he sees.  It’s a picture of Joshua the high priest dressed in filthy clothes and standing before the angel of the Lord.  Satan is at Joshua’s right side accusing Joshua of all the sins Joshua has committed. 

生命和平安的约

2024-02-01 in , /by

玛拉基书 2:5  我曾与他立生命和平安的约，我将这两样赐给他，使他存敬畏的心，他就敬畏我，惧怕我的名。

阅读经文: 玛拉基书 2:1-9

1「众祭司啊，这诫命是传给你们的。 2 万军之耶和华说：你们若不听从，也不放在心上，将荣耀归于我的名，我就使咒诅临到你们，使你们的福分变为咒诅。因你们不把诫命放在心上，我已经咒诅你们了。 3 我必斥责你们的种子，又把你们牺牲的粪抹在你们的脸上，你们要与粪一同除掉。

神拣选利未人，使以色列人可以借着他们与神沟通（相交）；也借着利未人，使以色列人的罪过可以得赦免，并蒙悦纳。这个制度建立在神的能力和圣洁之上。也因为利未人是神所拣选的仆人，他们必须放弃拥有地土和财产的权利，只能在会幕（或圣殿）里工作，因为神就是他们的一切。神也要求以色列其他支派要负起供应利未人的责任和义务。

所以当利未人里作祭司的不再相信有神，不相信神爱他们，随随便便地应付献祭的事时，整个以色列人的根基就倒塌了。祭司污染祭坛，偏离正道，在律法上瞻徇情面，以致于他们被众人藐视，看为下贱。当一个人不尊重自己时，也很难得到别人的尊重；一个祭司不尊重自己的身份和事工时，人也不会尊重他和他的工作。

在〈彼得前书〉二章9节里，他说：“惟有你们是被拣选的族类，是有君尊的祭司，是圣洁的国度，是属神的子民。要叫你们宣扬那召你们出黑暗入奇妙光明者的美德”。你们，指的便是信徒，这就是“信徒皆祭司”的由来。

尊祂为大

2024-01-31 in , /by

玛拉基书1:11 万军之耶和华说：从日出之地到日落之处，我的名在外邦中必尊为大。在各处人必奉我的名烧香，献洁净的供物，因为我的名在外邦中必尊为大。

阅读经文: 玛拉基书1:1-14

1耶和华藉玛拉基传给以色列的默示。

2 耶和华说：「我曾爱你们，你们却说：『你在何事上爱我们呢？』」耶和华说：「以扫不是雅各的哥哥吗？我却爱雅各， 3 恶以扫，使他的山岭荒凉，把他的地业交给旷野的野狗。 4 以东人说：『我们现在虽被毁坏，却要重建荒废之处。』万军之耶和华如此说：任他们建造，我必拆毁。人必称他们的地为罪恶之境，称他们的民为耶和华永远恼怒之民。

〈玛拉基书〉是旧约最后一卷书，〈玛拉基〉的意思是“我的使者”，原文是 ‘我要差遣玛拉基’＝‘我要差遣我的使者’之意。没人知道那是一个人名或只是书名。在〈玛拉基书〉成书后，神就静默，不再有预言，直到耶稣降生，这之间就是沉默的四百年。

〈玛拉基书〉成书时，被掳的以色列人在所罗巴伯、以斯拉和尼希米的带领下已有三次归回（主前536/457/444年），至少有五万人已回到耶路撒冷。那时大约是主前400年，圣殿已经重建完成，以色列人恢复献祭，做生意和嫁娶，也没有亡国之前被外邦压迫的威胁。

Jesus is the Wall of Fire Around You and the Glory Within You

2024-01-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Zechariah 2:1-13.  There are so many rich and powerful lessons we can learn from this passage.  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!
 
Today’s passage is Zechariah 2:1-13.  Let’s go!
 
Zechariah 2:1-5 (NIV)
1  Then I looked up–and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand!
2  I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”
3  Then the angel who was speaking to me left, and another angel came to meet him
4  and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it.
5  And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will be its glory within.’

On verses 1-5:  Here Zechariah sees a third vision.  It’s of a man with a measuring line (like a measuring tape) who is trying to measure how wide and long is the city of Jerusalem (v1-2).  The angel who was earlier helping Zechariah to interpret the visions (1:19-21) leaves and is met by another angel who tells the interpreter angel a message to give to “that young man” (v3-4a). 

耶和华必做全地的王

2024-01-30 in , /by

撒迦利亚书13:1  那日，必给大卫家和耶路撒冷的居民开一个泉源，洗除罪恶与污秽。

阅读经文: 撒迦利亚书13:1-9

1「那日，必给大卫家和耶路撒冷的居民开一个泉源，洗除罪恶与污秽。」

2 万军之耶和华说：「那日，我必从地上除灭偶像的名，不再被人记念，也必使这地不再有假先知与污秽的灵。 3 若再有人说预言，生他的父母必对他说：『你不得存活，因为你托耶和华的名说假预言。』生他的父母在他说预言的时候，要将他刺透。 4 那日，凡做先知说预言的必因他所论的异象羞愧，不再穿毛衣哄骗人。

“那日”，是一个警告，也是一个盼望。对万民而言，那是争战和复兴的日子，对万民而言，则是末世大扫除。在前面几章里，我们一直读到神要复兴以色列和耶路撒冷的信息，在教会的事工中，我们也常渴望复兴。但是我们想要的复兴和神要的复兴有点不同，我们要的复兴是人丁兴旺，财源茂盛；神要的复兴是人心里外的全然洁净。而，人很难一直保持洁净。所以在本章第一节，神要为大卫家和耶路撒冷的居民开一个泉源，除罪恶与污秽。

为何要开泉源呢？有个池子或装个自来水不就行了吗？泉源，代表活水不停息的奔流，把脏的洗去，不停地洗。耶稣说：“人若喝我所赐的水，就永远不渴。我所赐的水要在他里头成为泉源，直涌到永生。（约4:14）”这就是人的状况，我们需要有从耶稣来的活水泉源，在我们的里面不断地冲去心里和思想的污秽，让我们里外洁净。现在有些人很流行灌肠，为了维持健康，天天都灌肠，要把那些对健康有影响的废物和肮脏都排得一干二净，以达到除百病和拥有健康的目的。我们的肉体需要保持干净，灵魂也是如此。

God Stands By Your Side

2024-01-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Zechariah 1:7-21.  It’s not an easy passage to understand, but the lessons in it are significant.  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!
 

Zechariah 1:7 (NIV)
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo. 
 
On verse 7:  Here Zechariah begins to recount 8 visions that he apparently received in a single night from God.  Verses 8-17 describe the first vision.
 
Zechariah 1:8 (NIV)
8 During the night I had a vision–and there before me was a man riding a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses. 
 
On verse 8:  In his first vision Zechariah sees an angel who looks like a man riding a red horse, standing among the myrtle trees in the middle of a deep valley, and backed by other horses.  

Find Your Identity and Hope in God and His Word

2024-01-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today we begin the book of Zechariah.

Here is some background on the book of Zechariah: 

– The book of Zechariah was written approximately in the 6th century B.C., probably around the same time as the book of Haggai (which we finished looking at together yesterday).  Haggai and Zechariah served God around the same time.  In fact, Zechariah started his own public ministry just a couple months after Haggai preached his first sermon.  

– Zechariah was one of 50,000 Jewish exiles who lived in Babylon but who were later allowed by the Persian empire to return to Jerusalem.  

– In Jerusalem, God used Zechariah much like He used Haggai: as a prophet to encourage the Jews to finish rebuilding Solomon’s temple and to get them ready for a king, a Messiah, to come.

– Zechariah’s name means “the Lord remembers”.

Today’s passage is Zechariah 1:1-6.  Let’s go!

末世大扫除

2024-01-29 in , /by

撒迦利亚书13:1  那日，必给大卫家和耶路撒冷的居民开一个泉源，洗除罪恶与污秽。

阅读经文: 撒迦利亚书13:1-9

1「那日，必给大卫家和耶路撒冷的居民开一个泉源，洗除罪恶与污秽。」

2 万军之耶和华说：「那日，我必从地上除灭偶像的名，不再被人记念，也必使这地不再有假先知与污秽的灵。 3 若再有人说预言，生他的父母必对他说：『你不得存活，因为你托耶和华的名说假预言。』生他的父母在他说预言的时候，要将他刺透。 4 那日，凡做先知说预言的必因他所论的异象羞愧，不再穿毛衣哄骗人。

“那日”，是一个警告，也是一个盼望。对万民而言，那是争战和复兴的日子，对万民而言，则是末世大扫除。在前面几章里，我们一直读到神要复兴以色列和耶路撒冷的信息，在教会的事工中，我们也常渴望复兴。但是我们想要的复兴和神要的复兴有点不同，我们要的复兴是人丁兴旺，财源茂盛；神要的复兴是人心里外的全然洁净。而，人很难一直保持洁净。所以在本章第一节，神要为大卫家和耶路撒冷的居民开一个泉源，除罪恶与污秽。

为何要开泉源呢？有个池子或装个自来水不就行了吗？泉源，代表活水不停息的奔流，把脏的洗去，不停地洗。耶稣说：“人若喝我所赐的水，就永远不渴。我所赐的水要在他里头成为泉源，直涌到永生。（约4:14）”这就是人的状况，我们需要有从耶稣来的活水泉源，在我们的里面不断地冲去心里和思想的污秽，让我们里外洁净。现在有些人很流行灌肠，为了维持健康，天天都灌肠，要把那些对健康有影响的废物和肮脏都排得一干二净，以达到除百病和拥有健康的目的。我们的肉体需要保持干净，灵魂也是如此。