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What to Do with a Self-Condemning Heart

2023-11-02 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:18-24.  Let’s go!
 
1 John 3:18 (NIV) 
18  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

On verse 18:  One of the big themes of 1 John is that true love is shown not just with our words but with our actions.  When it comes to love, actions speak louder than words.  I encourage you to memorize this verse.
 
1 John 3:19-20 (NIV) 
19  This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence
20  whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

On verses 19-20:   Has your own heart ever condemned you?  Have you ever wrestled with the thought, “maybe I’m not a child of God after all or maybe God is not with me”? The first way John says we can reassure ourselves is by focusing on the fruit of our lives, instead of on our feelings. 

南方王和北方王的爭戰之二

2023-11-01 in , /by

但以理書11: 10 北方王的二子必動干戈，招聚許多軍兵。這軍兵前去，如洪水氾濫，又必再去爭戰，直到南方王的保障。

閱讀經文:  但以理書 11:10-19

10 「北方王的二子必動干戈，招聚許多軍兵。這軍兵前去，如洪水氾濫，又必再去爭戰，直到南方王的保障。 11 南方王必發烈怒，出來與北方王爭戰，擺列大軍，北方王的軍兵必交付他手。 12 他的眾軍高傲，他的心也必自高，他雖使數萬人仆倒，卻不得常勝。

在新舊約之中的四百年，實在是腥風血雨。巴勒斯坦，神賜給以色列人的那塊地，成了列強爭奪的戰場。剛開始在埃及的三個多利買王對以色列人還算友善，巴勒斯坦歸埃及所管，所以猶大省的猶大人漸漸多起來。他們很有作生意的頭腦，加上那時推羅已衰敗，所以他們都變得很富有。到了埃及多利買王朝的後期，巴勒斯坦變成一塊令人垂涎的肥肉。

多利買三世打敗西流古二世之後，西流古二世的兩個兒子決意雪洗前恥，繼承父志，打敗埃及。這兩個兒子是指西流古三世和他的弟弟安提阿哥三世，為要振興國勢，他們招兵買馬剷除異己，準備向外侵略。西流古三世在小亞細亞攻打別迦摩的戰事中陣亡，安提阿哥三世繼承哥哥的王位，又稱為大安提阿哥。

Let God’s Word Bring Us To Our Knees

2023-11-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:9-17.  Let’s go!
 
1 John 3:9-11 (NIV) 
9  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 
10  This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 
11  This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
 
On verses 9-11:  John puts it in such black and white terms: 
 · Those who do what is right belong to God.  Those who sin don’t belong to God.  (v9-10)
 · Those who love their fellow brothers and sisters belong to God.  Those who hate their fellow brothers and sisters don’t belong to God (v10b-11).
So say you’re someone who has trusted Jesus as your Saviour. 

南方王和北方王的爭戰之一

2023-10-31 in , /by

但以理書11: 5  南方的王必強盛，他將帥中必有一個比他更強盛，執掌權柄，他的權柄甚大。
閱讀經文:  但以理書 11:5-9

5 「南方的王必強盛，他將帥中必有一個比他更強盛，執掌權柄，他的權柄甚大。 6 過些年後，他們必互相聯合，南方王的女兒必就了北方王來立約。但這女子幫助之力存立不住，王和他所倚靠之力也不能存立。這女子和引導她來的，並生她的，以及當時扶助她的，都必交於死地。

在亞歷山大死去後，希臘帝國被四個將軍分為四國：馬其頓和希臘（安提帕特和卡山德）；脫拉西及小亞西亞（賴西馬克）：敘利亞（西流古一世）；巴勒斯坦和埃及（多利買一世）。但是在但以理書裡則著重在南王與北王之爭。南王指佔領埃及的多利買王，北王指佔領敘利亞的西流古王。這從希臘出來的二強互相爭霸，歷時約160多年，以致生靈塗炭。以色列位在巴勒斯坦，正好夾在埃及和敘利亞中間，因此飽受戰火之禍。

在第5節說到，南方的王必強盛，便是指佔領埃及的多利買一世蘇他Ptolemy Soter　自封為王。亞歷山大生前曾冊封一名將帥在巴比倫作王，那便是在敘利亞稱王的西流古一世尼卡特Seleucus Nicator。他的權柄甚大，遠勝於多利買一世。

he More You Look at Jesus, the More Like Jesus You Become

2023-10-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:1-8.

1 John 3:1a
1  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

On verse 1a:  When our sin had disqualified us from God’s presence and we had no right to have anything to do with God, God lavished His love on us when He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross.  It is through Jesus Christ that we can be called children of God.   That’s the identity changing love of our God.  Because of His love, we’re no longer the same.  We go from sinners to saints, from excluded to included, from being orphaned to being part of His family.  It’s not because of anything we have done but because of His grace.

1 John 3:1b (NIV) 
1…The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

On verse 1b:  Through faith in Christ we are children of God, but of course the world does not know that or acknowledge that.  As we looked at in 1 John 2:15-17, the world is a system of thinking, feeling and living that does not acknowledge Christ.  It’s a system that pervades our society.  Since the world does not acknowledge God, the world will not acknowledge you as a child of God.  Instead the world will try to define you in other ways that are sometimes contradictory to what God’s Word says about you.  

You Can’t Have God Without Jesus

2023-10-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 2:18-29.  Let’s go!

1 John 2:18-28 (NIV)
18  Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
19  They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20  But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

On verses 18-28:  The apostle John is warning his readers about false teachers.  These false teachers were originally part of the church that John led, but they left the church (v19) and were now teaching that Jesus is not the Christ (that is, not the Messiah that the Jews were waiting for nor the Saviour that we all need) (v22).

These teachers were likely telling the people in John’s church, “You do not know the truth” (v21), accusing John and the other apostles of lying to them.  In response, John reassures his people that “you have an anointing form the Holy One, and all of you know the truth” (v20). 

四百年沉默時期的序幕

2023-10-30 in , /by

但以理書11: 2 現在我將真事指示你，波斯還有三王興起，第四王必富足遠勝諸王。他因富足成為強盛，就必激動大眾攻擊希臘國。

閱讀經文:  但以理書 11:1-4

1 又說：「當瑪代王大流士（大利烏）元年，我曾起來扶助米迦勒，使他堅強。

2 「現在我將真事指示你，波斯還有三王興起，第四王必富足遠勝諸王。他因富足成為強盛，就必激動大眾攻擊希臘國。 3 必有一個勇敢的王興起，執掌大權，隨意而行。 4 他興起的時候，他的國必破裂，向天的四方分開，卻不歸他的後裔，治國的權勢也都不及他，因為他的國必被拔出，歸於他後裔之外的人。

在《聖經》的舊約與新約之間有一段沉默的時期，這沉默指的是神不再有話語給猶大人。這段時期大約有四百年，其間所發生的事都記載在但以理書11章裡，那時巴比倫已經被滅，波斯成為世界的霸主。因此舊約的記事中止於波斯帝國；當新約聖經開始時，已是羅馬帝國統治的時候。自先知瑪拉基之後，到施洗約翰出生，神在以色列（包括猶大），沒有再興起先知。此時猶大人散居在埃及、巴比倫和波斯，有一部份得到古列王的允許，已經回到耶路撒冷重建聖城和聖殿。

因著但以理迫切的禱告，神把將來要發生的事一一告知但以理。神學家D.K. Campbell 說在這一章的前35節裡，已經有135個預言在歷史上應驗了。也因為這部份的預言和歷史是那樣絲絲相扣，後來的史學家竟有人不願意相信那是神在數百年前的預言，而說是有馬加比族的人按著歷史所編造的。但是智者總應該明白，唯有耶和華才是真神，也是宇宙的主宰。

3 Stages in Your Spiritual Growth

2023-10-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 2:9-17.  Let’s go!

1 John 2:9-11 (NIV) 
9  Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 
10  Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 
11  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

On verses 9-11:  Light versus darkness is an ongoing theme in 1 John, the idea that God is light (see 1 John 1:5), that Jesus is the true light (2:5) and that if we are in Jesus we are in the light as well (1:7).  In contrast, the darkness is anywhere where Jesus is not glorified or obeyed (1:6).  How do you know if a Christian is truly in the light or in the darkness?  It’s in how that person loves others.  Here John proclaims that anyone who says he is in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness, whereas anyone who loves his brother lives in the light (v10).  In other words, how we love others is proof of whether we are truly in Christ or not. 

但以理最後的一個異象

2023-10-29 in , /by

但以理書10: 12  他就說：但以理啊，不要懼怕。因為從你第一日專心求明白將來的事，又在你神面前刻苦己心，你的言語已蒙應允，我是因你的言語而來。

閱讀經文:  但以理書 10:1-21

1 波斯王居魯士第三年，有事顯給稱為伯提沙撒的但以理。這事是真的，是指著大爭戰。但以理通達這事，明白這異象。 2 當那時，我但以理悲傷了三個七日。 3 美味我沒有吃，酒肉沒有入我的口，也沒有用油抹我的身，直到滿了三個七日。

4 正月二十四日，我在底格里斯大河邊， 5 舉目觀看，見有一人身穿細麻衣，腰束烏法精金帶。 6 他身體如水蒼玉，面貌如閃電，眼目如火把，手和腳如光明的銅，說話的聲音如大眾的聲音。 7 這異象唯有我但以理一人看見，同著我的人沒有看見，他們卻大大戰兢，逃跑隱藏， 8 只剩下我一人。我見了這大異象便渾身無力，面貌失色，毫無氣力。 9 我卻聽見他說話的聲音，一聽見就面伏在地沉睡了。

這是繼上一章的事件兩年之後發生的，也是但以理的最後一個異象。第10-12章是一個極長的預言，本章是導論，11-12章則比較詳細地敘述在但以理之後的世代將要發生的事。但以理因為預言的內容而悲傷了21天。為何此內容使但以理如此傷神呢？從但以理被告知此預言時 ，他自己就好像被捲入了一場極大的爭戰之中。

這次在底格里斯河向他顯現的，不再是天使加百列了，而是一位像在啟示錄裡，約翰看見的那一位：“燈臺中間有一位好像人子，身穿長衣，直垂到腳，胸間束著金帶。他的頭與髮皆白，如白羊毛，如雪，眼目如同火焰，腳好像在爐中鍛煉光明的銅，聲音如同眾水的聲音”（啟1:13-15）。但以理則見“有一人身穿細麻衣，腰束烏法精金帶。他身體如水蒼玉，面貌如閃電，眼目如火把，手和腳如光明的銅，說話的聲音如大眾的聲音。” 令人不能不想到，是不是榮耀的主耶穌向他顯現了？

Love Never Gets Old

2023-10-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 2:1-8.  Let’s go!

1 John 2:1-2 (NIV) 
1  My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 
2  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

On verses 1-2:  The greatest lawyer you will have representing you is Jesus Christ.  When we sin, Jesus acts as our advocate and speaks to the Father in our defense (v1).  Yet unlike lawyers who defend with their words alone, Jesus defended us with His blood, giving Himself as “the atoning sacrifice for our sins”.  What an amazing advocate and Saviour we have in Jesus.