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Jesus is Greater Than Evil Spirits

2022-11-22 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 5:1-10.  Let’s go!

Mark 5:1-5 (NIV)
1  They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.
2  When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
3  This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain.
4  For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
5  Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

On verses 1-5:  Notice what happened when Satan got a hold of this man’s life: the man had unusual strength (v4) and yet he spent his days among dead people, hanging among the tombs (v3), cutting himself with stones (v5) and desperate for help.  Similarly, those who play around with the occult or who allow Satan to take hold of their life may from time to time experience unusual strength, but that strength also comes with a haunting emptiness, a depression, a loneliness, great fear and a lack of peace.  The fact that the word “tombs” keeps getting repeated (v2, v3, v5) suggests this:  Satan will never lead you to a place of life but a place of death.

Jesus Will See You Through The Storm

2022-11-21 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 4:30-41.  Let’s go!

Mark 4:30-32 (NIV)
30  Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?
31  It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.
32  Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

On verses 30-32:  Whenever the kingdom of God starts in any heart, in any city, in any place in the world, it always begins the same way: as the tiniest seed.  Over time, however, it can become the biggest thing you see and strong enough to give protection and shelter to others.  So don’t despise small beginnings.  God doesn’t.

所罗门的实验

2022-11-21 in , /by

传道书 2:9  这样，我就日见昌盛，胜过以前在耶路撒冷的众人。我的智慧仍然存留。

阅读经文：传道书 2:4-11

4我为自己动大工程，建造房屋，栽种葡萄园，5修造园囿，在其中栽种各样果木树，6挖造水池，用以浇灌嫩小的树木。7我买了仆婢，也有生在家中的仆婢；又有许多牛群羊群，胜过以前在耶路撒冷众人所有的。8我又为自己积蓄金银和君王的财宝，并各省的财宝；又得唱歌的男女和世人所喜爱的物，并许多的妃嫔。9这样，我就日见昌盛，胜过以前在耶路撒冷的众人。我的智慧仍然存留。10凡我眼所求的，我没有留下不给它的；我心所乐的，我没有禁止不享受的。因我的心为我一切所劳碌的快乐，这就是我从劳碌中所得的份。11后来我察看我手所经营的一切事和我劳碌所成的功，谁知都是虚空，都是捕风，在日光之下毫无益处。

所罗门王从几方面开始他的实验：一是动大工程，造房建屋；二是修造园囿，栽种各样果树；三是买足仆婢；四是买牛和羊；五是努力赚钱存钱，买乐队，娶妃嫔。换是在今日，可能还要买私人飞机和游艇，加上环游世界。他提供了很多工作的机会，相对的，钱也赚回来了。所以他日见昌盛，胜过以前在耶路撒冷的众人。但是他的智慧仍然存留，意思是他没有迷失在他的成功里，他的心依然在寻找。

Don’t Be Afraid to Share What God Has Given You

2022-11-20 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Mark 4:21-29.  Let’s go!

Mark 4:21-23 (NIV)
21  He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?
22  For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.
23  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
 
On verses 21-23:  Remember that Jesus is talking here with his disciples, to whom he has revealed the secrets of God’s kingdom (see v11).  As a disciple of Jesus, you’ve been entrusted with the light of His truth not just for your benefit but for the benefit of others.  God doesn’t give you this light so that would hide it (“put it under a bowl or a bed” – 21).   He wants you to share it, disclose it, bring it out into the open (v22). 

所罗门的追寻

2022-11-20 in , /by

传道书 2:1 我心里说：「来吧，我以喜乐试试你，你好享福。」谁知，这也是虚空。

阅读经文：传道书 2:1-3

1我心里说：「来吧，我以喜乐试试你，你好享福。」谁知，这也是虚空。2我指喜笑说：「这是狂妄」，论喜乐说：「有何功效呢？」3我心里察究如何用酒使我肉体舒畅，我心却仍以智慧引导我；又如何持住愚昧，等我看明世人，在天下一生当行何事为美。

在所罗门寻找日光之下有何值得他把握的事情时，他以寻乐为第一目标。世人都喜欢快乐，不是吗？喜乐和享福，是许多人心中的第一志愿。父母叫我们小时候要好好读书，就可以有好成绩，才能考上好大学，毕业后才能找到好工作，才能赚大钱。有了钱，就可以买大房子、豪华轿车、请得起佣人，结婚有排场，孩子上名校，等等。所以人生以赚钱为目的，赚钱是为了享福，享福是为了让自己看起来有面子，不必动手做事。到处旅游，享受荣华富贵。

在温哥华有很多移民都已经达到这样的水准了，要什么有什么。结果，你知道吗？有很多这样的达人和贵夫人，天天往赌馆跑，最后把什么都输光了。他们有很多钱，买到了几百万的房子，最名贵的轿车，家里佣人三班制，儿女上不上得了名校又是另一回事。但是享福的结果是只想找刺激作乐。快乐是在找刺激时来那么一下，立刻又走了，因为输钱了；快乐在赢钱时也会过来一下，也很快就走了，因为一下子就输光了。

Keep a Soft Heart Toward God

2022-11-18 in /by

Hi GAMErs!  

Today’s passage is Mark 4:10-20.  Let’s go!

Mark 4:10-12 (NIV)
10  When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.
11  He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
12  so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'”
 
On verses 10-12:  Yesterday we learned one reason why Jesus taught in parables: to make truth about the kingdom of God easier for his disciples to understand and remember.  But here we learn a second reason why Jesus taught in parables and, paradoxically, it’s the opposite of the first reason: Jesus taught in parables in part to make it difficult for those whom God had not chosen to understand what Jesus was saying.
 

智慧和愁烦

2022-11-18 in , /by

传道书 1:14   我见日光之下所做的一切事都是虚空，都是捕风。

阅读经文：传道书 1:12-18

12我传道者，在耶路撒冷做过以色列的王。13我专心用智慧寻求查究天下所做的一切事，乃知神叫世人所经练的，是极重的劳苦。14我见日光之下所做的一切事都是虚空，都是捕风。15弯曲的不能变直，缺少的不能足数。16我心里议论说：「我得了大智慧，胜过我以前在耶路撒冷的众人，而且我心中多经历智慧和知识的事。」17我又专心察明智慧、狂妄和愚昧，乃知这也是捕风。18因为多有智慧就多有愁烦，加增知识的就加增忧伤。

所罗门王自称是传道者Preacher，也有译为寻道者 the Quester。我觉得寻道者好像比传道者更贴切。因为在第13节里，每一个译本都指出所罗门在探寻和追索他所能看到的一切事，为了要找出人生的意义。不料，他的探寻却有一个极为令人惊讶的结果。因为他发现，这世上所发生的一切事，都是造物者为了让人类有事可做，有事可忙。和合本则译为“极重的劳苦”。假如按着人的经历：生老病死而言，用极重的劳苦也不为过。

万事尽属虚空

2022-11-17 in , /by

传道书 1:2 传道者说：虚空的虚空，虚空的虚空，凡事都是虚空。

阅读经文：传道书 1:1-11

1在耶路撒冷做王，大卫的儿子传道者的言语。2传道者说：虚空的虚空，虚空的虚空，凡事都是虚空。3人一切的劳碌，就是他在日光之下的劳碌，有什么益处呢？4一代过去，一代又来，地却永远长存。5日头出来，日头落下，急归所出之地。6风往南刮，又向北转，不住地旋转，而且返回转行原道。7江河都往海里流，海却不满；江河从何处流，仍归还何处。8万事令人厌烦，人不能说尽。眼看，看不饱；耳听，听不足。9已有的事后必再有，已行的事后必再行，日光之下并无新事。10岂有一件事人能指著说「这是新的」？哪知，在我们以前的世代早已有了。11已过的世代无人记念，将来的世代后来的人也不记念。

这是一本非常令人喜爱且广传的书。假如说叔本华、尼采等人的作品很有哲理，那么不妨读读〈传道书〉，更是一针见血道出人生的真相。作者应该就是所罗门王，因为他在耶路撒冷做王，又是大卫的儿子，除了所罗门，还有谁呢？当然，也有人认为像〈箴言〉一样，这本书也是希西家王派人编辑而成的。但主要的作者还是所罗门。伟大蒙福如所罗门王，竟然在一句话里道出了五个虚空Vanity，他是怎么想的？