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Don’t Be A People Worshipper

2021-08-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 3:1-9.  Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 (NIV)
1  Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly–mere infants in Christ.
2  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
3  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
4  For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
5  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe–as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
6  I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
7  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
8  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
9  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

大卫写〈弓歌〉

2021-08-01 in , /by

〈撒母耳记〉下 1:25 英雄何竟在阵上仆倒，约拿单何竟在山上被杀！

阅读经文：   〈撒母耳记〉下 1:1-27

就在大卫去追亚玛力人，夺回自己和众人的妻儿、财物和牲畜之际，也正是扫罗带领以色列人和非利士人大战之时，扫罗和约拿单都死了，以色列人大败。大卫和跟随他的人正在庆幸找回了家人和财物，而大卫可能会想起，非利士人和以色列人的战争不知进行得如何了？那时没有电视，也没有伊妹儿(email)或爱凤(iphone)，消息传得相当慢。到了第三天，才有人来讨赏。

那是一个住在以色列人中的亚玛力人，可能是作为雇佣兵而参战的。他把扫罗临死的情形告诉大卫，并取来扫罗头上的冠冕、臂上的镯子以作证据。他可能知道大卫已被膏为王，也知道扫罗追杀大卫的事，因为扫罗带兵公开去追杀大卫；所以他认为大卫知道扫罗被杀一定很高兴，因为大卫的仇敌死了，大卫就可以作王了。因此他觉得自己一定可以领到不少奖赏。但是出乎他意料之外，大卫不但不感激他，把他训了一顿，还叫人把他杀了。

这就是大卫。可能有人觉得他矫情，扫罗死了，他岂有不高兴的道理？他不是终于不必东躲西逃了吗？但是大卫的过人之处就在于他敬畏神，所以他一直很尊重扫罗。他在吊扫罗和约拿单所写的哀歌里，把他对扫罗的尊重和对约拿单表露无遗。扫罗其实充满嫉恨残酷，但是大卫不理私人恩怨，只看扫罗在国中所做的。他称扫罗为尊荣者、大英雄。扫罗起初的作为的确是以色列的尊荣者、大英雄。大卫记得扫罗为以色列人做过的好事。

认识神的声音

2021-07-30 in , /by

你知道撒但的诡计，竭尽所能在我们身上所要做的事吗？〈约翰福音〉10:10提到，盗贼来，无非要偷窃、杀害、毁坏。撒但要来进行毁坏，其先蒙蔽我们的一大战略，就是使我们以为根本没有撒但或魔鬼，这样他们就能轻易进入我们的心，甚至占领。识破撒但诡计的第一步，便是要知道如何辨识心里的声音是出于神，还是来自撒但的耳边细语…

撒但进行毁坏的第一步－攻占你的心

《圣经》一再提醒我们，无论是信者或未信者，所面临最大的争战，是发生在我们内心的这片「战场」，这是撒但一心想攻占的领地。我们自己的对手不是你我，而是管辖幽暗世界的「他们」，以弗所书6:12：因我们并不是与属血气的争战，乃是与那些执政的、掌权的、管辖这幽暗世界的，以及天空属灵气的恶魔争战。

撒但的最大伎俩，就是使人类不相信有他以及魔鬼们的存在，只要我们否认他们的存在，我们就不会去和他们争战。若我们毫无防备，魔鬼们便能轻而易举入侵，使我们无法过得胜的生活。

所以，首先我们必须要能识出撒但的声音与谎言。从《圣经》中我们清楚看到撒但如何左右我们内心的对话，并影响人的行为（马太福音4:1-10，使徒行传5:3，帖撒罗尼迦前书 2:18）。

神在我们生命中有一个超乎我们所能想像的计画，祂的目的一定是为你好，但是感觉不一定总是良好，然而，撒旦的邪恶计画也不会让你一直感觉很糟糕－这就是撒但的伪装与谎言，我们务必小心谨慎。

曾于《加拿大福音派自由教会》牧会多年，现任ACTS神学院执行主任的盖依‧萨德福博士（Dr. Guy Saffold）透过这篇文章，指导我们如何辨识神的声音和撒但的谎言。

The Holy Spirit – Revealer of God’s Thoughts to You

2021-07-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 2:10-16.  Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 2:10-16 (NIV)
10  but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12  We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
13  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
14  The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15  The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
16  “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

On verses 10-16:  By ourselves we have no ability to understand God’s thoughts.  How could finite, sinful, broken human beings like us possibly comprehend what’s goes on in the infinite, holy, perfect mind of God?  As verse 16 says, quoting Isaiah 40:13, “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?”   We can hardly know what is in another person’s mind; how much less are we able to know what God is thinking (v11).

Serve with Your Gifts, Love with Your Heart Copy

2021-07-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 12:28-13:3. Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 12:28 (NIV)
28  And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

On 12:28:  Here Paul lists a number of roles and spiritual gifts that God has given various individuals in His Church.  Looking at the first three that Paul mentions, an apostle is someone who is gifted and commissioned to start new churches and ventures and oversee their development.  A prophet is someone who senses when the Holy Spirit is giving a message to strengthen, encourage or comfort other people and communicates that message effectively to the people.  A teacher is someone who teaches God’s people by interpreting, explaining and applying the Bible in a way that causes them to learn.  The teaching role can also involve the ability to equip and train other believers to serve God effectively.  Truly it takes different types of individuals and different abilities and gifts to build God’s church.

扫罗及三子阵亡

2021-07-29 in , /by

〈撒母耳记〉上 31:13 将他们骸骨葬在雅比的垂丝柳树下，就禁食七日。

阅读经文:〈撒母耳记〉上 31:1-13         〈历代志〉上10章

以前看电视连续剧〈雍正王朝〉，它的主题曲写得实在好，让我在想到扫罗的结局时不禁想引用几句：“数英雄论成败 / 古今谁能说明白 / 千秋功罪任凭说 / 海云天风独往来 / 一心要江山图治垂青史 / 也难说身后骂名滚滚来 / 有道是人间万苦人最苦 / 终不悔九死落尘埃”。你觉得跟扫罗有没有一点贴近的感觉？扫罗翻滚了一生，东征西讨一心要江山图治垂青史，可惜因为离开神，对大卫嫉恨交加，终于落个‘九死落尘埃’，更‘身后骂名滚滚来’。若给他再活一次，他会有不同的选择吗？若是神再给你一次重来的机会，你的人生会有何不同的选择？

这一场以色列人和非利士人的战役甚为壮烈，扫罗和他的三个儿子和跟随扫罗的人，都战死了。没有神的恩典，以色列人在非利士人面前实在是不堪一击。那时以色列人还不会制造铁器，他们要兵器没有兵器，要装备没有装备，要战士没有战士。有许多勇士，包括扫罗自己本族便雅悯的勇士，有些都投靠了大卫。因为扫罗的作为太失人心了。所以这场战役对扫罗而言，是天不时、地不利、人不和，非败不可。神给他的时间已经到头了。

在撒母耳警告扫罗之后，神还给了扫罗机会和一段不算短的时间，希望他能悔改认罪。可惜扫罗一心想的只是神要把王位给大卫，所以非除掉大卫不可。人若不认清自己的责任，一心数算他人的错，那么自己就会越来越接近灭亡。大卫不杀他，他自己也会被灭亡。扫罗因着自己的骄傲自大，始终不肯悔改归向神。他把王位看得太重，忘记那是出于神的恩典，而不是因着他自己的能力或作为。

Depending Not On Human Wisdom But On God’s Power

2021-07-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

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

1 Corinthians 2:1-9 (NIV)
1  When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
2  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3  I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.
4  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,……

On verses 1-9:  Every day you need to make a choice: will you listen to and depend on worldly wisdom, or on God’s wisdom?

As we learned in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, God’s plan to save us was not built on human wisdom, but on God’s higher wisdom.  In all our own human wisdom we would have never chosen to be saved the way God chose to save us — by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins.  If it was up to us, we would probably come up with some kind of performance-based system where you need to earn your way to heaven (which by the way is what every religion, faith and new age philosophy other than Christianity teaches!)  But in His far better wisdom, God chose a far better way to save us.

The Foolishness of God

2021-07-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 1:18-31.  Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (NIV)
18  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19  For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20  Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe…….

On verses 18-31:  This world will try to tell you that “people are essentially good, that if we just believe in ourselves, we can accomplish anything. We don’t need God, and we don’t need a Saviour.  We can be our own saviour.  All we need is ourselves.”  That’s man’s wisdom, the wisdom of this world.  This “wisdom” is what the Corinthians were hearing from the mouths of so-called wise men, scholars and “philosophers of this age” (v20).

亚玛力人焚掠洗革拉

2021-07-28 in , /by

〈撒母耳记〉上 30:24b  上阵的得多少，看守器具的也得多少，应当大家平分。

阅读经文：〈撒母耳记〉上 30:1-31  

大卫离开了非利士人，走了三日，终于回到洗革拉。原以为能见到家人，没想到洗革拉已面目全非。亚玛力人来过了，攻破洗革拉，焚烧了洗革拉，带走城内的妇女和大小人口，却没有杀一个。这是神很大的恩典和保守，身外物可以失去，生命却无法挽回。看似好像很惨，可是我们继续读下去，便会发现，原来这有可能是神要把大卫支开的一个方法。倘若大卫留在洗革拉，必然听到扫罗和非利士人的战情，为了约拿单，为了在神面前的义，也为了以色列人，他不可能干坐在洗革拉，很可能就带人冲上战场了。

但是现在碰上家人都被掳走，大家心急如焚，怎样都要把他们先救回来，大卫也就无法分心再去考虑那么多了。“大卫和跟随他的人放声大哭，直哭得没有气力”。这句话很感人。让我们知道，大卫再怎样厉害，也是一个有情的凡夫俗子，这是人最真实的一面。有人说：“男人有泪不轻弹，只因未到伤心处。”大卫和跟随他的人过著飘泊不定的生涯，最想念的岂不是家的温馨？妻子儿女的笑颜？在被扫罗追杀时，没有人抱怨；在旷野沙漠，顶无片瓦时，也无人感到命苦；但是现在众人为了自己的儿女，都恨不得拿大卫出气，想拿石头打死大卫。问题是，打死大卫也不能把妻儿救回来啊！

在众人悲愤不已时，大卫做了一个最智慧的决定，去求问神。神给了他一个最美，让他最感穴忍的答复：“你可以追，必追得上，都救得回来。”这就是大卫和扫罗的不同，在最紧张的时刻，在众人都要离开他的时候，扫罗就自行想办法要挽回人心；但是大卫反而离开众人去求问神。所以扫罗失败，大卫成功。环境，往往像一杯热水，要呈现里面茶包的真滋味。你要让环境左右你呢？还是让神来主宰环境？“大卫却倚靠耶和华他的神，心里坚固”。大卫相信神能够主宰这个局面，所以他心里不慌乱，可以冷静下来思考。哭可以哭，尽情地哭，但是眼泪擦干之后，要继续寻求神的带领。

Unity Takes Work and Focusing on Jesus

2021-07-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.  Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 1:10-11 (NIV)
10  I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
11  My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.

On verses 10-11:  Paul had heard reports that there were factions and cliques within the church. So here Paul appeals to his congregation to agree with one another and to get along with one another, that they may be “perfectly united in mind and thought” (v10).

It reminds me of what Pastor Craig Groeschel says.  There are only two things that happen naturally in any organization that don’t require any work on a leader’s part to create: division and underperformance.  Everything else takes intentionality and work.  Whether it’s in a home, a marriage, a church or an organization, we need to work on being united, on getting along, because it won’t always happen naturally. 

That is why elsewhere Paul would write to the church in Ephesus, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).  Unity takes work!  Just as Jesus went out of His way to love those who are so different from Him, unity for us is about going out of our way to love those who are different from us.