Entries by

摩西祝福以色列人

〈申命記〉 33:27   永生的 神是你的居所;祂永久的膀臂在你以下。祂在你前面攆出仇敵,說:毀滅吧。

閱讀經文:〈申命記〉 33:1-29

這是《聖經》第一次稱摩西為「神人」,英文是the man of God, 可以說是屬神的人,也可以說是奉神差遣的人,或有聖靈的人。他形容神在西奈山與百姓的初見,「西奈山」又譯為何烈山,神的山。因為神在那裡賜下律法。「西珥」的原意是多毛,或長滿粗毛,是以東地的山脈。「巴蘭山」是曠野地的一座山。「萬萬聖者」有的人說可能是指眾多的天使。在這裡唯一的一次,把律法形容為烈火的律法,烈火可以燒盡渣滓,使萬物潔淨;神的律法也有潔淨人心的作用。摩西指出,神把律法傳給百姓,是因為神疼愛他們。

摩西的祝福首先提到耶和華神是以色列人的神,祂疼愛以色列人,賜下律法,並且要在以色列人當中為王。這是一個極大的祝福。因為沒有好的領袖,百姓就會很辛苦。所以為何每個國家在競選總統或總理時,競爭都非常激烈。即使選舉巿長也是很激烈,因為選民都明白領導者對自己所住地區的影響,他的為人、作風、思想和信仰都會影響到整個地區。因此有耶和華神作王,是一個最大的祝福。一個真正愛以色列百姓的王。

摩西接著講到以色列十二支派的前途,他的看法和雅各的有些不一樣,我們會稍微比較一下。雅各的祝福是從父親對兒子的觀點出發,但是摩西則不再是看個人,而是以支派而言。

老大流便因為和父親雅各的妾辟拉同寢,他放縱情慾,以至失去長子的名份。但在這裡,摩西祝福流便的支派,不致死亡,人數不致稀少。但是他還是得不回長子的尊榮和權力。

猶大本是老四,卻升到西緬和利未之上了。雅各對猶大的祝福是出於神,因為他預言君王和彌賽亞都要出於猶大支派。摩西則祝福他,求神幫助他攻擊敵人。很簡單,但是很實際,哪個君王不需要神幫助他攻擊敵人呢?

Enter The Holy Spirit (Plus, To Love Jesus Is To Obey Jesus)

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 14:15-21.  Let’s go!

John 14:15 (NIV) 
15  “If you love me, you will obey what I command.

On verse 15:  Loving Jesus is not simply feeling a certain way toward Jesus or having a favourable opinion about Jesus.  It’s doing what Jesus commands.  To love Jesus is to obey Jesus.  If you want to know how well you love Jesus, ask yourself, “How much am I obeying what Jesus is commanding me to do?”

John 14:16-17 (NIV) 
16  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever–
17  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

On verses 16-17:   To help us love and obey Jesus, Jesus and the Father together give us access to the Holy Spirit, the third Person in the Trinity.  Here Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of truth” (v17).  He also calls the Holy Spirit a “Counselor” (v16), in Greek “parakletos”, which in other English translations has also been translated “comforter”, “advocate”, and “helper”.  Indeed the Holy Spirit is all of those things to Christians. The Holy Spirit counsels Christians to understand and do God’s will.  The Holy Spirit comforts Christians with the presence of God.  The Holy Spirit is our advocate who speaks to the Father on our behalf.  And the Holy Spirit is our helper, who empowers us to do what God wants us to do.

摩西之歌

〈申命記〉 32:29   唯願他們有智慧,能明白這事,肯思念他們的結局!

閱讀經文:〈申命記〉 32:1-52

這一章是摩西之歌,摩西奉神的命令所寫的預言歌。預言以色列人將在神的祝福裡,越行越遠。「耶書崙漸漸肥胖,粗壯,光潤,踢跳奔跑,便離棄造他的神,輕看救他的磐石。 敬拜別神,觸動神的憤恨;行可憎惡的事,惹了他的怒氣。」耶書崙是指神所愛的正直之人,是神為以色列人取的親蜜之名。

有很多人都很喜歡唱詩歌。在每一首歌的背後大多有一個動人的故事,因為感動,而流露出來的心思。特別是經歷過苦難而寫下的詩歌,經常成為多人的幫助。例如:哈瑞修..斯彼福在他的妻女都死於海難,他的財產又付諸大火時,他寫下了〈我心靈得安寧〉。他說,人生「有時享平安,如江河又平穩,有時憂傷來似浪滾,不論何環境,我已蒙主引領,我心靈得安寧,得安寧。」讓我們想起約伯在失去所有的兒女和財產之後,說:「賞賜的是耶和華,收取的也是耶和華。耶和華的名是應當稱頌的!」他們認識的神是宇宙的掌權者,因此在失去世上的一切時,仍然充滿盼望,有極深的平安。神巴不得以色列人也有如此的信念,知道神是他們的磐石。

The Place Jesus Has Prepared for You

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 14:1-14.  Let’s go!

John 14:1-3 (NIV) 
1  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
2  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

On verses 1-3:  These words from Jesus to his disciples can also be taken as his words to us today.  Jesus has prepared a place for you in heaven, in his Father’s house.  The question is: do you trust Jesus (v1) to take you to his Father’s house when you die, or are you trusting in something else, trying to build your own place in heaven?  Praise God that if you have placed your trust in Jesus, on the day you die you don’t leave home; you go home.  For the Christian, home is where Jesus and the Father are.

進窄門、走小路 (下)

〈馬太福音〉7章13-14節 你們要進窄門。因為引到滅亡,那門是寬的,路是大的,進去的人也多;引到永生,那門是窄的,路是小的,找著的人也少。

祈求、尋找與尋見

  門是要進入的,路是要行走的。如果要進寬門、走大路,不用尋找就可進入;但如果要進窄門、走小路,一定要尋找才能進入。進寬門、走大路的人很多,進窄門、走小路的人很少。耶穌的意思是,要進入永生的人,就要尋找那永生的門,走那永生的路,用心追求、辨別,找到之後要走進去。這扇通往永生的窄門要殷切尋找,才能尋到。耶穌說:「你們祈求,就給你們;尋找,就尋見;叩門,就給你們開門」,這祈求與耶穌要人進窄門有關。

耶穌基督:「我就是門,我就是路。」

  除了耶穌基督,未曾有人說過:「我就是門」這句話。《約翰福音》第十章提到耶穌說:「我就是門」(約10:9),接著《約翰福音》第十四章提到耶穌說:「我就是路」(約14:6)。大凡孔子、釋迦摩尼、穆罕默德、大小先知皆未曾說過「我就是門」這句話,這句話唯有耶穌基督說過,「我就是門;凡從我進來的,必然得救,並且出入得草吃」(約10:9)。耶穌是那獨一的門,人唯有透過基督才能來到上帝面前,從這門找到真正的路。「我是」(I am who I am),這是上帝的自稱,這一位從永恆到永恆的「我是」,就是你所要找的那扇門。耶穌說:「我就『是』道路、真理、生命」,這個「是」是永恆的「是」,這個「是」也是現今的「是」。摩西問上帝:「祢名叫什麼?」上帝回答:「我是自有永有的。」(參:出3:13-14)「我是」是上帝的自稱,沒有任何位格像上帝一樣把自己的存在與自己是誰連在一起講。

How Do You Know If You’re a True Disciple of Jesus

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 13:31-38.  Let’s go!

John 13:31-32 (NIV) 
31  When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him.
32  If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

On verses 31-32:  With Judas now on his way to betray Jesus, Jesus sees Judas’ betrayal as triggering the important process by which Jesus will be handed over to the authorities, crucified, killed, buried, and finally resurrected and glorified.  So Jesus is looking past the betrayal to what the betrayal would lead to, ultimately Jesus being glorified.

What can we learn from this?  Instead of focusing only on the current or soon coming pain or problem you are facing, like Jesus, learn to look past that current or soon coming pain and see that the current or soon coming pain is part of something greater that God is doing down the road.  Like Jesus, though your current lot may be pain and trouble, may you have eyes to see that if you persevere through this difficult time, there will soon be glory waiting for you in the end.

The Disciple Whom Jesus Loves

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 13:21-30.  Let’s go!

John 13:21-22 (NIV) 
21  After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.” 
22  His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant.

On verses 21-22:  Here we once again see Jesus’ humanity.  Jesus is emotionally impacted – “troubled in spirit” (v21) – by the fact that someone he has loved and invested in for 3 years is going to betray him.  From this I learn that God is not stoic and emotionless.  God is full of emotion and has an emotional response to the things we do and say.

John 13:23 (NIV) 
23  One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him.

On verse 23: “[T]he disciple whom Jesus loved” was John’s way of referring to himself, not to boast of his status as compared to other disciples, but to refer to himself, as if to say, “If I’m anything at all, I’m loved by Jesus”.  Rather than pointing to his accomplishments and what he had done, John pointed to the fact that Jesus loved him. 

摩西臨終之勸勉

〈申命記〉 31:8 耶和華必在你前面行,祂必與你同在,必不撇下你,也不丟棄你;不要懼怕,也不要驚惶。

閱讀經文:〈申命記 〉31:1-29 

想像一個120歲的老人,還可以孜孜不倦地訓誨上37天,這需要多大的精力和清醒的頭腦啊!摩西之後,我再也找不到第二個像他那樣蒙神祝福的人了。雖說人越老,耳越聾,因此講話聲音必然變大,但也不可能像摩西那樣有中氣,可以傳令給兩三百萬人。教過書的人都知道,有時講得口乾舌燥,力氣久久不能恢復,聲音都會變得沙啞,甚至咽喉發炎說不出話來。摩西連續講了37天,可見神若呼召人做事,也必然將足夠的能力賜給他。

但是摩西的體力也不像往昔,他說他不能照常出入了。以前健步如飛,上山下山有如家常便飯,現在只能拄杖緩緩而行。神告訴摩西,他的死期臨近了。偉大如摩西,也要面對人生肉體的終結。但是當耶穌在變像山上看見摩西和先知以利亞時,我們就記起神說過的,祂是活人的神,不是死人的神。摩西的肉體會結束,化為塵土,但是他的靈在神那裡,永遠活著。並且有一天,神也會賜給他一個復活的身體,就像主耶穌復活的身體一樣,不會朽壞,可以來去自如,穿牆越壁,不再受時空控制的身體。信主的人也有同樣的盼望。

摩西不怕面對死亡,他一步步地把神交給他的工作做好。他召了約書亞,鼓勵他,也在眾人面前鼓勵他:「你們當剛強壯膽,不要害怕,也不要畏懼他們,因為耶和華你的神和你同去,祂必不撇下你,也不丟棄你。」耶穌要面臨十字架的酷刑之前,也告訴門徒:「我留下平安給你們,我將我的平安賜給你們。我所賜的不像世人所賜的,你們心裡不要憂愁,也不要膽怯。(約14:27)」不要畏懼,不要膽怯,要剛強壯膽,因為主必同行。這就是基督徒的人生,雖然有許多挑戰,但是我們必須剛強壯膽地跟隨神。因為神永遠與倚靠祂的人同在,不會丟下屬祂的人,也不會撇下信祂的人。

揀選生命

〈申命記〉 30:19  我今日呼天喚地向你作見證;我將生死禍福陳明在你面前,所以你要揀選生命,使你和你的後裔都得存活。

閱讀經文:〈申命記〉 30:1-20

摩西在摩押平原用了37天的時間,把他生平從神得來的律例、典章和教導全部告訴以色列人。雖然知道他們的子孫終有一天會去拜偶像,以致惹動耶和華的怒氣,被神拋到萬國之中,但是他的話語裡依然充滿鼓勵和盼望。即使,當所有的咒詛都臨到他們身上,也不要失了志氣,只要盡心歸向耶和華神,不管他們在哪裡,即使是在天涯海角,神也必將他們從那裡招聚他們回來,再次領他們進入迦南地,並且要善待他們,使他們的人數再次多起來。

摩西讓我們看到神的性情,在管教裡依然有剪不斷的深情。但是神也不允許他們隨隨便便地歸向祂,必須要盡心歸向神,神就重新把他們招聚回來。這點讓我們明白,只是做表面的信徒,是演戲給自己看,對自己的生命一點都沒有幫助。神要的是盡心、盡性歸向祂的子民,盡心和盡性的表現則在於聽從耶和華神的教導,並遵行祂的話。所以人若說自己愛主,相信耶穌,就要看他是口裡說說而已,還是真的在生活中力求按著神的教導去做。我們雖然無法一下子就達到神的要求,但是神看的是我們是否有心去做,做得不好,神總是有耐心等我們的。

例如,神說不要以貌取人,也不受賄賂,那麼若有人想賄賂你時,能不能拒絕?看到人家長得不好看,是否也要給人一個機會?神說,不可雕刻神像,也不可敬拜假神或天象,我們可以做到嗎?不可吃血,奉獻十分之一,守安息日,借給窮人,這些可以做到嗎?所以摩西說:「我今日所吩咐你的誡命不是你難行的,也不是離你遠的。」不是什麼難事,問題是我們願不願意尊重神而已。

Master and Servant

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is John 13:12-20.  Let’s go!

John 13:12-15 (NIV) 
12  When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 
13  “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 
14  Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 
15  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

On verses 12-15:  Usually washing the feet of guests was what the lowest servant or slave in the house was expected to do.  Thus it was inconceivable and shocking for the disciples that Jesus, their Lord and Teacher, would bend down and wash their feet.  What was Jesus teaching his disciples in doing this?  Jesus says it himself: “Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (v14-15)  Because Jesus, the name above every name and the king above every king, was willing to bend down and take on the role of a servant in the lives of people he loved, so Jesus calls us to do the same.  Humility is putting others ahead of ourselves, all the while being secure in our own worth and value.