Entries by

实用的祷告原则

2020-08-28 in /by

以弗所书 6 章 18-20 节   靠着圣灵，随时多方祷告祈求；并要在此儆醒不倦，为众圣徒祈求，也为我祈求，使我得着口才，能以放胆开口讲明福音的奥秘，我为这福音的奥秘作了带锁链的使者，并使我照着当尽的本分放胆讲论。

保罗提到祷告的原则：第一，要靠着圣灵。祷告不只是将心中所愿带到神面前，更重要的是要聆听圣灵的声音，让祂引导我们按照神的心意祷告。来到神面前祷告，我们需要先问，“主啊！你要我为哪些事祷告？”然后聆听，感觉神要我们为某些事祷告时，问第二个问题，“主啊！你要我怎样为这件事祷告？”有这样聆听的态度，祷告才不会沦为一厢情愿的想法。只有在圣灵里的祷告，才能触摸父神的心意。

其次，要随时多方祷告。不只在祷告会祷告，也不只在教会祷告，而是随时祷告；别人有需要时，立刻为他祷告。在教会常听有人说，“请你为我这件事情祷告。”我们说“好！”回到家就忘了！倒不如对方提出祷告事项时，就说“我现在为你祷告。”有时打电话，听见对方说“能不能请你为我这件事情祷告？”我们常在挂电话后就忘了，其实可以在电话里马上为他祷告。此外要多方祷告，就是用各种方式祷告，不只默祷而已。祷告过程中发现默祷好像不能达到神面前，就要开口祷告；感觉开口祷告不是那么有功效时，就要宣告式的祷告，甚至禁食祷告、通宵祷告。祷告有各样方式，不要只局限于默祷。

第三，要在此儆醒不倦。祷告要恒切，圣经教导我们要持续、恒切地祷告，儆醒不倦地祷告，直到神成就祂的心意为止。

Jesus Cares for Your Whole Being

2020-08-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 5:12-26.  Let’s go!

Luke 5:12-14 (NIV) 
12  While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 
13  Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. 
14  Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
 
On verses 12-14:  This to me is one of the most beautiful scenes in the Bible.  Here you have a man covered with a skin disease which not only affected him physically but socially as well.  According to the Jewish laws, a person with leprosy was not allowed to live among the people but had to live alone outside the city.  They had to cover their face, leave their hair undone, and walk around with torn clothes yelling “Unclean! Unclean!”

地和海

2020-08-27 in /by

创世记一章10 节    神称干地为「地」，称聚集在一起的水为「海」。神看为好的。

当你读〈创世记〉第一章时，你会有什么感觉呢？我总是觉得，神好像在预备迎接新生婴儿的父母，精心地从婴儿房开始，一样样地把东西放进去。所以，最重要的是光，因为没有光，什么都看不见；其次是穹苍，有人译为空气，那也实在是人的需要。神把深渊的大水分开，有了穹苍，天下面的水聚在一起为「海」；水一退，干地就露出来，称为「地」，神看为好的。因为有「地」，人才有落足之处，原来神并不打算让人用飞的。

神如此向约伯形容当时的情景：「海水冲出，如出胎胞，那时谁将它关闭呢？ 是我用云彩当海的衣服，用幽暗当包裹它的布，为它定界限，又安门和闩，说：「你只可到这里，不可越过，你狂傲的浪要到此止住。」（伯38:8-11）。让我们闭起眼睛，想像自己站在沙滩上，海浪不断地冲上来淹过你的脚，然后退去，又冲上来，又退去。何等美好的感觉!

当你站在沙滩上回头一望时，往往不远处就有树林。无论是太平洋或是大西洋的海岸边，都有红树林，千百年来默默的矗立在海岸，担任捍卫陆地的第一道保护线。红树林是一些滑稽树种的组合，世界上约有55种。它们喜欢长在海滩与河口的感潮处，那里有高度的盐分和强劲的海风，但是它们能紧密地相互依附，成为海滨最好的防风墙。这只是神在地面上种植的奇妙植物之一种。

当神说：「地要长出植物，就是含种子的五谷菜蔬，和会结果子、果子里有种子的树，在地上各从其类。」很少人会想到神的大手笔和想像力之丰富。在温哥华有座原始森林，有许多人每天去那里运动。每一次在那里健行，都会因为树林之美而深深着迷。从冬季的酷寒里，逐渐看到冒出新芽的枝叶，红色的小花也代表夏季浆果的成形；夏季里路边的野花疯狂地蔓长，每天热情相伴；夏季的红莓果结束了，黑莓的花就开了，

Faith is Spelled R-I-S-K

2020-08-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 5:1-11.  Let’s go!

Luke 5:1-2 (NIV) 
1  One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 
2  he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets.
 
On verses 1-2:  I like this observation by Pastor Jon Courson: he notes that back in Jesus’ day fishermen would regularly wash their nets and stretch them at the end of each work day.  That way the net would not stink or rot and would remain useful for the long-term.  Likewise, if we want to be effective nets that God can use to bring people to Him, we need to be regularly washed with the water of God’s Word and stretched by His Holy Spirit often. 

Luke 5:3-11 (NIV)  
 3  He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 
4  When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 
5  Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 

穹苍

2020-08-26 in /by

创世记一章8节     神称穹苍为「天」。有晚上，有早晨，这是第二日。

你还记得「起初 In The Beginning」是怎样的吗？起初是一塌糊涂？什么都没有，什么都看不见，对不对？因为那时只有黑暗，没有光。神说要有光，才有了光。但有了光，看到的依然是一片深渊，地在深渊下面。神的灵只能在水面上继续运行。

于是神说：「众水之间要有穹苍，把水和水分开。」 穹苍是什么呢？一般的解释是：地球上空巨大的圆拱或穹窿，宇宙之中的空间。英文就简单多了：the sky, the firmament, the vault of heaven(天堂的穹顶)。有时我们就直接说：天空。

你知道天空是什么颜色吗？每天早上起床后，我都要先到窗口看看今天的天空是什么频色，因为它的颜色会告诉我那天是晴天或阴天，或雨天。假如是晴天，心里就很快乐，因为出去走路不用带伞；但若是有森林大火，看到雨天也很感恩。但你猜得到天空的颜色吗？蓝色?不对。白色？也不对。你可能会奇怪，天空明明是蓝色的，怎么不对？

神在第一天说要有光，就有了光。这个光的作用无比强大，在没有日月星球时，这宇宙就己经有光的存在。现代科学家也告诉我们：宇宙中存在着两种光，即可见光和不可见光。甚至连宇宙学也证实《圣经》的正确，因为大爆炸理论的爆炸也需要光，不然无法爆炸，所以它支持先有助大爆炸产生的光，然后才有发光的星体。

科学家也因而发现在靠近光谱的中心有一处有很多的放射线，科学家们把它们归为「可见光」，这部份又被称为「颜色」，包含红，橙，黄，绿，蓝和紫。研究结果发现，蓝光和紫光的波长正好可以快速进入大气层中微粒中的长度，这就使得它们能成为大气层中的一部分。当光线穿过大气层，蓝光和紫光被大气粒子上散射，从而使得天空看起来是蓝色的。所以，天空本来是什么颜色，

Don’t Be A People Pleaser

2020-08-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 4:38-44.  Let’s go!

Luke 4:38-39 (NIV) 
38  Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.
39  So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. 

On verses 38-39:  Jesus visits the home of Simon where he finds Simon’s mother-in-law sick with a high fever.  Simon’s family asks Jesus to help her, so Jesus bends over, rebukes the fever, and the fever goes away.  Simon’s mother-in-law recovers so much that she “got up at once” (v39) and begins serving the guests in the home (v39).
What can we learn from this?

Jesus has authority to rebuke sickness and heal diseases.
In this case what mobilized Jesus to exercise his authority to heal was that Simon’s family “asked Jesus to help her” (v38).  Jesus is able to heal, but do we ask Him to heal?  James 4:2 says, “…You do not have because you do not ask God.”  Here at THRIVE we have witnessed people being healed of sicknesses and injuries not because we ourselves have the power to heal but because God is our healer and we are not afraid to ask Him. 

神把光和暗分开

2020-08-25 in /by

创世记一章3节    神说：「要有光」，就有了光。

在疫情依然无法控制的今天，以及弥漫着鬼月气息的时节里，特别让人想到在〈创世记〉一章二节里记载着：「地是空虚混沌，深渊上面一片黑暗」，这样的黑暗让任何活物都无法生存。幸好在那片黑暗之上，还有神。祂的灵运行在水面上，当祂运行时，很可能就己经在思考，在计划，创造天地的作为就如此开始了。

有一位牧师去拜访他父母亲的墓地时，回想他的父母出生于第一次世界大战和西班牙流感的十年里。 在大萧条期间，爸爸无家可归，妈妈采摘棉花为生。他们在1930年代中幸存下来，接着又度过1940年代的第二次世界大战。 每十年都带来一个新的挑战：韩战，冷战，越战，等等。虽然有些痛苦的回忆，但是他们都存著感恩的心度每一天。 因此，当他觉得现在到哪里都要戴口罩很不方便时，就仿佛听见他爸爸的声音：「你会没事的。」

「你会没事的。」，正好像耶稣在最后的晚餐上对门徒说：「我留下平安给你们，我将我的平安赐给你们。我所赐的不像世人所赐的，你们心里不要忧愁，也不要胆怯。(约14:27) 」虽然耶稣被钉十字架会带来一些恐慌和忧伤，但是他们都会没事，一切都会好起来。保惠师会来，把最美好的圣灵浇灌给门徒。门徒们虽然遭到逼迫，但是却让福音广传；虽然背着十字架，却都踏上回天国的美好归程。

在一切的空虚混沌和黑暗里，神说：「要有光」，就有了光。这就是基督教的信仰带给人最大的恩典。在黑暗之处看见光明，在绝望之时得到希望。在神的恩典里，每一个人都能因着信心，而脱离黑暗进入光明。这就是神在创造的第一天，给人的启示。

Jesus Is For Every Culture

2020-08-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 4:25-37.  Let’s go!

Luke 4:25-30 (NIV) 
25  I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land.
26  Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon.
27  And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed–only Naaman the Syrian.”
28  All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this.
29  They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.
30  But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

On verses 25-30:  Previously in verse 24, in response to the rejection he felt from his own hometown, Jesus says, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown”.  Jesus then gives two examples of that from the Old Testament.  First, Jesus cites the Jewish prophet Elijah and how, at a time when the ancient Middle East was enduring a famine, Elijah was not sent to help anyone in Israel but instead was sent to help a Gentile (i.e. non-Jewish) widow in the region of Sidon (v26, see also 1 Kings 17:7-24).   Second, Jesus cites the prophet Elisha, Elijah’s successor, and how even though there were many people suffering from skin diseases in Israel, God used Elisha only to heal a Gentile from Syria called Naaman (v27, see also 2 Kings 5).

耶稣的门徒犹大

2020-08-25 in /by

马太福音26章14-15节   当时，十二使徒中有一个叫加略人犹大的，去见祭司长，说：「我把他交给你们，你们愿意给我多少钱？」他们给了他三十块银钱。

当你想到犹大时，你会联想到谁？我联想到摩西时代的法老和撒旦。因为犹大跟随了耶稣三年，却完全不明白耶稣的心，到最后上吊自杀。神给摩西时代的法老看很多神蹟奇事，但他心里始终刚硬，最后灭亡。撒旦原本是天之骄子，神造牠时给了牠最美好的装饰和能力，但牠却因而骄傲自大，要与神一比高下，相争天下，因而有一天也要被神所灭。

有的人特别不明白，当耶稣选十二门徒时，曾经终夜祷告(路6:12)，怎么会选出一个要出卖祂的人呢？难道是神故意安排的吗？若是的话，那就是神特地给了犹大三年去认识耶稣和悔改的机会，正如祂曾经给法老和撒旦一段很长的时间去悔改以得救的机会。只可惜犹大的心机不正，没看到天国，只看到赚钱的机会。

犹大的出身不同于其他11个门徒。他的家乡「加略」在圣经地图上可以找到，是靠近犹太南方，盐海以西约20哩的一个城市，离希伯仑很近。有人推测犹大在跟随耶稣以前可能是个商人。因为约翰记载着一个故事，可以说明犹大的眼光和干练。在耶稣最后一次进耶路撒冷之前，耶稣在伯大尼参加了一个宴席，马利亚拿着一斤极贵的纯哪哒香膏，抹耶稣的脚，又用自己头发去擦，屋里充满了膏的香气。(约12:1-3)

犹大在这一闻一看之间，立刻估出这瓶香膏的价值约卅两银子，也就是当时普通人一年的工价。犹大识货，经验老到，因此有人推测他跟随耶稣之前可能是个商人。当时约翰对犹大有了评语：「他说这话，并不是关心穷人，而是因为他是个贼，又管钱囊，常偷取钱囊中所存的。」(约12:4-5)。这是很有意思的评语，因为在四福音里，即使门徒有小信或不信的言语，作者都只是直接记下，只有在这里，约翰写下了对犹大的看法。约翰的看法很可能也就是其他门徒对犹大的看法，觉得他管钱，手脚不干净，常偷取钱囊中所存的。这里点出了犹大的弱点，对钱的贪婪，以及偷窃的习惯。

When You Feel Rejected, Hang Onto God’s Gracious Word

2020-08-24 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 4:14-24.  Let’s go!
 
Luke 4:14 (NIV) 
14  Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
 
On verse 14:  Jesus had spent 40 days in the desert, praying, fasting, drawing near to God and also resisting temptation.  He returns to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, ready to start his public ministry.
 
What can we learn from this?  Go out of your way to draw near to God.  Then you can go back into the world where you are called to work, study or serve in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Protect your alone time with God.  Each day get fueled up in His Word and in His presence so that you’re ready to tackle the day.

Luke 4:15 (NIV) 
15  He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.
 
On verse 15:  Jesus was an amazing preacher of God’s Word.  He’s the lamb of God who takes away our sins.  He’s also the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) when it comes to preaching God’s Word.