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你愛我嗎？

2020-09-28 in /by

創世記 22章16-18節    耶和華說：『你既行了這事，不留下你的兒子，就是你獨生的兒子，我便指著自己起誓說：論福，我必賜大福給你；論子孫，我必叫你的子孫多起來，如同天上的星，海邊的沙；你子孫必得著仇敵的城門；並且地上萬國都必因你的後裔得福，因為你聽從了我的話。』

神要試驗亞伯拉罕，便叫亞伯拉罕帶著以撒到摩利亞山上，把他獻為燔祭。燔祭的意思便是全然獻上，要把祭牲殺了，放到柴上，全部燒在祭壇上，只留下一堆灰燼的祭(利1:3-9)。

在亞伯拉罕住的迦南地，便有獻嬰的習俗。為了向天上的神明求助，獻祭者要獻上自己最重要的倚靠，也就是長子，因為長子是人老了以後的倚靠，表明他單單信賴神明。因為在他們的看法裡，兒子是神明所賜，所以神明有權取回。考古學家在巴勒斯坦一帶挖掘，在異教神壇附近的墓地發現大量新生嬰兒的骸骨和骨灰，可見以兒童為祭這種殘酷的宗教儀式十分普遍。可能因為受到當地習俗的影響，因此亞伯拉罕對神的這要求，並沒有作出任何抗議。

〈希伯來書〉11章記載：「亞伯拉罕因著信，被試驗的時候，就把以撒獻上；這便是那歡喜領受應許的，將自己的獨生的兒子獻上。論到這兒子，曾有話說：『從以撒生的才要稱為你的後裔。』他以為神還能叫人從死裡復活，他也彷彿從死中得回他的兒子來。」

Don’t Waste Your Breath

2020-09-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 12:13-21.  Let’s go!

Luke 12:13-14 (NIV) 
13  Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 
14  Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”

On verses 13-14:  Though this man in the crowd called Jesus “Teacher” in verse 13, the way he makes this demand of Jesus in verse 14 suggests that this man was not that serious about following Jesus or his teachings (such as what Jesus says in Luke 6:30) and simply wanted to use Jesus to get money.

What can we learn from this?   When we have the right perspective on money, we will use money and love people. But when we have the wrong perspective on money, we will use people and love money.

Integrity Revisited

2020-09-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 12:1-12. Let’s go!

Luke 12:1 (NIV)
1 Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

On verse 1: Why did Jesus make a point to privately warn his disciples about hypocrisy while a crowd of many thousands had gathered to see Jesus? I think it’s because when your influence grows and when more and more people are looking at you, your potential to encourage people with your good example or confuse people with your bad example grows as well. Like “yeast”, a hypocritical example can spread from one influential person to those around that person, as what had happened with the Pharisees. We need to remember that, whether we asked for it or not, there are people who look to us as an example, and thus we have a responsibility to set the best example we can.

耶和華豈有難成的事嗎？

2020-09-27 in /by

創世記21章6-7節     撒拉說：「神使我喜笑，凡聽見的必與我一同喜笑。」又說：「誰能預先對亞伯拉罕說撒拉要乳養嬰孩呢？因為在他年老的時候，我給他生了一個兒子。」

神跟亞伯拉罕預言了他必有後裔至少有六次，從大約75歲到100歲，這預言終於應驗了。亞伯拉罕和撒拉等了足足25年。我有朋友為信佛的父母禱告，有的長達30幾年，當然還有更長的。在每一個禱告應驗時，這句話總會不期然地躍上腦海：「耶和華豈有難成的事嗎？」

我記得小時候，父親跟我訂了《少年良友雜誌》，那時我非常仰慕滌然師母，非常喜歡讀她的文章。那時她住在美國紐約，我住在台灣台南，我心想什麼時候才有可能飛到紐約去看她呢？後來我自己都忘記了這個念頭。直到我真的住到紐約，參加了滌然師母和她丈夫史祈生牧師主辦的中宣會後。有一天，聖靈讓我想起我曾經有這樣的想法。那時我真的感動得不得了，神竟然如此無微不至，連一個小女孩的心願，祂都記念。我們在紐約的四年，正好是史祈生牧師伉儷在中宣會的最後四年，後來他們退休，我們也離開紐約，回到加拿大。神的時間是如此地精準。

保羅說：「神的應許不論有多少，在基督都是是的，所以藉著祂也都是實在的」，我們這些在基督裡的人何等有福。

Integrity Revisited

2020-09-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 12:1-12.  Let’s go!

Luke 12:1 (NIV) 
1  Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 

On verse 1:  Why did Jesus make a point to privately warn his disciples about hypocrisy while a crowd of many thousands had gathered to see Jesus?  I think it’s because when your influence grows and when more and more people are looking at you, your potential to encourage people with your good example or confuse people with your bad example grows as well.  Like “yeast”, a hypocritical example can spread from one influential person to those around that person, as what had happened with the Pharisees.  We need to remember that, whether we asked for it or not, there are people who look to us as an example, and thus we have a responsibility to set the best example we can.

從未來的觀點看

2020-09-25 in /by

約翰福音16章33節  我已經勝了世界。

有個名叫喬．貝里（Joe Bayly）的智者曾經這樣說：「可能有時身處黑暗，但不要忘記你在光明中所學到的東西。」可是有時候，黑暗來得又快又猛，讓我們幾乎要忘記了什麼是光明。毫無疑問，這就是耶穌門徒的經歷。

耶穌曾在最後的晚餐這樣聲明過：「在世上，你們有苦難；但你們可以放心，我已經勝了世界。」（約十六33）在那一刻，十二個門徒中，有十一個人，都甘心樂意要為祂捨命，西門．彼得甚至在當天稍晚的時候，拔劍想要保護耶穌。

但是到了第二天，所有十一個門徒全都失去信心。當他們待在相對安全的距離外面，觀看著耶穌被釘十字架，前一天晚上祂那彷彿得勝的宣告，必定困擾著他們。現在看來，世界好像反而勝過了神。在黑暗中，門徒們全都溜走，彼得更發誓說，他從不認識耶穌。

毫無疑問，門徒的問題就在於他們的觀點。儘管過去那對光明的記憶已不復存在，幾天之後，同一群人將會再次遭遇復活節所綻放出來的光芒。就在那一天，門徒明白了，沒有什麼黑暗是大到神無法控制的；他們終於了解，從未來的角度來看現在，到底是什麼意思。因著復活節的盼望，這群膽小的人重新被點燃起來，他們走出去，為要改變世界。

The Kind of Person Jesus Goes After

2020-09-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 11:37-54.  Let’s go!

Luke 11:37-41 (NIV) 
37  When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 
38  But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. 
39  Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 
40  You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 
41  But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

On verses 37-41:  Although washing hands before a meal is a good sanitary practice, Scripture did not require Jews to wash their hands before eating.  So when Jesus went to a Pharisee’s house for a meal and did not wash his hands before eating, he was not sinning against God.  

所多瑪和蛾摩拉的命運

2020-09-24 in /by

創世記18章20-21節     耶和華說：「所多瑪和蛾摩拉的罪惡甚重，聲聞於我。我現在要下去，察看他們所行的，果然盡像那達到我耳中的聲音一樣嗎？若是不然，我也必知道。」

所多瑪和蛾摩拉曾經是土壤肥沃，水草豐美，適宜放牧耕作的地區，吸引羅得不停地往她遷移。這兩城的地名之意是「淹沒」和「廢墟」，似乎說明了她們命運的趨勢。舊約時期，所多瑪、蛾摩拉與押瑪、洗扁、瑣珥合稱為(約但河的)「平原五城」，他們都是挪亞的兒子，含的後裔。就是這五城裡的五王組成聯盟，反叛米索波大米的四王，後來兵敗，被亞伯拉罕救回。根據考古研究，該處確有五座早青銅時代的古城。

〈創世記〉18章裡，亞伯拉罕看見有三個人，他就跑去迎接他們，不料卻接待了神和祂的使者。這個典故成為以色列人接待陌生人的原由。神和使者(有沒有可能，是三位一體的神，就如此三位一起向亞伯拉罕顯現？)來拜訪亞伯拉罕的原因，是為了讓撒拉知道，她明年必生下一子。

這次輪到撒拉偷笑了，「我既已衰敗，我主也老邁，豈能有這喜事呢？」這時神說了一句最經典的話：「耶和華豈有難成的事嗎？」神對自己的能力有十足的把握，反而是人因為自己的能力有限，所以常常信心不足，懷疑神。

神要做事之前，不僅跟亞伯拉罕說，也要撒拉確實知道。神會讓我們明白祂的呼召，因為祂要我們行在祂的計劃裡。因此，祂忍不住要把滅所多瑪和蛾摩拉一事跟亞伯拉罕說，因為亞伯拉罕是神的朋友。在《聖經》裡有三個地方都提到亞伯拉罕是神的朋友：

What’s Your Life Vision?

2020-09-24 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 11:27-36.  Let’s go!

Luke 11:27-32 (NIV) 
27  As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” 
28  He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” 
29  As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 
30  For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 
31  The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. 
32  The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

On verses 27-32:  There are a number of important lessons we can learn from this passage.  I look forward to sharing them with you  today.

肉體上的約—割禮

2020-09-23 in /by

創世記17章9-11節      神又對亞伯拉罕說：「你和你的後裔，必世世代代遵守我的約。 你們所有的男子都要受割禮，這就是我與你並你的後裔所立的約，是你們所當遵守的。你們都要受割禮，這是我與你們立約的證據。」

夏甲生以實瑪利時，亞伯蘭年86歲。當亞伯蘭99歲時，神才再度向他顯現。這當中，神靜默了13-14年，亞伯蘭會不會奇怪，為什麼神不來找他了？或是沉浸在以實瑪利成長的喜悅裡，而忽略了神沒有來向他賀喜的怪異？假如娶妾是神要給亞伯蘭子嗣的方法，那麼神豈不應當高興嗎？看來，人和神的想法是不一樣的。當我們不行在神的心意中時，我們也會碰到這樣的「靜默」，聖靈不強迫我們，但是我們會知道神並沒有與我們「同行」了。

但是神究竟還是又來找亞伯蘭了，正如祂不斷地饒恕我們的過犯，用慈繩愛索引領我們回歸。所以保羅說：「不要叫神的聖靈擔憂，你們原是受了祂的印記，等候得贖的日子來到。(弗4:30)」當我們遠離聖靈的帶領時，神在我們身上的計劃就被躭延了，神的計劃一定會完成，但我們若不順服，就無法成為神計劃中的一部分，因而失去了神預備給我們的福份。

神對亞伯蘭說：「我是全能的神，你當在我面前做完全人。我就與你立約，使你的後裔極其繁多。」神提醒亞伯拉罕，祂是全能的神，不需要亞伯拉罕自作聰明，搞亂神的計劃。因為亞伯蘭自作聰明，在神面前變得不完全了，他用人的方法要完成神的應許。但神是如此愛亞伯蘭，祂終於把自己的計劃向亞伯蘭全盤托出：亞伯蘭要改名為亞伯拉罕，因為神立他做多國之父。這個亞伯蘭還是以為要藉著以實瑪利而出，所以一點問題也沒有。多國之父在此時看來己經應驗，因為從以實瑪利的後裔所建立的阿拉伯國家或伊斯蘭教國家，都還是自認為亞伯拉罕的後裔。