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你爱我吗？

2020-09-28 in /by

创世记 22章16-18节    耶和华说：『你既行了这事，不留下你的儿子，就是你独生的儿子，我便指著自己起誓说：论福，我必赐大福给你；论子孙，我必叫你的子孙多起来，如同天上的星，海边的沙；你子孙必得着仇敌的城门；并且地上万国都必因你的后裔得福，因为你听从了我的话。』

神要试验亚伯拉罕，便叫亚伯拉罕带着以撒到摩利亚山上，把他献为燔祭。燔祭的意思便是全然献上，要把祭牲杀了，放到柴上，全部烧在祭坛上，只留下一堆灰烬的祭(利1:3-9)。

在亚伯拉罕住的迦南地，便有献婴的习俗。为了向天上的神明求助，献祭者要献上自己最重要的倚靠，也就是长子，因为长子是人老了以后的倚靠，表明他单单信赖神明。因为在他们的看法里，儿子是神明所赐，所以神明有权取回。考古学家在巴勒斯坦一带挖掘，在异教神坛附近的墓地发现大量新生婴儿的骸骨和骨灰，可见以儿童为祭这种残酷的宗教仪式十分普遍。可能因为受到当地习俗的影响，因此亚伯拉罕对神的这要求，并没有作出任何抗议。

〈希伯来书〉11章记载：「亚伯拉罕因着信，被试验的时候，就把以撒献上；这便是那欢喜领受应许的，将自己的独生的儿子献上。论到这儿子，曾有话说：『从以撒生的才要称为你的后裔。』他以为神还能叫人从死里复活，他也仿佛从死中得回他的儿子来。」

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.

耶和华岂有难成的事吗？

2020-09-27 in /by

创世记21章6-7节     撒拉说：「神使我喜笑，凡听见的必与我一同喜笑。」又说：「谁能预先对亚伯拉罕说撒拉要乳养婴孩呢？因为在他年老的时候，我给他生了一个儿子。」

神跟亚伯拉罕预言了他必有后裔至少有六次，从大约75岁到100岁，这预言终于应验了。亚伯拉罕和撒拉等了足足25年。我有朋友为信佛的父母祷告，有的长达30几年，当然还有更长的。在每一个祷告应验时，这句话总会不期然地跃上脑海：「耶和华岂有难成的事吗？」

我记得小时候，父亲跟我订了《少年良友杂志》，那时我非常仰慕涤然师母，非常喜欢读她的文章。那时她住在美国纽约，我住在台湾台南，我心想什么时候才有可能飞到纽约去看她呢？后来我自己都忘记了这个念头。直到我真的住到纽约，参加了涤然师母和她丈夫史祈生牧师主办的中宣会后。有一天，圣灵让我想起我曾经有这样的想法。那时我真的感动得不得了，神竟然如此无微不至，连一个小女孩的心愿，祂都记念。我们在纽约的四年，正好是史祈生牧师伉俪在中宣会的最后四年，后来他们退休，我们也离开纽约，回到加拿大。神的时间是如此地精准。

保罗说：「神的应许不论有多少，在基督都是是的，所以借着祂也都是实在的」，我们这些在基督里的人何等有福。

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.

从未来的观点看

2020-09-25 in /by

约翰福音16章33节  我已经胜了世界。

有个名叫乔．贝里（Joe Bayly）的智者曾经这样说：「可能有时身处黑暗，但不要忘记你在光明中所学到的东西。」可是有时候，黑暗来得又快又猛，让我们几乎要忘记了什么是光明。毫无疑问，这就是耶稣门徒的经历。

耶稣曾在最后的晚餐这样声明过：「在世上，你们有苦难；但你们可以放心，我已经胜了世界。」（约十六33）在那一刻，十二个门徒中，有十一个人，都甘心乐意要为祂舍命，西门．彼得甚至在当天稍晚的时候，拔剑想要保护耶稣。

但是到了第二天，所有十一个门徒全都失去信心。当他们待在相对安全的距离外面，观看着耶稣被钉十字架，前一天晚上祂那仿佛得胜的宣告，必定困扰着他们。现在看来，世界好像反而胜过了神。在黑暗中，门徒们全都溜走，彼得更发誓说，他从不认识耶稣。

毫无疑问，门徒的问题就在于他们的观点。尽管过去那对光明的记忆已不复存在，几天之后，同一群人将会再次遭遇复活节所绽放出来的光芒。就在那一天，门徒明白了，没有什么黑暗是大到神无法控制的；他们终于了解，从未来的角度来看现在，到底是什么意思。因着复活节的盼望，这群胆小的人重新被点燃起来，他们走出去，为要改变世界。

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.  

所多玛和蛾摩拉的命运

2020-09-24 in /by

创世记18章20-21节     耶和华说：「所多玛和蛾摩拉的罪恶甚重，声闻于我。我现在要下去，察看他们所行的，果然尽像那达到我耳中的声音一样吗？若是不然，我也必知道。」

所多玛和蛾摩拉曾经是土壤肥沃，水草丰美，适宜放牧耕作的地区，吸引罗得不停地往她迁移。这两城的地名之意是「淹没」和「废墟」，似乎说明了她们命运的趋势。旧约时期，所多玛、蛾摩拉与押玛、洗扁、琐珥合称为(约但河的)「平原五城」，他们都是挪亚的儿子，含的后裔。就是这五城里的五王组成联盟，反叛米索波大米的四王，后来兵败，被亚伯拉罕救回。根据考古研究，该处确有五座早青铜时代的古城。

〈创世记〉18章里，亚伯拉罕看见有三个人，他就跑去迎接他们，不料却接待了神和祂的使者。这个典故成为以色列人接待陌生人的原由。神和使者(有没有可能，是三位一体的神，就如此三位一起向亚伯拉罕显现？)来拜访亚伯拉罕的原因，是为了让撒拉知道，她明年必生下一子。

这次轮到撒拉偷笑了，「我既已衰败，我主也老迈，岂能有这喜事呢？」这时神说了一句最经典的话：「耶和华岂有难成的事吗？」神对自己的能力有十足的把握，反而是人因为自己的能力有限，所以常常信心不足，怀疑神。

神要做事之前，不仅跟亚伯拉罕说，也要撒拉确实知道。神会让我们明白祂的呼召，因为祂要我们行在祂的计划里。因此，祂忍不住要把灭所多玛和蛾摩拉一事跟亚伯拉罕说，因为亚伯拉罕是神的朋友。在《圣经》里有三个地方都提到亚伯拉罕是神的朋友：

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.

肉体上的约—割礼

2020-09-23 in /by

创世记17章9-11节      神又对亚伯拉罕说：「你和你的后裔，必世世代代遵守我的约。 你们所有的男子都要受割礼，这就是我与你并你的后裔所立的约，是你们所当遵守的。你们都要受割礼，这是我与你们立约的证据。」

夏甲生以实玛利时，亚伯兰年86岁。当亚伯兰99岁时，神才再度向他显现。这当中，神静默了13-14年，亚伯兰会不会奇怪，为什么神不来找他了？或是沉浸在以实玛利成长的喜悦里，而忽略了神没有来向他贺喜的怪异？假如娶妾是神要给亚伯兰子嗣的方法，那么神岂不应当高兴吗？看来，人和神的想法是不一样的。当我们不行在神的心意中时，我们也会碰到这样的「静默」，圣灵不强迫我们，但是我们会知道神并没有与我们「同行」了。

但是神究竟还是又来找亚伯兰了，正如祂不断地饶恕我们的过犯，用慈绳爱索引领我们回归。所以保罗说：「不要叫神的圣灵担忧，你们原是受了祂的印记，等候得赎的日子来到。(弗4:30)」当我们远离圣灵的带领时，神在我们身上的计划就被躭延了，神的计划一定会完成，但我们若不顺服，就无法成为神计划中的一部分，因而失去了神预备给我们的福份。

神对亚伯兰说：「我是全能的神，你当在我面前做完全人。我就与你立约，使你的后裔极其繁多。」神提醒亚伯拉罕，祂是全能的神，不需要亚伯拉罕自作聪明，搞乱神的计划。因为亚伯兰自作聪明，在神面前变得不完全了，他用人的方法要完成神的应许。但神是如此爱亚伯兰，祂终于把自己的计划向亚伯兰全盘托出：亚伯兰要改名为亚伯拉罕，因为神立他做多国之父。这个亚伯兰还是以为要借着以实玛利而出，所以一点问题也没有。多国之父在此时看来己经应验，因为从以实玛利的后裔所建立的阿拉伯国家或伊斯兰教国家，都还是自认为亚伯拉罕的后裔。