Entries by

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。

Time to Go On the Offensive

2020-09-23 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 11:14-26.  Let’s go!

Luke 11:14-20 (NIV) 
14  Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 
15  But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” 
16  Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. 
17  Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 
18  If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. 
19  Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 
20  But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

On verses 14-20:  Jesus’ critics argued that because “ordinary” evil spirits listened to Jesus’ commands, Jesus must be controlled and empowered by an even greater evil spirit.  Jesus counters this by saying that Satan’s kingdom would not have such power and influence in this world if Satan’s kingdom was divided.  Rather, when Jesus drives out demons, it’s the kingdom of God advancing against Satan’s kingdom.

庇耳．拉海．萊

2020-09-22 in /by

創世記16章13節     夏甲就稱那對她說話的耶和華為「看顧人的神」，因而說：「在這裡我也看見那看顧我的嗎？」

剛剛經歷了神和他立血約的亞伯蘭，此時很相信神必賜他子嗣。但是妻子撒萊己經年邁，月經也不來了，他的希望在哪裡？他的子嗣從何而來？這是一個人沒有辦法解開的局面。這時，撒萊自作聰明，向他提了一個建議。

這個建議是當時的人的做法，妻子若生不出孩子，丈夫就再娶個妾，問題就解決了。撒萊可能也覺得不孕是自己的問題，因為她和亞伯蘭是同父異母的兄妹，血緣太近，可能影響生育，所以找別的女人試試看。她身邊正好有個埃及來的婢女，年輕可為，她便聳恿亞伯蘭和她的婢女夏甲同床。因為：「耶和華使我不能生育，求你和我的使女同房，或者我可以因她得孩子。」

神都不給我生育了，祂又應許你有子嗣，那我們總要想辦法啊，天助自助者，不是嗎？

亞伯蘭就答應了。

當我們看不到出路，神的供應和應許都遲遲不見時，我們往往會自己想辦法，設法幫神一把。

夏甲果然懷孕了。

正當大家都很高興計劃成功時，夏甲的態度卻來個一百八十度的轉變，開始輕視撒萊，不聽她的話了。夏甲可能想著自己有了兒子，亞伯蘭就可以把她扶正了，因為她是他兒子的母親。母以子為貴啊! 那個不生蛋的母雞，怎麼可以佔著位置不走呢？

How to Pray

2020-09-22 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 11:1-13.  Let’s go!

Luke 11:1-4 (NIV) 
1  One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2  He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.
3  Give us each day our daily bread.
4  Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.'”

On verses 1-4:  Notice that when Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, Jesus gives them an actual real time example of how to pray.  (It’s a reminder that the best teachers lead by example and show you with their life what they’re teaching.)  This prayer recorded in verses 2-4, known as the Lord’s Prayer, is the most famous and most commonly recited prayer in history.  There is certainly benefit in memorizing this prayer and reciting it as your own prayer.  But in addition, I believe the Lord’s prayer was not simply meant for us to recite word for word; even more, there are lessons and principles about prayer that we can learn from the Lord’s Prayer, including the following:

神與亞伯蘭立血約

2020-09-21 in /by

創世記15章6節    亞伯蘭信耶和華，耶和華就以此為他的義。

亞伯蘭擊敗四王後，回到迦南地。當衝動過去，一切都安靜下來後，他開始害怕了。四王會不會回頭再來攻打他們，亞伯蘭在夜靜人深時，心裡升起了絲絲寒意，要不要逃？沒有想到，耶和華在異象中對亞伯蘭說：「亞伯蘭，你不要懼怕！我是你的盾牌，必大大地賞賜你。」

何等的安[慰，神要做亞伯蘭的盾牌，而且要大大賞賜他。因為亞伯蘭拒絕了所多瑪王的賞賜，為的是免得所多瑪王說是他使亞伯蘭富足的。因為亞伯蘭認定他的富足來自於神，任何人都不能誇耀他使亞伯蘭富足，所以神就親自賞賜亞伯蘭，他就可以說是神使我富足。你的富足來自誰呢？是誰使你富足？你倚靠誰得以富足？

亞伯蘭反問神，祢說要給我子嗣，在哪裡？我都老得快死了，得立遺囑把產業留給老僕人以利以謝，祢的應許為何還沒應驗？

亞伯蘭本來要睡覺了，神卻叫他起床，到外面走一走。給他看天上的星星。沒有路燈的希伯崙，滿天星星何等美麗。這時神對他說：「你向天觀看，數算眾星，能數得過來嗎？」又對他說：「你的後裔將要如此。」

亞伯蘭信耶和華，耶和華就以此為他的義。亞伯蘭有疑問就問，神回答他，他就相信。我們要學亞伯蘭，不要把疑放在肚裡任其爛掉，影響我們對神的信心。神很願意回答我們，為我們解惑。

然後，為了取得亞伯蘭相信他的後裔必取得迦南地為業，神叫他去取一隻三年的母牛，一隻三年的母山羊，一隻三年的公綿羊，一隻斑鳩，一隻雛鴿。每樣劈開分成兩半，一半對著一半地擺列，只有鳥沒有劈開。這是何意呢？

Jesus Your Good Samaritan

2020-09-21 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Luke 10:30-42.  Let’s go!

Luke 10:30-33 (NIV) 
30  In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 
31  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 
32  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 
33  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.

On verses 30-33:  In reply to the teacher’s question in verse 29, “Who is my neighbour [that I should love him as I love myself]?” Jesus tells one of his most famous stories: the parable (short story) of the good Samaritan.  Keep in mind that Jesus is telling this story to an audience mostly of Jews at a time when racial tensions between Jews and Samaritans were high.  The fact that Jesus makes the Samaritan the hero of this story would have come as a shock to many Jews listening, challenging them to rethink their views on Samaritans and suggesting that the kingdom of God is not just for Jews but for people of all nations.

亞伯蘭救回羅得

2020-09-20 in /by

創世記 14章14節     亞伯蘭聽見他侄兒被擄去，就率領他家裡生養的精練壯丁三百一十八人，直追到但。

亞伯蘭這個故事顛覆了人們對信仰的一種偏見。有很多人認為相信神的人之信仰是以其為人生的枴杖，所以信神的人都是一些弱者。亞伯蘭是基督教的信心之父，但是當示拿地來的四王到死海附近追殺當地的五王，擄掠所多瑪和蛾摩拉所有的財物並一切的糧食，又把亞伯蘭的侄兒羅得和羅得的財物擄掠去，他便就率領他家裡生養的精練壯丁三百一十八人，直追到但。這個信心之父向世界展示了相信神的真實人生，是充滿勇氣的。

這不是一件容易的事。米索波大米的示拿地就是古巴比倫，那裡有聯盟的四王，以攔王基大老瑪是他們的老大。其他三王是示拿王暗拉非、以拉撒王亞略、戈印王提達。他們結盟的目的是為了擴張領土，鞏固霸權。

示拿（巴比倫）在當時包括兩河流域的南部地區，就是巴格達東南至波斯灣口間的地帶，也是西洋史中蘇美文化的發源地。蘇美約在 3500 BC 已達其文明之頂峰，他們發明了楔形文字、車輪、拱門、圓頂、曆法、數學等，也懂得開發水利，耕種田地，並建立城邦，其冶金術及珠寶工藝更是精巧領先。

在死海附近有五個小國。十三年前的一場戰役裡，從示拿來的四王到處向人挑戰，這是古時一種生存的方式，弱肉強食，勝者為王的生存之道。五王輸了，一直向四王進貢。

Hope Not In What You Do, But On What Jesus Has Done

2020-09-20 in /by

Hi GAMErs,                     

Today’s passage is Luke 10:17-29.  Let’s go!

Luke 10:17-20 (NIV) 
17  The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 
18  He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 
19  I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy ; nothing will harm you. 
20  However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

On verses 17-20:  The 72 that Jesus sent out return from their mission trips and report of how demons submitted to them in Jesus’ name (v17).  In response Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (v18).  What does Jesus mean?  I think there are at least two possible meanings here.  One possible meaning is that Jesus is rejoicing with his 72 students over how the kingdom of God was triumphing over the kingdom of Satan.  

7則禱告文,幫助你每天經歷神的同在

2020-09-18 in /by

禱告是基督徒的生活重心之一。沒了禱告，何來與神交通？如何與神同在？又哪來的平安？

以下七則簡單的禱文能幫助基督徒用有意義的方式與神交通，並讓各位和天父建立更美好的關係。

請用一週的時間運用以下的禱文。有時候透過最簡單的禱告，就能大大改變我們的眼光。

週日禱文
上主，請讓我能定睛於祢。當我在衝刺目標時，感謝祢的啟發，助我邁向正確的方向。我能保持向上提升而不沈淪，就是因為每次努力時，都能以上主為中心，就算見不到祢，我知道祢一直都在，祢藏在幕後做工，好確保我一旦跌倒，也能在祢幫助下重新站穩腳步。天父，我感謝祢為我生命所做的一切。阿們。（參腓立比書三章14-15節）

Keep It Simple and Stay Focused

2020-09-18 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

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

Luke 10:1 (NIV) 
1  After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.

On verse 1:  Why did Jesus send out his followers on this mission two by two?  It’s because Jesus understood the importance of team, having someone who shares your goals and mission to work with so that there can be mutual comfort, encouragement, accountability and support.  Similarly, when it comes to the mission God has for you, you weren’t made to do it alone.  You need teammates. 

Luke 10:2 (NIV) 
2  He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

On verse 2:  In Jesus’ eyes, the mission field is full of opportunities and full of people who are needing Jesus (“the harvest is plentiful”).  What is lacking is not people to bless or opportunities to lead people to Jesus, but people willing to be used and to get in on those opportunities (“the workers are few”).  So let’s be praying for God to send people who are willing to go and take advantage of those opportunities.  Let’s also be praying that we would be those people who go too.