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He’s Everything You Need

2020-05-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 2:8-17.   Let’s go!

Revelation 2:8 (NIV) 
8  “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.

On verse 8:  Smyrna was a wealthy port city, located about 35 miles north of Ephesus.  Jesus describes Himself once again as “the First and the Last”, meaning Jesus existed before anything else in creation came into being, and He is the only One who will remain when everything else is gone.  It all begins and ends with Jesus. 

Jesus is also the one “who died and came to life again” – more on that below.

On verse 9-11:   The church in Smyrna was going through a difficult time, as they were being persecuted for their faith by a certain group who claimed to be the true Jews but whom Jesus calls “a synagogue of Satan” (v9).  Based on Jesus’ words, things were going to get harder before they got easier.  More persecution was still to come.  As Jesus says, “the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days” (v10).

容我的百姓去

2020-05-28 in /by

創世記五章4節       我與他們堅定所立的約，要把他們寄居的迦南地賜給他們。

假如神呼召你去傳福音，然後跟你說，你傳福音不會有人相信。你還會去嗎？摩西就是碰到了這樣的處境，神叫他去見法老，而且神還要用大能的手幫忙，但是埃及王法老也還是不會聽摩西的，也不會讓以色列人離開。假如你是摩西，你會接這樣的差事嗎？

當神呼召摩西時，祂就說了： 「我知道雖用大能的手，埃及王也不容你們去。我必伸手在埃及中間施行我一切的奇事，攻擊那地，然後他才容你們去。我必叫你們在埃及人眼前蒙恩，你們去的時候就不至於空手而去。(出3:19-21)」事情不容易，但是神有應許。

馬禮遜宣教士到中國時才22歲，他抱著這樣的信念：「求上帝將我置於困難最多，和從人類眼光中看來最難成功之佈道區域中」來到中國。果然，他做了十年，才有一個人相信耶穌。但是他並不是在等人信耶穌，在十年中，他己著手翻譯聖經。要回應神呼召的人就必須有這樣的心志，正如主耶穌說的，要背起十字架跟隨祂。這條路之難走是必然，但是神的應許都會應驗，神的應許都是真實的。神不會讓祂僕人的工作成為虛空。

因此雖然摩西要面對法老加諸的重擔，以色列人的不滿和怨言，他好像三明治中間的肉片，被兩邊夾得很辛苦，他卻能在夾縫中仰望神的應許而不氣餒，一而再，再而三去見法老；也不停地鼓勵以色列人要仰望神的應許。因為神要開始做事了。我們有時也像摩西一樣，處在人際關係的夾縫裡，兩邉不討好，怎麼做都不對，這樣的難處，神都知道。只要我們仰望神，就能經歷神的作為。

燃燒的荊棘

2020-05-28 in /by

出埃及記三章14節  神對摩西說：「我是自有永有的。」又說：「你要對以色列人這樣說：『那自有的打發我到你們這裡來。』」

假如你還記得那場澳洲大火，從2019年年底燒到2020年年初，一共燒了約210天；還有B.C.省和加州去年前年夏季裡的森林大火，燒到太陽看起來是紅色的，空氣裡都是煙的味道，那真是一段令人談到森林大火就心驚膽跳的回憶。森林大火一般都是因為過於乾燥，有時也因為人為的疏忽，一點小小的火星就可以燎原。因此在山上看到有荊棘在燃燒時，摩西真是吃驚不小。

有天摩西帶著岳父的羊上山找草吃，卻忽然看到一棵在燃燒的荊棘，但是雖然有火，荊棘卻沒有被燒毀。摩西可能覺得自己眼睛有問題，便想上前觀看。不料，荊棘裡竟有聲音叫他的名字：「摩西！摩西！」我覺得他的反應很可愛，他竟然回答：「我在這裡。」我以為他會先問：「你是誰？」

神要摩西脫下腳上穿的鞋，並且告訴他所站之處是聖地。摩西在埃及也看過很多偶像，可是這是第一個跟他講話的「神」。神自我介紹：「我是你父親的神，是亞伯拉罕的神、以撒的神、雅各的神。」摩西一聽，趕快把臉蒙上，不敢再看燃燒的荊棘，不敢看神。

神把祂的計劃對摩西說了，摩西卻不感興趣。他曾經滿腔熱血，以為做埃及王子可以拯救以色列人，卻沒有想到才殺了一個埃及人，就付出了沉重的代價。現在他萬念俱灰，再也沒有雄情大志，以為要做牧羊人終老了。所以神叫他去見法老時，他說：「我是什麼人？竟能去見法老，將以色列人從埃及領出來呢？」 

The Angel of the Church

2020-05-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 2:1-7.  There are so many powerful lessons we can learn from this passage.  Let’s go!

Revelation 2:1 (NIV) 
1  “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:

On verse 1:  Starting in chapter 2 John records 7 messages from Jesus that he is told to send to 7 churches in the province of Asia.  The first message is for the church of Ephesus.  Notice that the way the message is worded is “To the angel of the church in Ephesus”.  Who is this angel?  The Greek word for angel here is angellos, which is mostly translated in the New Testament as “angel” but is sometimes translated as “messenger”.  Thus, according to some scholars, the two main possibilities for what the “angel” is referring to are: (1) the “angel” refers to an actual angelic being who supernaturally watches over the church; or (2) the “angel” refers to the pastor of the local church, who practically serves as a messenger, the one who delivers messages, to the church and who would likely be the one to receive and read out this particular message from Jesus to the church.

埃及王子

2020-05-26 in /by

出埃及記二章22節  西坡拉生了一個兒子，摩西給他起名叫革舜，意思說：「因我在外邦做了寄居的。」

和所有以色列人不一樣，當以色列人在做苦工，在烈日下流汗挨打被罵時，摩西在埃及宮庭裡過著王子的生活。他是法老女兒收養的義子，名正言順地得到王子的待遇。根據〈埃及王子Prince of Egypt〉這部電影的形容，法老當時還準備把王位傳給他。可見他在埃及王宮裡也得到各方面的教導，可以說是文武雙全。

舊約聖經最前面五本書：創世記—出埃及記—利未記—民數記—申命記，都是摩西寫的，所以稱為摩西五經。這也讓我們明白，為何神要讓他在王宮裡成長，因為他在王宮裡才有可能受到最完備的教育，才有能力寫下這五本十分重要的妥拉Torah (這是猶太人對摩西五經的稱謂)。

但是他的骨子裡流的還是希伯來人的血，以色列人也可稱為希伯來人。就好像很多華人移民到了海外，心裡總還覺得自己是家鄉的人。意氣飛揚的摩西王子有一天走出皇宮，走到被奴役的希伯來人中間，意外看到有一個埃及人在打一個希伯來人。那時奴隸是不敢還手的，即使有力氣也不敢還手，只能挨打。摩西王子非常生氣，但是他也很謹慎，先左右觀看，才出手打死埃及人。不打死不行，打得半死，他回去會告狀。摩西王子就慘了，他怎麼可以幫希伯來人呢？他是埃及王子啊! 打死了還不行，還得找個地方快快把死人埋在沙裡。埃及有很多沙漠地，要埋人很方便。摩西王子做完此事，心裡十分得意，覺得幫族人爭了一口氣。

但是他萬萬沒想到，這件事還是被人知道了。因為那個被欺負的希伯來人肯定回去跟大家說了，這可是一件很稀奇的事啊! 埃及王子竟然幫助一個希伯來人，除了摩西的原生家庭，可能也沒有人知道他是希伯來人。這事一傳十，十傳百，在第二天他想調節兩個希伯來人的糾紛時，那人就把這事抖出來，質問他是否又要殺人了。

Loving You With His Presence and His Words

2020-05-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 1:9-20.  Let’s go!

Revelation 1:9-18 (NIV) 
9  I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10  On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
11  which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”……

On verses 9-18:  John is in exile on the island of Patmos for preaching the Gospel (v9 – “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus”).  On Sunday (“the Lord’s Day”) he is praying deeply and sensing the presence of God (“in the Spirit” – v10) when he hears from behind him a voice like a trumpet telling him to write down on a scroll what he sees.  The voice behind John tells him to send what he writes down to the seven churches in the province of Asia (v11).  When John turns around to see who is speaking to him, he sees Jesus Christ (“someone ‘like a son of man’” – v13) standing among seven golden lampstands.  Jesus’ physical presence is awesome: fully white head and hair, eyes like blazing fire, feet like bronze in a furnace, voice like rushing waters, his face like the sun in its brilliance. 

從水裡拉出來的

2020-05-25 in /by

出埃及記二章10節  孩子漸長，婦人把他帶到法老的女兒那裡，就做了她的兒子。她給孩子起名叫摩西，意思說：「因我把他從水裡拉出來。」

在幾千年前的一個炎熱的下午，法老美麗的女兒帶著幾個侍女來到尼羅河邊，準備痛快地洗個澡。那時還沒有自來水，尼羅河也尚未被污染，在河中洗澡是個非常好的選擇。讓緩緩流淌的河水洗淨一身的熱氣，加上一點埃及女人用的高級精油，洗完後一身清香。在公主下水前要有一些準備，至少確定四周沒人躲著，免得公主危險。

這時公主眼尖，發現河水旁的蘆荻裡有個東西。蘆荻是一種直立的莖稈，有著蓬鬆的花絮，它的花到了秋天會變成白色，微風吹拂，花絮飄蕩就像下了一場雪，故有「秋蘆飛雪」的描述。它也是一種良好的防沙、固堤植物。公主叫婢女把蘆荻裡的東西拿來，原來是個箱子，她好奇地打開來，卻突然聽到一個嬰兒的哭聲。嬰兒原是安靜地躺在箱子裡，一看到公主就哭了，讓公主好心疼。

聰明的公主立刻明白過來，說：「這是希伯來人的一個孩子。」這時有一個小女孩跑到公主身邊， 問她：「我去在希伯來婦人中叫一個奶媽來，為你奶這孩子，可以不可以？」公主同意了。這女孩便去把嬰兒的母親找來，公主答應付這奶媽錢，幫忙養這嬰兒，嬰兒的母親便快快樂樂地，光明正大地把自己的嬰兒抱回家了。

事情為何如此曲折呢？原來神給亞伯拉罕的應許己經實現了幾乎一半。在〈創世記〉15章裡，神應許亞伯蘭：「你要的確知道，你的後裔必寄居別人的地，又服侍那地的人，那地的人要苦待他們四百年。並且他們所要服侍的那國，我要懲罰，後來他們必帶著許多財物從那裡出來。」

Welcome to Revelation

2020-05-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today we begin the book of Revelation.  Written in approximately 95 A.D., the book of Revelation was written by the apostle John while he was in exile on the island of Patmos for preaching about Jesus.  While on Patmos, John receives multiple visions which he understands to be from Jesus Christ and is told to write them down.  The result is the book of Revelation, a highly significant book that describes what will happen before, during and after the return (second coming) of Jesus Christ.  This book also shows how many Old Testament prophecies will be fulfilled.

Today’s passage is Revelation 1:1-8.  Let’s go!

Revelation 1:1-2 (NIV) 
1  The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2  who testifies to everything he saw–that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

On verses 1-2:  Here John makes clear that what he is writing about is not something he himself manufactured.  Rather what John is writing down is “the revelation of Jesus Christ”.  What John is about to share is what was revealed to him as “the word of God” and “the testimony of Jesus Christ”.

如睡一覺

2020-05-25 in /by

創世記24章26-27節      那人就低頭向耶和華下拜， 說：「耶和華我主人亞伯拉罕的神是應當稱頌的！因祂不斷地以慈愛、誠實待我主人。至於我，耶和華在路上引領我，直走到我主人的兄弟家裡。」

摩西說：「祢叫他們如水沖去，他們如睡一覺。早晨他們如生長的草，早晨發芽生長，晚上割下枯乾。(詩90:5-6)」他們是指世人，摩西形容人的一生如生長的草，你同意嗎？撒拉在127歲時，息了地上的勞苦。最近有兩位神重用的僕人都安息主懷了，一個是大衛.鮑森牧師；另一位是拉維.撒迦利亞牧師。前者90歲，後者74歲。所以撒拉活到127歲，在世人的眼中算是很長壽了；那麼亞伯拉罕呢？你猜猜看，待會告訴你。

撒拉死時，以撒37歲，未婚。亞伯拉罕終於想到該幫以撒娶個妻子了，以撒的性情可能有點內向，所以也沒有出去和當地的迦南女子鬼混。亞伯拉罕希望找個本家的孩子，但是又不想讓以撒遠行，所以就找了一個老僕人去美索不達米亞，也就是亞伯拉罕的原居地，到了亞伯拉罕的兄弟居住的拿鶴的城。

亞伯拉罕在老僕人臨走前囑咐他，要把女子帶回來，不可把以撒帶回去。因為，「耶和華天上的主曾帶領我離開父家和本族的地，對我說話，向我起誓說：『我要將這地賜給你的後裔。』」，此時亞伯拉罕雖然還沒有看到神的話應驗，可是他皂信心己經非常堅定。

堅定到一個地步，他向僕人說：『祂必差遣使者在你面前，你就可以從那裡為我兒子娶一個妻子。」所以當他的僕人到了拿鶴的城，就開始禱告。

Jesus Makes All The Difference

2020-05-24 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Zephaniah 3:1-19.  Let’s go!

Zephaniah 3:1-7 (NIV) 
1  Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!
2  She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God.
3  Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning…….

On verses 1-7:  Chapter 3 of Zephaniah begins with God expressing His utter displeasure with the city of Jerusalem.  He describes the people of Jerusalem as rebellious and unholy (v1), disobedient and unteachable (v2a), refusing to trust God or draw near to Him (v2b).  He describes Jerusalem’s political and military leaders as lions and wolves (v3), her prophets as arrogant and deceitful (v4), and her priests as hypocrites (v5).  The only One righteous in Jerusalem is the Lord Himself (v5), who “does no wrong” (v5) and who continues to act justly despite the unrighteousness around Him (v5).  In verses 6 and 7, the Lord laments how despite disciplining Jerusalem with hardship, the people of Jerusalem continued to act corruptly.