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耶穌在耶路撒冷_為門徒洗腳

2020-04-01 in /by

約翰福音13章14節     我是你們的主、你們的夫子，尚且洗你們的腳，你們也當彼此洗腳。

當我在尋找這段耶穌為門徒洗腳的經文時，很驚訝地發現，只有約翰記錄了這件事。為何馬太、彼得和路加沒有記錄此事呢？馬太和彼得都是在現場的人，不記錄此事實在不合理。但是換個角度想，這件事是否讓他們覺得很丟臉呢？以致於不寫了？彼得和約翰是負責預備筵席的人，竟然忘了找個人給大家洗腳，真是太不週到了。

在耶穌的時代，不像我們現在有很美觀舒適的鞋子穿，只有類似拖鞋般的鞋子；巴勒斯坦又很乾燥、到處泥沙灰塵，腳上的鞋履亦只不過是用帶子把鞋底綁在足上。因此進到屋子，主人必預備水，親自或讓奴僕為客人洗腳。

以前在巴勒斯坦，男人們吃飯時並不坐著進膳，而是斜躺著，大家躺在矮小的臥榻上，身體靠在左肘，騰空右手，雙腳最後伸展；進膳的時候，則把鞋子脫掉。可以想像，若不洗腳就上臥榻吃飯，是一件何等令人倒胃口的舉止。

但是耶穌和門徒吃晚飯，沒有奴僕跟隨，那麼，誰要負責洗腳？誰都不想去做那樣卑微的工作，誰也不想去聞別人的臭腳，因此就假裝沒那一回事。耶穌看到沒有人出來為大家洗腳，就離席站起來，脫了衣服，拿一條手巾束腰， 隨後把水倒在盆裡，就洗門徒的腳，並用自己所束的手巾擦乾。

Don’t Box In Your Worship

2020-04-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Amos 4:1 (NIV) 
1  Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”

On verses 1-3:  While Israel was experiencing great economic prosperity during this time, there was a wide discrepancy between the rich and the poor in Israel.   Here Amos accuses the rich, upper class women, and indirectly their husbands, of oppressing the poor and taking advantage of the needy in order to satisfy their expensive tastes.  Playing off the fact that Samaria, Israel’s capital city, had a lot of lush fields and fattened cattle, Amos calls these women “cows of Bashan” (v1).  This is followed by a promise from God that these upper class women would be cast out of their own city one day, like fish being taken away on hooks (v2-3).

What can we learn from this?  It angers God when the rich take advantage of the poor, or when those who have more materially show no concern for those who have less.  God has no issues with people having wealth, but He watches what we do with our wealth.  Justice is a big theme in the book of Amos.

耶穌在耶路撒冷_最大的誡命

2020-03-31 in /by

馬太福音21章37節    耶穌對他說：你要盡心、盡性、盡意愛主你的神。

華理克牧師說，禱告要以聆聽開始。怎樣聆聽神的聲音呢？就是要讀《聖經》。

Prayer starts with listening. How do you listen to God? By reading the Bible.

因此從今天到復活節，我們要分享從耶穌騎驢進耶路撒冷後的一些教導。因為我發現，當我們去聆聽主在這段時間的教導時，你會更感受到祂心裡的迫切和無奈。主耶穌希望我們知道或記得什麼？祂己經進耶路撒冷，慢慢走向十字架，祂知道祂成為一個人的樣式，走在人群中間，可以觸摸撫慰和醫治人的時間己經不多了。

而法利賽人對祂更加注意，敵意更深，這時猶太去找了祭司長，要把耶穌交給他們。他們十分高興，就應許給猶大銀子。猶大開始尋思怎樣把耶穌交給他們。

這是預備慶祝逾越節的時候，耶路撒冷有許多外來的旅客，要獻祭的猶太人，卻沒有想到，當年亞伯拉罕獻以撒時，神預備了羊羔；而這次神正準備獻上祂自己的獨生子。

A Great Way to Minimize Trouble in Your Life

2020-03-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Amos 3:1-2 (NIV)
1  Hear this word the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel–against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
2  “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

On verses 1-2:  The Lord chose Israel especially to be a light to other nations.  However, Israel was not faithful to the Lord, breaking His heart and defaming His name with their continual idolatry.  The fact that God would punish Israel for their sins shows us that with authority from God comes accountability from God.

What can we learn from this?  God holds accountable those to whom He has given authority.  If we are faithful with the authority He has given us, He will reward us.  If we are unfaithful with that authority, He will discipline us.

耶穌在耶路撒冷_騎驢進耶路撒冷

2020-03-30 in /by

約翰福音12章36 節      你們應當趁著有光，信從這光，使你們成為光明之子。

先知撒迦利亞曾預言：「錫安哪，應當大大喜樂；耶路撒冷啊，應當歡呼。看哪，你的王來到你這裏！祂是公義的，並且施行拯救，謙和地騎著驢，騎著小驢，驢的駒子。（亞9:9）」

這段經文得如許清楚，將來到耶路撒冷的，猶太人的王將著驢駒子進耶路撒冷，充份表明耶穌知道祂在做什麼，猶太人也明白這件事的含意。可是在羅馬統治下，有沒有人擔心這事的發生呢？一旦羅馬政府聽到有人以猶太人的王，按著聖經上的預言進耶路撒冷，他們會怎麼想？會採取什麼措施？

猶太人的長老之擔心不是空穴來風，猶太人己經有過幾次革命，想爭取獨立和自由，可是每次都被陣壓得死傷無數，傷亡慘重。在耶穌升天後也有革命，猶太人就被逐出耶路撒冷了。這就是百姓和當權者的兩極心態。

因此當門徒歡呼：「奉主名來的王是應當稱頌的！在天上有和平，在至高之處有榮光！」時，幾個法利賽人對耶穌說：「夫子，責備你的門徒吧！」耶穌說：「我告訴你們，若是他們閉口不說，這些石頭必要呼叫起來！」(路19:38-40)

耶穌進耶路撒冷的這天做了幾件事，一是耶路撒冷哀哭，二是潔淨聖殿，三是咒詛無花果樹，又和法利賽人辯駁祂的權柄，以及用比喻教導百姓。在〈約翰福音〉12章裡記載了幾個特別重要的教導：1. 一粒麥子不落在地裡死了，仍舊是一粒；若是死了，就結出許多子粒來。2. 耶穌若從地上被舉起來，就要吸引萬人來歸祂。3. 你們應當趁著有光，信從這光，使你們成為光明之子。4. 信子就是信父。

God Watches How We Respond to His Grace

2020-03-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Amos 2:1-16.  Let’s go!
 
Amos 2:1-8 (NIV) 
1  This is what the LORD says: “For three sins of Moab, even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath]. Because he burned, as if to lime, the bones of Edom’s king, 
2  I will send fire upon Moab that will consume the fortresses of Kerioth. Moab will go down in great tumult amid war cries and the blast of the trumpet. ……

On verses 1-8:  Whether it’s treating our neighbors dishonorably like Moab did (v1-3), rejecting the Lord to follow other gods as Judah did (v4-5), abusing the poor (v6-7), committing sexual immorality (v7-8), and ignoring God’s holiness as Israel did (v8), God sees all the ways that we sin against Him.  Nothing is hidden from His view.  Yet what amazes me is that as holy and just as God is, God is equally loving and merciful, so much so that the wrath God feels toward our sin He placed on His own Son instead so that ultimately we could be spared the punishment we deserve for our sin.  God did not turn back His wrath from our sin.  Instead, He directed His wrath against our sin toward His own Son instead, so that we could go free.  It is at the cross where Jesus died that we see all at once the incredible holiness, justice, love and mercy of God.

耶穌在耶路撒冷_修殿節與好牧人

2020-03-30 in /by

約翰福音10章9節   ：耶穌說：「我就是門，凡從我進來的，必然得救，並且出入得草吃。」

好牧人的比喻是耶穌一個很出名的教導。根據〈以西結書〉34章裡，主耶和華說：「看哪，我必親自尋找我的羊，將他們尋見。 (結34:11)」，所以猶太人知道，從大衛的後裔中所出來的彌賽亞，將是一位牧者。耶穌為何要在修殿節傳講這個信息呢？

在兩約，舊約和新約之間，有一段空白的四百年。這四百年之間發生了但以理所看見的大部份的異象，也就是巴比倫興起，再來是瑪代波斯，希臘，羅馬的興起。在希臘當權時，他們玫力於把外邦人希臘化，在以色列地也不例外。尤其是亞歷山大大帝死後，以色列被敘利亞國王安提阿哥四世統治，他十分殘暴無道，對猶太人和其信仰無理地踐踏。

他強迫猶太人豎立希臘神祇偶像，污穢聖殿，在聖殿的祭壇上獻上一頭豬，並自稱為神；又下令禁止學習托拉（Torah，摩西五經）否則處死；猶太男性不能受割禮，又禁守安息日，等等。有一個祭司瑪他提亞終於起來反抗，他和五個兒子帶領猶太人和敘利亞作戰，終於使耶路撒冷得到解放。歷史上稱為馬加比戰役。

潔淨聖殿之後，要點上金燈台的燈，但是只剩下一瓶沒有被沾污的油，離安息日又甚近，來不及做更多的油。沒想到這瓶油一連燃燒了八天，直到新油做好補上。所以猶太人慶祝這個節日有好幾個名子字：光明節，修殿節，哈努卡節，但是在英文裡直接說這是個獻殿的節日，重新把聖殿獻給神的節日。

Fiercely Committed to Protecting You

2020-03-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today we begin our look at the book of Amos, written in approximately 762 B.C. Today we start with Amos 1:1-15.  Let’s go!

Amos 1:1 (NIV) 
1  The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa–

On verse 1a:   Who was Amos?  In addition to being a prophet, Amos was a shepherd, but no ordinary shepherd.  The word Amos uses for “shepherd” in verse 1 is not the common Hebrew word for shepherd but a rare word that suggests that Amos was more a breeder of sheep.  In other words, Amos was a businessman who probably owned large herds of sheep and had many shepherds working for him.  Later on we will learn that Amos also planted and harvested sycamore trees.  A man of standing in his community of Tekoa (about 10 miles south of Jerusalem), Amos was a ranch owner, a farmer and a prophet.  

What can we learn from this?  Don’t type cast yourself by your profession or job.  No matter what your profession or job is, God wants to use you in His kingdom.  You can be a businessman and God can use you to speak prophetically in a person’s life.  God calls people from all walks of life to serve Him and to represent Him.     

遇到瘟疫不是倒霉

2020-03-27 in /by

遇到瘟疫不是倒霉，是經歷上帝保守我們的日子

「我們若活著，是為主而活；若死了，是為主而死。所以，我們或活或死總是主的人。」（羅馬書14:8）

人生遇到挫折、失望、打擊與不如意的日子，我們若將這些事，放在主耶穌的手中，這段過程，常變成祂給我們一生，最珍貴的財產。

我無法說明這事是如何變成的，也無法解釋主是如何將我們的不如意，轉變成祂給我們的好禮物。苦難像一台戲，主使我從當事者，成旁觀者，靜看祂作為。

因此我不會講「走出人生低谷的1、2、3、4、5步驟」，不會說「成功，就是上帝給人的祝福」。

我相信無論有沒有步驟，祂引領。我相信成功或失敗，在主有祂的定義。

主耶穌是照著祂的信實與慈愛，來引領我們。外在的不如意，使世界對我一時沒有期待，反而讓我不落在外面的活動，不沉湎於外界的掌聲，不忙於會幕外面的殺牛宰羊，多點時間與空間，進入至聖所，貼近主一些。

The Day of the Lord – What Is It and How To Prepare for It?

2020-03-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Peter 3:10-18.  Let’s go!

2 Peter 3:10-14 (NIV) 
10  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
11  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives……

On verses 10-14:  In these verses Peter is talking about “the day of the Lord” (v1)?  The “day of the Lord” is a term found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  It refers to the end times, or more specifically as we see in the New Testament, the time when Jesus will return to earth, physically raise Christians who have died back to life, gather His people, establish His kingdom and issue His final judgment on those who have rejected Him.