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If You Love That Person, Do THIS Before You Challenge or Criticize Them

2019-08-07 in /by

Hi GAMErs,
 
Today we begin the book of Philemon, a letter Paul wrote during his first imprisonment in Rome between 61 to 63 AD (imprisoned for preaching the gospel).  Here is some background you will find helpful: 

Paul wrote this letter to a man called Philemon.  Who was Philemon?  Philemon lived in the city of Colosse and came to faith in Christ through the ministry of Paul (v19).  Later on Philemon would open up his home for the church in Colosse to use as their meeting place.  The fact that Philemon had a home large enough to host a church and owned slaves like Onesimus suggests that Philemon was wealthy.
Paul’s reason for writing Philemon personally is because one of Philemon’s slaves, called Onesimus, had stolen something from Philemon, ran away, only to meet Paul in Rome and become a Christian under his ministry.  Onesimus becomes useful to Paul’s ministry, but Paul feels it is best to send Onesimus back to Philemon, encouraging Philemon to forgive his former slave and take him in again. 

诗篇第九篇

2019-08-06 in /by

诗篇第九篇

大卫的诗，交于伶长。调用慕拉便。

1 我要一心称谢耶和华，我要传扬祢一切奇妙的作为。
2 我要因祢欢喜快乐，至高者啊，我要歌颂祢的名！
3 我的仇敌转身退去的时候，他们一见祢的面，就跌倒灭亡。
4 因祢已经为我申冤，为我辨屈；祢坐在宝座上，按公义审判。
5 祢曾斥责外邦，祢曾灭绝恶人，祢曾涂抹他们的名，直到永永远远。
6 仇敌到了尽头，他们被毁坏，直到永远；祢拆毁他们的城邑，连他们的名号都归于无有。
7 唯耶和华坐着为王，直到永远，祂已经为审判设摆他的宝座。
8 祂要按公义审判世界，按正直判断万民。
9 耶和华又要给受欺压的人做高台，在患难的时候做高台。
10 耶和华啊，认识祢名的人要倚靠祢，因祢没有离弃寻求祢的人。………….

这首诗的周用慕拉便Muth-labben，令人摸不著头脑。因为它的直译是「儿子死了」，幸好因为是曲调名所以不能这样译。在这里给大家看不同译本的译法：七十士译本：少壮的力量 /吕振中译本：男高音或假声 ，也有人说在此应该是男孩子唱高音或用嘹亮的高音，等等。总结起来似乎以男高音最合适了。换句话说，这首调子比较高，是给男高音唱的。慕拉便就是男高音。

这首诗的主题是：恶人虽然暂时纵横，但公义至终得胜。诗篇第九篇和十篇原是相连，但在编辑时被分成两个诗篇。

The Most Important Thing You Can Do

2019-08-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 29:21-30.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 29:22 (NIV) 
22  They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the LORD that day. Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the LORD to be ruler and Zadok to be priest.
 
On verses 21-22:  It touches my heart deeply to think that David’s last act as king of Israel, before he handed the reigns of his kingdom to his son Solomon, was to lead his people in worshiping the Lord, both through giving the most generous offering they could muster together (v1-9) and giving God praise through prayer and song (v10-20).  And now, one day later, the people are at it again, giving God worship through generous sacrifices and offerings (v21).  They eat and drink together with great joy before recognizing and anointing Solomon as their king and ruler (v22).  What can we learn from this? The most important thing you can do with the power God has given you is lead others to know and worship the Lord.  Like David, may you do it until you don’t have the power to do it anymore.

诗篇第八篇 诗篇

2019-08-05 in /by

诗篇第八篇

大卫的诗，交于伶长。用迦特乐器。

1 耶和华我们的主啊，祢的名在全地何其美，祢将祢的荣耀彰显于天！
2 祢因敌人的缘故，从婴孩和吃奶的口中建立了能力，使仇敌和报仇的闭口无言。
3 我观看你指头所造的天，并祢所陈设的月亮星宿，
4 便说：「人算什么，祢竟顾念他？世人算什么，祢竟眷顾他？
5 祢叫他比天使微小一点，并赐他荣耀尊贵为冠冕。
6 祢派他管理祢手所造的，使万物，就是一切的牛羊，田野的兽，空中的鸟，海里的鱼，凡经行海道的，都服在他的脚下。」
9 耶和华我们的主啊，祢的名在全地何其美！

从〈诗篇〉第3-7篇里，大卫经历了许多的痛苦忧伤，但是当他仰望神时，他皂心就充满了喜桨和赞美。这诗篇提醒我们，不要一直注目在地上的人事物，要抬头仰望，因为神也在看我们，要借着祂的创造赐给我们信心。神将祂的荣耀彰显于天，所以当我们看天空时，时时感到惊奇。晨曦带来的生命力，天空中的颜色变幻无穷，夕阳之美，夜里繁星灿烂，没有一刻是无聊的。

Your Wealth Is From God and For God

2019-08-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 29:10-20.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 29:10 (NIV) 
10  David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.

On verse 10-13:  Having given the most personal and precious offering he has ever given, and having seen how his officials and the people respond in kind by giving willingly and generously toward the building of the temple as well, David praises God.  Notice a few things about how David praises God:

David is the king of Israel, the most powerful man in his country, and yet David says to God, “Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor…Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” (v11)

诗篇第七篇

2019-08-04 in /by

诗篇第七篇

大卫指着便雅悯人古实的话，向耶和华唱的流离歌。

1 耶和华我的神啊，我投靠祢，求祢救我脱离一切追赶我的人，将我救拔出来，
2 恐怕他们像狮子撕裂我，甚至撕碎，无人搭救。
3 耶和华我的神啊，我若行了这事，若有罪孽在我手里，
4 我若以恶报那与我交好的人（连那无故与我为敌的，我也救了他），
5 就任凭仇敌追赶我，直到追上，将我的性命踏在地下，使我的荣耀归于灰尘！（细拉）
6 耶和华啊，求祢在怒中起来，挺身而立，抵挡我敌人的暴怒；求祢为我兴起，你已经命定施行审判。
7 愿众民的会环绕你，愿祢从其上归于高位。
8 耶和华向众民施行审判。耶和华啊，求祢按我的公义和我心中的纯正判断我。
9 愿恶人的恶断绝，愿你坚立义人，因为公义的神察验人的心肠肺腑。
10 神是我的盾牌，祂拯救心里正直的人。……….

大卫王是这首诗的作者，但是便雅悯人古实是指谁呢？流离歌是一种不规则的抒情诗，有点像我们的现代诗，随着当时的心情和情景而吟颂的诗。古实的意思原是黑色，但在此是一个人的名字，因为冠上了便雅悯人，不免让人联想到扫罗。扫罗就是便雅悯人，所以当扫罗在追杀大卫时，他的族人必然倾心相助，也去追赶大卫。古实很可能就是紧追大卫不舍的一个。

在这首诗里讲到正义之人看起来仿佛很软弱，就像他和扫罗相比，扫罗是王，拥有军队，而大卫手无寸铁，只有一把非利士人哥利亚的刀，还有一批流浪者跟着他，两相比较，大卫何等虚弱。但大卫到神面前祈求时，他以自己的公义求神判断，他相信神必拯救无辜之人。因为神是公义的审判者。

Great Leaders Lead by Example

2019-08-04 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 29:1-9.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 29:3 (NIV) 
3  Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple…

On verses 1-9:  After commissioning his son Solomon to build the temple and encouraging his top leaders in chapter 28, here in chapter 29 David addresses the whole assembly of Israelites.  He tells them of the great vision ahead of them to build a temple for the Lord.  He also tells them of the great challenges that are before them as they pursue this vision (v1).  Then David announces that he has already donated a tremendous amount toward this cause from all his own personal resources, which probably consisted of spoils that he had acquired over time as king (v2).  Now David says he is about to make an even greater personal donation (v3-5a).  This greater personal donation – which in the Hebrew means “my most personal treasure” – consisted of 3,000 talents of gold from Ophir (the most coveted gold in the region at that time) as well as 7,000 talents of refined silver.   Then he asks the entire assembly “Who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?” (v5b), meaning “Who will give of themselves personally toward building the temple?” (In fact, the word “consecrate” in Hebrew literally means to “fill the hand”.) 

诗篇第六篇

2019-08-02 in /by

诗篇第六篇

1 耶和华啊，求你不要在怒中责备我，也不要在烈怒中惩罚我！
2 耶和华啊，求你可怜我，因为我软弱。耶和华啊，求你医治我，因为我的骨头发战。
3 我心也大大地惊惶。耶和华啊，你要到几时才救我呢？
4 耶和华啊，求你转回，搭救我，因你的慈爱拯救我。
5 因为在死地无人记念你，在阴间有谁称谢你？
6 我因唉哼而困乏，我每夜流泪，把床榻漂起，把褥子湿透。
7 我因忧愁眼睛干瘪，又因我一切的敌人眼睛昏花。
8 你们一切作孽的人，离开我吧！因为耶和华听了我哀哭的声音。
9 耶和华听了我的恳求，耶和华必收纳我的祷告。
10 我的一切仇敌都必羞愧，大大惊惶；他们必要退后，忽然羞愧。

这是大卫的诗歌，也是诗篇里七首忏悔诗篇的第一首。这篇诗歌写出在患病或正在受苦的人的心声，也表达了以色列遭受他国压迫和被蹂躏时的苦楚。

大卫王因罪惹动了神的怒气，在诗歌里他写出他的痛苦不只是因为对手的反击，而且他深深感受到永死，也就是与神隔绝的恐怖。他迫切渴望能得到神的宽恕。他对神的诉求是，倘若神在愤怒中取走他的性命，那么还有谁像他一样能赞美神，称谢神？

You Are Planned and Precious to God

2019-08-02 in /by

HI GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Chronicles 28:11-21.  Let’s go!

1 Chronicles 28:11-13 (NIV) 
11  Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. 
12  He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind for the courts of the temple of the LORD and all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of the temple of God and for the treasuries for the dedicated things. 
13  He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the LORD, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service.

On verses 11-13, 19:   One of the key words in these verses is “the plans”.  David gives to Solomon the plans for the temple, plans which David says were inspired by the Holy Spirit.  What can we learn from this?  God is a planner.  He knows the plans He has for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).