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体贴神的意思

2019-05-08 in /by

马太福音16: 21_23体贴神的意思

21 从此，耶稣才指示门徒，他必须上耶路撒冷去，受长老、祭司长、文士许多的苦，并且被杀，第三日复活。 22 彼得就拉着他，劝他说：「主啊，万不可如此！这事必不临到你身上。」 23 耶稣转过来，对彼得说：「撒旦，退我后边去吧！你是绊我脚的，因为你不体贴神的意思，只体贴人的意思。」

在耶稣和彼得短短的对话中，主耶稣给我们一个很明确的信息：主知道祂在做什么，祂要做什么，祂不需要我们的意见。祂只要我们跟祂一样，顺服神的旨意。

其次，莫小看主耶稣对彼得的责备。当主耶稣指出彼得不体贴神的意思，只体贴人的意思时，祂用的名词是：撒旦。

主耶稣是有备而来，在祂即将离世前，祂把门徒们带到该撒利亚腓利比。在那里，祂给了门徒一个毕业考。该撒利亚腓利比充满了偶像崇拜和世俗的污秽，道德的败坏。主耶稣也要我们看清楚自己身处的环境，也是和当年的该撒利亚腓利比一样，换汤不换药。

当我们置身在这样的社会里，我们能清楚地认识耶稣是谁吗？还是人云亦云？我为什么信耶稣？你又为什么信耶稣呢？我们能像彼得受感而说：「祢是基督，是永生神的儿子。」吗？假如现在有人问你为何信耶稣，你会怎样回答呢？我听过一些答案：信耶稣有平安，信耶稣有喜乐，耶稣会帮助我度过困难，帮我解决问题，等等。但是还没有听人回答：「因为祂是基督，是永生神的儿子。」

The King Has Spoken and You Are Restored

2019-05-08 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 8:1-15.  Let’s go!

2 Kings 8:6 (NIV) 
6  The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, “Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now.” 

On verses 1-6:  Elisha the prophet tells the woman whose son he had raised back to life to move away from Israel for a time due to a severe famine that would hit Israel.  After being away from Israel for 7 years, the woan returns to Israel, but by this time the government has taken over her land.  Now the woman is at the mercy of the king, who has power to decide whether or not to give the land back to her.  It just so happens that on the same day that the woman appears before the king to request that her land be restored to her, Gehazi the servant of Elisha had been telling the king about what Elisha had done for this woman.  On this basis, the king speaks the word to restore the land to this woman, including all the income that her land had generated during her seven year absence.

Faith and Unbelief

2019-05-07 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 7:1-20.  Let’s go!

2 Kings 7:3-4 (NIV) 
3  Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate. They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die? 
4  If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’–the famine is there, and we will die. And if we stay here, we will die. So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.” 

On verses 1-20:  In the middle of a siege and famine in Samaria where food resources are increasingly scarce and expensive, Elisha the prophet predicts that within 24 hours the finest flour and barley will be sold for extremely cheap.  An officer of King Joram does not believe it.  In response to the officer’s unbelief, Elisha states that this officer will see it with his own eyes but will not eat any of it (v2). 

你们说我是谁

2019-05-07 in /by

马太福音16: 13_20你们说我是谁

13 耶稣到了该撒利亚-腓立比的境内，就问门徒说：「人说我人子是谁？」 14 他们说：「有人说是施洗的约翰，有人说是以利亚，又有人说是耶利米或是先知里的一位。」 15 耶稣说：「你们说我是谁？」 16 西门彼得回答说：「你是基督，是永生神的儿子。」 17 耶稣对他说：「西门‧巴约拿，你是有福的，因为这不是属血肉的指示你的，乃是我在天上的父指示的。 18 我还告诉你：你是彼得，我要把我的教会建造在这磐石上，阴间的权柄不能胜过他。 19 我要把天国的钥匙给你，凡你在地上所捆绑的，在天上也要捆绑；凡你在地上所释放的，在天上也要释放。」 20 当下，耶稣嘱咐门徒，不可对人说他是基督。

我们都很希望知道别人是怎样看我们的，也希望自己对自己有多一点的理解，看看两者合在一起准不准，从而更加认识自己。因此很多人喜欢做个性测验，看星座，看血型，看喜爱和讨厌的颜色，等等。但是耶稣与我们不一样，祂很清楚知道祂是谁，祂也希望世人知道祂是谁。

该撒利亚-腓立比座落在黑门山的山脚下，是约但河主要的发源地，和「但」城相距不远。旧约时代以色列人在此膜拜巴力，希腊统治之后用潘神取代，此地改名为潘尼亚斯。除了潘神庙之外，大希律为了感谢罗马该撒赐他此城，也在此地盖了一座奥古斯都庙；此地还有希腊主神宙斯庙、圣山羊坟墓洞，等等。

防备法利赛人和撒都该人的酵

2019-05-06 in /by

马太福音16: 5_12防备法利赛人和撒都该人的酵

5 门徒渡到那边去，忘了带饼。 6 耶稣对他们说：「你们要谨慎，防备法利赛人和撒都该人的酵。」 7 门徒彼此议论说：「这是因为我们没有带饼吧！」 8 耶稣看出来，就说：「你们这小信的人，为什么因为没有饼彼此议论呢？ 9 你们还不明白吗？不记得那五个饼分给五千人，又收拾了多少篮子的零碎吗？ 10 也不记得那七个饼分给四千人，又收拾了多少筐子的零碎吗？ 11 我对你们说要防备法利赛人和撒都该人的酵，这话不是指著饼说的，你们怎么不明白呢？」 12 门徒这才晓得他说的不是叫他们防备饼的酵，乃是防备法利赛人和撒都该人的教训。

耶稣的门徒有时很可爱，十分糊涂。当耶稣提到要谨慎，防备法利赛人和撒都该人的酵时，他们竟因为带饼而联想到食物的酵。当他们回想这一段时，大概都会觉得很好笑。因此耶稣提醒他们，何必为了忘记带饼而忧虑？几个饼几条鱼给五千人、四千人吃饱的主，难道不能喂饱他们12个门徒？我们有时候会不会像门徒一样，因为缺乏而忘记主是赐恩的神，只顾担心而忘了在神没有难成的事？

在当年耶稣要门徒防备法利赛人和撒都该人的教训，在今天主会叫我们防备谁的教训呢？在假新闻假消息充斥的世界里，我们怎样保守自己的心一直向着耶稣？

法利赛人和撒都该人都是当时宗教界的领袖，他们按著摩西五经教导之外，还加上许多人的见解；法利赛人自认虔诚，可是说一套做一套。在现在的社会里，你可曾觉得来自上面的教导不合乎《圣经》？

Don’t Play the Blame Game + Know Who Your Real Enemy Is

2019-05-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 6:24-33.  Let’s go!

On verses 24-32:  King Ben-Hadad of Aram has laid seige to Samaria, Israel’s capital city.  Without ongoing access to food, Samaria suffers a severe famine.  The Israelites in Samaria are so desperate that in verses 26-29 we read about two Israelite mothers who apparently agreed that they would eat their sons to survive.  Now that one mother’s son has been eaten, the other mother refuses to let her own son suffer the same fate.  So they call out to Joram King of Israel to make a decision.  (This conflict between two mothers recalls a previous conflict in 1 Kings 3 when King Solomon had to judge between two mothers who both claim claim that their own son is the living one while the other’s son is the dead one.)  

What can we learn from this?  These mothers were willing to eat a son in order to survive, yet even their son’s flesh would not sustain them forever.  In contrast, in John 6:53-55 Jesus makes a statement that many would misunderstand:  

分辨神蹟

2019-05-05 in /by

马太福音16: 1_4分辨神蹟

1法利赛人和撒都该人来试探耶稣，请他从天上显个神蹟给他们看。 2 耶稣回答说：「晚上天发红，你们就说『天必要晴』； 3 早晨天发红，又发黑，你们就说『今日必有风雨』。你们知道分辨天上的气色，倒不能分辨这时候的神蹟！ 4 一个邪恶淫乱的世代求神蹟，除了约拿的神蹟以外，再没有神蹟给他看。」耶稣就离开他们去了。

有一些慕道友说，只要神在天上显个大神蹟，写几个字叫我信，我就信了。法利赛人和撒都让人也是这样要求耶稣。但是这些人是不是真的要信耶稣呢？

耶稣说这些人哪，会分辨天上的气色，却不会分辨这时候的神蹟！祂的意思是，不是没有神蹟，而是这些人根本看不懂何谓神蹟！耶稣在他们面前医治了那么多病人，瞎子、瘸子、长大痲疯的、手枯干的、赶鬼，甚至还使人复活，但是他们看到这些神蹟的反应如何？有的说祂干犯安息日，有的人说祂靠鬼王赶鬼，他们从来不去思考那些神蹟的可能性，在这种情况下，他们指望看什么神蹟呢？

神蹟就是神的作为，耶稣以神子的身份，用神的能力所做的事，算不算神蹟呢？问题是，这些人并不是真的要信耶稣是从神来的，他们对待耶稣就像对待耍杂技的人一样，再耍一个给我们看，我们就跟你拍拍手。

Don’t Lose Your Edge + The Importance of Vision

2019-05-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 6:1-23. Let’s go!

2 Kings 6:5-6 (NIV) 
5  As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. “Oh, my lord,” he cried out, “it was borrowed!” 
6  The man of God asked, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float.

On verses 1-6:  The number of prophets Elisha is discipling is growing, so Elisha’s disciples propose that they build a new facility for them to meet near the Jordan River.  They begin to cut down trees in the Jordan.  While one of the young prophets is cutting, his ax head flies off its handle and falls into the water.  The young prophet is distraught because the ax head was not his, but was borrowed.  Elisha asks the young prophet where the ax head fell.  Elisha throws a stick in that vicinity and the ax head floats to the surface, enabling the young prophet to reach out and recover the ax head.  

耶稣喂饱四千人

2019-05-03 in /by

马太福音15: 32_39耶稣喂饱四千人

32 耶稣叫门徒来，说：「我怜悯这众人，因为他们同我在这里已经三天，也没有吃的了。我不愿意叫他们饿著回去，恐怕在路上困乏。」 33 门徒说：「我们在这野地，哪里有这么多的饼叫这许多人吃饱呢？」 34 耶稣说：「你们有多少饼？」他们说：「有七个，还有几条小鱼。」 35 他就吩咐众人坐在地上， 36 拿着这七个饼和几条鱼，祝谢了，掰开，递给门徒，门徒又递给众人。 37 众人都吃，并且吃饱了，收拾剩下的零碎，装满了七个筐子。 38 吃的人，除了妇女孩子，共有四千。 39 耶稣叫众人散去，就上船，来到马加丹的境界。

耶稣从推罗出来，北上西顿，继而南下低加波利，来到低加波利的加利利海边。这里靠近祂上次赶鬼的地方，那时众人都央求祂离开，但是这次众人跟着祂，听祂讲道听了三天，还不肯走。现在的福音营或培灵营会一般也都是三天两夜，要是没有供应饮食和住宿，可能很多人都不会去参加。但是这些人跟了三天，没有吃旳，还不肯走。可见他们灵里的饥渴是何等大。

再一次耶稣显现祂的怜悯，耶稣看到这些人这样的跟随，却记得他们只是人，人就有肉体的需要。当耶稣看到人的需要时，祂就主动出击，不会袖手旁观。假如我们记得在摩西带领以色列人出埃及时，他们走旷野四十年，神喂养那超过两百万的以色列人，四十年如一日地供应，就明白耶稣用五饼二鱼喂五千人或用七饼数鱼喂四千人，都不是大问题。在神岂有难成的事吗？

Worship Is a Matter of the Heart

2019-05-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

There are a number of great lessons we can learn from today’s passage, 2 Kings 5:13-27.  Let’s go!

2 Kings 5:13-14 (NIV) 
13  Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 
14  So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy. 

On verses 13-14:  Elisha had told Naaman to wash himself seven times in the Jordan River and his leprosy would be cleansed. Naaman was outraged at how “unspiritual” Elisha’s advice was, considering Elisha’s advice to be purely practical and natural instead of supernatural (v11-12).  Yet his servants advise Naaman to take Elisha’s advice seriously (v13).  Naaman follows Elisha’s advice.  When he dips himself 7 times in the Jordan River, his leprosy is cleansed and his skin is restored (v14).