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要努力進天國

2019-03-29 in /by

馬太福音11: 11_14要努力進天國

11 「我實在告訴你們：凡婦人所生的，沒有一個興起來大過施洗約翰的；然而天國裡最小的比他還大。 12 從施洗約翰的時候到如今，天國是努力進入的，努力的人就得著了。 13 因為眾先知和律法說預言到約翰為止； 14 你們若肯領受，這人就是那應當來的以利亞。 (和合本)

12從施洗的約翰的時候直到現在，天國不斷遭受猛烈的攻擊，強暴的人企圖把它奪去。 (新譯本 )

12-14 For a long time now people have tried to force themselves into God’s kingdom. But if you read the books of the Prophets and God’s Law closely, you will see them culminate in John, teaming up with him in preparing the way for the Messiah of the kingdom. Looked at in this way, John is the ‘Elijah’ you’ve all been expecting to arrive and introduce the Messiah.(MSG)

在這一段經文裡，主耶穌劃出了兩個時代。第一個時代是眾先知和律法到約翰的時代，第二個時代是從施洗約翰到如今的時代。這裡我摘錄了一段江守道弟兄對這段經文的看法：

主說：“現在時代改變了，律法和先知的時代到施洗約翰己經停止了、已經過去了；從施洗約翰直到如今是另一個時代了。”在這個時代的裡面，神所注意的，乃是天國，我們要進天國裡頭去。但是什麼樣的人纔能進去呢？祂說：“努力的人就進去，努力的人就得著了。”

Don’t Let Your Past Define You

2019-03-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 15:9-24.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 15:12-14 (NIV) 
12 He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his fathers had made. 
13 He even deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 
14 Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the LORD all his life. 

On verses 9-15:  These verses summarize the long 41 year reign of Asa king of Judah.  What I love most about Asa is that he deliberately chose not to follow the evil practices of the generations before him.  His father Abijah was an idol worshiper who did not follow the Lord.  His grandmother Maacah was as well.  Yet Asa did not allow his past to define his future.  He did not let his ancestors’ idolatry determine his relationship with God.  Rather Asa took deliberate steps to remove idolatry not just from his own life but from Judah as a whole.  Verse 14 says “Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life”.   

耶穌論施洗約翰

2019-03-28 in /by

馬太福音11: 7_10 耶穌論施洗約翰

 7 他們走的時候，耶穌就對眾人講論約翰說：「你們從前出到曠野是要看什麼呢？要看風吹動的蘆葦嗎？8 你們出去到底是要看什麼？要看穿細軟衣服的人嗎？那穿細軟衣服的人是在王宮裡。 9 你們出去究竟是為什麼？是要看先知嗎？我告訴你們，是的，他比先知大多了。 10 經上記著說：『我要差遣我的使者在你前面預備道路』，所說的就是這個人。

耶穌在這段話裡不只是論施洗約翰，更指出人心裡的一種情形。我們都有一種先入為主的觀念，提到富翁就想到為富不仁，看到官員說話就覺得都是官腔，看到生意人就覺得他們沒一句誠實話，都是想把你的錢掏空，等等。我們心裡有很多早己設定的觀點。因此當我們來到耶穌面前時，也會品頭論足一番。

在這裡耶穌談到人們對施洗約翰的看法，指出人們的想法和實際有很大的距離，表示人有智慧上的不足和缺陷。當施洗約翰在曠野呼喊時，竟有人希望他穿著細軟衣服，像心裡想的高貴人一樣？就像很多人看基督教時，也像門外漢，說所有的宗教都一樣，都是勸人為善？當我們讀到耶穌的教導時，你就知道不是那麼一回事。

Blessed Because Someone Went Before You

2019-03-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

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

1 Kings 15:3-4 (NIV) 
3 He committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been. 
4 Nevertheless, for David’s sake the LORD his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. 

On verses 1-8:  Here we read about Abijah son of Rehoboam and his 3 year reign as king of Judah.  The writer of 1 Kings saw little that was noteworthy about Abijah’s reign other than the fact that he committed all the same sins his father Rehoboam committed (v3).  In fact the only reason God allowed Abijah to continue reigning as king was for his great grandfather David’s sake (v4), because David had followed the Lord.  Because David obeyed, his great grandson Abijah was blessed long after David was gone.

是祢嗎？

2019-03-27 in /by

馬太福音11: 1_6 是祢嗎？

1耶穌吩咐完了十二個門徒，就離開那裡，往各城去傳道、教訓人。

2 約翰在監裡聽見基督所做的事，就打發兩個門徒去， 3 問他說：「那將要來的是你嗎？還是我們等候別人呢？」 4 耶穌回答說：「你們去，把所聽見、所看見的事告訴約翰， 5 就是：瞎子看見，瘸子行走，長大痲瘋的潔淨，聾子聽見，死人復活，窮人有福音傳給他們。 6 凡不因我跌倒的，就有福了！」

第一節很有意思，因為它簡明扼要地交待了耶穌的工作。耶穌不是把工作分派給門徒後，自己就休息了；相反地，祂仍繼續前進。在沒有門徒的跟隨下，耶穌依然孜孜不倦地去傳道教誨。但是祂的工作有沒有引起很多人的讚賞呢？

施洗約翰是耶穌的表哥，曾經為耶穌施洗，也向眾人證明祂是神的兒子。可是此時，他卻打發門徒去門耶穌：「那將要來的是你嗎？還是我們等候別人呢？」

約翰此時被希律安提帕關在監裡，希律安提帕是大希律的一個兒子，他在大希律死後承繼了其父加利利和比利亞的四分一領土，成為「分封王希律」。他去羅馬拜訪他的兄弟腓力時，愛上了腓力的妻子希羅底，並且誘騙她離開丈夫成為他的妻子，然後與自己的原配離異。約翰被下到監牢裡，便是因為指責希律王如此作法的不當和不合理。

The Dangers of Worshiping an Idol

2019-03-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 14:21-31. Let’s go!

1 Kings 14:24-25 (NIV) 
24 There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 
25 In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. 

On verses 21-31:  These verses summarize the 17 year reign of Rehoboam, David’s grandson and Solomon’s son, over the tribe of Judah.  Judah (together with Benjamin) was the one tribe out of the tribes of Israel that the Lord did not tear away from the house of David.  While Rehoboam ruled over Judah, Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord by worshiping idols (v22). There was rampant idolatry in the land of Judah (v22-24).  Right after this we read of how Shishak King of Egypt attacks King Rehoboam’s city of Jerusalem.  

一杯涼水

2019-03-26 in /by

馬太福音10: 40_42 一杯涼水

40 「人接待你們，就是接待我；接待我，就是接待那差我來的。 41 人因為先知的名接待先知，必得先知所得的賞賜；人因為義人的名接待義人，必得義人所得的賞賜。 42 無論何人，因為門徒的名，只把一杯涼水給這小子裡的一個喝，我實在告訴你們：這人不能不得賞賜。」

我有一個侄兒在保利維亞做宣教士，今年要回加敍職一年。昨晚在臉書上看到他登了一則消息，詢問誰有多餘的汽車可以轉售。我的心裡有點酸，同時也為他感到驕傲。這個侄兒非常聰明，在做宣教士之前有一個很好的工作，上司都很欣賞他，正準備給他升遷。沒想到天父更欣賞他，徵召他去全時間服事。

從平常人轉為宣教士，是一個很考驗人的經歷。因為原來可以支付自己的生活費綽綽有餘，還可以這裡奉獻那裡捐助，心裡上自覺不錯，有點驕傲，因為「我是幫助人的」。一旦成為宣教士之後，不但自己賺不了生活費，所有需求全憑信心，全靠他人的奉獻和捐助。這種轉變對於一個意氣風發的年輕人真是很冷酷的考驗，你不再高高在上了，你變成需要幫助的人。我想，這也是主耶穌的經歷，從天上被尊崇的寶座上下來，成為一個窮苦人家的孩子；出來傳道後，也要接受他人的供應，而且還有些來自女人。祂放棄君王的榮耀，甘心成為卑微。

Don’t Pretend In Front of God. Come Clean Before Him.

2019-03-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 14:1-20. Let’s go!

1 Kings 14:6 (NIV) 
6 So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news. 

On verses 1-6:  Jeroboam’s son Abijah is sick, so Jeroboam tells his wife to disguise herself and consult the prophet Ahijah to find out what will happen to the boy.  Up in years, Ahijah was physically blind, but the Spirit of God helped him to discern that the woman coming to see him was Jeroboam’s wife.

What can we learn from this?   Here are three lessons I believe the Holy Spirit taught me from these verses:

得著生命

2019-03-25 in /by

馬太福音10: 34_39 得著生命

34 「你們不要想我來是叫地上太平，我來並不是叫地上太平，乃是叫地上動刀兵。35 因為我來是叫『人與父親生疏，女兒與母親生疏，媳婦與婆婆生疏； 36 人的仇敵就是自己家裡的人』。 37 愛父母過於愛我的，不配做我的門徒；愛兒女過於愛我的，不配做我的門徒； 38 不背著他的十字架跟從我的，也不配做我的門徒。 39 得著生命的，將要失喪生命；為我失喪生命的，將要得著生命。

在這段經文裡耶穌向我們展現了一個出乎我們意料之外的情景。我相信很多人信主都是為了得到從主來的平安和喜樂，沒有人期望生活裡會有更多的紛爭和不安。尤其是耶穌的門徒，其中有不少是當時的奮銳黨，也就是當時的革命黨。他們希望脫離羅馬的統治，再一次恢復馬加比時代，猶太人自治的時期。

但是耶穌說，你們不要想得太美，以為祂來是要叫地上太平。耶穌從來不給人假的希望，祂把一切會發生的事告訴我們，讓我們知道當門徒要付上代價，不當門徒也要付上代價。當門徒雖付上代價，卻會得到永遠的生命；不當門徒也要付出代價，就是失去一切，包括現世的生命和永恒的生命。

從歷史來看，耶穌的話何等真實。歷代的宗教戰爭，有多少假基督之名而行？而在家庭裡，因為跟隨耶穌，也有許多人付出父子生疏，母女生疏，婆媳生疏的代價，因為信仰不同，價值觀不一樣，為了和平共處，不能不生疏，彼此敬而遠之。

Protect Yourself and Your Family Against the Lion’s Attack

2019-03-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 13:23-34.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 13:23 (NIV) 
23 When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him.

On verses 23-32:  Earlier in verses 21 and 22, the older prophet gives the younger prophet a word from God that the younger prophet has defied God’s command by eating and drinking when God specifically told him not to eat and drink during his trip (v21-22).  Notice the younger prophet’s response in verse 23: there is no indication that the younger prophet repented or felt remorse for what he did.  It seems like he just got on his donkey and proceeded to go home as if everything was normal.  Notice what happens next to the younger prophet: “As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it.” (v24)