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醫治癱子

2019-03-03 in /by

馬太福音9: 1-8_醫治癱子

1耶穌上了船，渡過海，來到自己的城裡。 2 有人用褥子抬著一個癱子到耶穌跟前來。耶穌見他們的信心，就對癱子說：「小子，放心吧，你的罪赦了！」 3 有幾個文士心裡說：「這個人說僭妄的話了！」 4 耶穌知道他們的心意，就說：「你們為什麼心裡懷著惡念呢？ 5 或說『你的罪赦了』，或說『你起來行走』，哪一樣容易呢？ 6 但要叫你們知道，人子在地上有赦罪的權柄。」就對癱子說：「起來，拿你的褥子回家去吧！」 7 那人就起來，回家去了。 8 眾人看見都驚奇，就歸榮耀於神，因為他將這樣的權柄賜給人。

這個故事在馬可福音二章和路加福音五章都有記載。把這三個記載放在一起，我們就有一個很清楚的理解：這件事發生在迦百農，馬太稱迦百農為耶穌自己的城，表示祂和迦百農的關係親密。那時耶穌在一座房子裡教導人，有許多法律賽人和教法師也從加利利各鄉鎮和猶大地，及耶路撒冷而來。

因為房子裡擠滿了人，有四個人拚著一個癱了的朋友要來請耶穌醫治，卻不得其門而入，因此想了一個拆屋頂的方法，把癱子從屋頂正中央送到耶穌面前。當時迦百農的房子屋頂是由泥板及一些竹草合成的，每到冬天泥板濕了，便要用個桿泥棍把屋頂上的泥弄平，壓實，所以要拆下來不是很難。但這事還是有一些危險性，萬一弄不好，四個朋友也會一起跌進去。

Seek God’s Kingdom First and Everything Else You Need and More Will Be Added

2019-03-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 7:1-51.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 7:1 (NIV) 
1 It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace. 

On verses 1-12:  Whereas it took Solomon 7 years to complete the construction of the temple, it took him 13 years to complete the construction of his own palace.  What does that tell us?  One theory is that at this time in Solomon’s life, the kingdom of God was more important than his own kingdom.  So when it came to deciding which should take priority — God’s temple or Solomon’s palace — Solomon chose to work first on God’s temple. The fact that the building of Solomon’s own palace is sandwiched in between two long passages about Solomon work on the temple further supports the theory that for Solomon, his first priority was the house of God.  As a result, the house of God was blessed, and Solomon’s own house was blessed.

鬼入豬群

2019-03-02 in /by

馬太福音8: 28-34_鬼入豬群

28 耶穌既渡到那邊去，來到加大拉人的地方，就有兩個被鬼附的人從墳塋裡出來迎著他，極其凶猛，甚至沒有人能從那條路上經過。 29 他們喊著說：「神的兒子，我們與你有什麼相干？時候還沒有到，你就上這裡來叫我們受苦嗎？」

30 離他們很遠，有一大群豬吃食。 31 鬼就央求耶穌，說：「若把我們趕出去，就打發我們進入豬群吧。」 32 耶穌說：「去吧！」鬼就出來，進入豬群。全群忽然闖下山崖，投在海裡淹死了。 33 放豬的就逃跑進城，將這一切事和被鬼附的人所遭遇的都告訴人。 34 合城的人都出來迎見耶穌，既見了，就央求他離開他們的境界。

馬太、馬可、路加三本福音書統稱為符類福音或是共觀福音，同觀福音，對觀福音書。因為他們對耶穌生平的記載都很相似，只有少數細節不一樣或缺少。馬太很簡單地描寫這一段耶穌趕鬼的事，但是其他兩部福音書有更精細的描寫。

耶穌所到的加大拉人的地方，名字叫做格拉森，古時候的名字叫做加大拉。第一世紀猶太歷史學家約瑟夫說加大拉位於湖邊，有一些鄉村。這兩人住在墳塋，很可能是城鎮以外的地方，郊外之類的。 因此馬太說那兒是加大拉人的地方，而非加大拉。

How God Wants His House to Be Built

2019-03-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 6:1-38.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 6:7 (NIV) 
7 In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built. 

On verses 1-10:  In verses 1 through 10 Solomon gets busy building the temple. Interestingly, according to verse 7, Solomon went to great lengths to make sure that the sound of construction tools could be not heard at the temple site.  He did this by moulding, shaping and dressing all the building blocks for the temple off-site.  Then he would bring them to the temple site where they could be quietly placed and displayed for everyone to see.   To casual onlookers, it might seem like the temple quietly sprung up overnight, since they did not hear many construction sounds, when in fact much of the hard work had been done off-site.

平靜風和海

2019-02-28 in /by

馬太福音8: 23-27_平靜風和海

23 耶穌上了船，門徒跟著他。 24 海裡忽然起了暴風，甚至船被波浪掩蓋，耶穌卻睡著了。 25 門徒來叫醒了他，說：「主啊，救我們，我們喪命啦！」 26 耶穌說：「你們這小信的人哪！為什麼膽怯呢？」於是起來，斥責風和海，風和海就大大地平靜了。 27 眾人稀奇，說：「這是怎樣的人？連風和海也聽從他了！」

從昨天的經文裡，聽到耶穌對文士和門徒的回答之後，你還要不要跟從耶穌？你是不是在心裡掂量，假如跟從耶穌不能發財，連房子也沒有，是否值得走下去？你可曾擔心，為了跟隨耶穌，就要放棄一些傳統的作法，會不會遭到社會或親友的唾罵？這些事，耶穌都留給那兩個想要跟隨祂的人去思考，然後祂就上船了。

忙忽了一整天，耶穌一上船就睡著了。一點也沒有察覺天氣起了變化。這時船上至少有四個老練的漁夫，他們正奮力與灌進船裡的海水戰鬥。情勢越來越緊張，越來越控制不住，船身也開始傾斜。在他們完全沒有辦法時，他們來叫醒耶穌。

加利利海是個淡水湖，是地球上海拔最低的一個淡水湖，也是世界上海拔第二低的湖泊（第一低是死海）。加利利海大多時候是平靜的、美麗的，裡面魚群眾多，有許多好吃的羅非魚，也就是旅客經常要品嚐的“聖彼得魚＂。加利利海位於約旦地勢低窪的大裂谷中，這個大裂谷正好是非洲板塊和阿拉伯板塊的分界線，該處地震頻繁，經常突然發生強烈的風暴，即使是老練的漁夫也無法預先測知。

God Wants to Build His Church Through You

2019-02-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 5:1-18.  Let’s go!

1 Kings 5:3-5 (NIV) 
3 “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. 
4 But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. 
5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’ 

On verses 1-5:  In these verses King Solomon communicates with King Hiram of Tyre, a long time ally of his father David.  King Solomon discloses to King Hiram his ambition to build a temple where people can worship the Lord.  Solomon notes that this was also his father David’s desire, but David was not able to build the temple because he was always fighting the enemies surrounding him.

你跟從我吧！

2019-02-28 in /by

馬太福音8: 18-22_你跟從我吧！

18 耶穌見許多人圍著他，就吩咐渡到那邊去。 19 有一個文士來對他說：「夫子，你無論往哪裡去，我要跟從你。」 20 耶穌說：「狐狸有洞，天空的飛鳥有窩，人子卻沒有枕頭的地方。」 21 又有一個門徒對耶穌說：「主啊，容我先回去埋葬我的父親。」 22 耶穌說：「任憑死人埋葬他們的死人，你跟從我吧！」

跟從，英文是follow, 也有跟隨，跟著的意思。當你要跟從一個人的時候，你會有怎樣的選擇和決定呢？大陸有個相親(或新相親)的節目，當女方或男方決定要跟一個人走之前，都要問清楚對方的愛好、家庭、事業，等等，刨底得差不多了，再問幾個問題讓自己安心，才會跟著心儀的人走。有很多男性在表白時，說自己很會煮飯作菜，會一心一意愛未來的伴侶，還要讓雙方父母表白一下，讓女方可以放心地跟隨。總之，就是保證會把她當女兒，會寵她愛她，等等。當你選擇工作時，有可能無法選擇你的上司，但是一旦被錄取，你就得跟隨上司的要求去做事，再無理的要求也得去做。有一位朋友很性格，在考慮要不要當博士生時，認為當博士生都被教授當作工人，所以後來他放棄了。

How to Be Amazed at What God Does In and Through Your Life

2019-02-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 4:20-34. Let’s go!

On verses 20-34:  Previously in 1 Kings 3:4-15, Solomon asked the Lord for a wise and discerning heart so that he could govern the nation of Israel for God’s glory.  In response to Solomon’s request, God promised that He would not only give Solomon a wise and discerning heart, but also unparalleled riches and honor “so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings” (v13).

The rest of 1 Kings 3 and all of 1 Kings 4 show God fulfilling His promises to Solomon.  1 Kings 4:20-28 speak of the great prosperity that Solomon and his people enjoyed.  Verses 29 to 34 speak of the unparalleled “wisdom and very great insight, and breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore” (v.29) that God gave Solomon.

耶穌醫治彼得岳母

2019-02-26 in /by

馬太福音8: 14-17_耶穌醫治彼得岳母

14 耶穌到了彼得家裡，見彼得的岳母害熱病躺著。 15 耶穌把她的手一摸，熱就退了。她就起來，服侍耶穌。 16 到了晚上，有人帶著許多被鬼附的來到耶穌跟前，他只用一句話就把鬼都趕出去，並且治好了一切有病的人。 17 這是要應驗先知以賽亞的話說：「他代替我們的軟弱，擔當我們的疾病。」

從前猶太人的家和華人的家庭結構很相似，多是男主外女主內，因此主持中饋一般是母親大人負責。一旦母親病倒了，家裡就會好像停擺了一樣。根據馬可、路加和馬太的記載，當耶穌在一個安息日從迦百農的會堂趕鬼出來後，便跟著雅各、約翰，進了西門和安得烈的家，沒想到彼得的岳母在家裡發高燒，躺著不能起來。

耶穌知道之後，便上前摸她的手，熱就退了。當我們當中若有人感冒，我們最先想到的就是敬而遠之，大家都怕被傳染。耶穌既然可以用一句話就讓百夫長不在場的僕人病癒，祂當然也可以用一句話讓彼得的岳母退燒，祂根本可以不用靠近她，萬一被傳染怎麼辦？

It Takes a Team to Run a Kingdom

2019-02-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 4:1-19.  Let’s go!

On verses 1-19:  Here we see that King Solomon “ruled over all Israel” (v1) by delegating different parts of the kingdom to various people, whom he trusted to help him govern the kingdom well (v2-19).  What can we learn from this?

1.  When the project is too large for any one person to handle, a wise leader will delegate different responsibilities to trustworthy individuals.  As a kingdom grows, it takes not just one individual but a strong and excellent team to lead it.  What is one area of your life where it would be more effective to delegate, outsource or at least seek advice rather than you trying to figure it all out by yourself?