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一位王的坠落

2025-07-11 in , /by

历代志上10:13-14   这样，扫罗死了。因为他干犯耶和华，没有遵守耶和华的命；又因他求问交鬼的妇人，没有求问耶和华，所以耶和华使他被杀，把国归于耶西的儿子大卫。

约翰福音14:6  耶稣说：我就是道路、真理、生命。若不借着我，没有人能到父那里去。

扫罗是以色列人的第一位王。当百姓渴望一位能带领他们如列国般的君王时，神拣选了扫罗（撒母耳记上10:17-25），一位身材高大、健壮俊美的便雅悯人（撒母耳记上9:1-2）。他起初谦卑，甚至在被膏立时还躲了起来。然而，权位与掌控渐渐腐蚀了他的内心。

扫罗王的失败，不单是军事的溃败，更是心灵的崩坏。他在关键时刻违背神的命令，危急窘迫时擅自献上燔祭（撒母耳记上13:5-14）、征战得胜时贪图掳掠财物（撒母耳记上15章）；同时，他对大卫的嫉妒吞噬了他的理性，使他渐渐远离真光。

扫罗王的最后一夜，不是跪在神面前寻求帮助，而是转向黑暗，去求问交鬼的妇人，寻找亡灵的答案（撒母耳记上28章）。在基利波山上，非利士人与以色列人交战，扫罗王身受重伤，他不愿落入敌人手中，被迫自刃，扫罗王和三个儿子一同死亡（撒母耳记上31章）。那一刻，他的生命结束了，但更早之前，他的信心与顺服就已经死去。

Meet Your Year of Jubilee

2025-07-10 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 25:35-55. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 25:35-38 (NIV)
35  “‘If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you.
36  Do not take interest of any kind from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you.

On verses 35-38:   Just as God showed undeserved kindness to the Israelites, God expected the Israelites to show undeserved kindness to one another.  Likewise, just as God has shown undeserved kindness to us, may we show undeserved kindness to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

等候改变的时刻

2025-07-10 in , /by

诗篇127:1  若不是耶和华建造房屋，建造的人就枉然劳力；若不是耶和华看守城池，看守的人就枉然警醒。

一位姊妹分享她和母亲的互动关系。

母亲因为过往遭遇，习惯将自己身心全力投注于家中的清洁工作，纵使家中一尘不染，她仍随时屈身打扫。长年家事工作使得母亲身体孱弱，姊妹不时劝阻母亲勿过度操劳，且积极想带母亲外出活动、鼓励参与教会长者聚会，但屡遭拒绝。

为了母亲身体着想，避免她习惯性的清扫房间，姊妹想了个点子，每天上班前就先把家中几个房间的门给锁了，心想这样母亲就无法不断地做清洁工作。没想到几天下来，姊妹发现母亲心情变差了，而且两人间的关系变得有点紧张。

过了几天，姊妹因职场工作需要，获知居家防火消防资讯，提醒人在家中不要紧锁房门，避免火灾发生时逃生不易。姊妹猛然醒悟，回家赶紧打开房间门锁，跟母亲道歉，向母亲说明原委，母女两人紧绷的关系瞬间冰释。

Sold Out But Jesus Bought Me Back

2025-07-09 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 25:23-34. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 25:23 (NIV)
23  “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.

On verse 23:  Verses 23-28 describe a system where the Israelites could get back their land even after they sold it, either by buying it back themselves or, at the latest, receiving it back in the Year of Jubilee (For more on the Year of Jubilee, see my GAME sharing from yesterday On Leviticus 25:8-22.)

饶恕带出盼望

2025-07-09 in , /by

约翰福音10:10-11  盗贼来，无非要偷窃，杀害，毁坏；我来了，是要叫羊得生命，并且得的更丰盛。我是好牧人；好牧人为羊舍命。

饶恕人很难！因为其实有时候，我们是在对神生气：「神祢真的爱我吗？祢怎么忍心看我受到这样的伤害？」

提姆凯勒牧师曾分享，我们常会鼓励受苦的人要知道，耶稣也曾这样受伤害、被拒绝；但光知道耶稣能理解我们的伤害，只能很表面地安慰我们，受苦时不孤单。

能更深带来安慰的是我们知道，耶稣不只能理解，祂一点都不乐见我们经历伤害，所以祂出手解决了这一切伤害背后的大魔王。耶稣道成肉身、钉十字架，就是为了要终结罪带给世人的伤害，这是我们活在有罪的世界中，能面对未来的「盼望」。

这份「盼望」让我放下钉死别人的权利，让耶稣去对付伤害我的人背后罪的权势，让耶稣去对付仇敌利用罪在这世上所做的偷窃、杀害和毁坏。

饶恕始于被饶恕

2025-07-08 in , /by

罗马书5:8  惟有基督在我们还作罪人的时候为我们死，神的爱就在此向我们显明了。

饶恕人是个困难的挑战，它的难处在于我们认为对方不配得这样的宽容。

提姆凯勒牧师曾分享，他在教会中做婚姻咨商时，如果夫妻双方都出轨，就算两人都不想挽救婚姻，但他们不会陷入定罪对方的苦毒中，因为他们都看见自己的软弱。

反倒是如果夫妻中只有一方出轨，另一方将会很难跨越伤害，饶恕对方，因为被伤害的这一方可能认为自己没有错，或是不容易看见自己的错。

饶恕的力量来自，很真实面对自己的罪和软弱，并且很真实经验到神无条件的接纳、白白的恩典、以及舍己的爱。唯有深刻看见自己的罪有多糟糕，自己有多软弱，才会发现耶稣的爱、耶稣的赦免有多宝贵。

Resting Takes Faith

2025-07-08 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 25:8-22. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 25:8-12 (NIV)
8  “‘Count off seven sabbaths of years–seven times seven years–so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years.
9  Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land.

On verses 8-12:  Starting at Leviticus 25:8 we read about how every 50th year the Israelites were to proclaim it a Year of Jubilee.  The Year of Jubilee was meant to be:

– a time of reunion when Israelites would return to their family clans and to the places where they grew up (v10, 13);

Work Hard, Rest Well

2025-07-07 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 25:1-7. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 25:1-7 (NIV)
1  The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
2  “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD.

On verses 1-7:  Here God prepares the Israelites for when they enter the promised land.  He commands the Israelites to work the land they have been given (i.e. sow the fields, prune the vineyards and gather the crops for six years) (v2-3), but in the seventh year they are to give their land a rest and to live off of what the land produces that year (v4-7).

什么是饶恕？

2025-07-07 in , /by

罗马书5:1 我们既因信称义，就借着我们的主耶稣基督得与神相和。

哥林多后书12:9  祂的恩典够我用的，因为祂的能力是在人的软弱上显得完全。

当我们被伤害，会有负面情绪，在痛苦中甚至会希望对方受到惩罚，承受跟我同等的痛苦。有一次当我在祷告时，神提醒我，饶恕别人其实就是让别人活过来。

「你们从前在过犯和未受割礼的肉体中死了，神赦免了你们一切过犯，便叫你们与基督一同活过来；又涂抹了在律例上所写、攻击我们、有碍于我们的字据，把它撤去，钉在十字架上。」（歌罗西书2:13-14）

这段经文提到，我们在罪中死了，神让我们在基督里活过来。耶稣撤销我们的罪债纪录，把这些不利于我们的控告都与祂同钉在十字架上，我们的罪被赦免了，所以我们在上帝面前能不被定罪，能在上帝面前活着。

当我想着别人对我造成的伤害，想着他该负上的代价，其实就是将他定死罪，让他死在错误之中，没有办法能获得机会活着。当我选择让对方有机会活着，撤掉致他于死地的控告，这就是饶恕了。

Seek God’s Will, Protect God’s Name

2025-07-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 24:10-23. With a humble heart, see what sticks out to you in this passage.  Is there a verse, a phrase, or a lesson you think the Holy Spirit may be highlighting for you in this passage?  After you’ve thought about the passage yourself a bit, read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 24:10-23 (NIV)
10  Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite.
11  The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.)

On verses 10-23:  Leviticus 24:10-23 describes how Moses dealt with a half-Israelite, half-Egyptian man who had been found “blaspheming the name of God” (that is, misusing God’s name and speaking about God’s name in ways that were untrue and irreverent).