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Don’t Entertain Evil Spirits, but Welcome Jesus

2025-08-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Mark 5:11-20. With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and 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!

Mark 5:11-13 (NIV)
11  A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.
12  The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.”
13  He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
 
On verses 11-13:  Notice a couple things here.  First, notice the authority of Jesus.  When Jesus confronted the demons, the demons could only beg for mercy and plead that they take refuge in the pigs instead of the man they had possessed. 

法度確定，人得智慧

2025-08-05 in , /by

詩篇8:3-4    我觀看祢指頭所造的天，並祢所陳設的月亮星宿，便說：「人算什麼，祢竟顧念他？世人算什麼，祢竟眷顧他？

「耶和華的法度確定，能使愚人有智慧(The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple)。」（詩篇19:7）法度的原文是עֵדוּת (‘edut)，指神為自己作的見證，用來表明神的誡命是真實可信的，見證祂的屬性與作為。

「愚人」指的是單純、天真、容易受引誘的一般人，也就是「我們」。「神的法度確定，讓愚人得智慧」，亦即「神的作為明確，讓我們得智慧」。

現今世代知識氾濫，智慧似乎唾手可得，但真正的智慧並非只是資訊的堆疊，而是源自對神的認識，明白神的作為。這段經文談的「法度」是神作為的見證，誠如詩篇19篇前面1-6節（現代中文譯本2019版）所描述：

「諸天宣布神的榮耀；穹蒼傳揚祂的作為。
日日述說，夜夜傳播；無言無語，無音無響。
然而，它們的音訊傳遍人間；它們的言語遠達天涯。

Jesus is Greater Any Legion of Doom

2025-08-04 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Mark 5:1-10. With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and 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!

Mark 5:1-5 (NIV)
1  They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.
2  When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
3  This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain.
4  For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.
5  Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
 
On verses 1-5:  Notice what happened when Satan got a hold of this man’s life: the man had unusual strength (v4) and yet he spent his days among dead people, living in the tombs (v3), cutting himself with stones (v5) and desperate for help. 

律法全備，甦醒人心

2025-08-04 in , /by

詩篇19:7 耶和華的律法全備，能甦醒人心。耶和華的法度確定，能使愚人有智慧。

「耶和華的律法全備，能甦醒人心(The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul)。」（詩篇19:7）律法的原文是תּוֹרָה (torah)，原意為「教導、指引」，猶太人通常指其為摩西五經，是神整體啟示的總稱，不僅是法律，也包含生命的方向與智慧之道。

這句話簡單卻深刻地揭示了神話語的力量：不是知識上的增加，也不是道德上的提升，而是心靈的甦醒。當人陷入疲憊、困惑、甚至靈魂沉睡的狀態時，唯有神全備的話語能喚醒裡面那個真正的自己，讓人重新得力。

查克·寇爾森(Chuck Colson)曾是美國前總統尼克森的特別顧問，1972年捲入轟動一時的水門案，因違法蒐集總統大選情資而於1974年入獄服刑。

光明中，或是黑暗裡

2025-08-03 in , /by

「人若說自己在光明中，卻恨他的弟兄，他到如今還是在黑暗裡。愛弟兄的，就是住在光明中，在他並沒有絆跌的緣由。惟獨恨弟兄的，是在黑暗裡，且在黑暗裡行，也不知道往哪裡去，因為黑暗叫他眼睛瞎了。」（約翰壹書2:9-11）

使徒約翰談到「恨」讓人眼睛瞎了，活在黑暗裡，在黑暗裡行，不知往哪裡去。比較、論斷、批評、怨恨很容易貶低別人，抬高自己，就猶如在舞台上當燈光聚焦自己時，我們所看到舞台下的群眾是烏黑一片，我們以為自己在光明中，其實看不見四周環境，我們是在黑暗裡，眼睛瞎了！

1994年，盧安達發生種族大屠殺，佔85%人口的胡圖族(Hutu)人，聲稱要殺光佔14%的圖西族人，100天內奪走至少80萬條生命。當時伊瑪奇蕾．伊莉芭吉札(Immaculee Ilibagiza)還是大學生，她被一位胡圖族牧師藏匿在一間小廁所中，與7位婦女一起蜷縮躲藏了91天，體重從51公斤掉到21公斤。

Jesus Will See You Through The Storm

2025-08-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Mark 4:30-41. With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and 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!

Mark 4:30-32 (NIV)
30  Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?
31  It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.
32  Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”
 
On verses 30-32:  Whenever the kingdom of God starts in any person, in any city, or in any place in the world, it always begins the same way: as the tiniest seed.  Over time, however, it can become the biggest thing you see and strong enough to give protection and shelter to others.  So don’t despise small beginnings.  God doesn’t.

耶穌付出代價，錯誤不留痕跡

2025-08-01 in , /by

以賽亞書44:22    我塗抹了你的過犯，像厚雲消散；我塗抹了你的罪惡，如薄雲滅沒。你當歸向我，因我救贖了你。

哥林多後書5:17  若有人在基督裡，他就是新造的人，舊事已過，都變成新的了。

當人類學會書寫的那一刻，錯誤也自然誕生。最早期的書寫，如：泥板刻文、竹簡、莎草紙，一旦錯了，無法修改，只能劃去、刮除、或乾脆重寫一頁。那是一個「錯誤留下痕跡，就需付出代價」的年代。

直到鉛筆問世，人們開始用天然橡膠擦拭錯誤。18世紀的橡皮擦改變了書寫的自由度，錯字不再是永久的印記，而是可被消除的過程。隨後，鋼筆流行帶來了新的挑戰，也催生了20世紀中修正液與修正帶的誕生，白色塗層遮蓋墨跡，容許人們在紙上「重新來過」。

1770年，英國化學家Joseph Priestley首次記載天然橡膠可擦除鉛筆筆跡。
1858年，美國商人Hymen Lipman將橡皮擦裝在鉛筆尾端，獲得專利。
1951年，美國女秘書Bette Nesmith Graham發明修正液，靈感來自畫家「遮蓋錯筆」（用覆蓋的方式處理錯誤的技巧）。

Don’t Be Afraid to Share What God Has Given You

2025-08-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Mark 4:21-29. With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and 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!

Mark 4:21-23 (NIV)
21  He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?
22  For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.
23  If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
 
On verses 21-23:  Remember that Jesus is talking here with his disciples, to whom he has revealed the secrets of God’s kingdom (see v11). 

Keep a Soft Heart Toward God

2025-07-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Mark 4:10-20. With an open mind and a humble heart, read this passage and 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!

Mark 4:10-12 (NIV)
10  When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.
11  He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
12  so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'”
 
On verses 10-12:  Yesterday we learned one reason why Jesus taught in parables: to make truth about the kingdom of God easier for his disciples to understand and remember. 

重新來過—在基督裡的新生命

2025-07-31 in , /by

約翰福音3:3  人若不重生，就不能見神的國。

哥林多後書5:17  若有人在基督裡，他就是新造的人，舊事已過，都變成新的了。

在人生旅途中，跌倒與失敗無可避免。我們往往背負著過去的重擔，覺得無法翻轉，懷疑是否還有「重新來過」的可能。但使徒保羅告訴我們：「若有人在基督裡，他就是新造的人，舊事已過，都變成新的了。」（哥林多後書5:17）

這節經文是神向每一顆願意悔改的心所發出的應許，在基督裡，罪得赦免，我們一直有「重新來過」的機會。當人悔改歸向神，不論過去如何，神都能使生命煥然一新。

法利賽人尼哥底母夜裡來見耶穌，耶穌對他說：「人若不重生，就不能見神的國。」（約翰福音3:3）重生不是肉體上的重新開始，而是靈裡的轉變，從神而生，讓神掌權，是一個全新的屬靈身分。