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愛的管教

2025-03-07 in , /by

希伯來書12:4-11   你們又忘了那勸你們如同勸兒子的話，說：我兒，你不可輕看主的管教，被祂責備的時候也不可灰心；因為主所愛的，祂必管教，又鞭打凡所收納的兒子。…生身的父都是暫隨己意管教我們；惟有萬靈的父管教我們，是要我們得益處，使我們在祂的聖潔上有分。凡管教的事，當時不覺得快樂，反覺得愁苦；後來卻為那經練過的人結出平安的果子，就是義。

蘇格蘭作家喬治．麥克唐納(George MacDonald)在他所著的一本寓言故事書(The Wise Woman)中，講述一位滿有智慧的婦人幫助兩位自私自利的女孩，讓她們經歷重重考驗而變得「可愛」。

女孩們每次考驗都失敗，因而感到羞愧和無助，其中一個名叫蘿莎蒙的女孩，最終明白無法改變自己，就問那位智慧的婦人說：「妳能幫助我嗎？」婦人回答：「既然妳問我，也許我能。」在智慧婦人的幫助下，蘿莎蒙開始改變。接著，她問婦人能否原諒她過去所犯的過錯。婦人說：「若我不原諒妳，就不會費心管教妳，讓妳接受考驗。」

有時上帝會管教我們，明白背後的原因是很重要的。祂的管教不是處罰，而是慈父對孩子的關愛。祂也希望我們能「在祂的聖潔上有份。…結出平安的果子，就是義的果子」。聖潔會使我們能像上帝那樣完全、喜樂與「可愛」。

The Dangers of Drunkenness and Sedition

2025-03-07 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 16:8-20.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 16:8-14 (NIV)
8  In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years.
9  Zimri, one of his officials, who had command of half his chariots, plotted against him. Elah was in Tirzah at the time, getting drunk in the home of Arza, the man in charge of the palace at Tirzah.

On verses 8-14:  Elah son of Baasha takes over his father’s throne and becomes king of Israel.  However, Elah’s reign comes to an end when Elah gets drunk in his administrator’s house and is killed by Zimri, one of Elah’s officials.  Zimri goes on to destroy Elah’s entire family, fulfilling Jehu’s prophecy earlier about what would happen to the house of Baasha (1 Kings 16:1-4).

Don’t Let Bad History Repeat Itself

2025-03-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 16:1-7.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 16:1-7 (NIV)
1  Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha:
2  “I lifted you up from the dust and made you leader of my people Israel, but you walked in the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to provoke me to anger by their sins.

On verses 1-7:  Because King Jeroboam had turned away from the Lord to worship idols of his own making and led Israel to do the same, God sent a prophet to say that one day the kingship would be stripped from Jeroboam’s family and his family would be eradicated (1 Kings 14:9-11).  In 1 Kings 15, Baasha is the one who kills Jeroboam’s entire family and takes over the throne.  Yet soon after Baasha becomes the new king Baasha commits the very same sins Jeroboam committed. 

樹

2025-03-06 in , /by

耶利米書17:7-8    倚靠耶和華、以耶和華為可靠的，那人有福了！他必像樹栽於水旁，在河邊扎根，炎熱來到，並不懼怕，葉子仍必青翠，在乾旱之年毫無掛慮，而且結果不止。

河道旁眾多大樹的蔭影下，有棵初冒新芽的年輕楊樹，它渴望長成一棵高大的樹。然而，它總是感到自己不夠強大，羨慕其他高大的樹木。

在旁的老落羽杉聽見微風中的嘆息聲，它對焦慮的楊樹說：「孩子，你不必羨慕其他樹木。你的信心就是你最大的力量。」楊樹疑惑地問：「信心？我怎麼知道我有信心呢？」

老落羽杉微笑著說：「你看，你的根深扎在河邊土壤中，你的葉子總是迎著陽光。你的信心就像你的根一樣，深深埋在內心，讓你堅持不懈地成長。」

楊樹想起自己曾經歷風雨，但始終堅持著。它相信用心扎根、迎著陽光，自己就能夠長成大樹。多年後，楊樹長成了一棵高大的樹，枝葉遮天蔽日，成為河道旁美麗的風景，成就了自己的夢想。

Don’t Get Blindsided by an Inside Job

2025-03-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 15:25-34.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 15:25-28 (NIV) 
25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 
26 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. 
27 Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar plotted against him, and he struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it. 
28 Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and succeeded him as king. 

On verses 25-28:  1 and 2 Kings is tale of two kingdoms, Judah and Israel.  After Judah and Israel separate to become separate kingdoms, the author of 1 and 2 Kings tracks the reigns of the kings of Judah as well as the kings of Israel, going back and forth between them.  Verses 25-32 summarize the short 2 year reign of Jeroboam’s son Nadab king of Israel.

交換

2025-03-05 in , /by

路加福音15:21-24   兒子說：「父親！我得罪了天，又得罪了你；從今以後，我不配稱為你的兒子。」父親卻吩咐僕人說：「把那上好的袍子快拿出來給他穿；把戒指戴在他指頭上；把鞋穿在他腳上；把那肥牛犢牽來宰了，我們可以吃喝快樂；因為我這個兒子是死而復活，失而又得的。」他們就快樂起來。

用一個盼望，交換破碎的夢想，用一聲呼喚，交換滿是灰燼的行囊，

用一頂榮美華冠，交換我破爛的衣裳，用喜樂油，交換滿懷的憂傷。

用一朝晴朗，交換昨天的遺憾，用一個擁抱，交換嘆息的夜晚，

用不責備的目光，交換我鐵石的心腸，交換我迴轉到祢身旁。

是真的嗎？以新生換我不堪的模樣。是真的嗎？以安息換我掙扎和徬徨。

是真的嗎？祢傾盡所有換回一粒沙，還如獲至寶，放在心上。

Don’t Let Your Past Define You

2025-03-04 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 15:9-24.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 15:9-15 (NIV)
9  In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah,
10  and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
11  Asa did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, as his father David had done.

On verses 9-15:  These verses summarize the long 41 year reign of Asa king of Judah.  Previously, for three consecutive generations, the kings of Judah (Solomon, Rehoboam and Abijah) fell headlong into idolatry.  So when Asa, Abijah’s son, comes on the scene as king of Judah, he is a breath of fresh air.  Notice that when the author of 1 Kings summarizes Asa’s reign, the author differentiate Asa from his idol-worshiping father by not even mentioning in verses 9-15 that Asa was Abijah’s son.

兩件事

2025-03-04 in , /by

箴言30:7-9  我求祢兩件事，在我未死之先，不要不賜給我：求祢使虛假和謊言遠離我；使我也不貧窮也不富足；賜給我需用的飲食，恐怕我飽足不認祢，說：耶和華是誰呢？又恐怕我貧窮就偷竊，以致褻瀆我神的名。

所羅門王在智慧箴言裡，道盡了我們在生活與生命中，不斷掙扎且無法克服的兩大難題：誠實與知足。

我求祢兩件事，在我未死之先，不要不賜給我：求祢使虛假和謊言遠離我；使我也不貧窮也不富足；賜給我需用的飲食，恐怕我飽足不認祢，說：耶和華是誰呢？又恐怕我貧窮就偷竊，以致褻瀆我神的名。（箴言30:7-9）

耶和華所賜的福使人富足，並不加上憂慮。（箴言10:22）

You’re Blessed Because Someone Went Ahead Of You

2025-03-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 15:1-8.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Kings 15:1-8 (NIV)
1  In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son of Nebat, Abijah became king of Judah,
2  and he reigned in Jerusalem three years. His mother’s name was Maacah daughter of Abishalom.
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.

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.

是誰偷走我的快樂？

2025-03-03 in , /by

詩篇16:8-11  我將耶和華常擺在我面前，因祂在我右邊，我便不致搖動。因此，我的心歡喜，我的靈快樂；我的肉身也要安然居住。…祢必將生命的道路指示我。在祢面前有滿足的喜樂；在祢右手中有永遠的福樂。

暢銷作家約翰·伊佐(John Izzo)在西班牙朝聖之路的旅程中，發現快樂曾經是人類最自然、容易的一件事，但為何現在費盡心思卻不一定能得到？於是，他寫下「是誰偷走我的快樂？(The Five Thieves of Happiness)」這本書。這五個偷走快樂的小偷分別是：

第一個名叫「控制」：認為事情必須按照自己的期望走，不願意單純接受當下現實，試圖控制，汲汲營營，不願放手，無法真實地活在當下。「控制」偷走我們「交託給神」的心。

第二個名叫「自負」：以自我為中心，認為只有自己最重要，滿足自我欲望的同時，反而製造更多不平等和對立。「自負」偷走我們「與人分享」的心。

第三個名叫「覬覦」：認為事事要比別人好，內心不斷比較、嫉妒和不滿，也失去對自己的認同與肯定。「覬覦」偷走我們「凡事謝恩」的心。

第四個名叫「消費」：騙人如果擁有某物，就會得著快樂，驅使不斷追求消費，但卻是消耗自己的內心。「消費」偷走我們「知足喜樂」的心。