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Be Known For These 2 Things

2025-04-02 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 3:1-12.  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! 
 
2 Kings 3:1-3 (NIV) 
1 Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years. 
2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. 
3 Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them. 

On verses 1-3:  Joram becomes king of Israel and gets rid of the sacred stone of Baal (v2b), which his father Ahab and mother Jezebel had used to worship the idol Baal.  But Joram still “clung to the sins of Jeroboam” (v3), suggesting that Joram continues to worship the idols that Jeroboam had set up.  As such, “he did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (v2a).

告訴我為什麼？

2025-04-02 in , /by

哥林多後書13:5-8

5 你們總要自己省察有信心沒有，也要自己試驗。豈不知你們若不是可棄絕的，就有耶穌基督在你們心裡嗎？ 6 我卻盼望你們曉得，我們不是可棄絕的人。 7 我們求神叫你們一件惡事都不做。這不是要顯明我們是蒙悅納的，是要你們行事端正；任憑人看我們是被棄絕的吧！ 8 我們凡事不能敵擋真理，只能扶助真理。

一首十七年前的歌，一首孩子的歌，單純且充滿疑惑的歌；你我都相信，歲月增加，疑惑也增多，但是長大或垂老的我們，卻不再提問，因為我們自己就是問題。從提問的孩子成為問題的大人，你曾發現問題會問問題嗎？孩子的歌(譯詞) 這樣說：

在我的夢中，孩子們唱著，一首獻給所有男孩與女孩們關於愛的歌。
天色蔚藍，大地青蔥，笑聲是全世界唯一通用的語言。
然而，我驚醒，而我所看到的卻是餓殍遍地的世界。

每一天，我問自己，如何努力才能成為一個男人。
難道非要昂然站立且爭戰，才能向世人證明自己嗎？
難道就是將我漫長的生命，浪擲在烽火橫行的世界？

看不到目標比死還可怕

2025-04-01 in , /by

希伯來書9:27-28  按著定命，人人都有一死，死後且有審判； 28 像這樣，基督既然一次被獻，擔當了多人的罪，將來要向那等候他的人第二次顯現，並與罪無關，乃是為拯救他們。

有一位軍閥每次處決死刑犯時，都會留給犯人最後的機會，選擇一槍斃命，或是選擇進入側牆的一扇門。從來沒有人知道進入那扇門的命運將如何？因為所有死刑犯都寧可選擇一槍斃命，也不願進入裡面不知有何光景的那扇門。

一天，酒酣耳熱後，軍閥顯得很開心。旁人大膽地問他：「大帥，您可不可以告訴我們，從那扇門走進去究竟會有什麼結果？」

「沒什麼啦！其實走進那扇門的人只要踏上幾個台階，便可以順利地自由離開了。人們不想走進去，只是不敢面對不可知的未來罷了。」軍閥回答。

世人大多知道善有善報、惡有惡報，世上宗教也都有提到最後的審判；但是，世人面對死亡時，往往就只知道僅有一條路，有如死刑犯選擇一槍斃命，而不願意選擇進入未知的那扇門，因為不清楚目標比死亡還可怕。

This Is For You to Pick Up

2025-04-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 2:13-25.  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! 

2 Kings 2:13-14 (NIV) 
13 He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 

On verse 13:  From their earliest interactions with one another, it was always Elijah’s intent to give Elisha his cloak, that is, his mantle as Israel’s prophet (see 1 Kings 19:19).  And now as Elijah is taken up to heaven, the cloak falls back on earth for Elisha to pick up.  It’s because his cloak fell that Elisha had assurance that Elijah had not been taken to some other place on earth but had gone to heaven.  That’s because Elijah’s cloak represented Elijah’s calling, anointing and gifting.  The fact that it fell back down to earth for Elisha to pick up shows two simultaneously: first, Elijah had finished his task on earth and, second, it was Elisha’s turn to be Israel’s prophet. 

左右手互打

2025-03-31 in , /by

哥林多前書 12:12  就如身子是一個，卻有許多肢體，而且肢體雖多，仍是一個身子；基督也是這樣。

王先生是一個不苟言笑的人，平常很吝嗇給人讚美或掌聲。

有一天他在家裡吃飯，發現有一道烤鴨的鴨子只有一條腿，於是問太太：「為什麼這隻鴨子只有一隻腳？」。太太說：「有什麼好奇怪的，我們家的鴨子都只有一隻腳呀。」

「我不信，所有鴨子都有兩隻腳，為什麼只有我們家的鴨子比較特別？」「不信，你不會自己到池塘去看。」於是王先生跑到池塘去看他的鴨子。

鴨子正好在睡午覺，因此都縮著一條腿，只用一條腿站立。看過去，好像所有的鴨子真的都只有一條腿。王先生靈機一動，朝鴨子棲息的方向很用力地鼓掌，鼓掌的聲音把鴨子都驚醒了，紛紛把縮著的那隻腳放了下來。

Treasure the People God Gives You

2025-03-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 2:1-12.  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! 

2 Kings 2:1-6 (NIV)
1  When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
2  Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

On verses 1-6:   Here we read of how the prophet Elijah is taken from this world.  Presumably in a single day, Elijah and Elisha travel from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho and then finally to the Jordan.  According to my rudimentary calculations, Gilgal appears to be over 20 kilometres away from Bethel and Bethel is over 20 kilometres away from Jericho.  So unless Elijah and Elisha walked or ran the equivalent of a marathon that day together, I would expect that for most of this trip (other than the part from Jericho to the Jordan – v6), Elijah and Elisha traveled by chariot or on horseback to these various places.

If You Don’t Want God to “Fire” You, Do This

2025-03-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 1:1-18.  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! 

2 Kings 1:1-4 (NIV) 
1 After Ahab’s death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 
2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, “Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.” 
3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ 
4 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!'” So Elijah went. 

On verses 1-4: Ahaziah king of Israel falls and injures himself.  He wonders whether he will recover from this accident or die from it.  He decides to consult Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron on the question.  The Lord’s prophet Elijah brings a message to Ahaziah, stating that Ahaziah’s actions have offended the Lord. 

不要迷失在人群中

2025-03-30 in , /by

路加福音19:1-10

耶穌進了耶利哥，正經過的時候， 2 有一個人名叫撒該，做稅吏長，是個財主， 3 他要看看耶穌是怎樣的人。只因人多，他的身量又矮，所以不得看見。 4 就跑到前頭，爬上桑樹，要看耶穌，因為耶穌必從那裡經過。 5 耶穌到了那裡，抬頭一看，對他說：「撒該，快下來！今天我必住在你家裡。」 6 他就急忙下來，歡歡喜喜地接待耶穌。 7 眾人看見，都私下議論說：「他竟到罪人家裡去住宿！」 8 撒該站著對主說：「主啊，我把所有的一半給窮人，我若訛詐了誰，就還他四倍。」 9 耶穌說：「今天救恩到了這家，因為他也是亞伯拉罕的子孫。 10 人子來，為要尋找、拯救失喪的人。」

在廣大的世界裏，我們常覺得自己只不過是群眾中一個微不足道的小人物罷了。世界的趨勢驅使我們除去個人的特質，要我們認同周圍的人，而且成為與他們相同的一份子。然而，神卻以祂獨特的方式來愛我們。

耶穌在前往耶路撒冷的路上，群眾蜂擁包圍祂，矮小的撒該非得爬上一棵樹，才看得到耶穌。撒該原想，只要看最偉大的教師一眼，就心滿意足，但耶穌居然停下來，抬頭直視他！對他說：「撒該，快下來！今天我必住在你家裡。」

那時在人群中根本不受注意的撒該，就這樣，開始一段與耶穌同處的時光，而這個際遇徹底地改變了他的生命。撒該對主說：「主啊，我把所有的一半給窮人；我若訛詐了誰，就還他四倍。」

我是神甚好且獨特的創造

2025-03-28 in , /by

創世記1:27-31

神就照著自己的形象造人，乃是照著祂的形象，造男造女。 28 神就賜福給他們，又對他們說：「要生養眾多，遍滿地面，治理這地，也要管理海裡的魚、空中的鳥和地上各樣行動的活物。」 29 神說：「看哪，我將遍地上一切結種子的菜蔬和一切樹上所結有核的果子，全賜給你們做食物。 30 至於地上的走獸和空中的飛鳥，並各樣爬在地上有生命的物，我將青草賜給牠們做食物。」事就這樣成了。 31 神看著一切所造的都甚好。有晚上，有早晨，是第六日。

你曾仔細觀看過一棵樹嗎？一棵樹上總有數以百計的葉子，乍看每片葉子都長得相像，但實際上沒有兩片葉子是真的一樣，每片葉子都不同！因為創造葉子的神在意每一片葉子，祂造它們各有自己的特色。你、我也是神獨特的創造，我們也都不一樣，而且神看著一切所造的都甚好。

神就照著自己的形像造人，乃是照著他的形像造男造女。神就賜福給他們，又對他們說：「要生養眾多，遍滿地面，治理這地，也要管理海裡的魚、空中的鳥，和地上各樣行動的活物。」

Like Parent, Like Child

2025-03-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 22:41-53.  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 22:41-53 (NIV)
41  Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.
42  Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.

On verses 41-53:  In these verses we see two kings — King Jehoshaphat of Judah and King Ahaziah of Israel.  These two kings were polar opposites. Jehoshaphat loved God, did what was right in God’s eyes and would go onto a long 25 year reign, becoming one of Judah’s greatest kings.  In contrast, Ahaziah worshiped idols, provoked the Lord to anger, and had only 2 years to reign as king in Israel.