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Faith in the Lord = Real Power

2025-02-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 13:1-10.  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 13:1-10 (NIV)
1  By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering.
2  He cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD: “O altar, altar! This is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who now make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.'”

On verses 1-10:  King Jeroboam is now deeply entrenched in idolatry.  An unnamed prophet from Judah appears before Jeroboam while Jeroboam is offering an idolatrous sacrifice.  This unnamed prophet predicts that one day a young man named Josiah will be born to the house of David and “will sacrifice the priests who now make offerings here” (v2).  In other words, the prophet predicts that this young man Josiah would put an end to idolatry in Israel.

Let Faith in God’s Promises Empower Your Thinking

2025-02-24 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 12:25-33.  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 12:25-27 (NIV) 
25 Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel. 
26 Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 
27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” 

On verses 25-27:  Jeroboam is now king of Israel (i.e. all the tribes of Israel other than Judah and Benjamin).  King Jeroboam goes to Shechem, the very place where Rehoboam had been crowned king and sets up his house there. Jeroboam fortifies Shechem to make it as secure as he can.  But despite fortifying his house, Jeroboam still feels insecure.  Verse 26 says that “Jeroboam thought to himself”.

谁等候谁？

2025-02-24 in , /by

以赛亚书30:18   耶和华必然等候，要施恩给你们，必然兴起，好怜悯你们，因为耶和华是公平的神。凡等候祂的，都是有福的！

诗篇25:5, 21  求祢以祢的真理引导我，教训我，因为祢是救我的神，我终日等候祢。/ 愿纯全正直保守我，因为我等候祢。

阿水婶手拿着牛皮纸袋，匆匆赶到台南市国税局服务台，想起昨天下午遇见邻居小美交代的话：「阿水婶！明天把你们家的报税资料拿来国税局，我帮妳处理。」阿水婶心想：真窝心！看着长大的小美前个月才从台北市国税局调回台南工作，现在恰好可以帮我处理报税的琐事；报税真烦！家中老头光说不练、不帮忙，还好有小美，一定搞定。

服务台前几条人龙排的长长的，依顺序等候服务人员协助填写报税资料，阿水婶看不见前方服务台，找不着坐在服务台后方的小美；她想：先排队再说，反正小美一定会帮忙她，于是，阿水婶拿出手帕擦擦汗，看着手表的秒针绕圆圈，脚步也一步步往前移，耐心的「等候」。

耶稣在哪里？

2025-02-23 in , /by

路加福音23:39-43    那同钉的两个犯人，有一个讥诮他说：「你不是基督吗？可以救自己和我们吧！」 40 那一个就应声责备他说：「你既是一样受刑的，还不怕神吗？ 41 我们是应该的，因我们所受的与我们所做的相称，但这个人没有做过一件不好的事。」 42 就说：「耶稣啊，你得国降临的时候，求你记念我！」 43 耶稣对他说：「我实在告诉你：今日你要同我在乐园里了！」

耶稣在两个犯人（强盗）中间，祂无罪，却被列在罪犯之中，担当多人的罪。

耶稣在两个犯人（强盗）中间，祂无罪，但祂没有远离罪犯，祂为罪犯代求。

我在罪犯中间，我有罪，但罪得主赦免；我在罪犯中间，不远离，但为罪犯代求。处在邪恶淫乱的世代，我们向神求一个神蹟，是仅存的神蹟，是先知约拿的神蹟，是让世人悔改的神蹟。

…因为祂将命倾倒，以致于死；祂也被列在罪犯之中。祂却担当多人的罪，又为罪犯代求。（以赛亚书53:12）

又有两个犯人，和耶稣一同带来处死。到了一个地方，名叫「髑髅地」，就在那里把耶稣钉在十字架上，又钉了两个犯人：一个在左边，一个在右边。（路加福音23:32-33）

Be Quick to Respond to God

2025-02-23 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 12:16-24.  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 12:16-20 (NIV)
16  When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What share do we have in David, what part in Jesse’s son? To your tents, O Israel! Look after your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home.
17  But as for the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.

On verses 16-20:  Now that King Rehoboam has rejected the people’s plea for a lighter workload, the Israelites, other than the tribe of Judah, reject Rehoboam as their king.  Rehoboam tries sending Adoniram his messenger to appease the people, but the people kill Adoniram and nearly kill Rehoboam.  The people appoint Jeroboam as their new king instead, in rebellion against the house of David.

Before You Make A Big Decision

2025-02-21 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 12:1-15.  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 12:1-5 (NIV) 
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 
2 When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 
3 So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him: 

On verses 1-5:  Israel is about to make Solomon’s son Rehoboam the next king of Israel.  While in Egypt, Jeroboam hears about this, returns to Israel at this crucial juncture in Israel’s history.  Jeroboam reconnects with the Israelites and together they approach the king with a request:

鸡叫的时候

2025-02-21 in , /by

彼得在外面院子里坐着，有一个使女前来，说：「你素来也是同那加利利人耶稣一伙的。」

彼得在众人面前却不承认，说：「我不知道你说的是甚么！」

既出去，到了门口，又有一个使女看见他，就对那里的人说：「这个人也是同拿撒勒人耶稣一伙的。」

彼得又不承认，并且起誓说：「我不认得那个人。」

过了不多的时候，旁边站着的人前来，对彼得说：「你真是他们一党的，你的口音把你露出来了。」

彼得就发咒起誓地说：「我不认得那个人。」

立时，鸡就叫了。彼得想起耶稣所说的话：「鸡叫以先，你要三次不认我。」他就出去痛哭。（马太福音26:69-75）

信主的人啊！你是否是同十架上耶稣一伙的？曾否几次不认得耶稣？曾否听见鸡叫？曾否因想起耶稣所说的话而痛哭？

God Looks For THIS Kind of Person to Bless

2025-02-20 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 11:26-43.  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 11:26-30 (NIV)
26  Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.
27  Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the supporting terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father.

On verses 26-30:  Here we read of Solomon’s greatest human adversary, Jeroboam.  Jeroboam came from a tough background.  His mother Zeredah was a widow, probably meaning that Jeroboam’s father Nebat was not around for significant parts of Jeroboam’s life (v26).  Nonetheless, Jeroboam was a leader, becoming one of Solomon’s officials (v26). 

进窄门

2025-02-20 in , /by

「你们要进窄门。因为引到灭亡，那门是宽的，路是大的，进去的人也多；引到永生，那门是窄的，路是小的，找著的人也少。」（马太福音7:13-14）

…耶稣对众人说：「你们要努力进窄门。我告诉你们，将来有许多人想要进去，却是不能。…

你们站在外面叩门，说：『主啊，给我们开门！』

家主回答说：『我不认识你们，不晓得你们是哪里来的！』

那时，你们要说：『我们在你面前吃过喝过，你也在我们的街上教训过人。』

他要说：『我告诉你们，我不晓得你们是哪里来的。你们这一切作恶的人，离开我去吧！』…

Hurt People Hurt People

2025-02-19 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Kings 11:14-25.  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!

1 Kings 11:14-25 (NIV)
14  Then the LORD raised up against Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite, from the royal line of Edom.
15  Earlier when David was fighting with Edom, Joab the commander of the army, who had gone up to bury the dead, had struck down all the men in Edom.
16  Joab and all the Israelites stayed there for six months, until they had destroyed all the men in Edom.
17  But Hadad, still only a boy, fled to Egypt with some Edomite officials who had served his father.

On verses 14-25:  In verses 14-22 we read of Hadad, an Edomite prince who, despite coming from a royal family, endured some incredible hardship.  When Hadad was just a young boy, Hadad lost his parents and his family when the Edomites were at war with the Israelites.  Hadad would flee to Egypt and be given many of the material comforts that royalty would come to expect.  Still, there was a pain in Hadad’s heart that none of those material comforts could heal, and a drive to get revenge on the country that was responsible for killing his parents.