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Thank God for the Samuels in Your Life

2024-10-23 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 15:1-16.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

1 Samuel 15:1 (NIV) 
1 Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 

On verse 1:   Samuel comes to Saul with a message.  But before sharing that message, Samuel reminds Saul of that day when the LORD sent Samuel to anoint Saul as king.  Samuel is reminding Saul that it was the LORD who made it possible for Saul to be king.  There is no exaltation, no promotion, no lifting up of any person if God did not allow it.  As Psalm 75 says, “He brings one down; he exalts another”.  In other words, God is sovereign and we could not reach any height in life without Him.

來到主面前

2024-10-22 in , /by

彼得前書 2:4-5

主乃活石，固然是被人所棄的，卻是被神所揀選、所寶貴的。 5 你們來到主面前，也就像活石，被建造成為靈宮，做聖潔的祭司，藉著耶穌基督奉獻神所悅納的靈祭。

早晨的時候，一句話語「來到祢面前」進入腦海中，彼得的勉勵（彼前2:4-5）提醒我，主是活石，當我來到主面前，我就像活石，是被神所揀選、所寶貴的。

我是石頭，因著耶穌，我被賦予生命，活著，且充滿活力。

我是石頭，因著耶穌，我被建造成為屬靈的房子，有聖靈居住在裡面。

我是石頭，因著耶穌，我可以獻上自己當活祭，蒙神悅納。

主乃活石，固然是被人所棄的，卻是被神所揀選、所寶貴的。你們來到主面前，也就像活石，被建造成為靈宮，作聖潔的祭司，藉著耶穌基督奉獻神所悅納的靈祭。（彼前2:4-5）

Victorious Wherever You Turn

2024-10-22 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 14:47-52.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

1 Samuel 14:47-48 (NIV) 
47 After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them. 
48 He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them. 

On verses 47-48:  Saul indeed faced challenges on every side: to the east he battled the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Edomites; to the north he contended with the kings of Zobah; to the west he fought the Philistines; and to the south, the Amalekites.  Yet verse 47 says that “wherever he went, he was victorious” and God granted Saul success.  I pray the same for you.  You may feel like you are facing challenges on every side right now.  But like Saul in verse 47, I pray that with God’s help and for God’s glory you will be victorious and successful wherever you turn. 

以認識神為誇口

2024-10-21 in , /by

羅馬書 12:3  我憑著所賜我的恩對你們各人說：不要看自己過於所當看的，要照著神所分給各人信心的大小，看得合乎中道。

耶利米書 9:23-24  耶和華如此說：「智慧人不要因他的智慧誇口，勇士不要因他的勇力誇口，財主不要因他的財物誇口。 24 誇口的卻因他有聰明，認識我是耶和華，又知道我喜悅在世上施行慈愛、公平和公義，以此誇口。」這是耶和華說的。

有個寓言故事說：有一隻驕傲的青蛙喜歡自誇，在自家荷葉上跳的高、跳的遠。為了顯示自己的本領，牠向小白兔挑戰賽跑。賽跑開始了，很快的小白兔即將超過牠；青蛙不承認失敗，半途又提議比賽爬樹；小白兔不會爬，認輸放棄比賽，青蛙就嘲笑小白兔，且誇耀自己能跳又能爬。

這下激怒了一旁的小松鼠，小松鼠主動要和青蛙比賽爬樹。青蛙爬不過小松鼠，不服氣，說小松鼠沒什麼了不起，不能上天。小松鼠反問它：「你能上天嗎？」覺得青蛙的吹噓十分可笑。

一天，青蛙看見一群大雁飛過，忽然計從心來，央求大雁帶牠上天。青蛙找來一根繩子，請大雁咬住前端，自己咬住尾端，大雁拍拍翅膀，青蛙咬著繩子果真上天了，地面上的小動物們見了都驚奇地叫喚起來。

When Spirituality Goes Overboard

2024-10-21 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 14:24-46.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 
 
1 Samuel 14:24-32 (NIV)
24  Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.
25  The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground.

On verses 24-32:  Saul makes his army vow that while they are pursuing the Philistines, they will not eat anything until evening.  Now there are times in the Bible when God calls people to fast, or when individuals like Jesus, Daniel, or Moses fasted.  In those times, it was for the purpose of drawing near to God and getting centered and focused around God’s purposes.  In Saul’s case, however, this fasting campaign was centered around Saul’s own ego, as suggested by him when he says no one is to eat anything “before I have avenged myself on my enemies” (v24).

The Power of Unity

2024-10-20 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 14:1-23.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 
 
1 Samuel 14:1-23 (NIV)
1  One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.
2  Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men,
3  among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.

On verses 1-23:  Here we see how powerful it is when even two of God’s people are united in purpose.

Jonathan decides to attack one of the Philistine outposts, and he tells his young armor-bearer to come along.  I love the armor-bearer’s response: “Do all that you have in mind.  Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” (v7)  And indeed when Jonathan went up toward the Philistine outpost, his armor-bearer was “right behind him” (v13).  While Jonathan went ahead and attacked the Philistines, his armor-bearer “followed and killed behind him” (v13).  Together, against the odds, Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed 20 Philistines.

長青發旺

2024-10-20 in , /by

詩篇 71

17 神啊，自我年幼時祢就教訓我，直到如今我傳揚祢奇妙的作為。
18 神啊，我到年老髮白的時候，求你不要離棄我，等我將祢的能力指示下代，將祢的大能指示後世的人。
19 神啊，祢的公義甚高；行過大事的神啊，誰能像祢？

「當你老了，頭髮白了，睡意昏沉⋯。」這是趙照很出名的一首歌。「老了」常與失去、失能、憂鬱、失智…等聯想在一起。但是，我們不要忘記聖經中的教導，年老長壽得來不易，是神特别的賜福，需愛惜神所賜给的禮物，要感謝，不埋怨；要快樂，不憂愁。

〈詩篇〉第71篇的作者談到他一生的渴望：「神啊，我到年老髮白的時候，求祢不要離棄我！等我將祢的能力指示下代，將祢的大能指示後世的人（詩71:18）。」

聖經教導我們明白神呼召老人，亞伯拉罕75歲（創12:4）、摩西80歲（出7:7）被神呼召，且賦予重任；神使用老人。迦勒85歲帶領以色列百姓征服迦南地（書14:10），但以理為神工作70年，80歲仍是宰相，且每日三次向神禱告得著智慧。

Why God Sometimes Makes Us Wait A Little Longer Than We’d Like

2024-10-18 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 13:1-23.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Samuel 13:1-15 (NIV)
1  Saul was [thirty] years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel [forty-] two years.
2  Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

On verses 1-15:  In these 15 verses, we see how one bad decision altered Saul’s destiny.  The sequence of events is fairly straightforward:

1. Saul’s first born son Jonathan leads a successful attack against the Philistines (v3-4).

2. In response, the Philistines come roaring back with a massive force, assembling at Micmash, ready to fight Israel (v5).

愈忙愈要找時間

2024-10-18 in , /by

馬太福音11:28-30 28

「凡勞苦擔重擔的人，可以到我這裏來，我就使你們得安息。 29 我心裏柔和謙卑，你們當負我的軛，學我的樣式，這樣，你們心裏就必得享安息。 30 因為我的軛是容易的，我的擔子是輕省的。」

網路上有個圖片描繪星期一到星期日英文字的翻譯：星期一（忙day）忙得要死，星期二（求死day）忙得想死，星期三（未死day）還沒有忙死，星期四（受死day）行將受死；但是，轉機來了，星期五（福來day）捱完後就可以放假；接下來，一星期最安逸瀟灑的一天，就是星期六（灑脫day）；過完星期六，再面對星期日（傷day），又將繼續下一個「忙」的星期。

有篇文章這樣描述：「忙」這個字拆開就是「心亡」，如果我們對某些事、某些人的心已經死了，就會用「忙」來當作藉口。有人會因為忙，而疏離朋友；因為忙，而冷淡親人；因為忙，而忘了自己的健康。這代表我們對朋友、親人、以及自己的心已經死了，我們用「忙」來拒絕一切。

有封E-mail的標題是「撒旦的會議記錄」，其中談到撒旦向全世界的邪靈召開會議，討論如何讓基督徒中斷參與教會、中斷讀聖經明白真理、中斷與耶穌的親密關係；或是讓他們留在教會，但偷去他們的時間，使他們彷彿活在基督裡，卻無真實的連結。

Don’t Run from God. Run to Him

2024-10-17 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 12:12-25.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go! 

1 Samuel 12:12 (NIV) 
12 “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’–even though the LORD your God was your king. 

On verse 12:  Here we learn the most immediate reason why the Israelites wanted a human king so much: they felt threatened by the Ammonites and thus cried out for a king to save them.  They repeated the same mistake that their ancestors before them had made: trusting in human effort more than in God, forgetting that God was with them and looking only to people for help.