2008年11月1日 星期六

2008-11-01 Devotionals Today

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青草地上


施洗約翰

粵語 國語

第1天


讀經:   馬太福音三章1-6,13-17節
基督降生之後,由父母帶他從埃及回到拿撒勒定居至今,已經接近30個年頭。如今,神開始為祂兒子的事奉鋪路,於是神對約翰一生的心意便逐漸顯露出來。

約翰出來傳道的時候,向眾人傳講的第一信息是:「天國近了,你們應當悔改!」換句話說,猶太人已經在靈性上準備好接受耶穌基督這位王的來臨。

悔改不僅是為到自己做錯的事情說聲「對不起」。我們必須有一顆痛悔的心,為到自己的過犯祈求神的赦免,並且下定決心去改過。聖經中有不少人物,只懂得口頭承認過錯,卻沒有真心悔改,例如法老王,掃羅王和猶大便是這種人。

約翰還教導人要藉著洗禮,來作為認罪和渴慕得潔淨的標記。當時很多猶太人都聽從了他的勸導接受了洗禮。

某天,當約翰看見耶穌站在等候洗禮的人龍之中,便感到很驚奇。他似乎已經知道耶穌就是神應許差來、比他更大的那一位。神讓約翰知道,當他看見聖靈降臨在那人的身上,那人就是神的兒子,就是他一直所談及的王(參約一32、33)。

耶穌從來沒有犯罪,所以祂根本不用認罪或藉著洗禮來洗淨祂的罪。耶穌之所以接受洗禮,是為了給人認同。父神喜悅祂這個行動,所以對祂說:「這是我的愛子,我所喜悅的。」

約翰的事奉只是很短暫,可能只有六個多月。然而,即使他的事奉範圍很狹小,他沒有跑到很遠的地方去傳講悔改的道,祂的事奉卻掀動了全國。在聖靈的帶領下,百姓主動來到他那裡接受洗禮。我們是否願意被神所使用呢?求主帶領人來到我們面前,讓我們能介紹他們認識基督。

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JOHN THE BAPTIST
Day 1


Bible Reading:   Matthew 3:1-6, 13-17
Almost thirty years had gone by since the birth of Christ and the eventful journey to Egypt. Now God was beginning to prepare the way for his Son's ministry. He had brought John into the world for a particular purpose which was now to be fully revealed. .

John's first words were 'Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'. In other words the Jews were to make themselves spiritually ready for the coming of the king; Jesus Christ himself.

Repentance is being sorry for our sins. It is not merely saying 'I'm sorry'. We must be sorry enough to ask God's forgiveness for the things we have done wrong. Then we must be determined to turn away from those things. There are men in the Bible who admitted their sin but who never truly repented. Pharaoh, King Saul and Judas are all illustrations of this.

John also told the people to be baptised as a sign of confession of sin and a desire for cleansing. A great many of the Jewish people obeyed his call.

John was surprised one day to see Jesus in the line of men waiting to be baptised. He seems to have known immediately that this was the one God had promised to send, someone greater than himself. God told John that when he saw the Holy Spirit descending on one particular person he would know that person was God's Son, the king about whom he spoke (John 1:32, 33).

Jesus had no sins to be confessed or cleansed away. He was always without sin. But Jesus went through baptism in order to be one with his people. This pleased his Father for God said 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'.

John's ministry covered only a short period, perhaps six months or a little more. But in that time he stirred the whole nation, even without travelling very far. The people came to him, brought by the Spirit of God. Could we ask God to use us today? Pray that he will send someone to us that we might speak to them about Christ.

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