亚洲路德宗神学院“每週灵粮”
亚伯兰年九十九岁的时候，耶和华向他显现，对他说，我是全能的上帝，你当在我面前作完全人。我就与你立约，使你的后裔极其繁多。亚伯兰俯伏在地，上帝又对他说，我与你立约，你要作多国的父。从此以后，你的名不再叫亚伯兰，要叫亚伯拉罕，因为我已立你作多国的父。
创世记 17:1-5
作为父亲，我想给孩子整个世界。我想带他们去不同的地方，给予他们难忘的经历。当我兴奋地祝福孩子时，向他们许下无法兑现的承诺。
你父母有没有做过类似的事情？他们是否曾经承诺太多而不能实现？
在耶稣出生前 2000 年，我们的天父向第一位希伯来人亚伯拉罕作出了应许。应许把亚伯拉罕的后裔变成一个造福世界的伟大民族。上帝以誓言确立这个应许，确立契约，承诺自己要遵守这个应许。
但在以色列历史的大部分时刻，天父就像地上的父亲一样。看似违背了祂对人民的承诺。他们不是一个伟大的民族，而是一个在国际没有声望或荣誉，常被侵略的小群体。
后来耶稣—亚伯拉罕的后裔诞生了，祂为世人降生、死亡、复活，各族人民都相信祂，受洗成为上帝的儿女。就这样，全世界的信徒都成了“亚伯拉罕的后裔”。上帝对亚伯拉罕的誓言已经实现了！
我们的天父不像地上的父亲，祂总是信守诺言，因此，你可以肯定祂会信守对你所有的应许。
祷告：
天父，感谢祢信守祢所有的应许。阿门。
Serve Him Without Fear
ALS Weekly Devotions
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”
Genesis 17:1-5
As a father, I want to give my kids the world. I want to take them places and give them memorable experiences. There have been times when in my excitement to bless my kids, I make promises to them that I can’t keep.
Did your parents ever do something similar to you? Did they ever over-promise and under-deliver?
Our Heavenly Father made a promise to the first Hebrew, Abraham, 2000 years before Jesus was born. He promised to turn Abraham’s descendants into a great nation that would bless the world. The Lord God confirmed that promise with an oath, called a covenant, which means that he was committing himself to keep this promise.
But for most of Israel’s history, it seemed like the heavenly Father was acting like earthly fathers. He seemed to be breaking his promise to his people. Instead of being a great people, they were a small, harassed group with little prestige or honor among the nations.
But then Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, was born. After he lived, died, and rose on behalf of us all, people from all nations put their faith in him. They were baptized and became children of God. And in that way, believers from all over the world have become “descendants of Abraham.” The oath that God swore to Abraham has come true!
Our Heavenly Father is not like earthly fathers. He always keeps his promises. So, you can be sure he will keep all his promises to you.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for being faithful to all of your promises. Amen.
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