Psalm 145-12.28.22

Scripture

Psalm 145:1-2

1I will exalt you, my God the King;  I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.

Observation-What does it say?

Here is a breakdown of this chapter according to Matthew Henry’s Bible commentary on christianity.com:

In verses 1-9, David extols the power, goodness, and mercy of the Lord. In verses 10-21, he talks about the glory of God's kingdom, and his care of those that love him.

Understanding-What does it mean?

King David chooses to praise the Lord every day because of His character and great deeds!

He celebrates God’s goodness, righteousness, grace, compassion, love, that He is slow to anger, mighty, Creator, trustworthy, faithful, near and our defender. What else did I miss?

Life Application

Meditate on God’s wonderful works and tell of His great deeds! (Verses 5 and 6)

Dear Lord, I desire to be a true worshipper every day just like King David was. May Your Holy Spirit always guide my mouth to speak in praise of You and my life and words always point others to Your greatness. Amen.

-Michelle Gaddi

Matthew 28-12.27.22

SCRIPTURE:

Matthew 28:5-7

"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, Who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.' Now I have told you."

OBSERVATION:

This story starts off with Mary Magdalene and the other Mary going to look at the tomb where Jesus' body had been laid. A violent earthquake took place because an angel of the Lord came down from heaven. This angel of the Lord speaks as God, identifies Himself with God, and exercises the responsibilities of God. In several other appearances, those who saw the angel of the Lord feared for their lives because they had 'seen the Lord'. The angel's appearance was like lighting and His clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of Him that they shook and became like dead men. It is clear that the angel of the Lord is a theophany, an appearance of God in physical form. (GotQuestions.org).

UNDERSTANDING:

Jesus declared Himself to be existent "before Abraham", so it is logical that He would be active and manifest in the world. Whatever the case, whether the angel of the Lord was pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus or an appearance of God, it is highly likely that the phrase 'the angel of the Lord" usually identifies a physical appearance of God.

Just as Jesus promised, He rose from the dead! His bodily resurrection shows us that the living Christ is ruler of God's eternal kingdom. And just as Jesus body was resurrected, with that same power our dead bodies will come back to life to be with God forever!

LIFE APPLICATION:

Thank You God for the many forms You show up to make Yourself known. Thank You for giving us the gift of faith to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He came to earth to save us from our sins so that we may be able to have our sins forgiven, and be able to enjoy a relationship with You. Thank You for revealing to us the truth: that Jesus was born of a virgin, He died for our sins, He was resurrected from the dead. He rose, He is alive, and is sitting at Your right side interceding for us. He is making a place for us. He is coming again, and when He does, we will be taken up to be with You forever. We will see You face to face!

We who have received the gift of faith, and have been born-again are now called to witness what You have done for us. We are to share the Good News that Jesus is Lord, and that He came to save us from our sins.

Jesus was with the disciples physically until He ascended into heaven, and then spiritually through the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:4). The Holy Spirit would be Jesus' presence that would never leave them.

Jesus continues to be with us today through His Spirit, and has promised to be with us as well, and to never leave us nor forsake us. I pray we will continue to make Jesus Lord of our lives as we wait for His return as we go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything He has commanded us, and that we will take courage in knowing that He is with us to the very end of the age.

-Robin Orefice

Matthew 27-12.26.22

Scripture

Matthew‬ ‭27‬:‭63‬-‭64‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.””

Observation-What does it say?

After the crucifixion and death of Jesus, the leading priests and the Pharisees went to see Pilate. They remembered Jesus telling people that he would rise from the dead after three days. So they requested that Pilate seal the tomb, and place guards all around it to prevent anyone, (especially Jesus’ disciples), from stealing the body, and telling everyone that Jesus has risen. They knew the commotion this would bring them, and it would discredit their reputations.

Understanding-What does it mean?

Jesus resurrection is the key to our faith.

“And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.”-1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭14‬-‭19‬ ‭

There comes a point in every believer’s life where they kind of question their faith. I know I did when I was still young in my faith. Was I just believing and doing this because that is how I was raised, and I wanted to carry on the “family tradition”? Or did I truly believe in my heart of hearts the stories in the Bible and everything it says is true? Well the key for anyone questioning if Christianity is real or not is to prove or disprove the resurrection of Jesus. And the more I think about this story, (particularly this chapter in the book of Matthew), I couldn’t be more firm in my faith knowing that Jesus was raised from the dead, and He was the Son of God.

Let’s me start off by debunking the theories that Jesus’ body was stolen from the tomb by his disciples. Back in those days the Roman Guard were today’s equivalent to our Navy SEALS. I mean, you did not want to mess with these soldiers. So you better believe that the Pharisees and the leading priests took Pilate up on his offer, and used these soldiers to guard Jesus’ body, and placed guards all around the tomb. Also, keep in mind if anything got passed these guards on their watch, their offense would be punishable by death! So you better believe these guards took their watch seriously.

Then you have Jesus’ disciples. They were a group of fishermen and tax collectors; untrained in any form of combat. So you’re telling me this group of men can go behind enemy lines, get passed these Roman soldiers, move the huge boulder in front of Jesus’ tomb, and sneak his body passed everyone? I don’t think so.

Then you have eyewitness of people, not only his disciples, but other people who witnessed seeing Jesus alive after those three days. All accounts can be verified in all four gospels.

The final “kicker” is knowing how Jesus’ disciples, (except John), were brutally martyred. Now you’re telling me that you would be willing to die a gruesome death like that over a lie? I know I wouldn’t. I’d be the first to squeal, “I was just kidding” once apprehended and threatened over a death sentence. But what did Jesus disciples do? They continued to preach the Good News. They were willing to die because they believed in Jesus and all of what Jesus said. They knew the truth! And I know the truth too!

Life Application

Stand up. Stand up for Jesus!

So don’t let anyone try to sway you from what you know is true. This was just one way to know that Jesus was resurrected. This was just one way to know that Jesus said who he said he was. Just think of all of the prophecies in the Old Testament, all pointing to Jesus, all coming true. They were written hundreds of years before they even happened! And for all of those prophecies to line up and come true is like a billion to one! Or maybe, just maybe, it’s how I like to see it. It was a divine plan, from a sovereign God, who knew just how to reconcile the broken relationship of sinful man, to a Holy God.

-Moses Gaddi‬ ‭