Psalm 120 - 8.7.23
Scripture
Psalms 120:1 NLT
“I took my troubles to the Lord; I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.”
Observation
This is a psalm that pilgrims would sing on their way to Jerusalem for the holy feasts-Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. In this psalm, the psalmist is crying out to God for relief from the hostile environment they are currently in. They are for God and for peace, but they are surrounded by ungodly people who speak only of war and violence. They are in an unfavorable situation. What are they to do? Well, as verse 1 reminds us, take your troubles to God, and He will answer you.
Application
Whenever troubles arise in life, God is the first One we should turn to for help.
“Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”-Psalms 55:22
I know some of us out there may try to do the “macho” thing, and feel like we can figure things out on our own whenever troubles comes our way. We refuse to get help. We refuse to be helped. And when everything else fails, then and only then do we turn to God. May I encourage everyone out there to make God your first option when things go haywire? The Bible tells us time and time again of God’s love for us. The Bible tells us that God is concerned over every little detail in our lives. God yearns for us to come to Him because He wants that relationship with us. He wants to help us in our time of need. So what are we waiting for? Turn to God. Call out to Him. He is just a prayer away. 🙏🏽
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”-1 Peter 5:7
”Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”-Philippians 4:6-7
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your love and for caring over every little detail in my life. Forgive me whenever I choose to not come to You first whenever I’m in a jam. Forgive me of my stubbornness and pride for thinking I can get it done on my own. May I always remember to turn to You first whenever I’m in trouble. May I turn to You first even when I’m not. May I come to You with a heart of praise and thanksgiving because You are almighty and sovereign and You are my God that I choose to follow. I know nothing is impossible for You. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽
-Moses Gaddi
Revelation 9 - 8.4.2023
Scripture - Pick one verse that stood out to you.
Revelation 9:15-16
And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.
Psalm 119:170
May my supplication come before you;
deliver me according to your promise.
Revelation 9:4
They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
Observation - What about this verse stands out to you?
There is a direction that humanity is headed in. While I don’t fully understand all of the book of Revelation, I feel like I understand glimpses of what is to come. Based on what I read the number of mounted troops alongside the angels was:
“twice ten thousand times ten thousand”
That number could either be (2x10000x10000) = 200,000,000 = 200 million OR
(100,000,000) x (100,000,000) = God’s army is wow = was exponential math around back then?
To put that into perspective
According to worldpopulationreview.com, the total number of active duty, paramilitary, and reserve military personnel in the world equals 69,404,020.
Application - How will you apply this to your life?
My hope is that I am not around for the above even where a third of mankind is wiped out by this particularly fearsome army. Help me to apply my faith in You today. I reaffirm my belief that You are my God, and my Maker. You are my Salvation and my Deliverer.
Prayer - Write out a prayer.
Lord, while I don’t understand what it means to have Your seal on my forehead, I pray that I won’t need it. Whatever is required of me in those days however I put my faith in You o, Lord. If You ask me of it, I will do it. No questions asked. I love You Lord, and I am in awe of Your might and Your power. I pray that the entire world would wake up and declare You their God in their hearts and souls. And I pray that You continue to watch over Your flock. I thank You and love You, Lord.
In the name of Jesus do I pray, amen.
-kenneth lee
Revelation 8 - 8.3.23
Scripture
Revelation 8:13 ERV
“While I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying high in the air. The eagle said in a loud voice, “Terrible! Terrible! How terrible for those who live on the earth! The terrible trouble will begin after the sounds of the trumpets that the other three angels will blow.”
Observation-What does it say?
In this chapter, the seventh seal from John’s revelation is revealed. The opening of the seventh seal reveals the appearance of seven angels with seven trumpets. When the first angel sounds his trumpet, hail, fire, and blood come hurling down to earth, burning up a third of the earth’s trees and grass. When the second trumpet from the second angel sounds, something like a huge mountain gets thrown into the sea, killing a third of the living sea creatures and ships, and turning a third of the sea into blood. The third trumpet being sounded will cause a great star to fall from the sky and land on a third of the rivers, and contaminating a third of the earth's water supply. Then, when the fourth trumpet is sounded a third of the sun, moon, and stars are struck, turning them dark. This causes a third of the day and night to be without light. But from the looks of things, even an eagle can see that things are about to get worse!
John’s vision from God is a pretty scary thought. It’s a vision of a world that was left behind because they rejected Jesus, and chose to do their own thing. With all those calamities just from the first four trumpets being sounded, only to have an eagle flying by the sky pretty much saying “you ain’t seen nothing yet folks!” I mean it sounds like the weather is going to be really cold and dark, and food and water are going to begin to be really scarce. It’s something we as Christians shouldn’t wish on anyone! So how should we as Christians respond? 🤔
Application
Share with everyone about the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
The good news is we still have time. We don’t know how much time we have left, but I think it’s best we better take advantage of what time we do have. We need to have a sense of urgency! Time to tell our family and friends the good news of the gospel of Christ. Time to share with anyone and everyone. The signs are upon us that time is counting down towards the end.
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”-2 Timothy 3:1-5
Do some of these things mentioned above look or sound like they’re happening in today’s world? Then what are we waiting for? We got some sharing to do!
Prayer
Father God, thank You for being so patient with us in this world. Your Word reminds us that You don’t want to see anyone perish. Instead, You want to see everyone come to repentance from their sinful ways so they can have eternal life. I pray for those people out there who are currently rebelling against You. I pray that You may soften their hearts to You, and they may repent from their sins, and put their faith in Jesus. I pray that You may give me the boldness and courage to go out there and tell others about Jesus before it’s too late. May we as a Church stand firm in our faith, and share the truth with others around us. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽
-Moses Gaddi