Matthew 10 - 9.6.23

Scripture

Matthew 10:29-31

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Observation

Jesus was encouraging and giving specific instructions to His 12 disciples before sending them out on the field to “drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” (Vs. 1) He was giving them authority to do these things. He was encouraging them not to be discouraged and afraid of the opposition they would encounter. 

Application

Feeling discouraged? Jesus knows us deeply, intimately and cares. Run to Him!

We can all use a little encouragement in our walk of faith, whether we’ve been a Christ follower for 30+ years or only 3 hours. 

I want to encourage us all with the words of this hymn, “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” It is based off of Jesus’ encouragement to His disciples in Matthew 10! 

Why should I feel discouraged?

Why should the shadows fall?

Why should my heart feel lonely?

And long for heaven and home

When Jesus is my portion

A constant friend is He

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me

I sing because I'm happy

I sing because I'm free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me 

Today, we have the opportunity to reach out to our community at the Canyon Country Farmer’s Market at 6p. Don’t let discouragement or fear stop us from reaching out and being part of this. God cares and has been showing us favor in that area. See you there! 

Prayer

Dear Lord,

It brings me great comfort to know that You are always with me and watch over me. When I am fearful or afraid, especially with doing what you have called me to do, I’m grateful that I can always turn to You for encouragement, strength and courage. Amen. 

-Michelle Gaddi

Matthew 9 - 9.5.23

SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 9:1 - 2  "Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to His own town.  Some men brought to Him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat.  When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the man, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

OBSERVATION:  The first words Jesus said to the paralyzed man is, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."  The heart and soul of the  man was MUCH more important to Jesus than his paralysis, but when He saw the faith of the men who had brought the man to Him, Jesus forgave his sins, AND healed his body.   The phrase, "take heart" usually refers to a word given to someone who is worried or depressed.  I'm sure that after laying on a bed in a paralyzed state, the man was just that!   When the man was told by Jesus to "Get up and walk", he miraculously got up, picked up his mat, and went home. The crowd was filled with awe, and they praised God! 

God often uses the faith of His people to bring forth miracles.  It was the men who stepped out in faith by bringing the paralytic to Jesus that caused Him to receive his healing.  They were the ones who had taken the steps to Jesus, and once they were in His presence, He demonstrated 3 miracles:  He forgave the man his sins, He healed his paralysis, and He showed the men that He was able to read their thoughts.  All these miracles happened AFTER the men took the step of faith to Jesus.  

APPLICATION:  While Jesus was walking on earth, He had all the power and authority to do miracles, and after He died and rose again, He sent the Holy Spirit Who now lives in us who believe that Jesus is Lord.  He has come to live in us, and He empowers us with everything we need to be His witnesses.  He uses our hands,  our feet, and our voices to demonstrate His love and power to others.  As Jesus abides in us, and we abide in Him, God uses us to point people to Him so that they are able to hear the Good News, receive His grace and the forgiveness of their sins, and be healed by the power of His name.  God uses us as we step out in faith!  The more we discover Who Jesus is, and walk in our new identity that God gave us when we were born-again in Christ, the more faith we will have to step out and be used by Him.   

Sometimes the person we are praying for is just desperate for a change, so they ask us to pray for them.  God cares about both their spiritual and physical condition, but we must remember that their spiritual condition is much more important to God than even their physical condition.  As we step out in faith and expect God to move through our prayers, we should never forget the most important part to God; their soul!

So often when I pray for people, they are not even aware of their spiritual condition; that they are dead in their sins.  No matter what the person is asking me to pray for, I always like to end up making sure that they are saved.  I find that these 2 spiritual questions help to confirm what they are trusting in for eternal life.  The first question is:  "Have you come to a place in your spiritual life where if you were to die tonight, you know for sure that you would go to heaven?"  Second question:  "Suppose you were to die tonight and stand before Father God, and He were to ask you, "Why should I let you into My heaven, what do you think you would say?"  Those 2 questions, especially the second one solidifies who and what the person has put their trust in for salvation.  Sometimes I find that that they're trusting in their good works to get them into heaven, or maybe it's because they have been raised in a religion, and there's some people who believe they can ride on the coat tails of their parents or grand-parents salvation to get in.  The Bible clearly says that we can't earn our way into heaven, that our good works are like filthy rags to God.  And religion does not save anyone!  The Bible clearly says that  "JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE, AND THAT NO ONE GOES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH HIM." (John 14:6).    The Bible also says, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."( Romans 10:9,10).   So...  any answer that starts with "I"  usually indicates that  the person has been trusting in their good works, and any answer OTHER than that they have put their faith in Jesus because He died on the cross for their sins helps us to discover that the person has not yet transferred their faith from themselves over to Jesus.    

PRAYER:  Lord, I desire to be used by You.  You have proven Yourself faithful to me, and I have experienced Your love, Your forgiveness, Your justification, and Your supernatural healing power.  I pray I will be willing and ready to take the step of faith when and where Your Spirit leads me, so that more and more people will be able to discover and experience Your love, forgiveness, and healing all for themselves.  

- Robin Orefice

Matthew 8 - 9.4.23

Scripture

Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭33‬-‭34‬ ‭NLT

“The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.”

Observation

This story about Jesus is something I can imagine coming out of a horror movie! Jesus enters a small town in the region of Gadarenes. In this town, there is place where nobody dares to go. It is where the people of the town bury their dead. This place is known as…THE TOMBS! In these tombs reside two demon possessed men; men who are so violent and evil that no one in town could even pass near that area. (Pretty scary story so far right?!)

Enter Jesus. Then Jesus comes walking into town, and these two demon possessed already acknowledge Him, knowing exactly who Jesus is, (the Son of God). Knowing that they were pretty much done for because they were no match for Jesus, these two demon possessed men begged Jesus to just cast them out into a nearby herd of pigs. Jesus kindly obliged. And the demons left the bodies of the two men and entered the herd of pigs. The herd of pigs then plunged themselves down the hillside into a nearby lake and drowned in the water. The whole town heard what had just happened, and instead of thanking Jesus for what he had done, they begged Him to go away and leave them alone. WHAT?!!

Application

Don’t be content staying in our “comfort zone”. Step out of it and experience more of Jesus.

It always baffled me in this story that the people kicked Jesus out of their town for healing two demon possessed men. Why would they do that?! Well before we bash this town for doing that, let’s think that this is probably the first time this town has ever seen or heard of Jesus. Then to find out Jesus approached the place where no one ever goes, interacts with men who everyone was afraid of, then casts out the demons into a herd of pigs. Then they saw these herd of pigs, most likely some of the people’s source of income, go down a hill, jump into a lake, where they all drowned. I mean that experience can be quite terrifying!

This town was probably content with letting these two demon possessed men be. They figured they could just let the men live near the tombs, and they’ll just avoid that part of town. They pretty much found a way to live their lives despite having these two men live amongst them.

But ‭‭‬‬Jesus freed the two men from their demons, essentially freeing the town of this burden as well. They were now free to roam and go in all parts of their town. But how did the town react to this miracle? They were frightened and asked Jesus to leave.

It makes me think that we too can be like that in our own lives. We can get too comfortable with the way things are. We don’t realize that Jesus has freed us of our burdens and wants to give us so much more. All we have to do is invite Him to stay, and reside in “our town” with us. But we tend to push Him away because we get scared of the unknown. Let’s not waste the opportunity. Invite Jesus to come and clean house. There is much better things awaiting us when we do!

“Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.” -Acts‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬‬‬

Prayer

Father God, thank You for coming into my life and cleaning up my mess. Please forgive me when I’m ungrateful for it. Forgive me for the times in my life where I’m content with the way things are, and I am not willing to get out of my comfort zone to grow spiritually. May I be reminded that You are not done with me yet. You have more great things in store for me Lord, if I just continue to push forward and trust in You. Give me the courage to continue to grow spiritually until the day You call me home. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽

-Moses Gaddi