Psalm 18 - 8.5.24

Scripture

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Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭NLT

“The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence. For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil.”

Observation

This is a psalm of David. He sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD rescued him from Saul, and all of his enemies. It’s a testament of God’s faithfulness to David, and David’s faithfulness to God. Even during life’s struggles, David didn’t blame God. Instead he remained faithful to keep God’s ways, and God blessed him and rescued him from his enemies.

Application

What kind of person will I be when times get tough? 🤔

It’s a great question to ask ourselves. Are we the type to fold under pressure? Or is that the time we dig deep, stand firm on our beliefs, and fight on!

We’ve all been through tough times in life. We’ve all felt the pressure, the stress, and may have even felt like the world was going to cave in on us. Now if you haven’t experienced these things yet, I’m happy for you. But trust me, it will eventually happen at some point in all our lives. But the question is, how will we handle those situations when they arise? Will we go off the deep end and “go postal” on the world? I sure hope not! Will we unleash our tongues and speak words of vulgarity and slander? Will we turn to substances to try to forget about our problems? 🤔 Or will we be like David, turning to God, and crying out for His Help? You see, there is a reason why David has the reputation, and is known as the man after God’s own heart. Because David, even though he was going through tough times in life, was faithful to the LORD, trusting in God’s goodness and faithfulness. David loved God with all his heart. He did his best to keep God’s ways. And even when David did mess up, (which he did later in life), he was repentant from his sinful ways, and turned back to God. And it was this type of relationship David had with God…complete trust, and complete submission, that pleased God. God in return blessed David, and rescued him from all his enemies.-(Read Psalms 23)

So knowing life won’t always be “peachy clean” for me, and knowing troubles will sometimes find my way, I want to remember David here. How he didn’t shake his fist at God and blame him for the troubles he was experiencing. Instead, David chose to seek and trust God. He asked God for help. He made sure to continue to honor God by keeping God’s ways. When God delivered him from his troubles, he chose to give God all the glory and honor by singing songs of praise and worship!

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your goodness and faithfulness. Please forgive me whenever I go off the “deep end” in life whenever troubles come my way. Forgive me whenever I let my frustration and anger turn into sinful behavior. Forgive me for those words that may slip from my mouth or even run through my mind. Help me to remember to turn to You first, for Your guidance, help, and strength. Help me to fight the good fight so that I may always keep Your ways. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽

-Moses Gaddi

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Numbers 19 - 8.2.2024

Scripture - Pick one verse that stood out to you.

Numbers 19:1-10

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting.  While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.

“A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.

Observation - What about this verse stands out to you?

As I was reading numbers and reading about the requirements for purification I was partly startled by the sheer amount of detail that went into the process of pre-Christ cleansing of sin. The water that is created from Numbers 19 is to be used by the Israelite community for “the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin”.

Application - How will you apply this to your life?

What also struck me as odd was this verse in Numbers 19: The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening.

The water of cleansing itself caused “uncleanness”.

So understanding the above, how much do I really understand about what is happening when Jesus is brought a paralyzed man on a mat  in Matthew 9 and responds with, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” 

In light of the unclean cleansing-water,  when Jesus would eventually take on the penalty for all of our sins, cleansing all of us, what mind-boggling astro-physical-spiritual thing was actually going on??

My mind is so blown right now.

Prayer - Write out a prayer.

Father God, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit. I am just so in awe right now. And I am so grateful. I feel like today you showed me a depth to your sacrifice that I wasn’t aware of. Please, teach me if I am thinking in error. Please guide me to grow further in my understanding of your love for me. Help me to grow in my love and understanding of You as You always do. Thank you for humbling me further today, Lord Jesus. I fear I will never understand all that you have done for us, but I am so grateful for You. I thank you Lord. I love you Lord. In the name of Jesus do I pray, Amen.

-kenneth lee

Matthew 7 - 8.1.24

Matthew 7:24-27

S -  24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

O – Here we read about the parable of two builders. Jesus teaches the importance of building our house on solid ground.  We’re all building our lives on something. When everything is going well and life is great, a weak or shaky foundation won’t reveal itself. But how often is everything going great?! In MY world, and probably yours too..... stress, anxiety, problems, and struggles come at us almost daily, if not hourly. I’ve been working with the hourly the past couple months. Those are the times when the winds are really blowing and the rain is beating down on our houses. Those are also the times when we will become aware of just how firm our foundation is – or isn’t.

A - The “house” we are building is a metaphor for our whole lives. It represents our faith, our jobs, our relationships, our health, etc.  The entire house must rest on a solid foundation, not just a few parts.  It’s very easy for us to compartmentalize our lives without even being aware of it.  Instead of an organic whole, our lives look more like colorful pie charts with hard lines dividing the sections.

We go to church on Sundays, and we may even participate in a weekly Bible study or small group.  A daily quiet time of study and prayer is part of our routine.  We feel like that “slice of our pie” is strong.  We’ve checked the boxes, we are “doing fine” there.  And then we consciously or unconsciously leave Jesus in His pie slice. We move on to our vocational slice, our parenting slice, or our recreational slice, and leave our faith completely out.  It’s as though we don’t think Jesus has anything to do with those areas. But He has everything to do with them!

Some troubles are small, persistent and annoying. Some are more troublesome. And some storms are swift, unexpected, and overwhelming. How we pass through the storms is the difference between a life that stands on God’s foundation and one that collapses in on itself. There is no comparison between a life founded on the Word of God and a life floundering without it. (thewildolive.org)

Luke 6:48-49 (The Message) 48-49 “If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.”

One of my favorite songs and one I needed to hear today: https://youtu.be/noAVrvmZrUA?si=0X56rv4pfwsDvYpB

P – Jesus, as I have in recent months felt like a floundering idiot, I know that you are still with me and will keep me from sinking. Help me to continue to grow in my faith, to stay connected to You and Your Word, so that I do better than survive the daily frustrations and pains, and that I THRIVE under Your continued guidance. Help each of us to always reach for You, our anchor, our life vest, and our protector, in ALL storms of life. Thank you for reminding me that I am safe, that You are faithful, and You won’t fail me, and I AM going to make it through. May we have the foundation built that keeps us standing strong through anything so that we have the strength to lift up our brothers and sisters in need, as well as the ones who have yet to begin a relationship with you. As iron sharpens iron, help us to help others to begin to build their own foundation upon You.

- Crystal Flory