Matthew 20 - 8.20.24

SCRIPTURE:  Matthew 20:1-16  "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.  About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing.  He told them, "You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right."  So they went.  He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.  About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around.  He asked them, "Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?"  "Because no one has hired us", they answered.  He said to them, "You also go and work in my vineyard.  When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, "Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.  The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius.  So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more.  But each of them also received a denarius.  When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. " These who were hired worked only one hour", they said, "and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day".  But he answered one of them, "I am not being unfair to you, friend.  Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?  Take your pay and go.  I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.  Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money?  Or are you envious because I am generous?  So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

OBSERVATION:  In this parable, God is the landowner, and the workers represent believers.  This parable is about salvation, and God's kingdom of grace.

Naturally the workers who were hired at the beginning of the day expected to receive more wages than the workers who were hired at the end of the day.  That makes sense to us, but God rewards and blesses everyone according to His will and good pleasure, not according to what we deserve!   The landowner did what he had promised each of them; they were all to receive a denarius for a days work.  Even though it didn't seem right to the workers, the landowner explained that he had been completely fair to all he had promised to pay.  

APPLICATION:  God rewards us according to Who He is, not according to who we are.  We are all given the same reward regarding heaven.  Jesus paid the full price for all of us to receive God's mercy and grace, and for us to have our sins forgiven, and to receive eternal life.  No matter if we've been a Christ follower for decades or only seconds; everyone who has put their faith in Jesus is able to receive God's gift of eternal life.  All believers who faithfully serve the Lord will receive an equal inheritance regardless of when we were "hired". 

Once we enter heaven we will be rewarded crowns according to the time we spent allowing God to work through us to achieve the good works of our life.  We will acknowledge God's sovereignty by casting crowns at His feet while we worship Him in heaven.  These crowns are:

THE CROWN OF VICTORY, (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

THE CROWN OF REJOICING (Phil 4:1)

THE CROWN OF LIFE,  (James 1:12, Revelation 2:10)

THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS:  (2 Timothy 4:8)

THE CROWN OF GLORY (1 Peter 5:4) 

PRAYER:  

I thank God for the gift of salvation, and for the rewards that He will hand to His faithful servants as our eternal inheritance in Christ.  I pray I will not store up for myself treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but my heart will be centered around God's eternal kingdom.  (Matthew 6:19-21).

- Robin Orefice

Psalm 28 - 8.19.24

Scripture

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭28‬:‭7‬ ‭NLT

“The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.”

‬‬

Observation

In the beginning of this psalm, David is crying out to God for help. David pleads to God to not punish him unfairly with the wicked. David yearns for God to rescue him from his troubles. Then starting in verse 6, David gives thanks to God for answering his prayers. David’s response is to trust in God wholeheartedly. He no longer experiences fear. Instead, David has peace because of God’s faithfulness. These are all reasons why David wrote this psalm, along with many others. He wanted to give God ALL his praise and worship!

Application

God turns our trials into triumph.

David, the man that we all know as “the man after God’s own heart”, was no stranger to trials in his life. From fighting a literal GIANT, to being on the run because many people wanted him dead, to the heartache of losing a baby, David had experienced it all. But through all of his life’s ups and downs, one thing remained constant…David’s relationships and love for God. David didn’t allow life’s tough moments to break him. Instead, David trusted God. He cried out to him regularly and David found out firsthand of God’s faithfulness. God turned David’s trials into triumph, which caused David to write so many beautiful psalms/songs about God’s goodness.

So I want to encourage anyone out there that may be going through a rough patch right now. DO NOT GIVE UP! Look up! Seek God wholeheartedly the way David did. Tell Him your troubles and ask Him for help. God’s Will may not be to remove us from the situation, but rather give us the strength and endurance to sustain us through it. At the end of the day, if we don’t give up, and we stand strong in our faith, it will build our faith and make us even stronger for it. Try it and see. Allow God to turn your trial into a triumph. Allow Him to turn those tests into testimonies. See what David saw and KNOWS. And that is God is good and faithful. ❤️😊

“For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.” -Psalms‬ ‭100‬:‭5‬ ‭

Prayer

Father God, You are so good and faithful. I pray that others who do not yet know You may see just how good and faithful You really are. I pray that You may draw them to You. I pray You may soften their hearts, and open their ears, so they may hear Your calm, still voice calling them into a relationship with You. I pray they accept that invitation. I pray that they may put their faith and trust in You. May they experience Your goodness and faithfulness the way that David had, and the way that I have. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽

-Moses Gaddi

Matthew 18 - 8.16.2024

Scripture - Pick one verse that stood out to you.

Matthew 18:32 - 35

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Observation - What about this verse stands out to you?

The ending to a parable of Jesus describing a story about an unmerciful servant, who was granted mercy by his master, only to turn right around and behave wickedly to somebody in his debt.

I have of late thought often of various family members that moved on and away from family holding on to so much bitterness and anger inside their heart. I always seem to arrive at the same question-thought towards the end of my reminiscence, “Was all that anger worth it?”

Application - How will you apply this to your life?

While several of the themes of this parable are mercy and forgiveness towards brothers and sisters in Christ, I could not stop thinking about forgiveness and mercy within the context of family and…coworkers. 😁

I felt the Holy Spirit reminding me of an incident involving a speeding coworker and my daughter who was driving me while we were all on the way to work. And low and behold as I searched my heart I found a root of bitterness and anger which led me to ask myself, “Was all that anger worth it?”

Prayer - Write out a prayer.

I am so amazed by your mercy, Lord Jesus. I am so amazed by your heart. Thank you for giving us the blueprint on how we ought to deal with brothers and sisters in Christ. Help me to practice this heart-concept Lord. I pray to You Lord, that you would help me to let go of any anger or bitterness that I may have harbored towards a brother or sister in Christ. I pray that I would let go of any anger I may have toward my family and friends. I pray Lord, that I would not look at anyone with bitterness or anger friend or foe, coworker or not, whoever you decide to put on the same path that I happen to tread on this wonderful earth you have created, may I, in turn, extend a portion of the mercy and grace that You have extended to all of us. In the name of Jesus do I pray, amen.

-kenneth lee