Psalm 38 - 9.2.24

Scripture

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Psalms‬ ‭38‬:‭18‬ ‭NLT

“But I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done.”

Observation

In this psalm David is expressing his utter misery because of the guilt of his sin. David feels because of his sin, God’s hand is moving against him. He uses imagery of illness, weakened bones, overwhelming burdens, rotting flesh, fever, and loss of strength and relationships due to his sins. Bu,t David doesn’t lose hope. He confesses his sins to God. He shows true remorse and repentance. That is why David continues to fight on. He knows God is a forgiving and loving God, so David waits patiently for God to rescue him.

Application

Worldly Sorrow vs. Godly Sorrow

Worldly Sorrow is basically saying sorry, but still going ahead and continuing with that bad behavior. It’s more of a “sorry for being caught” attitude. But Godly Sorrow leads to conversion and a true change of heart. It is that Godly Sorrow that David shows here in this passage that God desires from each of us.

“The kind of sorrow God wants makes people decide to change their lives. This leads them to salvation, and we cannot be sorry for that. But the kind of sorrow the world has will bring death.” -2 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭10‬ ‭ERV‬‬

David knew he messed up. The guilt of his sins were weighing him down and God’s hand that once blessed him, is now punishing him. David knew what he had to do. He had to turn to God, confess his sins, ask God for His forgiveness, and then turn away from those sins. And once David did that, it was like a HEAVY weight was lifted from his shoulders. David’s sorrow turned into hope. 😊 He knew God’s grace, mercy, and love endures forever. ❤️

“The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” -‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭8‬-‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” -1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So what are we waiting for?! Confess our sins to God today. Turn away from our sins and seek His ways instead. Then, we will experience that heavy burden of shame and guilt lifted from our shoulders. We can live our lives with joy and hope, KNOWING that our sins are forgiven because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross. ❤️

Prayer

Father God, thank You for your kindness, goodness, mercy, and grace. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, who willingly died for my sins. Thank You for being so patient with me, a sinner. I ask and pray that You please forgive me of my sins. Give me that Godly Sorrow in my heart, which leads to repentance. May Your Holy Spirit reveal to me any areas of my life where I may have unconfessed sins so that I may seek Your forgiveness and repent from them too. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽

-Moses Gaddi

Matthew 28 - 8.30.24

SCRIPTURE:

"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." Matthew 28:5-7

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).

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!

APPLICATION:

Thank You God for revealing Yourself to me. Thank you for the ones you sent to share the gospel with me. I can remember the joy that filled my heart the day I heard the Good News, and that my sins were forgiven! Help me to be a good witness of Your love so that as I partner with you, many more will come to know You.

PRAYER:

I pray for boldness and confidence to share the gospel with those You put in my path. Jesus, You have risen from the dead, and I can attest to that because You are now living in my heart! You alone have the power to save the lost! Because of that, I pray that I will be willing, ready, and available to share the Good News about Your great love.

- Robin Orefice

Matthew 27 - 8.29.24

Matthew 27:19-26

S – 19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”

26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

O – In this chapter the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. He was given to Pilate who was the governor and who interrogated Jesus personally. No one was able to get Jesus to answer their questions, but Pilate didn’t even need to hear from Jesus to know that he was innocent. His wife had said to him, “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man.” And Pilate himself could not find one crime he was guilty of. It was during the time of The Jewish Passover Festival, and it was custom to release one prisoner that the crowd would choose. The crowds were asking for Barabbas. He was guilty. He had taken part in a rebellion against the Roman government and was a robber, insurrectionist and a murderer. Pilate, knowing Jesus was innocent, attempted several times to get the people to choose Jesus but in the end he was more concerned with his job status and being liked by the people. His job was already in jeopardy because the Jews had threated to lodge a formal complaint against him for his stubborn flouting of their traditions. He chose to save his earthly bacon and not focus on what was to come of his eternity. He chose to make the people happy rather than doing what he knew was right.  (Sound familiar-think elections! But I digress) He chose to do the wrong thing to help himself!

A – We are living in a selfish world, with selfish people, who often do what they want to get ahead and care not for what may happen to anyone else in the situation. Pilate tried to get out of owning his responsibility in the killing of Jeus, which was a pretty huge deal! However, “washing” your hands of a situation does not in any way absolve you of your guilt, or your participation in it. I truly believe this is a huge problem for a lot of people, but especially our younger generation. There is a lack of any ownership to the messes created in our/their lives and we all need to own our stuff! We need to take responsibility and not make excuses for WHY we needed to fudge on those taxes, or run that red light because we were late, or lie to the boss about botching up a job at the office. God can certainly give us opportunities for the ways out of tough situations, but also sometimes, He is simply walking us THROUGH something and hopefully we are learning and growing in the process. The saying “if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it,” is not actually in the Bible. However, as believers, we are to trust in the Lord for His care and protection. If we have ended up in a situation of our own creation, we need to repent and ask God for help. Only He can bring you out of it and back to higher ground. We often reap the consequences for our part in a bad situation, but if we OWN it, we will come out of it refined and more like Jesus. And yes, that can be really difficult to do. But if we say we are Christians and we want to be more like Jesus, we have to put in the work and DO the difficult things!

Heed the warnings sent your way! I would venture to say there are always warning signs, even if just the yucky feelings we have when we are about to do something wrong. Pilate certainly saw many red flags. He knew that the religious leaders were simply jealous of a teacher who was more popular with the people than they were. He ignored them all and he reaped what he sowed.

P – Lord I pray today for all of us as your Body of Christ, to look deeply at our own lives and see where we are taking liberties to make ourselves look/feel better. I pray you would point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life (Psalm 139:24). Lord make us strong in our faith, strong in our courage to confess the areas where we are not owning our stuff and courage to ask for help when needed. Give us the courage needed to come clean with YOU as well as anyone in our lives who may be able to help walk us through those things, and help us be open to correction, teaching and discipline where needed. Lord help us to know when we are trying to “wash” our hands of a situation just because it may seem easier in the moment. Help us to do the difficult things needed to grow in our faith and as good human beings!

In Jesus’ name I pray.

- Crystal Flory