Psalm 81 - 10.23.24

Scripture

Psalm 81:8-10

Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
    if you would only listen to me, Israel!
You shall have no foreign god among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me.
 I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

Observation

God is calling us to remember the times He has intervened and answered our prayers and to understand that He, and only He, is our source.

Application

On Sunday, during Pastor Levi’s sermon, I was reminded of some of the times that God has intervened on my behalf when the problems seemed insurmountable. Taking the time to remember and thank Him for things He has done for us in the past builds our faith (and the faith of others when we share those stories!), strengthens our relationship with Him, and helps prepare us for trials that are yet to come. When we stop and remember how much He loves us and how He has already proved himself faithful, it is easier to remember to take our problems to Him and trust that He is in control.

Hebrews 4:16

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

But in Psalm 81 God also tells us to remember that He must be our only God. We can’t be searching for other things to fill our needs or put other things before Him. Jobs and relationships and possessions don’t meet our needs. He is the source of all we need. He says “open wide your mouth and I will fill it.”

Prayer

Father, thank you for all the times you have answered my prayers and come to my rescue. Help me to daily remember your goodness and faithfulness. Forgive me for the times I try to solve things on my own or run to others instead of running to you. Help me to humble myself and remember that every good gift comes from you. Build my faith. You are my God and the source of all I need. Amen

- Debbie Dunn

Romans 15 - 10.22.24

SCRIPTURE

Romans 15:5   May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

OBSERVATION

Paul is speaking to the church in Rome and speaks to us wholeheartedly being not only filled in our walk with the Lord Jesus, as Christians, but filled with care and concern for others. Pointing out Jesus as the example, Jesus ALWAYS put others first. As is stated in Romans vs 3:

“For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

APPLICATION

Our hope is in Jesus Christ.  What He endured as the promised Messiah is unfathomable.  HE IS THE GOOD NEWS and the GREAT ENCOURAGER!!  We are left with HIS Holy Spirit as our guide and comforter.  Our HOPE is in His words and we are on fire to pour out this hope and encourage others when we see the needs and the trials they are going through.  AND of importance, at least to me, is to recognize when I am being CRITICAL of others and CHANGE to see them as Jesus does.  And encourage them.  And claim the word ENDURANCE.

PRAYER

Lord, when I read these scriptures and I think of all You and the disciples went through and the people who know you today because of YOUR ENDURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT given to these twelve men to carry on your work of salvation, I fall on my face with love and humble gratitude and tears.  Thank you, Father!

From these twelve men after Jesus was resurrected:

2022 statistics of people who Identify as a Christian in the world with a 1.17 percent growth rate, almost 2.56 billion people will identify as a Christian by the middle of 2022. By 2050, that number will top 3.33 billion.

Lord, today let me/each of us review our walk in this life and Lord, give us your encouraging words for others and if there is any one we feel critical of let us remember a previous teaching of Pastor Levi, Amen!

Luke 6:41-42

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye

- Charleen Zakarian

Romans 14 - 10.21.24

Scripture

Romans 14:21 

“It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.”

Observation

Paul is talking about Christian liberty and not using our freedoms as a means to make another brother or sister in the faith stumble (based on individual conscience). For example, some of the meat that the believers ate were apparently sacrificed to idols. The believers who did not eat the meat felt that it shouldn’t have been eaten because it was sacrificed to idols and therefore, unclean. (Drinking wine was also mentioned, as unclean for some believers, but clean for others—that’s still a matter of dispute today!)

Verse 5 is another matter in the church that Paul had to address, which is also current to today. It had to do with thinking that one day was more sacred than another day, while some believers believed that all days were alike! That reminds me of the Sabbath. Some people think that it must be Sunday, while others think it should be Saturday, yet others treat all days alike, so it could be any day in the week! 

Paul says, “Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food (Verse 5).” Basically, the church of God and our relationship with our brothers and sisters in the faith should not be destroyed over secondary issues! 

Application

Our liberties should be used to build each other up, not tear each other down. (David Guzik on enduringword.com)

We all have liberties in the faith. Based on Scripture, that includes what we eat, what we drink (aka alcohol) and what day we consider holy. Regardless of our liberties in the faith, we are not called to be judgmental towards someone who takes a differing stance than we do on these issues. In verse 22, it says, “So whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God.” 

There are so many other secondary issues that have caused division among brothers and sisters in the faith. At the end of the day, we need to operate in love towards each other and humbly serve one another in love by what we choose to do with our “freedoms.”

“For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.” (Verses 17-18)

Prayer

Dear Lord, I know that the enemy uses so many tactics to separate Christ followers and the Church. Many of these are secondary issues, unrelated to You, salvation or sin. I pray that we would not judge one another based on what we believe, but rather serve each other humbly in love and consider each other better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). Please reveal to me how I could better serve my brothers and sisters in Christ. May I always use my freedoms to build others up, instead of tear them down. Amen.

-Michelle Gaddi