Matthew 8 - 7.8.26

Scripture

“Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2)

Observation

This story of the leprous man who approached Jesus is recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Leprosy was a highly feared, contagious and incurable disease of that time. Those who had leprosy were ostracized, and not allowed to mix with society. They were outcast and thrown out of their families and homes. Under the Levitical law, they had to live outside of society, and had to cover themselves and cry out “unclean, unclean” so that no one would even accidentally touch them. People would pass to the other side of the road if they see a leper, just to avoid any accidental contact.

It was in those days, that a leper found the courage to approach Jesus. He knelt before him and asked, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean”. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man (Matt 8:3). Jesus could have just said, “yes I am willing, be clean”. He didn’t have to touch a man considered untouchable, with open wounds all over his body. Jesus loved Him. This was one of his children for whom He had come to die. Moved with love and compassion, He touched the leper. Then he said, “I am willing, be clean”. Immediately he was healed.

Jesus’s encounter with this leper was so remarkable and significant on so many levels that three of the four gospel writers decided to include an account of this!

Application

The leperous man seeked the will of God. He was not sure if it was God’s will for him to be healed. To know the will of God, we need to know the written word of God. Today we know that it is God’s will to heal us, because it is written in the Bible. When Jesus died on the cross, he suffered unimaginable wounds and stripes - and the Bible says by his wounds (stripes), we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24). Just like how Jesus's death on the cross brought us salvation, it also brought us healing.

Do not be unwise but know the will of God, the Bible says (Eph 5:17). When we are at a crossroad of life, or at a fork in the road, it is always wise to seek God’s will before choosing a path based on our wisdom. God has promised to direct our steps. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths (Prov 3:5-6, NKJV). God has promised to show us the next steps, and direct our paths if we trust him and not lean on our own understanding, and seek him in all our ways.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal 5:22). The first attribute of the fruit of the Spirit is “love”. Let us love like Jesus loved. Let us love the unlovable, the forsaken, and the orphan and the widow, and those who are on the fringes of society. Let us love not in word, but in deed. We read in 1 John 3:17-18, “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God's love be in that person? Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions”.

Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your love for me. Thank you for loving me when I was unlovable. Thank you for loving me, just like you loved the leprous man. Thank you for reaching out and touching and healing me. I want to be like you, Lord. I want to love those who you bring into my life, the way you love them. Please help me to do that. I don’t want to be unwise but know the will of God (Eph 5:17). Help me to seek your will and follow your will for my life. I pray that I may be filled with the knowledge of your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (Col 1:9). Please direct my steps. In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.

- Asha Chacko George

Psalm 119 - 7.7.26

SCRIPTURE:  Psalm 119:145-152

“I call with all my; answer me Lord, and I will obey Your decrees.  I call out to You; save me and I will keep Your statutes.  I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your Word.  My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promises.  Hear my voice in accordance with Your love; preserve my life, Lord, according to Your laws.  Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from Your laws.  Yet, You are near, Lord, and all Your commands are true.  Long ago I learned from Your statutes that You established them to last forever.”

OBSERVATION:  The author of Psalm 119 is unknown, but it is evident that whoever this was, he wrote it to celebrate God and His Word.  He expressed his ambition to live according to God’s laws, commands, precepts, and instructions.  He mentioned how he lost sleep by getting up early to meditate on God’s Word.  He prioritized God’s Word until it became his delight, which was not a burden, but a blessing. 

APPLICATION:  God’s Word should become a blessing to us; not a burden that is something we read just to check off a box! The author trusted that this valuable treasure would give him support, bring him correction, and give him confidence and security.  The more he applied it, the more he took delight in it.  He prioritized it even over his sleep.

PRAYER:  Thank You God for giving me Your Word, which is faithful and true!  I thank You that Your Word is my source of security, peace and joy. Thank You for helping me want to study and meditate on Your Word daily so that my faith will continue to grow, and that as I consistently apply it, it will renew my mind, transform my life, and lead to sweet satisfaction and fulfillment.

- Robin Orefice

Matthew 6 - 7.6.26

S - Matthew 6:25-27

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body. what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.”

O - This is a tough one for me.  Jesus tells us not to worry about physical life, but when you worry, so much anxiety creeps in and fractures our ability to make good decisions and degrades faith.  Jesus tells us how God has already given us life and a physical body, and we can trust that He will take care of the smaller things.  In these scriptures, He explains the  irrationality of worry.  There are no positive results of worry.  No return on our investment.

A -  I am personally going to weigh the options on how this worry is going to cost me in regards to keeping faith and trading if for fruitless anxiety.

P -  Lord I pray that you intervene when I become anxious and I pray for your wisdom in all situations.  Please remind me how ineffective it makes us when we devote time to an unworthy cause.  I also pray for calm in the midst of the storm. Amen

- Brian Moen