Matthew 18 - 4.2.25

Scripture

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35)

Observation

In the parable of the unforgiving servant, we see a man who owed the king ten thousand bags of gold. He deserved to be put in prison and have all his assets (and his family) to be liquidated, and the proceeds to be given to pay his debt. However, the king had mercy on him and forgave him. 

There was a man who owed him a hundred silver coins. He did not show mercy to his fellow servant. He forgot that the king had forgiven him his huge debt which was 600,000 times more than what his fellow-servant owed him! Instead, he threw him into prison till he could pay off his debt. His master heard of it, and cancelled the forgiveness of the debt that he had originally issued. He ordered that the unmerciful servant be put in jail and commanded to add torture to the jail sentence.

Jesus ended the parable with a grim warning that this is how our Heavenly Father will treat us unless we forgive our brother or sister from our heart (Matt 18:35). Forgiveness is a commandment, and not an option. If we want to be forgiven, we must forgive. Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us” (Luke 11:4). This includes the implicit caution that we won’t be forgiven if we won’t forgive those who sinned against us. Jesus made this very explicit when he said “if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matt 6:15).

Our forgiveness should not depend on whether the person who offended us has apologized, or has stopped hurting us. We need to forgive regardless. Jesus has told us to be wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove (Matt 10:16). If that person is continuing to harm us, we need to take steps to remove ourselves out of harm’s way. However, we are not allowed to hold on to unforgiveness or any form of grudge. We are not to allow a “root of bitterness” to spring up defiling us (Heb 12:15).

Application

Let us examine our hearts to see if we hold any unforgiveness towards anyone in our life. All of us who have lived on this planet for a while, are sure to have incidents where we have been harmed, injured and hurt by others. Let us check if we have truly forgiven the people who have hurt us. If the memories of hurt are coming up with associated anger and pain, there is still an iota of unforgiveness still remaining. Let us ask the Lord to help us to forgive them just as he forgave us. And forgive them in faith, not by our own ability, not by power, not by might, but by His Spirit (Zech 4:6). When we sincerely ask Him to help us, He will help us to forgive in Jesus’ name.

Prayer

Dear Father, thank you for forgiving my sins. You took away my sins and erased them by your blood, you washed me clean and justified me, as if I had never sinned. Help me to show the same forgiveness to others who have hurt me. Show me if I am harboring any unforgiveness in my heart. Please shine your light on the hidden parts of my heart and expose any unforgiveness that I am holding on to. Help me to let go of it completely. Help me to forgive that person without holding anything back. I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13), and you will give me the ability to do what you have commanded me to do when I seek you. My help comes from you my Father, who created the heavens and the earth (Psalms 121:1).  Lord, I forgive everyone who has hurt me in Jesus name. I set them free in my heart and refuse to hold any grudge against them. Thank you for helping me. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

- Asha Chacko George

Matthew 17 - 4.1.25

SCRIPTURE:  “Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, Because you have so little faith.  Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:19 - 21

OBSERVATION:  In this portion of Scripture, we see a man who brought his son to Jesus, pleading for Him to have mercy on his son who had seizures and was suffering greatly.  It got so bad, the son would often fall into the fire or into the water.  The man had originally gone to Jesus’ disciples and had asked them to pray, but when they did, they were not able to heal him.  So, the man went straight to Jesus, and… after Jesus rebuked the demon, the boy was instantly healed!

So what went wrong? What was keeping the disciples prayers from going through?  They had been given authority by God to pray for healing, but something was blocking their prayers from going through!  They had been given full access to God’s power, but Jesus told them that it was their lack of faith that kept them from receiving what they were praying for.  

Could it be that the disciples thought this prayer was too big to ask for?  Were they praying in their own strength?  Did they lack the faith to speak out and proclaim healing in Jesus’ name?  Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22).  

“To be fulfilled, our requests must be in harmony with God’s kingdom.  The stronger our belief, the more likely our prayers will be in line with God’s will, and then God will be happy to grant them. (Footnotes: 21:22).

APPLICATION:  The more we read God’s Word, the more faith we will have to believe that God’s power can move in and through us as we pray.

PRAYER:  I pray for mountain- moving faith!  I pray God will give me courage and boldness to pray for things that appear impossible to man.  I pray God will teach me to pray according to His will, and that He will use my answered prayers to demonstrate His wonder working power, and help me to point people to Jesus through them.

- Robin Orefice

1 Chronicles 21 - 3.31.25

Scripture

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭21‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV

“Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.””

Observation

In this passage, Satan incites King David to take a census of all the people in Israel. This is a sin that angered God and led to a plague that killed many of the Israelites. It is a consequence David faced for his pride and misplaced trust in human strength rather than God’s divine power.

Application

Pride comes before the fall.

“Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”-Proverbs‬ ‭16‬:‭18‬ ‭

It’s something David learned the hard way here. So when I first read about this story in 2 Samuel 25, (the same story of David taking a census), I thought to myself, “Why was it a sin for David to take a census?” But then as I further looked and studied about the passage, you see that it wasn’t the actual act of taking the census that angered God. It was David’s heart behind the whole thing. Up to this point, God had displayed His divine power throughout David’s life. He helped David defeat Goliath. He protected David from Saul and his enemies and most recently, God had given David victory after victory whenever he went out to battle. But, instead of acknowledging God’s divine power throughout each victory, David’s pride crept in. David saw each victory over his enemies as a result of the strength of his own armies that he assembled. He mistakenly forgot that it was God who gave him those victories over his enemies. It was a mistake that had severe consequences. But at the end of the day, David humbly seeks God and asks God for His forgiveness.

“Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing.”-1 Chronicles‬ ‭21‬:‭8‬ ‭

If we ever start getting a big head or too full of ourselves, let’s learn from David here. Let’s remember exactly WHO is responsible and the TRUE reason behind our success. Let’s remember that ALL our success and blessings come from God. 😊

Prayer

Father God thank You for blessing me with so much in life. You have given me a beautiful family, a great job, good health to do my job and even instilled in me the drive to do it to the best of my ability. Please forgive me for ever thinking it’s from my own hard work and my own doing. Thank You for the favor You have blessed me with throughout my life. May I never shy away from telling people it’s from You. May Your name be glorified. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽 

-Moses Gaddi