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

Matthew 13 - 3.28.25

Scripture: Matthew 13:16-17

16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Observation

Jesus was sitting in a boat speaking to all the crowds of people on the shore. He told them the Parable of the Sower. The idea behind the word parable is “to throw alongside of.” It is a story thrown alongside the truth intended to teach. Parables have been called “earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.” (Enduring Word) Thereby the things of God were made plainer and easier to those willing to be taught, and at the same time more difficult and obscure to those who were willingly ignorant. (Christianity.com)

Matthew 13:15 - For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.

The Parable of the Sower talks about four different heart conditions.

1.    The Hardpacked Soil – People who don’t understand the teaching of the Kingdom of God and the evil one steals it away.

2.    The Rocky Soil – People who receive the word gladly, but fall away under pressure because there isn’t any root.

3.    The Thorny Soil – People who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke out the word.

4.    The Good Soil – People who hear the Word and understand it and bear much fruit.

Application

What condition is your heart in? Is your heart made of good soil? Jesus tells us that we are blessed because our eyes can see how God is working and our ears are tuned in to hear the Father’s voice and to understand the Word. So many people allow their heart to become calloused, through trials, hurts and disappointments and they end up blaming God and others. If we run to Jesus when life gets hard and allow Him to mold us into His prize possessions, not letting any bitterness in our heart, we can used for His Kingdom.

Prayer

Dear Lord, Help us to humbly come to you with a broken and contrite heart so you can mold us and make us into Your hands and feet in this earth. Help us to be people who run after you and your Word. Holy Spirit help us keep our hearts soft and pliable, full of love, so we are sensitive to hear your voice.

 Matthew 13:8 & 9 – Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop-a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

We pray in Jesus’ name! 

- Michelle Craig

Matthew 12 - 3.27.25

S - At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” Matthew 12:1-2

O – The Pharisees had established 39 categories of actions forbidden on the Sabbath, based on interpretations of God’s law and on Jewish custom. Harvesting was one of those forbidden actions. By picking wheat and rubbing it in their hands, the disciples were technically harvesting, according to the religious leaders. Jesus and the disciples were picking grain because they were hungry, not because they wanted to harvest the grain for a profit. They were NOT working on the Sabbath. The Pharisees, however, could not, and did not, want to see beyond their laws’ technicalities. They had no room for compassion, and they were determined to accuse Jesus of wrongdoing.

A - Although there is so much to share about in this chapter, these two verses always stop me in my reading as I do a big eye roll. What in the world?! This feels ludicrous and seems the epitome of looking for sin that isn’t there. Is this ALL they could fault them for? This was the best they could do? Could they not see how ridiculous this sounded?!

The seventh day is to be a holy day for God. That doesn’t mean that a person cannot lift any objects, but it does mean that a person must not labor at their job. What the disciples were doing did not break the Old Testament law. It is clearly stated in Deuteronomy….

Deuteronomy 23:24-25 - 24 If you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. 25 If you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to their standing grain.

We should never add or subtract from the Bible. We must be careful not to add our own traditions onto the teaching of God’s Word. These traditions can cause bondage and legalism instead of a heart to serve God. At the same time, be very careful not to judge others for things which the Bible doesn’t condemn. We could very easily turn people AWAY from God by doing these things, rather than draw them into the loving relationship with Him that He desires.

1 John 5:3 - 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.

The Sabbath was made for man. This day was not meant as a yoke of bondage where people would sneak around scared of breaking one of the thousands of rules on this day (the Rabbis had come up with many additional rules governing every area of life including how many steps you could take on the Sabbath and forbidding spitting on dirt because when the dirt turned to mud that is work.) The purpose of this day was to rest from their work and spend time learning about and worshiping God as a family and country. How could a person ever rest it he had to count every step he took during the day, weigh out everything he carried to make sure it wasn’t too heavy, and look before spitting, etc.? These kinds of rules crush people and turn them off from following God. But imagine the other way. Knowing they weren’t supposed to work in the fields, gather grain, or plow, the people could truly rest. They could put aside all of their worries for one day and just enjoy each other and the Lord. God’s commands are not burdensome, but ours very well could be. (studyandobey.com)

P – Lord, forgive me for the times that I let my busyness get in the way of taking time for a Sabbath with you. Help me, and anyone else struggling to rest in you, remember what the Sabbath is, and what its intended purpose is for. Help us to set aside a day to just soak in Your presence and Your love….to spend time worshiping you, breaking bread with our brothers and sisters and sharing ALL of the amazing ways in which you are actively caring for us, loving us, protecting us and providing for us. YOU are worthy of all of our praise and You are all that we need. Help us to remember that when we find ourselves being too busy to put aside a day to rest in You. May Your commands fill us with peace as we know your Heart for us is always GOOD and that when we take the time to really BE with you, you honor that time and we have no need to worry about what is to come the next day. You are already going ahead of us to work those things out. Lord, thank you for the reminder that it is my privilege to spend time with you and that the time spent with you is NEVER wasted! Amen!

- Crystal Flory