“A Parable on Forgiveness” – Matthew 18:23-35

Matthew 18:23-35

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Use the HEAR method while spending time with today’s passage. 

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

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“How Many Times Do I Forgive?” – Matthew 18:21-22

Matthew 18:21-22

“Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Many times when we’re asked to do something difficult or something we don’t want to do, our first response is to find out the bare minimum required in order to still be in compliance. As a student, I always wanted to know how little I could get by with to make a grade that would keep me out of trouble. And let’s face it, forgiving others, as we discussed in yesterday’s devotional, is usually the last thing we want to do. It certainly goes against our nature. 

Peter was actually aiming for teacher’s pet status with his question. According to common rabbinical teaching, a person only needed to forgive his brother three times at most. Peter doubled that and added one for good measure. But Jesus’ response eclipsed Peter’s most generous suggestion. Jesus wasn’t giving a set number of times with his answer. Rather, he was implying that Peter was missing the point entirely. 
To be a follower of Christ (a disciple) means to live and love like him. And Jesus lived and loved with incredible generosity. Forgiveness is one of the most powerful forms of love that we can display. Later Paul would write to the Corinthian church explaining what godly love looks like, and one of love’s characteristics – it keeps no record of wrongs. 
So stop counting, and start living with the generous love that our savior has shown to each of us. 
While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions: 
  • On a scale of 1 to 10, how easy do you find it to forgive others? 
  • Do you have someone in your life who is a repeat offender? Do you find yourself keeping record of how many times you have to forgive them? 
  • In what areas have you been a repeat offender to God or to others? 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
Jon Price, Associate Pastor

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“How to Love Your Enemies” – Matthew 5:44

Matthew 5:44

“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”

What is the biblical definition of an enemy? In this text, an “enemy” is someone openly hostile, animated by deep-seated hatred. It implies irreconcilable hostility, proceeding out of a personal hatred, bent on inflicting harm.* Wow! An enemy is not just someone you dislike. It is someone who despises your very breath.

Many times, followers of Christ let this idea layaway to rot because loving those who want to harm you is impossible. However, if Jesus commands it of all his followers, then it is possible. Here are some thoughts that I hope will help as you deal with your enemies.

  1. If your enemy has hurt you and the pain is deep, pray that God will heal the hurt. Healing will release the power of the enemy over your life. 
  2. As the text says, pray for your enemy.
  3. Try to look beyond your hurt and see your enemy as an opportunity to show God’s glory through love. To love is to forgive and point to Jesus. Try to see your enemy as a human who needs redemption. 
  4. Loving enemies is a divine work. You need the armor of God. Spend lots of time alone with God on this matter so He can strengthen you. 
  5. You were an enemy of Christ, but Jesus loved you, and as a follower of Christ, you have that same Spirit of love living in you. 
  6. Loving your enemies does not mean you give them the keys to your life. It’s ok to set some boundaries.
  7. The enemy might be you. Pray that God would search you and reveal any hostile aggression in you. 
  8. You are a child of God and the real enemy of God and His family is already defeated. Any personal enemy of yours is being influenced by God’s enemy who has already lost. Your enemy will either go down with God’s enemy or change over to the winning side. Your prayer should be the latter option. 

Imagine the difference this command could make on the climate we are facing at this moment in the world. Families restored, hatred dissipated, and sinners free from the devil’s authority.

One more thing. If you can love your enemy, you can love anyone.

While using the HEAR method (see below) consider the following questions:

  • Which of the points above resonated most with you? Why? 
  • Who is an enemy in your life right now that you need God to help you love? 
  • Are there ways in which you might be your own worst enemy? 
  • Take some time to pray over this and about anyone who might be on your enemy list. 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?
* Enemy. In Strong’s exhaustive concordance. https://biblehub.com/greek/2190.htm  


Pastor Stephen Williams

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“For the Sake of Another” – 2 Samuel 9:1-13

2 Samuel 9:1-13

“And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

“Then the king called Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master’s grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons. And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.”

Use the HEAR method as you spend time with today’s passage. 

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

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“What is Man that You are Mindful of Him?” – Psalm 8

This week we have been following the rise of young David from shepherd to the anointed future king of Israel. 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, and 1 Chronicles give us the account of David’s life. But we also see a part of David that these narratives don’t fully catch – through his own writings, the Psalms. 73 of the 150 psalms are attributed to David and his transparent and personal poetry reveals times of pain, times of wonder and praise, times of teaching, and times of repentance. You’ve read about David this week, now spend some time reading with David. Imagine him sitting out with his sheep at night looking up at the stars. Reflect with him on the glory of God and the wonder that He would even think of us. 

Psalm 8 

“O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

“Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

“O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Jon Price, Associate Pastor

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“Just the Right Fit” – 1 Samuel 17:31-37

1 Samuel 17:31-37

“When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

A few days ago, my four-year-old, Boone, and I were kicking a ball around in the backyard. I accidentally kicked the ball past him, and it went under our deck. So, we ran over to see how far it went under and how we were going to get it back. I leaned down and reached under the deck for the ball, but it was just out of reach. I told Boone I would have to get a long stick to reach it because I could not fit. Without hesitation, he told me he could get it and before I could turn around, he was already crawling under the deck and crawling back out with the ball. He knew he could fit under the deck and he was confident he could get the ball back. He was the right shape and size for the job, and I was not.

In today’s scripture, we find David convincing Saul to let him go fight Goliath. I can only imagine what Saul was thinking. He was about to send David, a young man, who had never been in battle, to fight against a great warrior who was over 9 feet tall. And this was not just a battle to see who the better warrior was, it had the freedom of the Israelites and Philistines riding on it.

Have you ever been putting a puzzle together, and looked forever for a certain piece only to find out the piece was completely different than you had imagined? David was a piece of this puzzle that nobody thought would fit. When David saw the situation and heard Goliath taunting the Israelites, he knew he was the right “shape” for this piece of God’s story. All the training he had done against wild animals had brought him to this moment, and he was confident in the Lord’s power and faithfulness. He was confident that he was going to win.

I challenge you today to ask the Lord to reveal to you how you can use your shape to bring glory to his kingdom. Everyone’s shape is going to be a little different. But if we all recognize our shape, and work together for Christ, we can bring His kingdom here to earth and to those around us who desperately need Jesus.

While using the HEAR method as you spend time with today’s passage, consider this: 

  • How might God use your SHAPE (Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experiences) for His purposes? 
  • Is there somewhere at church, in the community, or around the world where you can POUR OUT for Christ? 
Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you? 
Explain – what does the passage mean? 
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today? 
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

Brice Alumbaugh

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