Short Reflection from Matthew 1-10

 [Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (KD) as a daily reading update (reflection) from each chapter of the Bible]

[21:12, 18/10/2021] S.R:

This time I will post only 3 lines for each passage.

If I am smart, 2 lines.

If I happen to be very smart, just 1 line.

[21:13, 18/10/2021] S.R: 👆 Even this is a three-line post! 😂😎👍

 

[22:07, 19/10/2021] S.R: 𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝟙:𝟙𝟡

"And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly."

Let's love our fiancé, friends, and fellow Christians like this. Love covers the multitude of sins but does not tolerate sin. So, Joseph was planning to divorce her!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝟚:𝟙𝟞

"Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had carefully determined from the magi."

Herod was a fool to think he can fool the Magi. Would the Magi betray the King of the Universe just to please this arrogant wicked puny Herod? Certainly Not!

Like the Magi, let's not fear man to adore God!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝟛:𝟠

"Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance"

Repentance is a radical change, enough to be noticed!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝟜:𝟚𝟛

"Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people."

Jesus' ministry is summarized by three descriptions of actions: Teaching, Proclaiming, and Healing.

It may well be understood as Discipleship, Evangelism, Counselling to our application!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝟝:𝟙𝟞

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

Some hesitate to say they are Christians because of persecution.

Others hesitate because they are ashamed of their not-so-good deeds!

May this verse motivate us to be courageous and holy!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝟞:𝟙𝟙-𝟙𝟚

"Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors."

Actually, the Lord's Prayer is dangerous. We really don't like that and never mean it when we recite.

It's a prayer for daily bread but we want to have everything until we die, not just for today, tomorrow, next week, next, next year, or 10 years.  One of the reasons why people move from the private sector to the government sector in Manipur is because of the job security that will last till retirement!

Also, it’s a prayer about forgiveness. If you don't forgive, basically you are saying, please don't forgive me, Lord.

 

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝟟:𝟟

"𝘼𝙎𝙆, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

A – 𝘼𝙨𝙠

S – 𝙎𝙚𝙚𝙠

K – 𝙆𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙠

 

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝟠:𝟛

"Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "𝕀 𝕒𝕞 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘; 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕖𝕕." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."

This is our God. Let's remember His mercy in our prayer life! Recall this in your prayer, prayer meeting, and public prayer, whenever necessary!

 

[13:15, 27/10/2021] S.R: There is an early church confession, a biblical one, which says, "Believe in the name of Lord Jesus, and you will be saved!"

"In the name" means the totality of Jesus: His person and His work, and His teachings because true faith works work; it bears fruit. If I believe a bus can take me to a place, I just board a bus and indeed, it takes me to that place.

There's no minimal Christian or mere Christian; it's everything, it demands everything of us. There's no one foot in, one foot out; we are wholesomely Christ's or wholesomely devil's

 

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 𝟡:𝟚

"And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.’"

We often need to remind ourselves of this: God's grace is greater than our vilest sin!

 

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕨 10:29-30

"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

This is concerning the persecution, but the protection of God for the people of God is the same. Nothing, yes not even an ant under the leaf of a fallen tree on a thick forest floor of an unexplored island moves left or right without the knowledge of God.

The hair falls when you sleep, take a bath, or take a comb, they are all under the supervision of God.

Be calm, cool, and comforted!

[04:52, 30/10/2021] S.R: —𝓐 𝓝𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓸𝓷 𝓪 𝓗𝓸𝓼𝓹𝓲𝓽𝓪𝓵 𝓕𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓻—

If one of the places you would want to avoid the most to spend your night is the hospital bed, spending a night on the hospital floor will not be that pleasant.

Though I had a better space, a better mat, and a better pillow than most of the people sleeping on the floor, the beeping sound of a machine used by the other patient and the light that hit my eyes had robbed my sleep throughout the night.

I would rise up from time to time and try to sleep from all angles, but couldn't. I would just like to throw away those machines, but wouldn't. In fact, I would make the light brighter and the noise louder if it would bring relief to that patient struggling for a breath.

What is my sleep compared to his struggle to breathe? 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗! Every one of us someday may have to spend a night in a hospital. Though it's the least pleasant sight, it makes one more Christ-like i.e., to have compassion for the sick and the wounded! And if a vile and sinful man I am, could have compassion on these sick people, surely God must be compassionate. And indeed, He is for He has written in 𝕄𝔸𝕋𝕋ℍ𝔼𝕎 𝟙𝟘: 𝟛𝟘 that even the hairs of our head are all numbered by God. Nothing is beyond God's supervision!