Tagged: Bible Study

“The harvest is good but laborers are scarce. Beg the Harvest Master to send out laborers to gather His harvest.”—Matthew 9:37-38 Throughout our lives, we work hard for many years. We can work for the building of God’s kingdom (see Mt 6:33) and the gathering of His harvest (Mt 9:38), or we can work for ourselves. “You are not to spend what remains of your earthly life on human desires but on the will of God. Already you have devoted enough time to what the pagans enjoy” (1 Pt 4:2-3). “You should not be working for perishable food but for...

“I will espouse you to Me forever: I will espouse you in right and in justice, in love and in mercy.” —Hosea 2:21 Our only vengeance as followers of Jesus Christ is to love more and serve more, especially those who are harming us. This is an imitation of Jesus, Who died to save those who kept hurting Him. When St. Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus did not punish Peter or take revenge on him. Instead, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” Jesus responded to injury by loving even more. This is how Jesus responds to us. We...

“No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and in that way both are preserved.” —Matthew 9:17 Many Christians have had an outpouring of the new wine of fasting, gifts of the Spirit, Christian community, evangelization, etc. The aftermath of some of these experiences was not good. People’s lives were disrupted and the new wine lost (Mt 9:17). These people vowed they would never go to another prayer meeting, publicly share their faith, get very involved in church, etc. Because they would not change their lifestyle, that is, their wineskin, they swore off the new wine. They found the old...

“Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam, king of Israel: ‘Amos has conspired against you here within Israel; the country cannot endure all his words.’” –Amos 7:10 Are you defensive when corrected? If someone corrects you, do you make like a porcupine and stick out your quills? Is your first reaction to correction to justify yourself? It is natural to react to correction in this way. However, if we have been baptized into the Holy Trinity, we can live supernaturally. By our baptismal grace, we can react to correction with thanksgiving, humility, and growth in holiness. Being corrected...