Summary:
Sometimes we unwittingly jail ourselves in the prison of the unforgiving. To motivate ourselves to forgive others, let us recall how Jesus has forgiven us of our astronomical debt. What is the debt others owe us compared to what we owed Him? Release others, and in so doing, release ourselves. Bear in mind the negative consequences of not forgiving, because God also won’t forgive you. When we find it hard to forgive others, we need the Holy Spirit to transform us. Perhaps when we do so, it could be then that we receive the Holy Spirit, as it might have been the obstacle.

Summary:
One way to rebuild our church is in terms of love. The Bible tells us to love to the extent of laying down our lives for one another, but sometimes we aren’t even willing to inconvenience ourselves for each other. Why are we not able to love to the point of sacrificing our lives? It might be because we don’t love God enough. Go back to the fundamentals: do we love God? If we do, we would love our brethren in church. What standard are we at in loving our brethren?

Summary:
May our prayer requests emulate Moses’ 4 prayer requests:

1. Teach us to number our days: Are we redeeming our time or wasting our time?
2. Have compassion on us: Repent of your sins, and He will relent from punishment.
3. Satisfy us early with Your unfailing love: The love of men fails, but God’s love lasts forever.
4. Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us: Afflictions are inevitable, but joy and peace from the Lord fills us with hope to press on!

Summary:
In Matt 27, we read of Jesus’ crucifixion through the lenses of three characters - Judas Iscariot, Pilate, and Barabbas.
For Judas, it was an unpardonable sin. For Pilate, he made an unsuccessful pardon. And for Barabbas, he experienced an unbelievable pardon.
Is our conscience one that does not allow us to sin? As children of light, do we always defend against wrong? And, do we remember the great love of Christ for us, that we keep ourselves pure?

Summary:
“The greatest of these is love”! For the church to be strong, love is needed in…

1. facing internal problems: members may attack or misunderstand each other because they lack the love to bear all things
2. facing external problems: members may incorrectly bear with heresies because they don’t understand love does not rejoice in iniquity!
3. leaders and church workers: it can be difficult to show love to those you’ve never seen face to face before, or to show love to those you’ve seen face to face but the more you love them, the less they love you. Paul showed love in both cases; let us emulate him.