Heavenhigh

Our Days Ordained!

# 21 2022 Dev. Psalm 139:16. Our Days Ordained! Read all of Psalm 139 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 139:16 “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Intro. Ps.138-145 are eight Davidic Psalms of Praise leading close to the end of the Psalter. The series is framed by two praise Psalms, Ps.138 praising God for answered prayer and Ps.145 praising God for His care of all of creation.

Psalm 139 is a prayer for God to examine our lives, our hearts and our soul. The prayer has four section: vs.1-6,7-12,13-18,19-24 each section highlights the main theme: God’s knowing and searching our lives, our thoughts, our very being.

Vs.1-6 “You have searched me, Lord…” God knows us though and through, where we have been, where we are going, what we are thinking, and what we will do. Not only does God know us, He is taking care of us, “You hem me in behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” We should be overwhelmed with God’s knowledge and care for us, for us as individuals it is personal, think about that.

Vs.7-12 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence. Those of us who follow Jesus, know there is no place on earth, in hell, or in heaven where God does not have access. Yet, there are so many people, even some who claim to have faith, thinking they can hide from God by not acknowledging God or by ignoring His Word, they think God is only in church. No, God is everywhere in the universe and we, the believers, are comforted, Amen!

Vs.13-18 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. Think about this process: first, how parents get pregnant in the first place, a metaphor for the relationship of Jesus Christ and the church, His bride. Second, the Holy Spirit joins that child at conception, children of believers are holy, but the Spirit joins every child, the Spirit gives life to all of God’s creation. Parents have been given the great privilege of participating, along with God, in His creation. It is therefore, that abortion is abhorrent and offensive to God and to true believers. Children are God’s gift to us: God, “your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” God has a plan and purpose for every child; “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! God has ordained all our days. Abortion, except for rape, incest and the life of the mother, disrupts God’s plan and isolates parents from the privilege of co-creation with God.

Vs.19-22 “If only you, God, would slay the wicked! The Psalmist despairs, because our “God is slow to anger,” God’s intention is to reconcile all of His people back to Himself, that is one of the main functions God has given His bride, the church. Believers, are able to identify with the Psalmist, but we must take on the mind, and the actions of Christ.

Vs.23-24 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” This closing prayer must be the prayer for all believers, they desire that all people on God’s good earth would breathe this prayer and put their trust in God our creator. Lead your people Lord Jesus,“in the way everlasting.” Amen!

God Among Us!

# 20 2022 Dev. Rev.21:3. God Among us! Read all of Rev. 21 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think and interact with. This is God’s story. Will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Rev.21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

Intro. These visions that John sees are not actual events but will and have come to pass at one time or another and will be repeated in increasing intensity until the end. The vision is put into the words of men so that those who believe will understand by the power of the Holy Spirit. What is being described here is from eternity to eternity. God, who is outside of time, operates in the eternal present, represents to us what is about to happen in time, as long as time lasts.

Rev. 21 is a description of the New Heaven and the New Earth, including the New Jerusalem as the bride of the Lamb, including a metaphoric description of the glory of God as described in the the city of God coming down from heaven.

Vs.1-4 is a preview of the chapter: “then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” This present world will pass away. While God is with us spiritually now, in the new order of the universe we will be physically present with God.

V.5 God: “I am making everything new!” This began the day Jesus was born, His birth and ministry changed everything and His salvation changed the present world and culminates in the new order of our physical presence with God.

Vs.6-8 He said to me; “it is done…” Jesus said that on the cross, that was the beginning of the end. For those who believe, they will be victorious. The unbelieving; those listed here, without repentance, will suffer the second death.

Vs.9-14 Here, the new Jerusalem is the bride of the Lamb. It is a metaphor for the Christ church relationship introduced in Eph.5: 25-33 highlighting: “God’s creation of man and woman in his image, male and female he created them.” God brought the woman to the man and He blessed them; “be fruitful and fill the earth.” Any other relationship is a violation of the created order.

Vs.15-21 The city is measured indicating perfection, and unbelievable value. This is how the church must be seen today; perfect, four square, valuable, loved and protected by God. Thank God for your church here on earth, build her up, cherish her, pray for her daily!

Vs.22-27 “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” The glory of God lights the city. Everyone will walk by God’s light, that is how it is today; God lights our lives, we walk by His light, the Word of God. Everyone written in the Book of Life will have access, the gates are never closed. As imperfect as things are now we should realize that we are in the city now, with complete access to God, prayer, protection by the Holy Spirit, His light, the Word, His love, forgiveness, declared righteous by Jesus. Praise be to God, we have arrived. Believe it. Thanks be to God!

God’s Compassion!

# 19 2022 Dev. Psalm 138:4. God’s Compassion! Read all of Psalm 138 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 138:6 “Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.”

Psalm 138 contains three stanzas of praise, with vs. 4-5 as the middle, calling for praise and the singing of praise on the earth.

Vs.1-3 “I will praise you, Lord…I will sing your praise. I will bow down… and I will praise your name.” Why? Because “for your unfailing love and your faithfulness”. How does the Psalmist know God so well? “when I called, you answered me,” You, O Lord, empowered me. Let us reflect on these three verses: Have you called on God this week? I know some of you have. Do we praise God as the Psalmist does when He answers? God always answers but in His time and place. Praise Him!

Vs. 4-5 “May all the kings of the earth praise you Lord…May they sing of the ways of the Lord.” My prayer today is that our leaders would walk the talk, that the faith they profess would actually guide their lives and decisions. That the Glory of our Powerful and Majestic God would overwhelm all of us, Amen.

Vs.6-8 Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.” God is always near, he is omnipresent and omnipotent, He sees us long before we are aware of Him. All His power comes to bear when it comes to those who belong to Him. “Your love, Lord, endures forever- do not abandon the work of your hands.” That is our prayer, God answers: We are the work of His hands, physically, His creation. We are the work of His hands, spiritually, His new creation in Jesus. God will not let us out of His sight, from now to evermore. Amen, Praise to our God!

The Book of Life!

# 18 2022 Dev. Rev.20:12. The Book of Life! Read all of Rev. 20 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think and interact with. This is God’s story. Will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Rev.20:12 “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life.”

Rev.20 is a chapter of Judgment, it is also a controversial chapter because of the different interpretations of the meaning of the thousand-year reign of Christ. A full review is beyond the scope of this devotional. The most common view is the “Premillennialists view: the thousand-years is literal, all believers who died are raised, the devil is bound, Christ will reign, add to that the “dispensationalists view”, meaning that Christ will reign from Jerusalem, the temple is rebuilt, Israel restored, for a time of peace and tranquility for a thousand-year on earth before the end. It is therefore that they call Israel the people of God. Reformed people call Christians Israel referring to the Old Test. and the New Test. Church. Further, Jesus, while on earth said we are in the last days: designating the thousand years from the time of Jesus’ incarnation to the time of His return.Our Lord reigns now, amen!

Vs.1-3 John, in a vision sees “an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand-years.” The names are familiar to us, the same names in Ch.12:9 are repeated here. After the thousand-years he will be released for a short time.

Vs.4-6 Now the vision is in heaven: “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge.” All believers, all those not deceived by the beast from the beginning of time to the time of Jesus’ return are resurrected spiritually into heaven. Scripture confirms this in many places but the most convincing is Jesus telling the thief on the cross next to him: “today you will be with me in paradise.” This is the first resurrection. “The second death has no power over them…they will reign with him for a thousand years.” I believe that is going on right now. Amen?

Vs.7-10 Back on earth: “when the thousand-years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations…” We get the impression that he is impotent, harmless when bound, but no, not the case, he is bound by a chain, he can’t get to you, but you can get to him, and many people do. There is a war going on right now, a spiritual war as well as physical wars. God is in control as we see in the vision “fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” That is what we pray for concerning all war, “and the devil was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur”.

Vs.11-15 Back to heaven: “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.” The dead stood in front of the throne, everyone that had died, all people were judged according to what they had done. All not written in the book of life are lost, all Christians would be lost if we relied on our works, but by God’s grace, his election and by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, our names are written in the book of life. Praise be to GOD!

The Book of Life!

Rev.20:12 “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life.”

Rev.20 is a chapter of Judgment, it is also a controversial chapter because of the different interpretations of the meaning of the thousand-year reign of Christ. A full review is beyond the scope of this devotional. The most common view is the “Premillennialists view: the thousand-years is literal, all believers who died are raised, the devil is bound, Christ will reign, add to that the “dispensationalists view”, meaning that Christ will reign from Jerusalem, the temple is rebuilt, Israel restored, for a time of peace and tranquility for a thousand-year on earth before the end. It is therefore that they call the people of God, Israel. Reformed people call Christians as Israel referring to the Old Test. and the New Test. Church. Further, Jesus, while on earth said we are in the last days: designating the thousand years from the time of Jesus’ incarnation to the time of His return.Our Lord reigns now, amen!

Captives

# 17 2022 Dev. Psalm 137:4. Captives! Read all of Psalm 137 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 137:4 “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?”

Intro. Ps. 120-137 is a series of Psalms that include 15 “songs of ascents.” Songs of ascents were sung at the temple by the Priests walking up the 15 steps entering the sanctuary, also sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem for the three feasts required, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, as well as during the return from Babylon back to Jerusalem. Ps’. of ascents ended with Ps.134.

Psalm 137 Is a lament, a complaint, about captivity of their own making. It is a three stanza Psalm, rededicating themselves to God and the place of worship of their God, Jerusalem. Can we identify with this lament? We have separated ourselves from God in many ways: we have failed to keep God’s precepts, we have not loved Him or others as we should, we have not completely depended on Him. God wants to bring us back to Himself, as He brought back His people so long ago.

Vs.1-3 “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remember Zion.” They remembered what they had lost, they understood that there was no way back. O, how we remember our freedom, before the problems of life set in: the addictions the broken relationships, the time lost, the missed opportunities! There is no way back.

Vs.4-6 “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” They were not to forget what they had lost, they were to pine after the worship lost, desire it, like life itself. This was an extreme event in the life of God’s people, something they were not likely to forget. Some of us are in a foreign place in our lives, not how we grew up, not like we ever imagined, not what we wanted, but here we are! There is a way out!

Vs.7-9 “Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell.” Remember, Lord, when we were lead astray, the day we became captive to sin, to the ways of the world. Rescue us, Lord, set us free, forgive us as you did your people long ago. “Put us on the rock that is higher than us” (Ps.61:1-5). Thank you Lord Jesus, for bringing us out of the captivity of our mistakes, out of the captivity of our self-will and into the peace of trusting you alone and placing us into your Kingdom now and for evermore, thanks be to God!

God Reigns

# 16 2022 Dev. Rev.19:6. God Reigns! Read all of Rev.19 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think and interact with. This is God’s story. Will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Rev.19:6 “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.”

Rev.19 is a chapter of praise and it Is the beginning of the end of time and the beginning of the end of evil in the world. It includes a “Threefold Hallelujah Over Babylon’s Fall”. Babylon represents: the godless cultures of all time, often found in the city, the smoke of her burning goes on forever. This chapter includes the defeat of the beast, the false prophet and all those who followed them, those who have their mark. Again, this is visionary language.

Vs.1-8 Three Hallelujahs! “The roar of a great multitude, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,” Hallelujah! God has judged! The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God,” Hallelujah! “For our Lord God Almighty reigns.” Rejoice, “for the wedding of the Lamb has come.” Marriage, the metaphor for the love and commitment of Jesus Christ to the church and the commitment and love in a Christian marriage “Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ.” Eph.5:21-33. “The bride has made herself ready. Fine linen… was given her.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people) made “bright and clean” by the blood of Christ.

Vs.9-10 “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb! This feast goes on forever as the smoke of the fire of hell goes on forever. Unless there is repentance, those committing the atrocities of today will burn forever without burning up.

Vs.11-21 “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.”

There is no doubt that this is the Christ, He is called: “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Using the language of the day: “The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen.” We can only imagine what that will be like when the time actually comes. It will be amazing and like it is described here, over quickly. The Beast is captured along with the false prophet and thrown into the lake of fire. The rebellious kings of the earth (Including Putin and every other killer-dictator who ever lived and will live were killed) all people following the beast will be killed by the sword coming out of the mouth of the rider on the white horse. Killed by the Word of God! In contrast to the wedding feast of the Lamb the birds are gathered to feast on the dead. It gives us an awful picture and demonstrates the seriousness of rejecting Jesus’ salvation and is a metaphor of the suffering of hell that goes on forever.

This chapter ends on a negative note, do not let that distract you from the message of the book of Revelation:

“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!” Amen and Amen!

God Love!

# 15 2022 Dev. Psalm 136:1. God Love! Read all of Psalm 136 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 136:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.”

Psalm 136 a liturgy of praise to God as the Creator and as the Redeemer, the Savior of Israel and the Savior of mankind. God’s love is highlighted: “His love endures forever.” Repeated 26 times. God Love Never Stops! The call to worship, 3 verses, thanks for creation, 6 verses, God saves, 6 verses, God leads, 1 verse, the struggles on the way to the promised land, 6 verses, a summary, 4 verses.

Vs.1-3 “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.” The call to thanksgiving is repeated three times for emphasis.

Vs.4-9 praises God, “who alone does great wonders,” God’s glory, His power, His infinite wisdom is on display all around us day and night. God’s great love is on display to us from creation into eternity, “His love endures forever” Take the time to sit and ponder God’s love, soak in God’s grace, feel his care, the sun the wind, thank God for his creation.

Vs.10-15 displays God as the Redeemer of Israel from Egypt, but this has historical implications for the redemption of mankind and for our personal redemption. Israel is rescued from the slavery of Egypt; people are recued from the slavery of sin today. There was great opposition from the Egyptians; we are in a battle with the evil powers of this world, but Jesus says: “take heart! I have overcome the world!” “His love endures forever.”

V.16 give thanks “to him who led his people through the wilderness;” Jesus is leading us today, on our way to the promised land: The New Heaven and the New Earth.

Vs.17-22 Israel is out of slavery but not out of the wilderness, there are those who oppose them, there are temptations. We are out of the slavery of sin; we are forgiven but we are not out of the woods. Satan throws obstacle’s in our way: temptations, illnesses, pandemics, mandates, shutdowns, masks, vaccines and therapeutics, some good, some bad, some supported by government, some are not. Think of the chaos in Ukraine, the lock down in Shanghai, some are innocent victims, some of it self imposed. Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble.” What is the answer? Well, we must not depend on ourselves or on the government, we must put our trust in Jesus and in Him alone. Amen!

Vs.23-26 four verses that tells us of God’s care but in the reverse order of how God cares for us in the above verses. “He remembered us… He freed us… he gives food… His love endures forever.” Verse 26 start back at the beginning and sums up for us that God loves us: “Give thanks to the God in heaven. His love endures forever.” Amen and Amen!

God’s Call!

# 14 2022 Dev. Rev. 18:4. God’s Call! Read all of Rev.18 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think and interact with it. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Rev.18:4 “‘Come out of her, my people,’^[^b^] so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;”

Intro. These visions that John sees are not actual events but will come to pass at one time or another from the time of John’s writing and will be repeated in increasing intensity until the end. The vision is put into the words of men so that those who believe will understand by the power of the Holy Spirit. What is being described here is from eternity to eternity. God, who is outside of time, operates in the eternal present, represents to us what is about to happen in time, as long as time lasts.

Rev.18 continues from Rev.17 where Babylon is introduced as: “The mother of all prostitutes! And of the abominations of the earth.” She is the secular civilizations of the world, anti God, anti justice, anti peace and the exploiters of the poor that stand against all that is good, all that is decent, all that God wants for His world. Ch.18 describes her destruction. She is Babylon of old, she is Rome during John’s time and she is every city and every country, pretending to be good and just, but are not!

Vs.1-3 “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!” (Isaiah 21:9). A powerful glowing angel announces the fall of the civilizations and the result of her abominations.

Vs.4-5 “‘Come out of her, my people,’ (Jer. 51:45). God calls His people: run for your spiritual lives, even today He calls! Separate yourselves from even a hint of cooperation with anything that opposes God. This is of utmost importance today: look at the culture around us! How is it interwoven into our lives? How could it be woven into our church culture? Look at the world, Russia, China, Iran, N. Korea and some African countries, perhaps our own country as well. Ukraine, not without corruption, Yet, many followers of Jesus are the latest victim of the prostitute of Moscow.

Vs.6-8 Return to her as she has given, “a double portion from her own cup.” “In her heart she boasts,” (Is.47:7-9). That sounds like Putin, like China, it sounds like our own leaders, who talk big but do little, we can go on and on, but the point is made. Without warning, “plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire” God is the one judging the nations.

Vs. 9-20 “Threefold Woe Over Babylon’s Fall” The kings who committed atrocities with her stand afar off, there is no love here, only self-pity. “Woe! Woe to you, great city” The kings weep and the merchants, the exploiters of the poor weep, no one will buy, no one to exploit, anymore.

“’Woe! Woe to you, great city,” in all your splendor, gold and pearls! It only took one hour to take you down. That is my prayer for Putin and his generals.

“the merchants…will weep and mourn and cry out: Woe, woe to you, great city,”But there is no help from them, love has grown cold! That is on display in our world right now! Every sea captain…and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off.” They mourn the loss of the city and of their living, no love lost here, only self-pity.

V.20 “Rejoice over her, you heavens! Rejoice, you people of God! Rejoice, apostles and prophets! For God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.” I trust we will rejoice with Ukraine, when God sends retribution on those committing horrible atrocities’.

Vs.21-24 A third mighty angel comes on the scene to demonstrate finality of Babylon’s doom. He picks up a huge boulder and plunges it into the sea, never to be seen again. What follows is a description of all that is good in a civilized, God fearing society, that will never be seen again, from which the nations were led astray. The leaders of the city/ of society had the blood of the prophets and God’s holy people on their hands. They had the blood of all innocent people “who have been slaughtered on the earth,” on their hands. Our God is Holy and Righteous, He will not sit by to what is happening on the earth, praise Him!

God is Good!

# 13 2022 Dev. Psalm 135:3. The Lord is Good! Read all of Psalm 135 first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think and interact with it. This is God’s story. How will it affect your story? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 135:3 “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.”

Psalm 135 Is a Psalm of praise, a call to praise during worship, it is a Temple Liturgical Psalm and framed with “Hallelujahs”. Ps 135 is part of the Great Hallel.

Vs.1-4 “Praise the Lord” is the call to praise, calling those serving in the Temple and now is calling us today. Calling all who follow Jesus through life, all who are temples of God, all who are “his treasured possession.”

Vs.5-7 The greatness of God is acknowledged, He is the only God, He controls the seas, the clouds, the wind, the lighting and the rain.

Vs.8-12 make up the middle of the Psalm. The Psalmist recalls the redemptive history of the exodus that foreshadows the history of the church and our personal salvation. Jesus released us from the slavery of sin, brings us to waters of baptism and is leading us through the wilderness of this world to the promised land, the New Heaven and the New Earth. Amen!

Vs.13-14 “Your name Lord, endures forever…” At that name every knee will bow, and God will validate His people, chosen from the beginning. Praise Him!

Vs.15-18 “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands.” Many are the idols of this world; pride, possessions, selfish gratification of all kinds, prominence and selfish ambition. All humanistic, devoid of God and those who trust in them do not see, do not hear, do not feel, they are dead.

Vs.19-21 “All you Israelites, praise the Lord;” All you who follow Jesus, praise the Lord, praise be to God who now lives in us by His Holy Spirit, praise to Jesus who intercedes for us and praise God who comforts us and guides us on our way. “Praise the Lord,” Hallelujah!