# 24 2021 Dev. Psalm 114:7. The Lord’s presence! Read all of Psalm 114 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 114:7 “Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,”

Introduction. Psalm 111 starts a new series of 9 Psalms, they are framed by two acrostic poems, Ps.111 and 112 and by one acrostic poem Ps.119 that poem is an acrostic by themes and has 176 verses. The series is the Egypt “Hallalu Yah” (Hallelujah) meaning rejoicing to praise God for His salvation. Not superficially but as a matter of the heart, true piety! The series has a close connection with the songs of Miriam Ex.15:1-21 and of Mary Lk.1:46-56.

Ps.114 is a four stanzas verse used in worship. The hymn commemorates the Exodus and the release of slavery from the oppression of Egypt that prefigures the release of slavery of sin ushered in by Jesus Christ. That is what this Psalm is about, salvation. It involved God in both events, God’s intervention, “Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel His dominion.”

God intervened into nature to save His people; First a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud during the day, probably the presence of Jesus. He parted the Red Sea, and the Jorden River. The mountains are turned loose, by Faith, and is a metaphor of God’s control of nature.  

Vs. 5-6 is a rhetorical question about God’s interventions: “Why was it, sea, that you fled? Why, Jordan, did you turn back?” Why? Because God is in control, He controls the natural way of the world to accomplish His purposes. 

Vs. 7-8 warns us about the presence of God: “Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” Who can turn the rock into running water if not God? Only God turns “the hard rock into springs of water.”

Who is not concerned with what is going on in the world and in our country today? Of course we are, anyone with the wisdom of the Scriptures would ask the question: where is this current government going? Is this the path to more freedom? Or to more government control? Is this the path to peace? Or is this more division?  Is our government leading us to more democracy? Or is this a path to communism? I know the answers to these questions based on the wisdom of Scriptures. What about you? Figure it out! God the Trinity (Father,Son and Holy Spirit) is with us, His presence is a daily event and only God’s Word can give us the answers. Praise be to God!

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# 23 2021 Devotion 2Jn.1:3. Truth! Read all of Chapter 1 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

2 Jn.1:3 “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.”

John writes a short personal letter to a group of Christians apparently led by a “lady chosen by God and her children,” to remind them of the Father’s command “that you walk in love.” This is not “a new command but one we have had from the beginning.” This command is still valid today!

He also reminds them of the false teachers denying the divinity of Jesus and urges them not to have fellowship with them. “Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.” Today, we are feeling what John is feeling; thankful that some are still following the truth but discouraged with the rejection of the truth by many. How long Lord will the deceivers remain in some of our churches, how long Lord will the deceivers reign in our government, nationally and locally?

Let’s consider what is going on; The truth is hard to come by, our history is being adulterated, parents are deprived of teaching their values to their own children by the national school system, our justice system is unjust to victims, and peace and security is at risk by the rejecting of the police who keep the peace if they are allowed to do so. What to do? Trust and pray, speak out for your children, speak out for your neighborhood, speak out for true justice and VOTE!

Spiritually, our religious freedom is being restricted, churches are no longer essential, religion and education does not mix in public schools, today woke awareness, cancel culture, radical socialism (communism) and government control over everything is the new religion of the land. What to do? Trust and pray, live your faith, speak out for Christ when given the opportunity and VOTE for the person who values our constitution and our laws!

But we can do more; we can get into God’s word. Passages like Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Also read 2 Tim. 1:7, 2 Cor. 5:7, Ps. 136:1. We thank God for the many people who still love Jesus in this country, they give us hope. Yet, the state of affairs today, challenges our churches and challenges us as individuals to promote the Gospel at every opportunity, that has always been a challenge but more so today.

Lord Jesus, strengthen us with your Holy Spirit. Amen!

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# 22 2021 Dev. Psalm 113:2. The Lord’s Compassion! Read all of Psalm 113 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 113:2 “Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore.”

Introduction. Psalm 111 starts a new series of 9 Psalms, they are framed by two acrostic poems, Ps.111 and 112 and by one acrostic poem Ps.119 that poem is an acrostic by themes and has 176 verses. The series is the Egypt “Hallalu Yah” (Hallelujah) meaning rejoicing to praise God for His salvation. Not superficially but as a matter of the heart, true piety! The series has a close connection with the songs of Miriam Ex.15:1-21 and of Mary Lk.1:46-56.

Ps.113 is a three verse song, framed by two Hallelujahs (Praise the Lord) and the song is sung at the beginning of the Passover meal. (NIV) The Psalm begins the “Egyptian Hallel” proper. Ps.113-118 used as liturgy in Jewish festivals.

Vs.1-3 is a call to praise/call to worship: “Let the name of the Lord be praised,
both now and forevermore.” Praise the Lord for His great work of salvation, beginning with Noah, calling Abraham, release from slavery in Egypt, sending Jesus, allowing Him to die so we can live and releasing us from the slavery of sin. Praise is a matter of the heart that must come out in our actions and words.

Vs.4-6 “The Lord is exalted….” The Psalmist also asks a rhetorical question: “Who is like the Lord our God…?” Have you answered that question? He is the God over the universe, He holds the world in His hands, He leads you and I by His Spirit and “He heals our diseases.” Praise the Lord!

Vs. 7-9 He is a God of compassion, “He raises the poor, lifts the needy,” He honors them with the respect of princes. He comforts the childless Mother “as a happy mother of children”. How are we to comprehend the millions of abortions in this country? How could we possibly explain this to the the women of the day? How will we explain this on the day of judgment that we sat idly by as this atrocity continues even up to the time of birth?  I have no answer but as a God of compassion we hope that God has the last say and takes everyone of them into heaven. Praise be to God!

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# 21 2021 Dev.1 Jn.5:12. Witnesses! Read all of Chapter 5 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

1 Jn.5:12 “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Chapter 5 is the last chapter of John’s first letter and is divided into two sections: “Faith in the incarnate Son of God” and “Concluding Affirmations.” The under laying issue of John’s letter is the developing Gnostic heresy. One aspect of that false teaching is that Jesus was an ordinary man like all men but received his divinity at his baptism which was taken away before the crucifixion. These teachers obviously were not witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection or His ascension.

Vs.1-12 Highlights the incarnation of Christ and the testimony to it: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.” The Holy Spirit gives us His Grace but also His Power to be the children of God by the gift of faith in Jesus. As a result, we keep God’s commands, not out of duty, but out of our gratitude. “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

John points out the witnesses, “And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. The Spirit, the water and the blood: and the three are in agreement.” (see note [a]) The the most accepted interpretation is the Holy Spirit, water of baptism, John saw the dove and heard God’s approval from heaven and on the mount of transfiguration as well. The blood refers to Jesus death, John also witnessed Jesus’ death and heard His words from the cross. Blood could also refer to His birth, indicating His true humanity, incarnate. This trifold witness was not available to Christians in John’s day as it is available to us in the Word of God today.

In vs.13-21 John emphasizes eternal life and protection from the the evil one. Yet, in this world there is sin that leads to death, “All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.” Persistent, unrepentant denying the truth of the witness of the Spirit (Gnostics in John’s day and much of our culture today) does indeed lead to spiritual death.

If we do sin or “if you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. God removes our sins as far away as east is from the west,” never to be brought up again when we pray for forgiveness because Jesus shed His blood on the cross He paid the price for us. In v. 21 John warns us: “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.” There are plenty of idols to go around. Let us look into our own lives today!  

John summarizes his letter in verse 20, I paraphrase it here- we know that Jesus has come to give us understanding of the truth, we are in Him as His children. “He is the true God and eternal life”

Father, give us clear understanding of your love for us in Jesus, forgive where we have followed our own thinking or the thinking of the world and have not loved others as you love us. Thank you for saving us to eternal life! Amen!

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# 20 2021 Dev. Psalm 112:1. Blessings and Assurance! Read all of Psalm 112 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 112:1 “Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.”

Introduction. Psalm 111 starts a new series of 9 Psalms, they are framed by two acrostic poems, Ps.111 and 112 and by one acrostic poem Ps.119 that poem is an acrostic by themes and has 176 verses. The series is the Egypt “Hallalu Yah” (Hallelujah) meaning rejoicing to praise God for His salvation. Not superficially but as a matter of the heart, true piety! The series has a close connection with the songs of Miriam Ex.15:1-21 and of Mary Lk.1:46-56.

While Ps.111 is about God dealing with His people, Psalm 112 is about His people following God. It is an acrostic poem and has the same structure as Ps.111. There are two sections of four verses each with a prelude and postlude.

V.1 The Hallalu Yah: “Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.”

Vs. 2-5 “Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.” What does it mean to be blessed? Conservative values are a blessing to a person, Work is a blessing, good housing is a blessing, assurance is a blessing, Faith is a blessing especially in these dark times, good health and quality of life is a blessing and fair justice is a blessing. Amen!

Vs.6-9 “They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” We are not afraid “Our God Reigns!” We are secure. Along with our many blessings and benefits comes great responsibility. “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor,” God blesses us and has gifted us for two important reasons: To serve God and to serve others. That means something different for every believer based on the gifts God has given you. But it is also the same for everyone, it always means serving God and others. As Paul tells us “God makes His appeal through us.” Christ is found in Scripture and He is seen in us as we live out our faith daily. Our assurance is in the promises of God: forgiveness, salvation, peace and faith in troubling times, new life and everlasting life.

V. 10 No so the unbeliever: “the longings of the wicked will come to nothing”In contrast, believers have the “blessed assurance” of our God in Christ, amen!

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# 19 2021 Dev. 1 Jn.4:1. The Spirit of Love! Read all of Ch.4 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

1 Jn.4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

1 Jn. 4 has two parts: How do we discern the Holy Spirit? And how de we discern true love? Two very important issues that must be applied to the thinking of our time: critical race theory, cancel culture and the demands of woke awareness. Are these rooted in love and Spirituality? Absolutely not! They are as John tells us: “but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” Should we as followers of Jesus be afraid? Yes, and no! Yes, because Churches and church people are afraid to speak out: Heaven forbid you are one of those conservative Bible thumpers. No, because “you dear children are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

How do we discern the Spirits? “ We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” This is the definitive test, either you believe on Jesus or you don’t!

Part 2: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” God showed us His love, before we loved Him, by His Son Jesus, who stands in our place, punished for what we have done, in order to be right with God again. “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.” In the world we live today, there is much fear, fear of the past , fear of the present and fear of future. Yet God’s love completes us because we “have confidence in the day of judgment: in this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…”

“We love because He first loved us… And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.” Love is the basis for our relationship with God and the basis for our relationship to each other. Love is family, is forgiveness, compassion for the people around us, concern for this physical world, awareness of the suffering of the people of the world and concern for the salvation of every person God places in our path.

Pray with me: Thank you God for saving us, forgive us for the missed opportunities to witness to your love for all people, empower us with your Spirit, open the eyes of our hearts to all those you place in our path, may we see the opportunities to love others as you love us, in Jesus, amen.

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Faith

# 18 2021 Dev. Psalm 111:2. Piety! Read all of Psalm 111 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 111:2 “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.”

Ps.111 starts a new series of 9 Psalms, they are framed by two acrostic poems, Ps.111 and 112 and by one acrostic poem Ps.119 that poem is an acrostic by themes and has 176 verses. The series is the Egypt “Hallalu Yah” (Hallelujah) meaning rejoicing to praise God for His salvation. Not superficially but as a matter of the heart, true piety! The series has a close connection with the songs of Miriam and of Mary Ex.15:1-21, Lk.1: 46-56

Ps 111 is divided into two section of four verses each with a prelude and postlude. V.1 The Hallalu Yah: “Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.”

Vs. 2-5 describes God’s works: glorious and majestic, righteous, gracious and compassionate, He provides for His people and “remembers his covenant forever.”

Vs. 6-9 describes the effect of God’s works on His people: God shows his power, He is faithful and just, He is trustworthy, establishing His people in eternity, He “provided redemption for His people”. His covenant is forever.

What we take away from this Psalm is the importance of piety, not only recognizing God’s faithfulness but the desire for our faithfulness to God and our thankfulness for God’s care: “He provides redemption for His people…” Piety is not much talked about today and not often practiced, by all appearances, yet it is an integral part of daily worship and is essential to our witness to the people around us. Amen!

V. 10 is the postlude to parts one and two: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.” Wisdom and understanding is not temporary but is forever, thanks be to God!

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# 17 2021 Dev. 1 Jn.3:16. Love! Read all of Ch.3 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

1 Jn.3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

Chapter 3 is divided into two parts: God’s children, “that we should be called the children of God!” and practice what you preach, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”  Both sections revolve around love. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us,” and part two: “We should love one another.”

John opens for us a way of living and a way of being that is antithetical to the current environment where we live and where are churches are located. We are God’s children but the world does not know Him (“world” meaning every thing and every person who have rejected God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit). In our life and thought, or in our life and world view, we are to be like Christ by faith, living as He lived when He walked on this earth. John has first hand knowledge of how children of God ought to live but even John does not know the end result of God’s children’s lives; “what we will be has not yet been made known.” But what he knows he tells us; ‘We shall be like Him,” and “All who have hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”

John assures us before he moves on to sin. He is not speaking of a sinless life while we are in this life. We are children of God because our hearts and souls belong to God’s Kingdom but our bodies are still in this broken place, we still sin but in Christ we confess and make every effort to avoid sin. Our comfort is as John says: hope in Christ, purifies us.

The next section is about love, a radical love. There is no neutral place in this life, we either pass from death to life because we love one another or we stay dead not loving as Jesus loves. According to John, the opposite of love is hate, is like murder. Love is to be sacrificial as we read it in v.16 to the point of self sacrifice, it is a difficult concept but that is the way of Jesus’ Love. True love always means action and truth, not feelings, feelings and emotions are involved but the truth of love is an unwavering commitment. We commit to Jesus, we commit to each other and we commit to our spouses, our children and to how we serve God in this life. For the children of God all of life is worship!  God “sets our hearts at rest in his presence”.  “And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

Amen and Amen!

If we are Eloquent, Prophetic, Faithful, Generous and self-sacrificing, but do not love, we are nothing! 1 Cor. 13

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# 15 2021 Dev. 1 Jn.2:17. Eternity! Read verses 15-29 first. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

1 Jn.2:17 “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

In the second half of chapter two John gives his people and gives to us as well, three warnings: be careful as you live in the world, be intentional in proclaiming Christ and be righteous.

Vs.15-17 We live in this world but we are not of the world. Does that mean we live in a bubble away from all the problems and deceptions of this world? No, we live here and we are to engage with the people around us, God calls us to change the world around us. It seems like an imposable task but by the power of the Holy Spirit the world can be changed and does change one person at a time. Amen! John warns us about the influences of this broken world. Coming off Holy Week and Easter we see the disregard for the true meaning of this religious calibration. Only 5% of Christians see Easter as important. We are to influence the world and not allow the corruption and deception of this world into our lives or into our churches.

Vs.18-28 John is concerned about those who have fallen away from the fellowship of believers, Like Paul, John is convinced they are in the last days. In-fact, Jesus announced that we are in the last days, but as we now know, our time is not God’s time. We now have the lowest percentage of people claiming church membership, around 49 %, all religion is in decline today. Does that mean we are in the last days? John also mentions the antichrist as all those who deny God and Jesus as the Christ, Christ as the Savior of the world. Today, particularly during a crisis, God comes to one’s lips, Jesus, not so much. 

This is an important issue for the church: Vs. 24,25 “As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is what he promised us—eternal life.” What have we known from the beginning? This simple truth: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (Jn.3:16-18).” As followers of Jesus we need to be intentional in proclaiming Jesus as our Savior, use words if necessary.

John recognizes that all followers of Jesus are sinners, we don’t want to hear it but it is a reality in this broken world. He also gives us the answer to achieving righteousness in this place and time: When we are born again, new creatures believing in Christ, we take on His Righteousness. Thanks be to God! 

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