^{This picture was taken in Niger State, Nigeria during the dry season at a time of harmattan (fine dust, hanging like fog, blown off the Sahara Desert carried for hundreds of miles).} _{Image subject to copyright}

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# 48 2020 Dev. Psalm 100:5. Thankful Praise! Read all of Psalm 100. 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 100:5 “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
                        his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalms 90 through 100 are a series of eleven Psalms that open and close with “Lord” (Adonai) or “the Lord” (Yahweh). Psalm100 is the classic praise song that many followers of Jesus memorized and taught to our children. It does, of course, fits perfectly into this Thanksgiving Season and ends this series of Psalms. We look back to Ps. 90 that introduces this series: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Teach us to acknowledge you and “to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom”. “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days”. Ps.100 is the culmination of the call to worship concluding this series.

The Psalm calls “all the earth” to praise and worship with “joyful songs”. Every human plus all the rest of creation foreshadowing the coming reality of God’s praise by all things in heaven, on the earth and all things under the earth. Whether we realize it or not, all of life is worship or it is rebellion to God.

Still in the context of “all the earth, know that the Lord is God.” He is our Creator and the Creator of all things, we, us, all people belong to Him, along with all of the universe. To know God moves way past acknowledging God. The Psalmist here is speaking of an intimate spiritual relationship. A relationship that flows both ways as indicated by the pastoral language, a shepherd’s loving care: “¹⁶ 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” (Jn. 3:16).

The Psalmist enters into God’s presence with thanksgiving, with praise. His gates and His courts is a reference to the temple where there was worship every day. Today we understand that all of creation is God’s sanctuary, we worship in our man made sanctuaries but the sweep of this psalm covers all of life and every day of our lives. Again, we have set aside a day for thanksgiving, thanking God for His many blessings and giving thanks for family and friends. What have we learned over this year? I hope we have learned that we are not in control of our health, our lives, our jobs or our happiness but we know the God who is in control.

The last verse is our hope in these difficult times: “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” We thank God every day!

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This picture was taken in the Sahel, Niger State, Nigeria, in the dry season at 117 degrees fahrenheit. ^{Image subject to copyright}

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# 47 2020 Dev. 1Peter 3:10-12. Good and Evil! Read verses 8-22. 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.

1Pe. 3:10 “For, ‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.’

Vs. 8,9 are precepts that apply to last week, living together and suffering for doing good. Vs. 10-12, Peter here quotes Ps. 34 to help those who suffer for doing good. God supports those doing good and opposes those doing evil. In v.13 Peter asks a rhetorical question: “who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” In other words, it is unconscionable to be opposed when one is doing good but it has been my experience as a missionary, the more good one does the more one is opposed by evil and by evil people. I would have never believed it but that is now a major movement in our own country and it is supported by every evil person, by some churches and by many people claiming to be Christian. Thankfully, Peter comforts us: “but even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.” Praise God!

In vs.15-17 Peter doubles down on how to deal with unjust persecution: “revere Christ as Lord, always be prepared…to give the reason for the hope that you have.” The reason for hope, what is the reason other than politics? Today, are we able to express the hope Peter is talking about?  Surprise, the hope of real followers of Jesus is not politics!

Vs.18-22 Peter gives Jesus as the perfect example of suffering for doing good. From the beginning Satan tried to keep salvation from being offered to all people of the world. By faith salvation is available by the promises of God. Peter tells us that Jesus is chosen to die for sin “to bring you to God” reaching back to the beginning and reaching forward to the end of time. Jesus tells us that the unjust suffering He experienced will include all who have the hope of salvation in Him. Throughout history persecution of the followers of Jesus has been and continues to be experienced by two hundred million people.  There is no natural place to stand in this life, people either follow Jesus or are in bed with the world. Make your choice now!

Peter gives us the example of Noah saved by water that “symbolizes baptism” validating our salvation “by the resurrection of Jesus Christ”, now glorified in heaven and is our advocate. That is our hope, we are saved by faith in Jesus beginning the day we believe, and faith motivates followers of Jesus to do good. Evil and evil people will continue to appose what is good, I see it all around me every day. You must decide for yourself, including politics, what is good and what is evil. In that light we listen to God’s Word: Ps. 34:12-16 “For, ‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.’ We thank God for the hope of the followers of Jesus, in that hope, we live and promote peace!  

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Isaiah and Family, We visited with him in 2010, Isaiah grew up along side of our son Steve at Sabon Gida Akwangwe, Nigeria, where his Father Nahum served as pastor. Isaiah is the Pastor at Tatin Ndoro, on the Baissa road. We thank God.

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# 46 2020 Dev. Psalm 99:2. Be an Example! Read all of Psalm 99. 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 99:2 “The King is mighty, he loves justice—you have established equity; In Jacob you have done what is just and right.”

Psalms 90 through 100 are a series of 11 Psalms that open and close with “Lord” (Adonai) or “the Lord” (Yahweh). Psalm 99 is a song about God’s justice and is the example for leaders of the people. “Moses and Aaron… Samuel… they called on the Lord and he answered them.” The song is divided into four stanzas; First, “The Lord reigns; second, justice; third, the witness of Scripture; fourth, the Lord exalted.

Vs.1-3 introduces God’s universal reign, His power, His judgment, His holiness and His impact on the world. These verses beg the question: does God impact the world? If so, how? How many people ask that important question? When you really think about that, what is your answer?

Vs. 4,5 expands on God’s power and justice: He “established equity…done what is just and right.” Is there anything as important as justice and law and order in our country today? Do you really believe all the riots and killings are over?

Vs. 6,7 answers some of our questions and introduces reality into our national and personal lives: here we have the example of leaders, who “called on the Lord and he answered them.” Leaders not only called on God but “they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.” That is the answer and the reality of God’s presence in the world: it is through national leaders, it is through churches, church leaders, but God’s greatest impact is through every day people who call on His name, those who are His witness in their daily lives. For those who do not acknowledge God and do not call on His name will have the government they deserve.

Vs. 8,9 culminates what the Psalmist introduced in the first three verses. God is addressed in the first person: “you answered them” assuming all, and I do mean all who call on you. You are “a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.” The footnote on v. 8; Or God / an avenger of the wrongs done to them. Forgiveness and punishment is what makes God just. It always was the hallmark of the national justice system: they work together: not in this way, no forgiveness no peace, no punishment no peace, rather no forgiveness no justice, no punishment no justice, no justice no freedom. That is why calling on God and “in God we trust” is the only way to preserve our freedom. What the Psalmist is telling us in our time: God reigns! Call on His name! Accept his forgiveness and punishment! Apply all this to our own lives and be free! Keep on praying!    

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# 44 2020 Dev. Psalm 98:4. Celebrate! Read all of Psalm 98. 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 98:4 “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;”

Psalms 90 through 100 are a series of 11 Psalms that open and close with “Lord” (Adonai) or “the Lord” (Yahweh). Psalm 98 is a call to celebrate. The song is divided into three stanzas; First, God is celebrated, second, the people celebrate, third, all of creation celebrates.

Vs.1-3 God “has done marvelous things”, “has made known his salvation.” God loves His people, is faithful to them and “the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” As followers of Jesus that is what our lives are all about; living our faith, our love, our faithfulness, our compassion, walking in God’s kingdom on this earth, daily and in the moment.

Vs. 4-6 “Shout for joy, burst into jubilant song, make music with the harp, with trumpets, shout for joy before the Lord, the King.” This is what church is all about; worship, rejoicing, fellowship, benevolence and praying for the lost, mostly done on Sundays but all of life is to be worship, continually, as the Psalmist points out,

Vs.7-9 All of nature; the sea, the rivers, the mountains including the valleys, the plains and the sky praise God! The Psalmist here is talking about the culmination of history as we know it. As Paul puts it in Rm. 8: 18-22 “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” Yet, God is displayed all around us; His glory, His power, His righteousness, His love and salvation, renewed every year. “He is making everything new!” The picture the Psalmist paints in part three is not seen with the ordinary eye but with the eyes lighted by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus and anticipates God’s righteous judgment

Along with nature we worship God daily, continually for every day God has ordained for us on this earth. Praise the Lord!

© cgvanwyk, all rights reserved              

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# 43 2020 Dev. 1Peter 2:12. The Good Life! Read verses 11-25. 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 Peter 2:12 “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

From the Living Stone to good living in a virtual spiritual house, Peter continues his thoughts in the second half of chap. 2; “The stone the builders rejected has became the cornerstone…” On Jesus, the cornerstone, we build our lives, and are empowered to live that good life.

Vs. 11,12 gives us the example of Jesus living the good life overwhelming all opposition with good deeds. Peter fleshes that out in Vs 13-17 “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: the emperor… or to governors” today we add mayors, police, federal officers, national guard and all legitimate authority. Really? Yes, if we follow the law we are able to show respect and live free. “It is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” We will need a lot of good people doing a lot of good deeds to balance out all that is going on today.

Vs. 18-21 address slavery and unjust punishment. We substitute Peter’s comments to working people; “in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. ¹⁹ For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God.” It is like Peter is writing to followers of Jesus today because “unjust suffering” is where we are headed: God is banned, never mind Jesus, police are hamstrung, criminals are set free, no accountability, and some illegals are free to kill the police. Where are you going?

V. 22 is the heart of living the good life: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” Vs. 23-25 puts the “the good life” in perspective. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” That is the good news that off sets all that is going on and all what will happen to followers of Jesus. For us, all of life is good and is preparation for our work in the New Heaven and the New Earth. We thank God!  

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# 42 2020 Dev. Psalm 97:1. God Reigns! Read all of Psalm 97. 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 97:1 “The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.”

Psalms 90 through 100 are a series of 11 Psalms that open and close with “Lord” (Adonai) or “the Lord” (Yahweh). After Psalm 95, a call to God’s people to worship and Psalm 97 justifies the call to worship God Almighty.

Psalm 97 is divided into two sections with a verse at the center serving as a foil highlighting the theme of both sides of the poem. Vs.1-6 describes the power of God on the earth and God’s power over the glory of His creation. God’s glory is all around us: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.² Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” says Ps.19:1,2. God’s righteousness, His power, His glory and His beauty is before us every day, particularly this time of the year. Creation alone justifies the worship of God!

Vs.8-13 describes the effect of God’s rule over the people of the world. Not all people of the world acknowledge God’s rule but God’s Word tells us that in reality God rules. We turn again to Ps. 19:8 “The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” Read all of Psalm19. It is about the voice of nature, the voice of God and the response of man. V.8- People rejoice! V.9- God is exalted! V.10- Love the Lord, hate evil, be faithful and God protects! V.11- The light shines! V.12- Rejoice and praise!

Verse 7 stands in opposition to God’s rule, “all who worship images are put to shame, those who boast in idols…” This Psalm was written many years ago when the world was awash with idols. In reality it is much the same today but much more subtle. We see idolatry all over the world; we see it in governments, in institutions, in religious organizations and in the personal lives of people. We all need to think about what really is important in our lives and evaluate our lives accordingly. But we do not end on this negative note because “The Lord Reigns.”

As the result of God’s reign: “Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.” Let us rejoice and turn on the light of God in this world.

© cgvanwyk, all rights reserved              

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# 41 2020 Dev. 1Peter 2:6. The Living Stone! Read verses 1-10. 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 Peter 2:6 “For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”

From a living Hope to the Living Stone, from a new birth in Christ to being built into a spiritual house, Peter connects his thoughts in chap. 2 to chap. 1 pointing back to v. 23 “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. And this is the word that was preached to you.” God’s word is still preached today and does not change even as the world changes. Therefore, put aside our brokenness and “crave pure spiritual milk…now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Peter gets theological making a big deal about God choosing; Jesus the living stone is chosen from eternality, God choses His people from before creation into eternity. Jesus, “chosen by God and precious to  him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house^[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  Peter is speaking about the church; people, worshiping God every day making up the church of Jesus.

Jesus is the cornerstone, and all “who puts their trust in him will never be put to shame.” He is “the stone the builders rejected” referring to the religious leaders at the time but translates to religious leaders today, many of whom have caved to the ways of the world. Jesus is the “stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” We have a friend who very much wanted to be like what this person saw in our family. For months we fellowshipped together and finally this person asked – what does a person have to do to find purpose in one’s life and have the confidence a person is on the right track? It is simple, believe in Jesus, ask Him to forgive you and ask to be empowered to live for Him. Forgive? For what? Well, we are not able to save ourselves, we all have fallen short of God’s laws. The person’s answer: Really, I am not a bad person, I don’t need to be forgiven for anything. In the end the person moved on and we continue to pray.

We asked ourselves – what just happened? What is the responsibility of the individual to choose to believe? Certainly God chooses, and a person must respond by believing, but in the end choosing to believe happens as the Holy Spirit joins with our human ability to choose, people can reject or accept to believe. We are responsible but It is God “who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Thanks be to God!

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# 40 2020 Dev. Psalm 96:1. A New Song! Read all of Psalm 96. 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 96:1 “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.”

Psalms 90 through 100 are a series of 11 Psalms that open and close with “Lord” (Adonai) or “the Lord” (Yahweh). After Psalm 95, a call to God’s people to worship God Almighty the Psalmist calls the world to worship and praise God.

 Psalm 96 is divided into 2 themes, vs. 1-6 is a call to move into a different direction: “sing to the Lord a new song”. How difficult it is for followers of Jesus to move into a different direction. The Psalmist calls the whole earth into a different direction, “proclaim His salvation day after day” proclaim it “among the nations… among all peoples.” This call comes in view in 1Pe. 1 “Peter is writing to followers of Jesus scattered among the nations “who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:” The Psalmist continues to validate God as the only God of the nations: “for great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.”

The second view, vs. 7-13, calls “all you families of the nations” to acknowledge “the Lord, bring an offering… Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns.’” Looking forward to 1Pe. vs. 10-12, it is obvious that God previewed salvation from the beginning of time (Gen 3:15), highlighted in the Old Testament particularly in the Psalms and comes to full view in Jesus. By faith, salvation is from the time of the fall and still is extended to the whole human race and will be available until the last day. Praise the Lord!

Further, the psalmist calls nature to rejoice; The Lord rules all peoples and the Lord rules His creation. “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth, let the sea, let the fields, let all the trees, let all creation rejoice before the Lord…” Why must every person and everything rejoice? “Because, “The Lord comes to judge the earth.”

Followers of Jesus are reluctant to speak about Judgment, no person is qualified to judge, not Christians, not non Christians, nor anyone from the many religions of the world.  But all followers of Jesus know there will be a judgment of the actions and thoughts of all the people of the earth that ever lived, live now and those who will live in the future. Impossible you say? Don’t bank on it, our consolation is that God “will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.” Praise the Lord!

 © cgvanwyk, all rights reserved              

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# 39 2020 Dev. 1 Peter 1:3-4. Living Hope! Read all of Chapter 1. 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 Peter 1:3-4 “³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.”

The first two verses, vs.1-2 sets the tone for Peter’s letter, written to followers of Jesus scattered throughout the Roman world. That migration was started by persecution and the death of Stephen soon after the establishment of the early Church. As difficult as this was, with much suffering, God used it to begin His purpose of calling all people back to Himself. From that time persecution has increased to the point that today over two hundred million followers of Jesus are under persecution. We have a lot to pray about!

Further, Peter tells us who he is writing to; those “who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” Peter here harking back to the day of atonement in the Old Testament church; when the blood of the sacrificial lamb is sprinkled on the mercy seat of the Ark. Today, the day of atonement is the last day of the 10-day celebration of the Jewish New Year.

The next section, vs. 3-9: “Praise to God for a Living Hope.” Is perhaps the most concise and simplified presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, it includes a warning of suffering as a testing of a person’s faith but it includes an acknowledgement of being “filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls”. That “Living Hope:” lives by suffering in faith and lives by “inexpressible and glorious joy” in the lives of followers of Jesus. Thankfully, for now, real suffering for Christians in this country is rare. Is that why “inexpressible and glorious joy” is also rare among followers of Jesus?  Yes, we need to redirect our living hope, rejoice always!

Vs.10-12 considering “this salvation” it is obvious that God previewed salvation from the beginning of time, (Gen 3:15) highlighted in the Old Testament and came to full view in Jesus; by faith salvation is from the time of the fall and still is extended to the whole human race and will be available until the last day. Praise the Lord!

Vs.13-25 “Be Holy”, therefore, points back to all Peter writes before. God has chosen His people, God gives them a living hope and God calls His people to holy living. Peter calls God’s people, including us, to reject the “evil desires” that we all struggle with, God says: “be holy, because I am holy”. Can we do that on our own? Some people think so, but the truth is we cannot, we are holy by the sacrifice of Jesus when we believe in God and we put our trust in Jesus. Amen!   

If Followers of Jesus are tempted to become arrogant, Peter puts that to rest: “For, ‘All people are like grass,
 and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
²⁵ but the word of the Lord endures forever.’And this is the word that was(is)preached to you”. What else do you need to know?

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