Heavenhigh

Living Together!

# 45 2020 Dev. 1Peter 3:4. Living Together! Read verses 1-9. 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. 3:3-4. Peter mentioning a woman’s outward appearance, says: v.4 “Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

Peter moves from good living to holy living in marital relationships. Peter continues his thought from the end of chap. 2, “but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls”: Wives, in the same way…”and “Husbands in the same way…”. Simply put, what Peter is asking wives and husbands to do is done out of submission to Christ.

What is Peter asking them to do? Wives, be such good wives that you may not only influence an unbelieving husband but that you may draw your husband closer to Jesus. Beauty is only skin deep, adornments are external, but lasting beauty “should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” Sarah, Abrahams’ wife is given as the example, she was a woman of great beauty but was barren until God’s timing, like her “do what is right and do not give way to fear.”

“Husbands, in the same way,” out of submission to Christ, “be considerate and treat them (wives) with respect”, they are equal partners with you “as heirs of the gracious gift of life” in Christ. “Weaker” here only refers to physical strength. Why is all this important? “So that nothing’ hinders your prayers. The truth is that in our marital relationships, complete submission, complete respect, complete compassion, and complete grace mirrors Christ’s relationship with us, His people, as our “shepherd and overseer of (y)our souls.”

Vs. 8-9 connects to what goes before it and what comes after it, it is a footnote to our marital relationships and an introduction to our relationship with others both followers of Jesus and those who do not: “be like minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.” In our lives together, “do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, repay evil with blessing.” In that attitude, blessings are assured in our marital relationships and in all our relationships as an inheritance by God’s grace. We thank God!

Celebrate!

# 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!

Good Living!

# 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. ¹⁹For 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!

God Reigns

# 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.²Day 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.

The Living Stone!

# 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— ⁵you 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. ¹⁰Once 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!

A New Song

# 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!

Living Hope

# 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 “³Praise 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, ⁴and 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,
²⁵but 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?

Worship!

# 38 2020 Dev. Psalm 95:1. Worship! Read all of Ps. 95. 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 95:1 “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.”

Psalms 90 through 100 are a series of 11 Psalms that open and close with “Lord” (Adonai) or “the Lord” (Yahweh). After Psalm 94, a prayer to God for relief from persecution and injustice that speaks to what we are experiencing today, this series pivots to Psalm 95, a call to worship God Almighty. This is a call that is commanded to every generation and is still being commanded today and is commanded into eternity.

Vs.1-2 The call: “sing for joy”, come to God to worship “with thanksgiving”, and “with music and song.”

Vs.3-5 Why worship? “For the Lord is the great God” the Creator of all things.

Vs. 6-7 How? “bow down” and “let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” because we are His people endowed with the divine.

Vs. 8-11 This is not only a call to worship but a call to repentance and a warning as well: ‘“Do not harden your hearts…they shall never enter my rest’”. God’s rest here is the “promised land” they refused to enter because they did not believe God’s promises (lack of faith). But it is the metaphor for God’s eternal rest waiting for believers at that time and waiting for believers today and what we preview every Sunday.

This is the bottom line of the call to worship; how long will we harden our hearts? How long will we allow to be corrected by the world and disregard humility, thankfulness, righteousness, daily worship and the fruit of the spirit: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control? Against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22,23). Followers of Jesus transcend this world but we still live here for a short time; as we read Psalm 95 we realize that not only are we called to worship and to repentance but to dedicate all of our lives on this earth, living for Jesus every day. We have seen what God has done for us, all of us in our own way, have experienced God’s grace in our lives. For those who do not follow Jesus, you may not know or acknowledge God’s Grace to you and our country but I ask you; look truth into His face (Jesus) and let us all give thanks to God for every blessing we have received in this great land. Let us all pray that God will continue to bless His people!

Faith!

# 37 2020 Dev. James 5:13. Faith! Read all of Chapter 5. 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.

James 5:13 “is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. “

James addresses three huge subjects in Ch. 5: Oppression, Patience and Prayer.The author is speaking out against people for not paying a fair wage and not paying for work rendered. Is there a more pertinent situation going on today? I suspect most people support capitalism but there are problems among us. What do we call it when workers are not receiving a living wage and the CEO of that company receives millions a year with a golden parachute of more millions? How about sports deals of up to many millions a year for one person while workers and venders at the stadiums are barely making a living wage? James is calling this oppression!

Next James addresses: “Patience in Suffering” but James throws something into this section that many are not thinking about: be patient “until the Lord’s coming”. James is giving his readers and us the bigger picture. We are, after all, in the last days, Jesus is on the way. Yet, that does not mean we give up, no, he tells us to stand firm and do not complain, “because the Lord is near. As we know, we count as blessed those who have persevered”. Also, “the Lord is full of compassion and mercy”. In other words, be patient, God is in control!

James also addresses prayer. “The Prayer of Faith”. Prayer is always a function of faith. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Verse15 is the heart of this section: “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.” Healing and forgiveness, God always gives us. Our family prayed for my brother, who struggled with MS for five years. My brother is forgiven, and our neighbor, Mr. Todd, suffering from cancer is forgiven as well because he accepted Christ when my brother talked with him. After that event both died, God healing both of them, praise the Lord. Verse 20, “remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” Death here meaning “eternal death”; separation from God forever. Is healing and forgiveness the meaning for my brothers short life? Faith tells us that it is.

Justice, patience, prayer and faith all work together for healing and forgiveness under the Grace of God. Praise Him!

Our Rock!

# 36 2020 Dev. Psalm 94:14. Our Rock! Read all of Ps. 94. 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 94:14 “For the Lord will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance.”

Psalms 90 through 100 are a series of 11 Psalms that open and close with “Lord” (Adonai) or “the Lord” (Yahweh). Ps. 94 is an appeal to God for relief from persecution and injustice. You cannot make this up; this Psalm is addressing what we all are facing in our country today. Not only injustice to minorities but also to conservatives, Christians, pro lifers, dedicated police officers, conservative judges and upstanding leaders that support the rule of law.

Vs. 1-3 is a prayer that all followers of Jesus should pray today: Lord, “RIse up, Judge of the earth”.

Vs. 4-7 The prayer continues laying out the problems and the disregard for God: “They say, ‘The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob takes no notice.’ “Really?

Vs. 8-11 The Psalmist speaks to the perpetrators, “Take notice, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?” Take note, who is speaking out today? “The Lord knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile.” Amen!

Vs. 12-15 The prayer gives us the answers to our difficulties today: “Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord, the one you teach from your law;” Pray that God will teach, give relief, not reject, and never forsake our land and God’s people.“Judgment will again be founded on righteousness, and all the upright in heart will follow it.” Amen!

Vs. 16- 19 This part of the prayer puts God squarely on the side of followers of Jesus. God “rises up”, God gives “me help”, and “your unfailing love supported me”. Praise God!

Vs. 20-23 points out the foolishness of being allied with those who reject law and order. When God is thrown out of public life, and leaders pay only lip service, do we really think God will continue to bless us and our land? The Psalmist ends on a positive note that gives followers of Jesus the comfort we need right now: “But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.”

That is what we hold onto, the promises of God!