# 52 2019 Dev. Psalm 78:5-7. Faith! Read all of Ps.78. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ps. 78:5-7 “He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,⁶ so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.⁷ Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.”

Psalm 78 is the last Psalm of this series and it has the most verses. The length of it is beyond the scope of our short devotionals. However, we will give a short overview. The Psalm is a warning to God’s people to keep His covenant, to be faithful, as He is faithful, to continue to trust in God’s care and goodness to us, His people. The Psalm begins with a long introduction vs 1-8. It probably was written during the time of the split of the kingdom into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms after the reign of Solomon.

 Vs.9-55 is a long history of the escape from Egypt by God’s power and care for His people; the people’s rebellion while in the wilderness and God’s punishments and many restorations of His people. Even so, God is faithful and merciful, He brings His people into the promised land and established them during the reign of king David and Solomon.

Vs. 56-64 continues the history after entering the land and it is much of the same rebellion but then God’s punishments are harsher and more extensive.

Vs.65-78 God relents, “He remembered that they were but flesh,” God rejected Joseph and Ephraim and chose the tribe of Judah. “God chose David His servant”. We already see that in Jacob’s blessings of his sons, Judah is the lion who will always reign. This is what we celebrate at Christmas; Jesus is the son of David and He is the Son of God, Immanuel. God with us! Praise God! But that is also part of this Psalm because we are privileged to be on this side of the history of God’s people, yet the warning in this Psalm is for us as well.

We are in the covenant of Jesus’s blood, He died for our sins, forgave us and re-created us Spiritually.  We have the responsibility to live the Gospel and as the Psalmist writes in the introduction God “commanded our ancestors to teach their children,⁶ so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.⁷ Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.” Christ must be visible in our lives for all to see, especially our children. Amen?

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# 51 2019 Devotion, 2 Tim. 3 The Word of the Lord! Read all of chapter 3. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

2 Timothy 3:16,17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

In Paul’s last days he was starting to see Satan’s opposition to the gospel message. This is still going on today. Paul lays out a long list of actions not compatible with the Word of God vs. 1-5. “There will be terrible times in the last days.” We tend to think that the last days are way ahead of us but that is not the case; the last days are from the time of Jesus’ ascension to His coming again at the end of time. We are in the last days. What we are experiencing today in terms of disregard for life, for the unborn, the lovers of money, the lack of respect and love, we may put every word Paul writes into our experience today. At the risk of being discouraging we would be wise to recognize the signs of the times.

We take comfort in Paul’s charge to Timothy: “you know my teaching, my way of life, my purpose,” Paul’s way of life, teaching, and purpose is to live the gospel of Jesus, to teach the gospel of Jesus, and to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul’s purpose is the purpose of every true follower of Jesus. That purpose involves faith; we all know what we have believed.  That purpose involves patience with those not yet saved, with those who reject the gospel. That purpose involves love for the lost, for those searching peace, and salvation.

that purpose involves endurance, and sadly, persecution at times. Paul also warns us that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Persecution is increasing in our time; Satan knows his time is short.

God’s comfort comes to us by way of the Holy Scriptures, making us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” The bottom line for true followers of Jesus is this: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” May God continue to equip us to fulfil his purposes in our lives on earth.

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# 50 2019 Dev. Psalm 77:13. God’s Ways! Read all of Ps.77. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ps. 77:13 “Your ways, God, are holy.  What god is as great as our God?”

The Psalmist in Ps.77, the fifth Psalm of this series, now calls into question the themes that highlight the first four Psalms of this series: Does God not listen? Is God angry? God’s unfailing love, God’s promises, God’s mercy and God’s compassion all seem to be missing in the experience of the Psalmist (vs.1-9).

There are times in our lives as well that God seems to be missing. The Psalmist deals with this apparent rejection in the same way we may want to deal with it; by meditating on God’s past deeds (vs. 10-12). He further contemplates God’s ways, God is Holy and great, performs miracles and redeems his people (vs.13-15). We may well want to identify with the Psalmist’s conclusion: God’s ways are holy and He is always with His people!

In vs.16-19 The Psalmist meditates on one of the main events in the redemption of God’s people; God breaking the chains of slavery, by leading them through the the Red sea (waters) out of the hands of Egypt’s Pharaoh and leading his “people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”    

The Psalmist here gives us the back story to our own salvation: the slavery of sin’s chains is broken in our lives by Christ’s death on the cross, we are baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection by faith. The power of God’s Holy Spirit is given to us as a gift. God has provided leaders to lead and guide us to the promised land. We now have the great privilege to live out God’s salvation and God’s purpose of redeeming His people and world. From our baptism to the time of entering the promised land God prepare us for service here on earth and for our service in The New Heaven and New Earth. Praise be to God! 

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# 49 2019 Devotion, 2 Tim. 2:1-2. A Pure Heart! Read verses 14-28. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Paul continues his urgent letter to Timothy by warning him of the controversies that have been introduced to the church. At this time Gnosticism was beginning to raise its ugly head. Paul mentions two leaders of this movement that deny the bodily resurrection because according to them that had already happened, a spiritual resurrection is what was left for Followers of Jesus. The physical was rejected only the spiritual had value. This led to a decedent lifestyle with a pretense of holiness. Paul encourages Timothy by the solid foundation of the church in his time: “God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and, ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” Paul further urges Timothy and us today: “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

Paul here is talking about making choices: so often people see their place in the world conditioned by events, biases, rejections, poverty and condemnations that are beyond their control. I suppose that a world view like that makes it easier to deal with many disappointments in their lives. However, as Paul points out in his metaphor of articles in a big house, God has given people different stations in life but “those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” The issue of stations in life comes down to making choices. We chose for righteousness and God makes us holy and useful to Him.

Today the firm foundation of the church is undercut by churches that make political correct choices that are contrary to the Word of the Lord. But the true followers of Jesus make righteous choices making us useful and holy by God’s grace. Holiness is kind of a catch 21 that we do not understand completely because our human thinking and actions are not divine thinking and actions: we are pure in heart, making righteous choices by the gift of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. After all is said and done our righteous choices are a gift. We thank Jesus for His work making us useful for the work of Kingdom. What a blessing and a comfort, thank you Lord Jesus!

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# 47 2019 Dev. Psalm 76:8-9. God’s Care! Read all of Ps.76. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ps. 76: 8,9 “From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet—⁹ when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land.

Psalm 76 carries the themes of reassurance and God’s care for his people, God’s care for the oppressed. The themes are in the context of praise for God. The Psalm opens with vs.1-3 “God is renowned in Judah”, God’s mighty power is acknowledged. The Psalm is closed by vs. 11-12 “Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them”, the Psalmist encourages us to fear God in the sense of worship.

The main body of the Psalm vs.4-10 is addressed directly to God; “You are radiant with light”. The personal pronoun “you” and “your” is used eight times attributing this stanza completely to praising God for His care. This Psalm may be praising God for many events in Israel’s history; from the crossing of the Red Sea to the rout of the Assyrian Sennacherib and every major battle in which God intervened.

This is the back story of God’s care for us. Do we need that kind of God intervention today? Yes, we do! “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”.  1 Pe. 5:8. Today, whatever side of the political aisle you are on, we all may have the wrong perception of who the real enemy is!

Today is a good time to reflect on Psalm 76; God is in control! “God is radiant with light”, the truth! “It is you alone who is to be feared”, worshiped!  “From heaven you pronounced judgment”. You O, God “save all the afflicted of the land” (earth).

Today, the Holy Spirit lives in us and among us, it is His job to promote Jesus, to restrain the evil of mankind and it is His job to empower the followers of Jesus to live our salvation in the face of a world desperate for peace and reconciliation. Let us all continue to worship God and pray daily for our churches, for each other, for our country, and for world we live in.

Thank you Lord Jesus for your care, even in our short comings.  Thank you for loving us and for judging us righteous in your sight. We Praise You!

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# 47 2019 Devotion, 2 Tim. 2:1-2. Urgency! Read all of chapter 2:1-13. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

2 Timothy 2:1,2 “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ² And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others”.

Paul writes chapter two with a sense of urgency. Paul is chained in a prison dungeon; he knows his time is limited. Paul puts his trust in God and His Word: “But God’s Word is not chained.” God’s Word and the proper interpretation is what is at stake in this chapter.  

Timothy, you have the true Gospel, teach other responsible people who are capable of teaching others. That was the urgency in Paul’s time for two reasons: first, God’s agenda to reconcile all creation back to Himself and second, that the gospel was beginning to be adulterated by those claiming to be true teachers of the Gospel of Christ.

These two issues are still among us. There is a lack of urgency about promoting God’s agenda for all of mankind. Ask yourself a few questions: “What is the impact of your church in the place God placed her?” Second, “When was the last time you talked to a non Christian about the possibility of salvation?” The first issue is being held up by the second, a lack of urgency to promote the integrity of the Gospel, Jesus preached a radical Gospel, Paul preached a radical Gospel and both were killed because of it. The Gospel has been tamed down and sanitized by political correctness and by the world, what the world says is right has become the truth of the gospel in many churches and for many people.

Paul gives us a different path: “Here is a trustworthy saying” it is an early confession. “If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

This confession urges us to die to ourselves and to live for Jesus. It is time to get back the urgency of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ! We thank God! Jesus is always faithful and will always extend His grace to all who turn to Him.

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# 45 2019 Dev. Psalm 75:2,3. God Says! Read all of Ps.75. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ps. 75:2,3 “You say, “I choose the appointed time;  it is I who judge with equity.
³ When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.”

Psalm 75 is the third Psalm of a series of five introductory Psalms to book three of the Psalter.  The themes are: rededication, God’s care for his people, and this Psalm, reassurance. It is a song of two stanzas bracketed with thanksgiving, v. 1 and vs. 9,10. The first stanzas, vs 2-5 is God speaking: God is in control of time, He is the judge, He holds the world in his hands, He warns the arrogant and the wicked, “do not speak so defiantly.”

Today we are experiencing the defiance of the arrogant. What is happening today borders on a serious attempt to brainwash our country into unrealistic environmental programs and social programs that limit our choices.

The second stanzas, vs 6-8 is Israel confirming God’s control of the world and its people. We are not to exalt each other, “it is God who judges”, He is the one who “brings one down, He exalts another.” His hand is against the wicked of the earth.

As good as our economy is and as low the unemployment is there is still much to be concerned about politically. We were at a church service the other day where the pastor blamed the divisions in our county partly on the church and on Christians: “The church has not stood up for the values of Scripture and Christians have not always lived them.” We tend to agree judging by what we see published on social media. We all need to go back to practicing what we preach and open our ears, our minds and hearts to the Word of God: “I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge with equity. When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm.” Thanks be to God; He is still in control and like the Psalmist we thank Him and praise Him, He will judge the wicked and commend the righteous. 

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# 44 2019 Devotion, 2 Tim. 1. Discouragement! Read all of chapter 1. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

2 Timothy 1:8 “^So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God”.

Paul begins his 2^nd. letter to Timothy with a blessing and a prayer of thanksgiving. Paul is writing Timothy while being imprisoned in Rome for the second time, now ruled by Nero. Persecution of followers of Jesus, Paul’s imprisonment and his desire to communicate with Timothy and with the people where Timothy was ministering are the reasons for his letter. This time Paul was not restricted to his rented house but he was in a dungeon. He is discouraged and has been rejected by those who supported him in the past.

Paul addresses Timothy as “my dear son, night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.” Paul commends his faith that Paul also saw in Timothy’s mother and grand mother. “For this reason,” pointing to Timothy’s faith, “fan into flame the gift of God”. “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” Besides the encouragement, Paul gives Timothy and us a description of salvation in Christ Jesus.  We are “called to a Holy life”, salvation has nothing to do with what we have done, but only by “grace given us in Christ Jesus who “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

 What does Paul say to us in our time? Paul’s world was broken and we live in a broken world as well. The difference of life style of believers and unbelievers could not be more extreme in that time and in our time. Followers of Jesus want to do good out of gratitude and by imitating Jesus. As a result, we are tempted to see ourselves in a more positive light. But Paul says no, what we do has nothing to do with salvation, it is a gift of God’s grace in Christ from before time. However, Paul reminds Timothy and us “to fan into flame the gift of God”. Paul is talking about the gift of the Holy Spirit displayed by the gift of faith. Christ is life and “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”. The Gospel is simple: see Jn.3:16-18.

Paul is discouraged; he is in jail, he is near to the end of his life, he has been rejected. He writes: “everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me.”

We are discouraged today, traditional churches are in decline, for the the most insignificant reasons people leave the places where God has placed them. There is a lack of excitement about the Gospel; the Gospel is in our heads but do we experience it in our lives as if the Gospel is in our hearts? We know that the church belongs to Jesus Christ and Paul encourages us as well: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” Followers of Jesus, our work is not in vain! Praise be to God!

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# 43 2019 Dev. Psalm 74:12. Rededicate! Read all of Ps.74. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw Gremar and I closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ps. 74:12 “But God is my King from long ago; he brings salvation on the earth.”

Ps. 74 is the second Psalm in this series of prayers. “Maskil”, in the title may indicate religious instruction and or Divine knowledge. The prayer. seems to have been composed during the time of the exile; it has two parts vs. 1-11 asks why Lord? If they reflected on the state of the nation at the time, they did not need to ask that question. At that time the thinking was: this is God’s nation, the “apple of His eye”. In spite of our sins, He would not allow our enemies to over take them. But we know that God raised up a nation for the very purpose of punishing His people.

Fast forward to today, consider the destructive weather we see almost every day. Could that be the result of our lack of earth keeping as God had commanded? Consider our political situation: could that be the result of throwing God out of our schools, out of our public life and out of our legal system?  Consider our Churches; the decline in almost every major denomination. Could that be the result of a lack of outreach to the people around us, the lack of compassion and the pervasive condemnation of our country, our leaders, and every person holding a different view of life? I am just asking.

Vs. 13-23, the second part of the prayer recalls God’s miraculous acts on behalf of His people; His wonderful creative acts creating the world. And the prayer reminds God of the enemies that oppose Him and His people.  

Today, as I sit here under the canapé of God’s colorful creation I can’t help but praise Him for His power, for His grace, for His care for His people, the woods right now scream God’s beauty! We also need to remember that we live in a broken world; today, it is difficult to comprehend the scale of suffering inflicted on people and on followers of Jesus.

But there is hope; the center of this prayer brings our thoughts back to God’s sovereignty: “But God is my King from long ago; he brings salvation on the earth.” The Psalmist knows that when the norms of his life are being destroyed, that is the time to affirm trust, to confirm faith, and rededicate His life back to God.

Where is our hope today, followers of Jesus? Is this the time to affirm trust, build up our faith and rededicate every part of our lives back to God? I am just asking.

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