Heavenhigh

Repentance

# 25. 2018 Dev. Ps. 38:4. Repentance! Read all of Ps. 38. 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.

Psalm 38:4 “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.”

The next four Psalms share the theme of David committing a sin, the consequences, and his confession to God. These four Psalms are the last stanzas of Book One, it is a Book of instruction.

Sin is always against God’s will for us and sometimes it involves sin against other people. All of Scripture is a guide to God’s will for us but a more specific passage is Ex.20, the Ten Commandments. Obeying the Ten Commandment can’t save us, neither do they condemn us when we accept life by the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, our Savior.

The Law has two sections: # 1-4 our relationship to God and # 6-10 our relationship to each other. Today we use the Law in three ways: one, the Law teaches us God’s righteousness and shows us where we may have fallen short. It shows us what sin is. Two, the Law restrains sin in society. Three, the Law teaches us how to live as followers of Jesus, obedience builds our faith and we experience God’s grace.

Like David, our conscience brings on guilt that must be resolved, guilt drags us into dark places as we see with David. Praise be to God that confession and repentance brings back the light. I find public confession as it was practiced in the past not helpful and given our broken selves, detrimental. Confess to God and if a person is involved, to that person. If there is a problem in the church, go to Matt. 18:15-19.

As long as we live in this broken world sin will be a reality in our lives, but as followers of Jesus we are forgiven. I John 2 comforts us: “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ²He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Confession and repentance heals! Praise be to God!

A Jesus Lifestyle

# 24 2018 Dev. Eph. 4:22-24. A Jesus Lifestyle! Read verses 17-32. 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.

Eph. 4: 22-24 “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”.

Paul in this passage sets direction for a righteous and holy life style; he draws a stark contrast of life without Christ and a life with Christ. It goes without saying that Paul is talking about our daily actions, our lifestyle as followers of Jesus.

Paul of course is writing to former Gentiles as described by their former lifestyles. Does what Paul is saying connect with followers of Jesus today?

A second question: does Paul have something to say to people like myself: born and raised in the church and considered himself a Christian at the beginning? The answer to these questions is: Yes! Absolutely!

Paul begins with describing a lifestyle of those separated from God, those who do not and cannot understand due to the hardening of their hearts. That is not the lifestyle we have learned that is “the truth that is in Jesus”. We have been recreated “to be like God in righteousness and holiness”. However, sanctification begins with Jesus and ends with His return, it is on going in our lives. For everyone, redemption begins with turning to Jesus, accepting His love and putting our trust in Him, it is a matter of faith. Even so Paul continues to warn us “do not grieve the Holy Spirit”, get rid of bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” We may think that we are not subject to that sort of lifestyle and Paul’s warning is not for us, but if that is our attitude we are living a “la la land” life.

So, do build people up as needed, may your conversations benefit others: v 32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”. Good advice for how to live and how not to live in a Jesus lifestyle!

Trust, Commit, be Still!

# 23. 2018 Dev. Ps.37:3 Trust, vs.5 Commit, vs.7 Be Still. Read all of Ps. 37. 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 N

Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the Lord… vs.5. Commit your way to the Lord vs.7. Be still before the Lord”

Ps. 37 is an acrostic poem of David and it is the last stanzas in this series (34-37). In Ps. 37 David gives us a long comparison of the actions of the wicked and the actions of the righteous. Ps. 34 and 37 both are acrostic psalms that bracket two prayers; Ps. 35 asks for God’s intervention into David’s life and Ps. 36 praises God for the love He has for creation and warns us about the evil intentions of Satan.

In Ps 37: 3-8 David guides the righteous to do what is pleasing to God; “Trust in the Lord and do good”, trust and action go together. “Delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit to the Lord” and our righteousness will shine like the sun. “Wait patiently for God, hope in the Lord” and God will give “peace and prosperity”. Vs. 11 “The meek will inherit the earth”. Vs. 18,19 The Lords cares for us, “they will enjoy plenty”. Vs.23 the Lord makes firm our steps, “he upholds us with His hand.” Vs. 27 “turn from evil and do good” Vs. 39 “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord”.

“Not so the wicked”: they will wither. They will be no more, they will be destroyed, never to be found on earth or in heaven. This is what David has observed in his time and that is what we will observe in out time today “God is not mocked”.

Today our comfort is as it was for David. Vs, 39,40 “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them he delivers them from the wicked and saves them because they take refuge in him.” Lord, Jesus comfort your followers “and deliver us from evil” that is among us today. Lord Jesus help us to commit to you and by it to trust you and may we not run ahead, but be still and wait for You, amen!

Unity in Christ

# 22 2018 Dev. Eph. 4:4-6. Unity in Christ! Read verses 1-16. 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.

Eph. 4:4-6 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Paul ended Ch. 3 with:^“to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” To God be glory in the church along with the glory of Christ, setting the church on a high plane. Therefore, Paul urges the Ephesians to live up to their calling, be worthy of what God is doing through you. And Paul is the example “as a prisoner for the Lord.” Paul is not blowing his own horn but he is saying to the Ephesians and to us be worthy, “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love,” making every effort at peace. Be willing to suffer to keep the peace and if necessary, be willing to suffer to fulfill your call from God.

God calls us and He gives us the gifts we need to fulfill His call on our lives. Paul mentions only a few gifts but all gifts come from God by way of the Holy Spirit.Paul here quotes Ps. 68:18 signifying Christ’s triumphal ascension back to the Father as one who has conquered all evil and now fills the whole universe. He is the one who gives gifts: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up… attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

That is the goal, we leave our worldly ways behind, Paul mentions those ways but let us put this in our own context. How are we worldly today? What is preventing our growth “to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ “? You know, you are the only one to know if you are living up to the calling received from God. Thanks be to God for the gifts He has given all of us, His Spirit guides us and prepares the way for us to be built up in love as we build up others, brothers, sisters and those who have not yet experienced the love of Christ. Let us pray for the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we live out God’s love for us, Amen!

God’s Love!

# 21. 2018 Dev. Ps.36:5. God’s Love!! Read all of Ps. 36. 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 36: 5 “Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.”

Ps. 36 lays out a radical opposition and contradiction of what the world believes. David sets up an extreme contrast of evil and good; what he is talking about is the influence of Satan on society and God’s plan for creation.

Evil and Satan is something most people do not want to talk about; many people do not believe in the spiritual being of Satan, yet do believe there is evil in the world. Whether you believe in Jesus or do not believe, how do we come to grips with evil that confronts us daily and how do we keep it out of our lives? I realize that some Christians feel that they are isolated from evil and Its influence but that does not reflect the reality of life on earth. There is good reason Jesus taught us to pray: “And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.¹³And lead us not into temptation,^[^a^] but deliver us from the evil one” (Mt. 6:12-14).

How then do we deal with evil? The Old Testament and the New Testament has the same answer: Know God! Knowing God is much more than knowing about God; the power of God’s love in Christ must be rooted deep in our hearts and control our lives. David’s prayer: “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”

Paul prays in Eph. 3:18 that we “may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ”. The power of the Holy Spirit must move from our heads into our hearts, into our inner being, driving our faith and our lives as followers of Jesus.

The line between good and evil is very thin, there is no space in between, it’s either good or bad but that is not always obvious. Unbelievers also do good things but only what is done in the name of Christ will last into eternity. The difference is that we are forgiven sinners because we believe in God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Along with David we pray: “with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” Amen! Today we are blessed with the light of His Word.

Prayer!

# 20 2018 Dev. Eph.3:16. Prayer! Read verses 14-21. 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.

Eph. 3:16 “^I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,”

This is Paul’s second prayer for the followers of Jesus in Ephesus (see Dev. # 12, 2018 Dev. Eph.1:17. Prayer!). This prayer points back to what he says before, “for this reason”: verses 10-12 summarized here: His intent through the church is that the wisdom of God should be made known in the Universe: “according to his eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord. ¹²In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” That is the power of prayer; we may seek God at any time, in any situation, and in any condition and He will listen to us! And if we are so overwhelmed that we cannot pray or know not what to pray the Spirit prays for us (Ro. 28:22-27).

This is a prayer every follower of Jesus should be praying for himself as well as for others. We need the power of the Holy Spirit, knowing it and experiencing that power in our hearts. So Paul encourages us: “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Are we able to understand the fullness of God? It is beyond our understanding but not beyond our experience!

By faith we experience forgiveness, we experience God’s love in Christ and in our human relationships extend it to others. We experience God’s grace in a broken world. We experience peace and security knowing that God has chosen us before the foundation of creation. As we journey through our lives on earth we should not underestimate the incredible gift of the love of God in Christ.

Paul ends this chapter with a summary of this prayer we may do well to memorize: ^20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Pray and then pray some more! Amen and Amen!

Injustice!

#19. 2018 Dev. Ps.35:10. Injustice! Read all of Ps. 35. 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 35:10 “My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, Lord?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

This is one of two prayers in this short group of Psalms. David is praying to God to intervene into his life; it is a strong and strident request indicating the depth of his struggle at this time of his life. It is not so much economic injustice or unethical political attacks but deeply personal and physiological attacks.

It may be hard to identify with David’s situation, he was a man of status, great strength and ability and yet he was completely dependent on God. David’s experience here mirrors Jesus’ unjust suffering. Christ is the extreme example of being unjustly accused and executed, every supplication of David could be and was Christ’s prayer to the Father in whom Christ, the Son of God, put His complete trust.

How will this prayer effect our lives today? Certainly, we all have experienced some of what David went through at one time or another but If we are not experiencing some of what David prays about, we will at some time. It is part of life in this broken world. Like David we need to be completely dependent on God, sometimes we also say “Where are you God? I have no reprieve, you are silent.” At those times we hold on to our faith, on to our hope and onto our conviction that God loves us and has called us to serve Him, even during such a time.

The second question is; what can we do to help someone who is struggling? Often God uses people to correct injustice. We wait for God, and God is working; someone is praying for you, someone takes time to encourage you, something unexpected happens to build you up. It all is a God thing!

On what side of David’s experience are you? Are you suffering at this moment; verses 11-26? Or are you rejoicing, verse 27 “May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant.” Never tire of doing good to others, God is working.

God’s Plan!

# 18 2018 Dev. Eph.3:6. God’s Plan! Read verses 1-13. 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.

Eph. 3:6 “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”

Paul continues to explain what he understands as a mystery revealed by the Holy Spirit to Paul, the apostles and prophets. Paul continues this section: “For this reason”, pointing back to Ephesians 2:19-20 (see devotional # 16). In this section Paul clarifies his call to preach to non Jews commanded by Jesus himself. That was a huge shift in understanding God’s establishment of Israel.

Paul tells us what God’s intention is: Vs. 10-11 “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, ¹¹according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It is obvious that God plans to redeem every square inch of the universe. It is a plan that is beyond our comprehension!

We look at two issues, first; what is the meaning of our call as follower of Jesus? By grace God calls us to serve Him and in that commitment we all become preachers of the gospel (“use words if necessary”). That is our work, our jobs are how we make a living. What a blessing it is for work and job to become one and the same thing. Everything done in the the name of Jesus is good work and lasts forever. In fact, good works become the building blocks for the New Heaven end the New Earth!

Secondly, it affects our perception of the church: The church is the body of Christ, people forgiven of their sins, Christ’s presence in the world by the power of the Holy Spirit. The church is important, it is God’s instrument and is a part of God’s plan to redeem the universe which is more important. When the church is seen as a building, God’s plan is minimized, figuratively and in rare cases literally, we should tear down the steeples and the walls and let the people God wants to redeem into our fellowship with God, Amen!

“The Lord is Good!

# 17. 2018 Dev. Ps.34:8. “The Lord is Good! Read all of Ps. 34. 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 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

Ps 34 begins a short series of Palms;34-37. Both 34 and 37 are acrostic poems framing two prayers. Ps. 35 is a petition for protection and Ps.36 is a condemnation of wickedness contrasted with God’s goodness.

Ps. 34 begins with praise verses 1-4. David praises God from experience: “I sought the Lord and he answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.”

Vs. 5-10 Instructs us in the benefits and blessings of serving God. David challenges us to serve and experience God: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”! Pe. 2 quotes part of this verse to also challenge us to experience God: “…crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Vs,11-18 in these verses David gives instruction in practical wisdom: “keep your tongue from evil!” and “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry”

Vs.19-22 David ends with encouraging us: “The Lord redeems his servants; no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.” What we take away from this Psalm is that followers of Jesus are not promised a trouble free life “but the Lord delivers him/her from them all…” Praise be to God!

Reconciliation!

# 16. 2018 Dev. Eph.2:19-20. Reconciliation! Read verses 11-22. 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.

Ephesians 2:19-20 “¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone”.

Historically there has been a radical separation between Jews and all other peoples, extremely so at the time of Jesus. The Apostles struggled with it and disagreed over fellowship with those called Gentiles. But from the beginning God called and blessed Abraham to be a blessing to all families of the earth. That is God’s intention to bring all things under the authority of Christ; simply put, redemption of God’s creation.

It is by God’s grace that we are brought near to God by the blood of Christ. The work of Christ reaches into the past to the beginning of time and into the future to the end of time. In God’s reality, He is in the eternal present so all His decrees are already accomplished. “It is finished”! We who are in time and space are limited to our current experiences, but by faith we know that the purposes of God will be and are already established.

The result of God’s purpose to bring all things under the authority of Christ is that all those who acknowledge Christ as their Lord and Savior are brothers and sisters, regardless of ethnicity, tribe, color, culture, or area of origin, one family; “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.” We are the very diverse body of Christ, indwelt and empowered with the Spirit of God to be His hands and feet in a troubled world. God is accomplishing in us what he promised to Abraham; to be a blessing to all families of the earth. Praise be to God!