# 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; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one 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!

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# 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.¹³ And 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.  

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# 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. ¹² In 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, ²¹ to 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!

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#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.

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# 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, ¹¹ according 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!

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# 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, ³ now 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!

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# 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 “¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built 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. ²¹ In 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!

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# 15. 2018 Dev. Ps. 33: 18,19. God’s Eyes! Read all of Ps. 33. 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 33: 18,19 “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, ¹⁹ to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.”

 This the last Psalm of a series starting at Ps. 25 and ending in Ps.33. In these Psalms David is struggling with failure, rejection, opposition from friends and enemies.  He is pleading for God’s mercy and salvation. Ps.32: (See Dev. # 13) brings him great comfort, rejoicing and the blessings of forgiveness as it should for us. Ps 33, culminating this series, is a liturgy of praise and thanksgiving to God for His care for His people and for nations that follow Him. The eyes of the Lord are on them and on us!

 Verses 1-3 is a call to worship, it is a call of all the righteous in God’s sight.  

 Verses 4-9 praises the power of God’s Word, it is “right and true”. By His Word the world was created and all people on the earth, let them “fear and revere Him” for His creative power.

 Verses 10-15 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” God’s has His plans, He is sovereign, “his plans stand firm forever”.

 Verses 16-19 It is not the power or glory of man that can save “but the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love”.

 Verses 20-22 is the benediction: “We wait in hope, he is our help, our hearts rejoice, for we trust in Him. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you”.

 This Psalm speaks to us today; God is calling our nation back to Himself. He is calling all those who fear and revere the Lord to serve Him. God assures us that He is in control, He rules the nations and mankind. He promises us that His eyes are on us. Therefore, we wait in hope, we rejoice in His unfailing love, we trust Him for the future. We are in His hands! Thank you Jesus!

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# 14. 2018 Dev. Eph.2:4,5. The Gift of Life! 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.

 Ephesians 1:4,5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

The back story on “God’s Grace” as Paul describes is that it was not always understood in the past and often is not understood today. In this passage I do not see the qualifying factors laid down by some churches and some Christians. Some Christians may not fellowship with other Christians because of a certain kind of theology or baptism. They certainly may not share in communion or pray together. Many disqualify gays and lesbians and those who are overwhelmed with what is considered as major sins. In our work in overseas missions this issue is exported, as example, converts with a Reformed or Presbyterian persuasion simply are considered as non Christian by certain denominational missionaries and their national churches and are fair game as people to convert.

The underlying issue is as old as Christianity itself. The rich young man asked: what must I do to achieve eternal life? Jesus gave him the answer: Love God, love you your neighbor and deny yourself. This was before Jesus’ mission was understood and before His death and resurrection ushered in the the new covenant. Did this rich man follow Jesus’ advice? We really do not know but it appears he did not. This question continues for many today, not only do people want to contribute to their own salvation, it is humanistic to do so and is the basis for all other religions.

 Real Christians understand what Paul is teaching the Ephesians and what he is teaching us. What must we do to be saved? Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, even faith is a gift! If you think you contribute to your own salvation, or your practice contributes, or your theology contributes, then the question becomes, according to Paul, are you saved?

 Paul tells us we were dead, unable to do one thing but by God’s love Jesus makes us alive by grace: “⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

 As Jesus said: because we are saved we have the ability to love God, love our neighbor, deny ourselves and we do good works out of thankfulness to God. Amen!

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# 13. 2018 Dev. Psalm 32:1. Easter Blessing! Read all of Ps. 32. 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 32:1 “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered”.

 By the power of the Holy Spirit David understands God’s goal of bringing creation back to Himself. That is what Easter is all about; we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ whose name means: “He will save his people from their sins” (Mt.1:21). From my experience in missions and as a church planter, followers of Jesus do not readily admit being sinful. We are forgiven sinners, after all, but that forgiveness needs to be extended to us daily.

 David in Ps.32 gives us an Easter message for today.  He begins with describing the blessings of God when forgiven; sins are “covered” and do “not count against him” or her and “in whose spirit is no deceit” (vs.1,2).

 The next section describes sins unacknowledged (deceit). When sin is unacknowledged to ourselves or to God it is like an illness within us, David warns. Denying one’s sins causes suffering and groaning from which there is no relief (vs. 3-4).

 Yet, there is relief for us and for David; he acknowledges his sin and no longer covered it up, he confesses to the Lord “and you forgave me. Let every Godly person pray” to God and I add let every person pray to God “while you (He) may be found;” “ surely” God is our protection and “hiding place”. God’s faithfulness is our “song of deliverance” (vs.5-7).

 God answers David’s prayer as He answers our prayers as well. God says: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” This is the comfort of Easter and is our assurance that we will share in the resurrection at God’s appointed time because “the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.” The Lord is risen! We respond; He has risen indeed! Praise be to God!

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