# 2. 2018 Dev. Gal.4:26. Freedom! Read vs. 8-31. 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.

Galatians 4:26 “But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.”

Paul is struggling with the influence of Judaism in the Galatian church. It is not hard to see why God moved the center of the church out of Jerusalem to the seven cities of Asia Minor. Christian Jews from Jerusalem, apparently very much opposed to Paul, wanted Gentiles to adhere to the rules and regulations of Judaism including circumcision. Paul is concerned for this church because they are trading their freedom in Christ for the slavery of tradition and for the old covenant under the law.

Speaking figuratively Paul makes the comparison of Hagar and Sarah. Hagar is the slave and Sarah is the free woman. Hagar certainly comes out on the short end of it all at the time and in this comparison. However, Hager and Ismael are blessed by God and became a great nation as God told Abraham. Isaac’s birth was much different because he is a divine promise at a time when Sarah could no longer conceive. Even so Abraham believed God by faith and that attributed righteousness to him. In that way Isaac’s birth is the foreshadowing of the birth of Christ.  He is all that is needed for our salvation (righteousness) by faith in Him revealing the Kingdom of God, the greatest nation!  Further, Paul comperes the earthly Jerusalem with all her Jewish legalism to the freedom of the heavenly Jerusalem. That is what Paul is teaching the Galatian church again and that is what he is teaching us.

 Some churches and some Christians today are still living in the earthly Jerusalem and have compromised their freedom. How is that possible given the clear teaching of the Word of God? Satan is very subtle in limiting our freedom. We are comfortable with traditions we have practiced for many years. We have heard the law read to us so many times we mostly check out when read. With the brokenness of the world around us it has become easy to condemn. There is nothing wrong with any of this including being aware of what displeases God which is what the law teaches us. However, when these things are seen as contributing to our salvation we give up some of our freedom in Christ. Further, the lack of freedom in our worship and in our actions have a detrimental effect on church growth. This is a serious issue since the promise to Abraham is to bless all the families of the earth.  We must stand with both feet in the heavenly Jerusalem because we are born of God (Isaiah 54:1).

 The Church belongs to Christ and he “will build (the) church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (Mt.16:18)” In the power of the Holy Spirit the church will grow, amen, but Christ wants to use you and me to do it. As individual Christians proclaiming the gospel will only be accomplished by building relationships with people who Jesus brings to us! Praise be to God.

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# 1. 2018 Dev. Ps. 26:3. Love and Faithfulness! Read all of Ps. 26. 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 26: 3 “for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.”

 We begin 2018 with Psalm 26. This Psalm is David’s prayer asking for God’s vindications, for deliverance and for mercy. This is a group of prayers ending at Ps.33. As in David’s time we are surrounded with a broken world. What David prays in verses 4-7 surrounds us as well and occupies us as those living for Jesus. Further, if proclaiming God’s deeds, grace, forgiveness, salvation, are not part of our occupation it should be in this New Year.

 Verses 1-3 stands in opposition to the above and gives us an insight into David’s relationship with God, he trusts the LORD, he has not faltered, “Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.” David’s relationship with God would be a great New Years resolution. Think about it. Could we be that honest with God?

 Verse 8-11 builds on David’s relationship with God. He asks for mercy because like David we know we fall short of God’s will for our lives but God is faithful. He forgives, He removes our short comings as far as east is from the west, Ps 103:12. All this is the result of our relationship with Jesus Christ, as imperfect as it is but is qualified in Jesus’ love.

 We move to v.12: “My feet stand on level ground; in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.” Where will you stand this year? Are you standing with the people who follow Jesus, praising God? 2018 will be a good year by God’s Grace!

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# 52. 2017 Dev. Gal.4:4. Jesus in Our Hearts! Read vs. 1-7. 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.

 Galatians 4:4 “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,^[m] Father.” 

 As we think about Christmas and the New Year Gal.4:4 moves us into the New Year with great anticipation. Sons and daughters of God! Really? As we face the realities of this life both good and bad, this truth is difficult to get our head around.

 Christmas, Jesus’ birth changes everything but our relationship with God in particular is changed. Jesus became like us, a perfect human, so that we may become like Him. By the power of the Holy Spirit in our hearts we are brothers and sisters of Jesus. However, being like Jesus is not all wine and roses. We share in Jesus’ birth, we are born again, we suffer with Him, Satan’s attacks, we are buried with Him, our baptism, we die with Him, die to ourselves, we are raised with Him, new life in the Spirit, and we share in His glory, the New Heaven and Earth.

 Therefore, we go forward into the New Year with great expectations. “If God is with us who or what can be against us”? Those who believe in the child of Christmas, He is our Brother and Savior! Praise be to God!

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# Christmas 2017 Dev. Mt.1:22-23. “God with Us!” Read Mt. 1:18- 2:6. 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.

 Matthew 1:22-23 “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”^[d] (which means “God with us”).

In the four Gospels the introduction to Jesus is presented in different ways.

Matthew: begins with the genealogy of Jesus by beginning with Abraham ending with Joseph. He is writing to Jews. Mark: begins with a quote from Isaiah 40:3 “A voice crying in the wilderness” …  a reference to John the Baptist. Mark writes to Christian communities living away from Israel. Luke: begins with foretelling the birth of John the Baptist, and the foretelling of the birth of Jesus. He is the only one who includes the dialogue of the angel and Mary. He also includes a genealogy but begins with Jesus back to Adam. It is genealogy of Mary. Luke writes to Gentiles. John: begins with God and introduces Jesus as the Word of God who is God the creator, the light of life, the light to all man and came into the world as the God man. We read the Old and the New Testament together.

 The one theme all the Gospels have in common is that Jesus is declared as the Son of God. We put this theme into human terms: Jesus always was the Son of God, always is the Son of God, and always will be the Son of God! Amen.

 The second highlight is the theme: “God with us, Immanuel.” That takes us back to Isaiah 7:14, King Ahaz was facing attack by what he thought as a vastly superior army, God sent Isaiah to reassure the King but Ahaz did not believe him. Isaiah’s response: “if you don’t stand in your faith you will not stand at all!” Good advice for us as well.

 Ahaz is also told to ask God for reassurance, a sign which he refused to ask for. God himself gave him a sign: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” God will be with those who have faith and with those walking in darkness. Isaiah 9:2-7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

 The scope of this prophecy is nothing less than the redemption of mankind and all creation in Christ Jesus! In God’s position of the “eternal present” this is already accomplished at the cross! Christmas assures us that it will be completed in our human position of “time and space”. God is with us, those who believe, as well as past and future believers and he will always be with us from now into the New Heaven and the New Earth forever and ever and ever! Thanks be to God!

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# 51. 2017 Dev. Ps. 25:4-5. Teach us your ways! Read all of Ps 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.

 Psalm 25:4-5   “Show me your ways, Lord,  teach me your paths.⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long”.

 Ps 25 is a free standing alphabetic acrostic Psalm, not part of a group of Psalms. It is a Psalm of David and is a prayer for mercy, for forgiveness, for God’s grace, for God’s goodness and for God’s guidance.  

 Over the last couple of weeks, we have been concerned with responding to God’s grace and to His call. In this Ps. David appears to be struggling with opposition, or the result of sin in his life. His first words are: “To you O Lord, I lift up my soul;” This is found in the NIV 2008 update and not found in other versions that start with “In you Lord my God I put my trust”. Here we see that it is more than trust, David lifts up his very being to God, complete dependence, complete trust and dependence on the Spirit. Perhaps David thinks he has lost his way or wandered off the right path. Verses 4,5 asks God for direction, to teach David the right way. Verses 6 and 7 remind God of His mercy and love and asks God not to remember his sins or David’s “rebellious ways”. While verses 8, 9, 10 and 11 talks of God’s goodness. Verses 12-22 shows us all the types of people who receive God’s goodness.

 The prayer of vs. 4 and 5 must be prayed everyday, there are values, and life styles, unacceptable in the past, that are now accepted in churches, and by those claiming to be Christians, such as same sex marriages, lesbian and gay people accepted as leaders; deacons, elders and pastors in churches.  Truly we need the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to discern God’s will. We all have sins in our lives but God forgives and remembers them no more when we repent and change our ways. When we do not change our ways we become law breakers and Jesus tells us (Mt. 5:17-20) that law breakers will be least in the Kingdom. It is not a matter of salvation but there are ramifications in this life and the life to come when we hold on to areas in our lives that do not please God. Take note!

 How then are we taught God’s truth as David requests from God? As long as people believe in God as their Lord and Savior they are our brothers and sisters in Jesus, Amen!  While we accept them as such, the church or Christians must not normalize sin and or life styles that do not please God, whether they are able to help themselves or not.  Certainly, they should be welcomed into the church as communicant members but positions of leadership must be judged by Biblical standards. Therefore, those not able to show ongoing repentance do not qualify for leadership in the Church of Christ.

 There are two important issues that go along with the normalization of values that God clearly rejects in Scripture. First, what are we teaching our children? Are we teaching our children the ways of God as we read it in Scripture? Second, Is the world influencing the church or must the church set direction in the world? I think we all know the answer to those questions. Further, it high lights David’s prayer: “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me”. Holy Spirit guide us and guide your church Amen.

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# 50. 2017 Dev. Gal. 3:16  Children of God! Read vs. 15-29. 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.

 Galatians 3:16

 ¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed” meaning one person, who is Christ. 

 The promise to Abraham, from God: “He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” “ ⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

The law; the Ten Commandments, sacrificial rules and absolution rituals the Jews practiced always was misunderstood. There was no justification in the law and holiness was not earned. It always was the promise: “You will be my people and I will be your God.” Those who believed (had faith in) God were justified in the sacrificial system given to Moses. The New Covenant in Jesus superseded the Old Covenant, with Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice that was foreshadowed by all previous sacrifices.  

There still is confusion about the Ten Commandants today. Some churches demand that it must be read in worship services, others demand obedience to the law in order to be holy. Further Jesus tells us in his Sermon on the Mount: ¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸ For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. ¹⁹ Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus puts the Law in perspective, law breakers will be least in the kingdom of heaven but those without faith will not enter the kingdom of heaven. The Law then is a guide to God’s will, it teaches us how to live in a sinful world and by the power of the Holy Spirit restrains sin in the world.  Christ has fulfilled all, therefor Paul tells us: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.’ Praise Him!

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# 49. 2017 Dev. Ps 24: Seeking God! Read all of Ps. 24. 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.

 Ps. 24:3-4

  ³ Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?
⁴ The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.

 Ps. 24 is last Psalm of this series of Psalms beginning with Ps. 15. Look back at Ps.15 and see how the beginning psalm and the last Ps. 24 compliment each other. Ps 19 is the center of this series on God’s majesty and who may approach the God of the universe. Ps. 24 also speaks of purity and God’s majesty and is a Psalm seen as the prophetic description of the ascension of Jesus into the the heavenly sanctuary by Christians today.

 We don’t question God’s majesty but we question the idea of human purity, we only need to take a hard look at ourselves. I suspect that if we are honest with ourselves we struggle with the questions concerning ascending the mountain of the Lord and “who may stand in his holy place?” 

 We need to back up to verses one and two, establishing God’s majesty as the creator, the owner, and the One who controls the history of the earth. V.3 asks the questions we have discussed and verse 4 gives us the answers. Given our lives on this earth the idea of approaching the God of the universe and the privilege of standing in God’s presence is a pressing question.

 Satan tells us not a one of us is worthy but vs.5-6 helps us to understand: Those who seek his face will be blessed and vindicated by God their Savior. God calls us but we must respond by seeking God. Salvation is ours because we have faith in Christ, He is perfect, He forgives us, He perfects us, He loves and calls us and He is the one who deems us worthy! Praise be to God our Savior! Along with Jesus we will ascend to God and we will stand in His holy place. Amen!  

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# 47. 2017 Dev. Gal. 3. Faith or Works? Read Verses 1-14. 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.

Galatians. 3:6,11

  6.“So also Abraham ‘believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

   11.“Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the       righteous will live by faith.”

Paul continues with the precepts of the true Gospel drawing on Old Testament quotes showing the Galatians and us that “belief, believing God” was and still is the basis for God’s grace to mankind then, as it is to us today.

 The Galatians were being mislead by a very humanistic idea; that people have something good to offer up, something of value in and of ourselves to contribute to our own salvation. I remember a person, an expatriate also working in Africa, who wanted a relationship with Jesus but could not get past the idea that one needed to be saved from something: “I am not a bad person, I do good things, I don’t need to repent”. Apparently, the effects of sin in that person’s life was not yet obvious.  That person is correct about one thing, People do good things, we see that every day but if those good things are not done in the name of Jesus, while doing good for many people, there is no personal salvation value.

 V11 is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4. It is part of God’s answer to the question posed by the prophet: Since you are a Holy God why do you tolerate the wicked? God’s answer is punishment on the unrepentant, but those who believe in God/Jesus will live. They will live on this earth with the absolute assurance of forgiveness and salvation, blessing our earthly lives and blessing us with life forever after this life.

 That is God’s goal. He wants to redeem all of His people, redemption comes to those who believe, who have faith. Paul makes that clear: “Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”^[d] 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18)

 The answer to faith or works? Is not either /or, obviously we are saved by grace, by faith in Jesus, but we do good works, service, ministry because we are saved. That work is forever, follows us to heaven and become the building blocks for the New Heaven and Earth! Praise the Lord!

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# 46. 2017 Dev. Ps 23:6a. The Opposite of Suffering! Read all of Ps. 23. 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.

 Ps. 23: 6a

 “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”,

 David in the midst of suffering writes this song of praise and comfort. It stands in juxtaposition of Ps 22. This concept of God’s comfort and care is a state of being, offsetting the suffering he is experiencing.  As David in the Spirit describes Jesus’ suffering so he describes God’s care for himself, for Jesus and also for us. It is a pastoral scene, peaceful, comforting in an unpredictable world: green pastures and quite waters, a place set aside, away from it all, protected.

 Yet, it is much more than a place, He guides us on the right paths of our lives and when we are in a dark place we will not fear evil for He walks with us. His rod and staff, His laws and precepts guide us and teach us the way of life.

 He blesses us in the face of opposition and He anoints our heads with oil, God has chosen and He calls us to serve Him. His goodness and love is with us in every situation and beginning at believing in Christ we “dwell in the house of the Lord forever”.

 This is the kind of comfort only Jesus is able to give us but only if you know the Lord of life. This state of being, mentally and physically, is only true for those with a complete commitment to living the Christian life. Not the halfway commitment we see too often but a deep self-sacrificing commitment to Jesus. May we all experience it, Amen!

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