# 06 2016 Devotional Colossians 3:23 The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Colossians 3:23

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

Colossians is a short letter from Paul addressing several heresies and by doing so he praises Jesus Christ as one who “was before all things and in Him all things hold together”. Further, Paul explains the redemption we have in Jesus’ blood reconciling us to God, “the gospel proclaimed to every creature under heaven”. Paul also emphasizes our freedom as followers of Jesus. Pauls warns them and us not be enslaved again to rules and regulations in a world from which Christ has saved us.

After pointing out the pitfalls of “empty philosophies” Paul seeks to put them and us on a solid footing with “rules for holy living”, chapter 3. Briefly we look at a summary; “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things”. We leave the past and “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator”. Here we see the culmination of what Paul is asking the Colossians and us to be: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people…” (see Col 3.12-17).

Paul is not satisfied with rules for holy living, he makes it practical and applicable with “rules for Christian households” There is direction for everyone; wives, husbands, children, fathers, for slaves and slave owners. That is where we find verse 23, as we begin with verse 22: slaves are told to obey “with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord”. How do we apply that verse today? We have bosses over us, they have expectations from us in exchange for a paycheck, Therefore, verse 23 applies to everything we do “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart”. That is the expectation Jesus has for us! Where ever He calls us, in every situation, through every challenge to our calling, “do it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men”! Paul is asking a lot of slaves, but then God is asking a lot of us. With these two sets of rules we are advised, we are encouraged, we are empowered in the Holy Spirit to put all of our hearts into God’s call on our lives. Praise be to God!
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# 05 2016 Devotional Psalm 8 : 3-4 The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Psalm 8:3-4

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?[a]

This Psalm of David is about the majesty of God and the humility of man. A benediction frames the Psalm praising God’s name. It is set to the tune of gittith (wine press or Lyre): the meaning is uncertain but I suspect a lively tune. After the introduction, Ps. 1-2 Ps. 3-7 are appeals to God for protection from the short comings and wickedness of mankind. Ps. 8 soars in praise for God, for His majesty, and His grace to mankind.

V. 2 puts the enemies of God in their place. By means of the meekest and weakest of mankind God establishes a stronghold of righteousness! (see also Matt. 21:12-17) Jesus quotes this Psalm making it one of the Messianic Psalms of David. David had time to contemplate the heavens watching the sheep at night. There was no light pollution, the starry nights must have been overwhelming as it is for us on those rare occasions when the night sky is the only light we have. The language is descriptive; “the work of your fingers”, imagine God’s hands as He sets each star, each planet and each galaxy in their place and course. The majesty of it is overwhelming!

We ask the question along with David- who are we that you think of mankind? God created us to serve and to enjoy His fellowship but we rebelled and now are in constant rebellion. If you don’t believe that you are not being honest with yourself. We are endowed with great gifts that come with the image of God we bear. You have given us dominion Father, and we rule as co-regents with you on the earth, O God.

That is hard to get our head around but by God’s grace, by His love for us, and His plan for us laid down at the beginning of creation we get a glimpse of His great majesty, His great love and care for us in Christ Jesus. We are small in comparison with the fastness of God’s creation, Yet, we are great as the children of God. “O Lord, our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
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# 04 2016 Devotional Luke 12:8 -10 The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Luke 12:8-10

“I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.9 But whoever disowns me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.”

Chapter 12 consists mostly of a long discourse Jesus has with his disciples but there also was a large crowd present, so large “that they were trampling on each other”. Jesus begins this section, “Warnings and Encouragement”, with a warning about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, theirs and our own inner motivations will be made very public. Certainly, the religious leaders of the day feared the Romans oppressing them but they did not fear God. That is obvious by the way Jesus describes them and engages them. Jesus tells his disciples, the crowd and also us to fear the one who is able to kill the Spirit with hell. With that statement of Jesus our minds see Satan as that one, but no, Satan does not have that power. Verses 6 and 7 make it clear that it is God who determines our fate. God knows us inside and out, we need not be afraid because God deems us worthy in Christ, a great source of encouragement to us.

We move to verses 8-10. Jesus builds on his earlier statement but there is a twist, we have a role to play, responsibility, acknowledging that Jesus determines our worthiness. Amazingly, denying Jesus before men does not yet disqualify our worthiness before God even though Jesus will also deny us. Jesus gives the opportunity to repent, be forgiven and be reconciled to Him. Praise be to God! However, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is the unpardonable sin, verse 10.

In my work as a Pastor in U.S. churches no one has ever brought up the unforgivable sin, at least not to me, questioning whether or not that sin was committed. Does grieving, and or blaspheming the Holy Spirit go on? I suspect it does more than we may think. Here in Africa however it is brought up regularly by new converts probably because they come out of a Traditional African Religious context. The answer I give them is that if they are concerned about it that is a good indication the Spirit is still working in them and they would not have turned to Jesus if the Spirit had left them. Can non-believers grieve the Spirit? Yes, I think so. The Spirit’s work is to convict the world (people) of sin. Once the Spirit is grieved and leaves that person, he/she is not concerned about it, nor have any thought about God or following Jesus. Jesus indicates that there is no going back. Thanks be to God that there is grace, forgiveness, and peace for those who continue to believe.

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# 03 2016 Devotional Jer. 31; 33 The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Jeremiah 31:33

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

Jeremiah preached repentance and obedience to God, Judah was to submit to Babylon. They did not repent nor did they submit and they were taken into exile as Jeremiah prophesied. Chapter 31 is about restoration, renewal and new beginnings.

The birth of Jesus was the new beginning “after that time”, the Kingdom of God came near, so near that Jesus tells us that the Kingdom is in our hearts. Is that what Jeremiah was talking about? Yes and No! The new covenant is like the old one; the covenant of Jesus’ blood is as covenants past, Abraham believed God and was considered righteous, we believe in Jesus and we receive His righteousness. Really? Righteousness is not easily understood and even harder to achieve but by the grace of God we do achieve it through faith. The Kingdom is more than salvation, larger than the church, larger than the physical earth, larger than the universe, they reflect the Kingdom but all is not reconciled to Christ, not yet. That will happen in history and it already has happened in God’s timeless dimension; God is in the ever present (Phil.2:9-11). Praise Him!

We look at verse 33, God’s proclamations begins in verse 31 and ends in verse 34. It sounds much like the end of time: v. 34a, “No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another,‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest declares the Lord.” The end began with Jesus’ birth, God’s proclamation applies to all true believers today. The Kingdom of God in our hearts by the workings of the Holy Spirit and teaches us God’s law , writes His precepts, and His will on our hearts. By His Spirit God walks with us and guides us as we follow Jesus and strive to be like Him. Therefore, we are His people and He is our God. Jeremiah’s prophecy in Ch. 31 ends with God’s grace: “for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Thanks be to the God of our salvation!

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# 02 2016 Devotional Ezekiel 11:19-20 The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ezekiel 11:19-20

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them: I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

Ezekiel is known as the prophet of doom, telling about the judgment of Israel and other nations but he also foretells God’s grace and salvation for his people(Ch.33 -34). While Jeremiah predicts the exile, Ezekiel is taken into exile and prophesies from Babylon. Chapter 11 is about judgment but verses 16 -25 is about God’s promise to return the people to the land. This is the “Promised Land” v. 15, no self respecting Israeli wants to be away from the land. This still goes on today, many Jew are returning to the land of Israel and some Christians promote and encourage this return with prayer and funds as if this prophecy is still being fulfilled. It has been fulfilled and ended with the return of the exiles from Babylon beginning in 538 BC.

This prophecy is a sign and a for-shadowing of what is to come with the covenant of Jesus’ blood. This pericope Eze. 11:16-25 has three layers of meaning that become clear from verses 19-20.

First, Ezekiel indeed speaks of the returning exiles from Babylon, verses 16-25 that has been fulfilled.
The second level of meaning, while applying to the returning exiles, also points to the coming of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Verse 19 speaks of an undivided heart, a new Spirit and I will replace their heart of stone with a heart of flesh (II Cor 3:2-6). That has begun to be fulfilled but not yet complete.
The third level of meaning, while applying to the returning exiles, also points to the New Heaven and the New Earth. Verse 20 peaks about God’s precepts carefully kept and “They will be my people, and I will be their God” He is our God completely now but still in limited scope (see Rev 21:3-5) and not yet complete. I am sure you have heard the saying: “The New Testament is in the Old contained and the Old Testament is in the New explained” something to keep in mind as we apply God’s Word to our lives. Praise Him!
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# 01 2016 Devotional Phil. 3:13-14 The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Philippians 3:13-14

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians is one of Paul’s prison letters but at this time he was under house arrest with the freedom of having visitors. He wants to thank the Philippian church for their material support and for their faithfulness to the Gospel. Chapter 3 is a warning about having “confidence in the flesh”, Paul is speaking against those who demand circumcision for all new believers of the Christian faith. In relation to this Paul prays for the Philippian church Ch.1:9-11. Paul prays for abounding love, knowledge, insight and discernment to see what is best and pure in Christ Jesus. Paul here rejects his past, his upbringing and his education under the law as rubbish and seeks to be found righteous by faith in Christ alone. That is what verses 13-14 are all about.

We must go back to verse10, Paul desires to know Christ, His resurrection and to share in His suffering, to be like Christ in death and to attain the resurrection from the dead. Paul here is not speaking of only spiritual resurrection that all Christians receive in Christ as new creations but the physical resurrection that await all those in Christ Jesus.

Paul has not yet attained it but he forgets the past, all that was contrary to the Gospel in his life before God called him, and he forgets his accomplishments. As there is in our lives, even now after God has called us, we leave 2015 behind, we forget our accomplishments, our failures and sins as God forgives and forgets them (Jer. 31:31-34). We are in the new covenant of Jesus’ blood we therefore strain forward into this New Year and like Paul seek the prize that comes with God’s call on our lives, the spiritual and physical resurrection for which Christ has called Paul, me,you, all of us, heavenward. Verse 20-21 culminates Paul’s exhortation: Our citizenship is not on this earth but in heaven and by the power of Christ in His time “will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body”. Praise be to His Name. Amen!

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# 52 2015 Devotional, Mt.28:19-20. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Matthew 28:19-20

19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Chapter 28 is about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. He is the first to rise from the dead. When we believe in Jesus as the risen Son of God who gave Himself for us we also rise with Him to new life, a new creation. This is a story of faith and a great command but also a great deception. The men, Jesus’ disciples, were in hiding. In their defence we know that the religious leader would be looking for them since they were determined to stop what they saw as a heretical sect that disregarded their laws. But the women did not have those restrictions, no one paid any attention to them except for Jesus.

Early in the morning the women went to the tomb to embalm the body of Jesus. They did not find Jesus there but saw an angel. When the women saw him they where afraid but they talked with him. The angel told the women everything they needed to know but as they were on the way back, Jesus, out of love and compassion showed Himself to them. The guards were not so blessed, at the sight of the angel they were terrified and fell down like dead men. Once the women and the angel departed they revived and ran to the religious authorities to tell what happened since they asked for the guards to be placed at the tomb. The leaders bribed them to tell a blatant lie: “The disciples stole the body while we slept”. That lie is still believed today. It is hard for us to understand why they insisted on that lie when they knew that Jesus had risen! That is the contrast, the very opposite of what Jesus says and what those under the control of Satan say. One says; go tell a blatant lie, Jesus says; “go make disciples”, go and tell the truth!

That takes us to the verses of the week 19, 20, but they point back to verse 18b. “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go”! We go in the power of Jesus, He prepares the way. We make disciples by our words and our deeds but we must live intentionally for Christ. In other words, are we different from non believers around us and do people see the difference? Do we seek relationships with our neighbors, co-workers, acquaintances Christian or not? I am afraid that we are comfortable in our Christian community and that non church people are so culturally different from church people that there is hardly any point of contact. Yet, there must be contact because we all are sinners, true, we are forgiven sinners but others need to be forgiven as well. That will only happen if we reach out and cross the gap between us! Christ makes his appeal through us, after all, and that is why He has called us (2 Cor. 5:14-21).

How do we do it, where do we begin? Begin with prayer for the person and ask for the guidance of the Spirit. Also, show the grace of Jesus, not condemnation. We may not agree with the lifestyle but instead of condemning we walk along side and show a better way. This takes time and commitment as Paul says in I Thess. 2:4-10 we are approved to bring the gospel, we loved you, shared our lives with you, worked hard and lived holy lives among you, like a father and mother we treated you like our own children, “encouraging, comforting and urging you to live a life worthy”. We do not do this on our own of course, Jesus is with us but so is the Christian community, to baptize and to teach all Jesus has taught us. Churches need to be intentional as well, have Christ like humility, love, grace, and acceptance. This is the Gospel. What a blessing it is for those (us) previously lost and what a blessing it will be for those not yet saved. The Great Commission is a challenging ending for 2015, we thank God for a year filled with His blessings and look forward to what God will do in 2016. Praise the Lord!

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# 51 2015 Dev. Mt.24:35. The purpose of our devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Matthew 24:35

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”.

Chapter 24 is about signs of the end of the age. Jesus and his disciples are sitting together and they question Jesus concerning what He said about the temple: “Not one stone will be left upon another; every one will be thrown down”. Here Jesus is talking about the Temple not His body. The destruction of the temple occurred when the Roman General Titus put down the Jewish rebellion to direct Roman rule in 66 -70 AD. Jesus gives the disciples many signs of the end: impostors of Christ, wars and rumors of war, famine and earthquakes and persecution of followers of Christ.

Jesus is not just talking about the future here; he mentions the abomination in the holy place spoken of in the book of Daniel. More than likely that event is from the past about 175-163 BC when Antiochus IV also called Epiphanes (god manifest) stripped the Temple and built a pagan alter there sacrificing pigs upon it. This attempt to wipe out Judaism sparked the Maccabean rebellion. A complete exegesis of this chapter is beyond the scope of this devotional but the point is that Jesus is talking about the history of opposition to both the Old Testament church and the New Testament church, past present and future. When we read this chapter we cannot but draw a parallel to the events of today.

These signs will continue until the end, as Jesus says: “and this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Jesus is on the way but it seems the end is not yet, based on the state of the spread of the Gospel in the world. Jesus will come and there will be no doubt as to who He is, and He will be seen around the world.

In the mean time we stay true to Him, we continue with His work. “Heaven and earth will pass away but his word is forever.” we learn this week. Along with that is the work we do in His name, the motivation for what we do as Christians: the fruit of the Spirit that indwells our being and comes out in our work will be forever. The work of God by us by the Word of God in us will become the stuff of the New Heaven and Earth. Ch. 24 is an appropriate passage this close to Christmas, Jesus’ birth is the beginning of the end! Praise Him!

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# 50 2015 Dev. Mt. 17:20The purpose of our devotionals is to grow closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.

Matthew 17:20

20 “He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed,you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

This is an amazing and encouraging passage. From our perspective, chapter 17 is comprised of three miracles and a lack of faith by the Disciples but should build up our own faith. From the Disciples point of view the chapter is a confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah, He has come, he is with them and that assurance also increased their faith.

1. The first miracle is the transfiguration, Jesus is transformed into his heavenly appearance, Moses and Elijah come and talk to Him The Spirit must have informed the Disciple they would not have been able to recognize these two prophets. Obviously, this event was done to increase the faith of the Disciple and our faith as well.

Then there is the boy with an evil Spirit that the Disciple could not cast out. Jesus cast out the boy and when the Disciples asked why they could not Jesus points to their lack of faith. The Gospel Mark tells the same story but the father of the boy upon hearing about the possibility of faith “exclaims, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” The importance of that statement should not be lost on us.

The story of the fish with a four-dracma coin in it’s mouth is a most unusual miracle, not one to help someone but one so as not to cause offence. Can you imagine yourself going to fish and to expect money enough to pay a tax in it’s mouth? No, I would say that the faith of the Disciples is increasing. That certainly would have taken a lot of faith on Peter’s part.

We go back to the verse we are memorizing. Jesus tells us that if we have faith the size of a mustered seed we could move mountains, in-fact “nothing would be imposable for us”. This is unnerving information. Not many of us can move mountains but we do have faith, we believe the Word of God, We believe all the miracles in the Word, and we belive that Jesus is the Son of God and that by His death he saves us from all our sins and unrighteousness. We believe He gives us new life now and eternal life with Him. Along with the father in Marks Gospel we say: “ I do believe; help me (us) overcome my(our) unbelieve!

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