Heavenhigh

2015 Devotional. Our goal for these weekly devotionals is to grow in humility and to grow spiritually by memorizing selected passages, putting them into context, and by applying them to our daily living. These passages are taken from: “100 Verses Every Christian Needs to Know” by Freeman-Smith. All passages are from the NIV.

I Chronicles 28:20

²⁰David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.

King David wanted to build a house for God; (I Chr. 28) he laid his plans and gathered all the material. But God did not allow him to build the temple because he was a man of war. God designated Solomon, David’s son to build it. Yet God gave David the plan for the house and the plan for all the tables, bowls, instruments, lamp stands, alters, and the Ark, following some of what God had given to Moses for the Tabernacle.

Those of us in ministry and those who follow Jesus have come to know what David had to come to grips with: “God’s plans are not our plans, His thoughts are not our thoughts.” Yet we all have a role to play in the work of the Kingdom. “The Lord has assigned each his task” (I Cor 3:5-7). We recognize that truth in this passage but it goes deeper and confronts us as fellow servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. David, though disappointed, shows us a better way to deal with what God has assigned us when we would rather be doing something different. David is an encourager and by encouraging others he is himself encouraged.

Verse 20 encourages Solomon and is an encouragement for us. “Be strong and courageous and do the work”: whatever it is God gives us to do. Know there is always opposition and that strength and courage is a requirement for the work.

“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.” I remember when we committed to New Community Church with 11 people after the former pastor left with the rest; we could not find a church that would sponsor us, we felt alone and rejected. We did not get a lot of help until we started to grow a little. God is good! “He (God) will not fail you or forsake you until all the work”; whatever the work may be “is finished”. This is true for all those who follow Jesus. Remember verse 20, remember to encourage others, you will be encouraged. Praise the Lord!

The Great Commandment

#42 Oct. 19, 2015

Matthew 22:37-38

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment.

This Old Testament command (Deut. 6:4-9) is quoted in the New Testament by Jesus in Matthew and Mark but in Luke, an expert in law asking Jesus about eternal live quotes this verse in response to Jesus answering his question with a question: “How do you Read the Law? Jesus here is using the Jewish way of teaching by asking multiple questions and in that way arriving at the answer. The expert answers correctly. Jesus responds: “do this and you will live”.

The book “100 Verses Every Christian Needs to Know” does not ask us to memorize the whole quote. I see this as an oversight because the whole passage goes together although Jesus quotes two different passages from the Old Testament. As noted above, this first law is from Deut. 6:5 but the corresponding second law is quoted from Lev. 19: 18 but it comes from a set of 10 verses commanding the correct way to treat each other (Lev.19: 9-19). We therefore think that these two commands go together and should not be separated but memorized as Jesus quotes them.

It seems to us that loving God with everything we have, while difficult, may not be as difficult as loving our neighbors as ourselves. God loves us blesses us and draws close when we draw close, but loving our neighbor takes God’s grace and His love in our lives. It is therefore that loving God while not loving our neighbor is not the love that God asks of us. These commands hang on each other just as all of Scripture, Jesus says, hangs on these two commands! Praise be to God.

Life is Tentative and Forever!

#41 Oct. 12, 2015

Psalm 30:5

“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning”.

This verse took on a new meaning for us today (Oct. 5). Three-year-old Hosea had been ill for a while and he responded very little to treatment. Sunday morning he was brought to us, he was very ill and we could do nothing for him. I and another teacher drove them to the hospital but before he could be treated God called him.

It reminds me of the verse we are memorizing this week. What makes this so difficult for his father and mother is that their immediate relatives are not believers. They follow Traditional African Religion. Hosea’s father was told to dump his wife, apparently there is no love lost between his family and hers. He married her anyway, it was a church wedding in the Lutheran church approved by God. When he wanted to come to school they told him go to school but not with that woman. If you take her whatever happens is yours, it is none of our concern. Now in his last term of the English course God calls home his only son. With all that has happened with his family what is he to think now? Is his family right? No, No! But we also ask the question “Why Lord? Why this little boy?” There is no human answer; it is beyond our understanding of God’s allowable will. The one thing we know is that he is with you and we will see him Again!

We can only pray for understanding, pray for comfort, pray that this couple will stay strong, she is expecting, may they be comforted. The other thing we do is turn to Your Word O God! We turn to v. 5. Truly God your anger is short, you called this couple to yourself. Even with this great loss may they see your everlasting favor! We know that in this very night you cry with them. O God may you return to them the rejoicing that comes in the morning after a very long and dark night. May you return them to us at the school! Amen.

What is Love?

#40 Oct. 05, 2015

I John 4:11

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also aught to love one another.

There was an early form of Gnosticism rearing its head at the turn of the century. John is concerned that false prophets (Cerinthus) taught that the material, the body as evil and therefore of no account. How does a body of no account break the Law? Well according to them it does not! Secondly, only the spiritual had value therefore Christ was Spirit and only seemed to have a body or Christ joined a human body at his baptism. The incarnation was thus denied and the way of salvation, Christ as our substitute on the cross, discounted. The truth is, only Christ as the Second Adam is able to stand in man’s place in God’s justice. Praise be to God!

The first part of Chapter 4 is: “Test The Spirits”. We recognize the Spirit of truth in those who listen to us, writes John, he means here Jesus Christ and him (John) as the eyewitness. Those who do not listen to the “Word” have not the Spirit of God. Further, those who deny Christ as the “God Man” have not the Spirit of God. John calls the person who does not acknowledge Jesus as the Christ of God has the spirit of the antichrist that is now in the world (Jn 12:31-32). We overcome because the Spirit “who is in us is greater than the one in the world”. The Spirit always praises and promotes Christ. We are to be Christ like: practice his non-condemnation, to forgive, to be humble, to be merciful, to be self-sacrificing, and to always love in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The verse we are memorizing is part of a section called: “God’s Love and Ours”, let us not be distracted by the context as important as that is. This verse is about God’s love, so infinitely perfect, so infinitely strong. Jesus said: “Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends” Jn.15: 13. Because Jesus laid down His life for us, His friends, we then must love one another. Praise God!

Pray Always!

Know That The Lord is God!

#39 Sept 28, 2015

Psalm 100: 1-2

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness;

Come before him with joyful songs.

Psalms as a whole is a book of praise, prayer, and in many cases is instructive for Godly living. It consists of five divisions called books. The verses we are memorizing are part of two sections: first, they are part of book three, second, Psalm 100 is the last Psalm of a group of 11 Psalms starting at Psalm 90. The Psalms begin with prayer and end in praise. Further the series is framed in “You have been our dwelling place through all generations” Ps. 90 and “ His faithfulness continues through all generations” Ps. 100. Dwelling place means more like a place of refuge from all the troubles and dangers of life and indicates that God’s love for his people has no beginning or end.

Psalm 100 is an amazing piece of Hebrew poetry. When my wife was teaching our son Steve in preparation for Hillcrest School we all memorized this Psalm, it has a cadence that makes it easy to memorize. To appreciate the first two verses we look at the whole Psalm. The Psalm has a progression of imperatives: “Shout for joy, Know that the Lord is God”, and “Enter his gates with thanksgiving”, Why? “Because God is our refuge and our strength”, He “is good” His love is endless, and God is faithful to his people. As followers of Jesus this is a Psalm we could meditate on every day of our lives and be drawn closer to Him. Praise God!

Like Children

#38 Sept 21, 2015

Matthew 19:26

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The verse we are memorizing this week is part of a larger section in Matt 19: called “The Rich Young Man” or “The Rich and The Kingdom” After Jesus teaches about marriage and divorce and blesses the little children as those who have the Kingdom of heaven He is confronted by a young man who asks the question: “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” He must not have heard Jesus talking about the children. The children do nothing, are open, honest, simple, gullible, not ambitious, no agenda, and trusting, they were being children and they have the Kingdom!

Jesus says: “if you want to enter life keep the commandments”. Still the man presses on he did not have the peace he sought and asked which ones? Jesus gives him the commands that have to do with our relationship with each other. These I have kept he replies, “What do I still lack?” Assurance of eternal life eluded him. Was it because he was very rich? That appears to be the case because Jesus asks him to give his wealth to the poor and to follow him. The rich man could not do it, he trusted in his wealth instead of following and trusting Jesus. He was not like the children Jesus blessed who would have had no trouble with it. If only we would trust like children and not put our emphases on the things of this world.

Our culture is changing: donations are hard to come by and it has influenced the church, the people of the church. Important ministries are folding or consolidating because of the lack of funds. God has blessed followers of Jesus but it could be as it was with the rich man in our verses, we are not willing to part with the blessings, not the spiritual blessings or the material blessings. Are we really following Jesus?

The disciples are amazed at Jesus response to the rich man: “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” For many years the metaphor of the “Camel’s Gate” has circulated: There is a small gate in the wall of the city where unloaded camels and their owners can crawl though after the main gate is closed. A great example of trusting Jesus: get read of all that stuff and get on your knees. It is a great story but there is no proof that such a gate ever existed.

What is true is what Jesus says to his disciples when they say: “who then can be saved?” “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” Jesus replies.

That is how we are all saved, we have nothing to offer, we simply must trust Jesus completely like a small child. Praise be to God!

Worldly Anger

#37 Sept 14, 2015

Proverbs 22:24-25

Saying 3

²⁴Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,
do not associate with one easily angered,
²⁵or you may learn their ways
and get yourself ensnared.

The use of the Proverbs in Scripture is to convey a truth or an established beneficial practice for those who are willing to listen and to apply these principles to their lives. In Hebrew the word proverb means “comparison”. The parallelism of Hebrew poetry is often used in couplets and triplets to compare a desirable and undesirable practice. The verses we are memorizing are part of a larger section called the “Thirty Sayings of the Wise” starting in Chap. 22:17-Chap. 24:22.

The introduction, “Saying one”, tells us to keep these “Thirty Sayings” in our hearts and on our lips so that we trust God, speak the truth, and give true report to those we serve. The closing saying tells us to be faithful: “Fear the Lord and the king, my son,
and do not join with rebellious officials,
for those two will send sudden destruction on them,
and who knows what calamities they can bring?”

Our verse tells us to stay away from anger, intolerance, and impatience. Anger does not build up but promotes more anger and discord. Anger is a response that is learned, destroys peace, and is closely linked to the refusal to forgive. What we see here is a life of peace promoted by faithfulness, tolerance, and forgiveness “because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires”(James 1:20).

Works of Mercy

#36 Sept 7, 2015

Matthew 5:7

Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

The verse we are memorizing is part of a larger section of Matthew known as the “Sermon on the Mount” (ch.5-7). This was at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry: He was baptized, was tempted, selected His disciples, began to preach the “Good News of the Kingdom”, and He healed many diseases. Jesus’ ministry attracted large crowds from many areas and as Jesus saw the crowds he started to teach them about the Kingdom of God. The Sermon teaches the principles and the main tenants of The Kingdom of God, the principles of discipleship emphasizes perfection and concentrates on the condition of the heart. V.7 However, the “Beatitudes” is the first section of the Sermon.

The Beatitudes are about humility, charity, love for God, for self, and for others. Further, it is also about the inner life, the after life, and about the Kingdom of Heaven. The Beatitudes of Jesus also includes rewards for practicing the values taught by Jesus. This is not salvation by works, true followers of Jesus practice the principles of Jesus in response to His love for us. “You did not chose me, I chose you…” (Jn. 15:16).

“Blessed are the merciful”! Mercy means to show love to those in distress, the sick, the lost, the disenfranchised, and all those separated from Jesus for whatever reason. The Beatitude includes the promise: “for they will be shown mercy.” Taken from “The Eight beatitudes of Jesus”: The following are ways to be merciful to your neighbor as well as to be obedient in faith to Christ our Savior. “

The Corporal Works of Mercy
1 Feed the hungry
2 Give drink to the thirsty
3 Clothe the naked
4 Shelter the homeless
5 Comfort the imprisoned
6 Visit the sick
7 Bury the dead

The Spiritual Works of Mercy
1 Admonish sinners
2 Instruct the uninformed
3 Counsel the doubtful
4 Comfort the sorrowful
5 Be patient with those in error
6 Forgive offenses
7 Pray for the living and the dead

The whole point of the Sermon on the Mount is that we apply it to our daily living. May all of us practice corporal and spiritual mercy!