Summary The 5th Psalm is known as the Morning Prayer, as it records David laying out his requests before Dig Deeper We come to Psalm 5 today in the context of a warning, being reminded that God will not permit descriptions of evil people not being welcome before God, and that they in fact are hated by Him (v4-5)

Church discipline is increasingly unpopular, but it's increasingly necessary. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 85 Q. How is the kingdom of heaven closed and opened by Christian discipline? A. According to the command of Christ: Those who, though called Christians, profess unchristian teachings or live unchristian lives, and after repeated and loving counsel refuse to abandon their errors and wickedness, and after being reported to the church, that is, to its officers, fail to respond also to their admonition— such persons the officers exclude from the Christian fellowship by withholding the sacraments from them, and God himself excludes them from the kingdom of Christ. Such persons, when promising and demonstrating genuine reform, are received again as members of Christ and of his church. Summary Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is not a happy one, but rather a stern letter of correction. In a way we ought to be thankful for the brash incompetence of this early church, because were it not for Paul's rebukes which have been handed down in scripture, we'd likely fall into the same traps they did. This particular incident that Paul is responding to is one that would make even the pagans blush: a man in the church is in an incestuous relationship with his mother (or possibly step mother). What's worse is the reaction of the Corinthian church; there are no calls to repentance, rather they're proud of the situation (v2)! Paul doesn't recommend a bunch of books to help the rest of the congregation understand the man's peculiar attraction, or warn them of being overly judgmental, or set up a series of listening sessions to see how various members feel about this. Quite the opposite; he recognizes the imminent danger that tolerating such a gross, public sin creates in the church, comparing the situation to the way a tiny bit of yeast will work its way through an entire batch of dough. Paul's prescription for this ugly situation seems brutally harsh: the wicked man must be immediately expelled from the body (v13). Dig Deeper Church discipline is always painful, especially when it escalates to the point to where an unrepentant sinner is excommunicated - put out from the fellowship of believers and the sacrament that signifies and seals God's grace. But sin must not be allowed to fester in the body of Christ, and tolerating the sins of one in order to spare the pain of discipline will only result in more of the congregation becoming infected. Tomorrow we'll see that the goal of discipline is always that the person repent and be restored. That's why, in fact, Paul ordered the man's expulsion, so that Satan could destroy the man's Sarx (flesh / sinful nature) resulting in the salvation of the man's spirit (v5). In other words, sometimes the only thing that can wake a person up to repentance is hitting rock bottom after having lost everything else. These last few decades, the strongest arguments against church discipline have been coming from within the church itself - even from within our Reformed denominations. Don't let this popular swell sway you. Know that church discipline is one of the keys to the Kingdom of God. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who gives us His commands in His Word and expects our obedience, but who offers grace to sinners who come to Him through Christ; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that your church cares about you enough to discipline you if you begin to wander from God's truth. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 3

Psalm 5:1–7 (NIV) For the director of music. For pipes. expectantly. 4 For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. 5  who God is in this prayer: God hates all who do wrong, and with Him, evil people are not welcome (v4-5) (Also, for the record, David goes on in Psalm 5 to Align his life with God's will in a big way as well So technically Psalm 5 is a AAA prayer!)

Summary In Matthew 5:34-37 Jesus speaks against making oaths, instead encouraging the people to “let In James 5:12, James is restating this same teaching for the recipients of his letter.

Perhaps you have even memorized Galatians 5:22-23: “But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, Upon reading the desires of the flesh listed in Galatians 5, you may be tempted to become hyper-focused

Ill gotten gain will spoil quickly, so build up your treasure in the Kingdom of Heaven. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 110 Q. What does God forbid in the eighth commandment? A. He forbids not only outright theft and robbery, punishable by law. But in God’s sight theft also includes cheating and swindling our neighbor by schemes made to appear legitimate, such as: inaccurate measurements of weight, size, or volume; fraudulent merchandising; counterfeit money; excessive interest; or any other means forbidden by God. In addition he forbids all greed and pointless squandering of his gifts. Summary There are many ways that someone can be guilty of theft. In today’s passage, James speaks out against wealthy landowners who fraudulently held back wages from those who labored in their fields. This action is declared to be an act of fraud, and as James warns, the cries of the harvesters who have been wronged are heard by God. This act of theft is seen as an intentional action to fraudulently grow one’s wealth at the expense of the less fortunate. The Old Covenant law made provisions for guaranteeing the timely payment of a worker’s wage. James’ warning against the withholding of wages echoes what is recorded in Deuteronomy 24:15, “15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.” This shows how even things that stop short of theft, such as an unnecessary delay in pay, are sinful because of the harm they cause to those who are counting on those wages. Dig Deeper Just because you can get away with something does not mean you should. In fact, our actions should be directed by what is right, not what we can get away with. There are various cities around the United States who have determined to not prosecute theft under a certain dollar amount. The outcome of these policies has been an increase of shoplifting and “smash and grabs” as more people feel emboldened to commit these types of crime knowing that they will not be prosecuted. However, avoiding prosecution in the criminal justice system does not mean you have gotten away free and clear. Just as the cries of the laborers were heard by the Lord of hosts, so too are the cries of victims of theft today. As James warned those who sought ill-gotten gains during his time, when you sacrifice your morals for earthly treasures you are choosing that which will decay and perish over that which truly lasts. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: The LORD Almighty, whose ears hear those who cry out to Him; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that you (likely) are treated honestly in your work, and pray that you will prioritize righteousness above worldly gain; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - John 2

John 11:47–57 (NASB95) 47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were man is performing many signs. 48 If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 Their logic was plain to see: If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans they valued their places so much that they ended up losing both their place and their nation to the Romans

'Keep your head in all situations' and don't follow your 'itching ears.' 2 Timothy 4:1-5 (NIV) In the itching ears want to hear. 4  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 

Extend the blessing you get at the beginning of the week by praying as Jesus taught you throughout the week. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 127 Q. What does the sixth request mean? A. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” means, By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment. And our sworn enemies— the devil, the world, and our own flesh— never stop attacking us. And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory. Summary Yesterday we read Peter's aweseome benediction (the word benediction literally means "good speech." They're words of that often get used to pronouce God's blessing upon His people at the close of our worship services). Today we're focusing on one of the many benedictions Paul wrote. Just like many of the prayers we read in the Bible, this benediction fits the AAA pattern! It begins by acknowledging who God is: the God of peace. What a tremenendous relationship you have with God! So many people, both historically and today, only know of God's wrath and anger at their sin, but because of Christ, you know your Father as the God of peace! The benediction goes on to align your life with God's will. But notice who it is that's aligning you: God Himself is sanctifying you, making your life reflect who He's declared you to be, so that your whole spirit, soul and body will be kept blameless when Christ comes again. You're also promised here that the One who has called you to this salvation will be faithful and will do it! This is why Jesus could promise that He will give you anything you ask for in His name! Dig Deeper A benediction is usually something that pronounced over you. It's not a team effort that you help implement. You sit with your head bowed or your hands outsretched as these words are spoken, and you passively receive the blessing they convey. How else could it possibly be? After all, our Father is omnipotent and holy, whereas we are weak and fallen. But you don't often stay in the place where you receive benedictions. You go back to your world, so to speak; to the chores, tasks, work and relationships that never seem to go as they should. The busyness creeps back in and before you know it, you're completely distracted and overwhelmed by life. Instead of experiencing blessing and peace, somehow you drifted far away and find yourself surrounded by temptation. That's why Jesus commanded you to pray often that you would not be lead into temptation, but instead, delivered from the evil one. He doesn't order you to pray these words because the Father needs a reminder to keep leading you down the straight and narrow, but because you need continual reminders to be led. Praying these simple words, that you'll be led away from temptation, is a benediction-extender. It takes that blessing you often receive at the beginning of the week and extends it over you, shielding you from the assaults daily life comes at you with. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the God of peace; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll not be led into temptation, but instead that your whole spirit, soul and body will be kept blameless until the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 20

Your life is a reflection. The question is, what are you reflecting? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 86 Q. We have been delivered from our misery by God’s grace alone through Christ and not because we have earned it: why then must we still do good? A. To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by his blood. But we do good because Christ by his Spirit is also renewing us to be like himself, so that in all our living we may show that we are thankful to God for all he has done for us, and so that he may be praised through us. And we do good so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and so that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ. Summary In several places in the New Testament Jesus is proclaimed to be the light of the world. This proclamation is now extended from Jesus to his Church. Jesus is the light of the world, but so too are those who follow him. And as the light of the world, followers of Jesus are not to hide away but share their light. This is the nature of what light is, it is meant to be shared. To hide away light, such as that which radiates from a lamp, is to take away its purpose. Dig Deeper If you place a dog in front of a mirror something incredible may happen. Some dogs, upon seeing their own reflection, will believe they are staring at another dog and start barking or growling. Since the other dog is only a reflection, it doesn't back down and this standoff can continue for quite some time. Despite what it looks like, a reflection is not a dog, its image is only borrowed from the original. In the same way, the light that we share as followers of Jesus is not our own but is borrowed light that comes from Jesus. When we share this light through our good works, it is to be done in such a way that others will give glory to God our Father. The proclamation to share your light might be considered in contrast with Jesus’ critique of the Pharisees practice of making their good deeds seen by others. The difference between sharing your light and the showmanship of the Pharisees is intent. The purpose of sharing your light through good works is to bring glory to God. The intent of the Pharisees’ display of good deeds was not to honor God but to draw attention to themselves. Take some time today to consider whether you are letting the love of Christ shine through your actions. Have you chased the satisfaction that comes from others noticing your good works instead of seeking to glorify God through your actions? Have you stopped doing good works altogether? Remember that you are the light of the world and as a follower of Jesus you are to share his light through your good works. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who is in heaven; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that your life will reflect the light of Christ in you; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 6