To The Very End

DEVOTION HEBREWS TO THE VERY END Heb 6:9-12 9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case — things that accompany salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. NIV We may be able to retire from our earthly career in this culture of today even though the scripture does not promote such action, but we can never retire from working for the Kingdom of God. We must not become lazy in our relationship with God, in our duty to Him. How can we, at some point in our life, decide we have done enough and it is time for someone else, perhaps younger with more energy, to take over? Maybe there are even some who are younger who are not doing what they should be for the Kingdom of God, thinking they are already too busy with life. We cannot judge each other, but only can examine our own heart and see if there is any laziness within. Can someone say of us that, they are confident in our case of better things? It would appear we need to continue to the very end, showing our love for Him by helping His people and continuing to help them. That would surely mean we cannot ever quit helping God’s people. The question is of course, what constitutes helping His people? If we get into deep philosophical debate over that answer, we might get so mired in discussion that we lose sight of the task at hand and never actually help anyone. We need to be about our Father’s business. We need to keep on keeping on, doing, loving each other, serving each other, encouraging each other and helping each other in our joint journey with God. Diligence and laziness are not compatible. Can we ever just sit back on our laurels? It would appear not, because we are admonished to continue on to the very end. Is it possible that if we ever stop working diligently for the Kingdom of God, and become lazy in our service to each other, that we could at some point begin to question our position in Christ, not sure of the hope we have? It appears this encouragement to continue on to the very end does produce a surer hope. We must always be in love with God, and with His people. True, we cannot do everything, but we can do what God has called us to do, our part in the divine plan. We each have something to do in order to fulfill showing our love for Him by helping others. We each have skills, talents, knowledge, capabilities and gifts from God which we need to be active in for His purpose. We have an inheritance, which is for sure. Let us strive to be worthy of it even onto the very end.

What Are We Growing

DEVOTION HEBREWS WHAT ARE WE GROWING Heb 6:7-8 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. NIV Could this be any clearer? Yes, it is an analogy, but the truth of it is right there out in the open for all to understand. We are the land which receives the rain provided by God and we need to be producing a useful crop for the farmer, for God, for His Kingdom. The crop does not belong to the field, but to the farmer. What gifts and blessings that God has bestowed upon us, we must use it to produce something useful for Him. Are we wasting His blessings using them for our own benefit? Yes, God desires us to live in the Land of milk and Honey. Yes, God loves to give us the desires of our heart, but what are our desires? Are they to be useful to His kingdom, or to be a field full of thorns and thistles? It would appear that if we, the land which God is blessing with the rain, with His gifts, do not produce good crops, useful to Him, and simply let all His blessing go to waste, spending our time on our self, we are but a field of thorns and thistles. We only have to see what the result of that is to determine to be a field producing great useful crops for our Lord and King. We cannot afford to allow the field to go to waste. We cannot allow ourselves to be useless to the Kingdom of God. We must find exactly what kind of crop God desires to grow in us. Each of us has a particular type of crop which God, as the farmer, has planted within us. We do not determine what kind of crop we grow, but He does. We merely need to find out what it is. We need to allow Him to plant, water, grow and harvest that crop within us. We are His field, the crop belongs to Him. Perhaps those people who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are the fields of thorns and thistles. But it could be possible that we believers could produce that kind of wasteful crop, if we are not allowing God to plant His crop in us. If we decide want we do, where we want to do it, and how we do it, then we are acting as our own farmer, and unfortunately all we can plant is thorns and thistles. We need to allow God to have complete control over the planting process. He needs to plow and till the soil, cultivate it, making it ready for planting. He needs to decide what to plant and then fertilize it, herbicide it, to keep the thorns and thistles from growing. He tends the field and when the time comes, He harvests and benefits from all His work in the field. What are we growing?

Too Dangerous

DEVOTION HEBREWS TOO DANGEROUS Heb 6:4-6 4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. NIV Is this what we call backsliding or is this actually turning around and going the other way? Is there a difference between the two? It would appear when someone backslides they simply lose ground in their walk with God, but they are still walking. Perhaps they become involved to closely with their own desires and yield far too much to the temptations which attack them. The backslider may well stop growing and slip backwards toward being an infant, but never actually stops trying to walk with God. But this conduct described here is not about backsliding but about turning around facing the complete other direction and walking away from God. The term falling away figuratively means to apostatize or abandon one’s religious faith. It would seem so bizarre for someone who has been enlighten, who has tasted the heavenly gift, who has shared in the Holy Spirit, and who has tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age to actually abandon God and walk away. Yet there must have been some in those days who did, and it would make some sense that there may well be some people today who do this as well. Some denominations would claim those people were never truly saved in the first place, believing once saved always saved, but this does not say that. It simply says it is impossible for those who were saved, if they decide to abandon God and walk away, to ever come back. We must be every diligent of the enemy of our souls who tries with all his might to get us to abandon God for the sake of self. Sure, we fall down, sure, we still fail God, and sure we still slip and do that which displeases our Lord. But we must never ever allow ourselves to give up and give in completely to self, and in doing so walk away from God. We must remain committed to being in his word, in his presence no matter the situation. We who are enlightened must remain enlightened. We must never ever turn our back on God, which is way too dangerous.

Keep Growing

DEVOTION HEBREWS KEEP GROWING Heb 6:1-3 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so. NIV So we see here that we should not continually remain in the foundational teachings and we should go forward searching the Word of God for the truths in which we can grow into a mature believer. We should not spend our time going over and over again about the process of being saved, of the fact we are sinners and need to repent and have faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. We need not have to continue spending time figuring out about baptisms, that is a fact, we need to do it, let’s move on. There are greater things within the truth of God which we need to see for us to be a vital part of the body of Christ. Although maybe there are some among the body of Christ who still do not understand the principle of laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. Maybe some teaching should still exist for the newer believers who just came to Christ. We all are on an individual journey although we all are traveling together to the same place. It may be some of us are farther along the path then others and should encourage those to continue on. Yet we all are encouraged by God himself to keep moving on. No matter how long we have been on the journey, no matter how much we have learned we need to learn more, understand more, see more truths and continue to grow in our relationship with Him. If we come to a point where we begin to think we know it all, and that we have arrived at some level where we think we are good enough, that we have stopped all sinning and we are holy and righteous, than maybe we are still stuck in the elementary teachings about Christ and have not gained any maturity at all. The fact remains we need to grow in Christ, grow in the truth of God, grow in our walk with Him, and keep growing. We cannot afford to remain in the basic truths of salvation in Christ. Although that is important, and vital to our lives, we must grow, we must keep growing.

Infants or Adults

DEVOTION HEBREWS INFANTS OR ADULTS Heb 5:11-14 11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. NIV Does this speak to us about just being Christians and not growing in our faith? Can we afford to be known as infants? How long should we be a believer before we are able to teach others? How long does to take to become a mature believer? Does one year, five years, ten years, fifteen or twenty years in the faith make us mature? Or is it a matter of how many times we have had a meeting with God? Is it based on how much time we have spent in the Word of God, how many hours of study and prayer, listening to the Spirit speaking to our hearts? Surely it is not how many times we have attended church. Being mature has to be about how many times we have attended to our relationship with God. It has to be about having trained ourselves by the Word of God to be able to distinguish good from evil. If we have done that then we are not only able but qualified and expected to teach others. This life as a believer is not always about ourselves, always thinking about self, and how we need this or that, or what problem we need God to fix, or even about how we are growing. We need to be focused on what does God expect from us in our relationship within the body or Christ to other believers. If we have trained ourselves and have become mature believers, then according to this passage, we need to be teaching others. Why are some many believers not being teachers? Why are some many believers just coming to church, singing the songs, praising God, listening to sermons, even some attending a Sunday School class and then just going home, to repeat that the following Sunday? Is there that many infants? Why, when some many believers gather socially, talk about anything else other than the Word of God? Why aren’t they teaching someone about righteousness? Too many questions and not enough answers. It would appear we each need to ask ourselves these questions. Are we infants or adults?

Reverent Submission

DEVOTION HEBREWS REVERENT SUBMISSION Heb 5:7-10 7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. NIV How do we pray? Do we offer up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears? Are we heard because of our reverent submission? We surely know that God saves us from death. We also know that he is the all-powerful God able to accomplish anything and everything. We know nothing is impossible for God. Have we become too casual, too comfortable with God that we forget able reverent submission? This is God we are talking about. It is true that John recorded Jesus called his disciples friends, but have we taken that too far because of the song, I am a friend of God? Have we forgotten to remember he is God, not just another friend? The awesomeness, the complete holy nature of God is so far above our level that we need to have a reverent fear of His power and might. Yes, He loves us so very much, so much He came in human form to die and make way for us to have eternal life. We can escape death, we can escape the horrible end designed for those who live in disobedience to His word. Yes, He surely showers blessings upon those who obey and follow His ways. Yes, He protects us, guides us, and heals us along with a host of other forms of love. But let us not forget we need to continue to offer up our prayers and petitions with reverent submission. This would imply that we should not be asking for all sorts of things for our own use, but we should be praying about what He wants us to do, in what area we need more submission. How can we become more obedient? How can we gain a better understanding of His will for us? What am I supposed to be doing for the betterment, the furtherance of the Kingdom of God? Jesus showed us the requirement of obedience, even unto death. He demonstrated just how reverent we should be, even though He was God himself. Surely we can enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise, but let us also enter with reverent submission.

Appointed

DEVOTION HEBREWS APPOINTED Heb 5:1-6 5:1 Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." 6 And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." NIV There is a lesson to be learned here for our own lives in the sense of being the part of the body of Christ we have been called to be by God rather than trying to determine what we will do because of what we want and like doing. If we connect to Jesus in the garden when he was asking the Father if there was any other way, we can see he did not really want to go to the cross, at least as a man. He was being tempted by his human element, his human feelings of pain and suffering, but nevertheless he submitted to the Father, and did what he was called to do. He was also made our great high priest. God lifted Jesus up, actually himself, but in the form of Jesus, to the highest honor possible. He made everything under his authority. We need to see that we must also be called to a certain task, the perfect plan that God has for our life. Sure, it may be that God implanted a propensity toward a certain talent or skill when he knit us together in our mother’s womb. But have we followed that propensity? Have we figured it out, what God wants for us to do? Are we engaged fully in that activity, being the part of the body we are supposed to be? Are we serving one another as we have been called to do? We cannot take on this honor by our own choice either. We cannot decide on our own what we will do. We cannot say, I will be a great singer, or musician standing on stage having people applaud my great talent. We cannot decide to be a great evangelist or Pastor preaching to big crowds, televising our message, so that many will think we are so spiritual and wise. We cannot vacuum the floors and wash the windows of the church on our own. Whatever our task in the body of Christ is we must be called of God and appointed by Him to that position. Once appointed we must serve with our whole heart as Jesus did. We must hold nothing back, giving all we have, even our life, to being who God wants us to be and what he has called us to do. Doing this, we too will be lifted up and rewarded with all those listed in the seven letters to the churches. We will be given the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. We will not be hurt at all by the second death. We will be given some of the hidden manna, as well as a white stone with a new name written on it. We will be given authority over the nations. We will be dressed in white and our names will never be blotted out of the book of life. God will also write on us our new name. We will be given the right to sit on the throne with Jesus. All that to those who overcome the world, to those who overcome doing their own thing, and serve God with all their heart, mind, and strength, doing what He has appointed us to do.

Profess and Hold

DEVOTION HEBREWS PROFESS AND HOLD Heb 4:14-16 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. NIV Without this faith we profess, what do we have? The answer is nothing. Our faith in Jesus Christ as our high priest, as our great high priest is the only thing which is worth having. For not one of us is able to be tempted in every way and yet be without sin. We are unable to be without sin, and we have to admit that, for if we dare to say that we have no sin, we enter into the sin of spiritual pride and therefor have yielded to that temptation and have sin. For this very reason we cannot approach the throne of grace, much less with confidence. We cannot stand in the presence of the Almighty Father in heaven because of our sinful condition, even those of us who try with all our effort to live free of sin. But we do have a high Priest who has gone through every one of the temptations that we face and was able to withstand them and live completely free of sin. This is so that he might be offered as the one and only perfect sacrifice for all sin. If we could live without sin, than we would not have to hold firmly to the faith we profess, for we could stand before God based on our own merit, our own perfect condition, but that is not so, we need Jesus. He knows our weaknesses and he is sympathetic to our human condition. So because of Jesus we can therefore stand in the presence of God Almighty, we can approach His throne with confidence, knowing that His great love for us will be shown in His mercy and grace. We can ask Him for help whenever we are experiencing a difficult situation, even a temptation of great magnitude. Whenever we have a time of need we can know that He is there willing to show mercy and grace toward us because of Jesus. We could not expect either of those without our high priest standing in the gap for us, because we simply cannot ever be holy enough, pure enough, and sinless enough to stand on our own or to receive His help, His mercy, and His grace. But we profess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, as our great high priest and so we are able to receive it all. Whatever we do, we must always, continually, constantly profess our faith and hold firmly onto it.

Thoughts and Attitudes

DEVOTION HEBREWS THOUGHTS AND ATTITIDES Heb 4:12-13 12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. NIV If this doesn’t get our minds spinning, what will? Whether we are ready or not the Word of God judges the thoughts and attitudes of our heart, our mind, our very being. That means what is deep within us and that not a single other person on the earth could possibly ever know about us. It is interesting to note that is it not God who judges, us, but His Word. True, nothing is hidden from His sight, and everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of God, and will must give an account for our life. But if we keep this within the context of believing God and following Him wherever he leads, us, and not being like the children of Israel who refused and were disobedient and thus died in the wilderness, the account we must give is whether or not we believe or if we refuse to believe. All people will have to give that account. But for us who believe and accept the Bible as the inspired Word of God, that every word is God-breathed, we have far more to consider than those who do not believe. As we read His Word we understand it and see how it applies to our lives. We accept the correction is makes in our character, in our thinking, in our lifestyle. We accept the exposure of our sin and repent, trying to resist those temptations which war against our soul. We know that God forgives us, due to our faith in Jesus Christ and our asking and repenting. We know that even after being Born Again, sin still creeps into our being and He is faithful to forgive us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Yet His Word still is doing work in our lives, it still cuts deep into us, exposing even more areas we need repair of. It works in more than the outside where others see, it works our very thoughts. What do we think about? What kind of thought life do we have? Are we always thinking about what is pure and holy? Do we ever get distracted in our thoughts by things we should not be? What about our attitudes? That appears to be pointed as to how we think about other people. If we get upset with others, what does the Word say about that? If we get angry with others, or hateful, or jealous, envious, bitter, alone with a host of other feeling toward them, what does the Word of God say? Our thoughts and attitudes, what do we do with them? How do we deal with them? We have to examine them, or rather the Word of God examine them and be open to seeing who we really are, accepting who we are, and allowing God to work in our inner being. Hopefully we will experience the change we need to, that we will be willing, to accept His correction, His direction, His leading and we will not become stubborn and disobedient. It is about our thoughts and attitudes.

Therefore

DEVOTION HEBREWS THEREFORE Heb 4:2-11 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." 5 And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." 6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath — rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. NIV There is a huge amount of scripture today, but only one thought, one idea, one actually statement of fact that we need to pay close attention to within this ultimate run on sentence. The main focus for us begins with, “Let us, therefore,” All of this was said to us so that we could have a clear picture of what we should therefore do. We need to make every effort to enter that rest. We cannot afford to shipwreck our faith so to speak. We cannot afford to lose sight of our belief in the power and might of God. We cannot afford to allow the thinking or thoughts of the world to infiltrate our faith. It may well be that when we start thinking that we can control our own live, our own path, and our own course in life, that we have begun that process of thinking like a disobedient people. God had a plan for his people, to bring them out of slavery and take them into his rest, a place he had planned for them. Because of fear, not faith they refused to go and do what he wanted for them. They did not believe he would provide for them. Are we like that? Do we make every effort to follow the path God has for us? Do we make every effort to do what he has for us to do? Are we putting forth every ounce of effort to go where he desires us to go, no matter what the physical situation might look like? Do we think in terms of human thought rather in terms of God thought? What is impossible with man is possible with God. No matter what obstacle might be in our way, according to our thinking, is nothing to God. If we have entered his rest, as he did from his work, then we need to rest from our work as well. That is we must rest from making every effort to do thinks for ourselves, and allow God to show us his power and might in providing for us all that he has planned for us. We cannot afford to make God or religion or our faith a part of our lives, it must be our life, all of our life. We must make every effort, which is all we have, every last bit of strength we have, leaving nothing behind, holding nothing back in trusting God completely with our life. If we think for one minute that we can enter his rest by our good works, our good deeds, thinking we can live without sin, we are sadly mistaken. We need to rest from all our work in order to enter his rest. We must make every effort not to enter by works, but by faith.

Be Careful

DEVOTION HEBREWS BE CAREFUL Heb 4:1-2 4:1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. NIV We also know there are many people who have heard the message about Jesus Christ in our world today, who have refused to combine that message with faith in Jesus for their salvation. Just as in the days when Moses lead those people to the Jordon River, they had heard the message but did not have faith that God would do what He said He would do, so they all died in the wilderness, not entering into His rest, we have people today doing the same thing. People who have not combined the message with faith are still wandering around in the wilderness and they shall die there, not able to enter into His rest, His promised land, the land of milk and Honey, the paradise of God. But we who have heard that message and have combined it with faith are definitely going to enter His rest. This message has value to us, because we know it to be true and of great value. This message gives eternal life. What has any greater value than that? We could gather an overabundance of material goods, creature comforts, store them up, save them for later, but all are useless in attaining eternal life. The question is of course, have we become distracted by all that stuff and lost sight of what is of extreme importance? If we are getting catch up in the things of the world, is that a form of falling short of entering into His rest? Is the internal turmoil of worry and stress over the accumulation of enough wealth to afford the things we want falling short of His rest? If we have heard the message and we have said we have faith in that message and He has said He would care for us, He would provide for our needs, He would make sure we lived in the Promised Land, that He would give us the victory, why do we stress over life so much? We either believe God or we don’t. We either live as a believer or as a non-believer. There is no middle road, there is no believing the message and living in as if it has no value. We either have faith or we don’t. Is it just faith to gain eternal life, and that we have to work our fingers to the bone, relying completely on self in this life? Or is our faith all about for both, eternal life and this life? Read the message, the whole message, the whole story, all the truth and nothing but the truth and we can see it is about both. So we need to be careful.

If We Believe

DEVOTION HEBREWS IF WE BELIEVE Heb 3:16-19 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. NIV It certainly would appear it is far better to believe then to not believe. Why would people not believe? Is their own life that important to them they refuse to allow God to have any say as to how they should behave? What was the reason these people who were lead out of Egypt, who saw God open the Red Sea, who saw manna fall from the sky every morning, and quail besides, who saw bitter waters turned sweet, not to mention the pillar of fire and smoke which went before them, refused to enter into the land he lead them to? After all they saw, they did not believe God would give them victory over a rather large people. After all they experienced from the hand of God they still feared death rather than believe God. Are we any different? Have we seen what God has done in our lives and then still refuse to believe Him for something rather large? Is anything impossible for God? So why do we struggle with believing He will do something? Did he not say that if we say to a mountain get up and throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will happen, it will be done. He goes on to say therefore whatever you ask for in prayer and believe that you received it and it will be yours. So why do we doubt? What is wrong with believers who doubt God? Isn’t a doubting believer an oxymoron? Shouldn’t simply believe whatever He says is true? Certainly we desire to enter His rest, so we need to rid ourselves of all unbelief. We need to believe God for all things, everything, without exception. We cannot afford to think that we can do it for ourselves or that He will not give us this or that, or do something for us. He said he would provide all our needs according to His riches in Glory, not according to our riches in earth. Do we think that because we still have some sin in our lives that He will not do what He said He would? Which of us can every attain perfection? Which of us can ever be worthy of what God declared He would do for us? But we can believe, we can expel all doubt from our heart. We can trust Him because He is God. If we believe.

Encourage each other

DEVOTION HEBREWS ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER Heb 3:12-15 12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." NIV It is rather difficult to encourage one another daily if we only see each other on Sunday. But then maybe by some of you reading these devotions which I share with whoever would read them is a form of encouraging you, but then how do you encourage me? That was rather personal, wasn’t it? But the truth is how do we encourage each other on a daily basis? For the most part are we all out here on our own to fight the battle against an unbelieving heart? Surely in those days of old it was necessary to see each other face to face daily in other to comply with this standard. Today we have so much at our fingertips, cells phones, texting, the social media, such as facebook and twitter as well as the ability to jump in the car and make a visit anytime we what. Yet are we in the business of encouraging each other on a daily basis? Then just what consists of encouraging? The Greek means to invite or invoke which would imply not just telling each other how well we are doing as an encouragement, but to encourage each other onward to do more, do better, be more Christ like. Do we even do that on Sunday, or do we just go to church, sit listening to a sermon and then go on our merry way? Oh sure we may greet each other, or at least some of each other, shake a hand, maybe even share a hug with a few, who we like and then go our merry way. We might even ask that dumb question, “How you doing”? and hear, the dumber answer, “Great and you”? What is that all about? Is any encouraging going on? Maybe all this surface contact is because we really do not want anyone else to see our heart because just maybe a little hardening is going on. If we are having problems with our faith, with believing right now, we surely do not want anyone to know, after all they might think badly of us, instead of loving us and encouraging us. The other issue about the rebellion which strikes a chord about encouraging is that those people’s rebellion was not wanting to cross the river into the place God was leading them, so today do we not want to go where God is leading? Do we refuse to be honest with each other and open and transparent about our lives so that we might actually encourage one another? Even when we are struggling with a certain temptation we surely would not dare share that with each other, for what would others think. Are we missing the mark here? Are we falling short? Let’s encourage each other.

Soft Heart

DEVOTION HEBREWS SOFT HEART Heb 3:7-11 7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" NIV There is a plain and simple consequence for hardening our hearts against the voice of the Lord. It is true we live in the age of grace, or dispensation in which God has provided Jesus Christ as our substitute to pay the penalty for our sin. But at the same time if we were to harden our hearts to this grace, to this dispensation, to his voice and go our own way, it would appear the same consequence would still apply. Now we need to examine our hearts and determine if we are in the midst of going astray. Are we being influenced by the ways of the world more than by his ways? Do we believe we are the captain of our own ship? Do we think about how we are going to do this or that, buy and sell, go here and there without consulting our Lord as to what he desires? Are we in a career of our choosing or one that he has directed us to? Are we living in the place of our choice or of his? Are we just living through life as it happens according to our plans or as it is directed by his plan for us? If we assess that we are living according to our own desires and plans then it may well be we are in the midst of hardening our hearts and going astray. We might well include a portion of our lives with God on Sunday morning, and we might even show up once more during the week, but it is enough to be considered focused on Jesus? Is that enough to say we have not hardened our hearts to his voice? If we want to hear those words, “Come, my good and faithful servant, enter into my rest” we may well need to pay closer attention to his voice, following where he leads, doing what he has called us to do, being what he has called us to be, focusing our thoughts upon Jesus, walking in accordance with his plan for us, working where he wants us to, living in a neighborhood he has directed us to, being involved serving him as he has called us to. That may not necessarily be at church, it could be, but it may not need to be. He may call us to serve the rest of the body in some other manner, outside the walls of the building. But he is calling, his voice is clear; we need to listen, and pay attention, and obey. We need to live with a soft heart.

THoughts

DEVOTION HEBREWS THOUGHTS Heb 3:1-6 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. NIV We could spend all of eternity considering fixing our thoughts on Jesus. Our thought life is that which is kept in the secret part of our mind. No one else could ever really know what our thoughts are for they are only ours and ours alone. We can say all sorts of things, the right things, the right words, and act in a manner which seems to be the right way to act, both which are in the open, in front of others, but our thoughts are kept deep within. Now God has said through Solomon that as we think so are we or whatever our thoughts are that is who we really are, not the image we present to others. So are our thoughts fixed on Jesus, or on our own self? How much time do we spend thinking about our own life compared to thinking about Jesus and the life we have in him? Are we fixed on how we are going to live, our goals , our dreams, our plans and how to reach them, our wants and desires for whatever we see or what others have that we do not? Are we fixed on our creature comforts rather than on Jesus? Sure, he blesses us with all sorts of things, material goods, comforts, and the like. Yes, he provides us with all our needs, if we fix our thoughts, our heart on him. Yes, he will give us anything we ask for in the name of Jesus, if we are fixed on Jesus, not on our own self. Sure we have to make a living, work to get paid, to pay the bills, buy food, clothes and stuff, but that is not we are, that is not what we should fix our thoughts on. We are the temple of God, which Jesus builds; he is the building God’s house. We are living stones being built into the temple of God. We each have a place to be, a part to fulfill, a purpose to uphold in the complete structure. Each stone must do its part in order for the rest of the stones to do their part. Are we fixed on Jesus and the calling on our lives, to perform the task he has designed us to do? If we are thinking about our own life, how can we think about the life, the calling he has on us? We have to hold on to our courage and the hope of we which boast. We cannot allow ourselves to become distracted by anything; we need to remain focused on Jesus and on him alone. What is he asking each of us to do? Is it fixed in our thoughts?

DEVOTION HEBREWS WE NEED JESUS Heb 2:14-18 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. NIV It is a sure thing that we are but flesh and blood, a creation of God, not anything less or anything more. It would also appear that no matter what anyone says, we all are afraid of death, because it is for the most part, at least without God a very big unknown. Sure, a lot of people, especially unbelievers, say that when we die, we go to heaven. Why do they think they get to go to heaven, if they do not believe in God, and his word, and that they must be born again? Is it just a cover up for their fear of death, to which they are enslaved to by the devil? We believers surely have been set free from that fear, in fact, we have been set free from death itself. God came in the form of flesh and blood, so that he could suffer the ordeal of temptation so he would know how we feel. It seems difficult to imagine God not knowing all about us as he made us, but because he is completely holy, pure and without any sin, he came to experience what he creation experiencing and thus he truly is our high priest. Because Jesus was able to overcome all temptation he was able to satisfy the need for justice. Sometimes that is so difficult for people to grasp. Some think just belief in some form of God is enough, but the devil believes in God and he is not going to escape the second death. The choice is simple, either be a slave to the devil and sin, or be freed from that by being born again. In order to escape death, a person has to accept the provision God made for salvation. They must turn to Jesus Christ and make him their high priest, they Lord and Savior. They simply is no other way, Jesus himself said so when he said that no one comes to the Father except through him. It is such a joy to know salvation, to know death holds no power over us. But is also is a great relief to know that temptation also holds no power over us. Because Christ was tempted he is able to help us when we are tempted. Temptation is not sin, but the giving in to it surely qualifies as sin. We should be able to withstand that temptation if Jesus is helping us, if we are actually seeking his help. That is the question, when we are tempted, do we seek Jesus, or do we just try to defend ourselves alone against that temptation? Surely without his help, we will fail. All in all we all need Jesus.

Family

DEVOTION HEBREWS FAMILY Heb 2:10-13 10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12 He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." 13 And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again he says, "Here am I, and the children God has given me." NIV Jesus is not just our Lord and Savior, which far exceeds anything we could ever hope for, but he is our brother, or rather we are his brothers. But Jesus, the one who makes us holy and us who have been made holy are of the same family. Just think about for a moment, we are in the same family as Jesus, the Son of God, and therefore we are in the family of God. Isn’t there something special within a family of people? Do we not enjoy a special bond, knowing we have are the same family? Spouses actually choose to be a family out of love for one another. They have children and love them dearly; little children depend completely upon the parents for everything. There is a bond that almost cannot be explained. And now we see we are in that kind of family with Jesus, with God. We are his dear little children, who depend on him for everything. We cannot be holy without him, we cannot experience salvation without him, and we cannot even exist without him. Yet Jesus says he will sing our praises in the presence of the congregation. He says he will call us brothers. Yes, it is true that God says we are his friends, and we sing I am a friend of God, but is not this even a greater song that is sung, I am a brother of Jesus; I am a child of God? Jesus is actually putting trust in us as his brothers to live as such. He sings about us, he praises us, he declares that he is at the right hand of God with all the children God has given him. What a wonderful thought to consider just exactly who we are and what family we are members of. Now of course, that means we are all brothers and sisters in the same family with the same parent and that would imply we have a special bond with each other. We are not individuals who just go to church together, who greet each other with a smile, or a nod, or even a hand shake, but we are brothers and sisters. That has to mean more than just going to the same church. When we see each other maybe we should think that Jesus is singing their praises in the presence of the congregation. We are all sons who have been brought to glory. We are family.

Crown Him

DEVOTION HEBREWS CROWN HIM Heb 2:8-9 In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. NIV Surely this is a truth. Even after all these years we still do not see everything subject to him. In fact, it seems very little is subject to him, especially when it comes to us humans. Surely we could surmises the earth is under his authority, that is the planet itself and all the universe, but we actually do not see real evidence of that either, as parts of the earth experience drought while other areas have heavy flooding, local storms that do great damage, extreme heats in some areas and extreme cold in other areas. It would seem the earth is on its own, and that Jesus does not micro-manage the climate or the environment, and maybe we could say that is because it is not subject to him. Yet at the same time we know he calmed a storm, we know he stilled the waters, we know he increase five fish and two loaves, we know he turned the water into wine, we know he has ruled over the elements, and they were subject to his commands. But there are still things which we could say are still not subject to him, but he is still Jesus and he still came and suffered for us, suffered for us all, those who believe and those who do not yet believe, or maybe will never believe. He still suffered and died for all of us humans. He tasted death so we would not have to. That we can see is in fact subject to him. Death is subject to him, he controls death, he conquered death and rules over it, so that if we accept him as our Lord and Savior and Crown him with glory and honor we will not have to taste death. Oh sure, we will experience an end to what we think of as this life, but that is not death, for true death is the second death, the destruction of the very soul of man. We will merely pass from this life into an eternal life in the very presence of our lord. That he has authority over, that is subject to him, we who believe are in fact subject to him, but those who either have not heard or have heard and refuse to accept are not subject to him. Yet he has offered his grace to all. So let us who know the truth crown him.

Crown Him

DEVOTION HEBREWS CROWN HIM Heb 2:5-8 5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified: "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 7 You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor 8 and put everything under his feet." NIV We know this is all about Jesus, and that although it is true that he came as a man, which is a little lower than angels in the sense of power and abilities, Jesus is still Jesus, the one who created the foundations of the earth. He is the one who was since the beginning and will be there forever. We know the only reason the Father sent the Son as a man was to be that perfect sacrifice for our sins, so that in doing what he did, God reconciled himself to his creation. He re-established the right relationship between himself and us. Yes, we have to accept that, we have to decide to acknowledge what he did for us. Yes we have to make the choice to become born again. But it is all God, he did everything, He came as a man to pay the price for sin, he came to satisfy His own justice, because we could and never will be able to on our own. Yet it is Jesus who has been crowned with glory and honor. The one who came and gave it all has all the glory and honor. We have no one ounce of glory and honor in us, but He has it all. The Father has lifted up the Son and placed everything under his feet. Yet what is incredible and almost beyond understanding is that we are co-heirs, joint heirs with Jesus. Whatever He inherited from the Father we have also. If we are in Christ all that is His is ours. This is why is it said that those of us who are in Christ shall return during the millennium and rule and reign with Him. This is why He says that we shall being given a white robe, be able to eat from the tree of life which is in the paradise of God, be given a new name, we will never be harmed by the second death, we will have authority over the nations. We will also be given the morning star and Jesus will acknowledge our name before the Father and we will be given the right to sit in the throne with Jesus at the right hand of the Father. This is all because of Jesus. Crown Him with glory and honor.

Careful Attention

DEVOTION HEBREWS CAREFUL ATTENTION Heb 2:1-4 2:1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. NIV How much is more careful attention? Do we simply accept Jesus as our Savior and then go about our own business as usual? Maybe if we are not reading and studying the scriptures each and every day of our lives, looking carefully, diligently seeking out the truths which transform our being, we would drift away. Maybe we would be saved but still an infant rather than being a vital part of the Body of Christ. True, salvation comes through faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ, but what about the rest of it? Does salvation mean we do not have to do anything? Does it mean we can just believe in Jesus and do whatever we want? Surely we should pay careful attention to what we have heard, what we have read in the scripture, what the Holy Spirit has spoken into our hearts, what messages we have heard from men of God called to declare his truth and to be shepherds of his flock. We even have the gifts of the Spirit testify to this truth we should pay more careful attention to. We have the gifts of tongues, interpretation, prophesy, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discernment of spirits, faith miraculous powers and healing. The Spirit also distributes the gifts of helps and administration. Do we pay careful attention to what the Spirit has passed out according to his will? He has also given to the Church as a whole the gifts of Evangelist, Apostle, prophet and teacher. Do we pay more careful attention to this? Maybe we just pay attention to what we want to and leave the rest unattended to. If God has given us so much to use for his kingdom, once we experienced his salvation than are we in the process of drifting away if we do not pay close careful attention to all that we should. It is a good thing to work on our relationship with God, understanding our position in His Kingdom, but should we not also being reacting to this relationship as Hid son or daughter and doing, being a part of the family, a productive part of the family, growing in our relationship, growing in our faith, growing in our salvation. How much is more careful attention?

In Our Service

DEVOTION HEBREWS IN OUR SERVICE Heb 1:13-14 13 To which of the angels did God ever say, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"? 14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? NIV Of course we know that not a single angel was ever invited to sit at the right hand of the Father. We also know without a doubt that God would not give the angels that kind of authority that He gave Jesus. But on the other hand we can also see here that we have ministering spirits all around us, ready willing and able to serve us, because they were sent by God to do that very thing. How many of us avail ourselves of their service? If we are those who will inherit salvation then we also have angels here to serve us. What kind of service are they ready to serve with? What are they capable of doing? How much authority has God given to them in acting on their own? Do they only act, or serve at the individual command of God regarding one of our requests? Or are they just here ready to do whatever is needed in our service? To just think that God is always present, always watching, always aware of each moment of our lives; after all he knows each hair on our head, and he has his angels hanging around just watching to serve us in the moment of our need. Perhaps we are unaware as to the many times an angel intervened in a situation, causing a car to change direction in order to save us from an accident, or keeping us from doing something which would cause harm to ourselves or others. Perhaps they have kept us from stumbling. We may never see them, then again at times; we might see them, but not knowing they are angels until after they are gone. Yet the fact still remains, they do not sit at the right hand of the Father in Heaven because Jesus does, they are here on the earth being of service to us. Yes the Spirit is here, but He convicted us of our need to repent and accept Jesus, He guides or leads us into all truth, He does not serve us, He leads us, but the angels they are serving us, they are in our service.

Never Ending

DEVOTION HEBREWS NEVER ENDING Heb 1:10-12 10 He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 11 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. 12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end." NIV Remember, this is what the Father says about His Son. This is what God says about Jesus, or what God says about himself, God. He laid the foundations of the earth, and all the heavens are the works of the hands Of Jesus, of O Lord, of God. It is interesting that God is the one who will bring about the perishing of the work of his hands. He has already determined this earth will perish. For some humans to think they can actually save the planet just shows their ignorance of God and his plan for man. This planet is going to wear out like a garment. But the truth is that Jesus will roll them up like a robe. He is the one who will bring about the end of the earth and this heaven. The entire universe is going to undergo a transformation from its current form to one that Jesus changes it into. Although the earth and all of our known as well as our unknown universe are changed, he remains the same. God, Jesus is eternal, He will never stop being God, nor will He ever change. He will always be our God and we will always be His people. This place we now live is but a temporary dwelling for us to live and learn of His truth about us and our lives, our purpose, and our ultimate home. It is what we do in our relationship with him which is the most important goal we should all have. To make this planet a god, is simply foolishness, for it will be destroyed and changed into a new earth that will last forever. This earth has a life span that has been determined by God, and nothing we humans can do will ever change that. Man is foolish if he thinks he is greater than God and that man can ruin, or destroy this planet, or the environment. God sustains all things until his time for changing it. Man can neither create nor destroy what God has done, is doing, and will do. There will be men who will have an end, those who refuse to acknowledge Him as God, to acknowledge Jesus as God, but those of us who have, will be as he is, having no end to our years. His and ours years will be never ending.

Companions

DEVOTION HEBREWS COMPANIONS Heb 1:6-9 6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." 7 In speaking of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire." 8 But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." NIV If there was ever any question about who God is, and who Jesus is this should certainly put it to rest. About his Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever. Now you have to ask yourself if God calls himself God whether he is the Father or the Son, then who are we not to call Jesus, God? Who else but God is righteous? If Jesus was just a man, and not God, he could not be righteous, he would be like us. We cannot, without God, be righteous. Whenever we think about the Kingdom of God, we think about God on throne with his scepter of righteousness. Yet this is a picture, a description of Jesus on the throne of his Kingdom with righteousness being his scepter. What is very interesting is God calls him God. This statement of therefor God , your God is just that, as if God were to say to me, “therefore Rich, your God, has set you…..” But, God says to Jesus, “Therefore God, your God”. In the Greek it makes perfect sense to see it just as this, even in the English sounds right. There is no question Jesus is the King of kings, he is the Lord of Lords, he is the righteousness, the Prince of Peace, He is God everlasting. His throne will last for ever and ever without any end. The wonderfulness about all this is that we will be in his presence for the same amount of time, although at that point there will no longer be time. Once we enter into his Kingdom, time is no longer needed, for eternity has no end and it never even had a beginning. But there we will be in the throne room of our God. His joy will be complete as he opens his everlasting arms and welcomes us, his faithful servants into his rest. To hear those words form the mouth of Jesus, “Well done, good and faithful servant” will be the greatest sense of well-being we could ever imagine. As God anoints Jesus with oil, it will be so good to know that we are his companions.

Father and Son

DEVOTION HEBREWS FATHER AND SON Heb 1:4-5 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"? NIV Not a single angel has ever been considered the Son of God, but maybe in those days there were people who worshipped angels, and that is why this is stated here about Jesus. Of course we do not worship angels today; maybe we only get a little sidetracked by honoring rules and regulations instead of Jesus. When it comes down to the final of finals, it is Jesus and Jesus alone who saved us from our sins. No angel could ever do that, no rules and regulations could ever do that, no church, no denomination, no pastor, no one or thing could ever save us. No actions of our won, no good deed, no living as free as possible of sin could save us. There is just not a single way for us to be freed from the destruction which awaits us, except through Jesus. God has established a plan for the salvation of his people, his creation, us, and it is through his Son that plan has been carried out. Why do we allow other things to get in the way? Why do we disagree over so many minor issues, doctrines, divisions in how we interpret certain sections of scripture? Why do we allow such a minor issue to hamper our living in harmony with each other? It is all about Jesus, and about him alone. Does any Christian refuse to acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God? Does any believer think anything or anyone is more highly regarded as Jesus? Some might even try to prove by this statement that Jesus is just the Son of God and not God. God established this Father Son relationship so we could relate to him. Jesus said that if we have seen him we have seen the Father. God determined that we needed to see how a Son is obedient to his Father, so we could know how we, as sons of God, should be obedient. It is so simple, but so many make it so complicated. Worship Jesus as the Son of God, Worship God as the Father of us all, Worship God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The three in one. But here is simply see the Father and the Son.

We Have it All

DEVOTION HEBREWS WE HAVE IT ALL Heb 1:1-3 1:1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. NIV It surely is true that God used many men to speak for him to his people. Some people heard and pay attention to this men, living to please God. Some people did not listen to them, nor did they live to please God. But even through the days of living prophets has somewhat gone away, God still speaks to his people. Jesus spoke for God, in fact Jesus was God incarnate, the exact representation of his being. Do we need any more proof that Jesus is God? Yes he is the Son of God the Father, but they are the same. Who was it that walked with Adam in the cool of the day? Yet Jesus is no longer here on earth because he returned to the right hand of the Majesty in heaven, so who speaks for God now? All those men of old, and Jesus spoke for God, and somehow God was able to inspire men to record all that was said, well at least all that was important to be recorded for all of us to be able to hear today what they said. So those men and Jesus are still speaking to us today. But we also have the Spirit who speaks directly to us as well. It would seem we have enough words to listen to in order to know exactly how we should be living in order to please God. It also appears we have enough words to know exactly all we need to know about God, his appearance, his nature and his power. There is no reason to listen to anything else than his all these words. They are what sustain all things. That in itself is an awesome thought. Jesus sustains all things. He not only sustains the earth and all that is it in, but he sustains us. He has provided a means for our purification from the sin within us. He has done it all. He created all things, He showed us what he looks like, he sustains us, he purifies us and he has declared us join heirs with him in all that he has waiting for us in a place he has prepared for us in the presence of the Majesty in heaven. What else do we need?

Called or Choose

DEVOTION 3 JOHN CALLED OR CHOOSE 3 John 9-10 9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 10 So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. NIV Has there always been church politics? What it is about some people who think they should be on control of others? Is there a fear of letting someone who knows the truth so well to have access to their church? What are they hiding? Have they twisted the truth for their own benefit? Pastors, being shepherds of the flock to which God has called them should be careful in allowing strangers to fill their pulpit. God holds these shepherds responsibly for the spiritual well-being of their congregations and thus their must oversee with care who has access to bringing a message. But this is an example of one who fears the truth being told in the church he considers himself to be the leader of. If he was called by God to shepherd this flock, he has both failed his congregation and God. He acts from fear rather than love. He acts from a position of thinking more of himself then he ought to. He is controlled by jealous and envy of those who know the truth and live according to that truth. He fears losing whatever control he has over others if they hear the truth spoken among them. It is a sad commentary on those who choose the ministry instead of those who God calls to the ministry. Perhaps this Diotrephes was not called but chose on his own to be a leader in the church. We all can take a lesson from this, as far as doing, being a part of the body of Christ. We need to make sure that what part we serve within the body is the part which God has called us to. We should not try to serve in an area that is of our liking, our chose but rather trust God to call us to where he would have us serve the rest of the Body and His Kingdom. If we do not have the talent or skills, he will empower us to serve in that capacity. If we choose based on what we think we might well fail but the Body and Christ. The question we need to ask is are we called or did we choose?

Hospitality

DEVOTION 3 JOHN HOSPITALITY 3 John 5-8 5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth. NIV It would appear that we need not know someone a close friend in order to offer hospitality. We should be willing to open our homes to all members of the body of Christ who are traveling for the sake of the Gospel. Now that is not to say we should allow any believers on vacation to take advantage of staying for free at our home if we do not even know who they are, but those who are actually working for the sake of the Gospel message, those who are on a missionary journey, doing, spreading the good news, in need of a place to rest, are welcome. It would seem for the most part the church does these things, and that is good. I have seen homes opened to those groups traveling for the sake of the Gospel. This is how Christianity is at work even in this modern era of hotels and fast food restaurants. It must be so, in the case of spreading the Gospel message, but it is also a fair warning for those believers who think they should be able to take advantage of believers’ hospitality. It is a simply message here, no frills, no hidden agenda, no secret meaning, just a simply open your home to anyone who in traveling for the sake of the Gospel and then when they leave, send them on their way in a manner worthy of God.

Walking In The Truth

DEVOTION 3 JOHN WALKING IN THE TRUTH 3 John 1-4 1:1 The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. NIV It would appear it is alright to not only have our soul doing well but to also enjoy good health and the rest of life going well too. Surely that is not all there is to life and our soul or as the Greek word implies our spirit is far more important than any physical situation we find ourselves in. Yet it still is good to know that God also cares about out being, our health, and that our life is doing well. It may all be a part of being faithful to the truth. As we continue in the truth, being faithful, not being distracted by false teachers, false doctrines, false rules and regulations devised by man to exert some form of control and power over others, that we will also be doing well in the life. Perhaps, just perhaps, maybe some of the hardships we have to experience could be a result of our unfaithfulness to the truth. Is that too harsh? Is that too insensitive to the struggles of some believers? It is just a thought, not necessarily an absolute. The other idea which stands out in this statement is that some believers have spiritual children. How many of us have spiritual children that we can experience great joy seeing them walking in the truth? We are in fact someone’s spiritual child. Someone came to us and shared the Gospel message to which we decided to enter into the truth and walk as such. Is it possible that some believers have no spiritual parent? How do they here the message? When were they born again? Surely we cannot evolve into the truth, for Jesus himself said that in order for us to enter the Kingdom of God we must be born again. Therefor all of us had to hear the message from someone and response to the truth of God. The point here though is that we need to continue to walk in that truth. What good it is to decide to go to New York and walk toward California? What good is it to decide to walk in the truth but actually head in some other direction? What good is it for us to say we love God and want to walk in his truth, but be so involved in the ways of the world? What good is it for us to say we trust God for all our needs and yet spend so much time and energy storing up money for our old age? Why do we worry about anything? Why do we carry so many burdens? Are we walking in the truth? Is there someone, our spiritual parent filled with joy watching us walk in the truth, or are they a little disappointed in us? Are we overjoyed at those we have led to Christ because they are walking in the truth or are they distracted by the world? But ultimately the question for each of us, is whether or not we are walking in the truth.

Completed Joy

DEVOTION 1 JOHN COMPLETED JOY 2 John 12-13 12 I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. 13 The children of your chosen sister send their greetings. NIV Sometimes it is easier to write things then to stand face to face with someone and instruct them on how they should live. Sometimes it is far easier to read instructions as to how to live than to have someone standing face to face telling you. Sometimes there is somewhat of a disconnect or distance when writing that cannot happen in a personal one on one conversation. Even when a shepherd stands before his congregation a certain separation occurs due to the physical distance, the lighting, the elevated platform, the microphone and speakers and the inability of the listener to response. But when two people stand face to face and converse regarding the Word of God and how one should be living there is something extremely personal that happens. A sharing of thoughts and ideals which God delights in can have a profound impact on a person’s life. Should not we all be engaged in this type of joy? Why do we waste so much conversation about the weather, some sporting event, some movie star, or television program? Why do we insist on talking about meaningless dribble instead of speaking about how we should live in order to please God? Why do we gossip about others instead of talking directly to them about their potential error, having a face to face conversation with them? Why do we spend some much of our time talking about our own life, our own goals, ambitions, desires, likes and dislikes, is it that more interesting then God and how he wants us to live? Visiting one another talking about God, his ways, his desires for us, his goals for us, his instructions as to how we should live to please him could be a high priority for our life. As many letters as we have written by these men who were inspired to pen these words, I cannot help but think how many more hours they spent talking face to face with others about God and his provision for their salvation through Jesus Christ and how God intents for us all to live. It would appear this is the only way our joy will ever be complete.

Father and Son

DEVOTION 2 JOHN FATHER AND SON 2 John 7-11 7 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. 11 Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work. NIV Once again a fair warning about those false teachers who talk with silver tongues, and try their very best to gather onto themselves followers who will support them both in ideology and monetarily, providing them with both fame and fortune. They may even use the name of Jesus, but that may not mean they believer Jesus actually came in the flesh, that he was God incarnate. There are so many we so many different messages, that we need to be sure of the truth, which we know and have. We also have the Spirit who gives us that discernment to know and see this false teaching for what it is, a lie. There may be many believers who unaware of the gift available to them by the Spirit invite far too many of these deceivers into their home every time they turn on the television to some religious preaching show, Some tele-evangelist, some showman who needs your support. A warning, beware, do not invite them in, because we may well be sharing in his wicked work. Sure, there are good guys and gals out there with pure motives wanting to share the truth of God. Yes, there are people who want to see the Kingdom of God glorified, but there are also those who want the glory for themselves. We know the truth, we have the Spirit to lead us into the truth, and to guide us, and to give us that discernment to know who is and who isn’t speaking the pure truth of God, including God incarnate, the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We are pure believers, who God has called to be a part of his Kingdom and we should never be a part of any earthly kingdom established by men who desire their own followers. We need to stay the course, do not be deceived, do not be influenced by a great orator, but only by the truth. God has had men record the truth and he has overseen its care in written form for us to find, absorb, understand, receive into our hearts and minds, and therefor live by. In reality we do not need men to lead us, we have God. We have the Father and the Son.

Walk in Love

DEVOTION 2 JOHN WALK IN LOVE 2 John 4-6 4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. NIV It would appear that it is not good enough to tell others do as we say, unless we are doing it too. Apparently this lady may well of had children who were walking in love but she may not have been doing the same, for what other reason was she being admonished to walk in love. It may be easy enough to see the faults in others and to tell them about them, preach to them, teach them, admonish them to live a life pleasing to God, loving one another, but it is entirely a different thing about our own life. Admittedly we all fall short, so no pretenses about that. But we all need more of God in the area of loving one another, walking in love. When we consider that God loves everyone so intently and so perfectly that he sent his Son to die for them, just as he did for us, who are we not to love them like God does? Do we think we are better than God that we can judge their actions and based on those actions or how they treat us, or others, that we will not love them? Do we think that they do not deserve our love because they refuse to live as we do? Maybe we are so self-centered we simply do not have any room for love for them. We have already looked at what love is, and we already know that we should be walking in the love, but God has to keep reminding us of that fact. The other issue here is if we say we love God, and do not walk in obedience to his commands are we really walking in love? It should be clear to us that being obedient to his commands is not just a list of things not to do, but also a list of things we should be doing, and one of them, perhaps the greatest of them is walking in love. It is fine to say that we do not murder, we do not steal, we do not lie, we do not smoke, drink, swear, use course language, or any of those other things we think we should not be doing, but how easy it is to do what God has called us to do? There are a whole host of actions he has called us to, especially as in here, to walk in love. Can we stand up at church in front of all other believers and declare we walk in love? Will any one of them challenge us? Do we tell people, “love ya” and leave it at that? Can we actually look them in the eye and declare the words, “I love you” and mean it? Maybe we need to read this every day when we get up, His command is that we walk in love.