Grace or Law

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

GRACE OR LAW

Heb 13:9-14

9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

NIV

There is more said about this, especially another, ‘therefore’, but we will not be able to include that just yet, because there is much to ponder on before we get to that, ‘therefore’. We first must be careful not to get carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. The author makes the comparison between grace, Charis, and ceremonial foods, or the Levitical law of animal sacrifices. We understand some of those Hebrews who were the first recipients of this letter were making steps back to their Jewish way of life under the law. However, we have many strange teachings today that Christians can get caught up in that are not based on grace, but include certain laws, or man-made rules and regulations to be a “Good Christian”, which that term is meaningless. To define oneself as “Good” and as “Christian” seems strange in itself. One is either a Christian or one is not. One is either a follower of Jesus or one is not. We do not think one person can follow Jesus better than another, unless one of them has decided to add something to following Jesus, such as certain restrictions, or don’ts as well as adding additional things one must do, as those Jews were wanting to add sacrifices. Grace is grace and that is this Charis, which includes the meaning of the divine influence upon our hearts and how that influence is reflected in our lives. Of course, our lives are going to change because of the divine influence upon our hearts. Of course, there are things that we would want to do such as live a life of faith, praise, and honoring our Lord and Savior with our whole being. Certainly, coming from the darkness into the light to follow Jesus, means we leave the darkness behind with all its strange teachings. We can not go back to live under the influence of this world and live under the influence of grace. We cannot combine the worlds and Jesus’s teachings. It is either one or the other and we have decided to live under grace. We do not live in the camp, or the city, which is the world. No, we have left that behind, to go outside the city to the place where Jesus shed his blood for us, and now we are looking for a city to come, an eternal city where we live in the presence of our Lord. But for now, we have abandoned the law and all strange teachings to live in his marvelous grace. 

No Fear

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

NO FEAR

Heb 13:6-8

6 So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"  

7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

NIV

We too have that same confidence because we have the Lord on our side, but then we are on his side. We know there is nothing to fear in this world, for we have a world coming far superior to this world. We are going to live in the new city someday and thus what can this world or man do to us. They can even kill our bodies and that will not stop us from living with our Lord for all eternity. The Lord is our helper, he is the one we can run to when we are in danger. This may well be that he is the one who will come for us and take us to be where he is, that is when we forcible have to take our last breath. But it may also be that when we face a dangerous situation we can look to Jesus, and he will fight that battle for us. The author quoted King David when Saul wanted to kill him. He cried out in anguish; the Lord was his helper as he looked with triumph over his enemies. When we look at the great cloud of witnesses who lived by faith, those who led the way of faith for so many, we know our faith is stronger every day, as we continue to see the Lord help us through each day and bring us to that place where we are supposed to serve him, being an example of faith for others to follow. We may never face that type of danger David did, having someone wanting to kill us. Yet we do face some opposition from the world, that is as long as we stand our ground for our faith. If we blend in then they do not care about us, we mean nothing to them, in fact, they may simply ignore us. However, if we stand and voice our opposition to the sin in the world, we could face hard persecution because of their hatred toward our exposing or standing against their lifestyles of sin. We know only the Spirit can convict a person of sin and the need to repent, but if we are living in the Spirit, walking with the Spirit, much like the prophets of old, the Spirit used their voice to raise judgment on the world and the call for repentance. As we walk with our Lord and listen to his voice, the one who never changes, we can stand firm in our faith knowing that man cannot do anything to us, even if we oppose their sin, and their hatred turns to harm of our bodies. We will stand forever in the presence of our Lord, as we stand our ground in the presence of our enemies, those who oppose our faith. We will not be afraid. No fear. 

Contentment

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

CONTENTMENT

Heb 13:4-5

4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  

NIV

Three main truths are here for us in this short and sharp statement, or what we would have to consider is a command from the Lord. We know this author is inspired by the Spirit, as all the writings within the canon, the text we know as the bible. First, it is the marriage that should be honored by all. Of course, in our culture today, we know that is not the case, in fact, it seems marriage is not honored very much at all, except for us believers. The world has gone haywire, with all the alternative lifestyles that do not include honoring marriage between a man and a woman which is what God established in the beginning with Adam and Eve. So, the marriage bed may only be pure within those who believe in and obey God. Although we know adultery has happened within the church, the author is writing to the church, however, if repentance follows, forgiveness happens, and life must move forward. It is those who persist in adultery and sexually immoral behavior as a lifestyle will be judged. Second, we see that we should keep our lives free from the love of money and be content with what we have. We will get to the reason, but we need to consider what it looks like to love money. We know we cannot serve both God and money; we are either going to love the one or despise the other. If we love God then it would make sense that we despise money, and we then could not possibly love it. Yet, at the same time, we need money to live our daily lives, especially in our culture where we need a place to live, transportation, food, clothing, and all the extra creature comforts that costs money. We do wonder if storing up as much money as we can for our future, with this culture's obsession with retirement might be a form of trusting in money rather than God, which could be interpreted in some sense as having love for money. This is not a judgment on us, but just pondering if that might fit into this truth about being content with what we have. Again, it seems we always want more, which would mean we are discontent with what we have. God is telling us to be content because he will never leave us nor will he ever forsake us. This means that if we seek him and his kingdom first and foremost in our lives, God will make sure we have enough for our daily lives. He will direct our paths, even to the place we are employed, and that we have enough money to support our lives. He will add all the stuff to us the pagans run after, which means we are not supposed to run after the things of this world, which means money. Yes, we should be wise as the fox about how we live, but also humble and gentle as a lamb. Let us always look to God, for God is always looking toward us. It comes down to living a content life both in marriage and with money because we love God. 

Entertaining Angels

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

ENTERTAINING ANGELS

Heb 13:1-3

13:1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

NIV

One, that is the number we are supposed to be. That is if we truly do love each other as brothers, and we actually entertain strangers, and if we remember those who are still struggling with sin. We know the author may be talking about people who have been arrested and are in a physical prison, however, people are also in spiritual prison to sin. Those who are still in prison may not be just those who have not yet found Jesus, but they could be believers who have been caught up in sin, trapped as it were with an attitude or behavior they cannot give up to Jesus. Then we have those strangers who may show up at church. We do have to ask how we treat those new people we do not know. Do we entertain them, or just ignore them? Oh sure, we might say hello to them, introduce ourselves, ask their names, and welcome them, and nothing else. To entertain means to exhibit hospitality, that act of being friendly and treating strangers as guests, which can also mean providing them food. Therefore, simply smiling at them, maybe shaking their hand, may not be much entertainment for them. Maybe we should invite that new person or couple out for lunch after church, get to know them, show a genuine interest in them, and be hospitable in the fullest sense. We know we have our little cliché, us four, and no more groups, but maybe, just maybe, that new person or couple are angels testing our love as believers under the divine direction of God. Then what about those who are mistreated? Who is mistreating them? Maybe we should ask ourselves if we might be guilty of mistreating our fellow believers. Maybe these little clichés are acts of mistreatment to others because we exclude someone, hurting their feelings, almost treating them as an outcast rather than a brother or sister in the Lord. We know the author may have meant believers who were either in prison or having really difficult times, suffering extreme hardships, or even being tortured by someone, but in our time, suffering could be at the hands of other believers. We mistreat each other when we gossip, and or when we exclude them in some way, not entertaining or being hospitable to our own fellow believers. If we just loved each other, we think that should cover everything and all would be well, and any angel that showed up would sense our love, as each one of us sense the love from all the others, as we entertained each other and entertained those angels. 

Signs of Worship

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

SIGNS OF WORSHIP

Heb 12:28-29

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our "God is a consuming fire."  

NIV                                

Just one more thing that we need to consider after living in the ‘therefore’ and seeing to it that we do not refuse he who speaks. First, we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This is a truth we can live by, being encouraged in our hearts that God has spoken and that is that. We are receiving. That is a promise. Of course, it does depend on the fact that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, that we are in Christ, and he is in us, and that we are living by faith and not by sight. In order words, we are born again Spirit-filled, believers living in faith. Therefore, we are going to get to live in the new city of Jerusalem with God the Father and Jesus the Son, and we would have to believe the Holy  Spirit will also be present, as he is the one who showed John the Holy City that we are receiving and it cannot be shaken. This city, this kingdom is eternal, not like this earth and this heaven or universe. They will be shaken to bits, completely passed away, no more, gone. This is why we should not get too attached to this place or all the things within it. We too are only temporary in some sense in that we are going to lay this body done, leaving everything behind. This body is not eternal as of yet, and thus the whole that we know, everything we see, have, and live will all pass away, but our kingdom will last forever. That is why we have already abdicated our citizenship in the world and received our citizenship in the kingdom of God. Therefore, why would we not be thankful and worship God acceptably with reverence and awe? Everything we are, all that we have, and all that we do is because of the work of God within us. This is that other definition of grace where it is the divine influence on our hearts and how that is reflected in our lives, how we worship him. This begs the question as to how do we worship him? Over the years we have been present in many different congregations and have noticed a varied form of worship, if we could even call it worship. Some people praise God fully and openly with all their being, while others seem to be stone statues. If we are thankful and our worship is acceptable and we worship him with reverence and awe, we would think it would be visible somehow, our faces would be shining with the glory of God, and maybe, just maybe our bodies would show some signs of worship, some sign of being filled with thankfulness, reverence and awe. 

Do Not Refuse Hebrews 12 18-29

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

DO NOT REFUSE

Heb 12:18-29

18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."   21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."   27 The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken — that is, created things — so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our "God is a consuming fire."  

NIV

Although we went right to the ‘therefore’ and knowing that we should live in the ‘therefore’ there are a few other nuggets of truth that we could ponder. We first noticed this idea of not fusing him who speaks. In fact, we are told again to see to it that we do not refuse him who speaks. This phrase, “See to it” in Greek carries the meaning of take heed, associated with the negative “not”. This is almost the same as making every effort, take heed that we do not refuse him who speaks. Here we come to the place where we have to acknowledge God speaks to us. The question is, if it is not clear enough, how does God speak to us?  We do have his written words that we could say that is one way God speaks to us. We do have many commands, although we do not live under the law he gave or spoke to Moses. We live under a New Covenant, however still within that covenant, Jesus spoke many commands we should pay close attention to. Still, all that Jesus spoke to us is wrapped up in the two greatest. Love God with our whole being and love each other the same way. If we do that and just that all other areas of our lives with fall right in place. But does God speak any other way? We know we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, and he must speak to our hearts and minds. The question is whether we hear him. Have we become so busy with life, trying to achieve our goals, even if they are Christian goals that we cannot take time to listen to the Spirit? Are we trying, spending all our time, working diligently to be that “Good Christian” making every effort to accomplish enough “Good works” that we are not quiet enough in our spirit to hear the voice of the Spirit? Then, God may well speak directly to us in our ears, speaking in an audible voice, making sure we know his will for us in that exact moment for a precise reason so we will respond according to his plan for our lives. Whatever way God chooses to speak to us, we are to see to it that we do not refuse. 

Living in the Therefore Hebrews 12 18-29

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

LIVING IN THE THEREFORE

Heb 12:18-29

18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."   21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear."   22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens."   27 The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken — that is, created things — so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our "God is a consuming fire."  

NIV

This just had to be kept all together to come to the ‘therefore’ in verse 28. Although God is always the same God, He does not change, we do see how He was different in the Old Testament or how He acted toward the people and how the Old Covenant was so different than the New Covenant made through Jesus. No one could touch the mountain of God and live under the Old Covenant. Even Moses, who spoke with God face to face trembled in his presence. God’s holy mountain was burning with fire and there was darkness and gloom and storm. When God spoke, it was as if the world shook, and people were terrified at the sound of his voice. How incredibly blessed we are to be living in the grace of  God, with his love being poured out to us and we have nothing to fear from God, in fact, we can touch his holy mountain for it is our inheritance. We have come to the heavenly Jerusalem; the place Jesus has prepared for us. How can we not spend all our days rejoicing because there are thousands upon thousands of angels rejoicing over the fact that our names are written in heaven, in that Book of Life? With so many angels rejoicing over us, it would not be right for us to complain and live with a gloomy attitude. This is that ‘therefore’ we have been waiting for. Jesus is everything. God is going to make everything new. This earth and heaven will both be shaken to bits and a whole new heaven and earth will exist with the new city of Jerusalem where God will dwell with us and we can walk and talk with Jesus, and see God face to face with no fear. Thus, we should be living each of our days out on this current earth with a rejoicing heart, full of praise and worship for our God who has given us eternal life through Jesus Christ. How can we not live reflecting the glory of God? We are even told that we do reflect his glory in ever-increasing glory by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. We are the image bearers of God, made by his own hands in their own image. We live in the ‘therefore’ and therefore let us always rejoice and we should say that again, rejoice because we are living in the therefore. 

The Warning

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

THE  WARNING

Heb 12:14-17

14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

NIV

We cannot ignore the warning about seeing that no one, which would include us, is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau. The Greek renders this as “lest there be any fornicators or lawless people as Esau”. This Greek word pornos, translated here as sexually immoral, directly means male prostitute. We can easily see the English word pornography, which today includes everything that is completely sexually immoral. We would think this would not be seen in the church, yet there is this warning. Because it is associated with the godlessness of Esau who sold his birthright for food, or to satisfy his body's hunger, and as we know later in life, he married many wives, some of who were not Hebrews. His life was more about Idolatry, than sexual immorality. The point here is the warning of turning away from God for the physical pleasures of this world. As people of God, people of faith, those of us who accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, would not turn to the pleasures of this world, and lose our inheritance of eternal life. However, the question remains as if we are trying in some way to be in both, the body of Christ, and in this world. Are we trying to serve God and serve ourselves at the same time? Are we just living in this world, doing all the things of the world, but not the sexual immorality, but simply the pleasures of wanting as much of things we can get, being lustful for stuff, enjoying all the pleasures of materialism, which in some way is idolatry, and then add Jesus to our lives? This would look more like just going to church on Sunday and leaving church on Sunday to return to our worldly materialistic life, living like Esau did. That certainly seems to be the warning we need to be on guard against. The extreme warning is about not being able to change the mind of God, if we are not sold out to him, and him alone. It goes right to those words of Jesus about not serving two masters, God or materialism. We cannot have one foot in the kingdom, and one foot in the world, or have dual citizenship. Our inheritance is only in Jesus, and thus we need to be sold out to a life of faith, a life of trusting God. It is not that we will miss out on the stuff, for God told us if we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, he will add the stuff to our lives that we need, or like the pagans run after. Let us heed this warning. 

Beware of Bitter Roots Hebrews 12 14-17

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

BEWARE OF BITTER ROOTS

Heb 12:14-17

14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

NIV

We looked at making every effort to live in peace with everyone and being holy. We even examined the idea making sure no one misses out on the grace of God. However, with this bitter root that grows, we might have to spend more time with it. Checking every translation and looking into the Greek, we cannot escape this direct meaning or a bitter root. The problem is the root of any plant has an effect on what kind of fruit is going to be produced. It would make sense if the root is bitter, then the fruit would be bitter to the taste. Once again, we are being told to see to it that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Can one bitter root grow that much that many would be defiled? This Greek word, miaimo, means to contaminate, to taint, it can be used to dye another color, stain, or pollute. How can we be in charge of the way other people think and behave? How can we affect their thinking, so they do not become a polluter in the church? It could just take one person allowing bitterness to spread within the church. Gossip has always been one of the forms of communication within the church. It can spread like wildfire, and it will grow especially if the gossip is really juicy, but it is nothing more than poison talk, and maybe that is this bitter root. It could also be some wrong theology that gets rooted in the church and can cause a lot of trouble contaminating the body of believers. This author was concerned about the Hebrew believer returning to the looking at the law for righteousness, and away from Jesus. That could have been the bitter root that was growing.  So perhaps it is wrong theology that could be the problem we have to contend with. That we can take charge of, especially if we are the pastor and can teach and preach the truth. But any believer can take charge of that problem by always being ready to give a good word, always speaking the truth, not listening to gossip, and not allowing any wrong thinking to stain our minds, causing us to change color, or thinking. We can cut the sprout off that is coming from some bitter root, and even dig up that root if we believe the truth, think the truth, and speak the truth. Jesus is the truth, the way, and the light upon our path. There is no other way, and we cannot add anything to Jesus. We cannot say that we believe in Jesus and some laws, or rules and regulations we establish so we can be “Good  Christians”. Of course, we cannot live any way we want either, but living in Christ, and having Christ in us, having the Spirit dwell within will cause us to live in a manner that pleases God. But that is not based on the law, or those rules we make, for the work of God is to believe in the one he sent, Jesus. That is simple, believe in Jesus and Jesus alone. All else will come and will grow into a good plant that bears much fruit that is sweet to the taste. Let us help all grow and produce that sweet fruit. Let us watch out for any bitter root. 

See To It Hebrews 12 14-17

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

SEE TO IT

Heb 12:14-17

14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

NIV

Hopefully, we are making every effort to live in peace with everyone, rather than just a select few, while either ignoring all others or simply not making any effort to live in peace with them. Then, of course, we got the holy part: we have consecrated ourselves to God, dedicated our lives in service to the Lord, and set ourselves apart from the world to God. By doing that we are assured that we will see God. But now there is some act that we are being told must accompany our making every effort and being holy. We are to see to it, that means we are to make sure, be fully committed, as the Greek word means, look diligently to make sure no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. This grace of God is the Charis grace, the sweetness, the good will, the loving-kindness, the favor of God. All of that is wrapped up in Jesus, for he is the grace of God. What we cannot be sure of is if the author of this letter intends this to mean within or outside the church. It would seem, because this letter is to the Hebrews, and everything else has been about their living with each other, that this, looking diligently, carries that same meaning about within the church. We know there were members of that community of faith who were beginning to look back to their Jewish roots in the law and thus starting to look away from the grace of God. Does this apply to us in the post-modern church? Of course, we are not nor would we think anyone would turn to the Old Testament covenant and try to live under all the laws God established for the children of Israel, leaving the grace of God behind. But the question does arise whether it is possible that some might be trying to live by the grace of God, and some part of the law, having one foot in his grace and the other in the law. If that is the case, then we are told to help them see the errors of their way, so they will not miss out on the grace of God. It is simple when we think about it. How can we produce some laws of our own, some rules to live by, what we think it means to be holy by abiding by certain don’ts that we think are bible based, but the bible is silent on, and then we push ourselves toward certain rules to do things that we think makes us a “Good Christian”, meaning we endeavor to do as many “Good works” and as can, and maybe looking at the “Good works” more than at the grace of God. But how do we make sure they do not miss out on the grace of God? How do we inform them of the power of life in the grace of God? Is that our task? We know his grace, we live by grace, by faith in Jesus for every aspect of life, but are we to tell others, show them the truth, or are they right and we are missing something? We think not, but how do we see to it. 

Every Effort Hebrews 12 14-17

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

EVERY EFFORT

Heb 12:14-17

14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.

NIV

This is one of those parts of the letter containing a warning to be careful about our lives. First, and foremost we are supposed to make every effort to live in peace with all and to be holy. To live in peace with all men, and that means women too, we have to set aside our selfish thinking. We also need to forgive every single little offense we think is against us. Interestingly, when we think we are offended it simply means we are thinking we are more important than we are, or we are thinking too highly of ourselves, which is totally against the word of God. Then we could say that thinking more highly of ourselves than we should is sinful. However, the point is that we must, and that is an absolute, make every effort to live in peace with everyone. It seems to us that it starts with the way we think about others. If we have any ill feelings at all, any unforgiveness, bitterness, envy, or jealous type thinking toward one person then we are not at peace with them, and it seems we are not making any effort whatsoever. If that is the case, then how can we even think about being holy. If we are not holy, if we have not purified ourselves, which the only way is to live in Christ, then we will not see the Lord. In other words, if we are not making every effort, and thus not living in peace with each other, it means we are not living in Christ, and thus we are not holy, and because of that we are not truly saved, but just living a lie, deceiving ourselves about being a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. Surely, we cannot say to ourselves that is the way we are, and we just cannot help but have ill feelings toward this one person, and if that means we are not saved, so be it. No, no, we must repent that kind of thinking, change the way we think about that one person, or several people, and make every effort to live in peace with them. That may mean we have to go to them and ask for forgiveness for the way we have been thinking about them. That has to be part of every effort, as the Greek text puts it, to seek eagerly after, to earnestly endeavor to acquire. Therefore, to make every effort. 

The Level Path Hebrews 12 12-13

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

THE LEVEL PATH

Heb 12:12-13

12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

NIV

This ‘therefore’ is based on us being the children of God who are being instructed, corrected, rebuked, or whatever else God needs to do within us. It does seem strange that we have a part in this work of God within us. We must strengthen our weak and feeble arms and knees. First, we should take note that this is not about our arms and knees, for some of us are young and have arms of steel and knees that are fresh and flexible and able to leap buildings in a single bound, while others of us are much older with weakened arms and knees that no longer allow us to leap over a blade of grass. Therefore, this must have something to do with the state of our mind and spirit. Interestingly, both Isiaah and Solomon said the same thing. Jesus also made the same point, but in a slightly different way when he told us not to let our hearts be troubled, but to trust in God and trust also in him. We are not to grow weary, that is not grow feeble and weak, because of situations in life that fight against us, so to speak. As we are well aware, life is not always a bed of roses, but there are times when the thorns prick us. Then there are times when we live among the thorns and life just starts to wear us down. This is why the author quotes both Isaiah and Solomon and encourages us to not let anything weaken our arms or knees, but instead keep running the race marked us for us, on the level path, that straight and narrow path the Lord has laid out for us. If we get weak or lame in our thinking, and thus in our responding a lame way to various hardships or things in life that oppose us, or our way, our desires, or wants, then we need to focus on Jesus, keep our eyes upon Jesus and those things of earth will grow strangely dim. This is making our paths level. This is following the light on the path marked out for us, no matter what age we are. The path has no end in this life, even death does not stop us, for we will then be walking alongside Jesus. In the meantime, as long as we have the breath of life in our lungs, we are to walk that level path marked out for us and never grow weary, or lose heart, allowing our arms to become feeble and our knees weak. We cannot allow our thinking or our spirit to become feeble and weak. The only way to make our path level is to follow Jesus. If we get our eyes off of Jesus and on ourselves then the path may become a little crooked and bumpy, which can be the cause of weak arms and feeble knees. Let us always walk that level path. 

Instruction and Discipline Hebrew 12 7-11

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

INSTRUCTION AND DISCIPLINE

Heb 12:7-11

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

NIV

We first need to understand this discipline is more like being chastised, or corrected when we make a mistake. God is cultivating our souls, instructing us so that we curb our passions bend toward sin. Of course, He wants us to have passion toward him, rather than away from him. Yet, we also are encouraged because we are not bastards, which is the direct meaning of the word, nothos, which is translated here as illegitimate children. If we are not the real children of God, then we are alone, left to suffer on our own, making our way through life on our strength, making many mistakes, having no direct path to peace and rest, but only that wide road that leads straight to hell. However, we gladly accepted God’s salvation, we turned to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, because death in hell seemed insufferable. However, along with that grace comes the truth in our lives. We are instructed in the way we are to go. Of course, we love the Lord and respect our Heavenly Father beyond all others. When we pray as Jesus instructed us, we start right off with “Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed be your name”. When we hallow His name, we make His name holy, and pure, above all others. We also ask that His will be done on earth, or in our lives, just as His will is done in heaven. We want His discipline and will to be accomplished in us, and we want to be corrected when we make a mistake and begin to wander off that path He has lit for us to follow. This happens when we start paying attention to our will, and get distracted by the things of things of this world. How can we live under two fathers? We only have had one earthly father, and he is the one whose DNA we have within us, he fathered us, giving us this earthly life, but it leads us not to heaven, but to hell. When we turn to God and want Him to be our Father, it means we accept His DNA within us, we are made by him, and He gave us life, one that leads to life everlasting. How then can we refuse His correction in our souls, in our spirits?  How can we say that we still want to follow our path in life, and try to include Him as we walk our own way? That just does not make any sense at all if we agree God is our Father in Heaven and we want His will to be done in us. That requires both instruction and discipline. 

Willingness Hebrews 12: 4-6

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

WILLINGNESS

Heb 12:4-6

4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."  

NIV

Wow, it is good to be a son of God, but at the same time, we do not look forward to being either rebuked or punished just because we are his sons. Of course, his disciple is also good and we should feel safe and secure in our position as a son of God. We should be encouraged and, once again, we are not to lose heart. But who really wants discipline, rebuking, and punishment? Indeed, we have not resisted sin to the point of shedding our blood. In fact, at times, we give in to sin too easily. We allow ourselves to have an attitude we should not, and we allow ourselves to behave in ways we should not. We have thoughts about others that are not encouraging or beneficial. Yet, it does not seem that God has rebuked us, however, when we examine the Greek we see this word, paideia, which has a more direct meaning of training and education, plus what cultivates our soul, especially by correcting mistakes and curbing passions, to increase virtue. This sounds better than rebuke, which seems harsh. We are willing, in fact, very willing to accept all the training and education God has for us. We are also eager to allow God to cultivate our souls and, yes, correct our mistakes. This is not harsh treatment, for we know God loves us dearly and wants the best for us.  His love supersedes everything, and he acts within us lovingly, and caringly, even when he corrects or rebukes us. He knows our weaknesses better than we do, and shows us the better way, training us, educating us with his word, encouraging us to do better, be better, resist better, putting more and more trust in him, and less and less trust in ourselves. We want the Lord’s will to be done within us rather than our will, for we know ours is bent in the wrong direction. To even think that we are holy and righteous is foolish without the righteousness of Jesus. We cannot deny weakness either, knowing who we are being stuck in this corruptible body until Jesus comes back for us. If we are honest with ourselves, then we can truly be honest with our Father and accept all his training, education, correcting, or discipline freely and openly with an open heart and mind wanting his best for us, as his sons. It is all about our willingness.

 

Never Lose Heart Hebrews 12:1-3

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

NEVER LOSE HEART

Heb 12:1-3

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

NIV

Now it is time to look to Jesus. We know the story, we know from what has been recorded that he suffered at the hands of both the Jews and the Romans. First, he suffered hatred to the point they were guilty of his murder, of his death on the cross, the humiliation of hanging naked, beaten, bleeding, spat on, mocked, all for us. That cross is why Jesus came to earth so that joyfully, he would free us from the penalty of sin, and offer us eternal life. This act was the grace of God at work for his creation. Although it seems it is overused, John gives us the best of the best when he tells us that God so loved the world, that is us, that he gave his one and only Son so that whosoever, that is us, believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The cross was only the starting point, with the grave just a bump in the road, so that He could be resurrected, so that we could also, and then he ascended, as we will also, to sit at the right hand of the Father, which according to Jesus, we will have that right as long as we remain in him and he in us. But our story is a little different. We do not have to go to the cross in the physical sense, but we do in the spiritual sense. We participate with Jesus whenever we take communion, doing it in remembrance of him. However, our lives are not always a bed of roses as we occasionally get stuck by the thorns. We may not be under that much pressure of opposition from sinful men, at least not like Jesus was. Still, the sinful world opposes the truth of God, rejecting the idea of faith in Jesus Christ as the only way to heaven. They have begun to reject all the symbols of Christianity from the public square while accepting many other religions. We have had some of our brothers and sisters in Christ killed in horrible ways throughout the world, by men who serve another god. Yet, in this country, we live in relative peace and somewhat free from persecution, at least if we don’t cause too many waves and generally go along with the norm. However, we also live in this perishable body that tends to fight us as our age increases. It is almost as if aches and pains are a normal way of life. Some are also less fortunate than others when it comes to the amount of creature comforts, and it seems some have better positions in the body the others, which both can result in jealousy, envy, and even bitterness. Life just is life and we must all endure whatever type of life we have no matter what, and never lose heart because of anything, either those aches and pains, the aging process, or for any other reason because of other believers, or the world around us. Our task is to follow Jesus, to believe, to have faith, to keep the faith, to walk in faith, always keeping our eyes on Jesus, focused on the finish line, the reward of eternal life in the presence of our Lord and Savior. We will never grow weary and lose heart. 

Fix Our Eyes Upon Jesus

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREW

FIX OUR EYES UPON JESUS

Heb 12:1-3

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

NIV

We have the witnesses, and we are throwing off that which hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us. We are also running the race that has been marked out for us, and now it is time to fix our eyes on Jesus. It seems to us that we have been focusing on ourselves up to now because we have been paying attention, listening to all those witnesses and so busy throwing off all that stuff, looking into ourselves, finding that which hinders us, and spending all that time trying to get rid of sin, working, doing good things, keeping involved, attempting to be a “Good Christian”, that we may have lost sight of where our eyes should be focused. If we fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who is the author and perfecter of our faith then we should not be so introspective, thinking it is all up to us to be the best we can be. If we are honest with ourselves, we cannot make it on our own. If we look within, we will see our weakness and inability to do all that we are supposed to do, but if we fix our eyes on Jesus, we can live by faith because faith is a gift from God. We are told that God gives every man a measure of faith. Jesus is the author of our faith. Without Jesus, we cannot have faith. We humans, when alone, cannot have any faith, Jesus is the author of our faith, he gives it to us, and he perfects our faith. We cannot even increase in faith alone apart from Jesus. Jesus is the one who sent the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins and need to repent, to change the way we think about everything, but mostly about sinful selves and our need for Jesus. We cannot convict ourselves, we cannot save ourselves, we cannot run the race ourselves, we always need to fix our eyes on Jesus. Speaking personally, even before knowing Jesus, as a high schooler, having to run track, doing the hurdles, I would stumble on the last hurdle every time, until the coach made me focus on him at the finish line, and when I did, I was able to run the race completely. Never did I imagine the life lesson I learned and could apply to the race marked out for us. We need to focus our eyes on Jesus at the finish line. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will throw off everything else, for the only one and truth in our lives is Jesus. It seems simple enough to fix our eyes on Jesus, but we also know there is so much in this world that screams for our vision. “Look at this”, “Hey, this is interesting”, “Wouldn’t you like this, or that?” “Come see what is available”. “We have a lot for you to look and lust after”. It is all there, right in front of us so we can feast our eyes upon all of it. But then we remember, that we need to fix our eyes on Jesus. When we turn our eyes upon Jesus and look full in his wonderful face, all the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace 

The Race

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

THE RACE

Heb 12:1-3

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

NIV

After considering throwing off that which hinders us and that sin which so easily entangles us, we now must run the race marked out for us with perseverance. The question is what exactly the race is. We know it is not a sprint but rather a marathon. When we watch some great marathons, especially those cross-county versions, we see the runners having to endure various hills and valleys, some even muddy or slippery. It is the same with the great Tour De France that covers 2,200 miles over a 23-to-24-day period, with the bikers having to endure some long uphill climbs through various mountain ranges in France, then racing like the wind downhill. This race that is marked out for us is not limited to the Boston Marathon of 23 miles, or the 23-to-24-day period of the Tour De France. Our race is a lifetime event, from the first moment we accept Jesus Christ until we reach the finish line exhaling our last breath. It would appear that all of us believers are in this race, but we wonder if we all have the exact same course or do some of us have different courses on the marathon. Certainly, not all of us have been called to be preachers or pastors, nor are all of us called to be missionaries or evangelists, prophets and apostles, yet some are. Others are called to be elders and deacons, and some have a race marked out to work with children. Does that make their race more difficult than others? That is a race that is marked out for us and in the sense the author is talking about it is the common race of living as a believer or a person of faith. All of us encounter obstacles alone the path of living by faith, that is why we must run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us. This begs the other question as to what it means to have it marked out for us. Living with faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation, and our resurrection into eternal life means we have but one path to run on, the one that is marked out for us. We cannot try to run that race if we are always being distracted by another path and try to run on both at the same time. Jesus was very specific about that when he told us we cannot serve two masters. We cannot run the race following Jesus while we are trying to run a race following after that which the pagans do, the path of money, success, security for the future, hoarding our funds for our retirement and all those other goals and ambitions of the world race the pagans are running. It’s not that Jesus wants us to be poor and broken people, with nothing of the things of this world. However, the race we are on means that we also put all our trust in Jesus and He supplies all our needs as we race after Him and follow the race, He has marked out for us. We know all the road signs, we know the path we are to be on, we know how to run this race and how to persevere through any of those difficult times because we know what faith looks like, we have seen it, and we experience faith daily. We live by faith, and we are in the process of being transformed into the image of Christ as we race down this path Jesus marked out for us. Let us not wander, or get distracted, but let us stay the course on the race marked out for us, the race is conducted with faith and with our eyes, which we will get to later. 

Set Aside

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

SET ASIDE

Heb 12:1-3

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

NIV

We just went through that list of great witnesses to living by faith, of being people of faith, and so we take their witnesses and apply all that to our lives. We are to throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us. The first question is how to throw it off? All the things that hinder us are all around us and always facing us at every turn. It is almost impossible to get rid of them, and yet we are to throw them off. The Greek word is more of a sense to set aside but throw off is a good translation. We cannot throw off sin completely, that would be ignorant to think that we could live without any sin whatsoever. It does easily entangle us, even before we know it, there it is, an attitude, a hurt feeling that entangles us into being unforgiving and not loving toward that one who hurt us. Pride jumps right in before we know it, and we begin to think more highly of ourselves than we should. Being critical, and judgmental, accompanies that prideful attitude. It is not the physical sins that bother us so much, murder, stealing, adultery, hoarding, or others we cannot think of at the moment, it is the inward sins, the attitudes of the heart that entangle us so quickly. How do we throw them off? How do we keep ourselves from having attitudes that are unbecoming a child of God? We all may look good in front of others, or appear as righteous and holy people of God, but are our hearts pure, or are there attitudes hiding within that we have yet to throw off. How then do we worship when we are still struggling to forgive someone? Can we say that we are righteous enough to hold court on others' sins? Of course, that would be wrong on so many levels. Let us therefore throw off those things that hinder us from being the child of God we are supposed to be. We all have sins, none of us are perfect, but we need to live by faith, trusting in God to finish the work he started in us. Yes, we have all those witnesses, but they too were not sinless, it is just their witness of living by faith that we need to follow. Yet, at the same time, we are to make every effort, with the help of Jesus, to throw off those attitudes that hinder us from living by faith, and all those sins, those attitudes that so easily entangle us. It seems to us that requires some kind of a decision, some kind of making up our minds, setting aside those attitudes, and behaviors that we know in our hearts are not right. We also know that we need Jesus to help us accomplish that. It always comes back to living by faith, in order to set anything aside. 

Made Perfect

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

MADE PERFECT

Heb 11:39-40

39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

NIV

Although we pondered on that list of men who lived by faith, just as we live by faith, they died without seeing the promise. The promise was and is Jesus Christ. There is no other promise that makes men perfect. We know that because we are in Christ, God sees us as holy and blameless, which is as close to perfect as we will get in this flesh. But pure perfection is in our resurrection. There is no question we still live in a corruptible form and because of its weakness, we fail to be perfect human beings. No matter how hard we try, or how determined we are to live without sin, we simply are not able to attain our goal, for we fail, and we fall short of the mark that we set for ourselves. Maybe that is the problem, we are trying to set our goal of not failing short. Maybe we are trusting in our flesh rather than trusting in Jesus. Do we think that God is mad at us when we fail at perfection and do something sinful, have a sinful thought or attitude, or say something that would be sinful? God knows our heart and our desire to live to please him, but at the same time God knows we are human and at the present in this corruptible and perishable condition, for he formed us with his own hands. His love supersedes everything. His love for us was shown at the cross at Calvary. Jesus is His perfect love for us. Even when we fail, Jesus is there always making the perfect intercession for us.  Let us not ever forget we at in Christ and He is in us, even when we fail. He will never leave us, not forsake us, he will always be loving us. However, the day is coming when we are going to exchange all that we are now for a perfect form that is truly holy and blameless, without corruption, without every perishing, becoming an eternal being living in the eternal presence of our Lord. This is the better plan for us. This is the day we all who live by faith will be made absolutely perfect. The day of our resurrection will soon be at hand and in that moment, we raise up we will be made perfect. 

An Account

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

AN ACCOUNT

Heb 11:32-40

32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

NIV

If the author does not have time to tell us, what else can we say about the list of these individuals given here who lived by faith, other than they lived by faith. Everything that was done by them and through them was an act of faith. We would think that at least Samson, David, and Samual deserved their own line, as those we have already looked at. But they are all grouped together as men of faith and many of them did mighty things, but also met with hardcore persecution and a painful death. What can we learn from this group of faithful warriors for God? The one thing we notice is they looking for a better resurrection. What does that mean? How can one resurrection be better than another, yet in Greek it is clearly meant as a more noble more excellent, resurrection. We are also looking for our resurrection, but just to be resurrected seems noble to us. The think our Lord will resurrect us because we live by faith is a most excellent reward. It is difficult to think about the culture these men lived in where it was acceptable to slaughter men in such barbaric ways. What hatred against the truth of God that caused such evil behavior is unthinkable. We are fortunate to live in a society that frowns so deeply on that murderous behavior and accepts, more or less, the Christian lifestyle. Of course, we are not persecuted in the physical ways these men were, but we are acted against in a slyer and more devious psychological manner. We are seen as a closed-minded group who cannot accept the various alternative lifestyles the world has now devised to fulfill its every desire. Yet, we will continue to live by faith, and if that means someday, we are done away with by some evil plot then so be it, we will not falter in our faith in God. Let us hope that someday when we have gone, done with our bodies, and entered the rest of our Lord, someone will write a line or two giving an account of our lives as people of faith who lived for a better resurrection. 

The Perfect Plan

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

THE PERFECT PLAN

Heb 11:30

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

NIV

Once again, a monumental event gets one line, yet it is still in the hall of faith. What can we learn from these walls of Jericho? Why was that so important the author needed to include it as a matter of faith. Would it not be more like a matter of obedience? We need to include the next verse about Rahab because she lived in Jericho.

Heb 11:31

31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.  

NIV

She had welcomed and hid the two spies Joshua had sent in to find out about the army within Jericho. However, the Commander of the Lord’s Army gave Joshua all the instructions for overtaking the city. Just march around it once for six days, and on the seventh day march around it seven times, and when the priests blow their seven ram horns, have the whole of Israel shout and the walls come tumbling down. The lesson we learn from this story and why it is in the hall of faith is that Joshua followed the commands of the Lord. Surely, we can recount many times we have faced obstacles in our lives. Life just does not always roll smoothly along with everything simply falling perfectly in place. Various times throughout life we find ourselves facing some sort of situation that is not in the plan we laid out. What matters is how we overcome those obstacles we face, of whatever nature they might be. If we attempt to win against them with our own ideas and strength we could advance a bit in our struggle, but unless we consult with the Commander of the Lord’s army, who of course, would be our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, we are not going to see those walls fall down. However, when we do ask Jesus how we are going to make it through the struggle we face, the answer may simply be to stand still, stand firm, take our stand, and watch Jesus overcome, or get the exact plan of attack, the perfect instructions, the perfect plan for our lives, which in all cases would include being a person of faith, trusting our Lord has everything in hand and the battle is his, and if we stand still, at least in our hearts, that is still our hearts, just as the Psalmist stated, “ Be still and know I am the Lord”, we will see the deliverance of the Lord. We might have to shout or blow the horn of a ram or march around a bit, although we are not sure how that would look today, the point is that we need to follow the direction of the Lord to the letter. We are to be the people of the Lord, and thus we are to live as people of the Lord, living by faith in the Lord rather than in ourselves. He always has a perfect plan for us, we only need to listen and follow. He is the light onto our feet and a lamp onto our path. He will make a way through any obstacle we encounter, with his perfect plan. 

By Faith

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

BY FAITH

Heb 11:29

29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

NIV

One line to describe an event that was monumental to say the least. We cannot spend enough time on what happened at the Red Sea, however, interestingly it did not appear the Israelites were too happy with Moses and God bringing them to a place they thought was a dead end and nothing more then a death trap. To be caught between and insurmountable amount of water and an Egyptian army of enormous size and strength caused them to be full of fear and panic. Yet, the author tells us now they were people of faith and that was the reason they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When we read the account in the book of Exodus, we do not see them having any faith, in fact, God had to tell them through Moses, not to be afraid, and to stand firm and they would see the deliverance the Lord would bring them that day, in addition, God told them, He would fight for them, they only needed to be still. We know that account very well, as we preached those very words, for the benefit of our own people of faith. Being still is the key to seeing God at work in us, for us and through us. When we busy ourselves with our own agenda using our own skills, training, education or whatever else we think we have, then we might not see God at work or fighting for us at all. Then we might wonder why God is so silent. It was the people of faith, even though they complained and murmured against God, when they were told to be still, they stood firm and watch that pillar of smoke move behind them to separate them from the army of Pharoah and perhaps that is when they faith began to grow, but when they saw this insurmountable sea of water part, leaving a path of dry ground right through two walls of water, by faith they walked several miles through it all and then watched God drown people who had no faith in their God. Let us always live full of faith, never doubting that God will fight for us, that he will do the battle, He will bring about where and how we are to be, what we are to be doing if we only have the faith to stand firm, not be afraid and keep our eyes upon Jesus, and we will see the Lord working for us, in us and through us to accomplish his good will. We are determined to live by faith. 

The Blood of the Lamb

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB

Heb 11:24-28

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

NIV

It is now by faith that we look at the faith of Moses as he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. We know this story of how Moses was instructed to tell the people to take a lamb and prepare it for the Passover and sprinkle the lamb's blood on the doorposts of their homes, so the death angel would pass over them. This was the first Passover and Israel has been celebrating that Passover to this day, although without the sprinkling of the blood of the lamb, in fact, they do not even recognize the blood of the Lamb of God. However, that is our story as we know and accept the blood of the Lamb for the forgiveness of our sins. It is a modern-day, everyday celebration of the Passover of the death angel. We do not sprinkle the blood of Jesus on the doorpost of our homes, but rather in the doorpost of our hearts. When the death angel comes for us, he cannot touch us, or destroy us, for he sees the blood of Jesus on the doorposts of our hearts. That is not all the story for the Israelites were told to eat all the lamb and do so with their cloak tucked into their belts, their sandals on their feet and their staff in their hands. They were to eat in haste, for it is the Lord’s Passover. This meant they had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice. This was not a lazy time at the table, enjoying the conversation, and relaxing after dinner, with a nice dessert or after-dinner drink. Once again this is our story. We are to live with our cloak tucked in, our sandals on our feet, and staff in hand, ready to leave this earth at a moment's notice. We should not get too settled in here, too comfortable around the table, so to speak. Let us not get so cozy that we are not looking and watching for the death angel to Passover us. Jesus made a covenant with us, and shed his blood, the blood of the Lamb of God, so that we are protected from the death angel, for the wages of sin is death, but praise God, we have accepted His free gift of eternal life through the blood of Jesus. The death angel has no power over us, he must Passover us each and every day until Jesus comes to take us to that place he has prepared for us. We may have to lay this body to rest, as it breathes its last, but we will not be staying with it, as Jesus will take us with him. We cannot be sure exactly how that will work, but we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that death has no victory, it has lost its sting, for we live with the blood of Jesus over the doorpost of our hearts, which means we will live forever. We live by the blood of the Lamb. 

Run Forward

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

RUN FORWARD

Heb 11:24-28

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

NIV

There is a major difference between being a child and being grown-up. We are not told much of the childhood of Moses or exactly how long he spent in the household of Pharoah learning many of the skills of the Egyptian culture. We can imagine he learned mathematics, city planning, architecture, military training and strategy, and whatever other advancements of their culture. But, when the time came and he was grown up, knowing from the training he received from his mother during his weaning process, he knew all along he was a Hebrew from the house of Levi, and we know the story of his exposing himself and needing to run for his life. Moses understood the difference between the God Almighty of the Hebrews and all the false gods of the Egyptians and chose to follow after God Almighty. The author of this letter makes the point that Moses regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt. Here is where the rubber hits the road in our lives. We live in a world filled with treasures, and as a baby, even as a baby believer, we might be enticed by all the treasures available to us in this culture we are privileged to live in. We wonder if we make an effort to live with one foot holding on to the treasures while giving one foot in the kingdom of God. Jesus made it very clear that we cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve money and God, and we have to make a choice, as we are told Moses did. Of course, that culture was much different than ours. We need a home, food, clothing, cars, and so much more, all our tools in our workshops and kitchens. We need enough money to pay for all the utilities we need as well as all our entertainment and those necessities of life. However, are we putting too much trust in our ability to make money, looking ahead and storing it up for our future, then putting our trust in Jesus Christ to supply our every need? Of course, that is through seeing that we have enough money to live comfortably in our culture, and as we grow, we are also learning many of the skills we may need to use in the advancement of the kingdom of God. Moses made a choice and left everything behind to become a nomad, for the sake of God Almighty. We too must make a choice to leave everything behind us and strain for what is ahead. Let us not try to live with the world, but live with Jesus, not have the world within us, but have Christ in us. We have to grow up sometime and see the difference, make our choice, and run toward what is ahead. 

Hidden by God

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

HIDDEN BY GOD

Heb 11:23-28

23 By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

NIV

Rightly so, Moses gets more than a one-line sentence, although his mother just gets that one statement. We do wonder what the author meant by telling us he was no ordinary child. In the account in Exodus, it is recorded that his mother saw he was a goodly child, or a fine child, which is to mean, there was something special about Moses from his birth. He may not have looked like a typical Israelite child. This might be why it was so easy for Pharoah’s daughter to raise him as her son. What this tells us is that God’s hand was upon Moses from his inception, causing a fine, goodly child to be born within a common Levite home, Of course, that also meant that Moses was born into the house of Levi, the house, or tribe of priests. Before we get into the faith of Moses, we should ponder for a moment about our own birth. Were we born anyone special? Did we have anything that would qualify us as not ordinary? First, we know that God knew us before we were born, that he knit us together in our mother’s womb. The Psalmist wrote about God and that he created his inmost being, knitting him together in his mother’s womb. This was the story of Moses, and we believe this is our story as well. Here we are, living proof that God had a divine plan for us, just as he did for Moses. Of course, we were not designed to lead millions of people out of bondage and take them to the land of promise. Nevertheless, because we are among the community of faith, and we have been called to serve in one way or another, God has had his hand upon us from before we were born. Therefore, we can say that we when we were born, we were no ordinary child, but  a goodly, fine, child meant for the kingdom of God. We now know, without a doubt, that we were born to be an image bearer of Christ, to look like Jesus, fine and goodly, holy and blameless in the sight of the same God who knit us together in our mother’s womb. He is the one who kept us all the days of our lives, even before we walked in his Light, when we were still in the darkness, He kept us safe from harm, knowing the plans He had for our lives within His kingdom. Moses’s mother may have hidden him because he was fine, but God hid us because He made us fine. We have been hidden by God for His plan and purpose. 

It Will Happen

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

IT WILL HAPPEN

Heb 11:22

22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.

NIV

Knowing the story of Joseph, how his brothers, ended up selling him off to traders, and how he ended up in Egypt and ultimately saved his whole family from the famine, we get the picture he was at the very beginning of the four hundred years of the Israelites spent in bondage in Egypt. Yet, despite all that Joseph went through, being hated by his brothers, sold off to strangers, ended up in prison, and ultimately became second in command of all Egypt. He never lost faith in God. Life is not always a bed of roses, we encounter thorns along the way, sometimes many thorns, yet what matters is our faith in Jesus, our trust in Jesus, our trust in our Lord God Almighty, our Father who is in Heaven. How can we not always have faith in God? Joseph knew that someday God would lead the people back to the land of promise, the place of his birth. He knew God would not let his people suffer forever under the control of those who worshipped other gods. Joseph knew through faith, that God would bring his people back to the land of promise and wanted his bones brought back there when it happened. He did not see this event but could see an exodus from bondage to freedom with his faith. This is our story, although, in a physical sense, we are not in bondage as the Israelites were, however, in another sense we are in physical bondage to this decaying, or perishable and corruptible body. By faith we see a day coming when God will come for us and lead us out of this bondage into a place of promise, our eternal home. There will be a difference in that the Israelites plundered the Egyptians when they left, and we will not bring anything of this world with us but leave it all behind for it will soon perish. Our exodus is going to be leaving our bondage in this flesh to being made completely new, having a full transition from corruptible to incorruptible, from perishable to imperishable, from mortal to immortal. We cannot see it this transformation, but by faith, we believe it will happen, the same faith Joseph had when he gave instructions about carrying his bones out of Egypt. He knew it would happen. Because we live by faith, we know it will happen. 

Men of Faith Worship God

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

MEN OF FAITH WORSHIP GOD

Heb 11:21

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

NIV

This author recounts just one sentence of what was one of the most inspirational moments in the life of Jacob. When he was very old, near the last days of his life, laying on his couch, although we call it a bed, he rallied his strength to bless the sons of Joseph as well as his own sons. We could take a few points from the account in Genesis; however, one sticks out that brings it close to home for us. Of course, we are not in our last days in the way Jacob was, even if we are older in years than we have ever been, with our grey hair, wrinkled face, slightly weaker body, and more ailments and infirmities than we never had in our younger years, we have not yet succumbed to our death bed. In his blessings of Manasseh and Ephraim, Jacob makes this statement about God who his fathers, Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been his shepherd all the days of his life, and the angel who delivered him from all harm. We should note this translation of the Hebrew word Mittah, which has a direct meaning of a bed, or couch, even used as a coffin. Much has been made about the staff as meaning the scepter, the staff of authority. But the Hebrew word does not support that meaning. Nevertheless, we know that Jacob was the family Patriarch and his authority over the family was never questioned. Yet, even in his last moments, he rallied himself and worshipped God who has been his shepherd all the days of his life. whether he leaned on his staff or the head of his bed it does not matter, for he continued to worship all the days of his life. This is the story we take hold of. There will never be a day that we will fail to worship God who has been our Great Shepherd all the days of our lives. Even if we did not come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ until some years after our birth, God has never failed in being our Shepherd, guiding our lives to the place where we would meet Jesus and become one of the sons of God. Our family Patriarch is unlike the patriarchs of old, for they died, and He lives forever, and He always pronounces a blessing on us. He will always be our Shepherd, leading and protecting us from all harm. Of course, our definition of harm might be different than his. We might think harm to our body, but God thinks harm to our soul. We pray that he will deliver us from evil, and that is in the spirit world, the evil one, who would like to destroy our souls. Our Great Shepherd will not allow that to happen, so we can be at rest from evil, and spend all the days of our lives, even to our last breath, worshipping our God. Men of faith worship God. 

A Man of Faith

 DEVOTION

TO HEBREWS

A MAN OF FAITH

Heb 11:20

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future.

NIV

Although this is short and sweet, we should take the next three together as each has only one line, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, but each also desires some individual attention as they are in the Hall of Faith. Why did the author tell us so little about Isaac and yet put him on the list of people of faith? We know Isaac’s two sons, Jacob and Esau received completely different blessings about their future. However, even if Jacob deceived his father and took the blessing that belonged to the firstborn, Esau, Jacob is the one who Jesus would come into the world through his descendants. God would even change Jacob’s name to Israel so that all the twelve tribes would come through his sons and to this day the land is still called Israel, named after the son of Isaac. Perhaps this is why Isaac is in this Hall of Faith, yet we are told it is because he blessed his sons regarding their future. Here is a man of faith, who believes in the Almighty God, and when there was a famine in the land as there was earlier in the time of Abraham when he sent his sons to Egypt for grain. But the Lord appeared to Isaac and told him not to go to Egypt, and Isaac obeyed the Lord God and pitched his tent in the land of promise. God made a covenant with Isaac as well. But the story here is about Isaac following God's direction, staying in place, even when the physical evidence is telling him to go where there is grain. Later we are told that Isaac planted crops in the land and in the same year reaped a harvest one hundred-fold because the Lord blessed him. Here is our story as well. We move when our Lord God tells us to move, and we stay when our Lord God tells us to stay. We plant in the land our Lord God tells us to plant in and He will bless us because we have followed his command. We know many may not live the same way we do, but we do not go unless we are told to go. We stay because we are told to stay and He would bless us because we have faith. This applies to where we live, work, and worship. Speaking personally, had I not followed the voice of God telling me “Move here” when I lived happily in Illinois, I would have never ended up at a church, where through the blessing of the denomination, received enough educational requirements to become credentialed as a minister, and again, through the leading of the Lord God, move me from the placed I worshipped to become the lead pastor of another church. This is a blessing from the Lord God, to whom I follow when he says move, or stay, where I live, work, and worship, all the days of my life. We all have this same Lord God who will speak into our hearts and hopefully, a day is coming when people will say, there lived a man of faith.