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.