Run On

DEVOTION

HEBREWS

RUN ON

Heb 12:1

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.

NIV

So here is it, the conclusion of why we looked at all those who were commended for their faith. The therefore is the reason for all of chapter 11. Knowing that all those people are in the presence of God, and that they surround us as a great cloud of witnesses, it must be also true that we are already in the presence of God, even as we still live. Or could it be they all are standing in His presence all around heaven looking down on us? Either case it is apparent we are surrounded by them, and therefore it requires some action on our part. We have to get our throwing arm in shape, for it surely appears we must throw off everything that hinders us, not to mention the sin which so easily entangles us. It certainly would be difficult to run a race burdened down with a heavy load hinders whatever they are. Those things which hinder us could be a whole host of things, each one of us having our own unique set of hindering items. We have to ask ourselves what it is that we are clinging on to, rather than throwing off. Are we clinging on to stuff, money, people or even life itself? Or perhaps we are still clinging on to some trait, some characteristic, some attitude, or some way of thinking that God desires for us to throw off. Have we burdened ourselves to a point that we cannot run the race? We might have left the starting blocks, but we just cannot keep up the pace, because we have either refused to throw something off, or we have taken on additional burdens along the way, should as denominational rules and regulations, doctrines and dogmas that weight us down. Then there is the sin which so easily entangles us. If we refuse to admit it is there, we are already losing the race. Yet we still have to see we have a race to run and the course has been laid in, set out, and marked for us to follow. We cannot simply run our own race along the path we think we should run, we must follow the course that has been set out for us to run and we can never give up. Even when times get tough, when it seems we are weighted down, when things start to become hindering, and sin keeps creeping in, we must continue to throw them off remembering we have a high priest, who has settled it all at Calvary. We must run the race, fight the good fight, and get to the finish line. We must run on.

Faith Up

DEVOTION

HEBREWS

FAITH UP

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

All of this just cannot be broken up, it is all too much one thought, one idea, one comment that is so awful it needs to be kept in one single devotion. We think we have it bad, when we have an off day, when things are not going the way we planned, but is it possible to even imagine how this people lived and died? Some of them had exceptionally great moments and some had extremely horrific moments, but they all were commended for their faith. Would not that make a wonderful epitaph on our tomb stones, “Here lays a person commended by God for their faith”. And with this kind of history of the events in their lives, should we not also expect something similar? Why should we accept a mundane life, just living without the  power of God? Why should we live in the weakness of our flesh, when God desires to do so much more in us? Are we afraid of what happened to the others? Do we think we will be sawed in half, jeered, flogged, chained, stoned, or put to death by a sword? Do we think we will have to wander, destitute, persecuted and mistreated? Are we more concerned about be worthy of this world not be worthy of us? Have we not seen before that it might be necessary to exercise our faith in order for it to become greater? We need to start really believing God for a miracle. We need to really start living by faith, living out our faith, and being people faith. Jesus said that he tells is the truth, that anyone who has faith in Him will do what He had been doing. That we will do even greater things than he did, because He has gone to Father, and He will do whatever we ask in His name, so that He may bring glory to the Father. Jesus said that we may ask Him for anything in His name and He will do it. That is faith, no that is power in faith. What are we waiting for? Do we not truly believe? God is waiting for us to stand up and be counted among those who He commends for their faith. Life is not worth the living without faith. Where is faith? Stand up, speak up, faith up!

Sinners Saved by Grace

DEVOTION
HEBREWS
SINNERS SAVED BY GRACE
Heb 11:31
31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. 
NIV

First we have to come to terms with the fact Rahab was not doing anything that was against the law of the land, although her behavior was not what would be consider moral and righteous in the eyes of the Lord. Yet are we not all sinners saved by grace? Is one sin and worse than another? Do we tend to judge Rahad at all because she was a prostitute? Do we tend to judge other people because they acted in a manner which we think is worse than the way we conduct ourselves? If we are to spur each other toward love and good works, then we must get beyond every aspect of judging, or comparing one to another. A sinner saved by grace is the story line here, a woman who was living in sin, was saved because he exhibited faith in the God of those spies, those Israelites, which means she demonstrated faith in God almighty the creator of all there is and will ever be. This is the story of what will happen on the day of the Lord, All unbelievers will be destroyed, killed as this statement says. The Greek word implies destroyed, perish, which falls right in line with John 3:16. If a person, no matter the severity of their sin, receives God, believes He is God, accepts His provision, as the spies gave Rahab, that person will be saved, and will not perish with all the unbelievers. All too often we believers become so self-righteous in our Chrystal palace, our ivory tower of Christianity that we separate ourselves from what we think is the ugliness of the sinful world. The spies went into a sinners home, and was treated with kindness, saved from the dreadful threat the village men were going to do to them. Why these men went to her house we cannot be certain, but it was a home which welcomed men. Was it the hand of God which took them to her, so that she would be saved, because God already knew her heart, and knew she was ready to be saved? Either way, these men were a witness of God to Rahab by just being there, she knew all about their God, and was sure He was the true God. We should not be so withdrawn from befriending, engaging with sinners, so they too may be saved by grace. True, we should not engage or be drawn into their sin, but then we have sin of our own anyway. True, we should not sanction their behavior, but then we should not sanction ours either. Are not we all simply sinners saved by grace?

Keep On Marching

DEVOTION
HEBREWS
KEEP ON MARCHING
Heb 11:30
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days. 
NIV


No doubt a great feat for mankind, many steps and a long loud shout was all it took for those walls to come tumbling down. Except mankind was acting at the direction of God and because they believed him, had faith in what He said would happen, it was so. Are there any walls of Jericho that we need to have tumbling down? What is keeping us from the having the victory? Are we crushed under a heavy burden of sin, feeling guilty and full of shame, yet cannot seem to overcome those temptations? Do we give in way too often to feelings of anger, or outbursts of rage, knowing at once we have failed God? There are so many different forms of walls in our lives that need to fall, and just as those people could not make it happen without God, never can we. It is essential that we hear from God as to His plan for our life, Hum, sounds like a title of a book, and how we are to go about tumbling those walls. First and foremost once directed in the way, we need faith in God that He will accomplish His plan for us and bring us the victory. Yes, it is true, we may never attain complete freedom from sin, becoming perfect in every aspect of our life, but still there are barriers that keep us from having victory. When was the last time we had a Jericho march around the walls in our life? It sure must have been looked as a foolish act for the first six days by those warriors on the walls of Jericho, seeing a bunch of rag tag people marching in circles. Yet on day seven, it was a whole different story. If the Israelites would have given up too soon, a whole different narrative would have been told. Do we give up too soon in our quest to win the victory or some wall in our life? The Apostle Paul understood this war that wages within, as he did what he did not want to do, and did not do what he wanted to do, yet he also confessed or declared that he had run the race, he got to the finish line. Although we may struggle with continued sin, we must never give in, give up running the race, marching around and shouting looking for those walls to tumble. There is victory in Jesus. We must keep on marching.

A Way to Escape

DEVOTION

HEBREWS

A WAY TO ESCAPE

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

This event has been seen by many as a story of the acts of Moses rather than the faith of the children of Israel. Maybe this is speaking of the faith of Moses, but it does not specify it was his faith, but the faith of the people. Even though a great miracle was before their eyes, it must have taken a step of faith to believe what they saw, as this was indeed extremely out of the laws of nature, the laws of gravity, and simply against all common sense. Yet in the position of certain doom, when God provided a way to escape, they by faith accepted his provision and walked on dry land, between two walls of raging water. The dry land is not thought about often, but after being under the sea for those many years, surely the land would not be dry. When God provides a way, he does it completely. This is the story we need to see here, the provision of God for us to escape certain doom. Although this is history, and the events descripted are real, it also serves as a picture of Satan and his army on the attack against us, especially when we have just made an attempt to leave his control over our lives. He mounts an attack in an effort to regain control and enslaved us when an even greater persecution, trying his best to make sure we will be destroyed. But God makes a way, when it is the darkest hour, there is light. We need to have faith in God for our escape from certain destruction. The children of Israel could actually see the way of escape, we may not be able to see it with physical eyes, but we can surely see with eyes of faith. God is performing miracles abounding all around us if we can but only look and see in faith. I can attest to the many miracles He has provided throughout the years since I turned and made my escape. All of us can, if we recall. The red sea still looms before us, at times, and the army of Satan is still on the attack, but we must always have faith, that God will provide a way to escape. 

Stand Up For God

DEVOTION

HEBREWS

STAND UP FOR GOD

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 far better to take a stand for God then to become so much like those who we live around that they are hard pressed to know we are Christians, and then even know what is the difference between a Christian and we who are born again, bible token, Spirit filled followers of Christ. Perhaps it was possible that Moses might have thought he could do so much more for his people by staying in the household of Pharaoh, making the changes from within, thereby being able to keep all his fine possessions, and pleasures that great wealth afforded him. But he did not, and it would appear that might be the lesson for us as well. Are we will to compromise any of the standards of God for the sake of keeping our job? Are we willing to remain silent about our faith just so people won’t feel uncomfortable around us? Have we bought into that teaching about them knowing we are believers by our life, rather than our words? If we think about it, there are non-believers who do just as good, or even better at living a respectable life as we do, so what does that say about our life as a witness? That old saying about the way to be seen, is stand up, the way to be heard is speak up, than they add, the way to be appreciated is sit down and shut up! The world does not what to hear the Gospel, but if we don’t tell them, who will? Do we leave it up to Joel Olsten, or others like him, who are living so large, they give God a bad name, in the eyes of the world? If we are to learn anything from this example of faith from Moses, we must learn to stand up and be heard, to put God first, no matter of the consequences, to not compromise, to not be afraid to declare our position based on the Word of God. If we simply hide who we really are from those we live around, of what value are we to God and to His kingdom? Do we make a difference? Are we doing what God deserves for us to do? Do we really exercise our faith? Are we willing to stand up for God?

No Ordinary People

DEVOTION

HEBREWS

NO ORDINARY PEOPLE

Heb 11:23

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.

NIV

What was it about Moses that made him not no ordinary child? We certainly know he was no ordinary man, for he had the power of God resting on him. Was that what his parents saw even when he was but an infant? Is the power of God resting upon a person, such as Moses, reserved for just a few special people? It would seem that his parents had a certain relationship with God if they were willing to defy his edict and follow their instinct inspired by God. We know God had special plans for Moses, but then does he not have special plans for each or us? Are we not to learn something about God and his relationship with his creation from each and every portion of His Word? The scripture is far more than just a historical record of events. It is s record from which we learn how He deals with us. Did He not say that He knit us together in our mother’s womb? Did He not say that He knows every hair on our head? What would make us think that we can just go about living our lives as we please, doing whatever we think is what we should do? If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior what make us think God does not have special designs for our life? Not the He predestined us, but He had to know from the very beginning of our life that He was going to do something special through us. As God designed, Moses lead the children out of bondage to freedom. Is that not a lesson for us? Should we not be involved in some way leading others out of bondage to sin, to the freedom in Christ? We need not fear the edict of the prince of this world, that we are sinners, that we fail God, that we still cannot help but commit sin, that we are doomed, that we are failures as believers, and that God will not forgive us, because we cannot be good enough. We do not have to ever listen or pay attention to that kind of edict, that we should be killed as children of God. God has plans for us, as He did for Moses. God will accomplish His plans in our life, even in our human condition, as Moses was not a perfect man either, but God used him in a mighty way. Should we not expect God to use us in a mighty way? We should expect Him to, we should we expecting to be the vessel of God, to be used for the benefit of His kingdom. We cannot simply go about own way, we must be about our Fathers business, because we are no ordinary people.