Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Hebrews 3
Set – Hosea 6; Hebrews 3
Go! – Hosea 6–9; Hebrews 3
Hebrews 3
1 So all of you who are holy partners in a heavenly calling, let’s turn our attention to Jesus, the Emissary of God and High Priest, who brought us the faith we profess; 2 and compare Him to Moses, who also brought words from God. Both of them were faithful to their missions, to the One who called them. 3 But we value Jesus more than Moses, in the same way that we value a builder more than the house he builds. 4 Every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Moses brought healing and redemption to his people as a faithful servant in God’s house, and he was a witness to the things that would be spoken later. 6 But Jesus the Anointed was faithful as a Son of that house. (We become that house, if we’re able to hold on to the confident hope we have in God until the end.)7 Listen now, to the voice of the Holy Spirit through what the psalmist wrote:
Today, if you listen to His voice,
8 Don’t harden your hearts the way they did
in the bitter uprising at Meribah
9 Where your ancestors tested Me
though they had seen My marvelous power.
10 For the 40 years they traveled on
to the land that I had promised them,
That generation broke My heart.
Grieving and angry, I said, “Their hearts are unfaithful;
they don’t know what I want from them.”
11 That is why I swore in anger
they would never enter salvation’s rest.
12 Brothers and sisters, pay close attention so you won’t develop an evil and unbelieving heart that causes you to abandon the living God. 13 Encourage each other every day—for as long as we can still say “today”—so none of you let the deceitfulness of sin harden your hearts. 14 For we have become partners with the Anointed One—if we can just hold on to our confidence until the end.
15 Look at the lines from the psalm again:
Today, if you listen to His voice,
Don’t harden your hearts the way they did
in the bitter uprising at Meribah.
16 Now who, exactly, was God talking to then? Who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all of those whom Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who made God angry for an entire generation? Wasn’t it those who sinned against Him, those whose bodies are still buried in the wilderness, the site of that uprising? 18 It was those disobedient ones who God swore would never enter into salvation’s rest. 19 And we can see that they couldn’t enter because they did not believe.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
Some say they can serve Me apart from a community of believers. That’s not how I intend you to serve Me. You’ll find life much easier to contend with when you bind together in fellowship and travel through it together than if you try to face it alone. That’s why the writer of Hebrews says to encourage each other every day.
Meeting together and encouraging each other in the face of adversity and persecution helps you know you are not alone in the troubles you face from the world. The world will always tell you that following Me is not worth the effort. Those who oppose Me will always try to block your path and lure you away from Me in a variety of ways. But being a part of a fellowship of believers will strengthen you and encourage you along your journey.
Solomon’s proverb reminds you that two are stronger than one and a rope of three strands is not easily broken. The same is true when applied to groups of believers. When you meet together, you have the strength to stand up to whatever the world might throw your way. You can lean on each other and help carry each others burdens.
I made you to want to have meaningful relationships with other people, not just with Me. That’s why I told you it is impossible to love Me and hate your brothers and sisters. How can you hate your brother who you see and love Me who you cannot see? It just isn’t possible. You need each other and meeting together to worship Me is a great place to start that bonding in fellowship.
It’s also especially helpful and important to encourage each other in these times. You can see the pressure increasing on those who really stand for Me. As long as you move along with the ideas of those who just call themselves Christians but bow to the whims and ways of the world, you don’t have problems. But stand for Me and My word and you will face ridicule, slander, insult, and persecution. Expect it. Embrace it. Encourage each other in the face of it.
As the end of times approach, persecution against the church and My people will increase. The rise in violence against you will become increasingly severe as My return approaches. Be ready. Lean on each other. Encourage each other every day – while “today” is still around. I’m coming back to take you with Me. Persevere until the end. It’s worth it.
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