Tag Archives: Hebrews

Go to Church, April 8, 2019

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Here we are in the middle of Lent. In just a couple of weeks we will gather together to celebrate Easter. The day we set aside on the Christian calendar marking the day Jesus burst out of his grave to show us his power over death. During this season, I’ve been drawing my devotions from a book titled “For God So Loved”. The scripture I read today happens to come from Hebrews chapter 10. The author of that book writes to the Hebrew people of his day to explain in scholarly terms the proofs that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah and in the last several chapters, including chapter 10, how we should live in community with each other as his followers.

Now in this tenth chapter, beginning in verse 19 we find this admonition:

19 So, my friends, Jesus by His blood gives us courage to enter the most holy place. 20 He has created for us a new and living way through the curtain, that is, through His flesh. 21 Since we have a great High Priest who presides over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with true hearts full of faith, with hearts rinsed clean of any evil conscience, and with bodies cleansed with pure water. 23 Let us hold strong to the confession of our hope, never wavering, since the One who promised it to us is faithful. 24 Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, 25 not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the day of His return approaches.

The author of the devotional I read today, Tara Beth Leach, gives some thoughts about the verses that could be summed up with an opening statement, “Don’t attend church, if…” She then fills in the blanks with several reasons why we should not go to church using a bit of sarcasm in her writing, such as, don’t attend church if you expect everyone to be just like you. Or don’t attend church if you expect easy answers. Or don’t attend church if you don’t want to be stretched and pushed.

So why should we go to church? Isn’t it supposed to be a safe haven for us so we can feel good about ourselves and find joy and peace and happiness? Isn’t church the place to find friendship and a common bond with those around you? Isn’t church the place to find that legacy of peace Jesus leaves us?

Church is all of that and more, but joy and peace and happiness and friendship and togetherness doesn’t mean it is easy or that everyone is or should be just like me. It doesn’t mean everything should be all soft and cushy and rosey. It doesn’t even mean I really want to be there sometimes. But I know I need to be there. Hebrews tells us we need to meet together. We need to support and learn from each other. We know that God doesn’t change, but I have to be honest, there is much about the Bible I just do not understand.

I believe the Bible is true and I believe is spans generations and gives light and life to us as we follow its teachings. I also believe there are some things written in it that apply to the particular culture in which it was written. For instance, Paul speaks out about women speaking in the church, yet he praises Lydia an obvious leader in the church. Jesus had no problem breaking the cultural rules as he spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well. Yet his actions were strictly forbidden and he never told anyone those forbidden rules were wrong. He just reached out to people.

So, I believe there are some things in the Bible that must be interpreted in the light of the culture of Biblical times. Often the principle of what was spoken can be picked out of the words and apply equally to us, but some things are just different in our culture. My wife only walks behind me when my pace gets faster than hers, not because I mean for her to be anywhere other than beside me. But not in some other culture even today and certainly not in Jesus’ day when cattle were more valuable than women.

So how best do we learn what scripture means? How can we interpret the words? We get together and we discuss what we read and how God’s spirit speaks to us individually and collectively and we begin to discern what God is trying to tell us. We should not depend on the pastor to do all of our study or all of our thinking for us. We should be an active part in that gathering to learn.

We should go to church to worship together. There is something about worship in community with other believers that elevates our spirit as we do so. God created us to be in community with him and with others. Yes, we can and should worship alone, but we should also worship with other believers. We can learn from them as they also learn from us in our prayers, our singing, our devotion, our approach to a holy God.

We should go to church to share each others burdens. I know you’ve seen those boxes that recommend a two man lift. Often one person can pick them up, but the movement of the load is so much easier and safer when two people work together to lift it. It’s the same with many of the difficulties we face in life. When we share each others burdens and support each other in times of trial, it just makes life easier. Not necessarily easy, but easier. That 100 pound box still weighs 100 pounds, but when two people lift it, you are less likely to break your back in the process.

We should go to church to share with other believers what we have learned through our own life experiences. I can seldom pass by someone who comments “I just wasn’t fed by the service today.” I can’t help remark, “It’s because you didn’t bring a spoon!” We don’t gather to be fed. We come to share. We come to worship. We come to experience God’s spirit in community. If you want to be fed every time you walk through the door, there are a lot of restaurants in the world that will be happy to feed you. And they supply the utensils. When we come expecting God to touch us because we have reached out to him all week long and worshipped all week long, that gathering in the church is just another opportunity to share that same worship with others who are doing the same.

So when you think about gathering together for worship, don’t think about what you get, but what you give. Do you want your spirit touched? Then reach out and touch someone’s heart with your love. Do you want peace? Then exude peace to those who enter the door and need it. Do you want fellowship? Then be a friend to those who look lonely. Do you need to feel joy? Then surround yourself with those with smiles on their faces, wear a smile yourself and feel it move from your face to your heart.

If church were like the social clubs in the community, it would fail as a place to serve God. Those social clubs provide just what the world asks for. Sameness. Emptiness. Hopelessness. You can pay a healthy price to belong to one of those social clubs, but they won’t provide the eternal answers you long to find. I don’t want to go to a church like that.

I want to go to a church that steps on my toes. I want to hear sermons that challenge me and forces me to become more Christlike. I want to surround myself with people who are like me in that they want to follow in Jesus, but I also want the church to be filled with those who are not very Christlike. I want to see people there who are hungry to find something the world can’t offer. And I want to see them there because they have seen something in me and others in my church that they just can’t explain. I want them to question why we are like we are and want the same kind of peace and joy and contentment in life that we enjoy because of our fellowship with God and one another.

Does every church look like that? I’m afraid not. Does my church look like that? Not all the time. But sometimes. And why is it that churches today aren’t as inviting and create as much curiosity for outsiders as we would like? Well, to be honest, it’s my fault…and your fault. Unless we live that life that cause others to see Christ in us every day outside the church, we can’t expect them to want to see what is going on inside the church. Think about it. It wasn’t Jesus’ actions in the temple or the synagog that caused people to follow him. It was his life outside those institutions. People flocked to him because of his everyday actions that showed his love for others. So during this season of Lent, think about your life. Do your actions cause those around you to want to follow you? Do you generate curiosity among those that know you as they watch you live your life for God? Do you have to tell them you are a Christian for them to know it? Lent is the time for preparation. It’s time to examine ourselves and know we are right with him. Take some time this week and do just that.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Discipline is important (Hebrews 12:1-13) December 14, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hebrews 12:1-13

Set – Hebrews 12-13

Go! – Hebrews 12-13; Jude

Hebrews 12:1-13
¹ So since we stand surrounded by all those who have gone before, an enormous cloud of witnesses, let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us.
² Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor.
³ Consider the life of the One who endured such personal attacks and hostility from sinners so that you will not grow weary or lose heart. ⁴ Among you, in your striving against sin, none has resisted the pressure to the point of death, as He did.
⁵ Indeed, you seem to have forgotten the proverb directed to you as children:
My child, do not ignore the instruction that comes from the Lord,
or lose heart when He steps in to correct you;
⁶ For the Lord disciplines those He loves,
and He corrects each one He takes as His own.
⁷ Endure hardship as God’s discipline and rejoice that He is treating you as His children, for what child doesn’t experience discipline from a parent? ⁸ But if you are not experiencing the correction that all true children receive, then it may be that you are not His children after all. ⁹ Remember, when our human parents disciplined us, we respected them. If that was true, shouldn’t we respect and live under the correction of the Father of all spirits even more? ¹⁰ Our parents corrected us for a time as seemed good to them, but God only corrects us to our good so that we may share in His holiness.
¹¹ When punishment is happening, it never seems pleasant, only painful. Later, though, it yields the peaceful fruit called righteousness to everyone who has been trained by it. ¹² So lift up your hands that are dangling and brace your weakened knees. ¹³ Make straight paths for your feet so that what is lame in you won’t be put out of joint, but will heal.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

The writer uses several metaphors to help you understand the role of suffering in the world. Do I like to watch you suffer? No. But My Son used the suffering He received as discipline just as I want you to use it. Was the suffering His fault? No. Did I cause it? Not all of it. Some I gave to help His human nature stay within the boundaries I set for all of humankind. I want you to keep control of the base desires and instincts that Satan corrupts and uses for evil.

As the Son of Man, Jesus felt all those same temptations you feel to yield to quick and unholy gratification of those desires. But the discipline I taught Him from an early age through His parents, His rabbis, My word, and My Spirit helped Him keep from falling to the temptations Satan set before Him. Some of that discipline was painful emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Discipline is not always easy or pleasant, but necessary for growth. So even the Son of Man required discipline to withstand the temptations He would face later in His life as He faced the cross.

So if I disciplined My Son so He could face the cross when the time came when He was born free from the inbred nature of sin that the rest of humanity inherits through Adam, can you begin to understand the importance of discipline in your life? Do I want you to suffer? Do I want you to undergo discipline so you can stand under the temptations that will come your way on your journey through life? Absolutely. Will some of that discipline cause pain spiritually, emotionally, and physically? Probably.

When suffering comes, though, think of it as a means to the end. Think of it as a part of the discipline process to make you able to stand just as I discipline My Son so that He could stand. The suffering may not come from Me. It may come as a result of the good you do for others. Remember I promised you would have trouble in this world. But if you look at all suffering as discipline and not try to figure out which is which, you will be less likely to try to seek revenge. You will be more likely to forgive wrongs if you see all suffering as discipline from Me. You will find more grace from Me as you struggle through the difficult circumstance of life.

Do I enjoy disciplining My children? No more than you enjoy disciplining your children. But it is necessary to help them mature and become effective citizens later. I want you to be effective citizens in My kingdom, so expect Me to discipline you. It’s important.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

By faith (Hebrews 11:1-31) December 13, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hebrews 11:1-31

Set – Hebrews 10-11

Go! – Hebrews 9-11

Hebrews 11:1-31
¹ Faith is the assurance of things you have hoped for, the absolute conviction that there are realities you’ve never seen. ² It was by faith that our forebears were approved. ³ Through faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God; everything we now see was fashioned from that which is invisible.
⁴ By faith Abel presented to God a sacrifice more acceptable than his brother Cain’s. By faith Abel learned he was righteous, as God Himself testified by approving his offering. And by faith he still speaks, although his voice was silenced by death.
⁵ By faith Enoch was carried up into heaven so that he did not see death; no one could find him because God had taken him. Before he was taken up, it was said of him that he had pleased God. ⁶ Without faith no one can please God because the one coming to God must believe He exists, and He rewards those who come seeking.
⁷ By faith Noah respected God’s warning regarding the flood—the likes of which no one had ever seen—and built an ark that saved his family. In this he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes by faith.
⁸ By faith Abraham heard God’s call to travel to a place he would one day receive as an inheritance; and he obeyed, not knowing where God’s call would take him. ⁹ By faith he journeyed to the land of the promise as a foreigner; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, his fellow heirs to the promise ¹⁰ because Abraham looked ahead to a city with foundations, a city laid out and built by God.
¹¹ By faith Abraham’s wife Sarah became fertile long after menopause because she believed God would be faithful to His promise. ¹² So from this man, who was almost at death’s door, God brought forth descendants, as many as the stars in the sky and as impossible to count as the sands of the shore.
¹³ All these I have mentioned died in faith without receiving the full promises, although they saw the fulfillment as though from a distance. These people accepted and confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on this earth ¹⁴ because people who speak like this make it plain that they are still seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If this was only a bit of nostalgia for a time and place they left behind, then certainly they might have turned around and returned. ¹⁶ But such saints as these look forward to a far better place, a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to be called their God because He has prepared a heavenly city for them.
¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he endured God’s testing, offered his beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice. The one who had received God’s promise was willing to offer his only son; ¹⁸ God had told him, “It is through Isaac that your descendants will bear your name,” ¹⁹ and he concluded that God was capable of raising him from the dead, which, figuratively, is indeed what happened.
²⁰ By faith Isaac spoke blessings upon his sons, Jacob and Esau, concerning things yet to come.
²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed the sons of his son Joseph, bowing in worship as he leaned upon his staff.
²² By faith Joseph, at his life’s end, predicted that the children of Israel would make an exodus from Egypt; and he gave instructions that his bones be buried in the land they would someday reach.
²³ By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw that he was handsome; and they did not fear Pharaoh’s directive that all male Hebrew children were to be slain.
²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be identified solely as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter ²⁵ and chose instead to share the sufferings of the people of God, not just living in sin and ease for a time. ²⁶ He considered the abuse that he and the people of God had suffered in anticipation of the Anointed One more valuable than all the riches of Egypt because he looked ahead to the coming reward.
²⁷ By faith Moses left Egypt, unafraid of Pharaoh’s wrath and moving forward as though he could see the invisible God. ²⁸ Through faith, he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of blood on the doorposts among the Hebrews so that the destroyer of the firstborn would pass over their homes without harming them. ²⁹ By faith the people crossed through the Red Sea as if they were walking on dry land, although the pursuing Egyptian soldiers were drowned when they tried to follow.
³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho toppled after the people had circled them for seven days. ³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab welcomed the Hebrew spies into her home so that she did not perish with the unbelievers.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

You think faith doesn’t work? Just rewind and listen again to the list of ancient heroes whose success came because of a little faith. They were ordinary people who just chose to believe what I said. Their faith took them to the promises I made to them. I’ll do the same for you.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The perfect High Priest (Hebrews 8) December 12, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hebrews 8

Set – Hebrews 7-8

Go! – Hebrews 5-8

Hebrews 8
¹ So let me sum up what we’ve covered so far, for there is much we have said: we have a High Priest, a perfect Priest who sits in the place of honor in the highest heavens, at the right hand of the throne of the Majestic One, ² a Minister within the heavenly sanctuary set up by the Lord, not by human hands.
³ As I have said, it is the role of every high priest to offer gifts and sacrifices to God, so clearly this Priest of ours must have something to offer as well. ⁴ If He were on earth, then He would not be a priest at all because there are already priests who can offer gifts according to the law of Moses ⁵ in a sanctuary that is only a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary. We know this because God admonished Moses as he set up the tent for the Lord’s sanctuary: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I showed you on the mountain.” ⁶ But now Jesus has taken on a new and improved priestly ministry; and in that respect, He has been made the Mediator of a better covenant established on better promises. ⁷ Remember, if the first covenant had been able to reconcile everyone to God, there would be no reason for a second covenant. ⁸ God found fault with the priests when He said through the prophet Jeremiah,
“Look! The time is coming,” the Eternal Lord says,
“when I will bring about a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.
⁹ It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of slavery in the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to that covenant,
so,” the Eternal One says, “I turned away from them.
¹⁰ But when those days are over,” the Eternal One says, “I will make
this kind of covenant with the people of Israel:
I will put My laws on their minds
and write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be My people.
¹¹ In those days, they won’t need to teach each other My ways
or to say to each other, ‘Know the Eternal.’
In those days, all will know Me,
from the least to the greatest.
¹² I will be merciful when they fail,
and I will erase their sins and wicked acts out of My memory
as though they had never existed.”
¹³ With the words “a new covenant,” God made the first covenant old, and what is old and no longer effective will soon fade away completely.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Have you ever thought why Jesus, the Son of God, is the perfect High Priest? Every religion since the beginning have had priests to act as intermediaries to the gods. People always thought their gods were too high and powerful to be approached by mere mortals. And so, communities, religions established priesthoods to act as their intermediaries. Individuals set apart by their special insight or intellect or behavior to act as one who would approach their god on their behalf.

I even did it for the Israelites as I established their worship of Me. I gave Moses the order of priests through Aaron and the tribe of Levi because of their unwillingness to face Me. The Israelites fear of Me caused Me to allow individuals to act as intermediaries on your behalf for a time because you were afraid to approach Me. And like all other religions, you wanted a special place to worship Me, so you build a Temple because you thought I needed a house to dwell in.

But think about Jesus, all God and all Man. Human priests fall short in their ability to approach Me because they still fall so short in their insight, intellect, or behavior compared to a holy God. But My Son, Me in the flesh, part of the triune Godhead. Perfect in insight, wisdom, and sinless. He needed no intermediary. Jesus could approach Me on your behalf because He was and is God Himself. Not just good, but God. Jesus could approach frail humans with all their faults because He was and is human.

Jesus. Son of God. Son of Man. The perfect High Priest. Eternal. Sinless. Approaches Me without hesitation because He is God. Approaches all humanity without hesitation because He is Man. He knows Me intimately. He knows you intimately. How could there be a better High Priest than Jesus? How could there be a better intercessor for you than Jesus? How could there be a better gift from heaven than the God-Man, Jesus?

So who do you want as your High Priest? Some human with his faults? Or Jesus, the perfect High Priest? Think about it, but it’s not a hard decision.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Study the text book (Hebrews 4:1-13) December 11, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hebrews 4:1-13

Set – Philemon; Hebrews 4

Go! – Philemon; Hebrews 1-4

Hebrews 4:1-13
¹That’s why, as long as that promise of entering God’s rest remains open to us, we should be careful that none of us seem to fall short ourselves. ² Those people in the wilderness heard God’s good news, just as we have heard it, but the message they heard didn’t do them any good since it wasn’t combined with faith. ³ We who believe are entering into salvation’s rest, as He said,
That is why I swore in anger
they would never enter salvation’s rest,
even though God’s works were finished from the very creation of the world. ⁴ For didn’t God say that on the seventh day of creation He rested from all His works? ⁵ And doesn’t God say in the psalm that they would never enter into salvation’s rest?
⁶ So if God prepared a place of rest, and those who were given the good news didn’t enter because they chose disobedience over faith, then it remains open for us to enter. ⁷ Once again, God has fixed a day; and that day is “today,” as David said so much later when he wrote in the psalm quoted earlier:
Today, if you listen to His voice,
Don’t harden your hearts.
⁸ Now if Joshua had been able to lead those who followed him into God’s rest, would God then have spoken this way? ⁹ There still remains a place of rest, a true Sabbath, for the people of God ¹⁰ because those who enter into salvation’s rest lay down their labors in the same way that God entered into a Sabbath rest from His.
¹¹ So let us move forward to enter this rest, so that none of us fall into the kind of faithless disobedience that prevented them from entering. ¹² The word of God, you see, is alive and moving; sharper than a double-edged sword; piercing the divide between soul and spirit, joints and marrow; able to judge the thoughts and will of the heart. ¹³ No creature can hide from God: God sees all. Everyone and everything is exposed, opened for His inspection; and He’s the One we will have to explain ourselves to.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Many quote those last verses often, but what do they really mean to you? My word is alive and moving; sharper than a double-edged sword; piercing the divide between soul and spirit; joints and marrow; able to judge the thoughts and will of the heart. No creature can hide from Me: I see all. Everyone and everything is exposed, opened for My inspection; and I’m the One you will have to explain yourselves to.

It’s nice to memorize it, but do you meditate on it? Do you think about what that means to you? Do you take it to heart and realize what My word can do for you or what it will do to you if you don’t follow it’s precepts?

Just consider the first phrase, My word is alive and moving. Many translations say it is alive and active. It doesn’t stay still, it doesn’t let you remain the same. It changes you. It continues to transform you into My likeness if you let it. If you read it and let it become part of you, it will work in your life in amazing ways. But it also judges your thoughts against Mine. Perhaps that’s why so few read and study My word today, you’re afraid of what you will find. You’re afraid you’ll have to change your ways to conform to My will or find yourselves lacking.

Whether you read My word or not, I will still be your judge at the end of the age. You cannot hide from Me. I see everything you do. I know every thought you think. As My word tells you, everyone and everything is exposed, opened for My inspection. You will have to explain yourself to me one day. And I will examine you according to the precepts explained in My word. I left them with you long ago. They’ve been available to you long before you could read and study them. They were available before I created the world.

If you refuse to take advantage of the many avenues by which you can read and hear My word, should you blame Me for that? Am I at fault for your failure to heed what has been at your fingertips for all the time you’ve been alive? Is it My failure or yours when you let My word sit on your bookshelf while you engage in frivolous activity?

I will still judge you by those precepts in My word. Suppose you pick up that book on your shelf that so seldom gets used and read it. Then read it again. Then make a few notes in the margin about what you need to do about a few of those verses that speak to you. Then study some of those precepts one more time. Maybe memorize some of those passages. You have the rest of your life to make that book part of your life. Remember, that’s the test you must ultimately pass when I give you your final exam at the judgment. Don’t you think it’s about time to study your text-book if you know there’s going to be a test?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Justice and wrath, the flip side of mercy and grace, it’s coming (Hebrews 12:14-29), July 16, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hebrews 12:14-29

Set – Isaiah 24; Hebrews 12

Go! – Isaiah 22-24; Hebrews 12

Hebrews 12:14-29
¹⁴ Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, since no one will see God without it. ¹⁵ Watch carefully that no one falls short of God’s favor, that no well of bitterness springs up to trouble you and throw many others off the path. ¹⁶ Watch that no one becomes wicked and vile like Esau, the son of Isaac, who for a single meal sold his invaluable birthright. ¹⁷ You know from the stories of the patriarchs that later, when he wished to claim his blessing, he was turned away. He could not reverse his action even though he shed bitter tears over it.
¹⁸ You have not come to the place that can be touched (as Israel did at Mount Sinai)—to a mountain crowned with blazing fire, darkness, gloom, and a windstorm— ¹⁹ or to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of a voice—a voice and message so harsh that the people begged not to hear another word. ²⁰ (They could not bear the command that was given: that if even a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned. ²¹ The sight was so terrible that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”)
²² No, instead you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to heavenly messengers unnumbered, to a joyful feast, ²³ to the assembly of the firstborn registered as heaven’s citizens, to God the righteous Judge of all, and to the spirits of all the righteous who have been perfected. ²⁴ You have come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant between God and humanity, and to His sprinkled blood, which speaks a greater word than the blood of Abel crying out from the earth.
²⁵ See that you don’t turn away from the One who is speaking; for if the ones who heard and refused the One who spoke on earth faced punishment, then how much more will we suffer if we turn away from the One speaking from heaven— ²⁶ the One whose voice in earlier times shook the earth now makes another promise: “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens”? ²⁷ The phrase, “Yet once more,” means that those things that can be shaken will be removed and taken away, namely, the first creation. As a result, those things that remain cannot be shaken. ²⁸ Therefore, let us all be thankful that we are a part of an unshakable Kingdom and offer to God worship that pleases Him and reflects the awe and reverence we have toward Him, ²⁹ for He is like a fierce fire that consumes everything.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Have you every noticed what happens when My messengers, the angels come to visit the earth? People fall on their face. The ground shakes, earth trembles as they touch the ground. Fire consumes the things they touch. Armies find themselves defeated at the hands of a single messenger of Mine. Men and women are always awed by the power they wield and the magnificence of their presence.

My messengers, though, hold little power compared to Mine. I created each of them, just as I created all else in the universe. All in heaven and earth came about because I spoke it into place. The Israelites glimpsed My power at Mt Sinai in the fire and smoke and thundrous voice as I spoke to them in the desert. They saw a token of My power when I rescued them from their enemies and when I rescued some of My followers, like Daniel and David, from those who tried to destroy them.

Some saw Me create new eyes from a little mud. Some saw Me make limbs straight and whole. Some watched as I raised others from the dead. Some witnessed My power when they saw Me alive and communing with them after a brutal beating and death by cruel crucifixion. When I come again, the earth and heavens will tremble at My coming.

The demonstrations of My power are real. Some will try to tell you My word is only a collection of stories. But you’ll find that as archeologists make new discoveries to try to disprove My word, they only serve to find new evidence that My word is true. The things of the past being true, you can trust My promises for the future are just as true. I’m coming back. Until then, it’s best to do what I ask.

I am a God of mercy and grace, but a time will come, when you will see the other side of grace, justice. Those not for Me are against Me and will feel the wrath I have held back to extend My mercy as long as possible. I am a God of mercy and grace, but I am a holy God. As such, I will deal with those who have not set themselves apart for Me. Remember My words in Hebrews, without holiness, you will not see Me. Take advantage of this era of mercy and grace before I decide it’s time to unleash My wrath. It won’t be long.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Faith is simple (Hebrews 11), July 14, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hebrews 11

Set – Isaiah 21; Hebrews 11

Go! – Isaiah 19-21; Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11
¹Faith is the assurance of things you have hoped for, the absolute conviction that there are realities you’ve never seen. ² It was by faith that our forebears were approved. ³ Through faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God; everything we now see was fashioned from that which is invisible.
⁴ By faith Abel presented to God a sacrifice more acceptable than his brother Cain’s. By faith Abel learned he was righteous, as God Himself testified by approving his offering. And by faith he still speaks, although his voice was silenced by death.
⁵ By faith Enoch was carried up into heaven so that he did not see death; no one could find him because God had taken him. Before he was taken up, it was said of him that he had pleased God. ⁶ Without faith no one can please God because the one coming to God must believe He exists, and He rewards those who come seeking.
⁷ By faith Noah respected God’s warning regarding the flood—the likes of which no one had ever seen—and built an ark that saved his family. In this he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes by faith.
⁸ By faith Abraham heard God’s call to travel to a place he would one day receive as an inheritance; and he obeyed, not knowing where God’s call would take him. ⁹ By faith he journeyed to the land of the promise as a foreigner; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, his fellow heirs to the promise ¹⁰ because Abraham looked ahead to a city with foundations, a city laid out and built by God.
¹¹ By faith Abraham’s wife Sarah became fertile long after menopause because she believed God would be faithful to His promise. ¹² So from this man, who was almost at death’s door, God brought forth descendants, as many as the stars in the sky and as impossible to count as the sands of the shore.
¹³ All these I have mentioned died in faith without receiving the full promises, although they saw the fulfillment as though from a distance. These people accepted and confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on this earth ¹⁴ because people who speak like this make it plain that they are still seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If this was only a bit of nostalgia for a time and place they left behind, then certainly they might have turned around and returned. ¹⁶ But such saints as these look forward to a far better place, a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to be called their God because He has prepared a heavenly city for them.
¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he endured God’s testing, offered his beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice. The one who had received God’s promise was willing to offer his only son; ¹⁸ God had told him, “It is through Isaac that your descendants will bear your name,” ¹⁹ and he concluded that God was capable of raising him from the dead, which, figuratively, is indeed what happened.
²⁰ By faith Isaac spoke blessings upon his sons, Jacob and Esau, concerning things yet to come.
²¹ By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed the sons of his son Joseph, bowing in worship as he leaned upon his staff.
²² By faith Joseph, at his life’s end, predicted that the children of Israel would make an exodus from Egypt; and he gave instructions that his bones be buried in the land they would someday reach.
²³ By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw that he was handsome; and they did not fear Pharaoh’s directive that all male Hebrew children were to be slain.
²⁴ By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be identified solely as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter ²⁵ and chose instead to share the sufferings of the people of God, not just living in sin and ease for a time. ²⁶ He considered the abuse that he and the people of God had suffered in anticipation of the Anointed One more valuable than all the riches of Egypt because he looked ahead to the coming reward.
²⁷ By faith Moses left Egypt, unafraid of Pharaoh’s wrath and moving forward as though he could see the invisible God. ²⁸ Through faith, he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of blood on the doorposts among the Hebrews so that the destroyer of the firstborn would pass over their homes without harming them. ²⁹ By faith the people crossed through the Red Sea as if they were walking on dry land, although the pursuing Egyptian soldiers were drowned when they tried to follow.
³⁰ By faith the walls of Jericho toppled after the people had circled them for seven days. ³¹ By faith the prostitute Rahab welcomed the Hebrew spies into her home so that she did not perish with the unbelievers.
³² I could speak more of faith; I could talk until time itself ran out. If I continued, I could speak of the examples of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, of David and Samuel and all the prophets. ³³ I could give accounts of people alive with faith who conquered kingdoms, brought justice, obtained promises, and closed the mouths of hungry lions. ³⁴ I could tell you how people of faith doused raging fires, escaped the edge of the sword, made the weak strong, and—stoking great valor among the champions of God—sent opposing armies into panicked flight.
³⁵ I could speak of faith bringing women their loved ones back from death and how the faithful accepted torture instead of earthly deliverance because they believed they would obtain a better life in the resurrection. ³⁶ Others suffered mockery and whippings; they were placed in chains and in prisons. ³⁷ The faithful were stoned, sawn in two, killed by the sword, clothed only in sheepskins and goatskins; they were penniless, afflicted, and tormented. ³⁸ The world was not worthy of these saints. They wandered across deserts, crossed mountains, and lived in the caves, cracks, and crevasses of the earth.
³⁹ These, though commended by God for their great faith, did not receive what was promised. ⁴⁰ That promise has awaited us, who receive the better thing that God has provided in these last days, so that with us, our forebears might finally see the promise completed.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

This chapter of Hebrews gives a littany of heros of faith. But the truth is they were ordinary man and women. There was nothing special about them. They had no special powers or extraordinary traits. They had one distinction that set them apart from those around them. The believed what I told them.

The first words in today’s scriptures tell it all. “Faith is the assurance of things you have hoped for, the absolute conviction that there are realities you’ve never seen.” They believed enough to take action. They believed the promises I made to them. Faith is as simple as flipping the light switch and expecting the lights to come on. It’s just believing. So exercise so faith. Like the heroes mentioned here, believe in Me.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The covenant takes two parties (Hebrews 10:1-18), July 13, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hebrews 10:1-18

Set – Isaiah 15-16; Hebrews 10

Go! – Isaiah 15-18; Hebrews 10

Hebrews 10:1-18
¹We have seen how the law is simply a shadow of the good things to come. Since it is not the perfect form of these ultimate realities, the offering year after year of these imperfect sacrifices cannot bring perfection to those who come forward to worship. ² If they had served this purpose, wouldn’t the repetition of these sacrifices have become unnecessary? If they had worked—and cleansed the worshipers—then one sacrifice would have taken away their consciousness of sin. ³ But these sacrifices actually remind us that we sin again and again, year after year. ⁴ In the end, the blood of bulls and of goats is powerless to take away sins. ⁵ So when Jesus came into the world, He said,
Sacrifices and offerings were not what You wanted,
but instead a body that You prepared for Me.
⁶ Burnt offerings and sin offerings
were not what pleased You.
⁷ Then I said, “See, I have come to do Your will, God,
as it is inscribed of Me in the scroll of the book.”
⁸ Now when it says that God doesn’t want and takes no real pleasure in sacrifices, burnt offerings, and sin offerings (even though the law calls for them), ⁹ and follows this with “See, I have come to do Your will,” He effectively takes away the first—animal sacrifice—in order to establish the second, more perfect sacrifice. ¹⁰ By God’s will, we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus the Anointed once and for all time.
¹¹ In the first covenant, every day every officiating priest stands at his post serving, offering over and over those same sacrifices that can never take away sin. ¹² But after He stepped up to offer His single sacrifice for sins for all time, He sat down in the position of honor at the right hand of God. ¹³ Since then, He has been waiting for the day when He rests His feet on His enemies’ backs, as the psalm says. ¹⁴ With one perfect offering, Jesus has perfected forever those who are being made holy, ¹⁵ as the Holy Spirit keeps testifying to us through the prophet Jeremiah. After he says,
¹⁶ “But when those days are over,” says the Eternal One, “I will make
this kind of covenant with the people of Israel:
I will put My laws in their hearts
and write them upon their minds,”
then He adds,
¹⁷ I will erase their sins and wicked acts out of My memory
as though they had never existed.
¹⁸ When there is forgiveness such as this, there is no longer any need to make an offering for sin.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Did you hear what Jeremiah told you in his prophecy? “I will put My laws in your hearts and write them upon your minds. I will erase your sins and wicked acts out of My memory as though they had never existed.” That’s what I want to do for you. I’ve done all that is necessary on My part to make that happen. But I created you with a free will. You get to choose whether you will accept My plan for your life. You get to choose whether I will erase your sins and wicked acts from My memory.

Covenants always involve at least two parties. I have done My part. You must do yours also for the terms of the covenant to be complete. Your part is to believe on Jesus, My Son, for the forgiveness of your sins. Believing, of course, is more than just saying He exists and died for you. It means acting on that belief. It means turning to Him for that forgiveness. It means repentance.

Almost everyone can quote John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son.” Let Me give it to you in a more modern translation. “For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.”

That’s the point. Everything available to you from the world will never save you from everlasting destruction. It can offer no lifeboat, no lifesaver, no instant cure for sin. Sin leads to everlasting destruction and only I can cure it. But like any disease for which you go to the doctor, you must accept the cure. It the same with My cure for sin. The only cure is Jesus’ blood, but you must believe in His cure and accept it. It means following Him. It means giving up your past life and living the life I want you to live.

The new covenant makes the cure for sin possible. It took the sacrifice of My Son to enact My part of the covenant. It takes your acceptance of the gift and following after Him to enact your part. You won’t be sorry we enact the covenant together.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The role God plays (Hebrews 9:11-28), July 12, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hebrews 9:11-28

Set – Isaiah 11; Hebrews 9

Go! – Isaiah 11-14; Hebrews 9

Hebrews 9:11-28
¹¹ When the Anointed One arrived as High Priest of the good things that are to come, He entered through a greater and more perfect sanctuary that was not part of the earthly creation or made by human hands. ¹² He entered once for all time into the most holy place—entering, not with the blood of goats or calves or some other prescribed animal, but offering His own blood and thus obtaining redemption for us for all time. ¹³ Think about it: if the blood of bulls or of goats, or the sprinkling of ashes from a heifer, restores the defiled to bodily cleanliness and wholeness; ¹⁴ then how much more powerful is the blood of the Anointed One, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself as a spotless sacrifice to God, purifying your conscience from the dead things of the world to the service of the living God?
¹⁵ This is why Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant: through His death, He delivered us from the sins that we had built up under the first covenant, and His death has made it possible for all who are called to receive God’s promised inheritance. ¹⁶ For whenever there is a testament—a will—the death of the one who made it must be confirmed ¹⁷ because a will takes effect only at the death of its maker; it has no validity as long as the maker is still alive. ¹⁸ Even the first testament—the first covenant—required blood to be put into action. ¹⁹ When Moses had given all the laws of God to the people, he took the blood of calves and of goats, water, hyssop, and scarlet wool; and he sprinkled the scroll and all the people, ²⁰ telling them, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for us.”²¹ In the same way, he also sprinkled blood upon the sanctuary and upon the vessels used in worship. ²² Under the law, it’s almost the case that everything is purified in connection with blood; without the shedding of blood, sin cannot be forgiven.
²³ Since what was given in the old covenant was the earthly sketch of the heavenly reality, this was sufficient to cleanse the earthly sanctuary; but in heaven, a more perfect sacrifice was needed. ²⁴ The Anointed One did not enter into handcrafted sacred spaces—imperfect copies of heavenly originals—but into heaven itself, where He stands in the presence of God on our behalf. ²⁵ There He does not offer Himself over and over as a sacrifice (as the high priest on earth does when he enters the most holy place each year with blood other than his own) ²⁶ because that would require His repeated suffering since the beginning of the world. No, He has appeared once now, at the end of the age, to put away sin forever by offering Himself as a sacrifice.
²⁷ Just as mortals are appointed to die once and then to experience a judgment, ²⁸ so the Anointed One, our Liberating King, was offered once in death to bear the sins of many and will appear a second time, not to deal again with sin, but to rescue those who eagerly await His return.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

I gave Moses a poor copy of the sacred spaces of My sanctuary. The tabernacle and all its implements held a special place in the lives of the Israelites as they wandered in the desert and in the young nation as it established itself in the promised land. The Temple Solomon built with all its grandeur still stood as a poor example of My throne room in heaven. But the plans and the space set aside for My worship did help people understand My holiness. The separate place for devotion to Me was cleaner than the rest of the city. Its water purer, the implements stronger and better made. The altar glittered from the bronze cleaned every morning and the gold within the enclosure reflected the brilliant rays of the sun wherever you gazed.

Even with all the bronze, silver, and gold in the tabernacle and Temple, the spaces were but poor examples of the glory of heaven. Nothing on earth compares to the beauty that surrounds Me continuously. A very few have glimpsed corners of heaven and are always unable to describe it. The colors, the sounds, the smells, the feelings, the beauty is absolutely beyond anything you can imagine.

That’s what I gave up to become your sacrifice. Nothing could atone for you like My blood. So I gave it freely so you could live. The imitation of the glories of heaven wouldn’t work. The imitation of pure and perfect sacrifices would work. The imitation of atonement wouldn’t work. So I gave myself. I came as the perfect sacrifice for your sins. I came as your high priest and gave myself. That’s the love I have for you. Only one Man could serve as the perfect high priest, Me, God wrapped in human flesh. Only one Man could be your perfect sacrifice, Me, God wrapped in human flesh. Only one God loves enough to become the One Man who would do it all for you. Me.

Think about the role I play in your salvation. What I gave up for you so you can be freed from the chains of sin. Then ask yourself if you have given yourself to Me as fully. If not, today can be the day you give yourself wholly to Me. I’ll take you just like you are.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

God is your high priest (Hebrews 7:15-28), July 10, 2015

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Hebrews 7:15-28

Set – Micah 7; Hebrews 7

Go! – Micah 5-7; Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7:15-28
¹⁵ Doesn’t it seem obvious? Jesus is a priest who resembles Melchizedek in so many ways; ¹⁶ He is someone who has become a priest, not because of some requirement about human lineage, but because of the power of a life without end. ¹⁷ Remember, the psalmist says,
You are a priest forever—
in the honored order of Melchizedek.
¹⁸ Because the earlier commandment was weak and did not reconcile us to God effectively, it was set aside— ¹⁹ after all, the law could not make anyone or anything perfect. God has now introduced a new and better hope, through which we may draw near to Him, ²⁰ and confirmed it by swearing to it. ²¹ The Levite order of priests took office without an oath, but this man Jesus became a priest through God’s oath:
The Eternal One has sworn an oath
and cannot change His mind:
You are a priest forever.
²² So we can see that Jesus has become the guarantee of a new and better covenant. ²³ Further, the prior priesthood of the sons of Levi has included many priests because death cut short their service, ²⁴ but Jesus holds His priesthood permanently because He lives His resurrected life forever. ²⁵ From such a vantage, He is able to save those who approach God through Him for all time because He will forever live to be their advocate in the presence of God.
²⁶ It is only fitting that we should have a High Priest who is devoted to God, blameless, pure, compassionate toward but separate from sinners, and exalted by God to the highest place of honor. ²⁷ Unlike other high priests, He does not first need to make atonement every day for His own sins, and only then for His people’s, because He already made atonement, reconciling us with God once and forever when He offered Himself as a sacrifice. ²⁸ The law made imperfect men high priests; but after that law was given, God swore an oath that made His perfected Son a high priest for all time.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

I tried to use men to guide you to a better life after the fall. Adam repented in the garden when I came to him and asked what he and Eve had done. He tried to teach his sons right from wrong. Abel got it. Cain didn’t. The world got worse as I tried to get people to teach each other My lessons about good and evil. Finally, I destroyed all of humankind except Noah and his family in a flood.

Noah followed Me and listened to Me. I tried to use him as the springboard for teaching his offspring about good and evil. But he failed to pass on what I taught him to his daughters and one of the first things that happened after the flood, he got drunk on the wine he made and his daughters slept with him.

I raised up Abraham and his children as My chosen people to teach the rest of the world about good and evil and how I wanted them to follow Me and live righteous lives. Abraham failed in some of the tests I set out for him, but in others he was a blessing to the nations around him. His offspring, the Israelites were to teach the world about Me. Instead they followed foreign gods and abandoned Me.

Time and again, I entrusted people to share My word, My commands, My directions and hope for you, but so many times, the lure of the world and its pagan practices that satisfy temporal pleasures pulled you away from Me. I wanted to let you discover for yourself that I am your eternal salvation and your redeemer, but you looked at the shiny baubles that Satan put before you and let him entice you for momentary gain.

I put the priesthood in place to set aside a specific tribe to try to help them understand the importance of remaining separate and holy. I hoped they would understand the importance of purity in their lives by living and working within the tabernacle and Temple. They didn’t. The tabernacle and the Temple became just as corrupt as the rest of the nation with its bribes, merchants profiting from selling sacrifices, dishonest scales, and the injustice within the gates.

So I came to earth as man. I came as one of you to become the perfect priest. I came as one unmarred by sin and evil. I came as the only one who could show you how to live free from evil and unwilling to bow to the temptations that came from every direction. Did I feel the pull of Satan? Yes. As a fully human being, I was subject to temptation just as you. But I never succumbed to them. I was sinless and so I can stand as your high priest.

I know what you go through because I was one of you but I can also redeem you because I was and am perfect, interceding for you as your high priest. Come to Me and I will do it. Repent, turn from your sin, follow Me.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.