Sandie and I and the Armstrongs were headed down CA 4 to Concord Korean Church for the night of student presentations in the CLD Bible Teaching class. We were following printed directions, but the sun had already gone down which made it difficult to see inside the car. Once on Highway 4, I reached up and turned the overhead light on to read the next instruction. I recited "take Pacheco Road Exit" just as Pacheco Road exit passed us by on the right. Too late. We could u-turn at the next exit and try to hit it again, but traffic on the other side of 4 was all jammed up. I grabbed my iPhone and put in the address to Concord Korean and GPS did the rest. We got our alternate route and barely missed a beat. In the "old days" it would have been read the map by flashlight and who knows where we would come to.
The author of Hebrews 12 tells us as followers of Christ, as people of 'the Way,' as pursuers of His path, where we will come to. We will come ...
to The heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the Living God.
to Thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly.
to The church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven.
to God, the judge of all men.
to The spirits of righteous men made perfect.
to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant.
to The sprinkled Blood that speaks a supreme word.
to The unshakable Kingdom.
Wow! What a destination! And the way to arrive is only via GPS - God's Precious Son; God's Propitiating Sacrifice; God's Perfect Solution; God's Promised Salvation! "Be thankful," the text says. "Worship God in an acceptable manner, that is, with reverence and awe." If you're never lost because of GPS and you thank God for your Garmin, how much more should we be thankful for the 'Great Personal Sacrifice' that will transport us all the way to glory?
Since our destination is sure, how shall we act along the road? On the way to heaven, how shall we live? The author has some instructions for that -- "See to it that no bitter root grows up among you," See to it that no one is sexually immoral," "See to it that no one is godless." "See to it that you live in peace with all people," "See to it that you pursue holiness," and most of all "See to it that no one misses the grace of God!"
Don't let anyone miss Him. Don't let anyone remain lost when you know the way and what it all comes to.
Pray: Thank you, Lord, for the amazing glimpses of our promised eternal destination. Help me to live in such a way as to reflect the glory of the Kingdom to come. Jesus, guide every lost soul to the threshold of heaven and carry them over by Your cross.
November 14 - Hebrews 11:32-12:13 - The Joy that Sustains Endurance
A lover of fine art lived in a small town in the Italian countryside. Two barns stood out back of his humble cottage, one serving as a storage shed and the other, renovated into a gallery. One day, the owner of that tiny gallery made an extraordinary discovery. A superb example of marble sculpture was unearthed on his property. He cleaned it carefully and set it up at the center of his showplace. Many visitors came and were thrilled to see this exquisite and timeless masterpiece. After several years on display, it became clear that the statue was buckling the floor of the gallery. The pillars and joists beneath the weight of solid marble were threatening to fail and put the masterwork in danger. Two options presented themselves. The statue could be removed to the only place barely large enough to accommodate it, the storage shed, and thus spare the gallery floor. Or, the gallery floor could be reinforced to sustain the weight of the marble. Moving the statue to the shed would cost nothing – except that the beauty and inspiration of that work of art could no longer be seen. The reinforcement of the floor would be costly and laborious and force the closure of the gallery for a period of time; significant sacrifices. As you might anticipate, the gallery owner sacrificed time, labor, and finances to preserve his ability to display the masterwork.
Today’s text stretches across two chapters and might appear to treat of two separate topics. I believe it all fits together around the masterwork of faith that Christ is chiseling out of the marble of our lives. Jesus initiated and will complete His faith sculpture – He is “the author and perfecter of our faith.” On either side of this statement at 12:2, are descriptions of painful struggles and hardships. Chapter 11 ends with a litany of torturous conditions endured by past heroes of the faith. In chapter 12, verses 4 and following, the present struggles of the author’s audience are alluded to. And yet, through all of it, the concept of victory is invoked. Those who were tortured in the past endured by faith, and have become that great cloud of witnesses. Jesus is then presented as the ultimate victor, having endured and triumphed over the cross. And so the encouragement for the text’s original readers and for us is this – hardship is permitted by the Divine Sculptor to produce a masterpiece of faith. The author calls this God’s discipline. Our persecutors, our broken world, the devil himself may mean to make us suffer, but God will turn it into discipline resulting in victory.
The key for us is the secret of joy. “Fix your eyes on Jesus,” the Master Artist, who was once a block of marble like you. “Fix your eyes on Jesus,” the one who suffered the ultimate hardship and torture, and yet maintained His discipline and endured unto victory. “Fix your eyes on Jesus … who for the JOY set before Him, endured the cross.” There’s the secret! Was there hardship before Him? Yes. Was there torture and suffering before Him? A humiliating, life-sapping cross? Dear God, yes! But where were His eyes fixed?
A joy was set before Jesus that captured His concentration. The cross loomed, but He looked right through it to the joy. Jesus endured the cross because He had fixed His eyes on the joy of becoming a masterwork of faith and on the fullness of joy that would come to all who placed their faith in Him.
When sufferings and trials come, two options will present themselves - to pray for the burden to be removed, or to pray for reinforcement to stand up under their weight. Choose the trial and the reinforcement, which is the transforming discipline of God. And as you choose the chisel, fix your eyes on Jesus, the Joy, the Victor, the Masterpiece. He is sculpting you in His image.
Pray: Discipline me, try me, prove me, shape me, Master. You authored my faith, now finish it. Whatever it takes to chip away what is not of your divine design for me – do it. I want to experience the heights of joy.
November 13 - Hebrews 11:17-31 - Mirror, Mirror ...
It is rare that you or I go through a single day without encountering a mirror. It is that necessary evil, waiting each morning to reflect back to me just how awful I look first moment out of bed. But then it becomes helpful, guiding, as I work the weird part and cowlicks out of my hair and shave gingerly below my nostrils. Finally looking good enough to venture out among the public, I encounter more mirrors – in my car. These are probably the most necessary and useful mirrors in my possession. While I work to maneuver 3,000 lbs. of lethal machine, these mirrors allow me to see all around it. Most of my maneuvers are successful thanks to my mirrors. With them I can see backward and forward at the same time.
Spiritually speaking, faith allows me to see backward and forward at the same time. Hebrews 11, the 'faith chapter', records the faithful actions of past heroes. We are inspired by their victories, results of their trust in God, His character and His Word. And as these acts of trust were responses to divine revelations, we understand our forebears as looking backward to the prior promise or instruction, and forward to the indicated reward.
Abraham received a promise in the past through a miraculous gift, his son Isaac, and so was fortified to exercise faith in sacrificing that same son. God’s former instruction to Moses to lead His people out of Egypt and the future vision of deliverance into a promised land steeled Moses’ faith. There were pleasures of sin for Moses in Egypt, but instead he persevered in faith. “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.”
There are still a lot of “treasures in Egypt.” There is still time to “enjoy the pleasures of sin.” These are the temptations that surround us and attempt to seduce us every day. And Satan is the master of the Funhouse Mirror, distorting reality and casting an image that entertains but at the same time lies. Only the Word of God portrays reality accurately and reflects the requirements and rewards of faithful obedience.
All seven examples in today’s text display people who mirrored the character of God. And in so doing, help us to see backward and forward at the same time. Backward to the ancient yet timeless truths and promises of God, and forward to the rewards secured by those promises -- by the God who can be nothing else but faithful.
Pray: Faithful Father, help me to be a faithful reflection of your character, trusting Your power to pull me through, acting each day according to Your purposes, sensitive to reflect well on Your reputation and fame in this world. There ARE pleasures in sin, but they are short-lived. The real joy is in my victories of faith in Christ Jesus.
November 12 - Hebrews 11:1-16 - How To See the Unseen and Believe
During my stay in Alaska, we drove down the Seward Highway, tracking with the railroad along the coast of the Chugach National Forest. At the place where Turnagain Arm gets really narrow there's a trail head with wonderful amenities - plenty of paved parking, picnic benches with coal grills, sturdy planked boardwalks to get you started into the forest and beside the roaring waterfall. The Chugach is a forest that yields to a range of snowy mountain peaks. But that day, I just had to take my daughter's word for it. The cloud ceiling was so low that it obscured the timberline. There was no way to know that those pines and birches fell away to display rugged black ridges framed in white.
The definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1 is frequently quoted, and yet it can be misunderstood. In the New International Version of the text, the last phrase is "certain of what we do not see." How can that thing that cannot be seen be so clear and compelling in my mind that I can assert with boldness that it exists? The first phrase of this definition of faith is, "being sure of what we hope for." Can we be sure of whatever we hope for? Can we just conjure up an image of a preferred future and be sure that it will arrive? With 'faith' can I be certain of anything I can imagine? Is it the strength of my 'faith' that makes it so? Is faith the power that makes any dream a reality?
Some folks say the answer to those questions is "Yes!" Conceive it, believe it, achieve it - that's the non-Biblical concept of faith. You have the power to believe anything, and by the strength of that belief, pursue and obtain the object of your faith. That is not what Hebrews 11 is saying.
Like mountains I could not see, but believed were there, I based my faith on the word of my daughter. I trust her, so I trust her word, and believed in that which she described for me. We see what is unseen by putting our faith in the description of the one who HAS seen it. The writer of Hebrews himself, along with his list of Biblical stand-outs, are demonstrating faith in a hope that God has revealed; an unseen future that God has cast a vision of by His Word. Biblical faith refers to trusting God at His Word, not convincing ourselves that we will achieve our own imagined desires.
Look at all the references to God's Word in the text: verse 3 - "the universe was formed at God's command;" verse 4 - "God spoke well of [Abel's] offering;" verse 7 - "Noah, when warned about things not yet seen;" verse 8 - "Abraham, when called to go;" verse 11 - "[Abraham] considered [God] faithful who had made the promise." This entire "faith chapter" is about illustrating conviction and certainty in the Word of God. We don't conjure and imagine as the prerequisite to exercising faith, we read and listen for the realities that God would describe to us and we put our faith in them. In Him.
There are mountains up there above the clouds. There is hope for eternal life. There is a heavenly rest for our souls. There is perfection and joy waiting for us. But it isn't so because I have imagined it so, and desire it so, and am camping out on my vision and "that's my story and I'm sticking to it." It is so because God said so. I don't trust my imagination. I don't have Creator-power to make something out of nothing. Only God can do that. Trust Him.
Pray: Maker of heaven and earth, You are the source of truth and the source of all that is and ever will be. Help me to know You through knowing your Word. Help me to trust you and place my faith fully in you. Your Word is full of love and hope and blessing; it is not a burden or a risk to trust you. It is a delight.
The definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1 is frequently quoted, and yet it can be misunderstood. In the New International Version of the text, the last phrase is "certain of what we do not see." How can that thing that cannot be seen be so clear and compelling in my mind that I can assert with boldness that it exists? The first phrase of this definition of faith is, "being sure of what we hope for." Can we be sure of whatever we hope for? Can we just conjure up an image of a preferred future and be sure that it will arrive? With 'faith' can I be certain of anything I can imagine? Is it the strength of my 'faith' that makes it so? Is faith the power that makes any dream a reality?
Some folks say the answer to those questions is "Yes!" Conceive it, believe it, achieve it - that's the non-Biblical concept of faith. You have the power to believe anything, and by the strength of that belief, pursue and obtain the object of your faith. That is not what Hebrews 11 is saying.
Like mountains I could not see, but believed were there, I based my faith on the word of my daughter. I trust her, so I trust her word, and believed in that which she described for me. We see what is unseen by putting our faith in the description of the one who HAS seen it. The writer of Hebrews himself, along with his list of Biblical stand-outs, are demonstrating faith in a hope that God has revealed; an unseen future that God has cast a vision of by His Word. Biblical faith refers to trusting God at His Word, not convincing ourselves that we will achieve our own imagined desires.
Look at all the references to God's Word in the text: verse 3 - "the universe was formed at God's command;" verse 4 - "God spoke well of [Abel's] offering;" verse 7 - "Noah, when warned about things not yet seen;" verse 8 - "Abraham, when called to go;" verse 11 - "[Abraham] considered [God] faithful who had made the promise." This entire "faith chapter" is about illustrating conviction and certainty in the Word of God. We don't conjure and imagine as the prerequisite to exercising faith, we read and listen for the realities that God would describe to us and we put our faith in them. In Him.
There are mountains up there above the clouds. There is hope for eternal life. There is a heavenly rest for our souls. There is perfection and joy waiting for us. But it isn't so because I have imagined it so, and desire it so, and am camping out on my vision and "that's my story and I'm sticking to it." It is so because God said so. I don't trust my imagination. I don't have Creator-power to make something out of nothing. Only God can do that. Trust Him.
Pray: Maker of heaven and earth, You are the source of truth and the source of all that is and ever will be. Help me to know You through knowing your Word. Help me to trust you and place my faith fully in you. Your Word is full of love and hope and blessing; it is not a burden or a risk to trust you. It is a delight.
November 11 - Hebrews 10:18-39 - Five Kinds of "Let Us"
When I was a kid, lettuce was lettuce. My Mom can correct me, but as far as I can remember she only used Iceberg lettuce in our salads. When anybody said "lettuce," that's what I understood them to mean - Iceberg.
Then I got older, and started shopping for myself and wandering down the produce aisle. Hey! What is this Romaine stuff? It's what? Lettuce? There's more than one lettuce? Wow! Arugula, Radicchio, Boston, Mesclun, Mizuna ... Leave it to the Lord to be generous even in the lettuce department.
Today's text is pretty generous, too, in the "Let Us" department. Five times in four verses, the author rallies us to action in light of having an amazing Savior. Jesus has made a way for us into the eternal presence of our God. With such a certain path to future glory, we should be sure to act in the present, thus ...
LET US - draw near to God with a sincere heart.
LET US - hold unswervingly to the hope we profess
LET US - spur one another on to love & good deeds
LET US - not give up meeting together
LET US - encourage one another
Sometimes working and dealing with others within the body of Christ can become frustrating and discouraging. We are a tossed salad of sorts - so much diversity; so many differences to blend. Unfortunately, the challenge of serving with folks who are not like us can lead to conflict and controversy, and leave a bad taste in our mouth. The author of Hebrews addresses five issues that appear to be related to discouragement. When we get wounded in the church, the temptation is to withdraw and not to reconcile. Once discouraged, we drift -- away from God, away from hope, away from love and good deeds, away from fellowship, away from positive words.
The mixture of Jews and Gentiles in the early church presented many possibilities for misunderstanding and conflict. The persecution from without the church added another layer of oppression and cause for losing heart. But a fresh spin of their attention off of their crises and onto their Christ could pump new life into the crest-fallen congregation.
We have an accessible God! We have an unshakable hope! We have love and goodness to spare! We have the strength of Spiritual unity! We have truth to speak to trials! We have all of this because we have Jesus Christ. LET US rejoice! And Let Us ...
Pray: Jesus, how generous You are, to have spilled your blood and atoned for our sins once and for all! Help me to keep my eyes on you, my Savior, and not on my circumstances. Yes, I will always have some kind of obstacle, conflict or crisis to deal with, but I don't ever have to doubt You or your Word. Help me to persevere and do your will and receive what You have promised.
Then I got older, and started shopping for myself and wandering down the produce aisle. Hey! What is this Romaine stuff? It's what? Lettuce? There's more than one lettuce? Wow! Arugula, Radicchio, Boston, Mesclun, Mizuna ... Leave it to the Lord to be generous even in the lettuce department.
Today's text is pretty generous, too, in the "Let Us" department. Five times in four verses, the author rallies us to action in light of having an amazing Savior. Jesus has made a way for us into the eternal presence of our God. With such a certain path to future glory, we should be sure to act in the present, thus ...
LET US - draw near to God with a sincere heart.
LET US - hold unswervingly to the hope we profess
LET US - spur one another on to love & good deeds
LET US - not give up meeting together
LET US - encourage one another
Sometimes working and dealing with others within the body of Christ can become frustrating and discouraging. We are a tossed salad of sorts - so much diversity; so many differences to blend. Unfortunately, the challenge of serving with folks who are not like us can lead to conflict and controversy, and leave a bad taste in our mouth. The author of Hebrews addresses five issues that appear to be related to discouragement. When we get wounded in the church, the temptation is to withdraw and not to reconcile. Once discouraged, we drift -- away from God, away from hope, away from love and good deeds, away from fellowship, away from positive words.
The mixture of Jews and Gentiles in the early church presented many possibilities for misunderstanding and conflict. The persecution from without the church added another layer of oppression and cause for losing heart. But a fresh spin of their attention off of their crises and onto their Christ could pump new life into the crest-fallen congregation.
We have an accessible God! We have an unshakable hope! We have love and goodness to spare! We have the strength of Spiritual unity! We have truth to speak to trials! We have all of this because we have Jesus Christ. LET US rejoice! And Let Us ...
Pray: Jesus, how generous You are, to have spilled your blood and atoned for our sins once and for all! Help me to keep my eyes on you, my Savior, and not on my circumstances. Yes, I will always have some kind of obstacle, conflict or crisis to deal with, but I don't ever have to doubt You or your Word. Help me to persevere and do your will and receive what You have promised.
November 10 - Hebrews 10:1-17 - On Their Minds and Out of Mine
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds."
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
Author's Note: I'm back from Alaska, having had a delightful time with daughter, son-in-law, and the greatest grandchildren in the world! I have experienced love at a whole new level. Back to blogging on the 'morrow.
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds."
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
Author's Note: I'm back from Alaska, having had a delightful time with daughter, son-in-law, and the greatest grandchildren in the world! I have experienced love at a whole new level. Back to blogging on the 'morrow.
November 9 - Hebrews 9: 11-28 - Sin Taken Out, Salvation Brought In
27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
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