Through the Bible - Jeremiah 44-45, Hebrews 4:13-5:10
Good morning,
One thing that you can say about President elect Obama is that throughout his campaign he remained true to his central message of change and a tax break for the majority of Americans.
Throughout Jesus life and public ministry Jesus held true to His call "follow me" and to be imitators of Him.
If you've been following the New Testament portion of the read through the Bible plan above you've been in the book of Hebrews where we've seen how or what it means and takes to follow Him.
I'll post them from The Message:
Heb 1:1-3 Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God's nature. He holds everything together by what he says — powerful words!
Heb 2:1-3 It's crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we've heard so that we don't drift off. If the old message delivered by the angels was valid and nobody got away with anything, do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this magnificent salvation?
Heb 3:1-2 So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He's the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do
Heb 4:12-14 God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it — no matter what.
Today's verse is Hebrews 4;11 which precede the verses immediately above.
Heb 4:11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. NKJV
or from The Message:
Heb 4:10-11 And at the end of the journey we'll surely rest with God. So let's keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.
A key component in "following Christ", "walking with Jesus", is diligence, perseverence,dedication and obedience to Christ and His Word.
Over the next few days, Lord willing, we'll take a look at some verses that should challenge and encourage us to "keep the faith", to put it into practice, and follow Christ. It's crucial, so that we "keep a firm grip" and don't "drift off" in our faith.
Please read the passage below. Don't let the time to get closer to God "slip through your fingers".
In Christ,
Mike
Heb 4:1-5:1
When the Promises Are Mixed with Faith
4 For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting. But not if we don't have faith. Remember that God said,
Exasperated, I vowed,"They'll never get where they're going,never be able to sit down and rest."
God made that vow, even though he'd finished his part before the foundation of the world. Somewhere it's written, "God rested the seventh day, having completed his work," but in this other text he says, "They'll never be able to sit down and rest." So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient. God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David's psalm, centuries later than the original invitation:
Today, please listen,don't turn a deaf ear . . .
And so this is still a live promise. It wasn't canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn't keep renewing the appointment for "today." The promise of "arrival" and "rest" is still there for God's people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we'll surely rest with God. So let's keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience. God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it — no matter what.
The High Priest Who Cried Out in Pain
Now that we know what we have — Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God — let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all — all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
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