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Today’s Reading: Hebrew 10, Psalms 18

God works in an amazing plan and strategy, as with Michael and his blog on Hebrews 5, I have had an epiphany as I write my journal. The Holy Spirit is reaffirming scriptures and messages to me on daily basis and today is no exception. I have been preparing for this week’s post since last Monday and had a particular focal point, but it was changed today with the sermon that was given, Christ the ultimate sacrifice.

In the sermon, the pastor illustrates the original Passover that the Israelites experienced.   He explained in detail the actual act of how each family had to choose the Pascal lamb on a certain day. Then after choosing the lamb, the family then takes the lamb home and keeps it inside for four days. Next, the lamb is slaughtered in a particular fashion to keep the blood and also to keep the body intact. Following this the family then roast the lamb whole and the entire body is presented to the family to eat.

This detailed explanation allowed me to peer a little deeper into the setup that that God was preparing the people for the ultimate sacrifice. God choose the perfect Lamb for the sacrifice. Then He allowed the Lamb to be with the people and become part of the family for a short amount of time. Then the Lamb is sacrificed whole to take on ALL of the sins of the World and make a perfect sacrifice.

Take some time to read Hebrews 10 and Exodus 12, and you can sense the awesomeness of God’s Plan. He has setup the redemption of the people, given them signs and ways to remember the Sacrifice centuries before, and He has a plan to complete the journey. God’s plan is above anything we can imagine or conceive.

Hebrews 10: 4-7

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵ Consequently, when Christ^[a] came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
⁶ in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
⁷ Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

Heavenly Father, you have plans before we are even brought about on this earth. Your plans are to allow Your Glory to be seen and witnessed to all. Allow us to be instruments in your plan.

Do you ever do something that causes you to have a guilty conscience?

Last weekend my Mom had a ‘back to school’ dinner for all the grandkids. She made a scrumptious dinner and a divine Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake for desert. I had a small piece of cake to begin with, and then continued to go back and cut small pieces. Of course, my small pieces ended up being a few large pieces! Later that evening, besides my stomach not feeling so well, I felt guilty. I knew I didn’t need to eat that much cake!

There are many other things I feel guilty over in my day to day life. Some things being a little more heavy than just extra bites of cake. Like, when I tell someone I will do something and then don’t do it. I make up an excuse as to why it didn’t get done, when in reality, I was just being lazy.

But, the real question is…What do I do to get rid of this guilt?

When the Israelites made a mistake, violated a command, or gave into sin, the only way to clear their guilty conscience was to sacrifice a spotless and blameless animal. This animal was guilt free, it didn’t do anything wrong, and that is the point, it died in place of the Israelite who made a mistake. This act of sacrifice would clear the conscience of the Israelite, until the next time he sinned. The next time he did something that was not pleasing to God…gossiped, lied, became prideful, envied something of a neighbor, became slothful or greedy, or had lust…the guilt would come rushing back. Then, another sacrifice and another trip to the altar would need to be made. (I cannot begin to imagine how many trips I would have to make to that alter?!?!)

But then…

JESUS CAME!!

Hebrews 9:12 says that by His blood alone our conscience is cleansed.

He is the perfect sacrifice. Jesus willingly walked to the cross and let his blood flow freely for every single person. He canceled out the effects of sin for eternity. This sinless Savior, fully man and fully God, was able to take care of our sins and give the gift of a clear conscience. No more spotless animals or sacrifices needed. With just pure, simple faith, every Christ-follower can now hold their head high, knowing they are wholly cleaned and purified, in right-standing with their Creator for all of eternity.

In Psalm 17, we find David praying to God with a clear conscience! David demonstrates much confidence before God in this prayer for justice from false accusations and persecution. He has confidence that God will answer him favorably and will protect him from his enemies.

This confidence only comes from the relationship he has with his Father in Heaven. The continual relationship through prayer and asking for forgiveness, frees us from our daily sins which result in a guilty conscience.

Jesus, thank You for your sacrifice! Because of YOU, I can claim freedom and victory over sin and have a clear conscience.

Today’s reading:  Hebrews 8, Psalm 16

This past Sunday, I was serving alongside friend of mine. While I hadn’t seen her in about sixty days, she didn’t seem to be herself.  When we had a little break in the action, she told me her family had received some bad health news in the past few weeks.  Life-altering news.  As our conversation went on, she shared that her husband had recently been diagnosed with a terminal condition.

What? This condition generally impacts elderly individuals, not those in their prime.  Her husband has always been pretty healthy, has taken good care of himself and he doesn’t have a history of health problems.  How could this be happening to him?  Plus, she recently lost her mother and has been helping her father recover from cancer treatment over the past several months.  How much can one family really endure?  This news was hard to process.  My heart was heavy.  While my friend is still in the early stages of figuring out how to deal with this life-altering condition, our conversation over the next 45 minutes revealed her determination and complete trust in God.

As I began to prepare for today’s post, and reflected on my Sunday conversation, David’s words in Psalm 16 spoke to my heart. Scholars believe this Psalm was written during the period of time David was running from Saul, who was trying to kill him.  Even in the midst of such adverse circumstances, David trusted God and was able to find hope.

• Even in perilous circumstances, David’s faith in God was unwavering – Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing” (Psalm 16:1-2).
• David recognized that life was from, and depended solely on God – Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure (Psalm 16:5).
• David submitted to God and the wisdom of his ways – I will praise the Lord who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me (Psalm 16:7).
• David focused on God’s faithfulness, the source of his protection – I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand I will not be shaken (Psalm 16:8).
• David’s response to God’s protection was gladness – Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay (Psalm 16:9-10).
• David recognized that happiness based on external circumstances was temporary, but joy based on God’s presence was eternal –You make known to me the path of life, you will fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand (Psalm 16:11).

This life is tough.  It presents situations we don’t understand, trials that can rob us of hope and joy.  In the midst of these circumstances may we, like David, place our trust in the one who has power over all.  He is our hope.  He is our God.

This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people (Hebrews 8:10).

Today’s Reading: Hebrews Chapter 3

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion” Hebrews 3:7-8

 It’s not often that a verse from the bible resonates with me from my childhood. I was raised Catholic for the first thirty-one years of my life.  I was deeply rooted in that faith tradition. The foundation of my faith was built on tradition and ritual.  My religious education was not particularly focused on scripture.  The way that I learned scripture was through song. Now, as I mature in my Christian identity I get really excited when I recognize God’s words from the sacred songs I learned so long ago. It’s a way for me to reconcile the tenants of my Catholic Christian identity to my new more biblically based Christian identity. When I read through today’s scripture Hebrews 3, I immediately heard the melody of a song by David Haas sung so frequently during mass called, “If Today You Hear His Voice.”

I know now that this passage refers to the Israelites that had hardened their hearts toward God while in the desert. By resisting God’s will we become convinced that God cannot deliver on his promises. Despite the fact that we hear His voice leading us on a daily basis we often refuse to listen. As we dig in our heels and our stubborn nature takes over, we cannot turn to God for help. For the Hebrew Christians, their faith was deeply rooted in the rituals, commandments and the prophets they knew. The message of Jesus conquering sin, fulfilling the Law and providing eternal life was surprisingly hard for them to accept. The NIV Study Bible says this about the second generation Hebrew Christians,

“Although they had sought the Messiah for centuries, they were entrenched in thinking and worshiping in traditional forms. Following Jesus seemed to repudiate their marvelous heritage and Scriptures. Those who did accept Jesus as the Messiah often found themselves slipping back into familiar rout9ines, trying to live a hybrid faith.” (Zondervan NIV p. 2059)

Hybrid faith.  Did you get that? The Hebrew Christians were trying to customize or personalize their faith into a hybrid that more or less worked for them. Yep…I do that. How often do I hear his voice and harden my heart? Do I pick and choose the aspects of his word that work for me and my moral compass and leave other less popular doctrines behind? What we learn from Hebrews 3 today is that Christ alone is sufficient for salvation. He is superior to our prophets and our priests. If today we hear his voice, we must open our hearts. The message may not feel comfortable.  It may not feel modern and we can count on the fact that it will challenge. God invites us to give ourselves completely to Christ and in return we will come to share in Christ.

This week I have the opportunity to introduce the epistle of Hebrews to you. The author of this book is unknown however many sources suggest it is again Paul. (Second vote was for Barnabas.) From a theological perspective, Paul seems to be the favorite. However, it is noted that this book was written in Greek which Paul had not been doing up to this point.

The other interesting debate is whether Genesis or Hebrews is the oldest book in the Bible. Or was it Job? Hebrews was written before the fall of Jerusalem and is estimated at around 70 A.D. The comments clearly state that it is hard to determine because the Bible is not in chronological order. It is a group of books edited together. That point made me stop and think for a minute. As we read through it, the readings seem to be in a good order in terms of thoughts and themes, logically grouped for reading and studying. It is also noted that this book could have been written for those looking to follow Jesus or those straying back toward Judaism. You be the judge.

So on to the actual text. The writings or letters are aimed at the Hebrews and those with wavering faith (sounds like Paul?). The focus is on Christ’s superiority. I think this will be an interesting read for us as the book will highlight what is referred to as the Faith Hall of Fame. We have so many Hall of Fames in today’s world, I am looking forward to this version of the Hall of Fame.   Is there a place for you there? I personally have a lot of work to do, however, I do feel I know some people who could qualify.  In this book, Christ is highlighted as being superior. He gave his son to die for us so that our sins are forgiven and that we might have eternal life. Hard to dispute this fact!

This book highlights Timothy as being one of the “Hall of Famers”. I would agree after we just completed all the readings and teachings of Paul as he was coaching Timothy. The book goes on to not only highlight other Hall of Famers, Abraham, Moses to name a few, but it goes on to help us with everyday life:   temptation, faith, obedience. And recognizes we may slip in our daily lives. It will remind us who we can turn to refresh and restore us.

A few points to look for as you read ahead

• Jesus is supreme
• Listen to Christ
• Jesus is the One we go to
• The Blood of Christ
• Examples of Faith
• Strive for Jesus

How about it! Can’t wait to get going!

As for our Psalms reading today, Psalms 8, this reading makes me feel calm.  On Saturday long runs early in the morning, it is thoughts such as these words that make the run much easier.  With the sun coming up, I do think about how beautiful the earth is and how we should spend more time enjoying the splendor….”birds in the sky”, “how majestic”.  If you are reading this in the early morning, I encourage you to look outside at that sunrise and read this Psalm aloud.

Have a great Friday!

Sources:

Into thy Word: 

Introduction to the Word of Hebrews

It seems like Philemon is the last letter that we see Paul write in the new testament, but it was actually written several years before Timothy and Titus. Paul writes this letter to a Christian and slave owner who lives in Colosse. I don’t want to steal Caitlin’s thunder tomorrow as she digs into this writing, but I think it is safe to say that Paul uses a very real life circumstance to show all of us a beautiful picture of what Jesus actually did for us on the cross. Paul sees the broken relationship between a slave and his master and the need for forgiveness to show us our need for reconciliation to God, through Christ. I hope you take the time today to read Philemon and watch for Jesus’ payment on the cross for our sin as you read the story.

This is a bit of a side bar but it popped into my mind as I was thinking about the order of the books in the New Testament. In 2016 a friend and I committed to read through the Bible together within the year. We wanted to do it in a way that would seem different than what we had both tried and failed at in years past, so we decided to read through a Living version of a Chronological Bible. Now I know that there is controversy among scholars around what the actual order is chronologically, but for my and my friend’s purposes the version that we chose was fine. We just wanted to read more chronologically than we had before. It was a very meaningful year. It was so helpful to see God’s fulfilment of the prophecies right after they were spoken. I found more meaning and saw God’s faithfulness in new ways. I loved reading through David’s life and seeing the Psalms that he wrote right in the circumstances that he wrote them. Again, more meaningful. I saw God pursuing us more outright than I had before because of the timeline of the stories. I’m glad that I did it last year and I plan to do it again soon because it helped me so much. I wanted to include this idea here to encourage you consider this method at some point in your life.  

We also get to look together at Psalm 6 today. David is literally freaking out in this Psalm. People are chasing him and trying to kill him. If I take a few seconds and try to put myself in his space mentally before reading this Psalm, it helps me grasp his desperation and fear. He is crying out to God for his life. His words are very honest and he doesn’t seem to mind telling God that he is full of fear, that he is weak and that he needs help. For eight verses he pours out his heart to God and then he says, “the Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer.” These words can only come from a relationship. David knows God. David has seen God be faithful before in his life and so now he can rest, trusting that God will care for him again. I am so grateful that God put this song in the Bible for us to read. I’m so glad to see David’s human fear, weakness and need for help. I wish that when I face something hard, my first reaction would be, “the Lord has heard my plea, the Lord will answer my prayer.” But like David, it takes a little crying out for help and some fear being spoken aloud before I can get to the place where I remember that God is trustworthy and He will be faithful in these circumstances as He has in the past to me.