April 16, 2021
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Hebrews? Here’s today’s reading:
Hebrews 12 (NIV)
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God...........Continue Reading
3 things that I love in this chapter….
1. The idea of us being in a race. Any race you run requires preparation if you want to do well! We should prepare for for our walk with God….spend time with Him in prayer, in His word, and following His commands to avoid the pitfalls of sin that will hinder our race.
2. God is our good Father. A father who loves so deeply and enough to discipline for our growth, maturity, and instruction.
3. God is a consuming fire. All precious metals and forged in fire and He makes us perfect through the work of His son!
This is a reminder for me to prioritize obeying God and avoiding sin. It also reminds me of how holy God is.
Hebrews 12
Hebrews 13
HEBREWS 12, the description of discipline could not ring more true to me and my life experience thus far.
Tough chapter… we don’t always like to think about the discipline of God. Hardship WILL come, and it will come by design from God, but we must always maintain the faith that tells us He is in control and has a purpose, though we may be blind to it.
9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,”
Hebrews 12:28 NIV
https://www.bible.com/111/heb.12.28.niv
When we fix our eyes on Jesus and stay on the course he has set before us, we will draw closer to him, let him be our guide.
Wow is this chapter filled with so much and varied truth. It is significant that the Christian life is pictured as a race showing the discipline and focus that our lives require. And to think we are surrounded by the witnesses of Hebrews 11 who were successful in their race but not without failings as we run ours. And who better for us to focus on than Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith and ran a perfect race Himself. And what we go through to purge ourselves to be effective runners is nothing compared to what He sacrificed.
In this race, God calls us to success, but He understands we will fail and for that we have His discipline. All who have had fathers and are fathers understand the importance of discipline and our perspective as parents is a good reference point for thinking about the nature of God’s discipline of us. How grateful we can be that God’s discipline flows from His love of us and He always gets it right.
And because God is worth it and He is on our side, we must be sure not to miss His grace or turn aside from His will. Let’s not be driven by the flesh like Esau who let a physical appetite keep him from spiritual blessing, because God gives us something much better: access to Him. He is not a God who stands far off but is one who calls us close and seeks to have relationship and fellowship with us……and considering who He is, that is quite a privilege!
I love this picture of the mountain we have come to:
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
Here on earth we need to listen to the one who speaks to us from heaven.
“See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?”
He will shake the earth AND the heavens “once more”. I am thankful that we belong to a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
“At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
Let us throw off sin that so easily misdirects us towards things that are evil. Fix our eyes on Jesus. God is treating us as the children that he loves when he disciplines us, and he allows us to endure hardship. We are disciplined for our good so that we can share in his holiness. Strengthen our resolve to do what is right, do not shrink back from what is good. Think things through before we do them, doing things in haste can cause us to be foolish and live by the flesh. We must take very seriously our relationship with God because God is awesome and extremely powerful, and heaven cannot be shaken. Praise God!
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. AMEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.