Weekend Quote (Sat)

True faith is never found alone; it is always accompanied by expectation. The man who believes the promises of God expects to see them fulfilled. Where there is no expectation there is no faith. ~ A.W. Tozer

Daily Word

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull in hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:11-14. The Greek word “dull” reappears, suggesting that the danger of spiritual laziness is in view throughout this section. Such truths (basic principles of the oracles of God) are listed in the next chapter. Although milk is nourishing for infants, the author desires that his readers become mature Christians, for whom solid food is appropriate. The maturity to grasp Christ’s priestly ministry is not intellectual sophistication, but spiritual discernment arising from consistent obedience to God’s will. It does not matter how long you've been a Christian, how much scripture you can memorize, how often you attend church, or all the ministries you serve in. Failing to walk in obedience, or applying the truths of His Word In your life on a consistent basis simply demonstrates your lack of maturity. Are you as mature a Christian outside the church as you appear to be inside?

Daily Word

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:8-10. Though entirely free from sin, Jesus’ struggle against temptation was real. As One who came into the world to do the Father’s will, Christ successfully met each increasingly difficult challenge to His integrity, climaxing in the shameful and painful death on the cross. This life of learned obedience offsets the disobedience of Adam and qualifies Christ to serve as the eternal high priest. This does not mean (being made perfect) that Jesus finally became sinless, He was always without sin, but that He finished the course of suffering that was before Him, including the sacrificial death. Having done this, He was “made perfect,” or completely qualified to serve as the uniquely effective high priest. The language here may allude to the concept of priestly consecration. Jesus lives forever (eternal salvation) to intercede as our high priest. Notice that He “learned” obedience through all that He suffered. How much different would your walk with Christ be today if you applied the same the mindset in that which you suffer no matter how big or small the suffering is that comes into your life?

Daily Word

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Hebrews 5:7. Jesus’ anguish at the prospect of the cross (loud cries and tears) shows that He is not aloof from the weakness and fears that threaten us. The Psalmists praised God that He heard their cries of distress. Jesus’ plea for salvation from death was answered not through escape from the ordeal of the cross, but through His Resurrection from death. This passage clearly points out that (prayers) Jesus prayed with intensity continuously and often. What brings you to the place of such intensity in your prayer, and what makes that situation any greater than your typical prayer that lacks intensity?

Daily Word

So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”; as he says also in another place, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 5:5-6. Psalms 2:7 is quoted twice in Hebrews, both times in a leading position. Here it is the opening step of a long and detailed discussion of Melchizedek. This mysterious figure (Melchizedek) is mentioned only twice in the OT. But the association here of the title “priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek” with the words “my Son” shows the exalted character of this priesthood, and justifies the author’s fuller explanation as we will see in chapter 7. Make no mistake about it...Christ was appointed. Sometimes it’s hard to understand or swallow the fact that we to are appointed into position whether it be on our job, at our church etc…It’s always in God’s timing and not our own.

Daily Word

He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset in weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. Hebrews 5 2-4. The weakness of the OT high priest in the face of his own temptations compelled him to moderate his indignation over others’ sins and “deal gently” with them. Jesus’ sympathy also is strongly motivated, since he fully identifies with the struggles of His people. Yet Jesus never succumbed to sin. The law distinguished between sins committed out of weakness or ignorance, and sins committed in defiance against the Lords authority. The OT high priest was himself in need of atonement and forgiveness, unlike our sinless high priest. The initial call of Aaron was confirmed in response to the challenge of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram through the budding of Aaron’s staff. The priestly privilege of approach to God is by invitation only- mediated through physical descent for the Old Testament Levitical priests, but finally established through the divine oath to Jesus the Son. Today, recognize the privilege you have to approach God at any time, and every moment. Be reminded of the great sacrifice that was made on your behalf to do so.

Weekend Quote (Sun)

If the living voice of God were not speaking in the world and in the hearts of men, the written Word could have no real meaning for us. God is speaking in His world, we are able to hear Him speak in His Word. ~ A.W. Tozer

Weekend Quote (Sat)

Better in bitterest agony to lie before thy throne, than through much increase to be lifted up on high, and stand alone. Yet best- the need that broke me at thy feet, is voiceless prayer, and cast my chastened heart, a sacrifice complete. ~ John Oxenham

Daily Word

For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. Hebrews 5:1. The Phrase (offer gifts and sacrifices for sins) “gifts and sacrifices” covers offerings of several different kinds called for in the work of the Old Testament priests. But the main interest here is in those offered for sins. Although we no longer offer up animal sacrifices for our sins. God still requires something from us. It’s called REPENTANCE. Often times it would appear much easier for some to kill an animal and offer it to Gad than to put to death one’s flesh and repent before God. Repentance should be a daily occurrence in each of our lives. How does repentance play out in your relationship with Christ?

Daily Word

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16. Confident access (let us then with confidence draw near) to God is a priestly privileged reserved for those who have been purified from sin’s pollution by Jesus’ sacrifice, and so can offer sacrifices of thanksgiving pleasing God. On the priestly privilege of Christian believers. Mercy (mercy…grace to help) addresses our need for forgiveness when we have succumbed to temptation, and grace brings timely support to sustain us in the midst of temptation. Is the throne of grace the first place you turn in your time of need? If not, what has shaken your confidence and prevents you from turning there first?

Daiyl Word

Since then we have a high great priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confessions. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we have, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:14-15. Christ was raised, ascended, (Passed through the heavens) and sits at God’s right hand, where He ministers as our great and eternal high priest. Again, we are reminded of perseverance (let us hold fast to our confessions). This (in every respect has been tempted) is a vivid reinstatement of vs.2:17, 18. As temptation is again mentioned, the author is careful to add that Christ was “without sin” despite His knowledge of our weakness. They say the first step is acknowledging you have a problem in the first place. Jesus is well aware of our weakness. Perhaps the greatest obstacle in our lives is our failure to recognize the depths of our own weakness. Until we are able to grasp this I’m not sure we can fully recognize and appreciate His position as high priest or His sympathy for our weakness. Today, search yourself, own, confess, and turn a weakness in your life over to Christ, your great high priest.

Daily Word

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall from that same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. Hebrews 4:11-13. This again (therefore strive to enter that rest) emphasizes the need for perseverance. It should be remembered, however, that salvation is based not on good works but on Jesus’ high priestly sacrifice, and anything believers can do to please God comes from His working in them. The opposite of perseverance is disobedience, the sin of the faithless exodus generation. The warning continues: faithless disobedience will not go unnoticed. Usually this phrase (word of God) in Hebrews refers to the message of salvation, but here the “word” is pictured as God’s personal utterance, living, active, sharp, piercing, and discerning, with eyes that expose. The Word of God then acts as God Himself, so that one’s innermost thoughts and intentions are exposed. This happens constantly in Christians lives. Today is a reminder that the sin you continue to walk in and think no one else knows about is laid bare and exposed before God. Turn to His Word and as you hear His voice allow it to penetrate deep within…and then persevere!

Daily Word

For Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His. In verses 3-5 of this chapter we see another indication that the physical land of Canaan did not fulfill the promises of God’s rest. When David wrote, Israel long ago had entered Canaan under Joshua. If the land they entered under Joshua had fulfilled the promise of divine rest, the Psalm’s warning to David’s generation would have been pointless. The patriarchs’ hope was fixed on a better, heavenly country. There are similar arguments from the OT. The final (there remains a Sabbath) Sabbath celebration awaits God’s people in the future. The reference (rested from his people) is probably not conversion, in which we transfer trust from our work to Christ, but to our final deliverance from suffering, testing, and effort. Those who dire in the Lord “rest from their labors.” What does “Sabbath” mean to you, and out does it play out in your walk, relationship with Christ?

Weekend Quote (Sun)

No image but the image of God can fit our soul; every other seal is too narrow, to shallow for it. ~ John Donne

Weekend (Sat) Quote

Lord, I have shut the door, speak now thy word. Which in the din and throng could not be heard; hushed now my inner heart, while all is still. Lord, I have shut the door, here I bow; speak, for my soul attent turns to thee now. Rebuke thou what is vain, counsel my soul, Thy holy reveal, my will control. ~ William M. Runyan

Daily Word

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Hebrews 4:6-7. The readers have already learned that they live in the time called “today”; therefore they must heed the promises and the warnings. Through David the offer of entry (and a warning against failure to enter) is continued to a new generation, who “today” must respond to God’s voice. There is no better day than “TODAY” for a heart check. Are you truly walking in the righteousness of Christ or does disobedience seem to keep tripping you up? LISTEN…Hear His voice and do not harden your heart. For TODAY is your day!

Daily Word

For we who believed enter that rest, as he said, “As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest,” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” Hebrews 4:3-5. The basic theme of these verses is that a “rest” of God has existed from the seventh day of creation, even though the disobedient generation could not enter it. The writer understands the promises about the physical land to point ultimately to the divine rest, which those who believe may enter. It is faith in God’s good news that enables you to enter into that “rest.” Do you see a greater importance of growing stronger in faith each day?

Daily Word

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. Hebrews 4:1-2. The divine judgment inspires fear (let us fear), but we should not fear what men may do. The good news ( good news came to us) of deliverance and God’s love that Israel heard at Sinai was not as clear as the salvation spoken now through the Lord, but it would have been of value to the hearers , ushering them into God’s rest, if they had combined it with faith. The good news for the church includes the revelation and deliverance found in the Lord Jesus, the new covenant he established through His high priestly sacrifice, and the hope of eternity with Him. Have you ever given any thought to what spiritual “rest” means and how it is applied to your life?

Daily Word

For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to who did he swear would not enter into his rest, but those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:16-19. Neither the blessing from the Exodus from Egypt nor the privilege of hearing God’s voice guaranteed to the generation that was in the wilderness that they would enter God’s rest, the rest that is the goal of our pilgrimage. Their rebellion, and disobedience was rooted in unbelief, in their failure to cling permanently to God’s promises. Have you become so comfortable in your salvation that you've become blinded by your compromises of unbelief and disobedience that are chipping away tripping you up along your pilgrimage?

Daily Word

For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in rebellion.” Hebrews 3:14-15. The Greek (We…share in Christ) can be taken to mean that we are partakers of Christ, His companions, sharing new life with Him. It is also possible to translate “share in Christ,” indicating that He is the benefit we share in through our intimate union with Him. Every day we have obstacles placed before us with opportunities to obey the Father. Sometimes we are obedient, and sometimes we are not. Each time we fail to act on that still small voice of God, and do as we choose through our worldly influence we harden our hearts just a little more, and we are walking in rebellion. Today, strive to hear and obey His voice, and stand firm in the confidence of Christ!

Weekend Quote (Sun)

God works powerfully, but for the most part gently and gradually. ~ John Newton

Weekend Quote (Sat)

I had prayed for faith and thought that someday faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” I had up to this time closed my Bible and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since. ~ Dwight L. Moody

Daily Word

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:12-13. The author address his readers in terms of their confession of faith as “brothers,” yet also recognizes that some within the Christian fellowship may have an “evil, unbelieving heart.” Sin promotes the illusion that disobedience is more secure or pleasurable than the pilgrimage of faith. Christ saves completely those who come to God through Him, but Christians must guard their own and each other’s endurance by encouraging one another, as the author does throughout this letter. Today, begin and put into practice exhorting those around you. Be an encourager to your fellow brethren. Doing so will also encourage you!

Daily Word

“Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.” Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways. As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.” Hebrews 3:7-11. In contrast to Moses’ (therefore) faithfulness, the Arthur refers to the people of Moses’ day, citing Psalms 95:7-11. Hebrews attributes this Psalm to the work of the Holy Spirit, thus emphasizing the authority of the words. Has it ever occurred to you just how often we walk with harden hearts? Every time we choose to disobey that still small voice or walk in a manner opposite of how we are called as children of God we do so with a hardened heart of rebellion. Today, recognize the areas in which you need to be set free from hardness of the heart.

Daily Word

Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are His house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. Hebrews 3:5-6. Since the writer alludes to Numbers 12:7, the emphasis is on the dignity of Moses’ (faithful in all God’s house) service. Moses is the unique minster of the law, but Jesus’ ministry is higher still. Moses’ ministry was to testify to Christ’s coming. The Mosaic Law by its shadows pointed toward the coming good things brought by Christ, for in its regulations the Holy Spirit showed that access into God’s presence would come only when the earthly tabernacle was replaced by something better. Notice the prepositions (over God’s house): Moses was “in” the house, but Christ is “over” God’s house. God’s house consists of His people (we are His house), an important theme throughout the scripture. This condition (if we hold fast) tells us how we can know that we belong to God- our faith must prove itself by persevering. The note of warning is a fitting introduction to the quotation from Psalm 95 that we will see in tomorrow’s devotional. Do those around you know where your hope lies…How often do you “boast” in your hope?

Daily Word

For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses- as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God). Hebrews 3:3-4. With reference to Num. 12:7, Moses and Christ are compared as to faithfulness and contrasted as to honor (3:2-6). Though privileged to speak to God face to face and to see His form, Moses was still only a “servant” in the house of God. Christ, as an agent of creation deserves honor as divine builder of all things and as Son “over God’s house.” The necessary implication is that Jesus is the builder of the house, and therefor that He is divine. This passage points both to Christ’s identity as God (“the builder”) and to His personal distinction from the Father. Take a moment today and give Jesus the glory for all He has built in you, and who you've become in Christ Jesus.

Weekend Quote (Sun)

The Soul that has been enriched by communion with God will not be dismayed by isolation but will welcome solitude. He will seek not the crowd but the closet, and emerging will never walk alone, for he has unseen companionship. ~ Frances J. Roberts

Weekend Quote (Sat)

Nobody ever out grows scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years. ~ Charles H. Spurgeon

Daily Word

For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those when tempted. Hebrews 2:18. “Suffered”- Jesus’ sufferings as a human, especially in his death. Jesus, as high priest, was tempted in every way and yet did not sin. Jesus is a (help) sympathetic and merciful high priest who knows human spiritual infirmities since he experienced the full range of temptations, and he has atoned for transgressions. The Gospels show Jesus experiencing human limitations…hunger, fatigue, ignorance of fact, and sorrow. Hebrews stresses that if Christ had not shared all these facets of human experience- weakness, temptation, and pain- he would not be qualified to help us as we face such trials. How difficult is it for you to wrap your head around the fact that Jesus has experienced EVERYTHING you have, been tempted by EVERYTHING that you are, and what keeps you from submitting EVERY battle you face unto Him?