Superior Savior

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

Hebrews 1:1-4 NIV

I have this fly fishing vest the I bought several years ago from Orvis. I went fishing with a few guys this one time and one of the fellas told me he bought his vest some place for about $15.00. Of course mine cost a bit more than twice as his. But, his was less than a year old and already tearing while mine was a few years used and still looked pretty new. So, while he will buy a new cheaper vest every few years and in end spend more, I am getting the most out of my Orvis vest. They say, "You don't buy an Orvis for yourself, you buy it for your son." It's true, my son is going to get my Orvis vest and fly fishing rig. 

In a much more dramatic fashion Christ is superior as Savior in comparison to any other supposed savior. He is more than just Savior, he is heir of all things, the Maker of the universe, the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. He sustains all things, provided purification for our sins and sits at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. He is superior to anything and everything. 

Two things hit me. One is that he is the Superior Savior. There is no other "savior" that will do. The other truth is that he sustains us. Only faith in Christ has real value. Every thing else may look good at first and the cost may seem less, but in the end, they won't be enough. Even more so than my Orvis vest in comparison to a cheap one, faith in Christ is superior and lasting and the only one you will ever need. 

ALL YOU NEED

"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back form the dead our Lord Jesus , that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Hebrews 13:20-21

I guess when you think about the book of Hebrews it's all about God giving us everything we need to do his will and live lives of faith that glorify him. Christ is our faithful High Priest who makes us holy and keeps us holy in him. 

Father, thank you for our faithful High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ! Help us to live by faith and glorify you. Praise be to you in us today!

I ALL NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FAITH

"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Hebrews 13:15-16

You may have seen the book by Robert Fulgham All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. These verses have that same sort of tone. Your saved, be thankful. That is the basis of our faith. Do good to others and share. Be nice and don't hog all the toys. 

Yes, sometimes we don't feel like praising God. Sometimes we may not be in the mood to think of others before ourselves. Sometimes we may not want to share what God has given us. But, this is really where Christianity meets real life. Our real lives. 

Understanding that God is Sovereign even when we can't see it, and acting upon that truth rather than our feelings, that is faith. That is Christianity. Doing what is right, what is good, no matter what the circumstances are is what we are called to do. That is faith. Giving what we have to someone else in need, even if it means less for us Christianity. That is faith. 

When I think back to when I first gave my life to Christ, that is pretty much what it was all about. Just praise God. Just do what is good. Just share with others. 

Father, thank you for Jesus and salvation. Help us to do good to others and share what you have provided. Praise be to you in us today!

A FEW GODLY MEN

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:7-8 (NIV)

I have been very blessed to have had some godly men in my life. My youth pastors were both great guys who gave me time and we're great examples of real men living lives for Jesus. Both worked full time jobs while volunteering as youth pastors. How these men treated their wives and children influenced how I would be a husband and father.

When I attended Bible school in England the schools' principal befriended me. I learned that being a leader doesn't mean that you go it alone. His honesty, humility and openness taught me how to love others in a truly Christlike manner.

I thank God for these men and the example they set for me. I saw the love of Christ lived out in these men and their lives. Their lives were real. Their faith was real. The love of Christ was real. 

Father, thank you that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever and his love for us never ceases or changes. Help us to love as he has loved us. Praise be to you in us today!

THE GOD OF I GOT TO HAVE IT NOW

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
     "Never will I leave you;
          never will I forsake you."
 So we say with confidence,
     "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
     What can man do to me?"" 
 Hebrews 13:5-6 (NIV)

We pay our bills with money. So, we have to have some. Wanting to have enough to pay your bills is not greed. Wanting to have enough so you are not worried about living paycheck to paycheck is not greed. Learning to live within your means is where faith meets reality. 

The love of money is not the same as just wanting to not be a slave to your bills. I am not sure but sometimes I think there is a fine line where wanting stuff now and loving money are the same thing because it involves covetousness. I call it the god of "I got to have it now". It usually manifests itself in maxed out credit cards. Sound familiar?

Someone once said that prosperity is having a little more than what you need. Faith is trusting that if you can't pay cash now than maybe God wants you to at least wait until you do. Faith is being able to wait upon God to provide the cash or learning to be content with what we have. Faith allows us to live prosperous lives. 

God won't leave you and God is your helper. 

Father, help us to remember to trust you with our finances. Help us to live by faith knowing that you will provide fro all our needs in Christ Jesus. Thank you for providing and that my family and I have what we need today. Praise be to you in us today!

JUST LIKE A BROTHER

"Keep on loving each other as brothers." Hebrews 13:1 

The thing about close families is that even though they do fight sometimes, they still love each other and pity the fool that tries to get between them. Brothers (and sisters) can argue and mess with each other and yet, will defend each other to the end. 

As Christians there will be times when it is not easy to love each other. That's all right. Think about Christ's love for us. He loves us when we don't love him. He just keeps loving us. His forgiveness just keeps washing us clean. 

I had this student once who just couldn't get with the program. He kept disciplined and finally with just a few weeks left he got it together. He finally realized I wasn't trying to punish him, I was trying to teach him. That's God's love sometimes. We reap what we have sown and it's not good. Christ faithfully forgives and the Spirit teaches and we learn that his love is eternal. He just keeps loving us. 

That's what are love should be for each other. We just keep loving. Our brothers (and sisters), like us, struggle along and we just keep loving each other in Christ.

Father, thank you that you first loved us and continue to love us. Help us to love each other. Praise be to you in us today!

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. "

Hebrews 12:28-29 (NIV)

I am thankful for many things (my wife and children, friends, my job and co-workers to name a few), but my salvation and relationship with God must come first. God gives meaning to everything else. His love, forgiveness and grace are the cornerstone of the abundant life we are called to live. 

Father, we humbly thank you for all the many blessings you have provided. Thank you for our daily bread and for a place to call home. Praise be to you in us today!

YOU'RE WHERE?

"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. 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 men, to the spirits of righteous men 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." Hebrews 12:22-24

When I was in my mid-twenties my younger brother (by a few years) went snow camping up a near by mountain in SoCal with a friend. It did snow some more and he didn't come home the day he was supposed to so my mom was of course worried and she called the park rangers. They said they couldn't search until morning. Then next morning while the rangers were setting up their search my brother walked into the parking lot toward his car and the rangers asked him if he was the lost camper. He replied, "I'm not lost."  

The world may wonder what we are doing. They will think we are clueless, foolish and in denial, weak, escaping reality and just plain stupid. But, we know whom we have believed. We know that everyone needs Jesus and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We know that Jesus is our mediator and his blood atones for our sins.  We have to the living God, the God of mercy, grace and forgiveness. We worship the Lord, who makes us, the unrighteous, righteous in Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. The world thinks they know where they are, yet, sadly we know they are deceived. We know where we are, in the world and where we are going, heaven. 

Father, thank you that in Christ we can know whom we believe and where we are in you. Thank you that in Christ we are righteous and that you are making us new. Praise be to you in us today!

HOW TO LIVE IN PEACE

"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one can will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." Hebrews 12:14-15

I am not a marriage counselor and by no means do I have the perfect marriage. I have seen too many of my friends end up divorced and not because of unfaithfulness. The reason seems to me that one or both were unwilling to make every effort to live in peace. They made every effort to be right, every effort to stand up for themselves, every effort to do things their way, but not every effort to live in peace. 

More often than not, forgiveness and humility are necessary. If I don't forgive and remember that I need to be forgiven, I will just end up pushing to be right, standing my ground and allowing walls to be built up. That will end up being walls of bitterness. Bitterness eats away at the soul and weakens you. You don't get strong, you get brittle and weak. 

I  encourage you to take an honest look at how you deal with relationships. Are you making every effort to live in peace?

Father help us to remember the effort you put in to forgive us, even though we don't deserve it. Thank you! Praise be to you in us today!

HEAL DON'T DISABLE

"Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed." Hebrews 12:12-13

Derrick Rose, of the Chicago Bulls, injured his other knee and will likely be out a long time again. He just spent a year rehabilitating one knee. Without the use of his knee he can't do what he does and that is play basketball at a professional level.  Spiritually speaking when we are not strong in our faith we are spiritually disabled. Maybe we aren't professional athletes but we are full time Christians.

Why do we seek that Lord? Why seek to spend time with God on a daily basis? It is not to be righteous but to be strong, to be connected, to abide. Our strength is not in ourselves but in Christ. Jesus is our righteousness. 

You will have trials, troubles and conflict. But, connecting with God levels that path. You see, if I have an issue (self-inflicted or not) and the pathway is not level I need to seek the Lord. Sometimes just stoping to seek God helps me refocus on not continuing the conflict but makes me remember to not respond in anger. Sometimes I ask myself, "Am I making a way (to resolve things) or a wall (to avoid or punish)?" 

When I seek Christ and to be Christlike I realize how I act should be about healing. Where there is weakness, Christ wants to strengthen and heal us. He wants us to be part of that process by loving and forgiving. If I love others as Christ loved me I realize I don't deserve his love and forgiveness so who am I to think I can choose not to be loving and forgiving?

Connecting with Christ strengthens us and makes our paths straight because of his faithfulness, forgiveness and grace. 

Help us to strengthen ourselves and make our paths straight today. Praise be to you in us today!

THE DISCIPLINE OF NO

"Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons...No 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." Hebrews 12:7a, 11

When I was sixteen my dad told me, "If you want to drive, you can. You just have to pay for your own car and insurance." I was not to happy with that plan because it would mean I wouldn't be able to do sports or anything else. My dad knew that allowing me to get my drivers license would of been disastrous. We lived in Lake Arrowhead and every male under the age of 90 thought they were driving in the Lake Arrowhead Grand Prix. If I would of drove I am sure I would of killed myself or someone else. Literally everyone I knew who drove as a teenager totalled at least one car. When I finally got myself together and drove I at least was trying not to kill myself and dad even lent me a truck. 

Looking back I can see that it was probably one of the wisest things my dad ever did. It was hard for me at the time, but in the end it did keep me from doing something crazy. 

I think that the things that God doesn't allow us to do can be pretty frustrating at times. The discipline of "No" by God can be hard for us to understand, but, God's no's have probably saved us from more than we can imagine.

Father, help us to trust in you and trust you, even when you say, "No". Praise be to you in us today!

ENDURE THE OPPOSITION

"Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:3

Jesus is God. He is all powerful. He holds the universe together with the power of his word.  Yet, he endured opposition from sinful men. He died on the cross. He took the abuse, to save our souls.

Sometimes we just get tired. Sometimes we're just tired of the routine, the same old, same old. Trials and temptations can seem to just wear you down. But, like Christ, we need to stay disciplined and endure. The Father will reward us. 

So, whatever you are enduring, keep seeking to do what you know is right. If you stumble and fall. Get back up, seek Christ's grace and move on. Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us all unrighteousness. He will never leave us or forsake us. 

Endure.

Father, help us to consider Jesus and to endure. Praise be to you in us today!

LOOK HERE!

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

I am not sure why, but, it seems that we will try to look anywhere but Jesus. I'm not even talking about sinful things, necessarily. We'll look to our own righteousness. We'll try to pray more, read the Bible more, go to church more, serve more, anything but look to Jesus. Jesus told the religious people of his day, 

"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" (John 5:39-40). 

Our salvation is about what Jesus did and what he is doing right now. He died for our sins. He died knowing we would sin, again. That does not condone sin. It only recognizes that reality of sin. But Jesus intercedes on our behalf. He doesn't just start our faith he completes it. He is the perfecter of our faith. Not us, him. 

He is at the right hand of the Father, interceded, perfecting our faith. Remember that your salvation is about his sacrifice, his faithfulness, his righteousness. 

Father, help us to fix our eyes upon Jesus. 

    Fix your eyes upon Jesus, 

    look full in his wonderful face, 

    and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, 

    in the light of his glory and grace... 

Praise be to you in us today!

JUST KEEP RUNNING

"Therefore, 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." Hebrews 12:1

When I was around sixteen my grandfather was dying from cancer. I deeply respected my grandfather. When my mom would go visit him I would always ask her to tell him we love him and we're praying for him. After his last operation mom said that he came out and kept asking granny if she saw who was there. Granny said, "Yes, the doctors and the nurses." Grandpa, "Yes, and PT was there too." Granny tried to tell him I wasn't there but he insisted and told her I held his hand and said, "We love you grandpa and we're praying for you." There have been many times since grandpa and granny died that I think of them in heaven looking down on me. 

I know the trials that my grandparents went through. I know they weren't perfect, yet in the end, God saw them through. That encourages me to press on sometimes. 

In the same way, knowing that the people in the bible were real people who went through real and intense trials should encourage us press on. What is encouraging is that God was and is always faithful. We press on which often means we get back up, confess our sins, and keep walking by faith. Each time we learn that it is about Christ's faithfulness, not ours. Men and women of faith have faith in God, not themselves. 

So, keep running. Christ will get you there.

Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for you faithfulness and unfailing love. Help us to run with perseverance. Praise be to you in us today!

CAUGHT BETWEEN AN ARMY AND AN OCEAN

"By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned." Hebrews 11:29

Remember that the Israelites, who were humanly speaking defenseless, were being pursued by the Egyptian army.Their backs were up against an wall. I guess you could say they were caught between an army and an ocean. God made a way through the waters. It was a way that the Egyptians could not go. 

Sometimes God puts us in a place where we seemingly have no place to go. There is an enemy on one side and something we'll drown in on the other. In Psalm 23:4 David says,

"Even though I walk through the valley of death,     I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." 

So, if you feel caught between an army and an ocean, have faith in God. He will make a way. It may be away that someone who is not a Christian can understand. It may be a way we can not conceive. I am sure no Israelite was saying, "Just cut through the Red Sea Moses!" The Red Sea and the Egyptian army both spelled death for the Israelites. But, God turned death into life. 

Father, help us to call upon you. Make a way. Praise be to you in us today!

LONGING AHEAD

"Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:16

What are you longing for? What is preoccupying your thinking? 

As Christians we live in the here and now, but, with an eye to eternity. Our faith does not just save us from sins death on judgement day. Christ saves us even now. The Spirit of God is ever changing us into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Lord. There is abundant life right now, and there is eternity in His Presences in the future. 

We can live the abundant life, facing it's every challenge and opportunity, by faith because we know that God is Sovereign and he has unfailing love for us. Heaven awaits us...

Father, give us the faith and strength to live each day in light of you love and faithfulness to us. Praise be to you in us today! 

WHAT'S YOUR COUNTRY?

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own." Hebrews 11:13-14

What are you looking for?  Do you have a home country? 

Sometimes, perspective is everything. I'm a Dodger fan. It was a good year, better than the last, but, not a great year. If you're a Red Sox fan, it was a great year. I am still looking forward to a year when my Dodgers put it all together again. 

As a person of faith, I can have good years and bad years, but, I am still looking forward to "that day". My hope is on Christ and the paradise he has prepared for us. I am longing for the time he comes to take us all home with him in heaven. I am hoping to not go alone. 

My hope is in Christ, not myself, not anyone else. 

Father, thank you for giving us hope. Help us to welcome the hope from this distance of the present. Praise be to you in us today!

WHAT PLEASES GOD

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

One of the many things I don't understand is liberal theologians. People who call themselves Christians but don't believe in the infallibility of Scripture. They don't believe in miracles or the supernatural. So, anything that has to do with God working in a way that seems miraculous or supernatural, they reject. You know, things like the flood, healings, the virgin birth of Christ and his resurrection. 

The author of Hebrews reminds us that believing in God, pleases God. To come to him, you must believe he really exists. Not only do you need to believe he exists, but believe that he will reward you when you earnestly seek him. I think the earnestly seeking is the action to the inner belief. You, in your heart, believe he exists. In your actions you seek him in anticipation of the rewards of faith.

God wants us to believe and anticipate his working in our lives. This pleases God. That is amazing...

Father, to think that you are pleased when we believe in you and earnestly seek you, is amazing! Thank you for your amazing grace to me! Praise be to you in us today!