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!