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!

REDEMPTION OBTAINED

"When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption." Hebrews 9:11-12

The uniqueness, greatness and complete sufficiency of the work of Christ as Savior and Lord is seen in the shedding of his own blood on the cross. No other high priest, no other Savior could offer his own blood as payment for our sins. 

The work of Christ in our lives, his redemption of us, is eternal. No other sacrifice is needed. There is no time when the accuser can point and say that Christ's redemption of us was not or will not be in affect. Our redemption is eternal...

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being our perfect High Priest! Thank you for our eternal redemption! Praise be to you in us today!

ONCE AND FOR ALL, DONE!

"Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once and for all when he offered himself." Hebrews 7:27

Every now and then I'll notice an extra charge on my visa card and think, "I didn't buy anything, what's that for?" It's a renewal fee for my blog or something. High priests had to offer sacrifices for themselves and for the people. Because they themselves were sinners just like everyone else. Kind of like that renewal fee, they had to offer sacrifices day after day. The debt was never paid in full. 

Jesus, who being holy,blameless, pure, set apart from sinners and exalted above the heavens, does not need to do that. He sacrificed himself, once and for all. Paid. That means, our sins are dealt with, once and for all. His death was for all our sins. That means our past, present and future. All our sins were in the future to Christ when he died upon the cross. From our perspective we our sins are in the past, present or future. Not to God. The sacrifice has been paid. Once for all. Done.

Father, thank you that you are my high priest. Thank you that you dealt with my sin, once for all. Done. Praise be to you in us today!

YOUR NEED IS MET!

"Such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless,  pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens."  

Hebrews 7:26

When my two oldest boys were teenagers we, for a while, had a mini-van. Their legs would stretch from the back to the front. Then, when our daughter was born, it was obvious that it no longer met our needs. We had to move up to a large urban assault vehicle, also known as a Yukon XL. We could fit the kids and our luggage in it without being too cramped. It met our need, space wise. 

Let me ask you a question (I sound like my friends from the south here). Does your faith meet your need? What I mean by that is: does your understanding of who Christ is allow you to rest in him? 

The truth is: Christ, the High Priest, meets your need. You need him to be God over your life and in your heart. You need your sins forgiven and path straightened. Christ does that. You need your conscience cleaned. Christ does that. You need to know the way and the truth and the life. Christ is all that. 

Thank you Lord Jesus Christ for being my High Priest! Praise be to you for being holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Reveal your Priesthood in us today! Praise be to you in us today!