If We Had Any Sense

Hebrews 8

6 But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

We have a better promise than the one God gave to the children of Israel under the Old Covenant. That promise is salvation through Jesus. The Old Covenant never promised eternal life, only a chance to look forward to the coming of Messiah. Since Messiah came in the person of Jesus, we now have a New Covenant through Him that does promise eternal life. How could we be anything less than grateful? If we had any sense about us, we couldn’t be.

Challenge of Gratitude

Psalm 106

1 Praise the Lord!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord?
Who can ever praise him enough?
3 There is joy for those who deal justly with others
and always do what is right.

When I truly take stock of my life, I have nothing but gratitude for the blessings God so freely pours upon me. The challenge of gratitude for me is to not get caught up in the minutia of day-to-day living; not to get bogged down by details that may not go the way I think they should, but rather I must remember the great sacrifice Jesus made on my behalf. I must remember the blessings He pours out on me every day. I must be reminded that the only logical response to these gifts of mercy, grace, and eternal life is gratitude!

Rebellious People

Ezekiel 12

1 Again a message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, you live among rebels who have eyes but refuse to see. They have ears but refuse to hear. For they are a rebellious people.”

This could be said of God’s people today in many cases. Those who claim to follow Christ yet refuse to see the clear mandates of Scripture, those who want to be called Christians, but live lives of anything but love for their fellow man...well, they are a people with eyes that refuse to see, and ears that refuse to hear. Father, may I NOT be counted among those people. Please, continue opening my eyes and ears to Your Word daily, and help me to live my life accordingly.

Get Them Grounded

Hebrews 6

4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

This is perhaps one of the saddest passages in all of scripture. It points out to me our great need to get folks firmly grounded in the Word of God, so that they will not choose to turn their backs on Him and crucify Jesus all over again. We are not doing a great job in that area with adults at VCC. Lord,may the things I learned yesterday and those I learn today, help me to be able to help reverse that trend at VCC.

Beyond the Milk

Hebrews 5

11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

We leave today for ReChurch. I am so excite that three of our four elders, all three of the staff, and one other key leader at our church are going on this trip. I am not saying that these guys are still on the milk by any stretch, but there are changes I am hoping for to come as a result of this trip. For all seven of us. Be with us, Lord.

Surrendered

Ezekiel 4

12 Prepare and eat this food as you would barley cakes. While all the people are watching, bake it over a fire using dried human dung as fuel and then eat the bread.” 13 Then the Lord said, “This is how Israel will eat defiled bread in the Gentile lands to which I will banish them!”

14 Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, must I be defiled by using human dung? For I have never been defiled before. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or was killed by other animals. I have never eaten any meat forbidden by the law.”

15 “All right,” the Lord said. “You may bake your bread with cow dung instead of human dung.”

All I can say is praise God that I am not an Old Testament prophet. Having said that, I must also be willing to do whatever God wants, whenever He wants, however He wants, and wherever He wants. May my life be totally surrendered to Him always.

Overwhelmed

Hebrews 3

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest. 2 For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire house.

3 But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. 4 For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.

5 Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. 6 But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.

I am overwhelmed when I think of the glory and majesty of my Lord Jesus. I am even more overwhelmed by the thought of being God’s house! Did you catch that? Of course, there is that HUGE qualifier laid in there: IF. We are God’s house IF we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ. Well, Jesus is the ONLY One in Whom I have my hope and confidence placed. Lord, keep me focused on You daily.