Dear Friends,

Maybe this will help you to trust in God through the difficult times. Think of God as building a spiritual temple. He chose Christ for the great honor of being the cornerstone of His temple. And how lucky are you?!!! You get to be the living stones God is using to build this spiritual temple.

Not only are you the stones, you are also His holy priest. Because Jesus Christ is mediating for you, you are able to offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. You shouldn’t be surprised at this analogy. Remember what the Old Testament Scriptures say:

“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,
Chosen for great honor,
And anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” – 1 Peter 2:6; Isaiah 28:16

“The stone the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” – 1 Peter 2:7; Psalm 118:22

“He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” – 1 Peter 2:8; Isaiah 8:14

They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, but you are not like them. You were chosen by God to be a royal priest, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. He called you out of darkness into his wonderful light so that you can show others the goodness of God.

“Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.” – 1 Peter 2:10

As God’s people, find your identity in Him and not in this world. Remember that you are “temporary residents and foreigners” so keep away from the worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then, even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

While you are in this world, you must show respect to all human authority for the Lord’s sake, for he has appointed them. They have been given a job to punish those who do wrong and honor those who do right – so do right! Live an honorable life, respect everyone and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Your honorable life will silence those who make foolish accusations against you. Don’t use your freedom as an excuse to sin.

So accept the authority of your bosses with all respect. Do what they tell you, whether they are kind and reasonable or cruel. God is pleased with you when you do what is right and patiently endure unfair treatment. If you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God will be very pleased with you.

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow his steps.

He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.
He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.
He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.
By his wounds you are healed.
Once you were like sheep who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls (1 Peter 2:21-15).

Are you ready to look to His example, to follow His steps? You may end up with wounds but He will be there to heal you by His wounds. You may feel lost in the chaos, but He will be your Shepherd, the Guardian of your soul.

Living under His authority because I am His,

Peter

1 Peter is a letter written to God’s people who were living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. Peter knew they were experiencing hard times – trials and persecution for their faith. Their faith was scorned, their morality criticized and their hope mocked. This letter was sent to encourage them to remain faithful. As pressure increased, Peter challenged them to renew their commitment and live out their faith in order to please God and to be a witness to God’s work of grace in their lives.

Can you relate? Every year it seems like the battle against Christianity in the United States intensifies. Our faith is scorned, our morality criticized and our hope in Christ mocked. Let’s study Peter’s letter as if it was written to us just days ago. We opened the mail today and read Peter’s words to us. I’ve taken the liberty of rewriting Peter’s letter to fit how I think he would have written to us today (1 Peter 1:1-2:3).

Dear Friends,

Isn’t God good?!! Isn’t God worthy of our praise this morning?!! The God who knew you and chose you long ago (in fact, before you were even born) has given you His Spirit to make you holy. He has cleansed you by the blood of Jesus Christ and just keeps giving you more and more grace, along with a big dose of peace.

Because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, He has also given us the opportunity to be born again – all because of His GREAT mercy! Now we can live with great expectation of a priceless inheritance that He is keeping in heaven for us. Your inheritance is pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. Until the day comes when this inheritance will be revealed for all to see, God is protecting you through faith and by His power.

Did you hear that? God is protecting you, so be truly glad! I know you are going through lots of trials right now but there is a wonderful joy ahead. These trials are showing how genuine your faith in God is. Your faith is being tested just as fire tests and purifies gold. Your faith, which is even more precious than mere gold, is being strengthened and purified as you suffer through these hard times. And the result of your response is that you are bringing praise and glory and honor to Jesus Christ.

I know you have never seen Him but it is obvious you love Him. Though He is invisible right now, you trust him as if you can see Him. You rejoice with a joy that is glorious and inexpressible! The reward you will receive for trusting Him will be the salvation of your souls. I hope this encourages you.

I know things are difficult right now, but think of how blessed we are. The prophets foretold of this great salvation – of the suffering of Christ and how He would be glorified – but it wasn’t for them to experience. They knew the messages were not for themselves but for us. They were filled with the Spirit and joined the angels in eager expectation of what was going to happen.

So, think about this. Think about this gracious salvation we have to look forward to when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. Exercise self-control and live as God’s obedient children. He chose you; He has prepared an inheritance for you – you are His! So don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. Live a holy life because that’s what He desires – because He is a holy God. The Scriptures are clear when they say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

So, as “foreigners” in this world, remember that the inheritance you received from your ancestors was an empty life but God paid a ransom to save you – not a ransom of silver or gold but of the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose Him as your ransom so choose a holy life. God will judge or reward you according to what you do – You can’t just get by on being His favorite.

So live in reverent fear of this holy God. Continue to trust in God through Jesus Christ. Because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory, you have placed your faith and your hope in God. You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now show evidence of this cleansing through your sincere love for your brothers and sister. Love each other DEEPLY with all your heart!

You have a new life that will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God! You have been born again! You no longer belong to the temporary things of this world so live for the eternal. Remember what the Scriptures say:

“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.” – 1 Peter 1:24

That word of the Lord the Scriptures are referring to is the same good news that has been preached to you. So live for the eternal and not for the temporary, no matter how strongly your faith is tested. Get rid of ALL evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.

Now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness – yes, all the blessings you have experienced are only a “taste” of what you will receive – crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Get hungry for it! Crave it! Seek it! Nothing else matters because nothing else will last forever. Keep this in mind no matter what difficulties you may face today.

Remember He loves you and you are His!

With sincere and deep love,

Peter

This morning I read through Psalm 18 out of the NLT version as I drank my morning coffee. The Psalmist spent time praising God, lamenting to God, singing of God’s rescue and His salvation – of His unfailing love. It is a long Psalm but I’d like to share the verses that stuck out to me the most.

I love you, LORD;
you are my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
3 I called on the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.

46 The LORD lives! Praise to my Rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!
47 He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
he subdues the nations under me
48 and rescues me from my enemies.
You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;
you save me from violent opponents.
49 For this, O LORD, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.
50 You give great victories to your king;
you show unfailing love to your anointed,
to David and all his descendants forever.

And let us run with ENDURANCE the race God has set before us. – Hebrews 12:1b

ENDURE God’s discipline and don’t give up when He corrects you because he loves you as a Father loves His child.

For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong (Hebrews 12:10-13).

ENDURE the discipline so that we might share in His holiness, which looks like this:

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many (12:14-15).

Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking…Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire (12:25a, 28-29).

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison…also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:1-8).

For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a CONTINUAL sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God (Hebrews 13:14-16).

How do we do this? How do we live this kind of holy life? It seems impossible to endure and meet this high mark. Well, it is impossible…without God’s help. God, who is unshakable. Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. HE will equip you. HE will produce in you every good thing that is please to him.

Now may the God of peace –
Who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
The great Shepherd of the sheep,
And ratified an eternal covenant with his blood –
May he equip you with all you need for doing his will.
May he produce in you,
Through the power of Jesus Christ,
Every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen. – Hebrews 13:20-21

IT was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise. AND SO a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead – a nation with so many people that , like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them (Hebrews 11:11-2).

Oh, I’m so glad Sarah is in my cloud of witnesses! I relate to Sarah. I relate to God’s gift of faith helping me through a time when my body would not cooperate with the desires of my heart. A fertility specialist said there was nothing he could do to keep me from miscarrying every pregnancy. Today we celebrate the 12th birthday of the third beautiful baby girl God gave us. Sarah had faith AND SO… Sarah believed God keeps his promises AND SO…

By faith, Isaac blessed the future of his sons, Jacob and Esau. By faith, Jacob blessed the future of his grandsons (Joseph’s sons). By faith Joseph spoke confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt one day. Each of these men could not see into the future of their descendants but they knew the God who keeps His promises would be there watching over them.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race marked out for us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2a).

When Pharoah was killing all the Hebrew baby boys, Moses’ parents did not cower in fear. No, they ran with endurance, hiding their son for three months. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s commands (11:23b).

Moses stripped off every weight that would slow him down and the sin that would so easily trip him up:
It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. HE kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible (11:24-27).

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith(12:2a).

By faith, the people of Israel ran with endurance the race marked out for them – first when they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground and then when they marched around Jericho for seven days causing the walls to fall down. The race marked out for them resulted in victory and triumph over their enemies.

By faith, Rahab walked away from her people who refused to obey God because she had a champion who had initiated and perfected her faith in Him. This same faith can be found in the lives of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets. God did great things through them and they received what God had promised. Consider this huge crowd of witnesses to our life of faith.

They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death.

All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us (Hebrews 11:33b-40).

Okay, no more feeling sorry for ourselves. I don’t think any of us have a testimony quite has harsh as this crowd of witnesses. Yet, they ran the race with endurance. We also have something they did not have, the new covenant relationship with God made possible through the cross.

We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not given your lives in your struggle against sin (12:2-4).

THEREFORE, since we have this incredible crowd of witnesses surrounding us as we live this life of faith, let’s strip off every weight that slows us down (whether it can be called sin or not) and let’s get rid of the sin that so easily causes us to trip. Let’s run this race with passion, with endurance, with faith – knowing that God keeps His promises and keeping our eyes fixed on our Champion who is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne! He has initiated our faith (we did not come up with it on our own) and He daily perfects our faith. Thank you God for these examples, thank you Jesus for enduring the cross for me and thank you for this gift of faith that is growing daily. May it be said of me, “Sherry had faith AND SO…” Amen!

Enoch was known as a person who pleased God. Wow, that is a powerful statement! A person can be known for so many different things, good and bad, but Enoch was known as a person who pleased God and that came from his faith in God.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

Genesis describes Enoch as living in close fellowship with God for more than 300 years. “Then one day he disappeared, because God took him” (Genesis 5:24). Something incredible…something extraordinary happened in Enoch’s life, simply because God chose to do it. That’s the kind of God we serve – the kind of God that just does because He can.

Enoch remained in close fellowship with God and God spared him death. I could just be done for today because that alone is more powerful than any of the caffeine in my morning coffee! But Enoch is not the only person in the crowd of witnesses we are surrounded by as we live this life of faith. There are more. Right by Enoch stands Noah, a man whose faith in God produced righteousness.

It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes from faith (Hebrews11:7).

There had never been a flood; there had never been a boat so big. Yet Noah obeyed God, which required a great deal of faith. But Noah’s faith had grown over the years because he, too, has had remained in close fellowship with God. He lived a life that was pleasing to God and so God considered Noah a righteous man – more righteous than anyone else.

Noah had the faith he needed when the moment of decision came. When faced with the choice to obey God and do something never done before, Noah had a faith strong enough to say “yes”. He did not have to produce this strong faith immediately because his faith had been growing over time as he walked with God. I’m so glad Noah is in my crowd of witnesses as I run the race set before me. His example encourages me.

Standing out in this crowd of witnesses is Abraham:
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith – for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God (Hebrews 11:8-10).

Abraham was looking forward, eyes fixed on God. Where do you want me to go? Okay, I’m on it. Leave home, leave everything I know? Yes, I’ll obey you, God. What do you want me to do? Okay, I’ll do it. Sacrifice my son through whom I expect your promises to be fulfilled? Yes Lord, I’ll do it if that’s what you ask.

Abraham could have looked back from where he came but he continued to look forward to the promise. When looking for a wife for Isaac, he insisted that his servant NOT go back to the land from which they had come to find her. When walking up the mountain to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham did not continually look back and remind God that He had promised Abraham would be the father of many nations. No, he pressed forward, eyes fixed on God, believing that God could do anything – including raising Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19).

This is why the writer of Hebrews pointed out the crowd of witnesses. He knew we would need the reminder of Abraham’s faith when we heard these words:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith…(Hebrews 12:1-2a).

Oh, how I needed this today. When I look ahead, I sometimes get overwhelmed. I remind myself of God’s promises and I remind myself of Hebrews 10:23 – “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”

Sometimes starting a new pregnancy center in Tazewell County feels like building an ark in the middle of a desert. Sometimes raising the funds to buy a mobile medical unit so that we can go where God is leading us feels like walking out of the comfort zone of our homeland into the unknown promised land. Daily I have to lay all God’s promises on the altar and trust Him to provide. Daily I have to remain in close fellowship with my God, from my morning coffee to my bedtime prayers.

The message of faith and endurance that can be found throughout the book of Hebrews hits a climax in the first few verses of chapter 12.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witness to the life of faith…(12:1a).

Let’s stop there before going on. Remember, whenever you see a “therefore”, you need to stop and see what it is there for. Chapter 12 starts with a “therefore” that is referring back to chapter 11. The “cloud of witnesses” in verse 12:1 is referring to the list of the faithful in chapter 11. Let’s look at this chapter full of examples of faith and endurance.

Abel (11:4): Abel offered his VERY BEST to God when he prepared his sacrifice. He did not see it as a waste to gather together the best of what he had and give it to God but He gave in faith – trusting and considering it a privilege to give his best to God.

Abel was the second son born to Adam and Eve, born after his brother Cain. Abel became a shepherd while his brother, Cain, became a farmer. When it was time for the harvest, Cain gathered together some of his crops and gave them to the Lord as a gift. Now, Cain’s labor produced crops – that’s what he did and so that’s what he had to give to God. That wasn’t the problem. The Lord rejected Cain’s gift because Cain did not offer his best to God, which is what God required.

Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest…As you harvest your crops, bring the VERY BEST of the first harvest to the house of the Lord your God (Exodus 23:16,19a).

But Abel, who was a shepherd, gathered together all of his firstborn lambs from his flock. Imagine taking special care to know what sheep have given birth for the very first time and setting these lambs aside in order to recognize them as special. Abel then selected the VERY BEST of his firstborn lambs from his flock and gave his offering to the Lord, who accepted Abel’s gift because it was his VERY BEST.

Cain reacted poorly. In jealousy, he became angry and “looked dejected.” In other words, he was pouting. God saw that Cain was angry and feeling sorry for himself. He gave Cain a very stern warning, a warning that if heeded would have changed the course of Cain’s life forever. Instead, he remained self-serving and angry, bringing a curse upon himself. But he had a choice, just as we do.

“Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain.
“Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”

But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood. No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.” – Genesis 4:6-12

God’s warning is also for us – sin, jealousy, anger, self-pity. Watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and become its master before it becomes yours!

Now let’s go back to Hebrews 12:1 and consider the person of Abel, who was one who made up the cloud of witnesses to the life of faith:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by…

Abel, who “gave evidence that he was a righteous man” by giving his VERY BEST to God, who “showed his approval of his gifts”

…let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith… (Hebrews 12:1-2a, 11:4).

Let’s give our VERY BEST to God today, letting go of it all and running this life of faith God has set before us with endurance. When we give our best to God, we are not left holding on to something that keeps our focus. Instead, we can focus on Jesus, who now has the VERY BEST we have to offer. He then takes our VERY BEST and perfects our faith – the faith He himself initiated in us. Praise God for this gift of faith and for the opportunity to give it back to Him – to give Him our VERY BEST.

PRAISE

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High. – Psalm 9:1-2

Sing praise to the Lord who reigns in Jerusalem.
Tell the world about his unforgettable deeds (9:11).

REPENT

Lord, I pray a prayer of repentance for our nation. Lord, forgive us for our sins of pride and self-reliance. Forgive us for our sins of worshipping anything other than you – the One True God! Lord, I look around and I see a nation in trouble. A nation that declares hateful those who stand by the principles laid out by you; a nation where crowds are bombed, parental rights are at risk and babies are aborted. Lord, we know you are watching everyone closely; that you examine both the righteous and the wicked and that you hate those who love violence. Oh Lord who loves justice, let us see your face! (Psalm 11:4-7).

ASK

I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God.
Bend down and listen as I pray (17:6).

The helpless put their trust in you.
You defend the orphans (10:14b).

Lord, we pray this morning for an end to abortion. Mighty God, who knows the hopes of the helpless, hear their cries and comfort them. Bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed. We know that you see the violence done to the helpless and you hear the groans of the poor. Rise up, O God, and rescue them. Your promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. Therefore, we know that you WILL protect the oppressed and preserve them forever from this lying generation (10:17-18; 12:5-8).

YIELD

But I trust in your unfailing love.
I rejoice because you have rescued me.
I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me (13:5-6).

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. – Psalm 16:1-2,5,7-8,11

God’s plan is for those of us who are working for Him and showing our love for Him to KEEP ON LOVING others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what we hope for will come true. His plan is that we would not become spiritually dull or indifferent but that we would follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their FAITH and ENDURANCE (6:10-12).

This was a paragraph from yesterday’s morning coffee that prepared our hearts for Hebrews 11 today. The writer of Hebrews is calling us to hold on to our faith and endure through the difficult times, just as those who came before us have done. They set an incredible example for us of what it means to have faith in any circumstance and to endure through the circumstances of life – holding on tight to the God who loves us and never leaves us!

Before we move to Hebrews 11 and its examples, let’s consider the powerful words of the writer of Hebrews in chapter 10. This passage emphasizes the importance of living a holy life as part of our covenant relationship with God – that continuing in sin is the same as trampling on the Son of God who shed His blood for the sake of this new covenant.

By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him…

Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us (Hebrews 10:20-29).

So do not thrown away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised (10:35-36).

How do we do this? How do we continue trusting in the Lord, holding tightly to the hope we have. It requires faith. Faith is not something we can muster up on our own, it is a gift God gives us when we ask Him for it. He will give us the faith we need to persevere, to endure patiently, to step into His presence with sincere hearts fully trusting Him.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation (11:1-2).

By faith, we believe God created the entire universe simply by commanding their existence.

By faith, Abel…by faith, Enoch…by faith, Noah…by faith, Abraham…by faith, Sarah…
The list goes on and on. Chapter 11 of Hebrews is one of my favorite chapters and I encourage you to take time today to simply soak in the strong examples of faith provided for us. Then consider what story can be told of you. By faith, _____….

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him (11:6).

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. – Hebrew 8:6

Wow! That’s exciting! I know this isn’t new information, I’ve read through Hebrews before, but this morning this verse gave my heart a jumpstart. I mean, this is great news! Jesus negotiated a new agreement or a new covenant with God on our behalf – a far better covenant with far better promises.

God keeps His promises so “better promises” does not say He did not keep His original promises. The problem was that the old covenant written on stones was broken by God’s people, not by Him. Now there is a new covenant, written not on stones but in our minds and on our hearts – declaring that we are God’s people, that He is our God (8:7-10). This new covenant was made possible by the blood of Jesus Christ, our High Priest.

So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood – not the blood of goats and calves – he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (9:22b).

This new covenant just keeps getting better. The old covenant involved the shedding of animals’ blood and had to be repeated on certain days and at certain ceremonies. Even then, the cleansing from those sacrifices was not perfect, not permanent and not capable of taking away feelings of guilt (10:1-2). Jesus’ blood was SO sufficient that He only had to die once. His blood was so pure and His sacrifice so perfect, that it took care of the need for blood to be shed once and for all!

If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him (9:26-28).

One more point comes out of these chapters of Hebrews – a point that speaks so loudly to me this morning and is consistent with Paul’s teachings.

For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time (10:10).

So, if God’s plan is for us to be holy, which is possible because of the blood of Jesus, what happens if we choose to continue in sin rather than walk in holiness? What happens if we continue to give in to the urgings of the sinful nature instead of giving in to the urgings of the Spirit God has given us?

The writer of Hebrews talks about those who have repented of their sins, experienced all of the wonderful things a relationship with God has to offer, including the Holy Spirit, but then reject the Son of God. The writer says, “by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame” (6:6). How heartbreaking! Jesus died for our sins – why would we want to reject this salvation by continuing in sin?!!!

God’s plan is for those of us who are working for Him and showing our love for Him to KEEP ON LOVING others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what we hope for will come true. His plan is that we would not become spiritually dull or indifferent but that we would follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their FAITH and ENDURANCE (6:10-12).

Oh God, we hold tight to the hope that lies before us – the hope given through this new covenant made possible by the death of Your Son. Lord, we desire to let go of our own plans and all this world offers and cling to You and You only. Thank you for this hope that we have in You. It is a trustworthy anchor for our souls, giving us faith and endurance to keep on loving – to keep on serving (6:18-19). Amen.