Resolutions 2008: Contentment

You have a lot of choices when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. You could pick the usual culprits, lose weight, eat better, control anger, get up earlier, exercise more, read you bible more, pray more, saving money, and etc. But what if you did something different?

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}

What if you decided to be content with everything you have in 2008? Everything? I mean everything.  Here is a list of things to be content with,

How much money you have, the things you own, house, car, clothes, shoes, your job, friends, family, your kids, your spouse, your sex life, how about pets or your lack of pets, your looks, and ultimately yourself.

I am not talking about grudgingly accepting your lot in life. I mean really learning to be happy with what God has provided and how God has created you. Remember, He gives good gifts and He loves you.

I have seriously considered trying to get through 2008 without buying any stuff. No new clothes, no car, no major new purchases of any kind. I would limit my spending to food, shelter, and family. Think you could do it? Think for just a minute about all the things you were thinking of getting for yourself next year. Just think about it.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6

God bless. Think more. Be content.

The Eyes Have It

I know you have heard all the time management gurus tell us, “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.” If we do not have a goal to complete, a target to hit, or a destination to go, we will fall short of what we hope to achieve. This is true in sports, business, and also in our spiritual walk.

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. 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. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3

No one plans to sin? We do not go out looking for entanglements? Ever want to fall and flounder around? We do not want to fail. But do you have a target? If it is anything but Jesus the race will be hard to finish.

Jesus kept his eyes on his goal. He let nothing keep him from completing His plan. He set his heart on doing the will of God and endured the cross. His reward, the right hand of the throne of God.

Keep your eyes on Jesus. And you will not grow weary and lose heart.

God bless.

You Might be an Older Brother: Hard Heart

It has been a while since I wrote about the older brother. The book of Hebrews has many themes that relate to the problems the older brother had. First and foremost is about heart conditions. The older brother definitely had a serious heart condition. It was hard.

Symptoms of a hard heart include, apathy, hate, judgmental attitudes, stubbornness, and worst of all spiritual blindness. Individuals diagnosed with a hard heart include, Pharaoh, the Apostles (from time to time), Pharisees, and of course the Older Brother. One diagnosis came from Jesus while speaking to a group of people.

Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” But they wouldn’t answer him.

He looked around at them angrily and was deeply saddened by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” So the man held out his hand, and it was restored! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to plot how to kill Jesus. Mark 3:4-6

The Pharisees in this account refused to answer Jesus’ question because they could not bring themselves to acknowledge Jesus’ authority. They refused to answer the question because they knew they would be exposed. Just too stubborn to change. To hard to be molded into the image of God.

The author of Hebrews warns his readers too.

Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Hebrews 3:12-14

Warning: Check your heart condition, not evil and unbelieving, typical symptoms of hard hearts. Hearts deceived by sin and hardened against God. The result of a hard heart, turning away from God.

Encouragement: TODAY! Hold firmly to your faith, trust God. Be careful because sin (something we might claim to be able to control) will lead us away and deceive us.

Want to share in all that belongs to Christ? Sure you do. Start working on your heart. Sprinkle a little heart softener around. Faith in God, hold to what you believe, resist sin, trust God.

God bless. Stay soft.

What Pleases God?

Have you ever felt like you were working overtime to please someone but end the end found out you had no idea what would make them happy? Confused?

How often have you bent over backwards trying to do something for someone else and they never ever appreciated what you did for them?

It happens all the time. We work hard, sacrifice the things we want, spend time with people we do not want to, obey unwritten rules, and basically make ourselves miserable trying to get the next promotion, win a mate, satisfy a friend, or _______. You fill in the blank.

Unfortunately the world is doing the same thing with God. Stop and think of all the ways, methods, rules, and groups worshiping God. The funny thing is, there is only one Bible that tells us about God and what he wants. I just cannot imagine that God ever intended it be so complicated.

Know what? It is not complicated.

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 13:15-16

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself, “What does God really want?” The world’s religions are looking for the perfect sacrifice to appease God. AND all he really wants is for us to do good and to share. Christians the world over could do no better this Christmas than to proclaim allegiance to God and offer to him a sacrifice of praise, good works and share.

I am reminded of what God said through Micah,

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Stop sinning and stop loving the wrong things. Walk, walk humbly with God. Know Him, love Him, rely on Him. Glorify Him.

God bless. Be simple.

Free From Money

Do you feel as enslaved to things and money as I do? I really wish I could be content with what I have. Not wanting another thing. Free.

Impossible you say? (I am there with you.)

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

The practical implication of these verses is fantastic! Never left alone, God as my helper? Can this be true?

Question: Will you trust him? Really trust him?

Answer: Pray

Lord, teach me to trust you.
Open my heart and my eyes.
I want to see your presence in my life every day.
Forgive my unbelief. Amen.

God bless. Pray like your life depends on it.

Don’t Give Up

How long must we endure? When will Jesus’ promised rest come?

Welcome to the faithful few who wait. The recipients of the Hebrew letter did not know how long they would have to wait either. Not knowing how long you have to wait makes the wait even longer.

It is one thing to wait in a line that is slowly shrinking. It is entirely another to stand in a stagnant line waiting another move.

God has always wanted to test his faithful. He wants to know we will wait. That is what Hebrews 11 is about. Faithful heroes who died waiting for their promises to be fulfilled. In Hebrews 10, the Christians are called to persevere.

So do not throw 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.

“For in just a little while,
the Coming One will come and not delay.
And my righteous ones will live by faith.
But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”

But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved. Hebrews 10:35-39

We must not be like those who turned away. We must keep our eyes on Christ. Then we can enter Christ’s special rest.

Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. Hebrews 4:8-11

I know this is heavy stuff. I also know how nearly impossible it is to remain faithful, practically unattainable. I have no secret power, no great knowledge. I only know what remains.

God bless. Faith, hope, and love. (1 Corinthians 13)

An Old Prayer To Pray

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

This is the concluding prayer from the Author of Hebrews. A prayer worthy of our lips today.

God bless. Pray.

Who is the Greatest?

When you are struggling with faith or second guessing your decisions, how do you work out your doubts? When you are trying to make a important decision you weight the pros and cons. You might also make a list of the reasons to believe something and the reasons not to believe something.

The writer of Hebrews did this very thing. He wrote to a group of Jewish Christians who were struggling with their commitment. Because of trials, persecution, hardship, and alienation, these Christians seem to be playing at the idea of going back to Judaism. To encourage these Christians the author made a lengthy list of doctrinal arguments why Christianity is far more superior to Judaism.

• Jesus is superior to angles (1:4)
• Jesus has a better message(2:2-4)
• Jesus is superior to Moses (3:3-6)
• Jesus brings a better rest (4:8-11)
• Jesus is a better High priest (5:9)
• Jesus priesthood is superior to Levi (7:11,16 & 8:1-2)
• Jesus brings a better covenant (8:7)
• Jesus is the perfect sacrifice (9:13-14)

The encouragement these arguments gave these early Christian readers is still available to us today. These are not wasted arguments. We are, today, still being served by the perfect high priest Jesus Christ the Son of God.

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

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. Hebrews 9:15

God bless. Hang in there, do not give up.

Fire in the Oven!

Tonight, Daddy cooked pizza. He spread the sauce, carefully placed the pepperoni and ham, sprinkled cheese and whipped them into the preheated oven at 450F. What Daddy did not know was there was a plastic bag stuck to the bottom of the pizza pan on the bottom rack of the oven.

Oh, yes. You know there is trouble when you smell burnt plastic!

As soon as I smelled the plastic I knew I was in trouble, when I opened the oven smoke filled the room and I could see my pizza’s were roasting over a nice little puddle of burning plastic collecting in the bottom of the oven.

High alert!  Fire alarms go off. They make a nice stereo effect as each screams from opposite ends of the house. That was neat.

I start giving commands. Move out of the kitchen, get the dog, open windows. My wife is already ahead of me instructing the girls. I get the pizzas out of the oven and issue more commands to the girls. They are frozen in place. Panic on the oldest girls face. The youngest is trying to hold the dog. He is stronger than her.

I get the fire alarms off. (There was really no danger. Just lots of smelly smoke) My older daughter still in panic mode.

It was interesting to try to understand her response. She was scared. Unfortunately we have done little to prepare our children for what to do. But most interesting was she was completely unable to do anything asked of her. She was not listening. She was powerless.

Had the family really been in danger I would have had to grab the girls and go because they could not make rational decisions on their own.

Hmmmmmm.

I feel the same way when it comes to trying to overcome/control the sin in me. We know the Word. We know the dangers of sin. But when temptation comes, I am glued to the floor watching it come closer, unable to move or resist. Powerless.

God knows this. That is why he swooped in to take care of you.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Romans 8:3-4

The law was unable/powerless to save us. We are unable to do it. If we were to stand before the living God without Jesus on, we would be like little puddles of burning plastic (forgive me for being a little graphic). The good news is Jesus.

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. Hebrews 1:3

God is taking care of everything. Jesus is cleaning up sin. We are safe.

God bless. Thanks for reading my story. Oh, and make sure you don’t have any plastic stuck to the bottom of your pizza pans.

Are you Listening?

Do you still listen when your parents speak to you? Do you listen to good council? Do you hear anything I am saying to you?

“Who gives you the right to tell me anything?”  or “Why should I listen to you?” Often the questions we ask when someone tries to sell us on something. Does it matter who the messenger is before you decide to listen to them? Of course it does.

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. Hebrews 1:1-2

The author of Hebrews starts right off establishing credibility. Because he was writing to Jewish Christians, he knew they trusted the prophets. Now today, God is speaking through His Son. Not just a prophet but God’s own Son.

God testified about Jesus in Luke 9:35, “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” We are to listen to the teachings of Jesus. Of course many people in Jesus’ time did not listen. One of Jesus’ favorite saying was, “Anyone who has ears, should listen and understand.” (Luke 14:35)

The Hebrew writer will eventually warn the reader sternly about the consequences of not listening. But for now…

Lord, clear my ears. Open my mind. Help me understand. Bless the study of your word.

God bless. Start listening.