Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 43

                                         Hebrews 13:1-3,7

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. ² Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. ³ Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

⁷ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

            There is a lot said about the three different Greek words for "love" found in the New Testament - Eros, Agape, and Phileo, but most of thr time we discuss Agape love because that is the love that comes from above that we can only experience and give out through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is the one that we strive for as we want to become more like Christ and the one that the world will see and be drawn to Christ because it is so "un-human". Eros is the one we go to Song of Solomon conferences to learn about, no thanks, but Phileo is sort of the red headed step child of the group. What is Phileo love as mentioned in verse 1? It is loving one another like brothers or sisters.

        I best see Phileo love among my four kids we raised that are now in the early 30's. Two of my kids just got back from London, vacationing with each other and their spouses. My son, according to his sister, due to jet lag, lack of sleep or whatever, began being annoying. His wife didn't say anything but his sister told him to shape up. I'm intrigued by that. Why was his sister  blunt and truthful to him while the one he has given his life to as long as they both shall live, wasn't? Lest I project too much on them, let me give my feelings on the matter. I, personally, don't want my wife telling me I'm annoying. That would hurt me deeply. I want her telling me I'm wonderful, giving me words of affirmation and building my fragile ego up which daily gets torn down in the tough world I live in. Now my sister could tell me that because I would say that she is more annoying. For my daughter to tell her brother that he is being annoying would be received because of their history growing up. They could recount how he annoyed her in 6th grade while she was in 5th and rather than fracturing the relationship, those memories would further cement the relationship.

      Now what does that have to do with Hebrews 13, the body of Christ, and Phileo love? Wouldn't it be nice if the body of Christ, who are now members of God's family and indeed brothers and sisters in a different kingdom, would live in community so much that we build that history and those memories with each other? Wouldn't it be nice to not have to be so careful about the littlest thing you do or say for fear you might cause a rift with someone in your church? Do you want to vacation with people in your church? When someone might be disparaging a member of the body, do you stick up for them like you would your brother or sister? Do you see those as "fighting words"? When you invite people over from your church (showing hospitality) do you feel like everything has to be right so you make a good impression? I guarantee you my kids don't care about impressing their brothers or sisters. When your biological siblings are in trouble - whether it be health, financial, legal, marital - there is a heaviness you carry, too. You reach out to them spontaneously, regularly, not out of obligation but out of phileo love. I have to think that the deacon ministry, like divorce was given "due to the hardness of hearts." Would we need pastoral support committies if we were loving our leaders as brothers and sisters. Would we need to schedule prison visitation, shut-in and widow ministry?

        What I am saying is are you "not forsaking the assembly"? Good! That means you have a body of believers in your life. How about making them a part of your family? I think that is what this passage is saying.

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 42

                     
                                               Hebrews 12:18-29

¹⁸ You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰ because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” ²¹ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

²² But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷ The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our “God is a consuming fire.”

           As we approach another Thanksgiving, I like to ponder all the "thanks" verses in the Bible. I was surprised by all the "He gave thanks and blessed the food" verses referring to Jesus. After all the years of praying before eating, I feel like my kids view it as a religious ritual that could be done away with like women covering their heads in church. I must confess, I also do it as a rote prayer not even thinking about God but more like placing a napkin on my lap preparing for the food. This year I'm struck by how often Christ did it and He sets the example for us to be grateful for food that sustains our lives through the common grace of God. If Jesus took it seriously so should I. Another thankful verse that strikes me is in the above passage which I must say has escaped my notice as I normally land on Colossians or the Psalms at this time of year.

           According to this passage, what are we to be thankful for? The first thing I see is that we are under the New Covenant not the Old. In the Old we would be trembling with fear in the presence of a God who could consume us with fire if He wanted to because of our sin. The fire of His wrath has been poured out on His Son on the cross so now we no longer need to be afraid of Him but can come boldly into His presence, approaching the mountain ,so to speak, and gladly hear His voice which speaks gently to us rather than deafeningly like the man behind the curtain. Having delivered a lot of babies for policemen, I'm always grateful when I get pulled over, which unfortunately is too often, and I recognize the policeman as my friend. The encounter is completely different when I don't know the officer and they don't know me. This is like the difference between the Old and New Covenant. I am thankful for a God who loves me as a Father not a God who I need to be afraid of like the vice principal.

        Secondly we should be thankful that "the sprinkled blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." What exactly does that mean? What does Esau's blood cry out from the ground? "Justice!" What does Christ's blood cry out? "Justice met!" In the Old Covenant, we would have had to offer animal sacrifices on a regular basis to temporarily appease the justice of God. It was like swiping a credit card to pay knowing that the full debt was building and building amounting to a debt we could never pay. Christ came and His blood once and for all met the justice of God. I know of a guy that owes me $9000. He will occasionally send me a small check but when we run into each other there is the uncomfortable tension between us because the debt has not been paid. I'm thankful that the shame of a debt not paid does not stand in the way between me and God because of the sufficient blood of Jesus.

         Lastly we should be thankful that there is a New Heaven, a New Earth, and a New Jerusalem waiting for those of us whose sins have been paid for by faith. Not only that but we aren't going to the Old Covenant's Abraham's Bosom like lay away at Macy's, but a place where Christ has been preparing for us for 2000 years now. God is a consuming fire and He is going to consume the old earth which shakes with earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, famine, drought, erosion, death, disease, and pandemics, and He will replace it with an Earth that has none of that. We think this earth is beautiful yet it is cursed by sin. Just think how amazing the New Earth is going to be. In Sunday School this week someone mentioned how every color known to man comes from just 3 colors. She said, "I think God is going to reveal a lot more colors to us." Someone else said, "You know how we only use about 10% of our brain? I think in Heaven God is going to open up that unused part that He is blocking now." Someone else said, "I think we are going to be able to taste the color blue." Kind of blows the mind doesn't it? I'm thankful I'm going there - aren't you?

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 41

                                                  Hebrews 12:14-17


...be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶ See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷ Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

        When we hear that a pastor has been removed or has stepped down due to sin, what do we assume? He has been caught gossiping? He has been greedy? He plagiarized a message? He lied about his age? No, we assume he has had an affair and usually with good reason. Pastor after pastor fall to sexual temptation and it isn't just the pastor. Sexual sins run rampant throughout the Church and cause the body to be unholy and therefore as verse 14 would say, "No one sees the Lord". The body won't see God move because of sin in the camp and certainly unbelievers will see the Church as a joke as they view our scandalous behavior, which is scandalous even for unbelievers, and they won't see the Lord.

        Isn't it interesting that Esau is used as an example here when his sin was not a sexual sin. What is the author getting at here? When Esau sold his birthright, he was in effect saying "I don't care about the long term, even eternal consequences. My flesh is hungry now and I need to satisfy it." Isn't that what sexual sin is? It says, "I don't care about my kids and how they will turn out as adults, I don't care about my marriage lasting 50 years, I don't care about visiting 4 sets of grandparents on holidays, I don't care about a sexually transmitted disease that I may carry the rest of my life, I don't care that I'm going to be considered a hypocrite and lose my testimony the rest of my life, I don't care about my Church fracturing, I don't care about the other person's spouse and family going through counselling for years, I don't care how my spouse will feel - that's all future - I want to satisfy my flesh now!" And isn't that what Esau did? 

            And what were the ramifications? 1) It destroyed his family. He and his brother hated each other, the mom and the Dad lied to each other and chose sides, the mom had to send away Jacob and she never saw him again, and unbelieving spouses were brought into the family which made Rebekkah's life miserable. We don't read of any of Esau's future children being followers of God, actually quite the opposite. (was Ruth in Esau's line? Maybe I'm wrong there?) Sexual sin destroys families!  2) Loss of blessing - Esau could not receive the blessing no matter how desperately he tried. When sexual sin creeps in, the blessed life you are experiencing now and the hedge of protection from the evil one disappears. Look at the carnage in David's life. Look at the blessed life before Bathsheba and look at the turmoil after Bathsheba. It's night and day.  3) Eternal consequences - loss of rewards in Heaven and even the question of eternal damnation. Jesus said "If you love me you will obey my commandments". "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord', and don't do what I say?" If you know something is wrong and say "I don't care what God thinks, if there is a God anyway, I'm gonna do what I want to do.", are you really saved? If you are unrepentant, were you really born again? Is Esau in Heaven? I don't know the answer to those questions but what I do know is that the Bible says, "He who endures till the end will be saved." Paul says that his walk with the Lord was extremely disciplined so that he won't be disqualified from the prize. If Paul was concerned, shouldn't we be?

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 40

                                      Hebrews 12:12-14a

12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone 


        We have been talking about sin and how serious it is. Sin cost God His Son Jesus to have to leave Heaven and take on human flesh which was beaten, pierced and nailed to a cross, yet we toy with sin and don't resist it to the point of shedding blood, which as it relates to us means taking radical sometimes painful steps to avoid sin. 

            In this passage verses 12 and 13 give us advice on how to avoid sin and he tells us three things. 1) get strong - we need to be in the Word and prayer daily and even memorize scriptures that help you avoid sin. Here are a few verses that might help

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."   Eph. 4:29

"Direct me in the path of your commands,
    for there I find delight.
³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes
    and not toward selfish gain.
³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things;

    preserve my life according to your word" Psalm 119:35-37

"I will be careful to live a blameless life.

I will walk in my house with blameless heart.

I will set before my eyes no vile thing." Psalm 101:2,3

   The second thing this passage tells us in the avoidance of sin is make your path level. In other words don't put things in your life that will trip you up. If you are trying to avoid lust or coveting, don't download certain apps or watch certain channels. If certain people trip you up, make new friends that won't put stumbling blocks in your paths. Is sin so serious to you that you would leave your job or move to a different city to avoid it? 

  Lastly, mend broken relationships. God has called us to love people not dislike them, gossip about them, or plot getting even with them because if that is going on, sin has us in its grips. Do you hate sin enough to make the first move and do all you can to reconcile?

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 39

                             
                                             Hebrews 12:5-11

 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
⁶ because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

⁷ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? ⁸ If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. ⁹ Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! ¹⁰ They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ 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.

 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
⁶ because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”^[a]

⁷ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? ⁸ If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. ⁹ Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! ¹⁰ They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ 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.

         Last time I talked about resisting sin to the point of shedding blood. We have to realize the seriousness of sin and do all we can to resist it. Joseph ran away leaving his cloak behind, Lot was told to not look back as he fled, and we put ourselves right in the middle of it. Trade your smart phone for a flip phone if you have to but cut off all of sin's grasps on you.

        If you don't, this passage tells what is next - discipline. Of course if you aren't saved this won't happen because God isn't your Father, the Devil is. But if you are a child of God, here is what is in store. It's not punishment like if you don't stop sinning God is going to get you. It is a rod of correction. Punishment is what unbelievers will get at their judgement and it is recompense for their sins. Discipline is what believers get in this life to encourage them to take the steps they should have taken to avoid sin. Jesus already took the punishment for our sins on the cross so there is no punishment for us, yet every time we sin it's like we pick up a whip and scourge Him again or grab a hammer and pound another nail in. Do you view sin that way?

        Have you ever experienced discipline by God? As I look back on my life I can see several examples that I am willing to share. Making more money, as a doctor, than I knew what to do with, in my earlier years I bought a BMW 929 and a '59 Corvette convertible. The BMW got some kind of crack in the engine where oil and gas were mixing and the Corvette's engine caught on fire. God was telling me what I already knew but was ignoring, "Store up your treasures in Heaven not Earth." I could go on and on and tell tales of all my stupidity but hopefully I'm learning to not let it get to the point where my heavenly good good Father doesn't see the need to discipline me quite as much. How about you?

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 38

                                                 
                                                         Hebrews 12:3,4

^" Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.⁴ In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood"

I often think of a passage in the gospels as a parallel to this one

^" If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.  ⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where

“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
    and the fire is not quenched.’

⁴⁹ Everyone will be salted with fire.

⁵⁰ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?  Mark 9:44-50 

               When Hebrews talks about "you have not resisted sin to the point of shedding blood", my take is that we don't recognize how awful sin is and take the necessary precautions to avoid it. We are like this lady in this Far Side cartoon when it comes to temptation

What is she even doing walking down that street? No wonder she gives in. Of course we are the same way. A good friend of mine struggled with pornography and when he would get gas for his car he would go inside and pay and buy a pornographic magazine. Dude! Change gas stations; this isn't rocket science! We watch TV shows that influence our minds. I heard of a woman recently who cheated on her husband and when confronted said, "I don't know why you are making such a big deal about this, the Khardashians all do this". Pretty sure she shouldn't watch that show anymore. But it's not just sexual sins. So many people are discontent with life and HGTV will fuel your discontentment with your house or life as will Facebook, Instagram and other social platforms. Maybe cutting them off from your life might feel like cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye but that's how serious sin is. It is so serious it cost God the life of His Son.

      What is it in your life that is causing you to sin or at least drawing you that way? Delete it. Block it. Unsubscribe. Whatever it takes. How bad do you hate sin??

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 37

                                    Hebrews 12:1-2

12 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, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.


           We have this view of living the Christian life, or as the writer of Hebrews would say, "running the race", as we are all on the same race track whether it be circular or a mapped out marathon course, and some super Christians are way out ahead and then the rest of us are behind sucking wind. This view leads to pride on the part of the leaders and feelings of inadequacy on the part of the "also rans". Not only that, it takes our focus off the one we are supposed to be fixing our eyes on and gets us focusing on other believers comparing ourselves to them.

          Many years ago in residency, I spent two months at Slone Kettering Cancer Hospital in New York City training in Oncologic surgery. My wife and I had very little free time but when we did, we would explore bits and pieces of the city which is basically an island with an exit to New Jersey through the Jersey tunnel. I started getting a different paradigm of the "Christian Race" also due in part from reading some Charles Colson. Colson states that as he flew into his city one night he saw lights in all parts and started thinking of the members in his church who lived in those parts. Then he was able to locate his church building and suddenly it hit him - the Church wasn't the building but rather the whole city with different members sitting, so to speak, in different pews throughout the city. So, getting back to NYC, I like to picture the Christian race as we, as Christians are all dropped off in the center of the city and told we have a lifetime to get to the Jersey tunnel and out of the city. I think that those who are interested in business might go past Wall Street. Those who are interested in international affairs would go past the U.N. building. Artistic people might go through Greenwich village and people that like singing and dancing would pass through Broadway. People interested in education might end up at Cornell while people interested in medicine, like me, might end up at 70th and York on their way out of town.

         This paradigm works for a number of reasons. First it emphasizes that God has gifted us all with different SHAPE (Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experience) and because of that we all have individual unique races marked out for us. Secondly it gets rid of judging, comparing and pride because no one is on the same path as you so how can they tell you how to run it? And third, the race God has us run shouldn't be something that is no fun. God loves us and wants us to enjoy serving him. Campus Crusade in the 4 Spiritual Laws wrote "God Loves You and has a Wonderful Plan for your Life". Although this has come under fire by the Chans and Platts of this world, what I get from that statement is that you have such unique interests, passions, experiences and gifts that God has picked out an exciting, rewarding (not easy or without pain), energizing plan for your life and wants to know if you are all in and will go wherever He leads. 

       As Steven Curtis Chapman once wrote

Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's Amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the Glorious unknown
This is the life like no other 
This is the great adventure