Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 36

                                            Hebrews 11:35-40

Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; ³⁶ and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated ³⁸ (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.³⁹ And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, ⁴⁰ because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

      What do you expect as a stamp of approval that you are pleasing God? How do you expect God to reward you for being a man or woman of faith? Maybe a promotion or raise? Maybe kids getting academic awards at school or the best scholarships? How about a car that doesn't break down? Maybe your house sells as soon as you list it with a bidding war. Maybe we expect a spouse or children that never stray. Certainly God would stop the rain on our outdoor party. Our family should be cancer proof and free of Alzheimers - shouldn't they? This is the way we think and quite often, this is the way we are taught. Because of this, when things go sideways we are left questioning God's love for us or even if He is real.

     The Bible teaches us something else. When you read through the history books in the Bible you see kings like Asa making great reforms and combatting idolatry in the kingdom followed by Baasha coming against him. Josiah brought about revival in the land and then King Neco from Egypt came into his land. Then you look at the disciples - what was their stamp of approval for leaving everything to follow Christ? Every single one went through persecution from being skinned alive, beaten to death, beheaded, killed with a sword, crucified, boiled in oil and other atrocities. What did Jesus promise the disciples who left everything to follow him?

28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:28-30

       So there you have it. We are going to be blessed far surpassing what we would have experienced if we hadn't followed Christ. But, we are going to experience persecutions too. That is promised. However, Paul talks about the "fellowship of His sufferings" so in the midst of those Christ will meet us in a way that would have been otherwise impossible and that will make it worth it. Also we will in some way receive a better resurrection which means to me... who knows? Since we were just at Disney, maybe a fast pass to see Christ? Haha. I don't know but it's going to be something good!

        Besides blessings on Earth and persecutions, the disciples received Eternal life. The persecutions talked about in Hebrews 11 and the martyrdom of the disciples were their immediate gateway to eternal bliss where there will be no more death and suffering. Maybe those bad things actually are good things. We need to think with a Heavenly perspective rather than an Earthly one which once again is what true faith entails.

     

Thoughts From Hebrews - Day 35

                                               Hebrews 11:32-34

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, ³³ who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.


        When I look at these names I see children of the Bible. The town's people went to Gideon's dad and complained about him tearing down the idols which implies to me that he is young. Judges follows Samson from his miraculous birth as does 1 Samuel with Samuel being given to Eli to raise in the temple. David was the runt of the family, not even allowed to attend the meeting of the family with Samuel. I look at all these young men, born in weakness, who turned into men of strength, strong enough to lead the Israelites in an antagonistic world. How do we turn our kids into Godly Children of strength? Here are some thoughts.

      1. Make them work - As soon as they are old enough encourage them to find employment. So many parents just give their kids everything and this just produces lazy, spoiled, entitled kids. Work teaches responsibility, being under authority, independence, money management, delaying gratification, tithing, saving, benevolence - it helps kids grow up quicker. We see Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress when we are introduced to him. We see David tending sheep and Samuel working in the temple.

    2. Let them see you standing up for Godliness - How do you expect your kids to be strong for Christ and have a backbone if you don't. The whole "Do what I say, not what I do" just doesn't work. When the ungodly idol worshipping neighbors of Gideon came against his dad, his dad stood his ground and developed a back bone. My guess is that impacted Gideon.

   3. Teach them to worship - What kind of music do you listen to in your house or in your car? Teach your kids there is nothing better than worshipping God. Barak sang a song of praise after his victory. David played a harp, wrote the Psalms, and sang. Samuel grew up in the temple. Get your kids in a kid's choir. The kids at our church sang Sunday about how they believed the Bible was the Word of God. What a blessing. If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times - Kids raised exclusively on Christian music don't stray.

    4. Let them go through tough situations - We don't want to see our kids get picked on, get bad grades, fix their own car, clean up their own messes, so we bail them out. We call teachers or call parents of bullies. We do their science fair projects, type their papers - I've even given blood for extra credit for one of my kids so he could get an A. All these kids that went from weakness to strength went through tough times and it made them strong.

WHAT'S NEXT? Chapter 1 - Salvation

                                           Chapter 1 - Salvation

       If you are reading this you have probably already "prayed the sinner's prayer" which goes something like this;

                      "Dear God, I realize I'm a sinner and separated from You.
                       I understand that there is no good thing that I can do to get rid of that sin.
                      I believe that Jesus died for my sins on the cross
                       By faith I gladly receive His forgiveness of my sins and trust
                             in Him alone for my salvation.
                       Thank You for forgiving my sins and sending Your Holy Spirit into
                           my heart to give me new life
                        I give my life to you now in gratitude for all You've done for me
                          and help me to follow You and grow to become more like Your
                          Son Jesus Christ, all the days of my life until you take me to Heaven
                             to be with You forever!  Amen"

       If you prayed that and meant it, you are saved. The term saved is used, and Jesus used it, because it represents a rescue. You were headed away from God living a life opposed to God's great plan for your life that leads to a destination of eternal separation from God in a place the Bible calls "Hell". You have been rescued from that!

      1Peter 3:21 states that it is the pledge of a clear conscience before the Lord that saves you. So it isn't so much the words you say that saves you - you actually don't have to say anything - but in your heart you are pledging your life to Christ.

    Let's go through all that just happened when you made that pledge;

    1. Your sins are forgiven - Jeremiah 31:34 the Lord says, "I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more." Your slate has been washed clean before the Lord. He looks at you and says, "Clean." There will still be earthly repercussions for your sins but no Heavenly ones.

    2. The Holy Spirit entered your life. - The Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity. In effect the life of God enters your inner being. What does that do?

        A. Regenerates you. Makes you alive. Makes you "born again" - God told Adam and Eve that the day they ate from the tree, they would die. What they experienced was spiritual death. From then on, everyone is born spiritually dead. We don't know God, want God or have a relationship with Him. Now all that has changed. Now you can talk with God and He will talk to you. Probably not in a voice but you feel His guidance and presence. You will desire His presence rather than run from it

       B. Gives you assurance of your salvation

       C. Changes you from the inside out - When God is inside of you, eventually His actions and behaviors and goodness will start showing up in your life.

       D. He is the downpayment of Heaven - When you stand before God and He sees the Holy Spirit in you, He will say, "Come on in." (that's probably not exactly how it works but that's how I like to think of it)

    3. You have become a child of God. You are adopted into His family

        A. God is your Father - Just like your earthly parents can never say, "That's not my child", you can never lose your status as a Child of God. Our parents may be ashamed of us, disappointed in us, discipline us for bad behavior, but genetically we are always theirs. Same with our Heavenly Father

        B. We are heirs - All that God has will be ours

        C. Jesus is our brother - What that means to me is that as much as the Father loves the Son, He loves me that much

        D. We have a new family - All believers no matter what color, race, church denomination, social status  are our family. There should be no fighting but rather a love and common bond that unites us all.

     4. You have been given a gift to serve the family of believers. - You will start to develop passions for helping out the church and abilities that you never had before. God equips us to perform a job He has for us here on Earth.

     5. Eternal life begins now - You will never experience death. Yes, your body may die, but the inner you, the born again soul, will just keep on living for all eternity.

     6. You have become a citizen of Heaven - Since your family changed, you are currently experiencing eternal life, and you are a child of God, your homeland changed to Heaven and you are a citizen of there. Yes, you live on the planet earth but your new mindset should be that you are an ambassador here to represent Heaven.


      I bet you didn't know all that! It took me years to figure that all out because most people tend to present it as, if you pray this prayer, when you die you won't go to Hell you'll go to Heaven instead. That's great but it is so much more and SO much better than just that!!

WHAT'S NEXT? Chapter 2 - Discipleship

                                                        Chapter 2 - Discipleship

    The 1st calling for Christians is that they need to be saved. We discussed that in the first chapter. The next calling for all Christians is that we need discipleship. That is a fancy word for being taught by someone how to become a follower of God that we were saved to become.

    Jesus called 12 people to "be with Him". We call those the 12 Apostles or 12 Disciples. He spent three years with them poring the truths of the kingdom of God into them so that when He left them they could stand on their own, through the Holy Spirit, and flourish. The Bible calls new believers "babes in Christ". You need to grow up in your faith or it stands a good chance of "fizzling out".

     Jesus tells a story in 3 different gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, about a sower that sows seeds and it lands on 4 different soils which He compares to the human heart. The first is the path where the seed doesn't implant at all. That isn't you because when you heard the gospel, you would have just laughed and walked away. The second and third are the rocky soil and the thorny soil that begin to grow but they end up being choked out or withering away by old friends making fun of you or intellectuals making you feel like a fool or just wanting to go back to the pleasures of sin. Satan does not want you to be a follower of Christ so he will work overtime to make you go back to your old life. God wants you to become the 4th soil, the one that like the disciples starts growing, leaving the baby stage, and becoming more like Christ.

     Let me share with you some ways to be discipled so you don't become Satan's chump

  1. The Bible - All discipleship begins here.   The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by 40 authors over 1500 years. It was compiled in the 4th century in a complete form under the direction and leading of God and contains everything that God intended for us to know while on Earth. The authors were divinely inspired by God to write complete truth that agrees with all the other books and is outside of time - that is there are past and future events recorded and it speaks to believers through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the present in a timeless manner. 
   How can we love God unless we know Him? How can we follow Christ if we don't know what Jesus would do?

      When you think of living you think of eating and breathing. This is what the Bible does for us. We are breathing in all He has to say to us and ingesting it so that it builds us up. So, how best can a "newbie" access God's word?

     A. Listen to good preachers of the word.

        A lot of preachers preach psychology, practical Christian living, positivity and don't even open the Bible or use it as a jumping off point. That's not what you need! Listen to preachers that pick a passage and explain what it is all about. Visit some local churches until you find that. Then, during the week try to listen to some good preaching online. 

    B. Enroll in a Bible Study.

        Your Church probably has some to offer that meet as a Sunday School or a midweek church or home study. Most of these have a book to go along with it where you can learn to study the Bible on your own and then share answers in the group where you can learn from each other. Bible Study Fellowship is an organization that disciples hundreds of thousands and see if one of those meets in your area.

    C. Buy a good Bible to study

       The Life Application Bible is a great tool to own. It has explanations at the bottom of the pages for a lot of passages. It comes in NIV, ECV, RSV, NASV, and New King James, all of which are good. Use a highlighter and write all over it. Make sure it is big enough to write notes in.

    D. Set aside a non-negotiable daily time to study

        Find a quiet place. Leave your cell phone in the other room. Study the Bible and answer the questions for that day in your Bible study booklet. If you don't have one you can order some from Navigators. I always liked Irving Jensen books. If you don't have a book I would recommend one of these two ways to study. Both involve a pen and notebook.
          1. Pick a passage - maybe 8-12 verses preferably in the New Testament
                  -read it over and over after praying that God would speak through it
                  - write down the main thought
                 -write down what God is saying to you
                 - write down the action you are going to take
          2. Pick a book of the Bible
                 -read a chapter and outline it
                - at the end write a brief summary of what you learned

    E. Memorize Bible verses

        write them down on 3x5 cards and look at them whenever you have a break. If you learn one a month that is very easy and soon you will know more than people that have been Christians for years. Here is your first year's verses:
       John 3:16                        John  5:24          1John  1:9
       Rom  3:23                       Rom  6:23           2 Cor. 5:17
       2 Cor. 5:21                       Eph. 2:8,9           Gal. 2:20
       Gal. 5:22,23                     Rom. 8:28           Isa. 53:6

     F. Find an accountability partner

      Find someone who is interested in growing in their faith and call them every week to see what they are learning and tell them what you are learning. Quote your verses to them.

2. Prayer

      Can you believe that you have immediate access to the God of the universe 24/7! Just like reading the Bible is like breathing in, prayer is breathing out. The Bible is how we hear from God, prayer is how we talk to God. A relationship takes communication and listening and talking are essential. That's not to say that God can't talk to you in prayer but it would usually be an inaudible voice of assurance and peace. It would be helpful to meet with your accountability partner for prayer.

    One formula for prayer is ACTS
     A - Adoration. Tell God how great He is. Worship Him. Maybe read a Psalm to Him or sing worship song (or quote the lyrics). We were made to worship. Don't skimp on this time

     C - Confession. The Bible tells us that if we are harboring sins in our life God won't hear our prayers. It's like, until I deal with something my wife is upset with me for, I can't talk to her. Spend some time asking for forgiveness for all the things you did today that you shouldn't have. Be specific. Don't just say "please forgive my sins" and go on

    T - Thanksgiving. God is the best Father. He is always giving to us. If you give and give to your children and they are ungrateful you start thinking you are raising spoiled brats. So many Christians are ungrateful. Live a life of gratitude.

    S - Supplication. This is the part of prayer where you let your requests be made known. The tendency will be to start here. Don't! Prayer is so much more than just asking for stuff. Don't you hate it when you get the call from someone and you see their name and you say, "What do they need now?" Don't be that person to God. Pray for the needs of others including their salvation. Pray for your church and church leaders. Pray for the government. Pray for believers around the world, especially the persecuted ones. Pray for the missionaries around the world. Pray for your family. Pray for the things going on in your life.
        Add what you are praying for to your notebook so you remember to keep praying for them and write down when they are answered. I was always taught that prayer is like a stoplight. Sometimes you get the green light - God says "yes". Sometimes you get the yellow light - God says "wait". And sometimes you get the red light - God says "No".

                  This may seem like a lot of stuff to do but as you start, it will energize you and you will fall deeper in love with Jesus and you will get to the point where you can't wait for your intimate times with Him. This will help you become the "good soil" and not let Satan steal away the best decision you have ever made in your life.

WHAT'S NEXT? Chapter 3 - Live A Holy Life

                                Chapter 3 - Live A Holy Life

 "And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins."  Mark 1:4

"Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming... Repent and believe the good news!”  Mark 1:14,15

" The disciples went out and preached that people should repent."  Mark 6:12


       The gospel or good news that you received when you prayed to receive Christ has always been, even from the start, a gospel of repentance. That's what John the baptist, Jesus, and the disciples preached. You may not have been told this when you got saved but this has been what you have been saved into.

      What does repentance mean? It basically means to change your mind - to turn and head the other direction. I see this in two categories in the Christian life. First of all, it is essential to salvation in that prior to coming to Christ you were trusting your own good works to get to Heaven. When you prayed to receive Christ, you acknowledged that you were wrong - you turned from trusting your good deeds to forsaking that way of thinking to trusting Jesus' good deeds on your behalf. That was your first act of repentance and that's what saved you through faith.

     The second act of repentance is the day to day battle we are all in and will be the rest of our lives. Prior to our salvation we were the ones calling the shots. We were the master of our own universe. When we get saved we are pledging to surrender control of our life to God. Following Jesus is an act of repentance where we turn from heading our own direction to following His direction - we do what He says not what we say. That's what it means when the Bible talks about Jesus as being Lord of our life. Lord means master. If you aren't on board with that you didn't really understand salvation and probably aren't saved. Are you OK with that? Can you say, "OK, Jesus, whatever you tell me to do, with your help, I want to do it."?  You see, that is repentance and salvation without repentance is not salvation.

    So, let's say you understand this and truly want Jesus to be Lord of your life. How do you go out doing this on a daily basis? First of all you need to remember you are not a human doing, you are a human being. Christianity isn't about doing a bunch of stuff it is about becoming more like Christ. So how do we become more like Christ?

    The first thing to remember is that when you received Christ the Holy Spirit came into your heart. You have God inside of you. I like to picture it like Spiderman. The radioactive spider bites Peter Parker and his body starts being transformed. He starts clinging to walls, spinning webs, and has a spider sense because something has come inside him. That's what happens when the Holy Spirit comes inside of us. That's what I mean by becoming. We start to act differently, think differently, desire different things just by the very fact that the presence of God has come inside.

    The second part of living a holy life comes from what we studied in the last chapter. It would be easy at this point to make a list of do's and don'ts and say follow these rules. The problem is that would be overwhelming, disheartening, and make Christianity look like a bunch of rule keeping rather than a life of freedom. Also you may not be able to accomplish some of those virtues yet. It's like going to a gym to start a fitness plan and your trainer says bench press 250lbs 6 times while you are lucky at this point if you could do 150lbs once. In the last chapter we talked about reading the Bible and letting God talk to you through it. For example let's say you are reading in Colossians and you come to verse 13 of chapter 3 and you read;

   "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

    Suddenly the Holy Spirit brings to your remembrance someone who you are holding a grudge against. You ask for God's help to forgive them and love them (that's another verse). That's how it works. The Christian life is like a marathon run not a sprint. It's about as I look at my life and others look at my life, I'm not the same person I was three years ago. I am slowly being transformed into the image of Christ. I'm not sinless but I sin less.

     You will find that there are certain sins that you just can't seem to defeat. Just remember there is no sin that can't be defeated so don't give up. You may want to share this with your accountability partner. Chances are that they are struggling with a sin also and you can hold each other accountable and pray for victory for each other.

     In the early Church, in Antioch, followers of Christ were first called "Christians". What it meant was "little Christs". They meant it to be derogatory but we embrace it. To be compared with Christ is confirmation that we are beginning to live a holy life. There are so many people out there who claim to be Christians but you can't tell it from their behavior. We like to say, "If they were on trial for being a Christian, they wouldn't be convicted." Don't be that person! Please!
      

WHAT'S NEXT? Chapter 4 - Belong To A Fellowship

                            Chapter 4 -  Belong To A Fellowship


      A Christian is not meant to be a loner or live on an island. Remember what we talked about in Chapter 1 - when you are saved you belong to a new family. God is your father and all believers are brothers and sisters in Christ. People that would never hang out together - brain surgeons and car salesmen, blacks and whites, jocks and musicians, millionaires and middle class suddenly have something in common that transcends all differences. Have you ever seen a family that doesn't hang out together? I'm sure you have. That is not a healthy family. That family is estranged because of conflict. How much worse when the world sees a family of believers that doesn't get along or a Christian who doesn't go to Church because they don't get along with other Christians. Jesus said that the opposite is true that when the world sees our inexplicable love that transcends all boundaries, they will know we belong to Christ.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34,35

          Not only do we commit to a fellowship to show to the world that Christianity is real and show them the love that Christ puts inside us for others, but we commit because it helps us to grow. Remember the parable of the soils? The weeds in our life that are keeping the Holy Spirit from growing us into the image of Christ, we are often oblivious to. Guess what - they are plain as day to others around us. As we become part of the body, others speak into our lives and help us pull those weeds. The weeds I'm talking about might be pride, ambition, selfishness, greed, entertainment or music that is making us think like the world thinks - it could be any number of things.

"As iron sharpens iron,
    so one person sharpens another. " Prov. 27:17

       Hanging out with other Christians or "doing life" with them will help transform your mind. The world thinks one way  and Christians think another. Unbelievers only think about this present world whereas Christians see everything that we do in this present world has eternal implications. It's very easy to forget that you now belong to a different kingdom when all you see is the earthly kingdom. It is so beneficial to be with like minded people to help direct your thinking. Plus it is so much fun to hang out with people who value the same things you do. If you are down and depressed it may be because you are isolating yourself.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another" Heb 10:23-25

            So join the church that you are attending and join a Sunday School class or home group that meets during the week - different churches will offer different options. This is a new family for you who will gladly welcome you and not just help you spiritually but also help you through tough times in life and you may be able to do the same for them.

WHAT'S NEXT? CHAPTER 5 - Using Your Spiritual Gift

                                               CHAPTER 5 - Using Your Spiritual Gift

             In Chapter 1 we discussed all the things that happen when you get saved and one of them was that God gives you a spiritual gift to use to help the body of believers that you have joined in Chapter 4.

^7" Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms."  1 Cor. 12:7, 1 Peter 4:10

       These are different than talents or abilities that you had prior to being saved. Those can still be used to benefit the body but you need to be careful because those can make you proud and pride was Satan's downfall and can easily be ours. You see, spiritual gifts are something given supernaturally that wasn't you prior to being saved. That way God gets the glory not you. The Bible speaks of 13 different gifts active today which may or may not be exhaustive (there may be more not listed)  It's important to realize that we are all to grow into all of these to a certain extent, but the person with these gifts will excel and thrive in their use. Here they are with a brief description.

    Faith - willing to do the "impossible" for Jesus without much doubt

    Discernment - acutely aware of what is true and what is false

    Wisdom & Knowledge - giving wise counsel to people either from the Bible or from understanding God's will as it applies to the situation

    Evangelism - looking to share the gospel with everyone they meet probably with better success than the rest of us

    Prophecy - speaking forth the truth of God usually meant to influence people in a black and white way not caring if it offends

    Teaching - skillfully instructing people from the Bible in a winsome and effective way

    Encouragement - coming alongside someone to help them not give up

    Mercy - the passion to help the needy whether it be the poor, widows, shut - ins, etc.

    Shepherding - the desire to oversee and be responsible for believers so they continue to grow and not stray

    Serving - when there is a job that needs to be done, usually a thankless one, you always want to assist.

    Giving - if your basic needs are met you are willing to give every other cent away to God's work

    Administration - you like to be the CEO of the body.

     1 Corinthians 12 compares the fellowship of believers to a body. If you have a gift and you aren't using it, it's like a body missing an arm or leg for example. A lot of people will say, "I can worship the Lord without going to Church". We looked at the fallacy of that in Chapter 4 but you can also see that if you do that, some body is missing an ear or eye because you aren't there.

     The question is, "How do I know what my spiritual gift is?" The best way is to look for a need in your church and fill it. You may really flounder in that position and really not enjoy it but give it time. If you don't grow into it that is probably not your gift. Try something else until you find something that you like and are getting good at. Chances are others will notice your giftings and affirm you.