HEBREWS STUDY Part 5

Chapter 5

I just have two points to go over from this chapter.  

Hebrews 5:7 "While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death.  And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God."

- This passage refers to Jesus, talking to God before the crucifixion.

- What we learn from here is that God hears our prayers.

- It mentions the idea of a "deep reverence" for God.

- Reverence:  Respectful, deep respect, humble, submissive.

MEMORY IDEA

Hebrews 5:8 "Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered."

- This talks about the importance of being obedient.

- Obedience is hard sometimes.  But because Jesus was always obedient, He can help us to grow in our obedience.

- The idea of obedience reminds me of a popular hymn, "Trust And Obey."

"Trust and obey

 For there's no other way

   To be happy in Jesus

 Than to trust and obey"

PRAYER

Jesus, thank You for teaching us about the importance of prayer.  It's assuring to know that especially when we pray with deep reverence to God, He hears us, and answers our prayers.  Please help us to follow your example of obedience.  In the Bible, we're told that we are to obey our parents.  Please help us to be obedient and respectful to our parents.  Not only them, but also our authorities whom You have placed in those positions.  When obedience seems really hard, please help us through those times.

Thank You again for all that You teach us in this study of Hebrews.  

In Your Name,

Let it be so

Hebrews Study part 4

CHAPTER 4 Highlights

The majority of this chapter talks about entering into God's rest.  According to the LASB, in Moses' time, that was literally resting in the Promised Land.  Today, that means finding peace in God.  That peace is to be felt now and forever.  I encourage you to read the first 6 verses, but I'm going to jump down to verse 7.  

Hebrews 4:7 "So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today.  God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted:

          'Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts.' "

It is possible that the key word there is "TODAY."  So many times, for reasons I'm only sort of sure of, we choose to stay in pain, torture, suffering and stress.  One of the reasons is because some people have one speed:  Fast.  In the words of Women Of Faith speaker Patsy Clairmont, "... when I slow down, I want to speed up again."  

For others, unfortunately, there's assurance in pain and suffering, and some kind of twisted comfort.  But my hunch is that that assurance is a liar.  See, peace and rest is something that can seem very temporary, and maybe something that couldn't possibly last, due to past experiences.  But maybe that's because we find peace in the wrong places.  In this chapter, it is made clear that we are to find peace in GOD'S rest.  The reason the assurance of suffering and pain is a liar is because it tells us that suffering and pain are constant, and a lot of people don't like change.  And really, some don't even think they are able to change.  The other reason is because they think that the road to recovery means a lot of effort from us.  What a relief to find out that the road to recovery means praying, and asking God to catch us when we fall into His peace and find rest while He refreshes and restores us so we can go on with our lives with a little (or a lot) less weight on our shoulders.

TODAY. The way I see it, Today we have a choice.

CHOICE A          CHOICE B

Continue to suffer and Peace in God's rest

feel stress and pain and suffering

One leads to a life of misery.  One leads to the restoring of fresh energy.  

Let's look at it from a dishwasher's perspective.

I soak the silverware in a bucket of some kind of powdered soap (that does wonders) and water.  When that water is pretty fresh and the silverware is all under that water, the silverware is in a good place and getting cleaned.  However, when things get busy, the silverware piles up beyond the water surface and that silverware isn't exposed to the soap.  Also, by now, the water is contaminated with the food and substances from the used silverware.  I can choose to leave it that way, or dump the bucket of contents into a crate to be washed through the dish washer.  That way I can start with a fresh batch of water and soap and know that the silverware in that water is getting cleaned again.  The key is to try and replace that water before it overflows again to the point where it causes a problem.

Do you see the similarities?  Do you get my point?  

Which produces the better result?  Clean water or contaminated?  You can also apply this to when you're washing dishes at home.  Stop trying to wash dishes with dirty water.  Stop trying to go through life with all the stress and weight of the world on your shoulders.  Lay it at the cross, at the feet of Jesus, and fall into the peace of God.  Wouldn't you want to get the best result from the choice you make as soon as possible?  Make the decision today.  Decide to walk away, feeling lighter, or to walk away, continuing to suffer.  Which sounds more beneficial and tempting?

Hebrews 4:12 and 13 are popular memory verses.  One is similar to two passages in the Psalms.

Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is alive and powerful.  It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow."

Hebrews 4:13 "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God.  Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Psalm 139:2, 3, 7  "You know when I sit down or stand up.  You know my thoughts even when I'm far away.  You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.  You know everything I do.  I can never escape from your Spirit!  I can never get away from your presence."

Good reminders that God is omnipresent and omniscient.

Hebrews 4:14-16 is my next memory passage.  More popular material.

MEMORY PASSAGE

Hebrews 4:14-16  "So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered Heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe.  This High Priest understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.  There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most."

PRAYER

Father God, thank You for these wonderful words of wisdom.  I thank you that we can find rest and peace in You.  I pray that we won't wait any longer than we have to in order to find that rest.  I hope we come to you as soon as possible, so we can walk away, lighter, and ready to continue on.  

Thank You for the Bible.  I pray that we would constantly check it out to see if our lives are reflecting the words we read.  Thank you for watching over us and keeping a good eye on the things we do, and for continuing to love us, even after You see us do things that aren't pleasing to you.  

Jesus, it is so assuring to remember that You know and understand what we go through when we face temptation.  In the words of the prayer You taught us to pray, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."  

God, we need Your mercy and grace.  Thank You for providing for our needs.  And thank You again for teaching us so much through this study of the book of Hebrews.

In Jesus' Name,

Let it be so

HEBREWS STUDY PART 3

Today I

I am going to point out just a couple highlights from Chapter 3 in my Hebrews Study. But before I do, I want to remind us of Hebrews 1:3, the verse that I'm memorizing as I study through Hebrews.  Once I have it memorized in its entirety, I will offer another memory verse.  Feel free to memorize along with me.

Hebrews 1:3  "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."

So far, I'm down to "... When he had cleansed us from our sins..."

Okay, so now we're onto Hebrews 3.  This time, I just want to share a couple verses, and I think they speak for themselves.  But maybe you can ponder them and reflect on them on your own.  If you want to share any thoughts, please feel free to.

Hebrews 3:1  "And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God's messenger and High Priest."   

- I want you to think about why the NLT has the phrase "think carefully" in this passage.  King James Versions uses the word "consider" and NIV says "... fix your thoughts on Jesus..."  

- How much do you really and truly do this?

Hebrews 3:12-14 

12 -  "... Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God."

13 - "... warn each other every day, while it is still "today," so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God."

14 - "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."

- The LASB makes this statement:  "Lack of trust in God always prevents us from receiving his best."  

- How can we apply this to our lives, while applying the truth spoken in verse 14?

Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for sharing words of wisdom from the Bible with us today.  I pray that after today, we will refer back to what we've studied, so that we won't forget what we've learned.  Not only do we want to learn, but we also want to apply it to our lives.  Please help us to share the gospel truth with everyone we know, so that they would have their own hope in You as well.  Thank you again for guiding us through this study.  

In Your Name we pray,

Let it be so

 

Hebrews Study part 2

Hebrews Chapter 2 highlights

Heb. 2:1 "So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it."

 - This verse means a lot to me.  It's so easy for people to be raised up all around the Scriptures, and then walk away, to seek other views and beliefs.  I've done this before, and so far, it has always led me back home.  But that's mostly because of certain reasons:

1.  People praying for me

2.  I've grasped what Jesus REALLY means to me.  Until you do this, I believe there is little to no hope.  That understanding of what Jesus REALLY means to me is like a constant reminder, and the loudest sound my conscience makes to me.

3.   Hitting rock bottom, or God.  Sometimes, I believe God sort of pulls the plug when we have done enough damage to our heart and soul.  Touched By An Angel doesn't believe we hit rock bottom.  We hit God.  At the bottom of the pit we fall into, God is there, ready to lift us out.  It's not that we left Him and He "showed up."  The Christy Miller and Katie Weldon book series points out that He's been with us the whole time.  God is the Alpha and Omega.  He was, and is, and is to come.

Heb. 2:9 "What we do see is Jesus, who was given a position "a little lower than the angels; and because He suffered death for us, he is now "crowned with glory and honor."  Yes, by God's grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone."

I love that last part... "... Jesus tasted death for everyone."  Think about that.

The Life Application Study Bible points out that "God's grace to us led Christ to his death."

Through Christ's suffering, He fully understands what we go through when we suffer.

Heb. 2:14, 15 "Because God's children are human beings - made of flesh and blood- the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.  Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying."

- Because of this, the LASB says that we shouldn't fear death anymore because death is the doorway into eternal life.  My fear may not be completely missing in action, but it's not a huge and great fear.  If anything, it offers me hope.  I have a strong belief in Heaven.  I don't care about golden streets, pearly gates or living in a mansion.  I just want to go to a place with no more pain, suffering, hurting, hate or broken hearts.

Heb. 2:17, 18  "Therefore, it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.  Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.  Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested."

- This passage brings a sigh of relief.  In a way, it's saying that we don't have to go through hardship, pain and suffering on our own.  Jesus knows and He understands FULLY.  

- We always say that when we go through hard times like divorce, cancer and the loss of a loved one, we can help others who go through similar situations and hard times, due to our experience.

- Jesus can do that for us, and He is the ULTIMATE counselor.  All we have to do is call upon Him, and see (or read) how he handled His hard times.  Then, take what we learn, and really apply everything to our own lives.

- I believe Jesus came to be human and suffer and die for us.  He didn't come for power and to be just a high authority.

The LASB points out that He was interested in participation, not power; service, not domination; Giving, not getting.

Jesus came to serve, and that He did, in the greatest and best ways possible.

Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for all that you've done for us.  Thank you for teaching us so much in this second chapter.  I pray that we would take what we've learned, and apply it to our lives, so that it would be harder for us to drift away from the truth.  But when we do, thanks for not giving up on us, and for dying on the cross, forgiving our sins, and bringing us back to solid ground.  Thank you for creating a way for us to go to Heaven, and for making our fear of death a lot lesser.  And thank you for helping us through our hard times and reminding us that you can fully relate to what we go through.  That's assuring, Jesus.  Thanks.  

In Your Name,

Let it be so

HEBREWS STUDY part 1

Today I started reading the book of Hebrews.  I have decided to read from the Life Application Study Bible which holds the NLT.  In the LASB, it says the purpose of Hebrews is "To present the sufficiency and superiority of Christ."  

In Chapter 1, I came across my theme verse for now, and I have chosen to memorize this verse, write it on my heart, and live it out as best I can.  

Heb. 1:3  "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."

Here are some points the that LASB brought out in regards to this.

 * Jesus is the exact representation of God.  Actually, Jesus is God himself.

 * Jesus is the full revelation of God

 * Jesus is the complete expression of God in a human body.

- This links God's saving and creative power together.  The power that brought the universe into being is the same power that cleanses our sins.

- To think that God couldn't forgive our sins doesn't make sense then.  NO sin is too big for the Ruler of the earth to forgive.

- "... he sat down in the place of honor..." - that means the work was done, and that Christ's sacrifice was final.

In the second part of chapter 1, the author talks about how Christ is above the angels, and that we are to worship Christ; not angels.

Here are the two passages that really stuck out to me.

Heb. 1:10-12  "He also says to the Son, 'In the beginning Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands.  They will perish, but you remain forever.  They will wear out like old clothing.  You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing.  But you are always the same; you will live forever.'"

* Christ is our ONLY security in a changing world.

* We stand on the firmest foundation in the universe - Jesus Christ

* The LASB points out that this can remind us of the hymn "The Solid Rock" - "On Christ the solid rock I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand."

* Christ is changeless.

Finally...

Hebrews 1:14 - "Therefore, angels are only servants - spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation."

The LASB lists the functions given to angels, and who they really are.

FUNCTIONS

1.  Serving believers

2.  Protecting the helpless

3.  Proclaiming God's messages

4.  Executing God's judgment

WHO ARE THEY?

1.  God's messengers

2.  Spiritual beings created by God and under his authority

Prayer

Jesus, thank you for teaching me so much from the book of Hebrews today.  Thank you for cleansing our sins and forgiving us when we make mistakes and sin.  Thank you for never changing and for being as solid as you are, so that when we stand on you, we are standing on the firmest foundation.  You ARE the same, and you WILL live forever. Thank you for sending your angels to help us in times of need.  But may we continue to worship you alone.  Thank you again for teaching me so much about you today.  

In Your Name we pray,

let it be so