BE AN ENCOURAGER

BE AN ENCOURAGER

Heb. 10:24 Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.  NLT

       When was the last time you gave any thought at all to ways you can encourage others?  Chances are this is not one of the things on your list of priorities to do.  If we do encourage someone, it’s more of an accident than an intentional behavior.  Let us take a few moments and think about this today.

       First of all, who do you know that could use some encouragement today?  Everyone needs it at various stages of life, so it shouldn’t be hard to come up with someone.  Give a name to someone you know who could use some encouragement.  Now, ask the Lord to give some ideas on how to best encourage them.

       Perhaps your someone is going through some physical issue that is causing much anxiety for them.  Perhaps there is anxiety over financial issues.  Perhaps there are marital issues going on.  Maybe there are relationship issues that need to be resolved.  Maybe there is frustration and discouragement over a lack of success with goals being pursued in life.  Perhaps your someone is being criticized and not being treated well by others.  Whatever the issue, think about ways that you might be able to do good and lighten the load on their shoulders.

      Sometimes just being a compassionate friend is enough.  Sometimes words spoken help.  Sometimes something we personally do is what is needed.  Everyone needs to know that someone cares and is there to support them in their journey of life.  You cannot truly say you love someone until you are willing to act it out.

     Notice that we are to be encouragers to outbursts of love and good deeds.  Outbursts are spontaneous reactions.  When we are motivated lovers of Christ it generates outbursts of love and good deeds.  When we purposely set out to encourage others, we will always find ways to do it.  It should come naturally for us.  We cannot truly love Christ and it not show in how we relate to one another. 

      The good news is that when you are an encourager, you will be encouraged by the love of others in your times of need for encouragement.  Godly love is characterized by being encouragers.  It is simply getting involved in each other’s lives and ministering to needs where needed.  Don’t just talk love talk; live it out for the glory of Christ.

UNWAVERING FAITH

UNWAVERING FAITH

Heb. 10:23 Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.  NLT

       Do you waver sometimes in your faith? Be honest. Are there times in which you question whether or not it’s all true, or if it’s worth all the struggles? I believe it happens to all who live in faith. Because we cannot see or be with Christ physically in our daily walk, we are sometimes overwhelmed by life’s circumstances to the point where it is hard to hold onto our faith. In moments of weakness or weariness, we begin to wonder and perhaps wander. Today’s verse reminds us to hold on tightly to our faith.

      The journey can be very rough. Some of the faithful are persecuted to the point of death. Some are ridiculed and in the eyes of man made out to be fools. Whatever responses we may encounter or circumstances we may find ourselves in, we must hold on tightly without wavering. What we know to be true in the light is always true in the dark. What is true when things are going well for us is true when the going gets rough. God is faithful and true always. He can be trusted to keep His promises to us regardless what life may bring our way. In sickness or health, in life or death, God is true and faithful. God’s Word is trustworthy. What He has spoken is backed up by who He is. Hang on tightly to what you know to be true about God and what comes from Him.

      If you are going through a time in which your faith is weakening, I urge you to go to the Word and remind your soul of who God is. Read what John says about Him in the Gospels and in his epistles. Read through the Psalms and hear what the Psalmists say about Him. Read the Gospels and meditate on Jesus and what He has to say about His relationship with God. Read the Word and let it refresh your soul.

      God’s promise is that when we believe and not doubt our faith will be rewarded. He promises great victory for those who hang on tightly with an unwavering confidence and hope in Him. God will deliver on His promise, so keep on keeping on in your trust in Him.                   

BOLDLY APPROACHING GOD

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BOLDLY APPROACH GOD     

Heb. 10:19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.  NLT

      We have no right to approach God’s throne apart from Christ.  We have no merit to approach Him.  We have no access to God apart from Jesus.  God can tolerate only those who come to Him through Jesus.  Because Jesus is our Savior, we can boldly approach Him.

       As His children, we do not have to fear approaching God.  We need to fear Him, but not fear to approach Him.  We must never lose our respect and reverence for God when we approach Him.  He is holy God and holds the fate of our souls in His hands.

       As His children, we have the right to approach God.  We have an open invitation to approach Him.  Jesus shields us with His righteousness.  We can boldly bring anything we desire to Him.  We can be honest with Him about anything.  We can vent our emotions before Him.  We can share with Him everything on our hearts and minds.  We might as well, He knows all about what we are thinking and feeling anyways. 

      We can approach God boldly because He has promised that if we ask Him anything within His will we shall have what we ask for. 

      We can approach Him boldly because He already knows what we want and need before we even ask for it. 

      We can boldly approach Him because He encourages us to ask and not give up our asking.  He hears us and answers the prayers of the sincere, humble heart before Him.

      We can boldly approach God because we know that He loves us and wants to help us.  We know that He wants to take our burdens off our shoulders.  We know that He wants to shower us with His goodness and bless our ways.  We know that He wants to help us make our way home to Him.  We know He wants to redeem the soul of every man.  We know that He wants to pour love into our souls.  We know He wants to heal us and make us whole.  Knowing these things are true, let us therefore boldly enter into the presence of our God and dwell there until He calls us home.

PERFECTED

PERFECTED

Heb. 10:14 For by that offering he perfected forever all those whom he is making holy.  NLT

      When Jesus offered himself on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins, something absolutely amazing took place; He perfected all those whom He is making holy.  Being perfected is not the same thing as being perfect.  No one on earth aside from Christ himself has ever been perfect.  It is impossible for us to be perfect.  We will never get to the point where we cannot be tempted and then fall into it.  Being perfected means that we are completely saved when we come to Christ for our salvation.  There is nothing else that can be done for us.  Christ completely makes us presentable to God as His children.  We are seen by God through the righteousness and holiness of Christ.  We are fit for the Kingdom of God. 

      It is a mysterious and wondrous thing Christ has done for us.  No one can fully grasp how amazing it is to be seen by God as perfectly fit to come into His presence. No one can fully grasp how a perfect God can tolerate a sinful man in His presence. 

      Those who are perfected are those whom Christ is making holy.  This is an ongoing process that never stops.  We are always being worked on.  It is Christ’s mission to make us holy.  We cannot have fellowship with Him if we are not letting Him make us holy.  He will not change us against our will, but if we are willing, we do become a holy people.  If we resist His work within us, we cannot claim to be His children.  There is a definite working of God in us that causes us to change if we are indeed His children.  We are permanently declared to be perfected when we let the Lord have His way in us. 

     A perfected soul is a holy soul, pure and ready to go and be with the Lord.

ONE DEATH FOR ALL

ONE DEATH FOR ALL

Heb. 9:27-28 And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died only once as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again but not to deal with our sins again. This time he will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him.  NLT

      After we die, our fate is sealed. We will go before God in judgment. It will be the only time some will ever see God. If they have rejected Christ during their lives, His memory will be etched on their mind for all of eternity as they reap what they have sown in the pits of hell. For some, it will be the beginning of an eternity in which they will see and enjoy God in all His holiness and glory for all eternity.

      Death is the finality of life lived on earth. We die once and that is it. In the same way, Jesus died once. There was no need for Him to do anything else. His death on the cross was everything that needed to be done for our salvation. He perfectly satisfied God’s wrath and made it possible for sinful man to be united with God in oneness of heart and life. The door to heaven was opened up for all who come to Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins to enter in.

      When Jesus comes again to earth, it will be to gather together all of His children and usher them through the door He opened to heaven where they will live forever.

      Are you eagerly serving the Lord, waiting for Him to come and gather together His children? Or, does the thought of it make you uneasy and frighten you? Jesus may come for you today.  Are you ready? Are you living for Him daily?  Have you invested your life in Him?  Are you actively seeking to grow in grace and your knowledge of Him?

       It’s not too late to make a commitment to Christ.  Set aside your pride and self-righteousness right now and turn to Him for the forgiveness of your sins.  It will be the best decision you will ever make in life

CHRIST, OUR ADVOCATE

CHRIST, OUR ADVOCATE

Heb. 9:24 For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Advocate.  NLT

       Christ is in heaven today.  He is there because of His own merit.  He lived life without sin in His heart.  He lived in perfect obedience to God.  He even went beyond living a sinless life.  He became a sinless sacrifice for our sins.  He willingly went to the cross to make it possible for us to be forgiven for our sins.  He didn’t need forgiveness, but we do.  He willingly took all of our sins upon His shoulders and went into the depths of hell and threw them into Satan’s face.  He did away with the curse of the law for all who would believe in Him and accept Him as their Savior. 

       When He declared, “It is finished”, there was nothing else for Him to do.  He had completed all that needed to be done for our salvation.  He could now go back to heaven to sit at our Father’s right hand.  It is there where He now ministers on our behalf before God. 

      The ultimate proof of His sinless life was the cross.  Jesus came into the world to die for our sins.  If He had not gone to the cross He would have died a sinner, for the cross was God’s predetermined will for our Lord.  He would have died, and so would everyone else die in their sins.  We would still be trying to appease God with our sacrifices and offerings for our sins. 

      Christ is in heaven today actively representing us before God.  Only Jesus is qualified to stand before God as our representative.  He is there continuously proclaiming us to be His own.  He is there to stand between us and God.  He is there to be for us our righteousness even when we mess up.  He is there to keep us pure before God so that we can have an audience with Him.  He is there to defend us and keep us safe from God’s wrath.

     Christ is in heaven today for us.  Let us bow before Him and worship Him today.  Let us sing forth His praises.  Let us give Him our thanks and unwavering devotion today and always.

CHRIST'S SHED BLOOD

CHRIST’S SHED BLOOD

Heb. 9:22b  Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.  NLT

       Early in the life of the Israelites, God established a way for sinful man to deal with his sins.  It involved the sacrificial offering of approved animals.  Blood had to be sprinkled on the altar and around various parts of the Tabernacle.  It was essential because God put the life of all living creatures in the blood.  It is the most essential part of the body.  It is what carries the oxygen throughout the body.  If there is no blood flowing, there is no life.

       In doing this, God prepared the way for the death of Christ for our sins.  Life had to be given for life.  Animal sacrifices had to be made often because they could only cover up the sins of the people, not do away with them.  As long as the sacrifices were made, they would not be subject to God’s holy wrath.  They were imperfect offerings that were acceptable until Jesus came.  Jesus was the perfect offering.  He lived life without sin and went to the cross as a perfectly righteous and holy sacrifice.  His death was the perfect sacrifice and it is sufficient to take away the sins of all who come to Him for all time. 

      If Jesus had not died, we would still be lost in our sins.  We would still be under the Law and have to offer animal sacrifices.  But, Jesus did die, was buried, and rose from the dead.  He is seated in heaven at God’s right hand and ministers on our behalf before God our Father.  Anyone who desires to be made right with God must first be made right with Christ.  He must come to Christ acknowledging his sins, confess them to Christ, and ask Him for forgiveness.  Only then can God forgive us and adopt us into His heavenly family.

       Have you confessed your sins to Jesus and asked Him to forgive you?  If you haven’t, you are going to hell unless you do.  If Jesus is your Savior, live like it and tell all you can that they can be saved, too.