TAKE A NEW GRIP

TAKE A NEW GRIP

Heb. 12:12-13 So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on you shaky legs. Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.  NLT

       Are you getting tired and weary in your struggle against sin? Do you find yourself slipping more and more into it? It might be in how you act, what you think about, or how you react to life and others. Be honest, are you losing battles that you know you should be winning?

       Now is the time to take a new grip on your faith. Tell the Lord about your struggles and failures. Tell Him about your frustrations over not being able to resist your desires to sin. Ask Him to give you the strength to hold on tighter. Ask Him to show you a better way to live. Ask Him to take over the guiding system of your life and mark out a straight path for you to follow. Ask Him to take you deeper into His Word and to speak to you more clearly and loudly through His Spirit. Ask Him to give you the power to do these things.

      There are those who are following in your footsteps. Like it or not, you are having an impact on others and how they relate to God. How you are following Christ will make a difference in those who love and respect you. You will either make or break some people's faith.

      You are either a part of the problem or the solution in others' lives, depending on your own faith walk. The Lord holds us accountable for how we walk with Him. Are you stumbling around or walking strong?  Is your pathway straight, leading you to heaven, or do you wander around in circles? 

      Hang on tightly to the Lord, stand firmly on the solid ground of faith, be a good example worthy to be followed.  Great is your reward in heaven.

DISCIPLINE AND HOLINESS

DISCIPLINE AND HOLINESS

Heb. 12:10b-11  But God's discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in his holiness.  No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening---it is painful!  But afterward there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.  NLT

       I can remember growing up under my father's discipline and I can testify to the fact that it hurt!  My dad came from the old school where physical discipline was acceptable.  My dad used belts to hold up his britches and he used them to teach us right from wrong.  Dad was not afraid to correct our behavior with his belt.  We knew what we would get if he ever found out what we did so it was a great deterrent for wrong behavior.  I don't ever recall a time in which I can say I enjoyed his discipline.  I do remember many of the lessons I learned from his discipline. 

       And, I am thankful to this day that he did not know all the things that I did growing up.  If he had, I probably would have a much harder time sitting down and writing this devotional!!

       I learned to respect my father.  I may not have always agreed with him that a spanking was justified, but I sure did learn from my mistakes and tried not to repeat them.  I learned early on that it was in my best interest to obey my father. 

       I believe that most people in the Church today have very little respect for God.  They don't fear Him in the sense that I feared my dad.  As a result, I believe we have failed to learn many valuable lessons of faith we need to know.

      I learned right from wrong.  Without his guidance, I probably would have done a whole lot worse things than I did growing up.  I knew that there were certain things that I could not do and I did not do them.  I understood that there were consequences for my crossing the line and doing what I wanted to do instead of what my father wanted me to do. 

      I learned that disciple was good for me.  It kept me on a good path.  I learned it was to my advantage to do what was right.  I discovered that life was far less painful for me when I listened to my father than when I didn't.

      I attribute much of who I am today to my father's discipline.  He caused me to want to do what was right before him and ultimately before God, my Father.  Wanting to please God motivates me to listen to Him and obey Him.  We don't like to be disciplined, but it produces in us godly living.  In fact, without discipline from God, no one will make it to heaven. 

       If God’s discipline is lacking in your life, you need to ask yourself why.  Are you really listening to God?  Are you as concerned about doing what is right in His eyes as you should be?  Are you striving to be holy in heart?  Without God’s discipline, you will never be holy in His sight.

GOD'S DISCIPLINE

GOD’S DISCIPLINE

Heb. 12:8  If God doesn't discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children after all.  NLT

      The question we must address is what is the Lord's discipline?  We talk about it, but do we really know what we are talking about?  Let us consider some things to get our thinking going.

       Discipline becomes necessary when we do something wrong.  You praise someone when they do something right and discipline them when they mess up.  It is the way we teach one another what should not be done.  We don't like to be disciplined and most of us don't like to discipline others.  Yet, it is necessary if someone is going to move forward and mature. 

       Discipline should be done when someone is obviously sinning and giving the name and cause of Christ a bad name.  For the sake of Christ's honor, we must strive to keep His name holy amongst men.

      Discipline should be always done with love and purpose.  If it's done with a mean spirit, it will not accomplish its purpose; people will resist and resent it.  The Lord always deals with us compassionately, yet with firmness.  He will not let us get away with our sinning without making it very clear that there are consequences to the choices we make.

       The Holy Spirit is God's primary disciplinarian.  He chastises us and convicts us when we sin.  He shows us what we have done and what we should have done.  He is relentless and keeps reminding us of our sin until we repent.  He sometimes allows adversity to come our way if we don't pay attention to Him.  He will sometimes use other people in our lives to urge us to repent.  He will sometimes withhold His blessings on our lives. 

       If we never experience God's discipline, it means that we are not really children of God.  We are far from perfect and we do mess up, sometimes a lot.  We need God's correction and chastisements.  We should welcome God's intervention in our affairs.  It is a good thing to be disciplined.  Without it, we will never make it to heaven. 

       A person who is never disciplined is soft and unable to cope effectively in life.  He takes for granted what he has and develops a sense of entitlement to it.  He becomes spoiled and can’t handle it when he doesn’t get what he wants or things don’t go his way.  He gets in a rut of non-growth that he can’t get out of.  In other words, he’s a real mess and not a person you want to be around much.

       The Lord’s discipline is a good thing and blessed are those who receive it.

FOCUSED ON JESUS

FOCUSED ON JESUS

Heb. 12:2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.  NLT

      In verse 1 we are admonished to get rid of everything that hinders us from growing into maturity of faith. We are slowed down to the point where there is scarcely any movement at all sometimes by all the baggage we carry around. In our verse for today, we are told how we can best free ourselves up so that we can grow up. We do it by fixing our eyes on Jesus. As long as we keep our eyes fixed on Him, we will find our way to Him.

      Notice that our spiritual walk begins and ends with Jesus. We have no relationship with God apart from Jesus. He is the one who made it possible for man to be accepted by God as His own. Jesus is the author of our salvation. He is the one in whom salvation originates. Before the world was ever created, it was determined by God that Jesus would die for our sins on the cross. He is the one who came from heaven to carry out God's salvation plan. He is the one who did away with the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament by the shedding of His own blood. It was Jesus alone who broke the chains of death that had bound humanity because of their sin.

     Jesus is the one who will see our salvation through to the end. It is in Christ that we are able to have fellowship with God. It is in Him that we are able to live in victory over sin. It is Jesus who holds the keys to heaven. God will allow us to be a part of heaven only if we have a personal relationship with Jesus. It is on the merit of Christ alone that we will make it home. He will see us home to heaven if we continue to live in relationship with Him.

      Notice that faith depends on Jesus, not us.  There is nothing that we can do to make or keep us right with God.  We depend on what Christ has done for us, forgiving us for our sins and making us righteous and holy before God.  No matter how hard we try to be good, it won’t work.  It is Christ who makes us acceptable to God.

      Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Don't let the world around you distract you, blind you, or lead you astray. Understand how the world is affecting your soul. Get rid of all that is diminishing Jesus in importance in your life. Focus on Him alone for He alone is the beginning and end of your salvation. He alone can make and keep you holy before God. Live in Christ as if your life depends on it, because it does.

DON'T NSLOW DOW

DON’T SLOW DOWN

Heb. 12:1-2a Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish.  NLT

      First, you are not alone in your faith.  It may seem like it at times, but there are a lot of people just like you who have faith.  They are everywhere you go.  You may not know who they are, but they are there alongside of you and surrounding you.  Don’t believe the lie of Satan that you are the only one who believes.

       Since we are part of a huge cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of everything that keeps us from moving forward in our faith.  Sin can easily creep in and wrap itself around our souls and squeeze the life out of us.  Let us be sure that we confess all our sins and keep our souls pure.  A sin-laded soul moves very slowly. 

      There are many other things that can slow us down as well in our spiritual progress.  We can get caught up into earthly concerns and neglect our souls.  We can pursue earthly pleasures instead of feeding our souls.  We can live as if we were lord of our lives instead of Jesus.  We can procrastinate on pursuing godly living to the point where we never get it done.  We can believe the lie that there is always tomorrow to take our faith seriously.  We can get careless and fill our minds with false teachings.  We can fail to keep our souls in shape as we go.

       In order to run well the race of life, we must be free of all the baggage that slows us down.  We must be in good spiritual condition.  We must never lose sight of Christ who is the author and finisher of our salvation.  A race well run is one run with purpose and zeal.  It demands our best effort.  It demands our total focus.  It demands that we run with perseverance until we win.

     There are many reasons why people may slow down: looking around you at others instead of on your goal—Jesus, not being in good shape (improper diet, too much food), lack of purpose, not being in a proper frame of mind, etc.

      No one who starts out in faith can lose their faith if their faith is focused on Jesus alone.  Get rid of everything that may slow you down or distract you.  Run with all you got to win the prize, Jesus Christ our Lord.

SURROUNDED BY WITNESSES

SURROUNDED BY WITNESSES

Heb. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.  NLT

       We are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith. We are not alone in our faith. Everywhere you are, there are fellow believers. Don't let Satan convince you otherwise. Some people don't wear their faith well and are harder to identify, but they are there. There are people around you who understand your faith struggles and issues. There are those nearby who love the Lord like you do. If you are down because you think you are all alone, ask the Lord to show you those who are His.

      We are constantly being overloaded by things that weigh us down and impede our progress. Sometimes we are the ones who create the load and sometimes we let others do it to us. There are many things that we carry around needlessly. The things that jump out at me are: the worries of this world, the quest for prominence and success in this world, the drive to please people, the drive for earthly comforts--both now and when we retire, and the sins we hang onto. Whatever it is that is slowing us down in our walk of faith, we must rid ourselves of it, especially the sin that we let hang over our souls. Sin is a powerful deterrent to spiritual progress. It keeps us away from the heart of God. The more sin we allow to hang around, the farther away from God we become, and the harder it becomes for us to live in God.

      We are running a marathon and not a sprint. In order to endure the race, we must be in good shape spiritually. Sin is excessive baggage that will prevent us from finishing well the race set before us. It robs us of our vitality and prevents us from enjoying the race. If you have unresolved sin issues in your life, you must deal with them if you are going to finish the race.

     Whatever it is that may be weighing you down spiritually, get rid of it today. The Lord will set you free from them if you will let Him, and you will be so free that will feel like you are soaring like the eagles.

TESTED FAITH

TESTED FAITH

Heb. 11:17-18 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, though God had promised him, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted."  NLT

      The faith that Abraham lived was one of absolute commitment, trust, and confidence in God. God promised Abraham that Isaac was going to be the one that God was going to use to keep His promise to him of a nation of people too numerous to count who would possess the land of Israel. We understand that God was pointing to Christ who would come from Abraham's seed. Abraham believed God explicitly. He knew it was going to happen. He knew Isaac was going to be the beginning of the fulfillment of God's promise.

       Yet, God tested Abraham's belief. He demanded that he take Isaac up to Mt. Moriah and offer him up there as a sacrifice before God. Abraham had no clue as to what God was up to. From all outward appearances, it would seem like God had changed His mind and had other plans to fulfill His promise. Yet, Abraham knew in his heart that God would keep His word. He absolutely trusted God's character and knew He would fulfill His promise through Isaac. Abraham did not know how God would do it, all he knew was that He would. Abraham was willing to obey God explicitly. Not only would Isaac die, but as far as he knew, so would the fulfillment of God's promise. Abraham did not waver in his knowledge of God's trustworthiness and faithfulness. God would keep His word.

      What an awesome challenge for our faith today! Do we know God well enough to trust Him no matter what appears to be going on around us? Do we have an absolute confidence in God's character that enables us to live without doubting His promises to us? Are we absolutely committed to God?

      When we fail to believe and trust in God absolutely, we are in essence casting doubt on who He is. True faith is that which is grounded in the perfect holiness of God's character. It is knowing that God is absolute Truth and He will always be true in all He says. The test of your faith is how you live out what you know to be true of God.