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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Thursday, 29 August 2024:
Hebrews 3:1, 2 — Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.
Remember, you were called by God to a heavenly calling, but you were not called alone. You were called to share in this holy calling, and you were called among a long line of those who were called before you and those who God foreknows who have yet to be called. You cannot fulfill your calling alone. In fact, one of the primary measures of your faithfulness to your calling is your unity within the body of Christ, the church. Consider Jesus today; consider His faithfulness to the cross; now, model His faithfulness today but never alone.
- John 13:35 — By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Hebrews 3:6 — And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
Where God abides, there is His house, His temple, His Kingdom. When we abide in Him, He abides in us, and we are His house. Where God abides, there is love, joy, peace, hope, confidence, boldness, and enthusiasm, a light which cannot be hidden and which exposes what was once in the dark and eliminates the darkness. Darkness cannot prevail against the light. Will you confidently boast about Jesus today?
Christians with faith and hope are known for their confidence and joy.
Hebrews 3:7, 8 — Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness…”
Today, you will be faced with decision points, whether you will do what God commands in a particular situation or whether you will do what is most comfortable, self-serving, or expedient. Satan’s temptation, modelled in the Garden of Eden is to get you to doubt God, Goodness, and His word, and to get you to believe you must sin to be safe, secure, and satisfied. Don’t harden your heart. Do not resist the Holy Spirit’s conviction of your heart — obey! A failure to obey hardens your heart, making it harder for you to hear and obey the Spirit in the future.
The person who continues in sin cannot experience the peace, rest, and joy that comes from a harmonious relationship with the Lord – “And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So, we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:18, 19).” Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete…. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (the ways of God). You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:10-17).”
Today’s readings from Hebrews say that we are to “encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13).” So, let me encourage you as I remind myself to grow in your faith by remaining obedient to God out of love (not fear, pride, or guilt) so that your joy may be complete. Wait on the Lord and walk in His ways as the desire of your heart – Today.
Hebrews 3:10, 11 – Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.” As I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”
Once again, you can’t enter God’s rest if you continually go astray. Walk with Jesus and remain in His rest. By God’s grace and not by your merit, God’s presence and peace is available to you and cannot be taken from you, but you have to choose to remain in it. Satan cannot take from you what God has freely given you, but He can deceive you into denying it. “Trust and obey, for there is no other, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
- 2 Peter 1:3-15 – His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
Hebrews 3:12, 13 — Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
The fight against temptation is a daily struggle that never ends and that requires your maximum effort. Also, it is a fight you shouldn’t fight alone. You need accountability partners in your life. Make no mistake, a Christ-centered, committed community is an absolute requirement. You need three essential ministries to grow in Christ: the public ministry of the preaching of God’s word, the private ministry of your individual Bible study, prayer, and meditation; and the personal ministry of Christian fellowship and accountability. Don’t neglect any of them. If you have been relying on Bible reading and great preachers alone for your sanctification, you are like a tree which has sunlight, water, but no soil.
Be very careful! Sin deceives you. Sometimes you need someone else to show you what you cannot see. Fighter aircraft always fly in pairs, but pilots cannot see directly behind them, their six o’clock. So wingmen “check each other’s six.” In aerial combat, eighty percent of all “kills” come from unobserved attackers. Perhaps the statistics are similar within the church. “Never leave your wingman!”
Hebrews 3:16 — For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?
We must remember that most of the warnings in the Bible are not for unbelievers but rather for believers. Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep is a message to those who are already His but who have strayed away. The Israelites chose to take a leap of faith and follow Moses, but their faith quickly waned. It is not how you start the race that counts, it is how you finish. Run the race to get the prize — the prize is Jesus Himself.
Hebrews 3:19 – So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
If you stray, it is because of unbelief. All Christians are like the man in Mark 9:24 who said to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” We need the power of the Holy Spirit to grow in our faith and obedience. Will power is never enough. You grow by growing closer to Jesus. Pray for a closer relationship with Jesus, seek Him earnestly. Don’t just focus on good behavior, focus on the Son. The more you love Him, the more faithful you will be naturally. As a Christian you are a new creation, but none of us have been perfected in love. “For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.” (James 3:2) “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So, we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:15-21)
Your true belief in God and your true level of love for God will be revealed by how much you love others from your heart. If you have trouble loving others, particularly those who are hard to love, your problem is your relationship with Jesus. It is impossible not to love Jesus more and more if you are truly seeking to grow closer to Him, and if you are truly seeking Him, it will be impossible for you not to love others more and more. Consider your relationships today.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 29 August 2024: “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.” (Hebrews 3:1, 2) Consider Jesus today; consider His faithfulness to the cross; now, model His faithfulness today, first by seeking loving unity with fellow Christians and building mutual relationships of encouragement and accountability. “And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” (Hebrews 3:6) Confidently boast about Jesus today!
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 