Quote for the Day
“…for HE who promised is faithful.”
Today's Prayer
This week as your loved ones are at home and you are traveling, hold each family member up before God and ask Him to work His will (not yours) in their life.
Hebrews 10:19-39
Hebrews 10:19-39 (NIV)19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 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 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Message
As we move from several chapters of deep theology and much discussion of the old and the new covenants, these final verses of chapter 10 are a great transition to the “hall of faith” in chapter 11. It is good for us to consider a couple of things prior to looking into the lives of the spiritual men and women of chapter 11. So let’s look at what it takes to be counted among them. A lot is poured into these last few verses in chapter 10 including insistence on holding on, what to do and not to do, and how dreadful it is to be in the hands of THE living God! While these can be very thought-provoking and even confusing things to consider, they become much clearer when we understand and apply the principles we have seen in the past verses.Principle number one is that Christ fulfilled the Father’s will and therefore we as believers are fully captured in our relationship with Him. Principle number two is that our faith and our power to accomplish all these activities and actions are to be accomplished by “…He who promised,” who also happens to be “Faithful.” The life of the Christian is VERY difficult if we are expected to accomplish it all in our own power. But fortunately God has a different plan; HE is the power, HE is how we accomplish HIS will. It is His will and power that allows us to spur on one another to good deeds; it is His will and power that allows us to hold unswervingly. We need to do just as Christ did at the cross, REST in the Father’s will and allow His will and His power to be our life. He IS our functional life source.