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The pain of the marathon

10 Feb

The pain of the marathon

Hebrews 12:12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

It is mornings like this I do believe God has a sense of humor. Yesterday I spent the day on a dirt bike racing around in the woods, and even had a pretty bad crash that I am feeling the soreness of today. This morning in prayer I thanked God for the joy and safety of yesterday, and I felt led to go to Hebrews 12. This chapter in the Bible speaks of the race of faith, the discipline & trials of faith, and all that we must endure as a part of it. I laughed as I came to verse 12 above; for God knew exactly how I was feeling today. I even wrote in my Bible “almost funny after dirt bike crash” beside this scripture.

Living the Christian life is not going to be easy. Hebrews 12 points us to all the evidences of that.  The author of Hebrews sets our life of faith as an endurance race; we must possess the strength to make it to the end, not the speed of the short sprint. We must focus our eyes on the goal of the prize that awaits us in eternal paradise; a life with God; a life without sin;  a life without pain; as perfect a life as you can possibly imagine cannot grasp the rewards of heaven. If you begin to grasp the power of the Cross, and what Christ endured there, you will be drawn to the understanding that all you must endure is small. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. There is strength that comes in that understanding of the Cross. That humble feeling you get in the pit of your stomach, is a gratitude that gives you strength to endure the temporary for the eternal reward.

Hebrews 12:3-11 speaks directly to how God disciplines those that he loves. Of how our earthly fathers perform the expected same, yet do we believe our heavenly Father will not? Our Father knows us better than anyone for He created us, and He knows where we need disciplining. This too is painful for a time, but in it he desires to make us more like Christ. If you claiming Christ, knowingly living in sin; yet God seems to be letting you slide without discipline; you should be very afraid. 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (ESV) Claiming Christianity carries no weight; there must be evidence in your life. Your claim may be only your own. Hebrews 12:8 speaks directly in line with Luke 13:27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ Put your eyes on the eternal reward; put your heart on the price Christ paid; strengthen yourself in them for the race of faith that lies before us.

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Discipline

17 Oct

Discipline

Hebrews 12:9-10  Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.

As a parent it pains me when I see my words of discipline move my boys to tears. They are both strong willed like their parents, and many times it takes a strong tone to grab their attention to understanding they are wrong. “Yelling” might be the best term that it elevates to sometimes. Typically I am the one who feels the worst, and an apology and explanation of the discipline are given. That is where the true lessons are learned. I thank God for the early work He did in me on my temper from early in my walk with Him. I would not have wanted to carry that rage the world brings, as a dad, without the peace as a child of God I have now.

We all have heard, and most likely have all felt like God was punishing us at times. We may have known exactly what it was for, as it came on the heels of sin. We may wonder why we are enduring extended correction, and we may have lost what He pressed on us was wrong earlier. Was the sin so deeply hidden, that denial has taken place? Was the sin of the past ever confessed? Was there a plea and acceptance of forgiveness? If God keeps stirring in your heart that sin, take it before God. That conviction of sin is an assurance of Salvation. That inner pain that you feel is a discipline of itself. 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. If you can knowingly sin and not feel the weight of that sin press down on you; you have a much bigger problem of eternal consequence at hand.

We all sin. We all were born into sin as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. Yes, you ultimately lie in their genealogy, and as their descendants live in the consequence of their action. God will punish you for your sin as your father for your time here. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” All these corrections are to mold us into the image of His Son, and to draw us near to Him. Just as we discipline our children to show them the err of their ways; and to help them avoid the pain in the future. If you question God’s discipline, go before Him in prayer for clarity, confession, and forgiveness of your sin He brings before you.

 
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Posted by on October 17, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Sprint or Endurance?

05 Aug

Sprint or Endurance?

1 Peter 1:13-16   Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

“Gird up the loins of your mind” is not a typical phrase you hear today and could apply just about anything in your life that takes your focus off Christ. We all have the battles of worldly desires that fight for the focus of our mind. I think about __________ the most. What occupies your mind that fills in that blank? I would need to make a list, but I am trying to dwindle that list down through the power of Christ  in my life. It is a constant battle and without a consistent pursuit of Him, the list will never shrink. The daily time in prayer and the Word chip away at my list. Matthew 6:33 “Seek Ye first the kingdom of God…”

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. The analogy of our lives is almost put here as and endurance race has much implication. Life is not a sprint, where you go as fast as you can to reach the goal; but an endurance run where you prepare and pace yourself setting your eyes farther out for the longer run. It requires a different strategy, and endurance requires longer focus. As in Hebrews, the “weight of sin” can make the longer race difficult. We must shed that weight to finish the race strong.

The battles of sin will always be there, many only in the mind. The strength to fight these battles is only found in prayer and the Word. You cannot defeat them alone although pride will try to convince you otherwise. Spend time daily with God and seek to lighten your load through His power to allow you to focus on Him and finish the race strong.

 
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Posted by on August 5, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Snatched from the fire

06 Apr

This morning I have been spending time in the four gospels reading the accounts of the last days of Christ. Each author telling his story of betrayal, trials, and Crucifixion. It stirs my soul and I cannot grasp the selflessness of Christ, and the understanding of His fathers Will, even to the point of asking if there was any other way. The weight of what He bore for us is impossible for us to understand for even the heavens were blackened for hours. The weight of sin bore down on one Man for eternity….wow. I could not help but feel led to gratitude for what He did for me. How can we not do all we can for Him, when we realize what He did for us? My hope is that you respond to the weight you may feel this Easter in the realization of the events. That the stirring inside you provokes a response and movement towards a change in your relationship with your Savior. May you respond to that gut feeling inside you as never before, for it is never too late, until it is.

 

Snatched from the fire

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Over 2000 years ago today represented a mark in history that forever changed eternity like none other. The mark in which lives are given the ability to pass into eternal paradise, or hell if they choose to deny Christ. Before the day of the ultimate sacrifice we all would have died in sin. Today Christ has paid the price for all of us that we cannot pay through any good deed and earn our way into heaven. Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Today we should be draw to rejoice and humble, grateful thanksgiving for what was given for us.

If you were asleep with your home on fire, and someone rescued you from sure death, you would naturally forever feel gratitude and obligation to them for giving you life. You have been asleep in sin, and Christ rescued you from your sin, providing you a path from eternal fire. Isn’t it natural once you realize that to feel obligated to Him? 1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. The realization of what Easter brings is humbling and should draw out from you a spirit of gratitude of what Christ did even for those who hated Him. I cannot fathom sacrificing my sons for anybody, much less to a world that hated me. That is a depth of love from a God of love that should stir your soul. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Let the weight of what Easter represents press on you, and let the Spirit stir you to begin His work in you for living your life as a sacrifice to Christ, whom paid the ultimate sacrifice for you. Thank you Jesus.

 
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Posted by on April 6, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Take Root

10 Feb

I struggled with so many directions on this passage. The “on fire” Christian. The hypocritical Christian. The shallow Christian. The Christian that was full of pride and security in themselves and the rituals of religion. I pray that you will seek revelation of yourselves through prayer regarding these verses. We all can easily fall in many of these traps, and that comes from a very prideful man that Christ has been chipping away, and chipping away at the root of pride in my stony ground.

Matthew 13:5-6     Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.

We all have heard of the term “On Fire” Christians. Someone whom has typically experienced a radical conversion and is eager to spread their good news. Many times we later begin to wonder what happened to them, and where they are now. That would be an easy description of someone who’s was fed the seed on stoney ground. Outwardly we appear to have good faith, but deep inside we are hard hearted and full of pride. Matthew Henry said “hardness prevails in the heart, and what there is of soil and softness is only in the surface.”

But what about those of us whom consider ourselves to have good root, and yet don’t water and nourish with the Word as we should any seed. Verse 21 says “ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Much of the Christian life is described as a race, and the endurance to finish the race. “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1)  We can’t quit when the trials of life come, and they will come. We must hold true to the seed that is placed in us upon Salvation. Christ is the seed, and the root that takes place in our heart.

 
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Posted by on February 10, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Fatherly Rebuke

04 Feb

Fatherly Rebuke

Hebrews 12:6    6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”

Chapter 11 in Hebrews is the chapter of the heros of faith such as Moses and Abraham. It speaks of all those in the Old Testament that both suffered, and or persevered through their faith. Then as we go into Chapter 12, it speaks of the sufferings we may also face as a child of God.  “For consider Him (Christ) who endured such hostility….lest you become weary and discouraged” (vs.3). God is the perfect Father whom both will reward and discipline. He is truly our role model as fathers ourselves, but we simply cannot hold to His standards. We are more concerned with being our children’s friends, than our children’s parents.

Some come to faith, as a means of escaping the woes of this world. They have been told that once they become Christians, life will be easy. But if we accept that God is our Father, we must accept the rebuke of Him. Because He is just, He only could not rebuke perfection, and the only perfection that has walked this earth, was His Son, that was sent here to die for our sins. “But if you are without chastening, of which you all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not sons.” (vs. 8). That is a scary verse if you come to faith on those grounds, and continue to sin, living a life of ease without rebuke. Matthew Henry said “to go on in sin without a rebuke is a sad sing of alienation from God.” Proverbs 3:11-12  “ My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction;  For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights”. Be thankful when God convicts you, and punishes you for a sin, for you have the security that you are a child of His.

 
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Posted by on February 4, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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