Devotionary

Join us as we begin a brand new study in the book of Romans called The Gospel of God.

Today, we’ll wrap up our study of the book of Hebrews. And in this closing passage, found in Hebrews chapter 13, verses 2-25, the author will provide us with a much-needed reminder of God’s peace, power and provision. God is equipping and transforming us. He is protecting and providing for us. We have been made right with Him through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have His power available to us and living within us in the form of the Holy Spirit. We have everything we need to live a godly life in this life, as we wait for the promise of eternal life.

Today, we’ll be in Hebrews 13, verses 17-19 which deal with the topic of leaders and the believer’s relationship to them. Leadership is a misunderstood and sometimes, misused part of the Christian faith. Our concepts regarding leadership can be more worldly than godly. Our desire to be a leader can be motivated more by power and position than love and service. So how should we lead and how should we relate to those we have been called to follow? God has appointed leaders within the local church. And He will hold them responsible for how they shepherd those under their care. But it’s hard to lead stubborn sheep. So we all have a role to play.

In today’s episode, we’ll be looking at Hebrews 13, verses 7-16. In this passage, the author is going to give us some invaluable advice for living the Christian life. As followers of Christ, our lives are to exhibit the distinctive and defining characteristics of consistency and faithfulness. We are to model our lives after those who have exhibited these same characteristics over time, having proven their faith over the long-haul. The pursuit of the new and the novel is not to be a hallmark of our lives. New isn’t always improved. Heresy oftentimes comes disguised as new teaching or new insights into old truths. But we are to be wary. And we are to prove the veracity of anyone’s teaching by the character and outcome of their lives.

Today, we’re in Hebrews chapter 13, verses 1-6. In these verses, the author of Hebrews provides us with a practical expression of faith lived out in real life. Faith in God and a confident hope in the future He has in store for us should show up in tangible, visible forms that make a dramatic difference in the way we live our lives. He’s going to emphasize love, hospitality, and acts of kindness to the mistreated and imprisoned. He’s going to uphold the sanctity of marriage, the lure of materialism, and the need for contentment. Our faith is in a faithful, trustworthy God, who won’t forsake us or allow anyone to do anything to us that is outside His will for us.

In today’s episode, we’ll be covering the last portion of Hebrews chapter 12, looking at verses 25-29. In this passage, the author makes yet another comparison between the events surrounding Mount Sinai and the as-yet-to-be events that are associated with the future Mount Zion or Christ’s earthly kingdom. There is a day coming when our faith will no longer be in the hoped for and unseen. There will be a tangible, lasting, and unshakeable kingdom in which we will live for eternity. The things of this earth are temporal and will one day be replaced with the perfect and permanent. This flawed, sin-ravaged creation will be renewed and redeemed by God. And it is for that day we are to confidently, expectantly hope.

Today we’ll be in Hebrews chapter 12, verses 18-24 in a lesson entitled, “Our Heavenly Home.” As he begins to wrap up his letter, the author points us to the ultimate destination and focus of our faith: Our eternal home. He will contrast Mount Sinai with Mount Zion, comparing the past with the future, the law with grace, and human works with a resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Unlike Mount Sinai where the Israelites trembled in fear at the sound and light show accompanied God’s presence and illustrated His holiness, the day is coming when we will enter into God’s presence without fear of judgment and as holy righteous in His eyes.

In today’s episode, we’ll look at verses 12-17 of Hebrews chapter 12. In these verses, the author of Hebrews will encourage us to strive after holiness and peace. And not in some isolated, Lone Ranger kind of way, but as part of the body of Christ. Our pursuit of holiness is to be a team effort, aimed at helping one another keep the goal of Christ-likeness our highest priority. The author is going to warn us against three very real threats to our faith: Gracelessness, bitterness and a lack of holiness. As long as we live on this earth, we must keep our eyes on the prize: Our future glorification and the guarantee of our holiness. That’s the objective.

Today, we’ll cover Hebrews chapter 12, verses 3-11. In this passage, the author turns to Jesus as a model for our faith in the midst of difficulties and trials. Jesus lived on this earth as a man. He suffered temptations, yet without sin. He knew what it was like to be hungry and to go without sleep. He was well-acquainted with rejection and false accusations. And yet He was faithful to His Father and lived His life without sin. Jesus suffered. So will we. But like Jesus, we have a future reserved for us in heaven. While we live on this earth, God will lovingly discipline us. He will continue to patiently transform us into the likeness of His Son.

In this episode, we move into chapter 12, verses 1-2. Having met all the Old Testament saints and heard their stories of faith, the author now challenges us to follow their examples. This is where it all gets practical and applicable. The characters found in chapter 11 aren’t there to make us feel small and inadequate. They were not provided as a means to make us question our faith, but to strengthen it. They were men and women just like us. They had doubts, concerns, weaknesses and moments of faithlessness. But they remained faithful to the end. And today, we’ll learn the key for us to do the same thing.

In today’s episode we come to the end of chapter eleven of Hebrews. In these two closing verses, verses 39 and 40, the author sums up all the characters he has listed in his great hall of faith. They were all commended for their faith, but none of them ever received what had been promised – at least not in their lifetimes. God had something bigger, better and greater in store for all of them. Ultimately, their hope and faith had been in God and they had been willing to trust Him for whatever He had in store for them. The fulfillment of all their hopes and the focus of all their faith was the coming of the Messiah, the Savior sent by God to redeem a lost world and provide a means by which sinful men could be made right with a holy God. While all of these individuals made it into the hall of faith, all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ also occupy that same space. And one day we will join them, having received something far better than we could ever imagine.

Today’s episode contains a much lengthier list of individuals than we’ve covered so far. As if he is running out of time and space, the author provides with us with six additional names and throws in the prophets for good measure. But the one thing all of these people had in common was their faith. But their faith wasn’t always accompanied by ideal circumstances or perfect outcomes. Each has a different story of faith, but they all share a common focus for their faith: God. Some suffered for their faith. Others discovered the truth that, by faith, it is possible to grow strong even in weakness. Sometimes faith leads to victory. Other times it results in death. But faith in God never disappoints or fails to deliver.

Today we’ll get introduced to an unlikely character in the great hall of faith found in Hebrews chapter eleven. Verse 31 presents us with Rahab, a woman the author and the book of Joshua both describe as a prostitute. And yet, this woman of ill repute is listed as having had faith in God. In fact, it was her faith in God that kept the spies safe and her family alive. Faith isn’t tied to our spirituality or superior morality. It’s based on the reliability and reality of God. Rahab’s sinful lifestyle had earned her a well-deserved death, but this unlikely source, a prostitute, placed her unwavering faith in God – and lived.

In today’s episode, based on Hebrews chapter 11, verse 30, we’ll be looking at the faith demonstrated by the people of God when they followed His somewhat crazy-sounding counsel regarding the city of Jericho. It would be their first battle in the promised land and, rather than strapping on their swords and shields and going toe-to-toe with the enemy, there were instructed to spend a week hiking around the walls of the city – in silence. They would eventually defeat the city of Jericho, but without firing a single arrow or throwing a solitary spear.

Today, we’ll be in verse 29 of Hebrews chapter 11, and this time, instead of Moses, we’ll be looking at the people he led – the newly-freed Israelites. This verse deals with the well-known and much-debated story of the miraculous parting of the Red Sea. Over the centuries, there have those who have written this story off as either myth or a case of literary license. But the author of Hebrews believed it was a real-life event that revealed the actual faith of flesh-and-blood people like you and me. As amazing as the parting of the Red Sea might have been, the real miracle was that the people of God had the faith to step out and walk the path between those two walls of water. And the author of Hebrews makes it clear that they did so “by faith.”

In today’s episode, we take another look at the faith of Moses. This time, we’ll deal with his faith as related to the first Passover. The story is found in Exodus chapter 3 and it contains one of the most powerful illustrations of faith as belief in action. Moses would demonstrate that it is one thing to say you have faith in God, but a completely different thing to put shoe leather to that faith by stepping out and doing what God has called you to do ­– no matter how strange it may sound. Sometimes God asks us to do the impossible and improbable. But faith believes and acts on that belief, trusting God enough to obey Him.       

In today’s episode, called “Waiting on God in faith,” we get another glimpse into the faith of Moses. This time, we’ll be looking at verse 27 in Hebrews chapter 11. Moses is forced to leave Egypt because he had killed an Egyptian. But did he leave in a state of fear or faith? The Exodus account seems to paint a slightly different picture than that of Hebrews. But when we combine these two divinely-inspired passages, we get a much clearer picture of what was going on and how Moses left Egypt by faith, not motivated by fear.

Today’s episode is based on Hebrews 11, verses 24-26 and deals with Moses. The great emancipator of God’s people. Moses, as we have already seen, was spared a death as decreed by Pharaoh. His parents, acting out of faith in God, placed their infant son in a papyrus basket and set him afloat on the Nile. Discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses would grow up the royal court. But the day would come when he would reject his royal pedigree and choose instead to suffer with the people of God. And according to the author of Hebrews, he did so by faith.      

In today's episode, based on Hebrews 11, verse 23, we're going to look at Jochebed and Amram. Not exactly household names. These were the parents of Moses and the author is going to use their actions concerning their newborn son as a further demonstration of biblical faith. Living in a day when the tide had turned against the people of Israel living in Egypt, they were forced to trust God with the life of their son. The Pharaoh was out to destroy him, along with all the other male Hebrew infants. And while the Pharaoh was considered a god by his own people, Jochebed and Amram were putting their faith and hope in the one true God.

Today, we’re in Hebrews 11, verse 22. And this one deals with Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob and the young man whose life went from favorite son to hated sibling. Sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, Joseph would end up in Egypt, where his lot would include life as a slave, false imprisonment, and an unexpected, meteoric rise to the second-highest position in the land. But the main thing mentioned about Joseph in the book of Hebrews is his bones. While he fully expected God to fulfill His promise to return the people of Israel to the land of Canaan, he knew he wouldn’t live long enough to join them. But his bones would.