For the Joy

Hebrews 12:2

For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Every Easter, the world sees Christians celebrating a gruesome death. Some might see it that way, but that’s not all there is to it.

On Easter Sunday morning, many people enter a church with expectation and hope. They want to come together to celebrate life with joyful singing. But what happened to provide that scene?

Just as in fiction where the hero has to overcome terrible conflict in order to save the world from destruction and have a happy ending, Christians are aware that their blessings came from horrors endured by someone other than themselves.

When we have conflict in our lives, we have to separate what we want from what we have to do. We can take our example from Jesus. Before he was on the cross, he had time alone with God in prayer and asked if he could somehow not go through with it. Then he acknowledged his true goal: to do the will of his father.

He saw beyond the cross.

Jesus knew what was ahead of him and how it would feel. There would be painful, skin-ripping torture.  He would have nails driven into his skin. He also knew that pain would be temporary.

So he looked at the joy.

How does one find joy in an upcoming torture and crucifixion? The joy in Jesus was greater than the pain. The joy was not temporary, but eternal.

When he prayed about what he had to experience, he was battling through the temptations we all face as humans. He was not above temptation, but dealt with it daily. His flesh cried out in anticipation of the soon-coming pain. But Jesus knew his purpose.

He’s our Savior. He came to us to show us the great love of God. Without his sacrifice, we would all be dealing with our own sins. Instead, his sacrifice in our place paved the way for our return to God. Because of his persevering obedience, we can be gathered into the embrace of God for all eternity.

His pain paid for our freedom. And now, we can accept his invitation to live in his joy.

Jesus knew we would be together with him. He did whatever he had to do to make that happen.

He lived and died for the joy of eternity with us.

So anytime you think you’re not special to God, just look at a cross.

Rest from Struggles

Hebrews 4: 10-11

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.

Have you been dealing with personal struggles so long, you just don’t know what to do? Many people have personal struggles. Parents struggle with raising kids to be a consistently kind and productive member of society. It’s hard work because kids are notoriously resistant to rules and discipline. Good parenting takes plenty of time, money, and dedication. Some view their “empty nest” days as the light at the end of the tunnel.

God wants you to continue in your work until it’s time for the baby bird to leave the nest. When you’ve finished preparing your young one for the “real” world, your rest should begin. This is when you put your faith to the test. Do you really trust God? Do you think he can look after your children better than you can?

There will be a time of resting from your current struggles. When that time comes, relax and trust God to do what you no longer can do.

Jesus is a Church Worker

 Hebrews 4:14-15

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

If you’ve read your Bible, you know that Jesus was the Son of God. He was also the son of Mary. He is God who became flesh, born of a woman. He is described in Hebrews 4 as our High Priest. And by my definition (those who love and serve God by obeying him), Jesus was also a church worker.

Giving him that description doesn’t demote him at all. He came to show us how to be what God wants us to be. He had to become human in order to get his point across. His sacrifice on the cross was something we couldn’t do. But his love shown to others was something he expected us to do – and continually get better at.

Because we have a merciful God, we know we can go to him and ask for help. God gave us many tools in the Bible. He tells us in Hebrews 4 that “the word of God is alive and active.” We’re supposed to use God’s word to help us in our obedience to God. We’re not supposed to judge others, but allow God’s word to judge our thoughts and the attitudes of our hearts.

In Matthew 19, Jesus had just spoken to a group about others whose hearts were hard. Verse 13 tells more. “Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.” Had the disciples not listened? Were they being distracted by crowd control duties?

Having just spoken about those whose hearts were hard, Jesus had to deal with his hard-hearted disciples who wouldn’t allow children to come close to him. The disciples had to learn that day that their job as church workers included allowing people of all ages to come to God. God isn’t just for adults. 

Jesus is our High Priest. He’s also our Teacher. He gave us words to use so we could judge our thoughts and attitudes. With God’s word as our tool, we can chip away at our ice-cold, hard-hearted attitudes and allow God’s warm love to penetrate our thoughts and change our ways.

A Better Word

Hebrews 12:24 You have come

“to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”

When Moses led millions of God’s people out of captivity, he led them to a mountain they were warned to stay away from. When Adam was given freedom to do as he pleased in the Garden of Eden, he was given a warning to stay away from a tree.

Jesus was holy when he was walking on the earth, but people were not told to “look and don’t touch”. He said to let the children run up to him. The time of Adam and Moses was a time of warning. But Jesus came to give us love that we can see and feel and experience.

Now that we have Jesus, in whom there is no sin, and we’re headed toward a mountain which is the city of the living God, in which there is no sin, let us remember that we’ve left our old life. We’ve been given a new covenant.

Because of the blood of Jesus, we have a new life to be thankful for. New direction. Instead of hiding from God, we run into his arms.

How can we remind ourselves daily that we don’t have to carry our past around with us? How can we remind ourselves that Jesus wants us to run with him, not drag our feet? How can we remember that God has something better for us?

 

A Real God Gives A Real Reward

Hebrews 11:6

… anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

It’s easy to ignore God. Lots of people do it. Developing a relationship with someone is something fewer people do. It takes time and effort. You have to give of yourself and work on two-way communication.

Anyone who wants to hear from God about a particular issue must realize that God doesn’t really approach you in a business-like manner. He doesn’t have office hours. He doesn’t take coffee breaks. He is actually available to us whenever we want to speak and listen.

And since He’s available 24/7, we have to realize one more thing. He’s not a vending machine. We’re not supposed to put in words of praise and adoration like quarters into a machine. He doesn’t give out blessings and miracles if you push the right buttons.

God is real. He’s not only real, but he’s also a person with feelings. We sometimes forget how to approach God since we’ve never encountered anyone else who is Almighty, Omnipotent, and Omniscient. We have to remember that “seeking God” is simply seeking a relationship with him.

He is the powerful Lion who is also the gentle lamb. He’s just, and he’s merciful. He knows we’ve sinned, but he reminds us (often) that we’re forgiven.

The reward mentioned in Hebrews 11:6 is sometimes thought of in earthly or financial terms. But my experience has been that when you seek God with your whole heart, the satisfying and enduring reward that He gives is the thrill of his warm presence. Being with God is more important to me than receiving a small gift of finances. I know He provides and protects in whatever way He chooses, so I don’t fret about what I don’t control. I simply enjoy His presence.

This is the perfect time to thank God for his presence with us.

What Is Help?

Hebrews 4:16

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

What does help look like?

Help comes in many forms. It is a strong hand picking us up so we can walk again. It is a wagon carrying us forward. It is instruction so we can figure out the problem. It is medication, a ride to work, or a comforting phone call. It is a prom dress. It is a miracle. Help is God using people to correct or encourage each other. Help is God’s compassion leaning down to us.

A friend called to ask for prayer. Her mom had a terrible fall and fractured a vertebra in her neck. Of course, I prayed. But while I prayed for that family, God led me to pray for something that, on the surface, wasn’t related to hospitals or doctors. It wasn’t what I expected to pray, but I could see how God could use it to help the family.

You don’t really know in advance how God is going to lead your prayers, but if you allow Him to participate in the process, He will far exceed your expectations.

God knows our physical needs very well. He also knows about every other kind of need that we have. Generally, we miss out when we tell God what we want Him to do. If we’ll listen to Him tell us what to pray for, surprising blessings will come to pass.

So let us approach His throne and seek God’s face with an attitude of expectation because He’s listening to us with mercy and grace already in His outstretched hand.

How To Hear God, part four

Hebrews 6:10-12

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience
inherit what has been promised.

Someone once asked, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" The answer has always been, “Practice, practice, practice.” I’ve also heard that anything worth having is worth working for. Since the effort we put into getting better at something raises the value of what we’re doing, shouldn’t we put a lot of effort into any relationship we value?

If a couple of people don’t put much effort into getting to know each other, they’re really just acquaintances. There are a lot of church people who are merely acquaintances of God. But that relationship can grow with a little effort. God is willing to spend more time with us if we’re willing.

And then there’s the issue of maintaining a relationship. Some women are called “high-maintenance girlfriends” because it takes a lot of effort to maintain that relationship. If you see your relationship with God as “low maintenance”, it can be really easy to be neglectful. I think all humans get lazy in their relationships occasionally. The people we love the most are hurt when we forget about them, ignore them, or neglect them in other ways.

How can we ensure that our relationship with God will get stronger? Practice, practice, practice. Be diligent to maintain a friendship with God. We can practice our friendship skills in our relationship with God.

We must work daily on maintaining a love relationship with our spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend, so why not work daily on a relationship with God?

If you aren’t hearing from God and you want to, then put some effort into the relationship. Church time shouldn’t be the only time we work on maintaining a close bond with God. Church time is when we should be taking a look at what we’ve done during the week to see if we’re giving that valuable relationship enough of our time.

Step four of hearing from God is being diligent and paying attention to your relationship with God.

A Quick Response To God

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

What must I do to please God?

The answer is simple. First, believe that God is. Second, seek him.

But how do I seek him?

There are many ways to spend time with God. He’s waiting for you to choose one.

You can read your Bible and ask God to help you understand what you’re reading. You can pray simple “Getting to know You, Lord” prayers. You can sing songs of praise to him in church, in your car, or even in the shower. You can lengthen your mealtime prayers to include thanking God for one thing you’ve learned about Him recently.

If you are a child in a crowd of adults and everyone’s shoes look the same, you might feel lost. Your first inclination might be to cry out, “Daddy!” He’s probably watching you look for him, waiting to see what you’ll do. You might think you’re lost, but he knows exactly where you are.

He might scoop you up into his arms to comfort you. He might put his face next to yours and tell you something to do. If it’s time to leave, he might tell you to put your coat on. You might want to obey, or you might not. But he knows what is going on around you better than you do.

Your best move is to obey.

My point is that there are moments when God calls to us in response to our heart’s cry. We hear and either acknowledge that it’s God or we become fearful and refuse to believe that God would speak to us. And when we acknowledge that God has called to us, we have to make the decision to seek him.

Since God rewards those who seek Him, our quick response to God helps us be in the right place at the right time to receive that reward.