Category: A Door of Hope

The Law of the Old Testament was brutal.

The entire system was based on a continuing death.

If the people wanted to be forgiven, they had to slay innocent animals year after year.

Hebrews 10:1b – “For the law…can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”

One animal did not forgive all of their sins, only the sins of that year.

What a horrible way to live!

That’s what makes Jesus’ death on the cross so amazing!

He died once.

Hebrews 10:12 – “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;”

His sacrifice forgives all sin forever.

Hebrews10:18 – “Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.”

The writer of Hebrews calls this new system of forgiveness “a new and living way.” (Hebrews 10:20a)

Isn’t that beautiful?  Our salvation is no longer based on death, but rather on life.

Jesus' death ONCE offers us life FOREVER.

You can’t find a better offer than that!

Understanding this truth should fill our heart with thanksgiving for all that Christ did for us.

This life, however, is now a continuing living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1); and our life is no longer our own, and should be lived according to the new “law” of God.

Hebrews 10:16b – “…I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.”

We are now guided by the Holy Spirit of God (Hebrews 10:15). 

We are not to live a life that pleases our flesh, but are to have instead “our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.”  (Hebrews 10: 22b)  

Yes, God offers life, but He also offers this warning:

Hebrews 10:26-27a – “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation…”

After Christ’s sacrificial death for us, we cannot continue to live a life of sin.  Those who ignored the Old Testament Law died “without mercy” (Hebrews 10:28). 

Those who ignore the new laws that God has written in our hearts face an even worse fate.

Hebrews 10:29 – “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”

Once we have been saved by the blood of Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary, if we continue to ignore the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and continue to deliberately sin, we are in a dangerous position.

Hebrews 10: 30-31 – “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord.  And again, The Lord shall judge his people.  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

The Lord God will not ignore our disobedience to His will and His leading.

Knowing and understanding the incredible gift that we have been given by Christ’s death and resurrection, we should purpose to walk in obedience to His Holy Spirit and to His Word.

What acts of obedience do we need to follow?  Hebrews 10 gives us a short list with which to start:

1. Let us draw near with a true heart
2. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering
3. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works
4. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together

This short list should keep us quite busy, as we seek to live a life of gratitude for the irrevocable, definitive, settled work of forgiveness that God has completed in our lives.

There is a wondrous hope in Christ’s new law, which He has put in our hearts and written in our minds.

"Control freak!"

Have you ever been called by that nickname? 

Maybe it was said in jest, or maybe it was screamed in anger. 

I think we've all had moments when we deserved that moniker.

There are those, however, who take the name "control freak" to a whole new level of crazy!  You know the kind of person I'm talking about:

They are so in control of every person around them that they have lost all control of themselves.

Proverbs 16:32 comes to mind:

"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."

We can certainly lay seige to everyone in our lives and take over every situation.  We can rule our "city" like a conquering army, forcing our control on those who don't wish it, and overpowering those around us.

However, it is so much better when we focus our energy on controlling our own spirit:

• guarding every word that comes out of our mouth
• walking away from situations that don't need our input
• realizing that our way isn't the only way
• knowing that someone else can do that job just as well as we can
• allowing those around us to fail, rather than rushing in to "save the day"
• listening carefully to instruction, instead of assuming we know the correct way to proceed
• taking a few minutes to pray before responding to a critical situation
• refusing to do someone else's job and focusing on our own
• admitting our mistakes quickly, rather than blaming someone else

Controlling our own spirit is infinitely more difficult than controlling others.

It takes more prayer, more humility, greater sacrifice and extreme diligence.

The Scripture tells us, though, that it is "better" to be slow to anger and to rule our own spirit.

I think I'll just work on that today.  It looks like it could be an all-day job!

Blessings to you as you find hope in losing control (of others) to gain control (of yourself).

Alesha

Psalm 54:6 – I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

Sometimes praising God is a sacrifice. 

• Not because He isn't worthy – because He is. 
• Not because we don't know to praise Him – we certainly do know that we should. 
• Not because we don't want to praise Him – because rightfully, in our minds, we do want to give Him glory.  

In the last decade, "praise and worship" has become a shallow
activity of singing songs that appeal to the emotions.

"Praise" is so much more than that. 

It is vocalizing God's goodness and responding to that goodness by living our lives according to His principles and precepts.

Praising the Lord is a sacrifice because it is often emotionally painful. 

As we sing the glories of all that God is, we are confessing all that we are not.

• When we praise His will, we are surrendering our own will. 
• When we praise His worth, we are acknowledging our own unworthiness.
• When we praise His ways, we are saying that we will abandon our ways. 
• When we praise His wisdom, we are agreeing to lay our wisdom aside. 
• When we praise His works, we are admitting that even the difficult things are from Him, and therefore are meant for our good.

Hebrews 13:12-15 - 

Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 

Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God
continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

What things are mentioned here as "such sacrifices"?

• Going outside the camp – leaving the familiar
• Bearing Christ's reproach – living our lives differently than the non-believer, and suffering for it
• Having no continuing city – not getting too comfortable here on earth
• Seeking Heaven – having our eyes always on eternity
• Offering sacrifices of praise to God – giving voice to the goodness of God
• the fruit of our lips giving thanks – the result of our verbal praise bringing honor to Christ's name
• Doing good
• Communicating all of this to the world

This then, is true "praise".

So there will be days when singing out our praise and living out the truth of that praise will be a sacrifice for us.

Can I just encourage you to PRAISE Him even when it hurts.  As we relinquish our will to His, even though it may cause us pain, He fills us with His incredible peace.

Having peace is so much greater than having control.

May your tears be more than an emotional response to the music of a song.  May they be the outward response to an inward surrender to His will for your life.

~*~*~*~*~*~

If my lips sing it, my life should live it.

There are times when our emotions threaten to overwhelm us, when we feel we just can't take any more bad news, when we don't have the strength to try for another day.

The Psalmist expressed it this way:

Psalm 40:11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from
me, O LORD: let
thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.

12
For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have
taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than
the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

So often, however, we insist on suffering through these times without the comfort of our God.  We harden our hearts to His Word.

We use the methods of the world to comfort ourselves during these times:

• alcohol to numb the pain
• music to drown the crying
• tobacco to soothe the hurt
• food to block the agony
• pornography to forget the reality
• work to avoid the misery
• adrenaline thrills to escape the bitter ache
• activity to ignore the despair

We need to turn our back on these evasions, and turn our face toward the only One who can bring us through the heartbreak with victory.

God is not afraid of your emotions.  After all, as Creator, He is the one who blessed you with this gift of "feeling". 

Believe me, He has heard every blasphemous accusation before.  He is no stranger to the depths to which our emotions can take us.

We need to incline our hearts to Him, and allow Him to heal our failing hearts. 

We need to agree with the Psalmist at the beginning of Psalm 40, when he proclaimed:

1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and
heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of an horrible
pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established
my goings.

We need to trust Him to be our salvation, even in the midst of our fear and despair.

13
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.

14
Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to
destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me
evil.

15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame
that say unto me, Aha, aha.

16 Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say
continually, The LORD be magnified.

May we remember who we are, and never forget the great God that He is:

17 But I am poor and
needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer;
make no tarrying, O my God.

My Help.  My Deliverer.  My Heart-Mender. My Hope.

The new year is usually a time for reflection.  Yesterday I read many blog posts and Facebook statuses written by folks who were looking back on the old year and looking forward to the new one.

Here at our house, we did not spend much time in deep reflection yesterday.  We were too busy caring for our son who was very ill.  We found out that you don't have much time for ruminating when you are busy counting hours between asthma treatments, keeping track of medication dosages and reading thermometers.

I did take a few minutes this morning, though, to think briefly about last year.  It was not an easy one for me personally.  I spent many weeks of 2009 bed-ridden or home-bound due to health issues.  I have not been able to care for my son on my own for several months now, and am not able to do much by way of housekeeping either.

However, it would be very untruthful for me to say that 2009 was a hard year.

Honestly, it was a year of great peace in my home.  We have leaned hard on the Lord, and found Him infinitely faithful.

I have also felt His great peace personally in my heart and soul this year.  God has been very real and close to me.

It must be said, however, that this year of peacefulness did not come about because we are very spiritual people.

It happened because we are very simple people.

• God said, "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart."  (Psalm 73:1)

So we believed that He was good.

• God said, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."  (Psalm 118:8)

So we trusted Him.

• God said, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way."  (Psalm 37:23)

So we followed Him.

• God said, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."  (I Peter 5:7)

So we did not worry over the future.

A peaceful life is simple:  Just believe what God says about Himself.

I wonder…

What will God teach us about Himself in 2010?

I look forward to finding out. 🙂