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Have you been enjoying Hebrews as you’ve Rested at the River’s Edge with us this month? I sure have. I’ve especially enjoyed chapters 10-12. Let’s look at a passage in chapter 10:

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 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. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
         Hebrews 10:19-23 (NIV)

If you’ve also been reading through the Old Testament with us, this passage makes so much more sense. Some of the references are still easy to miss though, and I can’t help but comment on them. They’re just too good.

V19: We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus – In the Old Testament, we read that only the high priest was allowed to enter the most holy place, and then only once each year. They entered in fear and trepidation, lest their sin not be atoned for and they be struck down by the holy and perfect God who dwelled in that place. But now, under the new covenant, we can have confidence to enter the most holy place because we enter by the blood of Jesus. In the Old Testament, they sprinkled the blood of a sacrifice upon the altar and other items in the temple. We no longer have to do that because Jesus’ blood has already been shed.

V20: By a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body – Jesus has opened a new and living way – one that surpasses the old way of sacrifice. There was a curtain in front of the most holy place that the priests entered through. That curtain was torn in two when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:51) – we now enter through His body. In other words, if we want to enter the most holy place, we must go through Jesus, the mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).

V21: And since we have a great priest over the house of God – Jesus is our great priest (Hebrews 4:14)

V22: 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 – Jesus made it possible for us to draw near to God. We are to approach Him sincerely, not in rebellion or flippantly. We can approach Him in full assurance because of what Christ has done for us – He has sprinkled our hearts with His blood to cleanse us from our guilty conscience. Again, the priests sprinkled the blood of a sacrifice to cleanse the Israelites from their sins, and they washed to purify themselves. Figuratively, Christ has sprinkled our hearts with the blood to cleanse us and He has washed us with pure water.

V23: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful – The writer of the letter to the Hebrews is encouraging the Jewish believers, who would have understood all of the Old Testament references, to continue to follow Christ unswervingly. That last line – “for He who promised is faithful” – the entire passage is proof that God is faithful. He was faithful to His promise to send a Messiah, to save His people, to make a way for the entire world to be blessed by the sons of Abraham.

The writer then continues to encourage the Hebrews to be faithful, leading into chapter 11 which begins:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
          Hebrews 11:1

It’s being sure! It’s being certain even though we can’t see it!

What follows is a long line of people who demonstrated their faith through their actions. You know many of them, but what I especially love are verses 32 through 34. After going through a long list of people who make everyone’s top ten list of heroes of the faith, the writer of Hebrews almost sounds exasperated to me when he writes the following:

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
          Hebrews 11:32-34

The author is saying “Hey guys, I don’t have time to tell you all these other stories, but man, the things they did through faith – conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, quenched the fury of the flames, and whose weakness was turned to strength. Wow! That’s the person I want to be! Our faith turns our weakness into strength. Hallelujah! That’s worth shouting about!

I know that Hebrews 10 and 11 were readings last Friday and Monday, but I didn’t get a chance to blog about them and they are chapters that speak so strongly to me. Tomorrow I’ll blog more about faith…Did you know that there is something beyond faith? Tune in tomorrow!

About a week ago, I wrote a blog titled We Don’t Have a Clue…

Yesterday a friend sent me an e-mail with a paragraph that just blew me away. It relates so well to my earlier blog (expressing some of what I was trying to say so much better than I had) that I asked his permission to share it with all of you. He graciously agreed.

“Job discovers, in the end, how vast the mystery of God is as God asks him questions that he cannot fathom the answers to. 

     Knowing God is like having the responsibility of drinking the Atlantic Ocean dry.  We can drink until we are full and find that we have only tasted the depths of God and that there is so much more to drink. 

     And what a difference it is between tasting the water and describing the taste to someone else.  And, if we are so successful in describing the taste that they want to drink it for themselves, helping them not be overwhelmed at the vastness of the ocean is our ongoing opportunity.”
                               Peter Scott

Our ongoing opportunity — to not only drink fully of God daily but to describe it to others and help them not be overwhelmed in the process.

 Can you hear the joy in that? What a God we serve!

      For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
    And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
                        Isaiah 9:6  (NIV)

I’ve been meditating on the titles given to Jesus in the above passage for the last few days: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

We are so blessed to serve a God worthy of these paradoxical titles. I say paradoxical, because I wouldn’t expect the “Mighty God” to also be a “Wonderful Counselor.” The Mighty God upholds me with his strength and power. The Mighty God goes to battle on my behalf. The Mighty God rides in on a white horse as a “conqueror bent on conquest” (Rev 6:2). Read what Revelation 19:11-16 says about my Mighty God, Jesus:

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Are you pumped? I am! Not because I desire war and bloodshed, but because my God is MIGHTY – He is POWERFUL – and He will some day bring justice to this world. Praise God that He has made a way for me to escape His wrath. It’s what Christmas is all about.

Here’s the paradox – that the mighty God described in Revelation is also a Wonderful Counselor! It boggles my mind a bit to think that someone with the mighty power of God is also compassionate enough to be the Prince of Peace. Yet Jesus gave us the following invitation and description of himself in Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Now that’s the Prince of Peace – One who lifts my burdens, who enables me to rest when I am weary, and One who gives not just physical rest, but rest for my soul. He takes the bits and pieces that are at war within me and brings peace to them. I am so grateful.

The Mighty God is also gentle and humble in heart. He was born to humble beginnings – wrapped in clothes and placed in a manger, visited by shepherds. Of course He was also born to fanfare fitting for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords – An angel announced His birth to the shepherds and then “a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel” to sing praises to God (Luke 2:12).

Isaiah 9 also calls Him Wonderful Counselor and Everlasting Father. The word used for counselor means to advise well or reflexively deliberate or resolve – more like a legal counselor than a psychological counselor. Jesus is our true advocate and gives wisdom that is beyond what we can know from this world. And He is our forever God, not our “here today, gone tomorrow” God. Not only is the wisdom He gives appropriate for us today, but is wisdom for all time. It is the wisdom of a father who sees, understands and knows all things. Our earthly fathers may have tried to impart wisdom in us, but it was wisdom that came from their limited life and understanding of life. That didn’t make it bad. It just didn’t make it infallible – without error. God’s advice has no errors and He will never die. He is our everlasting father.

As I contemplated these many aspects of Jesus, the question that formed in my mind was this: Do I allow God to be these things for me? He is these things, but do I let Him be those things for me?

Do I allow Jesus to be my Mighty God when I need a defender of justice, or do I push for my own justice?

Do I seek Jesus’ face when my burden is heavy and my soul needs rest or do I push on to other things or escape into television or computer games?

Do I seek and follow God’s counsel or do I rely on my own wisdom or the opinions of others?

When I need a father – whether for protection, provision, advice, relationship or comfort – do I turn to my heavenly Father or do I try to find a substitute here on earth?

Ultimately the question that God asked me was this: Am I sufficient? Do you allow Me to meet all your needs?

May I encourage you to be challenged by the same questions? Jesus is a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Is he that in your life? Are you allowing Jesus to meet all your needs? He has the power, the time, the ability, and the desire. Let Him in today.

⁵    Trust in the LORD with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶    in all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will direct your paths.
                               Proverbs 3:5-6

There has been much happening over the past couple of weeks that might tempt us to fear. Stock market and financial institutions failing. Embassy and hotel bombings aimed at US interests. These events can make it feel like the world as we know it is falling apart around us. I bet there are some situations in your personal life that tempt you to fear as well. Perhaps your marriage is on rocky ground or someone you love is going through a health crisis. Maybe you have a big decision to make.

If any of those things are impacting your life, this verse is for you! Over the next few days, we’re going to look at each phrase of the verse. It’s a well known Scripture, but you’ll find that there’s much more to it than meets the eye. Let’s get started.

“There is No Panic in Trust”
I love what Bertha Munro said: “There is no panic in trust.” It can be easy for us to fall into a panic in our hearts and spirits. We wrack our brain to try to figure out what we should do to “fix” the situation. And when we can’t come up with something, our brain triggers a panic response. Unless we know that it’s not our responsibility to fix the situation. When we know that someone else who is capable and has all the necessary resources is handling it, that panic response doesn’t kick in.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say the company you work for has just decided to have a huge anniversary celebration next month. It’ll be a great time, with music, games and celebrations. For those who don’t like such frivolity, they want to include a quieter jazz room where people can mingle or just sit and visit with friends. Sounds great…except that planning hasn’t started because the decision to have the party was just made…A location has been reserved for three weeks from today. Trust me, if you’re the person assigned to plan the party, you’ll be tempted to panic! If you’re one of the people who simply gets to attend the party and enjoy the food, dancing and socializing, you’re looking forward to it. No panic required because you’re not responsible for making the event happen.

When we entrust our lives to the Lord, it isn’t our responsibility to make things happen – God has already said “don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” That doesn’t mean we don’t have responsibility to live diligent lives of work and servanthood, but it does mean we trust God to provide the necessary resources and enable us to accomplish the things He’ll direct us.

But my 401K is dwindling…Trust Me. I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I am Jehovah-Jireh, your Provider.

But the doctor says my test results…Trust Me. I knit you together in your mother’s womb. I am Jehovah-Raphe, the Lord who heals.

But I’m lost and it’s dark all around me and I don’t know which way to go…Trust Me. I will lead you in the way you should go. I am Jehovah-Rohi, the Lord your shepherd.

But I’m scared…Trust me. I am Jehovah-Shalom, the Lord your Peace.

But I am unworthy, how can you…Trust me. No, you are not worthy, but I have made you worthy. I am Jehovah-Tsidkenu, the Lord your righteousness. I am also Jehovah-Mekaddishkem, the Lord your Sanctifier. I have set you apart for a purpose.

Trust me. I am El-Shaddai, the God Who is Sufficient for the Needs of His People. Trust me and you become my people.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart.” Make a decision today to trust God with that situation that has you most likely to panic. Let His peace will replace your panic.

Tune in tomorrow for more about what it means to trust God and how to do it.

 Sometimes the simplest verse strikes me and brings me peace. I was reading my Bible tonight. I read the last couple of chapters of Esther and wanted to continue to read. I am slowly reading through Psalms, so I turned to Psalm 143, where my bookmark was. Verse 10 struck me:

Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward
on a firm footing.

David, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, describes God’s Spirit as gracious – full of grace. The Holy Spirit isn’t angry or critical or cruel. He is full of grace. He’s gracious. The word that’s used also means good, beautiful, kindly, and pleasant. That’s God’s Holy Spirit. That’s who I want leading me! That’s who I can trust to lead me forward (forward! That means my life isn’t stagnant or going backwards. Praise God, because sometimes it doesn’t feel that way) on a firm footing (I won’t stumble – thank You, Lord).

That’s the kind of God I want to make my own. Teach me to do Your will, Lord, for you are my God!

I’m reading through the book of Numbers right now. It’s easy to get bogged down in the details. Even so, I think it’s pretty cool that God includes them (but, yes, they can get a bit tedious). Including them (and so many of them!) shows that God cares about the little things. That details matter to Him. I’m so glad! Because it’s in the details that the difference is made in my life.

Like the detail that had me decide to join the Air Force after college. It’s where I met my husband.

Like the detail that placed angels around my bed the night our apartment was broken into and I was home alone sleeping. And the detail of the dripping sound outside my window that woke me up that night. These details led to me acknowledge that I wasn’t in control and there was One who wanted control. They led to me knowing God (or should I say beginning to know God).

Like the detail that put my husband at the same business show as the courier who took a brochure of ours and passed it on to a customer of his 20 years ago. It’s what started our business.

Like the detail that allowed me to be at my dad’s bedside when he died. It’s what gave me assurance that he had reached a point of acknowledging that he wasn’t in control and willingly gave control over to the One who waited to lead him home.

Or the detail that had me in any number of places at the right time to either avoid harm or receive something good from the hand of the Lord. The details are what enrich our lives, protect us, mold us into the image of Christ and allow us to be at the right time and place to help others.

You’ve heard it said that the devil is in the details. I say it’s the Lord who is in the details. Praise God for the details!

“If God was no greater than my experience with Him, He’d be a very shallow God!”
                  Pastor Larry, River of Life Christian Church, Norwalk, OH

Every now and then I need to be reminded to expand my view of God. How about you?

While reading this morning, I was struck by the differences between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament and the God of today. Yes, I know…God is the same yesterday, today and forever. I know that. I believe that.

Yet even a surface read of the Bible reveals that He doesn’t always look and act the same way. I’m currently reading the Bible in three places. In John I’ve just read about have just seen Lazarus brought back to life. In Joshua I’ve just learned about the various parcels of land that were given to the different tribes. In Zephaniah I read a prophetic message of radical destruction delivered to the Baal worshipers in Judah. Those passages provide pretty different images of God. We know that Jesus wasn’t anything like what the Jews of Israel were expecting in a Messiah.

It makes me wonder what misconceptions we have about God because we only see what He’s doing in our generation. Just thinking about this a little makes makes a really strong case for studying Scripture (both Old and New Testaments) — so that we get a more well-rounded understanding of God. It also makes a strong case for checking out what God is doing in other areas of the globe and especially in churches outside our own. I’ve found that we get so “me” oriented in our own churches that we become blind to what God is doing outside our church.

It’s so easy to begin to believe that our church does it best! Every pastor (and probably every committed church member) I’ve known has been bipolar in their presentation of this message — every pastor specifically conveys both that there are many churches in their area and different churches are the best choices for different people AND that their church is the best. Perhaps that’s just a function of needing to believe that what we’re doing has value.

But I digress. I hope that everyone is in the church that God wants them to be in. But I also have great hope that everyone recognizes the value of other churches and I even secretly hope that occasionally people take a break from their church to see what God is doing in other churches. Because it helps us to see that God is more than what we see Him as in our own church. He’s doing more. He’s got more facets to His personality.

Has your image/perspective of God been challenged lately? If so, let me know. If not, take a walk on the wild side and visit a different kind of worship service sometime in the next few weeks. Ask God to reveal how He’s working in such a different environment. I bet you’ll be glad you did. Let me know!

Comment by dansdesk
I’m going to be posting a past sermon soon called “God in a box.” It is very similar to what you are talking about. Good stuff!
Thursday July 19, 2007 – 04:22pm (EDT)

Response by Sandyhov
I’m looking forward to it.
Monday July 23, 2007 – 11:25pm (EDT)