Category: Uncategorized

Hebrews 11:8

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Personal Challenge

Faith is not just a state of mind. Faith is also the actions that flow from that state of mind. Abraham believed in God, but the faith that was attributed to him came from his willingness to obey God and to leave his homeland in search of the promised land of God. Our faith is not fully consummated until we put actions to it. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Personal Challenge

Today, all around the world, millions of Eastern Orthodox Christians are celebrating Pascha as we have for over 2000 years. Pascha, our Easter, is the highest recognized feast and celebration of our church. We participate in the resurrection of our Lord from His death. And if we have participated in the great Lent leading up to this event, as well as our Holy Week celebrations, we will have also participated in the entire history of mankind from the creation in Genesis through to Jesus walking through the streets of Jerusalem, His betrayal, and death on the cross. But none of this means anything if we do not have faith in Jesus, who He is, and what He has done, or faith in His Father. It is this faith that changes us. It is this faith that gives us a desire to please Him. If we find that we are just going through the motions of worship, faking our love for Him, not paying attention to Him when He is calling out to us when we are in His liturgy, then we must ask ourselves if we really do have faith in Him. He will change us… if we let Him. He will draw us to Himself and we will find ourselves totally mesmerized on Him whenever we are in His presence… if we let Him. He will reward us… if we seek Him. When we truly know Him, we will be changed and we will please Him. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner?

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Encouraging Words

Most of my life, I saw this verse as the definition of faith, but in reality, it is more of a description of how faith works. Throughout the history of the church and God’s chosen people, faith has been exhibited, especially in hard times, through countless people looking forward to the fulfillment of the promises of God. Entry into the promised land. A Messiah to lead them. The coming of the Kingdom of God. Most of these people did not receive or encounter what they were hoping for, but their faith kept them going. Faith perseveres because of who it is that we put our faith in. Glory be to God!

Hebrews 10:35-36

Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

Personal challenge

If we are going to make it to the end of the race, let alone be in the lead of the pack, then we must have endurance. Endurance gets its strength from practice and exercise, but it gets its resolve from confidence. Our confidence is in our Lord and we must keep that confidence in order to endure to the end. Glory be to God!

Hebrews 10:23-25

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Personal challenge

If I have learned anything in my years of life, it is that you have to hold on tight to those things that are good and worth having. I have also learned that the process of holding on often includes the help of others in our life. We are charged by the writer of Hebrews to hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering. Our hope is Jesus. He is who we hold fast to. He is our source of hope. We are also charged to consider one another so as to stir up love and good works, assemble with others, and exhort one another. This is where these others can help us as we hold fast to our confession of hope. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Hebrews 4:14-16

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Encouraging Words

Jesus is our High priest. He now sits beside our God representing us day in and day out throughout the remainder of eternity. And even though we all know that there will be a day of judgment, we also believe that Jesus will be merciful on that day as our merciful High Priest. No one is sinless except for Jesus and we must seek His mercy upon us. He knows what we are going through for He too was a human being and it is because of that we can boldly approach His throne of grace seeking His mercy and Grace. Praise be to Goel!

Hebrews 4:13

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Personal challenge

Another aspect of the Living Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, is that being God, He is everywhere present, all of the time. There is nothing that can be hidden from Him, even our thoughts. The sooner we embrace this, the sooner we will begin to let go of those things in our lives that we try to hide from others and God. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Encouraging Words

We have often heard or had taught to us, that this verse is talking about the Bible. However, when this was written, the Bible as we know it did not exist the Old Testament existed in scrolls and scripts, but the New Testament was being written and none of it was compiled into the Bible that we know for hundreds of years. So what is this verse talking about? The Living Word, which is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God and He is the one that is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword and the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Glory be to God!

Hebrews 4:9-10

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Encouraging Words

We have this promise from our merciful God that there is a time of rest waiting for us, His people. A rest that is on the par with His rest after He created everything in existence. What a glorious rest that will be. Glory be to God!