Category Archives: Hebrews

¹⁴ Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. ¹⁵ Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

¹⁶ We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

Hebrews 2:14-18

Dear God, Jesus was and is so much more than we can imagine, not less. I was talking to my wife a couple of days ago about people who water down who Jesus was. “He was a good teacher.” “He was a good man.” “He was a prophet.” But the author of Hebrews has it here. Jesus was and is this piece of you that came to be with us, to live, teach, love, correct, die, rise again, and ascend so that we might have everything we need. From redemption from Satan, to an example and lessons on how you’ve wanted us to live and who you’ve called us to be all along. To just call him a good and influential teacher or a prophet and leave it there is to overlook who he really was. In fact, I’m sure he is so much more than what I can possibly think of.

Believing in Jesus life, death, and resurrection, for me, is a little like believing in the moon landing. There’s too much indirect evidence to not believe. In the case of the moon landing, there are too many people–tens of thousands–who would all have to have kept the secret. The Russians would certainly have know and exposed the lie. The picture without the stars? Well, if they were faking a picture from the moon they’d definitely have made sure you could see the stars. In the case of Jesus, there were too many people who went to their death, without exception, for them to have died for a lie. John is the only one who died a natural death. The others were murdered for what they said about Jesus. No one disputes that the original apostles were martyred. Would they have died for a lie? Would Jesus’s brothers, who were against him before the crucifixion, have all of a sudden been leaders in the church after the resurrection if it were a lie?

Father, I know so little. I am a small man with a small mind. But I know enough to know you are more than I can understand, and I worship you. I worship you as my God, the creator of the universe and of me, and my hope for a peaceful life. Bringing you my sin and accepting your love is the wisest thing I can do and the only thing I know to do. Anything else would simply be foolish. Please keep me from being foolish today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

1 Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. ² And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. ³ The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. ⁴ This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

Hebrews 1:1-4

Dear God, I was listening to some Christian Christmas music this morning while I was getting ready for the day and the thought occurred to me that I might be taking you for granted. I’m just listening to songs like “What Child is This?” but am I really worshiping you through them? I’m thinking about you, but am I revering you? Have I become too comfortable and familiar with you?

So I just want to take a moment to appreciate and marinade in what the author of Hebrews is saying here to open his book: Jesus is the son of the Father, and the Son and the Father are both to be greatly revered. You “[sustain] everything by the might power of [your] command.” Jesus “cleansed us from our sins [and then] sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.” You are awesome. You are more than I can imagine. I am humbled to be here this morning, even daring to approach your throne in prayer.

Father, help me to completely submit everything to you today. All of the decisions. All of the challenges. All of the victories. Everything. I give everything to you, Father. Show me how to love you and be glorified through the life I live today. Help me to not worry, but to turn any worrying into worship and seeking you and your direction.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. ³ Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. ⁴ After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

Hebrews 12:1-4

Dear God, I have a long history with this passage. I was probably 16 or 17 the first time I heard verses 1 and 2 at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes National Conference in Estes Park. That would be almost 40 years ago now. I even remember the little song they wrote to go with it. Whenever I read these verses I think of that conference.

I was at a church service tonight where the pastor used these verses in his sermon. While he focused on verses 1 and 2, I couldn’t help but think about verses 3 and 4. Since all of them are good, I thought I’d just spend a little time with each of them this evening.

• Hebrews 12:1
  • The cloud of witnesses: In Hebrews 11:32, the author says, “³² How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.” Who else are my witnesses? Sometimes I consider my grandparents or in-laws to be part of my cloud of witnesses. Our unborn daughter, Sandra, we lost 30 years ago last month. I think about her sometimes when I’m struggling. I think about my grandparents too. Sure, it’s nice to think that the “greats” of the faith are looking down on me, but I prefer the intimate image of those I knew or wish I had known. I don’t even know how theologically correct it is for me to think about them in this way. Are they still dormant and awaiting your return, Jesus, or are they alive in the timelessness of who you are? Either way, I do think about them in this way, largely due to this verse.
  • Strip off the weight that slows us down, especially the sin: I was with someone yesterday who is completely weighed down by this sin that is slowing him down, and I’d love to think he’s ready to strip it off, but he’s not. But before I start thinking about his sin, shouldn’t I first think about myself? What is slowing me down? What is keeping me from being more? Am I really running the race with endurance, or am I jogging in the right direction, but stopping for a lot of water breaks?
• Hebrews 12:2
  • Jesus initiates and perfects my faith: It’s one thing for me to believe there is a God and to follow a set of his rules. It’s another thing to absorb what Jesus taught through the four gospels and how the other writers of the rest of the New Testament interpreted that for us in their writing. Jesus is the initiator of my faith. He’s why Gentiles like me are here worshipping you. He also taught me some amazing lessons–lessons I’m still figuring out.
  • The joy of sitting at the Father’s right hand: That was the joy awaiting Jesus. But I also think it was redeeming us. Redeeming us gave him joy. He was already at the right had of the Father. No, his journey in flesh was about us. That was the joy awaiting him through the pain and suffering he endured. Pain and suffering I can’t imagine and do not want to endure.
• Hebrews 12:3
  • The hostility Jesus endured encourages me: I’m in a culture that doesn’t punish me for my faith. Well, that might not be totally true. I had someone say something today that would be considered even more conservative than what my own faith and ideology causes me to believe. But at the end of the day, that’s not what makes me weary. Or maybe it is. I see so much fear and frustration from my fellow Christians. I wish I saw more love and less grabbing for power.
• Hebrews 12:4
  • I have not yet given my life in my struggle: The word “yet” is subtly placed in there. Am I ready to give everything up to and including my life? Am I ready to be ridiculed and scorned.

Father, I pray that you will help me to be willing to throw off the weight and sin that slows me down. And as I look for encouragement from my cloud of witnesses and even through considering how much worse others, especially Jesus, unjustly suffered, help me to not only be willing to suffer for you, but to also make sure it is you I am suffering for. I want it to be truly driven by you and not through my own mind. My mind is foolish. You are great. I am weak. You are wise. I am foolish. If I am going to die on a sword, let it be one that came at me because I was truly representing you and not something I was doing out of my own heart just to make a point.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

³² Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. ³³ Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. ³⁴ You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

Hebrews 10:32-34

Dear God, I think I’ve prayed about this in this setting before, but I’m starting to lay out the sermon I’ll do on May 25 at a local church, and while I don’t know that I will use this passage, it has something that I’m noodling with in my head. The idea that we aren’t doing this for personal gain now or fire insurance later. It’s not about loving you so I don’t go to hell. I don’t wake up in the morning looking behind me and seeing you chasing me with the threat of hell. I’m here right now just to love you and experience the fruits of the Spirit being in communion with you grows in me. I guess in a way I’m being selfish, but it’s like I’m selfish in my love for my wife and the attention I pay to her. I do it because it brings me joy as well.

So what are the “better things waiting for [me] that will last forever”? Some would say that those words represent “heaven.” And to some extent, I suppose they are right, but they would be looking at it too narrowly. If all I had waiting for me was not burning but walking the streets of gold every day then that would be pretty shallow. No, I believe you have a richness for me both in the life I live now and the life that is to come. Worshipping you. Being in your realm. Having your characteristics grow in me. Feeling more love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control each day as I get to know you better. Having those fruits perfected in me on the other side of this world. Those are the “better things waiting for [me] that will last forever.

Father, I just want to simply stop this morning, worship you, bow down before you, and say that you’re my God. You’re altogether lovely, worthy, and wonderful to me. I’m here for whatever you have for me today. Help me to be the man you need me to be and face it in your humility and love.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. ³ Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. ⁴ After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

Hebrews 12:1-4

Dear God, the part of this passage that struck me this morning was verse three: “Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people.” The irony is, those people didn’t think of themselves as sinful. They thought they were right. They thought they were in the middle of your will. They couldn’t see their legalism that actually led to lower standards not higher. What I mean by that is going back to the sermon on the mount when Jesus was saying, “You have heard it said…but I say…” He actually wanted more from them when they were thinking he was a heretic who wanted less.

So where is my sin? When I am hostile towards others who I think are wrong about something, is my sin getting in the way of seeing things clearly? Is my self-righteousness causing pain and suffering for others? Should we all be asking ourselves this question more?

Father, maybe the first thing I need to recognize in myself is hostility and start looking for my sin there. Where am I hostile? What sin might be driving it? Help me to think about that throughout this day and into the future. Holy Spirit, poke me when it comes up and remind me to look for my own sin when I need to. Obviously, it’s not a sin to be angry. There can be very appropriate times to be angry. But I want to be angry when you need me to be, not when I want to be. Help me to find that line and recognize the difference when it is happening.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen