A Living Hope
Note from Jesus Dear Faithful One, Life is full of challenges when you are bound to the realities of mortality. I know, not just because I AM God, but also because I faced these realities in My physical body. I also know that many of My disciples have endured persecution and even faced martyrdom. As Peter addresses disciples facing imminent persecution and possible martyrdom, he doesn’t begin with kind words of encouragement. Rather, he starts his letter with an outburst of praise to the Father. He is overwhelmed with joy because of “a living hope” and “an eternal inheritance… that will never fade or fail.” Like the early disciples to whom Peter was writing, you did not witness My earthly life and ministry. As I promised Thomas, those who have not seen Me and yet still believe are blessed (John 20:29)! As Peter said, you are blessed because “you do believe in Him [Me] and celebrate with a joy that is glorious and beyond words. You are receiving the salvation of your souls as the result of your faith.” While you look back in faith on what I did, know that angels — the “heavenly messengers” — stood on tiptoe in anticipation of My coming (1 Peter 1:12). They knew their waiting and wondering about Me were to serve you and your fellow disciples, the very people on whom the end of ages has come. In times of trial and persecution, genuine encouragement always begins with Me and involves praise for what the Father has done through Me. Hope is built on faith in Me and on praise of My resurrection and glorification and the glory that you will share with Me! Platitudes and slogans will not sustain people through the storms of persecution and martyrdom; praise rooted in the things I have done for you and promised to you will sustain you! Verses to Live As you read these words of praise immediately following the opening salutation in the letter you call 1 Peter, I encourage you to read these words several times. Instead of being intimidated by your times, your enemies, or the threats against you, focus on the assurance of your hope — I have conquered what you face, and I will share My “praise, honor, and glory” when I AM “revealed at last”! Blessed is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! Because He has raised Jesus the Anointed from death, through His great mercy we have been reborn into a living hope — reborn for an eternal inheritance, held in reserve in heaven, that will never fade or fail. Through faith, God’s power is standing watch, protecting you for a salvation that you will see completely at the end of things. You should greatly rejoice in what is waiting for you, even if now for a little while you have to suffer various trials. Suffering tests your faith which is more valuable than gold (remember that gold, although it is perishable, is tested by fire) so that if it is found genuine, you can receive praise, honor, and glory when Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, is revealed at last. Although you haven’t seen Jesus, you still love Him. Although you don’t yet see Him, you do believe in Him and celebrate with a joy that is glorious and beyond words. You are receiving the salvation of your souls as the result of your faith. The prophets who spoke of this outpouring of grace upon you diligently searched and inquired of the Lord about this salvation: to whom and to what time was the indwelling Spirit of the Anointed referring when He told them about the suffering of the Anointed and the honor that would follow it? The Spirit revealed to them they were not serving themselves but you. And you have learned from those who told you the good news by the Spirit that was sent down from heaven. Even the heavenly messengers would like to explore this news. (1 Peter 1:3-12) Response in Prayer O Father, thank You for my living hope, Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. Thank You for His victory over sin, death, and hell. Thank You for the character and compassion that He demonstrated while on earth. Thank You for the assurance of my victory over sin, death, and hell because I am united with Him. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today’s Verse – Proverbs 10:28
The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing. —Proverbs 10:28 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Good news! When we seek righteousness, justice, holiness, mercy, and godliness — qualities of our Father in heaven — our future is with him and will be full of joy. Don’t let the darkness that may be around you now steal away the glorious dawn of joy that has already begun to appear but will dawn brighter than the sun with the return of our Savior in glory! My Prayer… Father, please forgive me for the times I’ve grown depressed and melancholy over the apparent condition of my world, the culture around me, or my current situation. Thank you, dear Father, for your promise of victory and the glorious blessings that lie ahead when Jesus returns to take me home in glory. Please continue your transformational work through the Holy Spirit as I keep my eyes on Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Worship in Your Daily World
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, While involving yourself in Christian assembly and gathering together with believers for encouragement, exhortation and worship are important (Hebrews 10:19-25), your worship should be much more extensive than an hour or two of the week spent with other believers. We — Father, Son, and Spirit — want your whole life to be your worship. It must be much more than just a little sliver of your time offered one or two days of the week. I commanded you to love Us “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). That means that everything you do should be done as part of your worship. Paul said it well when he wrote to Christians in Rome: Brothers and sisters, in light of all I have shared with you about God’s mercies, I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a sacred offering that brings Him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential worship. (Romans 12:1) As My writer of Hebrews comes to the end of his “word of exhortation” (Hebrews 13:22), he calls on his readers — and I’m calling on you — to worship in all of your daily world with head, heart, and hands. Unfortunately, the chapter divisions in your Bibles can sometimes lead you to miss the Holy Spirit’s message. With the chapter break, Hebrews chapter 12 ends with a call to worship with “awe and reverence.” Some mistakenly think this is talking about being reverent when you gather for Christian assembly. Now, of course, all worship needs to be approached with “awe and reverence.” However, this division between chapter 12 and chapter 13 in your Bibles may lead you to miss the main point being made by the Holy Spirit. This “awe and reverence” needs to be a part of your worship in the daily world. In fact, He tells how to worship in “awe and reverence” in the first 14 verses of chapter 13. He then returns to the thought He began at the end of chapter 12: “the praise of lips that confess His [My] name without ceasing” and doing “what is good” and sharing “what we [you] have.” These are the “sacrifices” that please Us! So what specifically is this worship in your daily world that is done with “awe and reverence”? Here are some exhortations from this section of Hebrews: Let your love continue toward each other. Extend hospitality, including to strangers. Don’t forget to care for those in prison for their faith. Value marriage and keep your marriage sexually pure and dedicated to the person to whom you are married. Stay away from greed and the love of money; be content with what you have. Trust that We will never forsake you. Follow your Godly leaders and live the kind of life they have lived. Stay away from new and strange teachings. Avoid the type of worship that values special foods. Join Me and My work, even if it means being pushed outside the acceptance of the crowd. This principle is valid even if your holy life leads to suffering for My cause. Remember that you have a better future with Me. This, My dear disciple, is true worship. Yes, I love it when you praise the Father and confess My name in word and song. However, don’t forget to do good to all people and share what you have, who you are, and what you believe with others. This, My dear disciple, is also real worship. These are things that you can do each day to worship Us with “awe and reverence”! Verses to Live Writers and speakers in the first century often signaled that material went together by using a technique called inclusio. Basically, they put verbal brackets or bookends around their teaching. These bookends used similar language to show that the spoken or written words between them went together. The writer of Hebrews used this technique to frame this section on worship. He began with an emphasis on worship (Hebrews 12:28-29) and ended with this same theme (Hebrews 13:15-16). In between these two verbal brackets, he shared what this worship looked like in the everyday world of the disciples. Focus on two things as you read this material with its bookends: Notice how this list from 2,000 years ago is still relevant, needed, and proper in your day. Ask yourself what other things you could add to this list about how to worship the Father in your daily world. Therefore, let us all be thankful that we are a part of an unshakable Kingdom and offer to God worship that pleases Him and reflects the awe and reverence we have toward Him, for He is like a fierce fire that consumes everything. Let love continue among you. Don’t forget to extend your hospitality to all — even to strangers — for as you know, some have unknowingly shown kindness to heavenly messengers in this way. Remember those imprisoned for their beliefs as if you were their cellmate; and care for any who suffer harsh treatment, as you are all one body. Hold marriage in high esteem, all of you, and keep the marriage bed pure because God will judge those who commit sexual sins. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have because He has said, “I will never leave you; I will always be by your side.” Because of this promise, we may boldly say, The Lord is my help — I won’t be afraid of anything. How can anyone harm me? Listen to your leaders, who have spoken God’s word to you. Notice the fruits of their lives and mirror their faith. Jesus the Anointed One is always the same: yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by diverse and strange ways of believing or worshiping. It is good for the heart to be strengthened
Today’s Verse – 1 Samuel 10:27
But some troublemakers said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. —1 Samuel 10:27 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Some folks didn’t want Saul to serve them as King because of his simple background and non-aristocratic family history. So often, we tend to do the same thing today — label people and discount their ability to lead God’s people or serve in God’s Kingdom because of their heritage or past. God, however, doesn’t look at a person’s pedigree. He searches their heart. So, dear leader, please stick close to the LORD, because you will be criticized. But please, don’t react to every little criticism or slight; devote yourself to serving the LORD boldly. And to those of us called to follow God’s leaders, let’s refuse to dismiss someone as God’s leader because she or he lacks some noble pedigree. Remember the vast variety of people God used in the stories we find in the Bible. Trust that our God will be just as creative in his choice of people he wants to lead us in our day. My Prayer… Dear God, please forgive me for the times I doubted your selection of leaders. Please give me, along with the congregation, the ability to discern who your leaders are in our midst and not judge them on surface issues. Please provide them with the courage to lead unselfishly and faithfully. In Jesus’ name. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Encouragement Matters
Note from Jesus Dear Precious One, Encouragement matters! You were not created to do life alone. We — Father, Son, and Spirit — made Adam to need Eve and Eve to need Adam. We called Abraham to be the father of a nation, not a solo person of faith. That nation was Israel, and we formed Israel to be the redeeming influence on the world. Our intent was never that Israel would be a race that retreated from the world, but We called Israel to lead the world to faith in Us. Israel didn’t fulfill that mission, but then I came as God in the flesh, Jesus of Nazareth. I did not live My life alone or conduct My ministry alone; I had many disciples. I called twelve apostles to be close to Me. I even had three disciples who were very close to me. Their names were Peter, James, and John. I shared some very important moments with them and them alone. I had a group of women who were close to Me, who helped support My ministry, and who accompanied My apostles as they followed Me. The point is, My precious one, I did not do life alone. Even with My close relationship with the Father as the Son of God, I entered into fellowship and companionship with people. After My death and resurrection, I poured out the Holy Spirit on My disciples at Pentecost. Peter preached a message that called on people to turn to Me in repentance, to be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and to be added to My new people of faith (Acts 2:38-47). Immediately this group of followers began to meet publicly in big groups and in homes as small groups. The point is that they knew they needed to do life together as My spiritual family. In your New Testament, you will see My church referred to as a family (Galatians 6:10; Hebrews 2:11) and as My bodily presence on earth (Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-30). These two images are more than symbolic as they speak to the truth of your need for each other and for your connectedness with each other. After the writer of Hebrews had finished his detailed explanation of the new covenant, he returned to his main purpose in writing his “word of exhortation” (Hebrews 13:22): he encouraged My disciples not to forsake meeting together. They needed each other, and they needed to encourage each other. Then he gave a series of examples of ordinary people with great faith. These were My people, and they are your spiritual ancestors. He used these great stories of faith to be the motivation for his target audience to be faithful. In fact, he emphasized that the faith of these great heroes of faith didn’t accomplish its clear objective if My disciples didn’t live out their faith in their day: These, though commended by God for their great faith, did not receive what was promised. That promise has awaited us, who receive the better thing that God has provided in these last days, so that with us, our forebears might finally see the promise completed. (Hebrews 11:39-40) Yesterday’s explanation of the better covenant emphasized My new covenant with you. This covenant is built on My better and once-forever sacrifice making Me a better High Priest. This teaching spoke to the disciples’ intellect, to their heads. Today’s examples and exhortations, however, appealed to their hearts, their emotions, and passions. After these examples and exhortations, the writer included these words: So since we stand surrounded by all those who have gone before, an enormous cloud of witnesses, let us drop every extra weight, every sin that clings to us and slackens our pace, and let us run with endurance the long race set before us. Now stay focused on Jesus, Who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor. Consider the life of the One Who endured such personal attacks and hostility from sinners so that you will not grow weary or lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3) Encouragement matters. You need it. Even in those few times in your life when you may not need encouragement to persevere, others around you will. So encourage each other. Be encouraged by your heroes of the faith — both living and those who have long been with Jesus. Don’t lose heart and don’t let your brothers and sisters in faith lose heart. Your encouragement of each other matters! Verses to Live As you read today’s verses, hear first the importance of getting together with other believers. Encourage each other to live My life before your watching world. Then, I want you to be blessed and encouraged by the great examples of faith in Hebrews chapter 11. Remember, these are not “Bible characters” who are somehow different from you. These are simply everyday folks, ordinary characters, who lived by faith to honor the Father. They are in the Bible because of that faith, not because they were somehow better than anyone else. You, too, can be in the Father’s faith hall of fame if you will stay connected with My other followers and encourage each other to live faithfully for Me! Since we have a great High Priest Who presides over the house of God, let us draw near with true hearts full of faith, with hearts rinsed clean of any evil conscience, and with bodies cleansed with pure water. Let us hold strong to the confession of our hope, never wavering, since the One Who promised it to us is faithful. Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the
Today’s Verse – 1 Corinthians 10:26
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. —1 Corinthians 10:26 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… When we talk about giving to God and the work of God, we must remember that all we have is his. He doesn’t need our gifts to do his work in the world — after all, he made all creation without us. On the other hand, we need to share the blessings he has entrusted to us because he commanded us to do so and because we are most like God when we give and forgive. What we ‘have’ isn’t really ours; it’s all his, entrusted to us to be put into useful service to others for God’s work and God’s glory, so others may see it and know: “Correct me, LORD, but only with justice — not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.” My Prayer… Almighty God and Creator of the universe, we praise your creative genius revealed through the incredible variety found in your creation. Please be with us, your human children and Jesus’ disciples, as we seek to be faithful stewards of this beautiful gift and the many others you have lavished on us. We want to be the conduits of your blessing to those around us by being generous and reflecting your grace displayed in giving, forgiving, and creating. In Jesus’ name, we pray to grow in the grace of giving as we recognize your glory in the creation you have shared with us. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Don’t Let It Slip Away
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, Vibrant faith is precious. Time, troubles, trials, and temptations can act as the devil’s acids to eat away at your faith until the passion of vibrant faith is eroded. Before long, passionate faith can become neglected faith and then ignored faith. One day you notice that your faith has slipped away from you. My writer of Hebrews first gently warned his readers about this problem with these words. (The words about faith slipping away are in bold while the words about avoiding this problem are underlined.) That is why we ought to pay even closer attention to the voice that has been speaking so that we will never drift away from it. For if the words of instruction and inspiration brought by heaven’s messengers were valid, and if we live in a universe where sin and disobedience receive their just rewards, then how will we escape destruction if we ignore this great salvation. (Hebrews 2:1-3) Later, this original warning to “pay even closer attention” was followed by a second warning to “pay close attention”: Brothers and sisters, pay close attention so you won’t develop an evil and unbelieving heart that causes you to abandon the living God. Encourage each other every day — for as long as we can still say “today” — so none of you let the deceitfulness of sin harden your hearts. For we have become partners with the Anointed One — if we can just hold on to our confidence until the end. (Hebrews 3:12-14) This second warning is a little stronger. It describes the process of developing “an evil and unbelieving heart that causes you to abandon the living God”. Notice the progression that can lead to total erosion of faith: The deceitfulness of sin. Hardening of the heart. Developing an evil and unbelieving heart. Abandoning the living God. Importantly, in the warnings above, the writer of Hebrews reminds you that there are faith agents that can help neutralize the devil’s efforts to erode your faith. The following faith agents are themes that run through the book of Hebrews: Pay close attention to your faith, the promises of God, the great sacrifice that I made for you, and the great salvation you have received. Involve yourself in a family of believers where you can encourage each other daily. Remember that you are partners with Me in the great work of redemption and the coming glory. Intentionally hold on to your confidence in Me, in your faith in Me, and in the promises you have in Me. Trust in your victory, confidently assured by My victory over sin, death, and hell. Verses to Live In the following verses, the author of Hebrews shares more warnings (again emphasized in bold). These strong and shocking warnings come after the warnings discussed above. They talk about what happens when people are not maturing in their faith and their service and actually reach the point when they “abandon the living God”! As harsh as these warnings are, I want you to notice that in these warnings, the writer emphasizes his confidence that the disciples who hear his message will not come to such a bitter and destructive disaster with their faith. The author gave the warnings to wake up My disciples from their lethargy and told them things to do (highlighted by underlining) to avoid or come out of their lethargy. He was confident that these warnings would work and that My disciples would respond. I am confident that the warnings will have the same effect on you, dear disciple. I do not want Satan’s acids to eat away the vibrancy of your faith. Instead, I want the warnings to stir your heart and call you to trust fully in the power of the Holy Spirit to rekindle the vibrancy and passion of your faith and your promise of “such a great salvation”! I have a lot more to say about this [blessing of having Jesus as your great High Priest], but it may be hard for you to follow since you’ve become dull in your understanding. By this time, you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet I feel like you want me to reteach you the most basic things that God wants you to know. It’s almost like you’re a baby again, coddled at your mother’s breast, nursing, not ready for solid food. No one who lives on milk alone can know the ins and outs of what it means to be righteous and pursue justice; that’s because he is only a baby. But solid food is for those who have come of age, for those who have learned through practice to distinguish good from evil. So let’s push on toward a more perfect understanding and move beyond just the basic teachings of the Anointed One. There’s no reason to rehash the fundamentals: repenting from what you loved in your old dead lives, believing in God as our Creator and Redeemer, teaching about baptism, setting aside those called to service through the ritual laying on of hands, the coming resurrection of those who have died, and God’s final judgment of all people for all time. No, we will move on toward perfection, if God wills it. It is impossible to restore the changed heart of the one who has fallen from faith — who has already been enlightened, has tasted the gift of new life from God, has shared in the power of the Holy Spirit, and has known the goodness of God’s revelation and the powers of the coming age. If such a person falls away, it’s as though that one were crucifying the Son of God all over again and holding Him up to ridicule. You see, God blesses the ground that drinks of the rain and then produces a bountiful crop for those who cultivate it. But land that produces nothing but thorns and brambles? That land is worthless and in danger of being cursed, burned to the bare earth.
Today’s Verse – Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching. —Hebrews 10:25 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… “Going to church” isn’t very attractive phrase to many folks. This reality shouldn’t surprise us. Doing things as an act of discipline isn’t very popular and often isn’t easy. Plus, doing things for others doesn’t always fill our hearts with joy — although it probably should. On top of these realities is another spiritual reality that may be even more important: “going to church” is a concept nowhere found in Scripture — church is not a place we go, but something we are! The Holy Spirit’s message in our Verse of the Day reminds us that WE need to be with God’s people because they need us to encourage, bless, and motivate them! Church is a gathering of Jesus’ disciples to honor him and bless each other. The LORD would prefer us to think of encouragement, comfort, and exhortation as being church rather than gathering in a box we fill to worship him. But don’t misrepresent this truth. The Holy Spirit isn’t saying we can skip out on gathering together. He is commanding the opposite. “Assemble! Don’t quit meeting together,” the Spirit commands us here. Where we meet isn’t nearly as important as gathering together and blessing each other when we regularly meet. Each of us needs encouragement to keep living for Jesus as his return grows ever nearer! Video Commentary… ToGather Worship Guide | More ToGather Videos My Prayer… Father, please bless the group of Christians with whom I regularly meet. Bless them through my words, attitude, and influence as we walk beside and encourage each other to honor you. Stir me to bless your disciples and encourage them to live for Jesus as we await his return. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
I Came to Help You!
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved Sibling, Yes, I know some of you who read this have trouble thinking of Me as your older brother. Through the Father’s grace, that is Who I AM to you. I taught My disciples to pray to “Our Father…” (Matthew 6:9). As My beloved writer of Hebrews emphasized in the verses you will read today, My disciples are also My “brothers and sisters.” You have been born into My family (John 3:5-8). I “took on flesh and blood” and lived among you, as one of you so you could be part of My family. My concern was not for My comfort and prestige. My focus was not on any heavenly messenger or angel. My concern was for you. My focus was on those I wanted to become My brothers and sisters. I came to honor the Father and to “destroy the one who held power over death.” I came to free you from fear. I came to share your world. I came to assure you that you could come to the Father through Me and always “find mercy and grace to help when [you] need it most”! I AM your great High Priest. I not only offered a sacrifice for you, but I offered Myself as the once-for-all-time atoning sacrifice for your sin. I brought “reconciliation” between you and the Father. I AM your great High Priest. I AM now “approaching God on behalf of” you. I AM your great High Priest. I AM acquainted with “suffering.” Like you, I also offered up “prayers and pleas, groans and tears” to the Father. As your great High Priest, I can promise you these things: You don’t have to fear death. I have conquered death and the devil who uses it to wound and maim and destroy. Your sin is forgiven. You stand before God as righteous and holy. You can be sure that I can help you when you are tested. I was tested as you are, yet I did not sin. When you are facing trials and temptations — even if you succumb to these temptations and sin — you can come with confidence to the “throne of grace.” You can come confidently knowing that you will “find mercy and grace to help when [you] need it most.” Verses to Live Today’s readings come from chapters 2, 5, and 4 in your book of Hebrews. I have put them in this order so you can have a deeper appreciation of what it means for Me to be your merciful and faithful High Priest! Read these passages in this order several times. The first time, jot down all I did and endured to experience mortality. You can be confident that I understand human weakness, not just as God the Son Who is omniscient, but as a mortal man, God in human flesh. Now, when you read through these verses again, jot down all that they mean for you as you approach the Father seeking grace. It only makes sense that God, by Whom and for Whom everything exists, would choose to bring many of us to His side by using suffering to perfect Jesus, the founder of our faith, the pioneer of our salvation. As I will show you, it’s important that the One Who brings us to God and those who are brought to God become one, since we are all from one Father. This is why Jesus was not ashamed to call us His family [His brothers and sisters], saying, in the words of the psalmist, I will speak Your Name to My brothers and sisters when I praise You in the midst of the community. And in the words of Isaiah, I will wait for the Eternal One. And again, Look, here I am with the children God has given Me. Since we, the children, are all creatures of flesh and blood, Jesus took on flesh and blood, so that by dying He could destroy the one who held power over death — the devil — and destroy the fear of death that has always held people captive. So notice — His concern here is not for the welfare of the heavenly messengers, but for the children of Abraham. He had to become as human as His sisters and brothers so that when the time came, He could become a merciful and faithful high priest of God, called to reconcile a sinful people. Since He has also been tested by suffering, He can help us when we are tested. (Hebrews 2:10-18) The job of every high priest is reconciliation: approaching God on behalf of others and offering Him gifts and sacrifices to repair the damage caused by our sins against God and each other. The high priest should have compassion for those who are ignorant of the faith and those who fall out of the faith because he also has wrestled with human weakness, and so the priest must offer sacrifices both for his sins and for those of the people. … When Jesus was on the earth, a man of flesh and blood, He offered up prayers and pleas, groans and tears to the One Who could save Him from death. He was heard because He approached God with reverence. Although He was a Son, Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered. And once He was perfected through that suffering He became the way of eternal salvation for all those who hear and follow Him, for God appointed Him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:1-3; Hebrews 5:7-10) Since we have a great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God Who has passed through the heavens from death into new life with God, let us hold tightly to our faith. For Jesus is not some high priest who has no sympathy for our weaknesses and flaws. He has already been tested in every way that we are tested; but He emerged victorious, without failing God.
Today’s Verse – Jeremiah 10:24
Correct me, LORD, but only with justice — not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing. —Jeremiah 10:24 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Jeremiah frequently struggled with the hard message the LORD gave him to communicate to God’s people. He often wept over and complained to God about what he was given to communicate. While he knew he was wrong to complain, he begged the LORD to correct him with justice and mercy, not anger and punishment. This request reminds me of a similar request a good friend regularly makes of the LORD when he prays, recognizing his own weaknesses and failings: “Humble me gently, Father,” he often prays. Our transformation, which requires correction and grace, is hard work and requires even more patience on God’s part than on our part. So we thank God for his grace, which lets us admit our sin and yet still come into his holy and awesome presence, knowing he will be both just and merciful, righteous and gracious. Thankfully, the LORD doesn’t treat us as we deserve but as we need (Psalm 103:1-22). We, too, can pray, “Correct me, LORD, but only with justice — not in your anger, lest you reduce me to nothing.” My Prayer… Dear God, I sin. I don’t like it when I sin, but I still find myself succumbing to some of my long-standing weaknesses. Please correct me and put me on the path of righteousness, dear Father, but please humble me gently, not correcting me in your anger but in transforming me by your discipline and grace. Even more than wanting to please you, dear Father, I want to honor you even more. So please, gently and consistently rid my heart of duplicity, deceit, and spiritual weakness. Nurture me in holiness. In Jesus’ name. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.