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This World Is Not My Home

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Hebrews 13
Meditation: Hebrews 13:14

“For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.”

Shift Your Focus… After serving as a missionary for forty years in Africa, Henry C. Morrison became sick and had to return to America. As the great ocean liner docked in New York Harbor, there was a great crowd gathered to welcome home another passenger on that boat. Morrison watched as President Teddy Roosevelt received a grand welcome home party after his African Safari.

Resentment seized Morrison and he turned to God in anger, “I have come back home after all this time and service to the church and there is no one, not even one person here to welcome me home.”

Then a still small voice came to Morrison and said, “You’re not home yet.”

And neither are you!

As we used to sing in the little country church I grew up in, “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.”

And that is the truth, my friend. Heaven is not just some pie-in-the-sky theology the preacher spouts about to make you feel better. It is the promise of our Lord himself and the clear teaching of Scripture. In fact, nothing else the Bible says, promises, or calls you to do makes sense without the assurance of eternal life, the reality of life after death and the imminence of heaven. Without heaven, the birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus was wasted. Without heaven, the church, our worship, world evangelization and the sum of the Christian life are all irrelevant. But thanks be to God, the promise of heaven is our blessed hope, and as Paul says in Romans 5:5, this hope will not disappoint!

So as you go about your day, don’t let yourself feel too at home in this world—there is a better one coming sooner than you think.

“God destines us for an end beyond the grasp of reason.”  ~Thomas Aquinas

Prayer… Lord, don’t let me get too earth bound.  Keep reminding me that heaven is my real home, and help me to live every day on earth with that in mind.

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And The Crowd Roars

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Hebrews 12
Meditation: Hebrews 12:1-2

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Shift Your Focus… Hebrews was written to first-century believers of Jewish background.  They got off to a great start in their Christian faith, but because of unexpected suffering, they were thinking about walking away and returning to their Jewish roots. That’s why the writer pleads with them to run their faith-race with endurance. And he gives them—and us—some great advice on how to run strong and finish well.

One of the most overlooked principles on effectively running the faith-race is simply this: You will need to find strength from those who’ve gone before. That’s what he is referring to when he says in verse one, “Therefore since we are surrounded by this huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith…”

The Bible isn’t just a history book; it is not just about people who lived and died a long time ago. Hebrews 4:12 says that Scripture is “living and active.” It is an operator’s manual of living faith to help you today. Romans 15:4 says, “Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us.”

And in a very real sense, anyone who has run a victorious race of faith—from the ancient past right up to the present moment—is on the sidelines cheering you on. Hebrews 11 contains a long list of both familiar and not-so-familiar people who, themselves, faced a tough race. They were ridiculed, mistreated. Some left their families and homes to serve God. Some paid the ultimate price of hardship and sacrifice, even giving their lives to follow God. But no matter what, they endured; all of them were still running their faith-race when they died. And God thought so highly of them that he declared in 11:38, “The world was not worthy of them.”

When you are tempted to slow down, when you have lost sight of the finish line, when you are weary and feel like giving up, your personal cheering section of witnesses is literally in the great grandstand of that unseen dimension shouting,

“Don’t give up. We endured; we paid a heavy price, too. But it was worth it.”

There’s Abraham and Moses, David and Jonathon. There are New Testament martyrs like Stephen and John the Baptist and James. There are Peter and Paul and John the beloved. There are even loved ones of yours who have gone on before you—and they are at the finish line shouting, “Keep going, you’re almost there, it’ll be worth it!”  And best of all, there is Jesus.

To sustain your spiritual passion for an entire lifetime, you must open your eyes to that unseen dimension and listen to those who’ve run the race before you, and above all, fix your eyes on Jesus,

“He both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”  (Hebrews 12;2-3, The Message)

The finish is in sight!  If you tune in your spiritual ears, you can hear the roar of the crowd. It is going to be an unbelievable ending to quite an endurance race.  So run strong and finish well!

“Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted in spite of your changing moods.” ~C.S. Lewis 

Prayer… Today Lord Jesus, I am fixing my eyes on you. Give me an ear to hear the roar of the crowd, and above the roar, to hear your voice cheering me on. I will eliminate all of those obstacles that would distract me from my race.  And with your help, I will run strong clear to the end of the race, and I will finish well.

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Faith and Prostitutes

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Hebrews 11
Meditation: Hebrews 11:31

“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.”

Shift Your Focus… Now here’s something you don’t hear in the same sentence very often: faith and prostitutes.

But that’s what is so great about faith: It transforms prostitutes—and every other kind of dirty rotten sinner, which is what we all were, by the way—into people worthy of God’s Great Hall of Faith.

Just look at some of the people who adorn the Great Hall in Hebrews 11:

Noah—a drunkard (and a naked, angry drunk at that. Read the story for yourself in Genesis 9:21-27)

Abraham—a liar

Jacob—a deceiver and world-class manipulator

Joseph—an ex-con

Moses—a murderer

Gideon—a coward

Samson—a profligate

Jephthah—a reject

David—an adulterer

And if you are a person who lives by faith, one day your name, along with those already mentioned, will be added to the Great Hall.  Just imagine that list looking something like this:

Rahab—a prostitute

You—a (feel free to fill in the blank)

We’re in pretty good company, aren’t we? But that’s what is so great about faith. It trumps our past, sets us aright with God, transforms our character, enables spiritual heroism and guarantees our place in God’s Great Hall of Faith.

Whatever has happened in your past, whoever you are in the present, however limited your future may look, your faith will change everything. So stop what you are doing and start stepping out by faith.

What is faith? It is to passionately, fully, riskily, boldly believe God, then ruthlessly live your life accordingly.  Simply put, it is to believe who God is and obey what God has said.

“By faith!” That phrase is used twenty times in this one chapter. Make that the defining characteristic of your life. Pursue faith until faith possesses you.

It will change everything—and add your name to the other unlikelies already in the Hall!

“Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.” ~Corrie Ten Boom

Prayer… Lord, I believe. Now destroy my unbelief until there is nothing left of me but the fingerprints of faith.

 

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Economic Security

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Hebrews 10
Meditation: Hebrews 10:39

“But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.”

Shift Your Focus… Relative to the rest of the world, and in fact, to all of human history, we Americans, live in prosperous times. However, we all would agree that after the last few years, these have become increasingly unstable economic times!  The only thing certain these days about our economy is uncertainty!

And we are not just talking about the national economy. To be sure, bad news on Wall Street quickly trickles down to Main Street where you and I live, negatively impacting our bottom line and affecting our sense of security.  Jobs have been lost, retirement plans have vaporized, investments have dried up, homes have been foreclosed—and the spirit of fear has driven ordinary folk to a state of high anxiety.

So what is a believer to do during these frightening financial times? How about going to the Word of God for counsel and assurance. God’s Word is your only truly competent source for wisdom. The Bible is eternal and unchanging.  It will be here long after Wall Street is swept into the dustbin of history, guiding those who will follow its precepts to physical, emotional, relational, and yes, financial, but most importantly, spiritual abundance.

How might God’s Word speak to us in this current financial crisis enveloping our planet?   Read careful, slowly, and absorbingly what the writer says in Hebrews 10:32-39,

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. (Italics added)  So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

Wow! How relevant and instructive is that to our current situation! Here’s the deal friend: As you journey through these unpredictable economic times, you have a choice to make. You can either give in to fear—you can shrink back–or you can walk by faith.  What’s it going to be?

God’s Word calls you to walk by faith. Even if your earthly wealth and material possessions end up getting battered by this difficult economic reality, don’t throw away your confidence in God and don’t shrink back from what faith calls you to do, because God will see you through and he will reward you. That is his promise, not mine. And he never breaks a promise!

So, don’t shrink back. In fact, now is the time to take a bold step of faith. I want to pose a challenging question to you today, and your answer may just lead you to a critical step that in many ways will define the rest of your life. It will determine scarcity or blessing, insecurity or stability, fear or joy, failure or success.  Here it is:

What is faith calling you to do?

It won’t be easy, but reject fear and take that step of faith. And as you do, remember what God has said, “the righteous will live by faith!”

“Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.”  ~Augustine

Prayer…  Lord, I refuse to take my cues from Wall Street.  I will follow what your Word says about ordering my financial life.  I will follow after faith and refuse to give in to fear.  And I will trust you to richly reward my confidence in you!

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Living Like It’s Your Last Day

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Hebrews 9
Meditation: Hebrews 9:28

“Christ will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

Shift Your Focus… The Bible is full of promises—hundreds, perhaps thousands of them—that God has made to his children. Not all of them have been fulfilled, but none of them have been broken. Nor will they ever be. Every promise in God’s book will come true!

Prominent in the Word of God is the promise of Christ’s coming—a first coming and a second coming.

The Old Testament foretold the birth of the Messiah. For hundreds of years, the Jewish people yearned for the promise of Messiah to be fulfilled. And then, as Paul wrote in Galatians 4:4-5, “when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

God fulfilled his promise. Jesus came and bore in his body our sins so that we could be adopted as God’s children.

Prominent also in the Word of God is the promise of Christ’s second coming. As Jesus was ascending into heaven forty days after his death and resurrection, the angels declared to the disciples looking on, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)

God will fulfill this promise as well. Jesus will come again, not to bear sin in his body-he’s already done that—but to bring completion to our salvation as he ushers us into his eternal kingdom.

As surely as God broke into our world the first time through the birth of his Son, the sound of the archangel’s trumpet will pierce earth’s atmosphere announcing the appearance of our Risen Lord and Savior once again, and we who believe will be ushered fully and finally into his eternal, literal, physical, forever rule. It is going to happen—no doubt about it!

The only question is when. Just as God had a perfect time for Christ’s first coming, so he has a perfect time for his second coming.

And that could be today!

Are you ready? Are your bags packed? Are you ready to go home—to your real home in glory?

Let me suggest that you try something today: Live today like this will be the day that Jesus will return. Let’s say by midnight tonight, he will come again. Try it—as best you can—and see what happens. See how your life is different today—how you think, interact, decide, work, spend money…

You know what? We really should be living like that everyday, so give it a shot.

And maybe the next time I see you, we will be in heaven. You just never know!

“He whose head is in heaven need not fear to put his feet into the grave.”  ~Matthew Henry

Prayer…  Even so, come Lord Jesus!

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A Prelude To Heaven

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Hebrews 8
Meditation: Hebrews 8:5

“They [the Jewish High Priests] serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’”

Shift Your Focus… Perhaps you’ve never given any thought as to why God ordered things to be a made or done a certain way. You might assume that God just randomly decided things to be a certain way. I am speaking of things like the design of the ark (both Noah’s three-level boat as well as the ark of the covenant), the pattern of the tabernacle, the various laws of Moses, the seven days of creation, the manna from heaven, the sexual union of a husband and wife, and so on and so forth.

I would suggest, along with the writer of Hebrews, that God was never random in the things he created, in the miracles he performed, in the laws he established, or in the processes he required. In doing what he did, he was acting according to that which was already established in heaven. What we experience here in our reality is but a pattern of what already exists in heaven. In a very real sense, our experiences on earth are but a shadow of a greater, heavenly reality. Perhaps that would even explain why most of us have a perfectionistic spirit when it comes to things that are truly important to us.  As C.S. Lewis once said,

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

For that reason, the writer records God’s words to Moses: “Make sure you get this tabernacle exactly right because it represents what is already perfect in heaven.” In reality, when God asked his people to build a tabernacle, or observe a law, or live a certain way, it was simply the warm up act, the rehearsal, of what was to come in heaven.

That is not to downgrade the significance of our earthly realities. It is simply to say that we need to get them right here so that we will be ready for what is to come in eternity.  Let me give you a few examples:

Our worship here is a prelude to the worship of heaven. If we cut corners in, or check out of, or complain about praise and worship now, we need to think about this: We are rehearsing for heaven. In meeting challenges and resolving problems between people in the body of Christ now, we are getting ready to rule the world and judge the angels in eternity, according to I Corinthians 6:1-3. When we live in a loving, intimate, pleasurable relationship with our spouse now, that is the warm up to a deeply intimate, indescribably satisfying love relationship in store for us with the Triune God in heaven.

Everything we do now counts toward everything that we will be doing then. That’s why we need to get it right here—so we can be ready for there.

Think about that today as you go through your day. Put more effort into your assignments, exhibit greater patience with irritating people, love your family more openly and affectionately, spend money more wisely, think more purely, and worship God more freely, more fully.

Live every aspect of your life not just for the moment, but for all eternity; not just for yourself, but for God’s pleasure; not for your glory, but for His glory!

“What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God.  We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow.” ~Martin Luther

Prayer… Father, help me in the here and now to do life right so that I will be well prepared for eternal life someday. I know that I am saved now, that is not in doubt.  I am simply yet expectantly asking you to help me to leverage my salvation today in preparation for your purposes for me in heaven. Strengthen me by your Holy Spirit to make every moment on earth count.

 

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Your Very Own High Priest

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Hebrews 7
Meditation: Hebrews 7:15-16,19

“Jesus, a priest like Melchizedek, not by genealogical descent but by the sheer force of resurrection life — he lives! — ‘priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek’ … Jesus! — a way that does work, that brings us right into the presence of God, is put in its place.” (The Message) 

Shift Your Focus… You’ll have to read this whole chapter, slowly and absorbingly, I might add, plus several chapters surrounding this one to grasp what the writer of Hebrews is getting at, but here is the gist of it:  He is going to great lengths to remind his readers that Jesus is all they will ever need!  He is the all-sufficient, indestructible one.

The problem was, these Hebrew believers were facing increasing hostility for their faith in Christ, and some of them were being tempted to fall back in line with the old system of Judaism. So the writer sets out to convince them of the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the old Levitical system of priests and sacrifices.  One of his strongest arguments was that even way back in the Old Testament, the father of the Jewish faith, Abraham, even gave tithes to Melchizedek, a type of Christ, thus proving Jesus is greater than the Jewish system.

Throughout this entire letter, the writer makes a splendid and convincing case for Jesus Christ, our faithful high priest. Among the many things that he teaches about the priesthood of Jesus, here are three that ought to encourage you today, especially if you are going through a challenging time:

First, as a high priest, Jesus is on your side. Hebrews 6:19-20 says,

“We have this hope [in Jesus] as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.”

Knowing that Jesus is on your side gives you an incredible emotional and spiritual strength to live the victorious Christian life, especially during trying and tempting times.

Second, as a high priest, Jesus will provide the power for you to stay the course. Hebrews 7:25 says,

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”

You ever wonder what Jesus is doing now? That verse clearly says he is continually before the Father, representing your cause. What a thought—Jesus is your personal intercessor making sure the Father grants you everything you need to stay faithful and live victoriously.

And third, Jesus is more satisfying than any other temporary fix that you might be tempted to trust. Hebrews 9:27-28 says,

“And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.”

Trusting in any other person or religious system would be settling for an infinitely distant second best. In fact, if you were to put your trust in any other, you would be relying on a system that frankly can’t do a thing to give you eternal life.  Jesus is the only one who can save!

Do you realize what good news this is?  Jesus is your personal high priest, and it doesn’t get any better than him.  So go ahead and cling to him.  He won’t disappoint!

“Jesus was God and man in one person, that God and man might be happy together again.”  ~George Whitefield

Prayer… Lord, how awesome that you ever lived to intercede for me.  What encouragement and strength that brings to my spirit.  I offer up my gratitude to you, O faithful High Priest.  You are worthy to be praised.