Friday, August 5,
2016, 10:00 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Zeal for Your House.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Hebrews 12:1-13 (ESV).
With Endurance
(vv. 1-4)
Therefore,
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside
every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance
the race that is set before us,
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the
right hand of the throne of God.
Consider
him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may
not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet
resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
There are many people who have gone before us who have set
for us an example of great faith and endurance, especially in times of boundless
trials and tribulations. They were not perfect people, but they loved God, and
by faith they followed him in obedience. They set an example for us in how we,
too, can run the race set before us with endurance. They overcame sin,
temptations, and weaknesses of the flesh by the power of God at work in their
lives, and they did the will of God even though they faced much opposition,
persecution, and even death in return.
So we, too, should run the race God has for us, and fight
the good fight of faith with perseverance. Satan is our enemy, and he will do
all he can to try to trip us up, and to get us to fall. So, we must know his
tactics so that we are not caught off-guard, and so we can resist him and flee
temptation, and so we can draw near to God in full assurance of faith.
When Jesus died on that cross, he died that we might be
delivered out of slavery to sin, and so we might be free to come under the
control of his righteousness. He conquered death, hell, Satan and sin on our
behalf. So, as followers of Christ, we should no longer be in bondage to sin,
for Jesus set us free! Thus, we should live like he did – all in the power and
working of his Spirit living within us, as we yield to his control over our
lives. If a particular sin has gotten a grip on us once again, we need to turn
from it to follow our Lord in obedience. If something in our lives is leading
us into sin, we should cut it out. If we continue to play with fire, we should
not be surprised when we get burned. We need to eradicate sin and what leads us
to sin from our lives by the Spirit at work in our lives.
Then, we can move forward on the path God has for us to
travel, and we can fight the good fight of faith. We do this by keeping our
eyes focused on Jesus and not on our circumstances, which can be bleak, at
times. He is our only perfect example for how we should live, for how to resist
Satan, and for how to walk in obedience to our God, even when life hits us
hard, which it will. He didn’t think about himself and about saving his own
life, but he willingly gave up his life so that we might go free. He endured
much in the way of scorn, mockery, hatred, envy, persecution, beatings and even
death, and all for the joy of knowing that this was all for our salvation.
It is important to note here that Jesus’ greatest
persecution did not come from people out in the world, but from within the
temple of God. His greatest opponents were the religious leaders in the temple,
too. So, we should not be surprised if some of our greatest opposition comes
from within the church, and from its leadership, for many have deserted the
gospel to follow after the ways of humans, instead.
For Discipline
(vv. 5-11)
And
have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My
son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For
the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
It
is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For
what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without
discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children
and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and
we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits
and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them,
but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the
moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields
the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Sometimes we are disciplined by God because we are sinning
against him, and thus he is divinely correcting us, as a loving parent would
his wayward and disobedient child, in order to get us back on the right path –
the path of righteousness. Other times his discipline is more like training us
for battle, like soldiers may have to endure as they get ready for warfare. We
need to go through tough situations, at times, so we learn to rely on God and
not on ourselves, so we learn perseverance and endurance, so we are
compassionate towards others who are suffering, and so we can offer them
similar comfort as what we received from God. We need it for our strengthening,
courage and endurance. And, we need it as part of God’s process of making us
holy - set apart from the world because we are becoming like Christ. Remember
that Jesus learned obedience through the things he suffered, and he was without
sin. If we are trained by God’s discipline, it will produce an outgrowth of
righteousness in our lives, and in the lives of others touched by our lives.
Strengthen Weak Knees
(vv. 12-13)
Therefore
lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight
paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but
rather be healed.
So, don’t let the difficulties of this life undo you. God
allows these things in our lives to mature us in Christ and to strengthen us in
our faith and in our commitments to him. We never have to be afraid of what
humans may do to us, because God is with us, and he will take us through
whatever trials we must endure. And, I know that many of you are going through
such times as this right now, and that you have been abandoned by those whom
you trusted, and that you are finding that the enemy is not necessarily just on
the outside, but that the enemy is within the gates, and is, in some cases,
those in whom we have trusted and that we thought were on our side, but they
are not. And, this is going on within the church, too, or particularly within
the institutional church.
We need to shake off discouragement and resist Satan’s
temptations to fear our circumstances, and we need to daily put on the armor of
God (Eph. 6:10-20) with which to fight off Satan’s evil attacks against us. We
need to walk in the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh, and by the
Spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh. And, there we will find refreshing
for our souls, by submitting our lives to our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Zeal for Your House
An Original Work / August 1, 2016
Based off Jn. 2:17;
Ps. 69:9
Zeal for Your house, it consumes me.
Lord, I love my times with You.
I love to worship You and sing Your praises.
Time in Your Word brings me closer to You,
List’ning to You speaking to me,
Gently guiding me in truth.
Lord, You are my life’s example,
Showing me how I should live.
I love to walk with You where’er You lead me.
No greater joy have I when serving You.
Loving, giving, resting in Your strength,
I’m yielding to Your will.
Zeal for Your house, it consumes me.
See the church turned upside down:
Marketing ventures taking place of worship,
Men of the gospel turning into clowns.
Gospel message made appealing,
So the world will feel at home.
Lord, we need a great revival.
Turn their hearts, Lord, back to You.
Open the blind eyes, turn them all from darkness,
Lord, to the light. May they return to You,
Turn from their sin, forsake idols,
Be restored to God again.
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