Do you have God's law in your heart?

Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.


Do you have God's laws in your mind? Do you have God's law in your heart? Is God, your only God? Do all around you know the Lord? I'm not talking know Him as a personal Savior for the answer to that would be instantly, no. Do most people you know, know God, know of Him and His mercy? With the publicity that is in our world today it's hard to imagine anyone not knowing the name 'God', in fact many are blasphemers of that holy name, making themselves as gods. They know what it means to be God, the one and only true God, even if their teaching has been through ridicule of Him or abuse of Him in horror games, movies and such. There are very few people you could stop that would look at you like you're insane if you ask them who God is. They might want to give some philosphical, or mythical idea of an answer, or even say they don't believe in God, but they know the original that has been perverted in many ways to suit the warped, sinfilled people today. God is merciful to our unrighteousness and if we repent and ask for forgiveness our sins are remembered no more. The new covenant is found in the blood of Christ not the blood of innocent animals, the new covenant will live forever and ever never to wax old or vanish away. The laws of God remain always, the way to forgiveness for breaking the laws has changed. We live with a new covenant, we live with God's laws in our minds and on our hearts. God is part of our very life. God's ways are our ways. We are blessed under the new covenant and one day sin will be no more, may that day come soon, very, very soon. By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may we be God's under His new covenant forever living in Him with His laws in our hearts and minds.


Amen.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous

One test after another and they come from such unexpected places and in such unexpected ways. A simple look at the wrong moment and doubt floods us fully, doubts about each other, doubts about life, doubts about ourselves and our Christian walk. Sure we are told we will face many obstacles, we are told our faith will be tried in the fire, yes we are told that suffering is the lot of those who will take up the cross and we believe it, we do and then it begins. Yes, it begins and the trials and tribulations start and Satan will go all out as his reigns are loosed to pound at us. We imagine ourselves strong and ready for the battle that's until a dagger is thrust into our hearts from the most unexpected source- from a loved one. The dagger thrust not once but over and over again, and not all at once but just when we think the wound is healed it's reopened again viciously.


Everyone without exception is to be tried and we're not all going to face the same tests because our lives are all so different. A high profiled person will face tests that fit their life, just as a person in poverty will face their own individual tests. Some might say the poverty alone is the test and others will agree that the life of a rich person has their tests with wealth. Jesus said it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get to heaven and it's true- how many rich people abandon their wealth for God?


Everyone is to be tried without exception and the trying is a personal thing individually crafted to bring us closer to God, closer to the full belief that God is everything while our lives are nothing- our lives are to be sacrificed to Him, living sacrifices.


Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.


Our hearts can bleed through the suffering we endure and as they bleed we are--


Rom 8:36 ... killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.


Psa 44:22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
Psa 44:23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
Psa 44:24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
Psa 44:25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
Psa 44:26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.


We can't pick and choose how we are chastened, the chastening comes from completely unexpected places, we can only hope and pray that we will recognize the chastening for what it is and cling to Christ as the pain washes over us time and again and we don't know where our lives are going. As one security after another is ripped from us and we flail about in despair wondering just how will survive may God become ever more real to us. As some tell us we should abandon God because He's abandoned us, let us by the grace of God tell them that no matter what God would never abandon us, we abandon Him. Will our lives be easy for that admission? No. Will the pain lessen or the trials cease? No. One trial might end only for another to begin. By the grace of God may we holdfast to the One with the power to save us from ourselves. Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.


Heb 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.


By the mercy and grace of our Lord and Savior now and forever.


In Christ.


Amen.

Strong Crying, Suffering, Eternal Life

Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him


Jesus- in the days of his flesh offered up prayers and supplication with STRONG CRYING and TEARS unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared.


Think about that for a moment. We have this picture of Jesus as being God on earth and not subject to the need for strong crying and tears. If Jesus cried and not just a little bit, but really, really cried and He knew the Father in a way that we don't how much more should we be crying, strong crying to God. God was a reality to Jesus in a way that He isn't to a lot of us, most of us. God is a figure that is surreal and fantasy, unseen and therefore regulated to a special realm in an abstract way. Do we make God pure reality for us, for our lives? Is God real to us? It's easy to say yes He is, and maybe that's the truth. I believe in God, I believe He loves me and wants me to be His. I believe God sent His Son Jesus to die for me so that I might live through the righteousness of Jesus. I do believe but is my life reflective of a living God? I want it to be. Jesus, God's Son came to earth and offered up His prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. The Son of God would cry as He prayed and sought God's guidance and help. God heard Him, God heard His Son and not just because He was His Son but because He had reverence towards Him. Jesus gave God the respect due Him, so why do we think we can do any less? Jesus, God's Son learned obedience by the things he suffered. Another shocker? It can be when we think that Jesus had to learn obedience through suffering. Jesus knows everything we've gone through and will go through, Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus suffered temptation as we do. Jesus learned obedience through suffering and WE need to learn obedience through suffering. When we suffer we have the choice to learn or not to learn from our suffering. We will suffer through life's many heartaches and pains and we can succumb to them and learn nothing, or we can learn obedience. Jesus being made perfect became the author of eternal salvation unto all that obey him. By the grace of God may we learn obedience through our sufferings and may we realize that Jesus cried, Jesus reverenced His Father, Jesus learned obedienced through suffering and through Jesus' perfection we can find eternal salvation and only in Him is it found.


By the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior now and forever.


Amen.

All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of God

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.


soul -- (life) and spirit -- (mind)
joints -- (bones) and marrow -- (muscle)


The word of God is so precise, so knowing, that to think it could divide the very life from the mind two things so closely united is just mind boggling. We might say that the life and mind are divided all the time in the brain dead and maybe that's true but we're talking about something that is so exacting and discerning that it can do this while we live our lives not lay in a bed in a deep coma kept alive by machines. The whole point of this example is to show the precision of the word of God, the power of the word of God. Dividing bone from muscle- something that is easy? Some might say yes, with a very sharp knife and that's the entire point. The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. The word of God is that sharp, exacting, powerful dividing instrument. The word of God is a discerner of thoughts and intents of heart. Think about it! Something that can discern your thoughts, something that can know that intents of your heart. God can do this. Jesus, the word made flesh, the written word of God are all so powerful and yet so often not even considered as such.


Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.


God knows all. People might think they are hiding their thoughts, their intents but nothing is hid from God, nothing! Some mock this fact that God knows them and they set out to defy Him, challenging Him. God is so far above our human pettiness and anything that stems from deception and lies that our challenges, our defiance only hurts us and our lives not Him. He's saddened by our consistent backsliding away from Him and His pure love and that is why forgiveness is such an unfathomable gift. Yes, His anger is shown throughout the Bible and it's justified. His love overwhelms it all because with a word we could have been taken out of existence altogether. By the grace and mercy of God we are alive and we can live for Him.


No, our thoughts and the intents of our hearts aren't always something God would approve of and we need to fall at the feet of Jesus daily asking for forgiveness for all the sin in us. Thousands of years of sin is a heavy weight upon the worlds people and soon by the grace of God it will all be over, sin will be no more. Please Lord help us to be ready for Your return, loving You, knowing You and You knowing us all by Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your righteousness.


Amen.

Labor to enter into rest

Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.


Rest G4520 (Greek)
sabbatismos
sab-bat-is-mos'
From a derivative of G4521; a "sabbatism", that is, (figuratively) the repose of Christianity (as a type of heaven): - rest.


Works- G2041 (Greek)
ergon
er'-gon
From ergo? (a primary but obsolete word; to work); toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication an act: - deed, doing, labour, work.


Labour- G4704 (Greek)
spoudazo
spoo-dad'-zo
From G4710; to use speed, that is, to make effort, be prompt or earnest: - do (give) diligence, be diligent (forward), endeavour, labour, study.


***

There is a rest to the people of God. God's people will have a rest and that rest is found in Christ at His return. The rest isn't promised to us now. We aren't told that we will find peace here and now on earth. When we think of resting we think of peacefulness don't we? Can you truly rest without peace around you? Peace and quiet go hand in hand. Peace in our minds free from the stressful things that wear on us. Jesus tells us this-- Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Mat 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Mat 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.


Yes, there is a rest for those who are God's and it comes by faith in God to do as He said He would do. There is a rest that is promised us when Jesus comes again and there will be no more tears or fears in our lives.


These verses-
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.


We must labor- we must make an effort, we must be earnest, we must be diligent and endeavor to enter into THAT rest. It seems somewhat contradictory doesn't it, that we are to labor to enter into rest. But in truth we have to be earnest about our faith in God, we have to endeavor to know Christ fully, the effort we make is to keep Christ before us always and not ourselves first. Our diligence must be to love God first and foremost and love our fellowman. When we aren't striving, when we aren't labouring, when we aren't making the effort to put God and our fellowman first we are only looking out for ourselves and that selfishness is a dishonor to God's will. Making God's will first is the effort we must make to enter into His rest. We can't save ourselves that is a gift from God by the grace and mercy of Jesus through the ultimate sacrifice He made on the cross. We must repent and accept that sacrifice obtaining the grace of God and it's something we must do daily. Our lives must revolve around God and if they don't then nothing else matters.


Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Pro 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.


In all our ways we have to acknowledge Him and if we can't acknowledge Him in the way we are going that tells us something doesn't it? May God bless us and help us through the Holy Spirit here on earth to labor to enter into the rest that will be ours in Christ. By the will of God in Him always now and forever.


Amen.

He also hath ceased from his own works

Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Heb 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

We are promised a rest. How sweet that sounds. Even when we sleep, even when we are physically well rested we often don't feel truly rested do we? Any rest we get here and now isn't a true rest. We wake with the burdens of life surrounding us. We wake with the heaviness of life weighing down upon us so that life seems like a chore at times and not the true miracle it is. The Bible tells us, Heb 4:1 'Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.'


A promise is left to us, a promise of entering into Jesus' rest.


A promise was left to those in Moses' day when He led the freed captives through the wilderness and a whole generation of them did not enter into the promised land, why? Because they lacked faith in God. We are promised a rest in Jesus but we won't realize that rest without faith.


God created the Sabbath for us. God created a day of rest- His rest for us. God did this as a permanent reminder to us that He is our Creator, our Savior. By faith we are going to enter in Jesus' rest, the rest that is promised in Him when as the gospel reveals He comes again to take His redeemed to heaven those that are alive and those that are dead in Him will be raised to life at that time. We can ONLY enter this rest by ceasing from all our own works and the Sabbath strives to teach us this. The Sabbath reveals God's true power over His creations and by observing the Sabbath we bow down to our Creator giving up ourselves and putting Him first fully. By faith we have to surrender ourselves to God. We have to think about what it means to cease from all our own works. We can't save ourselves we have to trust in Jesus to save us. When we believe that our salvation rests with us we deny the power of God to save us. Truly we have to believe and have faith in Jesus to save us, not faith and belief in our own works.


May God open our hearts and minds to understand His true rest and our need to cease from all our works and surrender by faith to Him and His power to save us. By the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ now and forever.


Amen.

Throne of Grace

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.


The throne of grace. It sounds so majestic, the throne of grace.


Grace is --

charis
khar'-ece
From G5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): - acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).


grace (grâs) noun

a. A disposition to be generous or helpful; goodwill. b. Mercy; clemency.
A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence.
A temporary immunity or exemption; a reprieve.
8. Theology. a. Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people. b. The state of being protected or sanctified by the favor of God. c. An excellence or a power granted by God.


When we think of the grace of God we think of the unwarranted forgiveness that God gives to us, the reprieve, the mercy, the divine love of God given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.


To be told to come boldly unto the throne of grace is to place ourselves before God. We can't go knock on a door and be admitted to a room containing the throne of grace so that we can kneel before that throne and God upon it, can we? No. We aren't able to do that literally but figuratively we do need to do just that. We need to place ourselves before God, humbling ourselves even as we boldly take that step to put ourselves into the very real presence of God, the Holy Spirit interceding for us literally where we cannot go. Only at the throne of grace will we find the grace we need to help us. By the grace of God we are helped by God in so many, many ways. In fact it is only by the grace of God we even live.


Please Lord, let us learn to come boldly before You our only source of true help, the only place we can find the help we need to live in You and only in You. We are in a world that would tear us down and destroy us at every opportunity. We live in a world that brings pain and anguish to those we love while we remain feeling helpless to ease their heartache, their pain. How gladly we say, or think we would take their pain and bear it for them just so they didn't have to endure it themselves and yet we know that we are all tried in fire, that our faith is perfected as we are chastened and go through the hardships of life excessive or not. Please Lord I come boldly before You now and kneel at Your throne of grace pleading for Your help in our time of need. You know our needs Lord, please help us endure all that we need to in You, and through You, so that we may one day be with You forever in eternity. By Your grace Lord, by Your grace.


In Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever.


Amen.