Category: Daily Devotionals

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.  Hebrews 13:15

I remember learning this song as a little girl.

Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him in the morning
Praise Him in the noon time
Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him when the sun goes down.

It was catchy and it was a sing-song-challenge that didn’t offend a child, not until that child grew up to face adulthood. Being told to praise when all was not well seemed ludicrous.  That’s unfortunate because adults don’t always get to hear today’s scripture the way it was meant to be heard.

Praise is never a denial of pain.  It is not a command to just suck it up to say the right things regardless.  Such dogma does not support the truth that God weeps with His creation over the ways the Fall has affected us.  It does not highlight the truth that Jesus suffered every temptation known to humanity.  How hollow this would have seemed to the audience to whom this letter was written.  They were being persecuted harshly for their faith.  Throughout the preceding chapters, they had been encouraged to persevere and remember the Lord Jesus who also suffered.  So, praise must be compatible with everything that has been said before.  But how?  This verse gives me two clues.

• Praise is offered ‘through Jesus’.  His Spirit is the One makes me able to sing through my tears. As with every other thing in my spiritual life, it is only possible with supernatural ability that is conferred on me.
• And, praise is the fruit of the lips that profess God’s name. This means so much more than just calling myself a Christian.  To profess Jesus’ name in the time this letter was written was to potentially lose everything, but it also meant to remember everything His name meant.

If you’ve studied the names of God, you know that the many ways He is addressed encompasses the full reach of His character and power.  This is the secret to praise!  When I know and embrace the many names of God, the result is open praise.  No matter what may be going on, no matter how dark and no matter how complicated my troubles, praise flows out of my spirit because I know to whom I have given my life.  He is conqueror.  He Is Lord of all.  He is provider.  He is comforter.  He is my shield.  He is my refuge.  He is my healer.  Easily, I could keep writing and writing and I’m sure you are filling in the blanks.

When Jesus faced his darkest hours, he did not do so without hope.  He praised His Father for all these same reasons.  If He did, so can I.

Praise was Your default language and it can be mine.  It’s what spills out along with my tears.  I know I’m in good hands.  Amen

“So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.”   Hebrews 13:12-13

For the Jewish man or woman who received Christ as their Messiah, believing would be unpopular and isolating.  For the Pharisee or High Priest of Jesus’ day, embracing Him to step into the New Covenant would be unpopular and isolating.  For the man or woman who lives today in places hostile to the Gospel, acknowledging Jesus as the Way, Truth, and Life is equally unpopular and isolating, even life threatening.

The death of Jesus happened outside the camp of anything having to do with Judaism.  It was not in the city center of Jerusalem; nor was it in the confines of any temple.  The message for anyone then, or now, is clear.  Salvation is about Jesus alone.  It is stepping outside any religious boxes to encounter Him, face to face, at the foot of the cross.

We have grown up in a time when has been easy in the United States to trust Christ.  Within the camp of an evangelistic crusade, someone walks forward as ‘one of many’.  People receive and congratulate them at the front.  How many might go forward for the joy of being affirmed?  Some, indeed.  And in the comfort of the church which can be ingrown, we live and enjoy its community without an awareness that we have embraced Christ at risk of public shame and humiliation.  Jesus went outside the city – bearing his reproach.  To become His disciple, I must also forfeit the expectation of applause and comfort and step outside my city gates.  Out into the open.  Out into the open wilderness where watching eyes that are not always friendly can see me declare my allegiance.

For everyone who has come to Jesus and left religion, family, and friends to do so, Jesus has received you outside the camp.  Your reproach, He understands.  The danger, He has faced.  The abandonment of close friends, He sustained.  But, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  Hebrews 12:2   This is the pathway for passing from death to live.  “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, Thou art with me.”  Psalm 23

Oh Jesus, the joy of inclusion into Your Kingdom and into Your arms, eclipses whatever I have had, or will be called to sacrifice.  Amen

We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat.  Hebrews 13:10

 The altar in the Old Testament sacrifice held the body and blood of an animal.  After the sacrifice, the priests were permitted to eat what was left.  They consumed the sacrifice and it was a holy thing.

The cross was another altar and upon it was the body and blood of Jesus.  Walking away from the old sacrificial system, a new dispensation was born.  A new kingdom of priests is permitted to partake of Christ and it is also a holy thing.

We are now the priests. 

You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. I Peters 2:5

Jesus is the Lamb to be consumed. 

For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  John 6:55-56

It is so peculiar to anyone not in God’s family.  But to any of us who are trembling at the implications of this, and to any of us who have consumed Living Bread, we know the effect on our very being. You and I can do something today that no one in the Old Testament could have imagined in their wildest dreams.  We can, as priests, go into the holy of holies and partake of Living Bread.

If I could time travel and live in the time of Aaron, and then experience what it was like to live under ceremonial law, how burdensome it would seem.  I would be the only one alive who would know Jesus intimately.  I would be the only one who would have experienced eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood.  I would know the real Lamb of God.  I would want to tell them what was coming and what it would be like to no longer have to travel to the temple to be near the holy of holies.  The possibility of the holy of holies dwelling inside each believer would have shocked and stunned them.   And for this privilege ~ they would only have to look to Jesus as their Lamb ~ and live.

Thank you for the new and better way.  I am alive to be Your temple.  You are my continual spiritual sustenance.  Amen

 

 

 

It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so.  Hebrews 13:9 

A strong heart.  That’s what I want, don’t you?  I want my life to be rooted in the stability of pure doctrine, the doctrine of grace and the love of God.  If it is, I will know-that-I-know that I am loved and nothing and no one will shake it.  I will know-that-I-know that I am at peace with God and no sin, past or present, will drag me down. Stability is found in the truth of the pure Gospel of grace through faith.  God forbid that this would be a cliché that has no effect on my daily life and the relationship between God and me.

The concerning thing for the writer of Hebrews was that his audience (a persecuted Jewish population) had shifted their stability from the undeserved bestowing of God’s grace upon them to the keeping of ceremonial laws.  They did this in two ways ~ 1.) They went back to old laws that were no part of the New Covenant, and 2.)  They adopted strange new teachings that had never been relevant to the Law.  The effect was really the same.  They had a false sense of all being right with their world.  Their stability was misplaced.

God forbid that I might not take this seriously and believe that they had simply kept all those rules for nothing!  This whole matter is much bigger than that and Paul addressed it.  For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.  Romans 6:14  He didn’t call the keeping of the law a waste of time; he called it sin.  What a leap.  Why is it sin rather than just wasted steps to please God?  Because to wander away from grace is to make Jesus and the cross irrelevant.  It is to make His sacrifice a trivial, unnecessary thing.  If they could find peace and stability with God through religious practices, why was grace needed!

To put all my trust in grace means that I place no trust in my own efforts to make God happy with me.  Grace reminds me that I am a sinner and absolutely lost without the love of God poured out through the sacrifice of His Son upon an undeserving person.  Grace is humiliating if I value my own sense of pride.  Grace is empowering if I’ve embraced the truth that I fall short of God’s glory and need a Savior to clothe me with His righteousness.

You and I are loved.  If we are trying to do anything today to make God happy with us ~ this message is critical.  We may not be eating ceremonial food under the Law but we are performing a litany of needless rituals under the same Law that held these early Jews captive.  Rest in grace. Savor it. Dance because of it. Breathe in its beauty.  God’s grace is poured out in limitless measure.

To know such love, a love that never changes no matter what I do, is my rest.  Amen

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.  Hebrews 13:8

Time changes people.  Suffering changes people.  Prosperity changes people.  Power and influence alter people.  Bitterness transforms people.

You may think you know someone but let ten years go by and you might comment, “I saw her recently and I hardly knew her.”  You knew something had happened that changed her dramatically.  Her countenance, posture, energy . . . perhaps all of these were unlike how you experienced her last.  Then she opened her mouth.  Everything she said and how she said it pointed to a person with whom you weren’t familiar.

It can go the other way too.  Someone may surprise us.  “I’ve always known her as withdrawn, even a bit sour.  Something has happened.  She was so radiant and engaging!”

The point is ~ people change.  Some for the good but just as many deteriorate into a bad version of themselves.  Add the dynamics of a relationship and it’s hard to settle into a rhythm you can count on. One of the greatest compliments you can receive is for someone to say, “You haven’t changed despite all that has happened to you.” 

Perhaps that’s because you’ve walked closely with the God who never changes.  The fruit of the Spirit exhibited in someone’s teens is still the same fruit of the Spirit when they’re in their fifties.  The face may change, so does the aging body, but someone’s inside world continues to beat with the heart of Jesus.  Time does prove the quality of our faith.

If you are grieving the loss of a relationship that changed over time, know that your tears are tempered by the assurance that God will never change on you.  Who He was to Sarah, to Hannah, to Lydia, to Haggar and Mary Magdalene, He is to you.  Centuries have not changed His face.  Man’s sin has not embittered Him.  The reigning hallmarks of God’s character were written in stone for all time.  A love declared is a love that endures.

Thank you, God, that I can rest safely with You.  No fear of how the future might look.  Amen

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.  Hebrews 13:7 

“Just do what I do” has become a well-known cliché.   It has permeated our Christian world and initiated a club of copycats.  I was one for decades and still have to be careful not to fall into this trap.  Here’s how it works ~

I watch the lives of other believers I admire and then copy their behavior.  I observe how many hours they serve in the church and consider it a template to follow.  I watch how they make decisions and adopt their method as my own.  For the most part, I am simply a copycat of my heroes.  I might even talk like one of them ~ using their trademark expressions.

Is this what the writer of Hebrews is advocating?  No. Scripture does not hold up another person’s behavior as the thing to ultimately focus on.  God is heart-centered, not performance based.  When I see a leader I greatly respect, I am to prayerfully consider what has shaped their heart for Christ. What spiritual disciplines have they embraced that have resulted in such an outpouring of the fruits of the Spirit?

Their pursuit of Christ, not how they lived and served, is the pathway I am to follow.

Copycats never come off as genuine because they are not.  My passion for Christ may be similar to yours but how we live that out according to our God-given bents is quite different.  When I have to change my personality to try to become like someone else, I’ll know I’ve taken the wrong road.

Your children can have mentors and still be genuine.  Lead them on the right paths in their relationships.  Amen

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”  So, we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”  Hebrews 13:5b-6 

Going it alone.  It’s an awful experience when you’re in trouble.  If you have a friend with you, there’s comfort, even if your friend is as helpless as you are.  At least you can rehearse your current dilemma and how it all unfolded.  You can explore your options, if any, and process your thoughts and feelings in a fellowship of suffering.

The next time you’re in a bad place and you’re wringing your hands, picture Jesus walking in.  He says, “You’re not alone anymore.  I’m here.  I will go through this with you.”  Would that not be the best news?  He is the perfect companion on so many levels.  First, He understands suffering.  He’s no novice and the thought of that gives you the freedom to pour out your fears and complaints.  He also understands you.  He knows what you’re feeling and why you’re feeling it.  He’s ahead of you in how you are connecting the dots.  He knows the limits of your stamina and what kinds of things will cause you to lose hope.  With such knowledge, He can speak a kind of customized set of encouragements that are specific to your own needs.

Oh, but that’s not all.  He’s no mere friend.  He’s God, first and foremost.  He sees the bigger picture of the trial.  He knows the joy of the ultimate deliverance, whether on earth or in heaven, and He knows what needs to unfold to coincide with His Father’s redemptive plan.  He will give you mental, emotional, and spiritual resources.  He will equip you with instruction.  He will tell you when to harness your thoughts but also when to lay back and rest.  He keeps watch while you sleep.

With these realities, surely you and I can say that the Lord is our helper; we will not be afraid.  Indeed, what can mere mortals do?  God is our companion.  God holds evil on a leash.  God has already marched into the future to redeem this present suffering.  God can multi-task; He is celebrating the final victory while sharing tears with us in our valleys.  For the Jews who were hated and enduring unspeakable persecution, this reassurance of God’s presence filled their spirits with iron.

Fainting is only momentary until I remember You’re right here.  Amen

Your life should be free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.  Hebrews 13:5

 These two separate concepts are familiar to me.  Being free from the love of money and God never leaving nor forsaking us.  But why are they connected here?  How does the comfort of God never leaving me enable me to be satisfied with what I have?

The answer is not given in this text.  It’s the kind of dilemma I love – finding connections and trails – working out the mysteries of the kingdom.  I’ve been pondering this for a day and a half now.  I woke up early and God showed me how it applies to my own heart.  Perhaps yours as well.

I asked myself these questions.  Why am I drawn to money?  Why do I feel good when I have stuff and deprived when I don’t?  It’s because material things provide a kind of significance and security.  They fill an emptiness inside, at least temporarily, until I feel I must have more to stay full. The problem is ~ the emptiness is there to be satiated by God, not money.   And because God promises to never leave me, the void that feels so threatening never need stare me in the face.  Jesus completes me.  His love fills up my soul.  I feel rich beyond measure and the need to accumulate what are mere trinkets (according to C.S. Lewis) is put into perspective.

What did this message mean to the Jewish people who received it?  They were literally losing everything under the oppressive boots of persecution.  Homes were destroyed or confiscated.  Food was scarce. Provisions were not certainties but luxuries.  As they watched their material world dissipate, this message of hope hit them hard.  They may be wanting in this world but Christ will always be with them, filling them up with Himself.  He is the treasure that addressed their wants and with their eyes on Him, they could live in plenty, or in want, and not be shaken.

Whether we sit in palaces or in a 900 square foot apartment, our souls can be filled.  The poor who have Jesus can perfectly fellowship with the rich who have Jesus.  Our eyes are not on bank accounts but on the eternal treasures of which Jesus is supreme.

Food and shelter, even beautiful things.  I, once again, put it in perspective. Amen

Let marriage be held in honor among all . . . Hebrews 13:4a

To hold marriage in honor means to treat it as precious.  And it is!  God created it to give us an earthly picture of what His love is like.  Divine affection was such a priority that He instituted this earthly sacrament to make sure we get the message.

But if the experience of marriage has been, or is for you, deeply flawed, then you will have trouble thinking it honorable.  You will have an aversion to the topic and won’t even want to read this. There are good reasons why.

• If your parents had a bad marriage, home was not a place you felt at peace. You lived on pins and needles and covered your ears to drown out the fights.
• Or maybe it is your marriage that brings you pain of the deepest kind. You’re treated as God would never treat you. Daily, you pick up your battered soul and bring it to God with a big ‘why?’
• Perhaps it is you who has failed in the marriage. You were unfaithful and have seen your infidelity worn on the face of your spouse.  The word marriage reminds you, even years later, of your failure and you live with a crippling sense of regret.

Marriage is, for most people, a dirty word.  How can I make such an outrageous claim?  By the statistics of divorce.  Through a lifetime of experiences in ministry where I’ve heard stories of people’s lives.  Most marriages are not happy.  So this begs the question?  How does a married person with scars get to a place where they consider marriage precious?  Is it possible?

Here’s how. Your earthly spouse doesn’t get to ultimately define what marriage is.  On earth, it has been perverted, pain has been inflicted, but Jesus is your bridegroom.  He is standing with open arms to welcome you to Perfect Love.  This Bridegroom shed His blood to pledge His love in covenant. There isn’t a moment when He regrets it or when He withholds His love. There isn’t a scar that His words won’t heal.  There isn’t a refusal that His welcoming embrace won’t erase.  Though our outward man feels the effects from the wounds of others, our inner man dines with Jesus and grows stronger each day.

If God’s love is evident in your marriage today, thank Him.  It is a work of grace.  But if God’s love is not evident in your home, know that your Bridegroom offers love, right now, when your spouse won’t give it. If you’re languishing in matrimony, remember – you’re married to another.  Savor Him and live.  The wedding feast is being prepared and His love heals all scars, starting now.

You heal the sores of earth, Jesus.  Amen

“Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

There have been a few times in my life where I wondered if I had had an encounter with an angel.  One of them, however, stands out as a certainty.

Nearly ten years ago, I was driving by myself on a two-lane road in north Georgia.  It was early in the morning and I was on my way to a speaking event several hours away.  I saw a young man walking on the side of the road carrying a child in his arms.  It struck me as unusual as this was quite remote in its setting.  In my spirit, I thought I heard the Lord say, “Go back and offer this man and his child a ride.” Immediately, I questioned it.  I was a woman traveling by myself and the thought of picking up a strange man seemed reckless and potentially dangerous, even if he did have a baby.  But just days earlier, I had been asking God to teach me radical obedience.  If He spoke, I would obey.  So, after wrestling for a minute with this decision, I turned my car around.

Less than two minutes had passed.  When I reached the place where he should be, he was gone.  I checked and re-checked that mile-long corridor several times, driving back and forth, but he had simply vanished.  I looked for side roads that he might have taken, driveways, even some kind of pull off, but there were none.  He was gone.  I finally concluded that he had been an angel and this had been a test of obedience.

Obviously, I don’t advocate picking up strangers if you are driving alone.  Yet, God often asks us to do things outside the box.  He calls his children to mission work in dangerous places.  When God speaks, we go.

Entertaining angels doesn’t always involve feeding a stranger a meal.  It can take many forms.  But in each case, obedience is what prompts it and obedience is often our greatest test of faith.

I’m still such a novice.  Don’t let me miss an opportunity.  Amen