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Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16

“I can talk to you because I know you understand.”  Perhaps someone has said that to you.  They can tell you’ve lived the very thing from which they are suffering.  With just a few words, you can comfort them.  With just a nod, or a touch, you can bring connection to their isolation.

And what a greater gift Jesus gives!  I may go confidently to Him when I want someone who perfectly understands.  No, I don’t see His face or physically feel His hug or audibly hear His Words.  I can feel so limited by that but getting older with Jesus has shown me that I’m seeking something superficial compared to what it is that He does give to me.

• He floods my soul with a peace that is felt at my center. No human does that.
• He makes promises He can, and will, keep. No human can do deliver that flawlessly.
• I have His full attention for as long as I need it. No human can give that.
• Finally, He understands what I’m going through in just the way I’m going through it.

Each of us experiences the same thing a little differently according to our history and our wiring.  Because no two people are alike, empathy is imperfect. But with Jesus?  He made us in His image ~ wired exactly as He is wired.  He is a Type A and He is sensitive and intuitive.  He’s a free spirit and He’s well ordered.  He’s each one of us wrapped into One.  When He says He is the perfect High Priest who sympathizes, He does not offer empty platitudes.  He’s inside our skin; thinking, feeling, having been tempted as we are.

Oftentimes, someone tells me ~ “I know just what you’re going through.”  But I’ve wondered, “Do you really have the same thoughts I’m having?”  With Jesus, I know that there is deep, intuitive, and complete understanding.  I will never hear, “I don’t know what your problem is!”  He simply asks me to come if I’m heavy laden and He will give me rest.  There are no qualifications for what I’m heavy laden with.  It means anything and everything.

I used to run to You only when I’d exhausted people.  Now, my spiritual legs take me as fast as they can to You.  No hesitation.  Oh, how You suffered to assure me You understand.  Thank you.  Amen

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  Hebrews 4:13

First, the good news ~ If you fear being invisible to God, you’re not.  And the bad news ~ If you want to hide from God, you can’t.

I was born with a need to feel safe, to be under someone’s tender care.  I need to belong and to know that someone wonderful loves me.  It is a relief when I discover that I was not born in a vacuum.  My life was planned, has a purpose, and is lived within close proximity of a loving Father.  At no time am I unloved.  At no time does he take His eyes off of me.  As long as I see God’s character clearly, I am glad that I’m in His view.  It brings security and peace.

But just like Adam and Eve, there are times I want to hide.  I feel woefully inadequate and often pretend to be more together than I really am.  Because I am unwilling to look at my weaknesses, I push all thoughts of transparency out of my mind.  I foolishly think that God can’t see them either yet I am fully exposed whether I believe it or not.

For many, today’s scripture would prompt mockery.  They might not believe in God and, subsequently, don’t believe anyone is watching them.  They believe they are autonomous and in full control of their lives.  One day when they stand before God, they will discover the tragic outcome of the lie.

For others, today’s scripture prompts indifference.  They know God exists but consider Him to be repelling.  They make reckless choices ~ believing that God won’t care somehow.  They do not count on the fact that He sees all things, knows all things, and there will be an account of all things.

Every moment of time I invest in my relationship with God makes me that much more grateful that His eye is on the sparrow – and on me.  It melts my heart.  It draws me.  It tears down my defenses.  Like a small child, I nestle at His breast.  Like a best friend, I recline in close proximity as John the Beloved did.  And here’s the thing.  He never takes His eyes off me and encourages me to keep my eyes continually on Him.  Eyes locked.  Focus unbroken.

When I take my eyes off You, and look down, like Peter ~ I am overcome by the waves.  But You are the lifter of my head. Amen

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.  Hebrews 4:11

I got a note several weeks ago from someone who I’ve grown to care about very much.  She said, ‘Christine, please pray for me.  I’m starting to doubt the love of God.’  She was in very difficult times, and had been for a while, and she was tired of fighting for the faith. Her saving act was to reach out to another believer, admit her struggle, and ask to be reminded of what was true.  I contend that if she had kept her crisis of faith private, she would be further away from Jesus today.

The word ‘striving’ can be associated with something bad but it depends on what I’m striving for.  Trying to earn God’s favor, trying to solve my own problems, trying to make God love me; these are all useless reasons to strive.  But striving to enter the rest God promises?  Absolutely necessary.

Rest in God is the same as peace, trust, and wholehearted belief.  When I became God’s child, I didn’t enter into complete rest.  About my eternal destiny, yes, but about each of God’s promises, no.  I didn’t even know them yet.  Rest is attained by choosing to believe God – one day at a time and one promise at a time.  It is work.  It is a fight.  It takes intentional effort.  To be at rest, I must fight every natural instinct within myself to trust what I see and what logic begs to prove over what God says.  I must face my own unbelief head on and compare it to the outrageous promises of a Father who loves in such a way that I can’t fathom.  His love is the stuff of fairy tales and every promise is completely outside of human experience.

I strive for rest by prayer, meditation, and study.  It requires commitment, personal grit, and a willingness to be humble about my unbelief in the midst of discouragement. Pain begs to corrupt my faith and that is why living in community is so important.  I must have a few to whom I can say (as the letter to me said), ‘Pray for me. I’m at risk of unbelief.’

I guard my own heart and my own faith like I guard the life of a newborn child.  I know how fragile it is, how easily it can be broken.  I need to be the watchman on my wall for no other reason than  I have an enemy who seeks, relentlessly, to cause a breach in my ability to trust God.  He is the rest-thief.

I make this distinction for any of us who might fear falling away from the faith.  I cannot fall away from grace if I am His child.  I am kept by the power of God.  I will enter my promised rest in eternity, unlike the Israelites who never saw the Promised Land.  But I can fall away from the rest God offers while I’m making my way home.  My unbelief, carved out by turning a blind eye to the doubts that creep in one at a time, takes over my internal landscape until it resembles a barren wilderness.  And it’s needless.  Paradise, the kingdom, is here now.  It’s to seize my heart and define my joy but I must be willing to battle my own flesh and the devil for it.  Striving for rest is every day’s agenda.

You told me, Lord. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.  He’s the rest thief.  With the sword of Your Word, I defend my faith.  Amen

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.  Hebrews 4:9

When is the this ‘rest’ that God promised, the Sabbath rest?  It’s a reference, primarily, to my eternal rest.  I will work as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden.  Like it was for them, the work will not be accompanied by frustration, failure, fatigue, even financial restrictions.  I can’t even conceive of what happy labor might be without the influence of the Fall.

Frustration: There will be nothing to frustrate the work; criticism from others, abusive power, lack of resources, disharmony with other workers.  This eternal work will be accompanied by encouragement and complete harmony.

Failure: There will be no such thing as failure.  I will be like Jesus.  Whatever ability I need, I will possess.  Knowledge and skill will be innate. I will see closure wherever I invest my time.

Fatigue: There will be no weariness.  With no stress, and with a glorified body, I will have an endless supply of energy.  I will work joyfully without limits.

Financial Restrictions:  Everything resource I need to work at peak capacity will be available to me.  It will be excessive because God is generous and is the Giver of all good things.

But even now, there can be tastes of the Sabbath rest to come.  How can that be if I live in a Fallen world?  Because Paradise has been restored internally.  I am at peace with God.  In the Spirit, I am one with Perfection.

Frustration: Whatever angst I feel has a release when I offer it up in prayer.  His grace is mine to offset the intensity.  Peace is mine to replace striving.

Failure:  When I fail and condemn myself, others may glory in my shame.  God wants me to know that this need not weigh me down.  If I gave something my good faith effort, I need only draw near to Him in prayer to hear ‘Well done.’  If I’ve pleased the King of Kings, there is rest in His favor.

Fatigue:  I do get weary. He leads me to green pastures. I do get depleted.  He restores my soul.

Financial Restrictions: In the review of my life, I can be tormented by the limits caused by financial restrictions.  Perhaps I couldn’t finish college.  Perhaps I couldn’t raise the capital to start the business of my dreams.  Perhaps I went bankrupt due to poor financial choices or the betrayal of a business partner.  I can be confident that, in this life, I will achieve God’s best for me on Earth as I look to Him to be my Provider.  He is sovereign and loving even when I perceive He may be withholding.  Trusting his character is tested here but my faith can prove sterling when I ask for supernatural help.  His Word provides faith.  His Spirit provides insight.

Lord, I want everything that can be mine in you – now.  But I am also strengthened by everything to come. How you love Your children!  Amen

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 4:11

The offspring of sin is deception.  If I sin, I am deceived until I repent and have my conscience cleansed of all sin’s effects.

A child of God will not set out to sin with these thoughts in mind.

“I can’t wait to grieve God.”

“I love unrighteousness.”

“I will pay dearly for this but that doesn’t really bother me.”

What tempts me to sin are the lies that entice.

“I will do it just this one time.  It won’t be a big deal.”

“Scripture does talk about it but not all that much.”

“Other Christians have done it and I don’t see that it ruined their lives.”

“I live in the age of grace and God will forgive me.”

If sin and deception go hand in hand, does deception have an additional bedfellow?  Yes. Hardheartedness.  What I once felt guilty for doesn’t affect me anymore.  And, every time I repeat that sin, I care a little less.

Today, if I am grieved over my sin, I should thank God.  If I feel the heavy hand of conviction, my heart is still feeling the effects of the Spirit of God in me.  Being broken is a gift for it compels me to make things right and to once again have a purified conscience.  Spiritual rest and the peace of God can be restored.

Hardheartedness is a horrible state.  The harder the heart, the more time has passed since the sin, or the more times that sin has been repeated.  When I make a sin a pattern and refuse to acknowledge it, that particular iniquity becomes entrenched over time and turns into a stronghold.  My boundary lines are under siege and I was too busy enjoying my sin to notice how deep in the mire I was sinking.

God’s love for me is never threatened.  No matter how far away I stray, no matter what sin I commit, no matter how many times I’ve committed it, God’s power to save and deliver is greater still.  The blood of Christ and my sin are in no contest.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, disqualifies me from his call to repentance and His offer to forgive.

Don’t let me numb out.  Keep my heart tender and my spiritual senses ~ sharp.  Amen

While the promise to enter His rest remains, let us fear that none of you should miss it.  For we also have received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith.  Hebrews 4:1

The Israelites never entered the promised land because they stopped exercising their faith.  I can easily look back at their mistakes and think, “You blew it.  Why didn’t you trust God and go out on a limb?  Really?  After all the divine power you saw on display?  And, after such stunning displays of God’s faithfulness you still chose to doubt and disobey?” 

But then I wonder, am I doing any better today?  What I say I believe and what I’m willing to risk for ‘what I say I believe’ are two different things.  Believing isn’t enough.  Without exercising faith to prove it, I’ll never enter my rest either.  God is not pleased just because I say the right words.  The only thing that counts is whether or not I obey through faith.  “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6

What words of God don’t I follow up with action?  I’m not talking about the big things like going to the missionfield.  I’m referring to forgiving when I don’t feel like it, trusting God when I’m called to step into the dark, waiting for God’s answers instead of moving ahead with my own solutions, following God’s prompting to attend a small group when I am shy of the intimacy, trusting God with my children and not feeling the pressure to save them; these are the kinds of things that lead to blessing.  In every place I fear, I trust.

I can be eloquent in speaking of God’s ways but my words are just the empty clichés of a sage unless I support my words with personal stories.  Faith in action is what will be contagious.  Sermons given without the history of personal application are lifeless.  Listeners can tell the difference, too.  I recall what the crowd said after encountering Peter and John.  When they saw their courage and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  Luke 4:13 

When I stop acting out of my flesh, trust you instead, oh – the stories I have to tell.  I get two things.  I see You move on my behalf and I get to experience rest from the turmoil.  Don’t let me live by my soulish defaults.  Amen

For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it really all who came out of Egypt under Moses?   And who was He provoked with for 40 years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? They were unable to enter because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:16-19

Is God easily provoked?  Do I see Him as a picky Father who punishes the least little thing?  Do I find myself sticking up for the rights of the Israelites to enter the promised land?  Maybe I excuse their unbelief because they were just scared.  Every enemy was different in character and in their number.  Every turn on the journey held a different and unwelcome surprise.  Didn’t they just feel helpless and afraid?  And when people are afraid, they do lash out and do unpredictable things.

But, to put their unbelief in perspective, I consider a child who holds a father’s hand.  They’re about to encounter something frightening and this exchange takes place.

 “Daddy, I don’t want to go. I’m scared.”   

“I know you’re scared.  Trust me and it will be okay.”

“But I’m really scared.  How about if I stay here and you take someone else?”

“No, I really want to take you. Please trust me.”  The father squeezes her hand tighter and she decides to go. 

The father would not be angry because she was scared.  He would not be angry that she thought of an alternative.  He was eager to repeat, “Don’t be afraid.  Trust me.”  He knows how frightening things looked and the important thing was her obedience in the end.

Translating this to Father God and His children of Israel, their sin was not in having to work through fear.  It was not that they were intimidated by armies that far outnumbered them.  It was not that they despaired when they ran out of food.  That, He understood.  The Old Testament is dotted with conversations where God comforts and says, “Do not fear!”  So, that wasn’t it.  Their sin was in the action they took to do what they felt was best instead of doing what God asked of them.  Their unbelief caused them to go to war when they shouldn’t have, to build idols instead of fast and pray, and to intermarry to satisfy their desire to fit in instead of being willing to be separate, to be God’s unique and chosen people.

God was not picky, He was patient.  They didn’t go their own way just one time.  They sinned, in stiff-necked rebellion, throughout 40 years.  They did have sterling period of faith but for the most part, their lives could be characterized as people who were unwilling to listen to the voice of God.  While much of their unbelief did begin with fear, it quickly morphed into ugly entitlement.  “How dare you bring us to the wilderness.  And you say you love us?!”

It’s good to re-read the Exodus/wilderness account again, slowly, and ask God to see the events from His perspective.  As human parents, we would have been provoked and then probably lashed out much sooner than God did.  In spite of the fact that their unbelief kept them from the promised land, God was still longsuffering and merciful.

Why am I so easily led to dispute Your love and discount Your promises?  Now, that is the question. Amen

Watch out, brothers, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin’s deception. Hebrews 3:12-13

So, how does it happen?  If you’ve been a believer for a while, you’ve heard the story of a strong Christian who just woke up one morning and snapped.  He announced that he wanted to completely change his life ~ starting with leaving the faith.  He said that he doesn’t believe any of it anymore and he simply doesn’t want the life he’s known.  When news spreads, there is disbelief among his family and friends.  They didn’t see it coming at all.

Today’s scripture highlights what can cause such extreme behavior.  While it appeared that this person’s decision was sudden and out of the blue, it probably wasn’t in his inner life.  None of us throws everything away because our heart hardened overnight.  None of us will wake up one day to discover that we no longer believe.  The journey away from God is a slow process and I must be intimate enough with God to guard my faith. The initial warning needs to be discerned in neon lights.

The writer of Hebrews ties unbelief and deception together.  For someone to defect, it started with a seed thought that germinated over time.

“I don’t trust God because . . .” 

“If God loved me, then He wouldn’t have allowed . . .” 

“God didn’t keep His promise when . . .”

An uncontested lie metastasizes.  I am naïve to think that it won’t affect all the other areas where I do believe God.   It will.  Unbelief is connected to something important that didn’t come to pass, or it’s attached to something that did transpire that I couldn’t handle.  The birthplace was deep pain and disappointment.  I may not voice the churning but my heart says, privately, “If I can’t trust God in this one big thing, then how can I trust Him with everything else?”  Instead of facing the unbelief head on with scripture and warfare, the hurt and lies get rehearsed and seeds germinate.

Distrust and disappointment have hardened many hearts along the way, including my own.  I can look back and see how fragile my faith was at certain points. The safeguard is knowing my Achilles heel. It is staying open to the Spirit as He brings unbelief to center stage.  It is staying close to a handful of believers who hear me process my life’s story as it happens.  It is giving them the power to listen compassionately, to encourage transparency in order to understand how I am interpreting life’s events. Spirit partners are critical to encourage faith when faith doesn’t make sense.  They are not policemen but wise counselors.  They are not immune to faithlessness but are well acquainted with how wounded hearts heal.

Lord, no wonder you said to take every thought captive.  It’s rugged introspection but lies are identified when they first happen ~ before passing thoughts make themselves at home.  Help me.  Amen

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works for 40 years. Hebrews 3:7-9 

One of the signs of getting older is telling others the same stories over and over. You think it’s not going to happen to you, but I find myself saying quite often, “If I’ve told you this, stop me!”  Most of the time, stories over lunch need only be told once.  But there are exceptions.  Teachers repeat themselves to get important facts across.  Parents repeat themselves to teach fundamental principles.  Lovers build a repetitive love language because they can’t help themselves and they know that you can’t say ‘I love you’ often enough.  I, perhaps like you, even have things I repeat to our pets.  I make up songs, poems, and enjoy calling them endearing nicknames. It’s fun to sing them and eventually, the animals come running when they hear something they recognize.

One thing about scripture is how often it repeats itself.  Jesus quoted the Old Testament 78 times.  Most books will also reference direct quotes from previous authors and there are also indirect quotes.

• Direct quotes: 302
• Allusions to other passages: 493
• Possible allusions: 138

When God repeats Himself, as His child, I must sit up at attention to ask why.  God is not forgetful, so He is intentionally choosing to say something a second or third time.  There are no stray words that exit His mouth.  No word or phrase is insignificant.  Furthermore, God doesn’t even need language to make a point.

In today’s scripture, the writer of Hebrews reaches back to quote Psalm 95.  The topic is ‘being careful not to harden my heart.’  God not only repeated himself this once, but it’s repeated 42 more times.  It must be critical.  I must not know how easily I allow my heart to get hard and calloused.  It’s instinctive to my flesh and therefore I must be on guard to prevent it from happening.

For me, hardening my heart happens for several reasons.  When I want something different than what God wants for me and turn off my ears to a command, when I repeatedly refuse to embrace a promise as mine, when I refute His proclamations of love because He doesn’t relieve my pain, when I’m tested and get angry with the test, when people I love hurt longer than I think they should, when the person delivering God’s Word is someone I don’t like ~ these are often the catalysts.

God tested His people in the wilderness.  Testing was to bring about spiritual growth, to tone their faith muscles, but they strained under the lessons and chose the easy way out.  Unbelief and rebellion were always the result.  The long-term tragedy was that most in that generation never saw Canaan.  The cost for turning off God’s voice is more than I can afford but I think I’ll be the exception. Satan lies!  I’ll miss out on what I believe I’m seeking elsewhere ~ blessing and reward.

I’m asking this one thing today, Father.  Have I hardened my heart about anything that You’ve told me?  I am sincerely asking.  Show me.  Amen

Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.  Hebrews 3:5-6

Put yourself in the center of the plot of the following story.

Next Christmas, around December 1^st, you receive a beautiful looking envelope in the mail.  It’s obviously a card of some type.  It’s as thick as a wedding invitation.  You wonder who it is that’s getting married.  You open the envelope and the inside of the flap is gold foil.  You gasp and remark out loud to yourself, “This might be the most beautiful stationery I’ve ever seen.”

Inside that envelope is another one, also foil lined, and you discover that you’ve been invited to a royal Christmas event at the home of a well-known and well-respected person.  You have several weeks to plan what you will wear.  You rehearse what you might say to the host to express your delight in being included on his guest list.

The day arrives.  You’ve got everything laid out.  You are more dressed up than you can remember being for some time.  This occasion has called for extra attention to attire and presentation.  You arrive at the home.  It is lit up so beautifully and the entrance takes your breath away.  At the door, you are greeted by the senior footman.  He has been entrusted to represent the owner and he is impressive.  His manner is gracious yet professional.  He makes you feel welcome and you are mesmerized as you watch this footman welcome each guest in the same way.

The footman further captivates you as you see his attention to the beautifully laid out table and his meticulous execution of the serving of the meal.  He never misses a beat and never have you seen a man so impressive.

The owner is there all evening and is extremely engaging.  He makes it clear that he’d like to include you at more estate events.  For some odd reason, you are in his favor.  But all these realities are mere distractions.  What arrests you, and leaves you speechless, is the footman!  You go home to tell of your experience. They are dying to hear all about your adventure but are incredulous that you never mention the owner and master of the estate, the one who initiated your invitation and signed it personally. Your stories revolve around a hired servant of the household.

Preposterous, right?  And yet, is this not what today’s scripture describes?  Moses, one of God’s servants, has become the focus.  The Son – who owns the house – is not glorified.

The Jew’s confidence was not to be in Moses, nor was it to be in Abraham, the father of their faith.  Their hope was to be placed in the Messiah.  Likewise, our confidence is not in those who passed down their faith to us.  Parents, grandparents, pastors and teachers; they are the servants.  May I never glorify feet of clay and lose the stars in my eyes for the Alpha and Omega who invited me to be His very own.  I’m feasting at His table and who else is there just pales in comparison.

Lord, I thank you for every faithful servant who has shaped my life. They testify of you and your glory begs to be seen.  I hold You high above my life and boast only of You.  Amen