Hebrews 8 - 05.16.24

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 8:10 AMPC

“For this is the new covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

OBSERVATION 

The old covenant involved keeping God’s commandments and laws about sacrifices and other external requirements. Although the Israelites had made a covenant promise of obedience, they did not remain faithful. They broke God’s covenant many times over. The Israelites could not remain faithful because their hearts had not truly been changed. 

A changed heart requires something greater than the OLD system of sacrifice. 

APPLICATION 

God’s HOLY SPIRIT changed EVERYTHING 

I will PUT a New Spirit WITHIN them.

“…I will put a New Spirit WITHIN them; 

I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies, and I will give them tender hearts, SO—that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.”

(Ezekiel 11:19-20 AMP)

Under God’s New’s Covenant, God’s law is Inside us-not as an external set of rules and regulations BUT God Himself has taken up residence to transform our hearts, activate our conscience and influence our motives—giving us a desire to obey Him.

1.      A New Heart. “I will put My Laws IN their Minds and Write them ON Their Hearts.”

2.      Intimacy with God. “I will BE their God AND they will BE my people.” In the first covenant, people continually failed to live up to their promise breaking relationship. With the New Covenant, the relationship is secured through Jesus Christ.

3.      Access to Knowing God for Everyone. “Everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already KNOW me.” The New Covenant makes every believer a Priest. Jesus tore the curtain, and every believer NOW has intimate 24/7 access to God through prayer. Every believer will have a New depth of understanding unlike anything before BECAUSE we have God’s Living Presence in our heart to reveal truth to us as we read His Word and continue to learn through Bible believing--Christ Centered Church community and godly teachers.

4.      God’s Forgiveness is assured. “I will FORGIVE their wrongdoings, and I will never again remember their sins.” The old covenant provided an incomplete forgiveness needing to make sacrifices over and over again for their sins. With The New Covenant, sin and its effect of separating people from God are eliminated. Sin’s impact is completely overcome AND there is no longer a barrier to our relationship with God.

God’s Law is inside us and His forgiveness is complete!

PRAYER

Thank YOU LORD Jesus for YOUR GIFT! YOUR Word is written on our mind and upon our inner most thoughts to guide and direct our ways. YOU are working IN us to give us the desire and power to do what pleases YOU (Phil 2:13). Thank YOU for YOUR Goodness and Grace and LOVE that is beyond compare. Today I am simply Thankful and say Bless the LORD Oh my soul and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name. amen.

Tina L Kudelka

Hebrews 7 - 5.15.24

Scripture

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (Hebrews: 7: 25)

Observation

Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through Him. Because He is alive. Because He constantly intercedes for them to the Father. This verse starts with a “therefore”. We have to look at the verses before this, to understand why. The writer of Hebrews uses scripture to prove the superiority of Christ over the Jewish traditions. Jesus is better than Moses because He is the Son of God (Heb 3:5-6). He is better than the Levetical priesthood because He does not need to offer daily sacrifices (Heb 7:27). Jesus was made a priest forever by God (Heb 7:17 and 21). Jesus was not made a High Priest because of regulation of his ancestry, as he was not born in the tribe of Levi from whom priests were appointed (Hebrews 7:16). Other High Priests die and are buried, but Jesus lives forever (Heb 7:23). He is holy, blameless, sinless and pure (Heb 7:26). Jesus is our High Priest forever. One of the most important functions of a High Priest in the Old Testament was to be an intermediary between God and the people, and to ask God’s forgiveness for the people’s sins by offering sacrifices. Jesus died for our sins once and for all, and became the ultimate sacrifice. He is the one and only mediator between God and us (1 Tim 2:5). He lives forever, and He is continually interceding for us before the Father (Hebrews 7:25). Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him! (Hebrews 7:25).

Application

We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize and empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin (Heb 4:15). That is our confidence. Our Jesus is able to save us completely forever. He lives forever and is continually making intercession for us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us, and the blood of Jesus washes us from all sin (1 John 1:7,9). So if the Devil is constantly plaguing you with the reminder of a past sin and telling you that you are not worthy of God, tell him that it is covered under the blood of Jesus, and he has no business with you, as you are forgiven and you are justified - just as if you had never sinned!  You are a child of God, and God is your Father. We have the confidence to draw close to God’s throne in prayer, calling him “Abba Father”, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Heb 4:16, Rom 8:15).

Prayer

Father, I thank you for making me your child. Thank you for the blood of Jesus that washes me from all sins. Thank you Jesus, because you are alive forever. Thank you because you are constantly interceding for me. Father, I draw close to the throne of grace, calling you “Abba Father” to receive your mercy and grace and help for my need. Thank you Jesus, because you are more than enough. I trust you. I love you. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

- Asha Chacko George

Hebrews 6 - 5.14.24

SCRIPTURE:  Hebrews 6:13  "When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.  And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised."  

OBSERVATION:  The author is anonymous.  In this chapter he focused on God's promise to Abraham that was referenced in Genesis 22:16,18 regarding when Abraham did not withhold his only son Isaac from being sacrificed as a burnt offering, and because Abraham trusted and obeyed God's voice, He was promised that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through his seed.  (Jesus is that seed Who came through Abraham's family line).    

Abraham was 75 years old when God gave him the promise that he and Sarah would become parents, and Abe waited 25 long years for that promise to be fulfilled when he finally became the father of Isaac at the ripe old age of 100!   Many things happened in-be-tween the promise and the fulfillment of that promise.  When the waiting got tough, Sarah devised a plan, and Abraham agreed, to use Sarah's Egyptian slave girl to bear a child with Abraham.  They soon found out the hard way that all that did was to mess things up by trying to "help" God out!

NOTHING is able to thwart the plans and purposes of God, and even though Abraham and Sarah had gotten impatient and tried to speed things up on their own, God kept His promise, and it was miraculously fulfilled according to HIS perfect timing! God did as He swore;  He blessed Abraham, and he is the father of all those who come to God by faith.  All the nations of the world are blessed by the nation of his descendants.  

APPLICATION:  God has given us His written Word, and EVERY single Word is true!  Jesus' desire is to become the ultimate source of our assurance, and one of the many ways to test the measure of our faith is while we are in, you guessed it... WAIT MODE!  Our faith is made strong as we feed on God's Word.  Jesus is the Bread of Life.  His Word nourishes us, sustains us, and builds our faith.   EVERY promise He has made is trustworthy, and they NEVER change!  Even when we fail Him, He remains faithful to us. We may try to go ahead of Him, and in the process mess things up, but in the end, His plans and perfect timing are ALWAYS fulfilled according to what HE has promised!   

PRAYER:  I pray that I will hide God's Word in my heart, know His promises, trust in His perfect plan, and in His perfect timing.  I pray I will depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to give me the patience I need as I am in wait mode.  I pray I will depend on Him to keep me from becoming weary while I wait.  May I have confident trust in God's promises, and never forget that His greatest promise to me is that I have been saved through Jesus!  And, I pray,  as I wait that I will focus on being about my Father's business as I allow His plans to be accomplished in and through my life as I continue to put my trust in His Word and my hope in Jesus. 

- Robin Orefice