Author: missionspaul

Your experience as a Christ follower is spiritual. The author is now contrasting the 2 mountains, that of Sinai and Zion. The first was physical and the second spiritual. The first was where the law was given in order to move the people into holiness. It failed. The second was a complete transformation of the heart. It has succeeded.

We all need to be reminded of the relationship with God that we have been called into.

“You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰ because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” ²¹ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”(Hebrews 12 v 18-21)

This relationship is not untouchable. God’s presence had come upon Mount Zion and Moses was called up that mountain as the representative of the people. But they themselves were commanded not to touch it. The presence of God was too holy for them to set their feet on it or touch it. “Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death.” Exodus 19:12. Their sin separated them from their Holy God.

This relationship is not unlistenable. In what sounds like an explosive volcano taking place the people wanted it to stop. ““Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Exodus 20:19. Their sin meant they wanted a mediator they couldn’t bear the holy Word of God.

This relationship is not unapproachable. On the giving of the 10 commandments, “When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance… Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.” Exodus 20:18-21. Their sin caused them to back off from God.

So of course the reverse is true. We will see that tomorrow.

But today be thankful for Jesus. For through Him you are not separated; you can hear God speak to you and you do draw near with full assurance.

This is the truth of your relationship with God.

One of my colleagues is running the London Marathon today with his daughter. He has told me of how in the training runs he has had to run much more slower in order to help his daughter keep pace and complete the training. He will do the same today. They will cross the line together.

We need to take care of our own souls but that of others too. Church is not a place to only worship but it is a community that learn to care for one another in this race.

The author is concerned that these Christians may either drift from their commitment to Christ or abandon their faith altogether. Here are some examples of what has already been said: 2:1-4 “We must pay more careful attention …”    4:12-13 “Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”    6:4-8 ” It is impossible … if they fall away … they are crucifying the Son of God all over again”    10:26-31 “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”  

For far less reasons people have abandoned their church communities and walked also from God. If their prayers are not answered the way they wanted they have given up. But this persecution was real and painful and there was more to come. It begged the question, was becoming a Christian a mistake? Had they done the right thing? If they hadn’t made their commitment to Christ then they would not be facing this suffering.

“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. ¹⁶ See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. ¹⁷ Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.” (Hebrews 12 v 15-17)

There is no indication in the story of Esau that he was sexually immoral, so perhaps (as with the prophets) the author/pastor is pointing to the idolatry of Esau. He disregarded the benefits that were his for a temporary relief to his hunger, a bowl of stew.

I know a man who God called to plant churches. Today he won’t attend any church. He preferred a bowl of stew.

Let’s pay attention to ourselves and each other.

Here are some things to look out for:

1. Grace not performance. Our best holiness will still need to be surrendered to His pure grace. Watch out for those who seem to be going through the motions.
2. Godliness not bitterness. Is there a long-standing resentment, a hardening of the heart which refuses to be reconciled? It is to nurse the anger and to take care of it, thinking over and over on the offending conversation and the injury that it caused you.
3. Guidance not impulsiveness. Are people asking for advice? Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew; Aaron created a golden calf for worship to please people; Samson found Delilah and lost his eyesight; Eli kept silent with his sinful sons and lost God’s presence; Moses struck the rock twice and missed the Promised Land. None of these people needed to have ended how they did. If only they had considered before they acted.

With stark warning the community are told that just like Esau who came to his senses and with tears wanted to turn the clock back he couldn’t. He reached the point of no return. If these Christians returned to Judaism it would be the same. They would forfeit the blessings God had for them.

It is the Esau warning not to let go and not to let others do so also.

The horizontal and the vertical.

You can’t have one without the other.

And it does take effort.

I understand all too well there are some people that the bridge has been burnt and they simply will not respond to reconciliation. However there cannot be consecration without at least the pursuit of reconciliation.

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12 v 14)

Remember when Paul decided he would take the Nazirite vow for a period of 30 days in which one of the things he had to do was not to cut his hair during that time (Numbers 6:1-21). This vow was for those who wanted to give time to draw closer to God, for the separation of their life from the pressures of the world and to give oneself wholly to the Lord. After 30 days their hair would be cut and presented at the temple as an offering in the fire.
The Apostle Paul had decided to take this vow.

1. Paul chose to stay in Corinth and especially living in such a wicked city it warranted the need for commitment to God.

Sometimes to remain in a situation you have to re-consecrate yourself to God to give you the strength to stay. Consecration means you are securing your position in perhaps a very insecure surrounding. That position is to God and your relationship with Him in the place He has brought you.

2. Paul made some strategic decisions and that happened during his time of consecration to God. He would leave Silas and Timothy behind to train leaders and the church whilst he would take Priscilla and Acquilla and go to Syria.

Sometimes you have to know when to leave and who to leave behind. Not everyone can come with you but everyone needs to feel they are fulfilled in the purposes of God. If you leave then make sure those who are left are fulfilling their calling.

Sometimes you have to appoint new people to be your accompanying partners. This can be difficult if you are used to having certain friends who have walked your path for many years with you.

Consecration leads to stripping back all the distractions so that God can show us the right decisions to make.

3. Paul sailed from Cenchrea, an important harbour at the time, the place where a church had been planted and where one of the deaconesses, Phoebe, would deliver a letter to the Roman Church (Romans 16:1). It was here that Paul decided to end his vow at the place where he would literally distance himself from others and continue in His destiny.

Sometimes you need to get to the place where it is going to happen. Every chapter needs a new page. Many long for their destiny but don’t make the effort needed to get to the place where they will see what they long to see.

Paul had his hair cut. The vow of commitment had been made. His hair was just a sign of what had happened within. He cut his hair but his heart remained consecrated to God. The period of consecration comes to an end and we move forward. The landscape may remain but we are seeing things differently. Our destiny is clearer now we are consecrated to God.

Consecration to Christ is certain and for the purpose of commitment, strategy and destiny.

The horizontal and the vertical.

You can’t have one without the other.

And it does take effort.

I understand all too well there are some people that the bridge has been burnt and they simply will not respond to reconciliation.

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12 v 14)

Was it because the church was seeing people leave and return to Judaism that brought the divisions? For all kinds of reasons and for very weak ones church people find themselves falling out

I see a lot of wooden sticks being carried around these days to hit out at people but not many are formed into wooden crosses to be carried.

• The longer you stay in anger the longer time has to ruin that relationship beyond repair.
• The longer you stay in anger you say to God I don’t trust you to get the justice I deserve (so we hold out for another day after a restless night’s sleep) compared perhaps to the culprit who may not even know you are angry with them who simply trusts God who looks after the whole universe as well as their life whilst they get a restful night’s sleep.
• The longer you stay in anger the longer you look less like God who poured out his righteous anger onto Himself on the cross.
• The longer you stay in anger the less happy you are.
• The longer you stay in anger your life remains paused for longer and the less effective and productive you become for God.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53375607 on the BBC website:

“Five people have been killed after attackers stormed a South African church, reportedly amid an argument over its leadership. South African police said they had rescued men, women and children from a “hostage situation” on the outskirts of Johannesburg on Saturday morning. They have also arrested at least 40 people, and seized dozens of weapons. The church’s leadership has reportedly been the subject of infighting since its former leader died in 2016. Police had previously been called to the church following a shoot-out between members in 2018.”

Now if that was not shocking enough, here comes the name of the church! The International Pentecostal Holiness Church!!

Anger that leads to sin opens the door for the devil to exploit and make things so much worse. It gives the devil the legal right to be there.

You see there can be no consecration before reconciliation or the pursuing of it.

While visiting in Haiti, Dale A. Hayes heard a Haitian minister illustrate to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ.

The minister told of a man who wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man badly wanted the house but couldn’t afford the full price.

After much haggling, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the asking price with just one stipulation: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.

After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So, the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned.

Soon the house became uninhabitable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.

The Haitian minister’s conclusion: “If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation.”

Do we need to call someone today? Do we need to have that coffee and talk it through, to pursue peace, strive to reconcile so that then you can enter into consecration. Perhaps reconciliation is actually consecration.

A woman rushed up to famed violinist Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) after a concert and cried: “I’d give my life to play as beautifully as you do.” Kreisler replied, “I did.”

If you plant a Chinese bamboo seed, it will sit in the ground for five years and appear to not be making any changes. Then, over a six-week period, it will grow 90 feet.

There is a giant Himalayan lily which spends most of its life looking like nothing at all but then after 5-7 years it grows to 9-10 feet tall and produces the most amazing delicately shaped flowers.

However, when it comes to human achievement and maybe even our own process of maturing, we are the most impatient. Discouragement is never far away.

Writing to a community of believers who have seen people return to Judaism the instruction is to keep going.

“Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed” (Hebrews 12 v 12-13).

You cannot afford to be knocked off course which is the understanding of becoming disabled. Being healed is to walk in wholeness of purpose.

Don’t be discouraged. Shake it off. Walk this journey well. Many have become side-tracked, wandering and drifting and they actually accomplish very little. But that doesn’t need to be you. No matter where you have landed in life, you may have lost it all, you can dust yourself down, make some good decisions, fix your eyes again and looking straight ahead move forward.

In some trials it is difficult to think any of the pain will be worth it. The last thing you need is a friend saying it is all for the glory of God when you can’t see a way through!

There is a time for everything: There were three sisters—ages 92, 94, and 96—who lived together. One night, the 96-year-old ran a bath. She put one foot in, then paused. “Was I getting in the tub or out?” she yelled. The 94-year-old hollered back, “I don’t know, I’ll come and see.” She started up the stairs, but stopped on the first step. She shouted, “Was I going up or coming down?” The 92-year-old was sitting in the kitchen having tea, listening to her sisters with a smirk on her face. She shook her head and said, “I sure hope I never get that forgetful,” and knocked on the wooden table for good measure. Then she yelled, “I’ll come up and help both of you as soon as I see who’s at the door.”

Maybe you simply do not know whether you are coming or going. Life can be that confusing!

Every experience has had a start and it will have an end. This season will come to an end!

“They (our parents) disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12 v 10-11)

The pain and the difficulty is for a season. There is a God in the centre of it all: He has made everything beautiful in its time. A harvest of righteousness and peace are coming.

Keep believing, hold on to the truth that you will get through this. You will see the other side. This season will change. The storm will subside.

I’ve always loved those few words in the KJV of Old Testament which appear many times over, ‘And it came to pass’.

You may not be able to see your way through. But this is for a little while. There is a later on for you. You will be able to say, ‘And it came to pass’.

To the patient waking with their terminal diagnosis and another day of pain …. It’s just for a little while.

To the lover whose heart is broken and you wonder if you will love again … it’s just for a little while.

To the employee who has to go to work in a toxic atmosphere … it’s just for a little while.

Everywhere in the world people wake to a day of grief, a day of difficulty and all kinds of trials. Some just have to suffer but it’s momentary, it’s not for long, it’s just for a little while.

You may just have to go through the struggle.

This life may throw rocks at you and no matter how much you pray they just may not stop.

You may just have to keep going when all you want to do is give up.

Even if the world puts you on a cross it doesn’t mean you are the one who is defeated.

It’s just for a little while. It’s the heart of Christianity. We are people of the ‘little while’ and the ‘later on’. God will use the pain – in time.

Nothing is wasted. The difficulty you are going through is not fate or lack of fortune. At some point of the trial difficult that it might be we must ask questions: What will this produce in me? What benefit will this bring? How can I glorify God in this? We might need a friend to help us in this. We may need counselling to bring us through. We will definitely need the Holy Spirit.

“They (our parents) disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12 v 10-11)

Parents do their best. But parents can be wrong in trying to do their best. They can easily stray into bringing discipline for their own good and their name. God uses painful trials for our good and so that we enjoy the intimacy with Him.

David referred to himself as a flea on two occasions, a dead dog and a worm.

Moses looked at himself and said he was not up to the task.

Gideon believed he was the weakest.

The list can go on. It seems every Bible hero had to get rid of the worthless things that were clinging to them, that had become the focus of their life and the shaper of it.

We need to stop thinking negatively, either about ourselves or circumstances. We need to think about our purpose in this world and about Him especially when we are in the painful trial of it.

We have a Good Shepherd, Good News and we should be the Good Samaritan. Goodness is the trait of the kingdom of light.

This pain you are experiencing right now could be the doorway into goodness.

If you have given out more than you have received back then you are venturing into the Goodness.

There needs to be loss in your life for Goodness to emerge. The loss of loving someone who doesn’t return that love. The loss of helping those who just take. Loss because there is no hope of getting anything back from your kindness and generosity.

When you question whether it was worth it; when you ask whether you have been taken for a ride; when you see nothing from your acts of kindness it is then when you are bordering on the entrance of Goodness.

Goodness is a life where you look like God, especially in front of your enemies and within the pain. God can see you identify with Him for this is who He is and what He has done and does today. Welcome to His holiness. You have stepped into sharing in His life.

The incredible blessing for every Christian today is that they can address God as Father.

No one before Jesus called God this name.

No one after Jesus calls God, Father, except the followers of Jesus.

The sign that you belong to God is that you call Him Father.

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? ⁸ If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. ⁹ Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!” (Hebrews 12 v 7-9)

But the sign that you belong to Him is not only that you can call Him Father and not only that you feel loved and cared for but that you at times face difficulty.

This discipline is not placing some difficulty on you to punish you but to in the end empower you and to fulfil His purpose.

The desired goal for this difficulty from the Father is that you live (v9), this is not so that you fail but that you become even more in alignment with your Father.

We do that by enduring and submitting to His correction on our lives.

We do that knowing He is the Father of spirits. He is spirit and He moves upon our spirit to help us in this difficulty.

Here is a prayer I wrote in my journal a while ago. It is a prayer for when you are facing difficulty.

Lord, fill me again and again with the Spirit.

I am aware of the difficulty I am in. I know this is your discipline on my life because you care for me. I will not run from it. I will not cave into it. I will stand up against it. I stand in faith.

I set my face like flint, I resolutely set myself towards what is ahead of me, just like you did.

I am where you have placed me. So I will remain. I will not be removed. I will keep going.

I embrace courage. I say NO to easier paths.

I choose my attitude and my actions for today, this is my armour. My character is inside of me and it is there where the armour is needed.

My outward appearance is not as important as what is inside of me.

I can only do this battle with you. I can only go through the pain and the trials with you. So Lord, fill me again and again with the Spirit.

The devil is my accuser and I am not unaware that he is scheming even now. He has his methods, crafty and deceptive they may be, but he will not outwit me, for you are with me. He may condemn me but there is no condemnation. He may accuse me before You but your blood speaks a better word. He is a liar and there is no truth in him.

I clothe myself with Christ. I receive your Spirit. You are my Father. I take my stand. I am ready today.

Amen

Not every chapter of suffering in your life is the work of God. Even though He is with you in it and even though He permitted it in His sovereignty, not everything is from His hand. Those who are persecuted today are being so because of the evils of man. But there are always two helpful questions to ask when you are going through a tough time: How can God be seen in me through this suffering? What does God want me to do in this?

When you are struggling through your circumstance it is hard to understand what the purpose is? It sometimes seems meaningless, unfair and the questions are many.

To those who suffer:

• You are nearer to the cross. The narrow-minded says ‘God never allows the innocent to perish’, and they alienate themselves from Jesus on the cross.

• You carry mystery, and therefore have a bigger God than those who have to explain everything.

• Triumph is greater than freedom. Although you desire to be free from suffering, being triumphant over it is ultimately a greater joy.

The Bible helps. The Pastor-author here says so, referring to a Scripture from Proverbs 3:-

^“And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, ⁶ because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” (Hebrews 12 v 5-6)

So there are definite times when we suffer and it is God at work in our lives. Billy Graham once said: “God does not discipline us to subdue us, but to condition us for a life of usefulness and blessedness.”

• We must “not make light” of those times.

If you cannot see that God is wanting to make you more like Christ then you haven’t looked in the mirror for a while.  If you cannot see the blind spots that others see so clearly then there is nothing to rein in, nothing to try to master and bring discipline into your own life. Ignorance isn’t bliss it often leads to unrestraint. Don’t ignore what is happening. God is at work.

• We must “not lose heart” in those times.

Anyone can confess the Christian faith. Anyone can hold on to this faith when their life is going well and they are feeling blessed, successful, victorious and appreciated. The seasons of great difficulty when you are grieving, when it appears you are losing, when the battle is intense and you feel like you will give in are proving only one thing that if you hold on, if you keep what you confess and do not cover up who you are, you will not only survive but you will prove that you are real and trustworthy.

• We must know “the Lord disciplines the one he loves”.

He doesn’t want you self-sufficient. He wants intimacy with you. He rebukes you not from a place of anger. He speaks to you from a broken heart. His discipline is not words alone. His discipline expects an enthusiasm to change the way you think which will then change the way you behave. His followers can be casual. His true friends have all been brought into line. He doesn’t want you to work at your spiritual temperature. He wants to come into your life. For He loves you!

There was a moment yesterday, just a fleeting one, when my thoughts began to focus on some difficulty I was having. At the same time the news bulletin was on in the background. The news item was showing a child in Gaza being bandaged up, badly traumatised, it is as we all know the worst place on earth for a child.

That’s when I said, ‘It’s not as bad as that!’

“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12 v 4)

It is an interesting sentence because it shows that for this community of believers who are tempted to go back to Judaism because of hostility, they were not experiencing what Christ did for them.

In the garden of Gethsemane, “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22 v 44)

Under arrest from Pilate, “Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.” (Matthew 27 v 26)

Being crucified, “then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head.” (Matthew 27 v 29)

After he was crucified, “one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” (John 19 v 34)

Look to the blood of Christ. That’s what the Pastoral advice was to the church. It still is today.

His skinless back full of blood, a crown of thorns piercing his head, a face bruised by the beating, barely able to stand, a broken God of glory. That’s who the author is reminding the church of. Calling them to fix their eyes on Jesus and consider Him who shed His blood for them.

Some will wake today once again driven to succeed, to be somebody, to do something, to achieve their dreams and to be remembered, all for the glory of God. Remember the blood of Jesus.

Some will wake today and wonder how did they become so disappointed in life? Why have their dreams died and their prayers not been answered? Why are they hurting so much? Remember the blood of Jesus.

God coming into the world looks like this.

For us:- “How many ‘likes’? What is the brand? How many are engaged with us?”

Remember the blood of Jesus.

It was shocking and it was meant to be. We see the divine in the failing humanity.

Greatness and Glory are seen, so remember the blood.

Reject this picture and you will turn from the power of God seen in your weakness.

Avoid this pain and you will never reach the power of the resurrection.

Remember the blood.

Look in the mirror with all your questions, disappointments, hurts, grief and confusion.

Not much to look at. Yet God has chosen to dwell in such a place as you.

Remember the blood.

It’s not as bad as that!