I have a confession to make. I have a hard time holding on to hope. I have been developed in a very pessimistic worldview. Growing up, we had a phrase that my family would bring up any time something mildly inconvenient or seriously rough would happen. "It's just Matus luck." Matus luck was the way we would represent this imaginary curse upon us that would say, "If it could go wrong, it will." The...

As we discussed in yesterday's devotion, it is apparent that the recipients of the Hebrews were being deeply challenged in their faith and the writer to the Hebrews wants to reinforce them to hold on. While he has offered so many instances in which Jesus is greater than their old covenant, he also offers another comfort. They can go to the Lord. We can see many instances where the Israelite people...

We have addressed all throughout the book of Hebrews what kind of state the readers were in. It was dire and it was uncomfortable. The risk was high and it left them having to ask if the reward was genuinely worth it. I am sure many of us have gone through it before as we reflect on old patterns of our past. "How bad is it actually?" We might ask ourselves. And when faced with life or death, some ...

After addressing the reality that Jesus truly is better, we enter into an application passage that holds a lot of gold for us. Rather than the audience simply hearing and understanding these things, there is a direct way this ought to impact the readers' lives. To begin, the writer addresses how we can enter in to the Holiest of All by the blood of Jesus and through a new and living way. The reade...

19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold...

Reflecting upon this reality that we have been made pure, I want us to sit and meditate on the work that Jesus has accomplished for us. Take 15 minutes this morning and give Him thanks for how He has made you pure and holy in His sight.......

There is a book I am reading called Holiness by Grace by Bryan Chapell. It stands to be one of my favorites on the subject of holiness. We often put far too much emphasis upon ourselves and our inability to work out what the Lord has worked into us. We do this so much so that we can nullify the reality that God has in fact purified us. He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. This ...

14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.-Hebrews 10:14 I cannot help but pause on the above verse. It is so critical to the current state of the believer that I would be remised if I did not give it the time due.By one offering. Jesus. The only offering that was fully sufficient to purify His people. He offered Himself wholly and entirely to the humiliation a...

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.-Hebrews 10:4 There is something that the law was designed to be inefficient with. The law was effective for highlighting sin and acting as a tutor for those who had not known what was right or wrong. The commandments, judgments, and statutes were effective at reminding the people of the Lord their God and the fact tha...

There is a shadow of the good things to come. It is at this point that the writer to the Hebrews brings the hammer down. Everything has led to this moment. One after another, he has drawn distinctions of the limitations of the law and how it pales in comparison to Jesus. Now that all of that has been drawn, it is time to come out and and say it. The law bears no substance. The substance is Christ....

The writer to the Hebrews draws some important distinctions between what Jesus offers and what the Old Covenant offered. Spoiler alert: it is drastic. The Old Covenant, formed by the Laws given from God to His people, are related to simply being a shadow of the good things to come, and those things are found in Christ. To exemplify how drastic this comparison is, I invite you to simply consider yo...

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins eve...

Any time we are looking to do something to engage deeper with the Lord, there is no doubt that the enemy seeks to hinder our moves toward the Lord. Let us then prepare ourselves for spiritual warfare in prayer. Pray that the Lord would help you carve out time to spend with Him and that He would remind you of Him throughout the day. Take a few minutes simply to enjoy His presence today. Lastly, pra...

As I consider yesterday's lesson of waiting upon the Lord, one of the natural questions that arises is how to wait upon the Lord? If we were to compile all the texts where this theme is discussed, we will see different expressions of what it looks like. In some instances, it is simply an exercise of trust and knowing that the Lord will in fact show up. So we need not try to achieve the will of God...

28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.-Hebrews 9:28 There is an attitude throughout Scripture that emphasizes waiting upon the Lord. There are many elements that play into this attitude. Hope, trust, and patience are all themes that the original audience would have recognized. In fact, t...