Hebrews 6:9-12

Hebrews 6:9-12
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  The preacher here in Hebrews is trying to encourage the people, all the while urging them forward, to stay faithful, to not let the allures of comfort and ease draw them away from the difficult road of discipleship.
  It's challenging to stay faithful, to keep your vision focused on Christ.  One day runs into another, and the awe of Easter fades as other demands press in, all the while our attention is drawn to easier ways.  These alternatives may not offer the same ultimate reward, but it's easy to forget long-term goals when you long for short-term fulfillment.  Our willpower is rarely strong!
  So let us stay faithful, because God remembers the good we have done, and because we are following the example of those who have come before us, those who stayed faithful and true.

Hebrews 6:4-8

Hebrews 6:4-8
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  It's an ongoing question for all of us -- what about those who don't believe?  The Bible seems to address this in many places, including here, where the preacher in Hebrews tells us that those who have believed and then turned back are doomed.  If someone has come to know the love of God and believe in all that God offers, to turn back on that is to insult God, as though the providence of God is not enough.
  I don't have the answers for big questions.  I've certainly wrestled with them a lot, and at the end of the day I trust that the God who comes as Judge will be the same God who comes as Savior, and that Savior was merciful and gracious, and I expect him to continue to exhibit mercy and love.  God rules from on high in love and seeks peace, and so I trust that what God does will be right, and that some day I might glimpse an understanding of how God rules, including how God deals with those who know the fullness of his love and reject it still.

Hebrews 6:1-3

Hebrews 6:1-3
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 What's your next step?
  Have you given thought to how you want to grow in faith?  We are encouraged to never stop growing, but we often tend to take growth for granted, assuming that it will just happen along the way.  How much wiser would it be for us to spend time thinking about how we want to grow so that we will act with intention, learning or developing along a certain path.  We don't have to be legalistic about it, but pursue growth with a path in mind, to ensure that we aren't just cruising, but actively moving down the road that Christ has called us to walk.

Hebrews 5:11-14

Hebrews 5:11-14
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  As we grow, we change.
  Our kids don't eat baby food forever -- as they mature, they're ready to be challenged by new foods, to try new things and see how they are developing.
  As Christians, we grow as well.  We don't receive messages meant for children forever.  As we grow, we are challenged by Scripture and forced to concentrate on what God is saying to us, because as the undercurrent of his love never changes, the delivery does.  As we grow there will be tough challenges that make us reconsider what we know about how our life relates to God.  Children might not be able to handle a tough message, but we should be able to.  Our faith should strengthen and grow, and so we move beyond the simple into the complex, all the while remembering the foundation that is built in the early days of our faith.
  How do you let yourself be challenged?

Hebrews 5:5-10

Hebrews 5:5-10
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 

  The obedience of Christ led him to a place where he can 'save forever all who obey him'.  Obedience, which was excruciatingly difficult at the time, paid dividends later.
  In our consumerist society, we like to have our rewards now -- we don't want to have to wait for them.  We certainly don't expect to suffer for anything!  The momentary trumps the long-term, so we give up long-term gains in order to achieve satisfaction now.
  But Christ shows us a better way.  He shows us how obedience now leads to greater rewards later.  Denying ourselves now can lead to a richer and more abundant life.  Obedience, rather than indulgence, is the wiser path, for it can draw us closer to God and help us see the fuller vision of Kingdom life.

Hebrews 5:1-4

Hebrews 5:1-4
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 A priest has the role of a servant.  It is not the priest's responsibility to invest concern in themselves, but rather to look to the people who come for help and take pity upon them, looking for ways to heal their wounds and orient them back to hope.  By no means is this an easy role, for it involves allowing the heart to be wounded for each soul that comes forward, for this is the only way to truly care for those in need.
  Christ was able to be the perfect high priest, for he has infinite love for each person that he cares for.  He does not grow weary of our weaknesses, nor does he tire of our complaints.  Christ loves us, even when we make the same mistakes all over again, and when we find the same frustrations and encounters with the same sins.  Christ loves us, and calls us back to faithfulness, offering us healing and forgiveness.
  May we endeavor to serve others as Christ serves us, loving deeply and caring faithfully for each person we encounter.  While we will never love to the same degree Christ loves, let us embark upon a journey to share what love we have with open hearts and open hands.

Hebrews 4:14-16

Hebrews 4:14-16
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 The threefold office of Jesus Christ is that he comes as Prophet, Priest and King.  He is the prophet because he delivers to us the message that God wants us to hear, which is the importance of repentance in the face of God's mercy, grace and love.  He is King because he rules over all, and he is Priest because he stands between us and God, bringing us into the presence of God and mediating the relationship.  He understands us, because he is fully human, and he understands God, because he is fully God.  Because Christ stands in the gap, we can go to him with confidence, because he understands what it is like to be human.  He does not treat us rudely, or look down on us because of our sin, but rather he looks upon us with compassion and love, helping us find the way to healing through the sacrifice he offers, the perfect sacrifice of his sinless life on the cross, and in doing so he creates a path through death into life.

Hebrews 4:8-13

Hebrews 4:8-13
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 The preacher here is emphasizing rest because of it's importance -- true rest can come only when we trust in God, and God's Word reveals what we might try to hide.  We can make it look like we're trusting God, but God knows our hearts, so pretending is useless -- let us confess our weaknesses, our sins and our faults, and take small steps, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to trust in God day by day.
  It can be scary to think that God knows our hearts, until we remember that the same God who comes as judge also comes as Savior.  God has not come searching for evidence that your faith is weak or misguided, but God has come to rescue you, to redeem you, to restore us back to true life in him.  God's agenda is not to punish those seeking to follow, but rather to save those who would receive his abundant life.

Hebrews 4:1-7

Hebrews 4:1-7
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  We can certainly understand God's sense of frustration.  God was calling the people to live under his blessing of peace and abundance, but instead the people kept grasping for other solutions to their problems, other promises by lesser gods, things that could not deliver but perhaps seemed less intimidating, less distant, less challenging.  God showed the people his abundance time and time again, but the people could not seem to follow.
  We wonder at their foolishness, but at times, we live as fools as well.  We settle for material things, thinking they will make us happy.  We turn from the challenges of discipleship to look for easier paths to the promises only God can deliver.  We seek to create our own rest rather than enjoy God's rest.
  Only God can give what our hearts truly need.  Only his holiness is capable of defeating the demons that torment us.  When we understand this and stop settling for lesser solutions, we will take our steps toward the rest we can find in God alone.

Hebrews 3:12-19

Hebrews 3:12-19
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 I have a lot of questions for God.  I wonder about cancer and starvation and war and betrayal and dishonestly and greed and the compulsion to tell white lies and all sorts of evil that lurks in the heart, from jealousy to hatred to lust.  Brokenness surrounds us, and if we spend enough time fixated on it, it can be pretty easy to wonder about God and whether his promises are true or not.
  That's the importance of community.  When we gather together, we remember that pain and betrayal and brokenness is not the end of the story.  The cross does not get the last word -- Easter is coming, and life wins over death.  We know the end of the story, but we need to remind each other of that end, to lift one another's eyes to the hills so that we will catch a glimpse of the promised dawn.  There is a tremendous promise waiting for us, and if we focus on the pain around us, we might lose hope and give up our faithful march on the narrow road that leads to life, choosing instead an easier path that might promise less pain in the beginning, but ultimately leads away from life.
  So let us remind one another not to give up.  It not only encourages us to strengthen our faith, but it also calls us to go out into the world and engage with the hurt and the pain, so that we might strengthen one another in Christian love and point towards our ultimate hope, Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 3:7-11

Hebrews 3:7-11
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  I heard a great sermon the other day on God's rest.  In summary, God rested on the 7th day after he had created the heavens and the earth.  He rested because everything had been done.  When we are commanded to rest, we are placing our trust in God that everything has been done.  We don't have to complete God's work, and we don't have to figure out what God didn't do and make up for it.  Our rest is a sign of complete confidence in God that everything that needs to be finished has been accomplished, and there is nothing for us to add to God's work.
  So when the Israelites complained their way across the wilderness, they were proclaiming that God hadn't done enough.  When we grow anxious about God and our salvation, we are stating that what God has done in Jesus Christ might not be enough.  When we try and be perfect to make up for our faults, we are living as though Christ's sacrifice on the cross wasn't perfect enough, and we have to finish this work.
  What God has done is enough.  May we trust in God and rest in confidence.

Hebrews 3:1-6

Hebrews 3:1-6
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  Think of inspiring people.  Often, they point beyond themselves, whether it is to a larger organization or to some character trait (such as perseverance) that we find desirable.  In their actions or words, we look beyond them and find inspiration to strive towards our own goals.
  Moses served in this role.  He lived a faithful life, and in doing so he pointed beyond himself to God, who deserved whatever honor people wanted to direct towards Moses.
  What often happens is that a little voice pops into our head and tells us that we deserve the honor for whatever action we have undertaken.  We start to believe that it's all about us, and we block the flow of the praise that should go through us and toward God.  We absorb it all, and we like the way it makes us feel.
  So let us keep ourselves focused on Christ.  In doing so, we direct whatever praise is given to us toward God, and hopefully people see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven.  May our lives be a conduit to Christ!

Hebrews 2:14-18

Hebrews 2:14-18
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  Much has been made of Donald Trump's claim that his father gave him a 'small' loan of $1 million to start his career.  At the core of the outrage is the simple thought that Trump cannot understand us, is not like us, because he comes from a different background.
  For some time, humanity could make the same claim regarding God.  We could shout to the heavens that God just doesn't understand what it's like to be human, to walk this earth and be surrounded by humanity, trying to be faithful but struggling with temptation.
  But, thanks to Jesus Christ, we can no longer make this claim.  God knows what it is like to be human, and in Christ, God showed what a perfect human life looks like.  Due to his perfection, our imperfection is washed clean, and we can stand before God forever.  That is the picture of love, and we see it fully in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 2:10-13

Hebrews 2:10-13
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  This concept amazes me... we are in the same family as Jesus.  This is all due to his great love, and the sacrifice he was willing to offer on the cross.  Without that, we would remain as we are -- sinful, broken, and distant from God.  Without Christ, there would be no hope, but with Christ, there is the free gift of being grafted into the family of God.  God looks at you as he looks at Christ... that is simply astounding to me, to be covered with such grace and mercy.  God's love is infinite and capable of complete transformation -- will you let it change you?

Hebrews 2:5-9

Hebrews 2:5-9
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  I love this section of Scripture.  The preacher in Hebrews is admitting that we don't see everything clearly, that we don't have all the answers, but what we do have is a firm and certain knowledge that Jesus Christ, God's own Son, died for everyone.  The same Lord who died for all is now crowned with glory and honor, and his desire is to invite others into that glory, to share his love and mercy with all who come to know him as Lord and Savior.
  We don't have all the knowledge in the world, but we know enough -- we are infinitely loved and served by the Creator God of the universe.  Rejoice!

Hebrews 2:1-4

Hebrews 2:1-4
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  2 We must give our full attention to what we were told, so that we won’t drift away. 2 The message spoken by angels proved to be true, and all who disobeyed or rejected it were punished as they deserved. 3 So if we refuse this great way of being saved, how can we hope to escape? The Lord himself was the first to tell about it, and people who heard the message proved to us that it was true. 4 God himself showed that his message was true by working all kinds of powerful miracles and wonders. He also gave his Holy Spirit to anyone he chose to.

**********

  Think of your peripheral vision.  When you're moving forward, these are the things that appear to the side, often as distractions.  When you think of your primary goals in life, most other things get pushed to the periphery, for good or bad.  Some people are so driven by career goals that they push family and friends to the side.  Others are so focused on serving others they forget to care for themselves.  We all have things we're moving towards, by design or not, designated by how we spend our time and energy.
  The danger is that our spiritual life becomes something that gets pushed toward the periphery, often because we're just preoccupied with other things in life.  Our focus on God drifts towards something else, and pretty soon our relationship with Christ is one thing among many, dancing towards the side of our field of vision.
  So may we wisely choose, each morning, how best to focus ourselves, making it a priority to give full attention to God, so that our peripheral vision is filled with things that matter less, while the big things in life are kept before us.

Hebrews 1:5-14

Hebrews 1:5-14
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

  Hebrews is more of a sermon than a letter, and the point of the this section is to paint a difference between Jesus Christ and the angels.  Perhaps the argument was going around that Jesus was just another angel, no different than the rest, but the preacher here is emphasizing that Jesus is different.  Jesus is the Son of God, and he will rule forever.  The angels were created, but Jesus will sit on a throne eternally.
  Think about that for a second -- picture the majesty of Christ, sitting at the right hand of God, in the throne room adorned with the power and majesty that rightly belongs to God the Father.  This is the true identity of Jesus.
  And Christ sets all of that down, comes to earth and ascends the cross, dying like a common criminal because he loves you and wants to remove your punishment from sin, so that you may have life, and have it eternally and abundantly, worshiping God forever. That's how much Christ loves you.

Hebrews 1:1-4

Hebrews 1:1-4
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 

 How's that for a brief history lesson?
  1)  God had people speaking the Gospel message for years.
  2)  When they didn't listen, God sent his own Son, the heir of the universe, to share the Gospel message.
  3)  God holds the entire universe together.
  4)  God's own Son washed away your sins just before sitting down at the right hand of God.

  This is who died for you -- God's own Son.  Let us worship him with thanks and praise!!!