Hebrews 3:10

“… and they have not known my ways.”

When we truly know someone, we know what makes them tick. What makes them happy, sad, laugh and cry. What they hate, love… their favorite colors, flowers, TV shows, food…etc.

The people of Israel didn’t know God. They knew the miracles that He did for them, but when those miracles were gone, they knew nothing about God himself. If they had taken the time to personally know who God is, they would have realized that He had taken away from a horrific situation. They would have realized that God had cooked for them in heaven and fed them constantly with mana. He had become their personal chef. They would have realized that God was with them ALL the time, during the day through a cloud, and at night with a pillar of fire. They were being protected everyday and night…. But all they could see where the miracles. And when the miracles disappeared or weren’t big enough, they knew nothing about their saviour

The Israelites spent 40yrs in the desert and not once did they truly realize that God had brought them out of a horrific life and leading them to a beautiful life. The part in the middle, the desert, was just to refine them, to give them the opportunity to get to know Him. The loving, caring, friendly God. Their Creator, Life-saver, the one who loves them unconditionally and want nothing but happy days for them.

All they saw, all they wanted were the miracles, they did not know God’s ways.

When we truly know God, who he is, we’ll know everything about Him… what make him happy, sad, laugh and cry. What his favorite He hate, love… His favorite colors, flowers, food, TV shows, etc.

When we truly know God, we will know His ways.

Hebrews 3:1-6

Sometimes all we will get when we study the bible is an overall understand of the chapter, how everything correlates and comes together. No huge, revelation, God just wants us to get the whole picture. This is what happened to me while studying Hebrews this week. Understanding these verses, helped me to understand the whole chapter.

Hebrews 3:3: “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house greater honor than the house itself.”

So Jesus is worthy of more honor than Moses, why… We’ll, just as the builder of the house has more honor then the house, Jesus is the builder of Moses, his creator. The Creator had more honor, more glory than the creation.

v. 6: “But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.”

We are God’s house and Jesus is faithful to us because he is faithful as a son OVER God’s house. Jesus is always faithful even when we are not. He always keeps His word.

v.5: “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future.”

We ought to be faithful to Him, Jesus, just as Moses was faithful IN all God’s house. We will be a testimony of God’s goodness when we are faithful to Him. When we keep our allegiance to God and not falter, our lives become a huge witness to other of who Jesus really is.

Hebrews 3:14.

“We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

Meaning of confidence= full trust

So….

If we have full trust in God, in Jesus Christ, from the beginning until the end, the bible, God himself promises that we can “share in Christ”. We can be partakers of His joy. We can have a character like Him, we can see and understand like he does. We can at the end of days be part of the great gettin up morning, when we go home to live happily ever after.

“We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the ‘FULL TRUST’ we had at first”

AAAAMMMEENNN!!! Thank you, God

I would like to hold firmly, trusting God daily and at all times.

Teach me dear Lord, to trust you, to have total confidence in you always.

Hebrew 3:10,11

“and I said,’Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways. So I declaired an oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest’”

Why would God say that. Isn’t He a God of many chances?

Oh chances he gives, over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. God gives us so many chances, we couldn’t count them on 50 hands. But their comes a point when we tell God, I don’t want any chances. We make that decision, not Him.

The people of Israel were given ample amount of chance, but God recognized their hearts. God saw that they were not going to change, God recognized that they had told Him to stop giving them chances. They were just fine where they were. He knew they wouldn’t choose Him.

I believe that God was sad when He recognized this. The hebrew word for anger is “ka’as” which can mean anger(mad) or sorrow. God doesn’t for His children to going astray. He gets really sad when that happens.

When God stated, “So I decided an oath in my anger…” he wasn’t mad, he was sorrowful, saddened at their decision. They chose to be content in their sin, they chose to stop receiving chances. That made God very sad, and their was nothing He could do, it was their free will.

v.11: “…and I declared in my sorrow, “They shall never choose me” They made up in their minds and hearts that they didn’t want anymore chances.

If it’s good enough for you , it should be good enough for me.

Here is an email I recieved from a friend that I’d like to share with you all. Hope you like it…

THE BLOOD
 
One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart.

She responded to God’s call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol,
drugs, and prostitution.
But, the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church.

She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children.

It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of the pastor’s son.
The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans.
This is when the problems began.

You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for a pastor’s son.

The church began to argue and fight about the matter.

So they decided to have a meeting.

As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand.

The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past.
 
As she began to cry the pastor’s son stood to speak.
He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife to be.

He began to speak and his statement was this:
“My fiancee’s past is not what is on trial here.

What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin.
Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial.

So, does it wash away sin or not?”

The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters.

Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely then it cannot cleanse us completely.

If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble.

What can wash away my sins?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus! End of case!!!!

“Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
Psalm 55:23

This prayer is powerful and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive.

There is no cost but a lot of rewards, let’s continue to pray for one another.

Her e is the prayer:
“Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and email buddies reading this right now.

Show them a new revelation of your love and power.
Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their spirit at this very moment.
Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy.

Where there is self doubt, release a renewed confidence through your grace.

In Jesus’ precious name.
Amen

Pilate didn’t want to look like a weak person; he didn’t want to be seen as though he couldn’t do his job. He was a man of power and wealth, he couldn’t lose that to defend an innocent man, could he? Despite his gut feeling of Jesus’s innocence and his wife’s message to not get involved, Pilate still went with the flow.

I can’t help but think that we too do this same thing today. Despite all of the signs and warnings given to us by God inHis Word and his working in our lives, we still choose to go with the flow. We still choose to appease the masses, in order not to lose our “positon” in society and  among our peers. We would rather follow the crowd then to stand up for Jesus and proclaim him for who He really is.

Don’t forget, In gaining favor in the eyes of the crowd, we might end up loosing our place in the Heavenly Kingdom.

So yesterday I had to attend a funeral for one of our church members. A very sad experience it was, but it was also filled with hope and excitement. The man that died was a very humble, quiet spirited person. He was know for his soft spokenness and his quiet nature. We all loved him, loved being around him. His family was very open, always inviting the youth over to their home to fellowship. I didnt know him very well, but the little that I did know about him i came to like and appreciate very much.

The testimonies that were given of him were one that ever christ follower would want to have said about him. His co-worker said that he was truly a man of God, of humble spirit and always pointing to Christ. He always had a smile on his face, and was always concerned about the next man, more than Himself. Even when he was gravely ill, he would always ask others how they were doing and deflect the attention from Himself. His friends attested to that and said the he always encouraged them to stay in church, stay close to Christ, proclaim the promises given to us by Christ, and to live each day for Him and Him alone. His family said that was truly a man of God, that even to his last day he kept firm his belief and faith in God. He knew where he would be when the trumpet sounds, and he encouraged his family to stay with Christ so that they may be in heaven together again.

Listening to all of these testimonies made me wonder, What will be people say about me when I am long gone? Will they say that I pointed to Christ, that I was a woman of faith… that my smile brought sunshine to the people that are around me… that they could see Christ in me…

I would love to have testimonies of such manner spoken of me, wouldn’t you? And so I resolved to live each day as my friend did. I will point to Christ, let him lead my life, giving glory and honor to his name each and everyday so that it will be said of me…. Annie Bellefleur was a woman-of -God.