Day 355: Heb 11:1 - 13:25

It would seem almost preposterous to read over Hebrews chapter 11 and not say anything about faith. The one phrase that stuck out to me more than any other is in verse 6 when the writer says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please God . . ." I don't think we put enough emphasis on that verse. It's easy to take that verse and argue that it's just referring to having faith that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave for our sins, but when taken in context with the rest of the chapter, we see that the writer wasn't simply referring to believing in something, he was describing people who lived their entire lives completely sold out on believing that God would provide for them. I'm not saying that people who live a simple, clean, quiet Christian life won't make it to heaven, but what I am saying is that if we aren't living our lives to the limit; if we're not taking active, straightforward steps into the unknown simply because God told us to and we have complete trust and faith in Him, then there's no way we could believe that we are truly pleasing God. God can only truly be pleased with us when we are willing to put all of our faith, all of our trust, all of our confidence, all of our hope, and everything we have into doing what He has called us to. God doesn't want most of us. He wants all of us.

- God, I want to live a life completely sold out and passionate about You. I don't want to go throughout my life believing in something but never acting on it. When I die and go to heaven, I want to know that I did everything in my human ability to please You by living a life defined by faith. -

Day 354: Heb 7:1 - 10:39

As interesting and deep as the old covenant has always been to me, it seems to add an entirely new dimension when viewed in the light of the new covenant as we read here in this passage. If there's one thing that definitely stuck out to me in this passage, it is the fact that unlike my initial picture of the old covenant and tabernacle being mostly clean and solemn and pristine, the old covenant was incredibly messy and uncomfortable. I'm not sure why I've always only picture the golden lampstands and small little fires and the quiet, still, beautiful golden altar, but we are reminded in this passage that there was alot more to it than that. Not only was a full grown animal slaughtered right there in front of the tabernacle, but it's blood was basically sprinkled on every single thing in that place in addition to all of the people at least once a year. When we think about the blood of Jesus in this sense, it adds and entirely new dimension that I dare say many of us have not thought of. Jesus blood was not simply shed so that it could be poured out on the mercy seat alone, His blood must be applied to every single aspect of our entire lives in order for us to truly live redeemed. We cannot simply rely on Him doing His job and assume that everything has been taken care of. We have to be willing to get messy and allow his cleansing blood to touch every single aspect of our lives. Then, and only then, will we truly be able to live the life of the redeemed.

- Father, I want to apply the blood to every single aspect of my life. Forgive me for leaving certain parts of my life untouched by Your blood and help me to see all of the areas that still need Your blood so that I might live a life completed sanctified for Your will. -

Day 353: Heb 1:1 - 6:20

I think in our modern society, the comparison of Jesus as our high priest has somewhat lost its meaning. But for the Hebrew people, that description of Him could not have been more specific. The Hebrews were not only familiar with concept of the high priest, but they were eternally indebted to him because of the fact that their eternal well-being lied primarily in his hands. The priest was not simply a pastor like we today are familiar with. The high priest was the only connection that the Hebrew people had with God. If they needed anything from God, they had no chance of even asking without the help of the high priest. If they had committed sins and needed to ask God for forgiveness, they had no other option but to go to the priest. When Jesus died on the cross, he didn't eliminate the office of high priest, He simply placed Himself in that office so that we no longer had to go through an imperfect person to commune with a perfect God. We now have the opportunity to commune and communicate with God directly because the one connection we have with God is God Himself!

- Lord, thank You for sending Your Son to be our High Priest. Father, thank You for giving us the opportunity to connect directly with You so that we no longer have to go through a man to speak to our Heavenly Father! -

Day 352: Titus 1:1 - Phil 1:25

The book of Titus appears to be all about "doing good." One would initially assume that doing good would be at the very top of the average Christians to do list, but sadly, alot of Christians are too preoccupied with their own plans and their own agendas that they fail to focus on the simple acts of doing good. Paul encourages us in the book of Titus to do good not for our own sakes or so that we can get some sort of recognition or thanks, but to do good because we are representatives of Jesus and we are called to show love to others just like God is love. Until we as believers can get to the place where we are living our entire lives motivated in love, we will never fully reach the potential that God has called us to. These lives we live are meant to be given away and lived for someone else. We see in the Bible that we are commanded to strive to live our lives just like Jesus did, and I think we can all agree that He not only lived His life for others, but He was willing to give it all up so that we could be saved.

- Father, help me to not get tired of doing good. I know that You have called me and commanded me to live a life focused on other people and not myself. Thank You for the opportunity to reach the lives of others so that they might know the love that You have for them. -

Day 351: II Tim 1:1 - 4:22

It's important for all of us regardless the size of our ministry to not take lightly the importance of keeping strong relationships with other believers. Sadly, it seems to be fairly common for those who are in charge of some ministries to think that they should just go through everything on their own and figure it all out by themselves. But we need to understand that communion with other believers and relationships with them will not only make things easier on all of us, but those are the types of relationships that truly honor our Father in Heaven. None of us were meant to try this walk of faith by ourselves and God certainly doesn't expect us to try. God has blessed each an every one of us with plenty of opportunities to connect and network with other believers who have the same passions and visions and goals that we do and when we will connect with them and walk hand-in-hand alongside them, there's no telling how far we can take this Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

- Lord, help me to not despise the relationships with other believers that You have made available to me. Help me to be willing and excited to walk hand-in-hand with them so that together we can accomplish all that You have called us to. -

Day 350: I Timothy 1:1 - 6:21

I believe that there's alot to be learned from the dynamic between Paul and Timothy. It's obviously safe to say that Timothy and his ministry would definitely not have been what it was without Paul, but I would also venture to say that Paul's life and ministry would not have been the same had he not had someone life Timothy to sow himself into. I think alot of times believers tend to view themselves as a Timothy needing a Paul in their lives so that they can get some good advice and direction and that's all they need to grow themselves and their ministries. I believe that as important as it is for each of us to have a mentor so that we can learn and be shown the correct way to live out this Christian life, it's also important for each of us to find people whose lives we personally can sow into. We all need to realize that there comes a point when the only way to continue to "fill out cup" is to empty out a little bit into someone else's. This life as a believer is not to simply get all we can, but it is to sow into the lives of other believers so that together we can take this city, state, nation, world, and generation for Christ!

-Father, help me to focus on sowing into someone else's life today. As much as I may desire to advance my own ministry and my own relationship with You, I know that there is someone else out there who needs my help in order to what You have called them to. -

Day 349: II Thes 1:1 - 3:18

Sometimes it's a little difficult to read a book like II Thessalonians and try to write something about it because it isn't exactly one of those huge books full of the spiritual meat and potatoes that make it easy to write about it. But what it may lack in excitement and deep spiritual theology, it makes up for in encouragement. This book is certainly one that contains simple, practical encouragement that we all need regardless of where we are in our spiritual lives. I think perhaps we should take this example of Paul writing to the Thessalonians a simple encouraging letter and practice it in our own lives with those around us. Sometimes we tend to think that when we get around other believers we need to have some sort of deep, theological, life-changing word for them to take and change their entire lives with, but sometimes all we need is a little encouraging word to remind us that God is still watching over us and that His desire is to take care of us and bless the work of our hands.

- Father, help me to remember to encourage those around me whenever I have the opportunity. Lord, we all need to be encouraged now and again and I want to help spread that encouragement across my community. -