The Daily Dose

A better hope

For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.  Hebrews 7:18-19

The law of Moses (former commandments) was good because it was all that the people of Israel had as a guide to live life by.  God set up governing laws for them and these laws today are held to around the word.  Even America, the land we live in and love was founded on the law of Moses.  Of course, we know they are God’s laws, but He gave them to Moses.  They were good and they are still good today.  In the world we live in they are good for governing countries and keeping peace.  We have been made free from being judged by God according to the law of Moses through our salvation, but that doesn’t mean that it is okay to break the law.  It simply means we are not judged by how we keep the law.  In the natural world, we are.  You cannot steal, kill and break the laws of the land, get arrested and say, but I’m a Christian, I am not under the law.  You are under the governing laws of whatever country you live in.  The reason the scripture says the former commandments were weak and unprofitable and could not make anything perfect was because it was not enough to reconcile us back to God after sin came into the world.  It was only given to govern the people and no one was able to keep it perfectly so atonement had to be made continually for the sin of the people.

This is where the good news comes.  We have hope and it is not in being a good person and obeying the laws.  It is good to do good and obey the laws, but the laws will never save you.  Only Salvation through the blood of Jesus can save and bring us back into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father, the one who created and loves us.

This is Jesus’ job still today.  He is our High Priest.  He gives us an entrance and connection with our Father who loves us so.  The reason God made this provision was not just because we needed to be saved from a sinful world, it was mostly because we are His creation that He loves and desires to have us back under His care and protection.  God, our Father and creator did all this to get us back into fellowship with Him because of His great love.  Now we have the honor and privilege to be as close to God as we want to be through Jesus our Savior.

Today I want to encourage you to draw near to your loving Heavenly Father through a better hope, Christ Jesus.  The one who suffered and died to pay the judgement of sin’s penalty for us all.  Press into Him through the name that is above every name and the blood that removes the guilt and stains of sin.  He told us that if we draw near to Him, He will get closer to us. (James 4:8)  He wants to be close and touch every area of your life, He is just waiting for you to hope in His Salvation and give Him priority in all things.

Today’s scripture reading: Hebrews 7:11-19

Receive His blessing

But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God.  Hebrews 7:6

So, it says all those in Christ Jesus receive the blessing of Abraham.  The blessing that God placed on Abraham is now on those who have received salvation in Christ Jesus and the Sprit through faith.

Now this is something new to me.  Today’s reading says that the blessing on Abraham came from the priest of God, that is Melchizedek, the king of Salem/peace.  What blessing did this high priest give Abraham?

In Genesis 14, we can read the account of Abraham meeting Melchizedek: 

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine;(communion) he was the priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” 

So Melchizedek blessed Abram before there was even a nation of Israel and the law of Moses.  I know this is a little deep, but let me tell you how you fit into all this.  The point is that Jesus released us from the curse associated with not keeping the law of Moses.  In receiving Jesus as Lord of our lives, we now have the blessing of Abraham on us and in us instead of living under the curse associated with the law.  This is saying we are blessed!  Meaning: empowered to prosper and delivered from the power of our enemy the devil through the Holy Spirit of faith inside of us.  In Christ Jesus, we have the victory and He always causes us to triumph  (2Corinthians 2:14).  Glory to God!

Today I want to encourage you to rejoice and praise your Heavenly Father for the blessing He has spoken over your life through your salvation in Jesus.  Thank Him for all the areas of your life that He has given you success in.  Your health, your finances, your family and etc.  Ask Him to show you how you can grow in His blessing and have complete victory over your enemy.

If you have never received God’s gift of salvation through Jesus, pray this prayer today and make Jesus the Lord of your life.  Get rid of the curse of the law in your life and begin to walk in His blessed path today:

Pray from your heart: God in heaven, I know I’m a sinner and I need a Savior.  I want to turn away from my sinful life to the life You have planned for me.  Please forgive me for my sins, cleanse me from my past, and make me new.  I know your Son, Jesus died for me.  I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead.  At this very moment, I accept, confess, and proclaim Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior . . . to be Lord of my life from this day forward.  I now have a right relationship with God my Father. I also ask for Your Holy Spirit to guide me and to empower me to do the things that You have planned for my life in Jesus name, Amen

Today’s scripture reading: Hebrews 7:1-10

Trust God’s Word

By two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.  Hebrews 6:18

God cannot lie!  I think we all can agree on that, but what exactly does that mean?  Well, the first thing it means is that His Word (everything that He spoke and recorded for us in the Bible) we can depend on as truth.  It also means that every promise He made, He will keep.  One of the reasons that He gave us His Word is because He wanted us to hold to the promises and boundaries that He established.

Here in Hebrews, it says that we can anchor our hope in His promises.  What does that even look like?  So, if you consider that every situation and struggle you come up against in life has a solution in the Word of God, you search for that wisdom in His Word and then hold on to it through the entire struggle.

For example, if you are struggling financially, you go to God’s Word and find the passage that says: “My God will supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.  Then you hang on to that promise through the entire crisis.  Every time a wave of doubt, fear and unbelief hits you, you grab tighter to your life preserver of the Word that God promised and remember that He cannot lie and will keep that promise.  When you have sickness and disease in your body, you cling to a promise such as Psalm 103 that says He heals all your diseases and hold on to that promise until you are through to the other side of that trouble.

I know it sounds simple, but if God cannot lie, than certainly He wants us to hold on to His unbreakable promises that He has given us in His Word.  Otherwise, He wouldn’t have said it and recorded it for us to have. 

Lastly, because God has established His Word and given it to us so we can be assured that He will not go against it.  This eliminates the mentality that God is God and He is going to do whatever He wants to in my situation.  While it is true that God is God, He has already told us what He wants to do in our situation in His Word, and He will not change.  His Word is rock solid!!

Today I want to encourage you in whatever your circumstances are, to trust God’s Word!  Take some time to press into God and His Word and ask Him to lead you to the promise He has given that you can directly apply to your dilemma.  Then, hold on to that Word!  Instead of speaking the problem over and over again, speaks God’s promise over and over.  When your thoughts go back to the problem and they will, learn to not continue to talk about it, but about the goodness of God and the promise He gave.  Let the power of God’s Word become the covering that produces healing to whatever you are going through and apply that covering as protection to every area of your life.

Today’s scripture reading: Hebrews 6:13-20

Keep it up!

For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.  Hebrews 6:10

What is your labor of love?  Maybe your serve in your church?  Maybe you help out friends and neighbors in need?  Maybe you volunteer your time to your community?  Whatever it is, God notices.  That is very significant!  Your acts of kindness toward others is actually seen in the supernatural world.

This message is to encourage and inspire you to keep going.  Sometimes it may seem like nobody is seeing the good things you do and no one is giving attention to your laboring in the work of ministry, but someone actually is.  It’s your heavenly Father.  He is the reason you are doing acts of love anyway.  You display your love for Him in loving others through serving and ministering the grace of God.

So keep it up.  When you feel like it doesn’t matter or maybe that it doesn’t make a difference either way, remember, your labor of love is an investment that will last for all eternity.  Everything you do today for the kingdom of heaven will be what you can take with you when you leave here.   Revelation 14:13 says you will be blessed when you rest from your labor here in this world and your good works will follow you into the next one.

So today I want to encourage you to keep up the good work, your labor of love. Keep laboring and keep loving even when no one seems to be watching. Keep reaching out to the needy.  Keep giving to the poor.  Keep praying for the hurting and broken.  Most of all, keep telling other that there is a Savior that loves them and wants to spend all of eternity loving them.

Today’s scripture reading: Hebrews 6:9-12

Bring our strengths together

“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.”  Hebrews 6:1-2

Perfection?  That would be nice, but pretty much unattainable.  However, this word perfection in today’s scripture is a completeness or maturity in Christ Jesus and in our salvation, not to be confused with perfect behavior.  The writer says let’s stop/leave behind the discussions (aka arguments) over the basic/beginning principles of Christ and let us grow up in the things of God.  Interestingly enough, the things he calls basic, are things that the church (body of Christ) is still arguing over today. These are questions such as works for salvation, living by faith in God’s Word, baptisms, laying on of hands, and will the dead rise?  These “discussions” are the reason we have so many different denominations in the world today.  This was not the plan of God for the New Testament church.  God never planned for divisions and denominations; in fact, He explicitly warned against them.  This explains the weakness of the body of believers in the day we live in. 

Wouldn’t it be interesting to watch the Holy Spirit bring denominations together in these last days?  Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if God would empower each denomination to put aside their differences and focus instead on their strengths?  What if we helped struggling congregations instead of watching them crash and burn because they are not of “our group?”  What would happen if we began to realize that we all agree that Jesus is LORD and we live to reach out to the lost?  We come together each week to praise and worship Him in spirit and in truth.  I know exactly what would happen, we as believers would begin to work together to accomplish the things God wants to get done around the world, regardless of our differences.  Think of it as compared to a marriage.  When two people get married, they don’t agree on everything and they never will, but what they do agree on is what holds them together.  The church would be an unstoppable force for the kingdom of heaven if we would begin to love one another! (John 15:17)  Isn’t this truly what life as a Christian is all about?

Today I want to encourage all of us to take a step of growth and love our brothers and sisters in the Lord.  Even the ones that belong to different denominations.  Let’s take care of one another and look out for the good of those in our communities.  Jesus does not want His body all divided up into pieces. He wants us to come together and begin to move in agreement with the plan of God.

Today’s scripture reading:  Hebrews 6:1-8

Spiritually mature

By this time you ought to be teachers, yet you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; you have come to need milk and not solid food.  Hebrews 5:12

Are you a mature believer? Do you live every area of your life by faith in God’s Word?  Do you know God’s ways?  I mean really know, not just what you think they are?  Do you study His Word and are you able to understand it?  Do you talk with Him each day and ask Him to walk you through your scripture reading time to give you understanding and wisdom, not just check it off the list as if it were a duty or obligation?  Are you training others in the Word?  Maybe through your church or in a small group or bible study?

Well, according to today’s passage, if you are not teaching and leading others, you are an immature believer. It says that the believers of that time were sitting and being taught regularly, but only absorbing it in for themselves and not discipling others in God’s Word of righteousness.  It seems that they were hearing the teaching, but not able to discern what was good and what was evil.

This sounds a little familiar.  Today, it is a very fine line between good and evil.  What is good and what is evil?  The only way to know is by lining your heart up with God’s Word and God’s ways.  For example, if you believe that adultery, killing and perversion are evil, is it evil to take these in through tv and other forms of media that blatantly displays them?  If you believe foul and profane language is evil, is it wrong to support a network that promotes programing full of it?  On the other hand, if you know that people are coming to Jesus through missions around the world and that you could be part of that, wouldn’t that be good?  We are living in a twisted time and we waste a lot of time and resources on ungodly feed and streaming.  How can we call this good?  I believe it is time to put away the childish things and step up into maturity and make our Heavenly Father and His ways our first priority.  Press into Him as much, if not more than you press into facebook or Netflix (for me it is cares and concerns) and I can assure you that not only will your priorities change, your life will, too!

Today I want to encourage you to take a step of faith toward your Heavenly Father and begin to talk to others about Him.  Even if it is just your family and friends, shift your focus to be all about God and His kingdom progress.  Promote the kingdom of Heaven with your time and resources instead of the world’s kingdom.  It is time for us to put away the unskilled milk and get the solid food of God’s Word on the inside until you are full and it flows out of you by teaching others everywhere you go.

Today’s scripture reading: Hebrews 5:12-14

What are you suffering from

He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  Hebrews 5:8

I always thought that I could have had a better life if I had learned how to be obedient by listening and not by the mistakes I made.  I thought that I had gone through a lot of needless suffering in my life, simply because of foolish mistakes and being deceived.  However, the scripture for today inspires me because even Jesus learned obedience through His suffering.  Granted, He didn’t suffer because of foolishness, but He did suffer even though He was fulfilling all that God had called Him too.  This passage says He learned obedience through that suffering.

It is the same for each one of us.  We are going to suffer in life. Whether self-inflicted (as much of mine was) or simply because life happens, either way, trials and suffering will come.  The secret is to learn how to be obedient through the suffering and not become bitter or resentful.  Jesus called out to His Father and asked for His suffering to be removed if there was any other way to complete the plan God had set up.  Through His pleading and talking it out with God, He become obedient even to the suffering and death of the cross.  Philippians 2:8 says that Jesus humbled Himself, that is how He was able to become obedient unto death on a cross.

Here is the key!  Humility.  If we will humble ourselves to learn from the sufferings we go through, we can come out of them in obedience and fulfill what our Heavenly Father has called us to.  If we come out of struggles in pride blaming others or circumstances and determined to prove that we did the right thing, there is no obedience involved.

Today I want to encourage you in whatever you are struggling with, humble yourself before your Heavenly Father and talk it out with Him. Ask Him how this suffering can produce obedience in your life.  It may not make sense and may not seem fair, but it wasn’t fair for Jesus either.  Yet He became our ultimate example on how to both live and die.  When we humble ourselves to the plan of God through the sufferings we go through, only then will we be empowered to be obedient to all His direction.

Today’s scripture reading: Hebrews 5:1-11

He understands

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Hebrews 4:15

No matter what we go through in life, whatever test or temptation we face, we are not alone.  Our Savior knows and understands.  It’s easy to think, “I know He cares and knows what I am going through, but how could He understand?  How could Jesus understand the test that I am experiencing right now?”  This scripture says that Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses and was in all points tempted.  Every type of test or temptation we could possibly come up against, Jesus went through.  We can see some of the things He was tempted with in Matthew 4:1-11. 

First, the devil tempted Jesus with pride.  He tried to get Him to prove who He was.  Satan said, “Prove you are the Son of God by turning the stones into bread.” Next, the devil tempted Jesus to give up.  Jesus was fasting and preparing for the ministry He was about to enter.  Satan said, “give up this fast and turn the stones to bread.”  He tried to tempt Jesus to give up on that preparation and to eat something because He was hungry right now.  Thirdly, Satan appealed to Jesus’ self-worth.  He tempted Jesus to jump from a great height to try to end His life early.  Last of all, He tried to lure Jesus away from His ministry by showing Him all the kingdoms of the world and telling Jesus he would give Jesus what He came to earth for in a simpler way than dying for them.  He only had to bow down to Satan. 

Jesus, of course, overcame all these temptations, but not because He was God’s Son.  It was because He used God’s weapon, His Word (Scripture).  You can defeat the enemy too by speaking God’s Word.  It is the one thing that Satan hates and speaking God’s Word in faith will chase him away quicker than anything.  So, the next time you are tempted to quit and give up, speak the Word of God to that temptation and chase your enemy away in defeat and terror.  Remember the Word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.  Piercing even to dividing soul and spirit and joint and marrow.  It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Today I encourage you to do three things.  One, be on your guard against temptation by recognizing when temptation comes and call it what it is.  Don’t justify it by making it a small thing (i.e. lying, cheating, worrying).  Second, prepare scriptures ahead of time for the temptations you know that you easily give in to.  Third, boldly declare the Word of God when temptation does come.  You can even say it like Jesus did, “It is written” or “get away from here, Satan” before the scripture you have prepared.  Don’t be overcome with evil/temptation, overcome it with the sword of the spirit, God’s Word.  Remember that Jesus also sympathizes with us and has given us a way to escape every time through His Words.

Today’s scripture reading: Hebrews 4:14-16

Focus on the details

“He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” Luke 24:6-7

Today we celebrate Resurrection Sunday!  It was the day that Jesus got up from being dead and walked out of a dead man’s tomb.  Throughout this previous week we all have probably thought about Jesus and His death, burial and resurrection many times.  We have all probably had different thoughts about the details of the things Jesus went through leading up to His death.  Some may have focused on the beating He took, others may have thought about the crowd jeering and mocking Him.  Still you may have thought about Jesus carrying His own cross to be nailed to.  There may have been thoughts of His suffering as He hung on the cross.  Probably some were reminded of the words He spoke on the cross, then the tomb and the three days He spent lying there lifeless.  My point is that this is the one week each year that we really take time to focus on all the details of what Jesus actually did to save us from an eternity of separation from God and without Him we would spend our eternal life suffering in hell.  

However, what details will you be focused on tomorrow?  Will you immediately shift your attention back to the world and the current crisis we are in?  Will you scan the headlines to see what the greatest threat is for this week?  Will you learn every detail and possible outcome to discuss in every conversation you have?  Why does our focus have to change?  Why do we have to turn our attention away from the price Jesus paid to free us from the current world circumstances?  Why don’t we instead keep our attention on the details of heaven?  Can we keep our focus on the details of our God and the details of our Savior, Jesus?

Think about this:  What if you spent as much time studying and getting to know your Heavenly Father as you spend watching the news or learning about current events this week?  What if you focused on the details of heaven and the joy that is waiting for you there?  Why not learn down to the last detail about the love of God?  How He created us to have dominion over this world?  How He sent Jesus to defeat His enemy and every evil work he ever did in this world or ever will do?  Sin has been defeated!  Death has been defeated!  Sickness has been defeated!  Disease has been defeated!  Anxiety, worry, doubt, fear, all defeated.  He hung on a cross so we wouldn’t be crushed or even threatened by any attack of the enemy, right now, here in this world! The work Jesus did on the cross was so big, there is nothing that can stand against it.  Nothing!!!  It wasn’t just a partial work of Salvation for after we die, it was a complete work of redemption so we can live this life in total victory!  Evil is not our focus, Victory is!  

Today I want to encourage you to keep your focus on the details of your Savior, Jesus!  You already have the victory!  Please stop looking at the things that have already been defeated!  They are not a threat to God or His people, but the only way to believe that is to focus on the God details, not the world details.  Jesus redeemed us from the curse, but that redemption plan of God didn’t end there. Now you have a part in that plan and that is to continue His message. Stop the spread of the bad news and begin to make the good news your focus and what you are talking about.  

Today’s scripture reading:  Luke 23:44-49

He Was Determined

“Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.” Luke 23:26

I have heard many messages about how Jesus sweat drops of blood in the garden the night before His crucifixion.  It certainly was one of the most difficult moments of His life here on earth.  The anxiety He experienced as He anticipated the events that were about to take place was outwardly and obviously expressed in His sweat drops of blood.  As He pleaded with His Father in His last minute alone with Him to remove this cup if there was any other possible way to accomplish God’s plan.  He finished the conversation by declaring “Not my will but Yours be done!”   Even as I write these words my heart is heavy with sorrow, but also filled with thankfulness and appreciation for Jesus’ sacrifice once again.

As difficult as that moment of prayer in the garden was for Jesus, I believe the turning point or most difficult steps were at the point He fell down on the road, carrying the cross.  Someone else had to come and carry it for Him.  At that point, Jesus showed His true determination to accomplish God’s plan to carry away the curse of sin in the world.  When He could no longer take another step, God stepped in and brought help for Him to get to the top of the hill to be that sacrifice.  It was at that point when Jesus could have said, “That’s all I got, I cannot take another step.  I cannot get up and move any further on this path.  I have been beaten until there is no strength left in this human body and I will lay down here and die.”  I’m sure He could have died right there if He hadn’t gone on.  However, He was determined to make it to His destination.  There was nothing that was going to hold Him back from getting to the place He was assigned to be.  He set His eyes on the top of that hill at Calvary and thought within Himself:  just a little further, just another step.  I imagined at that point He was probably down on hands and knees fixated on that spot where He was to be crucified for me.  He was obsessed to get there for us all, to carry away our sin, our sickness, our disease, and our pain and suffering.  Thank you LORD Jesus for being determined to succeed in the purpose for the breath You were given here on earth.  Your purpose was to be beaten, suffer, die, be buried, get the keys of hell and death, raise up from the dead, and ascend into Heaven to be with your Father at His right hand, to be the head of His church, to rescue us from an eternity of suffering and separation from You.

Today I want to encourage you to be thankful once again for your salvation, for the price that was paid for your freedom and abundant life.  Then become determined to succeed in the plan that Your Heavenly Father has for your life.  If you do not know what the plan is, ask and He will show you because He said, “you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart”.(Jer. 29:13)  If you have never accepted the gift of salvation through His sacrifice for you, do it today by praying this prayer:

Pray:  God in heaven, I know I’m a sinner and I need a Savior.  I want to turn away from my sinful life to the life You have planned for me.  Please forgive me for my sins, cleanse me from my past, and make me new.  I know your Son, Jesus died for me.  I believe in my heart that You raised Him form the dead.  At this very moment, I accept, confess and proclaim Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior . . . to be Lord of my life from this day forward.  Thank you, Jesus for Your grace that has saved me from my sin and has given me eternal life.  I now have a right relationship with God my Father. I also ask for Your Holy Spirit to guide me and to empower me to do the things that You have planned for my life in Jesus name, Amen

Now ask Him to make His plan and path plain and clear so you can follow Him from this day forward.

Today’s scripture reading:  Isaiah 53