- But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 10:3-4 – Thankfully we don’t have to bring animal sacrifices like the Jewish people had to in their worship of God, yet the lack of such a practice can cause us to not appreciate the power of what’s being said here. So let’s put ourselves for a moment in their shoes. Pretend that every Sunday when you came to church you needed to bring some sort of animal with you to sacrifice. Depending on the sins you committed it may be a different animal, or multiple animals. You’d have to replay your entire week thinking of all the ways you sinned and then bring whatever was needed to cover those sins according to the law. Everything about this would be pointing back to your sins. The hassle with the animals, cleaning up the animal trailer after church, even just the chaos of all the sounds at church of all the animals people brought. All this to just take care of your sin for this past week, and this was what your time at church was dedicated to. Now, let’s remember what Jesus did. He covered with His one sacrifice all sins for all time, meaning no more animal sacrifices needed. Suddenly your coming to church on Sunday just got a whole lot easier! Also you aren’t being constantly reminded of your sins, having to replay them every week to make sure you’re doing what you are supposed to so they are covered. Jesus frees us from having to be forever focused on our sin. Jesus paid it all, so we don’t have to dwell on any of our sin any longer. However then the enemy is holding sin over your head, remember in Christ is it already covered and forgiven. Christ is calling you to dwell your thoughts on Him, not your sin. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3194
- And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25 – Do you think that you can find personal growth in your walk with God outside of church? I agree with you, you can grow outside of the church, but you have to remember, church isn’t just about YOUR spiritual growth, but about other’s as well. If we skip out on Christian community, how can we encourage one another and stir each other up like this passage is speaking on? It’s a very selfish way to live thinking only about your walk with Christ yet not being concerned about the walk of your brother. Your church family needs you, and not only to show up but to step up. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac
- Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:18 – If you have the continual feeling of guilt and shame over the things you’ve done in your past, even recent past, this passage is for you. God will bring conviction to help you know what you’re doing isn’t right, but He isn’t about wearing you out with guilt. He is about forgiveness. What we see here in scripture is that once we are forgiven no longer are we in this struggle to pay for what we’ve done wrong. That’s taken care of within the forgiveness Jesus offers us. So if you are holding onto the guilt, that means you’re really not understanding Jesus’ forgiveness in your story. He’s not asking you to make up for what you’ve done, that something you could never do anyways. What’s He’s looking for is for you to accept the fullness of His forgiveness in your story. Stop holding onto the guilt, that’s not God speaking into you with that. You are forgiven and no longer is there any price to be paid for what you’ve done, it’s already been taken care of. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac
- Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. Hebrews 10:35-36 – Most likely you already caught on into this, but as we try to live our life for God there will be many things that we have to endure. It might be distractions, it might be persecutions, it might be judgment from others. Yet in this life there are going to be things that we have to endure as we try to follow what God is leading us to do. How can we make sure that we have what we need to endure? We rely on what we have confidence in. This is why it says do not throw away your confidence. Our confidence is in the security that we have a relationship with the God of the universe. Make sure today that you are resting in the confidence that you have a relationship with Jesus if you asked them into your life. Let that confidence you have be what helps you endure. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 573
- And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25 – Last night in my message to the students I spoke on that our next steps today will show Jesus how passionate we truly are about Him. This passage reveals a great way for us to show Jesus just that. First consider, dwell on, think about how you can encourage those around you to keep pressing on with their pursuit of Jesus. That means the second comes into play as well, choose to be with said other people to encourage them like this. When we choose to invest in the faith life of others God is pleased. So who are the people today you will be around? What’s someway you can invest in their walk today? See that their life with Jesus is more full today because you were in their life as well today. Let Jesus see today how passionate you are about Him and others knowing Him better. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1606
Daily DEVO 