Month: December 2022

Hebrews 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.

How often in my life have I been guilty of willfully misunderstanding a situation? Usually, strong emotions are involved—fear, anger, hurt, grief. But where willful misunderstanding is present, communication cannot take place.

Hebrews 5:12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

If I choose to willfully misunderstand, I will never hear—I will never listen to—what you are trying to say. If I’m not willing to listen, no matter how important your message, it won’t get through.

Hebrews 5:13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

Lord, Humans are an incredibly willful lot. Open the eyes of our hearts that we may see You better, hear You more clearly. Help us to be willfully loving, willfully compassionate, willfully communicative. Help us to mature in our faith and to shine Your light. Amen.

Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Have a blessed day.

Hebrews 4:12a For the word of God is alive and active….

Verse 12 always seemed a bit scary to me growing up, especially the part about the double-edged sword, but I find myself these days coming back to this verse again and again as scripture I’ve never paid much attention to resonates deeply with me in certain seasons of life. Static, lifeless words can’t do that.

Hebrews 4:12b …Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

This chapter, to me, is about reconciliation. God’s word is active and alive, reaching me when my heart is receptive. Nothing is hidden from God (v13). He knows me intimately, even the parts that I don’t like or can’t accept. Yet I can and should approach His throne of grace with confidence that I will receive mercy and grace (v16).

Hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.

Lord, I don’t deserve Your love, mercy, or grace, yet I am incredibly thankful that You lavish them on me regardless. Thank You that Your words are active and alive. Thank You that nothing is hidden from you. Thank You for Your fierce love. Help me to be more like You. Amen.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Have a blessed day.

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.

I grew up in a church that taught you do not question God. (At least that’s how I interpreted what I was taught at a young age.) However, questioning and unbelief are not the same thing at all. Unbelief says I don’t trust what you say as truth. Questioning, to me, says I’m trying to understand.

Hebrews 3:12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

In many ways, I’m still like the annoying toddler saying Why? Why? Why? But my intentions are pure. Especially with God, I’m often trying to reconcile unpleasant realities with the loving, merciful God whom I trust fully. “I know You love me, Lord, but I don’t understand this situation.”

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Lord, Thank You for the inquisitive mind You gave me. Thank You for the desire to understand. Use it to draw me closer to You, to shine Your light, to comfort Your people. Amen.

Hebrews 3:14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

Have a blessed day.

Hebrews 2:1 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Many thoughts come to mind as I read today’s scripture, chief among them, the need to abide in the Lord. For me, this daily scripture reading and reflection is a way to abide, to root myself in my Savior before the morning madness begins.

Hebrews 2:6 But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him?

Verses 6-8 remind me of one of the overarching themes in the play Our Town, this idea that we are at once insignificant in the whole of the universe and incredibly significant in our little sphere of humanity.

Hebrews 2:7-8 You made them a little a lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.”

Lord, It is so important to abide in You. Thank You that this morning devotional time is such an integral part of my day. Thank You for helping me understand the dynamics of my place in this world. Help me to shine Your light daily. Help me to abide in You always.

Hebrews 2:9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Have a blessed day.

Hebrews 1:3a The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word….

Reading today’s scripture brought to mind Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Jesus doesn’t change. His love doesn’t change. Neither does His mercy, grace, compassion, forgiveness. We can count on Him. Always.

Hebrews 1:3b …After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Something else that came to mind while reading this scripture is an old billboard that I used to see along the interstates: “Just love everybody. I’ll sort them out later. ~God” Jesus is God in human form. God is love. He calls us to love. When I don’t know what to do, He tells me to love—love Him, love others, love myself.

Hebrews 1:4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

Lord, Thank You that You are dependable and sure, unchanging in all the best ways. Thank You that You call us to love You and love others, especially when we don’t know what else to do. Help us, Lord. Amen.

Hebrews 1:12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”

Have a blessed day.