Category: Hebrews

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

This chapter is all about faith, and the words “By faith” appear in this chapter at least 21 times. Faith is such a nebulous concept, incredibly abstract, and this chapter seeks to define it with all these examples of people from the Bible who have acted by faith.

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Faith is hard to define, but the rewards of faith—pleasing God, believing He exists, being rewarded with His presence when earnestly seeking Him—are beautiful gifts.

Hebrews 11:11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.

Lord, Faith can be hard at times because it is the trust, the belief that You are who You say You are, that You have done what You say You’ve done, that You will do what You say You will do. I trust Your promises. I believe You are faithful. I believe. Help me unbelief. Amen.

Hebrews 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

Have a blessed day.

Hebrews 10:22 …let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings….

The parallel structure of these verses appeals to me: let us draw near, let us hold unswervingly, let us consider how. These verses are an invitation, because of our belief in Christ, to persevere in our faith.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

These verses are an invitation, not a command. We are invited because of our faith in Christ to draw near, to hold unswervingly, to consider how. The conditions are set, but it’s up to us to act. If we do nothing, there will be no benefit to our faith.

Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…

Lord, Daily You extend invitations to us—to deepen our faith, to be Your hands and feet, to live in joy and hope, to draw near, to hold unswervingly, to consider how. Thank You. Help us to look for those invitations and to act on them. Increase our faith as we glorify Your name. Amen.

Hebrews 10:25 …not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another….

Have a blessed day.

Hebrews 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.

Today is Christmas Day. We celebrate the birth of Jesus, Immanuel—God with us. And while Hebrews 9 doesn’t seem like tremendously Christmas-y scripture, as usual, God’s timing is perfect because Hebrews 9 reminds us why God became man and came down from heaven in the first place.

Hebrews 9:25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

Jesus was born to a virgin in a manger to redeem all of humanity. Jesus was born because God loves us so much He did not want to be separated from us by sin and death, so He sent His Son, Jesus, God incarnate, to live and work and preach and eventually die for us.

Hebrews 9:26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Lord, As we celebrate Christmas today, help us to be ever mindful of the best gift—Immanuel, God with us. Help us to be still and know that You are God. Help us to love You and love others and shine Your light. Always. Thank You for the gift of Jesus. Amen.

Hebrews 9:27-28 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Have a blessed day.

Hebrews 8:6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

Lord, Forgive us when we think we have all the answers. Know our hearts, that we are trying to do the right thing. Use it all for our good and Your glory.

Hebrews 8:7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

Lord, Forgive those who know or suspect that they aren’t doing the right thing, especially those doing it in Your name. Use what they intend for evil for Your good. Thank You that You can and do.

Hebrews 8:8 But God found fault with the people and said: “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah….”

Lord, open our hearts to You and to Your people. Help us to see the needs and to be Your hands and feet in this world. Help us to just love everyone and let You sort them out later. Help us to shine Your light. Amen.

Hebrews 8:13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

Have a blessed day.

Hebrews 7:18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless….

Lord, This chapter talks about You as the hope which anchors our soul. You are how we draw closer to God. You are who we can trust—when everything is going well AND when it’s all going to pot. We can count on You always. Thank You.

Hebrews 7:19 …(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

Lord, Thank You in this season of hope for showing up again and again and again. Thank You for loving us fiercely and for sending us God-winks, which could easily be excused as coincidences but which I truly believe are Your way of showing us You are near.

Hebrews 7:22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

Lord, Be with us in this season. Christmas is a beautiful time, but it can also be traumatic and sad and lonely. Help us to be there for each other. Help us to pay attention to Your presence. Help us to cling to You always in hope. Amen.

Hebrews 7:24-25 …but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Have a blessed day.

Hebrews 6:10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Verse 19 is a favorite of mine. I actually was just given an ornament yesterday of an anchor with this verse on it. I love the analogy of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—anchoring me to the hope of heaven when I feel tossed about by life’s chaos.

Hebrews 6:11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.

I love the image of the anchor, sunk deep and holding fast, impervious to the wind and the waves. Life, the ocean, can be smooth as glass or as turbulent as a tempest. My boat, that’s me, can be smoothly sailing or be tossed about like a beach ball. I’m not impervious to life’s challenges, but my anchor, what keeps me grounded, absolutely is rock solid.

Hebrews 6:12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Lord, Thank You for the anchor of my faith in You. Thank You that no matter what is going on with the wind and waves of life, You are holding me firm and secure through my faith. Thank You. Amen.

Hebrews 6:19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure….

Have a blessed day.

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.