Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Hebrews – Learning to get out of the way

Yesterday, as I was teaching some middle schoolers about the powers of observation…what we see and what we humanly overlook…it occurs to me how little we try to see, much less understand. We have little focus these days, it seems. We are an easily distracted people. That’s been proven in science. It seems we must be in crisis before we attempt to take a hard look at anything…much less Jesus, Himself. We say we believe. We try to “be good” because of the faith we say we have, but do we really see Jesus, the Christ? And understand who this Jesus was, is and always will be? Do we see Him as Lord of our lives?

“So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do.”
Hebrews 2, Msg

Meditate on that for a minute or so…Jesus, the Centerpeice…of all.

“Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God’s house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house.” Hebrews 2, Msg

Ponder…JESUS, the builder. Am I looking, watching, observing the Builder, with understanding, as he builds me? Do I understand that we don’t build people? Jesus does.

“Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house! Hebrews 2, Msg

Dear Heavenly Father, We are taking a hard look at Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Lord and the Builder of our house…us. I pray for opened eyes to really see, ears to hear, and open hearts and minds to understand what what you are building in us and in the lives of others. Make all you desire in us become second nature, in perfect rhythm with You, pleasing you in everything that we are and do in this temporary journey. Yes, we are taking that hard look at You and our lives. Bring us together. You in us. Us in You. 
In Jesus Name, Amen

Jesus — First! Our Salvation!.

HEBREWS – LEARNING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY

“God didn’t put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we’re dealing with here. It says in Scripture; ‘What is man and woman that you bother with them; why take a second look their way? You made them not quite as high as angels, bright with Eden’s dawn light; Then you put them in charge of your entire handcrafted world.'” Hebrews 2, Msg

“When God put them in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we don’t see it yet, don’t see everything under human jurisdiction. What we do see is Jesus, made’ not quite as high as angels,’ and then, through the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a glory ‘bright with Eden’s dawn light. In that death, by God’s grace, he fully experienced death in every person’s place.” Hebrews 2, Msg

WE ARE FAMILY!

“It makes good sense that the God who got everything started and keeps everything going now completes the work by making the Salvation Pioneer perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory. Since the One who saves and those who are saved have a common origin, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to treat them as family, saying,

‘I’ll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters, all I know about you; I’ll join them in worship and praise to you.’

“Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says, ‘Even I live by placing my trust in God.’

And yet again, ‘I’m here with the children God gave me.’

FIRST…FOR US!

“Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it’s logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.”

“It’s obvious, of course, that he didn’t go to all this trouble for angels. It was for people like us, children of Abraham. That’s why he had to enter into every detail of human life. Then, when he came before God as high priest to get rid of the people’s sins, he would have already experienced it all himself–all the pain, all the testing–and would be able to help where help was needed.” 
Hebrews 2, Msg

Dear Heavenly Father, And that’s why we come to You with humble, grateful hearts, full of praise, giving you glory for our salvation, for your redemption. We believe. We love you back. Thank you, Jesus for bringing us back to God with confidence. Thank you for being with us, still. In Jesus Name, Amen

HEBREWS – LEARNING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY.

Jesus – Get a Grip!

Randy is learning to use his right hand and leg again, building up strength so that it returns as his dominant side. He must get a grip on things around him and hang on. Or he will fall.

WE must get a grip on our Savior, Jesus Christ, and hang on for dear life, so that we remain strong, while growing stronger, letting His thoughts and actions drive our thinking and behavior. Or we will fall. 

It’s pretty simple. It is Jesus. Simply Jesus.

“It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off. If the old message delivered by the angles was valid and nobody got away with anything, do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this magnificent salvation?” Hebrews 2, Msg

“First of all, it was delivered in person by the Master, then accurately passed on to us by those who heard it from him. All the while God was validating it with gifts through the Holy “spirit, all sorts of signs and miracles, as he saw fit.” Hebrews 2, Msg

Dear Heavenly Father, What more could we ask for? You are everything we have needed and need to become. Thank you, Lord for salvation, so rich and freely offered, with unconditional love for us, full of mercy and grace. We accept You with grateful hearts full of praise. We thank you for miracles and signs You are still performing today. Forgive us when we don’t notice. Keep us focused. Help us keep a firm grip on You. In Jesus Name, Amen

HEBREWS – LEARNING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY  .

God’s Action in Jesus 

Hebrews 1, The Message
“Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together by what he says–powerful worlds!”

The fall of man brought the world to it’s knees. The Son of God accepted the task of redemption of fallen man. From the glory of the person and position of Christ, the Son of God, we proceed to the glory of his grace. Jesus the Son satisfied God the Father of the infinite injury and affront by the sins of mankind with his sufferings for mankind in ways that honored God. The ACTION of and by Jesus, following the will of His Father saves us.

We never can be thankful enough that God has in so many ways, and with such increasing clearness, spoken to us fallen sinners concerning salvation. That he should by himself cleanse us from our sins is a wonder of love beyond our utmost powers of admiration, gratitude, and praise.

“After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God, far higher than any angel in rank and rule. Did God ever say to an angel, ‘You’re my Son; today I celebrate you’? or, ‘I’m his father, he’s my Son’? When he presents his honored Son to the world, he says, ‘All angles must worship him.'” Hebrews 1, Msg

“Regarding angels he says, ‘The messengers are winds, the servants are tongues of fire.’ Hebrews 1, Msg

“But he says to the Son, ‘You’re God, and on the throne for good; your rule makes everything right. You love it when things are right; you hate it when things are wrong. That is why God, your God, poured fragrant oil on your head, marking you out as king, far above your dear companions.” Hebrews 1, Msg

“And again to the Son, ‘You, Master, started it all, laid earth’s foundations, then crafted the stars in the sky. Earth and sky will wear out, but not you; they become threadbare like an old coat; You’ll fold them up like a worn-out cloak, and lay them away on the shelf. But you’ll stay the same, year after year; you’ll never fade, you’ll never wear out.” Hebrews 1, Msg

And did he ever say anything like this to an angel? ‘Sit alongside me here on my throne until I make your enemies a stool for your feet.” Isn’t it obvious that all angles are sent to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?” Hebrews 1, Msg

Jesus Rules. He is alpha-omega. He was at the beginning of time. Jesus is King of kings now. Let Him rule and be Lord of lords in your life now. He is in mine. I am not perfect, but I am perfectly forgiven. 

IT’S PERSONAL…
Accept our King’s redemptive payment in full for your sin today. Stop and breathe out what holds you back and breathe in the power of the Holy Spirit to take you forward with the fresh breath of clean air that redeems you. Simply say, I’m sorry. And mean it. That’s repentance. Not sorry that you got caught, but sorry for the sin with a desire to go and “sin no more”. 

Jesus. Simply Jesus. The author and finisher of our faith.

It is in His Name we pray and thank Him in worship, honor and praise with our very lives. Thank you, dear Jesus for extending your mercy and grace driven by unconditional love for sinful man. Thank you, God, for sending Your Son to redeem us. Paid in full. We are grateful. Help us live in gratitude. In Jesus Name, Amen

HEBREWS – LEARNING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY.

Simply Jesus and Faith 

I was given a unique opportunity to share my life’s testimony last night to the nurse attending to Randy. She shared her life with us as well. What is still in my mind is what I generally say to people who ask why I left professional ministry. The trappings of politics, pressures to go farther and higher, to be religious versus relational, with little time to process the actions just taken and the ultimate stress of being reminded to make a profit in ministry became too overwhelming and unnatural to me, I prayed (more like crying out to God) for a more simple life. I prayed for simply Jesus. He responded.

EVALUATION … good for the soul!
No it’s time to revisit simplicity of faith. It’s time for a new direction, a fresh look and learning with more ways to grow our faith. God seems to be directing me back to Hebrews. We are going to use Eugene Peterson’s explanation of this book of faith by using The Message as our reference. I’m looking forward to what God will teach us. Maybe it will help you, too. I’m praying for all of us each morning. Know that.

We open with Peterson’s introduction of how we must get out of the way, by faith, so that we can get on the Way…Jesus, the Way, Truth and the Life for all. I relate so well to this introduction because I was once “blind, but now I see”. 

“It seems odd to have to say so, but too much religion is a bad thing. We can’t get too much of God, can’t get too much faith and obedience, can’t get too much love and worship. But religion–the well-intentioned efforts we make to ‘get it all together’ for God–can very well get in the way of what God is doing for us.”

“The main and central action is everywhere and always what God has done, is doing and will do for us. Jesus is the revelation of that action. Our main and central task is to live in responsive obedience to God’s action revealed in Jesus. Our part in the action is the act of faith.”

“But more often than not we become impatiently self-important along the way and decide to improve matters with our two cents worth. We add on, we supplement, we embellish. But instead of improving on the purity and simplicity of Jesus, we dilute the purity, clutter the simplicity. We become fussily religious, or anxiously religious. WE GET IN THE WAY.”

“That’s when it’s time to read and pray our way through the letter to the Hebrews again, written for ‘too religious’ Christians, for “Jesus-and’ Christians. This letter deletes the hyphens, the add-ons. The focus becomes clear and sharp again: GOD’S ACTION IN JESUS. And we are free once more for the act of faith, the one human action in which we don’t get IN the way but ON THE WAY.”
(Eugene Peterson)

Dear Heavenly Father,
We will pray, read, pray more, meditate and ask You to simplify our hearts, minds and souls of all else but focus on Jesus, Your Son and our Savior and Teacher. We pray we will get ON THE WAY, building our faith stronger, by letting all else fall away. We pray our faith will cause God-like behaviors in us and through us that go beyond our wildest dreams…all because of Jesus…Simply Jesus.
In His Holy Name, we pray, Amen.

Rest, with continuous sleep, has been challenging to Randy and I lately. It’s the hospital facilities for Randy and for me, being at home without him isn’t conducive to sweet rest. For Randy, it’s constant interruptions with the amusing, consistent question to wake him, “Were you sleeping?” Then the nurse does something else to aid in his healing. For me, it’s hard to get to sleep and stay asleep. My brain is thinking too much. We all have that problem from time to time, don’t we? I am sure, from FB posts, that I’m not the only one. 

I finally came to a question for God in all this awake time…LORD, what should I be thinking about? Give me what to think. 

From that moment on, I began to pray this prayer. Give me what to think that is healthy for me. You know me, you know my needs more than I. You created me. You know me…more than I know…me. There is no other like You. If you want me to pray for others, then put their names on my mind. If you want me to just listen, then put my mind at ease. But give me what to think.

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me!” Psalm 139:17-18, NLT

Yes, it is healthier to ask God what to think. Seriously, if you are awake anyway, ask God what to think. He will answer that prayer quicker than any selfish outcry for relief. I had an ah-ha moment last night after asking God what I should think…I will tell you about that tomorrow.

Want peace with what to think? Pray the end of Psalm 139…

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Psalm 139, NLT

Give God permission to enter all of you with all of Him.

In Jesus Name, Amen