Don't Harden Your Hearts Against Him (Heb. 4:6-7)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                            Date:  01-29-03

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Don’t harden your hearts against Him

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 4:6,7

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, again He designates a certain day, saying in David, ‘Today,’ after such a long time, as it has been said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.’”  (NKJV)  “So God’s rest is there for people to enter.  But those who formerly heard the Good News failed to enter because they disobeyed God.  So God set another time for entering his place of rest and that time is today.  God announced this through David a long time later in the words already quoted:  ‘Today you must listen to His voice.  Don’t harden your hearts against Him.’”  (NLT)

            I would like to quote a paragraph from Dr. Wiersbe’s book on Hebrews; “Be Confident” that has much to say about this rest or rests that people can enter into.  “The Canaan rest for Israel is a picture of spiritual rest we find in Christ when we surrender to Him.  When we come to Christ by faith, we find salvation rest (Matt.11: 28)  ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’  When we yield and learn of Him and obey Him by faith, we enjoy submission rest (11:29,30) ‘By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.’  The first is ‘peace with God’ (Rom 5:1) ‘Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’  The second is ‘peace of God’ (Phil. 4:6-8) ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy----meditate on these things.’  It is by believing that we enter into rest (Heb. 4:3); ‘For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, `They shall not enter My rest,'" although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.’  It is by obeying God by faith, and surrendering to His will that the rest enters into us.

            I think that is of the utmost importance that I learn what this writer of Hebrews is saying about this rest of rests that I either have or need to enter into, and I believe that I finally understand what these rests of God are about.

2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Whenever I learn something from the Word of God then I need to put it into practice and this is the most difficult part of becoming like Christ.  Jesus Christ lived on earth in a way where He always did everything according to the Word of God for He is the living Word.  It was His nature to live this way, and by God’s wonderful grace I too can live this way as He conforms me to the image of His Son.

 

The Word of God was convicting, refreshing, and a challenge to me as I read it today.

My Steps of Faith Today:  To live my life in control of the Spirit of the living God.

Memory verse for the week:  Philippians 2:5

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

 

 

 

  

 

 

Spiritual Rest Available (Heb. 4:4-5)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                Date:  01-28-03

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  Spiritual Rest is Available

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 4:4,5

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works’; and again in this place: ‘They shall not enter My rest.’”  (NKJV)  “We know it is ready because the Scriptures mention the seventh day, saying, ‘On the seventh day God rested from all His work.’  But in the other passage God said, ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”  (NLT)

            The thought just came to me about this passage in a way that I had not looked at it before, and that is that God rested from His work after creation because His work was don and not because He was tired.  I can rest from salvation because Jesus Christ has done all the work for me on the cross of Calvary.  I can do nothing at all to gain salvation and therefore once I have been saved I can rest in that wonderful salvation that God has given to me.  I can also rest in knowing that God is the One who is can show me the right way to live out my life, and not doing things in my own effort.  In verse five the writer again quotes from Psalm 95 and in this verse he quotes verse eleven.  Those who could not enter the rest are the ones who came out of Egypt in unbelief of going into the promised land.

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I take God at His Word and by faith believe what He has said, even though at times I do not understand all that is involved, I too can enter His rest.

 

The Word of God was convicting to me today as I read about not entering His rest that is available to me, which means that it also challenged me too.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To put shoe leather on the things that I have read about in His Word, to apply those things to my life so I can enter His rest.

 

Memory verse for the week:  Philippians 2:5

 

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

           

 

 

Entering God's Rest (Heb. 4:3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                            Date:  01-27-03

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  Entering God’s rest

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 4:3

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: ‘So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.”  (NKJV)  “For only we who believe can enter His place of rest.  As for those who didn’t believe God said, ‘In My anger I made a vow:  They will never enter my place of rest,’ even though His place of rest has been ready since He made the world.”  (NKJV)

            As stated in the last spiritual diary it takes faith to enter into God’s rest whichever rest that is describes still takes faith.  It takes faith to enter into the rest of salvation and it takes faith to enter the rest of walking with the Lord in His power.  God has finished the rest from the foundation of the world.  God had purposed this rest in eternity past just like the rest when He had finished creating the world.

 

2.      Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It takes faith in the Lord to enter this rest and faith must also have actions or works on our part to be able to enter this rest.  Just like it would have taken the children of Israel to walk into the promised land in order to enter that rest, whenever God has something for me to do I must begin to do it and then trust the Lord to see me through doing it by His power and strength.

 

The Word of God was refreshing to me today and it was also convicting.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord to get me through the things that He would have me to do today whatever they may be.

 

Memory verse for the week:  Philippians 2:5

 

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Preaching the Good News (Heb. 4:2)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                            Date:  01-25-03

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  Preaching of the good news

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Hebrews 4:2

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”  (NKJV)  “For this Good News—that God has prepared a place of rest—has been announced to us jus as it was to them.  Bit it did them no good because they didn’t believe what God told them.”  (NLT)

            The word used for “gospel” in the NKJ and “Good News” used in the NLT is words that were used in the OT as well as in the NT.  Strongs gives some insight on this word when it says, “1) to bring good news, to announce glad tidings, 1a) used in the OT of any kind of good news.”  It seems to me that the NLT make the message of this verse clearer than that of the NKJV because it tells that the “rest” was the source of the good news.  The NKJV brings out at the end of this verse a message about faith where it says, “not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”  Now if this is a picture of salvation and those that it is speaking of in the OT, those who came out of Egypt, were not saved.  However if it is a picture of not entering into a “spiritual” rest or a rest you get when you turn your life completely over to God as spoken of in Romans 12:1&2 then the good news is about the walk with the Lord as opposed to the saving faith of the Lord.  You need faith for both of these rests.  Paul says in Colossians 2:6 “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”  This shows that you have to have faith in your walk with the Lord in the same way as you received Him as your Savior.

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that one of the key words in this passage is faith, faith as indirectly spoken of in the verse in Colossians 2:6, and faith as spoken of in Romans 12: 1&2, where Paul says that in light of all that the Lord has for you, which he explained in the first eleven chapters of Romans, then by faith you ought to give yourself as a living sacrifice to the Lord for worship and for service.  I think of the faith that it took for Abraham to put his son Isaac on the alter knowing that he was the child of promise.  I too, need that kind of faith to enter into a higher level of worship and service to the Lord.

 

The Word of God was refreshing to me today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To, by faith, give myself as a living sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ today for worship to Him and for service to Him.

 

 

Memory verse for the week:  Romans 12:5

 

So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

 

 

   

A Promise Remains (Heb. 4:1)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                            Date:  01-23-03

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  A promise remains

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 4:1

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.”  (NKJV)  “God’s promise of entering His place of rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to get there.  (NLT)

            The writer says that there still remains the promise of entering into His rest.  He goes on to say that those who have not entered His rest should fear lest you come short of it.  The rest that I believe that the writer is talking of hear is a picture of the rest that the first generation of Israel that came out of Egypt did not enter because of unbelief.  The rest for believers today, I believe is the rest of trusting the Lord to lead and guide the believer.  There is a rest when a person believes in Christ for salvation, and that is salvation rest.  It seems to me that the writer is writing to those who are already believers in Christ and so he must be speaking of the rest one receives when he trusts the Lord each day for his daily walk with Him.

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I to need to fear lest I do not enter this rest of walking with the Lord day by day, knowing that He is the only one who gives me the grace to obey Him and to live my life totally for Him.

 

The Word of God did bring conviction to me today and also it was refreshing to me to realize that I can still enter into His rest.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Even though I did have trouble with my EBS this morning as I went over to give Dave his key I still have a desire in my heart to trust the Lord and to give thanks even for these problems that I experience from time to time with EBS.

 

Memory verse for the week:  Romans 12:5

 

So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

 

The Importance of Obeying God (Heb. 3:18-19)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                            Date:  01-22-03

 

My Worship Time                              Focus:  The Importance of Obeying God

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Hebrews 3:18-19

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”  (NKJV)  “And to whom was God speaking when He vowed that they would never enter His place of rest?  He was speaking to those who disobeyed Him.  So we that they were not allowed to enter His rest because of their unbelief.”  (NLT)

            This verse concludes this exhortation and gives the example to whom the writer is speaking about.  The writer is speaking about the children of Israel who were not permitted to enter the promise land because they believed the majority report that they could not concur the giants who lived in the promise land.  As stated before these people had seen many miracles done by God to get them out of Egypt and also to keep them going while on their way to the promise land.  The sin that kept them out of the promise land was the sin of unbelief.  They did not have faith that God could concur the giants in the land for them.

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I see from these verse that I need to trust the Lord for everything in my life, even though things do not seem to be going right I need to trust the Lord to work things out for good.

 

The Word of God continues to teach me the benefits of trusting the Lord.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I trust the Lord to work thing out for this situation with Dave and his birthday party and also the things that are going on between he and us.

 

Memory verse for the week:  Romans 12:5  (NIV)

 

So in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 

 

Who Was it that Rebelled? (Heb. 3:16-17)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                                        Date:01-21-03

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Who was it that rebelled?

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Hebrews 3:16,17

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?  Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?”  (NKJV)  “And who were these people who rebelled against God, even though they heard His voice?  Weren’t they the ones Moses led out of Egypt?  And who made God angry for forty years?  Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?”  (NLT)

            In the book of Numbers, chapter fourteen, the story of what the writer of Hebrews is speaking of is found.  I have a couple of verses to help explain this sad story:  “Then the LORD said: "I have pardoned, according to your word;  "but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD--  "because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice,  "they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it.”  These verses summarize the story of these people and their sin and how God dwelt with them.

 

            2.    Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The Lord has taught me much concerning these passages in Hebrews as far as what it means not to enter His rest and how it applied to those who came out of Egypt and also how it applies to my life.  I believe the key is to have faith that God will do what he says He will do because of the wonderful miracle that He did for me when He saved me from my sin.  If He did this for me when I was His enemy, they He will do wonderful things for me now that I am His child, things that He has described in His Word.  He will never leave me nor forsake me.

 

The Word of God brought refreshment to my life today as I read it.  It also made me sad to read how God had to deal with the children of Israel who He brought out of Egypt.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord to care for me in all that I do today.  Trust Him to give me strength as I serve Him at GBC today.  Trust Him with IBS, that He will bring glory to Himself through the effects that this problem has on me.

 

Memory verse for the week:  Romans 12:5  (NIV)

…so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

 

 

 

Perseverance (Heb. 3:14-15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                            Date:  01-20-03

 

My Worship Time:                                        Focus: Perseverance

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Hebrews 3:14, 15

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’”  (NKJV)  “For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.  But never for get the warning:  ‘Today you must listen to His voice.  Don’t harden your hearts against Him as Israel did when they rebelled.’”  (NLT)

              The writer repeats the exhortation of that in verse six.  The theme of perseverance is also repeated.  In verse fifteen the writer again quotes from Psalm 95:7,8.  The first time he used these verses he had his emphasize on the word “today” but now he has his emphasize on the word rebellion and is presenting the theme of obedience by using the opposite of that term, disobedience.  The history of this quotation is about those who died in the wilderness because of unbelief, and that means they were rebellious. 

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I would guess that you could say that the theme, or at least one of the themes of Hebrews in unbelief, or a lack of faith.  Whenever I sin it is rebellion against God and it also evolves a lack of faith or unbelief.  I could say it another way and that is that I do not trust God and that is sin in and of itself. The Lord seems to be making this point more and more clear to me as I study this wonderful letter to the Hebrews.

 

The Word of God brought conviction to my heart today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I need God’s wonderful grace to get me through this day as I work with Sandy on Dave’s room.

 

Memory verse for the week:  Romans 12:5

 

…so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Partaker of Christ (Heb. 3:14-15)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                            Date:  01-18-03

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Partakers of Christ

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 3:14,15

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.’”  (NKJV)  For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.  But never forget the warning:  ‘Today you must listen to his voice.  Don’t harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled.’”  (NLT)

            I believe that the writer is again talking about the rest that the people of Israel missed because they did not enter into the promised land, and if you look at that spiritually for believers in the NT you will see that we will miss the rest of walking closely with the Lord if we do not believe like those given as an example here.  The NLT shows this more clearly.  It must be noted again that the people that the writer is writing to were Jewish believers who were tempted to go back to Judaism, which is similar to those who died in the wilderness, and wanted to go back to Egypt, but God would not allow it.  Verse 15 is again a quote from Psalm 95: 7 & 8, (I believe verse 16, is from Psalm 95:8).  In this section the writer emphasizes the word rebellion (verses 15,16) while the first time he quoted this he was emphasizing the word “today.”  He presents the theme of obedience by using the opposite words to begin this theme.  The opposite of obedience is rebellion.

 

2. Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As a believer in Jesus Christ I need to learn about the warnings that the writer of this book is explaining so that I do not follow the bad examples that the infant nation of Israel followed by disobeying the Lord after the wonderful miracles that He did for them to get them out of bondage.  He did an even greater miracle to get me out of the bondage of sin, therefore I must live my life for the cause of Christ because of the great love that He has for me.

 

The Word of God brought needed teaching to me and was a wonderful learning experience.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Because I am a very, very slow learner I need to trust the Lord to give me the needed grace to be the husband to Sandy that she needs as she goes through this difficult time of change in her life due to the remolding of Dave’s room.

 

Memory verse for the week:  Ehp 2:10 & Mark 12:30

 

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which He prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

 

Encourage One Another (Heb. 3:13)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                                            Date:  01-17-03

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus: Encourage One Another

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 3:13

 

1.      Message of the verse:  “but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”  (NKJV)  “You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.”  (NLT)  The writer encourages the readers of this letter to encourage and exhort one another both in their daily lives and also in their corporate worship when they met together with other church members.  The needed to exhort each other because of the persecution and also because of their temptation to go back into Judaism.  One of the reasons he was encouraging them to exhort each other was so that they would not have their hearts become hardened because of the deceitfulness of sin which he point out in the latter part of the verse.

 

2.      Spiritual meaning for my life today.  As the writer points out sin is very deceitful and if I allow myself become continually involved in sin then it will get control of my life and I will not be able to live a life for the Lord Jesus Christ and His cause.

 

The Word of God did bring conviction to my heart today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To trust the Lord for His success for our Bible study and also for the way Dave’s room turns out.

 

Memory verses for the week:  Ehp. 2:10 & Mark 12:30

 

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

 

 

The Heart of Every Problem is the Problem with the Heart (Heb. 3:12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

                                                                                    Date:  01-16-03

 

My Worship Time      Focus:  The heart of every problem is the problem with the heart.

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Hebrews 3:12

 

            1.  Message of the verse:  “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God”  (NKJV)  “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters.  Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.”  (NLT)

            I do not think that the writer is talking to unbelievers, because of using the term brothers when he starts this verse.  The picture of not entering into the rest spoken of in verse eleven, was a picture of that generation that came out of Egypt and never entered into the rest of Canaan.  There are others who would say that the writer was speaking of unbelievers.  I think that what Paul said in one of his letters about checking and making sure that you are in the faith would go along with this verse.  One of the reasons for this letter was to encourage these believers to continue in the faith and not go back into Judaism, as some of them were thinking about doing.  It kind of describes the generation that came out of Egypt and saw all of the miracles that God did and then when some hardships came up did not believe that God would continue to take care of them and thus they decided that they wanted to go back to Egypt.  If the did that they certainly would never have entered the rest of Canaan, and as it turned out they were not permitted to go into the promise land because of their unbelief thus missing the rest of Canaan.

 

            2.  Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The writer talks about the sin that so easily ensnares us in chapter twelve and verse one, and I believe that sin is unbelief, or lack of faith in believing that God knows what is the best for you even though it does not seem so at the time.  This is what the writer is speaking about in this verse that I have looked at today and that is what is important for me to remember that I need to continue to have faith in God that He knows what is best for me and thus trust Him completely with my life.  I must say that I fail doing that many, many times.

 

The Word of God did bring conviction to my life today.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  To know that God always things in my life that are for my best interest, and that will conform me to the image of His Son.  To act on this faith and believe it in all of life’s events both good and bad.  (Romans 8:28)

 

Memory verses for the week:  Ephesians 2:10 & Mark 12:20

 

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.