FINISH FAITHFUL

Still in Hebrews. I have been reading chapter 3 over a few times. I found myself skimming 3-6 so I decided to go back AGAIN. Two verses that have struck me from this chapter are 3:14 & 19.
They go wonderfully together.
Verse 14
For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.

Verse 19
So we see that they (Israelites in the wilderness) could not enter in because of their unbelief.

It does not matter how far you run your race, you have to finish. It does not matter if you get to the edge of your promise land, you have to finish. It does not matter if you served the Lord as a child and walked away as an adult, you have to finish.
What causes us to not finish? Unbelief.Unbelief for the big stuff. Unbelief for the little stuff. Unbelief because things did not go how we thought they would have, or should have, or could have. Unbelief because the life we thought we were going to have did not come to pass. Unbelief because we got our feelings hurt, we got ignored, we got humiliated by man and we think God will do the same. Unbelief that starts chipping away at us from the get go. Unbelief that can be traced right up to the very start. Unbelief is sneaky. It may disguise itself as "realistic" or "grounded". It tells us that it is just the way things are and there is nothing we can do about it. It clings to our legs and weighs us down as we run our race. It tries to convince us we can not finish and there is no point in trying. But there is a point in trying. To become partakers with Christ. To see all His glorious works completed. To be standing there on that day and hear the words good and faithful. Unbelief tries to steal that from us. It tells us of a god who is not faithful. It tells us of a god who is not good. That is not God.
Is the race hard? Yes, at times it is. Are there hills and valleys? Yes, there are. We will be tempted to quit? Many times. Quit our marriages, quit our ministries, quit our kids and our families. We must hold onto to Christ as desperately as we did in the moment we surrendered to Him. Hold on till the very end. Our reward is on the other side of that finish line. We must cross it wearing the colors of our King. Bloodied and scrapped up, but clothed in His righteousness.
Finish faithful my friends. FINISH FAITHFUL!

SEEING

I have been reading in Hebrews. I have read the whole thing but felt I needed to go back and reread it again. I had this great idea for a post, out of Hebrews chapter 2, verse 8, but when I reread the section, it was clear it did not mean what I thought it did the first time, at least not fully. However, it has sparked some meditation on my part.

7 " You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet ".
8 In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
9 But we see Jesus....
Hebrews 2:7-9 (NIV)

As I read this, I was reminded of was the fact that everything IS under Christ's feet. Everything. Everything yesterday. Everything today. Everything tomorrow. He is still the same God and He is still the same Jesus He was after He denied my request as He was before I made it. They're still the same Trinity they were after you got that bad, that life shattering, forever changing news as they were before. They are the same on Monday when your world fell apart or at the least got chipped away at a little bit as they were on Sunday morning when you were singing your favorite hymn or praise song. They are the same when I have had worry and fear bang at my door; the same when the way I thought was going to work out did not and I burst into tears.
Everything is under their feet. Nothing gets the upper hand with them. (If you have studied Esther with Beth Moore then that phrase "upper hand" will be familiar.)
This week that has given me peace. It has given me courage to take the steps He has called me to. It has given me hope.
I don't see everything subjected to my will, and praise the Lord for that, because I am yet to be perfected. We don't see the world as was planned out in the Garden of Eden. We see men fail and sin abound. However, that is not all we see. We see Jesus, and everything is subjected to Him for He is perfect.
With all we see in the world, let us be deliberate in seeing Jesus.

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