Part of our identity as believers of Jesus Christ is good works. Doing good works on our own is exhausting and frankly, not possible for long. God gives us the means to “abound in every good work.” That is only possible through His grace. As I study God’s Word and seek to live it, I learn more about how God’s grace works. This is a life long pursuit.
Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to focus on Your grace. I want to live the sufficiency that brings. Thank You for providing.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:19-25
I love this passage of Scripture. It reminds children of God that we have confidence in going to our Heavenly Father. Verse 23 is my favorite part – I need to hold fast and God is faithful. I know there are many times I don’t feel as though I can hold without wavering. Yet my loving, heavenly Father is faithful – unwavering.
One help God has provided is other believers. Verses 24-25 tell us what we are to do for each other. God knows we cannot be faithful without other believers. We need to be a network of strength for each other. The end of verse 25 tells us that we need to encourage one another more as time goes on. We need to read and study God’s Word and encourage each other with what we have learned. The more difficult life gets, the more we need to band together – holding each other up.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your faithfulness. Thank You for giving us instruction in Your Word. Please help us to hold fast and encourage each other to do the same. Please draw us nearer to You each day.
Our hearts are considered the seat of our emotions, intellect and will. Proverbs tells us to “keep our heart with all vigilance”. Emotions are powerful and can lead us astray without proper use of the intellect and will. Our society pushes allowing our emotions to lead. God knew this would happen and gave us guidance in His Word. The book of Proverbs is filled with wisdom to help us lead our emotions appropriately.
Managing our emotions is challenging, but a worthwhile pursuit. Living the way God tells us is always worth the effort.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the wisdom You give. Please guide us to be vigilant with our hearts. We need Your help to direct our emotions, intellect and will towards Your ways.
I fear as believers we sometimes assume we are walking in wisdom when we are not. The apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Ephesus to walk as wise and to use time with that same wisdom. Clearly, we all need to hear it.
The best source of wisdom is God’s Word. We need to continue to read and study the Bible to make sure we are “making the best use of the time”. Please, friends, don’t assume you are walking in wisdom. Make sure by reading and studying the Bible, spending time in prayer and with believers who will encourage your spiritual growth.
Dear Heavenly Father, please guide me towards wisdom. Please help me to put the continued effort towards becoming like Your Son. Please direct my path to believers who can help me and whom I can help. I want more of You.
Ephesians tells us to “be imitators of God”. I don’t know any other way to imitate God than to study Who He is through His Word (the Bible). The sentence continues in verse 2 which tells us to “walk in love”. The word love in verse two is the same as the word beloved in verse one. Beloved children should be giving the same love we have received.
I think we get confused about what love really is. Jesus’ love caused Him to sit with “publicans and sinners”. His love also fiercely rebuked the Pharisees. God’s love must be truthful. The full extent of God’s love doesn’t fit in a full set of encyclopedias, let alone a short blog post. I recommend continued study of the Bible to learn more about God’s love.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love and the examples we have in Your Word. Please help us to imitate You. Give us the desire to present ourselves as :a fragrant offering and sacrifice”.
As I continue to look at the idea of personal identity, I have to look at Ephesians 4:22-24. As I have mentioned before, I think we have the tendency to cling to a me-centered identity. The Bible tells us to put off the old self which has deceitful desires. I think we can struggle being honest about what we want in life. Too many times we allow selfishness to rule our thinking.
Verse 23 tells us to be renewed and then verse 24 talks about putting on the new self which is God-like righteousness. That is a pretty tall order. However, God gives us what we need throughout Scripture to work towards this goal.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for giving Your Word to guide us through life. Please help us to put off the old deceitful self and put on the new according to Your righteousness and holiness.
I pray this in Jesus’ name.
God is so good.
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV)
Ephesians 3:20 can give us goosebumps as we think of all the happy things God can do. However, as I look at the context – one of spiritual growth and maturity – my mind goes down a different path. I believe the Christian life can bring much joy, but there is sorrow as well. The difficult things often bring about the most spiritual growth. So, what is the exceeding abundance? I believe 2 Corinthians 9:8 gives us the answer. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” God’s grace brings the abundance that He wants. Abundance for every good work.
I fear we come to verses like Ephesians 3:20 with selfish thoughts. Selfishness is often a part of our identity. We need to give our own desires to God and He will give us His grace for abundant good works.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the abundance You provide. Please help me to see the ways You want to change my identity from self-centeredness to grace filled good works. Please strengthen me for the tasks ahead. I give You praise for all You do.
Pleading in Prayer 