Hebrews 10 "jesus saves" ... "spirit reigns" ... "remember"

10/14/11

Hebrews 10
Jer 31
Deut 32

The holy spirit was excited to teach me this message today through the book of Hebrews.

Chapter ten starts out with a plea to the audience to understand the importance of Christ’s death, that in his death he eliminated the need for any other sacrifices. Verse 16 quotes scripture from Jeremiah where god is saying “This is the covenant i will make with them after that time, says the lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and i will write them on their minds.” ... what Paul doesnt share are the following verses in Jeremiah.. “I will be their god, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying ‘know the lord,’ because they will all (!!!) know me.”

Gods promise, that someday - upon jesus’ death - we would all gain access to his spirit :)

** we see this all throughout scripture... be wary of the 'teachers'... grow near to spirit... be taught **

Paul then injects confidence into his audience, calling them to persevere at all costs, to ‘draw near to god with a sincere heart in FULL assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.’ (22-25)

He goes on saying basically... “persevere... or...”

Or... then comes the warning to those who have invited the presence of the spirit, who have 'known God'.

:::WARNING:::

~ click to read the warning if you want.. it's kinda long ~

After warning, he challenges those who have continued in their ways after ‘being changed’ by the spirit... he tells them to... “remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering... [those days] you sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting posessions.”

I read this, and I hear paul prying into the readers heart to remember those fresh days after being re-born of the spirit (one of my favorite verses), where heaven was so vivid, and earth with it’s purposes was but a jont on a longer journey through eternity... the days where the spirit was present, challenging your mind, your body, your life... in very good, fresh, abandoned ways.

It’s as if paul is asking us to access our ‘time capsul’ (another brilliant produce Steve.. rip), and remember our first bite of the fruit of life, where the juice was running down our cheeks dripping onto our shirts.. that bite, we ought to remember... that bite we need to remember, to share, to have near to give us...

“... confidence; for it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of god, you will receive what he has promised (35-36)... better and lasting posessions (34).”

Can you remember a different, more spirit filled time of your life?

Pauls final warning in this chapter gives me the chills...

... see, where I am at, verses like this one to come hit me to the core. I feel like I am in a time I will one day need to really “remember”.. a time of deep spiritual understanding, conviction, and great warmth. I wonder how I could ever slide back, all the while knowing in one way or another, it’s inevitable.. slides will happen, but remembering is what is so important! This time, this spiritual assurance running through my veins, it will not be soon forgotten, slides n all...

So this verse is paul at the end of chapter ten quoting god saying... “He who is coming (jesus.. twice) will come and will not delay. But my righteous one (you?) will live by faith. And if he (you?) shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him (you?).”

Paul then assures the reader... “but we (you?) are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” :)

~cool~

The god I know, I want to please... and the jesus described in verse 8-14 gave me access to his spirit... I will live among his people with faith of things to come... and when the night turns dark with haste bringing suffering, or maybe the fog, which started as just a mist makes difficult my paths to see, I will remember the light that once warmed me to my core, the light that led my spirit to enjoying the fruits of Yours dripping down my cheeks, I will hope to remember each bite, and pray to see that light once again.

The warning doesn’t apply to those who haven’t “received the knowledge of truth...” remember.

The warning by the way, is a warning in exchange for the knowledge and assurance of eternal life with God..!!!.. a warning I wouldn’t trade for my life :) i love this warning... because my spirit tells me i am accountable to it, the same spirit that warms my soul in doing good and dreaming about heaven..

... it’s worth it...

~~ So let’s remember ~~

I get a fun image of believers being asked by curious non-believers about their first days of their journey in the light... what a beautiful flow of spiritual reciprocity where both benefit from the membrance of that ‘first bite.’

So lets share... lets ask... lets remember...

be well friends :)