Today’s reading is Hebrews 11:1-12:29.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” (Hebrews 12:1).

What a cloud of witnesses: Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Here are children of God that wrestled with different issues, committed different sins, struggled in different ways. But they all had one thing in common. They believed God. Because they believed God, they cast off their sins, their doubts, their hindrances and they grabbed hold of God.

Instead of letting the obstacles get in the way, they held on to God and received His blessing. I can’t help but think of Jacob wrestling with the angel as a very literal example of this. Here are people just like me who increased their faith and through that cast off their weight and sins. Because they removed the excess baggage, they were able to run with endurance the race God set before them. I can do the same. The fact is I can’t become more like Christ if I continue to feed the obsession with sin. I have to stop feeding it, cast it off, quit pursuing it. I have to let it go even if it means cutting off my own hand or plucking out my own eye. Half measure will avail nothing.

Today, instead of hanging on to my sins, I must lay them aside, no matter how closely they cling. Then I will be able to run with endurance.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Hebrews 1:1-2:18.

“For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).

For the longest time, I thought the help I needed from Jesus was forgiveness after I’ve already sinned. I do need that help, but that is not the help the Hebrew writer talks about. He says Jesus can help me when I am being tempted. I do not have to face the temptation fight alone and then turn to Jesus if I failed. Rather, when I’m in the temptation, I can turn to Jesus.

I can turn to Jesus by getting into His word. I can turn to Jesus through prayer. I can turn to Jesus by getting help from Jesus’ people. I can ask for strength. I can ask to find in Jesus whatever I’m looking for in the proffered temptation. I do not have to wait to receive God’s grace through Jesus after I’ve sinned, I can seek His grace to have the strength to overcome my sins.

I’m not facing temptation alone. I’m facing life with Jesus at my side.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12.

“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).

I spend too many days worried about what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, next decade. A friend calls it crazy-making and that is an accurate description. I can make myself utterly crazy with fears and worries about what might happen in the future with my finances, my family, my work.

What helps the most is remembering that I might not even see tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, next decade. The Lord’s coming will be like a thief in the night. It might well be like a thief tonight. Why ruin today worrying about a tomorrow I may never even see?

I’m not saying I don’t give consideration and make plans for the potential future. It would be ungodly to spend all the money I have now and not save some to be able to eat tomorrow. However, there is no need to let tomorrow ruin today. Today I need to simply get closer to Jesus because by the end of today, that may well be all that matters.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 10:1-11:34.

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).

The early disciples were supposed to take this supper when they gathered together. As per I Corinthians 16:2, they were gathering on the first day of the week. I am so happy to follow this example because I need this reminder every week.

I sinned last week. That is discouraging. Sometimes it makes me want to give up and quit trying. But each week I get a reminder of what Jesus did for my sins. Further, I know that He died for my sins even though He knew the sins I would commit last week and the sins I would commit this week and the sins I would commit next week.

Thank you, God, for giving us this great memorial. Thank you for dealing with our sins and forgiving us. Thank you for the reminder.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Mark 7:1-8:38.

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35).

The depth of scripture is astounding. The layers in one verse amazing.

Those who preserve their physical lives by stepping off of God’s path will lose their eternal lives. Those who so surrender to God even to the point of physical death will be granted eternal life.

Those who want to hang on to their lives by hanging on to their goals, wants, desires, plans, possessions at the expense of God’s goals, wants, desires, plans, possession will lose the life that matters. Those who give up their own ends for God’s will gain an abundant life they cannot imagine.

But today I recognized a third layer. Those who believe they can save themselves by their own strength, power, will, self-discipline, strict adherence, will lose their lives. Only those who understand they cannot save themselves and therefore give control of their life to Jesus (cf. Galatians 2:20) will gain eternal life. As long as I think I will save me by doing God’s will good enough, I will never make it. Once I concede I won’t do God’s will good enough and just give myself to Jesus, then God will grant me the grace, by faith, to overcome and be victorious.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Philippians 1:1-2:30.

“…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

I can relax today. I don’t have to give myself ulcers worrying about how I’m ever going to be pleasing to God. I don’t have to fret that I’m just not ever going to be good enough for Him. He’s working on that. He is working in me both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Part of me wants to rebel against that. Part of me wants to say, “NO! I will do this.” But a very real part of me has come face to face with exactly how badly it goes when I am trying to do this. I have failed again and again and again. Today, instead of failing, I can just give up. That’s right. I can quit. I can surrender. I can admit I am powerless and only botch things myself, so I’ll just have to surrender my life to God and let Him be in control, simply doing what He says.

No, this doesn’t mean I sit on my backside and wait for the cosmic puppet master to pull my strings. It means I can have confidence to work out my salvation with fear and trembling. Why? Because God is working in me. It means all I have to do is learn God’s will and surrender to that. My job is simply to do the next right thing. God is working in me. I can trust that He will get me where I need to go if I simply surrender to Him today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Romans 7:1-8:39.

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

What a thought! God was willing to give up Jesus in order to save me. If He was willing to go that far just to bring me into His family, how much farther will He go to protect me now that I’m in the family? No wonder I can cry out, “If God is for me, who can be against me?” I have nothing to fear. I simply need to hang on to God and He will carry me through to eternity.

No matter what comes my way, God has already proven that He will do whatever is necessary to conform me to the image of Christ. Since that is the case, today, I’m just going to hang on to God and follow Him wherever He leads me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Acts 3:1-4:37.

“When they were released, they went to their friend and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them” (Acts 4:23).

It must have been a little frightening to be arrested for teaching about Jesus. They must have at least endured a little temptation to give up. What was the first thing they did? They went to their friends.

This is why choosing my friends is so important. I need to make sure that my best friends, the ones I’m going to lean on when trouble strikes, will support me in the right direction. If my best friends are in the world or, even as Christians, pursuing the flesh, when trouble strikes and temptation hits, the support I get won’t point me in the right direction. I need friends who are striving to walk by the Spirit who will lift me up and help me follow Christ even when I’m arrested for teaching in His name.

Praise God for the great friends I have who are walking by the Spirit, who can advise and pray with me. Of course, this means I have to do what these apostles did. I actually have to go to them when the trouble and temptation strikes instead of holding it on the inside.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 10:1-11:34.

What a great lesson at the end of today’s reading.

Discipline is tough to endure. I never quite believed my dad when he said, “Son, this hurts me worse than it does you.” I’ve been on the other side of that discipline now and I still don’t believe him. However, I understand that the purpose behind my parent’s discipline was not simply to hurt me. It wasn’t just to inflict some kind of pain or inconvenience. They intended it to be for my good. They were striving to teach me so I could grow up and be a productive part of society and God’s kingdom.

1 Corinthians 11:32 demonstrates that very same point about God and His discipline. “But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.” A great judgment is coming. In the end, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Those who have surrendered their lives to Him will enter into His eternal glory. Those who haven’t will enter eternal destruction. Between now and then, God is striving to prepare us for eternal life. That means He is going to discipline us. He is going to offer temporal judgments (for lack of a better term). What happens in our life is for our long term good. No matter what is going on, whether good or bad from our perspective, we need to look for God’s discipline within it. What can we learn from what we are facing in order to submit to God more fully.

Even the hard things, the bad things, the tough things are for our good, if we’ll let them be. God will use all of these to conform us to the image of His Son (cf. Romans 8:28). But we must see the purpose behind God’s discipline. God doesn’t discipline because He enjoys inflicting hardship or pain. God disciplines because He wants us to grow and learn and not endure the same final judgment as those in the world. That means when difficult, hard things happen, especially as a consequence of my own wrong doing, I need to thank God for the opportunity to grow and avoid the final judgment by His grace.

Thank you, God, for Your continuing discipline.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Acts 5:1-6:15.

When the Council became angry with the apostles, Gamaliel, “a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people,” calmed them down. He gave wise counsel, essentially saying, “Hey guys, be careful. If God is really behind this, it won’t be stopped. If He’s not, it will come to nothing on its own” (Acts 5:35-39). Gamaliel is apparently an early practicer of “let go, and let God.”

God is in control. We’re not. We don’t have to try to be in control. We don’t have to try to clamp down on everything and everyone, because God will do His job. We can simply do what is right today and let God deal with the rest. If we are afraid something is going to go very wrong, we can simply do God’s will for our lives and let Him work on fixing things. If we are confused, we can simply choose to do what is right today and let God handle the rest.

I see two sides to what happened here. Gamaliel understood that if I’m with God, I can’t be stopped. If I’m doing God’s right things, I can’t be stopped. Let’s not see this in a shallow way. This doesn’t mean bad things will never happen to me. It simply means that no matter what happens God will see me through it on my way to heaven. I can trust Him to get me to eternal life. Every other fear pales in comparison.

However, there is another side. If I turn from God and go my own way, then I can hardly even get started. After all what is 400 men compared to the about 3000 Christ’s church started with. Theudas accomplished nothing and following his own way simply led to his own death. The same was true with Judas the Galilean. When I get all worked up trying to accomplish things (even what I believe is God’s will) my way, the end is death. I believe there is a proverb that says something like that. I need to remember it today.

In big and small things, if I’m doing God’s right things, there is no stopping me. If I’m following my own path, death is the only end. I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow, but today, I believe I’ll do what God wants me to.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Announcement: I’m in New York this weekend. I’ll be preaching for the Upper West Manhattan Church of Christ in a series this weekend. If you are in the area, I’d love to actually meet you face to face. The series is entitled “Living Righteously–How Can I, Really?”

We’ll be meeting on Saturday (01/23) at 10 AM, 11 AM and 1 PM. Then again on Sunday at 10:30 AM and 11:30 AM. The congregation meets at Hostelling International, 891 Amsterdam Ave @ 103rd Street.

For more info about the congregation go here.