April 11, 2018
Hebrews 2:1-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
Today is the thirty-second day of our 40-Day Lenten Series, “Praying for a Kingdom Heart.” Lent should be a time of prayerful reflection, repentance, and restoration as we draw closer to the heart of God. If we are going to identify with the heart of God, we must learn to recognize the Truth from false teaching. Since the arrival of Christ, Satan has been manipulating and lying to people in order to get them away from the Truth. We must learn to listen carefully to God’s Word in order to know we are in the Truth; otherwise, we will be led astray. Because God gave us the Word, we must base our faith on it and rest in the eye witness accounts of Christ’s disciples and the miracles of which they wrote. Jesus blesses us for this kind of faith. In fact he told his disciples, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed” (John 20:29). False teaching rejects the authority and supremacy of Jesus as the Messiah. Yet, the Word teaches God placed Jesus the Messiah in charge of everything and gave him absolute authority before he ascended to heaven (Mat 28:18). We must connect to Christ, because he promised, “I will be with you always even unto the end of the world” (Mat 28:20). He is our Lord of Lords and King of Kings. When you find yourself troubled by current events and worried about the future, do you turn to the Truth of Christ’s authority over all things and praise him because you are in his care? Do you know the power of praying in his name and remaining in a lifestyle of worship?
The author of Hebrews called his readers to listen carefully to the Truth that is written about Messiah, so they would not be deceived by false teachings. It would be easy to believe since God is love, there is nothing else required for humanity to do; however, there is the matter of believing in the work of Christ as our sin sacrifice. As well, there is the matter of listening to the Spirit of Truth for the purpose of making us holy. We live in a fallen world that rejects Christ. Scripture identifies the rising of the evil Anti-Christ in end times who deceive the very elect of God. Jesus prayed to the Father for his disciples, “Father, I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth” (John 17:15-19).
During Lent, we will be using the acronym P.R.A.Y. as we pray for a Kingdom Heart. P=praise, R=repent, A=ask, and Y=yield. May God bless you as you spend time in God’s Word and in prayer today.
Hebrews 2:1-9 A Warning against Drifting Away
2 So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. 2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. 3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? 4 And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.
Prayer: Father, I praise you for sending Jesus the Messiah. I repent for the times early in my life that I was careless about listening to the Truth. I ask you to pour your Truth and Word into me each day to make me aware of what is holy in your sight. I will yield, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.