The Psalmist referred to Jehovah God as his Shepherd. (Psalms 23:1) “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” The Prophet Isaiah continued that analogy, (Isaiah 40:11) “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those […]
A lifeguard had vital duties to perform to save a drowning person’s life. Their life depends on his performance. As Christians, God gives us some vital duties to perform in order to please Him. Transition The verse before us this morning identifies three vital duties that we must perform. The first vital duty that we […]
An old proverb states, “You cannot have your cake and eat it too.” In other words if you keep your cake, you cannot eat it. However, if you eat it you cannot keep it. You must make a choice. In our text today, God challenges people to take their stand and make their choice about […]
Faith is acting upon trusted information. On more than one occasion, Jesus rebuked his disciples for their lack of faith. I can relate to that. Perhaps you can too. Our faith often needs fortifying. Transition The apostle gives us three challenges that, if obeyed, ought to help fortify our faith. The first challenge that ought […]
Do you have enough money? G.K. Chesterton once said, “There are two ways to get enough: One is to accumulate more and more, the other is to desire less.” Think about that! Read Hebrews 13:5-6. As I examined this text, I found it interesting that God did not use the regular word for covetousness, which […]
God has made it so that we naturally love our family siblings. As youngsters, we may not have always showed it, but we did love our brothers and sisters. We were a family. We stuck together. We helped each other. Sadly, in our day, not every family shares that brotherly love that ought to be […]
When I was a boy, we lived in an area that occasionally experienced tornadoes. During tornado season, we would listen to the radio during stormy weather. Whenever the weather bureau posted tornado warnings, we had a special crawl space under the house where we went for protection. For a young boy, those tornado warnings were […]
God’s chastening seems out of context here. As I pondered and prayed over why the apostle reminds these Jews of God’s chastening, I discovered that the word translated “chastening” (v.5) actually refers to the whole training and education of children. It includes much more than just discipline. He is speaking of God’s spiritual training, which […]
In an athletic race, the prize is not for those who enter the race but for those who complete the race. The same is true in the Christian life. Living for Christ is like running a race. Building on chapter 11, the apostle challenges us to run with patience the race that is set before […]
The entire eleventh chapter of Hebrews contains examples of men and women who had faith in God. By their faith in God, they pleased God. By their faith, they received many blessings from God. However, in the last verses of the chapter the writer finally reveals to us his primary reason for this historical review. […]