Live Like You Are Saved! – Hebrews 10:19-39

“But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved” (Hebrews 10:39, CSB).

The Hebrews writer made an elegant theological argument in the previous chapters and concluding in Chapter 10 that the Old Testament law and sacrificial system have been replaced through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The former required continual sacrifices, the latter was once and for all time.

The Hebrews writer reasoned that when there is absolute atonement for sin, there is no longer a need for continual sacrifice (vs. 18).

So, sin has to go before righteousness can prevail! The cross of Christ removes sin in your life and starts you down a new path, a “new and living way” (vs. 20) of living for God in righteousness and holiness.

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Reckless Indifference – Luke 19:11-27

whateverI tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away (Luke 19:26, NASB).

Jesus told a parable about a prince who went to a far country to receive a kingdom. Before the prince departed he gave a significant sum of money to several servants and ordered them to engage in business with the money until he returns.

Upon his return he ordered each servant to give an accounting of his business activities. One servant profited ten times more with the money and he was given authority over ten cities in the prince’s new kingdom; another profited five times more with the money and was given authority over five cities. The third said he held the money without investing it because he was afraid of the prince’s fury if he did not make a profit.

So, the prince condemned the complacent servant and took the money he had given him and gave it to the one who had earned ten times more.

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Don’t Give Up the Fight, Find Delight – Psalm 28

In Psalm 28, the psalmist, referring to wicked people, lamented: “They care nothing for what the Lord has done or for what his hands have made.” (vs. 28:3)

To the psalmist, the “wicked” were people who did not acknowledge God or obey His law. They did not discriminate between the sacred and the common, and therefore, had no respect for God’s authority, creation, law, or salvation.

The primary characteristic of the wicked was faithlessness–they had no belief or faith in God.

Sometimes God’s people can grow complacent in their faith and develop an attitude where they care little or nothing for what God has done or is doing.

Such ambivalence occurs when you let the circumstances of life cause you to lose focus on God and give up on the struggle to remain faithful.

But, if your faith grows cold, then you should ask God to restore joy and satisfaction in living for Him as the psalmist did: “The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple”(Psalm 27:4, NLT).

When you don’t care, don’t give up the fight…that’s when it’s time to find delight in God!

The psalmist encourages you, then, to wait on the Lord for restoration: “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14, NLT).

When Jesus is the focus of your life and His Spirit is the guiding force of your life, then you will again find excitement and fulfillment in accomplishing His will and you will beseech God: “Teach me how to live, O Lord. Lead me along the right path” (Psalm 27:11, NLT).