Hebrews 12:1,hebrews 12:12,hebrews 12:4

For Reading and Meditation:     Proverbs 12:11-28

There are people in our world who, even though they are not Christians, catch sight of the fact that the universe is made for wisdom and that to live effectively on this earth one has to search for wisdom and cultivate it. Through rational thought and intuition these people come to the conclusion that without...

For Reading and Meditation:     Hebrews 12:1-13

We ended yesterday by saying that some things in life, such as the desire to have money, can be legitimate concerns but they must be looked upon as desires and never become goals. Permit me to differentiate between the two. A goal is a purpose to which a person is unalterably committed and something for which he or...

Many people have a view of the Christian life that is excessively idealistic. They think it should be one uninterrupted series of mountaintop experiences. They read Christian books and magazines and hear personal testimonies of dramatic events and conclude that this is all of life. In their dream-world, there are no problems, heartaches, trials and perplexities. There is no hard work, no daily routine, no monotony. All is Cloud 9. When they don't find their life fitting this pattern, they...

The words chastening, chasteneth, chastisement and chastened occur seven times in the first 11 verses of Hebrews 12:1-29. As a result it is easy for the casual reader to get a wrong impression. He might easily picture God as an angry Father who is forever whipping His children. This misconception arises from thinking of chastening as nothing but punishment.

It is a great relief to learn that chastening in the New Testament has a much...

Father, I desire that they … whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me. § I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. § He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the...

If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. § Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. § Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness.Everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and...

It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. § In the world you will have tribulation. § Because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none. § At my first defense no one...

You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. § If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. § I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and...

Get wisdom! Get understanding! § The wisdom that is from above. § The deep says, “It is not in me”; and the sea says, “It is not with me.” § We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin...

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth;” who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return … but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. § Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and...