Hebrews 13 pt 3

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
   “Never will I leave you;
   never will I forsake you.”^[a]
 6 So we say with confidence,
   “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
   What can mere mortals do to me?"




We all like the "b" part of verse five. We love to talk about how God will never leave us nor forsake us. We don't like to talk about the condition that came before it. We love the promise, but we ignore the condition. 

It says this: be content with what you have. Although that has a monetary connotation, it means a lot more than just money. Be content with the wife you have so God can be with you in your marriage. Be content with the church you have so God can be with you to grow you there. Be content if you're single so God can be with you to bring the right person. Be content with the job you have so God can make it the job you want (or bring you a better one). Be content with your current financial status, so God can prosper you without you losing your family or integrity in the process. 

The Lord is your helper. He can help repair what's broken. He can bring you into the places you want to be. However, you're never going to see a breakthrough by being covetous or discontent with the things God has placed in your life. 

I'm not saying that you quit making effort to improve and just sit on your hands and wait on God. What I am saying is to keep a heart of gratitude and contentment, realizing that if you had nothing but Jesus you'd have enough. When you keep the right perspective in the center of the conversation, you allow God to move in your situation.

What are some areas in your life you've allowed yourself to be discontent? What adjustments can you make to allow God to work in your life?

Hebrews 13 pt2

¹¹ The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹² And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. ¹³ Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. ¹⁴ For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.


I think too often in the church world we like to think that we're going to find God in our own little circles. We think that God needs to jump into where we're at. We don't want to move, we don't want to be inconvenienced. Paul said here to go to Jesus outside the camp.


We aren't going to find God's power in the middle of our own convenience and comfort. You have to get outside of the camp. 


What does that look like? 


Maybe for you that means getting out of the circle of your Christian friends and going out to people who don't know God. Maybe that means spending less time at "revival" meetings and more time ministering to the lost and hurting, providing food for the hungry, and carrying for orphans and widows. Maybe for you that might look like getting off your financial plan & getting on God's plan and using your resources to further the Gospel. Maybe that means reaching out to that co-worker that you hate even being in the same room with them. 


What it looks like is different for each of us, but here's where the rubber meets the road: we have to get out of the camp to meet the place where God's power lies. 


What can you do to get out of the camp & make a difference in someone's life?

Hebrews 13 pt1

For those of you who were at Harvest Church last Sunday, you know that our homework was to read Hebrews 13 seven times this week. I hope you guys are doing that this week (if you haven't started yet- you still have today). If you missed the service, you can watch the video at harvestmobile.com. I want to spend a couple of days on this blog on the things that popped out at me during my reading:


⁷ Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 

¹⁷ Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.


This passage talks about how we relate to authority within the local church. Paul didn't just mention it once, he came back & mentioned it again a few verses later. Apparently it was something he wanted to make sure was clearly & compellingly communicated. 


We are commanded (it wasn't a suggestion) to remember our leaders & imitate their faith. Now that doesn't mean that we do everything they do because they do it, because like us, our leaders are human and flawed. Paul said to consider the outcome of their way of life. Basically, look at your leaders, see what they're doing right, see what's producing fruit in their lives, and imitate their faith. God didn't give us leaders for us to tell them how to live. We were given leaders so that we could learn and imitate their faith.


That part's relatively easy for us. Most of us can imitate what's going well for someone. So, Paul came back a few verses later and added a passage that's a lot more convicting. He said to have confidence in your leaders (you can't have confidence and criticize at the same time), he said to submit to their authority (it isn't submission until you disagree), and to make their work be a joy. 


The Bible is clear that leaders in the church will answer for their stewardship or lack thereof. That's between them & God. However, our role in relation to our leaders is just as clear. We are commanded to be easy to pastor, to imitate their faith, and to make their work a joy.


Where can you make adjustments to make your leader's ministry more of a joy? What can you do to lighten their load?