Haikus through Hebrews, chapter 13

Snippets of Hebrews' Final Instructions

Continue in love,
Showing hospitality,
Honoring marriage

Keep your character
Free from the love of money
And be satisfied

Remember those who
Led you, who taught you God's word;
Imitate their faith

Those who serve the law
Have no right to eat at the
Altar of Jesus

We seek the city
To come; through Jesus let us
Praise God and give thanks

Continue doing
Good and sharing with the poor,
Pray for believers

Obey your leaders
They watch over you with joy;
Do not give them grief

The God of peace works
In us through Jesus to please
And glorify him

Listen patiently
Greet all your leaders and saints
Grace be with you all

"The result of it all, again, is glad and uninhibited worship (verses 15-16).  This, rather than endless dead animals, is the 'sacrifice' that God really wants.  God wants people who will name the name of Jesus, in prayer, worship and testimony, even if it costs them dear.  Their witness will bear fruit.  And the common life of the Christian community, the life of generous-hearted fellowship, is itself in that sense a 'sacrifice', an act of worship.  God is delighted with it.  Never allow yourself to get into the way of thinking that, just because nothing you can do can earn his favour, God isn't pleased with what you attempt in his name.  Precisely because love cannot be earned or deserved, it is always delighted when it receives answering love.  As the final section of the letter will insist, this too is, in any case, the work of his grace."

-from Hebrews for Everyone, by Nicholas Thomas Wright (copublished in 2004 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, and Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, KY)

In other words, we have nothing to offer God that isn't already his.  In fact, even our offerings of praise, worship, and prayer are enabled by God's grace at work in our lives as we grow in adoration of him.  His love for us grows our love for him!

 *Important Note: Please read through the whole of Hebrews (I recommend the English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) for contextual significance (and significant context!).  As always, I pray that the Spirit will cover over any errors made on my part, and most importantly, that He will speak truth to your heart.  To God alone be the glory!

13:1-2
Let brotherly love
Continue. Do not neglect
To show kindness and

13:2
Hospitality
To strangers, for by doing
This some have welcomed

13:2-3
Angels as their guests
Without being aware of
It. Remember those

13:3
In prison as though
In prison with them, and those
Who are mistreated,

13:3 (continued)
As though you yourselves
Were suffering, since you, too,
Are in the body.

13:4
Marriage is to be
Held in honor by all, the
Bed kept undefiled.

13:4 (continued)
For God will judge the
Sexually immoral
And adulterous.

13:5
Keep your life free from
The love of money, content
With what you have, for

13:5 (continued)
God himself has said,
"I will never leave you, nor
Will I forsake you,"

13:6
So we may boldly
Say, "The Lord is my helper,
And I will not fear.

13:6-7
"What can man do to
Me?  Remember your leaders,
Those who spoke the word

13:7
Of God to you, and
Considering the outcome
Of their way of life,

13:7-8
Imitate their faith.
Jesus, the Messiah, is
The same yesterday

13:8-9
And today and for
Ever. Do not be carried
Away by all kinds

13:9
Of strange teachings, for
It is good for the heart to be
Strengthened by grace,

13:9 (continued)
Not by food laws that
Have never benefited
Those who follow them.

13:10
We have an altar
From which those who serve the tent
Have no  right to eat.

13:11
For the bodies of
Those beasts, whose blood is brought in
To The Holy Place

13:11 (continued)
By the high priest as
A sarifice for sin are
Burned outside the camp.

13:12
So Jesus also
Suffered outside the gate, that
He might sanctify

13:12-13
The people with his
Own blood.  Let us then go to
Him outside the camp,

13:13-14
Bearing the disgrace
He bore. For here we have no
Lasting city but

13:14-15
We seek the city
That is to come. Through him then
Let us offer the

13:15
The sacrifice of praise
To God continueally,
That is, the fruit of

13:15-16
Our lips giving thanks
To his name. Do not neglect
To do what is good

13:16
And to share what you
Have, for such sacrifices
Are pleasing to God.

13:17
Obey your leaders
And submit to them, for they
Watch over your souls

13:17 (continued)
As men who must give
An account.  Let them do this
With joy and not grief,

13:17-18
That would certainly
Not be for your benefit. Pray
For us, for we are

13:18
Sure that we have a
Clear conscience, desiring to
Live honorably

13:18-19
In everything we
Do. I especially urge
You to pray so that

13:19-20
I may be restored
To you the sooner. Now may
The God of peace, who

13:20
By the blood of the 
Eternal covenant brought
Back from the dead our

13:20-21
Lord Jesus, the Great
Shepherd of the sheep, equip
You with everything

13:21
Good to do his will,
Working in us that which is
Pleasing in his sight.

13:21 (continued)
Through Jesus Christ, to
Whom be glory forever
And ever. Amen.

13:22
I urge you, brothers,
To receive this message of
Exhortation, for

13:22-23
I have written to
You briefly. But know that our
Brother Timothy

13:23
Has been released. If
He comes soon, he will be with
Me when I see you.

13:24
Salute all them that
Have the rule over you, and
All the believers.

13:24-25
Those who are with us
From Italy salute you.
Grace be with you all. 

Thought of the Day: Funeral March

I laughed a little to myself when I heard my four-year-old explain that upon hearing Chopin's funeral march on a cartoon, he erroneously concluded that one character was trying to sing another to sleep. But no sooner had I begun chuckling than I was reminded we are not so different in all of our grown-up-ness. This verse came to mind, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." (Proverbs 14:12)  How often am I misled into thinking something is harmless, to later find out it was leading me down a path of destruction, even to death?  How often have I mistaken a funeral march for a lullaby?

Thank you again, Lord, for teaching me through your word, and through my precious children. Help me hear your truth always, and help me seek out your ways instead of destructively plotting my own. Amen. 

Thought of the Day, from 12/28/12: Clouds

So there aren't many cloudy wintry days here in south Texas, but today, as I was driving home from work, the low grey wintry clouds of a very blustery day parted for a small space to reveal the clear blue vibrant sky ever-present behind them.  What a reminder that however dense our current view, obstructed by oppressive daily struggles, sufferings, strains, and sins, there is an always present, much greater reality beyond it all.  This world is fallen and broken, and will remain so, because of the sin of man, until Christ returns, death dies, and the new Jerusalem descends from heaven.  Can you see the clear blue sky?  The kingdom of heaven is at hand; don't miss the sky for the clouds.

Haikus through Hebrews, chapter 12

Overview of chapter 12

Looking up ahead
Throwing off encumbrances
Running with patience

Focus on Jesus
Author and perfecter who
Endured shame for joy

No one volunteers
For discipline, and yet the
Alternative is

To be unreceived,
Illegitimate sons, not
Loved or corrected.

Yet peace, holiness,
And righteousness await those
Under its training

We have come to the
City of God, gathering
The heirs of promise

Through faith we've become
Firstborn sons of God the Judge
In new covenant

God will once more shake
Heaven and earth, that what can't
Be shaken will stand.

Serve God in holy fear
Holding on to grace, for God
Consumes all with fire.

"As so often in the Christian life, reminding yourself of truth, not trying to conjure up feelings of this or that sort, is the way to keep going in faith and patience."
-N.T. Wright, Hebrews for Everyone (Copublished in 2004 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, and Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, KY)

*Important Note: Please read through the whole of Hebrews (I recommend the English Standard Version or New American Standard Bible) for contextual significance (and significant context!).  As always, I pray that the Spirit will cover over any errors made on my part, and most importantly, that He will speak truth to your heart.  To God alone be the glory!

12:1
Therefore since we are
Surrounded by so great a 
Cloud of witnesses

12:1 (continued)
Let us also lay
Aside every weight, and sin
Which obstructs our path

12:1 (continued)
And let us run with
Endurance the race that God
Has set before us.

12:2
Let us fix our eyes
On Jesus, the author and 
Perfecter of faith

12:2 (continued)
Who for the joy set 
Before him endured the cross,
Despising the shame,

12:2-3
And has sat down at
The right hand of the throne of
God.  Consider him

12:3
Who has endured such
Hostility from sinners
Against himself, so

12:3-4
That you may not grow
Weary and give up in your
Striving against sin

12:4-5
You have not yet come
As far as to blood, nor have
Your struggles killed you.

12:5
You have forgotten
The word of encouragement
That addresses you

12:5 (continued)
As sons, "My son, do
Not regard lightly the Lord's
Discipline, and do

12:5-6
"Not lose heart when he
Rebukes you, because the Lord
Disciplines the one

12:6-7
"He loves, and scourges
Every son whom He receives."
Endure suffering

12:7
As discipline: God
Is dealing with you as sons.
For what son is there

12:7-8
That a father does
Not discipline?  If you are
Without discipline--

12:8
Which all received--then
You are illegitimate
Children and not sons.

12:9
Furthermore, earthly
Fathers disciplined us, and
We respected them

12:9 (continued)
Should we not submit
Even more to the Father
Of spirits, and live?

12:10
For they disciplined
Us for a short time based on
What seemed good to them,

12:10 (continued) 
But God disciplines
For our good, so that we may
Share his holiness.

12:11
For the moment all
Discipline seems not to be 
Joyful, but painful.

12:11 (continued) 
Later it yields the
Fruit of peace and righteousness
To those trained by it.

12:12
Therefore, strengthen the
Hands that are weak and set your
Shaky knees firmly.

12:12-13
Therefore, strengthen your
Feeble arms and weakened knees,
Walk along straight paths,

12:13
That what is lame may
Not be put out of joint, but
That it may be healed.

12:14
Pursue peace with all,
And holiness; without it 
None will see the Lord.

12:15
Make sure that no one
Falls short of the grace of God,
That no bitter root

12:15
Springing up causes
Trouble, or many of you
Will become defiled

12:16
Make sure that no one
Is immoral or godless
Like Esau, who sold

12:16-17
His birthright for a 
Single meal.  For you know that
Even afterward,

12:17
When he desired to
inherit the blessing, he
Was rejected, for

12:17 (continued) 
He found no chance to
Repent, even though he sought
It with bitter tears.

12:18
You have not come to
What may be touched, a blazing
Fire, to darkness, gloom,

12:18-19
And storm, to the blast
Of a trumpet and a voice
That made the hearers

12:19-20
Beg not another
Word be spoken to them, for
They could not endure

12:20
The order given,
"If even an animal
Touches the mountain,

12:20-21
"It must be stoned to
death."  Indeed, the sight was so
Terrifying that

12:21-22
Moses said, "I am
Trembling with fear."  But you have
Come to Mount Zion,

12:22
To the heavenly
Jerusalem, the city
Of the living God,

12:22
To myriads of
Angels joyfully gathered
Together, and to

12:23
The assembly of
The firstborn who are enrolled
In heaven.  You have

12:23 (continued)
Come to God, the Judge
Of all, to the spirits of
Just men made perfect,

12:24
And to Jesus, the
Mediator of a new
Covenant, and to

12:24 (continued) 
The sprinkled blood, which
Speaks a better message than
The blood of Abel.

12:25
See that you do not
Refuse him who is speaking.
For if the people

12:25 (continued) 
Of Israel did
Not escape when they refused
The one who warned them

12:25 (continued) 
On earth, how much less
Will we escape if we turn
Away from the one

12:25-26
Who warns from heaven?
And his voice shook the earth then,
But now he's promised,

12:26
Saying, "Once more I
Will shake not only the earth
But also heaven."

12:27
This expression, "Once
More," means the removal of
What can be shaken,

12:27 (continued) 
That is, what he has
Made, so that what cannot be
Shaken may remain.

12:28
Therefore, since we are
Receiving a kingdom that
Cannot be shaken,

12:28 (continued) 
Let us hold on to
Grace.  By it we may serve God
Acceptably, with

12:28-29
Reverence and awe,
After all, our God is an
All-consuming fire.