Free
Devotionals
and Poetry Journal
Keys to
Worship
A Personal Devotional by Debbie Hall
T. G. I. F.
Read Hebrews 11:23-40 PRAY!
Introduction Novena = 9 days of fasting and prayer to repent
Boudreaux, a
Cajun who lived deep in the swampy area of Louisiana, was feeling guilty, so he
went to confession. "Father, I tink you ought to know that I kinda took a
leetle lumber from dat new construction site a couplea weeks ago."
Priest: "What did you do with the lumber, my son?"
Boudreaux: "Well, Father, my porch, she's had dis big hole for a long time. I'm
'fraid someone will break dey laig, so I fix de hole."
Priest: "Well, that's not so bad."
Boudreaux: "Well, Father, I had a leetle lumber left." Priest: "What did
you do with it?"
Boudreaux: "Well, my poor dog, Phideaux, he ain't never had no place to get
outta de weather, so I make him his own leetle doghouse."
Priest: "OK, anything else?"
Boudreaux: "Well, Father, I had a leetle lumber left. So you know, my pick 'em
up truck, she ain't never had no place to get outta de wether either, so I make
her a two car garage."
Priest: "Now, this is getting a little out of hand."
Boudreaux: "Well, Father, I still had a leetle lumber left." Priest: "Yes?"
Boudreaux:
"Well, my wife, she always want a bigger house. So I add two bedrooms and a new
bat'room."
Priest: "OK Boudreaux. That's definitely too much. For your penance, you are
going to have to make a Novena. You do know how to make a Novena, don't you?"
Boudreaux: "No, Father, I don't... but if you got de plans, I got de lumber."
Recap of previous two messages in Hebrews 11:
Faith is trusting that a God who you can’t see is more important in your life than whatever you can see
Faith is believing that a promise made by God is a promise that will be kept by God
Faith is preparing in the present for that which may not be fulfilled until the future.
Faith is ordering your life according to those promises
Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. -Hebrews 11:6
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth.
-Hebrews 11:13
Will you bow your heads right now:
Forget starting the year with resolutions you won’t keep; let’s start the year together with a few affirmations based on what we have been learning in Hebrews 11
Affirm the following after me, just you and God, but say it out loud:
God, I believe that you exist
God, I believe that you will reward me if I seek you this year
God, I trust you to keep every promise you have made to me
God, I will order my life according to what I believe about you
Exposition
V.23-28 Faith chooses temporary suffering over temporary pleasure
Do you know one of the things I like about the Bible?- it is so honest!
The Bible does not deny that sin can be fun- look at verse 25- it speaks of the pleasures of sin
A lot of preachers waste time telling people- “Oh, you won’t have any fun sinning!”
But the Bible here is more honest than those preachers-it says here there is a certain pleasure in sinning
But look closer- it says that the pleasures of sin are passing or temporary
Sin will take you farther than you wanted to go,
Sin will keep you longer than you wanted to stay,
Sin will cost you more than you were willing to pay
Sin has its enticing fun in your life for a season, and then it mocks you-
Sin is the bait Satan uses to make you think you are missing something shiny in your life- and you chase the shiny lure, not seeing the hook…The chase takes on a delight in your mind and in your members, and you finally, full of exhilaration, devour the shiny lure, and only as Satan is reeling you in do you understand the awful price of sin
Because the pleasures of sin are passing, but paying off what sin cost becomes grueling
Some of you know what I am talking about- you enjoyed immensely buying all of those Christmas gifts you can’t afford on your credit card- but now the bill has come
You got the good grade by cheating, but now you have lost the respect of those who saw you do it- or nobody saw but it’s eating on your conscience
You enjoyed the rush of the affair with the other person, but now you have lost your family
I can guarantee you something about sexual sin- the person who has known dozens of lovers during their lifetime will not be more content on their deathbed than the one who waited and was loved deeply by just one person
Oh, sin has its pleasures, but those pleasures are passing
But this verse says something else is also temporary- suffering!
Moses chose to suffer affliction with God’s people rather than to enjoy sin
Why? Moses knew both pleasure and suffering were temporary- So instead of doing what some of us here this morning have done all of our lives- choose the path of least resistance- Moses chose to do the right thing!
Why? He had faith in God and God’s promises!
God will keep His promises to us- look at verse 26-27
Moses looked to the Reward and the Reward Giver
Won’t you do that this year?
This is the only Hell believers will ever know… when we choose God’s way we may suffer down here- oh but it’s a temporary suffering- and then, eternal glory! Why choose temporary pleasure down here, and then receive eternal damnation! Repent and have faith in your God!
There’s two other things we have to look at in Hebrews 11
V. 31-38 When it comes to salvation…Thank God It’s Faith!
This list includes some interesting characters!
In listing them, and speaking of the nameless, he is reinforcing what he has already said, and we have already preached on
But the neat thing about this list is that it gives sinners like you and I a lot of hope if we will repent of our sin and place our faith in Jesus!
When it comes to salvation and living the Christian life, TGIF- Thank God It’s Faith!
I’ll share what I mean by that in a minute, but first 2 other verses-
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
Thank God It’s Faith! There’s no room for boasting!
Because as we take a closer look at this list, we see that God often commended these people to us in spite of themselves
That’s good news for people like you and me
I love the Lord more than anything, but you know what, I often find myself in a situation where I need to be blessed in spite of my many shortcomings
I fall short of so many of the expectations of our members and others in the community- But I am far more devastated by the way I fall short of my own expectations for myself-
Thank God that He commends us for our faith in spite of ourselves
By faith, God commended Moses in spite of his temper
By faith, God commended Rahab in spite of her sordid past
By faith, God commended Gideon in spite of his skepticism
Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about?” –Judges 6:13
By faith, God commended Barak in spite of…his reluctance to lead
Deborah the prophetess…Go up, and God will give Sisera into your hands!
Barak the leader…I’ll go, but only if you go with me!
Deborah…Okay, but since you’re scared a woman will do what you are afraid to!
He led, they won, Sisera was killed by the woman Jael.
Then Deborah and Barak sang a song together:
“When leaders lead in Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the Lord.” Jud. 5:2
That’s the faith combination God is still looking for today, folks…
By faith reluctant leaders like Danny Campbell are to lead…
By faith the people willingly offer themselves for service…And God leads them all to victory!
By faith, God commended Samson in spite of his lust
By faith, God commended Jephthah in spite of his stupidity
God gave Jephthah a great victory- in rash stupidity he said, “the first thing I see when I get home I’ll sacrifice to God.” When he got home his daughter came dancing out to see Dad- and the fool kept his rash vow
By faith, God commended David in spite of A LOT!
By faith, God commended Samuel in spite of him being a momma’s boy
I know, that one’s a stretch, but TGIF! Thank God it’s faith!
A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates. St. Peter says, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in."
"Okay," the man says, "I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart." "That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points!"
"Three points?" he says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service." "Terrific!" says St. Peter, "that's certainly worth a point."
"One point? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans." "Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says.
"TWO POINTS!!" the man cries, "At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!"
“Now you’ve got it!” said St. Peter, "Come on in!"
V. 39-40 God’s Hall of Faith is still taking inductees!
This verse 40 is a staggering statement
Christian, you are connected to those who have gone before-the next chapter opens talking about a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us
That is referring back to the saints who have gone before, up around the throne cheering us on as we live by faith
They won’t be made perfect apart from us; I really don’t understand all that means- But I know one thing it does mean-
Whether or not I live all out for God is not optional- my living all out for God is a vital part of God’s plan!
Forget New Year’s resolutions this year- just be what God has called you to be by faith!
Do you believe He is?
Do you believe He rewards those who seek Him?
Do you believe He will keep His promises?
Then live by faith! Let’s Pray!