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December 13 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
9 Plays2 days ago
If you would like to download my FREE calendar for keeping track of your commitment to read the Bible every day, you can find that on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/pages/read-the-bible-in-1-year
Monthly memberships to support this event can be purchased on my site, here: https://www.inthefamilywaycoaching.com/offering_packages
Today we will continue reading the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 5:1-6, 8-12, 14, Chapter 6:1-6, 9-15, 17-20, Chapter 7:1-3, 11, 18-19, 21-27, and Chapter 8:1-6, 10, and 12.
In today's reading we will get a close up view of learning how Jesus was able to say, "no" to sin, so we can also say, "no" to sin and, "yes" to spiritual growth and maturity. Jesus was not given an easy-breezy life. Jesus needed to practice discerning right from wrong and suffer difficult situations that gave him opportunities to learn how to deal with sin. Likewise, our lives are filled with opportunities to learn these same skills. We will have difficult situations to endure. We can ask Him to strengthen us and help us learn to discern what is right from wrong. Our goal should be to learn these skills so that we can imitate Jesus and also, like Jesus, be examples to others of how to say, "no" to sin. Doing this will be a sign of our spiritual growth and maturity.
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Transcript
Introduction and Daily Reading
00:00:02
Speaker
Shalom everybody! I hope you are having a very blessed day to today. Today we are having our daily reading for December 13th out of the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley.
00:00:17
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining me whether you are following along on your podcast or whether you are watching the video. I'm so glad that you are joining us this year and that you have come back because you are hungry to hear more of God's Word.
00:00:31
Speaker
Well, We are ready to take out our calendar and cross off our day for December 13th because we are definitely going to hear the Bible today.
Hanukkah and its Significance
00:00:42
Speaker
You may notice beside me that I have a decoration. What type of decoration is that? Does anybody know? It's a menorah.
00:00:53
Speaker
That's right. And we are almost to Hanukkah. Hanukkah in 2025 starts tomorrow, which is going to be Sunday, December 14th at sundown.
00:01:04
Speaker
Now, um it always seems to change according to our typical, what we call Gregorian calendar, but it is always held at the same day, according to the biblical calendar.
00:01:17
Speaker
On the 25th day of the month of, I think it's pronounced Kislev. And that is the month that we are presently in right now, according to the Hebrew calendar, the biblical calendar.
00:01:32
Speaker
And so... ah
00:01:39
Speaker
Shalom everybody! i hope you are having a very blessed day on this December 13th. to Thank you for joining me as we are here for our daily reading out of the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henling.
00:01:55
Speaker
You may notice that I have an extra bit of decoration today in the video. If you are following along on the audio then you can't see it but I have the menorah lit.
00:02:06
Speaker
This video is being recorded in 2025 and tomorrow on December 14th, it will begin at sunset, the first lighting of the candle for Hanukkah.
00:02:19
Speaker
And I haven't spoken anything at all about Hanukkah yet this year in our daily readings leading up to the date Hanukkah, which I normally do speak about the festivals before they arrive.
00:02:30
Speaker
But I didn't have a lot of information and so I wasn't ready to speak yet. But we had our Hanukkah celebration at our Messianic Jewish congregation today. And so you see, I am wearing my blue dress in celebration of Hanukkah today. It's it for our Hanukkah party and for our Hanukkah sermon today.
00:02:54
Speaker
And now I have finally been able to learn more about Hanukkah. It's interestingly, i ah was... called to and join in a Jewish messianic congregation ah years ago. God put this on my heart and I was wanting to celebrate the feasts.
00:03:15
Speaker
And the thing is, is that Hanukkah is easy to celebrate in essence, is that you're just lighting candles. There is not a whole lot of special stuff, but I was confused because it doesn't actually have any rules about it written in the Bible.
00:03:29
Speaker
and so it was it was difficult for me to know about that i didn't think it was it was even mentioned anywhere but it turns out that jesus is recorded uh to have been celebrating hanukkah in the book of john chapter 10 verse 22 where it says that the time was the feast of dedication and that is the feast of hanukkah which is the or the feast of lights And so it, ah you may be familiar with the the story that ah that there was a lighting of the menorah and that the oil for the lighting of the menorah only had enough oil for one night, but that it burned miraculously for a total of eight nights.
00:04:19
Speaker
So that is written in a later writing about 500 years after the event that happened in about 165 BC. ah But it was ah initially done in, from what we can tell in the writings, that it was as a memorial to what is referred to as the Maccabee um Revolution.
00:04:41
Speaker
where they had a uprising because the Assyrian king was oppressing the Jewish people and prohibiting them from being able to observe the the Jewish laws and the beasts. And so we actually have a recording of other things surrounding this where we have um the the record that after they had a overcome and were able to celebrate in the revolution, after the the Feast of Sukkot, which is recorded in the Old Covenant, then it lasted for an eight days, which is the customary number of days. And then ah the the lighting of the menorah during that time ah an actual menorah in the jewish temple only has seven stems it does not have eight and so we have the center one which is called the hamash or the servant light and that light is used to light the others and so this menorah is a celebratory hanukkiah or hanukkah menorah and that's why it has the eight
00:06:03
Speaker
is because it is for eight days that of celebration after they were able to restore services there at the temple in 165 BC after the Maccabee revolution.
Being a Light in the World
00:06:18
Speaker
And so we are celebrating Hanukkah and it is, ah like I said, not a biblically commanded holiday, but it is one that done to remind us of of many things.
00:06:32
Speaker
One is that we are called to be a light in the world. And so you may see people wearing sweatshirts or something that says, or a t-shirt that says, in a world of darkness, be the light.
00:06:47
Speaker
And so Jesus called us similarly and told his apostles that they were the lights of the world. And so we too are meant to be the light of the world.
00:07:00
Speaker
And what's interesting that I learned today in my ah service at church is that this center light called the Hamash or the servant light. Hamash means servant in Hebrew.
00:07:15
Speaker
The world has a tendency to downplay, to put a servant as the lowliest person that you can be. But God, he elevated his servant and he elevates the position of servant. And even Jesus told us that if we want to be great, we must be servants to one another.
00:07:37
Speaker
We must serve one another. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. And so he is our light that stands taller than our other lights.
00:07:51
Speaker
And so he is the one that we look up to. And all of the other lights are lit from the center Hamash, servant light.
00:08:03
Speaker
In a traditional menorah that is that is fueled by oil or a candlelight, then this center servant light can also be used to relight the lights that have gone out.
00:08:19
Speaker
And so it remains lit at all times, prepared to serve, which also reminds us that we should always be ready to serve.
00:08:31
Speaker
And so I was just really amazed at how the ah the application has changed over, has evolved with Jesus.
00:08:42
Speaker
That um its no it should not simply be considered a mere Jewish holiday because this was meant as a rededication. And we all have times in our lives where we have fallen away and we have wandered because we are all like sheep and we wander.
00:09:00
Speaker
And we need to remember to rededicate, make sure that we are dedicated to God. Now, the interesting thing that was also said today at service is that when something is dedicated to God, it is for God's use only.
00:09:21
Speaker
It is made holy. It is made separate. So we, as we are dedicated to God, we are for God's service only. Always should we be mindful and ready to serve.
00:09:35
Speaker
And if we need to, we need to rededicate ourselves to being mindful of the fact that we are here to do God's work, not to do our own will.
00:09:46
Speaker
Just as Jesus came to serve, not to be served. And so we should not be looking to serve our own interests. but to instead be serving God and his will, his interests.
Personal Experiences with Hanukkah
00:10:01
Speaker
And so I wasn't sure this year, because it's not a so strictly biblical feast, I wasn't really feeling the Hanukkah spirit. But after attending today, I am definitely in the Hanukkah spirit.
00:10:17
Speaker
In a world of darkness, I want to be a light. I want to be a light that shows Jesus to the world. And I want to be ready like my Hamash light to serve.
00:10:31
Speaker
And I pray that you will be encouraged to also celebrate Hanukkah this year. This is a simple, ah inexpensive menorah that I bought from Target today. ah I wanted an electric one so that it'd be easier because the the candles are are so messy.
00:10:52
Speaker
And it seems like my menorah, I have a menorah that I've used in years past, are so messy. And I have difficulty getting the candles to stay stuck in the menorah. And then if they do, it just seems like the wax just goes everywhere. And I end up spending so much time trying to scrape the wax off of the menorah. And so it is, i am thankful that God knows our hearts and that we are not bound by the law. but There are, of course, many Jewish rules for how one is supposed to um treat a menorah and light the menorah and what can and cannot be used. And so while these are considered acceptable for decoration, they're not supposed to be used for the actual decoration.
00:11:37
Speaker
ceremony of of each night with the prayer and the lighting of the menorah in the home. But God knows our hearts. And I'm so thankful that ah there are there is no law that we have to abide by. ah And so ah our menorah does light from right to left.
00:11:58
Speaker
And so we will be right lighting it each night, um starting with tomorrow's service, tomorrow's ah reading, I should say, not service, tomorrow's reading. And even though it will be technically a little bit early, it will be because it's done at sunset.
00:12:14
Speaker
The Jewish ah biblical calendar runs from sunset to sunset. So that adds to my confusion as a Gentile. So I thought it started on Monday, Hanukkah. But in researching today, I learned that we light our first candle on Sunday night.
00:12:32
Speaker
So I am so thankful. that I went out after service today and picked up my my electric menorah from Target. So if you are interested in grabbing a menorah real quick, you can head to you're probably your local Target. i Maybe your local Walmart has one. And ah they're around the $30 range, even though they're just plastic and they take AAA batteries.
00:12:58
Speaker
They, which is interesting because you can buy really nice ones for the same price. ah hit that that take candles. but So however you may be inspired, I pray that this will help kindle your Hanukkah spirit for this year.
00:13:19
Speaker
And if you are following in the year after 2025, I pray that you will also be looking toward Hanukkah if it is not already passed since it it varies each year. So um I don't know what yearre what what day it will be in the following years, of course.
00:13:35
Speaker
So with that said, let's take out our calendar because I can't remember. I don't think I did this already. Maybe I did. It's time to take out our calendar and get ready to cross off our day.
00:13:46
Speaker
So whatever you're using, your sticker, your crayon, your marker, your pen, your pencil, whatever you're using to cross off those days, go ahead and get that done because we're about to hear the Bible today.
Jesus as High Priest and Faith Maturity
00:14:01
Speaker
to Today we are picking up in the book of Hebrews, and this ah was written by an unknown author. Now, we are going to be learning about how Jesus is our high priest, and how that came about, and why.
00:14:18
Speaker
But, while this is great information, and it is an excellent lesson in learning, and I was so excited about it, it's not actually our daily application.
00:14:30
Speaker
We are continuing with what we learned yesterday for our daily application. Yesterday, we read that Jesus...
00:14:42
Speaker
is the one that we need to go to when we are struggling with sin, when we are having a hard time with it. And I shared my experience where I was struggling um with with my negative thoughts about somebody and my irritability and the difficulty I was having with ah a superior at work and how God and Jesus gave me that peace, that shalom.
00:15:07
Speaker
and i And I was so grateful for that. I loved it. And so we read yesterday at the conclusion that let's go to the kind and loving king in heaven. And we can be sure that he will understand and he will be kind and loving to us.
00:15:26
Speaker
And he will help us when we need him. Today we are going to be looking at how he overcame sin. We read yesterday that he always ah said no to sin.
00:15:42
Speaker
We read that he had sinful thoughts and that he had, it says, it hurt Jesus to have sins come into his mind.
00:15:52
Speaker
He had to say no to sin and sins come to our mind too. But Jesus knows what that is like. So he can help us. So today we are going to be looking more in depth as to how Jesus handled went situations of of temptation.
00:16:12
Speaker
How did he overcome and how we can do the same, how we also can overcome sin. And then as we look at how, we're going to be looking at why.
00:16:28
Speaker
Why? And the but end um the the person, I'm having a hard time saying it well here ahead of time. We're going to be looking at what it does for us, why he how he did it, what it does for us when we follow this process, and what we want to look like.
00:16:53
Speaker
at the end, as we are going through the process, what our goal should be. So it might sound a little um sketchy there, a little ah little skimpy in the description, but we're going to get to how all of this ties together.
00:17:13
Speaker
So I will read again. Let's go to the kind and loving king in heaven, and we can be sure that he will understand. He will be kind and loving to us, and he will help us when we need him.
00:17:27
Speaker
Now, God chose human priests to serve him, and they talk to God for the people. They give gifts to God so that he will forgive people.
00:17:39
Speaker
Now, want to remind us here, i almost forgot to remind us that remember that this writing has been written to the Jewish messiah jewish messianic believers.
00:17:50
Speaker
So this is specifically being written to people who are already have been practicing Judaism. And they are struggling because they are they are at the receiving end of persecution through ah from Jewish people who are not believers in the Messiah.
00:18:12
Speaker
And so they understand that they have a high priest. And so the author of Hebrews is explaining that... Although we have human high priest, this high priest is insufficient for us ultimately and is going to be explaining why that is the case in today's reading.
00:18:36
Speaker
God chose human priests to serve him. They talk to God for the people and they give gifts to God so he will forgive people. They are kind to people who go away from God.
00:18:49
Speaker
And the people go away because they don't know any better. These priests can do things can do these things because they also are human themselves.
00:19:02
Speaker
And they know what it is like to sin. They even have to bring gifts to God for their own sins.
00:19:13
Speaker
Our Big Bible puts it this way. The priest is able to empathize with the ignorant and the deluded, since he himself also is subject to weakness.
00:19:26
Speaker
And for this reason, he has to make offerings for sins just as for the people, so also for himself.
00:19:36
Speaker
and No one chooses himself to be a priest. God chooses himself. Just like he chooses he chooses people, just like he chose Aaron.
00:19:47
Speaker
And it was the same with Jesus. Jesus did not choose himself. A psalm tells us what God said to Jesus. He did not glorify himself to be made our high priest.
00:20:02
Speaker
It says, you are my son. i have become your father today. According, and another psalm says it this way, you are a priest for forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
00:20:20
Speaker
So Jesus did not glorify himself to be made our high priest. Rather, it was God who glorified him.
00:20:30
Speaker
And Jesus learned to obey. I'm going to read out of our big Bible. It says, in the days of his life on earth jesus offered up both prayers and pleas with loud crying in tears to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his reverence and though he was a son jesus learned obedience from what he suffered
00:21:02
Speaker
and once he was made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him called by god to be high priest according to the order of mellkchiadeek Jesus learned to obey who obeys by the hard times that he had and so when he was learning to obey he did not sin and that way he would be able to save every one who obeys
00:21:35
Speaker
him and God chose him to be our high priest, like Melchizedek.
00:21:44
Speaker
The author of Hebrews tells us that about this subject there is much for us to say, and it's hard to explain. For although you ought to be teachers by this time, you again need someone one to teach you the basics of God's sayings.
00:22:02
Speaker
You have come to need milk again, rather than solid food. For anyone living on milk is inexperienced with the teaching about righteousness.
00:22:14
Speaker
He is like an infant. But solid food is for the mature. who through practice have their senses trained to know the difference between good and evil.
00:22:31
Speaker
This is applicable for us. We need to learn to obey through the sufferings and the hard times that we experience. And so that we can be mature, so that we can grow up and train ourselves to know what is right and wrong.
00:22:50
Speaker
Through practice, Jesus himself had practice opportunities. He wasn't given a life of ah without difficulties.
00:23:01
Speaker
And so neither are we. We have to learn through our sufferings, our difficult times, so that through practice, we can train ourselves to tell what is right from what is wrong.
00:23:18
Speaker
Now, what if some people have seen how good God's word is?
00:23:25
Speaker
But what if they turn away from God? Then nobody can bring them back. Nobody can change that kind of people because it's like they have killed Jesus all over again and they're making Jesus look like nothing.
00:23:42
Speaker
Our big Bible puts it like this. Therefore, leaving the basic teaching of the Messiah, let us move on toward maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of trust of God, of teaching about immersions, of laying on of hands and resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
00:24:05
Speaker
This we will do if God permits. It's impossible for those who were once enlightened, having tasted the heavenly gift and become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the life after, then having fallen away to once again renew to repentance, since they are again crucifying the Son of God for themselves and publicly disgracing him.
00:24:40
Speaker
but we are sure that you are doing better than this. You are doing things that fit people who are saved by God. And God is fair. He won't forget your work.
00:24:51
Speaker
He won't forget your love. So keep on working hard to the very end. We don't want you to start being lazy. We want you to be like other people who believe.
00:25:04
Speaker
We want you to wait for what God has promised. Remember, we are to be imitators of Jesus. We are to be imitators of those who are mature so that we too can be good examples for others in the world so that we too can be a light in the world.
00:25:27
Speaker
We are meant to grow and be a light world. not to be extinguished flames who no longer carry the light because we are reverting back to our previous state.
00:25:44
Speaker
So keep on working hard to the very end. Now, God made a promise to Abraham and he said, you can be sure i will bring good things to you and I will give you a big family.
00:25:58
Speaker
So Abraham waited and he got what God promised. God does not change. He doesn't lie. So we hope in him and we feel better because God keeps his promise.
00:26:13
Speaker
This is our hope. And hope is like a ship's anchor. An anchor keeps the ship where it is supposed to be. and likewise, our hope keeps us where we are supposed to be. And our hope is in Jesus.
00:26:33
Speaker
And he has gone to see God, our King, ahead of us, where Jesus is our high priest forever.
00:26:44
Speaker
So let's talk about who Melchizedek was. If you have been with us for the whole year, you may remember the name, but you may have forgotten who Melchizedek was. Melchizedek was the king of Salem.
00:26:57
Speaker
I'm going to read some of this from our big Bible because it gives us more detail. And I want us to have a very complete picture. Now, remember, this is not part of our daily application per se, but it it explains how Jesus is like Melchizedek and how he became a priest by the order in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of aarin
00:27:24
Speaker
Melchizedek was king of Salem. He was priest of the God Most High, and he met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him.
00:27:36
Speaker
Remember, this was after he had rescued his nephew Lot from being captured and all of the other people as well. And when Abraham went to Melchizedek and he gave him a tenth of everything that he had taken in that in that rescue.
00:27:59
Speaker
First, by translation of his name, Melchizedek is king of righteousness. And then also king of Salem, which is translated as king of Shalom.
00:28:14
Speaker
Now, you remember, shalom is a very deep meaning word. It means king of peace. And without father, without mother, without genealogy, it does not mean that he was um born without a mother or a father. It just means that we don't know his origins.
00:28:32
Speaker
Our Bible says nobody knew when he was born or when he was died. So it was like he was a priest for all time.
00:28:43
Speaker
Having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time. Now we see how great this man is, that even Abraham the patriarch gave him a tenth out of the plunder.
00:29:00
Speaker
And indeed, those sons of Levi who received the priesthood have, according to the Torah, they have a command to collect a tithe from the people.
00:29:12
Speaker
although they have been born from Abraham. But this one, meaning Melchizedek, who did not have their genealogy, he collected tithes from Abraham and has blessed Abraham, the one who holds the promise.
00:29:31
Speaker
So now it is beyond dispute that the lesser is blessed by the greater. And through Abraham, even Levi, the one receiving the tithes, has paid the tithes, so to speak.
00:29:46
Speaker
For he was still in his father's loins when Melchizedek met him. Now, if perfection was through the the ah the priesthood, then what further need was there for a different priest to rise? Right?
00:30:03
Speaker
Designated according to the order of Melchizedek, not according to the order of Aaron. So now where we read, i want us to interject here to give us explanation that it is Psalm 86 verse 2, I believe, where it says
00:30:25
Speaker
that Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek.
00:30:32
Speaker
No, that is Psalm 110 verse 4. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So this was God's prophecy written in the Psalms before Jesus was born.
00:30:52
Speaker
While they still had the priests serving in the temple who were of the order of Aaron. Now, they were not related to Melchizedek.
00:31:03
Speaker
So God was telling them ahead of time that there would be another priest who would be a priest forever along the order of Melchizedek.
00:31:16
Speaker
So why is that important? Let's go on.
00:31:22
Speaker
Our hope is with Jesus, and he has gone to see God our king. And Jesus is our priest forever.
00:31:32
Speaker
God gave his law to Moses after Abraham was born and died. And the law said to have men be priests, but priests could not make people's hearts clean and sinless.
Jesus' Eternal Priesthood
00:31:46
Speaker
So the law was put to one side because it couldn't clean out the sin from people's hearts. Jesus is better. He helps us to come close to God.
00:31:59
Speaker
And God told Jesus, you are a priest forever, just like Melchizedek. The priests of long ago got old and died, and new priests had to come.
00:32:12
Speaker
And so there were lots of them. But Jesus, he lives for forever. So he can be our high priest forever.
00:32:23
Speaker
And he can save us in every way. And that's because he will always be alive. He talks to God about what is happening with us.
00:32:35
Speaker
Our Big Bible says that he is interceding for us. And this kind of high priest is just what we need. Because he has no sin.
00:32:48
Speaker
And no one can blame him for anything wrong. His heart is clean through and through. he is not like the other priests. Other priests, they have to pay for their own sins.
00:33:02
Speaker
So they bring gifts to God. And then they bring gifts to pay for the other people's sins. And then they sin again and again. So they have to keep bringing gifts again and again.
00:33:14
Speaker
And so Jesus, however, he never sinned. So he gave a gift only one time. And that one gift paid for everybody's sins because Jesus gave himself and he died for us.
00:33:34
Speaker
Amen. Can I get an amen there?
00:33:39
Speaker
So the writer of Hebrews tells us this. Here's the point. We have a high priest. It is Jesus. the people It sounds like the Messianic Jewish people were concerned that they were not having a high priest, that they were not looking to the high priest. Their whole lives, they had always known of having a high priest.
00:34:04
Speaker
And they the high priest made atonement for their sins. So it could be, most likely, that the Jewish people who were not believers in the Messiah were telling these Messianic Jews,
00:34:18
Speaker
Well, you're not going to have your sins forgiven. But the writer in Hebrews is explaining that they don't need this priest at the temple to be giving their atonement for their sins because Jesus himself, which they already knew.
00:34:37
Speaker
So the writer of Hebrews told us a few minutes ago that they have gone back to drinking milk. they They are doubting. They are not standing firm in their faith and believing that they are truly saved.
00:34:53
Speaker
And people can give us this today too and tell us, well you're not truly saved. You ever can't have all of your sins forgiven. Yes, they do. Jesus paid for our sins once and for all.
00:35:07
Speaker
It's done. All of our sins are forgiven. He doesn't need to keep dying again and again. And we cannot earn our salvation.
00:35:18
Speaker
So are the writer in Hebrews tells us that Jesus has sat down beside the king in heaven. And he is serving in the true house of God. Remember when Moses was instructed to make the tabernacle.
00:35:34
Speaker
he was instructed to do it exactly according to way to the way God wanted him to do it. So the things on earth are modeled after those things in heaven.
00:35:47
Speaker
But the writer of Hebrews tells us that they are like a shadow. When we see our shadow on the ground, it is showing what the actual object or person looks like without being the exact person.
00:36:04
Speaker
And so, the The tabernacle was set up to be like the true, true house of God up in heaven. And it's a house that is set up by God, not by people.
00:36:20
Speaker
and All the high priests were chosen to bring gifts. So Jesus had to give a gift too. What if Jesus lives on earth now? Well, then he would not be a priest.
00:36:31
Speaker
There are already priests to give gifts like the law said. These priests served at God's house on earth, and it was the worship tent. But the worship tent is like a shadow.
00:36:44
Speaker
It shows what is in heaven. And that is why God told Moses to build it just right. Make everything the way I showed you, said God.
00:36:57
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But Jesus' job is greater than the priest's job. because God has made a new, special promise. And Jesus makes this promise come true between God and us.
00:37:11
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And the new promise is better than the old one. God said, I will put my laws in people's minds. I will write my rules on their hearts.
00:37:23
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I will be their God. They will be my people. I will forgive their sins. I will not remember their sins anymore.
00:37:40
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Amen. Hallelujah. Praise God. He does not remember our sins anymore because Jesus made our atonement.
00:37:52
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And he was only qualified to make that atonement. as being our high priest, because only the high priest could come into God's presence and make the atonement first for himself and then for the people.
00:38:08
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But Jesus did not need to make atonement for himself, because through his suffering, Jesus learned to obey. He learned to obey God, and he chose to say no to sin.
00:38:24
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And he grew in maturity. He trained himself to discern the difference between right and wrong. And he is our model of what we are to imitate.
00:38:40
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And that is how everything works together in the big picture for our daily application today. There was a lot of information there. I didn't want us to get lost and not see the forest because of all the trees there.
00:38:55
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I didn't want us to get lost down the rabbit hole of of how ah Jesus is our high priest and and how it all needed to come about. It was so much detail there. We want to be sure we're looking at how the big picture fits everything together.
00:39:11
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So I hope that you understand that it is through the sufferings and we can ask Jesus to help us to learn how to overcome these sins, these temptations to sin.
00:39:25
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So by choosing to do what is right, and we can't choose to do what is right until we can discern, until we can see and understand what is right from wrong and become an imitator of Jesus.
00:39:41
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And then as we grow, we want to be able to be the light in the world so that other people can also see us and learn to imitate us because we are the light. We are meant to be imitated to show what Jesus is like.
00:39:59
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So we want to be sure that we are showing people the right thing and being good shepherds of God's people. The writer of Hebrews says that by now,
00:40:12
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Those people he was writing to should be teachers already. But they are not. They are stuck in the basics. He says that they don't even understand the basics yet.
00:40:25
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They need to remember and stand firm in their faith. So we need to stand firm in our hope. Jesus is our hope. He is the anchor that keeps our faith oriented.
00:40:40
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He is what keeps us looking toward God's ways and not the world's ways. Do you love how everything fits together?
00:40:52
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I know I do. Our hope keeps us where we are supposed to be, and our hope is with Jesus. Amen. Well, I hope that you are encouraged today. I know this was a very deep application today. There was a lot of information in today's reading. It's a little longer than it normally is, and it's now very late. So I'm not going to get this posted until after midnight, since I didn't get this started until midnight.
00:41:22
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As I was getting everything ready, set up with the my menorah here, it took me extra time tonight. And I didn't get my reading done until late in the day.
00:41:33
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So thank you for your grace for me as as I get these daily readings out and try to get them ready for you to enjoy and to learn and to see how God's word is applicable in your life every day.
00:41:48
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Thank you so much for joining me as we are learning about our hope in Jesus and in how to grow and look to him as for our strength and for our salvation.
Prayer for Strength and Growth
00:42:03
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I want to leave us with a prayer yesterday ah in chapter four of Hebrews. Our big Bible includes this, and i I did not include it as our prayer yesterday, but I'm going to include it today.
00:42:20
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Let us draw near to the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need.
00:42:33
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As we approach that throne of grace for mercy in our time of need when we are facing temptation, I pray that you will be strong in Jesus, understanding, able to discern the difference between right and wrong so that you may grow, so that you may have understanding and choose to obey God, choosing to obey Jesus so that you can become an imitator of Jesus and so that others may see your light in the world and also learn to come to Jesus and imitate him as well.
00:43:14
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furthering the growth of our spiritual family as one leads as we lead one another to our true shepherd, our true high priest. I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day.
00:43:28
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And before you go, I want to encourage you to light that light. You know what it looks like. It looks like a thumbs up. It looks like a heart. Help us spread the word about reading God's word this Hanukkah season and every day.
00:43:44
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And until we meet again tomorrow, continue to be that light in the world. See you then.