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December 12 Daily Reading- Read the Bible in 1 Year
8 Plays3 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, Chapters 2, 3:1-2, 6, 12-18, and 4:1-4, 9-16.
Today we will read about how we can come to Jesus and ask Him for help to be strong when we are experiencing sinful thoughts and temptation to sin. We can do this because He came to Earth as a human and experienced sinful thoughts but always chose to obey God rather than give in to temptation.
In our discussion for daily application I will share how God used this very application in my life today and when I prayed for strength Jesus gave me His peace and I stopped having difficulty with the issues I had been struggling with this week! As a believer we have many benefits and tools available for us to use, but we need to be aware of them first to be able to use them. We learn about them by reading the Bible! Jesus being a source of strength whom we can turn to is a very big benefit for us as believers. We need to go to Him when we face temptation so that He can help us. If we don't go to Him then we are missing out and struggling for no reason!
If you enjoyed today's reading and feel like God has lit YOUR light please click the LIGHT button (it looks like a thumbs up or a heart) and consider subscribing to or following my channel, if you have not done so already done so.
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Transcript
Introduction & Purpose
00:00:02
Speaker
Hello everybody! Today is the daily recording for December 12th. My name is Robin. I'm with In the Family Way Coaching and together, Scooby and i we are here for our daily Bible reading through the Day by Day Kids Bible written by Karen Henley.
Tools for Commitment
00:00:20
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining me today. i know I got yesterday's out very late so you may see two postings today by the time you get around to watching or listening today. So thank you for being here again.
00:00:32
Speaker
If you are following along on your commitment calendar, it's time to go ahead and take that out. Scooby has already helped me put my sticker on for today, and we have crossed off December 12th for our reading to- today. So go ahead and get your sticker or whatever you're using to cross off your days, even if it's just a paw print, hu because we're going to hear the Bible today.
Hebrews & Faith Challenges
00:00:57
Speaker
we are picking up in the book of hebrews today we are going to be covering chapters 2 3 and 4. so we talked about yesterday about what the book of hebrews was written for who it was written for and why so the jewish people who have faith in jesus as their messiah are having a lot of difficulties with persecution from other jewish believers who do not believe in the messiah and so they are having peer pressure in today's society we might even call that peer pressure and so they are being encouraged to revert to judaism minus the messiah and peter or i'm sorry not peter we don't know who the author is actually the author of hebrews is going to be telling us today
00:01:46
Speaker
about the dangers of accepting Jesus and then having faith in him and then not
Trust and Faith Lessons
00:01:54
Speaker
sticking with it. And he's going to be comparing that to the people that ah God saved from Egypt.
00:02:02
Speaker
When God saved the people and he brought them out of Egypt, they lost faith in God and they didn't trust him. And the Bible tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith in him.
00:02:18
Speaker
Faith is another word for trust. God is the most trustworthy being we could possibly believe in. He always speaks the truth. He always keeps his promises. And he doesn't just speak and then do He shows us exactly how to do things. And he has shown us time and time again, how faithful and how he cares for us. Not just that he will follow his promises and do what he says he will do, but that he is proactive.
00:02:52
Speaker
He cares about us. We can trust him with everything that we need. And we've been looking through that in the big picture in the Bible this year.
Consequences of Disobedience
00:03:02
Speaker
And so our author of Hebrews is going to be reminding us of the fact that the people who once believed chose to lose their faith and they did not maintain their faith in God, which caused them to be placed into a state of disobedience because it's impossible to believe without faith.
00:03:24
Speaker
And this disobedience cost them the entering into the promised land. And that's why the people ended up wandering around in the desert for 40 years, because they were too scared when they saw the people who were living there in the land that was promised to them. And they thought that they couldn't possibly take over.
00:03:44
Speaker
And God told them that they would, and they were too scared. So he said, fine, then you will not see it. And so he called them, an unfaithful generation so we want to be careful of not being caught in that we can say that we have belief in god or belief in jesus but if we don't actually put our trust in him actively during times of difficulty such as times of of battling with sin
00:04:16
Speaker
ah then we will not be showing that we believe in God and
Jesus as High Priest
00:04:21
Speaker
Jesus. And our author of Hebrews today is going to be explaining that they no longer need the high priest at the temple to offer sacrifices and to make atonements. Because now we have Jesus here. He has become our new high priest. Now, for those of us who are Gentile and do not have a Jewish background, this may seem foreign to us.
00:04:47
Speaker
But there is a comparison, for instance, with ah our pastors today or our ah for those who are Catholic, those who believe that they need to have somebody make confession for them.
00:05:03
Speaker
We have direct access to Jesus and to God because of him through Jesus. So we don't need anybody.
Resisting Temptation
00:05:12
Speaker
It is still important for us to pray for one another and to intercede for one another. But the praying for one another does not bring salvation or forgiveness of sins.
00:05:24
Speaker
And it used to be that the priest had to make atonement for the people. And the priest was a person just like everybody else who suffered sin. So the priest also had to make atonement for themselves. As I mentioned yesterday, before they could even enter the holiest of holy places where God's presence was to make atonement for everybody else.
00:05:46
Speaker
Jesus, on the other hand, was already sinless. So he did not need anybody to make atonement for him. He did, however, come into the body of a man.
00:05:59
Speaker
He was in heaven and he became a man so and he had to be tempted with all kinds of sins. So, for instance, when the devil took him out into the desert while he was fasting for those 40 days, he was tempted.
00:06:16
Speaker
but he said no to sin and so because jesus knows what it was like to experience temptation and yet be able to keep himself from giving into it he understands the temptations that we face on a daily basis not on a weekly or a monthly or a semi-annual basis, on a daily basis, sometimes on a minute-by-minute basis as we struggle with all the different things that are going on in in our lives. And we have to take control of every thought. And it can be overwhelming.
00:06:53
Speaker
And it can it can be it can feel like you're not winning over that fight. However, Jesus, because he did not give in to those sins and knows what it was like to to have to say no to them, he can help us.
00:07:12
Speaker
He can make us strong. He can strengthen us against those things.
Salvation Message
00:07:17
Speaker
So when we say to be strong in Jesus, this is one of the many ways that we are referring to.
00:07:24
Speaker
And so the author of Hebrews is going to be explaining to us this concept today. And then we will talk a little bit more about that when we finish our reading.
00:07:35
Speaker
So with that in mind, let's keep that in mind as our big picture today of ah what we are reading in Hebrews chapters 2, 3, and 4.
00:07:49
Speaker
The author says today, we should be careful and we should think about what we heard, meaning what we have been taught. That way we won't turn away from God.
00:08:01
Speaker
Everyone had to obey the message that angels brought from God. And those who did not obey got what was coming to them. Now we have heard how to be saved.
00:08:13
Speaker
And we cannot get away with pretending that we never heard it. In today's day, we might say, I can't unhear that or I can't unsee it. Jesus was the first to say that we could be saved.
00:08:27
Speaker
And then people who heard him also said it was true. And God showed it was true. He did wonders. We call those miracles.
00:08:39
Speaker
He gave the Spirit's gifts to people the way he wanted. And someday, someone will be in charge of the world, but it won't be the angels.
00:08:51
Speaker
The Psalm says it this way. I wonder why you even think about people. i wonder why you care about your son who became a man.
00:09:06
Speaker
You made him a little lower than angels and you showed your greatness in him. You made him important and you put him in charge of everything.
00:09:18
Speaker
So God put Jesus in charge of everything. He did not leave out anything. And right now, we don't see Jesus being in charge of everything, but we do see him.
Perfect Sacrifice
00:09:34
Speaker
He was made to be a little lower than angels for a while, but now, now he shines with greatness.
00:09:45
Speaker
And Jesus gets to be called great. And that's because he died to show God's kind love. He felt death for everybody.
00:09:58
Speaker
And it was right for God to make his son, Jesus, perfect. God did this as Jesus followed God's whole plan.
00:10:10
Speaker
Jesus was hurt because of what we did wrong. And he died to save us from our sins.
Maintaining Faith
00:10:18
Speaker
And Jesus makes people's hearts clean and spotless.
00:10:24
Speaker
Jesus' heart is clean and spotless too. And we are in the same family. So Jesus does not feel bad about calling us.
00:10:35
Speaker
We are his brothers and sisters. And Jesus says it this way in the Psalm. I will tell God's name to my brothers and sisters.
00:10:49
Speaker
I will sing praises to God when the people get together.
00:10:55
Speaker
Now people have human bodies, so Jesus, he became human too. And that way when he died, he could get rid of Satan.
00:11:07
Speaker
Satan holds death's power. People were afraid of death. But Jesus died to set people free from being afraid.
00:11:19
Speaker
He was not helping angels when he died. He was helping people. And so he had to be human. Jesus had to be human like us so he could understand us.
00:11:36
Speaker
And now he can tell God what it is like to be human. It hurt Jesus to have sins come into his mind.
00:11:47
Speaker
He had to say no to sin. Sins come to our minds too, but Jesus knows what that is like, so he can help us.
00:12:00
Speaker
God has a heavenly plan for your life, so keep thinking about Jesus. He brought us the good news, and he is the one who shows us the way to God.
00:12:14
Speaker
So we tell about him, how he always followed God. We are in God's family if we keep following God.
00:12:25
Speaker
We must stay brave. We must keep our hope. So make sure that you do not have a sinful heart. Make sure that you believe.
Peace and Rest
00:12:40
Speaker
Do not turn away from the living God. Instead, help each other want to do what is right every day.
00:12:51
Speaker
Don't let sin's lies make your hearts hard. That way you don't care about God. We share a place with Jesus, and we must keep on following him to the end.
00:13:07
Speaker
We must keep knowing for sure that we are right. And it's just like the Psalm says, do you hear God's voice today?
00:13:18
Speaker
then do not let your hearts get hard. The people Moses led out of Egypt, they let their hearts get hard. So God was angry with them for 40 and they had to live in the desert all of their lives. God said they would never have peace.
00:13:39
Speaker
But God plans for us to have his peace. So let's be careful so that we can have this peace. God's people in the desert, they did not believe God.
00:13:52
Speaker
But we do believe. And we have that peace from God. God said, I was angry and I promised that they would never have my peace.
00:14:06
Speaker
But God made the world. And then he rested on the seventh day. We call that the Sabbath or the Shabbat. There is a special rest for God's people.
00:14:20
Speaker
They can rest from their work. They can rest like God rested from his work. We have a Shabbat. So let's try to get that special rest and don't turn away from God by not obeying him.
00:14:36
Speaker
God's word is alive. And it is doing its work. God's word is sharper than a sword that has two
Belief and Trust
00:14:44
Speaker
edges. It can go right into a person.
00:14:49
Speaker
It can go right through a person's heart and soul and spirit. It can cut to the bone. It can show if a person's thoughts are right or wrong.
00:15:04
Speaker
Nothing in all the world can hide from God's eyes. He sees everything. We will have to answer for everything that we do and say, Jesus, he is like the high priest for us.
00:15:20
Speaker
He is the person who takes us right to God. He is God's son. So let us keep believing no matter what. Jesus understands us.
00:15:33
Speaker
He faced every sin that looks good to us. But he said no every time. And he did not sin. So let's go to the kind, loving king who is in heaven.
00:15:48
Speaker
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.
00:16:00
Speaker
And that is the end of our reading today.
00:16:07
Speaker
I have a couple of things to share on that note. Jesus says that we are his brothers and sisters. And we are taught today that because he came to earth as a man, as a person, that he understands sin and the temptation that it brings, and that he said no, and that he can make us strong when we go to him and ask him for help during these struggles.
00:16:36
Speaker
So it's we have to remember to use this benefit.
Faith as a Toolbox
00:16:42
Speaker
I was thinking this morning and the Holy Spirit revealed it to me this way.
00:16:47
Speaker
i i love analogies. These are like parables, like what Jesus told us. A parable is really a comparison, a simile, which means it uses like or as. So one thing is like another in order to help us understand and make the connection between the two.
00:17:03
Speaker
i love that type of learning. I'm very associative myself. that's That's learning by association. So Jesus, in being a believer, carries many benefits to us.
00:17:17
Speaker
And the thing is, is that if we are not aware of the many benefits that we have, then we will not use them. And they're like tools in our tool belt.
00:17:30
Speaker
We might have just the right tool to do the job, but if we don't go to the toolbox and take those tools out, or we don't choose to use the benefits that we have, then we struggle with the job, the task, the sin, whatever it is.
00:17:49
Speaker
We suffer, we struggle. we We are fighting, trying to do things the hard way. And we have a saying that says, work smart, not hard. ah ah It's still hard, but it's easier when we use our benefits.
Benefits of Faith
00:18:03
Speaker
And another way of looking at it that God was showing me this morning is that it's like working for a company and you receive some free benefits. So for instance, where I work,
00:18:15
Speaker
We have some free benefits. These are benefits that don't cost me anything. we have There are things like employee discounts, but you still have to spend money and then you just get a discount.
00:18:26
Speaker
We're not talking about discounts in the kingdom of heaven. We are talking about benefits. We all love those bennies, we say. Show me the bennies. ha ha ha ha.
00:18:39
Speaker
We're not talking about Benjamin Franklins. We're talking about benefits. ah And so, for instance, where I work, we have a free Amazon Prime membership.
00:18:52
Speaker
It doesn't cost me anything. It saves me money because I had that already. And now I don't have to pay for that. I have free electric car charging.
00:19:04
Speaker
And believe me, that's a big one. And I was joking around the other day ah because we have so many benefits. We also get provided on many occasions free lunch.
00:19:16
Speaker
And we've been taught in the world that there is no free lunch. And we've been taught that you can't get something for nothing.
Faith in Action
00:19:23
Speaker
And that's just not true because Jesus gives us salvation for nothing.
00:19:30
Speaker
It's free. You absolutely can get something for nothing. we don't We can't pay for it. We can't earn it. He gives it to us. Now, does that mean that anybody on on the street can just walk into where I work and get a free membership or get a free electric car charging?
00:19:51
Speaker
No. Or get free lunch? No. You still have to be a part of that company. You still have to be a member of Jesus's a family.
00:20:04
Speaker
And we do that by accepting um a commitment. We make a commitment to have faith in Jesus. Or in this case, we make a commitment to work.
00:20:17
Speaker
Now, we still have work in God's kingdom. We have work that God gives for us to do. So we don't just become saved and then sit back and do nothing. We call that faith without action.
00:20:29
Speaker
Our faith leads us to want to obey God and to do the good works that he has for us to do. So you still have responsibilities in God's kingdom, one of which is to continue believing and trusting in him and to do the good works that he has for us to do, because the goal is to help other people, to build each other up.
Building Community through Faith
00:20:53
Speaker
Today, our writer in Hebrews says,
00:20:58
Speaker
to, let's see where did he put it?
00:21:14
Speaker
In chapter 3, the writer of Hebrews says, Make sure you keep believing. Don't turn away from the living God. Instead, help each other want to do what is right every day.
00:21:29
Speaker
And don't let sin's lies make your hearts hard. When we have hard hearts, we don't care about other people. It's the opposite of love. So we still have responsibilities.
00:21:41
Speaker
I'm expected to do the work that my company wants me to do. And God expects me to do the work that he has set aside for me to do. And you are expected to do the work that you have for you.
00:21:53
Speaker
So we have access to these benefits. We have access to these tools. And one of the most important tools that we have is the fact that when we are encountering sinful thoughts, that because we know that it starts as a thought before we do it, then we can go to Jesus and ask him to help us.
Personal Struggles & Biblical Teachings
00:22:17
Speaker
So for instance, I've always, I've said throughout this year that it's just amazing how God uses our daily readings in my life all of the time to teach me and to give me opportunities to practice what we are learning about.
00:22:32
Speaker
So in particular this week, we have been learning about things like having respect for authority and not because we have to, but because we want to. Even when authority figures are not kind to us, we are still expected to obey and to not do so with attitude and to not do it with a, o okay, I have to because they're the boss.
00:22:56
Speaker
but because we choose to, because doing that honors Jesus, who is in charge over us. And it honors God, who is in charge over us. So this week, I have been struggling with that and with one particular leader at work.
00:23:12
Speaker
And also with making sure that we don't um think unkind thoughts about another or you talk about other people, talk mostly about talking about other people. I am particularly frustrated with a particular person who has just been upset about everything. And it just seems like they're just upset all the time. And all I hear about is how they hate being there and, and they're always complaining and they're just, they're trash talking and it irritates me. So then their trash talking inspires me. I'm, I'm thinking trash talk about them and I'm irritated with them.
00:23:48
Speaker
And I'm frustrated because instead of doing the work that they need to be doing, they're spending their time doing other things like being on the phone or talking. And while they're talking, they're not just chit chatting, they're complaining.
00:24:00
Speaker
And in my mind, I'm complaining. So it's it's like it's like a ah spreading illness. And then I find myself when I am working with somebody else away from that person, I find that because these thoughts are in my mind, but they want to come out of my mouth because out of the overflow out of the mouth comes the overflow of the heart.
00:24:22
Speaker
So, and and as I'm thinking these things, I am struggling because I'm battling with them going, oh, these are exactly what I'm not supposed to be thinking about. i need to not be doing that. But yet I've been struggling with them all week.
00:24:35
Speaker
and then And then this leader, as she's irritated me. ah ah yesterday. And I thought to myself, oh, here I am again. i' struggling with this. I need to be respectful, not because I have to, but because I want to, because it's the right thing to do.
00:24:54
Speaker
But again, when I thought about it this morning, it just bubbled up in me and I became irritable about
Finding Peace in Jesus
00:24:59
Speaker
it again. And I was like, oh, and then we, I read today's reading. I was like, oh, I have a tool that I can use. I have been battling and struggling with this issue for days now.
00:25:14
Speaker
And it's making me more and more irritable and more and more grumpy. And so after reading this, I said, oh, I have a benefit. I have a tool. And so I went to Jesus in prayer and I asked him to help me in this struggle, recognizing that as he had to stand before the Sanhedrin,
00:25:35
Speaker
and to be smacked and spit upon, disrespected as the king of all heaven.
00:25:45
Speaker
He did not speak back. He didn't argue with them. He accepted because as in human form, he was still subject to their authority and he chose to go to the cross.
00:26:01
Speaker
He chose to obey God. He chose to do it, not just because he had to, but because he wanted to, because he understood the greater good. And we've been learning this year that the greater good, when we obey, when we endure, not just when things are good, but when things are tough, we become stronger. And as we become stronger, it makes the whole body of Jesus stronger. It makes our whole family stronger.
00:26:35
Speaker
So we have to remember these things and understand them.
Inner Dialogue & Prayer
00:26:40
Speaker
And then God um provided us with Jesus to be able to help us during those struggling times.
00:26:47
Speaker
And so I prayed about it and I remembered all of those things and God sent me his peace. Jesus sent me his strength. And so now I don't feel irritated about that.
00:27:00
Speaker
It's amazing how that works. So I needed to be able to provide that testimony to you, that witnessing to you, and to show you in real time what the daily application of our reading looks like today.
00:27:15
Speaker
I have just been so amazed with how in real time God brings me these these things so that I am able to share them with you. God is so good. He wants us to learn from these things.
00:27:27
Speaker
And we are meant to, we've spoken about before, to confess our sins to one another, not because you are offering me salvation, but so that you can understand and know that you are not alone.
00:27:42
Speaker
You are not alone. We are not alone. Even if you don't feel like there is a person who understands your struggle, you don't know what I'm going through. You don't know what I feel like. You don't know how much it hurts me inside.
00:27:54
Speaker
Jesus does. He does. And I've mentioned before that that voice that we use to talk to ourselves I'm convinced is not meant for just talking to ourselves, but I am convinced that it is meant instead for communion with God, for prayer with God, for talking to God and Jesus.
00:28:16
Speaker
So instead of spending our time talking to ourselves about how irritated we are and what we don't like about this. Instead, we need to be using that voice in our head to talk to Jesus.
00:28:28
Speaker
Tell him your irritations. And the Holy Spirit, God, Jesus will speak through the Holy Spirit and he will remind you of these things that we are understood by him.
00:28:43
Speaker
And then when he brings that thought to your mind, you will receive his peace. Peace that is not as the world gives, but as God gives. The peace that we read about today in our reading from the author of Hebrews.
00:28:56
Speaker
We will be in God's peace. He will bring us shalom. Peace is not just a lack of conflict. It is wellness, wholeness, unity, completeness in God.
00:29:10
Speaker
So when we are brothers and sisters with Jesus and we have that shalom, Oh, it feels amazing. That is the joy of the Holy Spirit, the peace the and of the Holy Spirit.
00:29:23
Speaker
And I want you to know that it is real and that you only need to bring your struggles to Jesus the same way I did. And then you can experience that too. So I hope that you are encouraged today that whatever it is you are struggling with, that you will bring it to Jesus and ask him to help you in that struggle.
Closing Prayer & Encouragement
00:29:42
Speaker
It doesn't matter what it is. He struggled with it.
00:29:45
Speaker
He grew up as a child, so he knows what it feels like to be told what to do by his parents. He knows what it feels like to have younger brothers and sisters. I don't know about sisters. We don't hear about them, but we do know that Jesus had younger brothers.
00:29:59
Speaker
So he had to deal with being the oldest child. He had to deal with with being above and below his parents, above his siblings, below his parents. He dealt with leadership all throughout, all the way to his death as he was led to go to the cross.
00:30:20
Speaker
He knows what we feel like and he can help us. So it is my prayer today that you will go to Jesus so that you can experience his shalom in whatever struggle you may be facing. Not just today, because it's our daily application, but that it is my prayer that Jesus and through the Holy Spirit will remind you of the tool that you have available to you, the benefit that you have as a brother or a sister of Jesus, to be able to ask him to help you and to receive that peace from God.
00:30:55
Speaker
Well, thank you very much for joining me today. I would ask that you consider clicking your light button so that we can help spread this very important message about God's word, that it tell that it is communicated to us in God's word, what we read today, what we learned to- today with our daily application. We want to strengthen others to help encourage them in their faith, to help them utilize the tools that they have available to them as benefits by being a brother and sister or sister in the body of Christ.
00:31:25
Speaker
And we can do that by clicking that light button, that share, that follow, that subscribe, so that this message goes out and is seen by more people. And together we are helping to spread the word about reading God's word.
00:31:39
Speaker
not just to spread the word, which we are, but to spread the word about reading God's word. And if you are hungry for more of the details, there are more details. I love the way Karen Henley puts that in our version today. But when you read it in the Big Bible too, it is very powerful.
00:31:58
Speaker
So I encourage you to pick up your Big Bible if you are interested in reading more about the the details of Hebrews chapters two, three, and four. And until we meet again, i pray that you will live in God's shalom.
00:32:14
Speaker
Not having difficulties with people or sinful thoughts that may enter your mind, but that you will be strengthened in Jesus. See you next time.