Yesterday Today and Forever
Yesterday Today and Forever. Are you reproached as a Christian? Do people seem to avoid you or make fun of your faith? Do they over emphasize every mistake you make, seemingly making your testimony of no effect?
7 Remember those who rule over
you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow,
considering the outcome of their conduct. 8 Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various
and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by
grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been
occupied with them.
12
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own
blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 Therefore let us go forth to Him,
outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we have no
continuing city, but we seek the one to come. 15 Therefore by Him let us
continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of
our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good
and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for
your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and
not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Hebrews 13:1-9 and 12-17, NKJV
Yesterday Today and Forever
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13 is an amazing chapter; in just a short devotional, we can barely cover the highlights.
The
chapter begins with an admonition to remember those who have the rule
over us (ministers of the Gospel), and to follow the faith they exhibit.
Think about the words "remember" and "yesterday, today, and forever".
God knows how prone we are to forget, or to think we live in a different
time with different rules and different customs. What a great tool of
the devil. How many people has he deceived with such ideas? Do not be
fooled, Christ (and the Word of God) never changes. It is just as
applicable to our life today as it was in the Old Testament and New
Testament times.
The
Old Testament sacrifices have been done away with because Christ, the
True Sacrifice, has shed His own blood to redeem a people for Himself.
Are you reproached as a Christian? Do people seem to avoid you or make
fun of your faith? Do they over emphasize every mistake you make,
seemingly making your testimony of no effect? Just as the world hated and rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, so do they hate and reject His children.
Therefore
let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For
here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.
This world is not our home!
The conclusion, then, is: Obey
those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your
souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not
with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
It is not as easy as it sounds, because God has chosen to put imperfect vessels (like us) before us to rule over us and teach us His Word. Our pastors and teachers are not perfect, and we are not perfect, either. But Christ is!
Yesterday Today and Forever - Jesus is the same!
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