Category: Devotions

Tuesday 30^th

Hebrews 10:19-39

NIV (v22-25) – ‘Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’

ESV (v22-25) – ‘Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.’

Three times in these verses we have the two words ‘Let us’ I remember when I was a youngster a preacher in our local Church saying he was going to preach on ‘the lettuces’ in the book of Hebrews, he was playing around with the words ‘let us’

The words ‘let us’ are used to express that because of what has gone on before or because of what has already taken place we should be spurred on or into action. On this occasion it is to:

1) Let us ‘DRAW NEAR’.

2) Let us ‘HOLD FAST’.

3) Let us ‘CONSIDER’.

The ‘let us draw near’, expresses clearly how we should draw near to the throne of grace, it is ‘with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.’ That is let us draw near knowing that we have truly been saved, that is without wavering or doubting, having been washed and cleansed through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not need to be afraid, we do not need to wonder if God will accept us, for he has excepted us in his beloved, he has accepted what Christ has done on our behalf to make it possible for us to draw near.

The ‘let us hold fast’ is a call to encourage the believers to stand firm, steadfast on the confession of hope that they had made, which is also a call to us as believers today. Scripture has much to say about our need to persevere to the end, to run the race, to finish the course, to fight the good fight of the faith. The writer says ‘hold fast . . . without wavering’ I used a phrase once before in the devotions which is worth repeating here, ‘don’t dilly dally on the way’ in other words, after having come to faith and having a confession of hope let us not dither or doubt but remain firmly established in the faith, as I mentioned a few days ago with our lives anchored firm and strong in the Saviour’s love. In this ‘let us’ the writer continues ‘for he who promised is faithful’. I suppose when the author wrote this letter to the believers they were waiting with great anticipation for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and life was not always easy for them and their faith may have been getting tottery, maybe some were even beginning to doubt asking the same question that we read in 2 Peter 3:4, ‘Where is the promise of his coming?’ And the Hebrew writer wants to spur them on, ‘Don’t give up, don’t lose heart, don’t lose hope’ ‘For he who has promised is faithful’, cling onto the truthfulness of the promises of God. He will not, he cannot fail. And today two thousand years later the Church is still looking and still waiting, ‘Where is the promise of his coming?’ Well we can be assured in the same way as the letter recipients were assured, he may not have come yet, it does not mean he is not coming, he is faithful his promises are sure, keep looking up, hold fast, for he will come – may we take the encouragement from John 14:1-3 ‘“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”’

We will consider the final ‘let us’ tomorrow.

Monday 29^th

Hebrews 10:1-18

NIV (v10) – ‘And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’

ESV (v10) – ‘And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’

This is one of those occasions where I have to say that I personally prefer the ESV rendering of a verse with its use of the word ‘sanctified’ rather than the NIV using ‘been made holy’ for there seems to be a tendency to move away from technical terms /words such as sanctification or justification which will eventually lead to a lesser understanding of Biblical theology. Yes, we have been made holy, (NIV) but it has taken place and continues to take place through the process of sanctification, ‘we have been sanctified’. (ESV)

The writer here is saying that the source of our sanctification is through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, that is through the means of his shed blood as he offered himself up as our substitute. Sanctification differs from justification for the latter ‘justified’ is a judicial term to declare that one has been made righteous and is a verdict declared immediately we have become born again, God sees us as completely forgiven, our past sin is gone, it is just as if we had never sinned, and God says ‘I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more.’ (verse 17, the Hebrew writer quoting from Jeremiah 31:34)   Sanctification is the making a person clean or holy, it is the process by which we have become set apart, and it is an ongoing process, as the same chapter continues in verse 14 ‘For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.’ Note – ‘who are BEING sanctified’.

Sanctification is linked to holiness, although we are washed or made clean, we do not reach a point of sinless perfection, we are still living in a fallen world, but we strive to become more Christlike in every way, and the process of ongoing sanctification plays a major role in this. Scripture reminds us that we are also sanctified by the word, for the word as we read it, meditate upon it and live according to it has a sanctifying effect, in Psalm 119 a question is asked as to how a young man shall cleanse his way and the answer is by living according to God’s word. (Psalm 119:9) Jesus in his prayer before he went to Calvary prayed, ‘Sanctify them in the truth, thy word is truth.’ (John 17:17) Scripture further reminds us that the Holy Spirit plays an active roll in our ongoing sanctification, as we see in 2 Th 2:13 ‘But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.’ We need to live with a heart that is sensitive to the leading and promptings of the Holy Spirit as we learnt when going through the book of Galatians, we need to live by the Spirit or walk with the Spirit, this relationship will enable us to mature in the realm of sanctification. As Paul is signing off his first letter to the Church at Thessalonica he says ‘Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.’ (1 Th 5:23–24)

May we always allow God to work in us through the various means he has made available so that we may continue to be sanctified, to become more Christlike until the day arrives when we will be made completely like him and we shall see him as he is.

Sunday 28^th

Hebrews 9:15-28

NIV (v28) – ‘So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.’

ESV (v28) – ‘So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.’

This is one of my favourite verses in Hebrews for it is a reminder to the original recipients of the letter and for us as the Church today that the babe who was born in Bethlehem and who died as a man at Calvary to bear the sins of many and who is at present the great high priest interceding for the believer in heaven will appear a second time. Jesus is coming again! And he is coming as the King of kings and Lord of lords!

His second coming will be different to his first, as we read, the first time he came to deal with sin, the second time it will be to save those who are eagerly awaiting him. That is to take us away from this sin riddled world to the place that he is preparing for us in Heaven.

A couple of days ago we mentioned our eternal hope, and a part of the outworking of that eternal hope is this wonderful promise that Jesus is coming again and we remind ourselves that God is faithful concerning his promises for as God he cannot lie and will not lie.

As I have been preparing this devotion a song has been playing in the background which caught my attention:

The sky shall unfold preparing His entrance

The stars shall applaud Him with thunders of praise

The sweet light in His eyes shall, shall enhance those awaiting

And we shall behold Him, then face to face

We shall behold Him

We shall behold Him

Face to face in all of His glory

We shall behold Him

We shall behold Him

Face to face, our Saviour and Lord

The angels will sound the shouts of His coming

The sleeping shall rise from their slumbering place

And those who remain shall be changed in a moment

We shall behold Him, our Saviour and Lord

May we be encouraged today as we are reminded that our Saviour and Lord is coming again and we shall behold him, what a day it is going to be when all the struggles and trials of life will finally be over and we shall be safe in his eternal presence. It reminds me that this world is not our own, we are just passing through, we have a heavenly and eternal city awaiting us, and in that city is a throne which we the redeemed of the Lord shall be gathered around singing ‘Hallelujah, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’ (Revelation 7:10, 12)

‘Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.’ 1 Thessalonians  4:13–18

Saturday 27^th

Today brings us to devotion 365, that is one whole year of devotions, it is just over a year since we started but I had a few days on holiday when I did not send devotions out.

We will use as our Scripture today Psalm 36:5, ‘Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.’

As we look back over the year, we can honestly say that God has been good to us as a fellowship, and he has been faithful in every way.

Despite the ongoing pandemic with its restrictions upon us in coming together as a Church family it has not restricted the Holy Spirit in his ongoing work in our lives, and as we have remained faithful in our commitment toward God he has remained faithful toward us.

Looking back over the year, for each one of us we will recall the various ways in which life has been different, sometimes perhaps difficult, and at time extremely frustrating, but we have come through thus far and we believe that in the purpose of God we will continue because as we have constantly been reminded ‘in all things God works for the good of those who are called according to his purpose.’ Romans 8:28

I have said before that when the pandemic hit it caught us out, but I do not believe that God was caught out and he had everything already set in place to allow for his purpose to continue, and when things hopefully begin to return to as near as normal that is possible in June according to the Government’s plan of action, we will continue in what will be the next stage of God’s purpose for us, as individuals and as a Church.

Elaine and I look back and we are amazed at what we have been able to do and the progress we have been able to make with our relocation. We spent 6 months in Middlesbrough and have already been in our home here in Stanley for a further 7 months! When the pandemic began to take hold last February / March we immediately became concerned that it would impact our house sale in Hereford and put a hold or even a stop to our purchase here in the North East, but God was in control, not the pandemic! He had a purpose, and he has ensured that it has been outworked in our lives. It reminds me so much of the verses of Scripture in Proverbs 3:5-6, ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’

I don’t know what you are trusting the Lord in or for at this moment, but remember that God is in control of our circumstances, and as we continue to lean on him, and trust him fully he will bring things to pass as they are aligned to his eternal will and purpose. He will direct your paths.

I don’t know how many of the Church family have stuck with us during this year with reading the devotions, if it is everyone that is good, if it is only a handful that is still okay, but even if it is only one person, then that is also okay, for while seeking to feed you as the flock under my care, I have also been feeding my soul as well. As the saying goes ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink’! I leave it in God’s hands to do whatever he has purposed to do through them as a result of them being sent out on a daily basis and being uploaded for any who want to read on the WordPress blog. It is God’s Word after all that I have been handling and he will not allow it to return void, but it will accomplish that which he has purposed for it. So if you are reading this today, thank you for sticking with me, and I pray that for however long it may be that I need to continue with them that God will yet fulfil his purpose, in my life, in your life and with us as a Church fellowship.

Friday 26^th

Hebrews 9:11-14

NIV (v14) – ‘How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!’

ESV (v14) – ‘How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.’

I want to take from this verse today the short phrase ‘so that we may serve the living God.’ In other words, we are ‘saved to serve’. This is something I recall being spoken a lot about when I was a young Christian in my teenage years.

It is important to realise that yes, we have been saved from our sin and received eternal life, but we must not come to the conclusion that this is all that salvation is all about, being saved from eternal damnation to eternal life. There are so many facets to salvation, just like a diamond, and one of them is that we have been saved to serve, that is we now have a new purpose in life, it is no longer all about self and personal gain and satisfaction, it is about living life for the glory of God.

I personally think that this was one of the positive advantages of the older hymnals in that they had hymns grouped into various sections, and the one was The Christian Life – Service, linked with the hymns of Consecration and I know how much I benefitted from this growing up for in singing the hymns a challenge always came in regard to the importance of finding out or discovering the will of God for your life, I recall the hymns such as the one with the chorus, ‘Thy blessed will divine, with joy I make it mine, my heart shall be thy throne, and thine alone. Choose thou the path I tread and wither I am led, help me to follow on, O mighty Saviour.’ And one I mentioned before which was a real earnest prayer from my heart, O thou who camest from above . . . ready for all they perfect will, my acts of faith and love repeat, till death thy endless mercies seal, and make the sacrifice complete.’

The kind of service we will be involved in will be different for us all, for God as an overall plan in the realm of salvation, and at the same time a unique plan for us as individuals who have been saved. What God has planned for me is different to what he has planned for you. But the wonder is that as we all discover and step into what God has uniquely called us into we will discover that as a body we will function together for the good of the whole as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

The important thing is that we seek out God’s will for our lives, as we are exhorted in Romans 12:1-2 ‘I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’

I love the verses in 1 Corinthians 12:27–31 ‘Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.’ I love it in particular because of that one word ‘helping’ in the KJV it is ‘helps’, I thank God for those in the Churches where I have served as a pastor who have served as ‘helpers’ or ‘helps’, I can think of one young guy in particular who has a faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ which is expressed in his willingness to be a helper, and over the years he was a real blessing and an encouragement to me. The ‘helpers’ or ‘helps’ are as significant and of equal value to those who may function in what we call a higher calling of leadership, and the ministry that God has for us may not necessarily be a ministry within the Church, it could be in the home, in the neighbourhood or even in the work place, it is all about being who God wants us to be and where God wants us to be living for his glory.

Thursday 25^th

Hebrews 9:1-10

NIV (v3) – ‘Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place.’

ESV (v3) – ‘Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place.’

I stopped at this verse with the phrase ‘the Most Holy Place’ and decided we would just investigate this further. What is meant by ‘the Most Holy Place’?

The name itself tells us that it is something somewhere that is of extreme importance, the KJV calls it the ‘Holiest of All.’ The ‘Most Holy Place’ was a room that was separated from the ‘Holy Place’ with a veil or a curtain, If we go back to Exodus 26:33-34 we read ‘And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy. You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place.’ This tells us that the ‘Most Holy Place’ was where the mercy seat and the ark of the testimony were kept.

The ark of the testimony, or the ark of the covenant represented the throne of God in the earth, it is here as we have seen where the mercy seat is to be found.

When Jesus died, the Hebrew writer tells us in this ninth chapter that Jesus entered both the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place on our behalf, (‘he entered once for all into the holy places’ v12) and in doing so he was offering his own blood as an offering for the sins of the world, (‘but by means of his own blood’ v12) thus bringing in the new covenant which would be an everlasting covenant. In going into the Most Holy Place he has become the mediator of this new covenant so that all who receive him will receive the promised eternal inheritance. (v15)

What the writer is emphasizing here is what we have already considered, that Christ HAS done all that is needed to bring about eternal redemption, he HAS entered into ‘the Holy Place’ and into ‘the Most Holy Place’ that is into the very presence of God himself and offered himself, his own blood as the only means of

propitiation for the sins of the world and what he has done will never need to be repeated for it is a permanently effective sacrifice, ‘For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.’

‘Christ has for sin atonement made, what a wonderful Saviour, we are redeemed the price is paid, what a wonderful Saviour. What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Jesus, what a wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord.’

But the good news continues as we have already discovered, because Christ has entered the ‘Most Holy Place’ on our behalf we too have access into the presence of God,  we can draw near to him. Hebrews 4:16 ‘Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace . . .’ Hebrews 7:19 ‘. . . a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.’ And v25 ‘Consequently he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God . . .’

May we take full advantage of this awesome privilege of being able to draw near to God, not in fear and trembling, but with respect and awe, in the full knowledge that ‘In Christ’ our sin has been dealt with and we can come before God himself clothed in robes of righteousness, come before him in praise, adoration and worship, knowing that what Christ has done as effected for us not only eternal redemption but eternal access. What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord.

No more veil ! God bids me enter,

By the new and living way.

Not in trembling hope I venture,

Boldly I His call obey:

There with Him, my God I meet,

God upon the mercy seat !

In the robes of spotless whiteness,

With the blood of priceless worth,

He has gone into that brightness,

Christ rejected from the earth –

Christ accepted there on high,

And in Him do I draw nigh.

Oh, the welcome I have found there,

God in all His love made known !

Oh, the glories that surround there,

Those accepted in His Son !

Who can tell the depths of bliss,

Spoken by the Father’s kiss ?

One with Him, O Lord, before Thee,

There I live, and yet not I;

Christ it is who there adores Thee ;

Who more dear, or who more nigh ?

All the Father’s heart mine own –

Mine – and yet His Son’s alone.

All the worth I have before Him

is the value of the Blood;

I present when I adore Him,

Christ the first-fruits unto God ;

Him with joy doth God behold,

Thus is my acceptance told.

Wednesday 24^th

Hebrews 8

NIV (v6) – ‘But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.’

ESV (v6) – ‘But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.’

It was back on March 3^rd when I took the theme from Hebrews covering the ‘better things’ and from this verse I said that Christ has obtained a ‘better ministry’ for it is based on ‘better promises’.

In a nutshell everything about the new covenant is better than the old covenant. As we have already seen the old covenant was temporal, it was only intended to be until the time arrived when the mediator of a new covenant would come.

The better ministry means that we no longer rely on a priest who himself needs to deal with his own sin first, but we rely on the high priest who knew no sin.

It also means that what needed to take place on a regular basis, no longer needs to take place because we are relying on our high priest who has made a once for all and a once for all time sacrifice on our behalf. It also means that the effects of the sacrifice our high priest has made are not temporal but permanent as we saw yesterday ‘to the uttermost’.

But this verse also talks of better promises, and this is best summed up in the fact that all through the Old Testament and the repeated sacrifices that needed to be made, God had something planned that was going to be far better and  as we have seen more effective because its effects would be eternal. And so, the old covenant was just a shadow of something far better that was to come, and of course now we know it came and began at Calvary and continues in heaven. If we need to, we put it this way, in the old covenant the promise was that the sin would be covered, in the new covenant a far better promise, it will be taken away. In the old covenant it was temporal, in the new covenant, a far better promise it would be eternal.  And it was Jesus who obtained the far better ministry than that of any old covenant priest in that he was to be the one to put the sacrifice into effect by the offering up of himself and be the one who would provide the eternal benefits, and the priest that did the sacrifice in the old covenant may have died by the time it came to do it the next time and so a another priest would be put into office, but for us another sacrifice is not needed, and our high priest is alive and our high priest lives forever.

Again today I am re-emphasising things I have already mentioned through these devotions on Hebrews, but they are worth repeating to keep reminding our selves that we have become partakers of something that is far better and more effective than the Old Testament saints that have gone on before us ever experienced. And we are reminded in that verse that I have referred to a few times at the end of Hebrews chapter 11, ‘And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.’ (vv39-40) That is good news for them and for us, the day is coming when we shall all receive what God has provided for all who have trusted confidently and faithfully in him. And let us remind ourselves with this Scripture, ‘But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”’ 1 Corinthians 2:9 as I said when speaking the other Sunday, ‘it is out of this world!’

Thank God that Jesus was faithful in fulfilling the ‘better ministry’ so that we can reap the benefit of the ‘better promises.’

Tuesday 23^rd

Hebrews 7

NIV (v25) – ‘Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.’

ESV (v25) – ‘Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.’

I remember hearing someone preaching from this verse and saying, ‘He is able to save to the uttermost, he is able to save form the ‘guttermost’. That is that the power of the Cross, the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient to save the whosoever, no matter how far into the gutter of sin they may have fallen. And this is good news. Some of us may feel that before we came to Christ that we were reasonably good living people in comparison to those we may have known or heard of that had committed the most heinous of crimes, but the verdict that God placed upon everyone of us is very clear in Scripture, that there was none that was righteous, not even one, and that we had all sinned and fallen short of his glory. (Romans 3:9-10, 23) We were all in the gutter, we were all dead in trespasses and sin, we were all cut off, alienated from God and we were all heading for the same destination, but thank God that he was rich in mercy and abounding in grace and he put forward a plan to redeem and reconcile, which he put into place in his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:16 reminds us. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ Notice the words, ‘that whoever believes’ that is from the ‘guttermost’ the vilest and most wretched of sinners can be saved if they come in repentance to the Cross. That is the wonder of Calvary love.

Our Hebrew writer is reminding us of this fact, Jesus can and will save to the uttermost. The one that today seems the most furthest away from God can be brought near to him through the blood of the Cross, the one who may today be languishing in a prison cell suffering the punishment for deeds he will have committed can be brought near to God through the blood of the Cross, the one who is filling their day with all sorts of good works can be brought near to God through the blood of the Cross, the one who would fit the bill as the person who never seems to do anything wrong can be brought near to God through the blood of the Cross, any man, any woman, any boy or any girl who puts their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ can be brought near to God by the blood of the Cross, for because of what Christ has done, the whosoever can come. And the writer continues that in coming we are saved to the uttermost, that is we are saved into eternity, as the NIV says, we are saved completely. This is in  comparison to the Old Testament sacrifices, where the priest would enter into the holy place and make a sacrifice, but it was only temporal, it would need to be repeated, but Christ having offered himself as a sacrifice was a once only sacrifice which has effect for all of eternity. The Old Testament sacrifices were like a sticky plaster, a temporary cover, but In Christ the sin is not covered it is taken away, a permanent cleansing that saves us to the uttermost, that saves us into eternity.

Jesus has died and has risen again,

Pardon and peace to bestow;

Fully I trust him, from sins guilty stain

Jesus saves me now.

Sin’s condemnation is over and gone,

Jesus alone knoweth how;

Life and salvation my soul hath put on;

Jesus saves me now.

Jesus is stronger than Satan and sin,

Satan to Jesus must bow,

Therefore I triumph without and within;

Jesus saves me now.

Sorrow and pain may beset me about,

Nothing can darken my brow;

Battling in faith I can joyfully shout,

Jesus saves me now.

Jesus saves me now!

Jesus saves me now!

Yes, Jesus saves me all the time,

Jesus saves me now.

And he is saving me to the uttermost!

Monday 22^nd

Hebrews 6:13-20

NIV (v19-20) – ‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’

ESV (v19-20) – ‘We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’

‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure’ (NIV) ‘We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul’ (ESV) ‘Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast’ (KJV)

‘We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure while the billows roll, fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!’

Our text tells us that we are safely anchored because of the hope that we have before us (v18). It is a hope that is certain because of what Christ has a) accomplished at Calvary and b) because of what he continues to accomplish as he has gone through the curtain into the inner place as a high priest on our behalf.

This hope that we have is sure or certain, it is guaranteed because as we saw yesterday it is based upon the promises of God who cannot lie. The hope becomes ours immediately that we come to Christ and accept him as Saviour and Lord. We could say that at that moment when we were saved or born again, we were like a ship that came from a stormy sea into the harbour and moored, safe from the danger of the storm, the rope or chain firmly anchored to the mooring post. And we have anchored our lives to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, may I say we have anchored our lives to the post, the Cross, it is a solid, and a firm anchor, and as long as we remain there we are safe in the promises of God. But it is not only the Cross that is our anchor, it is the one himself who hung on the Cross, he is the anchor for our soul, for he himself is the one who is in heaven at this time interceding for us, and our text also reminds us that our hope itself is also an anchor. That is because the hope that we have set our souls upon is a sure and certain hope, not a finger’s crossed hope, but a hope that is firmly established in the fact that God has accepted what Christ has done on our behalf, therefore in Christ he accepts us. We don’t wish for eternal life, we already have it, and we know with a confidence assurance in our hearts that when our departure time from this world comes we will leave all our struggles behind and pass straight into our eternal abode with our heavenly Father. It is a definite hope, it is an eternal hope. O the joy that should fill our hearts when we contemplate the wonder of this great salvation, the joy that knows with absolute assurance that our souls are safely anchored.

‘When our eyes behold, through the gathering night, the city of gold, our harbour bright, we shall anchor fast by the Heavenly shore, with the storms all past for evermore. We have an anchor that keeps the soul . . .’

Sunday 21st

Hebrews 6:13-20

NIV (v18) – ‘God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.’

ESV (v18) – ‘so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.’

I have included this verse in our devotions for it reminds us of the surety of the truthfulness of God. Paul when writing to Titus made a similar claim about the truthfulness of God by saying, ‘Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Saviour.’ (Titus 1:1-3)

God cannot lie, therefore everything he speaks is truth, truthful. Therefore, we can conclude that if God has promised salvation for all who put their hope and trust in him, then salvation is what we will have. Salvation that entails all that is involved in the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  ‘And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.’  1 John 2:25

We can make promises and fall back on our word, or just not fulfil it, but not so with God, he is not only a truthful God but he is also a faithful God and what he says he will do, he will accomplish, he will fulfil. Sadly that also leads to a negative aspect, and it is this, if he has promised salvation for all who believe, what is in place for all who fail to believe, and we know from Scripture it is eternal destruction, the day will come when it will be declared, ‘Depart from me for I never knew you’, and those who hear this declared to them will be cast into the lake of fire and will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10, 13-15)

The fact that God is a God who cannot and never will lie is a comforting thought for us as believers, for as our text says, it is an encouragement to us. After we have surrendered our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, we can go through life, however long it may be for each one of us, knowing that whatever life throws at us, whether good or bad, easy or tough, sickness or health, wealth or poverty, there is an eternal destination we are heading toward that is a sure guarantee based upon the promises of God. And Scripture elsewhere reminds us that all God’s promises are yes and amen in Christ Jesus. (‘For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.’ 2 Corinthians 1:20) That is they are outworked and fulfilled a) through all that Christ has done for us at Calvary and through his resurrection from the dead, b) through the very fact that he is in heaven at this moment interceding on our behalf and c) through the assurance we have that he is coming again and in coming again it is to take us to our eternal reward. This will be our subject in the devotion on Sunday 28^th.

Here are a couple of verses from the book of James which remind us of the promises made by God, remembering that he is faithful toward his promises for God cannot lie. The first encourages us to hold on, keep going, the second reminding us that even if we may not be rich in this world, we are rich in the promises of God.

‘Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.’ James 1:12

‘Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?’ James 2:5