Bible League: Living His Word . . . looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.Hebrews Chapter 11 gives us a list of heroes of faith that is meant to inspire us to walk in the same faith as they did. In Chapter 12, however, we are given one final example of faith. We are given Jesus, the hero who is the very "founder and perfecter of our faith." As such, Jesus is worthy of being dealt with in a separate treatment apart from the other heroes. Jesus is the founder (or "author") and perfecter (or "finisher") of our faith because He is from first to last the archetypal example of what it means to have faith in God. His faith, to put it another way, supersedes the faith of any of the previously mentioned heroes of faith and serves as the preeminent and perfect example as a result. We should look to Jesus, therefore, before we look to any of the other heroes. The faith of the other heroes, exemplary though it is, is not comparable to the matchless faith of Jesus. The main reason that Jesus holds this exalted position in the hall of the heroes of faith is that He was able by faith to see past the horror of the cross to the joy that was in store for Him. Jesus believed there would be great joy at the right hand of the throne of God and that there would be great joy for having saved the whole creation. Given His faith, Jesus was able to bear the pain, suffering, and shame of the events associated with His trial and crucifixion. Indeed, Jesus did more than bear them. He "despised the shame." Instead of allowing the shame and everything else to inhabit and overwhelm His soul, He despised them by refusing to give them entrance into His sense of himself. By faith Jesus overcame the shame and He now sits in the place of highest honor in heaven and earth. In the world of trouble we live in we may be going through many things that we would rather not be going through. Like our hero Jesus, however, there are great rewards set before us that we will obtain if we overcome by faith just as He did. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 112-115 Psalm 112 -- Blessed is the man who fears the Lord NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 113 -- Praise, you servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 114 -- When Israel went forth out of Egypt NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 115 -- Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 1 Corinthians 1 1 Corinthians 1 -- Greetings and Thanksgiving; Exhortation to Unity; We preach Christ crucified NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father's hand.Insight Just as a shepherd protects his sheep, Jesus protects his people from eternal harm. While believers can expect to suffer on earth, Satan cannot harm their souls or take away their eternal life with God. There are many reasons to be afraid here on earth because this is the devil's domain. Challenge But if you choose to follow Jesus, he will give you everlasting safety. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Psalm 31:4 Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.Our spiritual foes are of the serpent's brood, and seek to ensnare us by subtlety. The prayer before us supposes the possibility of the believer being caught like a bird. So deftly does the fowler do his work, that simple ones are soon surrounded by the net. The text asks that even out of Satan's meshes the captive one may be delivered; this is a proper petition, and one which can be granted: from between the jaws of the lion, and out of the belly of hell, can eternal love rescue the saint. It may need a sharp pull to save a soul from the net of temptations, and a mighty pull to extricate a man from the snares of malicious cunning, but the Lord is equal to every emergency, and the most skilfully placed nets of the hunter shall never be able to hold his chosen ones. Woe unto those who are so clever at net laying; they who tempt others shall be destroyed themselves. "For thou art my strength." What an inexpressible sweetness is to be found in these few words! How joyfully may we encounter toils, and how cheerfully may we endure sufferings, when we can lay hold upon celestial strength. Divine power will rend asunder all the toils of our enemies, confound their politics, and frustrate their knavish tricks; he is a happy man who has such matchless might engaged upon his side. Our own strength would be of little service when embarrassed in the nets of base cunning, but the Lord's strength is ever available; we have but to invoke it, and we shall find it near at hand. If by faith we are depending alone upon the strength of the mighty God of Israel, we may use our holy reliance as a plea in supplication. "Lord, evermore thy face we seek: Tempted we are, and poor, and weak; Keep us with lowly hearts, and meek. Let us not fall. Let us not fall." Daily Light on the Daily Path Isaiah 45:11 Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: "Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons, And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.Ezekiel 36:26,27,37 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. • "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. • 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. Matthew 18:19,20 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. • "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." Mark 11:22,23 And Jesus answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. • "Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |