Everything is under surveillance today. You can’t walk down the street without a camera recording your journey. Most people accept it as a daily part of life and are thankful they can refer back to it when an accident happens. Others bristle at the thought of someone watching them. Did you know this knowing new for Christians? You are an open book to Jesus.

‭‭HEBREWS‬ ‭4:13

“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

The verse right before this one is very well known. Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” It talks about how God’s words can pierce down to the smallest issue. God’s Word speaks to us. There is another aspect that we don’t give much thought to. No one is hidden from the sight of Jesus. Nothing is done in secret. He can see everything you are doing, and you will have to account for your actions.

People are being kidnapped from their home countries and sold on the black market to wealthy people to serve as servants in their homes. Did you know that in the Old Testament, people would sell themselves into slavery, and by choosing to serve, they decided to stay permanently?

‭‭EXODUS‬ ‭21:5-6‬

“But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.”

Slaves could choose to stay with their masters. In Israel, most slaves had term limits. They were working off debts or something of that nature, and at the end of that time, they were free to go. It was often better to stay with the master than go out alone. Most of the time, the slave had become trusted by the family, had a place to live, and had good food to eat. Those weren’t guaranteed when they went out on their own. So many slaves decided to serve their masters permanently. They marked that decision by putting a wooden awl in the ear.

It may be a little soon to think about new years resolutions for 2023, but can I offer one? Be an Encourager. Look for people who need to be built up and be their biggest cheerleader. See their potential over their faults and walk with them through the whole year to help them accomplish their goals. Who knows, you might keep them from the wrong path. By doing this, you will fulfill what Hebrews tells us, “Encourage one another.”

‭‭HEBREWS‬ ‭3:13

“But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

The temptation to fall away from the Lord is real. I know some teachers teach that you can’t lose your salvation, and I believe that, but after thirty years in the ministry, I have seen plenty of people leave their salvation. This passage is very clear. Verse twelve says, “Take care, lest any of you have an evil and unbelieving heart and fall away from the Lord.” Sin, unbelief, and evil harden your heart and pulls you away from the Lord. A once vibrant relationship with the Lord can slowly diminish over time.

There is a housing shortage where I live. Even though prices and interest rates are at an all-time high, construction is still going at a breakneck pace. There have been questions about how some lower-income housing is being built. It looks cheap and unstable, and people are complaining that it will be an eyesore. Who will be accountable when there are problems? That makes today’s passage interesting, “Every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.”

‭‭HEBREWS‬ ‭3:4‬

“For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.”

It is essential to understand the context of this verse. The author of Hebrews is comparing Moses and Jesus. Moses was a faithful servant in the house of the Lord, but Jesus was over the house. Jesus is greater than Moses. To some Jews, those are fighting words. No one is greater than Moses. He is their guy. He led them out of Egypt (actually, God did with Moses being faithfully obedient to Him). To some Jews, Moses gave them the law (once again, Moses went up on a mountain and got the law from the Lord).

Sometimes the key to going forward is taking a few steps back. If you want to build something up, you need to break it down. If you want to soar to new heights, you need to go a little lower. To be the best leader, you need to learn how to be a humble servant. No one embodies that better than Jesus Christ. He made Himself lower than the angels for a little while to take the role of a servant and humble Himself to the point of dying on the cross.

‭‭HEBREWS‬ ‭2:7‬

“YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS;”

I love how the author of Hebrews writes this passage. You made Him, for a little while, lower than the angels. (I added the English grammar). In chapter one, we see the deity of Jesus, and now, in chapter two, we see the humanity of Jesus. The Angels reside in heaven, and Jesus was sent to earth; thus, for the little time He was here, He was lower than them. He added a human nature to His Godly nature and was BOTH fully God and fully man. That is important because people either deny that Jesus was God or that He was man.

If you were to ask some older Christians what advice they would give younger Christians, inevitably, they would say to keep their lives pure. This answer would come from the experience and heartbreak they went through by wandering away from what they were taught in church. They thought they could have their faith and the allures of the world only to find out the hard truth. The psalmist shows you how to keep your way pure.

‭‭PSALMS‬ ‭119:9-10

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your Word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.”

The psalmist is wondering out loud how a young man can stay pure in the world in which he lives. By reading between the lines, you can tell that he has gone through struggles and is looking for answers. The only solution he has found is by keeping the Word of God. When he guides his life according to the principles of Scripture, he stays on the right path. God’s Word is a light to your path and a lamp to your feet. When you use it correctly, it will show you the way to go. Make a practice of getting into God’s Word every day.

Several times in Scripture, we are given a glimpse of the glory of Jesus Christ. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John see Jesus’ face shine as bright as the sun. In Revelation 1, John sees Jesus standing in the midst of seven golden lampstands with hair as white wool and eyes like lightning. Here in Hebrew, we see Jesus shining in radiance.

‭‭HEBREWS‬ ‭1:3-4

“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”

Hebrews shows the glory of Jesus Christ. The author, who we don’t know, states that Jesus is the radiance of His glory. Jesus shines the light of His Father. We learn from Matthew 17 and Revelation 1 that it is as bright as the sun. He is also the spitting image of His Father in looks, most notably in character. Finally, He holds all things together by the power of His Word. The world doesn’t spin out of control, and things happen as they should because Jesus is in control.

For the longest time, our kitchen floor leaned a certain way. If something fell on the floor, it would roll till it hit the cabinets. It wasn’t till we had a water issue that our contractor discovered we had a cracked header, and if someone would’ve jumped hard, they would’ve fallen through. Our floor needed to be shored up with a new four-by-four header and cement post attached. After that, our floor was level. The church is to the anchor to the cornerstone, Jesus Christ, which keeps it level and true.

PSALMS‬ ‭118:22

“The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone.”

This psalm is what they call a Messianic psalm. It foretells something about the coming Messiah who will save God’s people. Here the psalmist is using a building analogy to say that the religious leaders during the Messiah’s time will reject him, but God will make Him the Cornerstone of the church. In Israel, they used stone to build their buildings because it was a resource that was in abundance. They would find a stone and chisel it into a perfect ninety-degree angle. This would be the cornerstone that they would set the rest of the stones of the building on, so it would be true.

In the movie The Patriot with Mel Gibson, he is charged to fight off trained British soldiers with a bunch of militia who are farmers by trade. At one of their first battles, as the soldiers get close, he tells them to hold off firing until they can see the whites of their eyes. That is too close for most of them, and many want to retreat or shoot. Mel Gibson repeatedly says, “Steady,” to remind them to wait and not move. That took a lot of trust. Moses showed the same trust as he raised his hands in battle.

EXODUS‬ ‭17:11

So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed.

The nation of Amalek came against Israel. Moses instructed Joshua to gather some men and fight against them. Moses, Aaron, and Hur headed up to the top of the hill, where Moses raised his hands towards the Lord. As long as he raised his hands, Israel was victorious. As his arms began to sink because Moses grew weary, Amalek started to gain momentum. Aaron and Hur put a stone under Moses for him to sit on, and they held his arms up till the sun went down and Israel defeated the Amalekites.

There was a lady who was praying for God to use her. She was grocery shopping, and God told her to buy an extra gallon of milk. She didn’t have the money or the need, but she was obedient. As she drove home, she drove by a home, and God told her to stop and give the gallon of milk to the family. She argued with God for a while. She didn’t know the family, and she was in a hurry. Finally, she relented and walked up to the house. After she knocked on the door, a mother with three small children answered. The lady told her that God told her to give her this gallon of milk. The mother started to cry. They had just run out of food and had no money, and she had cried out to God for help. The milk was just what she needed for young children. This shows you need to be ready for good works.

‭‭TITUS‬ ‭3:14‬

“Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.”

There will always be needs in the church. The people need to be ready to engage in the most pressing needs. Ignoring those needs will cause them to be unfruitful. Why does Paul say this to Titus? First, God designed the church to be self-sustaining. There are enough resources to meet the needs. If there is a shortage, it is because people are not stepping up and using their gifts. Second, unused fruit goes bad. If the Spirit grows fruit in your heart, it must benefit the local church. If you are holding back, the church becomes unfruitful, and you become spoiled.

There is a video of a woman on a scooter who gets hit by a car, then slides into a storm drain and disappears. Rescue workers have to pull her out by her boots to get her out. As I watched the video, I was reminded of today’s passage. We are rescued from death just like Israel was from Egypt and Jesus was from the Tomb.

‭‭PSALMS‬ ‭116:8-9

“For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living.”

The Psalms between 113-118 are known as the Egyptian Hallel Psalms. They recount God rescuing them from slavery and the hands of Pharaoh. Jesus made these Psalms His own as he sang them the night before His crucifixion. These words bring a whole new power if you look at them in that light. Jesus was resurrected from death. Hence we were rescued from death, our eyes from tears, and our feet from stumbling.

Has someone wise ever given you advice you didn’t listen to, only for those words to ring true in your mind years later? That’s happened to me several times. That is what happened to Peter when he saw the Holy Spirit descend upon the household of Cornelius. Immediately he remembered the words of Jesus.

‭‭ACTS‬ ‭11:16

“And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'”

Peter was preaching in Cornelius’ house, and during the middle of the message, the Holy Spirit fell, and they were filled with the Spirit. This left Peter a little bewildered. Gentiles received the Spirit as the Jews did on Pentecost. At the moment, He knew that everything Jesus had promised them was also available to the Gentiles. After the outpouring of the Spirit, Peter was reminded of the words of Jesus when He said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” The prophet Isaiah prophesied that this would happen in Isaiah 44:3.

If you want to build a building that will last, you start with an architect who will draw you some blueprints that the contractor will use. The church has a blueprint in the Bible that has structured it for success. In the Pastoral epistle, Paul lays out how older men are to provide an example for the younger men to follow to ensure that success.

‭‭TITUS‬ ‭2:2

“Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance.”

Paul gave the church a structure that would ensure its success. Older men are to set the example in how they live by being dignified, sensible, and sound in their faith. Older women are to mentor younger women in how to raise their children. If this system is effective, the church will be sustained for generations. If there is a breakdown in any of these areas, you will see the church and families begin to crumble. It is the role of the church leadership to uphold this standard and hold everyone accountable.

Inclusiveness is a popular word today. People sling it around to include everything from gender to religion. The intention is that no one is excluded, and people can come as they are. Did you know the church should be the same way? God shows no partiality. The Gospel...

Ever feel backed into a corner with no way out? Sometimes life can leave you feeling like you are running out of options with nowhere to turn. As a believer in Jesus Christ, this is where you need to stand and see the Lord come through. He knows your predicament. Your situation may be unique to you, but He has handled it many times before. Cry out to Him and watch what He accomplishes you today.

‭‭EXODUS‬ ‭14:13

“But Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.”

Israel found itself in a tough spot. They were up against the Red Sea with mountains all around them. There were only two ways to go, into the water or back the way they came, and Pharaoh was charging hard that way. Understandably, the Israelites were full of fear. Moses tells them to Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord. Egypt may be threatening right now, but tomorrow they will be gone.

Not everyone in the church is a good person. Not everyone is saved. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing purposely trying to do damage. The Church leadership needs to be on alert and have systems in place to prevent people from getting hurt. Nothing is fail-proof, but the church needs to be more discerning. If it isn’t, whole families will be swept away and destroyed.

‭‭TITUS‬ ‭1:10-11

“For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

In the early days of the church, there were Jews who were teaching Gentiles that they needed to be circumcised and followed the dietary law. They were leading whole families astray, and worse was that they were doing it for personal gain. You could spot them because they rebelled against the church leadership, were all talk and no action, and told half-truths. Paul was dealing with these people in many of the churches he started. Gentiles who were worshipping in freedom were being put under the bondage of the law by Messianic Jews, and he is warning Titus to watch out for them.

Last year I battled double pneumonia and blood clots in my legs. It almost wiped out a whole year of my health. I lost all of my strength, where even walking was exhausting. It wasn’t until the start of the summer that I was able to get back into the gym. It was slow at first, and only now do I feel energized and at full strength. The interesting thing is that when I was at my weakest physically, I felt the strongest spiritually and closest to Jesus. Where do you find your strength?

‭‭2 TIMOTHY‬ ‭4:17

“But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.”

These are Paul’s final written words. Soon he will be martyred under Emperor Nero’s reign. Most scholars believe that Paul and Peter were martyred around the same time. In his last words, you will find that hope and strength needed to withstand the persecution. The Lord stood and strengthened him so he could proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles. For someone who had been in prison for years, this was incredible confidence in his Savior.

I have missionary friends all over the world. One of the things I loved hearing was how they were called to the work they are doing. Most were leading normal lives, and one day they felt a stirring in their hearts. As they began to seek God, they started to see doors open for them to go. Soon their church was sending them, and the life they knew was in the rearview mirror. They were headed on an adventure of a lifetime.

‭‭ACTS‬ ‭13:2-3

“While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.”

The church in Antioch was mighty in the works of the Spirit and rich in the teaching of the word. During one of their meetings, as they were fasting, the Spirit told them to set apart Saul and Barnabas for a unique work. The elders listened, prayed, laid hands on them, and sent them off on their first missionary journey. The church would expand dramatically during this time. The doors would be flung open to the Gentiles, the old system of Jewish rules would be laid aside, and the world would be turned upside down.