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Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4;12-16)
Lord, bless this Tuesday in the life of this dear Reader! My prayers for a great day for you and yours as we start our day in prayer and devotion to the Lord. Please pray for those in West Texas affected by the floods in Junction, Llano and those areas. May God keep all safe. One member of FUMC-San Angelo was missing. Our own Bob Clark is safe. Prayers for Dick Goss who is recovering from hand surgery. I visited with him yesterday and he is optimistic about today's followup visit. Pray for a great visit! Pray for one another, pray for yourselves.
I suppose most little boys and young men are fascinated by weapons, swords being high on most lists. My grandsons have more than their share of plastic swords, and even light sabers made famous by the Star Wars movies. My maternal grandfather had two Mexican walking canes. They were made of wood and had beautifully made decorations on them. One was hollow and filled with Mexican silver pesos. It weighed a ton and was very much a weapon. The other had a sword inside of it. It was a weapon as well. I had no desire to possess those for I knew the harm and damage they could do. My paternal grandfather at one point in his life decided he no longer wanted to be a Mason and gave to me a huge Masonic sword. My uncles on my mom's side heard about it and came to claim the sword as theirs because they were still very active in the lodge. I can't say that I was sad or sorry to see that weapon leave my possession either. We do have, however a two-edged, or double-sided sword that we can use both for offense and defense, and it is our Bible. The author of Hebrews says it is also alive and active, and more so when we actually pick it up and read it! It can pierce "until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." And that's all true. Some have called the Bible a mirror where we can see ourselves from God's perspective. We can see the flaws and stains on our very being, and it also shows us He who can remove those from us. The more we read it, the more we learn, and the more we learn the more we can share with others who are in need. That is the offense we have. We can proceed to grow the Kingdom of God with advancing His word. The Bible is also our defense against he who opposes God and would love nothing better than to see us suffer and confused. And again, we must pick up the Bible and use it!
The passage also gets intimate and says no one is hidden from God. We are all spiritually naked before God and one day we will bear an account before Him. But today is the day when we can get cleansed by God. Our stains and flaws can be removed through prayer and through Bible study. Jesus paid the price of our sins, but we must claim it. And we must call on He who is our defense attorney, Jesus Christ. He loves and understands our situations. He has gone through all things, but is perfect and free from sin; we're not. So, as the passage also says, "Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hint: pray constantly and boldly. Learn to trust God to stand with us during our difficult times. God is faithful and just, and ready to forgive.
PRAYER: Loving Father, stand with me right now. You know me and know my flaws and stains. Remove them from me and replace them with faith and boldness. Let me not be timid when it comes time to share faith with those in doubt. Let me not be afraid to share love with those who feel alone and unloved. Let me not be afraid to speak hope when with those who have little to no hope. Glorify Yourself in me, this I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Show the strength of God in sharing Him with someone today!
Eradio Valverde
Want to know more about Hebrews? I recommend this book: https://amzn.to/2OgJRZ6
