GOD SPEAKS
Suggested Reading: Hebrews 1-2
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
An Orthodox Jew and another less religious person pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, which is part of the original retaining wall of the Temple Mount during the time of Jesus. During Jesus' three years of teaching, preaching and healing the sick, thousands of Jews believed in Him, and many thousands more believed following His death and resurrection. Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the Temple of God. When asked, "What sign do You show to us?" His answer was, "Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). John went on to say, "But He was speaking of the Temple of His body"... His death and resurrection.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Hebrews 1:1-2
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds…
What we used to call “the bare subject” of the key sentence is “God.” The bare predicate or verb (action word) is “has spoken.” How does God speak in the present? The literal words in the Greek language of the writer describes how God speaks now. He does not say that He speaks in Greek, Hebrew, or for us in English, but God speaks “by His Son.” Jesus is, in Himself, what God has to say to the human race. Jesus is the living “Word” – God’s means of communication with us (read John 1:14-18). “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Today’s reading contains 15 direct quotes from the Hebrew Bible, which lets us in on what God said to His Son in eternity past. For example, Hebrews 1:8a, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” This reminds us of the prophecy of the Jewish prophet Isaiah, who wrote in Isaiah 9:6, “Unto us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is given…His Name will be called…Mighty God.” In the light of dozens of such prophecies, no wonder thousands of those who practised Judaism became followers of Jesus as their promised Saviour and God.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I’ve just read in Hebrews 2:1 words which I pray that You’ll write indelibly on my heart. I “must give the more ernest heed to the things we [I] have heard, lest we [I] drift away.” Keep me, Lord Jesus, close, so very close to You always. In Your Name (Your Person) I pray, Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I often quote to myself and to God the words of Hebrews 2:9, “But we see Jesus…” I think that one of the reasons we don’t have a physical description of what Jesus looked like recorded in Scripture is that the Holy Spirit, wanting us to see with insight rather than physical sight, deliberately avoided telling us of the outward appearance of Jesus. I ask myself, can I say to Jesus, “I see You!”
I can’t pass by these chapters without a warning that there are false teachers who will come to every door sooner or later, who believe that Jesus was the archangel Michael. That’s right, they teach that Jesus is an angel! I’ve just read again Hebrews 1:5-14. How dare they teach such lies? Let’s love these people who are deceived by the one who comes as an “angel of light,” but in reality is the fallen angel, Lucifer or Satan (read 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Any teaching that seeks to lower the Person of Jesus from being 100% God as well as 100% Human is “the spirit of antichrist” (read 1 John 4:1-6).
Yours to help open the eyes of our hearts to see, carefully observe, and take in every detail of His Person as revealed to us through our daily Bible readings,
David
P.S. Many artists have tried to represent Jesus in a painting. My favourite one is of Jesus knocking at the door of the human heart. It hangs in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England (see photo of the painting below). It carries a powerful message, but of course, it is not an actual likeness of Jesus in His human Person. We do have a word picture of Jesus in His glory given by the Apostle John who saw Him in a vision and did his best to describe Him for us (read Revelation 1:12-20). I am eagerly looking forward to seeing Jesus face-to-face soon (1 Corinthians 13:12). The Angels said, as Jesus’ followers watched Him leave earth, “This same Jesus…will so come in like manner as you saw Him go onto Heaven” (Acts 1:7-11). If any reader has not opened your heart’s door to invite Jesus inside, please do so now as you consider the painting below. There is no handle on the outside of the door. It’s only on the inside. You may choose to open the door. He will never break the door down and forcibly enter. He loves you and waits for your decision. There is a little chorus that says, “Into my heart. Into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus. Come in today. Come in to stay. Come into my heart Lord Jesus.” Make this you prayer (click here for the song, “Into My Heart”).
Christ at Your Heart's Door by Warner Sallman.
Thanks David for posting that picture of Jesus it is my favourite as well. It hung in the church in Brockville Ontario when I was a teenager. I loved it . I saw one in St. Pauls but it was different he was carrying a lantern it was very lovely as well.
I pray for all who have invited Jesus into their heart, to experience a spirit of renewal this Christmas, found in His heart and compassion for all your needs. Blessings and cheer, to all!
Amen 🙂
…and to you as well brother… Thank you Jesus.
God who became flesh to live among us – human in every respect and perfectly God in every respect…
Thank you Father for sending your Holy Spirit comforter… Praise you always and forever… Amen!
Amen!!
Thank you Pastor David for this your message to me today!
We continue to ask for God’s divine mercy in able to serve Him…we need Him so much,
On Saturday I injured my shoulder decorating a Christmas tree. The following day after a snow storm I had to shovel my driveway which is very large and long. With my shoulder I didn’t think it would be possible, but instead of believing I was shoveling I chose to believe Jesus was doing it through me. It would be his strong arms and shoulder of a carpenter, not my weak and weary arms of a over fifty year old woman doing the work. As I was shoveling I experienced no pain and the driveway is clear. Praise God.
However today my shoulder hurts more than ever and I have so many things to do before Christmas, so in front of my fellow saints I now offering my pain to our Lord for His glory– every winch will be my song of praise, thanking God for this chance to stay close to Him in my pain instead of being distracted by all the errands and stress of the season. In the past I might have felt sorry for myself or gotten mad at God for allowing this to happen at an inconvenient time, but hearing of how so many of you are bearing burdens far worse than mine with such grace and love, I resolved to follow your wonderful example of faith. I firmly believe with the Lord’s help all the errands will get done and if He is willing I pray for healing in His time. Amen
Blessings to you sister… Let it be so… In Jesus name… Amen!
Praying for you, Donna.
Believing and praying with you Donna that you will be able to accomplish everything you need to do in Jesus Name – AMEN!!!!…….and for healing to your shoulder. Thank you Lord right now for touching Donna’s shoulder in Your Name and You will receive all the Glory, Honour and Praise!!! Hallelujah & AMEN
As always, your message today is inspiring. Being new to studying the bible, I had to “Google” about what the seven churchs in Revelation 1:20 meant. WOW! That’s a study in itself.
Thanks so much for your daily blog David. My prayers are with you and your blog followers for a safe, healthy and meaningful Christmas celebration.
Thank you David for another wonderful blog on Hebrews. Thank you M for your comforting words from yesterday. May the Lord touch your shoulder and heal it Donna M. I want to share how the Lord answered your prayers already for my snow removal. I woke up about 5AM and read Hebrews 1-2 and a commentary and went back to sleep. When I woke up and looked out to see how much snow had fallen, I was delightfully surprised to see that my friend with a tractor had ploughed the length of my driveway and now I only have to deal with the remainder. God is so good and thank you. Talk about angelic help. I love that picture of Jesus as well. Amen to both prayer of David M. and David, fellow blogger. My heart is full today and the sun is making the snow glisten. Pray the same for everyone.
Praise God! Amen, Ger!
That’s awesome Ger!!!! God cares about all things!!!!
Today is Monday December 16. I have just read David’s 100 words where he talks about his dreaming of Rob Ford being restored to spiritual and physical health. I wanted to mention that I saw on Face Book a video showing the Mayor in attendance at Toronto West Church of God seemingly enjoying the service. All the things are possible to them that believe!
Thank you, David for such an informative and poignant message, this morning, full of powerful scriptures proving our Saviour’s place in heaven, and purpose in our individual lives. The photo of this painting, Christ at Your Heart’s Door by Warner Sallman is outstanding. Furthermore, it will help provide the message for an old friend that each one of us has to open our door to let Jesus into our lives.
The words of 1 John 4:4-6 are so valuable: You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Wishing all saints a blessed day, with a ceasing of pain for Donna, and continued prayers for David Mainse’ healing.
Dear Rev. David M.
What a beautiful old hymn that I definately am using today as a prayer . Lord Jesus come into my heart today , come in to my heart to stay. Heavenly Father thank you for sending Your precious Son Jesus , our Saviour. our King , our Healer .who is more than able to do much more and than we cant even imagine .
So Lord I thank you in advance for the healing you will bring to our dear sister Donna M. and all those who need to be comforted and healed. All for Your Glory in THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES JESUS. Amen , Amen.
Blessed day everyone
xxxx Carole.
It was said in the bible and plan this blog, as many troubles we lay have in the world, so much more are the blessings of God’s promise. Yesterday, I about the surreal world that this world is becoming and I thought about some of the terrifying evil that I have lived: not a war, not a typhoon but the understanding of what I thought is reality thrown down and the justice that is supposed to stop evil actually mocked and corrupted. It is has been years since this confronted me and it is continues but it is not winning anymore against my soul. I thought last night about that living nightmare and I thought, as bad as it can be, so many times more is the good that God has power to give and has promised. I have also some terrible evil that I have commited in the past and confessed even yelling it in the street when I thought that I should. The proof that justice is removed is that I have never been required to explain it in a court of law. If I kept the secrets if evil people, and became a scapegoat for them, I would be asked to lie about them to protect them (which I have been asked in that sureal past). I struggle in this world and I don’t regret that I confront it often, but I need to be living for what God promised those who overcome. As evil as this world is, so many times the good is what God has promised those who repent and overcome.
Smartphones show the truth of Solomon’s words that a fool who us king is vile. I meant to say, “it was said in the bible and in this blog…I thought about the surreal world that this world is becoming…
Anyway, the good that comes from God (when the fool king and his helpers are cast into hell) will be so great beyond our ability to even expect.
Praying for you Donna ,May the Lord give you His healing touch, and may you have a joyous blessed Christmas….R….
the picture above is one of my favorites as well. Donna I am praying that God will put his healing hands on your shoulder and to take away your pain
In Jesus name
amen
Lianne Hogg
Thank you everyone for your prayers, it has strengthen my heart– did manage to get the most needed errands done with the Lord’s help, but He also provided a time to give my shoulder some required rest. He surely cares for the big and small concerns of our lives. Amen.
Donna, your shoulder comment is so timely. I did something to my shoulder as well! Not quite sure exactly what, but boy has it been paining particularly in some positions. God’s grace allowed me to complete my shovelling as well, without pain. My prayers are with you, and may we both receive the grace of good “shoulder health” soon. God bless.
When I look at this beautiful painting the passage that first comes to my mind is Revelation 3: 20 – “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
I have a print of that photo Jesus knocking at the door of our heart. I love it. Thank you David for sharing and I pray day by day you become stronger and reverse the Doctor prognosis. Let it be that the doctors sees a miracle of your total healing in Jesus Name. Always looking forward never backwards. Amen.