Skip to main content

Daily Devotion: Hebrews 13:15-16

By

Hebrews 13:15-16    "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.  (16)  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."

We can readily identify the "him" in today's verse as being Jesus.  He is "the same, yesterday, today, and for ever." I passed over a couple verses, so let us think for just a moment about them. The writer digressed to the animal sacrifices in verse 11. He told us concerning the shed blood of the animal sacrifices earlier and now he is telling us the bodies of those animals were carried outside the camp to be burned following the blood offering. He then spoke of Jesus' body being taken outside the gate of the city.  We read in verse 13, "Let us go forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach."  By this, he is speaking to us concerning those daily transgressions that we commit. We can "go to him" for forgiveness and cleansing.

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."  These final verses in Hebrews are reviewing all that has been spoken throughout the book.  Jesus is the same today as He was yesterday. He will be the same tomorrow as He is today.  Those yesterdays can be carried back even before the beginning as recorded in Genesis 1. Those tomorrows can be carried forward all the way past 1 Thessalonians 4.  He does not have to go back to the cross to atone for the sin of Adam. He will not have to go back to the cross to atone for the sin of the very last one that shall be conceived before time comes to an end. He is the same. His grace is the same. His love is the same. His mercy is the same. And the atoning power of His blood is the same from the first Adam to the very last one of His children. He never changes.

What is to be our response to that understanding? "Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually!" Our lips should constantly be speaking of God's mercy, grace, and love that is bestowed upon unworthy sinners. We should constantly be giving thanks unto Him. Every day is to be a day of thankfulness unto the Lord.

Not only are we to give thanks with our lips, we are to give thanks through our actions. How can we do that? "But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."  The saying is true: "Actions speak louder than words."  Let us speak thanksgiving and let us show "thanks-living".

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Daily Devotion: Psalm 88:1-4

By
Psalm 88:1-4  A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. "O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:  (2)  Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;  (3)  For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.  (4)  I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength" I've said this before and I will say it again (and probably more times before we get to the end of the Psalms) - I love the Psalms because I can surely identify with them. Most Psalms start in a low place and as the writer expresses his thoughts, the Lord begins to lift him up out of that dry place.  Though this entire Psalm is a fervent cry unto the Lord, the Psalmist tells us specifically in three verses that he cried daily unto the Lord. Just a few Psalms ago, we were reminded that God always hears our prayers. ...
Read more

Daily Devotion (Video): I Will Fear No Evil - Psalm 23:4

By
Read more

Daily Devotion: Knowing God By Bearing Fruit

By
Some will notice the title is not “Bearing fruit because we know God,” so to avoid getting sidetracked with that, we can start with the fact that we won’t bear any godly fruit unless our heart has been changed and the Holy Spirit dwells within us. Also, to avoid confusion, I’ll be using the terms “bearing fruit,” “good works” and “service” interchangeably.  I took this article’s title from Part 7, of John Piper’s “Look at the Book” session on Colossians 1:9-12. I greatly encourage you to view that short video to get his excellent exposition on this subject.  When I saw the title of the video earlier this year, I got kind of excited because that’s the direction my thinking has gone in the past several years. My thinking was founded Biblically with verses on good works like Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven.” But I couldn’t expand it to expla...
Read more