Good morning people who make daily choices that glorify God and bless people.

Over the last few days, we have been walking through Hebrews 10. This Scripture is so rich and I have enjoyed leaning in deeply. For context of today’s BIY, I encourage you to read Hebrews 10:19-25. Although I have already written on these, I want to draw our attention to five statements which start with the words “Let us”. Godly living really does require us to make godly decisions; it’s a choice.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

God invites us to come to Him. This is not just on our good days, but it is every day. All it takes is a true heart; a sincere heart. God doesn’t want us trying to pretty things up. He wants us to come as we are, but He also wants us to come humbly and to come in faith.

Let us firmly hold the confession of our hope without wavering. 

God’s Word in our mouth is powerful. Anchoring ourselves to the truth is a sure way to get through the storms of life. A relentless refusal to give up and a decision to not cast away our confidence in God pleases Him.

Let us consider how to spur one another to love and to good works. 

In the most difficult times, we need each other. Actually, it is always good to walk with others; being in each other’s corner is priceless. While the world may hate us when we stand upon God’s Word, it is as the body of Christ that we should be spurring each other on in God and in kingdom living.

Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

Consistency is a master key in life and there are some important and imperative things that we should not forsake. Starting things is easy, but it is continuing to the point of completion that makes a real difference. Again, as the body of Christ, we need each other, and gathering together is something the Word tells us to consistently do.

Let us exhort one another.

A word of encouragement is one of the most precious gifts we can give. In a world of many negative and critical voices, a word that releases life and hope is powerful. Receiving a word of encouragement is amazing, and giving one is even better. Who does Father want you to encourage today?

How are you going with these five “let us” choices? Is there an area of adjustment that you need to make?

May our lives bring God glory and be a blessing to others. Amen.

Good morning people who prioritise meeting together with other followers of Christ.

Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV And let us consider how to spur one another to love and to good works. Let us not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but let us exhort one another, especially as you see the Day approaching.

We have been talking all about the sacrifice of Jesus and the power of His sacrifice once for all. The focus has been on all that He has done and our access into the Most Holy Place. Praise God!

Now the writer of Hebrews seems to shift his focus, but there is a connection that we must see.  

On our own, we can sometimes settle for less than the full truth. We can struggle alone, and in doing so, we can doubt the truth and believe a lie. Life circumstances can sometimes be a stronger voice than God’s Word.

We need each other! Coming together with the people of God to worship God and gather around the Word of God is God’s pattern for Christian living. We were not created to do life alone! Even in Genesis 2:18 God declared that it is not good for man to be alone. Yes, this is talking about marriage, but the same principle applies to our journey of faith.

When we come together, we should come to give and not just to receive. There is a powerful kingdom principle at work here. Part of the reason we “go to church” should be to spur one another to love and to good works. Walking more intimately with God and becoming more like Jesus should be the result of going to church.

We live in a time when many people are intermittent (at best) when it comes to going to church. Some make a decision week by week depending on how they are feeling. Some make a decision based on what other opportunities or appointments they may have. Some now make sports a priority over gathering together with the body of Christ.

While there are some legitimate exceptions (and I acknowledge this), for the vast majority, picking and choosing whether we go to church is a marker of our spiritual maturity. It’s time to shift our priorities! Simply stated, you need the church and the church needs you.

Good morning people who can enter into the very presence of God through Jesus.

Hebrews 10:19-23 MEV Therefore, brothers, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way that He has opened for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and since we have a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse them from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us firmly hold the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 

The Scriptures don’t get any better than this!

Because of Jesus, we can have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place!

In the Old Testament, if a person wasn’t perfect, spotless and blameless, they were struck dead if they tried to enter the Most Holy Place. It was the person’s sin that brought death.

Now, in the New Covenant of grace through faith, we can come boldly into God’s presence because of the blood of Jesus! Now, when God looks at those who are born again, He sees His Son and not our sin!

But it is essential that we firmly hold the confession of our hope without wavering.

The truth doesn’t cease to be true if we believe something different, but it is rendered powerless in our lives if we don’t hold on to the truth. Let us believe in the One who is faithful.

Watch episode #27 – ‘Bible Meditation: Matthew 6:9’

Good morning people whose sins are remembered no more by our holy God.

Hebrews 10:17-18 MEV Then He adds, “Their sins and lawless deeds will I remember no more.” Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

Then He adds, “Their sins and lawless deeds will I remember no more.”

This is a powerful truth!

Our omniscient God – our all-knowing God – unbelievably declares, “I remember your sins no more.”

How is this possible?

The answer is in the meaning of the word remember. This word does not state that God is incapable of remembering our sins or anything else; He knows everything. But this word literally means God will not fix His mind on or bring back to His memory for the purpose of punishment any sin that has been forgiven!

Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

1 John 1:9 MEV If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus doesn’t need to pay the price again for sins that have been confessed; there is no longer an offering for sin – it has already been paid in full in the precious blood of Jesus. I am sure that we all believe that this is true.

However, where many believers stumble – myself included far too often – is in a false belief that somehow we need to offer a sacrifice or pay a price for sins that we have repented of and that have been forgiven by God. What we are declaring is that Jesus’ sacrifice was insufficient, and this is simply not true.

I believe that one of the greatest ways that we honour the Lord and His sacrifice on the cross is to fully embrace the forgiveness that is found in the shedding of His blood. When we receive forgiveness, we honour the Lord most by living as ones who have been cleansed from all unrighteousness.

Good morning people who have the Person of the Holy Spirit living and working in you.

Hebrews 10:15-16 MEV The Holy Spirit also witnesses to us about this. For after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.”

The Holy Spirit also witnesses to us.

Jesus is the Truth and the Bible is the Truth of God’s Word. We need Jesus and we need the Bible. We also need the promised Holy Spirit to witness to us about the Truth.

John 16:13 MEV But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own authority. But He will speak whatever He hears, and He will tell you things that are to come.

Part of the new covenant is the indwelling Holy Spirit.

To live the Christian life without an awareness of the Person of the Holy Spirit living in us and speaking to us is to live below Father’s intention for our lives. To acknowledge the Holy Spirit and His daily work in us is not to diminish God’s written infallible Word.

We must continue to live in the fullness of the Word and the Spirit.

In addition to what God has already stated in His Word, the Person of the Holy Spirit will tell us things that are to come. This is the very essence of prophecy; to foretell. When Jesus comes again and everything is complete, there will be no need for prophecy (1 Corinthians 13:9-10). Until then, prophecy is a stated New Testament gift of the Holy Spirit for the church today (1 Corinthians 14:1).

I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.

The Lord wants to restore the truth that the Holy Spirit speaks today. Yes, God speaks through the Holy Scriptures. But He equally speaks through the Holy Spirit. For some, God wants to bring a deeper shift from words on a page to words in our hearts and minds. This is the work of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Revelation 2:29 MEV “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”