Note this is my last day in Florida. Thanks for praying. I need to be at the airport at 330am . So no blog . I hope to be at the Bread Ministry (Weis Day) . Come join us! Remember no night dinner huddle until next week.
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Good Morning Excited, Praising Followers of the Most High King of kings--Jesus! Hosana! Praise be the Lord! mom, Terry and I finished up watching The Chosen season 5. (Season six episodes 1-6 won't be released until the fall and then episodes 7-8 will be in theaters in followed by season 7 sometime in 2028) How appropriate that we watched season 5's triumphal entry through Jesus' arrest at the start of Holy Week. It got me thinking and worshiping for sure! Would i shout hosanna on an crucify Him on ? I pray not. Jesus was a radical departure from religion and the Jewish faith as observed by devout, yet lost, leaders. There was so much politics at play and backroom scheming that led to His arrest and death. It was not much different than our politics for the country and many denominations too. Forgive us Father and heal our land and revive Your Church! Amen!
Would I find Jesus calling me a white-washed tomb and hypocrite or would I be one of His followers eager to learn and understand and be a part of His new Kingdom? I pray that I would have been a devout, listening, understanding, seeking and following friend. Would I have been able to keep the faith with all I was seeing and feeling or be like Judas? Would I have fallen asleep in the garden or stayed awake and prayed with and for Him? Would I have been able to keep the faith through all the unknowns and chaos of that first Holy Week or would I have doubted? These are hard questions as I examine myself as the Bible teaches to do. Am I a sold out, devout, persevering in faith friend of Jesus? Please Lord, help me to be! Have you examined yourself and faith life lately as commanded? Have you had to repent, correct and get back on track? Have you kept your focus on Jesus and feet following in faith? Contemplate with God and some accountability partners Our Daily Bread and your faith journey. Jesus came and died for you out of deep love and He has given us help to repent and become more and more like Him and the people He made us to be for such a time as this. Are you working on that as you persevere in faith through all the noise and darkness ? Help us Lord!
Take some time the next few days to sit at His feet, bare your souls, explore your faith and pray for help to grow in faith and glorify God always. That is our journey and He is with us and we know He has made a way for us to become all we are made to be and to all all we are made to do for such a time as this. PTL! Are you? Be still and know. Listen and grow. Then go live and love like Jesus and help to change this world to one that is part of His glorious Kingdom! Amen! I often end with shalom shalom which means perfect peace. But I am praying for God to trouble your souls with the things He desires to work on in and through you. What might you need to crucify ? How does He expect you to die to self to be ready to follow. There is a lot to explore and work on this week. Find some partners--you'll need them and stay open to all God has for you! he says to come as we are and to allow Him to mold and shape us. he is the Potter! Are you moldable clay?
To become a lawyer in California, Maxcy Filer had to pass the state’s grueling, three-day bar exam. So he took it not once, not twice, but forty-eight times before passing the tough test. His goal? To advocate for the underprivileged in Compton, his beloved city. Between his first and last attempts at passing the exam—across twenty-five years—Filer and his wife raised seven children, all who went to college. When Filer was sworn in, the judge said, “Three words about Maxcy Filer: perseverance, perseverance, perseverance.”
His story prompts me to think of people in the Bible who persevered. The writer of Hebrews recognized some: Noah, who “by his faith . . . became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith” (11:7). Or Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (vv. 8-21), Moses (vv. 23-28), and others. Such examples inspire us.
The writer then exhorts believers in Christ: “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (12:1). We then read, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (v. 1). How will we do this? By “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (v. 2). As we consider Christ’s sacrifice for us, we “will not grow weary and lose heart” (v. 3).
Challenges to our faith give us opportunity to endure in His name. In His power, we persevere.
By Patricia Raybon
REFLECT & PRAY
What faith challenge is testing you? How can you persevere in Jesus?
As I persevere for You, please inspire me, dear Jesus, to keep going.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Because of severe persecution (see Hebrews 10:32-39; 13:3), Jewish believers in Jesus were pressured to abandon their faith and revert to Judaism. The unnamed writer of Hebrews encourages these embattled believers to remain faithful by “keeping [their] eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (12:2 nlt). He reminds us of the superiority of Christ, who as God Himself is the final revelation of God (chs. 1-4). Jesus—through His sacrificial work as the superior High Priest and as the once-for-all perfect sacrifice for sin—is the only one who can truly save (chs. 5-10). The writer likens our journey of faith to a long-distance foot race. The lives of faith of the saints who’ve completed their races (see ch. 11) inspire us to persevere to complete our race by keeping our eyes fixed on Christ, our champion who Himself endured challenges and completed the race (12:1-3).
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