Terry Storch

Writing about life, leadership, faith, and anything else I find interesting.

Hebrews 3:7-19 - Today is the day

 

Hebrews 3:7-19 - Today is the day

Here in verse 7-11, the Hebrew author is quoting Psalms 95:7-11. 

“Today, if only you would hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” - ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭95:7-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is how this opens. TODAY - IF - DO NOT. 

“So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts...” - ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭3:7-8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We have time, a condition, and a command. Let’s take time. Today, this means now, currently, as you are reading this and literally and figuratively now. Think about what you have planned for the day. Maybe you have a friend coming over to swim, so you need to get the house cleaned up, the pool needs cleaning and the towels need to get cleaned up in the backyard. You evaluate your “today,” and you take action to make today be the best it can be. How does your today look in planning to hear the Holy Spirit? Are you doing the work, preparing, planning, and making the most of the day, today, to be in a position to hear the Holy Spirit? 

Next is the condition. If, if you hear his voice. This means it is possible not to hear his voice, but this also communicates it possible to hear his voice. If we hear his voice. This makes me think about my condition and my position. Think about listening, the actual position you take to hear someone speak. Have you ever been in a busy and loud restaurant, and trying to hear your spouse or friend speak? When it’s really loud, you need to pay attention to the other person's lips, position your body as close as possible to the other person so you can hear, maybe even tilt your head to your ear, has a better line of sight to the person's mouth. To hear the other person often your condition and your position needs to change. This is the same for the Holy Spirit; we need to adjust our condition and position to hear him speak. I find what Charles Spurgeon pointed to be very insightful:

“Besides, he waits to execute his favourite office of a Comforter, and he cannot comfort an ungodly soul, he cannot comfort those who harden their hearts.”

What jumps out to me about Spurgeon’s thought here is, he cannot comfort an ungodly soul.  This really plays into our condition, where we are spiritually, mentally, and physically in our lives. I so often hear people tell me they just can not hear God, do not have any sense of the Holy Spirit...so this leads me to wonder and ponder what position or condition that might need to change. Just like we shift our position and condition in a loud restaurant to hear our friends speak, we watch their lips to be able to hear them, and we might need to evaluate and change our condition to hear the Holy Spirit. 

Last is the command, DO NOT. Do not harden your hearts.  The author presses into this even more in v12.

“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” - ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭3:12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The truth and reality we all face is life is tough. We walk through situations and circumstances that can take our razor-sharp faith, and belief and overtime dull our blade. We can start sharp, and if we are not intentionally sharpening our faith and relationship with Christ, we will overtime become dull, and our hearts will become unbelieving and turn away from God. It’s in our nature; it’s a part of the devil's scheme to lead us towards ourselves and not Jesus. This, I believe, is why in v13 it talks about community, and the others we must have around us. You must warn each other EVERY DAY!

“You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.” - ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭3:13-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Today, today, today! The Holy Spirit will never prompt us to get right with God tomorrow, or trust in yesterday...the Holy Spirit moves, breaths and works in the today. Time, condition, and command. The time is now to have our condition and posture right to hear and respond to God’s voice. Lord, bring urgency to our soul for today, adjust our posture and condition to see as you see and hear as you hear, and give us the courage to respond and act on what you tell us. Amen. 

other writing
John 20 - The Gospel

John 20 - The Gospel

The Gospel, the Good News! Jesus, Son of God, was born of Mary, lived as the Son of Man, died, and rose to life to rescue the world and bring about a new life. The central message of the gospel. Jesus, the centerpiece! John 19 & 20 cover the brutal death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

In this scene, I can not imagine how the disciples felt. John describes them as overjoyed...but those words just fall short of what I can imagine this moment was like.

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

John 19 - The Magnitude of the Cross

The day of Jesus' crucifixion fulfilled 28 Old Testament prophecies. Scripture was fulfilled! Beyond that, trying to wrap my mind around what happened this day, on the cross, and fully grabbing the magnitude of the cross is mind-boggling.

Sure, we can dumb this down or simplify it to a place where I just don’t believe it is anywhere near accurate. We can get into penal substitution and argue over was God full of love or was God full of wrath and hate that he killed his son. To me, John 3:16 is pretty clear on the love part.

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

John 18 - Jesus levels an army

In John 18, we come to the great betrayal. Judas came with the soldiers, officials, and chief priest and Pharisees. We know the scene. But this morning, I saw something I don’t remember reading and surly don’t remember learning about.

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭18:3-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 - The Lords Prayer

John 17 is Jesus looking heavenward and praying to God the Father. So much beauty and mystery in this prayer. One thing that jumps out to me is that Jesus, fully God, and fully man prayed. Jesus is God fully. Why did he need to pray, He was One with the Father, He was God...and yet he prayed. This is so powerful;

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭17:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

John 16 - What does it take to believe?

By the end of John 16, Jesus had done countless miracles, preached some amazing sermons, transformed so many lives, and developed a close and personal relationship with his disciples. So, when reading these verses, I am just utterly confused on so many levels.

“I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:28-31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

John 16 - Undervaluing God in Spirit

Jesus’ time on earth is quickly coming to a close, and he finishes up his last sermon or teaching to his disciples as they walk to Gethsemane. This final teaching was a heavy one that no doubt left his disciples with a heavy heart. Jesus said it this way;

“...None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus goes on to say;

John 15 - Constant Growth

John 15 - Constant Growth

We were built for growth, constant growth. From birth, all the way until our death, we were designed by God for constant growth. The problem is, we often can find ourselves stuck in a belief, a phase, or a part of life where we stop growing.

One of the most brilliant investors embodies this understanding. Charlie Munger, at 96 years old, is still learning and growing as a person. I love this quote:

“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
- Charlie Munger

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 - The Gift of Peace

John 14 opens with Jesus, saying, Don’t let your hearts be troubled. And the chapter closed down with Jesus saying Don’t be troubled or afraid.

A message that needs to resonate with our spirit and our inner self. This was such a good reminder, reading through John 14 over and over. This passage lifted off the screen.

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart…

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

John 14 - Troubled Hearts

The world today seems so volatile and chaotic. Everywhere you look, whatever we read and see on TV just seems to be troubling. Last night, I noticed my lovely wife Tweeted this;

“I can’t be the only one who watches the news and is simply embarrassed right now, right? (Dear Jesus, we tap out. Come on back.)”

I find this first humorous, but then I also find it sad. It’s true, watching the news as a Christ-follower is pretty embarrassing. In John 14, we see Jesus…

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

John 13 - Unselfish Concern

Summarizing John, chapter 13, looks like this. The Lords Supper takes place. Jesus washes the disciple's feet. Jesus calls out Judas, and Satan enters him. Night comes, Judas leaves, and Jesus says he must go, and where I am going, you can not come. To cap it all off, Jesus also calls out Simon Peter and tells him that he will deny and completely disown Jesus three times. Whoa, a really full chapter, and historical day.

Nestled in the wrap up of the day is the parting message Jesus leaves his disciples, a message Jesus is sharing with us right now.

 
thoughtsTerry Storch