Hebrews 13:1-6

Hebrews 13:1-16

¹Let brotherly love continue. ² Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. ³ Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body....For he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." ⁶So we can confidently say,

"The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?"

I can remember times in my life where the Lord was impressing things upon my heart in such a clear way that I was sure it was Him. Some more recent events have been times where I was to say something to someone or confront someone's sin, do something for my wife, or even just to evangelize the lost. One thing that I have noticed is that in all of those moments, obedience, is not my natural response. My natural response has recently been to retreat and neglect what God was leading me into.

Knowing the state of the heart and the effects of sin on mankind, I know that I am not alone in my journey. Following the Lord and being obedient to what he calls us into is not natural or easy. My heart is constantly warring against what I know is right and good.

In the first 6 verses of this text we are given 5 commands.

1. Love your brother.
2. Show hospitality.
3. Remember Christians who are mistreated and imprisoned for their faith.
4. Honor your marriage sexually. Good sex inside marriage, NO sex outside of it.
5. Be content with what you have.

Now, if we are honest. This list is not natural. Often times, it is so easy for me to not show brotherly love or get annoyed to open my home to others. Living in the safety of America, it is a rare occurrence that I think of other Christians who have it hard because of their faith. Having a sweet and God honoring marriage bed is something that my wife and I need to work on, and being content in what I have is something I am constantly having to guard for.

Then in verse 5 and 6, God gives us a way to help with our obedience.

One of the reasons that this is so difficult for me is simply because I do not always sense His presence. In those moments where I am sensing His presence and there is a natural awareness that He is near, obedience becomes very easy. But what about when it feels like Christ has departed from me an has left me astray? Arent there those moments where we feel lonely? David is the perfect example of this. He is constantly makeing comments like "Oh, Lord. Where are you? Why have you forsaken me? Why have you departed your presence.?"

In those moments, I have realized that I must trust the scriptures. I have to remember that verse 5 and 6 are true. For he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." ⁶So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"

God promises to never leave us nor forsake us. He is our helper in our time of need. In those moments where I am faced with the hard reality to be obedient, I must remember that the Lord is my helper in the ever-present time of need. I need not be obedient on my own, there is help and power granted to me by the Holy Spirit who dwells in my soul. I shall not fear anything, especially man. What can man ever do to me? Besides that, it is for my greatest joy to be obedient to Christ. He never leads me in directions that will destroy my joy, rather he is constantly leading me into an opportunity for a greater eternal joy. My soul and standing is secure in Christ and Christ alone. To him be all glory, honor and praise. Forever.

"Matthew Wayne Chewning, Go To Your Room!!"

Do you ever feel like you are at times standing still? In your marriage, in your faith, at your job, as a parent? Lately I have felt like my marriage is good but should be better, my faith is strong but should be stronger, my patience with my kids is OK but should be better, I'm doing well at my job but could be doing better.

I have been convicted by Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

I often seem to lean more on my feelings rather than my convictioncs. At times when I feel complacent, down, depressed, restless, inpatient, angry, etc, I have to take a moment to re-focus my mind on Christ. See, when I take a minute to do this and compare my life towards Christ incarnated (Life on earth) and Christ exalted (Jesus exalted on his throne in heaven), I begin to re-new my mind. This is why in Hebrews 12:2 Paul tells us to Fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. When I begin to allow Jesus to be my source in all situations, rather than allowing people, Beth, my job, the Internet, sports, etc, to be my source, that is when lasting change can occur. That is when God begins to sanctify me.

Today when I got home from work, I wasn't in the best of moods. It was a long night last night with the kids, I woke up at 6:00am in Daniel's room not remembering how I got there.That usually is a good sign that I didn't sleep well. Anyway, when my amazing wife who Jesus considers my helper (Genesis 2), saw my bad attitude, she encouraged me to go up to my room and pray. For a second I felt like I was 12 years old again and just got sent to my room. At first I was annoyed that she would even tell me to do such a thing, but when I got up there God re-newed my mind as I fixed my eyes on Jesus. Minutes into my time with Jesus in my closet, Beth opened the door only to find me in a pitch black room on my knees. She grabbed me and we prayed together. Together we sat there and were immediately transformed by the renewing of our minds and the fixing of our eyes on Jesus.

Since then, I already feel re-energized and ready to tackle the world again.

A couple of questions you may want to ask yourself like I was forced to ask myself.
1. Do you need to go somewhere where it is pitch black, close the door, fix your eyes on Jesus and renew your mind? (Do you need to be sent to your room?)
2. Do you need to encourage someone to do the same? (Do you need to send someone to their room)
3. Do you feel like your standing still? If so...."Go to your room, NOW"