Daily Bread 5-2-18
Hebrews 11:14-16
14 - For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 - And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 - But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
ref. - Heb 13:14 - For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
Ex 3:6,15 - And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, The God of Abraham, The God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Ph 3:20 - For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
We see, in this scripture, that these people were focused on what was to come. They were people of faith that truly believed in what they were seeking. Enough to leave their habitation and their old lives behind in search of a new city. Not embracing their old place but denying it and moving forward unto a new place that was promised them. As in citizenship, we must denounce our old country and embrace the new one in order to gain lawful entry. If we truly do that and agree to abide by it's laws we will have a transition and a new country that we can abide in throughout our lives. If we do not, we will always be struggling to exist in a place where we want to have both our old heritage and the new heritage.But once we have denounced our old country we no longer belong to that country and they do not claim us any longer as their own. In our Spiritual lives this is very similar. We must denounce the old path that we were on and embrace the new path that we have found in Jesus Christ. Whether it is leaving a path of false doctrine or leaving a path of sin and worshiping the idols of this world, we must denounce it and separate from it. This no longer leaves a pathway for us to go back after we have left. It only proves that we have faith enough to know that our paths lead forward and into Jesus Christ. If we hold on to other religions, or other beliefs, lifestyles that are not acceptable to God, or the life of sin that we supposedly left behind, then we lack the faith that we need to move forward into the promise.(Don't grow tired, faith comes through Jesus Christ) We are always trying to leave a back door open to leave what we claim to have entered. What we need to do is pray and learn of the gospel that we are brought and find the faith to denounce those things and never look back. If we want the prize it is forward, not behind us. We need to reach the point of our faith where we are no longer looking for things of God to get us things on this earth, but that we are looking to progress Spiritually to a point where we are seeking for that new city, the heavenly one. The one that we have been promised. And we will only achieve that city if we become followers of Jesus Christ! Pray to be strengthened in faith each day and that God will give you what you need to retain it and someday, you too, will be looking for heavenly things in Jesus Christ!! Have a great day!!!