“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. So may we boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

“The grass is always greener on the other side,” is a popular phrase that we hear and use often. Humans are never satisfied with what we have, and are always striving for someone else’s treasure. But no, God calls us to have confidence in His giving, that He gives us what we need and how we need it to fulfill His purpose in our lives. Having said this, I will choose to meditate on the words “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear,” when my world is crashing around me, and the devil is waging war on my soul. Though it is obvious that God has the power, we belittle it by making our earthly predicament bigger than His power to save us. We reject the love offering of peace and a fortress to hide under in our greatest time of stress for control. But it’s not worth it. Be content with what you have, says God; “be content with what I give you, the trials I put you through, the circumstances you are in, the problems you have endured; “be content with the gifts that I’ve given you, the peace I have granted, the blessings that have come along the way.” Be content and don’t let anyone every tell you otherwise, because His love endures all time and is amazing and powerful in our lives. God will never put you through any test you cannot withstand, and He will never tempt you beyond what you can bear. God will never stop caring. He’ll never quit loving. God is faithful until the end, and He loves us too much to ever hold us back. So before we stop believing when things get tough, I think we need to take into consideration the fact that The Lord is my helper. He will be there to help you and to guide, every step of the way. We can boldly say these things. So, even though we miss a class because we overslept, and even though we feel like we’re always running on empty, always doing something, and then the world seems to be crashing all around us, we can still say that God is our helper. We can’t ask for a better sidekick.

“If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?” Hebrews 12:7-9

I don’t know if I’m the only one in the world, but when I was little (and sometimes even now), I did not take criticism very well. My heart was always set on what I thought the instructor/parent/teacher wanted me to do, so when I mistook their wisdom, I was reluctant to take their correction. These verses, however, reflect exactly the opposite mentality of faithfulness to God’s correction. The fact is that we are not always going to be in situations that are pleasant and comforting, but God’s chastening is our blessing to getting closer to the kingdom of God. He wants us to be closer to His chastening so that we can be powerful women and men of God because in His instruction and correction is the formation of a strong disciple

Even though sometimes His discipline is painful, the chapter continues with this verse: “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peace able fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it,” which tells us of our imperfections and his righteousness in instructing us. Hebrews 11 invites us to live freely in the spirit of submission, knowing that He is just in all that He does and that He is worthy of the title Father because He does guide us and instruct us every step of the way.
Later, in verses, it urges us to find peace with all people, and holiness—to focus on it because without it people will not see God. If his guidance and correction is our peace, then how much more should we be open to the correction that He has offered us.

Of all the chapters I’ve read in the Bible, Hebrews 11 offers the best, most inclusive, more thorough Thesis statement of them all: “Faith in the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things unseen.” (verse 1) Before I had read the whole chapter, or actually, before I listened to it on Audio Verse, I had not received the strength that this chapter has to offer. The definition of faith was so thoroughly fulfilled when I looked at the chapter and all the examples of magnificent faith, and I realize how applicable this lesson on faith is for my life. Noah, for example, had only faith to go off of, that he was supposed to build a ark and wait for “rain,” which wasn’t even heard of in his time. Would I have that faith? It’s like God asking me to build a UFO because the wind is going to get so strong that I will be lifted up and be transported to another place—unheard of! Then, there is Abraham and Sarah, who were barren and old, but their faith is what brought them Isaac—the joy of their lives. How many parents do I know that have prayed for children and never gotten them. Now, I’m not trying to be Eliphaz and cast blame on them, but let’s isolate the Abraham and Sarah experience as realize that it was only because of their faith! Then there is Ruth, who trusted spies in her house when she was in danger of being killed, but she was willing to take the risk in faith.
So here’s my question: where’s my faith. I don’t even have the faith to trust that God is going to bring me through a test or quiz in a class. I don’t even trust His discernment when it comes to my life mate, much less if He told me to go somewhere unusual. Faith is literally the substance of things hope for and evidence of things unseen, as in our future is unseen, and in order for us to have a real future, we have to have faith. Just faith, acknowledgement of the power of Christ can change our lives. It isn’t like we don’t have an example to look back on, so why do we struggle so much with just having faith?

“But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Hebrews 10:3-4

According to this verse, the sacrifices of goats and lambs was insufficient for our sins. It’s not that it’s surprising—we are humans, they are goats—but it’s when I stop to reflect on verses like Hebrews 10:3-4, that I realize 1) just how sinful we are 2)how great Jesus’ sacrifice was as one (very, very holy) man able to rectify the sins of the world, but let’s go back to our sinfulness.
A goat, an innocent animal was killed for our sins at least once every week. Now, in one of my earlier journals, I was discussing the fact that we have the better sacrifice now, Jesus, because all we have to do is believe and follow. Easy, right? Sure. But in a way, I was equating the two to each other. But this verse goes even deeper than that. Even our previous sacrifice of many innocent animals and experiences were not enough to cleanse us from our unrighteousness. Even the laborious and taxing task of slaying an animal in God’s name was not enough to purify our sins the way Jesus does. We know we literally owe Jesus our lives, but do we really think about the magnificence of His sacrifice? Because He was so blameless and perfect, His one life outdid every other sacrifice every made by man. There is nothing—not even the slaying of animals that God required for us to be “cleansed” can compare to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, for even our sacrifice is a reminder of sins. It doesn’t matter how many goats or lambs die in the name our atonement, there is only One True Lamb, and that is Jesus Christ, who has single-handedly rectified every sins ever committed by man. I am grateful beyond reason that He came to die for me, and appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice is a well-known Christian point of view, it becomes even more magnificent when one realizes how even our bests efforts pale in comparison to the death of the Perfect Man, The Only Sacrifice, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly await for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” Hebrews 9:27-28

I can’t wait for Jesus to come back. I know that probably sounds childish, but the weight of this world is too much. Today especially, when my day didn’t start off right, and I feel like I’m drowning in work and obligation, I cling to these verses that offer a promise that I can only believe in. I am ready for the Savior to come back and do what He promised: to save. And while I am fully aware of my sinfulness and shame, I have confidence in His ability to save—His ability to wipe away all my sins. And verses like Hebrews 11:1 remind me to hold on in faith, if nothing else. True, I am tired of a world where all we do is work, work, work. True, I am tired of a world that endorses sin, and encourages me to fall. True, I am tired of fighting the enemy and wondering when the fight will be over. But my hope is in Jesus and that will keep me going. This world with all its challenges, is not my home, and I do have something more to believe in. His promise is greater than anything I’ve ever experienced, and more times than not, He encourages me to believe in a future that I would not have had otherwise. Therefore, even in my darkest days, I will believe.
He didn’t have to come to die on a cross for me, but the fact He did so that He could give me a second chance means that heaven will definitely be worthwhile. I want to ask Him what He saw in me to love, why He chose to die, why His sacrifice seemed relevant to a perfect God. Because God knows, I will never understand on this earth. As for now, I will continue to eagerly await His return.

“In that He says, ‘A new covenant, ‘ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” Hebrews 8:13

When I read this first, I automatically thought of Christ’s sacrifice wiping away our sins. We are inherently evil—well known fact. But Christ’s love for us is so much more than that. It reminds me of Isaiah 1: 18, which says “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” God is talking about heaven in Hebrews 8:13. He’s talking about the commitment that He has made to cleansing us to our previous lives of sin and shame, and when I really think about it, all it does is remind me of His grace and love. All He wants is to cleanse us from our unrighteousness and sin. He wants to see us joyful and privileged—high and lifted up as Children of God. There is no reason that the God of the universe should be mindful of me (“’What is man that You are mindful of him, of the son of man that You take care of him?’” Psalm 8:4-6), but even still He loves us so much that He doesn’t want to see us suffer, but rather, He wants us to be cleansed from all our sins. Even to think about our earthly parents, they don’t do that for us. Most of the time, they spend time trying to perfect us in human eyes, but God doesn’t even want us to be strong and powerful in our power, but His sacrifice of Jesus. God is just as excited for heaven as we are. Even though heaven is going to be a relief for us, God is excited to wipe away our sin-stained lifestyle and instill in us a pure love that lasts forever. He calls our sin obsolete, which in the Webster dictionary means either no longer in use or no longer useful or old-fashioned, out of style. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for my sin to be out of style.

“For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.” Hebrews 7:18-19

I think that God really had to know us to let Jesus die on the cross. It’s a given that the God of the universe knows us, I know, but really think about it! I think about the fact that I can barely stay on top of things as it is, having Jesus Christ already die on the cross for me. I cannot even imagine having to offer sacrifices, mechanically glorify God through material possessions.
But that’s the trivial part of the sacrifice—our hindrances. The fact that the first one was “weak and unprofitable” in comparison to Jesus’ sacrifice is so deep. The life of one man can atone for every lamb, goat, bowl of meal that was ever given for our sins and sorrows. The time that it takes to find the animal, walk to the synagogue, and sacrifice it by the correct rule is immense! They spend time with these sacrifices every week—time that Pharisees could have spend learning how to be a little less legalistic through the assembly of God-like people, time that could have been spent worshiping God instead of apologizing. God knew that we humans could not handle the harshness of this sentence. He knew that there was so much more to say about being a God-fearing man or woman than legalistic laws. He wanted our pursuit of God to be complete with passionate hope and love which is in Christ Jesus alone. His love is unfathomable, that He would come to earth to save a wretch like me, just so I could have another way. Jesus really is our better hope. He is the hope of our future with God, in heaven. He is our prized lamb, who died so that we could draw nearer God, and we still reject Him. Even still, however, He draws us nearer to God.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” 20-21

We are all aiming for heaven, and so it is sometimes very interesting to look at the steps it takes to get there.  Build yourself up on most holy faith almost to me means that you are putting yourself in a place where your faith is the foundation of your relationship.  Now, my relationships is not perfect with God, but I can say that from experience, having faith is crucial and it’s hard sometimes, which is why it’s an action statement of building ourselves up, instead of a simple acknowledgement of principle.  We have to have faith—most holy faith—which exceeds our expectations and all of our passions and desires.  We have to be ready to give our lives to Him and listen to what He has to say to us in return.  Also, there’s a difference between holy faith and regular faith.  For a while this semester, I was praying about grades.  They weren’t that good, and I was asking God for His help.  Little did I realize, however, that my faith was selfish, not holy.  There was not faith in the divinity of Christ, but rather, it was faith in His desire to make me successful—a selfish faith if you will.   But soon I learned the difference.  Holy faith acknowledges that though we don’t deserve the favor, we are loved, and will therefore receive it.

Then, the verse says that we have to pray in the Holy Spirit.  This is powerful because I think that sometimes, we forget the power of the Holy Spirit and what it really does for us.  The Holy Spirit works as a buffer for our helplessness, as in it dwells with us right here on earth.  In other words, the Holy Spirit is active and very powerful because it’s the one encompasses our Christian desires and makes them a little more feasible.  Through these actions, says John, we will keep ourselves in the love of God, flourishing and growing, and therefore advancing His cause of furthering the gospel as well as His cause for our salvation.  It’s important, however, that we keep these steps priority.  I think that often we forget that there are things to be done—almost like a checklist that can guide us better to where the Holy Spirit is leading us.  It is through the Holy Spirit that we experience success through Bible Study, that fancy words come out when we are dog tired, and God’s love comes out when we are sinful and rough.

“I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face.  Peace to you.  Our friends greet you.  Greet the friends by name.”

In the Journalism Department, we are always talking about the latest technology developments.  We have all sorts of communication these days, and through this text, though it is simple, it reminds me of the value in 101 personal interaction.  In this verse, John doesn’t just settle with the fact that they could get the point; I’m sure that the people he was writing to could read.  But he valued for some reason, the face to face conversation.  Maybe it was because he knew he would never visit them otherwise, maybe the topics were personal, maybe he was just more of a 101 person.  We will never know exactly, but I think it’s powerful that he stepped outside of what seemed like a good, traditional way of communicating, and back into the good-ole face to face.  Do we do that enough?

I was talking to professor Braam OB just a few days, asking about social media/networking.  Now, I would consider professor OB pretty progressive and from what I hear, very intelligent, so when he said he doesn’t use it, I was shocked.  If he can just go see them in person, he said, I will; I don’t like having to call.  I’ll see them when I see them.  Maybe it was just the way he was brought up or maybe it was just his way of handling things, but it really made me think: do we treasure God’s company when He’s with us and do we treasure the company of others when we have it.  So often, we find ourselves texting, distracted by the world of technology instead of living in that moment of promise.

And then this text presents an angle that I hadn’t thought of: just because we have something to say, doesn’t always mean it’s the right time to say it.  I think that a lot of times, we are not patient enough in our Christian faith.  We will meet someone who is not Christian and ask them if they want to be Seventh-day Adventists when they are barely mastering the concept of Christianity.  Patience with our communication and our relationships in general is very important, and there are things that I’m sure God wants to tell us, but He knows that we will understand better face to face.  Though is book is thorough and very comprehensive, I feel like there is a chance that God might not have written every single detail about everything in the Bible, but rather, He gave us the guidelines we need to live by, so that one day, He might have the opportunity to put every piece together for us face to face.

“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us, And if we know that He hears us, whatever, we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” 14-15

This semester was a really interesting one for me—a lot of ups and downs.  But I must say that at the end of the semester, when I had returned from Thanksgiving Break, I found God in the nooks and crannies of Christianity I had forgotten all about.

I was really struggling this semester.  I was getting discouraged because I was so tired all the time and sufficient time seemed hard to come by.  But I couldn’t quit or stop anything because then that would be giving up.  Then, I felt like I was doing everything half-well, which also bothered me a lot. (At least I knew I wasn’t doing my best) On top of that, I was trying so hard to do everything well.  In the dorm, I would try to always have a smile on my face, but because my faith was weak and I was always stressed, I know that my expressions did not always express the complete joy that He offers.

There were some areas that I was succeeding in, sure, but then there were other areas where I just felt like I lacked the discipline to be excellent.  This semester, however, God showed me so much grace and mercy through answered prayers.  I remember praying for success before I got to Southern, assuming that He would be always and that this was probably the second best thing to ask for.  All I can say is that sometimes I’m speechless by how He has provided for me as a result of what I feel like is a combination between grace and persistent prayer.  I knew that God was hearing my prayers, even when they weren’t always the most sincere, and I can say that He has answered them immensely and will continue the pattern onward.