Day 85: Hebrews 1:1-James 3:12

Finishing Strong! 

I'd like to start with a brief explanation and apology for my weekend-long absence. Thursday night, while taking my dogs out on leashes to potty, my two sub-20 lb dogs were attacked by a dog which weighed 40 lbs more than I did. Both dogs are okay, though one did have to undergo surgery, but it was an extremely traumatizing experience for me, and I needed some time to decompress (and figure out how to take care of a post-surgery 11-yr-old dog, and entertain a puppy who's best friend is out of commission). All three of us are okay, and the attack could have gone very differently. I praise God for allowing us to get through it with comparatively minor damages. To those of you who knew, thank you all for your support, well wishes, and prayers. 


Hebrews is a really interesting book of the Bible. And it basically does my whole job for me. It summarizes the entire Bible. (Okay well sort of. It summarizes the meaning of the Bible).  Pretty cool,  right?

It explains what exactly Jesus was. He is greater than angels, in fact, the angels worship him. It goes on to talk about the sweet deal God provided for man at first: have faith in God, and He's got your back. But remember the Old Testament? Everyone was constantly losing faith. And so God made an even sweeter deal. He sent His son to die for each and every one of our sins. And it was part of God's plan to do that. He loved us, the sinning, idiotic humans, so much that He sent His son to die. 

Remember when people had to sacrifice animals to atone for their sins? No longer necessary. Jesus's blood was the ultimate sacrifice. The sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Because it was the blood of God. This is the New Covenant we are offered, through Christ--if only we keep faith. 


Then we move on to James. We only get two and a half chapters in, but in his book, James says a quick little, "Hey guys, Jesus came! But remember, you still need to treat each other. Basically, we're going to have good days and bad ones, and they're going to suck. But we've got to remember that we've got a man up top who's looking out for us. Don't play favorites with others, because God doesn't play favorites with us. Have faith. Do good things. And watch what you say--use your words to glorify the name of God. 

Again, I'd like to apologize for my untimely hiatus.

Tomorrow's reading: James 3:13-3 John 14
Have a wonderful day!
Jill Jafarace
Director of Student Ministries
New Leaf UMC


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1: Genesis 1:1-Genesis 16:16 - 90 Day Bible Challenge

Image
And so it begins!  Our journey through the Bible begins right here, at the creation of everything.  What a busy  reading. So much happened! Let's break it down... The Earth, heavens, animals, and man were created. The first sin happened and God cursed the first man and the first woman (Adam and Eve). Their child killed his brother and was banished. The generations leading up to Noah became corrupt and made the Earth an evil place. God commanded Noah to build an ark and collect two of each animal. God flooded the Earth to cleanse it of evil, and Noah was trapped on an ark with his family and thousands of animals. God made a covenant to never flood the Earth again. Making rainbows a sign of his covenant. Noah had three sons, and from each of them there was a new nation.  Some of the nations tried to build a tower to reach the heavens and rule over the Earth, so God created many languages to make evil plotting more difficult.  Abram, Sarai, and Lot took a vacation
Read more

Day 35: Nehemiah 1:1-Nehemiah 13:14

Image
A Nation Reborn Nehemiah's Journey to Deliver the People of Israel Maybe you've just been catching up on the Bible through the quick summaries I post, which is fine! But I highly recommend reading Nehemiah when you get the chance.  Nehemiah begins by rebuilding the temple against the will of all the other leaders. He convinces them all to allow the Israelites to rebuild anyway. (Nehemiah 4:14--Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes.)  He helps the poor, who were forced to pay a hefty tax, and give their land to the kings. They continue to rebuild. Nehemiah commissions Ezra (the scribe from yesterday's reading) to read aloud the Book of Law, where we hear, "Do not grieve. For the joy of the Lord is your strength," (Nehemiah 8:10).  Nehemiah 9-10 is what we've all been waiting to hear! The repentance of the Israelites and their
Read more

Day 86: James 3:13-3 John 14

Image
Words of Wisdom  (Not from me) James finishes off with some more advice: Be patient when you suffer--and don't complain about one another! Our Judge is right at our door. Give yourself time to pray when you're down, and time to praise when you're up. Prayers filled with faith, righteousness, and strength are the most powerful weapon.  So then we move on to Peter, who begins his books with a great example of praise--just check out chapter 1.  Remember, Peter and Jesus were like best friends. Peter could have taken his books and written about all the cool things Jesus did, what he did for fun on the weekends, etc. But instead, he took his words and made an example of how to live a Christian life.  It mostly serves as a reminder to follow in Jesus's footsteps (tall order, right?), and let's people know that there will be suffering as a Christian--but if we're living for God, we've got more important things to focus on.  Then, we arrive
Read more