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| JAMES LESSON #16 Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, LET US (our job) lay aside every encumbrance (hindrance, weight) and the sin which so easily entangles us (that�s important � so how do we do that?) -- Time for the �peanut butter� story: Keep your hand in Hebrews 12:1-2 because we�ll come right back � and flip to I John 1:9 For a minute imagine yourself to be about 2 years of age. It�s a curious age. It�s an �exploration� age. It�s an age of trial and error � and for some mothers, trial and terror! When you look at the innocence and beauty in the face of a two year old you see what God sees in His �original� creation � man, with no sin � clean, innocent and remarkably wonderful. Sin, is a lot like peanut butter. Imagine a 2 year old, left alone in a room with a very large can of peanut butter, after being told �Don�t touch!� Given a little bit of time, what do you think would happen? You bet- Finger in the peanut butter � taste number one leaves a little on the face. Tastes good � just like sin. Smells good � just like sin � makes me want a little more � just like sin. Tastes number 2-10 leave a little more, a little more and then a lot more peanut butter on the face. Someone�s coming! What�s the first thing the child will do? Try to cover his face � just like we do with sin. We spend a long time � and a lot of energy walking around with our hands in front of our faces, trying to cover up and hide � afraid for anyone to see what our �face� really looks like, having NO CLUE how to get the peanut butter off. Enter..God. �Tell me what you�ve done.� Sick feeling � fearful feeling � exposed feeling ��wonder if He knows� thought -- Walks right behind the hands � takes a long look at what we�re hiding (as if He didn�t know � as if mom didn�t know) Tell me �EXACTLY what you�ve done: IF you do, I�ll forgive you- That means, I�ll �take it away� So � the child lowers his hands � embarrassed � knowing he�s really going to get it and says, �I ate the peanut butter.� (A: I Confess)- God/mom says- I�ll forgive you and takes His hand and wipes the peanut butter off the child�s face. (B: God forgives the sin) Problem is: I can still smell it � I can still taste it � and I still want it. There�s one more part to this verse: If we CONFESS our sins, He is faithful and righteous to FORGIVE us our sins AND To cleanse: (C: God cleanses) God/mom gets the washcloth and soap out and scrubs the child�s face completely clean. Question: After this happens, how does the child�s face look? Clean, or dirty? How does God see that child? Absolutely clean. Problem is, that child has an enemy that loves to accuse him � and does so all the time. Every room he enters, every place he goes, the enemy will make sure there�s a peanut butter jar in every corner, reminding him of what he did, when he did it, how he did it and what a loser/failure he was/is. How does he fight that? Go back to Hebrews 12:1-2 It says, �let us also lay aside every encumbrance-� get rid of- push away- the �weight� �these aren�t �physical weights� � this is �mental junk� � stuff we�ve owned or reclaimed that God�s already removed and taken away: How do we lay it aside? Hebrews 4:12 We fight back with our �sword.� The minute the accusations come: - IN YOUR HEAD � you respond with your sword: Romans 8:1 There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus � That thought removes the power of the accusation and strikes it down. THAT is taking every thought captive � we�ll talk about that a lot more when we get into the area of temptation which is soon to come. Go back to Hebrews 12:1-2 Why lay aside hindrances? Why lay aside sin? So we can run with ENDURANCE (our faith galvanized: electrified with great intensity) the race that is set before us � how? Fixing our eyes on Jesus (knowing and abiding in His love for us) � the author and the perfecter of our faith � who for the joy set before Him � what joy set before Him? ME �YOU �(mark that) His longing for my trust and His excitement in knowing the freedom I would gain once I gave it to Him -- HELD HIM TO THE CROSS: (for the joy set before Him, endured the cross) JUST AS His longing for my trust and the understanding of what it would do in my life held Him in position � so fixing the focus of my faith on the love of His heart galvanizes (electrifies) my faith (how convinced I am that He truly loves me) so that I only grow more an more determined to stand in the fire : NOT OUT OF DUTY BECAUSE SOMEONE TOLD ME TO, BUT OUT OF AN INCREDIBLE BOND OF LOVE- a heart response (mine) to a heart response (His) � He endured the cross, despising the shame � Notice here that He didn�t find His �joy� in the �journey� � He despised the shame- the humiliation- the hardness of the trial: Some of you have gone through the shame of being molested, of being divorced, of being abandoned, of being left out, rejected, of being falsely accused, of being lied about and made fun of � some of you have been great parents and your kids are banging off the walls and you�re despising the shame- Where did He find His joy? In Me- and in You � but also in the �joint effort� opportunity given to Him by God the Father and the Holy Spirit � He takes advantage of the offer and all three work together FOR LOVE OF ME- wow�just like, when I take advantage of the �joint effort� all three work together FOR LOVE OF HIM - Jesus �endured.� There�s more to that word that we haven�t covered. Look at Hebrews 12:5 The word �discipline� there in the Greek is �paideia: which means the sum total of child raising. � Don�t regard lightly the sum total of child raising from God- or �faint (that means to give up, or to yield to temptation to get out of it your own way) when you are reproved by Him. For those whom the Lord what? LOVES � He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you what? ENDURE. God deals with you as with SONS � read on through verse 9 Why is it necessary for Him to discipline us? Why do you discipline a child? So that they mature and walk in rightness- and according to verse 10 He disciplines us so that we can share in His holiness � so that we can be mature as He is mature, and whole as He is whole. What�s the fruit of discipline? Look at verse 11- Joy is not found in the �journey-� but rather in the partnership. The end result? The fruit? Oneness. Look at II Corinthians 12: In this chapter Paul is indicating that some guy he knows was caught up into the third heaven and heard things that nobody else heard � and that he knows how it happened. He�s stating strongly that he will not brag about himself � and to make sure that doesn�t happen, he�s very very aware that God Himself has inflicted a �thorn in his flesh� � scriptures do not tell us what this particular frustration was in Paul�s life � but I want to look at it: II Corinthians 12: 7 And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations (these things heard by this man that Paul knows about), for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me (notice God is giving permission to Satan to bother Paul for God�s glory and Paul�s good) � to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. (I asked God to take this thing from my life three times) And He said to me (now mark this: This, �He said to me� is in the �perfect tense� � that means it is a PAST COMPLETED ACTION: meaning, I�m only saying this ONCE- don�t ask again.) And He said to me, �My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.� (This word �perfected� � mark it: is �tetelestei� � it�s the same Greek word that Jesus cried out when He screamed, �IT IS FINISHED!� -for power is �perfected� (IT IS FINISHED) in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may what? Dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ�s sake (my faith being GALVANIZED- electrified by the persecutions because of love of His heart for mine) � for when I am weak, then I am strong. Mark that word �strong.� In the Greek it�s �dunamis� � meaning �God�s strength, power and ability.� So it�s saying, when I am weak, I am strong in God�s strength, God�s power, and God�s ability. And my responsibility? To Count it all joy: To take advantage of the �joint effort� � how? By trusting and depending �by staying on my knees, rather than running with my feet and with my mouth. (ouch!) By allowing God, to be God. II Corinthians 4:17-18 The word for �tribulation or affliction� in the Greek is �thilipsis.� It means, �a pressure that burdens the spirit.� This is referring to suffering that comes from the pressure of circumstances and/or the pressure of people. It comes from without. The important thing to know in this is that with the �joint effort� engaged- when the outside pressures come at you, the Holy Spirit is within to meet it. The battle does not belong to you. Amos 3:3 says- �Do two walk together unless they�ve agreed to do so?� - So many times we have the �joint effort� opportunity available to us � and spend all our energy pushing God away rather than allowing ourselves to be included in what He�s purposed for those trial moments in our lives. God does not put you in a trial to 1) lay you low 2) get you to stumble 3) or try to prove that your faith is not real: He puts you in a trial to �prove� your faith and to validate His Word: Insert into that line what we�ve learned: God puts you in a trial to �prove� (validate: declare to be true) your faith (faith: being totally convinced that God loves you and taking advantage of the �joint effort� offered) � Why the trial? To validate that the �joint effort� works - Remember: He�ll never ever put you in a trial you�re not PREVIOUSLY EQUIPPED to handle. (I Corinthians 10:13) Remember 1) Who God is 2) Why He�s allowed the trial 3) To take advantage of the �joint effort:� KNOWING that you have direct access in prayer So many times in prayer we don�t ask because we don�t think we deserve what we�re asking for. We haven�t �pleased God enough � we haven�t earned it� � GRACE AND PRAYER GO TOGETHER EXAMPLE: I haven�t been in the Word all week � have taken very little time for prayer � my finances are hitting the wall, one of my kids is desperately sick � when I approach God, I feel like it�s useless to pray because I�ve been such a loser all week ) WRONG THINKING : Faith says: (Being convinced that God deeply loves me says) -in spite of what I�ve been I�m believing that God is who He says He is and I�m going to run to Him in grace (unearned..I repeat UNEARNED FAVOR) - If there is sin in my life, I�ll confess it - I�ll turn and go a different way � He said He�d meet me there � He�s asked me to take advantage of the �joint effort� � I�m going to. Don�t insult God by believing that He won�t do what He says He�ll do- As we venture into the area of �temptation� in the next few lessons, I want you to remember the importance of �Counting it all joy� � and the power that rests there. It�s all about RELATIONSHIP- a �joint effort� � that releases HIS power, HIS confidence, HIS strength so that we ENDURE � Showing everyone, including ourselves, that the �joint effort� works: Proving it to be true- Love to all of you- Robin �Copyright 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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