Therefore Beware (part one) We are living in the last of the last days right now. Will the end of the world and Christ’s second coming happen in 2012? I don’t know if it will happen this year, next year or maybe in 2025, but it is soon to come. Jesus could come back for His Bride at any moment. He is anxiously awaiting the Father to tell Him to come and get His bride. That could happen at any moment. Are you ready? Read over this selection on scriptures from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews and meditate on it. We will delve into it a little further next time. 12[Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God. 13But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamour of his sin may play on him]. 14For we have become fellows with Christ (the Messiah) and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation [in virtue of which we are believers] firm and unshaken to the end. 15Then while it is [still] called Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [in the desert, when the people provoked and irritated and embittered God against them]. 16For who were they who heard and yet were rebellious and provoked [Him]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17And with whom was He irritated and provoked and grieved for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dismembered bodies were strewn and left in the desert? 18And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [who had not listened to His word and who refused to be compliant or be persuaded]? 19So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out]. Hebrews 3:12-19. (Amp). Be blessed. ACC 01/11/12 Therefore Beware (part two) What does “beware” mean to you? To me it means “watch-out” or “caution” or “be wary.” When we get complacent the enemy really gets busy. The devil really wants us to wander away from the Lord God. Let’s look at the first verse of the scripture from Hebrews: 12[Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God. Hebrews 3:12. (Amp). In the New Living Translation it says it this way: 12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. Hebrews 3:12. (NLT). As sad as it may seem, there will be some that appear to be born again, and even some that are ministers, that will be left here on this earth after Jesus returns for the Church. Examine your heart, look deep down inside of yourself and see what your motives are for professing Christianity. Are you truly in love with Jesus or are you doing it for “fire insurance”? 1THE PLANS of the mind and orderly thinking belong to man, but from the Lord comes the [wise] answer of the tongue. 2All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits (the thoughts and intents of the heart). 3Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed. Proverbs 16:1-3. (Amp). The Father God knows your thoughts before you think them and the intents of your heart before they become action. Purify your heart in the Lord. Be blessed. ACC 01/13/12 Therefore Beware (part three) As Christians we are called upon not to just serve the Lord in our lives but we are called upon to help other brothers and sisters to do the same. The next two verses of Hebrews 3 tells us this: 13But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamour of his sin may play on him]. 14For we have become fellows with Christ (the Messiah) and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation [in virtue of which we are believers] firm and unshaken to the end. Hebrews 3:13-14. (Amp). In the New Living Translation it is put this way: 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Hebrews 3:13-14. (NLT). If we see a brother or sister struggling, we are to encourage them in the Lord. We are not to berate them and make them feel worthless or condemned. The Lord Jesus, according to John 3:17 didn’t come to condemn us either. 17For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him. John 3:17. (Amp). So while it is still called “Today” encourage your brothers and sisters. Be blessed. ACC 1/16/12 Therefore Beware (part four) God is really not worried about tomorrow, He just wants us to concentrate on today. Let’s look at the next two verses: 15Then while it is [still] called Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [in the desert, when the people provoked and irritated and embittered God against them]. 16For who were they who heard and yet were rebellious and provoked [Him]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? Hebrews 3:15- 16. (Amp). Right now, today, while you are hearing His voice, do not harden your heart. Keep a heart of flesh, not stone, in your very being so that you are usable and pliable to the Father God for His plans and purposes for your life. 11For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome. Jeremiah 29:11. (Amp). God is not in this to harm you but to give you the best He has to offer. Be blessed. ACC 1/18/12 Therefore Beware (part five) God, the Father loves us with an unquenchable love. It grieves Him when we harden our hearts to what He is doing in our lives. This last session we see what happened to those that couldn’t seem to obey, or be compliant, or be persuaded. 17And with whom was He irritated and provoked and grieved for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dismembered bodies were strewn and left in the desert? 18And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [who had not listened to His word and who refused to be compliant or be persuaded]? 19So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out]. Hebrews 3:17-19. (Amp). I don’t know about you but if God can create this whole universe from just speaking the words, then He would be the one I would want on my team. If you find that you have a heart of stone, ask God to give you a heart of flesh. 26A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26. (Amp). He has promised in His Word that He would. Be blessed. ACC 1/20/12