Devotion To Jesus

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. We’re going to get into the Word here.

All right, so Hebrews chapter 3. We recently began a study going through the book of Hebrews, and we talked about how this book was written to believers that were wavering in their faith. There was persecution that was rising up. Many had decided to give their lives to Jesus, to follow Him, but things weren’t working out as they expected. They were being persecuted for their belief. They weren’t able to buy food at the store. Their homes were being vandalized, and things were getting difficult. And so many of them were beginning to wonder, “Did I make the right choice? Did I make a good choice when I decided to follow Jesus, to give my life to Him? Wouldn’t it be easier for me to just go with the flow and do what everybody else is doing? I could just be Jewish. I can just go back to that. I’ll go back to my roots.”

How many of you know when things get uncomfortable, we like to go back to what we used to do, what we used to know? But the author is writing to the church, and he’s saying, “No, do not go back. Press forward. Endure. Because Jesus is worth the difficulty. He is worth the struggle. He is worth the condemnation. He’s worth the broken relationships. He is worth all that, because He is above all that.”

Jesus is better

And so we talked about how Jesus is better. Everybody say, “Jesus is better.” Tell your neighbor, “Jesus is better.” He’s better. We talked about the supremacy of Jesus, how He is above all things. He’s better than anything. In fact, we say this often, but the greatest achievement that you can have in life is to fall in love with Jesus. There is nothing better that you can do. There is no greater accomplishment. Think of the greatest thing — heroes, right? Those people that they make movies about. There is nothing greater that you can do than to fall hopelessly and desperately in love with Jesus. Jesus is better.

And then we talked last week about “but we see Jesus” — that no matter what comes up, no matter what difficulties arise, temptations, trials, we will be people — I believe it to be a word, a prophetic word for our church and for this time — that no matter what turmoil, no matter what things go on around us, we will be people that say, “But we see Jesus.”

How many of you know Jesus is available? I know some of you here today may have come in thinking, “Man, I don’t know if God is even real.” But I want you to know: not only is He real, He’s available. He wants to be in relationship with you. In fact, from the very beginning, when He created all things, that was His heart: that He would be with us. You are His delight. He would walk with Adam in the cool of the day. It was their routine.

I actually enjoy going on walks, but my wife does not. And so I’m like, “Hey, you want to go for a walk?” And so we have to find it. We were just on a date, and we were talking about life after kids, and I was like, “I think we need a hobby. I think we need something just the two of us.” And I think I offered, “We could go on walks.” And she was like, “Let’s keep thinking. Let’s keep brainstorming.”

But God wanted nothing more than to be with His creation. And when sin entered the world, that relationship was severed. It was ripped apart, because how many of you know He’s a holy God? He can’t have a place with sin. And from that moment, when that separation occurred, what happened? He promised Jesus, the Messiah, that He would come, that He would defeat sin, that He would defeat death, and that we would have life with Him forever. And so no matter what happens, we must be people that say, “No, but we see Jesus.” Amen.

We’re going to continue to work our way through Hebrews. I want you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 3, and we’re going to read verses 7 through 14 this morning. I keep forgetting to say this, but I would encourage you: can we just make it our goal to read through the book of Hebrews this week? Okay? It’s thirteen chapters, so a little more than one to two a day — 1.75. We’ve got some math wizards here, right? If you wanted to split it up. But let’s read through, because I believe the reason the Lord was leading us into the book of Hebrews is that it gives us such a clear picture of Jesus in our lives — that He is not just some man, but He is the Risen One. He’s seated on the throne.

And it gives us this picture of Him as our High Priest, the one who makes intercession for us. Did you know Jesus is in heaven right now making intercession for you? And so it gives us such a clear picture. And I believe, if you are here today, the Holy Spirit has drawn you here to have a greater revelation of who He is — that we would not just know about God, but that we would know Him. Amen.

And so we’re going to go to Hebrews chapter 3, and we’re going to start at verse 7. And it says this: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.” So I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest.”’ Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.”

Today

There’s a lot to unpack there. But I want you to notice how it starts off. It says, “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says.” So let me ask you: who’s speaking here? The Holy Spirit. Now, this was written by a person that was inspired by the Spirit. Scripture says all Scripture has been breathed out by God, and so all Scripture is the Word of God. But specifically, this is a quote from Psalm 95. And it starts by saying, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘Today.’” Everybody say “today.”

In other words, how many of you know when the Holy Spirit is speaking, there is an urgency? I think sometimes we treat the Lord speaking to us as though it’s an option — as though, “I’m going to tuck that away, and maybe I’ll start taking care of some of those things a little bit later.” But how many of you know when the Lord is bringing something to you, there is an urgency, that there should not be a delay? And so whatever the Lord is calling of you — whether it’s during our times where we’re together and we’re receiving the Word (how many of you know the Lord will speak to you during those times?), or maybe it’s in your personal devotion and you’re in the Word and something is jumping out to you, and you know that’s the Holy Spirit speaking to you — I would encourage you, do not delay. Today. Everybody say “today.”

“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years.” So the author is using this example now — the Holy Spirit is bringing up this example — that there was a time where God’s people, who had been delivered from Egypt, were in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. But they acted like God was not real. They acted like God didn’t do anything for them.

If you know the story, the people of Israel were in bondage and in slavery to Egypt for four hundred years. There was no hope for them. There was no way out. Anybody ever feel like that sometimes? Where maybe, through some of the decisions that you have made, you’ve kind of painted yourself into a corner, and you look around and you’re like, “I’m doomed. There’s nothing that I can do.” Listen, it was like that, except they were being persecuted. They were dying. They were being murdered. They were being abused. Okay? And so they were being persecuted for four hundred years. There was no way out. And then God sent a deliverer to them, Moses, who was a type of Jesus. And through miracle after miracle after miracle, God set them free out of Egypt.

And they’re walking through the wilderness, and not too long after, they start complaining. How many of you know there is no quicker way to disconnect yourself from the heart of God than ingratitude, a heart of complaining? “God, I know You’ve done stuff for me, but what have You done for me lately? God, I know You delivered me, but I really struggled today, and things just don’t seem to be working out.”

You see, there is a way to keep ourselves tethered to the heart of God, and it’s through thanksgiving. Everybody say “thanksgiving.” You see, the people of Israel had forgotten. They had forgotten what God had done. Rather than talking about the good things that God had done, they began to only look at and complain about the bad things. And what happened as a result? Their heart was hardened, and they were filled with unbelief.

You see, when we have hearts that do not recognize who God is, and we do not position ourselves in alignment with that reality, we are disconnecting ourselves. And our hearts become hard, to the point where even people who believe in God, who accepted Jesus, who had made a decision — because they allowed that hardness to take root, it turned into unbelief and rejection. You guys know what I’m talking about?

And so here are the people of Israel. It says, “where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation.” In other words, “I had delivered them, and they rejected Me.” And He said, “They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.”

How many of you know a healthy relationship with God requires an acknowledgment of His character, an acknowledgment of who He is? How many of you know there are times when you’re going through life and you won’t feel it? Do you know what I mean? You come on a Sunday, and it took everything you had to get here. You had an argument. There were disagreements. Your kids are hungry. They’re tired. There are all sorts of things. And we lose sight of the reality that the reason we have come is to worship Him. And so acknowledging who He is, acknowledging what He’s done, is how we keep our hearts tethered to Him.

An evil heart of unbelief

He says, “Beware, brethren.” Everybody say “brethren.” Notice the author is speaking to born-again believers. If you’re a born-again believer — which I hope is everybody in the room. I think we’ve got that covered. He’s writing to the believers. He’s saying, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.” In other words, a heart of unbelief in God’s eyes is evil. It is evil because it takes your eyes and your heart away from Him. Somebody say amen.

He says, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today’” — again, there it is, there’s that urgency — “lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

I’m going to pause there, because I think there are some that have been deceived into thinking that sin really isn’t that big of a deal, because Jesus forgives us. And it is true that the blood of Jesus is strong, that His grace is mighty, and that when we confess our sin, He’s faithful and just to forgive us our sin. But listen: do not think that there is no consequence to sin. Because when we tolerate sin, our heart gets hard. And when our heart hardens, not only can we not hear the things of God — because we can’t hear Him, because we can’t see Him, because our heart is hard — we start to reject Him.

And so there is a call to living a holy life. There is a call to living according to what God says in Scripture — that we don’t just live flippantly, or just live according to whatever we want, thinking, “Well, I can just go to that party, because it’s no big deal. Jesus will forgive me. I can just do that thing and go to that place.” “I know I shouldn’t go. There’s something in me that’s saying, ‘Don’t do it,’ but I do it anyway.” “I know I shouldn’t take that job, but you know what? The pay is good. And, well, God opened the door.” Okay, that’s a whole other teaching. How many of you know not only God can open doors, but the devil can open doors? We’ve got to hear His voice.

And I’m so proud — oh my gosh, I’m so proud of people in this church, that their heart is to follow Jesus. There are some big decisions that you guys make, and you always ask, “Lord, is this what You have? Is this what You want?” What an honor to pastor a church like that.

So it says, “Exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today.’” Real quick: you do not have to walk this walk of faith alone. Did you know that you are surrounded by people in this room, in this church, that love you? And we are called to exhort one another. That means encourage one another. Why? Because life can get hard. Sometimes we don’t hear right. Sometimes we get a little bit off track, and maybe it’s because we haven’t been spending time with the Lord the way that we should. Maybe we’re just not hearing things quite right. Maybe there’s some past trauma that’s causing us to have this distorted image of ourselves.

It is important to surround yourself with the right people. Okay? The right people around you will encourage you and keep you in the things that God has prepared for you. And so he says, “Encourage one another, while it is called ‘Today,’” meaning this never stops. You should never isolate. You should never be alone. That’s why it is so important not to just come to church when you feel like it. It’s important to come. Why? Because when we gather corporately — which we’re going to talk about; this is so beautiful — when we come together corporately, He pours Himself out, and we are filled. But not only that, we are able to encourage one another to stay the course.

Because what was going on in this church? They were questioning, “Is this it? Is this right?” And aren’t you thankful for people that will call you out of your funk, and they will say, “No, you need to get before the Lord, right? You need to follow Jesus. You need to recommit yourself to Him”? Somebody say amen. This is important.

Partakers of Christ

So: “Exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we” — and this is what we’re going to talk about — “for we have become partakers of Christ.” Oh, that we would be partakers of Christ — “if we hold” — everybody say “hold” — “hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.” There is a way to go through life holding on to our confidence, to that faith, and become partakers of Christ.

That word “partake” is the Greek metochoi. That’s probably not how you say it. I’m not trying to act smart. But it means to become like Him by being with Him. To become like Him by being with Him. Did you know that the Holy Spirit’s number one goal for your life is to make you more like Jesus, to transform you into His image? Now, that is not a one-and-done process. How many of you know that is a lifelong process? In fact, we will not be perfected until we are with Him in eternity, right? But that doesn’t mean we stay where we are. The Holy Spirit’s goal is to make you more and more like Jesus. The question is, will you yield to His process?

I don’t know about you, but there are things that I know I should be doing that I don’t really yield to, right? I know I should probably get up a little bit earlier and maybe do a little workout, get my heart going. My kid’s nodding in full agreement. There are things that I know I should do, but when I don’t yield to them, there is no benefit. You guys know? See, it’s not enough to just know about God. We have to yield and submit to Him. Why? Because He is forming something in us. And so it’s not about head knowledge. It’s not about just good theology. It’s about submitting to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and being transformed into the image of Jesus.

And so there is a way to endure. There is a way to stay faithful to the end. I’m so glad that you guys are here. We love you guys. There is a way to endure. There is a way to stay faithful to the end. Your walk with Jesus is not just a one-time experience. It’s not just a Sunday experience. It is to continue in that faith.

Devoted, not just on Sundays

And this is what I want to talk about today, very briefly: that we would be people devoted to Jesus. What does “devoted” mean? It means I fully give myself to Him. What does devotion to Jesus look like? You see, there is a way to endure. There is a way to partake of Christ, staying steadfast to the end. How do we have a heart and a hunger that keeps us in a place that is fully devoted to Him? Because I don’t know about you, but when life hits — I’ve got those highs, I’ve got the lows. Anybody else get the lows? Those times where things are going good, and those times where things are just a little dull.

Devotion to Jesus. I’m encouraged in a lot of ways, because I talk with a lot of churches on a regular basis, and I’m encouraged because there are many that are recognizing the need for Jesus as the Lord of the church — really making Jesus the center of everything, that He is our everything, our all in all. But there is a danger that happens when we only and solely rely on our corporate gatherings to be with Him. If this is your one time to be with the Lord, and then the rest of your week you’re just doing your own thing, you’re on dangerous ground, because you will not have a heart that can actually endure and be steadfast in the midst of everything else.

You see, there is a danger in relying solely on corporate gatherings. Notice: your private devotion to Jesus will literally be the battleground, or the grounds, on which the rest of your spiritual life will be transformed. Sundays are good, right? Corporate gatherings are good. I don’t know about you, but I enjoyed our time of worship this morning, where we began to fix our eyes on the Lord, and He began to pour Himself out, because that’s what He does if we have humble and sincere hearts, right? That’s what He does. But there is a danger when we only make it a Sunday thing and we don’t have a private, devoted life. Because if our corporate understanding alone is our image of how we approach Jesus, our approach can become formulaic, right?

So many of you would know the scripture — one of the ways that we are to gather corporately in our worship and experience Jesus is with thanksgiving and praise. Psalm 100, verse 4: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.” The way that we enter into His presence is with thanksgiving and praise. Amen.

Now, the cool thing about thanksgiving is that thanksgiving is never meant to be silent in a corporate setting. It’s called thanksgiving. There is something that is to be offered. There is something to be sacrificed, right? So when we give our worship — that’s why Scripture says lift up a sacrifice of praise. In other words, there’s a little bit of dying to yourself. If you want to praise and worship appropriately, you will have to do things that might be a little bit uncomfortable, but within Scripture. You guys know what I’m saying? It’s not comfortable. I’ve heard people say, “Well, singing to the Lord and lifting my hands — that’s just not my style.” We’ve got agreement. But how many of you know it’s not a style thing? There is this sacrifice of praise that is to well up on the inside, a denial of self, where, when we offer up thanksgiving and praise, we are literally lifting up a sacrifice. And when we bring that sacrifice, He is honored, He is glorified, and He comes into our midst. Okay?

Not a formula, but a person

Now, if we only experience that on a Sunday, then there is this dangerous ground where we become formulaic in our approach: “Well, if I sing a couple songs, and I do a little diddly, and I say ‘thank You, thank You, thank You,’ then God is here.” How many of you know God is not a genie? The Holy Spirit is not robotic.

Let me give you another — I was just thinking and considering this this morning: there is no one more consistent and new at the same time. He is so faithful, so consistent, but He’s always new. That is why we will spend an eternity worshiping. It sounds like, “Well, that’s a really long worship service.” I mean, I get complaints when we go over thirty-five minutes. But He’s always new, meaning the wonder never ends, meaning there’s more and more and more. Tell the neighbor next to you, “There’s more.”

But if we believe that we can just thank Him and praise Him quickly and have Him show up, that makes the formula lord, and not the Lord Himself. Because what we have to remember is that He’s a person. He’s a person with feelings. He’s a person with desires. And He refuses to be robotic.

And so we must remember that death to self invites His presence. Okay? The cross-filled life invites His presence. If you can make your day-to-day follow the words of Jesus, where He says, “Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Me” — that kind of life attracts the presence of the Lord. Are you with me?

If anybody ever says they are an expert at the Spirit of God and the move of God, they are a liar. The only proper approach to welcoming His presence is a heart that is hungry and a heart that is humble. Jesus said, “Blessed are the hungry, because they will be satisfied.” If you have a genuine hunger for the Lord, and a heart that comes in admitting, “I don’t have it all. I need You” — when you have that and you bring it to the Lord, how many of you know the Lord comes in? He’s that good.

I don’t know about you, but it seems like when I’m at my lowest points, the most difficult points, that’s when I meet Him the most, because there is something about humility, being humbled. Anybody ever been humbled before? You thought you knew what you were doing. You thought you were good, and then you realize just how bad off you are. When you have that — Scripture says He resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

If you want to know how to enter into the presence of the Lord, it comes when we say, “Lord, I’m so desperate for You, because I’m just not that good. I don’t have it. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to be a good father. I don’t know how to lead my family. I don’t know how to actually get the job done. I don’t know how to do what You’ve called me to do. But Lord, all I need is You.” When we come in with a humble heart and a hungry heart, He gladly fills. Amen.

The secret place

And so for us to be partakers who have deep fellowship with Jesus means that we don’t only enter into worship during our corporate gatherings. I believe the Lord is calling us to be vessels that are filled with Him, that carry His presence wherever we go.

I want to close with Psalm 91. Is Jesus good? Psalm 91, verse 1 says, “He who dwells” — everybody say “dwells” — “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” He who dwells. In other words, not the one that visits — the one who stays there, the one who lives there.

It’s the funny thing about spending time with the Lord: you might make a decision, “You know what? I’m going to spend the first twenty minutes of my day with the Lord.” And when you give the Lord those twenty minutes, He’s going to say, “Would you give Me twenty more?” And you give Him twenty more, and He’s saying, “How about an hour?” He always wants more, because He wants to give you more. Amen. He wants to give more.

“He who dwells in the secret place.” The secret place is where transformation happens. I want you to know that so many of the issues that you face in life — whether it is a sin issue, a bondage, a mindset, emotional damage, whatever issue you have — the secret place is where transformation happens. Those issues will dissolve in His glory. If we build a dwelling in secret, the idols of our hearts break, the tears of our soul are slaughtered, the monsters of the flesh are laid waste in the secret place of His presence.

You know, something that we’ve begun recently, that I’ve talked about, that I enjoy so much, is our worship and prayer time during the midweek. It is a time of worship and prayer — hence the name; very complicated. But it is not a teaching time. You’d be surprised how many people have issues with that. Do we pray Scripture? Do we read Scripture? Yes, we do. It is a time to worship and to welcome His presence, to sit at the feet of Jesus, and to pray according to the leading of the Spirit. And I do have a sense that it’ll be a time where we receive communion regularly. But it’s a beautiful thing, because it is not just another service. It is a time where we are learning to engage the presence of the Lord, to minister to the Lord.

And there are times where there’s just a handful of people in the room, and I think people would come in and say, “Well, what a failure.” And I would say, “No.” Our attendance does not determine our success. Our success is only dictated and determined by, number one, is Jesus here? And number two, did we stay there with Him? I’ve said it before — and I’m glad you’re here, and don’t dare me or take me up on this — but if nobody else was here, as long as I’m here and the Lord is here, I’m good. Because this isn’t about making a name for ourselves. This isn’t about bringing glory to anybody.

My hope is that when I leave this place — because we’re all going to leave this place at some point, one way or the other — I hope you don’t even notice, because your eyes are so fixed on Jesus that I can leave the room and you are just continuing to worship, because you’re more in love with Him than when you first started. Isn’t that what it’s all about? It’s not about people. It’s not about you. In fact, when churches say, “It’s a place for you,” I’m like, “No, it’s a place for Jesus, and we’re a part of that.” It’s all about Him. It’s all about Him. So the secret place must become a dwelling.

When you pray, go into your room

And these are the same words that Jesus used. In fact, can we stand together? I’m going to close this out with this. Listen to what Jesus said about the secret place. Actually, let’s do this: we’re just going to end our time looking to the Lord. So just with our eyes closed, looking to Him — you can lift your hands to the Lord — but listen to the words of Jesus. He says, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

And I believe the Lord is giving us a beautiful invitation: that we would be people who are devoted to Him, not just in our gatherings corporately, but that we would be people who are devoted to Him daily. And I believe the Lord is saying that when you go into your room, into that secret place, you would recognize that you are not alone, but the Father is saying, “I am there with you.”

Lord Jesus, I pray over every person here, Lord, that You would open our eyes to the brightness of Your glory, to the endless love that You have demonstrated to us. Lord, let us have hearts that are fully devoted to You, that we wouldn’t just make this a Sunday thing, but Lord, that our hearts would be fully Yours. Lord, for those places where there is a lack of hunger, would You stir up a hunger, Lord Jesus? Lord, for the hearts where the fire has gone out, would You light the flame again? Lord, let us become fully, helplessly in love with You.

And Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, would You make us more like You? Make us more like Jesus. We don’t want to be stiff-necked. We don’t want to be stubborn. Lord, we want to be humble, pliable, moldable, shapeable into the people that You’ve called us to be. Jesus, we thank You for Your presence. Just tell Him and say, “Lord, I thank You for Your presence. I thank You for Your love for me, and I give You myself.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.