We are called to share in the life of heaven. We are to fasten our thoughts on Jesus, the Messiah, who is of the Melchizedekian priesthood.
The writer compares Moses and Jesus and the roles they played. Moses was a faithful servant, Jesus – a faithful Son. Moses realized that the part he played was a picture of something greater to be revealed by God. Christ showed us the difference between serving God and being one with Him. So many still live in the revelation of Moses, rather than Christ. So many are still stuck in serving God rather than being one with God and serving humanity. If we’re honest, we still fluctuate between the two at times. May we continue to see ourselves as one with Christ.
We can tell what’s really going on in the depths of our heart when we encounter trials or hardships – when life gets tough and doesn’t go the way we thought it should. What do we do in those moments? Do we run to God even though it may not feel good in the moment? Or do we run to the things that stroke our ego and give us momentary comfort? Momentary comfort doesn’t last. It can trick us into the cycle of feeling good for a moment. Those who look for momentary pleasure will find it but will usually discover down the road that they’ve veered off the path of oneness with Christ. Thankfully, all it takes is a decision to reconnect again. Look at how many times the Israelites in the desert complained about their situation, rather than being thankful that God was walking them into freedom. Freedom doesn’t always happen instantly. Usually, it’s a journey. We must continually move forward in that journey to experience God’s freedom. The Israelites wasted 40 years of their lives complaining rather than trusting. May we learn from them.
Even though the Israelites witnessed many miracles, their faith in God was fleeting. How quickly they forgot in the dark what they’d seen in the light. Just because someone witnesses a miracle doesn’t mean their life is changed and their trust is in God. Miracles are simply signs that point to Christ.
So many view God as an angry man. Sadly, that’s due to humanity choosing how to translate certain words in Scripture. For example, in verse 10 in the NASB they use the word ‘angry’ saying God was angry with the Israelites. The word can also mean ‘grieved’. Also, verse 11 says, “As I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” The word ‘wrath’ here is a word also meaning ‘desire’. I love how this verse is worded in The Mirror: Hear the echo of God’s cry through the ages, “Oh! If only they would enter into My rest.”
God isn’t trying to keep humanity out; He’s trying to help us see that He never excluded us. We excluded ourselves through blindness.
We must guard our hearts. We choose where we put our focus and attention. If we focus on life, we live. If we don’t, we die. Verse 12 in The Mirror says, “Make sure that none of you tolerates the poison of unbelief in your hearts, allowing callousness to distract and distance you from the living God. (Unbelief, believing a lie about yourself and your salvation; unbelief exchanges the living God for a dead god of your own imagination. A calloused heart is a mind dominated by the senses.)” When we allow ourselves to believe the lie, we cheat ourselves of truly living. It’s better to live than to merely exist. Truly living is abiding in Christ.
God always sees the best in us, the true us. What do we choose to see? When we see ourselves how God sees us, we no longer have to try so hard to qualify. I love the note on verse 18 in The Mirror: Our believing a lie about ourselves cannot compromise what God knows to be true about us. Futile striving to become cannot match the bliss of discovering and celebrating who you already are by His design and redemption.
As Mike so often says, “When you know who you are, you’re no longer afraid of who you’re not.”
We’ve been saying for several years here at The Rainbow Centre that we are in a move of God. Being in a move of God doesn’t miraculously change how you view yourself. Many have witnessed moves of God, signs, wonders, miracles, healings, etc., and through their unbelief, their believing a lie about themselves, have convinced themselves that it wasn’t real. May we choose to keep open to the Christ. The end of verse 19 in The Mirror says, “Their own unbelief disqualified them.” God never disqualifies us, we do it to ourselves. May we continually choose to keep the blinders off and live in oneness with God.
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