Last month I had the opportunity to record an hour long podcast interview remotely. I won’t lie, I was nervous. I prayed over my content, prepared my notes and answered the call feeling solidly prepared. Marla, my host, did a beautiful job of putting me at ease while getting the formalities out of the way. When she was ready to record, she introduced the segment and our recorded conversation began to take shape. My notes and her questions kept my thoughts on target until a recording hiccup took us offline momentarily.
She graciously offered to begin again with the previous question once her husband identified and remedied the problem. This process took only a few minutes. I perused my notes, making sure I’d covered everything on the front and back of the first page. What I quickly discovered was that I had already worked my way through the majority of my notes. Glancing at the time, I realized we were only twenty minutes into the interview. As I listened to her repeat her earlier question, I breathed a prayer in faith to God in Jesus’s name, a prayer I pray often from Psalm 19:14, and answered from where I’d placed my index finger on the last line of my notes.
“Lord, may these words of my mouth please you.
And may these thoughts of my heart please you also.
You are my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/psa.19.14.NIRV
Before I knew it we were off air and chatting like old friends. When I ended the call, an hour and twenty minutes had elapsed. God showed up as He always does. I chose to begin studying His Word on my own as a girl of ten. The only regret I have as I crest the peak of my fifth decade is that I have not committed more to memory. My Savior meets me in the pages of my Bible and He teaches and reminds me of His precious and powerful Word throughout my days and especially during long nights.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.
His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/php.4.6-7.NLT
I am comforted, encouraged, and challenged by God’s Word daily. I write to remember God’s dealings with me. I am guilty of moving on without having learned my lesson and God is patient. He gently reminds me of my oversight and brings my thoughts back in line with His Word. He has taught me that I am not alone. Where I struggle, I find I am in good company. What He teaches me is not only for me. What do you have that God hasn’t given you? (I Corinthians 4:7) He still commands His followers to give as freely as you have received. (Matthew 10:8)
While reading commentary on the book of Hebrews this week, I came across a summary of sorts. It began like this. “Many people have suggested that a suitable summary of the theme of Hebrews is “Jesus is better.” In chapters 1–2 he is better than the angels; in chapter 3 he is better than Moses. In Hebrews 4, the rest he offers is better than the rest provided by the Promised Land. In chapters 5 and 7 his high priesthood is better than the Levitical priesthood; in chapter 8, the new covenant over which he presides is better than the old covenant. In chapters 9–10, he officiates over a better sanctuary than the tabernacle, exercises a better ministry, and offers a better sacrifice. In short, “Jesus is better.”
Read the Bible: 2 Kings 21, Hebrews 3, Hosea 14, and Psalm 139
I listened to the text of Hebrews chapter four in the English Standard Version and then read it in several other translations as is my habit. One particular section in the Message paraphrase caught my attention. As I meditated on verse eight, the significance of the wording chosen by Eugene Peterson to help us understand God’s divinely inspired Word began to dawn.
“And so this is still a live promise.
It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.”
Incredible! A live promise that God has kept renewing every single day. A promise of which you and I are beneficiaries. You have not missed out, yet. Each time the sun rises on a new day, His promise like His mercies are new every morning. Having forgotten your appointment or running late may cost you considerably in your job or with your family, but God continues to be patient, not wanting anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance. “God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today.”
“For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified.
We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn’t do them a bit of good because they didn’t receive the promises with faith.
If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting.
But not if we don’t have faith.
Remember that God said, “Exasperated, I vowed, “They’ll never get where they’re going, never be able to sit down and rest.””
God made that vow, even though he’d finished his part before the foundation of the world.
Somewhere it’s written, “God rested the seventh day, having completed his work,” but in this other text he says, “They’ll never be able to sit down and rest.”
So this promise has not yet been fulfilled.
Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient.
God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David’s psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please listen, don’t turn a deaf ear…”
Hebrews 4:3-7 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/heb.4.3-7.MSG
“For who were the people who turned a deaf ear?
Weren’t they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt?
And who was God provoked with for forty years?
Wasn’t it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness?
And when he swore that they’d never get where they were going, wasn’t he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear?
They never got there because they never listened, never believed.”
Hebrews 3:15-19 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/heb.3.15-19.MSG
“Remember what it says: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.””
Hebrews 3:15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.3.15.NLT
“And so this is still a live promise.
It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.”
The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people.
God himself is at rest.
And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God.
So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.”
Hebrews 4:8-11 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/heb.4.8-11.MSG
“God means what he says.
What he says goes.
His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey.
Nothing and no one can resist God’s Word.
We can’t get away from it—no matter what.
Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers.
We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality.
He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin.
So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give.
Take the mercy, accept the help.”
Hebrews 4:12-16 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/heb.4.12-16.MSG
“In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.”
Hebrews 5:9 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.5.9.NLT
“Say with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord.”
Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.
Then you will be saved.
With your heart you believe and are made right with God.
With your mouth you say what you believe.
And so you are saved.
Scripture says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Joel 2:32)”
Romans 10:9-10, 13 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/rom.10.9-13.NIRV
“For he says, I listened to you at the time of my favor.
And the day when you needed salvation, I came to your aid.
So can’t you see?
Now is the time to respond to his favor!
Now is the day of salvation!”
2 Corinthians 6:2 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/2co.6.2.TPT
“So search your hearts every day, my brothers and sisters, and make sure that none of you has evil or unbelief hiding within you.
For it will lead you astray, and make you unresponsive to the living God.
This is the time to encourage each other to never be stubborn or hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
Hebrews 3:12-13 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/heb.3.12-13.TPT
“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 3:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.3.14.NLT
Have you walked and talked with Him? Have you heard Him call you His own? Do you know the joy of the Lord in every season from tarrying with Him, spending countless hours meditating on His Word?
“Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!”
Psalms 34:8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.34.8.NLT
🎧Listen Wednesday, May 14, 2025 on Spotify The Marabette Show Episode 7
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