{"id":683,"date":"2015-04-19T11:59:26","date_gmt":"2015-04-19T11:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/?p=683"},"modified":"2015-04-20T02:05:41","modified_gmt":"2015-04-20T02:05:41","slug":"on-the-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/on-the-list\/","title":{"rendered":"On the List"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…let throw off…let us run…let us fix our eyes on Jesus”<\/em> (Hebrews 12:1)<\/p>\n

Why is it important to be ready? \u00a0It is beginning to seem like a lot of work. \u00a0In fact, it might be easier to pick another path…you know…go with the flow. \u00a0Something with a little less sacrifice. \u00a0Something with a little less cost. \u00a0When we begin to think \u00a0like that we must back up and read the beginning of this passage which is written above. \u00a0Friends, we are part of a bigger picture!\u00a0 It is not just about you.\u00a0 Our world has become so focused on the individual that we have forgotten that our lives are woven into the fabric of the world as a whole.\u00a0 We tend to say things like, “It is my life and I can do whatever I want” or “It’s none of anyone’s business what I do”.\u00a0 The Bible tells us that yes, we are free to make choices, but those choices do have an impact on others around us.<\/p>\n

These verses in Chapter 12 of Hebrews are preceded by Chapter 11 (I know…duh). \u00a0But, we are very familiar with this chapter because it is the faith chapter that defines faith and lists examples throughout history of those who lived by faith. \u00a0We learn that we stand in a long line of people who suffered and persevered so that we would know the message of the Gospel.\u00a0 Hero’s whose lives did not always end heroically in the world’s eyes but victoriously in God’s eyes.\u00a0 After the many examples are given for our encouragement the chapter ends with this statement:<\/p>\n

“These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received whatt had been promised. \u00a0God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. \u00a0Therefore…”<\/em> (Hebrews 1:39,40 and first word of 12:1)<\/p>\n

Our faith journey is intertwined with the history of God’s plan for His people and…with the future!\u00a0 The list in Hebrews 11 is one that has continued.\u00a0 The last entries in that heavenly script have the names of people you know who were people of faith in your life.\u00a0 People whose faith sparked faith in you!\u00a0 Now the same pen that scribbled the name of your grandmother or Sunday school teacher is writing your name.\u00a0 That’s right.\u00a0 You are on the list.<\/p>\n

You see, our journey does not have a distinct beginning.\u00a0 God knew you and had plans for you before you were born.\u00a0 It does not have a distinct ending.\u00a0 All who believe will have eternal life.\u00a0 We are simply called to be faithful with our part of the Kingdom work that God has called us to at the moment.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 To be faithful to the testimony of those\u00a0who have gone before (cloud of witnesses) and to pass on the heritage of faith to those to come!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…let throw off…let us run…let us fix our eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1) Why is it important to be ready? \u00a0It is beginning to seem like a lot of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all_posts","category-daily-devotions-2015"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":691,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683\/revisions\/691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/parkwood.dreamhosters.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}