Heart Words, Bold Letters

SCRIPTURE: Is. 15-18; Heb. 10

Hebrews 10:11-18 
Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this:

   This new plan I’m making with Israel
      isn’t going to be written on paper,
      isn’t going to be chiseled in stone;
   This time “I’m writing out the plan in them,
      carving it on the lining of their hearts.”
He concludes,
   I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.

OBSERVATIONS: There’s a difference between “following your heart” and following the heart that God puts within you.

APPLICATION: Joey, you need to ask for greater accountability from those around you so that you can be more and more sure that the words you are hearing from God are actually from God. Confidence doesn’t equal righteousness.

PRAYER: Teach me, God, by writing on my heart. Help me to know when I’m reading your words from the innermost part of me, and when I’m listening to the flesh that leads me astray, the ego that drives me crazy, and the need to impress those around me.