Faith is believing the unbelievable. An elderly man without natural child is given the outrageous promise of vast descendants. Audacious as the promise was, Abraham dared take God at His word.

From historical records, it has been concluded that a pastor at the church in Smyrna by the name of Polycarp, refused to worship Caesar and renounce the name of Christ.  Because of his choice, he was burned at the stake.  From these records, it is reported that when commanded to reject Christ, he stated “Eighty-six years have I served Him, and in nothing hath He wronged me; and how, then, can I blaspheme my King, who saved me?”.  From there, records indicate he was heard singing praises to the Son of God while being burned alive.  It seems Polycarp truly took the words of Jesus to heart, not fearing what he was suffering, and being faithful to the point of death.


Life’s trials are not automatically beneficial. Unless we make the mental choice to “consider” them a source of joy, they will not be. The idea of joy amidst our most difficult times may see preposterous, but then perhaps we need to be sure we properly understand the word, “joy.” Often it is equated with happiness, and this is not necessarily so. A better understanding is that of abiding optimism - that there is ultimate benefit and a good outcome in spite of the pain of the moment. Joy is grinding through the difficulty with confidence in the results.

This church seems to have swung the pendulum to the side of practicing truth without love.  While we can only speculate, I do think this likely looked like church leaders who were so focused on ensuring their church stood out from the worldly crowds, they lost the compassion for those outside of their own doors.  They lost the zeal and vigor for spreading the gospel, and became too heavily focused on trying to maintain the doctrinal ‘purity’ they had built.  

Suffering is evidence of sonship. Apparently the Hebrew audience had lost sight of this fact and needed to be reminded. As loving parents discipline their children for their own good, so our heavenly Father does His children.

I want to draw nearer to God, and He wants that too.  He isn’t looking for ways to avoid us – He is looking for us to come to Him, and He will be right there with us. 

While the writer of Hebrews was concerned about the need for endurance on the part of his audience, he was confident: “But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

If you were going to teach that to a child, you would break it down, emphasize how God’s good far surpasses ours, and emphasize how amazing His love is – get them excited about it!  As adults, I find we have heard those things so many times that we often gloss over them, but stop and think.  The great, amazing, good God of the universe loves you, and that love is perfect, and lasts forever.

“the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” 1 Peter 3:20-21.

A checklist can be a good way for you to ask yourself – am I living as one whose heart has been changed – but I don’t think it is good to be living our lives based off of a checklist.  It focuses you more on the tasks rather than the effects of what you are doing or the purpose behind it.