Hebrews 1:1

Verse Study Devotion – Hebrews 1:1

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,” Hebrews 1:1

First of all, I want to discuss who the author was. Many believe it was the Apostle Paul, however, I want you to notice how Paul begins his writings we know are his.

Romans – Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

! Corinthians – Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

2 Corinthians – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:

Galatians – Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),

Ephesians – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:

Philippians – Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:

Colossians – Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

! Thessalonians – Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.

2 Thessalonians – Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

1 Timothy – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,

2 Timothy – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,

Titus – Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,

Philemon – Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker,

Note how Paul starts all the books he wrote with his first name. In the Book of Hebrews, the author’s name is never mentioned. This leads me to believe that Paul did not write the Book of Hebrews. I may be wrong, but ultimately this is not all that important. What is important is what God is telling us through whoever He chose to write this book via the moving of the Holy Spirit.

Going now to verses 1 and 2 we see that God is a personal God, not one who created everything and went away, but who desires to interact with us.

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” Hebrews 1:1-2.

In the Old Testament, God spoke to His people through the prophets. They were people God used to communicate His message to the world. In essence they acted as a mouthpiece for God, receiving and then proclaiming what God has told or shown them. And they shared these things according to God’s commandments to them. However, when ‘The Christ’ came into the world, God spoke to us through Him, His son. Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, meaning ‘anointed or chosen one’. This Greek word is equivalent to the Hebrew word Mashiach, or ‘Messiah.’ And the name ‘Jesus’ is the Lord’s human name given to Mary by the angel Gabriel.

” And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.” Luke 1:31.

His name was Jesus, but His title was Christ, for Jesus was sent by God to be a King and Deliverer. Christ is His title, the Messiah, also referred to as ‘The Anointed One.’

I love the way Theologian Charles Spurgeon described these two ideas.

“Saving the best for last is always God’s rule. You have kept the good wine until now. Prophets are a very blessed means of communication, but how much more sure, how much more condescending is it for God to speak to us by His Son!”

He uses a verse from the Book of John to help make his point regarding the prophets and the Christ.

“When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, ‘Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.’” John 2:10.

He spoke with those in Old Testament times through prophets, but in New Testament times, during our time through to the end, He speaks to us through His Son, The Christ. He literally saved the best for last.

And this one who is God’s Son made the worlds and everything that is. We see this more clearly stated by John in his gospel record.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. .. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-3, 14.

Moving on to verse three.

“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” Hebrews 1:3.

Hebrews 1:2-3 are incredible verses that show us the nature and work of Jesus Christ, putting together His divinity, His role in creation (as seen in Hebrews 1:2), and His work in redeeming mankind from the results of their sin. We then read in 1 John the following regarding salvation.

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:6-7.

Jesus manages everything by His word, showing He not only created but upholds the universe. He provided a means to purify us from our sins, showing His work of redemption through cleansing us. He then sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in on high, that being God the Father. This shows Jesus’ exaltation and authority, as we see in Ephesians 1:19-21.

“And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” Ephesians 1:19-21.

This verse reassures us of Jesus’ divine nature and ongoing role, offering comfort and hope in uncertain times.

Then in the next four verses we see the immense difference between all the angels and the Christ.

“Having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”? And again, “I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME”? And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.” And of the angels He says, “WHO MAKES HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE.” Hebrews 1:4-7.

Looking at these verses, we see the phrase, ‘much better than the angels”. This refers to being exalted much above the angels. The word “better” here does not refer to moral character, but to exaltation of rank. In the Greek, the word is ‘kreitton’, which has the idea of stronger, more useful and noble. And because of this, He has a more excellent name. Instead of simply being an angel or servant, Jesus was declared the Son of God. No angel was given this position.

God the Father also spoke to God the Son and declared Him as begotten. The word begotten speaks of the equality of substance and essential nature between the Father and Son, because the Son came forth from the Father. It means that the Father and the Son share the same being. This verse also suggests that God sometimes delivers His message, via His angels, using them through the natural world. While angels have a flexible nature, sometimes appearing as flames or wind,

“He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers.” Psalm 104:4.

To go forward to Hebrews 1:8-14, click the following link.

Isaiah 55:8

Verse of the Day Devotion Isaiah 55:8 

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD.” – Isaiah 55:8

Our focus verse addresses the idea that we as mankind are absolutely different from God.  This, along with verse nine show just how much we differ, in everything.  Let us go back one verse and take a look at our major difference. “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7. Here we see the distinct difference between the two: man’s sinfulness and God’s compassion.

Just how different are God’s thoughts and ways from those of people on earth?  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9. Notice the link here.  His thoughts are above our thoughts, and His ways are above our ways.  And this contrast between God and mankind is compared to the distance between the heavens and the earth.  Just to give some context Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our solar system is located 25 trillion miles away.  It takes light just over four years to reach earth.  Now this may seem like a large distance, however, the next closest sun-like star is actually three times farther then Alpha Centauri.  Thus, it would take twelve years to arrive.  And these are but two stars.  When we look into the sky at night, we see an incredible number of stars which are but a tiny percentage of all the stars in the heavens.  And many of the stars are so far away we will never see the light from them.

Now this is a huge distance between the heavens and the earth. Such a comparison might make one wonder if there is anything that is similar between the thoughts of God and the common man. Surely there are few similarities between God and the wicked, but there are some similarities between the righteous believer who reads or hears about God’s thoughts and ways and attempts to live a life consistent with God’s instructions. Nevertheless, even with these few similarities with the righteous, it is not hard to accept the idea that God’s plans and purposes are exceedingly higher than anything the smartest righteous person has ever thought or imagined. But is this text referring to all God’s thoughts and plans or to a specific topic? Since nothing specific is mentioned, one could suggest that this is a broad principle that applies to all areas of life and thinking. Yet the contextual reference to God’s compassion and forgiveness of sins as seen above in verses 6-7 indicates that the divine plan of redemption is the supreme example of God’s higher thoughts and ways. Some people have a hard time being compassionate toward good people, and most find it hard to be merciful to extremely wicked people. Most people have difficulty truly forgiving those who wrong them, but God is willing to love the most unlovely and ungodly, even forgive those who do unforgivable evil against others and blaspheme the name of God, if they come to Him and truly repent.

We who are followers of God must strive to live as He desires us to live.  We will never, in all ways, think like He thinks or make His ways our ways.  Yes, the point here is to assert that the ways of iniquity and wickedness are to be rejected precisely because they are not God’s ways does not rule out the recognition that forgiveness and pardon are not normally human thoughts and ways either.  “Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not right. Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. But the house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not right. Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?” Ezekiel 18:25-29. 

But we can, and must, make it our goal to move in that direction.  When we are truly saved it is important that we make His ways our ways.  “The one who says, I have come to know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” 1 John 2:5-6. Let us all strive to walk as He walked, loving all people no matter how they treat us, and do all He has called us to do.  We may fail at times but knowing He will forgive us gives us the opportunity to grow in His ways and become more like Christ day by day.  

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

Haggai 1:5

Verse of the Day Devotion Haggai 1:5  

“Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, Consider your ways!” –  Haggai 1:5

Chapter one of Haggai speaks of the command from God to the Prophet Haggai for Israel to rebuild the Temple.  God starts off by saying the people though do not agree.  “Thus says the LORD of hosts, This people say, The time has not come, even the time for the house of the LORD to be rebuilt.” Haggai 1:2. He starts off remarking that Israel has declared the time has not come to rebuild the temple.  However, the Lord then asks a rhetorical question. “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?” Haggai 1:4.  This verse is a very pointed response. While they held their own wants and even their luxuries to be matters of importance in the moment, they thought any time would be suitable to attend to the claims of their God; that while their own homes had been regained, there was yet no habitation for the God of Israel; that while their wealthy members were using their superfluous means to adorn and beautify their dwellings, God’s dwelling-place still lay desolate, appealing in vain to their piety and patriotism, which had been overborne by selfishness. The allusion, moreover, could not fail to expose the insincerity of their excuses. Houses wainscoted with cedar were the residence of kings, and if some of them had now had access to such resources as enabled them to live in princely splendor, they might surely have reserved a portion for the requirements of the Temple, when the work of building it should be resumed, if that work had been of any concern to them.

Then the Lord tells the people, as written in our focus verse to consider their ways. The exact sense of the Hebrew is expressed more clearly when rendered, ‘Consider the ways of life’, ‘Give careful thought to your ways’ or ‘think carefully about your behavior’. The idea is to set the heart upon one’s ways, i.e., to consider one’s conduct, and lay it to heart. The ways are the conduct, with its results. “You have sown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” Haggai 1:6. Look at what this is saying.  First, He says they plant more crops than they harvest.  Next, He says you have a little food to eat, but you are still hungry after having eaten. Third, in a mocking manner, saying you drink the wine from your grapes, but have not enough to get drunk on.  Also, you put on clothing but not enough to stay warm, and you earn wages put them in purses with holes in them. 

The cause of their financial difficulties was their wrong priorities. They suffered setback after setback because the blessing of God wasn’t on their pocketbook.  Haggai describes a double curse. Instead of much, little was reaped; and the little that was brought home melted away without doing any good. This is seen through the picture earning wages to be put into a bag with holes. These judgments were a fulfillment of promises God made hundreds of years before in the time of Moses. “Beware, lest your hearts be deceived and you turn away and serve other gods and worship them. Or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.” Deuteronomy 11:16-17.

Now, as it was for the Israelites, it is important for us also to consider our ways, or as stated above, giving careful thought of our ways.  Are our priorities truly in order?  Do we look at what we do for ourselves above what we do for God?  Let us face reality.  If our priorities are wrong, nothing will satisfy us. Each accomplishment soon reveals that there must be something more, something that can really satisfy, Nothing fills the God-shaped void in our life except putting Him first. Do we put God first, or do we do His work when our desires are addressed?  Pray about this, listen to His response, and make the necessary changes to put God first, and then ourselves last.  It is difficult, but it is what we are called to do.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

Lamentations 3:40

Verse of the Day Devotion:  Lamentations 3:40   

“Let us test and examine our ways and return to the LORD!” – Lamentations 3:40

Let us start this with the verse just before our focus verse in order to understand what is being said.  “Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins?” Lamentations 3:39.  What he is saying is, if a man sins why should He gripe and complain about what happens to him.  The writer of Proverbs put it this way.  “When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.” Proverbs 19:3. The writer is basically saying that when a man gives into the sinful ways and desires of his heart, it causes him to go astray from the ways God has called him to go.  And when things do not go well for him, he places all the blame upon God and not on the one who actually caused this to happen, himself.  Thus, the writer of Lamentations is saying, why should someone complain about what God allows to happen because of their sins?  I like the way Theologian Adam Clarke put it.  “He who has his life still lent to him has small cause of complaint. How great soever his affliction may be, he is still alive; therefore, he may seek and find mercy unto eternal life. Of this, death would deprive him; therefore let not a living man complain.” 

So, going back to verse 39, why should a man complain about the outcome of his own behavior?  At least he is still alive and can make adjustments in his ways.  And if he still lives, what should he do rather than sit around and complain?   The answer lies in our focus verse.  “Let us test and examine our ways and return to the LORD! “ Lamentations 3:40.  This is a more reasonable and profitable thing to do rather than complaining to and about God.  We should look within ourselves and see whether our ways have been good or bad.  Do we have things we do which are not good?  Do we think badly about others who may be more happy and  content than we are?  When we look inside, do we see areas which we know God is not happy with? 

The main idea here is that God is calling us to look inside ourselves and look deep within and see if there is anything we need to ask forgiveness for and repent of.  And ask God to help us see these things.  David called out to God and asked Him to assist in seeing what was in his heart.  “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting!”  Psalm 139:23-24. 

This should be our desire as we walk on the earth in the Lord.  We should want to see any wrong thing we do or desire and work toward wiping them out.  We should, with the Lord’s help, examine our heart and our ways, looking deep into what drives us  and what our focus is on.  And we should pray that God will take these desires away and lead us back to Him. 

This can be a difficult endeavor.  We may not want to know where our hearts are, what we desire in our lives, and where our thoughts lead us.  However, God wants us to do this and more, for He wants a great and loving relationship with us.  He has amazing grace for us and will forgive us when we repent of these things and give our all to Him.  So, take some time to make the same requests David made.  “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting!” Psalm 139:23-24.  In doing this, we will test and examine our ways, and by making the necessary changes, we can return to the Lord and have a much more wonderful relationship with God than we ever had.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Psalm 119:9

Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 119:9 

“How can a young man keep his way pure?  By keeping it according to Your word.” – Psalm 119:9    

I want to first state that this is intended for all young men, basically any man who is still alive.  It should be applied to all men because we all can take the wisdom written here and put it into practice.  I would also go as far as state it should be applied by all people, either male of female.  The rhetorical question being asked is essentially, how can we keep ourselves pure before God? 

Lets look at this from the beginning of the chapter.  He starts out by declaring the following.  “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD.” Psalm 119:1  Being pure and blameless is a good thing, it is what God desires of us.  He wants us to obey and follow His laws.  Not just for the law’s sake, but to please God.  We are to walk blameless and in obedience to Him.  And not only observe and keep His commandments, but also seek Him with our whole heart.  Not just to do things because we are commanded to, but because we love Him and desire to do what He commands.  We are to do no unrighteousness but walk in His ways.  (Psalm 119:3). 

But how can we do this?  As our focus verse states, how can we keep our ways pure?  He has a truly short answer for us.  “By keeping it according to Your word.” Psalm 119:9b.  We must know His Word before we can keep it, therefore, we must take the time to study His word, read His scriptures and put them into practice.  This is well exemplified in the following, “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11.  We must take God’s word and treasure it in our hearts and minds so that we can not only learn what we should do, but also what we should not.  And as Adam Clarke so clearly put it, “If God’s word be only in his Bible, and not also in his heart, he may soon and easily be surprised into his besetting sin.”

The world we live in is going quickly downhill regarding what it finds acceptable and good.  And there is no question that much that the world embraces is sinful and displeases the Lord.  Temptation abounds everywhere.  We must study His word regularly in order to learn what is good and what is not.  Satan will bring our way thoughts and desires that are not good.  And we may not even realize that something we do or desire is sinful.  This is why it is imperative that we dive into His word, read it, study it, and place it deep into our being and treasure it with all our heart.  Then, when we are tempted, we will know that it is wrong and it must be denied.  And if we apply these words of wisdom, “Then I shall not be ashamed When I look upon all Your commandments. I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments.” Psalm 119:6-7.

Note:  If you would like to receive these devotions by email, go on our website under Additional Resources and click on True Devotion Ministries email subscription and fill out the form and send to us. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.