Hoping for Something Better: December 2007 Archives

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007).

New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far, stay subscribed to this feed and you can begin when it starts over. Be sure to start your own journal within your Beliefnet profile or in a notebook to respond to Nancy's prompts.

Day 25

There is something better than the status of being an insider. It is the satisfaction of being rejected by the world but connected to Christ.

Read Hebrews 13.

We were hoping to turn heads with our beauty and brilliance, and instead he is telling us that real satisfaction is found in sharing in the disgrace of Jesus on the cross—like a common criminal on the outskirts of town. We’ve dreamed of acceptance, and he is calling us to a life of being rejected because of our identification with Christ. He is calling us to a life of being an outsider when we so love the power and thrills that come with being on the inside track. While we thought that our dreams would come true by being applauded and lauded by the crowd, he calls us to share not the applause but the reproach of Jesus.

We are asked to trade in acceptance in the here and now, the city of this world, for the welcome we will receive in the next life, in the city to come. When we walk into that city, nothing we have sacrificed will seem like a sacrifice. It will have been worth it. Jesus will be worth it. He will be worth leaving behind everything we walk away from so that we can draw near to him outside the camp—outside the boundaries of acceptance drawn by this world.

According to Hebrews 13:1-6, what are at least five qualities that should characterize us as Christians in our day-to-day lives?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Which of these qualities would you like to develop more fully in your life? What could you do to make them more of a reality in your life?

What are some of the costly ways the writer of Hebrews exhorts us to follow Jesus?

--Nancy Guthrie

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007).

New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far, stay subscribed to this feed and you can begin when it starts over. Be sure to start your own journal within your Beliefnet profile or in a notebook to respond to Nancy's prompts.

Day 24

There is something better than depending on anything or anyone in this world for your security. It is receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken.

Read Hebrews 12:14-28.

It is so easy for us to build our lives on unstable foundations. They look good, but they are not secure. For many of us, our life dreams are secured by a job or a husband or our savings or our health or our position. But if these are the building blocks we’re depending on, our lives are not secure, because all these things and people are vulnerable to being shaken.

Jesus himself offers you the secure life you’ve dreamed of now and for eternity. And as you work his words into your life, you will discover that no matter what happens to you or around you, no matter what rocks your world, you will not be shaken. Your life will be secure.

Read Exodus 19:12-13 and Deuteronomy 4:11-13, which describe the Israelites approaching God to receive the law on Mount Sinai. In what way was that different from the new way believers are invited to approach God in 12:18-25?

What is the warning in verse 25? What actions can you take to heed this warning?

Since we are receiving a “kingdom that cannot be shaken” (see Hebrews 12:28), what are four ways we should respond? Can you think of a situation in your life when one of these responses welled up from inside you?

--Nancy Guthrie

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007).

New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far, stay subscribed to this feed and you can begin when it starts over. Be sure to start your own journal within your Beliefnet profile or in a notebook to respond to Nancy's prompts.

Day 23

There is something better than resisting the discipline of your Heavenly Father. It is accepting hardship as a tool for our good.

Read Hebrews 12:4-13.

Most of us don’t want to be disciplined. We want to live life as we please, so we resist God’s discipline. The word discipline rubs us the wrong way, anyway. When we hear discipline, we think about work and self-denial and maybe even punishment. Many of us have experienced punishment that was not delivered out of love but out of anger, perhaps even abuse, so we recoil from the very idea.

But God’s discipline flows out of his love, not anger. God is not mad at you; he does not want to hurt you. But he is willing for you to hurt a little if it will equip you to finish your race well. God disciplines you as his beloved child. While discipline is not pleasant when we experience it, it makes life better in the long run if we learn from it.

According to 12:5-11, how should we think about and respond to the difficulties in our lives?

According to 12:5-13, what are the benefits of responding in submission to God’s discipline?

--Nancy Guthrie

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007).

New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far, stay subscribed to this feed and you can begin when it starts over. Be sure to start your own journal within your Beliefnet profile or in a notebook to respond to Nancy's prompts.

Day 22

There is something better than being weighted down by the same old sins. It is running the race of faith free of entanglement and regrets.

Read Hebrews 12:1-3.

Here’s the bottom line of Hebrews 12: We must take stock of our ambitions and allegiances and affections to make sure that Jesus is in the center of our lives, in his rightful place. We want to be obsessed with him, not merely affiliated with him or interested in him or associated with him. We want to be united with him, to give ourselves to him, to be obsessed with him, letting go of whatever keeps us from him so we can run toward him.

We have a singular aim of crossing the finish line in faith. Our ability to run is not dependent on our physical ability but on how much we keep our focus on the greatest racer of all time—Jesus himself—who ran the perfect race of faith and now waits for us, encouraging us, providing us with the energy and example we need to run well. It is our longing for him, our love for him, and our obsession with him that prod us to get moving, to enter the race, and to complete the race of faith.

Who are some people you know or know about whose lives serve as a witness to you about how to run your faith race well and why?

Are there certain sins you find yourself falling into over and over again?

How can considering carefully the description of Jesus in 12:2-3 keep us from giving up when things are hard?

--Nancy Guthrie

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007).

New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far, stay subscribed to this feed and you can begin when it starts over. Be sure to start your own journal within your Beliefnet profile or in a notebook to respond to Nancy's prompts.

Day 21

There is something better than physical resuscitation, recuperation, rejuvenation. It is bodily resurrection—a better resurrection.

Read Hebrews 11:29-40.

What could be better than having the one you love who has died raised back to life again? What could be better than escaping being tortured for your faith? Hebrews 11 tells us what—a resurrection that is more than mere rehabilitation or resuscitation. Those who were raised back to this life again still died eventually. (What a bummer to have to die a second time!) These heroes of faith had their hearts set on a better resurrection, a resurrection that would be for forever.

They were not hoping for just a temporary fix to the problem of death, but an eternal one. Throughout history, believers have experienced God’s supernatural power in many ways, but the ultimate miracle we long for is the “better resurrection,” which is eternal.

In what way do the experiences of faith in verses 35b-38 stand as a stark contrast to the faith achievements described in 32-35a?

According to 11:39-40, what three things were true for both the victorious and the suffering heroes?

--Nancy Guthrie

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...

Welcome to Nancy Guthrie's guided journal "Hoping for Something Better," which she based on her book of the same title (Tyndale 2007). New journal entries will appear in your profile Monday-Saturday for 6 weeks. If you missed any so far,...