Better Possession
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข What is something you own that you worked hard for or saved up for? Was all the effort worth it?
โข Share a goal that you aim to accomplish this year. What are the things you need to do to accomplish them?
โข When you feel like youโve reached a hopeless situation, what do you do to make yourself feel better?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐บ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐บ, ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ.ย ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฏ๐ฎโ๐ฏ๐ฐ
(Read also ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฏ๐ฑโ๐ฏ๐ด.)
Suffering is a reality in the life of every believer. In fact, it was the reality the believers were facing, which is why the book of Hebrews was written. In the passage above, the author of Hebrews is encouraging his readers and provides clear directions on how they can endure suffering. They are to remember that in their hardships and sufferings, they ought not to throw away their confidence in Christ for they have a better possession in Him. What lessons can we glean from this?ย
๐ญ.ย ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.ย
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐จ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ถ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐บ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐บ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐บ, ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ.ย ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฏ๐ฎโ๐ฏ๐ฐ
The believers had endured all kinds of hardshipsโinsults, persecution, suffering alongside those imprisoned, their property being taken, and even facing deathโfor the sake of the gospel. The author of Hebrews was commending them for their faith and reminding them of the greater reality they look forward toโ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต. This possession is part of every Christianโs spiritual bank account: forgiveness of sins, a righteous standing with God, eternal life, and so much more. Therefore, our faith in God and our suffering is not in vain. How do you keep a heavenward perspective even in the midst of trials?ย
๐ฎ. ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฏ๐ฑโ๐ฏ๐ฒ
At a time when discouragement was at its highest, when the believers were on the brink of giving up on their faith and trying to go back to their old ways, the author urges them to not throw away their confidence, for there is a ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ. We can endure when we know that a great reward in Christ awaits us. We can have hope, endure in faith, and live with confidence, knowing that God is faithful and will not overlook the endurance, diligence, and perseverance of His people. Is it worth it to keep our faith and not โthrow awayโ our confidence in Jesus? How have you experienced this in your life?ย
๐ฏ.ย ๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐ฐ๐ณ, โ๐ ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐บ; ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ, ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.โย ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ช๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฌ:๐ฏ๐ณโ๐ฏ๐ด
The author of Hebrews puts things in perspective: we can endure not because life is easy but because we look forward to eternity. Trials have a way of clouding our vision, but the righteous shall live by faith. Just as marathoners endure a long race anticipating that every stride brings them closer to the finish line, we who put our faith in Christ endure and live by faith with full certainty that He will come back soon and that we will spend eternity with God. How does this truth help us not shrink back or turn away from Christ?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Are there things that challenge your confidence in Jesus? Bring them to God in prayer. Ask Him to help you hold on to your faith without compromise.
โข Look back and recall Godโs victories and faithfulness in your life. How may His faithfulness in the past fuel your confidence in the midst of trials and suffering?
โข Who around you is going through a hard time right now? How can you stand with them and remind them of the better, abiding possession we have in Christ?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank Jesus for enduring the weight of suffering on our behalf. Thank Him for the faith that enables us to endure hardship, knowing that in Him, we have a better possession.ย
โข Ask God to help you fix your eyes on Jesus so you can walk by faith, not by sight, and to resist the temptation to cling to worldly things as you persevere and endure.ย
โข Pray for opportunities to encourage someone going through a difficult time. Pray for the personโs heart to be open and for the Holy Spirit to guide you as you preach the gospel.