"No one puts baby in a corner" - dirty dancing. "They can never take our FREEDOM!" - Braveheart. We all have our favorite movie quote. "Rubbing is Racing" - Days of Thunder. And we have those favorite moments when the hero stands up, rallies the troops, and gives that highly motivational speech. In the bible there are moments like that for me too. Consider some of these verses..."13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:13&14; "14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" - Esther 4:14; and my favorite of all time...
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,
"He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38But my righteous one will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him." 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Hebrews 10:19-39
When I read this I can hear the words in my head, building and building, words like, since we have a GREAT priest, let us draw near...in FULL ASSURANCE...let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for HE who promised is FAITHFUL. Jesus is the only one who could not only talk the talk about faith, but he literally walked the walk. Consider this, there wasn't a person he met, a person he knew of (including you and me), and a person to live or gonna live that had not committed at least one sin. Now if you knew the people who were intentionally kicking you, throwing rocks at you, slapping you, and executing you, would you seriously come and devote your entire life to saving them from what they deserve? I wouldn't, and i certainly wouldn't let my only child, who by the way happens to be the only one to not sin in anyway, become the one that receives the punishment for everyone else's mistakes. NO WAY. But as God puts it, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13 "while we were sinners...Christ died for us" - Romans 5:8.
So next time you get to quoting your favorite movie line, or are looking for that bit of inspiration to move you to something great, remember these words, "He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."
With God all things are possible. Victory is not something to be hoped for, it is a reality to be understood in light of God's Glory.
