so great a cloud of WITNESSES.................

Jan 23

Last night as I was falling asleep, I was encouraged when the Holy Spirit brought to mind the “cloud of witnesses” that Hebrews 12:1 speaks of. It speaks of those in Chapter 11, those great “witnesses” that have gone before us, like Abraham, Moses and Abel. I often wonder, does this include the others who have gone before us to glory??

If so, I thought of my mother, who speaks from the grave, “Heather, you can do it! Don’t quit! Fight! The battle can be won by faith! We love you!” Now, I certainly realize that my mother and these others are not watching us day and night, hoping that we make the right choices. And they are not physically speaking to us. But, what I am convinced of is that by their lives, lived out through faith in the One who saves, they cry out and witness to us that we surely CAN work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Their walks with the Lord SPEAK volumes about faithfulness and steadfastness and they scream out to us who are here, still in the battle, “run the race, don’t lose heart, obey the Lord, glorify Him with your life, be a living sacrifice.”

Be encouraged – there really is a great cloud of witnesses who were robbing, lying, murdering, coveting, unholy adulterers until they were saved by grace just like we have been and there very names are written down in the eternal WORD OF GOD for all of history, past, present and future, to read. So when we or our loved ones sin or are sinned against, let us remember that in the books of heaven all is being written down. All of the moments of OUR lives as we walk this earth, in the battle for the glory of God. The way in which we respond never goes unnoticed by Him. The Lord is most glorified in them and no one on the earth or in the earth or above the earth can erase His history. Let us walk uprightly.

Hebrews 11:37 - 12:3
"They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the AUTHOR and PERFECTER of faith, who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down a the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

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