"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE FOR LONELY HEARTS"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE FOR LONELY HEARTS"

Hebrews 13:5  Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.”

Some explanatory thoughts/application, and a prayer:

1. The writer as he ends his letter, deals with several issues. All in this one verse. The love of money, or
covetousness, and being satisfied, and finally, the promise of that God will always be with you.
He will never forsake you.

2. The first main thing he deals with is how we live or conduct ourselves, or what the Bible calls our walk with the Lord. And, the message to us is a simple, straightforward and very important one. It's telling us to not let our lives be filled with covetousness, or the love of money. What he says, is "Let your conduct be without covetousness" or "Stay away from the love of money" This is indeed something that we need to stay away from. It's been the downfall of many a person. Here's what Paul says about the love of money.

1st Tim 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.

1st Tim 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

3. The second thing that the writer tells us about has to do with being satisfied, or being content. Here's what he said. Hebrews 13:5b "be satisfied with what you have" We are to be content with what we have. The word content, has the idea and meaning of "being sufficient, being enough, to suffice. To be possessed of unfailing strength, to be strong, and to be able to ward off.
Contentment and satisfactions is possible, it can be learned, and the Lord wants His people to live this way.

Here's what Paul said about it.
Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:

If Paul learned to be content, that means he had to deal with those times when he was not, but the Lord was faithful to teach him how to be content, and he wound up learning it, and so can we.

4. Lastly, here's what's said in our verse today. Heb 13:5c For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.” This is what God has said, and He has said it many times over in the Bible, and He means it, it's true, we can bank on it, and we find great joy in knowing it's true. Let's look at it one more time.
Heb 13:5c For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.”
There are actually two things God says in this portion of Heb 13:5

(1) I will never fail you. To never fail you, means, leave you. God will never leave you. It means, He will never relax or loosen His being with you. He will never give up on you, never quit you, always uphold you, and not let you sink.

(2) I will never leave you. To not leave you here, is similar to not forsake, but not completely similar. It means, I will never desert you, I will never abandon you. I will never leave you in straits, I will never leave you helpless, totally abandoned, utterly forsaken, I never leave you behind.

5. Here's the verse again in it's entirety. Hebrews 13:5  Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.” NLT.

A prayer:

Father, what comfort we derive from You, and from Your Word. It seems that You always know just what to say to us. And, that no matter what part of Your Word we read, it speaks to the deepest part of our lives. Your Word always makes sense to us, and it resonates in our hearts, and we say amen, amen, and amen. We affirm that Your Word is true and right. And, we receive Your Word, and want to let it dwell in our hearts richly and deeply. May Your Word not only be heard by us, but may we also be doers of it. We will be blessed as we do, for you have promised that to us also. Thank You Lord. In Jesus name. Amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.