Hebrews 3:7-14 encouraging

It's another Monday.
So glad we went to church yesterday. Hubby and I hadn't gotten very good sleep and were tempted to sleep in, but decided to get up and go anyway. The worship/song portion was so pretty this time! Just a few guitars, a drum and singing. It was really enjoyable.

My hubby and I also had a good talk about the Bible and things last night. :) I'm so glad I found a man that loves God!

I'm continuing on in Hebrews 3 here.

"So, as the Holy Spirit says:
'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said,'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' So I declared an oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' ' " vs 7-11

That was cited from Psalm 95:7-11

If I understand correctly this is referring to the people Moses led through the desert trying to get to the promised land. An entire generation died before seeing the promised land because of their stubborn wayward hearts.

Joshua 5:6 "The Israelites had moved about in the desert forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the LORD. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land that he had solemnly promised their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey."

So in Hebrews it's warning us not to harden our hearts like they did then or we'll never enter God's rest.
According to the concordance as the book of Hebrews was written in Greek "rest" here is "a resting place. metaph. the heavenly blessedness in which God dwells, and of which he has promised to make persevering believers in Christ partakers after the toils and trials of life on earth are ended"
We don't want to miss out on that!

"See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." Heb 3:12-14

We need encouragement. We are supposed to urge, summon, admonish, strengthen each other in our faith so that we won't be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The encouragement from others will benefit us. It helps us to stay focused on the things of God and strengthens our faith. I'm noticing this so much in starting to blog, and going to church more consistently. Getting that encouragement on a frequent basis does strengthen my faith. It helps me keep focused on the things God finds important and I'm so thankful for it! Without that focus redirected toward God, the little whispers of sin can creep in. The lies that tell you "oh this isn't so bad" and numb you toward things that ARE bad just a little bit at a time. If you're being encouraged daily (or if not daily than very often) you're going to be less likely to listen to those whispers, or at least be able to see them for the lies that they are.

God gave us other believers to help us in our walk. To keep us mindful of what we believe in. So we can "hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first." It can be more challenging when you're trying to get through on your own. I don't think it's impossible, but I think we can greatly benefit from other believers being in our lives.

Just last night Hubby and I were talking about things of God and how we struggle with certain things and just getting our thoughts and questions and the places we're unsure about out to each other. And we were able to talk through that together, which brought me such relief. It was so helpful just to have someone hear and understand and encourage my faith! Sometimes it's so hard to be that vulnerable though. I'm afraid to let out my fears and doubts lest someone think I'm such a bad person or not up to par with what or where I should be. I'm so glad I finally did though.
Even writing here as I go through the Bible helps. Having a friend (thanks Heidi) that wants me to blog too - who will read what I say and comment on it helps me to keep going and come back to read more scripture and write some more thoughts down, which is really helping my spiritual life. :) It's getting me into the Bible which is helping me grow and change and understand even if it's just a tiny fraction of a little bit more in a day. It's keeping me thinking about the things of God more too, just throughout the day in general.

I really hope my thoughts here came out straight and understandable.

I'm very thankful to have started this blogging journey. I'm very thankful for friends and family that love me and encourage me in my faith!
I hope I can encourage people too. How can I do that better?