Week 6/ Day 1
Hebrews 11:16
“Instead they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
Journaling Assignment #1
Write the verse and read it several times. Pray and ask the Lord to reveal to you His heart in this verse. Don’t forget to practice the first 16 verses together several times today.
Journaling Assignment #2
Spend today defining the following words, not by looking them up, simply based on what comes to your mind. There is no right or wrong. This is just a jumping off point. Take the time to reflect; be honest and open with yourself about your thoughts and feelings. We have nothing to do in the space except grow and learn! I will even provide my journal notes each day so that you can see the mess that the Lord is working with here!!
instead
longing
prepared
Kinsee’s Stream of Consciousness Journal Notes
Instead: This implies an exchange; replacing one thing for another. This can be a positive exchange or a negative one. For example, I could be enjoying a lovely walk on the beach instead of sitting in the waiting room at an urgent care with a broken foot. I like that exchange! On the other hand, instead of drinking in the sunshine promised by the meteorologist, I could be watching a thunderstorm from my window. Another way to look at this exchange could be, instead of having money, we had a great vacation or instead of fitting into my jeans, I really enjoyed that dozen doughnuts!
Longing: This is a deep desire. A longing goes beyond just wanting. It evokes feeling of almost a desperate need for something or someone. Think in terms of great romantic movies, when the love interests are separated, their only focus is to be reunited. They are longing to be together. Mothers of preschoolers might be longing for a shower without interruption. A woman in corporate America might be longing for recognition for her efforts. I believe that we are all longing for love, recognition, validation and appreciation.
Prepared: To prepare for something means spending valuable time getting ready. Therefore, the things for which we prepare must mean something to us. My son prepares for his baseball try outs. My mom prepares Christmas dinner for our extended family, I prepare to teach. Preparation takes time. If we care enough to prepare, it matters.
Journaling Assignment #3
Jot down anything from this verse that jumps out at you. Include other scriptures that come to mind. Cross references add great insight into each verse. It is powerful to keep notes of what the Holy Spirit draws out of the verse in your heart and also to study Scripture in light of Scripture.
Week 6/Day 2:
Hebrews 11:16
“Instead they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
Let’s Dig into Some Truth
Abraham and his family had made the choice, they had made the exchange. Instead of remaining in their own country, living their lives as they had designed, they were following God’s calling on their lives. They exchanged the known for the unknown, the comfortable for the uncomfortable, the temporal for the eternal and the natural for the supernatural.
Reality Check #1: We are always making choices, choosing one thing instead of another. We choose how to spend our time, our money, our influence. When the Holy Spirit enables us to see things from an eternal perspective, our choices change. We begin to choose God’s best, rejecting the immediate satisfaction of sin and clinging to the power of God’s promises for those who seek Him. We begin to choose, moment by moment, to live a life that is pleasing to God. We need God’s perspective because, “There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12).
The ancients that we are getting to know did not simply want a better home, they were longing for one. There is power in their passion. The journey that they were on was beyond difficult, it was impossible. Had they not desperately desired all that God had promised, they would not have been able to continue. Their perseverance came from their total commitment to God’s plan.
Reality Check #2: There are times when we feel the Lord leading us in a new direction, just as He was leading Abraham. Often taking the first step is not the hardest part. It is those steps in the middle that get strenuous and weigh us down. When the excitement and newness of a calling have worn off, Satan begins to tell us lies of our weakness and it is then that we must lean even harder into the faithfulness and strength of our God. It is not enough to desire God’s plan for my life, I have to be totally committed to it. When we surrender and recommit our lives to God, He will be faithful to carry us the length of the journey, “being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” (Colossians 1:11).
God prepared a city for them and He has prepared a city for us. The God of the universe, the creator of all things, loves each of us enough to take the time to prepare for us. Wow! What an amazing gift. God was blessed by the trust that Abraham exhibited in Him. He is faithful and Abraham was looking forward to the fulfillment of His promises.
Reality Check #3: I can get so busy planning and organizing life. My husband jokes that calendaring is my love language! The truth is that the God of the Universe has prepared every day of my life, before I even took a breath! What if we started every day breathing in that truth. Our job is not to figure everything out, it is simply to walk the road He sets before us each day. As it says in Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Journaling Assignment #4
Take time to record the “reality checks” that the Lord provided to you as you were digging into His truth today.
Week 6/ Day 3:
Hebrews 11:17
“By faith, Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the
promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son.”
Journaling Assignment #1
Write the verse and read it several times. Pray and ask the Lord to reveal to you His heart in this verse. Don’t forget to practice the first 17 verses together several times today. Who are we Encountering Today?
Abraham and Isaac
This is not the first time that we have encountered these names in Hebrews 11. However, the experience that is being referenced in verse 17 warrants special attention. God told Abraham to take Isaac, the miracle baby born to Sarah, up to the top of the mountain and sacrifice him. If you are familiar with this story it is easy to read it quickly. Don’t. Sit in this. It is mind boggling. If my husband told me that he was being called to sacrifice one of our boys, I would be making a call as well, to the authorities! What God is asking is unthinkable. Once again, we know how the story ends, Abraham did not. He was trusting the goodness of God. I think it is important to remember that Abraham did fail to trust God along his journey up to this point. God had used each misstep and challenge as an opportunity to build the faith of Abraham and it all led to this moment. Abraham exhibits complete and total confidence in the character of God. The God he has come to know intimately and trust entirely.
Journaling Assignment #2
Spend today defining the following words, not by looking them up, simply based on what comes to your mind. There is no right or wrong. This is just a jumping off point. Take the time to reflect; be honest and open with yourself about your thoughts and feelings. We have nothing to do in the space except grow and learn! I will even provide my journal notes each day so that you can see the mess that the Lord is working with here!!
tested
embraced
promises
Kinsee’s Stream of Consciousness Journal Notes
Tested: This takes me to timed tests for addition facts in first grade. Testing is not fun. It is uncomfortable, it produces anxiety. It is an opportunity to fail. On the other hand, I had a college professor who referred to tests as “an opportunity for success.” That perspective changes things. Testing can produce fruit and success.
Embraced: This makes me think of a warm and enveloping hug. Scenes at the airport of loved ones who are being reunited and holding onto one another, a child with their favorite teddy bear or a newborn baby in the arms of elated parents.
Promises: Words that are never meant to fail. Wedding vows are promises that we make to one another and when they are broken so are our hearts and lives. Children trust completely in the promises that their parents make to care and provide for them. Doctors and lawyers take oaths, making promises to work for the good of their patients and clients. The tricky part about promises is that imperfect people make imperfect promises and when trust is broken, it is very difficult to recover.
Journaling Assignment #3
Jot down anything from this verse that jumps out at you. Include other scriptures that come to mind. Cross references add great insight into each verse. It is powerful to keep notes of what the Holy Spirit draws out of the verse in your heart and also to study Scripture in light of Scripture
Week 6/Day 4:
Hebrews 11:17
“By faith, Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son”
Let’s Dig into Some Truth
God tested Abraham in the most extreme way that I can imagine. As a parent, it would be easier to offer my own life than the lives of either of my children. God did not test Abraham in this way at the beginning of his journey; they had already been through quite a lot together. Abraham had grown in his faith and dependence on God. I wish that there was more description of Abraham’s climb to the top of the mountain. Was he quiet? Was he tearful? Was he afraid? I think these descriptions were not included because emotions cannot be trusted when God is asking us to trust Him. Abraham was not focused on his feelings, but instead, He was focused on the God that he knew he could trust. The God that was testing him.
Reality Check #1: There are times when the situations in our lives do not make sense to us. These are times when God is asking us to trust Him. We are used to relying on our minds and feelings to make decisions and overcome challenges. The truth is, the Holy Spirit, through prayer, is our actual source of wisdom and strength. When God is testing me, when He is taking my faith to the next level, I have to focus on Him rather than my circumstances or my emotions. We are not called to understand. We are called to trust. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Abraham did not simply accept God’s promises, he embraced them. This is a profound distinction. Abraham’s faith was not passive, it was passionate. This is the only explanation for his behavior, his extreme obedience. Abraham was clinging desperately to the promises of God. They were his only foundation, his only source of strength, his only hope.
Reality Check #2: On a daily basis, I do not want for much. I have a home, food, my health, friends and family. I am blessed. With all of my needs met so readily it is easy to forget my desperate need for God’s promises in my life. Without the fulfillment of God’s promises, my life is meaningless and my eternity in jeopardy. Each of us must embrace and cling to the promise of salvation through Jesus. This is not just a promise to accept, it is a promise to build our lives on. It is our only solid foundation, it is our identity, purpose and security. “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock” (Matthew 7:24).
The promises that Abraham embraced were no ordinary promises. They were not made by broken people who would not be able to keep them. The promises that Abraham embraced were the promises of God. Therefore, Abraham was secure; he was basing his life on the promises of a perfect and all faithful God. “God is not human that He should lie, not a human being that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19).
Reality Check #3: I would never intentionally make a promise and then break it. Yet, I know that I have broken promises. It is easy to mistrust God’s promises because we have been let down by the promises of those whom we love most. The promises of God are different. Because God is perfect, so are His promises. We can confidently build our lives on His Word. He will never fail us.
Journaling Assignment #4
Take time to record the “reality checks” that the Lord provided to you as you were digging into His truth today.
Week 6/ Day 5:
Hebrews 11:18
“even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”
Journaling Assignment #1
Write the verse and read it several times. Pray and ask the Lord to reveal to you His heart in this verse. Don’t forget to practice the first 18 verses together several times today.
Journaling Assignment #2
Spend today considering the following concept, not by looking anything up, simply based on what comes to your mind. There is no right or wrong. This is just a jumping off point. Take the time to reflect, be honest and open with yourself about your thoughts and feelings. We have nothing to do in the space except grow and learn! I will even provide my journal notes each day so that you can see the mess that the Lord is working with here!!
even though
Kinsee’s Stream of Consciousness Journal Notes
Even Though: When I hear this phrase it makes me think of overcoming. We hear success stories of those who have achieved amazing feats in spite of their challenges. He ran the marathon even though he had a heart condition. She finished college even though she was dyslexic. They were still married even though they faced some rough patches. Doing something in spite of challenges takes grit and determination. It can also be in reference to an act of defiance. You were driving 70 mph even though the speed limit was 55 mph. Your child did not clean up their room even though you asked them to do so. You ate the brownies even though you knew you would wind up with a stomach ache. There is a sense of being above your circumstances when you take the ‘even though’ approach to life.
Journaling Assignment #3
Jot down anything from this verse that jumps out at you. Include other scriptures that come to mind. Cross references add great insight into each verse. It is powerful to keep notes of what the Holy Spirit draws out of the verse in your heart and also to study Scripture in light of Scripture.
Week 6/Day 6:
Hebrews 11:18
“even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”
Let’s Dig into Some Truth
In this verse, Abraham is making a decision to trust God even though his actions seem contradictory at first glance. God has promised Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. At this point, he is asking Abraham to kill the heir from whom all of the descendants are supposed to come. What?? The trait that I admire most about Abraham in this verse is that he is not spending his time and mental energy trying to understand what God is doing. He is simply trusting and obeying, one step at a time. Abraham has established a trusting relationship with a faithful God and therefore his steps are not directed by his own understanding, they are directed by the voice of God.
Abraham did not choose the path up this mountain with his one and only son. He would never choose to
sacrifice the one whom he loved so dearly, the one in whom his legacy rested. And yet, Abraham trusted God’s
leading, relinquishing control and following obediently the path marked before him.
Reality Check #1: Often times life does not play out the way in which I had planned. This can be for numerous reasons including my own sinful choices or the broken world in which I am living. Sometimes, however, the path of my life takes a turn because God is leading me in the direction that He intends me to go. This turn, this new path, might not make sense to me. It is likely uncomfortable, leaving me feeling vulnerable and out of control. I think that might be the point. When we relinquish the illusion of control in our lives and fully submit to God, He blesses us by always showing up in His strength and faithfulness.
We are not called to understand God, we are called to trust Him. God reminds us of the source of our security in Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Abraham’s first steps of walking with God were not up the side of this mountain. He had been faithfully following the Lord step by step for many years. His confidence in the Lord was secure because of his daily obedience up until this point.
Reality Check #2: Obedience happens one step at a time. The Lord is calling to us all day, everyday. As we choose to listen and obey, our faith is built and so when the big moments occur, we are ready to trust Him completely. “Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always” (Deuteronomy 11:1). When we start our day choosing to spend time with Him, when we choose to stop and pray before we respond in frustration, when we hold our tongues instead of engaging in gossip, there are countless ways in which we build our habit of obedience to God.
Abraham knew the truth, God’s plans cannot be thwarted. Therefore, even though this command to sacrifice Isaac seemed in total opposition to God’s plan to bless Abraham with multitudes of descendants, Abraham knew that somehow, it must not be. He moved forward knowing God’s power and ultimate victory.
Reality Check #3: God promises that He is working all things together for the good of those who love Him and
are called according to His purpose. God’s plans cannot be thwarted. Therefore, whatever He is allowing in
our lives, He can and will use for our good and His glory. This does not mean that everything will turn out how I
want it to. I means that my future is secure in the hands of a God who knows infinitely more that we do about
what is best for us and for His kingdom. We are reminded in Job 42:2, “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
Journaling Assignment #4
Take time to record the “reality checks” that the Lord provided to you as you were digging into His truth today.
Week 6/Day 7:
Reflection Day
1. Reflect on your notes from this week.
2. Practice the verses hat you have memorized so far.
-Write them.
-Recite them to a friend or family member to check for accuracy.
-Use them as a prayer to the Lord.
3. Read Hebrews 11 in its entirety a couple of times.
4. Pray for endurance throughout this journey.
5. Remember…
“He who has called you is faithful and He will do it”(1 Thessalonians 5:11).
“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve Go’d will, His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).
Scripture Memory Strategies
1. Copy the Scripture several times. Then try to write it by memory.
2. Set an alarm on your phone for 4 times each day. Each time you hear the alarm, practice your scripture.
3. Showers! The shower is a perfect time to recite your scripture.
4. Traffic. As you sit, instead of getting frustrated, use the time to practice.
5. Accountability. Find a friend working on scripture memory as well. Recite your scripture to each other one day a week.
6. What else? List some ideas that might work for you!
