WEBVTT

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Day 346, or December the 12th. Help is always

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at hand. Our thoughts today are rooted in Hebrews

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chapter 2, verse 18. Because he himself suffered

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when he was tempted, he is able to help those

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who are being tempted. And now the big picture

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surrounding this verse. The identity of the author

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of the letter to the Hebrews is uncertain. But

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whilst the writer's details may be questionable,

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the letter's inspiration is not in doubt. It

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is written to terrified Hebrews who have turned

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to Christ, but are finding persecution unbearable,

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and are tempted to go back to their old Jewish

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ways. They have been scattered as far as Rome,

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and fear for their lives. The writer begins by

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stressing that Jesus is superior to the Hebrew

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prophets and to the heavenly angels. He goes

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on to remind them that Jesus has lived here on

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earth just like them, and therefore can empathize

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when we are in trouble. And now, our action step

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for today. When the great composer Peter Tchaikovsky

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completed his first violin concerto, He dedicated

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it to the Russian Tsar, and asked the Tsar's

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personal court violinist to play it for its premier

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performance. It is hard to grasp Tchaikovsky's

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utter desperation when the manuscript was handed

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back to him as impossible to play. As no one

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had ever previously played it, maybe it was impossible.

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Sadly, it took several years before it was successfully

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performed, but how the composer must have suffered

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and doubted himself, and he was sure that no

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one understood. How dreadful it would be for

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us to go through the trials of life thinking

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that God didn't really understand either. The

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writer to the Hebrews tells us that not only

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is Jesus superior to prophets and angels, but

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he, Jesus, has suffered and been tempted, and

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is therefore ideally suited to help and support

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us. Remember you are not alone, and you are not

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going through anything that God doesn't fully

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understand, and therefore can't empathize with

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you. Jesus has been there before you, and is

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waiting to hold your hand.