WEBVTT

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Day 350, or December 16th. Just keep looking

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to Him. Our thoughts today come from Hebrews

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11, verse 6. And without faith it is impossible

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to please God, because anyone who comes to Him

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must believe that He exists, and that He rewards

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those who earnestly seek Him. And now the big picture

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surrounding this verse. Finally, Hebrews recalls

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some of the great men and women from Jewish history

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who lived by faith and pleased God. The list

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begins in Genesis and runs all the way through

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to the prophets at the end of our Old Testament.

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We are challenged to endure to the end as Christ

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endured to the end. Keep loving each other is

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a great ending to this challenging letter, written

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to Jews, but a blessing to Gentiles too. And

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now today's action step. We can see from today's

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verse that God doesn't demand results, but insists

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that we have the right intent. Now that doesn't

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mean we should shy away from success, in spiritual

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terms, but we are assured that as long as we

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remain faithful and constantly seek God and His

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will for our lives, we will please God. During

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all our years heading up walk through the Bible

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in the UK, my wife and I wanted to succeed for

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God. Not because our salvation depended on it,

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because it didn't, but we kept going as though

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it did. Always seeking God's best and then working

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hard to try to help achieve it with the help

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of his spirit. As an avid football fan, I remember

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certain players who you would forgive anything

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because they always tried. I recall Brian Clough,

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who was very successful as a manager, always

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took certain players with him whenever he moved

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to another club. They weren't necessarily the

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best footballers, but they were always the hardest

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workers, who always gave of their best. Does

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God deserve our best? Then why not give it to

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him? Whether it's in your home, your office,

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your school, or your church, let's give God our

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best shot as a sign of our gratitude for all

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he has done for us. That way, we will please

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God. Wow!