“…His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.’ And this expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain” (Hebrews 12:26-27 NAS).
The alarm clock beeped and I rolled over, filled with good intentions to accomplish so many things this morning. Then the phone rang, my email inbox burped indigestion, and something on FaceBook caught
my eye before I realized it was 10:45 a.m. I hadn’t eaten breakfast and was still in my jammies. And the morning was almost over.
My plans for the day shaken, but not lost. I could still catch up. Maybe. If I could just stay focused.
How many days do you struggle with this same jumble of junk? And the junk pile seems to grow babies every day.
Until I stopped reread Hebrews 12:1-2, that God brought to my attention yesterday.
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…”
Jesus knew He had a job to do. He would only be on this earth a short time. His assignment was clear and at the appointed time He would be reunited with His Father. So He kept His eyes on the goal and His assignment from God—not on the circumstances of His physical surroundings.
The clock ticked off each minute—the crowds, the miracles, those horrendous hours in the garden, Judas’ betraying kiss, standing before Pilate, before Herod—the stripping—the scourging—the 
mocking. The cries of the crowd who had praised Him, now eager to crucify Him. The weight of the cross. The piercing pain of the nails. Shredded skin, hemorrhaging blood, drowning in the shame and sins of the ages.
Yet Jesus looked beyond those hours to the joy God promised Him, before the foundation of the world, and He endured the cross, the separation, the fires of hell to lead captives free, and just as the Father promised, He heard His Father’s command Arise My Son! And Jesus sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Unshaken. Right now and for all eternity.
How about you and me? Do we stay focused on the mission God gave each one of us?
The writer of Hebrews tells us:
“…consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:3 NAS).
And I must admit, I’ve grown weary this week. Weary and aggravated. I’ve struggled with writing this week’s blog in light of all that is going on in our nation and around the world. Until I opened my Bible and read this 12th Chapter of Hebrews.
“You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him; for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline…then you are illegitimate children and not sons” (Hebrews 12:4-8 NAS).
And my whining and ranting over our trampled Constitution, the lawlessness all over the world and here at home faded—in light of the mission. My mission. Your mission.
Things were basically in the same shape we are in today when Hebrews was penned. Lawlessness, rogue governments, evil hearts—when God, at the appointed time, sent Jesus. But thank God, unlike us, Jesus stayed focused.
And with this week of war in my spirit, God’s discipline has reproved my heart, my mind, and my mouth. 
Oh that I would be quicker to listen, slower to speak, and always ready to surrender my will to His will.
How about you?
Read these final words of Hebrews 12.
“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.
Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:22-25; 28-29 NAS).
And like Jesus, for the joy set before us—focus on the mission. So when the shaking on earth really begins we will stand firm in the assembly of the first-born.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
MOVING THE ANCIENT BOUNDARIES 