Honesty with God: Devotional Studies Upon the Book of Hebrews

By James Gibson

Honesty With God is the fruit of an experiment discovered while attempting to establish a new church. In 1968 a small group of adventurers wanted to form a church that would rightly demonstrate God to the world. We found the book of Hebrews to be rich in its definition of God. Whoever wrote the book of Hebrews was immersed in an understanding of the character of God.

As we traveled upon this venture of discovery, the character of God began to take hold of our hearts. We found ourselves becoming new and different persons. Church became a place to laugh and cry with others. Church became a launching pad for persons who wanted their lives to make a difference in the world. We had stumbled upon the kind of life that is astoundingly alive and cannot die. The institution we established eventually disappeared, but the life generated in those who gave their selves to this church continues to survive and thrive. Like waves upon a still pond the energy that motivated us has continued to move across the world and will continue until they beat their selves out upon some distant shore.

I hope the reading of this book will jump start the same kind of life in readers that was conceived in us who shared in that experiment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 5, 2012
• ISBN: 9781468584868

James Gibson

James Gibson was born and reared in central Texas. He completed undergraduate studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas in 1958, and completed theological studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas in 1962. After graduating from seminary, He studied under Dr. Nat Tracy at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas—auditing his undergraduate courses for several years. Dr. Tracy and James Gibson served together as co-chaplains at the State Juvenile Rehabilitation Center in Brownwood, Texas for five years. He was pastor of three churches in central Texas before founding an experimental house church on Lake Brownwood in 1968. This made it necessary to become a bi-vocational minister. This church pioneered in providing outdoor worship services for visitors to Lake Brownwood. Church by the Lake focused upon spiritual formation and experimented with various spiritual growth techniques. He remained the spiritual leader for Church by the Lake for 26 years until his partial retirement in 1995. James’ bi-vocational ventures were varied in nature. He was involved in residential home building for 34 years. Simultaneously, his wife, Pat, and he constructed and operated a mini-storage business in Bangs, Texas for 20 years and have operated a service ministry to hunters in Colorado for 30 years. James led in the formation of a partnership to purchase and operate a small ranch in Southwest Colorado. Until just over one year ago, he served as managing partner for this venture. In their partial retirement they served as International Service Corps missionaries for the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Writing has been a longtime interest for James. In addition to this book, he has published two other books, “Cosmic Warriors”—Partners in the Ultimate Triumph of God and “Soaring With Eagles”—Devotional Meditations upon the Book of James

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Face to Face

Hebrews 1:1

Long ago God spoke in many different ways to our fathers through the prophets (in visions, dreams, and even face to face), telling them little by little about his plans.

I have a lot of admiration for those in the Old Testament who interpreted God’s character so clearly. I am amazed that they could see God so well without the benefit of the revelation we have in Jesus. I wonder sometimes why God does not still speak face to face. Perhaps it is because God has said so much in the Christ event that little more can be said that is not already evident to any who honestly examine Jesus. The arrival of Jesus upon the world scene was a cosmic event.¹ If people will not see and hear the Christ event message, they will not hear or see any better with a face-to-face encounter with God. An authentic encounter with Christ is the best face-to-face communication with God there is.

My Prayer: Father, I pray that I will pay close attention to what has been said and is being said in Christ’s coming into the world. The reply I hear is, You will be wise if you do.

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Our Greatest Lessons

Hebrews 1:2

But now in these days he has spoken to us through his Son to whom he has given everything, and through whom he made the world and everything there is.

The acts of God tell us, who God is and what He is like. The incarnation is an act of God. Jesus became the agent, carrying out this expression of the character of God. The crowning expression of God was the Father-Son statement. In the triune Godhead there is such unity that three beings are bound together as if they are one. The incarnation expresses a reordering of the triune Godhead into Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God’s reordering of Himself did not disrupt the unity of the Godhead but it dramatically altered their relationship and destiny forever. Their (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) decision was made in heaven before the foundations of the world were laid. So, the real sacrifice of God was made in heaven before the foundation of the world was laid. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is our physical demonstration of this heavenly reality. If we cannot hear what is being said in the reordering of the Godhead, then we also would not hear if God came to talk with us.

God told Moses he could not see God and continue to live. Instead, God sheltered Moses in a cleft of a rock and passed near him, revealing His moral character (Exodus 33:23). Moses saw what we should see in Jesus, who is the expression of the moral character of God.

My Prayer: Father, it is in my interaction with Jesus that I discover who you are. Help me to handle Him well. The reply I hear is, Any improvement would be a blessing. However, it is in your mishandling of my Son that you learn your greatest lessons.

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God Focuses Upon Us

Hebrews 1:3a

God’s Son shines out with God’s glory...

What is God’s glory? The essence of God is His moral character, and that is His glory. All that God does is an expression of that which is within Him. When the true character of God is seen or experienced, we are struck by His awesome being—not in the strength of His might, but in the winsomeness of His being. Our difficulty lies in seeing God, and then believing in what we see. We have difficulty believing that one as magnificent as God would focus upon us.

My Prayer: Father, do you really value me? Can you admire one as broken as I am? The reply I hear is, I can and I do, more than you realize.

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Are You Sure You Want This?

Hebrews 1:3b

...and all that God’s Son is and does marks him as God.

John the Baptist was sure that Jesus was God’s Son. Then, he heard about Jesus’ ministry and sent his disciples to ask, Are you the one that we look for, or not? Jesus said to John’s disciples, Go and tell John what you see me doing. There is a difference between hearing about and seeing who Jesus is and all that Jesus does. Could it be that we, too, have moments of doubt? There should be no doubt when we see Jesus clearly. Two millennia of vague communication have erected a barrage of misinformation that confuses us. We are fighting to find our way through a maze, just to get a clear understanding of who Jesus is. When we do see through the mist, we see that which Hebrews says we should see: "and all that God’s Son is and does marks Him as