Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: The Bible says God takes a hold of our hearts and all of a sudden now we don’t have these hypocritical desires anymore where I want for me but I’m not willing to give or I’m making a limit that says, "Well, what’s in it for me?" God does something in our hearts. Who gives without any thought of receiving? Only someone who’s reflecting the attributes of God.

Dave Drewett: And welcome to Focal Point with author and Pastor Mike Fabarez. I’m Dave Drewett. Athletes often search for the motivation to overcome exhaustion and earn a win. Likewise, when Christians get tired, we also need that inner incentive to put one step in front of the other in our walk of faith. So where can we find the motivation to keep going? Today, Pastor Mike points out a biblical place of inspiration: ourselves. Hebrews chapter 10 explains how to be motivated by earlier days of devotion.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: It’s interesting that in Hebrews chapter 10, before we get to Hebrews chapter 11, which is full of great examples of the Christian life, he starts in speaking of examples and he says, "You know what? You really can serve as your own role model." Hebrews chapter 10, if you have your Bibles open up and see this interesting take on role models in the Scripture that says really what you need to learn to do at least in part is learn to mimic yourself, at least the highlights and victories of your Christian life.

And it will be a motivation for future growth. Look at verse number 33. You were publicly exposed to insult and persecution. The early church often was pulled out as followers of the Way and of Jesus and this whole sect that they called it and they were made fun of. They were ridiculed. And he says you went through that. And not only did you go through it, there were times when you didn’t just have to endure it. You willingly stepped out of the crowd and you stood side by side with those who were so treated.

The point is you have had victories that should convince you that you are someone who knows what it is to have those victories, to show the expression and fruit of God in your life and build on that. Remember your past and what’s the whole point of it being here? So that you can keep moving forward. Verse 22, to draw near to God. That’s the point. He says, "Remember those earlier days." Now, what about them? Well, here’s the first thing he says: after you’d received the light. That’s how the NIV translates it.

After you received the light. Now, I understand that’s a total metaphor. Our minds were darkened before we came to Christ. And then Christ did something to our minds that could be rightly addressed as being enlightened. Something changed there. Well, what happened? Verse 32, Hebrews 10: when that had happened, you were new in that new mind, you had that new responsiveness to God. Here’s one thing that was going on in your life: when the suffering came, you stood your ground. That’s a different kind of strength.

It’s a strength that doesn’t pull back when the going gets tough. It’s what we call in Scripture, and if you’re familiar with this word, jot it down, it’s this thing we call hupomone. Do you remember that word? Hupomone. And if you want a word, what does that mean? Just put this underneath it: stick-to-itiveness. It’s that great picture of standing your ground. And if it costs me to adhere to the word, guess what? I guess it’s going to cost me. I’ve got the ability to stick with it even when the truth costs me pain.

And now here’s the contrast. Before I was a Christian, you know what? If anything that was true or virtuous cost me, I backed off from it. But then I became a Christian and God worked something in my heart. He gave me the ability to stand there in the face of difficulty and not move. And now the question is: how’s it going now? Still got that kind of zeal, that ardent passion? That is the picture. Look back and see it and let’s recapture that. Live there and build on that and move forward. You want to draw near to God? Don’t say you can’t do it. You’ve done it. Your mind, God’s changed it. Your strength, he’s changed it. Your courage, he’s changed it.

Hebrews chapter 34, let’s look at that first phrase. Not only were you someone who could stand up under the pressure, you had courage to step out of the crowd and stand by those who were so treated. Look at verse 34, keyword: you sympathized with those in prison. Let’s just stop there. Keyword: you sympathized with those in prison. That is a transliteration of the Greek New Testament. It’s not a translation. It’s not a different word. It’s the same word. It’s just letter for letter, not thought for thought. Feeling. You felt the same as they did.

You weren’t in prison but you felt like you were. Your heart went out for them. You had more than a sympathy in English. We need that extra word to show us what Greek sympathy was. We had an empathy. God wants us to be empathetic as Christians. And well, I don’t know, I’m not very empathetic now. No, wait. If you’re a Christian, you know how God changed that category of your life. Your life changed. Before you were a Christian, you’re right, you didn’t have much sympathy. Let me try to illustrate it for you. You can jot the references down, we won’t turn there.

But how about two passages that represent two parables? Matthew chapter 25 and Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 25, Jesus tells the parable of the sheep and the goats. Do you remember that one? He divides there for eschatology right at the end of the tribulation. He’s dividing those people and he’s saying, "Listen." One of the main things he’s saying divided you as Christian and non-Christian, no matter how much you wanted to say you were saved or a Christian, here’s the difference: you had empathy, the sheep, and goats, you didn’t have empathy.

And the illustrations he gives is "when I was in prison." And they’re going, "When were you in prison? We didn’t see you." If you’ve done it to the least of these my brothers, you’ve done it unto me. That’s from Matthew chapter 25. The point is when the other Christian was in prison and you cared so much, you went over there and you visited them. It was like you did it unto me and you showed you had empathy that was supernaturally born in your heart. And you know when your brother was without food and didn’t have food, you fed him.

And you know when your brother didn’t have clothes, you went and got your credit card out and you bought them clothes and you did it. Your empathy went that far. But you know, then he turns to the goats and he says, "You guys didn’t have empathy." You heard someone was in prison, you go, "Yeah, pray for him." And that was it. And somebody was hungry, "Yeah, that’s fine. But, you know, a brother can fend for himself." Somebody needed clothes, "Yeah, whatever. My budget’s tight, I can’t do that."

The line that distinguished was a desire that they would have for themselves if they were in prison, if they were hungry, or if they were without clothes, but they didn’t extend that to other people because it wasn’t close enough to them. Oh, they would have done it for their family or for their kids or their parents, but they’re not doing it for people when there’s really no reciprocation. There’s no reciprocity. There’s no quid pro quo. There’s no "Yeah, you know, if I do that for that person, I feel good because there’s a lot of comeback on it."

Same thing, what did I say the other one? Matthew chapter 18, is that what I said? That’s the parable of the unmerciful servant. That’s when the parable is told. Jesus says the master forgives the servant a ton of money. And actually, the monetary equivalents are absolutely outrageous. It’s like millions and millions of dollars he owed his master. It’s almost comical. And he comes and he says, "I can’t pay it back." And the master says, "Well, okay then. Fine. I forgive you zero. You owe me nothing." That’s a good day, right?

And he goes out, the unmerciful servant, the hypocritical servant. What does he do? He finds his fellow servant who owes him a few bucks, a couple denarii, a couple days’ wage. And because he can’t pay him back, he will not forgive him and instead he throws him in prison. Remember that story? And then what happens? That servant is brought to the master. He has to give an account to the master. And the master says because you weren’t empathetic, that’s not the word he uses, but because you were unmerciful, you didn’t care about your fellow servant.

You wanted grace but you weren’t willing to give it. Stuff you wanted for yourself you weren’t willing to extend. Because of that, you are going to be thrown in and tortured, Jesus uses the word, and you will pay back every cent. There’s no forgiveness for that person. And then he says this. He wraps it: if you’re not willing to forgive your brother, he says, then God in heaven won’t forgive you. What’s the point? Forgiveness comes to real Christians. And real Christians have an empathy in their heart to do to others what they want done for themselves even if there’s no payback.

Let’s try and compare these two. This is what I’m trying to say. The limit for us in our empathy as non-Christians generally speaking is: I ask this question, "What’s in it for me?" And as non-Christians, that’s about the extent of my empathy. If I think that the equation equals out to make it profitable, then I’ll say okay. And though we might be empathetic, it’s because well, it made me feel that good or they might be able to see that I’m a great guy and my reputation might be advanced. Whatever it is, there’s something coming back.

And the Bible says God takes a hold of our hearts and all of a sudden now we don’t have these hypocritical desires anymore where I want for me but I’m not willing to give or I’m making a limit that says, "Well, what’s in it for me?" God does something in our hearts to where when we hear that someone’s in prison, it doesn’t matter if they’re a brother in Christ, I don’t care if I get anything out of it, I will invest in that stock even if I know the stock is a loser. And who’s going to do that? Only a regenerate heart.

Who gives without any thought of receiving? Only someone who’s reflecting the attributes of God. And isn’t that exactly what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount? He said you will be sons of your Father in heaven if you are willing to send out and give without any reference to getting back. Tax collectors and sinners, oh they always give as long as there’s something coming back. But the empathy of our heart usually stopped there. But you know when God does a work in your heart, your empathy goes even further. You have what we often call a selfless concern for others.

And if you’re a real Christian, there have been times in your Christian life where your empathy has extended without any thought of what you might get back. As a matter of fact, when your mind said, "I’m going to actually get nothing back from this." And these people had sympathy for people like that in the early church. And you know what? They did it anyway. And the Bible says, you know what? Think back, you’ve done it. And every Christian should get up here to the mic and be able to say, "Yeah, you know what? There were times when I just selflessly gave of myself and I went and it didn’t matter what I got back."

Now, that may not be the general action of your life today. But Jesus would say, "Remember the height from which you’ve fallen and do the deeds you did at first." See, that’s the challenge. You are your best role model right now if you analyze the victories in your Christian life. Man, look back and say I know I can do it and I can build on that and I can go even further. Draw near to God. Let’s make it better. Let’s go to the next section. Middle of verse 34, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 34.

Not only did you sympathize with those in prison, but you joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property and that is absolutely nutty and insane, right? Think about that. If I said, "Hey, you know what? Your SUV is getting towed away right now in the parking lot." Nobody’s going to go, "Oh, praise the Lord." You’re going to be torqued, right? That’s the natural response. Negative stuff, negative emotion. That’s how it works. But there’s something going on in this text, obviously. It’s not just bad stuff happening to you.

It’s the understanding of something larger, of God doing a larger work and even a larger reward. Verse 34, more on that in a second, the bottom of verse 34. But the point is because of their Christian life, here was probably Claudius, the Roman emperor, they weren’t yet being slaughtered yet according to chapter 12, they hadn’t yet shed blood for the cause of Christ. That would have happened under Nero or Diocletian. But probably under Claudius’ reign where they were just confiscating their stuff. They were making fun of them.

They were publicly ridiculing them and throwing pastors in prison. And that was happening to this church. And they say you know when they came for your stuff and said, "Oh, you’re a Christian, huh? Fine then. New law in the city, every Christian’s got to turn in their donkeys and camels, you can’t have them anymore." See, they just hated, they were jeering, they were persecuting them. And you know what the Christians were doing in the early church when they hit that suffering for the sake of their commitment to Christ? They were saying, "I can find joy in that, that’s okay. You can take that."

That’s fine, that’s not going to bum me out. I’m going to have a negative thing happen to me and I’m going to know that the hand of God, the providence of God, the principles of God are going to govern that and you know what? In my heart I can find joy there. Non-Christians, no, that’s not how it works. When negative things happen, negative emotions. Let’s talk about your attitude because that’s what that is, right? It’s my attitude. My attitude. Non-Christian attitude, here it comes, ready? We easily give way to negativity.

It’s not hard to knock us off the block, right? You may be having a great attitude as a non-Christian but all it takes is a few negative things and all of a sudden now we’re negative. That’s how it happens. But I’m thinking about two primary negative responses in Scripture that non-Christians are distinct from Christians. One is whining and complaining, okay? There were people that were redeemed out of Egypt who had the right heart before God and when big challenges or trials or troubles came their way, they said that’s okay.

We’ve got God, we’re going to make it. Remember Caleb and Joshua coming back from, they’d spied out the land and they said, "Yeah, they’re big but that’s all right. We can take them. God’s with us." It’s okay. Big perspective. And the others were like, "Oh, they’re really big and they’re really going to hurt us and I can’t do it and oh why are we here? Let’s go back to Egypt." And the others were going, "You know what? It’s okay. God’s taking care of us. Look, pillar by day, fire at night, and no problem. The cloud, the pillar, it’s okay."

Manna, look at the lawn every morning, God’s providing for us. Good attitudes. But a lot of them were like, "I’m just tired. Egypt, we had so much stuff to eat. Now we’ve got to eat this manna every day." They couldn’t see the common grace of God, the guiding of God. They had negative emotions. They were whiners and complainers. Didn’t take much to push them into that. And how about the other one, the big negative and dangerous emotion in Scripture? Anger. Think about that. Didn’t take much to take an unregenerate heart and knock it into anger.

Even when there’s a chance to do the right thing and fix it, they’re still stuck in that trap. I think of Genesis 4 and Cain and Abel, remember that? But here is Cain. He does the wrong thing, whatever it is. He brings the wrong thing, the wrong heart, and he’s mad. He’s crestfallen. He’s downcast. And God, it says in Genesis 4, says to Cain: remember what he says to Cain? He says, "Why are you downcast? Why are you angry?" He says, "Do right and won’t you be accepted? Fix it. That’s all. You don’t have to be mad. Just fix it."

And then he says this. "But you know what? If you don’t, sin is crouching at the door and it wants to master you. This thing will destroy you. It will cause all kinds of devastation in your life." And you know what Cain chose? Easily knocked into anger and that anger captivated his life. Now you find that today. I mean, non-Christian hearts were easily, we turn into grumblers and complainers, whiners, and we turn into angry people easy. Non-Christians. But you experienced that in your non-Christian life and then God did something to your heart.

To where when you saw the big picture and you understood the providence of God and a bad thing happened, you did something that the non-Christian world scratched their head at, they did not understand it. You were able to rejoice in hard times. You were joyful. Anybody experienced that? If you’re a Christian, you can look back and you’ve seen that happen. Now, is that happening every day now in your Christian life? Maybe not. See, but remember the height from which you’ve fallen and do the deeds you did at first. Revelation 2:5.

That’s what you need to do. Why? Because you’ve shown that you have that supernatural ability to rejoice. Why? Because the Lord is near. As Philippians says. Philippians 4, remember that text? It says this: that if you do the things that the Scripture says, you understand the Lord is near, he’s walking through this and he’s holding your hand and you’re giving your request to God. It says the peace of God which, important phrase, what’s the next phrase? Surpasses all comprehension. All understanding. People go, "I don’t understand that."

It will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Does it do that every time in your life now? No, maybe not. But you know what it is to have that happen. How about that first year of your Christian life? Was there ever anything bad that happened to you and all of a sudden now instead of getting bummed out and negative, all of a sudden you’re saying, "You know what? It was weird. I sat there and actually could rejoice and I thought God is working his plan out in my life. And they just towed my SUV away for whatever reason. But I can see God’s plan in this."

"And I can be at peace and I can even have a positive emotion of joy and I can feel that, I can sense that, and that’s just something that didn’t happen in my heart before." Do you see the distinction? Last phrase, verse 34, Hebrews chapter 10, verse 34. Now again, there’s more to that phrase. They rejoiced because they confiscated their property because of their commitment to Christ. But the reason they could do that, there was something else and I wanted to make these distinct because they’re really two parts of our lives.

Not just our attitude, but look at the last thing. Because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. Now what’s that? That’s a perspective. Your perspective as a new Christian changed. What is it before we become Christians? Well, that’s really simple. Let’s just call it, I like to call it myopic perspective. But let’s just call it this: it’s earthbound. All that matters is we’re trying to figure out well, what will it do for the rest of my life? What effect will this have on my life? That’s the extent of your rationale about decision making.

We’re trying to see what’s it going to do? And if it’s going to hurt because now I won’t have a car and they just towed my SUV, then you know what? You’re going to be bummed. But if you are able to rejoice, part of that is because you have a different perspective. And if because of standing up for what’s right, you suffer some loss, you have the perspective that God is a rewarder of those who suffer for his name. Didn’t Jesus say that Sermon on the Mount? He said when people ridicule you and persecute you for my name’s sake, he said in that day rejoice.

He said because, you know the next phrase? Great is your reward in heaven. And so that’s how they treated the prophets in the Old Testament, too. But you know what? Rejoice. Why? Because when for the sake of Christ you encounter hard times, it is adding up on your account in heaven. That’s a perspective that’s not earthbound. Let’s just put this matching word, the contrasting word: how about a perspective that is eternal? Eternal. And the perspective there is great: store up for yourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth can eat it up, rust destroy it, or thieves break in and steal it.

You ought to be rich there. Luke 12, right? The fool who built those silos and all he cared about was myopic earthbound treasure. And what does God say? He says you fool. For tonight your soul is required of you. And he says the problem with that is that’s how everybody is who is not, look at this phrase: rich toward God. I want to be rich in the kingdom of heaven. The Bible says that is a godly thing. That’s an eternal perspective. Okay, you’re looking at your watch going that was the first point, what’s the second point look like?

The second point’s really short, okay? And it’s not found in the text. It’s found in the rhetorical context. Because all we’re told here, the one imperative verbal for us is: remember. And we’ve just done that. We’ve just tried to remember that we’ve all had success in an eternal perspective and in a good attitude and in real empathy, in courage and a new mind and new strength. We’ve had that experience and God would say remember that because you can do it. Okay, but why is it here? Because verse 22, we’re all supposed to be making progress in drawing near to God.

We all should be closer to God this year than we were last year. The point is forward progress. So let’s just put it down this way, okay? Number two on your outline: You and I need to resolve to excel. You want to resolve to excel in being hungry for the light of God’s truth. You want to resolve to excel in being strong for the commitment that you have to Christ. You want to be growing and excelling in your courage to stand up for what is right. You want to grow in your empathy, in your love for your brothers and sisters in Christ.

You want to grow in a positive attitude that sees things from the light of God’s word and you’re willing to say I can rejoice even in the midst of hard times. And I want to grow in my perspective and think more about eternity than I’m thinking about the next 10 years of my portfolio. I want to grow in those areas. Here’s the thing. The whole reason this is here is to motivate these people. And as Jesus said, Revelation 2:5: remember the height from which you’ve fallen. See? And do the things you did at first.

Do it. Move forward. Make forward progress. God wants you to do it. I know Philippians 2:13, I know it. But I also know verse 12. God is at work in us to will and to work for his good pleasure. But the verse that precedes it is this: that you and I need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We’ve got to effort, we’ve got to resolve, we’ve got to push to this thing. And he knows that I’ve got a long way to go. And he knows that you probably have a long way to go.

But you and I don’t get discouraged because we’re looking at Christ and going I can’t live like that. You know what? Don’t tell me that. You have. You’ve had moments in your Christian life where you’ve lived like that. And you know the only thing I’ve got to say as an addendum to that is if you look at that list and go I don’t know Mike, I’ve not seen that stuff in my life. You know, here’s sermon number two and it’s only 30 seconds. But here’s the thing: if you don’t know that experience, then you need right now to repent of your sins, to give up, have your mind stop fighting the truth.

Tell God that you want right now to be enlightened and to embrace him and you’ll see the old things go and the new things come because he’ll make you a new creation. But you’ve got to stop fighting him. This is not a potpourri, you can’t make it yourself. It’s not cafeteria-style Christianity. You’ve got to say I’m going to embrace it and if this book says it, I’m going to do it. This is your word. I’m submitted to it. I’m going to follow you. And if you do that, you know what? You’re going to see new things come, okay?

Let’s pray together. God help me, please. And help this church. Help us all as individuals and help us corporately because we know those words from Revelation 2 were really given to a church and we don’t ever want to be that. And God, I know years from now you’re going to need to look at us corporately and ask these questions. But God, individually, I know right now most of us here can say yeah, I’ve got to look back. There was a time when I felt that and I saw that and I watched your work and now I just it’s man, I don’t know.

Maybe I’m not moving forward like I should. God, I pray for those that are in that situation, that like the writer of Hebrews said to this early church, that they would remember those victories and use those as a role model for their future behavior, for their behavior this week. And help us God at the end of this year to look back and say we’re making progress, we’re drawing near to God. Our lives are different than they were last year. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Dave Drewett: By remembering the past, we can find the strength to press on in faith for the future. You’ve been listening to Focal Point in a message from Pastor Mike Fabarez called "Motivated by Earlier Days of Devotion," part of our series called "A Closer Relationship with God." Remember every lesson in this study is available anytime at focalpointradio.org or through the free Focal Point app. And today when you donate to help keep this ministry going, we’ll say thanks by sending you the book *The Pursuit of God* by A.W. Tozer.

Here’s a heavy question. Is there an actual living pursuit of God happening in your life? Or have the habits of religion quietly replaced it? What Tozer offers in response is both unsettling and liberating because the God Tozer points us to is close, ready to meet the soul that comes to him with genuine desire. Send your gift today and request *The Pursuit of God* by calling 888-320-5885 or by giving online at focalpointradio.org. Well, now Pastor Mike has a special announcement.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Thanks, Dave. I’d like to invite you to join me September 19th through the 26th, 2026, on a Christian cruise through New England and Canada. We’ll sail Holland America’s Zaandam, known for its elegance and exceptional hospitality, to historic cities like Boston, Halifax, and Quebec City. We’ll gather for devotional times in God’s word followed by thought-provoking Bible teaching throughout our journey. Grammy-winning musicians Keith and Kristyn Getty will lead us in worship.

You’ll enjoy the stunning autumn landscapes as we explore charming coastal villages, all while building friendships with like-minded believers. It’s a unique opportunity to deepen your faith and see some of the most beautiful scenery on the eastern seaboard. Space is limited so don’t wait to sign up. Secure your cabin today at focalpointradio.org.

Dave Drewett: What parent hasn’t occasionally promised a reward to influence a child’s behavior? While some may consider that bribery, our heavenly Father thinks it’s a good motivator. I’m Dave Drewett, inviting you to hear more Wednesday on Focal Point with Mike Fabarez.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Pastor Mike here. You know, we live in a culture where every point of view demands affirmation. It’d be easy to tell people what they want to hear. But we must teach the Bible accurately, unapologetically, and without compromising and without editing it. God’s word is true. If you want to send me a question, I encourage you to get in touch with us at focalpointradio.org.

Dave Drewett: Today’s program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.