Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me

 Good morning. Picking up where we left off: do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods. Now he was probably talking about things concerning the law of Moses; however it is true for us too, but not about foods. There are a lot of strange teachings, especially among Pentecostals. People hear what they think is a new revelation and they quickly jump onto the bandwagon. We've had enough of this foundation teaching (which he talked about chapters ago), and want something new and exciting that nobody else knows about. We are members of an exclusive club. And since we "know everything there is to know about the basic things", then usually it's about the end times. That's something that people just might not know everything about. And if we can just find that one thing that very few people know about, then we can become a member of that exclusive club. The problem is they hold on for dear life. They will not believe anything that you try to tell them. Skipping a few verses: here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Through Him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. I've talked about this before: people sometimes say this means praising God even when things look bad and we don't feel like praising Him - that's not what it means about bringing a sacrifice of praise. The Jews had many different sacrifices, one of which was a thank offering i.e. praise. Instead of a burning animal going up in smoke, it is our offering of praise to God that goes up in "smoke". Father, we offer up a sacrifice of praise to You. You have given us many blessings and even sent Your Son to die for us. Thank You for answering all of the reader's prayer requests. Strengthen and encourage him/her every day.