Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
God's word- quick, powerful, sharp, piercing, a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart.
We might argue that a lawyer, a very smart and savvy lawyer is like that, right? They get in court or sit at a negotiating table and when they open their mouths every word that comes out seems quick, powerful, sharp, piercing… sometimes it even seems as if they can see right through a person, doesn't it? Have you ever met a person like that, maybe not a lawyer, but someone who just seemed to be brilliant and in an almost frightening way able to get into your head? Yes? No? Maybe? As I sit here writing this I'm trying to recall if I've ever met someone like that. Part of me wants to say I have, but I'm not sure. Yes, I've met brilliant people- you know- people who just seem to have an edge on the logical side in the smarts department- whose I.Q. is a tad bit above normal. And yes, I've met people who seem to understand where I'm coming from. But I’m not so sure I've really ever met anyone who has been able to discern my thoughts and the intents of my heart. Once in a blue moon someone might teasingly say 'I know what you're thinking' and then because of already seeing outward responses leading up to that declaration they might be able to guess right. That's all it is though, a guess based upon clues they've seen moments before. They might be sitting next to me as I watch a Dairy Queen commercial on television and then pop up and say, I know what you're thinking, you want ice cream. Or maybe because they know me better they might determine exactly what sort of ice cream I might be wanting. It's not true discerning of my thoughts. Though some people claim to be mind readers can we trust their mind reading? They use tricks and who is not to say they don't have a head's up through the spiritual realm but not in a good way. Discerning our thoughts and intents of our hearts is for God, not for man and if Satan can get to us by seemingly working the works we attribute to God, he's deceived us.
God's word is quick, power, sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, joints and marrow, a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart.
Heb 4:13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
God sees us in a way NO other can see us. Angels, both good and bad (Satan included), can only see so much. Yes, they can witness ALL our actions every secret action, but they cannot know our hearts, they cannot discern our thoughts perfectly. They may think because of our actions that they know us perfectly- but they don't- not like God can know us. We are fully manifest in his sight- every imperfection, every sin, every good deed, every pain, every heartache, every joy, every thanksgiving, every prayer we are naked not only physically, but spiritually to God. Every doubt, every belief, every hope, every despair, God knows. We are known. You may have thought from time to time that no one understands you, that no one can possibly understand you. You may have even believed that you're not sure you even understand yourself. We can rest in the knowledge that God does know us- every bad bit and every good bit, and we can praise Him for being able to take our filthy hearts and clean them.
*
1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous
Today there are people who go to other people seeking to use them as their advocates with God. It's great to have an advocate - someone to plead our cause- isn't it? Some times we turn to friends or family to stick up for us, to plead our cause to others around us. You know what I'm talking about, you've had an argument with someone before and gone to a third party for their opinion on the matter hoping they'll choose your side and defend your position- take up your cause- be your advocate. When you have an advocate then feel supported, you feel defended, you feel hope.
A priest, and a high priest in the days before Christ's death and resurrection held the position of an advocate. The priest helped a person reunite with God. Without the priest to intercede by taking the blood of the sin sacrifice a person made and offering it to God in the various ways- a necessary step in the process of forgiveness instituted by God was lost. The sanctuary service used all pointed to the one ultimate sacrifice that could cover our sins, and eventually blot them all out . The priests on earth were priests that had to be cleansed themselves of sin- they were imperfect advocates. The perfect advocate- the perfect High Priest came in Jesus Christ. We have a perfect Advocate! The One who knows us like know other is our High Priest, our Advocate with the Father.
Heb 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Our Advocate, Jesus Christ, Our LORD and Savior! An Advocate like no other! An Advocate who took on humanity and felt every temptation a human can feel. Our Advocate was touched with the FEELING of our infirmities. He understood, He FELT every temptation, the powerful pull of temptation. Our Advocate knows exactly what it means to be tempted in ALL ways just like we are tempted. Our Advocate never fell victim to temptation, never. Our Advocate relied on His connection with God the Father, ever trusting in Him.
We are sinners, we NEED and Advocate, we NEED the Great High Priest , Jesus the Son of God. Without our Advocate we have no hope. With our Advocate we can BOLDLY go to the throne of grace to obtain mercy, and grace to help us when we need that help-which is always! I never ever want to be without my Advocate. I never want to be without my High Priest. No human being can intercede for us. Yes, we can pray for one another, but we cannot offer any sacrifice of our own and find forgiveness for our sins, or sins of another. Our High Priest in Heaven alone can go before God and plead His innocent blood. No man on earth can hand out God's forgiveness. We can forgive a person, but we cannot tell anyone they are forgiven by God- that their sins are forgiven by anything we've done, they must seek that forgiveness from God personally. We can tell another that God will forgive them if they repent and ask for forgiveness from Him, but only that person knows whether they repent, only that person can make that personal connection with Christ. We can tell someone their sins are forgiven by us, but our forgiveness is NOT God's forgiveness- they need God's forgiveness and must go directly to their Advocate, directly to their High Priest in Heaven who will intercede for them with the Father.
By the mercy and love of our High Priest, through His grace may we come before Him seeking the mercy and grace He alone can give to us.
Amen.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
Our Creator's Rest
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Let us therefore fear…let us be AFRAID…lest a promise being left us of entering into HIS REST- ANY of you should seem to come short of it.
You know what a promise is and so do I. You know what it means to keep a promise and what it means to not keep a promise. You know what a conditional promise is- a promise given based on certain conditions being met. When we don't meet the conditions we fall short of receiving the promise. The promise could be something simple as keeping your room clean and receiving a treat. Don't keep your room clean- don't receive a treat. That isn't life altering, but losing out on God's promises are life eternal- threatening. We need to be AFRAID of not being able to receive God's promise. Fear isn't always such a horrible thing- fear teaches us to be cautious in a lot of potentially harmful situations. Constant fear, irrational fear can be very harmful, but not all fear is harmful. We should be alarmed not terrorized.
The fear here in Hebrews 4:1 is the Greek word that can mean being 'alarmed'.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
The word fear in 1 Jn 4:18 means exceeding fear-terror.
These two verses aren't contradicting one another- one saying to fear the other not to fear. One verse is telling us we should be alarmed, we should be concerned that we don't enter into the promised rest. The other verse is telling us that God's perfect love has no room for terror, but His love cast out terror, that to live in terror is not living in His perfect love.
Fear-- be afraid of losing out on God's rest.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
The word of God is preached- and it is ONLY profitable when it is believed, when there is faith to believe in that word of God, in the plan of salvation through our Savior. The plan of salvation means nothing to the person who hears it and chooses not to have faith in it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Faith brings the promise of rest, God's rest. God rested on the seventh day after creation- He blessed that day of rest. God emphasized the importance of that seventh day of resting by giving us every seventh day to enter into the rest He created for us. When He led His captive people out of Israel He pointedly had them entering into that rest every seventh day. TODAY God's people enter in His Sabbath rest every seven days.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
David said that, in worshipping the LORD! Read it for yourself--
Psa 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
Psa 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Time set aside to worship our Lord, to worship our God, to give thanksgiving and honor, all praise to our Creator-- one day we will enter in God's rest perfectly. Some might wonder why God would give a Sabbath rest to people newly created. Did they work? Isn't that something that should be done away with in the perfect world, no work, absolutely NOT! Adam was to tend the garden, to tend the animals, but one day out of seven there was a rest. Just as GOD Himself would not NEED to rest, yet He created a day of rest after creation why? For mankind the Sabbath was created. A day for us to ever remember our Creator, a day to worship our Creator for the gift of life. A day that would bring us into closer communion with our God, rather than day after ceaseless day of living just for the sake of living for self. We are created beings, blessed in our creation and we can never forget this, never.
Heb 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Jesus observed the Sabbath day like all Jews did. The only out of the ordinary thing He did was remind God's people that the Sabbath was made for them and not them for the Sabbath, that the severe strictures and rules the priesthood had placed upon the Sabbath were manmade rules not God's. Jesus NEVER stopped observing the Sabbath. Even after He was dead His followers asked that His body be taken down off the cross before the Sabbath.
Mar 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
Mar 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mar 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Mar 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
Surely if Jesus had instituted a NEW rest this wouldn't have happened.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
There REMAINS a rest to the people of God. Praise God!
A Sabbath rest- ceasing from our OWN works! Could we, should we do any less?! God ceased from His!!!
Labour to enter into that rest! Unbelief will keep us from that rest. Unbelief will take God from us.
Right now as we have worldly men of prominence claiming that God had nothing to do with creation, we need to fall on our knees before our Creator and beg for His mercy, for His forgiveness, and for the blind to see. We know especially in the last days more and more will turn from God - even those caught up in false gods, false worship believing they are worshipping the true. We know that there will be all sorts of evil on levels we can scarcely imagine. We have to pray always! We have to enter into God's weekly Sabbath, His seventh-day Sabbath with hearts ready to be created new in Him, with our filthy rags ready to be replaced by the robes of HIS righteousness! We have to cease from worshipping self and worship- really worship our CREATOR, our GOD!
May God bless us on this Sabbath evening and into the Sabbath day, bless us with His amazing love, washed in the HOLY SPIRIT so we may see, rich in his faith, gold tried in fire, clothed with His white raiment- His righteousness!
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
By His grace!!!!
Amen.
Let us therefore fear…let us be AFRAID…lest a promise being left us of entering into HIS REST- ANY of you should seem to come short of it.
You know what a promise is and so do I. You know what it means to keep a promise and what it means to not keep a promise. You know what a conditional promise is- a promise given based on certain conditions being met. When we don't meet the conditions we fall short of receiving the promise. The promise could be something simple as keeping your room clean and receiving a treat. Don't keep your room clean- don't receive a treat. That isn't life altering, but losing out on God's promises are life eternal- threatening. We need to be AFRAID of not being able to receive God's promise. Fear isn't always such a horrible thing- fear teaches us to be cautious in a lot of potentially harmful situations. Constant fear, irrational fear can be very harmful, but not all fear is harmful. We should be alarmed not terrorized.
The fear here in Hebrews 4:1 is the Greek word that can mean being 'alarmed'.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
The word fear in 1 Jn 4:18 means exceeding fear-terror.
These two verses aren't contradicting one another- one saying to fear the other not to fear. One verse is telling us we should be alarmed, we should be concerned that we don't enter into the promised rest. The other verse is telling us that God's perfect love has no room for terror, but His love cast out terror, that to live in terror is not living in His perfect love.
Fear-- be afraid of losing out on God's rest.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Heb 4:2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
The word of God is preached- and it is ONLY profitable when it is believed, when there is faith to believe in that word of God, in the plan of salvation through our Savior. The plan of salvation means nothing to the person who hears it and chooses not to have faith in it.
Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Heb 4:4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
Faith brings the promise of rest, God's rest. God rested on the seventh day after creation- He blessed that day of rest. God emphasized the importance of that seventh day of resting by giving us every seventh day to enter into the rest He created for us. When He led His captive people out of Israel He pointedly had them entering into that rest every seventh day. TODAY God's people enter in His Sabbath rest every seven days.
Heb 4:5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
Heb 4:6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
David said that, in worshipping the LORD! Read it for yourself--
Psa 95:1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Psa 95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa 95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psa 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
Psa 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Psa 95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
Psa 95:7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Psa 95:8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psa 95:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
Psa 95:10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Time set aside to worship our Lord, to worship our God, to give thanksgiving and honor, all praise to our Creator-- one day we will enter in God's rest perfectly. Some might wonder why God would give a Sabbath rest to people newly created. Did they work? Isn't that something that should be done away with in the perfect world, no work, absolutely NOT! Adam was to tend the garden, to tend the animals, but one day out of seven there was a rest. Just as GOD Himself would not NEED to rest, yet He created a day of rest after creation why? For mankind the Sabbath was created. A day for us to ever remember our Creator, a day to worship our Creator for the gift of life. A day that would bring us into closer communion with our God, rather than day after ceaseless day of living just for the sake of living for self. We are created beings, blessed in our creation and we can never forget this, never.
Heb 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Jesus observed the Sabbath day like all Jews did. The only out of the ordinary thing He did was remind God's people that the Sabbath was made for them and not them for the Sabbath, that the severe strictures and rules the priesthood had placed upon the Sabbath were manmade rules not God's. Jesus NEVER stopped observing the Sabbath. Even after He was dead His followers asked that His body be taken down off the cross before the Sabbath.
Mar 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath,
Mar 15:43 Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mar 15:44 And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.
Mar 15:45 And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph.
Surely if Jesus had instituted a NEW rest this wouldn't have happened.
Heb 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
There REMAINS a rest to the people of God. Praise God!
A Sabbath rest- ceasing from our OWN works! Could we, should we do any less?! God ceased from His!!!
Labour to enter into that rest! Unbelief will keep us from that rest. Unbelief will take God from us.
Right now as we have worldly men of prominence claiming that God had nothing to do with creation, we need to fall on our knees before our Creator and beg for His mercy, for His forgiveness, and for the blind to see. We know especially in the last days more and more will turn from God - even those caught up in false gods, false worship believing they are worshipping the true. We know that there will be all sorts of evil on levels we can scarcely imagine. We have to pray always! We have to enter into God's weekly Sabbath, His seventh-day Sabbath with hearts ready to be created new in Him, with our filthy rags ready to be replaced by the robes of HIS righteousness! We have to cease from worshipping self and worship- really worship our CREATOR, our GOD!
May God bless us on this Sabbath evening and into the Sabbath day, bless us with His amazing love, washed in the HOLY SPIRIT so we may see, rich in his faith, gold tried in fire, clothed with His white raiment- His righteousness!
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
By His grace!!!!
Amen.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Unbelief is deadly
Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Compare-
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Compare-
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness
These verses are being repeated with slight variations in the same chapter- why? We have to note it, we have to ask ourselves why and the only real answer to that is the usual one. Something is repeated for emphasis, right? When you repeat an instruction you're doing so in hopes the one you are instructing won't forget what you're saying and understand its importance.
We are PARTAKERS of Christ, PARTAKERS of the heavenly calling. This is something so amazing we don't appreciate what it really means. We've been so jaded that we can scarcely comprehend this let alone feel the joy, or the importance of what it all means. How can we lightly say or even think- I am a partaker of Christ, I am a partaker of the heavenly calling? How can we read these words and not understand how incredibly blessed and honored we are by having this opportunity? We're so jaded, so incredibly beaten down spiritually that we can't truly comprehend what this means. It's deliverance! As surely as God's people were enslaved in Egypt we are enslaved today to Satan in so many ways. We need to be set free in Christ. We need to look forward past the here and now. We need to understand that this life is so very temporary. It weighs on us though. Life with all its problems weigh us down heavily- the 'cares of this life' can be so heavily they over come us if we let them. Satan would blind us to our heavenly calling at every opportunity. We are called to remember we are partakers of Christ. We are called NOT to harden our hearts. How does a heart become hardened? Through disbelief, through forgetfulness of the heavenly calling, through letting this world and ALL it's awful problems be overwhelming and consuming.
Heb 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Again, compare--
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Unbelief is deadly.
We have to believe in our Hope, Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR! We have to believe in our HEAVENLY CALLING and make that heavenly calling our life, our reason for living- Jesus! Living for our Savior, NOT for ourselves.
By the grace of God may we do this before our hearts become hardened, before we lose faith and unbelief overtakes us.
In His Love
Amen
Compare-
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Compare-
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness
These verses are being repeated with slight variations in the same chapter- why? We have to note it, we have to ask ourselves why and the only real answer to that is the usual one. Something is repeated for emphasis, right? When you repeat an instruction you're doing so in hopes the one you are instructing won't forget what you're saying and understand its importance.
We are PARTAKERS of Christ, PARTAKERS of the heavenly calling. This is something so amazing we don't appreciate what it really means. We've been so jaded that we can scarcely comprehend this let alone feel the joy, or the importance of what it all means. How can we lightly say or even think- I am a partaker of Christ, I am a partaker of the heavenly calling? How can we read these words and not understand how incredibly blessed and honored we are by having this opportunity? We're so jaded, so incredibly beaten down spiritually that we can't truly comprehend what this means. It's deliverance! As surely as God's people were enslaved in Egypt we are enslaved today to Satan in so many ways. We need to be set free in Christ. We need to look forward past the here and now. We need to understand that this life is so very temporary. It weighs on us though. Life with all its problems weigh us down heavily- the 'cares of this life' can be so heavily they over come us if we let them. Satan would blind us to our heavenly calling at every opportunity. We are called to remember we are partakers of Christ. We are called NOT to harden our hearts. How does a heart become hardened? Through disbelief, through forgetfulness of the heavenly calling, through letting this world and ALL it's awful problems be overwhelming and consuming.
Heb 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Again, compare--
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Unbelief is deadly.
We have to believe in our Hope, Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR! We have to believe in our HEAVENLY CALLING and make that heavenly calling our life, our reason for living- Jesus! Living for our Savior, NOT for ourselves.
By the grace of God may we do this before our hearts become hardened, before we lose faith and unbelief overtakes us.
In His Love
Amen
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Deceitfulness of Sin
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
The definitions of deceitfulness and deceit…
Deceitfulness
DECE'ITFULNESS, n.
1. Tendency to mislead or deceive; as the deceitfulness of sin.
2. The quality of being fraudulent; as the deceitfulness of a man's practices.
3. The disposition to deceive; as, a man's deceitfulness may be habitual.
*
Deceit
DECE'IT,
1. Literally, a catching or ensnaring. Hence, the misleading of a person; the leading of another person to believe what is false, or not to believe what is true, and thus to ensnare him; fraud; fallacy; cheat; any declaration, artifice or practice, which misleads another, or causes him to believe what is false.
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Job 27.
2. Stratagem; artifice; device intended to mislead.
They imagine deceits all the day long. Psa 38.
3. In scripture, that which is obtained by guile, fraud or oppression.
Their houses are full of deceit. Jer 5. Zeph. I.
4. In law, any trick, device, craft, collusion, shift, covin, or underhand practice, used to defraud another.
*******
Misleading, catching, ensnaring.
Sin. We think it's so incredibly easy to point out sin and know it for what it is but it's not. Satan the great deceiver takes truth and mixes it with fallacy which no longer makes it pure truth, unadulterated. He corrupts truth just enough to deceive and people EVERYWHERE believe in the corrupted truth. People everywhere believe so much ISN'T sin. Why should they believe sin is sin, because then they'd realize they are leading a life of sin and that isn't something anyone really wants to believe, is it? When we examine our lives by the Lord's word we are allowed to see the sin in our lives. When we seek God with all our heart and soul then we will be allowed to see our truly sinful state. People don't like hearing these words, they like to be lulled and told that nothing matters but what they secretly believe in their hearts, having a good heart, the Lord knows, the Lord understands why I'm the sinner I am and why I can't stop sinning and shouldn't even try. The Lord knows that I love Him.
We love to console ourselves with those thoughts and because they contain an element of truth they are easy to latch onto and forget that our God is a consuming fire, it's easy to forget that we are told to exhort one another DAILY, we believe weekly will suffice, right? It's easy to forget that God gave commandments and Jesus confirmed that those commandments were still in effect, still just, still good, that He didn't come to do away with the law. It's easy to believe that when Jesus said to love God and love your neighbor and that this encompasses the entire law that he meant as long as we SAY we love God and love our neighbors we're doing alright. That's not the truth-that's Satan's lie and it's a good one- good if you are evil. We are told what loving our neighbors means, we are told what the fruits of the Spirit are, we are given ALL the truth, but with Satan ever ready to distort the truth we become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. We don't want to look too closely at our lives or at God's word, we want the superficial salvation and the problem with that is it won't ever reach our hearts. It's better to have all our sin exposed and feel the weight of that sin, the horror of that sin, the despair of that sin and turn our hearts fully and completely to our Savior than it is to allow ourselves to be deceived.
It's amazing how this study of Hebrews seems to have tied in with the excerpt from C.S. Lewis we looked at the other day. God works in such wondrous ways, ways beyond our comprehension.
C.S. Lewis talked about 'excusing sin' rather than 'truly repenting and seeking true forgiveness'. He discussed that what we might actually think is asking for forgiveness is really us just asking to be excused for our actions. What he said holds A LOT of truth. The deceitfulness of sin is just like that.
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
We have to read these words and believe in them or we will be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin… OUR SIN! We aren't hardened by someone else's sin. We have to exhort one another…which means we have to urge one another daily not to depart from the living God, to not depart from the faith. This is what we are called to do. By God's grace alone are we saved, and we must keep God in our lives in all things, repenting, not excusing, enlightened not deceived, truth not lies and deception.
May God open our hearts and minds, our eyes, our understanding to know His will in all things so that we are not deceived. May the blinders satan would have us wear until the day we are fully his, be ripped away and by the Lord's grace and mercy may we in all our filthiness fall at the feet of Jesus in true repentance seek true forgiveness no matter the cost to our comfortable deluded existence.
In our Savior's amazing love!
Amen.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
The definitions of deceitfulness and deceit…
Deceitfulness
DECE'ITFULNESS, n.
1. Tendency to mislead or deceive; as the deceitfulness of sin.
2. The quality of being fraudulent; as the deceitfulness of a man's practices.
3. The disposition to deceive; as, a man's deceitfulness may be habitual.
*
Deceit
DECE'IT,
1. Literally, a catching or ensnaring. Hence, the misleading of a person; the leading of another person to believe what is false, or not to believe what is true, and thus to ensnare him; fraud; fallacy; cheat; any declaration, artifice or practice, which misleads another, or causes him to believe what is false.
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. Job 27.
2. Stratagem; artifice; device intended to mislead.
They imagine deceits all the day long. Psa 38.
3. In scripture, that which is obtained by guile, fraud or oppression.
Their houses are full of deceit. Jer 5. Zeph. I.
4. In law, any trick, device, craft, collusion, shift, covin, or underhand practice, used to defraud another.
*******
Misleading, catching, ensnaring.
Sin. We think it's so incredibly easy to point out sin and know it for what it is but it's not. Satan the great deceiver takes truth and mixes it with fallacy which no longer makes it pure truth, unadulterated. He corrupts truth just enough to deceive and people EVERYWHERE believe in the corrupted truth. People everywhere believe so much ISN'T sin. Why should they believe sin is sin, because then they'd realize they are leading a life of sin and that isn't something anyone really wants to believe, is it? When we examine our lives by the Lord's word we are allowed to see the sin in our lives. When we seek God with all our heart and soul then we will be allowed to see our truly sinful state. People don't like hearing these words, they like to be lulled and told that nothing matters but what they secretly believe in their hearts, having a good heart, the Lord knows, the Lord understands why I'm the sinner I am and why I can't stop sinning and shouldn't even try. The Lord knows that I love Him.
We love to console ourselves with those thoughts and because they contain an element of truth they are easy to latch onto and forget that our God is a consuming fire, it's easy to forget that we are told to exhort one another DAILY, we believe weekly will suffice, right? It's easy to forget that God gave commandments and Jesus confirmed that those commandments were still in effect, still just, still good, that He didn't come to do away with the law. It's easy to believe that when Jesus said to love God and love your neighbor and that this encompasses the entire law that he meant as long as we SAY we love God and love our neighbors we're doing alright. That's not the truth-that's Satan's lie and it's a good one- good if you are evil. We are told what loving our neighbors means, we are told what the fruits of the Spirit are, we are given ALL the truth, but with Satan ever ready to distort the truth we become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. We don't want to look too closely at our lives or at God's word, we want the superficial salvation and the problem with that is it won't ever reach our hearts. It's better to have all our sin exposed and feel the weight of that sin, the horror of that sin, the despair of that sin and turn our hearts fully and completely to our Savior than it is to allow ourselves to be deceived.
It's amazing how this study of Hebrews seems to have tied in with the excerpt from C.S. Lewis we looked at the other day. God works in such wondrous ways, ways beyond our comprehension.
C.S. Lewis talked about 'excusing sin' rather than 'truly repenting and seeking true forgiveness'. He discussed that what we might actually think is asking for forgiveness is really us just asking to be excused for our actions. What he said holds A LOT of truth. The deceitfulness of sin is just like that.
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
We have to read these words and believe in them or we will be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin… OUR SIN! We aren't hardened by someone else's sin. We have to exhort one another…which means we have to urge one another daily not to depart from the living God, to not depart from the faith. This is what we are called to do. By God's grace alone are we saved, and we must keep God in our lives in all things, repenting, not excusing, enlightened not deceived, truth not lies and deception.
May God open our hearts and minds, our eyes, our understanding to know His will in all things so that we are not deceived. May the blinders satan would have us wear until the day we are fully his, be ripped away and by the Lord's grace and mercy may we in all our filthiness fall at the feet of Jesus in true repentance seek true forgiveness no matter the cost to our comfortable deluded existence.
In our Savior's amazing love!
Amen.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Harden not your heart- believe
Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Tempting God. Tempting God is really disbelieving in God, isn't it?
When we tempt a person to do something it's the same as daring them to do it. Come on, we tell them, show me you can do this or that, I bet you can't do it so you have to show me you can. We try to get them to PROVE themselves. When something is proven to get someone to believe it in, the faith is gone.
We ask friends and family to trust us based on their knowledge of our love and care for them, trust that we will do nothing to hurt them. Time and again that trust is abused and people have learned not to trust, not to have faith in each other.
God isn't human and He called for people to trust in Him. People wanted proof. People wanted God to prove Himself to them rather than to prove themselves to God.
Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness- when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
We can't make the same mistakes. Individually in our lives we can't tempt God, we can't ask God to prove Himself. To tempt God, to prove God is to grieve God. Having no faith in God will cost people so much- it will cost them eternal life.
What is an evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God? Lack of faith. Unbelief- no faith.
I've mentioned my favorite verse before and I'll use it again only this time including the whole passage-
Mar 9:14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
Mar 9:15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
Mar 9:16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
Mar 9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
Mar 9:18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
Mar 9:19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
Mar 9:20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
Mar 9:21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
Mar 9:22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mar 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mar 9:26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
Mar 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Here is a desperate father who only wants his son healed, a son that had been afflicted since he was a child with a spirit that made him deaf, dumb, feel pain, foam at the mouth, gnash his teeth, all as he wastes away. How desperate this poor father was to have his son healed. He brought him to the disciples of Jesus, men that had power given to them by Jesus to heal and cast out evil spirits, yet the disciples could not help him. How devastating that had to be to the father. Then the master of the disciples arrives and this is his last hope to have his son healed. He tells the Lord about his son and Jesus answers by saying this--
'O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?'
Faithless!
Jesus said- IF THOU CANST BELIEVE ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH.
The opposite is true isn't it? Nothing is possible to them that do not believe.
Our only hope is faith in our Savior. Our hope lies in NOT tempting God, in not asking God to prove Himself but rather believing without the proof. We have to believe, we can't be faithless! If we doubt our belief we have to pray as that father who desperately wanted his son to be healed-- with tears-- LORD, I BELIEVE HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF.
Can you imagine the anguish, the desperate hope? Anyone who has faced having a loved one in pain, anyone who can comprehend the situation if they haven't experienced it, can put themselves in that father's position. A lot of people pray and tell God they'd do anything if only they'd help that loved one. This father told Jesus face to face, he believed and then said HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF. Why? Why did he add that last bit? Help though mine unbelief? Because the least little bit of doubt might have been enough to stop Jesus from healing his son and that man understood and wanted nothing, not even the possibility of the slightest disbelief in himself to keep his son from being healed. The helplessness we have in saving ourselves is in this too, isn't it? Think about it. We have to believe! We can't tempt God, we can't ask Him to prove Himself, we must have faith.
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Exhort one another daily…lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Sin is soooooo incredibly deceitful. More on that tomorrow though.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord may we have faith in Him, may we not tempt Him in any way. By His love now and forever!
Amen.
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Tempting God. Tempting God is really disbelieving in God, isn't it?
When we tempt a person to do something it's the same as daring them to do it. Come on, we tell them, show me you can do this or that, I bet you can't do it so you have to show me you can. We try to get them to PROVE themselves. When something is proven to get someone to believe it in, the faith is gone.
We ask friends and family to trust us based on their knowledge of our love and care for them, trust that we will do nothing to hurt them. Time and again that trust is abused and people have learned not to trust, not to have faith in each other.
God isn't human and He called for people to trust in Him. People wanted proof. People wanted God to prove Himself to them rather than to prove themselves to God.
Heb 3:7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Heb 3:9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Heb 3:10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
Heb 3:11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness- when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
We can't make the same mistakes. Individually in our lives we can't tempt God, we can't ask God to prove Himself. To tempt God, to prove God is to grieve God. Having no faith in God will cost people so much- it will cost them eternal life.
What is an evil heart of unbelief departing from the living God? Lack of faith. Unbelief- no faith.
I've mentioned my favorite verse before and I'll use it again only this time including the whole passage-
Mar 9:14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
Mar 9:15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
Mar 9:16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?
Mar 9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
Mar 9:18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.
Mar 9:19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
Mar 9:20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
Mar 9:21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
Mar 9:22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mar 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mar 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mar 9:26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
Mar 9:27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Here is a desperate father who only wants his son healed, a son that had been afflicted since he was a child with a spirit that made him deaf, dumb, feel pain, foam at the mouth, gnash his teeth, all as he wastes away. How desperate this poor father was to have his son healed. He brought him to the disciples of Jesus, men that had power given to them by Jesus to heal and cast out evil spirits, yet the disciples could not help him. How devastating that had to be to the father. Then the master of the disciples arrives and this is his last hope to have his son healed. He tells the Lord about his son and Jesus answers by saying this--
'O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?'
Faithless!
Jesus said- IF THOU CANST BELIEVE ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH.
The opposite is true isn't it? Nothing is possible to them that do not believe.
Our only hope is faith in our Savior. Our hope lies in NOT tempting God, in not asking God to prove Himself but rather believing without the proof. We have to believe, we can't be faithless! If we doubt our belief we have to pray as that father who desperately wanted his son to be healed-- with tears-- LORD, I BELIEVE HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF.
Can you imagine the anguish, the desperate hope? Anyone who has faced having a loved one in pain, anyone who can comprehend the situation if they haven't experienced it, can put themselves in that father's position. A lot of people pray and tell God they'd do anything if only they'd help that loved one. This father told Jesus face to face, he believed and then said HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF. Why? Why did he add that last bit? Help though mine unbelief? Because the least little bit of doubt might have been enough to stop Jesus from healing his son and that man understood and wanted nothing, not even the possibility of the slightest disbelief in himself to keep his son from being healed. The helplessness we have in saving ourselves is in this too, isn't it? Think about it. We have to believe! We can't tempt God, we can't ask Him to prove Himself, we must have faith.
Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Exhort one another daily…lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Sin is soooooo incredibly deceitful. More on that tomorrow though.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord may we have faith in Him, may we not tempt Him in any way. By His love now and forever!
Amen.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Forgiveness or Excuses?
Excerpt from Weight of Glory - "On Forgiveness" C.S. Lewis (Capitalization and paragraph separation -my emphasis)
'I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to EXCUSE me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing.
Forgiveness says--
"Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it against you and everything between us two will be exactly as it was before. "
But excusing says--
"I see that you couldn't help it or didn't mean it; you weren't really to blame."
If one was not really to blame then there is nothing to forgive.
In that sense forgiveness and excusing are almost opposites.
Of course, in dozens of cases, either between God and man, or between one man and another, there may be a mixture of the two. Part of what seemed at first to be the sins turns out to be really nobody's fault and is excused; the bit that is left over is forgiven.
…. But the trouble is that what we call "asking God's forgiveness" very often really consists in asking God to ACCEPT our excuses.
What leads us into this mistake is the fact that there usually is some amount of excuse, some
"extenuating circumstances."
We are so very anxious to point these out to God (and to ourselves) that we are apt to FORGET the really important thing; that is, the bit left over, the bit which the excuses don't cover, the bit which is INEXCUSABLE but NOT, thank God, UNFORGIVEABLE . And if we forget this, we shall go away IMAGINING that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our OWN EXCUSES. They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied about ourselves. '
*******
Imagining we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our own excuses.
Come on, admit it there is truth in what Mr. Lewis is saying here, a lot of truth.
Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Do you imagine those who believe their evil is good- truly imagine it evil? People are deceived all the time. There is so much sin today that is acceptable to mankind that is unacceptable to God and has been since forever. We've drawn a sin cloak around our lives that hides the sins in our lives so that we can feel good about ourselves and not worry that we might be sinning. We EXCUSE our sins. We make excuses all the time. If only *this* wasn't like *this* then I wouldn't do *this*. If only I lived in a monastery I wouldn't have all these temptations around me. If only Soandso didn't do this or that, I wouldn't do this and that. It's horrible but we do it all the time and we've begun to do it on a subconscious level too. We tell ourselves- God understands. Haven't you done that before? Truthfully, haven't you thought those words before? Why do we do this? We do it because we believe if we don't then we'll NEVER have any hope of being God's. We call it giving ourselves hope. Am I excusing it? NO! I'm naming it. It's a FALSE hope, but we grasp onto it and hold it tightly in this tornado of sin whirling about our lives. Wouldn't it be better if we let go of false hope and released ourselves into the reality of the sin in our lives and TRUST in our LORD to save us. We have to stop trusting in ourselves to save ourselves. Our hope can't be in our goodness, but in HIS. We have to truly start looking at the sin in our lives as the deadly poison it is. Only when we stop making excuses will we be able to seek true forgiveness. Lay it all on the table as the saying goes. Put it all out there without any excuses and seek to repent and ask for the only path to true life we have- forgiveness from our Savior. Our Savior seeing us covered in vile, poisonous, deadly sins and choosing to give us forgiveness because we know only HE can save us, His blood covers our sins. We don't cover our sins, He covers them in His blood. We need the poison covered by the anti-venom of Christ's holy blood.
It's not easy to take stock in our lives. It's not easy at all. Not easy but a necessity.
May God help us all. We live in a world where satan and all his helpers are more than willing to give us delusions of ourselves. Please Lord, help us remove the blinders to the sin in our lives. Help us precious Savior to keep from excusing the sin in our lives. We throw ourselves at your merciful feet. Bless us Lord, please…bless us.
By Your Grace!
Amen.
'I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to forgive me but to EXCUSE me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving and excusing.
Forgiveness says--
"Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I will never hold it against you and everything between us two will be exactly as it was before. "
But excusing says--
"I see that you couldn't help it or didn't mean it; you weren't really to blame."
If one was not really to blame then there is nothing to forgive.
In that sense forgiveness and excusing are almost opposites.
Of course, in dozens of cases, either between God and man, or between one man and another, there may be a mixture of the two. Part of what seemed at first to be the sins turns out to be really nobody's fault and is excused; the bit that is left over is forgiven.
…. But the trouble is that what we call "asking God's forgiveness" very often really consists in asking God to ACCEPT our excuses.
What leads us into this mistake is the fact that there usually is some amount of excuse, some
"extenuating circumstances."
We are so very anxious to point these out to God (and to ourselves) that we are apt to FORGET the really important thing; that is, the bit left over, the bit which the excuses don't cover, the bit which is INEXCUSABLE but NOT, thank God, UNFORGIVEABLE . And if we forget this, we shall go away IMAGINING that we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our OWN EXCUSES. They may be very bad excuses; we are all too easily satisfied about ourselves. '
*******
Imagining we have repented and been forgiven when all that has really happened is that we have satisfied ourselves with our own excuses.
Come on, admit it there is truth in what Mr. Lewis is saying here, a lot of truth.
Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Do you imagine those who believe their evil is good- truly imagine it evil? People are deceived all the time. There is so much sin today that is acceptable to mankind that is unacceptable to God and has been since forever. We've drawn a sin cloak around our lives that hides the sins in our lives so that we can feel good about ourselves and not worry that we might be sinning. We EXCUSE our sins. We make excuses all the time. If only *this* wasn't like *this* then I wouldn't do *this*. If only I lived in a monastery I wouldn't have all these temptations around me. If only Soandso didn't do this or that, I wouldn't do this and that. It's horrible but we do it all the time and we've begun to do it on a subconscious level too. We tell ourselves- God understands. Haven't you done that before? Truthfully, haven't you thought those words before? Why do we do this? We do it because we believe if we don't then we'll NEVER have any hope of being God's. We call it giving ourselves hope. Am I excusing it? NO! I'm naming it. It's a FALSE hope, but we grasp onto it and hold it tightly in this tornado of sin whirling about our lives. Wouldn't it be better if we let go of false hope and released ourselves into the reality of the sin in our lives and TRUST in our LORD to save us. We have to stop trusting in ourselves to save ourselves. Our hope can't be in our goodness, but in HIS. We have to truly start looking at the sin in our lives as the deadly poison it is. Only when we stop making excuses will we be able to seek true forgiveness. Lay it all on the table as the saying goes. Put it all out there without any excuses and seek to repent and ask for the only path to true life we have- forgiveness from our Savior. Our Savior seeing us covered in vile, poisonous, deadly sins and choosing to give us forgiveness because we know only HE can save us, His blood covers our sins. We don't cover our sins, He covers them in His blood. We need the poison covered by the anti-venom of Christ's holy blood.
It's not easy to take stock in our lives. It's not easy at all. Not easy but a necessity.
May God help us all. We live in a world where satan and all his helpers are more than willing to give us delusions of ourselves. Please Lord, help us remove the blinders to the sin in our lives. Help us precious Savior to keep from excusing the sin in our lives. We throw ourselves at your merciful feet. Bless us Lord, please…bless us.
By Your Grace!
Amen.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Partakers of the heavenly callng
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Partakers of the heavenly calling--- US.
We are partakers of the heavenly calling. You and I are partakers if we choose to seek eternal life and not be of this world. The heavenly calling is salvation though Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We need to consider the APOSTLE and HIGH PRIEST of our profession- Christ Jesus.
Consider.
Consider
CONSIDER, v.t. [L., to consider, to view attentively, to sit by; to sit. See Sit. The literal sense is, to sit by or close, or to set the mind or the eye to; hence, to view or examine with attention.]
1. To fix the mind on, with a view to a careful examination; to think on with care; to ponder; to study; to meditate on.
We have to fix our mind on our Savior.
We have to carefully examine our Savior.
We have to think on our Savior.
We have to ponder our Savior.
We have to meditate on our Savior.
All those things will have us considering our Savior. We can't just give him a cursory examination from time to time. We can't box Him into five minutes here, a half hour there, an hour whenever. We have to have Him a part of ALL we do, not just some of what we do. We can't set our Savior aside or tell Him to close His eyes and turn around for a bit when we want to do something sinful. When we sit down to watch our favorite tv show He needs to be on our mind- not put in a corner while we get our laughs in.
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Our Savior- who was faithful to HIM that appointed HIM. Faithful to His Father. Isn't that beautiful? He was faithful to His Father in all that He did.
Another who was faithful was Moses. But our Savior was MORE worthy of glory than the faithful Moses. When people have leaders and those leaders lead well they tend to revere them, they tend to give them honor and respect for being such great leaders. Moses was a great leader, by the power of God he set free God's people and led them to the promised land- being used of God to reveal the ways of God to man- God's laws, the Sanctuary service and much more. It's no surprise that Moses is consider a great man, a faithful man. But as great as Moses was, Jesus was much, much greater. To say that there is a man more worthy than Moses to those who hold Moses to be their greatest leader is saying a lot!
We have in our more modern history some great leaders- Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. -- these are men that have impacted history and we've set them us as being worthy of remembrance. If was say this man is greater than Lincoln ever was, that's saying a lot. If someone comes along and people say he's greater than Martin Luther King Jr. instantly we understand that this newcomer has to be amazing.
Our Lord and Savior is worthy of more honor than Moses- worth more immeasurably.
Heb 3:3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
Heb 3:4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
God built ALL THINGS. You cannot be greater than that, you can't. You cannot be more worthy.
Heb 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
We are of Christ's house, He is Son over His house, He is ruler over us, caretaker over us, as any head of household Christ reigns over us IF WE LET HIM! We are in His house willingly, not as underage children forced to live in a household good or bad. We aren't kept in Christ by force. We are not hostages to Him. People come and go all the time, but it's best to remain in HIM- HOLD FAST in Him. The Bible tells us to hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the HOPE firm unto the end. Christ is our hope, our ONLY hope.
I was talking with someone the other day who suffers with chronic pain and they mentioned how death would be preferable to the pain (no they aren't suicidal). The subject of death and the life after death had come up and so on. We talked for a bit and what we fail to realize a lot of time is the fact that our lives here are so temporary, so short. Even if we live till 100 it's short compared to eternity. All the pain we feel now can consume us, can ruin us. This temporary life can ruin us and WILL ruin us if satan has his way. Satan stops at NOTHING to ruin us- if it's not one thing it's another, if it's not with bad things he'll use good things- yes, satan uses good things as well as bad to entrap us. Our only hope is in Christ, remaining firmly in Christ with all our confidence and hope in Him.
We are Christ's house-- IF we hold fast.
IF.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord we will Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope in CHRIST! Firm unto the end.
Amen.
Partakers of the heavenly calling--- US.
We are partakers of the heavenly calling. You and I are partakers if we choose to seek eternal life and not be of this world. The heavenly calling is salvation though Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. We need to consider the APOSTLE and HIGH PRIEST of our profession- Christ Jesus.
Consider.
Consider
CONSIDER, v.t. [L., to consider, to view attentively, to sit by; to sit. See Sit. The literal sense is, to sit by or close, or to set the mind or the eye to; hence, to view or examine with attention.]
1. To fix the mind on, with a view to a careful examination; to think on with care; to ponder; to study; to meditate on.
We have to fix our mind on our Savior.
We have to carefully examine our Savior.
We have to think on our Savior.
We have to ponder our Savior.
We have to meditate on our Savior.
All those things will have us considering our Savior. We can't just give him a cursory examination from time to time. We can't box Him into five minutes here, a half hour there, an hour whenever. We have to have Him a part of ALL we do, not just some of what we do. We can't set our Savior aside or tell Him to close His eyes and turn around for a bit when we want to do something sinful. When we sit down to watch our favorite tv show He needs to be on our mind- not put in a corner while we get our laughs in.
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Our Savior- who was faithful to HIM that appointed HIM. Faithful to His Father. Isn't that beautiful? He was faithful to His Father in all that He did.
Another who was faithful was Moses. But our Savior was MORE worthy of glory than the faithful Moses. When people have leaders and those leaders lead well they tend to revere them, they tend to give them honor and respect for being such great leaders. Moses was a great leader, by the power of God he set free God's people and led them to the promised land- being used of God to reveal the ways of God to man- God's laws, the Sanctuary service and much more. It's no surprise that Moses is consider a great man, a faithful man. But as great as Moses was, Jesus was much, much greater. To say that there is a man more worthy than Moses to those who hold Moses to be their greatest leader is saying a lot!
We have in our more modern history some great leaders- Washington, Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. -- these are men that have impacted history and we've set them us as being worthy of remembrance. If was say this man is greater than Lincoln ever was, that's saying a lot. If someone comes along and people say he's greater than Martin Luther King Jr. instantly we understand that this newcomer has to be amazing.
Our Lord and Savior is worthy of more honor than Moses- worth more immeasurably.
Heb 3:3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
Heb 3:4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
God built ALL THINGS. You cannot be greater than that, you can't. You cannot be more worthy.
Heb 3:5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
Heb 3:6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
We are of Christ's house, He is Son over His house, He is ruler over us, caretaker over us, as any head of household Christ reigns over us IF WE LET HIM! We are in His house willingly, not as underage children forced to live in a household good or bad. We aren't kept in Christ by force. We are not hostages to Him. People come and go all the time, but it's best to remain in HIM- HOLD FAST in Him. The Bible tells us to hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the HOPE firm unto the end. Christ is our hope, our ONLY hope.
I was talking with someone the other day who suffers with chronic pain and they mentioned how death would be preferable to the pain (no they aren't suicidal). The subject of death and the life after death had come up and so on. We talked for a bit and what we fail to realize a lot of time is the fact that our lives here are so temporary, so short. Even if we live till 100 it's short compared to eternity. All the pain we feel now can consume us, can ruin us. This temporary life can ruin us and WILL ruin us if satan has his way. Satan stops at NOTHING to ruin us- if it's not one thing it's another, if it's not with bad things he'll use good things- yes, satan uses good things as well as bad to entrap us. Our only hope is in Christ, remaining firmly in Christ with all our confidence and hope in Him.
We are Christ's house-- IF we hold fast.
IF.
By the grace and mercy of our Lord we will Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope in CHRIST! Firm unto the end.
Amen.
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