For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have been convicted to seek to develop a disciplined prayer life. It is still a work in progress. Please pray for me, that the Holy Spirit may show me how to pray in a disciplined manner.
Always keep in mind that things may occur to change your plans for the future. Do not brag about what you will do because something may happen that will cause you to be unable to do what you planned, or to make it something you would regret.
Do not brag about how good are skillful you are. If you are truly as good or skilled as you think you are, others will be quick to tell people about it.
The psalmist recounts how God arranged things so that the people of Israel became a separate people who were dedicated to Him. If we look at history we can see other times where events were arranged so as to bring God’s will about. Events happened so that nations rose to power at just the right time to bring about God’s will. People made decisions so that they, or someone else, ended up at the right place at the right time. If we look at our lives, and the events that happened in them, we can see how they all were arranged so that we would end up where God wanted us. Let us praise God for what He has done for us in the past and serve Him in the place where He has put us now.
In yesterday’s passage the writer told us that as we mature in Christ we need to move on from basic, introductory spiritual teaching. In today’s passage he writes about what those are, what things we should teach to new believers. First off, in order to be believers one needs to repent of evil deeds (repent means to both feel remorse and change our behavior) and place faith in God. Additionally, we should be sure to teach new believers about baptisms (interestingly, this suggests that there is a place for baptism as more than just an initiation into the Body of Christ), laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. Today was the first time I realized that this passage gave us a guideline on what should be taught to every new believer.
The writer then goes on to more advanced spiritual teaching. He tells us that those who have once experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, then turn away from God, can never be brought back to repentance. I have always found this passage hard to fully comprehend. I know some people about whom this passage seems to apply. I know some people who were once filled with the Spirit who have since rejected God that when I look at their attitudes I can not imagine them ever seeking God again. On the other hand, I know people who are today dedicated to serving God and are bearing the fruit of the Spirit in abundance, who had accepted Christ as a teen, turned away from God in their 20s, and returned once more to Him. Sometimes I think I can see how these two groups differ, but other times I am unsure. Nevertheless, this passage is an important warning to us.
Ezekiel prophesied against a group of men who were leaders of the people of Jerusalem. I know I am bringing my own biases to this passage, but I still think there is truth in what I am about to say. The leaders whom Ezekiel prophesied against were men who were telling the people that things were going well, and everyone was safe, as disaster was about to strike. These were men who claimed to be working on behalf of the people while profiting from the suffering the people were experiencing. Those leaders who tell the people that everything will be all right, when not only will everything be all right, but those very leaders will be among the reasons it is not all right, will face God’s judgement.