Sin that entangles

Psalm 1
1:1 How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand in the pathway with sinners,
or sit in the assembly of scoffers!
1:2 Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands;
he meditates on his commands day and night.
1:3 He is like a tree planted by flowing streams;
it yields its fruit at the proper time,
and its leaves never fall off.
He succeeds in everything he attempts.
1:4 Not so with the wicked!
Instead they are like wind-driven chaff.
1:5 For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment,
nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly.
1:6 Certainly the Lord guards the way of the godly,
but the way of the wicked ends in destruction.
(NET)

I noticed the progression of association with the wicked in verse 1. First it is just walking with the advice of the wicked. Then as we become accustomed to sin we begin to stand in the pathway of sinners. We more closely and deeply involve ourselves in sin. Finally we sit down in our sin and engulf ourselves. We now are completely surrounded by the sin within which we have entangled ourselves, making ourselves like chaff. We are then useless and unsubstantial. When eternity arrives will then have nothing to stand on. However, if we delight ourselves in the Lord and in meditation of His Word, He gives us meaning, growth, and eternal life. We then have His righteousness and grace that allow us to stand on the day of judgment.

Make your paths straight

Hebrews 12:13
12:13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.
(NET)

Part of that verse is quoted from

Prov 4:26
4:26 Make the path for your feet level,
so that all your ways may be established.
4:27 Do not turn to the right or to the left;
turn yourself away from evil. (NET)

How often do I not necessarily turn to evil, but I just see it coming down the road and don't get out of the way? These verses point out that avoiding evil is a proactive lifestyle. I can't assume that my relationship with Christ will grow if I am not actively feeding it. It will atrophy and decay like muscles no longer used. How then do I keep from evil.

Psalm 119:9-11
119:9 How can a young person maintain a pure life?
By guarding it according to your instructions!
119:10 With all my heart I seek you.
Do not allow me to stray from your commands!
119:11 In my heart I store up your words,
so I might not sin against you.
(NET)

Purifing our Conscience

Hebrews 9:8-14
9:8 The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing. 9:9 This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. 9:10 They served only for matters of food and drink and various washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came. Christ’s Service in the Heavenly Sanctuary
9:11 But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 9:12 and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption. 9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.
(NET)

How often do we seem to think that following the law will save us? Following the law won't even change us. It was just a ceremonial cleanliness. Christ is the only righteousness. I need Christ's righteousness, because I cannot stand upon my own. I also desperately need the blood of Christ to change me and purify me from my sinful self. I am afraid of who I would be if it weren't for grace. I would be so lost in my own selfish black hole. I would be tearing down everyone around me. Sometimes I am still like. The blood of Christ cleanse me and change me!! Wash me clean! Take my life and purify my dead works, changing them to a life and works of worship of the living God.

New Covenant

Hebrews 8:7-12
8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. 8:8 But showing its fault, God says to them, “Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
8:9 “It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord. 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. 8:11 “And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. 8:12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.”
(NET)

Praise God for the new covenant. Now we can each 'Know the Lord' and have personal relationship with God. We no longer have to have a priest intercede with God for us, but now each of us has direct access to God through Christ. The best way to maintain that relationship is through keep God's word in our minds, and inscribing in on our hearts. Then God we will be God's people. Thank God for his mercy in forgetting our sins and being merciful to us. God shows mercy to us and desires to be near to us no matter how great or small we are in this life. God intentionally both included Rahab, a prostitute, and David, a king after God's own heart, in the genealogy of Christ.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from The NETBible® Copyright© 2005 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/All Rights Reserved

A little Bible Humor

A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning. The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."
The husband said, " You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."
Wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."
Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me."
So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says.........."HEBREWS"

Great News on Abel

Abel Tyson, the 21 month old son of a classmate of mine, has stage 3, high-risk neuroblastoma and brain damage, but today they have received great news. He has finished four? rounds of chemo so it was time to do some scans and test to see how the chemo is affecting the cancer. His CT scans of chest, abdomen and pelvis showed now evidence of cancer, and his bone marrow tests and MIBG (a neuroblasto specific test) showed no morphological evidence and near complete resolution of his cancer. See the title of this post or my favorite links for more info.

Psalm 9:1-2
9:1 I will thank the Lord with all my heart!
I will tell about all your amazing deeds!
9:2 I will be happy and rejoice in you!
I will sing praises to you, O sovereign One!
(NET)

Sin and Accountability

Hebrews 3:12-14
3:12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes the living God. 3:13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. 3:14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end.
(NET)

Sin will drag me down and drown me. It will suffocate my soul until my heart turns to stone in unbelief. They way to avoid sin is to be accountable to other believers so that we can encourage each other. Then we can combat sin's deceitful lies and avoid the hardened hearts and blackened souls. Also, is it possible that we will only share in Christ's mercy if we hold fast to our faith "firm until the end"? A question debated by many theologists. Can an individual turn their back on their faith in Christ's redemptive work, returning to sin and the old creation, and forfeit eternity? Or, does such a lifestyle reveal that the person never actually believed in Christ's death, Resurrection, and return from the beginning? I am not sure yet.

Hebrews 2:1-4 Warning against drifting away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2:2 For if the message spoken through angels 1 proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 2:3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 2:4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
(NET)
1 The message spoken through angels refers to the OT law, which according to Jewish tradition was mediated to Moses through angels (cf. Deut 33:2; Ps 68:17-18; Acts 7:38, 53; Gal 3:19; and Jub. 1:27, 29; Josephus, Ant. 15.5.3 [15.136]).

Why do I so often toss aside Christ sacrifice of grace and salvation as if they were filthy rags? I seem to think that since grace abounds so freely it matters little what I do. I toss aside the robes righteousness that Christ provides for me so that I can indulge my sinful desires, but then I flippantly bundle myself again in the same robes to cover my naked, scarred body. Why do I treat such a great salvation as nothing. I should be more motivated to obey and please my God because of his Grace than because of his wrath.

Father, forgive my glib treatment of your grace and mercy to me. Forgive me for so often intentionally laying aside my faith for my temporary fleeting sinful desires. Help to look for the way out that you have promised me in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Change my heart to love you more deeply and desire to please you more than I desire to please my temporary passions. I surrender my life to your hands daily, Father. Amen

1 Corinthians 10:13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.
(NET)

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from The NETBible® Copyright© 2005 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.bible.orgAll Rights Reserved

Thougts on Hebrews 1:1-3

Thank God for sending His Son. I pray I never doubt Christ's supremacy over the prophets or angels or the priesthood. For the prophets only predicted Christ coming. The longed to see the coming of the Messiah. Simeon and Anna rejoiced and praised God in Luke chapter when they were able to meet the Messiah. They thanked and praised God when meeting Christ even though His act of grace on the cross had not yet been accomplished. How many times half-heartedly approach Christ even though I have received and receive His grace every day?! Angels were considered exalted to Jewish people because of their involvement in giving the law to Moses. However, Christ fulfilled the law. Christ delivered us from the ceremonial law by establishing a new covenant. That is also why He is superior to the priests. He accomplished the ultimate sacrifice that the ceremonial law represented. The blood of animals could not atone for sin, but Christ perfect sinless blood atoned for my sins. I have a priest, who is more exalted than angels, whose life and death were prophesied of old, and who sits at the right hand of God. I have such a priest to present my needs to God. Why don't I utilize such a resource more often? When when such a God desires to have relationship with me, do I crowd him out with meaningless, finite rubbish?

Abel Tyson

Abel, is the 21 month old son of one of the medical students at my school. Adam was in the middle of his second year when he and his wife Rachel found out that their sone Abel has stage 3, high-risk neuroblastoma. The tumor, the size of a grapefruit, that was wrapped around his aorta. During the surgery to remove the tumor Abel's heart stopped twice. Surgeons were able to resusicitate him, but he has suffered a lot of brain damage from the lack of oxygen. The post title is a link to a journal about Abel's progress. My heart breaks for this family. They are suffering so much and deped daily on God for strength to make it through the next day. My thoughts turned to Job's suffering today as I was reading Abel's journal. For how long will this family suffer the unknown? They pray for the complete healing of their son. Will that be accomplished in this lifetime. Adam believes with all his heart that it will.

God, be close to Adam and Rachel right now. Give them rest and strength. Lift them up and sustain them. Uphold them with your right hand. Hold them close to you and remind them that you love them. Remind them that they are precious to you and you will never forsake them.