“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Mark 3:22-30

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” Mark 3:28-30

I continue my study of Mark, leaning on the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for Mark.  Today, I focus on a commentary-assisted review of Mark 3:28-30, which is the text for the third (of three) division of 3:22-30 per the commentary. Excerpts from the commentary for the third division:

• "Jesus declares the gracious forgiveness and mercy of God in forgiving sins. “All sins,” literally, “whatever blasphemies they may blaspheme,” will be forgiven. All sinners can find the forgiveness of God if they will come to Him in repentance and faith."
• "However, verses 29-30 note the one tragic and fearful exception. If someone speaks against the Holy Spirit verbally and continually, with willful and malicious intent that reveals a hardened heart beyond the possibility of repentance, there is no forgiveness, and they are 'guilty of an eternal sin.'"
• "In this historical context, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit denotes the conscious and deliberate rejection of the saving power and grace of God released through Jesus’ word and act...The considered judgment that his power was demonic, however, betrayed a defiant resistance to the Holy Spirit. This severe warning was not addressed to laymen but to carefully trained legal specialists whose task was to interpret the biblical law to the people. It was their responsibility to be aware of God’s redemptive action. Their insensitivity to the Spirit through whom Jesus was qualified for his mission exposed them to grave peril (Lane, The Gospel of Mark - The New International Commentary on the New Testament)."
• "The unpardonable sin is to knowingly, willingly, and persistently attribute to Satan the works of God done by and in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, who testifies to these truths in your heart. (1) It is a sin of full knowledge. (2) It is an ongoing disposition of the heart that resists the conviction of the Holy Spirit. (3) It is a verbal act that attributes the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan. (4) It is a willful rejection of God’s grace in Jesus. (5) It is rooted in unbelief. (6) It is a sin a Christian cannot commit. (7) It is a sin not committed by one who is concerned that he may have committed it."
• "There is a boundary of sin where, once passed, there is no possibility or hope of return. Do not even think of going there. Instead, run to Jesus in faith and repentance. You will find open arms there! You will find forgiveness free and eternal."       

It is remarkable that such learned men, knowledgeable of the law, would act in such a way as to blaspheme God's name.  They were so blinded and hard hearted that their own status as supposed experts in the law was threatened by Jesus and this prevented them from actually seeing who Jesus truly is - the one promised in the Old Testament.  Those of us who truly seek to deeply understand God's Word should be careful that such study and the resulting knowledge should not become an idol as it did for the scribes.  We should all remain humble and our humility should acknowledge that whatever knowledge we do have it comes from God and whatever gifts God gives us in wisdom, teaching, etc. also come from God and it is God working in and through us.  God gets the glory - not us!  Thank You Jesus for the mercies You pour ceaselessly.  I pray that I can remain humble knowing that I continue to sin and that it is You alone that forgives, provides, is in control, and deserves the glory.  We exist to glorify God. 

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My Prayer: Father God, You are an incredible God who saves and whose mercies never run out and are new every morning.  Thank You Jesus!  You are worthy of all glory, honor and praise.  Please forgive me for my sin as it continues...daily.  Help me turn from and overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me. Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.  

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.

Ecclesiastes 1

And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. Ecclesiastes 1:13

I continue my study today of Ecclesiastes using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book.  Today, my focus is an unassisted review of Ecclesiastes 1:12-18, which is the second division of Ecclesiastes chapter 1 per the commentary.  As a backdrop, Solomon, who (see 1 Kings 3) "loved the Lord....only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places," prayed to God for wisdom and God not only gave him great wisdom, but also riches and honor.  1 Kings 3:14 shares that God also told Solomon "if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days."  God created everything (see Genesis 1) - the universe, the heavens, man and woman, all of its inhabitants (creatures, etc.) as well as wisdom and knowledge - yet God's plan from the very beginning was for all of this to be used for His glory and for everything to be done in service to Him.  Unfortunately, as Solomon looks back at his life (and then authoring this book), having fallen prey to sinful pursuits, he sees the futility of a worldly pursuit of knowledge and wisdom apart from God.  These things are not bad pursuits on their face, but when chased as an idol they become bad.

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My Prayer: Lord You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You bless me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.     

Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

1 Corinthians 8

Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. 1 Corinthians 8:12-13

I continue my study of 1 Corinthians.  I am assisted in my study by the Christ-Centered Exposition Series commentary for this book.  Today my focus is a review - unaided by the commentary - of 1 Corinthians 8.  Based on the ESV footnote from v1, Paul responds "to a question in the Corinthians' letter" to him - see also the same language in 7:1 - where he admonishes those who believe in how eating foods offered to idols somehow offer a benefit.  

v1-2: Paul draws a distinction from knowing something - perhaps facts, and this may serve to "puff" us up and by extension make others feel inferior (when this person whom supposedly knows something does not really know anything as it is God who reveals wisdom and knowledge) - vs love which "builds up" another.  

v3: Paul goes further with this distinction by stating that if we "love God, [we are] known by God."

v4-6: Paul now writes that "therefore" gaining knowledge through the eating of food offered to idols is a fool-hearty pursuit - since idols are not real and only God reveals wisdom and knowledge.  All things come from God and from Him we exist, and though Him all things, including people, exist.

v7-13: Some who do not know the Good News or are new to faith in Jesus Christ are weakened by thoughts and beliefs that might believe that good offered to idols provide some benefit.  Paul is explicit that what we eat is not of concern or care to God.  God does care however when we pursue theology that weakens faith.  

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who gives my wisdom and knowledge - it all comes from You.  Thank You Jesus!  Yet I am undeserving because I often get haughty and arrogant and I have other sin - lots of it and daily!  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.   Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.

Proverbs 1

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. Psalm 111:10

As part of my D-Group's study of Proverbs using the Knowing the Bible study series for this book, I continue with an examination of Proverbs 1:1-7 for week 2. My study looks at the text of Proverbs 1:7 and where this text appears elsewhere in the Bible and how knowledge and wisdom are closely tied together in Proverbs, stating that "[k]nowledge has to do with developing a correct understanding of the world, while wisdom is the acquired skill of applying that knowledge rightly."  Endeavors to seek either knowledge or wisdom without fear of the Lord is a destructive path - and we should avoid such efforts. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an incredible and amazing God and all knowledge and wisdom comes from You - thank You for how You have provided both in my life - I know this is a journey where I lack knowledge and wisdom in many areas in life but You provide!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of the blessings of how You provide.  My sin is great and it continues.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

This also comes from the Lord of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

Isaiah 28-29

This also comes from the Lord of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom. Isaiah 28:29

I continue my deep dive of Isaiah, based on the Precept Upon Precept study series. Today, looking at Isaiah 28-29, I move along to Lesson 11, Day 2, which looks more closely at the divisions in Isaiah 28, including: 

• v1-6: Description of a proud and "drunk" Ephraim that failed to heed God's word
• v7-13: God's efforts to speak through the prophets met with mockery by the people, so God warns the people that foreign tongues (Assyrians) will deliver a message and will overrun the people as punishment
• v14-22: God's people turn not to God for protection but to their own efforts and to their neighbor Egypt; instead we are to turn to the Cornerstone of Zion
• v23-29: God tells a parable how He teaches a farmer how to ply his trade and how all science, wisdom and knowledge come from Him so we will be blessed by listening and submitting to Him 
  

My commentary describes several takeaways/applications: 

• Guard against over-indulgence (drunkenness of any kind)
• It is crucial that we hear and obey God's word
• Trust in Him vs ourselves or idols that post as gods in our lives
• See how all knowledge is the hand of God
  

Comment and discuss this post.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who protects me from the sting of sin and death - thank You Jesus!  You also are the source of all knowledge and the source of how this knowledge blesses me and others - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You do all of this and so much more!  My sin is great and it continues....daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

The Lord brought me [wisdom] forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be....For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 8-9, 1-4

The Lord brought me [wisdom] forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be....For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 8:22-23, 2:6

Day 134 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) continues with a study of the Proverbs - primarily of Solomon, but including the Proverbs of other authors as well. My commentary* indicates that "[t]he proverbs are short poems, usually in the form of couplets, which set high ethical standards and give practical advice for daily living through the use of comparative, or perhaps antithetical, imagery....[they] place high value on wisdom and sharply contrast good and evil, righteousness and wickedness, justice and injustice."  My commentary* also indicates that although other cultures may have influenced each other with regards to how similar writings/poetry appear during this time in history when Proverbs was written, "...the Hebrew proverbs are distinct in that all wisdom is seen as flowing from the true God, rather than being a mere accumulation of human observation and experience."  

*Smith, F. LaGard. The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) . Harvest House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Similar to my study of the Psalms, individual Proverbs are categorized into topic areas and this morning my focus includes an introduction to wisdom, the benefits of wisdom, the dangers of rejecting wisdom, and Solomon's personal plea to his sons to seek wisdom.

Similar to my post yesterday, I am highlighting how wisdom comes from God alone.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and You alone produce wisdom - worthy of my study and reflection, and my obedience.  Your wisdom has indeed produced blessings in my life and I am not deserving of such blessings.  I worry, and I have other sins.  I am grateful for Your forgiveness and mercy and I need it once again today...this morning.  Please forgive me for my sin and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength. Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.