Hebrews 10:28-29

Anyone who has rejected Moses' law 

dies without mercy 

Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose

who has trampled the Son of God underfoot

counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing

and insulted the Spirit of grace

Thought:

If you reject the only way to God

There is no mercy

You trampled the Son of God

You count the Blood of the Covenant as common

You insult the Spirit of Grace

You are damned. 

My thoughts for today 11/22/2022

We are not robots programmed….we are relational beings…God tests us to choose our way! Choose LIFE!

Deuteronomy 8:2-3

2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

We are to be humble

To cleanse our heart

To trust God knows best

Be dependent on Him

Obey Him

Live on the Word

1. Advent/Christmas 2022-2023

   
   

   1. Use ESV Bible
   2. Only Catholic Audiobooks 
   3. Only Catholic Podcasts
   4. No looking up questions-No research of religious questions. (ask Jesus) not man
   5. Catholic Ebooks on Humility
   6. Devotionals are Catholic (4: better part, cloud of unknowing, divine intimacy, and office of readings)
   7. Cultivate Silence so I can hear God
   8. Silent Prayer every morning 10 Min minimum
   9. Practice Meditation 

Today’s Thoughts 11/21/2022

If Faith in God is a mustard seed. 

Being born again at baptism-the new life is planted, our part is to water it and grow. 

If baptized as a baby, watered by family till age appropriate. Then a personal decision. (Like circumcision Israel)

God is relentless and always calling us. He is written our conscious, our world, and others as the gospel calling us to see Him. As a relational being he has made us also that way and wants relationship not robots. 

His choice is to give us choice. Though His grace gives us new birth we are to choose to grow like a child continues to grow and does not stay a baby. 

No matter what theologians think only God is truth and he says we have a part. Even if it is to only believe and act on that belief. 

We can either water and grow our seed or we can leave it and it will stagnate in us-even possibly to death). God wants us to choose to grow in grace and love of Him. He will continue to call us-up to a point of which we know not-be careful. 

Saving faith is in three parts. 

Knowledge + Belief + Trust = Faith.   

notitia, or knowledge about the content of the gospel of Jesus as taught in the Scriptures. 

assensus, or the intellectual acceptance/belief of the truth about Jesus. 

fiducia, or personal reliance and trust in Jesus and His gospel. 

Saving faith starts with knowledge of the Holy. Comes through the grace of Holy Spirit. Then, one chooses to believe that knowledge or reject it.  When one believes, one can then choose to trust.  Trusting belief of what one knows is the faith that is needed to come to Jesus. And when one comes to Jesus in faith, He is faithful to save them by His grace.  

Synergism is the belief that man must exercise a choice to repent and turn to Jesus. This is a free-will choice of believing and trusting. Then, as a result of that choice, God saves a repentant sinner by His grace alone.  

Synergism also teaches that God offers salvation to all people, but will not force it on anyone.  Therefore, only through one’s personal faith in God, can one choose to believe. 

Faith is defined as a free-will, personal decision, resulting from 1) received knowledge [from Holy Spirit through Gospel], 2) intellectual belief, and 3) heartfelt trust. 

Titus 2:11

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 

God gives Grace for salvation to all men

Through the Appearance of JESUS Christ 

All men can Choose God. 

Love for God 

Is Above

Compassion for people

Even if it’s your own sons. 

1 Samuel 3:18b

"It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him."

In  [1 Samuel 3](http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=1+Samuel+3) , when Eli was getting the bad news from Samuel that his sons and household would be destroyed, Eli said these faith-filled words, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him” (3:18). Here are few reflections upon the significance of this statement:

  - Eli is mainly concerned for God’s glory. The sons of Eli were blaspheming and making a mockery of the name of the Lord. Eli’s affirmation of God’s judgment displays his concern for the glory of the name of the Lord over the preservation of his own name.

 - Eli recognizes God’s sovereign goodness. ”Let him do what seems good to him.” Eli trusted that whatever God did was good, though he may not be able to see the goodness in it.

 - Eli submitted to the authority of the Lord. The ground for trusting in the goodness of the Lord’s sovereignty is the Lord himself. Notice Eli’s words, “**It is the Lord**. Let him what seems good to him.” The authority of the Lord resides in the fact that he is our Creator and we are his creation. He has omniscient-Creator knowledge, while we have sinful-creature knowledge.

  I realize my heart fails so many times to respond to difficult situations like Eli does in 1 Samuel 3.

  - Often, I am more concerned with the glory of my name than the Lord’s. I crave what I feel is my due. I act and speak in ways that places me at the center of attention, rather than the Lord.

 - Frequently, if something does not seem good to me, I demand an explanation. Oftentimes, I do not trust the sovereign goodness of the Lord.

 - All too often, I trust in my own wisdom and knowledge.  In blind foolishness, I do not fear the Lord and nor do I trust in his wisdom.  I forget that I am merely a creature, limited in knowledge and blinded by sinfulness.

  May we respond to difficult situations with trust in God’s sovereign goodness, submission to his authority, and concern for his glory