This morning started off on a wrong footing, so with much anticipation and sense of apprehension, I approached my Bible to do quiet time. I was wondering, am I going to hear anything today? cos I am so not ready to do it and distracted by other things. But as usual, God never fails. So here's some snippets of it:
1. "I desire mercy not sacrifice" v7. this came out before in chapter 9. But why did jesus mentioned this again, in the context of keeping to the Sabbath. this is what one commentary says,
The rest of the sabbath was ordained for man's good, in favour of the body, Deut. v. 14. Now no law must be construed so as to contradict its own end. If you had known what this means, had known what it is to be of a merciful disposition, you would have been sorry that they were forced to do this to satisfy their hunger, and would not have condemned the guiltless. Note, First, Ignorance is the cause of our rash and uncharitable censures of our brethren. Secondly, It is not enough for us to know the scriptures, but we must labour to know the meaning of them. Let him that readeth understand. Thirdly, Ignorance of the meaning of the scripture is especially shameful in those who take upon them to teach others.
He is not a merciless God, not a God that places laws on us. The laws are there to help us not to be seen as a restriction. what the commentary said about ignorance really resonated with me. Wow. how true is that, that if you just take the Word of God out of context, how dangerous that can be as well.
2. "every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven."
Chanced upon where this was stated - I have always known that there is one unforgivable sin, and that is to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit but I never knew where it could be found.
3. "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks"
What we think and feel is always shown through our words and actions, that is what Bill Lawrence mentioned as well went I attended the Leadership Seminar last year in CCC. At that seminar, he used the story of Jeroboam in 1 Kings 12:26-33
What Jeroboam thought in his heart, was flashed out in his actions. To prevent the people from giving their allegiance to King Rehoboam he made for himself two golden calfs.
What Bill Lawrence was saying is that:
- what leaders say in their hearts determines what leaders do with their hands, for heart talk determines how your hands work. In his fear, he leaned upon his own understanding and wisdom instead of God's understanding. And it was shown through what he created - idolatry.
4. The Israelites were compared to the the people of Nineveh and the Queen of the South
5. "... if (the evil spirit) finds the house unoccupied (still empty), swept clean, put in order....it goes to take 7 other spirits more wicked then itself and they go in and live there. and the final condition of the man is worse than the first."
Reading this small section of Matthew 12: 43-45 was extremely scary and like a warning to me. I know this and I guess it's a reminder to me as well. Yes, when we cast out evil (unclean) spirits out of ourselves, we are made clean and put back in order but have we left our hearts unoccupied? Have we not filled our hearts with the love that God so wants to give us? It was not the clean or orderly house (life, heart) that the evil spirit was enticed to come back into, it was the unoccupied house. and now, it's even smarter now, it brings along it's gang of brothers for the party. Whoa.
43 "When an evil[a] spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44 Then it says, 'I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. 45 Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation."
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