6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
The Certainty of God’s Promise
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (ESV)
verses 11-12 reminded me of a series that Bobby did about a year ago about the hoops that we have in Christ. Other people (nonchristians) aren’t really sure about what happens after they die, or are ok with going to hell… But Christians on the other hand have hope in the eternity we will spend together with the Lord! And as the verses say, we can’t claim salvation and sit around waiting for him to return, being totally lazy- we need to go out in the world and do what we are commanded to do!!!
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, becauseto their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
if we fall away.. we need to jump right back in and ask god for forrgivness
repent
10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
After hearing Bobby’s Connection series, it seems like everytime I read God’s Word I’m confronted with a verse on loving one another. One thing that stands out to me on this verse is the motivation for the love. The love that these Christians showed to their brothers and sisters was stemmed from their love for God. These Christians are not merely giving lip service in their actions, but truly glorifying his name as they serve the other believers. The main motivation for our service should be a supreme love for God, out of which stems our love for his people. The more that we love our Heavenly Father, the greater our love will be for his children. I pray that we will continue to develop a love for God which will be reflected in our love for our fellow believers.
John 13:34-35
12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
A true Christian’s faith is living and active. We must DO something once we are saved, not just sit around and profess our faith in Christ. This verse stood out to me because laziness is something that many of us struggle with. Sometimes we don’t feel like reading our Bibles, praying, serving God or showing our love for our Christian brothers or sisters. Often we give up in battling our sin or are impatient for God’s promises to be fulfilled in our lives. This verse makes it clear that we must imitate the godly example of Christ and many others in the Bible who stayed strong in their faith despite trials and temptations. Hebrews chapter 11 is full of examples of these people! Let’s be sure that we show that our faith is real by fighting off laziness and taking our spiritual disciplines seriously this summer! We could spend our summer sleeping in, hanging at the beach, or mastering a video game or we could use it to glorify God by growing in our faith!
19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
God’s promise to save us if we have turned from our life of sin and put our trust in Christ is certain! We can count on it, much like we can count on an anchor to hold a boat secure from drifting water. I still remember Pastor Mike’s sermon on this verse. I left that sermon thinking, if I am a Christian I should know it. Not only so I should be confident of my salvation since it is not up to my work but Christ’s. There is great peace in knowing that you are saved. The question that all people must honestly ask themselves is, do I know for certain I am saved? If we are not sure that is not a good sign. We must look at our life and see a point where we turned from our sin and started following Christ. When did we realize that our sin so separates from God that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation and thus need to trust Christ alone for our salvation? IF we can’t answer these questions conclusively we need to talk to somebody about it (like Pastor Bobby, Ben, or one of the other leaders) and make those decisions. If we know we have repented and put our trust in Christ than we should be certain that we are saved and live accordingly.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, becauseto their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
These verses should be a warning to everyone in True North. The Bible makes it very clear that it is dangerous to “know” a lot of the truth and be in a Christian environment but to never fully act on that with true repentance and faith.
Hebrews is full of warnings that urge us to make sure we have not neglected the gospel. We must all examine our faith to make sure that we belong to Christ and encourage each other in the same way, as well.
I like Hebrews 6:6, …because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”
(T) Paul was teaching people deeper Bible concepts, to get away from the “milk” and go towards the “solid” teachings. (A) Everytime people sin, it’s just like nailing Jesus back on the cross. Sin is not taken lightly by God, sin deserves death. Jesus feels the pain of the nails everytime we sin because it grieves Him much. (N) Sin does not only hurt us, it also hurts our LORD. When we sin it sends Jesus back on the cross, He can feel those nails in his wrists and feet. We need to be aware of sin because it won’t only hurt us, but also our God
10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
The Lord is fair. He will reward goodness and punish sin. God sees everything. We cannot hide one thought, one emotion, one word from his all-knowing power.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, becauseto their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Like Ben said, for us at true north, and for some of us, like me, who go to a Christian school, we are held to a higher standard. The more we learn about God the more severely we will be judged if we do not repent and truly change.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, becauseto their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Bobby, Bobby, Bobby, Bobby! question fooooor you young pastor! So someone can have the Holy Spirit and then lose it???? I thought once you are truly saved, there’s no way you could go back to the old life in sin…I’m confusled. Because I know someone who lived that life for Christ but is now not following it….does that mean that that person lost the spirit and never can go back to it? I’ve always wondered this but I’m now just remembering to ask. If you could answer this that would be great.
Goodmorning everyone . . .
Sorry for not posting lately . . .
I read . . .
Hebrews 6 . . .
I found alot of things that stood out ot me. However, verse 1 really reminded me of Pastor Bobby’s sermon yesturday.
“1. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God.”
I think that this is saying, we are to not just stay in one place as a Christian. We are to grow and stop drinking milk, and begin eating “whole food.” This veres makes it clear that we can’t just stay in “elementary” but we need to go to “maturity.” This verse wasn’t the only one that cought my attention. Verses 7 & 8.
“7. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.”
“8. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.”
These verses couldn’t be any clearer. Is your “land” drinking the word of God and producing fruit? Or is your “land” producing thorns and thistles and is henging in the balance but will soon be burned?
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~M.A.R.A.N.A.T.H.A~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
=) ~Ariana Mishreki~ =)
P.S. God bless everybody, and I hope you have a good day of Summer!
Please correct me if I did not comprehend this right!!!
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, becauseto their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Woahhh!!!??!?! These verse are saying that it is impossible for those who have seen the power of God’s Word, who know it’s true! If they fall away, if they do not LISTEN to the God’s Word; even if they know it’s true and just say it’s to hard and I’m gonna give up, then they walk away…they won’t come back. They have fallen, but they won’t be able to stand up and walk in the light of God’s path to His calling of the elect that will be with the Lord forever in His kingdom!
Morgan, I think this verse says that it is impossible for them to come back to repentance!
Hebrews 6:11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (Then) The author of the book of Hebrews writes to his audience that he wants them to show diligence till the very end so that they may make their hope sure. He tells them that he doesn’t want them to become lazy, but instead, that he wants them to imitate those who inherit what has been promised through faith and patience. (Always) Laziness is a huge problem. Especially with teenagers, many people would rather sit around and do nothing than actually get up to do some work that could be productive. Laziness is pretty much when one cares about nothing else other than himself, seeking to please his own desires by simply relaxing and wandering through life without a true drive or purpose. Christians need to be diligent in their work, not being lazy like the rest of the world. As Christians, they have all found their true meaning and drive for life, that is, to glorify God with their lives as they reach others with the gospel. They need to not be lazy, but instead diligent in the way that they live their lives to live out that purpose. (Now) Especially now in summer when I am flooded with free time, I need to not grow lazy and be like the world around me. I need to be diligent in living a godly life to glorify God. Instead of lying around doing nothing, I need to be seeking out wisdom from the Bible. It is so easy to slip into a habit of just kinda lying around the house and being lazy, but I need to be diligent and awake instead. Proverbs 6:6 says, “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” I need to not be a sluggard, but instead be like the ant, who though is small, it is diligent in working, and is determined to be productive through what it does. In Christ, SEE
7 “Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.”
Producing the fruits of the Spirit within us Christians. This is key. If we’ve truly put our trust in Jesus Christ, we will gradually sin less and grow in good works. We will “produce a good crop of fruit,” so to speak, and in so doing receive God’s blessing. But if we’re not producing any good crop/fruit in our lives (while we claim to be Christians), if we’re producing thorns and weeds instead, then we need to seriously question our faith in God!
12 “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
I’m not sure whether the writer is talking about physical laziness or not, but that’s what crossed my mind when I read this. And what a great time for us to read this! In summer, when everyone wants to just lazily waste away the days. But we, as Christians, are called to NOT be lazy. So let’s not fall into the snare of sluggishness or procrastination this summer!
Dan I am right there with ya.
19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
The promise we have from our immutable God (unchanging) is that He keeps His promises and His Word; everything He says He will do He does! That means that if we seek the Truth and we follow it, the blessings that are promised are ours; for example salvation specifically here…if we repent and put our faith in Christ, we are saved…FOREVER…and we have an unshakeable hope of the glory of what is to come that nobody can snatch away from us and that will be fulfilled. I love that the writer of Hebrews uses the word “anchor” to describe this because an anchor is something that really gives a clear picture of something being immovable; think about it for a moment and then ask yourself, Do you have that hope, that anchor for the soul?
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
this is saing that it is impossible for any one to go to heaven get heavenly gifts and share the Holy Spirit. we need to believe in God give ower hearts to him. We need to share the bible with everyone around the world so they may be Christains like us. Then God will diside who gets a lot of heavenly gifts or not so many gifts. But before this He will judge us with the sins we made.
God help me to learn about the bible every day to get stronger in your word.
19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
As believers and servants of Christ we have something that other people do not have! We have the hope in Christ! Even when times are bad we can always know and trust that it IS Gods plan for our lives and it always turns out for the best even if it hurts sometimes or isnt what we want. God is our protector and our savior!!
3And God permitting, we will do so.
This verse is all about doing God’s will, and seeking him first before anything!! Such a short verse, but so straight to the point!! It reminded me to rely on God in every situation, and to focus more on what pleases him instead of what pleases myself!
17Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.
18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.
How encouraging to know that our God is unchanging in his promises. He made an oath to Abraham, fulfilled it, then recorded it in the Bible because he wanted the people in this era to understand his faithfulness. Once we understand this faithfulness he has to us (though we definitely don’t deserve it!), we can be sure of the hope we have in him! Its amazing to think that when God made a promise to Abraham thousands of years ago, He was also planning to use it to confirm the faith I have in Him today. What an amazing God we have!
12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
It is summer and I know that I am guilty about being lazy during the summer. I don’t mean the kind of lazy where all I do is sleep and watch tv. I mean lazy about reading the Bible and praying. I become selfish in the summer and do what I want. But the Bible makes it clear that I am quite stupid. God should always be the first priority.
10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
This verse really got my attention! If you please God and do what he commands, you will be rewarded and he will not forget those righteous acts of service! Loving and encouraging others is so important and is a daily thing to be doing to build others up, and to please God! When we build up other Christians, it is like we are doing it for God, and he will be glorified! There are many ways in how we can motivate and encourage others, and we will be rewarded for it as well.
12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
I’m sure that now since it is summer, everyone is stoked about not waking up early and no homework but that is just an excuse for us (and pretty much every teenager) to be lazy by not doing anything. We shouldn’t be lazy, but we should be full throttle christians by doing works God has commanded us to do and by getting into our Bibles and learning from them. How awesome would it be if everyone, everyday commented on SOTD? I know all I had planned for summer was Revival, sleeping in and watching tv but I plan to change that (except for Revival 09!!) and spend my summer in my Bible and out telling everyone I know about it and what Jesus Christ did for us and I hope you will set God as your number one priority this summer.
Nicely said Nacho!
19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
20where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
This verse deeply encouraged me to take greater hope in my salvation. Most of the time I am not thinking about my salvation and the hope that I have for the forgiveness of my sin, but this verse says that salvation should be the anchor of my soul that keeps me from drifting away and thinking that my sin is unforgivable. We can have the complete confidence that Jesus, our perefectly qualified high priest, has payed the price for our sin and is fighting for us in heaven so that we can have a relationship with God. With hope and confidence in this promise we should not drift away to false teachings or become doubtfull of God’s love and desire for our souls, but instead aproach God for grace confidently (Heb. 4:14-16).
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
If we claim to be Christians, we must be sure to produce fruit that is good and pleasing to the LORD. If we produce nothing or we produce vines and thorns which will bring other Christians down, God will unleash His anger upon us. I can’t remember where but if someone could help me that’d be great, but in the Bible it says that if you are to lead someone astray, God will unleash His ultimate wrath upon you. I don’t know about you..but I don’t want that. Remember to be pleasing to God in everything that you do, say, or think.
12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Wow. This verse stuck out to me. It’s summer, and i’ve been tempted to be lazy. I’m not gonna lie, i have been lazy sometimes. I’ve gotta make sure that i’m not lazy! Instead of being lazy, i need to look at others who are doing the right stuff and are not wasting their summers away. Who should i look up to? Well, all the people who commented above me! Those guys are using their summers wisely. Instead of “turning off your brain,” they are using the extra time we have to read more of God’s word. I’m really glad to see such high numbers on SOTD! Good job guys, way to not be lazy! Let’s keep it up and keep each other accountable!
3 And God permitting, we will do so.
Paul’s goals here are hardly selfish or worldly; he desires that his followers mature as quickly as possible and moving on to much more complicated theological issues. Yet even with a goal like that, Paul knows that it is ultimately in the Lord’s hands and His will whether it comes to be. We need to have this attitude about everything in our lives; even if we think that our plans would be pleasing to God, we need to be open to Him leading us down another path.
Hey, everyone! Sorry I haven’t been posting. My internet wasn’t working for a few days.
Hebrews 6:3 And God permitting, we will do so.
This verse lets us know that everything that happens is all part of God’s will. We can’t be confident about our future, because we don’t even know if there will be a tomorrow at all!!! For example, you could be planning on going to the beach tomorrow and you could be really confident and made plans with your friends, but then the next day you would be attending a funeral or a wedding. So, before we think we are going to do something, we should first ask if the Lord wills it.
God Bless!!!!
10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
This verse is so encouraging! Sometimes, when we do things, we can forget what this verse says. No matter what, God knows what we do, whether good or bad, and He remembers it. Not only that, He will never stop loving you, which is also very encouraging. But, we shouldn’t take that as thinking that God accepts our sin. This verse is just saying that He will never stop caring about us, as long as we follow His commands, and love Him!
The verse that spoke out to me was verse 12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
That reminded me of what we need to do to train for revivial 09 that we shall not be lazy in our lifes but shout out in joy. We should have patience while we are on the bus and when there are 13 days left till revival. Pray that I will win my Ice hockey game tonight and tommo
tommorow Because I play For Jserria High school Ice Lions as a Freshman.
Hey Bethany! Saying my name four times got my attention!
Your question is a good one! Many Christians have been confused by verse 4 and the reference to sharing in the Holy Spirit…
On the one hand, like you said, we know that Christians cannot lose their salvation. The Bible is clear about that!
On the other hand, these verses sound like someone who seemed like a Christian but has since fallen away…
This is the conundrum!
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin (John 16:8-10) and someone could share in that conviction without really becoming a Christian. They could feel bad about it and know the truth, but not respond in genuine repentance (2 Corinthians 7:8-11). They are right there with us at True North, but not really! Eventually, they fall away. They go out from us because they are not of us (1 John 2:18-19).
The part about it being impossible for them to be brought back to repentance is so intense! This should be a great warning to all of us of the dangers of falling away. Yes, we might know people who have done this and are never coming back! I don’t think we should tell this to them because we don’t know what is in their hearts as God does in his final judgment, but I definitely think that when we see someone falling away we should warn them with these words!
Hope this helps! Let me know!
hey everyone Im back from the lake
7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned
10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them
———————————————————
7 That if we eat and save the word of the Lord in our hearts forever and show his word with everyone then we will receive a blessing from God.
8 But if we do not learn and save the word of the Lord in our heart then we will surly die and be burn in the pits of hell forever.
10 God does not forget what we have done for Him and all the love we show towards him and his people
Thanks Pastor Bobby, I was somewhat wondering the same thing. And you answered my question. :]
11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Who are we really if we say “yes I am a Christian” and yet don’t do anything the Lord asks until we are on our death bed. If you ask me, I would say your fake. But then I would be hypocrytical. We all fall short as Christians but we need to try our HARDEST to stay true to the ONE TRUE GOD!!! We need to read His word and trust in Him at all times and never become lazy. We need to imitate Jesus, for He was perfect and we should be “crucified” physically or spiritually for believing and preaching the truth. And when we believe and LISTEN to our Father we will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
***TRUST AND OBEY, FOR THERE IS NO OTHER WAY(hehe this is part of a hymm)***
ellooo!
10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.—These verses encourage me to live my life 100% for Christ while I’m on this earth. It gives me hope that if I do what God wants me to do, then He will be just and He will give me what I deserve. Please pray for me that I will strive to do my best to be like Christ every day!
13 DAYS TILL REVIVAL 09!! WAHOOO!!
super excited for beach night on wednesday!!
7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
This is a great illustration commonly used in the Bible to describe what God expects of those who claim to be his sons (or daughters).
Just as a good crop that produces succulent fruits is praised and rejoiced over, so will the one who produces spiritual “fruit”, as in good works or deeds, will receive the blessing from God, which I believe to be salvation. This does not suggest that salvation is by works, but warns us that if we claim to have faith we must be producing “fruit” continuously, because every good creation comes from God, and if we claim that God has created in us a new faith, then that faith must be good because it was created by God who doesn’t create bad things. Therefore, we must have “fruit” because we have been redeemed by God.
Personally, something that I thought was interesting was that the crops only produced a useful crop because of the rain poured down upon it from above. This rain possibly is meant to symbolize the grace of God, from which we receive strength just as the crop receives rain. I pray that I will rely in God for the strength to supply me with the ability to produce good fruit.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
I like the metaphor the writer of Hebrews uses here to show what our life should look like. Like land drinking in rain, we need to be soaking in the metaphorical rain that God pours to us, which I presume to be His Word. Like in Bobby’s message, we need to be quick to listen to God’s Word so that we may be nourished and directed on how we should live. But when we hear the Word, we also need to heed verses 4-6, and make sure that we obey it rather than have all this knowledge about Christ yet still deny Him. We need to make sure that we are filling ourselves with God’s Word and that we then respond to it obediently by producing fruit.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Great comment Pastor Bobby! The verse that Pastor Bobby talked about (1 John 2:18-19), is so very true! “… This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.”
Our salvation is eternal.
1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,
2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
We need to move on from the teachings of repentance and faith, the basics, and learn more about how we can bring honor and glory to GOD. We need to grow in our faith, never satisfied with our current knowledge and devotion to GOD, but always growing in him.
Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
This refers to farming and people in general. Good tree= good fruit, bad tree= bad fruit.
Anyway, I could not post yesterday because my bizzare allergy returned. Did you now that I’m allergic to red vinegar? Anyway, back to the subject.
If you are doing good things, you will be rewarded. If you do bad things, you will be punished, eventually. You know how babies like, no matter how you try to entertain them, tell stories to them or something, it still wants milk, right? We, as brethren and sisthren of Christ, must crave spirirtual milk. I’d say that the more you know about the Bible, the more spiritually older you are? Yes. It’s true. My dad, even though he’s probably in his early 40′s knows lots about the Bible. Yes, it’s true. It’s like eating, except spiritually. Yep…
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,
This is another verse that goes with Bobby’s sermon. We who are more mature in the faith should be going to more meaty things in the Bible for our spiritual nourishment. We shouldn’t just read a verse and go, “This verse is awesome, we should all do this,” but look deeper for God’s word is extremely deep. God’s word is like an endless iceberg and we have only scratched the top of it.
10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
I really think that this verse is mostly directed at people in the church who work their fannies off every weekend to make our church look, feel, and be appealing for Christ. So many of them work behind the scenes and dont ever want the credit. Most people dont even know…and this verse is conforting for them because they know they will get rewareded in Heaven. In the end he tells them to continue to do what they are doing because it glorifies God and makes Christ appealing. Thank you to all those who work behind the scenes, your work is appreciated! And remember that you will be rewarded in Heaven.
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
I want to be the first kind of land! This is kind of a scary metaphor for people making the most of their resources here on earth and really striving to grow in their walk with God, versus the people throwing it all away and in return being burned! Doesn’t sound good to me… ……………………………….
13When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself,
14saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”
POWERFULL! i really like this because it makes the amazing point at how much above all else God is… He is Almighty and All Powerfull… And, He swearing by himself is the most convincing promise He could make.
10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
This stuck out to me because it is saying….
The good deeds you do will be seen by God. Who cares if others dont see it. Also i thought of last year at Revival 09′ when Pastor Lucas talked about not trying to earn Spiritual Points. so yea that is my view on this passage:)
Woooooooo
13 Days!!!
Revival 09′
Pray!
12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
We need to be active and on Fire for Christ. Since it is summer we shouldn’t be lazy we should take our free time in the summer to use for a specific purpose and to serve the Lord.
8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
this verse is not only talking about the land being destroyed, i also think it means that all the no good and bad things in this life are going to be destroyed. we might not think they are worthless but if they are in Gods eyes then they are. so we need to invest our time and energy in things that are not worthless, we need to get into things with spiritual value like SOTD
c u all soon
V.12
This verse reminds me of the sermon before Easter break and we all had alarm clock partners to wake us up over break and not become lazy. Especially since it’s now summer and we have all this time off from school we need to use it to read our Bibles as much as possible and be praying constantly and focusing on God. We can’t become lazy because it really takes our focus away from God.
10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
What a great promise for those who are faithful to the work he has called us to. He does not forget it and t doesn’t go unnoticed. When we help each other as a church God is pleased and remembers this. That is such great comfort to me. Because I think sometimes we allow selfish thoughts and motives to drive us instead of serving the Lord and his people with a pure heart. Oh Lord, I pray that my service to others in doing your work will be out of the overflow of my heart.
3And God permitting, we will do so.
Even though this is such a short short verse, it is full of truth. Many Christians in life expect things to happen because they have God on their side. Well, definately does not work that way. God only does what he feels what is right for us. When we want something to happen, it is only gonna happen if God wants it to happen. Our prayer shouldnt be, “God please give me this” it should be focused on the will of God and how God would benefit from it and get glory out of it.
12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
We cant get lazy with our faith…. we have to make sure we are constantly praying, reading the bible and growing spiritually. A great way to make sure we ARE doing all these things and not becoming lazy is by having an accountability partner.
15And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
Waiting patiently is a novel concept these days. Here in America we have the world at our fingertips. We have a bizillion fast food restaurants, a kajillion pizza deliveries, we can order pretty much anything off the internet and get same day shipping. If you don’t enough money to buy something, don’t about saving up for it. just apply for a credit card and you can buy it today. Growing up in a culture like that it would be hard to have patience. As Christians we need to wait patiently in many situations. When sharing the gospel, we should never force anyone into a conversion. We need to allow the Holy Spirit time to change people from the inside out. If we are praying about an important decision in life, we need to wait for an answer from God. There are consequences for trying to help God out with his promises. Think about the family drama Abraham and Sarai had to go through because they decided to have a child through their maidservant. We need to learn to be patient and trust God in all situation no matter how impossible the odds.
heyy guys i read…
3 And God permitting, we will do so.
This verse although short and sweet really stood out to me…We, being the selfish humans that we are…sometimes tend to want to have the steering wheel in our own lives instaed of submitting completely to the will of God. Control is something i definitley struggle with in my relationship with the Lord but as i have grown in my walk i hav realized that He knows more than me!! (shocking, i know) As a Christian i need to make sure that i know who is in control of my life and that i sumbit to Him…and no one else…God holds my future in His hands…i wonder what He has in store!!!
1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,
We need to be continually growing in our faith to make sure that we are not falling in it! We need to get mentally prepped before we go to church and before revival!
“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” As Christians, we are called to fight all laziness, but be “living and active” in all that we do. A lot of the times I procrastinate reading a lot of my Bible, and maybe only get in two or three chapters, and at the end of the day I’m bummed about that. I need to work on spreading out my Bible reading throughout the day so that I may be “equipped for every good work”!
Revival is coming up soon, be praying!!!
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
We need to be reading the bible often in order to grow in God and to produce a crop that he can use. we need to be very careful to not become lazy in our faith and watching all of our works be compared to the worthless land in verse eight.
Hebrews 6
11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
Bobby, Christa and every leader in True North wants this to be a reality for every high school student.
12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
It is thru diligence that one matures in the faith and is sharpened as a useful tool for Christ and His Gospel. We need to run to Christ and never look back. If you run a race and are disqualified you might not ever get another chance to cross the finish line. Persevere with excellence and to completion so that God’s Glory can be revealed to all.
2nd Timothy 4:7-8 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, becauseto their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Powerful stuff, I really like what Ben said…..anywho, basicaly if someone knows the truth but denies it in their hearts, they are never going to accept it….
ELLO… I read SRY I posted so late I didn’t have time in the morning and was gone all day.
I like verse 8,”But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.”
I don’t really know why I liked this verse I just did. It talks in symbolism using the thorns and thistles as the nonCHRISTians and the fire as HELL. HELL is a serious place and we should try our very hardest to preach the Gospel to others so they won’t have to endure HELL and all its torments. Even if we don’t like the person we still have to teach them because GOD made them and it is our job to bring as many to CHRIST as possible.
CYA
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,
6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, becauseto their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
I like these versus because they give you that reassurance that God is in control and once you are one of his children, there is no going back. And that means alot to me.
12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
We as Christians need to be active not just sitting on the sofa knowing you can do so much more. We need to go out and share the Word and not get lazy in our minds since it is summer. We have great oppurtunitys the whole summer don’t waste your time tell last minute. Take advantage of summer and do it everyday.