April 10

Mark 3:28-30 (Click to see scripture)

Bible in One Year Passages:

Journal Entry

Scripture

28 "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"— 30for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."

Observation

When Jesus hears the Religious leaders attributing his power over demons to Satan instead of the Holy Spirit, he responds by saying "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness." However in verse 28, Jesus says "Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men and whatever blasphemies they utter,"... I believe Jesus is saying that all sins and blasphemies from which you genuinely repent will be forgiven... In order for anyone to receive forgiveness of sins, they have to repent...that is, to turn from sin to God and trust his grace and follow him. God sent us the Holy Spirit as our counselor and our guide and it is the Spirit's work to open our eyes and move our hearts toward repentance... If we blaspheme and reject the Father and the Son there is still hope, for the Spirit may yet work within us to humble us and bring us to repentance. But if we blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, we shut ourselves off from the only one who could ever bring us to repentance...and so we shut ourselves off from forgiveness...

Application

As I live my spiritual life, there are many times I take for granted that Holy Spirit is living and working in me... I am aware that Holy Spirit is constantly reminding me and opening my eyes to the sins in my life, but I ignoring those gentle reminders because I don't want to see...I don't want to know...I don't want to think about... I am reminded once again as I read this passage that Holy Spirit is a gift from God to me...to help me through this journey called life...to be my counselor and guide to help me to become more like Jesus...to teach me to live my life worthy of God's love for me... I wonder where I would be if I didn't have the Holy Spirit to work in me...to humble me and bring me to repentance so that I can be forgiven so that I can have an on going relationship with my heavenly Father... I am thankful to God for such a wonderful gift...and will try not to take it for granted, the gift of Jesus and the Holy Spirit from my loving Father...

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for sending me the Holy Spirit to be my guide... You are so full of Mercy, Grace and forgiveness... I'm sorry that I take these gifts for granted... I pray that you would help me to be more in tuned with the Holy Spirit who is at work in me and through me...that I may be humbled and my heart will always be open to repentance... Open the eyes of my heart that I may know what is in your heart... In Jesus' name, Amen.

--syl