ANOTHER EMBARRASSING MOMENT

If you follow my blog or read my books, then you know me pretty well because I’ve opened up about a lot of really personal things and even some embarrassing things that have happened to me over the years. This one though is one that you probably wouldn’t expect anyone to share. In fact, I never thought I’d ever share it, outside my family, but today, I decided I would.

I was eight years old, and we were on a school field trip to Tishomingo State Park. We were going mainly to see “The Swinging Bridge” but there was so much more to do there. We had all kinds of fun that day. After we ate lunch, we went on a hike. That was the last activity for the day, then we would get back on the bus and head back to the school.

After we had hiked for a good while, I had a rumbling in my stomach. I knew exactly what that meant, and you probably do, too. Only, you probably don’t know that I was never good at holding it in when it was ready to come out. I knew there was no way I could ever make it back to the bathroom in time, so I fell back to the end of the line as quickly as I could without being noticed. Then, as soon as I saw the last kid go out of sight, I ducked into the bushes to take care of business, but it was too late. I cleaned myself up as well as I could, but I wasn’t sure it was good enough. When there was nothing else I could do, I ran to catch up with the rest of my class.

We finally made it back to the bus and headed back toward the school. I sat by myself and hoped that no one would find out about my accident. I was hoping I could hide it until I got home. As I was thinking about this, I remembered something Jesus said in Matthew 23:25-28.

Matthew 23:25-28 
25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but the inside is full of extortion and selfishness.
26 You blind Pharisees. First, clean the inside of the cup and plate so the outside of them will be clean also.
27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which truly appear beautiful on the outside, but inside they are full of dead people’s bones, and every uncleanness.
28 In the same way, you also appear holy to others outwardly, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sin.

Just like the scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ day, we too may try to hide what’s going on inside of us by our outward appearance. We may put on fancy clothes, fix our hair, or just try to hide what’s inside with a big smile. People may be fooled, but God is not. He knows exactly what’s going on inside of us. He knows just what’s on our minds. He knows what we’ve done and said, and even what we’ve thought. We can’t hide anything from God. So why try?

We may as well be honest and open with God. There’s no need to be any other way with him. When we’re sad, we need to tell him. When we’re angry, we need to tell him. When we’re disappointed we need to tell him. When we sin, we need to go ahead and confess and ask for his forgiveness quickly and get our relationship with him back on track. We need to be as open, and honest with others as we possibly can. We don’t want to be hypocrites. We don’t need to pretend that we’re something we’re not. We don’t need to try and pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. Honesty really is the best policy.

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BLASPHEMY AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT EXPLAINED

Matthew 12:1-37

What is blaspheming the Holy Spirit? I’ve heard several explanations and theories on this subject. Some say the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is rejecting him over and over or grieving the Spirit, or rejecting Jesus as Lord. The best way to understand the Bible is to let the Bible explain itself. By searching the Bible, and comparing scriptures, we can find the answers to help us understand any subject. But, in this case, the answer is found in the same chapter as the subject.

First, there is a misconception concerning grieving the Holy Spirit. That term is only found once in the Bible, in Ephesians 4:30. It says,

Ephesians 4:30

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Some people ADD the word AWAY when quoting this verse and subtly change the meaning. They say “Grieving AWAY the Holy Spirit is rejecting him over and over again, and that is Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.”

In this verse, the word grieve means to cause grief or sorrow or to make sad. Sure, blaspheming the Holy Spirit would make him sad, but the surrounding verses explain what Paul is saying here, and he is not saying that grieving the Holy Spirit is rejecting him, and he is not saying that grieving the Holy Spirit is blasphemy. He’s giving the Ephesians instruction on how to be “truly holy.” (verse 24)

Grieving the Holy Spirit, and Blaspheming the Holy Spirit are not the same thing. You won’t find that anywhere in the Bible, and there is no passage that says anything about Grieving “AWAY” the Holy Spirit. With that in mind, let’s see what the Bible does say.

In the book of Matthew, chapter twelve, Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees because his disciples ate without washing their hands, then again for healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath, and again for casting a demon out of a man on the Sabbath. Here’s what the Pharisees said then…

Matthew 12:24-37

24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This fellow casts out demons, only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.”

25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand:

26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? So they will be your judges.

28 But if I CAST OUT DEMONS BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

29 Or else how can one enter a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, unless he binds the strong man first, and then spoils his house?

30 He that is not with me is AGAINST me, and he that gathers not with me scatters abroad.

31 So I say to you, All manner of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven unto men.

32 And whosoever SPEAKS a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him, but whosoever SPEAKS against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the world to come.

33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, SPEAK good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth SPEAKS.

35 A good man, out of the good treasure of the heart, brings forth good things: and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, brings forth evil things.

36 But I say to you, That every idle WORD that men SPEAK, they will give an account of in the day of judgment.

37 For by your WORDS, you will be justified, and by your WORDS, you will be condemned.

There you have it. Blaspheming AGAINST the Holy Spirit is done by SPEAKING WORDS against him. Nothing else. In the case of the Pharisees, they attributed the Work of the Holy Spirit to Satan.

Mark shares this same story in his gospel, and at the end, he tells us exactly why Jesus said all this.

Mark 3:30

30 Because they SAID, He has an unclean spirit.

On a different occasion, Jesus was talking to his disciples; not the Pharisees. Look what he said about this to his disciples.

Luke 12:10

10 And whosoever SPEAKS a word against the Son of man, it will be forgiven him: but to him that BLASPHEMES against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.

Jesus said to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to SPEAK against Him. According to Strong’s Concordance, the meaning of blasphemy in both the old, and new Testaments is “TO CURSE, VILIFY, or SPEAK EVIL OF.”

Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is not just an act that only the Pharisees could commit, as some have suggested. Remember, Jesus was not just talking to the Pharisees in the book of Matthew. He said MEN, and that word means MANKIND, or PEOPLE. Then, there in Luke chapter 12, he was talking to his disciples. Don’t miss that.

For most Christians, it’s hard to imagine any situation where we would blaspheme the Holy Spirit, but we have example after example of people throughout the Bible who were following God, but slipped, fell, and even turned away from God. Adam and Eve, King David, Lucifer, King Saul, and Judas, just to name a few. By the way, the last three on that list turned away from God, and as far as we know, they are all lost.

Hebrews 3:12

12 So examine yourselves, brothers and sisters, in case any evil thoughts of unbelief develop in you to cause you to walk away from the living God.

13 But encourage each other every day, while it is called “Today,” so that none of you become stubborn through the delusions of sin.

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https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2014 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6