Hebrews 3:7-14
The Holy Spirit says:
Oh, that today you would hear his voice,
“Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion
in the day of testing in the desert,
where your ancestors tested and tried me
and saw my works for forty years.
Because of this I was provoked with that generation
and I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart,
and they do not know my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter into my rest.'”
Take care, brothers and sisters,
that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart,
so as to forsake the living God.
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,”
so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.
We have become partners of Christ
if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice,
“Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion
in the day of testing in the desert,
where your ancestors tested and tried me
and saw my works for forty years.
Because of this I was provoked with that generation
and I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart,
and they do not know my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter into my rest.'”
Take care, brothers and sisters,
that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart,
so as to forsake the living God.
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,”
so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.
We have become partners of Christ
if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.
Psalm 95:6-7c,8-11
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
Forty years I was wearied of that generation;
I said: “This people’s heart goes astray,
they do not know my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my anger:
“They shall never enter my rest.”
Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
Helping One Another | The Vine Solutions 
Oh, am I that leper? This is the third time that this text has surfaced in my devotion time in the last few days. Okay God, what is this thick headed saint missing? I know it is that Christ took on the lepers uncleanness by touching him. He became unclean so that the leper could be declared clean by the priest, and return to his community. Powerful image, but that would not be a new revelation. What am I missing? Okay, so I see where he shared his healing with others before he went to the priest. That however is totally understandable. That can’t be what God is trying to show me. Am I that leper? Yes, I am. God has blessed me and touched me in sacrificial ways, and I have repaid that blessing with disobedience. Forgive me Lord. I must have found what He had for me, my disobedience once again raises its head. But that is not where the lesson stopped for me. Yes, through His sacrifice I have received His blessing, but because of my disobedience, I have limited God’s ability to do a bigger work, both in me and in my area of influence. By sharing a Holy Ground moment designed to bless me, I have caused that blessing to block God’s continued work in and through me. It was simple, go and share with the priest, but I had to do things my way. There are a thousand reasons for my actions, but only one for my disobedience. Now, because of this former lepers healing, I have forced God to move in alternate ways. HE can no longer move freely. People now want something from Him and not just wanting HIM! For that Lord please forgive me. Thank you for your healing touch and sacrifice. There is no doubt – You are the Great I AM.
Thank you Gerry for your ministry to this disobedient sojourner.
Ralph
From: Helping One Another | The Vine Solutions
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2019 6:26 AM To: chappyralph@gmail.com Subject: [New post] Reading January 16, 2019
Gerry posted: ” Hebrews 3:7-14 The Holy Spirit says: Oh, that today you would hear his voice, “Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert, where your ancestors tested and tried me and saw my works for forty years. Because of this I”
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