Warning Against Backsliding

[S] Hebrews 6:4-8, 12 --

⁴For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,

⁵and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

⁶and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance,since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

⁷For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;

⁸but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

¹²so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

[O] Verses 4-8 points out the cirticality of sustaining our faith in God because once we fall into the enemy's trap, it'll be quite difficult to come out. Verses 6 and 8 implies that it will be impossible to renew; however, because God is a God of second chances, I do not believe that is the conclusive point here. This may depend on the definition of "fallen" used in verse 6. I need to ask someone more knowledgeable on the Word to clarify this question. In verse 12, I read God's way for us not to fall away -- without any laziness I must imitate other "older" Brothers and Sisters who pursues God faithfully. I believe this needs to be the key aspects of our Small Group ministry as well. Within each group we should have different layers of marturity and everyone should fervently imitate those who are going ahead.

[A] Continue to embed these core principles into the Small Group structure being layed out at church.

[P] Dear God, I've seen how critical it is to sustain and maintain my personal relationship with You because once I slip down the slippery slope it may be very difficult to come back. Allow me those above me to mentor and lead me such that I will strive to be in Your presence at all times. In Jesus' name. Amen.

I Got Milk! What's Next?

[S] Hebrews 5:14 --
¹³For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

[O] The age restrictions for purchasing certain items like alcohol assumes that older or mature person can better discern good vs. bad and thus will not abuse these items. In our spiritual walk, there is a similar marturity level where we have attained a sense of discernment and based on this passage, that comes from those able to take the word of righteousness -- deeper understanding of His Word. One of key aspects of this is that we must all have the desire to grow out of our infancy into the mature ways of living. But many of us are content with our infancy happily enjoying the milk we're fed.

[A] Eat more solid (spiritual) food and practice what I intake.

[P] Dear God, thank You for leading me through BSF in last 4 years to dig deeper into Your word and I desire to move further in that direction. Please allow me the environment to grow further and to have others feed me more solid food. In Jesus' name. Amen.