In reading the Bible this morning, I read this verse, and now
have a question...to me this is saying that if we deliberately sin
after knowing Yahweh, that there is no more sacrifices to take away
our sin...does this mean that if we sin deliberately on something
after knowing Yahweh, that we will lose our redemption??
For example,
Susie is a Christian who kept Sunday as Sabbath, she learned that Sat
is the true Sabbath as spoken of in the Bible, but she continues to
look at Sabbath as Sunday because she doesn't want people to look at
her strange, or change her life or what have you...since she is
sinning because she knows that Saturday is the Sabbath spoken of in
the Bible, but she is refusing to keep it will she no longer have
redeption/eternal life because she essentially turned her back on the
last/only sacrifice necessary for eternal life?
That question was asked on a group I'm on. It's mainly regarding trying to understand Hebrews 10:26
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Here is Gill's Commentary --
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully,.... Which is not to be understood of a single act of sin, but rather of a course of sinning; nor of sins of infirmity through temptation, or even of grosser acts of sin, but of voluntary ones; and not of all voluntary ones, or in which the will is engaged and concerned, but of such which are done on set purpose, resolutely and obstinately; and not of immoral practices, but of corrupt principles, and acting according to them; it intends a total apostasy from the truth, against light and evidence, joined with obstinacy.
After that we have received the knowledge of the truth; either of Jesus Christ, or of the Scriptures, or of the Gospel, or of some particular doctrine, especially the principal one, salvation by Christ; of which there may be a notional knowledge, when there is no experimental knowledge; and which is received not into the heart, but into the head: and whereas the apostle speaks in the first person plural, we, this is used not so much with regard to himself, but others; that so what he delivered might come with greater weight upon them, and be more readily received by them; when they observed he entertained no hard thoughts or jealousies of them, which would greatly distress the minds of those that were truly gracious. Moreover, the apostles use this way of speaking, when they do not design themselves at all, but others, under the same visible profession of religion, and who belonged to the same community of believers; see 1Pe_4:3 compared with Act_22:3. Besides, these words are only hypothetical, and do not prove that true believers could, or should, or do sin in this manner: to which may be added, that true believers are manifestly distinguished from these persons, Heb_10:38,
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins; meaning, not typical sacrifice; for though the daily sacrifice ought to have ceased at the death of Christ, yet it did not in fact until the destruction of Jerusalem; but the sacrifice of Christ, which will never be repeated; Christ will die no more; his blood will not be shed again, nor his sacrifice reiterated; nor will any other sacrifice be offered; there will be no other Saviour; there is no salvation in any other, nor any other name whereby we must be saved. These words have been wrongly made use of to prove that persons sinning after baptism are not to be restored to communion again upon repentance; and being understood of immoral actions wilfully committed, have given great distress to consciences burdened with the guilt of sin, committed after a profession of religion; but the true sense of the whole is this, that after men have embraced and professed the truths of the Gospel, and particularly this great truth of it, that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of men by his blood and sacrifice; and yet after this, against all evidence, all the light and convictions of their own consciences, they wilfully deny this truth, and obstinately persist in the denial of it; seeing there is no more, no other sacrifice for sin, no other Saviour, nor any salvation in any other way, the case of these men must be desperate; there is no help for them, nor hope of them; for by this their sin they shut up against themselves, in principle and practice, the way of salvation, as follows.
WASHINGTON – You've heard of making cheese from goats' milk, but prescription drugs? In what would be a scientific first, an anti-clotting drug made from the milk of genetically engineered goats moved closer to government approval Wednesday after experts at the Food and Drug Administration reported that the medication works and its safety is acceptable.
Called ATryn, the drug is intended to help people with a rare hereditary disorder that makes them vulnerable to life-threatening blood clots.
Its approval would be a major step toward new kinds of medications made not from chemicals, but from living organisms genetically manipulated by scientists. Similar drugs could be available in the next few years for a range of human ailments, including hemophilia.
Ok, I'm always on the rather outside of popular thought here I know, but am I seriously one of only a few who think this is just a bit beyond normal? I understand the medical ramifications here, and of course I'm not saying allow folks to suffer when a potential 'help' is out there. But this GMO craze the government is on is so obviously NWO.
I'm not even going to debate anything, I'm just making an observation.
We are being given Hell in a handbasket and accepting it with not only willing, but grabbing hands.
I have a large canner full of ground meat sitting on the stove, simmering away with some onions and a touch of beef base.
It's my 18 or 20 qt water bath canner..darn thing takes up a burner and part of another. I thought about taking it out to the front porch grill, but then I'd be battling cats and dogs all day. Didn't seem like a perfect plan.
So it sits on my stove.
There is just shy of 30# of ground meat in that beauty. Actually, ground meat covered with water looks rather ickish...but it sure beats trying to fry patties and keep them warm for canning. And they really look icky in the jars. I know -- who's gonna see my pantry, and even so, when (not if) push comes to shove and we are living out of what's in that pantry, who is gonna care what it looks like as long as it tastes good? It's just me. I would like the fruits, or in this case meats, of my labor to be asthetically pleasing lining those pantry shelves. Just call me vain. It's ok.
Next on the agenda today is some laundry -- finally a sunny yet cool day to get those clotheslines filled. We are still using the washing machine, such as it is. It barely spins out at this point, so we run things through another set of rinse cycles, spinning them by hand. Sort of jump starting the spin cycle. Dewey wants to get another machine. I'm still not inclined. Yes, it's a pain to stand over that machine and babysit it just to make it spin, but I choose to do it. It's not so bad really. Doesn't take any time extra anyway. I know it's taking some extra water and electricity, but until we start doing it by hand, I'll muddle along this way. Besides, I have some upwardly mobile friends who totally get irked when I press on to the frugal and backwoods lifestyle :o) I like to provide them plenty of cause for talk when I can (truth be told, I probably provide them far more talk than I actually know about...they think I'm just this side of insane most the time).
Bread baking today. I'm using the 20 qt mixer and we're doing up at least 1 6 loaf batch. It's been so rainy, the last attempt with bread baking went a bit wrong on us. It was edible, but oh goodness did it fall out terribly and barely rise. Made a decent toast, though. Even if we couldn't have eaten it, there are chickens out there still so it wouldn't have been a total waste at any rate.
That's about it. We are having Beef Nachos for dinner. Church tonight -- I'm teaching the teen class. Note the excitement in my tone there...not. There are only 7 teens -- 3 being my own, 2 sisters, 1 other girl and the boy we bring from down the road. No one has the slightest interest in doing anything besides toying with cell phones...one girl in particular. And that disrupts the entire group. I have a feeling it will be an issue to end once and for all tonight. Keep me in prayers. I'm sure most of you know by now that sometimes (ok pretty fairly often) I am a tad bit less than tactful. I'm going to try me best, but...
Today's thoughts
Posted on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 11:10 by Heritage Hill Homestead - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Thank you to everyone who visited and left such nice comments concerning our fire. I appreciate your prayers! Each day is getting a little better and I know that will continue. Hard to believe it has been a week already tomorrow. The insurance adjuster is coming in the morning, so then we can begin the clean up process, that will be fun........
With the beginning of the new year, I would like to try to make some changes in our schedule around here. But with all of the other things going on, I feel like I just need to take a little time and chill out this week. I hope to get to bed at a decent time, (I have been doing much better at that already) get up at a regular time, eat breakfast at a decent time, get out to do chores..........we seem to get started doing something and then it is late for breakfast. Then it is should we eat breakfast or an early lunch? I also need to get a menu plan of some sort, I know that would be much easier than "what shall we eat?" We have plenty of food in the freezer, but it seems like it is hard to think of what to fix or what sounds good. When I have something in mind to fix I do not mind cooking at all, but it seems like we are in a rut as far as ideas. And hubby being soooo picky doesn't make it any easier!
Today we did roast one of our chickens and it was tasty. So tomorrow will be chicken and noodles, one of our favorites.
There is a farm show in Topeka this week. We usually go, don't ever buy anything and honestly there is very little of real interest to us as we are not official farmers, but it is kind of fun and we usually see some people we know. I don't know if we will try to go or not yet. We were waiting to see when the insurance adjuster would be coming. We have not left here together yet since the fire except for about an hour last Friday. One of the first things we said was now we will not be able to leave at the same time for a while. I am not sure why we feel this way, as we were both home when it happened, so that didn't stop anything. But, the fact that we were here to call for help was so important. Anyway, the first time we leave will be a little hard I believe, but it will have to be done sooner or later.
I baked a batch of cinnamon rolls today, I may have to make pies tomorrow, haven't heard yet. I do have 1 pie to make for another lady on Friday. I would really like to have some sort of schedule for baking, but right now it is just whenever? I don't get a lot of other things done when I spend most of 2-3 days a week in the kitchen.
Today the weatherman said that we were exactly normal 37 for a high and 17 was the low. Each day is supposed to be a little warmer, with Friday in the 50's. Every day we have above freezing is a plus in my book. I do not like to deal with frozen water tubs! Right now I only have a heater in one pen, but have figured out a way to easily fix one for another goat pen if it turns cold and stays that way for a while.
Time for bed.............
Country Blessings,
Marilyn~at Heritage Hill Homestead
Call 911
Posted on Monday, January 5, 2009 at 08:07 by Heritage Hill Homestead - 6 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Not something any of us wants to have to do! On New Years eve about 9:30 or so, I was working in the kitchen frosting some cinnamon rolls and finishing up some dishes, getting ready for the dinner at Mom's the next morning. I happened to look out the west door and noticed the birdbath that stands at the end of the sidewalk was glowing.......what in the world is that?? I stepped out onto the deck and saw big smoke. I hollared at hubby that the garage was on fire which is where it looked like it was coming from. Actually it was our grainary and 10 big bales of hay next to it! While waiting for the fire trucks to get here we got the hoses out and hooked up and started to spray it down a little. Let me tell you my heart was racing!
Fire departments came from 3 towns and there were 9 trucks here! Quite an exciting New Years Eve celebration we had here. There is an open shed just a few feet from the burning hay bales that also contained hay, small bales. They were able to keep it contained so that did not catch on fire, we are so thankful for that!
Our garage is not far, and the siding is melted on it and the shingles have damage. A small chicken house on another side had the siding melted as well.
So..........we have a tremendous amount of things to be thankful for in this ordeal! If we had been gone, or in bed, or I had not looked out the door when I did.........it would have only been a few more minutes until I believe both of those buildings would have gone up and then the house is just on the other side of the garage, it would have been next along with 2 other chicken houses, and the shed containing the small hay bales too. We could have so easily lost everything except 1 barn and 1 chicken house that are on opposite sides of the farmyard.
God's timing is always perfect! We have no idea why he allowed this to happen, but his timing is perfect and we are giving thanks that more was not lost and no animals were hurt.
We did lose all of the feed for all of the animals, the 10 big bales of hay, feed barrels and buckets, some feed tubs, chicken feeders and waterers, the scales I weigh baby goats and feed with, catch nets, chicken leg catcher, dog chain, 3 pet carriers, fan, shop vac, some tools, cooler, electric roaster, some storage tubs..........I am sure a few other things. I was worried about Snowball the cat that liked to sleep on a pillow in there, but the next morning he came to greet me!
Other than the shock of that night, the worst part has been keeping an eye on the hay burning. It finally burned down enough by last night, that we could relax and go to bed without too much worry. There was a danger of it flaring up enough to start something going again and we had to continually check on it and hose it down when we didn't feel comfortable. The night time hours have proved to have me feeling unsettled and anxious...........it is all in God's hands, but I know human nature brings these feelings when something like this has happened. If you would, please offer a little prayer for me to feel peace and safety, thank you!
The house a mile away that burned 3 days before was determined to be arson, however ours is listed as undetermined as far as I know now. The hay and all the water made it difficult to tell exactly what had caused it. It is hard not to think it may have been set as well. Which is hard to think about too. We have dogs and yard lights and we were home when it happened??
Back to being thankful! Our friends and neighbors have been so generous and thoughtful to us. One has promised to replace the hay we lost, another brought over a bale the next day, the man who's house burned brought up 2 bales! Hubby went and had the folks open up the elevator so he could get a few bags of feed on New Years day. Then today he went and picked up a mix of goat feed and to our total surprise they said it is paid for! Wow! A good friend from a nearby town had called and told them she would pay for the entire feed mix for our goats. The same man who is replacing the hay is bringing his skid loader over to help clean up the mess after the insurance adjuster has been here. Others have offered to help and come by to see if there is anything they could do. Folks in rural America are still kind and caring people and we are blessed to live here! Thank you to everyone who has helped in our time of need.
I had put off bloging since this happened, but am glad I finally sat down and put it on paper, or I guess on computer...........
Please say a small prayer for me today as I have surgery on the wrist to have a bone removed .. I won't be on computer much for a few weeks.. Thanks Blessings Brenda
I am 150% ready and on the ball with going off the grid. Now. Today.
No, Dewey isn't quite 'there' just yet...but he isn't living here and I can make some changes a bit more easily that way, right??? Nothing overly intense at all, just some lifestyle changes...some rather big lifestyle changes.
Honestly, I guess I'm not at all 'ready' in a truly 'prepared' sense.
I have an electric stove. Can't cook without electricity unless I use the grill, and truthfully, grilling has never been my forte. I can certainly learn, though, when properly and sufficiently motivated..which I most definitely am right now!
Our hot water is electric. I have that huge mega monster grill, though. And I have a fire pit outside. I can manage hot water I'm sure.
My lighting is electric. We are using the lamps much more often now, for lighting needs, but from a practical stand-point, they aren't ideal. The light for reading just isn't very good for old eyes like mine...and probably not much better for younger ones, either. And the lamp oil costs and storage issues...it's simply not practical for permanent usage. Rise and bed with the chickens is probably a much better solution.
My heat, what little we use here really, is electric. Ugh...an electric heat pump, no less :o( I am going to skip the cookstove for now I think and simply get a small woodstove for heat. I don't have a space readily available for both the heat and the cookstove, so in light of what I'm about to tell you here next, a heat stove is a better option. And I can cook on top of it...just won't have an oven for baking.
We received our electric bill Tuesday. Please sit down. Please make it a chair that is sturdy and has good support to the armrests. It's for your own safety, really. Trust me.
For the billing cycle from Nov 18th - Dec 18th, our electric bill was $439.35. A average daily kw usage of, they say, 151.7 More than doubled from the previous cycle, as well as more than doubled from the same cycle a year ago.
Yes...I wrote that correctly. It's FOUR HUNDRED. Can you even imagine what that did to my heart opening the bill? Or what it did to the budget, as I most certainly had not figured in anything remotely close to that amount.
This is winter. In the South. I'm sorry if I offend any true heart Southerners here, but this is hardly what I consider much of a winter. Yes, that billing cycle had some really really cold days in it, and several wind-chills here on the homestead in the teens. And it's been rainy and windy quite a bit the past month and more.
But this isn't what I look at as being classified as 'winter' yet look at that bill. Granted, this is a mobile home. They are not even partially constructed like a brick or stick frame house is. The materials are altogether different, the insulation is different. They are hardly air-tight in construction at all. They are not known for allowing an abundance of natural light in, although with the amount of air flowing in and out, you'd find that rather odd. We simply are not a traditional home style and that certainly adds to the electric bill.
That and the increase that went into effect of 17%. We were expecting 20% or more, so I will concede that 17% is to be considered a blessing.
If I could do it...if I had the fortitude of spirit might be a better phrase...I would flip and lock that main breaker outside today. Cut the cord completely and be off the grid now.
I'm scared to death of summer coming, given this bill. I may be well beyond able to tolerate and thrive in the 'winter' down here, but come summer, you might as well lock me in the looney bin. I can not handle being hot at all. I can not tolerate heat and humidity that sucks the breath from you almost daily. I'm a wimp. Given the current bill, I could guess-timate my summer bills easily being in excess of $600 a month during say July and August especially.
Six hundred dollars a month is well beyond even the remote outskirts of INSANE. I can't budget that in at all. Even if I could, I wouldn't even consider budgeting that in for something like electric! Surely somewhere in my history, generations of pioneering women lived a good and rich life without any of these trappings of today.
I just have to do it. I just have to take that step and keep walking...or in this case, I really ought to be running. We are already 2 weeks into the next billing cycle! My biggest problem is I don't have anything set up for back-up.
Well, I suppose I have the electric cord as a back-up for now. While I have the ability to do otherwise, I need to start getting better acquainted with that grill out on the porch. What all can I really do on a grill folks? I know nothing about them at all, really. But I'd rather foot the bill for propane for the grill than this electric bill.
I'm canning up the rest of the meat. It won't happen overnight, but I will get it all finished and empty those freezers once and for all. We are doing ground meat today.
I'm getting back to once a week baking for our needs. It's easy to do -- just requires I think ahead and make some plans. When it's gone, it's gone. We will learn quick enough that it's better to spread out whatever treats we have than to go totally without.
Laundry is going to take a hit. We will start focusing on that hand-washing. I will do towels, the blankets and thick items, boys pants in the washing machine still as I don't have a suitable way to wring them out well enough to even hang dry. But they will only be done once a week. This having something to wash almost daily is ridiculous. I need to get back to a real schedule here. And it will be...has to be...carved in solid stone, no more written in pencil.
I'm going to look for a small wood heat stove instead of worrying about connecting the cookstove up right now. I'm not set up space-wise to have both operating, and I think the larger need is for some alternative heat right now. I'd rather put $600 into a heat stove than the electric bill.
Cut-back, cut-backs, cut-backs. We are going off the grid before this month passes by much more. Off the grid at least in terms of that electrical usage. I simply don't have a choice. I have most definitely not agreed to having my husband away from home, away from his family, working just to feed the electric company and their families. His being away from us was supposed to be for our better in the long-term. I just can't sit back and find excuses for not taking the steps I've been working toward any longer.
If you have any thoughts or ideas to share on helping us cut the cord, do let me know! I could use all the tips I can get.
A Quick Good Morning and off to work on my new habit!
A great GOOD MORNING to you! Happy New Year! I pray that you your new year will be filled with goodness and we can keep our hearts and paths on track with God in everything we do!
Just a quick post to let you know that instead of writing in the mornings now I will have to work it on another time. I am forming a new habit in January. A better schedule and getting more done!
Well wishes in all your endevors!
"THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HATH MADE, REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT." PS 118:24
"IN ALL THINGS GIVE THANKS FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS CONCERNING YOU!" 1ST THESSOLONIANS 5:18
This year has been full of ups and downs. I choose to remember the ups. The Lord has been truely good to my family and I and I have no complaints at all. We have been blessed beyond measure once again this year. We have our health, we never missed a meal and no bills went unpaid. Our house is still standing in good condition and our van and truck are still running. My girls are good, learning a lot in school and loving each other. There is nothing at all that I can find that was bad in the year 2008.
Now that I have covered all of that. I want to say really how good that Lord has been to our family. Not just my family members here at home but also to all of our family at church. We have seen several ones receive the gift of salvation, true salvation. We have had a blessed marriage of a young couple very dear to us and we have had a lot of new lives born into our church family. We have had families sell their homes and move to our town to be a part of what God is doing in our church. We have truely been blessed beyond measure.
I can not wait to see what the new year has instore for us this coming new year. I can not wait to see how the Lord will use us for His glory and for His work here among us. I am ready to give all that I have for His work and service. Whatever it is that the Lord may ask, I am ready. My heart is full and I am waiting to be used.
We will be starting to build a new building for our church. We have grown and it is now time to add on a building for class rooms and a bigger nursery. We will once again build this building ourselves as much as we are allowed. We are paying someone to get the foundation done for us but after that it is all us. There will be a lot of long hours, in the cold, in the wet, and then in the heat. But we are ready. There is no greater joy then to spend your time with your church family, building God's house for His work that needs to be done here on earth. I hope to be able to journal about it as we go here on my blog for those who are interested in getting up with us as we go.
I also have a lot of new and old plans for myself and my family for the new year. I will write about those things in another post. This post is just for thanking God for our blessings and for His love and grace He has shown us this past year.
Again, we are blessed, we are loved and we are thankful for a loving God !!!
May God bless you and your family in the coming days and may you seek to find His will in your life for the coming days.
This weblog will be a compilation of happening's here in my home. I will be including homemaking tips, recipes, and encouragement for the homemaker who realizes she is a God-ordained Keeper of her Home.
A great GOOD MORNING to you! Happy New Year! I pray that you your new year will be filled with goodness and we can keep our hearts and paths on track with God in everything we do!
