Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

I consider myself to be one who has a spiritual appetite for strong meat. I enjoy going into the deep with my brothers in Christ of whom I have great respect and fruitful communion. So I was more than a little surprised when asked to digest some herbs of the spirit. It seemed such a small thing, it was not a big deal. What was surprising was that I found it distasteful. How can that be?

Joel 1:13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.

I did not offer this up to God as worship. I allowed pride to demand an answer without humbling myself before the source of all righteousness.

Exodus 11:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

I had forgotten the lessons of the bitter herb.

Exodus 11:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord’s passover.

Do this in remembrance of Me, He said, and I had forgotten to honor from whom my joy comes.

It might seem like a small thing to many, but it burned in my heart and I had lost my peace. It was not a small thing to me.

Do not blame others for the bitter taste in your own mouth.

Matthew 12:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

There is probably more confusion over this one passage than any in most of scriptures. Whole doctrines have been formed around certain interpretations of this passage and there have been splits in dominate religions surrounding those doctrines.

I tend to try and boil things down to the most simple and basic form to settle in my mind any issues of controversy. Since forgiveness is hinged upon what is spoken against the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit, then the answer must lay in what the Holy Spirit has said.

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

Testify, a testimony, a speaking of the truth about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done IS what the Holy Spirit speaketh. To call the Holy Spirit a liar in this testimony is the only sin which is unforgiveable. Otherwise why would Jesus declare that speaking a word against Himself is forgiveable?

John 3:17-18 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus Christ did not come to condemn, but to save. Salvation is offered though the sacrificial act of the Cross. The world, which was already condemned, no matter what condition they existed in, has the opportunity to have that condemnation set aside, to be forgiven, if we but believe the testimony of the Holy Spirit who testifies of Jesus Christ in truth.

1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Do you believe the testimony of the Holy Spirit or not? Everything hangs on that one issue.