Change of Perspective

Greetings in the Lord!

Today's word comes from Hebrews chapter 12, of which I will share selected verses:
12:3-6~Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves."
12:14-15~Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
12:25-29~See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns from heaven? At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that it, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."
~~~~~~
Paul puts so eloquently what most of us recognize all around us...sin entangling people into more sin. Christians are not immune to this either. Maybe sin works even more deceptively in our own lives because we can put our trust in the title of 'Christian' or the works we do and think we are free...but that is false security. And you have to love how the Lord goes about revealing our sins to ourselves...kind of like how Nathan did to David. The Lord will not scream or shout, but merely illustrate to us the situation as He sees it. For example, maybe we pray for the grace to get along with someone and the Lord gives an opportunity for grace, then we discover it was really our own refusal to get along that exerbated the problem. We really did not want grace, we wanted the Lord to make them act in a certain way or apologize for hurting our feelings. Unforgiveness and anger towards others is a sin that can greatly entangle us and and be the "bitter root" that "grows up to cause trouble and defile many." Seen in this light, I think many of us would welcome the discipline of the Lord to purify us and free us to pursue holiness, even if it was unpleasant for a season.

~Be blessed and be a blessing.

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