Greetings, Dear Friends!

And to those visiting, I say welcome! I post a devotional blog every Wednesday and my sole purpose is to nourish your soul along the way.

This morning during my prayer time I stumbled across this verse:

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 (Hebrews 12:14-15).

Proverbs 4:23 exhorts us to guard our hearts with all diligence, because out of our hearts flow the issues of life.

I've said this on numerous occasions but it bears repeating here. Whenever we speak, we plant seeds. Picture seeds spilling out of your mouth and dropping to the ground every time you speak. We plant things with our words. The question is, are we planting weeds or things that nourish and foster life?

Two things jump out at me in the verse from Hebrews.

1.) See to it that no one misses the grace of God.

2.) See to it that no bitter root is allowed to grow up and thus, defile many.

We are reminded from this verse that our choices never stand alone. Even our inner most thoughts affect the lives of those around us and because of this, we as Believers, are accountable for even the smallest seeds of bitterness we plant in our lives.

This is not to say we won't have thousands of legitimate reasons to be irritated or bitter.

We will.

In the latter days, the Bible says the love of most will grow cold.

What happens in the absence of love? Every wicked thing.

Love builds up. Love restores. Love secures. Love redeems. Love reminds. Love forgives.

If love is far from the majority of the people, and we are committed to hanging on to love, we will need a certain amount of spiritual grit to stand, to forgive, to guard our hearts, that we might enjoy the abundant, powerful life God has offered us.

Now back to the two things I noticed in this verse.

See to it that no one misses the grace of God: - This is a powerful insight for us. When you are scraped by an abrasive person, remind yourself of their need for grace. And fact, see to it, that they don't miss out on grace as far as it concerns you. When someone has betrayed you, put yourself in their shoes and determine to give the grace you would so desperately need (not to say that you fully trust them again, but bring their sins against you to the Cross and nail them there with your own).

When we see ourselves as God intended us - to be a flow through account of His nature and blessings - we take a higher road when it comes to handling offenses. We have a higher call, a higher road to take, and we operate from a higher perspective than what's normal for most.

Freely you have received His grace. Freely give it.

See to it that no bitter root is allowed to grow up within you, and thus, defile many: - This passage is sobering to say the least. What we gripe about in the privacy of our own homes actually comes with a consequence. When we repeatedly rehash old offenses in our mind, it's like going to bed with a sticky piece of candy in our mouth. We, by our own choices, allow a cavity to develop. We give room in our lives for decay which in time, if not dealt with, will over take what's healthy in our lives.

As Beloved Children of the Most High God, we don't have the luxury of harboring offenses against other people. As deserving as they are of our attitudes (but then again, maybe we are the ones who are wrong), we have to humble ourselves, forgive our offenders, and guard what we allow to grow in our lives.

I once did a study on Proverbs 4:23 (mentioned above) and I was interested to find that the word "guard" had a very strong translation. We are to guard our heart like a man who is guarding his land and his family against intruders.

If we are serious about our walk of faith we must be serious about immediately dealing with offenses.

What's wonderful of about this practice is it keeps us on our knees in constant reminder of our own need for grace and mercy. When we regularly bring our wounds and offenses to Jesus, He regularly restores and redeems every lost thing.

And He will deal with our offenders when we are quick to let Him deal with our own heart.

Guard your yard with all diligence.

You have mighty things to do in this life.

Be blessed and Be a Blessing!