Title: Three Short Thoughts / Topic: Holy Living

Today’s Reading: Hebrews 12; Hebrews 13; Jude 1

I selected three verses from Hebrews chapter 12. These three caught my eye and I couldn't make up my mind which I wanted to journal on, so I decided to write on all three briefly

#1 Scripture: Hebrews 12:11
11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

#1 Observation/Application: The thing that caught my eye here was the phrase "harvest of righteousness and peace." We all know that discipline can produce righteousness in a person. But the idea that it produces peace is interesting to me. As I think about it, it seems that true righteousness brings peace along with it as a kind of bi-product. That is, if I am truly righteous, I will be at peace with whatever is going on around me. The other thing that comes to mind is that whenever we find ourselves or another person lacking peace, there is a need for some discipline to produce that peace along with the attendant righteousness.

#2 Scripture: Hebrews 12:14
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

#2 Observation/Application: Holiness is a word that is out of fashion today. For me, it strikes images of women with tight hairdos and no makeup wearing plain clothing. It reminds me of legalism and the efforts to get rid of sin by restricting any indulgence. But I think that misses the point of holiness. Holiness is a dedication of myself to a specific cause, in this case, to serving the Lord. Hence, I must dedicate myself to God and His purposes for my life or I will not "see the Lord."

#3 Scripture: Hebrews 12:15
15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

#3 Observation/Application: God gives grace when I am offended or wounded. I can receive God's grace and use it to process my hurt and pain to produce healing and more grace. Or, I can reject the grace of God and process (or bury) my hurt and pain on my own which has the inevitable result of producing a bitter root in my life. Unfortunately, a bitter root will grow up and produce bitter fruit. And even more unfortunate still is the truth expressed in this verse that bitter fruit does not affect only me. No, here is the broader effect of bitter root and bitter fruit: "cause trouble and defile many." The damage that bitterness can do it widespread and very detrimental. The lesson here is accept God's grace and never process hurt without it.

Prayer: Lord, thank You for the great lessons we find in Your word. Help me and my readers to remember them and to implement them in our lives.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.