"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE REGARDING BITTERNESS"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE REGARDING BITTERNESS"

Heb 12:15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

Some explanatory thoughts, application, and a prayer:

1. The author of this letter is dealing with the issue, subject, the thing to watch out for called, Bitterness, or a bitter root.
And, what he does is to issue a warning here about it. He warns against allowing it to take place in your life, and then explains what would happen as a result.

2. The first thing he actually talks about is missing God's grace. Notice how he puts it. " looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God;". Another version, says it this way. " Look after each other so that none of you will miss out on the special favor of God." So, we are to look out, or watch carefully lest we fall short of having God's grace in our lives, or missing out on God's grace in our lives because of bitterness. Implied in Heb 12:15 is that one can avoid bitterness, if they are careful, but they must be careful.

3. What does it mean to be "looking carefully?" It has the idea of looking out for and after each other. It means to be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace which God gives to us. And, it means, as the Amp Version says, " Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing)" So, bitterness can come about if we are not walking in Grace, and we are to be careful not to miss out on God's grace in our lives.

4. The second thing he says, is also a warning, and it goes directly at the issue of bitterness, or a bitter root, Here's what the Bible says. "lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;" Bitterness can spring up, and cause trouble and by it, many, can become defiled. There are some serious consequences that can come about. Trouble and others becoming defiled.

5. A quick look at some of the meanings of these words. Bitterness itself means, a bitter spirit, resentment, hatred, rancor, bitter gall, bitter hatred. Bitterness, comes from a word meaning, sharp, or piercing. Bitterness, can be like a disease or poison, with very severe and harmful in it's effects. It can spread and hurt you like a virus can. The word trouble means, to excite, to disturb, to trouble and annoy. And, the word defile, or defiled, means, corrupted, contaminated.

6. So, when might bitterness be a danger, and what can we do about it, to avoid it. Here's what Dr David Jeremiah said about it. "Amid persecution and the temptation to give up, Christians are responsible for each other's spiritual well being. Thus the writer of Hebrews is challenging believers to examine their own ranks-not to find fault, but to act like a physician who is interested in his or her patients health.

Believers should look for the symptoms of disease, bitterness, sexual immorality, and unbelief to help bring fellow believers to spiritual health." He goes on to say, "This root of bitterness refers to people whose attitudes poison and divide the church. Such people have an evil heart of unbelief that rejects Christ and the gospel."

Let's pray:

Father, thank You for Your grace, Your unmerited, undeserved favor towards us. Lord, help us to be careful not to fall short of Your grace, to miss it in our lives, by allowing attitudes to spring up in our lives. Father, we need to be especially careful during certain times, times of trouble, difficulties that have come upon us, times of persecution, that we are careful as to how we are going to react.

Keep us from sin and temptation Lord. Help us Lord to care for others and to try and help them if they are having trouble in this area as well. We love You Lord. In Jesus name.

Pastor Bob Grenier