GOD Morning! Hard, Rewarding Work

GOD morning,



“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, 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 have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 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.

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death. ”The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”

But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

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 us 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 is, 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.” Hebrews 12



1. Fix your eyes on Jesus, throw off everything that hinders and endure the suffering with joy. How? Just keep laying your pain down at the foot of the cross. Over and over. Ask Jesus to replace your hurting heart with joy.

Lately I have had to live this. And it works. A few days ago, I awakened with deep sorrow. You know the feeling of slowly wakening in the morning, and suddenly remembering. Anyway, I asked Jesus to please take my broken heart. And give me joy in return. All day at work, I just kept handing my pain up to Jesus. I put a smile on my face and waited. As I was leaving after church, my pastor and wife stopped by my office. I received a beautiful encouraging word. The joy came. I worshipped and praised God on the way home.

Joy in the middle of suffering is a decision.

2. When you are treated poorly because of your faith, you will gain strength by studying the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. So that you don’t lose heart. Losing heart is a dangerous place to be. Losing heart means that your faith in God is shaken.

3. God disciplines His children. This used to really bother me. I pretty much ignored this subject in the Bible. But over the years, I learned a lot about God’s discipline. In reality, He only disciplines His true children, not the ones who are pretending. He knows if our hearts are true or not. I don’t love the pain of discipline, but I love that He loves me enough to discipline me.

I’m not suggesting that every bad thing that comes my way is because of God’s discipline. Not at all. I simply ask God what He wants me to learn from each trial. And I prayerfully wait it out. In the waiting, I am strengthened and changed. Growing and changing takes a lot of work. But the rewards are exciting.

4. Live holy. How? By weighing my words and actions. It’s fun and satisfying to blurt out everything that I’m thinking. For a minute anyway. Laughter sometimes follows. Then I realize that my words have consequences. Oh the joy that I feel when I simply keep my mouth shut. Oh the lasting peace that results when I do the right (sometimes boring) thing.

Doing the kind, right thing will start to come naturally after a while. It’s amazing. I used to fly off the handle a lot. God has been disciplining me and changing me for a long time. I really like the new person that He is making out of me, even with all of my ongoing challenges. I’m not the person I used to be, praise God.

I fail all the time. Just ask my husband, son and daughter in love, who are temporarily living with us. But I keep trying to do the right thing. Ah, the rewards of constantly striving to be a better person.

5. Don’t let a root of bitterness grow inside of you. This has been the hardest part for me. Don’t act so surprised. =)

For one thing, I have no interest in gardening. At all. Thank you very much, but no thanks. Have fun with that, all of you happy gardeners! Unfortunately, my aversion to gardening spills over into my heart. I have ripped that disgusting root of bitterness out so many times, but obviously, I’m leaving a teeny part behind. Because the ugly weed keeps springing up and taking over my heart. Grrrr. I hate that thing. As long as I’m here on earth, the weed of bitterness will have to be dealt with, from time to time. Oh the joy that comes when it’s gone. Oh the disappointment when I look over and see it springing up in a different spot. Pray for me, y’all!

6. Don’t be sexually immoral. Here’s a great slogan for Christians to live by. “Just Don’t Do It.” Just don’t. One moment of pleasure will cause great suffering for the rest of your life. If you’ve already done it, just don’t do it again. You’re forgiven. Forgive yourself and don’t look back. And for heaven’s sake, don’t go back.

Don’t sell out, like Esau did when he sold his inheritance for a bowl of food. He tearfully changed his mind later, but to no avail.

7. Remember, as long as you keep striving, your name is written in heaven. Life is hard, but there’s a great reward that is coming to you. You will reign forever with Christ. It’s not a myth. It’s the Word of God. Forever settled in Heaven. Believe it. Receive it.

8. Finally, verses twenty eight and twenty nine encourage us.

Be thankful. Worship God acceptably. Which means His way, not our way. With reverence and awe. His rules not ours. Why? Because He rules. We don’t. He’s God. We are not. We can choose to live in the consuming fire of God, or we can be destroyed by the consuming fire of God. Our choice.



“Dear Jesus, I am blown away by Your word once again. Wow is the only word that I can come up with. Again. Your word wows me every time. I have tears as I soak Your word into my being. Renew and restore me again. Have mercy on me again. Thank You for Your new mercies every morning. How I love You, AMEN.”



Blessings,


Vicki