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TODAY’S MESSAGE:
“BY FAITH: STRENGTH, PEACE AND HOLINESS”


READ:
HEBREWS 12:12-17
Renew Your Spiritual Vitality
12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking carefully (:)
(A) lest anyone fall short of the grace of God;
(B) lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
16 (C) lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

Context:
Remember how this chapter started: RUN! Run the race of faith because you have a cloud of witnesses who are looking on, and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith.
They need strengthening because they are tired of being persecuted for believing in Jesus as Messiah. The Hebrews writer just shared with them that their persecution is nothing compared to what Jesus went through, and actually it is partly the chastening of the Lord at work in their lives in order to strengthen them.
So now here we see him encourage them to strengthen the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees. This sounds like a tough love pep talk - come on guys, stand up, choose to be strong no matter what they throw at you. Because if you let it stay lame, it could dislocate- a limb can come completely useless if you do not choose to start using it. In the process of standing up and moving by faith despite resistance, you will be HEALED?

STRENGTHEN AND BE HEALED
Hebrews 12:12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

ISAIAH 35:3-8
3 Strengthen the weak hands,
And make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert.
7 The parched ground shall become a pool,
And the thirsty land springs of water;
In the habitation of jackals, where each lay,
There shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean shall not pass over it,
But it shall be for others.
Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
Shall not go astray.

PEACE AND HOLINESS; GRACE AND AVOIDING BITTERNESS
Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 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;

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
Love Your Enemies
Matthew 5: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Matthew 12:50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Peace is fruit of the Spirit
John 13:35 - by this the world will know you are my disciples, by how you love one another.
When we look up from our own circumstances and challenges and we focus on living in peace with others, loving others well, especially in our faith community, we lift our eyes off of our issues and our own abilities and we focus on Kingdom things- this is how we can then SEE the Kingdom now, but also how we will enter the the Kingdom to come.
I believe the grace that we can fall short of here, refers to disobedience to God’s gospel and word, and it has to do with choosing to things in our own strength, in other words not relying on God’s grace that washed us clean, saved us and is helping us to live holy lives.
When we fall short of the grace of God in our own lives, we are open to not have grace with others, which can cause us to easily take offense and get bitter toward others. Can you see that you would struggle to live in peace and grow in holiness if you fall short of the grace?
Romans says we all fall short of the grace of God outside of Jesus - so we need to be aware and make sure we remain in Christ and dependent on the Holy Spirit’s power as we RUN this faith race through persecutions and God discipining us because He loves us as children.

TEMPORAL VS ETERNAL MINDSET
16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person (immoral or godless, sexually immoral or unholy) like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
Other translations say “see to it that no one among you are immoral or godless, sexually immoral or unholy”
There is an interdependent responsibility in the faith community to encourage, uplift but also to lovingly point out error, sin, patterns or behaviours that are anti-God.
The signs of someone who is immoral, profane or a fornicator is that they live for temporal things, for instant gratification. While the Godly are marked by having an eternal mindset, outlook and approach to life, love, relationships, serving and helping.

MAIN POINTS SUMMARY
STRENGTHEN AND BE HEALED, STAND, ENDURE

LIVE IN PEACE WITH OTHERS, AND PURSUE HOLINESS; LIVE IN THE GRACE OF GOD, DEPENDENT ON HIM AND AVOID BITTERNESS

REMOVE IMMORAL, GODLESS, UNHOLY WAYS FROM YOUR OWN LIFE AND FROM OTHERS IN YOUR MIDST.


REFLECT AND RESPOND
Let us reflect and respond:
Come Holy Spirit
In whatever way you feel tired, hopeless, at the end of your rope, wanting to give up in your walk of faith, please bring that before God today. Put it on the altar.
If you have been stepping outside of God’s grace, falling short of it by willfully rebelling or sinning, or by trying to do it all on your own strength, bring that to Him today, place it on the altar, humble yourself, repent, ask His forgiveness, and receive His forgiveness
If you have any immoral or unholy patterns in your life, today is the day to bring it to the light, repent, and choose to sin no more.
Lord, forgive us for the ways in which we live for instant gratification and fleshly desires, we repent of it and ask that you help cultivate in us an eternal, heavenly perspective, focused on laying up treasures in heaven, focused on loving others well and pursuing holy living.
Let us ask the Lord together: