See to it, Brothers....

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "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 12:15

TGIF Devotional Message:
In business and life the opportunity to harbor bitterness for a wrong suffered is great. We are given plenty of opportunities to grow bitter from relationships that bring hurt and pain. The writer of the Hebrews passage above admonishes us not to miss the grace of God so that we won't take up bitterness as a response to life's pain. He cautions us against this because he knows that a bitter root grows and grows until it eventually defiles many others through a wake of bitterness. If bitterness is allowed to take root, we become imprisoned to it. God's grace will no longer have as great an effect in our lives. We become ineffective, insensitive, and spiritually dead. We can even become physically ill from it. God does not live in bitterness. He lives in grace. He has provided grace for every person to walk in.

One day I was challenged to deal with an individual who hurt me terribly. I was faced with a decision. Would I choose bitterness, or would I choose grace? Oh, how my natural tendency was to choose bitterness. But God provided the courage to choose grace. With that grace came freedom - a freedom to love and even accept the person who was the source of such pain.

This is the real place where Christ's power is most revealed. We cannot live without His supernatural grace. Are you in need of grace today? It is there for the receiving. It will take courage to accept it and walk in it. This will be your step to freedom.


Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders

Oh, that we will rise up and allow God's grace to infill us so that we will extend it to others.

WEBPAGE OF THE DAY: http://www.types-of-poetry.org.uk/english-poetry/17-merciles-beaute-by-geoffrey-chaucer.htm

One thing leads to another...(The Cure)

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel," Carter said in the letter, which was first sent to JTA, a wire service for Jewish newspapers, and provided Wednesday to The Associated Press. "As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."--Jimmy Carter Retrieved Jan. 5, 2010 from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/24/politics/main6018825.shtml

Mr. Carter is a former United states figure head of luminous proportions. His so-called Christian demeanor in office was sometimes called into question. I know he did his best and he always "tried" to be honest. In such a high profile position as President, I'm sure he weighed his words carefully before he uttered them.
I believe it was around the same time as Rev. Jimmy Swaggart "fell from grace" (which is impossible, but it is used as a phrase to refer to a particular indiscretion of a sexual nature), Mr. Carter expressed that he, too, "had lust in my heart". To a person who does not understand Christianity this is tantamount to murder and disgusting. Those few, or many, as the case may be, judge within themselves that their sins are so much less than others' sins. In truth, sin is not measured pound for pound, nor in gravity by human standards. Each sin is forgiven by a mere whisper, no matter how eggregious, by a truly loving God, whose standard is ultimate and unchanging.
God Bless You as you find your way in this world.

FAVORITE APOLOGY OF THE WEEK:
http://chroniclesofkareem.blogspot.com/2010/01/forgiving-heart-of-child.html