Today's Passage - Hebrews 12:14-17

Hebrews 12:14-17   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.   We often hear that Christians must make an effort in getting to know the Lord better.  Besides that, this passage also teaches us two practical things in our lives that we must also make effort on.   First, we need to "make every effort to live in peace with everyone," because that would bring out the testimony of oneness.  When the Lord left the world, He prayed for the disciples, and He said that: "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one."  The Lord wants His church to be together as one.  John 13:34-35 says that "a new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."   In other word, if we don't have love for one another, others cannot recognize us as disciples of the Lord.  It makes the best testimony when we are together as one in Christ.  When we are in harmony, love will flow among us freely, and we'll bear witness for love.  In an environment of mutual trust and assistance we'd be able to see how love truly flows.  We can't just talk about loving God, but not to love those whom we can see.  Bible says that if we claim to love God whom we can't see, but not love those we can see, we're actually lying!  Therefore, we must come before God to get to know Him more, and we also need to seek to live in peace with everyone.   Second, we must make an effort to be holy.  Holiness is not just to live righteously, but it's to live a life that pleases God.  Author used the example of Esau to illustrate this point.  Esau disregarded spiritual blessings; he chose food over it and sold his status as the first son.  Even though he wanted to turn back to his father later, it wasn't because he sought God, but he was just seeking blessing.  Apparently Esau was always focusing on things of the world, but God; therefore, he was ultimately abandoned by God.  Being unholy doesn't mean committing major crime; when we are not focusing on God but have our eyes set on the world instead, our hearts will depart from God and cause us to commit sin.  May God help us to be willing to lay down all the burdens that hinder our live, and to come closer to Him to seek His beauty.  Let us know only be a Christian in our heart, but also a Christian in action.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you because you are the Lord who makes us holy.  We want to surrender our lives to your hands, and we ask that you come and rule our lives so that we may please you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!      Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow us on our Facebook page!