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Hebrews 12:15 - Dont Exchange Your Faith And Gods Grace For Bitterness.

Hebrews 12:15 (NIV) 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. 

Hebrews 12:15 (NLT) Look after each other so 
that none of you fails to receive the grace of 
God. Watch out that no poisonous root of 
bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. 

Hebrews 12:15 (ERV) Be careful that no one 
fails to get God's grace. Be careful that no one 
loses their faith and becomes like a bitter weed 
growing among you. Someone like that can ruin your 
whole group.  

Hebrews 12:15 (CWR) Be careful not to lose 
your hold on Gods grace by allowing bitterness 
to come into your hearts, for this will not 
only hurt you, but many others. 

COMMENTARY

Bitterness
   Bitterness has a tenacious way of taking 
root deep within the soul and resisting all 
efforts to weed it out. Bitterness occurs for many 
reasons. It might come from deep hurts you received 
as a child, hurts you cannot forget. Time, 
rather than diminishing the hurt, only seems to 
sharpen the pain. Bitterness can result from the 
hurtful words of a friend or coworker. Often the 
person who hurt you is unaware of the extent of 
your bitterness. You find yourself rehearsing the 
offense over and over again, each time driving the 
root of bitterness deeper within your soul. 
Bitterness can derive from a sense of being unjustly 
treated.  
   Bitterness is easy to justify. You can 
get so used to a bitter heart that you are even 
comfortable with it, but it will destroy you. Only God 
is fully aware of its destructive potential. 
There is nothing so deeply imbedded in your heart 
that Gods grace cannot reach down and remove 
it. No area in your life is so painful that 
Gods grace cannot bring total healing. No offense 
committed against you is so heinous that Gods love 
cannot enable you to forgive.  
   When you allow bitterness to grow in your 
life, you reject the grace of God that can free 
you. If you are honest before God, you will admit 
the bitterness and allow God to forgive you. 
Bitterness enslaves you, but God is prepared to remove 
your bitterness and replace it with His peace and 
joy. [Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry and 
Richard Blackaby Heb. 12:15] 

Dont Let Bitterness Wear You Down
   Any time you breathe bitterness, you 
suffocate your spirit. 
   Bitterness doesn't just choke out your 
happiness and your healthy emotions. It also strangles 
your spirit. When you have bitterness in your 
heart, you can't breathe spiritually. 
   Bitterness will only weigh you down and 
depress your spirit. Proverbs 27:3 says, "A stone is 
heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment 
caused by a fool is even heavier" (NLT). 
   Choosing bitterness is like choosing to 
carry around a huge weight with you everywhere you 
go, all the time. It's an unnecessary load, but 
youve made the choice to bear it. 
   Sometimes you may think you can hurt the 
person who hurt you by holding on to what 
happened"that by staying mad, the other person will become 
miserable. 
   But bitterness is a worthless weapon. It 
doesn't hurt the other person. It only makes you 
miserable. 
   The person that hurt you is probably not 
even aware that you're thinking about them all 
the time. Bitterness is like drinking poison and 
hoping it kills the person that hurt you. But that 
person is out there somewhere, eating a steak 
dinner and living their best life. They're not even 
thinking about you! They've already moved on with 
their life. Itll be a waste of your time to 
keep trying to use bitterness as a weapon. 
Youre only going to hurt yourself.  
   You may have been hurt by someone a long 
time ago, and I'm sorry you had to experience 
that pain. But heres the good news: They can't 
hurt you anymore! The only way they can continue 
to hurt you is if you choose to hold on to the 
hurt and replay it over and over in your mind. 
The Bible says in Job 18:4, "You are only 
hurting yourself with your anger" (GNT). 
   You dont have to hurt anymore. Let go 
of your hurt. Surrender it to God. When you do, 
youll breathe in the fresh, sweet air of freedom 
and be able to move forward with purpose. [Daily 
Devotional by Rick Warren: 
https://pastorrick.com/devotional/ re Pro. 27:3] 

He Can Heal the Hurt
   Grudge is one of those words that defines 
itself. Its very sound betrays its meaning. 
   Say it slowly: Grr-uuuud-ge.
   It starts with a growl. Grr  
Like a bear with bad breath coming out of 
hibernation or a mangy mongrel defending his bone in an 
alley. Grrr  
   Remove a GR from the word grudge and 
replace it with SL and you have the junk that grudge 
bearers trudge through. Sludge. Black, thick, 
ankle-deep resentment that steals the bounce from the 
step. No joyful skips through the meadows. No 
healthy hikes up the mountain. Just day after day of 
walking into the storm, shoulders bent against the 
wind, and feet dragging through all the muck life 
has delivered. 
   Is this the way you are coping with your 
hurts? Are you allowing your hurts to turn into 
hates? If so, ask yourself: Is it working? Has your 
hatred done you any good? Has your resentment 
brought you any relief, any peace? Has it granted 
you any joy? 
   Lets say you get even. Lets say you 
get him back. Lets say she gets what she 
deserves. Lets say your fantasy of fury runs its 
ferocious course and you return all your pain with 
interest. Imagine yourself standing over the corpse of 
the one you have hated. Will you now be free? 
   The writer of the following letter 
thought she would be. She thought her revenge would 
bring release. But she learned otherwise. 
   I caught my husband making love to 
another woman. He swore it would never happen again. 
He begged me to forgive him, but I could not - 
would not. I was so bitter and so incapable of 
swallowing my pride that I could think of nothing but 
revenge. I was going to make him pay and pay dearly. 
Id have my pound of flesh. 
   I filed for divorce, even though my 
children begged me not to. 
   Even after the divorce, my husband tried 
for two years to win me back. I refused to have 
anything to do with him. He had struck first; now I 
was striking back. All I wanted was to make him 
pay. 
   Finally he gave up and married a lovely 
young widow with a couple of small children. He 
began rebuilding his life - without me. 
   I see them occasionally, and he looks so 
happy. They all do. And here I am - a lonely, old, 
miserable woman who allowed her selfish pride and 
foolish stubbornness to ruin her life. 
   Unfaithfulness is wrong. Revenge is bad. 
But the worst part of all is that, without 
forgiveness, bitterness is all that is left. 
   The state of your heart dictates whether 
you harbor a grudge or give grace, seek 
self-pity or seek Christ, drink human misery or taste 
Gods mercy. 
   No wonder, then, the wise man begs, 
Above all else, guard your heart. 
   Davids prayer should be ours: 
Create in me a pure heart, O God. [Max Lucado 
Daily Devotional at maxlucado.com] 

LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE

Hebrews 12:14-16 - Warning Against Rejecting 
God's Grace. 

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2006/20060726-0927.html 

YOUR COMMENTS

If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or 
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either 
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in 
hearing from you.  Thanks in advance and let's keep 
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred 
Gibbs  

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

Most Important Decision in Life: 
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0 

A Man without Equal by Bill Bright: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo 

Seeking God Made Real: 
http://vimeo.com/31489782 

Prayer Made Real: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE 

Importance of Choice: 
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]  

Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David 
DeRose, MD, MPH: 
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart 

LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES 

Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: 
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/ 

Amazing Facts Bible Studies: 
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx  

Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides: 
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2 

Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: 
http://www.bibleresearch.info/ 

LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS

Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor: 
https://www.revelationnow.com/ 

Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of 
Adventist World Radio: 
https://bible.awr.org/en/the-signs/ 

Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW: 
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens 

Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657