Don't let bitterness take root

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See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.   --Hebrews 12:15 I’ve never claimed to be the world’s best gardener. But I do know that if you let weeds go, they can take over an entire garden. But to get rid of weeds, you have to do more than clip them off at the top. You have to dig them out by the root. The same is true for weed of bitterness. Today’s verse points us to the need to deal with bitterness. And for good reason. It’s a root that can easily take hold in any one of our hearts. What does a root of bitterness look like? It’s holding on to an offense, either large or small. It’s determining to hold hostility in your heart towards someone who’s hurt you. It’s anger towards another person that’s not dealt with appropriately. What happens is this offense, hostility, or anger festers and grows. And eventually, it can take over your life! It’s a like a cancer that metastasizes in the human soul. Over the new several days, we’re going to be taking a closer look at bitterness and why you shouldn’t allow it to have any place in your heart or life. In preparation for that, I want to encourage you to ask the Lord Jesus to prepare your heart. Ask Him if there is any root of bitterness in your soul right now. And commit to digging up the weed of bitterness from the garden of your life! If left to fester, bitterness will take root and destroy your life.

Missing the Kingdom of God

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Luke 17:20–21
The Jewish people of Jesus’ time wanted one thing more than almost anything else—freedom from the occupying Roman Empire. They viewed all of the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah through the lens of a political leader who would bring about a restoration of the freedom and prominence that Israel had enjoyed under David and Solomon nearly one thousand years earlier. They were not focused on the spiritual teaching of Jesus and His emphasis on the things of God. They were looking for outward physical deliverance rather than inward spiritual salvation. As a result, many of those who had the greatest opportunity for accepting Jesus completely missed it. The Kingdom of God was offered to them, but they rejected it.
Often even those of us who have trusted Christ as Saviour fail to grasp the full impact of what the Bible tells us about the Kingdom of God. We easily fall into the trap of focusing on the temporal, not realizing that the things God values are not the things the world around us holds dear. Obedience to Scripture requires that we give up what the world treasures to grasp the things God values. F. B. Meyer wrote, “Earthly thrones are generally built with steps up to them; the remarkable thing about the thrones of the eternal kingdom is that the steps are all down to them. We must descend if we would reign, stoop if we would rise, gird ourselves to wash the feet of the disciples as a common slave in order to share the royalty of our Divine Master.”

Today’s Growth Principle: 

If we do not have Christ reigning as King in our hearts, we will miss out on being part of His Kingdom work.