Hebrews 12

http://www.esvbible.org/Hebrews+12/

We are surrounded with so many examples of faith, so we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin. There are many things that can hinder us from our walks with God. Sin is only one of those. Anything that distracts us from God and does not further our relationship with Him is a hinderance and an obstacle. We must stay focused on Jesus, who is the source and goal of our faith. He always saw the joy ahead of Him, and He endured the death on the cross and ignored the humiliation it brought Him. After that, He received the highest position in Heaven, the one right next to God. Think of Jesus who endured the opposition of sinners, so that you do not give up. You struggle with sin, but that won't kill you. God encouragingly tells us that we, as His children, must pay attention when He disciplines us and not to give up when He corrects us. He disciplines everyone He loves and severely disciplines everyone He loves as a child. If we struggle with sin, it means the God is correcting us and disciplining us for it. If He disciplines and corrects us, He loves us as His children and gives us His approval. If we are His children and have His approval, we have true faith and our reward and inheritance will be eternal life. It's those who don't struggle with sin who must watch out because it is not that they do not sin, everyone sins. If someone does not struggle with sin, it is because Jesus does not discipline them for doing wrong because they are not His children. Look at it this way. We all have parents or some sort of parental figures. When we do something wrong, they discipline us for it. When they do so, it's not because they hate us and they just wait for us to do something wrong, it's because they love us, and they want whats best for us. As we get older, we see this, and we respect them for it. If we're not disciplined, we are not truly part of the family because parents don't discipline other people's children. They don't care if they do what is wrong because it is not their responsibility. When God calls us His children, He takes that responsibility for us. He disciplines us so that we can become more like Him, and who doesn't want that? At first, it causes more pain than joy, but later, we have a greater peace about doing the right thing. If God corrects you after you sin, you shouldn't be discouraged because that means He cares enough about you that He wants you to have a greater peace that comes with doing what's right. If you keep walking the right way after the wrong way injures you, you will heal and see how much better it is to stay that way. Live peacefully with everyone. Make sure that everyone knows the grace they can receive from God. Don't let the worldly things distract you like they did Esau, who sold his rights as firstborn for a meal. Then, when he lost the firstborn blessing, there was nothing he could do to undo what he had done. When you come to God, you do not come to something you can see or feel on your skin, or hear or smell. You come to the great heavenly city, to the angels gathered together cheering you on towards the goal. You come to all of the other children of God in encouragement. You come to Jesus with the new promise for life and the cleansing blood that carries a greater sacrifice than Abel's. Be careful to listen to God when He speaks. The Israelites refused to listen to Him when He spoke to them form Earth, and they suffered dearly. Think how much more we will suffer if we do not listen to Him speak to us from Heaven. His voice shook the Earth, and He said that once more He will shake not only the Earth but the sky as well. He can shake and change what He has made. All that He has not made can remain permanent. Because we are thankful, we must serve a God we fear with awe. Our God is a consuming fire.