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Friday, November
28, 2008
Bitter Or Sweet
Romans 12:12-14 Rejoicing in hope;
patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; (13) Distributing to
the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. (14) Bless them which
persecute you: bless, and curse not. (KJV)
You know, not everything in this life as
a Christian is going to be easy to stomach, or swallow either, sometimes it
can be a bitter pill. What we need to avoid as believers in Christ is not
to allow the bitterness to take root, but rather as we see described in the
above verse, continue to bless and not curse. In a time or season of trial,
or even tribulation, patience is the only way to handle it; which is not a
virtue of our lower nature and not something we see put into practice much
anymore. In this drive through, fast paced era we see around us, the enemy
would like nothing better than to see the children of God running to and
fro seeking His answer rather than being still and finding it in the still,
small, quiet voice of God.
Colossians 3:8-10 But now ye also put off
all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of
your mouth. (9) Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old
man with his deeds; (10) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge after the image of him that created him: (KJV)
Again we see that if we allow anger to
take root then it leads to many other areas, none of which are good or of
God. Verse 9 uses the term lie not, which is what we are doing when
motivated by wrath, magnifying the problem and not the solution. When one
allows anger or wrath to take root it can have a negative effect on others
because our words are bitter in nature, which can be like a poison
spreading one to another. Remember the wrath of man cannot work the
righteousness of God; so the madder you allow yourself to get the farther
you withdraw yourself from the truth.
Hebrews 12:14-15 Follow peace with all
men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (15) Looking
diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of
bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; (KJV)
Follow peace, not just with those that
are likeminded in Christ, but as we see again, as much as possible we are
to follow it with all, which is much easier said than done. We are saved by
grace through faith; and as we see, many have fallen from grace because
they are no longer giving ear and attention to the things above but have
become entangled and have allowed bitterness to take root. The word
bitterness refers to poison as well as hatred, and keep in mind that, what
is in the abundance of the heart is going to come out of your mouth, and it
does have an effect on others. The Lord said out of the abundance of our
heart should be flowing living waters which are meant to give life to us as
well as those around us.
James 3:11-13 Doth a fountain send forth
at the same place sweet water and bitter? (12) Can the fig tree, my
brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both
yield salt water and fresh. (13) Who is a wise man and endued with
knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with
meekness of wisdom. (KJV)
You know, if you went to get a drink of
water somewhere and saw a bunch of people sick around the fountain, you
probably would want to hold off from taking a sip. As we see in verse 12,
certain trees should be producing a certain kind of fruit, because anything
else would go against the nature it was intended to produce. Spiritually
the same principle holds true for us as well; a fountain of life should not
be spewing bitter water, which would tell us that it has tapped into a
different source or well.
James 3:14-16 But if ye have bitter
envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the
truth. (15) This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual,
devilish. (16) For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and
every evil work. (KJV)
Yes there are times that we get angry,
frustrated, and upset with the way things go sometimes. The key is to be
quick to hear, and much slower to speak, and slow to the point of wrath. As
a man thinks in his heart so is he; so the more you meditate and give ear
to wrath, the more that bitter water is being dispersed to others and by it
many are defiled. Remember, it is not that which goes into our mouth that
defiles us, but it is what we allow to come out of our mouth that can cause
the defilement.
Deuteronomy 29:18-19 Lest there should be
among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this
day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest
there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; (19) And
it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless
himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the
imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: (KJV)
Sometimes people think that they will
find peace in vengeance, thinking that if they can get even or stick it to
someone else that then they will find contentment. As verse 19 makes it
known, that these thoughts and ideas can cause one to become diluted, like
a drunk that has had a few too many drinks. I am not saying that just
because we get angered or frustrated at times that we are not still
Christians, what the point is, is not to meditate on it and let it become too
big a distraction, but learn and practice how to cast it upon the Lord and
leave it there, knowing vengeance is His not ours.
Ephesians 4:26-28 Be ye angry, and sin
not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: (27) Neither give place to
the devil. (28) Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him
labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to
give to him that needeth. (KJV)
How long should we be angry? Well, don’t
even let it take root or last one day, but rather put it to rest before
sundown. How do we give place to the devil and allow him to steal? Well, by
holding on to wrath and bitterness; it allows the old man to rob from the
new man, which we are in Christ, and distract us from hearing the truth
that would set us free to pluck up this root or even roots of bitterness we
have allowed to take hold.
Ephesians 4:29-32 Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (30) And grieve
not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. (31) Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and
evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: (32) And be ye kind
one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (KJV)
How do we grieve the Holy Spirit? Well,
by letting a root of bitterness spring up in a well that should have been
bringing forth sweet water. Once we allow this bitterness, wrath, or anger
to take hold, it is then followed by evil speaking, which is a result of malice
that we allowed into the heart. Forgive and forget. How often do we forgive
others? Our Lord used the example 7x70, not that we number or keep a tally
sheet, but rather that every time the enemy tries to remind us we cast it
down and not let it take root. God bless, and let rivers of living waters
flow through you this day.
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