Any Bitterness?

Forgiveness Ensures Freedom “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” – Hebrews 12:15 In business and life the opportunity to harbor bitterness for a wrong suffered is great. We are given plenty of opportunities to grow bitter from relationships that bring hurt and pain. The writer of the Hebrews passage above admonishes us not to miss the grace of God so that we won’t take up bitterness as a response to life’s pain. He cautions us against this because he knows that a bitter root grows and grows until it eventually defiles many others through a wake of bitterness. 2 Thess. 2:16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. If bitterness is allowed to take root, we become imprisoned to it. God’s grace will no longer have as great an effect in our lives. We become ineffective, insensitive, and spiritually dead. We can even become physically ill from it. Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. God does not live in bitterness. He lives in GRACE. He has provided grace for every person to walk in. 2 Cor. 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. One day I was challenged to deal with an individual who hurt me terribly. I was faced with a decision. Would I choose bitterness, or would I choose grace? Oh, how my natural tendency was to choose bitterness. BUT God provided the courage to choose grace. With that grace came FREEDOM – a freedom to love and even accept the person who was the source of such pain. This is the real place where Christ’s power is most revealed. We cannot live without His supernatural grace. Are you in need of grace today? It is there for the receiving. It will take courage to accept it and walk in it. This will be your step to freedom. Let us discern now the condition of our spiritual environment. Has it been defiled by the negative words spoken from a heart of frustration? Rise up now and exercise your senses to discern both good and evil, and choose to only retain that which is good. Ask for the wind of the Lord’s Spirit to blow through your circumstances to purify and clear your atmosphere of all pollution. Let it be! Seek Forgiveness and receive Freedom. Mark 7:20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” These are all things WE battle, but our All-Powerful God can perform the greatest miracle of all and change a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. God can reveal to us who the real “me” is. The person He designed me to be and, God gives us the power to overcome these things that pollute us. We have the mind of Christ and I am claiming that today in the Name of Jesus Christ my Savior!! Hebrews 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. *Saving grace – nothing we say or do can ever cause us to lose our relationship with God *Growing grace – empowers us to bare fruit and to be more like Jesus *Sustaining grace – Know Gods grace is timely. Expect Gods grace to strengthen us. * God allows trials that we cannot handle in our own strength to display His strength through us. *You can’t finish strong without His sustaining grace. When God becomes a strength of your life, no one or nothing can pluck you out your grace. *God wants you to finish and finish well. *He wants us to be successful. We all need to Gods sustaining grace when you are tempted, tired and in trouble. Gods sustaining grace will keep you from falling and being trapped in your troubles. As we know the devil comes to steal, kill and defeat. When you become a believer, saved by grace, you are NO longer the devils property. He will want you back. God never promised that the road would be easy, but God DID promise that He’d never leave you. Just stand and know that God will be right there. Trust Gods grace to mature us. Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Jesus experienced life. He sympathizes with our weakness. He understands all the temptations we face. However, Jesus did not fall. He withstood temptation. He ascended into heaven. He now interceeds for us. Because Jesus endured, we endure. We confidently approach his throne. We receive mercy. We find grace. 1 Peter 5:10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Phil 4: 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.