Bitterness & Unforgiveness
Call Apostle John Denson at (910) 874-0723 to schedule this message and more at your local church. Anointed power point message to show people how important it is to forgive others.
Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail (be unsuccessful in achieving one's goal) of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness (poisonous root) springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; (many have been corrupted by bitterness)
Roots run deep and are beneath the ground so you don't see them. When we have deep roots of bitterness all we can produce is a bitter tree that brings forth a bitter fruit. We must get rid of bitterness and unforgiveness if we want to make it into Heaven.
Ephesians 4:30 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: (get rid of all bitterness and grieve not the Holy Ghost)
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Our brain is small, and even though we can forgive someone sometimes it is impossible to forget what someone done to us. We may constantly be reminded of what they did by other things we see. If your spouse ran around on you and you forgave them you would still be reminded of the affair every time that you a see car similar to what the other person drives.
Forgiving is not forgetting, but letting go of the hurt and not seeking revenge.
Who are you really hurting if you are holding in bitterness, and unforgiveness? Are you hurting the person that wronged you or are you hurting yourself?
A small scratch doesn’t take long to heal, but it takes a deep cut a longer time to heal.
A small scratch might be fine with a little direct pressure or a band aid where the deep cut could require stitches or even surgery. Healing needs to start immediately. The deeper the cut, the longer the healing process might take. Start your healing today, and God will intervene and help things go smoother. The closer a person is to you the deeper the cut and the longer it takes to get over it. You can't let the bitterness fester. You must forgive. Sometimes it takes time, but you have to let go of the hurt.
James 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not (don’t praise the LORD), 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.
We are not even to praise God with a heart full of bitterness. We don’t have legal rights to praise God while we are serving the devil.
We might know how to shout, dance, and praise the LORD,but we don't know how to live Holy.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
19 Quench not the Spirit.
Quench; extinguish, like putting out a fire of God. We can do this by being bitter and rendering evil.
1 Corinthians 5:2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
Here we are being told that by being puffed up, full of bitterness that our glorying if not good. Leaven was make the whole loaf rise. A little sin will corrupt our whole body, and soul.
Isaiah 58:4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
Here we see that God doesn't even want us to fast if we have strife and bitterness in our heart
Matthew 5:23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Now we see that God doesn't want our offering if someone else is bitter with us until we try to be reconciled.
Psalms 66:13 I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.
16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Now we see that even our prayer is not heard by God if we are living in sin. We are even told in the word of God that a sinners prayer is an abomination to the LORD (unless it is a prayer of repentance)
Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
We do not have to right to pray to God if we are living in sin, and bitterness in our heart is sin. We are not to praise God nor fast if we have strife in your heart because it is not pleasing to God. God don’t even want our offering if someone has ought against us or if we are in strife. We are quenching the spirit which is putting the fire out, and even our prayers are and abomination to God. God wants people that have love in their heart like his son Jesus had.
Matthew 18:21Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Here we see that Jesus is saying to keep on forgiving other like He keeps on forgiving us time and time again.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
If we don't forgive men for the thing s they have committed against us then God will not forgive us for the years of sins that we have committed against Him. Unforgiveness is an ongoing active sin. When you refuse to forgive, you continue sinning until you finally forgive or until you die and are judged by God.
Has anyone ever done something so bad to you that even today you want to see them spend eternity in the lake of fire? If this is so, then you need to find forgiveness in your heart and get rid of your bitterness starting today. You need this spiritual healing that only true forgiveness brings. Pray that God will help you find forgiveness in your heart so you can start the healing process. Bitterness is from the devil, and not from God. You must realize that Jesus died on the cross for their sin just like he died for you sin and my sin too.
Bitterness represents spiritual failure in the life of the believer. The Christian is to live by God's principles and one vital principle is demonstrated in God’s amazing grace. That we are to forgive those that trespass against us. It is impossible for us to go through life without being hurt many times by others. We will be wronged by our family, friends, spouse, neighbors, co-worker, strangers as well as many others while we live in these physical bodies.
Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
We replaced wisdom with bitterness and unforgiveness, contention; heated disagreement, debate or argument, conflict
In bitterness we are in an emotional state of feeling let down and you are unable to do anything about it, and you might be feeling like a ‘loser’. You are hurt and angry at the person that caused the hurt.
If you are raped you must forgive your rapist, but you don’t give them a chance to rape you again. You must also stop them from rapping others. Forgiving someone does not mean that you are a doormat that they can keep steeping on.
Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
God forgives us for His own sake. We must forgive others for our own sake.
We forgive them so we can heal, and we don’t live a life of bitterness. We do it so we can live a life of peace
WHAT IS KEEPING YOU AWAKE AT NIGHT?