Servias Ministries Blog

Bitterness destroys the vessel it is in!

Bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 4:

27 do not give place to the devil.

29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

If we saw how undeserving of forgiveness we were when Christ forgave us, we would have no bitterness toward others.  How much more am I to forgive!  It doesn’t mean to trust again.  Trust must be earned, forgiveness doesn’t.

We receive forgiveness according to the forgiveness we give.

Jesus specifically dealt with this when He spoke in Matthew chapter 6:

12 Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us.

This is one aspect of being The Kingdom of GOD to earth as it is in Heaven.  Bitterness has become empowered, accentuated, emphasized, and promoted in the political conflict climate we live in.

GOD’S anger is always aimed at whatever interferes with Love!

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 4:

26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

In other Words, don’t let the passion of your emotions lead you to sin! Don’t let anger control you or be fuel for revenge, not for even a day.  Don’t give the slanderous accuser, the Devil, an opportunity to manipulate you!

The emotion of anger is natural.  It is natural to rise up in anger when something in society is broken.  It just can’t lead to sin, resentment, bitterness, self-promotion, retaliation, or vindication.  Instead, we are to come to a place where we become redemptive solutions.  Being led by The Holy Spirit will cause those solutions to come forth, allowing us to take the proper action for the situation.

Bitter people lose trust quickly.  Everybody in society is looking for people to trust.  We vote for the most trustworthy people on the ballot.  This is true for the neighborhood we move to, the school we put our children into, and the advice we receive from others.  Who has our best interests at heart?  Bitter people are not trustworthy.  Their emotions guide their actions at the expense of others.

Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.  At the beginning of the day, I have determined to live redemptively and before I am sinned against and prepared to forgive as The Lord’s Prayer instructs. 

I am committed to living the life of a forgiving person.  It doesn’t mean that I accept lying, stealing, or abuse done to me is acceptable.  I am not going to be controlled by the sins of another person.  I am not going to let the spirit of bitterness dictate to me my thoughts and my feelings.  I will rise above these circumstances because I am going to be a contributor to society.

What happens when I am filled with bitterness?  I’m holding on to the past.  If I am holding on to the past, I cannot hang on to the present and bring redemptive solutions that will affect the future.  We are called to be problem solvers, not problem makers.

Jesus spoke in Luke chapter 23:

34 While they were nailing Jesus to the cross, He prayed over and over, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.” The soldiers, after they crucified him, gambled over his clothing.

And Jesus spoke in Luke chapter 6:

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies and do something wonderful for them in return for their hatred.

28 When someone curses you, bless that person in return. When others mistreat and harass you, accept it as your mission to pray for them.

29 To those who despise you, continue to serve them and minister to them. If someone takes away your coat, give him as a gift your shirt as well.

30 When someone comes to beg from you, give to that person what you have. When things are wrongly taken from you, do not demand they be given back.

31 The way you want others to treat you is how you should treat everyone else.

There is no fruit of bitterness in His command.

Bitterness and jealousy masquerade as the need for justice!

The biggest battleground we face is the mind.  It’s in our thought world.  Bitterness refers to a deep-seated resentment, anger, and negativity, often stemming from feelings of being treated unfairly or wronged. It’s a destructive force that can corrode relationships and hinder spiritual growth.  We see ourselves as victims who want justice.

James recorded by The Holy Spirit in James chapter 3:

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of Wisdom.

14 But if there is bitter jealousy or competition hiding in your heart, then don’t deny it and try to compensate for it by boasting and being phony.

15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.

16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17]But the Wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Wrong thinking is where the demonic hides.  Jealousy is the desire for what someone else possesses and is a form of idolatry.  One thinks that they should have what the other person possesses and is viewed as not being fair or just.  We must root out this subtle form of idolatry.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2^nd Corinthians chapter 10:

3 For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign employing human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims. Instead, our spiritual weapons are energized with Divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide.

5 We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One.

6 Since we are armed with such dynamic weaponry, we stand ready to punish any trace of rebellion, as soon as you choose complete obedience.

Paul also wrote by The Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 4:

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,

18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the Life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;

25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak Truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another.

27 nor give place to the devil.

28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

If you are dealing with bitterness, resentment, or jealousy, you need to repent and confess your sin.  You must not give place to the devil but instead, be forgiving just as Jesus forgave you.  We need to succeed in feeling GOD’S Heart for the person in question.  The opposite of Love is not hate, it is indifference.  We can’t know another person’s heart and motives, only FATHER can.  We must let HIM deal with any perceived injustice as we walk in Love and forgiveness.

If you will wash another person’s feet, you will find out why they walk the way they do.  Think about it.  We are to serve and Love people as Jesus did.

Why is there such emphasis on patience?

We all have trials and how we deal with them determines the final results.  GOD’S process is slow because HIS interest isn’t in the outcome, it’s in the process.  Maturity doesn’t happen overnight.  Seeds planted don’t produce fruit all at once.  Our society encourages impatience by developing our mindset to focus on how fast versus how complete and how excellent.

James recorded by The Holy Spirit in James chapter 1:

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

In other Words, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can!

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

As I wrote yesterday, patience will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.  How joyful it will be to walk in full maturity in the areas you were formally walking in immaturity!  Maturity occurs in the journey.

Could you be patient for forty years?  Joshua and Caleb were, and in the end, they received their reward.

It is recorded by The Holy Spirit in Deuteronomy chapter 8:

1 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers.

2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every Word that proceeds from the Mouth of the LORD.

4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD Your God chastens you.

6 “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD Your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.

7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills;

8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;

9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.

FATHER has to chasten us so that we will walk in maturity and be good stewards as we walk in the power and authority of Jesus Christ.  HE will not give such power to the immature who would abuse the privilege.  Patience is required to achieve such maturity.

Unwavering patience develops complete trust in THE LORD.

King David recorded by The Holy Spirit in Psalm chapter 21:

7 For the king trusts in YAHWEH, and he will never stumble, never fall. The forever-Love of the Most High holds him firm.

As kings and priests, we should walk in the same mindset as David.

We all like the breakthrough when it happens.  Will we walk in joy while we are in the midst of the process of maturing?  What we are in the journey is what THE FATHER values.  It’s the day-by-day decisions to renew the mind to fully trust IN HIM for the outcome.  It’s the day-by-day decisions to put the Word of THE LORD in response to what we are confronting.  We guard our hearts with HIS Word expressed through declaration, confession, praise, and worship.

It takes nothing for GOD to take Israel out of Egypt and just plant them in The Promised Land, but they don’t have the character to stay there.  They will wander out.  If they don’t go through a journey to get there, the maturity developed in the journey is what keeps them there.

For you and me, it is the process that enables us to steward the wealth of fulfillment of the process.  The delay is to help us to see what is hard to see otherwise.

I don’t need the fruits of THE SPIRIT if I don’t have others in my life.  Those who are mature are intended to minister to those who are not.  Instead of complaining about the immature, we are to minister life to them.  I assure you that it will take patience on our part.  If we don’t learn patience, we will live a frustrated life.

We are to confront our challenges with joy!

We all have trials and how we deal with them determines the final results.  Without the proper approach, the problem will constantly bind us in fear

James recorded by The Holy Spirit in James chapter 1:

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

In other Words, when it seems as though you are facing nothing but difficulties, see it as an invaluable opportunity to experience the greatest joy that you can!

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

FATHER is inviting us into freedom.  We are to profit from our trials.  It’s not mind over matter freedom nor is it hype.  It’s not to psych yourself up.  The substance of liberty is at the end of this verse: patience will release perfection into every part of your being until there is nothing missing and nothing lacking.

The end result of “count it all joy” is that you are perfect, complete, lacking nothing.  The implication is that if I don’t count it joy when I face certain trials, I am incomplete, immature, and I will always be lacking.

How do you extract the nutrients or benefits from a trial?  There are a lot of people who are in all sorts of trials, and they are not becoming more like Jesus.  When you can give thanks in the midst of a trial, you have just tapped into how to extract out of that which the enemy designed to destroy you, and THE LORD reverses the effect so that it actually becomes the thing that sets you up with maturity, stability, and complete total provision.

Because THE LORD can see the end from the beginning, HE can come to you and minister joy at the beginning of your trial, knowing that in the end, you will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  You start choosing joy and start offering thanks in the midst of trial.  In doing this, you are going to cause the effect of that thing that was designed to destroy to be the very thing that promotes you into completeness, maturity, strength, and provision!

There is provision in the trial.  It isn’t just to help you endure.  Yes, endurance is important, he who endures to the end shall be saved. (Matthew 10:22, 24:13, Mark 13:13).

In this particular case, there is an invitation for triumph and an invitation for open vindication.  What is meant to take you out and cause you to lack is actually your point of access for personal gain and abundance in all areas of your life.

That problem that is so intimidating to you is actually breakfast.  Consider what Joshua and Caleb said by The Holy Spirit in Numbers chapter 14:

6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;

7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.

8 If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’

9 Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.”

An expression of faith comes from two guys that have refused to live in fear.  As far as they were concerned, the inhabitants of Canaan were toast!  They saw the giants that terrified a nation, they saw them as breakfast.  Bread nourishes.

A lot of people are spiritually fasting, they are not devouring the enemy.  We are to confront our trials head on with great joy knowing that THE LORD has set us up to utterly overcome and destroy the enemy.

Embrace your challenge!  If you are seeing through THE LORD’S Eyes, you will see with His promise.  He gives promises because He sees differently than we do.  This is why He called it The Promised Land.  If you don’t know HIS promises for a situation, you cannot properly embrace your challenge.

The destiny of every believer is to live in a liberated place of promise.