Bitterness; a Powerful Stronghold

I just completed the third part of a four part series called “Master Life; the Disciple’s Victory”. Each Master Life book is designed as a six week study. One of the teachings in this section is each week a stronghold is addressed that may be established in us; as well as guidelines for breaking down a stronghold.

Bitterness was the first stronghold addressed. Bitterness is indeed a powerful stronghold. It blocks our relationships with others. More importantly it obstructs our relationship with God.

Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a list of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are emotions and attributes God wants us to live by. How does bitterness stack up against these attributes?

What is bitterness? Bitterness is characterized by intense antagonism or hostility. It is resentful or cynical. Bitterness is often the result of severe grief, anguish, or disappointment.

Do you harbor bitterness towards someone? Is bitterness being directed at you by someone?

If we consider this as a spiritual battle it is important to remind ourselves that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of the evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12 (TNIV)

Should we agree that the battle is spiritual, then it is not personal. If bitterness is the result of severe disappointment aren't we making that circumstance personal? If antagonism or hostility is being hurled at us isn’t the true danger in making this personal?

The Belt of Truth

Avery T. Willis, Jr. gives three reminders for utilizing the Spiritual Armor of the Belt of Truth.

1. Be true to yourself and to God when you pray or fight a spiritual battle
2. Hold onto the truth. Satan, the father of lies, would like to deceive you.
3. Master your emotions. Your emotions should be guided by the truth rather than the flesh or by Satan. The Belt of Truth covers the bowels or inward parts, referring to the place where feelings reside or to feelings themselves. The Belt of Truth helps you to control your emotions and not compromise because of your feelings. If the Belt of Truth is not in place, you cannot expect your prayers to be answered.

Whether the battle to overcome the spiritual stronghold of bitterness is offensive or defensive, as the case may be, are we true to ourselves and to God? Are we honest, in our own heart, as to what the circumstances really are and the part we play?

Are our actions and thoughts guided by what the Word tells us? Be careful that we are not conforming to the pattern of this world!

Pray that the Holy Spirit will help you master your emotions. Pray for “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 In other words, if we demonstrate these emotions we can’t go wrong.

I welcome your comments on dealing with the stronghold of bitterness.

Look for additional articles on breaking down this stronghold.

Blessings and curses

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:3 (TNIV)

This is a covenant between God and Abram. I have always thought of this verse as pertaining to the people of Israel. But this week, additional aspects of this scripture have been revealed to me.

First, as a born again Christian this covenant also applies to you and me. Those that bless us will be blessed and those that curse us will be cursed. I can accept that easily enough. What about you?

The true and tough revelation came when the minister pointed out that when I bless someone I bring blessings to myself. But also when I curse someone I bring curses to myself. This thought is one to ponder.

Curses are most often given through words. When we speak negatively about someone, when we question their motives without foundation, when we cast doubt over their intentions we are in fact cursing them. Then we are probably bringing a curse into our own life.

Lord forgive me!

I came to this word from a teaching series by Creflo Dollar called "Covenant of Favor" I'm including the link to his broadcast series, This is a five part series, so it will take some time to listen, but it is worth you time. This series begins on April 26, 2010. I hope it will be a blessing to you.


If you take the opportunity to listen to this teaching series bless me by sharing your thoughts.

God Bless You!!

Visions and Dreams

Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday 2010 and during my quiet time I read Acts Chapter 2. My attention was brought to verses 16-17:

No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (TNIV)

Visions and dreams, visions and dreams, this kept running through my mind. What is the difference between a vision and a dream?

I brought up dictionary.com and searched for both vision and dream.

·         Vision

o    imagination or unusually keen perception

o    a mental image of something imaginary

·         Dream

o    Goal

o    Imagine as possible

Well, since the words imagination, imaginary and imagine were intertwined in the definitions of vision and dreams, the next step was to view the definitions of those 3 words:

·         Imagine—to think, to suppose or guess

·         Imagination—creativity

·         Imaginary—existing only in the imagination

Given these definitions may I share my takeaway, my hypothesis?

1.     We are in fact living in the last days

2.     We need to be looking to our younger adults for creativity

3.     Our older ministry leaders need to take these imaginations and define what is possible and set goals

While our younger adults are full of energy and have the creativity to imagine they need to yield to the experience of their older counterparts in determining goals and what is possible. At the same time older leaders can’t afford to squelch the creativity of youth.

The two working together will accomplish more for the kingdom.

I hope you will share your thoughts as you read this.

Come, Deny, Take, Follow

Luke 9:23 If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

While meditating on this verse four words stood out, come, deny, take up and follow. In searching these four words on dictionary.com I noted these comments.

Come—to move toward someone, to present oneself, to begin to produce or yield

Deny—refrain from satisfying one’s desires or needs

Take up—to occupy oneself with the study or practice of

Follow—to conform to or obey, to pursue closely or tenaciously

Therefore in re-writing this verse based on these four words it may read something like this:

If anyone would move toward me, he must refrain from satisfying his own desires and occupy himself with the study or practice of the cross daily and pursue me tenaciously.

God does not require that we move toward him. We do so only by our free will. If we do move toward Him we are assured that he will accept us. Our gift is eternal life. This is the easy part in that all we have to do is believe.http://www.freefoto.com/preview/?ffid=05-08-5

Once we do come to Him we then must begin and continually seek His will and not our own. This means that we re-prioritize our life. We begin to replace our desires, motivated by the flesh, and seek what God’s purpose is for our lives. Harder than the first and is part of a daily, moment by moment awareness.

How do we know God’s will? By occupying ourselves with the study of His word. Everything we need is there for us in the word of God. Sounds simple, but it requires discipline. We must set aside http://www.freefoto.com/preview/?ffid=05-08-5priority time in spending time with God. For most this is harder still. The pressures of life are often a distraction. However, if we are truly refraining from satisfying our own desires we can make this a daily practice.

Once we begin to understand God’s laws, commands and precepts then we are to conform, obey, pursue closely and tenaciously observe. Dedication is required.

The good news is we can do this. We must choose to, want to, discipline ourselves to, and dedicate ourselves. Do most Christians observe coming, denying, taking up and following?

Please make comments of your experiences and thoughts.

The Sword of the Spirit

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Avery Willis, Jr., in Master Life; The Disciples Victory, describes three reminders in utilizing the Sword of the Spirit as part of the full Armour of God.

1. Grasp the word. When you are fighting with a sword you must have a firm grasp in the instrument. More on this later
2. The sword is the property of the Holy Spirit, let him direct you to the word necessary for a particular battle
3. Pray on the basis of the word. As God's word is revealed, use the word to help you to know what to pray for. 

This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know if he hears us--whatever we ask--we know we have what we asked of him I John 5:14-15

Grasp in the word:
In order to have a firm hand on the Sword of the Spirit you must grasp the word. In order to grasp the word you must have the word in your heart. Mr. Willis uses an illustration of a hand in describing how to get the word in your heart. Turn your hand over and imagine a H on your pinkie finger and then a T on your thumb. Then on the thee middle fingers envision an E, A, R.

H--hear the word

E--examine the word

A--analyze the word

R--remember the word

T--think on the word  

We can place the word in our hearts by hearing, thinking, examining, analyzing and remembering the word. By this we can have a firm grasp on the Sword of the Spirit and are able to use it in battle against the enemy.

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good word.          2 Timothy 3:16-17