11-2-2014

         Good Morning All,

          Ephesians 4:31; “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”

      A man was camping in the woods in the Black Hills.  As he went to go through the stream, he was bitten by a rattlesnake.  They rushed him to the hospital where the anti-venom was administered.  As he was leaving the hospital, he asked the doctor if the bite was truly deadly.  The doctor told him, “No, the bite is not deadly it is the venom that the bite leaves.  That is what really kills you.”  

    That is true in our life as well.  It is never the “bite” that really does the harm.  In our life it is never the cruel word that is said about us that kills us.  It is not the slight against us.  It is not the cruel action against us.  It is not the way that others mistreat us.  These things do not kill us.  They hurt us; they hurt us a lot but they do not kill us.

    What will kill you is the “venom” that these acts leave in us.  The bitterness, the anger and the hatred that we feel toward others is what kills us.  It is the residual that we carry in our heart that truly destroys us and it destroys us from within and not from without.  It is the anger that we cling to; it is the bitterness that we keep hold off that causes us to suffer and die. 

     This is why Jesus tells us over and over, throughout the entire of Scriptures not to hold onto the hurt that others cause us.  This is part of why he tells us to forgive those who sin against us.  As long as we hold onto the pain they caused us, the bitterness and the “venom” grows within us and poisons us to death.  This poison separates us from God’s family as we stand on the outside looking in.  As we hold onto the wrath we feel, the devil leads us down the path that leads to sin which leads to our death.  The bitterness we hold onto and allow to fester and to consume us eventually will destroy us.

    So Jesus tells us to let it go.  Let go of the bitterness and the anger.  Throw the pain away and cling to God’s hope.  It may take some time.  It might take many times of throwing away the anger and the bitterness before it is finally all gone but we must keep throwing it away.  As long as the venom is in us, as long as the bitterness remains, we are susceptible to the revenge mode that the devil tries to entice us into.  Sin remains crouching at our door.  Jealousy, pettiness, greed, and the like all grow from the poison of resentment and bitterness.  As long as these remain festering in our system, we are separating ourselves from God.  So let the bitterness go; let the anger subside and grab onto the incredible promise of God’s mercy actively growing in our lives to be the beacon we desire.  Focus on the good things; focus on God’s grace.

Father of all grace and truth, lead us to release from our body the poison of anger, resentment, bitterness and malice.  Guide us by your Spirit to walk the path of your righteousness.  Lead into all truth and in all truth into all mercy.  Move us to show the same mercy to others that you have shown to us.  Free those who are holding onto their bitterness.  Release them that they may know your peace.  In the precious name of Jesus, our Risen Savior we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret