“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.” (Hebrews 12:15)
(Photo: Teton Explosion by Mark Kiver)
Hi Men:
I pray you’ve had a great week “in” the Lord. A few of us were discussing one of Walt’s older messages, “Many Aspire, Few Attain.” Some years ago we did a full study in the men’s group of this teaching. In his opening salvo Walt stated:
There’s a war on today. We wrestle in this war day after day – it’s a spiritual conflict. As the Apostle Paul said, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). This spiritual warfare is probably intensifying rather than receding.
Those words ring so true today and we all must be so careful not to let even one seed of bitterness creep into our mind. In Walt’s message, he had 14 points. I thought it might be good to share just one of the points with all of you. Here is point #10 from “Many Aspire, Few Attain.”
Avoid the root of bitterness
“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:15).
The tenth reason many will never make it is because of envy, jealousy and bitterness – a competitive spirit. A bitter spirit, a spirit of resentment poisons not only you, but others.
A root of bitterness is the result of real or supposed ill treatment. It does not make any difference. You can get just as bitter thinking people treated you badly as when they actually do treat you badly. Feeling hurt and sorry for yourself are bedfellows of bitterness. Self-pity is the other side of the coin of the root of bitterness. Have you ever felt sorry for yourself? Have you ever felt hurt over the way people have treated you? Then you are bordering on bitterness.
“ George Washington Carver once said, “I will never let another man ruin my life by making me hate him.” Those are profound words. Because you see, when you hate, you destroy yourself.
Walt continued: If God is God – and He is – then nobody can hurt you. Nobody. That simply means that anytime you are angry with another person, it’s not really the other person that you are angry with – it’s God. God is the One who allowed that to happen in your life. Whenever circumstances go amiss and things don’t go your way, and you get angry and become resentful and bitterness begins to creep into your heart, remember your complaint is always with God. Never with anyone else. There is no such thing as having a problem with another person. It doesn’t exist. And bitterness will destroy you if you let it.
Men, these truths are foundational if our purpose is to walk in harmony with the Lord. If you have a problem with the paragraph above, be a Berean (Acts 17:11 ) and go back to the Word. If any of you would like the PDF of this teaching, just email me.
See you at Noon!
ZION 2020: Dec 4-6 Mark your calendar. More info coming!
Imputed Worth – Day 248 Red Book
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If your like me, you’re getting plenty of emails from your friends concerning the events surrounding our nation. This essay was forwarded to me and it gave me more than just a little pause, it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. It goes way beyond the politics of parties. It was written by Yoram Hazony who is the President of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem: https://herzlinstitute.org/en/people/yoram-hazony/
The Challenge of Marxism – Quillette
https://quillette.com/2020/08/16/the-challenge-of-marxism/
This article reminds me of Jerry Bangert’s book: The Discipline of Delusion
And for your Catholic buddies that may be dealing with the fear of the Coronavirus, here are 2 blogs you can send them from the National Catholic Register by a Msgr. Charles Pope.
Coronavirus Stalks in the Darkness, But Do Not Be Afraid
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/msgr-pope/be-not-afraid
‘Coronavirus, Where is Thy Sting?’ — Why This Gripping Fear is Useless
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/msgr-pope/coronavirus-where-is-thy-sting-why-we-must-not-be-seized-by-fear
A brother sent me this quote by C.S. Lewis from his book, The Screwtape Letters. I read the book years ago and as you might know, it is about Uncle Screwtape and his nephew, Wormwood…. Both are demons try to deceive the human or patient. Screwtape is instructing Wormwood. When I read the quote, I didn’t remember it, but I did like it. I researched it and found it was FAKE. C.S. Lewis never stated this quote. So if you see it being circulated, know that it is FAKE. By the way, if you haven’t read The Screwtape Letters, I highly recommend it!!
