Power Of Dead Things

Key Scripture:  “Be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace which God gives, for it he does there can very easily spring up in him a bitter spirit which is not only bad in itself but can also poison the lives of many others.”  Hebrews 12:15, J. B. Phillips

Power Point:

     We give our power to death or life don’t we?  I was reading an article by Francis Frangipane recently on the subject of bitterness.  Now I know that none of you have ever had a problem with that but just in case there are one or two people who have, I’d like to share something that he said, “a bitter soul is a spirit trapped in a time warp; they live in the memory of their pain. Several years ago I met a woman who had suffered a difficult divorce. I talked with her every six months or so for two years, and each time we talked she said exactly the same negative things about her ex-husband. Although she was divorced from him, she was now married to a bitter spirit that held her captive to her heartache.

An embittered soul is one that continually blames someone else for their situation.”

     In Sozo ministry we lead people to forgive those who have hurt them. It doesn’t matter if that person was right or wrong, forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. If we do not forgive then we are in grave danger. We are in danger of allowing bitterness to choke the life out of us and our life ends up in the grave; way too early and not as a part of God’s plan for us. We might as well bury ourselves right then because if we don’t the poison of bitterness will eventually kill us.

     I had a friend once who would call every morning and much like the woman Francis tells us about, no matter where the conversation was headed, she would get right back into the groove of bitterness.  The interesting thing is that over time, I saw that root bear fruit. It wasn’t just between her and this person, it began to grow until everyone in her life became entangled.  She didn’t trust anyone. She became critical and judgmental. I held on for as long as I could but after a couple of years the Lord gave me the freedom to release her to Him. You see, I would try to encourage her, sharing the Truth that would set her free but she wouldn’t listen. Every sentence was met with “BUT!”. She wasn’t listening to God either. She had a perfectly good excuse to live in the wilderness.  She also had a perfectly good opportunity to live in the Promised Land. But to my knowledge, she never did.

      How about you? Have you offered yourself the gift of your own forgiveness? Are there places where you’ve come a little short of God’s grace for others or even for yourself? Some people live their entire lives from the grave.  They get up and get dressed every morning from the grave. They dig up their old pain and take it with them.They go to work or shopping or wherever their day will take them, dressed in grave clothes. Tucked under their arm is a list of offenses that they carefully protect. They will never rest in peace.  Beloved, that’s no way to live is it? Jesus rose from the grave with such joy, knowing that because He had been there temporarily, you wouldn’t have to live there anymore. Graves are smelly, and cold and dark. So are bitterness and unforgiveness. Isn’t it time to be free of them once and for all? 

Of course it is. Tell them to rest in peace.

Power Thought:

If He can forgive you, so can you. If He can forgive them, you can too. Forgiveness is part of your heavenly package deal. He gave you a real gift. Why not give it to someone else. It's a legal "re-gift".