Beating Bitterness

Pastor Joel @ Lakewood Church

You can't stop life from happening to you but you can choose how you react.

Bitterness poisons your attitude. It can rob you of your joy and keep you away from blessings.

Let it go and trust the Lord to be your vendicator.

When you feel bitterness trying to take root forgive quickly.

looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

Hebrews 12:15 NKJV

You can't see a root, it's hidden and under ground, but a bitter root will produce bitter fruit.

Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23 NKJV

It's easy to let what's on the outside get on the inside but you only have so much emotional energy for the day. It takes discipline to

You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.

II Timothy 4:15 NKJV

You can't see a root but that's where the root gets life. If you have bitter roots, then you're not getting the nourishment that you need. 

Ask God to reveal the root of your bitterness because you can't get rid of the symptoms without knowing the cause.

African village was overtaken with an illness and after research, they learned that the water was contaminated. So they traced the source to a stream and a dead family of pigs had died and become wedged.

You have to get passed closed doors to get to open doors. What's in your future is better than anything in your past.

Naomi lost her husband and sons. Naomi means "my joy" but she changed it to "Mara".

You may have had bad breaks but don't change your name.

I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?"

Ruth 1:21 NKJV

You may have changed your name but God didn't.  We know this because the scripture never refers to her as Mara. Likewise, you may have put some negative labels on but God still calls you victorious.

Naomi turned her focus away from her own problems and started helping Ruth.

But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."

Mark 16:6-7 NKJV

Don't stay here (in bitterness) because God is waiting for you there!  God has already gone ahead and prepared a place for you!  God is not in your past, He's in your future. Move forward.

When the prodigal son came back,  his brother was upset. 

"But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.

Luke 15:28 NKJV

His brother's bitterness didn't stop the party, it just kept him away from the party.

Get Over It

JOEL @ LAKEWOOD CHURCH

• A lot of people go through life thinking that people owe them something. Your poor upbringing, that bad relationship, none of it was a surprise for God. God wasn't having a bad day when he made me.
• Psalms 139:14 NLT
  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
• You can be pitiful or you can be powerful but you can't be both.
• God has given me the grace that I need to run my race. So I don't need to start comparing myself to others because I'm anointed to be me.
• God had already arranged a comeback for every setback.
• If anyone had a right to have a chip on their shoulder it was Job. There he was living right and he lost everything.
• It's very easy to make an excuse for being bitter. Sometimes we want things from people that they don't have. If you only look to people, they will always let you down. No one person can meet all of your needs, they will always fall short. Let people off of the hook. When you are bitter it poisons every area of your life.
• It's easy to remember what we didn't get.
• Psalms 27:10 NLT
  Even if my father and mother abandon me, the L ord will hold me close.
• Matthew 5:45 NLT
  In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
• A bitter root will always produce bitter fruit. If the whole world stinks then maybe you need to make some changes on the inside. When we don't let things go it doesn't hurt the other person, it hurts you. You forgive for your own sake.
• Hebrews 12:15 AMP
  Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God's grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it--
• Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown(October 19, 1876 – February 14, 1948), nicknamed "Three Finger" or "Miner", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher at the turn of the 20th century. Due to a farm-machinery accident in his youth, Brown lost parts of two fingers on his right hand[1] and eventually acquired his nickname as a result. Overcoming this handicap and turning it to his advantage, he became one of the elite pitchers of his era.
• Your handicap can become your advantage if you just get over it.