Overcoming bitterness

Psalm 73:21-25 (NLT)

Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside.  I was so foolish and ignorant—I must have seemed like a senseless animal to You.  Yet I still belong to You; You hold my right hand. You guide me with Your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.  Whom have I in heaven but You? I desire You more than anything on earth.  

When I think of bitter, I think of food that is bitter.  The Hebrew word for bitter is “chamets” that literally means “to be leavened, to be sour”.  So the word has some connection to food.  What kinds of bitter/sour foods come to mind?  Naturally bitter foods include coffee, unsweetened chocolate, lemons, beer, and olives while other kinds of sweet or salty tasting foods can become bitter when they are spoiled, e.g. tomatoes and other vegetables, milk, meat, and fruit.  Poisonous plants and spoiled food taste bitter so spitting out bitter food and drink is a natural survival mechanism.     

When you think of bitterness, you think of unpleasantness, sharpness, and being disagreeable.  What causes bitterness?  Certainly whenever something unpleasant happens in your life, like being mistreated, misunderstood,  wounded, lied to, cheated on, and many other unfortunate circumstances.  We all know right now of many bitter people in our lives; perhaps you are bitter right now too. 

Psalm 73 was written by a man named Asaph, a prophet under King David (I Chronicles 25:1-2), who is credited with writing Psalms 50 and 73 through 83.  Psalm 73 is known as a biblical example of how to respond when you see and interact with people who appear to be prosperous despite their sins and evil way of life (73:3-9).  Asaph was angry with these godless people who had money and possessions and were not being punished by God.  At times haven’t you felt exactly like Asaph when you, as a Christian, are doing your best to be faithful and obedient, yet are struggling financially while you see others who have no regard for God yet are apparently very well off and have so many things? 

Hopefully, you’ll reach a time, and maybe right now is it as you are reading these verses, where you realize that you are being bitter and need to stop.  You realize that remaining bitter is not going to accomplish anything other than give you ulcers, high blood pressure and loss of peace of mind.  Remaining bitter is a sign of foolishness and ignorance.  

What is the psalmist saying to do once you realize your heart is bitter and you are acting foolishly and ignorantly?  You return to God, you reach out to him, you talk to Him, you realize that you are His child and He loves you.  You ask for His guidance and wisdom and you believe with all your heart that He is leading you to a glorious destiny.  You also realize that all the riches of the earth are nothing compared to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  You recall what Jesus said, in Mark 8:36: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul?”  You realize that a good name is to be more desire than great riches (Proverbs 22:1).  Indeed the reward of being humble, not full of pride that riches typically produce in people, and fearing the Lord are riches, honor and life (Proverbs 22:4).

Release yourself from all bitterness and give it all over to the Lord.  Remember this wise quote from Harry Emerson Fosdick:  “Bitterness imprisons the soul, love releases it”.

Humility

Philippians 2:3-8 (NIV)

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

When you read this passage, you are reminded of the supreme example of humility—our Lord Jesus Christ.  Who else might you think of who exemplifies, as much as any human can exemplify, these characteristics of humility?  Who in your life has the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ?  While writing this I also wish to ask you if you think that others would name you as their example of humility, but that’s an inappropriate question because the mere fact that you might think this eliminates you as a humble person!

Humility is not putting yourself down but treating others with honor.  Exercising selflessness is simply focusing in on other peoples interests and not just your own.  How easy is it for you to focus on others’ interests?  How much time do you spend focusing on the interests of your spouse, your children, and, when you get together, with your friends and neighbors?

One of the characteristics of a great leader is humility.  Having the title of manager or director or even president in your company does not mean that you are a leader, at least an effective one.  Leaders lead people whereas all these titles mean that you supervise or manage projects and people, but not necessarily lead people.  Leaders direct their egos towards others and away from themselves.  David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, was viewed as such a humble leader.  One of his quotes:  "You shouldn't gloat about anything you've done; you ought to keep going and find something better to do."

Humble people do not like drawing attention to themselves.  Does this describe you or are you someone who has to be the center of attention?  A humble person treats everyone else with respect and courtesy even those who are (bluntly) no use to him or her.  Does this describe you? 

Here’s another interesting example of humility.  I heard a pastor say this while officiating at a wedding ceremony.  Being half-humorous, half-serious, he spoke to the husband and told him to remember four words that will make his marriage strong: “You are right, honey”.  While drawing laughter, this little piece of advice was true wisdom as it was emphasizing humility on the part of the husband.

If you claim to be a Christian, being humble must be a main part of your persona.  You are to follow the example of Christ and He was humble during His time on earth.  I’ve emphasized this before, but “ is the only verse in the Bible where Jesus described Himself as a person and the two words He used were “gentle” and “humble”.  What must change in your life so that these two words describe you?  You can start first with prayer and asking the Lord to fill you with His Spirit where His nine fruits (Galatians 5:22-23) become evident in your day-to-day life.
 

Your love for Jesus is proven by keeping His commandments

John 14:15,21,23 (NASB)

If you love Me you will keep My commandments.  He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

Jesus is speaking to His disciples at the Last Supper knowing that soon He will be arrested and beaten and crucified for the sins of the world.  Thus, His last words (recorded in John chapters 13 through 16) to those who He will be entrusting to carry on His ministry throughout the known world take on even more significance.   I’ve always thought that if you had to concentrate on a minimal number of chapters in the gospels, the two best sections are the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5 through 7) and John chapters 13 through 16.  These “sermons” are the cornerstones of Jesus’ ministry on earth and emphasize what it really means to be His disciples. 

These three verses (John 14:15, 14:21, and 14:23) show a connection between loving the Lord and keeping His commandments.  The word Jesus used for “keep” is “tereo” that means “to attend to carefully, take care of, guard, or observe”.  Therefore, when He says to keep His commandments, He is stressing the vital importance of holding tight to them, reverencing them, and doing what they say to do (or not do).

Keeping Jesus’ commandments is a result of true love for Him.  It is not that you first have to be obedient before you can love Him.  It is love that drives obedience.  It is obedience that proves our love.  You love Jesus because He first loved you (I John 4:19).  When you accepted His salvation by faith, you received the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14) and the Holy Spirit enables you to love the Lord (Galatians 5:22, Romans 5:5)    

You say that you love Jesus because He is your Savior and Lord.  Then you know His commandments and you keep them.  However, if you do not know His commandments (His word) and you do not follow them, your testimony about your love for Him is phony.  I think that it was Andy Stanley whom I heard preach from this passage some years ago where he was role-playing a dialogue with others who claimed to love Jesus and he kept responding, “No, you don’t”.  Why was he saying “no, you don’t”?  He was using examples of people living carnal lifestyles, not knowing their Bibles, not living the life of a disciple.   If you don’t read and study your bible, if you don’t make the effort to understand and apply biblical teaching, and you don’t practice the love that Jesus taught (love God and love others as yourself), how can you dare say to anyone that you love Jesus? 

When you think of keeping Jesus’ commandments, think of the action words He used, e.g. “go”,  “come”, “do”, “believe”, “give”, “pray”, “ask” “hear”, “learn”, “abide”, “do not fear”, “forgive”, “repent”,  and, of course, “love”.  You can review Jesus’ commands on several websites[1], although the better way is to spend the time reading the gospels carefully yourself.  

What does Jesus promise if you love Him and keep His commandments?  He and the Father will love you and make their abode in you.  What does that mean?  Abode can mean “home”, “dwelling”, or “to abide in”.  Also when you include the context of the other verses in John chapters 14 through 16 you learn that the Holy Spirit will be dwelling in you to help you and teach you God’s will and ways. 

Think about what it means to have the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit make their home in you.  Really think about this.  Do you believe that they exist in you?  Do you believe that you have eternity within you?  Do you believe that you have everything they can offer---peace, protection, provision, guidance, courage, and sacrificial love for others?  Yes, you have all this if you love the Lord and keep His commandments.   

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[1] e.g. http://www.hallvworthington.com/Scripture_Grouping/commands.html

Jesus understands your weaknesses; He faced the same testings as you

Hebrews 4:15-16 (NLT)

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. 

“Archiereus” is the Greek word used for High Priest.  The chief duty of the High Priest in the Old Testament was, once a year on the Day of Atonement, to enter into the Holy of Holies (from which the other priests were excluded) and offer sacrifices for his own sins and the sins of the people.  Jesus became the High Priest.  By receiving Him as your Savior He becomes your High Priest.  Jesus offered Himself as an expiatory sacrifice to God for all sin of mankind.  After His death and resurrection, He ascended into heaven where today He continually intercedes on behalf of all His believers.  He intercedes on your behalf, every day, whenever you need Him, to help you get through whatever problem or challenge of life you face. 

What is so different about our Lord and Savior, compared to any other religion, is that He Himself lived a life on earth just like everyone else.  Because of His humanity, He faced the same testings of life that you have or will face.  Just think about the different ways that He was tested---by Satan in the wilderness (Matthew 4 where Satan tempted Him by the three temptations listed in I John 2:16—lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life), by the scribes and Pharisees in all their confrontations against Him described throughout the gospels, by so many people who rejected Him, and by those who eventually crucified Him.

However, because of His divinity, He did not commit any sin in facing these testings and temptations.  He fled fleshly temptations, quoted the Word of God to fight off worldly temptation, and directly told Satan to “get behind Me” (Matthew 16:23).  Since He knows exactly what you are up against in your life, you must believe this and trust in Him to help you overcome whatever testings and temptations are going on in your life right now and for as long as you live. 

Scripture says, “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God”.  What does this mean?  It means to come to God in prayer and claim His promises to help you.  Frances (Fanny) Crosby, hymnist who wrote the words to “Blessed Assurance” wrote these words to a song based on Hebrews 4:16—

Come, ye who from your hearts believe

That Jesus answers prayer

Come boldly to a throne of grace

And claim His promise there.

That, if His love in us abide

And we in Him are one,

Whatever in His Name we ask

It surely will be done.

Coming to God in prayer.  Through Christ, He died to save you and He lives every day to save you and keep you.  He tells you to come to Him.  You receive His mercy (He covers the things you should not have done) and you find His grace (He empowers you to do what you should do but do not have the power on your own).  He helps you when you need it most and Greek phrase used here literally means “in the nick of time”.  You will receive mercy and find grace to help you for every need always in the nick of time.

The old saying is true…….God’s timing is perfect, never early, never late.  Just be patient and trust in Him and don’t complain while you wait.