A Bitter Situation Brings a Poisonous Outcome by Brother Duke Hansen

         In the flesh, how you treat someone whether good, bad, or indifferent they will do the same to someone else. It's passing your influence onto others. This also goes on in the spiritual sense. For example, if you are around someone who carries a gossiping spirit or one that surmises evil, often times you could be vulnerable to those spirits and spread them to others. As we look at the big picture today, the presence of gray where there should be black and white sands off the fundamental differences between the world and a lot of churches. At this very moment, the church needs more God given light and not light devised by man. There needs to be a casting off of poor man thinking or blue collar thinking. Poor has nothing to do with money, and everything with your mindset. That mindset is on you, your actions, deeds, your fault. If we really want to get our flesh upset, we could look up Jesus' point of view involving fairness, on giving, on forgiveness.

        Even as God (who sits on the throne) for Christ's sake (God made into man and crucified for our sins) has forgiven you. A harsh truth is that the flesh want's to destroy you, but the Holy Spirit residing in you is there to save you! We have asked to ourselves often what are things that God forgives? To truly forgive someone you don't need to harbor resentment or ill will to them in passing. That burden is dropped. Forgiving yourself is something very hard to overcome. If we do not forgive we will not be forgiven. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 32;

        32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

        Let us move back a few verses to 26.

        26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 

        There have been and will be many of people who will attempt to fight their own reaction to something which angers them. It has never worked out in the flesh because anger produces a reaction. The verse says you can get mad, but be spiritual about it. The majority of chapter 4 is really an instruction guide for people on their walk. Selfish behavior is hard to control. It is a spiritual issue and not a carnal one. The goal is to know who you truly are and how well are you going to make it through the press. 

        Looking briefly to Hosea chapter 8 and verse 7 "For they have sown the wind" In our walk we are tilling (breaking up) ground to sow a seed. What is our seed? It's the Bible. Sowing into the wind is man doing things his way. Spiritual eyes can see this and know that the only outcome is destruction. 

        A word came to me earlier this week "A bitter situation brings a poisonous outcome"  Let us break it down. A situation is something that happens caused by you, or others, or the world, or by nothing at all. Most situations often provoke the reaction of blame. Bitter is the description of the situation. The overall statement reads pretty cut and dry. It reminds us that our carnal reaction to any situation often bring destruction. Bad situations can happen. It is not due to your job, location, family, none of these things have to be present for a developing bad situation. The poisonous outcome is directed at you and how you handle the situation. 

        If you get a chance, look at Jeremiah chapter 18 and the first 10 verses. It tells of Jeremiah going to the potter's house to watch him work and is a very good analogy on how God works on us. It is up to God to see what vessel you are, to meet his own pleasure. It is up to us as to be ok to the pottery and let the potter mold and shape us. Seeing is halfway there in your process. The knowledge on how to handle bitter situations are laid out in the Bible.

        What is up to you? Influence. What I allow, how much the word influences. Can God remake your vessel? Yes he can. Choices dictate the outcome. God forgives everything except blaspheming the Holy Spirit. What is your limit? How long is the list of offenses you have done to others in the past that has not been forgiven by others? This stuff is hardwired into our brains and persist at different times because the flesh loves to be able in wallowing in pain and self pity. These things press our flesh. How you react determines your outcome and God cares about your outcome. Your choices. In the flesh out normal course of action is poison, death, destruction. Go after God and seek what he can do for you. As the men who tore the roof from the house Jesus spoke in to have their lame friend healed, or the woman with the issue of blood. Whatever pain you may be going through, know that your flesh should be afflicted if your spirit man is growing. Think about the fight to forgive, to overcome anger to sow the seed in the way God wants us to do so.