Brambles in the Vineyard, Bitterness is Spiritual Leprosy

October 28, 2016

May the Lord help us to change poisonous habits into life giving wisdom and joy. Amen

My Beloved Heartdwellers, I cannot over-emphasize the power of bitterness. This is such a subtle and pervasive spirit. It taints every blessing in our lives. Our health, our thinking, our emotions, our relationship with each other, and God. If you have bitterness you are being poisoned every single day and this virus puts out tentacles that infect every area of our lives.

It is a spiritual cancer, which permeates the entire system. For instance, if the bitterness is in our stomach, it spreads to the hundreds of tiny glands in the body: the lungs, the liver, the pancreas, brain, bones and skin, feet, legs, neck, back arms and hands until the spiritual, physical and emotional body is thoroughly poisoned.

Is it not written that a, "A joyful heart promotes healing; but a broken spirit dries up the bones."

 

Proverbs 17:22

And looking at that bone marrow is one of the most important substances in our bodies. It produces blood cells. So the very essence of life, our blood, is affected by bitterness.

The longer we live, the more bitterness that has permeated our being. I am personally convinced that old age is nothing more than accumulated bitterness that has poisoned our entire bodies and sucked the life out of them; just as cancer feeds on our own bodies and steals all the nourishment meant for our health.

Thank the Lord there is a remedy, 'a joyful heart,' but joy means rejoicing, which we cannot do without gratitude and thankfulness.

And this is becoming a supernatural commodity, these days! With all the trials that we go through, we have to find new ways of relating to our trials, because the old ways are poisoning us.

I am coming to understand: BITTERNESS comes in whenever we are irritated, impatient, angry, putout, judgmental. ANY NEGATIVE EMOTION ALLOWS THE SEED TO COME INTO OUR HEARTS. And a demon comes with it, and then the root of bitterness is tended and it chokes out the Lord's light, His grace and our faith.

This happens immediately and without our consent! This is why demons are so effective when they bring disorder: we react with immediate irritation and in comes the demon of bitterness and seed, along with plenty of fertilizer to get it started.

Once we allow this seed in and fail to immediately repent and ask for the Lord's mercy and grace to deliver us from it, it is already too late. In other words, right on the spot, we have got to stop and get on our faces and ask the Lord, "Please, Lord! I am so sorry! Forgive me. Please deliver me of this demon and blot this seed right out of my heart."

We are already infected and beginning to weaken if we let it sit there. Negative thoughts also begin to multiply until we can no long concentrate on what we were doing because our anger is growing every minute.

When we first conceive of these thoughts, we are already infected by the demons of bitterness and a seed is planted, which will grow quickly and choke out life, inspiration, health, clear thinking, hopeful emotions. And every good thing that we associate with will be deprived of its goodness the very moment we entertain bitterness.

Knowing this, my very first prayer to the Lord in the morning is "Please, Lord, forgive me for my bitterness, help me transform my irritations to joyful gratitude. Please deliver me from the demons and their dedication as well as the seed and roots of bitterness. Please bathe my heart in Your blood, cleansing it from all unrighteousness."

But before I say this prayer, I have to reflect on the occasions of anger, unforgiveness, resentment, impatience, grumbling. And I have to ask Holy Spirit to please show me my sin.

So, these three steps need to be taken before I ask for deliverance: (1) examining my actions, feelings and thoughts; (2) forgiving anyone I am holding resentment against; (3) repenting for an ungrateful attitude. Because truly the Lord allowed these things to happen and grumbling or complaining or even anger, for that matter, is not just at the person who caused the offense, but at God who allowed them to cause it.

And this I should do as well, "Lord, please heal anyone I've given offense to."

Sharing this with you, I recognize that I probably jump on my own case and am critical of my own self more than anyone outside of myself. I'm seeing, as we are talking, that it is NOT good. I am actually destroying myself with my negative attitude towards failures - even little ones like clumsiness and mistakes. I try to catch myself. But if I don't manage that, I can at least call the glass stupid! "You foolish glass, you tipped over!" Until, that is, I get control of this knee-jerk response.

Interestingly, the readings from the missal today really brought to light how serious it is to have bitterness:

First reading was from Leviticus: The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "When anyone has a swelling or a rash or a shiny spot on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons who is a priest. Leviticus 13:1-2

The priest is to examine him, and if the swollen sore on his head or forehead is reddish-white like a defiling skin disease, the man is diseased and is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head. Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!' As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp. Leviticus 13:43-46

Bitterness is the Leprosy of our age, guys. Notice that God isolated the infected person. Bitterness is highly contagious and spreads easily from person to person.

Let's just put ourselves in a leper's place. You get up in the morning, you have to choose torn garments to wear, you cannot brush your hair, you must keep your mouth covered at all times. You live quite a distance from the community, so you cannot socialize with anyone, other than other lepers. Anything you touch is unclean, so you have no occupation. If someone comes near your isolated camp you must cry out, 'unclean! unclean!' When you go into town people run from your presence and you continually must cry out "unclean!" And this is the way you live for your entire life. In those days, there was no cure for leprosy.

When Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses (yes, let's look at the cause of this. This is so interesting.) because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't he also spoken through us?" And the Lord heard this. Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth. 

 

(That's an interesting statement. I wonder who wrote that!)

At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you." So the three of them went out. Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, he said, "Listen to my words:

"When there is a prophet among you,

I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,

I speak to them in dreams.

But this is not true of my servant Moses;

he is faithful in all my house.

With him I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles;

he sees the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?"

The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.

When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam's skin was leprous --it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, and he said to Moses, "Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother's womb with its flesh half eaten away."

So Moses cried out to the Lord, "Please, God, heal her!"

The Lord replied to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back." So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought back.

Numbers 12:1-15

In an instant, the woman ranking highest in the whole Israelite community was turned unclean and isolated from the community. This is the power of bitterness. And it is highly contagious. Just one thought, that's all it takes, and you've been infected. Just like one mosquito bite is all it takes for malaria, one cough in a closed room to contract the Ebola virus.

James speaks of it, saying, Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

 

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

So, there he's talking about the source. This comes from the devil.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 1:26 & 3:6-12

Please Heartdwellers, I beg of you: repent of all bitterness and pray for me because I see that poison in my heart. Bitterness causes your cancer to be more painful and spread. Bitterness causes headaches to be worse. Bitterness causes your mind to be twisted and thinking to be off. Your body, soul and spirit are poisoned by this just as surely as if you had leprosy. Whatever good you wanted to do in your life will be greatly compromised by bitterness.

When the Israelites were in the desert of Shur, three days out from the Red Sea, they came to a defiled spring. The Lord told Moses to throw a beam of wood into the water and it would become sweet. Exodus 15

I can't help but think of the crossbeam of wood Jesus had to carry for His crucifixion. It is through the power of the Lord's Cross that we are forgiven and given new life, free from bitterness.

Moving on to the New Testament.

While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. Then Jesus ordered him, "Don't tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." Luke 5:12-14

The Lord is so full of compassion. Let us come to Him repenting and asking Him to heal us of the habits of complaining, bitterness, grumbling, and lead us into a new habit of praising Him for all the lessons He gives us through unfavorable circumstances, knowing that our holiness is being forged and going from glory to glory. So, there's nothing, really, to grumble about. It's for our own good that He allows these things.

At this point, I asked the Lord, if He had something He wanted to say.

And He said, "No, this teaching is complete in itself - only truly hearken to these words and make a resolution in your hearts to put aside all grumbling, resentment, bitterness. Make a firm resolution, dear ones. This is the number one inroad for Satan to turn your lives sour. He gains your consent when he causes trouble. Your anger is your stamp of approval on his gift of a bitter seed with a demon to tend it in the garden of your hearts.

"Can you imagine what the garden of your heart looks like when it is overgrown with bitterness? May I tell you, it is no longer a garden, rather a tangle of thorns and briers that one cannot walk through, let alone sit down in. There are no flowers there, no fruits, only skanky tangles of shrubs with sharp thorns whose tips are poisoned. THERE IS NO REST OR NOURISHMENT IN THIS GARDEN, RATHER IT IS A REPRESENTATION OF HELL ON EARTH. 
 
"This, indeed, is what becomes of the soul who entertains bitterness; all life is choked out. There you will find jealousy, hatred, resentment, depression, judgment, impatience, selfishness, cruelty, retaliation, pride and every noxious, dark thought known to man. 
 
"When the seed enters, it finds good soil and slowly stretches out its roots. At first the soul may not be aware that something in side of them has been compromised. As the demons tend this plant and the roots spread to different areas of your life, they wait for the opportunity they need to take over the soul. Perhaps it is adultery, or the loss of a child, or unfair loss of a job, cancer or serious disease, false accusation or betrayal. 
 
"Once the incident occurs, the roots put out shoots that can be felt in resentment and anger. Then they become noticeable. They choke out and reject My love, and the soul becomes more and more bitter and hardened. Then the prolific fruit-bearing vines coming from the Vine dresser, cannot produce choice grapes, because all that is good and healthy for the plants has been choked out by brambles.
 
"Thus though you think you are abiding in the vine and bringing forth fruit, in reality you are abiding in the thorns of Hell, in bitterness.

"Come to Me, My children. Confess all of those feelings and let us work it out together. Let us clear the vineyard and burn the thorn bushes in the fires of charity. Then I will work with you to restore a fruitful and fragrant garden that we can walk together in, planning for new life, and bringing forth new fruit. 
 
"We can do this together, if you will. You must make an act of the will and hold to it under all circumstances. We can do this. You can begin today to lead a life of celebration and thanksgiving, knowing without a doubt that all things work together for the good when you are in Me, and I am in you."

Source: heartdwellers

 

How A Root of Bitterness Can Change Your Destiny

June 20, 2016

May the comfort of Jesus be with you all Heartdwellers. I can only surmise from my present trials that you are all suffering in various ways in this hour. And for any I have made to suffer, please forgive me. I love this prayer, "Lord, please do not let me be the cause of another man's sin today." Beautiful prayer!

After worship today, when I came to sit with the Lord, I began with, "Thank you, Lord, for all the faithful and true prayer warriors you have placed around me and their amazing obedience. Forgive me, Lord. I am not anywhere near as faithful in prayer. Please help me to be more faithful to those You request for me to pray for."

The Lord began, "You are learning the power of prayer and that My hand can reach all the way into the darkest hole and pull out the contents. My hand strikes down and My hand lifts up. My hand heals and My hand withdraws - (so) that man, who is mortal, may discover himself more fully. The wilderness that dwells in each must be discovered before the Fountain of Life can be received.

"It is the wilderness experiences that prove a soul and prepare him for Me. I hate to leave souls on their own, but when they turn away from Me, I have no other choice. Nevertheless, I never lose track of them, nor do I give up. Rather, I wait. And wait. And wait. Sooner or later the final moment comes, the decision that will affect their eternity is made."

Lord, I am sick at heart for those who turn away from You. And for other reasons, my heart is grieved.

"Rest in Me, Clare. Rest."

I can't do this on my own. I am not capable of resting. Please, take this sword from my heart and give me Your rest.

He answered, "Much of it is gone, Beloved. Much of it has been removed. But the wound goes deep and it will ache for a while. In the meantime, there is much to do on the Channel. And as things in the world grow more dramatic and urgent, I wish for My Brides to band together in more prayer. 
 
"It is the lone soul who does not avail themselves of My Body that suffers the most. 
 
"Dear Children, if you have been wounded in churches and others have failed you, do not grow bitter. Rather dust yourselves off and keep going. There are many favored souls on the Internet, many. They speak their hearts and I lead them to you. You have all fallen, made mistakes; hurt one another - as well as being victims. 
 
"The point is not to give up. This is Satan's plan. Again, using the analogy of lions on the hunt, they look for the ones who are separated. Be smarter than the adversary. Cling to and forgive your friends when they wound you.

"I did not give up on Peter. It is written that I 'did not entrust Myself to men, for I knew their hearts'. (John 2:24) As close as Peter was to Me, I knew his weakness. I knew he was not ready to die for Me. He loved Me but overestimated his strength. Peter did not know himself. He overrated his devotion, his love, even though I had appointed him chief of the apostles. In his zeal and self-confidence, he believed nothing could turn him away from Me. 
 
"I am asking you, Children: take a long look in the mirror and know yourselves. Ask My Holy Spirit to reveal your true weaknesses. What will this accomplish? Compassion and forgiveness for those who betray you. I want My Body mended, put back together. Satan has spent the last 2,000 years contriving plans that would push the members of My Body apart, further and further.

"If you are dividing My Body, you are working for Satan. You are being used by the demons if you are separating brethren. If you are taking the failings of others as a final door slammed shut, you are creating pockets of bitterness for the demons to create strongholds in YOUR life, not the lives of those who hurt you. They will walk on, but you will stumble because of what you are holding onto. That is why forgiving is a work of charity, a work of mercy. It makes up for judgment, calumny, and lying. What sin has severed, you can restore by your charity. Just as surely as wounds heal, forgiveness cleanses those pockets of corruption and allows tender flesh to grow back. 
 
"When you refuse to forgive, you are only demonstrating your lack of knowledge of self. This calls Me to your side. Now, I must reveal to you your weakness and how you fail others. I do it again and again and again until you finally understand and learn to forgive and go on.

"But there is a form of pride deadly to the soul. When you refuse to see how you, in the past, have failed and wounded others. When you refuse to see how you, in the present, are wounding others. When you elevate yourself above others and pridefully bury your head in the sand, refusing to see the truth about yourself, you are killing your soul and preparing the soil of your heart for a root of bitterness to grow deep and wide.

"Why does that matter, you ask? A root of bitterness is a toxic root. It gives off deadly acids, much like the soil beneath the cedar tree. Nothing can grow beneath a cedar, because what is released from the roots is toxic to other plants. That means the soil in the garden of your soul is being poisoned. All that can flourish in this toxic soil is anger, resentment, retaliation, jealousy and hatred. Then you must work to disguise these evils under a smile and fair words. This will eventually wear you out and open the door for disease in your body.

"Hatred, unforgiveness, retaliation and bitterness create energy waves that poison your body. These feelings can be measured electronically. They actually weaken and change your DNA, allowing cancer cells to proliferate. 
 
"This is the environment the demons plant their seeds in. Discontent opens the door to sin, retaliation, gossip, stealing, plotting evil and cheating. Your lives become a tangled web for unclean things, and soon the fragrant garden you once had is turned into a wretched tangle of darkness, where demons defecate to fertilize roots of bitterness growing all around you - until all your good intention is snuffed out and you are controlled by self-defense, bitterness and fear.

"You have a choice to make, My Children. You can either play into the enemy's hands or resist him, crying out to Me 'Lord, deliver me from evil!'

"I am asking you to choose. Will you let go of the past, forgive and embrace a life of forgiveness? Or will you stubbornly hold onto the failures of others? Understand, what little vestige of bitterness you entertain or bury without resolution will affect your future. You will make choices based on avoiding these past hurts and may very well cut yourself off from life. Many times the very place your destiny lies in - many times... that is the very place where you will be most attacked.

"Satan has ways of knowing when you are destined for something, and he will plan and engineer many a trap to spring on you and cause you to abandon that way, cutting you off from your destiny and forcing you to choose another path, rather than the one I had for you.

"Yes, it is up to you, very much up to you. You cannot advance in My Kingdom without tremendous effort in the area of humility, charity and forgiveness. It is simply impossible. I will not use a bitter vessel to carry My choice wines. The vessel must be clean and sweet, lest the wine I died to procure for you becomes bitter. The rewards are out of this world, but the work of dying to yourself, knowing yourself, admitting your failures and weaknesses, is not for sissies. Either you are brave and relentless in taming your carnal nature or you are weak and cowardly, and run from it. In which case, it takes over and controls you. 
 
"You all have a choice to make. I see to it along the path of life that opportunities for self-will, self-love, and selfish ambition are put before you. I allow you to live that life until you are sick of yourselves and want to become holy, a vessel fit for the King's table. I arrange the lessons and try you over and over again. When I see that love and humility triumph, I advance you to the next level and we begin again. When I see it fail, we go round and round and round the mountain again, or you weary of Me and wander off into the world. 
 

"Please, make your choices wisely. I am forever at your side calling you upward. But the climb is painful! Once you make up your mind to forsake your pride and defensiveness, I lift you up into My arms and carry you all the way to the top. This is My Heart's desire. Will you come with Me? Or abandon Me, like so many others have done. Do you have courage, character and relentless honesty with yourself? Or are you just getting by... 
 
"Please, make your choice wisely. I long to carry you tenderly in My arms. I long to comfort you. Please. Make your choice wisely."

Source: heartdwellers

Jesus Answers His Bride, How to Hear & See Me + Rapture Date Has Been Set

                                    
Excerpt:
Don't fill your mind with unnecessary cares.
Don't watch movie or TV depicting suffering and sin, R-rated or PG.
My arms are wide open for those who seek me.
Most people give in to the lies of the enemy.
Unless you're willing to seek me, you're not worthy.
The house must be cleaned or committed to cleanliness.
Sins offend me, sins in violence, crime, hatred, back fighting, jealousy, and adultery.
- Jesus