Breaking Free Of Bitterness

DAILY VITAMIN
- Breaking Free Of Bitterness
"And be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind".    (Ephesians 4:24)
   We have a lot of bitter people these days, even in church. But this is the thing about bitterness: it hampers growth, and impedes the expression of the liberty of the saints. Bitterness is a bondage; and every time we indulge it, we somewhat like place a banana peel on our path to make ourselves slip. Paul called it the raw material for backwardness (Hebrews 12:15). And the field where this seed of bitterness relishes the most is the heart of man (see Mark 4:15).
   You can't be bitter in your brain. It wouldn't hold for long even if it did; and so the enemy always entrench it in the heart, from which proceeds all the issues- both material and immaterial- of a man's life. Little wonder we are warned to guard it well (Proverbs 4:23). This siege to the spiritual and physical exploits of a man must be dealt with if such a man must experience a new lease of positive encounters.
   For this reason, God said to the Israelis, "Plow up the hardness of your hearts; otherwise the good seed will be wasted among the thorns" (Jeremiah 4:3 TLB).
   Did you see that? There are a lot of things that you can be hindered from experiencing as long as bitterness still has a place in your heart. There's a lot of fruitfulness that can be denied you because of bitterness. Look at Nabal for instance, he had enjoyed security and maybe could have gone on enjoying it, but because he was too bitter to appreciate David, he lost it all- everything he ever had. That's what bitterness does: it blocks you from seeing the light in yourself or in others until all you have left within and around you becomes darkness. It is a fallow ground that has to be broken. And so God says in Hosea "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up the fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he comes and rain righteousness upon you" (10:12). Just like how the only limitation between a seed and its harvest, with all things being equal, is the ground it is sown, bitterness can also restrict your personal ground from blossoming.
   And what's this ground that you need to take proper care of to exit your life from this fallowness? Your heart and mind. In Jeremiah 4:4, scripture says "Cleanse your minds and hearts, not just your bodies..." (TLB). How you look does little as compared to what whom you are within can ultimately result to. The content of your heart and mind is where either your ruin or triumph begins. And we can renew our heart and mind by the washing of it with the Word of God. The more we study and obey God's Word, the more we acclimatize it to the ways of God.
   Remember, what David said, "How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed and keeping watch [on himself] according to Your word [conforming his life to it]." (Psalm 119:9 AMP). Hence, give yourself to God's Word on a constant basis. Feed your mind with it, and reconfigure your heart by it; for through it only can we come forth in the exact pattern and poise God expects of us. Praise God!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I thank you because I believe that as I surrender my heart all over again to you today, you will deliver me from every siege of bitterness set against my joy and glory. I'm free emotionally, spiritually and physically. And my glory in you now is revealed, to be hampered no more, in Jesus' Name. Amen