The Root of Bitterness

"Let ALL bitterness (having a harsh, disagreeably acrid taste such as wormwood) and wrath (fierce anger), and anger (a strong feeling of displeasure), and clamor (a vehement expression of dissatisfaction), and slander (defamation) be put away from you along with all malice (desire to inflict injury or harm out a deep-seated meanness)." Ephesians 4:31 ESV (emphasis mine)

Whoa. What does all of that mean? I'm sure you are asking yourself that question as I did. I just spent the last few hours pondering this verse because it stuck out to me during Bible study today. So without further ado, here is the best explanation of the verse along with my commentary for your reading pleasure. Laughing.

Oh but wait....before that can I just say that I love my English Standard Version (ESV) Bible? It has helped bridge the gap for me in my Bible exploration. I am fond of the study notes and you will see a lot of them here.

Here are the "ESV Notes" regarding Ephesians 4:31.

"Bitterness may head the list because it so often leads to the other sins that Paul (who wrote Ephesians) names. Bitterness comes from a heart that is not right before God; (Acts 8:21); it is a primary characteristic of an unregenerate (not renewed in heart and mind or reborn in spirit; unrepentant; refusing to believe in the existence of God); Romans 3:10-14); and it causes destruction and defilement; Hebrews 12:15. Bitterness and resentment are thus incompatible with Christian character and must be put away. People often are very careless with the speech ("slander"), even though the tongue can ignite a forest fire of harm to others. (James 3:5-6)"

My desire is that my heart would be right before God. I want to please Him. I want to display the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I have to constantly check my affections and motives to make sure they line up with the Word of God. I certainly don't want to bring shame to His Name. He has been so good to me and given me second, third, fourth chances to make it right. His grace fails not. I love Him and want to honor Him with my life.  Barnes' Notes on the Bible says, "Your heart= your affections or governing motives, your principle of conduct. Is your heart right with God?" Lord, let my principle of conduct be pleasing to you.

"Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many." Hebrews 12:15 NLT

When I "entertain" bitterness it doesn't just affect me...according to Scripture, it corrupts many. That is something to think about at length. Maybe you think your bitterness isn't "hurting anyone else" but the Bible is clear-it is. Bitterness is a root. It doesn't really leave if you just pluck the top layer out of your heart. It's like those nasty garden weeds. They keep coming back for more and in larger amounts each time until they have been uprooted completely.

ESV Notes:
"Christians should watch out for each other, in order that no one falls short of the gift of eternal salvation. The author warns against "bitterness" by alluding to Deuteronomy 29:18, which describes one who turns away from God and pursues other gods. A bitter and resentful person is like a contagious poison, spreading his resentment to others."

Why is it that when people we know are contagious with a cold, chicken pox, the flu, all manner of illness, we stay away (as we should) yet when we have our resentment and bitterness we want to share it with everyone. Misery loves company? Or does it? I don't want to spread around a contagious poison but I have and do still at times. Lord, I'm sorry.  I have to remind myself of my life phrase when I want to resort to saying what I wanna say because I can say what I want.  WORDS OF LIFE.  When I write my first book, that will be the title! :) Am I speaking words of life when I am spreading around my contagious poison? No. Words are so powerful and they matter. We need to speak words of life so that we can live. Oh how I want to live.

"Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit." Deuteronomy 29:18 ESV (emphasis mine)

I am not a fan of bitter fruit. Bitter apples are nasty and so is that nail polish you can buy for when you want to stop biting your nails. Barf! You know what I love? I love that God takes the bitter places in my life and He makes them sweet. It makes me want to celebrate the goodness of God all the more.

"The word here is rendered "gall" (bitterness of spirit) translated 'hemlock". It is the name of a plant of intense bitterness, and of quick growth; and is therefore repeatedly used in conjunction with "wormwood (a bitter plant-absinthium) to express figuratively the nature and effects of sin. It is used to denote metaphorically the distress and trouble which result from sin." (Barnes' Notes on the Bible)

Intense bitterness and quick growth can be found in the plant that has the word sin in it. Wow! So intense bitterness and quick growth go hand in hand. In my mind I see a picture of weeds choking the life out of the beautiful flowers and plants that grow in my flower beds in the spring and summer. Intense. Not Mild. Quick. Not slow.  Such powerful, descriptive words used to describe the nature and effects of sin. Sin is no laughing matter. The effects of sin are long lasting especially to the unregenerate heart.

"The sinner is described as one whose heart turns away from his God; there the mischief begins, in the evil heart of unbelief, which inclines men to depart from the living God to dead idols. Even to this sin men are now tempted, when drawn aside by their own lusts and fancies. Such men are roots that bear gall and wormwood. They are weeds which, if let alone, overspread the whole field. Satan may for a time disguise this bitter morsel, so that thou shalt not have the natural taste of it, but at the last day, if not before, the true taste shall be discerned." (Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary)

Gall and wormwood. My Lord was offered gall and vinegar to drink when His precious body was beaten beyond recognition on the cross. Gall is a root of bitterness. Gall and wormwood are the fruit of idolatry. Ouch.

Lord, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in Your sight oh Lord, my Rock and my Defender. If there be any root of bitterness left in me, please in Your Might, uproot that in me. You know I desire to be whole in You; complete, lacking nothing that I might be used to represent You and to do it well. May I speak words of life everyday of my life. Amen. 

Feel free to check out the following: shereadstruth.com bible.cc dictionary.com

Thursday's Theme

I love how God works. I say that all the time. But it's true.

Here is a picture of my journal from earlier today.

Tonight, after finishing my She Reads Truth www.shereadstruth.com devotional (which was about sight) I immediately turned to My Utmost for His Highest  Devotional by Oswald Chambers. Here is a little part of what I read: www.utmost.org

Acts 26:17-18
"I now send you, to open their eyes...that they may receive forgiveness of sins..."

"This verse is the greatest example of the true essence of the message of a disciple of Jesus Christ in all of the New Testament. God's first sovereign work of grace is summed up in the words, "that they may receive forgiveness of sins..." The only sign that a person is saved is that he has received something from Jesus Christ. When a person is born again, he knows that it is because he has received something as a gift from Almighty God and not because of his own decision. People may make vows and promises, and may be determined to follow through, but none of this is salvation. Salvation means that we are brought to the place where we are able to receive something from God on the authority of Jesus Christ, namely forgiveness of sins."-Oswald Chambers

I read the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible. I love it so much because it has notes that explain certain verses and it has been such a great resource for really digging in the Word and finding gems of truth. I am a word girl-I love to study words and meanings.

As I was flipping through my Bible, I opened to Acts 13:38-39 (which was highlighted and underlined-and it grabbed my attention so I read it) as I was making my way to Acts 26:17-18. This is what Acts 13:38-39 says:

"Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by Him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses."

Yes! It is for freedom that Christ set us free! (Galatians 5:1)

The ESV note provided this further description of the verses:

"The law cannot free a person from sin, not only because all people fail to keep it but also because it was never designed to bring out effective atonement (reconciliation) for sins; only the one who believes in Christ and His saving sacrifice is free from sin and acceptable to God."

I am acceptable to God. I am accepted. I am enough. I didn't have to get my act together first. I didn't have to wear a plastic smile. He just wanted me. A little 8 year old girl; with my little girl hurts and wounds. He found me acceptable and wanted me to know it's not about rules (the law) but rather relationship. He wanted my heart then and He still wants it now.  He wanted me to receive His forgiveness.  To receive means to take into one's possession something offered or delivered. 

Something was offered to me; to you. The forgiveness of sins was offered. He granted a pardon to me for my sins; in exchange I received life and life more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Consider Jesus. (Hebrews 3:1) When He went to the cross He considered us. It is a choice to receive the forgiveness of sins (it will not be forced) and have relationship with Him and to really see Him as Father, Redeemer and Friend. I am so thankful that at age 8 I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:9,10) 

He truly is my Father. My Redeemer. My Friend. And as Beth Moore would say, "And you thought you loved Him then." Lord, thank you. I love you so much more.

Mark 10:51 NLT
"What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asked. "My rabbi," the blind man said, "I want to see!"

Creativity

What is it?

Creativity by definition is:

Creativity: n. 

the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc; originality, progressiveness or imagination. www.dictionary.com

The back story to why I posted the definition of creativity is this: We started back to our regularly scheduled programming homeschooling today after many, m a n y y y days off. We had a restful and fun winter break. My hard-working husband had been home on vacation almost the entire time and by the end of the day tomorrow, he will have only worked five days since December 14th. It was awesome!  And I thank God for that opportunity for family bonding.

I say all of that to say, we picked up with our Biblical worldview book 'What We Believe' Volume 2 'Who Am I? And What Am I Doing Here?' by John Hay and David Webb published by Apologia Press www.apologia.com. If you homeschool now or plan to in the future, may I recommend that you find a way to include this in your curriculum choices? You will not be disappointed.

We had not read anything in this book for many weeks as I took a detour for a while and began showing my oldest son how to study the Bible for himself. The book I used was "How to Study your Bible" for Kids by Kay Arthur and Janna Arndt www.harvesthousepublishers.com.

So back to this morning. I opened up and read the following passage:

"God created all things for His enjoyment, but people were specially made to reflect God's glory. One of the ways we reflect His glory is when we create things." (page 47)

I just want to bring God all the glory in whatever it is that I do; whether that is art journaling, scrapbooking, card making, taking pictures, coloring with kids, painting, homeschooling, drawing, cooking, making frames, whatever.

Colossians 3:17 reminds me, "Let every detail in your lives-words, actions, whatever be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God every step of the way." 

My heart stands in awe of the One I love. The One I serve. The One I want to display to my children each day during school. To my family. To those who don't know Him...yet.  I am a detail person by nature so this verse resonates with me.

Details: attention to or treatment of a subject in individual or minute parts

Words: speech or talk

Actions:  something done or performed; habitual or usual acts

It is of utmost important to thank Him every step of the way. If you haven't started counting and writing down 1,000 things to be thankful for, you must start immediately. It is a life-changing activity and way of life. I have been counting since Spring 2011 and it has brought me great joy to recount the wonderful ways my Lord works. Check out www.aholyexperience.com to learn more.

Now back to creativity. I have been told by family member and friends that I am "so creative" and I do believe God has given me the ability to be creative but I read something this morning that helped clear up the creativity question:

"Creativity is not about what you can do or what you're good at. Creativity is a response. It is a way of worshipping God and who He is, a way of worshipping His infinite beauty and love. It's a way to demonstrate your love to someone who positively adores you." (page 48)

I am positively adored. Thank you Lord! My God-given ability to be creative is a gift. I don't say that in a boastful or proud way. I say that in a thankful way. He gave me a way to reflect Him. There is purpose behind everything that God gives or assigns to people. Some play instruments, some write music, some sculpt, some build, some write poetry, etc.  Whatever.  It is to reflect You, Lord. 

"The Heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display His craftsmanship." Psalm 19: 1 NLT

My prayer is that as I am being made whole in 2013, that I would proclaim the glory of God and to reflect Him in my everyday, ordinary life. Every detail. Every word. Every action. Every creative thing I put my hand to; whatever. That it would be all done in His name, to honor Him. To bring Him glory.

"The glory of God is man fully alive." -St. Irenaeus

One Word

Happy New Year!

I love a fresh start and a new word for the New Year. God is so faithful to provide. On December 19, 2012 I was reading Matthew 6:30-34 in The Message and at the top of my journal page I wrote: FOR 2013! Here it is:

^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

³⁴ “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

These are the truths I received from reading that passage:

*Relax.
*Don't be preoccupied.
*Respond to God.
*Steep your life. (I like tea. Steep your life in God's reality, initiative and   provisions.) Let them sit in my tea cup for while.
*Don't worry.
*Give my entire attention to God.
*He will help when the time comes.

How GREAT is our God! It's funny (it's God) :) to me that on that same day, I had been reading Jesus Calling and the verse was Colossians 2:10. I wrote it down in my journal and moved on.

Fast forward to today. I originally planned to write this post yesterday but decided against it because we took the boys sledding and to our friends for the day. Family first, baby! :) God's timing is truly perfect. This morning as I was reading the devotional for She Reads Truth and learning about how God made Adam and Eve complete-out of nothing. How we as wives complete our husbands as God designed it to be and displayed so beautifully in His Word. And immediately after reading that, God placed this verse into my spirit: Colossians 2:10 NLT:

¹⁰ So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

I am complete (lacking nothing; whole) through my union with Christ. Whole. My word for 2013 confirmed so beautifully by the One I adore. Last year's word was 'zeal'; (eager desire). And He fulfilled that in me. I have never felt more closer to my Lord then I do now. Only He could take my heart of stone and turn it into a heart of flesh.

How I love my Lord.

Happy New Year precious friends! 

October 25th

On October 25th I set down to spend time in the Word by reading a Psalm and Proverb for the day. This is usually how I start out my quiet time. I began by reading Psalm 51 and verse six jumped out at me.

"Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart." (ESV)

In my quest to find out more on this verse, I looked up a different translation because I love words and meanings and I found this gem:

"Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom" (WBT)

I continued searching Biblical commentary on this particular verse to see line by line what truths this verse has to offer. Here a few things that stood out to me from Barnes' Notes on the Bible. "The word 'desirest' means to have pleasure in and 'inward parts'=the reins, the seat of the mind, the feelings. The 'hidden part' is the heart, the depths of the soul. The cleansing was to begin in that which was hidden from the eye of man, in the soul itself. 'Thou shalt make me to know wisdom'-Thou only canst enable me to understand what is truly wise."

I was so moved by this verse I decided to Instagram a photo of my journal page with the verse written in my own handwriting. And I captioned it, "Make me to know". Oh how I long to know wisdom. And then something so cool happened. Lisa Whittle commented on my photo. Y'all that is huge for me. She is one of my absolute favorite authors. She told me that her book, "Behind Those Eyes" was based on Psalm 51:6. I own the book but haven't read it...yet. I feel like the Lord is setting me up to read it and I am so looking forward it. If you have never read any of Lisa's books, you should. Life. Changing.

So I continued with my quiet time and offered prayer to the Lord for Him to help me to know wisdom in my secret heart. I told him that I wanted to be made whole in Him, lacking nothing. He is so faithful to me. He knows the desire of my heart, my dreams and He is always working on my behalf even when I don't hear anything or see anything. I love that about Him.

Fast forward to today; the day after Hurricane Sandy. Thankfully, here in Maine, we only experienced rain and high winds. In our home, we didn't lose power at all...even though I was ready and had those flash lights and candles on stand-by. Sigh.

I was checking my Twitter feed and noticed that Beth Moore was holding prayer for those affected by the storm at 11:15 AM CST which is 12:15 PM my time so I sat down at my desk and waited because of the time difference. While reading Beth's blog I saw a broadcast from October 25th that I missed called 'A Deceptive Heart'. It was so great to hear her share from her heart.

(Sidenote: I get to see her in person this Friday and Saturday at Living Proof Live. YAY!)

Anyway, she was almost done speaking and she said, "God loves us. If we are not zealous about truth in our inmost parts, we got all manner of lie." It struck such a nerve in me and she then shared Psalm 51:6 and I completely froze. I love how God uses those that inspire me to speak His truth to me and to let me know that He hears and sees me. He knows the desires of my heart. He knows my life dream. Beth continued to say, "He delights to bring truth in the inward parts." 

He is the Lord, the heart knower. That completely overwhelms me with joy. He knows. Even when I don't. He does. How great is our God.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog today. My prayer is that I would not be afraid to share the things that God has placed within my heart; my sanctified and satisfied (in the Lord) heart.

I love words. I love meanings. I love to write and I love the Lord.

This is me.

www.lproof.org
www.lisawhittle.com

Melissa Emma Designs

Hey Friends!

I finally did it! I opened my first ever Etsy Shop!

I am custom making personalized frames. I have uploaded a few here but please check out my website:

www.etsy.com/shop/melissaemmadesigns

www.facebook.com/melissaemmadesigns

And I'm on Pinterest!

Thanks for looking! :)

JOY

Happy New Year! I've been on a blogging hiatus of sorts. I have enjoyed the Christmas break and have celebrated the New Year. I am back and ready to blog again! Thanks for taking the time to read what's on my heart.

Angela Thomas is my favorite author at the moment. I have four of her books. I'm currently reading 52 Things Kids Need From A Mom. I've been reading it for 41 days so far (that would be one chapter a day for 41 days ha ha ha. ANYWAY. I am also working through her Choosing Joy devotional for this year. Joy is my word for 2012.

So back to today's chapter. Kids Need Their Mom... "To be patient about things like thumb-sucking and pacifiers." This is the one chapter I have been dying to get too. My Jordan is 5 and he still has his baby blankie that old, dirty blue blankie that he lugs around everywhere. I have a family member that threatens to take it from him each time she sees him. Drives me crazy. But, I've always had the approach that he'll give it someday when he's ready. I ask him all the time if he's going to have it when he's daddy's age and he always says yes. I highly doubt that. LOL

Angela shared a few things in the book that spoke to my heart and I thought would be good to share. She says on page 170, "Oh, how I regret being uptight about too many little things when they were little. Why did I worry so much about appearances and buckteeth and what other people's children were doing? For goodness' sake, uptight has been the embarrassment of my mothering. I wanted to be the best, most conscientious, most organized mom ever. All wonderful and noble aspirations until the overwhelming stress of self-imposed expectations begins to eat your lunch. And your spirit. And your joy. Slowly and painfully, God taught me that there is a difference between what my kids needed and the illusion I was trying to paint."

I can relate on so many levels. I don't want to be uptight anymore. I have asked God to forgive me for being uptight and wound up over nothing. Like Angela, being uptight has been the embarrassment of my mothering too. But thanks be to God, He is faithful and is working with me to let it go. I am learning that peace is found in Him and to be thankful. He is also showing me that as I am in His presence, His joy will be given to me. I am thankful that He is with me always-even when I don't know what to do next, when I feel inadequate, when my friends are gone, when I feel alone, when I am uptight. Always. Even til the end of the age. Thank you Lord.

I have joy. I have so much to be thankful for. And now, I just want to share a little of that here with you:

898-904

a chance to start again
heart training
finding joy in God
being satisfied with Him
brining glory to God
a fresh word from God
i don't know but He knows (and that's all I need to know) :)

Happy New Year dear friends in blogland.