One of the enemies greatest tools is distraction and the enemy knows how to use a host of negative emotions to get your eye, heart, mind and soul off of what matters and onto the wrong thing, The longer the devil can keep us focused on the wrong thing, the farther he can cause us to drift from God and His blessings.
One of the devils favorite negative emotions to use is bitterness. You know that one, right? The one that leaves you stewing in your own negative stew pot of one negative leading to another and another and another and before you know it you are stuck in a prison of your own making.
The Bible puts it this way in Ephesians 4:30-32: “30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.“
Bitterness if not dealt with will spread from our mind, to our heart, to our life and our living. It will impact in a negative way – who we are and what we do. Over time it will corrupt our spirit and dull our sensibility to the Holy Spirit of God, causing us to miss out on His gentle guidance into the sweet blessings that He created us for.
The thing about bitterness is not to ignore it and think it will go away, but to face it, confront it head on. Be honest with God about how you feel and what you are thinking, because He already knows anyway and then let His power do for you, what you can’t do for yourself. Let God set you free from the root of bitterness, by ripping that sucker out of your life, so that you will have room for the things that really matter.
Give God your negative and God will give you His positive and with God’s positive you can build the better life you were created for. Give God your bitterness and He will replace it with His peace and set you free for amazing blessings that words cannot describe…
It’s not politically correct now a days to talk about Jesus, but it will always be spiritually correct and spiritually correct is more important than any other kind of correctness we can ever achieve. It is possible to know about Jesus and not know Jesus. Knowing Jesus in a personal relationship is what makes the supernatural difference in our life that allows us to have life changing connection with our Creator.
I like to think of life divided into three major areas: Physical, Mental and Spiritual. If we ever hope to take the physical and mental to it’s greatest place, then it will be because we have first worked on developing and strengthening the spiritual part of our life with a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
This is why we should see Jesus not just as God’s Son and not just as a Savior, but also as a mentor and life coach. When we read the story of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, this is exactly what we see Jesus doing. Jesus is leading, mentoring, guiding, directing, training, teaching his disciple how to live and see life and eternity from a totally different perspective than the rest of the world.
I mean think about it for just a minute: A really good guy through the ministry of life coaching mentored twelve guys and a group of followers for three years and changed the world! The results of Jesus as a LIFE COACH still impact our lives today!
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. -1 John 4:9
What could Jesus do with your life if you allowed him to life coach and mentor you through his Church and Word? How would your life look different physically, mentally and spiritually, if you allow the supernatural power of Heaven to flow to and through you? Why do we insist on trying to do this thing called life in our own limited weakness, when we have failed over and over again trying it our way? When are you going to get ego and self out of the way, so that you can discover what really matters? Who could you be and who does God want you to be and will you allow yourself to get there with His help?
These are the questions that matter. These are the questions that will change your life. These are the questions that we need to use to challenge and investigate our way of living. When we ask and answer these questions honestly, then we will see our need to not just know about Jesus, but to know Jesus in a real and personal way. And when we know Jesus in a real and personal way, our life will begin to line up behind his leadership and in his leadership we will find the meaning and purpose that helps us to live a life that is filled with blessing and glory for God…
I occupy a lot of different roles. When I was born, I became the son of David and Martha Jo Harvell. Eventually I became know as Michael Joe to most folks, that is until I got married and then I became Joy’s Husband. I have been known as the chubby blond headed guy with blue eyes, a pretty good cook, a decent teacher, a not bad writer and a host of others things. When I went to Pastor my first church, I became known as Pastor, Preacher or Rev. After Joy and I were married for several years, we had our daughters Gracie and eventually Hope and I became Gracie & Hope’s Dad. To some folks I am a friend, to some an encourager and to some, just a goofy guy that loves Jesus. I’ve actually have more roles and titles than I have time to write about. I remember when I was younger hearing a Preacher preach a message and he asked the question: “Do you want a title or a testimony?” As a young kid, I thought: “Why not both???”
I hear people all the time say: “I love Jesus” or “I know Jesus as my Lord and Savior.” And that sounds really good, but I can’t help but wonder: “DO WE REALLY KNOW WHO JESUS IS AND IF WE DO, SHOULDN’T THAT MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE?”
What Do You Think Of When You Think of Jesus?
There Are Many Different Pictures of Jesus! A lot of different beliefs, many of them in conflict with one another. For us to be so sure that we know Jesus and have a relationship with him, we should be able to articulate from personal experience who he is and what he has done in our lives, but often, we just repeat what we have heard or been taught, because the truth is: We know about Jesus, but we don’t really know Jesus.
“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.” -I John 4:15
Some people don’t see Jesus at all. Out of all the ones that do see Jesus, many only see him as a good man or an interesting teacher. When we see Jesus, we need to see him as he really is, in all of his glory and splendor. We need to see him as the humble, loving and faithful teacher that taught and teaches us a better way to do this thing called life. We need to not just say we believe, but prove we believe with the way we live our life, in the things we say and do. When we accept Jesus as God’s son and the perfect sacrifice for our sin, the evidence that it (he) is real is that our relationship with Jesus begins to change, develop and grow us into something more magnificent than we could ever dream or imagine.
We Know That We Know Jesus When:
We see Jesus as God’s Son! Jesus is not just a man. Jesus is the God/Man. Jesus is God come to earth, to live in the flesh, to show us through a living, breathing, physical example how to live, grow and be blessed in this life and for all eternity. And Jesus gives us the way and will to reclaim our rightful place as God’s special creation, made in God’s image and all that comes with that amazing truth. We know that Jesus is God’s son, but we have to do more than know it, we have to believe it and believe it in such a way that it changes our life from the inside-out.
We see Jesus as our Savior! The realization that I can open up my life to God and know Him in a real and personal way is amazing. The belief that I can have my very own personal connection with the supernatural power of the Almighty is incredible. And to think that all of this blessing is found in and through God’s Son Jesus, who made a way for us where there was no way is the icing on the cake. There is nothing we can do to make our messed up selves right with our God, but if we will accept and believe in the gift of His son, Jesus will become our Savior, cleanse us from all unrighteousness and restore us to a real and right relationship with Him that allows His blessing of forgiveness and power to flow to and through our lives.
We see Jesus as… Who or what do you need to see Jesus as today? Stop playing pretend games, get dissatisfied with just barely getting by and get to know Jesus and all the roles He can fulfill in your life by helping you to fulfill all the roles you were created for. Jesus is everything we need him to be and so much more, we just simply have to receive and believe…
Michael Joe Harvell 