“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” Hebrews 12:15 (KJV)

Millions of people around the world are tricked into the devil’s lair. They are blinded by the god of this world so that they drink his poison little by little without actually noticing it or reading that what they are drinking is poison. Unforgiveness grows to such an extent that it can cause a person to become mad and suicidal.

They despair even unto death. When we think that we can be Christians and still harbor bitterness or unforgiveness, you are wrong. The writer of Hebrews simply says, ^“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” (Heb 12:15). By not forgiving, we drink of the poison of bitterness and when our system becomes infected, we become resentful. It then easily spreads like a wildfire in grasslands. A single leader who has been affected by bitterness or who harbors unforgiveness can easily influence all his followers. This is because the demon of bitterness would just continue to cling on the others who are also unwary of what truly happened.

This is the disaster that happened years ago when two Christian factions could not seem to live with each other. The Catholics were angry that the Pope is being “blasphemed” and that the heretics that needs to be killed were all confessors of Protestantism. In similar manner, because of persecution, the Protestants could not keep on being decimated, they rose in arms and there was bloody war between two factions professing Christ. One which claims to have the true authority and another which claims it has found the Truth. It could have been so simple as to ask for forgiveness from each other but pride won’t swallow in itself so blood spilled in the streets of Europe from Scotland to Spain. Did the Pope ever ask forgiveness? Or did the Protestants asked for forgiveness? Until now there is still great divide between the two.

This is how beliefs of individuals can shape nations and their current systems of allegiance. The writer of Hebrews knows it too well that if a Christian will not guard himself from this, he can be easily destroyed by the poison of bitterness. When this happens we will stop building the Kingdom of God and we will be used to build the kingdom of darkness. Because Hitler was hurt in the turn out of the Great War, he helped shape and bring about the second Great War. One of the names of Satan is called Apollyon or Destroyer (Rev 9:11)

“Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.” Revelations 9:11

I once heard another story between a husband and wife. The man fled from the woman and took another woman. The abandoned woman became so bitter and enraged in her life so that her looks became like a raging animal. She was tied often times and placed in a cage so that she won’t hurt others or herself. Then one minister of God came and wanted to minister to her. Problem was, the woman was not interested in his ministry, not even healing. She rejected the proposal of the man. Then at one time, they just heard she tumbled from the top of a hill which was nearby their house. It was a heartbreaking story; but one that we need to take seriously. She became incorrigible because she refused help. When somebody offers help and we refuse it, we have taken the course of events into our own hands. Judas can be forgiven and so was Peter. There was no difference in the way they sold the master, one with silver and another with his image. Judas became incorrigible because he refused to repent, to come back to God as Peter did. When we do that, even God cannot do anything else. The Lord will not push Himself to a man if a man does not like Him. Satan does not only delight in bringing calamity to many of us, but even with great animosity.

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:10-12

When we continue to harbor unforgiveness even in tiny bits of it, Satan can gain a foothold in us that may little by little grow in bitterness and resentment. A foothold is anything which allows something to stick to it or to allow something to stand on it. Our hearts can be likened to a field which any seeds of bitterness sown by the enemy can grow like a tree so that it can poison us all. This tree will be used by the birds of the air, Satan’s cohort to cling to and defecate increasing your hatred and bitterness to others. Have you seen or spoken with a man afflicted with bitterness, he is bitter to everyone except himself. The only way to overcome this is to not allow any seeds of bitterness to grow in us. God called us to be courageous and He knows that we need to resist the devil.

^“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

“So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

One night, God gave me a dream. In the dream, I saw an old woman in black hood. She was I felt an evil woman because I could feel dread come all over me just by looking at her. I could watch her but she seems unable to see me. The scene changed and as if we were in a stage, at the stairs of a big building one like the Lincoln memorial steps. When I saw her move up towards me, I was standing and freeze up where I was and suddenly I kept on blurting out, I bind you in Jesus name, I bind you in Jesus name. She then disappeared as sudden as when she appeared. Then I heard a voice saying, “resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Today, I understand that it happened to teach me to resist evil be it things that fly around my mind or things that fly around others. David says, the Lord teaches my hands to war, and the apostle rightly said, greater is He who is in us, than he who is in this world. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will put up a standard against Him (Isaiah 59:19) and we will see him fleeing like a small kitten. Lies must be resisted and overcome. Truth overcomes lie and the only way that we can overcome lies is by shining His truth to deceptions. This is where the Word of the Lord stands firm, that we overcome evil with good. When truth shines like a light, it will pierce the darkness. For the Word of God is like a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.