I Hate Them!!!
Rev. Sudha Mehta©
Romans 3: 13 Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The venom of vipers is on their lips. 14 Their mouths are full of cursing and of bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery lie in their wake; 17 and the way of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (BSB)
Today in Part 3 of this series I would like to address Hatred/ Bitterness and Vengeance.
Below is a story I recently read on Fox news:
A 59 year old man named Graumann in Germany took poison and committed suicide. So far, not so uncommon! Suicide sadly happens everyday, somewhere. However, this man was not just unhappy with his own life, he was so angry with the world he decided to take other lives even after killing himself.
The report said: “A 64-year-old doctor in a nearby town was found dead in front of his practice after an explosion. Police believe the bomb may have been in a package that was left in front of the office as part of a “booby trap” which the doctor picked up, triggering the blast. . . .
This unsuspecting Doctor went to his grave!
. . . “Two days later, an “explosive-engineered log” exploded in a wood-burning stove at a home about five miles from where Graumann lived, according to police. A woman and her 4-year-old daughter were injured in that blast.” (Fox News)
These people had a relationship with Graumann that had become sour, and it is believed that he took vengeance upon them even after death. The police were also alerting others that may have had a fallout with him to be on the lookout for other explosives in case they were targeted.
It is my opinion that Graumann did not really need to poison himself to die . . . the poison of hatred had him long before he died . . . he was a dead man walking! The poison merely took his breath, and he was ushered into hell where he now knows nothing but intolerable, horrendous suffering for eternity from which there is no escape! He was imprisoned in his own body here on earth, a prisoner to a hell within, and now he is outside his body only to be a prisoner to hell without!!
Photo by icon0.com on Pexels.com
Many, sadly, are so entrenched in the mindset of vengeance, it is poison to them. They do not understand forgiveness, nor desire it! Revenge is what works in the here and now, they have no thought of the hereafter!!
The Bible says the Devil/Satan/Shaitan comes as a thief to “Steal kill and destroy”(John 10:10 – BSB) He works in stealth, and his aim is as deadly as a snakes. He is called “the serpent” in Genesis 3, in Revelation 12: 9 . . . . “great dragon . . . that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan”(BSB).
I saw a video on YouTube that makes the point. The video showed a grandmother asleep in bed when a more than 6 ft. long python managed to make it’s way through the pipes and out through the toilet in her bathroom. It moved silently to her bedside while she was lost in her dreams. This python tried to lunge at her foot which was dangling off the bed. Thankfully, grandmother felt something and woke up, and thankfully she had sense to reach for the flashlight by her pillow. She was able to get away unharmed. The family was able to remove the snake. . . . and you get the point. That is how in the spirit realm, Satan attacks the unsuspecting! He lies in wait while you are unaware!!
Photo from pexel
He is also one who pretends to be a lion, and he can fool many with his roar.
1 Peter 5: 8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.(BSB)
Have you known someone that spends a lot of nights awake, for his mind works only to conjure up evil with which he may hurt someone who offended him? I have! I knew a man who took every little offense to heart and built within himself a fire that was unquenchable. He would seethe quietly for a while, but his mind was very much at work as he schemed and planned how he would get back at the one who offended him. He himself was in the clutches of the serpent /the devil but did not know it!
This man could not see that the bitter poison of the asp was inside him and on his tongue. He only saw sweet revenge! For those that lived with him, life was unbearable for he was an angry and bitter man who knew no grace and extended none. His loved ones walked away from him and he ended up all alone. “Sweet revenge” only brought him bitterness in this life. Unchanged and unrepentant such a man will only find misery in the afterlife as well.
Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.(BSB)
There is no rest for one who is bent upon vengeance. Hatred and bitterness have taken root in his heart, and in his mind he will not be content until he has avenged himself. Here is the sad news: He will take revenge, and that will bring the enemy to return upon him more harm. Revenge always goes back and forth for one-upmanship. What you do to others will come back upon you in worse form! No one wins, and yes . . . everyone loses! EXCEPT SATAN!!
At the end of it is death . . . final retribution for it all, and in that again, there is no victory, for all die! ONLY DEATH WINS!!
Jesus said:
Matthew 6: 14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.(BLB)
Our God does not call us to take revenge, rather He calls us to forgive. Vengeance is His department. Just because you are told to forgive, does not mean that God will not bring fair judgement upon the those that hurt you. He Himself looks after His children.
Romans 12: 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” (BSB)
Understand that anger is an emotion you are allowed to feel, but what you do with that anger will determine whether it becomes sin or not. Anger left not dealt with via forgiveness and repentance becomes rage, which leads to hatred and bitterness. When bitterness takes root the end result is malice in your heart, a poisoned tongue, and acts of revenge.
Ephesians 4: 26 “Be angry, and yet do not sin.” Let not the sun set upon your anger, 27 neither give opportunity to the devil. . . . 31 Let all bitterness, and rage, and anger, and clamor, and slander, be removed from you, along with all malice.(BLB)
We are told that we should instead, as followers of Christ, be like Him:
Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, as also in Christ God forgave you.(BLB)
Now, my friends, I have dealt with the issues of Rage, Hatred, Anger, Bitterness, Malice and Violence in these three posts. I have shown you the devastating results of these. Homes are destroyed, marriages end, and children suffer. It doesn’t end there, society suffers! When the family unit is not held together with the glue of love and understanding, all suffer. In God’s given order the family first created was Adam and Eve, and there was love, God’s love in their hearts. The rift came only due to Sin. Sin was disobedience to God, and here we are thousands of years later, filled with struggle and strife!
Two thousand years ago when Jesus came and offered salvation through His finished work on the Cross, He opened the door to a better life. A life lived in hope, love and joy through repentance, forgiveness!
Photo from soulshepherding.org
Hebrew 12: 28 . . . let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. 29 “For our God is a consuming fire.”(BSB)
Now you have this information! The beauty of knowledge is that once you know something, it becomes a treasure entrusted in your care, or as they say in my native language, this is “AMANAT.” You are responsible for what you do with it, and will be held accountable for it! You can no longer plead ignorance. You are blessed and will be rewarded if you take heed and walk in His way, but if you do not you will be asked in JUDGEMENT to give account.
What will it be??!!
Say what?! Sorry?? . . . Part I
Say What?! Sorry?? . . . Part II
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