We are ready to begin our eighth part into: What the Scriptures REALLY Teach About Health. A very, very important segment this time around, a very common thing that people find themselves involved in that can have a tremendous impact on our health.

And we want to be sure that we, if we want to be healthy people, if we want to be righteous people, that we pay very close attention to the Scriptures that will be shared in today’s segment.

We did examine a lot of Scripture and scriptural concepts in the previous two segments regarding fear and anxiety and its impact on our health. Well, sometimes there are reasons for fear and anxiety, and we are going to kind of dovetail into what we want to discuss today regarding the spiritual roots of disease.

And I am going to kind of zero in today on a specific kind of disease that has caused a tremendous amount of pain and suffering and death to millions and millions and millions of people. It is the disease known as cancer.

There are a lot of people who say, “Well, you need this herb. You need this nutritional supplement. You need to go raw vegan. You need to go on a juice diet.” Or, “You need this. You need that.” A lot of people say you need chemotherapy or radiation or “this drug” or “that drug.”

But you might be surprised to know that our bodies already have the capability and ability to treat cancer– no chemotherapy, no radiation, no drugs, no herbs, no nutritional supplements, no diet changes– just naturally, our bodies have the ability to fight cancer, to find cancer cells and destroy them. Seriously.

I mean, years ago I didn’t think that was even a reality. I didn’t think that was true. I didn’t realize that our body could actually on its own, without any kind of intervention, of any kind of medicine or anything of that sort, could possibly have that ability.

But the truth is we have something in our body known as natural killer cells (it is a part of our immune system) and T-cells that will go in, locate a cancer cell and obliterate it, destroy it– completely wipe it out.

So if our body already has the ability to fight cancer in and of itself without any intervention on our part, it begs the question, the obvious question: Why then doesn’t our body do so all the time? Why does it not fight cancer all the time?

I am going to actually show you a video here that proves that our body does have that ability. I will pull it up here. Just a moment. And actually they have, you know, scientifically, they have physically seen it happen.

And they have created a three dimensional replication, or video or computer video, showing what takes place in the body when these cancer killing natural killer cells and T-cells come in and kill cancer naturally without any drugs or intervention at all. And here is the video:

“Called the immune system’s soldiers, natural killer cells are the most aggressive. They are lymphocytes with no immunological memory and are part of your innate immune system. Natural killer cells make up about five to fifteen percent of the total circulating lymphocyte population.

“Natural killer cells are called natural killers because they do not need to recognize a specific antigen before releasing their toxins and destroying a viral infected cell or cancer cell.”

Or cancer cell…

“A target cell, either a viral infected cell or cancer cell, displays an abnormal MHC1 and is targeted as ‘non-self.’ The destruction begins.

“There are basically two types of destruction that take place. One is the release of cytotoxic molecules, such as tumor necrosis factor, also known as TNF, that are released from natural killer cell granule membranes that cause destruction of the cancer cell surface membranes.

“Another mechanism involves programmed cell death, termed ‘apoptosis,’ that results in the destruction of the nuclear DNA of the cancer cell. Natural killer cells contain membrane vesicles called cytotoxic granules that package the enzymes that kill the cancer cells.

“The most important enzymes involved in the apoptosis of cancer cell death are the pore forming protein called perforin and a set of proteases called granzymes.

“The activation of the natural killer cells causes the release of these vesicles from within the natural killer cells, in which the contents are delivered directly into the surface of the target cell.

“The perforin proteins penetrate the cancer cell and create a cylindrical polyperforin pore through which the granzymes pass into the cytoplasm of the cancer cells.”

So these granzymes enter the cancer cell and they do some amazing things that are difficult to even describe. But you watch these things come in and then get absorbed here and then attach here. And then it goes into the DNA and just scrambles the DNA of the cancer cell. And all these things are happening in the microscopic world.

And here it is totally destroying all the DNA of the cancer cell. And you look at this stuff and, I mean, the first thing I go is, “Yahweh, You are amazing! You are just amazing and awesome!” when I see these things at work in the microscopic level happening in our bodies. And how a scientist can’t look at that and go, “Glory to Yahweh!” is beyond me.

I mean, I would be just flabbergasted. I am flabbergasted. But Yahweh has given our bodies the ability to find and destroy cancer cells. There is the natural killer cell and then there are the T-cells that also do the same thing. So what is going on when we develop cancer?

Well, apparently, those natural killer cells and T-cells are either being overwhelmed or there is not enough of them being produced by our immune system.

Now, as we talked about in the previous segments, the location of where our bodies produce these natural killer cells and T-cells is actually the bone marrow.

But there is a hormone our bodies release called cortisol, which is a natural hormone, that can inhibit the immune system and reduce the number of natural killer cells and T-cells our bodies produce. Look here… it says:

“Cortisol is a steroid hormone, in the glucocorticoid class of hormones, and is produced in humans by the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex within the adrenal gland. It is released in response to stress and low blood-glucose concentration.

“It functions to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis, to suppress the immune system, and to aid in the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. It also decreases bone formation.” Source: Wikipedia

“It also decreases bone formation” and “suppresses the immune system.” You know, I think, “Well, what good is this?” It’s good when it is for a short term (fight or flight reflex), okay? But when it is over a long term, then it becomes a problem.

Here we have a quote from a doctor. We quoted this in an earlier segment, but it is from a Dr. Philip Gold of the National Institute of Mental Health. And he says:

“A natural fight or flight reflex that once gave ancient humans the speed and endurance to escape primitive dangers is triggered daily in many modern people, keeping the hormones at a constant hyper-readiness, experts say. Even some forms of depression bring on a similar hormonal state.

” ‘In many people, these hormones, such as cortisol, turn on and stay on for a long time,’ Dr. Philip Gold of the National Institute of Mental Health, one of the National Institutes of Health, said Friday. ‘If you’re in danger, cortisol is good for you… but if it becomes unregulated it can produce disease.’ ”

We don’t want it to produce disease.

” ‘In extreme cases, this hormonal state destroys appetite, cripples the immune system, shuts down processes that repair tissue, blocks sleep and even breaks down bone,’ Dr. Gold said.

“He was among speakers of a two-day conference of the International Society for Neuroimmunomodulation, a group of experts who study the effects of stress and depression on physical disease.” Dr. Philip Gold National Institute of Mental Health.

It decreases bone formation, suppresses the immune system. Scripturally, these are connected.

Now another issue is forgiveness and unforgiveness. Here we have a quote from Mr. Everett L. Worthington, Jr. He studied this. He says:

“In one study, Charlotte van Oyen Witvliet, a psychologist at Hope College, asked people to think about someone who had hurt, mistreated, or offended them. While they thought about this person and his or her past offense, she monitored their blood pressure, heart rate, facial muscle tension, and sweat gland activity.

“To ruminate on an old transgression is to practice unforgiveness. Sure enough, in Witvliet’s research, when people recalled a grudge, their physical arousal soared. Their blood pressure and heart rate increased, and they sweated more.

“Ruminating about their grudges was stressful, and subjects found the rumination unpleasant. It made them feel angry, sad, anxious, and less in control. Witvliet also asked her subjects to try to empathize with their offenders or imagine forgiving them. When they practiced forgiveness, their physical arousal coasted downward.

“They showed no more of a stress reaction than normal wakefulness produces. In my own lab, we wanted to determine whether people’s stress levels are related to their ability to forgive a romantic partner. We measured levels of cortisol in the saliva of 39 people who rated their relationship as either terrific or terrible.

“Cortisol is a hormone that metabolizes fat for quick response to stress (and after the stress ends, deposits the fat back where it is easily accessible– around the waist).

“People with poor (or recently failed) relationships tended to have higher baseline levels of cortisol, and they also scored worse on a test that measures their general willingness to forgive. When they were asked to think about their relationship, they had more cortisol reactivity– that is, their stress hormone jumped.

“Those jumps in stress were highly correlated with their unforgiving attitudes toward their partner. People with very happy relationships were not without stresses and strains between them. But forgiving their partner’s faults seemed to keep their physical stress in the normal range.”

So we are looking here, just, you know, medically. Health wise, we have problems with cortisol increasing with unforgiveness.

“Chronic unforgiveness causes stress. Every time people think of their transgressor, their body responds. Decreasing your unforgiveness cuts down your health risk. Now, if you can forgive, that can actually strengthen your immune system.” New Science of Forgiveness – Everett L. Worthington, Jr.

Forgiveness is directly connected to what? To our immune system. Another article I read on CBN, “The Deadly Consequences of Unforgiveness”:

“Unforgiveness is classified in medical books as a disease. According to Dr. Steven Standiford, chief of surgery at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (he’s the chief of surgery!), refusing to forgive makes people sick and keeps them that way. With that in mind, forgiveness therapy is now being used to help treat diseases, such as cancer.

” ‘It’s important to treat emotional wounds or disorders because they really can hinder someone’s reactions to the treatments, even someone’s willingness to pursue treatment,’ Standiford explained.”

So that is another example.

“Of all cancer patients, 61 percent have forgiveness issues, and of those, more than half are severe, according to research by Dr. Michael Barry, a pastor and the author of the book, The Forgiveness Project. ‘Harboring these negative emotions, this anger and hatred, creates a state of chronic anxiety,’ he said.”

So we are talking about fear and anxiety. There we go.

” ‘Chronic anxiety very predictably produces excess adrenaline and cortisol, which deplete the production of natural killer cells, which is your body’s foot soldier in the fight against cancer,’ he explained.” Source: “The Deadly Consequences of Unforgiveness” 6/22/2015 CBN.

Another one… Dr. Paul Haider – “The Connection Between Anger and Cancer”:

“Research at Ohio State University showed that women with high emotional responses had a much lower level of good ‘T’ killer cells. ‘Natural killer cells have an extremely important function with regard to cancer because they are capable of detecting and killing cancer cells.

” ‘Psychological interventions, such as forgiveness, have important roles in reducing stress and improving quality of life, but also in extending survival.’ ”

So we are seeing here that the experts are finding what the Scriptures have already said– the impact of stress and anxiety and unforgiveness and bitterness on disease.

“Stanford University Center for Disease Prevention said, ‘When you hold onto the bitterness for years, it stops you from living your life fully. As it turns out, it wears out your immune system and hurts your heart.’ ”

It can cause heart problems. Another one…

“At Yale University, Dr. Bernie Siegel collected 57 very well documented cases of angry people who came down with cancer. And when they decided that anger and depression were not helping anything they became loving, kind, caring and let go of all anger… thus their cancer started to shrink.” “The Connection Between Anger and Cancer” – Dr. Paul Haider

So clearly, brothers and sisters, we see connections here between bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, and all these works of the flesh that are not from Yahweh’s Spirit, and its impact on our health– and especially cancer.

And so, we have examined three relationships. We have: 1. Relationship with Yahweh, lacking love, security and trust. We have talked about that a great deal in the last two segments.

We are going to look at here today in the next segment: 2. Relationship with others, having bitterness and unforgiveness. And this impact on our health is tremendous.

We are going to look at number three afterward… 3. Relationship with ourselves lacks love and sense of worth.

But the impact on our health we can see. What they are finding medically, and according to what they have studied in our bodies, it actually does have an impact on our health– a tremendous impact on our health.

If our bodies are not producing sufficient numbers of natural killer cells and T-cells because of this stress hormone, because of unforgiveness, this “ping” going on inside of our bodies, what is going to happen? We are going to be less likely to fight off cancers and diseases.

And so, it is just the way it is. This is why everything that Scriptures teach is actually for our own good. Scriptures tell us:

Ephesians 4:31 – 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, just as Elohim in Messiah forgave you.

Yahweh Himself set an example for us. Yahushua set an example for us. Are we willing to follow that example? That is the question. Are we willing? We are told:

Hebrews 12:14 – Pursue peace with all [people], and holiness, without which no one will see YAHWEH:

15 – looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of Elohim; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

Are we willing to look carefully? Many become defiled by this. By what? A root of bitterness springing up. And so, we are instructed in the Word here to look carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of Elohim. Because if we are not willing to forgive, we have a Father in heaven who says He will not forgive us.

He set the pattern. You can’t grab someone by their shirt, and say, “Pay me what you owe,” when you also have a huge debt to be forgiven. And so, pursue peace with all.

It doesn’t mean you have to be at peace. Some people don’t want to be at peace with you. That is okay. But you must pursue it. And holiness. Without that you will not see Yahweh. Without that you will fall short of the grace of Elohim. Without that the root of bitterness will spring up and cause trouble. And many, He says, become defiled by this. Many.

So how do we know?

Proverbs 14:10 – The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.

Our heart knows. And sometimes we don’t even know. Our mind doesn’t have any idea. Our heart knows, but our mind has closed it off. We don’t want to hear that.

How can we know our heart is bitter? Pay close attention to the words springing out of the heart.

Luke 6:45 – A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

So if we have great difficulty controlling our words sometimes, if we just have all kinds of problems trying to control our words and words that would be hurtful words to other people, to our family members, to our spouses, there may be a bitter root in the heart.

You can’t tame the tongue no matter how much you try. You have to deal with the heart issue. That is where you have to deal with it.

Proverbs 12:18 – There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, But the tongue of the wise [promotes] health.

Do you see the connection between our words, our hearts and our health?

Proverbs 13:17 – A wicked messenger falls into trouble, But a faithful ambassador [brings] health.

So the words that come out of our mouth have within that a little signal for us that maybe something is wrong there. Because the words we speak can bring healing or bring wounds.

There may be people in our lives who have spoken words to us that have wounded our hearts and therefore we are bitter. We may not even realize it. And therefore, we speak things that are not appropriate even toward those that we love.

Now a person’s actions toward us can bring wounds to the heart, not just words. You know, words alone are not the only thing that wound the heart.

Obviously, we have all heard the expression “actions speak louder than words”? A person’s actions toward us can bring wounds to the heart. Their actions communicate hatred rather than love… rejection rather than acceptance.

And our hearts become wounded because of the rejection, because of the hatred, because of what they have communicated verbally or nonverbally. Communication is taking place.

And so, communication is taken into the heart and the heart can become wounded. And then the heart over time can become bitter. The heart becomes defiled with the root of bitterness and unforgiveness.

So not only words reveal the heart’s bitterness, but also our actions toward others, whether our actions are actions of consistent love and service and blessing or self-centeredness, refusal to serve, refusal to love, refusal to bless, a refusal to be at peace.

Sometimes we have no desire to live in peace with the person we are particularly bitter against, but Scripture says pursue peace with everyone.

Hebrews 12:14 – Pursue peace with all [people], and holiness, without which no one will see YAHWEH:

15 – looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of Elohim; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

We can’t fall short of grace. We are all in trouble. We need all the grace we can get.

Now the Torah instructs us:

Leviticus 19:17 – `You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.

A lot of people think, “Well, that Torah, you know. That’s all about the externals and the rituals. And you walk so many steps, and you…” No, it is all about the heart. He says: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him.”

Leviticus 19:18 – `You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I [am] YAHWEH.

“You shall not take vengeance.” That comes out of hatred in the heart. “Nor bear any grudge against the children of your people.” And this is the bitterness part right here, the bearing of grudges.

Now the Hebrew word translated “grudge” is the Hebrew word “natar.” It means “to keep,” “to guard,” “to reserve,” “to maintain.”

Lexicon: 05201 natar {naw-tar’} Meaning: 1) to keep, keep guard, reserve, maintain 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to keep, maintain 1a2) to keep, guard Origin: a primitive root; TWOT – 1356; v Usage: AV – keep 4, keeper 2, reserve 2, grudge 1; 9.

The Holladay Lexicon says: 1. keep watch, guard (vineyard) “To guard one’s wrath, keep on being angry.” It has to do with holding onto something, holding onto a person’s wrongs against you, holding onto unforgiveness, holding onto resentment, not being willing to truly, fully “just let it go.”

Is there someone in your life that whenever you think of that person immediately you begin to feel kind of upset and unsettled inside and, if asked, you could immediately list a number of reasons why you don’t like that person? Maybe a friend that really hurt you. Maybe a former marriage. Maybe a former relationship with someone you had hoped to marry.

Maybe a parent. Maybe a grandparent. Maybe a relative. Maybe even a son or a daughter. Does anyone quickly come to mind? Maybe in your heart you have kind of justified yourself a little bit, and you think, “Well, Tom, if you only knew what they did to me, you would understand.”

Maybe the person is even a spouse. Maybe it can be a man being bitter toward his wife. Men, we are warned about that specifically.

Colossians 3:19 – Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

Do not, do not, do not be bitter toward them. Do not. Can’t do it.

Someone says, “Well, Tom, come on. She just doesn’t respect me. She fights against me. She humiliates me.”

I’m sorry, but I don’t see any conditions here. I mean, if the woman was perfect, there would be nothing to be bitter about, right? But we are warned not to be bitter against our wives for a reason. He knows our tendencies.

If we are expressing anger toward our wives, toward our children, toward other close family members, it is a little signal that we may have bitterness there. Scripture says:

1John 4:20 – If someone says, I love Elohim, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love Elohim whom he has not seen?

21 – And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves Elohim [must] love his brother also.

So, especially a person being a believer, we must express love toward them. And someone says, “Well, I don’t even know if my spouse is really even a believer. I mean, they don’t act like a believer. I know who they really are, and actually they act like my enemy a lot of the times”

Well, what did Yahushua say? Hate your enemies? No, He didn’t say hate your enemies. He said: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who spitefully use you.”

Now if the person claims to be a believer, but you have judged that person, and said, “No, they are not a believer. They are not really believers. They are just acting like a believer, ” you are in danger of placing judgment on your own soul, because Scripture says: “With what judgment you judge, you will be judged.”

And so, if at any point in your life your righteousness does not exceed their righteousness, look out. And the truth be told, they might be bitter, too, and they are acting out their bitterness.

And they are not being let go by you, but you yourself are practicing the same thing, hurting others with your bitterness. And so, what we need to do is just let it go.

In truth, if the person you hate is a believer, part of the same body of the Messiah you are a part of, you are actually hating a part of the Messiah’s body, while Messiah Himself is loving them. And that is why we see the Scripture:

1John 4:20 – If someone says, I love Elohim, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love Elohim whom he has not seen?

And so, we cannot love the Messiah and then hate part of His body. It doesn’t work that way.

Now there is a tremendous danger in holding bitterness against a parent, because Yahweh is the One who chose your parents. He is the One that picked them out. He is the One that allowed their presence in your life. You don’t have any control over that.

It doesn’t mean He was responsible for their sin, but for one reason or another, He allowed them to be your parents even though He knew they would sin against you.

Now if you have a real issue with that, you might be trying to guard your heart against bitterness toward Yahweh. And the worst place to be is the bitterness toward Yahweh, but we can’t even go there. And we have talked about that in the previous two segments.

But there are these three potential areas of bitterness and they have an impact on our health:

1. Relationship with Yahweh lacks love, security and trust.

2. Relationship with others have bitterness/unforgiveness.

3. Relationship with ourselves lacks love and sense of worth.

Yahweh chose our parents for one reason or another. Maybe if you didn’t have those parents, you wouldn’t be a believer today. Maybe you would be an unbeliever on the road to the lake of fire. So, for me, I think it is best not to question. He chose the parents. He allowed it. I need to just let it go.

It was terrible what they did. It was awful what they did. They should never have done so, whatever it is they may have done to you. But for some reason, through all of that, today you come to recognize that Yahushua is the Messiah. And for that, you can give Him praise.

You know, a lot of people I have spoken to over the years, they wonder why aren’t there these huge miracles like the old days, the Bible times, you know? Groups of people, masses, would come to Yahushua. He would heal every single one of them. Why don’t we see that today? I mean, that was an important aspect of Yahushua’s ministry. It says here:

Luke 6:17 – And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases,

18 – as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed.

19 – And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed [them] all.

I think He healed so many to show that He is the One through whom we will receive healing, to show He is the One that Isaiah 53 speaks of. He bore our sicknesses.

And so, a legitimate question might be: What about the sins of the people that these people were involved in? Were they just all forgiven? I mean, just forgiven, and so that is how He was able to heal them all? Well, look at Matthew 9:1-3. It says:

Matthew 9:1 – So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.

2 – Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Yahushua saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.

3 – And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, This Man blasphemes!

Matthew 9:4 – But Yahushua, knowing their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil in your hearts?

5 – For which is easier, to say, `[Your] sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, `Arise and walk’?

As if they are pretty much the same thing, because of the sinful root of disease.

Matthew 9:6 – But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins — then He said to the paralytic, Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.

So from Yahushua’s perspective, in this case, there was no difference between saying, “Your sins are forgiven you,” and, “Arise and walk.” This man was paralyzed because of some sin he was involved in.

But the good news of Yahushua the Messiah is that He is coming to offer forgiveness of sin to those who are willing to come to Him. And that is the message He was trying to get across. And so, we have mass healings.

Now did you know that you cannot have your sins forgiven unless you are also willing to forgive others? And if you are not willing to forgive others and your sins are not forgiven, you may still have a disease because of unwillingness to forgive others.

And you may be opening a door for demonic activity to where you actually have a disease caused by demonic activity. We are going to talk about that more here in just a minute, but Scripture says:

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.

So unless we are willing to forgive others, our own sins will be unforgiven by Yahweh. So what if all these people came and Yahushua healed them of their diseases? Let’s suppose they had spiritual roots, but they decided not to give the same grace to another person who had wronged them.

Imagine this. All these people, they came to Yahushua for healing and they got their sins forgiven, and they got their healing that they needed. Not all of them had spiritual roots, but the ones that did, what if they went out and decided to be unforgiving toward others? What would happen? Yahushua warned them:

John 5:5 – Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.

6 – When Yahushua saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been [in that condition] a long time, He said to him, Do you want to be made well?

7 – The sick man answered Him, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.

John 5:8 – Yahushua said to him, Rise, take up your bed and walk.

9 – And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.

10 – The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry [your] bed.

John 5:11 – He answered them, He who made me well said to me, `Take up your bed and walk.’

12 – Then they asked him, Who is the Man who said to you, `Take up your bed and walk’?

13 – But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Yahushua had withdrawn, a multitude being in [that] place.

John 5:14 – Afterward Yahushua found him in the temple, and said to him, See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.

Worse than being paralyzed, this infirmity that he had. Thirty-eight years. A judgment was on this man’s soul for thirty-eight years because of a sin that he had committed.

Remember (in Part 1) I shared some Scriptures showing that unclean spirits are sometimes responsible for diseases: Job had boils placed all over his body by Satan, there was an epileptic in Matthew 17, and a women who walked bent over in Luke 13, who were all afflicted by unclean spirits.

I think it is for that reason that we read in Isaiah 65 (this is after Satan has been bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years)… it says:

Isaiah 65:20 – No more shall an infant from there [live but a few] days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner [being] one hundred years old shall be accursed.

21 – They shall build houses and inhabit [them]; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22 – They shall not build and another inhabit; They shall not plant and another eat; For as the days of a tree, [so shall be] the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

So in the future time when the enemy is cast in the bottomless pit for a thousand years (him and his cronies), we have longer lives. There is a connection. And also, of course, Yahushua will be there to rebuke all sin, and therefore there will be less disease.

The world will change. The animals will be at peace with each other. Outside forces, sickness and disease, attack on the human body will be minimal. Satan and his demons, who are often the authors of those attacks, will be bound and unable to touch mankind. And so, Yahushua told the multitudes:

Matthew 12:43 – When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.

44 – Then he says, `I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds [it] empty, swept, and put in order.

45 – Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.

And what did He say? “So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” All the people who had their sins forgiven, demons cast out, all these things that took place, he warned them.

If that house is empty, if it is not filled with the Ruach, the Spirit of Yahweh, if you are continuing to practice wrong things and Yahweh’s Spirit is not residing in you, and you have a welcoming home for an unclean spirit, what is going to happen? What did He tell the other fellow? He says: “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

The last state of that man will be worse than the first. So I have kind of thought, okay, He did all these healings, but maybe a lot of these people did not get permanent healing. He warned them not to leave an open room for the devil to re-enter and they would be in a worse state than before.

Maybe a large percentage of those people did not genuinely repent and were in a worse state than before, and maybe that is one reason why, in spite of thousands and thousands of people being healed, they are in Jerusalem for the Feast shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

“So shall it be with this wicked generation,” He said.

Have you ever heard of believers giving praise reports? You know, “Cancer has been healed!” or other kinds of healings, and then it becomes a great testimony and everyone rejoices, and then a few months later, the disease comes back and they die? I have heard that happen. Especially cancer. Remission.

You know, I’ve wondered, maybe that is because the spiritual root of that disease was not dealt with. They don’t have the T-cells and the natural killer cells, what is needed, to fight off the cancer. It comes back. Likewise, the enemy also, perhaps, who is helping to spiritually cause the disease, is returning.

Whether it is biological or spiritual, either way, we notice that the spiritual world often has a biological or flesh counterpart, or something that matches up there, right? Have you ever noticed that there is a connection there? The physical world and the spiritual world, they are like patterns of each other.

And the physical manifests the things going on in the spiritual. But, you know, their body doesn’t have the ability to fight cancer, or the enemy is coming back, and therefore either a completely different disease emerges or the same disease reappears again.

So when we see Yahushua going around healing people by the hundreds and thousands, I am sure many of us would desire that we would be able to do that: “Hey, let’s go visit hospitals and just completely put the doctors out of business, man. Wouldn’t that be great?”

What good would it do if these people wouldn’t repent? What good would it do? If they don’t repent, it is not going to last. Their healing won’t last. Now Yahushua, He had to do the healing to show He is the Healer: “Come to Me and be healed.” But we have to repent, and we have to put our faith and our trust in Him.

James 5:14 – Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of YAHWEH.

Who is “them”? Elders.

James 5:15 – And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and YAHWEH will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

See? Connection between sin and disease.

James 5:16 – Confess [your] trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

A precondition to being healed, one that I find is actually quite rarely practiced in healing services, even in anointing services– the confession of sin.

“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” We hear that a lot. But I have a question. Why didn’t James say, “Hey, let’s go find Peter’s shadow somewhere,” or, “Where is Paul’s handkerchief? Where are his aprons so we can get this person healed?”

He seems to point to a deeper root problem, a problem that connects sin and sicknesses and diseases, saying, “If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” But notice this prerequisite: “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

In other words, we have a couple of requirements here, three actually: Prayer of faith, confession of trespasses, and prayer. Those are the three things, important keys to healing.

1. Prayer of faith.

2. Confession of trespasses to one another.

3. Prayer for one another.

Now, ultimately, it is Yahweh that we can ask forgiveness from. He is the One who forgives sins, but we see here a requirement of confessing trespasses to one another. And for that reason, we see these Catholics, you know, sitting behind some kind of a blind, and the one who calls himself a priest hearing all of these sins every day.

I don’t think that is what James intended. I mean, an elder would be overwhelmed with listening to everybody’s sins twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, if that is what Yahweh meant.

What is spoken of here are the very things we see in other Scriptures. If we sin against one another, such sins would need to be confessed toward the one you sinned against. Forgiveness should be sought.

In the same way when we have sinned against Yahweh we confess our sin to Yahweh, we also, if we have sinned against someone, must confess our sin to each other, so that peace might be brought, so that restoration of relationships might be brought. And furthermore, pray for that person and bless them.

So if we have some kind of infirmity or sickness in our lives because of maybe a lack of repentance toward another person, we can receive healing by seeking forgiveness from that person that we have wronged. Then the one who was wronged would need to forgive from the heart. And not only forgive, but pray for that person who wronged you.

Yahushua told His disciples:

John 20:21 – So Yahushua said to them again, Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.

22 – And when He had said this, He breathed on [them], and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 – If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the [sins] of any, they are retained.

We have to be very careful about retaining anyone’s sins. The book of Job, all the health problems that Job had…

Job 42:7 – And so it was, after YAHWEH had spoken these words to Job, that YAHWEH said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me [what is] right, as My servant Job [has].

8 – Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you [according to your] folly; because you have not spoken of Me [what is] right, as My servant Job [has].

And for that reason, if somebody is quoting the book of Job, make sure they are not quoting Eliphaz or his two friends.

Job 42:9 – So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite [and] Zophar the Naamathite went and did as YAHWEH commanded them; for YAHWEH had accepted Job.

10 – And YAHWEH restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed YAHWEH gave Job twice as much as he had before.

So when he was willing to forgive the person, when he was willing to pray for them, he got the restoration. These friends had afflicted him when he was at his lowest point, falsely accusing him, speaking things to him that were from Satan the devil rather than from Yahweh.

They were tormentors. And that is one reason we have to be careful when we quote from the book of Job. A lot of the words they spoke to him were not from Yahweh’s Spirit.

And we can find ourselves placing judgment on our own souls when we refuse to forgive others for their sins against us and instead we hold bitterness. That would be a sin for us to hold bitterness, because Scripture tells us:

Leviticus 19:18 – `You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I [am] YAHWEH.

If you are refusing to forgive another person and you are bearing a grudge against them, you are actually sinning against them. They may have sinned against you and therefore you are holding a grudge. You have bitterness against them. Now you are sinning against them by refusing mercy, refusing to forgive. So Yahushua taught us:

Mark 11:25 – And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

If you have anything against anyone, forgive him. He doesn’t say, “Oh, only if they come to you and ask for forgiveness.” He just says, “If you have anything against anyone, forgive him.”

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Part of the Master’s prayer, right? “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

And so, harboring unforgiveness could cause judgment on our own soul. It could cause tremendous problems in our lives. So what does Yahushua say?

Luke 6:36 – Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

37 – Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

I think of Yahushua at a time when He was most wronged. He prayed for those who were wronging Him. He said:

Luke 23:34 – Then Yahushua said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. And they divided His garments and cast lots.

Was anyone who ever lived more wronged than Yahushua the Messiah? He was the most perfect man who ever lived. He was the only perfect man that ever lived. He never wronged anybody.

If we have some kind of thing happening to us, or some kind of wrong happening to us, we could all, really, in reality, we could probably all say, “Actually, we kind of deserve it,” because we have hurt others. But not Yahushua. He never hurt anybody. And yet, what did He say? “Forgive them.”

Stephen, also, one of Yahushua’s disciples…

Acts 7:59 – And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on [Elohim] and saying, Master Yahushua, receive my spirit.

60 – Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, Master, do not charge them with this sin. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Just like that. And probably, as I have talked about before, Yahweh heard that prayer because Saul, whom we know as Paul, was standing there and consenting to Stephen’s death, and he was forgiven.

But looking at our passage here again in James, notice it says: “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” The one whom you have wronged should pray for your healing, and because he is not retaining your sins, he will be counted as righteous and his prayers will avail much.

James 5:14 – Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of YAHWEH.

15 – And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and YAHWEH will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

16 – Confess [your] trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

So I don’t necessarily limit the pronouns here to one person. I think there is a principal being taught here.

Let’s say somebody wronged you. If you are willing to pray for them and bless them, that opens a door for you to be healed, because you yourself are sinning against that person and trespassing against them by holding grudges, by holding bitterness in the heart toward them.

And so, if you have wronged somebody and you confess your trespass to them, they in turn must forgive you and pray for you.

Imagine this: a world where everyone is merciful, is kind, is gentle, is meek– realizing that we all need grace. And these judgments that people place on other people when they themselves aren’t as righteous as that other person, I see it way too often in the body of Messiah… way too often.

We have to be on guard. “Well, I reject that person. That person is not this. That person is not up to par here in my book.” And where are you, buddy? Are you up to par?

We get so prideful when we forget our own need for grace, and we are unwilling to extend grace to others. Because, really, bitterness and unforgiveness and holding grudges and desiring vengeance, it is simply this: It is a refusal to give someone else what you so freely expect to receive from Yahweh. That is all it is. It is hypocrisy.

So be on guard. We all have to be on guard or we may be placing judgment on our souls and we may have diseases because of it.

I want to point out a couple of things here that for some reason are not being followed a lot of times in the body of Messiah. It says in verse 14: “Let him call for elders [elders!] of the congregation.” It is the elders who are the ones responsible for praying over the sick and anointing them with oil.

They have a certain level of authority in the body of Messiah that the people who are not elders will not have in the prayer closet, in the prayer room. They just won’t have the authority.

But elders do have a place of authority. He doesn’t say, “Let him call for the doctors. Let him call the herbalists. Let him call the nutritionist.” No, call for the elders and let the elders be the ones who make the prayers.

When we have a festival gathering, I am not an elder. I’m not. I am neither qualified to be one nor am I old enough to be one. But it says let the elders pray.

And the ones who are elders… we had a situation, I think it was last Feast of Tabernacles, like eleven people got healed. I think one of the reasons why is because we are willing to respect the position of the elder and let the elders handle that, and “let them pray over him.”

“Let them.” Who is “them”? The elders. “Let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of Yahweh.”

So that is one thing I want to point out. This means that when a person is getting prayed for and anointed with oil, it is the elders who have the responsibility. Not just everyone walks up there and lays their hands on the person. No! It is the role of elders to do that, and elders have that authority in the body. So remember that.

Also, notice it is the person who has the sickness who should be calling for the elders. “Let him.” Who is “him”? The sick person. “Let him call for the elders” to come and pray for them.

I think that is an important step because too often I have seen someone have some kind of infirmity or sickness and someone else goes, “Oh, well, you need to go to so-and-so and we’ll all get together and we’ll pray for you.”

I have even seen the person who is kind of reluctant: “Oh, I’ll be all right, you know.” And then they get kind of coaxed into going: “Okay, well, I guess I’ll go and get prayed for. I guess so.”

Now wait a minute! Scripture says let him, the one who is sick, call for the elders. I think there is a reason for that, because the one who is desiring the healing, Yahweh wants to give them an opportunity to express faith.

And if they are willing to take a step in faith and call for the elders of a congregation, and let those elders pray over them, they are the ones doing the action. It is the prayer of faith. The one who is expressing faith is the one who is calling for the elders of the congregation.

It may or may not even be the faith of the elder who is praying– although, I think that is a necessary thing– but the faith of the one being prayed for.

Mark 10:46 – Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.

47 – And when he heard that it was Yahushua of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Yahushua, Son of David, have mercy on me!

48 – Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me!

Mark 10:49 – So Yahushua stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.

50 – And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Yahushua.

51 – So Yahushua answered and said to him, What do you want Me to do for you? The blind man said to Him, Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.

Mark 10:52 – Then Yahushua said to him, Go your way; your faith has made you well. And immediately he received his sight and followed Yahushua on the road.

He called for the ultimate Elder, crying out for healing, and with faith (that was an expression of faith), he was healed. That is what we need in the body of Messiah today– people with infirmities crying out, asking for mercy, asking for healing.

If you have to go in a remote place, whatever it takes. The people went out to Yahushua in remote places, sometimes going without food, just to hear Yahweh’s Word and be healed. The woman with the issue of blood took the step, reaching out for the tzitzit, and her faith made her well.

The centurion sent for Yahushua to come. His servant was healed. And Paul, he would study people. Acts 14:8 says:

Acts 14:8 – And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.

9 – [This] man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

So the guy is listening to Paul.

Acts 14:10 – said with a loud voice, Stand up straight on your feet! And he leaped and walked.

A man who has never walked before. So we need the element of faith as well, not just the person praying, but the person receiving prayer and praying with the one who is praying for you. You also need an element of faith.

And so, perhaps this man had no sin that caused his disease because he was, you know, like the man who was blind from birth, he was a cripple from birth having never walked. But we see faith was necessary. But also repentance was necessary.

Mark 6:12 – So they went out and preached that [people] should repent.

13 – And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed [them].

It wasn’t just, “Oh, you are healed!” There was an anointing service. There was prayer and hands being laid. It was the disciples doing this. They are anointing with oil even before James wrote what he wrote. So it is quite likely, okay, repentance and faith.

It is quite likely that as many people that Yahushua and His disciples healed, there was an expectation of repentance. There was anointing oil that was used in many instances. Now, when it comes to bitterness, this is certainly a major cause of many diseases. Maybe cancer is the biggest one.

Because just like they say, “Things eat at you like a cancer,” unforgiveness eats at you like a cancer. And there is a physical comparison and a spiritual component. A lot of times what is happening in our life, our spiritual problems, there is a physical counterpart that in our bodies manifests itself to help us identify what the spiritual problem is.

And so, Scripture tells us: Repentance and faith in Messiah is, really, the gospel. It is the gospel. It is the foundation of our faith. We have to return to the foundation and repent and then have faith in Messiah, not just for forgiveness of sin, but the healing that comes along with that forgiveness of sin.

Hebrews 12:12 – Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,

13 – and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

We have a healing Scripture here, right next to this…

Hebrews 12:14 – Pursue peace with all [people], and holiness, without which no one will see YAHWEH:

15 – looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of Elohim; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

Because you are not submitting to the gospel. Watch out for that root of bitterness. Watch out. Be careful.

So often, brothers, the chastening we get is just a time of humbling that we have to endure because of how we have treated other people. And so, we find ourselves under Yahweh’s judgment because we have arrogantly judged another person or treated them in such a way that lacked humility.

And the reality is, if we lived their life, if we faced the things they faced, if we went through the things that they went through, if we were challenged with the same upbringings, the same parenting, the same family dynamics that they were into, we wouldn’t be any better than they are. We really wouldn’t be any better than they are.

And so, we have to let go of this root of bitterness. A lack of humility is often rooted in bitterness. We are not willing to humble ourselves and realize that we need grace, too. And we probably wouldn’t be any better or more righteous than they are if we went through what they went through.

So many become defiled with this root of bitterness. And I notice this mention of bitterness is in the context of receiving judgment and chastening, if you read the context of chapter 12. If we are not a people of peace, but we are a bitter people who mistreat others, we are not walking in holiness. And without peace and holiness, we won’t see Yahweh.

But the bitter root springs up and produces the works of the flesh, an evil fruit that defiles. And bitterness defiles an otherwise holy person. And it is the root of so many works of the flesh.

Galatians 5:19 – Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,

20 – idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,

21 – envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told [you] in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of Elohim.

It is salvational. The root of bitterness has come in and has defiled, and things have grown up out of the root of bitterness. And therefore, we have these works of the flesh manifesting themselves. That is one way you can find out, “I have a root of bitterness somewhere.”

So of these works of the flesh, there is pleasure-seeking:

1. Adultery

2. Fornication

3. Uncleanness

4. Lewdness

5. Idolatry

6. Sorcery

7. Drunkenness

8. Revelries

But there is, also, a bitter root. These are:

1. Hatred

2. Contentions

3. Jealousies

4. Outbursts of Wrath

5. Selfish Ambitions

6. Dissensions

7. Heresies

8. Envy

9. Murders

I would categorize these works of the flesh under those two headings. One would be pleasure-seeking… the lust of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. The other would be a bitter root. A major, major, major deal here.

Hatred comes from bitterness. Contentions and arguing can come from bitterness. Jealousies can come from bitterness. Outbursts of wrath can come from bitterness. Selfish ambitions can come from bitterness. Dissensions, arguments, heresies… Heresies would be sectarianism, wanting to put yourself forward… envy and murders.

All of these can come out of a bitter root. And so, Scripture tells us:

Ephesians 4:29 – Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

30 – And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of Elohim, 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.

Where does all that come from? The bitter root.

Ephesians 4:32 – And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as Elohim in Messiah forgave you.

Forgiving is the antidote to bitterness. And if we have this “evil speaking,” these corrupt words are going to come out of our hearts because of the bitter root that is there and we are not going to be able to edify or impart grace.

And corrupt words are coming out and we are grieving Yahweh’s Spirit, the one who is sealing us for the day of redemption. The corrupt words, the wrath, the anger, the clamor, the evil speaking– they are all finding their roots in the bitterness. It is the root problem.

So you can cut the trees down all you want, you can go cut grass, but as long as that root is there, the grass is going to keep growing. So in order to address the problem, you have to get to the root and pull it completely out by the root. Otherwise, it will grow up again.

Now the path to resolving bitterness always must involve humbling ourselves. Suppose someone is bitter because of the way they have been treated by another person. Now if that person could step back and look at the situation from a heavenly perspective, take a look here:

Person A sinned against Person B. This person did something wrong, right here (Person A), and Person B is over here stewing about it and he is bitter. So now Person B looks at Person A differently than he did before. Now he is bitter at them.

And so everything Person A does, whether is it good, bad or ugly, is always going to be viewed with suspicion, with questioning motives, with believing the other person is evil. And so, there is a connection here between how one person judges another and whether or not bitterness is involved in how they make the judgment.

And if Person B believes Person A is not a person of good character, they are more likely to falsely accuse and to falsely judge Person A, and therefore, more likely to hold bitterness. Again, because they believe, “Okay, now this person has done this wrong. And now they have done this wrong. How did I not see it before?”

Because you did not have a bitter root. That is why. Because you are falsely accusing them. That is why. Because you are bitter. That is why. That is why you couldn’t see it before. It is not because you have been enlightened.

Now there are cases where, okay, yeah, a person could be totally evil. Down to the root of their hearts they are just totally, completely evil. It doesn’t give you an excuse to be. You have to forgive. You cannot be bitter, because bitter roots can cloud your judgment and your ability to judge righteously.

Now what does Yahweh see in this situation? Here is what Yahweh sees:

Romans 3:23 – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Elohim,

Person B has also sinned. He is not exactly pure as a wind driven snow himself, but for some reason Yahweh doesn’t get bitter. Both have offended Yahweh. But rather than Yahweh becoming bitter, Yahweh chooses to extend love. Yahweh chooses to send His own Son to die for both Person A and Person B.

And even if the person doesn’t love Yahweh back, as long as their heart beats, they have a chance to receive Yahweh’s love. So from Yahweh’s perspective, bitterness is nothing short of hypocrisy. Bitterness arises out of an unwillingness to give the very thing that we have so freely proclaimed that we have received from Yahweh.

From Yahweh we expect to receive love in response to our wrongs toward Him. But us? If somebody wrongs us, do we choose love? Heart searching questions for all of us here. Me, too.

Satan wants to lie to us. There are two kingdoms. There are two sets of laws: Yahweh’s laws and Satan’s laws. Which will you believe?

Here are Satan’s lying laws: 1. You will feel better by being addicted to this. “Oh, you will feel better if you get addicted to this thing over here. It will help you feel better.” One example.

Truthful laws are: 1. You will harm yourself by being addicted to this.

Lying laws: 2. You will be satisfied when you retaliate.

Truthful laws: 2. The bitter root will damage you.

Satan’s lying laws: 3. Don’t forgive and justice will be done.

Yahweh’s Law is: 3. Forgive! Vengeance is Yahweh’s. Your own sins will not be forgiven if you are not willing to forgive.

We have a tendency out of a desire to administer personal justice to hold onto the sins of others and to keep that, to ruminate over it, and to tell ourselves: “Never forget what was done to you.”

If you think about it long enough, there is this feeling inside of resentment, and we may not even realize what we are doing in the spiritual realm by holding onto someone else’s sins. We may not realize how the words we have spoken in the past could be directly from that root of bitterness that we have in our heart.

And it may be words of judgment against another person that is opening a door for Satan to work in our lives because we are unwilling to follow Yahweh’s Laws and we are willing to follow Satan’s laws.

And so, I have an exercise for you until our next segment on health. I would like you to think back to anyone who has ever hurt you. Anyone. Has anyone ever hurt you? I am sure almost all of us could find, yes, we have had people who have hurt us. I don’t want to say “maybe.” Yes, everyone has had a person in their life who has hurt them.

And we are instructed in the Scriptures to keep our heart with all diligence. Out of it flow the issues of life. Put away from us a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from us. Because out of the heart, the mouth speaks, right?

Proverbs 4:23 – Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it [spring] the issues of life.

24 – Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.

Think about any kind of judgments that you may have made toward another person. You have declared they are not a believer or they are not this or they are not that. Any kind of judgments that you have made. And you may not even realize it. It may be deep within the deepest recesses of your heart.

Proverbs 14:10 – The heart knows its own bitterness, And a stranger does not share its joy.

So down in the deepest recesses of your own heart you may have bitterness and your head is failing to acknowledge it.

In your mind you have forgiven the person, but down in the deepest recesses of your heart there is not really forgiveness there and it is manifesting by words that come out, by actions that come out, by things that you are doing, by behavior you are exhibiting, and you don’t even realize it is from bitterness that you have had against another person.

And therefore, you are getting medical problems, diseases and health problems from these bitter root judgments. What did David say? “Create in me a clean heart. Renew a right spirit within me.”

The heart is the problem. The heart is where bitterness can reside and cause problems. And we have to look carefully. That is what we are instructed to do.

Hebrews 12:14 – Pursue peace with all [people], and holiness, without which no one will see YAHWEH:

15 – looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of Elohim; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

Think about anyone that you just don’t have a liking for. Maybe you feel you can justify why you are angry or bitter toward them. You may have found a root of bitterness. If you have anger rising up in your heart, the sign of bitterness is probably there.

And here is what I would like you to do. Pray for Yahweh to show you who you really are rather than who you think you are and be prepared to deal with some harsh realities. You know, there is a false comfort in thinking you have forgiven somebody, but Yahweh in heaven is saying, “No, no, you haven’t. You think you have, but you haven’t.”

Ask Yahweh, “Show me who I really am rather than who I think I am.” Because sometimes we can forgive someone with our head, but not with our heart. Our heart is not willing to follow our mind.

And in the next segment we are going to examine how to resolve those things. Do you look at a person’s sins with distain, maybe hatred, certain kinds of sins with a higher level of distain than others? There may be a bitter root behind that.

Maybe you are guilty, actually, of the same things. In fact, a lot of times that person may not even be guilty of anything, but you are assuming they are that way because that is the way you have been or the way you really are somewhere down deep, or some judgment you have placed on another person and now you yourself are falsely judging somebody else.

Pray. Bring back the memory, from the time you were in the womb until now, anything that may have caused you to be bitter without even realizing it. Maybe moments that you were mocked and ridiculed in high school or in childhood friends and school, or whatever, or by a parent who hurt you with their words or a relative or a grandparent.

Write them down. We are going to deal with it next week. If you feel led to deal with it now, go right ahead, but we are going to talk about an effective way to deal with those things. We are going to go over some more Scriptures and then we are going to pray together.

And so, in the meantime, let’s do that. Let’s pray together. Father Yahweh, Thank You for Your love toward us. Thank You for Yahushua whom You have sent. Thank You for the forgiveness that You so freely, freely, freely offer those who turn their hearts toward righteousness, who receive Your Son, Yahushua Ha Mashiach, who are willing to forgive others.

And Father Yahweh, show us who we truly are, especially if it is different than what we think we are. Reveal our heart to us. And then, we ask, Father Yahweh, that You would give us the proper steps to resolve any bitterness that we may have toward another person that You have revealed to us that we are carrying.

Father Yahweh, we don’t want to carry this load anymore. We are tired. We can’t bear it. And we ask that You would just lay it all on Yahushua who bore it two thousand years ago and bears it even today. It is too much. It is harming our health. It is filling us with hurts toward others.

Reveal to us our own ways. Search us, Father Yahweh, that we might know our hearts and see if there be any wicked way in us. We want to be like Yahushua, our awesome Redeemer, our amazing Savior, who was just a fountain of unending grace. Through and by Your Son, Yahushua Ha Mashiach, we ask that it be done.

For truly Yours is the Kingdom and power and glory. Let Your Kingdom be established in us. Deliver us from the enemy. We are willing to extend forgiveness. Forgive us, Father, for any bitterness we may have in our hearts. In Yahushua Ha Mashiach, we pray all these things. Amein.