In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of focusing on Jesus and trusting in Him, even in difficult circumstances. He references the story of Peter walking on water and sinking when he took his eyes off Jesus. The preacher also mentions the endurance of Jesus on the cross and encourages the listeners to keep their focus on Him. He shares a passage from Habakkuk that speaks of rejoicing in the Lord despite challenging circumstances. The sermon concludes with a reminder to trust and love God, allowing Him to choose the crosses we bear.

I'd like to share with you a passage of scripture from Habakkuk, chapter 3, verse 17, 18, and 19. Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hind's feet, and He will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singers on my stringed instruments. Heavenly Father, I pray that you take your word today, and that you administer to us. We are needy, as David, we're poor and needy. We thank you that your word will accomplish that which you please. I pray, Father, that you would reach out, set the captives free, any that do not know Jesus as their Savior, that you would bring them to the point of seeing that Christ is their need. Thank you now in Jesus' name. Amen. I'd like to continue on today and talk with you folks a little bit about bitterness. You know, sometimes it doesn't take much to reveal what our heart is. And sometimes we get into situations. God lets us get into situations to reveal our heart. I got into one here a couple weeks ago. I knew that God wanted me to take my wife to a certain conference. I knew that, and we went through quite a bit of praying and arranging and scheduling and planning to get her to that conference. We were convinced that God wanted her to go there. And so, He even arranged it to where we couldn't get there early. We was trying to get there early with some friends, and it was later afterwards I got all this figured out, but I was beginning to get a little anxious about some things, and especially when we got there and found out that there wasn't any provision for nursing mothers. And we'd been told that there was, and had just received some wrong information. And the reason God showed me that He didn't let us get there early was that if we'd got there early enough, I would have taken her back and put her in a motel that day while I went on to the conference. But He wanted her there. He showed us very clearly beforehand, and also while we were there and afterwards why He wanted us there. And God just, He just hemmed me in a little bit and showed me that I was incorporating with Him for a minute or two there when I began to get anxious about Him rearranging plans and schedules. Well, there's going to be some things coming. That's going to be a lot more trying than that for us. And I know that the Lord is trying to get the church ready for what's coming, and many of you know that too. I appreciate your prayers and support as we are watching to see what's going to happen in these latter days. And so, although the fig tree shall not blossom, there won't be any fruit in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat, and the flocks shall be cut off from the foal, and there shall be no herd in the stalls, here is the point of victory. Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. We can only rejoice in the Lord as we're focusing on the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. Let me encourage you. You know, if you're right across the page, I'm right there at Zephaniah in chapter 3. I was looking at that just a few minutes ago and I said, boy Lord, that's pretty close to where we're at. Where he said, Woe to her that is filthy and polluted to the oppressing city! She obeyeth not the voice, she receiveth not correction. She trusteth not in the Lord, she drew not near to her God. Sounds like us. Sounds like America. Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They gnaw not the bones till the morning. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons. Her priests have polluted the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. Then that next verse is an encouragement from God. He always has a word of encouragement for us, doesn't he? The just Lord is in the midst thereof. He will not do iniquity. Every morning doth he bring his judgment to light. He faileth not, but the unjust knoweth no shame. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, Isaiah said. To be like Jesus is to be willing to suffer the just for the unjust. I finished up a few weeks ago sharing some things on bitterness, and I think we should spend some time here. As I shared, this is our revival season, and I believe bitterness is one of the biggest problems in our churches. And I'd just like to minister to you folks. I know some of you are going to have your spring revival meetings, and many times we just focus on the unsaved. Where we need to be focusing is on our own hearts and making sure that we're right before God. Remember I shared with you a statement by Dr. Paul S. Reese where he said, Hidden bitterness, hidden deep within the soul, is a far more fruitful cause of spiritual defeat and powerlessness in the lives of Christians than we have any idea. It smolders there for years on end. Bitterness, a wrong was done to you, either real or imagined, and instead of committing it to God, you've allowed it to lodge in your heart and fester, and by such undisciplined emotion, you grieve the Holy Spirit. Many of us do not know how much damage that bitterness can do to us. If we let it get into our soul, we give ground to Satan through bitterness. I listened to one counselor who I'd known back years ago when he was a pastor, several years ago, we were in the same fellowship, and I heard him say at this pastor's conference, he was on a videotape, that bitterness was the number one problem that they dealt with in their counseling, major counseling, a godly counseling center, they don't charge, they just live by faith, and so, and they use the word of God, I know them, and that they're right on, and they preach the cross, the cross is what liberates, but to be like Jesus, listen, is to be willing to suffer, now throw that word out, willing, there's a difference between suffering, and suffering willingly, the just for the unjust, 1 Peter 3, 18, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, and I'll throw this question out to you again, who is Jesus right now, trying to reach out to, through you, who is it, you see what happens many times, God allows things to happen to us, to get people to Christ, and to get us to minister to them, but instead we'll get to focusing on the evil, that was done to us, this is why the Bible said, for even here unto where you call, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps, the point is, I think that the Lord is trying to tell us, don't let that trial make you bitter, and this is why we go back to Hebrews, we go back to Hebrews chapter 12, verse 2, where we continually keep looking unto Jesus, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God, looking diligently, if you go to verse 15 of Hebrews 12, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness, bringing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, and we name this program on Eagle's Wings, that's basically telling us, that we are to live by the grace of God, to fly on Eagle's Wings, to stick your wings out, and let God hold you up, let him be your strength, let him be your joy, let him be your guidance, let him be your life, and so if he is our life, then nothing that comes along, will unnerve us, nothing will get us unsettled, and unraveled, and we are in the process, of becoming like Christ, this is why we need the body, we need to minister to one another, as we are growing in Christ, we need the different ministering of the gifts, in the body of Christ, to perfect Christ in our lives, but we are to look diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness, bring it up, and the scripture says that, thereby many be defiled, what was the difference, between Joseph and Jonah, one kept his eyes on God, and one got his eyes on the circumstances, Jonah was a bitter man, matter of fact, I was just back over there, looking at old Jonah, again looking at the end, how it ended up, you know how it started out, God told him to go over there, and preach to the Ninevites, and he didn't like them, I think they had done something, to some of his relatives, and he had developed a bitter spirit, and so God, often will put us into the situation, that will test us, and stretch us, if you're prone to bitterness, then God is going to let, many things happen in your life, that's going to stretch you, and test you, and maybe even cause, or lead you to where you will fall, so that he will show us, what our problem is, if you're prone to fear, he'll let you get into situations, where fear is, if you're prone to, not trusting the Lord in finances, he'll give you some financial areas, whatever it is, but he'll never let you be tested, or tempted above that, that you're able, but will with the temptation, also make the way to escape, so he doesn't put you in a situation, that you can't handle, but he shows us our weakness through it, now old Jonah, there he was, he went there, and he had a tremendous campaign, a success it was, I mean the people turned to God, the king turned to God, and the whole place, they had revival, probably one of the biggest revivals, that ever happened, right there, and it says, it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry, very angry, anger is one of those things, you need to watch out, Satan has ground in your heart, in that area, that's just a symptom, and so he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee oh Lord, was this not my sin, when I was dead in my country, therefore I fled before into Tarshish, for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, he just knew they were going to have revival, he just knew that they would repent, and get right with God, and he didn't want to see that, and here's the Lord, just working on them, and so he said, I beseech thee that take my life from me, better for me to die than to live, and that's a key statement by the way, it would be better for us to die to self, die to sin, than to live to self, and to live to sin, and then the Lord had two times he said this, doest thou well to be angry, doest thou well to be angry, he got angry about the gourd, God used that for an illustration, does God have a gourd in your life, somebody that's a gourd, that you really appreciated, you know Jonah really appreciated that gourd, and God then allowed them to be taken away from you, and you got bitter about it, maybe you lost a loved one, you know all bitterness, goes back to being against God, that's why it's so treacherous, one of the things that God showed me, back in the revival of 85, God dealt with me in the area of bitterness, and he showed me, and I remember that distinctly, and I thought the preacher was preaching at me, and I really thought he had me lined up in his sights, I thought he had everything we'd been talking about, and several weeks later, the spirit of God just really opened me up, to show me that that was nothing but conviction, but he dealt with me on bitterness, and later on, some weeks later, he just broke my heart, when he showed me that that bitterness was against Christ, it wasn't against, you know I was bitter against my deacons, because I didn't think they were deacon, the way they should be deacon, and all that stuff, but he showed me it was against him, it was against him, lest any root of bitterness, bringing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, so the difference between Jonah and Joseph, was one had his eyes on God, and the other had his eyes on the circumstances, so where are your eyes, what was the difference between Peter, trying to stop the will of God, and the life of Christ, when he's trying to stop him from going to cross, and you, or me, are we getting bitter, angry, or fearful, or anxious over something happening in our life, not much difference, we just think that we have to have control, in every situation, he's not Lord, then, if we have to have control, so there's not any difference, we get impatience with God, you know what impatience is, it's nothing more than flesh, a lot of those other things, it's just flesh, and here's Christ, he turns around to Peter, and he says, for thou savourest, you know what that means, he says, thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men, that means your affections, are on the things that are men, he said, the actions of your will, are focused in the area of the things of men, what about you, and me, can the spirit of God come in, maybe he's looking right in, right now, on something, you know what he's talking about, and he said, listen, your affections, the reason you're upset, the reason you have these things, that are getting you all bent out of shape, and you're against everybody, and you're a one man army, is because you have the things of self in mind, and not the things of Christ, here's Paul, Saul, young lawyer, on his way to the top, his occupation, he has a special assignment, he's a green prey, for the Pharisees and the scribes, to go around and kill Christians, and on his way to Damascus, he met Jesus, and at that point, he walked away, that encounter he had with Jesus Christ, he walked away a different man, he walked away from fame, he walked away from power, he walked away from position, if he walked away from all of that, why are you, pushing yourself up to be famous, to have power, to have position, to gather around you, or whatever, when Paul, God got done with him, he didn't want anything of self, he said, but what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ, all of that, it went by the wayside, and so then he could take off, and he could be a servant of Christ, and he could go along, and he could say, at one point in Philippians 2.20, he said, I have no man like minded, who would naturally care for your state, for all seek their own, not the things which were of Christ Jesus, why could he go through all the things, all the stonings, and the beatings, that he went through, and not come out bitter, it's because Paul died, at the cross, when Christ became his life, Paul died, his life ceased, and this is why he could say, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, in the life that I now live, in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness came by the law, then Christ is dead in vain, you know if you're frustrated, you ought to check and see, who's living your life, Paul said, for it is God, which worketh in you both to will, and to do of his good pleasure, do all things without murmurings, and disputings, you've been murmuring, against the pastor, you've been disputing, stirring up strife, you know pride, pride is at the basis of strife, so who starts it, and who goes along with it, pride is a deadly enemy, you know envy, I believe is one of the highest forms of pride, because that's what Satan, he wanted to be like the most high God, he envied God, you're trying to get somebody, bumped out of their position in your church, so you can get that position, as superintendent, or Sanskrit teacher, or whatever, don't envy, God will give you, what he wants you to have, let me ask you this, what do others see in you, not what do they hear you say, but what do others see in you, do they see Jesus, let me give you a description of Jesus, 1 Corinthians 13, if we were to take Jesus, and replace it with love, God is love, Jesus is God, so we could do that legitimately, Jesus suffereth long, and is kind, could we put your name in there, Jane suffers long, and is kind, John suffers long, and is kind, how about this, Jesus envieth not, he didn't have anything to grasp for, Jesus fonteth not himself, Jesus is not puffed up, Jesus does not behave himself unseemly, Jesus seeketh not his own, Jesus is not equally provoked, easily provoked, Jesus thinketh no evil, Jesus rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, Jesus bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, Jesus never fails, now can we put our name in there, can you put your name in there, and come down to the end, and say, Peter never fails, George, Mary never fails, well we will never fail, if Jesus is our life, but let me tell you, the devil is trying to do the best he can, to get a seed planted in your life, a little old weed seed of bitterness, and that thing will grow, and grow, and it will take more ground, it will take more moisture, it will zap the strength of your life, you know what the Bible said in 1 John 3.16, hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our life for the brethren, they could see the love of God in his life, can they see it in your life, so it's not what do others hear you say, but it's what do others see in you, your words are going to reveal what's in your heart, and your actions are going to reveal, who's really in control of your life, a bitter man will not lay down his life, he's already refused to lay it down at a certain point, at a certain point God gave him a trial, gave him a job to do, and he got bitter over it, so a bitter man will not lay down his life, he's already refused to lay down his life at that point, at that point he is on the way down, that will be his unraveling, or her unraveling, Chambers said, a wrong temper of mine about another soul, will end in the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are, one carnal judgment and the end of it, is hell in you, drag it to the light at once, and say my God, I have been guilty there, if you don't, hardness will come through, the deadliest phariseeism today is not hypocrisy, but listen to this, unconscious unreality, Chambers said, the deadliest phariseeism today is not hypocrisy, and that's deadly, the deadliest though is unconscious unreality, you are not even conscious of your own unreality, pretending to be spiritual, and not even knowing that you are doing it, the devil can have control of a person that is that deceived, the early church impacted their neighborhood, because they were truly crucified with Christ, and truly Christ was living his life through them, and this is why it says, but the people magnified them, they wouldn't get close to them, they wouldn't dare join them, until they became a believer, then they would be absorbed into their fellowship, but the people magnified them, why? Why they saw God in their lives, who is living your life, I think we need to watch out for the goats, well Christ is living my life, but, you know, oh I really love that person, but, oh this dear brother, I really appreciate him, but, those buts reveal a lot of bitterness I believe, that bitterness is always going around butting on other people, all things work together for good, we say all things work together for good, to them that love God, we almost could throw something in there, one of God's buts, but to them that love God, do you love God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, then if we do love God that way, then we can trust Him, all the way, how much do you trust Him, trust can go beyond our understanding, because the Bible says, that we are to trust in the Lord, fear the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths, be not wise in thine own eyes, this is false pride, fear the Lord and depart from evil, can you trust Him past your understanding, and be quiet and calm in your spirit and soul, how much can you love God, however much you can love God, is how much you can trust Him, you see Paul said in Philippians 2.8, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, God the Son could trust God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit, in that holy fellowship that He had, He could trust Himself to them completely, even to the point to having His own life, taken from Him, and in that act of having His life taken from Him, came the life of God, and resurrection power to reach out to us, it could have never happened any other way, this is God's plan to have it happen like that, so as God got somebody in your life, for you to reveal Christ to them, and so He's letting you be faced with the cross, and you have to make that choice, will you die to self, go through the pain, the misunderstanding, the rejection, and whatever you have to go through, so that Christ can be the resurrection life, that will be seen in their life, or how about this, do you like to choose your own crosses, well I'll take that one Lord, I don't like green ones, I'll take that blue one, that one there I don't want it, and I'd like it on Thursday if you please, I'm busy on Monday through Wednesday, no, if Christ is the Lord of your life, He has absolute control over every moment, and every second, every decision, every circumstance in your life, and you're continually filled with joy in the Holy Spirit, and you're continually praising the Lord, and everything you can give thanks, this is the only way, the scripture says in everything give thanks, the only way that we can give thanks in everything, is that we're filled with the Holy Spirit, if something happens that I don't give thanks, then I'm not filled with the Holy Spirit, just before I started to record this broadcast, I got a phone call, son's car broke down at the gas station, so we shut everything down, we go over to the gas station, and just give him thanks, Lord you have a reason for this, so we go over there and get him straightened out, give him my car, and he had to go somewhere, and he came back a little later, and so we finally got it all straightened out, now I've got the old thing out there to drive, old 67 Malibu, a lot of miles on it, maybe it'll run and maybe it won't, but it doesn't matter, God can use these things to teach us, and to reach out to people, now, do you really trust and love God? If you do, then you can let him choose the crosses for you, have you been sold for 30 pieces of silver? Well, you may not have been like that, 30 pieces of silver, but maybe you got traded out, sold out or something, let God take care of it, He's the Lord, be anxious for nothing and in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made unto God, just pour out your heart to Him, why didn't Jesus get bitter? I'll tell you why, it's because He had the spirit of discernment on Him, remember when I started this session, back 3 weeks ago, I read in Isaiah 11, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, what kind of spirit is that? It was the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, and studying about the life of Christ, several weeks ago, quite a while back, I started quite a while back, studying on the area of understanding, looking at the life of Christ, and studying the life of Christ, and understanding, and putting that into practice in my life, and where I am, right in the church I'm in, in the situation I'm in, and just began to let Christ teach me these things, and these messages I preach a lot of times, they're for me, and for ministering to my family, and those that I minister to around here, and whatever's in your life that Christ is teaching you, it's going to come out, and it's going to be for others, he had this spirit of wisdom and understanding, he knew what was going on, he was continually committed to the Father, and so he didn't get upset, he didn't get rattled, he didn't get anxious, everything was always under control, you see we don't always understand why, but we can always understand, and trust the one who does know what's going on, well our time's about gone for today, I want to close up with this, and we'll start off with this next time, next week I'll be probably preaching a message on the Passover, Lord willing, but let me say this, that the flesh cannot endure, the flesh cannot endure, remember Jesus said, the spirit truly is ready, in Mark 14.38, but the flesh is weak, and it's only as we keep looking unto Jesus, that we do endure, once we look away, we're like Peter in the water, walking on the water, we begin to sink, you see he endured the cross, he could endure the cross, Hebrews 12.2, because he had the right focus, what are you focusing on? Jesus, or some circumstance, or some person, it's very simple, we keep looking unto Jesus, Heavenly Father, thank you for this time with the folks, I pray if there's anyone, that's been listening, that hasn't yet received Christ as their Savior, that they would know, that you love them, that they would understand, that they must repent of their sins, and receive Christ, but as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the son of God, Father thank you, in Jesus name, Well until next time, may God bless you, and remember, Jesus Christ is all you need, this is from Colossians, Christ is all and in all, but is he all you want, until next time, may God bless you, my friend.