This is a guest post submitted by Sis Linda Moore. After reading the series on bitterness, she mentioned her story to me. I encouraged her to write it out and and I would be happy to share it with you all. I truly believe more people should share their testimonies! By reading about what someone else went through and how God help them to triumph over it,
God can use those experiences to help us “build our own faith”!!
Luke 17:5... Lord, Increase our faith.
GUEST POST: Bitterness— My Story
We were not raised Pentecostal Holiness.
Fred and I were your basic Baptists. We started going to a Pentecostal church. Curious and yet, a little unsure of it, we were drawn to it for some reason. It took some time for the actual Holy Ghost to deal with us and enable us to understand more about Pentecost. After that, we began to experience holiness— which we both fell in love with. We began to desire to become more “holy” as we got deeper in God. My family thought we had lost our minds. (This is just the background so you will understand the rest of the story!)
Out of 12 siblings, I was the only one who never had any kids due to my being unable to bear children. We had one brother, who, as a 15-month-old baby, became sick. Back then, doctors and medicine were not nearly as advanced as they are today. During his illness, the fever spiked very high. The fever caused damage to his brain. Because of the damage the fever caused, he needed special attention after that.
Despite his disability, he was treated as normal as possible growing up. Mom taught him just like she did the rest of us. He was fully functioning. He could bathe himself, feed himself, clothe himself, etc. The main difference was his critical thinking and reasoning never advanced beyond probably the level of a 10 to 12 year old child (even though his body matured into an adult.) Thus, he had to have a long-term, full-time caregiver to ensure his safety and his well-being. Because I had no children myself, I, willingly, became his caregiver when our Mom passed away. At that point, when my brother became my responsibility, he became like the child I never had.
(Quick note: All of this happened about 3 years before we started going into Holiness)…So after Mom passed, my brother began living with us full-time. My siblings would come and get him occasionally and take him shopping or whatever they wanted to do to spend time with him and to give me a little break. Sadly, as we begin to mark up to the “holiness” standard, and we started “laying off the world”, my siblings didn’t like it one bit.
My brother, himself, took right to “holiness”.
In fact, he had his own TV in his room but one day, he came to me and said that he didn’t want to watch his TV anymore. (At the time, we were still watching ours! So, it was completely his decision!) I was like, “Really?” (God can use anybody or anything to get our attention!) After we consider it, we ended up getting rid of all the TVs in the house! We were rejoicing with how God was helping our home!!
Excited about all the new changes and how he was feeling inside, my brother told one of our siblings that he had gotten rid of his TV. They definitely didn’t understand why he had done this and they really didn’t like all the changes we were making in our home!! Despite their disapproval, we continued to go to church. We willingly marked up to whatever standard God wanted us to. The Lord was drawing closer and closer to our home. His presence was very near!! We were more than convinced that Holiness was right! It was worth laying aside any “weight” to enjoy His fellowship!
One Saturday morning, my youngest brother came and took my brother fishing. My husband and I had errands to run so we went ahead and did them. We were back home around 1:00 PM. Earlier, I told Fred I felt funny—like something wasn’t right. Usually, my siblings brought my brother back by 5:00 PM. I had a sick feeling that it just wouldn’t go away. By 3:00 PM, I was walking the floors, looking out the windows watching for them to come back. Well, around 4:30 PM, the phone rang. It was one of my sisters! She informed me that they were not going to bring my brother back home. They had already taken him to Dayton to where my youngest brother lived at the time.
I was crushed. I kept asking her “why? why? why?”
I never had legal paperwork designating me specifically to be his sole guardian. It was just a given because everyone knew that’s what Mom wanted. My brother was somewhere between 42-45 years old at this point and I never dreamed it would ever be an issue so I never felt the need to file the paperwork legally after Mom’s death.
I was devastated. I don’t think I can describe to you what the next days and weeks were like for me. They took him away because they did not like the way of holiness and the way of life we were living. My brother was happy with any of our siblings, not just me, so he adjusted just fine. I, on the other hand, never got over it in my heart. Yes, I acted like I was okay because there was nothing I could do about it. But deep inside something, something ugly had taken root and was beginning to spring up.
After they took him from me, I didn’t have any contact with my one sister or the brother who was behind the scenes to take my brother from me. As time went on, hatred and bitterness for them grew in my heart big time. But who wouldn’t be upset, right? I reasoned. I continued to allow the hurt, bitterness, and hatred to fester inside.
About 5 years later, I came home from work one day, and Fred said, “Linda, you have a message on the answer machine.” So, I listened to it. It was from the same sister that helped take my brother from me. She was in the hospital and basically, she was wanting to make things right with me. She had asked me to call her back. I was so hurt and upset with her. I couldn’t believe she had the nerve to even call me. My dear, sweet husband—(that Godly man!) said “Linda, you ARE going to call her back. I said “NO WAY! I have nothing to say to her!”
Of all people, my husband knew how much they had hurt me but he loved me enough to look at me and say, “Linda, if you don’t let go of this hurt, you’re not gonna make it to Heaven. He told me I needed to pray the hate, the hurt and the bitterness out of my heart.
Inside, I knew he was 100% right but it wasn’t that easy. For 5 years now, I had held a grudge against my siblings because of what they had done to me…I really didn’t want to let it go. I felt justified in my anger. But I knew bitterness was a sin, and no sin could entering into Heaven!! I prayed with my husband right then and there.( He laid his hands upon me while we prayed! ) A few hours after praying together and after alot of thinking, I said “Fred, what do I say to her if I call?” He simply said, “You’ll know.”
So, I called my sister. ( I was raising with a Mom with an unreal sense of humor. She would laugh just as hard over a joke if you got her as if she got you. So as a result, all of us kids learned to be kidders.) So when my sister answered the phone, I resorted back to that humor. “Boy, what some people will do for attention!” I said. She replied, “ Linda, is that really you?!!” She began to cry… Thank God, right then, the walls of unforgiveness began to come crumbling down in my heart.
That conversation marked the beginning of my spiritual healing—that first step of forgiving them. I cannot tell you that Yes, that was the end of it — I’m human! It took even more prayer on my part. But a few months after that, Fred and I met my sister and her husband for dinner and to tell you the truth, when we saw each other for the first time, I realized it WAS totally over. God had mended our relationship and HE enabled me to forgive them completely. To this day, we never talk about any of those past days. We choose to focus only on the present!
Philippians 3:13— Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
As the old hymn proclaims, “It is well with my soul!” No longer is there any bitterness towards any of my siblings (nor toward anybody else for that matter!! ) I am living proof that God’s Word and His spirit works!! He enabled me to do something I was incapable of doing on my own! I could have never forgiven any of them on my own. But because He forgave me, I can, in turn, forgive those who have wronged me. I am free from the bondage of bitterness and hatred. The hurt is no longer a festering open wound!! Yes, I may have some scars that remain but they simply serve as reminders of His Grace!!
I thank God that I was blessed with a wonderful, Godly husband who loved me enough to say “Linda, you’re not going to go to Heaven if you don’t get that it fixed!” That’s a man that cared for my eternal soul! That’s a husband who held God dear to his heart and was determined to lead his wife and family to Heaven.
-Sis Linda Moore
(Guest Post)
From Tiphanie:
Wow! What a testimony of God’s Delivering Power!! We serve an Amazing God!! I’m so glad that Sis Linda decided to share her story about her struggle with bitterness with us.
Sometimes, due to our own insecurities, it is not always easy for us women to admit to others that we, too, face difficult issues in life!! Often, it is hard for us to share our own personal stories and struggles.
The Devil knows this! He will try his best to hinder us from allowing God to receive glory and telling others of God’s grace!! The enemy will encourage us to “put a lid” on any tales of victory or testimonies of how God can (and WILL!!) enable us to overcome some things if we surrender our will to Him!!
If you are experiencing bitterness yourself, please know that God is willing to help you forgive as well!! You can have true victory and freedom from your hurt, pain, and bitterness. God’s Word confirms that He is no respect of persons. What He did for Sis Linda, He will do for you!! You must give him the hurt, the hate, the bitterness, and allow Him to replace it with His love, His mercy, and His grace!!
Like I said in the previous posts on bitterness, Ask God to help you forgive. Remember forgiveness is about letting go of the anger and your desire for revenge. Realize that you may truly be uncapable to forgive…unless you have God’s strength to do so. God does not ask you to do something without giving you His strength and power to do it. Psalm 29:11 assures us that The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.
Forgiving someone who has hurt us deeply can be one of the hardest things we will ever face in life! The pain and hurt that others have caused us is real and it HURTS! . But always remember, the cost of living with bitterness and unforgiveness is much too high!! It will poison your soul, will often affect even your health and mental well-being, and ultimately, it cause you to lose out with God. As we talked about before in the series on bitterness— When we forgive others, we are not saying what they did was okay, but we are releasing the justice to God and letting go of the hold that bitterness and hatred has on us. Forgiveness alone is the only thing that will set us truly free from the bondage of bitterness, hatred, and grudges.
Won’t you give your hurts to God today?
Aren’t you tired of being miserable?
Are you weary of the pain?
He is still the Great “Fix-it-man”!!
He can do what we could never accomplish in a million years ourselves!!
Friend, Why don’t you allow Him to do soothe your troubled soul today???
He is the BEST in the replacing/exchanging business!!
He can replace
our hurt with His healing,
our bitterness with His forgiveness,
our resentment with His acceptance,
our misery with His mercy,
our grudge with His grace,
our hatred with His love,
our anguish with His joy,
our despair with His delight,
our heartbreak with His comfort,
our anxiety with His peace,
our defeat with His victory
our captivity with His deliverance,
our desolation with His restoration
our grief with His solace,
our doubt with His faith,
our temper with His self control,
our strife with His goodness,
our pride with His humility,
our inconsistency with His faithfulness,
our harshness with His gentleness,
our pretension with His meekness,
our discord with His fellowship,
our malice with His kindness,
our conflicts with His calm,
our division with His unity,
our carnality with His spirituality,
our sinfulness with His righteousness,
our reproach with His favor,
our punishment with His payment,
our sins with His blood,
our corruptible mind with His incorruptible mind,
our deserved destiny of Hell with His destiny of Heaven (where He prepared as a place for us if we choose Him!)
Sounds like a pretty awesome
exchange policy/program to me!!! 🙌🏻😭
Let’s take advantage of His “program” now— before it is eternally too late!! Today is the day of salvation (or Deliverance, Victory, Forgiveness, Healing, Restoration, or whatever it is that you need!!)
God is waiting, willing and ready to do His part. We just have to take the first step and cast all our care upon Him.
1 Peter 5:7—Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.
I pray that you too will have a testimony of victory!! We are more than conquerors through the Blood of Jesus Christ!!!
-Tiphanie ♥️
Extra Bible Verses about being an overcomer/conqueror!!
Philippians 4:13
[13] I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Romans 8:37
[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
John 16:33
[33] These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
1 John 4:4
[4] Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
Revelation 3:5
[5] He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation 3:21
[21] To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Revelation 12:11
[11] And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
🎶…This old song also came to my mind... 🎶
More than Conquerors
We've been made more than conquerors Overcomers in this life We've been made victorious Through the blood of Jesus Christ!
When troubles come knockin' at your door Don't be afraid, you know it's not like before Don't you give in, don't let it bring you down Cause you dont have to worry anymore!
We've been made more than conquerors Overcomers in this life We've been made victorious Through the blood of Jesus Christ!
Hold on, we're getting stronger everyday There's no reason for you to go astray Don't go leaning to your understanding Cause you dont have to worry anyway!
We've been made more than conquerors Overcomers in this life We've been made victorious Through the blood of Jesus Christ!
Through the power of Jesus Christ
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