On October 31, 2014, a spacecraft broke apart during a test flight, and crashed into the Mojave Desert near California. The co-pilot died while the pilot miraculously survived. Investigators determined what happened, but not why it happened. The newspaper article about the crash began with the words “questions remain.”

After Andrew’s and Kobe’s sudden deaths many ask the “why” question. Throughout life we may experience sorrows for which there are no adequate explanations. Some are difficult events with far-reaching effects, while others are personal, private tragedies that alter our individual lives and families forever. We want to know why, but we seem to find more questions than answers. Yet even as we struggle with “why?” God extends His unfailing love to us. 

Job lost his children and his wealth in a single day. He sank into an angry depression and resisted any attempted explanations by his friends, even though he still had questions. Yet he held out hope that some day there would be an answer from his God. Even in the darkness Job could say, “God knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold”. Hallelujah!

Today, as we face life’s unanswered questions, we can find help and hope in God’s love and promises, that one day there will be a personal and direct word from God. When every tear and perplexity, every oppression and distress, every suffering and pain, and wrong, and injustice will have a complete, and ample, and overwhelming explanation. Until then hold on by faith that the answer is on the way, just like Yahshua.

“God knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold”

Job 23:10

Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for my faith and trust in You, that even though I have questions about life, death and why things happened the way they have, my love for You hasn’t wavered, it seems to be stronger. Father, there is one thing I can’t and won’t question, and that is Your love for me. God, give me wisdom and understanding today to accept what I can’t explain, believing You know what’s best for me. In Jesus’ Name! Amen.

Many Christians focus on what God has done in the past. He parted the Red Sea, stopped the sun for Joshua, and fed thousands of people with just a little boy’s small lunch. Yes, God has performed many amazing miracles throughout history, and it’s important that we give Him praise and glory! But at the same time, we also have to look forward to what God is doing today. If He did it in the past He will do it even today, in a more magnificent way.

In this verse, Paul says that “in the ages to come” God would do things that far supersede anything He’s ever done before. I believe that the “ages to come” that he’s talking about, is this day and time we’re living in right now, amidst all the chaos of these uncertain days. God wants to outdo Himself in our generation! Hallelujah!

Today, on the brink of a new year, I share with you, God is a God of increase. Where you are today is not where you are supposed to stay. He has greater levels of His favour and blessing in store for you. I dare you to dream big! I dare you to keep a God-sized vision in front of you! I dare you to take hold of every blessing that the Lord has in store for you now and in the year to come!

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us”¦raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

(Ephesians 2:4—7, NKJV)

Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for Your faithfulness in the past. Father, I open my heart and mind to You, so that I can see the greatness You have in store for me today, and what You want to do in my life in this coming year. Give me God-sized visions and testimonies. God, please use me for Your glory. I thank You in advance for Your favour, in Christ’s Name! Amen.

A God-Sized Vision Quotes

“Presbyterian missionary William Blair remembered. The prayer sounded to me like the falling of many waters, an ocean of prayer beating against God’s throne. It was not many, but one, born of one Spirit, lifted to one Father above. Just as on the day of Pentecost, they were all together in one place, of one accord praying, “and suddenly there came from heaven the sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” God is not always in the whirlwind, neither does he always speak in a still small voice. He came to us in Pyongyang that night with the sound of weeping. As the prayer continued, a spirit of heaviness and sorrow for sin came down upon the audience. Over on one side, someone began to weep, and in a moment the whole audience was weeping.21” 
? Collin Hansen, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir

“Few of us are tempted today to dream too big. Rather, our vision shrinks to the size of our limited experience. Yet all things are possible for those who believe in the God who created the heavens and the earth. In our disbelief, we can ask God for inspiration to believe. Then he may give us a vision of divine size.” 
? Collin Hansen, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir

“The effects following this movement are wholly good – the church raised up to a higher spiritual level, almost entire absence of fanaticism because of previous careful instruction in the Bible; not one case of insanity, but many thousands clothed in their right mind; scores of men called to the holy ministry; greater congregations, searching the Word, as many as two thousand meeting in one place for the study of the Bible; many thousands learning to read, and making inquiries; multitudes of them pressing upon the tired missionary and native pastors praying, “Give us to eat.” I beseech you do not listen to any word suggestions of doubt as to the vitality and reality of this. Drunkards, gamblers, thieves, adulterers, murderers, self-righteous Confucianists and dead Buddhists, and thousands of devil-worshipers have been made new men in Christ, the old things gone forever.29” 
? Collin Hansen, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir1

“The Post confirmed 100,000 conversions in Wales and said police found no crime to investigate amid “an almost complete realization of the Golden Rule in all affairs of daily life.” 
? Collin Hansen, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir

“By June the revival began to wane. But Roberts’s vision had been realized. An estimated 100,000 confessed Christ. The Congregationalists added 26,500 members. Another 24,000 Welsh joined the Calvinist Methodist Church. About 4,000 opted for the Wesleyan Church. The remainder were split between the Anglicans and several Baptist groups.13 The effect on Welsh society was undeniable. Output from the coal mines famously slowed because the horses wouldn’t move. Miners converted in the revival no longer kicked or swore at the horses, so the horses didn’t know what to do.14 Judges closed their courtrooms with nothing to judge. Christians wielded the revival as apologetic against the growing number of skeptics who derided religion. Stead argued: The most thoroughgoing materialist who resolutely and forever rejects as inconceivable the existence of the soul in man, and to whom “the universe is but the infinite empty eye-socket of a dead God,” could not fail to be impressed by the pathetic sincerity of these men; nor, if he were just, could he refuse to recognize that out of their faith in the creed which he has rejected they have drawn, and are drawing, a motive power that makes for righteousness, and not only for righteousness, but for the joy of living, that he would be powerless to give them.15” 
? Collin Hansen, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir

l“Between 1906 and 1907, the Presbyterian churches grew from 54,987 members to 73,844. The Methodists grew from 18,107 in 1906 to 39,613 in 1907.24 Extending this range to a five-year period, Korean churches altogether added 80,000 converts, more than the total number of Christian converts during eighty years of missionary activity in neighboring China.” 
? Collin Hansen, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir

“I arrived back to find Revival in over twenty villages with the same accompaniments as we had on the station, conviction and confession of sin under great emotional stress, followed by great joy and zeal to win others,” Brazier wrote on December 12, 1936. “It was a common practice for the whole congregation to spend the whole night in the village church, chiefly in prayer and praise. A feature of this conviction was that it came as a result of prayer and not as a result of preaching. These ‘revived’ people are a joy to question for Baptism. Whereas it is often hard work to draw anything spontaneous from the average candidate, these are just full of what the Lord has done for them.” 
? Collin Hansen, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Stories that Stretch and Stir

What Is A Bitter-Root Judgment? 

“Bitter-root judgments are judgments that we make concerning hurts that we have experienced that we have not surrendered to the Cross.”

Hebrews 12:15:

“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled . . .

A root of bitterness comes from unforgiveness and can lead to resentment that corrupts our relationships and our ability to love like Yeshua loves. Bitter-roots grow when we fail to secure God’s grace to forgive. Bitterness and unforgiveness are the driving forces behind re-occurring problems, patterns, and destruction in our lives.

We must forgive. As soon as we experience a hurt we must immediately turn that hurt over to the Lord so that we do not take on a wound. Two of the most important people whom we must forgive is our mother and father (Exodus 20:12).

Bitter-root judgments can be judgments that we made towards our parents because of hurts that we incurred during our upbringing. From the womb certain patterns are formed that opened the door for us to form unhealthy judgments and strong opinions of ourselves and others. Whenever we make a judgement as a result of the hurts that we incurred that we do not bring to the Yeshua we set into motion forces that will cause us to reap in kind the very same judgement that we project upon others. (Galatians 6:7-9).

“Through heartache, I have learned that my strong opinions and my two-cents are best left on the threshing floor. Whenever I am presented with a situation in which I could pass judgement on someone, I choose to withhold my opinion and pray for the person instead. In life we can either take on the role as an enforcer or an intercessor, I choose the latter.”

Not all of us, have had the best parental experience. Some of us have experienced abuse. Some of us have experienced abandonment and neglect. However, to honor our parents is to forgive them and to accept their humanity.

We all have our stories”¦ Hurt is real. Pain is real. Yeshua does not dismiss the wrong done to us. However, we miss God when we demand vengeance”¦. “Well, you say someone has to pay””¦ Yeshua already paid. Yeshua covers the offense, the offender, and the offended with His precious BLOOD — and if we stay in His presence He will bring us to a place of lasting peace.

Romans 2:1-3:

“Therefore you are without excuse, O man–every one of you who is judging. For by whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. We know that God’s judgment on those who practice such things is based on truth. But you, O man–judging those practicing such things yet doing the same–do you suppose that you will escape the judgment of God?”

Identifying Bitter Roots:

Bitter-roots can affect your relationships and destroy your future. Often our wounds go down deep. Often it takes the Lord to reveal, heal, and uproot bitter-roots. Pray and ask God to reveal the judgments that you have made against your parents and against others. It may take some time. God will reveal what you need to know when you need to know it.

Look for patterns of fear, doubt, rejection, heartache, jealousy, or anger. These patterns may be from judgments that you have made against others. Notice situations where you repeat the same behavior over and over.

Some examples of bitter-roots that can indicate judgment toward your parents include: perfectionism, addictions, critical spirit, emotionally unavailable, hostility, manipulation, working continually, rejection, uncontrolled anger or rage, bitterness, rejection, and performance orientation.

I have been a believer for 30-years. I had a very abusive childhood. Over the years, God has taken me through layers of forgiveness. God has walked the winding path of wholeness with me. Every time I recall a painful memory, I release the hurt to God. It has been two years since my mother died. Although, my mother is not here to physically reconcile, I speak out forgiveness in my prayers. “I forgive you. I love you. I release you in love and redemption.” I have reconciled every hurt, pain, disappointment, fear, rejection, to the Cross.

“Bitter roots bring about bitter fruit. When we condemn others. We condemn ourselves. We Must Forgive!”

Luke 6:37:

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Pardon, and you will be pardoned.”

How To Cancel Bitter-Root Judgments?

There is an old saying: “what goes around comes around” but God calls it “the law of sowing and reaping” (Galatians 6:7-9). We must REPENT, FORGIVE, & RELEASE! We are not to let the sun go down on our wrath. When we harbor resentment, we open the door to the enemy to reap a bitter reward. Yeshua has come to free us from bitterness and re-set our default.  Below are so helpful steps to help us deal with bitter-roots.

Confess your bitter-root judgment. Name whom you judged and what you judged them for. Pray for forgiveness, and repent and renounce your sin.

If others have judged your harshly, forgive them and release your pain to God.

Ask God to meet the needs that were not met in you as a child. Some of the basic needs for adults and children are unconditional love, acceptance, worth and value, security, recognition, nurture, emotional nourishment, and comfort.

Ask God to show you how this bitter root has affected your relationships with others. Pray for God to heal those relationships. Thank God for your answered prayers.

Prayer:

Father, I repent for not speaking life over myself and loved ones. Lord, please forgive me for misunderstanding the high calling and privilege of intercession and to speak words of righteousness — not doubt and fear. Father, please remove all bitter-root judgments that entered my life as a result of harshly judging others. 

Father, I ask that You uproot any bitter-roots in my life that entered through wounds of rejection. Please heal me of all the rejection, pain, trauma, shock, fear, terror and shame. Father, You have not given me a spirits of rejection, bitterness, or shame; but of love, power and soundness of mind. 

Father, please allow me to feel the depths of Your love. Please come and establish Your dominion of peace in my life and manifest Yourself in such a way that I will know that You are with me. 

Father, from this day forward, I shall walk in the light of Your love. You have filled every empty place within me. Your love permeates every area of my life. Father, I trust in Your MAGNANIMOUS power to rescue me, heal me, bless me, provide for me, protect me, sustain me, establish me, advance me, aide me, guide me, promote me, deliver me, and give me a delightful inheritance. In Yeshua’s name – Amen.  

Additional Prayer Resources:

Let’s go deeper in prayer. These powerful prayers and resources will equip us to ENTER and POSSESS the Land — and conquer the strongholds keeping us from FREEDOM and FULLNESS in Messiah Yeshua. Please CLICK HERE for powerful prayers and resources.

Additional Audio Resources:

CLICK HERE to listen to this life changing message on Dealing With Bitter-Root Judgments from Win Worely.

For inspirational resources, please visit: TheGodBlog.Org.