All of us are in a life surrounded by land mines! Another word we can use to help you better understand is offense. All of us are surrounded by the deadly word offense and it's not if you step on a land mine of offense it's when you will step on one and get offended.Jesus tells us very clearly in Luke 17:1 that it is impossible that no offense should come to you but Jesus also gives us hope in this life full of land mines of offense in that He also declares I made it through the land mine, I have overcome the world and He will walk us through this life that is filled with the deadly trap of offense.How we respond to an offense determines our future, and what Satan uses to bait us and destroy us and our families and other relationships God turns into an opportunity to give us a spiritual backbone.
Date: 01/27/19
Scripture: Luke 17:1, II Timothy 2:24-26, Psalm 55:12-14, and Revelation 3:14-20
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From Series: "Triggered: Overcoming Offense"
It destroys families, marriages, and even the work of the church to make disciples, the one thing that Jesus said must be done. It takes away any successes and advancement towards unity and fellowship, it turns love into hatred and peace into conflict. But that's not the worst of it, the worst thing it does is takes you away from the will of God for your life! What is this terrible, nasty, evil thing that causes all of this destruction? It's called, offense! Being offended is Satan's bait to trip you up and cause you to walk away from all that God has for you in life. When we define the word, "offense" the Bible says that it is an injury or wrong done to another person. It can be a stumbling block or a cause of temptation.
Battling the deadly trap of offense is the most important confrontation with truth you will ever encounter in your lifetime because at the core of the issue of offense is the difficulty with overcoming being offended. it often leaves us with resentment, hatred, and harboring unhealthy criticism for another. Satan the enemy of our very souls lays out strategically his most deceptive and deadly traps through offense. This is Satan best bait when enticing us to walk away from God's will in our lives and in the life of the church and no Christian is exempt from this deadly trap.
The good news is this: offense itself is not deadly if it stays in the trap. It is when we take the bait and consume it and feed it to our hearts that we become offended. When people are offended they produce a lot of poisonous fruit that wreaks havoc on all those around them. Things like, hurt, anger, outrage, jealousy, resentment, strife, bitterness, hatred, envy, and unhealthy criticism. What is even more dangerous is the pride in people's hearts that holds them back from repentance when they have taken the bait of being offended.
Remember, Jesus said that it is impossible to live this life and not have the opportunity to be offended (Luke 17:1) You can find the power to forgive and be released from the trap of offense! Join us on Sunday's starting January 20th for "Triggered: Overcoming Offense."
