A Spirit of Offense

Let’s define offense:  An annoyance or resentment brought about by a perceived insult to or disregard for oneself or one’s standards or principles.

Many believers are experiencing some form of offense.  The enemy has plotted this tactic against all believers in this hour because he knows his time is cut short and Jesus is soon to return.  He already has those who are outside of the arc of safety in God’s will, and now his goal is to draw away as many blood brought trophies of grace as he possible can.

John 10:10 (a) reads- The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:

Who is the thief?  The thief is none other than the devil himself.  His goal is to steal, and kill, and destroy all who belong to God.  He has now targeted believers in this day and time with a spirit of offense.  Many in the body of Christ are up under this attack and many don’t realize it.

THE TACTICS BEING USED

ü Steal- The enemy (satan/devil) is robbing many of the joy they have.  He knows the things that bother you and he makes it his business to assign his imps to keep you bound by being offended by the smallest of things.  He knows that joy does not belong to him and it can only come from God through the blood of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Ghost.  Joy is eternal, unspeakable and full of God’s glory!  The devil forfeited this joy when he rebelled against God and was banned from heaven forever.

ü Kill- The enemy (satan/devil) has used disappointments and circumstances of life experiences to cause many believers to forsake God.  Many believers are walking dead.  They don’t pray anymore; they don’t fast anymore; they don’t read their word anymore; they don’t study to show themselves approved by God anymore;  Many don’t believe anymore because they have been offended by something they feel should not have happened to them in the first place.

ü Destroy- The enemy is seizing the opportunity through the spirit of offense to taint and destroy the witness of those who say they believe in and follow Jesus.  He does not want others to know Christ or be influenced by His saving grace.

Have you found yourself to become easily upset when someone has said or done something to you that made you angry?  Have you found yourself hurt because you felt you did not deserve to be treated in a certain way?

Has your mind tried to set up a way to get revenge against those you feel have mistreated or talked to you in a certain manner?  Have you isolated yourself from a person or people by not talking to them due to resentment over something they may have done?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you are dealing with a spirit of offense.  This spirit is very sneaky and crafty.  You may be under its influence and may not even recognize it. 

Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 reads:  Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee.  For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others.

Don’t get your feathers ruffled by things that are said or spoken to you.  One thing about the truth is, “it stands all by itself and does not have to be defended.”  If you find yourself defending every negative word said to or about you; every action done against you then you have allowed yourself to be cursed by those actions.  Check your own heart; examine yourself and repent because the truth of the matter you may have offended someone at some point in your life.

You can overcome this spirit by forgiving and loving.  Forgiveness is a commandment by God and if we expect to be in good standing with Him we must forgive.  Just take His son Jesus for instance who was offended, ostracized, talked about, ridiculed and even crucified.  We must consider ourselves in good company when this spirit shows it ugly head and take the example from Jesus to continue in the things of His Father with a sure determination and much prayer!  Remember LOVE covers a multitude of sin.

Just Do It!

One day the Lord politely dropped this word into my spirit and it simply says 
"Just Do It!"

James 1:22 reads:  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

The Lord focused my attention on doers, hearers and deceiving.

The dictionary defines thems as the following:

DOERS:         One who carriers out the requirement of something.
HEARERS:     One who perceives by the means of the ear.
DECEIVING:  Misleading.

Based on the definitions of those three words this is what I came up with:  But carry out the requirements of the Word, and not perceive it by the means of your ear only, misleading your own selves.

Here James is letting us know that if we only listen to the Word of God and not apply it to our lives, we are only misleading ourselves, therefore placing the blame for failure on ourselves. God's Word should enlighten and inspire us to do that which is right and pleasing to Him. With today's technology there is not a lack of resource for God's Word.  It can be found in App Stores from your service provider; it can be found on the internet and of course you can still purchase it through many retail outlets.   

JUST DO IT!

Romans 12:1 reads:  I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye pressent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Our bodies and whole selves (mind, thoughts, and deeds) must be presented to God.   When we present our bodies, it signifies a voluntary act of submission to His Holy will.  In the OT, God was specific and detailed about the animal sacrifices that he would allow to be offered to Him.  They for the most part were the first born, undefiled and pure.  I am ashamed of some of the things that I see that are being offered to God.  There has to be a real holiness which consist of an entire cleanliness of the heart and your life; our bodies can no longer be used as instruments of sin and uncleanness.  They must be set apart for God and put to holy uses.  God gave His one and only begotten Son as a living sacrifice to us, the least we can do to show our sincere appreciation to Him is to offer our bodies back to Him, that is your most sincerest form of worship.

JUST DO IT!

Romans 12:2 reads:  As followers of Christ, we are to be in non-agreement with the world no fashioned by its influence.  Conversion (turning around) and Sanctification (dying to sin more and more and living to righteousness more and more) is a produce of this change that has taken place in our minds.  Only those that have been changed by a new mindset will be able to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  Old things are passed away and all things have become new.

JUST DO IT!

James 1:21 reads:  Wherefore lay apart, all filthiness and superfluity and naughtiness, and receive  with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls.

Engrafted sticks out here to me.  When I think of something being engrafted, I relate it to skin.  When burn victims have been severely burned over a certain percentage of their bodies, their skin must be engrafted.  Healthy skin is taken from other parts of the body and placed in the severely burned areas.  These skin grafts save the burned victims skin.  The Word of God is taken out of different chapters and verses of the Bible and engrafted into the heart to save lives that have been severely burned by sin.  Just as the skin grafting process saves the severely burned skin, so does the engrafted Word of God, it saves our souls.

DON'T JUST HEAR THE WORD----------------"JUST DO IT!"

God Can Use You for His Glory!

Society will write people off very quick.  They are so quick to judge an individual by the way they act, live, talk or dress.  There is a reason an individual acts the way that they do.  It does not matter if that individual is rich or poor; they have a soul and God created each and every one in this earth to bring Him glory.

TAKE RAHAB FOR INSTANCE:  Rahab has come to be known as a prostitute.  The Bible describes her as a harlot.  Rahab was the owner of a business where many that traveled in caravans frequented.  She heard the many exploits from the many travelers that stopped there of a God that parted the Red Sea and saved His people from imminent danger and destruction. This caught her attention.  You see she lived among a people that did not worship the one and only true living God of Israel, but a moon goddess by the name of Ashtaroth.  She decided to hide two spies who were running from soldiers that sought to kill them.  She exercised her faith in believing that the God that saved His people from Pharaoh and the Egyptian army, could very well save her.  She risked her very own life and the life of her family in lying to the soldiers that came shortly thereafter seeking the two spies.  The spies promised to spare Rahab and her family after taking the city if she would mark her house by hanging a red cord out of the window.  When the walls in the city of Jericho came crashing down, Rahab and her whole family were saved just as the Israelite spies had promised.  Despite the immoral background of Rahab, she was used by God.  She is now listed in the "Hall of Faith", and listed in the direct lineage of Jesus Christ.  She became the wife of Salmon, the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth from whose son, Obed, Jessie the father of David came, through whose line Jesus was born. Yes, someone whom we as society would have thrown away was part of the very lineage of Jesus Christ Himself!

TAKE A LOOK AT SAUL FOR INSTANCE:  Paul was taught by one of the most well-known teachers of the law, a Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel, who was admired by all of the Jewish leaders.  Saul was noted for his hatred of Christians and believed the teachings of Jesus violated the Mosaic Law.  For that reason, he aggressively came against anyone who followed the teachings of Jesus Christ.  He received permission from the high priest to travel to Damascus for the distinct purpose of imprisoning those who followed Christ.

Most believers in Jesus Christ have heard the story of the Damascus road where Saul was blinded; knocked off of his horse and heard the voice of Jesus Christ.  Saul was saved by Jesus Christ after he repented and his name was changed to Paul after his baptism.

Apostle Paul was not perfect, but he became one the greatest witnesses of Jesus Christ that ever lived by teaching, inspiring, growing and encouraging the early church.  He went on to write much of the New Testament.

Now to make my point!  We see the outer shell of a person and judge them in their here and now.  We can't see past their faults, hang-ups, issues, habits and sin.  You see God knows all endings from their beginnings.  He looks past all of the fault and see our need of a loving and kind Savior that died to save us from such.  God knew that man could not live a successful life here on earth from the practises of sin, so Jesus sent back another Comforter, the Holy Ghost to keep, lead, teach and guide us into the truth of all ways of righteousness.

Some of those very people that you have turned your nose up at or even looked at in a cross eye may very well be assigned to you.  You may be the only Bible they will ever read.  Many have been written off as useless, no good and never amounting to anything. Don't write them off, count them out and please don't give up on him/her. God can use anyone and we are His agents in the earth that will be used mightily by Him to reach them after their own personal conversion by Him!

God can clean up that woman or that man that is strung out on drugs; God can deliver that young lady who desires to live her life as a man; God can deliver that young man who desires to live his life as a woman; God can deliver that liar, that backbiter, that murderer; that gambler; so on and so on and create a battalion of soldiers that will tear down the enemies kingdom with the truth, way and life of Jesus Christ!  

GOD CAN USE YOU for HIS GLORY!