Me Offended?

After I got back from Texas I was visiting with a friend... Before I left she gave me a book that has been life-changing!

This book totally opened my eyes to some blind spots that I had in my life... I would have never said that I was offended... I would have said that I was: "just hurt."

There were so many wonderful things that I learned in reading this book... I would encourage anyone to get it...

After I read the book and looked up (in the Bible) some of what he (John Bevere) was saying, I realized that if the Lord had decided that my time here on earth was up... I might have been in the shock of my life... It was eye-opening, and life-saving and freeing... Thank You Lord!

I took 27 pages of notes from this book... (if that tells you how much I need to change!)

Some of what I read was so hard to hear, and I know that only through seeking the Lord and asking for His help will I be able to live this way... This is where the rubber meets the road... Will I live for Him and obey, or will I live for myself? I choose to ask HIM for help and live for HIM...

Excerpts and scripture from The Bait of Satan:

(my comments are in purple..)

2 Timothy 3: 1-5

The Dangers of the Last Days
1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

2 Timothy 4:3-4:

3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

-It doesn't matter how up-to-date you are in new revelations from the many seminars and Bible schools you've attended or how many books you've read or even how many hours you pray and study. If you are offended and in unforgiveness and refuse to repent of this, you have not come to the knowledge of the truth. You are deceived and confuse others with your hypocritical lifestyle.

(So basically if I am holding an offense, I am just acting religious and rejecting the Lord's power... Sometimes the truth is not easy to hear and do, BUT it will set us free if we accept and do it!) (Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. -Zechariah 4:6b)

Matthew 5:43-47 (The Message Bible)

43 -47"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

(Ouch, that one is hard... More dying to self, I guess... :) )

Agape Love: is the love God sheds abroad in the hearts of His children. It is the same love Jesus gives freely to us. It is unconditional...

-It is not based on performance or even if it is returned.

-It is love that gives even when it is rejected.

Agape: loves regardless of the response...

-When you sow the love of God, you will reap the love of God...

(Wow, I am really good at this with my children, but not so good in other areas...)

Expectations: If I have expectations about certain persons, those people can let me down. They will disappoint me to the degree that they fall short of my expectations. But if I have no expectations about someone, anything given is a blessing and not something owed... We set ourselves up for offense when we require certain behaviors from those with whom we have relationships. The more we expect, the greater potential for offense.

(When I read this I cried... Then I thought: "what a freeing way to live, no expectations, just love... And you would probably love those people even more than you did before.." I have to admit that I am still a work in progress...") (I wish the Lord could deliver me from self, in an instant, like HE delivered me from alcohol...) (More about that later, in another blog..)

-If we don't risk being hurt, we can't give unconditional love...

-Life cannot be sustained if held onto. It must be given freely...

-Why are we so quick to betray rather than lay down our lives for one another, even at the risk of being cheated? The reason: our love is cold, which results in our still seeking to protect ourselves. We can no longer confidently commit our care to God when we are trying to care for ourselves.

1 Corinthians 6:7: (Amplified Bible)

Why, the very fact of your having lawsuits with one another at all is a defect (a defeat, an evidence of positive moral loss for you). Why not rather let yourselves suffer wrong and be deprived of what is your due? Why not rather be cheated (defrauded and robbed)? (my pride has got to go..)

1 Peter 2:20, 21 & 23 (New International Version)
20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

-God refines with afflictions, trials and tribulations, the heat of which separates impurities such as: unforgiveness, strife, bitterness, anger, envy and so forth from the character of God in our lives...

-Remember: stay submitted to God by not becoming offended; resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

- We resist the devil by not becoming offended..!

LORD HELP ME!

"Great peace have they that love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." [Psalms 119:165]