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Fourth, God put this entire army into a deep sleep so that David and Abishai could walk right up to Saul. Why else would God do this? To Abishai it seemed David would never get a chance like this again. All these reasons sounded good. They made sense, and David was receiving the encouragement from another brother. So if David was the least bit offended, he would have felt totally justified and would have allowed Abishai to put a spear through Saul. Listen to David’s response: “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the LORD’S anointed, and be guiltless? . . . as the LORD
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David refused again to be offended and kill Saul.
Proverbs 6:16–19 says that sowing discord or separation among brethren is an abomination to the Lord. When we repeat something with the intention of separating or damaging relationships or reputations—even though it is true—it is still an affront to God.
Sowing discord among the brethren an affront to God
God wanted to see whether David would kill to establish his kingdom, after the order of Saul, or allow God to establish his throne in righteousness forever. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. —ROMANS 12:19
Woukd David be king under Sauls terms or under God's
Children do not correct fathers. But it is the duty of fathers to train and correct the children. We are to deal with and confront those whom God has given us to train. This is our responsibility. Those on our own level we are to encourage and exhort as brothers and sisters.
They think churches are like cafeterias; they can pick and choose what they like! They feel the freedom to stay as long as there are no problems. But this does not agree at all with what the Bible teaches. You are not the one who chooses where you go to church. God does! The Bible does not say, “God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as they please.” Rather it says, “But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased” (1 Cor. 12:18, emphasis added).
People pick and chose with churches instead of working with, dealing with the church like any human institution
Remember that, if you’re in the place where God wants you, the devil will try to offend you to get you out. He wants to uproot men and women from the place where God plants them. If he can get you out, he has been successful. If you will not budge, even in the midst of great conflict, you will spoil his plans.
God has you where He wants you the devil will use offense to get you out
Then God shocked me. “John, I never told you to leave this church. You left out of offense!”
The Bible says in Psalm 92:13, “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God” (emphasis added). Notice that those who flourish are “planted” in the house of the Lord.
Those who flourish are planted in the house of the Lord, you cant keep transplanting and expect a healthy plant
They then leave, blaming the leadership. They are blind to any of their own character flaws and do not realize God wanted to refine and mature them through the pressure they were under.
Most Floridians know that the colder the winter is for the trees, the sweeter the oranges. If we did not run so fast from spiritual resistance, our root systems would have a chance to become stronger and deeper, and our fruit would be plentiful and sweeter in the eyes of God and more palatable to His people!
In other words, a believer who chooses to delight in the Word of God in the midst of adversity will avoid being offended. That person will be like a tree whose roots search deep to where the Spirit provides strength and nourishment. He will draw from the well of God deep within his spirit. This will mature him to the point where adversity will now be the catalyst for fruit. Hallelujah!
If we are in Christ we chose not to be offended, xhose not to pick fights because of our fussy sensibility
And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.
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Once you leave the place God has chosen for you, your root system begins to dwarf. The next time it will be easier for you to flee from adversity because you have been careful not to root yourself deeply. You end up coming to the place where you have little or no strength to endure hardship or persecution. You then become a spiritual vagabond, wandering from place to place, suspicious and afraid that others will mistreat you. Crippled and hindered in your ability to produce true spiritual fruit, you struggle in a self-centered life, eating the remains of the fruit of others.
Once we distrust God's word we ar spiritually lost
Offended Christians also cut off their own ability to produce fruit. Jesus compared the heart with soil in the parable of the sower. Just as Cain’s fields were barren, the soil of an offended heart is barren, poisoned by bitterness. Offended people still may experience miracles, words of utterance, strong preaching, and healing in their lives. But these are gifts of the Spirit, not fruits. We will be judged according to fruit, not gifting. A gift is given. Fruit is cultivated.
An offended heart is barren poisoned by bitterness
They protect themselves in their isolation and feel safe in the controlled environment they have set up for themselves. They no longer have to confront their own character flaws. Rather than facing the difficulties, they try to escape the test.
They shut themselves off and dont have to deal with their own flaws, it is everyone elses fault
Holy Spirit, empower me to serve Your appointed leaders and not to judge or correct them. It is not my word of correction that is needed; it is Yours.
will be like Abel, who came to God with a sacrifice of obedience.
There is an old parable that fits this situation. Back in the days when the settlers were moving to the West, a wise man stood on a hill outside a new Western town. As the settlers came from the East, the wise man was the first person they met before coming to the settlement. They asked eagerly what the people of the town were like. He answered them with a question: “What were the people like in the town you just left?” Some said, “The town we came from was wicked. The people were rude gossips who took advantage of innocent people. It was filled with thieves and liars.” The wise man answered,
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We preserve the sins of other people when we pick up an offense and harbor resentment. If we leave a church or a relationship resentful and embittered, we will enter into the next church or relationship with that same attitude. It will then be easier to leave our next relationship when problems arise. We are dealing not only with the hurts that took place in the new relationship, but also with the hurts from our former relationship.
As we reject relationships, makes it easier to leave the next one instead of dealing with the actual issues
Statistics say 60 to 65 percent of divorced people end up getting divorced again after remarrying.4 The manner in which a person leaves their first marriage determines the path into their second marriage. The unforgiveness they hold against their first mate hinders the future for their second one. In blaming the other they are blind to their own role or faulty characteristics. To make matters worse, now they have the added fear of being hurt.
Jesus desires to heal our wounds. But we often do not let Him heal them because it is not the easiest road to take. It is the path of humility and self-denial that leads to healing and spiritual maturity. It is the decision to make another’s well-being more important than your own, even when that person has brought you great sorrow.
Making someone elses well bding more important even though they have hurt you
Father, make me not only Your teknon son [or daughter], adopted into Your family by my new birth through Christ, but also Your huios son, able to be identified as Your son [or daughter] because I display the godly characteristics of my Father.
God's teknon son and huiois son
The devil will not be able to snare me in the trap of offense through a false sense of self-protection by harboring an offense. I will willingly allow my heavenly Father to develop Christlike character in me through my obedience to His instructions.
I will not get played by Satan to take offense at so much
Who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. —MARK 4:16–17, KJV, EMPHASIS ADDED
We hear the word and are encouraged and then trial hits and we are offended by having to live by the Word
A person who is not stabilized or founded in the revealed Word of God is a prime candidate to be moved along by the storm of offense. How many are just like the disciples Jesus confronted? They live on what they have heard others say or preach. The opinions and statements of others are taken as truth without seeking the counsel or witness of the Spirit. We can only live and proclaim what is revealed to us by God. This is what Jesus builds His church on.
If you are not stable in the Bible you probably get swept up in offense
To you God says, “Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. . . . Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called” (1 Cor. 7:10–11, 24). Let this word on the covenant of marriage be settled in your heart so that you are not moved from your steadfastness by the trap of offense.
Dont let offense move you away from your marriage
Numerous people have told me of the many churches or ministry teams they have been a part of in only a short time. My heart grieves as I see how they are moved by trials and not by God’s direction. They extol how wrong things are or how badly they and others were treated. They feel justified in their decisions. But their reasoning is only another layer of deception that keeps them from seeing the offense and their own character flaws.
People waitin& for offense to move out of their church
The word rock in this verse comes from the Greek word petra, which means “a large rock.”3 Jesus was saying to Simon Peter that he was now made of the substance on which the house was to be founded. Peter later wrote in 1 Peter 2:5, “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house.” A stone is a small piece of a large rock. Strength, stability, and power are in the rock of the revealed Word of God, and there is fruit in the life of a person who receives it. That person is made strong with the strength of the one who is the living Word of God, Jesus Christ.
Petros, Peter the rock
Jesus didn’t beg these men, “Please don’t leave. I just lost most of My staff. How would I get along without you!” No, He confronts them. “Do you also want to go away?” Notice how Simon Peter answers, even though he is wrestling with the same opportunity to be offended as the others. “Lord, to whom shall we go?”
I often say that trials and tests locate a person. In other words, they determine where you are spiritually. They reveal the true condition of your heart. How you react under pressure is how the real you reacts.
Trials show where you are solid foundation kr weak foundation built on rock or sand
The illuminated Word in my heart changes me from being void of understanding to being mature and filled with understanding. His Word in my heart stabilizes me and strengthens me. I shall not be moved!
Frlm being empty to being filled and mature in Jesus
Father, I am trusting You to heal our marriage and our home. I believe that You are bringing our flaws to the light so that we can grow through them and move into healing and forgiveness. I refuse to let go of the promise of a godly home and marriage.
Picture this: Jesus told them He was about to be turned over to the chief priests to be condemned to death and delivered to the Romans to be mocked, scourged, and killed. The one who would do this was sitting with Him at the table. The disciples questioned who it was, and it ended up in an argument about which of them would be the greatest. It was dishonorable—almost like children arguing over an inheritance. There was no concern for Jesus, but a jockeying for power and position. What unimaginable selfishness! If I had been in Jesus’ position, I might have asked if they had heard what I had
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Jesus could have been offended when the disciples wdre debating who was the greatest
Peter was fairly confident that he was the greatest of the twelve. But this confidence was not rooted in love. Rather it was anchored in pride.
The word sift is translated from the Greek word siniazo. It means “to sift, shake in a sieve; fig. by inward agitation to try one’s faith to the verge of overthrow.”1
Sifting Peter by Satan Greek word
Jesus did not pray that Simon Peter would escape this intense shaking to the point of overthrow. He prayed that his faith would not fail in the process. Jesus knew that out of this trial would emerge a new character, the one Simon Peter needed to fulfill his destiny and strengthen his brethren.
Jesus prayed Peter would withstand Satan's attack and grow through the trial instead of removing the trial
Satan had requested permission to shake Simon Peter so severely that he would lose his faith. The enemy’s intent was to destroy this man of great potential, who had received so much revelation. But God had a different purpose for the shaking, and, as always, God is way ahead of the devil. He allowed the enemy to do this in order to shake everything in Simon Peter that needed to be shaken. God showed my wife, Lisa, five purposes for shaking an object: 1. To bring it closer to its foundation 2. To remove what is dead 3. To harvest what is ripe 4. To awaken 5. To unify or mix together so it can
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Satan wanted to sift Peter for his purposes, God used the sifting for His purposes
Satan had requested permission to shake Simon Peter so severely that he would lose his faith. The enemy’s intent was to destroy this man of great potential, who had received so much revelation. But God had a different purpose for the shaking, and, as always, God is way ahead of the devil. He allowed the enemy to do this in order to shake everything in Simon Peter that needed to be shaken. God showed my wife, Lisa, five purposes for shaking an object: 1. To bring it closer to its foundation 2. To remove what is dead 3. To harvest what is ripe 4. To awaken 5. To unify or mix together so it can
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God's purposes for having Satan sift Peter
He was remorseful and knew he had sinned. But he did not know the Christ. He had no understanding of the magnitude of whom he had betrayed. He only said, “I have betrayed innocent blood.” If he had known the Christ as Simon Peter did, he would have gone back to Him and repented, knowing the goodness of the Lord. Committing suicide was yet another act of living independent of God’s grace. The shaking revealed Judas had no foundation, even after following the Master for three years.
The enemy has masterfully distorted the character of the Father by perverting our view of our earthly fathers. God says that, before Jesus returns, the hearts of the fathers will be returned to the children (Mal. 4:6). His character or nature will be seen in His leaders, and it will be a catalyst for healing.
If you have given yourself totally to Jesus and are committed to His care, you cannot be offended because you are not your own. Those who are hurt and disappointed are those who have come to Jesus for what He can do for them, not because of who He is.
It is easy to become offended when we judge by our natural surroundings and circumstances. This is not seeing through the eyes of the Spirit. Often God does not answer me in the manner or amount of time I feel is absolutely necessary. But as I look back at every case I understand and can see His wisdom.
They had decided God was all they wanted, no matter what the cost. They believed Him even when they died without seeing the promises fulfilled. They could not be offended!
God gives His grace to the humble. Humility is a prerequisite. It was a lesson burned in the conscience of Peter as he wrote in his epistle: “Be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (1 Pet. 5:5).
the main element of believing is obedience. We could read it this way: “Therefore, to you who obey, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’”
I have witnessed many cases in which pastors grieve over people who have left, whether from the staff or the congregation. In most instances those people were upset because truth was preached, and it confronted their lifestyles. They would then become critical of every aspect of the church and leave.
For pastors to hold on to everyone who comes through their doors, they will eventually have to compromise truth. “If you preach the truth,” I tell them, “you will offend people, and they will be uprooted and leave. Do not grieve over them, but rather continue to feed and nurture the ones God has sent you.”
Peolle will be offended when pastors preach the truth, you cant hold on to them without compromising the truth
Some leaders avoid confrontation, afraid of losing people. Some are especially hesitant because those who need confronting are the big givers or influential in the church or community. Others are afraid of hurting the feelings of someone who may have been with them a long time. As a result the pastors lose the God-given authority to protect and feed the sheep entrusted to them. When I first entered a pastoral position, a wise man warned me: “Stay in your authority, or someone else will take it from you and use it against you.”
!!!!!!!! Stay in your authority or someone will take it from you and use it against you****
This was not what Samuel wanted for Saul. He was grieved for him. He had anointed Saul as king, trained him to govern, and conducted his coronation. He was Saul’s personal friend. But listen to how God reacted to Samuel’s grief over Saul: “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go, I am sending you” (1 Sam. 16:1, emphasis added).
Pastors who grieve and mourn over people who leave the church or who refuse to confront members because they are friends end up with the anointing oil in their lives running dry. Some ministries die, while others simply imitate being alive. Unknowingly they have chosen their relationship with men over their relationship with God.
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