The Bait of Satan: Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense

by John Bevere

Holy Spirit, destroy every shred of pride in my life, and do not allow it to keep me from being healed, set free, and filled with Your power.

Father, make me a conduit of the Holy Spirit’s power, flowing into the lives of others to set them free, heal, and restore them through Your love.

Holy Spirit, be my teacher and counselor so that Your revealed Word will continue to bring great liberty to my life and ministry.

Father, I want to continue to always grow into a more intimate relationship with You. Expose the areas of my life that hinder me from being Christlike, and cause my life to refl...

Pride keeps you from dealing with truth. It distorts your vision. You never change when you think everything is fine. Pride hardens your heart and dims the eyes of your understanding. It keeps you from the change of heart—repentance—that will set you free.

I will not allow a root of bitterness to spring up in my life, defiling me and causing me to fall short of the grace of God

I will not allow pride to hold back my willingness to forgive those who may hurt me. I do not have the right to hold on to my hurt.

“He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption,” He explained, “but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit

reap everlasting life. And let us not grow

weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart....

Love does not seek its own, but hurt people become more and more self-seeking and self-contained. In this climate the love of God waxes cold.

Notice that they will have a form of godliness or “Christianity,” but they will deny its power. How will they deny its power? They deny that Christianity can change them from being unforgiving to forgiving.

Because of this attitude, these leaders view God’s people as resources to serve their vision instead of seeing the vision as the vehicle to serve the people. The success of the vision justifies the cost of wounded lives and shattered people.

Because they are not serving God. They are serving a vision.

People who have been rejected by a father or leader tend to take all the blame on themselves.

But it was his own sacrifice rather than obedience toward God’s way.

Cain had tried to win God’s acceptance apart from His counsel.

Consider that Cain had the persecution complex—everyone was out to get him!

Test my heart with obedience, Lord. I am committed to seeking only Your judgment and mercy, not my own.

So, to put it simply, the Greek word teknon means “babies or immature sons,” and the Greek word

huios is most often used to describe “mature sons.”3

There is a false sense of self-protection in harboring an offense.

God selected a wife for me who was the desire of my heart. But she also exposed the selfish immaturity that was hidden in me. And there was much! To run from the conflict by choosing divorce or by blaming her would have only buried my immaturity under another layer of counterfeit protection called offense.

This is significant for the name Simon means “to hear.”1 The name Peter (the Greek word being petros) means “a stone.”2