LIFE LESSONS FROM THE BOOK OF LUKE 7:23 (HCSB)




"And anyone who is not offended because of Me is blessed."


10 KEYS ON HOW TO OVERCOME OFFENCE




1. Faith - Is a shield and once you train your faith to become constant with the word this is the key - It is what is in your heart that will always speak whenever the spirit of offence comes .The word in you will
always speak . Amen. Jesus said in Mark 11:22 (Amp) Jesus replied, “Have faith in God [constantly]." Let your faith become constant with the word .
2. Joy - This weapon has always worked for me and will always work . lol..wow . Key - I found satan finds it very hard to attack joyful people . Where are you going to start from , when this guy is always joyful , giving God thanks always and just living happy . Not necessarily that he has all he needs yet , but he is just content with what he has and he is joyful and thankful .When your heart is full of joy , there willbe no room for you to take offence . Why ? Jesus spoke rightly when He said in scripture in the John 15:11(Amp)"I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing." once His joy is inside of you it will surely birth forth your own joy (expectation).
3.Thanksgiving - This how I see it , if you don't learn how to give God thanks when there is nothing , it will become hard for you to give Him thanks when you have. So appreciating God with joy when you have nothing is done deliberately to stop the offence when it looks like God is not forth coming with the answers you are expecting. It builds you up spiritually and it gives you more grace to continue as you wait patiently for Him to show up .David said something in the book of Psalm 40:1 (Msg)" I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened." He will surely answer , if you refuse to give up !No offence .
4.Peace - brings you into His rest ,in preparation for the good that is coming(Job 22:21 Amp). peace allows you to hear what God is saying concerning your issue . So when you know you need to hear what He is saying concerning it , you deliberately choose to hold your peace and no take offence , so He can speak to you . Joseph said to pharaoh in the book of Gens 41:16"And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace."
5.The Word -hosea 4:6a "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" so the knowledge of what you are passing through is very important . why ? Prov 24:10 says "if you faint in the day of adversity(trials and temptations) you strength is small". meaning your knowledge of the truth in God's word is small . what truth ? Roms 8:28 , 1 peter 4:12,13 ; Gal 6:9 and many more are scriptures I use in waging war against the spirit of offence .So the key is build up your knowledge base in the word.1 Peter 2:2 "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:"
6.Trust - offence comes when your trust level is going down. so how do you build up your trust in Him . 1. Don't stop praying 2. study the word more .3 read good Christian books, it builds up your trust in God when you read of how other people escape their challenges through their faith and trust in God. Isaiah 26:4 "Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:" your strenght to overcome the spirit of offence is found when you put that trust in Him.
7.Prayer - Is one of the easiest way to escape offence .when we pray He comes to comfort us , when we pray He gives us the needed grace to endure the pain/shame , when we pray our hope is built up again because He is always there to comfort us .two examples from scripture . Jesus when faced with death on the cross prayed the more earnestly for grace and strength to face the challenge . (Luke 22:44 Amp) John the Baptist when faced with the same situation took offence (Luke 7:20)I share my testimony here ..I ve
learnt from my personal experience with God , that anytime I take offence I miss it . The very thing I am trusting God for won't come , because communicating with the one who would give it to me (God) becomes difficult . so I let go if I sincerely want Him to bless me with my heart desire. He means it when He says delight in me ..Psalm 37:4"Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
8.Stay focused and don't waver . it is on its way .(Hab 2:3) . Here is my secret I found from the book of Heb 12:2 (ISV) I follow what Jesus did . what did He do ? He despised the shame and kept His focused on His reward that was ahead of Him . "fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
9.See the blessing - If you focus on the offence , you would always be offended and bitter . but if you focus on the blessing you would always be joyful and expectant . Roms 8:25(Msg)"We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy."
10.Here is the final secret I love to share with you - The Holy Spirit is also known as the Spirit of Truth , meaning He is the Spirit called truth . If He tells you a thing or remind you of what God has promised you, He just told you the truth ! He cannot lie . So whatever the Holy Spirit says it is considered done . Once you can catch this revelation . offence can't stop you . Why? Because whatever He says will surely happen . period ! John 16:13(NIV)"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."


Prayer: Father help me to know the truth in the mighty name of Jesus ,

Amen.



be blessed !