Christianity Oasis Forum

[kimberly]

*The parts I have added are for emphasis, they are marked, and added to make a point in this writing.*

Luke 17:12 And as He was going into one village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance.

13 And they raised up their voices and called, Jesus, Master, take pity and have mercy on us!


14And when He saw them, He said to them, Go [at once] and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cured and made clean.

15Then one of them, upon seeing that he was cured, turned back, [c]recognizing and thanking and praising God with a loud voice;


16 And he fell prostrate at Jesus' feet, thanking Him [over and over]. And he was a Samaritan.

17 Then Jesus asked, Were not [all] ten cleansed? Where are the nine?


18 Was there no one found to return and to recognize and give thanks and praise to God except this alien?

*{{So then Jesus, being highly offended at the other lepers' ungrateful attitude, undid their healing, and left them sick.}}*
*(added by me)*

John 12:12 The next day a vast crowd of those who had come to the Passover Feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him. And as they went, they kept shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is He and praise to Him Who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!


14 And Jesus, having found a young donkey, rode upon it, [just] as it is written in the Scriptures,

15 Do not fear, O Daughter of Zion! Look! Your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!


16 His disciples did not understand and could not comprehend the meaning of these things at first *{{and Jesus was offended. He said, "Nevermind then, you fools," and called off the feast and went his own way.}}*
*(added by me)*


John 9:16
Then some of the Pharisees said, This Man [Jesus] is not from God, because He does not observe the Sabbath. But others said, How can a man who is a sinner (a bad man) do such signs and miracles? So there was a difference of opinion among them.
*{{But Jesus took offense because not all of them liked Him,and refused to go to the cross for anyone at all.}}* *(added by me)*


Jesus was not offended. But we often have reactions like those decribed above when things happen that we don't like.

Just as there was no place in Jesus for offense, there should be no place in the body of Christ for offense.

We have dozens of chances a day to be offended. It is one of the worst temptations presented to us, and one of the most deadly to the spiritual well-being of the christian today.

It is the first step in un-forgiveness.

Our emotions can cause a huge problem in this area. Something someone says, or does, or won't understand....and our emotions can blow it up into a major case for offense.

Make no mistake, the spirit of offense is real and alive in the body of Christ. It thrives on little tiffs, and misunderstandings. It takes up residence---it abides---within us if we allow it to take root. It can drain the christian spirit of it's faith and desire to love.

Emotions can feed this monster. Unwillingness to consider another's circumstances, anger at situations and events in our lives, hard heartedness towards those we feel have wronged us.

Just as Jesus kept His emotions from ruling what He said or did, so should we. He never took back a healing for any reason, though He had plenty of reason to at times. He did not let His feelings decide.

He never got offended when the disciples needed more explanation or couldn't understand His sayings, though Peter and some of the others look pretty frustrating to us. He dealt with them from His Spirit, not His emotions.

He wasn't offended when people didn't like Him, for the many reasons they chose not to. He knew what His mission was, who He came for, and He never let the others side-track Him from that purpose.

Where would we be if Jesus had shown offense at every opportunity He had?

The amazing truth is, Jesus had to contend with the human body and the human emotions just as we do. His temptations were the same. But He was so focused on God, so close with His Father, when that spirit of offense came, He could look the other way.

There is no excuse for offense in the body of Christ. We have this same Jesus living in us. We have His same ability to withstand the temptation to be offended when a wrong word is said, or someone misunderstands or has a different opinion.

Yeah, it's hard at first. We have to train the flesh to do and act differently than it wants to. We have to renew the mind, and feed the spirit of Christ within us, to starve the offense monster.

We have to make a decision that, although we feel offended, we won't act on it. We'll turn to Him, pour out our feelings, and allow the Spirit of Truth to minister to us. We'll look for help from the Word of God, who is our salvation and can redeem us from the spirit of offense.

Titus 2:11-13 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, we look to you when we are tempted to be offended by others words or actions. We know there is a better Way, and He is Jesus. Help us to focus on being like He was, and restrain ourselves from anger and frustration. In Jesus name, amen.

[Ditto]

Heavenly Father, we look to you when we are tempted to be offended by others words or actions. We know there is a better Way, and He is Jesus. Help us to focus on being like He was, and restrain ourselves from anger and frustration. In Jesus name, amen.

Thanks Kimberly, HE always knows just what we need