Overcoming Offence

                                                                                                                                                                      There were many times in my life that I was easily offended and hurt by other people, especially by those in leadership or positions of authority, even those I looked up to and admired would occasionally offend me.  I always managed to forgive them but many hurts remained unhealed.   I discovered that the people who caused my pain were not always the true source of the pain, some just happened to bump into an unhealed wound that had been festering for years in my soul.  I misinterpreted most of these painful confrontations, thinking they were just very rude or inconsiderate toward me, but in reality they were bumping into preexisting wounds in my soul.  

The wounds originated in my life from abusive people that were often authority figures like a parent, teacher, pastor or an employer.  Some wounds were even handed down to me from wounded parents.  We can even be wounded while in our mother's womb.  Hurting people often hurt other people unintentionally, but the enemy uses these things to keep us off the playing field, sitting on the bench so to speak. 

In my heart I would forgive those who hurt me, but it seemed to be inadequate, I didn’t experience healing as a result of forgiving.  I usually felt better for a while but couldn’t understand why it didn’t last or bring final closure to these issues.  In my search for answers, God revealed some things to me.  Even though I was a believer in Christ and agreed with His finished work of the cross, I had not been taking up the cross daily and applying it properly in my life.  The sacrifice of Christ on the cross is where all our offences and debts were canceled.  Our debts were not only canceled but Christ included a deposit of grace so that we were not left with zero in our spiritual bank account.  He gave us grace so that we never need to relive the pain of past or experiences.      

Though forgiveness is good and required, forgiveness alone isn’t the full application of the cross of Christ.  I had not been properly applying the cross of Christ to the offences that I experienced.  Yes, there is forgiveness in the cross, but there is much more than that.  There is healing and a clear conscience toward God and men.  When Jesus died upon the cross, He not only forgave us, but He released grace to us.  Grace is defined as unmerited favor, God’s divine ability to do what we can not do in our own strength.  My application of the cross did not include releasing favor or divine ability to those who offended me.      

Now when someone does something that could offend me, at that point I have to make a choice.  Will I respond by just blowing it off or sucking it up like a good forgiving Christian, or will I respond with grace?  My grace response is to forgive and release that person from all judgment and condemnation,  then I pray that God would bless them with mercy and grace, that He would empower them to be a blessing to everyone they come in contact with.  In addition to that, if I have opportunity, I will do something tangible to bless them with a gift.  That kind of prayer and blessing for others will result in me receiving the same blessing returned back to me.  

The cross not only provided forgiveness for everyone, but includes grace, the power to walk in a higher dimension.  Grace empowers us to live and walk in righteousness and freedom from the guilt and condemnation of the law.  The enemy then has no legal access to agitate those wounded areas and prevent the healing process.         

   Luke 6:37—38

“Judge not and you shall not be judged.

Condemn not and you shall not be condemned.

Forgive and you shall be forgiven.

Give and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. 

For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” 

There are four steps mentioned in the above verses. 

#1 I released my offender from judgment, #2 I released them from condemnation.  #3 I forgave their debt of sin against me.  But God showed me that I had not been doing #4.  I didn’t empower my offenders with the overflowing measure of grace.  As a result it didn’t come back to me as an overflowing blessing to empower me toward healing.    

The measure I used toward my offender was filled with forgiveness, but not overflowing with grace.  I let them go free, but I didn’t empower my offender to rise to a greater dimension through grace filled prayer.  Jesus not only forgave the woman who was caught in adultery, but He empowered her with grace filled words.  "Go and sin no more."  Jesus' grace filled words contained the power within them to perform what was spoken.  God never expects us to do anything that He doesn't empower us to do.  

We are only saved, healed and delivered by God’s grace.  Once we begin to grow in God we will receive according to the measure we use in giving to others.  If our measure is filled to the rim with forgiveness, we will receive forgiveness.  If our measure overflows with abundant grace toward our offender, we will receive abundant grace overflowing back to us.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The DNA of Faith

In recent years we have heard many amazing stories of children who were separated from their birth parents and grew up not knowing their true identity only to discover it all as adults through DNA testing.  Wrongly imprisoned men and women have been exonerated while in many cases the real perpetrators have been caught all because of DNA testing.

The Gospels record conversations taking place between Jesus and the Pharisees concerning who their fathers were.  The Pharisees didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God and Jesus told the Pharisees they were not Abraham’s descendants.  Of course Jesus was right and they were wrong, but what if there were a DNA test of sorts that would prove spiritual lineage, what do you suppose it would entail?

In Genesis 24 there is a wonderful story of Abraham in his old age desiring to find a wife for his son Isaac.  Abraham knew his days were numbered and he wanted to go to his grave in peace knowing Isaac had taken a proper wife.  Isaac was God’s promised seed that would bring blessing to all nations, but his choice of a wife was very critical to the promise being fulfilled.  The promise was to Abraham and Sarah the free woman, but when Abraham took Hagar to bear a child, she gave birth to Ishmael which proved to be a mistake.  Hagar was a slave woman and her offspring would also be in bondage to slavery and unable to inherit the promise.  Abraham learned a difficult, but valuable lesson through all this, and didn’t want his son Isaac to follow his error. 

Abraham called his servant in to instruct him concerning finding a wife for his son.  He made him promise not to take a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites who were close by, but to go to the city of Nahor, to Abraham’s own kindred.  It would have been convenient to get a wife for Isaac from the daughters of Canaan, but Abraham knew that his descendants would eventually inherit that land and drive out all its inhabitants.  If Isaac were to bear offspring through a Canaanite woman he would be in a real jam, and they would be disqualified from the inheritance as was Ishmael.  Therefore Abraham’s servant proceeded to the city of Nahor.  It wasn’t enough to just choose a distant relative of Abraham’s, but she must also be free as was Sarah.  As he approached the well just outside of town, he devised a plan that reveals the DNA test for faith. 

Abraham’s servant prayed to the Lord that when he asked the woman at the well for a drink of water that he would know she was the one for Isaac if she not only agreed to draw water for him, but offered to draw water for the camels also.  Sure enough when he arrived she was there by the well.  When he asked her for some water she agreed, and without hesitation offered to draw out water for the camels.  Because of her response she was rewarded with valuable gifts and given the choice to be the bride of a man she hadn’t met.  Her response again was of faith, believing and trusting that she was chosen for greatness. 

You might ask how that could be a DNA test?  Well, believe it or not, faith is manifest through work and the attitude behind it.  Attitude determines if a person is free or in bondage?  James said he would show you his faith by his works.  (See James 2:18)  This young woman named Rebekah tested positive for faith when she offered to exceed duty or obligation.  It would have been considered an obligation to give water to someone who asked, but she greatly exceeded the obligation as she watered several camels.  This test also proved Rebekah to be a free woman and not a slave.  Slaves are bound by law to their master and are not free to leave and be married.   

Not every slave works out of slavery mentality, only those who limit what they do to the level of their obligation.  A slave who works off his debt and fulfills his obligations is free to go, but some chose to stay because of love.  A love slave was freed yet stayed and worked out of love for the master.  Love slaves were distinguished from those who were not free by having their earlobe pierced with awl.  Faith is not only manifested through work but by freedom.  Those who work when they are not required to, but do so because of love are faithful love servants. 

The Pharisees tested negative for faith, but positive for a slavery mentality.  Even though they were physically free they were spiritually bound.  Because they hated Jesus and sought His death, was another indicator they had no faith.  Faith works by love and they had neither.  They claimed to be Abraham’s descendants, but there was no real evidence.  Though they may have had some of his blood in their veins they proved by their works to be the children of the devil.  (See John 8:44)  When Jesus was questioned concerning His identity, He told them if they couldn’t believe based on His words then at least believe because of His works. 

The story of Abraham’s servant searching for a bride for his son is a parallel story to Father God sending His Holy Spirit into the earth to find a wife for His Son Jesus.  Many of the tests we face in life are actually testing us for faith and love.  The first and greatest desire of God’s heart is that we would love Him and the second is that we would love one another.  In Hebrews 11:6 we see that without faith it is impossible to please God, and it takes faith to believe that He rewards the diligent.

Another example of the DNA test is found in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25.  The master had three servants he entrusted with a portion of his wealth.  Since the master already knew their abilities the amount given to each varied.  To one he gave 5 talents, to another he gave 2 talents and to the third he gave 1.  He told them to take charge of it while he was away.  The first two began immediately investing the wealth while the third servant just hid his in a safe place until his master returned.  After a season the master came to see how his servants were doing and found that the first two had doubled their talents but the third had done nothing with his. 

My interpretation of this story may be unusual, but follow along with me. The master didn’t instruct them, but wanted to see what they would do with wealth on their own.  In reality he already knew them well enough, the test would only confirm what he already suspected.  The test really was for them, so they would know and understand the basis of promotion.

This test proved the first two servants had faith.  They were like Rebekah at the well, they had no idea they were about to be rewarded and promoted for their work.  They likely expected the master would take back his wealth including what was gained by trading, and they were good with that because they knew God rewards the diligent in due season.  The third servant only did what he felt obligated to do, and returned his master’s wealth to him in tact.  When questioned about it his true feelings came to light.  It was unfair of the master to expect him to perform extra work, and he assumed the master would just take advantage of him without compensation.  Was he ever wrong, he totally misinterpreted the master’s intentions.  This DNA test revealed faith or a lack of it.      

Those who have received Christ are free from the obligations of the law and now work from a different motivation.  We now have access to Grace.  We don’t work to gain favor but work out of the favor we have in Christ.  Being free from the law doesn’t mean we ignore the law or violate it, but what formerly was our ceiling has become our floor.  A law minded slave strives to meet obligations, but to those with faith, meeting obligations is second nature.  In other words, duty or obligations are no longer a difficult thing because of His love in us.  Against love there is no law, love naturally rises above legal obligations.

Financial debt is often described as being in the red, owing more than we can pay.  Having our debts paid in full brings us out of the red into the black.  Instead of drowning in red ink if you will, grace lifts us out of the red, yet not leaving us at zero, but into the black with access to abundance.  What used to be a goal we would strive for has become our starting point.  

Many who serve their time in prison are released having nothing.  They have paid their debt to society, but have nothing to start a new life with.  They are left vulnerable to committing another crime unless someone helps them transition.  In a similar way, when we are released from our debt of sin by receiving Christ as our payment, He not only paid our debt, but has given us grace whereby we can live debt free.  Jesus brought us above the obligation line, we now exceed our obligations easily because an abundance of grace has been deposited into our account.  

Abraham believed and trusted God, resulting in a huge deposit into his righteousness account.  This is How Abraham became the father of faith and why we who have faith are included in his seed line.  The Pharisees claimed Abraham as their father but their works proved otherwise.  Jesus said they liked to weigh people down with legal obligations, but wouldn't lift a finger to lighten the load.  The third Servant who was given the wealth of grace didn’t use it, but lived in the red below the obligation line.  Rebekah, through works, displayed that she was free and had faith because she lived and operated above the obligation line.