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Unoffendable

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Unoffendable Empty Unoffendable

Post  Admin Tue 02 Dec 2008, 6:48 pm

Unoffendable
Francis Frangipane

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I
will
remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of
flesh"
(Ezek 36:26)

God has a new heart for us that cannot be offended, an "unoffendable"
heart.
Beloved, possessing an unoffendable heart is not an option or a luxury;
it's
not a little thing. Consider: Jesus warns that, as we near the end of
the
age, a majority of people will be offended to such a degree that they
fall
away from the faith. Listen carefully to His warning:

"Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall
hate
one another . . . and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many
shall
wax cold" (Matthew 24:10-12 kjv)

"Many" will be offended; the love of "many" will grow cold. My prayer
is
that we will hear His words with holy fear.

When we allow an offense to remain in our hearts, it causes serious
spiritual consequences. In the above verse Jesus named three dangerous
results: betrayal, hatred and cold love. When we are offended with
someone,
even someone we care for, we must go to them. Otherwise, we begin to
betray
that relationship, talking maliciously behind their back to others,
exposing
their weaknesses and sins. We may mask our betrayal by saying we are
just
looking for advice or counsel, but when we look back, we see we have
spoken
negatively to far too many people. Our real goal was not to get
spiritual
help for ourselves but to seek revenge toward the one who offended us.
How
is such action not a manifestation of hatred? For an offended soul,
cold
love, betrayal and hatred go hand-in-hand.

People don't usually stumble over boulders; they stumble over stones,
relatively small things. It may be that the personality of someone in
authority bothers us and soon we are offended. Or, a friend or family
member
fails to meet our expectations, and we take an offense into our soul.
Beloved, if we will "endure to the end," we will have to confront the
things
that bother us.

When Jesus warns that we need endurance, He is saying that it is easier
to
begin the race than finish it. Between now and the day you die, there
will
be major times of offense that you will need to overcome. You might be
in
such a time right now. Do not minimize the danger of harboring an
offense.

No one plans on falling away; no one ever says, "Today, I think I'll
try to
develop a hardened, cold heart." Such things enter our souls through
stealth
and it is only naiveté that assumes it couldn't happen to us. I know
many
people who consistently become offended about one thing or another.
Instead
of dealing with the offenses, these people carry them until the weight
disables their walk with God. You may be doing fine today, but I
guarantee
you, tomorrow something will happen that will inevitably disappoint or
wound
you; some injustice will strike you, demanding you retaliate in the
flesh.

The Root Of Offense
An offense can strike at our virtues or sins, our values or our pride.
It
can penetrate and wound any dimension of the soul, both good and evil.
I
once brought a series of messages about gossip. Most people saw their
sin
and repented, but a core group of gossips were greatly offended and
ultimately left the church. When the Holy Spirit exposes sin in
someone's
soul, if we refuse the opportunity to repent, we often become offended
at
the person who brought the teaching. Instead of humbling our hearts, we
are
outraged at the pastor or teachers in the church. Truthfully, most of
the
time, I have no idea who specifically needs to hear what I'm teaching,
but
God knows.

Paul told Timothy to "reprove, rebuke, exhort" (see 2 Tim 4:2). He
didn't
say, "exhort, exhort, exhort," but exhortation is what we receive in
most
churches. Certainly, we need to be encouraged, but there are also
times,
beloved, when we need to be reproved and rebuked. Today, there are
preachers
who are afraid to preach truth for fear people will react and leave the
church. The end result is a church of easily offended people who cannot
grow
beyond their inability to accept correction.

People don't change by exhortation alone. There are areas in all of us
that
need to be confronted and disciplined. The pastor who refuses to
discipline
and correct those in sin is in disobedience to God. He is unable to
lead
people into any truly transforming changes in their lives; they will
not
endure to the end" if they cannot be corrected (see Matt 24).

We need to become a people who say, "Lord, show me what needs to change
in
me." I'm talking about growing up. A wise man will receive a rebuke and
he
will prosper. But a fool rejects his father's discipline (see Prov
15:5).

Personal Offense
An offense can wound our pride when we are not recognized for our good
works
or ministry. This happened to my wife and I long ago while in
California. We
were young pastors at a conference when the main leader decided to
personally greet each minister and wife. He greeted the couple on our
right
and then turned to his staff to ask a question. A moment later he
returned,
but passed us by and went to the couple on our left.

Everyone around us saw we were bypassed. We were embarrassed and
offended.
But my wife wisely observed that we could allow this thing to hurt us
or we
could see it as an investment in sensitivity toward other people's
feelings.
The offense taught us how others feel when they are ignored. Do you see
this? You must make that offense become an opportunity to become more
Christlike.

The occasions for taking offense are practically endless. Indeed, we
are
daily given the opportunity to either be offended by something or to
possess
an unoffendable heart. The Lord's promise is that He's given us a new
heart:
a soft, entreatable heart that can be filled with His Spirit and abound
with
His love.

Lord, forgive me for being so easily offended and for carrying
offenses.
Father, my heart is foolish and weak. Grant me the unoffendable heart
of
Jesus Christ. Amen.

http://frangipane.org/
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81234
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

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