Acts 24:16 ‘And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.’

BIBLE READING:

Zephaniah 1-3, Psalm 134
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In John Bevere’s book ‘the bait of satan,’ he says the Greek word for offense comes from the word ‘skand’ which originally referred to the part of a trap to which the bait was attached. The word signifies laying a trap in someone’s way. The trap of offence has snared many people and stopped them from making significant progress in life. Sometime ago, the police in Tokyo Japan arrested a man who nursed an offense for 14 years against his college professor.

This man then decided to keep the professor miserable by harassing him with incessant phone calls at night. The reason for this man’s actions was because he was denied entrance to graduate school 14 years earlier. He blamed his lost opportunity on his professor. He became so offended that from the day of the incident he chose to keep the professor sleepless. Each night he averaged about 10 phone calls, between the hours of 8 p.m. and 2 a.m; to his former professor.

Those 14 years of annoying phone calls totaled up to over 50,000 calls. Eventually the professor reported the harassing situation to the police. Consequently, the man was arrested for his actions. For 14 years this man was so angry that he allowed offenses to dominate his life.
As we go through life, there will always be a reason to get offended sometimes.

Jesus said in Luke 17:1 that ‘offences must come’. But no matter how offended we may sometimes get, we have to learn to quickly let go and move on. We cannot live in offense and live in victory, joy and peace. Whatever offends you seeks to block your access to God. Offence is the bait the enemy throws at you when seeking to cut off your communication link to God, therefore refuse to bite.

Paul was so careful to avoid offenses that he stated in Acts 24:16 says ‘And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men.’ The state of your heart determines God’s response to you. It takes a pure heart to approach the presence of God. It takes an open heart to experience an open heaven. Therefore if we desire to truly break forth this year to great heights, we must guard our hearts with all diligence.

If your heart is dominated by offences it can repel blessings from coming to you. It is a law of the spirit that like attracts like. A negative heart will attract negative things. When we daily meditate in God’s Word, we are taking a spiritual bath that renews our mind and dislodges negative emotions from us. To go far in life, we must travel light.

This means we must drop any emotional baggage that can hinder our journey. Determine today, that no matter what anyone does, you will keep your heart offense-free. By doing so, you will maintain access to God’s Presence where there is fullness of joy, blessings and pleasures forever more.

PRAYER: Lord, please help me to keep my heart continually free of any offense. No matter what happens around me, please keep my heart always dominated by Your love in Jesus Name.

QUOTE: “The tests you are going through in life today is not for your destruction, it is for your testimony.” WORDBITE 222

Shalom!

@GOODHEART-EKWUEME

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