Offences will come

Offences will come
Originally uploaded by chandrangopalan

I was excited to see a verse from Acts 17:30 in today's devotion, as our visiting speaker had just completed the earlier portion of this chapter over the weekend. But it quickly became a sobering reality as I read further down the pages.

The 3 verses in the devotion entitled "Refuse to be offended" read thus, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent" Acts 17:30
"And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another." Matt 24:10
"Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offenses will come; but woe unto him, through whom they come! Lk 17:1

God spoke to the author of Give Me 40 days, Freeda Bowers, asking her to repent for having been offended in the first place." The author continued to reflect and wrote that being affected by an offense could have hindered her prayer.

Recently I learnt about my own offenses which I had habored all through my life growing up when I attended a Inner Healing workshop. Being an insecure and shy person I was always "bullied" by the more aggressive personalities around me. My life was a struggle and I had to work hard to outperform everyone in my sphere of work. Fortunately my hard work and God's favor got me ahead of these personalities.

But this "struggle" left me with a "bitter root" of judging others unfairly. During the Inner Healing workshop, I learnt to let go of all my past offenses and gain healing from this "bitterness" in my inner being. God graciously released me from this bitter root and in its place I planted the right seed of choosing not to be offended by anyone.

My healing process and my determination not to be offended (with the help of the Holy Spirit) has guided my foot steps since the workshop I attended. The reminder this morning was timely, to stay focused on Him, The One whom we serve!