INTRODUCTION To The Bait Of satan

Anyone who has trapped animals knows a trap needs one of two things to be successful.

It must be hidden, in the hope that an animal will stumble upon it, and it must be baited to lure the animal into the trap’s deadly jaws.

Satan, the enemy of our souls, incorporates both of these strategies as he lays out his most deceptive and deadly traps.

They are both hidden and baited.

Satan, along with his cohorts, is not as blatant as many believe. He is subtle and delights in deception. He is shrewd in his operations . . . cunning and crafty.

Don’t forget he can disguise himself as a messenger of light. If we are not trained by the Word of God to divide rightly between good and evil, we won’t recognize his traps for what they are. One of his most deceptive and insidious kinds of bait is something every Christian has encountered—offense.

Actually, offense itself is not deadly—if it stays in the trap.

But if we pick it up and consume it and feed on it in our hearts, then we have become offended.

Offended people produce much fruit, such as hurt, anger, outrage, jealousy, resentment, strife, bitterness, hatred, and envy.

Some of the consequences of picking up an offense are insults, attacks, wounding, division, separation, broken relationships, betrayal, and backsliding.

Often those who are offended do not even realize they are trapped. They are oblivious to their condition because they are so focused on the wrong that was done to them.

They are in denial. The most effective way for the enemy to blind us is to cause us to focus on ourselves. This book exposes this deadly trap and reveals how to escape its grip and stay free from it. Freedom from offense is essential for every Christian because Jesus said it is impossible to live this life and not have the opportunity to be offended

In the last part of the twentieth century, knowledge has greatly increased in the church. But even with this increase it seems we have experienced more division among believers, leaders, and congregations.

The reason: Offense is rampant from a lack of genuine love. “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies” (1 Cor. 8:1). So many are snared in this

1 Corinthians 8:1 NLT

1 Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.

So many are snared in this deceptive trap that we have almost come to believe it is a normal way of life.

Before the return of Christ, however, true believers will be united unlike anything in the past. I believe that today countless men and women will be released from this trap of offense.

This will be one of the main links in seeing revival sweep this nation. Unbelievers will behold Jesus through our love of one another where they had been blinded to Him before. I do not believe in writing a book just to write one. God has burned this message into my heart, and I have seen its fruit remain. One pastor said to me after a service in which this message was preached, “I have never seen so many set free at one time.” God has spoken to my heart that this is only the beginning. Many will be set free, healed, and restored as they read this book and obey the Spirit’s prompting to them. I am believing as you read the words on these pages that the Teacher and Counselor will apply them personally to you.

As He does, this revealed word will bring a great liberty to your life and ministry.

Let’s pray together as you begin: Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You would reveal, by Your Spirit, Your Word to me as I read this book. Expose any hidden areas of my heart that have hindered me from knowing You and serving You more effectively. I welcome the conviction of Your Spirit and ask for Your grace to carry out what You desire of me. May I come to know You more intimately as a result of hearing Your voice through reading this book.

Amen.....

OUR RESPONSE TO AN OFFENSE DETERMINES OUR FUTURE.

1 ME, OFFENDED?

It is impossible that no offenses should come. —LUKE 17:1

As I travel across the United States ministering, I have been able to observe one of the enemy’s most deadly and deceptive traps.

It imprisons countless Christians, severs relationships, and widens the existing breaches between us. It is the trap of offense.

Many are unable to function properly in their calling because of the wounds and hurts that offenses have caused in their lives.

They are handicapped and hindered from fulfilling their full potential. Most often it is a fellow believer who has hurt them. This causes the offense to feel like a betrayal.

In Psalm 55:12-14 David laments,

Psalm 55:12 NLT

12 It is not an enemy who taunts me— I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me— I could have hidden from them.

Psalm 55:13 NLT

13 Instead, it is you—my equal, my companion and close friend.

For its not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance.

We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in the throng.”

They are those whom we sit with and sing alongside, or perhaps it is the one who is delivering the sermon. We spend holidays, attend social functions, and share offices with them. Or perhaps it is closer. We grow up with, confide in, and sleep next to them. The closer the relationship, the more severe the offense!

You find the greatest hatred among people who were once close.

Attorneys will tell you the most vicious cases are in the divorce courts. The American media constantly report murders in homes by desperate family members.

The home, meant to be a shelter of protection, provision, and growth where we learn to give and receive love, is often the very root of our pain.

History shows that the bloodiest wars are civil—brother against brother, son against father, or father against son. The possibilities for offense are as endless as the list of relationships, no matter how complex or simple. This truth remains:

Only those you care about can hurt you. You expect more from them—after all, you’ve given more of yourself to them.

The higher the expectations, the greater the fall. Selfishness reigns in our society. Men and women today look out for themselves to the neglect and hurt of those around them.

This should not surprise us. The Bible is very clear that in the last days men will be “lovers of themselves”

2 Timothy 3:2 AV

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

We expect this in unbelievers, but Paul was not referring to those outside the church. He was talking about those within it.

Many are wounded, hurt, and bitter. They are offended! But they do not realize that they have fallen into Satan’s trap. Is it our fault?

Jesus made it very clear that it is impossible to live in this world and not have the opportunity to become offended.

Yet most believers are shocked, bewildered, and amazed when it happens. We believe we are the only ones who have been wronged.

This response leaves us vulnerable to a root of bitterness. Therefore we must be prepared and armed for offenses, because our response determines our future.

Hebrews 12:15 AMP

15 Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it—

THE DECEPTIVE TRAP The Greek word for “offend” in Luke 17:1 comes from the word skandalon.

This word originally referred to the part of the trap to which the bait was attached.

Hence the word signifies laying a trap in someone’s way. In the New Testament it often describes an entrapment used by the enemy.

Offense is a tool of the devil to bring people into captivity.

Paul instructed young Timothy: And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare [entrapment] of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. —2 TIMOTHY 2:24-26, EMPHASIS

ADDED Those who are in quarrels or opposition fall into a trap and are held prisoner to do the devil’s will. Even more alarming, they are unaware of their captivity!

Like the prodigal they must come to themselves by awaking to their true condition. They do not realize that they are spewing out bitter waters rather than pure.

When a person is deceived, he believes he is right even though he is not. No matter what the scenario is, we can divide all offended people into two major categories:

(1) those who have been treated unjustly or (2) those who believe they have been treated unjustly.

People in the second category believe with all their hearts that they have been wronged. Often their conclusions are drawn from inaccurate information.

Or their information is accurate, but their conclusion is distorted. Either way, they hurt, and their understanding is darkened.

They judge by assumption, appearance, and hearsay. THE HEART’S TRUE CONDITION One way the enemy keeps a person in an offended state is to keep the offense hidden, cloaked with pride.

Pride will keep you from admitting your true condition.

Once I was severely hurt by a couple of ministers. People would say, “I can’t believe they did this to you. Aren’t you hurt?”

I would quickly respond, “No, I am fine. I’m not hurt.” I knew it was wrong to be offended, so I denied and repressed it.

I convinced myself I was not, but in reality I was. Pride masked the true condition of my heart. Pride keeps you from dealing with truth. It distorts your vision.

You never change when you think everything is fine. Pride hardens your heart and dims the eyes of your understanding.

It keeps you from the change of heart—repentance—that will set you free.

2 Timothy 2:24–26 TPT

24 For a true servant of our Lord Jesus will not be argumentative but gentle toward all and skilled in helping others see the truth, having great patience toward the immature. 25 Then with meekness you’ll be able to carefully enlighten those who argue with you so they can see God’s gracious gift of repentance and be brought to the truth. 26 This will cause them to rediscover themselves and escape from the snare of Satan who caught them in his trap so that they would carry out his purposes.

Pride causes you to view yourself as a victim. Your attitude becomes, “I was mistreated and misjudged; therefore, I am justified in my behavior.”

Because you believe you are innocent and falsely accused, you hold back forgiveness.

Though your true heart condition is hidden from you, it is not hidden from God.

Just because you were mistreated, you do not have permission to hold on to an offense.

Two wrongs do not make a right!

THE CURE In the Book of Revelation Jesus addressed the church of Laodicea by first telling them how they saw themselves as rich, wealthy, and having need of nothing, then by exposing their true condition—“wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked”

Revelation 3:14–20 TPT

14 Write the following to the messenger of the congregation in Laodicea, for these are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation: 15 I know all that you do, and I know that you are neither frozen in apathy nor fervent with passion. How I wish you were either one or the other! 16 But because you are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, I am about to spit you from my mouth. 17 For you claim, “I’m rich and getting richer—I don’t need a thing.” Yet you are clueless that you’re miserable, poor, blind, barren, and naked! 18 So I counsel you to purchase gold perfected by fire, so that you can be truly rich. Purchase a white garment to cover and clothe your shameful Adam-nakedness. Purchase eye salve to be placed over your eyes so that you can truly see. 19 All those I dearly love I unmask and train. So repent and be eager to pursue what is right. 20 Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me.

They had mistaken their financial strength for spiritual strength. Pride hid their true condition. Many are this way today. They do not see the true condition of their hearts just as I was unable to see the resentment I carried toward those ministers.

I had convinced myself I was not hurt. Jesus told the Laodiceans how to get out of their deception: buy God’s gold and see their true condition.

Buy God’s gold.

Jesus’ first instruction for breaking free from deception was to “buy from Me gold refined in the fire”

Revelation 3:18 AV

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Refined gold is soft and pliable, free from corrosion or other substances. It is when gold is mixed with other metals (copper, iron, nickel, and so on) that it becomes hard, less pliable, and more corrosive. This mixture is called an alloy.

The higher the percentage of foreign metals, the harder the gold becomes. Conversely, the lower the percentage of alloy, the softer and more flexible. Immediately we see the parallel:

A pure heart is like pure gold—soft, tender, and pliable. Hebrews 3:13 states that hearts are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin! If we do not deal with an offense, it will produce more fruit of sin, such as bitterness, anger, and resentment.

This added substance hardens our hearts just as alloys harden gold. This reduces or removes tenderness, creating a loss of sensitivity. We are hindered in our ability to hear God’s voice.

Our accuracy to see is darkened. This is a perfect setting for deception. The first step in refining gold is grinding it into a powder and mixing it with a substance called flux.

Then the mixture is placed in a furnace and melted by intense heat. The alloys and impurities are drawn to the flux and rise to the surface.

The gold (which is heavier) remains at the bottom. The impurities or dross (such as copper, iron, and zinc, combined with flux) is then removed, yielding a purer metal.

Now look at what God says: Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Isaiah 48:10 AV

10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

1 Peter 1:6–7 AV

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

God refines with afflictions, trials, and tribulations, the heat of which separates impurities such as unforgiveness, strife, bitterness, anger, envy, and so forth from the character of God in our lives.

Sin easily hides where there is no heat of trials and afflictions.

In times of prosperity and success, even a wicked man will seem kind and generous. Under the heat of trials, however, the impurities surface. There was a time in my life when I went through intense trials such as I had never faced before.

I became rude and harsh with those closest to me. My family and friends began to avoid me.

I cried out to the Lord, “Where is all this anger coming from? It wasn’t here before!” The Lord responded, “Son, it is when they liquefy gold in fire that the impurities show up.”

He then asked a question that changed my life. “Can you see the impurities in gold before it is put in the fire?”

“No,” I answered. “But that doesn’t mean they were not there,” He said. “When the fire of trials hit you, these impurities surfaced.

Though hidden to you, they were always visible to Me. So now you have a choice that will determine your future. You can remain angry, blaming your wife, friends, pastor, and the people you work with, or you can see this dross of sin for what it is and repent, receive forgiveness, and I will take My ladle and remove these impurities from your life.”

See your true condition. Jesus said our ability to see correctly is another key to being freed from deception. Often when we are offended we see ourselves as victims and blame those who have hurt us. We justify our bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, envy, and resentment as they surface. Sometimes we even resent those who remind us of others who have hurt us. For this reason Jesus counseled,

“Anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see”

Revelation 3:18 TPT

18 So I counsel you to purchase gold perfected by fire, so that you can be truly rich. Purchase a white garment to cover and clothe your shameful Adam-nakedness. Purchase eye salve to be placed over your eyes so that you can truly see.

See what? Your true condition!

That’s the only way we can “be zealous and repent” as Jesus commanded next. You will only repent when you stop blaming other people.

When we blame others and defend our own position, we are blind. We struggle to remove the speck out of our brother’s eye while there is a log in ours. It is the revelation of truth that brings freedom to us. When the Spirit of God shows us our sin, He always does it in such a way that it seems separate from us. This brings conviction, not condemnation.

It is my prayer that as you read this book, God’s Word will enlighten the eyes of your understanding that you will see your true condition and become free from any offense you are harboring. Don’t let pride keep you from seeing and repenting.

Ephesians 1:18–19 TPT

18 I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling —that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones! 19 I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power

Ephesians 1:18–19 AV

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Home Work:

Tell Me When You first was offended, who did it, and how did it effect your Prayer life, your ministry & your family.

What did you do to break free from Offense or did you?

What Tool do you use to gage if your operating from the the lens of offense or Love