TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A RIGHT / Carrying the Spirit of Offense

1 Thessalonians 5:14-15,19-24 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man ; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men . ... Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

We live in a society that encourages people to get even! They would say "don't get mad, get even" and the concept that follows is that whatever bad thing someone does to you, you got to do just as bad if not worse! Sad to say at times that this way can be found in the house of God! We know the scriptures about the unjust, the ungodly and how they will be destroyed and we feel in some way or another like it is our job to remind others or remit some sense of punishment on them!

Romans 12:19-21 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Vengeance is the reflection of a carried offense.

Vengeance: punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong!

The Bible says vengeance is The Lord's, not yours! When we touch what is God's we get in trouble. Consider when man touched the tree in the garden God told them not to touch! Trouble happened, and the wages of sin backfired unto them and upon every generation after! Therefore it is important to take note that sin is never a private issue, it will always affect someone else. Sin can not hide just as Truth can not die! The Bible says your sin will find you out! It will be exposed one way or another!Vengeance is not for us to handle!

Samuel was told this in a way when he easily was able to carry an offense because Israel didn't listen to him, they wanted a King like other nations and not God! God told Samuel, "they did not reject you, but they are rejecting me! You represent me, not yourself and as long as you put yourself in the equation, no longer making it about me, than you will carry an offended spirit that was never yours to carry and fight a battle that was never yours to fight and carry a burden that was never yours to carry, which basically leads to carrying out a spirit of vengeance!"

Numbers 20:11-12 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also . And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

In other words, God was saying to Moses "because you sought not my council and way first, you did not sanctify me in front of the children of Israel! Because you reacted out of your offense and bitterness without coming to me, you smote the rock another time! The first time I authorized but not the second! This is my dealing, not yours! My show, not yours! This is not about people worshipping Me and you! It is about Me and only me! Because you acted in a way that didn't sanctify me, oh I will cover you and cause the children to drink, but you will not lead them any further!"

Consider a young brother and sister. One day for no reason this littles girl stickers her tongue out at her little brother. Out of reaction, the little brother kicks his little sister!

She cries and screams "mommy! Buddy kicked me!" And so knowing that they are not suppose to hurt each other, the other says buddy just wait until we get home, you know you don't kick people. The little girl then asks familiarly to her mom, "mommy are you going to spank him? He needs to be punished!" The mother says to her, "Lizzy, you keep it up and I'll spank you."

Like this little girl many can carry offenses! Ecclesiastes 8:11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Matthew 11:6 And blessed is he , whosoever shall not be offended in me.

When we carry an offense because things don't go the way we think they should have upon a people, we not only carry an offense against them, but against God.

We find that even the disciples of Christ carried an offense.

Luke 9:51-56 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this , they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them ...

The disciples wanted to revenge those who did not receive Jesus, or in other words they were OFFENDED! Meanwhile they had no reason to be! It wasn't about people following them, but about people following Jesus! The meetings of Jesus was never about Jesus and His disciples, but it was about Jesus The Christ!

When Jesus came out of the waters of baptism, the Holy Spirit didn't rest upon Jesus and the twelve! God did not say this is my beloved Son and His merry ole men! They didn't come into the picture until at least 40 days after the matter!

What am I saying? I am saying is that if you carry an offense you make it about you!

Jesus said if the world hates me, they will hate you too! Why? Because you represent Jesus!

Have you ever felt that way? You minister and minister to someone and they seem to be interested, seem to take right steps toward Jesus and then turns back and questions God, questions you and you get all upset? Why do you get upset? Because it seemed as a worthless effort and now you are hoping God would just remove that mess off the scene of your life!?!?

Luke 9:23-25 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

Jesus carries no offense.Consider Jesus' betrayal. A lot of times we call it Judas' betrayal but he was never betrayed, he was possessed, but never betrayed! He was given over to Satan's possession, Satan's hold!

When Judas went to betray Jesus and do you know what Jesus' response back to him was? It was... FRIEND! I believe that response could have all the more reason cause Judas to go mad and later hang himself. Not only did he realize he helped led the capturing and crucifixion of Jesus, but he was anything but a friend to Jesus! He failed as a friend! The Bible says a friend sticks closer than a brother, not kills!

But notice Jesus did not cross His arms, put on a pouty lip and respond, "oh Judas you offend me! or how could you? or why did you hurt me. I'm telling my Father on you. I hope fire consumes you more." Why? Because when we return evil for evil and not overcome it with good, not being more than a conqueror, than I believe we failed in our friendship and loyalty to God! We betray His nature in and through our lives, as well as His trust! We do not sanctify Him before others when we carry an offense.

Judas had his own reasons I'm sure as to why he was offended at Jesus! Not only was he fulfilling prophesy in Jesus' betrayal but during the course of his walk with Jesus, he stumbled. Expectation wasn't met to Judas! Peter was not the only one getting corrected by Jesus. Judas got it too! Judas could have thought, "oh that Peter, James and John! What makes them so special that they get to spend more time with Jesus than me?" The Bible even says they argued who would be the greatest in the Kingdom! (Luke 9:46) Judas was corrected when his idea of the women's perfumes were to be sold and given to the poor. (Matt. 14:5) He tried being bold as Peter, but then probably said after getting corrected by Jesus, he turned the mic back over to Peter and said okay buddy it's all you.

But when we return evil for evil, in a way like Esau we become willing to sell our birthright just to satisfy the flesh and place of vengeance upon another! We allow God's peace upon our lives to be taken when we carry an offense!

John 15:12-15 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (This includes offenses) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard (learned) of my Father I have made known unto you.

Sometimes God will reveal things to you about someone that is not meant for you to tell that person, but simply to just pray for them! Remember vengeance is God's not yours!

Genesis 3:4-13 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled (tricked, deceived) me, and I did eat.

The man blamed the woman, The woman blamed the man and the snake didn't have a leg to stand on! You know why man ate of the tree? Because He question God! You know why Moses struck the rock a second time, because He was wrestling in believing God! Satan's lie influenced man to question God. You may say they didn't question God but His motive. When you question any thing from God, it is because you have already question Him! When you question God you begin to live life on the defense and not on offense.

Notice I said... not on the offence, I didn't say in an offense. There is a difference. To be on something is to conquer it, to be on top and not the bottom, but to be in something is to be consumed or entangled with it.

The moment we begin to question the gifts or ways of God, such as prophecy, healing, etc. then we question God!

1 Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts , brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

James 1:17 KJV

[17] Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, ...

I am not saying we need to not judge or discern prophesies or manifestations, the Bible says we are to judge these things whether they be of God or not. But what I am saying is if we question God's purpose, His Word, we ought to realize that we gotten that far with questioning, because we have already questioned God in our hearts.

Now with the children of Israel in the days of Moses, they questioned God a lot! They questioned Moses, questioned the miracles and manifestation and finally questioned God's motive as to why He brought them out from Egypt! They forgot of their deliverance, they forgot of their refreshing! They forgot and when they forgot, they questioned! Adam didn't forget God's command, but He made room to question it for His own well being and not for God's glory! Many of times we question God when we get into a survival mentality and not a revival mentality! When we look just to survive and not thrive! God didn't call you to just survive, but to thrive in His goodness, thrive in His promises, thrive in His righteousness, thrive in His power, thrive in His Kingdom!...Not just merely exist in it! Think about it. If we question God Himself, we then question everything that has God's signature or God's hand upon.

Hebrews 11:6 KJV

[6] But without faith it is impossible to please him : for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews 11:6 AMP

[6] But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must necessarily believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him out.

If we find ourselves questioning the benefits of God, we then find ourselves questioning God all together! Adam and Eve questioned God's word concerning the tree. They were not thinking straight, they were thinking deceived! They had the lush and glory of walking with God in the rest of the Garden! Perhaps if they decided to obey God in the midst of that moment and heat of temptation, God would have annihilated Satan and would have let them eat of the tree! When Abraham obeyed God, he kept his son When David obeyed God He kept the victory! When Adam and Eve questioned God's Word, He was questioning God, because His word is inseparable to who He is! God is not a man that He should lie...in other words...God is Faithful to His Word.

Hebrews 10:23 KJV

[23] Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

Hebrews 10:23 AMP

[23] So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.

You know what happened when you waver? You get dizzy! When you get dizzy you get sick! Satan wants to spin you around and around in the storms of confusion, but when you realize God is NOT THE AUTHOR of confusion, God did not bring me this far to die in a storm, God's thoughts on me are not evil, but of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost! That is when you begin to stand as Jesus stood, stretch out your hands in praise and say to the storm PEACE be still! What manner of man is this? What manner of woman are you, child are you? You are the one who realizes that your battle is not with flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities!

You feel your joy is zapped? Get in the mind of Christ and calm the storm! When we return evil for evil, we just increase the storm clouds over our lives! When we question God, we are more susceptible to walk back in the old ways of hurting others, rather than onward healing people! Because once we question God's ways, we question Him and go back to the old rotting person! When Peter questioned Jesus and all that followed, he went back fishing!

In order to overcome evil with good, we must be solid in our trust in The Lord!

Let God be true and every man a liar!

Hebrews 10:22-25 KJV

[22] Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) [24] And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: [25] Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but exhorting one another : and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.