THE TRAP TO AVOID

As we left the meeting, a dear protégé of mine said to me, “Sir, it takes pastoral grace to do what you did and still minister the truth to those young ones”. I was to teach a large crowd of teenagers but they were distracted and noisy.

I said to him, “Sir when I saw how distracted and noisy they were. I knew it was a trap to get me angry. Once I am angry, the anointing is hindered because you cannot be offended and anointed at the same time”.

I stayed calm. I kept speaking in love and taking charge of the atmosphere spiritually. In less than five minutes, there was perfect silence. The meeting ended with a huge impact.

Anger and offence are tools that the devil use to distract us from what God is doing or what God is about to do in or through our lives. Offence blindfolds a man.

If you view people and life through the lenses of your hurts and anger, all you will see are faults. The offence will magnify a simple issue and turn it to a mountain. Offence wipes away good memories very fast and then replaces them with junks of faults. Refuse that trap.

For instance, the trap of offence will make a Pastor begin a lecture on the evil of late coming to those who are in church early. The real latecomers are absent. Offence makes a man focus on what is missing rather than appreciate what is available.

Before you begin to make a list of what you wish you had, have you raised praise for what you have. Thank God for the old car before you begin to complain about its faults or ask for a new one.

Thank God for the only child you have before you begin to complain that you have not gotten a second issue. Thank God for your marriage before you lay down the request for a baby. Give God praise for what you have.

When you are locked down in the prison of offence, the anointing to praise and make a difference will not flow. Those who know the protocol of the palace are never stranded at the gates.

We enter His gates with thanksgiving. We enter His courts with praise. If offence steals your praise, your gates will remain shut. If anger shuts your mouth from thanksgiving, you will not access His courts. When you get into His court, anything can happen- mountains melt, rivers are divided, bread is multiplied, prison doors open and raiding armies are scattered.

Do not let offence keep you away!

Glory to God.

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