The Bait of Satan, 20th Anniversary Edition: Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense

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A good read for anytime of the year, but it would make a great book to read during the Lenten season as a group or individually. My copy of the book was the 10th anniversary edition that contained a 30 day devotional supplement. The supplement ties into the main chapters of the book and is a workbook with space to write thoughts. The man had resisted the call of God on his life for several years because of his business success. He was making a large amount of money. His disobedience eventually caught up with him, and he was rushed to the hospital because of heart failure. For you have said in your heart, “I will go up to the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. Pride then leads to selfishness, as we become more concerned with the preservation of ourselves than with the well-being of others. This selfishness causes the offended Christian to become focused inward and we lose sight of what God is doing in and through others. We become guarded and defensive; seeking to protect our “rights”, rather than with open arms being ready to embrace others and come to their defense! This selfish pride causes us to view ourselves as victims, but just because we may have been mistreated does not mean we suddenly have the right to hold on to an offense! For as Bevere writes, “If we don’t risk being hurt, we cannot give unconditional love. Unconditional love gives others the right to hurt us.” (p. 16) This is my second read-through since I was a teenager. I always joked that I could sum up the entirety of this book in one sentence: "Quit being offended."

There were so many stories of freedom in this book, including the author's personal stories from his own life, but the bottom line and the conclusion of the matter is that we require to deal with offense in the right way to maintain our freedom and joy. This is done by walking in the love of God and forgiveness. MATTHEW— NOTE ON 6:14–15 Forgive your trespasses refers to restoring relationship following sin, not salvation." Jesus would not be controlled by others. He would speak truth even if it meant confrontation and ultimately offense. If you desire the approval of men, God’s anointing cannot fall upon you. You must purpose in your heart to speak the Word of God and perform His will even at the risk of offending others.”The knowledge of God’s Word without love is a destructive force because it puffs us up with pride and legalism”

And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we put more abundant honor around them. And our unpresentable members have more abundant propriety. As time passed, because of my position of serving the pastor, I was close enough to see his flaws. I questioned some of his ministry decisions. I became critical and judgmental, and offense set in. He preached, and I sensed no inspiration or anointing. His preaching no longer ministered to me." How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!For our presentable members have no need, but God tempered the Body together, giving more abundant honor to the member having need; But it is, of course, a bit more complicated than that. And while the book ends up being a fair bit longer than it needs to be in driving the point home... it may well be needed by many to be presented with a wide range of scenarios and hurts. 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 seems separate from us. This brings conviction not condemnation" (Chapter 3)

Right at the very beginning of the book, John teaches that the Greek word for “offend” is skandalon, which refers to the part of a trap where the bait is set. So, even just by looking at the word “offend”, we can see how an offense can be a tool that Satan, our enemy, will lay in our path to catch us, or trap us. Our enemy wants the trap to remain hidden, so we will be unaware of the danger we are headed toward, and even more importantly, he wants us to remain unaware of the very fact that we have been trapped, therefore, keeping us from even attempting to free ourselves from the trap at all! How easy the hunter’s job is, if the animal he has trapped does not even realize he has been trapped and does not fight or struggle to get free! I cannot give it higher than a 1⭐️ because John preaches that you most definitely can lose your salvation, which is NOT Biblical….. If the foot shall say, “Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body”; is it therefore not of the body? When you’re out of the will of God, you will not be a blessing or help to [others]...even the good relationships will be strained...Offended people react to the situation and do things that appear right even though they are not inspired by God. We are not called to react but to act.” (p. 50) And he is also indeed a connaisseur at how to handle the wounds inflicted by depraved and ruthless human entitys which are aiming at you to destroy your inner peace and stability!!!He says that group number two often is guided by inaccurate and distorted information, and they are hurt and their understanding is darkened because they judge by assumption, appearance and hearsay. In this twentieth anniversary edition, John Bevere shows you how to identify the traps ahead of you and escape the victim mentality. With declaration-style prayers and testimonials from people whose lives have been changed by his message, this book will inspire you to stay free from offense and its destructive power. It’s been going on two years since we last heard from you. How are things? Where are you at spiritually? Did you find work? Let not anyone deceive you by any means. For that Day shall not come unless there first comes a falling away, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition,

A deceived person, by the very nature of deception, has no possible way of knowing they are being deceived. That is, unless someone shines a light onto the issue, revealing the truth to them and exposing the lies for what they truly are...lies and deception. I was given such a revelation this past week, when I read "THE BAIT OF SATAN: Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense" by John Bevere. An inspirational informative book on the topics of being offended, forgiving, reconciling and living a better life. If of course you belong to the kind of people which never takes offense whatsever or the classic guy whos loved and appreciated by anyone....

Don’t allow yesterday’s pain to steal tomorrow’s joy. God’s ultimate purpose is reconciliation and restoration. He wants you to thrive in your relationships, your marriage, your job, your church, and your world.