Truth:

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains would tremble before you!
As when fire sets twigs ablaze
and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name known to your enemies
and cause the nations to quake before you!
For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard,
no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
you were angry.
How then can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and made us waste away because of our sins.
Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:1-8 (New International Version)

Thought:

I’ve often been asked if anyone ever needs to forgive God. That language makes me uncomfortable.

Forgiveness is giving up our right for revenge. It’s putting the other into the hands of God. It’s His to avenge. He’s the one to repay. How can we put God in His own hands? How could we ever take revenge against God?

However, forgiveness is also agreeing to live with the consequences of another’s action or inaction. That could mean we may need to forgive God… but the language and sentiment isn’t right.

I’m in debt to Bill Johnson for giving me biblical words to express how we need to relate to God when things happen that just don’t make sense in light of His nature or character.

It comes from what John the Baptist had his disciples ask Jesus, while John sat in prison awaiting his fate.

John the Baptist declared the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, knowing the Anointed One would release the prisoners.

But then he sat in prison and doubt started to set in. He sent his disciples to ask his cousin if he had gotten it wrong and Jesus responded:

“Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Luke 7:22-23 (NKJV)

John was sitting where he did not expect, facing something he did not want. We could almost say he had the right to be offended at Jesus.

And Jesus said “happy is the one who is not offended because of Me.”

We don’t need to forgive God. We need to live un-offended with Him. Part of living un-offended at God is agreeing to live without what He withholds.

Are you in the place where your situation, through no fault of your own, is not in agreement with how the Bible says it should be?

For example, the Bible says in 1 Peter 2:24, “By His wounds we were healed.” What happens when you’re not?

Agreeing to live without what God withholds means we don’t create theology from our experience. We can’t say, “It’s not God’s will for me to be healed.” Because we know His will is done perfectly in heaven and we know in heaven there is no sickness so we know it’s not His will for anyone to be sick. We cannot create theology from our experience.

Agreeing to live without what God withholds means we don’t make excuses for God not to be true to His word. ‘Oh, in heaven I’ll be healed.” So does that mean in heaven you’ll finally be forgiven? David said in Psalm 103, “[the Lord] forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” Why can we believe for one and not the other in this life? Don’t make excuses for God.

Agreeing to live without what God withholds does not mean we can’t change God’s mind. “God will heal me in His time.” I know this is controversial. But look at Abraham, and Moses, and Ezekiel and Mary and how they changed God’s mind. The timing of God is real, but just as real is the fact that friends of God can change His mind. The timing of God is a convenient excuse we have made a theology out of.

Agreeing to live without what God withholds means letting the potter be the potter and recognize you are the clay. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He thinks generationally and eternally. We are short sighted and linear. It’s best for us to simply be still and know that He is God. (Psalm 46:10)

So be still, and know that He is God.

Prayer:

Lord, that You would rend the heavens and come down to make Your name known and set all things right. I know You are Good and I know You are Great. And I trust You, God, to turn all things for the good of those who love You and have been called according to Your purpose. I choose to live without what You choose to withhold, knowing You are good and You are great.

Challenge:

Instead of waiting for your situation to change, wait expectantly on God. Choose to still yourself by focusing on His love and goodness.

Declaration:

I choose to live un-offended at God. I agree with the Bible that God is Good and God is Great. Even though I don’t understand my circumstance, I give up my right to understand so that I can have the peace that passes understanding.

Here’s how to stop living offended at God. I’ll give you the means to not only heal the root wound that are the reason that you’re offended, I’ll give you tools to live daily live out being un-offended at God.

We live in a world that was once the enemies. Jesus won the battle at the cross and made friends again with everything that was fallen. He redeemed us and reconciled us to himself. But while the battle is won. Think of it in-terms-of what’s happened in Afghanistan after 9/11. The Taliban fell in an instant. They no longer rule Afghanistan.

Are they still a threat? Do they still have power? Yes. A pastor friend of mine in Pakistan was just threatened by them with death.

Do they have authority? No.

The same is true with our enemy. He no longer rules the world. He has no authority.

Are there still casualties? Yes. And you might be one.

There is healing available to your emotions as well as your body. Here’s how you heal the heart of feeling rejected:

Confess your sin to God for living offended at Him.

If you don’t know why you’re offended, but you know you are because your admittedly standoff-ish with the Father, or you don’t like hearing other’s testimonies or you’re quick to take offense at others, ask Him to show you the root wound using these steps:

Ask the Father, Son or Spirit to take you back to the place in where you became offended at Him. You’ll be brought to a memory.
Describe the situation or picture.
Find where Jesus (or the Father, or the Spirit) is in the memory.
Ask Jesus (or the Father, or the Spirit) the lie you learned from the situation.
Renounce the lie(s).
Ask Jesus (or the Father, or the Spirit) what the truth is.
Agree with God and declare the truth.

Father, I know that when (name the situation) happened, I felt rejected by you and chose to live offended at you. Specifically, I (tell him what you did to protect yourself). Forgive me for protecting myself and for rejecting others (name them) to keep them from rejecting me. Give me a new revelation of your love and help me to walk in your truth.

If you have difficulty with this process get someone with Sozo, Theophostic, or Immanuel training to help you.

To hope at the end of the rope you need to avoid bitterness by forgiving others and living unoffended at the Father.

I’m in debt to Bill Johnson for giving me biblical words to express how we need to relate to God when things happen that just don’t make sense in light of His nature or character.

John the Baptist declared the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, knowing the
Anointed One would release the prisoners. But then he sat in prison and doubt started to set
in. He sent his disciples to ask his cousin if he had gotten it wrong and Jesus responded:

“Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel
preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Luke 7:22-23 (NKJV)

John was sitting where he did not expect, facing something he did not want.

We could almost say he had the right to be offended at Jesus. And Jesus said “happy is the
one who is not offended because of Me.”

Here’s how we can choose to live un-offended at the Father:

1. Agree to live without what He withholds.
2. Give Up Your Right To Understand so you can have the peace that passes understanding
3. Look To What He’s Doing, not to what He hasn’t done.

These concepts are discussed more in “Life Above the Negativity – from 10 minutes a day.”

I also expand on it a lot more in the upcoming book “How to Hope at the End of the Rope“, so if you need clarification, give me your  comments and I’ll try to answer them.

The second key to avoiding bitterness as you hope at the end of the rope is living unoffended at the Father.

We can so easily become offended at God.

Many times we stand before God with a broken dream, unfulfilled vision or loss of a promise
and it feels just like the plant we tended so carefully has just gone dry and withered.

It has.

But don’t let the seed go to waste. Until a seed is dead, no life can come from it. Once it dies, it can be planted in good soil, watered well, and given the right amount of sun and life will spring from the dirt.

The good soil, water and sun is much like us choosing to live life un-offended at God.

I know you’ve been taught “Who is the pot to say to the potter…”. For some of you, you can’t conceive of ever thinking you could even complain about God, let alone be openly offended by Him. But do your actions betray you?

How easily can you spend time in silence before Him?

How readily do you go to His words of life?

How often do you ask Him for good things?

We have a good Father who loves giving good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13). When we’re standoff-ish it could show we’re living offended at Him.

Another sign that I pick up on in myself is how easily I’m offended at other people.

Normally, it takes a lot for me to not bless those who curse me. Sure, it might be sarcastic, or done just too get a rise out of them. Much of what happens is water off a duck’s back. But everyone once-in-a-while, I find I take offense at other’s actions or inaction. I notice it when I start to sarcastically bless those who curse me.

God’s shown me that when I take offense at others, I’m actually living offended at Him.

I’ll show you how to live unoffended at the Father in the next post.

Agreeing to live without what God withholds means letting the potter be the potter and recognize you are the clay. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He thinks generationally and eternally. We are short sighted and linear. It’s often best for us to simply be still and know that He is God. (Psalm 46:10)

Part of living un-offended with God is to look to what He is doing and not to what He hasn’t done. Surround yourself with testimonies about what God is doing, but watch your heart as you do. If you’re asking “Why them and not me?” you’re not choosing to live un-offended at God. Look to what He is doing and not to what He hasn’t done.

Part of living un-offended with God is to give up our right to understand. We are promised peace that passes understanding so why are we so eager to settle with being anxious to understand? Start reading in the Psalms and read until you get to one that is the cry of your heart. Then spend considerable time considering it. You probably won’t understand your situation, but you’ll understand that the Father understands, and that’s enough to make a huge difference in your level of peace.

Are you in the place where your situation, through no fault of your own, is not in agreement with how the Bible says it should be?

Choose to live un-offended with God.

Heavenly Father, I have believed a lie to think you have let me down by (name the area). I agree with you that this belief is sin because you are Good and I ask for your forgiveness. Father, tell me the truth about the situation. (Listen for what He says). Lord, I choose to live un-offended at you. I agree to live without what you withhold. I choose to look to what you are doing and not to what you haven’t done. I give up my right to understand that I might have the peace that passes understanding. Thank you for being so good.

I’ve often been asked if anyone ever needs to forgive God. That language makes me uncomfortable.

Forgiveness is giving up our right for revenge. It’s putting the other into the hands of God. It’s His to avenge. He’s the one to repay. How can we put God in His own hands? How could we ever take revenge against God?

However, forgiveness is also agreeing to live with the consequences of another’s action or inaction. That could mean we may need to forgive God… but the language and sentiment isn’t right.

I’m in debt to Bill Johnson for giving me biblical words to express how we need to relate to God when things happen that just don’t make sense in light of His nature or character.

It comes from what John the Baptist had his disciples ask Jesus, while John sat in prison awaiting his fate.

John the Baptist declared the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, knowing the Anointed One would release the prisoners. But then he sat in prison and doubt started to set in. He sent his disciples to ask his cousin if he had gotten it wrong and Jesus responded:

“Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Luke 7:22-23 (NKJV)

John was sitting where he did not expect, facing something he did not want. We could almost say he had the right to be offended at Jesus.

And Jesus said “happy is the one who is not offended because of Me.”

We don’t need to forgive God. We need to live un-offended with Him. Part of living un-offended at God is agreeing to live without what He withholds.

We’ll discuss how you can agree to live without what God withholds starting in the next post.