Daily Bread 8-30-17

Luke 17:1-4

1 Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offenses may come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than he should offend one of these little ones.

3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again unto thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

ref. - Mt 18:6,7 - But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offense! for it must needs that offense come; but woe unto that man by whom the offense cometh!

Mk 9:42 - And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Mt 13:41,42 - The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Mt 18:15 - Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

Lv 19:17 - Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him.

1Co 13:4 - Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.

The scripture that we love to hear when we are at fault and don't care for too much when we are in the right. Unfortunately this is the truth when it comes to forgiveness. We love to receive it but are not so great at giving it. Well, this is why we have this wonderful gospel to follow. Christ gives us the truth, like it or not, on how we must be in order to receive the favor of God. The correct way to do things is written and was the exact words of Christ to his disciples. What trips us up in this is when we add or take away from it to suit our needs or feelings. If this heart is not in us to forgive or to be forgiven, we must seek for more faith from God. Just as the disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, help us to increase in our faith." In this there is instruction for the offender and the offended. First, if someone has offended us we must go to them and tell them that we are offended. We cannot just assume that they know that we have been offended. If they ask forgiveness, we must forgive them. Let it go, and move on. Like the word of God says, Woe unto that man by whom the offense cometh. It doesn't matter in our lives how many times or what others do to offend, God is watching. He will be the avenger of such actions. What our job is is to stop letting these offenses hold us back in moving forward. All that happens when we are offended is that we come to a standstill and are held back by the actions of others. We become bitter, reserved, sometimes aggressive, and all of this keeps us from the inner peace that Christ haas to offer us. So, really, Christ was teaching his disciples how to improve their inner being rather than how to give the oppressor a "free pass". Many times when we are offended we spend so much time thinking about it, talking about it, and letting it fester in our souls and the ones who have offended us don't even know or care that we are upset. So, as this scripture says, Take heed to yourself. If you are offended, go to the one who has offended you and tell him. If he asks forgiveness, then forgive him. His actions after that are his own responsibility but get it off of your chest and move on. If he decides to go on in his folly then that is his decision, but in your conscience and in your heart, the slate will be clear. Not such an easy thing to do, since we have been programmed from birth to hold on and seek revenge. This is why the disciples needed help from Christ and so do we. We must pray earnestly from our hearts to God in Jesus' name to remove the carnal things from our hearts and minds and to replace them with the kind of thinking that made Christ who he was, is, and always will be. The offenders have their own day coming and so do each of us, let's be on the right side of the fence when the fire comes and make sure that the teeth that are gnashing are not our own. Unforgiveness is an offense to God as well as the many offenses that are carried out on us by this world. Pray, brothers and sisters, pray......And have a great day!!!