Don't Take The Bait
“Don’t Take the Bait”
Offense - skandalon
a trap, snare, any impediment placed in the way and causing one to stumble or fall, (a stumbling block, occasion of stumbling), a bait stick
GENESIS 4: 1-16 (ESV)
4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”
2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,
4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.”
8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?”
10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.
16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Genesis 26:15, 18-22 (AMP)
15 Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with dirt.
18 Now Isaac again dug [and reopened] the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, because the Philistines had filled them up [with dirt] after the death of Abraham; and he gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.
19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing [spring] water,
20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him.
21 Then his servants dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so Isaac named it Sitnah (enmity).
22 He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over that one; so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be prosperous in the land.”
Matt. 13:57-58 (ESV)
57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”
58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
Luke 17:1-2 (AMP)
“1 Jesus said to His disciples, “Stumbling blocks [temptations and traps set to lure one to sin] are sure to come, but woe (judgment is coming) to him through whom they come!
2 It would be better for him if a millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] were hung around his neck and he were hurled into the sea, than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble [in sin and lose faith].”
The enemies goal is always the same: divide and destroy.
Luke 23:34 (KJV)
34 Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
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4 Keys to Not Taking the Bait
EXPECT IT, BUT DON’T ACCEPT IT
Jesus said offenses WILL come so don’t be surprised.
Reminder: you can’t control what someone else does to you, but you can control how to respond…what grows in you: bitterness, hate, or love, forgiveness.
CHOOSE FORGIVENESS DAILY
Matt. 18:21-22 (ESV)
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Forgiveness is not about counting how many times you forgive someone, but about keeping your heart clean.
You may have to let it go everyday, because we forgive not because they deserve it, but because you deserve peace.
GUARD YOUR HEART
Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Why we do this: our heart is our wellspring; source of our spiritual life. If offense clogs that well, everything else dries up.
Guard what you meditate on; don’t replay the hurt, replay God’s word.
RESPOND WITH LOVE
ROMANS 12:21 (ESV)
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Love is the only power greater than offense. When we bless the ones who curse us, or serve those who hurt us, we refuse the enemy’s bait and stay in God’s flow.