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

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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." And the peacemaker wants also peace, but a peace with truth in it.. that's the kind of peace that I want to have with these disturbed entitys!!! No one has said or taught this better than Bob Mumford in his book, "The Prison of Resentment"; http://lifechangers.org/teachings/the... Even when His life was in danger He continued to speak the truth. How we need more men and women like that today! Jesus offended His own family members.” He died on the operating table and found himself outside the gates of heaven. Jesus was standing there and dealt with him about his disobedience. The man pleaded with the Lord that if He would extend his life, he would serve Him. The Lord consented.

We’re called to be faithful in what we’ve been given, fulfilling His mission, but first it must be given to us – all by the grace of God. “He Who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the Day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 MKJV). First, the book is cover-to-cover filled with shameless self-promotion. At the end of each chapter is a "Testimony" - not of Jesus Christ, but of the author and this book. And this is on top of the shameless self-promotion of the author and this book that's actually IN the text of the book itself.However, when we read Psalm 1:1-2 and 119:165 we see that it says, “Blessed is the man…[whose] delight is in the law of the Lord...great peace have they which love [or delight in] Thy law; and nothing shall offend them.” Bevere points out that when we choose to delight in the Word of God, even in the midst of adversity, we avoid being offended. Much of the above is probably due to the fact that the author is a former protege of heretic and charlatan Benny Hinn - a fact that he conveniently fails to disclose. There's a HUGE red flag waving right there. Given that, suddenly passages in the book like this one take on a whole new meaning: Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!" 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)

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. 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. 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!

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If the foot shall say, “Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body”; is it therefore not of the body? As said, Bevere is a christian, and this his book has the Scriptures as his foundation. No better foundation as that!! 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, The Bait of Satan exposes one of the most deceptive snares Satan uses to get believers out of the will of God--offense. This trap restrains countless Christians, severs relationships, and widens the gulfs between us. Jesus said, "It is impossible that no offenses should come" (Luke 17:1). Although you will encounter offense, you can choose how you will react. 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.

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. The book doesn't lend any credit to the discernment of abuse situations and the necessary upholding of boundaries. (Yes, forgiveness is absolutely required of us. But the restoration of relationship is NOT.) Freedom in serving, but bondage in slavery"..."A slave HAS to, a servant GETS to; a slave does the minimum requirement, a servant reaches the maximum potential; a slave goes one mile, a servant goes the extra mile; a slave feels robbed, a servant gives; a slave is bound, a servant is free; a slave fights for his rights, a servant lays down his rights" (Chapter 12) 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.”And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 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.

Now, the bad. This book epitomizes everything that's wrong with the Charismatic Movement - and I say this AS a Charismatic Christian. 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!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) God never created us to live separately and independently of each other. He likes it when His children care for and nurture each other. He is frustrated when we...feel sorry for ourselves; making everyone else responsible for our happiness...an isolated person seeks only his own desire, not God’s. He receives no counsel and sets himself up for deception.” (p. 55) Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. John Bevere is a christian writter, he has written also more books in this field of his expertice!!