Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

~ Psalm 119:165 KJV ~

Great peace have they who love Your law; nothing shall offend them or make them stumble.

~ AMPC ~

There is such great peace and well-being that comes to the lovers of your word, and they will never be offended.

~ TPT ~

There is lasting peace for those who love your teachings. Nothing can make those people stumble.

~ GW ~

Abundant peace have those loving Thy law, and they have no stumbling-block.

~ YLT ~

We are those upon whom the end of the age has come. It is a time of unprecedented harvest. Every seed, both in the kingdom of God and in the kingdom of darkness, is coming to harvest swiftly. Although this is indeed a time of “deep darkness covering the earth” for the world, for the Body of Christ, the glory of the Lord is arising on us! (Isaiah 60:2). Friend, we are the eleventh-hour workers, and we have been given the privilege to participate in the harvest of the ages. I want you to see that harvesting is an active process, and you must choose to take your part and participate in reaping in your area of kingdom influence by faith. That includes eliminating any obstacles in your way, and removing any “harvest-blockers.” The most dangerous of these is offense.

In Matthew 24:10-13, as Jesus is describing the last days in which we are certainly living, He said these words, “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.”

I want you to see several keys in this passage. First, offense is the atmosphere of deception. You simply cannot afford to let an offense take root in your heart. It is the easiest way to uproot the seeds you have planted; it will destroy your harvest.

Jesus said that many will be offended, but that the believer who endures to the end shall be saved, or delivered. You need to know that the key to enduring to the end, in any battle, regardless of your circumstance, is refusing to be offended. You must make a quality decision to live offense-free.

“Well, Brother Tracy, you don’t know what they did to me!”

Friend, you must trust the One Who loves you, Who gave Himself up for you and died for you, more than what they did to you. Look again at our foundational Scripture. “Great peace have they which love His law; nothing shall offend them.” Offense takes root when you stop trusting God to defend and protect you and yield to the demonic pressure to protect yourself. Offense is only rooted in self-preservation. You cannot be offended at anyone without first being offended at God. You cannot begin to lean on your own understanding without first departing from “trusting in the Lord with all your heart” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

In Luke 17:1, Jesus said, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they come!” It is impossible to live without the temptation to be offended, but it is not impossible to resist that temptation. You are commanded to remain “unoffendable”- to not be offended at anyone, for any reason, at any time, for any length of time. If you do, again, you are first offended at the Word that commands you to live offense-free. You have to love God’s Word more than you love being right.

We are told four times throughout Scripture, “The just shall live by faith” (Hab. 2:4, Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38). Another word for just is “righteous.” God has given us the gift of righteousness by declaring us “not guilty” and putting us in perfect right standing with Himself. We have the same righteousness as Jesus Christ. However, not only do you receive this gift of righteousness by faith for yourself, but you must also believe that the same right-standing God extended to you, He has extended to the one with whom you are tempted to be offended. If you can’t get past your feelings and believe that they are righteous, it is an indication that you do not yet truly believe God has made you right with Himself.

I want to encourage you that you can use your faith to rise above the temptation to be offended, and you can live an offense-free life! In Part 2 of this article, I am going to show you from the Word how to use your faith to move the mountain of offense out of your life!

It’s time for you to use your faith to subdue your emotions and remove every offense from your life, because we have a world to reach and a harvest to reap together! This is our finest hour; today, make the decision to refuse to allow anything to hold you back from taking your part in this mighty harvest of the ages!