Having been in the ministry for over 25 years now, I’ve learned a thing or two along the way. And one is, offense stops the blessings of God. I’ve been to churches where they do their victory dances over the devil, make their declarations, taking the nations for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But something is missing. Their lives are really no different than people who don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And there’s something terribly wrong with that situation.


Yes, the Lord Jesus told us that we are to be lights in the darkness, and I’ve recently written about that. Even a DIM light is visible in a very dark room. But we’re not supposed to be dim lights, but rather a direct reflection of our Lord Jesus, a blinding light that drives out the darkness. But you can’t drive out someone else’s darkness with your light until you’ve let that light of Jesus drive your own darkness out. What darkness am I referring to? OFFENSE!

When we ask the Lord Jesus to be our Lord, a process begins as the Lord Jesus moves in and starts cleaning house. Every one of us need more light coming forth from us, and certainly myself included. We sometimes try to pass the blame for our behavior to “generational curses” or other people’s behavior toward us. But most of our own problems come from the way we react to other people. Just like a cat doesn’t like to have its fur rubbed the wrong way, we don’t like to be rubbed the wrong way, either. None of us do. If you rub some cats the wrong way, you may quickly find it has very sharp claws and it knows how to use them. And I find many Christians likewise have very sharp claws.

I’d go so far as to say that some sit around sharpening their claws so they’re ready when offense comes to “reach out and touch someone”. And they wonder why their prayers are hindered, why their “declarations” have no effect whatsoever, and I’ll give you an example out of Matthew chapter 18:18-35.

18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

If you think you’re going to bind devils and cast them out while holding offense in your heart against anyone, you’re sadly mistaken. If you think you’re going to win souls for Jesus while you’re offended at your brother or sister, that isn’t going to happen. AND, if you think you’re going to stay healthy while having offense in your heart, that isn’t going to happen either. You see, offense is like a cancer, and we all know what cancer does, it eats you up. I’ve done considerable research about cancer since one day the LORD asked me if I’d like to know the cure for cancer. I told Him, “Of course I would, we ALL would”.

In April 2001 I wrote an article on my website called, “Cancer- rebellious cells with a cause”. We all know where rebellion comes from, and it isn’t God. It’s the devil, the father of rebellion. And one way the devil gets entrance into you is through offense. And those offenses fester in you until they manifest physically in your body in the form of cancer. We’ve all heard people say “that eats me up”. Well, what do you think cancer does? Doctors can cut, burn, poison cancer cells, but they just keep coming back, don’t they?

If you mow over a dandelion, it’s gone for a while, but the root remains, and one day it pops up and says, “I’M BACK!”, and cancer does the same thing. And here you go again, trying to get rid of cancer because you didn’t take care of the root. What is the root? Offense. As long as you let that root remain in you, you’ll never be free. Your prayers won’t have much power, your love won’t work right, and most certainly the devil won’t run when you walk into the room. Why? Because he has something in you. Remember how Jesus said in John 14:30, “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

That’s how Jesus walked in such power and authority; the devil couldn’t make offense stick to Him. Jesus wouldn’t allow himself to be offended. And I learned from my Pastor the importance of not allowing myself to be offended. I’m like a duck: waterproof, in that I let offenses run off of me like water off a duck’s back. Yes, it saddens me when someone unsubscribes from my mailing list, but I know it’s because they allowed offense to arise in them because of the Word’s sake. You see, the Word of God is like a two-edged sword, and it will cut you to the bone if you’re against it. But when you’re in agreement with the Word of God, that sword will cut the devil to the bone when he tries to hurt you.

I went through a nearly fatal cancer attack in 1993, and looking back, I was a offense collector from way back in childhood, having been bullied, made fun of, called names, and it finally “ate me up” and nearly killed me. Once I submitted to Jesus as my Lord and Savior, the first thing that had to go was my sin, and the second thing that had to go was my offense against those who had abused me through the years. Having done that, I’ve been well ever since, but I still have to be vigilant not to let offense creep in. The devil is an equal-opportunity destroyer, so he doesn’t want YOU to miss a chance to be killed, have things stolen from you, or be destroyed. He’s a sly one, with thousands of years of experience, and if you aren’t paying attention, he will get you to allow an offense here, and offense there, to take root in you.

You say you just don’t seem to be able to cast out devils, that you try but nothing changes? Check your “OFFENSE GAUGE”. If it isn’t on “empty”, there’s your problem. If you’re sick in your body, offense and rebellion is your culprit; your body is rebelling against the Word of God that says you are healed by the stripes of Jesus. Get rid of rebellion, get rid of offense, and you’ll get well. If the devil can get you offended against someone or something, it will soon come out in your words, and your words carry immense power. You are created in the image of God, and part of that image is the ability to speak. With His words, God created everything in the universe. And with OUR words, we create OUR “universe”, good or bad. Offense doesn’t create good words, and like Jesus said, you don’t get good fruit off of bad trees.

Go back and read what I put here from Matthew 18 again, you’ll see how costly offense is. When Jesus taught the disciples “The Lord’s Prayer”, you’ll notice He said, “Forgive us our trespasses AS we forgive those who trespass against us.” In other words, you’re saying, “LORD, If I don’t forgive others, don’t You forgive me, either.” And you know what THAT means, right? If your sins are not forgiven, then you won’t be hearing, “Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.” No, you will BE “well done”, get the idea?

So, get rid of EVERY offense right now, and you’ll notice an immediate change in your circumstances. Your prayers will have power, you’ll have the blessings of God, your health will improve, and your light will shine forth brightly for Jesus!