This Month's Newsletter

Secret Place Part 5: Hindrances to the flow of the truth...Revealing the spirit of Absalom

Pastor Don Nicely's Newsletter for May 2008

2 Samuel 15:1-6 (NKJV)¹After this it happened that Absalom provided himself with chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. ²Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.” ³Then Absalom would to him, “Look, your case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear.” ⁴Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.” ⁵And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him. ⁶In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king of judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Has anyone ever offended you so badly that you could not get over it? In the story of King David’s oldest son Absalom we will see how he allowed his bitterness and unforgiveness toward his father to grow into a spirit of disloyalty. Disloyalty surfaces when our personal ambitions and unresolved offenses lead us to the path of unforgiveness. Jesus warns us in Luke’s gospel about the negative power of harboring an offense.

Luke 17:1 (NKJV)¹Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!

Now if you can honestly say that you have never been offended by someone then you must live on a different planet than I do. As a pastor I’m confronted almost weekly with opportunities to be offended. My conversations with many people throughout the week lead to all kinds of derogatory statements, many of which can be taken offensively on my part if I allow them to. But instead of becoming offended and walking around with a complex I’ve decided to go to heaven and live the life of not being offended. I’ve decided to be a duck and allow things to roll off my back like a duck lets water roll off its back. I remember once in our last church my wife had a woman tell her that she wished she could be a duck like her. You see this woman took everything personal, even the way you looked at her. That’s a frustrating life to live, in a land full of rushed, frustrated people. It’s our choice to make everyday of our lives.

Resisting the spirit of disloyalty
Offense is the door through which the spirit of disloyalty can enter into our lives. If you live with unresolved offenses a door will be left open through which Satan can enter through. Offense is an easy thing to be caught by. Someone says the wrong things to use at the wrong time and we become offended. Someone can miss saying a healing word of encouragement at the right time and we become offended by what they didn’t say. Someone can look at us the wrong way and we can become offended. Life is full of opportunities to become offended. The word “offense” in the bible is the Greek word “scandalon” which actually means “bait-stick.” It’s actually the stick a trapper puts the bait on and when the animal touches the bait-stick the trap goes off and the animal is caught. We get our English word “scandal” from this word, which means to catch someone in a falsehood. To expose an untruth that someone is living.

When you get caught in an offense, negative thoughts fill your mind and lead you into becoming a judgmental, critical, attacker against the person you have been offended by. Then disloyalty will creep in your life.

Friend it’s almost impossible not to get offended. And I never said this would be an easy map trap to avoid. And I never said this would be an easy step to avoid. In fact Jesus himself said that unless the days were shorted even the very elect would be caught by offense. But God has given us the free choice in how we respond to these offenses. In other words it’s entirely up to us if we are going to walk around offended all the time. If you take the devils bait you will being to nurse the offense and this will produce the fruit of unforgiveness and disloyalty.

Absalom did just that. He nursed an offense against his father that caused him to hate his father instead of serve him. His offense caused him to even despise his brother and ultimately caused him to be killed by the hand of an assassin hired by Absalom himself. This in turn led to banishment by his father that only fueled the offense even more. Upon his return to Jerusalem he carefully planned a revolt against his father and run him out of town.

His conflict with his father had become volatile that the bible says he stole the hearts of the men of Israel by conspiring to take the throne by a wrongful manner. All of his education by his father about God’s will was cast aside as he nursed that offense that he had allowed to come into fruitation. He even publicly slept with his father’s concubines as an ultimate act of betrayal toward his father. 2 Samuel chapters 13-19; tells the whole story.

Offense has two distinctive perspectives.

1. First, some people get offended because another person has treated them unjustly. It can even be justified in our own mind to become offended when someone truly has wronged us. And I might add that it is really difficult to forgive someone who is being cruel to us. But if you don’t bitterness will take root in your life and produce a bitter fruit. So what’s the antidote? Resolve offenses quickly. That’s why apostle Paul instructs us to not let the sun go down on our wrath, because this only gives place for the devil to operate in our lives. Refuse to carry the pain of offense for very long. If we learn to walk in forgiveness quickly, offense will not cause us any pain. We may even be blessed by the whole matter. It’s entirely up to our actions and response to the offense.
   Luke 7:23 (NKJV)²³And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.
2. The second door through which Satan will attempt to gain access into our lives is the door of disloyalty. This is caused by our own selfish ambition. You see Absalom hated his father because he didn’t execute Amnon for raping his half sister Tamar which was Absalom’s true sister. He held vengeance in his heart when the bible truly warns us that all vengeance belongs to God.
   Deuteronomy 32:35 (NKJV)³Vengeance is Mine, and recompense Their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.

Absalom’s secret ambition was to be King, but instead of serving his father the king and allowing his giftedness to place him in leadership- he usurped his father’s authority and led a rebellion against his father that loved him very much. Think of it dad this is David’s firstborn son. Of course he loved him. But Absalom’s disloyalty led to the spirit of competition. This spirit led to backstabbing and betrayal. And be fore you know it he is against the one who truly had the power to bless him in life and is blinded by his offense. Most of the time offense causes people to hurt the people that they truly love the most. Even people that they once held in high esteem they find themselves now despising. Judas is another example of someone who allowed his own selfish desire to betray the one that he once served. He just didn’t see the value in celebrating or even serving Jesus. So the first chance he got he betrayed him to the hands of his enemies for the price of a slave. You see Jesus wasn’t doing things the way he wanted him to. He wanted Jesus to free him from Roman oppression, but instead he’s telling people that they need to love the Romans. Being a zealot himself that would never happen, so he decided not to serve Jesus, but to betray him.

It’s hard to keep our attitudes and motives right if we don’t see ourselves as an instrument that can be used for kingdom work. This was Judas’s problem.

Releasing the spirit of adoption
Are you controlled by a desire to be recognized and promoted? This is a good thing most of the time. We should always seek to be the best that God would have us become, and never put a limit on what God can do with us. If this you then make a pact right now that you won’t carry around unresolved offenses and grudges. We should decide to be more like Joseph the 11th son of the patriarch Jacob. For 13 years he suffered slavery, and imprisonment, all because of his brother’s jealousy when they should him into slavery. Instead of harboring bitterness and a grudge against them he chose to forgive them and do good for them. And because of his actions God was able to bless him and promote to the second most powerful position a mortal man could hold in this life. He became the prime mister of Egypt, and was given the grain prices for the next 14 years. What a blessing! Jesus said to overcome this way.

Luke 17:1-4 (NKJV)If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.

Continued Next Month