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Good News from Iraq - A New
Hospital, Power Substation, and Fresh Water Supply Part of 2,000 Projects to
Rebuild the Country; Iraqis Say, "We are So Grateful to the American People"
March 20, 2005
by Aimee Herd, Davin Dahlgren
reporting : Fox News
(Baghdad, Iraq) While suicide
bombers and kidnappers usually grab most of the headlines coming out of Iraq,
there have been great strides in the country's rebuilding process in the form of
2,000 projects being worked on by both the U.S. and Iraq together.
Workers in Baghdad are erecting a new hospital, while Americans and Iraqis are
working together in Kurdistan to build a 10 million dollar electricity
substation which will provide needed power to thousands of homes.
U.S. Gen. Thomas Bostick, overseer of reconstruction in all of Iraq said, "It's
wonderful to see all the Iraqi workers that are here working on a very important
project . . . it's a very powerful message."
Some of the projects involve bringing a clean water supply, vital to
communities. The work is appreciated by residents, as local families told Fox
News, "We are so grateful to the American people. We've never had fresh water
pumped into our homes before."
Read full story . . .
http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/
articles/display_art.html?ID=384
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March 20, 2005
"The
'Land of Offense' Becomes the Land of Anointing and Power"
by Francis Frangipane
Frangipane Ministries, Inc.
www.frangipane.org
comments@frangipane.org
Note: This message was first released in March of 2002. We have felt it was
timely to republish it. If you are interested in attaining an unoffendable
heart, please consider enrolling in our online school, In Christ's Image
Training. Cutoff for this term is March 23. More info:
www.icitc.org.
 "Then
shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another
. . . and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold."
Matthew 24:10-12, KJV
The Sequence That Leads To Apostasy
In our last teaching we looked at offenses and examined the lethal effect an
offended spirit could have upon our lives. We discussed how the only way to not
be permanently offended was to attain the unoffendable heart of Jesus Christ.
Attaining Christ's heart is not a minor issue. Remember, Jesus warned that, in
the last days, "many" would be offended. A wounded spirit is not the same thing
as an offended spirit -- an offense occurs when we do not process our wounds in
a Christlike manner. Indeed, an offended spirit, left unattended and brooding in
our minds, will soon manifest as betrayal, hatred, and cold love. Jesus said
offenses would be the ultimate cause that leads many to fall from faith. Listen
well: Jesus linked the real cause of apostasy not to wrong doctrines, but wrong
reactions.
Aren't right doctrines important? Of course, but we can have right information
and still have a wrong response. Doctrinal information can be upgraded and
refined, but Proverbs warns that someone "offended is
harder to be won than a strong city"; and "contentions" between
people "are like the bars of a castle" (Proverbs
18:19).
Yes, beware of false leaders, but more deceitful than false prophets or teachers
is our own heart when it is offended (Jeremiah 17:9). Are you living with an
offended heart? If so, you are gradually slipping away from true Christianity,
which is known for its agape love.
Thus, dealing with an offended heart is vital in maintaining ongoing spiritual
maturity. For this reason, we need to look again at the things which offend us.
False Expectations
Unrealistic or exaggerated expectations inevitably will cause others to fall
short and offend us. Some desire their spouse or pastor or friends to meet their
every need. However, at the deepest level our soul was created to find its
security in God, not man. When the Almighty truly becomes our security, our
peace flows from our awareness of His love and unlimited capabilities. As people
who put their confidence in God, we can live comfortably with imperfect people
around us.
Still, the very power of our expectations can choke out the sweetness of a
personal relationship. Suppose that, instead of burdening people with our
expectations, we simply learned to appreciate them for themselves -- no strings
attached. What if we approach family and friends with gratitude for what they
are doing rather than disappointment for what they failed to do?
Suppose that a husband, instead of expecting a full course dinner from his wife
each night, learned to appreciate whatever she was able to offer him? Then,
instead of his failed expectation degrading into an offense, there would be a
living, sincere appreciation for the food his wife prepared. I know we have
arrangements by common consent, but in reality, a wife is under no obligation to
cook special meals or do housekeeping. You did not marry her to be your
housekeeper, but to become one with her.
Or imagine a husband who works a long, tiring job. However, his wife expects
that he will work another two hours at home or go shopping with her or listen
attentively about her problems. What if, instead, she welcomed him at the door
and sincerely thanked him for daily giving himself to support their family? What
if she met him, not with demands, but with appreciation? Perhaps she might even
massage his shoulders and, because of love, have his favorite meal prepared.
You see, expectations can seem like legitimate aspects of a relationship, but
they can also cause us to be disappointed and offended when people fall short. I
have known situations in the past where my expectations actually blinded me to
the efforts being made by a loved one. They were trying to improve in an area I
was unaware of because my focus was preset upon a different expectation. I
should have been grateful and encouraging.
Of course, today I discuss issues and expectations with those close to me, but
the weight of my expectation is not on others, but upon myself to be Christlike
and sensitive to those around me. I put a premium upon enjoying the uniqueness
of others, sincerely thanking God for their contributions to my life.
When God Himself Offends Us
The fact is, false expectations can become a source of many deep offenses.
However, one of the worst offenses we can suffer is when God Himself purposely
offends us.
In II Kings 5, we read the story of when Naaman, a Syrian general, sought to be
healed of leprosy by Elisha, the prophet. When Naaman and his entourage arrived
at Elisha's house, Elisha didn't greet him personally, but instead sent his
servant with a word/cure for Naaman. It was a simple assignment for the military
leader: Wash seven times in the Jordan River. However, the cure offended Naaman.
Why didn't the prophet himself come out? Why this muddy Jordan? Scripture says
that "Naaman was furious."
An offended spirit is an angry spirit. In this case, Naaman was beyond mad; he
was furious. Do you find that you are always mad at a particular person? It's
because they have offended you and you haven't forgiven them. Naaman was
offended at Elisha, but what was the real cause of Naaman's offense? Listen to
his words. He said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely
come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his
hand over the place, and cure the leper'" (verse 11).
Catch the phrase, "Behold, I thought . . . "
In truth, Naaman was not offended by Elisha, but by his own failed
expectations. He probably spent many hours envisioning the moment of healing. He
even pictured himself testifying of how the man of God healed him. When it
didn't happen according to his plan, he was offended.
Friends, before the Lord heals you or assigns you some new, elevated position of
service, He will often offend you. Why? What is it that gets offended in us?
Usually, it is our pride. We come to God desiring physical healing, but the Lord
wants us, not only to be healed, but to be humble. Yes, God heals us through our
faith, but there our times when our own pride keeps us from receiving the method
of God's healing. The Lord offends us to humble us, so He can give us grace.
Faith works through grace, but God only gives grace to the humble.
Humble Yourself in the Offense, and You
Will Be Transformed
Look at how often Jesus offended people before He healed them. Once, He actually
spit on the ground, made mud and put it on a blind man's eyes, and then told him
to walk across town that way! Imagine if you were next in the healing line and
saw what the guy before you had to do. Admit it, we each would be looking for
another healing ministry, one that is a little less offensive! On another
occasion He told a woman who came seeking her daughter's healing that she was an
unclean dog; another time, He stuck His fingers in the ears of a man to heal his
deafness. The Lord often offended people before He healed them.
If we would learn to humble ourselves in the offense, we would discover that the
apparent offense was, in reality, a door that led into the manifest power of
God. When Jesus called the Canaanite woman a "dog," instead of being offended,
she said, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs feed on the
crumbs" (Matthew 15:27). When Jesus told the man to walk across town
with mud in his eyes, the man didn't argue or ask for a more dignified healing;
he humbled himself and came back seeing. When Elisha told Naaman to dip in the
Jordan seven times, the offense wounded him. Yet, when he humbled himself, his
leprosy was replaced with the skin of a little child. His skin became as a
child, because his heart, through humility, became as a child.
Maybe you haven't received your healing or breakthrough yet because to walk the
path set before you is beneath your dignity. Maybe you need to get rid of your
dignity and go to that Pentecostal or Baptist church you've been making fun of,
then ask them to pray for you. God wants to heal you, but He also wants to renew
and transform you with His grace.
Overcome Offenses
When we study what Jesus taught, it is obvious that He came to make us "unoffendable."
Consider: He says that if someone slaps you on one cheek, offer him the other.
He said to love our enemies and bless those who curse us. What He's really doing
is showing us how an unoffendable heart of love overcomes all adversity.
We pray, "Lord, I want to change." To answer our prayer, He sometimes must put
us in situations that perfectly offend us. The offense itself awakens our need
of grace. Thus, the Lord precipitates change by first offending the area of our
soul He desires to transform. He does not expect us to merely survive this
adversity, but to become Christlike in it. Ask Joseph in the Old Testament: the
"land of offense" became the land of his anointing and power. Listen my friends:
the destiny God has for man unfolds or dies at the junction of offense. How we
handle offense is the key to our tomorrow.
"Those who love [God's] law have great peace, and
nothing causes them to stumble." Psalm 119:165
Lord, grant me that new creation heart that can walk as Jesus walked, through
a world of offenses without stumbling. I want to see everything as an
opportunity to pray, everything as an opportunity to become Christlike. Lord,
help me to interpret offenses as opportunities that lead to transformations.
Grant me, Lord Jesus, the pulse and beat of Your unoffendable heart. Amen.
by Francis Frangipane
Frangipane Ministries, Inc.
www.frangipane.org
comments@frangipane.org
A service of Frangipane Ministries, Inc.
Copyright (c) 2005
All rights reserved.
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