Word of Faith teachers and preachers would have us believe God’ desire is that believers live in abundance and perfect health, lacking nothing.

“Some people come to me and say, well I came here to get some peace, not money, and I tell them, you NEED money otherwise you ain't gunna get no peace. Some people say it's about peace, joy and love. NO!! It's about MONEY!” Creflo Dollar

"You can't do nothing on $50,000 a month! The Lord told me, this is the end time message. He is coming to look for His church without spot or wrinkle. But one of the biggest wrinkles the church has is being BROKE!"   Leroy Thompson

Well known quote from Kenneth Copeland - "Money, come to me NOW!"

“If you are struggling financially, then you have not got the victory. God didn't create you to be average or poor.” Joel Osteen

But the Word of God is clear and teaches a gospel far different from that being delivered by televangelist and hucksters alike:

“Some were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise...” Hebrews 11

Like P.T.Barnum, these phonies are masters of manipulation and showmanship. Quoting a Bible verse they masterfully manipulate its meaning to conform to their perverted Word of Faith teaching. 

The servant is not greater than his LORD;

If they persecuted Me…….

Scripture is very clear:

“..all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”  2 Timothy 3:12

It is carnal man whose worldly ways have led to misunderstandings, and to cloudy, unclear and inconclusive expectations of the Christian life.

Abraham was told to leave his country, not knowing where he was going. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were persecuted because they refused to worship the image of the king. Hosea was told by God to marry a prostitute and have children. Paul was beaten, stoned, imprisoned and finally killed. Of the twelve apostles, all were martyred for their faith in and devotion to the LORD Jesus.

Glenn Penner writes:

“I find it interesting that the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12 that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Paul did not see the suffering he endured as exceptional, but rather typical for anyone who wants to live a godly life. So I’m forced to ask myself, is there a reason why we have it so easy?
 
Will persecution make us better Christians? Perhaps. It seems however that the witness of scripture and the testimony of today’s persecuted Church is better reflected in the phrase…

Better Christians tend to produce persecution.” 　

　

　

Struggling to answer the ‘why’ questions about the church of the 21^st century I wondered:

Why does it appear there is no hunger for the things of God? Why is it difficult to distinguish between the world and the church? What is filling the hearts and minds of the church today? Is the church today hearing the Word of God or the words of man?

Undoubtedly, many shepherds are weak in their presentation of the Word of God, and the sheep weaker still, but God has commanded each one, shepherd and sheep alike to study to show themselves approved of God.

Finger pointing must stop, personal accountability must begin.

The following authors’ books appear on the May, 2013 best seller list, “compiled and distributed by the Evangelical Christian Publishing Assn.”

Sarah Young, claiming to have received revelation from Jesus through dialogue journaling (something she learned from the two “listeners” who wrote God Calling.) Her books are written as if Jesus were speaking messages directly to the reader. There were 7 books by Ms. Young on the best seller list.!!.

Francis Chan also had several books on the best seller list. Mr. Chan’ speaking of Love Wins by Rob Bell says:

“There was a lot that was good in that book. There are some good principles in there. Some of the things that he dislikes about the evangelical church today are things I have a real problem with as well. I told Rob that some of the stuff that he writes needs to be heard, and the people who need to hear it won't hear it because of the tone and some of the other things that he writes.”

After inviting former Roman Catholic Mike Gendron, www.proclaimingthegospel.org to speak at his church, Francis Chan disregarded the truth of scripture, refused to allow the scheduled Q&A that was to follow Mike’ talk, and admonished Mike from the pulpit as Mike stood beside him in disbelief. For Mike’ biblical stand against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, he was ridiculed and berated as Chan told the audience to disregard his message and apologized to any catholics who might have been offended.

There were ‘christian/evangelical’ authors like Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts, with her panentheistic worldview and author Gary Chapman whose book, The 5 Love Languages basically teaches conditional love - “ I’ll scratch your back, you scratch mine.” His book appeals to personal felt-needs, feelings, desires, must-haves, lusts of deceit, fueling self-centered idolatry, not a servant’s heart. There were books by William P. Young’ The Shack and Cross Roads and Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind. There were books about heaven and books from the pit of hell. These best sellers are in demand by secular as well as Christian readers.

As long as the church hungers for recreation not righteousness, sensuality not spirituality and hype instead of holiness, seeking to be entertained, following the doctrines of demons rather than holy scripture, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, not recognizing that such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual and demonic the church will continue to slide further and further away from the truth found only in The Word of God and ever closer to deception and acceptance of tolerant theology and ecumenicalism.

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed…”
2 Peter 2

[many thanks to those who read these books and posted their reviews online]

As children of the King, we have so much for which to be thankful.

Daily sinning, falling short of the glory of God, we only need repent and ask for our Heavenly Father' forgiveness. Knowing His mercies are new every morning and that great is His faithfulness - we are forgiven.

Although deserving of hell - we have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lamb of God. Our sins truly have been removed as far as the east is from the west. Our LORD promises to remember them no longer.

Seek to serve, seek to praise but most of all seek to share this precious gift with others.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."

Watch the sun as it closes in on the horizion at sunset - its brilliant colors of purples, pinks, reds and blue and remember that our Abba Father is also Creator God.

"By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth." Psalm 33

As the stars begin to dot the sky on a clear night look up and remember that just as our Abba Father knows not only our name but the number of hairs on our head, He also knows every star by its name.

Standing at the ocean' shore, watching the waves ebb and flow - we are amazed by their power and their strength.

"Should you not fear me?" declares the LORD. Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it." Jeremiah 5

View the majestic breathtaking beauty of God' creation as you visit Mt Everest, the Swiss Alps, the Grand Tetons or Glacier National Park.

Since - "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19

Perhaps we His children should consider doing likewise.

　
Pride prevents us from doing things we know we should.

Forgiving others even if they don’t ask for our forgiveness. Never holding a grudge or allowing “I told you so” to escape our lips. Remaining silent when we know we are right. Saying “I’m sorry” quickly. As children of God, our desire is to follow Him and be obedient to all He has commanded us to do, but someone comes along and steps on our last nerve and our resolve all too quickly evaporates.

Pride easily sees the fault in others while overlooking the faults in ourselves. Pride allows us to speed without regard for legal limits, to push ahead of others when we are in a hurry, to judge others harshly, excusing ourselves for the same offense, to ‘bow our back’ when corrected, or….

We think more highly of ourselves than we ought, forgetting that
pride is a sin unto our God, and an abomination to our LORD.

To be more like Jesus, we must study to show ourselves approved unto God. Following the example of our LORD we must walk in the footsteps of our Master and our King.

David Wilkerson wrote:

“Pride is diminished as we strive to be His servants. Paul wrote that to say we are a son is correct, but he who loves his Father must also choose to be the clay in the Masters hand.

A servant has no will of his own; his master's word is his will. The cross represents the death of all our own plans, ideas, desires, hopes, pride, vanity, dreams, all anger and bitterness, unforgiveness, resentment - and the death of our will.”

As children of God we must be willing to lay down our lives, to take up our cross, and be determined to finish the race set before us; with joy, gratitude and praise.

"Ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." James 1:6-7

"The world is full of Christians who will not hold on to God's Word. They think it is an innocent thing to sit at the table in the house of God and murmur and complain, as if God doesn't hear. God does hear our murmurings! They are accusations that He does not care, insinuations that He has let us down.

God has warned me not to give voice to nagging doubts and fears—not to my wife, not to friends, not to loved ones, not to colleagues. God says to take those doubts to the cross and say, "Jesus, heal my unbelief. Take it out."

Israel spent forty years in turmoil—backbiting, complaining, full of bitterness and jealousy. What a miserable existence they led while claiming to be the children of God, claiming to be holy. But that was their testimony, not God's.

You must come to a place where you trust Him. If you learn it now, the next time a crisis comes you will sing and shout with praises to your Deliverer! Oh, the victory will be there but more importantly, you will have dealt a deathblow to all doubt, fear and unbelief.

Where do you start? By looking right into the mirror of God's Word. Consider your words and actions over the last thirty days: Have you been murmuring? Complaining? You may answer, "Yes, but I haven't been murmuring at God!" Oh yes, you have! No matter where or to whom you complain, it is all directed at God.

Every place I turn in my Bible, I see, "Trust Me and I'll see you through. Just commit your ways to Me." What does that require? Simply this: Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. You ask, "But what if nothing happens?" That response reveals doubt and fear.

Beloved, turn to God today and say, "Lord, I've done everything I know how to do in my situation. I know there's nothing I can do to fix the problem anyway. I'm going to trust You and wait for Your victory.”

Let God make you a testimony to the world, a witness of His faithfulness. Love Him with all your heart right now. Give Him all your problems, all your faith and all your trust!"

David Wilkerson Today
A Ministry of World Challenge

Pride prevents us from doing things we know we should.

Forgiving another person even if they don’t ask for forgiveness. Never holding a grudge or allowing “I told you so” to escape our lips. Remaining silent when we know we are right. Saying “I’m sorry” quickly. Our desire is to follow Him, but someone comes along and steps on our last nerve and off we go.

Pride easily sees the fault in others while overlooking the faults in ourselves. Pride allows us to speed without regard for speed limits, to push ahead of others when we are in a hurry, to ‘bow our back’ when corrected, to….

Pride is a sin unto our God, an abomination to the LORD.

“Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though they join forces, none will go unpunished.” Proverbs 16:5

David Wilkerson wrote:

“Pride is diminished as we strive to be His servants. Paul wrote that to say we are a son is correct, but he who loves his Father must also choose to be the clay in the Masters hand.

A servant has no will of his own; his master's word is his will. The cross represents the death of all our own plans, ideas, desires, hopes, pride, vanity, dreams, all anger and bitterness, unforgiveness, resentment - and the death of our will.”

As children of God we must be “will’ing to lay down our lives, ‘will’ing to take up our cross and with determination finish the race, ‘willingly, joyfully following Him.
“... All of you be submissive to one another., and be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.…” 1 Peter 5:5-6

All too frequently we are faced with the loss of someone we care about; family, friend, neighbor, acquaintance. They have touched our hearts and lives through their love, a kind word, their laugh, a smile, a prayer.

The passing last week of a “godly one” brought this scripture to mind:

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones.” Psalm 116:15

As I thought about this verse, I remembered and I understood:

I remembered how excited my parents were when we came home for two weeks during the summer. My husband and I along with our children lived across the country and saw our families only once a year. I remembered how my mom would clean, cook, and bake while my dad mowed, pruned and trimmed, oiling the ice cream freezer and cleaning the grill in anticipation of outdoor barbeque's and ice cream cranking on those summer days so long ago. As our children grew older and headed off to college, I remembered how excited we were the closer time came for spring break or summer vacation.

Our sons, our daughter were coming home.

In anticipation of their homecoming, I remembered baking, cooking and cleaning while my husband pruned, trimmed and mowed. I remembered the laughter and excitement as the house filled with noisy chatter. I remembered the gloriously happy reunion; everyone talking at once, catching up on all that had happened since we had been apart.

I remembered, and I understood...

that so it is with our Heavenly Father and those among our family and friends who have gone on before us. Those who eagerly await our homecoming.

“But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” 
1 Corinthians 15:54-55

"Let us lay hold of God's truth with iron grip, and never let it go. Up with your banners, soldiers of the cross! This is not the time to be frightened by the cries against conscientious convictions which are nowadays nicknamed sectarianism, intolerant and bigotry. Believe in your hearts what you profess to believe; proclaim openly and zealously what you know to be the truth.
Is there enough of Christ about my life to make me like a light in the midst of the darkness, or is it very likely that if I were to live in a house the inhabitants would never see any difference between me and the ungodly?

May your life and mine convince gainsayers that there is a power in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and make them confess that they not having it are losing a great blessing. Let others believe as they may, or deny as they will, for you the truth as it is in Jesus is the one thing that has won your heart and made you a soldier of the cross."   Charles H. Spurgeon