2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” A few years ago I was online doing research for my book about the paranormal when I came across something that just fascinated me. People were being cured of pains and sickness by a charismatic preacher saying a simple prayer. I wanted what we had so I ran after these false teachers and God allowed it. It’s shameful to think how easily I was again led astray by parlor tricks, especially considering I had already felt and experienced the amazing power of God in my life when I received the Holy Spirit. Why was I led astray? Even though I was writing a book for God about my experiences with demons because God had told me to, I was not fully obeying Him. I had been living to please myself and sin was still controlling me. Because I had spent more time having fun hunting ‘ghosts’ than reading God’s Word, He allowed me to be blinded from the truth and be misled by man. If there is one reoccurring theme you will learn from my blogs it’s this: What a fool I have been in my life and how great God’s mercy is!
God began preparing me to write this blog days ago. Earlier this week He had me watch a few videos of this same charismatic preacher that I had followed blindly, but this time I was watching full of the Holy Spirit. As I watched, I could not believe my eyes and ears. This preacher did not know the truth and I am confident that He does not know the God I know.
The world we live in today is filled with an enormous amount of information. With the availability of the internet, information has never been easier to share with over 3.2 billion users worldwide. Man’s thirst for knowledge has probably never been greater or more satisfied and society’s pressure for continued education has increased exponentially. As man continues to search for earthly wisdom, he becomes blind to true wisdom, the fear of God (Proverbs 9:10).
What drives society’s desire for continued wisdom and education? It usually revolves around careers, financial stability, and success. The world teaches that without college, we are doomed to a mediocre life of poverty and shame. Yet God shows special favor to the poor. Proverbs 21:13 “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.” If the world puts emphasis on education and wisdom you can be sure God is opposed. 1 Corinthians 3:19 “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; Man’s wisdom and wealth is worthless (Proverbs 11:4). Whatever we can learn or achieve is only possible to the extent God allows it. To search for wisdom is to try to become like God while denying Him.
Even among believers there seems to be a great falling away from a position of fear and devotion to Christ. We often replace alone time with God with together time with believers. We replace Bible reading with Christian counseling. We run to man instead of running to God. We want someone to talk back to us when we talk so we find an accountability partner, a counselor, a pastor, or spirit coach. All the while God has His arms out just waiting for us to humbly seek HIm. God’s word says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Do we really believe the God of the Bible? Do we believe He will speak back to us when we talk to Him? Do we believe He is all we need? Is it not true we run to man for answers to our questions when our relationship with God is not what it should be?
God began preparing me to write this blog days ago. Earlier this week He had me watch a few videos of this same charismatic preacher that I had followed blindly, but this time I was watching full of the Holy Spirit. As I watched, I could not believe my eyes and ears. This preacher did not know the truth and I am confident that He does not know the God I know.
The world we live in today is filled with an enormous amount of information. With the availability of the internet, information has never been easier to share with over 3.2 billion users worldwide. Man’s thirst for knowledge has probably never been greater or more satisfied and society’s pressure for continued education has increased exponentially. As man continues to search for earthly wisdom, he becomes blind to true wisdom, the fear of God (Proverbs 9:10).
What drives society’s desire for continued wisdom and education? It usually revolves around careers, financial stability, and success. The world teaches that without college, we are doomed to a mediocre life of poverty and shame. Yet God shows special favor to the poor. Proverbs 21:13 “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.” If the world puts emphasis on education and wisdom you can be sure God is opposed. 1 Corinthians 3:19 “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; Man’s wisdom and wealth is worthless (Proverbs 11:4). Whatever we can learn or achieve is only possible to the extent God allows it. To search for wisdom is to try to become like God while denying Him.
Even among believers there seems to be a great falling away from a position of fear and devotion to Christ. We often replace alone time with God with together time with believers. We replace Bible reading with Christian counseling. We run to man instead of running to God. We want someone to talk back to us when we talk so we find an accountability partner, a counselor, a pastor, or spirit coach. All the while God has His arms out just waiting for us to humbly seek HIm. God’s word says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Do we really believe the God of the Bible? Do we believe He will speak back to us when we talk to Him? Do we believe He is all we need? Is it not true we run to man for answers to our questions when our relationship with God is not what it should be?
How can we put our hope in man when man is merely dust? If we chase after dust we can become blinded to the truth and wind up getting totally lost.
God jealously longs for you to love Him. Listening to a teacher is fine as long as you stay at Christ’s feet. If we stray from Christ to follow man’s wisdom, we may find ourselves blinded by the God we say we love. We must put our faith and trust in Him always. Isaiah 31:1 “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord.”
The world will always come up with new and interesting ideas and theories. Man’s wisdom places great emphasis on counseling, support groups, self-help books, and self-esteem. God says that He is enough. If we seek anyone or anything outside of God to strengthen us and give us confidence, we are in danger of God’s wrath. Of course, that is not to say we can’t be taught or encouraged by fellow Christians. But if our heart is not right before God and we chase after people to take His place, He may allow us to go down a dark and dangerous path like He did me. If we are living in the Spirit, we will be full of confidence and joy and we won’t need anyone to teach us (1 John 2:27, 2 Corinthians 3:4-5, 1 Peter 1:8). God must be everything to us. Jeremiah 17:5-8 “This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
The world will always come up with new and interesting ideas and theories. Man’s wisdom places great emphasis on counseling, support groups, self-help books, and self-esteem. God says that He is enough. If we seek anyone or anything outside of God to strengthen us and give us confidence, we are in danger of God’s wrath. Of course, that is not to say we can’t be taught or encouraged by fellow Christians. But if our heart is not right before God and we chase after people to take His place, He may allow us to go down a dark and dangerous path like He did me. If we are living in the Spirit, we will be full of confidence and joy and we won’t need anyone to teach us (1 John 2:27, 2 Corinthians 3:4-5, 1 Peter 1:8). God must be everything to us. Jeremiah 17:5-8 “This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
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