FAITH WORDS: February 2015

Saturday, February 28, 2015

DECEPTION

Be Not Deceived

And He said: "Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.' Therefore do not go after them. Luke 21:8

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3

The bible tells us that deception by Satan has been with us since the beginning of time when he deceived Eve in the garden. It also tells us But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13. It also tells us in Titus 3:3-6 We ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another until the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, and according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. So we see that it’s in the nature of man to be deceived and disobedient and to deceive! Hence the word of God commands and tells us:

Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. James 1:16

Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Revelation 19:20

The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20:10

The Word of God is the final authority on anything! And when we are deceived by lack of knowledge of the Word and not being in constant communication with the Holy Spirit who is our Guide, Helper, and Spirit of truth we can end up in serious trouble and even be destroyed! To avoid being destroyed we must stay in the Word of God and pray in the Spirit to have wisdom, and discernment on all matters. God’s word is true:

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist. Isaiah 11:1-5

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:2-8

Yes, the Scriptures tell us we can have the same Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD resting upon us just like it rested on Jesus and others (Exodus 31:3, 35:31, Numbers 11:17-26, Deuteronomy 24:9). Yes the Scriptures tell us we have the mind of Christ! Yes the Scriptures tell us we can have as much wisdom as we need from God to discern and deal with anything! And the Scriptures tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He further says, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). It is enough that we have gone seeking man’s help for a solution for our problems. We can go to the Lord with all our problems and cast all our burdens onto the Lord for He will not only turn our sorrows into joy but give us victory. And we have the word of a God who doesn’t lie that surely He will deliver us:

I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-4

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." Psalm 50:15

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. Psalm 91:1-4

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."Psalm 91:15

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say, "His mercy endures forever." Let the house of Aaron now say, "His mercy endures forever." Let those who fear the LORD now say, "His mercy endures forever." I called on the LORD in distress; The LORD answered me and set me in a broad place. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The LORD is for me among those who help me; Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me Psalm 118:1-7

Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? 'Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 'Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?' "Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: 'I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: 'Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 'Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. 'And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. 'But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age. 'Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die, both of them. 'Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.1 Samuel 2:27-35

God, who kills and makes alive, promotes and demotes, honors and dishonors men, makes rich and makes poor, has no love for thieves, liars or hypocrites especially in the house of God! Our loyalty in life must be first of all to God, and we must seek first His kingdom--even when things seem to be going wrong. God never forgets. He never forgets those in the heat of the battle, when others give up, those who are faithful and loyal to God no matter what. And He never forgets those who betrayed Him by doing what He has not told them to do!

EXTRACT FROM In The Time Of Trouble

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ROCK STAR PASTORS

Are Christians following super star leaders who may be heretical? (Lightstock)

The church has seen the rise of "celebrity cult status" pastors who act like spiritual superstars.

In this article I define superstars as those who act as little gods who believe they are above everybody else.

They walk around with an entourage and body guards and are inaccessible to family, friends, high level staff and peers, and are an unaccountable island to themselves.

Furthermore, no matter how much these leaders violate biblical ethics, they still maintain their leadership position because most of their followers are blinded by their devotion; Many of these superstars have started in the ministry for the right reason but because of undealt-with emotional dysfunction related to their youth—they carry these dysfunctions over into their ministry and church family.

There are some social and psychological reasons for this aberrant behavior—both from the vantage point of the leader and their followers.

The following are some of these symptoms and reasons:

1. Many Christians need a male figure to emulate

Many believers come from dysfunctional family backgrounds and need a male figure hero to emulate as a father figure. Some folks view their spiritual leader as a surrogate father, hence they will be protective of said leader to the point in which their emotional connection and loyalty clouds biblical truth.

2. Many Christians have no identity of their own and live vicariously through their leader

Those without a healthy self identity gravitate towards a strong, confident leader with a compelling vision to the point in which their own individuality is subsumed or fragmented. Thus, this creates a vacuum of being and essence which makes them vulnerable to a charismatic leader. In other words, this is how false prophet Jim Jones was able to lead 900 well-educated followers into committing corporate suicide in Guyana in the 1970s.

3. Many believers have a strong sense of failure and live through the success of their leader

Many people live a boring life without purpose and feel that they have more meaning when vicariously live their life through a person they deem successful.

4. Many followers lack their own intimate knowledge of Christ and are ignorant of Scripture

Unfortunately, most Christians are Bible illiterate and will believe anything their leader teaches them—even if it is heretical. Hence, their leader can live a life or lead their church in a way not congruent with Scripture and they wouldn't even know it!

5. Many stay connected to the leader primarily because of their social community

After being in a church for several years, folks usually assimilate into that particular faith community (which is a great thing in most cases) and build their social network around their church life and ministry. If they leave their church, they have to cut off many of these social ties. Thus, they will continue in a church even if the leader is living an ungodly life full of pride, abuse and manipulation.

6. Many are connected to a superstar leader because it gives them religious status.

There are many people I have met who attend a certain church only because they have a lot of members—even if they are not being discipled or ministered to in a personal way. They get fed from other sources but remain because in their church because the celebrity status of their leader gives them status with other Christians in their city.

7. Many have low self-esteem and don't recognize when they are being abused or manipulated

Those with low self-esteem will allow others to abuse, disrespect and even manipulate them because they don't have enough self-dignity to disapprove or even recognize it. Many of these folks were abused or neglected at home and live with a sense of guilt and feel an unconscious need to have authority figures who act the same way as their parents did (to satiate their feelings of guilt in some cases).

In closing, in rare instances where I perceive believers start attending our local congregation who come from these dysfunctional churches, I am not as quick (as usual) to discourage their attendance but am willing to open up our congregation to them as a place for them to receive personal ministry and (hopefully) flourish in their faith.

Joseph Mattera is overseeing bishop of Resurrection Church and Christ Covenant Coalition, in Brooklyn, New York, and author of numerous books, including Ruling in the Gates: Preparing the Church to Transform Cities. Follow him on Facebook or visit him online at josephmattera.org.

Friday, February 27, 2015

TOUCH NOT

Touch Not My Anointed Is Abused By Wolves In Sheep's Clothing

There are false preachers those who are perverting the gospel for gain and with false doctrines, and those who know Gods Word but choose to live in rebellion claim they are anointed ones” and pretend to have such “deep revelation knowledge”. When you rebuke the false teachings & sinful behavior of a false preacher they defend themselves saying Touch not mine anointed. These false anointed preachers get irritated by Christians who test their fruit as Christ commanded in Matthew 7:15-20.

False teachers have come into the churches with their books, music, literature, movies, psychology, and seminars, and have turned the Father's house into a den of thieves. It is time that men of God stand up and expose their errors .The Bible says that we are to test their spirits,have NO FELLOWSHIP with them, REBUKE them, WITHDRAW from them, AVOID them, NOT to RECEIVE them into our house and We are to look out for those who preach another gospel.

We also need to be aware that there are many false teachers who have been completely deceived by the Devil, who are not aware of their own error and therefore are very sincere in their belief that they are saying and doing the right thing. Paul tells Timothy, ‘Evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.’ (2 Timothy 3:13) They will deny being false teachers and rigorously defend themselves as being true to God.

These are the marks of a false preacher or Teacher which the Bible gives warnings:

Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 9)

For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:39-45)

Luke 6:26, 2 Peter 2:2 says, And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

1 Timothy 6:3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing.

In Colossians 2:8 Paul warned, Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

1 John 2:26-27 says, These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

1 John 4:1-6 says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

2 John 7 says, For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist

1 John. 2:4:He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

2 John 9 states, Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine , do not receive him into your house nor greet him;

If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, "Let us go after other gods"- which you have not known - "and let us serve them," you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God . . . (Deuteronomy 13:1-5)

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, "How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?" - when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)

An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely , and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end? (Jeremiah 5:30-31)

http://scriptureknowledgebase.blogspot.com/2010/03/to-many-false-preachers-favorite-verse.html

THE BEST DEFENSE

KNOW WHAT TO FIGHT FOR ...

I press on...to win the prize... - Philippians 3:14 NIV

The poorest person in the world isn’t the one without money, but the one without a God–given vision. Vision requires faith—and focus.

Unless you understand what’s worth fighting for, you risk:

(1) Fighting the wrong battles.
(2) Fighting at the wrong time.
(3) Fighting when you shouldn’t be involved.
(4) Fighting because you need to win in order to feel good about yourself.
(5) Fighting even though the battle is already lost but your pride won’t let you accept it.

The most important thing is: stay focused on the goal God has given you. If Satan can’t defeat you outright, he’ll try to distract you with unimportant things, or disqualify you by getting you to make bad decisions. Either way, he wins and you lose. Just because something is good doesn’t mean it’s right for you. When your plate is full doing what God’s already given you to do, learn to say ‘no’ to everything else. Once you can do that, you free yourself from other people’s expectations and the need for their approval. Bear in mind also that ‘no’ doesn’t mean ‘never’; often it means ‘not now’. When you’re spread too thinly, you become mediocre at everything and effective at nothing. When you try to fight on every front, you wear yourself out and fail to win where it counts. Fighting a battle without gaining ground is like pouring buckets of water on a burning shack—unless somebody’s life is in danger it’s probably not worth it. So conserve your energy for when you have something really important at stake.

RECEIVE AS YOU HEAR THE GOOD NEWS

Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…

If you have been to motivational seminars, you would probably have heard the speakers say, “If you follow these five steps, then you will come to a place of financial increase.” They would probably have told you also that if you don’t succeed, it is because you did not follow the steps correctly or diligently.

Thank God that the gospel or good news does not work like that! The minute you hear or read the good news, and you believe and receive it, His Word goes forth to sozo (the Greek word for “save”) you, making you whole in every way, “for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”.

What is the good news? It is that God loves us so much that He gave us His Son to take our beating so that we can have His blessings without having to work for them. Right now, as you are reading this devotional, listening to a preacher or watching a sermon DVD, as you hear God’s Word, His power is released into your situation, working things out for you and turning your situation around for your good.

In Acts 14:8–10, we see Paul preaching the good news in Lystra. A man who was crippled from birth was listening to Paul. Paul, seeing that he had faith to be healed, said, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And the man leaped and walked! He heard the good news, believed it and was healed.

At a leadership conference in Oslo, Norway, where I was speaking, a pastor there shared how a well-respected businessman in his church was healed while listening to one of my sermon CDs. This man was deaf in one ear. And when he was listening to my teaching on the CD, his deaf ear popped open without anyone laying hands on him or praying for him! He was just listening to the good news when his ear opened. Now, that is what I call the power of God unto his salvation, sozo-ing him, making his hearing whole!

My friend, these miracles happen not because we follow some kind of formula faithfully, but because we hear the good news preached and simply believe it!

A CONSISTENT LIFE

He knelt down on his knees . . . and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. —Daniel 6:10

While studying the book of Daniel, I was struck by how easily he could have avoided being thrown into the den of lions. Daniel’s jealous rivals in the government of Babylon laid a trap based on his consistent practice of daily prayer to God (Dan. 6:1-9). Daniel was fully aware of their plot and could have decided to pray privately for a month until things settled down. But that was not the kind of person he was.
“When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days” (v.10). Daniel did not panic, nor bargain with God. Instead, he continued “just as he had done before” (v.10 niv). He was not intimidated by the pressure of persecution.

The lesson for me was the power of Daniel’s life of consistent devotion to the Lord. His strength came from God, whom Daniel wanted to please every day. When a crisis came, Daniel didn’t need to change his daily practice to meet it. He simply stayed committed to his God.

Father, I want to stand for You when persecution comes as Daniel did. Give me that same bold commitment to pray and not to be ashamed of knowing You. Help me to live my faith publicly.

God empowers us to stand for Him as we bow to pray.

THE BEST DEFENSE

Matthew 5:39, "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Which would you rather have - God defending you, or you defending yourself? That's the choice that Jesus is offering us here. "Turning the other cheek" is not a prescription for abuse but rather the way to get the Lord involved in your defense.

Many people feel that these instructions of Jesus guarantee that others will take advantage of us. That would be true if there was no God. But when we follow these commands of Jesus, the Lord is on our side. He said in Rom. 12:19, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord."

When we fight back, we are drawing on our own strength. But when we turn the other cheek, we are invoking God as our defense. Once we understand this, it becomes obvious that these instructions are for our own good.

James 1:20, says that the wrath of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God. Regardless of how appropriate our anger may seem, and regardless of how we think our wrath could make a person or situation change, we will never achieve God's best that way.

When we defend ourselves, we stop God from defending us. It has to be one way or the other. It cannot be both ways. When we turn the other cheek to our enemies, we are loosing the power of God on our behalf. Let God defend you today.

GOD IS AT WORK WITHIN YOU (2)

'...God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.' Philippians 2:13 NLT

The Bible says: ‘…It is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energising and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure…satisfaction and delight.’ (Philippians 2:13AMP) We have a tendency to allow 101 different things to crowd God out of our lives, so He creates within us the desire to do His will. When you desire to read your Bible, it’s God urging you to do it. When you desire to pray, it’s God moving you to do it. When you desire to give, it’s God motivating you to do it. Jesus said: ‘…I am the Vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing…If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!’ (John 15:5–7 NLT) Note the word ‘dwell’; it means to live in and take up residence. So as you live in close relationship with Christ, the desires conceived within you are desires He can fulfil. When you sense that God has put certain desires in your heart, it’s important to pray and ask for those things. If you’re not sure whether or not they’re from Him, pray: ‘Lord, I have desires in my heart that may be from you. If they are, please fulfill them, but if not I can be happy without them, because I am happy with You. Lord, I trust you.’ Always measure your desires by God’s Word so you continue abiding in the Vine. Have you reached that place in your relationship with God yet?

Be constant in Prayer:

The power of prayer should not be underestimated (James 5:16- 18) . Pray without ceasing. Prayer is communicating with God. Even though we can't see Him with our eyes, He is with us all the time. We need to turn our spiritual eyes towards Him in order to feel His divine presence. He wants us to talk with Him just like we would talk with our friends. He wants us to ask for His opinion. He wants us to tell Him when we are happy. He wants us to tell Him when we are sad.

When we read the verses in the book of Exodus chapter 17, verses from 8 to 13, we can see that the people of Israel fought against the Amalekites. Moses went to the top of the hill with the staff of God and held up his both hands towards heaven. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. Then Aaron and Hur took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. One on the one side and the other on the other side held up his hands. His hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And with this, the people of Israel defeated Amalekites.

What was the reason for the victory of Israelites? It was by the continuous prayer of Moses. In Romans 12.12, the Bible says "Be constant in prayer." Pray to God without ceasing, He will mould your life and help you to lead a victorious life.