TODAY’S DEVOTION (Thursday 8th October 2020)
“After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.
Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. Luke 10:1-5 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 280TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
The omnipotent man. What a word to ponder. I bless the LORD for making sure none of our services, during the lockdown period have gone incomplete.
That reminds me! Sometimes back, someone asked me on the social media platform to enlighten her on what really make a service complete. You know there is this money spinning Philosophy in Church today that says “a service is not complete without taking an offering.”
Even men of God one think should know better sale this lie to their audience. When good men are made to say bad things, the bad things they say will sound good in the ears of listeners who know them as good men. That is how lies are accepted as truth by victims.
She sincerely asked me if a service was not complete without asking people for offerings, since we end services, especially during THE 50 DAYS WINGS OF THE SPIRIT, without asking people for money. Maybe she felt, “Are people not being disconnected from blessings by what I was doing?”
Well, that was “an honest heart” looking for “honest answers” so I did not beat about the bush at all. I told her the Bible truth.
My answer was simple; what makes a service complete is the presence of the glory of God in that service not giving of offerings after the service. Like I have always maintained everywhere, any Church that emphasis too much on giving instead of redemptive truths is a shop and not a Church.
Most pastors, prophets, apostles, prophetesses and men and women in God’s garment are simply shop keepers not preachers. They sale the word to you and you pay in form of offerings and sacrificial giving. The truth remains, either we give or not, a service is incomplete if we gather and God did not gather with us.
JESUS INDEED SAID, “FOR WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TOGETHER IN MY NAME, I AM THERE IN THE MIDST OF THEM.” (MATTHEW 18:20 NKJV)
But this scripture is not so in many gatherings. What gathers with people who are said to have gathered at the name of the LORD, most times, are devils and all kinds of unclean spirits. That is why their pastors, prophets, apostles and prophetesses talk more of the devils than the God they claim to have gathered to!
The motive for gathering is usually what determines the presence that gathers along with a people that gathers for fellowship. Not really what they profess with their mouths. Sadly speaking, out of every 10 preachers today, 8 of them or even more are driven by the love, crave, or need for money.
As we can see in our devotional text today, Jesus made sure His disciples never carried “money bags” into ministry when He sent them out; that was to prevent the “money virus” from infecting their hearts thereby soiling the execution of the great commission.
Last year, I preached a message titled; “THE GREAT OMISSION IN OUR EXECUTION OF THE GREAT COMMISSION” on Citizen Television. One of the major things we have omitted in our execution of the great commission today lies in the realm of “motives for ministry.”
Amazingly most present day preachers don’t even know what “the Great Commission” is that is why their Churches and what they call prophetic or deliverance ministries are co-ordinate like shops or commercial centers where the word, Oil, water, salt, sticks, or perfumes along with prayer are sold out, and the people (victims) pay through what I call “The Sowing Seeds Money Scooping System” (TSSMSS).
No one can accurately execute the great commission carrying “money bags” into ministry. Money will become the motive for gatherings and it will be clear to all who are not zombified that money is the master there, not God! You will begin to see all kinds of evil in that Church or ministry because the love of money is the root of all evil.
From sorcery to divination, to outright stealing and robbing. All that will be done with the Bible in one hand and a microphone on the other. Wherever the root of all evil is, the fruit will not be absent. You will just be seeing all kinds of evil when it comes to money taking (or offering time).
TIME FOR GIVING WILL BE FULL OF COERCING AND MANIPULATION.
That is when this false prophetic anointing will come upon the preacher. He will be able to tell the amount ‘the LORD’ wants you to give but will not be able to tell any other accurate thing concerning you.
You see, when preachers carry money bags into ministry, no service will be considered complete without money taken in form of one kind of offerings or the other, or one kind of sacrificial giving or the other.
What is a money bag in ministry?
There is no space to exhaustively tell you what the phrase means in a devotional. But a major highlight in our devotional text this morning quoted Jesus’ commission to (first His disciples and now to) every preacher saying;
“Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.”
A money bag in the days of the Bible was like a purse for keeping money. That alone tells us that Jesus never intended that ministry be driven by a money making spirit. Today a money bag is a “heart” that is full of all kinds of money making tricks and gimmicks in ministry. Sometimes it will involve the use of sorcery in place of prophecy and divination in place of revelation to collect money from church members.
Where sorcery is involved with other tricks, you will see the preacher performing what is called prophetic similitude; using either water, Oil, salt, sand, sticks, brooms, or any other thing to pray for the ‘victims’ after collecting their monies. That is to further seal their minds so they may think they are dealing with GOD.
As one called into prophetic and apostolic ministry, I want to make it clear to you that I am not against prophetic similitude. I have used them to TEACH THE WORD OF GOD. But I am against “mind stealing systems” called prophetic similitude.
But where divination alone is involved, the preacher may accurately tell you how much you are worth, maybe call your name, telephone or even account number. Then give you some accurate stories of things that may have happened in your life or family, and bring you to the place of total zombification.
Then move on to say what ‘the lord’ wants you to give, and then activate you with false prophetic hopes to make sure you respond. Where none of these is used, they will just use secular marketing strategies to collect the money. And that happens mostly in the main stream Churches!
WHAT AM I SAYING THIS MORNING?
God is not against giving to His work but He is against falsehood and wickedness.
He is against the use of the systems of this world, sorcery and divination by impostors to transfer the wealth of His people to themselves. That is why you see most preachers are “very rich” and those who sacrificed to make them rich “very poor.”
We all know that no one sacrifices towards the life and ministry of “a true man of God” with the “right motive and functional financial activity” and become worst of it. It’s impossible! The Bible is very clear on that. That is why you must be careful who we call “man of God” these days and why we give!
When we preachers, carry money bags into ministry, even when we gather in the name of the LORD, the LORD will never be there. Other lords and gods will be present.
Like I said earlier, it is the motive that determines the presence or absence of the LORD in our meetings. If He is the agenda, His glory will be so strong that we will not want to leave. But if money is the agenda, at best an anointing will be there for the sake of the naïve and innocent, but His glory will never be present. People will be made to give and give and give and will remain the same or even become worst.
As we bring this to a close, let me show you the presence people experience whenever they gather in a Church or ministry of a preacher with the “money-bag heart.” This may shock you; the “throne of Satan” is what they experience.
Sometimes it will manifest with all kinds of lying wonders. Other times it will just be silent in manifestation (Sadly, most of these preachers with a money bag heart do not know this). We see all that in the book of Revelation but we cannot go into it now.
Friend, if there is any time to examine the true motive of a people before responding to their invitation it is now. If there is any time to examine the motive of preachers before joining their Churches, it is now!
I pray that God use these words to improve your “walk” and “talk” with Him in Jesus precious name. AMEN!
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY;
“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, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.
Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:3-11 NKJV