TODAY’S DEVOTION (SATURDAY 2ND April 2022)
“Then he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on a gable of the temple, and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here;
For it is written, He will give His angels charge over you to guard and watch over you closely and carefully; And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
And Jesus replied to him, [The Scripture] says, you shall not tempt (try, test exceedingly) the Lord your God.” LUKE 4:9-12 AMPC
WELCOME TO THE 92ND DAY OF OUR YEAR OF AMAZING GRACE
It also doubles as the second day of a 30-day Cry of the Spirit on Doctrine.
The LORD God has been our keeper and refuge. He has been our sustainer and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. That is why no troubles have consumed us.
As our very present help in time of trouble, we may go through the waters, He will be with us, and through the rivers, He will make sure they do not overflow us. And when we walk through the fire, we shall not be burnt neither shall the flame kindle upon us because He remains our very present help in trouble times.
Yes, yesterday we saw the Cry of the Spirit in 1 Timothy chapter 4, explaining to us the prophetic truth of the very times we find ourselves; a time where people will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. That Cry also explains why there will be a falling away in our times also, as prophesied by the same Spirit in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
It clearly means that it is the absorbing of the doctrines that will give birth to many departing from the faith and others falling away from the faith all together.
Recently, I saw a video of a preacher who had been a member and pastor of one of the churches that preaches a mixture of false doctrines, heresies, doctrines of demons and the gospel, saying God asked him to go start worshiping Ifa, a Yoruba deity (a tribe in the western part of Nigeria). If that is true, then it is a major falling away. I pray the LORD restore him.
Taking in wrong doctrines to be God’s word for a long time, has shaped the spirits of many to be hearing from demons and calling it God. Even Satan knows that the true God will never ask anyone to serve him. But here is a preacher telling us that God asked him to go serve Satan.
That is how many people in Church today hear from false spirits and call it the voice of God.
There are deceiving spirits everywhere today using the linguistic of God to say one thing or the other to people because many have camped on doctrines of devils for too long. The one I sent away from us recently, sat under a teacher of the doctrines of devils for a long time and caught the lying Spirit she refused to let go!
IF THERE IS ANY AREA, WE NEED A VERY PRESENT HELP FROM GOD TODAY, IT IS IN THE AREA OF DOCTRINE.
Let me reiterate again; if you dwell with doctrines of demons for too long, taking them to be the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will be hearing from demons and taking it to be God. We have heard those who said, God said they should marry second wives. Am not saying go into a new marriage; which should also be proven, I mean bring in a second wife.
There are those who have said, God said to them that they should start sleeping with their so-called suitors before marriage because they are already married in the spirit. There are those who have said God said they should use salt in prayer like Elisha used, and others have said God said they should not work but sit and pray. All kinds of misleading they call leadings from the LORD.
Come to think of it, How can the God who said we are the salt of the earth ask you to pray with salt? How can the God who command chastity in marriage ask you to sleep together before marriage? How can the God who said He who did not work, should not eat, ask you to sit at home and pray and not work? How will you pay your bills?
These misleading voices from demons are happening today because many have sat under doctrines of demons for too long; so much ridiculous leadings of the ‘Spirit’ because of the doctrines of demons absorbed over time, mostly by the hand of deliverance ministers.
That is why if your pastor is not preaching sound doctrines, if he is preaching first fruits, first born, reckless taking of holy communion, altar breaking, and etc. just know that most of what you will be hearing in the spirit realm as the voice of God will be coming from either demons or the strongholds that those false doctrines have formed in your soul.
Doctrines has the power to shape our hearing systems. So, if the doctrines you are hearing are false, heretic or out-rightly demonic, your prophetic hearing will be questionable.
PERSONALLY, WHEN SOMEONE BRING A WORD FROM GOD TO ME, I CHECK SEVERAL THINGS.
I check the doctrine they have been hearing. If it is right, then I check the spirit they carry if it is right. I also check the state of their hearts, especially as of the time of hearing the word. Another thing I check is the last conversation they heard before ‘hearing from God.’ Then I bring the Bible to place what they have said side by side the doctrine of Christ.
Most times, I have found 95 percent of the people who are good at bringing a “thus says the LORD” to be liars. Most of what they say are lies from their hearts or from the pit of hell. The Bible says,
“They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ But the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed.
Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You say, ‘The LORD says,’ but I have not spoken.”
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord GOD”. EZEKIEL 13:6-8 NKJV
In these days of false prophetic hearing, be careful what people breath into your ears as a word from God. In these days of offenses, be careful what you pick from people as from God.
In these days of abundant doctrines of devils, be careful of what you pick from a vision-seeing-word-from-God Christian or preacher. If you we are not careful of these vision-seeing and word-from-God bringing believers, we will be made worthless before our GOD.
You find many of them very poor and very bitter about life, but very prophetic as well. If you are really hearing from GOD, why are you this poor and bitter? The Bible says “the LORD is my shepherd I shall not want” or “I shall not lack.” Why is the LORD your shepherd but you live by begging people for help and prophesying to them to give you this money and that money?
YOU ARE HAVING A FALSE SPIRIT. YOU ARE PRACTICING DIVINATION!
Obviously, the lord that is shepherding you is Baal, not the LORD JESUS who lift the poor from the dung hill and set them among princes.
False doctrines are generators of false spirits. Bitter hearts are generators of divination and sorcery. Doctrines of devils are generators of prophecies, dreams, visions and revelations that sometimes are true but are from the pit of hell.
This the-LORD-has-put-a-burden-in-my-heart-for-you and word-from-God believers, will pick offense then come with a thus says the LORD of something bad that is about to happen, only to put you in a panic box so that you will begin to ask them for the solution to the problem and they begin to lead you astray, and make you spiritually worthless before the true GOD. That is why the Bible says,
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:16 NKJV
Sadly, many do not listen to the Bible, but listen to the prophets.
You must understand that when you follow visions, prophecies, revelations or dreams from your heart or the heart of so-called prophetic people, they will make you worthless. That is why you see people in vision seeing churches worthless financially, spiritually, martially, socially, and etc.
You see marriages destroyed and hopes dashed. You see eternal relevance eroded completely, and fear for God replaced with fear for the prophet or prophetess.
Now, it is not just prophecies that make people worthless, when we listen to false doctrines or doctrines of demons for too long, they also make us worthless.
Another translation of the same scripture says;
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the [false] prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility) and fill you with vain hopes; they speak a vision of their own minds and not from the mouth of the Lord.” Jeremiah 16:23 AMPC
FALSE DOCTRINES, HERESIES AND DOCTRINES OF DEMONS IMPART VANITY, EMPTINESS, FALSITY AND FUTILITY INTO PEOPLE.
They come from the hearts of those speaking them not from God. You must avoid them by all righteous means else you trade your soul for ‘blessings’ and ‘breakthroughs’ from hell.
And do not forget, after Satan has ‘blessed’ or given you a ‘breakthrough,’ he will come to eat you. He eats those he ministers to after a season of ministering to them. So avoid his miracles, signs and wonders like a plague. Be a failure in life instead of a success created by Satan. Your life will be more peaceful than those he may have helped to succeed.
Anyone who is not standing on the doctrine of Christ will always speak visions of their own heart to you, or revelations and prophecies from the stronghold of the false, heretic, or demonic doctrines that they have absorbed over time.
Sadly, 90 percent of what is taught in so many Churches today, especially mega Churches, are either false doctrines, heresies or doctrines of demons. The church leaders teach and make people absorbed them, because the people are gullible, and because of their desire to be mega outside God, and keep being mega without making people temples for God in the Spirit.
By definition, a false doctrine is a teaching or an instruction that is out rightly false, placed side by side the doctrine of Christ. Like the use of oil, water in prayer, salt and some forms of giving.
A heresy is a teaching or an instruction that is mixed with truths and lies; in other words, a half-truth. Teachings like breaking or raising of altars of sacrifice are heresies.
Certain teachings on tithing are heresies; like saying if you do not tithe you will not make heaven. Other heretic teachings are redemption of first born, giving of first fruits, serving holy communion recklessly, evil foundations, wedding sowing doctrines, and related teachings that are not rooted in scriptures but based on verses quoted out of context.
False teachings and heresies can come from either people’s hearts or from demons. But doctrines of demons are different; they are out rightly teachings and instructions from demons or the pit of hell.
THAT IS WHY DOCTRINES OF DEMONS ARE MORE DANGEROUS. THEY ARE USUALLY CONFIRMED BY SIGNS, MIRACLES AND LYING WONDERS.
But at the long run they will shut down one’s life completely, like making them terribly sick, manipulating them to forbid marriage, shutting them away from a prosperous and healthy life, and cutting them off from the good people GOD may have placed around them.
Yes, there is the consecration of one’s marital life to God for the sake of the gospel, but forbidding people to marry, making them poor, and cutting them off from the good people GOD has given them, is an expression of the doctrine of demons.
Other expressions of the doctrines of demons are, raising a rod for people to pray towards it, using handkerchiefs or pieces of clothes they call mantles for supernatural effects siting Paul; sprinkling water on people, having sex with a prophet or prophetess as a deliverance process; lying on the opposite sex or same sex and praying, siting Elisha who laid on the dead boy in 2 Kings; doing acrobatics and gymnastics during what they call deliverance, like the prophet in Nigeria does; throwing spirits on people and making them confess what they know nothing about, to counterfeit true confession of sins, and wickedness by the demon possess, and a lot more.
One other thing about the doctrine of demons is, it counterfeits God. You cannot counterfeit GOD without quoting from His written word. So, holders of the doctrine quote the scriptures in dispensing it.
They tell the people “look at what am doing, it is in the Bible” and since the People have not been taught the difference between using the Bible and teaching the Bible, they succumb to the deceit. The doctrine of devils is a doctrine that is dispensed by counterfeiting God and quoting what is written.
Which brings us to our devotional text. The Bible says;
“Then he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on a gable of the temple, and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here;
For it is written, He will give His angels charge over you to guard and watch over you closely and carefully; And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
And Jesus replied to him, [The Scripture] says, you shall not tempt (try, test exceedingly) the Lord your God.” LUKE 4:9-12 AMPC
EACH TIME I READ THROUGH THIS I SEE HOW VULNERABLE THOSE WHO HAVE NO LOVE FOR TRUTH ARE.
Jesus had three temptations after his 40 day fast. This was the third and most subtle.
It was the most subtle because Satan launched it standing on or quoting from the word. That is how doctrines of demons are launched. They are carved from hell but wrapped in what is written in the Bible, so that we will see the scriptures they are wrapped in and be motivated to obey them, thinking we are obeying the LORD.
The enemy knows that in obeying them, we will think we are following the scriptures, not knowing we are following a demon behind the scripture. That is why anything you have obeyed for a long time and have not found God through it, should be cross checked again and again, or thrown away completely.
I believe enough has been shared for the day. We will pick up from here tomorrow.
We must all understand that false doctrines, heresies and doctrines of demons are peddled by false teachers, premature preachers, Old but expired preachers, impostors, end time prophets of Baal, and outright agents of the devil among the clergy and their members. That is why everything the Bible teaches about them must be followed.
You must turn away from anyone whose ministry’s emphasis is on God meeting your earthly needs instead of the formation of Christ in you, and the coming of Him in bodily form in you.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY.
For many impostors (seducers, deceivers, and false leaders) have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge (confess, admit) the coming of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) in bodily form. Such a one is the impostor (the seducer, the deceiver, the false leader, the antagonist of Christ) and the antichrist.
Look to yourselves (take care) that you may not lose (throw away or destroy) all that we and you have labored for, but that you may [persevere until you] win and receive back a perfect reward [in full]”. 2 John 1:7-8 AMPC