One of the themes that runs throughout Scriptures is kings and priests. We are kings and priests, just as Jesus is our King of Kings and our High Priest. All the Old Testament kings and priests were a foreshadow of our ministry in these. In fact, when we say Jesus is the King of Kings, it’s not referring to the kings of the tribes we have today. It’s referring to us, who will rule with Him in the age to come. Thus, the fullness of our kingship and priesthood is yet to be fully revealed (in the age to come).

The first king and priest is, of course, Adam. His priestly ministry was to fill the earth (make the rest of the earth like Heaven on Earth, Eden). His kingship mandate was to have dominion over the earth. To have dominion is to rule. However, there are certain things Adam took lightly that landed us where we are today. First off, your priesthood powers your kingship. Adam lost his dominion because he corrupted his priesthood. Let’s see how the enemy corrupts either of these.

Corruption

When I use the word corruption, I’m not referring to the political meaning we all know. 2 Peter 1:4 says there is corruption in the world and the magnet that pulls us into this corruption is called lust. Lust is the perverse form of love, for love is the magnet that draws us into more of God. That lust, when explored extensively, is lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life. There is no sin in this world that does not start from this point. That is why James says “each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion)” (James 1:14 AMP).

After this post, you will now realise why we are not seeing a full-blown revival in many areas. It is the one strategy of the devil that confuses people into thinking he is on the same level as God in terms of power. It is this strategy that stops the flow of the Holy Spirit, not because He is not all-Powerful, but because His eyes cannot see evil, as Habakkuk says. If we can fully consecrate ourselves as a people, there is nothing that can stand against us.

The Devil is a Lawyer

Nope. I didn’t make a mistake in the heading. The devil is a liar. Yes! He is also a lawyer. Back in the days when no evil was found in him, he was the cherub that covers. Have you seen the Ark of the Covenant? There are two cherubs and God sits on the Mercy Seat in between the two cherubs. Well, one of them was Lucifer. What cherubs do is that they protect the Glory of God against (you guessed it) corruption. They make sure that God’s eyes do not see evil. The cherubims protect His Glory with jealousy as the seraphims protect His Holiness. These are the only two kinds of angels that minister to God face to face (they even cover their own face as they minister). They are the highest ranking angels in the hierarchy of angels.

This is why when Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden, God put a cherubim to guard the garden of Eden and the tree of Life. The corruptible and the incorruptible should not mix. If you remember the story of Korah, I can boldly tell you a cherubim was involved. The main goal of the devil was for Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then go and eat of the tree of Life. That would have meant eternal and total separation from God. So God stepped in right on time and sent them out, putting a cherubim between the corrupted and the incorruptible. If you are reading this and you want to see the Glory of God in ways that have never been seen, remember this; DON’T JOKE WITH GOD!

When iniquity was found in Lucifer and he was demoted, he not only corrupted his gifts and talents; he corrupted his role. His new role is what gives him the name Satan. Satan is not a name per se. It’s a title which means Accuser. So now, when you corrupt God’s Glory in any way or form, Satan rushes into the court of Heaven to accuse you before God, the Judge of all. Since God has judged him and He is a just God, God should judge the one He accuses in the same light. This is how he got one-third of the angels to fall with him. He deceives you. You fall. He asks God to judge you. Because he understands how priesthood and kingship works, he is using it legally to his advantage.

The Teaching of Balaam

If you followed very well, you would realise that this was the teaching of Balaam. “I can’t curse them because God has blessed them. However, if you can get them to sin, God Himself will curse them”. It worked. 24,000 Israelites died in one day. So it’s not that God is losing and the devil is winning. We humans are the ones choosing the camp of the devil. Do you get it? Hell was made for the devil and his angels (all those who are corrupted). During the flood, God destroyed all the families that had become mutated. Only Noah’s family had no sexual or blood relations with the fallen sons of God who had slept with the daughters of men. On the Great and Terrible Day of the LORD, the Glory of the Lord shall cover the earth and that Glory shall destroy the corruptible so that only the incorruptible will remain.

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Next week, I will show in Scriptures how God reacts to the corruption of the Priesthood and the Kingship and how the devil uses it as a tool to get as many humans to be destroyed together with him. Once we understand this, it will give us more confidence to anchor ourselves to the horns of the altar where we will be preserved from corruption. This strategy is the deadliest to me, because at the end of the day, it is the wrath of God that destroys you and not even the devil.

The devil is many things but there are a few things that make him idiosyncratic; he is a deceiver. Genesis 3:1 opens up as the first description of the devil and there we have it; he is the most cunning of all creatures. The serpent we enthroned has now become a dragon in the Book of Revelations. Over there, we see his last description in the 20th chapter; he deceives the whole world. Very clever. Very mischievous. Very subtle. Remember we discussed Deception, Delusion, Destruction (3D Strategy) as the summary of all his strategies. Today, let’s talk about some subtle ones.

Pity (the Gibeonites)

We all realise how the devil mastered several strategies so the people of Israel don’t possess the entire land God promised Abraham. In fact, many Christians don’t realise that the people of Israel, to date, never in their history possessed the entire Promised Land. The devil went ahead of them with giants. That was the most obvious threat but they eventually overcame Goliath and his folks through David and his descendants. What they failed was the subtle weapon.

Have you ever been under spiritual attack and not noticed? It will take discernment (because even common sense will fail) for you to realise it’s a spiritual attack because it doesn’t look violent and hectic. It is subtle! “If you are the Son of God, turn this stone to bread” seems so harmless. What could possibly go wrong, right? The Gibeonites in Joshua 9 realised the Israelites will easily defeat them. So they pretended that they were not part of those in the Promised Land…they had come from a far away country. They wore torn clothes, carried worn out wineskins, brought crusty bread and had very old sandals. Pity! Pity! Such a pity!

Just as guilt is the counterfeited version of conviction, pity is the counterfeit version of Mercy. Have mercy on people but pity no man. Don’t fall for that trick. Joshua 9:14 says they examined the food but didn’t consult the Lord. Remember what we said about discernment last week? Physical and mental tests will fail. Spiritual matters cannot be cognitively analyzed. Spiritual matters operate with a different logic. You can’t know what is in a man’s heart by analysing his face. Don’t pity the devil. Don’t give out of pity. Don’t be deceived into feeling bad for doing good. You cannot be more merciful than the Holy Spirit. Let Him be your guide. No human ability can decipher whether it’s the devil behind the pity or God behind the compassion.

Siege (Micah 5:1)

If you want to really understand spiritual warfare, physical warfare can teach you a lot. It has similar principles and articulations. In the art of war, tactics win the game. The very first line I wrote in this series said that wars are not won on the basis of strength but on strategy. If it were mere strength, quantity must win every battle. Every army will pride themselves in their numbers. However, even throughout the Scriptures, most battles were won by the army with the fewer numbers. Numbers are important but strategies are the most important leverage.

If you have fear in your heart, the devil will intimidate you with numbers. He will try to scare you into thinking that you are alone and he has many on his side. But “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world”. Just like Gehazi, when your eyes are opened by Elisha, you will finally realise that those who are for us far outnumber those who are against us. Once you come to that realisation, he then employs the subtle strategies. The earlier strategies were obvious and harsh. Those ones seem cool and are clever. If you have a fewer army (like the devil’s), you can win some battles using a siege.

A siege is a military tactic where forces surround a city, fortress, or stronghold to cut off essential supplies, forcing the defenders to surrender. It often involves prolonged blockades and occasional assaults to weaken the target. The aim is to isolate the target, exhausting their resources until they are compelled to capitulate. This is why, in international wars, they simply target supply lines; electricity, water, ammunition and monetary supply. When the devil lays a siege on a believer, it comes in the form of replacing the person’s time for prayers, Bible Studies, fellowship and gathering with non-sinful activities like watching movies, getting lots of attention from a time-waster and sometimes, even a high-paying job. By the time you are out of oxygen, you have already fallen into an addiction. You will go back to your sinful habits without even noticing.

Pleasure (2 Samuel 11)

If you don’t properly understand how the enemy lays a siege, let’s see how the enemy laid a siege against one of the patriarchs of Israel, David. I’m not going to hype David to you. Even non-believers know him. God said he is a man after his own heart. However, the siege the enemy laid almost destroyed him beyond redemption. The siege first cuts out something that isn’t necessarily a sin. He didn’t go to war during the time of war, the king and warrior that he is. That seems harmless, right? Then he happens to be on the roof at a time when a beautiful woman is bathing. That isn’t necessarily his fault, right? Just like when a nude video somehow came unto your feed and you just watched. A siege in marriage will start with an insignificant fight that blossoms into long-term separation.

A siege is such that by the time a temptation shows its ugly head, you will think you will be strong enough to shake yourself like you used to. Remember Samson. Just like a lion can isolate its predator when chasing them, the enemy thinks that if he can chase you long enough, you will trick yourself to choose a path that makes you more susceptible to temptation. Whenever you find yourself playing around sin; getting close enough to sin but deceiving yourself that you won’t fall into sin, the enemy has laid a siege. Calling for Bathsheba to come and see you is still not a sin but before you realise, your confidence to overcome is now in the flesh because you have quenched the fire of God without even knowing. It’s called slow but sure.

Once sin gets you on a rollercoaster, it will take you further than you want to go. If David could do such a thing to Uzziah, one of his most trusted soldiers who had been with him since Adullam, know that anyone can do the same or worse if you allow the enemy to lock you up at one corner. If the devil tells you subtly that do this sin once or do it for the last time, don’t mind him. Shut him up. It’s a siege. That could be the beginning of being addicted to pornography and masturbation for the next 20 or so years. When sexual immortality shows its ugly head, flee. Stay as far away from sin as possible. Put several barriers between you and sin. Delete those apps altogether. Block that number and delete it. The devil may be very subtle but that dude is very wicked. He will make your life more miserable than you could ever imagine once he cuts your supply lines.

I love you ♥️

Last week, we discussed Tolerance (the widows of Ephesus), Distraction (the Early Church) and Self-Righteousness (Ananias and Sapphira). Welfare issues are very difficult to discuss, especially in a world where it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between real love and all the counterfeited forms of love. Let’s delve in quickly!

Offence (John the Baptist)

John the Baptist was prophesied by the fathers of old to be the one to pave the way for the coming Messiah. My goodness, He really understood the assignment. Many do not realise the stature of Elijah. Elijah is the Paul of the Old Testament, testifying of the Law of Moses. He represented the Prophets on the Mount of Transfiguration, remember? Thus, the sacrifice and priesthood to accommodate such a Spirit is also the heaviest among the Prophets. John the Baptist did not fail with that aspect. Do you understand?

He lived in the wilderness. He ate locust. He became strong in spirit (Luke 1:80) and guess what? He never announced himself. Heaven paved a way for people to travel rather into the wilderness to hear him. He lived up to the assignment. However, his ministry ended the day he baptized Jesus. From that point on, he was just to wait until he dies. He was never to do ministry with Jesus. He was only to baptize the people and prepare them for His coming. In fact, many of his disciples who knew his teaching were waiting for Jesus and instantly became Jesus’ disciples when Jesus showed up.

What he may not have known is that he was supposed to be killed like all the other prophets of Old. John the Baptist did not fail his assignment but there was a totally avoidable stain in his legacy. John was offended in prison because Jesus “neglected” him. He knows he is the Messiah. He got that revelation long ago. “Should we look for another?” is a question from an offended man. Most people leave the place, the grace, the person and/or the position God gives them because of offence. Are you offended at God because He didn’t show up? Are you offended with your spouse because of one or two issues? The welfare of your heart is corrupting. Don’t justify your offence. It is a stain that is heavily blocking the unblocked in the realms of the spirit. Selah!

Burnout (Elijah, Moses)

There are a lot of people who suffered burnout in Scriptures and they all follow a certain pattern. Remember, you can only be stronger in spirit than your enemy. Physically, we are no match. However, we need our physical body to be alive on earth. One of the strategies is to wear you out physically, especially when they realise that they can’t wear you out spiritually. An anointed but exhausted man is highly likely to make mistakes. Most anointed people in the 20th century were extremely worn out in their body by their anointing. Take a look at Kathryn Kuhlmann. It is wisdom for this generation of anointed people to exercise physically for the sake of that. Remember; life will continue regardless if you die right now.

Also, once your stature in Spirit is far above all those around you, you are likely to be worn out. Raise others to your level so you don’t carry the entire load. Eat well. When Elijah told God to kill him because he didn’t want to live anymore, the first thing God gave him was food from ravens. When the younger generation sees you broken down all the time, it will instill fear in them. That’s part of the enemy’s strategy. Do you know how many times God had to convince Joshua to be strong and courageous? He started saying it even before Moses died. Moses had a rod, Joshua had a sword but he was afraid because he didn’t want to go through all that physical and mental exhaustion Moses suffered.

Elijah complained so much that God had to send him to heaven. You don’t want to know the number of people God had to withdraw from the earth because of this reason. As you build your spirit, don’t neglect your body. Make rejuvenation a priority. When virtue leaves you, fill yourself up spiritually and physically. Don’t attempt an extreme fast out of desperation. If you fast for 100 days when you’ve not successfully done 21 before, you will die and be buried. Don’t keep overstretching your body. If you are tired for too long, make time to rest. All the problems you are trying to tackle all at once will still be there if you let it kill you. Life is a journey, not a sprint. If you want to live long, take care of your body.

Celebrity Gospel (Simon)

In these last days, a lot of celebs will give their lives to Christ. Most of them are authentic but not sustainable; as in, they will go back to their worldly lifestyle because of lack of discipleship. What I really want us to know is that famous people giving their lives to Christ does not validate the Gospel. Once we think that celebs coming to Christ is proof of anything, it is the beginning of our deviation. The Gospel is the Gospel, no matter who accepts or rejects it. You should be mindful of the fact that the Western world is coming from a previous generation where everyone professed to be Christians. Most famous people had to project that they are Christian even if they weren’t, including presidential candidates.

When I spoke on discernment, I said that discernment is when your spirit weighs the backing and notices a difference. There’s a reason why John said we should test every spirit. Our physical brain, mental mind, and spiritual conscience already run tests. Some signs are clear to differentiate because evil has a look, taste, feel, smell, and touch. However, when the enemy disguises himself as the angel of light, anyone walking by sight will fall for his deception. All physical and soulish comparisons will fail because he can pass all such perception tests. However, he cannot hide the darkness of his heart. When a famous person is pretending to be a Christian in order to corrupt the altar of a church, we should quickly discern and stop them. The problem with Celebrity Gospel is that we are quick to give these celebs the stage when they are just babes in Christ. The fact that you are famous does not exempt you from going through the process.

Test every spirit, my dear. If a famous person starts saying a lot of “Jesus”, it does not make them a Christian. The devil sends some into the Christian stream, only to pull them back into the world when they return. We were now listening to Kanye West just because of one or two Gospel albums, exposing ourselves to the rest of his demonic collection he himself didn’t disassociate from. Peter said I don’t care that you are a celebrity here, Simon. Simon had been a sorcerer in Samaria for many years and was famous among them. Many of the people thought his powers were from God. In fact, when the trend changed, he changed with the trend. He “believed” and got baptized. We really got to know he hadn’t repented of his ways when he decided to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit.  If a celeb starts offering big money to the church because God “touched” his heart, please discern. They are undeserving of any form of special treatment in the kingdom.

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Offence blocks the welfare. Burnout drains the welfare. Celebrity Gospel corrupts the welfare space. Offence will let you lose a covering God has strategically placed upon you. Burnout can reduce your longevity, not because of any fault of yours but because you became too old to conquer all of the Promised Land. Celebrity Gospel will expose the church body to worldly lifestyles, thinking it’s now okay because the church pulpit even accepted the person. Selah!

Last week, we talked about the 3D (Deception, Delusion, Destruction) Ministry of the Devil. That’s where we got to realise that the devil prefers to employ former believers than people who have never been saved. Why is it so? Let’s delve right in and break down some strategies involved.

The Effectiveness

The thief can block sheep who haven’t found their way into God’s flock yet. We are all aware and fully understand that the devil works hard so that unbelievers don’t get saved. However, when they do get saved, we forget that there is a change of plan now. Sometimes a demon is willing to leave a person for a moment, knowing that they will come back to meet the place swept. Such a person will then be possessed by demons seven times more wicked. “If people have escaped from the corrupting forces of the world through their knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then are again caught and conquered by them, such people are in worse condition at the end than they were at the beginning.” (2 Peter 2:20).

Remember that Lucifer used to be part of God’s flock. Therefore, he prefers those who have been in the flock before so that such a person can exhibit the fullness of the stature of the devil. The devil’s end goal is to duplicate himself in them. He disguises himself as an angel of light and so do his disciples. This clearly means there are certain satanic ranks one cannot attain unless one penetrates the church, gains a certain political position in the church, reads the Bible everyday and acts “righteous” in public. In fact, to qualify as a false teacher, the person should have once been purchased by the blood (2 Peter 2:1).

Imagine working with your favourite employee for years and then the person is grabbed by a bigger corporation without your ability to stop it. So instead of the devil investing in unbelievers, he chooses to steal believers. Why? “For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God’s light; they tasted heaven’s gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit; they knew from experience that God’s word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age. And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

It is a big part of the Two Birds, One Stone Strategy. Many unbelievers don’t want to be Christians, not because of Christ, but because of Christians. In fact, in our world today, the word “Christian” does not carry any weight. The strategy is to create a dilution. There are so many false prophets so people don’t trust the true prophets anymore. In our minds, they are all alike. That’s exactly what the devil wanted to achieve. “Every pastor wants to extort money from members. That’s why I don’t go to church.” “Christians of today are always praying but we don’t see their use”. You and I have heard this time and again. “Even so, many will follow their immoral ways; and because of what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of truth (2 Peter 2:2). The dilution leads to desecration and gradually to the abomination of desolation.

Now that you realise that you (a believer of Jesus Christ, purchased by the blood of Jesus and having tasted the goodness of God) are a good target for the kingdom of darkness. He comes to steal, kill and destroy but he needs you more alive than dead. You also realise why he wanted to steal the body of Moses. At this point, if any false teacher comes to tell you that you cannot lose your salvation, you know it’s a big lie from the pit of hell. Not all of them know they are working for the devil. Some genuinely serve the devil’s course because they have become delusional.

Our Chief High Priest, Jesus Christ, came into the world and the high priest of Israel could not recognise him. Do you know how shocking this is? It’s like saying an ambassador cannot recognise his own president; the very person he is representing to another country. You now also realise why the Bible says we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling. In fact, the Bible commands us to fight the good fight and hold tightly eternal life. “Hold tightly” means you can lose it. What are some strategies that can make one eventually lose grip of eternal life?

Alexander & Hymanueus Strategy

This strategy is not so you check who is false and who is not. It is meant for you to identify the wiles of the devil so you dodge them. Alexander and Hymanueus were very new to the faith. Desiring to be teachers, they began to read the Bible and teach some weird things from it which brought a lot of disputes and controversies. See, most of the new doctrines the devil will introduce will have Bible verses to support it. Paul made us understand that “the law is good if one uses it lawfully”. He also makes us realise that the law does not contradict the Gospel. It rather correlates with it. It exposes the human condition and is “according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God”. What’s the catch?

It’s not enough to desire a position in the church. You must first of all be tested.” These men must first be tested; then if they are found to be blameless and beyond reproach [in their Christian lives], let them serve as deacons (1 Tim 3:10). God does not choose anyone without first testing them. If you skip processes, you will find yourself employed by the devil without even noticing. You can’t tell me your spiritual father is someone you listen to online. Someone who doesn’t know you exist? And you want to work in God’s vineyard? You’ll fall into error, no doubt. Also, any teaching that does not lead to godly edification but to disputes on fables, genealogies or even grammar is simply contrary to sound doctrine (1 Tim 1:4). This strategy gets those who rush to take certain platforms God has not given them yet.

Balaam Strategy

This strategy gets those who love money. Yes, it is wrong to love money. No matter what, never have a release clause. Football fans understand the term. There shouldn’t be an amount that makes you change your convictions. No amount whatsoever should even make you rethink any decision God has asked you to make. The funny thing is, you can say all you want but this strategy has gotten a lot of people. They thought they would say no until they saw the amount before their very eyes. “Just don’t say the word Jesus and we will triple this amount”.

I have already written extensively on the teaching of Balaam, where, because of money, Balaam thought Balak how he can get God Himself to curse the Israelites. “For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows (1 Timothy 6:10). That is why it’s part of the job description of both overseers and deacons that they don’t love money (1 Tim 3:3,8). If you surrender yourself to God’s process, He will test you with both lack and prosperity. There will be times He will open a financial door and then tell you to give all the money to someone else. How is this related to doctrine? Haha! It will affect your doctrine when you fail to pass the tests. You will teach others how to fail God like Balaam taught.

Jannes and Jambres Strategy

This strategy is the apex of the Egyptian world system in terms of doctrine. There is Egypt and then there is Babylon too. This strategy has yet to be fully used by the devil this endtime. It can easily cause the great divide. A lot of Christian don’t know how to identify God and it’s heartbreaking. I pray God has mercy on us and equip us before this strategy is released. These were the magicians who could copy Moses’ miracles in Exodus 7 and 8. This strategy is so people can’t identify which is God and which is the devil. Some people will say it’s all the devil since they turned into snakes. Very few will stay around to see Moses’ snake swallow the other snakes.

God said He will perform miracles that haven’t been seen in Egypt and these people were able to replicate four of them? Wow, Lord save us please 🙏. The devil released this strategy in the 1st century church when the Bible was being put together. In a few years, Christians are going to realise 30+ other Gospel accounts (written by the devil, of course) pretending to be Scripture. Many other false Bibles will be released to make the Scriptures look “man-made”. A lot of replicated Christ will also be released. Not false Christs who came after Christ o. That’s easy. False Christs who came before Christ. They also claim to be born of a virgin, miracle workers, from above and all the attributes that make Christ special. This will shake many. There are 7 things that make Christianity outstanding and all the 7 (including the Blood of Jesus) will be replicated in active opposition to the truth.

The only way to survive Egypt is to come out of it. Close it. Never read those books. Never listen to Jannes and Jambres. Avoid extra-biblical Christianity. Curiosity kills the cat. Hold the mystery of faith with a good conscience as 1 Timothy 3:9 says. Be rooted deep in the Word. Be immovable, unshakable, steadfast. If you don’t have a personal relationship with God, please seek Him now that He can be found. Seek Him, hold Him and never let go. Don’t look back. This “let’s be cool with everyone” Christianity is soon coming to an end. This “I don’t want trouble” Christianity is coming to an end. Something is coming, dear reader. Let us hold tightly to eternal life. Selah!

In the last days, the Spirit clearly says that many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. There are more Christians who are babes. A few are maturing, and only a remnant is matured. After this post, you will realise why – if you honestly know you are a babe – you should hurriedly flee from that stature and climb up higher to mount Zion. If you are maturing, strive unto maturity so you can help the already matured to nurture the babes. Demonic winds like never before is coming. All who are easily blown by any wind of doctrine will be lost at sea.

The 3D Ministry of the Devil

Before I explain any further, you need to understand the devil’s assignment. Jesus summarised perfectly in John 10:10. If you have ever read the Gospels, you would realise the Pharisees were more troublesome than even Roman soldiers. The Pharisees were the Temple people, the very Temple God Himself set up through Moses. They were the teachers of the Law, the very Law God gave through Moses. They could leave Jerusalem and travel all the way to Nazareth to hear Jesus teach and perform miracles (Mark 7:1). They fasted twice every week and paid tithe diligently (Luke 18:12). Yet, they were the most used satanic tool in the ministry of Jesus.

Deception

Jesus called the devil a thief in this context because that is his agenda. He doesn’t want to use unbelievers. No! He wants to use the flock. There you have it; the end time tactic of the enemy is to use the church against the church. Many do not understand what “steal, kill and destroy” mean. The devil doesn’t necessarily need you dead. You are more useful to him alive than dead if you have been in God’s flock. The toughest atheists read the Bible more than the average Christian. They used to be devout Christians. The steal-kill-destroy is what I call Deception, Delusion, Destruction (3D) ministry. How does he steal? Read John 10 well; by pretending to be the Good Shepherd. Christians who can’t recognise God’s voice are in trouble. The voice of the devil sounds like God most times.

Delusion

No sheep that is stolen actually realises that they have been stolen. That is the whole essence of deception. Do you think the Pharisees knew that they were blind? After you have been deceived (and there are many ways he can deceive, including trying to offer you what God has already made available to you), the next tactic is to kill you. To kill your antenna for reading the frequencies of God. For indeed, death is rejecting life. To kill is what I call Delusion in the 3D Ministry. To be delusional is to have your conscience seared with hot iron (1 Timothy 4:2). So you see? The whole idea of the devil is to steal followers of Christ and convert them to fight on his side. However, those fighting on the devil’s side don’t know that they are fighting on his side because they are delusional. They think they are doing the work of God.

Destruction

Jesus said he came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. The equivalent of the abundance for the thief is to “destroy”. The abundance of life is life reproducing life. The counterfeit is to use the destroyed to destroy. The destruction of anyone who chooses the evil path have already been passed in the Justice System of God. 2 Peter 2:3 tells us that explicitly and even goes on to give us examples in the verses that follow. One thing is certain; the enemy will use you to steal others before you all are ultimately destroyed. This happened to Baalam. This happened to Hymanueus and Alexander as written in 1 Timothy 1:20. Jesus prophesied it in John 16:2. It happened to Korah in the days of Moses, who led many to be destroyed together with him in Numbers 16. Saul was a Pharisee walking on this path towards destruction before Jesus encountered him on his way to Damascus.

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The reason I call it the 3D Ministry is because I intended a pun. The biggest delusion is for the devil to keep you focused on this 3D world like there’s nothing beyond it. This is why we discussed “In the Ages to Come” last week. The domain of the devil does not go beyond this age. If all your views are on what you see and hear, you will easily be deceived by the corruption of this world. Once you are deceived and delusional, you are not far from destruction. Next week, I will break it down and discuss some strategies under this ministry, how effective it is and how we overcome it (the Doctrinal Strategies of the Kingdom of Darkness). After all these strategies of the Kingdom of Darkness, we will move extensively to the Kingdom of God.

Still in the series of the Strategies of the Kingdom of Darkness, it is important to know about the ages to come. We have already gone through the Generational Chasm Strategies and there is more to come; Welfare Strategies, Doctrinal Error Strategies, Soul Strategies etc. However, it is important to know the Truth. Once you can identify the original, you can identify all other counterfeits. It’s necessary to not be ignorant of the wiles of the enemy but all cannot be identified in one lifetime. A lot of lies can be derived from one single truth just as there is only one original and numerous counterfeits. Knowing about the ages to come can save you from pursuing something that will land you in a position for certain strategies to easily overtake you.

Is this all there is to life?

After King Solomon made us know that there are seasons and times – a time for everything under heaven – he made us understand that God has placed eternity in our hearts. If at any point in your life you have asked what the essence of life was, it was eternity calling out from your heart. If you are shortsighted, focusing only on this life, your life will be miserable. No doubt. Even if you are the richest, your life will still be miserable. Any life without the purpose of God will self-destruct. It’s a life filled with anxiety, confusion, sorrow, bitterness, malice and lasciviousness. Do you want to live this hard life on your own terms? I’m not talking about asking God to bless your own agenda. I’m talking about dropping everything for His agenda.

We really have to realise that the devil did not have a devil to deceive him. At least, we have a devil and a whole kingdom of darkness to deceive us. Ask yourself; who deceived the devil? He deceived himself. That means that your biggest enemy is self. The origin of evil is not the devil. It is self. Once you live life by yourself, you are in trouble. Everything was designed to rely on God, including you. Don’t let the temporary wealth of the world ensnare you. Life is more than what you want for yourself. Life is more than how you want it to go for you. You don’t own your life. The one who owns you is the one who gets to determine what you should do with your life. Not the purpose of your life but His purpose for your life.

It is not the guy who keeps asking for an extra sheet in the exam hall that necessarily gets the highest score. Don’t be intimidated by that person. He may have totally deviated. The same is true of life. God is the one with the marking scheme. He is the one going to determine who actually made it in life. I can assure you that the one God calls successful is certainly not the one the world calls successful. In fact, what you deem to be a success is not what God calls successful. God looked at a 33-year-old dying naked on a cross and called it successful. God called a weird Pastor’s kid who ate locust and honey and was beheaded after being in prison the greatest among those born of women (Matt 11:11). Haven’t you been shocked by the kind of marks you got for an exam before?

A Better Promise

“All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously, people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” Hebrews 11:13-16 NLT.

The promises of God excite the lover who continually dwells in Him and longs for His Heart. Jesus said He won’t drink wine again until the Wedding Feast. That means He is really looking forward to it. There’s a better promise awaiting us if we endure till the end with our eyes still on Jesus. The world wants to distract us into pursuing money and sex. Self wants to distract us into pursuing a name for ourselves. The devil wants to distract us into pursuing the world and self. In the ages to come, we will rule nations, judge angels, see God face to face, have a glorious body, exhibit the fullness of God’s glory, receive a crown of righteousness and reign with Christ on His Throne.

Christ is our vivid example of how we ought to live in this age. “We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection. His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!” Hebrews 12:2 TPT

Shortsightedness

One of the signs that someone walks with God personally is the person’s death to self. You need to die to the idea of making it in life. This life is short! There are ages to come. Die to self! Die to selfish ambition! Die to plans without God! Die to schemes without His counsel! Die to the pursuit of money and success. If any of it is still alive in you, it can give the enemy a foothold in your life. Let me ask you a question; $1 million dollars and wisdom, what will you choose? If you hesitate or outrightly choose $1 million, it is an insignia that you haven’t yet died.

In Akan language, the semantics of the word “wisdom” is nyansa; “adeɛ a wonnya a, ɛnsa”. Nobody is saying money is not good. However, if God wants to give you something everlasting but you downplay it to be less important than money (a man-made system that only exists in this age), it tells you where your treasure is. Jesus “became poor that we might become rich”. Don’t be shortsighted. The riches of God transcend money. See, the blessings of God transcend seasons and ages. You are asking God to bless you and He has. He gives you grace to achieve, favour to ascend, dominion to overcome and power to subdue but you say you are not blessed just because you haven’t made a lot of money and bought your dream car. Aaaahhh!

2 Timothy 3:1-2 says in the last days, men will be lovers of themselves and lovers of money. If our minds are not renewed in this area, the Esau Strategy can get us. Matthew 13:22 NLT says “The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.” The worries of this life only exist in this age. There are AGES to come. There are better promises of God – and God cannot lie – that will come to pass. Once you let it sink in, you will be anxious for nothing.

Godliness with Contentment

Contentment is the cure to the insatiable thirst in man’s fallen nature. Contentment will keep you from all forms of corruption through lusts; sexual sins, greed, gluttony, selfish ambitions and the like. Don’t be deceived. Contentment is not about settling for less. It is about resting in God’s providence. Contentment without godliness is corruption and godliness with discontentment is wrong. Both have avenues for the enemy to penetrate. One will make you choose a mediocre life in the name of God. The other will make you seek and add more to God. Godliness with Contentment will keep us from corruption, making us realise that God is 100% trustworthy and will eventually reward those who diligently seek Him.

Our Contentment is for what is unseen. It is for the hidden glory prepared for us before the foundations of the world (1 Cor 2:7). “Godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come”. Godliness is the source of our Contentment. This is why we both labour and suffer (not for some temporary earthly gain) but because we trust in the living God to reveal the fullness of His Glory in us in the age to come. If you have this understanding, it will keep you from pursuing God for temporary things that will pass away.

Declare with me: “I pursue Godliness with Contentment. I lay no treasure in this world. I want only Jesus. I don’t want all these things plus Jesus. I want only Jesus. In Christ Jesus, all these things shall be added unto me. However, whether it is added unto me or not, I want only Jesus. Jesus is enough for me.”

Kingdom Mindset

There are times, seasons, eras, dispensations and ages. So far, the age we are in – beginning from the time of Adam – has not even come to an end. Now that you understand that there are ages to come, have you realised that the devil is a joke? His lease ends with this present age. All he offers is just a temporary loan. Once this age ends, his rulership ends with it. The Bible calls him the “god of this age” (2 Cor 4:4).

However, all this does not mean do nothing on earth. If you are now not pursuing your own agenda (arranging your life according to your shortsighted analysis which the devil can easily disrupt), live for God’s agenda. If God didn’t need you on earth, there would have been a ministry of killers; people who will kill you once you give your life to Christ so you go to Heaven. God needs you here. This is our Kingdom mandate;

Matthew 28:18-20 NLT
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Just as David lived in the dispensation of the Law but enjoyed the fruits of the New Covenant, we can also carry a reality of the age to come into this present reality. Just as every Old Testament patriarch revealed a reality of Christ in the next dispensation, our lives in this age ought to be a prelude to what is to come. We are all unique and God is so vast that our individual lives have been designed to reveal a prelude of an aspect of Him that will be fully known and made manifest in the age to come. Selah!