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.
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!
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏