Life Lesson - Beware the Big, Bad Wolf

Have you ever had to learn a lesson the hard way? You know, your dad tells you that guy’s bad news but you think he’s perfect until you find out that he’s not exactly single.  Or your mom tries to tell you that girl may not be the smartest choice for a friend but you think she’s your BFF until she spills all your deepest-darkest secrets to the girls at school.  Or when God warns us to beware of wolves who disguise themselves as safe, cute little sheep.  Luckily this little trusting lamb has learned a few things from her Great Shepard, Jesus, so the cute disguise may have distracted me for a bit but I was not trapped by the big scary wolf.  

 Matthew 7:15-20 (MSG)

Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers ARE is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.

You see for the last couple weeks, I have felt a little down. Disappointed by friends. Had my feelings hurt. Had too high of expectations.  I know, whine, whine, whine….

So I use writing as my therapy. My way to approach and enter God’s throne room.  When I write, I feel closer to God.  But I am human and weak, so every once in awhile my prideful flesh rears its ugly head and I crave human feedback.  My blog statistics indicate that I have people viewing my blog from countries that I cannot even pronounce.   But I have no clue if they searched and found my blog by mistake. I don’t know if people read it, hate it, love it or think I am completely crazy.  Why I crave finding out the answers to these questions is beyond me especially after what happened today… There is a good reason why people say “silence is golden”.

Last night I got a “friend request” on my Reborn2Write Facebook page.  It was from a ministry leader that I did not recognize. So being the cautious individual that I am, I did a little research today before just accepting the request. He appeared legit.  He appeared to be the leader of a large church and ministry organization, according to my Google search.  I even went a bit further to check out his professed beliefs. Yep, claims to believe in Jesus, Bible, Salvation, etc.  So I took a chance and accepted his friend request.  I was pretty excited because I thought that he may have read my blog and liked it.  I’ll admit the peacock feathers of my ego may have preened a bit. 

But you guys know me.  Do things ever go easy for me?  Nope.  Here is the message this great sheep in wolves clothing sent me on Facebook:

“The lord spoke to me as I was going through your profile..He said i should let you know that He has heard your prayers and This year He will open the windows of blessings and shower it upon you and your family...But said you did not sow your seed of faith for the year..so get a seed of 150 dollars to sow ..I will direct you where and how to sow it and your doors of divine prosperity will be opened...”

OK?  At first, when I read “He has heard your prayers” I was so ecstatic because that is what my soul craves, to hear from God. Then as I read further, my heart began to break. I got angry, disgusted and discouraged so much that I started to cry and my hands began to shake.  How could someone who claims to be a follower of Christ want to charge me $150 dollars for “divine prosperity”.  God does not work that way! And if I was this wolf, I would go back and read what the scripture says will happen to false prophets: “chopped down and burned”.

I could have ignored his message and “unfriended him” silently but this sheep decided she needed to stand up for my ONE TRUE FRIEND, JESUS. How dare this wolf take Jesus’ FREE gift of grace, mercy and love and attempt to gain monetary payment for it.

So with hands shaking and tears running down my face, I sent my response:

Dear __________: I was very encouraged and really blessed when I read that the Lord told you that He heard my prayers because I was feeling a little discouraged. But I don't believe the gospel is intended for "name it and claim it" prosperity and that, honestly, was what I was fearful of before accepting your "friend request". I believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not promise us prosperity here on this earth but actually the opposite. Following Jesus will cost believers everything so I am not praying for riches. What I desire of the Lord is more of His Holy Spirit which is free for the asking. I want to be used to spread His love for the lost. My true reward and riches will be in Heaven as a Crown of Righteousness. That is all I long for. Now, you can imagine how discouraged I am by your message. I don't believe God will bless me for giving $150 dollars. I believe that as Christians we must tithe to our church out of obedience and love for the Lord and God will direct me personally how it is to be sowed. So thank you anyways. God Bless.

I write this post partially for therapy but most importantly to warn my fellow sheep to be on alert for wolves in our midst.  They won’t look scary and dangerous.  They will look sleek and attractive and they will have a great sales pitch and they will prey on the hopeless, lonely, elderly, and weak.  The Bible says that in the end times, false prophets and people claiming to be Christ are going to prowl around leading people astray:

 Matthew 24:24-25 (MSG)“If anyone tries to flag you down, calling out, ‘Here’s the Messiah!’ or points, ‘There he is!’ don’t fall for it. Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and dazzling performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. But I’ve given you fair warning.

Jesus Christ is coming back, hallelujah, but He has given us a warning in the Bible so we will know how to identify Him and we will not be misled by phonies.

Matthew 24:30-31(NLT) And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man [Jesus] is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man [Jesus] coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

So my fellow sheep, until you see Jesus descending from Heaven in the clouds and you hear a mighty trumpet being blown by His angles, tell all those other fake wolves to take a flying leap. Can I hear an AMEN SISTER!

You see, JESUS is the only one worthy of bestowing blessings, forgiveness, healing, mercy, and grace to us.  He is the only one worthy of hearing our prayers because HE is the only one that paid the price.  Answered prayer is FREE for the asking.  Do not let any wolf attempt to charge you money for it.  God’s blessings are FREE for us because God loved us so much that He sent his only Son Jesus to die on the cross and to PAY the price for our sins.  Jesus paid our price so that we would not have to.

Jesus said:

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.  Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! John 14:13-14(NLT)

And if Jesus said it, I believe it and it is good enough for me!

One last thought that is on my heart, and this is probably more for me than for you, but we must be diligent in learning God’s word.  Find a good bible teaching church with a Pastor who loves the Lord and is filled with the Holy Spirit. Most of us are blessed to have a multitude of bibles at our disposal, so we must read them, listen, download scriptures, whatever works so we will learn to recognize Jesus’ voice. The Bible is our weapon and safeguard against the lies of the Wolf.

 

John 10:25-27 (MSG) Jesus answered, “I told you, but you don’t believe. Everything I have done has been authorized by my Father, actions that speak louder than words. You don’t believe because you’re not my sheep. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind.”

And just in case you are wondering….That wolf was the first person I have ever “unfriended” on Facebook.  May the Lord give me the wisdom and discernment to identify the wolves before I “Friend” them in the futureJ

With much love for my fellow sheep,

Yolanda