Have We Embraced The Angel of Light?

This post has been on my spirit since the beginning of this month. And I really don't want us going into 2014 continually embracing the angel of light (via his leaders, music - portraying to be of God).

I echo Paul when he says this in 2 Corinthians 11:12-15:  But what I do, I will continue to do, [for I am determined to maintain this independence] in order to cut off the claim of those who would like [to find an occasion and incentive] to claim that in their boasted [mission] they work on the same terms that we do. For such men are false apostles [spurious, counterfeits], deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles (special messengers) of Christ (the Messiah). And it is no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light; So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as ministers of righteousness. [But] their end will correspond with their deeds.

I believe with all of my heart that we're entering a time where we are heaping teachers based on what our itching ears want to hear. Paul's final letter before he was killed was prophetic. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says this:  For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold, And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.

This is actually where I want to camp out. Now, I don't know if this post is going to be prophetic or not, but at the same time, I believe if we want to spend eternity with the Lord & Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, then we really need to get our heads out of the sand, quickly. I also believe that many people will read this and be in constant denial (or think I'm blowing smoke because it doesn't sound good to their ears). But he that has an ear, let him hear.

The Lord was showing me something last night and inside, I cried. We are living in a time where people are doing one of the following items (or maybe all of them), while they may or may not know that they could be embracing the angel of light.

1. When people put a leader on a pedestal (over the Bible), there's a strong chance the angel of light will be embraced.

2. When we members of a congregation anoint pastor that we know or may not know are living foul to positions of apostles/prophets, we have blindly embraced the angel of light.

3. When we call people enemies cause they expose the darkness in leaders, artist, etc. not for self-glory, but is totally concerned about the purity of the body and with a desire to see the Bible be preached fully, then we have blindly embraced the angel of light.

4. When people give themselves titles knowing full well that their attitudes stink to the high heaven (and even anoint themselves as prophets/prophetess) or knowing they're going ahead of God and elevating themselves to a position of authority, they are really in disobedience and yes, they've embraced the angel of light's principles (exalting self)

5. When people stick their heads in the sand when they know they're defending a leader that's living foul (and yes, I'm referring to homosexual lifestyle), they've not only embraced the angel of light, but they are in a state of denial!

6. When people try to yoke their current pastor who's not living foul to one who's living foul cause their ear is being itched, then they've trying to corrupt what's holy with unholy (light should not dwell with darkness).

7. When people speak against homosexuality but will defend to death their favorite pastor/artist living that way, then that's really just hypocrisy!

 

One of my sister friends shared with me last night after I asked her thoughts on this. This is what she said: What I hate which is pastor worship, meaning they worship the creature more than the creator and they defend the pastor in his/her bad behaviors as well! Also, prophet and apostle worship too! We are to follow these leaders as they follow Christ but when they stop following Christ, we are to stop following them. We are in the last days and like you said, we need discernment, like eyesight, we need 20/20 discernment!!! It seems like those of us that are really serving The Lord get passed up for titles and looked over but think about it the world (yes, in the churches) loveth their own. You can't tell the difference between the world and the church nowadays without the discernment! I've yet to find a real church that really cares about what God cares about, people! Most are after what they can get out of people, not about who they can give to people, Jesus Christ!!! We as believers must keep seeking God with our whole heart and keep trusting God to see us through and to direct out path! God will see us through and He will put special people to walk with us in this journey!!! Keep praying!!! 

I agree with her, and pastor worship make a situation ripe for embracing the angel of light (because the angel of light is all about self-exaltation). Self-exaltation, was Satan's downfall. If you were to merge Ezekiel 28 with Paul's teachings (from 2 Corinthians 11/2 Timothy 4), you'll find that Satan, a gifted musician, has transformed himself into an angel of light. Now watch this, because he's portraying himself as an angel of light (and we are warned by Paul not to be deceived), many Christians have blindly embraced the angel of light (translation: just because they say the music is of God - and it itches our ears, makes us feel good - it MUST be from God). Now how religious does that sound? Satan thrives on us blindly embracing the angel of light. Wake up people! Now, me typing this does put me on the devil's hit list, but I don't care.

The time for us wanting to hear smooth things needs to come to an end. Before someone says to me, you're not being loving with this blog. The truth is: I care about your eternity as much as God does (He cares a lot more than I do), but all I care about is the Truth of His Word and it bring revelation and restoration to a dying world. As we continually be deceived, we are rendering ourselves ineffective to the world. As a result, we remain part of the 99 found sheep and we forget the lost soul.

Blessings

The Mayne Man

We've Fallen & Can't Get Up

During my shower this morning, I was praying (and repenting) of some things from my past. God showed me some dark areas that needed to be exposed to be set free from (mostly abandonment – when the truth of the matter is, I didn’t look to Him during my dark period in life that started in May 2011 till now), but surprisingly, He also revealed to me the hearts of some people.

1. Many are aware that some of the people we’re following are false, but we still continue to do so (or we’ll close our ears and eyes so we don’t admit that we’re wrong). Translation: we worship the creature over the Creator.
2. Many are allowing the economy, reputation and fame to cloud our judgment to where we follow after those who are false for that small piece of fame. Question: what profits a man to gain the world at the cost of your soul?
3. Many are not even honest with God but more importantly, themselves as to why they deal with people. In other words, their world revolves around them and are just determined to get what they want or they will assist in crucifying you (Judas Iscariot was a prime example of this).
4. Many just don’t believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Plain & Simple! If we still continue to follow after those who are offended of preaching salvation, then we don’t really believe the true message of Jesus. At the same token, there will be many who will turn away when they hear that Jesus is the only way to heaven.
5. Many of us are just downright selfish. We want things on our terms when we want it (even if it’s not the will of God for our lives). Adding on: we’ll do whatever we can to protect our position or status in the world (and even in the church world).

In the natural, it appears that we’ve fallen and can’t get up. But the truth is, we can get up, we just have to be willing to swallow and repent of our pride!

I’ll share a little of my struggle these past two years. I saw a lot of things happen to me in my personal life, and it just got to the point where I went into total depression. I knew God was there, but it felt like He was silent to me. I can count on one hand the people, who prayed for me but the majority were telling me to “get over it,” or “I don’t want to hear your prayer request, but you need to hear mine.” And asking for people to pray for others who are lost was like twisting their arm, but they would come to me asking to “pray for my sick family member.” The two positive things that came out of this depression for two years are the following:

1. I’m still alive
2. My novels DDBS & Pieces of Me emerged

We can get up, we just need to surrender our pride and ask God to expose those dark areas of our lives. As you can see, this was dropped on my spirit within the past 45 minutes and felt pressed to type this up. Blessings!

Vain Talkers & Deceivers (In Church)

Titus 1:10-11 says this, For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

As I think about this passage in today’s church world, these verses may need to be eliminated in many churches. To say that certain ministers, motivational speakers (who are proclaiming to be preachers of the gospel) mouths must be stop would be considered blasphemy, and you’d probably run the risk of being an outcast of your respective church. In fact, many would defend these ministers by saying “thou shalt not judge” and get scholarly in their voice as they say “touch not my anointed.”

Sadly, we’ll rebuke those who are actually preaching the truth, but will cheer on those who are itching our ears. Now let’s go back to verse 11, Paul was adamant when he said that these false teachers are teaching things they ought not for filthy lucre’s sake. Lucre is another term for money, and to think they’re not receiving it honestly considering these ministers are teaching things that are not of God. People today will listen to leaders (claiming they are of Christ) who are intermingling other religions with Christian views, will pass it off as Christian, and people will blindly accept it.

Let’s slide over to 1 Timothy 6:5. Paul was saying that false teachers were teaching that “gain is godliness” and that we are to withdraw ourselves. Sadly, the minute we hear from the pulpit, “money come unto me now” or “increase” we jump from our pews and cheer. Still trying to understand how wealth is a sign of God’s favor (if that’s the case, then I guess Hugh Hefner would be favored by God due to his wealth). Of course that’s ludicrous, Hugh Hefner is rich by the world’s standard, but truly poor in spirit (keep him in prayer and for many in this world who are poor in spirit). What profits a man to gain the world but lose his soul?

Can we get our priorities back in order?

What The Future Holds (Part 2)

I’m reading off & on a book called Unfair Advantage (released at the end of March 2011), and it brought up some very good points:

This is what’s happening in 2011:

1. Kids still go to school, learning nothing about money
2. Kids still come out of school looking for a job, anxious to get married, buy a home, and raise a family
3. The national debt is out of control, and foreclosures take homes from millions of homeowners
4. Our wealth is being robbed via higher taxes to pay for this debt, debt that goes to the rich
5. Kids who find jobs are only too happy to have taxes taken from their paychecks before they get paid
6. Kids are only too happy to have money deducted from their paychecks with the illusion they’re investing for their retirement
7. Legislation is now being passed making it legal to take a larger percentage of your wealth when you die.

He continues with these facts: This is why we’ve seen a second tea party in America.

This is what’s happened in 2010:

1. A new tea party movement protested America’s taxation of Americans.
2. The British government announced that 500,000 government workers will lose their jobs. Those on welfare will see their benefits cut.
3. There were riots in the streets of Paris as the French protested against increasing the retirement age from 60-62
4. Japan, a nation with a great education system that produces hard working people who save a large percentage of their money, is the biggest debtor nation of the world with their debt at 200% of GDP (gross domestic product)
5. China & Russia, once our mortal enemies, traded not in US dollars, but in their respective currencies (the yuan and the ruble).

This is no different than a banker refusing to lend money to a person with a poor credit score. What does this all mean? It means the party’s over and the sleigh ride has stopped. It’s also horrible news if you’re someone who wants the government to take care of you (if you’re living that way, you are the problem). If you’re expecting the government to solve your problems, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM! The problem is that the governments of the world are broke. Now there’s nothing wrong with having socialist ideas, we need people who care about others. But when you believe in a “free lunch,” that now becomes greed! There are greedy people on both sides of the spectrum. Always remember, a wise person focuses does more with less therefore bringing products at better prices (from an environmental perspective, prices come down as productivity goes up).

Now there are some people who are so focused on their political agenda, playing the race card to get their way, even at the cost of their spiritual life. Not to worry, if you’re focused on anything but God, remember that you can’t serve two masters. So, if you want to continue to focus on anything but God, your wish will be granted but it will cost you your spiritual life in the end. Another problem that occurs in the church world is we have a habit of linking political leaders to the devil (when they really are commissioned by God) or saying they are chosen by God (when they’re doing everything wrong). I say to that, we need to pray regardless of who’s in office (not our will for once, but for God’s Kingdom to be done). My greatest concern is that some people see what they want to see because their flesh, not their spirit, wants to be satisfied. We need to pray for the truth to be revealed across this land. It’s a tragedy when you’re so rooted into a Presidency that it takes over your spiritual beliefs. We need to pray for the office, irrespective of who’s in it.

I want to encourage you to not lose sight of what’s to come in the future. Now is not the time to rest because your death or the day of the Lord hasn’t arrived yet. We will face adversity, let it come. We need to stop rebuking adversity. There’s a saying: gold without fire can’t become pure gold. The problem is we don’t want to go through the hard place. We want our way now, like Burger King. My editor has told me at times (and I’m thankful for that), to go through my hard places, because they will make me stronger. Now I truly see it being a writer, some good writing can come from the hard place. While we are here on earth, the righteous might be stomped on like a roach (and never get the justice they rightfully deserve), but God said the righteous will never be forsaken. This may not happen while you’re here on earth, you will go through hell at times, but God will give you peace when your spirit is with Him. Be on your guard at all times, because there will be no peace until Jesus cracks the sky. Read any one of these passages: Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21. As I think about it even further, within those passages, you’ll find where it says (and I’m paraphrasing): no man will know when the Lord will return. There’s a looney toon out there who first said May 21, now he’s saying October 21. Here’s the travesty, many people will believe him and the looney toon will make a profit. This is what you call “fleecing the flock.” Anyway, keep your eyes set on the heavenly call and you won’t go wrong!