Where I Got It Wrong

I’m sure that most people can say this right now, but I just can’t stop marveling at what a time in our life this is! Things have been changing so rapidly and just when I think our family is about to settle into a routine, we are flipped upside down again… and what can we do but hit the ground running? And all of the Covid and political happenings have truly taken a backseat, though, I’m not sure any of these changes would have come about without those promptings. Maybe you can relate? In the course of less than a year we have restructured almost our entire way of life. I’m being vague now because so much is still fresh and in the beginning stages, but I’ll write more about all of the details in the upcoming months. I guess that will be another change for me… posting small life updates here as we go as I realize that most of my readers know me personally. If you don’t, welcome to my real and raw life! 🙂

As for things of faith, that has been changing, too. Drastically. Last August the Lord prompted me to stop following the political figure(s), Q, and Trump so closely. He revealed to me through prayer and scripture how I was committing a form of idolatry. (I spent more time studying current events and Q drops than I did reading and studying my bible.) And that I was leading others down the same path. Yikes. He also unraveled a thread of deception woven throughout that whole movement. As I’ve tried to share some of what I learned and saw, I was met with resistance. That wasn’t really a surprise, but I’m writing more about the Q deception in another post so I’ll leave it there for now. As I continued down this path, though, and as I prayed more specifically not to be deceived, I came into another discovery. The gospel I’d been believing was off a few degrees. What do I mean by that? In the most simple terms, I was unknowingly believing and adhering to some word of faith teachings, some prosperity teachings, and some new apostolic reformation teachings.

Not surprisingly, it started with the election in November, and the months that followed as we transitioned to a new presidential administration. As much as I wanted to let go of all of the political junk, I was still hoping deep down that Trump would win this election… and feeling a little desperate when he didn’t (let’s not get into the talk of fraud – things are what they are right now and Trump isn’t in office so it’s a moot point for the sake of this particular post). What does this have to do with my faith and the gospel I was believing? I was still putting hope where hope has no business being. In a political leader. And I was looking to ‘prophecies’ from so many men and women who claimed to have similar ‘prophetic words’ from the Lord that Trump would win this election. Let’s be real now. They were wrong, and they should admit as such, but so far I’ve seen very few do so. And that shook me up a bit.

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Deuteronomy 18:20-22

Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:16

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Timothy 4:1-5

How could so many be wrong? Clearly, these ‘prophetic words’ were not from the Lord. Suddenly, things were starting to uproot in my faith. What was happening?? How could I have believed something so wrong? And then I stumbled across a documentary called American Gospel: Christ Alone. Here is where I discovered the precise nature of my errors, and it began to change my approach to God and the Bible. I started reading my Bible with context in mind before jumping to application for my own life. Don’t get me wrong, I learned to do this in Bible College years ago, but somewhere along the way, the lines got a little blurred. Somewhere I learned the technique of placing my own name in certain passages of scripture, rather than the person they were originally written to or about, and that those passages could be applied to me or my family. Upon closer look, many of those passages have nothing to do with us today. That’s not to say that the Holy Spirit can’t give us a personal word in prayer using scripture out of context, but it is to say that we shouldn’t take the liberty of making that leap on our own.

How did I get sucked into all of this? I can tell you that these movements within Christianity are growing at an incredibly rapid pace. People are buying into the notion that you can claim health and material prosperity in the name of the Lord and it will be yours as long as you have enough faith. But, as John Piper once asked, “When was the last time that any American, African, Asian ever said ‘Jesus is all satisfying because you drive a BMW’? Never!” Now, I don’t care about fancy cars and a big house or a lavish lifestyle, so I assumed since I was humble in what I was asking, that my motives must be pure enough, and I certainly had enough faith, God would surely honor my requests. Right? I would pray for things like healing in my body and my family and friends. I would pray for just enough to care for our family and to help be a blessing to others. I definitely wasn’t expecting a BMW. I was, however, expecting that my blessings (physical and material) would be a witness to others for God. Here’s the problem (and I ultimately had to ask myself these questions): Are we worshipping the gifts, or the gift giver? Are we glorifying the gifts, or the gift giver in the presence of others? And, if God chooses not to heal or provide in the way we’re asking, will we love and follow Him anyway? Another yikes.

God is not a genie. And I know when I put it that way, most people will say “DUH!” but when I started getting into the gritty details of my own faith walk and beliefs, I had to stare the inconsistencies down in the mirror, count the true cost, and decide if I was still going to follow Him. The Bible doesn’t promise us health and wealth in this life. Quite the contrary if we really look closely at the life stories of those who preceded us in scripture. This has been a humbling pill to swallow. Yet, it has brought so much peace and contentment. It’s driven me to my knees at the feet of a holy God and ushered in repentance, awe and love. I don’t know what He has in store for my life, but I know that it’s a wonderful plan no matter what because it’s His plan. And I’m so grateful for whatever it is because it includes Him.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord. For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:8-13

Blessings to you all & there will be more posts coming soon.
Robin ❤