VICTIMS OF LIES Monday 20 August

Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

Memorise: Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hanahiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Jeremiah 28:15

Read: Jeremiah 28:15-17

Although some people love to believe in a lie, yet God’s standard remains. If you enjoy being flattered, you are a lover of lies. Your self-deception will soon land you into trouble (Proverbs 29:5). Beyond lying to one another, lying has assumed another frightening dimension. How? Lying is now a common feature in the house of God. In fact, lying has become a big money spinner in the house of God. Since people love to hear lies, they flock around those who will tell it to them. If instead of hearing the undiluted Word of God you prefer to run from one prophet to the other; you are a lover of lies and you may soon be a willing victim of deception. Lying in the name of the Lord is a grievous offence. Worse still is giving a pack of lies which you brand prophetic declarations from the Lord. We all know that genuine men of God are revered, so satanic agents and merchandising prophets are also seriously engaged in the business of deception in order to get reverence from people.

If you are a lover of visions, beware or else you will become a victim of lies. Any prophetic declaration that has raised your hope, coming from merchandising prophets and pastors will surely disappoint you (Jeremiah 28:15). In some places, when a lady wants a particular man as husband, all she needs do is “settle” the prophet or prophetess and later in the service, the leader will go into acrobatics. At some point, he will say, “Thus says the Lord, Brother so and so, Sister so and so is your wife”. Thereafter, the sister will pretend to refuse it or even feign tears asking: “How could God be so unfair to me? Why this particular brother?” Meanwhile, the man at the centre of it all does not know that he is an unwilling actor in a script written by the church leader and the lady. Those of you who go to your pastor to pray for you and tell you who to marry, if care is not taken, you will become a victim of lies. You are simply lazy. No pastor or prophet should tell you who to marry. They are to pray along with you, counsel and guide you using the Word of God. If you fail to pay the price to hear from God on that matter, you may be deceived. God can use your pastor or a genuine prophet of God to confirm what He had already told you. Many homes have been established on falsehood and that is why things are falling apart and the centre can no longer hold.

KEY POINT:

Some pastors are seriously into match-making. They have taken over from the Holy Spirit. Match-making remains God’s prerogative and He has not delegated it to any pastor.

 

Bible in One year: 2 Kings 23-25