I want to start this post off by saying who I am not addressing. I understand this is an unusual way to start, but it is imperative. For those of you who do not pray, read your word, fast, or know for sure that God is real, I am not talking to you. In this blog, I am addressing those people who live a lifestyle of praying, fasting, and reading the word and know because of their own experience that God is real. I am talking to you.
I want to talk about how you should be careful of individuals around you who are influenced by the spirits of religion, control, Jezebel, manipulation, deceit, or witcraft, to name a few. These people may unintentionally or intentionally be hindering your progress. They will use all the scripture or selfish logical reasoning they can to sabotage your purpose if it does not help their agenda. These individuals are typically very charismatic and know the scriptures very well. Usually, if your goal or the plans that you have don’t fit into what they are doing, they will twist scriptures or use them against you to try to belittle you or intimidate you into doing what they want you to do instead of what you know you are supposed to do. These people are used by the devil to keep you from advancing and growing. Often they come off as if they care about your growth, but as soon as that growth means they may no longer get anything out the deal, then what’s best for you is the least of their concerns.
It is crucial to be confident in your faith and your ability to hear God for the direction you need to take in your life. One of the most significant ways the enemy causes us to miss opportunities and breakthroughs in our lives is by keeping us in a position where we are missing the mark. We are not where we need to be, so we are not in a place to receive advancement, whether that be a promotion, financial blessings, partnerships, the list goes on. You cannot allow these people to keep you from moving forward.
Be especially careful if the move you are trying to make is one of faith! Often God will tell us to get up and go when it does not make any sense. We see this many times throughout the scriptures. He will say start the church, but yet you have no place to have a church, or you do not know anyone in the area He is telling you to go to. He may say to you start a business or leave a company when it doesn’t make any sense to do this. This is why the scriptures tell us lean not on our own understanding but on every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Proverb 3:5-6) It is especially important to know the difference between our own ambition and the voice of God. And do not be discouraged if you step out on faith, and things don’t pan out the way you think they should. Sometimes we are in a process and not at the destination. So let me explain what I mean by that, God may have told you to start a business, and with in a year, you have to shut your doors. Sometimes we go through what appears to be a failure because there is a process we have to go through to get to where we need to be. Sometimes we confuse the process with the destination. God delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh. Before the children got to the promised land, they had to go through the desert. As we see from the people of Israel, how long the process takes is up to us. The desert wasn’t their destination; it was part of their path to their destination. Their destination was the promised land. Take peace in what God has told you to do. Do not focus on what others have said that don’t know what your purpose is. God’s plans for you are to prosper you and not harm you, and to give you hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11