Devotional

THE TRAP OF BEING PERFORMANCE-DRIVEN

May 15, 2024 · Lanre Oyeleke · 3 views

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

A preacher told another pastor friend of his that "people want proofs and you must be able to tell them 'thus saith the Lord' because that is what they want to hear". This pastor told his friend there are prophets at the beach side that would give them such power. He was performance-driven.

All he wanted was to minister with proofs but not minding the processes involved whether it is right or wrong. It is not bad to desire proofs neither is it a sin to be performance-driven. Where it poses problem is when the processes involved is anti scriptures.

We live in a performance- driven world where employers want employees to produce results. That idea has been transported into the spiritual terrain as well. Banks give deposit targets to their staff not minding If the ladies get customers through immorality. What they want is result.

There's a common mantra that says "only fools doubt proofs", but in the light of scriptures, God and spiritual men can doubt proofs especially If the proofs are not in tandem with the teachings of the scriptures.

God doubted and questioned 'proof' in the bible when Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it as instructed by God. When the people saw water gushing out, they were happy to have gotten what they wanted but God was sad. Why? The result did not follow the laid down process.

God is not concerned about proofs and result as much as He is with the process involved and alignment with scriptures.

Apostle Paul knew that proofs can be produced and results can be displayed without having its root from the accuracy of scriptures that was why he said we should "test all spirits whether they are of God".

Alot of anti biblical practices are gaining popularity today. If you come on social media, you'll see prophets teaching people how to use elements from nature and mentioning the names of certain angels to get result. There is no precedence for such in scriptures.

In matters of the kingdom, the word of God is our final arbiter. When practices don't align with scriptures properly whether it is producing result or not, don't be involved. The devil loves to back unscriptural practices with results to deceive the people. Beware!

Action point

Father, I receive the grace to follow your word accurately In Jesus name.

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