Traditionally, you take an inert, dead version of a disease and inject it into a person's body. Then, your body works on the inert version of the disease and "learns" how to fight it, and soon it develops an immunity to the milder version, and then hopefully builds that immunity against the real disease as well.
Unfortunately, that's what happens to many people when they subject themselves to the Joel Osteens and many of the other televangelists of the world. Too many well-meaning people think they're becoming Christians by dealing with the self-serving preachers whose view of Christianity has very little to do with the cross. Unfortunately, when they find that those demonic, altered versions of the Faith don't work, they've become immunized against the True Faith, the Biblical message of Christ's sacrifice as payment for our sins, sins which cannot be reconciled in any other way with God.
Without that acknowledgment that we are sinners, and that sin is a crime against God that must be accounted for, and finally that we by ourselves CANNOT pay that debt, there is no Christianity - there is no Heaven for us - there is no way to salvation.
The "prosperity gospel" preachers want you to think that your sin is immaterial. You "deserve" a good life!, they tell you. (We deserve nothing of the sort. We've each committed crimes against the Lord High God every day of our lives, in thought, word, and deed.) All you have to do is believe, and you're saved! (Almost true - through that belief, you must accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. "Lord" means you obey Him, specifically His Biblical instructions. But that's kind of a "downer" for the prosperity gospel folks, so they tend to leave that part out, to our eternal detriment.) And once you're saved, God will give you everything your sick little heart desires: money, romance, success, fame, you name it! (Talk about a misreading of "Ask and you shall receive"!)
When you ask of God, when you ask of Christ, as a follower and servant of the Lord what would you be asking for? That's right - things that bring glory to His Name! If that includes money, fame, etc. for you, that's incidental. Matthew chapter 6 lays this out for us - verse 33 reads very clearly,
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
"All these things" include NOT fame and fortune so much as "your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on". (Matthew 6:25). God promises (upon our prayers!) to "give us (each) day our daily bread", NOT our daily caviar, our daily filet mignon, or our daily cabernet sauvignon. It's very clear that our lives are given to us by God to glorify His Name, not ours!
If the prosperity gospel were true, wouldn't Jesus' disciples have prospered in such a worldly manner? Instead, they were persecuted, poor throughout their lives, and generally killed in nasty, insidious ways!
So, if you've been "immunized" against the TRUTH of the GOSPEL because you heard the FALSE VERSION brought around by the demonic spirits who rule this age, OPEN YOUR HEART to the real thing.
Without that acknowledgment that we are sinners, and that sin is a crime against God that must be accounted for, and finally that we by ourselves CANNOT pay that debt, there is no Christianity - there is no Heaven for us - there is no way to salvation.
The "prosperity gospel" preachers want you to think that your sin is immaterial. You "deserve" a good life!, they tell you. (We deserve nothing of the sort. We've each committed crimes against the Lord High God every day of our lives, in thought, word, and deed.) All you have to do is believe, and you're saved! (Almost true - through that belief, you must accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. "Lord" means you obey Him, specifically His Biblical instructions. But that's kind of a "downer" for the prosperity gospel folks, so they tend to leave that part out, to our eternal detriment.) And once you're saved, God will give you everything your sick little heart desires: money, romance, success, fame, you name it! (Talk about a misreading of "Ask and you shall receive"!)
When you ask of God, when you ask of Christ, as a follower and servant of the Lord what would you be asking for? That's right - things that bring glory to His Name! If that includes money, fame, etc. for you, that's incidental. Matthew chapter 6 lays this out for us - verse 33 reads very clearly,
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
"All these things" include NOT fame and fortune so much as "your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on". (Matthew 6:25). God promises (upon our prayers!) to "give us (each) day our daily bread", NOT our daily caviar, our daily filet mignon, or our daily cabernet sauvignon. It's very clear that our lives are given to us by God to glorify His Name, not ours!
If the prosperity gospel were true, wouldn't Jesus' disciples have prospered in such a worldly manner? Instead, they were persecuted, poor throughout their lives, and generally killed in nasty, insidious ways!
So, if you've been "immunized" against the TRUTH of the GOSPEL because you heard the FALSE VERSION brought around by the demonic spirits who rule this age, OPEN YOUR HEART to the real thing.
OPEN YOUR HEART TO CHRIST HIMSELF. Let HIM show you the Way, the Truth, and the Light.
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