INSTITUTE OF LOVE

Caught In A Bad Deal
Text Box: Are you finding yourself, as a good Christian believer, constantly struggling in life, like nothing seems to pan out for you? No matter what or how hard you try, there is no real blessing coming in for you, or going out of you. You seem to do all the right things, praying and fasting, and yet your finances are declining; your marriage is in a bad shape and is getting worse; you have increasing health issues; your children are rebelling against you, and the calling or ministry God gave you, seems to be in shambles. You are not happy anymore; instead, you feel oppressed, hopeless, and at times want to give up on God and life all together. Over the years, we have seen many people come to us, in the above described condition, for counseling. As we indicated, these are for the most part good Bible believing Christian people. After talking to them and assessing their situation, we see that most of them along the way in their lives, have entered into a relationship or got connected through family ties with someone having wrong spirits, who led them into the bad condition they are now finding themselves in. These are relationships that started amicably and promising, as they thought these people were well meaning Christians like themselves. Trusting them, they started taking advice from these so-called Christians, who started imposing on them what they need to do and how to do it, always involving themselves into the situation, making themselves the most important and needed person in their life. Their ultimate purpose is for you to idolize and worship them, since they claim to be the only ones who have godly wisdom and all the right answers you will need. Using God’s word and so-called revelations they receive from God, they craftily replace God with themselves, and in doing so, corrupting your relationship with God, as they are the ones now in control of your life. Because of the deceptive evil nature of these relationships, it ultimately ends up in a fiasco for the good-hearted believer. Nothing is blessed, nothing good has been achieved. All they are left with is deception and efforts ill-placed, not knowing that it all happened because they followed the advice of evil people, who had nothing but curse to give. They have been caught in a bad deal! How then did God intent it to be for you? If you keep God’s commands “you will be blessed wherever you go, both in coming and in going.” Deuteronomy 28:6 NLT That means “that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3. John 2 NKJV That is why God warns us “not to team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the Devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever? And what union can there be between God's temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.” 2. Corinthians 6:14-16 NLT Even if they call themselves Christians, as the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: “When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or who are greedy or are swindlers or idol worshipers. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. What I meant was that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a Christian yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Don't even eat with such people.” 1. Corinthians 5:9-11 NLT And that is because: "bad company corrupts good character." 1. Corinthians 15:33 NLT Therefore, it is very important to know which spirit you are dealing with, and not naively believe everyone who claims to speak from God. You can know this by determining whether the spirit of the person who is speaking is leading you to acknowledge, worship, and glorify Jesus Christ and His Word, the Bible as The Only Way, or the spirit is leading you to him or herself, and away from the true God. Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is the way to find out if they have the Spirit of God: If a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ became a human being, that person has the Spirit of God. If a prophet does not acknowledge Jesus, that person is not from God. 1. John 4:1-3 NLT We have concluded many times through our counseling, that one of the main spirits that attack Christians and bring destruction upon their lives is the Jezebel Spirit, whose purpose is to lead believers away from God, by causing them to become idol worshipers (worshiper’s of individuals) and commit sexual sin. But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman — that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet — to lead my servants astray. Revelation 2:20 NLT Here is a powerful example of a godly man who got caught in a bad deal. His name was Jehoshaphat, King of Judah. His troubles began when he joined forces with the evil King Ahab of Israel to attack Ramoth-gilead. Ahab’s prophets predicted victory, but King Jehoshaphat wanted to seek the advice of a prophet of God about whether they should go to war or not. However, the prophet of God they summoned predicted defeat. Even so, King Jehoshaphat let himself be persuaded by King Ahab to go to battle. They were soundly defeated, just as the prophet of God had prophesied, and King Jehoshaphat almost lost his life because of his friendship with King Ahab who managed to corrupt his relationship with God. See 2. Chronicles 18. King Jehoshaphat also allowed his son Jehoram to marry the wicked Athaliah - Ahab’s and Jezebel’s daughter. See 2. Chronicles 21:6. This is how the Bible describes the lives of King Jehoshaphat and King Ahab: King Jehoshaphat Then Jehoshaphat, Asa's son, became the next king. He strengthened Judah to stand against any attack from Israel. He stationed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and he assigned additional garrisons to the land of Judah and to the towns of Ephraim that his father, Asa, had conquered. The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the example of his father's early years and did not worship the images of Baal. He sought his father's God and obeyed his commands instead of following the practices of the kingdom of Israel. So the LORD established Jehoshaphat's control over the kingdom of Judah. All the people of Judah brought gifts to Jehoshaphat, so he became very wealthy and highly esteemed. He was committed to the ways of the LORD. He knocked down the pagan shrines and destroyed the Asherah poles. 2. Chronicles 17:1-6 NLT King Ahab Ahab son of Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa's reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty-two years. But Ahab did what was evil in the LORD's sight, even more than any of the kings before him. And as though it were not enough to live like Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to worship Baal. First he built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him. 1. Kings 16:29-33 NLT It is clear, that the good King Jehoshaphat and the evil King Ahab allying together was a recipe for disaster. King Ahab was under the demonic power of his wife Jezebel, Queen of Israel. It is her name that is being used, in the letter to the church in Thyatira in the book of Revelation, symbolizing the similar type of evil woman who is leading the servants of God astray by causing them to worship idols and commit sexual sin. See Revelation 2:18-29. Therefore, we should stay away from anybody who is controlled by this deceptive Spirit of Jezebel, or is in anyway connected to it, in order to avoid its curses. God says that whoever commits adultery – adultery meaning allowing the Spirit of Jezebel to influence their lives - will suffer greatly unless they turn away. Turning away means repenting from their evil deeds. See Revelation 2:22. It is interesting, that King Jehoshaphat did not learn his lesson after almost being killed in the King Ahab alliance ordeal. Once again, he met disaster when he joined forces with another wicked king of Israel. His name was King Ahaziah, and he was the son of the late King Ahab. But near the end of his life, King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahaziah of Israel, who was a very wicked man. Together they built a fleet of trading ships at the port of Ezion-geber. Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu from Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat. He said, "Because you have allied yourself with King Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy your work." So the ships met with disaster and never put out to sea. 2. Chronicles 20:35-37 NLT We can ask ourselves: How many times have one of our ventures or dreams met disaster, been compromised, and never amounted to anything because of an unholy alliance we have made? In order for us to be set free from the curses of the Spirit of Jezebel and receive and release God’s blessings on our affairs, we need to first of all repent for allowing it into our lives, and secondly, break with all association connected to this evil spirit. Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. 2. Corinthians 6:17-18 NLT Copyright©2009 Sophia & Edwin Christiaan Text Box: By Edwin & Sophia Christiaan