I used to listen to and read books, post, and blogs done by pastors who preached prosperity, I didn't read the Bible as much then, it was something that I only picked up and read occasionally when I was looking for something specific or just to kill time. I got most of what I believed and knew of God from my church, from these other pastors, and the people around me, most of whom aren't saved, and have only limited knowledge and very shakey belief in God. This left me confused and vulnerable to the lies of false preachers and doctrines. During this time I believed that if I was a good enough person God would bless me financially, my motivation to serve Him was based on God's ability to supply for me, and not love or sacrifice.
For awhile this kind of shallow, self-serving faith was enough, but eventually my heart started to question it and want more, I started to want a deeper more fulfilling relationship. I started to feel like I was missing something, that there was more to it. The search took me to other pastors, other theologians, and into God's word more deeply. As I began to read God's word daily, the revelation of what was wrong in my faith before came to me, the reason I felt that I was lacking in that area of my life became evident.
I started to look at those people in the Bible who are considered great, I read their stories and tried to find something that they all had in common, I tried to find what it was about their faith that made them so great, what was it about them that the Lord found pleasing. I started to pray that I would have eyes to recognize God's truth, and ears that would hear and respond to God's word. And God answered my prayer, during my search it was revealed to me the things I had before missed in listening to the false teachers, and it was through this revelation that I realized it was false, corrupted teachings I had been receiving before this point.
In the story of Samuel anointing David to be king over Israel 1 Samuel 16:7 stood out to me in a way it never had before, it reads; '7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”' There it was in the final six words of that verse, my answer, but what was it about David's heart that pleased him? About the hearts of Moses, Job, Noah, Mary, Joseph, Esther, Daniel, John, Peter, Paul and others?
When I began reading to look at the hearts of these individuals and not their actions, I discovered that a common trait among all of them was a servant's heart. They all in different ways served others, and made serving and pleasing God their main focus, following Him in obedience, an obedience fueled by love for God and His people, not what God could give to them. Immediately upon realizing where I had gone wrong, I asked the Father for forgiveness, I asked Him to continue to grow my knowledge in truth and to change my heart, to take away my selfish desire for wealth, and replace it with a God-centered heart focused on pleasing Him out of love.
If you have been floundering in your faith, feeling a drift, and wondering where you've gone wrong I urge you to get in the word. Start reading your Bible and examining your heart, start really examining what the teachers in your life are telling you, is it Biblical? Are they teaching you to serve God because He loves you and sacrificed His son for your salvation or because if you do God will bless you? Are they teaching you Biblical principles and right from wrong or are they telling you everything is okay, everything is acceptable so long as you love God and look righteous on the outside? Look at your heart! Look at your motivations honestly, take it to the root and you will find the God you serve. If it isn't the God of the Bible now is the time to change and ask Him to cleanse your heart, He always hears the cry of the repentant heart and is quick to forgive(2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 John 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9).
1 Samuel 2:3
"Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed.
1 Chronicles 28:9
"And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
Proverbs 16:2
All a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
Luke 16:15
He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight.
Revelation 2:23
I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
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