Date: August 29, 2021 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 10, No. 17
Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I welcome you to the last Sunday of the month of August 2021 and pray that the Lord will perfect all that concerns your affairs in the month, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Recently, I had a discussion with a young woman who was troubled about her family’s financial conditions and how things were not going well for them as they wanted. As she told me, she was so troubled about this matter that she, at some point, thought about becoming a ‘Yahoo girl’. But we know that the so-called ‘Yahoo boys’ and ‘Yahoo girls’ are nothing but fraudsters and thieves. Not only are they fraudsters and thieves, they are also sorcerers. In other words, many of them, if not all of them, have one thing or the other to do with demons in order to make money. And unless they repent, they are bound to perish even before their lives get started.
But why would that woman think of becoming a ‘Yahoo girl’? That was the question I asked her. I said, “You are a Christian and one who has a job. Why, then, would you think of doing that?” And her answer was a little surprising. It was surprising because, according to her, she has been seeing many ‘Yahoo guys’ in church meetings and observing the way they spend money in those meetings and also the way many so-called church leaders praise, adore and pray them. That made her feel oppressed and that she and her husband also needed to do something about their financial state.
Now thank God that though that dear young woman thought about getting involved in this evil thing, she was held back by the Spirit of God from doing so. But the point of the matter is that there are many in the church today who are involved in all kinds of illegal activities and who have remained comfortable among us because no one is rebuking or warning them. And regardless of how much they give to the church or how highly certain people sing their praises, their jobs and their gifts are detestable to God.
So, apart from the fact that they will not receive any reward from Him for what they are doing, they will also get punished by Him at the right time for the evils they are doing and also for being bold enough to think they could bribe God with wages of wickedness. Under the old covenant, God said to His people, “No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute. You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God to pay any vow, because the LORD your God detests them both.” (Deut 23:17-18NIV)
Did you see that? God is concerned about what we do for a living. He is concerned about the source of our income. And if what we are doing is something that He hates, we had better not bring Him any money or offering from it. That is because even if men do not know what we are up to, He knows what we are up to and will reward us accordingly. Mind you, we are not the only ones that will get punished for this nonsense; every church leader that is encouraging or supporting us to carry on in it will also get severely punished along with us.
Why did God eventually destroy Balaam the seer? It was because he loved the wages of wickedness. He was a man that would prophesy to anybody, pray for anyone or curse anyone, without first finding out what they are really up to, if you offered him enough money. So, God destroyed him, just as He is bound to destroy all these preachers that are walking in his footsteps, if they too waste time to repent. (Cf. Num 22-24 & 31:8)
So, always remember that even though God wants you to be generous to Him, He is also concerned about where the things you give Him are coming from. This is why you must not be involved in anything unclean or allow anyone to pressure you to do so (Eph 4:28). Otherwise, you will be wasting whatever you think you are giving to God or to His church, and your destruction won’t be sleeping.
Do have a great week.
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