The most successful false prophets and teachers promise riches, health and a life free from difficulties. They spouse authority as a child of God to command our heavenly Father to produce results as we see best. They do not bother to say, “If the Lord wills” because they believe they already know the Lord “wants his kids to live like royalty” (James 4:13-16).
Peter says their words are like empty clouds, promising rain but never producing it (2 Peter 2:17. The fruit on the trees dies instead of flourishing. Promising liberty, their teaching produces slavery. One mother who was steeped in this teaching blamed her daughter for dying from cancer. “She just never believed she was good enough for God to heal her, so she died.”
Many true believers have been caught in this snare. “Having escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome; the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. (2 Peter 2:20-21). Our focus is not to be on this world or the things of this world (1 John 2:15).
God has his witnesses in all walks of life. If God has blessed us with riches, it is to further his kingdom. If he has not blessed us with riches, it is to further his kingdom. All he chooses to do, he does for us and for his glory in us.
