Amazed

I'm amazed today by the number of people who have either written or called to ask me if the false teacher that I was made to study under for all of those years is the same false teacher that they studied under.


Praise You, Sweet Lord, for delivering them from the same bondage of lies!


Each has an interesting story as to how they were roped into the legalism, and of how hard it was to break away from it.


Of how cunning the evil one can be when he works through someone who supposedly knows the Word of God.


One told me of how she was introduced to it through her youth group years ago, and about how the guest speaker who arrived at their church to introduce this teaching to the teens used such foul language that she couldn't repeat it to me.


Years later, when invited to a reunion with her former youth group friends and leader, she couldn't will herself to go...the pain was still too deep.


I remember, many years ago on a forum about cults, a man from Australia found my post and asked if he could contact me about it. When we spoke, his broken heart was so apparent. He shared that his family had gotten mixed up with this man's lies, and that he was just broken over it.


He wondered if I had any suggestions on what to say to them to help them break free. My counsel was to ask them what they were learning about the LOVE of God, and then to pray like he'd never prayed before, because he was in a fight of great magnitude...a spiritual battle for them to know the truth, and to live in freedom in Christ Jesus.


I remember another time, meeting someone who was also a follower. Once involved in cult teaching, you can smell it from a mile away when someone else is involved.


One of the biggest signs with this group, is that they isolate....and so had this man.


When I asked him the same question, "Do you ever get the LOVE of God when you listen to his teaching," the man went blank. His best answer was, "Well, sometimes I'm in fellowship and sometimes I'm out of fellowship."


OH...ok...so whether or not you are loved by God is now dependent upon you?


I fully understood what he meant, though. I wasn't assured of God's love for me until I became His at the age of 29. I too, felt as the man above had felt...like I'd never, ever know if He truly loved me, and I'd certainly never be assured of His pleasure in me.


So heartbreaking!


The saddest one of all though, was when I asked a young man of about 35, who had grown up under this false teacher, the same question. "In all those years of listening to him, did you ever "get" the LOVE of God?"


He turned his head away for a moment, and then turned it back to me. 


Tears were 


S
T
R
E
A
M
I
N
G


down his cheeks, and it took him at least three attempts before he could finally mutter out the word.....


"never."


I've thought of him often, and my prayer for him is always this....


"God, my precious God. Wonderful. Mighty. Awesome. Compassionate. 
God of lovingkindness and mercy. God of grace..... Lord, he hasn't turned his back on you, because if this was all he was ever taught, he never knew YOU! 


Lord, he has turned his back on a false system of religion. He's turned his back on a pharisitical spirit, and Lord, GOOD FOR HIM!


Now Father, my prayer is that you will surround him with people who REALLY know and LOVE you, and who are certain of Your LOVE."


It's interesting to me that I haven't even had to write the name of this false teacher, yet those who were under his bondage for so long know without question of whom I am writing.


I'm praying for you...you who are still involved, and you who may fall upon this post and need prayer for healing.


I'm so very sorry that any of us had to be mixed up with it, but I rest in God's sovereignty. He will not waste any of this. 


If you've turned away from God altogether, like the man I mentioned above, will you trust me when I tell you that He loves you dearly and that he longs to have a relationship with you based upon the truth of His Word?


I suppose that one of the reasons I am so very thankful for Precept Ministries, is that they have taught me how to study the Word of God for myself. After growing up in a cult that teaches that EVERYONE else is WRONG except for the man behind the podium, it was very hard for me to trust anyone's teaching for a long time.


Yet Precept helped me by giving me the tools to be able to find out for myself.


I'm praying for you tonight, that you might invest the time it will take, and yes...it will require time from you...to become a student of God's Word.


Discover Truth for Yourself!
Go Deeper With Others.
Disciple.


Now, I have a little pumpkin to tuck into bed, so I'm not going to proof read this post.


But I do hope that someone is encouraged to open up their Bible and learn direct from the Author.


Love to you tonight,
Jes