I came across one guy who claims he has the gift of prophecy. And he particularly prophesies about, of all things... the stock market. That's not the sad news. The sad news is that some Christians actually buy it! Still some other "Prophets" prophesy about some crisis that is going to happen and so he advices Christians all over the world to store up goods, supplies, canned goods, etc, to survive the inevitable crisis. Talk about Christian Materialism. Even non-believers would not buy such kind of stuff. And all that because of the lack of instruction. We don't have discernment because we are ignorant of the things of God. We profess that we are not of the world but we never really got out of it, did we? There are many "ministers" out there who have made preaching as a means of living. Most of them are quite entertaining even. If we are not careful we can end up listening to one and get diverted from truth. You can get stuck in your growth in the Word, and you will again carry that burden of worrying for your daily and future provisions. Material things will become primary to you until your mind again gets dumped with worldly concerns. And you will begin to ask why your giving does not produce any fruit.
Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. The word operation was translated from the Greek: G1753 ἐνέργεια energeia en-erg'-i-ah From G1756; efficiency (“energy”): - operation, strong, (effectual) working. This gives us an idea of what goes on in the spirit realm when a person comes to Christ. The Scripture says, we are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God... the energy... the effectual working of God. Here is what happens in the spirit realm, believers are risen from the dead by this energy - the effectual working of God. And it is made to pass through the faith of this energy. Now, this clearly tells us that this is not Man's faith, it is God's faith. Notice the first part of this Scripture. It says, Buried with Him in baptism. This is where Man's faith is in operation. Baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God. The a...
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