July 20th – Proverbs 20: A Mouthful of Gravel

“Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.” Proverbs 20:17

Most people don’t see themselves as thieves that gain their food (provision/sustenance) by fraud. But were we to examine many of our ways, we might start to think and act quite a bit differently.

In our morally soft charismatic environment, integrity is a dying breed. Don’t believe me? Just look at the “leadership” of the charismatic church. Compromised to the core, many of these charlatans are only out to make a buck, profiting of the church’s extreme lack of discernment. When it becomes ok for Todd Bentley to have an affair (during a revival no less), divorce his wife and almost instantly remarry his mistress, we have a MAJOR problem. Most disturbing are not the offender’s actions (anyone with discernment saw through him) but the chorus of approving voices that surrounded him in his sin. We were warned “don’t judge!” by the very people (Rick Joyner, Bill Johnson, etc.) that recommended this man’s ministry to the body of Christ. EVEN WORSE, these “leaders” have YET to apologize for publicly commending a scumbag to the church of the living God! FOR SHAME!

“In America today, it is considered worse to judge evil than to do evil.” - Os Guinness

No, the Bible is clear, any “produce” gained by fraud will in the end be just a mouthful of gravel! People that promote their ministry or church using deceptive or fraudulent tactics will, in the end, have nothing to show for all of their bluster. During the Lakeland debacle, there was a feeding frenzy from worship leaders and preachers in the body of Christ that wanted “stage time” during the revival. ON the stage, being broadcast around the world by GodTV, they could “get their name out there”. EVERY ONE of the money and publicity hungry hucksters jumped at the opportunity to appear “on stage” at Todd Bentley’s coronation/commissioning service in June 2008. Watching the show, you can literally see them jockey for “microphone time” and preeminence. Just how dumb did they ALL look just a couple weeks later that it came out that Todd was divorcing his wife, in an affair and an alcoholic??

Yeah, they may have gotten a temporary bump in their web traffic and book sales, but in the end it all came to naught. Their “prophecies” about Todd may have garnered them some brief attention, but the price they paid in the PERMANENT lack of credibility was more than substantial.

• Business owners that build their business on deception or trickery of their clients/customers will, in the end, have no customer base. Sure, you feel good for a minute when you cash that check you made my deceiving/bilking your customer, but every dollar you just made will cost you $1000 in the days to come.

• Home owners that lie to their mortgage company about their income/liabilities will ultimately have no home to sleep in when it gets taken away in foreclosure. Yes, it feels great to have a big house, that is, until you can’t afford the payments and it becomes a weight around your neck.

• Business people that exploit their relationships for financial gain (MLM) will soon find that all the money they made through their “great opportunity” can’t buy them a friend.

The list goes on and on.

LIFE LESSON:

Walk in Integrity. Live above board. Be honest. Take your time. Choose the low road. If you don’t, your sin WILL find you out.