Do Not Be Deceived (October 21, 2024)

Scammers and fraud.

This entire scam thing was unsettling for me.

I believe this is a warning to a greater level regarding being deceived. We must guard our hearts and minds against these things. The days ahead are going to be trying and we must remain diligent in being aware and not deceived. Even in everyday regular things, we must remain aware.

I find the timing and attack on all of this to be extremely interesting. I had felt impressed to sow into a ministry, but had actually been slow in doing it. The dollar amount that I knew I was supposed to give, is the exact dollar amount the enemy scammers tried to steal from me. Had they been successful in stealing from me they would have stolen from that ministry.

Sometimes we cheat on God in our hearts and drag our feet. We try to reason or bargain our way around. And in doing so we open the door for the enemy to come in and steal from us and the kingdom. Does God need your money? No. But he desires, even commands your obedience. The obedience beats out the sacrifice of it every time. Delayed obedience is still disobedience. Your obedience fills a need in another persons life. A tangible act makes way for the open blessing to restore back to you.

The enemy is working hard to steal from us in every way possible. Whether it’s our peace, joy, our health, our thoughts, our families, or even our wealth. The battle is real and all around us. Flaunting itself daily in our face.

Do not let the enemy steal your seed.

For anyone that has been scammed or stolen from, I speak restoration and a return of what was taken. This is a Ziglak moment. A moment where we Pursue, Overtake, and Recover ALL.

The enemy will have to return what was stolen. He has to pay it back. Double.

I pray DAILY for discernment and wisdom. Knowledge and understanding. Insight and revelation. I pray against distractions and detours. I’ve prayed that everyday for over 10 years. But I feel a sense of needing to REALLY pray it and DECREE it to a greater level. It’s so easy to just go through our prayer list methodically. We pray for this and that. We pray a laundry list of things to God. All with good intentions and pouring our hearts out.

But do we listen and wait to hear God speak. Do we wait and tarry to hear what’s on His heart? What if God needs our full attention. What if he’s trying warn us and we’re too busy going through the motions. Checking off the prayer time and bible reading.

I feel an urgency into speaking this: Do not be distracted. Do not be deceived.

It has really made me think…. What other distractions and frauds do we openly accepted as truth? Are there other places I’ve been deceived?

What areas of my life need refining? Where are we trusting in areas that we shouldn’t be? Am I missing something? What is God trying to tell me?

Beyond the obvious sending money lesson, there’s a deeper lesson here.

How often do we accept the Ishmael’s and counterfeits in our lives? Are there areas that we having unwittingly (or maybe not so much) allowed scammers and hackers in? Are we blind to everyday fraud? Do we look the other way when confronted with sin?

Have we settled for less than Gods best for us? Has impatience caused us to get ahead of God? And then we expect him to come through and clean up the mess We made.

Do we seek out God for ourselves? Are we listening to Him? Waiting for Him? Do we just take the pastors and preachers at face value without seeking or searching for ourselves?

Do we listen to news broadcast and read blogs and social media as truth without researching? When’s the last time you challenged something you heard or read? Or better yet, lined it up with the word.

We can no longer afford to sit idly by and let scammers and thieves run freely. We live in a time where truth has been distorted, where lies have become truth because they’ve been repeated enough. People can’t see through the fog. As believers we are called to come out from among them. To come up higher.

But we stay distracted. Even in our doing good, we can be distracted.

The other night I missed a spectacular north lights display. How and why? Simply put, I was distracted. The next morning I was sad and angry with myself. And you know what God said, “this is how the people are with me. Distracted by silly things and they miss my blessing and beauty on display, and in missing that they miss Me.” I was deeply convicted.

I think that is how it is with a lot of people and in life in general. We sit by and are distracted by the shiny things of life and we miss the simple quiet moments with God. Moments that He is beckoning us to come to Him. Sit at His feet and rest. Be filled up and made whole in His presence. Teaching moments, moments meant to hear His heart. Moments when our hearts unite and we know Him and He knows us. It’s important that not only do we know Him, but that He knows us. We must have that intimacy. It’s in the intimate places that we bond and become one. It’s only in His presence that we receive the infilling and tools to live a victorious life with Him.

We live in a fallen world and some days are really hard. But we have hope. And a promise. The promise of which He will never leave us and eternal life.

It is so important that we dial into what God is showing us and saying to us. The evil is running rampant. We aren’t fighting against each other or peoples, we are battling dark powers and principalities. We MUST remain battle ready. We cannot afford to lay our weapons down or be distracted or detoured for even a second. The enemy is here to defeat us. By Any Means Possible. Do not be deceived or distracted

Stay alert. Stay ready. Be diligent. Seek wisdom and discernment.

My people perish for lack of knowledge Hosea 4:6

I will never leave you not forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

Come out from among them 2 Corinthians 6:17

Depart from me for I never knew you. Matthew 7:23

Obedience is better than sacrifice. 1 Samuel 15:22

Pursue overtake and recover all. 1 Samuel 30:8

The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy. But I come to give you life. John 10:10

Audrey Yockey