What Are Your Intentions?

This message I believe the Lord showed me in a dream. The Lord showed me how critical it is not to fall into the teachings of Balaam and Niclaitanes. We will start in Rev. 2:13-16 (NLT): 13 “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.
14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15 In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. 16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth."
The Lord spoke to me in my heart and I know that I have fallen into these doctrines of Balaam and Nicolaitans before. I have repented and now things are even more wonderful than I ever imagined. To further educate myself on the doctrines of Balaam and Nicolaitans, I did some research and this is what I found:

Balaam: (From the Encyclopedia) a non-Israelite prophet described in the Old Testament (Num. 22-24) as a soothsayer who is bribed by Balak, the king of Moab, to place a curse on the people of Israel, who are camped threateningly on the plains of Moab. Balaam states that he will utter only what his God Yahweh inspires, but he is willing to accompany the Moabite messengers to Balak. He is met en route by an angel of Yahweh, who is recognized only by Balaam's donkey, which refuses to continue. Then Balaam's eyes are opened, and the angel permits him to go to Balak but commands him not to curse but to bless Israel. Despite pressure from Balak, Balaam remains faithful to Yahweh and blesses the people of Israel. In later literature (specifically, the Second Letter of Peter 2:15), however, Balaam is held up as an example of one who apostatized, or abandoned his faith for the sake of material gain.

The problem here was that God knew that Balaam’s heart was in the wrong place and that he spoke for gain. Thus, God wouldn’t have him curse Israel in His name, which must have been Balaam's intentions. In Revelations Jesus foresaw and revealed that this would be the actions of some of the churches during the approach of end times.
I used to think, "What can God do for me?" or "If I do this what kind of favor will I get from the Lord?" This is the wrong kind of thinking and is considered to be very much a part of Balaam's doctrine. Just like Balaam, even though I was faithful to God, my intentions were to better my position and not to edify the body of Christ. It is very important to never lose focus or lose sight on the places of need in the body of Christ. We need to make sure that we don't focus or determined our ministry in terms of "my need."

God does want us to prosper in all things, but that is not to be our intentions or reason why we serve Him. God knows our heart, and if we are not serving Him with all of it, He knows. God sees right through our intentions. Lip service gets you no where in the kingdom of God. If our only purpose to serve God is for material gain like Balaam, then we will never truly prosper the way God intends for His children to prosper. The way I came to deliverance of Balaam's Doctrine was like this: My best friend and I were talking on the phone one day, and I was feeling like my faith was becoming stagnate. And I believe that the Lord spoke through my friend and he said, "When you feel stagnate in your faith, just start moving around doing the will of the Lord and God will be the rutter directing your path." This piece of wisdom has done wonders for my walk, and has helped me find out the true purpose of what being a Christian is all about.

Don't Get caught up in finding out what God can do for you, instead find out what you can do to glorify God and His kingdom. Find out His purpose for your life and follow the path that He paves for you. Let His perfect love have its place in your heart, and let it shine through your works. This Christmas season reach out to those who need Jesus Christ in their lives. Giving is the best way to show God's love. For God so loved the world that He gave...

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

In Christ,

Eric R. Cox