Hidden Values and Beliefs That Cripples Performance in a Christian's Life

Hidden Values and Beliefs that Cripples Performance In a Christian’s life.

Joseph Ho, President of Thy Scepter, February 8th, 2009.

Many Christians who have come to the Lord are still experiencing no breakthrough or improvement in their life because they do not understand what must first happen before they can excel. We do not come to God because we love holiness or righteousness; we come to God because we want a change in our life. People seek a real change that brings better quality of life and easier success. We seek a real God, a real shepherd, a real master and counselor.

Jesus also said that he did not come to bring the righteous to God but the unrighteous, for it is the sick that needs a doctor. Jesus came to set the captives free. The captives are the ones who have bondages that kept them from the good life which the Lord God has ordained for them. Yes, the effect of a strong Christian walk is abundant life, but what kind of abundant life and how to enter into this abundant life. Life without fear and strive.

What are these human bondages?

These bondages are certainly hidden and deceptive in nature. These bondages are clearly explained in Revelation 21:8, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

Another verse that speaks of these bondages can be found in Galatians 5:19 to 21, “ 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

These kinds of bondages are easy to spot. But I am also talking about another type of bondages which are less obvious and have far more encompassing impact in a person’s life. These are subtle philosophies and values of men created through traditions, written from ages since time immemorial. And what are they? They can be listed as:

1. Procrastination – the act of delaying and postponing things which should have been done since they are essential to decent order of the universe.

2. Covetousness – the act of wanting something without going through the proper channel, gaining something for nothing.

3. Greed – not knowing and understand what is sufficient but craving for more when in reality the limit has been reached.

4. Fear – having no courage to do that which we know is right and not doing it because popular opinion forces us to compromise and we are not willing to take the right but hard way with is right with God; satisfying man instead of God.

5. Short cuts – taking the short cut and seeking fantasy instead of truth, piercing ourselves with many grieves.

6. Sowing Discord – creating false witness against a brother without cause, speaking evil of another without justice.

7. Making wrong decisions – decisions that were made based on profit and not the word of God, not after the spirit led life but after material profit.

8. Discipline – they lack the discipline to complete the work, or study for knowledge.

Procrastination

Suppose we want to do something, the very first thing is we have to make a preparation. Example, when we need to look for funding in a business we need to write a business plan. This business plan will tell the lender what your business is all about. If you don’t do this first step you will find it very hard to gain a sponsor. So the longer you delay, the later you will enter the door of abundance of God’s provision. Luke 14:28, “"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?” Everyone who is skilled in creating excuses are great procrastinator, they say there is lion in the street therefore I can not go to work. Procrastinators have imaginary obstacles which make them unable to perform and it’s not their fault.

Covetousness

People keep thinking of what others have, but they will not do anything to improve their own situation. They do not want to do the hard work but they want to be blessed without effort. As scripture says, in 2Thessalonian 3:10, “10For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." Proverbs 12:11, “11 He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment.” And again mentioned in the bible, Exodus 20:17, “17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Greed

Greed causes people to chase for something with an unrealistic goal. There was a man who had bought 3 properties during the year 2007 and the economy was doing very well. When God sent men to speak to this man to sell his property he did not give any heed because he saw the economy was still very strong, but now he is having a hard time to finance his asset which were all based on borrowings. Lack of obedience and being unable to hear from God, he is now suffering for this disobedience. Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” And also 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grieves.”

Fear

I had a friend who constantly tells me that he knew of which investment to buy and that God has given him the message, yet he always did not buy the stock and many times he regretted that he was right but he did not act. Being right alone cannot bring you the success, you have to believe and act. The bible says faith without deed is dead. Knowledge without application is just that knowledge, only through application and action can knowledge transform into wealth. Fear is an emotion; it’s a spirit that must be tamed through the word of God. They fear mistakes more than they want success so they became paralyze by this fear. They obey this fear but they don’t obey God. Fear means False Evidence Appearing as Real, and that was what a wise man told me a long time ago.

Short cuts, Quick Gains

Short cuts and quick gains will cause us to take the easy way out. Many deals in the business world were sealed with a bribe. But when the economy is tight, only those companies whose products are excellent and present value for money will get the deal done. Bribe causes an increase in selling price of a product because the sheep fir is found on the sheep itself. The seller has to pay for the bribe through inflating the price of the product. And when there is a price fight due to the economic slowdown where will this bribe come from? What is hidden then becomes exposed as the bible says. Proverbs 28:20, “20 A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.”

Sowing Discord

Office politics consists of creating false witness against a brother without cause, speaking evil of another without justice. Such were the contents of a one time famous book called the Sun Tze Art of War which glorifies such tactics in the business world. In the ten commandment, in Exodus 20:16, “16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Proverbs 19:5, “5 A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who pours out lies will not go free.” Proverbs 4:23-24, “23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.”

Making wrong decisions

In making important decision, we must not forget to consult the Lord. Proverbs 16:20, “20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.” And again in Proverbs 16:3, “3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” We are to seek God and his will in the matter which is most important to us, like, finding a job, a wife, a house, a church, going into partnerships and making covenants with people. We have to seek God else we get very painful experience when we are unequally yoke. The Gibeonite ruse between Joshua and the Gibeonite was a painful experience for Joshua because he forgot to seek the God in the matter and they tricked him by making a covenant with him.

Discipline

We must not neglect to have an excellent spirit like Daniel. Daniel was a man whom his enemy could not find fault except with his God, our Lord. Daniel was a man of discipline who did things diligent and was not a sloppy person. The bible says he could do explain hard sentences, and was a good administrator in the king’s palace.

Proverbs 18:13, “18 He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.” And again in Proverbs 5:23, “23 He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.”

The bible says as a man thinks in his heart so shall he be, whatever is in your mind will be manifested by your actions. The hidden values and philosophy which are not good in the sight of God will prevent you from success. The above discussing only shows a small fragment of our internal enemy, we have to constantly seek sanctification before we can arrive at a “death of self” stage of spirit growth. For your enemy is the word of God, and if it fights against you, then you may have a hard time to find your rest. Since promotion is from God and not man, although men are used to promote us as in Psalm 75:6 – 7.

Rest is achieving no strive and great success with little failure, not necessarily with little effort. Since a great task requires a great effort and a huge project requires many men to complete. If you do not know that you have a faulty software or thoughts and you focus only on getting promotion and wealth but not on removing your internal bondages you may be doing things wrongly. Most of the time, it’s your character, thoughts and attitudes that cause you to be promoted instead of your knowledge. For knowledge can be gain by study but character, thoughts and attitude takes years to develop, unless you seek deliverance from these hindering spirits you may find yourself circling the desert for 40 years while it actually takes 11 days for promotion, rest and entering the promised land of abundance. God bless you all mightily and if you want to learn how to hear from God visit my website at www.kingscepter.com, and send me a mail at prophet3333@yahoo.com if you have any questions.