Fallen Angels

     He was the one who touched your life and brought you to the Lord.  Those fiery sermons and uplifting messages melted the ice cap on your hardened heart and awakened your spirituality.  You never missed a Sunday he preached.

     She was the person who wrote so eloquently and beautifully. Her words spoke directly into your situation and raised in you a desire to learn more about God.  Every book she had written, you read and displayed on your shelf with pride.  

     She had the voice of an angel and the way she sang often lulled you into a deeper connection with the Holy Spirit and moved you to tears. It was one of her songs that introduced you to Jesus and you accepted him as your savior right in your car.

     Then some how that person that brought you into the kingdom fell from grace.  They were found guilty of fornication, or adultery, or poor parenting, or got a divorce, or mismanagement of funds...whatever the case may be.  Of course that meant that nothing you experienced was real and the whole Jesus & God bit is a fraud...right? WRONG! 

     Sometimes we put too much stock in the messenger. We have to be careful not to allow admiration to slip into idolatry.   It is not the medium of the deliverance that holds the power, it is the source.  Any powerful Godly connection you experienced may have come through him/her, but it was not by him or her.  Only the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have that power and they use people as a means to get the message out.  That person who you are so disappointed in was human all the time; never perfect, and never without sin.  Instead of being angry and disheartened, pray for him/her and be a catalyst in that individual's deliverance as he/she was for you.  We are supposed to help keep one another on the right track by being patient with one another and correcting one another out of a spirit of love.  This is the nature of God.  

   So remember, give the messenger your ear, but give God your heart.  Then you will not be disappointed.

Scripture:
I Timothy 2:1 
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,
Psalms 45:11 
He is Lord, and worship thou Him

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for your servants who lead us to you.  Let us be merciful with them and one another even as you are merciful.