Should Not The Shepherds Feed The Flocks?

wise seeker

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? "You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. "The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. "So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. "My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them." Ezekiel 34:1-6

In America many people throng to some churches basically for healing or deliverance from demon power and most leaders are content to see overflowing congregations but they don’t real get church growth because very few people actually get their miracles. Miracles are proportional to the anointing and faith that is on the person who is ministering. And because Jesus anointing and faith was without limits the miracles and healing were without limits. But this is not the case with most ministers of the gospel.

The bible tells us that when Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them, the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. But what do we see amongst our big- name preachers or with pastors of super churches, not many genuine miracles of the paralyzed and lame healed and unclean spirit cast out of possessed ones? And even when some are miraculously healed it’s only a very small percentage - unlike in Jesus day where all were healed?

It also seems that the many prominent ministers are more interested in adding people to their mail list to increase their monthly revenue and to really see the people healed and delivered. In one church we attended where there was a revival flowing, the pastor was pushing to have a new church built when there was only a trickle of the river of the Holy Spirit flowing in the church. He seemed to be interested more in having a good time and joy from the revival than in seeing the sheep made whole, blessed, healed and delivered. The sheep were the least of his concern but the building of a new church was his greatest concern. Obviously he was using the revival to push his main hidden agenda to be a pastor of a super church while hiding the fact that he didn’t real love and have compassion for his sheep. And the sad reality is there are many pastors whose primary desire is to see the prosperity of the building program rather than the prosperity of the sheep. Shepherds are called first to feed the sheep not themselves nor to building mausoleums to their name!

There is also current trend among our big-name preachers while to expound on financial prosperity and make great promises about a hundred or thousand fold return by God on the giving of the sheep. Yet many of these same preachers don’t expound on having integrity, renouncing sins, seeking God for wisdom, walking in obedience to His word, praying continually and laying down your life for others as Jesus did. And none of these preachers will disclose their own total compensation, never mind their personal income tax but they will tell you:

"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." Luke 6:38

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 1:2

In other words if you give your tithes only to their special unique anointed impotent ministry God will ensure that you prosper in all things for with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you? Hogwash! Have you ever met a person you became super rich by giving to a ministry? Of course not!

The first criteria that has to be met to be blessed by God is to have your soul prospering before God. In the underlying Greek, the word "prosper" means "to succeed in reaching." In other words, to succeed in reaching your business or financial objectives, you must first succeed in reaching God; i.e., to be diligently seeking Him for wisdom, walking in obedience to His word, and having an intimate relationship with Him in terms of prayer, fellowship, etc. On every broadcast that I have watched, the preachers have continually roused the crowds with stirring messages on how your money is coming, but not once have I heard them tell the listeners to renounce sins, become more committed to their prayer and study, or other admonitions to spiritually prepare themselves for their blessings. If we are to expect God to bless us, we can only expect Him to do so if we are living in obedience to His word. You have to understand that the enemy will entice us to run after filthy lucre, using it as bait to cause us to backslide, while God wants to bless us but cannot unless we meet his standards.

…When you are consumed with building funds, playing with the big boys, and conferences in which tens or hundreds of thousands are collected from people who want a quick fix to properity, you can only preach what you crave. Where is the cry for holiness? Where is the cry for unsaved souls, the restoration of the family, the end of crime and the return of America to God? Because they aren't hearing God's cry for a return to our first love, and are consumed with wealth, they can only preach what they live.

I Timothy 6:10 states: "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." I am not stating that the people involved are false preachers, but I believe that by omitting the biblical criteria for prosperity, and by preaching nothing else, they are erring from the faith. This is dangerous, because it is providing an unbalanced foundation to many people who are attending or watching these conferences. It also hinders the faith of those who never prosper as they expected, making them feel that they haven't been blessed because they are unworthy.

Believers, if we become consumed with the love of material wealth without any desire to draw closer in relationship with God, we are subject to the same downfall as Satan. Just as his heart was lifted up as he looked at his precious covering, we may have the same iniquity in our hearts as we don our fir coats, place on our jewelry and drive our fancy cars. We must remember the rich man who hoarded up wealth, filling his barns and never seeking to bless others, finally reaching a point where God said, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Beloved, let us run from this commercialized, whorish gospel and return to those things that are balanced in scripture. When and if God wants us to prosper, He will do it when we are able to handle it without backsliding, and it will not just be financially, but in every area of your life! Amen!