Is life a self-fulfilling prophecy? According to the modern preaching of motivational speakers life is indeed a self-fulfilling prophecy. You determine the course in your life, you determine your future. If you only have the right attitude and think positively and speak and prophecy the right words, apply the correct formulas and methods, and follow the right steps, you can achieve all you want and have a successful and prosperous life on earth, without any resistance, difficulties, and obstacles. But is this what the gospel is about? Is this the life, Jesus Christ was speaking about and suffered and died for? Was this the purpose of Jesus’ crucifixion and raising from the dead? A life controlled by the flesh and focused on ‘self’ and fulfilling the will, lusts, and desires of the flesh? If this is the gospel, what did the apostles and disciples of Jesus in the Bible do wrong? Have they failed? Have they misunderstood the words of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ and adhered to a false gospel and lived outside the will of God? Or did they understand the words of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ and are we the ones, who are misled and live outside the will of God in a lie and adhere to a false gospel?
Faith in God or faith in yourself?
And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God (Mark 11:20-22)
Because of the fact that many Christians are not born again and don’t put off the old man but stay carnal, the preaching of the gospel has been affected and defiled by the carnal doctrines of the world, which derived from the darkness (Read also: How to put off the old man?)
Because of that, the same spirits that reign in the world, reign in the lives of many Christians, who together are the church.
We see, among others, the influence of the new thought, new age, and (ancient) Eastern philosophies and religions in the church, that slowly have drawn the people away from God and have caused the Christians to become independent of God and made themselves gods of their lives (Read also: New age in the church?, The occult church and Can you separate the spiritual aspect from Eastern religions and philosophies?).
They piously use the Name of Jesus and say that you need God and can’t live without God and should trust Him.
But if that would be true and if they would really believe this, then you wouldn’t need the right words, techniques, and methods to achieve the desired result.
Because your faith wouldn’t be in speaking the right words and applying the right methods and strategies and following the right steps, but your faith would be in God and in the Name of Jesus Christ and in His authority, which you have received from the Father in Christ, through His perfect work of redemption (Read also: A technical faith).
Instead of being controlled by the Spirit and walking by faith in Christ from their position in Him, representing, preaching, and establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, they are controlled by the flesh and walk after the flesh, according to learned methods and techniques.
Instead of living by the law of the Spirit that revolves around Jesus Christ and His Kingdom, they live by the law of attraction (that derives from the ‘new thought’ movement) that revolves around ‘self’ (themselves) and their kingdom, and by applying the right words and techniques and methods, they draw all the happiness, success and wealth to themselves.
Is life a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Life is like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you only have the right mindset and think positively and visualize your dreams and desires and speak them out loud (because affirmations will enhance your visualization) and believe and expect them, then nothing is impossible for you and your surroundings and you can manifest everything you want in life.
Yes, you can achieve whatever you want and receive all the positivity you desire, as long as you think positively and visualize the right things and believe them and commit to them.
And so, through manipulative powers and sorceries, from the flesh, words, techniques, and methods are applied by both the world and the church to bring prosperity, wealth, and success to yourself. Because that’s what their hearts go out to and that’s what it’s all about; ‘self’.
Do you need God for that? No, you only need faith in yourself; faith in your words, faith in your thoughts (mind), faith in your ability, and faith in your works.
Does it work? If it works for the world, it also works for those, who say to be Christians but are worldlike and therefore live like the world.
Those, who belong to the world, belong to the devil and are carnal and shall use the power of the devil and carnal methods and techniques to fulfill the will, lust, and desires of the flesh.
It is often thought that the devil has no power, but that is not so. Look at Jesus, who could have had all the kingdoms and riches of the world, if Jesus would only have bowed down and worshiped the devil (Matthew 4:8-10, Luke 4:6-8).
But Jesus didn’t belong to the world and was not focused on Himself. Jesus was not self-absorbed and wasn’t tempted by the words of the devil and the riches of the world, contrary to many Christians, who are only focused on the riches of the world. Jesus loved the Father and stayed faithful to His words and His will and had another purpose to fulfill (Read also: I will give you the riches of the world).
Motivational preachers speak from a carnal mind for carnal people
Many motivational preachers say indirectly through their sermons that the prophets of the Old Covenant and the apostles and disciples of Jesus of the New Covenant had a wrong mindset and spoke the wrong words and didn’t prophecy the right way, and because of their negative words and their false prophesying, they brought mischief upon themselves. But is that true?
Did the prophets in the Old Covenant and the disciples of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant have a wrong mindset and did they speak the wrong words? Would their future and their final destination and the way the died and the future of God’s people be different if they had spoken positive words and prophecied differently? Did they do something wrong?
No, the only thing they have done, was that they didn’t love their own lives, but they loved God above all and therefore submitted themselves to God and His Word and listened to Him and believed and obeyed His words.
Their lives didn’t revolve around themselves and fulfilling their own will, dreams, lust, and desires. They had laid down their lives, so that they were able to do the will of God and establish His Kingdom of earth.
They were not conformed to the world, but their mind was renewed by the Word of God and they followed the Word and the Holy Spirit in their lives. They didn’t do anything in their own power, but they walked in the power of God and exalted and glorified Jesus Christ and the Father through their lives. Their lives were a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God.
The prophecies of God in the Old Covenant
When we look at the prophets in the Old Covenant, who were appointed by God, and look at what they prophesied, we can conclude that the prophets of God were not always loved. That’s because the prophets of God prophecied from the will of God and not from the will of man. Because of that, they not always spoke the words people wanted to hear and didn’t prophecy according to the will of man, instead, they spoke hard words and confronted the people with their evil works and called them to repentance, and prophecied setbacks and mischief, and spoke negatively about future events.
Unlike, the false prophets, who were not appointed by God, but were loved by the people, because they spoke positive words and prophesied prosperity and peace and that was exactly what the people wanted to hear.
However, their words didn’t originate from God, but derived from their own carnal will, dreams, desires, and insights.
In the Old Testament, we read frequently about false prophets, who prophesied visions from their own heart and lied and denied the Lord.
They spoke peace to the people that despised the Lord (what they showed by walking in disobedience to His words and will).
And they said to those, who walked after the imagination of their own heart, that no evil would come upon them. But they prophesied lies.
These prophets spoke positively and prophesied wonderful, hopeful, promising, and encouraging things, but the Lord said, that He had not spoken these words and that the words didn’t come out of the mouth of the Lord.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the Lord. They have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them (Jeremiah 5:11-14)
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings (Jeremiah 23:16-22)
The prophecies of Jesus Christ
Jesus also spoke the words of the Father, which derived from His will. Therefore Jesus didn’t always prophesy what the people wanted to hear.
The people loved Jesus because of the signs and wonders, since Jesus gave what the people wanted.
But as soon as Jesus began to speak to them and oftentimes spoke confrontational correcting words, the people turned away, since they didn’t want to hear the hard words, which Jesus spoke.
The words of Jesus called the people to repentance and change their lives and many people loved their lives and didn’t want to change their lives (a.o. John 6:60).
Jesus walked in the will of God and spoke the words of God.
The will of God is not the will of the old man, since the old man has the (sinful) nature of the devil and not the nature of God.
Therefore, the words and prophecies, which derive from God are not always the prophecies that carnal people want to hear
Jesus prophesied with what kind of death Peter would glorify God
Imagine, how Peter must have felled, when Jesus told Peter not only about his ministry and the way he had to go, but also about what kind of death Peter would die. These were not positive words of Jesus. It wasn’t a wonderful encouraging prophecy and a pleasant outlook for Peter. But these words did originate from God and were the truth.
God revealed with what kind of death Peter would exalt and glorify Him. And the words of God came to pass in Peter’s life.
Peter, who was full of the Holy Spirit stayed faithful to his Lord Jesus Christ unto death. Peter died as a martyr and exalted God with his death (John 21:15-19).
Jesus showed Paul, how much he had to suffer for His Name
But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me (Acts 26:16-18)
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he (Paul) is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My Name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake (Acts 9:15-16)
Although Paul was a chosen vessel and was appointed as a minister and witness of Jesus Christ and to bear His Name, the prophecies he received were not always positive and encouraging. Jesus had shown Paul how much he had to suffer for His Name’s sake.
The prophecies of the Holy Spirit
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:22-24)
Even the words and prophecies of the Holy Spirit are not always positive and wonderful, since they also derive from the will of God.
The prophecies, which Paul received from the Holy Spirit were not so positive. In every city, the Holy Spirit witnessed to Paul that bonds and affliction abode him.
The Holy Spirit had not only shown to Paul what was ahead of him in Jerusalem, namely bonds and affliction, but the Holy Spirit had also shown this to others.
Paul had the ability to do the will of the flesh and not go to Jerusalem and avoid the bonds and affliction.
But Paul, who was bound by the Spirit was not moved by the bounds and afflictions and didn’t count his life dear unto himself.
Paul had laid down his life out of love for Jesus Christ and the Father, so that Paul could finish his course with joy and the ministry that Paul had received of the Lord Jesus Christ to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Paul didn’t listen to the flesh and the counsel of his brethren, who tried to prevent him from going to Jerusalem, but Paul chose to obey the Holy Spirit and to do the will of God, which had become his will.
And so Paul went to Jerusalem, knowing what was ahead of him.
Here too is the love of God revealed, that God revealed His plan to Paul and the others, in order to prepare him for what was coming, by which Paul knew that it was the will of God and that he lived in His will.
God prophesies from His will and not the will of man
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:19-21)
And God still does this. God still prophesies through the Holy Spirit from His will and not from the will of people.
God still makes His plan known to the Church, the assembly of believers, and prepares the Church for what is coming.
The old carnal man, who belongs to the world, may not consider the prophecies of God as positive and as coming from God, but as negative and as coming from the devil and therefore reject them. Because according to the mind of the old man and the image he has of God, God doesn’t prophecy evil and mischief but only prosperity.
But what about the Book of Revelation?
The prophecies for the Church
The prophecies of God edify, exhort and comfort the Church and ensure that the believers keep walking in His will (a.o. 1 Corinthians 14:3-33).
The prophecies of God ensure that the believers, who are the Church, grow up into spiritual maturity and become spiritually strong, awake, watchful, and resilient, so that when storms and persecution will come, they shall stand in the faith and stay faithful to Jesus Christ and don’t become discouraged, because they know that it is the will of God and therefore they stay encouraged and go through it with Him.
Therefore, don’t despise the prophecies of God but accept them as the truth and submit to Him by being obedient to His words. Don’t speak your own words that derive from your own desires, dreams, will, and insights, but speak the words of God that derive from the will of God, so that you shall not please yourself, but please God with your life.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
