It is not every promotion that comes from God.  Every Pastor or Prophet who rises is not from God. There are many who rise in our midst looking very blessed, be it at work, in the family or in ministry causing some to wonder why God is not blessing them in the same way, yet this ascension to the top may not be from God.

The lust of the eyes will cause many in these last days to reach for the top through ungodly means and compromises just so that they can quickly attain what they perceive God to be slow in delivering. For some, the pride of life will cause them to desire things out of God’s timing. Although God has a plan to bless each of His children, we sometimes go ahead of this plan because the process within Gods plan calls for much humility, patience, perseverance causing us to look like we are a failure compared to others. Comparison is a weapon fashioned by the enemy to push believers out of God’s perfect plan and timing. We seek certain achievements because of what we see that others have and our motives become corrupted as we are no longer driven by Godly purpose but by satanic desire to overtake others and be seen at the top. This was the same thing that Lucifer desired, where God planted him was not sufficient, he saw it as too small and acted on his desire to get to the top through unscrupulous means. He believed he could be like the most high God and was blinded to the truth of the beautiful plan God had for him. (Isaiah 14:14)

I have observed that many in the body of Christ get absorbed by this luciferian spirit and driven by the satanic desire to seize what may either be out of God’s timing or completely out of His plan for them. This spirit attacks the order that God has ordained for us to follow in reaching our divine purpose. It reveals the corruption in our hearts and while we may be the envy of many and appear to be attaining great blessings, the power behind this all may be the devil himself.

Everything that looks like a blessing is not a blessing. Everyone that appears to be blessed may not blessed. If the road to your “blessing” is riddled with ungodly methods, disobedience, pride, theft and other sinful acts, then it may be a sign that your promotion is not from God but rather from the devil. Yes, the devil promotes. He is looking for as many as possible to follow in his footsteps in disobedience to God’s divine plan. If you have the wrong desire in your heart (James 1:14), he will use it to lure you into ungodly promotion and if you fall for this, you would have just worshiped the devil. It is an old trick in his books which many believers don’t realize. He offered Eve the opportunity to be like God (Gen 3:5) and she fell for this bringing down all of mankind. He will offer you the world. He even tried to promote Jesus Christ. (Matthew 4:8-9) Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Many times, the challenges you face and the time it is taking to achieve your goals may be a sign that you are actually on God’s timetable. You are being processed in order to have the maturity needed to handle the blessing from God at the right time. The enemy will raise you up with less obstacles than what it sometimes takes to remain in the plan of God. His intention is to raise you quickly to that pinnacle from which he can bring you down to a fall. Let us watch against this subtle deception by the enemy to attain higher heights at all cost. Let us rather respond to this temptation like Jesus did in Matthew 4:10 by first of all recognizing where this desire is coming from and secondly by saying “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Keep serving God diligently and  in His perfect time, He will raise you to a place of true blessing. (Eccl 3:11)In His time He makes all things beautiful!