Seven Dangerous Spirits: Series 4

Introduction

In our previous posts, we have been on a mission of exposing the seven dangerous spirits that have made you a slave in your father’s kingdom and have acted as the hindrance to the achievement of your divine purpose here on earth. The seven dangerous spirits are what stand between you and your desired future, where you do the things that make you happy and you are able to develop productive and healthy relationships between you, God and other people. This post zero in on the spirit of greed. Majority of people and I am not saying you are one them are under the strong hold of the spirit of greed and the sad thing is that they are not even aware of it and therefore, they do not do anything to counter this dangerous spirit. So, what is the spirit of greed and how does it present?

Spirit of Greed

The spirit of greed is motivated by selfishness, where a Christian believes or at least they convince themselves that they are the only people who ought to have the best things in life and nobody else.

Ø  The wages of the spirit of greed is death and in Acts 5:1-8, Ananias and Saphira met their sudden death because they thought they could lie to the servant of God Peter and even steal from God and keep the portion of what they had sold, to themselves. The spirit of greed compelled them to keep what did not belong to them, which ultimately killed them.

Ø  Greed and death are friends and In 2 Kings 5:19-, under the spirit of greed, Gehazi, Elisha’s servant could not help himself but to go ahead and take Naaman’s gift and hide them in his house not knowing that Elisha’s spirit was with him when he was carrying out his greedy act. Gehazi’s greed attracted a curse of leprosy not only on himself but also on his descendants forever! Be Warned, your greed shall ruin your life and that of your children, grandchildren up to the fourth generations. Is this worth it? To lose your life and soul for money and things that can disappear in a snap of a finger? Desire to overcome this spirit in order to enjoy God’s splendor

Ø  As highlighted in Joshua 7:41, the spirit of greed is a fertile ground for covetousness, where as a Christian you have strong desire to possess things that belong to other people and even God. Driven by the burning intensity of the spirit of greed, Achan took God’s devoted things as his own including a beautiful robe from Babylonia, 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels. His greed made the Lord’s anger burn against Israel, with about 36 of them dying in war.

Ø  When you get your wages or salary and you eat the 10% that God has commanded you to take to His house, you literally are under the attack of this dangerous spirit and are in fact, stealing from God and using what belong to God as yours. Woe unto you brethren, because you cannot obtain the next level of blessings and favor!

Ø  It is only believers under the spirit of greed that asks what the church and other people can do for them and they never care to ask themselves what they can do for the church and other people. It is always about, I, I, I, ME, ME, ME, ME! 

Ø  Such Christians are so drunk with the spirit of greed, they will go ahead and leave a church because they do not understand how the money in the church is being used (because they cannot believe the pastor deserve to be in charge of all that money; never mind they are lousy givers in the house of God) or when they feel they are not receiving enough attention. Beware when you obtain the recognition from people for what you do for God that is your reward! And forget about God blessing your life or getting a crown in heaven.

Ø  When a Christian is under the spirit of greed, they do not only pursue material wealth, they also seek status such as positions of leadership, so that they can be better placed in obtaining the attention, status and even resources that comes with that position. We see such believers in the church every day (you are nodding your head right now because you already know someone like that)

Ø  A believer under the attack of the spirit of greed suffers from discontentment. When oppressed by this spirit, you will not only seek to have everything for yourself but also, you will go to extreme lengths such as hurting others (including your family and friends) to get more, even when you do not need more. This is well illustrated by David’s action to take on Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, when he had many wives, concubines and even more wealth to find other women to marry if he wanted to. In 2 Sam 11: 1-27, 2 Sam 12:8 ‘…And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.’

Ø  As earlier discussed, the seven dangerous spirits are door openers and they open doors to other evil spirits. When David allowed in the spirit of greed in his life, the spirit of greed opened up the door for death and sexual sin in not only in David’s life but also, in his children’s life with his first child with Bathsheba dying, Absalom taking his father’s concubines and having sex with them on top of the palace in public view of all Israel, Absalom killing Amnon and later being killed and Amnon, David’s son sleeping with his step sister Tamar.

Ø  When under the attack of the spirit of greed, you will tend to overlook other people’s interests and will only be concerned with achieving your own self interests.

In conclusion, you may be redeemed of Christ, baptized by many waters and be Holy Ghost filled but when you allow the spirit of greed to take control of your life, you are as good as a lost soul. However, there is hope. Simply, flee from greed by first accepting that you are greedy then begin being contented and appreciate others!