They do not seek the God of the bread. They seek the bread of God.

They do not desire the Giver. They desire the gifts.

This is the tragedy of a generation taught to pursue God’s benefits without pursuing God Himself. Many come to God for what His hands can provide, but they have little or no desire for the God whose hands provide it.

This is why many return to their former lives after receiving what they came for. Like a dog returning to its vomit, they return to the very things from which they once appeared to have escaped.

A selective message cannot produce complete discipleship.

If the primary reason you attend a gathering is merely to receive what is being offered, rather than to seek God Himself, then your heart must be examined.

The greatest pursuit of every believer must be God Himself.

It is those who genuinely seek the living God who will discover the treasures hidden in Him.

As the Scripture declares:

«“Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9»

A selective gospel will attract those who want the benefits of the Kingdom without the demands of the Kingdom. It attracts the tares and the goats, but not the wheat and the sheep, because they are unwilling to obey the Word of God and follow the steps of Christ.

Seek the whole counsel of God.

Do not seek only deliverance while rejecting holiness.

Do not seek prosperity while rejecting righteousness.

Do not seek healing while rejecting repentance.

Do not seek the gifts while rejecting the Giver.

Do not seek the additions while rejecting the Kingdom.

Do not seek the promises while rejecting the conditions attached to walking with God.

Seek God.

Seek His Kingdom.

Seek His righteousness.

Seek the whole counsel of God.

For only the whole counsel of God can prepare a soul, not merely for temporary comfort on earth, but for eternity with Christ.

Even when you are given a ministry to operate, that ministry must remain within the Church. It must not become an excuse to build a church around your gift, establish a following, and begin collecting tithes and offerings in the name of the church.

Your followers will not grow by preaching selectively. A believer can only attain spiritual maturity through the whole counsel of God.

You cannot feed a soul with one doctrine and expect it to become spiritually complete.

I have never seen a prophet in either the Old or New Testament who carried a selective message. They did not preach only what people wanted to hear. They confronted sin. They called people to repentance. They demanded obedience. They proclaimed righteousness. They revealed the counsel of God.

They preached the whole counsel of God.

But today, some ministers select the aspect of the gospel that attracts crowds, generates offerings, builds a following, or establishes their name.

Some preach deliverance without holiness.

Some preach prosperity without righteousness.

Some preach miracles without repentance.

Some preach blessings without obedience.

Some preach the gifts while directing the people’s hearts away from the Giver.

That is not the pattern of Scripture.

And when a ministry is built on a selective message, it eventually reaches a point where the minister must manufacture something to keep the people coming.

Some begin to introduce substitutes for the finished work of Christ. Others return to the very powers they once claimed to have cast out. They become entangled with marine influences and begin using water for deliverance.

As a result, the attention is gradually diverted from God to the power supposedly operating through the minister.

This is one of the things Satan seeks to accomplish in a ministry: to shift the people’s confidence from God to the vessel, from Christ to the minister, from the Word to manifestations, and from the finished work of Christ to substitutes.

A ministry that makes the minister the centre has already departed from the purpose of ministry.

Those who build their ministries on a selective message cannot truly grow, and neither can their members. They will continue running in circles because they have refused the complete counsel that produces complete spiritual growth.

Eventually, they must find new attractions, new manifestations, new doctrines, and new substitutes simply to retain the people.

But a minister who preaches the whole counsel of God will never exhaust his message.

Why?

Because the God he preaches is eternal.

His Word is inexhaustible.

His wisdom is unsearchable.

His counsel is infinite.

The source never runs dry.

Such ministers become carriers of the living water whose source never runs dry, as long as their relationship with the Spirit of God remains unbroken.

They do not need to manufacture manifestations to remain relevant. They do not need to constantly invent new doctrines to retain followers. The living God is their source, and the Word of God remains eternally relevant.

But those who follow a selective message expose the condition of their hearts. They serve God because of one thing or another. Their faith is tied to what they can receive from Him.

If they do not receive the provision they seek, their faith begins to collapse.

If the miracle does not come, they become offended.

If the healing does not come, they question God.

If the prosperity does not come, they lose interest.

If the deliverance does not come, they seek another altar.

This reveals that they were not seeking God. They were seeking what they could get from God.

But God is not looking for people who will serve Him only because of what He can provide.

God seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.

He seeks those who will serve Him because He is God.

He seeks those who will remain faithful whether they receive or do not receive what they desire.

He seeks those whose confidence is not in His gifts, but in Him.

The greatest gift is not what God can put into your hands.

The greatest treasure is God Himself.

Therefore, seek God.

Seek His Kingdom.

Seek His righteousness.

Seek His whole counsel.

Do not settle for a selective gospel.

Do not build your faith around what God can give you.

Build your faith around who God is.

For He is worthy to be served, worthy to be obeyed, worthy to be worshipped, and He alone has the words of eternal life.

Prayer: Father lord, reveal yourself to your church, so they won’t substitute you for your gifts, in Jesus’ name, amen.