“Son you have been deceived.”
This short message came to me after praying for hours in the early morning of July 8, 1994. I knelt on the floor next to my bed in an upstairs bedroom of my two-bedroom townhouse apartment in Ames, Iowa.
The words were not the ones I longed to hear from the Lord at that particular moment. I hoped to hear about a miraculous deliverance, much like the Lone Ranger arriving on his white stallion, Silver, with the U. S. Cavalry riding alongside.
Those five words could have just as well been etched on my gravestone. They ripped my life to shreds. My prophetic calling, ministry, and finances died right then and there. Rigor mortis settled upon my dreams as I knelt on the carpet.
“Lord, I never wanted to be in this battle,” I said through sobs, not knowing what else to say. “The only thing I know for sure right now is You love me and Your grace is unending and sufficient, even for a loser like me. This means at some time in the future, You will deliver me out of this mess, but until then, I’ll learn how to lean on Your grace even more than I do now.”
Let me tell you, twenty-four years is a long time, especially when you consider I was forty-eight years old and physically strong on that morning. I’m now seventy-two years old. My youth has long since passed me by, along with the move of God I was a part of back then. All are forgotten yesterdays to most people, but not to me.
If the Apostle Peter’s worst day occurred when he denied Jesus three times, then this was my all-time worst day. Every bad day since then has been, at best, a little speed bump on the road of life compared to that day.
(Excerpt from The Hunt for Larry Who by Larry Nevenhoven, © 2014, Amazon eBook)
Cold shivers still run down my spine when I think about the Lord saying, “Son, you have been deceived.”
Yet at the same time, I praise God that my deception was unmasked before I stood face-to-face with Jesus at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Deceptions handled in my life here on earth are stepping stones to greater revelations of Jesus’ love and grace, ones that make me love Him even more.
But deceptions uncovered at the Judgment Seat will result in loss of rewards and position in the Millennial Kingdom and throughout eternity. Although the Lord would wipe away my tears of shame, I don’t want to ever hear Him say those words to me again.
My prayer today:
Lord, send Your light and truth to every LGBT believer, leading them to a life of holiness in You. (Based on Psalms 43:3)
What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?
Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for LGBT believers.
