Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

It is not grace, humility, or courage when a woman stands before you in spite of her insecurities, doubts, and fears, believing God has given her a word for you through her own experiences. She may be gentle in tone. She may push past her discomfort and speak what she feels you need. But she believes her experiences have granted her special revelation from God, revelation other women need.

She is not prepared to stand before you, open the text, exegete it, and submit herself to what God has said. Instead, she brings her experiences to Scripture and seeks her own word from God, her own revelation. She is ready to exegete her life and then use Scripture to support it.

By the time she steps behind the podium, she has already gained your trust. She is introduced as anointed, as powerful, as one to whom God has given a special word just for you. Every part of the introduction directs your heart away from the more sure Word of God and toward her, toward the idea that she uniquely hears from God, that she carries an anointing not given to you, that she has access to something you do not. You are told you must not miss it. If you are absent, you will miss what God is doing.

Consider the implication.

God is now giving her revelation He withheld from the church for two thousand years. Revelation withheld from His bride today. Revelation available only to those present to hear what she has to say. You feel special. You were told not to miss it. Your expectations are high. When she delivers that word, and perhaps individual words she claims God has for certain women, you believe it. You do not test it. This is what you wanted. You are getting exactly what you asked for.

And it is not God.

It is not His Word.

She is scratching your itch.

That is not humility. It is pride. That is not faith in God. It is dissatisfaction with God and with what He has given. That is not courage. It is disobedience. That is not faithfulness. It is rebellion.

Many women look to other women for their stories, testimonies, and experiences, treating them as uniquely inspired and inherently revelatory. They are told these women carry a special anointing. Their suffering proves it. Opposition confirms it. The enemy is threatened by them, they are told, because they have a word for you and he is trying to silence them before it is delivered.

And you cannot see it.

Your eyes are not on Christ. Your heart is not satisfied with His Word. Your faith is not in Him. He is good, but not enough. You crave something more.

She is not leading you to Him. She is leading you away from Him. The more you listen, the more your heart turns against Scripture. The Bible becomes a prop, just as it is for her. You see it displayed on the podium, but you hear her heart exalted and interpreted. Her words must be received. They must be honored. They are called powerful because she is called anointed.

You are not following Christ. You are following false words from women who have deceived themselves. They believe they are humble and courageous, but they are prideful and disobedient.

Is His Word enough?

You say it is, but your life testifies otherwise. You are never satisfied with what He has said. You long for more.

And you will find it. You seek it. They provide it.

There is no shortage of those ready to lead your heart astray, and you love it.

Oh, that you would repent. Oh, that you would turn from every false word and every false teacher you love. Oh, that His Word would be enough. That you would sit under teaching where Scripture is opened, exposited, and applied, and where the Holy Spirit works through those ordinary, God ordained means.

It is painfully evident that many do not love His Word. They justify their sinful craving for more. They cannot endure sound doctrine. They will not tolerate it. And so they seek and find what their sinful hearts desire. They ask for their own word, and they get it. What God has given is not enough.

There is no shortage of false teachers and false prophets, and they are not only men.

There are many women teaching other women and leading them away from God. They are small group leaders, Sunday school teachers, prayer group leaders, women’s ministry coordinators. They speak often of faith. They are called powerful prayer warriors. They are said to have authority and anointing so special it draws crowds. And many are led deeper into deception, rebellion, and disobedience to the God they claim to love.

Their lives are marked by dissatisfaction with God and His Word, but you cannot see it. They are what you aspire to become. You want that anointing. You want that courage. You are willing to pay the price.

And it will cost you.

They make it sound worth it, to gain a greater anointing, to hear God continually, to speak new revelation. You do not realize that you stand not with Scripture or the true prophets, but among those Scripture warned the bride about. You are deceived and being deceived. You cannot see yourself rightly because God’s Word was never enough. You will not submit to its authority. You crave authority. You crave power. You crave anointing. You crave what she has.

You may obtain it.
The cost is far greater than you realize.
It is not worth it, but you are willing to pay the price.

Is that you?

Is He enough?
Is Scripture enough?
Will you repent?

Or will you despise such warnings and go harder into deception?

I pray you repent.