“With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk.”

People often wonder how seemingly normal — even highly intelligent — people get drawn into cults. The same can happen in churches led by dynamic leaders with shady or shaky motives. Over the years, I’ve watched both situations unfold far too often. Persuasive words are not necessarily good or bad in and of themselves. However, in the wrong mouth and from the wrong heart, they become poison. They suck the life out of a person’s soul and then, if that person survives, toss them to the curb — often never giving God’s true leaders a chance to speak His truth to their broken heart and spirit. It’s awful. Paul made it clear that he did not rely on persuasive or flashy speeches. He relied on demonstrations of God’s power to influence the lost toward God’s Kingdom. That way, it was the transformative power of the Holy Spirit changing a life — not superficial activities used to manipulate others. The humility in this reality is that we realize, as Paul and all the disciples did, that we can do nothing to change or rescue a person. Only God can do that — and our blessing is when He chooses to work in and through our broken selves.Today, get out of His way.#BeTheEdge

“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,” 1 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬