Message
Yesterday, I started sharing about the challenges of success, and I focused on pride. Today, I will look at another major challenge of success, which is the fact that everybody wants to be friends with the successful. When you are successful, you will have manypeople around you, and it will be difficult to tell those that have good intentions apart from those that do not.
The mere fact that you are at the top will attract many 'friends' to you. This is why you must be careful to put your trust in God and not man. Some people will do everythingto work their way into your heart just because of what they want to get from you. You will need the gift of discernment of spirits to know those that are genuine and those that are not.
In , Jonadab advised Prince Amnon like he really cared about him. Amnon went ahead and did as he advised. When the repercussion of that evil counselcame, Jonadab did not rise up to defend his friend; he was the one who went to announce Amnon's death to David (). He told the king, “Let the king cheer up, for Amnon only is dead.” If Amnon had been wise, he would have seen earlier that Jonadab was not a real friend. Real friends will not always say 'yes' to your desires.Sometimes, they will say 'no' because they care about you. When you have people who never tell you the hard truth and who will keep supporting you, even when you are clearly going the wrong way, run from such people.
The higher you go, the more careful you have to become in choosing the kind of people you allow into your life. If you are trying not to be lonely as you go higher, and youkeep many friends, you will end up having many with negative intentions around you. You should have fewer friends as you go higher, not because you don't like beingfriendly, but because you will discover that most people care more about what you can give them than who you are to them. As a result, your circle of friends shouldbecome really small as you advance in life. For example, I had more friends when I was not yet General Overseer than I have now.
Beloved, I pray that God will give you the grace to discern between those that are really your friends and those that are wolves in sheep's clothing.