The Creeper: The Watch Letter

Sometimes we focus on protecting ourselves from situations and people, but the one we need to protect ourselves from is in the mirror. We can be so concerned about someone taking money, things, opportunities, pride, recognition from us that we isolate. We become so internalized we aren’t paying attention when the creeper creeps into our homes/lives. Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn taught a while back that the creeper is a mindset/spirit called stingy (tightfisted, unwilling, reluctant to part with anything). Proverbs 28:22 says: He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

This reminds me of the cankerworm. Chief Apostle Gunn taught for decades that the cankerworm spirit wreaks havoc on your life, home and finances. When you try to keep everything to yourself, the cankerworm comes in. He destroys what you try to keep. It may come in the form of appliances or vehicles with unexpected, costly repairs or in the form of a sudden job loss or relationship destroyed. Things we don’t surrender to God and use for his kingdom will be destroyed. (Read Matthew 6:19-21.) As we head to 2023, let’s revisit a message Chief Apostle Gunn preached January 31, 2021. How far have we come in getting the creeper out since then?

Scripture Reference: Psalm 132

Chief Apostle Gunn said: You can have a stingy spirit that rules your family. He talked about how stinginess is like idolatry (an extreme love or reverence for something/someone). (Things or people we are selfish about become idols/gods to us.) Chief Apostle Gunn mentioned before that idolatry/stinginess are like a dog. In the Bible, a dog symbolized one who returns to their own vomit (in other words going back and ingesting what you’re used to, your own/old way, your wickedness.)

He said “idolatry develops cancer.” It’s as if the things/people we refuse to let go of poison our body. Cancer reminds me of the cankerworm because it destroys your life and beyond. Chief Apostle Gunn has taught that some illnesses are tied to wrong choices/actions. But like Jesus said when he healed others, if we repent and sin no more we can be made whole.

Chief Apostle Gunn reminded us: stinginess/idolatry means we’re not trusting God and not expecting his promises. We think our way is a shortcut to get the blessing instead of waiting on God. He said, “when God makes a promise to you, it’s for your grandchildren and great grands too.” It’s right there in Psalm 132.

He also said when God makes a promise, and we choose not to wait/do things our way, it's like “forfeiting your baseball contract just because you struck out.” God simply asks us to “be steadfast, firm and maintain our place with him." He said we have to remember, “God would not call you to do something you can’t do. It may be that you are unwilling, but you can still do it.”

Chief Apostle Gunn said David’s children/grandchildren “never had to lose their places.” But the creeper of stinginess/idolatry came in with some of David’s selfish choices (read about Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 and his children in 2 Samuel 12-17).

He said something so powerful: “Stop trying to live life and love your way. Stop trying to be a sorry billpayer or sorry married person your way.” (Our finances/careers/relationships/efforts mean nothing without God. Paying bills and pursuing relationships/success outside of his will profit nothing, especially if that’s all we care about.)

Here some life-changing points from the message:

Love God first before you love anybody.
We don’t have problems. We have solutions: All we have to do is decide to do what God says.
You can’t be a good leader unless you're willing to fast, give up food or anything/anyone.
Deny yourself of things. Stop everything and go after God.
Pretending doesn’t feel good (When we don’t go after the real God, we aren’t real). We end up “fake loving, fake being close, fake encouraging others.”