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Wolves among us

Wolves among us

2 Timothy 4:1-5    I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

I believe we are living in these days that Paul speaks of; the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Those days have truly been around since the beginning of time, for we are a world born into sin and all the traps of it. We seek to find all the pleasures in life that come with religions that promise worldly pleasures and, eternal life. That we are all good people and deserve all the good in life. We must understand that we are sinners, and that we are eternally lost without the only One whom can save us, Jesus Christ. You are not a sinner because you sin, you sin because you are a sinner. Christ provides you the means to justify you before a Holy God for that sin debt that we all must answer for; He has justified, or paid your debt by His death.

Many of today’s false prophets are simply wolves in sheep’s clothing. Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.” They come with promises of earthy blessings; of smoke and mirrors that tickle your fancy and get you to think you DESERVE all of it. They never preach of the truth of sin and hell, for that scares people and effects their pocketbooks. Anybody will listen to a sermon that makes them feel good, but who wants to hear a sermon that makes you squirm in your seat in the realization of your sin? There is power in that conviction, and in that power resides the Holy Spirit that is drawing you to eternal victory; not a temporal false pleasure for your short time here.

Something in me stirred this week with a new church I saw, Animation Church. I simply cannot get past the trouble I have with the name alone. Animation is make believe characters, a fantasy land of make believe where anything goes, including death and life. A world where there is no truth, but only what satisfies the current need. How boldly can they proclaim their heresy on the title of their building? “We will make it all up as we go, and make it all work out in the end.” These are the days that Paul speaks of. There is the need for you to draw near to God and the things of God every day in His Word and prayer. This will provide you the discernment that you need to not be devoured by one of these wolves that are among us today.

 
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Posted by on May 30, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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A Choice: God’s Word or TV

A Choice: God’s Word or TV

1 John 4:4-6     You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

John is speaking directly to the false teachers of the day. Those that had divided the Word, and transformed it unto their liking. They had mangled it into a blend of philosophies and religions, and twisted it into religions that suited lifestyles; religions that suited some, elevated others, but for the most part took Christ out of the picture. If He remained there, he had been transformed into differing ideals; not remaining the Incarnated Son of God that had come to save the world from sin. They had provided their concoctions that would, as the apostle Paul spoke of their ministries, teaching what people wanted to hear. 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

You are given the blessing of the Holy Spirit living inside of you, when you answer that call upon your life of the grace of God found in Salvation. The Spirit is your teacher; it is He who grants you the understanding of spiritual things. It is He inside you that makes you see things through your heart. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. It is He that makes you question, what you hear. That is the discernment of the Holy Spirit living inside you, and the greater discernment is cultivated by a heart that is in daily pursuit in God’s Word. There are many wolves in sheep’s clothing today preaching a blend of their own around the gospel of God. The prosperity preaching by so many elevated in today’s media has become the accepted normal. This blend of Christ and all the financial and material blessings he wants you to have, fit very well into the American society with the desire of excess.

The blessings that God intends for you are eternal; they are not money, houses, cars, vacations, power, and all the riches that are measured by the standards of this world. If you believe that you have been deceived by a false prophet. You may have come to find Christ, but you need to concentrate on following your Savior in the Word, and not the false preacher on TV. Pray for the Holy Spirit living inside you to open your eyes to God through His Word. You will find eternal riches in the peace that comes in the understanding of the Word. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. If you continue to feed yourself by sitting under the false teachers, you will only be led farther away in the opposite direction.

 
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Posted by on May 23, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Our Nation has become a missionary field

Our Nation has become a missionary field

2 Timothy 4:3-4   For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

Our country was at a crossroads, and yesterday the majority has spoken and selected our path. The path we have selected has changed the nations face for eternity. We were once founded on the principles of  “in God we trust”, and now we have turned our backs on God. Both choices left little hope for our nation, but the choice made went against Biblical doctrine in the support of abortion, homosexuality, and the sanctity of marriage. Our nation turned our backs on God and we will have to answer His call for judgement. Our once great nation has become a missionary field itself; a call for pastors and disciples to preach the truth at all costs; to go against society and point those lost to the err of their ways and the forgiveness in Christ.

Paul was warning Timothy of how his followers may go down the paths of whatever felt good. They would steer away from what they knew was right and the pain of it; to go listen to whomever made them feel good. They did not want to hear they were living in sin; they wanted someone to tell them it was ok. Apostasy can become the road you’re headed down when you start with denial of sin; and the eventual turning your back on the sin you have become convicted of. 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. Do you turn away from Christ when His Spirit living inside of you begins to prick at what you hold dear? Do you have the idea that God sees that you are a good person outside of that sin? Do you feel that the scales of good and evil weigh in your favor? No such scale exists.

Paul charged Timothy to preach the Truth at all costs. 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. Matthew Henry said, “Convince wicked people of the evil and danger of their wicked courses. Endeavour, by dealing plainly with them, to bring them to repentance. Rebuke them with gravity and authority, in Christ’s name, that they may take thy displeasure against them as an indication of God’s displeasure.” There is a call to all of Christ’s disciples to become missionaries in your own country now. We who profess Christ, must proclaim Christ to those He has placed in our circle of influence. Stand for Christ and be bold to point out the sin; and point out the forgiveness of that sin in Christ. There is only Good News if you know the bad news first.

 
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Posted by on November 7, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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