Seeking Good

  Seeking Good

“Seek good, not evil, that you may live.”

                                                         Amos 5:14

In the book of Amos God sends Amos to tell Judah that they were being Judged for their idolatry. Their covenantal unfaithfulness. Lack of social economic justice. Perversion of the law and sexual immorality. Along with oppression of the poor.

The simple message God gave to Amos back then is still relevant today. Our society and indeed many calling themselves Christians are committing the same sins Judah was back then.

Anyone claiming to be a true follower of Christ Jesus need to examine their life. They need to be asking themselves “Am I standing up for social and economic justice?” 

They need to ask themselves am I perverting the law and committing sexual immorality?

Am I oppressing the poor?

Not only should they be asking themselves these questions, but they need to ask themselves are the people I support be it pastors, evangelist, priests, or politicians doing things that God does not approve of?

Thus my question to you, Are you seeking good and not evil?

Please think about it. 

Walking in the light

 Walking in the light

The apostle John writes,

"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:5-7.

Do you truly walk in the light? Do those preachers, evangelist, teachers and even politicians you follow truly walk in the light?

I know that we are not to judge Jesus saying,

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Matthew 7:1.

We also must remember this is a scripture many false teachers hide behind. But the apostle Paul tells us,

“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?” 1 Corinthians 5:12.

Thus we have the right to judge anyone who claims to be a Christian to see if they are truly walking in the light. And teaching the word of God correctly.

That being said we should not go on a witch hunt looking to prove a particular preacher, teacher, evangelist or politician is not walking in the light.

We should however be praying for anyone who claims to be a Christian. Remember no one is perfect and we all make mistakes and from time to time need to repent of our sins.

At the same time we need to be looking particularly at those in authority who claim to be Christians. We need to see for ourselves if they are walking in the light.

The apostle Paul gives these guidelines 

“The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21.

Paul going on to tell us,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control....” Galatians 5:22, 23b.

Please think about it.

What will He say to you?

  What will He say to you?

Jesus said,

“Many will say to me  on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:22,23.

I look around North America where I live and particularly in the United States I see the so called Christian nationalist mixing their religious beliefs with their politics. Never a good thing. A wise man once wrote,

“Mixing religion of any kind with politics is like mixing gasoline and water. The gasoline is unusable and the water is undrinkable. And the whole mixture is explosive.” Anonymous.

A true Christian is an alien in this world. The apostle Peter writes,

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

Dear friends,

 I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2:9-12.

Peter makes it clear Christians are alien to this world. And that we are to preform “good deeds and glorify God...”

The apostle Paul tells us,

“We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.”  2 Corinthians 5:20.

We are God’s representatives on earth. 

While we may be citizens of the country we were born in. The moment we accepted Christ into our lives we were held to a higher standard. God’s standard. Thus everything we do should be for the glory of God. To draw people to Christ.

Sadly there are many men and women who upon standing before Christ will here the words,

“I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

They will here those words because they mixed there faith with their politics and other things.

Therefore if you consider yourself a Christian do what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy,

"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart" 2 Timothy 2:22

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."  2 Timothy 2:15.

Please think about it.

A recipe for a good life

  A recipe for a good life

The Psalmist writes,

“Come, my children, listen to me; 

I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 

Whoever of you loves life 

and desires to see many good days, 

keep your tongue from evil 

and your lips from speaking lies. 

Turn from evil and do good; 

seek peace and pursue it. 

                                           Psalm 34:11-14.

Is this you? 

Do you desire to see many good days? 

When people see your words and deeds do they see someone who fears The Lord. Who keeps your tongue from evil and speaking lies?

Do you do good and seek peace?

Please think about it.

Seek and Pursue

  Seek and Pursue

The Psalmist states,

"Come, my children, listen to me; 

I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 

Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 

keep your tongue from evil 

and your lips from speaking lies. 

Turn from evil and do good; 

seek peace and pursue it." 

                                                     Psalm 34:11-14.

Do you love life and desire many good days?

Next question. Do you keep your lips from lying?

                Do you turn from evil?

                                Do you seek Peace and Pursue it?

Please think about it.

I never knew you

  I never knew you

Jesus said,

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'  

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” Matthew 7:21-23.

If you consider yourself a Christian where do you stand with Jesus?

There are many pastors, evangelist, Christian teachers, and people who just sit in the pew who will hear the words, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.”

They will hear it for I believe two reason. Principally they only intellectually accepted Jesus. The simply believed he existed. They have never accepted Christ as their Saviour. Everything they have done is in their own strength.

Another reason, especially when it comes to pastors, evangelist and teachers they are simply charlatans out to get rich. They have twisted the word of God to their own ends.

They are not preaching the true gospel. They are as someone once said “out to flees the flock”. 

For anyone who considers themselves a Christian we need to look on the reasons we are following Christ. 

Additionally we need to be asking ourselves are the pastors, evangelist, and Christian teachers we follow truly teaching the word of God correctly?

The apostle Paul states,

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”  2 Timothy 2:15.

Are you and those pastors, evangelist and Christian teachers you support doing this?

Please think about it.

Return

  Return

In the book of Revelations we read,

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:  

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.  

You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.  

Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.  

But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." Revelations 2:1-7 

I was taught that the churches mentioned in Revelations can apply to not only a church congregation but to individuals as well.

Here we see that the church at Ephesus has persevered. 

That they cannot tolerate wicked men, 

That they have tested those who claim to be apostles who are not.

That they have endured hardship for the sake of Christ and not grown weary.

Yet it is pointed out that they have forsaken their first love.

This means they have forsaken Christ who should always be our first love.

There are many reasons Christians forsake their first love. They become lured by the ways of the world, money, possessions even the mixing of non-Christian philosophes.

Combining with Christian teaching, when this was never meant to be.

As believers in Christ Jesus we must look at what we believe and why we believe it. We must ask God to show us the error of our ways. Then repent and turn back to God.

Do you know what you believe and why you believe it?

Are you mixing other things with your Christian faith, things that are not of God?

Please think about it.

What is truth?

   What is truth?

In the gospel of John we read of Jesus standing before Pilatet to be judged. After a brief interchange with Jesus. Where upon he finds him not guilty of the charges against him Pilate asks...

"What is truth?..."John 18:38a.

It is a question we, when confronted with the story of Jesus must ask. Is what Jesus is saying truth or a lie?

The crowd that day that also included the religious leaders, didn’t want to here the truth. They wanted to put Jesus to death.

John records in Chapter 19: 1-16 that Pilate tried several more times to prevent the crucifixion of Jesus. All to no avail. Thus not wanting a rebellion on his hands he turned Jesus over to his persecutors to be put to death.

In the twenty-first century no matter where we live in the world we must decide for ourselves who Jesus is.

We must decide if Jesus is lying or not when He is recorded as saying,

"I and the Father are one." John 10:30.

We must ask ourselves is what Jesus states in John 14:8-10  true or not...

“Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 

Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? 

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father'?  

Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.  John 14:8-10.

We must ask ourselves if what Jesus said to Thomas is true,

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 

So who do you believe Jesus is?

Please think about it.

Hate evil Cling to what is good

 Hate evil Cling to what is good

The apostle Paul writes,

"Love must be sincere. 

Hate what is evil; 

cling to what is good.”

                               Romans 12:9.

I live in Canada but I see what is happening in the United States and cringe. I see that people calling themselves Christians supporting people who are obviously doing evil. And sadly it is slipping over the border. 

Christians should be looking to God. Because God is the absolute judge of what constitutes good and evil.

The apostle Paul writes,

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." Romans 12:18.

  Paul also wrote,

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  

This is good, and pleases God our Saviour" 1Timothy 2:1-3.

And remember this Paul wrote these words under the Emperor Nero who would eventually put him to death.

As Christians we are called to pray for our leaders not take sides in politics.

Someone has said “Mixing Politics and Religion is like mixing gasoline and water. The gasoline is unusable and the water undrinkable. 

We are called to call on God for wisdom. To live good lives. The apostle Peter stating, 

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2:11,12.

Sadly many calling themselves Christians are not following these words of Peter.

The late American Evangelist Billy Graham said,

"Those outside the church expect followers of Christ to live differently, yet today many in church are chasing after the world - not to win them, but to be like them." Billy Graham.

Those words are as true today as the were the day Billy Graham said them.

Thus the question becomes; If you consider yourself a Christian, are you truly following what is good or are you choosing to follow evil?

Please think about it.

Be very careful

Be very careful 

The apostle Paul wrote,

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,  treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

Within our multi-media world anyone can be made to look good. And sadly way to many Christians don’t check out the pastor, teacher or evangelist they are following. As a result too many Christians are following false teachers. I think this stems from the fact that the majority of Christians don’t study the Bible for themselves. Rather they rely on the preacher, teacher or evangelist they are following to speak the truth which may not always be so.

To avoid being fooled by false teachers it is important I firmly believe to study the scriptures for ones self. Additionally we should be listening to a wide range of Christian teachers. Whether we agree with them or not. 

If we disagree with a particular preacher, teacher of evangelist we should be asking ourselves why? Where is the Biblical evidence that a particular teacher is saying wrong things?

Please think about it.

A Time

  A time

Jesus said

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24.

There are many people within the church today who are simply following the ritual. They come to church simply because their parents or grandparents came. They know what to say and do while in church. 

These people however are simply going through the ritual they’ve been brought up on. They may seem like they have it all together but they don’t. They are not worshipping God in spirit and in truth. They are not worshipping God with their body, soul and spirit.

Are you?

Please think about it.

Itching ears

  Itching ears.

The apostle Paul wrote,

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  

They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4.

Standing on my perch here in North America, I am amazed what men and women calling themselves Christians are saying from the pulpit. They are mixing false statements with just enough Bible facts to make what they are saying sound good and thus leading people away from what the Bible truly states.

The famous evangelist Charles H. Spurgeon once said,

"A time will come when instead of the shepherds feeding the sheep. The church will have clowns entertaining the goats." Charles H. Spurgeon.

I have a unique perspective when it comes to clowns. For a large part of my life I was a clown/magician. I stood in front of crowds and in word and deed made everyone in that room think I was the biggest idiot in the room. Someone who could produce things out of thin air.

 It was a fun time in my life. One that taught me that people were easily fooled. 

People believed what they wanted to believe. All it took was fancy words and a little bit of misdirection. 

Thus it is within Christian circles today. With men and women claiming to be of God using fancy language and misleading actions to move people away from God.

Thus we as believers in Christ Jesus must be on our guard to see that we are not directed away from Gods truths.

Why not take time right now to evaluate the pastors and evangelist you listen to. Are they truly preaching the word of God?

Please think about it.

About truth

  About truth

John’s gospel records this interaction between Jesus and Pontius Pilot.

"You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." 

"What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.”  John 18:37, 38.

We live in a world today where people are twisting things. Where people calling lies truth and truth lies.

Jesus here is brought before Pilot on charges that He was calling himself a king. Jesus didn’t deny this. He however was not the kind of king his accusers were saying He was. His accusers were saying he was against the Roman government.

Pilot it seemed saw through this but for fear of insurrection he let the lie continue sentencing Jesus to death for a crime he did not commit. 

Today we need to be careful not to believe the lies we hear in the media and even from the pulpit. 

We remember that just because every one is parroting the lie doesn’t make it truth.

We need to remember to take time to pray believing that God will show us what is truth. Then stand up for the truth.

We must remember that the truth will aline with the Bible.

 So my question to you is are you standing up for truth or are you believing the lie?

Please think about it.

Advise from the apostle Paul

  Advice from the apostle Paul

Writing to Timothy the apostle Paul wrote,

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15.

This is all God asks of any Christian to do their best to present yourself to God as one of His workmen who correctly handles the truth of the Gospel.

As believers in Christ Jesus, we are Gods ambassadors. The apostle Paul writing,

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  

   We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.  2 Corinthians 5:18-20.

As Christians we have an obligation to present God in the best possible light. It’s that simple. We must not force our faith on anyone. Rather we must present what we believe in word and deed to those around us and let them decide for themselves if they wish to have Christ as part of their life.

Please think about it.

Are you doing your best?

  Are you doing your best?

The apostle Paul writing to Timothy wrote,

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15.

If you claim to be a Christian. A true believer in Christ Jesus are you doing your best to correctly handle the Gospel message?

As believers in Christ Jesus it is up to us to do our best to live a life in a way that glorifies Jesus.

We need to hold the scriptures with such high regard that we do our best never to misinterpret what those scriptures are saying.

We need to hold God and Jesus in high esteem. So much so that it hurts us when we see their names maligned in any way. Especially if that person claims to be a Christian.

We need to truly live in spirit and in truth what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy,

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2Timothy 2:15.

So are you doing your best? Are you a workman who is not ashamed of how you handle the word of truth?

Please think about it. 

How Certain are You?

 How Certain are you?

In the book of Hebrews we read,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  Hebrews 11:1

Here is a question for you. If you do not believe in God or the saving grace offered by Christ Jesus are you certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that God does not exist. Are you one hundred percent certain that Jesus is not Gods one and Only Son. The saviour of mankind.

The way I see it to be certain there is no God and that Jesus is not the saviour of mankind you would have had to been everywhere. And the one place no one living has been is beyond the grave. Thus God could and I believe is, waiting for you beyond the grave.

Not only that if we look carefully enough in this world we can see Gods handiwork in creation. The psalmist telling us,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands." 

                                                                    Psalm 19:1.

Jesus speaking of himself issued a warning saying,

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son". John 3:16-18.

Do you believe this statement of Jesus, or are you certain God and the eternal life with God offered by Jesus is false?

How certain are you?

Please think about it.

As Humanly Possible

  As humanly possible

“Many will say to me  on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  

Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:22,23.

I read an interesting statement from Lenny Bruce that read,

"Every day people are straying away from the church

 and going back to God. Really." 

                                                                       Lenny Bruce, "Religions Inc."

Another one by an unknown author read,

I believe in God; 

I just don't trust anyone who works for him.”

                                                                               Author Unknown.

Sadly these statements are true. They are showing that the words of the apostle Peter are coming true when he said,

"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.  

Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  

In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping."2 Peter 2:1-3.

Many of those false teachers here in North America hide under the freedom of speech laws. They say they have the right to say what they believe. Which according to law they do.

That being said I don’t feel the church is doing enough to denounce false teaching. The apostle Paul clearly stated,

"What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you." 1 Corinthians 5:12,13.

Thus my question to you. When you hear things you don’t feel are right, being said by a leader in your church or an evangelist do you (politely) question them about the false teaching?

Do you bring your questions to those in authority within your church congregation or denomination?

I firmly believe that we as believers in Christ Jesus have an obligation to preach and see that the gospel of Christ is preached in as pure a form as is humanly possible. For if it is not, it could have eternal consequences. 

What do you think?

Please think about it.

An approved workman

 An approved workman

The apostle Paul writing to Timothy states,

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 2Timothy 4:3,4.

This is happening today. I live in North America perhaps the freest place in the world. Men and women calling themselves Christians are not listening to the apostle Paul and presenting the word of God correctly. Instead they are turning away and misinterpreting the scriptures in a way that suits their own beliefs. 

In doing so they are giving true Christians and God a bad name. 

Non-Christians are at best confused. They don’t distinguish between a person calling themselves a Christian who misuses the word of God and those who correctly handle the word of God.

Sadly here in North America those who would misinterpret and preach false doctrine use freedom of speech laws to hide their wrong doing. Many even when corrected refuse to change.

The apostle Peter stated,

"Live as free men, 

but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; 

live as servants of God.” 

                                         1 peter 2:16.

If ever there was a time at least here in North America, for revival of the church it is now. The church and all those who consider themselves true followers of Christ Jesus need to turn back to the scriptures and interpret them correctly. 

They need to heed the words of the apostle Paul who wrote,

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15

Are you and the evangelist, pastors and religious leaders you listen to doing what Paul here in 2Timothy 2:15.

Please think about it.

Is John telling the truth?

  Is John telling the truth?

The apostle John writes,

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  

The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  

We write this to make our joy complete." 1John 1:1-4.

John makes it clear that he was writing his letter to tell about all he heard and all he had seen with his own eyes about Jesus.

John in his writings makes it clear he believes Jesus is the Son of God. That he is God incarnate. In his gospel he writes about Jesus whom he calls the Word saying,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  

He was with God in the beginning. 

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  

In him was life, and that life was the light of men....

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1:1-4,14.

According to John Jesus created all things. He makes it clear that “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” 

John is clear that the creator of the world became flesh and dwelt among mankind. That he has seen “the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

That being said. Here is something to think about.

If what John is saying here is a lie. Then it is the greatest lie ever in the history of humanity. A lie that three billion people plus in the world today believe. And billions of people have gone to the grave believing.

For me I believe what a person believes about Jesus has eternal consequences.

As the same time I cannot force what I believe on anyone. Everyone must decide for themselves what they believe about Jesus. All I would ask however is that before anyone makes a decision about Jesus, is that they at least read the New Testament.

Please think about it.

False Christs

 False Christs 

Jesus said,

"For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.  

See, I have told you ahead of time. 

"So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. Matthew 24:24-26

As Christians we need to be on guard against false prophets and teachers, whom Jesus said “will perform great signs and miracles”

In my lifetime which now spans in excess of sixty years many false teachers have arisen leading people astray. Many times with tragic consequences. This is also true throughout the history of the church.

Sadly many Christians are easily fooled. They tend to be trusting to the point that they give anyone who claims to be Christian the benefit of the doubt. As a result many are led astray. 

The best way for a believer in Christ Jesus to know who to follow is through prayer and bible study. 

Prayer brings us closer to God. While bible study fills us with knowledge about God. The two compliment each other.

  When we pray we should also ask God to give us wisdom about the scriptures and how it relates to us and the world around us. That way we will not be led astray.

Thus my question to you the reader is; do you pray and study the Bible at least daily? OR do you simply trust anyone who claims to be a Christian? 

Please think about it.