At His Feet

8/28/2020:

1 John 4:1-3
My dear friends, many false prophets are in the world now. So don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God. This is how you can recognize God's Spirit. One spirit says, "I believe that Jesus is the Messiah who came to earth and became a man." That Spirit is from God. Another spirit refuses to say this about Jesus. That spirit is not from God. This is the spirit of the enemy of Christ. You have heard that the enemy of Christ is coming, and now he is already in the world.

4:4-6
My dear children, you belong to God, so you have already defeated these false prophets. That's because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. And they belong to the world, so what they say is from the world too. And the world listens to what they say. But we are from God. So the people who know God listen to us. But the people who are not from God don't listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit that is true and the spirit that is false.

God sees the hearts of men. He sees who speaks truth and who doesn't. The question that lies with me, is how can I know if a person is speaking the word of truth as it is and who is twisting God's words and taking it out of context.

I know I had a dream where I was at a huge church: a church where I only watched online. However, in my dream, I went to that church in person for the first time and the preacher had a guest speaker. That guest speaker was a false teacher: They twisted the bible - taking it out of context - and they swore up and down like crazy, only to hype the crowd but not really teach. I felt unsettled in that place, dirty actually. When I woke up, that dream still disturbed me.

I bring that dream up because this is a time where anything sounds good. Our ears get tickled too easily. The word of truth is quickly getting thrown out the windows in churches and people who are supposed to teach soundly, replace it with bright lights, a big stage, and teachings that tickle the crowds.

It reminds me of when the Israelites was in the dessert. While Moses was up in the mountain, getting the commands of God (the words of God), the people turned to Aron (Moses brother) and made him make a golden calf for them to worship. Now, Aron was supposed to be a priest: that is the job God gave him and his family. So he should have told the people no and to only worship God. Instead, Aron gave into the crowd. He threw away the truth for a hollow lie.

That is why we can't always listen to people preach. A lot of people I know don't read the bible. They don't seek God and because of that, they are perishing. They want it easy and convenient; by that, I mean they just sit and listen to the pastor speak but never look into the word of truth to test what the speaker says.

"My people are destroyed because they have no knowledge. You priests have refused to learn, so I will refuse to let you be priests for me. You have forgotten the law of your God, so I will forget your children." - Hosea 4:6

A sure fire way to know if someone is speaking from God or not is to READ THE WORD! Dig into the bible, seek God in prayer and fasting. Get close to God and test if the person is speaking the scriptures in context.

Those who are from God, they have authority in their preaching and Jesus said that His sheep knows His voice. What I mean is, they don't need a stage with fancy lights and up-to-date technology to bring in a crowd. When God speaks through a person, a true believer can't help but listen. The Spirit of God acknowledges Christ: He says, Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. That is how we know they are from God:

Only by the Holy Spirit can anyone say Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It is by God, the Holy Spirit that we acknowledge Christ, in other words.

So I tell you that no one who is speaking with the help of God's Spirit says, "Jesus be cursed." And no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," without the help of the Holy Spirit. - 1 Corinthians 12:3

If a person does not acknowledge Christ as Lord, as God's Son. As the only way to God the Father and our Salvation - then you might want to step away from that person. A person who had God's Spirit will always acknowledge God. He will cling to the truth and say, "Jesus is the Messiah. The Son of the living God."

And their actions will speak for them as well.