Verse of the Day - Matthew 7:15

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ~ Matthew 7:15 (NIV)

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Not everything that glitters is gold...

~ Just because a program is on a religious broadcasting channel doesn't mean they preach the true Word of God...

~ Just because a latest best-seller uses "God" in the title doesn't mean it's even talking about the same Creator God of the Bible...

~ Just because someone uses spiritual language in conversation or says they go to church doesn't mean they have a spiritual relationship with Jesus, the Son of the Living God...

I think, as believers, we can allow the wool to be pulled over our eyes rather easily when it comes to discerning who is for the true God and who is charading like a wolf in sheep's clothing. We see a fish symbol and say, "There's a brother/sister in Christ...", but we really have no clue what ideologies they stand on. A rose by any other name may be a rose, but a church may well not be "the" church, the body of Christ. Are we checking things out with God's word? Do things people say and do and believe match up with God's ways as is so clearly defined in the Bible?

Are you reading the Bible so that you know the difference?

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
~ Deuteronomy 13:1-4 (NIV)

Someone who says they speak God's words better point directly to Him, and not to themselves or other gods. Know the difference and be discerning. Don't swallow everything you read and hear that has "Christian" or "God" plastered on the label, please. Whether some wolves are intentionally leading sheep to their demise or they are themselves deceived by the great deceiver is somewhat immaterial. You, as a Christ follower, are accountable for the integrity of the gospel you accept and rely on.

Paul had concern for some of the believers he was mentoring back in his day. And his day is like our day...there's nothing new under the sun...

I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
~ 2 Corinthians 11:2-4 (NIV)

Corinth was a port city and influenced by a myriad of incoming influences. They were used to a diverse crowd with many different thoughts and ideas -- not unlike us today. Where was their spiritual filter? Where is our spiritual filter?

Apparently, the church in Galatia was susceptible to wool-pulling, too. Their filter may have fallen off like the Corinthians, and Paul shot straight from the hip...

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!
~ Galatians 1:6-8 (NIV)

So, again I ask: Are you reading God's Word? Do you know what it says? If you aren't, then you don't, and you leave yourself wide open to be duped by the evil one with false prophets, spewing false doctrine, who give people false hope in a false gospel.

Like infrared goggles allow people to see the unseen in the dark, God's word helps us see the lies that are woven into false doctrine. Make sure you have your God goggles on, my friend, by taking His true Word into your being regularly. Take time to read what His truth really says. Then you'll see the wolves for who they are, and you won't get caught with your wool down...if you know what I mean. :-)

Love,
Joelene