Thursday Open Heavens Devotional - Believing Lies?

                                    

Memorise: Deliver my soul, Oh Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. Psalms 120:2

Read: 1^st Timothy 4:1-6: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; ² Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; ³ Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. ⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: ⁵ For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. ⁶ If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

There are many heresies spreading around us today, unfortunately, there are lots of people believing them. This is why true ministers of the gospel cannot just fold their hands. They have to make efforts to counter the bad philosophies around with the absolute truth of God’s Word. There is no better time for us to be aware and guard ourselves from being led astray by these erroneous teachings. The Bible warns us that if not careful even the very elect will deviate from the truth and follow after the deceptions of devious men, who, by the way, are skillful in leading men astray. Some of these teachers are popular and some of them are widely sought after; but be not deceived, the Word and Truth of God is greater than the personal profile of any minister. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing in the church today (Matthew 7:15-20). They teach one thing and practice another. They appear to be speaking the truth but they are living in error. When they talk, their words are very smooth and there is no error in their presentations. They make a lot of noise but they lack depth. If you watch closely, you will see that their conduct is contrary to the principles of godly living. They come with all sorts of theologies that have no bearing with the Word of God. They justify unholy living with the illusion that it is impossible for anyone to live holy. They explain away the truth of God’s Word just to make sinners comfortable in their sins. There is no rebuke, no reprove and no correction in their theology. They preach so much about the place of grace and give so much motivation about people’s freewill and liberty, forgetting that the Christian calling is not a call to lawlessness. They preach against the validity of the 10 commandments in the era of grace. Some teach that once saved you are forever saved and there is no need to work out your salvation with fear and trembling as the Bible says in Philippians 2:12. Some ask why you need to fast at all, since Jesus said it is finished.

As a genuine minister and disciple of Jesus, there is the need for you to teach your members to be aware of these wrong teachings. The fact that many people listen to them do not mean they are approved of God. They are liars. You need to caution those in your church concerning heretic teachings that deny the fundamental principles of Christianity. Don’t allow your members to stray away from the truth. Expose them to the truth of God’s Word very often so that they can stand against the lies of the devil. Some churches have become mere social and entertainment centres where members only gather of fantasies and entertainment purposes. You cannot see them leading salvation prayers or asking lost souls to come to the altar to forsake their sins. Many people do not want to hear the truth of God’s Word and that is why the church is saturated today with many false and fake ministers. How can you be comfortable in a church where the pastor has two wives? What will you expect such pastors to tell their members? Some members prefer to run from one prophet to another who will ‘see things’ for them and deceive them that God has spoken when God has said nothing. They are looking for prophetic declarations from ‘great men of God’ even when they don’t know the spirit behind such declarations.

 Action Point: Beware of wolves in sheep clothing.

Bible in one year: James 1-5, Psalms 27