But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.
Hebrews 5:14
For all of us, it won’t be very far in our Christian pilgrimage before we come across something or someone that looks and sounds okay, but deep in our heart we detect something is wrong. If someone is speaking to you to convince you of a spiritual matter and they seem to be using right words and may even look appealing, but something seems off in the message, stop and do not commit, agree or follow them until you get clarity from God’s Word and Spirit. Of course, this assumes that you have Christ as your Savior and the Holy Spirit is in you to help you. The sad fact is that this world is full of deceivers and counterfeiters in regard to spiritual matters. We have the devil himself causing all sorts of mayhem and he is called the father of lies in scripture, and then all the demons at his beck and call doing the work of evil. The world system which is energized by the devil promotes destructive and twisted ideas on what is supposed to be our priorities in life. Finally, we have our own flesh, our sinful nature, that likes to hear things that appeal to our lusts and desires. Each one of us is surrounded by these forces and struggle with our own selfish desires within. Our only hope of living in truth and walking in purity is to surrender ourselves each day to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then trust and obey Him continually. It is by our obedience in faith that we grow in our understanding and discernment of truth. We cannot just be hearers of God’s Word, we must be doers also as James 2:26 teaches. It is when we activate our faith by obedience that God reveals more to us. If we only ponder things revealed to us by God and never act on them, we stay on a shallow level of understanding and do not get the deeper wisdom that the Lord desires for us as His children, servants and followers. Jesus wants a deep relationship with us that is heart-to-heart, and for that to develop, we must go deep with God and act upon truth. Once we obey God fully, the Lord graciously reveals more to us and increases our grasp on what He is after in our life. Yes, in many matters of life it is the pondering and thinking that helps us understand, but spiritual matters are about our relationship with the Living God and that involves commitment and action on our part. What issues are confusing to you right now in regard to God’s purposes? Is someone influencing you that you have doubts about? Do you feel conflicted in your devotion to Christ? Step back and pray to God for wisdom and clarity and then obey Him in whatever He directs you to do. Once we are in motion with God, He can then direct us to the center of His will. If we refuse to move or are going in the wrong direction due to the influence of the world, the flesh or the devil, we must first stop and repent to get going in the right direction. I speak this from experience as I have also been deceived during my Christian walk by listening to the wrong people and following a message that was not of God. I have had to repent and change directions myself and then suffer the consequences for being on the wrong path. I am grateful for the Lord’s mercy and kindness shown to me to get me back into His will seeking to live to please Him. Friend, be sure of who you listen to and follow. Verify everything with the whole counsel of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. Blessings!
Love in Christ,
Pastor Gary Houdek