Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false spirits have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
Voices are everywhere trying to tell people what is truth. Each voice claims to be an authority and knows what is best. People are very quick to believe anyone that claims to be an authority and follow that person. Very few take time to check out who the person really is and then get taken for some scam or some lie through deception.
John encourages the people to not believe every spirit, but they are to test each spirit to find out if it is of God or not, because many appear to be real, but are false.
Scam artists are always calling trying to deceive people into giving up their money. They claim something as true and many will believe them, only to find out later that it was false.
In the same way there are many out there that claim to be speaking the truth about God but are false. Churches are claiming that one can live in open sin and still be a believer and get into heaven. They use a lot of the same terms that God’s word does–love, grace, peace and more.
On the surface these things look and appear good, but when one looks at them closer, one can see that they are false. Taking all of Scripture into account, one can quickly see that they are false prophets that are not of God in any way.
Believers are not to just blindly believe the words of anyone who claims they are of God but are to question them and line them up against what God’s word says. Staying in God’s word will protect one from the false lies of the world.
There are many voices out there that are trying to deceive you into doing things against God. When you hear someone speak something you must be willing to take the time to test what was said as to whether it is true and of God or not. It may look and sound good on the surface, but underneath is against God’s revealed truth. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you into all Truth and steer you away from the false prophets of this world.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that God will open your eyes to the false teachings of this world; that God will lead you into His truth; that you will question those who claim to speak God’s truth; and that your words and teachings will line up with God’s word.
Photo by Ludovic Migneault on Unsplash
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