Listen Carefully . . .

“For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream. For they prophesy falsely to you in My name; I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord.”

Be careful who you listen to because not everyone knows what they are talking about. Yes, even religious people can get it wrong. My favorite example is Peter who in one moment is credited with speaking God’s words and in the very next is the mouthpiece of Satan (See Matthew 16:13-23). That means that any of us can in one moment be speaking God’s truth and in the very next be speaking deception. Yes, Dave Samples gets it wrong sometimes!

The solution is to have an unquestionable authority that can be referred to whenever guidance is needed. God has given us that authority through His Bible. Our church's doctrinal statement, The Baptist Faith and Message, says it this way, “The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. . . . It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is . . . the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.” (BF&M, 2000, p7). 

The Bible says of itself, “Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, The Message).

So, we have to immerse ourselves in the Word of God. Find a way to do that. This year I’m reading the “Chronological Bible” every day using my YouVersion Bible App on my Iphone. The "One Year Bible" (also found on the App) has been my go-to previously for about seventeen years. Yes, I read the Bible through EVERY year—and so can you. It doesn’t matter if you read it on paper or on your computer. You can even listen to a digital version if that’s easier for you. But we must all read the Word of God! Otherwise, we don’t know what we’re talking about, and we don’t know what we are doing!

“When you live by God’s Word, your life works.  When you live without God’s Word, life doesn’t work.” –Stormie Omartian, The Prayer That Changes Everything.