DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYONE

I John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.

In order to have a healthy soul before God, we must put into practice today’s verse. There are a lot of people in the church today who claim to be speaking by the Spirit of God. They portray themselves as children of God and they may even believe they are. They come across as strong in their knowledge and easily convince others that what they say is true.

But, it is not enough to just listen and believe what others may say. We must guard our souls by carefully examining what we hear in light of what the Word of God says. We must think for ourselves about things and let the Lord help us to come to reasonable understandings of the Word. Just because someone says something is true doesn’t make it true. We must be diligent about what we believe. Our understanding must always be Biblically sound and reasonable.

We test what we hear through the Scriptures and we as well test the genuineness of those who speak to us. Not everyone who portrays themselves as Christians are Christians. It is very hard to determine the genuineness of one’s faith by casual acquaintances. We must be careful in this area. Consistency in walk must be in agreement with the consistency in talk. If the walk does not match the talk, then be especially careful about what you accept as truth.

There are many false prophets who are in the world and in the church. They are full of religious jargon, but there is no real substance in what they say. They distort the truth because they are not being led by the Spirit. Stand guard over your soul by protecting your mind from believing that which is not true. The Spirit of God guides us into all truth, so ask Him to be your guide as you listen and study the Word.