What is the truth?
Who knows these days? Corporate management? Advertisers? Politicians? Popular social media icons? Church leaders? So-called religious prophetic voices? I think NO, NOT ONE!
I saw a political sign this morning that said, "Lower prices. More money to spend." Last week at the grocery store, the submarine sandwich I purchased two months ago for $6.99 was $9.99!
A Christian prophetic leader that promoted prayer for the current governmental administration to be elected has reverted to teaching basic scriptural truths, forgetting such preconditions as love being necessary for faith, Further, he is calling for prayer against the generic "evil" being led by political candidates his camp previously supported.
Corporate management receiving huge compensation, while fighting against worker's wages. Advertiser's blatantly lying about benefits of products. Entire churches praying for governments that lie, cheat and steal to destroy all opposition. Supposedly religious individuals criticizing starving and homeless people while they offer no or little support for the charities that feed and house the poor. If you are reading this blog, like me, I'm sure you could add many more examples.
How did this happen?
King Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes wrote, "There is nothing new under the sun." Much of what we see in our time described above, has been at work for millenniums. In fact, if you read the book, The Fall of the Roman Empire, you will find almost exact parallels with what we observe in the United States today!
It was Hitler's propaganda minister, I believe, that said, "If you tell a lie long enough, the people will believe it as truth!" Think about that today.
What some might refer to as the "gospel of politics or business," refines the actions of its supporters further when encountering opposition with these instructions:
- Attack, attack, attack! (Or other fight words!)
- Never admit you are wrong! Blame your opposition.
- Never admit defeat. Continue as if you were cheated and have won!
What do we do about all this?
If it's not clear, all of the above is the opposite of Biblical truth! This begs the question, "How can we avoid falling prey to false doctrine?" At the risk of oversimplification, I like to begin with a New Testament Scripture, 1 Thessalonians 5:23: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Here is some TRUTH! The things we do in our bodies guide the actions of our soul man. The soul include the operation of our minds, our wills and our emotions. Our spirit man is our connection to God and, for people that have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, opens the door for God to hear our prayers, and for us to hear God's answers.
So, here is the practical side. Scripture does not have creative power on its own, as many Christian leaders have led us to believe. It only has creativity and power when the one praying the Word has revelation of it. Revelation is "hearing by the Word of God" described in Romans 10:17. So, first we must get revelation of the Word, and then believe it as the truth for our situation. Our next step is to pray having faith that God hears our prayer. When can have that faith when we have taken steps to purify hearts so they can be filled with God's love, or so our spirit man controls our thoughts and actions. The whole Book of First John is about that.
There is one final step in Galatians 5:6, which tells us that faith only works through love (God's love, not human love). God's love is shed into our hearts by the Holy Spirit when we believe in Christ and accept Him as Lord and Savior, and allow Him to do the work in us by His Holy Spirit. This means we are willing to open our hearts to receive Him, both His correction and His love. While this may sound complicated. It's really not. It is simply accepting Him as Lord and Savior, and seeking to become like Him! In Him, following His way and not man's, we can learn to walk as Jesus walked on the earth. 1 John 3:2 tells us that when we see Him, we will be like Him. We can only "see" Him, perceive, know and understand Him, when we believe in Jesus in our hearts, our spirit man not our soul man (John 6:28-29)! The bottom line: Only believe in the one God sent! (John 6;28-29)
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