Bible Verse of The Day – 11-30-17

1 John 4:1 (NKJV) 4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

God tells us plainly that we are to test the spirits. Not everyone who names the name of Jesus is genuine or is operating by the spirit of God.

Many will come in an effort to deceive us. Some will be very subtle. Others will be blatant in their efforts. It’s those who use subtlety that we need to be the most concerned with.

Most will use the name of Jesus very boldly, making it appear that they are accurate with the things they speak, and are sent by God.

Speaking something that we don’t necessarily agree with doesn’t make someone a false prophet. But if what they speak is contrary to the word of God, or it twists the word of God for their own purposes and agendas, then we need to be cautious and weigh what they say very carefully.

The biggest danger always lies with those who wrap lies in the truth. This is common when scripture is taken out of context, or when truth is used to lead people to believe a lie. These are the ravenous wolves Jesus spoke of.

Matthew 7:15 (NKJV) 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

On the outside, they appear as sheep, speaking words of truth. But under the surface, they propagate lies that masquerade as truth.

It’s important that we take the things that we are taught, and the things that we hear, and we weigh them carefully next to the word of God.

You see, even evil spirits will speak words of truth through men and women. It’s up to us to let God’s spirit help us to discern them and divide truth from lies.

Silas and the Apostle Paul ran into this when they were on their way to prayer, many days in a row. A young girl followed them and declared “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”

But Paul, who allowed the spirit of God to show him what this was really about, saw that this was a spirit of divination. He became irritated with the girl and put a stop to it.

Acts 16:18 (NKJV) 18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.

So, we need to pay close attention to people’s words and discern them accurately. It can mean the difference between following truth and following lies.

Test the spirits.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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