In our world today, through the Internet, advances in telephone technology and multiple channels on television a person has a wide range of ways to make connections with other people and what those other people have to say. This can be a good thing but it can also be a bad thing, it all depends on who you listen to and what they have to say.
In Matthew 7:20 Jesus made a statement about how someone could recognize a false prophet, Jesus said that we would know them by their fruits. In other words, we can tell what kind of person someone is by what their life is like and what things are being produced through their life. The Bible also tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 that we have to test everything and hold on to the best. Too many times however it seems that today people do not take any time to really find out what someone is like before they allow that person to influence their life and often the results are confusion and problems.
Today it seems like a lot of people think Jesus said, "You will know them by their titles, talents, tweets, or personality". But none of these things are necessarily a sign that a person is a mature, stable Christian who we should allow to influence us. Too many Christians are weak and ineffective and many times the root of the problem can be found in the people they allow to influence them. Our first and main influence should be from God through His Word, the Bible, and the direction of the Holy Spirit. If we start with this we will save ourselves a lot of problems in the long run.
We can all learn a lesson from what happened to Joshua and the children of Israel in Joshua 9 where they unwisely made a covenant with some people who were actually their enemies. What was the reason they did that? Because the people of Israel did not listen to what God had to say about those people. The people of Israel only took into consideration what the other people had to say and what those people had to offer. Just because someone has an impressive title, wonderful ability is some area, or has access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or some other form of mass communication does not mean that what they are doing or what they have to say has any real value. Be careful who you listen to and who you allow to influence you. Make sure everything you hear lines up with God's Word and you will be better off because of it!
In Matthew 7:20 Jesus made a statement about how someone could recognize a false prophet, Jesus said that we would know them by their fruits. In other words, we can tell what kind of person someone is by what their life is like and what things are being produced through their life. The Bible also tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 that we have to test everything and hold on to the best. Too many times however it seems that today people do not take any time to really find out what someone is like before they allow that person to influence their life and often the results are confusion and problems.
Today it seems like a lot of people think Jesus said, "You will know them by their titles, talents, tweets, or personality". But none of these things are necessarily a sign that a person is a mature, stable Christian who we should allow to influence us. Too many Christians are weak and ineffective and many times the root of the problem can be found in the people they allow to influence them. Our first and main influence should be from God through His Word, the Bible, and the direction of the Holy Spirit. If we start with this we will save ourselves a lot of problems in the long run.
We can all learn a lesson from what happened to Joshua and the children of Israel in Joshua 9 where they unwisely made a covenant with some people who were actually their enemies. What was the reason they did that? Because the people of Israel did not listen to what God had to say about those people. The people of Israel only took into consideration what the other people had to say and what those people had to offer. Just because someone has an impressive title, wonderful ability is some area, or has access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or some other form of mass communication does not mean that what they are doing or what they have to say has any real value. Be careful who you listen to and who you allow to influence you. Make sure everything you hear lines up with God's Word and you will be better off because of it!
1 comment:
Hi Jim, thanks for your thoughts. So true. We have a friend who worked as a business consultant- his first advice for knowing a prospective business partner was : get to visit the system central, know the place personally from where the product comes. Aplied to spiritual circumstances this could mean : dont trust voices only... know the person and his ministry office/home.
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