Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

wisdom

False Teachers

by

Each of us bears the responsibility of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet (Matthew 28:19-20; Romans 10:14). Today, there is no shortage of voices claiming to speak the truth of God’s Word. On the surface, that is wonderful news. The more voices, the more the message spreads. The frightening truth is many of those voices are not teaching the gospel we find in scripture.

false teachers,discernment,wisdom,Bible study,gospel,truth,false teaching,different gospel,false gospel

For every faithful adherent to God’s Word, it seems there are ten who are twisting, distorting, and abusing the simple truth of the Bible. Given the warnings in scripture against such things (2 Peter 2:1-3; Galatians 1:8-9), it amazes me how many will eschew the commands of God and dare to live in the path of His holy and consuming wrath (Hebrews 10:26-27; Romans 1:18-19). False teachers flaunt their arrogance and will reap their just reward (Jude 12-13; Matthew 7:21-23).

[Read more…] about False Teachers

Outside Influences

by

When monitoring the outside influences in your life, it’s easy to concentrate so much on things like entertainment and secular activities that we forget one of the most common avenues Satan uses to trip us up comes from within the church. When I was growing up, the list of preachers with world-wide recognition was short. It began and ended with Billy Graham. There were traveling evangelists that were well known in certain regions and countries, but on a global scale, there wasn’t a long list.

outside influences,God's Word,discernment,wisdom

Today, we have a phenomenon known as the celebrity pastor. These are pastors of large churches who have leveraged social media, the internet, and books to build a platform for themselves. Notice the platform they are building is amplifying their name, and that doesn’t always translate into glorifying God’s name. The result is we now have many preachers who are world famous.

[Read more…] about Outside Influences

Violating God’s Will

by

A couple of different thoughts have been fighting for attention in my mind for the past several days. One was sparked by reading Job 28:28, where God said, “The fear of the Lord is this: wisdom. And to turn from evil is understanding.” We’ve talked about what it means to fear the Lord before (see “The Fear of The Lord”), but this verse is so clear.

violating God's will,fear,wisdom,discipleship,purpose,God's will

We could take it to mean that it is wise to fear God, which is true, and we can also understand it to be a succinct definition of what fear of God looks like: to be wise. Wisdom will keep us from violating God’s will. Which brings me to the other topic that’s been on my mind: finding God’s will for your life. I’ve also written on that topic before, and if you want a deeper dive, see, “Explaining God’s Will for Your Life.” I submit you will never understand God’s will until you develop a proper fear of His holiness.

[Read more…] about Violating God’s Will

Choose Your Friends Wisely

by

“Choose your friends wisely” is an adage with profound spiritual implications. Many choose their friends based on shared interests in things in this world, be it sports teams, fashion, food, or entertainment choices. In my experience and observation, very few choose their relationships based on how spiritually nourishing they think they will be.

choose your friends wisely,wisdom,discernment,discipline

This begs the question of why we would want friends who lead us into a deeper appreciation of things of the flesh rather than those who would help us grow closer to God. If our goal is to live wholly devoted to Christ, we’re going to need to surround ourselves with people who will help us along that path.

[Read more…] about Choose Your Friends Wisely

The Fear of the Lord

by

The fear of the Lord has always been a bit of a conundrum for me. On the one hand, I understand what it means, but in some ways, it is a mystery. We know we should fear the Lord because He is holy and His wrath is terrifying. At the same time, His love and mercy are comforting and we know those who love Him are safe in His arms. The paradox of fearing and loving God has led to a lot of thought, study, and confusion for me.

fear of the Lord,commitment,discipleship,wisdom,lovefear,surrender

Perhaps you are in the same boat. Thankfully, the Lord cleared all this up for me in an instant this week. I was reading in the book of Proverbs, one of my favorite books in the Bible, and one I have read countless times. Yet for the first time, I saw something I’d overlooked before.

[Read more…] about The Fear of the Lord