Today’s Reading: Philemon, Hebrews 1-2, Proverbs 28
Guest Blogger: Connie Swain
As the year draws to a close, it is a good time to reflect – reflect on the past events, the issues that have come up, the things we have and have not done. Most of our New Year’s resolutions and goals are a result of reflection and the desire to do it better next year.
However, how often do you reflect on your spiritual condition and the word of God in your heart?
Hebrews 2:1
For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Many years ago, after God called me to ministry, He gave me clear instruction. Stay in the middle. I have an entire teaching on that and I don’t want to dig too deep into it here, but it isn’t about compromise. It is about staying in the center of Him.
My personality tends to be one of excitement and activity. A pastor once asked my husband if he had to “rein me in,” or, in other words, keep me from going off the deep end. We all laughed because I naturally tend to do that.
I love all the wonderful things surrounding the gifts of God and the excitement of the different types of worship, gifting, teachings, dancing, etc., that are evident in many charismatic churches today. I easily can get caught up in those types of environments – worshiping and celebrating the goodness of God.
I also love the beauty and formality of a Christ-centered mass and the liturgy involved in the traditional protestant church. In an environment full of symbols of Christ and devotion to Him, while the congregation, in harmony, speaks forth the goodness of God, one can easily be moved.
Any church, congregation, or ministry who loves the Lord with all their heart often experiences His presence, regardless of the denomination or doctrine. But with my love for these things, it would be very easy for me to move off into one side or the other and eventually get into error.
I know a woman, who years ago began searching to know the Lord on a deeper level. As she studied the Bible, she got a job working for man who seemed to really know a lot about scripture. They talked about the Lord and the Word often. The relationship stayed totally platonic. However, eventually he moved his wife and family to a remote town and, because he had such a mentoring influence on this young lady, she soon followed.
This man had begun a cult. He used scripture, twisted it, and taught it to a congregation of people who lived together, ate together, and even gave him all of their earnings to support the compound and his beliefs. Truth taken to extreme becomes error.
Reflecting on our spiritual condition will keep us in that Christ-centered place. That is what the author of Hebrews is reminding us to do. Without it, we can easily move into a place of error that will bring devastation and hurt – not only to us – but to our families, too.
Many years ago, my dad was actually removed from a Sunday School class while he was teaching. This happened after I had married and moved out of the house. To this day, I’m not sure what exactly happened, but I have heard that he had gotten into heresy. I refused to believe that for many years, yet – looking at the end of his life – I know something happened.
My dad loved the Lord, wrote a lot (long before computers were the norm, so it was all by hand or type-written) and he studied the Word constantly. However, at that point in his life, the Holy Spirit was drawing him into something that he was uncomfortable with. The only reason I know this is because I remember his showing me a paper he had written where he studied the gift of tongues and had concluded it was not from God.
You see, when you begin to move away from the true Word of God, or, as the writer reminds us in Hebrews, “what we have heard,” then moving into heresy is not a far leap. It begins with a small acceptance of a half-truth, then that becomes embedded in our hearts and minds. After that is firmly planted, the rest of the falsehood comes into play, and eventually what you are standing firm on is a lie.
Sayings such as “When you believe a lie long enough, it becomes truth,” and “For a lie to be believable, it must have some truth in it” are around simply because for us as humans, believing a lie is so easy to do. Even Hitler wrote about “The Big Lie” in his book, Mein Kampf, in which he discusses a propaganda technique he claims was used by the Jews, when in reality it was a technique he practically invented and used to devastate a huge portion of the world, murdering millions of innocents.
People who get into error spiritually never start off purposing error in their lives. It starts with a small mistruth that is never corrected. The only way to keep from getting into error is by paying close attention to what God says in His Word, through prayer, and through godly men and women. The responsibility is on you to put everything you know or hear up against the Word of God and see how it stands.
As you look back over the last year, examine your spiritual condition and your relationship with the Lord and ask Him to show you if you have drifted away. Ask God to re-align you with His truth, even if it hurts. Many times, we tie these lies we believe into our character and it affects our integrity. It is time to do a check and let God put you back on track. Ask Him to help you evaluate who is speaking into your life and make sure they are not leading you into error.
My husband no longer has to rein me in. God usually does a very good job of that all by Himself. However, I have also learned to give Him an open invitation to correct these lies any time they begin to take root in my life. I have walked with the Lord for nearly 25 years now and He has always brought me back to His truth, staying in the middle…..of Him.
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