Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit.  You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God.  For there are many false prophets in the world.  This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God:  If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God.  But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God.  Such a person has the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.  1 John 4:1-3 NLT

We live in a world where information is readily available on any topic we can imagine.  We have search engines to get information.  We can turn to social media to gain information.

The problem is you have to be able to discern whether information is true or false.  In these end times, many false prophets will try to tell us that they come from God.  We must be very careful.  The last thing you want to do is follow a false prophet that comes from the antichrist.  However, false prophets are very cunning and may easily deceive some.

So how you determine whether someone is truly from God or from the antichrist?  The Bible is God’s Holy Word.  Test what these people tell you by looking up scripture and verifying what they say about God’s word.  Make sure that what they say lines up with what the Bible says.

The Bible says that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin and lived as fully human and fully God.  He was crucified, died and was buried in a tomb.  He was resurrected on the third day and after appearing to his disciples and spending time with them, ascended to heaven to be with his Father.

The Bible tells us that we can be saved by accepting Jesus Christ as our savior, believing in Him, and confessing our sins and repenting.

The Bible tells of a beautiful place called heaven where God wants to greet us and live with us in eternity when our time on earth is done.  This is a place of no more sorrow and no more tears. The Bible also speaks of a place called hell or the lake of fire.  This place is where those that die or are raptured without accepting Christ as their savior will spend eternity.

The Bible tells us that good works and deeds will not get us into heaven.  It tells us that only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior will get us into heaven.

So when someone is trying to guide you into a religion, check the facts.  Don’t assume that their “religion” is from God.

Some false prophets are obvious when they attempt to deceive, others are much more subtle.  The key to being able to determine whether they are true or false is to establish a close relationship with God and pray for wisdom and discernment.  We must spend time with God by reading his word and praying to Him daily.  The more time we spend with God, the closer we get in relationship to Him, and the wiser we become when we need to discern between truth and fiction.

We need to study our Bibles. It’s one thing to read them, but studying them is another thing all together. We need to spend time in a good Bible teaching church in worship services and Bible study classes.  As far as prayer, well that is the easy part.  When we pray we just need to speak to God as if we are speaking to a dear friend.  Tell Him what’s on your heart.  He will meet you where you are.  I had a good friend who had become angry with God.  She felt that He had let her down.  I told her to start there.  We serve a mighty and awesome God.  He knows what we are thinking so we may as well be honest with Him when we pray.

Make the time to pray and read your bible daily even if it is only 5 minutes a day.  Take the time to cultivate a close relationship with your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  You won’t be sorry you did.

Let me tell you something friends, we live in a troubled world.  If we listen to the news reports, it is easy to become distracted and feel as if it is hopeless.  However, we have hope in Jesus Christ.  He is greater than any problem we will face in this cold, cruel world.  Many may try to lead you astray.  We have to be wise enough to determine those who are for God and those who are against God.  We have to be strong enough to withstand false teachings.  Whatever you do, don’t follow after someone just because they tell you what you want to hear.

If you are already in a committed relationship with your Lord and Savior then stand strong.  You may suffer ridicule and rejection, but keep the faith. Remain strong and steady, remember this is a marathon not a sprint.

Have a great day!