Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.   1 John 4:1 HCSB

You often here people say, “It’s all good”. If only that were the case, but unfortunately it’s not all good. The Bible tells us that there are those out there who proclaim to be Christians but their actions say otherwise. Some are very crafty about it. Some appear to be very sweet and kind and loving, but be careful. Don’t ignore those little red flags that pop up when you are in their presence. Trust in God to give you the wisdom to be able to discern what is good and what is not.

There are many passages in the Bible that warn of false prophets. They were in the world back then and they are still in the world now. It would be great to be able to go into any church and study the Bible and imitate Christ, but unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. Sadly, not all churches are good. Not all churches teach what is in the Bible. Yesterday I was speaking with a friend who was talking about a church in Baton Rouge that had videotaped, on YouTube, ceremonies or rituals that were demonic. She was unsure of what church this was, but it said that it was in Baton Rouge. That’s just 45 minutes away from us. I also learned that there is a church not nearly as far away that has some very strange rituals. We must beware. Just because it calls itself a church does not mean that it worships Jesus Christ and preaches what is in the Bible.

When you are invited to attend church with someone, be very careful. Be sure that this church is the real deal. 1 John 4:2 tells us that we must pay careful attention and test to be sure that it is the Spirit of God. It tells us that every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. But we are warned in verse three that every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not from God. The Bible tells us that this is the spirit of the antichrist who is in the world now.

If you are a new Christian, I’m not trying to scare you, but it is very important that we trust in God to guide us in all that we do, even where we attend church. We must not just blindly follow a friend or an acquaintance and trust that their church is a good Bible teaching, gospel preaching church. We must not trust that every so-called minister that we see on television is the real deal. We must not believe everything that we hear on the internet. We must be wise and be able to discern between the good and the bad.

The problem that many of us have is pride. We consider ourselves to be wise and we feel that we can handle figuring out if a church or a pastor is good or bad. But Proverbs 3:7 tells us not to consider ourselves wise, but to fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

We must humbly submit ourselves to Christ and trust in His guidance. We are told in James 1:5 that if any of us lack wisdom that we should ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach and it will be given to us. I assure you my friend, without God, we lack wisdom. We must be able to recognize this. We must be able to humble ourselves and ask for wisdom.

Be careful, be very careful. Pray to God to give you wisdom and discernment in all things. Pray that He guide you in all that you do. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the LORD with all our heart and not to rely on our own understanding; think about Him in all your ways and He will guide you on the right paths.

Once you have decided to follow Jesus, be very careful my friend. Know that the devil will put obstacles in your way. Know that he will cleverly disguise them as things that are good and honoring God, but beware. As the old saying goes, “You can put lipstick on a pig and it is still a pig.”

Trust in God to lead you along the right path. Don’t go astray and don’t rely on other human beings. They make mistakes just like you and I do. Trust in God in all that you do and trust Him to lead you in the way that you should go.

Have a great day!