Good evening! Happy Sabbath in ~30 mins to my Steem friends (if your Sabbath is tomorrow. If it is not, I am sorry for you). ;)
I was inspired by a comment on a previous post and I wanted to write on how we as Christians should decide whether what we are hearing is from God or from the enemy.
Here are a few things to think about when deciding whether or not the message that was given to you was from God or the enemy. Which should, therefore, decide your reaction to that.
Let's start in the book of John:
But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."Yoḥanan (John) 10:26-27
This right here says that if you are of God's sheep, if you are a part of his kingdom and you have a close relationship with Him. It's the same exact thing if your best friend calls you on your phone with an unknown number. It doesn't matter that it's an unknown number, you still know it is them just from their voice just by them saying "Hello".
So how do we get to know God on this deep and intimate level? By reading His word and seeking after Him day and night. The Bible is God's message to humanity, and through that, we can learn God's character. Remember that one time you heard some gossip about a friend of yours and you shot it down because you knew that person? You knew how they act and what they would or would not do? Okay. Maybe that didn't happen to you. But it's still the same concept.
From reading the Bible you get two things, first, you get the Scriptures as your weapon, and you can test the message that you received with the Scriptures. If it lines up with what the Scriptures say there is a good chance that it is from God. Second, you get to know God's Character and through that you know what God would ask you to do or not ask you to do based on how he portrays himself in the Bible.
On a very rare occasion, we will be faced with a decision that won't always be apparent from reading the Bible. When we are faced with this, knowing God's character will aid us in making a decision as to how to respond to what we hear.
"Do not worry at all, but in every matter, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to Elohim. And the peace of Elohim, which surpasses all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Messiah יהושע." Pilipiyim (Philippians) 4:6-7
When you hear a message, if you have a close relationship with God, you will feel one of two different things. Peace or chaos. God is peace personified. There is no aspect of him that induces panic, fear, or strife. Refer back to the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Now if you do receive a message that brings you this strife, it can be one of two different things. It can be the Holy Spirit convicting you, or it can be from the enemy. Now let me clarify. Yes, I did just say that God doesn't inflict strife, panic, or fear, but when the Holy Spirit convicts you that is a disagreement. That is God disagreeing with you about something in your life that you need to change. It is still God confronting you about that, and it is your sin (if it is a conviction) that is causing you to feel that.
Thank you for reading. I hope you are all doing well this Sunday morning and that you are filled with God's Holy Spirit as you start a new week. Praise be to Him! If you liked this post please upvote. Feel free to comment and start a conversation. I would love to hear from you!
