About Me

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Married to Don, a retired teacher and coach. We have 6 living kids and 6 beautiful grandkids who fill our lives with joy! A transplant from Sioux City Iowa to Southern California, my heart and my passion are centered on sharing the hope I have in Christ and intercessory prayer for families, for cities and for the nation. I believe that Jesus is about to return, and I want to share His desire that no man should perish. It is also my hope to be faithful to the Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20. The legacy I pray for those I love is to love Christ and seek to serve Him.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Illusion


And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. Matthew 24:4-5

This picture is an illusion. Stare intently at the 4 dots in the center of the drawing for about 30-40 seconds, then look at any smooth or single colored surface. A circle of light will begin to develop. If you blink your eyes a few times, a figure will begin to emerge. What is it that you appear to see?

Is it Jesus? It is not. It is an illusion, and we are quick to recognize it as being an illusion. Are we as quick to recognize truth when we hear it as it pertains to a Biblical viewpoint? We live in a world where an abundance of teachers are pointing to ways that seem right to man. Many point to various ways to God. Many are working toward unified ecumenical religious organizations where Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Hindus come together in blended faith. Many teach doctrines established by men that, on the face of them, seem to be authentic – but are they? How do we know what is true and what isn’t? How do we escape false ‘christs’ or false witnesses? How do we guard ourselves from being deceived?

In the Book of Proverbs, we find an identical warning in verses 14:12 and 16:25, which tell us “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” The scriptures, in full context, lay out the following truth . . . There is only one way to be reconciled to God: By faith alone through grace alone in Christ alone. Once we come to the place of receiving Christ as Savior, we begin to feed on the milk of the Word. How? Faith comes by hearing. . . We hear from the pulpit, we hear in small group settings, we hear though others who know God. At least we presume they do, sometimes by virtue of position, but do they really?

It isn’t enough that we are hearers only. We have responsibility to be able to discern what we hear, and we can’t do that unless we have an uncompromising standard of measure. As Christians, our standard of measure must always be the Word of God.

In order to learn who God is and to train ourselves to distinguish between what is genuine and what is illusion, we must study the Word of God: in its entirety, in its full context, in light of what the scripture is saying. It cannot be the ‘gospel according to me’; it must be the Gospel as God has presented it in truth, in completeness, in entirety. Biblical ‘cut and paste’ can lead to death. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The writer of Hebrews corrects and exhorts us when he says, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

Are you equipped to discern good from evil? Do you trust anything outside of faith alone through grace alone in Christ alone for your salvation? Do you take time to study the Word of God and to pray or do you depend upon others to tell you what God's word says? If not, begin today to ask Holy Spirit to open your eyes to the scriptures so that you will not be confused or taken captive to false doctrine or false teachers.

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