"TESTING, TESTING, TESTING"

Good Morning to you all,

I was reflecting on all those who I came in contact with this past week and I thought to myself what character trait or habit should I take from one or more of these individual(s). Before I go any further you should know that I pray with a number of Godly men weekly whom I consider "Elders" in the church. We are just men of God who are striving to be the "Strongman" in our homes. We are acutely aware of the spiritual warfare that we all are entrenched in.

How many times have you heard someone say that "they will pray about it" or "I prayed about it" or even " I've heard from God"? I believe that we must be "HOT" or "COLD" for the things of God so that there's no confusion. We are told to seek after the things of God, but do we really? We talk a good game don't we? But how often do we truly put God to the test? I'm reminded of the verse in Malachi were we've been challenged to TEST God (Mal 3:10). "Testing The Spirit". This past Saturday morning I was at prayer with some men who believe that "Prayer Changes Things" and I got truly blessed again as I watched my friend David pull golden nuggets out of the Word of God. My brother in Christ never takes anything for granted and I'm reminded of (1 John 4:1) " Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world". Word of caution to you all: We shouldn't believe everything we hear just because someone says it is a message inspired by God. My friend David always has his Bible available, and he tests the words of all to see if their words are truly from God. I myself watch from the Peanut Gallery to see who will stay the course, and who will continue to grow in the Lord.

" TEST" (v) Try (1) A challenge or difficult situation imposed by God for the purpose of strengthening faith; not to be confused with temptation to evil (James 1:13) . (2) The act of putting God to the test, demanding that He prove Himself and His power in some way, as Satan attempted to persuade Jesus to do. (3) The act of one person's challenging another to prove himself by answering difficult questions, etc.

In Matthew 4:6 and said to Him, "If you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command His angels concerning you'; and 'On Their Hands They Will Bear You Up, So that you will not strike your foot against a stone; " You see the devil used scripture to try to convince Jesus to sin! Sometimes friends or associates will present attractive and convincing reasons why you should try something you know is wrong. They may even find Bible verses that seem to support their viewpoint. I was taught that we should study the whole chapter in order to truly know what the writer was trying to convey. Only if we really understand what the WHOLE BIBLE says will we be able to recognize errors of interpretation when people take verses out of context and twist them to say what they want them to say.

TESTING, TESTING, TESTING...
Let's not just take anything for granted anymore, in Psalms 91:11 Satan misquotes scripture (Matt 4:6).

Until Next Time,
Jim