1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” This article talks about how not every opportunity that comes your way is from God. It also talks about how we need to test all the things we hear about God and question things we feel are wrong. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Don’t Believe Everything You Hear
1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
What first stood out to me about this scripture was the words “test the spirit to see whether they are from God.” What came to my mind is the various opportunities that we are presented with from day to day. The world is so busy and there is so much you can do. We can be tempted to do a lot of things at one time. We think to ourselves, well this is quick, it would only take me 10 minutes to do in the morning. Well, I guess I could add this in too as it only takes 15 minutes. Then a friend calls and asks if we can do something for them and although we already have a busy schedule we say yes because we want to help them out and it will only take an hour from start to finish. Do you do this too, or is it just me? I can start out with a completely empty day and then by the end it is filled to the brim with things to do. Some of it needs to be done and some of it doesn’t. Although, in my mind I probably think it all needs to be done.
This is what I thought of when I read this verse. I though that we need to discern more about the things we are doing. Even things with the church. Have you ever taken on more than you should have at church because you figured if you didn’t do it, no one would? Be honest, you know you have. We all have. Maybe it wasn’t at church, but it was with your family, friends or at work. We don’t mind doing the work and we think that we are pleasing the Lord because we are so involved with our church, or wherever you are spending your time. However, have you ever stopped to ask God if you should take on a role, before you take it on? Have you ever asked what He wanted you to do? I think if you did, you would be surprised. Every opportunity that comes your way is not sent there from the Lord. God is not asking you to do everything the world is asking you to do. This verse is trying to remind us of that. Test the spirits and see if they are from God. Stop and pray about a new position before you take it on. Don’t just say yes in the moment. Take it to the Lord and see what He has to say about it.
Maybe He doesn’t have anything to say and it will be left up to you. However, what if he does? We know that God knows things long before we do. What if we want to say yes to a job but He knows that there is something better coming down the line. What if we want to say yes to a volunteer opportunity but he knows you will be super busy in a few months and won’t have time. We tend to feel if we are not busy all the time then we aren’t doing enough. However, I don’t believe that is from God. I think that is one of the things this verse is warning us about. If we are busy all the time then we don’t have time to sit down and just BE with God. If we keep our minds constantly going then we run out of time to even think of God, never mind talk to Him or sit and listen to Him. If you are intentional about your relationship with God then you can find ways to include Him in all you do. However, how many of us are doing that? How many of us are inviting God into all of our daily actions? I am not saying that we should be busy, I am just cautioning you and myself, to think about opportunities presented before jumping to say yes. Stop and ask God if He is the one presenting the opportunity and if He wants you to take it. Just as this verse says, test and make sure it its from God.
The other things I thought of when I read this verse is best described by the Message translation of this verse. It says, “Dear friends, don’t believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world.” The first part of that verse says, don’t believe everything you hear. This is something we are told often, but do we pay attention to it? This world is pretty divided these days and some people will use the Lord and scripture to push their agenda. Just because someone says something about God, doesn’t make it true. Even if you hear it at a church, or from a preacher or pastor, it might not be true. Sometimes we hear things and we feel in our inmost being that it is not true. We should listen to this voice and we should test to see if it is really from God or not. Sometimes we hear things that are in direct opposition to all we know to be true about God. If this is the case, you should definitely question it and not just believe it.
I found this article called Five Ways to Know If Something Is From God by Deb Wolf. (CLICK HERE for the article) The first thing Deb says is to begin with prayer. This is a great starting point for anything you are doing. However, if you are not sure if what you are hearing is from God, ask Him. Sit with it and pray about it. Ask the Lord and then listen to see what you hear, or what you feel. Often times it won’t be an audible answer but you might feel one way or another. The second things suggested in the article is to ask yourself, does this glorify God? Whatever you are questioning, does it Glorify God? God will never guide you to do something that will not give Him glory. The third thing would be to ask yourself, does it agree with scripture? God gave us His word to show us His well. Does whatever you are questioning agree with scripture? The fourth thing from the article is to be willing to wait. Be patient because God’s will is worth the wait. If something is from God He will guide you to it. Don’t rush it. The fifth and last thing mentioned in this article is to trust God to accomplish His will in your life. The article says “you can trust that if God wants something specific in your life He will guide you to it.” Deb Wolf says, “The good news is if you are trusting and glorifying God with your life you can move ahead confidently.
As you go through your day, question what you are told. Don’t just believe things that you feel aren’t true. God is good and someone is telling you something that doesn’t match up with that then question it. The same goes with things people say about you. Not everyone is speaking truth. If someone says something unkind that makes you feel awful about yourself, even if it is you that is saying it, don’t believe it. Question why it isn’t true. Find proof that the statements are false. Also remember that not every opportunity is from God as well. Take a day to think and to pray about whether this opportunity is right for you. Ask God if He thinks you should take it. If you do decide to take the position do it because you want to, now because you feel you have to. Trust that God will find the right person to fill that position if it is not for you.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, help us to test the things we hear and help us to know which are from you. We want to listen to you Lord and we want to reject any false prophets, help us to know the difference. Help us to lean into prayer and scripture when we are not sure. We love you Lord, you are amazing! We are so grateful for all you do for us. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow. Have a blessed day!