Who do you believe???

1 John 4
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Now John is talking to fellow Christians...fellow followers of Christ. He is giving them a warning. It is a valid warning to this day. Be careful whom you listen to...be sure they are of God. If someone comes to you and says, "Thus saith the Lord....." and they say something contrary to the Word of God....it is NOT from God. Many people have been deceived because they simply don't know their bibles. Someone will say to them "It says in the bible....." and they just accept it. Don't ever do that. Test the spirit, check the facts...don't even trust me....make sure what I say lines up with the Word of God. If it does not, throw it out...don't receive it. If someone tries to tell you they are the chosen one, or they are the one you should pray to or hold up and worship....DON'T. I know this is Christianity 101, but sometimes folks just don't check things out and are easily deceived. The devil has always been able to "twist" God's Word to suit him and to trick folks. Each time Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil, He answered his temptation with scripture. "It is written, it is written....." How can you say "It is written.." if you don't know what is written? Well, you can't. Your intellect won't help, you charisma won't help, your fancy words won't help. ONLY God's Word will answer a temptation from the enemy. If you don't know God's Word, you'll slip and fall every time. I hear people all the time confessing they are weak, and I'm one of them. But by reading God's word, praying, and singing praise to Him (all daily) you will get stronger. You don't build your muscles by sitting on the couch all day. You do it by working out with different weights specifying each exercise to coincide with a specific muscle or muscles you are targeting. There are scriptures that deal with salvation, healing, confidence, security, provision............just about every topic you can think about is covered in the bible. Don't EVER take anyone's word for it....only take God's Word for it. One preacher once said, "Either you're lying or God's lying, I pick you!" Every person on the planet is a liar compared to the Word of God. Be wary of those who would twist God's Word to make you feel like you owe them something. Unfortunately I have met people of that ilk. They expected to be paid and praised for praying for folks. That's not scriptural folks. If you feel the Lord is leading you to give a donation that's one thing...but to have someone require you give them something....is just not cool. If people call me to go pray for a loved one in a hospital or at their house....it is my pleasure to go and I don't expect anything in return. God is my provider when I am doing His work. Have a great day folks and God bless. :-) Pastor James