May I give you a kindly word of advice? Thank you.
Don’t listen to those nice folks who tell you Jesus has done everything, and now you do nothing but believe that He did it. It is true Jesus Christ did His part, but if you don’t get off your rear end and do your part, you will not have the harvest that He died and rose again for you to have.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:22-25)
Remember, those nice folks that tell you Jesus did it all and all you do is believe He did it – they are wrong. Nowhere in the Bible can you find a scripture that tells you that you don’t have to do anything. You have to do some doing too. You must act on God’s Word for it to work for you. You must work the Word. There is work involved in the Christian life. I know saying this is like cussing in the modern day church, but nevertheless it is true.
I believe the folks that say all you have to do is believe are well meaning people. You can mean well and still be scripturally incorrect. Jesus Christ appeared to Dad Hagin on September 2, 1950, and told him, “Follow the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and Me, and you will not be deceived.” It is that simple.
First, do not accept anything that disagrees with the whole counsel of God’s Word. Second, and this is the easiest way to me, “Be led by the Spirit of God.” The Spirit of God will alert you, in your spirit, if something is not right. You may not know why or how, in your mind though. Just follow that inward witness when it tells you something is wrong, and stay away from it. Third, follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is your Shepherd or protector, and He will keep you from seducing spirits. He is your Lord and savior, so get to know Him through prayer.
These truths have kept me from getting into deception over the years, even when very popular ministers in the church got into false doctrine and millions followed them. Sometimes it seemed like I was right by myself in not following them. Of course I know there must be many others who do the same.
This does not mean that I know it all, because I don’t. It also does not mean that I have never missed it, because I have. I always got back on the right track, quickly, because of these principles and my willingness to change. If you stay on the wrong path long enough, you may not be able to get off of it. When you realize that something you have accepted is wrong, change quickly. Most folks don’t and end up going down the wrong path. God is with you!
