The Voice of Truth

Happy Veteran's Day, and a big Thank You to all who have and are serving our great country!

Today I start into the 7th Chapter of Jeremiah. 1 - 4: "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ' Stand at the gate of the Lord's house and there proclaim this message': Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says: ' Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!"".
God calls each of us to go and proclaim his word, and sometimes I wrestle with God in the messages he speaks to me and wants me to share. His words to us can sometimes be hard, and many turn away when you speak of repentance, judgement of sin and its consequences.
I'm sorry, but I'm not here to tippy toe around the Gospel; I can't water down what God wants to say, just so some don't get offended.
He says in Hebrews 4:12-13: "For the word of God is alive and active; sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing is all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account".
We have to take God at his word, and accept God's word into our hearts, so that he can make us into the men and women he's created us to be. There are times when we do feel his word as a sword; cutting into us and exposing sin that he wants to free us from.
This is where the verses from Jeremiah come into play. He warns us to not follow deceptive words. The people in Judah and Jerusalem were doing so, by going to the temple and acting as though they were going to worship, but they were following false teachings and false gods.
We have many in history who have led people by deceptive words and actions: Hitler, Stalin, Castro, and false Messiahs such as Jim Jones, who wooed people with his own version of the Gospel, then leading them to their deaths as those who came to rescue them approached. All these "leaders" told the people what they wanted to hear, when they wanted to hear it. They blindly followed them because they were mesmerized by them. Empty promises of better days, but only if you followed what they were proclaiming.
We hear many today with that same message, and God is pleading with us to open our eyes, our ears, and our hearts to His Truth. We won't recognize false teachings if we don't know the Word of God in order to be able to discern what's right and wrong; Truth or false misleadings.
Take what you hear and let the light of God shine on it - ask Him to give you a spirit of discernment, and to be able to boldly share with others, His Word.
There's a song on my playlist called, "The Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns, and I hope you'll listen to that today.