Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Psalms 63-65
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 24:11-12
Jesus: The love that they had for one another will grow cold because few will obey the law. False prophets will appear, many will be taken in by them, and the only thing that will grow is wickedness. There will be no end to the increase of wickedness.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
How much should we concern ourselves with Jesus’ prophecy to His disciples about these end time happenings? What do we need to look for ourselves and how can we know if we are part of that group Jesus talks about or are we okay with God as we listen to His predictions? Have we let our love grow cold? Have we let ourselves be taken in by false prophets? Are we slipping into wickedness instead of righteousness?
Those are serious questions we need to answer for ourselves as we think of Jesus’ words today. So lets take a look at ourselves over the next few minutes.
Jesus says others will know His followers by our love for one another. But do I really love others? Do I help in times of need? Do I share their burdens with them not just in prayer, but in tangible ways so they recognize that I care for them as I would my flesh and blood brothers and sisters? Or has my love for fellow Christians become reduced to acquaintances at worship services and maintaining some friendships with the same few in my socio-economic level?
Do I really love the way Christ loved those that followed Him? Then a further question, do I love my enemies and pray for their salvation, their blessing, their success? Or do I do everything I can to trip them up, defeat them in some way, repudiate their character at every turn? Has my love grown cold?
How about the question of false teachers? Do I even know how to recognize false teachers when they come? There are a lot of good people in the world that are still lost. There are more that will twist and turn the scriptures to say what they want them to say for their benefit and forget the rest. Do I know how to recognize them and make sure I stay away from their teaching?
Do I listen to what teachers and prophets say and test it against God’s word to see if it really matches with the whole word of God? Do I test the validity of the prophet’s priciples and his life to see if he lives what he preaches? Do I check his behavior against God’s word to test the validity of how he lives the gospel in front of others? Do I follow a prophet because he makes me feel good or because his message sometimes convicts me and challenges me in areas of my life that need to become more Christlike?
I hear a lot of false prophets today that tell us a lot of things that don’t agree with God’s word. Sure they take a verse or two from His word, but they take it out of context and use it inappropriately and twist the whole tenor of God’s command to us to live holy and righteous lives. They ignore the whole of God’s word to focus on the few verses that appeal to them and lead others astray with them. Those are the false prophets Jesus talks about.
Satan did the same in the Garden of Eden with Adam when he talked about the tree of knowledge. Satan did the same thing with Jesus when he used the Psalms to entice Jesus to abandon the Father’s plan. The false prophets will use pieces and parts of scripture to entice us toward evil. So how do we know we might be subject to the teachings of false prophets? Test their teaching against the whole of God’s word. Put their single verses back into the context of God’s word. Don’t let a single verse of two dictate the flavor of the message, but rather understand the whole of God’s message.
How do you do that? Read His word! It’s only 1500 pages. That’s really not that long if you think about it. Read about four pages a day and you’ve read it in a year. Read and know God’s word and you will discern the difference between the false prophets and those proclaim the whole word of God.
What happens when we listen to and follow the false prophets that Satan sends? We experience an ever increasing growth in wickedness. Just look around and see the evidence of the false prophets’ work around us. Clearly wickedness is growing every day. Our abuse of drugs, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, the explosion of all kinds of vices throughout our country and the world. Can anyone possibly deny the growth of wickedness generation after generation since Jesus’ words to His disciples so long ago? And as He said, there will be no end of wickedness until He returns to stop it.
Should we concern ourselves with His words? Absolutely. Many will fall away. Can I fall away? I could if I fail to listen to Him and read His words and follow Him closely. So can you. Be careful in these days.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.