If They had Stood in My Councel

Jeremiah 23:26-29 "How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?"

We live in an era in which falsehood lies in wait around every corner; a problem that has existed throughout history. The devil offers up an array of false teachings to obscure the truth of Gods word. These delusions always appeal to the flesh and usually contain a healthy dose of "smooth things" to make them easier to swallow. A pristine example of this would be reincarnation. It appeals to the flesh because it suggests that after death, you get to come back as a new person and "DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN." It's also a smooth thing because there is no judgment and no consequences for a self-serving lifestyle. There are also prophets who claim to represent God who speak smooth things. I don't remember the name or the source, but there was a report of a televangelist who, prior to the war in Iraq, prophesied that we would have a swift victory and that "NOT ONE AMERICAN would lose their life." Well that's definatly a smooth saying, however, in hindsight, it's tragically false as the loss of 2800 Americans will attest. A true word from the Lord will always come to pass; be it a pleasing thing or a not so pleasing thing. If a person proclaims that God showed them how such and such will take place at a particular time and it doesn't come to pass, that person spoke a vision of their own imagination.

Proverbs 14:25 "A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies."

Truth can be unpleasent and even brutal at times, but it will lead to the deliverance of the hearer who takes heed. Likewise, a lie will lead one down the road to perdition every time; regardless of how pleasing it sounds. I'm going to venture into something that most will disagree with, however, the pre-tribulation rapture falls into this category. It teaches that the church is going to be taken out of here before anything too crazy comes to pass. We won't have to endure; we'll be just sitting in our recliners watching "something" and suddenly, be raptured. Then the tribulation will begin. This error is causing MILLIONS to not prepare themselves spiritually for the times ahead. They're not drawing ever closer to the Lord Jesus; in fact many of them are quite comfy in this present world as they heap to themselves treasures for the last days. This is something that I talk on quite often because multitudes are not ready to stand the fiery trial of their faith. This teaching of a pre-tribulation rapture will lead to the shipwreck of many. As I have asked before, please don't take my word for it. I'm a sinner, saved by grace, who sees through a glass darkly, just like every saint. PLEASE search it out "diligently" and "prayerfully." DO NOT follow another person blindly without examining what they're proclaiming.

Jeremiah 23:21-23 "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my councel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?

These's so much packed into these verses. These prophets didn't seek the word of the Lord. They didn't spend time in sweet communion with the most high; they just ran and proclaimed "thus saith the Lord." Their words didn't turn people from their sin as verse 22 will attest. But if they had waited on the Lord, he would have used them to proclaim his truth. (Of course, proclaiming truth often led to one being ostracized and, in many cases, killed.) Truth will reveal a problem such as sin and the wise will take heed to it. A lie will cover up a sin or a fault so that the hearer "feels better" but is still lacking much needed understanding and deliverance. The problem is merely "covered up" and will continue to grow.

Deuteronomy 11:18-19 "Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

Psalm 119:1-4 "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with a whole heart. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently."

This is such a basic statement, however, folks get into all kinds of trouble when they abandon the word of God. Staying in the holy bible diligently and allowing the Holy Ghost to reveal things to you will keep you from going astray. Any vision or revelation; if it truly comes from God, it will line up with scripture as God is not the author of confusion. When you search the scriptures, you are "standing in Gods councel."

Job 38:36 "Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

Matthew 10:27 "What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops."

James 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

This is the other facet of receiving revelation from God; just talk to him. Come before the throne of grace in sincerety, and ask for understanding. Ask in faith; believing that He indeed will answer your heartfelt prayer. Fervent prayer and bible study. I know that it sounds so elementary, but we're all too negligent in both. Both are needed to stay in the truth of the gospel. (Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God) As you look out across the doctrinal landscape, it would appear that precious few are seeking the Lord Jesus in a fashion that's untainted by the philosophies and traditions of men. If two folks have differing views concerning a verse of scripture, you can be certain that at least one of them hasn't heard from God.

John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your rememberance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

True councel. True revelation. This will come as you stay in fellowship with Jesus and follow as close as you can to him. As you seek him with a pure heart continuously, he really will "shew thee great and mighty things." As we come into the time of strong delusions; the likes of which the world has never experienced, we all must be diligent in proclaiming truth. Were in an age when folks don't adhere to sound doctrine, but instead, collect teachers and smooth talkers who go about peddling their latest ten part series on how to be financially prosperous in this life.

This is a little off topic, but I was thinking tonight on how so much of the teaching today focuses on this world; name it and claim it along with the assumption that gain is godliness. The "stuff" becomes the focus. You know what's in a persons heart by the words that they speak.

I John 5:5 "They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them."

When you are born again and watching; when you love the Lord Jesus Christ and long for his appearing, this will be your conversation. If you love the trappings of this life, you'll seek to talk about the accumulation of stuff. Stuff that's all destined to melt with a fervent heat and be no more. In closing, let me just reemphasize the importance of staying diligent about the things that we know to stay diligent about. In this fast paced world of running to and fro, it's easy to let these things slip. To say within ourselves "I really must get to sleep; it'll be alright if I don't get into the bible just this one night. Of course, one night leads to two nights and then two weeks. I'm speaking from experience as the flesh man likes his slumber. He also doesn't like blogging at 3:30 am like I am now. Nonetheless, I really like to blog; to just take that which is on my heart and put it "out there!" One more passage and I'll close for now.

Isaiah 55:6-9 "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Hello again. It's now 12:20 PM here in Constantine. I just found this report on Steve Quayles site and it ties in perfectly with this post. It involves the purpose driven "phenomenon" and it shows just how fast this end time senario is coming together right before us. Here's the link.

www.newswithviews.com/BeritKjos/kjos67.htm