The hopelessness after deception.

Hello and Welcome to Take Me To Eternity. where I study what is coming into the church through a biblical lens and try to help you to learn what God says about living blessed in this fallen world. 

I know all too well that the battle between flesh and spirit is real and active. That is why I talk about what we can do to live the life God made for us so much. 

I spend a lot of time calling out teachings and people who are dangerous. Wolves who hide and disguise themselves as God’s workers. Dangerous snakes hidden in the grass. Hidden reefs waiting to shipwreck someone. Today I want to talk about a different aspect of this and that is the hopelessness that comes from coming out of deception. 

There is a time after learning that someone you have listened to for a long time is speaking falsely or teaching things that are contrary to scripture where you want to throw your hands up and don’t know who you can trust. Who you can listen to or what to believe. You don’t even know where to start to find the truth. You feel like you are trying to set your feet on solid ground and all you can find is shifting sand. You don’t feel like you can trust yourself because you have already fallen for deception before and you can’t trust others because the deception came from other people. 

There is also, at least there was for me. A point where absolute loneliness consumed me. It seemed like no one understood where I was coming from. I was told I was legalistic for holding to scripture and wanting it undefiled. I was called a pharisee for referring back to scripture. I was told that I was taking it too far. Told I didn’t fit into any Christian group I was around. I was too charismatic for some and not charismatic enough for others.  I was caught in an in-between of hyper charismatic and biblical truth. I was surrounded by those who followed the people I just rejected and was dog paddling alone in the midst of uncertainty. There were people that I thought would know better than me and they fell for untruth so how in the world do you move on from that? You feel like if they didn’t know better how could you?

It takes effort for sure. It takes leaning on God and digging into his word. It takes searching for what he said in context, why he said it and tossing out anything that does not line up. It takes being willing to change your idea of who God is and what he said according to his word. 

That sounds like a lot, but scripture says in Philippians 2:12-13 

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Philippians‬ ‭2:12-13‬ ‭

It is not up to someone else to put in the effort. We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. For what? Because God is at work in us, to do his will and to work for HIS GOOD PLEASURE. What we do is supposed to please him. Not us. Not anyone else. We are to live for an audience of one and that is God himself. Matthew 7:7-8 says

““Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew‬ ‭7:7-8‬ ‭

We are told in this that we are to Ask, Seek, and Knock. These are all verbs. God is so gracious that when we ask for wisdom and guidance he gives it to us. Unfortunately we have to not shut down the things he has given us to discern when we are discerning. I have talked about this in my podcast on the conscience as well as a couple discernment podcasts. 

God gave us a warning system and too often it goes off and we tell it to shut up and keep doing what it was warning us about. We are numbing it, desensitizing it,  programming it to overlook the things we say we want to discern against. When we go to watch a show and we have an automatic response that there is something wrong, shut it off and don’t watch it. When we know that something speaks of the word, in any way that contradicts scripture or twists it, why do we continue to partake in it? If we know there is any issue at all we should care enough to walk away from it and possibly warn others of the wrongness of it. All for the pleasure of God. If we want to look like Christ we cannot continue with almost truths. 

If Jesus is truth and truth matters then why do we allow untruth to have a place in our hearts and minds? The world is corrupt enough we don’t need to be part of the corruption. I know that when I speak I will get things wrong. We are all forever growing in the truth of God. I have a heavy heart that I would say anything that could lead someone astray. That could speak wrongly of my savior but we are told to seek truth, to know truth and to spread truth. God is so gracious in using flawed humans to further his gospel. 

That is why we have scripture and we don’t rely on an inner voice. A feeling or a prompting. When we look at scripture it shapes us and forms us into looking more like Christ. We don’t need to hear a voice that can be misinterpreted, misheard or misunderstood. We have something better and that is scripture. If you truly believe that scripture is the word of God then when you want to hear his voice you will go to it and read it. 

When you crave to understand him better you will dig into it to grow in your understanding of  him and his ways. If you want to know his will for your life then read it in context, meditate on it, mulling it over and over. Talk about him to those around you. Find people who will sharpen you. People who will talk scripture with you and dig in with you. 

We are to search it diligently and continually to know who God is and what he says. To hear his voice in the words that he inspired for our training. We read the word to see what he says and why. Not as a daily application or boost. Though we get both of those through reading scripture it is only through reading it in context and seeking to understand God better through it not ourselves. Our hope is not in ourselves. We aren’t supposed to be worldly minded, concerned with ourselves and our own gratification. We are to be heavenly minded, concerned with growing in the knowledge of God. Psalms 77:11-12 says

“I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work And muse on Your deeds.”

In Christ we always have hope but we have to remember, that is who we are to look to and not people. We need to look at him with a pure mind and heart. We are to keep ourselves unstained by the world. We are to not accept evil or falsities as entertainment. Romans 12:9 says

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.” Romans‬ ‭12:9‬

And Jude 1:20-25 says

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude‬ ‭1:20-25‬

We are not supposed to mix with darkness. We are to be set apart. Know that darkness will masquerade as light and we are to reject it and mark and avoid it. We do this for so many reasons. We do it to be unstained ourselves, we do it to not pull others into the defilement and in fact help pull them out of deception. To help others know how to be pure. Yes we are to be concerned with helping others see what is true and what is false. What is good for their soul and what is harmful. We are to put others as more important than yourself and that means care about their good, physical as well as spiritual. What we do, say and promote has an impact on the world around us and I think we have lost that in the Christian circle. We are losing ground in the culture. Our children and our grandchildren are and will pay for it if we don’t do something about it. 

If you haven’t figured it out yet this world isn’t just about us. We are to praise God and to glorify him with everything we do. EVERYTHING. It is not easy but if we don’t struggle with it how can we say we love God more than self?

We need to remember the reason for our hope and sit in it. Our main food source should be the Bible and not humans. We should keep it free from filth also. Humans taint truth so often, without even trying. We spout things we think are true and biblical but instead come from t.v, movies and culture. We adopt worldly understandings and incorporate them into our belief system without a second thought. It is dangerous and we ought to fight against it.  

Our view of God is important and should be carefully guarded. Not saying you should never listen to anyone but we should hold them up to high standards of keeping to truth if we are going to look to them for spiritual food. We should weigh whatever is said to us about scripture next to what the bible says. We should guard our hearts and minds with the music and movies and entertainment we partake in also, especially when it speaks of Christ and the bible. 

Humans can speak the truth, lies and they can speak almost truths. As we grow and learn we crave to understand God’s word better. At least that is how it ought to be. 

So many want to get spoon fed God’s truth though. They want entertainment. microwave devotionals. So many want to feel better about themselves instead of conviction. Have all the answers for their lives now as opposed to learning them. Check that box of having read religious material so you could say I read my bible. They want to have the knowledge but don’t want to put the work in to find the truth themselves. So many don’t trust themselves to find it. It is easier to listen to someone else than to study it yourself. It’s easier to trust someone else’s brain more than your own. It takes too much time to research if what they are saying actually lines up. It sounds right doesn’t it?. It seems like a never ending hard thing to do. I am not that smart. I don’t understand all the words. These are common. These are normal human excuses. 

This is wrong and we ought to fight it. God can give us wisdom and help us to find what we need to grow but it isn’t an instant download or a small voice inside. I have heard it said that we will be as close to God as we want to be. We have to do the work and put the time in to get to know him better. We have to be diligent to keep our eyes on him. Redirect our thinking to truth. Be washed by the word and not tainted by the world. That takes effort. Constant effort. It takes being in the word and conforming to it. It is a forever washing. You will never know all the things. You will never exhaust the word of God. Philippians 4:4-9 says

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians‬ ‭4:4-9‬

The Holy Spirit guides us as we read scripture. God wants us to understand him. That is why he gave us scripture. We learn God’s truth when we seek it diligently and keep seeking it. Ask him knowing he hears us and he provides for us.  When we pray for wisdom God gives it to us. It does take action on our part though. 

I got fed by people like Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Joyce Meyers, Rick Warren, Todd white, and Heidi Baker. All people who speak to you. Speak of you. Of your ability. What you need to do. To tell you the truth If it wasn’t for the last two It might have taken longer for me to come out of deception. Not to say that everything they say is wrong but it is sprinkled with twists and deviations. It is woven with a man centered theology that is not biblical in one way or another. One day I will address each one but for now we will leave it at that. The focus is on the wrong thing. They focus on self, or Satan more than they focus on God. 

I knew enough truth to question some of the things that were said but I didn’t understand the difference in definitions yet and I was being told these were the people to trust. The ones that could help to feed my soul that craved so badly to be fed. I was told over and over what the person actually meant, when they said something. Which made things harder for me to discern the truth. We need to look at what people say and not inject what we think they are saying.

The more the people around us teach us to excuse lies the easier it is to swallow the lie and accept it as truth. I didn’t know that one person’s definition of Christianese was different from another’s. Fortunately now I do. I didn’t understand How one person can use a word and it means something so different from what the Bible meant or even than the other people listening thinks it does.

I was being taught not to question people because others got helped by them. Or it was kind of right. Or it was entertaining so it was ok but, being helped by good advice doesn’t change the other things that person says. Accepting something as entertainment can still twist our theology no matter how much we think it won’t. 

They said the name of Jesus and said it with passion so I shouldn’t question them. God could be using them. We shouldn’t question that music group or tv show because who are we to judge? These are all things that people have said to me. And this reeks of the culture around us doesn’t it?

God can use anyone, that shows how amazing he is, not the person he is using. He can use fallen God haters to show us truth but that doesn’t mean we should listen to them and be fed by them. 

It amazes me everyday that he can use, even me. 

People see bible verses being used and think it had to line up. Unfortunately when it is taken out of context, when it’s twisted or only a part used it can be made to say a host of things it didn’t actually say. If Satan quoted scripture when dealing with Jesus in the Bible, why wouldn’t he pose as an angel of light and use God’s word with a twist now? Think about that for a minute. Satan poses as one of God’s messengers. 

This is why it is so important for us to dig in and search scripture ourselves. Hold everything to the light to see if it holds true. 

With Heidi Baker I couldn’t look past how off she is. How there is a certain darkness to her. She is a pretender to the core and it’s hard to not notice. It’s hard to look past. Joyce Meyers, Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer were harder to spot what was wrong. It wasn’t until I realized how self centered it was and started seeing the small deviations did I start to really spot the problem.  I started to see that the focus was really on what we can do, or what we should do. The power we have and not on Christ and what he did. Its focus is always on us experiencing God. puffing us up.

With Todd White I embraced him and his so-called love for Jesus. He seemed so sincere though he is sincerely wrong. 

He has such passion and fire and I liked that. I also wanted experience. I wanted power. Who doesn’t want to help others? To talk to God and have God talk back. To Heal people and have encounters?

I wanted to hear God speak to me personally. I wanted to speak angelic languages. I wanted to heal people with a word and have encounters with the living God. I wanted to speak prophetic words over people and to be that person who glows in the dark with the light of Jesus. I wanted Jesus to speak to me face to face and feel him tangibly.

You know God works through things and thankfully he only allows some things for a time. He grows us through the groping for him, through hard times and obedience through it, and he helps us to latch onto him for fear of sinking when there is nothing else to grab onto. When you feel like you are drowning he is your bouy. When you feel tossed by every passing wave he anchors us. 

When I learned that Todd White was speaking contrary to what scripture said it blew a hole in my world. I felt like everything I trusted was falling apart because it was like an avalanche, seeing all the different people saying the same thing. The thread of prosperity through them, word faith amongst other things. The power of our words. I started digging into scripture with open eyes and testing every spirit along the way. I didn’t know that moment would change the trajectory of my whole walk. 

I started to see connections between what was said by Todd White and what others said which put up red flags everywhere I looked. Some I would look into and see biblical things taught and others I would see they were a deception and throw them in the dung heap. This is hugely valuable. When we see there is a deception it helps us to see it in other places. 

I talked to everyone about the things I was learning and quickly learned that people are willing to put up with deception if it is from someone they like. They are willing to know that something is wrong and still protect it. Know that untruth is being taught and excuse it away because experience and feelings were more important. People stick up for their people, they excuse them and they don’t want to do the work to see if what is being said is true or not. 

Sometimes they aren’t willing to stop listening and promoting them because they feel an attachment. They aren’t willing to part with someone they spent so much time listening to. They don’t want to question people they like. They don’t want to know because then they will have to change. It is basic human nature to be selfish and lazy. I want things to be all about me and I will defend what makes me feel good. It makes me wonder how much they look to that person over God. If we know that someone is speaking wrongly about God we should care more about offending God than humans. 

It’s normal, but it isn’t right. By this time I couldn’t keep my mouth shut learning deceptions that I believed once and I couldn’t stop searching and comparing. I questioned everything and I mean everything. Music, movies, people, preachers, pastors, teachers, everything. 

A Bethel song came on talking about Jesus going to hell and that put a screeching halt to listening to them. I learned everything I could on the topic and also about bethel. 

While talking to a Bethelite. Someone who studied under them, went to their school and followed their teachers and teachings I found that scripture was questioned and experience put in its place in this group. I learned that they taught a different Jesus and a different gospel and that they brought in occult practices. These things are easy to find but again it does take effort. You also have to be willing to accept the truth when you see it. Not everyone is willing to do that. It is easier to excuse. 

It’s spiritual abuse. When you see the abuse it’s easier to spot other places. Anyone who has been abused knows that you can spot the signs of an abuser after you have gone through it yourself. They also know the compulsion you get to warn others when you see them heading for doom. 

It spiraled me into looking deeper into Bethel with an eye to see truth and finding that they are deeply heretical. Seriously dangerous and just a link in a movement that ran streams into every church they could worm their way into. They use music to get in and they are highly successful in that. They know the truth well enough to speak it out of one side of their mouth while teaching to the contrary and casting doubt on biblical accuracy and Authority. 

When you see the connections you cannot unsee them.

The spiral that happened was not expected. It was like the ground had dropped out from under me and I was free falling. It was like I was dropped in a raging ocean with no ability to do anything but tread water. I thought I had been clinging to The Lord but in fact I was clinging to humans in the name of the Lord. I was desperately clinging to my own power, my own ability and not God’s already finished work.  Did God really talk to each believer? Were the healings real? What about tongues? 

I learned that Sara Young channeled the book Jesus Calling and tossed that, I stopped listening to pretty much all of the music I had been blasting through my house on a daily basis. My kids went through this with me and got books tossed, music they loved was gone and we had a lot of conversations about why. All the while people thought I was going overboard. I spent a lot of time praying and relying on an audience of one. 

We talked a lot about what honored God and what was dishonoring even though it looked good. They watched people get mad and argue with me and we talked about ignorance and how some people just don’t know and that we need to have patience with them. That just because the world doesn’t agree doesn’t make it right. We have to do what honors God and speak truth no matter if people like it or not. They learned that we don’t do things that glorify evil and we don’t take part in deceptive teaching. That our view of God matters and we cannot compromise to smooth talkers who say things that make us feel good but distort the word of God. We talked about the authority of the Bible and that we should not go beyond scripture for a reason. 

My world shrunk. It was like all of the things that I trusted were now untrustable and the people around me didn’t see it. They clung to this music, these teachers and they would get angry when I spoke about the dangers. I had to learn the whys well. Why should we not listen to Bethel, Jesus culture, hillsong, and elevation worship? Why should we not watch the shack? Why is it wrong to portray God in a way that he did not himself? Why are Todd White and Heidi Baker and Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton, Joyce Meyers, Beth Moore, and Priscilla Shirer wrong and dangerous?

I say all of this to encourage you. You are not alone in the chaos that follows coming to real truth. There are a lot of us out there who understand. 

People want solid heresy, black and white and sometimes all you can do is show them what is almost true and say but it isn’t true. People need to know there is a little dung in their spiritual food. If they continue to eat it, at least I know I warned them. Sometimes their schemes are clever. They are so close to the truth it’s easy to miss. 

I learned that I needed to be able to explain why I said people or teachings were dangerous biblically. I needed to be solid in what the Bible said vrs. What they said, so that I could defend my choices, defend the truth. I needed quotes and proof. The people that I trusted the most turned into my biggest skeptics. They questioned me and mocked me to my face. Made fun of me because I literally just cleared out all of my music and teachers and refused to have anything to do with these false teachings. They acted like I was dumb and didn’t know what I was talking about. They couldn’t understand why I could listen to someone one moment and toss them out the next. 

The people that I trusted with spiritual matters now raised an eyebrow and told me I was being too harsh, too judgmental and legalistic. That I would be happier at a different church and was being a stumbling block. I Got called a Pharisee and told I had a religious spirit. 

God used this in my life. It was painful. It was hard. It hurt but he used it. I prayed that he would help me to see people the way that he wanted me to see them. That I would see the why of what they said and not just get offended. He helped to grow me significantly through it all and helped me to learn to forgive offenses quicker. To love even when people aren’t kind and to be bold and stand up for his truth even if it was just me. He showed me why I am supposed to speak up and defend his word. 

They simply didn’t understand. God taught me grace in a new way and gave me patience to explain over and over again. He put a burning in me that wouldn’t allow me to shut up. Believe me I want to often. It would be so much easier for me. People say I don’t have that kind of time to research and study like you do but I did it because God compelled me. I did it because I NEEDED to know. I needed to be able to trust someone. To find footing and feel like I was on firm ground again. I did it because God’s truth mattered to me so much I wasn’t willing to settle for less. 

That time when you watch t.v. That became time for me to research. When I was making dinner I could listen to scripture with one headphone in. I found pastors who stuck to the word. Ones who valued what God said and I found my boundaries through gritted teeth and obstacles. I absorbed scripture and teachings on it as much as I could. 

There is a point where you free fall or at least that is how it feels. Where you don’t know where to turn or what to believe. That is when you cling to God the most, the strongest. You hold on for dear life because your world around you is crumbling. It is beautiful though painful. 

This is when you stop looking to man to help and you sink into prayer and diligent studying of the word. You block out other people’s opinions and you seek God’s truth above all. Go back to what you did in the beginning. Generally as believers you know that you find God through his word. You start by seeking him there and then you feel like you can “advance” and find more. There is no finding more outside of scripture. It holds everything that we need to know God and live a life according to his will.  God will make your path straight but you have to seek to understand if you want to know. There is never a time when you learned it all. When you exhausted scripture. He doesn’t give you a download or a miraculous wisdom that comes from nowhere so you can stop putting in effort. He gives you a heart to want to know and the ability to find the answers if you so wish.

How much do you want your footing back? How well do you want to know God? Tthe more time you put into pondering his word and studying it the closer to him you will be. The more you pray and worship and seek to know him the stronger your faith. I think this was a test for me. It was a learning period for sure. In how to value God and his word above anyone. How to see that his scripture should be untainted.

He taught me to pursue him. To trust him and to know that he is faithful when no one else is. Not saying there is no one who loves me or cares but he is the one you can depend on no matter what. He is the one who will help you find the truth you seek. He will give you the wisdom and discernment to know the truth and he does that through his word. 

The Bible says that The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and that all we have to do is ask for wisdom and he will give it to us. When it speaks of “how” we are told we are to ask knowing he will answer. Sometimes it takes longer than we want it to. Sometimes we cry out to him for a long time before we see the work that he is doing but he is always faithful to answer. Always faithful to put another brick on our foundation in just the right place. 

If you are at a place where you feel like you are free falling. Like you don’t know who to trust or what is right, be excited. Through it God can build a foundation under you stronger than what you thought you had before. He is working, just trust him and cling to him. Decide to seek his truth instead of wasting time. Dig your heels in and search. 

We can’t just sit stagnant and expect him to hand us all understanding, we have to look for it. 

Throughout my walk, God has taught me to hold everything and everyone with an open hand. None of it is mine and he is in complete control. He knows better, loves better and provides better than I could ever dream of. He is also the one who is faithful in every storm. 

We aren’t to hold onto people with a tight grip because they are human and they can fall. We shouldn’t get pulled down with them. We need to care about truth and stand in it to keep our footing in this ever changing and evil world. We need to not compromise because in compromising we are giving Satan a foothold. We are giving up ground and we are adding a little sand to our foundation. 

I need to be rooted in Christ, not a human. When a teacher I listened to falls, teaching wrongly about God, I can pray for them but I need to reject their sinful teaching. Reject the almost truths and reject them having any kind of teaching role after that. God wants his word pure and undefiled. If we know there is an issue it is up to us to deal with it. To not allow it, accept it or excuse it. 

My best advice is to cling to the Lord, to dig into the word and study it. Stop listening to bite sized pieces given by people you don’t know or know have some issues. Figure out what your boundaries are and stick to them. No matter what the people around you say or believe. Be willing to change what you believe if the word says differently. 

If all you had was God would it be enough? If you only had him and his word would that suffice? We have the privilege of having a plethora of good translations of scripture at our beck and call. At the touch of a button or sitting on a shelf. Yet most decide they want someone else to tell them what it means and what it says. It’s easier, it’s more entertaining. 

Where is our dependence on God for teaching us in that? If you think that God talks to you and you ever question if it was him or not you have to ask yourself where in the scriptures is that taught? 

So many teachers make it about me, instead of reading about people that were alive centuries ago. It makes me feel seen and heard and wanted. I feel good when I see myself as the hero. When I feel like God is talking to me personally through the scripture. When I feel like I am getting personal revelations. 

He is just not like that. You are not David, you are a whomsoever. You are not Ruth, you are a sinner in need of a savior. We are the ones who were once his enemies. Who were on our way to hell because of our sinful hearts. He teaches us who HE is in his word. He teaches us how we are to live and who he wants us to be. We are the rebellious ones who turn to him. We are the people who were once idolatrous and now prostrate before him. We are the saints who strive to stay on the narrow path. We aren’t the ones in the bible, we are the ones the Bible is talking to. We are to be encouraged and strengthened through its words. Emboldened. Chastised. Rebuked and comforted. Hebrews 4:12 says

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews‬ ‭4:12‬

2 Timothy 3:15-17 says

“and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy‬ ‭3:15-17‬

These sacred writings give us wisdom. It is all there to equip us. The word is a lamp to shine truth and expel the lies of darkness. It sanctifies us, cleansing our hearts and our minds. It strengthens us against the lies of Satan. It is our only Defense. Stop worrying about how smart you are or how much other people know and know that God gives wisdom to all if we ask. He can teach you, it does take effort on your part though. 

We should be talking about scripture with those around us willing to be wrong in order to be corrected and to correct in order to help those who are wrong us included. 

How much time do you spend reading books that you want to read? How much time do you spend relaxing or just doing what you want? You can spend that time studying the parts of scripture that you are trying to understand. The ones you have questions about. I find God building my foundation with stones. One cannot get put down before the other is properly laid. 

Our spiritual food is more important than anything. It’s more important than the food we eat and the air we breathe . We find time for the things we value. If you value God you will find time to be in his word. To study it and to know it because through it you know him and you know who he wants you to be and how you ought to live. Our quiet time should not be something to check off the checklist. A discipline to say yup I did it. 

We need to spend time digging in not just memorizing, though that is good and valuable but studying is hugely important. We need to compare life and teachings to it. Learning the great mysteries that he has allowed us to understand. 

There is a warning though. It doesn’t end. You will never exhaust all you can know. You will never be done learning. That is the beauty of learning about God. 

So many spend so much time seeking experience. Seeking his voice but don’t spend the time to know it through the one way you can be sure it’s him. If you yearn to hear God’s voice then read your bible. If you yearn to know the truth, study it diligently. Talk about it when you are walking and eating, and spending time with friends or family. Think about it while laying awake at night, while brushing your teeth and showering. 

We are to be heavenly minded. Keeping our eyes on God and eternity. That is how we can live in this fallen world and not get bogged down by it. Not lose faith or hope. 

He will teach you and guide you but not if you refuse to make the time. 

Hope this was encouraging. I love you all, even the ones I don’t know. God has made you in his image and I pray that you see that clearer and clearer every day. Don’t give up. He has amazing things for you to learn. 

God bless,

LeaFiore