4-23 Pastor’s Devo

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 6

 
 

Lord when I see the passion and depth of Solomon's conviction that there is none but You. You alone are the great God. Today's generation and all the beliefs that are tossed around and promoted that claim truth and gain the ears and hearts of this generation stand in stark contrast to the window into reality that your word describes. I'm reminded of the words of one of today's most influential leaders in America and one who many describe as a spiritual leader. Her teaching have captured the hearts of the masses. Consider the following as we contrast what "Oprah feels" versus what "God says".

• Oprah feels: there are millions of ways the following God & we all reach the same destination.
  
• God says: (Acts 4:12) - Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (NKJV; emphasis mine)
  
• Oprah feels: there cannot possibly be just one way to God.
  
• God says: (Ephesians 2:8) - For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (NKJV; emphasis mine)
  
• Oprah feels: she can reconcile her "Christianity" with her new religious ideas because she has discovered how "big" God is
  
• God says: (2 Samuel 7:22) - Therefore You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. (NKJV; emphasis mine)
  
• Oprah feels: something is wrong with biblical Christianity because God cannot possibly be a jealous God
  
• God says: (Exodus 20:5) - you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (NKJV; emphasis mine) (others: Ex. 20:5; 34:13, 14; Num. 25:11; Deut. 29:20; 32:16, 21; 1 Kin. 14:22; Psa. 78:58; 79:5; Isa. 30:1, 2; 31:1, 3; Ezek. 16:42; 23:25; 36:5, 6; 38:19; Zeph. 1:18; 3:8; Zech. 1:14; 8:2; 1 Cor. 10:22)
  
• Oprah feels: God is a "feeling experience" and not a "believing experience"
  
• God says: (Acts 16:31) - So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." (NKJV; emphasis mine)
  
• Oprah feels: if God for you is still about a belief, then that is not truly God
  
• God says: (Romans 1:16) - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (NKJV; emphasis mine) http://www.seriousfaith.com/dvo/devotion.asp?teachingnumber=598
  

  Lord please guard my heart from the deceptive philosophies that so easy find their way into our hearts when we are guided by our feelings instead of your word. Help me to be discerning about what "teachers" I allow myself to sit under or into my life. Help me to filter out the falsehoods that lace the teachings of others that can influence my beliefs and behaviors before you. Instead, let me secure my heart to your most glorious and unchanging word.