Tuesday, December 4, 2018
not every spirit
Today we read from 1 John 4:1-21 in the One Year Bible. John tells us not to trust people who have said they've been spoken to by spirits, but to test them instead.
But it's also true that we need to be careful when we feel that the spirit of God is talking to US. God does speak to us today, through many different forms, including the Bible, our conscience, the church, the wisdom of other Christians, and even through the poor. But it's important for us to test those voices to make sure it's really God speaking and not our own thoughts ... or evil spirits.
Recently, a young man tried to reach a remote and isolated group and was killed for his efforts. It is tempting to think that he followed the wrong voices. But here are some good thoughts on the matter.
In any case, it's important for us to test the voices that speak to us every day, and figure out if it's God or not. If it encourages us to love God and love other people, then it's from God. Those, after all, are our number one and two biggest commandments. If the voice tells us to kill people, then we probably want to talk to a spiritual director, since that's probably not God speaking to us.
But it's important to learn to discern His voice, so that we can do His will.
God, thank you for teaching us to test the voices we hear.
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