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Footprints by Joan Weekly devotional by Joan Garrison Paschal

10-26-26 … Footprints On My Heart …“So You're Not Perfect ... Great ... You're Just What Gods Looking For”One morning on...
10/26/2026

10-26-26 … Footprints On My Heart …
“So You're Not Perfect ... Great ...
You're Just What Gods Looking For”

One morning on a social media site I read … “God doesn’t need a lot to do a lot. All David had was five stones. And all David used was one.” … This started the wheels turning around this thought in my head … Most all of the ‘greats’ in Scripture were weak … or fragile … physically challenged … or totally came from the wrong side of the tracks … God didn’t care about where they came from … He didn’t care about their limitations … He didn’t care about how strong … or attractive they were … but He cared … He cares about the heart of a person … David was a mere shepherd boy … Noah got drunk (Genesis 9:20-21) … One of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament … Elijah … was suicidal (1 Kings 19:4-8) … Even Jesus' disciples were not immune to weakness … Not only did Peter deny Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62) … but he … along with James and John … couldn't stay awake multiple times while Jesus was praying in Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42) … and the list goes on and on …
Scripture is full of people who displayed weakness … and we can draw strength and encouragement from these Saints who preceded us … God uses the weak to demonstrate His glory … to offer redemption and grace … and to show humanity the truth in Him …
Let’s look at Gideon … Gideon is first introduced in Scripture as hiding from the Midianites in a w**e press (Judges 6:11) … That’s not his only display of weakness, however … Not fully believing that he would save Israel … Gideon immediately asked God for a sign that what he was witnessing was Him ... God was patient and granted that to Gideon … who led 10 men to take down Baal’s altar (Judges 6:14-28) … Then Gideon did it again … he asked for another sign … this time in the form of the wet and dry fleece … God once again answered Gideon’s request (Judges 6:36-40) … The rest of the Gideon’s biblical narrative demonstrates his bravery and righteousness … He took an army of 300 valiant men to subdue … and eventually overthrow Israel’s foes … Once he saved Israel from the Midianites … as God told him initially … the people of Israel wanted Gideon to be king … Gideon insisted that God should be the sole king in Israel … and that resulted in 40 years of no foreign nation oppressing Israel (Judges 8:28) … Once a frightened warrior hiding in a w**epress … God called Gideon to overcome fear and a lack of faith to be a faithful … mighty commander … Fittingly … Gideon is included as one of several “heroes of faith” mentioned in Hebrews 11:32-34.
And then there is Moses … God appeared to Moses as a burning bush and identified Himself … Next … God told Moses that he would lead His people out of Egypt to the Promised Land (Exodus 3:1-10) … However … Moses … repeatedly responded with uncertainty about his calling … Moses doubted he was the right pick … he questioned God … he hesitated … he told God he was not eloquent enough … that he was slow of speech … eventually Moses said ‘send someone else’ … God … even through He was angry with Moses … granted his request and sent Aaron … Moses’ brother … as the speaker for Moses …
Moses was by no means perfect … however … the rest of his actions illustrate his faithfulness and qualities of powerful leadership … Moses faced Pharaoh … led the Exodus … parted the Red Sea … and brought the people to Mount Sinai where the Old Covenant was established … He even gave sermon-like speeches … something Moses never thought he was capable of … such as his exposition on the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5 … and after Moses died … the Book of Deuteronomy closes with recognition of the prophet’s leadership. …
And then there is David … a shepherd that ended up king … a powerful warrior king that conquered many regions … a ‘man after God’s own heart’ … 1 Samuel 13:14 tells us “14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” … This was Samuel talking to Saul … Saul had not kept the commands of God … and Samuel was relating the consequences for Saul’s disobedience …
David wasn’t perfect … but he was a man of God … he made mistakes … but he had a repentant heart … a heart that yearned for God … He had a heart that yearned to do God’s will … and it all started with one stone …
The Cracked Vessel
A modern-day story about imperfect people and God’s work
Marcus had never imagined himself as a leader. He was a quiet man who worked nights repairing buses for the city … He had made mistakes in the past … some that had cost him friendships … others that still made him uncomfortable when he remembered them … Although he believed in God … Marcus often assumed that God would choose someone more confident … more educated … and more spiritually disciplined to make a difference in the world.
One winter … a severe storm struck the city … Several neighborhoods lost power … and the community shelter quickly ran out of food and blankets … Marcus noticed that many elderly residents and families with young children were stranded in their homes … He felt an uneasy prompting to help organize a response … but he immediately dismissed the thought … “I’m not a speaker,” he told himself … “I don’t know how to lead people.”
Still … the concern would not leave hi … The next morning … Marcus called a few friends … asked local businesses for donations … and posted a simple message online … Within hours … volunteers began arriving. Marcus made mistakes from the beginning … he sent people to the wrong addresses … forgot to arrange enough transportation … and spoke so nervously at the first meeting that he repeated himself several times … Yet the work continued … Neighbors brought supplies … teenagers shoveled snow … and retired nurses offered medical assistance.
As the days passed … Marcus began to understand that leadership did not mean having every answer … It meant being willing to take the next faithful step and allowing others to contribute their gifts … The shelter served hundreds of people before the power was restored … Marcus received praise … but he realized the effort had never depended on his perfection … God had used a hesitant mechanic … generous neighbors … and ordinary acts of courage to bring help to those in need.
Months later … Marcus spoke about the experience at a church gathering … He admitted that he had been afraid … disorganized … and uncertain … “I kept waiting to become the kind of person God could use,” he said … “But perhaps God was teaching me that He uses the person who is willing to obey, … even while that person is still growing.”
His words reminded the congregation of Moses … who felt inadequate when God called him to lead Israel … Moses questioned his ability to speak and tried to avoid the responsibility … yet God worked through him to confront Pharaoh and guide His people toward freedom … They also remembered David … a shepherd who became king … yet whose life included serious failures and painful consequences … David was not chosen because he was flawless … he was chosen because God saw his heart and continued shaping him through both triumph and repentance.
Marcus’s story did not end with the storm … He continued making mistakes … but he also continued serving … He mentored young mechanics … visited people who were isolated … and learned to apologize when his decisions caused problems … His life became a quiet reminder that God does not wait for people to become perfect before giving them meaningful work …
Like Moses … Marcus discovered that weakness does not prevent God from accomplishing His purposes … Like David … he learned that failure does not have to be the final chapter if and when a person turns back to God … The Lord often works through cracked vessels … not because the cracks are good … but because His strength and grace can shine through them … In every generation … God calls imperfect people to serve … trusting that obedience … humility … and faith can accomplish far more than human perfection ever could … so … when you read about those miraculous people that God used to do His great and marvelous works in the days of old … just remember … He also calls on you to do His work … to be His hands and feet and voice in the middle of this chaotic world we live in today …

The Biblical underdogs … of which the before mentioned are just a few … illustrate where true strength can be found … not by relying merely on your own methods … it’s only possible by relying on … by developing and nurturing … a true relationship with God … trying to stay strong … to handle life’s battles on your own is a recipe for failure … whenever you are experiencing difficult times or seasons … you must call on God … who is always there for you … “God doesn’t need a lot to do a lot. All David had was five stones. And all David used was one.”
Shalom … Shalom …
Joan

10/15/2026 … Footprints On My Heart …“Planning Your Prayer…”I listened to a podcast by Rev. John Piper one morning … it ...
10/15/2026

10/15/2026 … Footprints On My Heart …
“Planning Your Prayer…”
I listened to a podcast by Rev. John Piper one morning … it was about prayer … and making plans to set aside a time … perhaps many times … in our day to talk with and spend time with our Lord. After careful consideration I realized that perhaps I’m not so much in the habit of praying at the same time every day as I am of keeping a running conversation with God going … I do pray before every meal … most mornings and evenings … but I miss a few … And in my contemplation of this subject I realized that some of my most joyful moments are times when I realize that a prayer has been answered …
When I speak of ‘joy’ I am speaking of a feeling that comes from deep within my heart … my soul … in the place where the Holy Spirit lives … it’s a feeling that cannot be manifested by mere human qualities … only by God … ‘happiness’ … in my opinion … is a human quality … and can be achieved by human action or interactions… but ‘joy’ … pure … unadulterated joy … comes from God.
This distinct difference between happiness and divine joy reminds me of a renowned old story about a royal gardener. The king had two servants. The first servant sought happiness by picking the ripe … low-hanging fruit from the palace orchards whenever he pleased … enjoying a sweet … immediate treat. But when winter came … the trees were bare … and his satisfaction vanished. The second servant was the master gardener. He did not merely search for fruit … he spent his days planning … preparing the deep soil … and carefully nurturing the roots of a rare vine. When a severe drought struck the kingdom … the low-hanging fruit withered … and the first servant grew miserable. Yet … the master gardener’s vine grew deeper … drawing from hidden … underground springs. Even in the heat of the drought … it produced rich … vibrant fruit. The gardener’s delight did not depend on the weather … his joy was sustained by the hidden life of the vine he had so carefully tended.
This timeless story mirrors the exact picture Christ paints for us in the Scriptures. The master gardener understood that fruit is merely the byproduct of a deeply anchored … intentionally cultivated root system. When we fail to plan our spiritual lives … we are like the first servant … lazily wandering into the garden only when we are hungry … hoping to find something effortless to sustain us. We want the fruit of peace … the fruit of answered prayer, and the fruit of overflowing joy … but we neglect the quiet … hidden labor of digging deep into the soil of a relationship with the Father.
This story beautifully illustrates the profound truth spoken by Jesus in the Upper Room: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful... Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-2, 4-5)
To truly abide in the Vine requires an intentional structure … a deliberate pulling away from the frantic pace of the world. Jesus Himself modeled this life of preparation and intimacy. He did not leave His communion with the Father to chance or sudden inspiration. The Gospels show us a pattern of structured … planned isolation for the purpose of focused prayer … as seen when “He went out and went to a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12) If the Son of God needed to carve out a specific place … a designated time … and an uninterrupted season to align His heart with the Father … how much more do we need a deliberate strategy? … Without a set time and a quiet space … our communication with God easily becomes an afterthought … crowded out by the endless noise and competing demands of our daily schedules.
And in thinking on this subject … I think of the scripture that tells us… “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. . . . These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:7–8, 11) “Ask… and it will be done for you” it says … but we must not overlook or forget the first part of that verse…. “If you abide in Me, and My Word abides in you”… Piper said …”Prayer pursues joy in fruitful fellowship with Jesus, knowing that God is glorified when we bear fruit in answer to prayer.”
If you’re not feeling the ‘joy’ … if you’re not seeing prayers answered … perhaps you need to re-think your plan… If you want to start a garden… you don’t just walk out one day and ‘poof’ there is a garden … you have to plan… you have to pick out a spot … prepare the soil… purchase seed and fertilize … make rows … drop in seed … cover and water them … carefully tend and dig out the weeds… and patiently wait for the seeds to grow and mature … and bear fruit … But this is exactly how many people treat prayer… no planning … perhaps even to the point of getting up everyday and realizing that significant times of prayer should be a part of our lives… but nothing is ready … nothing has been planned… no time set aside … no quiet place found … no procedure… if this were our garden … we would probably just open another store bought can of vegetables… and we would exist on that … but it wouldn’t taste the same or be as healthy for us as those veggies we pick out or our own garden …
The natural flow of unplanned spiritual life will sink to the lowest ebb of vitality if not tended to … planned for… when we leave our spiritual growth entirely to chance … we open the door to spiritual laziness and distraction …. An untended garden does not remain empty … it automatically fills with weeds. In the same way … a prayer life without structure will soon be overrun by the anxieties of life … the distractions of entertainment … and the weight of daily chores. The Bible explicitly warns us to be disciplined … vigilant … and fiercely protective of our prayer lives … as it says, “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;” (Colossians 4:2) Vigilance requires intent … it demands an active defense against the things that steal our attention away from the Lord.
So maybe we should take time to re-think our prayer plan … there is a race to be run … a fight to be fought … If you’re wanting renewal in your prayer life … you must plan to see it happen … Make some new decisions … new resolutions with yourself and God … try some new endeavors … set a time … set a place … and choose a portion of Scripture to guide your prayer … we all need to examine our spiritual life from time to time… and set in correcting where we see things are amiss … It’s called being human … So… take a minute … reassess … reprioritize … make plans for prayer in your life … for the glory of God and for the fullness of your joy!
Rejoicing in God’s love …
Shalom … Shalom …
Joan 😊

10/08/2026

Just FYI ... Footprints should be back next week ... was asked last minute to bring the message at Bethel UMC this Sunday ... I've only got so many creative juices flowing weekly ... and that squeezed out all the juice this week ... Shalom ... Shalom ...

09-30-26 … Footprints On My Heart …“Where Do You Judge Yourself in Likeness to Jesus?”Not long ago … a woman sat in her ...
09/30/2026

09-30-26 … Footprints On My Heart …
“Where Do You Judge Yourself in Likeness to Jesus?”
Not long ago … a woman sat in her car outside a grocery store … staring at a phone that would not stop lighting up … one message warned that her bank balance was low … another reminded her that a bill was overdue … a social media post showed a smiling family standing in front of a new house … and an advertisement promised that if she followed one simple plan … gave the right amount … spoke the right words … and believed hard enough … her breakthrough would surely come … She had worked all day … cared for everyone who needed her … and still felt as though she were failing at life … She whispered … “Lord … what am I doing wrong?” … Then she noticed an older man returning a shopping cart in the rain … not only his own cart … but three others left scattered across the parking lot … no camera … no applause … no reward … just a quiet act of service … She watched him offer his umbrella to a mother carrying a child … and for a moment the noise on her phone lost its power … The scene did not solve her financial worries … it did not erase her exhaustion … but it reminded her that the likeness of Jesus is not measured by possessions … popularity … comfort … or the appearance of having everything together … it is often revealed in humility … faithfulness … compassion … and obedience when no one is watching. …
In this broken world … in which we live … where do you judge yourself in likeness to Jesus? … 10 being Jesus … and 0 being Satan … Be truthful in your answer … only you and God need know the answer … oh … and God already knows the answer … so no need to fudge on your answer … But before you choose a number … pause and ask what standard you are using … Are you measuring your life by your income … your home … your health … your influence … the number of people who agree with you … or the image you present online? … Or are you looking for the footprints of Jesus in the way you forgive … serve … endure … give … repent … pray … and love? … A high score in the eyes of the world may mean very little in the kingdom of God … and a life that looks ordinary to the crowd may be precious in His sight …
For those who are chosen … (1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; … Ephesians 1:4-5 - just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, … Ephesians 1:4 - just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love … John 6:44 - No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. … Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.) … For those who are chosen … God starts molding you at birth … before probably … some may follow Jesus all of their lives … some may start on the path in their teens … and still others may jump onto the wagon well into their adulthood … But make no mistake … regardless of where in your life you came to the paramount decision to walk away from the ways of the world and follow Jesus … God has always been with you … always been watching you … always giving you a little nudge this way or that … always catching every tear … always seeing every good … and bad … thing that you have done …
He’s danced with you at the joyous occasions and been there when you have fallen … He’s been right beside you … sometimes catching you and sometimes letting you fall into the muck … because without getting into a little muck occasionally … we really can’t appreciate getting into that shower … soaping up … and ridding oneself of that messy contaminating muck … God does not waste the difficult places … He can use disappointment to expose what we worship … delay to teach us patience … need to teach us dependence … and failure to bring us back to grace … This does not mean every hardship is a punishment … or that pain is simple … it means that even in a season we would never have chosen … God is not absent … The woman in the parking lot still had bills to face … but she also had a new question … not … “Why has God not made my life easier?” … but … “How can I look more like Jesus in the life I have today?” …
God … in His omniscient wisdom … knows you better than you know yourself … because of His omnipresence He sees yesterday … today … and tomorrow all at once … He knows when you’re going to be too stubborn … refusing to take His outstretched hand … so thus … He lets you fall … He knows we sometimes need to fall down and skin our knee to learn our lesson … sometimes we need to lie in the muck to comprehend the consequences of our own action … Yet correction is not rejection … conviction is not condemnation … and discipline is not proof that God has abandoned His child … The hand that allows us to feel the weight of a wrong choice is the same hand that reaches into the mud … lifts us … washes us … and points us toward a better path … We should never celebrate the muck … but neither should we believe the muck has the final word …
Many people today have come to some kind of distorted perception that we deserve an easy life … with all the frills and worldly possessions our hearts desire … that joy comes from what we have in this world … rather than what we have with God … We scroll through carefully arranged pictures … compare our ordinary Tuesday with someone else’s highlight reel … and begin to believe that blessing must look like constant progress … visible success … a healthy body … a full bank account … and a trouble-free home … We have raised ourselves to a level of importance that is totally undeserved … thinking our opinions and understanding are flawless … believing that we are entitled to anything and everything that crosses our limited view of the world … When the package arrives late … the line moves slowly … the promotion goes to someone else … or prayer is not answered on our timetable … irritation can reveal how firmly entitlement has taken root …
“Not me” … you say … well I hate to be the bearer of bad news … but we all have a little bit of an “entitlement” spirit in us … some more than others … we deserve nothing … yet God gave us all in Christ … God provided in Christ what God demanded from us in the law of Moses … but today this good news that Christ is not only our pardon but also our perfection is under serious attack … congregations in churches that teach true discipleship may struggle for attention … while messages promising quick success continue to spread … Grace says … God has acted for sinners who could not save themselves … entitlement says … God owes me the life I have imagined … Grace bows and says … “Thy will be done” … entitlement stands and insists … “My will be done” … One leads to worship … the other turns worship into a bargain …
The prosperity gospel … also known as the “health and wealth gospel” or by its popular brand … the “Word of Faith” movement … is a distortion of the gospel of Jesus when it claims that increases in faith must produce increases in health and/or wealth … It takes truths about God’s goodness … provision … healing … prayer … and generosity … and rearranges them into a formula centered on human desire … In that formula … faith can become a force … giving can become an investment strategy … prayer can become a demand … and suffering can be treated as proof that a person did not believe enough … But the gospel is not a technique for controlling God … God is not a vending machine … prayer is not a payment … and faith is not a lever we pull to make heaven release the life we want …
Senior Professor of Christian Ethics and Associate Dean of Theological Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary … has said this on the subject … “In light of Scripture, the prosperity gospel is fundamentally flawed … At bottom, it is a false gospel because of its faulty view of the relationship between God and man. Simply put, if the prosperity gospel is true, grace is obsolete, God is irrelevant, and man is the measure of all things. Whether they’re talking about the Abrahamic covenant, the atonement, giving, faith, or prayer, prosperity teachers turn the relationship between God and man into a quid pro quo transaction.” … That phrase … “quid pro quo transaction” … deserves our attention … because it describes the subtle temptation to think … I did this for God … now God must do that for me … I gave … so He must multiply my money … I prayed … so He must remove the illness … I served … so He must protect me from grief … But grace cannot be purchased … and God cannot be placed in our debt …
We can fairly easily determine an obvious cult situation and avoid being influenced by it … but being taken in by prosperity teaching can be just as dangerous … and much more likely to draw us in … or draw in our Christian friends … because it often uses familiar Bible words … faith … blessing … healing … seed … harvest … favor … confession … and victory … It may sound hopeful … especially to someone who is frightened … sick … grieving … lonely … or financially desperate … A polished stage … an emotional testimony … a dramatic promise … and a convenient way to give money can make the message feel urgent and spiritual … so one must remain vigilant and aware … guarding our minds and our hearts … We should ask … Is Jesus being proclaimed as Lord … or presented as a means to an easier life? … Is repentance included … or only reward? … Is generosity an act of worship … or a payment for a promised return? … Is suffering treated with compassion … or blamed on the sufferer? … Is God’s will honored … or merely attached to our wishes? …
Prosperity theology views the Bible as a contract between God and humans … if humans have faith in God … He will deliver security and prosperity … The doctrine emphasizes personal empowerment … proposing that it is God’s will for His people to be materially blessed … The atonement … reconciliation with God … is sometimes interpreted to include a guaranteed alleviation of sickness and poverty … which are viewed as curses to be broken by faith … This is said to be achieved through donations of money … picturing security and prosperity … and positive confession … the practice of saying aloud what you want to happen with the expectation that God will make it a reality … which leaves out the vital words … “Thy will be done” … and speaks more from the side of … “My will be done” … Biblical prayer can be bold … persistent … and full of expectation … but it is also surrendered … trusting that God’s wisdom is greater than our request …
The prosperity gospel developed as an offshoot within parts of Pentecostalism in post-World War II America … While it started in local congregations and tent revivals … the movement gained a larger following through radio and television … and became firmly entrenched in the 1980s with the rise of “televangelism” … While not all prosperity gospel preachers are Pentecostal or charismatic … and most charismatic and Pentecostal Christians are not associated with the prosperity gospel … the movement has often traveled through revivalist and charismatic networks … Oral Roberts is frequently described as an important figure in the development of modern prosperity teaching … His faith-healing ministry expanded through broadcasting and higher education … showing how rapidly a message can grow when religious conviction … mass media … money … and personal testimony are joined together … Today the same pattern can travel faster through livestreams … podcasts … short videos … direct messages … and digital giving platforms …
Today … messages associated with prosperity … miraculous healing … personal empowerment … practical success … and financial breakthrough can be heard from well-known ministries in the United States … Africa … and around the world … but labels alone are not enough … and a famous name is not a substitute for careful listening … Some teachers may say things that sound similar while differing greatly in doctrine … emphasis … accountability … and practice … Our responsibility is not to build a list for gossip … nor to assume that every sermon about blessing is false … Our responsibility is to test what is taught … in context … against the whole counsel of Scripture … to watch the fruit … to notice whether questions are welcomed … to examine how money is discussed … and to see whether the message consistently leads people toward Christ … repentance … holiness … generosity … endurance … and love … or toward the endless pursuit of self …
Imagine the woman in the parking lot later that evening … she opens her Bible instead of opening the advertisement again … The overdue bill is still there … the hard conversation still needs to happen … and tomorrow’s work still waits … but she chooses one faithful step … She calls the company and asks about a payment plan … she speaks honestly with her family … she prays without pretending … and she sets aside a small amount to help someone whose need is greater than her own … Not because she believes generosity will force God to send her a larger check … but because generosity is one way she can resemble Jesus … Her circumstances have not instantly changed … but her direction has … She is no longer asking God to prove His love through comfort … she is learning to trust His love while walking through uncertainty … Those are footprints … quiet … muddy … ordinary footprints … but they point toward Christ …
So … where do you judge yourself in likeness to Jesus? … Do you resemble Him when the answer is no? … when the doctor’s report is not what you hoped? … when another person receives what you prayed for? … when obedience costs more than you expected? … when no one notices your service? … when you must apologize first? … when your plans collapse? … The truest measure may not be how loudly we declare faith … but how faithfully we follow when the road is difficult … Jesus never promised that discipleship would make us rich … admired … comfortable … or untouched by sorrow … He calls us to take up our cross … to lose our life in order to find it … to love our enemies … to care for the least … and to remain faithful to the end … Those teachings cannot be reduced to a formula for personal success … They lead us away from entitlement … and into surrender …
As I close today … I’ll leave you with a text to ponder … not to make us suspicious of everyone … but to make us faithful to Jesus … not to stir fear … but to awaken discernment … not to encourage harsh judgment of others … but to invite honest examination of ourselves … Are we following the Shepherd … or merely following a promise that sounds pleasant? … Are we listening for truth … or only for words that agree with what we already want? …
Matthew 7:15, 21-23 … “15 Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. … 21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. … 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ … 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
The warning is serious … but it is also merciful … Jesus tells us to watch because He does not want us to be deceived … A teacher may speak confidently … draw a crowd … tell impressive stories … and even use the name of Jesus … yet the question remains … does the teaching agree with the character … commands … and gospel of Christ? … Fruit takes time to see … so slow down … read the passage before and after the favorite verse … ask where the cross is in the message … notice whether the poor are honored or used … and remember that God’s greatest gift is not a trouble-free life … God’s greatest gift is Himself …
Shalom … Shalom …
Joan 😊

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