Loaded Words

Have you ever had someone ask you a question that you’re not sure you want to answer because it’s not what the other person wanted to hear? For example, “Do these jeans make me look fat?” Do these eyeglasses make me look younger or order? As hard as it may be for me to hear, I need the truth given to me – if those jeans make my butt look big, then the truth is the truth.

There are people who love to say what I want to hear. They embellish their message and make it sound great, but really what I need to hear is truth. I don’t need the truth to be “dressed up” or “softened” – I need to know hear truth straight from the heart of God.

Jeremiah encountered a “prophet” who was telling the people what they wanted to hear. This prophet was saying that Israel’s captivity would only last 2 years. Jeremiah called him out and said the way to tell if a prophet is truly a prophet if what the prophet says actually comes true. There is also the Lord who calls out false prophets. Check this out….

15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, yet you have persuaded this nation to trust in lies. 16 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’”

17 In the seventh month of that same year, Hananiah the prophet died. (Jeremiah 28:15-17 NIV)

I believe that I should be very careful saying that the Lord told me to do something. I can’t always explain why I feel like doing something. I try to seek the Lord’s guidance and hear from Him. I also try to ask Him before I speak truth into someone because I want Him to lead and direct my words. I want Him to give me discernment and wisdom. I am not a prophet, but I want to be man who walks with the Lord. I want to have the courage to act when He directs me. I want to speak words that He tells me to speak – even if they are loaded with hard-to-hear truth.

Pressing On!

Dwayne