Day 188 "There is only one way to the Father and all others lead away from Him."

Day 188 Matthew 23:13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” The times we are in today are, in my opinion, very similar in a spiritual sense to the time of which we are now reading. Jesus was preparing the way for His resurrection and, today, the Holy Spirit is being directed to prepare the way for Christ's return; hence, we see a great number of similarities. The leaders of the time had denied Jesus as the Messiah, and by doing so, they were keeping many from believing likewise–shutting the door for others to believe the truth. Today, we have many leaders worldwide who have likewise risen up, proclaiming to have found a better or different way. We hear many teaching that there is no heaven or hell or that there are other ways to salvation and even that Jesus was not born of a virgin, and so on. Unfortunately, there are many in the world that enjoy the tickling of the ear; they enjoy the thought that they can actually dictate the truth by simply believing it to be so and, yes, many are being led astray. Our tendency is to believe that there must be more, that to seek deeper for God will lead to greater gifts or treasures or miracles, or whatever else tickles our fancy, and, yes, a deeper relationship with God does lead to a greater understanding, but of what? If, indeed, the greatest of all commandments is to “Love the Lord your God with all you heart, all your soul, and all your mind,” it would seem that a greater understanding of God would, in fact, lead to a deeper and greater love of Him. It would also make sense that a greater love of God would lead to a greater love of His Word. Did not Jesus himself face every adversary directly out of the Word? Did not Jesus, the symbol of the greatest of all love, in fact live His life directly bound on all sides with the Word of God? Therefore, when people speak of having a new or greater understanding of God and twist the very word of that God, red flags should be going up everywhere and, if not, why not? There are some best-selling books in Christian bookstores all across America today that directly contradict the Word of God, yet Christians are flocking to them while they should be standing up against them. There are, in fact, in this world today many who openly profess Jesus yet are just as guilty as the scribes and Pharisees of Christ's time of leading people astray. In fact, I would say they are more guilty, for they have read the end of the book, and they have the Holy Spirit to direct them, and even then they are led and lead others astray. I'll leave names out of this in order that you may seek it out for yourselves; however, I will say this much, read the books and compare them to the Word. If they contradict in any way, I would suggest throwing them out and spread the message of the great deception taking place in our culture today. I can honestly say that I, for one, am very concerned, and I believe that the Lord has called every leader and believer to expose those things that contradict His Word for what they are: deception and lies of the enemy that will lead many down the path of destruction. Daily Prayer: Father, I pray for wisdom and understanding and boldness and strength in order that we might expose the lies of the enemy for what they truly are. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "There is only one way to the Father and all others lead away from Him." Gene Burroughs, Pastor