Spotting False Teachers

READ | 2 Peter 2:1-3

People have an expectation that those who talk about God must also be serving Him and His people’s best interests.

I wish that were always true.

However, the many warnings about deceivers entering the church are as relevant today as when the New Testament writers penned them.

In case you think I am overstating the problem, let me point you to the words of Jesus: “See to it that no one misleads you” (Matt. 24:4).

He warned that many would falsely claim God had sent them. Christ was not talking only about events in the decades of the early church. His caution was directed at the generations to come—particularly those living during the present earth’s last days.

The apostle Peter gives a helpful test with which to evaluate teachers and preachers of God’s Word:

1. A deceiver attempts to manipulate and exploit his hearers.

He uses half-truths, exciting promises, and flowery language to draw in followers. In particular, we’re to be on guard against the erroneous doctrine that denies the truth of the entire Bible.

2. Many false teachers will have a problem with sensuality.

3. Most will also be greedy and materialistic.

If we observe these habits in the life of a leader, we must reject his or her teaching.

How can you see past a false teacher’s camouflage, cunning, and/or charisma? Filling your mind with Scripture will enable you to compare what someone says and does with biblical truth. Follow the Psalmist’s example: treasure God’s Word in your heart so that you will not sin against Him (Ps. 119:11).

Thoughts on Success

by Dr. Napoleon Hill

Definiteness of Purpose - Successful people move on their own initiative, but they know where they are going before they start.

Mastermind Alliance - No man can become a permanent success without taking others along with him.

Applied Faith - You can do it if you believe you can.

Going the Extra Mile - The most successful people are those who serve the greatest number of people.

Pleasing Personality - It is essential that you develop a Pleasing Personality - pleasing to yourself and others.

Personal Initiative - Today's employer usually is yesterday's employee who found opportunity waiting for him at the end of the second mile.

Positive Mental Attitude - Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don't want. Remember the old proverb: "Be very careful what you set your heart on, for you will surely achieve it."

Enthusiasm - To be enthusiastic - act enthusiastically!

Self-Discipline - Direct your thoughts, control your emotions, and ordain your destiny!

Accurate Thinking - Truth will be truth, regardless of a closed mind, ignorance or the refusal to believe.

Controlled Attention - Keep you mind on the things you want and off the things you don't want!

Teamwork - Harmonious cooperation is a priceless asset which you can acquire in propoion to your giving.

Adversity and Defeat - Remember: Every defeat, every disappointment and every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.

Creative Vision - The imagination is the workshop of the soul wherein are shaped all plans for individual achievement.


Maintenance of Sound Health - If you think you're sick, you are.

Budgeting Time and Money - Tell me how you use your spare time and how you spend your money, and I will tell you where and what you will be ten years from now.

Cosmic Habitforce - You are where you are and what you are because of your established habits and thoughts and deeds.


Source: PMA Science of Success Course by Napoleon Hill.




Hes Preparing Me (Hes Preparing Me Album Version) - Daryl Coley



If you have more enemies than friends, it’s time to examine your mental attitude.

When your enemies outnumber your friends, the answer to the problem most likely resides within you.

Ask yourself, Am I the kind of person I would like to have as a friend?

Do I consider the feelings of others, or do I think only of myself?

Do I try to find the good in others, or am I always finding fault?

When something goes wrong, do I search for a solution to the problem, or do I look for someone to blame?

In the answers to such questions, you may find the answer to the question:

Why do I have more enemies than friends?

Five Realities That Can Change Your Marriage


1. I am responsible for my own attitude.

Trouble is inevitable, but misery is optional. Attitude has to do with the way I choose to think about things. Two wives have husbands who have lost their jobs. Wendy said, "My husband hasn't had a full-time job in three years. The good part is not being able to afford cable TV. We've done a lot more talking on Monday nights. We've learned a lot. Our philosophy is 'Let's see how many things we can do without that everybody else thinks they have to have.' It's amazing how many things you can do without."

On the other hand, Lou Ann said, "My husband hasn't had a job for ten months. We are down to one car, no phone, and we're getting food from the food bank. Life is miserable at our house." The difference in these two wives was basically a matter of attitude. We choose to think negatively and curse the darkness, or we choose to look for the silver lining behind the clouds.

2. Attitude affects actions.

The reason attitudes are so important is that they affect my behavior and words. I may not be able to control my environment: sickness, alcoholic spouse, teenager on drugs, aging parents, etc. but I am responsible for what I do within my environment. My attitude will greatly influence my behavior.

If I look for the positive in my marriage, then I'm more likely to talk positively; to give my spouse affirming words, and to do something that has the potential for enhancing life for both of us.

On the other hand, if I focus on the negative, I'm more likely to give my spouse critical, condemning words. My behavior will fall into one of two categories: I'll do things to hurt my spouse, or I'll withdraw and consider leaving my spouse. Yes, my attitude affects my actions.

3. I cannot change others, but I can influence others.

It's true, you cannot change your spouse, but you can and do influence your spouse every day. If you are still trying to change your spouse, then you are probably a master manipulator. You reason, "If I do this, then my spouse will do that." "If I can make him miserable enough, or happy enough, then I'll get what I want." I hate to discourage you, but you're on a dead end road. Even if he changes, he will resent you for manipulating him.

A better approach is to be a positive influence on your spouse. You influence by your words and actions. If you look for something your spouse is doing that you like and give him verbal compliments, you are having a positive influence on him. If you do something for him that you know he will like, your actions influence him in a wholesome way. Your model begins to rub off on him. The reality of the power of positive influence holds tremendous potential for troubled marriages.

4. My actions need not be controlled by my emotions.

For the past thirty years in Western Society we have given undue emphasis to emotions. When applied to a troubled marriage, this philosophy advises, "If you don't have love feelings, admit it and get out of the marriage." "If you feel hurt and angry, you would be hypocritical to say or do something kind to your spouse." This philosophy fails to reckon with the reality that man is more than his emotions.

We have feelings, yes, but we also have attitudes, values, and actions. If we jump from emotions to actions and ignore attitudes and values, we will destroy our marriages. Stop, think, look for the positive, affirm it, and then, do something that has positive potential. Actions that are guided by values and positive attitudes are more likely to be productive.

5. Admitting my own imperfections does not mean that I am a failure.

Most troubled marriages include a stone wall between husband and wife, built over the years. Each stone represents an event in the past where one of them has failed the other. These are things about which people talk when they sit in the counseling office. The husband complains, "She has always been critical of everything I do. I've never been able to please her." The wife complains, "He's married to his job. He has no time for me or the children. I feel like a widow." This wall of hurt and disappointment stands as a barrier to marital unity. Demolishing this emotional wall is essential for rebuilding a troubled marriage. Admitting your part in building this wall, does not make you a failure. It means that you are human and are willing to admit your humanity. Confessing past failures is the first step toward a growing marriage.


Adapted from Loving Solutions: Overcoming Barriers in Your Marriage by Dr. Gary Chapman. To find out more about Dr. Chapman's resources, visit www.fivelovelanguages.com.


Hes Mine (remix) - Mokenstef Ft. Grand Puba

Mell’s Smiley Face

READ: Romans 5:1-5

We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. —Romans 5:3



Some people think you shouldn’t draw in your Bible, but I’m glad my daughter Melissa drew in hers. In the margin next to Romans 5, she used a green ink pen to draw a small, simple smiley face, and circled verse 3.

How could she have known that her family and friends would need this passage when she left us so suddenly in a car accident at age 17? How could she know that these verses would tell her story, while guiding our lives and the lives of others over the past 7 years?

Romans 5 begins by explaining our justification through faith, which gives us peace with God through Jesus (v.1). Melissa had that peace. And right now she is enjoying the fruits of her faith, as verse 2 describes: We “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Imagine the smiley face she could draw now!

And then there’s the rest of us—all of us left behind when loved ones precede us in death.

Somehow, we “rejoice in our sufferings.”

Why?

Our suffering brings perseverance, which brings character, which brings us hope (vv.3-4).

We feel helpless in times of tragedy, but we are never hopeless. God pours His love into our hearts—and with it the great hope of His glory.

It’s all part of God’s mysterious yet marvelous plan. — Dave Branon

For Further Study

If you have lost a loved one and want to learn more
about heaven, read the online publication Our Eternal Home at www.discoveryseries.org/rd911

God often digs wells of joy with the spade of sorrow.

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Lessons Learned from Defeat

by Napoleon Hill

The most important moment in your life is when you recognize that you have met with defeat.

It is the most important because it provides you with a dependable means to foretell the possibilities of your future success.

If you accept defeat as an inspiration to try again, with renewed confidence and determination, the attainment of your success will be only a matter of time.

If you accept defeat as final and allow it to destroy your confidence, you may as well abandon your hope of success.

Every defeat you meet will mark an important turning point in your life, for defeat will bring you face to face with the necessity of renewing confidence in yourself, or of admitting that confidence is lacking.

Defeat often serves to relive a man of his conceit.

But there is a difference between conceit and self-reliance based upon an honest inventory of one's character.

The man who quits when defeat overtakes him thereby indicates that he mistook his conceit for self-reliance.

If a man has genuine self-reliance, he also has sound character, for one springs from the other.

And a sound character does not yield to defeat without a fight.

Education, skill and experience are useful assets in every calling, but they will be of little value to the man who, like the Arab of the desert, folds up his tent and silently steals away when he is defeated.

The man with a definite major purpose, faith and determination may occasionally be swept from the success side of the River of Life by circumstances beyond his control, but he will not long remain there.

For his mental reaction to his defeat will be sufficiently strong to carry him back to the success side where he rightfully belongs.

Failure and adversity have introduced many men
to opportunities which they would not have recognized
under more favorable circumstances.

A man's mental attitude in respect to defeat is the factor of major importance in determining whether he rides with the tides of fortune on the success side of the River of Life or is swept to the failure side of circumstances of misfortune.

The circumstances which separate failure from success often are so slight that their real cause is overlooked.

Often they exist entirely in the mental attitude with which one meets temporary defeat.

The man with a positive mental attitude reacts to defeat in a spirit of determination not to accept it.

The man with a negative mental attitude reacts to defeat in a spirit of hopeless acceptance.

The man who maintains a positive mental attitude may have anything in life upon which he may set his heart, so long as it does not conflict with the laws of God and the rights of his fellowmen.

He probably will experience many defeats, but he will not surrender to defeat.

He will convert it into a stepping stone from which he will rise to higher and higher areas of achievement.

Source: PMA Science of Success course. Pgs. 394-396.