TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
                                                                June 27, 2010

   Our heavenly Father is very concerned about us as we live and walk through this life below. He

knows that there will be people that will try to take advantage of us because we must live in earthly

bodies and try and understand good from evil within the confines of our human senses.

                                                          TAKING A STAND

   Joshua 5:13 There is no question that Joshua is God's man for this particular time in history.

However, it is important to see that Joshua did not immediately know if who he was seeing was a

friend or an enemy. We can see that Joshua was ready to take a stand either way.

   II Corinthians 11:10-15 Paul was trying to get the church at Corinth to understand that every

teacher or preacher that comes by may not be real. They may sound and look like they are all

for God but may be from the Devil, ready to pounce on us for advantage due to our ignorance.

   Mark 9:38-40 In this portion of scripture Jesus rebukes John for his narrowness. Not everyone

who does not look at things exactly like us are totally wrong. Jesus makes it plain, we are either

for Him or against Him. Salvation is a one way street, but tradition and preferences vary greatly.

                                                        WHO IS IN CHARGE?

   Ephesians 6:12-13 The sooner we understand that we cannot do battle with the world, the

flesh and the Devil by ourselves the better off we will be. The average Christian tries to stand

against all these things by using human strength and human wisdom and ends up frustrated,

stressed, and usually defeated.

   I Samuel 17:45-47 The reason why David was so valiant was because he knew that God was

in charge and that he was just an instrument that was yielded and totally surrendered to God.

   II Kings 6:17 Elisha was a man that most of the time was Spirit filled and led. He was not a

warrior or a particular brave person. However, he was God's man at this time and he had spiritual

eyesight and the confidence in God to know that God was in charge of the battle.

   Psalm 34:7 David was confident in that he was never alone. God had put in David's heart

that there was always God's angel watching and caring for him and with those that feared God.

   Hebrews 1:13-14 We must not ever forget that God cares so much for each of us that call

Him Lord that He has angels watching over us throughout our entire life. Some of the issues

of life that we thought was just "good luck, or good fortune" was really intervention by His angels.

   Numbers 22:21-23, 31-33 It is eye opening to see that God will use His angels to fight for us

or against us depending on the issue at hand. Could it be that some have prematurely died by

God's angels due to a lifestyle turned away from God?

                                                       FINDING THE TRUTH

   I Thessalonians 5:21 Paul tells us that in order to know the truth we must "prove all things"

this "prove" means (to establish the validity of something, to put it to the test). How do we do it?

   I Corithians 2:10-13 In order to find out the truth about what God says and what He wants we

must "compare scripture with scripture" and see what the Holy Spirit is saying in the Word of God.

   I John 4:1 John knew that there would be false teachers trying to lead us away from the truth

that God has for us. He tells us to "try the spirits". That means to test them, to prove them and

compare them to what God's Word says about what they are saying, whether truth or lies.

   Hebrews 5:13-14 Perfect truth is found in the scriptures. When we read and study the bible

we are "exercising" our soul (senses) to be able to recognize the truth from fiction. The reason so

many believers end up moving from church to church or just dropping out of church is because

they refuse to find out where the truth is and are decieved by Satan and become "castaways".