“Therefore thus says Adonai: ‘Ask now among the nations, whoever has heard such things? The virgin of Israel has done a most terrible thing. Does the snow of Lebanon abandon the rock of the field? Or is the cold water flowing from afar pulled back? Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to a delusion and stumble in their ways—off the ancient paths—to walk on side-tracks, rather than a built-up highway.’” Jeremiah 18:13-15 TLV
American Evangelical
Growing up in American Evangelical culture I couldn’t imagine a worse fate than turning my back on Jesus and ending up in Hell for eternity. I was taught in the church that I must ask Jesus to forgive my sins and I would be saved. Salvation could be as simple as following along with the pastor’s prayer and attending church regularly or intermittenly.
What if it isn’t enough to agree with God in your mind while going about the rest of your life without a significant change? Could this all simply be a delusion? Could it actually be possible to know God for real?
Is it possible to get to know Jesus as if He is an actual person? Can we get to know His personality, His likes and dislikes, and can we even begin to recognize His voice?
We Need His Voice
Isn’t it compelling that Jesus says in John chapter 10:16 that His sheep know His voice? How can we recognize His voice in the midst of all the voices speaking out within our culture? I believe the reason there is so much disagreement in the church is that many within the church cannot hear His voice.
How can people within the church disagree on fundamental issues such as whether it is okay to end the life of an unborn child? Or whether we should support children going through surgery and hormone treatment to try and change their biological sex? Or does God even give those in other religions the command to repent and follow Jesus?
What about the miracles and spiritual gifts in the New Testament? Does God want us to move in these today like the disciples did in the book of Acts? Should people remain trapped and tormented by demons or can they be set free? Should we pray for deliverance? Somehow these issues are controversial today.
It became clear to me that many did not only have trouble hearing the voice of Jesus but they didn’t even know what Jesus Himself says in the Scriptures. Never in my years of watching too much tv and playing too many video games did I ever read Jesus as telling me that I was good enough. Jesus always called us to go deeper in the Scriptures, and if I compared myself to His standard I never measured up.
What does Jesus say and how do we hear His voice?
Starting With The Bible
For years I taught that we read our Bibles, we pray and we go to church. Rarely did I hear the voice of God. Regular prayer, and even personal Bible study was very difficult for me. I didn’t realize that pornography (which I knew was sinful but couldn’t overcome), constantly watching TV and playing video games prevented me from hearing God clearly. How could I hear the voice of Jesus past all of the shouting from the things of this World?
I praise God that I was always taught and always believed that the Bible is God’s Word and what it says is correct even if the whole world disagrees. As I grew I watched many from my church family begin to publicly rebuke me on social media and even block me because I still believed homosexual marriage was wrong and that abortion is murder. These things seem so clearly laid out in Scripture.
Looking For the Biblical Gospel
It is certainly true that the message of the Gospel is one of a loving Savior who died for us. It was also the message of a radical Jewish Rabbi who called us to leave everything behind and follow Him. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 (TLV), “If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”
As an evangelical I was taught that Jesus is God. I was taught that Jesus has always existed and everything that exists was created through Him. I was taught that there is no other God but the God of Israel and that God the Father and Jesus are One.
As I grew I learned of the Mormon prophets and how they taught of Jesus as well. The Mormon church taught Jesus was a man just like me and that he later became a god. They taught that men can become gods just like Jesus. They taught that Jesus was created by Elohim, and he didn’t exist forever.
To put it simply, they taught about an entirely different guy who they also called Jesus. We didn’t believe in the same Jesus.
In Jeremiah 18:15 God says that Israel at the time was burning “incense to a delusion.” They worshiped a god of their own creation. They imagined God to act like them and allow them to act however they wanted to.
Conclusion
In America today we worship a false Jesus. We worship a god who allows us to participate in our sins of choice, while claiming salvation and hope of Heaven because of a prayer prayed at some point in our life. This opens the way for us to participate in our religion of choice and live our lives without knowing the voice of Jesus, the true Jesus which scripture reveals.
What will we do on the day of judgment when we get there without ever hearing the voice of Jesus and obeying Him. Will we find out that we were burning our incense to a delusion of our own making?
If we want to hear the voice of God we must repent and take the advice of Jesus: “If anyone wants to follow after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.”
One thing I have learned is that God deeply desires to speak to us, but we can’t hear Him if our ears are shut. The Father has made Himself known by sending Jesus, and Jesus has poured out the Holy Spirit so that we can know Him intimately, no substitute. That’s the heart of this new blog – will you join us as we renounce any false delusion and learn to live and embrace King Jesus daily, no matter the cost.
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