"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."
I found an old note written on the margin-- "pretenders of the flock." As I read on in Matthew, I read, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven." False prophets, it appears, are people who may wear the title of "Christian," but they are not moved by the Spirit and by the motivation of Christ's love to speak of his promises. They may belong to a church, lead a church, etc., and be dressed in "sheep's clothing." A person who, sadly, comes to mind is a rather famous pastor who was featured in Time magazine recently. He is a pastor here in Grand Rapids, where we live, and his beliefs have plummeted to no longer recognizing Christ as our only hope. I know some people who attend, or have attended the church he leads. I don't think he started out this way. Writing about this reminds me that I should pray for him. My prayer, also, will be that God will guard our hearts against any "pretenders of the flock" and any false teachings, that he will point us back to his truth and give us courage to stand for what we've been shown, to teach the truth in love. He gives us the strength to do all things through Christ.
I pray that all of you women have a great week and know better, each day, how cherished and loved you are. When we are weak, he is strong. He is waiting for us to lean on him in our struggles. Please pray for me, too, that I will trust in these promises and not be bogged down by life's schedule in a demanding season....this too shall pass!
I am praying Paula! Yes - these things too shall pass, as hard as that is to believe sometimes! Boy are we going through more of the same things than we even realize :) Love you!
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