Marching Into The Peace Corps, pt 3: Testing The Voices
by Before you run off and upheave your entire life, you should be sure this is something God wants from you. In the news we hear people killing their families because “God told them to”. This is why you test the voices to make sure they are His.
A Christian has certain spiritual gifts over someone who is not “born again”. People often view a “born again” with suspicion like it’s a cult thing when it’s actually quite a biblical position.
“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’” (John 3:3-5, NKJV)
The problem is the way some “born agains” behave, or don’t behave, as the case may be. I don’t want to be too judgmental, but if the Bible tells you to do some things and abstain from other things, it’s not telling you the rules to be a kill joy. On the contrary, the Bible says Jesus came to not only fulfill the laws, but to free us from them. I know people who are “born again” and act no differently than they were before they got saved; you can’t be a witness of what God has done for you if you’re living the same hell on two wheels lifestyle you were prior to being saved. It’s like trying to whistle with a mouthful of peanut butter.
I do try and live a good life according to Biblical standards, knowing even on my best day, I am still a sinner and no amount of good works can ever make up for that. So I don’t try to make up for it; I simply rest in the promise of salvation being a free gift. On those days I fall flat on my face? I remember an old Fred Astaire song: “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again!” It’s all we can do, and admittedly, on some occasions it’s a very hard thing to practice.
The more of the world you shake off from your mindset, the easier your walk does become. It’s not a perfect walk, but it’s better than the alternative of wallowing in the mud. Part of this process is learning to listen to the “voices” that whisper to you, and attempt to discern if they’re from God, or a “do not pass go, do not collect $200” satanic tripwire game. Some are easy – “go out and kill your family!” Well, that’s definitely NOT something God would tell you to do. “Go out and feed the hungry” sounds a lot more like something God would tell you to do.
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