There is a lot of teaching out there that feels correct. It hits all the right emotional points. It inspires, it lifts up. Yet, much of this "inspirational teaching" is absolutely false. Some might get upset at me and say "You don't know what Pastor So and So has done for me! You aren't supposed to judge others, aren't YOU violating God's word?" and a plethora of other slurs slung my way because I am calling out false teachers. How do I know for sure that teachings are not of God? There is a simple litmus test that we all should be seeking out: Scripture. Why? Because the voice of God will never contradict the word of God. All throughout the Bible we see the false prophets rising up and ticking the inspirational itch of the hearers. Those who preach the TRUE word according to the Lord are often and quickly contradicted, even beaten or killed, for being obedient to the Word of the Lord. This, believer, is why we should be intimate with scripture. If we're not grounded in God's word, we'll be like ships tossed about on the ocean without an anchor, blown by whatever wind strongest hits the sail of our emotional desires. Following God is not about emotion, it's about God Himself. We can know God through Jesus Christ, and we can know Jesus through the Scriptures. Scripture should be our authority, so that we may know what God's will is (Romans 12:1-2). Otherwise, we're at risk of being led astray by emotion manipulating motivational speakers who get wealthy off of God's work and don't know or don't care about God's will. Jeremiah 6:9-21 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “They shall glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape gatherer pass your hand again over its branches.” To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it. Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary of holding it in. “Pour it out upon the children in the street, and upon the gatherings of young men, also; both husband and wife shall be taken, the elderly and the very aged. Their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and wives together, for I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD. “For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the LORD.
Thus says the LORD:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
I set watchmen over you, saying,
‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’
Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
the fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
and as for my law, they have rejected it.
What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
Therefore thus says the LORD:
‘Behold, I will lay before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
neighbor and friend shall perish.’”
