Sometimes, pruning is needed in a plant for strong fruit to form. It is the same in our lives. While pruning away branches that are sucking away the energy from the healthy, fruit-bearing branches in our life may hurt, it is actually a good thing. Look at your life today and see if there is anything that you are holding onto that is actually draining your energy and keeping you from serving God. Be ruthless and cut that
out of your life.
1 John 4 says, don’t believe everything someone says to you. Test the spirit of a person to see if what they are saying is from God. A true believer will confess openly who Jesus Christ is, and teach about the power of His resurrection.
Ask the following questions:
Did Jesus come from the Father as God in human flesh?
Did He powerfully rise from the grave?
Did He ascend to the throne of the Father?
Is He coming back?
If someone says no to these questions, do not listen to their teaching.
They have the spirit of antichrist, according to 1 John 4:3.
Are you tired of all the misinformation out there in the world? Who can tell what is real or not anymore? A question that Christ followers should ask is: do we need to wonder about ‘fake news’ at church? The Bible says that there will be false teachers who appear to be sheep but are really wolves in sheep’s clothing. How will we know? By looking at their fruit. Every good tree will bear good fruit, but a bad tree will bear bad fruit. Do your leaders and teachers draw people toward the Bible and God, or toward the news of the day and cultural thought?