Wednesday after Oculi, 3/21/01

2 Corinthians 11: 13--15 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. --NIV

In the name of the God of the true apostles, amen.

For a long time it was visions of Mary that were popular. Then it was angels who were appearing to people and speaking to them. Lately I've been hearing a lot of people claim that God Himself speaks directly to them. I wonder how they know it is really God. We are warned in Holy Scripture to test the spirits, but I don't ever hear of anyone testing the spirits. You can't assume that just because a voice in your head tells you to do something good that it is God Who is speaking. Satan shows himself as an angel of light. He will string you along with nice things to win your confidence, and then when he has taken you in, he'll switch to what he really wants.

But we don't need to worry about being led astray, because we have God's word. We can test the spirits and voices. We can follow Scripture which will not deceive us. Satan may be a master of disguises, but we have the key to seeing through them. Thanks be to God Who gave us His word so that Satan cannot deceive us. Amen.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You for giving us Your holy word. Keep us in Your word so that we are never led astray by visions or voices, amen.

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