Category: Discernment

Bible Verse of The Day – 11-7-12

(Mat 5:8 NKJV)  Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

The pure in heart…what does that mean? How do we become “pure in heart” in God’s eyes?

There are two aspects to this. There is the spiritual side, the things that aren’t tangible. And there is the natural side, the things that are tangible.

I will try to keep this brief, so please bear with me as we walk through this together.

When we become followers of Christ, when we accept Him in faith as our savior, we become pure in heart (in a spiritual sense) simply because we’re washed in the blood of Jesus.

But in the natural, we can still be very impure in our hearts. This is where we need God to help us clean ourselves up. This is where it takes God’s spirit, God’s teaching and God’s correction to help us see the things in our lives that need to be changed, so we become pure in heart in a natural sense.

So what does this mean, and how do we do it?

We do it one little step at a time! It starts with little things, like maybe watching what comes out of our mouths. God helps us clean up our language and the way we talk. This would include things like swearing, gossiping, etc.

Then He might show us something else that He wants to help us with, like the things that we take in with our eyes and our ears. Movies, TV & Music play a huge part in our lives these days. TV and movies are no longer family-friendly and most of it isn’t God-friendly.

I know these are touchy subjects with a lot of people, but the impact that these things have on our lives is incredibly huge. And many of us don’t fully realize how big the impact is. We also don’t realize what we’re subjecting ourselves to.

Now think about this and take this very seriously, because it’s vital to us becoming pure in heart! If we have accepted Christ as our savior, this means that we have the Holy Spirit (God’s Spirit) living in us. He is with us everywhere we go. He sees everything we see and He hears everything we hear.

So we need to understand fully that if we watch a movie or a TV show with immoral images, we’re subjecting God to this. If we hear or listen to things in a movie, a TV show or in music that are contrary to God’s word or are not pleasing to God, we are subjecting God to it too.

Once we really start to get understanding in this, and we truly want to please God, we will start being more careful about what we watch and what we listen to.

Now don’t take this wrong. We are not saying that Christians shouldn’t watch movies or listen to music artists that aren’t Christians, but it does mean that we need to use discernment and let God guide us when it comes to what we choose to watch or listen to.

Our choices in these areas will go a very long way toward helping us to become pure in heart, even in the natural!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 5-10-12

(2 Tim 4:3-4 NKJV)  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; {4} and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

We live in a time where people like to “have their ears tickled”. We don’t have to look far to find teachers who are willing to do that. The TV is full of them. The internet is full of them. Churches are full of them.

Sadly, the truth of God’s word has been buried beneath so many false teachings or teachings that offer just enough truth to make it seem legitimate. We need to have razor-sharp discernment to know truth from half-truth or outright lies.

Here’s a little tip that can help us spot false doctrines and false teaching: Is sin ever mentioned? In the teachings of some of these people, does sin ever get addressed, or is it all about positive thinking and feeling good?

It’s great to encourage people, but if sin is never addressed we can never grow as believers and draw closer to God.

Choose the words and teachings that you listen to very carefully and very wisely. God wants to bless us, but sometimes He has to address things in our lives before He can do so.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 4-10-12

(1 John 4:1 NKJV)  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

A few days ago we did a short teaching about religious spirits. We talked about how even demonic spirits can speak words of truth. Over the years we have personally witnessed religious spirits at work in many different situations.

We have seen them tear churches apart from within and lead godly people to do the very things that they spoken out against. And yet these very people who had taught against these demonic powers became victims of them.

Religious spirits hide themselves well, right in plain sight. They will look, sound and act like the spirit of God in so many ways and then they will slowly lead a person on to a path of destruction. And most times, that person won’t know it until it’s too late and they have made choices that can destroy their life and the lives of others.

While this is a subject that is too in depth to cover thoroughly in a short teaching such as this, let us tell you some of the things to be aware of when it comes to discerning some religious spirits.

A spirit of religion will run a path that’s very close to the path of God’s spirit. But it will vary just enough to eventually lead to destruction. Test what you hear and read by comparing it to the Word of God. Does it line up or does it stray, even just a little bit?

Religious spirits will display pride, especially in their accomplishments. They will become arrogant in their thinking. They will boast in their associations with people of social status. Religious spirits will think they are invincible and indestructible… that nobody can stop them.

Let God give you discernment when it comes to the people around you and even those who you receive teaching from. TEST THE SPIRITS! God forewarned us so we would not fall victim to these sly spirits.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 4-7-12

(Acts 16:16-18 NKJV)  Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. {17} This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” {18} And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out that very hour.

Have you ever heard of a religious spirit? Whether you have or not, please pay close attention to these words.

Religious spirits come to us to deceive us. They look, sound and act like the real thing (the Holy Spirit), but they are not of God. They will speak words that are true in order to convince us that they are from God, but they are evil in their purpose.

In the scriptures above, this woman was inhabited by a religious spirit… a demon. This demon spoke words that were true. He proclaimed that the words Paul was speaking were true and that Paul taught the way to salvation.

Was this true? Absolutely. But why did it annoy Paul to the point where he cast it out of the girl? Because he discerned that this was not the spirit of God, but a spirit of divination and he knew that it had to leave if he told it to do so.

Many of us come into contact with religious spirits on a regular basis but never realize it. They speak to us from various sources. Many of them are even in the church!

This is not meant to freak anyone out or make you paranoid, but it’s high time for the body of Christ to get razor-sharp discernment and understand the realities of the spiritual world.

Much of what we see each day is the result of something spiritual, whether it’s God’s spirit or a demonic spirit. It’s up to us to distinguish between the two.

If a religious spirit was to come before us right now, would we be able to discern it correctly? Just some food for thought!

We wish each and every one of you a very happy resurrection day!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: , , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 4-3-12

(Mat 15:18-19 NKJV)  “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. {19} “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.

In its original context, this verse goes on to explain that eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man or make him unclean.

Jesus used this example to teach us that what’s in our hearts is what defiles us, not whether we have washed our hands or not.

He also used it to teach us that what’s inside of us will eventually make its way out of our mouths.

Have you ever caught yourself saying something that was contrary to what you know God would want you to say? Maybe you used some language that you know in your heart was not pleasing to God. Or maybe you lashed out at someone in anger, and then regretted it later on.

We all make these mistakes at times. The important thing is that we learn from them.

First, we need to learn self control. But more importantly, we need to understand that this is showing us who we really are inside; what’s hiding there in the darkest recesses of our heart.

This isn’t something that we should beat ourselves up about, but something that we need to go to God with and ask Him to take those things out of our heart and replace them with His love, grace, mercy and compassion.

God is the best surgeon there is when it comes to fixing hearts!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 3-31-12

(Heb 4:12 NKJV)  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Word of God is an incredible gift that God has blessed us with. I am constantly amazed at how God’s word brings light to our lives and gives us God’s wisdom.

God’s word is alive! It’s not just printed words on a sheet of paper. It’s not just a book. The words on the pages of the Bible are alive and breathing, bringing light to our darkened souls and hope to our most desperate situations.

We need to take God’s word into our spirits and soak it up, like a sponge.

His word is life to our dry bones. Getting it into us is not optional! It’s a necessity.

Take time today and every day to read God’s word. Our lives depend on it.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 3-17-12

(1 Pet 2:15 NKJV)  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men…

If we put God first in our daily walk we may find days when will have to sacrifice the things we want to do in order to do the things He wants us to do.

At first it may be really challenging, but as we continue it will get better and after a while we won’t even think much about it; it will come naturally.

Knowing how to do good comes from reading God’s Word and being taught right from wrong. Then, we take the steps and apply them to our everyday situations.

Sometimes we may not know the right thing to do at the moment some situations occur. Always wait on God, He will never steer us wrong.

God is a Good God!!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: , , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 3-10-12

(Gen 16:2 NKJV)  So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.

I suppose at the time that Sarai told Abraham this, she thought it was a good idea… a good way to either help God out or to make up for what she saw was God’s lack of action.

Have we ever done something like this? Have we ever gotten impatient with God and His timing and done something on our own because we just thought we needed to take care of it ourselves?

I can guarantee you that any time we’ve fallen into this trap and done things ourselves, instead of waiting on God when He has told us to wait, we’ve wound up in more trouble than we were in to start with.

Sometimes it can be hard to discern the voice of God and understand His timing completely, but as we draw closer to Him and begin to understand Him better, we’re less likely to make the same kind of mistake that Sarai made. And believe it or not, the entire civilization of the world is still paying for Sarai’s mistake, even today.

Let’s wait on God’s timing and learn how to make good decisions!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: , ,

Bible Verse of The Day – 3-8-12

(1 Ki 19:11-13 NKJV)  Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; {12} and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. {13} So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

So many times we think of hearing from God and we envision a booming voice or some kind of miraculous display of wonder and power.

There probably isn’t one of us reading this that hasn’t longed to see God move in some kind of very powerful way, inspiring awe in all those who witness it.

But how many of us have missed God because we were waiting to see that massive display of awe-inspiring power, while He was speaking to us in a still, small voice?

Hearing that still, small voice might seem like a tough thing to get used to at first. It can take a bit of getting used to in this noisy world we live in. So many things vie for our time and attention.

But learning how to hear God is worth every bit of the effort associated with it. And once we “get it”, we’ll wonder how we went so long without hearing Him.

Let’s stop looking and longing so much for those big displays of power and learn to listen for His still, small voice. It’s truly awe-inspiring.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: , ,

Your Daily Bible Verse – 2-25-12

(Titus 3:9 KJV)  But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

When we find ourselves getting caught up in things that we know are not going to be fruitful, we need to turn away, change the subject or just simply let people know we’d rather not comment or participate. It takes a lot of strength and discipline to do this.

Some of the things we get caught up in are just not healthy conversation and are simply a waste of time. This is when we need God’s discernment; He will show us and help us to avoid certain conversations or people that like to draw others in by statements they make, just to get people going.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

www.MyBibleVerseOfTheDay.com

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: , ,

Your Daily Bible Verse – 2-24-12

(Prov 4:7 NKJV)  Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.

God seems to be making a push lately, encouraging us to drink in His wisdom and His understanding!

It can never be emphasized enough as to how important it is for us to know God and His word.

In addition to learning what His word says about life and how we should live, we also need to learn to discern His spirit and His voice.

Some people may confuse memorizing scripture with knowing His word, but there is a vast difference. Memorizing scripture is commendable, but when it comes to knowing His word, we also need to know how to apply it to our everyday lives and the situations that we encounter.

Then and only then will we begin to truly understand what He’s telling us through His word.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Tagged with: , , ,