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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Itching Ears


Do you like having your ears tickled? Not literally, but figuratively? Do you like having someone tell you what you WANT to hear, not necessarily what you NEED to hear? I think we all fall into this at times.

I can look back at various times of my life, where I was resisting obedience in my life. I wanted to do it my way or follow a path that was contrary to God's leading. Satan definitely tried to use people in my life to help my justify my decisions and rebellion. This rebellion can be on "small things" that we deem "not a big deal." Unfortunately, the great deceiver can use "small things" to bring big destruction in our lives.

The Bible warns us of the false teachers in 2 Peter 2:18-19:

For when they (false teachers) speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh; while they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
Stacy MacDonald wrote in her recent book:

If you sin, a plethora of teachers and psychologists will give you numerous reasons why it's not your fault-you can blame your childhood, your lack of self-esteem, your body image,your demanding children or husband. . . Many of these teachers claim Christ; yet, because they fear that the true teachings of Scripture are too hard for people to bear, they soften and sugarcoat the truth.
It is so tempting to surround ourselves with those who tickle our itching ears, whether it be a personal friend or Oprah! May we seek godly counsel from wise advisors and saturate ourselves in the word of God. May we "study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Shunning profane and vain babblings; for they will increase unto more ungodliness (2 Timothy 2: 15-16)"



11 Comments:

Blogger windycindy said...

Hi, I hope I pick my friends, wisely! I enjoyed your post. Thanks for sharing. Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

March 25, 2008 at 11:31 AM  
Blogger Mocha with Linda said...

Excellent post. And so timely in today's world of "feel good" beliefs & messages.

March 25, 2008 at 12:29 PM  
Blogger 2nd Cup of Coffee said...

A very timely and relevant message. When I was in disobedience, I looked for validation nand even affirmation of that disobedience and wasn't even aware that I was doing that.

March 25, 2008 at 12:53 PM  
Blogger Chris @ Come to the Table said...

Kelly,
Excellent devotion today!

We all want to hear what makes us feel good. The Lord has been dealing with me in this area concerning certain personal issues in my life.

It is so easy to let what we hear or don't hear from others determine what we think and even how we behave.

I want the "word of truth" to determine how I feel and what I think

March 25, 2008 at 1:23 PM  
Blogger Denise said...

Such a wonderful post.

March 25, 2008 at 1:55 PM  
Blogger Wendy said...

Excellent! Thanks for this.

March 25, 2008 at 2:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This sooooo true; I hope I can be as wise as you. Thank you ; I needed to hear this.
Teresa from Alabama

March 25, 2008 at 7:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Perfect word today! We often don't realize how much damage these "little things" do to our spiritual walk. Like you said,

"Unfortunately, the great deceiver can use "small things" to bring big destruction in our lives."

Great word.

Darnelle

March 25, 2008 at 9:53 PM  
Blogger Lisa @ The Preacher's Wife said...

Girl, don't even get me started.

Overheard a conversation just the other day between two women talking about church. In the VERY next sentence they were talking about how they couldn't wait to read the Eckhart Tolle book Oprah is harping over. WHAT?! It was all I could do to exercise some self-restraint since the setting wasn't appropriate for me to break into a sermon.

Thanks for this timely word!

March 26, 2008 at 6:52 AM  
Blogger Sarah@Life in the Parsonage said...

It's a hard reminder that's very well written. Thanks for sharing what God wanted me to hear!

March 27, 2008 at 7:15 AM  
Blogger Amico Dio said...

There is a good bit of ear tickling going on! Great, timely word! Thanks, Kelly!

March 27, 2008 at 9:35 AM  

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