2 Timothy 4:3-4 says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine…they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” The time has come!

I know of previously dedicated pastors who have veered off the path of truth ~ endorsing and teaching things brought in through man’s ideologies. They have been led astray and are  leading their congregations astray. Beware. Do not turn aside from the patterns set down in Scripture. 

Colossians 2:8 says, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit…” Remember the devil is the father of lies. He cannot speak the truth. He is looking for  believers who are not holding fast to their faith. He will send fiery dart lies to lure them into deception so he can derail them. Peter also warned his readers about the roaring lion seeking whom it may devour. 1 Peter 5:8.

2 Timothy 1:13 really captured my attention as I was meditating on it. It says, “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” Paul set out a pattern of sound words that he instructed Timothy to hold fast to.

Hold fast. Cling to like a barnacle clings to a rock in the midst of a tempestuous storm. We are in a storm of cultural propaganda. It is essential that we hold fast to God’s word. Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

2 Timothy 2:23 says, “But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.” Truth is solid and steadfast. Our hope is steadfast and sure. Hebrews 6:19. Be careful what and who you listen to. 

Remember back with me to when God spoke into the darkness. Genesis 1:2 says that darkness was on the face of the deep. Verse 3 says “Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light.”

Psalm 19:6 says of the sun, “Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” I’m grateful when the winter sun comes into my windows to warm up my place.

Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

Yet, for those who oppose God, here is a sobering verse. Revelation 16:8-9 says, “Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God…”

1 Timothy 6:16 says, “Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”

As I was meditating on God dwelling in unapproachable light, I was taken back in my mind to the transfiguration. Matthew 17:2 says, “And He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.”

I love Psalm 104:1-2 and often use it in praise. It says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with honor and majesty, who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.”

Revelation 21:23 says of the New Jerusalem, “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.”

How will we hear if we are always talking? Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Psalm 131:2 says, “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.”

Intimate communion with the Lord is Heart to heart and Spirit to spirit. Psalm 116:1-2 says, “I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.” 

I read Song of Solomon 2:14 like this. “O my Dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see Your face, let me hear Your voice; for Your voice is sweet, and Your face is lovely.”

Isaiah 55:3 says, “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live…” Incline means to listen favorably. Elijah watched the great strong wind tear into the mountains ~ breaking the rocks in pieces. After the wind was an earthquake then a fire. It was God’s still small voice that captured his attention.

God trained a little boy to listen. You can read the whole story in 1 Samuel 3:1-18. I love verse 19. It says, “So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.” The Lord raised up a prophet by teaching him to listen to His words. 

How will we know where to go if our ears are not attentive? Isaiah 30:21 says, ‘Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.”

When we continually ignore the Holy Spirit’s check in our spirit, our conscience becomes seared or insensitive. 1 Timothy 4:2. Ephesians 4:19 uses the words past feeling. That is scary. Here is a verse that makes me tremble. 

Psalm 106:15 says, “And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.” There is never anything worth receiving leanness or wasting away. We are called into abundance. John 10:10b. Ephesians 1:8 Amplified says of His grace, “Which He lavished upon us in every kind of wisdom and understanding (practical insight and prudence).”

Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Luke 4:4 Amplified says, “…Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone but by every word and expression of God.” The Holy Spirit often leads us through little nuances that we will miss if not attentive to His still small voice. 1 King 19:11-13.

Paul wrote in Acts 24:16, “…I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.” The Greek word for strive means to train, practice, and exercise. How do we maintain a clear conscience?

We strive to remain open to, and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading. I love to visit Acts 16:6-10. Paul was very attentive to the Holy Spirit. Even though he sought to do something for the Lord, he was blocked by the Holy Spirit. Verse 6 says that they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit. In verse 7 He did not permit them. 

Paul, by example, charged his son in the faith. In 1 Timothy 1:4 he told him to not give heed to things that were not edifying. Verse 5 says, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.”