There are lots of things that want to influence your life. Think about it. Companies pay massive amounts of money for advertisements. Educators want you to think in a certain way. Coaches push you to compete using their style. Social media influencers and Hollywood stars want you to value certain behaviors and morals. Even preachers like me push for you to live a certain way. All of us have differing views on your decisions.

So how do you choose? You are not an island. You don't exist by yourself. You are surrounded and learning every day from everything and everyone around you. The messages are coming from every angle. How do you protect yourself from hearing and implementing the wrong ones? John has some advice about this.

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬, ‭ESV‬‬. His advice: Test everything first to see if it is from God.

Your belief system should not be a la carte. You don't get to pick and choose truth or morality. God is the sovereign Creator and has already determined everything to be good or bad, right or wrong, truth or a lie. Every teaching, advice, and fact you hear can and should be compared to the Word of God. The Bible is the standard.

This work is both exhausting and rewarding. We want the same outcome with our food these days. RFK wants to change how companies test our food. We want that, too. We don't want to eat poisonous stuff. It will eventually kill us or make us grow another elbow or something. Why shouldn't we be so adamant about the knowledge that goes into our brains? That information will always affect our decisions and actions.

So, test everything, even this devotional thought. You will be so much better off if you do. -Pastor Mike

BTW, isn't it weird that Alexander the Great and Winnie the Pooh have the same middle name?