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PROGRAM outline is transcribed below.
This is based on a short article
One verse of "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name"
Greetings everyone! Welcome to ComfortForToday.com, a broadcast named after the website of the same name, ComfortForToday.com.
Today's article is about hidden traps to cause us to listen to the wrong advice, follow the wrong crowd, or do things our own way without praying for God's wisdom. These are days of deception. We need to be always on our guard. If we feel even slightly nervous about something that is going on, it is probably a warning from the Holy Spirit to consider our ways and to be cautious. I am now going to tell you about a dream I had in which I didn't listen. Remember it was only a dream, but through it I learned a lesson.
There is a very important scripture in I Thessalonions 5, verse 22 which I shall now read to you from the Amplified Version:
"Abstain from evil (shrink from it and keep aloof from it) in whatever form or whatever kind it may be." "Let me read it again......
I shall now tell you about my dream.
My niece had just returned from a childrens' camp and had had a great time. As she related her experience to us, it seemed that her suggestion of our daughter taking the same holiday was a good one. There was only one thing about which she did wonder. The camp was run by a religious group from a foreign country, and there was a 'discipline' room with sticks in case the children got out of hand. The religion hadn't posed any problem to our niece, and the sticks had not been required.
We decided to let our daughter go on the holiday.
On the day she arrived at the camp, we sensed something not quite right. We couldn't put our finger on it, but in spite of the very friendly and concerned counsellors, we felt ill at ease. Thinking it to be only our imagination, we left her there.
When we returned to take her home, she seemed rather nervous. As we drove home, she told us that she had overheard someone saying that this camp was a means of getting children into their religion and that these people would be watching and keeping in touch with the children after they returned home.
It was only then we realized the danger. This religion was one about which we knew little, and hadn't bothered to inquire. Our niece and daughter were in trouble!
In my dream, our daughter had now become a woman who had a very beautiful daughter. They were travelling and had stopped at a gas station. Two men there said they would give them $500 if they wished to stay there for the night. My daughter declined, then the men tried to force her to go with them. Only then did she recognize one of the men as being a camp leader many years ago. Then I woke up.
All this was only a dream, but forcefully tells us how careful we must be to "keep away from every kind of evil" (I Thess.5:22 LB), and to be "wise as serpents" (Matt.10:16).
The very first day when our niece told about the camp being one of a foreign faith, we should have questioned it. But, like most people, we rationalized the situation and considered only the great fun our niece had there.
Satan's traps are always attractive as he "masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor.11:14 NIV). But to the wise, even one questionable area can be a clue to the danger involved.
Reading our horoscope or listening to rock music, especially heavy metal and acid rock, appear harmless on the surface. Most people are unaware, however, of the evil forces at work. Astrology leads us gently into occult involvement; this fact is confirmed by the fact that a person who merely READS this column cannot receive God's Holy Spirit baptism with the evidence of speaking in tongues until he has renounced its evil power. Similarly, one involved with rock music must renounce his involvement and perhaps have someone agree with him in prayer before he can receive the God-given gift of tongues.
Throughout the Bible, the Israelites were warned about getting involved with foreign gods. A wrong choice can follow us all our life and even into the lives of our children and grandchildren, as in my dream.
John Bunyan's famous Pilgrim's Progress relates the struggles of a man called "Christian" to avoid the pitfalls and wrong tracks which would prevent his arrival at the heavenly city. We all need to tread carefully in order to avoid hidden traps.
In order to avoid traps then, it is necessary to keep our attention focused on the Lord.
Let us now listen to Jeremy Sinnott of TACF singing to Jesus: "I Will Seek You" from his CD "Intimate Worship."
CLOSING PRAYER