Greg Laurie Senior Pastor Harvest Christian Fellowship Riverside, Ca
"Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings that come from demons."
It is clear that we are living in the last days. All around us, the signs that Jesus and the prophets told us to look for are taking place before our very eyes. The devil and his demons are doing their dirty work, and this should not surprise us. The Bible warns that in the last days, things will go from bad to worse. One of the signs will be an abandonment of the faith, or an apostasy. Some will fall away and will follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Could you or I ever become one of these spiritual casualties? Could you or I ever fall away from the Lord? Without question, the potential and even the propensity for sin lies within us. I have the potential to fall. You have the same.
That is why we must give careful attention to likely pitfalls for believers that are given to us in Scripture. There are things we must be alert to as we live in the last days. As the Apostle Paul wrote, "The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So don't live in darkness. Get rid of your evil deeds. Shed them like dirty clothes. Clothe yourselves with the armor of right living, as those who live in the light" (Romans 13:12).
Your relationship with Jesus Christ needs constant maintenance and cultivation. The day that you stop growing spiritually is the day you will start to become weak and vulnerable to the devil's attacks. The best way to not go backward is to keep moving forward.
