Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding (Prov

"Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding" (Prov. 9:6). "Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly" (Prov. 15:21). "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isa. 5:20). Okay, that is all the scripture reference I need to make this extremely powerful and sobering point. UNDERSTANDING IS EVERYTHING!! I see it all the time. I hear it all the time. Religious folks SAYING the right things, and at the same time having absolutely no ideal of what they are talking about. Words are meaningless my friend, without defining them by the teaching of the Spirit of God. One can say things the right way, and have a complete MISUNDERSTANDING on what they are saying. Words that pertain to the gospel of Christ, that are not according to the understanding that the holy Ghost teaches, are just hollow. As the scripture above states, "A man of understanding walketh uprightly." The Spirit of truth will teach understanding to someone who "denies ungodliness, and lives soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Tit. 2:12). But if you hold to pride or any ungodly thing, another spirit will teach you something else, and will have you certain that that something else is the truth. Jesus said, "yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me" (Jn. 16:1,2). This kind of thing has been done throughout history BY GOD'S PEOPLE TO GOD'S PEOPLE, because someone did not walk uprightly and "trust in the Lord with all their heart;" and instead of having understanding imparted unto them, they "leaned on their own understanding" (Prov. 3:5). That is where calling good evil, and evil good, can lead to; and it can lead to a whole lot of other bad places as well. One thing it does NOT lead to is the love of God, or peace. Everyone hears, reads, and speaks according to the religious slant that they have on things. Most of God's people hear, read, and speak according to what Christianity and their particular religious affiliation has taught them. But Jesus is looking for people who will turn a deaf ear to the religious jargon of this world, and purify their hearts unto hearing only the voice of his Spirit (Isa. 42:19; Rev. 2:8). Those who dare to "forsake the foolish, and live," [will] go in the way of understanding" in one mind; and "the gates of hell shall not prevail against [them]" (I Cor. 1:10; Mat. 16:18). And everyone who fails to do so will persecute those who do, as they have always done. Amen.