by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
How terrible it is to live with the consequences of terrible decisions. Israel was having to do just that. Though God warned them about their idolatry, they didn’t listen. Though God told them that their exploitation of the poor and needy was evil, they didn’t listen. Though God said to them that their dependence on the military might of others (think Egypt) would not save them, they didn’t listen. Instead, they listened to the words of well-meaning but false prophets who told them what they wanted<\/em> <\/b>to hear, not what they needed <\/i><\/b>to hear. And based on that faulty information, they continued making very bad decisions until God’s patience ended.<\/p>\n We can be the same.<\/p>\n Too often, we’ll ignore the numerous warning signs that God puts in our path and, instead, listen to the well-meaning but misguided advice of friends who may want to make us feel<\/strong><\/em> better but don’t help us to be <\/i><\/b>better. But if a friend tells you the truth, the hard truth, and you know it’s for the best, then appreciate it.<\/p>\n And do it.<\/p>\n Facing the truth can change your heart and restore your spiritual fortunes. It may be hard, but it’s the right thing to do.<\/p>\n “Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not exposed your inquiry to restore your fortunes, but have seen for you oracles that are false and misleading<\/em>” (Lamentations 2:14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Zeke Flores How terrible it is to live with the consequences of terrible decisions. Israel was having to do just that. Though God warned them about their idolatry, they didn’t listen. Though God told them that their exploitation of the poor and needy was evil, they didn’t listen. Though God said to them that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[424,1560,478,179],"class_list":["post-69474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-consequences","tag-false-prophets","tag-false-teachers","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":70411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-wishful-thinking\/","url_meta":{"origin":69474,"position":0},"title":"What does the Bible say about wishful thinking?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does the Bible say about wishful thinking? Answer: Wishful thinking is the act of forming beliefs based on what is pleasing to the person instead of on evidence or reality. I might wish to believe there is no school tomorrow, but that doesn't change the facts. The problem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64774,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-the-blame-actually-belongs\/","url_meta":{"origin":69474,"position":1},"title":"Where the Blame Actually Belongs","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Humans have a terrible habit of shifting blame. We saw it in the Garden of Eden when Adam blamed the woman and God who gave her to him, and we saw it in the people of Jeremiah's day. God brought the truth before their consciences, saying,\u00a0\"Your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41149,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-shouldnt-call-people-false-prophets\/","url_meta":{"origin":69474,"position":2},"title":"You shouldn’t call people false prophets","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for\u00a0the information about Mr. Clement. I do, though, have a comment to make, not necessarily about Kim or really whether he's right or wrong but generally speaking. I just don't know of him well enough to speak out about him since I work long hours and time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7442,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/prophets-today-think-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":69474,"position":3},"title":"Prophets Today? Think Again!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Garreth L. Clair Kenneth Copeland \u201cCopeland\u2019s Prophecy Fails\u201d by Bill Dillon False prophets are in abundance in today\u2019s world and occasionally these religious pretenders over play their hand and say too much. Kenneth Copeland did on December 12, 2001. At a dedication service Copeland asserted that one billion Muslims\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":82705,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-someone-says-god-told-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":69474,"position":4},"title":"When Someone Says “God Told Me”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton A few years ago, I read directly from one lady who claimed two false things while claiming, \"God told me.\" She claimed that 1) God told her to tell others that God forbids His people from getting the COVID-19 vaccine, and 2) taking it is \"the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43346,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":69474,"position":5},"title":"Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant One of the frequent questions I get, often from young people, is \"If there is a God, why is there so much evil in the world? Why do we have children starving in Africa? Why are women raped and murdered by marauding men? Why are innocent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/bmw-300x204.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}