file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db941113.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD                   Sunday, November 13, 1994
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READ:  2 Peter 2:1-3, 12-21

                      "BAD GIFTS"

          "There will be false teachers among
              you, who will secretly bring
              in destructive heresies even
                    denying the Lord.

                    -- 2 Peter 2:1



A New York City couple received through the mail two
tickets to a smash Broadway hit.  Oddly, the gift
arrived without a note, and they wondered who had sent
it.  But they still attended the show and enjoyed it
immensely.

Returning to their apartment, they discovered that
their bedroom had been ransacked.  Valuable furs and
jewels were missing.  On the pillow was this simple
note:  "Now you know."

Like that nameless thief, a false teacher knows what
people want and appeals to their desires (2 Peter 2).
He doesn't  wear a lapel pin to warn of his lies, but
he comes disguised as a representative of the truth.
He claims he will enrich lives, but those who follow
him often learn at a high cost that they have been
deceived.

Jesus, however, is a teacher we can trust completely.
He offers us the gift of eternal life because He truly
loves us.  Accepting His gift of salvation is the first
step in protecting ourselves from the deceptive gifts
that false teachers offer.

But even believers can be deceived by false teaching.
That's why God's Word exhorts us to study the Scriptures
(1 Peter 2:2), test what we hear (1 John 4:1), and grow
in the faith (2 Peter 1:5-9).  That way, we won't sud-
denly discover that our spiritual life is in disarray.

    -- Haddon W. Robinson

 Since savage wolves, consumed with greed,
 Seek simple sheep on which to feed,
 Wise are those wary lambs who graze
 Close by their Shepherd's watchful gaze.

    -- Gustafson

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*          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY          *
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*                                       *
*         Not all gifts are free;       *
*       some have hidden price tags.    *
*                                       *
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*                                       *
* THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  Acts 10-12    *
*                                       *
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Our Daily Bread, Copyright 1994, used by permission of
Radio Bible Class, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49555, USA.
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