Beware

Jesus said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 16:11

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

Matthew 22

Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”[a] 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread.

Mark 8:14-16

Beware of lifeless Christianity.

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

Matthew 15:8

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

John 5:36-40

Beware of a powerless Christianity

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Beware of a compromised form of Christianity.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

Matthew 16:24-27

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

Ask God to awaken your heart with love for him and devotion to him.

Invite the Holy Spirit to fill you anew and welcome his power in your everyday life.

Allow God to speak to you about any area where they may be comprise in your heart.

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.

Revelation 2:2-5