Certainly you have seen the little Facebook app, “on this day God wants you to know…” and then it is followed with a spiritual-sounding phrase that is sure to make the hair on your arm stand up.  Today, I am going to teach you how to write these.  I’m not claiming to be inspired by the Lord as I write these, so please don’t send anyone over to my house to throw stones at me.

Step One:  Think of a Cool Phrase that Sounds Enlightened

I’ll take one from Mystery Men.  On this day God wants you to know…that when you care what is outside, what is inside cares for you. 

Wow.  That sounds really enlightening.  It MUST be from the Lord.  For one, I’m really not too sure what it means.  But man did it really pinpoint what I’m struggling with.  God really knows me. 

Step Two: Time Sensitive Encouragement

Now your task is to place your enlightened phrase into the real world.  You do this by a time sensitive metaphor. 

I’ll continue with our outside/inside theme.  “It is time to stop dismissing your outward beauty.”

Step Three: God Knows Your Awesome + Spiritual Sounding Command

Here you have to bring in God.  Not so much about who He is, but more so how He feels about you.  He knows your awesome.  But today you just need to know how awesome you really are.  Then combine that with some sort of spiritual sounding command.

“God has called you beautiful, because you truly are.  He will take care of your inside, surrender to him your outside.”

Step Four: Bring it Home with God’s Promise + Final Encouragement

Here you have to match all of these wise sayings to God’s promise to further your awesomeness.  Then at the end you are further encouraged to realize your awesome (God-given of course) potential. 

“Today if you appreciate your outside, God will make the inside shine.”

So there you have it.  Here is your message from God for today.  God wants you to know…that when you care what is outside, what is inside cares for you.  It is time to stop dismissing your outward beauty.God has called you beautiful, because you truly are.  He will take care of your inside, surrender to him your outside. Today if you appreciate your outside, God will make the inside shine.”

How in the world did He know that I was struggling with self-esteem today?!?!?  Thanks for reminding me that I’m awesome, Jesus!  I’m good enough I’m smart enough and dog-gone it people like me!

That he speaks to you through His Word and not what some fallible person has written on Facebook. 
There is an app that I continue to see pop up on Facebook.  It is called, “On this day, God wants you to know…”  And then it has some sort of spiritual sounding phrase about how awesome I am and that today I need to just realize my awesomeness.  Now, if you read this blog and also subscribe to that app on Facebook, please know that I am not judging you.  I am simply hoping to encourage you.

Can God speak through Facebook?  Well if he can speak through donkeys he can speak through Facebook.  But that doesn’t mean that I go every morning and chat with a donkey in the hopes that God will reveal Himself to me.  I know that God has revealed Himself already to us through Jesus in His Word.  So, that’s where I go.

But Scripture is more difficult to read than a 4 line snippet.  I’d rather just hear a few little words about how I’m “a being of immense power and breathtaking beauty”.  These little sayings “sound biblical” because they are written in spiritual sounding language.  But often they are not biblical.  And they are not a message from God. 

So today, I encourage you unsubscribe from this false prophet and open up God’s true Word.  It may be more difficult, but at least it’s not meaningless rubbish—it REALLY IS God’s word and God promises that it is profitable.

Be sure to check out my follow-up post where I will teach you how to write a “message from God”.