You can't be deceived if you know the truth, but you can ignore the truth.

Take heed. Pay attention. Watch out. Be wary. Be cautious.

If Jesus told us to pay attention, it has to be important, right? Jesus IS telling us to pay attention, He's telling us to watch out, to be wary, to be cautious because people WILL try to deceive us.  There is no doubt about it, we have to be careful when dealing with people because any of them can deceive us, the possibility exists.  Deception is very real. And the only way not to be deceived is to know the truth. You can't be deceived by someone's lies if you know they are lying. If you aren't standing firmly on God's truth then you leave yourself open to deception.  We are told this--

2Ti 3:15  And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 

2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Isa_8:20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Luk 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. 

Joh 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 

Joh 5:46  For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 

Joh 5:47  But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? 

Act 17:11  These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 

Psa 119:130  The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. 

Mat 22:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 

Mar 7:7  Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 

Mar 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 

Mar 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts

We know that every Christian is given a weapon to wield in the spiritual war we are born into and live in until either we sleep death's sleep or our Savior returns. That weapon is what? Do you know what weapon you possess as a Christian? Do you know what weapon we have to use against the enemy? What good does it do us if we - as the saying goes- bring a knife to a gunfight? We have to use the only weapon our God gives to us and if we try to use anything else we will fail against any evil spiritual onslaught in whatever shape or form it takes.  Our weapon-  Eph 6:17  And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

Our weapon- THE WORD OF GOD!

How do we keep from being deceived? The Word of God!

Deception-  

Mar 13:5  And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 

1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. 

Eph 5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 

Heb 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 

1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Deu_11:16  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them

Gal_6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

1Ti_2:14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

2Ti_3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Tit_3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Rev_18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Rev_19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev_20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

Deception.

Deception-  

The following are several verses on being deceived, on deception, please read them now and by the grace of God we will study it more in detail tomorrow.  All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR now and forever and ever!

Mar 13:5  And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you

1Co 15:33  Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 

1Co 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. 

Eph 5:6  Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 

1Co 6:9  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 

1Co 6:10  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Deu_11:16  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them

Gal_6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

1Ti_2:14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

2Ti_3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Tit_3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Rev_18:23  And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Rev_19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev_20:10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

We've been bought.

1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 

1Co 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

We are bought with a price.

The price we are bought with? The life of the Son of God. There could be no greater price, not a single one.

We are a piece of broken clay worthless in the eyes of most, yet priceless in the eyes of God. The worth our God places upon us makes us very valuable to Him.

Jesus said this--

Joh_16:7  Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

And we are told this--

Act 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost

We get FILLED with the Holy Spirit.   Truly, we are filled, our bodies are filled with the Holy Spirit.  God the Holy Spirit will dwell IN us! How amazingly special does this make us?

1Jn 3:1  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 

Rom_8:15  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Gal_4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

We BECOME the sons of God.  We are bought and made SONS of God!

The Holy Spirit will FILL us and this alone will sanctify us through our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.

1Pe_1:15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

1Pe_1:16  Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy

The temple of God is just a building without God's presence. What makes a place holy is God's presence. Wherever God makes His presence known it is HOLY.

Act 7:31  When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, 

Act 7:32  Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. 

Act 7:33  Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. 

When the Holy Spirit fill us as Jesus promised, we are sanctified. Is there any doubt as to why we are to regard ourselves as temples- not in the way of pride- but as in the way of being blessed, humbled by such a blessing.

Please Lord, help us to learn what it truly means to have our bodies the temple of the Holy Spirit.

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE and WILL of our SAVIOR, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, now and forever!

Who do you obey?

Who to you yield yourself to?

Many will instantly reply, "No one. I am my own master, I yield to none."

They are lying to themselves. We are not our own masters. We are not without influence from forces greater than ourselves. Why do people insist that there are no outside forces, no spiritual forces in our lives.  People lie to themselves all the time, and believe their own lies.

We have a Creator. To believe otherwise is ludicrous. To think we just happened to emerge from some strange soupy goo of dna is foolish. Why haven't new humans continued to form that way? What stops them? Why isn't there more goo with lots of new creatures constantly? There are a million questions to be asked because it so outrageous a claim.

We have a Creator. We have a Master and our Master has an adversary and His adversary is automatically the adversary of all who lay claim to their Master and do not deny Him.

If you believe in GOD- then you HAVE to believe in His adversary.
If you believe in God's adversary then you believe that same adversary is your adversary.

So asking again- who do you yield yourselves to?
Who do you obey?

Truly we need to know who we are obeying.  It is easy to say we obey Christ, but do we?  Who are we yielding ourselves to? The thing about this question is… it can't be answered just once. This question is something we need to answer all the time, all through the day. When we stop asking ourselves this question we have to ask ourselves why. If we realize that we aren't yielding to God in all things then we need to repent, we need to ask for forgiveness, we need to recognize our wretchedness and with sincerity cry out for a clean heart, a renewed heart.

Please Lord, please let us examine ourselves, let us work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

Please…    ALL through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR!  Please.

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Servant or Son?

Gal 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; 

Gal 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. 

Gal 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: 

Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 

Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 

Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 

Gal 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Servants or Sons?

A servant in this context is one who has no wealth or prestige of his/her own. A servant is one working under a master.  And not ALL masters are cruel and evil, contrary to how a lot of people long to believe. As soon as they hear servant and master they imagine the servant's humanity being abused, that none should be a servant to another.  We know logically there are kind, caring, generous masters to servants and so in the context of these verses we are going along that vein. Why? Because the comparison of a child, an heir to the master's position, as being a servant as long as they are not of age is truth. Yet, that heir will grow and one day he will no longer be a servant. We too are heirs of salvation and we are no longer servants.  So who are we no longer servants to?

Rom_6:20  For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 

Rom 6:17  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 

Rom 6:18  Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 

We are servants of sin, of Satan if we are NOT heirs of God.

Are you a servant of Satan or a son of God?

There are ONLY two choices.

People want a million choices! People want as many choices as possible. When you limit the choices it makes things a lot more difficult for a person to choose. We don't want yes or no, we want a lot of maybes.

Truly you have to be a servant of Satan or a son of God, so which is it?

With God there is life eternal, with Satan there is no life at all, non-existence.

Satan doesn't want to make any sons, none will ever be equal to him. Yet so many people love to delude themselves that Satan isn't so bad, in fact many don't believe he is real, let alone influencing their lives in any way at all. The influence of Satan is so incredibly great that he's deceived all but those who truly love God in all truth.

Mat_24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

More on this tomorrow by the grace and will of our loving LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

Trust - in the LORD.

Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

How often are we told we need to trust in each other? That trusting in each other is a good thing.

Yet God tells us differently.

Psa_118:8  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

Psa_118:9  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

People will say to you- "Don't you trust me?"  And you are left to either say, "Yes.", "No.", or "Maybe." If you say , "Yes." then the person asking is satisfied, happy even, that you believe in them. If you say, "No." or "Maybe." then the person asking isn't quite so happy any more. People want you to believe them, they want you to trust them, and yet often times various situations will arise that keep people from following through on their word. Very legitimate excuses arise for a broken trust so that we don't call it a broken trust at all. We accept the excuses because not to makes us seem unable to forgive, and not very understanding at all.

Has anyone every broken your trust? Probably more than one person and probably more than one person you love. A parent, a spouse, a friend, a child all of these can't help but break our trust because our very imperfect life forces it to happen. I'm sure most of us, if not all of us have broken the trust of others. You may want to say that you haven't, and you may want to force yourself to believe that, but in truth circumstances will not allow any person not inflicted by mental impairment to be perfectly trustworthy from birth to death. They may try, and only extenuating circumstances interfere with their ability to do so, who knows, I sure don't.

What I do know is this-  God tells us to trust in HIM, not in others. God wants us to LOVE each other, but put our TRUST in HIM.  God alone will NEVER break our trust- the trust we place in Him for life eternal through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  No matter how wonderful and sincere our intentions to each other are, Satan will always try to interfere causing us to break a trust no matter how little the matter is, no matter how tiny the trust broken. It could be something as simple as telling someone you'll be on time to dinner and not being on time. You may have forgotten which is perfectly understandable, believe me, I am big time forgetful. However, even though you forget out of innocence it is still a trust broken- unintentionally, understandably but there it is… a tiny trust broken.  We must put our trust in CHRIST, we must put our trust in GOD, we have to put our trust in the HOLY SPIRIT, and realize that by not trusting in man we are not loving them any less. 

We have to LOVE in spite of not being able to trust wholly.

Should we not trust in others at all? No, we need to believe what people say, but at the same time acknowledge to ourselves that people no matter who- are infallible and we shouldn't let this truth destroy our spiritual life, our walk with Christ, our belief in His love. It's not just the tiny trusts broken, but the huge trusts broken that can destroy our spiritual life is Satan has his way. If we BELIEVE that we can't trust in man but TRUST IN GOD ALWAYS, that is a protection, a spiritual protection God will give us.

There are people I can say I trust, and what I trust is that to the best of their ability they will always do what's best for me, they will always love me, they will always act in ways to reveal that love. I trust them, but by the grace and mercy of God, I will always trust in God first and foremost.  And if any of these people break the trust I've placed in them- truly I must not let it destroy my Spiritual life- or my belief in them and the hope they can find in Christ. I must put the heartache and disappointment I feel - however great it may be- on Satan because it is Satan who causes all the broken trust in the world. And Satan will use anyone He can, deceiving them, abusing them at their weakest to hurt all that he can in any way that he can.

Some might say that God lets them down, that God lets a lot of people down all the time, but that's not true.  Our idea of what is best for us is nothing like God's idea, He sees the end from the beginning we only see through that glass very, very darkly.

1Co 13:12  For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 

1Co 13:13  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Please, Lord, please bless us and keep us in Jesus Christ our LORD now and forever! Help us to place our trust in YOU always! 

We are all wretched.

We are all unclean in the eyes of God. All OUR righteousnesses are as filthy rags.  Yet we try to imagine we are clean, and we are righteous. What a dangerous thing we do when we strive for righteousness in our self. When we tally up our day and see our failures, when we go further and look back upon our lives and try our best to number our good deeds hoping they will outweigh the bad, we are counting upon our own righteousness.  No, we are not to be evil and lay claim to Christ's righteousness. We must count any good thing that springs from us as being of Christ and glorify HIS name, not our own.

We are truly wretched. Paul, an apostle of Christ's called himself wretched and if one who is called by Christ Himself and is given all power through the Holy Spirit to perform miracles, to proclaim the gospel far and wide and lead many to salvation through Christ, if he is wretched how much more wretched are we?

We go about our day to day lives scarcely recognized as Christ followers because we blend in so well with those who aren't. We proclaim Christ in our own ways, yet we need to proclaim Him in His way. We fear to offend, we fear to appear a fool, we utilize our Christianity in such a way that it becomes tailormade to suit us, rather than wear God's armor as He intended.

Can Christ truly walk everywhere you walk each day? Can Christ truly be beside you in every conversation?

Paul was a wretched man. We are wretched as well. And as we strive- as Paul did- to do God's will we do so by laying claim to CHRIST'S righteousness first and foremost. We ask God to look to Christ for righteousness because we have none of our own. We will continue to fight and fail, and never, by the grace of God will we give up our fighting, always seeking Christ as being our ONLY Victory!

We can never afford to forget where our Hope lies, never!

Let us not hope in ourselves, let us discard all hope we have in ourselves and put all our hope in Christ.

Please, Lord, we know we are wretched, that we are filthy, that we are prone to evil in all its many forms- blatant and not so blatant. Please, Lord, we would have you be our Hope, our Righteousness, our Goodness, keep us from any evil and all evil that would keep us from You! Save us from ourselves, our wretched, wretched selves.

All through Jesus Christ our Savior, our Lord, our King, our Advocate with the Father now and forever!

Isa 64:6  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rag

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience

Tit 3:3  For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 

Php 3:9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith