Tag: deceived
Avoiding Deception
Scripture reading for November 21: 1 John 3
“Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as He is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” 1 John 3:7-10
John addressed the believers as ‘little children’, a term of endearment and also an indicator of their state of spiritual maturity. John, the elder, had been around for a long time. He was once one of the ‘little children’ himself. In following Jesus, he had learned that the devil was behind sin and temptation. We are all sinners because we inherit a sin nature from our parents and as a result are under control of the devil. Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil by offering new birth through His ‘seed’ and healing those oppressed by the devil and sickness. He was born of God the Father’s Seed! Through faith in Jesus, we receive God’s Seed in Jesus Christ. When born of God, we no longer desire to practice sin and are empowered with God’s love in the indwelling Holy Spirit.
For John it was very simple to determine if one was truly ‘born of God’. He observed their actions and attitudes to see whether or not they practiced righteousness and loved their neighbors. He plainly stated the truth that no one who is truly born of God can continue to sin. God’s Holy Spirit would bring conviction and lead them to repentance. Additionally, just knowing about Jesus Christ and even becoming a member of the church was not a test of true relationship. Deception was being promoted through the false teachers who were still practicing sin while claiming to know God. John referred to them as ‘antichrists’ who had been part of the church but had departed from truth. (1 John 2:18)
Have you ever observed someone whose talk and walk about being a follower of Christ did not add up? How would you evaluate your spiritual maturity and ability to spot deception? How does John’s letter help you to understand true spiritual rebirth?
Prayer: Father God, Thank You for John’s plain letter concerning deception and how to recognize it in my own life and in others. Fill me again today with Your Holy Spirit and discernment of spirits that I might avoid the spirit of antichrist in our world today. Amen.
Clash of the world-views!
Scripture reading for April 15: John 7
“The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this Man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Him before, and who was one of them, said, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”” John 7:45-52
Many of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were a proud and judgmental bunch. They were jealous of Jesus and the crowds that followed Him. They plotted to trap Him and kill him. They mocked the guards that were in awe of Jesus’ teaching. They resented that He was not part of their click. They accused any of their own number who questioned their accusations as being deceived by Him. They accused the crowds of being under a curse. When our world view sees Jesus as a threat and His followers as deceived, what we accuse others of is most often what we are doing ourselves. We are deceived and under a curse from the evil one. Our soul is in danger and we blame Jesus and His followers!
This controversy is alive and well in our time and culture. Those that are under deception mock Jesus and seek to block Him and His Word from their lives. And if this is not sufficient, they seek to remove His influence from our culture and government, making un-godly laws and waging warfare against God and His people. If anyone disagrees or stands up for Jesus, they are mocked, persecuted and cancelled. If only they would listen to Jesus and consider His Word. If they could look in the mirror and see their own spirit of murder and lies, they could repent and escape the curse of true deception and eternal hell.
Have you experienced some of the same treatment in our time and culture? What are some ways that you have avoided deception and judging those who accuse or mistreat Christians and Jews? Do you take time to give those who oppose you a hearing and seek to peaceable share the Good News?
Prayer: Father God, thank You for Your amazing patience with me in my early years of opposition to You and Your people. Help me today to love my enemies and do good to those who would oppose me. Give me grace to love them and pray for their salvation. Amen.
Don’t deceive yourself!
Scripture reading for November 2nd: James 1
James was the half-brother of Jesus Christ and the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. James wrote this letter as possibly one of the first letters of encouragement and correction taken into the body of writings known as the New Testament. He wrote during a time of intense persecution for Jewish believers who had taken Christ as the Messiah. One of his primary concerns was deception.
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all He created.” (James 1:16-18)
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22)
“If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” (James 1:26)
In order for a person to be deceived, they must believe that information is the truth when it is, in reality, not true. We can be ‘self-deceived’ when we choose to believe something that we want to be true, but fail to accept anything that might show it is not true. James was warning the Jewish believers and us of the folly of deception. We are truly in a bad state if we believe something is true that is really false and refuse to allow anyone to correct us! Faith and obedient action must go together. We much watch our tongues and always trust that God is good!