Don't Be Deceived
"Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise." -1 Corinthians 3:18
You'll need a Bible handy in reading this post, I hope you always have your Bible close at hand as I post scripture and give my take on things. Don't take my word on it, look it up for yourself.
The Christian life seems to get harder and harder to live as the days increase. I know so many people today who are being deceived by, not only Satan, but by themselves. It's Spiritual Warfare! In the case of addiction, we call it Spiritual Bewitchment. The word deceive is a verb, it's an action, it means to be led astray; to cause to accept as true what is false. If we are really saved by the grace of our Father, then through that Salvation we have been set free from the deception of Satan. God has removed those spiritual blinders from our eyes and has revealed the truth to us. John 8:32 "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." The key word in this verse is, truth. What is the truth? The Bible. To know the truth you must know the Word, and truth of God's Word coming into your heart and your mind will set you free! We as believers must stay prayed up and filled with the Spirit of God and His word so we are not easily deceived by Satan and his evil schemes. Satan has one goal, and that is to "kill, steal, and destroy" (John 10:10). Just like I am typing now, all this scripture is from memory, that's what we have to do. Satan will attack at any given moment and we have to be ready to shoot back scripture, he has to flee at the sound of Jesus' name.
We can also deceive ourselves. My life verse, Romans 12:1-2, "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Our thoughts can be deceptive. What's even worse is we can become a stumbling block for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (1 Corinthians 8:10-13). We have responsibilities as a Christian, whether we realize it or not we are examples to new believers and non-believers. Something God convicted me and taught me all last year, especially as I read the Bible in 90 days, was integrity. It says in Titus 2:7 that our integrity should set a good example.
Really, when it comes down to it, it's all about repentance. Our lives need to stand in question, it says in Galatians 3 that "the righteous will live by their faith." To know the scripture is useless if you do not apply it to your life.
I personally wish Christians would live by what the Word says, it can't be that hard...if I can do it, anybody can do it. I'm so tired of counterfeit Christians. I'm tired of seeing my generation leave the church, I'm tired of seeing people warm the pews and sit deceived Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. I'm tired of fellow Christian brothers and sisters beating up on each other. Start using your weapons Christ followers! (Ephesians 6:10-17) It is also so important to keep your morals and values firm in the Word. People are going to try to steal and tear them down along in life....they will deceive you. Know what your standards are in life. Strive to live up to God's standard and don't settle for less. It says in 1 John 2:6 "Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did."
Here are some references for you to look up, I hope you will read them:
Galatians Chapters 3&5
Genesis 3:15
Proverbs 10:31; 14:8; 26:24
Matthew 24:24
Mark 13:6
Romans 7:11
1 Corinthians 3:18 chapters 9&10
Hebrews 3:13
Revelation 20 (it's okay if you don't understand Revelation)
James 4:4
God Bless.
You'll need a Bible handy in reading this post, I hope you always have your Bible close at hand as I post scripture and give my take on things. Don't take my word on it, look it up for yourself.
The Christian life seems to get harder and harder to live as the days increase. I know so many people today who are being deceived by, not only Satan, but by themselves. It's Spiritual Warfare! In the case of addiction, we call it Spiritual Bewitchment. The word deceive is a verb, it's an action, it means to be led astray; to cause to accept as true what is false. If we are really saved by the grace of our Father, then through that Salvation we have been set free from the deception of Satan. God has removed those spiritual blinders from our eyes and has revealed the truth to us. John 8:32 "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." The key word in this verse is, truth. What is the truth? The Bible. To know the truth you must know the Word, and truth of God's Word coming into your heart and your mind will set you free! We as believers must stay prayed up and filled with the Spirit of God and His word so we are not easily deceived by Satan and his evil schemes. Satan has one goal, and that is to "kill, steal, and destroy" (John 10:10). Just like I am typing now, all this scripture is from memory, that's what we have to do. Satan will attack at any given moment and we have to be ready to shoot back scripture, he has to flee at the sound of Jesus' name.
We can also deceive ourselves. My life verse, Romans 12:1-2, "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Our thoughts can be deceptive. What's even worse is we can become a stumbling block for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (1 Corinthians 8:10-13). We have responsibilities as a Christian, whether we realize it or not we are examples to new believers and non-believers. Something God convicted me and taught me all last year, especially as I read the Bible in 90 days, was integrity. It says in Titus 2:7 that our integrity should set a good example.
Really, when it comes down to it, it's all about repentance. Our lives need to stand in question, it says in Galatians 3 that "the righteous will live by their faith." To know the scripture is useless if you do not apply it to your life.
I personally wish Christians would live by what the Word says, it can't be that hard...if I can do it, anybody can do it. I'm so tired of counterfeit Christians. I'm tired of seeing my generation leave the church, I'm tired of seeing people warm the pews and sit deceived Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. I'm tired of fellow Christian brothers and sisters beating up on each other. Start using your weapons Christ followers! (Ephesians 6:10-17) It is also so important to keep your morals and values firm in the Word. People are going to try to steal and tear them down along in life....they will deceive you. Know what your standards are in life. Strive to live up to God's standard and don't settle for less. It says in 1 John 2:6 "Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did."
Here are some references for you to look up, I hope you will read them:
Galatians Chapters 3&5
Genesis 3:15
Proverbs 10:31; 14:8; 26:24
Matthew 24:24
Mark 13:6
Romans 7:11
1 Corinthians 3:18 chapters 9&10
Hebrews 3:13
Revelation 20 (it's okay if you don't understand Revelation)
James 4:4
God Bless.
1 John 3 is an amazing chapter that fits right in here, too! Great post!
ReplyDelete--Marlana