Do not be deceived…….
1 Corinthians 6:9”Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived….”
We talk a lot about Eve being deceived by the serpent in the garden of Eden through sugary words and smooth talk, but let me tell you today, everyday we are being subtly deceived by satan in big and small matters. Hearken to His voice today, it might expose some of the deep-seated-hidden sins and make you uncomfortable, the fingers pointing at you are not mine but that of the Lord!
A young believer, who attends not only church on Sundays but also other weekly meetings in the church, looked at a young, married girl at work spot as his sister (he thought so…), however, he wanted to speak to her and hear from her every day, otherwise he would get restless, had a daily contact with her through email, otherwise he would go crazy and always thought about her and talked about her, whenever she stopped talking, he started weeping even during church service. His affection was not pure and clean, he was deceived by the devil into thinking that he considered the girl as his sister; whereas his flesh craved for something else. Young people, be warned today! Psalms 7:9”……..For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds.”
Some Christian musicians work for the cinema industry as well as they use their music skills in the church and other spiritual activities, they are deceived by the devil into thinking that they are blessed, prosperous and doing great because of God’s Hands on them, wake up today, you are deceived!!! God does not want His children to partake with the wickedness of the world, He said very categorically and clearly: Ephesians 5:7 “..do not be partakers with them.” Read that entire chapter, but let me mention who are the ‘THEM’ mentioned here: uncleanness or covetousness, filthiness, fornicator, unclean person, idolater, etc. If you are involved, connected in any way with the things of the above, then you are against God, the blessings are from the devil and not from heaven. Do not be deceived! Before calamity strikes your door, repent and depart from evil. The Bible unmistakably warns us…”have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)
A young business man from hindu faith got saved, got water baptized, attended big revival meetings, yet he was selling ‘pooja materials’ that are used to worship the idols. The devil whispered to him, ‘your faith in Jesus has nothing to do with your business, continue…..’ I warned him to stop the business but he stopped attending my meetings. After 8 years, he contacted me and apologized because his wife became mentally ill due to demonic attacks, he had lost his peace and hence wanted to come back to Jesus; however, he still had a stock of his old pooja materials that he wanted to sell and make money. Even after many years of sufferings, pain and loss , such is the mentality of people who would love to hold the devil with one hand and Jesus with the other. Can’t be done friend! This man never found peace despite his decision to come back to Jesus, I called him and told him, ‘if you truly repent for your sins, throw away that ‘sinful stock’ into the gutter and trust God for your need.’ You will never come out of sin unless you deal with it aggressively. Deuteronomy 7:25”You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.” Anybody listening?
A Christian professional , who attends church and sends Bible verses through sms to tons of people every morning has a clandestine affair with his secretary at work…the devil tells him, ‘as long as you just flirt, it is okay….keep your limits.’ 2 Peter 2:14’having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.’ The Bible warns us to ‘Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.’ (1 Corinthians 6:18)
What about the tons and tons of pirated software that are loaded into the computers in Christian homes? ANYBODY LISTENING? Yoga guru Baba Ramdev is going on a fast against black money, Anna Hazare went on fast against corruption, but what about this toxic virus that is corroding our nation? PIRATED SOFTWARE! We smack our lips, hang our tongues and bury the Bible deep, when it comes to getting things free. Don’t we? Where are the ethics gone? The devil whispers to them, ‘don’t worry, the whole world is doing it, doesn’t matter, God will understand.’ Do we need a police man to come and arrest us for these things? 2 Chronicles 16:9 says,” For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” God is looking for loyal Christians! It is as hard as finding a needle in a haystack. Be it for personal purpose, business purpose or church use, let us walk in the path of righteousness. At my home or for ministry purpose, we carefully buy software and use as per copyright laws, we don’t illegally share it. Job 24:23” He gives them security, and they rely on it; Yet His eyes are on their ways.” Anybody listening?
a) Do not be deceived by outward appearances:
All that glitters is not gold!
We often hear people say, “I feel peace about this matter and everything looks good and things are moving smoothly hence I guess the Hand of God is in this matter.” I warn you today, do not take smooth going as God’s guidance and be deceived. Never look at a person’s outward appearance and take things for granted or it may be a business deal, a travel proposal, a marriage proposal, a huge investment…whatever, never depend on emotions. Friend, when you meet a person in a Bible study, or if you hear a person quote Bible Scriptures, normally people are swayed by this. Do not be deceived by appearances! I am extremely astonished to see even spiritually sound people make drastic mistakes where marriage is concerned. BE CAREFUL!
I know an elderly lady who is in the ministry now but while studying at a Bible college met a youngster who proposed to her and promised to serve the Lord with her. But after marriage she found that this man was actively involved in politics. I guess she thought she was guided by the Lord, because she met him in the Bible College. Their marriage began to suffer and now they live separately and today not only she but her son is also suffering because of this. Sometimes when many of our decisions are proven to be correct, we may begin to resist counsel from others. We begin to feel we are always right and need no correction and that is where even the godly people make mistakes. Beware! Proverbs 1:5 “A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel.”
We read of an incident in the book of Acts where Paul and the other prisoners sail to Rome and we see that as they started their journey the “south winds blew softly but not long after a strong wind called the Euroclydon struck them”( Acts 27:13,14) What looks like a gentle wind will soon turn into a fierce Euroclydon! Beware! Paul did advise them that there would be danger but the people did not listen to him as they felt everything looked comfortable for the journey. We can be misguided by our wisdom and deceived by our pride and be led astray. Anybody listening?
Friend, you can be a godly person and still be deceived, if you are not going to WAIT FOR GOD. Learn to wait patiently for God even if it pains! Wait for sure guidance through the WORD OF GOD or other means of the Holy Spirit.
“To be guided by Christ will often lead to a cross. But it is the sure way to blessing. Never make providential (fortunate) circumstances your primary source of guidance! Always seek additional confirmations from God to make sure if you are taking the right direction. The Holy Spirit will use scripture, His inner voice in your heart, the mind of Christ that He is giving you, the remarks and advice of godly people and other means to confirm to you. God is always ready to take additional reasonable steps to make His guidance certain if you are seeking His will and still are confused.” By Wesley L Duewell.
