Tag: <span>deception</span>

Deception of the HeartSunset, lonely tree
Published March 22, 2017

Deception of the Heart

Sunset, lonely tree

“Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.” Deuteronomy 11:16

Our God is so amazing. Majestic. Gracious. Loving. We may think, “I would never serve another.” But tragically, it happens all the time. People who have known and loved God — sometimes for many years — turn aside and begin to worship other gods. It seems impossible. How does it happen?

The problem, Scripture warns, is that our hearts can be deceived. The Hebrew word implies being “lured” or “enticed.” It’s the word used for how Samson’s wife enticed him into revealing the secret of his power.

The world is full of bright, shining, incredibly desirable enticements. Look into your own heart. You know what tugs at it there. Those enticements seem so desirable, but they have a fatal capacity to deceive. Over time their place in our heart expands. God’s place shrinks. Imperceptibly, spiritual deception grows. Almost without knowing it, we can end up worshiping these enticements more than the real God.

The deception is thinking that it won’t matter, that God will be OK with divided loyalties, satisfied with a small corner of our life. He is not. “Worship only the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt with great strength and a powerful arm. Bow down to him alone, and offer sacrifices only to him” (2 Kings 17:36).

Even King David, a man after God’s own heart, fell victim to this deception. “Oh, guard my soul,” he  writes (Psalm 25:20). It’s a good prayer for all of us!

Lord, I am so easily enticed. I want to worship you alone. Guard my soul. Build in me a true heart for you above all other things. Amen.

By Dr. Guy Safford

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Dr. Guy Safford Thoughts by Men

Published May 19, 2009

Things are not Always as they Appear

by John Grant
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
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“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.� 
2 Corinthians11:13

Last week, the “trail boss� of our church motorcycle group organized a ride to a place called “Spook Hill,� where it appears that vehicles defy the law of gravity and roll uphill. In reality, it is an optical illusion that makes it look like an uphill roll, but the law of gravity has not yet been repealed and objects still roll downhill, no matter what ancient spirits may allegedly be lurking around.

We had a good time, but on the ride back, I couldn’t help but draw a spiritual comparison to our visit. Satan often disguises that which is bad to appear as good. The enemy often tries to portray himself as good, a friend who cares for you or as truth. 

That is not the case though, Peter said “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour�.  He lays traps and waits for you to fall.  He is after the result and may work on traps that take years to develop in your life when he can rise up and pounce on you. 

No need to fear though as God says “Greater is He who is in your than he that is in the world�.  God will take care of it if you let Him. But, we must know the source and not trust what we see or feel in a worldly sense.

We always need to be on alert and use caution.  Things are not always as they appear.  At times we can allow what we find desirable to overshadow and hide the truth we do not want to see that is in details.  If we are not careful, we will only see what we want to see.

Other times, we may find something or someone that appears to be good only to find out later that we were deceived.  We often are not aware of all the facts or know the end result.

The real question is whether we see things with worldly eyes……. eyes conditioned by the educational system, the media, the entertainment industry and others that would mould our minds to be unlike the mind of Christ or with spiritual eyes, the way God sees things.

How do I acquire spiritual eyes? I do it by constantly worshiping God throughout my daily routine, by being in the Word daily, by regularly participating in public worship and Bible fellowship with other Christians.

Mold your eyes, your mind and your perspective to be like that of Jesus and you will have the spiritual eyes to see as He sees, no matter how deceptive things may be from a non-Biblical world view. 
(a thought on life from John Grant )
 

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Thoughts by All thoughts by John Grant Thoughts by Men