Tag: deceived

59. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside

Deuteronomy 29:18  Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 11:9    Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

Romans 1:21    For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Jeremiah 7:24     But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

Psalms 10:11    He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.

Deuteronomy 11:16-17     Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside

With all these warnings it is good to have reasons to stay in His word every day.

It helps to know and do God’s will

It leads you away from sin

It will guard you against false teaching

Gives you time alone with Jesus

It will convict you or sin

You will see how great of love was demonstrated and given for your salvation

You will find encouragement

You will find reason to praise Jesus

Your faith will grow

You will find rest and peace for today and hope for tomorrow

You will be building a defense against Satan’s attacks

His word must be active in our lives or something else will surely fill that void.

Fallow Ground

Hosea 10:12  Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors,

Galatians 6:7-8     Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Psalms 33:16    The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

Psalms 52:7     “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

Psalms 62:10     if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

Ecclesiastes 9:11    Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.

Charles Finney had some very good thoughts fallow ground

The expression, “Break up your fallow ground” – break off all your evil habits; clear your hearts of weeds, in order that they may be prepared for the seed of righteousness. Land was allowed to lie fallow that it might become more fruitful; but when in this condition, it soon became overgrown with thorns and weeds. The cultivator of the soil was careful, to clear the field of weeds, before sowing seed in it. So says the prophet, “Break off your evil ways, repent of your sins, cease to do evil, and then the good seed of the word will have room to grow and bear fruit.”

Hosea addresses them as a nation of backsliders, but uses words that farmers and shepherds are familiar with. He rebukes them for their idolatry and sharply warns them of the impending judgments of God.

Fallow ground is ground which has once been tilled, but has gotten hard and now lies waste. It needs to be broken up and made soft again, before it is ready to receive seed. If you mean to break up the fallow ground of your heart, you must begin by looking at your heart – examine carefully the state of your mind and see where you are. Many people never even seem to think about doing this. They pay no attention to their own hearts, and never know whether they are doing well in their walk with the Lord or not – whether they are bearing fruit or are totally barren. Now you must draw off your attention from all other things and look into Self-examination now!

Self-examination consists of looking at your life, considering your motives and actions

Sins of omission (things you didn’t do that you should have).

Unthankfulness.  where you have received great blessings and favors from God for which you have never given thanks.  Lack of Love for God. Think how grieved and alarmed you’d be, if you suddenly realized a great lack of affection for you in your wife, husband, or children – if you saw that someone else had captured their hearts, thoughts, and time.  Neglect of the Bible. God’s Word was not a pleasure to you. Unbelief.  Not believing God’s promises – in essence calling Him a liar Lack of Prayer. Neglect of Fellowship. When you have allowed yourself to make small and foolish excuses.  Lack of Watchfulness Over Your Witness. Neglect of Family Duties.  Neglect to Watch Over Your Brethren.  Neglect to Watch Over Your Brethren.

Sins of commission (Things you choose to do without regard to God’s word)

Love of Love of Things and Possessions.   Vanity.  Envy.  Bitterness.  Gossip.  Lying.  Cheating.  Robbing God. (time, money, heart, mind, soul)  Hypocrisy.  Anger.

Without searching our heart, mind, and soul with earnest desire to honor and glorify God, there will be weeds and thorns.  Our fallow heart must be made soft again to be planted afresh and reap fruit that honors and glorifies God.

Let me hear in the morning

“True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.”

“I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth,”

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,”

Psalms 86:11  Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.

Psalms 5:8     Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

Psalms 25:4     Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.

Psalms 25:12     Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

Psalms 27:11     Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path

Psalms 119:33    Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.

Psalms 119:73    Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

Psalms 143:8    Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.  Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have fled to you for refuge.  Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

Job 34:32     teach me what I do not see; if I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?

John 6:45-46     It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—

Psalms 119:30     I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me.

Jeremiah 32:38     And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.  I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them.

Matthew 6:23     “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

2 Corinthians 11:3    But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Colossians 3:17     And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The call to us is to have a heart, mind, and soul that desire God and to serve Him in a way that honors and glorifies Him.  Notice the heart of the men in scripture who comment on their want to be led by God.  Teach me, show me, lead me, guide me, deliver me, show me, and instruct me.  How are they different than the way we are looking at God.  It appears they had a deeper desire and longing to honor and glorify Him.  Our lives seem to be so much easier than theirs.  Technology allows us many benefits that were not part of their daily lives.  The ease in our life made by travel, communication, medicine, heating, cooling, freezing, computers, clothing……. should make us more thankful and grateful for God allowing industrialization and technology to flourish.  We seem to think this is all done with the hands and mind of man.  All of this seems to have moved us further and further away from God to the point He is a second thought in times of trouble rather than the first thought.  There is so much in our culture that says “you don’t need God” but the fact remains we do.  What does it mean to have a  heart, mind, and soul desiring Him?  Read these scriptures again and see where others before us have put God in their lives.  The importance of this should not go unnoticed.  Seek Him, Desire Him, Honor Him, Worship Him, Listen to Him, Follow Him, and Obey Him.

Placed into their heart

John 13:2  During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

Acts 5:3     But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

Ephesians 2:3     among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Luke 22:31     “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat

James 1:13    Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.  But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.  Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Ezra 7:27    Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem,

Nehemiah 2:12     Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 8:16     But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus

Revelation 17:17    for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

Romans 1:19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  Note the examples above. Satan temps and places intents in the heart of man.  Yet it also says that man lured away and enticed by his own desires.  Man acts on these temptations, desires, enticements and gives way to them in their life.  What is our hope against such things happening.  The word of God.  His word will bring light to the darkness associated with sin.  It will give knowledge and wisdom to understand things of this world that are contrary to God and as well things of God that are good for the heart, mind, and soul.  Our own sinful nature and it’s desires can not be left on their own for our nature is contrary to God and His ways.  Our help comes from God and through His word of hope, guidance, love, mercy, courage, promises, light, redemption, refuge, peace….  Staying in God’s word is the beginning of the battle for our soul.

For, Against, Abstain

“Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

John 7:40  When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”  Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”  So there was a division among the people over him.  Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.  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 to them,  “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.”

Matthew 10:35   For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

Luke 12:51     Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

Acts 14:4    But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.

Acts 23:7     And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.  Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?”

1 Corinthians 1:22     For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,  but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

Acts 6:7    And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Scripture is clear on the fact that there are going to be people who see, hear and believe.  There are also those who are on the fence and those who are hard set and will not believe.  Division will come because of this.  Once our heart, mind and soul has been awakened to the truth a choice will be made.  The problem is that many do not see the magnitude of the choice they are making.  This choice has eternal consequences.  Forever with Christ or forever separated and tormented day and night. Just because a person can say it will not happen and that it is all fantasy does not make this a fact of truth.  Many educated and worldly wise people have taken hard stances and declared the thought there being a God, creation, and need of salvation, FOOLISHNESS and being SIMPLE MINDED.  Others take a path of complacent neglect and commit to what seems to be a place in the middle but unfortunately the results are the same.  They may not speak out against God but they do not acknowledge Him or their sin and in need of Christ. Their choice is still not to believe.  In meetings there are those who can vote for, against, or abstain. However with this decision here is no middle ground. Abstaining from making the choice to believe, humbly serve, honor, follow and obey is to deny God and the need for your sins to be forgiven.  The result of choosing to abstain is forever separated and tormented day and night forever.  Those who choose to believe and see the need for redemption come to Christ with broken hearts and wanting forgiveness of sin.  Their heart and mind have been opened by God and they are drawn by Him to this place of decision.  They rely on, trust in and cling to Him for they know there is absolutely no other way to be right before God but by through the redeeming work of Christ.  They can walk in His light, His purpose and know their eternal destiny.  Acknowledge your sin, seek and trust in forgiveness through Christ, and humbly serve Him.  Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and save the lost.  John 3:16   “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.   For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

My Father’s house

Zechariah 14:21  And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the LORD of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the LORD of hosts on that day.

Matthew 21:12   And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.  He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

John 2:15     And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.  And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

Isaiah 4:3    And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,

Isaiah 35:8    And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.

Ezekiel 44:9    “Thus says the Lord GOD: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary.

Joel 3:17    “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. And Jerusalem shall be holy, and strangers shall never again pass through it.

1 Corinthians 6:9    Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Ephesians 2:19    So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

1 Peter 4:17    For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

We know from scripture why the temple was built, what it’s purpose was, and how people were to revere God. Over time man turned what was intended to be Holy into something it was not intended for.  Outward appearances of obeying through performance of acts deemed to be in line with God’s expectations.  We see it became a house of trade where people were making money selling animals for sacrifice.  Christ walked into the temple and drove out these merchants and buyers.  Their heart was not inline with obedience to God but rather to a system of false seeking of God for forgiveness.  The old form of temple worship is gone and God replaced it with Jesus Christ the corner stone.  “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,  in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”  True worship begins with the heart, mind and soul in absolute reverence to God.  We must be mindful of “drifting away” as those in history have done.  Man seems to keep lowering expectations of what it means to serve God.  There are many things in life, just as there was in the past, that water down and dilute what it means to serve God which always results in drifting away from God, but still thinking you are alright.   Humbly serving, honoring, following, obeying God should always be growing.  Anything less is drifting away – Having a form of Godliness but lacking the heart, mind, and soul commitment.  We all do well to ask God to search our heart and lead us down paths that honor Him.