Proverbs 14:2, 5, 25 ESV
“Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord,
but he who is devious in his ways despises him.
A faithful witness does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
A truthful witness saves lives,
but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.”
In America, many people profess to be Christians, to be
believers in Jesus Christ, but they don’t all know the Lord. They are not all
serving him with their lives. Many are giving lip service only to him, but
their hearts are far from him. For some of them, Christianity is just a
religion of choice, but it doesn’t mean that they are in relationship with
Jesus Christ. Many profess him with their lips but by their lifestyles they
deny him.
Deception abounds in America, too. Liars are everywhere – in
the government, in the church (or just the institutional church), in the world
of medicine, in the media, in the news, in sports, in entertainment, and in
other religious or civic institutions, etc. In fact, pastors are even being
trained to be liars, in some cases, for they are being taught how to market
their ”churches” to the world, and this involves some deceptive practices.
My husband and I were church planters twice. Both times we
had to go through training. The second round of training I remember well. We
were told that when we start out we are going to attract a lot of “needy”
people, and that we are to use them, because they will help us to get up and
running. But once we are going good, we are to discard the “needy” people
because they will drag us down. Ouch!
Proverbs 14:6-8 ESV
“A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain,
but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.
Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.”
And then my husband and I were searching for an
institutional church many years ago and so we visited this one IC. The sermons
were good, and so I complimented the pastors on their sermons. But this one
sermon I had a question about, so privately (including my husband) I inquired
of this one pastor about something he said. And, bottom line, he told me that
in his training he was warned about people like me, people with strong
convictions, that he was to encourage me to go someplace else.
But if I decided to stay and continue at “his church,” I was
to sit back and keep my mouth shut, and I was to let him be God’s voice to me,
he said. He was to be God’s voice to me, not God. Walk away from such
situations as this. No human is to be God’s voice to us. We can learn from
other humans, and they may teach us things we did not know before, but they are
not to replace God in our hearts. We are not to listen to men in place of God.
God is to be our only God, not any man on this earth.
There are so many “pastors” of “churches” these days who are
not following the Lord Jesus but they are following the teachings of man and
marketing schemes for how to build their churches and humanistic training to
let them know who they want in their “churches,” and who they are to discard.
Manipulation and trickery are used in these “churches,” too, to get the people
to do what they want them to do. And many don’t see it at all.
Proverbs 14:15-16, 22 ESV
“The simple believes everything,
but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless.
Do they not go astray who devise evil?
Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.”
So, we need to be people who exercise wisdom and discernment.
We need to be people of God who test everything we hear against the teachings
of the Scriptures to make certain that what we are hearing is the truth or not.
We need to be those who ask questions, for if we don’t, then we can be
deceived. And we need to make certain that the preaching we are listening to is
indeed the word of God taught in context and not the teachings of man.
We are not to be those who just readily accept whatever
sounds good, for whatever sounds may be a lie, not the truth. And that is one
of the dangers of “memes” on social media, some of which have religious
content. They are quick little messages or images which give off a quick impression
but they can be very deceptive and twisted, too. From some of the ones I have
read, I can tell you that some of them are intentionally deceptive. But we live
in this “fast food” generation where people want their spiritual food quick,
too.
So, be people of discernment who ask questions, and know
what the Scriptures teach in context so you are not easily deceived. Test
everything you read, see, and hear against the Scriptures (in context), for
lies abound out there. Ask the Lord to direct you to what is truth and to make
you aware of the lies that are being spoken. And then follow the truth of God’s
word even if you may feel sometimes as though you are standing alone.
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs
are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Trust
Him with your life today.
Make
Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn
from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He
will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse
your heart, made new within.
Men
betraying: Our trust fraying.
On
our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking
God to give us answers
That
are only found in Him.
God
is sovereign over all things.
Nothing
from His mind escaping.
He
has all things under His command,
And
will work all for good.
Jesus
Christ is gently calling
You
to follow Him in all ways.
Men
deceiving: We’re believing
In
our Lord, and interceding
For
our nation and its people
To
obey their God today.
He
is our hope for our future.
For
our wounds He offers suture.
He
is all we need for this life.
Trust
Him with your life today.
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