Beware of to Whom You Listen
Jeremiah 9:4-5 “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. “Everyone deceives his neighbor And does not speak the truth, They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves committing iniquity (NASB).
As it was in the early days of Israel, so it is today, and it is obvious: there is a lot of deceit in the world. Not all deceit is easy to spot, which is one reason it behooves us to be attentive to what Holy Spirit says. Pay attention to that check in your spirit, God may be warning you. Not everything that sounds godly is from the Lord. There are lot of voices out there, and many of them are from the wrong spirit.
Some voices are well intentioned, while are others are nefarious. Even brothers and sisters in the Lord can get it wrong sometimes, no matter how well intentioned they may be. Of course, some pretend to be children of God, who fully intend to deceive us. Either way, we are encouraged to test the spirits to see if they are of the Lord (see 1 John 4:1-6).
As we have already witnessed in years gone by, there will be many who have “inside information,” and will give instructions as how to respond to it. Should we be sent something via email or social media, or hear by word of mouth, we might want to say to ourselves: “Not so fast!” We can ill afford to take things at face value, even when it comes from someone whom we trust. Get alone with the Lord. Pray about it. Compare it with the Word of God. Initially, it may sound factual, but we still need to take our time before acting, or disseminating the same information to others. Beware of echo-chambers!
It is important to listen to what we need to hear; not what we want to hear. Many things spin out of wishful thinking, which becomes reality to those who wind up in self-deception. In essence they believe a lie, but will express it as if is the truth. This is one reason they sound convincing. They actually believe it, so they think they’re being honest brokers of truth. It is easy judge people in this position, but we need to guard our hearts from doing just that. It is important to love and pray for them, while speaking truth to them when we have the opportunity.
People Use Deceit to Reject God
Jeremiah 9:6 “Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD (NASB).
The Lord makes a very profound statement: “Through deceit they refuse to know Me.” Some things never change. People will create reasons to reject God, which is a core tenet of atheism. Belief is a decision or choice. Individuals believe what they want to believe. They base their decision to believe or not on a number of things. One is the result of a lie (or many lies) which someone told them. If it was someone who was supposed to be trustworthy, such as a parent, relative or close friend, they will tend to become skeptical. Incidentally, this is one method the devil uses to ensnare people at the youngest age possible.
Living in a house of lies, tends to lead to a dishonest lifestyle. Unless a person breaks the cycle, his mode of living is one of deceit. That is not to say everything he says is a lie, but he will not have any qualms using one.
2 Peter 3:3-5 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water (see also Romans 1:18-32).
Repeatedly, Scripture tells us that man is rebellious, which leads us to the heart of the matter. What is the easiest method of rejecting God? Be an atheist. That way, there is no God to rebel against, which opens the door to do whatever one might imagine. No God, no consequences. The more the merrier, which means if there are others who jump on the bandwagon, it easier to enforce the deception. Hence, the numerous people who seek to evangelize others for religion of atheism. They are willingly ignorant!
1 Timothy 6:20-21 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the Image of God, should shine unto them.
