Deceit
This is a word that carries with it all sorts of untruth and misguided lies. Deceit involves misrepresenting the truth. There are times when I’ve heard preachers say, “This is what the Lord says”, and He really didn’t say it. There are people who use the Truth of God to support their own opinions and agenda. It is my conviction that it should be the other way around. The Word of God should be the foundation and the source of all my opinions and agenda. Ezekiel had a word for the false prophets in his day. Check this out….
6 Your prophets see false visions and prophesy lies. They say, “This is the message of the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them. But they still hope their words will come true. 7 You said, “This is the message of the Lord,” but that is a false vision. Your prophecies are lies, because I have not spoken.
8 “‘So this is what the Lord God says: Because you prophets spoke things that are false and saw visions that do not come true, I am against you, says the Lord God. 9 I will punish the prophets who see false visions and prophesy lies. They will have no place among my people. Their names will not be written on the list of the people of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord God. (Ezekiel 13:6-9 NCV)I want to seek the heart of God with all that I am. I don’t want to ever say something that is fluffed up with my opinion or world views – I want to see the truth of God and make who I am dependent upon His Truth. I want to the Truth of God to permeate all I do and all I say. I want the Truth of God to push all the deceit and hypocrisy out of my life. I still have some “heart cleaning” to do, because I’ve allowed the false teaching of the world to settle into my heart. As I study the Truth of God, I can spot “false teachers” a mile away. The Spirit of God reveals them.
Pressing On! Dwayne