Trading Truth

What would you do if you realised that you live in the midst of deceit? Would it cause you stop and wonder what this deceit might be? How it has and continues to affect you? Would you even care to know? What I find interesting about deceit is that it is always a cocktail of the truth mixed cleverly with a lie or two (or three). Unlike a lie that is often times easy to spot and a call out; deceit is more subtle in its form and requires discernment to recognise, wisdom to dismantle and courage to call out.

"Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” says the Lord."

Jeremiah 9:6

In the first book of the Bible, we read the account of Eve who not only listened to deceit but accepted it and influenced her husband to accept it as well. As a result, we are all here, dwelling in the midst of deceit. In Genesis 3: 1 - 6, we read the following:

'Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. '

If you read what the serpent said to Eve you will realise that he deceived Eve by making her question what the Lord had initially said.

Has God indeed said?

This question right here is where the deception started. As I mentioned earlier, the difference between deceit and a blatant lie, is deceit is laced with truth. It causes us to question our own faith and beliefs as we start wondering, "did God really say that?" or "what harm will this do?", "God knows my heart" or even "I don't really have a choice here."

In order to beat deceit, we must go back to what the Word of God says and ask ourselves whether it aligns with what we have heard. The danger in not going back to the Word to test the ideas that we are given is that we will end up like Eve. She found herself making an unwise decision because she did not remember (or chose not to remember) what God had originally said. By doing that she found herself finding beauty in the forbidden and ultimately trusted the word of Satan over the Word of God. The danger in accepting deceit is that we not only end up getting negatively affected by it, but those around us also get impacted as a result of our poor choices.

As the year continues to progress we will have many cunning people selling us deceit that will seem good for whatever situation or difficulty we might be facing at the time. When those moments arise we must have a predetermined strategy on how we will engage.

So what do we do when faced with a situation where what we have been told sounds so good that it cannot possibly be bad? Here are some actions steps that I believe will help:

1. We are to make it a habit to spend time in God's Word so that it becomes a part of us, King David said the following, 'Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.'

   Psalms 119:11

   The end goal of deceit is to sin against the Lord in some way or the other and so prioritising knowing what the Lord has said in the Bible is key. Getting into the habit of studying the Holy Scriptures is important as it causes us to know and understand the Lord's stance and heart on various issues. When deception comes along, we are then equipped already with His Word and can respond according to how He would want us to.

   If you do not not know where to start, then I recommend that you start reading a chapter of the Gospel of John each day.

   
   

2. We are told in James 1:5 that if we lack wisdom we should ask the Lord: 'If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

   The challenges and difficulties that you will face this year will need wisdom and not just head knowledge. Develop a habit of praying daily for wisdom as you study His Word and for the day ahead. God is faithful to guide us when we sincerely desire to follow Him.

   
   

3. Finally, get in the habit of asking for advise from grounded, solid Bible believing Christians, 'Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.'

   Proverbs 11:14

   We might think we know it all or have all the answers, but there is wisdom in seeking counsel from wise individuals.

   
   

Finally, we might dwell in the midst of deceit but when we choose to lean on the Lord, He will guide us into all truth.

'However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth...'

John 16:13

FN

"In Him we live & breathe & have our being"