1 Corinthians 6:9-10, GW
Don’t you know that wicked people won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Stop deceiving yourselves! People who continue to commit sexual sins, who worship false gods, those who commit adultery, homosexuals, or thieves, those who are greedy or drunk, who use abusive language, or who rob people will not inherit God’s kingdom.
Beloved,
Despite all of the information, instruction, structure, and revelation God has put in place to make us aware and to take us further in life, many people who consider themselves children of God are still deceiving themselves. They deceive themselves in the way that they decide to justify thoughts, speech, and actions that are contrary to God’s will for their lives.
It is very sad to know that this is a major problem in the body of Christ. It poses grave danger to anyone who calls himself a believer because no matter how much you think you are getting away with by rationalizing what is nothing short of disobedience and sin, it will only be a matter of time before you are imprisoned by the very web of deception you have weaved for yourself. It is only the truth which brings freedom and liberty.
Self deceit only gets you so far. It is limited to temporal, physical pleasure and, at best, it gives you a false sense of satisfaction or fulfillment. But you must know that anything that is not the truth will always have its limits and will leave you unfruitful and unfulfilled. It robs you of a glorious destiny that is in Christ Jesus. In this series we will look at some of the ways that Christians deceive themselves.
One of the main ways a Christian can deceive himself is by hearing the word of God and nothing about it. The Bible says,
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22-25, NKJV
What keeps us from doing something about the word God has made available to us? Our flesh. If you feed the flesh more than you feed on His word, your spirit will never be strong enough to subdue your flesh and override it to do what is most expedient according to God’s will.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Galatians 5:16-18
Be intentional about hearing what the Holy Spirit is saying, as you read your Bible and as you listen and take notes when the servant of God is ministering to you. When the Spirit speaks, it’s never just for speaking sake. He speaks so that you will have what you need to know how to move.
You are deceiving yourself if you hear God’s word, acknowledge it, and tell yourself you will do something about it later. You are deceiving yourself when you decide that certain instructions about Godly, kingdom living don’t apply to you. You are deceive yourself when you continually use whatever you did that was right yesterday as an excuse to say you have done enough. Stop deceiving yourself!
If you continue that way, it is a matter of time before you can’t hear Him speaking to you again. When that happens, your life is in danger.
I commend you to God and to the word of His grace.
I call you blessed. I call you NATIONS.
