Tag: deception

Spiritual Confusion – March 1, 2023

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What I would say to every one of us is this: We need to be sure that whoever we listen to and learn from for our spiritual growth, centers always and primarily on the Person and work of Jesus Christ. The presentation of the reality of Jesus Christ must not be peripheral, it must not be simply mentioned in the mix of an otherwise “self-help message,” it must not be a side note; rather, the presentation of the Person and work of Jesus Christ must be altogether the central focus.

He is, in fact, the thread of all of Scripture – from Genesis to Revelation. All other issues – psychological, mental, spiritual, physical, financial, relational, society – ALL other issues are secondary to the issue of building trust in and relationship with Jesus Christ. The other issues resolve themselves in Christ, and in Christ alone.

We should walk away from any preacher/teacher thinking, “Jesus has been made bigger and clearer to me.” We should fall deeper and deeper in love with the Savior – not deeper in love with a philosophy or a method of helping ourselves.

Always discern the core and details of messages. Always weigh all things against the Bible. In this season of a growing antichrist spirit, we will find Jesus “once removed,” if you will, from many messages and teachings. He is “added in,” but He is not the focus.
It is impossible to identify every teacher/preacher/ministry/church that is biblically “off” to some degree. But IT IS possible to know and love the truth, in order to spot what is counterfeit with Holy Spirit-empowered discernment.

That is my word of advice, after having served the Lord all these years, after having taught and preached the Word all these decades in churches of many denominations, after having specialized in apologetics and Christian worldview training, after studying deeply and broadly biblical prophecy, and after growing every single minute in my pursuit of a better relationship with God, through Jesus Christ.

– Shelli Prindle

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. (2 John 1:7)

You examine the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is those very Scriptures that testify about Me; and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. (John 5:39-40)

Do My Eyes Deceive Me?

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“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.” – Proverbs 16:2, ESV

Dependence on God goes far deeper than trusting Him for physical sustenance. Dependence on God is continual and necessary at the level of the unseen motives of the heart. We mortals are inclined to think we are doing right when, in fact, we may be wrongly motivated. Made in the image of God, but seriously falling short of His glory (Romans 6:23), humans depend on God to weigh the spirit within.

Our eyes can be funny things. They can deceive us into thinking that a particular selection is good simply because of its “appropriate” appearance. Recall the Lord instructing Samuel when the priest was tempted to choose the strongest looking brother in David’s family, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (I Samuel 16:7, ESV). Recall Eve in the Garden of Eden on the brink of rebelling against God, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, . . . she took of its fruit and ate, . . .” (Genesis 3:6, ESV). In both historical accounts, a person’s eyes saw something that the heart interpreted as good. However, what was seen needed to be filtered by the Lord. Whether the man looked tall and strong or the fruit looked delightful was not the real issue. The vital component was the Lord’s view of the choices. As Proverbs 16:2 proclaims, “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.”

Recently I had to reject some options that mere eyes may view as good and prosperous. However, God made clear to me that what “looked right” was not His will. For many years, I have prayed for God to weigh the motivations of my heart. I have asked Him to never let me be led astray – even sincerely so. Though we fail Him, He will be faithful to show us the “measurement” of our spirit after He carefully weighs our motivations. At that moment, we must make a critical decision to abide by God’s assessment rather than what at first appears pure to our eyes.

Please take time today to pray this Proverb. We ought to request that God weigh our spirit and show us the truth beyond what the eyes observe at first glance. Quite purposefully, God’s admonition to check our heart before responding with our eyes is followed directly by a favorite verse of many Christians, “Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established” (Proverbs 16:3, ESV). The first step in committing any plan to the LORD is to be sure it is His plan. What our physical or emotional eyes may see notwithstanding, it is God’s will that matters. He establishes our plans when we trust Him above our own – often failing – instinct. We are not animals living solely by our inclinations, we are God’s image-bearers, living by His direction, for which we plead each step of the way.

Dear Lord, please get out the scale and weigh my spirit!

Self-Deception vs. Doing Right

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How easy it is to convince ourselves we are right. How often we try to persuade our hearts that we are the people we ought to be. If each human being were the one responsible for determining right and wrong for himself or herself, we would be in a mess most miserable.

I think of times when I have worked hard to tell myself that I was doing the right thing. What I really longed for was an excuse – a way to get out of doing the difficult work of righteousness and justice. And every single time I refuse to do right – whether justified in my own mind or not – someone somewhere gets hurt. The ripple effect of unrighteousness is occasionally obvious and at times hidden. It may be ten or twenty or one hundred people down the line from my injustice that finally feel the pain of that selfishness. One thing is for sure, when we do not live justly, pain will ensue. How do I know? I see it experientially in everyday living, and God has made it clear in His Word that His way of righteousness is how things were meant to be. Rebellion against the Creator’s way always brings heartbreak, for He is the Designer of how things ought to be.

Proverbs 21:2 makes clear that though we may convince ourselves we are right, God Almighty weighs our hearts. There is a transcendent God who sees us for who we really are. He is not swayed by our persuasive rhetoric and excessive pride. He knows what we are really about. His assessment comes from the outside – from the unbiased perspective of perfection – and He will assess rightly.

This transcendent God has said in Proverbs 21:3 that “to do righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.” Wow. The offering of sacrifice in the Old Testament was the heart of the “church” in that day. Is God implying that the action of doing right is more important than pretentious church activity? Remember the context is the deception of one’s own heart for selfish reasons. Yes, it is more important to actually do right as God has commanded than to try to feel right by performing outward “religious” actions that we think will compensate for our disobedience.

My friends, nothing will compensate for a heart that is bent to be unjust through its own self-deception except for one thing: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The problem is that we have to actually quit trying to convince ourselves we are right long enough to admit we are a mess at the core, so that we can accept Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf.

Those who know the Lord Jesus Christ will do well to actually go about doing the hard stuff of righteousness and justice. We must quit playing the religious angle to excuse our refusal to hunker down and do right.

It can be difficult to live with integrity. We must tell the truth, not allow the innocent to suffer if we can help, intervene when it is within our sphere of influence to correct injustice, protect others though it cost us our strength, work with those who have been pummeled by life though we do not see reward just yet, expose wicked plans that they may be thwarted, stand up for the ones who have not a voice to be heard, and love even when it hurts.

We must do more than think about our own hearts. We must yield them to our transcendent God for His inspection. We should allow His Holy Spirit to “weigh our hearts” to prevent self-deception and its consequent unrighteousness.

For, to actually do the formidable work of righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.

“Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts. To do righteousness and justice is desired by the LORD more than sacrifice.” – Proverbs 21:2-3