Jump Start # 1564

Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”

  Yesterday, we introduced the idea of deception. The word involves distorting the facts and telling lies. Multiple times the Bible states “do not be deceived.” Our verse says this. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul states, “Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts good morals.” Don’t believe the lies you are being told. In Acts 13, Paul encountered a Jewish false prophet who was a magician. This wasn’t the slight of hand kind of magician. He fooled audiences and used potions and drugs to deceive his audience. This wasn’t entertainment, it was a form of false teaching. Paul described Elymas as “full of all deceit and fraud.” He was “making crooked the straight ways of the Lord.”

Sometimes, innocently, and even hopefully, we can fall into the trap of believing lies and promoting lies. We mean well when we say these things, but it’s what we actually say that can be without basis and harmful in the end.

For instance:

• A young couple at church is having marriage troubles. He’s wanting out. She’s upset and scared. To reassure her, you say, “I just know that you guys will work this out.” Really. You KNOW that. You want that. You hope for that. You may even pray for that. What happens when he walks out and files for divorce. How do you face your own words, “I just know this will work out.” It didn’t. You really didn’t know.

• The same false assurance is given to someone who has a serious health issue. “I just know you’ll pull through this.” “I just know you’ll beat this.” Again, we want that. We pray for that. We are hoping for that. But do you really KNOW that. Have you looked at the medical charts? Have you been to the treatments? Has God revealed something to you that He has not to anyone else? What happens if the person doesn’t make it?

• A young man quits attending church. He’s hanging out with the wrong people. His choices are taking him the wrong way. In hope, we tell the parents, “He knows what is right. He’ll come back to the Lord.” We want this. We pray for this. But what happens when he never does.

These hopeful deceptions are often used on self. We tell ourselves, “It’ll work out.” “Everything will be fine.” Sometimes we say that, believing somewhere, somehow something magically will be done. We stay on the sidelines and do not get involved because “it’ll work itself out.” Addictions never do. Sin never does. There are ways out, but they involve God’s plans. Repentance. Faith. Walking in the light. Leaving old ways and old friends that pull us from God. Those are specific choices based upon faith. Those things do not just happen. Things do not just work themselves out. We can be guilty of deceiving ourselves. We don’t want to admit that we might have a marriage problem. No, instead of coming to that conclusion, we convince ourselves, “It will just work itself out.” “We just need a vacation.” Guess what? Problems at home, become problems on the road. A trip doesn’t solve marriage problems.

Deceiving ourselves is a nice way of denying what we do not want to admit. We wear masks and believe everything is fine, when there is trouble in River City. A child doesn’t believe. A daughter is pregnant. A son is on drugs. Mounting bills has led you to think of dishonest ways of getting money. A flirting co-worker has made you consider lustful adventures. Rather than deal with these temptations and sins, we hide behind the lies of “everything is ok, it’ll work itself out.” But it never does. On it’s own, our heart deceives us. On it’s own we take the wrong path. On our own, we fail to see consequences and dangers that lie ahead. On our own, we are lost. We need God. “I need Thee every hour,” is much more than a wonderful hymn, it’s the way it really is. We do need God. We need His guidance and His grace. We need His mercy and His words. We need His warnings and His commands. We need to obey Him. We need to trust Him. We need to know that what He says works.

Oh, the lies that we can tell ourselves. Those that deceive themselves are actually in a worse state than those who admit the big mess that they have made. This is true in life and it is true spiritually. The guy who has been eating chips and drinking pop nonstop since he was a teenager, one day will admit that he’s overweight and out of breath. His admission to the problem will lead him to better health choices. The guy who admits that he is broke and hasn’t saved anything for retirement will make adjustments. He knows what has happened. It’s the other guy, the one who has lied to himself all these years that will continue on the same self destructive path. He continues bad health habits admitting, “It’ll be alright.” He continues to fall financially, admitting, ,”It’ll work itself out.” He is the same one who is dying spiritually, not growing, not connecting, that will say, “I’ll be ok.” No, he won’t. He’s been lying to himself and now he believes those lies.

That poor prodigal stopped lying to himself. Looking at the pigs, broke, he didn’t say, “Things will get better. I just know they will.” He didn’t believe, “It’ll work itself out.” Hungry, hopeless, friendless, he came to his senses. The lies stopped. I’m heading home. I’m confessing and apologizing. I’m going to do something about this. It is that disposition that will change things. It is that will that leads a person to the doctor, the financial adviser or fall to his knees and pray to God.

The Eagles sang a song, “Lyin’ Eyes.” Many of us have been lying to ourselves. It’s time we got up, like that prodigal did, and got help. It’s time we saw things as they are. It’s time for us to do something and stop believing, “It will just work out.”

Save yourselves from the perverse generation is what Peter preached. Work out your own salvation is what Paul told the Philippians. Own your faith and take charge of things. You can be as closes to God as you want. You can be as strong as you want spiritually. Your choices. They won’t just happen.

Let’s keep ‘lyin’ eyes’ in a song, and not the image that looks back to us in the mirror.

Roger

Jump Start # 1563

Galatians 6:3 “For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

The word ‘deceive’ or ‘deception,’ is not a nice word. It carries the idea of being tricked or fooled, or worse, simply lied to. Often, by the time the lie is discovered, it’s too late. This happens in selling things. This is why in real estate full disclosure is one of the many documents a home seller must sign. This is why agencies such as CarFax reports will disclose the repair history of a car. Far too many were lied to and then discovered too late the truth about things. They were deceived.

In our Bibles we remember that Eve was deceived by Satan. He lied to her. Wolves in sheep clothing is a form of deception. The truth and reality is being hidden under the disguise of looking like one of the sheep. The wolf wants others to believe that he is just like everyone else, but he is not. He has a hidden agenda. He is out to destroy the sheep. Error hides behind lies to deceive the innocent.

The worst deception comes from our own hearts. We can fool ourselves. We can lie to ourselves to such a degree that we actually believe our own lies. Our verse today ends with the expression, “he deceives himself.” This is not the only time this is used. James states, “If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.” In that passage, a man has convinced himself and fooled himself  by outward actions, such as going to church, that he is doing right. However, he has never changed on the inside. His tongue trips him all the time. He says things that he ought not to say. He has fooled himself. He has lied to himself. He has deceived his own heart.

Having said that, how do we keep from falling into that trap? How can we be sure that we have not deceived ourselves? How do we know that we are not lying to ourselves about ourselves? That’s a great question to ask. The fact that one would ask that is helping him find the truth.

Most of us realize that just sitting in a church house on Sunday morning isn’t the sure sign that we are ok with the Lord. Worshipping and sitting in the church house are not the same things. A person can “deceive” himself by “going to church,” but while he is there, he plays on his phone, he sleeps, he daydreams, he leaves unchanged, uncommitted and no different than he came. His heart wasn’t thankful nor did he offer praise to God. He tells himself that “he went the church,” but it didn’t do him any good.

One of the tell-tell signs is what is my faith doing for me during the week. We are to walk by faith and not by sight. Are we even using our faith during the week? Do I think spiritual thoughts during the week? Do I catch myself drifting and pull myself back in line with God? Do I pray? Do I think about the Lord? Do I try? Do I work on helping others? Am I engaged in things spiritual? Do I have spiritual conversations? As James tells us, do I allow my tongue to go uncensored? Am I saying things that I shouldn’t? Am I gossiping? Am I telling sordid stories? Am I lying? Our tongues can be a window to our hearts.

Deceiving yourself can be a scary situation. It happens in other areas as well. Medically, we don’t feel very well. We deny anything is wrong. We make excuses. We fight going to the doctor and then something bad happens. There were signs, we just ignored them. Similar things can happen in the home. A marriage starts to drift. We ignore the signs. We find excuses such as the demands of work, to hide the fact that the love is dying. Tensions mount until the discussion turns to separating. The signs were there, they were ignored. The same happens with parents and teenagers. The kid starts getting in trouble. The parents won’t believe the signs. They deceive themselves into believing that he’s a good kid until he is suspended from school or is arrested. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen a mother interviewed on TV after her son was arrested for killing someone and the tearful mom declares, “He’s a good boy.” No, he’s not. Good boys don’t kill other people. She deceived herself. She believed a lie. She ignored the signs right before her.

So for us, it is a matter of being honest. Looking at what you are doing. Listening to what you are saying. Sometimes, those very close to you, especially your family, will help you. They can be brutally honest. What are they seeing? What do they say? Are you putting on a good show for others? Are you a master at putting on masks that hides the real you?

Those who are deceived are usually shocked when they find out the truth. The guy who bought a car and was told that it was never in a wreck, but finds out later that it was, he’s mad. He’s upset. He’s been tricked.  In Matthew 7, Jesus uses the story of those who declared, “Lord, Lord,” and Jesus responded, “I never knew you.” They fooled themselves. They were busy doing things for the Lord, but not according to God’s will. They were lawless. They were lawbreakers. And to their surprise, they thought the Lord would swing the doors of Heaven wide open for them. Instead, He demanded that they depart from Him. They had deceived themselves. They believed their own lie.

Self evaluation. Examining yourself. Being honest. That’s the key. Are you growing spiritually? Are you engaged and doing more than in the past? Are you interested spiritually? Do you have a liking for the Lord? I’ve heard of brethren who embezzled from the church. I’ve heard of some brethren who stood before the congregation on a Sunday and were arrested the next week. I even heard of a preacher who during the evenings was  preaching but in the daytime, he was in a motel with a women he wasn’t married to. Shameful. Sinful. Hurtful. Wrong. How could they do this? They deceived themselves. They lied to themselves. They were not honest with their own hearts.

The publican who prayed in the temple, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” was honest. He didn’t toot his own horn like the Pharisees praying near him. He was honest. Could that be one reason why Jesus wants us to go into the closet and shut the door and pray in secret. No one there to brag about. Pure honesty.

That closet can be a real closet. It can be in the car as you are driving home from work. It can be at the kitchen table as you sip your coffee in the morning. Being truthful. Being honest. Being real. It is much better to reveal that you are not getting it, than to believe a lie. It is better to admit that you need help than to believe a lie. It is better to ask God to forgive you than to believe a lie. It’s better to admit that you are discouraged than to continue wearing masks that hide the truth.

Deceiving our self is powerful and happens all the time. Have you believed your own lie? Maybe it’s time for you and God to pull back the covers and you be honest with Him. Better to do that now than for God to do it at the judgment. You will not be telling Him anything He doesn’t already know. What you will be doing is helping yourself. Stop the lies. Be honest with yourself.

You will be glad that you did.

Roger