Truth or Deception?
While Jesus was being interrogated by Pilate on the night of his betrayal, Pilate asked him…”what is truth?” That’s a good question. The Free Dictionary defines truth as “Conformity to fact or actuality, conformity to an original standard, a proven or verified principle.”
There are many things that we may believe to be truth. But what we sometimes don’t understand is just because we believe it does not necessarily make it the truth.
We may believe something because our parents said it was true, because we have always believed it was true, because it is how we feel, or because someone taught us it was true. We may believe it simply because we’ve always believed it. None of these reasons make what we believe true.
So, what is truth then you may ask…? Jesus was praying for us in John 17. In verse 17 he says, “Sanctify them by the truth; YOUR WORD IS TRUTH. Truth is what God says that it is period.
As believers we are to run everything we believe through that filter. We must take what we believe and find out what his Word has to say about that topic. Some topics the Bible may not address directly but it does indirectly in many cases.
Proverbs is full of the wisdom of Solomon. Many verses talk of the benefits of using wisdom in differing life situations. When we cannot find a direct Bible verse for our particular situation, it is often safe to give it the wisdom test. It may not be forbidden but is it wise to do? What I wish to say may be right but is it wise to say it now or to whom I want to say it? #HelpMeJesus
There are many warnings in Scripture about deception. Matthew 24:4, And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.” Colossians 2:8, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” We are taken captive through the traditions of men and elementary principles of the world which will deceive us if we do not know the Scriptures.
We must strive to keep what is going into our hearts pure. It is so easy to believe what the Media is saying, what Hollywood would tout as truth or what our friends say. Worse than all of that is the fact that we can even deceive ourselves…”But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22. Sitting in church on Sundays or listening to a pod cast and then not taking the truth in that message and applying it to our lives will cause us to be self-deceived.
Rick Joyner said this, “The ability to recognize the truth is the result of loving the truth with an unrelenting devotion to seek it until we have found it. God promised that if we seek it we will find it. Therefore, if we are deceived it is evidence that we did not care enough to seek it.
We must exert effort and use diligence to make sure we know the truth. Jesus told us when we KNOW the truth, that truth would set us free. The opposite is also true…when we do not know His truth we are not free, we are bound by deception and the enemy gains a foothold in our hearts to further deceive us. It’s as simple as a decision; a decision to learn His word, to study to show ourselves approved. Let this be the day we all make that decision to know and apply the truth….
Father it is our desire today to know truth. Help us examine every belief we hold against the facts in your Word. Give us the courage to tear down any lie we believe and to rebuild our lives on the truth. Show us areas of our thinking that may be affected by false beliefs. Unearth hidden lies we may be believing and lead us to YOU our ultimate truth. Help us to be free of any deception in our hearts, we trust you to lead us to freedom as we seek truth in Jesus name….