Hinderances to Healing for Faith and Others

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I would like for us to look at the topic of deception because in our day and age we find that we are almost always faced with some type of deception, whether it is natural or spiritual. First let us look at a good definition of deception.

Why does deception come? Deception comes because we have “Processed with our thinking or reasoning ability (soul or mind) certain information or experiences and we believe that we have accurately ascertained the information which we have received. From this we have make choices in our lives, but many times it is out of deception or misinformation that we have received.

There are three stages, or length of terms for deception to run it's course:

A. SHORT TERM DECEPTION: This type of deception happens to us when we are first coming into the knowledge of something and are quickly deceived by what we hear, see or experience.
B. MID TERM OR TIME DECEPTION: This is what we will call “Religious” deception. We are accustomed to doing what we are doing, or thinking the way we have been thinking because that is the way that we have always done it or heard that is was to be done. And we have not considered any other way or have allowed any other thoughts to change our behavior.
C. LONG TERM DECEPTION: We can call this “Steeped in our Traditional Thinking”. We will never be moved from this, or not very easily, and it will take “personal prophecy” “Audible Voice,” or God speaking directly to us for us to changed and moved from our current deception.

I believe that we can also do some natural things to prevent each type of deception:

1. Never make a quick decision if possible, even when men try to persuade you to make the decision “Now.” It is normally bad to make a decision hastily without prayer and council.
2. Never make a decision while you have just undergone a major emotional crisis in your life, as you will make the decision from your emotion, or soul, rather than out of your human spirit.
3. Judge yourself by the Word of God and what you believe. It will help you immensely.
4. Keep the Word of God before you and meditate on it day and night. As you do, you will find fresh revelation from the Word and Spirit of God.

Matthew 24:4-5, “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many”.

We see that Jesus told us that in the last day that we should not be deceived, but we seem to find ourselves being deceived over and over again. Especially when it comes to men and women in the Church of God that present themselves as original and turn out to be counterfeiters. We have been warned that there will be false teachers, shepherds, prophets, and others who say that they are a part of us, but their lives and the motives that they display reveal that they are wolves in sheep's clothing. Jesus said this in Matthew 24:5,11 & 24.

What we have not done is put these through the “Christ Test” to determine what fruit they are bearing. If the answer is not a positive one, then they are an imposter. I am not talking about perfection here, but rather the kind of fruit that should be seen because we, as Christians, are born again of the Holy Spirit and we should be exemplifying His character.

Matthew 7:15-20, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

Jude 1:12-13, “These are they who are hidden rocks in your love-feasts when they feast with you, shepherds that without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved forever”.,

These are men and women that will worship with us, teach us, but are without shame in their sin. They do not have any fruit in their lives resembling a deposit of the Holy Spirit. They say the right things in the day time, but live ungodly lives every other day of the week. They are the "tares" that Jesus spoke about.

1st John 3:7-8, “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil;”

Let us recognize all men by the fruit that they display, rather than the words that they say.

Gal 6:7-8, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

We have all probably fallen short in this area at one time or another because we did not see any reason to give out of our lives because we did not want to be injured emotionally or rejected in some way or forgive those that have harmed us.

Let us look at what the Lord is still saying to us today:

Luke 6:28-38, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

In other words, what we give out of our lives is going to return to us again and again. In many ways and forms, but it is surely to come back if we don’t judge ourselves and repent and begin to sow fruit from the Spirit of God.

Gal 5:16-17, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

I believe that this is where we all miss it and find ourselves being attacked because we have taken ourselves out from under the protection of the Blood of the Lamb. If you are a teacher or minister of the Word, then you are held to a more stricter judgment, but the grace of God still remains.

I believe that many times we are truly deceived and believe that we can choose not to forgive those who have wronged us, and can just keep going our own way without any problems. However when we look at the words of Jesus, in Mark 11:25-26 we read, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

This is especially true in our families and marriages. In fact, that is where the most problems occur and the enemy attempts to trip us up:

1st Peter 3:7, “Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your prayers be not hindered.”

I believe that each of us can look at our own lives in this matter and realize that there might be the possibility of being deceived. We must make a quality decision NOW, to forgive, walk in love and keep pressing toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

May you be blessed today as you continue in Him, and realize the rewards of those who are willing and obedient do eat the good of the land.

A. We can have daily fellowship with the Lord Jesus, the Father and with the Holy Spirit so they will be able to help us when we stray from the way and the truth.

1 Cor. 1:9, "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
John 15:7-8: “If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

When we abide in the fellowship of the Lord, it keeps our actions in check, and we will keep our hearts more tender than if we miss our daily time with Him. There is also a wisdom and an understanding that He reveals to us if we keep our conscience tender toward Him.

Col. 1:9 “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.”
Col. 2:3 “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
John 16:13 “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come.”

B. The Word of Christ will aid us as well:

Col. 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
John 17,“Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word if truth.”
Ps 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path.”
Ps 119: 130, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”
Prov. 3:1-4 & Prov. 4:20, “My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their whole body.”

Many times I will just be reading the Word of God and it will speak to me and give me direction in my life about situations that I have or will be facing. The Word of God is truly alive and powerful.

C. The Council of Others:

Prov. 11:14, “Where no wise guidance is, the people falleth; But in the multitude of councellors there is safety.”
Eph. 4:11-12, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
Col. 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

1. SELF-DECEIVED OR DECEPTION: This is when we deceive ourselves unknowingly by what we have heard or thought from what we have learned or heard from an outside source or our own imagination. WE BELIEVED THE LIE OR THE DECEPTION.

Naaman 2 Cor 5-11: “So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.”

Naaman was self-deceived because he thought wrong. He decided that God was going to do what he had asked a certain way, but it was not God’s way and he became very angry. We are also like Naaman and find ourselves deceived and without the blessing of God. We also see that when we want it our way, God seems to reveal to all of us the motives of our hearts and we see vanity, pride and self-centeredness in our actions and hearts. Gal 6:3 says, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” Pride is seemingly always knocking at our soul's door and if we aren’t extremely careful we may find ourselves looking down our spiritual noses. We should keep the Word before us and ask ourselves are we doing what we know?

James 1:24: “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.”

The last thing in this session, that we want to look at are those who purposely deceive, and are being deceived. I believe that they are deceiving purposely, and what they experience then is deception by the same spirit that they deceived others by.

2nd Timothy 3:14, “But evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.”

We should ask the Lord where and how we are deceived and let him show us in the Word of God today, so that we do not stumble and cause others to stumble. Jesus warned us that false prophets would arise in the last days as would false Christ’s and false prophets. They would show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead even the elect. We should test the spirits and the doctrines by the Word of God to confirm the truth (Matthew 24:11-24).

Eph. 4:14-15, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”
2 Timothy 3:13 “But evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving”
Titus 1:10-11, “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.”
Ephesians 5:6-8, “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”
2 Theselonians 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”

There are many types of deception, but we are warned in the Word or God “NOT” to be deceived, so there is a way that we should seek that we might not fall into deception.

Part 5:

SATAN, THE DECIEVER

Satan is the one who decieves the Church, the world and his own followers. Satan himself will bring thoughts into our minds to deceive us, and he will also pervert the word of God, and he will also send others with a false message to deceive us.

2nd Corinthians 4:4, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Satan has been the one from the beginning that has brought deception and has even been named the “Deceiver”. We must look carefully when something is offered to us and see what the cost is, and weigh the cost of what appears to be a free gift.

Genesis 3:5, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:13, “And the LORD God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.”
Matthew 4:3, “And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”
2nd John 1:7, “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.”
Rev. 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world.”
1 Timothy 4:1-2, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron..”

We can see from the above scriptures that Satan is out to deceive all of us. He has lied from the beginning and has not stopped from that time until now! How does he deceive us and by what means does he do it?

a. He perverts or distorts the Word of God.
b. He brings charges against God himself and calls God a liar.
c. He brings charges against the elect after tempting them and tells us we are not God’s sons.
d. He will not confess that Jesus has come in the flesh and is the Son of God.
e. He will encourage you to give up on God and backslide to where you have come from.
f. He will try to get you to lie to the Holy Spirit, to men and women of God, to yourself and even to God himself.
ACTS 5:1-3, “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost...”

With many types of deception in the world today, is it any wonder that we find ourselves deceived at times. We must be on our guard that we might not be deceived or deceiving someone else by what we say or do in ministry or business.

May the Lord bless the work of your hands and lives today as you and I walk uprightly before the Holy One of Israel and practice righteousness and refrain from any type of deception.