I was totally clueless until…..

Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 

Mark 13:5

 

The disciples asked Jesus about the end times and it’s

interesting to me what He said to them.

There is no doubt in my mind that we are living in the end

times. This week in our weekly bible study as a church,

Mark 13 was the main focus. There are a few things that stood

out in that lesson that I would like to share with you.

 

In talking about the end times, Jesus warns us against being

deceived. In the end times the enemy will try and deceive as

many people as he can. Are you deceived?

Before you answer the question I want to ask you another question,

How does one know he or she is deceived???

 

Jesus made it very clear that in the end times the enemy would

try his very best to deceive us. We are in the end times so the

enemy is at work trying to deceive us.

Just last week God uncovered deception in my heart. The thing

about deception is this, it’s subtle. It creeps in like a thief in the

night without a trace. That is what happened to me.

I was deceived about the way I thought about life. I had a way

of looking at life that was wrong but I didn’t even know it!

Who knows how long I was deceived. All I know is that it was

years!!!!

Yep, that long and I didn’t even know I was deceived. Anyway last

week on my off day as I was spending time with God reading

His word, the light came on! It was like scales fell off my eyes

and for the first time I saw clearly. I saw right through the lies

and deception. I couldn’t believe I never saw it.

 

Jesus knew how real the danger was. How many times in that

passage does He warn us to watch and be alert??!!!!

 

“For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform

signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

Mark 13: 22, 23

 

How do you guard yourself against being deceived?

Be in the spirit, be in the word constantly, pray

as much as you can! I wasn’t doing these things that much.

Yes I would pray but not enough.

I would read my word but not enough

 

The word of God will expose deception in our lives.

 

Watch what you listen to and what you see. Left unchecked

you will be deceived.  Let me give you an example:

Things in my country are critical at the moment. People are losing

their jobs, corruption is at an all time high. Things don’t look

good.

The enemy is deceiving people by making them believe the

situation is hopeless. Christians are not tithing because things

are difficult but they have been deceived. God is the One who

provides for us and makes a way and that is why we can tithe

in the most trying of times. He is the God who makes a way in

the wilderness! But see how easy deception comes.

We need to watch and be alert! We can all be deceived. No one

is exempt.

I encourage you to look at your life and ask the Holy Spirit to

reveal any deception that is in your life. Remember what I said

in the beginning. It is hard to detect deception.

Anything that does not line up with the word of God is deception!

As I end I will leave you with this;

 

What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ 

Mark 13:37

 

photo credit: google images

 

Rolain

They truly missed it……….

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium (judgement hall, governor’s palace). And it was early. They themselves did not enter the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled (become ceremonially unclean), but might be fit to eat the Passover [supper].
John 18: 28

I was reading this verse when it occurred to me how far off the mark the pharisees were. They did not enter the Praetorium because they didn’t want to defile themselves!! If they defiled themselves they would not be able to partake of the Passover meal. Are you serious???!!!!  Didn’t they know the Passover was a shadow of Christ? They had the Messiah with them, the sacrificial Passover lamb but they didn’t realize it!!!!

That got me thinking about the Pharisees. How did they get so blind? We can learn a lot from them for sure. The one thing that came to mind was law and tradition. To the pharisees everything was about law and tradition. You had to do this and do that. Wash your hands in this way, pray this way, you have to, you have to……
And because of that attitude their hearts became hardened. Grace was not part of their vocabulary.
We need to be careful. Are we living by law or by grace?

Now a great crowd of the Jews heard that He was in Bethany, and they came there, not only because of Jesus but that they also might see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also,  John 12:9, 10

The Pharisees were out of control and they were supposed to be spiritual leaders!!!
Another attitude that contributed to their crazy behavior was the fact that they thought works was enough! They relied on their own strength to get them to heaven. They thought by doing, they could obtain salvation. They prayed, tithed, went to church, memorized scripture, fasted, all because they thought it would impress God…..How wrong they were. Our works in the sight of God, are like filthy rags! Works are not enough.

Something else to notice about is this, to the pharisees everything was about what you could see. They focused all their attention on the external instead of what was on the inside. They measured themselves and other people on outward appearances!!! They ignored the heart. They never searched their own hearts. They never realized their hearts and become hardened. What a shame.

All these things blinded them. They blinded them and hardened their hearts. Let us be careful how we walk. Ask God for wisdom. Let us not be like the Pharisees who missed God. We can easily be misguided just like the them. Let us be aware of the enemies devices…….

Rolain