📖 Proverbs 14 : 12 ; 16 : 25
” There is a way that seems right to a man , but in the end it leads to death“.

Self Deception

We are in spiritual danger when we are unable to recognize the IMPOSTER who faces us in the mirror. We are often better at deceiving ourselves than deceiving those around us. When it comes to our own failures and flaws , we are blinded by rationalizations and excuses that are woven with strands of selfishness and pride.

📌 Scriptures tells us our hearts are incurably sick and beyond understanding to anyone but God himself.
📝 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it ? The Lord search the heart and examine the mind..” Jer 17:9-10
📝 “For from within , out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft .. greed, malice , deceit ..arrogance and folly ” Mark 7:21-22

📝 In OT we are familiar with the account of Adam and Eve : Self-Deception cropped up when they
✅ listen to the Satan’s lies : you will not die ; you will be like God ; you will know good and evil
✅ saw the fruit was pleasing to their eyes and also good for food ;
✅ disobeyed His command ( not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of God and evil )

📌 Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life will surely leads us to Self-Deception .

📌 Selfish Ambition gives birth to Self-Deception and will draw us away from God.

📌 Self-Deception challenges stewardship in many areas of our lives but it is especially common when it comes to FINANCES . Some of the common excuses for not GIVING may be summarised as follows :
☑️ The Bible is about religious and moral issues , not about money or giving
☑️ Christians are under grace , not under law ; the obligation to give dosen’t apply to me .
☑️ I don’t give to my church because I give to another ministry and vice versa
☑️ I tithe 10% of my income; that’s all God requires me to give.
☑️ We would give , but we are a young couple, and we need to save for a house/kids
☑️ Next year I’ll be promoted , I’ll give then .
☑️ I’ll make a resolution to give from the New Year …

🙏 Let’s ask God to search our hearts, reveal our motives , rationalizations and excuses , and give us a heart of true generosity.

Glory to God 🙌
✍🏽 Mark Boje
Arunachal Pradesh, India 🇮🇳

Proverbs 16:7

“When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies live at peace with him.”

When our ways are pleasing to God even our enemies will end up shaking our hands.

We please God when our ways and actions are directed to the glory of God.

When we walk according to the rule of God’s word, follow Christ, walk after the Spirit, and not after the flesh and bearing fruit in every good work, we please God.

When we obey God, He will calm our enemies and protect us from them.

According to Proverbs 21:1, God controls the hearts of all men, including our enemies.

We have many instances in the Bible, one of which is where God melted Esau’s punishing heart for Jacob’s trust in the Lord.

Roman 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us.”

Remember, the way for peace with enemies is by righteousness and obeying God’s laws.

Leading a godly life
will please both God and men!!!
Licy John, Hyderabad – 7067