Deceit: October 31, 2012

TODAY’S WORD FOR WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31, 2012.

DECEIT

DEFINITION:

Misrepresentation of the truth; intentional concealment; fraud; cheating; misleading; untruthful.

SCRIPTURE:

“He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in My presence.” Psalm 101:7

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

When you carefully look at the definitions of the word deceit, as we have given above, you will see that it includes the misrepresentation of the truth and the intentional concealment of a wrong. For many people today misrepresenting the truth and concealing a wrong is a way of life and they never consider this to be a sin against God. We need to remind you, dear friend, that when you misrepresent the truth or conceal a wrong it is deceit and in God’s sight a sin. The ninth commandment of the Ten Commandments reads, “You shall not give false testimony.”

Breaking any of God’s commandments is a sin. As a result of the sinful nature in all of us, deceit runs rampant in our society. Think about what you say and do every day and what you see and hear every day that you know is not true. How does that affect your opinion of that person? Then think about yourself. Is there cheating, misleading, being untruthful and fraud in your life? And if so do you think that it affects people’s opinion of you?

If you have any doubt whether there is deceit in your life or in your family’s lives, then take just one day and watch and weigh every one of your words and actions. Then take the time to listen and watch your family, friends and neighbors. You will be surprised to see how much deceit, cheating, misleading and untruthfulness surrounds you every day. We all know when we are not being truthful so any act of deceit is done deliberately and consciously.

In addition, when you watch television, read the magazines and newspapers all that you will see and hear is an undercurrent of lies, cheating and evil things. Unfortunately, this is the world we live in. Parents lie to and mislead their children. Children lie and mislead their parents. Teachers and bosses lie and spouses lie to each other. Some might say that they do not lie but that they just stretch the truth a little. Some say it is just a little white lie. Stretching the truth is a lie in God’s sight. God does not color code our lies. A lie is a lie in God’s sight whether it is large or small.

Lying is deceitful and misleading and basically happens when one is either trying to cover up a mistake, a failure in life or just making oneself look good. Living, as we all do, in a “ME” generation people will do and say what they think is best for them with no consideration of anyone else. Thus, a lie or some deceitful comment in order to complete a task or to make one just feel better is always in order and considered proper, until one gets caught.

Unfortunately, there are those that call themselves Christians who are deceitful. They perform the same way as a non-believer because they are not in tune with God. In God’s sight this is sin and not acceptable. The Psalmist in the verse that we have written above makes it very clear as to how God feels about deceit. God is truth and deceit and truth cannot dwell together in God’s kingdom

When a person has a deceit problem they will not dwell in the house of the Lord and will not be in the presence of God. The Psalmist also tells us in Psalms 32:2 that, “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” God blesses those who are truthful and who have confessed their sins and received God’s forgiveness for their sins.

Being deceitful in God’s sight has very serious consequences. The scriptures tell us that if we are deceitful we will not dwell in HIS HOUSE! WOW! This is serious because it affects one’s whole eternity. We need to understand that deceit hurts God and it is not acceptable in His sight.

It is also written in Proverbs 12:20 that “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy.” As Christians we can have joy in our hearts if we do not practice deceit. It is impossible to live a life of joy and be deceitful. When we lie we have to live with stress because of our concern of being caught. It is important to be honest in all that we do. We will fail and when we do we need to ask God at that time to forgive us.

Our children are watching us along with our family, neighbors and those at our workplace and church. What kind of an image do you leave in their minds? Is God being honored through your truthful words and honest deeds?

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Matthew 22:37

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”



PRAYER:

Help me today to get rid of any deceit in my life. May others always see Christ through me and take away from me all thoughts and actions that may be dishonest, misleading or deceitful to others.