The Downward Spiral: Ep 6: Unmasking Deception: Anchoring in God's Truth

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Welcome to another episode of Faith on the Go with the Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, and today's episode is titled The Crossroads of

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Conviction and Deception.

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In this episode, we'll take a look at how deception can disguise itself as truth

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and how vital it is to be anchored in God's word to discern the difference.

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Have you ever stood at a crossroads? Have you ever stood at a crossroad,

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unsure of which path to take?

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One path looks appealing, but something deep inside whispers that it may not be correct.

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That tension, that spiritual crossroad is where conviction meets deception. Wow.

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We've all been there, right? When one path looks like the right way,

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but something deep inside of us says, you know what?

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You might not want to go that way.

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And that tension, that delay, that hesitation is what we call that spiritual crossroad.

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And that's where conviction meets deception.

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So today we'll explore how deception works to weaken our conviction and how

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we can stand firm in truth.

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The Bible warns us repeatedly about false teaching, spiritual distractions,

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and the danger of losing our focus.

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So go with me to Matthew 24, verses 4 through 5.

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Ooh, let's get ready. Jesus told them, don't let anyone mislead you.

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For many will come in my name, claiming I am the Messiah.

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They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars.

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But don't panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately.

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I went too far. It says in Matthew 24, 4 through 5, it says,

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watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name,

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claiming I am the Messiah and will deceive many.

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So we see here that deception will come at not knowing who the Messiah really is.

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Jesus himself knew that deception would be one of the greatest dangers in the last days.

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We covered in the first few episodes, probably part of the first episodes about

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the deception in the Garden of Eden.

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So let's go back where deception began. We know it began in the Garden of Eden.

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What was the serpent's tactic? it.

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We know that Eve had to know what Adam told her, right?

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So the serpent didn't use force. He used words.

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He questions God's truth, distorted it, and presented Eve with a half truth.

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Can I hear a mic drop? Can I hear a mic drop?

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Come on now. The serpent tactic was not forced, was just words.

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He questioned God's truth.

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He distorted it. He presented Eve with half-truth. What was the result?

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The result was Eve was convinced that the fruit would bring wisdom,

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but instead it brought separation from God.

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When you don't know the truth, the Bible tells us the truth will set you free.

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The truth will forget you from half-truths.

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Half-truths are what? Lies. there's a little lie in it. It's a lie.

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A little leaven leavens a whole lump.

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Deception always presents itself as an improvement or a shortcut to what God has already promised.

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Come on, there is no shortcuts in the kingdom of God.

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What shortcuts to success or happiness have you tempted, been tempted to take

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that led you away from God.

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Come on now. How many have played the lottery?

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Come on now. How many have played the lottery? You know, we don't want to tithe

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and give, but we'll give our money to the lottery.

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We're always looking for a shortcut.

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There's a shortcut. Satan always will have a shortcut for you.

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So maybe there's other shortcuts. Mine was a shortcut.

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I worked at a 7-Eleven and the lines be out the door for a lottery.

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Don't let it get over a million dollars.

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And then we're busy at that lottery machine.

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I mean, you hate to be on the lottery machine when it's up to like,

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when it's the biggest, it's the biggest amount, then it's many more people playing.

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I think that's the way they make their money. I don't know.

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But what other successes did you, what other shortcuts in your life,

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think about it, that you tried, that you were tempted to take,

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that led you away from God?

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Biblical warnings about deceptions.

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The Bible is filled with examples and warnings about deceptions.

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One is false prophets found in Jeremiah 23, 16.

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Just because I have a little time, let's go there. Jeremiah 23,

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16, because we want to read what the Bible says.

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Like I said, the devotions are for foundational, so you can get in your Bible

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and find out what God is saying to you.

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23, 16, 16, 16.

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And it reads, this is what the Lord of heaven's army says to his people.

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Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes.

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They are making up everything they say.

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They do not speak for the Lord.

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Prophets who spoke that the people want to hear rather than the truth.

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So you also have to have a keen ear for the Lord.

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You must have a keen ear for the Lord.

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And sometimes there's, there's not sometimes there are false prophets out there

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that speak only what the people want to hear rather than truth.

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Now, if you are walking with the Lord, can I just get an amen here?

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That God is not always sugarcoating things. Matter of fact, he never sugarcoats anything.

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He has a way of speaking that sounds like it's a sugarcoat. But when it goes

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down, it goes down hard, bloop.

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Remember like in Revelation when he has an irritated stomach.

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God just really doesn't mince words. When he wants you to do something,

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he means what he says. So when you have false prophets and you only want to

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hear good things, you're going to be misled. So beware of deception.

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Then we have here in Simon the Sorcerer, found in Acts 8 verses 9 to 24.

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He performed expressive acts, but was motivated by greed and self-glory and deceiving many.

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So a lot of times people perform who are gifted with God's gift and God has

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given them grace upon their lives, but they use it to profit from people.

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They want to, you know, you ever bought something, they'll say,

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well, we'll send you this. We'll pray over it. We'll send you a prayer cloth.

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I think that's good in everything.

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But sometimes it's for profit. It's for profit. And so just beware.

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Just beware of deception. Beware of deception.

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So we are living in a time where deception has become more sophisticated.

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Social media, news, and even spiritual influencers can present ideas that sound

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biblical, but are very, very false.

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And that's why I'm always encouraging you to get out your Bible,

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read your Bible, get to know God's voice for you.

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And it's so easy when someone's a false prophet, you're listening and you go,

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that don't even sound like that's in the Bible.

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You look it up, you study the scripture, and then you go like, that doesn't mean that.

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And then you go, beep, delete. You know,

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but you should have a pastor who speaks the word,

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who educates you, and then be in tune to what he is saying for his church and

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not just be, have itchy ears for everybody that's speaking the word of God,

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right? They're not teaching you something.

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If you're not learning something, everything else should be extra for your Bible

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study, you know, not where you're going out hungering for prophetic words.

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You should be able to, God speaks to you. Say, Lord, I want a prophetic word.

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Give me something for this year.

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And I didn't ask for nothing for this year, but God was able to give me a word for this year.

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And I was like, thank you. This is powerful. I appreciate it.

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But let's continue. So we're talking about warnings and deception.

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We are living in a time where deception has become more sophisticated.

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Social media, news, even spiritual influencers can present ideas that sound

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biblical, but are false.

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Remember, it sounds biblical, but are false. And the ones that are tricked are

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the ones who do not pick up their Bible.

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If you know your Bible, you go like, whoa.

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When people were speaking on, it's okay to fornicate.

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It's okay to do this and that. And you know how God is about holiness.

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So that don't even sound like God. And so to me, false prophet.

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How do we deal with modern day deception? What does it look like?

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Deception today doesn't always look evil.

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It could come like a self-help book, a motivational speech, or a social movement

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that sounds empowering but lacks spiritual truth.

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You can see that in a lot of churches that are online.

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They get you jumping up and down like, yes, yes, yes. But then at the end of

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the day, what is the spiritual truth?

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How can I put this to work in my life?

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Because jumping up and down and getting excited about a word,

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nothing wrong with that.

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But it needs some solid foundation that I can stand on on Monday, right?

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Cultural lies, phrases like live your truth may sound freeing,

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but they remove the authority of God's truth.

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When we are living our truth, where do we get the authority to have a truth?

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Our truth is based on the one and living truth, which is Jesus.

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So people say, well, that's not in my truth. Okay, that's what you want to say.

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So living your truth may sound freeing, but it removes the authority of God's truth.

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Number two is compromising the church.

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There's a growing trend of churches diluting brutal truth to attract larger audiences.

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But watering down the word leaves believers spiritually malnourished.

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And so the reason being is that we go back to the lazy Christian.

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We want to get fed only on Sunday. And think about this.

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If you only ate on Sunday, you are going to be malnourished.

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Think about that in reality. If you really only eat on Sundays and maybe only

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on Wednesdays and you're not getting all the nutrition that you need for your

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body, for your spiritual soul.

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Your spirituality on Sunday, and then you come for just a little dibby-dabby

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on whatever day you have your midweek service,

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you will be malnourished and you will be weak and you will become a victim of the satanic kingdom.

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And so that means you have to eat your word.

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Not only on a Sunday, but you got to eat it all during the week.

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I think the word of God that comes from our pastors on those Sundays or our

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midweek service should be like arm sharpening arm with arm iron sharpening iron with us. Right.

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Be like, yeah, that's good. I think I needed that.

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I needed that. That that's I didn't get that in my Bible study. It should add to us.

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It should just be encouraging to us. So are you consuming content that feeds

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your soul with truth or with disgusting lies or with lies disguised as truth?

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How would you know is when you get into a fight, you ever like watching boxing

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and you can tell the ones who've been working out and the ones who just talk smack.

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The ones that's working out, they don't have much to say because they're saying,

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you just keep talking smack because I'm not going to be in the ring long because

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I get paid for this event.

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It don't matter if it lasts an hour, two hours, three hours, or about five minutes.

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So I'd rather get my pay in about five minutes.

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So let's just get it done. So you can tell those who are spiritually weak by

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what they've been eating during the week.

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So how to guard against deception. So how do we guard our heart and mind against deception?

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Number one, you want to know the word of God.

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That's found in 2 Timothy verses 3, 16 through 17.

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I want to go there because this is a good scripture. I love it.

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16 through 17. I'm going to read it.

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And it reads, All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what

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is true and to make us realize that what is wrong in our lives.

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It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

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Verse 17, God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

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The word of God teaches us what is true and

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and makes us realize what is wrong. So the Bible is the ultimate guide for truth.

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Number two, pray for discernment. James 1, 5. I'm going to go there too.

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James 1, 5.

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And James 1, 5 says, if you need wisdom, ask our generous God and he will give it to you.

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He will not rebuke you for asking.

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So ask God for wisdom and clarity.

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Number three, stay humble. Deception thrives in pride.

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When we think we know it all, we become vulnerable.

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And number four, test every spirit. That's 1 John 4, 1.

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Dear friends, do not believe everything who claims to speak by the Spirit.

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You must test them to see if the Spirit they have comes from God.

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For there are many false prophets in the world.

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Don't accept every teaching or idea at face value.

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You test every spirit.

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Write down what they say. Is it in the word of God?

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Does that spirit of what they're saying connect with the spirit of God on the inside of you?

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And your spirit has to be full, right?

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You have to know that your spirit is full of truth and truth will check false quickly.

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You're walking a room and you felt like, dang, what's up?

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The truth will check the false quickly. I love that.

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As a, like I said, I'm a retired police officer and sometimes I'll be like,

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and I'm still in tune to the spirit that's being a police officer and also as

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a Christian, a double whammy and you walk in, you're like, something's not right here.

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I don't know what's up, but you stand in tune.

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You stand on guard. You're guarding against deception.

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And so it says, so number one, how do you guard against deception? Know the word of God.

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Why the word of God is the ultimate truth. Pray for discernment.

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Stay humble and test every spirit.

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James 8.32 reads, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

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God's truth frees you while deception enslaves you. So stay free.

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I like, I think it's in Galatians. get free, stay free.

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So once you understand what truth is, you don't ever want to be in a deception.

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Deception, Eve got deceived by words.

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And so a lot of times we love to listen to different people talk.

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And then we listen to more people talk about God than we spend time us reading

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and listening to God on our own.

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And that is a way that you can become deceived.

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You have to know the voice of God. And when you know the voice of God to yourself,

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when someone else is speaking about your God, come on now, then you can say,

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that doesn't sound like my God.

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That doesn't sound like truth. That doesn't sound like the Bible.

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That doesn't sound like the Bible.

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That doesn't sound like the Bible. Amen.

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And so we all have a personal story. So, you know, I remember following a trend

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that seemed harmless, but it began to distort my focus.

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It was a season where I was consumed by every popular message that promised

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instant breakthrough. You ever had that instant?

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You're buying all the books, self-help books on how to get your breakthrough,

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how to get your breakthrough.

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And you got songs on breakthrough, breakthrough, breakthrough, but something was off.

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I was chasing an emotional high rather than an actual spiritual growth.

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I wanted my breakthrough like

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yesterday, but I wasn't willing to spend the time getting to know God.

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Because then when you're young, you're like, I want my breakthrough.

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I want my breakthrough. Remember the breakthrough season?

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I want my breakthrough. I want my breakthrough. Get your breakthrough. Get your breakthrough.

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Read your breakthrough book. Do your breakthrough confessions.

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And then, and I wasn't really looking for a relationship with God.

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I was looking for my breakthrough.

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I mean, no, that's not a way.

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And you can get caught up to not a way to get free, get caught up in emotional highs at church.

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Remember, a lot of times you get a good sermon preached and then you're giving

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out, you're like so into this and you'll get your breakthrough and on your emotional

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high, you're sowing into it and your breakthrough never comes.

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Why? Because God didn't tell you to do that.

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So there's obedience in this too. Remember, freedom comes from your connection

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with God. You're hearing from God.

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If he tells you to sow, if you're already sowing and you're giving offerings

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and he tells you, this is what I want you to do. He's very specific.

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Then you do that. Then you got your promise breakthrough.

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But if you're doing it out of an emotional high, guess what?

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Once again, you've been deceived.

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I mean, you can raise your hand right now and say, I've been deceived.

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Right? So it wasn't until I turned to read the Bible and study how God blesses, right?

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And recognize that I have been deceived.

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Unless you recognize, a lot of times people don't say, well,

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I'm never going to be deceived until you actually go like, you know what?

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I think I got a little bit of trickery in that one, you know?

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But now I'm really like, okay, I don't want that to happen again.

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And so allow the word to ground you, the word grounded me.

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I was able to walk away from the noise, from the hype and back into God's truth.

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And so if you had a story like that, please share it with me.

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A lot of times we'll get on that emotional high. We're going to get a breakthrough.

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It's going to be a breakthrough moment. It's a breakthrough year.

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God did say It's going to be a divine surprise and a jubilee year.

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But he said you have to walk in obedience.

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You have to listen to him for his strategic plans.

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So it's still going to be obedience. And it's not going to be partial obedience.

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It has to be true obedience.

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It's going to be getting into his presence and seeking his face for what he has for you.

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And so stay grounded in the word.

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And get away from all the noise and listen to his voice.

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The Bible says that we know his voice and the stranger we will not follow.

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So pay attention to his voice. Get to know his voice.

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Don't get so preoccupied or distracted with other voices out there.

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Get to know his voice. He will not lead you astray. He is a good shepherd.

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Jesus is the good shepherd. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you

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with humble hearts, asking for your guidance in a world filled with distractions and deceit.

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Open our eyes so that we can see what is true and give us discernment to recognize deception.

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Strengthen our conviction and help us cling to your word, your word, which is truth.

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We decree that your truth is our foundation, and we will not be swayed by falsehood

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or empty promises, but we'll get to know what your voice is,

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and we'll just follow your voice only, and not falsehood or empty promises.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Thank you for joining me today on Faith on the Go with our Faith on the Go series.

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If today's episode really blessed

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you, don't forget to share with someone who may need this reminder.

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Remember, stay grounded in the truth.

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It isn't just a one-time decision. It's a daily commitment to walk with God. Listen to his voice.

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Resist the noise of deception.

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Wow. Stay grounded in truth.

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This and resist the noise of deception.

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Noise. Why I say noise? Because it comes in voices.

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You know the voice of your God and you will not be deceived.

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So join me next time as we continue this series. Until then,

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stay anchored in truth and walk confidently in God's promises. God bless you.