“Don’t Get
Carried Away”
03/02/2019
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Do
not be carried away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is good for the
heart to be established and
strengthened by grace and not by foods [rules of diet and ritualistic meals],
which bring no benefit or
spiritual growth to those who observe them. Hebrews 13:9
When you read the words from Hebrews 13:9 does
it bring to mind any Religious Practices? Do you feel you can spot the
difference between a FALSE Teaching/Teacher and one who is proclaiming the
Truth of God’s Word to you?
I have broken this Devotional into 4
parts because it is quite Scripture intensive and I believe you need to fully
understand the Word of God in order to discern between FALSE, TWISTED and
TRUTH.
When you read
the words of the Prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 7:8
you realize that those words were not only for the people of Israel at that
time but for all people throughout time. Take a moment now to read Jeremiah 7-8 (AMP), which I have included here.
Message at the Temple Gate
The
word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,
saying, “Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house and proclaim there this word and say, ‘Hear the
word of the Lord, all you of Judah
who enter by these gates to worship the Lord.’”
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel, “Change
your ways and your behavior, and I will let you live in this place. Do not
trust in the deceptive and
lying words [of the false prophets who claim that Jerusalem will be protected
by God because of the temple], saying, and ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ For if you thoroughly change your
ways and your behavior, if you thoroughly and honestly practice justice between a man and his neighbor,if
you do not oppress the transient and
the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood [by
oppression and by unjust judicial murders] in Jerusalem, nor follow after other
gods to your own ruin, then I will let you live in this place, in the land that
I gave to your fathers [to live in] forever and ever.“Behold, you are trusting in
deceptive and useless words
that bring no benefit.Will you steal, murder, commit adultery,
swear [oaths] falsely, offer sacrifices or
burn incense to Baal, and follow after other gods that you have not known, and
[then dare to] come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My
Name, and say, ‘We are protected and
set free [by this act of religious ritual]!’—only to go on with this wickedness
and these disgusting and
loathsome things? Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of
robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]?
Behold, I myself have seen it,” says the Lord. “But
go now to My place which was in Shiloh [in Ephraim], where I first set My Name,
and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. And
now, because you have done all these things,” says the Lord, “and I spoke [persistently] to you, even rising up
early and speaking, but you did not listen, and I called you but you did not
answer,therefore, I will do to this house (the temple) which
is called by My Name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and
your fathers, just as I did to Shiloh. I will cast you out of My sight, as I
have cast out all your brothers (relatives through Jacob), all the descendants
of Ephraim. “Therefore, do not pray for this people [of Judah]
or lift up a cry or entreaty for them or make intercession to Me, for I do not
hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the
streets of Jerusalem? The
children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the
dough to make cakes for the “queen of heaven”
[A goddess of fertility, probably the
Babylonian title for Ishtar. She is identified with the planet Venus. Offerings
to this goddess included cakes made in the shape of a star]; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods
that they may offend and
provoke Me to anger. Do they offend and
provoke Me to anger?” says the Lord.
“Is it not themselves [they offend], to their own shame?”Therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, My anger and My wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and
beast, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; and it will burn
and [the fire will] not be quenched.” Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings
to your sacrifices and eat the meat. For in the day that I brought them out of
the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning
burnt offerings or sacrifices. But this thing I did command them: ‘Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your
God, and you shall be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I
command you, so that it may be well with you.’ But they did not obey Me or bend
their ear [to hear Me], but followed the counsels and the stubbornness of their
[own] evil heart (mind), and [they turned and] went backward instead of
forward. Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until
this day, I have [persistently] sent you all My servants the prophets, sending
them daily, early [and late]. Yet they did not listen to Me and obey Me or bend their ear [to
hear Me], but stiffened their neck; they did more evil and behaved worse than their fathers.“You shall
speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall
[also] call to them, but they will not answer you. You shall
say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept correction and warning; truth and faithfulness have perished and
have completely vanished from their mouths. ‘Cut off your hair [your crown, O
Jerusalem] and throw it away, and take up a mournful cry on the barren heights,
For the Lord has rejected and
abandoned The generation of His wrath.’ For the children of
Judah have done evil in My sight,” says the Lord;
“they have set their disgusting and
shamefully vile things in the house which is called by My Name, to defile it. They have built the high places
of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), to burn their
sons and their daughters in the fire [to honor Molech, the fire god]—which I
did not command, nor did it come into My heart (mind). “Therefore,
behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the
Valley of the Slaughter, for [in bloody warfare] they will bury [the dead] in
Topheth until there is no more room. And the dead bodies of
this people will be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the
earth and no one will frighten them away. Then I will cause the voices of joy
and gladness, and the voices of the bridegroom and the bride to vanish from the
cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem; for the land will become a
ruin—a wasteland.
The Sin and Treachery
of Judah
“At
that time,” says the Lord, “They [the Babylonian army] will
bring out from their graves the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its
princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of
the inhabitants of Jerusalem [The graves were
opened to get any treasure they might contain, but the bones were scattered in
order to humiliate and intimidate the Jews]. They will [carelessly scatter and]
spread them out before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which
the dead have loved and which they have served, and which they have walked
after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped [The man-made gods
of the stars and the moon and the sun were of no help to their worshipers].
They will not be gathered or be buried; they will be like dung on the face of
the earth. And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant of
those who remain of this evil family (nation), who remain in all the places to
which I have driven them,” says the Lord
of hosts. “Moreover [Jeremiah], you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Do men fall and not rise up
again? Does one turn away [from God] and not repent and return [to Him]? “Why then have this people
of Jerusalem turned away with a perpetual turning away [from Me]? They hold tightly to deceit
(idolatry) [Idolatry is deceitful because in their
idolatry men and women worship that which is false and worthless. It deludes
the worshipers and causes them to believe a lie]; they refuse to repent and return [to God]. “I have listened
and heard, but they have spoken what is not right; No man repented of his
wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’Everyone turns to his [individual]
course, as the horse rushes like a torrent into battle. “Even the stork
in the sky knows her seasons [of migration], and the turtledove, the swallow
and the crane observe the time of their return. But My people do not know the
law of the Lord. “How can you say,
‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord
is with us [and we are learned in its language and teachings]’? Behold, [the
truth is that] the lying pen of the scribes has made the law into a lie [a mere
code of ceremonial observances].“The wise men are shamed, they
are dismayed and caught. Behold, they have [manipulated and] rejected the
[truth in the] word of the Lord,
And what kind of wisdom and
insight do they have? Therefore I will give their wives to others and their
fields to new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest everyone is greedy
for [unjust] gain; From the prophet even to the priest everyone practices
deceit and deals in corruption.
“For they have treated the brokenness of the daughter of My people
superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ When there is no peace. “Were they ashamed
because of the extremely disgusting and
shamefully vile things they had done? They were not at all ashamed, And they
did not know how to blush. Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall; At
the time of their punishment they shall be overthrown,” Says the Lord. “I will gather and snatch them away [utterly
consuming them],” says the Lord. “There will be no grapes on the vine, Nor
figs on the fig tree, And even the leaf will wither; And the things that I have
given them will pass away [by the hand of those whom I have appointed].” Why
are we sitting still [the people wonder]? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter
the fortified cities And let us die there, For the Lord our God has decreed our ruin and given us bitter and poisonous water to drink, Because
we have sinned against the Lord.
We waited for peace and
salvation, but no good came, And for a time of healing, but behold, terror! The
snorting of [Nebuchadnezzar’s] horses is heard from Dan [on Palestine’s
northern border]. At the sound of the neighing of his strong stallions the
whole land quakes; For they come and devour the land and all that is in it, the
city and those who live in it. “For behold, I am sending serpents among you,
Vipers which cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” says the Lord. Oh, that I (Jeremiah) could find
comfort from my sorrow [for my grief is beyond healing], My heart is sick and faint within me! Behold, [hear the sound of] the cry of the daughter
of my people from the distant land [of Babylon]: “Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King within
her?”[But the Lord answers] “Why
have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols?
“The harvest is past, the summer has ended and the gathering of fruit is over, but we are not saved,” [the
voice of the people again]. For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I
(Jeremiah) am broken; I mourn, anxiety has gripped me. Is there no balm in
Gilead? [A
scenic, fertile mountain region east of the Jordan River famous for its
medicinal herbs and spices] Is there no physician there? Why then has
not the [spiritual] health of the daughter of my people been restored?
You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world
and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend
[loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be
a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the
Scripture says to no purpose that the [human] spirit which He has made to dwell
in us lusts with envy? But He gives us more and more grace [through the power
of the Holy Spirit to defy sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our
faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, “God is opposed
to the proud and haughty but [continually] gives [the gift of] grace to the
humble [who turn away from self-righteousness].” So submit to [the authority of]
God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. Come
close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your
hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded
[people]. James 4:4-8
Further
study of Scripture reveals to us how much GOD wants His children to be set
apart from this WORLD. In 2 Corinthians 6 God commands His children to NOT be
bound to unbelievers period!!!
Before
moving on to Parts Two – Part Four of this Devotional Set please take time to
Study the following Scriptures to gain an even clearer picture of the Deception
Satan has placed in the Church at large.
1 John 4:1-6 – TEST the Spirits
1 John 2:18-19 – Teachers of FALSE DOCTRINE
1 John 2:26-27 – Be rooted in Christ discerning
False Teachers through the Holy Spirit
2 Peter 1:12-21 – True prophesy illuminates God’s
Word
Titus 1:6-16 – Wind Bags and deceivers out for
financial gain
2 Peter 2 – The Rise of False Prophets
2 Corinthians 13:5 – Test yourself to make sure you
are a TRUE CHRISTIAN
2 Corinthians 11:1-4 – Do Not believe the DECEPTION of
FALSE TEACHERS
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 – Counterfeit apostles
Romans 16:17-18 – Smooth and flattering speech to
deceive
1Timothy 6:3-5 – Controversial questions and
disputes
1Timothy 6:20-21 – Turn from worldly and godless
chatter
Jude 1:3-4 - distort the
grace of our God into decadence and
immoral freedom
John 14:6 –
Jesus is the ONLY WAY to the FATHER
Matthew 24 – Perilous Times
Matthew 24:4-5 – False teachers
Revelation 12:9
– Satan continually deceives and seduces
the entire inhabited world
Matthew 24:11
– Many false prophets will appear and
mislead many
Ephesians 4:10-14
– God’s Church Structure
James 1:27
- Pure and unblemished
religion
2 Timothy 3:13-17
– EVIL MEN and IMPOSTERS will get WORSE
2 Timothy 2:15-18
– AVOID IRREVERENT BABBLE and GODLESS
CHATTER
John 8:44
– Satan is the father of LIES and
Half-truths
Acts 17:10-11
– Examine Scriptures for the TRUTH
Ephesians 5:11-12
- Do not participate in
the worthless and unproductive deeds of darkness
2 John 1:7-11
- For many deceivers
[heretics, posing as Christians] have gone out into the world
1Timothy 1:3-7
– Do not pay attention
to legends (fables, myths) and endless genealogies
Ephesians 5:6
– Ignore empty arguments meant to
encourage you to sin
Matthew 7:21-23
– NOT EVERYONE who says LORD, LORD will
enter the Kingdom of Heaven
Deuteronomy 18:20-22
– Prophets who speak in the name of the
Lord things He has not said
Deuteronomy 13:1-18 – Shun Idolatry
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
– TEST PROPHESY
Jeremiah 14:14
- [counterfeit]
prophets
Jeremiah 5:30-31
– People love the
prophets who prophesy falsely
Jeremiah 28:15-17
– God will destroy the FALSE PROPHETS
Micah 3:5-7
- Thus says the Lord concerning the [false] prophets who lead my people astray
Acts 20:29-30
– Jesus warns of the ferocious wolves
who are the FALSE TEACHERS
Matthew 15:9
– Teach as Doctrines the precepts of men
Romans 8:6-7
– The mind of the FLESH is HOSTILE
towards God
Deuteronomy 8:11-14
– Do not forget the Lord
Through the
study of God’s Word we come to know just how much our Heavenly Father cares for
us and only wants the very best for each of us.
Do Not let
yourself be carried away by slick talking, Word twisting, False teachers just
because they look good, sound good and even dress good. The BEST DRESSED are
usually those bringers of light Satan has scattered by the millions across the
globe to deceive and manipulate the Body of Christ with their flattering
tongues and false miracles.
Forever in
Christ Service,
Continue to
Part Two, here
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