Avoiding Deception – The Presidential Prayer Team

Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. – Deuteronomy 11:16

Beginning in 1877, stagecoach robber “Black Bart” committed 28 robberies over six years wearing a flour sack over his head, brandishing a shotgun, and politely demanding, “Will you please throw down your treasure box, sir?” He was arrested in San Francisco… but Black Bart the stagecoach robber turned out to be Charles Bolton, one of San Francisco’s leading citizens with close ties to the police department. Stagecoach officials and the citizens of San Francisco had been duped, deceived by someone who had presented one persona but was living an entirely different life.

Deception has never gone away and appears to have even increased. You read of deceptive business practices and deceptive ethical practices, among many other forms. The government has had its share of deception over the years.

Everyone is susceptible to being deceived. How can you avoid the trap of deception? First, know the truth. Be a student of the Bible. Spend time meditating over Scripture and ask the Holy Spirit to give you a deeper understanding. Make His Word an anchor for your soul. Befriend others who are seeking the Lord and His truth.

Many in Congress are vulnerable to the deception of false promises or legislative solutions. Ask God to bring people to them who will share the Gospel, so they can recognize the truth. Pray that those who are believers in Jesus would have the discernment to avoid deception and stand for the truth.

Today’s Verse: Deuteronomy 11:16

Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them;

All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Recommended for further reading: Galatians 1:6-13

I  am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

¹⁰For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

¹¹For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. ¹²For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹³For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.