Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion,

Proverbs 30:8, NASB

While thinking and praying about this topic, I was reminded of a section in the book, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan where Christian was walking along along the path to the Celestial City, and he traveled through the valley of the shadow of death. On the left side a treacherous bog lay waiting to swallow him. On the right, a deep, bottomless pit. The path itself was extremely narrow and difficult to remain on.

As Christians, we often find ourselves in a place like this. Many times in my life I have been there, with lies and deception encroaching on all sides, and every voice yelling so loudly that it threatened to overpower my own thoughts. Furthermore, I have seen many others step either to the left and become entangled in deception, or to the right and fall away from God completely. In every circumstance the person involved was convinced they were walking the right path.

This brings to mind what many have called one of the scariest passages in the Bible.

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”

Matthew 7:21-23

So how do we know we are truly following God? The people of whom our Lord is speaking were deceived into believing they were on the right path.

In order to have assurance of first, salvation, and second, that we are truly following and being obedient to God, we should incorporate two things into our lives and practice them consistently. I say consistently because it is appropriate to work these into your daily schedule. Some take part in these two habits daily, some multiple times a day, some a few times a week. For my part, my goal is to practice daily, but due to the hectic and unpredictable nature of my schedule, which includes raising two very young children and being up a few times a night to feed the baby, I am not always able to take dedicated time for the Lord every single day with no distractions. The most important thing to realize is that your heart must be sincere and genuine before God and you must pursue Him with all your heart. As the scripture says,

…For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

1 Samuel 16:7

Pursue God through Studying His Word

How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

Psalms 119:9-11

One of the biggest problems in the American church today is that Christians are not reading their Bibles. They have a few scriptures they have learned, but other than that they have no idea what the Bible actually says. They go to church on Sunday and listen to their favorite celebrity pastor give a motivational message. Or they stay home and find a message online that interests them. This is no way to seek God sincerely through His word! The Bible was meant to challenge you, correct you, and change you, not just encourage you and make you feel like you are blessed and highly favored.

Did you know there are 31,102 verses in the Bible? That means if you know 300 verses, you are living your Christian life based off of less than 1% of the Bible. Sadly, there are many Christians out there who know far less than 300.

The word of God is full of truth. From the first page to the last, the knowledge and insights contained within are essential to developing a comprehensive understanding of the Gospel. For the Christian who desires to live a life free of deception and be obedient to all that God requires of Him, he should establish a regular habit of reading and studying the Bible.

Pursue God through Cultivating a Relationship with the Holy Spirit

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

John 16:13

The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit dwells within the Christian. There are several scriptures, like the one here, that speak of communication between the Holy Spirit and the Christian.

Here are a couple more:

And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”

2 Corinthians 6:16

But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

1 John 2:27

What a wealth of wisdom and knowledge is available to us as we seek to follow in God’s footsteps! The Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit will teach us all things from the Father and guide us into truth.

The easiest way to begin growing your relationship with God through the Holy Spirit is with prayer. Take an hour in the morning and set it aside to talk to God, and wait for His answer. As you continue in this practice, your spirit will grow in sensitivity to what God is saying to you.

Both the Word of God and the Spirit of God are Necessary

In Psalms 1, the man who refuses to do evil and instead meditates on God’s word is compared to a tree that is deeply rooted by streams of water. We can take that analogy and apply it here. The Bible is your root system. The more you study, learn, and apply it to your life, the deeper those roots grow. You will know what you believe and why. You will develop strong convictions. You will understand exactly what God requires of His children.

The Holy Spirit of God is comparable to the streams of water. When you listen to and obey the Holy Spirit, you find true life. You will receive the Joy of the Lord (Nehemiah 8:10) and the Peace of God (Philippians 4:7). A dynamic relationship with the Holy Spirit will add a dimension to your Christian walk that you had no idea you were missing. I truly believe that incorporating these two things and pursing God with all your heart through them will bring about new fulfillment and satisfaction in your walk with God. Ultimately, this is the only proven way to have assurance that you are not believing lies or taking part in deception, but following the path that God set out for you.

If you need an idea of where to start, read through the book of Romans. In this book the Apostle Paul gives a thorough, detailed explanation of the gospel and how to apply it to our lives. I read this book over the course of a single day and it offered me a very unique perspective. But if that doesn’t interest you, just start somewhere. The important thing is to develop consistency in your spiritual life. It is only through consistency in pursuing God that you can find new life and new growth.

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3