“O Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to You!
May my prayer be counted as incense before You;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds of wickedness
With men who do iniquity;
And do not let me eat of their delicacies.” (Psalm 141:1-4 NASB1995)
We live in very troubled times. Lies and liars, and those who make it their practice to deceive others, are all over the place spreading their lies and their deceptions. So, if our faith is truly in the Lord Jesus, and he is the one guiding our lives, and if we are following him, according to his ways, in obedience to his commands, then we must be those who do not put our trust in other human beings, believing whatever they tell us, that it is the truth.
Sadly, though, many professing Christians are following the lies, and not the truth, and they are putting their hope and trust in other humans who are lying to them, who are tricking them into believing the lies and into rejecting the truth. These liars try to convince you that they are the “good guys” and that certain others are “the bad guys,” when often (or sometimes) it is the other way around. So we need to be testing the spirits, for liars abound!
So, just because someone tells you that they are to be trusted while they tell you that certain others are not the ones to be trusted, don’t immediately believe them. Just because they tell you that certain others are the enemy, it does not necessitate that the others are the enemy and that they are not the persecuted, instead. For you may end up joining in with the enemy in hating and persecuting the righteous while you praise and follow after the liars.
So, how do we discern truth from lies, and truth tellers from liars? If it is not something we can compare to the teachings of the Scriptures, it may be hard to discern. So this is where we need prayer for spiritual discernment and the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we are not caught in the devil’s trap, thinking we are doing what is right, when we are, in truth, following after the liars and their deceptions. And we need to listen to God!
We do need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their appropriate context, and not out of context, to make certain that what we are believing is the truth, and not the lies which are spreading so rapidly. And we need to inquire of the Lord to help us to discern lies from truth, and those who are truly wicked from the righteous. For just because someone claims they are “Christian,” it is not assurance that they are not of the devil.
And this is what David was talking about with the Lord. He wanted to be kept from having his heart inclined to any evil thing. He wanted to be kept from the practice of wickedness along with people who practice iniquity. He did not want to be found as one who was participating in their “delicacies,” but he wanted to be pure of heart and mind and actions so that he pleased the Lord with his life, and so he did not wrong those not against him.
The Bible warns us much against putting our trust in other humans, in kings and rulers of nations, in people of prominence, and any who might persuade us to follow the lies and not the truth. So please, ask the Lord to show you if you are believing the lies and not the truth, and if you are at war with those who are not your enemies while you embrace and follow those who are your true enemies, if truth be told. For you don’t want to be found worshipping the beast while you end up persecuting the truly righteous. Please pray!
Testing the spirits: [Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-24; Luke 6:26; John 10:1-15; Romans 16:17-19; 2 Corinthians 11:3,13-15; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25]
My Sheep
Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.
So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…
They know my voice, so they follow me.
Join Not With Those Who Practice Wickedness
An Original Work / June 22, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
