Have you deceived yourself?

Psalms 36:2-3 - For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.  The words of his mouth are are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good.

Have you ever known someone who told a lie so well and so often that it became truth to them?  Do you know someone right now that believes something about themselves or God that is incorrect or un-truthful?

Now look inward...have you deceived yourself?  Have you spent so much time justifying or hiding sin in your life that you no longer detect or hate it?  We can easily be deceived by our thoughts, our flesh, by others, by the world or by our enemy.  We can become completely unaware of our sin, or we can become convinced that we are justified in our sin thus making it "ok" to continue our behavior.

So if we are deceived, how do we know where we are deceived?  That's the big question...because if we are deceived we probably don't know we are deceived.  We pray and listen.

We start by praying as David did in Psalms 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting".

Then we listen.  We listen as we read the Bible, we listen to our loved ones, we listen to ourselves and be aware of what we are hearing.

Proverbs 15:31-32 - He who listens to a life giving rebuke will be at home among the wise.  He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.

What is God trying to show you?  What is God using others, to show you about your life?

Lord I pray that you would search us, know our thoughts, test us and lead us to the everlasting by convicting us where we are deceived, where we are justifying our sin.  Help us to see our sin, help us to hate our sin.  Send loved ones, brothers to show us our sin.  Lord we pray that you would bother us, nag us and not let us stay where we are at.  Push us Lord to become more and more like you each and everyday.  Amen.