Knowing God - He Does NOT Deceive

Jer 4:10

Then said I, Ah, Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.

The Lord is NOT a Deceiver

                                                                  

Jeremiah was a prophet of God.  He heard the Lord speak to him and yet came to the Lord and concluded at this point that the Lord was deceiving His people.  Why would Jeremiah do this?  It might have been because the promises of peace and restoration were not going to happen until after great discipline and chastening.  Jeremiah had heard both the promises and warnings but somehow only remembered the words of comfort and redemption.

Sometimes we may conclude the wrong thing about God because His promises may not happen in the manner of timing we would prefer.  God is not a deceiver.  God is truth and God is light.  Our God is faithful and our God says what He means and means what He says.  His timing and His ways are His domain.  We dare not tell the Lord He has deceived us because things aren’t happening in the way we thought they should have.  Hold on to His promises because He is a God of truth.  He has not deceived you nor will He ever.

Proverbs - His Word is a Shield

Proverbs 30:5-6

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

What a wonderful thing to know!  EVERY word of God is true!  I can count on His Word through and through.  He is a shield for us as we trust in him.  He will go between us and anything that would want to harm us.  By knowing His Word we are protected.  By believing what He says we are covered.  We are warned though not to add to his words.  Most of us wouldn’t go around writing a new book of the bible and trying to publish it, but we may do it another way.  We may read something and insert certain conditions that are not there.  We may read a promise of God and impose our own opinion of whether it applies to us.  His word is pure and we must be cautious to not contaminate it with our own opinions and perspectives.  

Knowing God - He Has Set His Word Before Us

Dan 9:10

Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

The voice of the Lord is equated with the laws He set before His people through His messengers.  Do you need to hear His voice? Read His Word aloud.  Do you need His voice to reassure you that you are going in the right direction?  Do what His written Word says.  Do you need to hear His voice calm you and comfort you?  Take His Word into your heart and value His written Word’s promises.  Do you need to have His voice give you direction?  Observe what His written Word says you should do.  The voice of the Lord is set before us and beckons us to walk in the direction from which we hear it.  We hear His voice through the voice of those He has sent.