Against Deception
This is the third article in my series on Listening to God.
The first two articles are available at www.new-life.org.au
Journalling and the Holy Spirit https://tinyurl.com/y34fjbu6
Journalling- Testing Your Thoughts https://tinyurl.com/y2fxnpwn
One of the biggest fears that people have with journalling is that they might be deceived into believing something that is not from God, or worse still, led into some great sin through being deceived. This was addressed in the article mentioned above, “Journalling- Testing Your Thoughts.”
I was asking the Lord about this recently, and I want to share the answer I received.
I asked: How would you know if you are being directed by satan?”
The answer:
The problem with all meditation techniques is that they open you up to the spirit you are following. If it is me, the Holy Spirit, that is great, the way it should be! But if you are being led by satan, if there are demons in your spirit, then you will be open to hearing the voices of satan.
If you are deceived, but wanting to follow me, I will send you alarm bells, called cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance happens when you realise that what you believe does not line up with reality.
That is why it is always essential to check your journal revelations with the Scriptures. It is also why knowledge of Scripture will never be supplanted by meditation and listening. If my words says one thing and your spirit hears another thing, you are being deceived.
Do not abandon journalling when this happens. Do not despise the gifts of my Spirit because of the possibility of being deceived.
I will always be speaking words of love to you. I will always lead you in the ways you should go.
Be still and know that I am God.
More on Cognitive Dissonance
We all have a complex set of beliefs that together can be called a world view, a lens through which we view the world and our place in it. When our world view conflicts with observed reality we have to adapt to that situation by either modifying our world view or ignoring the conflict.
When we come to know Jesus, the Holy Spirit starts dismantling our world view and our resultant behaviours to ensure that our lives glorify God and reflect the person of Jesus Christ. This is a life long process, sometimes called “sanctification” (becoming holy).
If we have a sin that we are comfortable with, the Holy Spirit might start convicting us of this. To use a trivial example, suppose it is swearing. Then we will suddenly find we are finding verses in the Bible about the words we speak and so on. Perhaps friends will say things, or we will feel bad when we say certain words. Eventually we find that our behaviour is changing to reflect God’s holiness.
In journalling, it is possible that we might receive a “word” that is not from God. In that case, God sends alarm bells of cognitive dissonance to warn us that this is not from Him. We find that Scriptures contradict that thing, people say things in passing, or things happen that contradict what we thought we heard from God.
When that happens, the best thing is to lay it all before the Lord, and ask Him to show you where you may have gone wrong.
He loves you and will correct you when you inadvertently go astray.