“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter it yourselves, and you don’t permit others to enter when they try.
“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You cross land and sea to recruit a single follower, and when you do, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are. “How horrible it will be for you, you blind guides! You say, ‘To swear an oath by the temple doesn’t mean a thing. But to swear an oath by the gold in the temple means a person must keep his oath.’ You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the temple that made the gold holy? Again you say, ‘To swear an oath by the altar doesn’t mean a thing. But to swear an oath by the gift on the altar means a person must keep his oath.’ You blind men! What is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? To swear an oath by the altar is to swear by it and by everything on it. To swear an oath by the temple is to swear by it and by the one who lives there. And to swear an oath by heaven is to swear by God’s throne and the one who sits on it. “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give ⌊God⌋ one-tenth of your mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the most important things in Moses’ Teachings. You should have done these things without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain gnats ⌊out of your wine⌋, but you swallow camels. “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of cups and dishes. But inside they are full of greed and uncontrolled desires. You blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cups and dishes so that the outside may also be clean. “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed graves that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of impurity. So on the outside you look as though you have God’s approval, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Matthew 23:13, 15-28 GW
Do you find the Word of God to be relevant to all areas of life? Do you see yourselves and others in certain passages that you read? Are you using the things you read to make necessary changes or do you deflect what you don’t like on to someone else to distract from the conviction of the Holy Spirit? Do you step in when God is dealing with someone to try to make the chastening less painful, offering your solution instead? Are you the distraction the enemy uses to prevent the Word of God from penetrating hearts by offering compromises to the Truth of God’s Word? Let’s look at the meaning of both words for a second.
Deflect as a transitive verb: if you deflect something such as criticism or attention, you act in a way that prevents it from being directed toward you or affecting you. To deflect someone from a course of action means to let them decide not to continue with it by putting pressure on them or by offering them something desirable. It’s also synonymous with these words; turn aside, turn, avert and bend. Collins
Distraction: anything that prevents someone from giving full attention to, or extreme agitation of the mind or emotions . Blocking or diminishing the reception of desired information.
From the scripture text above we can surmise that Jesus has had enough of the elitists. They had done nothing to win one single convert to Jesus, they only set about to deflect and distract. They contradicted themselves over and over and when they were caught, they’d simply move the conversation away from themselves on to someone or something else. They were always trying to entrap or ensnare whenever they couldn’t get their way. In one swoop Jesus called out their false teaching and hypocrisy.
Everyone wants to be accepted and included today. Buyers beware! All that glitters isn’t gold. Inclusivity at the cost of compromise is a slippery slope. Accepting lifestyles and teachings that are diabolically opposed to the Word of God, is creeping into the Church, masquerading as reform. Jesus never accepted anyone or received anyone and left them with their chains. He was about loosing and delivering. He never turned anyone away, but He didn’t allow sinful lifestyle and behavior to distract or deflect from His agenda.
He used phrases like: “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more,” “be made whole,” “your sins are forgiven,” “salvation has come, the kingdom is near you”, “loose him.” He cast out demons. He drank and ate with all kinds of sinners to show that He has the power to forgive all, not for the purpose of condoning sin. He warned the disciples in Matthew 23:1-3
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the Pharisees teach with Moses’ authority. So be careful to do everything they tell you. But don’t follow their example, because they don’t practice what they preach.
He basically said to avoid those who say one thing but did another. People will twist Scriptures to say whatever they want to appease their sinful appetites. Jesus loves and accepts all people, but there’s nothing in scripture that says He supported their sinful behaviors. He came to seek and save the lost, He came to forgive, heal and cleanse from sin, not deflect or distract from it. The purpose of the cross, and the shedding of His blood, was for the sole purpose of salvation. So if you’re “a follower of Jesus Christ “ but still wearing your old grave clothes, you have not been born again. If you’re still living the same life as before, you’re not converted nor convinced of what it means to be truly His.
If you’re teaching or telling people that Jesus supports a woman’s right to choose abortion over the life of the unborn, that He supports alternative lifestyles, that He supports gay marriage, or whatever else you consider normal- You’re a distraction and a deflection. You’re creating confusion and are no different than the Pharisees Jesus was exposing and calling out in the verses we read. He came to seek and save! Not deflect and distract. I’ve often told people who are practicing homosexuality, that if God made them the way they are, then He’s a cruel and heartless Creator. Why would He make you that way and then condemn you to hell for being who He’s made you to be? It doesn’t add up. Why would He say that children are an heritage or blessing from Him, and then tell you it’s ok to abort them if they’re an inconvenience? It doesn’t add up. If you can continue in your sin and just walk on into heaven without accepting His sacrifice, why did He bother coming to earth and suffer as He did? It doesn’t add up.
The master distractor and deflection from Truth, Satan, continues to deceive and lie to those who refuse to accept Jesus’ plan of salvation. Don’t be his pawn! He’s looking for his next victim, don’t let it be you. Don’t let the noise and distractions of a few draw you away from the Truth. God is not the author of confusion. All unrighteousness is SIN. You may not like that what you’re doing is labeled as sin, but that’s what it is. You may be compromising the truth because someone close to you is living an alternative lifestyle, but it’s still sin. You may be deflecting the obvious and allowing yourself to be distracted by general consensus, but if you’re a child of God, whatever He labels sin, we concur.
We love all sinners, but we condone none- Neither in our lives or anyone else’s. Jehovah says if we know someone is guilty of sin and remain quiet and they die in their sin, their blood is required at our hands. It’s as though we joined them or approved of the behavior.(Romans 8:32) Deflection and distraction, the enemy’s weapons of choice in this present generation, are wrecking havoc in God’s House. It’s bad enough when it’s in the world, but when it’s allowed to thrive in the pulpits and pews we are on dangerous ground.
In Jeremiah chapters 13 and 14 Jeremiah encountered prophets who who were deflectors and distractors. He, Jeremiah,
would deliver a prophetic word from God, and the prophets would come behind and smooth over the warnings. Lying to the people so they wouldn’t heed what God was saying. If the messages were too harsh, they would undermine the man of God. Jeremiah was so frustrated that in his complaint he asked why bother? “They’re not listening to me,” he said, “they’re listening to the lying prophets who’s telling them that what they’re doing is alright with God.” No difference today, when churches are being split over what God calls unrighteousness and popular culture is calling normal. I’ve told you before, I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, I will not compromise or apologize for His Word. If you don’t like what He’s given me to write, as you do with your television, change the channel. God’s Word will win out over every culture. Heaven and earth will cease to exist, but not one dot or comma will fail of God’s Word. His Word will come to pass. This is what God said to Jeremiah and He’s saying it to us today.
“Therefore, thus says the LORD [to Jeremiah], “If you repent [and give up this mistaken attitude of despair and self-pity], then I will restore you [to a state of inner peace] So that you may stand before Me [as My obedient representative]; And if you separate the precious from the worthless [examining yourself and cleansing your heart from unwarranted doubt concerning My faithfulness], You will become My spokesman. Let the people turn to you [and learn to value My values]— But you, you must not turn to them [with regard for their idolatry and wickedness]. And I will make you to this people A fortified wall of bronze; They will fight against you, But they will not prevail over you, For I am with you [always] to save you And protect you,” says the LORD. “So I will rescue you out of the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the [grasping] palm of the terrible and ruthless [tyrant].”
Jeremiah 15:19-21 AMP
God is saying “Speak what I’ve put in your mouths!” Don’t allow deflection and distraction in any area of your life. Be about what I Am about. Don’t join them, expose them like Jesus did. Will you get pushbacks? Sure you will! But they will not prevail. Do what is right, in a culture gone SIN BLIND. The Bible Truth will always trump the lies. Don’t say what you’re not willing to stand up for. Don’t apologize for God’s Word! Speak it boldly and He will have your back even if it costs you your life.
Gracious Father loving Savior,
We are born for this moment in time. If we’re alive today serving you, it’s ordained to be so. May we not allow the noise and distraction of the cancel culture to deflect attention away from the real problem we’re facing. A denial of God’s Word and the need for the message of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. No well thought out plan of man will solve the worlds problems. We need Jesus! We need Your supernatural intervention. To deny that sin is the problem, is to deny the only cure, the blood of Jesus. Bring Your Church back to a place of Jesus only, the answer to every problem. Hear our cry O Lord and deliver us. In Jesus Name. Amen
“Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to tell him to turn from his wicked way to save his life, that same evil man will die in his sin, but you will be responsible for his blood.”
Ezekiel 3:17-18 AMP
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
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