{"id":1120,"date":"2021-05-23T13:00:13","date_gmt":"2021-05-23T18:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=1120"},"modified":"2021-05-23T13:00:13","modified_gmt":"2021-05-23T18:00:13","slug":"be-not-deceived-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/23\/be-not-deceived-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Be not Deceived"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cBe not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.<\/strong>\u201d
1 Corinthians 15:33 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Jehoshaphat was a good king. Once he became\nking, he eliminated idol worship. He then strengthened the cities of Judah\n\u2013 physically and spiritually. By placing mighty soldiers in the different\ncities, he strengthened them physically. When he sent princes, priests, and\nLevites into every city teaching the Word of God to the people, he strengthened\nthem spiritually. We understand that he was able to remain a good king even\nthough he spent time with wicked King Ahab \u2013 the worst king of Israel.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Jehoshaphat was considered a good king, we will learn what\neffect his relationship with wicked King Ahab (also Ahaziah and Jehoram) had\nupon not only his children, but also the whole nation of Judah.\nGodly people are to be set apart from the wicked things (and even people) of\nthis world. We may not think these things affect us, but at the very least, it\nhas an effect upon the people around us. King Jehoshaphat appeared to have kept\nhis heart pure before the Lord \u2013 even with the relationship he had with wicked\nKing Ahab, but we can read the devastating effect it had upon his children and\nthe nation of Judah.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

King Jehoshaphat should have enacted the words King David recorded many years before. \u201c1. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; <\/strong>therefore<\/strong><\/em> I shall not slide. 2. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. 3. For thy lovingkindness <\/strong>is<\/strong><\/em> before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth. 4. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. 5. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked<\/strong>\u201d (Psalm 26:1-5). If he had remembered lived by these words, not only would he have been an even better king, but also much heartache would have been spared. His son was a wicked king. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only are those words recorded for us today as well, but the following\nverse must be remembered, too. \u201cBe not deceived: evil communications corrupt\ngood manners<\/strong>\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:33).\nThis verse has often been translated into a modern proverb: \u201cBad company ruins\ngood morals.\u201d However, use the following definitions to help you understand this\nverse: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • deceived<\/strong> means \u201cto be misled or deceived\u201d <\/li>
  • evil<\/strong> means \u201cevil works\u201d <\/li>
  • communications<\/strong> means \u201clifestyles, conversations\u201d <\/li>
  • corrupt<\/strong> means \u201cto spoil or violate in a spiritual or moral sense\u201d <\/li>
  • good<\/strong> means \u201cin a moral sense \u2013 good, useful, virtuous\u201d <\/li>
  • manners<\/strong> means \u201cmorals or character \u2013 this is the word from which ethics is derived.\u201d <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    After reading these definitions, we can understand this verse is a\nwarning not to be deceived but to understand something \u2013 evil deeds and\nconversations (lifestyles) will spoil good morals and good character in a person\u2019s\nlife. We can also understand that we are to be very careful about the kind of\npeople with whom we hang out, and especially to be careful of those that we\nchoose as friends.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Nevertheless, see what we are exhorted to do in the following verse: \u201cAwake\nto righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this<\/em>\nto your shame<\/strong>\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:34).\nOften it is because of the choices and friends we make that keep us from being\na good witness to others. It is a shame when Christians\u2019 lives are contrary in\nany way<\/em><\/strong> to God\u2019s Word. It is worse when that keeps others from the\nknowledge of God (being able to recognize their need for Jesus). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is a scary thing to say one knows of God, yet for that one to be ignorant<\/em><\/strong> of God. It is a shame for anyone in this day to be ignorant of the things of God \u2013 especially those who have \u201cgrown up in church\u201d or have Christian parents who taught them the Bible. There are too many resources available to this generation. No one will be able to stand before God in ignorance \u2013 unless they so choose. As Christians, we should always tell others about the things of God and encourage other Christians to continue learning throughout their lives by prayer and the reading of God\u2019s Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Are you one who is not deceived, living a life that is a witness of Jesus to others?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Jehoshaphat was a good king. Once he became king, he eliminated idol worship. He then strengthened the cities of Judah \u2013 physically and spiritually. By placing mighty soldiers in the different cities, he strengthened them physically. When he sent princes, priests, and Levites into every city teaching the Word of God to the people, he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[318],"tags":[690,345,635,159,186,689,687,80,187,688,417],"class_list":["post-1120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-with-verse-and-blog","tag-choices","tag-christians","tag-deceived","tag-evil","tag-god","tag-ignorance","tag-jehoshaphat","tag-jesus","tag-king","tag-livestyle","tag-witness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1120"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1123,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions\/1123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}