0:05

It is time once again for the

0:07

morning mindset. I'm glad you're

0:09

here. I hope you're ready to get

0:11

your mind aligned with the truth of

0:13

God's Word for this day. Now,

0:16

I say that all the time, and I

0:18

mean it every single time. We all need

0:21

to reset our minds daily so

0:23

that we're able to follow the truth

0:25

that God Himself reveals to us. Friends,

0:28

can you remember the last time you

0:30

were really duped? You were really

0:33

fooled by somebody? Maybe it was a trick somebody played

0:35

on you. Maybe it was some bad

0:37

sales technique that caused you to buy something you

0:40

didn't need to really buy. Has

0:42

that happened to you? Do you know that feeling?

0:44

Well, today we're going to be looking again at

0:46

Ephesians 4, 11 through 14. And

0:50

we're going to be keying in on this

0:52

idea of being deceived. And

0:54

how being deceived is contrary to our

0:56

growth. It's going to inhibit our growth

0:58

as believers in Jesus Christ. So

1:00

we're going to get to that in just a moment. But

1:02

before we do, let me ask you this. If

1:05

I could guarantee you that

1:07

you could buy a cup of coffee or

1:10

a coffee drink once a month and

1:13

the proceeds from that gift would go to

1:15

impact people for the kingdom of God all

1:17

around the world, would you do it? Some

1:21

of you I know would say, well, I'd buy three or four

1:23

or five coffees if I knew that the

1:25

profit was going to this. Well, friends,

1:27

the reason I'm bringing that up is because for

1:29

the price of a cup of coffee, you

1:31

could support what we're doing with the Morning Mindset on

1:34

a monthly basis for as little

1:36

as five dollars a month. But if you're able, you could

1:38

do more than that. And you

1:40

receive a thank you gift, another podcast

1:42

called Digging Deeper that I

1:44

produce for those who are partners.

1:46

If you would like to find

1:49

out more, please go to morningmindsetmedia.com/partners.

1:52

OK, friends, before we dive into Ephesians 4, let's

1:54

pray we need God's help if we're going to

1:56

understand what His word is saying to us today.

2:00

Lord Jesus, help us to understand

2:02

very clearly how this

2:04

issue of deceit plays into our

2:07

growth as Christians and what we

2:09

can do to keep ourselves from

2:11

being victims of deceptive people. In

2:14

Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay,

2:17

open your Bibles. We're looking at Ephesians chapter 4

2:19

verses 11 through 14. The

2:23

apostle Paul is describing the things

2:25

Jesus has done to help us

2:27

as believers in Christ mature as

2:30

a part of his church. He

2:32

says he's given these people, called

2:34

apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers, to

2:37

equip us so that we

2:39

can serve within the body of Christ within the

2:41

church and so that

2:43

we can become mature. Then he

2:45

says the point of this maturity, picking

2:48

up in verse 14, is so

2:50

that we may no longer be

2:53

children, tossed to and fro

2:55

by the waves and carried about by every

2:57

wind of doctrine, by

2:59

human cunning, and

3:01

by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

3:05

Those last phrases are very important for us

3:07

to pay attention to, because

3:09

what the apostle Paul is telling us is

3:12

that there are people out there, human beings,

3:16

who are very cunning and

3:18

very crafty and very

3:20

deceitful, and they

3:23

are aiming those things, their craftiness,

3:25

their cunning and their deceit, at

3:28

us believers. They're

3:30

trying to fool us, just like we talked

3:32

about near the beginning of the podcast. They're

3:34

trying to pull the wool over our eyes

3:37

in terms of what they're teaching

3:39

us, and they're

3:41

doing so for their own benefit, for

3:43

their own profitability of sorts. Now,

3:46

I'm not going to malign anyone or

3:48

impugn anyone's motives by calling people by

3:50

name, but I think all of

3:52

us have recognized that there's people

3:54

out there who do things in the

3:56

name of Jesus That we kind of

3:58

look crossways at and we. No wonder what

4:01

is that and about that doesn't quite seem

4:03

right. Seems. Like they're They're

4:05

in it for the money. or they're

4:07

in it for the the prestige and

4:09

stature gives. Then they don't seem to

4:11

be exhibiting the character of Jesus while

4:13

they're still using his name to profit.

4:16

Friends. We've got to be aware.

4:19

That there are people who are trying to

4:21

deceive us and it's beneficial to them. But

4:23

worse than that? We. Are

4:25

prevented from growing in the truth

4:28

when we are caught off guard

4:30

by this human cloning, craftiness and

4:32

deceit. the comes as. And

4:35

all of this Really? Culminates in

4:37

what we're believing, what we're being taught.

4:39

You see, as I mentioned in the

4:42

previous episode, Doctrine. Matters.

4:45

The. Truth Matters. We need to be

4:47

a part of a local church that

4:49

is t to the truth and maybe

4:52

even a little more important we need

4:54

to daily be getting into the Word

4:56

of God ourselves and learning how to

4:58

use the word of God to evaluate

5:01

the teaching that we're hearing even at

5:03

our local church. Because. We

5:05

want to grow up into Jesus right

5:08

friends? We want to be mature in

5:10

our face so that we can actually

5:12

serve people. We can actually be a

5:14

benefit to the kingdom of heaven and

5:17

work God is doing in this world.

5:20

Mode God we do want to be

5:23

of benefit your kingdom. We do one

5:25

our lives to mature and growth and

5:27

we sense you the to given us

5:29

everything we need to do that. Helpless

5:32

to be wise in her knowledge of

5:34

the scripture so that we are not

5:36

carried away by every window. Doctrines I

5:39

human coming by craftiness, a deceitful schemes

5:41

but rather that we can discern what's

5:43

true and live according to that truth

5:45

in that term films were asking it

5:48

in your great me. He

5:57

there for hims. Just two more things before you

5:59

go. First off if

6:01

you would like to become a

6:03

believe in Jesus Christ a price

6:05

follow the know what it means

6:07

to be a Christian. You can

6:09

find out how to do that

6:11

by going to Morning My Sit

6:13

media.com/meet Jesus. That link will be

6:15

in the description for this episode.

6:18

Secondly, At the

6:20

beginning of the episode and mentioned

6:22

that we have supporters for what

6:25

we're doing that Morning months India

6:27

If you would like to learn

6:29

about the three different ways that

6:31

you can support what Where do

6:33

you could go for Morning News

6:35

media.com/support that link as well? We'll

6:37

be included in the description for

6:39

this episode. Thanks so much. For.

7:00

The ones who work hard to ensure their crew

7:02

can always go the extra mile. And the

7:05

ones who get an early. So. Everyone can go

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home on time. There's. Granger. Offering.

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could granger.com or just stop by.

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Granger. For. The ones. Who get

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it done?