As we walk in this broken world, we have to remain vigilant because deception is everywhere. And when it comes to deceit, the devil is very wily. He knows that if he comes at you with an outright lie, you’ll easily recognize that. And so instead, he follows a recipe, which the renowned evangelist Billy Graham described the following way. He said, “There are two ingredients to deceit:  a good bit of truth and a few little lies.”

Beloved, always remember that a partial truth is a whole lie. And so, you have to be vigilant, and you have to be discerning. Thankfully, we have the Word of God to train our discernment. Apostle John says in 1 John 2:26, “I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.” And so the Bible clearly calls out and marks ways those of the world will try to deceive us. It helps us to recognize the little lies mixed in with the truth so that we can reject them.

But we don’t just have a book we call the Bible. Apostle John says that we also have an anointing from the Holy Spirit. He writes in 1 John 2:27, “But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” Beloved, the anointing of the Holy Spirit helps us divide truth from error.

Both the Bible and the Holy Spirit are indispensable resources for us in this world of deception. May you lean on them to avoid the deceitful schemes of the devil!

Change begins in you!