Deception in politics and living life is becoming more evident every day. Some politicians and sales people think we are stupid, others believe we are just uninformed and some believe we just don’t care enough to become more knowledgeable. The Bible tells us as Christians the Holy Spirit can give us many gifts as we learn in the following:

I Corinthians 12:7 – 11 – “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”

These are gifts available to Christians. We are aware the Apostles had supernatural powers that were needed to carry out their mission of spreading the Gospel to the world. Jesus said to them: As the Father sent me, so I send you. The power they were given was infallible. What they said and what they wrote was always correct and it was completely accurate. They were given a power to perform miracles to confirm their words to an unbelieving world. The above gifts are those that we need to pray of receiving and are available to Christians today. I wish to point out the importance of being able to “discern” between what is good and what is evil. It is said four million Christians did not vote in the 2012 election and I believe they did not have the gift of a “discerning spirit”.

A person who intentionally lies may believe the end justifies the means. Scripture says it is a sin and a discerning spirit would point out that is not what any leader or sales representative should do. I see this in both political parties and in business. It disappoints me when these people are re-elected continuously or anyone misleading others to keep their jobs.

I John 4:1 – “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

It is the responsibility of every Christian to test what they read or hear. Does what they hear or read in keeping with what Scripture teaches? What kind of a lifestyle are our leaders living and what are the fruits of their leadership? A false prophet normally states they are a Christian or they practice Christian morality. They may claim to have a new truth and their expressed goal is to make life better for others. To find out if a person is teaching a false doctrine we would know if we could ask them what their beliefs were about Jesus Christ. However, most politicians state their belief is for abortion on demand, to make available same sex marriages and other beliefs contrary to Biblical teaching.

II Corinthians 11:13 – 15 – “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”

Satan and his servants most often deceive us by appearing to be charismatic and charming people who appear to be attractive, good and moral. Many people, including Christians, are attracted to smooth talking leaders who could possibly be a cult or Lucifer follower determined to form Satan’s one-world government. Most people never think that it is possible to have a person who has sold their sole to the devil as some movie stars and popular musicians claimed to have done. Is it possible that a national leader, under Satan’s influence, willingly mislead people for their own purposes?

A true discerning spirit can detect a particular leader who is peaceable, humble and refrains from vain desires of this world and refrains from gathering excessive material wealth. A person who exalts himself/herself, wishing to be counted number one, who is bold, imprudent and lives with a desire for many luxuries; a person who takes credit for all positive outcome and blames all negatives outcomes on others normally would be considered Biblically as a false prophet. A discerning spirit will help us from being fooled by external experiences. Is the person’s lifestyle consistent with Biblical morality?

I believe through prayer, if a Christian really cares, the Holy Spirit will provide a discerning spirit as to what he is told or when someone is trying to sell them something that is a scam. However, I have personally been deceived and taken advance of a few times in the past. Wouldn’t life be much better if we had a discerning spirit that at all times, we could differentiate between good and evil?