As you read the first two chapters of Malachi you will see that God wants to draw His people back to Himself and He kind of “contends with them”, exposing them of their self-deceit and their obsession.
We need to see that even we as Christians may be obsessed in a way or another, and we may live in a certain kind of a darkness without even realizing it.
We need to see what are the symptoms of being obsessed, what are the reasons for becoming obsessed (what initiates the self-deceit), and how can we saved from obsession.
Nothing but the Lord’s divine light can show us where we are, what our real condition is, what our situation is, and how can we return to the Lord. May God have mercy on us and save us from any self-made light and from any obsession!
We need Him as the Sun of righteousness to fly in us, around us, and everywhere in our being to shine with healing in His wings, that our being may be restored, healed, and recovered for Him fully!
Four Reasons for Obsession
What causes us to be obsessed? It is certainly not us deciding this or someone influencing us to be obsessed, and the Bible does not singles out particular reasons. But if we study the Bible with the glasses of God’s economy on, we will see some of the reasons for obsession.
- The first reason for obsession is that we love the darkness rather than the light (John 3:19-20). Many times we hate darkness, but sometimes we compromise, and then we get to kind of like it, and the result is that we live in darkness, in obsession, and we have reasons to prove why we love it there. If we love the light and come to the light, the Lord can heal us and He can deliver us from any obsession. Only a little love for any particular aspect of the darkness will bring you into darkness fully and you will be obsessed, not being able to tell night from day.
- The second reason for self-deceit is pride (Obad. 3). You may see that something is wrong, that you said something untrue, or that you did something that is not good, but because of your pride, you don’t want to admit it and confess it. Pride makes you the top fool, and pride blinds you from seeing the truth. You may think you are right in yourself, but you are just proud, and no one can convince you otherwise. God resists the proud, He doesn’t like the proud, but He gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). When the Lord’s light shines on us, as He shined on Job (who was proud of his self-righteousness), we will repent, confess our pride, and we will be deeply healed!
- A third reason for obsession is not receiving the love of the truth (2 Thes. 2:10-11; Prov. 23:23). If we don’t receive the truth as the Lord speaks to us, God allows us to believe a lie. When people reject the truth again and again, even if they do it without noticing it, they will fall prey to believing a lie – and many times it is a big lie. When we love the truth and accept it, saying Amen to the Lord’s speaking even though it may expose us, we will be saved! That’s why Solomon said, Buy the truth and do not sell it! By any means and no matter the cost, accept the truth and love the truth! Also, speak the truth and live in the truth, since the truth is the shining of light!
- One last reason for self-deceit is seeking your own glory and not the glory that is from the only God (John 5:44). The Pharisees and the scribes had the Bible in their hands, and they knew everything concerning the coming of Messiah, but they missed Christ because they sought the glory that comes from man and not the glory that comes from God. When someone wants the appreciation and praise from man, he is blinded with pride and self-exultation and he believes a lie. This is why many politicians believe and speak lies – they seek glory from men! But the Lord Jesus sought the glory from God, and He lived in truth and in light. May we seek only the glory that comes from God, and may we desire His approval and appreciation!
What are the Symptoms of Obsession?
As we read the book of Malachi we see that the people of Israel were not only contradicting God’s speaking but also believing a lie that they constructed for themselves.
- The Lord tells them that He loves them, but they replied, “How have You loved us?” (Mal. 1:2) – this is obsession. They didn’t believe the facts, even when God stated them; rather, they took falsehood as truth.
- They were weeping and sighing as they were serving Jehovah, and He said that He will not accept their sacrifices; to this they replied, “For what reason?” (Mal. 1:4). They clearly did something wrong, God exposed them, He told them what was wrong, and yet they did not believe that there was such a thing. This is obsession.
- God called them to return to Him and He will return to them, but they asked, “How shall we return?” (Mal. 3:7). Through His speaking God exposed their going away from Him, but they believed that they didn’t need to turn to God anymore. They believed a lie which they made for themselves.
- Mal. 3:8 continues, Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. To this Israel responded, How we have robbed You? They stopped bringing their tithes to God’s house, they stopped building the house of God, and yet they asked, How have we robbed God? They believed they didn’t do anything!
Time and time again in the Bible and in our experience we see that God comes in, speaks to us His people, and we respond, We didn’t do this! or, Did we really do that? When God speaks to us, He knows what He’s talking about, and we are clearly in darkness.
Job was in the darkness of his righteousness, which was filth in God’s eyes – but when he saw and heard God, he repented and God restored him!
There are so many symptoms of obsession revealed in the Bible, and in our experience many time we don’t even realize how obsessed and self-deceived we are until the Lord’s light shines on us!
How Can We Be Saved from Obsession?
How can we be saved from being self-deceived? How can we not deceive ourselves anymore? How can we be saved from obsession?
The way to be saved from obsession is to live in the light so that we may see what God sees. In His light we see light (Psa. 36:9), and with Him is the fountain of life (which issues from light).
If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, there’s a sweet fellowship with God and with man (1 John 1:5, 7, 9), and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from any sin.
God chose us to have a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light (Col. 1:12), and He wants us to be in the light as He is in the light!
We need to give up any self-made light (Isa. 50:10-11), any of our self-manufactured light, and come into God’s light which exposes us, heals us, and restores us.
It is only when we are in God’s light that we see things as God sees them – we see things as they really are! In the light, we are no more self-deceived, we are no more obsessed, but we see things clearly and we can have uninterrupted fellowship with God and with man!
Lord, shine on us. Lord, may Your living light keep shining in and on us until we are saved from any self-deception. Lord, save us from any obsession. Keep us coming into the light in all aspects of our being and in every area of our life. Lord, scatter all our darkness, and bring us into Your marvelous light. Oh, Lord, no more self-deceived! No more in our self-made light! Lord, we want to be in Your light and walk in Your light as children of light!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from the book of Malachi and portions in, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee (vol. 36, pages 259-261), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of the Minor Prophets, week 11 (entitled, Experiencing the Healing Christ in Malachi for the Lord’s Second Coming and the Consummation of the Age).
- Similar sharing by other believers online:
# the healing Christ (via, Beyond Body and Mind);
# Christ is the Sun of righteousness (via, simply katherine); - Hymns on this topic:
# I hardly know myself; / Deceived so much by pride, / I often think I’m right / And am self-satisfied.
# No more I who live, no more self-deceived, / No more in the self’s world indulged to be, / Deep within I know You’re my only love, / My best love is none else but Thee!
# I repent and now return, / Grant my heart for You to burn. / Flame in me this zeal. / Lord, be in me so real!
amen
Amen..
We must be very careful not to have any intention of deceiving others. Even when we say something inaccurate by accident, we should correct it. If we try to consciously say an inaccurate word, we will first deceive others, but in the end, we will fall into self-deception.
In the Old Testament, there is one book, [Malachi,] which shows us what obsessed people are like….In 1:2 it says, “I have loved you, says Jehovah.” This is a fact. Yet the Israelites said, “How have You loved us?” This is obsession. The word which came out of the mouth of the Israelites was different from ordinary lying. They were not afraid to say to God, “How have You loved us?” This proves that they sincerely believed in their heart that God had not loved them. They did not believe the facts; they took falsehood as truth. This is being obsessed. (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 36, pp. 259-261)
amen, Lord Jesus thank you for being my light!