DISCERNING PRETENSE

• DAY 193
• FAITH FILES: ISRAEL
• SCRIPTURES: EZRA 4:1-3

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the LORD God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

EZRA 4:1-3

When you begin doing the work that God has assigned you to do, you may encounter some individuals who pretend to be helpful or interested in learning from you but have hidden agendas. Although their requests may seem sincere and impressive, their intentions are not genuine.

Disguise Intention

Some time ago, my sister started a business. She was handling everything by herself and needed someone to help, but couldn’t afford it. Suddenly, this young lady decided to join as an intern because she loved what my sister was doing, or so she said. She told my sister, “I admire your work.” My sister thought this intern would be genuine and loved how passionate she was, so she hired her. Since the company is still a start-up, this intern was aware of everything that was happening. However, my sister had no clue that this lady had taken her idea, created an online platform, and was making money from it. The lady used the business name, the model, and even the products and clients. Although this girl joined as an assistant, her true intentions and motives were different. She only joined to learn what my sister’s business was doing and then use it for herself. Unfortunately, her actions caused my sister to experience a huge setback in her business.

In our text today, the Israelites encountered the same kind of attitude from their adversaries. These people were their enemies, the ones who had taken over the land and had caused them fear, as we saw in our study yesterday. These same people approached the Israelites with a request that was not sincere. They said, “We want to join you and help build because we worship the same God as you do.” However, the Israelites rejected their offer because they could see that these people were being deceptive.

Pretense

Pretense can only be discerned by the Holy Spirit. You cannot know by your wisdom when people are out to destroy you instead of help you. You cannot know what is in a man’s heart unless the spirit reveals it.

Beloved, the spirit of discernment is not something you can live without, especially when doing the work of God, you have to be discerning enough to know when someone is coming to destroy you and when someone is coming to stand with you. Your vision and assignment should be like your baby, you cannot give room to anything that will poison it. You cannot be afraid of doing something alone so much that the first help that comes, you accept it without asking God if this person is the person that he had prepared to help you on your journey.

Discern

Prayerfully discern the people that you allow or give access to your vision and let them into your space. Prayerfully discern every single aspect of your life. Because discernment comes from consistent study of the Word, fellowship with the Holy Ghost, and prayer. 

I pray for you today that you will be discerning in every season of your life. That you will not be consumed and overwhelmed by excitement, eagerness, and desire to have people and as a result fall victim to pretense. May you be patient enough to wait for the right people God will send your way. in Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

God bless you.