A one sided love is painful to watch. In Today’s study we would be looking at Hosea 11, exploring Israel's indifference to God’s show of love and patience.

False prophets are punished for their deception. While they know they are falsely representing God, and leading people astray they do it for selfish reasons. For one to be able to decipher an information if it is true or false, one must know one scriptures, pray to God discernment and thirdly test all spirits.

The bible admonishes us in 2 Timothy 2:15

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

There is an effort and discipline we have to put into the study of the scriptures for ourselves. It is a personal responsibility every Christian has. Listening to sermons and preaching cannot replace one's personal study of the scriptures. Studying the scriptures presents our mind, and spirit to God’s word to inform and change our mindset. When we discover a principle or truth from the scriptures it gives one clarity and safeguards when one encounters a false teaching.

The bible says to ask God for discernment. Psalms 119:66 reads;

Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands. We can pray to God to teach and give us discernment.

The Bible enjoins us to test all spirits. In 1 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.

Since false teachings aim is to deceive, and deception itself is not glaring. A believer must be on guard to test all spirits, all messages that they listen to or read by the word of God to ensure validity before accepting it. Deception was what made Eve eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis. So as believers, we need to be on our guard.