James 1:22 KJV
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

All that glitters is not gold is a popular adage, which implies that not everything looks valuable or true, and turns out to be like that. This includes people, places, or things that claim to be more worthy than they are. Appearances are often deceptive. Many things may superficially appear very attractive but when they are examined very closely, they prove to be disappointing, sadly, we form our opinion about things based on impression.
Not every shining metal is gold! Not success is real! And not every story is true!
This is a warning for us to be careful in how we see things.
The opening verse of Genesis 3:1 tells us all to be aware of the length the enemy will employ to get us.
Subtle, cunning, and crafty deception is the tool of his trade.
John 10:10 says the enemy is out to steal, kill and destroy the saints of God and he’ll use any means to achieve his goals that will certainly include getting us to transgress against God’s commands, cause us to be degraded, which plays into our pride, and then finally ruin us.
All that glitters is not gold means that looks can be deceiving. Through the airwaves, social media, data cookies, billboards and many more, we are getting suggestions on virtually everything, from where to shop to what to shop, do, go, eat, including how to use our time.
But these are deceptions!
The doctrine of the cross has gradually succumbed to the deceptive tongues of men, pandering to the itchy ears of people to make them feel good about their perceived righteousness. We have become a nation of people who put inactive faith in the place of all moral righteousness.
We endorse the antics of clowns who call themselves ministers of God, entertainers who use the bible for their selfish gain and doomsday preachers whose unforgiving messages are driving God’s people out of the sanctuary.
They all sound like the serpent in Genesis 3:4, twisting the word of truth to deceive.
You shall not surely die—Satan flatly contradicts the assertion of God. The enemy, through deception, insinuates the impossibility of Eve dying, as if he was saying that God has created her immortal, death, therefore, was impossible.
Beware of shiny, glittering, good messages that will give you a good feeling but lead you to eternal doom.
Self-deception is a fool’s gold we all exhibit from time to time, and Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that our hearts are deceitful above all things. Self-deception is one of the easiest traps of the enemy that we can fall into.
We believe and accept deception because the packaging looks good, therefore the content must be good but not according to Jesus in Matthew 23:27, calling the deceptive scribes white-washed tombs. They deceive their followers with their religious air but are rotten to the cores.
They glitter in their ceremonial clothing with the air of righteousness but had no single redeeming character to portray God.
Jesus condemned the fig tree in Mark 11:14 because of its deceptive leaves, an indication of bloom but it had no figs. Its appearance was deceptive.
Take a closer look at that shiny “gold” and don’t be fooled by the glitter.
Shalom