The art of deception is to cause someone to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage. To give a mistaken impression. Or even the failure to admit to yourself that something is true.
Truth is, we've all been deceived. It all starts with a lie. We allow this thought, this lie, to take root and it makes its home in our hearts as reality. When in fact it is not. We are constantly met with these lies. Some of them keeping us from truth almost our entire lives. But that's not where our story ends. Our enemy may be the father of lies, but the good news is our creator is the author of truth.
If we do not want to be deceived, we must head the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:5, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
Stop Tolerating the Enemy's Lies!
You have been given all power and all authority to cast down anything that is not from God. That's why it's so important to know and accept he Word of God as absolute truth. Absolute truth is something that is true at all times and in all places. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."
Most of the time, deception is very hard to see. But once seen, you cannot unsee it. The enemy's goal is to put filters on our eyes to keep us from walking in truth. He does this by making us feel more comfortable in his lies than in God's truth.
A Few Signs You Are Deceived:
- Justification or minimization of sin
- Only agreeing with some parts of the Bible
- Taking Bible verses out of context
- Removing Jesus as the only way to salvation
- Placing your hope and worship in creation rather than the creator
- Prioritizing the advancement of self over the care of others
Think about how much "better" things look with filters on them. Open up Facebook or Instagram and you're bombarded with editing options to change your pictures and your face. You can even save the filters that make you look great - smooth skin, bigger eyes, makeup, a thinner face - it can all be added by one quick filter change.
God Wants you to live life with #nofilter
The danger is when you get so used to the way you look using these filters, that you don't even recognize, or even worse you don't like, the way you look when the filter gets taken away. It's the same thing with our faith. The enemy pokes, pricks and encourages us to change this, or believe that, until we're so far away we think..."How could my creator even know my name?"
When the truth is, He knows your name and everything about you, He could never forget. "See, I have written your name on the plans of my hand," this is the Lord speaking in Isaiah 49:16. The second you decide to stop tolerating the enemy's lies, you will step directly on the path to overcoming an already defeated foe.
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