Deceived

Not everything is as it appears.

Our neighbor’s dog, Bella, saw this “stick” and jumped into the pond to retrieve it.  She thought it was floating, so she tried to grab but it would not move.  She tried again but it still would not move.  It was not a floating stick but actually a bush that was growing from the bottom of the pond and this was one of its branches.  The rains had raised the water and hid the bush.  The branch looked deceivingly like a floating branch to Bella.  She soon gave up.  I thought of the great deceiver, Satan, and all his schemes to fool the people in this world.

            It began all the way back to the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden.  Satan didn’t slither up to Eve and attack her with weapons to win his war.  He used something I believe was much more dangerous, subtle deceit.  He twisted and turned the truth until it sounded good to her and then the Fall happened. He turned Adam and Eve’s thinking away from God and He has been trying to do this ever since.     

There are false teachers, false teachings all over the world.  God warns us about being deceived. Matthew 24:4, “Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.”  Ephesians 5:6, “Let no one deceive you with empty words.”  11 Thess. 2:3. “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way.”  James 1:16, “Don’t be deceived…every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  This is just a few of the many scriptures He gave us to warn us of deceit.

            He also gives us guidelines to go by to determine what is true and what is false: 

     1.   Do the teachings confirm scripture?

     2.   Do they speak of Jesus Christ being the Son of God who came to Earth as a man to die for our sins?

                 3.    Do these teachers live morally by God’s Word?

                 4.   Are the teachings consistent with the Bible?

            Any teaching that contradicts God’s Word is false.

            Some people say they believe part of the Bible but not all of it.  This is saying that some of it is true and some is false.  The Bible says ‘All scripture is inspired by God”, 2^nd Timothy 3:16. Here are my thoughts:

            Our awesome God, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, in all His power and majesty, inspired a book for us, the Bible, with His words; His truth is God breathed. He is not going to allow falsehoods and contradictions to sit in that book next to His truths.  He banished the deceiver, the father of lies, from Heaven and from the Garden of Eden.  Do you think He would allow untruths to sit in His Word?  I don’t think so!

            He gave us the truth so we could recognize the false.  God spoke to us through His Word so that we could genuinely know Him.  Why would He confuse us with lies sitting next to His words?  This is not consistent with His character.  One of the greatest acts of love on His part was to give us Himself through His Word.  He wanted us to know Him, not to be confused.

            Some would say, “I want to have an open mind.”  Good, fill it with the truth and be careful, because Satan would love to have an open mind where there is room to fill it with his lies.  We are either for Christ or we are not.  There is no middle ground.  Christ says is Matt. 12:30, “He who is not with me is against me.”  We cannot be neutral either with Christ.  The bible says if you are, you are playing on Satan’s team and that is not a good team to be on!  You will lose!

            God gave us the truth, warned us of the false, and leaves the decision up to us.

Genesis 4:7 says, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you but you must master it.”  How do we master it?  To know Truth so well, we recognize the deceiver.  We are to bring ALL things under the Lordship of Christ.  When we do this, the deceiver will flee.

            The truth has endured for centuries.  Lives have been saved, restored, and healed from the truth.  If we accept the truth, our eternal home will be with the author of truth. If we do not accept the truth, we will spend eternity in Hell with the great deceiver for all time.

            Satan, the deceiver, did not win the battle for man’s soul in the garden.  When Jesus breathed His last breathe on Calvary’s Hill, and the words were heard, “It is finished”, Christ won the victory!  Hallelujah!

            Before getting hold of certain lessons or teachings, check out the roots or what is anchoring it first.  Is it solid in the foundation of the Rock, or is it in the mud and muck, or is it so wishy-washy, it will all wash away?

            Bella saw something that appealed to her and she went for it in a flash.  When something is appealing to us as far as teachings, let’s check out the anchoring before diving in.

              

                                                     “Watch out that no one deceives you.” 

                                                                          Matthew 24:4