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The Power of
Deception
By Andy Zoppelt
Satan's Stealth
The power of deception is to conceal the act and
works of the devil. Deception's power is in its source and the content
that is hidden from us. When Satan temps us, he doesn't say "I am the
devil and I want you to obey me." We receive emotions and thoughts
that are linked to our ego, to our desires and we make decision on
that basis. Satan does not give us his "bible" so that we would be
familiar with his influence over us. No! Satan does not want us to
know when we are obeying him. There is no book that says, 1 devil 5:2,
"When you have a problem, focus on yourself and your inabilities, this
will give me great pleasure and the opportunity to destroy you." No!
we do not see the Devil, nor are we aware that it is him. He hides
himself in deception and causes us to walk in darkness. His ability is
in the power to "hid."
No one would willing fall down before Satan and say
"I want to please you and bring glory to your name and give you the
opportunity to destroy me." Even though Satan has no written word, we
often find ourselves doing the very things that please him.
Deception will cause us to blame God for many
things, where in reality those things come from Satan. Deception
causes us to position ourselves with Satan against God that is how the
devil is worshipped through subtle schemes.
Because we are not obedient to the written word
that God has given us, we, by default fall to Satan's lordship.
"Don't you know that when you offer
yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves
to the one whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which
leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?"
(Rom 6:16, NIV)
Whose Servant are you?
Paul makes it clear that ignorance does not remove
the "fact" of whom we serve. Because we have no knowledge that we are
obeying Satan's deceptions, doesn't change the fact that we are his
servants. If in fact we are doing the things that please Satan and his
kingdom, we are therefore his deceived and subdued servants. Our
"Choice," determines the person we love and serve. Obedience is the
dividing line of whom we are serving. "If" we are saved, we will not
read the bible to get information….. we will read it to get
instructions.
Consider the following verses in light of the
Lordship of Christ and true salvation.
Heb 5:9, "And having been made perfect, He
became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal
salvation," (NAU)
A very specific group will enjoy eternal salvation:
"those who obey Him." Grace is not the gift of God to learn
about Him, but the power to obey Him. Grace and truth are inherently
linked to Jesus. If you want more grace, you must walk in more truth
and vise versa.
We have to be determined to make Jesus everything
or we will fall into deception and ignore Him to a large extent. We
pamper sin and the sinner. We don't want to be offensive or too strict
or restrictive…. that is deception par excellence.
John 8:51, "I tell you the truth (no deception),
if anyone keeps my word, he will never see
death." (NIV)
John 14:15 "If you love Me,
you will keep My commandments." (NAU)
Plain and simple, if we love someone, we will
please them. When we mix a lot of theological twisting and fancy
interpretation with the simple word, we are distorting and destroying
the simple meaning that Jesus has presented. By permitting such
actions we are deceived by the power of Satan to having us obey him.
John 15:10 "If you obey my
commands, you will remain in my love, just as
I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love." (NIV)
I Jn 2:3-4, "By this we know that we have
come to know Him, (How?) if we keep His commandments.
The one who says (the deceived person), 'I have come to know
Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar (he
is deceived), and the truth is not in him." (NAU)
Luke 6:46, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,'
and do not do what I say?" (NIV)
Simply, why would we call someone our Lord and not
make Him the Lord and obey Him? It is an oxymoron, it is inconsistent,
it is a paradox… it is deception!
Deception is the most powerful tool in Satan's
arsenal. Through it, Satan can make us feel we are ok, when in reality
we are living a lie. Satan can divide the church, the family and our
own walk with the Lord and cause us to believe we are pleasing or in
good standing with the Lord.
As long as the Devil can hide in darkness and
convince us to unknowingly follow him, he will be eternally grateful
to us. Emotional problem, addictions, passive Christians and fighting
Christians are bound by the powers of Satan through deception. Our
pride, our wants and lusts are the vails that Satan hides behind to
deceive us. He uses the power of the unseen to destroy us. When we are
"getting into ourselves," his power is planning the next step.
The opposite of deception is truth. That is why
Jesus said that "the truth will make you free." Truth will give us
what is real and needed to be totally free. As we walk in obedience to
truth, Jesus manifests and unveils Himself. When we walk in the truth
(light), we don't see our life, we see His. When we walk in Satan's
lie, we don't see Satan, we see ourselves.
Consider 2 Cor 3:18, for a moment, "But we all,
with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory
of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." (NAU)
The Mirror
When a person looks into a mirror, they usually see
their reflection. But when the true-unveiled believer looks into the
mirror, he sees Jesus. Why? Because, Jesus is his life. As we walk
closer to the Lord, the Lord gives us a revelation of Himself and
gives us His life. Paul made that point clear in Gal 2:20, "I have
been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me…" (NAS)
And also in Col 3:4, "When Christ, who is our
life, is revealed…" (NAS)
That is why the true believer sees things through
the eyes of Jesus. Jesus reveals Himself to the believer and the
believer lives by the life of Christ. The believer sees Jesus in other
brothers and in every situation. Christ is his victory, his life, his
hope, etc.. The true believer doesn't live by his circumstances or
feelings, but Christ's life and victory. I live by Jesus' feelings
until they conquer mine. The true believer doesn't fight to obtain the
victory, he obtains the victory and fights from the victory.
His peace is a person, his victory is a person, and his life is in a
person and so on.
As we believe in Jesus, He reveals and unveils
Himself to us. The opposite is true of the powers of deception working
through the Devil; deception disguises the Devil and causes us to
focus on ourselves. Truth illuminates us and causes us to focus on
Jesus and seeing Him.
Anointing Points To Jesus
The Devil will always point to you, while the Holy
Spirit will always point to Jesus. The power of ego will either lift
you up in pride or tear you down in depression and frustration.
The power of humility will lift up Jesus and your
brothers in the Lord.
The Devil doesn't want us to see him, he loves and
uses his disguise very well. He is interested in distracting us from
our mission, he wants to hinder our loving and living by Christ in
faith and obedience.
Conclusion
Satan will always draw a hopeless and disparaging
picture for us. He will frustrate and confuse the issues. He will put
life constantly out of our reach. Our selfish needs will never be
totally satisfied. Satan will have us blame God for holding out on us.
Satan will hid himself until he can kill us - and then he will reveal
himself to us - then it will be too late. Jesus made it clear that we
are not to be deceived. We need council, we need fellowship, we need
leadership, we need to follow God's word and obey Him.
We are all deceived to the degree we submit to the
"self-centered" life. I pray that we will see the work of Satan behind
the confusion, the frustration, the depression and the death. I pray
that we will walk in the light as He is in the light. "Sir we would
see Jesus!"
We appreciate your comments or
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