All too often we can recognize deception AFTER the fact, like Eve in Genesis 3. Knowing beforehand the tactics of the enemy should give us ample time to stage a sturdy defense in our lives but somehow we have not learned from the mistakes, experiences or even the stories we have heard all of our lives that have occurred in history. We have to know our adversary's tactics and that the territory that he truly is after is YOU.You and I are the prized territory or more precisely our relationship with God. He doesn't want to capture our attention out of love or desire...satan just simply wants to keep us away from our Creator. We are all born with a sense of wonder and knowing that there is a God out there who is over us and loves us and the weapon of choice that seems quite effective in sabotaging that is DECEPTION.
{Read Genesis 3:1-3}
When the serpent's first attempt at making God seem "unfair" didn't work he moved on to his next test. Eve knew that she was made in God's image and that she was in a perfect and beautiful place so why did she listen to a serpent that was so beneath her in authority?
1. To keep from being led astray, what could Eve have done differently?
Why was she talking to a snake anyway? Think about that....sometimes we find ourselves in a spot that is so shocking to our selves....how did we get here? Eve knew the instructions given by God regarding the garden and the tree and she should not have entertained the thoughts since that was the door that opened herself up. Stopping at the first thought; knowing that it was not RIGHT and then telling Adam would have prevented it from happening. Accountability with others will keep you going the right direction.
2. Do you believe that innocently desiring to defend the Word of God could lead to being deceived? "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by devils". 1 Timothy 4:1. Yes it can. Debating can open your mind to start thinking and believing something that isn't truth...always look to the Bible for truths and not to others opinions...debating never leads to salvation but living out the Word will.
3. Have you ever engaged in a religious debate with someone?
Yes I have and it didn't end well. It is always best to agree to disagree and pray that their hearts will be open to truth. Hostility in debate is the real detriment as well as an attitude that "you are right" that isn't very becoming. I was trying so hard to "unravel" their beliefs and they were debating & using every scripture against me... It is all right to have differences of opinion on the non-essential matters like worship styles or days, pre-trib rapture, post-trib rapture, altars or not. Whether you believe one or the other, do not affect salvation. Yet far too many Christians use these non-essential differences as justification for division and sometimes even insight anger. When this occurs, the love of God in our hearts is sacrificed to our pride. Instead of saying to one another, "I am right and you are wrong," we should be saying something like, "It is certainly possible that you are correct. Now, let's work together to glorify God and expand His kingdom." Perhaps this is too simplistic, but at least it displays an attitude of humility that helps to bring unity. It is the devil that wants us to fall into division and bickering.
4. Do you believe that someone who is "deceived" can misinterpret the "Word of God"? Yes...deception will cause you to "see" things through a filter that isn't God like...you will know them by their "fruits" and that is usually when you will know that someone is deceived. Using the Word out of context or to prove their point isolating scripture etc.
{Read 2 Corinthians 11:3}
Our Adversary will never approach us initially from a point of contention or confrontation but in a place of common ground and in a comfortable or familiar environment to launch his attack. If we lower our guard and let him talk, he has the opportunity to establish a foothold.
{Read Jeremiah 49:16 & Obadiah 1:3}
5. What commanalities do you see between these two scriptures?
The attitude of pride.
6. Does pride play a role in deception? If so, how?
Well, Satan is a deceiver. Paul says that, “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Satan wants us to think that we’re okay, that it’s others who have the problem. Psalm 36:2 describes someone who is full of pride, saying “For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.” This is when we start pointing fingers at others and find ourselves out of God's will and no longer being submissive to leaders etc. Oswald Chambers, in "My Utmost for His Highest", says that pride ascribes God-like attributes to ourselves. We make ourselves God. When that happens, “we are always right, always first, always in control, and always the most important. We want everything to revolve around us and to be for us.”
7. How do denial and pride work together to deceive?
Because admitting that you are wrong is a sign of weakness in this world...it is the opposite of having a humble and forgiving spirit that is called of us in the Bible. Having an un-teachable spirit along with pride we will allow a WALL of deceit to be built around us so that we cannot "see" our true selves. Others will try to break it down but we will call it "hurt" but in actuality people in church or family are can see what you cannot.
8. How can we check ourselves to see if we are self-deceived? Can you face the fact that you have blind spots?
What you see as a personal strength, others may actually see as a weakness! Maybe you see yourself as confident…but others see you as arrogant. Maybe you see yourself as clever…but others see you as sly. Maybe you see yourself as having a strong work ethic…but others see you as neglectful of your family, with warped priorities. I’m also reminded of Matthew 7, verses 1-5: 1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Verse 5 actually says we should judge others! – “then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Precisely because of our tendency of self-deception, we need other believers to gently and kindly bring our blind spots to our attention. It often seems like the only point that people draw out of these verses is “don’t judge others.” They read verse one, and stop. They don’t keep reading. Read all the verses. However, to “see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye”, means we must first pay attention to our own sin! Note verses 3 and 4. You can’t help others unless you first look thoroughly at your own life and deal with your own sins without excuses, rationalization, or evasion! When we have been humbled by our own sinful condition, only then are we in a position to help others face their sins too. I think perhaps the main point of these verses is that: As we grow in grace, we should become more severe in the judgment of ourselves, and more lenient in their judgment of others....this is how we can check for self-deceit. Are we constantly finding ourselves pointing our fingers AT others or seeing the negative in others...then that is a pretty good signs that we are in a state of deception.
The devil is a covenant liar and he misrepresents everything he exchanges in communication and he uses illusion, confusion and diversion to keep engaging us until he can find a loose thread to unravel us. He masquerades himself to pretend something else is going on but in reality it is not; and that is the deception.
{Read 2 Corinthians 11:14}
In June of 1944, an exceptional U.S. Army unit went into action in Normandy. It's weapons included hundreds of inflatable tanks and one of a kind collections of sound effect records and it carried out it battlefield missions without firing a single shot. This unit was known as the "ghost army". Their mission was to create a traveling road show to deceive the Germans about the location and strength of American troops on battlefields accross Europe. They staged 20 battlefield deceptions, employing an array of inflatable tanks, trucks, jeeps and airplanes along with sound tracks, phony radio transmissions and even playacting to fool the enemy. Can you imagine the humiliation of the Germans in finding out that they were forced to retreat by blow up tanks and dummy paratroopers? ha. How sad! But we are standing against an enemy that knows ALL the tactics and if we allow ourselves to be entertained we will open ourselves up to great measures of manipulation. We must know that those who have been successfully deceived are quickly held captive by their own desires. Those who have been deceived already are now deceiving others and we need to know and discern that.
{Read 2 Timothy 3:1-7}
9. What does verse 6 say about the women who are preyed upon?
The women who are preyed upon by deceptive people are the unstable and needy women. These women allow themselves to be taken advantage of and are often the ones who are depressed by their sinfulness and then take up every new religious fad that calls itself "truth." They get exploited every time and never really learn.
10. What weaknesses do they have?
Isolated, unstable, depressed, feelings of guilt, guillable and have never forgiven themselves. For generations women have been viewed by humanity as a whole as the weaker vessel. By looking at the number of childbirths each year, I would say that we are NOT weak in body and by the increasing women CEO's being promoted; we are NOT weak in mind either. Like Eve, women have held a reputation as being "easily overtaken" as stated in the previous scripture , our "weak-will" is the source of this thought.
{Read 2 Timothy 3:13-17}
11. What does the write of Timothy say we should be "convinced of"?
Not to let it faze you.... Stick with what you learned and believed, be sure of the integrity of your teachers—There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
12. What four uses for the scripture are listed in verse 16?
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training.
13. What do those four things equip us to do?
1) Teaching: A guide to life and a souce of absolute truth and timeless principles. 2) Rebuking: Conviction of sin in our lives. 3) Correcting: Helps others and ourselves to get back on track when we go astray; help us learn from our mistakes. 4) Training in Righteousness: Helps us grow in our faith and in developing wisdom for living.
God has equipped women with a natural gift of discernment. When trained by the Word of God this discernment can become our secret weapon again deception! Honing and sharpening this tool will not only add alayer of protection against deception, but also draw us closer to the Spirit of God. Discern defined: perceive or recognize something, distinguish someone or something; "dis"-apart plus "cerne"-to separate. Isn't it just like God to give us a secret weapon against deception that causes the same trauma to the Enemy's camp that he puts on us? The ultimate goal of every attack against us is to separate and his deception is systematic, in hopes of isolating us to destroy us. The spiritual response weapon God has issued us to defend ourselves is discernment. When we possess this gift we will have a "forewarning system" like a radar that will alert the wisdom and knowledge that is in us to speak against the lies in confidence. The Word of God will prevent any firey dart to come against you. Speak the Word over your life and make every thought or word line up with the TRUTH.
{Proverbs Chapter 2}
Story Of The Remote Employee
Imagine you are hired to open up an office in Anchorage, Alaska. Your new boss gives you a high-tech looking two-way radio, a policy and procedure manual, and tells you that you will receive instructions once you arrive, and off you go. Upon arrival you hear your boss's voice over the radio, saying, "I will communicate to you through this radio unit. But take note: our competitors, our enemies, also have access to this channel. They will try to impersonate my voice with false messages to thwart our purposes." "Oh no!" you panic, "Then how will I know if it is you or the enemy giving me instructions?" Your boss's voice comes back over the radio: "Three ways. First, considering the situation, check every message supposedly from me against the policy and procedure manual. Since I wrote it, I'm not likely to ask you to violate it, right? Also, if I am not talking, don't focus in on the noise, pretending that I am. If I am not speaking, let the manual be your guide. Don't let any impersonating voice mislead you, or your own overactive imagination." "Second, since the Manual does not cover every situation, you will have to get to know my voice. I know, this will take time, and so I am not likely to ask you to do anything radical until we both have some low-risk successes under our belts. Remember, I understand the situation perfectly well, so I'll go slow at first. A time will come when I will be able to tell you to do the wildest things, and you will know it is me. In the short-term, you must be trained through low-risk experience." "Third, over time, my overall purpose for your work will begin to come into focus. You will begin to see the grand strategy in the policy and procedure manual, and the overall pattern of my true instructions. When this happens, you'll know instantly if what you hear through your unit is 'of me', just your imagination, or enemy misinformation. False instructions will begin to appear silly to you then. So take heart, and get to work." After reflecting on this a few moments, you hear your boss's voice again on the radio unit. "Take all of the money from petty cash and give it the next person that walks in, no questions asked." Hmmm... You look in the policy and procedure manual, and this is specifically forbidden. Besides, you know your boss wouldn't tell you to do something that risky right off. And also there was an certain "twang" to the voice, an appeal to something different within you, and a plan that was not in the long-term interests of the company. So, even though you are on a hostile channel, you are beginning to have hope that you can indeed do this job. ---this is a great example in discerning and hearing the voice of God.
12. End today's study by writing a personal prayer asking God for the discernment He promises in the Word.
Lord, I pray that you would give me Your wisdom and understanding in all things. I know wisdom is better than gold and understanding better than silver (Proverbs 16:16), so make me rich in wisdom and wealthy in understanding. Thank You that You give wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding (Daniel 2:21). Increase my wisdom and knowledge so I can see Your truth in every situation. Give me discernment for each decision I must make. Please help me to always seek Godly counsel and not look to the world and ungodly people for answers. Thank You, Lord, that You will give me the counsel and instruction I need, even as I sleep. Amen!
---From "When Women War: Common Enemy, Extraordinary Allies" Bible Study
written by Amie Dockery
www.whenwomen.org
