Do No Be Deceived

Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies. ~ Exodus 5:9

How many times has it happened that we receive a Word or promise from God and the enemy immediately ramps up his attacks against us?  I think it happens every time.  It reminds me of Jesus’ teaching in Mark 4 about the farmer who sows seed, which is the Word.  For some people, the Word is sown into their lives, but either due to their having no root or being deceived that word is chocked out of them (see Mark 4:16-20).  When the enemy assaults us with these attacks after we’ve received a Word from God, we need to remember two things: 1) The enemy cannot create something new—as God can—he can only produce a counterfeit of the Truth.  That means if God promises us blessings by following His path, the enemy will come in with a “short-cut” that sounds similar to God’s promises, but will only lead to pain & death in the end.  2) the Bible tells us  that the devil is the “Father of lies” and has come to the earth to “steal, kill, and destroy” all that God has given us and promised to us (see John 8:44; John 10:10).  The devil has come to distract us.  Just as Pharaoh, upon hearing that Moses was sent with the message to let God’s people go, increased the pain of the Israelites, the enemy will try to increase our pain so we are so distracted with what’s in front of us, we will have no time to focus on God’s promises.

Jesus promised us, “In this world you will  have trouble.  But take heart, for I have overcome the world,” (John 16:33).  Jesus knew that as soon as we received a promise from God, the enemy would pounce on us to distract us from going after it.  But, Jesus also assures us that He has overcome the world and the enemy  has no real power over us as long as we continue to walk by faith and not by sight.  So ask yourself today and in the next weeks and months: is what I’m going through as good as all that God has promised me?  If not, don’t be afraid to open your mouth and tell the devil he’s a liar and you’re not going to listen to him anymore!