ULTIMATE DECEPTION
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
A week ago in Texas, while turkey hunting, we used some camouflaged hunting blinds to conceal ourselves from the turkeys. We sat in the blinds and the turkeys had no idea we were there.
For some reason a bird that is very leery and spooky, is also often completely oblivious of a hunter laying it wait. A hunter is a master at camouflaging while laying in wait to harvest a gobbler. If you think about it, satan is the same.
While we have seasons for hunting we need to realize that Satan has no current restrictions on when he can attempt to deceive people. He and his demons are working 24 hours a day, 365 days a year trying to bring as many people as possible with him to hell. One of the names that he has been called is the "ultimate deceiver".
Being an ultimate deceiver defines Satan for what he truly is.... A lier. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and according to John 8:44 "the father of lies". From the very first time Satan appears in the Bible in Genesis 3, he proves this is true. The first words on his lips are planting the seeds of deceit. He asked, "Did God really say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?". And the second words spoken were an outright lie, "surely you will not die". In John 8:44 John writes that Satan "has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. We are dealing with the very essence of deception.
When we look around today and think to ourselves, "how can people be believing the lies being told"? We need to realize that those that are being deceived have no basis for the real truth. Remember, Satan is the god of this world right now and being the ultimate deceiver, he has people following him like kids after the ice cream truck on a hot July day. They are looking for something sweet and instantly gratifying... and when they get it they won't be satisfied so they keep coming back for more.
Even those seeking the real truth are susceptible to Satan's lies. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11:13–15, "Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.
So, Satan has servants who profess enough that the church welcomes them in, and from inside they teach what Paul calls "doctrines of demons" Jesus says in Matthew, they will be like "wolves in sheep's clothing" . Acts 20:30 says they will not spare the flock, but will draw people away to destruction. Without God's gift of discernment, our own brothers and sisters will be drawn in and fooled into believing the lies.
Be careful because we know that Satan is on the hunt to deceive and destroy as many lives as possible. He knows that his time is short and he will take as many down as possible. Make no mistake, Satan is prowling looking for all those that he can devour. (1 Peter 5;8).
Be on high alert.
Help achieve the mission - GIVE today
Click the button to sign up for Dean’s Daily Devotional. FREE and delivered daily.