A Thief and A Liar
FRESH FRUIT
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But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve
by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure
devotion to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3)
Some
Christians may believe that the deceiver of this world has no influence on
those who believe in Christ. We know that Satan deceives the world and those
who don’t believe in God. The world is influenced and drawn away from God and
is deceived and blinded to the truth. But Christians are also attacked by Satan
as he tries to steal our very souls back from the salvation provided by
Christ’s death on the cross for our sins.
We see that even though Adam and Eve had a perfect
relationship with God, they also had free will and were deceived into breaking
their covenant with Him. If God’s first created humans could be tempted to
disobey while in the garden, we, living in this sinful world, most certainly
can and are tempted daily.
When he (Satan) lies, he speaks out of his own
character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44b)
Satan is evil incarnate
in as much as he influences those around us. He has no truth in him and he is
after us. To our detriment, there is not a lot of teaching or preaching about
the devil these days. But the warnings
to us are throughout God’s word. Christ cautioned and informed us of Satan’s
intent. The disciples and the apostle Paul spoke of his rebellion against God
and to be wary. Yet, we don’t want to talk about the devil for a variety of
reasons.
Some people may believe
in God, but not the devil. This is not scriptural and is one of Satan’s
deceptions. If there is no devil, then there is no hell, so we can go on doing
as we please, living lives of sin.
Some feel that talking
about Satan or hell is a scare tactic and will drive people away from Christ
instead of towards Him. They believe that we should only talk about Christ’s
great love. This is also a great lie of the devil. Making us fearful of talking
about him allows him to draw people into his darkness because we are not
knowledgeable enough to be wary. The less we know about him, the less we are
able to fight against him.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and
destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
Christ came to destroy
the devil’s work, his deception of Adam and Eve, his power over us, and to give
us the life we were intended to have. If we take Satan out of the equation,
there is no reason for Christ to have died. Information is power. We cannot
allow our eyes to be blinded to fact that the devil is the cause of all evil,
pain and suffering. How can we fight an enemy we know nothing about?
Even sports teams study
their opponents before a game. We must know the tricks, the lies, the ways he
will try to steal from us and be ready. We cannot give him any opportunity to
affect our lives or our witness for Christ. We must be bolder in telling the
world to beware. This is one of the reasons the world is as it is.
Satan is here to steal the
souls of the world and of Christians too, but if he can’t steal our souls he
will settle for stealing our joy. We may think we are protected and it is true
as the Holy Spirit strengthens us to resist, but we also live in the world and
are affected by what is happening around us. Even though we have accepted
Christ into our hearts and lives, and been forgiven of our sins, we still have
the ability to choose which way we will turn in every situation.
And give no opportunity to the devil. (Ephesians
4:27)
God is love and the
message of His love is the most important, but we can’t avoid learning about
and being ready to fight against His enemy. Gods enemy is our enemy and he will
use every trick and every lie and will try to steal every joy from believers to
cause us to join him in hell. Yes, hell exists in some form and those who turn
from God will spend eternity there.
Satan is a thief and a
liar. Be aware and be watchful. When we are depressed, angry, fearful, mean or
any other way that is opposite of God’s love, we are falling for Satan’s
tricks. He may be the god of this world, but he is not our God and he is not really
a god at all. He is only a fallen, sinful angel whose pride caused him to lose
everything. At the final judgment, he will be cast into the pit forever.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter
5:8)
Prayer:
Oh God, the one and only true God, thank you for allowing us to have free will.
Help us to use it wisely, choosing only those things that are pleasing to you.
Deliver us from evil and the lies of the devil. His deception is all around us
as he tries to steal our souls, but you have surrounded us with your love and given
us your Holy Spirit for protection. We ask for your angels to surround and
protect us as the world sinks more deeply into sin. Let us be aware when we are
under attack and strengthen our pure devotion to Christ. Amen
I agree, well said. xx
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