At the beginning of creation, the devil approached Eve with a lie to come between her and God. He convinced her that God Who created her, was evil, withholding things from her.
This was the opposite of what was really happening. God created Eve and gave her perfect life in a perfect place so that she could enjoy the best of everything. She had no need of anything; it was all set before her. This was God's great love for mankind.
The devil's most effective tactic of ruining the relationship between God and His creation was to convince His creation that God was mean, evil and uncaring.
Genesis 3:1-5 "1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The devil is using the same tactic today against believers in Christ whose desire is to obey God because of their great love for Him.
He is convincing those who do not love God that the followers of Christ are rude and mean for expressing the principles and commands of God to help them find their way to Christ.
We are living in an epidemic of family destruction and community rebellion against God. The devil is delighted when he can incite rioting, irrational accusations, and claims that the people of God are the ones causing all of it with their standards and rules.
We see this in unreasonable, illogical, and absurd decisions making the good guys look bad and the raging, angry people look legitimate.
We see this in community decisions in government, in court cases, in family interactions, in churches, and in every venue of our culture.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
It is not a good idea to dwell on all this continually but is hard to ignore because it affects our lives. we must not fill our minds with too many details about what is going on, but it is vitally important to recognize it when it crosses our path.
Why do we need to recognize the tactics of the devil? The reason is simple, if we do not know what is going on we will be sucked into the drama and plots in ways that diminish our walk with Christ.
In 2 Timothy 3:5 we are told to avoid people who have been walking with the devil, disrupting what is good, accusing followers of Christ of false things, and making those controlled by the devil think that believers are the problem, while those controlled by him are the ones causing all the trouble.
The devil has not changed his tactics since the beginning; we can recognize them now in our time.
1 Peter 5:7-9 …7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.…
When someone tries to convince us that someone else is evil because they are following the Bible, we know where that comes from: the devil Himself.
Those who use the Bible, twisting it to fit the culture, are being led by the devil. They use the Bible to negate God rather than speak truth that is helpful; they destroy it. They add their own words to God's, deceiving many.
When you are one person believing God and obeying Him, there will be many other people working against you to discredit you as though you are doing something wrong. At the very least these people will not back you up making you look completely unsupported by those who would claim to love you.
Don't let this discourage you. We do not always have the support of others when we trust in Christ, but we will always have Him. He lives in us, and He is all we need.
Proverbs 3:4-6 "…4 Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
Keep looking up, we are going home soon!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment