Unveiling the Deception: Understanding the Battle for Your Soul

”The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”“

Genesis 3:1 NLT

With so many streams of information available at our finger tips, it’s no wonder it becomes tough to know what to believe or ignore. But take just a second, and note something from the scripture above: the very first thing the devil did when he spoke to Eve was to take what God said and twist it. If you have read Genesis, you know this well. God has created everything, made man (humans) in His image, placed them in the garden and told them to tend it, keep it, and take dominion (authority) over His creation. Yes, God gave us authority over His creation. It was our job to take care of and watch over that which He created, hence us being made in His image and likeness.

They can eat of any tree that bears fruit, EXCEPT for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They are not to touch it or take from it. Enter the devil, aka satan, aka the enemy. To save a lot of time and catch everyone up, satan is a fallen angel who was thrown out of heaven because of pride and his main purpose for his remaining days are to steal, kill, and destroy as many of us as he can. So how does he do it? He takes what God has established and created, and he perverts it. He twists it. He tells half truths to get you to believe something that isn’t true.

Now think about all the things you see going on in the world today, and view it through that lense. Can you see it? The devil takes some things and twists it just a little. Some things a lot. Some things he leaves just enough truth in it to make it seem okay. But a half truth is a whole lie. And just like his first encounter with Eve, he introduces doubt. “God didn’t really say…..” the enemy knows full well what God said, but he wants to see just how well we know what God has said. And that is where he operates the most. Scripture says “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”

Here is the truth: we are in the middle of a war, like it or not. No, not the Russia/Ukraine war, not a war in the Middle East, but the war for our very souls. God desires for each and every person to come to know Him through Jesus Christ.

And the enemy? The enemy wants you to be so distracted, deceived, and confused that you don’t even understand what way is up. Why? So you stay separated from the One who made you and seeks to bless you with a life you never thought possible.

“Then why does a good God send people to hell?” He doesn’t. He actually made a way for you to be awakened to the truth, give you power over the enemy, and set you up for not just an eternity in heaven, but a blessed life right now.

It all comes back to choice. That’s why the enemy wants you to think God is oppressive and like a dictator. That following Him means a life of do’s and dont’s. But it couldn’t be further from the truth. The very illusion of freedom the devil presents to you is the very thing that enslaves you. We become subject to every desire of our flesh.

Controlled by impulses and emotions. Our love no longer resemble a journey but rather a roller coaster of insanity.

But Jesus said “come to Me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Does that sound like an oppressive and harsh God? No. Because He isn’t. He has nothing but good things for each one of us, but to receive it, we must choose it. We choose Him over ourselves.

Grab hold of this truth: time as we know it is winding down. God is calling you home, into His arms, and to a place in His house. What do you have to lose? Depression? Anxiety? Stress? God is calling you. Answer the call. Break the power of lies and the enemy right now. All it takes is a heart cry to Christ.

Jesus, I believe You are the Savior of the world. I believe You gave Your life to pay the penalty that was mine for my sins. I repent (turn away from) of all my sins and ask You to come into my heart and be my Lord and my Savior. It’s that simple. I pray for anyone who is struggling right now, and encourage you to run to God, not away from Him. He has great things for you. I love you, and more importantly; God loves you. Blessings.

Be Humble

”So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.“

1 Peter 5:6-7 NLT

It is incredibly easy to make things more difficult than they need to be. If we’re going to be completely and totally honest, there is one reason: pride. Regardless of how small the situation may be, we like to be able to say “I did it” or “I didn’t need any help.” Think about it; what is one of the first things out of peoples mouths when a goal is achieved, a milestone reached, or a performance won? “You must be so proud!” 

Now don’t misunderstand, there isn’t anything wrong with having a sense of satisfaction or excitement for such things, but pride is something all together different. Satisfaction or gratification is the joy from accomplishing, but pride wants everyone to know “that was all me, look what I did!” But we often blur those lines, and in doing so bring about twisted thought processes in our approach to things. This becomes especially apparent when it comes to our faith. When we said yes to Jesus, the only part we played in being saved is literally saying yes. That’s it. It was everything HE DID that makes eternal salvation attainable. 

And that is why so many of us in the Western church get stuck once we are saved. Everything else has the tendency to take on a “works mentality.” We base our ability to grow in our faith on how much we do for God. But there is no where in scripture that suggests we are to live that way. There is nothing we can do on our own to bring the growth and the maturity God desires. Only He can do that.

And how does it come? Humbling ourselves. Submitting to the Spirit for guidance. Not just in some things, no family, in ALL things. And that’s why things get tricky. We want to just live our lives the way we’ve always lives them, and only allow God to help in the big areas where we can’t handle it. But God isn’t a part time parent, and He isn’t an ATM machine that’s only a part of our lives for the transactions we desire. On the contrary, He is quite the opposite. He wants it all! Every little part of our lives. Every little area we think is unimportant, He wants to be involved in it. Why? Because He wants to make your foundation strong in Him!

If we can’t walk according to His word and His ways in the small things, we will NEVER be able to handle the big things the way He desires. So in our prayer time, let’s ask the Spirit to show us those areas we need to humble ourselves in, and listen to what He has to say. Don’t be discouraged in what He says! He wants you to ask so He can show you where things need to change and bring about the abundant life He has for you! As you do this, HE WILL LIFT YOU UP to heights we could never achieve on our own!! Be blessed as our Father works all things together for your good!!

From Lucifer to Redemption: The Power of Choice in the Battle for Our Souls

Before he was known as Satan, he was Lucifer. The highest of all the angels, the most beautiful of them all. He stood before God’s throne. But he became infatuated with himself, his beauty, and decided rather than worship God, he would make himself a throne and set it above God so he could be worshipped. This got him thrown out of heaven. His desire to be worshipped over God. And when he showed up in the garden, what was the first thing he did? Went to Eve and caused her to question what God said. It wasn’t to set her or Adam free, it was to get them to forfeit their authority and separate them from God. Cause confusion, divide, and conquer. All for the purpose of defeating us.

Satan knew he couldn’t take our authority, we had to give it up. Don’t get it twisted, he wants us dead. He does not like us, all he wants is for us to suffer his fate: eternity in hell. God is good, and He doesn’t send anyone to hell. It’s actually us who determine where we go. It’s our choice, because if He forced it on us, it wouldn’t be love. Which brings us to this last place: If someone you love was an alcoholic and they struggled mightily with it, and they were so drunk they were in danger of hurting themselves or others, are you going to buy them a drink and encourage them to keep going, or would you be willing to tell them that what they’re doing is going to kill them and they need help, even if that makes them mad? If you love them, you would tell them the truth.

Love isn’t about making sure someone feels good, love is about what’s best for the person. Even if it’s hard to say. You can’t force it, you can’t make them, but you can tell the truth and be completely up front. It’s up to them what they do with it. Same goes with God. He’s given us the Truth and the Way, and His name is Jesus….its up to us what we do with it. Just know that when He comes back, that’s it. There’s no do-overs. There’s no one more chance. He has blessed us with a lifetime of opportunities to choose Him and receive life, or choose what we want and receive death. Choose wisely.