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September, 2001

DECEPTION
BY MARILYN CONRAD

"But wicked men and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and leading astray others and being deceived and led astray themselves."
2 Timothy 3:13

We are warned over and over again in the Word of God to guard against deception, especially in the last days. Deception is the tool Satan will use to trap many believers.

Some time ago our ministry received a warning from the Lord to guard against deception. Several articles appeared in the newsletter in the months afterward and we developed a unit of curriculum on deception. Following are important insights into deception gleaned from this lesson.

Deception plays an important role in the breakup of every marriage. One or both partners become convinced that "the love is gone and the marriage will never work." Deception often gets to the point where one or both partners believe that they are divorcing for the good of the other person.

By its very nature deception is difficult to understand. We cannot recognize deception as long as we are deceived. When we have a mate who has entered into deception, we cannot understand their actions. Often, we try to reason with them, but to no effect.

We need to understand the enemy's tool of deception so that we will not be overcome by evil or be destroyed by a lack of knowledge. "Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21) "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you shall be no priest to me: seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children." Hosea 4:6

Webster's Dictionary defines deception as deceiving, deluding, beguiling, or ensnaring. To deceive is to cause to believe an untruth; it implies the imposing of a false idea or belief that causes bewilderment or helplessness or furthers the agent's purpose.

SUBTLETY OF DECEPTION

Basic to the condition of being deceived is not realizing that you are, in fact, deceived. In other words, deceived people do not know that they are deceived, deluded, beguiled, or ensnared. When a person is deceived, not only their actions are affected, but also their perceptions of others' actions and motives. Their perception is based on deception.

Deception is both gradual and subtle. By its very nature, deception is difficult, if not impossible, to recognize in yourself. The story of Samson in Judges 16:4-20 illustrates this.

Because Samson hardened his heart toward God with regard to ungodly relationships, he entered into deception. As the story unfolds, the subtle nature of deceptions is revealed. Samson did not realize that he was deceived. Deception blinded him to the character of his sin. While he resisted Delilah's many attempts to cause him to compromise, the deception progressed until he became so weary that he told her the true nature of his strength.

Deception gradually robbed Samson of his walk with God to the extent that he was not even aware of the presence or absence of God in his life. In verse 20 we read, "But he did not know the Lord had left him." As a result of deception Samson lost his God-given strength and Israel lost an effective leader against its enemies.

Persons who are deceived grow unable to understand the true nature of things in the area in which they are deceived. They lose the ability and discernment to recognize what is not of God.

PROGRESSION OF DECEPTION

Just as with an infection, deception must have an opening for it to gain entrance and begin its progressive growth. Satan seeks an entrance through our human weaknesses; he probes for a doorway through temptation. Our enemy tempts us today in the same way he tempted Eve (Genesis 3:6) by trying to create doubt in God's Word. Evil imaginations also provide an opening for deception (Job 3:25). The devil will try to create worry and anxiety over negative situations; he attempts to make us think about what COULD happen.

When we judge others, seek revenge, fail to forgive, hold on to bitterness, and refuse correction, we give opportunity to Satan to begin the process of deception.

EFFECTS OF DECEPTION

Deception and disobedience cannot be separated. Where you find one, you will find the other. Where disobedience takes root, insensitivity to the Holy Spirit grows. "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as (happened) in the rebellion (of Israel) and their provocation and embitterment (of Me) in the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tried (My patience) and tested (My forbearance) and found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years.

" And so I was provoked (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them.

"Accordingly I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest. (Therefore beware) brethren; take care lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart—which refuses to cleave to, trust in and rely on Him—leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God.

"But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened (into settled rebellion) by the deceitfulness of sin—(that is,) by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamour of his sin may play on him. For we have become fellows with Christ, the Messiah, and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation (in virtue of which we are believers) firm and unshaken to the end.

"Then while it is (still) called day and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion (in the desert, when the people provoked and irritated and embittered God against them)." Hebrews 3:7-15 Amplified

Another result of entering into deception is the inability to keep commitments and tell the truth. When a mate who claims to be a Christian acts in violation of Word of God, it is incredible. They are blinded and do not recognize the error. "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." (Ephesians 4:18) When we deal with someone who blows up or gets angry, remember that anger and hatred are fruits of deception. "Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation." Proverbs 26:26

GOD'S STANDARD

No matter what appearances or the situation looks like, we can believe God's Word. Isaiah 60:2 says, "For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." Darkness may get stronger and stronger, but God's light grows brighter and brighter! Hallelujah! It may seem that deception is like the flood in Isaiah 59:19; however, we serve a God who can raise up a standard and put the enemy to flight if we will not just stand, but also couple God's Word with corresponding actions. "No weapon formed against you will prosper." Isaiah 54:17

Besides teaching on the nature of deception, the progression of deception, and the effects of deception, the curriculum lesson shows how to gain freedom from deception. Many scriptural examples of deception are cited along with a prayer for freedom from deception.

PROTECTION AGAINST DECEPTION
BY MARILYN CONRAD

Several years ago Marilyn Phillipps of Marriage Ministry International (MMI) shared with me a dream she had, a dream warning against deception. In the dream the Lord showed Marilyn many couples were reconciling and how the devil is going to try and stop the harvest of healed marriages.

Satan plans to do this through deception. He will try to cause men and women who are standing for their marriages to change their minds when their mates are ready to return home.

How could the enemy deceive those of us who are standing for our marriages? After all, we have spent months and years praying and believing God for our mates and our marriages. We feel that our mates are the ones who are deceived, not us! The Bible warns us about deception so we must guard against this trap of the enemy. So then, how can we protect ourselves?

The first question we should ask ourselves is, "Are we spending quality time in the Word and prayer? Or have we let down?" After my husband first left me I already had a daily quiet time with the Lord. My hurt and pain drove me to increase my time in His presence and in reading the scriptures. I began setting the alarm fifteen minutes earlier each week until I was getting up at 5:00 and 5:30 each morning.

At first I really had to use discipline. I sometimes fell asleep. It didn't take long to learn that I had to get out of bed and go to the kitchen and make a pot of coffee. Before long I woke up without the alarm, and I looked forward to those times with Jesus when He taught me, healed me, and spoke many things to my heart.

Divorce brings mental torment and causes emotional wounds. It is through God's word that we renew our minds and accomplish His perfect will in our lives. Healing for our lives and marriages is God's will. "And be not conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2

BEWARE OF DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS

Lack of prayer and not reading the Word of God produces double-mindedness. A double-minded person is confused and undecided in every step he or she takes. Paul recognized this and cautioned the Ephesians in Chapter 4, Verse 14. James also warns against double-mindedness in his first chapter, in Verses 6-8, "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. That man should not think that he shall receive anything from the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."

Satan attacks our minds. It is important to recognize that our mind is a battlefield. Our thoughts affect our emotions and our actions. Negative thoughts bring doubt, discouragement, depression, and defeat. If Satan can't keep you down, he will try to make sure that you are double-minded and steal from you in that way. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and He will draw close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." James 4:7-8

Refuse to let your mind dwell on negative thoughts. "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…." (Proverbs 23:7) We must cast down the negative thoughts in the name of Jesus. "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Praise is a weapon against the enemy and a shelter for your mind. You can't praise God and listen to the devil at the same time.! When the enemy begins to bring negative thoughts and vain imaginations against your mind, put on a praise tape and begin to worship the Lord. Remember, praise stills the avenger.

It is easy to praise God when we are at church or meeting in our Covenant Keepers group. But do we praise Him when we are alone. when no one else can see or hear us? It is what we do and say when we are alone that really matters!

GET THE DETAILS

Another way to avoid deception is by receiving and obeying specific instructions from God. The Bible is the logos (general word) and gives God's will and purpose. However, we must also spend time in the Word and prayer to receive God's rhema (specific word) about our marriages. God is a God of details, and we have to receive from Him the specific details showing how we are to walk out our healing. Once we receive the details, we must obey them. If we don't, we may have to walk through some situations God never intended us to experience.

Take the example of Abraham and Sarah. God's promise to them was that they should have a son. They did not trust God and wait on Him, but they tried to make it happen themselves. The result was Ishmael, the son born to Hagar, Sarah's handmaiden. Ishmael is the outcome of man trying to make God's Word work—an Ishmael is the arm of the flesh. Conflict and problems in the Middle East today are a result of Abraham not following God's specific details.

Noah had to follow the details God gave him when he built the ark. He couldn't add to them or leave anything out. If Noah could not follow directions, he might have ended up with an elephant without a stall. Can you imagine what a problem that would have been in the close confines of the ark? I believe some of us have our own elephants without stalls (problems) because we fail to get specific directions or failed to follow specific directions for our marriages (and other life situations). We knew God's general plan, but either didn't know to get specifics or just wouldn't take the time to do so.

I had a dream about my husband. He was standing with three very large animals, an elephant, a camel, and a giraffe. He looked so funny with these animals, but he didn't know that. They were his pets and he was very comfortable with them. We can become friends with our problems.

We are living in the last days and Satan has targeted our marriages for destruction. The current generation is the second since the divorce crises of the '60s. After forty years of easy and widespread divorce we have no father figures of authority, drugs and alcohol are epidemic, physical and sexual abuse and perversion are skyrocketing, and 30-40% of fathers who divorce never see their children again after the divorce.

The home is the cement that holds society together. Divorce, abortion, and homosexuality are rampant in our nation. How do we fight against this tide? Just as we come against the spirit of pride by humbling ourselves, just as we destroy the spirit of religion by being as free as we can during worship, and just as we overcome the spirit of poverty by sowing seed, we overcome the spirit of divorce, homosexuality, and abortion by developing strong marriages, homes, and families.

The devil has targeted marriages because he hates the blood of Christ. Blood represents covenant—our everlasting covenant with the Father. Marriage is also a blood covenant and is a type and shadow of Christ and His death on the cross for His bride, the Church. The consummation of the marriage vows produces blood from the bride, a virgin. Satan hates the blood and he tries to destroy everything that represents our covenant with Jesus.

One reason pre-marital sex is so wrong is because the bleeding of the bride's hymen represents the shedding of the blood in covenant. What God intends to be a beautiful expression for Christians is being utterly destroyed. Christian teens and young adults, men and women, are no longer remaining virgins until marriage.

Charisma Magazine, as long ago as 1991, noted that each day 2,800 teenage girls got pregnant, over 1,100 teens had abortions, and almost 400 young girls had miscarriages. You can see that many young adults do not understand the importance of marriage as a blood covenant and the desirability of remaining pure until marriage.

BLATANT REBELLION

Sexual immorality in the Body of Christ must stop. As Christians, and especially as covenant keepers, we need to be like Phinehas in the 25^th chapter of Numbers. Israel had joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was very angry against them. As the people were weeping and repenting at the doorway of the tent of meeting, an Israelite man blatantly brought a Midianite woman into the camp in the sight of Moses and all the people. When Phinehas saw it, he arose, took a spear in his hand, and went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the Midianite woman.

We must be zealous for the honor of God and fight the spirits of fornication and adultery in the camp, the Church. We must repent for the Body of Christ and do spiritual warfare. Fornication and adultery are so covered by God's "grace" today that there is no longer any shame connected with it. This attitude results in a lack of godly sorrow and repentance.

In verse 16 God says to Moses, "Be hostile to the Midianites and strike them. For they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor…." The children of Israel were deceived by the tricks of the Midianite women. To trick means to bluff, deceive, dupe, fool, and outwit. We need to bind the devil and his tricks of deception, and we need to loose honesty, loyalty, and sincerity to the moral standard that God holds up in His Word against fornication and adultery.

Let us join together in this prayer for our marriages and families:

Father, we thank you for your Word and for the Blood of Jesus. We cover ourselves and our families with the Blood. We pray protection over our mind and come against the attacks of the enemy, especially deception. We thank you, Father, that our minds are renewed by Your Word and that no weapon formed against us shall prosper. Deception, you shall not prosper. We speak death to you and all the plans of the enemy.

We rebuke double-mindedness. We refuse it. We choose to be single-minded and believe God's Word. We cast down vain imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. We choose to praise You, Father, and not to listen to the devil.

Father, we ask for specific details for the healing of our marriages. We thank you that your plan is a good plan, and we choose to follow You. We come against the attacks of the enemy on our homes and families and render them null and void. We repent for sexual immorality in the Body of Christ. Forgive us, Father. We hold up Your standard for marriage and for sexual purity in our young people. We bind the devil and his tricks of deception and loose honesty, loyalty, and purity. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Prodigals will return to the Son in 2001!