We Are So Easily Deceived

1 Tim. 4:1 - Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.
Colossians 2:8 - See to it that no one takes you captive by philosopy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits/principles of this world, and not according to Christ.
Acts 13:10 - "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?"
Daniel 8:25 - By his coming, he shall make deceit prosper under his hand, and in his own mind he shall become great. Without warning he shall destroy many. . . .
Rev. 12:9 - And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient sperpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

"Deceit" = the act of intentionally giving a false impression; a false representation made with the intent to induce reliance by the other party; misrepresentation. (Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Ed.)

If I were to sell you a house and tell you that all of your best dreams will come true in this house. You will be blessed here and have joy here and be satisfied every day of your life. You believe me and buy the house because of those representations. You then learn that the house is a money pit, a place of misery and heartache and problems that can never be fixed; it is a repository of hopes that are never fulfilled; but that you cannot escape, you are stuck in this mess and there is no way out. That is deceit and you were a fool to believe the lies.

In various ways, we all succomb to deceit in our lives. We believe lies. We are so gullible. We crash and burn because we are hoping for saisfying pleasure and beauty and riches. We believe the ads. We think life will go on forever and get better and better if we buy or do certain things. Instead, we get the worst that the world has to offer instead. And then we fail to admit our guilt and stupidity and buy into worse lies and go deeper into despair. Why is it that the life expectancy of a Hollywood or music industry star seems so short? The lies of that lifestyle take their toll on bodies and souls very quickly.

I recently read of Miley Cyrus, the young singer who used to boldy give praise to "my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." She has earned hundreds of millions of dollars in her short life. Miley is now caught up in the wrong crowd, following the lusts and passions of the world. She recently took a stand for homosexual love. As I read that, I realized that she is another in a long line of victims of the Deceiver, taken "captive by [the] philosophy and empty deceit" of this world.

That reminded me of C.S. Lewis' masterful book, The Screwtape Letters, in which he attempts to show how the entire enterprise of Satan and his demons revolves around deceit. Of course, the deceit started in the Garden of Eden, where Satan's lies caused Adam and Eve to doubt God and give in to the only temptation in their lives - the forbidden fruit in a garden full of other fruit. There was so much joy in the garden, but they wanted the only thing they could not have.

There is a war going on in this world. There is a Deceiver on the loose and he is more deceitful than you think. You cannot play hide and seek with him, or cut any deals with him or give in to him in any way without becoming another captive to his lies. Once he successfully deceives, then he accuses. The deceit and accusations go hand in hand until he destroys or renders you useless. You become another statistic apart from the intervention of God; apart from surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of God's Word; apart from confession and repentance; apart from the ransoming and redeption that only Jesus Christ can offer.

Jesus asks His followers to abide in Him for good reason.
*** In Christ, we are free from condemnation.
*** In Christ, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
*** In Christ, He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world.
*** In Christ, we have the wisdom and discernment and courage to stand for God's truth and reject the deceit.
*** Only in Christ is there lasting joy that transcends your circumstances.

*** You can abide in Christ by time in His Word every day before deceit can claim your mind and heart for the day.
*** You can abide with Christ by surrendering yourself to Christ each day in prayer, asking Him to guard and protect you and enable you to walk in the joy and victory of His presence in you.
*** You can abide in Christ by being a man or woman of praise, expressing thanksgiving and gratitude to your Lord at all times, under all circumstances.
*** You can abide in Christ by consistent fellowship with others who are wholeheartedly seeking to abide in Christ.

Jesus came that you might have life and have it abundantly, that your joy would be full and overflowing! He has given you everything that you need for life and godliness in this world! Belief that! Live it!

Seeing God's Truth Reflected in a Basketball Story

ESPN ran a story on Jimmy Butler, a basketball player from Marquette, who is expected to go high in the NBA draft. See the link. Butler never knew his father, and his mother dumped him on a street and drove away, completely abandoning him when he was 13. He lived wherever he could find shelter, making friends and living with them for a few days at a time. In a story very similar to The Blind Side, one family took him in for a few days, and that eventually grew into a permanent family. Butler was so grateful for being taken in that he became the model child, working hard and doing everything he was asked with a great attitude. His hard work and discipline eventually paid off with a basketball scholarship, and it is now likely to result in an NBA career.

As I read Butler's story, I thought about our lives as Christians. We are all born with a sinful nature into a sin-bent world system that is controlled by Satan. He is determined to destroy us. Yet, when we were lost and hopeless, God rescued us by conquering the power of sin in our lives through the work of Jesus Christ - His life, death and resurrection. When we receive God's gracious gift of salvation through faith in what Jesus Christ has done for us, God adopts into His family and gives us an inheritance as His sons and daughters, an inheritance shared by all saints. In response to such a glorious gift of grace, we should joyfully seek to obey and honor God with our lives. Our rescue was costly. God's love for us is way over the top. We should live a life that reflects gratitude for that kind of love.

THE CONTINUING VALIDITY OF SELF-EVIDENT TRUTHS

Why did the founding fathers of this nation appeal to self-evident truths in declaring their independence from England? Didn't England have the legal right to impose its laws on the people? By what legal or moral authority did our forefathers have the right to rebel?

These are essential questions to keep in mind as both federal and state governments seek to reach more intrusively into the lives of its citizens. The Declaration of Independence appealed to the self-evident truths that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. Thus, our forefathers trumped the laws of England by appealing to self-evident truths originating in the Creator.

If government at any level is the absolute authority, then the government is totalitarian to one degree or another, regardless of whether it is in a democratic form, because government rule is total and complete. There is no other or ultimate source of authority.

For China, that means that the ruling party may issue whatever laws and edicts they choose, regardless of the suppressive effect on what some would consider to be human rights. If any government is the ultimate source of power, then what right does any other nation have to question the way that government exercises its power? The only moral basis for any nation to object to the way that another nation treats its subjects is that there are universal, self-evident truths and inalienable rights that apply to all people everywhere, and that have their source of authority in something more transcendent than government - namely the Creator.

Thus, when Canada or Sweden takes children from parents because they choose to home-school or because they are too religious, those governments are essentially asserting a totalitarian authority similar to that of China. Such a government is essentially asserting that it is not accountable to any self-evident truths or inalienable rights.

Once government becomes the source of rights, it also becomes the source of restrictions on those rights. With such power, any government may become corrupt and pursue power as a legitimate end in itself. After all, why should government want to tolerate competition from self-evident truths or inalienable rights or a Creator? The public universities of the United States are predominantly controlled by people who believe in the absolute power of government, who have rejected all concepts of self-evident truth, inalienable rights, and a Creator. They are mainly pushing a socialistic model of government on students, because such a model enables control of people by an elite. The promise of equality for all becomes the trojan horse through which rights are ultimate exchanged for totalitarian governmental power.

When government creates rights that are not self-evident and uses those rights to suppress other historically inalienable rights, that have their source in self-evident truths, then that government is tending toward totalitarianism, and has undermined its own authority. The American people need to remember the ultimate source of their rights and reject efforts to expand governmental power beyond the legitimate functions of suppressing evil and encouraging what is good.