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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Genesis 3:1
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’?”
Yesterday, we saw God as the Great Initiator. Today, we see Satan as the great deceiver.
What a subtle beast he is. Never one to come out with direct statements – he just raises doubts. Doubts, which can never change the character or Word of God – but doubts which plague our minds as to whether we heard or thought straight. “Does it really mean that?” “Even in today’s culture?” “Would a ‘good’ God really say or mean that?” “Does it really matter?” “Is it really worth making an issue of it?” “Why lose friends or relatives over it?” “Would God really want you to do that?” “It is going to be so much easier going with the flow and with the majority.”
We so often want to concentrate on pleasing ourselves, or at best other people, so we totally forget about trying to please God.
We read in Hebrews, “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6), and Samuel told Saul, “To obey is greater than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22), and yet we ignore the simplicity of the “Trust and Obey” of the fundamental Christian walk.
The enemy still raises doubts about it. “Do you really think the Creator of the world – that intricate system which is awesome in its complexity and order – would make it that simple? Come on – be real. That cannot be, can it?”
The enemy has never been able to understand the goodness of God, the grace of God or the greatness of God. So, through ignorance and malice he seeks to deceive everyone and succeeds with all those who will let him.
Can I challenge you? Don’t let Satan fool you. Spend time with God and in His Word and you won’t be deceived by his counterfeit arguments, but you will need time, determination and the willingness to make it a priority or you too, will be susceptible to his wiles.
Satan said, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the Garden’?” He knew it was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. He also knew that Adam & Eve had all the good they could ever desire. The only thing they could possibly get by eating from the Tree was the knowledge of evil. Remember this – God never asks us to give up or refrain from anything that will not be detrimental and dangerous to us in the long run.
The enemy deceives us by showing how ‘good’ things are in the immediate – whether sex, drugs or alcohol, but he hides the devastation they bring in the long term. If we have sex with anyone, we become inextricably linked to them and ‘take on their baggage’, as it is a one-flesh experience with eternal spiritual consequences.
When we experiment with non-prescribed drugs, no one tells us of the brain damage that ensues, nor the potential for fatal hallucinations, nor the demonic invasion that brings a desire and a drive which is inexhaustible. When we have our first alcoholic drink, we spit it out but we determine to acquire the taste, and just as with nicotine and smoking, the habit becomes an all-consuming addiction.
He also works with speed, anger or isolation. The urgent will always dominate the important and make it appear unnecessary. In a time-critical world, Satan uses urgency to its full potential. The credit card company, MasterCard, came out with ‘his’ classic – it ‘takes the waiting out of wanting’. How like the enemy.
“Now is what is important – not the future. I can give you all the pleasures you could ever desire or dream of now. Why wait? Today is all we ever have. Tomorrow never comes.” We get sucked in and cry, “Stop making me wait. Give it to me now!”
Satan portrays God as someone who has given us life and then taken it back – but Christ came to win life back from the enemy for us, and give it to us in all its fullness (see John 10:10).
Stop and take stock. What is our earthly lifespan compared with eternity? What is humanity compared with the divine? What is imperfection compared to perfection? If I do it Satan’s way, I withdraw into myself and end up friendless and with only unrealised dreams and broken relationships. (And eventually Hell itself for eternity.)
Worth thinking about – isn’t it? And waiting.
Don’t be deceived - You can trust God. His way is perfect. His timing is perfect. His character is unchanging and His Word is Truth.
“No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless” (Psalm 84:11).
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