Bible Study – A Hard Saying Defined

The Tactics That Satan Uses to Deceive Us

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

I Peter 5:8… “Be sober, be vigilant – for your adversary the devil – walketh about, seeking whom he may devour!”…. And we can take note here that the very name of what he is (the devil – which means “false accuser, slanderer”).. tells us what he does so well .. Indeed – in John 8:44 – Jesus identified the devil as “a liar.. and the father of lies.”…

Okay.. the devil (aka Satan) is a deceiver… and realizing that – shouldn’t we then always be able to recognize him “at work”?  We could…. except that the problem with deception is.. that it is so “DECEPTIVE”!!  And since Satan is a being from the spirit realm, that makes it easier for him to carry out his deceptions generally undetected…. And that is even greater reason for us to identify and learn to understand the tactics he uses to get in to our thinking.

I have often heard it said that “Satan’s ONLY weapon against us is deception” – but did God give us any info in His Word to shed some light on “HOW” to recognize when we are being deceived?  Yes, He did… Because He wants us to LEARN how to recognize deception.. and to understand the tactics  that Satan uses to get into our lives with this deception.

The first piece of information that I would like to share about this is in Romans 8:14-16 & I John 2:27.. which tell us about the “witness of the truth” that God gave us in our born again spirit… And.. how the Spirit of God (aka the Spirit of Truth/The Holy Spirit ) has been sent to lead and guide us into all truth..(John 14:16,17 & John 16:13,14) ….He is the One who bares witness in our born again spirit.. He bares witness of truth.. and of error…. This “witness” in our spirit – along  with the information which we are given about “our adversary the devil” in the Word of God – is our greatest ally as we.. LEARN.. to recognize that witness in our spirit – and these “tactics”which Satan uses to gain entrance into our thinking.   

We can find a lot of information concerning those tactics in the Parable of the Sower – which Jesus used to teach the multitudes the “mysteries of the Kingdom of God.” In that parable in Mark 4, Jesus informs us of several very important things we need to  know IF we are to truly understand how the Kingdom of God operates…

( FYI – A parable is.. a short simple story of comparing one thing that we are familiar with.. with another thing which we are trying  to understand…. In the case of the Parable of the Sower..in Mark 4.. we see the operation of the Kingdom of God.. compared to the familiar subject of the planting of a seed to produce a harvest…. In other words.. the Kingdom of God operates like the planting of seeds works in the natural..to grow and produce a harvest!)

  • The “seed” that the sower in this parable sows – is the Word of God – v. 14
  • People receive (or not) in different ways (verses 15-20)…. but one thing is the same for all of them – which is this – “Satan/aka the devil – comes immediately to snatch away the Word which had been sown in their heart”/spirit… v. 15
  • He comes to take away the seed (aka the Word of God)  BEFORE  we understand the value of that Word – i.e. – That, as we RECEIVE and KEEP that word.. it imparts into us the very “life” that is in every word which God speaks (Hebrews 4:12)… The life that is in that spoken word  produces “fruit” – fruit according to the thing which God spoke to us about in that Word. (v. 20.)…. It is helpful to recall…that God spoke, and the worlds were created by His Word (Hebrews 11:3 and John 1:1-3)…. No word that He speaks is without power to come to pass – including the words that He speaks to us – which come to us as “a seed”…We don’t have to understand altogether “HOW” this works…. only that it does (v. 26-28!!)
  • Satan comes immediately to snatch away the Word we hear…and these are the 5 tactics that he uses to get into our life to do that…..:
  1. Persecution (v.17) – to pursue to harass or injure
  2. Afflictions  (v.17)…i.e. pressures, anguish, trouble
  3. Cares of this world  (v.18,19) ..Cares produce in us one or more of these things:  anxiety and disquieting of the mind by worry & fear,  grief,  weighed down by responsibilities (which can be either “genuine” – or false ones we’ve taken on)
  4. Deceitfulness of Riches  (v. 19)…is woven around the line of thinking that having wealth will solve all things
  5. Lusts of other things  (v. 19)….revolves around an excessive desire to gratify the senses or bodily appetites

Those are the tactics which the devil uses to bring deception and thus some form of defeat in an area of our lives….The ultimate goal of the devil being what we see in John 10:10… which is that the devil/aka our adversary – only comes to kill, steal, or destroy…Everything he does is aimed at accomplishing  something from one of those three categories….

BUT.. The good news is that we have been redeemed out of the hand of this our enemy.. .Psalm 107:2 and Colossians 1:12-14 express that very well…. And being AWARE of that – and of the tactics that the devil endeavors to use to get into our thinking and thus into our lives…is our best guard against living in some form of deception….So would it not be good to take some time to thoughtfully and honestly …Go over the list of those 5 tactics that he uses – to see if any of those tactics are things that he regularly uses to get into your life.. to bring in deception… Because as it is often said.. “Forewarned is forearmed.”… We are not to be ignorant of the devil’s tactics!

Where Were You God?….. When Things Didn’t Go So Well….

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

Many things happen – and seem to go wrong in this world.  That’s a fact….. And in our sometimes rather bewildered state – we ask “Why”?  and “Where were You God – when all “these things” happened”?….. ..

I can confess to having many such thoughts in those first years after being born again – and certainly I did not understand before (being born again)…… but as I have stated in a number of previous posts that “I have learned”- and then I would go on to share about some thing that had been a source of real frustration in my life – even after receiving Jesus as Savior (aka being born again)…..  but the good part always was  – that God did not give up on me (even while I was still blaming Him) – but He continued to help me to more and more understand….. until the frustrations began to melt away as I did begin to see the truth of the matter.

Even thus it has been concerning “this question of things going wrong – and where were You, God”?…… I do not have all the answers, but there are some things that I have learned and am very sure of – from which I will try to share with you today.  I will start by telling you that this “question” we are looking at today – will fit into the category of “the sovereignty of God.”…… but probably not in the way many of you may think – so please “read on.”.

God the Father gave us “a voice”…… It is when we make choices – and when we look to Him and pray.   You see – from the beginning, God gave man the freedom to choose…… And if God were going to violate that freedom He put into the hands of man – don’t you think that it would likely have been to stop man/Adam from eating of the “tree” that He had forbidden him to partake of??

But God had placed man on the earth and given him both authority and stewardship over it……..Genesis 1:28; Psalm 115:16.   (And note that it was “stewardship” – not “ownership” of the earth that God put into the hands of man).  But before God even did this, He set some things in place  –  some things that would insure that order not chaos – would keep these things operating according to the “laws” that He had set in place.  The movement of – and the interaction between the heavenly bodies (the sun, moon and stars) and the earth – is one of those things (Genesis 3:14-18)……. Another would be the law of seed time and harvest/sowing and reaping – which is both a natural law and a spiritual law – (Genesis 8:22 ; Galatians 6:7-9).   In other scripture – Hebrews 1:1-3 & John 1:1-18,  we see that God not only made the world by the “Living Word of God” – but He also upholds it  by the same.   These things – and others – that even man’s best technology cannot match – God set in place and did for us because He loves us……. THEN – God gave man authority and stewardship over the earth……..and a little later, after man had chosen to move out ahead without God in his life – God gave us a way to connect back with Him (through Jesus Christ His Son).

My intent in giving this very basic explanation is not to bog you down in reading this post, but to set forth a foundation from the Word of God to help in the job of sorting out what part God now plays in our lives……. sharing some things that He does and does not do apart from our asking Him…… Because He set man in charge of the earth – there are things that God cannot do without violating His own charge.   That we understand a little more about these things is very important……. It is important because it very much affects our faith….. Why??

Why? …. because if you see God as the “author” of – or even that He “allows” the hurtful and some times devastating things we see happen – then it will indeed be difficult for you to trust Him.  Indeed many Christians endure a lot of painful destructive things thinking that it came to them because God is sovereign and He wants to teach them something……. when many times these things are the result of someone’s carelessness or ignorance/unawareness, or bad choices (ours or someone else’s) – and are things that God is NOT responsible for at all.  Also…….

We have an adversary – which God warns us about – who comes to steal, kill and destroy…. those 3 things being “categories” of things for which he –“your adversary the devil (I Peter 5:8 and John 10:10) continually seeks to find an opening and a way to bring hurtful or destructive things into our lives”…… All the while God is looking for us to give Him an avenue to work in our lives to help and bless us –  (Recall that He gave us authority over things on the earth – and also the choice – to invite Him into our daily lives – or not…… and James 4 tells us that “you have not, because you ask not”).  God does not “invade” our lives unasked and unwelcome…… Unwelcome? are you kidding? No, I kid you not – there are people who have had devastating things happen in their lives and because they do not understand that other factors (besides God and His sovereignty) are at work – they blame Him and stay hurt and angry at Him – not realizing that the One they blame is not at all responsible for their loss and pain…… And that is the place where our potential to have faith that God is good and will answer our prayers is damaged!…… Our misunderstanding of His sovereignty is thus behind many failures to live a victorious Christian life….. because in our belief that God caused “the fire” or “allowed” the accident, we find ourselves feeling that we are helpless victims and powerless to do anything to prevent such things.  We need to “think again” if that is what we believe.

Another example (and rather a silly one, but I give it to make a point) would be to jump off the top of a barn, then attribute that “accident” to God – when the fact is that there is a law of gravity that God did set in motion – but since it is rather inherent in us to “know” for our safety – not to jump off a cliff or the barn – then how can we lay the blame for doing so on someone else??

God gave us His Word in scripture…… to invite us to come to Him…… and to give us knowledge about things that are good – and things that will hurt us or bring eventual harm to us……. And that is where our individual (and corporate) choices make us accountable for things that happen on the earth and in our lives.

Indeed, God the Father gave us “a voice” in these matters…….. It lies in the choices that we make – and when we look to Him and pray – to secure from Him the help that we all need.  True, I can’t always have much say over the choices you make, but God did give me a voice to have a say in the overall outcome of things that affect my life.

So…… where were You God when all these bad things happened??….  There’s a good chance that He was just one believing prayer away………

 

 

 

 

 

How’s Your Hearing?…. More about the Born Again Spirit

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

Are you able to hear the voice  of the Spirit when you have a decision to make? You really want to know what God would say – the direction He would tell you to go – but oftentimes it is not a lack of desire to hear Him, but a lack of knowing how  that thwarts us in our pursuit to hear.  That can be very frustrating – believe me, I understand that – I’ve been there and still have some times that it is harder for me than I would like; but I have come a long way in that area so that I can share some things about that with you.

First of all, our years in being born again or by virtue of growing up going to church – are not – the best measuring stick for determining how well we will hear God.  Before I start sharing what the scripture does say about hearing God, let me voice a couple of things that will affect your hearing negatively “right off the bat.” Which are these …..

Sometimes we have been taught that God does not speak to His people today – and even though that is totally unfounded by scripture – if we have grown up with that mindset, we tend to think  that is  what the Word of God actually says ….  And unless we are willing to ask God to show us as we search it out for ourselves in His Word – then the premise that  “God does not talk to us today”  becomes what we “believe.”

Another  fallacy we need to see for what it is – is that we necessarily know more about God than the person beside us because we have been born again longer …. or we have family ties or “closer connections” inside the church – these things making us to be more spiritually advanced than most others! Indeed we can learn some good things from any of those three things that I just mentioned – but the best “yardstick” to use in measuring how well you are hearing and experiencing the leadership of God is this … “How well and how often – do you hear an answer that you KNOW is from Him – when you have needed help and asked for His input?

Also, you should be – at least occasionally – hearing His voice giving some kind of input as you read His Word.  By and large we get to know God for who He is by actually spending time with Him and in His word – for ourselves!  – and then we need to go on and follow any instructions that He gave as we spent that time with Him.  (The Holy Spirit is a very good teacher – actually He’s the best! )  And learning to hear God speak to us personally comes the very same way – spend time with Him and in His word  – and then do anything that He has shown you to do!  And yes, we do need good teachers – God particularly gifted some to teach others in the Body of Christ  (Ephesians 4:11,12) – but we need to follow up on that teaching by doing what the Apostle Paul said of the Berean Christians in Acts 17:11 … that they “received the teaching of God’s word with all readiness of mind, then searched the scriptures daily to see whether those things they had heard were so.”

Can you and I hear the voice  of God?                                                                                   ….. and should we be hearing Him for important decisions that arise in our day to day living?  The answer to both those questions is unequivocally – YES!  But you and I need to go with what the word of God has to say – so let’ s begin to look at that.

First of all, we are all on an “equal footing” with God when we are born again – in that He gives to every person who receives Jesus the capacity  to begin to see and understand the things of the Kingdom of God (John 1:12; John 3:3-6).   And when the Spirit of God speaks to us/reveals something to us, it will be from His Spirit to our spirit…..  because the things of God are “spiritually discerned.” And “the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord” (Proverbs 20:27)  God “lights our candle” (Psalm 18:28)  in order to illuminate us with the understanding of things He wants us to know –  because “the natural man (our flesh man) is not equipped to receive and understand  the things of the spirit.”  See I Corinthians 2:9-14.  (Note that it is not talking strictly about the things God has for us in the afterlife/Heaven – for we will not need Him to reveal them to us there – but right here is where we need that revelation of what belongs to us.)

In John 10:3,4 Jesus – our Good Shepherd – tells us that as we grow from babes into more mature ones – we will know His voice so that we can follow His leading.  It is normal for those who know Jesus to begin to hear His voice….  And there are some things we can do – according to God’s word that will lend to more hearing.

I will begin to share about some of those things in another post.  Until then, if you have not already read the posts that I put on this site about what happens to you when you are born again,  they are titled “A Post About Beginnings”  Jan.15 and “The Best Beginning of All” on Jan 22.  You can find them the most quickly by going to the right side of this post – at the top right – just under the picture of the sunrise –  and listed under “Recent Posts.”