Lion of Judah Worship Center July 19, 2015
Pastor E. Dowdy
Numbers 13:31–33

“But the men that went up with him said, ‘We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.’ 32And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, ‘The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33And there we saw the giants, the sons of A-nak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.’”

The art of crafting falsehood to look like truth is the definition I was given for deception. The physical appearance of the inhabitants created space for deception in ten of the spies. Cross reference I Samuel 16:7 “God looks upon the heart…”

Unless the deception looks, feels, smells like and even performs like truth, it will not be a deception. Where does a deception begin? In the mind. Satan planted a seed in the mind of Eve (Genesis 3:18) that the fruit of the forbidden tree was good fruit. Now that went against what God had said, but she believed him, and that belief led to her deception. However that is not the only deception in the annals of history, or even in operation today. Yes we are deceived every time we believe something that attempts to negate what God has said about a situation.

Whenever your immune system attacks the body it was designed to protect. It has been deceived. Mind deception is operating in a mindset that is not right. Each time we act or believe a theory that is against the Word or will of God we are operating in deception and or delusion. That is the only weapon satan has to use against us, because Jesus defeated him, dis-armed him and left him powerless, except the guise of deception. That guise is used to perfection to keep us in bondage, because we believe we are still prisoners, that the enemy is all powerful, and sadly sometimes we picture ourselves as grasshoppers.

The word deception is not used in Genesis, the word to describe Eve’s being led astray is beguiled. We first make contact with the word translated deception in II Samuel 3:25, it is used by Joab in describing what he believes about a visit David the King of Judah has had from Abner, who was over the army of the other tribes. The word’s meaning: to lead astray mentally, to delude, or morally seduce, beguile, deceive.

The deceptions the enemy sends into us are a branding of the soul, just as cattle are branded, the deception/beguilement, and delusion literally stamps a brand or a tattoo image across the spectrum of the soul.

In Isaiah 36:41 we find the king of Assyria sending his top general, Rabshakeh, to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah; after extolling the might and power of his nation, he took the message to the people. Standing on the wall, he cried in a loud voice. (See verses 14–15. Continue reading to chapter 37:10.) The message he was spreading was: God is not able to save…. Jesus speaking in Matthew 24:4, and Mark 13:5 said, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” I Cor. 3:18 says, “Let no man deceive himself…” Eph. 5:6 “Let no man deceive you with vain words.”

II Thess. 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means.”

I John 1:8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Obadiah 3: “Pride of thine heart will deceive thee.”

It is plain that God does not desire for us to be taken captive by any form of deception. He has provided spiritual weapons for our use to protect us. Knowing His Word is a guard against deception; and His Spirit lives in us. Jesus said, “When He, the Spirit of Truth, comes he will lead you into all truth…” Notice He did not say some of the time, when the deception is great, nor on special days. We are not to abide in any form of deception produced by the prince of darkness. We are children of the light! It is time to shed all deceptions in the Name of Jesus, the Christ!

 

Copyright © 2015 E. C. Dowdy. Written and audio material may not be reproduced without written permission.