THREE COMMON DECEPTIONS

All of the strategies of Satan are focused for one ultimate purpose: To weaken, divert, and gain control over man’s will through disobedience. Since man’s first encounter with the enemy in the garden of Eden until now, Satan has been lying, deceiving, tempting, and using every possible tactic to cause man to disobey God.

Because of their disobedience, the children of Israel initially failed to take possession of their inheritance in the promised land. Today, Satan’s strategy is to deceive you into thinking that it is impossible for any man to walk in 100 percent obedience to God. Don’t listen to his lies! God made it possible for you under the New Covenant. He promised:

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

God fully intends for us to walk in His Spirit, to obey His statutes, and to keep His judgments. He has given us His grace and ability to achieve that goal. Satan lies to you, however, and tells you it is not possible to stay pure in heart and deed. Three of the common deceptions he uses to try to move you into disobedience are:

Rebellion: Rebellion is failure or refusal to act upon the Word of God. Our churches are full of Christians walking in rebellion because they fail to act and become doers of the Word. You can do nothing in your own strength, but through the power of God inside of you, you have the power to obey all that God expects from you. Satan cannot force you to rebel. You must choose to disobey. It is an act of the free moral will God has given to you. You can also choose to obey God, knowing sin no longer has power over you.

Self-will: Since the beginning of time, Satan has tried to lead God’s people into rebellion and disobedience by tempting them to reject God’s voice and follow their own pathetic self-will. This strategy is one of the most dangerous because many people are so deceived they cannot recognize when they have fallen into the snare of the enemy.

Compromise: Satan wants to deceive you into compromising what God has told you to do and lure you into living your life as you please. Do not be deceived. Just because you are submissive and obedient to God in a few areas of your life it is not enough! You must be obedient in all areas.