The Tackiness of Deception
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:1-3

Today's Treasure:
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth" (3 John 4).

Deception is tacky.  It's the glue that holds every stronghold together.  If there are areas in our lives where we are being held captive to sin, we can be sure that falsehood is involved.  Nothing is bigger or more powerful than God.  Therefore, anything other than Jesus Christ mastering a Christian's life can keep its grip only through pretension and deception.  Remember, Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44).  No truth is in him.  However, his specialty is twisting a lie until it seems true.  The list of lies we often believe when we are held in a stronghold can be unlimited.  Consider a few examples:

·        I can never be victorious over this compulsion.  I've had it too long.

·        I can't help the mess I'm in.  I'm caught, and there's nothing I can

     do about it.

·        It may be a stronghold, but I really need it to get by.

·        I'm absolutely worthless—nothing but a failure.

·        I'm in control here.  This is not controlling me.

·        I'll know just when to stop.

·        After all I've been through, I deserve this.

·        There's nothing wrong with this relationship.  People just don't

     understand us.

·        Everyone thinks these thoughts most of the time.  I'm only human.

·        God may work for other people, but he doesn't work for me.

·        I'll just have to wait until heaven to get over this.  Real victory is

     impossible on earth.

·        God can't possibly fill this void in my life.  I need something more.

·        I am too emotionally handicapped to ever be OK.

·        It's hopeless.  I'm hopeless.

Sometimes we're very aware of tolerating or even fueling a lie.  Other times, we are caught in such a web that we can no longer see our situations or ourselves accurately.  It's not always clear when we're being deceived, but one sure sign is when we begin to deceive.  All you have to do to locate Satan in any situation is look for the lie.  How do we recognize a lie?  Anything we are believing or acting on that is contrary to what the truth of God's Word says about us is a lie.  Second Corinthians 4:2 tells us how to respond to such things: "Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the Word of God."  This passage helps us identify four of Satan's specialties that must be renounced and rejected by the believer in order for him or her to walk in victory:

1.      Secrecy

2.      Shame

3.      Deception

4.      Distortion of Scripture

As you consider each one, you can readily imagine how deception permeates all four and how interrelated they are.  Satan's plans toward the believer are always the antithesis of God's.  Our Redeemer wants to loose us from the closets of secrecy and bring us to a spacious place of joy, freedom, authenticity and transparency.  Satan wants to keep us bound in secrecy where he can weigh us down in guilt, misery and shame. Oh, Beloved, I have learned that so much of the shame we experience is wrapped up in the secret.  In fact, the enemy knows that once we expose the secret places of our lives to the light of God's Word, we're on our way to freedom.  Glory!

I'm definitely not suggesting that the only way to be free is to stand up before our congregations and tell every detail of every sin we've ever committed or considered.  The King James Version translates James 5:16 far more accurately than several other versions: "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed" (emphasis mine).  Some other translations say, "Confess your sins to each other." (emphasis mine).  The original word translated "faults" in the KJV and "sins" in the NIV is paraptoma, which means "fault, lapse, error, mistake, wrongdoing."  We are to confess individual sins and details to the Father, but it's best not to share gory details with other believers.  He can always take it, forgive it and even forget it.  Refreshingly, some believers can too.  However, sometimes others can't take the details without stumbling over them.  

Living a consistently victorious life takes courage!  But this courage leads to glorious, indescribable liberty!  What relief awaits you if you really decide to let God's truth set you free...then keep you free.  Be willing to ask God on a regular basis if you are overlooking or denying a stronghold in your life. 

The most effective way to veer from deception is to walk in the truth.  Third John 4 says, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."  The wonderful news is: the joy that results from your walk in truth won't just be God's.  It will be yours too.  As Christ said, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

My precious Lord, thank You for the power that your Word contains.  You are so much greater than anything else!  I pray to discern areas of falsehood in my life.  Help me to renounce and reject secrecy, shame, deception, and the distortion of Scripture.  Show me where these things are taking place in my life.  I love You Lord and I rejoice in the power that You desire to release in my life with Your Truth.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Adapted from Praying God's Word, by Beth Moore, pages 71-75.  Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000.  Used by permission.